Rob Mackay :: Notes from the edge

I took last week off to work on house projects. It was a week of hard labour with evenings of training. It looks like I am paying for it a bit with what now looks like strep throat that hit me on Saturday.

In any case, I finished the weekend with 9 hours of running (5 Sat, 4 Sun) 7hours at Gowland. This is my last long run weekend before White River - I’m not happy that I could only crank out 9 hours but considering how I was feeling, I was lucky to get that much in. As it stands, I’ve had two weeks of 16 hours+ of running (and weights). I’ve found that my hardest week has to be at least 4 weeks before a race to feel my best so I’ll be bringing down the mileage and increasing the intensity.

Listening to a solid band lately, Fleet Foxes (new for me anyway), check them out at:
http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

Talking to a work mate yesterday, I was asked the question yesterday, “How do you do it (meaning: live in Victoria) on one salary?” Her point being that their family couldn’t afford to do it on one salary alone so they juggle the kids, daycare and their work. I make a decent salary but after all, I’m a marketing guy for a university department - not close to a six-figure income.

My response is, “We can’t, but we do.” I also added that we shop at Value Village and that we live a rather monastic existence. In other words, our material ‘wants’ are limited - thankfully. Without the constant purchasing pull we’re not as affected by changes in the Consumer Price Index. Still, we probably need about another 15K/year to cover all of the basic costs associated with home ownership.

I’ve said it before but money, or lack of it, doesn’t drive decisions and money, itself, is not the focus of our household.

You, me and everyone else.

Take my thoughts on spirituality, for instance. I side with Dawkins am a self-proclaimed pan-theist yet I hold a subscription to Geez Magazine. (I read it for the articles In other words, I don’t believe in the Christian God but I do believe in something bigger than you me and everyone else. Geez is all about the Christian God but it’s presented in a digestible, albeit often challenging, way.

For a taste of the magazine, check out this punchy article on church lawn signs. This is why I lobby my partner to renew the subscription every birthday…

This weekend (Friday) I was in Vancouver for my high school reunion. Hilarious. The last time I saw everyone I was 208lbs and had been in the gym for a few years. So, coming into this reunion, I was 45lbs lighter. I actually had 3 people come up and ask, “Are you OK? Are you ill?” No just running….

Anyway, on Saturday I got up a little hung over and went for 3:40 in the trails of North Van. It’s no wonder the North Van/Squamish boys are so freakin’ fast in trail ultras. You could train on the Powerline trail probably all year and be well ready for STORMY. I ran to the top of Lonsdale across the Powerline trail to the Grouse Grind, up the Grind (the Grind was a big traffic jam and my heart was hammering probably due to the alcohol), down the BCMC trail back across the powerline and down, down, down to M’s parents place. (The last 30 minutes downill I was flying) My legs were done but I felt great.

I have 2 heavy 160k + coming up and thankfully lots of time to get the mileage in…

Today’s training:

26 min/5:56-6:00 per mile pace.  Warm up, cool down and all that. Felt like puking and was frantically looking for a garbage can at 24 minutes but the stomach settled.

Feel like puking again.

Here’s a question: Do you know you are training hard when you really enjoy your rest day? Today is it for me - no running, no weights. Maybe some meditation if I can get it together.

It’s like being a civilian for a day when you’re a soldier.

The weekend? 2 days of solid running and no sore legs. Yesterday I ran 20km at 4:15/km and felt light on my feet. Today I ran 22km at 5:00/km and felt great (I felt like I could have gone on for a long time) I am feeling light/fast and am weighing in at 163lbs.

The next four weeks will include 2-3, 100 mile weeks of running plus spinning and weights. I am looking forward to getting up to 160km.

I was reviewing the list of registered White River runners. You don’t have to look too far down the list to see a fantastic pack of men’s elites, including;

Lon Freeman

Jasper Halekas

Brian Morrison

Greg Crowther

I can’t wait to see these guys go. It would almost be better to be covering the race as it went instead of running it to see how they fuel, run hills, manage blisters/pain, etc.

One guy to look out for is Aaron Heidt from Squamish. He’s run some fast times at STORMY and I am guessing if he doesn’t blow apart will crack the top 5.

There is one aspect of my life that I struggle with constantly. Without putting out too much detail, I find myself disengaged even when I try to convince myself that I am. If I start to feel even remotely invested in the outcome, I remind myself that I don’t really care…To be honest, it sucks.

Lately, when I’ve found myself in situations facing ‘it’, I use the old glass bell technique. It’s almost like the glass bell comes out of no where and drops down over me completely shutting me off from the rest of the world. It’s funny/tragic.