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Running
November 2025: a quarter-life crisis, right on schedule. Six months later, 69kg became 62kg, and a first marathon happened along the way.
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4:09:33
Vancouver Marathon — May 3, 2026
First marathon, six months in the making. Went out too fast, paid for it by km 32, finished anyway.
RACE
JOURNAL
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3:59
Toronto Marathon — Oct 18, 2026 · A-Race
Training Block
- Base
- May 18 – Jul 5
- Build
- Jul 6 – Aug 30
- Peak
- Aug 31 – Sep 27
- Taper
- Sep 28 – Oct 11
- Race Week
- Oct 12 – 18
Race day: Sunday, Oct 18, 2026
Physiology Reference
- LTHR
- 182 bpm
- Max HR
- 202 bpm
- RHR
- 45 bpm
- VO2 Max
- 56
- LT Pace
- 4:37/km
CURRENT
FOCUS
3+00
TBD
After Toronto — Two Races Queued for 2027
LA Marathon — March 2027
- B-race, diagnostic only. Zone 2, no time pressure.
- Gauges aerobic capacity ahead of the ultra, not chasing a result
Ultra Trail Whistler by UTMB, 100K — August 2027
- A-race, ultra debut. Predicted Aug 21, 2027 — not yet confirmed.
- ~5,400–5,500 m elevation gain. Target time: TBD, deliberately not set.
THE
QUEUE
Race Journal — Full Story
Before
- Friday night sleep: 3 hours. Saturday night sleep: 6 hours
- Carb load on Friday went well
- Performance Condition flagged -4 from baseline, nervous on his first race
- Longest long run was 26km, or maybe 2hrs 15mins — "oopsie"
While
- Took the early downhills too fast, banking quad damage on fresh legs that wouldn't come due until km 32
- A DIY gel flask exploded around km 5, in front of a friend with a camera — sticky hands, sticky phone, belt friction at crotch and back waist
- Aerobic base too thin for the course: ran at avg 170 HR (mid-Z3) with LTHR at 182
- Side stitches by km 26, then the right quad cramped hard at km 32, forcing the first walk break of the day
- Finished on cramping legs without dropping out
- Crowd support and aid station volunteers carried the last 10 km
- 4:09:33 on a hard course, sleep-deprived, as a six-month beginner — above the 4:30-4:45 average for first-timers
After
- Both quads trashed, calves weak, still limping 5 days post-race — on the long end of normal DOMS recovery given the eccentric downhill damage
- Chafing at crotch and back waist from belt friction on sticky skin
- The Result: 4:09:33. Avg HR 170 (mid-Z3). Perceived effort 9/10. Self-evaluation: "Weak."
- Reflection for improvement: sleep 8hrs starting 4 nights out, not just race night; train the aerobic base and more hill descents; conservative first 10km regardless of how legs feel; switch race-day nutrition to Precision Fuel (PF 90g/hr, PF 30g + 100mg caffeine at the 2hr mark); don't gulp water or mix gel/electrolyte/water in a 2-minute window; walk aid stations 5-10 sec to swallow properly; research course elevation and pacing, doodle it on the arm; taper 3 weeks
- What it bought: a real first marathon finish. The mental barrier is gone — he now knows in his body, not just on paper, that he can cover 42 km. That confidence is permanent and unteachable. Confirmation the engine works.
Statistics
Vancouver training block, Nov 26, 2025 – May 2, 2026
- Activities
- 113
- Total Distance
- 1,230.81 km
- Total Activity Time
- 130:42:26
- Activity Calories
- 82,737
- Total Ascent
- 656 m
- Total Descent
- 726 m
- Average Pace
- 6:22 /km
- Avg Grade-Adjusted Pace
- 5:40 /km
- Average Heart Rate
- 155 bpm
- Max Heart Rate
- 200 bpm
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