Christmas Shopping

Christmas is but a week away. I have had a few comments on twitter and instagram asking about how best to beat the cold and get your runs in as the temperature drops. I thought I'd outline a few of my go-to items for winter running.

As I'm sure you all know, the key to winter running is layering up!

TOP HALF

First and probably most important is a good base-layer. My go to this winter has been the Mizuno Breath Thermo base layer. This material is absolutely crazy. It actually uses the moisture from your sweat to create heat and keep you warm. I have been doing workouts in High Park with just this base-layer and a t-shirt on top in negative degree weather and been perfect. It’s really a great garment.

The next most important is a mid-layer. For that I have been leaning towards my Brooks Utopia Thermal half zip. I find it’s a perfect weight. When I’m going out for a recovery run and want to be just that little bit warmer, this works perfectly. The only downside is when it’s not all that cold, but really windy out, it doesn't have any wind protection. For that, I go for my Running Room RRX Wind Front Half Zip. It just has the added wind protection on the front, which really helps cut the bite on the windy days.

Next layer would be a top-layer or shell. This is when it’s super cold, or rain/wet snow is coming down. I don't often put on a top-layer; I get pretty warm when I run. When I do, I default to my Running Room RRX Extreme Run Jacket or, for added safety, Extreme Reflective Run Jacket when it’s dark outside (which is most of the time).

BOTTOM HALF

My three main layers that I go with are a base of short tights, then a long tight, and if need be, I put a pair of tapered pants on top.

Base-layer is pretty basic, tights are tights. You can get running underwear, or "runderwear", that have a wind protection bit that covers the family jewels. For men, this can be a nice feature on those super cold and windy days and help prevent certain body parts feeling like they are going to fall off.

As far as long tights go, I'm generally fine with just a normal pair of long tights. For the chillier days, I've been going with Brooks Utopia thermal tights. They are fleeced lined and just add a little extra warmth. For the REALLY cold days, or days I just want to pretend I'm somewhere tropical, I run in my Sugoi Sub-Zero tights. These babies are really warm. You can always look for tights with wind protection on them as well, it never hurts to have, but does reduce breathability, making them a bit warmer.

Then when it gets ridiculous outside, or I'm just going for a short recovery run and know I probably won't warm up too much before I'm done, I'll put a pair of looser fitting tapered pants on top. Many of these have the wind protection on them. I hardly get to the point of wearing these, except for when I'm warming up for workouts.

Extremities

Hands, head and feet. A lot of this is just based on personal preference and how cold these parts of your body get. My hands get really cold, so I generally run in a pair of pretty heavy mitts. I always have a toque on. Running Room has a huge selection of mitts, gloves and toques depending on what you need.

Lately I haven't left my house without my new favourite piece of running equipment, my 100% Merino Wool Buff. Merino Wool is an amazing material, it does a fantastic job of keeping you warm, and the best part, you don’t need to wash it. Just rinse it in the sink when you're done and hang dry.

Speaking of Merino Wool, SmartWool socks are a great thing to have if your feet get cold running out there. As I said, it’s an amazing material and really helps keep you warm.

Another great, but less intuitive thing about merino wool, is it actually helps keep you cool in the summer too! Garments made from merino are generally a little more expensive, but due to their diversity, I definitely think it's worth the cost.

Everything I have described in available at any Running Room location. The Breath Thermo top is sometimes hard to track down as it’s an incredibly popular piece.

Happy running, and keep warm out there!

Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

You've Come A Long Way, Baby

The other day I Googled my friend, Matt Norminton, to try and find his marathon PB; along with finding his PB, I also found a very interesting article from 2007. The article is from canada.com and is called “Edmonton Marathoner Stuck in Limbo.” The article is mostly about how Matt has dual Canadian/UK citizenship and how he wanted to run for Canada internationally, but Canada made that hard. You see, back in 2007 Canada would take the standards that the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) set as the qualifying times for championship events, and make them harder.

In the article, Athletics Canada head coach at the time was quoted as saying “Our mandate is to take a competitive team. Basically we ask, what is the world level?” He went on to say, “There is no sense to bring people to an Olympic Games that won’t go through round 1. It’s useless. You’re going to destroy them.”

That last quote can’t be any farther from the truth. That totally goes against who athletes at this level of competition are. I can say with great certainty that if you bring someone to a World Championship or Olympic Games and they get their ass kicked; they are going to go home and train harder and with more determination than they ever have!

That’s who athletes are. We don’t crumble in the face of defeat; we rise up and bring ourselves to the next level.

You know what, even if they do crumble, at least you have given them the chance and found out their full potential.

I’d like to take a minute right now to highlight a few things Canada’s performance at the World Championships in Moscow, Russia this summer. This was the first year in a long time that Canada didn’t set the standards any harder than the IAAF standards, and allowed “B” standards to go.

Guess what happened? Highest medal count ever! We won as many medals in Moscow than we did in the previous four Championships combined.

Another thing that is ingrained in us as athletes is we’re going to compete! Put us on the stage, and we’ll perform. If you bring the people that qualify on a “B” standard, they’ll perform. The two best examples I can think of are Geoff Harris at the 2012 London Olympics and Kate Van Buskirk in Moscow this summer.

Geoff qualified for the Olympics on a “B” standard. Actually, he qualified on TWO “B” standards. Canada still had its “Rising Star” rule in 2012. To be a “Rising Star” you had to have never been to a World or Olympic Games before, no one else in your event could have run an “A” standard, you had to run a minimum of two “B” standards, and come top 3 at nationals. So as you can see, they made it really easy.

Geoff hit his first “B” standard relatively early in the season. If Canada went with the guidelines IAAF set out, he could have relaxed a little bit at this point and hope no one ran an “A” standard. Since we had “Rising Star,” he had to go chasing another “B” standard. He almost didn’t get his second “B”, but squeaked it in right near the end of the qualifying period. He then went on to win Nationals, and qualified for the Olympics.

Geoff was ranked 45^th out of 63 men going into the Olympics. Only 27 men make it through the heats and into the semi-final. That means he would need to beat 18 people, that on paper, he shouldn’t be able to beat. He was put on the stage, and he performed. He knew full well where he ranked and that the odds were stacked against him. He knew that only 2 people were ranked behind him in his heat of 9, and that he had to finish in the top three to automatically move on to the semi-finals. Geoff toed the line at the Olympics and ran a new personal best placing 2^nd in his heat and was on to the semis.

Kate is another great example. She had a huge break through year. She started the year with a personal best of 4:11.45; 2.45 seconds slower than the world “B” standard. She ran PB after PB throughout the year and finally ran 4:08.34 on her home turf in Toronto, two weeks before trials. Two women had already run “A” standards; under the old rules, she wouldn’t have been able to qualify for worlds at all. However, this year Athletics Canada decided to drop the “Rising Star”, adopt the rules the IAAF set out, and not make it any harder than it needed to be for athletes to qualify. So all she had to do was go to nationals and be top three and hope that the only two women who beat her were the two with “A” standards. Instead, she just won the meet and punched her ticket to worlds with no questions asked.

She went into Moscow ranked 34^th out of 37 women. The top 6 from each heat in the 1500m automatically qualify for the semi-final, and the next 6 fastest times. She was ranked 11^th of 13 in her heat. She finished 7^th, but still qualified through on time. In the semi-final she performed. She ran a new personal best of 4:07.36. In the end Kate finished 15^th overall. Two women also competed for Canada who had run “A” standards; one finished 14^th and the other 27^th.

Back in 2007, it would have been believed that there would have been no point in bringing Kate or Geoff to these major championships; they would have been destroyed.

Now, I know this is where people are going to say, “But Peter, you’re example athletes didn’t medal. In Moscow, the people who won medals all qualified with “A” standards. This proves that if you want to medal, you need to be capable of an “A” standard.”

Granted, neither Geoff nor Kate medalled; but is that all that matters? Being at championships like the World and Olympic Games has an immeasurable affect on athletes. Not only by gaining championship race experience, but by the opportunities that open up to them as athletes afterwards, regardless of a medal.

The experience competing at major championships provides is absolutely priceless and hugely beneficial for an athletic career. Kate and Geoff weren’t ready to medal this time around, but they gained incredible race experience so when they are ready to medal at a World or Olympic Games, they will have that under their belt and be better prepared.

Not only is the race experience huge for these athletes; competing at major championships also opens a lot of doors in the way of sponsorships, working with world-class agents, and getting into world-class track meets. It also helps in regards to government funding, which allows these athletes to continue to focus solely on athletics and continuing to get better.

As a side note, with the exception of Dylan Armstrong, everyone who did medal in Moscow had previously been to games before, all on "A" standards, and no medals.

I am so glad that Athletics Canada has changed their views since 2007. It’s great that we have people in charge of our governing body that can see the benefit of bringing any and all athletes who qualify to these championships. I believe it will have a huge impact on our sport.

Adidas and Nike Raffle

I acquired some adidas apparel and one pair of shoes that I have decided to raffle off as part of my fundraiser for my altitude tent. They are all brand new, fresh from the adidas headquarters here in Toronto.

I will be closing the bids on Sunday, October 20th at 11:59pm.

Unfortunately, I only have one women's item; sorry ladies!

I will list the items below with a number. If you wish to bid on an item, leave a comment below with the item number and your bid. I will keep a list on my homepage, and at the top of this post for the top bid on each item is.

Start bids as low as you want, any little bit helps! However, making things interesting, I have received a $350 bid for all the items. If the individual bids don't surpass $350, or any other bid for all the items, that person wins everything!

Item #1 - $50           Item #2 - No Bid     Item #3 - $30
Item #4 - $20           Item #5 - $20           Item #6 - $40
Item #7 - $20           Item #8 - $30           Item #9 - $35
Item #10 - $50         Item #11 - $60

Bid to get all items - $350

TWO NEW NIKE ITEMS!

Item #10 - Nike Zoom Matumbo, Men's size 9.5

Item #11 - Nike Zoom Streak, Men's 9.5

Women's Item #1 - adidas Response 3-Stripes 3/4 Tight, Women's Medium
Click here for official Webpage

Item #2 - adidas Energy Boost, Men's Size 9 (Fit's like 8.5)
Click here for official webpage


Item #3 - adidas SMT Jacket, Men's Medium
Click here for official Webpage

Item #4 - adidas TechFit T-shirt, Men's Medium

So new there isn't even a webpage!

Item #5 - adidas Supernova T-Shirt, Men's Medium

Click here for official Webpage

Item #6 - adidas Supernova Half Tight, Men's Medium

Click here for official Webpage

Item #7 - adidas Supernova 5" Short, Men's Medium

Click here for official Webpage

Item #8 - adidas Supernova Singlet, Men's Medium

Click here for official Webpage

Item #9 - adidas Adizero Singlet, Men's Medium (My personal favourite)

So new it doesn't have a webpage

OXY USATF High Performance Distance Classic

My time in California is coming to a close. I have spent the last 5 weeks training and racing here in California. It has truly been amazing. I have met some incredible people and made connections I hope will last for a long time to come. I have said it many times on this trip, I have felt more at home in my 5 weeks here than I have in my time in Toronto. I am sad to see this trip come to an end.

However, I am really excited for what the end brings. The OXY high performance meet at Occidental College in L.A. This meet is absolutely insane. With my 3:40.15 seed time, I am 38th of 49 entries. The slowest seed is 3:42.87 and fastest at 3:30.90. There is no other word other than insane.

Since my race at Payton Jordan, I have been tapping into a little more speed to be able to close out that last 300m. I have had 5 solid sessions between Payton and OXY. I am a lot more confident going into this race now that I have a few checkpoints and know where I am at.

As always, my goal is to beat as many people as I can and toe the line ready to compete and willing to hurt.

I'll be sure to give an update after the race.

As many of you know I am fundraising to purchase an altitude tent. Please check out my homepage for more information. 

Hypoxico Altitude Tent

I have been looking into purchasing an altitude tent for the last 6 months or so. My good friend, Rejean Chiasson recently offered to sell his altitude system to me.

Out of curiosity I called Hypoxico Altitude Training Systems to see what a new unit would cost. I was connected with a very helpful guy named Matt Formato. He provided me with tons of very useful information about their systems, as well is other information in regards to training and other useful contacts.

The benefits of altitude training have been debated. From my personal experience with going to altitude in Flagstaff for the last 5 years, I can honestly say that I see a huge benefit in my training and racing. Living in Toronto with an altitude system is the ideal. You want to live high and train low. So spending as much time in my altitude system at 9000ft, while at home, and being able to walk out my door to 250ft, is almost as good as it gets!

Matt and the people at Hypoxico have been incredibly generous in offering to make the system more affordable. With their offer I would be able to get a brand-new system, with a warranty, and many additional accessories that would greatly help in my altitude training. For nearly the same price as their least expensive package; I would be able to get nearly every accessory as well as the largest cubicle instead of their smallest tent.

With the generous offer from Hypoxico, the total price would be nearly $4000. As most of you know, that's a little out of my price-range. I am writing this blog to reach out to all and ask for your support. Donations of any denomination will go a long way.

I will only be asking for donation confirmations until I reach a confirmed amount of $3000. After that point, I will contact all confirmed donors with options to either mail a cheque or transfer the donation either via paypal or interact e-transfer.

Donors will have the choice to remain anonymous or not. I will be making constant updates on my blog, twitter and facebook.

-Donations over $20 will receive a handwritten post-card from my travels, and their business logo on my "Sponsor" page. (Will be made shortly.)

-Donations over $50 will receive the previous, plus a Peter's Progress technical t-shirt!

Confirm donations by e-mailing me at peter@runpetercorrigan.com, messaging me on facebook, or DM on twitter.

Need for Speed

Last night was my 1500m season opener. All things considered, it went well. I pretty much ran even 60sec laps from start to finish. I felt solid and in control though 1200m, then I just didn't have any speed to close. That is exactly what I was expecting. I'm coming off a big base season and have only ran 1500m pace once before heading into this race.

I'm pretty excited that I can go out and run even 60s without any speed what-so-ever. It will be interesting to see what I can do once I teach my legs to go fast again.

Kate and I have extended our stay here in Santa Cruz, California. We will now be staying until May 18th so that we can head back to L.A. and race at the OXY HP meet at Occidental College on May 17th. Historically, this is an amazing event. Last year 3 sections went 3:35 or faster.

Time to put some speed in these legs!

Thanks for reading, remember to subscribe for faster updates. Follow me on twitter and facebook, and don't be shy to share my blog! Please leave any questions or comments below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Looking Forward

Leading into this race I had only hit the track about 3 times all within 2 weeks of the race. Leading up to that point I had still been doing long strength workouts on the roads.

You know what, I started writing that paragraph to explain the last bit leading into the race, but I feel like I'm just making excuses. I'm neither ecstatic nor disappointed with last night's 5000m season opener. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow I ended up in the fast section of the 5000m at The Mt. SAC Relays, and fast it was! Will Leer ended up winning the race in a world leading time of 13:21.55. In retrospect I kind of wish I had of contacted to meet director to put me into the heat below. That race was won in 13:41.90. I think I would have been up nearer the front of the pack actually racing, which I thrive off of more, rather than hanging on the tail end of the pack. In any case, I ran what I ran, I ran tough and hung on to a reasonably hot pace for 3000m. At that point I fell off the pack and the pace a little but and finished the race in 14:06.90, a 15 second PB. For that, I can't complain.

I've learned what I need to learn from the race, and now it's gone. I'm looking forward to next week where I'll be running my 1500m season opener and Payton Jordan in Stanford.

As always, thanks for reading. Follow me on twitter and facebook, and subscribe to my blog to get updates. Please share my blog and leave any comments or questions below.

Thankful

Tomorrow is the start to my outdoor track season. I’ll be racing in the fast section of the 5000m at the Mt. SAC Relays. I’ve done more miles and strength than I ever have and know that my body is ready to run fast. I just have to make sure my mind is on the same level and push through when it tells me to stop.

I’m extremely motivated for this race. The events in Boston were a number of different adjectives: silly, tragic, mindless, to name a few. For me, however, it has really opened my eyes. Along with the tragic stories came so many more of heroism, braveness, and example of how wonderful humans really can be. It made me realise how truly lucky I am. I have an amazing group of people supporting me, my very own integrated support team. From my parents, to my coaches, my sponsors at The Running Room, my friends, and my therapists, they are all behind me every step of the way and it’s comforting to know that. Of course, my extraordinary partner, Kate is a big part of that as well. She and I have both been so lucky to meet many people over the last while who are incredibly generous.

I could go on and on, but my message is this. I’ve worked hard over the last year to make my life and the people who surround me, positive. I think I have done a pretty successful job at this. Thank-you to each and every person that has been a positive influence in my life.

My race is tomorrow evening at 9:10pm PST. It should be a really exciting race. Mt. SAC has a live stream on their website, http://www.mtsacrelays.com/. Kate is racing in the fast section of the 5000m as well, she goes at 7:40pm PST.

Thanks for reading. Remember to subscribe to my blog to be alerted on updates, and follow me on twitter. I encourage you to share my blog and leave any questions or comments.

Came off Wrong.

It has come to my attention that my last blog may have come off with the wrong message.

I did not want to it to come off sounding as though I feel everyone is out to get me and looking for sympathy. I wanted to state a few hardships I have faced, and express how excited I am to have worked hard to get through some of them and start this new chapter and new and exciting opportunities within my community in Toronto and across Canada.

I wrote and posted that blog in less than an afternoon. I should have spent more time reading and editing it to make sure the point I wanted to make was the one I was expressing.

I left Florida on Saturday to come here to Mexico. I am incredibly lucky enough to be involved in a truly amazing project here. From the moment I landed, the inspiration I was feeling in Florida has increased an unmeasurable amount, peaking yesterday afternoon. We are building a cabin at 11,000ft, and between aout 10 off us, we erected an 18ft, 800+lbs log with nothing but human power. It seems like such a simple thing, but it was truly amazing, words can not express the feeling.

As I said, all the inspiration to be creative I was feeling in Florida doesn't even make a blip on the map compared to what I am feeling now. I am here in Mexico until Friday. I am both dreading and very much looking forward to the day. I want to stay here with the amazing people and continue to help in the process, but I am extremely excited to get back to Toronto and start my own process there.