(C) Copyright - Christopher Kelsall - 2009

Steve Osaduik had a rough 2008. After years of dominating the local race scene (British Columbia)and at the same time developing a seemingly ever-improving running resume, he finally experienced his first running injury of note.

Although Steve has raced on occasion through the recovery process and often with decent results, he was ‘off’ and there was no denying it. 

After reaching a peak of sorts during the 2006 Royal Victoria Marathon, breaking the 27-year-old course record and running, at that time, the fastest Canadian marathon for the year of 2006 with a 2:16:47 result, just about every other race performance that followed, paled in comparison.

Change will do you good

Steve moved to the lower mainland just outside of Vancouver, became a father for the first time and integrated himself into a much-improved training group, which includes Mark Bomba, Richard Mosely, Jerry Ziak and a few others. He has been meeting this group for workouts consistently and the fitness has returned.

Recently, Oz decided to test himself seriously in a 10,000m race at the Stanford Invitational in California, March 27, 2009. Although it has been a long time since he has raced seriously on the track, he needed to find out where his fitness was at.

With a self-proclaimed-modest 10,000m personal best of 29:57 and a road 10k record of 30:00, Steve felt ready to grab his first pb of any sort in three years.

He ran a 45 second pb at Stanford, finishing comfortably (for racing) in 29:15, leaving him to wonder what he could have done if he had sharply peaked and focused solely on this event. As the saying goes, only time will tell.

Steve wants to race at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships, also dubbed the Marathon Cup, which will be held in Berlin, Germany in August, 2009.

A few questions

CK: Steve, you were making comments on your blog about looking for a pb at the Stanford Invitational 10, 000m. Were you thinking as much as 45 seconds when you posted those comments?

SO: Yes I was thinking that at least, I had tried to talk myself into running under 29 and all the way up ‘til 20 minutes before the race I was still thinking about that when I finally sat down and told myself that I have travelled a long way and spent a significant amount of money to come to this high quality race to improve on my modest 29:57.

I decided if I was to run myself into the ground early and possibly not finish then this would be a big waste of time and I would be in a bad frame-of-mind for the training that lay ahead during the next 8 weeks. I basically sat in a porta-john before the race and said (to myself) just stay relaxed and run this thing like a marathon, be patient. You are going to pr and run at least 29:20, do that and maybe you can get into another 10 km down the road and take some chances there.

CK: Since this one felt good, did you have any post-race thoughts about maybe going faster?

OS: In hindsight I should have dropped the hammer with 2 km to go like I had nothing to lose. I guess I am a little rusty on the track and I could have raced it a bit more.

CK: Is there a key workout or longer run where you could tell that you are ready to demonstrate an improvement in fitness?

SO: Yes, I think the key workout was the 2 x 2 mile Richard [Mosley] and I did at the track in Richmond. We ran the first two miles controlled in 9:17, switching off every 800 meters, with a 5-minute jog, then another 2 miles, which I ran in 9:04, Richard also hit 9:04. I knew after this session, that I could run something much better than I had before, the workout just felt solid and controlled. The more I thought about the workout after it was done, the more I wondered how much faster I could also probably drop my 5km time as well.

CK: What was pre-race like, were you in a good spot, to stay relaxed and repeat good thoughts to yourself?

SO: The race was so late, 10:45pm, and we got to the track early 7:30pm to pick up our packets before the 8:00pm deadline. I pretty much sat in the stands and watched the 5km heats and tried to stay warm in the stands. Another Canadian who we were staying with in our hotel, Dylan Wykes was running the first section of the 10km, so we sat around ‘til that pretty much started and watched 3 laps of the race and then went for a long jog to warm up for our race. It is a long race and conditions that day were great so the main thing for me was to just relax, focus on my game plan and stay loose.

CK: You have a pretty solid training group scattered around Greater Vancouver. I am guessing the 45 minute drives to Stanley Park, Richmond and to various areas around the lower mainland seem very worthwhile now that you ran 29:15?

SO: Well I like driving, I have driven myself all the way to Flagstaff without stopping, trained and drove back a few times already, so a drive to Richmond, Stanley Park, Burnaby Lake or Mundy Park is no big deal. It gives me time to get ready for the run or workout mentally.

CK: Which marathon are you looking at this spring; I am guessing Ottawa?

SO: I am going to run Ottawa, I really have no other choice this is the only way I have a shot at qualifying for worlds in Berlin in the marathon.

CK: Are you running the Vancouver Sun Run April 19th and the Times Colonist 10k after that or possibly another 10, 000m?

SO: No I am running the Montreal Half the same day as the Sun Run, our national [Half-marathon] champs, and then it is back to training and focusing on the last 6 weeks of my marathon build up before Ottawa. There are a couple of opportunities to possibly run a 10km and a couple of 5km’s afterwards, but that is something that I am not thinking about at all right now. It really has no bearing or place in my goals for this year.

CK: January you ran decently at the Pioneer 8km with a 24:17, which was coming off of training on the treadmill. In the race photos you looked a little heavier than you do now. Have you consciously lost a few pounds or has the weight come off due to many weeks of quality sessions?

SO: I ran the 8km against my best judgment; I had not been running for several weeks before. I took a bit of time off after National Cross and by the time the 8km came around I had only run for a week and a half and most of which I did on the treadmill, so I am sure I was much heavier. Probably about 8 pounds at least, and now that I am getting into marathon specific work I will get even lighter as the weeks count down.

CK: Can you give us a little example of what you will be doing that is marathon specific, perhaps a sample-training week?

SO: I have 3 specific long marathon workout days, mixed in with other good sized workouts of repeats or intervals, but it is those three workouts I think that will really let me know what I should be capable of Ottawa week end. One example is a 10 mile medium pace 5:45 - 6:00 pace, 10 miles at tempo pace getting down to close to marathon pace, or 10 seconds from marathon pace 5:15-5:17, 2 miles easy at the end.

These are nothing special just long hard workouts that will build my confidence and let me know how I am reacting to the training I am doing. As far as what the week would look like:

Monday and Tuesday would be double days with runs at whatever pace I need to be fresh for a mid-week workout on Wednesday, this workout would be of decent volume and pace. Then the next two days would be recovery runs up to 12 miles and two runs-a-day.

The main thing my coach said was you need to be thinking 2-3 days ahead so take your easy days easy and make sure you are up and ready for the workouts on workout days. This would get me to Saturday where I would do the workout or a run like stated above, marathon specific. Sunday medium distance, easy and probably just the one run for the day. For mileage quantity, I should be around 120 miles for the week on average.

CK: Thank you and good luck in your training leading up to the Ottawa Marathon.

OS: Thanks.

Chris is a member of the Lydiard Foundation

Contact: chriskelsall@flocasts.org