Year end wrap up

Finished off the year with a nice easy 6+ mile run on an extreme sort of day when compared with yesterday. Instead of +4C it was -13C with a wind chill of -20C (-2F) and a light dusting of snow on the roads and trails. As usual it was fine when going along 'with' the wind of 10-15mph but as soon as you turned into it, well time to pull down the hat, and pull up the neck/face warmer. Could have used vaseline on the exposed skin as well. It was actually a rather pretty day with the sun out for a change and nice layer of sea-fog on the ocean from the cold air. My total time of 55min seemed slow despite holding back and running easy. Probably should measure this standard recovery run route soon.

So, this last running day of the year brought my total for the year up to 2215 mi which averages out to 43/week or about 6.1/day. You can see my weekly training and races in 2005 in the plot below. The usual ups and downs while training for my spring and fall marathons and now the continual ramping of miles since October as I get into the heavy Boston training. Don't worry, the miles will now plateau out for at or near the 70 level for the next 15 weeks or so.
To put it in perspective, I also plotted the last few years of running and average 'miles of trials' per week. As you can see there has been a slipping of sorts in the past few years after my PB year of 2003. Perhaps the miles do make a difference... We'll see this coming year as I attempt to hold a higher mileage base through and after Boston.
In reviewing my running goals for 2005, which get written on the 1st page of my handwritten log at the beginning of each year, I fared reasonably well.

1. Enjoy running, relax on mileage a bit and # of days per week. Try to reduce to 5/week. Check on the mileage part but went stir crazy with two whole days off per week and only lasted till early Sept before going back to 6d/week.
2. Turning 50, so enter a few races going for age group placing. Couldn't miss on the turning 50 part and placed well in the few races I did do this year.
3. Boston, Cabot Trail and New York were the goal races. Bombed again at Boston due to the warm conditions, did well at CTR, didn't get in to NY and did the KV marathon instead.
4. Stretch and strength exercises on my days off. Nope, failing grade here. Usually do a few stretches before runs but nothing to serious and not very consistent with the core strength stuff either.

So "that's all she wrote". It was a very good year in retrospect, stayed healthy, ran most days that I wanted to, discovered the interesting running blog world and am now all geared up for a great 2006! See you on the roads!!

Motivation

Still plugging away and putting in the miles according to the schedule, in fact yesterday snuck in an unscheduled 5 mile run on what was supposed to be a 'rest' day. It actually felt like 'cheating' on the program, even though it was just a very easy-easy run with heart rate alarm set at 80%. Don't understand what gets into me at times, knowing that rest days are important but when I miss my normal rest day (on Monday usually) it's like having some bonus mileage to start the week and can't help take advantage.

All this preamble is just to get to the point of today's post which is motivation. Where does it come from for me and how can it be explained? These thoughts occupied me for a good part of my tough midweek 14 mile run today. Conditions were fairly decent for us north-easterners with +4C (35F) and light to medium winds but the temps were falling and winds increased during the run. But still pounding away for 2 hours makes you think, 'What the heck makes me do this?" and it's tough to come up with a simple answer. Started to make a list in my head: love to run, enjoy being very fit, like the weight control, like to train for events like Boston etc but it still doesn't explain the why... Could easily be running only every other day, with 1/2 the mileage, pick and choose days based on weather conditions, and still manage a decent marathon BUT then I'd be selling myself short or at least would feel that way. So, still can't explain what motivates me every day to get out the door, it just seems to happen and feel lucky that I'm able to keep doing it.

Today's run was a total of about 14 miles in just under 2hr. Started out feeling flat and heavy legs but still managed the 1st 5 into the wind in 42:00. The 2nd 5mile return leg was nice with the wind at my back in 40:30 including the little motivational conversation with myself. Finished off the run with a post-office run with a noticeable change in temperature on the return home into the wind again.

Nice to stop and will spend the rest of the day, relaxing, blogging and planning for the new year. All those running and other resolutions to make, or not! Read a good post the other day about 'resolving to stop' to do things that are not important or distracting to your various life/work/running goals. Makes you think ;-)

Slip sliding away

As the holidays begin to wind down the running is starting to pick up. Two runs to report over the last 2 days, both on slippery snow covered roads and sidewalks from the blast of winter we've had over the past few days. Just did a very easy 6mi yesterday with the legs still sore/tired from the tempo effort on Monday.

Today was a medium effort 12 mile run on a perfect sunny day with beautiful blue skys and a light northwest breeze and temps around -7C (24F). Just enough of a wind that you noticed the difference in turning into it and had to pull the hat down and get the gloves back on. It was a fairly uneventful run which I did as a 7mi out and back out the highway to start (in 61:00) and then finished out with a 5mi loop around town (in 42:00) with a stop to pickup the mail. Traffic was light for the most part and ran on the edge of the slush on the pave as much as possible. Good run at a moderate effort and feeling decent with no real aches and pains, just a little tired.

While I'm at it here are a few pics from the dvd photo disc that came in the mail late last week from the Kennebecasis Valley Marathon in October. The highlight of this day was rain and cold! Here is the start in Hampton, N.B.

I ran the 1st 14 miles in a 3:10 pace group. Here is our little group with me holding onto the back of the pack in the early miles. I had temporarily ditched my rain jacket at this point when the rain let up momentarily.
Here I am alone nearing mile 20. Lost touch with the pace group around mile 15. Still able to grimace a smile and you can see the steady rain streaks.
Last turn before the finish, soaked to the core, and sooo glad that it's finally over!!
The finish, appropriately in b&w which are the only colors my brain was able to process at about this point. 8th overall in 3:20:03 but still disappointed in my time which was blamed mostly on the weather. We runners are never satisfied are we?

Tempo run to begin week

Three guesses as to the identity of the little snow sculpture by Chris and Anna ;-)

After a nice holiday break, I was more than ready to begin week 3 of the 18 week plan with a more challenging run than usual. Schedule was for 10 miles with 4@ 1/2 mara pace and so after a quiet relaxing morning with most of the family still catching up on their sleep I was able to slip out 'almost' unnoticed.

Bit of an iffy day weather wise with 2C (35F) a cold drizzle/rain and northeast breeze at 20-30k/hr. The shoulders of the highway were quite icy and so stuck to the edge of the pavement on the white line for the most part. Did the 10 miles as an out and back run with the final 4 miles in 30:10 which was as fast as I could manage today with the conditions. Translates to close to my MP and so I 'failed' on this aspect of the run. The intention and effort were there and HR was in the 80-95% range for the tempo portion so don't feel to broken up by the result . Total time for the run was 1:19 and felt fairly good for the most part. A few twinges in the hamstrings and got a little cold toward the end of the run but pleased with the overall run and a decent start for the week

Still loving it

You'd think that we runners would get bored or fed up with all the miles we put in, especially as you begin to ramp up the mileage with a training program and a goal that is months away. But no it just seems to get better on some days, like today.

We had a nice snowfall last night with a few inches of the wet heavy snowman making type stuff. After my usual carbo load pancake breakfast and several coffees I had enough energy to help Jo shovel the driveway, which was the least I could do before disappearing for a few hours on a perfect calm, mild day (just about freezing mark).
The legs felt a bit heavy at first and with the wet slushy roads the choice of route today was a bit questionable. In the end I opted to stay in town where people are not in as big a hurry and where I wouldn't get continually sprayed with slush and salt. Kind of wandered the streets, doing all the side roads, into SABS, the golf course, O'Neil farm road, Cemetery, Champlain subdiv, down the Bar Road and onto the beach which was open to Minister's Island. All the while going at a nice easy relaxing pace and feeling at some points where everything felt perfect and could just go on forever. Of course this only happened for a brief moments before reality cut in and my heart rate alarm goes off like I'm having a seizure or something! It was nothing like the 18 milers from hell that Andrew has been describing lately but with all the time in the world it was nice to just enjoy the running at a very easy pace.

The 2nd part of the run after a quick stop at home for more gatorade was just a quick 40 minute loop around town to make up the total time of 2:30 or so and about 18 miles as planned. At the turnaround mark I was lucky enough to run into S. who was just doing the Point loop today. S is also running Boston this year but does not have a high mileage plan like mine so we don't often see each other on the run. But it was very nice to talk and cruise along for a bit with another runner, the time just flies ;-)

Anyway, it was over all too quickly and 'that's all she wrote' for week 2 of the Boston Plan. All runs were executed as laid out, added a bit of distance, with a total of 63 miles in 9hr 30 min and year to date of 2162.

Meanwhile on the home front, all is prepared and the stockings are ready for Santa. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas shared with family, friends and loved ones. Enjoy!!

2nd Day of Winter

As promised, here is our tree all set up and partially decorated and ready for the big holiday. Only a 1/2 day of work to go, office party, last minute things to do and then settle back for a well deserved long winter's nap!

Today's run was a new record of sorts, that being 10 days straight running without a rest day! Because of the holiday scheduling and re-arranging I skipped my normal Monday rest day and will go 2 more days before I get a break on the 25th. It's still cold here and the run was at chilly -9C with windchill of -15C or 10F. Once again, and for the 3rd time this week I wore all the clothes that were in my bag at work. Amounted to 2 layers on the legs and 3 on upper body plus assorted hat, neck warmer, and ratty gloves with holes (hoping that Santa will notice). Total of 11 miles at an easy pace in 1:35 and did a figure 8 loop around town and out to the Ghost Road and then back to work. The legs were a little tired/sore and my upper body is also a bit sore from my tumble on Tues. Didn't feel especially good or bad, just one of those get the run in as scheduled sort of runs when feeling tired.

Nice surprise when I got home with a dvd of the KV marathon in the mail. It's quite a really good production of photos and slide show to music in the pouring rain. I may post some of my pics once I get a chance to go through it. Looking forward to a nice easy 6 miler tomorrow, but then the dreaded 18 miler (1st real long run) on Sat. At least the forcast is for milder weather nearer to the freezing point if not in the plus range!

Ker splat!

Or maybe just 'whomp' ! That was the sound of me hitting the ground midrun in the 13 miler today. I'm usually super careful on ice and snow but today I just got careless. It was time to turn around and head for home but a car was coming & in turning the other way from where I 1st intended to go my feet went straight out! Luckily the landing was evenly spread along my body and no damage was done but I still had 6-7 hard miles to go. Can count on one hand the number of times this has happened and feel lucky to emerge unscathed.

Todays run was a real 'workout' with some downhill repeats planned. There are not many days where I worry about my planned run but this was one of them. There was a 1/2 mile gully on the out portion of the run where I did a total of 4 x 1/4 mile downhills. Did these at a faster pace aiming for marathon speed but not quite there yet. I was thinking of doing a few more on my return leg but after the crash the plan changed to just do an extra mile further on and save it for another day. Also by this time the legs were starting to get sore, possibly from the 8 miler with 10xstrides on Monday.

Also by the end of the run I was reduced to counting over a few 'rough patches'. The detailed method is as follows. I don't count steps but rather focus on my breathing and count exhales which usually coincide with my right footstrike. I count 10 exhales and tic off one finger. Count 10 more exhales and another finger gets ticked off! Work my way up to all 10 fingers (still have them all intact) for a total of 100 exhales and then start over. Helps to focus on breathing and gives the brain something to work on as well. I also find that the pace usually picks up a bit and the form gets smoother.

Total for today was 13 miles in about 1:49. Tomorrow is and easy day, only 6 miles ;-)

Boston Training Plan Week 1 of 18, check!

Whew, that was tougher than I expected but most of the effort was in the mental anguish department. How to fit the scheduled runs around a busy holiday schedule? Between work meetings, lunches, Christmas parties and some more nasty weather I was still able to get in all the runs but in different order. Total for the week was 60 miles in 8hr 55min with year to date at 2099.

This morning was a short 6 mile 'recovery' run, originally meant to be the day 'before' the long run but it was switched due to our family get together. It turned out to be a tough slog on the treadmill, probably because the body was expecting a rest day and not another running day. Once I got through the 1st couple of miles the run went a bit better but still was harder than expected for an easy run.

The coming week is also totally rearranged so that I can get my runs in and not interfere with parties, work and most especially Christmas day! We're really looking forward to having the whole family together again for the week.

Today's get together was nice with lots of good food and family fun. Would like to have stayed longer but we had to get home so A could finish his homework project that he left till the last minute. He might even get to pull his 1st all nighter and still not out of high school!

Here are some pics of the new Havenese puppy. He's incredibly small and cute!

and he loves to play with the cat (who is the boss of course)
Nothing to do with running but that's OK. Have a great week all 4 of my readers ;-)

Oh, Christmas Tree!

Searching for the perfect Christmas tree takes time and talent (not)!
A little beauty doesn't hurt either... ;-)Final selection captured by our local gnome photographer.
Posing with the fallen prey.
Enough with the silly pictures! It was a lovely day here after the ice and sleet storm we had Friday night. Temps were near the melting point all day and so our little tree finding excursion was that much more pleasant. The tree is now awaiting the final preparations before being brought indoors for the decorating. We're only planning to put the basic lights on it as we must await the arrival of our first born on Christmas Eve for the final decorating (are you reading this C?)

And I got my scheduled run in this morning as well. Managed to get away at a reasonable hour for me (mid-morning) and had a fairly nice 17+ mile long run for the week. I'm not sure on the actual distance but my watch said 2:35:30 with about 85% of the run in the target heart rate range of 70-80% max. Besides dodging holiday traffic this was the main game I played today, run at a pace where the HR alarm would not 'go off'. This is easy on the flats but can be tricky on on the hills (up and down) on my route and so helped me from getting bored. Am I cheating at this game if I walk on the steepest part of the hill till it stops beeping or do the 'rules' say I have to keep jogging?

I do plenty of thinking on my runs when done alone and today my thoughts were mainly with Marc and the Running Chick with the Orange Hat who's posts from the past week were thought provoking and somewhat disturbing in various ways. Running is a great thing you can do for yourself but we all realize there is alot more to life. Be well and stay safe out there!

ps. bonus shot of our new resident attack cat (Cody). Doesn't he look worried? He's ready to 'get' his stuffed mouse!

Easy day on the mill

Nothing like falling out of bed and 10 minutes later you're speeding down the highway to nowhere. Even then I wasted several minutes finding all my gear and manged to totally awaken my poor sleeping wife. Will pay for that ;-)

As I keep saying its especially nice when it's cold as heck outside (-20C this am with windchill) and you've got a busy day ahead with various meetings and lunch scheduled. So, I managed to get 10 miles in before breakfast in 81:00 at varying paces from 6-8mph (10 to 7:30/mi paces). Didn't play any neat games like chase the rabbit as Paul suggested but just watched tv and adjusted the pace every 1/4 mile or so. It still felt like I was cheating somehow and taking the easy way out and it certainly was 100% less effort than my run on Weds. Using the HR monitor I was doing marathon pace at <80% HR max which was nice. Same effort on winter roads would probably be MP + 1:00/ mile.

Now all I have left this week is a couple of easy 6 milers and a long 17 on Saturday so Sunday is free for our Power Christmas brunch at Eileen's. Lots of food and fun with family and should get a first look at their new puppy. Tomorrow will be busy with a long drive to PEI to get Steph for the holidays. The plan is to leave early and be back before the storm that is headed our way for Friday night/ Sat. Wish me luck!

What the ...?

Walking home tonite the sky was beautiful with the moon rising and Venus's belt as Thomas described in a post last week. I'd seen this many times before but had never heard it named before and it was very nice with the moon.














Unfortunately I was about 5 minutes too late in getting home and grabbing the camera so these photos don't quite do it justice. It was nice, you will just have to take my word for it ;-)














However, my run today was not so nice (thus my title). I'm hoping for some warm Chinook weather from Dawn here soon cause 'it's some cold' these days. I was not a happy camper trying to slog out my scheduled 12 miler today. There must be a frustration factor built into winter running, as I know a 12 miler in the summer can feel like a short easy run. Today it seemed more like 20 and I thought it would never end. But it did eventually end after about 1:43. No vaseline again but at least nothing fell off and the windchill was only -16 or 3F.

Tomorrow the forecast is for more of the same so I plan to wimp out on the treadmill. Take that North Wind!

Penquin weather here already

It was one of those days where only polar bears and penquins were out and about. Besides the usual comments from co-workers like 'you're not running today are you?' it was a normal winter day that felt more like January than early December. There was no way that this runner was going to miss his 1st day of the training plan unless he was run over by a truck or something.

Conditions were worse than expected with a temp of -10C and windchill of -18C (or near 0F) and once again I was wearing every available piece of clothing and wishing for more. Could have used some vaseline on the face as well but maybe next time. Started out really slow and easy as there was a light dusting of new snow being blasted around by the wind. The usual around town route today with various twists and turns and hills and valleys to make up the required 8 miles. Also did a set of 10 striders, which were more like pickups, in the middle of the run. These were about 25sec fast running and starting on the minute after jog/walk breaks. Total time was about 68 min and froze up again over the last mile into the wind.

Not much else happening except that the walk to/from work of about 1 mile was a good way to wake up and cool down after a long day. Might be the winter parka and scarf but I didn't seem to notice the cold as much. Looking forward to having Otto back from NZ tommorow which should make the work routine a little easier with him around.

Lots to talk about

Who is that strange man in shorts?! He is saying 'What kept you? I already have 5 miles in!'
Make that 3 strange people, one with bells on, ready for an early morning jaunt...

Along a quiet snow covered back country road ...
With a beautiful layer of snow still sticking to the trees.

What a great way to end the week by getting together with some fellow runners for a long run! It was such a nice run that I barely remember the running, we did 17 miles in about 2:30 at an easy 9:00 or so pace. The conversation just floated us along while we cruised along in sort of an unconcious running state and it seemed it was over in a few minutes (but the watches beg to differ).

So what did we talk about? Well the usual, everything about running including training plans, Lydiard, Boston, races, marathons, diets, Cabot Trail, families, running injuries, whiners (you know who you are ;-) etc. It was great but over too quickly and we all agreed to do it again soon once the holidays are over.

Total for this last week of buildup training was 55 miles in 8hr 15min of running with a total year to date of 2039 miles. Tommorow I will start my Boston 2006 training off with a bang by having a rest day !!

Snowy Saturday

The storm is past and just a quiet landscape remains. Here is the same view of 'my' golf course as taken on Nov. 4. What a difference a month can make!
The sun was sparkling on the water and it's a beautiful day with temps now rising to near the melting point.
I like closeups and would have done more but my son was waiting in the van for me. We had been driving around getting him some experience on winter roads.
And I did get a run in this morning after clearing the snow off the driveway making for a good warmup. Just did a slow easy 6 miles around town in about 53 min. The roads were a bit slushy but traffic was light so I was able to run down the center of the street for the most part where the salt had melted the snow away. Nothing much to note except that I dragged out an old 'retired' pair of shoes for the run so that I could save my current good shoes for Sunday (i.e. not salted & soaked).

The plan for Sunday is to get up 'before' the crack of dawn and motor over to visit Andrew for my long run of 17 miles. Looking forward to running with him again but will need several coffee stops before hand ;-)

First real snowfall

At last, we had a nice blanket of snow today that looks like it may stay around for awhile! I'm originally from northern NB which has a much more consistant winter than we have here way down in the south with the moderating ocean near the coast. It is quite surprising the difference in climate a few hunded kilometers makes. My wife thinks I'm completely off my rocker but I do miss good sledding snow, even though it sometimes makes for tougher running ;-)

It started to float down about noon just as I was ready to start my run and there was an inch or 2 down by the end of my 9 mile 75:00 minute run. Right now we have a few more inches and the driving is kind of treacherous and slippery. The run went well, careful easy strides and only slipped a few times on the underlying ice. The route was partially on the golf course and various sides streets before returning to the golf course to get the required time and miles in. For the most part I stayed on the sidewalks and away from traffic on this 1st real winter storm we've had.

No problems to speak of in the run except for a friendly lab that I thought was going to knock me over, he came to greet me at full speed and then went sliding past with his legs still spinning... Silly puppy reminded me of our old dog now gone who just loved to run and play in the snow. Here's a picture of my silly dog from a few years ago.

Wimped out!

No, I did get my run in this morning, it's just how I got my run in that makes me feel like a wimp! A trip to Saint John was planned today so the dentist could torture me, to be followed by senseless wandering in shopping malls looking for the perfect present that can never be found.

Thus my usual midday run was rescheduled and in it's place I present the early morning dreadmill run! It's so easy, fall out of bed, slip on shorts and shoes and you are off with the hamsters... No worries about layers and the fact that it's -10C plus windchill and that Andrew is probably on his 2nd reload of the woodstove by now. However, I know he would proud of me getting up at 6:30 to do 6 miles before going off to work for a few hours. But... still felt like a wimp stinking up our basement while other brave souls face the elements. Hat's off to you all and you know who you are!!

Meanwhile, there is a nor-easter brewing and we should finally get some real snow tommorow. For that, I will make a special effort to get out the door, no wimping out ;-)

Commitment

It was one of those days when you just wish the wind would stop blowing for an hour or so while you get your run in, but of course that rarely happens. So after donning every piece of running gear available to me I headed out for my mid-week longer run which is now at 11 miles and will work up to 15 in the plan. Weather was -5C with NW 20-40km winds or feel like -12C (10F). Thankful for my neck warmer that I can pull up over my nose on days like this.

The run was an out and back with most of the 'out' (in 47:10) into the teeth of the breeze. Turning around was a reward in itself and the return trip took only 45:35, despite feeling that I was tiring. Maybe I just wanted to get it over with but there was not much 'fun' in todays run, just the satisfaction of completing a run as planned no matter what (almost). I guess that's what commitment means for me.

50 is my favorite number

Let me count the ways... First this is my 50th post and still just getting the hang of this blogging thing. You can see that I had problems with the formatting of my last post in trying to insert a table. It sort of works but seems to extend out to and overlap with the sidebar. Any hints on how to fix this on my blog?

50 is also the number of miles I ran last week and the number I plan to run at a minimum for the next 18 weeks. That's if things go according to plan and they rarely do.

50 is also my age and the past year has been a good one in many ways. Stepped back a bit from my running as far as mileage and took it easy. Did a reduced mileage marathon plan for both Boston and the fall marathon and still did reasonably well. Didn't run in that many races to take advantage of my new age group but placed well in age group when I did.

Today's run was per the new schedule which had 6miles easy with strides. Check! Had a nice easy run around The Point with 6x100m or so strides on a flat piece of road near the end of the run. Only did 6 strides as I was starting to feel tired/tight and didn't want to push it. The run felt great, especially the 1st few miles and legs felt fresh after a day off. Weather was cool and overcast with a slight wind, about -3C but no flurries as predicted.

Plan for Boston 2006

OK, I really do have a plan but does that mean that now I have to actually 'do it' ? This looks do-able on paper and is close to (but still more than) what I've done before and survived without injury. First, my apologies to Lydiard devotees but I'm not quite ready to work up to 100mile weeks, especially over the winter. Perhaps in the spring after I get Boston out of my system things will come around.

Based on Pfitzinger: More than 70 per week: 18 weeks (with modifications)
- main difference is making Mondays a total rest day so only 6 days/week running
- add more variety in long runs with some MP mixed in; may do more in early weeks with pace
- add 3-4 days of pushup/situp core strength & stretches on easy days
- use treadmill for easy early am runs and some faster running when winter conditions interfere
- doubles are scheduled but may be reduced depending on how I feel
- 2 additional easy runs, 6e or (6e am + 4e pm) to make up total mileage with HR<130

st = strides
@ paces = MP marathon Pace, 1/2 marathon, 5K race paces
4e = 4 miles easy
am / pm = morning or afternoon runs
hills down = downhill repeats of 800-1000m at MP with easy jog back up

Week	Tempo	Midweek-med long	2nd Midweek	Long run	Total	Notes
1	6w/10st	11	9	17	55	Buildup week
2	8w/10st	12	10	17	59	Begin plan
3	8w/10st	13 + hills down	11	18	63	Endurance
4	10w/4@1/2 mar	14	12	16	64	Phase
5	10w/10st	14 + hills down	12	19	67
6	10w/4@1/2 mar	15	13	20	70
7	10w/10st	13 + hills down	11	16	62	Recovery week
8	11w/5@1/2 mar	15	12	20	76	Lactate
9	12w/6@1/2 mar	15 + hills down	8w/10st	22	77	&
10	7w/10st	15-am 4e-pm	13	16w/12MP	75	Endurance
11	9w/6x600 @5k	11-am 4e-pm	9	16	67	Recovery week
12	12w/7@1/2 mar-am 4e-pm	15 + hills down	8w/10st	24 (3:10-3:20)	83
13	9w/8x600 @5k	15-am 4e-pm	8-15k race	18w/last 2MP	72	Race
14	12w/6x1000 @5k	15 + hills down	12-am 4e-pm	18w/15MP	78	Prep.
15	9w/10x800 @5k	14	8-15k race	20w/last 4MP	69
16	12w/6x1200 @5k	15-am 4e-pm	8w/10st	22w/2x5MP	81
17	10w/5@1/2 mar	14 + hills down	10w/8st	17w/last 5MP	64	Taper
18	9w/8st	9w/3x1600	8w/8st	13w/last 2MP	51
19	5w/8st	8w/2MP	6e	rest	32
20	Boston, Monday April 18				26.2

Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. Please send flowers to .... ;-) Thanks!

On the long run again

A chilly but nice sunny day for a long run with temperature about -5C (21F) and a light westerly wind that was noticeable. Thinking about Mike running in the Tucson 1/2 in 65F temps on a fast course, good luck Mike! Also remembered Andrew who likely had his feet up and was on his 2nd cup of tea by the time I started at 9am. I'm just not a morning person but hopefully we can still co-ordinate for some more runs over the winter. At least we don't have snow and cold that turns all your extemities different shades of 'pink', right Dawn?

It was also cool enough at last night's parade as you can see from the pink faces of the carolers. Some of you may even recognize a couple of bundled up faces in the background.
As usual it was small but well attended and of course was on St. Andrews time (meaning late)!
Even Santa and his reindeer made an blurry appearance.

But back to the run, besides thinking about fellow bloggers I actually ran into another runner (FG from Florenceville) and we had a nice chat as we cruised around the sideroads of town for a mile or two. The great thing about company is the conversation and the fact that you don't even notice the chill. When F. peeled off, I was on my lonesome for the rest of the 16 miles that I managed to complete. It went fairly well, no complaints from the legs except over the last couple of miles where they felt heavy and a bit wobbly. Nice to stop and call it a day!

Total of 6 runs, 50miles, and 7hr 42 minutes on the roads for the past week. It's been a nice build up since KV and after one more week of this I'll be ready to start training for real!!

Need a plan

One more week of aimless easy running to go then I gotta come up with a plan. Unstructured running is great to a point but having a plan that pushes you more than normal works for me.

Just an easy 8mi or so today in about 66:45 on a crisp sunny day -2C(wind chill -7C or feel like 19F). Headband and long pants were definitely part of the costume today. Made a loop into work to get my good running shoes which are needed for the long run tommorow. Then around the golf course and Point before returning home.

This afternoon I'll work on 'the plan' which I've been procrastinating about. Looking back at some of my previous logs should prove useful as I attempt to reach the next level. We'll see...

Where is the jungle?

Not too often I get nervous before a training run but this was one of those days. It's been over a month since the marathon and all the training has been at easy or as-I-felt-like-it paces. The plan today was a tempo run and since I commited to it publicly, well you know... gotta follow through and report on success or disaster.

It was back to the awful wind and rain weather again. Woke up around 715pm (just as Andrew is likely in the middle of his run) to the sound of sideways rain beating on our windows. Briefly felt sorry for him and went back into my morning before-coffee daze. By the time I got around to starting my run it was past noon and still had the butterflies. Dragged my feet, had a banana, extra stretches, do I need a rain jacket? Looks like the rain is stopped, lets do this! Temp was about 5C (41F), cloudy, light 10mph SE wind.

After my warmup which goes straight up this 1/2 mile hill and more stretches I was off. Felt good to move the legs a bit faster but I also felt kind of clumsy and awkward. Smoothed out a bit by the end of the run but there is alot of rust/carbon in the system that must need burning out. Maybe some strides now and then would help.

Anyway... I was cruising along, just starting to feel in the groove about 10 minutes in, when this guy, obviously a lost tourist, walks out onto the golf course stops me and asks (I am not kidding!) 'Excuse me, where is the jungle?' I said 'What do you mean???' It was a language thing, he was looking for the 'forest' and 'jungle' was the word that came out. I explained between gasps that there was no jungle but that he could find his forest off in another direction (he wanted the walking trail). Looking at his clean shiny shoes I also suggested the paved golf course path we were standing on would be better and that he might get very wet (and dirty) on the trail (in the jungle). Strange encounter and I was off again and my HR obviously needed encouragement to get back up to speed.

The rest of the run was uneventful except that it started to rain with the wind picking up a bit and was glad that I decided to wear a windbreaker today. It was quite a comfortable pace with HR between 80-90% max and felt like I could maintain this for awhile. I usually push the pace/effort a bit more to the high end on tempos to feel like 1/2 marathon pace but kept it midrange today. Felt good, powered up the hills and backed off a bit as needed to keep from going over the redline. Overall 70% of the run was in the planned range and the time of 43:00 for the 5.5 mile loop was 5:30 faster than yesterday. This will be the standard for the weeks to come. Interesting run and looking forward to repeating it ;-)

Competing against 'me'!

I think the best competition is the one with yourself. Previous races, standard running routes, etc. I look at some of my pictures from a few years ago and think 'I know I could take him' !

It also makes training more interesting to do the same route while keeping heartrate within a particular range. On Monday I did The Point without any thought about pace or effort, except that I had an appointment and hurried so I wouldn't be late. Today I set my HR alarm and tried to stay in my easy range (70-80%) and did it about 2 minutes slower including walking at the top of the hills to stop the beeping. The net result was 80% within the range today while on Monday only 40% was in the range.

While it is not recommended to be a 'slave' to your HR since it can be affected by many variables besides pace (health, weather, hydration level, duration of run) it is a very useful device as a tachometer on easy days. It will also be instructive to look at results for the same run as fitness hopefully improves over the next few months. Unfortunately I can't control for the weather and I must pick and choose my test days.

The plan for tommorow is to do a 'tempo' run on the same course with a HR range of 80-90% after my usual 1/2 mile hill warmup and stretches. I can't wait to see what happens ;-)

Another fine day in the Maritimes!

What a difference a week makes, from below freezing a week ago to today with +13C(55F). It was overcast with a medium SE wind that made the return of the out and back more challenging. Did a medium long midweek run of about 9.5 miles in 81:40 with the return portion with more uphills and wind about 40 sec faster. Heart rate was low for the 1st part of the run but then >80% for most of the 2nd 1/2. Good run in general and nice to go longer (for me) midweek. Felt tired and winded after the run and generally had that lazy looking for a couch feeling. Good thing that I sit in front of a computer most days so I can get a rest.

Not much to blog about running wise. Still need to lay out my training plan for the next 18-20 weeks to get me through Boston. After that I need to prepare for my leg of the Cabot Trail and think about key races in New Brunswick through next season.

Skipped winter?

I don't know what's happening with the crazy weather but it was more like spring here today and did I hear there was snow in Texas? At noon it was sunny, light winds and about 11C (52F), so I went from long pants, long sleeves and a jacket on Sunday to shorts & t-shirt today. Great, I'll take what I can get cause I know it won't be so pretty in Jan-Feb wearing 3-4 layers plus vaseline etc.

Had a nice jaunt around the Point which I also had a chance to measure again. It's actually 9.1k (or 5.65mi) and pretty close to the 5.5 I had been estimating. Did the loop at a relaxed pace with watch hidden away in 46:15 with HR>135 (80% max) for about 1/2 of the run. I guess my normal pace when running alone is a little harder than it need be for an easy run but going any slower I feel like I'm 'jogging' in place... Also had an appointment to get back for so that might have pushed me along, and not to forget, 'it was sooo nice out' ;-)

Thinking about my Boston training plan and a response I had to someone who read my blog. He asked how I train and prepare for this race differently. My response:

1. Everything they say about Boston and being a killer course is true x2 but it's still my absolute favorite race. I train as hard as I can despite the winter conditions and have not had 'much' success in doing a good time though I did set a PR in 2002 with decent weather (it was overcast and coolish)
   
2. 1st up, my best advice is to train to run a good marathon (whatever you did before) but then to go there with no time expectations at all. Just go to enjoy and savor the great crowds and the event.
   
3. simulate the course in training, especially the DOWNHILLS! Practice downhill repeats at race pace on a regular (every other week) but be careful, its very easy to get injured. Distance 400-800m.
4. long runs with gradual UP-DOWN-hills at the end of your long run. The up-hills start around mile 16-17 in Boston and go to mile 20.5 and then almost all down. Work up to doing some race pace at the end of your long runs too if you can.
   
5. run at noonish to simulate the time of Boston. This will help figure out your nutrition needs and what you can handle and then run.
6. the weather!!! It's been over 70-80F the last 3 years and there is no way a northerner can handle this except running on a treadmill in sweats with the heat up. This is the main drawback of trying to run fast and the biggest reason for the many crash and burns.
   

Anyway, that's what I try to do. Any other ideas that people have had success with? Maybe we could get the BAA to change the date to Oct. 17??? Not likely, eh?

Another week closer to Boston

Tommorow will be 20 weeks to Boston 2006! It's almost time for me to come up with a training plan to get me in shape to run a decent race. I also need to consider what my long term running goals and plans are going to be. It seems a little early to start with the New Year's resolutions but here goes with my list:

1. Enjoy running, no if's ands or buts. Number one priority.
2. Develop a long term multi-year plan which builds up using Lydiard as the foundation while staying uninjured and healthy.
3. Improve my running from a to z. Despite consistant mileage and racing over the past few years I've not had steady improvements but rather a kind of plateau in the 3:20-3:30 marathon range. Besides running, there is core strength, stretching, cross training, maybe even some weight loss that may help.
   
4. Short term to long term goals are to get in decent shape for Boston 2006 and then continue to build on this over the rest of the year with a good fall marathon. From there maintain a base to Boston 2007 and then ramp up for a fall 2007 peak.
5. Run shorter distances as tests or indicators of fitness including even marathons run as training runs.
6. Run some longer distances to explore new running territory. My dream race would be to someday do Comrades in South Africa but 1st I need to win the lottery.

Meanwhile, back in the real world we had a nice sunny but cool day with temps around 0C(32F) with light winds. There was a light snow last night with a few cm(1 in) that had partially melted and had to be careful for some slippery spots on the run. Did my weekly long run more or less the same route I did with Andrew last week, but in reverse with less loops in town, and a longer trip out of town. Managed to get in 15mi in 2:08 but the legs were getting sore over the last few miles and so didn't push it or add any more distance (though I was tempted to add a couple to get to 50 for the week). Total for the week was 6 runs for 48mi and 1933 miles this year to date.

So far so good. Now the devil is in the details...

Easy running on a fine day

Sun is up, time to get rolling...
Looking out my window it's very inviting...
Even the birds are busy!

So what am I waiting for? Have to do my run so I can say something in my blog! Typical Saturday morning, take my time, enjoy breakfast and coffee, check my blogs (including pink ones) and roll on out. As you can see today was sunny, but it's also a bit cool -3C (27F) with no wind at all for a change.

Meanwhile the body is still recovering, now a month since the marathon and feel like doing more each day. Usually I make it short and easy on Sat since Sunday is the long run day but felt so nice to run today that extra loops were added and ended up with about 7.5mi in 60:40. Also kept the run easy with HR<80% for 2/3 of the run.

Rest of the day will be spent just lazing around and may start scheming about the Boston plan. Might even come up with a list of running priorities. There's nothing like writing something down to make it real and doing it here might give me the incentive to actually do it ;-)

Brrrr!!!

At least it can't rain when the temp goes -ve. Nice thing about the metric system is that 0C has some basis in reality i.e. things freeze and get slippery. I have no idea what 0F (-18C) 'means' except that it's friggin cold. First the weather report, -2C (29F), 20-40km NW winds, windchill -8C (16F), and my bike froze up on the way into work (gear changer seized and stuck in last gear).

But I'm not complaining! After yesterday's wet & cold (my least favorite running conditions) the sun was out today. Started out slow and easy with all the available clothes, including pants once again. Plan was to make it an easy day and hold the heart rate below 80%. Once I settled in, it was a nice run, warm enough except going into the teeth of the wind on the Point (again!). Even better there was another runner up ahead, which is highly unusual in our small town. At first I couldn't catch her, but after awhile the cold wind caused her to stop and walk backwards and I was able to join up. It was DP, one of the famous Twisted Sisters running group! It was nice to run together and gab for a mile or so and then we parted ways. A great treat to run with someone ;-)

My final numbers for the run were 6.5mi, 53:25 and 59% of run in the zone 70-80% of max HR. Looking forward to the weekend!!

Another nasty day

What is going on anyway? Another miserable day for running, with steady cold rain, barely 0C (32F), with a fairly strong NE wind. Had planned to do an out and back 30-30min route but changed my mind because of traffic and the chance of icy conditions and did a loop to the town limits and then around the Point.

Not feeling especially keen at first but resisted the temptation to take a side street and shorten the route (counted a total of 14 turnoffs passed). Once again it was the counting that kept me going, just do one more street... The worst part was the exposed peninsula as always and I started to feel cold until after the turn when the wind was behind me. Oh, btw I'm afraid that I buckled under with today as the 1st day in long pants this season :-( and was really glad I did! It was close to popsicle conditions for most of the run in the wind and rain, yuck! Total of about 7.5 in 63:30 and HR>80% for 55% of the run.

Hoping for a decent day soon, where the weather is not a factor and I can just enjoy the run. The best part of today's run was the hot shower at the end!

Flakes staying down

Managed to get in 6.5mi in about 54:00 before we got a little sprinkle of snow. I would have preferred to run in the snowfall but it didn't really amount to much, just make the landscape look nice in a soft white blanket. The run was slow but kind of hard mentally to get going. Once you're out the door the tendancy is to make it worthwhile and felt reasonable during the run, just tired afterward. Might just need more sleep, coffee has only a limited effect!

Crazy weather run

It's cold, it's mild, it's calm, it's windy, it's dry, it's wet.. it's all of the above! When you're a runner with a schedule, even if the schedule only says 'run today', and the weather is nasty all you can think about is 'how am I going to get a run in today?'. All day we've had pelting rain, high winds, dark clouds (even felt dark at about 3pm), but at least mild temps in the 12C (55F) range.

I drove up to St Stephen early this morning and was wondering how Andrew's run went in this as I tried to keep the van on the road with the high winds. Most people would pack it in but I know he is very dedicated to his running and was probably braving the elements no matter what. This gave me some extra incentive as I looked out my office window at the sideways rain and continual downpour but still I delayed and made excuses. Finally around 1230 it seemed to let up a bit so I headed out with only a light rain now.

Crazy run, branches down everywhere, golf course flooded with several inches of water flowing over the paved paths in spots. Made a u-turn and went around the Point which was completely exposed to the southwest winds (30-40mph at least). Have you ever tried to run with a sideways lean? It was the only way to make it but after the turn, things were better with the wind at my back. Final numbers were about 5.5mi in 49min. Was feeling a little tired and slow today and got to do something with those worn out shoes before the legs start breaking down. I did end up soaked like a drowned (but happy to get his run in) rat. Runners will understand ;-)

Downeaster's finally get together

What a great way to end a 4 week recovery with a long run with a fellow blogger. Andrew made the early morning trek from Eastport since I was unable to commit to waking up and being ready to go before 7am, let alone driving for an hour etc. I'm told by my better half that I'm am not a morning person and until at least 2 cups of coffee will have to agree.

It was great to actually meet Andrew, and he does look exactly like his picture! And he is fast too ;-) We had a great 15+ mile run, around the town, across my golf course a few times, quick pit stop for drinks etc and then out on the rolling highway to finish it off. The pace was great for both of us (I think) because we never stopped talking the entire 2hr 11min so it wasn't over our limits too much. Must say that some of those hills had us puffin a bit and it seemed that we picked up the pace slightly in the 2nd half, 'Eh Andrew?' It really was a treat for me to do a longer run with company for a change. Normally as the token local runner I only get to do this in races and the conversations there usually leave much to be desired ...'Grunt, wheeze, gasp!' I hope that this will become a regular part of both of our training weeks as our schedules permit.
Summary for the week was a total of 6 runs, 44 miles, including 4 days with sets of pushups and situps. Next week, I plan to increment my midweek and long runs as I edge up to the 50ies. Things are definitely looking up from a few weeks ago. There's alot to be said for a slow measured recovery process.

Cool pic for a cool day

This was shot during the Cabot Trail relay race a few years ago. It's a wonderful event with lots of runners having a great time staying up all night following their teams. I hope that our team, the middle of the pack Aliant Striders, makes the cut this year so you can hear my race report for 2006.



Just an easy run to report today. It is definitely getting cooler at -3C (27F) but sunny and very light winds so still managed ok in shorts, though I did get some strange looks. About 40:30 or 5 miles with a stop at the post office for the morning mail. They had a couple of packages and I must have looked even stranger juggling them as I trotted down the street after that. Luckily it was only for a few blocks where I dropped them off with my wife at the church sale. No question about the comments and looks I got going in there ;-) Finished off with a nice jog home across the frozen golf course. Ahhh!

Started out easy...

But then got slightly diverted by the cool weather and the very inviting golf paths. Bit of a blustery, grey day with sun peaking through, 3C (37F) and 10-15mph NW wind. Cool in shorts and light jacket and was wishing for an extra 'third' glove until I warmed up.

This was one of my random runs where I let my legs take me wherever. At 1st I thought it was just going to be a short one but once on the golf cart paths 'we' ended up doing the entire course along all the paved paths in about 45:00. It's a fairly hilly route and ended up getting more of a workout than expected and about 6miles in total with that 'pleasantly tired' (where is the couch) feeling for the rest of the day at work.

Weekend plan is for a short one (really) on Sat and then 12 or so on Sunday. So far so good ;-)

Pleasantly tired...

As recommended by Lydiard, this is how you should feel after your regular base mileage run at a 'good effort'. And he's right, a pleasant but not exhaused feeling but still...I feel more like lying on a couch than anything else!

Managed a nice out-and-back 1 hour run today at lunch on hilly road terrain. My out time was in 31:00 and the return leg on the exact same route was 29:45 with my watch hid away so I didn't 'cheat' (and speed up or slow down) for a total of 7.5mi or so. Was trying for an even split but its hard to do once you're fresh and warmed up. Weather was ok, overcast, light NW, about 7C (46F) and a bit cool going into the wind with shorts and a light windbreaker.

On the Weds. I did a short 40 minute run as well as biking to/from work and 2 hours at volleyball in the evening. So far things are well with the legs but am getting some minor knee aches which might be a sign of worn out shoes. The pair I use from work have alot of miles and are due for retirement soon! New shoes are pricey but good health 'is priceless' isn't it?

Now only if the golf course of mine would dry up, we had a ton of rain and wind last night and don't like getting soaked feet.

First Flakes

Busy day at work so missed my lunchtime run due to meetings. Pay back by cutting out early for a loop around town. Managed about 5.5 mi. in 46:30 and just as I started out, so did the first snowflakes of the year! Not enough to stick or make tracks yet so can't call it our 1st snow. The run went well, just a few knee aches which went away and was OK in shorts but glad I had my gloves and headband.

My favorite run has always been in or just after the 1st snowfall when everything is quiet, except maybe a foghorn and you can float along and enjoy the extra cushioning (even better when done on the empty golf course)! Maybe we'll get some more tonite! Am I crazy or what? Remember, I'm a Canadian and I've taken the 'test' and passed! Later...

Check, another week ticked off...

End of 3 week recovery from KV with a 10 mile (long) run. Up and out on the roads by 8am, which is very early for me. It was a gorgeous, sunny, calm Sunday morning, but cool 0C (32F) and very little traffic (1 or 2 cars per mile). Did an out and back route along the highway at a fairly even pace (40:50 out, 41:00) return and felt great. Not a single complaint, twinge, ache the entire run but did feel I was tiring a bit at the end.

Total for the week was only 34mi on 5 days running (1841 this year) but exactly where I want to be in the recovery. Next week I'll add 1 more day and 2miles on the longest run and do more scheming as to my Boston plan beginning in mid-December.

For those interested in my year to date stuff, here's a graph of my weekly mileage and the races I've done. Hope it comes out ok.

Cruising to the music

Quick little jaunt around town with an extra mile at the end (because there was a good song playing!) for 6mi in 49:35. Another cool day 1-2C (33-36F), dreary overcast with light NW wind.

Plan was just an easy run and to try out an mp3 player for the 1st time. Never listened to tunes before in all my years of running so wasn't sure how it would all work. Will the wires be a pain, will the earbuds fall out, will I still hear the traffic noises ok etc? Found it a bit distracting at 1st, seemed to hear my feet pounding more, fumbling at the controls with gloves on (remember it is a cool day still) but quickly settled in. The run just seemed to fly by and on the last long hill to home I just kept on trucking with 'Thunderstruck' playing and finished off with 'Back in Black'.

The pace was good today, probably bit faster because of the music and the legs felt great but were a little cold depending on wind direction. Don't want to start with the tights yet but afraid once it goes -ve I'll have no choice. Now to find some more tunes for the next run...

Coolish 11k on Remembrance Day

Sunny beautiful fall day called me out for a quick 1hr run before attending the Remembrance Day ceremonies. Temp was 1.5C (33F) with a light westerly so I wore gloves & windbreaker but still fine in shorts. Did an out and back 30:20 out and 29:40 back with same effort (more or less; its hard not to push the pace a little on return legs). Felt great, no complaints at all from the body, just like a Sunday morning run with very little traffic on this public holiday.

Easy day coming up tommorow and then a 'big' 10miler on Sunday. Hold back, hold back ;-)

Remember them

Nov. 11, Remembrance Day




THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD AS WE
THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD;
AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM NOR
THE YEARS CONDEMN.
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

No data to report

Forgot the watch at home which is probably a good thing and ran the exact same loop as Tuesday. Nice easy pace for the 5.5 mi. but was feeling grumpy after a morning of useless meetings so probably pushed the pace a bit. Legs were good with only the occasional twinge from the left calf. Weather was mild, light drizzle and wind, about 9C (48F) and likely alot better than it was early this morning when Andrew was probably running. The wind and rain woke me up and I had some kind thoughts for him from my warm and cosy bed ;-) He's one dedicated runner!

Doctor's visit went well, just an interview and blood pressure check (low normal). Now I go for blood tests and expect the usual story of borderline high cholesterol and the rest normal. I can report that the doctor, who is younger than me, feels I'm probably healthier than he is! Feeling pretty much recovered now as well. Eager for some longer runs!

A cool and breezy day

5.5 mile Point loop in 45:20. Coolish sunny day, 9C (48F), westerly 15-25mph, comfortable in shorts and long sleeve shirt. Same run as last Thurs. but about 1 min. faster at same effort level and lower HR so must be recovering. The legs hardly complained at all, just a little tightness and was able to open up a bit on the last downhill, feeling great! Thought about trying a few strides on the grass but decided to wait for another day.

Tommorow is a rest day and annual check-up at the doctor, hoping to be rated as fit as a 50 year old 'Swede' that can outrun most 25 year olds ;-) Now if I could only do something about my cholesterol but it's in the genes.

What a difference a week makes!

My 1st 'long' run since the KV pummeling 2 weeks ago. 8mi in 67:00 on a drab overcast day, 8C (47F) with a medium 10-15mph NE wind. I wouldn't normally call this 'long' but after the recent struggles to run at all and my aborted run last weekend this was pretty good. The legs finally behaved and my calves were tight but not sore until after the run. Out and back on my usual long run route at an easy/gentle pace and was tempted (for a few milliseconds) to make it 10 but decided my luck should not be pushed. Like Andrew across the pond my enthusiam for running often needs reigning in and its hard to hold back sometimes.

Plan is for several more weeks of easy recovery running with my 'long' runs increasing by 2mi per week until December when I'll begin the usual Boston 16-18 week plan based on Pfitzinger. The big decision will be whether I'll go for the 'Up to 55mi/week' or 'Up to 70mi/week' plan this time around. Not sure if I want to crank it up too much with one initial forecast for an 'active and cold' winter. I seem to remember we were supposed to get a mild winter!!! Let's hope!

Summary for the past week was a measly 22mi, on 4 days running, and 1807 mi. so far this year.

Short and sweet

37:00 on golf course for about 4mi. What a great day! Mild 10C (50F) no wind, cloud with sun peaking through. Started out with windbreaker but ended with it tied around waist and shirt sleeves rolled up. Unsure of what kind of run I was going to do today so just let the legs take me wherever. The cushy grass felt great, stopped for a few walk breaks at the tops of the hills and generally just went very easy. HR is still higher than usual but the calves were less of a problem today, still tight but not affecting my running much. Ready now for a longer run on Sunday.

Not running on 'my' golf course

Can you see me not running on 'my' golf course today?



You're right, I'm not there! So I biked the paths and took some pics instead. Bit of a cool day 5C (40F) with a light wind. Not much else to report. Calf feels fine just walking around and will do a little test run on Sat. in prep for a longer effort on Sunday. Hope the weather holds, there are reports of 10cm of snow in northern NB tonite. I like snow but not quite ready for it yet...

What a difference a day makes...

Two days ago it was like summer, but today we got the real deal, a typical cool blustery fall day. Overcast, light drizzle, medium sw winds, 6C (40F) at lunch time. Needed a jacket and gloves which I never took off but was OK in shorts. Managed to do my standard Point loop of 5.5mi from work in 46:10. The golf course was still open and empty but doing this loop is more along my usual running pattern and the recovery plan requires going back to the 'norm'.

My body, and legs in particular had different ideas. The 1st part of the run went well with an easy warmup, stretches and 1st mile on grass but then my left calf started acting up. It tightened more and more as the run went on and began to affect my (very easy) pace by the end and the heart rate was still high for the perceived effort. So the run was only about 50% successful, feels like 2 steps forward, 1 backward so far in the recovery.

I guess I'll take another 'REST' day tommorow and keep working on the stretching. Also been good with the crunches every day this week. Trick seems to just do them early before I'm fully awake ;-)

Summer in November!

What a glorious day we had here today, 17C (63F) calm, sunny and felt like a summer day!

Stretches, easy w/up, more stretches (left calf still tight) and then some easy running on the golf course. The course closed yesterday on Halloween and so I had it all to myself, running down the middle of their plush fairways. Was thinking that I needed a camera to show off how beautiful it is. Some of the Fairmont Algonquin ads call it 'a course to die for' and I must agree, for running on that is! Ended up doing about 4.5 mi in 38:00 mostly on the grass. The legs felt good, just the tight calves that I'm nursing along. HR was up despite the slow pace and my efforts to just jog easily but wanted to just kept going and going. However, its hard to fit a run in on lunch break and a meeting awaited me so I returned to work. Later felt a bit tired but 'the good kind of tired'. Now already looking forward to Thurs once I get through another dreaded REST DAY tommorow!

ps. also managed to get in 3 sets of crunches and pushups when 1st getting up this am, before becoming fully awoke and the body knew what was happening (trick sometimes works for me)

Short and sweet

4mi in 37:45 with walk jog breaks out to Flashing Light and back. Glorious sunny fall day, about 12C or 50F and medium NW breeze. Extensive stretching and more rest must have helped the legs since I didn't hear too many complaints, just a few twinges and phantom aches that came and went from various spots.

Looking forward to slowly easing back into the running, starting with ever other day for a few weeks. Also promising myself to do more stretching and core work which should be easy to improve upon from my a recent base of near zero in these departments! But I hate crunches and pushups ;-( We'll see...

Abort! Abort!

Woke up this morning to a beautiful but cool maritime fall day. No wind, sun peaking out, crisp air at 0C (32F), perfect for that 1st post-marathon jog-run. No rush today, start out with nice relaxing carbo-load breakfast with Jo's special Saturday morning blueberry pancakes with lots of strong coffee. Then carefully pick out the appropriate running gear including running pants (aka 'tights') for the 1st time this season, did the usual light stretches and was off!

Calm Bay


But the body had a completely different plan... Made it about 1/2 mile down the road and onto the golf course when my left calf started to seize up. Stopped and stretched and walked to no avail. Jogged a bit more on the grass until I came to the conclusion that going any further would be stupid and I might even end up not being able to walk back. So, turned and jog/walked slowly home for a total of 12:05 and about 1.5mi total. But not finished yet, then put on more clothes and jumped on the bike and did the planned 5.5mi loop in about 30min just to spite the legs. The easy pedalling actually was nice though the calf kept growling for the duration. Maybe tommorow...

Crisp fall morning 

Feet still up

Not much happening on the running front. Legs were feeling much better today, only a bit stiff and tight calves. Biked to and from work. Might do a few stretches now while watching TV. Maybe it's time for more ice cream!

Hobble & wobble

Definitely no running for a bit now that the marathon is over with. Usually takes a week before I'm able to put in a few pitiful hobbling miles but I miss my runs already! Results are now posted and there is a nice slideshow as well. It was nuts!

Plan on a month or so of easy running before gearing up the mileage and beginning a Boston training plan. Might be a real dilemma as to what kind of plan to do. KV was a decent result on alot less effort and mileage than usual and was only messed up by less than optimal weather. Figure that I easily lost 5-10 minutes with the cold seizing me up over the 2nd 1/2.

Never been much over the 60-70mi/week in the past and have always wondered how much more my body would take before breaking down (rarely get injured - but don't want to jinx myself... 'knock knock'). Silly runners, not even able to walk normally and already planning on the next campaign! Time for more recovery ice-cream....