Sunday, July 12, 2009

Holiday Adventures

Busy, busy and no time to blog with sporadic access to internet and so there has been a certain lack of updates here. Still running on most days and trying to follow my marathon training plan which first is a simple build back to regular running and long runs. My current fitness is obviously much reduced with the 6 week layoff but it's slowly coming back.
My 1st fitness test was a 5k run (race) on Canada Day, July 1st in nearby Grand Bay/Westfield near Saint John, NB. You can see my time above and the 10 year old that I nipped at the line! It was a hard run for me and required a couple of walk breaks (can you believe?) in order to finish without collapsing in a heap. Results for the race are here and some pictures here. Followed by a visit to my bro's for a nice brunch and BBQ.
The next day we headed for Vermont to stay at a bed and breakfast which was located right on the Vermont Green Mountain marathon course. With support from my co-pilot I ran/walked the 1st 1/2 of this out and back course while taking pictures and videos. Still haven't had time to edit them into anything worthwhile but you can see the route and pictures here. If you have Google Earth this site also has a cool feature so you can see my trip in 3d and also see the 'Street View' pictures with 360 degree views along part of the route. Very cool!
On to Ontario and Ottawa where I just love running along the Rideau canal and the many nice paths and trails that they have. I'd be tempted to move here just for the running... When I took this particular picture a couple of walkers commented on how I was able to 'multitask'. My reply was "No, I just like any excuse to take walk breaks". These little breaks have been a great way to extend my distances run and are a very welcome respite that allows my heartrate to return to a reasonable level. I'm now doing 1 minute or less breaks every 10 minutes of running and restarting when the heartrate is down to 130 (75%) or less.
Latest run this morning of 10 miles (with the short walk breaks every 10 minutes) went really well. I was only attacked by a protective red winged blackbird and had a coyote encounter that was kind of interesting. He crossed my path along the highway and then could be seen in a nearby field poking his head up watching me before taking off. No chance at a picture though.

So, a few more days in Ontario with family before heading back east. Planning to do a longer Boyden run next weekend with Andrew which will be a nice change of pace. I just hope that he can get used to my little breaks but he knows my camera is always at the ready in any case.

Take care and have a nice week!

13 comments:

Andrew said...

Ontario sounds very nice. Can't wait for our run!

DawnB said...

you're doing well Mike, looks to me you are getting right back on track.

Thomas said...

So glad to see you progressing. And make sure to beat those pesky kids.

Deb said...

Awww Ottawa, fabulous running there! I used to live there before moving to Calgary and it's where I did my first marathon :) So awesome that you're back in the full swing of things!!

Ms. V. said...

You inspire. I love how you beat that kid. They always come out of nowhere.

Congrats.

Michael said...

Great photo, glad to see that you're getting out and having fun. Best of luck with the recovery!

bricey said...

Looks like thinks are coming together. That race was very young - a 15 years old winner and 14 year old second place. Lots of kids even a 8 years old!! You certainly start them yound over there!!

Grellan said...

Your recovery is very impressive. Great photos as always. Green Mountain looks very scenic - and flat - so where's the mountain?

Ewen said...

Congrats on the age-group win Mike! That was a bit mean of you to out-kick that young boy.

Sadly the 3D feature on Google doesn't work so well with our backwards broadband - or should I say 'upside down'.

Enjoy the run with Andrew (and his jokes). I know he's been practising extra slow running ;)

gumushel said...

congrats on your first race back mike!

Bill Carter said...

Beautiful pics! One of the big payoffs of our running is the beautiful things we get to see.

Take care of yourself during the recovery and best of luck!

Garry said...

Nice to see the Canada Uniform back on the roads. Inspiring recovery! Looking forward to the upcoming chapters of the Boyden Lake adventures.

DawnB said...

hi mike the race was cancel because the XC courses run throgh a heavly tree populated park. I've seen huge trees fall in the park so I guess it is best to safe than sorry