Why do I do this to myself?

I was planning a 36K run on Sunday so in preparation I stayed out drinking late on Friday night, spent all day Saturday eating and drinking too much and stayed up late again and then Sunday morning rolls around.

For some unknown reason I didn't feel too much like doing 36K but I still got out there at 7:30. I did an 8K run before pacing the marathon clinic for 16K and then headed out for the final 12K. After about 1 or 2K I was already trying to give myself excuses to turn back early but we did manage to get 10 of the planned 12 in.

The long and the short of it is that I got 34K in, which wasn't bad.

The good thing about running with other people is that it makes it harder for you to quit, unless it's the guy from last week!

This week I am going on vacation so I'm not sure how much running I will get in, luckily it is a drop down week and I need the rest!

Taking it easy

Today I decided to go out for an easy 8K run and the snow was coming down. Luckily it wasn't settling but those big, slow moving flakes were giving me the illusion I was running in a giant snow globe.

The run went well, the legs were not complaining too much and I did a pile of stretches when I was finished. If ever you feel like you've been overdoing it but have to keep running because you can, make sure you add plenty of stretching to your regime, either that or buy a bike.

Only three weeks until the Around the Bay Road Race. Only 9 weeks until the Pig! And I have a vacation coming up!

Learn to run and have fun.

Listen to your body

I've been doing a lot of miles lately and not particularly slowly and my body has said 'Enough'. I don't feel like I have any specific injury but my legs are tight and achey so I decided to take a couple of days off. I'm still planning a long run on Sunday because next weekend I'll be away and getting rest if I like it or not.

I'm hoping to go out for a nice and easy jog tomorrow to loosen up the legs.

Of course, when I say 'listen to your body' I do not mean that little voice you often hear which keeps telling you to dress in camouflage and take out that guy in the next cubicle.

Beginner running training.

Dashing through the snow

After yesterday's downfall, I wasn't looking forward to today's run too much. I could see before I left that the trail had not been cleared so I would be hopping through 6 inches of snow at least for a couple of K.

Well I wasn't wrong. It was clear to the trail, then about a kilometer of 6 inch snow which was very uneven. Finally I got out to the Sunnybrook driveway which was clear but had to face coming back through the deep stuff.

Once I was on the clear pavement, it was a great run. It was only around freezing which felt good and the new snow looked nice. Once I turned around I decided to bypass the deep stuff and head down Leslie and up Eglinton. I was thinking I was so clever until I got to Don Mills and the 4ft high snow bank and small lake behind it was stopping me from crossing the road.

One wet foot and a couple hundred meters later and it was all over....at least for today.

Run for Fun.

Freeze one side then the other

Sunday's long run started out with a 16K run with the marathon clinic guys. Not a bad run except on the way back I noticed the wind was picking up from the east and I had another 18K to do once this run was over. Once we got back, I filled up my water and off I went for the last 18K but I had the sense to head into the wind so it would be at my back on the way home.

At one point I was heading straight north for about 4K with the wind hitting me on my right and there was very little shade from it so my right side was frozen but my left was relatively warm. When I turned around to head home, I really noticed the difference as my left side started to freeze and my right thaw out. It's a good thing that I only sweat on my right side!

I was about 3.5K away from finishing and I saw a runner I know who likes to give advice and he turned around to run with me. At this point I didn't want or need his advice so I decided to speed him up so he couldn't talk too much if he wanted to stay with me. I was actually surprised he managed to hang on but the conversation was down so that was a bonus.

Yesterday we had a ton of snow so today's run will likely not be too much fun but I have to do an easy recovery run after all those miles.

Beginner running programs.

The tale of two runs.

My server has been so slow this week that I've had trouble updating the blog but I'm still alive...

Wednesday I went out with the marathon clinic to run 10K. We have had a strange mix of good and bad weather this week so the route had lots of icy patches. The first and last part of the run was good but in the middle I started to struggle a little bit. It's probably the result of eating ribs less than an hour before the run. MMMMmmm Ribs. We ran the somewhat hilly Spruce Hill route which was a nice change.

Thursday I was too busy with an emergency to run but Today I got out. The temp was -12°C but the wind was blistering down from the north and the wind chill was about -25°. I had originally planned a speed workout today but when I saw the weather I decided to run a fartlek. I started out running into the wind and the first 2K were well under 5min/K so I thought I'd do K 3 at an easy pace. 4:55 later it was done so I sped up for a while.

Once I turned around at 4K the wind was at my back and I was just flying and felt much warmer so the pace quickened even more. At this point I though, forget the fartlek, just make it a good tempo run.

So even with the killer hill at the end and the 40-50km/h winds for the first 4K, I still averaged a 4:43 pace and felt good, at least until I jumped into the shower. I looked like a lobster and had a burning itch. Not my usual burning itch either.

Corporate and charity running programs.

Spring is in the air.... at least today.

Today was a great day for a run. It was about 5°C and mostly sunny so I went out to run 6K. The trail was a little wet due to all the snow melting but I could handle that in exchange for the warmer temps.

Corporate running training.

Busy Busy Busy

Friday I had to skip my run because of a scheduling conflict but I managed to get out for my long run on Sunday. On Friday to forecast for Sunday was +4°C and sunny, but I guess someone forgot to tell the weather.

When I left on Sunday it was -12°C. It did improve but it wasn't as advertised. I split my run in to three parts. The first was a quickish 9K before the clinic started, then I ran 13K nice and slow with the marathon clinic and then a quick change of shoes and I was out there again for the final 10K which we ran pretty quick.

I felt pretty strong but the Adidas were giving me blisters under my arches and I had to change into my older Nikes. I've already put 210Km on the Adidas but they still don't feel broken in. Needless to say the search for good shoes goes on. It's such a shame that Nike stopped making the Span Triax which worked really well for me for over 2 years.

Hit The Road Web Site.

Slow in the snow

Last night I went out in the falling snow and ran the marathon clinic guys for 10K. Actually it was quite a good run considering the conditions. The main thing is everyone survived.

So it snowed all day yesterday and most of the night but by lunchtime today the sun was actually peaking out so I went out for a nice and easy 6K. It was much colder today, about -7°C + lots of wind chill. The wind was wailing and I didn't enjoy the run too much. I even had a stitch for most of it that I couldn't shake off.

Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I plan to go downtown and scope out a potential site for our next Beginner Program.

Beginner running programs.

Not cold but wet

It rained most of the night and all morning and didn't look like it was planning to stop but by the time I got out for my 6K today it had done just that.

It was about 5°C and I was dressed for about -10 because I thought I was going to get wet.

I tried running south on the trail thinking it would be clear by now due to all the warmer weather we've been having. WRONG! It was clear for just over 1K but then I hit the parking lot and it was all snow covered or puddles. I turned around and ran north but then had to figure out where to turn around to get back in at 6K.

So apart from the odd leap to avoid a puddle and the couple in the back of the Corolla, it was a pretty normal run.

Tomorrow night I'll be pacing the marathon clinic for 10K so this week I've switched my speed work to Friday. I still need to figure out how to run 32 on Sunday and only pace the clinic for 13.

Charity running clinics.

The long run parts 1 and 2

This Sunday I was planning a drop down week of 24K but the marathon clinic was scheduled to do 13K. So my plan was to get out early on Sunday and do 11K on my own and then pace the clinic. Well as usual I got up too late and took too long to get out there so I only managed to run 8K for the first part of my run.

The clinic run went well and seemed to be over quickly which shows we were having fun on the way.

It was really foggy but it was pretty warm, probably just below freezing but it was nice to run without a winter hat.

I now have the running schedule for the marathon clinic so now I have to adjust my plans for the flying pig around it.

Corporate running programs.

Spring....No..Smog is in the air

It's been a busy week so here's the quick version of what's been going on.

Wednesday I was planning on doing a speed workout but had forgotten I was pacing the marathon clinic so ended up running 9K in the evening.

Thursday, because I did a couple of extra K on Wednesday night I only ran 4K at lunch which seemed like a very short run. The weather had been better the previous 2 days but it wasn't bad for February, hovering around 0°.

Today I went out for 6K and it was about 4°C. A nice run without having to wear a winter hat. The problem was the smog...in February. It was bad enough to notice and there was actually an air quality warning issued today.

This weekend I will be doing 24K on Sunday, 13 with the Marathon clinic. The forcast is for 7°.

Hit The Road Web Site.

Around the Bay 30K

Well I'm signed up for the Around the Bay 30K on March 20th so I can't quit now. Actually I'll be using it as a training run for Cincinnati and Ottawa marathons but I had a blast last year and a bus is being organized by Jocelyn and Angela. Take a look at their blog here.

Today's run was an easy 8K and the weather was much better than the last week. It was about -4°C and bright sunshine. You could tell it was warmer because the birds were actually making noise today. The trail was almost clear of snow too.

Tomorrow it's back to speedwork.

Corporate and Charity Run Team training.