I’m In …

 

Melissa's Road Race 2010, 22K

Sept 25, 2010

Just signed up for Melissa’s Road Race 1/2 Marathon. 

I know what I am going to be doing on September 25, do you?

Plod On

Speed Play – Week 6

Distance : 5.0 mi (approx) 
Time 50 Min (approx)

The lay me out on my back work out because after the workout I could barely make it to the car.  Thank god there were no ABS just pace groups.

The warm up was a little more intense.

• 3 Min @ 65%
• 3 Min @ 75%
• 3 Min @ 90%

Then dynamic stretching and six sets of strides.  The workout was really simple and tough.

• 3 x  500 meters @ 85% with a 2 minute recovery (1:45 min)
• 5 x 300 m (1:12, 1:11, 1:09, 1:05, 1:00) with a 1 minute recovery

After the first few sets I was paired with a young lad and we challenged each other to set faster times. Based on the times from this week we were placed in pace groups for the next sessions.  Gotta run us into the ground.

Plod On

Sunday Scavenger Hunt

Distance : 8.75 mi (approx) 
Time 1:35:00 (approx)

I went to my Speed Play session on Tuesday and was informed that it was cancelled due to reading week at the university.  That was an excellent idea so I took a recovery week and did NOTHING, really no abs, no push ups, no weights, no running.  A complete couch week of Olympic watching. I did head to Bowness for a little bit of skating on Friday.

Having completed the recovery week I headed to Westhills Running room on Saturday and treated myself to new shoes.  I tried on my usual shoe and did not like it so I ended up switching brands. 

Sunday I headed back to the Westhills Running Room for the 3rd anniversary Scavenger hunt. 

We completed the Scavenger hunt in about 4 km, then tacked on a run for another 10 km through Griffith Woods and back to the store.  It was a very pretty run through the woods in the Elbow River valley.

This is me with the mountains in the background on the way up to the top of the ridge, in the distance you (just beyond all the houses) can see the Elbow River Valley where we finished the run.

It was a fun run although a little cool to start and a little slow because of the stops.  Perfect for breaking in a brand new pair of shoes.

Plod On.

Jurassic Jog

Distance : 10.75 mi (approx) 
Time 1:35:00 (approx)

An away run, we went to Drumheller, Alberta to visit the Royal Tyrell Museum and stand in awe of the era of dinosaurs.  The town has 2 claims to fame;

1. it is built on a bunch of dinosaur fossils
2. it houses Alberta's only federal penitentiary

We were there for the dinosaurs.

The run was pure, no watch, no GPS, no clear sense of the distance.  It was running by feel, running the way running was meant to be.  My Garmin was sitting on the kitchen counter at home where I left it when I neglected to pack it. It is amazing how used to the Garmin and how dependent on it you get.  Every once in a while everyone should ditch the techno gadgets and run by the seat of your pants. 

The run itself was COLD, the temp was –16 C (3 F) with the wind chill was –28 C (-19 F).  I started this cold lonely run at 7:00 AM (just before the sunrise) and ran an out and back route with the wind at my back on the way out.  This meant I was running into a strong head wind all the way back.  It means I was sweating like crazy on the way out and freezing my sensitive parts on the way back.  This resulted in a gentle warming regimen and a commitment to purchase wind proof undergarments.

The good news was that I was running away from the sunrise on the way out and into some gentle warming from the sun on the way back. 

It is a very cool route, the road winds through the outskirts of the town, some abandoned coal mines through the badlands and sort of parallels the river.  A very scenic run.  And then to top it off there are dino replicas along the run.  Kind of hoaky but makes for an interesting run.

One of the cool things that I saw was the giant T-Rex wearing those famous red Olympic mittens. I thought that was a great display of support for our Canadian athletes.

All in all, despite my griping and frozen parts, a good run.

Plod On

Running in Shorts (Spring?)

Distance : 6.5 mi
Time 57:41

It was 0 degrees C, the snow was melting, the sun was shining. It was a perfect day to cut out of work early and squeeze in a run. It felt like spring outside, maybe the ground hog was wrong. So I squeezed into my shorts and long sleeved T and headed for the River Pathways.

These are my spring legs, note it it hard to get a picture of yourself on an iPhone.  Ran west along the river towards Canada Olympic park and through the old community of Bowness looped around through the business district and headed back.

Pictured above is Bow Cycle with the 1988 Winter Olympics Ski Jump Tower in the background (that little spiky thing).  I took this picture as a homage to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics tomorrow.  The Ski jump tower is on the top of the river escarpment at the west end of town and is visible from most places west of downtown.

The run was OK but it started out rough, I was feeling the hamstring as a result of Tuesdays intervals so backed off from a tempo to a easy run pace.  My back ached , my other hip was sore, arms were tight, abs were feeling the workout on Tuesday and it all was saying DON’T run.  But I did and feel good about the last 5 km which I turned over at around an 8 min mile pace which is just a little slower than my tempo target.

All in All a good run.

Plod On

Speed Play – Week 5

Distance : 5.0 mi
Time 50

I got to Mount Royal University a little early so was able to squeeze in a few minutes of hamstring strengthening before the work out.

The warm up changed this week, from 4,3,2 to 3,3,3.

• 3 Min @ 65%
• 3 Min @ 75%
• 3 Min @ 85%

Then dynamic stretching and five sets of strides.  The workout was really simple and tough.

• 5 x 2 minutes @ 85% with a 1 minute recovery
• 5 x 200 m (0:35) @ 85% with a 1 minute recovery

Then foam rollers and 3 sets of abs work. Damn that is tough doing abs work after speed is just painful. Hopefully there is a benefit to it.

Plod On

Weekly Weigh-in #1

I don’t know if all runners are as compulsive about their weight as I am.  I weigh myself every day first thing in the morning right after I get out of bed.   I have gained a few pounds over the months that I had to reduce mileage due to the hamstring injury and over the Holiday season (why is it so easy to gain weight on vacation).

When I am feeling a little chubby like I am right now I have a tendency to chart what is going on.

Over the next few months I intend to drop the extra pounds and get into a good running weight again. My plan is simple, watch portion size and reduce snacks (like the 6 or so cookies I had with lunch). 

Simple does not mean easy.

Plod On

Ice Fog & Distance

Distance : 9.5 mi
Time 1:33: 20  

It was a frosty winter morning, the ice fog had rolled in last night and was still very thick. The thermometer on the house read –12 C (10 F) but when we started to run it felt colder.  The benefit of the fog is that the hoar frost was still on the trees for the run making it a very beautiful and tranquil environment for the run.

I ran with three others from the Westhills Running Room store.  We crossed Sarcee trail then ran to the end of 37 street to get on the Glenmore Reservoir Trail. We followed the trail to Crowchild Trail then Looped back to the store.

The trees along the Reservoir Trail were covered in frost and the mist muted the view of the reservoir.

It was a very Zen like easy run that everyone felt good about.

Plod On

Pain Management

Distance : 5.2 mi
Time 44: 24

The goal was an easy 8 km (5 miler) on a cool crisp sunny morning –12C (5F). When the sky’s are clear at night here it means a cold frosty morning. Although very pretty with the frost clinging to the trees.  I got into a good rhythm in that nice stride that feels good and you know that you can go forever.  It occurred to me that running for me right now is no longer about time management it is more about pain management. I have to find that stride and that pace that keeps the pain in my hamstring at a level that I can feel (3 / 10) but that I know is not damaging it more.

I ran along the river upstream from Edworthy park into Bowness then turned around and did the out and back thing. As I was plodding through the residential streets of Bowness I saw this really cool snow fort and had to capture it.

The back part was mainly running into the sun and was fairly bright all the way back.  Ran over this interesting old bridge that has been converted for pedestrian use. 

Unfortunately the deck is wood and with the frost on the deck the footing was not great.  All in All a very good run.

Plod On

Sunset River Run

Distance : 7.0 mi
Time 57:45

The day started early.  I woke up about an hour before I needed to and took advantage of the extra time to fit in a core and upper body strength workout.  This is not usually part of my morning routine.

After work I decided to rush out and get in a good run before dark.  I ended up leaving the parking lot at Edworthy park just as the sun was starting to set.

I headed towards downtown and ended up crossing the river at the 14th street bridge and turning around. I was hoping to catch the view of the setting sun off the buildings downtown but was a little late.

My intention was to get out and run, probably about 8 or 9 km and work out some of the residual lactic acid from the speed session on Tuesday.  Somewhere in the first km the easy run turned into a slowish tempo run.  I made the stupid mistake of running on the snow covered icy path right by the river instead of on the cleared path. Just after the turn around point I was starting to lag and was passed by black clad brunette with a pony tail and was inspired to keep the pace.  (No I was not being too macho and yes she still left me in the dust).

I am still having trouble finding my stride with the ham string injury.  I am finding that it limits my pace both in speed work and tempo runs. I am trying to up my mileage to see if that helps with the healing.

All in all a good run and a lot of fun.

Plod on.

This is my first post using windows live writer.

Technorati Tags: Tempo,Run,Sunset

Speed Play - Session 4

Distance : 4.0 mi
Time 40

Speed Play - another fun session that makes me wonder why I am doing this. After each session I feel that I am too old to be doing this stuff and wonder why I am even attempting to keep up to the 20 somethings or even the 30 somethings. But yet I keep going back. When I tore my hamstring my doctor told me to quit trying to keep up with the kids.

Tonight's session began with the instructor saying that this was session four of twelve and that next week we are going to start ramping it up a bit.

The session was:
- Warm ups 4 min @ 50%, 3 min @ 60% 2 min @ 75%
- Dynamic Stretching
- 5 Strides
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- 1 Min @ 85%
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- 2 Min @ 85%
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- 3 Min @ 85%
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- 4 Min @ 85%
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- 5 Min @ 85%
- 1.5 min recovery pace
- Foam Roller work
- 3 sets of ABS

Ramp up from that - now I am really afraid.

Plod On