Project 365 – Day 31

Will this cold never cease, the temperature when we woke up this morning and it was –29 C. It does not matter what scale you are using that is F’n Cold.

Today is a landmark day. One month of this 12 month project completed.  In this month I ran 97 miles  in 16 hours and 15 minutes. There are only 11 months left to go in this seemingly monumental task. 

I also have not weighed myself in 2011, this is another landmark. I will rectify that tomorrow morning but do not intend to fall back into the morning weigh in trap again.

Today was a junk day, it was hard to get motivated and hard to keep going.  I did a very long walk warm up, and then ran for about 15 minutes and then a long cool down. The run was a junk run, on a treadmill, a new low.

In total I covered about 2.25 miles in 25 minutes. The good news is that I did not push the hamstring and it was feeling better today so I may end up treating this entire week as a recovery period.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 30

Another cold day outside and a good reason to run inside. Since I am feeling  a little more Hamstring pain than usual, I did a short slow run on the treadmill.  I treated as a recovery run rather than the long run that was scheduled.

I guess sometimes you have to change the plan to stay relatively healthy. You know what they say any run is better than no run at all.

25 minutes @ 1% for 2.5 miles, including warm up and cool down. A good day

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 29

The month is coming to a close and the weather is going full circle.  January started with lots of snow and frigid temperatures. The middle of the month saw chinook conditions and melting temps with a record setting +13C last week. The end of the month is seeing tons of snow and cold temps.  I woke up this morning to –15 and 8” of snow on the ground. 

The temperatures plunged from +5 to –15 last night.  This means that under all that pretty white snow is a layer of invisible ice and poor footing. It was hard to get motivated to run after enjoying a few beverages last night and going to bed late.

An indoors treadmill run was in order.  I decided easy was the plan to pamper the hamstring I tweaked yesterday. So did a 50 min 5 mile run with a 5 min warm up and a 5 min cool down for a total of 5.5 mi in 60:00 min.  Did a little foam rolling after the run, great day!

Plod on

Project 365 – Day 28

It is getting cold and snowy again so this might have been the last opportunity for an outdoors run in the immediate future.  The forecasters are talking 25 cm of snow today and highs of –18 C for the next week. CRAP!

I got the dog ready and headed out this morning, she was not a happy camper and the run was more of a drag.  So much so that her collar popped off at one point and we had to re-leash.  We ran through a Boot Camp fitness group at the start of the run. I can not imagine or justify paying someone to run my ass of and yell at me at 5:30 in the morning.  Pre-coffee yelling can lead to a wumpin pretty quick.

We ran a modification of the route from the 26th with a little add on.  It is a nice route isolated from traffic and fairly flat.  A good run today but I felt my hamstring start to throb about half way through the run and it is still tender now. I might have to cross train for a day or two.

28:30 for 3.25 miles not a bad effort whilst dragging a dog.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 27

Treadmill Run:   I decided to do a softer run (lower impact) on the treadmill, it was also an opportunity to give the dog a break. She has been looking tired recently and moving a little slow.  I guess like the rest of us she has to ease into running.

Now softer today did not mean easier, just a more forgiving surface and my treadmill shoes. I did a progression run working my way up to 9 mph (6:40 pace) and then back down. Started with a long warm up then into the meat.

• 3 mph – 4 min
• 5 mph – 3 min
• 6 mph – 3 min
• 6.5 mph – 3 min
• 7 mph – 3 min
• 8 mph 3 min
• 9 mph – 1 min
• 8 mph - 1 min
• 7 mph - 1 min
• 5 mph 2 min
• 3mph - 2 min

This was a hard run for the treadmill but good pacing and felt great afterwards. I am finding that the treadmill makes these pace workouts easier to do as there is less of a mental struggle to hold the pace.

Great run 3 miles, 25 minutes. YAY

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 26

I was feeling pretty spry this morning and was surprised after yesterdays run.  Another big surprise was that the dog seemed pretty excited about heading out as well.

We ran an extension of the wildwood ridge run and came back on less busy roads (Not that that is an issue at 5:45 AM).

The pace was slower for the whole run and we intentionally ratcheted back for a really easy day. We finished the 3 mile run in just under 30 minutes for a decent but still slow time.

On the body side, I am a little concerned as I am feeling a bruise like pain in my right heel as I am striding, and if I do a burst of speed am feeling a sharp pain in my hamstring. Things to watch as we move forward.

Good Run 3 Miles in 29 minutes.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 25

Getting going was a lot easier this morning, I crashed at 10:00 and slept right through to the alarm at 5:30 AM. Jumped right out of bed and got ready to run outside.

Another nice day with temps around –5 at run time.  With all the melting this means I have to be a little more careful about the ice situation. I dragged the dog from her slumber and she was not too enthusiastic about the prospect of me in running shoes and her at the end of the leash.  She made concerted attempts to set a slower pace this morning. For a while it was more of a drag than a run.  That is extra training effect, resistance training, or something.

Added a little to last Fridays run, and will have to add a little more to make it a true 3 miles but I do add on a 250 or so meter cool down so is a true distance.

Fun Run – good pace, felt good.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 24

This was a tough morning. I woke up sore from the runs this weekend. I did a five miler on Saturday, followed by 8 miles on Sunday.  I can feel twinges in my left hamstring, it is not too bad. I can also feel a slight pain below both of my knee caps.  I have had some bursitis in that area before so will be watching it.

All of this indicated that perhaps I should consider a very easy treadmill run. So that is what I did.

22 min @ 0.5% and about 5+ mph

The streak is still alive!

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 23

I woke up early, made a good pancake breakfast for the kids and myself. Then started to think run, my usual Sunday routine is to wake early, make pancakes and go for a run with the group at the Westhills Running Room store.  This morning we had a house guest so I was delayed in the run part. 

I elected to run a modified half of the police half marathon. The race starts at Mount Royal University and circles the reservoir before returning to the university. I ran directly south from the University and picked up the run at the top of the reservoir and then ran back along the river.

This is an awesome 8 mile run that is fairly hard but the views over the reservoir to the mountains are phenomenal.

Today there were awesome drift patterns on the frozen surface that were kind of surreal looking. Very neat. 

It was a beautiful sunny day and a beautiful run. 

8 Miles in 1:18 a great day

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 22

Another day another run.  I wanted to run a little later this morning to catch the sunrise on one of my favourite 5 mile loops. 

Unfortunately we had a house guest and breakfast was delayed so we started a little later and I missed the beautiful skies. It was early enough that I was able to catch the full moon at the start of the run.

You can barely see it in the picture but is was more visible to the naked eye.  I love this run as it follows the river escarpment from my house through the dog park.  The view of downtown from the dog park can be incredible.

And the trail along the escarpment is wilder than you would expect in the city. 

I like the easy road work on the way back to the house.  This is a great fun run.

Including cool down the run was 5 miles in around 50 minutes. All in all a good way to start the day.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 21

Awesome morning for a run and a big milestone, 21 days, 3 weeks into the streak.  A common belief is that if you start an activity and continue it for three weeks it becomes a habit.  Let’s hope that is true.

This morning was special as I welcomed a running partner.  My best friend Kada tagged along for the run.  She has run with me once or twice before and usually after a few tugs on the leash is a good companion.

 

We chose a short 3 mile route on city streets in the slushy conditions. It was bordering on freezing this morning so the snow that accumulated on the streets in our deep freeze was melting.  Going to be interesting conditions for the next few weeks as this chinook hangs in here.  Yesterday when I left my downtown office it was –8 and in the distance home < 5km the temps changed to 0 C.  Quite the difference.

Today’s run was 2.75 miles in 23 min.  A little slower for my running buddy, but a great day.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 20

Almost three weeks complete and I almost broke the streak this morning.  I was up in the middle of the night and I was tired and my calves were killing me after the run yesterday and I think I may be coming down with something and …..  Let’s just say there were a lot of reasons to stay in bed this morning and I did for an extra half an hour.  I finally convinced myself that a walk / run on the tread mill would be OK.

Long story short.  It was not a great day, I did a lot of walking and twittering and about 1/2 of the workout at a slow jog pace (5mph) on a 2% incline. 

The most important thing is that I did it and the streak is still alive!

Plod on

Project 365 – Day 19

OUTDOORS Run: it is still coldish here, was –15 this morning and there was a definite chill in the air. I got up and dressed for the cold, put on the shoes and hit the road.

Now the one issue with the run this morning was that after I was dressed I had an urge to use the facilities and did not.  This action came back to haunt me during the run and made the last km or so a little more  uhm urgent.

All in all ran 2.5 miles in just under 21 minutes, not a bad run.  Had a 4 minute cool down walking around the block.  A fun run, time passes much faster when running outside.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 18

Right now it seems like the toughest part of each run is convincing myself to do it. I spent a few minutes this morning trying to motivate myself to get out of bed, and then trying to decide whether to run on the treadmill or outside.  Treadmill won.

Did an easy warm up with a long slow walk portion, then eased into 5 mph, 6 mph and 7 mph for the bulk of the run. The cool down was slowing down to 5 mph and then 3 mph .

All in all 25 minutes at 2.5% incline and covered 2 miles on the tread mill.  An OK day

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 17

Ok where is the warm weather, I woke up this morning and the computer said it was –23 feeling like –38.  It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out that a little quality time with the treadmill was in order.

Also was hobbling a little bit as I jammed my baby toe on the door to the laundry room yesterday while doing my chores. It (the toe) was tender, red, and swollen to about twice its usual size.

That’s Ok it only hurt when I moved it.

Did a little bit more than a recovery run on the tread mill, used a slow jog pace (5mph) and increased the incline to 5% for the working portion of the run.

Began at  3mph @ 5% for 3 min, then 5mph for 18 min, 5 mph @ 2% 2 min, 2 min @ 3 mph. All in all a nice (ish) way to start the day.

The weather is supposed to break tonight so just might get to run outside tomorrow morning (resounding yeee haw).

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 16

Again there is no break in the weather, TV says it is –21 and feels like –38.  I am beginning to hate the feels like temperatures. Strapped on the shoes, put on the layers and toughed a long run outside.

Ran from the west hills running room down to Griffith Woods park, through the park on snow covered trails past the creek.  A very pretty and inspiring run.  Almost made braving the cold worth while.

Ended up running 12 K in 1:09 not a bad run.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 15

It is still –25 outside this morning, so was back to the tread mill for a progressive interval session.

• Warm up 1 min @ 3mph
• 2 min @ 5mph,
• 3 min @6.5 mph,
• 3 min @ 7 mph,
• 2 min @6.5 mph
• 3 min @ 7.5 mph,
• 2 min @ 6.5 mph
• 4 min @ 8 mph,
• 2 min @ 6.5 mph,
• 2 min @ 5 mph,
• 2 min @ 4 mph
• 2 min @ 6.5 mph,
• 2 min @ 7.5 mph
• 2 min @ 5 mph,
• 2 min @ 3 mph.

Rumour has it that we are entering a warming trend so hopefully can start running outside again.  Will stick with some tread mill runs seems like a good place for tempo and intervals.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 14

Who can believe that I started this insane venture 2 weeks ago.  I have managed to do something every day, relying on the tread mill given the unbelievable cold weather that we have been experiencing. For the last week it seems that on the 5th day of the five day forecast the weather is forecast to improve. Problem is the improvement always moves out 1 day every day.

Today was a tough day, waking up with the alarm at 5:30 AM and forcing myself to get out of bed, put on running duds and head down through a dark house to the treadmill.  My lower back was sore, my upper back around the shoulders was stiff, my legs were feeling like lead.  It was a very tough motivational day.

Recovery run time.  No expectations, no pushing limits.  I started off with a very easy build up to 5.5 mph at a 2% incline, ran for 20 minutes, then an easy letdown to recover.  A hard enough run to make me sweat but not hard enough to push me. 

Recovery Run 25 minutes @ 2% incline slow jog pace.

All in all a good run

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 13

Think warm thoughts! Beaches and scantly clad cabana girls.

I don’t know how much of this frigid cold front I can take. Was –23 outside and a bone chilling –23 not the usual freezing kind.  Wind chills are still way up there and it was dark, so inside, basement tread mill.

Hopefully it warms up soon so I can start doing some of these runs outside.  Although I am kind of digging the way the treadmill forces you to keep a constant pace and gives you the opportunity to work on gait. But still love the feel of running outside.

Did an OK run, 2 min warm up then right into 20 min at 6.5 mph on a 2% incline and then into a 4 min cool down with 2 @ 5mph and 2 @ 3mph. Feels good now.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 12

 

Another cold day, another treadmill run.  Nothing exciting, did the bulk of the run at 7 mph with a graduated warm up and a graduated cool down on an incline of 2%.

It was a harder run than it should have been but was early morning before hydration could hit.

25 min @ 2% incline.

Project 365 – Day 11

Where to begin today.  It was bone chilling cold outside this morning –25 C, I was tired and had to drag myself out of bed and my motivation was somewhere close to the temperature. I made it to the tread mill and started a very easy work out.

The best I could do was a very long warm up almost 10 minutes at 3 mph, then progressively sped up every few minutes and ended up peaking for 5 min @ 8mph (fastest so far on mill) and then worked my way down to 3 mph with 2 min at each level.

All told was 30 minutes on the machine with a total distance of 2.5 miles.  Not a bad workout considering the very slow start.

The good news is that the weather forecast is showing above seasonal for next week, so I should be outside running Sunday and on. YAY.

Project 365 – Day 10

I was woken early by a bad dream at 4:30 AM and knew there was no way I was going back to sleep.

I played on the iPhone for a while, caught up on Twitter and then got ready to run at 5:30, when the house started to stir.

It is still –20 C outside with a strong wind and fresh snow so decided to run on the treadmill inside.  Honestly, I had decided that last night when I laid out my running outfit.

Had a fairly energetic run yesterday so treated today like a recovery day, did 30 minutes including a 2 minute warm up, 20 minutes at 5 mph (slow jog) 4 minutes at 4 mph 1 min at 6 mph, 3 min cool down at 3 mph.  All at a 2% grade for a total distance of about 2.5 miles.

Project 365 – Day 9

It is also the 9th of January, coincidence I think not.  The cold front moved in yesterday and we woke to temps of –17 C with a wind chill of –30 C.

I decided it was a good day for an outside run and bundled up for my first group run of 2011.  I made it to the running room in time to be the only idiot out there and ready to go. The bottom line is that my first group run of the year was a nice little 6 miler on a protected route winding through the city streets all alone. I ended up running for a total of time 59:05 in near blizzard conditions navigating snow drifts and avoiding open fields.

Sometimes I think these are the best runs, usually when I am finished.

Plod On

Project 365 –Day 8

The streak is still alive, barely. I had a hec of a time getting motivated this morning. It was –7 C outside with a front going through. The temperatures are plunging, there is a light snow falling and a hell of a wind blowing. To top it off I had a few glasses of wine last night and was very comfortable on the couch.

The call of the treadmill won and I headed downstairs to the exercise room for a very easy day. I started off at 5% incline at a 3 mph pace (med walk), after a few minutes ramped up to a 4 mph pace (fast walk) then 5 mph (easy jog) then 6 mph (fast jog) then worked my way back down in reverse order. and finally finished with 2 min at 2% and 3 mph. For a total of 30 min.

This was the first day of the second week. Week one worked OK with the equivalent of about 15 miles of cardio and meeting the 20 min a day goal every day.  My legs and lower back are feeling the lack of recovery days which highlights the need for easy days if I am going to keep the streak going. 

Tomorrow will be my first run outside with the Sunday running room group. Looking forward to it and will have to work at keeping the distance and the speed down.  I need to avoid overtraining injuries at all costs to keep the streak going.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 7

OUTSIDE – I finally did my first outdoor run of 2011!It was –7 and a little windy so I ran a more protected route on the icy city streets. 

It is easy running on the streets at 5:45 in the morning, no traffic to contend with.  In fact the only time a vehicle passed me it was a cyclist on his way to work (Crazy Bastard).

It felt good to be running outside, the time passes quicker and I could feel the differences in the stride and more tension on my Hamstring as the stride and surfaces are not as smooth as the tread mill.  It looks like a combination of inside / outside is in the near future. Especially next week when the morning temps are going to be close to –30 C.

Did a reasonable run 26:59 with a 2 min warm up and a 4 min cool down which made 21 minutes of real running.

Project 365 – Day 6

K – the weather is warmer, above freezing this morning and the roads are still mainly snow covered and very slippery. I decided to brave the out doors for my first run outside in 2011. 

So at 5:30 morning I quietly went looking for all my winter running clothes and outdoor running gear. I managed to get dressed and to the door without waking anyone. I turned on my Garmin and …. nothing.  Not an Fn thing.

So back downstairs to the treadmill for 25 min at 2%.  At least the streak is still alive.

Project 365 – Day 5

Another treadmill morning, it is just easier to go downstairs and run than it is to dress and go outside. 

I an finding that running on the treadmill is very good for pace.  You set the speed and then run at that pace, no wavering now ups and downs.  Set the plan and run to the plan. It will be interesting to see how it handles tempo work when I get back to that regimen.

The  other good thing is I actually watch the morning news and sports on the built in TV. I am a more informed person.

The downside of the treadmill (other than it is effin boring) is that there is nothing to take pictures of, which makes the blog effin boring.

My current plan is to run short (20-30 min) at an easy pace until my body adjusts to the daily grind.

Today I ran for 25 minutes at 2% incline including a 2 min warm up and 3 minute cool down.  so 20 minutes at pace.

Project 365 – Day 4

Still finding it hard to motivate myself to head outside at 6:30 AM and went back downstairs for another treadmill work out. 

I decided to shake things up a little and wore my Nikes for the work out. and then did a combination of walk run on a 7% incline to work the glutes a little more.

I also was trying a program on the machine for ‘calorie burning’ and it selected the incline and kept at a walking pace, I kept manually upping the pace to a running pace but every minute it would knock it back to 3 mph.  Not doing that program again.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and is a usual Running Room group run.  So will likely run outside for that one.

25 min walk/run @ 7% incline.

Project 365 – Day 3

HOME.  It was cold and snowy when we arrived in town last night.  I was less than motivated, so back to the dreadmill.  Thinking back I believe this is the first time that I have used the big treadmill in the exercise room for running.  I have walked on it to warm up but have never tried a workout on it.

I hopped on and did a little harder 20 minute workout with a 5 minute warm up and a cool down cycle.

It was kind of cool, the treadmill has a TV built in and I was able to catch up on the news by watching CBC newsworld as I was running. 

The bike yesterday was fun as I could tweet while biking and can not do that with running but can watch TV (nice) – takes the boring out of the treadmill.

I have also noticed that it is easier to think about my gait on the treadmill and make sure that I am evening my stride so the left leg is doing it’s share of the work.

Not bad but I still prefer running outside.

Project 365 – Day 2

I woke up in Spokane, WA, last night as we were driving to the hotel it was very snowy and icy. It looked like there had been a very big storm go through in the last few days so … back to the hotel fitness center.

Upon arriving I discovered that the treadmill was missing the dead man’s key and would not function. My gaze fell on the recumbent bike and it was that or go outside.  So the bike it was.

 

Did 22 minutes at 80 rpm’s at some level that felt rough but not impossible.  I found it very challenging and was working muscles that had not been worked in a while so a good thing that I need to do more of.

Again faced a long drive from Spokane to Calgary (500 miles) a long day of sitting in the car.

Project 365 – Day 1

I have not posted for a long time, I have been running but not with motivation and not training for anything.  I have been seeing a Sports guy getting acupuncture and deep tissue torture to fix the hamstring problem and it is starting to feel better.

I saw a blog where the author started a Project 365 for photography. This is a self improvement plan  where they took a picture and posted it and a description every day.  Then I saw an interview with a runner that had been on a streak for the last 20 years he had run every day and it got me to thinking. 

My Project 365 is going to be at least 20 minutes of either cycling or running every day in 2011, which I will attempt to document here.

Day 1 – Medford, Oregon.  Woke up to – temperatures and snow so I decided to do my first run on the dreadmill in the hotel fitness center.  Did 25 minutes at 2% grade. Fork I hate treadmills.  Then drove from Medford to Spokane, WA.