Thursday March 31, 2011
Quiet night got to bed about 10:30 and slept until the dog needed to go out at 2:30, back to sleep and then struggled to get out of bed at 5:45 AM. Headed to the treadmill and started off real slow, like walking and tweeting slow and then worked my way up to 9’s then 8’s then finished off with 3 min at 7:30 a 3 min sub 7.
Speed is coming back but my hamstring and ass are feeling the strain. It feels good though.
Ran 2.6 miles in 23:10 Not bas for a slow start.
Plod On
Wednesday March 30, 2011
I got to bed at 10:30 last night and was ready for the alarm to go off at 5:30, struggled out of bed and hit the treadmill for a jog. I was feeling a little listless after not doing well with guitar last night and everything was feeling a little tight for some unknown reason.
I started off running and first my right hamstring was complaining then my left hamstring was complaining and then my right knee was nagging and then my right foot was hurting and finally it all felt OK, but alas the run was over.
I started off at nines for 7 minutes, then 8s until around 17 minutes and then 7:30 until I hit 2.5 miles.
Overall 2.5 miles in 21:30 a fun run.
Plod On.
Woke up at the usual time but had difficulty dragging myself out of bed. I eventually made it to the treadmill about half an hour late and started a run.
There was no plan for today, just a nice run. Started off at 9 min pace, cranked it up to 8:30 then to 7:30 for a minute or two.
All in all I ran 2.9 miles in the 25 minutes of running then did a one minute cool down. I was bagged at the end of the run but overall it felt good.
Plod On
Monday March 28, 2011.
I am getting lazy updating the blog. Actually today was a very busy day, was up at 5:30 did my quick run and then off to work to prepare for an all day session, then we were guest lecturing at a MEng Petroleum Economics course for three hours in the evening. A very long day.
The run was simple, turn on the treadmill, set the pace and run for about 20 minutes. Nothing too hard about that. It was a tough run in that the energy level did not seem to be there and it kind of felt like I was running on an empty tank for the entire run.
20:30 2.35 Miles
Plod On
Sunday March 27, 2011.
I did not have the energy to haul my butt out of bed and head to the running room for my Sunday Morning Group Run. There was 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground in this winter wonderland. I did not have the energy to run, and there were lots of excuses. Anyway I spent some time with the kids and then the whole family went to watch the last day of swimming lessons.
Came back had lunch, started laundry, turned on the basketball games and settled in. I decided that in between the first load of laundry and the second load of laundry it might be a good time to squeeze in a run. So off to the treadmill for an easy unmotivated run.
I thought I might try to squeeze in a couple of slow miles and call it. Much like I did late last night but I slowly worked up the pace and convinced myself that I could run for about 45 minutes and ended up cranking out 5 miles.
I then went upstairs and landed on the couch and somewhere in there ended up napping for an hour or two.
A lazy day with no work done.
Plod On
Saturday March 26, 2011.
This was a very long day, a very long travel day. I was up very early and out the door to the airport at around 5:00. Dropped off the rental car, checked in and were thru security and having a coffee by 5:30. Two hours early for our 7:30 flight. What we did not know is that Alaskan Airlines computer system had totally crashed and no planes were flying on any of their routes. 7:30 came, then 8:30, then 9:30 and we were finally on the plane and outward bound. The pilot said that the computer system had come up for a few minutes and 20 planes were in the air, ours was one of them. So South to Seattle.
We arrived in Seattle and ran for our plane, arrived just in time only to find out that it was cancelled. Again luck was on our side, there was an agent at the gate next to ours and we got in line and when we got to the desk the computer system was still up and we managed to get boarding passes for the 8:15 flight home. So it’s 2:15 pm and our flight leaves at 8:15 what to do, lunch and a beer watching basketball. Then an airport bar and a few more beers and dinner watching basketball.
Then to the gate to sit while out plane was another hour delayed. I turned on my MP3 and shut my eyes and slept all the way to Calgary. I made it to the house at 11:59 PM (actually 12:30 but am counting it as Saturday) and did a lazy hard late treadmill 2 Miles before crashing. A very long Saturday with lots of time to run but no opportunity.
A very long tiring day.
Plod On
I had a hard nights sleep, waking up several times and finally giving up at 3:30.
I made it to the treadmill a little early and started at a very reasonable walk, then once my hips were free and loose I set the pace at 9 min mile and the incline at 1% and settled into a nice zone watching NCAA recaps. After 10 minutes, I cranked up the pace to 8 min miles for another 10 or 12 minutes and finished off with a spurt at 7 min mile. 3.25 miles – 26:30
It felt good considering this could be my last run in Alaska.
Plod On.
Could have been the whisky, Might have been the gin … Had two glasses of wine after work yesterday and knew right away I was in trouble. I spent most of the night restless due to an upset stomach and spent a good deal of time in the bathroom reading. So when 6:00 rolled around I was pretty much not up to running but managed to get up and go for a walk.
Started off at a 4 mph pace for 2 minutes than started to jog at a 9 minute pace, then 8.5 minute pace, then 8 minute pace then 7.5 minute pace. Soon enough the 25 minutes had passed and I had logged close to three miles.
I still felt crappy but a crappyness with a sense of accomplishment. 2.85 miles – 26 min 11 sec.
Plod On
Finally a run that felt relatively good again. I felt a tugging in my shin at about the 15 minute mark. It was not enough to make me slow down and I was pleasantly surprised at how my shin was handling the pace.
Today was a progression run as I tested how the shin felt. I started with a walking warm up then 9 min miles, 8:30 min miles and then 8:00 min miles to finish strong at 3.25 miles in 27:00 min.
A very nice effort, I’m happy.
Plod On
Another easy day. I am still favouring my right leg as the shin seems to start to ache after about 15 minutes on the treadmill.
I realized how spoiled I am getting. I forgot my headphones in the room and there were no fresh towels in the fitness center. Tough eh! I did another easy run on the treadmill and focused on a long warm up, and then a cool down. I did not spend any time on the foam roller or stretching today. Overall I felt really good, other than the shin thing.
Now the questions are starting, am I rolling on the outside of the foot, do I need new shoes, am I not extending far enough. I hope this goes away so the questions will stop.
21 minutes – 2.3 miles
Plod On
Monday March 21, 2011
Easy morning run on the tread mill. Slept a little late and got to the room while all the elliptical trainers were full but the treadmills were available.
I cranked out just over three miles in 30 minutes at a very easy pace with a long warm up and cool down. My shin was still sore but I was able to work thru it.
Plod On.
Another treadmill run, but today the philosophy was to do a short easy run, combine running and walking to not stress the muscles. I tried to take a picture of the treadmill action, it did not work out.
I did a relatively easy run with stretching and walk breaks every 10 minutes when I started to feel the pain in my shin. At the end of the run that funny bump was back on my shin.
It is visible in the center of the picture but looked much worse in real life. I would rather be running out there in the snow and ice rather than on the treadmill.
But it is still a little too slippery with the melt every day and the freeze every night. I still managed three miles on the treadmill – in 30 minutes. A good day.
Plod On
Not a good running day. I got up late and went to the fitness center at 8:00 and all of the equipment was occupied. So I went and had breakfast and let it settle for a while and went back to the fitness center at 10:30. I started a slow easy run on the treadmill and had planned on going for a long time but the pain in my shin flared up. My shin looked funny there is a bump in between the skin and the muscle that sticks out about a quarter of an inch and is soft and yielded when pressed (kinda cool really).
Bottom line was that I stuck it out for about 20 minutes and the pain was not receding so I packed it in. Better short runs for the next couple of days and let it heal than to push it and not run for a long time.
A run! 2 miles 20 minutes.
Plod On
Not much to say about today run, I slept in a bit and then eased myself down to the fitness center. Found the treadmill with the slipping belt and ran on it and low and behold the belt was still slipping.
My legs felt really off and in particular the from to my right soleus was really tight and was bothering me throughout the run. I elected to back right off and run for the 20 minute minimum at slightly faster than a 9 min mile. So as far as my thinking goes this is the easiest run I do these days.
I slugged out a 2.2 mile junk run in the 20 minutes of torture.
Plod On.
Thursday March 17th, 2011. It is Saint Patrick’s day and I had no green to wear on the run. Not only that but I woke to the sound of snow clearing machines outside the hotel room window. Actually it was more like a shaking of the hotel. Anchorage got about 5 inches of heavy white snow overnight. It is very pretty but a little inconvenient.
I hit the fitness center and found an open treadmill and started to crank out a run. I was feeling pretty good so moved into a progression run starting at nine minute miles and working my way up to 7:30 minute miles. The run felt great but there seemed to be a slippage problem on the belt of the tread mill that was throwing me off so I had to switch treadmills mid run.
Overall did great, ran over 3.2 miles in 26 minutes.
Plod On.
It is hard to say if I am sleeping in or waking up early. It feels early here but is really later than I normally get up at home. However am waking up refreshed and before the alarm and it is feeling good. The down side is that I m dragging at night and going to bed early every night, last night I barely made 9:30. Time zones are funny things.
I woke up this morning and made it down to the treadmill. My plan was to run an easy two miles to recover from the faster runs I have been doing recently. I got about halfway (10 minutes) into the run and cranked it up a little for the rest of the run. Funny the 9 minute miles that seemed so hard a while ago are now seeming like a slow jog. That is progress.
I had a really fun run, but the only morning TV here is the news and the news is all about the tragedy in Japan and that is a downer. Ran 3.01 miles in 26:10 at a 1 % incline a good run.
Plod On.
I thought today would be an easy run when I headed through the lobby to the fitness center. I hit the tread mill and did a warm up then set the treadmill for an 8 minute pace and cranked off 15 minutes then ramped up to a 7:30 pace and did another 5 minutes, then did a 1 minute cool down. The result was a 2.6 mile run in just over 21 minutes. It felt awesome.
Plod On
Monday Morning in a hotel at the toppish part of the world. I woke up early, I think I am still on Calgary time. I went doen to the treadmill and watched the news as I ran 3.1 miles in 26 or so minutes.
It was a good run and it felt great. nice to leave the treadmill with a good feeling.
Plod On
I woke up in Alaska for the first time today. I really crashed right after dinner last night and slept right thru until 7:30 this morning. I thought about running outside but really it is too cold out there and funny thing about this place. it is icy, dangerously icy. The sidewalks are covered and the roads are busy. So for the time being I am sticking with the safe easy route and running on a treadmill. I may try to get out sometime this week and do a run outside, this town is nice and flat and a coastal run would be cool.
I headed down to the treadmill with my ear buds in hand. I discovered yesterday that if you want to hear the TV on the treadmill you have to have headphones. I decided to run for about an hour and targeted 10 kms. The tough part of the run was that there were no water glasses in the fitness center. On a long run in the hot dry room I craved hydration (not that the couple of beers I had last night helped with hydration issues).
I ran for 53 minutes and covered the 6.2 miles. A little slack for a Sunday long run but I can live with that.
Plod On.
Saturday March 12.
Today was a difficult day. The dog woke me up at 2:30 AM then I did not really get back to sleep before the alarm went off at 3:30 AM. I showered and dressed and headed to the airport to arrive at 4:30 to catch a 6:30 flight. Of course we buzzed thru US customs and security (even though my boarding pass was tagged with the SSSS label Super Selective Special Screening). So we sat in the lounge for about 1.5 hours before the flight left for Seattle.. Then after arriving we had breakfast and sat for about four more hours before the flight to Anchorage.
I arrived at the hotel in Anchorage about 15 hours after waking, very tired and decided if I was going to keep the streak alive I had to do run before I fell asleep so I headed to the hotel fitness room and lined myself up on a treadmill for a 3.6 mile run in under 29 minutes.
It felt really good when I was done. I felt rejuvenated and actually made it through a beer or two and supper before crashing for the night.
My first run in Alaska, albeit on a treadmill in a hotel fitness center.
Plod On
Friday March 11.
Wow I knew I never got around to blogging yesterday but did not know that I missed Friday. I guess it was a busy day getting ready to travel to Alaska.
Friday Morning was another day of treadmill running, another nice day outside and I was stuck running inside as I was not ready to leave sleeping kids alone. I did a very easy run on the treadmill and ended up running 3.3 miles in 30 minutes.
A pretty good day.
Plod On
Today was a very difficult day, had to drag myself out of bed. Then work up the motivation to get on the treadmill. Part of the problem is that we are experiencing a melt here, good weather for the first time this month and I am stuck inside running on the treadmill. This is because as a temporary single parent it would not be acceptable to leave the kids unattended in the house.
Did an run that was tougher than the numbers say, with a tweeting walking warm up and then into a shorter fairly intense run progressing to very intense and then a cool down. It really felt better after it was done.
All in all 2.3 miles in 21 minutes.
Plod On
It was supposed to be a slow, easy, short run day. My intention was to log about 20 minutes at a very easy pace on the treadmill.
I ran the first 10 minutes at around an 8:45 pace, mainly because I pressed the increase speed button once or twice more than needed. Then at 10 minutes I jumped the pace a little bit to around an 8:15 pace (which is not a normal pace for me). Then after another 8 minutes jumped it up to a 7:30 pace until I hit the 2.5 mile mark, then a 1 minute cool down.
I always feel good when I run better than planned. The run was 2.6 miles at a 1% incline for 22 minutes with the fan on (it does make a difference).
Plod On
The dog woke me up at 4:00 AM for her morning routine. A little earlier than usual, and I could not get back to sleep (she did). It was –20 C outside so another treadmill run.
I am continuing the theme of the week which is slow and longer. This morning I started out a little faster than yesterday and warmed up at about a 9:00 pace, then sped up to 8:30 at the 10 minute mark, then finished off with the last 1/2 mile (4 min) at an 8:00 min mile pace.
Overall ran 3.01 miles in 26:40.
Plod On.
K the streak is alive, was feeling the pain this morning. My leg muscles were protesting the hilly trail run I did Saturday. I put heat to them last night but this morning they were still really heavy. I think I may be feeling a little overtraining effect and need to back off a bit.
So today we did a treadmill recovery run. A very nice and easy 3 miles at 1% incline at a 9:30 – 10:00 min pace. I ran for just over 29 minutes and got one full cycle of sports center in.
Awesome run, 3.0 miles 29:12.
Plod On
Today was a group run day. Typically on Sundays we get up have a family pancake breakfast then I head to the running room to meet up with a group of people to run and the kids head for swimming lessons.
Today’s route was pretty boring a long rambling route that winds it’s way up hills and down hills mainly along city streets. There are some interesting views but is mainly a residential run.
The temperature was –22 C at the beginning of the run with what felt like a –10 degree wind chill.
As you can see we had a few inches of fresh snow last night which made for interesting footing.
Just over 8 miles in 1:18.
Plod On.
It was a dark and stormy day …..
Well that is how it felt today, I was up very early and could not get back to sleep and then dragged all morning before finally convincing myself it was a good day to run. I looked at the thermometer and it was –15 C (too cold) then fired up my garmin and the battery was done. Everything was pointing to a no run day.
But, I dressed, leashed the dog and headed out into the cold for a hard run up and down the escarpment on a snowy icy trail. This is a picture of downtown from the trail and yes it was colder than it looks.
The trail is rough and snow covered and my running partner found the terrain easier on her four feet than I did on my two feet.
Another freaking hill you have to be kidding me.
We came to this nice surprise on a switchback. This is the spot that my partner found out that on ice you can go from up here to way down there very fast, even with claws out.
At least the stairs and bridge were in good shape.
All in all it was a fun run a little slower than I would like (5 miles. 50 min), a lot of ups and downs and then these icy patches really slowed us down.
Plod On
Today was uninspired to say the least. Dragged myself out of bed, struggled to get dressed. Climbed on the tread mill, set it for 9 minute miles. Could not hack the pace, backed off to 10 min miles and set the incline at 2% and said Fuck it. Did my 20 minutes then packed it in and tried to forget about today.
But hey a run is a run and any run is better than no run.
Plod On
Just about lost the streak this morning. Dog got me up early, I crawled back into to bed to sleep, the alarm went off and I struggled to get out of bed. Funny thing is I was in bed early last night and got lots of sleep.
Got dressed headed for the treadmill and when I went to put on my shoes I had one treadmill show and one outdoor shoe. Back up to get a pair of shoes.
Once I got on the treadmill things were relatively easy, did a quick warm up, then a settled into 9 minute miles for a while, then bumped it up to 8:30 min miles and had a little cool down. It was a struggle all the way and time felt like it was slowing down for the whole run. But it is done and the streak is alive.
2.4 Miles – 21 minutes.
Plod On
Sometimes plans just don’t work out. My plan for today was an easy recovery run as I was kind of feeling my progression run from yesterday.
I got on the treadmill and set the incline to 0.5% and the pace to a 9 min mile and kept it up for about 2 min, the set the pace at 8 min mile and cranked for the next 18 min, backed off to 9’s to cool down and got off the mill after 21 minutes.
The end result was that this ad hoc pseudo tempo run was only 6 sec/ mile slower than my hard progression workout from yesterday. And if you eliminate the 1 min cool down would have been identical times 2.45 miles in 20 min. Go figure.
As it stands was 2.54 miles in 21:03 a good run.
Plod On
It is -29 F’n degrees C outside this morning. Is that Lion enough for you March, now I am tapping my foot waiting for the lamb to come.
Needless to say I ran inside on the treadmill this morning. I decided to do a progression run and started up with a 9 min mile warm up, then ramped up to 8 min miles, then ramped up to 7:30 min miles, then did a brief cool down.
2.45 miles in 20 minutes, that is the fastest I have run since I tore my hamstring. Yay. It felt really good to be done.
On another note Milestone day again, Today marks my 60th straight day of running and if you look to the right I crossed the 200 mile mark for the year. Yay Me!
Great day
Plod On
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