Project 365 – Day 150

Tuesday May 31, 2011.

Run 148.

It is hard to believe that it is the last day of May. A big month for me, probably the biggest since the 80’s. I logged almost 130 miles last month.  Now I know for an elite marathoner that is a typical week, but for me it is a real effort.

I managed to get to bed early last night and was up before the alarm getting ready to run. The plan was to do an easy 3 miles to help recover from the weekend.

I followed some of the yesterdays route in a reverse direction.  This meant I got the great views at the start of the run and the down hills at the end. Suweet.

I followed the path through the field of Saskatoons and they were pretty at sunrise. I think the camera flash gave them kind of an eerie look, but it still shows their beauty.

The sunrise reflecting off the windows on the very expensive condos gave them an orange glow that was almost inspiring. The rest of the run was on streets as the city was waking up.

My legs were fine for the bulk of the run, I could feel them a bit on the steep up hill portions of the trail but overall it was a good run and a great way to start the day.

3.1 Miles, 25 minutes (I think a garminless day).

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 149

Monday May 30, 2011

Run 147.

This running stuff must be getting old as I am getting better and better at procrastinating and putting off the runs until later in the day.  I did manage to get today's run in before dinner, good thing as I pretty much crashed after dinner.

The run is a route which is primarily pavement and runs on older tree lined streets along the top of the river escarpment. There are some interesting views.

and some opportunities for trail running just off the street.

During the last part of the run I ran the path that skirts the escarpment running part way down the hill and then back up.  Today the Saskatoon Blossoms were out and it was really cool as the path runs through a field of these bushes.

It was very pretty, too bad they will be gone in less than a week. The good news is that at the end of July the bushes will be full of berries which will make for a good in run snack.

Also in the open areas these yellow flowers were blooming, don’t know what they are, they could be weeds for all I know.

My legs were dead at the start of the run and I wondered if I was going to make the 4.5 miles.  I had a sharp pain at the insertion point on each stride for the first 300 meters then it eased up and I settled into a very comfortable run.  A little ham tightness after the run but used the foam roller and fixed that.

4.5 miles 35 minutes a really fun run.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 148

Sunday May 29, 2011.

Run 146.

Today was supposed to be a running room group run, I showed up at the store at 8:30 and there were very few people there. I guess the Scotia bank Marathon, half marathon & 10 K drew all the regulars.

One of the guys I ran with last week was there and we decided to run a similar route through Griffith Woods park. 

We tried to do the early cut off to get on the grave trails but the washout was impossible to cross so we stuck to the paved path.  Then when we reached the end we tried to get on the gravel again but after running for a quarter mile thru mud we found that there was a river flowing down the trail. We backtracked through the mud to the paved trail and back to the store.

It was still a good run, just over 8 miles at about a 8:45 pace including all the stops.  The morning was sunny and a little chilly which added a freshness to the run. I could feel my hamstring twinging for the last half of the run and then pulling a bit for the rest of the day.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 147

Saturday May 28, 2011

Run 145.

It was a long day, I was really feeling it in my legs and put off running as long as possible.  Funny how it is if I do not get my butt in gear early in the morning I struggle to get it going at all. 

Today was the closest that I have come to breaking the streak. If had not been for the momentum of 144 runs I would have gone to bed instead of trudging downstairs at 11:30 at night to do a treadmill workout in my underwear. I guilted myself into running!

Nuff said I did 3 miles in 30 minutes, a lot of walking then had a glass of wine and went to bed.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 146

Friday May 27, 2011.

Run 144.

There was rain early in the morning so I put off running until later in the the day. I had a few beers in the afternoon at work, so waited until dusk to go for a run.

I did the simple route thru wildwood dragging the dog behind me. It was a good run, the sun was out, the rain was drying up and the pace was nice and slow.

As we were running the ridge there was a slight smell of wood smoke in the air. I’m not sure if it was coming from someone‘s fireplace or maybe some wild fire smoke blowing in. I love that lingering scent in the air, just enough you can smell the pine tar, but  not enough to overwhelm you.

Good run , 3 miles, 28 minutes.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 145

May 26, 2011.

Run 143

For those paying attention it may look like I skipped a day but in actuality I did not write a blog entry for April 30. I checked the running log and ran 2.3 miles on that day.

So today was a big day, I crossed the 500 Mile threshold.  I feel that I should be singing the proclaimers song – I have run 500 miles, and I will run 500 more, just to be the guy that runs 1000 miles this year or more. Pretty flakey eh?

I thought as I crossed the 500 mile mark I would look like this.

Smiling and running outside. But alas it was not to be.  I woke up this morning and it was raining, and it got more and more rainy all day. The temperatures were very fall like. So instead I looked like this.

Doing a late night run on the treadmill watching a rerun of “Rules of Engagement”.  Not the way I planned for the day.

Anyway I punched out a slow 2.3 miles in 20 minutes and just barely crossed the 500 Milestone.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 143

Wednesday May 25, 2011.

Run 141.

Wow another day waking up tired, and not motivated to run, then further put off by the pitter patter of rain on the roof and chilly temps.  So I stayed in bed and promised I would wait for a break.  That came at about 3:30 – I headed out on a slow run at a very easy pace with a possible route in mind.

I ended up going a little faster than planned and a little longer but had a great run even with all the ups and downs.

The downs came first a plunge of 300 ft to the river valley in about 500 yards.

On a windy twisty road that terminates in a parking lot.

Then a long straight stretch along the river into a 20 mph headwind.

What I really like about this pic is it shows the hill that I have to run up after I turn out of the headwind.

This was a vey rough run and I was bagged at the end of it.  6.25 miles in 54 minutes not a bad effort.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 142

Tuesday May 24, 2011.

Run 140.

Happy Birthday Brock, we are thinking of you.

Well today at 6:00 AM after sleeping in a little and being very draggy, I looked out the window at the wet pavement in front of the house, then looked at the outside temperature (3 C) and then planned easy treadmill run.

This is the second time in the last 4 days that I have done 2 runs within 12 hours of each other and I can really feel it in my legs. My calves were still very sore (I don’t know why) and I can really feel some tightness and slight pain in the general glute area.

For the easy run I set the treadmill for 9 minute miles (0.5% incline)  and ran for 15 minutes, then 8:30 min miles for the last five.

All in all 20 minutes – 2.3 miles an easy day that was not so easy.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 141

Monday May 23, 2011

Run 139.

It was a cold and rainy day and I just could not bring myself to strap on the shoes for a wet morning run. So I put it off until the weather cleared.  Well the weather did not clear so finally at 7:30 after putting my daughter in the bath I hit the road.

My calves were really sore from the long run on Sunday (WTF?) so I decided to do a relatively short easy run. apparently one that I have not run since Jan 26.

It is a nice three mile run that is uphill for the first half and on quiet streets for the most part. I started out slow and then found myself speeding up and almost sprinting the end. I ran the three miles in just over 23 minutes, Unfortunately I did not stop my Garmin so the official time is more like 1:57:03.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 140

Sunday May 22, 2011.

Run 138.

Group run day at the Running Room.  Spring is in the air and old friends are showing up to run. It is nice to catch up on happenings while striding through an LSD.  The half marathon group was tapering and running a 12 K so it was a good fit for the run.

The route is one of favs, from the store to Discovery ridge and then through Griffith woods on some nice wooded trails.

There was fresh snow on the mountains and the early morning sun was lighting them making for a spectacular view on the way out.

Not the best picture but you can see the mountains on the horizon.  The path runs along the river and there are some wetlands and small creeks that are breathtaking.

 

All in all it was a great run, just under 8 miles in just over an hour (1:08). Fun times with great people that is what group runs are all about.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 139

Saturday May 21, 2011.

Run 137.

This is the run that just about did not happen. After a long night of not sleeping at my son’s birthday sleepover i was having difficulty finding the motivation to run. I did get dressed in my running kit and headed out close to 8:00 PM.  For some strange reason I decided to run the Douglass Fir trail which runs up and down the river valley just below our house.

It was a dumb thing to do. This easy jog turned into a hamstring churning episode.  The run is pretty nice though and there are some great views.

There are places that you look out and you can not forget you are in the middle of a booming city and then there are places where you could be running in the mountains.

I took this next picture for comparison to a picture I took a month ago. This is today – note you can still some some ice holding on under the bridge.

This is a similar view taken on March 5.  There is a difference.

Overall it was a good run, I extended the run to make about 3.5 miles and thoroughly enjoyed an evening run for a change. I ad forgotten how pleasant it is to run at sunset and will have to repeat it again.

Plod On.

Project 365 - Day 139

Friday May 20, 2011.

Run 137.

I should have ran a double last night but just not up to it. Today is my Son’s 12 B’day. It is hard to imagine that the years have flown by and how much fuller he has made my life.

Running, yup we did it today, although a little slow in leaving, which means I was a little late getting back and this delayed my wife leaving for work. Not a great way to start the day.  I did an extension of the run I did last Friday, with the dog again to make up the three miles.

Again the dog was curious when off leash so I had to wait for her to satisfy her curiosity and was lagging behind me on the on leash part thru the streets (resistance training).  We got to see a bright orange sunrise on the trail part of the run and the footing was really good considering the heavy rain we got yesterday.

The dog even posed for a quick picture with the sunrise in the back ground.

This was early in the run later she was dragging as far behind me as the leash would allow. Now she is crashed in my office.

Overall it was a pretty good run. A little slower than I would have liked with some stops for the dog etc.  The leg held up ok although it is a little tender right now, a couple of hours after the run. I could feel some pulling during the run but not enough to slow me down.  I ran the three miles in about 26 minutes so not a bad effort.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 138

Thursday May 19, 2011.

Run 136.

I woke up to the pitter patter of raindrops hitting the window. I looked outside and saw little puddles all over the streets. Call me a wimp but I headed downstairs to the treadmill to do a short run.  I had been meaning to get back on the treadmill and get in a controlled tempo run anyway,

I decided to do a 20 minute progression run with 5 min @ each of 8:30, 8:00, 7:30 & 7:00. And that is what I did.

My leg felt really good throughout the run, no pains and the run felt good but man I was sweating at the end of it.

2.65 miles in 20 minutes a good run.

Plod on.

Project 365 – Day 137

Wednesday May 18, 2011.

Run 135.

I had a terrible night sleep, I went to bed about 9:00 and woke up just after 2 AM and could not get back to sleep.  So I caught up on the PVR stuff, read for a while went back to bed and finally just before 5:00 gave up all together and decided to run.

It was a cool morning run, cold enough that I wished I had a pair of gloves a couple of kilometres into it.  It was not so much the temperatures but that there was a stiff cold headwind  for the first half (uphill) of the run. This was not good planning.

The cool thing about the run was that I ran out watching the full moon as it started to dip below the western horizon, then I turned the corner and got to watch a great sunrise in the east.  Kind of a new two for.

The run was pretty good both legs were quiet, I could feel the hamstring at the insertion point only on hard uphill sections. When I started to stride on the downhill towards the end I could feel tightness along the length of the hamstring and surprisingly a twinge below the right knee where the bursa is.

Just under 5 miles in 41 minutes not a bad effort on no sleep.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 136

Tuesday May 17, 2011.

Run 134.

What to say about today? My legs were a little stiff and sore this morning so I decided to have some fun and do a connective tissue run. So I set off to find a route that runs as much as possible on trails or gravel paths.

I was pretty successful. On this route there are a couple of hundred meters at the start/finish on pavement and a couple of hundred meters in the middle on a paved bike path.  The down side of the run is reflected in the elevation thingy at the bottom of the route. The drop to the river is about 350 feet, that means steep down-hills and a long uphill finish.

But it was a beautiful day, the temperature was about three degrees to start and running down to the river meant 2 sunrises, one from the top of the escarpment and one from river level. Very cool.  The path I chose along the river valley is an old road that is only used for railway access and is a pretty run, usually with some wild life.

The only wildlife I saw today where 2 other runners on the  paved bike path that parallels the road. The intersects with the pathway system where there is only room for one path between the tracks and the river.

This was my second sunrise. It was a very pretty scene. I like the way the light is striking the bridges.

My legs were a little on the stiff side this morning so I chose and low impact route and planned to run slower.  I felt a sharpish pain at the top of the hamstring on the steep downs and the steep ups other than that the legs were clear.  Post run there is a tiredness in both hamstrings but no stiffness or pain.

Ran 3.25 miles in about 30 minutes including a tough 2 km uphill run. A good day.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 135

Monday May 16, 2011.

Run 132.

I woke up feeling a little stiff from the weekends hard effort. I decided on a slow 3 miler with some trails (good for soft tissue) to aid recovery. I followed pretty much the same route as Friday, but added on a bit to make it a full 3 miles.

This was a weird morning, I went to fire up my Garmin and got a low battery window right away, I must have left it on after yesterdays run. Then I went searching for my  camera and could not find it. I hit the trail feeling naked without the 2 things I rarely run without.

The run was typical except as I was running the trails through the woods along the ridge a porcupine was ambling up the trail towards me. (sorry no picture cause no camera) I continued on knowing that the beast would see me and head for the bushes. Unfortunately it was me who dashed into the bushes and let her pass as Ms Porcupine did not yield.

Both legs were tired today, I felt a charlie horse like feeling under my left glute running the one steep uphill. Everything else was normal for the rest of the run except it felt like my right leg was doing more work and I started to feel a tiredness in my right quad on the long gradual uphill. My stride on the right leg was 1/8 of a beat longer than the left.  Don’t know if this was cumulative tiredness or not.

Good Run 3 miles ??? minutes.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 134

Sunday May 15, 2011.

Run 132.

I woke up well before the rest of the family and enjoyed an hour or so of peace and quiet before fixing myself a coffee and a peanut butter and banana sandwich sans bread. It was time to head to the Running Room for the Sunday group run.  The group that I usually run with was heading out for a 21K run (pass) so I elected to run with the 11K group and one run of my favourite routes thru Griffith woods park.

This is a really good run just over 8 miles long with an option of running half of it on paved or gravel paths thru the trees. I prefer the gravel route as it is easier on the legs. The City is doing a lot of work on the paths and they were in very good shape except for the initial crossing to get onto the gravel path. It was a little wet.

There was actually an easier (read dryer) crossing just downstream in which my feet stayed dry. We ended up doing this 2x.

My leg held up Ok. I woke up with some muscle soreness in my back and a little stiffness in the hamstring, probably from the big hill yesterday.  But I did not feel any strain during the start of the run.  There were a few stabs during the run when I switched pace or had to run uphill but other than that it held.  Post run I am Again tender across the glute above the SI joint.

All in all a great run, 8.3 miles in 1:19

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 133

Saturday May 14, 2011.

Run 131.

Wow what a cool day today, sunny with a chilly wind.  My wife and daughter headed out to ride the Empress steam train for a debugging trip. So my son and I did some chores and then for the first time ever he accompanied me on a run.  Now he did not run but he did ride his bike beside me carrying stuff like the cell phone and water.  The route we chose was a bout six miles long and ran down along the river then up the 300 foot elevation of the escarpment and along the ridge.

I chose the route to avoid the wind, but miscalculated and faced a headwind for the majority of the run along the river. Then faced the continuous uphill for the last few km.  It made for a toughish run.

This is my son showing me how to ride hills. He raced ahead and disappeared from the view for the next picture.

But I caught up with him before we made it to the top of the hill.  I guess you learn pace with age.

My hamstring felt fine for most of the run. Initially I felt a tenderness in the glute where the needles were inserted yesterday, then as I hit the first few ups a slight tightness in my hamstring.  As I strode down the hill to the river, there was a stitch like pain in my back right at the base of the rib cage. On the long uphill I felt a pull in the hamstring and a couple of sharp pains at the insertion point. Post run there was a tightness around my SI joints.

All in all a fun run, even though my camera battery died and I had to resort to phone pics.  It was great to do it with my son.  6 miles in 51 minutes.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 132

Friday May 13, 2011.

Run 130.

I thought I should do a run on the treadmill and control the pace and limit the distance as I was not feeling all that energetic.  Then I thought to myself why not do a fun run, grab the dog and find a trail and really just smile and stride. So that is what I did.

We did a little ridge run on very uneven paths. My running partner was able to be run free and enjoy all the smells. We stopped at a viewpoint and grabbed a picture of the sunrise (again).

Then ran out to the city streets and I dragged the dog home. She is always so excited to go out for a run, but very anxious to go home. When we are not heading home she lags behind and puts enough resistance on the leash to bother me, but not enough to make me do something about it.

Today was also Chiropractic day, my monthly visit to the sports guy (Dr. Aaron Nardella) to get acupuncture for my hamstring, He is a nice guy and does not hurt me too much but I question the wisdom of visiting a guy with needles on Friday the 13th, that might be tempting fate.  He wants me to start recording how the leg feels every day. Not sure if I will do that here or on my Runners World training log.

Good run this morning 2.7 miles in about 25 minutes.

Plod On

Project 365 – Day 131

Thursday May 12, 2011

Run 129.

I was feeling the double run  it in my hips when I woke up early. Ignoring this  I was up and out the door for the run well before the alarm went off.  I planned on seeing how things felt and then gauging distance and pace based on that. The route that I chose is all on city streets and has several cut-offs and extensions so I could be flexible.

An ideal run for today would be in between 20 and 25 minutes at a reasonable pace.  I started off really slow and gave myself a longer warm-up than usual and then slowly picked up the pace while thinking about the strumming pattern for la bamba down down down up up pause  up down up down up down up . great beat for a run even if it is a little slow.  Too bad I can not play it as well as I can run it.

I paused about a 1.5 km into the run to grab a picture of the pink sunrise (Sweet).

All in all a great run. Right on the plan 23;30 minutes – 2.95 miles.

Plod on

Project 365 – Day 130

Wednesday May 11, 2011

Run 128

Double up day! This is the first time I have done this since university, and then it was fairly common. I decided that I was healthy enough to do a make up run for one of the ones I missed in the migraine episode. Another contributing factor is that Wed. night is group run night at the Running Room. 

I met up with the group at 6:30 and there was a number of people running 6K so perfect, a nice easy 6 K run.  I started with the group but it quickly became apparent that I had made the wrong choice as the pace was between 9:30 min miles and 10:30 min miles.  Bottom line is that I ran ahead and finished the out and back 6 K in just under 30 minutes.

An ok second run of the day.

Plod On.

Project 365 – Day 130

Wednesday May 11, 2011

Run 128

Double up day! This is the first time I have done this since university, and then it was fairly common. I decided that I was healthy enough to do a make up run for one of the ones I missed in the migraine episode. Another contributing factor is that Wed. night is group run night at the Running Room. 

I met up with the group at 6:30 and there was a number of people running 6K so perfect, a nice easy 6 K run.  I started with the group but it quickly became apparent that I had made the wrong choice as the pace was between 9:30 min miles and 10:30 min miles.  Bottom line is that I ran ahead and finished the out and back 6 K in just under 30 minutes.

An ok second run of the day.

Plod On.