Finally Friday

Friday is just another day but is the most anticipated day of the week.  It marks the start of the weekend.  For me this Friday is extra special as it marks the start of the Christmas Holidays.  Theoretically I stop work at 5:00 today and resume work in January.   But, my plane does not leave until Monday, and lets face it my computer goes with me and if required I will be working to meet client demands.

It seems that the theme of the week has been start slow, finish fast or progression runs. I did another one today,  I started at 10 minute miles and then seemed to ramp up a bit every 5 minutes and ended up running the last 5 at sub 8 min miles.  I was bagged and breathing hard after my 20 minutes and 2.25 miles.  A good start to the day.

Plod On.

Running without clothes

I saw a tweet with a link to yogaundressed and it got me to thinking about my treadmill runs.  I usually run in my stuffy dungeon and crank out miles wearing a light cotton shirt that is dripping in sweat after 20 minutes.

If I run without the shirt would evaporation make the run cooler?

It really looks a lot worse than it is I am wearing shorts, and yes it was cooler and the cool down after the run was quicker.  I may have to repeat this experiment.

I got off to a slow start this morning with a long slow warm up.  After a few minutes at 10 minute miles I picked up the pace and ran progressions of 5 minutes at 30 second pace differential. Then did a little cool down.   The grand total was 25 minutes of running and a total distance of 2.8 miles.  Not bad for an injured old man.

Plod On.

A convenient run

Sometimes runs have to be less than you want them to be.  It’s not like junk miles where you are just running miles for the sake of a checkmark in the log book or to appease yourself that you are really training. Convenience miles are miles that you have to squeeze into a busy schedule, where you try to make the most of the time available.  Sometimes this means running faster intervals to get the most out of a little window in time’

This morning was a run of convenience. I had an early meeting scheduled and a very limited window to squeeze a run in. I found myself on the treadmill @ 5:40 for a 20 minute window.  If I ran hard for 20 minutes I had just enough time to cool down, shower and do the domestic chores that are a daily requirement.

The run was;

• 2 min warm up @ 10:00 min pace
• 9 min @ 9 min pace
• 8 min @ 8 min pace
• 1 min cool down @ 9 min pace

20 minutes 2.35 miles and I felt great (after the first mile)

Plod on

Monday morning blues

Monday morning is getting me down, we ended up getting several inches of snow overnight and it is crisp and December cool here.  On the up side I bought coffee yesterday so am sitting here enjoying a cup of my favourite hot beverage after a weekend without.

I received a sore back and stiffness in my abs from all the shovelling.  As beautiful as the snow is, the removal of said snow is back breaking work.

After my chiropractors visit on Friday, my calves were hurting like hell from the acupuncture, and my quads were close behind.  He gave a little pull on my foot to loosen the joint and it might have loosened it a bit much as my foot was sore all weekend.

It was with hurting abs, sore foot and leaden legs that I traipsed down to the dungeon to work out this AM.  The decision was not so much what to run today as do I run today. I got on the treadmill and did a slow start and kept it low key for the entire run working my way up to 9 min miles and then holding until my 20 minutes was up.

Not a great workout but a workout nonetheless. 20 minutes 2.15 miles.

Plod on.

Easy Day

I have an intense morning meeting scheduled from 8:00 – 12:00, then a busy afternoon debrief, followed by a chiropractic appointment . 

So at 5:30 AM I find myself staring at the treadmill trying to figure out what kind of day it is. And trying to figure out what kind of workout to do.

I know that I am going to get acupuncture in my calves and they will likely be too sore to run tomorrow.  Do I make up for it today (run long & hard), or do I back off the last two runs that pushed the envelope a little (slow and easy).

What to do? What to do?  Easy out, neither.  Lets go right up the middle, split the difference.

2.2 miles – 20 minutes, simple progressions from 10 min miles to 8:30 min miles.  An Easy (ish) day.

Plod On

That looks like a

good place to run.  I was flipping through a magazine the other day and I saw a picture of a country road in Ireland and my first thought was, Wow I would like to run there.  Not how pretty and green it was or how it would be nice to be there and soak it in, but how much I would like to run there.

I began to think about it and I do this fairly often. when watching movies, or watching TV or reading I come across a vista and think “that would be a cool place to run.  I stole some pictures from other peoples websites to illustrate some of the runs I would like to do.

And I can almost feel my legs on this one.

I guess what defines us is how we view the world.  Maybe my view of the world as a series of great runs is a little simplistic.  But, I am happy with it and enjoy looking at the pictures and imagining striding through them. I should start a list of those places and run them, sort of a bucket list of runs.

Today’s run was almost a repeat of yesterday. I ran each interval a little faster, so by pace as opposed to speed;

• 1 min @ 12:00 min miles
• 1 min @ 10:00 min miles
• 10 min @ 9:00 min miles
• 10 min @ 8:00 min miles
• 1 min @ 9:30 min miles
• 1 min @ 7:30 min miles
• 1 min @ 9:30 min miles

Notice I added in one fast interval in the cool down just for punctuation – we will see if I end up paying for that.

The good news is NO PAIN, not even in the warm up, I felt a tinge now and then but no pain.  This is the first time since I injured my foot on Sept 4 that I have run what I consider pain free.  Awesome run 25 minutes 2.85 miles.

Plod On.

Uninspired post

Today is a rare day.  I have nothing to talk about. 

I did an uninspired run on the treadmill, not really a junk run, but not really one that I am proud of either. Funny, it is the run that I planned to do, and yet once it is done I feel kind of let down.  I guess I did not push hard enough.

The run was

• 1 min 5.5 mph
• 1 min 6 mph
• 10 min 6.5 mph
• 10 min 7 mph

For a grand total of 2.45 uninspired miles in 22 minutes.  I guess my postscript plod on really fits as that was today’s run – a plod.

Plod On.

Tweaks and Twitches

Funny how when working my way back from an injury that a series of compensative issues crop up.  The latest is a pain in the area of the pes anserine bursa below and inside of the knee at the top of the shin.  It seems that when I apply some stress to the injury there has been a change in my stride that stresses other areas.  This is something that will require concentration to ensure that the solution to the problem is less painful than the problem itself.

I had a decent run on the treadmill this morning. My plan was to do an easy recovery run (because of the bursa pain), but I ended up doing a little more than I thought.

• 3 min @ 4 mph
• 3 min @ 5 mph
• 3 min @ 5.5 mph
• 3 min @ 6 mph
• 3 min @ 6.5 mph
• 8:40 @ 7 mph

then a regression cool down to finish at 30 minutes with 2.85 miles under my belt.  A nice run but it may have been a little too much.

Plod On

Running with celebrities

I used to run with friends, I used to run alone, now I run with Celebrities, Singing in my iPhone.

Running with music has always posed a quandary for me.  Coming from a Nordic Skiing background, moving to Cross Country and having completed most of my runs outdoors on trails whenever possible, I feel it is very important to hear what is going on around you.  I listen for traffic, I listen to the sound of my buddy or foe breathing. For me, music provides a distraction and I spend less time thinking about where, when and how I am going to run than I should. 

Having said that you would think I am against running with music.  The truth is I bought my first walkman in the very early 80’s just to have music on workouts.  One of my best running memories is running leg 13 of the Banff Jasper Relay with my buddy ‘Bruce’ pounding out Thunder Road on that walkman and providing the inspiration to conquer the challenging hills.  Music helps to ignore what your body is saying and go a little bit harder and a little faster than you would without it.

These days music is providing the distraction that I need to keep motivated to get on and keep moving on the treadmill, where you do not have to think about the course or listen for Cars. 

Good Run this morning, first time running from start to finish, no walking not even in the warm up.  Sweet! It feels like a milestone.  Did a little progression, (10:00 – 9:00 –8:30 min mile pace) with 5 minutes at each.  Add on a warm up and a cool down and you have 20 minutes of continuous running for 2.15 miles.  Not Bad for a Monday.

Plod On.

Out of whack

Balance was not achieved, the run I did on Friday left me tender enough that there was no run on Saturday so no balance was achieved.  Unless the balance is not in running every day but balancing running with the rest of the stuff we have to do.  If that is the case I was fairly successful.  It begs the question, is there life outside of running. (but that is another blog post).

It was another pretty morning today, so pretty that the world was buried under 8” of heavy wet snow.

It makes for very pretty pictures and a lot of fun stuff for kids to do but does not lend itself to running or driving.

Consequently it was an inside day today.  My foot felt a little better than yesterday and my body was fuelled by a nice breakfast than included eggs, bacon and pancakes. So I hopped on the treadmill and did an easy 30 minutes of 10 minute miles and called it a day.

The real question is  “What is the mileage equivalent of 1 hour shovelling 8 inches of heavy wet snow?”  It feels like about 10 or so.

Good day 30 minutes, 3 miles (give or take).

Plod On.

Finding Balance

There have been some hard lessons in finding the right balance in the past week.  I have been pushing the envelope, trying to work my foot without reinjuring it.  Trying to get as close as I can to the edge of the cliff without falling off.  There have been a couple of runs where I upped the pace a little to far and paid the price the next day. Tuesday was one of those days.

I am learning that duration is not as big as influence as pace.  I can run at 10 minute miles for a long time and not have any really noticeable impacts.  However, if I try to run a few minutes at 7:30 minute miles the next day I can barely manage 12:50 minute miles (walk).

Today I did an medium work out. I felt like I could push it farther but decided that more balance was prudent.  I did an easy five minute warm up followed by 5 minutes at each of 9:00 min miles, 8:30 minute miles, 8 minute miles, then reversed doing 2.5 minutes at 8:30 & 9:00 to cool down.  All told 20 minutes of running.

Today’s stats, 25 minutes, 2.55 miles.

Plod On

Snow Day then a slow day

Yesterday I woke to a picture perfect sunrise bursting forth across a few inches of fresh snow.  Oh Joy, Oh Bliss. As beautiful as it looked it is a harsh reminder that winter is here and Christmas (OMG) is just around the corner.

It continued to snow throughout the morning finally stopping at noonish. Driving was hell, walking was hell, all in all a lazy day for me.

I was feeling a little more “tenderness” in my foot than I would like do I took a day off.  In light of my lazy snow day, I pumped myself up for a hard workout and I headed for the treadmill at 5:30 AM. I started with a quick warm up, then kicked the speed up.  After a few strides I realized this was not a good plan and adjusted.  I ended up doing a fairly quick walk for 20 minutes and covered about 1.5 miles.  Not the best workout but, it was the  best plan of action given the circumstances.

Plod On.