Two Wheel Tuesday

It was still a little chilly today (19 C, 65F) but a beautiful sunny day. A perfect day for a run or in my case a ride.

I started my ride as twilight was approaching and it was starting to cool off. I stopped about halfway through the ride to take some pictures. The light was golden and the shadows were long making for some stark pictures.

This is looking towards downtown over the Mount Royal University sports fields.

This is Glenmore trail looking east.

For my ride I started riding west with a plan and then switched to another plan and then switched to yet another plan.  Eventually I ended up riding almost straight south and back on a relatively flat route.

I don’t know if I am weak as a rider but I do not seem to get the same aerobic workout riding as I do running. When I run I feel it in my throat, lungs and legs at the same intensity, when I ride I feel it in my legs and do not seem to be able to stress my lungs as much. maybe this will change as I ride more.

It was a good ride 15 km in 40:30 on a great night.

Plod On.

Middling Monday

WTF happened to summer? Today was more like a fall day, cool and rainy! I believe it got up to a blistering 13 C (55 F).  It was definitely not a great day.

I also decided that today marked the end of my vacation and that it was time to jump back on the exercise bandwagon. The question is what to do?  I am still struggling with a plan for the next little while, I have decided on the activities just not on the goals.

I put off the decision on what to do until there were no options left!  It was either the treadmill or nothing, so I chose this!

My last run marked the end of the Runner’s World Summer Challenge on July 4.  I then switched entirely to cycling to complete the MapMyRide Le tour Challenge, then my little Hiatus for the last week. The bottom line is I forgot how hard running is.

I set the treadmill for 6.8 mph and 0.5% incline and started to run. Over the course of the next 26:30 minutes I increased the speed to 7.2 mph and racked up 3 miles.  At the end of the run I was feeling every step.

I stepped outside for the cool down and watched the steam rise of my arms and legs. Man that is a little chilly.

Nice run on the first day back!

Plod On.

On Vacation

Sunday marked the end of the tour de France, and the end of my current set of challenges. I had been physically active on a daily basis (either running or cycling) since April 1 so I decided it was time to take a

from running and let give my legs a chance to recover a bit.

It is not that I have been completely inactive, I have been walking and hiking and exercising in a less intensive way. I should have been thinking yoga and taking advantage of the break to address my lack of flexibility while trying to come up with the next gig.

I have been thinking of what to do next and I think it is gonna have to involve some swimming along with running and cycling to add a little balance to the mix.  I have not come up with the details but I do know that my vacation ends tomorrow.

Meanwhile I found this cool dude on Twitter that is attempting to run 5000 miles in 275 days unsupported across Canada. (Click Here).  Jamie McDonald is posting video and stories on his website http://www.jamiemcdonald.org  .  It is worth a read.

I’ll be back posting on a regular basis (maybe not daily) next week. Until then.

Plod On.

Stopping Sunday

This is the last day of all the challenges.  First there was the Streak to the Beach from April 1 – July 1, then the Runner’s World Summer Streak from Memorial Day to Independence Day, and finally the “Le Tour Challenge” From June 30 to July 21. I guess it is time to pause and reconsider the next challenge, maybe pick a race and start training for it. Any Suggestions?

Today was another perfect summers day. The temperatures were in the mid 20’s, sunny with a slight breeze.  Does it get any better.  I did start to cloud over at supper time, but that is OK. It waited until after our late afternoon stroll down the newly uncovered gravel bars beachcombing for lost treasure, and our trip to Peter’s Drive in for a very fattening dinner.

This is a view from the yacht club looking back towards the bluff that I took the pictures from on Wednesday.

And just a picture of the boats on the hard.

The route I chose for today’s long ride shared a lot of the route from Wednesday’s ride but when I hit the reservoir I turned right instead of left and rode the south side of the lake. At the end of the ride I instead of taking a direct route home I extended and headed towards downtown on the river pathways

.

It was quite the ride navigating around (sometimes through)  the closed pathways that were either totally or partially washed out from the flood.  There was a lot of devastation.

It was the longest ride I have done this year and it ended on a very steep uphill climb on fairly tired legs. Not the best planning on my part. (My legs are feeling it tonight.)

My Stage 21 ride was 38.5 km in 1:49:11 to end my “Le Tour Challenge”.

I have been doing a daily challenge since April. I’m done. Now what?

Plod On.

Slacker Saturday

Today was a fun day, the full first day together as a family since my daughter went to her “sleepover” camp last week.  So what did we do? We spent the morning at a local amusement park enjoying the sun and mind spinning rides.

Well the kids had fun anyway, until round 2 of the bumper cars when one got hit too hard and tears ensued.

Right about supper time I headed out for a ride.  The plan was to go about 10 km at a moderate pace.  I think I might be a little too competitive for that, when map my run starts giving me split paces I start speeding up!

Tomorrow is the last day of the tour.  There were some big moves today in the fight for second place and a very exciting finish.  My Stage 20 Le Tour Challenge ride was 10.3 km in 28:15.

Plod On.

Fearless Friday

Today was busy, not work busy, family busy.  It started by running my son to sailing camp, then drove an hour to the mountains to pick my daughter up from her week long camp, drove an hour back, then ran her to the dermatologist and picked my son up from his camp.  Just like that the day is done. Then I had a nap.

Anyway it was nearing sunset and I decide it was now or never and time to ride.  The nice thing about an evening ride is that it is cooler and pretty.  The clouds over downtown were spectacular.

And there were distant and pleasing views to the West.

My plan was an easy ride to put in the time and keep the streak alive.  It did not quite turn out that way. I started out slow (because it was all uphill) and then picked up the pace as I started the downhill portion of the ride, and ended up with a pretty hot finish.

Only 2 more rides left in the 2013 tour challenge.  My Stage 19 ride was 17.3 km in 48:28.

Plod On.

Trying Thursday

Another perfect day in paradise, temps in the mid 70’s, sunny. Can’t get any better.  My legs were tired from the ride yesterday and I was feeling  it in every step.

My plan was to do an easy ride minimizing the hills and keeping flat as much as possible.  That meant a north / south route.

I encountered a significant obstacle in the early part of the ride.  There was a house in the center of the street blocking both sidewalks. This was kind of a surprise, they were getting ready to move the house and had it trailered up and moved into the street. The real move must have been set to happen in the dead of night.

I rode 12.5 km in 35:58 on my ride for Stage 18 of Le Tour Challenge.

Only three more days left in the tour.

Plod on.

Wet Wednesday

I thought it was a perfect day for a ride today, slightly cloudy and 20 C (70 F) with not much wind. So I decided to saddle up at lunch time and get my ride in before it got hot.

It sounded like a good plan but little did I know that the rains would start about 20 minutes into the ride and continue for most of the remainder.  I was soaked by the time I got back, and my legs looked well tanned until I had my shower and the mud washed off.

The route that I decided started on a gradual downhill that ran south to the reservoir then along the reservoir followed by a hard ride up the hill and home.

I used the panorama feature on the iPhone to capture the headwaters where the Elbow river flows into the reservoir.

This is a picture of the right hand side of the panorama in regular mode.

Quite the difference eh?

This is a look across the water to the sailing school that my son is attending for the next 3.5 weeks.  I don’t think his boat is out there.

It is really one big boat 22’ Catalina and the small boats I think are Opti’s.

My lunchtime ride in the rain was my Stage 17 of Le Tour Challenge (only 13 km shorter today). I rode 24 km in 1:08:40.

Longest ride of this year and my legs are letting me know it.

Plod on.

Twilight Tuesday

It was perfect weather today, the sun was shining, the temperatures were in the mid 20’s and there was no wind. Perfect tanning weather.

We took the dog down to the river for a swim tonight and witnessed first hand how the main channel was changed in the flood. We walked down a gravel bar that was not there a month ago and beachcombed the debris looking for treasures unearthed by the raging waters. Side note there were a lot of shovels.

The sun was setting when we got home. I climbed on my bike and did my Stage 16 of Le Tour Challenge albeit mine was 160 km shorter than The Tour. I rode 8 km in 23:16. 

An easy ride but I kept my tour streak alive.

Plod on.

SoLong Sunday

it was a long day, we got up in the morning had breakfast and drove to the mountains to drop my girl at camp for the week. Then stopped at a small reservoir to let the dog swim on the way home.  It seems that every year she forgets how to swim and requires a few minutes to familiarize herself. Then it was back home to do the regular Sunday chores, lawn mowing ……

After dinner I dragged myself to the bike and headed out for a pedal.

It was Stage 15 of the Tour today with a massive climb to finish the race, it always makes for an exciting finish. My Stage 15 of le tour challenge did not have a big hill to finish, instead I chose a relativly flat route to give my tired amateur legs a rest. I rode 13.6 km in 33:38 minutes. The new tires worked great I am averaging about 2 kph faster. It’s either the tires or maybe it is  me getting in better shape!

Tomorrow is a rest day on the tour, maybe for me too!

Plod On.

Sunset Saturday

It was a very interesting day, today I got to play bike mechanic. I removed the rear tire (flat) from my bike and headed for the bike store. While I was purchasing a new tire and tube for the bike I checked to see if there was a more road appropriate tire to replace the current one.  Low and behold there was a narrower tire that was a little smoother and fit in the same rim.  No brainer right? So I bought 2 sets one for the front one for the rear.

The only problem with this plan is that I had never changed a tire on a bike before. I had a general idea of what to do but no specific knowledge.  It turned out it was a lot less onerous than expected and went faster than I thought and the only complaint I had was my hands got really dirty.  It probably only took me 10 times longer than a reasonable bike tech could do it.

I was a little apprehensive about going for a ride on the newly installed tires.  I figured that I would get halfway through and find out that I did something wrong and end up walking home carrying a crippled bike. I planned a route that would keep me fairly close to home from any point and armed myself with my cell phone and headed out the door.

The new tires performed flawlessly. The only issue I had was that I forgot to hook up the front brake and it was easily fixed. The difference in the tire profile was noticeable, the bike felt faster and was easier to handle. I left a little late and was rewarded with a ride into the setting sun on the way home. It looked something like this when I finally pulled into my drive.

Stage 14 of the tour and I rode 10.5 km in 26:3o minutes to complete my stage of “Le Tour Challenge”

Plod On.

Flat Friday

Yesterday (Thursday) was Stage 12 of the tour. I had a chiro appointment in the morning and decided to ride over to it. The only problem is that the Doctor’s office was across the river valley.  It meant I had to ride down a very big hill and then up the other side.  Then repeat on the way home.  My legs were dead at the end of the ride. My contribution to “le tour challenge” today was 2 rides, 15 km, 52:36 minutes. As a bonus I earned the 100 mile badge in the mapmyride.com letour challenge.

This afternoon (Friday) I went out to ride my bike to my son’s School of rock performance and it had a flat tire.  This just pisses me off every 100 miles or so my back tire goes flat. I’ve changed the tube, had the tire & rim inspected by the techs at Bow Cycle. Yet every 100 ore so miles I go out to ride and the tire is dead flat and there is a puncture.  I think I am going to replace the tire and tube and hope that that works. 

Meanwhile for Stage 13 of the “le tour Challenge” I borrowed my wife’s bike. The issue is that it is significantly smaller than mine. I kind of felt like one of those circus clowns riding a miniature bike. However it is a nice ride. I rode 7.77 km in 23:16 minutes and kept the streak alive.

And to top it off tonight I had to beat the rain when I went for my ride. It clouded over and was raining all around still I managed to dodge the clouds and finish the ride dry.

A interesting day.

Plod On.

Warm Wednesday

Warm does not describe it, the 29 C and humid day was wilting. I went outside at lunch to sit in the sun and ended up sweating so much that I needed another shower.

Suppertime rolled around and I changed from my flip flops into my bike shoes and instantly regretted it.  The blisters I got from the boot fiasco yesterday came into contact with shoes for the first time today and immediately let me know they were still there.  I guess more Preparation H tonight. I guess that means no running again, I’m glad this did not happen in the running streak.

Given the heat I decided to ease off on the ride tonight. I even carried water for part of the ride, then it fell out of the carrier.  The problem is that the carrier I have came with one of the old soft BPA leeching bottles and the house got purged of those evil things, so nothing fits in the holder. Somewhere on my ride tonight is a half filled water bottle.

This is what I have been riding, it is not a fancy road bike, it is not a mountain bike. It is somewhere in between, what this means is that it does not do anything really well. It is slower than the road bike and does not do trails well either.  But it carries my 6’3 200 lb body over the miles that I ride. Kind of like a Belgian Work horse, just keeps plodding along.

Today was Stage 11 of the tour,  individual time trial day. The winner averaged 54.3 km/hr. I don’t think I could go that fast even if it was downhill with a tail wind. Today I rode 16.3 km in 49:38 minutes and averaged 19.6 kph.  This is not even half of Tony Martins average speed.  I blame the equipment and the traffic lights.

A Sweltering Sweaty Soiree.

Plod On.

Testy Tuesday

It was a beautiful day today, sunny not a cloud in the sky, temperatures approaching 26 C. A perfect day.  I put on my cowboy duds to show my stampede spirit and drove the kids to camp. 

Somewhere on the drive I got this great idea that I should stand in the river in my shit kickers then let the leather dry while I was wearing them. I would end up with great fitting boots and say goodbye to sore feet.  So that is what I did.

It was not such a bright idea.  I was impressed that the  boots were close to waterproof  and my feet did not get really wet immediately.  The leather did seem to stretch but it was not fun walking around with wettish feet all day and I did get a blister on my heel.

I decided that running with the blister might not be the best plan so just before dinner I decided to go on a longer ride.  I chose a route I have thought about doing but have never done. It gave a different view of downtown.

There was a stage of the tour today and for stage 10 of the “letour challenge” I rode 17.1 km in 52:24 minutes. It was an interesting route, the first 5 km were into a strong headwind (not fun), then a km in single lane construction, then some pretty steep uphill sections and finally home.

An interesting day.

Plod On.

Massive Monday

This morning I woke up to heavy sustained rain. At times it was as heavy as the flood rains we got on Friday night.  In the afternoon it cleared off and we saw a little sun but it was still unseasonably cool.  I finally decided to run before making supper. 

I ran over to the lookout to see the progress the river was making, the media is reporting that the flows are still higher than flood levels. This is the river today.

Pictures of the more normal spring levels and the peak flood level can be found HERE!

From the lookout I ran down to the river pathway on the trails. Funnily the pavement running was actually easier than the muddy slick soft trails.

I then ran back up the hill. Running the hill is a massive effort and I did a good job tonight, I was passed by cyclists but I almost kept pace with them.  Except one frigging mountain man that passed me on the way up and disappeared then passed me on the way back down ( I was still going up) as he went for another try (masochist).

From the top of the hill it was an easy run home. I ended up running about 3.5 miles in 33:38 minutes. 

It was a rest day on the tour today. I debated on taking a rest day as well but decided to ride anyway and maybe save this ride in case I miss one in the next 2 weeks. I rode 18.9 km in 54:11 minutes. This was the longest ride so far and I was definitely feeling it especially given only a few hours rest from that tough hill run.

This was not a recovery day!

Plod On

Stoic Sunday

Saturday was another rest day from running. It is amazing how easy it is to fall out of the habit once the goal is achieved. There was a stage of the tour so there was day 8 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 15.25 km in 47:32 minutes. It was an interesting ride and on a quiet route that was thick with traffic due to an unexpected road closure.

This morning I got up a little early and headed out the door for my run.  I ran part of the route that I biked on Saturday then did some creative zig zagging to get home.

 

There is a significant uphill (50 m) and a major intersection to cross, I spent 3 minutes waiting for lights.  I took it easy and tried to pace myself for the entire run. I ended up running 6.7 miles in 1:00:23 including stoppages for lights so not a bad slow run on a new route.

I missed watching Stage 9 of le tour this morning, but that did not stop me from an easy ride for day 9 of  “le tour challenge”. I rode 7.75 km in 25:12 minutes. This was an easy ride at well off my normal pace. My legs are feeling the cumulative impacts due to going from not riding at all to riding every day. I also cajoled my son into a ride and he does not ride as fast as me.

An easy couple of days with a mix of workouts.

Plod On

Finicky Friday

With no running challenges I took a rest day from running. It was a little weird not having to think about when or where I wanted to run or what kind of effort it should be or how far …

I’m going to have to give some serious to the running schedule I want to keep for the next few months.  I may cut back on the frequency of the runs and up the distances.  Who knows.

Today the Calgary Stampede kicked off with the parade through downtown and the opening of the rodeo and Stampede Grounds. I did not go to the grounds instead headed off to see my daughter perform in a mini version of the musical nunsense.  It was fabulous.

Over the dinner hour the thunderstorms moved in and we were hammered by rain.

This rain barrel sits under the downspout from on gutter on the house and it filled to overflowing with water in less than 10 minutes. The storm continued for almost an hour.  The TV was reporting flash floods and closed roads again.  But it did clear off enough for me to get on the bike later in the evening. 

It was stage 7 of the tour this morning and hence day 7 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 12 km in 32:14 minutes at 9:30 PM. It was cool enough that I wore a jacket and the roads were still slick from the rain. 

An rest day with a cross training workout.

Plod On

Terminal Thursday

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 38

Time : 36:39 Minutes
Distance : 4.25 Miles 
This Week: 12.80 Miles

Total: 161.67 Miles

Woo Hoo the running streaks are done! Do I feel a rest day and a more reasonable running schedule coming on? I guess this years independence day is my independence from daily running. I have run every day since April 1 with the exception of a few days when my SI joint was sore. And for all this I earned a ..

virtual Finishers medal.

I managed to squeeze my run in between two thunderstorms. The route I chose was upstream along the river through some more of the flood area.

It is a fairly flat out and back route that parallels the river.  The start had a really pretty view of the clouds lit by the setting sun.

This view was also being enjoyed by a flock of Canada Geese and goslings that were on shore for their evening meal.

On the run back they had settled on the path and I had to weave my way through a group of hissing protective mother geese to get back to the car. They must like the warmth of the paved path in the cooler evening.

At the turn around point of the run there was some significant flood damage to the technically closed pathway.

You can see where flood debris had accumulated on the railing and the 2” pipe rails were bent right over. You can also see a gap between the path and the concrete on the left where the entire pathway has shifted six inches.  Mother nature is amazing.

The run itself was fairly fast if you deduct the time that I stopped to take pictures.  It is a gentle uphill for the first half of the run and a equally gentle downhill on the way back. I was pretty happy with the splits 5:30 ish on the way out and just under 5:00 on the way back.

I was focusing on my stride in the run and trying to move my strike back to a heel or closer to midfoot strike.  I have been running with a forefoot strike for the last little while and have been experiencing some tenderness in the metatarsal on thebig toe of my right foot. I’m hoping that shifting the strike back will take some stress off the bone.

For Day 6 of “le tour challenge” I cycled 9.1 Miles in 41:54 minutes at lunch time. The route ran west from my house up the big hill and past the French School before heading south on 85th before turning east and heading down the hill home.  I discovered the two fastest gears that I rarely used are harder and much faster. Guess I will be using them more often.

Another active day, and it felt good.

Plod On.

Wonderful Wednesday

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 37

Time : 26:52 Minutes
Distance : 3.3 Miles 
This Week: 8.55 Miles

Total: 157.42 Miles

My legs are still getting used to my evening bike ride. This morning when I hit the road my stride felt short and tight at both the landing and the kickoff.  After a few hundred meters it seemed to lengthen out ok.  Maybe I need to try a brick this weekend and see how that feels.  It was another beautiful morning, again it cooled off over night making it perfect to run. I am either getting up a little earlier or the sun is getting up later as I caught the end of the sunrise this morning.

The plan for today was to crank out a quick 3 or so miles. I started out on the usual uphill route and then found a cutoff home at the right point.  This route contains one mile that I really don’t like.  It is a really nice downhill stretch but is straight and you can see from one end to the other.

I find it demotivating to run these straight stretches as the end seems so far away. I much prefer windy roads where the visibility is restricted to a few hundred meters. I find it easier to stay motivated and set intermediate targets, it just works for me.

It was a really good run and I was happy with the splits. I had three splits in under 5:00 min / km which is fast for me. And even the uphill section was not that slow after the warm up.

The evening saw day 5 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 10 km  in 29:32 minutes at 8:30 PM. The route crossed Bow Trail and headed through Strathcona and then back on 26th Ave. It started out with some significant uphills and a major major street crossing.

An active day.

Plod On

Turdy Tuesday

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 36

Time : 17:06 Minutes
Distance : 2.0 Miles 
This Week: 5.25 Miles

Total: 154.12 Miles

The day started out great, it cooled off overnight and there was a layer of fog pouring out over the edge of the river valley.

It made for a great start to my run and reminded me of a scene from the movie “The Big Chill” where the guys are running on the foggy streets of the town.

I started to run the 3 mile ridge route from my house. I got about 1/4 of a mile in and started to feel the need for a biological break.  I decided to continue on.  This was not a good choice.

It made me feel like this.  I tried to hold off the inevitable (which made running difficult) but at around a mile and a half  into the run there was the opportunity to cut off and head for home so I did. In fact I sprinted all the way to the toilet, and so ended my morning run.

It was the hottest day of the year so far, the mercury tipped over 35 C outside my kitchen window. I was so glad that I made the effort to run early.

I finished off with day 4 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 8.5 km  in 23:08 minutes at 9:30 PM. It had started to cool off which made the ride nice, but I was not even close to the team time trials on the real tour today.

An OK day after an aborted start.

Plod On

Mundane Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 91

Time : 29:06 Minutes
Distance : 3.25 Miles 
This Week: 3.25 Miles

Total: 311.35 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 35

Week 5: 3.25 Miles  
Total: 152.15 Miles

A very hot day, hottest day of the year so far. Lucky for me I crawled out of bed and into my running kit and pounded out a 3.25 mile recovery run. To celebrate Canada Day (Dominion Day for us old folks) I wore my Canada running Jersey. I have only worn this for races on foreign soil and on Canada day runs.

The rest of the day was pretty mundane, breakfast, kids, shopping etc. I finished off with day 3 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 10.1 km to MRU in 39:35 minutes with my son.  This was his first ride after being hit by a car while riding 2 weeks ago. He was a little more careful tonight.

For this mornings run I wanted something a little bit flatter to give my legs a little break after the 9.5 miles yesterday and the very difficult climb at the end of the run.

I kept the run at the top of the hill and headed south across a couple of major streets. This let me keep a lot of the run on residential streets (I hate running on sidewalks). I started off really slow and struggled up the modest hill before turning south.  Once my legs were warmed up I got into a grove and just let it flow for the rest of the run. It ended up being a lot of fun.

A good Canada Day run.

Plod On.