Scenic Saturday

Another easy week is done, I had altogether too many rest days this week.  It is time to buckle down and get refocused and re-motivated.

Today I did a silly thing, I drove all the way across town to run in a place that I have never run before. I know it sounds ironic to drive somewhere to go for a run.

There is a big park on the Northwest side of town that has miles of bicycle and running paths through the native prairie.  This is an oasis of the past completely surrounded by the city.

Once you start running the paths seem to go on forever. (It feels like it too)

The funny thing is that it sits high on a hill that overlooks the city and from the escarpment there are great views of downtown to the south. You can just make out the top of the towers as seen above on the horizon.

But when you reach the cliff there are great vistas of the city core. If this were not a park people would pay millions  for this view.

It was a perfect day for a run, bright and sunny with temperatures in the low 20’s.  I made a small mistake and did not carry water on this 5 mile, 45 minute run and was parched when I got back to the car.

Great day, Great Run.

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.

MissingMojo Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 85

Time : 37:15 Minutes
Distance : 3.5 Miles 
This Week: 3.5 Miles

Total: 284.65 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 29

Week 5: 3.5 Miles  
Total: 121.65 Miles

Day 5 of the flood watch in Cowtown, the water has receded and people are moving back into their homes and beginning the arduous clean up.  It could take a while.  I took this picture of the river tonight and it is down quite a bit from Friday (Picture Here) but is still very high.

The sun was out this morning which just causes all the standing water to evaporate and form the clouds for the late afternoon and evening which is when I ran.  I decided to run a portion of the Douglass fir trail, then run up the road from Edworthy park and follow the City streets home.  The objective was to get some trail running in and avoid the flooded areas.

It was a good plan, but there were a few problems.  The trail conditions were not great.

In fact it was a bit of a slog and when I reached the valley floor the trail disappeared under a large pool of standing water.  This required a bit of bushwhacking keeping on the downslope until I could make my way around the water and back to the trail on dry ground.

I was not running fast and between the exploring and the picture taking it was really slow for the first mile.  The second mile had a very long and very steep uphill section that pushed my limits and was slow. Then it was an easy downhill run home.

Some nights it just is not there, this was one of those nights. Maybe my mojo will be back tomorrow.

Plod On

Multitasking Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 71

Time : 29:10 Minutes
Distance : 3.0 Miles 
This Week: 3.0 Miles

Total: 226.25 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 15

Week 3: 3.0 Miles  
Total: 64.5 Miles

It was another beautiful day in the neighbourhood. It started out sunny and clouded over around lunch time.  After work I threw together a Turkey meatloaf and threw it in the oven.  What do you do while waiting for a meatloaf to cook? Why run of course!

I wanted to run something different had about 1/2 hour of run time available so did an abbreviated river loop. This route is mostly flat however,  there is a very steep downhill to get to the river then a shortish flat and then a very steep uphill to get home.  See the dip in the red line above.  Other than that it is a great run.

 

This is the view from the start of the down hill, the path runs almost straight down the hill and comes out across from the little island in the lower right of the picture. My knees were really feeling the down hill. The uphill is almost as steep and my lungs were really feeling the climb.

I got home, steamed a pot of vegetables, the meatloaf was ready and voila dinner was served.

A Multitasking Run!

Plod On.

SoAlone Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 70

Time : 1:11:20 Minutes
Distance : 7.5 Miles 
This Week: 28.8 Miles

Total: 226.25 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 14

Week 1: 32.7 Miles
Week 2: 28.8 Miles 
Total: 61.5 Miles

I lay in bed this morning, huddled under the blankets enjoying a slow and relaxing start to the day. I had  my kindle fired up reading a trashy adventure novel and then I looked at the clock and decided I had time to make the Running Room for a group run.  It was hard getting motivated to get out of bed as my legs were tired and somewhat sore from the last 2 runs. Friday I challenged pace a little and on Saturday I ran some difficult hills. I decided that today would be a 10 or so km slow recovery run.

The thermometer in the car said it was a chilly 9 C, the skies were overcast and the air was damp. A perfect day for a run. Unfortunately when I showed up for a group run no one else did so I found myself running in a group of one. It is a little disappointing as I can run alone from home and save 1/2 of driving.

I chose a route that I love. It runs on the gravel paths through Griffith Woods park and then along the city streets back to the store.

I find that running on trails is easier on my aching legs than concrete and pavement So when I am feeling it I try to make softer surfaces a part of the run. Today I got to run on some trails that were shared by deer.

I saw the fresh deer foot tracks but alas I did not get to run with the deer today. But that did not mean that there were not sights worth seeing on the trek through the forest. 

It was so calm that there was not a ripple on the water in this beaver dammed part of the creek.

On the way back to the store I deviated from the usual route and decided to explore some of the bike paths through the neighbourhood. Unfortunately this lead to running up and down the ridge a couple of times but it is always nice to run a different route. Fortunately I did come across a couple of deer grazing on the hillside that I was running UP.  From the top of the ridge there were some great views of the houses below leading into the park and the river and it extended the part of the run that was not on city streets.

Nuff said, a lonely but fun run.

Plod On

Slowdown Saturday

Streak to the beach - Day 69

Time : 40:49 Minutes
Distance : 4.1 Miles 
This Week: 21.3 Miles

Total: 226.25 Miles

They say timing is everything, and tonight timing worked in my favour. I put off my run until the early evening and then as I finished it started to rain (as in thunderstorm).

The plan for the run was just a recovery run.  Put in some slow miles and keep the legs loose. I decided to run down to the river on the bike path which follows the old Quarry Road.

This was a good choice for running down the hill as the grade is not that severe and the footing is softer and easier on the connective tissue (read knees).

The river is showing the effects of two weeks of rain filling the channel from bank to bank and flooding some of the little islands.

The run back up the hill was steeper and on a route I have not run before.

Not to mention that there was a remarkable contrast between the gravel quarry road (above) and the major road I paralleled here.

All in all it was a good run and a nice change.

Plod On.

Tanning Tuesday

Streak to the beach - Day 65

Time : 40:41 Minutes
Distance : 4.3 Miles 
This Week: 7.4 Miles

Total: 211.35 Miles

What to say about today. I woke up this morning to the sight of the sunshine streaming in through the morning fog. It seems that all that rain was evaporating and turning to fog in the cool morning air.

The sunshine stuck around for most of the day. I enjoyed lunch outside sitting in the sun working on my tan. In the afternoon there were errands to run. And then a window of opportunity for a run while my son played soccer. Bonus, it was an opportunity to run a route that I had never done before.

As you can see from the red line at the bottom of the chart this route is the opposite of Sunday’s.  It goes down tidley down down and then up tidley up up.

The run was great but the sun was gone and the clouds rolled in.  At least it was cool enough that we did not get any thunderstorms.

It is so cloudy that you can’t even see the mountains in the distance. 

The run was challenging,  The start was up a hill and then I cut through a gated community that I once almost built a home in and ran down a very aggressive hill then started back up. It was a very hard finish, but was timed just right, I arrived back at the soccer pitch right as the game ended.

Nice to be running outside again.

Plod On.

May the fourth be with you

Streak to the beach - Day 34

Time : 1:02:29  Minutes
Distance : 6.4 Miles 
This Week: 20.97 Miles

Total: 121.85

Opportunity knocks!  I have been driving this hill for years and always thought it would be a cool run. It is an access road for the bobsled run at Canada Olympic park that over time has evolved into a traffic short cut for people on the hill to get to the highway. It is a very steep incline for a little over a km with switch backs and a constant grade. Anyway my son’s school Jazz band was performing at a function at COP tonight, I had an hour and a half to kill. So ….

After cresting the hill I ran along the top of the ski hill to the school and then did a loop and started back. Halfway down the hill the view was incredible from halfway down.

I had the opportunity to cut onto the mountain bike trails and run some of the obstacles tres cool.

and run on some rough trails with very steeply banked corners and some incredible jumps (although jumps are not as much fun when running).

And finally came out at the bottom of the ski hill looking up at the half pipe with all the snow still there.  It’s freaking May!

It was a great run, not that fast but a tough effort, I can feel it in my throat.

May the fourth be with you!

Plod On