September Start up

It has been a while since I posted.  I did not take a break from working out but I did take a break from running.  It seems that my fast switch from the run to the bike for the tour challenge aggravated my runners knee. I have been doing heel dips like crazy to strengthen the stabilizing muscles and alleviate the pain.  It seems to be getting better so maybe it is working.

I found out that I have a hard time logging workouts and updating the blog when I am taking an ad hoc attitude towards workouts. This is not a good excuse, it just makes it clearer that I need to have a challenge, a race target, or an achievable goal to motivate myself.  I am still working on that.

I have signed up for sailing lessons for the month of September.  This will put me on the reservoir in one of those dinky little boats for one full day a week for 4 weeks. And I have been looking for a TRX class to figure out if that is a good way to workout, especially on the go.

Mean while I have been researching the 5:2 diet and have given Intermittent Fasting a serious attempt.  There is a significant body of research that indicates this is a great method for improving overall health and longevity as well as losing excess body fat.

For the first time ever I have attempted to embed a Vimeo video below. I HOPE IT Works! This is a BBC documentary that reviews some of the research on the 5:2 (five days normal eating, 2 severely calorie restricted days every week).

 

Eat, Fast and Live Longer - Horizon from Steve Hartman on Vimeo.

I also found this ebook by Dr.  John M. Berardi from Precision Nutrition. This has a really good overview of the concepts and then documents one persons trials with various formats of fasting.

In the end I have chosen to follow a one day ( 24 hours) a week fasting regime.  I stop eating at 10:00 on Saturday night and then consume only water or tea until 10:00 Sunday night.

I have completed 3 weeks of this regime so far.  I am finding it difficult to prepare meals for the family while not eating myself but overall it seems that the body adjusts to the hungry feeling and it goes in waves.  I find that drinking a hot beverage really helps with those hunger pangs.

I can not comment on the effectiveness in terms of health or longevity impacts. I have noticed a significant loosening in my trousers and figure I have lost in between 7 & 10 pounds in the three weeks.  Part of this is due to a change in what I have been eating on top of the fasting.

Not much else to report. I will return to more regular blogging.

Plod On.

Slow Sunday

What do you do on the Sunday of a long weekend? Sleep late, make breakfast and do laundry.  It was kind of a grey day so a nice day to stay at home and take care of inside chores.

I did manage to strap the runners on and take a 3 mile slow trek around the neighbourhood.  Not much to say about it. I was not fast, I was not slow, just a good paced fun little run.

In the evening we put a leash on the dog and did a couple of km with skateboarding and scootering kids.

Nice easy day.

Plod On.

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.

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.

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

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.

Tanning Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 88

Time : 43:56 Minutes
Distance : 5.0Miles 
This Week: 15.55 Miles

Total: 292.95 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 32

Week 5: 15.55 Miles  
Total: 133.7 Miles

Another good day. It was a little cloudy when I snuck outside at lunch time to catch some rays.  It got hot enough today that the house was uncomfortable by the end of the day.

I waited until almost sunset to run tonight. It was starting to cool down as the sun was dipping below the horizon. I decided to run through the off leash area as it was late enough that most dogs would at home in bed. There is also a great view of downtown from the end of the park which is even better as the sun sets.

You can see the start of a thundercloud hanging over downtown, kind of an ominous sign given our recent history.

The route tonight was an extension through the dog park added onto the loop route from my front door. I love the slight uphill section that runs along the ridge trails in the off leash area.

It is a nice route with an uphill right off the bat and then a dip in the center and a nice downhill finish. 

I took it easy from the start and gradually picked up the pace throughout the run. When I was running through the off leash area I picked up about 50 little vampirish friends that swarmed around me as I ran.  When I stopped to take a picture several of them lighted on me for a snack. This is a good incentive to keep moving.

It was a nice run on a trail of good memories.

Plod On.

Watchful Wednesday

Streak to the beach - Day 87

Time : 30:00 Minutes
Distance : 3.3 Miles 
This Week: 10.55 Miles

Total: 287.95 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 31

Week 5: 10.55 Miles  
Total: 128.7 Miles

Finally a perfect day, bright and sunny all day and temperatures in the mid 70’s. Perfect for running.  But alas, I chose to run on the treadmill tonight.  I wanted to have a controlled run on a flat course to see if the pain in my calf continued for a third run.  The treadmill is perfect for those criteria.

The run itself was simple.  No incline and starting pace of 9:30, then after 10 minutes I changed the pace to 9:00 and then after another 10  minutes I changed the pace to 8:30 and held that for the rest of the run.

I felt some tightness in my right shin but my calf felt ok for the entire run.  So it might just have been stressed from the hills.

I may have been running on a treadmill but my mind was running here.

Plod On.

Trekking Tuesday

Streak to the beach - Day 86

Time : 31:49 Minutes
Distance : 3.75 Miles 
This Week: 7.25 Miles

Total: 284.65 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 30

Week 5: 7.25 Miles  
Total: 125.4 Miles

Will things ever settle down weather wise? Today was beautiful and sunny in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon and the evening was punctuated with heavy downpours and thunderstorms.

When I ran this was the view of downtown, bright and highlighted by the late afternoon sun.

Less than an hour after I finished we were hit with a massive thunderstorm.  When I look outside now (several hours later) I can still see lightening flashes to the east.

Planning routes has been difficult since the flooding, some routes are closed, some routes by the river are not safe  and some are just not accessible.

The route I chose is a variation of my common routes. I ran from my doorstep around the neighbourhood and home.  It either starts or finishes with (depending on if Irun counter clockwise or clockwise) a trail run. Tonight it started with the trail run.

It is fairly dense for a few hundred meters the opens up under the power lines. No matter what direction you run it has gradual uphills for about a third of the run at the beginning and then has a fast downhill finish. Always a good way to end the run.

Tonight’s effort was tough, I had a slow first mile when I stopped to take pictures, then ran the uphill fairly fast and smoked the downhill section with 2 miles at under 8 minute miles. Not fast for a younger version of me but fast for the aging me.

The only complaint that I had was that my right calf was aching on the uphill section and then for the remainder of the run. Kind of an fatigued tightness in between the soleus and the gastrocnemius. I had the same feeling during last nights run after the big hill.

A dry run on a wet 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

Stripped Down Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 84

Time : 1:35:00 Minutes
Distance : 10.0 Miles 
This Week: 28.05 Miles

Total: 281.15 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 28

Week 4: 28.05 Miles  
Total: 119.35 Miles

Runner’s world published an article on running naked (without gadgets) here. Today I inadvertently did just that, I forgot my phone at home and that meant no map, no camera, no precise timing, no splits, no nothing.

Due to the flooding a lot of the routes I usually run were still closed. I chose a 17 km route that stuck to city streets and skirted the flooded reservoir but on paths that are well above the level of the water.

This is a nice 16 km route with some serious long hills and a good mixture of city streets and scenic pathways, (even though the river looked more like the Ganges wide and silty).

This is what it looks like in the winter, today was much different but due to the technology nakedness I had to rely on an old picture.

The run was good, I took some slow down sections and ran the hills hard and my legs were very tired at the end of the run. This was the longest distance that I have run this year I must be building to something!

A long run and a fun one.

Plod On

Twilight Tuesday

Streak to the beach - Day 79

Time : 28:57 Minutes
Distance : 3.25 Miles 
This Week: 6.25 Miles

Total: 259.35 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 23

Week 4: 3.25 Miles  
Total: 97.55 Miles

It was another wild day, raining buckets at noon, sunny in the early evening then cloudy and grey as the sun set. Well I did not run in the rain and I did not run in the late afternoon sun so that left the twilight for me.

Now if today had been Monday the title for this post would have been Mosquito Monday.  As soon as I stepped outside they were swarming around, and when I paused to take this picture I thought I was going to be eaten alive or at least carried off by the buggers.

I chose a route in the neighbourhood that is a shorter version of a 4.5 mile run that I have done frequently. It combines trails and gravel, residential streets and a few hills. 

Tonight there was a little surprise on the route, one of the fields I usually run through had this sprout up on it.

It is time for the Hellenic Festival where the local Greek Orthodox Church hosts a weekend of Greek culture and cuisine.  Every year it is a great weekend party that literally rocks this section of town.

The other surprise was that as I turned onto the street in front of my house a black cat went scurrying across the street and a young buck with it’s velvet horns took off in the other direction. I went back to take a picture but the deer was long gone.

My plan was for a shorter recovery run and I held off  for a while but the pace picked up for the middle part of the run. Overall I ran an easy pace and just grooved out to running in the almost dark. It’s kinda cool for me as the darkness removes all the distractions and lets me focus on the run.

A great night and a fun run.

Plod On.

Moody Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 78

Time : 26:10 Minutes
Distance : 3.0 Miles 
This Week: 3.0 Miles

Total: 256.1 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 22

Week 4: 3.0 Miles  
Total: 94.35 Miles

Today was another day of sun and rain. Afternoon thunderstorms rolled through and cleared off for a nice evening. Buying a loaf of sourdough bread offset the dentist’s visit and a visit to the British pantry to stock up on English treats and tea was just a bonus.

I decided to do a treadmill run tonight to go for the low impact workout and give my connective tissue a little break. After yesterday’s long run it was hard to get motivated to workout tonight. I went down to the treadmill thinking 10 minute miles for one or two miles.  As usual the first few minutes were a tough haul then things eased off so when 5 minutes rolled around I bumped the pace, then at 10 minutes another bump and at 15 minutes another bump and at 20 minutes I settled into a 7:40 pace for the last 6 minutes. In the last interval I could feel my knee start to hurt, so maybe I should back off on speed for a while.

So recovery turned into progression, an all too common experience.

Plod On.

Scary Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 77

Time : 1:13:31 Minutes
Distance : 8.25 Miles 
This Week: 29.90 Miles

Total: 253.1 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 21

Week 3: 29.90 Miles  
Total: 91.35 Miles

What to say about today? It had it’s highs, it had it’s lows, it was exciting, it was relaxing and most of all it was scary. The day started early with the traditional Sunday pancakes made by me. Then my daughter heading out the door for a cheer thing, and I headed out for the Sunday group run at the Running Room. As is the usual case recently I ended up doing my group run alone.

The afternoon was exciting and scary. My son decided to ride his bike through a yellow light and was knocked over by a car.  this involved Police, EMS and Fire trucks. One closed intersection, a traffic ticket and few scrapes and bruises later everything was OK.

The run was the high point of the day.  I ran the same route (sort of) that I ran last week but in reverse.  I decided to do a little exploring (read I got LOST twice) and added a little distance.

Running in reverse meant that I ran along the edge of the ridge and was bombarded with distant and pleasing mountain views to the west.

And a Pond that I ran right by last week without seeing it.

It is hard to imagine missing something that pretty.

All in all a good day and a very lucky day.

Plod On.

Sudden Death Saturday

Streak to the beach - Day 76

Time : 25:41 Minutes
Distance : 2.8 Miles 
This Week: 21.55 Miles

Total: 244.85 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 20

Week 3: 21.55 Miles  
Total: 83.10Miles

Another Schizophrenic  day weather wise.  The morning started out nice so I busted out the lawnmower and put a some easy miles on trimming the grass in the weather window.  Almost as soon as I finished the thunderstorms rolled in and the rest of  the day was rain on and off. I lit the BBQ in a weather window and ended up grilling dinner in the rain.

I put off the run watching the hockey game, then 9:00 rolled around and the game was going into overtime.  I had a choice to make either watch  the game or run. Then an epiphany! I could do a sudden death run while watching the OT period.  So the rules became run either the minimum or run until a goal was scored to end the game, whichever took longer.

I set the treadmill at a 0.5% incline and 9:30 pace and started up as the players hit the ice.  25:41 minutes later Boston scored and I stepped off the treadmill.

Weirdest run I ever did.

Plod On.

Freaky Friday

Streak to the beach - Day 75

Time : 34:29 Minutes
Distance : 4.2 Miles 
This Week: 18.75 Miles

Total: 242.05 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 19

Week 3: 18.75 Miles  
Total: 80.30Miles

Friday is typically an errand day, we usually spend the morning avoiding the cleaning lady. Today was a weird day today, one minute it was sunny and the next it was thunder, lightening and pouring rain. I took the opportunity in between the evening  deluges to get my run in.

I chose a route that is relatively flat, with a gradual uphill for the first 2.5 km and then mainly down hill for the rest. I planned a fairly easy run, more or less junk miles to keep the streak alive. It turned out a little different the down hill section blazed by with some good striding. 

I don’t know why but the police were out in force in the area, I saw three patrol cars one with people pulled over and the cops with hands on guns, it made me a little nervous.

This was taken on the down hill showing a beautiful tree lined street in the sunshine.

Then a few minutes later looking across the valley at the football stadium (the lights GO STAMPS) it was cloudy and rainy. Time to head home.

A good day, I’m happy with the time and pace.

Plod On.

Tardy Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 74

Time : 30:00 Minutes
Distance : 3.35 Miles 
This Week: 14.55 Miles

Total: 237.85 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 18

Week 3: 14.55 Miles  
Total: 76.10Miles

The day seemed like a rush, I felt like I was late for everything and always hurrying. Even my run was put off until the kids had been rushed to bed. It was a big day for my son as his school soccer team battled for the gold medal in their division on a cloudy and rainy day.

Unfortunately they came up a little short and had to settle for the silver medal. This picture was taken as I was sitting in the relative heat and comfort  in the car whilst they were not!

I had a little nap while watching the tube and then got up in time to put the kids to bed and at 9:00 headed down to run.  My motivation was this youtube video.  I was tired and my legs were rubbery but the thought of 1/2 hour for exercise out of 24 was god motivation.

The treadmill run was kinda boring, at least there is a TV in there.

But it did what the treadmill does best and forced me to run the pace that I planned.  Tonight I did a quick warm up at 10 min miles then set the pace at just under 9:00 and held it there for the majority of the remaining run.

A good recovery run on a cold and rainy night.

Plod On