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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Memorial Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 57

Time : 27:14 Minutes
Distance : 3.1 Miles 
This Week: 8.2 Miles

Total: 179.45 Miles

This is the First Day of the Runner’s World Summer Streak. My legs were sore and tired so I put off running until the last possible minute. Then under cloudy skies that were threatening rain I headed out to get my run on.

The route starts out on trails and the switches to city streets for the majority of the run. Running the path  on the edge of the ridge there was a great view of the storms moving over downtown.

 

The path through the meadow was soft and muddy but surrounded by splashes of colour from the wild flowers (some would call them weeds).

There is a really cool street halfway through the run. For two city blocks the streets are lined with apple trees instead of the standard Elm Trees that are planted everywhere else in the area. This time of the year they are blooming and it is quite fragrant and pretty.

In another week the street will be covered fallen blossoms and it will look like fresh snow.

The run was great with some really good splits, even on tired legs. A good start to the Summer Streak.

Plod On.

Sundowner Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 49

Time : 1:03:33 Minutes
Distance : 7.0 Miles 
This Week: 13.0 Miles

Total: 171.25 Miles

I finally got the energy to get out and run again, had enough of the rationalization that I was resting my SI joint and put on some running shoes. I spent a while debating routes and decided a little elevation change was in order so I ran down to the river and back up the big hill.

It looks pretty tame and is a combination of trails and paved pathways that makes for an interesting run.  Not to mention that it is spring and everything is blooming right now.

Saskatoon blooms, this field was full of these flowering bushes and in a few months will be full of berries.

The river at the bottom of the hill, it is almost flooding with spring run off from the snowpack in the mountains.

This is the big hill that I ran up, it is straight up the escarpment and is a lot steeper than the picture shows. My lungs felt like they were going to burst halfway up this uh sucker.

From the top of the hill had a great view of downtown illuminated by the setting sun.

Then by the time I arrived at home the sun was setting and it was thinking about getting dark.

The run itself was good an easy start as it was mostly downhill and then flat along the river. Then one massive leg burning, lung bursting hill to climb out of the river valley.  And finally a nice gentle downhill for the last couple of km home.

A good run, an Ok time but a suck arse Sunday!

Plod On.

Weigh In Wednesday

Wednesday Weigh In – Week 5

This week: 2 Pounds
Total: 13 pounds

Streak to the beach - Day 38

Time : 45:08  Minutes
Distance : 5.1 Miles 
This Week: 12.4 Miles

Total: 141.5 Miles

Running is all about gumption, tonight it was getting together the gumption to strap on a pair of shoes, drive to a group run and them end up running alone.

I picked a fun route not really knowing the distance (somewhere between 7 & 10K) that runs thru Griffith woods and then thru a natural wetlands and back to the store.

The route to Grffith Woods is the same but when I got into the park I turned left instead of right, this takes us through some open areas with good views of the river.

Then some open trail on less than even conditions but a very fun stretch to run; flat, straight and through the trees.

And finally up a honking hard hill before running through the wetlands with great sounds from the birds and frogs before looping back on the highway to the store.

Why is it that hills never look as hard in pictures as they do when you are running?

All in all I averaged a 5:28 min /km pace (8:45 min/mile). So a good strong run.

Plod On

Motivation Monday (NOT)

Streak to the beach - Day 36

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

Total: 132.4 Miles

I was not motivated to get out of bed this morning, I was not motivated to work and I definitely was not motivated to run. It started when I woke up with my muscles feeling generally fatigued from running the equivalent of a half marathon on Saturday and Sunday. I spent the rest of the day moving slowly.

Well if it is not too cold it is too hot. The temperatures hit 27 C  (85 F) here today at peak running time. Too hot to run, for this thick blooded Canadian anyway. Even in the evening it had barely cooled down.

The alternative to running outside in the heat was to head down to the cool basement and do my run in a controlled environment on the treadmill. I opted for the controlled environment and rationalized it as being able to control the pace better to manage a recovery run.

The run itself was simple, I started out slow and then stayed in the 9 – 10 minute mile pace band for most of the run then towards the end slipped to an 8:40 pace then for the last 2 minutes hit 7:30.

A good start to the week.

Plod On.

Sunset River Run

Distance : 7.0 mi
Time 57:45

The day started early.  I woke up about an hour before I needed to and took advantage of the extra time to fit in a core and upper body strength workout.  This is not usually part of my morning routine.

After work I decided to rush out and get in a good run before dark.  I ended up leaving the parking lot at Edworthy park just as the sun was starting to set.

I headed towards downtown and ended up crossing the river at the 14th street bridge and turning around. I was hoping to catch the view of the setting sun off the buildings downtown but was a little late.

My intention was to get out and run, probably about 8 or 9 km and work out some of the residual lactic acid from the speed session on Tuesday.  Somewhere in the first km the easy run turned into a slowish tempo run.  I made the stupid mistake of running on the snow covered icy path right by the river instead of on the cleared path. Just after the turn around point I was starting to lag and was passed by black clad brunette with a pony tail and was inspired to keep the pace.  (No I was not being too macho and yes she still left me in the dust).

I am still having trouble finding my stride with the ham string injury.  I am finding that it limits my pace both in speed work and tempo runs. I am trying to up my mileage to see if that helps with the healing.

All in all a good run and a lot of fun.

Plod on.

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