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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Tweaked Tuesday

Streak to the beach - Day 72

Time : 25:10 Minutes
Distance : 3.0 Miles 
This Week: 6.0 Miles

Total: 229.25 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 16

Week 3: 6.0 Miles  
Total: 67.5 Miles

Busy, busy, busy. A full day today then a travel studies meeting at the school making it a full night tonight. Then after all that a 10:00 PM treadmill run because I did not want to run outside in the cold and dark.

The run was simple, set the treadmill at a 0.5% incline, set the pace at 9:00 minute miles then every 5 minutes bump the speed up a bit and finish with 5 minutes at 7:40.

Unfortunately at about 24:30 I felt a twinge in my knee and it persisted until the run finished. Luckily it feels OK now, I’ll wait and see how it feels tomorrow.

A hard run but a great feeling.

Plod On.

Floating Friday

Streak to the beach - Day 68

Time : 26:20 Minutes
Distance : 3.1 Miles 
This Week: 17.2 Miles

Total: 222.15 Miles

Another beautiful day in cow town but it almost ended with summer thunderstorms.  It started to cloud over late in the afternoon and the thunderheads started to build. I guess just not quite hot enough to spark the big storms. I was up early working in front of the computer, then went for lunch and had a beer or two which made it easy to have an afternoon nap. It also lead to a 10 PM run on the treadmill.

This is the view that I see when I run on the treadmill. Tonight I went downstairs without a plan and actually thinking that I might just do the minimum and run one very slow mile.  I ended up doing a progression run for 3.1 miles (5 km).  It started with a short warm up and then ran at a 9:30 pace. I bumped the pace every 5 minutes and finished at a 7:30 pace.

My knee is still hurting when I bend it or kneel on it. I feel it for the first few minutes of a run and then is seems to settle in. Still hoping I can run through it.

Day 12 of the Runner’s World Summer Streak is in the books and it was a fun run.

Plod On

Monsoon Monday

Streak to the beach - Day 64

Time : 27:15 Minutes
Distance : 3.1 Miles 
This Week: 3.1 Miles

Total: 207.05 Miles

And the heavy rains continued, then let up for a while, then came back with a vengeance. It has been so grey and damp for so long that depression is starting to set in. If it does not break soon I will be playing a lot of Leonard Cohen. However in a period of light rains tonight I snuck a dog walk in and this is the view to the west.

Hang on, is that streak of light on the horizon sunshine, coming in my direction?  One can only hope. 

I ended up running late again tonight because of the kids commitments and on the treadmill because I like dry feet.

My plan was to head down and do an easy run for 10 or 15 minutes of junk miles just to keep the streak alive. I got 5 minutes in and increased the pace, then got 15 minutes in and decided to go for 20 minutes, got 20 minutes in and decided to run 2.5 miles. Hit the 2.5 mile mark and decided to run 25 minutes. Hit 25 minutes and decided to run 3.0 miles and finally finished 3.1 miles in just over 27 minutes.

Not a bad run compared to the plan.

Plod On.

Sleepy Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 63

Time : 40 Minutes
Distance : 4.5 Miles 
This Week: 32.7 Miles

Total: 203.95 Miles

The day started out slow with a sleepy Sunday morning followed by a feed of pancakes and bacon. It was cool (12C) and raining like crazy outside all day, heavy consistent pounding rain. The kind of rain that rarely happens here was happening here today. It was not a good thing, but it gave me the chance to catch up on some inside projects do the laundry ...

The highlight of the day was a trip to the cineplex to watch a movie with the boy. He picked “after earth” and if you have any option about viewing this my recommendation is don’t. Anything has to be better.

Seeing as there was unrelenting rain and I have the option to not run in it I chose not to.  It was treadmill time. And simple treadmill time, I set the speed for 9:00 min miles and just grooved out to the women’s concert on cable for 40 minutes. And that was it.  Not really junk miles just unremarkable miles. BTW a milestone day, crossed the 200 mile mark in this streak woo hoo corks popping, fireworks etc.

A wet day, a dry run. 

Plod On.

Finicky Friday

Streak to the beach - Day 61

Time : 30:00 Minutes
Distance : 3.3 Miles 
This Week: 21.6 Miles

Total: 192.85 Miles

It was an interesting day. I had an early start then was banished from the house when the cleaning lady showed up. I stopped for tea, then bought a couple of pairs of shoes and then never regained motivation for the rest of the day. It was also a grazing kind of day, I did not really have a formalized meal all day.  That might be the reason my stomach was finicky for most of my run tonight.  In fact I fought back throwing up for most of the run. I swear there were a couple of wet burps in that 30 minutes.

The run itself was simple a treadmill progression run with 10 minutes at each of a 10 min mile, 9 min mile and 8 min mile.  My legs felt Ok, my heel felt ok.  It was actually a nice run long enough for one episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”.  (Ironic isn’t it?)

Day 5 of RW Summer Streak is in the books.

Plod On.

Tight Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 60

Time : 20:00 Minutes
Distance : 2.1 Miles 
This Week: 18.3 Miles

Total: 189.55 Miles

Wow what a weird day, I woke up at 3:30 AM with aching legs and tight SI joints. I headed down to my hovel and started slaving over the computer , then downtown for a 10:00 presentation. As I was walking to my meeting I felt a pulling feeling on my right heel. It made me wonder if that pesky bone spur was cropping up again.

By the time the end of the day came around I was pretty bagged and I did not have the motivation to head out for a run. That is where day 4 of the Summer streak came in, all I had to do to meet the requirement was jog one mile.  Even when you have no energy you can jog one mile, right?

With that in mind I headed to the treadmill to put in my minimum commitment, I set the incline for 0.5%, set the pace for 10 min miles and turned on the fan. I struggled through the first mile, then bumped the pace to a 9:00 min mile then laboured counting the seconds to the 20 minute mark. As soon as the clock hit 20 I shut her down and called it a night.

Junk miles are still miles right.

Plod On.

Wet Wednesday

Streak to the beach - Day 59

Time : 41:40 Minutes
Distance : 5.0 Miles 
This Week: 16.2 Miles

Total: 187.45 Miles

Well the daystarted out wet but as the time to run approached it cleared off.  I went to the local Running Room for my group run and ended up in a group of one (as usual).  The good news is I got to pick the route.

I ran the Lower Springbank road – Battalion Park 8K route. I love this route, a couple of K down hill or flat, then a couple of K of hardish uphills, then a nice flat striding section with a little down hill back to the store.

There is a nice section at the start on the running paths between houses that is lined with blossoming lilacs with a wickedly sweet smell. It is great as long as you don’t have spring allergies.

I meant to take these pictures on Sunday to post on Memorial Day. Battalion Park is a tribute to the Calgary regiments that fought in the Wars. 

The regimental numbers are permanently etched in white on the hillside. This is a very visible impressive reminder. Up close it is hard to read and the scale is overwhelming.

But from a distance it is striking and very visible year round. This is what it looks like from the end of my run.

A not so wet run!

Plod On.

Tentative Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 46

Time : 22:00  Minutes
Distance : 2.5 Miles 
This Week: 6.0 Miles

Total: 164.25 Miles

I ran on Monday in the hotel fitness center. Towards the end of the run I felt a little twinge in my right hip SI joint. After the run it tightened up and was a little painful when I moved. By the time I woke up on Tuesday I was definitely favouring it. I decided to take the day off and see how I felt on Wednesday. Wednesday came and I felt another day of was the smart thing to do.

I woke up this morning and headed for the treadmill with the intention of doing a recovery run at an easy pace and bailing at the first sign of discomfort.  I set the treadmill for 10 minute miles for a warm up, then pushed the pace to 9:00 minute miles and kept increasing the pace every few minutes.  In the end it turned out to be a very good run at a very good pace and without pain. I stopped after 22 minutes with the thought that I would rest my hip for a while and then pick it up and finish the run later. I didn’t.

A good run, a good start.

Plod On.

Amalgamated Monday-Wednesday

Wednesday Weigh In – Week 6

This week: 0 Pounds
Total: 13 pounds

What can I say? That is not a pretty picture.  0 losses this week. it was kind of an up and down week that ended up being flat.  I don’t know what is going on it seems that on alternating weeks I have reasonable losses and then I plateau. Looks like I have some work to do to get back on target!  I might have to go out and buy a juicer or go on the soup diet.

I ended up not running on Tuesday or Wednesday as those tinges that I felt in my SI  joint on Monday became tightness and a little painful.  It was enough of a concern that I decided to rest it for a few days and then try again.

Streak to the beach - Day 43

Time : 30:00  Minutes
Distance : 3.5 Miles 
This Week: 3.5 Miles

Total: 161.75 Miles

Another morning another hotel treadmill.  Staying at the Delta in Edmonton, in a very nice but dated suite.  The bedroom had floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the mall. That was kinda weird.

Not that I had a lot of time to get used to it. We arrived late Sunday night, Worked Monday until Midnight and checked out at 7:30 AM on Tuesday. That is not a lot of time to be staring out windows.

The run was OK, the treadmill had seen better days, it squeaked when I ran in the center of the track. If  I ran offset either to the left or right it did not. That made me a little nervous as my footfalls are too close to the edge. I failed to bring my headphones so I was stuck watching sports highlights without commentary.  Who knows that might be a better way to watch.

I set the treadmill for an easy pace and just grooved out the 30 minutes. At the end of the run I started to feel a twinge in my SI joint area, and backed off a bit.

Nice Hotel, Nice Run but no bananas!

Plod On.

Friday’s Folly

Streak to the beach - Day 40

Time : 20:00  Minutes
Distance : 2.3 Miles 
This Week: 17.9 Miles

Total: 147.0 Miles

Another tough day at work, facilitating an all day meeting with engineers and planners.  This is a situation where everyone has a right answer to every question and everybody's answer is different.  Oh how hard the quest for truth is sometimes.

Anyhoo after the meeting we did a little debrief.  Two pints of Keith’s made the day seem so much better, then I had a beer or two once I got home (this did not make for a stellar weight loss day).  Then I had some running around to do picking up kids etc. Finally, after everyone was in bed I decided I had to run the minimum so it was treadmill time.

I started off the run warming up for 5 minutes at a 9:30 pace for five minutes, then ran a 9:00 pace for 5 minutes, then 8:30 pace for 5 minutes, then finished at an 8:00 min/mile pace for the last 5 minutes. Then I sat around sweating and drinking a beer for the next 10 minutes (maybe longer).

Now to greet the weekend, but will most likely be working.

Plod On.

Trashy Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 39

Time : 30:00  Minutes
Distance : 3.2 Miles 
This Week: 15.6 Miles

Total: 144.7 Miles

What a day. I spent 10 hours trapped in a room with 12 Engineers facilitating a meeting and collecting data from a group of people that never make mistakes.  I came home mentally drained and definitely not motivated to run. I managed to put it off until just about 9:00 then it was time to shit or get off the pot.

I started the treadmill at 6.4 mph and tried to settle into a pace but nothing was feeling right, my stride was off, my legs were hurting and I was struggling.  I was ready to pack it in after 10 minutes and take the daily minimum. I continued slogging along hoping to make 20 minutes, then persevered for the last 10 minutes, stopped the treadmill and hopped off.

I ran junk miles but kept the streak alive.

Plod On.

Tardy Tuesday

Streak to the beach - Day 37

Time : 36:00  Minutes
Distance : 4.0 Miles 
This Week: 7.3 Miles

Total: 136.4 Miles

It seemed like everything was late today, including my run after tucking the little ones into bed.  Well one of the little ones anyway, the littlest one. Now if only the tardiness can hold over to the wake up tomorrow!

Yesterday I pulled these out of the drawer to run in.

After a mile or so I found out why it had been so long since I had worn them.  The shorts kept riding up and my inner thighs started to chafe, and I was constantly readjusting them. It is time to do one of the things I find hardest to do, say good bye to running gear.  I don’t know if it is superstition or the fear of new stuff not working right, or maybe each piece holds memories of the runs we did together.  These shorts were the first ones I bought when I decided to run more seriously after the kids were born.  But Alas tonight I said good bye and got rid of them.

The run tonight was very simple. I set the incline at o.5%  I set the pace at 9:00 minute miles and just hunkered down and Forest Gumped it for 4 miles, 36 minutes of no thinking no effort running.

Funny I was still sweating when I finished.

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.

Tepid Thursday

Streak to the beach - Day 32

Time : 30:00 Minutes
Distance : 3.45 Miles 
This Week: 14.57 Miles

Total: 115.45

Wow, what a day! It was +18 & sunny.  I spent lunch hour lying outside soaking up the first rays of the year.  Then spent an hour outside after school watching my son play soccer on a pitch with a screaming chilly wind.  This is a land of contrasts.

After all of that I still had to run and running in a strong chilly wind was not that appealing. I headed downstairs and jumped on the treadmill.  I started out at a very easy 6.4 mph to warm up, then spent the next 15 minutes running at a 9 min mile pace. After 20 minutes the pace jumped to just under 8:30 pace and finally a few minutes at a 7:30 pace.  All in all it felt really good.

Sunshine, wind and a nice run, a good day.

Plod on.

Wednesday Weigh In

Wednesday Weigh In – Week 4

This week: 0 Pounds
Total: 11 pounds

Streak to the beach - Day 31

Time : 40:00 Minutes
Distance : 4.62 Miles 
This Week: 11.12 Miles

Total: 112.00

Hmmph guess I had a bad weekend, somehow no matter how starved I felt or how hard I worked the scale did not move this week.

If you look closely you can see that it did move. Things were good at the beginning of the week and then the inertia shifted on the weekend and I hope a downward trend started today!

It is finally starting to look a lot like spring. What a difference one day makes (see yesterday).  I should have run here today.

But I did not, instead I headed down to the tread mill and cranked out a few miles. I did a modified ladder run tonight, started up at 6.4 mph for a mile, then 6.8 mph for a mile then 7.2 mph for a mile then 7.6 mph for a mile then back down at 2 min per pace (just cause I did not have it in me to  do any more).

It was a good run after a long day.

Plod On.