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.