SlamthePavement Sunday

Streak to the beach - Day 90

Time :1:33:20 Minutes
Distance : 9.5 Miles 
This Week: 30.75 Miles

Total: 308.15 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 34

Week 5: 30.75 Miles  
Total: 148.9 Miles

Busy day, I started out with a 9.5 mile run at 7:30 AM.  Even at 7:30 I could feel the heat and humidity, it made for a stifling run.

After the run the family went to a live performance of les miserable, then walked the dog, and finally broke out the bike for day 2 of “le tour challenge”. I rode 7.6 km in 22.37.

I ran down to the river and through a part of the flood zone for the first time. The impact of the flood on the river banks and the flows was remarkable. The pathway was covered in silt in places, fenced off in places and just missing in others.

The river is still very high, but has receded significantly, the news is reporting that flows are still above the peak 2005 flood levels. This link is to a picture from June 8 and this is the same picture today.

The run was good, I was feeling some soreness from the bike ride yesterday and took a little longer fort he warm up.  Then I even held back and tried to run closer to a 6 min / km pace. I had one little incident where I was bushwhacking thru a fenced off area(the one in the picture above). I hooked my foot on a loose piece of wire and fell getting a little road rash on the heel of my right hand.  It was not hard enough to do damage but man it smarted for a few minutes.

A busy Sunday.

Plod On.

Switchemup Saturday

Streak to the beach - Day 89

Time : 28:31Minutes
Distance : 3.0 Miles 
This Week: 21.25 Miles

Total: 298.65 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 33

Week 5: 21.25 Miles  
Total: 139.4 Miles

Beautiful Hot Sunny day today and I decided to cross train. I broke out my bike for the first ride of the year and in honour of the first day of “le tour” put on my yellow (ish) jersey.

I rode about 6 miles and then due to muscle soreness from using some previously neglected muscle groups and my daughters sleepover I packed it in.

I was feeling it enough later in the evening that I decided to forgo a treadmill run and rest up for tomorrow.

Plod On.

Frustrating Friday

Streak to the beach - Day 89

Time : 25:00 Minutes
Distance : 2.7 Miles 
This Week: 18.25 Miles

Total: 295.65 Miles

Runner’s World Summer Streak - Day 33

Week 5: 18.25 Miles  
Total: 136.4 Miles

Well today was a write off. I drove through the flood are for the first time today and saw the devastation first hand.  It is gonna be a long haul cleaning up. Other than that felt off all day, I was feeling light headed every time I stood up and was generally lethargic.

Which is why I chose to do a slow run on a treadmill and put in a minimal effort to keep the streaks going. Not only that but it finally dawned on me that the MapMyRun.com le tour challenge starts tomorrow. I will try to ride my bike for 20 minutes on every day there is a stage of le tour.  last year I made it until I got a flat tire. So for a few days starting tomorrow I will have three streaks going on at the same time.

Tonight’s run was simple, I set the incline at 0.5%, set the speed at 6.3 mph (9:40 pace) and strode out for 25 minutes. I was playing it by ear and was willing to drop out after 1 mile but felt Ok so continued on to the 25 minute mark.

Junk Miles are still Miles.

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