Category: running

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For Boston

Everyone has to talk about the tragic events at the Boston Marathon.  Maybe it’s cathartic, but in spite of the fact that at this juncture everything that can be said has been said by people before me, and yet, I can’t leave the topic untouched.


What I’ve liked the best, is people looking for the good: those that ran toward the blast and had the courage to try to help.  Mr. Rogers said to “look for the helpers.”  Others made similar statements, only with more words, and starting with f-bombs.

Most of us (including me) try to make sense of the events:”Who could have done this? Why would anyone do this?”  We try to rationalize something that could never make any human sense.  It occurred to me, that this instinct to rationalize comes from our empathy, and our desire to try and see another person’s point of view, no matter how insane or evil it is, comes from the same place that makes it unthinkable for us.  We humans think of other humans, not targets or assets.  And that gives me comfort too.

There were lots of ideas of how to show solidarity with those affected.  Wearing race t-shirts, running for 103 minutes (for the 3 dead, and another 100 because I guess people like long runs), running for 26.2 minutes (for the 26.2 miles of the marathon), or simply running a mile silently.  I was actually having a good, if busy, day today – I had a productive flow going at work, and we got some good news regarding the Lightning Kid’s overall health, but I worried about missing my chance to say something, to do something, regardless of how small and insignificant these gestures can seem in the shadow of enormous tragedy.

When I got home from work, just before dinner, I put on my marathon shirt…


And took my boys out for a run.  Just a mile, and I had to negotiate that Shark Boy would be able to ride his bike immediately after, but I dedicate that run to Boston, to the Boston Marathon, and to runners everywhere.

Notice the Peace signs?

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My #BestRun of Late

Amanda a.k.a. MissZippy is hosting a link-up party, where everybody talks about the Best Run they had recently.  I haven’t been running very much since the Chilly Half-Marathon, so I thought I’d have nothing to talk about.


Then Saturday happened.

I had a block of time in the afternoon, but not much ambition.  The Lightning Kid had been running a fever, as we discovered that mid-day.  My wife wanted to take Shark Boy shoe shopping (he ended up with a pair of Saucony’s!).  Taking the Lightning Kid out for some fresh air in the Chariot seemed like the ideal solution: he’d get some rest and some fresh air.  After I strapped him in, and started up, I realized how long it had been since we were out together.

He fell asleep pretty quickly, and with nothing but time on my hands, I figured I would try and turn this into a long, slow, distance workout.  I took my time, and since the Virrata’s are still new to me, I kept my pace easy and my stride as soft as possible.  The weight of the Chariot made it easier to not over-stride and heel strike for the most part.



As I made my way into Centennial Park, I decided to extend the distance a little by trying to complete a circuit around the Ski Hill.  There was still some artificial snow to cross, which was a  little tricky with wheels and light shoes, but no harm done.  Once I had completed the lap around the hill, I climbed up the service road for one of the best views of the city; if I had known I’d be writing this up days later, I’d have taken some pictures.

On the way back down the hill, the Lightning Kid woke up.  I was worried he’d get cranky due to feeling under the weather, but his spirits stayed high, and he babbled a little as if to confirm:”Hey, we haven’t done this in a while!”.

I started taking a different route home with the idea of extending the run some more, but I noticed I had missed a call on my cell phone; I picked up the voice mail from my wife saying she wanted to go grocery shopping and whether I’d want to swap kids with her.  I was just next to the grocery store when I got the message, and when I returned her call, she was already at the store.  So I cut the run short, and joined the rest of my family at the grocery store… I even got some input into a few extras we should buy.  They say you shouldn’t shop on an empty stomach… that goes double for a post-run stomach!

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Motivation Monday: Listing One’s Strengths

Apparently in Crossfit, there’s a saying: write down a list of your strengths and your weaknesses, then throw out the list of strengths, and work on your weaknesses.  This is certainly wise, and in reading various fitness blogs, the phrase I probably run across the most, is: “I really need to work on my…”.

What about doing the opposite?  What about acknowledging the parts of your training where you’re a total Rock Star?  Self-doubt and criticism will come unbidden anyway, we should be making room to pat ourselves on the back from time to time.  Without further ado, here are my top 5 strengths:

  1. I start slow.  That sounds like a negative, but hear me out.  I can remember my first (only) marathon.  I had put myself in a corral based on the time I thought I could achieve and then I looked around.  Old men, runners with no shoes, runners a lot heavier than me.  I began to get down… was I underestimating myself?  No,  I thought, I had spent a lot of time training, and a big part of that was getting to know my body, and what it was and wasn’t capable of.  I had trained for my race, now I needed to race my training, I told myself.  I could easily have gotten psyched out and adopted an aggressive pace early to try and get ahead of those I thought I “should” have been beating, but that would have ruined me for the latter parts of the race.  Sure enough, I did pass some of those people who had probably made that exact mistake.   Being able to be conservative has helped me not only in endurance sports, but in grappling tournaments for jiu-jitsu.  In Crossfit and workouts inspired by that philosophy, I like doing RFT (Rounds for Time) better than AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible [within a time limit]), since I find I can estimate how I’m going to be able to get the exercises done.  I’ll take very small breaks as needed and be able to keep a fairly even level of activity and intensity, rather than having an awesome first round then being close to dying thereafter.
  2. I finish fast.  I may not have the fastest time, or even the best time for what my physical abilities are, but when I cross the finish line, it looks like I’m in a race.  I was raised with the German concept of “Endspurt” which is a burst of speed for the end that you are either a) given (like a ‘second wind’) or b) make happen or c) both. 
  3. Hills.  When I see a hill, I attack it like it insulted my mother then stole my bike.  I treat it as an obstacle to be overcome – no moaning and complaining, just get it behind you.  I’ll pass people going up hills in a race; hills still affect me, and take a lot out of me, I just find the best time to recover is shortly after you’ve crested it.  Some people will re-pass me on  the flats or whatever, I just don’t like prolonging the pain of going uphill by going slowly.  That goes for running or biking.
  4. Flexibility.  I’ll run with a slower partner.  I’ll ride with a faster group.  I’ll push a baby-jogger.  I’ll go out in the freezing cold, snow, dark, whatever.  I love trying new ways to train and/or exercise.  I don’t train in the evenings usually, just because I have to be so protective of my sleep, but mornings would be fine by me (if the kids would stay asleep and in bed).  I’m definitely able to work out while tired and sleep deprived.
  5. Humility.  That one is going to look strange in a post that’s pretty much tailor made to show off, but I am aware of my own short-comings.  More importantly, I don’t compare myself to others much.  This is my hobby, and while there are those that are better and faster than me (some even while having the same or more commitments to work and family etc.), beating myself up over why I can’t do the same simply takes the fun out of my hobby and pass-time.  I do what I can, when I can, and I want to have fun doing it… that has to be good enough.
Enough about me… what are your strengths?  What makes you a Rock Star? Listing one strength is good, listing 5 is better!


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Gear Corner – Running Shoe Review: Saucony Virratas

I was sent a pair of Saucony Virratas by Saucony (via Fitfluential) for review purposes free of charge.  I was not compensated in any other way, or asked to give a positive review; all opinions are honest and my own.

Introduction

The idea behind  barefoot/minimalist running is that the stride we’ve developed through having running shoes with all their cushioning and stabilizing technology has given us an unnatural stride that is actually what is behind most running injuries.  Running more like our evolutionary ancestors would enable us to run more efficiently and safely, and the way to promote that kind of running is to wear as little as possible on your feet.  I can remember seeing people do marathons and half-marathons completely barefoot (except occasionally a little duct-tape) as far back as 2005, but the movement (and subsequent product development and marketing machine) really grew over the last few years.

I did like the theory, and I was willing to give the practice a bit of a try, though I didn’t want to send my entire running technique back to square one.  A few years ago I bought a pair of Merrell Trail Gloves to play around with a little; I took them on a soft trail that I thought would be ideal for the experience – I wouldn’t need the extra cushioning I’d come to expect from my road running shoes.   Unfortunately that trail was also very hilly – I ended up really aggravating my Achilles tendons (both of them!) and I got blisters to boot.  Since then, I only used those shoes under controlled circumstances on the treadmill, or for other activities (playground with the kids, weights, spinning).  I understand and like the theory of minimalist running, but I have severe reservations about its practicality when it comes to my goals and lifestyle.

The Virrata is “remains is a feather-light, ultra flexible shoe with advanced cushioning that promotes a powerful stride and allows your foot to move the way it was meant to.”* (quoted from the Saucony website).  It’s what the call a zero drop shoe, but with cushioning.  The zero drop means there’s no modification to your foot’s natural profile – your heel isn’t any higher off the ground than the ball of your foot.  And for people like me, the cushioning could help deal with the realities of hitting the hard ground.


Image courtesy of Saucony.com

Initial Impressions

When I took the Virratas out of the box, I didn’t notice anything terribly different about them… because they were still stuffed with paper.  Once I took that out I nearly threw them in the air because they were so much lighter than I expected.  Obviously they wanted as little weight as possible for that natural feel – they’ve chosen lightweight materials, but also created a very open mesh for the top of the shoe; they’re highly breathable and intended to dry quickly.  I noticed the sole right away also.  It was thick enough to be noticed, and make me believe it would provide some cushioning, but I could also tell the flexibility would give it a very responsive feel.  I couldn’t wait to run in them!


Image courtesy of Saucony.com


Let’s go to the video! (This was made using Coach’s Eye for the iPad and WeVideo)




Virrata Outdoor Run


Due to the *Chilly Half Marathon*, and the taper that preceded it, I hadn’t taken the Virratas out on a run; running a race in brand new shoes is no-no, especially if it’s a long distance (for you), though apparently *Fitness Cheerleader* did it.  Once I had a few days to recover, I decided to take them out for a quick run on the sidewalks (Kovas, of Midwest Multisport Life says the Virratas are *not so good on the snow*, so I skipped the trails).

I hadn’t noticed any more soreness in my larger, more major leg muscle groups, but upon starting my run, I did feel it in my ankles.  While the Virratas have great cushioning for a zero-drop/minimalist shoe, that’s still not as much as I might be used to.  The good news is that they are also very responsive, I found myself making the slightest adjustment and the ankles didn’t hurt as much (they joints may have simply needed to get warmed up).

Running in them felt very natural; there was no ‘whoa this is new/different’ sensation in them, and what I love is that my pace was in keeping with with my race pace from the weekend: 5:48, 5:42, etc.  At first I took that to be a good indicator of how natural the shoe and I fit together, but upon further reflection, I think I would have been slower in my old shoes, since I was still in recovery and trying to take it easy.  I think the light weight of the Virratas might have turned what should have been a slow, easy (and short) run into one with a more respectable pace!

Still when I think of the lightweight materials, I have doubts as to how they’ll stand up to my average runs, which typically include gravelly trails and mud, roots, rocks in addition to pavement and the cement of sidewalks.  The Virratas will probably occupy more of a novelty slot in my shoe rotation, but I’ll certainly enjoy running in them more than I thought I could considering they’re a minimalist shoe.  If I can integrate them into my training, it will help my running technique and strength in my feet and some of the other, smaller stabilizing muscles needed for running.  Like they say: Find Your Strong.

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Race Recap: Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington

Done!  I finished the Chilly Half Marathon in 2:02:14!  While I was hoping for a finish time less than 2 hours, I think I can say I left it all out there on the course, and there wasn’t going to be a faster finish for me no matter what I did.  Let’s get into some details…

My wife dropped me off in downtown Burlington sometime after 9:30 and took the kids on a play-date rather than try to keep them happy in the sub-zero (Celsius, in case you’re reading this in the U.S.A!) temperatures.  City Hall was open and available to stay warm and take bathroom breaks, but I found it so crowded I wouldn’t have been able to guess where the back of the line was, so I opted to use a local Subway restaurant instead (I later bought cookies from them to make up for mooching).




As the start time approached people started lining up in the corrals according to what their estimated finish time would be.  I saw some pace bunnies struggling to get to the right position (hint: 1:55 is faster than 2:00), but I’ve never used them much myself (I’ll try to keep my eyes open for them but I use my Garmin instead).  Having the crowd fill in help stave off the cold a little bit, but just about everybody had to jog on the spot a little to stay warm, whether or not that was their usual pre-race habit.

There seemed to be a false start where the crowd started to advance, then stopped, but finally (about 10:10 or so) we were off.  I had plenty of time to start my music playing and start both Endomondo and my Garmin before crossing the start line chip sensor (the chips are disposable ones attached to the race bib – very convenient).

Straight down Brant street toward the lakeshore and then a right (west) we went.  Once I start running, I usually warm up right away, but this time I think it was at least 2 km before my fingertips stopped hurting.  I hadn’t taken as detailed a look at the race course as I should have: I knew we were heading toward the Burlington Skyway bridge, but would we actually be running on it?  That would be a unique experience but also very cold… the western turn-around point was at the base of the bridge.

I was feeling good, and though there was temptation, I kept myself from running too fast so that there would be plenty left in the tank (both fuel/energy wise, and from a muscle fatigue perspective). I was nearing the start point (about 5 km) when I noticed my phone was playing from the intended running playlist, but rather shuffling between the whole collection (neat Endomondo feature: if you go to the link and click ‘Playlist’ on the left, you’ll see what I was listening to!); the Scherzo from Beethoven’s 9th was not what I had in mind! I took a walk break at the top of a hill and made the change.

My Garmin did something weird and I have yet to figure out why: it gave me lap alerts for every kilometer about 330m early, even by it’s own measurement. For example, it called lap 10 complete at 9.67 km and lap 11 complete at 10.67 km. I got used to that, and actually found it handy to show how that particular kilometre was ‘trending’. At the actual kilometre markings, I still had the Endomondo app calling out my pace times.

One thing I did better than usual on this race was not over-hydrate, but I still found myself needing to take a pit stop around the 13 km mark. I had increased my pace in anticipation of the rest and lost time, so I don’t feel like this actually cost me anything in terms of my average pace.

With the course having two out and backs, there were plenty of opportunities to see other racers going the other way and maybe even a few high fives. There weren’t as many of these as I would have expected, but I’m one of the worst people for that sort of thing – I was fairly focused on running my race. In fact, I later realized that I hadn’t enjoyed the view of the lake at all, I think the flat light of the overcast day made me forget about the water.

I found that my heart rate was occasionally getting too high even when my pace was lower than I wanted it. The trick I found was to take my hat off; as I cooled off, my heart rate seemed to get lower for faster running.

My Achilles tendons were flaring up increasingly as the kilometres ticked off, but I was keeping the kind of pace I wanted: mostly around 5:40 to 5:45 km. I thought that was the pace I wanted for a 2 hour time, and according to my original plan 5:42 should have been it, but as I neared 16 km I began to realize the math was wrong – upon review I see there were a few 6 minute kilometres. I think I knew it was too late to make changes, but I couldn’t give up either. I started increasing my pace, and after the 18 km mark I really started hauling it (there is no tomorrow!)


At the 20 km mark, I got a call from my wife. I tried to ignore it, but ultimately took the call; thanks to the Jaybirds, I didn’t have to stop or slow down to fiddle with the phone. She was having trouble finding parking and ultimately she and the boys wouldn’t be at the finish line in time to see me cross, but I couldn’t hear a word of that at the time. Nor would she have been able to make out my guttural grunts and gasps as I was giving it my all on the last kilometre.



As I crossed the finish line, I stopped the Garmin and saw 2:02. I was a little disappointed, but not too much, as I didn’t really feel like I had made any real mistakes on the course or done a poor job of training for the race. One of the volunteers handed me a bottle of water, and I think he was checking my level of consciousness the way they do for Ironman finishers… I got my breath back and a hold of myself and thanked him properly. There were good post-race snacks, including PowerBar protein bars, bananas, and juice boxes.

Once I had reunited with my family, we looked for one of the restaurants that would be serving chilli and beer without being to crowded for a family with two small kids.  We found Melodia, and though they didn’t have seating in their main floor area, they were nice enough to open their second floor for us (they would later fill up to the point where they needed that space too).  We added to our meal of chilli (and a Carlsberg that went down soooo nicely) a Mediterranean inspired cheeseburger and grilled cheese (on a pita!).  I tried hard to keep our kids from ruining their nice tablecloths, but it ended up being me who spilled a whole bowl of chilli on the floor… I hope my tip made up for the inconvenience!

I had a Epsom salt bath when I got home and I’ve been taking it easy ever since – I think the last of my muscle soreness will be gone by the time you read this. I’d really recommend this event – I think I might do it again next year. At any rate, I want to make a March/Mid-winter race a tradition; training for it has kept me more focused and disciplined, and the outdoor runs have done a lot to keep my winter mood up.

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Race Preview: Chilly Half-Marathon

It’s the Chilly Half-Marathon this week!  Between depressive funks, snow and slush challenges and simply not always having every kilometer done that I should have, I was beginning to dread race day, but now, the more I learn about the race, the more I’m fired up for it (free beer)!

Here’s a video review of last year’s race (free beer!) courtesy of Get Out There Magazine:

Here’s all the reasons I’m excited::

  • Free Beer!
  • Weather looks good.

    • Free Coffee*
    • Free Beer!
    • Course is pretty flat:

    Race Route is approximate… it was the best I could do with Google Earth

      • Free Chilli
      • On my last tempo run, my hear rate stayed at 78% of max or below, so I think I can make the finish line in less than two hours.
      • Free Beer!
      • It starts at 10:05 AM perfectly reasonable to get the whole family out, and because we have friends in the area, they won’t have to wait outside the whole time.
      • Fitness Cheerleader is running this race too!
      For this week’s training (still in Taper mode), I did 5 km on the treadmill Monday, a Trifecta Tuesday involving a 1.4km swim (with kick drills, fist swimming and water jogging), Rowga (which really stretched out all the muscles I wanted streched out!).  I got my 1.5 mile tempo run with warm-up and cool-down giving me about 11 km total run for the week.

      Hopefully the rest of the week and weekend will be restful… on Sunday I hope to run like there is no tomorrow.  And from a training perspective, there won’t be!










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                  Half Marathon Training Weekly Recap: And So This is Taper

                  I’ve read and heard from many triathletes and runners about how they go crazy during taper; the sudden drop in activity and being forced to do so much less leaves them figuratively twiddling their thumbs in anticipation of the race.  I figured this wouldn’t be a problem for me; there’s lots I’ve been meaning to get to, and taking the time I would have put into a workout to devote to those other tasks would be great.  It didn’t work out that way unfortunately;  I think some of those athletes were talking about a much greater volume of training being done for a longer period, and the truth is, I found myself in a funk that bordered on depression toward the end of the week before last.

                  Chart showing all activity for 2013: Doesn’t look like much of a taper….





                  Chart showing Running Activity only.  Weekly results may be skewed based on whether the long run took place on a Saturday or Sunday.





                  I had very little energy or motivation to do anything; train, blog, work, play with the kids everything felt “too hard, why bother”.  I had a few above-average sleeps, by our family’s yardstick (that still means getting up 2-3 times a night) and I still felt tired and listless most of the day.  I can at least claim that I still got a few treadmill runs in, but they weren’t spectacular and they were less than *prescribed*.

                  • Sunday: 7km run (instead of 8km)
                  • Tuesday: 8km on the treadmill.   I played around with video recording my stride as best as I could with this run, and I even switched shoes.  That broke up the boredom and fatigue a little.
                  • Thursday: 5km on the treadmill (instead of 5.6km).
                  • Friday: I started to feel a little more like myself on Thursday night, so I was willing to put in a little more effort… just not necessarily on the treadmill as much.  I completed a spinning class, and turned into a brick by doing my 2 mile tempo work on the treadmill right after.  No extra warm-up or cool-down mileage though.
                  • Sunday: Nearly 8km of cross-country skiing.  Pulling the kids in the Chariot as usual, conditions gave us some alternately sticky and slippery snow, but at least it was fresh and mild.  A really pleasant day to mark the end of my funk.


                  Overall this week, I’m pleased with the fact that I got all my runs in – which is to say I ran as many times as I was supposed to, even if I didn’t to them to the prescribed length (or prescribed procedure).  Let’s not even mention cross-training; there might have been a few extra planks here or there.

                  Next week it’s even less volume, which means I can focus on preparing logistical details for the race…

                  Have you ever suffered from Taper Blues?
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                  Half-Marathon Training Weekly Recap: Bite My Shiny Metal Treadmill

                  • Monday: I had my 19.2 km run planned for Tuesday, and I wanted my legs as fresh as possible, yet I didn’t want to take a rest day (yet).  The answer: all upper body strength work.  I had a packed day at the office so I managed 30 minutes of chest and back exercises like dumbbell presses, bent-over rows, pull-ups, incline/decline bench press and the like.


                  • Tuesday: 19.4 km… read all about it here.


                  • Wednesday: The best option for me that day was to push a workout into the evening.  After my struggles with winter conditions the day before, I opted to head to the gym and grab a treadmill.  I took my iPad along and used Netflix to see what an episode of the new seasons of Futurama would be like.  I loved this show in its first run (have all those seasons on DVD), yet when it was ‘reborn’ I watched a couple of episodes and felt like they had somehow lost the magic.  It was like the balance of Crude vs. Clever was tipping in favour of the former.  Yet on Wednesday night, it was like old times.  As Bender would say: “I’m back, Baby!”.  The really funny part, was the fact that what I was watching got shared to Facebook, and my wife commented: “I thought you were at the Gym?”  iPad on the treadmill… watching SciFi cartoons…Biggest. Run-Nerd. EVAR.



                  • Thursday: I was behind on workouts overall, so I fit in 3.2 km on the treadmill (with more Netflix) before a PB Freakin Fit class.  The WOD: 4 Rounds for Time of
                    1. 20 Push-ups
                    2. 20 Stationary Lunges (10/side) with 10 lb dumbbells
                    3. 20 ‘Plié’ jumps (wide stance, toes out squat like a ballet plié – into a jump)
                    4. 20 Shoulder presses with 10 lb dumbbells
                  There might have been a part two to that WOD (workout of the day) but I had to bail for a meeting.  I also did a 55 second plank and two 30 second side planks.

                  • Friday: Tempo run on the treadmill (4 miles at 5:30/km).  That’s my longest tempo run, and it was tough.  It was also my third day in a row on the treadmill, and I still don’t like that thing.  I think the problem I have is that I want to get the run over with, so for a given distance, I’ll set an overly aggressive pace (unless it’s the prescribed training tempo), and end up struggling so hard, that I can’t enjoy whatever I’ve set myself up with for entertainment.  I should probably try slower paces and use the programs to create the variety needed to stay engaged with it.

                  • Sunday: The taper begins! My long run was a paltry 7.2 km (rather than the prescribed 8 km).  While the conditions were better than Tuesday, it was still very, very cold, and due to new snow, I had to stick to sidewalks.   I was pretty irritated to have my Yaktrax break on me (the buckle holding the strap on broke and vanished).  If I can find the time I’ll contact the manufacturer to see about warranty, but it’s a lot of money to spend on something that’s only been on handful of runs.
                  Any Futurama fans out there? Or Dreadmill Haters?

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                  One Tough Run

                  The weekend came and went without me having done my long run.  This week was supposed to peak at 19.2km, and if I couldn’t get it done on the weekend, what chance would I have during the week?

                  While the Nemo blizzard had covered everything in snow, the weather forecast showed that Monday would be well above freezing (again) with rain even, but no rain forecast for Tuesday as well as staying above zero.  Tuesdays have been good days to get out early (thus Trifecta Tuesdays), so I thought I’d get out the door around 6:00AM, run for two hours or so, shower, then head to work, and I thought the conditions would work with me.

                  First problem: the kids did one of their patented sleepless nights, staggering their wake-ups so that either me or my wife was up every hour and a half on average.  We haven’t been hit with anything too serious during cold and flu season (plenty of friends have been either laid up for more than a week or had to have hospital interventions), but our kids are not 100% nor comfortable it seems.

                  I got up at 5:30 and though I think I was pretty quiet, my wife let me know she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep after the umpteenth wake-up and Shark Boy got out of bed too.  The next thing I know, everybody is up and Plan A means leaving my wife with two sick and cranky kids for at least an hour before my mother arrives to lend her help.

                  So… I didn’t get out the door till almost 7:00.  I had equipped myself with my Salomon hydration pack, clipped a Saucony blinker onto its back as well as wearing a Petzl headlamp that  would be trying for the first time.  The extra lighting probably wasn’t necessary beyond the first 15 minutes… but hey, it was my first run in darkness.



                  I hadn’t gotten past more than a couple of houses when I started to slip – black ice on the sidewalk, in spite of the day before’s thaw.  I had packed my Yaktrax, but I wasn’t wearing them yet, so I went back to my front porch to sit down and put them on.   I ran from my street to the park entrance to get on my usual trail, and there I did not have to deal with ice…. rather slush, sometimes as high as my ankles.  I guess people had tramped down the snow somewhat, and the temperature must have been slightly warmer on the trail.

                  From that point onward I had to confront either slippery black ice, wet slush or climb over snowbanks that were frozen close to solid. It was also quite windy.  I think I had gotten about 4 km when I started to think about quitting. For about another 4 km I had a thought process that went like this: “This sucks. I should call it a day and head home. I don’t want to go back the way I came though. I’ll just head over to [the next way-point that would present a route home] and see if this gets any better.” I repeated that till I was 8 km in, and then formulated a plan.

                  I could take the way home after another two major intersections. The streets involved had their sidewalks done by the city as opposed to private citizen homeowners, and the use of salt had made them a little more navigable. When there was a traffic light, I took a right turn until I was probably less than 2 km from home.

                  I made a phone call home to make sure everything was OK there, then I headed back North so that I could make a 4 km loop that I had to repeat another 2 times to get 18 km total. It was boring running the same city streets over and over again, and I drew a lot of stares from people waiting for buses. On the plus side, I was able to use a gas station for a bathroom break when needed. The general rule was better than average sidewalk clearing, but there were some exceptions….

                  What happened to the sidewalk?

                  It was one of those runs where almost everything hurt at least a little, but my right glute was the loudest complainer. I think it and my right hip were starting to almost lock up by the time I was finished.





                  The good news was that this was going to be the longest run of the year, and I got it done. It’s an extra feather in my cap that it was so challenging… I doubt race day can throw anything at me anymore that I won’t be able to handle.

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                  Half-Marathon Training Recap: Cadence Workouts, Push-Pulls, Kyle’s Krusade, etc.

                  • Sunday: I had a 16km run to get done, and I was looking for new ways to stay entertained.  Audiobooks have been suggested often, and I downloaded an app so that I could digitally lend them from the library, but I haven’t gotten it to work yet, and the whole concept doesn’t really inspire me.  I did, however, find that my Slacker Radio app has a series of stations called ‘Fitness’ which are all good workout songs, sub-divided by musical genre.  The one I ended up using was ‘BPM Workout’ – a station with all songs having a tempo between 150 and 190 beats per minute.  Ideal for keeping a good cadence! Coincidentally, the next day, I found an article in the paper explaining how the right tempo music aids runners in keeping a good cadence and how an app maker is seeking to capitalize on this concept.  It’s an interesting read (as all Alex Hutchinson articles are).
                  • Monday: I ran 5km for Kyle’s Krusade.  You can read about it (and how I got a new PR) here.  Please consider joining or simply donating.
                  • Tuesday: I was back on the Trifecta Tuesday bandwagon, and started it with a swim.  I was inspired by the idea of tempo music-driven workouts, yes even swimming.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of that series, where I do a little analysis.  I rounded out my Trifecta with Yoga and a Plank for 1 minute 48 seconds as part of Erica D. House’s Killer Core Plank Challenge.
                  • Thursday: Having taken a rest day on Wednesday, I didn’t know whether to cross-train on Thursday or run.  I hadn’t packed winter gear, and given how I hate treadmill running, I figured I would do both.  I broke up what was supposed to be 8km in two halves.  After 4km I did a 2 minute plank as well as the following strength workout.

                    • I used this machine to do an exercise dubbed ‘waterskiing’ by Katy from Fit In Heels with a little extra.  I configured the rope to have a lower angle than the one shown in the picture





                    • 30 Pushups,
                    • Back on the rope machine – pulling down as if climbing the rope: 1 minute.
                    • 20 pushups with a twist kick again from Fit in Heels.
                    • 12 assisted pull-ups on the machine.  I did these pyramid style; starting with 60 lbs of assistance till failure, then 75 lbs of assistance, then 90 lbs.
                      • from blogilates.com
                    • 16 ‘Scorpion’ Push-ups.
                    • 20 Bent-over Rows (35 lbs)
                    • 20 Incline Dumbbell Press (35lbs)


                  Then back on the treadmill for what was supposed to be another 4km, but due to an accidental button press (and a little fatigue and motivation failure) I stopped after 2.6km


                  Sunday: We went out of town for the weekend.  The plan was to cross-country ski which we did, but getting a late start and with the Lightning Kid unexpectedly and inexplicably objecting loudly for most of the trail.  An hour’s worth only gave us 5km and I wish these apps could appreciate that I’m pulling nearly 80lbs of extra weight along when they calculate calories and such…