Half Way to a Thousand

I'm starting to get into a bit of a rhythm again. Home from work and go for a run. And I think I have the commute pretty much figured out, so I'm home pretty quick.

Today was just to nice out to ignore. I was out the front door almost as soon as I came in the back door. Good crowds out there too. I headed down to the river, as usual, and along the trail between the river and Memorial Drive. I felt good enough to keep going once I got to 14th Street.

I haven't done the Crowchild loop for a couple of weeks. Nothing new to see, but it's lovely in the low evening sun. In fact, the sun was low enough to shine on the pedestrian bridge under Crowchild. I suppose that means summer is waning (or is it waxing - I never know which is which.)

Even on the crazy busy side of the river, with all the bike traffic, there were lots of runners and walkers. And coming up to the Jaipur Bridge, a big crowd of runners, probably the Wednesday night Running Room group.

There seems to be a bit of a fitness craze building around The Stairs. There are often a half dozen or so people running up the stairs, or taking them two at a time, or hopping up or going up sideways. Tonight there must have been a crowd of at least thirty. They'll have to put up turnstiles or something. The stairs have gotten a lot of use this year, and the wooden steps are pretty worn.

Beautiful evening, beautiful run. Life is good.

Distance: 9.95 km. Time: 55:56. Average speed: 10.7 kph (5:36 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 24C.

500

This is my five hundredth post on this blog. Wonder if anyone is still out there? Even more amazing, it's been 1239 days since my first run. Also hundreds, even thousands, of kilometers, at least sixteen kilograms, and several pairs of running shoes.

And nothing more momentous than another go at the 14th Street loop. Nice and cool today, lots of people out, though not big crowds. It felt great to get out there, after my cross-training adventures. Everything is slowly coming back together after the marathon.

Distance: 7.38 km. Time: 37:27. Average speed: 11.8 kph (5:05 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 12C.

Still Adjusting

I'm getting the commute figured out, anyway. But it's still pretty late by the time i get home. I figure the best way is to head out as soon as I get home, and worry about dinner and stuff later, which pushes that unnaturally close to bedtime. But I'll adapt.

Today was a repeat of the 14th Street loop. I'm in a bit of rut, maybe, running the same routes every time. But I find I enjoy running along the river, and so many others are out running too, which makes it fun.

I thought maybe I'd get rained on, and the cloud is certainly there. But it was beginning to break up by the time I finished. And something is going on at Prince's Island. There are vehicles and tents, and people in those orange vests with the yellow stripes. It'll be the Calgary International Blues Festival, of course.

Distance: 7.60 km. Time: 39:49. Average speed: 11.5 kph (5:13 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 13C.

A New Adventure Begins...

...and I have to adjust my running schedule to accommodate it. It also comes with an hour of commuting (bleah). So I was out late tonight.

Just the 14th Street loop tonight. I had a pretty strenuous weekend, and wasn't sure what I was up for, but surprisingly, all the parts that have been hurting lately, aren't hardly hurting tonight.

A good strong run, with fun and lots of other runners out.

Distance: 7.05 km. Time: 39:28. Average speed: 10.7 kph (5:37 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 19C

Seven to Ten

I was only going to run the 14th Street loop, but I felt so good when I got there, I continued on to Crowchild.

My foot is still not over its trauma, and has been sore off and on for the past few weeks. And then there's the knee, which is also kind of tender at times. So I've been getting even more aggressive about stretching. I've discovered a great stretch for the IT band, which has been quite tight, and it seems to be working. I've also been stretching the calves and feet several times a day, and combing through back issues of Runner's World for ideas.

But the run was great. No pain in the foot at all, all the way through the run. And my knee was fine until the climb up The Path Under The Stairs, which probably affected it due to the slight lateral slope of The Path, on which the foot rolls a little to the right.

And good post-run stretching and icing felt great. I'm hoping it continues. No mistake - things have been improving, but it's slow going. This just helps things along.

Distance: 9.96 km. Time: 56:24. Average speed: 10.6 kph (5:40 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 24C.

Gotta Get Out

I was trying to wait out a week to see if some pain in my heel would go away, but I couldn't go without any more. I tried to do just a light run on the 14th Street loop, and I guess I more or less kept it on the slow side, sort of.

Other than it being a strikingly lovely day for a run, there's not much to it. Lots of people out, and I notices a few more smiles and waves than usual.

I'm trying some variations on stretching and it seems to help. I'll keep at it this week. As of next week, my schedule will probably change dramatically, and I'll have to see how things fit.

Distance: 9.37 km. Time: 54:47. Average speed: 10.3 kph (5:50 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Sunny and 19C.

Soggy Speed Run

Something lit a fire under me. I had great speed all the way through. Perhaps its the rain.

A shower had already wandered through the downtown earlier this morning, and the sky was pretty grey. A little bit spitty, but hardly even noticeable. But shortly after I got to the river side, it opened up. Just a nice gentle downpour, that persisted throughout the rest of the run.

Even with the grey and the wet, there were a lot of runners out. A lot of walkers, too. It even looked like Shakespeare in the Park was setting up for their noon hour show.

Distance: 7.22 km. Time: 36:25. Average speed: 11.9 kph (5:03 min/km).

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Light rainshower and 12C.

Slow Recovery

Is it just me getting old? Two days of taking it easy after a challenging hike, and I still feel a little shaky. But it didn't take long to get to where I wasn't hobbling - just needed to warm up. Stretching helped lots, too.

It was hotter than I thought, but it didn't seem too bad at all. It was also later in the day than I thought. Must have had a busy morning. I ran to Crowchild and back. I briefly questioned why I didn't run the 7 km loop, ironically at about seven kilometres into the run, but in the end, I'm glad I stuck it out, as usual.

Passed Mike on the path. Gotta call the guy for a run.

Distance: 10.02 km. Time: 57:41. Average speed: 10.4 kph.

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 27C.

Kinda Hot Out

Got out late this afternoon, about the start of rush hour. I'm feeling kinda slow again, and not sure why. Perhaps it's the weather; it's pretty hot out there tonight.

I ran to Crowchild today. I've been trying to get some structure into my week, so the plan is to run 10K twice a week (to Crowchild) and 7K in between (to 14th Street). I'm also trying to do the runs the same time every week, but so far it's been hit and miss. Plus if I ever connect with Mike, it'll be on his schedule, cuz I have more flexibility than he does, I think.

Anyway, hot, sunny, and lots of bike traffic.

Distance: 9.90 km. Time: 58:34. Average speed: 10.1 kph.

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Sunny and 29C.

Short One

14th Street today. Nice mid-morning run, with little traffic, not too hot, and just a lovely, sunny day.

Current running wisdom says a cadence of about 180 steps per minute is optimum, which always seemed fast to me. So I tested it out, to see how fast my stride was. I counted over five different one minute intervals, and took an average. I come out at 184 steps per minute, so a little bit fast. That's three steps per second which seems awful quick, but the body does some amazing things.

Other things: Shakespeare in the Park has it's stage set up. And across the path, was a crew shooting a movie or something. Lots of people around, one holding a boom mike, lights on stands and a honkin' big reflector umbrella. Could be one of these, perhaps Snowglobe.

Distance: 6.99 km. Time: 39:27. Average speed: 10.6 kph.

Shoes: Saucony Grid Phoenix (Yellow) B.

Weather: Sunny and 16C.