Thursday, July 30, 2009

A Little Late Reporting

I was out on Tuesday this week, going back to my old schedule. And since, I haven't been focused enough to write, with prep for my holiday to the cost next week. Too excited, I guess, and too much L n K on my mind to think about much else. Of course, it crowds out the memory of what the run was like too.

Anyway, it was pretty good, not excessively warm, but nice. The crowds weren't huge, though there were lots of cyclists. I was also feeling less tight than I have for awhile. I especially noticed it running down The Path Under The Stairs, as I was able to move with some speed, while using the short, quick, knee-saving steps.

The climb back up worked the lungs more than anything, but my recovery times from that kind of heavy breathing has become remarkably short.


Distance: 7.17 Time: 40:10
Average speed: 5:36 min/km (10.68 kph).

Shoes: New Balance 769.
Today's earworm: L n K.

Weather: Sunny and warm.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

I Slept In

Not terribly late, but late enough for me. Up at 7:30, and after mumbling through breakfast and another short lie-down, I got dressed for the part, and went out for my run.

It wasn't real hot, but warm enough. There was a good breeze, too, and that helped although it would have been nice for it to have been a cool breeze. Almost total cloud cover, so it wasn't bright. Actually just a very nice summer morning.

Once on the promenade I started catching up with all kinds of traffic. Lots of people carrying folding chairs and heading to Prince's Island for the last day of the Calgary Folk Festival. A few runners were there, too, and the Sunday morning groups from the Running Room.

I decided to do the figure eight weave again, and crossed the river at Crowchild. About two hundred metres down alongside Parkdale, the sun came out, although we were still surrounded by dark cloud. It was actually a pretty quiet run, and the runners were not nearly as numerable as usual. I don't know if that's from everyone out of town, or because it was becoming too warm for some.

Across the river at Edworthy, I got the full breeze, and it felt wonderful, as it seems slightly cooler over the river. Of course, all that stopped once I was in the trees on the other side of the tracks.

It was really quite nice along the tracks below Spruce Cliff. And here there seemed to be more runners than usual. The trail through Lowrey Gardens was much quieter. Strange.

At Crowchild, I again crossed to the north side and continued along Memorial. The cloud moved back in and there was even a half hearted rain shower for a few minutes. By the time I got past the C-Train bridge, I was feeling a little achy, likely because the previous evening's libations were catching up to me.

At the foot bridge, I was running against a tide of people, who parked by the curling club on Memorial, or on Cresent Road on the bluff, all heading for Prince's Island. By then, the music was underway as well.

The usual finish, climbing The Path Under The Stairs, then along the bluff and homeward.

Distance: 17.10 Time: 1:40:18
Average speed: 5:51 min/km. (10.24 kph)
Rest distance: 1.08 km. Rest time: 11:00.
Total distance: 18.18 km. Total time: 1:51:18.

Shoes: New Balance 769.
Today's earworm: L n K, L n K, L n K.

Weather: Cloudy and 18C.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Lunch Time Scorcher

Not really. It was hot but not as hot as the last couple of days. However my bod reacts the same no matter how much heat, by drenching itself in it's own juices (ewww...)

Anyway, it was a nice lunch time run, and as usual the crowd was there. Lots of dodging walkers, at least on the promenade between Eau Claire and the Louise Bridge. It was a little thinner for runners and walkers out towards 14th Street.

Distance: 7.06 Time: 39:40
Average speed: 5:36 min/km (10.68 kph).

Another Hot Week

It's been warm and a little on the humid side, too. And here I am again, not writing until long after I've gone out. Hmmm....

Well, the weekend run was pretty good. I took off the usual way, down to Centre Street and across. The Bow is becoming a pretty dominant item on the downtown landscape now, and it's pretty in-your-face as you cross the bridge.

On to the promenade and along past Eau Claire, pretty steady with runners, given how nice it was. It was a pretty uneventful run actually. At Crowchild, I crossed the river to run on the north side for a change. Crossing to the south side at Edworthy, and along the bottom of Spruce Cliff, it's a beautiful stretch of path. The sun was directly ahead at that time of day, and there was this nice glowing effect with all the trees and bushes back lit.

At Crowchild I crossed again, and continued toward downtown on the north side. Uneventful until I got well past 10th Street, where a fire two nights before had demolished an apartment building. Nothing left but a pile of rubble, still attracting gawkers and being sifted through by the fire guys. For such a huge fire - three alarms and 50 firemen - it was such a small space for an apartment building to have been. No visible damage to buildings on either side, but I wasn't stopping to join the crowd.

This was a longer run. Crossing the river at Crowchild twice, making a figure eight of the route I usually run, seemed to add almost a kilometre. I don't think it's quite that far across the river; the GPS tends to be a little off sometimes.

I think I shall have to consider changing things a bit. I love the run but maybe a change of scenery is in order. I will have to think about that.

Distance: 17.22 Time: 1:39:00
Average speed: 5:44 min/km. (10.44 kph)
Rest distance: 1.26 km. Rest time: 10:10.
Total distance: 18.49 km. Total time: 1:49:10.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Hot Week

It wasn't all that hot, I supposed when I ran a few days ago. Warm enough. Right now it is hot and will be tomorrow for my long run.

I'm about to change back to my Tuesday/Thursday schedule, I think. Wednesday/Friday is messing me up too much, as far as timing and getting out to run. And maybe I can be a little better at staying up to day on write up.s

No recollection of what I did on Wednesday, other than I was out after I got home from work. Oh, and I sweated a lot after.

Distance: 7.00 Time: 40:36
Average speed: 5:47 min/km (10.34 kph).

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Running in Reverse

Hokey smokes, don't know what happened this morning, but I slept in a lot later than I usually do, so after breakfast, instead of my usual excursion for coffee and a newspaper, I headed directly out to run. Seriously, I slept a good hour and a half later than usual.

Anyway, after my usual breakfast I was into running clothes and out the door. A little too soon after breakfast. It wasn't too bad, though, and I was able to run without problems, although I did feel a little heavy.

It was a pretty uncomplicated run, except I ran in the reverse direction from how I usually run it. How daring of me! I did, out of habit, go about 50 metres toward Centre Street before I remembered I was running the other way, so I back tracked and headed down The Path Under The Stairs.

It's a much quieter run going counterclockwise. I did meet more large groups, both coming and going. Big groups going both ways, too. There weren't too many single runners or pairs though, so I wonder if I was a little early for them on that side of the river. I would be about 45 minutes earlier going that way than coming from the other direction.

I found myself in a race, too, with the occasional sign proclaiming so many kilometres in the Robert Hamilton Memorial Road Race. I've never heard of it before, but it's been around awhile, apparently. I stopped near the finish line at the public washrooms at Edworthy Park.

After crossing the bridge by Angel's Cafe, I was on the trail below Spruce Cliff. It was surprisingly quiet given that it was such a lovely morning. The quiet continued pretty much all the way downtown. Perhaps everyone was tuckered out from the next-to-last day of the Stampede? Sleeping off one too many pancake breakfasts.

Anyway, it was an uneventful finish. I'm still not feeling my best with a cold lingering, so The Path Under The Stairs took some effort. After that, I ran along the bluff and then turned home.

Distance: 16.51 Time: 1:36:21
Average speed: 5:50 min/km. (10.28 kph)
Rest distance: 1.00 km. Rest time: 10:00.
Total distance: 17.51 km. Total time: 1:46:21.

Shoes: New Balance 769.
Today's earworm: L n K.

Weather: A nice sunny morning.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Runs Pile Up

I was out last night for a run, just a quick one. It was fairly warm, and I was pretty sweaty. That's about all I can remember, except for being narrowly missed by some jerk on a bike. I've been distracted by the L n K, and planning for a bit of a holiday.

Anyway, for last Sunday:
Distance: 16.91 Time: 1:35:34
Average speed: 5:39 min/km. (10.62 kph)
Rest distance: 0.92 km. Rest time: 10:00.
Total distance: 18.83 km. Total time: 1:45:34.

And then for last Wednesday:
Distance: 7.19 Time: 40:16
Average speed: 5:35 min/km (10.71 kph).

And then last night:
Distance: 7.10 Time: 40:17
Average speed: 5:40 min/km (10.58 kph).

I'll try and get back to the usual writing up...