Soggy Rainy Run

I *love* running in the rain for some reason. Splashing in the puddles and stuff. I dunno, it just energizes me. Ain't I a goof?

Tonight I thought I'd case the new neighbourhood, and headed to Confederation Park. Lovely place, with a surprising number of people actually out running in the downpour. I went all the way past the Confederation Park Golf Course, and looped around Canmore Park, getting as far west as 24th Street. Beautiful area.

Once I came all the way around Canmore Park to where the path crossed 19th Street back to the golf course, I headed east and retraced my steps back home.

Today's run:
Distance: 8:32 km. Time: 46:21. Average speed: 10.8 kph.
Rest distance: 522.2 m. Rest time: 5:00.
Total distance: 8.84 km. Total time: 51:21.

Weather: A light rainshower and 12C, according to the Environment Canada web site. Actually it varied from raging downpour to just cloudy, several times. Soggy, wet, and lots of fun.

Switching Distance to Sundays

I'm switching to Sundays for my distance run because I'm starting tap again Monday night, so I need to adjust my schedule for the whole week. Likely Tuesday, Thursday, Friday or something.

Today was a great running day, though I think I still feel the effects from Friday's food meltdown. I had good speed and things felt good, but energy-wise it was occasionally a slog.

I took the same route as last week: down 4th Street to Cresent Road, over to the Centre Street bridge, then along the river to the fort. Then along the Elbow River, past the Stampede grounds, past Lindsay Park, along 26th Avenue and Elbow Drive, across the swingy suspension bridge to Rideau Road, and along the east side of the Elbow to Stanley Park. Under Elbow Drive and along Riverdale Avenue, and today, across the Elbow again to Sandy Beach, and even partway up the hill to 50th Avenue. Then I turned around and came all the way back.

Not so much wildlife today, just a delusional squirrel that sat in the middle of the path and refused to budge until I almost stepped on him. And on the way back by the 25th Avenue bridge over the Elbow, two rather cranky geese were refusing to let a fellow runner get by. Between the two of us, we managed to shoo them back to the edge of the river so she could pass.

But otherwise, a beautiful morning, and a great run

Today's run:
Distance: 25.90 km. Time: 2:37:54. Average speed: 9.8 kph.
Rest distance: 2.77 km. Rest time: 17:00.
Total distance: 28.67 km. Total time: 2:54:54.

Weather: A beautiful, cloudless blue sky, sunny and 7C to start, climbing to 12C by the time I got back home. Just a magnificent morning.

Bad Food Day

That's what Nony would call it. The worst part of when someone leaves the firm, is they bring in a whole bunch of donuts, and pile them in the lunch room across the hall from my office. There are always a few dozen left over after everyone comes down to say goodbye to the one who is leaving, and they call to me for the rest of the day. And this was the second donut day this week!

On top of that, lunch was rather decadent. Or rather, dessert was ... chocolate cheese cake - what was I thinking?!? Well, why not? The firm was paying, after all.

Anyway, I kinda paid for it tonight, with seemingly more effort needed to get going and keep going.

Today's run:
Distance: 10.83 km. Time: 1:01:26. Average speed: 11.3 kph.
Rest distance: 895.7 m. Rest time: 7:00.
Total distance: 11.72km. Total time: 1:08:26.

Weather: Sunny and 21C. Really nice out, and those on blades almost were as numerous as those on bikes. And a big crowd out enjoying the evening around Eau Claire and Prince's Island.

Running Room Run

A friend suggested I join him at the Eau Claire Running Room tonight. So I figured why not? Except I didn't get there until just before everyone went out to start, and I had no idea where to go or what to do. After I asked someone what all the groups were, I joined one doing a hill run.

Nice slow lope around Prince's Island, then across the foot bridge, looping around the curling club to the bottom of the path that runs up under The Stairs. Just coming across the foot bridge, I passed my friend, who was going the other way. Kinda wondered if he'd made it.

There were about ten of us at the bottom of the hill, and the lead talked a little about what we were going to do. Starting there, we were to run to the first lion on the Centre Street Bridge, then back to where we started. Then repeat. Some who only wanted three runs would continue back to the store after getting to the lion the second time, while those of us wanting four hills would come back to the start again.

I think I was a little agressive on the hill. I've run them both ways a few times in the last few weeks, and I'm getting able to take them at a pretty good pace.

Once those of us doing four hills got back to that start point, we did a slow run back toward the store, where we all went our separate ways.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.56 km. Time: 44:52. Average speed: 8.8 kph.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 18C. Beautiful evening.

Holiday Monday

And looking stormy, too. I was hoping for a little rain during tonight's run, but only got a little at the very end. Oh, well...

What is becoming my standard route: Down 10th Street to Memorial Drive, west and cross the river at Crowchild, then back to Eau Claire, across at Prince's Island, and up the path under The Stairs. Then home along 4th Street.

Here's a neat thing: There seems to be a cricket tournament going on in the park below ACAD, along 10th Street. Two games underway when I went by, and I saw them out there Saturday, as well. Neat.

Today's run:
Distance: 11.44 km. Time: 1:00:57. Average speed: 11.3 kph.
Rest distance: 661.5 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total distance: 12.10 km. Total time: 1:06:57.

Weather: Cloudy and 12C, and even threatening to rain, but never happened.

Long Run and Meet the New Neighbour

Up a little early this morning, so I got an early start. Today, it was down 4th Street to Cresent Road, across the Centre Street bridge, then east toward the Fort. From there it was follow the Elbow River.

Going by Lindsay Park, I heard this weird hissing noise, like a truck's air brakes lightly applied. I finally identified it as a cranky Canada goose in the bushes with a rather large brood heading toward the river. Actually, once I started to look around, there are hundreds of goslings around, being herded by crabby adult geese.

Across the river at 25th Avenue, then along Elbow Drive until 32nd Avenue, where a creaky suspension bridge crosses the Elbow to Rideau Road. A couple of blocks south is a dead end and the path takes up again along the river to Stanley Park. Finally under Elbow Drive and along Riverdale Avenue to 8th Street, where I turned around and headed back.

About a hundred metres before I was back on Rideau Road, I encountered a coyote, which was watching something intently through a gap in the bush toward the river. It totally ignored me, and had run down to the river by the time I got to that point, but looking in that direction, across the river was a fluffy little white dog romping in the yard across the way. Hmmmmm.

Today's run:
Distance: 23.39 km. Time: 2:21:24. Average speed: 9.9 kph.
Rest distance: 1.61 km. Rest time: 15:00.
Total distance: 25.00 km. Total time: 2:36:24.

Weather: Sunny and 9C, warming up to 12C at the end. Windy, too, coming from the west at 30 kph. I can feel that on my face after being in it for two and a half hours.

When I got home, my new neighbour Ryan and his dog Sabotage were in the back yard, and we chatted a little. Seems like a decent guy, and for him, I suppose today is moving day.

Another Quick Run

I could get used to this. Another run with a high average speed. And it seems quite natural to run at that pace.

Ran alone tonight. Nony, my Friday night running partner, is still hurting from a bad fall she had last week, so wasn't able to join me. I miss her reminders to keep my shoulders loose.

Tonight I didn't worry too much about distance. I went straight south on 4th Street to Cresent Road, then followed the route Nony and I usually take. Once back on Cresent Road, I retraced my path back up 4th Street towards home.

Today's run:
Distance: 8.51 km. Time: 44:38. Average speed: 11.4 kph.
Rest distance: 416.4 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 8.92 km. Total time: 48:38.

Weather: Cloudy and 15C, but I had mostly sun to run in. The city is surrounded by rain squalls, and it's expected to be a wet night. But it was just luverly for a run.

Quick Wednesday Run

Well, not that quick. But it was fast. I covered the same route as on Monday, but I think I shaved a minute or two off. We'll see when my GPS finishes downloading.

It was a bit nicer today, and I was out a little earlier. Temperature under 20C, so that helped. Lots of people out on blades, today, for some reason, and at least a half dozen people running with heavy looking packs.

Today's run:
Distance: 11.56 km. Time: 1:00:30. Average speed: 11.5 kph.
Rest distance: 761.3 km. Rest time: 7:00.
Total distance: 12.32 km. Total time: 1:07:30.

Weather: 16C with no wind. Beautiful day.

How about that? I took off almost two and a half minutes from Monday's run.

A Fast Run for Monday

This was a fast run, basically following the same route I took on Saturday, but only as far as Crowchild, where I crossed the river and headed back. Actually, it's a modified version of the same route I took before I moved, only I'm starting from Mount Pleasant instead of Bridgeland.

Warmer day today, so I took a water bottle. The sky was a bit threatening, too, and we are supposed to get some rain tonight. It wouldn't have bothered me in the least if it had started while I was out there.

All in all a rather uneventful run, but it felt good after the distance run on Saturday. And I wore my new shoes for the first time. Same ones as I bought before - Nike Air Perseus. Strange thing about them is they are a D width, and they feel fine. When I was trying the New Balance and Reeboks, I was into the 4E widths. Crazy. But these feel good,

Today's run:
Distance: 11.68 km. Time: 1:03:02. Average speed: 11.1 kph.
Rest distance: 692.9 km. Rest time: 7:00.
Total distance: 12.37 km. Total time: 1:10:02.

Weather: Cloudy and 23C. Actually kind of nice, though a little warm for my tastes. I suppose I should get used to it, cuz it'll get a lot warmer.

Some bad news: Nony ran yesterday, and had a rather bad fall. Nothing broken, thank goodness, but she's pretty scraped and bruised, and she's a little stiff and sore. She's not optimistic about being able to run any time soon, so we may not get together Friday. Mend soon, Nony, and take care.

An Inspired Run

I think I'm still carrying the joy and inspiration from running with Nony yesterday. Today wasn't an effortless run, especially toward the end, but I felt I had so much to draw on to get to the end.

Moving to a new home is such a pain, especially when it's half way done. I really didn't eat last night, which was bad because I usually go for a big pasta feed to prep for the Saturday distance run. And this morning I discovered I hadn't brought my hot cereal from the old place yet. But I had made sure to bring the microwave so I could make it. Sheesh. The upshot is I didn't get any really good energy foods. Still had a good breakfast with what I had.

My new place is about a mile and a half farther north of the river, so it takes a while to get back down to that area.

From home (the new one), I went west to 10th street, down past SAIT all the way to the river. Then I followed the river west all the way past Shouldice Park, and even up to the footbridge across to Bowness. Which surprised me, because last time I got that far, I was on the 80 minutes out run time, and this time I was there in less than 70 minutes.

I turned around there and headed back the way I came. When I got to Crowchild, I crossed to the south side of the river and headed toward the Eau Claire promenade.

About that time a lovely lady caught up to me and began asking about the path system along the river. She was visiting from Vernon for a couple of weeks. It was a nice interlude but after a couple of minutes it was time for a very welcome walk break, so I wished her a good day. I had been pushing pretty hard, and it was startling how effortlessly she had caught up to me. She talked like she was taking a leisurely stroll, while I was huffing and puffing pretty hard. The ego was only slightly bruised, though.

At Prince's Island, I crossed the river, headed up the path under The Stairs, and down to 4th street, which took me all the way home.

Today's run:
Distance: 23.53 km. Time: 2:09:11. Average speed: 11.0 kph.
Rest distance: 1.58 km. Rest time: 14:00.
Total distance: 25.21km. Total time: 2:23:11.

Weather: Sunny and a little cool to begin with, but warming up quickly.

A Run With Nony

It's been a long time since I've been able to get together with Nony for a run, and frankly I needed to. It's been a difficult week and I have simply been unable to get motivated to get out and run until tonight. I'm glad she was able to join me.

We headed out on the usual route over to Cresent Road, down the path under The Stairs, and then west along Memorial Drive. Across the river at 10th Street, and back along the Eau Claire promenade, then up the Centre Street bridge.

The path at the top of the bridge takes us back to Cresent Road again, and it starts rather steeply. Nony sighs when we get there while in the running part of an interval. Actually, I don't think we've ever walked it.

But then she charged it! Tonight, she took it at speed and managed to keep the pace all the way to the top. I was almost laughing out loud for the sheer joy of watching her tenacity and determination. I love how her ability to take on this climb has improved.

Even at the top, she kept to her speed, and stayed with it through the entire running part of the interval. It was a wonderful moment, but I think she was glad to get to the walking part.

Then back to our start point. Perfect run and beautiful weather, and I so needed to get out tonight. Thank you, Nony!

Today's run:
Distance: 3.63 km. Time: 25:00. Speed: 8.7 kph.
Rest distance: 2.52 km. Rest time: 24:58.
Total distance: 6.14 km. Total time: 49:58.

Weather: Sunny and about 20C.

Hard Monday Run

Just working off some frustration tonight. Usual route - along the river to Crowchild, across and back toward Eau Claire, across Prince's Island and back up the hill under The Stairs. It was a cool and cloudy evening, so not so many people out, but still a few. A heck of a lot of cyclists out there, though.

Legs feel pretty good after the weekend. Just a little stiffness, but that went away after about thirty minutes.

Today's run:
Distance: 10.09 km. Time: 54:39. Speed: 11.1 km.
Rest distance: 550.9 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total Distance: 10.64 km. Total Time: 60:39.

Weather: Cloudy and 11C, and a stiff northerly breeze at 33 kph.

Official Results

Officially, I finished in 105th place on my leg, at 2:03:52, and 9:04 per mile. Check out here and here.

The Banff Calgary Road Race

I arrived in Banff the night before for this one. A couple of the hotels had special rates for race participants, which made it nice. But I didn't sleep at all, it seemed like. What kept me up, I don't know.

A personal best, I think - 22 km in 2:04. And what a great run! Weatherwise, it was about perfect for my leg. I showed up at the start line with 119 other runners bright and early, at 7:00 am at the Banff Recreation Centre.

I rather liked the small crowd at the start, because I got over the start line and on my way, right away.

By the time I got to the highway, the crowd had already thinned out, and I had only four runners behind me. This crowd was all serious runners! Still, I was on pace, a little over 10 kph.

So I just kept at it, with the few runners still in sight in front of me not really gaining, and the ones behind me dropping farther back.

Now, something happened at about the 50 minute mark. My speed jumped to over 11 kph, and stayed there for almost the rest of the run. I have no idea why, but things just became easier for some reason. And I managed to catch up to and pass four runners in the next 30 minutes or so. The sun even came out occasionally, and it was just a beautiful morning to be running.

It was a huge surprise to find myself at the park gate at 1:40. I didn't expect to be there by that time at all. But it was also a huge surprise to have to run another 20 minutes to get to Canmore proper, and the finish line.

But even then, I found a little more energy to make a strong finish, running at 13 kph over the last 800 metres or so.

The cheering section was loud and racuous.

And I made it!


Seriously, it was a fabulous run, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Today's run:
Distance: 20.23 km. Time: 1:52:01. Speed: 10.8 km.
Rest distance: 1.36 km. Rest time: 12:00.
Total Distance: 21.59 km. Total Time: 2:04:01.

Weather: Cloudy and 3C at the start, warming to 5C at the end, with hardly a breath of wind.

At the hand off, there was no team mate waiting. I had estimated it would take me about 2:15, so I was a little early. But the next runner was on her way within five minutes or so of my arrival. Then I caught a ride back to Banff and the hotel, had a quick shower (loved that part) and checked out. I met a couple of our team at the start of the sixth segment, and generally hung out for awhile.

Home after that, caught a bit of a nap, then down to the finish line (but forgot the camera!) Our last runner crossed the line at 10:29:10, plus or minus a couple of seconds, which I thought was pretty respectable.

I'll post a link to the official times when they are available.

Hill Run Before the Relay

One more hill run before the Banff Calgary Relay tonight, without intervals. East to Nose Creek, then back past the zoo, and up and down through Bridgeland. Felt good mostly, but the first fifteen or twenty minutes were a bit of a slog. Just needed to loosen up, maybe, and get warmed up.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.11 km. Time: 53:56. Speed: 10.1 km.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 19C, and not much of a breeze at all. It's a beautiful night, even with the cloud, and the forecast if for possible rain showers tonight, thundershowers tomorrow, and rain on race day. Wouldn't have minded a bit of rain while I was out there, and I certainly will welcome it if it comes on Saturday (well, after I've been running for awhile - being wet and cold while waiting for the start wouldn't be fun).

Lovely Monday Run

Beautiful evening for a run. Just a little on the cool side, and lots of sunshine. I just might even be tanning a little bit.

Did the usual: 8th Avenue to Cresent Drive, down the path under The Stairs, then on to the path along Memorial. All the way down to Crowchild, across the river, and back along Bow Trail, then to the promenade to Eau Claire.

At the 8 km point, just coming up to the helicopter pad, I caught up to Nony, who was also out for her run. So I ran a couple of her intervals with her, and we chatted some. Up the Centre Street bridge and the somewhat stiff climb to Cresent Drive. I was a little surprised at how strongly she ran that incline. In fact, she caught me a little off guard, and I scrambled a bit for a minute to keep up. She's becoming a pretty strong runner.

As we crossed 8th Avenue, I bid good evening and headed home. All in all, a very satisfying run.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.71 km. Time: 54:35. Speed: 10.7 km.
Rest distance: 734.2 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total Distance: 10.45 km. Total Time: 60:35.

Weather: Sunny and 13C, with just a light breeze coming from somewhere.

Oh, yeah, shoe update: Don't think I mentioned, but I tried wearing the Reeboks around the house for a half hour after I brought them home, and they hurt. So I took them back Friday night. I've pretty much tried everything they have, so now they are ordering me another pair of my Nikes. Now that I have a handle on how to lace them, they've become quite comfortable. They're also a cheaper shoe that these other ones I've tried.

I picked up the lacing method from Gord at his store when he was trying to get a pair of Sauconys to work for me. It keeps the pressure off the arch, but still is firm across the top. I tried that lacing in Canmore on Saturday, and it worked wonders. Very comfortable. I'm glad I discovered it before the long one next weekend.

Canmore Spring Thaw Results

Posted up on their web site already - Check the link under 2005 Results

My official time is 46:18, which gives me a speed of about 10.4 kph. I placed 23 in the men's 40-49 category; they don't have an overall listing, so I don't know how I did in the whole bunch.

Check out the pictures, too. That'll give you an idea of what the setting was like to run in.

Canmore Spring Thaw

Charging down the TransCanada highway to Canmore at 8:30 in the morning, wondering what kind of weather hell is up ahead. The mountains are cloaked in a grey amorphous mass, looking very ominous. But no need to worry. By the time I passed the Exshaw exit, much of the cloud had cleared out of the valley and just a few great gobs of grey were clinging to the surrounding peaks.

It was chilly this morning at the Nordic Centre in Canmore. At 9:30 it was a mere -2C, but the sun was out and things were looking pretty good. After getting my racing kit, and hanging out in the Day Lodge watching the construction, it began to warm up nicely, although by race time it was still only 2C. But no breeze, which makes a big difference.

This is a smaller race, with only about 500 runners. There was talk after about setting the limit at 450, just because of space considerations - narrow trails and parking, and a place for the post run festivities.

I started well back in the pack, reasoning that having every one in front of me would keep me from going too fast out of the start. Even so, it was hard not to be impatient.

There was nice little climb from the start, past the parking lot. Then a nice drop from there to the Spray Lakes Road. Then a long climb of about 40 metres over about 1.2 km or so. That was interesting, as I could feel it in the calves and started to worry about stamina.

Over the top at the two km marker, a quick drop of about 40 metres, and a nice long level run to the three km marker, just before crossing the south end of the reservoir by the power station. But then a steep climb on a muddy goat trail through the bush, with lots of up and down spots on pretty uneven gravel and mud. Could have been a real ankle breaker. One guy in front of me almost did what I feared most doing in that stretch, and that was tripping over a rock or tree root, and falling flat on my face. Lucky for him, he recovered. It wasn't the nicest surface on which to do a face plant.

This part of the trail paralleled an overflow dike, and at about 4.4 km, we had to cross it and head back to the south end of the reservoir. The crossing was a bit perilous. The sides of the dike were steep and muddy, and it was a scramble to get through. Best thing to do was to just charge down and up, and avoid the lineup taking the slow climb down.

Here was something really cool: there were little signs along this part of the trail, pointing to the various peaks surrounding the valley. Nice touch, especially with all the spectacular scenery.

Back at the reservoir, we turned a hairpin and headed north again. The 5 km marker was right there as was a water station. For me that was a turning point of sorts. Cup of water and I found my speed. I started passing a fair number of runners who I had up to then been pacing. Only one charged past me near the finish line.

The climb up from the Spray Lakes Road to the parking lot was not nearly as challenging as it looked, and from the top I turned it on a bit all the way to the end. I think the timer at the line was about 46:20 or so. I forgot to stop the timer on my GPS for about three minutes after crossing. Enough time to find a cup of Gatorade to chug.

This was a really fun race, and it turned out to be a beautiful day for it, too. Next time I gotta take a camera.

Today's run:
Distance: 8.06 km. Time: 49:16. Speed: 9.8 kph. (from my GPS. I'll double check against my official time when they get it posted. I'm pretty sure I was over 10 kph)

Weather: Partly cloudy and 2C, with just a slight breeze.

For sure wanna do this one again next year.

Winter's Back - Again!

Must be spring in Calgary. Cold and windy, with the odd snowflake. Of course, I forgot how to dress for this weather. One layer too many, so I was a little overheated out there. And kinda tired or something, too. Parts of tonight's run just felt hard, and a bit of a slog.

I did contemplate doing my hill run, but because I felt a little tired, I opted for a straight interval run. Over to Cresent Drive and down the path under The Stairs. Just across Memorial and along the river to Crowchild Trail, where I crossed and came back along Bow Trail on the south side. Then on to the promenade toward Eau Claire. I was originally planning to go all the way east and up the Centre Street bridge, but instead, I crossed Prince's Island and took The Stairs back to Cresent Drive again. Even climbed them at a pace that left me enough energy to pick up the run at the top. And then down 8th Avenue home.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.98 km. Time: 58:00. Speed: 10.3 km.
Rest distance: 589.2 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total Distance: 10.57 km. Total Time: 64:00.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 1C, with a stiff 35 kph breeze out of the north west. For some reason there weren't the crowds out enjoying the spring weather tonight. Go figure.

Shoe update: Took the New Balance shoes back to Gord's Tuesday night, and we went through a whole bunch more pairs. We found a pair of Reeboks that were perfect for my stride, but have a problem with fit. There's a band across the arch that digs into the side of my right foot. Gord suggested I take them home and wear them for half an hour, with the old compressed insole from my old shoes in them, to see if the pressure point was still there. And it was.

Since Nony's away to the coast and we won't be running tomorrow night, I might be able to take them back then, and we'll try again. If not tomorrow, then likely Saturday afternoon, after the Canmore run.

First Run With the New Shoes

I'm not sure what to think about the shoes. I felt a little worked over in the calves after a couple of intervals, but not overly so. Still, I crossed at 14th Street, instead of going all the way down to Crowchild to cross the river. But a good run, great weather, and lots of people out doing things along the river paths. Wonderful evening.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.58 km. Time: 48:52. Speed: 10.6 km.
Rest distance: 409.2 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total Distance: 7.99 km. Total Time: 52:52.

Weather: Sunny and 21C. Very nice.

Elbow River Run

Decided to try a new path today, and to pull back a bit on distance. The new path was along the Elbow River, the time was two hours.

I followed the same route east and down past the zoo and across the river, but instead of heading downtown, I followed the Elbow River as it curved around the Stampede grounds. Not that I ever had much experience around them as a kid, but I rather like the smell of the horse barns below Scotsman Hill. There must be a dozen of those merry-go-round things they tie horses to, to excersize them, and they were all full this morning. It's quite a busy place.

After that, it curves west, past the Indian Village, and under McLeod Trail. And there, tragically, laying face down in the river, was....Santa. One of those three foot high plastic statues you find at Canadian Tire every November.

Past that grisly scene, and around Lindsay Park and the Talisman Centre, then across the river at 25th Avenue. It's really a beautiful stretch down their, with some really nice condos lining both sides. Then down 26th Avenue and a little ways along Elbow Drive. But not too far, before it was time to turn around and head back.

The horses were all getting out on the track at the Stampede grounds by the time I went past again, and the wind was starting to pick up too. The return trip was a retracing of the outbound route, except I finished coming down 7th Avenue instead of 8th.

Today's run:
Distance: 18.47 km. Time: 1:48:00. Speed: 10.3 km.
Rest distance: 1.07 km. Rest time: 11:15.
Total Distance: 19.55 km. Total Time: 1:59:15.

Weather: Sunny and 8C. Going to be another lovely day.

OK, so I went to Gord's Running Store and sat down with the lady there, and she looked at how my feet oriented themselves and how I walked. Then she started bringing out the shoes. My biggest problem is that everything she brought out was tight across the arch on the right foot. And some of these shoes were 4E. She finally brought a pair of New Balance 880s, which were SL2 and 4E, which made them equivalent to 6E. (SL2 is a New Balance type, I think, that is a little wider across the arch and the toe box)

Anyway, they still felt a little snug just behind the toes, but I'll give them a shot and see how they work out.

The reason I wanted a new pair at this point, was that my Nikes will be near end of life about the time of the Calgary marathon. This way, I can alternate between both pair, and push that end of life date out a bit. And I have a choice of shoe when I get to these long races.

We'll see...

Nony's New Shoes

Nony invested in a good pair of runners this past week. She had a little trouble with the first pair she had, from New Balance, but she took them back and ended up with a pair of Adidas. Tonight was the first run in them, and she says they're definitely keepers.

I pushed her to 5 & 5 tonight for intervals. We were going to check on what it felt like for her at the four minute mark in the first interval, but I wasn't paying attention, and we went the full five. She forgave me (I think) cuz the shoes were performing just fine.

I took her down the path under The Stairs, and then across the foot bridge to Prince's Island, only we got off on the path along Memorial Drive. We followed that all the way to 10th Street, and across the river to the promenade, through Eau Claire back to Centre Street, and back home. A very nice, very fun run.

Today's run:
Distance: 3.72 km. Time: 26:07. Speed: 8.5 kph.
Rest distance: 2.51 km. Rest time: 25:00.
Total distance: 6.22 km. Total time: 51:07.

Weather: Sunny and 20C. Actually a nearly cloudless blue sky, and just an incredible evening. Probably the nicest day we've had yet this year.

And this may be the last run for Nony and I for a couple of weeks. Next week she's off to the west coast for a few days. But that's OK, because that weekend is the 8 km Canmore Spring Thaw.

And the week after that, I'll be in Banff for the Montclair Banff Calgary Road Race, a relay race that the firm I work for has entered a team. I'll be running the first leg, so I'll be up bright and early, running from downtown Banff to the park gate - about 22 km.

Another Hill Run

Did my hill run again tonight, which I haven't done since the first time a couple of weeks ago. Actually was a lot of fun tonight, and I had lots of energy once I got going.

The toughest climb has to be 5th Street from 4th Avenue to 7th Avenue, with the path up the hill from Bridgeland School being the second toughest. The hardest descent: Samis Road. Those are at least the most memorable parts of the run.

I would have thought the blocked off part of 2nd Avenue would have been hard, too, but for some reason I hit it with lots of energy, and was up and over quite quickly. Very cool!

Today's run: 9.61 km. Time: 55:47. Speed: 10.3 kph.

Weather: Sunny and 19C, a great day for running. Even a little on the warm side.

Something a Little Shorter, Just to Stay Loose

Wanted to get out and go, after a bit of a longish day. I took a route similar to yesterday, but instead of Cresent Drive and 10th Street, I headed down the path under The Stairs, on to the foot bridge across Memorial Drive and straight west until 14th. Across the 14th Street bridge and back along the river to Centre Street and home. And this was a straight run - no intervals.

Gotta say, I'm getting to love this route. There's a fun energy along the river paths when it's full of people like that. And lots of people, doing everything - biking, blading walking, running, sitting and just generally hanging out.

A bit of an annoyance - the GPS took a long time to find itself, and then by the look of the data I downloaded, it got lost just before I got to the Centre Street bridge, so I don't know how accurate the data is. It kept losing the GPS signal all along the south side of the river, too. Don't know what's up with that, as the trees are only along one side of the path, and they don't really overhang. They don't even have leaves on them yet, so I wouldn't think that would screen the thing that much.

On that note, and for what it's worth...

Today's run:
Distance: 7.40 km. Time: 42:37. Speed: 10.4 kph.

Weather: Sunny and 14C. Just beautiful out, not a cloud in the sky, and clear all the way to that mountain encrusted horizon.

Fast One For Monday

This one was a fast one. Guess moving the Sunday run to Monday made a big difference. I had lots of energy and everything felt really good. Something I noticed was the backward stretch of my stride and the push off seemed really strong. That seemed to make all the difference.

I headed west to Cresent Drive, followed it around to 13th Avenue, around that point and down 10th Street. Then across Memorial Drive and west along the river to the 14th Street bridge. Crossing the river there, I headed back along the river to the promenade past Eau Claire, to the Centre Street bridge. Across the bridge to 7th Avenue, and then toward home.

Today's run:
Distance: 8.83 km. Time: 46:31. Speed: 11.4 kph.
Rest distance: 497.0 m. Rest time: 5:00.
Total distance: 9.33 km. Total time: 51:31.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 10C, but sun is shining, and there's a light breeze and it's a beautiful evening.

Some exciting news: Nony bought herself running shoes! Go, Nony, go!

A Three Hour Tour

Woohoo! What a morning! Just a fantastic run for some reason, and I loved every minute of it. It went by so fast, too. I got into some incredible terrain, otherwise I would have had an unbelievable distance this morning.

I started going east, over to Tom Campbell hill and down toward the zoo. Then across the river there, and along it past Fort Calgary toward downtown. It seemed like hundreds of homeless camped out everywhere. Piles of blankets here and there under bushes and trees, a lot of them just getting up for the day. Rough life.

Then past Chinatown, where the elderly residents were out in full force on the promenade for the morning walk. After I passed the 10th Street bridge, foot traffic pretty much disappeared. At Crowchild, I crossed to the other side of the river.

From there to the foot bridge to Edworthy Park is goose country. And there seems to be a wide range of gastrointestinal distress among these birds. Lots of sidestepping and dodging. Nony calls it agility training. (ewwww!)

Now, I was planning to keep on the trail and maybe get as far as Shouldice Park, but for some reason I crossed to Edworthy with the idea that I'd take the path back east along the tracks toward Crowchild, but for some reason, I took the right branch of the path, and suddenly I'm deep in the spruce forest and climbing stairs and paths like crazy.

This was an amazing trail. Beautiful forest on a steep slope, and the path has been reinforced to keep it from sliding down the slope. There are railings all along, and stairways everywhere, and the trail twists and turns constantly. After a few minutes of this, you get glimpes through the trees of the other side of the river, and you are high up - according to my GPS, I climbed about 70 metres over a distance of about 120 metres. After almost a kilometre, you drop that much again. And another half kilometre you climb that much again. And another kilometre, you drop the 70 metres for the last time, and you're at Crowchild again. It was an absolutely incredible discovery.

From there back to 14th where I crossed the river again, and went all the way to the zoo, where I retraced my path up Tom Campbell hill and back home.

And the whole time, I felt wonderful. The pain in my knee and feet was there as usual, but for some reason it never got very troubling. Everything felt fabulous, the weather was perfect and just a wonderful morning.

Today's run:
Distance: 26.6 km. Time: 2:42:01. Speed: 9.9 kph.
Rest distance: 1.63 km. Rest time: 18:00.
Total distance: 28.26 km. Total time: 3:00:01.

Weather: Cloudy and 4C when I started, and climbing to 7C by the time I got home again. Shorts and tee, with my old Marvin the Martian tee as a second layer. Perhaps a bit too cold to dress so light, but only my hands really felt cold, and only for the first half hour or so.

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention last week, on the way back toward downtown, I met Mayor Bronco Dave on the paths. For what that's worth...

Another Wonderful Run with Nony

A beautiful day for a run: sunny, warm, and lots of people out doing the same thing. As I've planned, we added another minute of running to the intervals, and Nony faced the challenge beautifully, (with only a little complaint).

Nony has been staying dedicated to getting out at least three times a week, and has had a great week of running, and I'm proud of her for that. I think she's doing marvellously.

We did the same route as last time, except when we crossed from Prince's Island to the promenade, we went west as far as the C-Train bridge, then back toward the Centre Street bridge and back home. This added over a kilometre of distance, and got us past the 5 km mark, my main goal for the evening.

We had a remarkably consistent night too, with all intervals very close to 9 kph. Where we slowed a little was the run up the Centre Street bridge, where we dropped to 8 kph.

Today's run:
Distance: 2.92 km. Time: 20:00. Speed: 8.7 kph.
Rest distance: 2.52 km. Rest time: 26:25.
Total distance: 5.44 km. Total time: 46:25.

Weather: A fantastic evening, sunny and 12C. Perfect shorts and tee weather for running.

Oh, yeah, Nony found a web site with the results of the St. Patrick's Day run that I participated in back on March 13. I had totally forgotten about results being posted anywhere so this was a bit of a thrill. According to the site, I placed 291st overall out of 471, with a time of 57:22. And I placed 59th out of 71 in my age division. Way too cool!

Orange Loop With an Extension

I had a little internal debate tonight about whether to do just a loop, or the hill run again. The ache in the left knee decided it for me. Basically I followed the same route as last Wednesday, but instead of going straight across the river at 10th Street and Memorial Drive, I followed the river to 14th Street before crossing over and heading back. That added another one and a half kilometres.

Not sure what is going on, but my speed is way up. Maybe a rest after the long run on the weekend, maybe the other thing just got me energized. In all, it was a great run, feeling really good.

Even met Brenda T. and Shane S. from work, out for an evening run, which was kinda cool.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.61 km. Time: 52:34. Speed: 11.0 kph.

Weather: Cloudy and 7C, and a bit of a breeze out of the south, which made it cool at the start until I got warmed up a bit. Nice fun run, and I covered quite a bit of distance.

Balky GPS Day

Darn GPS unit didn't get satellite lock until well into the run, so I never started the timer until the turn-around point. Don't know what's up with that.

Just a quick run around Cresent Drive and back. It's such a beautiful morning, I thought I'd take some pictures.

This is the horizon from Cresent Drive - clear all the way to the edge:



The obligatory downtown skyline shot:



And the lovely community of Sunnyside, at the bottom of the bluff:




I only had the Timer running from my turn-around point back, so these numbers are half the run doubled.
Today's run:
Distance: 6.04 km. Time: 34:10. Speed: 10.65 kph.

Weather: Sunny and 0C. Remarkable day for doing anything outdoors, I think.

Early Start on Distance

Wasn't sleeping all that great early this morning, so I finally got up about 4:45, had a big breakfast, and headed out.

I had a vague idea of running Cresent Drive and down 10th Street, but instead I headed down The Stairs and across to Prince's Island. Then west on the promenade, and along Bow Trail all the way to Crowchild, were I crossed the river to the north side. Then it was basically follow the Bow River until my turn-around point, which was on Bowness Road, half a block north of 33rd Avenue.

Then all the way back along the river until The Stairs again, which I climbed, and back to 8th Avenue and home.

Today's run:
Distance: 22.8 km. Time: 2:23:14. Speed: 9.5 kph.
Rest distance: 1.31 km. Rest time: 15:00.
Total distance: 24.11 km. Total time: 2:38:14.

Weather: Clear and 2C to start, sunny and 3C at the end.

Friday Night Buddy Run

I love running with a friend. It makes the time go by and is so motivating. Nony and I had a great run, venturing a little farther afield. I had tried to map out a 5 km run for us, but by the GPS, it looks like I fell a little short. Still, it was perfectly within the forty minutes we've alloted to start with. A little more challenging than last week, and I changed the intervals to three minutes running, seven walking.

We headed to Cresent Drive like last week, but then we headed down the monster stairway, then across the foot bridge to Prince's Island. Then toward the west end of the island before crossing over to the promenade, and heading back east to Centre Street bridge. Once we crossed that, it was back up to Cresent Drive and the finish line.

Nony had been staying dedicated, getting out a couple of more times since last Friday. And tonight she handled the increase in running time just fine. The first interval we kind of went at a little too hard, so we hung back a little more for the rest of the running intervals, and found a pace that seemed just right for her. Still doing better than I expected, and I'm proud of her.

Today's run:
Distance: 1.81 km. Time: 12:00. Speed: 9.1 kph.
Rest distance: 2.35 km. Rest time: 24:41.
Total distance: 4.16 km. Total time: 36:41.

Weather: Cloudy and 8C, and a brisk breeze out of the north.

My Hill Run

Did a hill run by threading my way up and down the bluff that's just south of my place. I stretches from Tom Campbell Hill near the zoo, all the way past SAIT and the Jubilee Auditorium. Of course, I didn't go quite that far.

But what I did do was go down 8th Avenue to Nose Creek again, then circle around to the zoo. There's a decent hill to climb going past the zoo entrance, after which the route drops to 12th Street. Then up Tom Campbell Hill, to 13th Street, to Thomson Avenue, and down to 11A Street. That's two hills.

Up 11A to a path that goes up the bluff just past the Bridgeland School, and it's an evil steep thing, with the last twenty metres getting sharply steeper, so much so that you wonder what the heck is going on. At the top, along a relatively flat Danloe Street to Child Avenue, which crosses over to 12th Street, and back down the hill. That's three.

I was planning on taking 4th Avenue across but turned too early and ended up on 5th Avenue instead, which was nice because I've run on 4th a few times now. I still had to cross over to 4th anyway, and then another nasty steep one, up 5th Street to 7th. That's four.

At this point, I could have just trundled home and that would be that, but I wanted two more hills. So down 7th to Edmonton Trail, across and down to where 3rd Street branches off. 3rd to 2nd Avenue. Now here is a hill. This thing is so steep, they've blocked it off. You look at this thing and wonder what the heck they were thinking when they laid the pavement. That's five.

Straight across 2nd Avenue to Samis Road, a steep little trail that goes right down to the top of the Centre Street Bridge. And at this point, I was planning to go right back up to Rotary Park by the 91 steps. But instead, I trundled up Centre Street to 7th Avenue and back to home.

*whew*

Today's run:
Distance: 9.45 km. Time: 58:41. Speed: 9.7 kph. Straight run, no intervals

Weather: Cloudy and 17C, a little cooler that our high of 22. Spring is definitely here.

Orange Takes My Breath Away

After having to not run last night, I really wanted to get one in tonight. It's such a beautiful day here too, sunny and quite warm. Definitely shorts and tee-shirt weather.

I went west this time, across Centre Street and around Cresent Drive, as I haven't done that route for almost a week. Managed to catch Nony about midway into her second interval, so I walked with her and talked some. Then continued on after we ran her interval. I'm really happy to see her out there.

Instead of doubling back on Cresent Drive, this time I crossed to 10th Street at 13th Avenue, then southward. I stuck close to the C-Train tracks, which meant sneaking through the alleys for a couple of blocks. All the way down to Memorial Drive, over it via the pedestrian bridge, then across the river under the C-Train bridge. The promenade along the south side of the river was fun. Lots of people out walking, biking, blading, running, and boarding. Great energy.

Then under, around and onto the Centre Street bridge, all the way up to 7th Avenue, then toward home. I had good speed all the way, and after a bit of an ache in the right shin right off the start that went away quickly, it all felt great.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.03 km. Time: 38:53. Speed: 10.9 kph.
Rest distance: 424.7 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 7.46 km. Total time: 42:53.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 17C, but really, it was quite sunny. Nice to have a couple of warm days; tomorrow is promised to be just as nice.

One Amazing Year Later

I didn't get to run tonight. I was at a blood donor clinic, and they strongly recommend not doing anything strenuous for at least six hours afterward.

But I still felt I should write something up for today, though. On April 5, 2004, I put on the old New Balance runners I had bought several years before, went to Fish Creek Park, and ran for the first time. I started with a ten minute interval, running one minute, and walking nine, using an old stopwatch for timing. Looking at how far I got, I think I managed just over two kilometres.

And it hurt. My calves complained mightily for the first month and a half or so. I'd stretch them out as much as I could, but still it would be a challenge to stop at a light on the drive home, having to stand on a clutch or brake pedal. My legs had absolutely no strength or stamina.

Carting around two hundred pounds probably didn't help much either. And I didn't know about recovery times, so I was out every day. Mostly I went daily, because I feared losing my motivation. I felt that if I took a day off, I might never restart. So I was out daily for the first few months.

After a month, I went to the Running Room to get a new pair of shoes, reasoning that the old ones were the cause of my calf pain. They evaluated my walk, and recommended Nike's New Perseus shoes, which I bought, and started using the very next day. It took several more weeks for the calf pain to go away, and for a while it was very discouraging to discover that it wasn't due to the shoes after all.

By the end of the second month, the legs hurt a lot less. A couple of more months, and I was running eight minutes and walking two in a ten minute interval, and running almost six kilometres. And I started to notice my clothes were becoming looser, more roomy. I had bought a belt with plenty of room for expansion, thinking the trend was going that way. Instead I found I was cinching it down to the last hole, and still not feeling confident it would do it's job.

Now, here I am 12 months later. I'm not sure what my weight is exactly, but it for sure is no more than 165 pounds. I'm eating better and smarter. I look better. I feel better. I have stamina for doing things that I could never do before, especially physical activities. I really need to get new clothes because almost nothing I have fits any more. Last Saturday, I ran twenty two kilometres, and I'm going to run farther next Saturday, and even farther that Saturday after that.

I've run in races with a thousand other runners, and I've held my own. I have more races coming up, including the Banff to Calgary relay, and the Burnco Marathon coming up during Stampede. I'm even mentoring a friend who has decided to try running as a way to expand her exploration of personal fitness, something I'm very proud and honoured to be doing.

It really has been an amazing year. Here's hoping then next one is just as amazing.

A Fast Quick One

Just out and around really quick this morning. I did the distance yesterday, and the Sunday runs are always about just staying loose.

But I felt a heck of a lot better this morning. My feet didn't bother me, and I had lots of energy. Just east to Nose Creek, then back past the zoo and through Bridgeland, to climb Edmonton Trail and across to home.

Today's run:
Distance: 5.96 km. Time: 32:38. Speed: 11.0 kph.
Rest distance: 334.4 m. Rest time: 3:00.
Total distance: 6.29 km. Total time: 35:38.

Weather: Mainly sunny and -2C, and not a breath of wind. Very lovely morning

Canal Run

This morning was brutal. I must be depleted or something, because I had no speed or stamina. Kind of ran out of steam about half way through, which unfortunately left me with over an hour of running to get back home.

Went straight east to Nose Creek, then south along that to the Bow. Downstream to the weir, then I took the pedestrian overpass across Deerfoot Trail and followed the canal below the Max Bell Centre and the past the Canoe Club. Crossed over to the other side at 17th Avenue, and continued south, past the Inglewood Golf Course and the Alyth rail yards. Actually got close to 61st Avenue by turn-around.

On the way back, I caught up with a crowd training for the Police Half and for marathon, so it was kinda nice to run and chat with a couple of them. Then up Tom Campbell Hill, to 13th Street, to Child Avenue. Cut through an alley to 7th Avenue and home.

Today's run:
Distance: 20.8 km. Time: 2:09:26. Speed: 9.7 kph.
Rest distance: 1.38 km. Rest time: 14:00.
Total distance: 22.2 km. Total time: 2:23:26.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 2C.

I can't believe I did 20K. My interval times were awful, but there ya go.

Nony's First Run

Nony has asked that I help get her into running. That is so cool, especially cuz I have a friend I can run with now. It will likely be no more than once a week, mostly, but still, it's so motivating to share that time out on the running trails, so I'm thrilled.

Nony has an amazing fitness regimen that she follows, and she's been pretty dedicated. But running is a lot different than what she usually does, so we decided to start her slow. I've suggested that she do intervals, as that was what worked for me all those many months ago. So we have her doing ten minute intervals: two minutes running and eight walking to start.

Today's run:
Distance: 4.49 km. Time: 39:28. Speed: 6.8 kph. I forgot to set up the intervals on the GPS, so the data's all kinda screwy.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 11C, with brisk winds from the west south west at 55 kph, gusting to 67. Bleah - good old dusty, dirty Calgary.

In eyeballing the data, it looks like we easily were running at 9.5 kph, so it was a very respectable first effort. Way to go, Nony!

West Coast Debriefing

I'm home now, back in brown and dusty Calgary. Had a lovely drive home, in spite of that. And now I've got my GPS data and pictures downloaded, so here's the definitive numbers on this week's runs:

Monday's run:
Distance: 10.36 km. Time: 1:01:53. Speed: 10.0 kph.

Monday's elevation profile:

Notice the maximum elevation. We started at about 23 metres above sea level.

Wednesday's run:
Distance: 9.84 km. Time: 59:43. Speed: 9.9 kph.

Wednesday's elevation profile:

Again, notice the maximum elevation. There was a stretch where we lost the GPS satellite lock for awhile, hence the weird step in the graph.

All in all, I'm quite happy with the numbers. I managed to hold my own, mostly, and turned in quite respectable times, considering that I never run that kind of terrain out here in flat Calgary.

And a few pictures from the Monday run. This is pretty typical of where we were running. Forest on the right and farms/acreages on the left:

Or forest on the left and farms/acreages on the right:



This is the road past a series of quarries:

The one to the immediate left in the picture is being developed for housing. The one where they filmed Stargate is just around the corner at the end of the road, to the left.

And finally, my bro', Shane, before he left me in the dust.

Hill Run

Second try at posting this.

Man, this was a tough one. Lot's of climbing and it was a real challenge. I started lagging behind my brother around the 5K point. I finally waved him on when we got to the final hill. Still, I managed to get within a couple hundred metres of the turn around point before I met him coming back.

After that it was downhill all the way. By then, my legs were pretty depleted, so even with gravity assisting, I was moving pretty slow.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.84 km. Time: 59:43. Speed: A little less than 10 kph.

Weather: Lovely. We started out under cloud, but by about 2 km, the sun came out, and stayed out for the rest of the run. I think it's about 10C out.

Cool part: we went past a quarry just up the road, where the TV show Stargate is sometimes filmed.

West Coast Tour

What a sweet run. Up and down, through the cedar forests. What a beautiful place to be. I went out with my brother Shane, from his house, out in the wilds of the urbanized BC lower mainland.

We started in the rain and it took a couple of kilometres to warm up, but after awhile, it was quite nice. Shorts and tee, rain, sun, rain, wind, rain, repeat. That was the first kilometre. Sort of went the same with the other nine, too.

Today's run:
Distance: 10.36 km. Time: 1:01:53. Speed: Probably just over 10 kph, as my interval time was 5:58.

Weather: A light rainshower, and 6C at Abbotsford, according to the Environment Canada web site. Probably about the same up here to the north.

Climbing Back From a Cold

Finally got out this morning, after struggling with a cold for the last week. I was going to go farther this morning too, but my chest is still congested and breathing was hard at times. Still, I was out for over an hour.

Started east on 8th Avenue, down to the Nose Creek path and south to the Bow River. The path squeaks between Deerfoot Trail and the river, past the weir, all the way down to 17th, which is where I crossed the river, and headed back to the west. Lovely path along the Pierce Estate Park and the fish hatchery past the weir. Then it bends into the Inglewood a bit, before you get to the old iron bridge to the zoo.

I was going to continue along the south side of the river at least until Centre Street, but I was beginning to cough a bit and my chest was a little achy, so I crossed the bridge, past the Zoo, over Memorial Drive and up Tom Campbell hill, 13th Street, Child Avenue to 8th Avenue and home.

Still quite a long run:
Distance: 10.7 km. Time: 1:03:00. Speed: 10.2 kph.
Rest distance: 671.8 m. Rest time: 6:55.
Total distance: 11.37 km. Total time: 1:09:55.

Weather: Cloudy and -1C, actually more hazey than anything. Not any noticeable breeze, so a very nice morning.

Photo Tour

Finally remembered to bring my camera (great idea, Nony!) and take a few pictures of some of the neater parts of the run, especially the stairs. So the run times are pretty wonky cuz I was stopping and starting, taking shots over my shoulder while I ran and stuff like that. And all the fresh snow was a real slog at times.

I was going to go down Edmonton Trail and across the river, but there was too much slush being splashed up on the walk. So I cut across to Rotary Park and the short stairway to the top of the Centre Street Bridge.


It's a nice climb after work on the walk home.

The run along the promenade was quite pretty with all the snow. And the city crews were out early to clear the paths.

Then across the river under the C-Train bridge.

From there, back along Memorial Drive to...

The 167 steps




The numbers are the elevation above sea level in metres. Just a lovely climb that's a good burn toward the end of a run.

After that home along 8th Avenue.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.00 km. Time: 39:26. Speed: 9.1 kph.

Weather: Fog and -10C, but it must have been a pretty thin fog. More like a light haze.

Started out feeling awfully cold, but once I got across the river I warmed up nicely.

After a Bad Day/Good Day

I was bad. Never fails. When someone leaves the firm, they bring in several dozen donuts on their last day and meet in the lunchroom across the hall from my office. The evil toroids begin to call me almost before they get them in the door. And because there are so many left after, they call all day. *sigh* So I had a lot of unhealthy calories to deal with.

The good day started after work. Nony convinced me to try a men's spa over on Centre Street kitty-corner from Starbucks. So I made an appointment for last night. The lovely Emma served up a glass of wine and trimmed and buffed my nails to a sparkling shine. The lovely Kellie rescued me from one of the worst haircuts I've ever had. (Serve's me right for going cheap) And the lovely Michelle shredded the tension in my back and legs with a full massage. Listen up guys: this pampering stuff is highly recommended.

So after all that, I wasn't particularly in the mood for a distance run this morning. Still, I managed to get myself out for two hours. Actually, by the eighth interval I was feeling really good, and actually ran that last few intervals below 6 min/km.

Today I tried the Nose Creek path, heading north parallel to Deerfoot Trail. Got about 300 m north of 64th Avenue, about straight west of the the control tower at the airport. Then turned around and retraced my steps.

Today's run:
Distance: 17.0 km. Time: 1:46:00. Speed: 9.6 kph.
Rest distance: 1.05 km. Rest time: 11:00.
Total distance: 18.05 km. Total time: 1:57:00.

Weather: Light snow and -13C. Rather neat out because the sun was shining through a kind of ice crystal haze. So everything had a beautiful golden glow.

Winter Came Back

Not all that cold, but cold enough. Wore a sweatshirt instead of a tee under the windbreaker.

Tonight, I was back to intervals. Down Edmonton Trail, across the river and west along the promenade, across the 10th Street Bridge, and back along Memorial Drive to those stairs again. They needed a recount, and this time I counted 166. So I'll have to climb and count again, cuz I miscounted somewhere.

Just for fun, I took the path back down to the top of the Centre Street bridge, across Centre Street, and up the stairs there to Rotary Park. There's 91 steps on that one, and I've counted them several times, because that's the way I walk to work and back.

Zig and zag back to 7th Avenue and toward home.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.93 km. Time: 40:11. Speed: 10.3 kph.
Rest distance: 394.1 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 7.32 km. Total time: 44:11.

Weather: Partly cloudy and -6C. It's a far cry from the mid-teens we had a week or two ago, but still, quite comfortable. And much of the ice from the freezing rain last night has melted, too.

Post Dance Run

Couldn't stand it, I had to get out and run, even after that other thing at noon. Just had too much energy. And the legs felt good, too.

I did the same as on Sunday for the race. Just up and ran, no intervals or anything. Felt quite wonderful, even that nasty hill up 5th Street from 4th Avenue to 7th, where it's part sidewalk, part stairway. I contemplated a longer run, over along Cresent Drive and Memorial, but this was just as fun. I like that Nose Creek path, and maybe I'll explore it some more on a distance run.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.30 km. Time: 36:42. Speed: 10.3 kph.

Weather: Cloudy and 4C, with a breeze out of the south.

Something that I have been noticing that has really helped in my running is a couple of things I learned from my favorite Mouse, Nony. She showed me a couple of moves for my back that really help to keep me upright, where I can run more efficiently. Used to be I'd begin to slouch a bit on the distance runs, but now it's easier to keep my head up. And things feel so much better too.

The St. Patrick's Day Race

Woohoo! I survived it. Even with the crappy weather, it was fun. It started at the Red & White Club at McMahon Stadium, then went twice around the University of Calgary campus (once if you were doing the 5K) and back to the Red & White Club. 1100 people showed up, though I don't know what the split was between the 5K and 10K.

I crossed the start line at 24 seconds, and there was lots of traffic for the first three kilometres or so, until people started to spread out a bit. Then it took until about the 5K mark for my speed to settle, at which point I pinned the needle at 5:39 per kilometre. At about 8.5K, I kind of dropped into that long stride lope, where I pump my arms a bit harder, and managed to shave another couple of seconds off the interval by 9.5K. The last 500m, I put a little more into it, and let the last little hill carry me to the finish line. Crossed at 57:16, so 56:52 in total. I'm quite happy with that.

Forgot, however, to stop the time on my GPS until about 100 yards later, so that timing is a little off, as is the speed it reports.

And no intervals. I just started the timer and ran.

Today's run:
Distance: 10.2 km. Time: 58.02. Speed: 10.6 kph.Note the 45 seconds or so after I crossed the finish line, that it took for me to realize the timer was still going.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and -1C, with winds from the northwest at 32 kph. Lots of slush and wet, and some icy spots. There was the added hazzard of small miniblizzards every time clumps of snow would blow off trees.

Afterwards there was beer and Irish stew. Somehow I ended up with two food tickets, so I went back for seconds. Delicious! And lots of door prizes, none of which I won.

Seriously fun morning.

Saving Up for the Race

Just a short one today, since I have the St. Patrick's Day race tomorrow.

The weather report sounded pretty ugly when I got up this morning, saying it was supposed to be cold and snowy. But the sun was shining when I got out there, though heavy cloud circled the entire horizon.

I started out the same as when I did the step counting, but instead of crossing the river on the C-Train bridge and returning along Memorial Drive, I instead crossed on the 10th Street bridge and went all the way up 10th Street to 13th Avenue, twenty metres down that, and I was turning on Cresent Drive. The view of downtown was spectacular as always from up there, and just as I got to the end where I zig-zag to 8th Avenue, I looked over my shoulder to find the cloud that had obscured the western horizon had pulled back to reveal all those snowy mountains. Beautiful sight.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.54 km. Time: 43:01. Speed: 10.5 kph.
Rest distance: 406.5 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 7.95 km. Total time: 47:01.

Weather: Partly cloudy and -1C, with winds NNW 33 kph, gusting to 45 kph. Didn't seem at all that cold. And except for the wind, it was really quite nice.

167 Steps

Finally managed to count them. 167 steps, 10 landings. Nice calorie burn after you've been going a few miles.

Back to the beginning: Straight down 8th Avenue to Centre Street, then south to the bottom of the bridge. Loop the loop off the bridge to the path that runs underneath and west, all the way down to the C-Train bridge near the 10th Street bridge. Across the river there, and back along Memorial until the foot bridge to Prince's Island, except I go north over Memorial, to the base of those stairs.

There was a guy a couple of landings in front of me, which was good. I caught up to him pretty fast, then let him set the pace. If I'd have continued past him at the pace I was going, I probably would have made it to the top, but not in any shape to actually continue running. But as it was, I stepped off the last landing with enough legs to just about go back to the pace I was keeping down by the river. Then a zig or a zag over to 8th Avenue and all the way home.

Pretty telling interval speeds too: 10.7, 12.1(!), 7.8(!!) and 11.4, all in kph. Guess which interval the stair climb was on.

Today's run:
Distance: 5.49 km. Time: 31:48. Speed: 10.4 kph.
Rest distance: 305.6 m. Rest time: 3:00.
Total distance: 5.80 km. Total time: 34:48.

Weather: Sunny and 14C - just a clear blue sky and a beautiful late afternoon sun. Shorts and T-shirt for the first time. Wunnerful.

One minor annoyance: it took forever for the GPS to get satellite lock. I walked about three blocks before it finally settled in.

A Lovely Sunday Morning

The weather people changed their mind again. Last night they were talking rain and snow, and this morning it was mostly clear, and just a lovely, lovely morning. It was even warmer than the other evening, when I wore the shorts.

But oh, gosh, my leg muscles are pretty much depleted this morning from yesterday's long run. Which is fine - the Sunday runs are just to keep things from seizing up.

This morning, I went east again, along 8th Avenue to Nose Creek, then south this time, on the path that parallels it. Just before I got to Memorial Drive, I turned west, and ran through the zoo parking lot and past the entrance to the zoo train station. Back to 12th Street, left on 1st Avenue, then right on 8th Street, and left again on 4th Avenue. And then north on 5th Street.

5th Street between 4th and 7th Avenues, probably climbs 40 metres in those three short blocks. The walkways alternate between sidewalks and stairways, it's that steep, and while I did run it, it was more of a kind of baby-step shuffle. It felt like a great fun workout once I got to the top, but in the middle of it, I was thinking I was nuts to try this. My legs muscles felt like there was nothing left, and I was actually a bit surprised that I made it.

Today's run:
Distance: 5.85 km. Time: 36:49. Speed: 9.5 kph.
Rest distance: 364.5 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.21 km. Total time: 40:49.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and 5C, according to the Environment Canada web site, but it was more clear than anything when I was out there.

A couple of things coming up: I'm running the St. Patrick's Day 10K next weekend, which I'm looking forward to. And in the Banff to Calgary Relay, I'm running the first leg, 22 km from the tourist info office in Banff, to the park gate. This is the longest leg of the race, though certainly not the toughest.

My thoughts originally were that they wanted someone fast to start, but apparently there's more interest among the team in not having to be up so early. Fair enough. Actually will make it more fun if we aren't going to be too serious about it. The only drawback is I have to be in Banff ridiculously early for the 7:00 start. In any case, I am really looking forward to it.

Early Start, Almost to Bowness

I had another one of those nights, waking up about 3:00 and tossing and turning. I finally decided to get up about 4:30. And so I took my time doing some stretches, and having a long leisurely breakfast. And then getting dressed for a run, I was out of the house by 6:00.

Today was 16 intervals, two hours and forty minutes. Instead of the usual wandering down both sides of the river, I just went straight down to Memorial Drive and headed west. I managed to get past Shouldice Park, and just past the 16th Avenue Bridge over the river, near Bowness, then turned around and retraced my steps. Only at the last did I deviate, crossing Memorial and bounding up the stairs to Cresent Drive. Well, maybe not bounding, exactly... I'll have to count those steps some day.

Today's run:
Distance: 22.0 km. Time: 2:17:48. Speed: 9.6 kph.
Rest distance: 1.41 km. Rest time: 15:00.
Total distance: 23.4 km. Total time: 2:32:48.

Weather: Clear and 4C when I started, with the brightest stars all shining. Sunny and 6C by the end. However it dropped to 1C in the middle there. Really a beautiful morning, and it's gonna be a beautiful day.

The Nose Creek Trail

Another different way tonight. And it was one of those days, where things just didn't seem particularly OK, just kinda bleah, but not too bleah. So instead of my usual 40 minutes, I went a whole hour.

This time, east along 8th Avenue, and just before it crosses the railroad tracks and Deerfoot Trail, there's a side road that meets up with the end of St. George's Drive. There's a soccer pitch and a small parking lot, and a path that follows the tracks and Nose Creek. I went north this time, but the southward path looks just as interesting.

It's pretty much a straight run, under 16th Avenue Northwest and all the way up to 32nd Avenue, which is where my turn-around point was. Then I just retraced my path back home.

One thing I did, when I left the path and got back on 8th Avenue, it's a short, but steep climb up from the valley, about 30 metres vertical over about 300 metres. That slowed me down a fair amount; my speed dropped to about 6 kph. But I went hard after about 500 m and still managed to top 10 kph on average for the interval. Might not sound like much, but I was impressed with myself.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.08 km. Time: 54:17. Speed: 10.0 kph.
Rest distance: 547.1 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total distance: 9.63 km. Total time: 60:17.

Weather: Mainly sunny and 8C. And I wore shorts this time, first time this year.

East Past the Zoo

Decided to go east this morning because I haven't gone that way before. The ice is still over the pedestrian underpasses, so you have to cross busy streets, but early on Sundays, it's pretty quiet, traffic-wise.

Actually, I wasn't even going to go this morning. Had another night of sleeplessness, and finally dozed off just after my alarm went off, but after an hour and a half or sleep and breakfast, I felt good enough to get out. And I'm glad I did. Not a cloud in the sky and the sunrise is absolutely glorious!

So, down Edmonton Trail, then east along Memorial Drive to the Zoo, where the path is closed because of high river levels. So, up on the overpass and toward the Zoo parking area on the north side of Memorial, which was my turn around point.

On the way back, I thought I would go north up that hill by St. George's Street (avenue?) that has some guy's name (gotta get a map someday). The path lead me to 13th Street, then Child Street (Avenue? Cresent?), which eventually got to a rather complicated intersection at 8th Avenue, which took me home.

Today's run:
Distance: 5.93 km. Time: 36:00. Speed: 9.9 kph.
Rest distance: 324.8 m. Rest time: 3:50.
Total distance: 6.25 km. Total time: 39:50.

Weather: Sunny and -6C, but it'w warming up rapidly. Gonna be a glorious day.

Another Half!

Actually just over a half marathon. I went the same route as last week, cuz it was pretty cool. Loved the evergreen forest below that neighbourhood that I can't think of the the name of - Spruce Cliff, if I'm looking at mls.ca right. There's a lot more clear pavement out this week too, and less ice.

On the way back, for fun, I thought I'd head straight north on 10th Street, then at 13th Avenue, I doubled back onto Cresent Drive. Followed that around, back to 8th Avenue, and home. That is one lo-o-o-o-ng hill on 10th, as you come up along side of SAIT.

Today's run:
Distance: 20.1 km. Time: 2:03:05. Speed: 9.8 kph.
Rest distance: 1.19 km. Rest time: 13:00.
Total distance: 21.29 km. Total time: 2:36:03.

Weather: Cloudy and -1C to start, climbing to +1C by the time I got back home. Actually great running weather.

Started out with a great breakfast. I finally got my microwave (thanks, Mom) so I could have some oatmeal (sorry, Nony *hee, hee*)

Oh, yeah! Nony started her own blog, which is just too cool.

Go Hard on Cresent Drive

Can't stay away from Cresent Drive. It's got such a beautiful view of the downtown, and the mountains against the sunset. Lots of other runners can't stay away either, cuz we're all over the place along there.

It was a long, hard day, after a long hard day that was supposed to be a statutory holiday (Alberta's Family Day). Work just sucked today, way too much running back and forth and dealing with annoyed people (who had reason to be annoyed, by the way). Bleah.

I was late getting home, but just changed and went, and just pushed the stride as far as it felt comfortable pushing, so I had good times on all intervals.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.43 km. Time: 36:00. Speed: 10.7 kph.
Rest distance: 325.3 m. Rest time: 3:25.
Total distance: 6.76 km. Total time: 39:25.

Weather: Mainly sunny and -1C, except the sun had pretty much set by the time I got out there. Beautiful evening, and a fun run.

Down to Edworthy

Wow, can't believe I got that far. I started out going down 8th Avenue, then south down Centre Street to the downtown side of the river. I was planning to go as far as Crowchild Trail and cross back across the river there, but for some reason I ran past that bridge, just to see how far I could go on the south side.

Not much of a trail after awhile, just a couple of well traveled ruts, where I imagine city vehicles have been frequenting. After awhile, the path crossed the railroad tracks and I ran along the bottom of the cliff, below a neighbourhood I can't remember the name of right now. It was a bit startling to see the sign admonishing all travelers not to stop, as avalanches were possible in the area. This after a sign admonishing all travelers to keep dogs on the leash, as coyotes frequented the area.

I was almost going to turn around at the 60 minute mark, but I could see a bridge just up the river a little bit. So I figured I could just continue on to it, and cross, then head back toward home on the other side of the river. I had no idea I was at the bridge in Edworthy Park.

So all the way back to the bottom of the stairs to Cresent Drive, which I managed to climb. That was hard, as by that time, I'd already covered about 17 km. Then 8th Avenue and home.

Today's run:
Distance: 17.3 km. Time: 1:49:37. Speed: 9.5 kph.
Rest distance: 1.41 m. Rest time: 12:00.
Total distance: 18.71 km. Total time: 2:01:37.

Weather: Light snow and -10C. There was a fairly stiff breeze out of the north west, but it never was a factor in my comfort.

River Loop

Nice run tonight. I found my easy loping pace and actually had some pretty good times, and it was a beautiful evening for running, or even just being outside, what with the spectacular sunset with the silhouette mountain horizon, and the warm temperature.

Tonight I went down Edmonton Trail to the river path along Memorial Drive, across the river under the C-Train bridge near the 10th Street bridge, then back along the promenade to the Centre Street bridge, and up that to 8th Avenue and home. Lots of people out running, too, especially on the promenade side of the river.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.07 km. Time: 40:15. Speed: 10.5 kph.
Rest distance: 399.1 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 67.47 km. Total time: 45:15.

Weather: Mainly clear and -4C.

Just One of Those Days

Got up. Went to work. Came home. Changed. Ran. Must be Monday.

'Nuff said.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.08 km. Time: 36:11. Speed: 10.1 kph.
Rest distance: 381.6 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.46 km. Total time: 40:11.

Weather: Light snow and -7C, according to Environment Canada, but no snow falling around here. Must be up at the airport.

Run Through Downtown

I was going to head east on the path by Memorial Drive, but with the river so high right now, all the paths under the streets are close, since most are under water and ice. So I just headed across the bridge to down town, and along the river on that side.

The Hypothermic Half Marathon is on this morning, I think. There are orange traffic cones all over the place on the downtown side of the river, and a small sign at one point marking the first kilometre. I would have been there about an hour before it started.

Once I got to 7th Street, I headed south on it, then turned back east on 3rd Avenue. The bakeries in Chinatown are going full blast, so in addition to huffing and puffing, I was drooling as well. Lord, it smelled good!

Then the long climb up Centre Street to 8th Avenue, and homeward.

Today's run:
Well, it was a total wash as far as the GPS is concerned. Apparently it wasn't able to get a satellite lock. But the stats are impressive: Distance: 1010 km, at an average speed of 1552 kph. How kicky is that? In reality I probably covered about 5 km, which is what I'll log.

Weather: Cloudy and -1C. Not too much of a breeze, and the sun was threatening to break through.

A Lovely Saturday Morning

Beautiful morning, and a lot of runners were out taking advantage of it. My alarm somehow got shut off, so I started out later than I had planned, but it was great. A great pace, not quite the groove pace that lasts all day, but close. And at the end I felt great.

Straight down Edmonton Trail to Memorial, then the river path west. My turn around point was 32nd Street NW. I was impressed with myself.

Came back via Cresent Drive again, because for some reason I can't stay away from that climb. I didn't take the stairs this time, just the path, but it's still pretty steep. Slowed me down some - my average speed in that interval was 8.2 kph. But then my first interval, where I ran down the long hill on Edmonton Trail, I was doing 10.4 kph. Lose it here, make it up there. It all evens out.

Today's run:
Distance: 14.0 km. Time: 85:29. Speed: 9.8 kph.
Rest distance: 861.8 m. Rest time: 9:00.
Total distance: 14.86 km. Total time: 94:29.

Weather: Cloudy and 7C. A little bit of a breeze out of the west, which was a bit uncomfortably cold for the first interval. But by the beginning of the second interval, I didn't even notice it.

Back On Line

Finally got my Internet connection up and running. I was beginning to feel a bit disconnected from the world.

Tonight was a good hard run, a repeat of the Cresent Drive run I did Sunday morning. It was such a good feeling day for some reason. An exuberant day. Dunno why.

But I got out on 8th Avenue and just headed west, across Edmonton Trail and Centre Street, until I got to Cresent park, then around the south end of it along the escarpment. It was a pretty night, with downtown's lights sparkling in the twilight, and the mountains sillouetted against the sunset.

Another neat part of that route is you get to look down on Sunnyside, which is a neat little neighbourhood between the bottom of the escarpment and the river. Not as neat as it was on Sunday in the snow, because the snow is now a muddy sort of slush.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.28 km. Time: 36:08.96. Speed: 10.4 kph.
Rest distance: 374.9 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.65 km. Total time: 40:09.

Weather: Cloudy and 4C, very nice. Nice to be back in the warm weather.

Cresent Drive Tour

Tried a quick run, without going down the hill. Just went straight west, to 1st Avenue NW, then a short zig south to Cresent Drive. Followed that all the way around the neighbourhood to about 14th Avenue, as it paralleled 10th Street across from SAIT. Then I just retraced my steps back home.

Cresent Drive is a great place for rubbernecking, what with the spectacular view of downtown to the south, and the million dollar homes that overlook it. Even one with a Christmas tree still up and lit in the front room.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.12 km. Time: 36:17.94. Speed: 10.1 kph.
Rest distance: 434.6 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.55 km. Total time: 40:18.

Weather: Probably about the same as it was yesterday, about -18c to -20c. Overcast and light snow. Gave that spectacular view of downtown a rather mystical look.

Wildlife: There are a lot of tracks around this neighbourhood that look like rabbit tracks. Which would explain the presence of coyotes (if that's what they were) Who knew the inner city was so close to nature?

First Distance Run in Ages

Finally got out and did some distance. Stayed by the river, along Memorial Drive, and almost got to Crowchild Trail. Felt really good to be out again, and it's such a beautiful morning too, even with the snow and cold.

On the way back I bypassed the stairs, instead taking the long path up the escarpment. Still a bloody good workout. According to the GPS, the altitude change over that interval was from a low of 1053 m to a high of 1093 m. Not quite as drastic as what some people I know have done, but pretty good for me, for running in a prairie city.

Today's run:
Distance: 10.0 km. Time: 64:11.47. Speed: 9.4 kph.
Rest distance: 704.4 m. Rest time: 7:00.
Total distance: 8.52 km. Total time: 60:10.

Weather: At a guess, it was about -18C by the time I got out. Cloudy, but a nice day, really.

Wildlife: On the bluff below the condos perched on the top of the escarpment between Centre Street and Edmonton Trail, there seem to be coyotes. The siren of an emergency vehicle across the river set them to yipping and howling. Very surprising that they would be as far inside the city as the downtown area.

A New Venue

Inner city running is a much different place than the park. I have to cross several very busy streets, and Calgary is a car town. Pedestrians get to wait at the intersections for walk lights. But I have some great hills, and the view of the downtown from across the river is spectacular.

From the top of the hill to the bottom along Edmonton Trail, and along Memorial drive. There's a foot bridge across the Bow River from Memorial Drive to Prince's Island, with a stairway from the path. The bridge goes across Memorial Drive to a curling rink.

Then you get to the bottom of the stairs. The stairs climb about 60 metres, according to the GPS, to Cresent Drive, and it's a popular climb for both runners and walkers. Great workout.

From there I turned back east along the cresent, then down a relatively gentle slope to the top of the Centre Street bridge. A long wait for a crosswalk light, then back up the other side on 2nd Street, and a little zig-zag back to Edmonton Trail, and back home.

Today's run:
Distance: 4.61 km. Time: 28:39.03. Speed: 9.7 kph.
Rest distance: 224.7 m. Rest time: 3:00.
Total distance: 8.52 km. Total time: 60:10.

Weather: Nice, about 12C, but I don't have an Internet connection yet to get the actual weather from the Environment Canada web site.

Sunday Morning Loop

Did the neighbourhood loop this morning, bright and early, about nine and a half kilometres. Actually not that bright - it's still kinda dark before 8:00.

Was a good run, though, with good times. Not quite as good as what I got yesterday, but still better than I usually do.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.0 km. Time: 54:00. Speed: 10.0 kph.
Rest distance: 553.7 m. Rest time: 5:53.
Total distance: 9.55 km. Total time: 59:53.

Weather: Cloudy and -1C, but the sun was coming up beautifully.

Post Cold Run

Finally got out to get some running in. I've been struggling with a cold for the last week and a half, and have felt ruddy awful. So today, I went out, hoping that the cough wouldn't stop me. And it didn't. I was OK running, but the rest part of the interval was when I had to hack a bit.

Speed is really up this time, and I'm not sure why. I thought I was doing an easy lope, so as not to challenge the congestion in my chest, but I was covering a lot more ground per unit time than usual.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.26 km. Time: 36:00. Speed: 10.4 kph.
Rest distance: 351.0 m. Rest time: 3:45.
Total distance: 6.61 km. Total time: 39:45.

Weather: Clear and -6C, lovely morning. The paths were a bit icy, but the ice wasn't slippery. Might have been a frost on it that gave it some grip.

Wildlife: Just as I started off, a couple of coyotes came down the hill from neighbourhood on the edge of the park, and loped along the path in front of me for awhile. Later, as I was backtracking to the parking lot, a fire truck was tearing down the street on the far side of the park, with the siren wailing. And all the coyotes started up howling. Sounded like a lot more than two of them. Very neat.

Fighting a Cold

Been living with the onset of a cold now for a couple of days. My throat started feeling scratchy in the morning a couple of days ago, and there's been a heaviness in my chest. Likely got it from Nony, who has been nearly immobilised by it. But it hasn't hit me nearly as hard, as I'm still feeling just as I did when it first started. And my energy levels have been staying fairly high, so maybe I'm dodging the really bad part.

So I thought, what the heck, I'll try a short, low intensity run, and see how it goes. And it felt great. I found that all-day pace that just carried me through five and a half km in no time. Wonderful. Breathing was a little huffier, but that's not surprising. Just another great run, at a pace that felt I could have kept at for hours.

Today's run:
Distance: 5.48 km. Time: 36.00. Speed: 9.1 kph.
Rest distance: 314.6 m. Rest time: 3:21.
Total distance: 6.49 km. Total time: 40:10.

Weather: Cloudy and 1C. Quite nice out actually. Barely any breeze, so just wore a technical tee and a sweatshirt over.

Wildlife: Actually saw something, but it was on the way out of the park after the run. A coyote trotted across the road into the big parking lot. He stopped to watch me as I stopped to watch him. Beautiful animal, even if he has a bad rep.

Pushing It

Just one of those days, ya know? Stuff getting on my nerves, things bugging me.

So I just threw on the running clothes, and went. No intervals, just go. Slow warm up for 9 minutes, one minute walk, then run to the end.

Today's run:
Distance: 9.59 km. Time: 61:07.15. Speed: 9.4 kph.

Weather: Partly cloudy and 2C.

Feel better now. Some.

Sunday A'Warmin'

Supposed to finally climb, temperature-wise, above the -10C mark today. It's been a long cold snap, since Christmas Day, and we are due for a break.

Got out this morning into the park, where the path was plowed, but still a lot of packed snow, and not-so-packed snow. Lot's of people out running, walking alone or with dogs. We all want to get out of the house, I think.

This was a forty minute run, and I concentrated on speed.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.12 km. Time: 36.10. Speed: 10.2 kph.
Rest distance: 368.9 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.49 km. Total time: 40:10.

Weather: Mostly cloudy and -18C, no windchill. I would say it was sunny, but there was a fair amount of heavy cloud along all horizons.

Good, solid, fast run with the new shoes. Even had a Wendy experience - I'm soaking the blood out of my sock right now, from a burst blister. The shoes are officially broken in.

New Shoes, Too

Finally, the weather breaks enough so I can get out. Two days ago we had windchills around -44C. There were some seriously endangered brass monkeys somewhere.

But I didn't sit idle. Went down to the running store and got me a new pair of shoes.The odometer on the old ones had clicked over the 900 km mark and I was beginning to feel sore in parts that I never felt before, so it was about time, I think.

I got the same make and model as before, but this time with red and grey highlights. Just stylin'! My brother Shane got new ones too.

I got some fantastic times today, too. Check this out:

Today's run:
Distance: 8.81 km. Time: 54:00. Speed: 9.8 kph.
Rest distance: 510.9 m. Rest time: 5:00.
Total distance: 9.32 km. Total time: 59:00.

Weather: Sunny and -15C, and no wind chill.

Ain't the times a hoot? Crossed my finish line just as the rest period started on the sixth interval, hence all the even time numbers. The actual running time was 54 minutes and 0.34 seconds, but why quibble?

I think I got the cloths figured out too. Just enough layers to stay reasonably warm, without the usual overheating, and over-sweating.

Heck, I didn't even have to wait for a walk light at any of the controlled intersections I crossed. Uncanny timing, and just a fun and fast (for me) run.

Getting Ahead of the Cold

The forcast is for wicked wind chills starting tomorrow night, lasting though Wednesday morning. Temperatures in the -25C range with wind chills at -45C. Yikes!

Tonight I started same as last time, going through Evergreen, but I cut it short and came back on Shawnessey Boulevard. I think it's because I missed breakfast, and had only a light lunch. Just didn't have the energy. I was also overdressed some, as it was a bit warmer than it has been.

Love that hill on Evergreen Street.

Today's run:
Distance: 6.45 km. Time: 43:01.79. Speed: 9.0 kph.
Rest distance: 388.3 m. Rest time: 4:00.
Total distance: 6.84 km. Total time: 47:02.

Weather: Mainly clear and -15C, southeast winds at 13 kph for a windchill of -22C. Seemed really not bad at all compared to most of the last couple of weeks, but checking back it isn't all that different.

Pushing a Little Harder

Took a couple of days off, since it's been cold, and we've had a lot of snow. That gave the plows and the shovelers a chance to clean off the sidewalks around the neighbourhood. And for the most part, it was worth the wait.

Added a bit more to the distance tonight, going farther north before turning west and heading up the hill. Crossed James McKevitt, down Shawnee Gate, then west on Shawnee Drive. Then south on Evergreen Street back to James McKevitt. Really nice through there, though such neighbourhoods will be forever beyond my meagre means.

I rather liked the run up Evergreen Street. It's like a long upward curving ramp, kind of like the ramps they thought they'd launch rockets from in the early 50s. Starts out long and almost level, just a slight rise for maybe two thirds of it's length, then it starts to steepen, rising 25 metres to the intersection at James McKevitt in a seemingly short distance. And it looks intimidating from the north end, because you can see this sudden rush skyward at the other end.

Having a look at the GPS, there's about an 88 metre difference in the high and low points on this route, about 280 feet. Cool. The low is near the C-Train track, while the high point is on 162 Avenue, close to James McKevitt.

Today's run:
Distance: 8.89 km. Time: 59:01.12. Speed: 9.0 kph.
Rest distance: 625.5 m. Rest time: 6:00.
Total distance: 9.52 km. Total time: 65:01.

Weather: Cloudy and -18C, with a 21 kph wind from the north north west, for a wind chill of -28C. The wind really wasn't a factor except for the last 500 m or so along Millrise Drive, where it's kind of exposed.

I'm somewhat surprised at how consistent my intervals are. It felt slow on the first three, seeing as how I was climbing for all of them. And the fifth one was a long downward run, which felt faster than the others. The first five were between 1.35 and 1.37 km. The sixth was a slog through unplowed trail, not really packed, and with uneven footing. I assume that's good.

The Loganator Arrives

Got home to an empty house tonight. Katie was at a friend's house, and Becky and grandson Logan were with the missus out shopping for kid's cloths. When they arrived on the bus last night, one piece of luggage was lost (and still is). That was the one with all Logan's clothes and stuff. Greyhound is hopefully looking for it.

Did a bit of a longer run tonight, going up James McKevitt and following it all the way to 162nd Avenue. Then down that to the C-Train tracks and back home. It was a bit cold, but the sidewalk had been nicely plowed, so easy running. Also found that magic pace that I seem to be able to keep at forever. So a really nice tour, circumnavigating the neighbourhoods of Millrise and Shawnessey.

I also adjusted the intervals this time to nine minutes running and one walking. Seemed to be logical following the race on New Years Eve, where I was pretty much running the whole thing.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.13 km. Time: 47:31.17. Speed: 9.0 kph.
Rest distance: 443.7 m. Rest time: 5:00.
Total distance: 7.57 km. Total time: 52:31.

Weather: Clear and -16C, with winds south at 18 kph, for a windchill value of -24C. Not bad at all, relative to the last couple of weeks.

Had to wait awhile to get this wrote up, as the Loganator and me had some catching up to do.

Oh, yeah, took the big step of signing up for the Burnco Calgary Marathon on July 10. Gonna run the whole thing, or try to, anyway.

First Run of the Year

Wasn't going to go today, but I was working on stuff that was getting frustrating, and I was getting jumpy. So, what the heck, a run will clear the mind. It turned out to be a rather lovely day for it, even though it's a bit cold.

Today's run:
Distance: 7.45 km. Time: 48:09.39. Speed: 9.3 kph.
Rest distance: 1.07 km. Rest time: 12:00.
Total distance: 8.52 km. Total time: 60:10.

Weather: Sunny and -18C. There was about 5 cm of snow on the paths, and traffic had done very little packing. So I was happy to have had a fairly consistent run, in spite of the path conditions.

My brother, Shane had a heck of a run in the Abbotsford Resolution Run - 5 km in 22 minutes, over 13 kph! I'm impressed. We're still waiting to hear about Wendy's run in Regina. A blizzard the day before brought them a pile of snow, and on race day, there was a heavy snowfall warning. No word on if she even made it to the starting line.

I seem to have caught the bug. I've signed up for the St. Patrick's Day 10K. And I have a list of other races I'm considering.