How I Capped Off My Extra-Long Weekend

   Today is Day 4 of my Extra-Long Weekend ( I already have Mondays off so when a long weekend pops up they give me the Tuesday as well) and my plan was to have a little breaky this morning, go for a run, and then meet my son, Bryant, later on for some driving.
   Well, I had the breaky and was leisurely wandering around, collecting my run stuff from laundry baskets when, all of the sudden, it started to pour. And thunder. And lightning. So the running was temporarily put on hold.
   This gave me the opportunity to re-wash a load of clothes and cook up some granola.
   Re-washing the clothes was necessary as I believe some young lad already washed them and then took them out of the dryer and then left them in a heap in the laundry basket. Which meant that the following day (today) everything was wrinkled. No big deal.
   Doralyn's everyday breaky consists of yogourt with Holy Crap (google it), granola, and fruit. She had one more serving of granola left and seeing as how it was raining and I had to do a load of laundry anyway, why not cook granola? So I did! Here's the "prep" pic!

The stuff you need...

...to make this!

   After I finished making the granola, out came the sunshine! I re-found all my running stuff and headed out on the same 5K run I did the last time. Basically I run one big square, encompassing several blocks, in my neighbourhood. This neatly takes 5

Yay for dry streets!

kilometers. The street I live on forms one side of the box and it is a long street which slopes gently upward until it gets near the end, at which point it slopes steeply upward. Because I live halfway up the street, the real steep section is the first one I encounter. It's actually kind of nice to get it out of the way when you're at your most rested. Psychologically, but not actually, the rest of the way seems downhill.
   A little over half a kilometer into the run, Doralyn called me. I'd neglected to text her that I was headed out on a run otherwise she wouldn't have called me but I was happy enough to walk and talk briefly.
   The rest of the run went pretty well and not quite as much need for walking as when I was out last. I also ended up running it about a minute faster, once I factored in the telephone conversation so all is well. At this point I've been out running three days out of the last four and the one day I didn't run I was busy doing yardwork. Just have to keep at it!
   After the run, it was time to make meatloaf! The plan was I make the meatloaf and leave it for Doralyn who then sticks it in the oven later on at the designated time and temperature so that it's ready to go when I get back from driving with Bry. The plan went off more or less (we ate late) without a hitch. And this is what the meatloaf looked like!

I also made the other half--you'll
just have to take my word for it!

   Bryant and I did some driving around and some errands and by the time I got home it was almost dinner. Tomorrow it's back to work but my extra-long weekend means only a three-day workweek for me and that ain't tough to take! To top it all off, in about ten days, I've got two weeks of vacation! And lots of running!
   



     

     

Mr. Yasso, The Joke's On ME!

      I ran yesterday but felt like I wanted to get up off my butt (as people have been suggesting) and run again today. But I wanted to do something different.
   For a while now, I have been reading and hearing about how runners incorporate Yasso 800s into their training plans. These training sessions are named after Bart Yasso, running guru and CRO of Runner's World magazine. The man is a bit of a legend in the running community.
   What Yasso 800s involve is running 800 meter timed intervals, generally on a track, with timed rest periods in between. The rest periods should be about the same length of time as it takes you to run the 800 meters.
   This training method is primarily used by marathoners and it's Yasso's theory that your interval time should pretty closely correlate, by extrapolation, to your marathon time. As an example, if you found you could run an average interval of 3:30, then your marathon time would be close to 3 hours and 30 minutes.
   Now, I have never run track at any age, so I have absolutely no past experience as to what's fast and what's not, for amateur runners. What I have seen a lot of, though, is running bloggers saying they've run 800 intervals in around the afore-mentioned 3:30.
   When I read this I went what?? it took them a whole three minutes and thirty seconds to run around a piddly little football field twice?? No way! I could do it way faster!
   Are you giggling yet?
   So today, because I wanted to do something different, I headed out to my high school alma mater, Oakridge Secondary, to run Yasso 800s.
   I was really hoping to have the track to myself and such was the case when I arrived. I set my stuff down right at midfield, took a sip of water and off I went.
   Well, round about the time I hit the first turn I realized what a total miscalculation I'd made!

Starting line, right at the 55-yard line

   Thinking I was just going to breeze around this track, I immediately started off in (somewhat) high gear and knew by the first turn that I was done for, particularly at that speed. I dialed it way down the rest of the way and, gasping at the end, discovered I'd done my first ever Yasso 800 in the awesome time of 5:friggin 11! I'm sure the whooshing sound I heard just about then was the universe settling back into place and Brian gaining knowledge!
   I walked around for a few minutes, gaining my breath and enjoying that holy crap feeling of discovery. My original plan was to have run five of these intervals. The way I felt after the first one made me unsure as to whether I'd be able to run another one!
   When I thought I could breathe again, I set off on the second one, dialed down right from the beginning. Without the preliminary burst from the first one, the second one came in at 5:23. At the end of the second, I was pretty sure I only had one left.

The "sort of" track.

   I set off for the last time, this time paying a little more attention to my watch. Coming around the last bend, I saw that I had an opportunity to beat the previous interval and, knowing it was last interval of the day, I kicked it up a notch. Managed to come in at 5:17. Hooray, a negative friggin split!
   So, needless to say, I have new-found respect for anyone who can run a Yasso 800 in 3:30. Actually, I have new-found respect for anyone who can run a Yasso 800 period.

Sad high jump pits.

   About the only saving grace to the morning was that fact that I was back on the playing field of my high school days. It was pretty easy to look around the football field and recount past glories and failures, junior football adventures, phys ed classes, cross-country and yay for cheerleaders! It was also the first time I'd really been there in slightly over 40 years. Memories running rampant and all that. 
   On the way to the track I passed another and much newer high school track. It was tempting to stop there but my old school was just another minute of the road and, besides, it was a Catholic track and I'm not Catholic. Or anything for that matter. It is kind of embarrassing, though, that they have an

Ah, the good old days...

actual track and  Oakridge has, well... a gravel road that goes around in circles (see pic) Even the long jump pits are kinda pathetic (once again, see pic).
   If nothing else, I got out today for a tiring, heart-elevating run. It was also a change of pace, which is never a bad thing. On top of all that, I now have a bit of a Yasso baseline for the future. Oh, and by the results I guess I'm running a marathon in about 5 hours and 15 minutes! Oddly, about what I would have predicted!

How I Got To Where I Am This Very Minute

   I ran today for the first time in a long time. It's been so long that I can't actually remember when the last time was. I suppose I could dig out the Garmin and check back but the fact of the matter is that it's not coming to me right now.
   I should be able to go oh, yeah, I ran yesterday and that was a hard one or maybe even enjoyed the rest day after that long run on Tuesday but none of that is coming to me.
   I did go for a 10K walk last weekend and that was quite the workout but, prior to that, I don't remember any runs.
   What this all means, of course, is that I'm not running enough. And there's been no cross-training in the interim, either. If that's not bad enough, I've more or less abandoned my gluten-free lifestyle, giving me more access to more carbs more often. All of the above has simply been a recipe for disaster, of course, and my body's showing it.
   Last night, I had a perfectly good chicken dinner with fresh veggies. It filled me adequately but then, as I was passing through the kitchen, I noticed a cooked turkey burger sitting, unwanted, in a frying pan on the stove. It looked lonely so I ate it. And then felt awful afterwards.
   So now we can add "poor choices" to everything I've already told you about and you get a pretty good idea of the dire straits I'm in!
   

How to take a sidewalk and
turn it into a trail run. From
my run today.

Earlier on today, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror (should they be outlawed?) and asked myself if it would be appropriate to do a "selfie", without my shirt on. Ostensibly, it would be the "before" pic and at some point (later and about twenty pounds less) I would post the "after" pic. Then I thought to myself but what if there's no "after" pic to show people. The "before" pic would simply become "the pic" and would just fester there in cyber space. My boobs also rival many women's and I understand there are obscenity guidelines....so no selfies today. You're welcome!

You lucky bastards!

   I ran 5K today in around 40 minutes, about as bad as it's been. My goal is eventually to get under 30. Last summer, I was running around 34 and 30 seemed reachable. Today, a sub-30 5K seems way, WAY off.
   But no big deal; because I can walk, it doesn't matter so much how the running's going and I know way too many people who can't walk. As far as tomorrow goes, I can certainly get out and run again---nothing can really stop me and, if I choose not to run, I can go to the gym and if I choose not go to the gym I can go for a long walk or if I choose not to do any of these things then I can sit here and soak in the world somehow!