Another "Monday Off" trail run in Komoka!

   Okay, so today was a "Monday Off" and that meant hitting the trails once again. Before that, though, I  needed to make a little trip to the nearest Service Ontario outlet to pick up my new plate sticker for the car. If you remember from my previous post, I had run afoul of the law by driving after my birthday without a valid sticker. Not today, though!

   On Saturday, I had completed my quest of running in all seven of London's environmentally significant areas so today I opted for the tried 'n' true Komoka Provincial Park experience once more.
   It was another grey day, with a high of about 4C. I took a quick look through recent blog posts and the last time I ran in any kind of sunshine was almost three weeks ago. Hopefully, I'll be posting some sunny pics soon!
   Even if it wasn't sunny, at least it was above zero and we haven't had a ton of precipitation lately so the trails are actually beginning to dry out. Still some mud but not nearly as bad as it has been. One of the most consistent features I've run into lately is the

Had to go around this one

amount of wind damage I've encountered all over London. Komoka has been hit pretty hard and there were at least three different times trees had fallen right across the trails, plus all the visible damage in the rest of the forest. This is all the result of a massive windstorm which hit us almost three weeks ago and then went on to do major damage around other parts of the States and Canada east of here. We actually got off fairly easy.
   I had headed towards the west end of the park as this allows the longest run before you need to turn around and head back. At one point I found myself right down by the Thames River and I decided to step out onto the rocks lining it to take a pic. I turned around and saw this small ball of fur out in the open, all curled up into a circle, lying on the rocks. My first thought was that it was a beaver as they are very prevalent in the park. I also wondered if perhaps it was dead but I moved a little closer and saw that it was breathing. Just then it raised its head and looked at me and it was actually a raccoon. I instinctively took a step back but it didn't move and, in fact, curled back up into a ball. It also didn't look like a well raccoon and I was left with the feeling that it was simply waiting for the end. A little sad.
 

The "not well" raccoon.

 Shortly after this, I encountered The Steps. This is a set of wooden steps leading up the side of the river valley, and I have documented them quite a few times already. Back in the late summer, I decided to run up them one time. I almost didn't make it out of the forest on that occasion. Since then, I've only walked up. Today, though, I decided to give them another shot while running. I got to the top and...I didn't feel all that bad! This then had me wondering if maybe all this extra running might be working!
   After The Steps, I ventured on toward the very western end of the park and there I turned around. At this point, I made mistake. I let my natural curiosity get

The Steps through the trees

away with me and I took an unmarked trail on my way back. It led me nowhere and caused me to hike through a field to get back to the original trail. I then made a second mistake by taking yet again another unmarked trail. This trail took me so deep into the underbrush that I eventually had no idea where I was or where I was going. I ended up following deer trails (I could tell by the piles of poop and fur) into thickets that I couldn't possibly imagine a deer being able to get through. Brambles and thorny bushes and you name it. 
   

Matted deer fur, in the midst
of a thicket I was more or less
trapped in...

I managed to make my way to a little bit of higher ground and found that I'd been walking in the totally wrong direction. As much as possible I tried to stay on the higher ground until I made my way back to the regular trails. You're never that far away from civilization at Komoka, so you're never truly lost, per se, but it is possible to get yourself disoriented enough to waste a lot of time and energy getting back on track. This takes a lot of the enjoyment out of a run and this is kind if what happened to me today and, near the end, I just walked it back in. Ended up doing about 7K and I'd been aiming at closer to 10 but I think the same level of exertion had been attained so I was a satisfied and tired runner!

This is the same stretch of trail after
the windstorm. Two of the
beaver-damaged trees on the
right hand side have been toppled!

This is a pic I took of some
beaver damage, before the
big windstorm

Out With The Old, In With The New!

   So the change has been made! Goodbye to "Strides" and hello to "Ragged Cap Runner"! Woo hoo!
   I'd been thinking for a long time that I was more than overdue for a change so I spent a little agonizing time this weekend and got 'er done. Many thanks to Crystal Rhyno (go ahead, click on that and see what happens!) for her advice and PicMonkey for help with re-arranging pics, after all that I was all set to go! For some reason or other, I actually feel more like blogging now, so here goes.

Like I said, a beautiful day for a run! That's the end of my driveway,
I REALLY enjoy getting back to it!

   Went for a run today! Just a short one but the Easter weekend weather's been awesome and it was up to about 16C here in London and beautifully sunny all day so off I went.
   I only ran 5K but that's sort of what I do these days. I am going to try and start incorporating longer weekend runs in the very near future, next weekend maybe. Took a handful of walk breaks but that's nothing new either. I could actually run a whole 5K if I paced myself but I'm also attempting to run some harder stretches and I just find that I need about thirty seconds to recover after most of those. So be it!
   I managed to get a look at the official results of the Downtown 5K race I took part in this Good Friday. It was kind of one of those good news/bad news sorts of things. The bad news was that I came in last out of the guys and fourth last overall. Got beat out by an 8-year-old boy and an 80-year-old man! The good news was that I ran almost the identical time in the same race last year. Another year gone by and I'm not slowing down is how I look at that! This also acts as a huge motivator, knowing there are that many people to catch!

Some goodbyes, some veggies, some shoes, some dogs, and some thank-you's!

   It is with some shock, regret and horror that I notice I have not blogged on this page in over two months! And I call myself a runblogger?!
   I will attempt to recap the last couple of months.
   One of the principal reasons for runbloggers to cease runblogging is that they might also have ceased running. No running leads to no running to write about. For a large chunk of the past two months this has been my sad story. It's not that there was absolutely no running, but the running that actually did happen was so poorly thought out and sporadic that it didn't seem like it was even happening, really. Definitely a case of lost mojo!
  So why did this happen?
   For a variety of reasons, I seem to run less in the summer. This is partly due to the heat and humidity here in London but also as much to do with the fact there seems to be so much else to do. This particular summer, our property has been undergoing a major overhaul and sometimes at the end of a long day slogging away in the garden or building a walkway the running seems to take a back seat. All of this means less running and therefore less runblogging.
   When I say my mojo's gone, I mean it's almost as if it never existed. My last blog post was a recap of the Summer Night 5K race and what I didn't mention in that post was that when I checked the race results I almost came in last. When I crossed the finish line, my feeling at the time was there was a handful of people behind me but, in fact, I was only ahead of one person! Getting pumped for an upcoming race always helps with the mojo but when you're looking at the prospect of possibly being last in the field, it's a little more difficult to let the mojo do its thing.
   One of the surest signs you've lost your mojo happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was paid and registered to run the 5K in the Springbank Road Races here in London. I picked up my race packet the night before and set everything out before I went to bed. The alarm clock went off in the morning at the right time and I rolled over in bed and didn't bother to go to the race! I just didn't feel like it. I live, literally, five minutes away from the start line and I couldn't force myself to get up and go. And I didn't even feel really all that bad about it. Yes, the mojo was shot. Totally. Gone.
   One of the positive things which has happened in the last couple of months is that I've given up eating meat. I'd been thinking about seriously doing this for the last couple of years and it all seemed to fall into place about a month and a half ago. Essentially, it bothered me that an animal had to die in order to provide me with an unnecessary pleasurable eating experience. I've also been exposed to a whole series of pics of delicious-looking vegetarian meals and this has certainly been an eye-opener as well (thank you, Crystal!)
   This "vegetarian" thing, not surprisingly, has been a whole new learning experience! Mainly, it has introduced me to tofu and a bunch of products which are made from it. I'm pretty sure I've experienced tofu snuck into my Thai food occasionally but this has been my first experience with the original undisguised product. Some things are good and others have already been crossed off my list. One of the good things, though, is that the family has always had some kind of veggie with our meals so the only thing I need to do is complement whatever they're having with a bit of protein of my own. So far so good!


   I am also now a little more into the running on a regular basis. The combination of running and eating more veggies these days has led to about a 6 pound weight loss. All of this combined has me finally running a 5K in slightly less than 40 minutes.This, of course, is ridiculously slow but, at the same time, I haven't been able to run 5K in less than 40 minutes for the better part of a year now. Finally getting under that is huge, mojo-wise.

Inching my way down there.

   So I have been running three times a week regularly for the last three or four weeks. What I've been finding in my march toward getting under that magical forty minute mark is that I've been able to trim about twenty to thirty seconds off of each successive run. Basically, I've looked at the previous run and anywhere I walked in that run I've at least tried to run slowly in the next. Any time I ran slowly one day, I try to run a little faster for that same section the next time out. For sections where I was already running pretty free and easy, I tried to ramp things up a bit. So far, it's working!

Hooray!

   New kicks make this all the more fun! About three weeks ago I picked up a pair of Saucony Ride 8's. I managed to find an elusive Running Room gift certificate and this was all the encouragement I required to go pick up a new pair. They feel awesome---light and cushiony and pretty neutral so the running's good!

Damn!

   While I was at it, thought I'd go to the nearest Talize store (good quality second-hand) and pick up a few shirts. I picked up a red tech shirt specifically for running and particularly so that it would sort of "match" the new shoes. I went out for a run the next day and was feeling awesome in all my new stuff and was looking forward to cutting another thirty or so seconds off when the unexpected happened. As I was running past a young couple and their two dogs, suddenly their beagle leaped up at me and put a paw right through my "new" shirt! Big hole! Now, generally people move their dogs out of the way when they see me coming and I do my part by taking a wider route around than normal but this time we both got a little too close and I think I was a little off my guard due to the relatively small size of both dogs. But never again! The lady with the beagle was very apologetic and if it had been a brand new shirt instead of a previously worn one we may have carried the discussion a little further. To top it all off, this completely destroyed my rhythm and desire to finish the run that day and I basically walked the last kilometer. Bummer.
   Finally, part of what has prompted me to get back into running a little more regularly is that a couple of people I know have just run their very first 5K races and have been awesome at it. One of my co-workers, Tricia, ran her first race and did it in about 35 minutes and the other gentleman, Nacer, is the husband of a runblogger I follow down in Ohio and he ran his in about 28 minutes! Both are times I would die for. So thanks, Tricia and Nacer (and my sis-in-law, Sabrina, for a little bit of a campfire pep talk), for the extra smidgeon of inspiration and motivation! It helps!
   Okay, so for the most part, you are all caught up. I'm trying real hard to get out there at least three times a week. The mojo seems to be slowly seeping back in. Currently there are no races in the forecast. There was a Hallowe'en race scheduled but it now looks as though I will be out of town that weekend. This means the racing is likely done for the season and I will re-approach it in the spring. This is quite fine with me and will give me the winter to build up to a fully-replenished mojo level.
   In the meantime, safe and happy running to you all! And I promise to visit a little more often!
   
    

What I've Been Up To!

   Okay, my stats are WAY, way down and my blog is rife with referrer spam so I guess this means I haven't been posting regularly...??
   Well, I haven't been posting because I haven't been running. And I haven't been running because...well...I've been running. My ass off, to be more specific!
   I finally managed to land myself on a ball hockey team for the first time in the last two and a half years. This means I've been spending the last two weeks chasing twenty- and thirty-somethings (did I mention that I'm sixty-two?) around a rink, twisting and turning, stopping and starting, diving, kneeling, blocking shots and, generally, running into people. And my legs are paying for it!
   Before, when I wasn't playing, it was quite easy to schedule my running and run as much as I wanted, when I wanted. Not so anymore. 

Yes, I play for the Outlaws. Cuz I'm badass.

   Right at the moment, I am on someone else's schedule and I run whenever I have to, not whenever I want to. This means that the kind of running I generally blog about has taken quite the hit, so much so that I can't even really remember the last time I did run any kind of distance.
   There have been days when I thought I maybe should have been out there on a run but my legs were so sore that I simply couldn't imagine doing so. And so I didn't. By the time maybe a couple of days had passed and my legs were feeling better then the next ball hockey game rolled around. So I didn't run. Again.
   I'm hoping and believing that eventually the running and the ball hockey will sort themselves out, once my body becomes more accustomed to the new routine. It would actually be interesting to try and compute just how many kilometers I might actually be running when I play ball hockey. Who knows, maybe I actually run farther!
   

My Non-Forrest Moment and a Strange Click in My Hip!

   Yesterday afternoon, I played my first game of ball hockey in about two and a half years. Because it's been so long, there was a fair amount of trepidation on my part as to how I would perform and how my body might react.
   I was pleasantly surprised!
   In my last blog post, I described my concern that, at full speed in the midst of a game, my body might disintegrate. I've been doing lots of running over the last couple of years but none of it has been at full speed and I was worried that parts of me might actually fall off, a la Forrest Gump's leg braces, if I ever actually got up to full speed.
   Well, there were a handful of times yesterday that I at least almost obtained full speed and nothing really bad happened, it pretty well felt like any other time in my life when I've run hard. My other concern was that perhaps my hand/eye coordination might be off as well but even it didn't seem too bad.

Well...it was to HIM anyway!

   I'm on a team called the Outlaws and it seems to be a whole bunch of guys who've never played together before. And they're almost all young, so young in fact that a few of them could technically be my grandchildren (though perhaps not realistically).
   This is not a new situation for me, I'm the oldest player in the league and pretty well always have been. You can look like and be the oldest player in the league but the trick is to not play like you are. I kind of think I held my own today, not sure what the other guys were thinking.
   So I felt okay yesterday and I felt okay last night but I'm kinda feeling it this morning. One thing I did learn yesterday is that a lot of distance running is not necessarily going to prepare you for the stopping and starting, twisting and turning, and bumping into guys at high speed you experience playing ball hockey.
   On top of it all, my hip now clicks.
   I got home and showered after the game and then sat and watched T.V. for a bit. The first time I stood up and walked across the room after that, my left hip was clicking. It didn't hurt and but I could feel it and it was loud enough that Doralyn could hear it as well (and it kind of grossed her out!)
I immediately went to Google, typed in my symptoms, and it appears as though my IT band is snapping across my hip bone, to dumb it down a little bit. At least the description of this exactly matched what I've been feeling and hearing. I will let this go for a little bit (my usual way of dealing with physical ailments) but if it continues for too long I may seek medical advice, or at least check in with Zeinin, my chiropractor.
   This was obviously my first time playing with this team but I have pretty good feelings about it. The talent level seems to be there but what I appreciated even more than that was they seem like good guys. This is always more important to me than how much talent there might be. I've played on some extremely talented teams in my day that were awful to play on simply because of nasty personalities and over-inflated egos but, so far, this doesn't seem to be the case with this team. The next game is tomorrow and I hope things have loosened up by then---I can't imagine having to play again today! So we'll see how it goes and I'll let you know!
   

My Possible Forrest Gump Moment

   I'm a little worried that I might have a "Forrest Gump" kind of moment this Sunday afternoon.
   I've managed to land myself on a ball hockey team for the summer, after about two and a half years of non-playing (but gazing longingly from the sidelines). We have our first exhibition game this Sunday and here's what I'm worried about.
   I haven't run hard in that same two and a half years.
   I've done a hell of a lot of running but I haven't run hard, as in all-out-like-you-were-being-chased-by-a-mountain-lion hard. So I don't know what might happen on Sunday the first time I need to turn it up a notch (or ten).

Will this happen to me?

   Remember that scene from "Forrest Gump", when a young Forrest, with all his leg braces, starts to run as hard as he can from all those bullies? And, in the midst of doing that, the braces begin to shatter and break and fall off ?
   Well, that's kinda my fear for Sunday, that I'm going to be running as hard as I possibly can and things will simply start to fall off. Or seize up. Or tear. Or disintegrate.
   We shall see.

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!

Uh oh....

   My plan was to go out for an 8K run today and test a batch of ENERGYbits I got for Father's Day. I wanted to do this in preparation for my 10K race on Sunday.
   It did not go well.
   I got to about 5K and then tanked right out. Couldn't force myself to run any further.
   I had been attempting to run with scheduled one minute walk breaks every 12 minutes and then gradually make the walk breaks a little more frequent. This worked til about the 40-minute mark and then nothing could get me going again.
   It occurs to me that if I can barely complete a 5K run section then it might be a little presumptuous to assume that I'm going to be able to complete a 10K run on Sunday.
   Unless maybe adrenaline kicks in!
   As I was running this aft, I kept waiting for the ENERGYbits to kick in. My expectation was that I would miraculously not feel tired at the usual times. This did not appear to be what happened today. But I will try again Sunday....
   At this point, I have absolutely no strategy for this race on Sunday. I have the feeling that if I plan on walking intervals then they're gonna have to be a lot more frequent than they were today. The other option is to run at my marathon (giggle) pace for the entire race and see what happens. My "marathon" pace (I have never run a marathon, mind you) is simply what a lot of people would more aptly describe as a very brisk walk. This would likely get me back to the finish line round about the same time the awards ceremony ends....
   Or maybe I should just go and have fun, chat with people, joke around, commiserate a little, enjoy the scenery take lots of pics, that kind of thing. That sound okay??
   Or should I call in the big guns, as evidenced by the only pic I took this aft.....

God is in town...?

Downtown 5K Race Recap

Little bit of the little bit of an expo...

   Yesterday, I ran in the Downtown 5K, here in London. The Downtown 5K is the second race in the series of six races sponsored by London Honda, in affiliation with Runners' Choice.
   I was initially a little worried about what the weather might be like as the forecast was calling for rain right about race time but, as luck would have it, the rain did not materialize. The temp was about 8C, pretty overcast so, all in all, a pretty good morning to run.
   The race both started and ended downtown (naturally

Was my race bib a foreshadowing...?

enough) in Victoria Park. It involved about an eight block loop on city streets which we ran twice (there was also a 2.5K category and they ran the loop once). It was kind of cool because they had traffic stopped for us at all the major intersections. As a driver, this would have annoyed the hell out of me but, as a runner this one time, it was sweet!
   As I always do, I lined up for the start of the race at the back of the pack. This somehow or other only seems like the right thing to do---even when I was back in school I always headed to the back of the class when picking out seats for the first time. Anyway, it's a heck of a lot less claustrophobic back there!
   I woke up that morning feeling pretty good and ready to run. The previous couple of days I had substituted walking for running as part of my #RunToCanadaDay streak and this had left me with a little extra energy. The only thing that had me worried was the fact that it had been ages since I had actually run 5K. On top of that, during the streak we are required to run only 2K and I was finding that I was pretty tired after just that, so hard to say what a 5K might do to me!

The start of the Kiddy Trot.

  

The bandshell in Victoria Park.

At any rate, I started the race and was feeling just fine for the first couple of blocks. I very quickly noticed a speedwalker up ahead of me, a tiny elderly lady, dressed in neon, with brightly coloured compression stockings. I thought to myself "how cute", as I prepared to pass her. Well, I had quite a while to prepare as I soon realized that that she was speedwalking at the same rate I was running! I was running at what I thought was a good pace for me at the beginning of a race so that I might have something left at the end but this pace would not allow me to get past this little woman. Slightly against my better judgement, I picked the pace up a notch and was soon even with her. I complimented her on her pace and she thanked me sweetly, as I slowly pulled away.

Crowd at the starting line.

   Further along, I came across another runner who had stopped for a walk break. I passed her and then a little ways up the road, I stopped for my own little walk break. At which point, she passed me. We then started taking turns passing each other as our walk breaks alternated and soon we were joking about it. It was only at the end of the race that we realized we actually knew each other through work connections many years ago! Small world!

My Sweetie, seeing me off.

Nearing the finish line, forcing a smile. Nice
pic by my Sweetie, Doralyn!

   Toward the end of the race, I was feeling pretty whipped. I had ended up taking way more walk breaks than I thought I should really need. By this point, the neon speedwalking lady had actually passed me for the last time and did, in fact, kick my ass at the end of the race. With the finish line way up ahead, I had decided to take one last walk break so that I could at least finish the race running. It was here that she pulled so far ahead of me that there was no catching her. As it turned out, I took that last walk break a little too soon and almost had to stop and walk right in front of everyone at the finish line! Fortunately I was able to tough it out but it wasn't pretty...

The start of the race. Me at the back, yellow shoes, white cap. Up ahead, near
the curb, neon top and coloured stockings----Demon
Speedwalking Lady!!

   Anyway, here are some observations: 
                                                                                                                                  Someday, somewhere, somehow...I need to get a little more serious with the training. I ran this race in a touch over 35 minutes and that just doesn't cut it. Big goal, for me, would be to get that down below 30. (tee hee) (and that "tee hee" might be part of the problem)
                                                                                                                        I thought it would be kind of cool to enter this race series because, at my age (61), I figured I would be near the top of my AG. So, so, SO wrong on that account! The handful of other guys in this AG who run this series are all experienced runners who do 5k in the mid-twenties. Laugh's on me!

  I need to calm down a little before a race. The last race, I couldn't remember how to start my Garmin. This race, I wore a short-sleeve tech shirt over top of a long-sleeve cotton one. Bad form, I realize. WORSE form, however, is that I put the short-sleeve one on backwards....(giggle) (and that "giggle" might just be part of the problem)

Finally!

  
  

Streak Week!

   Woo-hoo, just finished my first week of the #RunToCanadaDay running streak!
   This 90-day running streak is the brainchild of Crystal Rhyno, founder and fearless leader of the Canuck Running Bloggers. The idea is to run at least two kilometers every day between April 1 (surely she must have been fooling) and July 1, Canada Day (Yay, Canada!)
   Last night (and I was cutting it close), I finished off Day 8 with a 2K run. I have very conveniently found a side street which is exactly half a kilometer away so, in a pinch for 2K, I simply run back and forth twice between my house and that street. Over the eight days, I found myself doing that more than I anticipated simply because of time constraints and the fact that I found myself running at the end of the day a lot. Doing it this way keeps me off the roadways after dark and, therefore, is that much safer (which keeps my wife a little happier, too!)

Please don't look at this lame picture of me streaking....

   I have never run eight days straight in my life! I'm not too sure I've ever run more than three days straight, for that matter. This, then, is uncharted territory for me. It has also led to re-defining a "rest" day---I guess a "rest day" is any day I only run 2K.
   A couple of times I've been out running and couldn't immediately figure out why I was tiring so fast. Then, of course, it hits me. You just ran six days straight!
   The majority of those runs have been the 2K variety, simply because of the timing, the weather and just wanting to keep the streak alive. A couple of those times, I really didn't feel like getting out there and running but did anyway. Today, as an example, I'd be fairly content to sit here on my butt but it's also a beautiful day and I'm talking myself into getting out there.
   Part of the problem, though, is that it's hard to imagine running ninety days in a row without encountering some unforeseeable circumstance which might stop the streak, regardless of my desire to keep it going. I just can't fathom being able to run every single day between now and Canada Day. In the face of a seemingly certain failure down the road, why stay motivated to keep the streak alive now.
   Cuz it would be kinda cool, that's why!

My Unplanned 10K Run!

   "I ran an easy six miles today."
   I cannot tell you how many times I've read this at the beginning of some runner's blog or Facebook post. I know how far six miles is and it always blows me away that someone could describe it as "easy" and seem rather blasé about it at the same time.
   Well...not me!
   I RAN AN EFFING 10 KILOMETERS TODAY!!!!
   I have had 10K on my radar for about a whole year now. I was working up to it last year about this time when the PF (god, I'm tired of talking about it) hit. I had gotten myself up to 9K when the PF brought a screeching halt to things and it's taken me this long to make it back.


Footbridge across the Thames.

   Today was supposed to be a 9K run, after my 8K run last weekend. Next weekend would have been the momentous 10Ker. A couple of kilometers into the run today I was feeling pretty good. It was actually one of the best days for running we've had in these parts for a long time, due to the kind of winter we (and most of North America) have been having. I was feeling so good it occurred to me that if I finished the 9K and thought I could tack one more K then why not?


Obstacle course.

   This plan solidified itself around the 7K mark. At this point I felt 10K was quite do-able. It was not on the schedule but, really, with the weather the way it's been lately, it was hard to say when I might be able to get in the next 10K run so why not get it in the books today? Which is what I did.
   It was also around the 7K mark that I started to feel it---the left knee began to stiffen up and my left calf also began to complain a touch. It felt as though I was limping as I ran but when I looked down at my legs, they seemed to be running pretty normally. At any rate, there was not nearly enough discomfort to stop.
   The other cool part about the run today was that I didn't take a walking break. I took a handful of breaks last week during my 8K run to take pics along the way. I took pics today but basically did them on the run (we'll see how they turn out!)
   I started the run today from the most westerly end of Springbank Park and simply ran through the park until I made it down beside the river. Then along the river until I'd put in 4.5K. At this point, I just turned around and headed back. The closer I got to the end of the run, the more I figured I'd be able to add the extra K, to  make a full 10K. I took note of my position when I had only half a K left to go for 9 so that when I finished 9 I could run back to that point and then back again to make up the extra kilometer. It worked out well! The legs were more tired than usual but I guess this was to be expected. The real test will be tomorrow and stepping out of bed...


Post-run tired smile.

   So it's nice to know I can run 10K. Taking part in a 10K race this summer was one of my biggest goals for the year and I knew that I wanted to have run it a few times in training before an actual race. My plan now is to try and run it about once a week between now and then and see how it goes. Looking forward to it! One of the humbling things, though, was knowing that, to take part in an actual marathon, I'd have to do what I did today three more times in a row, plus a little. Intimidating, for sure! The good thing is that I don't have a marathon anywhere on the horizon, any time soon!

My Near-deathmill Experience!

   If you can believe it, I ran on a treadmill for the first time this week.
   Well. not the first time, the first time was last spring as I was getting a gait assessment done, but this past week was the first time I'd actually used a treadmill for a full-length training run.
   I am at risk of losing the "Canuck" portion of my Canuck Running Blogger status--I did an indoors training run when, to date, I have been happy (somewhat) to brave one of the fiercest Arctic Canadian winters we've had in a long time. My reason for switching my run indoors was that there had been a combination of weather conditions here in London lately which had created what I consider to be not only uncomfortable but unsafe running conditions.
   For a day or two last week, we had kind of a mini-thaw and then a re-freeze which left the sidewalks around here a sheet of ice. Couple that with a frosting of snow which then hid the ice and you were left with conditions that were, in my eyes, unsafe for running. I'm Canadian, I'm not stupid!
   I also have been reading a lot about peoples' adventures with the treadmill and I wanted to be able to experience a little of that myself. So I headed off to Goodlife last week!
   Most of my time spent at Goodlife is on the weight machines but I do spend five minutes walking on the treadmill, getting the heart rate up a little. This time I stayed on the treadmill and ratcheted up the speed until I got to what I thought was comfortable running speed and then just left it there, I think it 3.5, or something ridiculously slow like that.
   I don't usually wear headphones when I run so I had to content myself with just watching the little t.v. screen my machine had, think it was on CNN or some kind of newsy station. This was fine and I got onto a little routine there, feeling comfortable. At some point, though, I started paying too much attention to the screen and didn't realize I was slowing down.


My close call at Goodlife!

   Unfortunately, while I was slowing down the machine was maintaining the same pace I set it at. This meant that, when my feet started to clip the back edge of the 'mill, I was actually losing my little race with the machine and in mortal danger of falling off, right there in the middle of a very crowded Goodlife! So I picked up the pace and made sure  I maintained it, no probs.
   So I ran and I ran and I ran and finally the distance meter clicked to "1.00". I thought, crap, what the hell is going on here, it has never taken me this long to run one kilometer before! Then it dawned on me, the treadmill was calibrated in miles. Hooray, I wasn't doing as badly as I thought, I was just going to have to start thinking like an American, that's all! This will also give me the opportunity to work on my math skills too!
   What I also found was that I couldn't multi-task efficiently. I don't know whether it's because I'm just so freakin' old or not but I was so disoriented by the machine that I had a hard time doing anything other than run. It was hard to switch settings, it was hard to wipe sweat, it was hard to turn my head just to look at something! I can only imagine and hope that it will all become second nature sometime soon!
   My plan this past week was to run 5K's on the treadmill. This was fine but the first time I tried doing this, the 'mill stopped at 30 minutes. Well, it takes me longer than 30 minutes to run 5K. This meant I had to stop and the start all over again. Which meant I had to remember how far I'd run in the first session and then do the addition and subtraction so that I knew how far I had to run in the second session. And then I'd have to subtract the time I spent doing all that. Do I sound like a treadmill neophyte...??
   The stupid part is that I did all this twice last week! It wasn't until I finished my second run of the week that I took the time to figure out how to program the treadmill so that it wouldn't turn off at 30 minutes. The next time, there won't be the same issues!
   I was also left wondering if the 'mill was working properly in the first place. For the most part I was running pretty damn hard and, if my calculations were correct, I was about ten minutes slower on the treadmill! For five measly kilometers! My plan is to run outside tomorrow (weather be damned) and double-check that time...
   So those were my first true treadmill experiences. What I did enjoy was not having to worry about slipping on ice or having to vault drifts. Now all I have to do is not fall off...

My little after-the-blizzard run!

Before I set out, tried to show
the wind whipping the snow off rooftops
but it's hard to see.

   We had another of those what- seems-like-an-every-other-day-occurrence kinds of snowstorms again last night and into this morning.
   When I went to bed last night, I took a quick peek out the front door and the wind was blowing hard but no snow. Well, sometime overnight the snow hooked up with the wind and turned into a blizzard and as I sat this morning with my coffee I wondered about going for a run and whether it was really a good idea. And then I remembered I'm a runner from Canada!! So I headed out!
   Of course, I thought about this for so long that by the time it came to actually get out there, the worst of the storm was over. Not to say that it had turned pleasant or anything but at least the sun was trying to make an appearance. Even with the sun, though, the temp was -12C (10F) and that's not counting the windchill, which dropped it down to about -19 (-2F).


Thank God for the sidewalk plow!!

   My biggest fear was having to run through drifts but I found that the sidewalk plow had been through just before I headed out so bonus! Actually, by the time I got down to the first side street the sidewalk plow was sitting right there so I gave him the thumbs up and he honked his little plow horn at me!
   When I set out, I had no really preconceived notion as to how far I was going to run or even which route I would follow. For lack of an actual plan, I set out on the 5K route I normally run but when it headed me directly into the wind, I changed plans and turned around.
   This was fine but I eventually found myself running where there were either no sidewalks or where the plow had not quite reached yet. This had me doing some pretty fancy footwork! At some point, I started to feel a strain on the outside of my right knee so I walked for a minute til it went away. I attributed this to all of the dipsy-doodle running I'd had to do to get through the unplowed sections.


My tracks, in one of the unplowed stretches.

   At one point I found myself running for a stretch along Commissioners Road, a pretty busy main street, and the road plow had been through and forced all the snow off the road and onto the sidewalk! I couldn't even really see where the road and sidewalk differentiated from each other and all I could think of were runners who'd lost their lives to traffic this past week and I simply went a different way.
   I had planned on doing a long run today but with the weather the way it was I decided to maybe wait til  Monday instead and hope for a little less wind, snow and cold (yeah, right...) As it was, I got in a 5K run and that was actually more than I figured I'd be able to do when I set out. So that was fine. Spring, you can't come soon enough!
   For your viewing pleasure, I have included a totally random pic of a pink Beemer I saw on Friday. Note the red and pink brakes!


Random pic of a pink Beemer, with
red and pink brakes!

   Thanks for reading! Happy and healthy (and warm) running to you all!