Medical Monday

   The day before yesterday was Medical Monday (yes, I enjoy alliteration as much as the next blogger) and I found myself headed off to do bloodwork, get x-rays done of my problematic right knee and then, to top it off, set up an appointment for a physio assessment for that same right knee. Then, after all that was completed, it was off to the gym for a workout!
   I went about all of this with a little bit of glee in my heart. Part of this had something to do with the fact that it was finally a sunny day. Sunshine's been scarce in these parts and to once again experience it was a true mood-elevator. Principally, though, I was happy because I was actually doing something.

There's the bastard. On the left. YOUR left.

   My knee has stopped me dead in the tracks from doing many of the things I'd like to be able to do, training-wise. I have this desire to be training for running sprints and a right knee that will allow me to hike and run through a forest but will not enable me to run full-out is stifling. Even attempting a swift jog a couple of weeks ago gave me grief for several days afterward. So, setting in motion some of the things I need to do to finally deal with this situation was a welcome change to limping around and feeling sorry for myself.
   

It seems as though I may have touched down gently...

Today, my doctor's office called and informed me that the x-rays of the knee were normal. Now, my knee is certainly not "normal" but the fact that the x-rays did not indicate anything structurally wrong was encouraging. The best part about this result, though, is that it kind of rules out arthritis as a major contributor. I was kind of worried about this, I have no qualms in stating. This also allows me to meet my physiotherapist next week and tell her that I'm already this far into the investigation and what the results were.

Is there no end to my dirty
right knee pics??

   Having said all this, today the knee doesn't feel all that bad. This has been the trap I've fallen into ever since I injured it last spring. The knee will give me tons of grief but then gradually start to feel better, at which point I think I'm healing all by myself, so I don't get the medical attention I probably need. This was the cycle I was on all last summer and fall. In fact, the knee did heal enough that I was able to run on the trails and gradually increase the mileage. I enjoyed all that but now I want to run fast and the knee won't let me.
   Today, one of my co-workers (one who actually follows this blog) asked me if I had hooked up with physio yet. I told her I had and where it was and she herself had been a patient there and said they were very good. This was encouraging and I will go there next Medical Monday and let them do their magic!

   

A Bit Of An Update And Something New!

   I haven't posted anything on Ragged Cap Runner now for about the last three weeks.
   Basically, this has been because there's been very little to post about---no running, no hiking. This has been due to a couple of things---Christmas and what seemed like a month-long chest cold. On top of everything else, winter descended with a vengeance and I was not quite prepared for it. 
   At some point, about a week ago, the lungs began to cope a little better and mentally I felt like I was ready to get back into a more athletic existence. Co-incidentally with the arrival of winter, I was given a wonderful opportunity to try out the new snowshoes my son, Ben, had given me for Christmas.
   I've never had the snowshoeing experience before so I decided just to head for the backyard and give it a go, no-one else around to watch me flounder. Although I didn't actually flounder, my inexperience with tightening the bindings properly led to one of the snowshoes falling off and me being unable to get it back on securely. Lesson learned. I then ended up spending a few days before another opportunity to try them again presented itself. 
   I headed to Springbank Park here in London, determined to give them another go. I'd thought long and hard about putting them on properly and finally was out there, snowshoeing about, for the first time. Unfortunately, in the meantime, we had had a bit of a thaw and the deep snow was mostly gone. After the thaw, it had gotten really cold again and so there was all this crunchy shallow snow to walk on. It was still fun, though, and I learned a lot in a short amount of time. Almost fell once or twice because one shoe was on top of the other as I was attempting to take a step but I imagined that this was the kind of thing all first-timers likely experience.
   The other thing I started doing once I felt better was return to the gym. Before Christmas, I had "re-activated" my extremely under-used Goodlife Fit4Less membership and had been  going somewhat regularly. This fell by the wayside for the same reasons the other things did. Feeling better now, though, and I'm right back at it, at least every other day. I'm now at the point where I really look forward to it so today I headed there even though I was just there yesterday! Unheard of!
   

Finally (and this is sort of big news), I've taken the step of joining the Ontario Masters Athletics (OMA). This is a provincial association which runs track and field events in Ontario for athletes who are over the age of thirty and all the way up to people in their nineties!
   Why I've done this is that one of these days I want to sign up for a short sprint, like, say, anywhere from fifty to a hundred meters. I've always wanted to do this (almost desperately) and joining OMA will give me this opportunity. As much as I enjoy distance-running, there is something about running real fast for a short distance that has always appealed to me. With this membership, the chance to do so will be right there. If I decide to take it. This has given me a little more impetus for getting in shape, hence part of the reason for hitting the gym more regularly.
   Now, having said all this, I have a bum knee. I injured it street-running back in April and I've been working on it ever since. I'm able to run through the forest pretty quickly and it feels quite structurally sound but I'm just not sure what might happen if I went full-out. We've had quite the thaw lately and today I stopped back in at Springbank to try and test it out. I was certainly able (after a warm-up) to run at about 75% but was afraid to go any faster. The legwork at the gym has been somewhat irritating it so I've at least momentarily eliminated that part of the training. I have a physical next week and will talk to my doctor about the whole process and see what he suggests.
   In the meantime, there is an OMA mini-meet coming up on Feb. 11 in Toronto which I would really like to enter, as they have a 60 meter sprint division. This would give me a bit of an idea where I'm at, sprint-wise, with all the other guys in their sixties and also tell me just how much more training I still need to do. As long as the knee holds out...

P.S. I wrote this post a couple of days ago and, after that little bit of running I did, things are now not well with my right knee. Positions I was once able to get it into comfortably are now no longer comfortable and entering athletic events any time in the near future is likely not too feasible. This has me understandably frustrated and depressed. However, I know people who are unable to walk and who would be extremely happy to be getting around with a sore knee like mine. I salute those people and know that my little knee problem is really nothing.  BB
   
   

White Blazes And A Tiny Bit Of Running

   This past Wednesday, I decided to go for a bit of a hike and, because I had not run in about two months, a short run as well.
   For the past while, my problematic right knee has kept me from running and, just when I thought I might be able to run again, I've aggravated the injury so...no running. Wednesday, however, seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a bit of a go.
   Instead of my hiking boots, I wore my trail-running shoes and headed into the woods right near our house. From here it was a short hop into Warbler Woods and, once out of Warbler, I was headed for Kains Woods, less than a kilometer away.
   My plan was to take the tunnel under Commissioners Road and then on to Oxford Street, down toward the Oxford Street bridge and then on to the Kains Woods entrance near the bridge.
   As I left Warbler and headed up the street toward the tunnel entry I noticed, for the very first time, the white blazes which mark the Thames Valley Trail (TVT). The TVT is a system of trails which you can follow from just southwest of London, through London, and then on north to St Mary's. There is already a system of trails here in London's environmentally significant areas (ESAs) and, as it passes through London, the TVT overlaps many of those systems. Because of this, I am quite familiar with the portions of the TVT inside London. 
   The ESA trails are marked with yellow blazes so, in the forested areas which also house the TVT, the white and yellow blazes are posted together on the same trees. This I'm used to. What I was noticing (somehow or other for the first time) on Wednesday, though, were all the TVT white blazes along the urban streets and pathways. Although I already knew where I was going, I decided to follow the blazes, almost as if I didn't, as if I were seeing them for the first time.

The first trail marker as you leave Warbler Woods. The top blaze
being offset to the left indicates you need to head left.

The next marker you come to has the top blaze offset to the right,
indicating a right turn up at the end of that row of houses.

That right turn takes you into the tunnel, also marked by a white
blaze, which then takes you past a collection pond and up to...

...Oxford Street, headed east toward the bridge.

Down by the bridge is another slightly offset blaze
which directs you down and...

...under the Oxford Street bridge. Note the white
blaze on the bridge's under-structure.

After passing under the bridge, you scramble up the other
side and come across another marker. This marker is for
hikers going in either direction. For me, it
        meant a turn to the right and up the hill and into Kains Woods    

   Once into Kains Woods, I decided I would wait for a less technical part of the trail in order to test out the actual running. I went up and down some gullies and ravines and then I decided to try a slow trot. The right knee had been feeling pretty strong lately and I had actually tested it a few times by running across rooms and things and it had given me no problems. Occasionally, though, just walking around, I would get it into a funny position and it would give me a good jolt. I also knew that trail-running gets your legs and knees into "funny positions" sometimes, so I had a little trepidation. 
   Well, I guess I shouldn't have been worried. The knee held up just fine and didn't feel really any different than the last time I was able to run regularly. My plan was to run for only a kilometer and I stuck to that, feeling good about how the little experiment had gone. All in all, I hiked 11K and ran 1K.
   I think I did, however, overdo it. My knee for the next few days was toast, and any little misstep caused great pain. I believe that this was as much from all the extra walking as the little bit of running so I may do things differently the next time. After four days of rest it is only now starting to feel good once more. Lesson learned I guess!
   But, man, it felt good to run through the forest again....









   

                   

   

    
   

   

Downtown 5K Race Recap

   Well, it's been almost two and a half months since I last did a blog post and, given my age, I'm sure a couple of you may actually have wondered if I passed away but I am still alive and kicking! And, occasionally, even running!

Yep it was cold---can still see a little snow
from last night!

   In fact, this morning I took part in the Downtown 5K here in London. It's the first race this season in the London Honda race series and, for me, it got off to a pretty good start. The for me part is important because I have this suspicion I may have been the last male out on the course and my time was around 38:33 or something like that, godawful for a 5K but, given that my goal was to break forty minutes, I considered it a success! 
   This was also my first time racing in quite a while. For various reasons I missed the last two races of the series last year, once because work took me out of town rather unexpectedly and the other because I rather disgracefully punked out. So be it.

The finish line---note the winter wear

   Today, though, I actually felt like running. The legs felt good and the mindset was where it needed to be. Given the training times I'd been doing lately, finishing the race in under forty minutes seemed like a reasonable goal.
   I knew that somewhere along the line I would need a walk break or two (or maybe even six) and I toyed with the idea of scheduling them. In the end, though, I decided I would run as hard as was comfortable and take a walk break only when absolutely necessary. As well, I would only walk long enough to catch my breath a little and then I'd start running again.

Runners begin assembling

   Well, for the most part, that plan kinda worked. It got me in under forty and, although I think I might have been the last guy out there, I certainly wasn't the last person....
   It was a chilly run, winter seems to have returned to Ontario in the last few days and the race time temp was about -2C. Not too much of a breeze, though, so it was manageable and no danger of overheating. The police officers on the course and the volunteers all did a good job of keeping us safe and motivated. 

The start line was right beside City Hall.
If I were a civic reporter who also liked to
run and then blog about it, I would likely
spend a lot of time here...

   As per the name of the race, we ran on the city streets downtown, basically a 2.5K loop that we ran twice. I'm not really a huge fan of those kinds of courses, you run until you get back to the finish/start line and then they make you do that all over again. Psychologically, it's a bit of a killer and you see the same scenery all over again. All in all, though, it was a fun race and it was nice to get back into it again! The next race in the series is the Run for Retina on April 10 (quick turnaround), which has been a fairly high profile race here in London for awhile and one that I've always thought I'd like to run. Now I get to!

All lined up ready to go! Sorry, no "aftermath" pics! (gotta
get me a pair of shorts like THAT guy's....)

   
   

Bit Of A Minor Breakthrough

   Back when I first started running, I ran and I ran and I ran. I ran regardless of the weather and I ran if it was my day to run, even if I didn't feel quite like it. I was a newbie runner in my late fifties and eventually I found myself running 5K in the mid thirty minute range.
  Then a whole bunch of life happened.
   I came down with PF, cured that but then it was a whole string of medical issues and all manner of distractions and then, before you know it, it's a couple of years later and I'm running 5K in the low forties---my last timed race back in the summer had me clocked at 41:27.
   Back in August, though, things began to change.
   I decided to stop eating meat, for one thing. This was more a matter of conscience than anything and I'd been thinking about doing it for a long time. I also decided to re-dedicate myself to running consistently.
   When I combined these two things, two more things started to happen---I lost weight and I got faster! Who knew that eating healthier and getting regular exercise might lead to some kind of weight loss and increased performance? Weird, eh??
   I generally run the same 5K route in my neighbourhood and starting in late August the time it took me to do this started decreasing by 15 to 30 seconds a session. I basically had to work my ass off for those seemingly minimal gains and I always had the feeling that the next time out would be a disaster. Except for the occasional blip (getting attacked by a dog, stopping my Garmin at a stoplight and then forgetting to restart it), there were no disasters!

From this....

   The one run I did which resulted in the smallest improvement was, oddly, the one run where I didn't stop for a walk break. The walk breaks had been happening less and less and I decided that I would attempt a whole 5K running. I managed to do this and took a look down at the Garmin and discovered I'd only dropped five seconds by not walking. It then occurred to me that the occasional very short walk break then enabled me to run faster afterwards whereas, without one, I needed to slow down and pace myself. I vowed at that point to take a walk break whenever I absolutely needed to.

...to this!

   Yesterday was a bit of a breakthrough. I actually ran a full minute faster than the previous time and this brought me down to the mid-thirties again. Kinda back where I started! Not only that, there's been the odd time lately when, if I'd run early in the day, I actually felt like running again, later on. This was the clearest sign to me that I was back to where I really wanted to be.
   From here, it's kind of uncharted territory. My biggest goal for the longest time has been to break the 30 minute mark in a 5K. Though maybe not impossible, this has certainly seemed improbable. Until now, anyway...

  

Thanksgiving Weekend running recap

   This past Thanksgiving weekend was one of the best ones, weather-wise, these parts (SW Ontario) have seen in a long time---for the most part sunshine and temps in the twenties.
   I took this opportunity to get out a couple of times, once for a timed 5K run and the other for a little session of forest-y hill repeats.
   I have been working diligently at trying to lower my 5K times from somewhere in the low forties back to somewhere in the mid thirties. Lately, I've been having a fair amount of success, generally being able to carve off 20 to 30 seconds at a time.
   Lately my 5K runs have been marked by sections of slow running, tempo running and walking. I run the same route all the time and it is somewhat hilly so I find that these different running speeds all were occurring round about the same portions of the route. What I've been doing is trying to go just a little faster on those sections when I reached them and restrict the amount of walking time whenever I felt like I needed to walk.
   This seems to be working! The nice part is that it means I'm running with a little bit of a plan which has fairly realistic goals attached. Here's what my Garmin's been telling me:

Just getting under 40:00
was psychologically huge!

And a little lower...

Still a ways to go!

   I don't listen to music when I run so what eventually happens that I either have the same few lines from a popular song running through my mind or, more often than not, it's a line of gibberish which pops into my head after I've established some sort of regular run cadence. As I was running on Saturday, though, I found that I was at some point simply counting my steps. Every time my right foot hit the ground, I'd count it. I'd go all the way up to a hundred and then start all over again at "one". This helped immeasurably with cadence and, psychologically, just kept me going. It also occurred to me in a flash that this is what I used to do, way back near the beginning, when I was running in the mid-thirties. Thought this was very encouraging! Later on this morning I'm headed out again and so will give it a try.

Hard to make it look steep in the pic...

   On Sunday, I knew I wanted to run but didn't want to do the usual 5K route so I headed off to Warbler Woods to do hill repeats. I've picked this spot to do repeats as it's quite scenic and features a string of steep hills throughout. Each hill is different and this only helps with the enjoyment aspect of it.
   There's about a kilometer and half of residential area that I run through before I get to the woods and it in itself is fairly hilly so I run to where the hills start and then I run hard up them and walk down the other side. This is kind of my modus operandi once I get into the woods, as well. 
   We've had so much summery weather this fall that the leaves have only just started to change so here's a bit of a photo dump of the forest and then coming out of it on the other side.

Warbler is just in behind
these purple whatever-they-are's

An extremely popular place! So
lucky that I live as close as I do!

Through the woods...

...but not this part...

...over one of the boardwalks...

...and at the gates at the other end!

Climbing up out of the park.

London is known as the Forest City,
so fall is a pretty time of the year.

Awesome colours!

Ooops! I may have said "Forest City"
just a touch too soon!

    
   So there you have it, a little bit of what the running long weekend was like! I'm headed out shortly and am aiming at perhaps cutting another 20 or so seconds off my time. Wish me luck!

Summer Night 5K Race Recap

   This past Friday, I ran in the Summer Night 5K, one in the London Honda Road Race series. 

Just before the start of the race. One of the
course marshals said I had the best t-shirt!

   It does not get any more "summer night" than it was that evening---temp was about 26C and I'm pretty sure the humidity was at 100 per cent. It was one of those nights you could reach out and touch the air, if you know what I mean.
   I had not trained for this race. In fact, I had run only three times in the last three months. As previously explained, the last little while has been taken up with playing ball hockey a couple of nights a week and this left little room for extra running, at least for the most part. By the end of the season I was beginning to feel as if my legs might actually accommodate both kinds of running, so good for me!
   One of the cool things about the race was that my Sweetie, Doralyn, and two of my three stepsons, Callum and Quin, were there to cheer me on. They saw me off at the start line and were there waiting for me at the soggy and gasping end! The other cool thing is that this race has much more of a party atmosphere than any of the others and starts off from a bar downtown, The Barking Frog!

Me, with a bemused look and
Callum, my stepson. Don't think either
of us knew our pics were being taken...

   I basically had no plan or strategy around this race. I knew I'd be unable to run the whole thing and therefore was quite willing to incorporate walking breaks. On the last training run I'd done, I'd tried to do 10 and 1's but that had broken down after the first 10 and 1! So last night I figured I'd start with a 10 and 1 and then use shorter run and walk breaks.
   Well, this broke down as well. Essentially, I ended up running until I got tired and then I walked until I felt like I could run again. This meant a lot of walking.

A last-minute "I love You!" for Doralyn,
just before the start of the race.

   As with most races, pretty soon you end up running in a pack with runners who are relatively at the same experience or fitness level. About half a kilometer into the thing, a woman all of the sudden was running beside me as if she were attached to my left elbow. She didn't appear interested in talking or even running at a different pace, she never ran ahead and never fell behind. It occurred to me at one point that maybe she found me running at a comfortable pace for her and was happy just to use me as a pace bunny (giggle). This was more than fine with me, though. She was (and still is, I presume) a very short and compact lady and I assumed that eventually I would just pull away from her and finish ahead. As the race went on and my pace wavered from faster to slower and then back again, she would then end up either slightly behind or ahead of me. In the final kilometer, however, she was joined by a couple of non-racers who then ran with her on to the finish. At this point, she slowly pulled away and finished pretty far ahead of me. I'm thinking this was a woman who'd come to this race with a plan and some support and it had all worked out wonderfully for her. I caught up to after the race and congratulated her on a job well done!

One of the race organizers is just to my right
in this pic. We had just exchanged a sweaty
high five at the end of the race and I think he's
wondering if he needs to call medical staff...lol

   As for myself and my own performance, I will blame the heat and humidity and I will blame the lack of training and I will also (at least a little) blame ball hockey. 
   Now, though, there are no extra sports to sap my energy and I can get down to the business of really training. My time for this race (I am sad and embarrassed to say) was 41:26. I now have 41:26 to beat the next time I am out on a run. My plan will be to continue with trying to implement timed walking and running intervals and then slowly change the length of them until I get back to the point of being able to run a whole 5K all at once. Which I was able to do not all that long ago! Wish me luck!

Hellacious Hills

   In my last post, I sort of described why I hadn't been either doing much running or blogging about it. Due to the sudden insertion of ball hockey into my life, the legs lately just haven't had the oomph required to get me out there.

Entrance to Warbler Woods

   This does not mean, though, that I have been at home simply sitting on my butt. A couple of times lately I have headed out for long walks through nearby Warbler Woods, in an effort to keep the legs moving and, perhaps even more importantly, enjoy the arrival of Spring! Yay! We're now at the point where things have actually dried up enough to make a walk through the woods an enjoyable experience. This time of year, as well, the leaves haven't blossomed yet and you can see deep into the forest, which is kind of cool.
   On these trips, I began by following the same path I take when I'm on a run. I leave my house and am at the woods in about a kilometer. There's a two kilometer stretch through the woods, I come out on the other side and then another two kilometers on pavement to get back to my place.
   I changed things up a bit though the last two times by foregoing the the final 2K on pavement and simply darting back into the woods after I popped out of them and taking a different route back through.

SNAKE! (upper right-hand corner...)

 
   Okay, this different route back through is hellacious. Warbler Woods is somewhat bowl-shaped insofar as you go down into them and climb back up out of them. My normal route has me encountering one really nasty hill but then I end up running around the upper rim of the bowl without descending into its depths. Going down into the depths brings you face-to-face with at least six hellacious hills, all of which are even more hellacious than the one hellacious hill I was already (kinda) used to.
   I was exhausted several times and, mind you, I was just walking. I can't imagine running these things. They were all pretty well straight up with bendy curves in them and it wasn't even all that easy going down the backsides of them, due to their steepness.
   

A fine example of a Carolinian forest!!

These woods are quite popular with hikers and casual walkers but I couldn't help but think that there should be some sort of disclaimer posted at the entrance, indicating the degree of difficulty. Or maybe it's just me...
    I remember thinking a couple of times at the summit of the latest hill that I was just as winded as if I'd been running. At the time, I thought of this as a good thing, figured I was at least out there getting exercise if I wasn't actually running.
   Also, the first time I did this new route, I stopped several times to rest. The second time, I vowed I would just plow on through, which is what I did.

Part of the trail

   Toward the end of my second walk, things started to catch up to me. At one point, I snagged my toe on a root as I was descending one of these hills. Nothing major that wouldn't normally have been handled by a bit of a hop and a skip but I discovered my legs would not do that hop and a skip for me. It seemed like the legs would not bend at the knee and all of the sudden it felt like I was walking on stilts instead of legs and I envisioned tumbling head first onto the trail and just rolling and rolling and...but I caught myself, thank goodness. It was then that I started to realize the toll all this ball hockey and walking had taken on my legs! I managed to get out of the forest the second time and was left with about a kilometer on

Bit of a boardwalk through
the boggier portions.

pavement to get me back home. Walking on flat pavement was not an issue, it seemed. Back at home, though, I was faced with the four steps of my wooden porch. Normally, I can spring up them. Not the other day. I pretty well needed to crawl up them and afterwards, sitting on the newly-conquered porch, I resolved to give my legs a couple of days off. No running, no ball hockey, no walking. I compromised a little by doing some yardwork the following day but even that was not pretty.
   In the midst of all this, I was ironically invited to do a squat challenge, by Crystal, intrepid leader of the Canuck Running Bloggers. Ha ha ha, I can't even really sit on the toilet or get dressed properly, let alone do a squat challenge!! Did I mention that I think I might have overdone it??
   I am pretty sure that I will return to these Hellacious Hills, however. It occurred to me as I was walking them that they would be perfect for hill repeats. They're evenly spaced enough that recovery time would be accommodated and they're different from each other, so you wouldn't get bored either! If you survived... 

"224"

   Just got back in from a 5K run about an hour ago. The snow was falling as I ran and I was really wishing I'd brought my cap along, instead of a toque, as it would have kept the snow off my face and glasses. I realized my error in judgement in this regard about nine or ten houses away from my place but, at that point, the thought of stopping and returning for my cap was more than I thought I could handle. I'm one of those guys who, on a long car trip, would rather just drive til he got there, rest stops be damned. So on I ran!

The sidewalk in front of my house.
It's under there somewhere!

   It had lightly snowed overnight as well and there was about an inch and a half of the fresh stuff today. This didn't bother me too much as I would much rather run on fresh snow than ice. The only problematic part of the run was along the major roadways, as the snowplows had come along and done their thing which, in turn, had caused debris to topple over the edge of the snowbanks and down onto the sidewalk. Which meant I had to run around (or through) it.
   At this point of the winter, I am really looking forward to seeing pavement and bare trails again. In the snow, it seems as though every time your foot plants and plows forward it also slips sideways maybe half an inch. Multiply that half an inch by a few thousand footfalls and we're running way farther than we need to!
   

The semi-tunnel leading up to our front steps

Okay, remember my first line up at the top of this post where I talk about just having gotten back from a 5K run? Well, that was yesterday people and, yes, this post has taken a little longer than I originally planned, obviously. The bonus, though, is that I can tell you I feel fine after yesterday's run and am even maybe planning on another one today. And it's rare when I run two days in a row anymore, so wish me luck!
   Oh, and about the title---"224". I used that as a gentle reminder of how much I weighed yesterday. I try to be as little "weight-centered" as possible and concentrate more on how I actually feel but I've decided that I simply don't want to weigh more than 224. So I will do my damnedest not to get above that. If I do something that gets me way down below that, then that's all fine and dandy. If I stay there, then that's kinda fine and dandy too, no probs. But I won't go above it. Nope.

Post-run, foggy-glasses pic.

   The nice thing about this weekend was that it was way warmer than last weekend. Eastern Canada was in the midst of a brutal deep freeze a week ago which made running outside more of a survival exercise than a training one, with windchill temps close to -40C. This weekend, the temps are a lot more seasonal at around -7C and it actually seems freakin' balmy out. Break out the windbreakers!
   Finally, one more post-run pic from yesterday. As we all know, layers are the way to go this time of year and in this pic I've got four of them on. A tech layer on the bottom, a cotton layer and then two more "tech" layers. By "tech" layer, I mean "hockey jersey"---a long-sleeved jersey underneath another jersey with cut-off sleeves. All of this in homage to my ball hockey days which, hopefully, will resume this summer!
   

Totally photobombed by Squeaker,
one of our four cats (think she
was waiting for a hug....)

Okay, time for another run!

Coming Last In My Sex Group

  Okay, I suppose I could have said "finishing last in my gender group" but if there's one thing I've learned is that a lot more people read posts if there's something racy in the title, so there you go!
   Yesterday, they posted the chip times for the Really Chilly Road Race from this past weekend here in London. I ran the 5K distance and my time was just a few seconds over 40 minutes. As bad as this time is, it was actually better than any recent training times so I was marginally pleased with it, particularly given the harsh conditions the day of the race (which you can read about here, if you'd like). 
   I found my chip time way down the list (where I knew it would be) and there were 7 or 8 people who came in after me. I remember checking over my shoulder a few times as the race was winding down, to see who might be catching up and I was aware that there were a number of people behind me. My only real fear when I'm running any of these races is the possibility of coming in last, so it was comforting to know that this was not an issue.
    I  did discover, however, after perusing the list of chip times, that even though I wasn't the last person to cross the finish line, I was the last male to to do so. This kind of took me aback, being the last guy.
   I tend to leave my ego at the door when it comes to running. I know full well that I started doing it very late in life, that I'm likely always going to be near the bottom of the finishers in any given race and generally I'm only going to be competing against myself. This is all fine and dandy but a race is a race and why bother running in one if there exists no competitive fire in your breastbone?! (or wherever it's supposed to be...)
   

My strategy from now on.

What makes me finishing last in the guys group even more problematic is that it didn't actually need to happen. For the last kilometer or so of the race I'd been running neck and neck with two other guys who were running together. I'd pass them and they'd pass me and so it went. As we all came into the home stretch, they were minimally ahead and the thought occurred to me that I had enough energy left to pass them. But I was too polite about it. I've always had a hard time with the thought of "showing up" other runners just before the finish line. If the speed I'm running at takes me past them naturally then that's one thing. If, however, I would need to intentionally speed up with the sole purpose of passing them, well, that's another thing. It just seems disrespectful to me.
   On Sunday, though, if I'd passed either one (or both) of those other male runners then I wouldn't have been last in my gender group. I'm now wondering whether this might have been the reason I'd need to have put on a little burst right at the end. I also wonder whether or not I might be thinking about that the next time....
   

Go the Distance 10K Remiss-nance

   In my probably somewhat dehydrated state as I was doing yesterday's re-cap, I was extremely remiss and forgot to touch on a couple of things!
   I never did really mention what my time was. I think I left this out mainly because it was pretty insignificant to me, I was way more focused on simply finishing the race without embarrassing myself. Well, my time was 1:20. Not good, I know. At the same time it was pretty well bang-on with the other two times I've completed 10K, running on my own and in probably easier (read much cooler) conditions. Yesterday, it was in the high seventies with no cloud cover and I remember that by the third water station I was holding an e-load in one hand, which I drank, and a water in my other hand, which went over my head (should have removed my glasses first!)
   Another thing to touch on is that I am fat! Woo hoo! Nothing like a side pic taken by my Sweetie at the start line to visually remind me of this!


That's me at the back, neon shirt and white cap. The tip of my gut is thankfully hidden from view
but I think if you just extrapolate a bit you'll get the gist of things! Back to running more regularly!!





 
 

   I also didn't mention that this race was part of the London Honda Road Race series, a series of six races over the running season. Each race collects pledges for local charities and yesterday's race was dedicated to Hope's Garden. Hope's Garden is a support and resource centre for people with eating disorders. Here is a pic of their brochure and a link, just in case you're a "local" and might be interested in getting more info (or donating!)

                                 www.hopesgarden.org

   Okay, I think that about sums it up for my remiss-nance! Thanks to the many of you who offered support and words of wisdom as I whined and fretted in the lead-up to this 10K and then afterwards as well. Also, many thanks to my sweetie, Doralyn, who got me there and back safely yesterday (and who generally gets me there and back in most of the aspects of our relationship!)
   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!




Getting there, little bit by little bit!

   I had a couple of "off" days earlier on this week, unplanned off days that occurred simply because we were either too tired to hit the gym or the weather was just too damned cold to get out and run (or even make the 5k trip to the gym, for that matter!)
   For the past two days, however, we are back into the swim of things, having been to the gym last night and me having run after work today.
   I was able to run 5k without stopping which, for me, is huge. There was a time back in early 2013 when I was doing this on a regular basis and throwing in the occasional longer run. After my bout with PF last spring, though, I kind of lost this ability.


Well...at least SORT of...

   Just before our off days, I managed to run a very slow 5k without stopping. I probably could have run it faster if I'd had one or two walk breaks but something inside of me desperately wanted to be able to say I ran the whole way. And I did! This felt so good! As I'm reading about other runners and the huge mileage they're able to log on a regular basis, it makes my little 5k seem pretty inconsequential but to me, like I said, it was huge.
   Today I was able to repeat the feat and managed to shave two and a half minutes off at the same time. I was running even more smoothly than the previous outing and at no time did I feel as though walking might be necessary.
   All of this seems a little wondrous to me. The times are achingly slow--in the 40plus minutes range--but I am also running against the elements. Today the temp was about 2F and I was running on packed snow. Not a bad running surface, actually, but you do find yourself running tentatively for the most part. The weather in these parts is about to take a huge turn for the better and soon we may find ourselves running in the forty degree range Fahrenheit. Snow may disappear from the sidewalks and roadways. Running may become more like...well...running--and less like simply surviving!
   So, as I mentioned, the running tonight felt good and I couldn't help but wonder if the last two weeks of cross-training might have had anything to do with that. If you had asked me beforehand what my expectations were of cross-training for two weeks, I would have said that I thought they were pretty minimal. Now I'm not so sure. I would really like to think that the gym work is paying off, if only in a small way so far!