Yesterday and Today and 7K!

Behind those trees, "The Steps"!

      Yesterday, Sunday, I had a little bit of free time in the afternoon and really wanted to get out there for a run. Hopefully, I would be able to get 7K in the books, in an effort to continue upping the mileage. What I did, though, was fritter away a large chunk of the day doing pretty well non-stuff and then, by the time I finally gathered myself up to run, the sun was perilously low in the sky. It was still very bright though and bright sunshine is not something we've seen a lot of lately here in London, Ontario so I headed out anyway. I drove to the Oxford Street bridge, near the entrance to Kains Woods, and parked on the bridge (there is room for this). From there it was up the hill and into the woods and off I went!
   I can't honestly say the legs felt all that good, however, and the more I ran the more I had an opportunity to do the math in my head wherein I calculate the length of time I need to get in 7K versus the actual amount of sunlight I had to work with. The math really wasn't working in my favour and the very last thing I wanted to be doing was running through a forest in the dark. Not to mention the "coyotes at dusk" warnings posted at pretty well all of London's forested areas. So I cut things short, ran about half a kilometer, and the hiked the rest of the way, all in all about 4K. No big deal.

This is the top of what 230 pounds
of Brian Baker looks like!

    Today, Monday, I had the day off and, after a little bit of work stuff first thing, I was able to head out with lots of daylight at my command. I headed for Komoka Provincial Park and left my car at the easternmost end of it. I usually walk the first half kilometer to get warmed up but I took a couple of extra minutes when I got into the forest and did some stretching. I then started to run. Slowly. As usual.
   It was about 4 or 5 degrees Celsius today with no precipitation and a good deal of sunshine left over from yesterday. Pretty awesome for running! There were a couple of muddy sections due to recent rain and a little bit of snow but these were minimal and un-deterring.
   I'm out of shape. Today I was propelling almost 230 pounds of Brian Baker through the forest and that just ain't right and shouldn't be. For a variety of reasons, I have had huge meals lately (and often) and I have done a terrible job of showing any restraint. I hopped on (gingerly) the scales last night and by the time the digital readout had done its thing, I was weighing in at 229.5. It's been ages since I've weighed that much and my jaw just kinda dropped. Okay, time to get back to work. The only good thing about weighing that much is that I can get it off pretty quick if I'm a little more conscientious. This, however, only usually gets me back down to about 224 and there is truly so much further to go! Perhaps that gym membership I've never used....

The mighty Thames!

   The run today was fairly uneventful. Passed a few people enjoying the park, which is always kinda nice. In aiming for 7K, the plan today was to run for 4, turn around (you almost have to turn around, the park's only 4K long), and then run another 3, on the way back. This was over almost before I knew it and I then hiked another kilometer to get back to my car.
   A weird thing happened when I got into my car. As I was lowering myself into the driver's seat, all of the sudden I started to get a muscle spasm on the outside of my right calf and shin. It was quite uncomfortable and I hopped out of the car as fast as I could (not very fast) to get the leg back into a comfortable position. As I was standing beside my car, I lifted my leg off the ground and my foot started to rotate to the right, all of its own volition. A very strange thing to feel and watch---my muscles making my feet do things I hadn't asked them to do! I plopped the foot back down on the ground, stood on it and then walked around til it felt as though I could get back in the car and drive. By the time I got back home, it was more or less back to normal. I put the whole episode down to perhaps having over-exerted my lower legs with the uneven trail I'd just been on for the last almost two hours. Will keep an eye on it for next time!
   Last week I bought a combination lock. This was my radical first step toward getting back (it's been years) to the gym once more. This week, I'm actually going. The scary part is, I just told you I was going.....
   
   
   

Not the right kind of "cold, wet one"!

   I was checking my stats on Blogger just yesterday and what it told me was that there had been no page views that day and there had been no page views the previous day, either. This meant that people had stopped even accidentally reading my blog and was a sure sign that I had not written anything in a long, long time.

   

Out of the reasonably clear...

I really only blog when I run and I had not run in about four weeks, partially due to a nasty head and chest cold and then a stream of social commitments, not the least of which was my wife's 50th birthday. Today, however, was a day in which nothing had been planned and my legs were feeling kind of restless and so I thought let's give 'em a go!

   We have been through a long, bleak and wet spell in these parts lately and today was no different. Rain was in the forecast but by the time I was ready to go there was nothing more than a wet mist going on out there. I threw on a light running jacket just before I headed out the door, it wasn't really cold enough for one (it was 8C) but the mist just seemed to make it feel that much colder.

...and headed into the dark and dismal.

   I headed to Komoka Park, hoping to be able to park for free at the far end of it and, with the nasty weather today, this seemed like a pretty good bet. Sure enough, lots of room to park and off I went. My normal routine is to walk the first half a kilometer before breaking into a run and this is what I did today. I was a little worried after being off for four weeks that my legs wouldn't respond and was pleasantly surprised when they reacted appropriately.

If you're from around these parts
and do any kind of hiking or
even reading about it, then you've
probably seen this tree. It has all
sorts of  love notes on it but today,
in the wet gloom, it looked kind
of antediluvian and foreboding

   I wanted to run 7K today and had a bit of a rough idea what portion of the park I would use for this. About 3K in, though, it started to rain in earnest. This was no really big deal but then, when I looked down at my Garmin, it had switched from the usual screen telling me time and distance and had reverted to screen which shows me how my virtual run partner was doing. This would have been okay if perhaps I had set this up beforehand but i hadn't (I rarely use this option) and in fact my virtual partner today was riding a bike. And I was 24 minutes behind him/her. This was not helpful and, in the rain, I had a lot of trouble getting the Garmin back to the correct screen. When I eventually got back to the screen I needed, everything had been set back to zero!

   This, on its own, did not stop me from continuing my run but soon my ankle and Achilles started to act up and then I just lost my, for lack of a much better word, mojo. At that point, I turned around and walked it back in. No, I hiked it back in, that sounds better.

   By the time I made it halfway back, I was drenched. My running jacket is not rainproof and provided little comfort. It was only about 3 p.m. but it was dark in the forest and I actually started to run again just to get back to the car a little faster.
   So, as it turned out, I did not get my 7K run in and, really, this was fine by me. I had assuaged that restless feeling and this was the main purpose of getting out today. Hopefully, I can now get back into a more regular routine and actually give people something to read, either by accident or on purpose!

Ran 6K And Stayed Upright!

   It was a warm and dry late-October day here in London and I decided to head on out to the trails once again. The plan was to tack on another kilometer to the mileage I've been gradually increasing so today that brought me up to the huge total of 6K! Woo hoo!

The view in Warbler Woods

   I've gone out to Komoka Park the past couple of weekends and I thought I would change things up a bit and head for Kains Woods. Kains is within walking distance and I usually hike through nearby Warbler Woods, under Commissioner's Road, and then on down Oxford to the southern entrance to Kains. I then continue to hike til I get past a couple of problematic ravines. Once past them I break into my typical slow run.
   After my little face plant episode last week, I decided to pay way more attention to where my feet were landing today. The problem is that this time of the year the path is covered with leaves and, underneath said leaves, lurks the gnarly root. Fortunately, today went well and there were hardly even any close calls.
   It's bizarre and unseasonably warm these days and I don't know whether this is brought on by global warming or is just one of those cyclical aberrations. Whatever the reason for it, I can only enjoy if it's not also responsible for Puerto Rico getting wiped out....
   

The view in Kains Woods.

I decided to run 3K and then turn around and run 3K back, for my 6K total. Running such a short distance does always feel odd but, at the same time, I'm trying to break in an injured knee very slowly, hence the low mileage. At the end of the run portion, I was then left with a 3K walk back to my house. I think this might be the part I didn't plan out all that well. The past couple of weeks, I've been able to park right where I did the running, so no hiking to get there and then no hiking to make my way home. Today, I ran the farthest I've done in  months but was then faced with a long walk home. At the end of it, I was looking at close to 12K of being on my feet and this evening, both my knees are feeling it! So we just won't do that again!

Back to 5K! And a Face Plant!

   It's the weekend again and today looked like it was going to be kind of rainy so I took the opportunity to get out yesterday and give it a go at running 5K on the trails.
   Once again I headed to Komoka Provincial Park, have finally found a little place at the far end of the park where you don't have to pay the parking fee so Komoka is now a more affordable option.

Passing through a grassy meadow.
It looks flat but is actually pretty steep.

   There were, however, drops of rain on my windshield by the time I arrived and off in the distance the skies were pretty threatening so I wasn't quite sure how dry this run was really going to be. No raingear with me but it was unseasonably warm so I headed out anyway.
   Once again, I briskly walked the first half a kilometer to get warmed up and then I started a slow run. A very slow run. It was the kind of run where you can actually have a fairly lengthy conversation with walkers as you sort of pass them. Yes, that kind of run.... 
   I am, however, much more interested in accumulating some mileage these days and seeing how my injured right knee holds up. At some point, the speed with which I run will be addressed.
   I ran in Komoka last week and I really didn't want to replicate the same run today so when I reached the junction of the Blue and White trails, I headed off on the Blue. This takes you up and down a few steep sections, so I quickly began to wonder if I'd made the right decision. In the end, though, I figured it was all part of the process.
   I ran with trekking poles once again yesterday, as I'm now accustomed to doing. I got used to them on my hiking adventures this past summer and find that they provide a little more stability on some of the more technical terrain. In my mind, they also enable me to imagine that I am some sort of badass mountain trail runner. On level parts of the trail, I

Some of the scenery at the west (and
less-traveled) end of the park.

simply carry them in my hand. I'm starting to become fairly adept at switching back and forth and moving quickly (for me) up and down rocky slopes. What much of this means is that in a park where most of the people are either walking their dogs or spending romantic time with their significant other, I really stand out. And that's fine, kinda enjoy doing my own thing!
   Just before the end of the running portion yesterday, I passed one of those romantic couples I just mentioned, going the other way. I was about 10 meters past them when my toe snagged on a root and I landed hard. The noise of this (imagine a tree falling in a forest) alerted the romantic couple and they turned around to see me lying there in a heap. They asked if I was okay. I assured them I was and that only my pride was slightly bruised. I also swore them to secrecy and they were fine with that. It was my right (and injured) knee that took the brunt of the fall and I was quite happy to see and feel that there were no ill effects suffered. Good to know, actually, it confirmed in a new and different way that the knee is continuing to heal the way I need it to.
   

The aftermath. All is well, though!

So my 5K trail run is in the books and the good news is that I could quite easily have continued. The knee is a little swollen today but is not paining me at all and did not pain me yesterday as I ran, so this is good. My plan is to try and incorporate some kind of run mid-week this week so that I end up running more then just once a week. The other good thing that occurred to me about having run 5K yesterday is that it is an actual race distance. You quite often hear people talk about how their 5K run went and it is simply nice knowing that I am once again back to that level. Onward and upward!
    
   
   

Upping the mileage in Komoka Park

Good to be back in the
Komoka woods!

   Yesterday was a day off for me and I took the opportunity to head out to Komoka Provincial Park and get in a bit of a hike/run.
   I've been trying to make sure I get out every weekend and up the mileage each time as I work my knee back into ship-shapeness. I missed last weekend due to a little bit of toe tendinitis which had me limping around and this weekend was busy with Thanksgiving plans so yesterday was the day.

The Steps! A good place to turn
around cuz, if you don't, you
have to run up them!

   It's been unseasonably warm here in London the past couple of weeks and yesterday the temp was in the low 20s (C)---perfect for shorts and a t-shirt. I managed to find free parking at the far end of the park and started my hike/run there. I hiked for half a kilometer and then started a slow run.

The Maples always turn first

   The goal for yesterday was 4K, just adding a kilometer every week at this point. I hiked for the first half a K and then started the run portion. There was almost no discomfort in the knee whatsoever and the 4K went by without incident. I ran as far as the bottom of The Steps and then turned back and continued to run until I hit the magical 4K mark. What made it even more magical was that I really felt as though I could have kept on running (so slow was my pace, likely) so I guess this bodes well for my next outing, which will be 5K. From that point, I just hiked my way back to the car.

Looking out at the changing
colours of the Thames Valley.

   It's starting to become clearer that I can likely up not only the mileage (thank goodness, it's kinda hard to report on 4K runs) but the frequency, as well. Today I feel as though I could hit the trails again and not be suffering too much so perhaps one more day a week is in the offing? We'll see!

I Am Twelve Years Old (Again)

    Today (which will be yesterday  by the time you actually read this) I decided to give running yet another go and, once again, try to up the mileage just a touch.
   I gathered up and donned all the usual running accouterments and just before I left I gave my wife a kiss goodbye. As I was getting set to walk out the door, she looked at me, giggled, and said "You look like you're twelve!"
   

Me, doing my best impression
of a twelve-year-old!

At my age (not twelve) I've kind of gotten past the part of caring a whole heck of a lot about how I look anymore. This goes as much for street clothes (I believe grey goes with anything) as it does running attire. Notwithstanding all this, her comment gave me pause. I'm sure she saw me more as the young boy headed out to baseball practice or perhaps joining the Scout group or maybe even headed off trick-or-treating. I get it, I really do. Even the people on the street give me funny looks occasionally so when I finally hit the forest I do feel a little more at ease (although there was that time I was hiking through the woods and came across this young family whose three-year-old looked at me like I was Bigfoot and quite often the other hikers are wearing flip-flips and I'm dressed like I was running the Barkley Marathons but I digress...) 

This tree fell in the forest (across
the trail in Warbler) but I'm not sure
if anybody heard....

   Back to what matters. The simple plan was to make my way back to Kains Woods via Warbler Woods and run a slow 3K. Due to some right knee issues, I've very gradually been upping the mileage, having started at 1K and then 2K and today up to 3. You may have noticed a pattern and quite likely will be able to guess how far I'm running next week! The knee, which had been feeling awesome the last couple of days decided to feel not quite as awesome today (which is now yesterday) and I wondered if being out on the trails with it was even a good idea. Like a lot of other times, though, when my knee or perhaps another body part is feeling kind of iffy before or at the beginning of a run, by the time I'd run a couple hundred meters everything was fine. And because this all happened yesterday, I can tell you that the knee still feels fine today!

   

At the end of 3K's worth of
running. They don't want you
to go this way, so I didn't.

I'm not sure if global warming is the issue or not, but even this late in September we are in the midst of a heat spell that rivals easily anything that occurred mid-summer. Mid-thirties now for several days in a row. Somehow or other, I did not take this into account with my hydration and, in spite of the fact that I was wearing a hydration vest which could have accommodated two chest bottles and a bladder, I set out with only one chest bottle. Huge mistake! With the extra little bit of running and ending up just that much farther away from home, I didn't have enough water to see me back. Because of this, I ducked out of the forest as soon as I could just to avoid the extra labour and walked back along city streets, thinking that if anybody was out with a hose I might get 'em to either spray me or fill my bottle. Well, no such luck. About half a kilometer away from my place,

Cutting out of Kains Woods early.
Not a lot of fun, traversing
those large concrete blocks...

though, I did run into a house where they were watering the lawn and the sprinkler was mercifully spraying the sidewalk at the same time so I walked back and forth in it for a bit and it was heavenly. Yet another lesson learned. It was the same kind of a mistake that a twelve-year-old might have made...
   

I Ran TWICE As Far!

   I had a little free time yesterday afternoon so I thought I would head over to the nearest trail and see if a little running was in order. 

   
 I more or less did the exact same thing as I did last week and headed over to Kains Woods via Warbler Woods. My goal was to try and add a little extra mileage this week as the last time out I had run a paltry one kilometer. To be fair, I am really experimenting with my right knee these days and any sort of mileage is just a bonus right at the moment. In light of this, I actually doubled the kilometers this week and aimed to do two, yes, a whole two kilometers!

   I hiked briskly through Warbler then got back out on the streets til I got to Kains. Once I got to the three K mark I started a slow run.
   The one difference between this outing and the last was that I didn't feel any real pain in the knee right at the beginning and didn't have to make up my mind as to whether this was actually a good idea or not. Not only that but when I hit the 1K mark and then ran through it I didn't have the feeling that I was in dangerous territory---in fact I felt like I could have run a lot farther! Right from the get-go, the knee felt strong and good. At the end of the running portion, I found a log to sit on and munched a couple of granola bars I'd brought along. Very briefly, the knee protested when I stood up and started to walk again but after a few feet the pain disappeared.
   Today, I can tell that I was out running yesterday. It's a kind of discomfort that I'm actually appreciating because it's the old discomfort, the aches and pains of a body that worked hard as opposed to a body that's broken! And that's good!