Monday (15km)
61 minutes with Chris. What a nice change in temperature! We both ran in shorts. There were some windy sections, but I never felt too cold. We went out on Sarnia Road and back through Alan's neighbourhood. It was already late by the time we started. I was hungry by the time we finished.
Tuesday (14km)
A wet day. We ran for 58 minutes, splashing through puddles and trying to avoid slipping in the mud. We did a slightly novel route, heading out on Oxford beyond Adelaide, went up to Huron, and out to Highbury. We were looking for a restaurant that Chris had heard about. We ran past it, but found it on our way back. I wore shorts, but could have been just as happy in long pants. If it was much cooler, I'd be dealing with some nasty chafing tomorrow.
Wednesday (workout - 19km total)
Stupidly windy day. I blame Kristin. The workout was changed because it was so cold and windy, but it was still tough. Did 3x a 400m hill, jogged down as recovery, had a short rest, then started into 8 continuous loops. For each loop, we did 650m hard and 400m easy. The hard section included a hill straight into the wind. I had read at the Weather Network that the wind was 50km an hour. It was not consistently that hard, but I believe that the wind was often that fast and would sometimes be harder. I tried to take my share leading, but the second time I did, Chris Nagle passed me at the top of the hill. He was running well tonight. Chris Smith and I were mostly just toughing it out, but I felt as though I got a good workout in.
Thursday (11km)
Felt a bit sore from the hills yesterday. Chris was not in the mood to run for long, and I was planning to go to the gym afterwards, so I did not insist on going longer. We hit 47 minutes (pretty slowly), running most of our usual route east of Richmond. I went to Goodlife afterwards and did 15 minutes fairly hard on the elliptical to top it up, also did a few weights and core exercises. The shows they had on the television were really boring, but I was surprised to see Joe Jordan (former MP for my home riding) as a pundit on the Mike Duffy show. I cannot say I normally watch it.
Friday (elliptical)
There was a lot of snow and by 4:30pm the sidewalks had not been plowed. I went to Goodlife and did an hour on the elliptical. I tried to read some papers as I was exercising and it did not work very well. I got two papers read in 45 minutes, then my hands were sweaty enough that I did not want to handle any more.
Saturday (6km)
I really did not feel like running today. I just ran down to Blockbuster to return a video and came back. I find it amazing that London can look at its sidewalks and say "Yes, this is acceptable."
Sunday (20km)
I was rushed to get to campus on time to meet the group for the run. I had set my alarm for 8pm rather than 8am, and managed to sleep through a couple of phone calls. Fortunately, Ben decided to wait. We went north to try to find Chris, but did not see him. This was a really boring running route. We covered campus several times because the roads on campus were clear. We were under 4 minutes/km much of the way. 81 minutes total.
Total - 85km. Would have hit 100 if I included the 15km of effort for Friday's elliptical. I would be happy to see some clear sidewalks soon.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
January 21-27
Monday (15km)
64 minutes with Chris. I was overdressed - I took off my gloves by the end. It was not a fast pace because of the extra clothing, and I was a little cautious with my footing. We went south from campus on Wharncliffe to Base Line Rd., then came back on Wortley and Talbot.
Tuesday (12.5km)
Last night I had thought about getting up to go to the gym in the morning, but my bed was too comfortable. I'll go again on Thursday. The Thursday/Sunday routine is working right now.
52 minutes with Chris. The footing was bad. Not a very fun run. We cut it short. I could feel the wind blowing through my shirt, and I was complaining more than I should. We went up around his neighbourhood where we could run on the streets, but nothing was plowed. Whatever.
Wednesday (workout - 18km total)
A lot of snow had fallen since last night, and London snow removal being as bad as it is, the footing was poor. During the warmup, I said to Chris Nagle that this was going to suck, but on the bright side, I do like to complain. He laughed and said that this must be bittersweet for me. Yes, it was. I actually had a very satisfying workout. I consciously shortened my stride and increased my turnover to make up for it. I took only two bad steps where I felt my wheels turning. For the first repeat (4 loops of 1.25km, so 5km), Chris Nagle and Chris Smith led the first loop, and I was feeling good so I traded the work a bit. On the third loop I started to push the pace, and I pushed hard in the final 600m. We had 4 minutes recovery, then did it again. Chris Nagle was coming off of a few weeks of low mileage, so he had trouble on the second loop, but Chris Smith and I worked really well together and finished together. The first 5k was 18:20 (9:20, 9:00 for the two halves), the second 5k was 18:11 (9:11, 9:00). This was supposed to be a little faster than half-marathon effort. In better conditions, I definitely would have been there. I am starting to string together a few good workouts in a row, which is something I haven't done in a while. I'm quite happy about that. I am feeling sore tonight already though. I'll have to be careful if I go to the gym tomorrow.
Thursday (13.5km)
Ran from school with Chris for 57 minutes, on the route east of Richmond. Just over halfway into the run, a woman stopped and yelled at us about something I've had many people yell at me in the past, and the way she stopped made me think that she was going to ask for directions. But no - she offered us tickets to the London Knights game. The catch: it was starting right then. If we had only a little more warning... I would looove to go to a Knights game. A few minutes later, we both regretted that we had not taken the tickets.
Short weight and core workout afterwards.
Friday (17km)
This was a disappointing run. I was aiming for 80 minutes of 4 minute kilometres. After a short warmup, I was hitting that pace. I went on the bikepath through Springbank Park. I soon had to take a pit stop, though. Fifteen minutes later, I needed to make another one. My stomach stopped feeling well, so I jogged it in from there. Total time was 71 minutes. I am not normally a good morning runner, which might explain my trouble today.
Saturday (15km)
There was some fresh snow, so footing was not great, but Chris and I still set a good pace - we did 62 minutes. I ran from my house, he ran from his, and I met him 12 minutes into my run, and ran the last 12 on my own. We did the route behind Brescia College because we could get on the streets and off the sidewalks. We saw Dennis just as we were splitting up at the end of the run and talked to him for just a minute before moving on.
Short weight and core workout afterwards. I was not able to do as much as on Thursday.
Sunday (workout - 15km total)
More fresh snow. I had a late night last night and was not looking forward to the run today. I did a short warmup before starting the tempo run out at Denfield (northwest of London) with Chris Smith, Nagle and Ben Perks. The footing was not good for the first 6-7km. I really did not expect to finish the workout. Once the footing got better, though, I was able to feel comfortable again. I never led, but I was no longer lagging a few steps off the leaders. I did 14km, in 52:58. That is a 3:47 average (aiming for 3:45), but our splits were all over - from as fast as 3:38 to as slow as 3:58 (for our first; second slowest was 3:55).
Total - 106km. Almost 50% more than last week. I see no problem with that.
64 minutes with Chris. I was overdressed - I took off my gloves by the end. It was not a fast pace because of the extra clothing, and I was a little cautious with my footing. We went south from campus on Wharncliffe to Base Line Rd., then came back on Wortley and Talbot.
Tuesday (12.5km)
Last night I had thought about getting up to go to the gym in the morning, but my bed was too comfortable. I'll go again on Thursday. The Thursday/Sunday routine is working right now.
52 minutes with Chris. The footing was bad. Not a very fun run. We cut it short. I could feel the wind blowing through my shirt, and I was complaining more than I should. We went up around his neighbourhood where we could run on the streets, but nothing was plowed. Whatever.
Wednesday (workout - 18km total)
A lot of snow had fallen since last night, and London snow removal being as bad as it is, the footing was poor. During the warmup, I said to Chris Nagle that this was going to suck, but on the bright side, I do like to complain. He laughed and said that this must be bittersweet for me. Yes, it was. I actually had a very satisfying workout. I consciously shortened my stride and increased my turnover to make up for it. I took only two bad steps where I felt my wheels turning. For the first repeat (4 loops of 1.25km, so 5km), Chris Nagle and Chris Smith led the first loop, and I was feeling good so I traded the work a bit. On the third loop I started to push the pace, and I pushed hard in the final 600m. We had 4 minutes recovery, then did it again. Chris Nagle was coming off of a few weeks of low mileage, so he had trouble on the second loop, but Chris Smith and I worked really well together and finished together. The first 5k was 18:20 (9:20, 9:00 for the two halves), the second 5k was 18:11 (9:11, 9:00). This was supposed to be a little faster than half-marathon effort. In better conditions, I definitely would have been there. I am starting to string together a few good workouts in a row, which is something I haven't done in a while. I'm quite happy about that. I am feeling sore tonight already though. I'll have to be careful if I go to the gym tomorrow.
Thursday (13.5km)
Ran from school with Chris for 57 minutes, on the route east of Richmond. Just over halfway into the run, a woman stopped and yelled at us about something I've had many people yell at me in the past, and the way she stopped made me think that she was going to ask for directions. But no - she offered us tickets to the London Knights game. The catch: it was starting right then. If we had only a little more warning... I would looove to go to a Knights game. A few minutes later, we both regretted that we had not taken the tickets.
Short weight and core workout afterwards.
Friday (17km)
This was a disappointing run. I was aiming for 80 minutes of 4 minute kilometres. After a short warmup, I was hitting that pace. I went on the bikepath through Springbank Park. I soon had to take a pit stop, though. Fifteen minutes later, I needed to make another one. My stomach stopped feeling well, so I jogged it in from there. Total time was 71 minutes. I am not normally a good morning runner, which might explain my trouble today.
Saturday (15km)
There was some fresh snow, so footing was not great, but Chris and I still set a good pace - we did 62 minutes. I ran from my house, he ran from his, and I met him 12 minutes into my run, and ran the last 12 on my own. We did the route behind Brescia College because we could get on the streets and off the sidewalks. We saw Dennis just as we were splitting up at the end of the run and talked to him for just a minute before moving on.
Short weight and core workout afterwards. I was not able to do as much as on Thursday.
Sunday (workout - 15km total)
More fresh snow. I had a late night last night and was not looking forward to the run today. I did a short warmup before starting the tempo run out at Denfield (northwest of London) with Chris Smith, Nagle and Ben Perks. The footing was not good for the first 6-7km. I really did not expect to finish the workout. Once the footing got better, though, I was able to feel comfortable again. I never led, but I was no longer lagging a few steps off the leaders. I did 14km, in 52:58. That is a 3:47 average (aiming for 3:45), but our splits were all over - from as fast as 3:38 to as slow as 3:58 (for our first; second slowest was 3:55).
Total - 106km. Almost 50% more than last week. I see no problem with that.
January 14-20
Monday (13km)
Easy run with Chris for 56 minutes around his neighbourhood. I had to dash downtown for a dinner, so we cut it a bit short.
Tuesday
Off. Was planning to run with Chris, but I realized that I had taken the wrong pair of shorts to school. Played some extra games of cards instead.
Wednesday (Workout - 18km total)
A good workout with Steve's group. It was cold, but toughed it out. I did a relay with Chris, where Chris ran a loop (about 1km), then I joined him for his second loop, and he rested when I ran my second loop. In a 3-loop segment, then, we both did two loops continuously. Together we did 5x2 loops. My first loop was always 3-5 seconds faster than my second - not only did I have Chris to push me, I was not tired when I started the first loop. The loop was hilly and not exactly 1km so times do not mean a lot on their own, but I was 7:20-7:23 for each repeat of two loops.
Thursday (15km)
63 minutes with Chris. Good run up around Alan's neighbourhood. Sure was cold, though. I was wearing several layers of clothes. I did weights afterwards, with a short warmup and cooldown on the 'elliptical'.
Friday (cross trained)
It was dark and cold and I did not want to run on my own. I decided to go to the gym and cross-train instead. I hopped on what I call the elliptical, though I know it is actually called something else. I will try to figure out what it is called by the time I write my blog for next week. I set it to 5% incline, 23 resistance, and consistently hit 176 strides/minute for an hour. Perhaps a little hard the day before a time trial. Effort-wise, this was probably worth 15km of running.
Saturday (Workout - 13km total)
Frickin' cold. I had trouble finding all my winter running gear and showed up late to the practice. I did a truncated warmup and then the time-trial. My effort level was high throughout, but my time was not spectacular because of the cold weather and short warmup. I am pleased with the effort I put in, though.
Sunday (14km)
I had been complaining about the cold all week, but this was the worst day of all. I had three layers on top, and three from the waist to the knees, plus a neckwarmer and a toque. I was warm enough, but I did not want to go any farther. The extra clothes restricted my range of motion a little more than I liked. It was windy, but as some minor highlights, I saw several common mergansers and some common goldeneyes. In the afternoon I went to the gym and did another 25 minutes on the 'elliptical'.
Total - only 73km running, but elliptical work that would put me up around 90km for the week.
Easy run with Chris for 56 minutes around his neighbourhood. I had to dash downtown for a dinner, so we cut it a bit short.
Tuesday
Off. Was planning to run with Chris, but I realized that I had taken the wrong pair of shorts to school. Played some extra games of cards instead.
Wednesday (Workout - 18km total)
A good workout with Steve's group. It was cold, but toughed it out. I did a relay with Chris, where Chris ran a loop (about 1km), then I joined him for his second loop, and he rested when I ran my second loop. In a 3-loop segment, then, we both did two loops continuously. Together we did 5x2 loops. My first loop was always 3-5 seconds faster than my second - not only did I have Chris to push me, I was not tired when I started the first loop. The loop was hilly and not exactly 1km so times do not mean a lot on their own, but I was 7:20-7:23 for each repeat of two loops.
Thursday (15km)
63 minutes with Chris. Good run up around Alan's neighbourhood. Sure was cold, though. I was wearing several layers of clothes. I did weights afterwards, with a short warmup and cooldown on the 'elliptical'.
Friday (cross trained)
It was dark and cold and I did not want to run on my own. I decided to go to the gym and cross-train instead. I hopped on what I call the elliptical, though I know it is actually called something else. I will try to figure out what it is called by the time I write my blog for next week. I set it to 5% incline, 23 resistance, and consistently hit 176 strides/minute for an hour. Perhaps a little hard the day before a time trial. Effort-wise, this was probably worth 15km of running.
Saturday (Workout - 13km total)
Frickin' cold. I had trouble finding all my winter running gear and showed up late to the practice. I did a truncated warmup and then the time-trial. My effort level was high throughout, but my time was not spectacular because of the cold weather and short warmup. I am pleased with the effort I put in, though.
Sunday (14km)
I had been complaining about the cold all week, but this was the worst day of all. I had three layers on top, and three from the waist to the knees, plus a neckwarmer and a toque. I was warm enough, but I did not want to go any farther. The extra clothes restricted my range of motion a little more than I liked. It was windy, but as some minor highlights, I saw several common mergansers and some common goldeneyes. In the afternoon I went to the gym and did another 25 minutes on the 'elliptical'.
Total - only 73km running, but elliptical work that would put me up around 90km for the week.
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