Going Long

First run in two weeks, following the re-injury of my calf at Around the Bay.

Nice and easy 4k around the neighbourhood, to drop an envelope at a friend's house.

Picked up the girls from daycare at the end of the run.  Jamie declared "I want to go running with you" when she saw me in my run clothes!  hehehe

Time  28:46

Distance  4k (2.5mi)

Pace  7:11/km (11:30/mi)

HR Zone  116-136 bpm

HR Max 145  Avg 134

In Zone 51.8% of run

My first serious test of the calf since ATB on March 29.  Even before that, I had run sporadically for three weeks - so I'm thinking I've been off for close to five weeks this cycle.  Ugh.  Not setting myself up for a stellar race at the end of May.

Got out for 10k Tempo today.  Hoofing it hard to make it to the daycare for pickup before it closed at 6 pm.  If I would have made it, it would have been a PB!  As it was, I dialed it back and called Christine to revise our plans for the evening.

It was nice to be out and working hard.  The calf seems to be healed, but my mind is still worried about it.  I'll be happy when I'm out there and not trying to avoid injury.  That's when the injuries occur, right?

Time  1:03:34

Distance 10k (6.25 mi)

Pace  6:21/km (10:10/mi)

HR Zone  136-156 bpm

HR 163 Avg, 181 Max

In zone 19.8% of the run

Same distance and route as Wednesday's run home from work, but it's incredible the difference in feeling today.

The other day I went harder early, then backed off late.  This time I was steady at a slightly slower pace the whole distance.  The ultimate result was a slightly slower time today, and a more sluggish feeling after the end of the run.  Weird that the same distance and route yielded such different results.

Distance  10k

Time  1:04:32

Pace 6:27/km (10:19/mi)

no information on the HR Zones and min/max

Probably the most enjoyable outing of my running life tonight.

Christine returned home around 3 pm from her weekend away, and she and the girls and I went down for family nap.  I woke up at 630 pm and was determined to get out for my long run this week.

Hit the street just after 7 pm, taking it very slow and keeping my heart rate in the mid 130s.  The sun was out, the wind was calm, hardly anyone out on the paths along the Lakeshore and north on the Humber River.  Its a bit of an elevation gain moving away from the lake, but I kept myself comfortable and continued up past the Old Mill and settled along the winding, flat path in the Humber River Valley.

1st 10k in 73 minutes

Gave the girls a phone call around 830 pm, just before they went down for bed.  I was still on the out-bound portion of my route, but close to my 12.5k turn-around point.  The feeling of the night was so positive, I thought I would stretch the run out to the 32k that my clinic peeps had run earlier in the day. 

Needless to say, I was a bit nervous about the change in plan.  My calf seemed ok, but I hadn't really tested it over 24k since my last training cycle that ended in mid-January.  With the injury in early March, and then a re-occurance at the end of March, I didn't want a repeat. 

I glided past 12.5k, and got to my turn around @ Eglinton Ave W and Jane St feeling strong. It was getting fairly dark on the route, no lights on the bike path, but enough contrast that I felt ok being out there.  I was feeling so good that I started belting out some of the songs on my iPod, only disturbing a racoon or two along the way.

2nd 10k in 68 minutes

My second split was five minutes faster than the first, so I thought to myself that I would try to lower my third 10k stretch by the same amount to 63 minutes.  Of course, my heart rate began to creep up and the lactic acid began building up in my legs.  The soreness was mostly in my thighs and my knees were tight.  This actually gave me a big smile - as it's the normal course for my body on a long run.  The fact that the calf and glutes were strong spurred me along feeling good.

By the time I got back down to the mouth of the Humber and onto the Martin Goodman Trail, I was pretty tired.  Nearly a month off will have that effect!  heheheh  There was also a massive easterly wind pushing me in the face for the mile along the lake before I turned back into High Park. 

Got to the 30k mark at 3:29:30, so I ran the third 10k split in about the same time as the second.  Pretty good result, but I was thinking about how I can structure my race in Ottawa to start slow, and progress through the four 10k's in gradually improving splits.  My thinking for the race is 73, 70, 67, 64 - which would bring me in around 4:47.  Not too shabby for a first marathon.

Got up the hill on Spring Rd and ended my run at Humberside Ave.  Looked at my watch and saw it was nearly 11 pm.  Thought about how crazy it was that I spent the whole evening running.  Smiled at how crazy it was that I spent the whole evening running!!  :-)

Distance  32k (20mi)

Time  3:43:49

Pace  6:59/km (11:11/mi)

HR max 188, avg 155

Out for my first clinic night in close to a month.  Not being able to run, I skipped the talks that had been taking place every Tuesday evening.  It was too difficult to extricate myself from the dinner/bed routine of the girls if I wasn't going to do a run.

The Mississauga racers are beginning their taper this week, so Jacqui reviewed everything that had been covered in the 15 weeks thus far.  Seems like I missed a lot of them.  :-(  Oh well, I've been through a number of clinics before.  Many of the topics are repeated.  I think I'll have to sit down and get a book to read on specific marathon issues.

Distance   6k (3.75mi)

Time  36:45

Pace  6:07/km (9:48/mi)

HR  not computed tonight

Nice morning run today.  What a difference running in the spring makes.  Not just to your body, footing, breathing.  But, to your mind.  It was bright so early, that put a jump in my step from the start.  I went out for 10k west along the lake.  Took a new route north along the Humber on the east bank.  Never been up that way before, and one of my mapping friends at the City had been asking me about that path.  It put me up on the Queensway, and then I had a familiar run back into the park and home.

Felt pretty good.  Then got on my bike and rode into work.  Still felt good.  Then got a massage, with focus on my injury point.  Didn't feel so good!  heheheh  I'm writing this on Friday morning, and it feels fine. Steve the RMT says that I should go in to see him a couple of weeks before Ottawa, just to focus on the lower body.  Sounds good to me.

Distance  10k (6.25 mi)

Time  1:10:28

Pace  7:02/km (11:16/mi)

HR zone  126-146 bpm

HR max 226 (I think that was a misfire on the watch)  avg 145

In Zone 46.3% of the run

Went out for the first of the 5 Peaks series today.

The Enduro race was two loops around the Chicopee ski centre in Kitchener, ON.

To call Chicopee (or any of the race venues in this series) a "peak" definitely depends on your context. I'm sure you folks out in Utah or anywhere in western North America would laugh at the insignificance of these "hills". We in Ontario don't have much to talk about when it comes to mountains!

I'm not a very experienced trail runner, so being out on single-track, undulating terrain was exhilarating. I found the whole tone of the race a lot more laid back than some of the road races that I've run lately. That was very welcome.

Unfortunately, my streak of bad races continued at Chicopee. I felt good on the first loop, and started back around for the second time. The wet/muddy/snowy switchbacks up the main climb "woke-up" my recovering calf injury enough that I stopped halfway up the hill. That ugly stretching/tearing feeling is something that I will never get used to.

More rest and physio for me, as I try to keep things together for the race in Ottawa on May 24. I'll get another chance out on the trail at Horseshoe Valley in June.

Time 37:00

Distance 5k (3.1 mi)

Pace 7:24/km (11:50/mi)

DNF the full 8.6k distance

Took few extra days rest following my DNF last Saturday, but Ottawa is approaching and I'm not really sure where I'm at "body-wise" for the race. I know my training has been sub-par, as I've been on and off the shelf since early March. When I get out and run, and my calf issues do not rear their ugly head, I feel great. Unfortunately, I think my overall fitness and endurance is probably in the 4:45 range for the full. I'd really like to gut out 4:30 in my first "official" marathon, but I guess we'll see how it goes on race day.

Today was all about gutting it out.

It started to sprinkle rain while I was on my way home from work, and it turned into a steady drizzle by the time I made it home. I thought that maybe after dinner and putting the girls to bed that it would let up a bit and I'd be able to get 10k in without getting soaked.

No such luck. Fortunately, it was a a warm rain. 14C as I walked out the door. I put on my cycling jacket and rain pants and headed out.

It was a pretty good run. Nobody was out, so I had all the paths to myself. Left my glasses at home, so I wouldn't be annoyed by droplets it front of my eyes. It felt good to get some miles in, and have my leg feel ok afterward. I've been cycling to work a few times a week over the past month, but it doesn't give me the same type of workout that a 10k run does.

Time 1:11:47

Distance 10k (6.25 mi)

Pace 7:10/km (11:29/mi)

HR Zone 126-146 bpm

HR Max 151, Avg 138

In Zone 89.1% of the run