Going Long (again) in 2024

One mile at Tempo Pace and 4 strides to end this 5 mile treadmill workout.

5 easy treadmill miles at an 8:40 pace.

5 easy miles; 8:20 pace.  I took it outside today, since we've been having a mild stretch and pretty much all the ice and snow has melted away.  A balmy 1C/34F today.

This was my 3rd Santa Shuffle in the last 3 years - a 5k run to help raise money for the Salvation Army, and to give everyone an excuse to run in a Santa hat.  This was the best organized, and this year we had chip timing for the 1st time.  All good stuff.

Even better was the weather - wow!  It was foggy 1st thing this morning, but the sun burned through that and it turned into a perfect running morning.  1C/33F with just a hint of wind.

On the way into town for the race I stopped at a local track and ran a couple of miles to warm up, including 4 strides.  Then onsite I did a couple more strides and some light running to stay warm.  I just starting doing strides and I must say, they seem to help a lot.

The little kids had a 1k 'elf run' before us, so we got off around 10:20.  I was hungry.  Not used to running that late in the morning.

Anyway, I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to run this - fast for just for fun - so I decided I'd figure that out depending on how the 1st bit went.  Well, it went well.  I had positioned myself near the front and I only had to dodge around 5 or 6 slower runners and then I was in the top 12.  Even with the hills, I was doing okay and felt fine keeping a 6:30 pace.  I passed one guy on a downhill and then he passed me on a stretch, so I figured I'd stay with him and let him pace me.

First 2 miles were 6:29 and 6:31, and my legs seemed mostly okay and my breathing too, so I figured today was the day to break 20:00 for the 1st time.  Well, not having checked the course out ahead of time, I had no way of knowing about that last 'hill'.  You know the sort - it just keeps going up and up and up, and then you go around a bend and see that it goes up even more.  Really sucked, actually.  It was a half mile long.  At one point, I was running a 9 minute mile and my breathing was really labored.

I couldn't keep up with my pacer going up, although I made some ground on him over the last quarter mile which was downhill.  I even hit as 4:54 stride on that section, but it wasn't enough to overcome the uphill and I ran the final mile at 7:13.  Oh well.  I still came in at a PB time of 20:46, and I'm happy about that.  It's 51 seconds faster than my previous PB from the summer of 2014.  Given that I don't do many shorter races, I guess I can be happy about this.  However, I know I can run faster.  I just need a flatter course.  Are ALL 5k's run on hills????  :)

6 easy miles outside.  8:42 pace.  Beautiful morning for running, and no traffic on Sundays makes it even better.   2C/35F with just a bit of wind.  It's great to be able to run outside this late into the year.  A few aches from all the speedwork last week, so will just run mileage this week.

6 easy miles; 8:23 pace.  Light rain and 3C/37F.

My right anterior shin was really sore after Saturday's race, and again after Sunday's run, so I decided to take Monday off, as well as my regular Tuesday off.

That seems to have helped.  I taped it before today's run, just to be sure, but there is no pain at all at this point.  I'll just run easy this week, however.  I don't want to push myself into an injury.

7 easy miles; 8:24 pace.  Very light rain, but still mild.  Quite unusual for this time of the year.  Great news - my shin is fine.  Didn't even wrap it for the run.  I wanted to run 8, but I was a bit late out the door and didn't have the time.

8 easy miles; 8:30 pace.  I threw in 4 x 100m strides in the middle miles.  Left hip had a slight twinge after the 4th one, so decided to cool it.

Speaking of cooling it, not the best morning outside.  Rain/snow - I guess sleet is the word for that - and a fairly stiff wind.  Still, it's great to be running outside this late in the year.

12 mile long run at an average pace of 7:49 for a running time of 93:48.

It was OC/31F with just a bit of wind.  I waited until it was brighter out so I didn't have to run with my light.  I think I'm better off with the light in the dark, as I was nearly hit twice.

At around mile 3, diddle-de-dum rolled through a stop sign.  He didn't even see me - didn't even look to his right when he made the right hand turn.  I whacked the side of his nice white pick up truck with my hand.  That got his attention.  Threw my arms in the air with that WTF expression on my face.  He knew he was wrong and he just drove away.

Then, at around mile 11.5, I was on the paved sidewalk and crossed a street.  This time, diddle-de-dummer saw me but he rolled through the stop sign anyway and cut me off.  He did NOT like me wacking his nice black pick up truck.  After he made the turn right and I continued running, he pulled alongside and powered down the passenger window.  Before he could say anything, I yelled "Jerk!  Trying stopping at the stop signs".  He left without saying anything.

Anyway, crazy drivers in this city.  Just glad to get home in one piece today.

6 easy miles outside; 8:55 pace.

Speedwork on my treadmill.  Actually went down to the track to do it outside.  But it was raining hard, and had been most of the night, and significant parts of the track were under water.  So, after 2 laps of navigating all that, I figured I'd have a better workout on the treadmill.

Ran 6 x 800 at a 6:25/mile pace with 400 recovery jogs.

6 miles on the treadmill, with 2 in the middle at tempo pace (6:50).  I'm thinking of going for a sub 1:30 in the half at the end of May (Ottawa).  Not sure I have it in me, as those 2 miles did not feel easy, but we'll see how the training unfolds once I'm into it.

7 easy miles; 8:29 pace.  Took it outside today - really unusual weather this year for us.

Last night when I was driving home, there had been freezing rain which turned to heavy snow.  It looked like this would be the snow that finally stayed for winter.  But this morning, it was all gone, the sky was clear with brilliant stars shining, and it was all the up to 3C/37F.  

So, a run done completely in the dark.  A few icy patches here and there, but not too bad overall.

5 easy miles outside; 8:22 pace.  It was snowing pretty hard, but not much had accumulated on the ground, and it wasn't too slippery.  So, I'm glad I ran outside.  It was a bit colder today at -3C/27F, but just a light wind.  

12 miles outside at an easy pace of 8:14/mile.  Run time of 1:38:45.

Despite the snow and ice on the roads, it wasn't too slippery.  Most of my route had been sanded.  As long as you don't try to make any sudden direction changes, it's all good.

Cold enough though:  -9C/16F with a windchill of -14C/7F.  That wind was from the west, and so in my face the last 4 miles.  Still, it was a great morning to run outside.

6 easy miles; 8:31 pace.  Still outside, with a temperature of  -7C/19F.  I switched from gloves to mitts and from running tracks to fleece pants - the ones I use when I go x-country skiing.  That combination, although a bit heavy, did the job well.  I wasn't the least bit cold and my hands aren't numb when I'm done.

I stuck to the treadmill today - it's really yucky outside.  I wanted to run some intervals, and it just is not safe to do that on the streets.  It's hovering around the freezing mark and the roads are a combination of ice and slush.  A slow run is one thing - but not speedwork.

Anyway, I ran 4 x 1200 with 400 recovery at a pace of 6:23/mile.  All systems are go - even though I had to will myself to finish the last lap or two, I did it and I feel great.

Seven easy miles; average pace of 8:05.  I ran outside, which was interesting.  The main roads were mostly okay, but the side roads were very icy.  Good thing traffic is light these days.  

I had hoped to run a few miles at tempo pace, but it was not going to happen with these conditions, so I just ran easy and steady.

8 easy miles; 8:28 average pace.

Well, the last bit of snow is gone.  It got as high as 13C/55F last night - so this will be a green Christmas.  Just the 3rd I've ever seen.

There is a major wind storm going on - gusts up to 98kph/61mph.  Shingles off the roof, trees down, Christmas decorations blowing all over the place - sure made for an interesting run!  It was great going with it; not so nice going against it.  And cross ways to it - just weird.  The wind was strong enough to move me over a bit every stride.

Anyway, it is going to turn colder again and, they tell us, more seasonal in the weeks ahead - and snow.  We'll see.

6 easy miles; average pace of 8:13.  A bit faster than planned, but it was dead calm, in contrast to yesterday's semi-hurricane, and so felt so much easier.

Not a flake of snow to be seen anywhere.  Amazing.  Temperature was -1C/31F.  Very nice for running.

12 mile long run at an average pace of 7:38 for a running time of just under 95 minutes.  Still no snow on the ground, but definitely getting colder.  It was -6C/21F.  I should have wore mitts instead of gloves; I had to ball my hands up inside the gloves to keep them from going numb.  Also should have worn a touque, as my ears nearly froze.

It's that temperature where the sports drink on the belt turns into slush and makes it quite impossible to drink.  Ah well; it was a good run despite all that and my body is feeling great.

6 easy miles in the snow.  Not a lot - about an inch or so - but enough to make a mess of the roads.  Turns out I slept in until almost 6:30 this morning, and instead of rushing everything, I decided to go slow and then run this afternoon instead.  I'm glad I did.  It was nice to run in daylight, even though it was only -8C/18F.  Still, with very little wind and a gently falling snow, it made for a nice enough run.  I averaged a pace of 8:21.

8 easy miles; 8:25 pace.  COLD!  -17C/1F with a North wind giving a wind chill factor of -27C/-16F.  I dressed for it, but the run felt clunky because of the layers.  My feet and face were not well insulated - should have worn a face mask.  My beard was coated with ice by the time I was finished.  Time for hot shower!

We got hit with a mega storm yesterday - about 30 cm/12 inches of snow.  Today things are still dicey out there, so I took to the treadmill.  An easy 7 miles with a run time of just over an hour.

Tried out the Saucony Triumphs - I like them.

Funny kind of day - had planned on running earlier as a warm up to tonight's "Resolution Run", but that didn't happen for all kinds of 'not so good' reasons.

So, the Resolution Run at 5pm at the local Running Room Store.  About 65 people, give or take.  It's dark out at 5pm these days.  The course was pretty basic - not officially measured, and my GPS had it running at 3.18 miles.

No timing chips, and no real start or finish line.  They did have a digital clock and ripped off your name section on the bib at the finish line.  Pretty basic stuff.  It was an out and back.  We were instructed to run on the sidewalk (where possible) and traffic was not controlled.  Since the sidewalk was impassible in sections, it meant running on the road despite the traffic.

My sister was running it too, and I kind of thought I might run with her, but when we started, I thought the heck with it - I'll run my own race.  Since we were on the sidewalk, it was like running in mashed potatoes after the blizzard from 2 days ago and the more mild temperatures today (it was -5C/55F), and it was pretty tricky to keep your footing on the hills.  A fair bit of hills, by the way, but I guess they cancelled out, since it was an out and back (with 2 turn arounds at pylons - which I detest).

Anyway, I started off with about 15 people in front of me, but quickly decided to pass most of them right away (on the road), since passing on the sidewalk would be difficult.  That put me in 7th position after the 1st 200 or 300 meters.  After I took stock of my pace and how I felt, I passed the next 2 runners, and then one more at the 1km mark.  That put me in 4th position, which is where I ended up finishing the race.

Anyway, it wasn't anything for the record books - more for fun - but I enjoyed it.  There was no finisher's medal, but everyone got a really cool running vest and matching toque.  I wore them for the race - just like a newbie would!  :)  What the heck - I don't have decent winter running gear, and this helps!

I took the times I posted here from my GPS.  The official results will be online tomorrow morning, and I'll adjust this report accordingly.  Okay, official time is exactly what my watch said:  23:30.  And I officially came in 4th overall.