Going Long (again) in 2024

Treadmill.  Pace from a start of 10:00/mile to a finish of 8:57/mile.

Chilly run on Goodwill Drive; 8:48 pace.

-18C/0F with a wind chill of -25C/-13F.

Goodwill Drive; 9:02 pace.   A lot warmer today, at -6C/22F.  This will be a yo-yo week, alternating between fairly mild and arctic cold, with a snow storm on the way to boot.

Goodwill Drive; 8:48 pace.

The incoming storm had just started, so even thought it was blustery, there hadn't been much snow accumulation on the road yet.  

Speedwork on the treadmill.

4 x 1200 @ 6:53 pace with 400 recoveries.

Treadmill; 9:22 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Registration for the P'Tit Train du Nord Marathon opens today.  I'm going to register.

Treadmill; steady 9:31 pace.

On Saturday, I registered for the Marathon P'Tit Train du Nord - first Sunday in October.  Aiming for a sub 3:20.

Treaadmill; 9:31 pace.  

Arctic cold outside:  -31C/-25F with a windchill factor of -43C/-45F.  You just know it's cold when the Farenheit temperature is less than the Celcius!

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Back to plyometric jump squats and core work.  I haven't done any of that since my Fall marathon.  It sure hurts today - I know exactly what muscles I worked!

Speedwork on the treadmill.

4 x 1200 @ 6:44 pace with 400 recoveries.

The breaker for the treadmill tripped soon after I hit top speed.  Runner, treadmill and wall are all fine.  Switched to a different plug.

Treadmill; 9:22 pace.

Treadmill; 9:05 pace.  

I registered last night for the Mississauga Half Marathon on May 1st.  It's just a 4 hour drive from here, and one I've looked at over the years.  I would have liked to have trained hard for it to see if I could beat my PR for that distance, but it's just 5 weeks before my 5K, and I don't want to blow myself up before my sub 20 minute attempt.  So, I'll just run it relatively hard as a training run - maybe aim for something in the 1:35 range.

Goodwill Drive; 8:43 pace.  Nice to get outside, despite the icy road and chilly air.

Treadmill; 9:05 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Treadmill.  Variable pace between 9:30 - 10:00/mile.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

4 x 1200 repeats @ 6:40/mile pace with 400 recoveries.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Tempo run on the treadmill; 3 miles @ 7:03 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.  

4 x 1200 @ 6:35 pace with 400 recoveries.

I felt a little off after the 10th lap, so ran the final set as 3 x 400 with 400 recoveries, with the final lap at 6:31 pace.

Treadmill; 9:40 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Tempo run on the treadmill; 4 miles at 7:03 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:56 pace.  First time in 2 weeks to run outside, so a nice change.

Goodwill Drive; 8:50 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.  

4 x 1200 @ 6:31 pace with 400 recoveries.

Treadmill recovery run; 9:31 pace.

Treadmill; 9:40 pace.

Tempo run on the treadmill.

5 miles @ 7:03 pace.

The body held up pretty good, but the brain sure battled me!  

Treadmill; 9:40 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

5 x.1 km repeats @ 6:27 pace with 200 recoveries.

Recovery run on the treadmill; 9:40 pace.

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Treadmill; 3 miles at 7:03 Tempo pace.  The rest easy.

Easy treadmill run; 9:31 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:31 pace.  Nice to take it outside again.  It warmed up to -9C/16F - a nice reprieve from the more recent arctic chill we've had.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

5 x 1km @ 6:27 pace with 200 recoveries.

It rained yesterday, and is cold today, so the whole city is a skating rink.

On the treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

6 x 800m @ 6:27/mile pace with 200m recoveries.

More speedwork on the treadmill.

6 x 800m repeats at 6:27 pace with 200m recoveries.

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.  Huge dump of snow yesterday and overnight.  I had to cancel a massage appointment in the morning because I got stuck in my driveway.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

10 x 400 repeats @ 6:15 pace with 60 second recoveries.

I found this workout a lot easier than anticipated.  In fact, I've nailed the last 4 speedwork sessions over the past 8 days.  I'm going to transition to Half Marathon training for now, and then return to my 5K preparation a month before that race in June.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Skead Road; 8:40 pace.  It was nice to be outside, despite the cold wind.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Treadmill; 9:31 pace.

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:26 pace.

I misjudged the cold; should have dressed warmer for this one.

Tempo Run; 4 1/4 miles @ 6:49 - 6:54 pace.  On the treadmill.

Goodwill Drive; 8:39 pace.

On Sunday it rained.  Then the temperatures plummeted again.  Today, the sun is out and the trees were glistening like diamonds.  Gorgeous.  My feet froze.

Goodwill Drive; 8:41 pace.

Warmer today, at -7C/20F.  My feet didn't freeze.

Strength workout on the treadmill.

4 x 2km @ 6:40 pace with 400m recoveries

Treadmill; 10:00/mile pace.

Radar Road; 8:40 pace.  Icy cold wind; my fingers are still numb.  Still, it felt great to run outside.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.

6 @ 7:35 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:41 pace.

Just past the 3 mile mark is my turn around - a tight cul-de-sac.  I take it slow in the winter, because there is a lot of ice build up there.  Good thing I was going slow, because my foot slipped out from beneath me on the icy turn and I fell.  It hurt a bit, but no damage done.

Goodwill Drive; 9:09 pace.  Felt a bit sluggish today.  Heavy freezing fog; hovering just below the freezing mark.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

5 x 1km repeats @ 6:27 pace with 200m recoveries.

Goodwill Drive; 8:58 pace.  The ice is melted from the road.  Finally!

Skead Road; 8:49 pace.

Miserable day.  Rain.  Wind.  Hovering right around the freezing mark.  Yuck.  

Legs were heavy going out.  More mental than physical, I think.  I ran 40 seconds/mile faster coming home on the second half.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  6 miles @ 7:27 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:57 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:47 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

5 x 1km repeats @ 6:27 pace with 200m recoveries.

I really had to battle my brain going into this workout.  Even during my 2 mile warm up - it kept telling me to take the day off.  Physically, I was fine during the speedwork.  But wow - I had to dig deep for motivation.

Big dump of snow overnight, and it's still falling.  I SO look forward to being able to do these workouts at the track, but it's still buried beneath the snow.

Goodwill Drive; 9:20 pace.  

The snow covered forest was visually stunning this morning.  A winter wonderland.  Too bad it's supposed to be Spring.

Radar Road; 9:08 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

6 x 800 @ 6:18 pace with 200 recoveries.

Got mixed up on my third segment and ran 1000m by mistake.  Was wondering why I found that one tougher than the others.

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.

Pretty cool out, at just -16C/3F, but at least it was sunny.  Cold North wind, though.

Goodwill Drive; 9:05 pace.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

5 x 1km repeats @ 6:27 pace with 200m (90 second) recoveries.

Goodwill Drive; 9:06 pace.

Really slippery today, after yesterday's freezing rain.  I had to be extra careful to keep my feet under me.  Cold North wind too.

Radar Road; 8:52 pace.  

Sunny and cold; perfect for running.  -5C/23F with little wind.

Speedwork on the treadmill.

6 x 800 repeats @ 6:15/mile pace with 200m (90 second) recoveries.

Goodwill Drive; 8:58 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 9:06 pace.

Treadmill workout, with variable speed pickups.

Goodwill Drive in a heavy fog.  8:53 pace.

Radar Road; 8:50 pace.  Snowing the first half.  Wet.

Goodwill  Drive; 8:13 average pace.  I ran 3 1/2 miles at Marathon Pace or faster.

Goodwill Drive; 8:52 pace.

Goodwill Drive in the rain; 8:45 pace.

Treadmill; Easy, 10:00/mile pace.  Late start, low energy, so just went easy.

Goodwill Drive; 9:00/mile pace.  Snow!

Radar Road; 8:40 pace.  Chilly morning.

Goodwill Drive; 9:04 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:31 pace.

Snow.  Lots of it.  Very Christmas like.  But it's Easter.  On the road, it was slush, so my feet were completed soaked (and cold!) by the time I got home.

Goodwill Drive; 8:44 pace.  

Goodwill Drive; 8:04 pace.  Last 3 miles run at marathon pace.

Yucky day.  Cold and rainy - almost sleet.  Maybe a touch of snow.

Goodwill Drive; 8:58 pace.  Sunshine!

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.  Sleet for the last mile.  

Goodwill Drive; 8:44 pace.

First time this year wearing shorts, short sleeves, no gloves and no hat.  Loving it.

Goodwill Drive; 8:11 pace.  Colder today, but I stuck with the shorts.  I'm resisting any thought of returning to winter dress.

Goodwill Drive; 8:49 pace.

Back to wintry weather.  It snowed a bit last night, and this morning it's just -7C/19F with a pretty strong north wind.  My hands got numb, even with the gloves.

Goodwill Drive; 8:51 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:48 pace.  

106/1850 Overall  (Top 6%)

86/855 Men  (Top 10%)

4/63 Age Group Division   (Top 6%)

Arrived home last night.  This was a Sunday morning race.  The wind was steady and, at times, strong off Lake Ontario, but there were enough course direction changes that it was as favourable as it was not.  The temperature was bang on perfect at around 7C/44F.  I'm really happy with the results of this race, given that I didn't do much Half Marathon specific training.  My time is only a bit more than 2 minutes off my PR.

I really didn't know how I was going to do, and so positioned myself with the 1:45 pace group at the start line.  That was a mistake, it turns out.  With 3700 runners (Half and Full started together), it was very congested for the first mile or so, and there were three turns on the course in the first quarter mile where it was impossible to run the tangents.  I did more dodging and darting around people than is good to do at the start of a race.

The course itself is mostly flat to downhill.  Just one uphill, on mile 7, of any real significance.  The last couple of miles are right along the lakeshore on paved walking paths.  The wind there was fierce, but mostly from the side.

I ended up running negative splits; never really went through a bad patch and finished strong at the end.  Other than the first two miles (7:34 and 7:27) and the hill mile 7 (7:41), my mile splits were all in the range of 7:05 - 7:19.  I have no regrets about how I raced this event and was quite happy with my performance.

Two compliments cheered me in the finish chute:  one man who looked to be my age or a bit older who thanked me for pacing him - he got a PR by following me (I didn't have a clue), and a younger guy who said he followed me the whole race and tried to beat me at the end, but couldn't.  

Recovery run on Goodwill Drive; 9:00/mile pace.  Legs a little heavy, but felt good overall and no soreness anywhere.

Goodwill Drive; 8:47 pace.  Stiff North wind.  Should have worn gloves and a jacket.

Goodwill Drive; 9:10 pace.  Beautiful morning ... sunny and no wind.

Today was a real slog; heavy legs.  Still recovering from the race, I suppose.

Goodwill Drive; 9:05 pace.

Finally got my legs back; the heaviness is gone.

New dog on the loose.  I had to use my pepper spray.  Sorry Bruce - your owner is the one who is at fault.  Both of you should be tied up.

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 9:15 pace.  Gorgeous day, and it looks to be a gorgeous week ahead.

A mink ran out on the road in front of me, maybe 30 feet away.  It saw me, paused, and then ran back into the woods.  They remind me SO much of the pet ferrets I used to have.

8:53 pace on a beautiful morning.

Goodwill Drive; 8:58 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 9:10 pace.

The last few days have seen the leaves burst out on the trees, the insects start to come alive, and the heat begin to increase.  Up to 20C/68F first thing this morning, and going to 30C/86F tomorrow.  My body will need time to adjust to the heat.

Goodwill Drive; 8:57 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:51 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.  Stiff North wind.

Goodwill Drive; 8:49 pace.

Goodwill Drive in a light, but steady rain; 8:54 pace.

Tempo run on Goodwill Drive; 7:49 average pace

Skead Road; 8:50 pace.

Skead Road; 8:57 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:59 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:50 pace.

Goodwill Drive in a light rain; 9:04 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:56 pace. 

It was just 14C/57F, but the humidity was 100% and it felt heavy.

Skead Road; 8:58 pace.  Gorgeous day!

Goodwill Drive; 8:57 pace.

Switching my off day to Tuesdays.  Marathon training program begins in one week.

Skead Road; 8:55 pace.

Perfect running weather, even with the 100% humidity.  15C/58F, with just a slight wind.

Goodwill Drive; 9:08 pace.  Still comfortable temperatures, but also still 100% humidity.

Goodwill Drive; 8:43 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:58 pace.

Skead Road; 8:55 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 9:04 pace.  

Mondays are for speedwork.  12 x 400 @ 6:40/mile pace, with 400 recoveries.

Lap pace is 1:40.  All 12 came in between 1:36 and 1:38, so a touch on the fast side, but consistently so.

Goodwill Drive; 8:59 easy pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.  A black bear pooped in the middle of the road.  Really?  You couldn't just walk a few more feet to the bush?

Goodwill Drive; 8:37 pace.

Skead Road; 8:53 pace.  Heavy legs today, for some reason.  

Early morning run on Goodwill Drive; 8:59 pace.

Speedwork at the track.  

8 x 600 with 400 recoveries.  Pace is 6:40/mile, or 2:30/600

Actual paces were between 2:25 and 2:31, so pretty much bang on.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.   Scheduled for 6 miles at a 7:35 pace.

First, it was delayed because of a pretty intense thunderstorm that rolled in as I was getting ready to go.  I waited 90 minutes until the worst of it had passed.  By then, the thunder was just rolling in the distance, although the rain was steady throughout, and the wind just got stronger.

The first three miles were bang on at 7:33, 7:34 and 7:30.  Because of the wind at my back, I had to constantly slow myself down.  The ride home, not so great.  I fought through mile 4, and was actually running on pace for the first 3/4 mile.  Then, a huge gust of wind hit me, and it just didn't let up.  I finished at 7:44 for that mile.  By then, the wind was directly in my face and blowing a steady 24mph, with gusts of 32mph.  It just sapped me, and I blew off miles 5 and 6 at 8:56 and 8:40.  Every time a rig drove by, a HUGE wall of water hit me.  I was pretty much toast at the end.

So, not a great first Tempo Run of this training cycle.  Good thing there are 14 left to go.  The good news is, the first 3 miles felt effortless.  Hopefully, there will be no wind next week and I can get a better idea of how this Tempo pace will work for me in my October Marathon.

Skead Road; 8:58 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:42 pace.

Long Run on Radar Road.  Pace for these is supposed to be 8:15.  I ran this one at an 8:06, so too fast.

The 1st 5 miles was into a strong headwind, and of course I had the strong tailwind for the final half.  It made it hard to gauge speed.

Goodwill Drive; 9:02 pace.  Chilly morning, with frost on the rooftops.  3C/38F.  Cold hands!

Speedwork Monday at the track.

6 x 800 @ 6:40/mile pace with 400 recoveries.

Goal was 3:20/800 lap.  Ran 3:14, 3:15, 3:17, 3:20, 3:18 and 3:19.

So, a bit fast at the beginning, but I settled into the pace as I went on.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  I felt a bit pressured to nail this one, after last week's windy failure.  Despite the humidity, I pulled it off.

6 miles at a 7:33 pace.  A touch faster than my goal of 7:35.

Temperature was 21C/70F, but the humidity was 100% and the dew point was 21C/70F.    So, I felt it - the breathing was heavy.

Goodwill Drive; 9:01 pace.

Skead Road; 8:53 pace.

Skead Road; 9:00/mile pace.

Radar Road; 8:52 pace. 

After hitting 31C/88F yesterday, it was a welcome relief to run in a much more comfortable 21C/70F today.

Monday speedwork at the track.

5 x 1000 with 400 recoveries.

My plan calls for a speedwork pace somewhere between my 5k and 10k race pace.  So, I aim for a 6:40/mile.  Today that would be a 4:10/km

Splits were:  4:08  4:08  4:12  4:10  and  4:17.  Not sure why I was struggling today.  I hit all my splits except for the last one, but none of them were easy and my breathing was labored.  It caught up with me on the final split.  Looking forward to a day off tomorrow.

6 mile Tempo Run on Radar Road.  Goal pace is 7:35/mile.  Pace ran was 7:30/mile.

On the plus side, compared to the two previous tempo runs, this one felt much better.  I didn't feel like coughing up a lung, or worse; my pulse rate was 139 rather than 159; I didn't cramp up or feel nauseous.  Not having incredibly strong winds or extreme humidity made a huge difference.  On the negative side, I'm supposed to run 7:35 for a reason, and I ran it too fast.  I  need to rein that in.

Next week I bump it up to 7 miles.

Skead Road; 9:06 pace.  

Goodwill Drive; 8:54 pace.

A blackbear walked in front of me.  A yearling.  I thought it was a big dog at first, wandering down a driveway.  It didn't see me until it stepped on the road, just 15 feet in front of me.  Then it turned back and ran up the driveway.

Radar Road long run; 8:14 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:56 pace.

Monday speedwork at the track.

4 x 1200 with 400 recoveries.  Splits were in my range:  5:06, 5:04, 5:07 and 5:07.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  7 miles @ 7:34 pace.

This was my best Tempo Run so far ... my pace was pretty much bang on, my legs felt strong and I felt like I could have kept going when I was done.

Goodwill Drive; 8:53 pace.  

Radar Road; 8:56 pace.

Skead Road; 8:57 pace.

Goodwill Drive; 8:56 pace.

Monday speedwork at the track.  

Ladder workout:  400-800-1200-1600-800-800-800 with 400 recoveries.

Paced it between a 6:45-6:55/mile - just below 10k pace.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  7:33 pace.

I ran a 7:34/7:35 the first 5 miles (goal pace is 7:35), but my final 2 miles were 7:31 and 7:32, messing up my goal average.  

Skead Road; 8:54 pace.

Skead Road; 8:54 pace.

Long Run on Radar Road; 8:12 pace.

Radar Road; 8:55 pace.

Speedwork:  6 x 800 with 400 recoveries.

7 mile Tempo Run on Radar Road; 7:34 pace.

I had two challenges for this run.  I woke up yesterday with a sore right foot.  Maybe the fascia, or perhaps the tendons.  I know I haven't been stretching the way I need to, and that changes now.  Today, not quite as bad, but still a bit tender.

The second challenge was the heat and humidity.  67F and 97% humidity.  I used a heat and humidity adjustment calculator, and my 7:35 pace was adjusted to 7:50, so I decided to just relax and go with that.  However, I ran the first mile in 7:33, and pretty much kept it there for the next three miles.  

That really tapped me out, however, and so I stopped to get my breath and lower my heart rate after 4 miles.  Then I continued for another 1.5 miles at the same pace, and then rested again before finishing.  I ran mile 6 at 7:29 and mile 7 at 7:42, so I was all over the place, and definitely ran harder than I should have, given the conditions.  Ah well - at least I finished the workout.  I sure felt like throwing the towel in a few times.

Radar Road; 8:47 pace.  After a couple of thunderstorms yesterday, the temperature has dropped into the comfort zone (63F), although the humidity is still at at 94%.

Skead Road; 8:52 pace.  My right foot seems fine now, after a lot of leg stretching this week.

Radar Road; 8:46 pace.

Skead Road; 8:55 pace.  Not terribly hot at 19C/66F, but the 95% humidity was heavy.

Speedwork at the track.  

6 x 800 with 400 recoveries.

Goal pace is 3:20/800

Every split came in between 3:19 - 3:20.  Perfect running conditions this morning.

Marathon pace Tempo Run on Radar Road; 7:32 pace.  

Goodwill Drive; 9:02 pace.  99% humidity.  The rain started at mile 6.

Skead Road; 8:52 pace.

Long Run on Radar Road; 8:14 pace.

Eight weeks down and eight weeks to go in my marathon training cycle.  So far, so good.

Goodwill Drive; 9:10 pace.  Cool morning with a bit of fog.

Speedwork at the track.

4 x 1200 with 400 recoveries.

I hit my goal pace, with splits at 5:05  5:05  5:01  and  5:00

This was my final speedwork session.  Monday's will now feature 11 mile strength sessions:  6 miles with various splits, run at 10 seconds faster than marathon pace.

Marathon Pace.  Scheduled for 8 miles, but ran only 7 miles at 7:34 pace, then dropped the last mile down to recovery pace.

It was just starting to rain when I ran my 2 mile warmup.  Then it got heavier and heavier.  The rain wasn't really an issue, but the South wind was quite strong - gusting to 22 mph.  For the first six and a half miles, it was blowing across my side.  But, when I turned into it, I pushed hard at the end of mile 7 to keep my pace, and it just drained me.  When I got to the start of mile 7, I decided it wasn't worth pushing the pace under those conditions.  So, I eased back on the throttle to save myself for another day.

Goodwill Drive; 8:44 easy pace.

Pre-dawn run on Radar Road; 8:50 pace.

Radar Road; 8:53 pace.

Skead Road; 8:51 pace.  Light rain and heavy humidity.

Strength Work on Radar Road.

6 x 1 mile intervals @ 7:35 pace with 400 recoveries.

Ran a bit too fast:  5 @ 7:31 and 1 @ 7:32.  Still, felt great throughout.

8 miles at Marathon Pace:  7:33/mile.  This was my strongest Tempo run so far; nice to feel I could have kept on going.

Skead Road; 8:50 pace.

Skead Road; 8:46 pace.  Cool morning.  I could easily have worn gloves.  Just 6C/44F.

Long Run on Radar Road; 8:09 pace.

A little faster than my 8:15 goal pace, but I felt great and didn't feel like I was pushing it.

Goodwill Drive; 8:54 recovery pace.

Strength Workout on Radar Road.

4 x 1.5 mile repeats @ 7:23 pace with 800 recoveries.

Felt strong throughout.  Towards the end, a line painter was at work.  That fresh paint really stinks, and the smell lingered for a half mile.

9 mile Tempo Run on Radar Road.  7:32 pace.  Smooth run with no problems.

Goodwill Drive recovery run; 8:49 pace.

Radar Road; 8:46 pace.

Back to Radar Road; 8:46 pace.  Six weeks to Marathon.

Skead Road in a light rain; 8:53 pace.

98% humidity, which I felt in the latter miles.

Strength Workout on Radar Road.

3 x 2 mile repeats @ 7:22/mile pace with 800 recoveries.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  9 miles at 7:33 pace.

Recovery Run on Skead Road; 8:43 pace.

Skead Road; 8:43 pace.  Cooler mornings now; easy for running.

Long Run on Radar Road; 8:09 pace.  Perfect running temperature at 12C/54F.

Recovery Run on Goodwill Drive; 8:56 pace.

Strength Run on Radar Road.  Scheduled for:  2 x 3 mile repeats @ 7:25 pace with 1 mile recovery.

Actual pace:  ran both 3 mile segments at 7:22, so pretty close to bang on.

This was a tough one.  I woke up to pouring rain.  High humidity at 98%, with the temperature around 20C/68F.  Gusty wind.  My pace converter, which takes humidity into account, said that I should slow down 10 seconds/mile.

I waited an hour for the rain to stop, and then decided to just see how it went.  I'm happy with the results, but my brain sure tried to get me to stop several times.  I had to really fight that urge.

Tempo Run on Skead Road; 9 miles @ 7:31 pace.

Goodwill Drive recovery run; 8:43 pace.

Yesterday, it was 12C/54F for my run, which is about what it will be for my race.  Today, even cooler at 6C/43F.  Wore long sleeves and gloves for the first time since early Spring.

Radar Road; 8:53 pace.

Radar Road; 8:42 pace.

Skead Road; 8:52 pace.  Start of the week with the most mileage.  Race is 4 weeks from today.

Strength Workout on Radar Road.

3 x 2 mile intervals @ 7:20 pace with 800 recoveries.

No issues at all.  The conditions were perfect and it felt great.

Tempo Run on Radar Road.  10 miles @ 7:31 pace.  No wind, clear skies and 8C/46F.

Recovery Run on Skead Road; 8:53 pace.

Skead Road; 9:05 pace.

Long Run on Radar Road; 8:06 pace.  Close to 100% humidity.  Heavy fog from start to finish.

This was my final Long Run.  Marathon is three weeks from tomorrow.  

Recovery run on Goodwill Drive; 9:00 pace. Light rain.

Well, a set back today.  I'm not sure, yet, how significant.

Scheduled for a 4 x 1.5 mile Strength Workout at 7:25 pace, with 800 recoveries.  11 miles in total.

Finished the first 1.5 in 7:21 and then the next mile in 7:20 before I had to stop.

So, for the past two weeks or so, I've been keeping tabs on my right ankle/achilles tendon, medial side.  It is a little sore until I hit mile 3 or so on my runs.  No change to stride.  I've been icing it.

I'm not sure if that's connected to what happened today.  That soreness left when I started my first 1.5 mile repeat, but then the top of my toes on the right foot started hurting.  They continued to hurt during my 800 recovery, and then started to get worse on my second repeat.

That's not what stopped me, however.  It was almost falling down 3 times.  My right leg went wonky - like the nerves were not firing.  The third time, I barely caught myself and recovered, so I thought better of it and walked.  That's when I noticed how really painful the top of the foot was, and I limped painfully home.  

I just finished icing it and I'm still limping, so I'm not sure what's going on down there.  It doesn't seem like a running injury, certainly not like anything I've had before.  Tomorrow is a rest day anyway.  I'll see how things go today and tomorrow and then decide how I want to handle the final 3 weeks of training.  

Well, it looks like my PR attempt is cancelled.  At least I cancelled my airbnb accommodations in Montreal, and have resigned myself to putting the kibosh on this race.

From what I can tell, I have either Extensor Tendonitis or Metatarsal Stress Fracture in my right foot.  My guess is the ET.  The symptoms are pretty much identical, and both mean no running for a while.

If ET, there is a chance that, after 3 weeks of no running, I might be able to run a marathon.  But that would mean a 10% loss in fitness, which translates into a 3:35 marathon.  That just does not interest me.  And, of course, if a fracture, then 3 weeks of rest will just not do it.

After Monday's disaster, I limped around all day Tuesday.  I was marginally better yesterday - not visibly limping, but moving slow.  Today, it's still painful to walk, and especially to go down stairs.  

What gets me is how fast this came on.  I can point to the exact spot on the road where I was when the pain started.  There was no lead up to it.  Just bang.  That I don't get.  No signs of it on my 16 mile long run Saturday, or my 6 mile easy run on Sunday.  

However, here we are....

On another note, after waffling on the decision for weeks now, I decided not to run the Boston Marathon next Spring.  Registration is open now, and I beat my BQ by just under 13 minutes, so getting there was assured.  But having run it (poorly) once, I just can't seem to work myself up to getting excited about it again.

I'm not sure where that leaves me for next year.  I toyed with the New York Marathon, but that doesn't seem to interest me a lot right now either.  What DOES intrigue me is the Ultra distances, and that's what I'm thinking right now.  I MIGHT go back to running Ultras next year.  We'll see.  For now, I need to finish going through my mourning process brought on by loosing this golden opportunity for a Marathon PR in October.

This will be my last blog until December, or maybe January next year, unfortunately.  My right foot is broken.  More specifically, I have a metatarsal stress fracture.

I saw a podiatrist last week, had x-rays, and just came back from my follow up visit.  He had also suspected a leg length discrepancy, and so had me x-rayed for that too.  He was right:  my left leg is 1.4cm longer than the right.  He was amazed I had no back or knee problems.  Said I was lucky I was skinny, or I would have.

I took a closer look at all my shoes, and I can see that while I have a decent strike pattern on my left (land on left side of heal and toe off the big toe side), on the right I'm landing on the outside midfoot and toeing off normally.  That puts a lot of extra stress on those metatarsals.  He chalked the difference up to the leg length discrepancy.

As far as a solution goes, he suggested seeing this as a one off, given that it has not been a problem until now.  Basically, at my age, going for that 2-3% improvement in my marathon time may have just pushed me over the edge.  Neither of us wanted to look at an orthotic lift, as it would mean messing with my whole kinetic chain.  It took me years to get that part of my running down just right.

So, in the short term, no running for 11 more weeks.  That puts me into mid-December.  He said I can shorten that by a few weeks if I decided to wear a surgical boot, but that in any event I should be careful about weight bearing and certainly should not think of running.

In the long term, he sees no reason why I couldn't go back to training as I am now.  I'll give it more thought over the next few months or so, but what I'm toying with is going back up to the Ultra distances.  The training mileage is basically the same, but at a much slower pace, and on trails.  We'll see.  For now, I'm going to switch to bulking up a bit this Fall with weights.  I'll certainly miss running.  Oh, and the race I was supposed to do on Sunday?  PERFECT conditions!  Sunny, 40F at the start line and 55F at the finish.  I would have nailed it!

After more than 12 weeks with no running, it was great to be back at it today.

Just 3 easy miles, at a pace of 9:48.  I'll hang out at this mileage until I get a sense of how things are going.  I'm using a 1/2" lift in my right shoe, and I'm hoping that will correct the impact/stride issue that led to the broken foot last September.  I've been walking with it now for 3 months, so time to see how running with it feels.  So far, so good!

Same run as Saturday, with a slightly faster pace:  9:27/mile.  I'm going to keep it here for a while until I see how my body reacts to both the running and the heel lift.  Icy North wind!

Sticking to 3 mile runs.  COLD.  My beard was white when I got home.  9:13 easy pace.  Some snow predicted for later in the week, so hopefully will be able to get out on the ski trails.  I prepped my skis last week.

Keeping it easy.  9:23 pace.  Glorious red sky before the sun kissed the horizon.