The latest

So this has been an interesting month.  Originally I had planned to run more than ever before (150k+), instead I got a touch of the flu and a swollen gland and have had a fairly pedestrian month (80k so far).  The funny thing about taking time off from running to either handle an illness or avoid making one worse is that it's really hard to know exactly how much fitness you lose when you're not running.
For example, if you would have told me that taking off a mere seven days would result in my hips and hamstrings being sore the morning after I did a 5k return run I would have been surprised.  Granted, I could probably still handle a 21k run right now if I chose, but there's that word "probably."  In running your confidence needs to be better than "probably" or else you risk running misery or... injury.  And is there anything worse than sitting out a month?

Still, let's look on the bright side folks, after months of pretty good running it's probably a good thing to pull back a bit.  I wouldn't describe my running as particularly hard running (my range of pace is between 5:20/k to 6:40/k), though I've been running an average of 16-21k per run.

And so, that's that.

News + 2015 Saskatchewan Marathon + 2015 Saskatoon Police Half Marathon

On Monday registration begins for the Saskatchewan Marathon.  At the most recent marathon, I ran the 5k event, but this time, I'm running the full 42.2k... and this will be my first attempt.  Although I'm not aiming for a specific time,  finishing in under 4:30:00 would be nice, and under 4:00:00 would be ideal.  So that's that.

As for recent news.  As hard as it is to believe, I've only run three times this month (and it's already December 13th).  And yet, despite this, I've logged just a tad under 60 kilometres (for an average of 20k per run).  I'd be at 80-100k right now if both kids hadn't gotten sick and, well, if I hadn't gotten sick either.  As nice as it would be to have logged more running this month, it's also good to step back sometimes and let you body rest.  Although I'm a bit tired from fighting off the bug, I could definitely do 5 or 10k today.  But why?  The marathon isn't until May 31st, and I'm not running any races in the immediate future.

And this brings me to my next bit, the 2015 Saskatoon Police Half Marathon.  Anyone who knows the inside scoop about the 2014 race knows that I ran it in a lot of physical discomfort and ended up finishing in just under 2:20:00--which is about the time I spend running a casual training run of the same distance.  So I have some unfinished business to attend to here.  My goal is to finish in less than 2:00:00 like I did in Ontario at the Chilly Half Marathon.

The key to everything, when it comes to races, is to be physically ready for the pounding your legs are going to take when you race.  Simply being able to go the distance in training isn't enough, you have to be able to perform at a higher level (otherwise you're not really racing).  At any rate, I still want to participate in the Hypothermic Half Marathon as well, but I feel more inclined to do the 10k event than the 21k given that the race happens in February (which is right about the corner).

So that's it for now!

Pics from the trail...

On Monday I ran 21.5k (13.35 miles) on the trails.  The temperature was -18 Celsius.   I have to say that I felt really terrific.  My target race remains the Saskatchewan Marathon on May 31, 2015.  I'm probably going to have a tune up with the Hypothermic Half Marathon--the goal there, obviously, would be to come in under the two hour mark.

That's the news for now!

Enjoy.

Winter in Saskatchewan is coming within hours...

(top is Celsius, bottom is Fahrenheit)

As I write this post, a few puddles remain on the paved alley behind the confectionary adjacent to the yard of my apartment complex.  These puddles will freeze tonight and likely stay frozen until the spring.  That's quite a thought considering that how much snowy precipitation we're going to see over the next five-six months.
As it is now, we're right on the tipping point of winter.  The change from not-freezing to freezing is almost imperceptible (unless you are water), and yet it transforms the landscape for the city's runners quite a lot.  And as I've run plenty of times on snow and ice, I'm not really too concerned.  But it should be said that my next run (tomorrow morning) will be done with a temperature somewhere in the high teens (Fahrenheit).  It would be nice if things didn't get any cooler than they are about to get, but let's face it, -30 or -40 are real possibilities--not sure how I feel about running in such weather.

On the other hand, I've upgraded to Saucony Guide 7's (which were on clearance at Running Room).  If it gets cold enough, I may skip an outdoor run to review them, though such a review would prove fairly worthless given that the 8's are now available.

Brainsport's Gingerbread Run is scheduled for November 22nd here in Saskatoon.  I hear that the race is completely sold out--I might have entered the 10k race, but I'm not in race shape right now.  The Saskatoon Road Runners just had their prediction mile run as well.  Were I to predict my mile, I think 7:45 would be about right.

Right now my goal is to get into marathon shape, and that means building up to running distances beyond 21k--so far I have yet to breach that threshold.

and all is right with the world...

It's not often that a problem or running injury will be solved unwittingly, or simply vanish from existence, but that's happened with me.  By not stretching my right hamstring post-run (er, or pre-run for that matter) I not having any more pain running.  Now, this is one aspect of my running game--I had to make quite a few adjustments.  So there.
I've also been making great use of the Saskatoon Public Library and discovered the work of Anthony Bidulka, whose private detective novels are set in Saskatoon.  I've got a queue of books a mile long, including novels by Salmon Rushdie (Fury), John Updike (Memories of the Ford Administration) as well as a few by Nicholson Baker, the aforementioned Anthony Bidulka and Sara Gruen.

Today's run was a brisk five kilometres around Forest Grove.  A glutton for change, I decided to mimic a particular marathoner's arm swinging motion, and this resulted in my running a fairly blistering pace over the first few kilometres.  But yes, I neglected to remove my glasses before I left the house, forgot my headband as well.  But you know what?  Who cares.

I ran a 3:29 kilometer.... fact or fiction?

So I feel like I'm beginning to really figure some things out.  While massaging my right hamstring the other day I noticed a sore spot in the middle... a few moments of thumbing it alleviated my knee pain. Interesting.

Today's run lasted 5.3k--an odd number, but I decided to assess my performance every 5 kilometers or so.  Just as I was about to do my first assessment, I felt a sharp pain in the fibular head on my right leg. Workout: over.

But while I was running (along an L-shaped path that follows alongside Circle Drive) I realized I probably wasn't going to be running too much today, and so I decided to do a few 500 meter intervals in order to get my heart rate elevated.  I haven't been terribly happy running long distances at slow speeds with pounding pain in my legs.

And evidently I ran a 3:29 kilometer, according to Runtastic.  Although I don't consider myself terribly fit right now, I'm definitely fit enough to run what amounts to a 5:35 per mile pace for at least a few minutes.  Whether Runtastic was off or not doesn't really matter, I really was hauling ass for a bit.

All-told I ran pretty fast (26-ish minute 5k) for a training run with a taped ankle and nagging hamstring.

Happy Thanksgiving! (er, it's almost Thanksgiving here in Canada).

A few thoughts on running books, and praise for Running With The Kenyans by Adharanand Finn

The most you can ever ask of an author is to take you on a journey.  In Running with the Kenyans [Amazon.ca Amazon.com Amazon.co.uk], Finn wisks us through the Kenyan countryside with terrific, and sometimes lyrical, prose that evokes a sense of realness lost in a lot of writing. It's a delight to read such a terrific book (following on the heels of the similarly satisfying memoir of Caleb Daniloff) and read an author who bares his soul on the page.  Murakami, as much as I love his writing and respect his world class authorship, never opened himself up the way Finn does, over the course of his own running memoir.

At any rate, running books are often hit and miss.  On my 16k bike ride (round trip) to the downtown branch of the Saskatoon Public Library, I reckoned I'd pick up a few running books.  And so I did, in addition to the Daniloff and Finn books, I picked up a book on Harry Jerome (a seemingly dispiriting introduction rather killed the book for me--after all, telling me how I should feel about the subject matter before the first chapter has even begun usually means the author doesn't trust the reader--obviously what happened to Harry Jerome was horrible, but at least let me experience it all through the narrative); C by Tom McCarthy (which has nothing to do with running); and a biography of Bill Rogers which was probably written by the co-writer--in any event, the amount of name dropping in the first 20 pages was enough for me to close the book and just stare at the wall while my 7-year-old step-kid drifted off to sleep.  There was one other book, written most likely by a sycophantic fan, of a runner from the 60's and 70's.  The author apologizes for his subject a bit too much for me to read very far (e.g. if he'd only entered school at the proper age, he woulda been state champion etc).

A good running book, in my humble blogging opinion, makes no excuses for what it is.  If an author name drops, it's not on purpose, nor is it the focal point of an entire chapter or the reason for an extended anecdote.  As readers with a finite amount of time on earth, we are owed authenticity. Cheers to Adharanand Finn and once again to Caleb Daniloff for the good read.

Toothlessness and Training

And so, dear readers, I followed a terrible 11k run (in the rain) with a dental procedure to remove a tooth (molar, thank god).  Let's start with the run...

So after about 1km I noticed that the pressure in my right leg was pretty intense.  I knew immediately that it would be another run-walk-run ordeal, and that my metal would be tested in the cold cold rain.  Today's run was supposed to be an easy 12k run.  Instead, I stopped (at 11k) once it became clear that if I went any further I was going to do damage to my right knee.  I walked the rest of the way home (2k) in the rain.

Fast forward a few hours: the dentist is using his tools to yank out one of my molars.  A few minutes after the deed is done I notice him in his office eating a burger from Burger King.  I guess you get desensitized to all this after a while.   God even I want Burger King now, but I can't eat anything solid for 24 hours. Oh well.

On the bright side, it occurred to me that if I must run-walk-run-walk, maybe I can do sprints during the run portion?  Maybe I'll become the 20 metre world champion?

My next run is on Wednesday, and my plan is to run 16k.  I'm not saying that a hurricane will hit Saskatchewan (I mean let's face it, if that happens...), but knowing my luck...

Photos from the trail

From the Mendel Art Gallery:

Autumn reading: Caleb Daniloff's Running on Ransom Road

Reading a good book will make you ask questions and intuit answers. Some authors paint in broad strokes, while others like Robert Caro and Nicholson Baker can seem impossibly myopic.  In either case, good writing exists within the realm of the qualitative, not quantitative.  Good writing is not perfect; in fact it's rather imperfect. 

I discovered Caleb Daniloff's "Running on Ransom Road" after biking to the library looking for a few books to read.  I reckoned I wanted a few running books and a (non-athletically concerned) novel.  Sure enough, nestled among books about the Boston Marathon, Haruki Murukami and runner biographies, was Daniloff's expository meditation. Part memoir, part diary, Daniloff takes us through his marathons against the backdrop of his boozing past, where bacon figured prominently.

I always enjoy hearing how people came to "believe" in running, and how they persevere despite injuries and other setbacks.  That we all suffer in much the same way is a kind of comfort, I suppose. In Daniloff's book, I find a clear and well-defined universe of anecdotes and memories laid out in the symmetry of easily digestible chapters.

Autumn is here... so I ran 10k.

When I started-off today it was in the high 40's (Fahrenheit).  As you can see from the photo on the left, the trees are becoming bare, and the leaves are browning on the ground.

Actually, I started off at 7:30am this morning with butter coffee (yes, I said it).  Note: that's grass-fed, unsalted butter with freshly ground coffee, mixed in a blender.  And dear god, it's actually good.

At any rate, at half past 12pm, I biked out to University of Saskatchewan, chained up my bike and ran 10k.


One of the things that happens when I'm on these runs is that I often recognize some of the runners I see.  Obviously the landscape is familiar to me; and because its repose changes with the seasons, I'm never bored on the trails.  Note: it's not really "trail running"
since the path on the trail is asphalt.

My change in cadence is continuing to bear fruit.  As well, the forefront striking (albeit rough on my calves) is reducing the impact of running.  The result?  The stress on my IT bands is nothing compared to what it used to be like.

Today's run was a piece of cake.  Below are the pictures from today.  Enjoy.

And in the "wouldn't it be nice to throw my diet out the window" category:

Forefront Striking and Running Cadence

One of the things about this blog that makes it relevant enough to publish is that it’s a sort of public diary where I share (perhaps over-share) my experiences.  Although I’ve got about 2 years of running experience (2001-2002, 2013-present) I am still very much learning.  Of course, you can learn with me, and learn from my screw-ups and successes.

So this weeks big experiment, which I’m forced to do on my long run day (though, importantly I’m not forced to have my long today) is to start of the transition from striking at mid foot to striking at the forefoot.  I’m also going to track my running cadence—amazingly I don’t know how many steps per minute that I take.  

Let me also take a moment to state that my reasoning for altering my biomechanics has more to do with reducing the force of impact on striking and less to do with increasing my speed or anything like that.

As everyone knows the ideal cadence is 180 footfalls per minute, and that will be another item on my list of things to strive for today.

I’m actually writing this *before* my scheduled 14k run--after the list below, I'll return with my post-run thoughts.

Here are a links that are relevant here:

• Heel Strikes (Runner's World)
• How to boost your cadence (Runner's World)
• Fellrnr's Wiki on Cadence

______________________________________

Part 2

Okay, so I completed exactly 14.02 kilometres (1 hour and 26 minutes)--though I wonder how accurate Runtastic on iPhone is (not that Garmin is any better).   

My first impression of forefront striking is that it's pretty tough stuff, but that you begin to tolerate it fairly well after a few kilometres.  As expected, I worked different leg muscles (and feeling it now as I type this).  The amount of energy expenditure was such that I'd say my run was less efficient than usual.  I compensated by filling my water bottle with gatorade (usually I go with a sugar free drink, like PowerAde Zero), and taking three glucose tablets (always a good idea of diabetics to keep these on hand).

I didn't experience as much force of impact with forefront striking as I normally do with midfoot striking. Ultimately, though, I only did about 10-11k forefoot striking... because, it's tiring.

I downloaded a metronome app and ran 180 paces per minute and can confirm that yes, a higher cadence does in fact reduce the force of impact.  I have to admit it felt a little strange increasing my cadence without immediately increasing my speed (I increased gradually).  But as was the case with forefront striking, I abandoned the whole 180 cadence when fatigue set in.

So there you have it.

Shoes, coffee, running, trains and trails...

I was out on the Meewasin Trail today running about 7.5k in what was, essentially, a meagre attempt at a tempo run. As I was running I noticed a strange feeling in my right leg (I have a leg length difference)... well, it wasn't too strange, but it was a pretty clear indication that my right shoe was probably worn own (since it absorbs more impact than my left).  At any rate, this was my final run wearing my trusty Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14--I used them for several runs longer than I ought to have.   My Sauncony Guide 6's are probably going to be retired in the near future as well, which leaves me with a pair of Brooks PureCadence and a pair of Mizuno Waves--neither of which has as much cushion as I'd like.

As you can see from the train in the photo above, I ran on a narrow bike/running path for part of today's run.  A general rule of thumb of safe running is to avoid running on the same surfaces as cars. Although I did run about 400-500 metres through University of Saskatchewan on roadways shared with cars, the traffic was so light that it didn't matter too much.  The wonderful thing about Saskatoon is that you can run for hours without running alongside cars.  Even my bike ride today was half on bike paths.

So I accomplished 7.5k running and 5.2k on my mountain bike (really, I need a road bike if I'm going to be touring around this very flat prairie province).   After I finished my run, I collected my bike at the Sobeys on Preston Avenue, and had an impromptu picnic right where the above photo was taken. My picnic consisted of Chocolate Milk (1 litre, lol--it was on sale at Sobeys for $1.99) and 2.5 servings of Doritos.

Now, onto coffee... and running.  If you have experience drinking coffee right before running, I'd love to hear from you.

15k run through Saskatoon

Yesterday I embarked on my longest run since the half marathon in Winnipeg back in June.  I decided to run to the river and back, while also running at least 5-6k along the river on the Meewasin trail.  I've uploaded a bunch of pics--for those of you who do not know how beautiful Saskatoon is.

Before we get to the pics, let me say that the hamstring tendon pain I'm feeling is a longstanding issue that I've only recently really address with any impact.

Night running in Saskatoon

Ever go running without a particular path in mind?  I did that last night when I set out to run 10k in my neighborhood.  I decided to continue down my street past Kenderdine Street--that's as far as I've been in my neighborhood.

I ran past a lot of recent houses along the way and saw a Mac store I hadn't seen before (those of you from outside of Western Canada may not realize that I'm referring to a convenience store chain: http://www.macs.ca/).  But the most surprising discovery was that of a man-made lake just 2 kilometers from my house.  How crazy is it to make such a discovery?  I did my best to snap a few picks from my journey, but you know how it is when you want to take night photos with iPhone.  Maybe the boys at Apple will invent a better camera?


I kept my pace pretty slow over the first 5k (my 5k split was 34:01), but sped up ever-so-slightly on the way back.  My final kilometer was my fastest... by far.

But here's the thing: by starting off really slow, my body eventually warmed up to the point that I was able to really hang in there without any of the usual fatigue I get when I run alone.

I didn't have any issues with my IT band, which as pretty freakin' nice.

Near the end of the run I started to really feel an intense runner's high.  The high lasted until well after the run.  It was such a terrific feeling.

I don't have any races lined up at the moment, but I'm training with the Saskatchewan Marathon (May, 2015) in mind.  I'd also like to run the Hypothermic Half Marathon as well as the Brainsport Brainfreeze (also a half-marathon).  Stay tuned.

Updates!

Check out the Race Recap page for the latest.

I did the Lace up with Team Diabetes race over the weekend, while it wasn't pretty, I feel happy that I didn't have to miss yet another race.  I'm also back to my gym routine as well (I had to take a month off to let my knee heal up).  I did 34 minutes on the treadmill, followed by squats (135lbs, including barbell weight) and pec work (chest press machine).  Boy was I sore the next day.

Next up is the Terry Fox Run in a few weeks, and that will be the likely end of my racing for 2014. Since I can't do the Queen City Marathon as planned in early September, I'm aiming for a half marathon in early 2015 followed by a full marathon in the spring.

Finally! 5K on a late summer afternoon.

To be perfectly frank, I didn't think I would be running 5K today when I set out.  I was hoping to last at least 4K before my IT band became an aggravated mess as usual, but it never happened.  With some well-timed stretch breaks, I was able to cover 5K in just under 34:00 (this *includes* several minutes of stretching).  That may sound like a terrible time, but this was my best run since the half marathon in Winnipeg.

The road to recovery has been extraordinarily long thanks to my decision to gun it at the end of the half marathon after my IT Band had decided to tighten up.  Truth-be-told I am truly lucky I didn't make things even worse.

But all that aside, I found that rest, foam rolling, heat (hot water bottle / heating pad) did wonders for my recovery.  Additionally the ice/Advil combination proved to be helpful as well.

Of course I've learned more than I ever thought I would about Illiotibial Band Syndrome (namely how to pronounce and spell this damned thing).  The most important lesson I learned is what caused my particular version of the syndrome.  In my case it was an habitually tight TFL muscle brought on because of a twisted pelvis (now fixed).

I stretched my right TFL several times during my run, and it paid off.  So I'm back!  But now I need to make up for all the conditioning I lost.

3k in 30 Degrees

It sure feels good to complete a legitimate run without pain.  I pushed the envelope quite a lot, and stopped when it seemed like my IT band was on the verge of stopping me.

The trick it seems was thirty minutes of stretching and ... My old Saucony running shoes.

It was a bit warm, at 30 Celsius.  

My previous false starts were attempted in either my Brooks Pure Performance or Mazuno Waves.  (These shoes have less support than Saucony Guide 6.)

The road to recovery: strength training (or How to recover from IT band syndrome)

Imagine this: you're running a half marathon, when at the 15k point you're knee begins to hurt like hell causing you to stop/slow down/gut it out hellishly.  Now fast forward to the moment your physician/google/your running pal tells you you have something called IT Band Syndrome.

ITBS is considered an overuse injury, and usually (but not always) occurs when you overtrain -- i.e. break the cardinal rule of increasing your running by more than 10%.

Obviously you need to incorporate rest into your recovery, but don't forget to cross train!

I got ITBS exactly one month ago while running a half marathon in Winnipeg.  I was on track for a PR, too.

My recovery consisted of two weeks of mostly rest (save for some cross training).  I did run 13.1 very hard miles, after all.  Now I'm hitting the gym 3-4 times per week and am diligently working on increasing the strength in my legs, and am starting to see results.  Last night I ran 1.5 miles (my longest distance since the half marathon).

Last night's leg session went thusly:

set 1 (warm up): Squats with barbell.  90lbs. 10 reps.  Note: I go pretty slowly on the way back up.
set 2: Squats with barbell, 150lbs 10 reps.
set 3 and 4: Squats with barbell, 160lbs 10 reps. Note: this amount of weight produces enough workout of my glutes and hamstrings that I feel it later.

My one rep max is still unknown to me.  But I've already done reps at 200lbs.  I still want to know my max. :)

I also did bicep curls... nothing special.  27.5lbs in each arm. 3 sets, 10 reps.

The kicker is that I began my session with the 1.5 mile run on the treadmill with a knee brace on the affected knee.

And the recovery goes on

Contrary to what I originally thought, recovering from a nasty bit of IT band syndrome isn't depressing or annoying.  I've been getting some terrific workouts in at the gym and thereby building a lot of muscle.

If you don't already know, I get IT band trouble because of complications from having a twisted pelvis.  Now that twisted pelvis has been untwisted, the prognosis for the future is great.

So there's no running news yet.

Still meanwhile...

Wow, hard to believe, but we're coming up on a month since my last significant run (half marathon in Winnipeg).  I've decided to take the time off from running in order to 1) let myself heal and 2) do some strength training.

The healing-by-resting part is probably wise given my particular circumstances (recovering from SI joint dysfunction). But the strength training is something I haven't done at a gym in over a year. Frankly, I wouldn't be doing it now were it not for the fact that I won my current membership to Goodlife Fitness (yeah, I'll probably keep going at the end of my six month trial).

I like to load about 90lbs onto the barbell for my initial set of squats. For my second and third sets I use 180lbs.

I also do one set of lunges--last time I did not use weights.

So that's the news.

Meanwhile...

It's been a week and a half since I last ran, and nearly a week since my last cross training session.  Truth be told, having responsibilities makes it tough sometimes.  But this last week really has been a perfect storm.  To start with, it took several days to recover from Body Pump (my first encounter with the Les Mills class in over a year).  Then Canada Day happened.  So yes, I'm going to call this last week a rest week.

So since I don't have any new running experiences to share, I'll tell you about my first experience running in adulthood where I was timed.  It was in the fall of 2001, and I was required to run one mile in 8:30.  

It was terribly early and dark out.  The grass still wet, and the air still pregnant with humidity, I set out in cotton (yes, cotton) sweats.  I had no watch, and no means of knowing how I was doing.

In retrospect, I was probably running a 6:45-7 split at the start (in other words, a blistering pace for someone  inexperienced at running).  But that pace slowed drastically about 1/3 of the way through. Eventually I must have been running a 9 minute pace.  I finished in approximately 8:40.

We all ran on a resistance track; and yet, despite this, only a handful of us failed to achieve 8:30.  As a member of that handful, I simply assumed that running and physical activity were not my forte.  I was wrong... Though it would take a long time to know it.

I undertook a lot of runs over the following year.  Some were longer than others--frankly I found the long ones to be much easier.  I wish I could go back and do those old runs again.

What, if anything, did I learn from the experience I described above?  I learned that running requires discipline, self confidence and good physical conditioning.  Some people look at running 1 or 2 miles as a major undertaking that they're simply not capable of.  And for some people, it's really true.  But for the most part, I feel most people can run a mile if they are adequately prepared.

Canada Day: Five reasons why it's different from the US

So evidently the entire country shuts down on Canada Day and everyone wears red and white while singing "O Canada" in the streets while eating poutine and waving their "chip" debit cards.  Or not.

Of course, as an American in Canada I'm learning all sorts of fascinating things about Canadians, running and yes, running in Canada.  Here's 5 reasons why it's different to live and run here:

1. The weather.  Obviously.  Running a half marathon at 1 degree Fahrenheit in March is something you probably will never do in NYC or LA.

2. The metrics.  Distances, temperature and so forth are measured using the metric system here, so half marathons are 21k, freezing starts at 0c, boiling occurs at 100c, 40 degrees is unbelievably hot, and all liquid beverages are described in ml (millileters) and liters.

3. The spelling. Yeah liter is spelled litre here. Center is centre, color is colour.  This is pretty obvious stuff.

4. The prices.  Things are more expensive here.  A brand new pair of Brooks Adreniline are $160.  Haagen Daz ice cream is $7 for pint.  Of course, workers get paid better here.

5. There are probably a lot more runners here.  Saskatoon is an amazing city to run in.  Plain and simple. The Meewasin Trails run parallel to the South Saskatchewan River (which divides the city's east and west sides) on both sides and provides a running experience you simply aren't going to get elsewhere.

Adventures in Cross Training: Les Mills Body Pump, Canadian Style + Biking

I'm now officially a member of the Goodlife Fitness gym.  My membership is good Canada-wide, and lasts 6 months.  Hurray for the free gym membership (thank you to the Saskatchewan Marathon folks).  

My first official act will be to attend Les Mills Body Pump class tomorrow.  The idea here is to start strengthening my leg muscles and ward off overuse injuries.  Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty ripped thanks to all the running, and my previous Body Pump sessions at 24 Hour Fitness in New York City.  Yet, running is such a difficult endurance sport that you need more than just strong leg muscles, you need *really* strong leg muscles.  So I'm thinking I'll do two sessions of Body Pump each week, and try to also fit in a day where I do fewer reps with higher weights.  Maybe even do a full body work out.

Special bonus: 35-45 minutes of biking per gym day (I do need to get there, of course).

This week I've biked about 40 kilometers on a mountain bike.

So that's the rundown for today!

Humboldt recap + Injury!

It just so happens that we arrived in town at the same time as the carnival!

So I'll start with this: until this spring I had a twisted pelvis.  Chiropractor fixed it, but I'm still adjusting, which means I'm susceptible to things like IT band syndrome and so forth.  Naturally on my third consecutive weekend of racing things didn't go so well.

About 1.5 kilometers into the race, my right knee became an issue.  At that point, unable to really run, I walked the rest of the way--I might also add that instead of doing the full 10k route, I "switched" to doing the 5k and removed my race bib.  As of now, I'm not going to be doing any more racing until I'm at least 90% healed.  

So my next adventure will consist of strength training and cross training.  Lunges?  Check!  Squats?  Check! Mountain biking?  Check.

As it turns out, back in May I won a 6 month gym membership to Good Life Fitness (good, evidently, at any of their locations in Canada).  So we'll see how that works.

More important than the gym will be actual cross training so that I keep my conditioning.  If there's one thing I don't want to do, it's feel gassed after only running a few miles.

Today's race, the 2014 Conexus Sizzler Strut, was in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, which is about an hour east of Saskatoon.  Despite the fact that flooding appears to be a serious issue in Humboldt (at least when it rains), the city's elevation is actually greater than that of Saskatoon.

Jasmine and I camped out--despite the rain--under a small pavilion.  All the tent campsites at the local campground were flooded pretty bad!  The ground under the pavilion was so saturated with rain water, that when I removed one of the tent pegs, a small clump of wet earth came with it.

The second night we stayed at Pioneer Hotel Motel on 9th Street.  I'm not a huge fan of hotels/motels, but this one was pretty good and old-fashioned.  Notable was the diner on the ground floor--Sunday morning breakfast buffet was $10.99, and worth it.

The rain came and went all weekend, leaving behind vast puddles, soaked streets and an even more lush greenery than before.  On the way back to Saskatoon, we encountered this:

So that's the recap for today.  It anyone has has been battling Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction, feel free to reach out to me.  I'm always eager to hear how folks have dealt with this.

More photos from Humboldt: