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

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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.