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.

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 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:

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.

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:

Long Run Saturday and the war on Cheezies

Few things in your running life are as satisfying as a nice long run on a beautiful late Spring day.  On Saturday I ran with the Saskatoon Road Runners over at Brainsport.  We did 10k along Spadina Crescent, and the temp never got above 25c.

This was only my second 10k run since my ill-fated half marathon in April.  The it band issues were a non factor, and the SI joint pains were similarly a non issue. This is good news as I've got a 10k race in 7 days, and another half marathon in 14 days.

But yes, since my running totals have slid my weight has gone up about 10lbs.  Yes, some of this is new muscle weight  from squats and lunges, and some of it is new weight from my muscles adapting to my hips being realigned, and indeed some of it may be from inflammation.  But lets not kid ourselves... some of this weight is from eating Cheezies.  Cheezies are Canada's answer to Cheetohs.  Cheezies contain trans fat and are in no way healthy.  So why am I eating these things?   Because they are highly addictive.  So yes, I have suspended all cheezie-eating activities.

My other recent food addiction has been the pineapple freeze smoothie from Booster Juice.  Luckily this is a healthy obsession.