This week saw both moments of struggle, with various aches and pains and disappointing performance, to those sublime moments when all seems absolutely perfect with running; when it’s a visceral experience of rhythmic motion with graceful foot-falls providing a gentle cadence to accompany the relaxed breathing as one almost glides along effortlessly over the terrain. It’s the latter that has kept me engaged as a runner ever since Pierre Elliot Trudeau was first elected....and that is a long time ago! Perhaps I should add running to my list of things such as horse racing and romance where I’ve always said that no matter how bad it gets, there are always enough of the good moments to keep you coming back for more?!
To switch up the nature of the blog yet once again, this week I’ll still do the high level overview of the week but will expand on a couple of the days and their special offerings plus add a short section at the end on the life lessons that running provides. As I’m typing this, I can’t believe how sore my butt cheeks are parked on this chair – seems the 32km run yesterday discovered some more muscle groups to remind me that it indeed was a long, arduous run around Glenmore reservoir and beyond!
Monday, Mar 14: Scheduled - Barefoot warm-up and Yoga.
Actual – I looked at the yoga video on the web, curious as to how the instructor could actually get up and walk after some of the contortions she performed. Thought about it, deeply and almost zen like, then settled for a gentle 10-12 minutes of stretching on the living room floor. Yoga will be by next regime, after this marathon, so that I can get some flexibility back and hopefully stay active well into my octogenarian years! The barefoot warm-up, intended to get me to regain a “true” running form, would wait until time at the gym on Tuesday.
Tuesday, Mar 15: Scheduled – 3 repeats of 1000m, easy on the speed to save legs for Sat so around 4 minutes per km pace.
Actual – Easy 15 min warm-up around indoor track with a couple of strides barefoot that did draw a few looks, I think mainly from those concerned about the laundry aspect of cleaning white socks after exposure to the track. On to the treadmill for 3x1000 at sub 4 min/km pace (3:57,3:57, and 3:52) with 2 min jog in between each set and was feeling good, like a “real runner” so did a bonus of 1x500m at 3:45 pace (6 minute mile). On Sunday, that phrase about ‘saving the legs for long run’ came back to haunt me – the 500m likely not necessary.
Wednesday: Mar 16 Scheduled – New body weight program; 30 reps but only one set, light and fast.
Actual – time a bit tight with trip in evening to airport so rather than gym, this one easy enough to do at home so a light body workout at condo for 25 minutes, basically using own body weight for resistance doing step-ups, squats, and push-ups. Although with right shoulder too sore / damaged to do push-ups, basically became a leg workout routine.
Thursday: Mar 17 St. Patrick’s Day! Scheduled - 10 km aerobic run after barefoot, heart rate zone 1 (easy pace).
Actual – Incredible how ones’ day can get sucked into the vortex of working on the laptop while balancing off other things! And Thursday was a very special day being St. Patrick’s so just had to schedule in a late lunch with a few of the guys at a local Irish pub; in my case, a bit due to genetics and a lot due to namesake, so it just wouldn’t be right for me to ignore the celebration. Can you consider one pint of ‘Genius’, errrr, Guiness, carb loading? And yes my friends, it was just one pleasant pint. Of course, a good friend of mine said that’s why he doesn’t run: running makes his beer foam! The extra hour of socializing mid-day did shift the schedule back so after yet another quick trip to airport in early evening, the run was going to be later than planned, or hoped. It was nearly 10h30pm when I threw on the toque and headed off into the suburban hills of south-west Calgary under a bright, waning gibbous moon. At least the streets were well lit and very quiet on this particular winter night.
Heading north I made my way to my “old friend”, the Elkton Road hill which provided a good kick start to the run. As I often do, I made the run dual-purpose, not only for training and the associated health benefits (great mental rejuvenation) but also making it utilitarian as I used the time on my feet to scout out the neighbourhood for houses. We’ve been looking at places to live and nothing like a late night run through a neighbourhood to get a feel for noise levels and activity. Seems the only place that was reasonably lively was a pub in the local shopping plaza where everyone was celebrating being Irish, knowing someone Irish or more likely, simply celebrating having a reason to celebrate. I thought that it made for an interesting juxtaposition; revellers staggering out of the pub as I ran past in full stride, they looking as if walking was a significant challenge and the lone runner, eating up the parking lot with sure strides across the frozen asphalt.
Rounding the corner off 34th Ave to head south along 69th St, my pace unconsciously picked up slightly for I was about to hit a long, gentle downhill and it was also the case of the proverbial ‘horse heading to the barn’ syndrome. Then, quite more dramatically, I slowed then stopped abruptly, as I was about to cross paths with a critter that should cause anyone or anything to beat a hasty retreat: there in the middle of the sidewalk was no common black and white house cat, but rather a nocturnal skunk and one apparently none too pleased with my sudden appearance. Now this was slightly new, although I’ve encountered lots of wildlife during the course of my runs in and around Calgary over the years, it was my first encounter with a skunk in the middle of a sidewalk. No, not a “dead skunk in the middle of the road”…. Fortunately I was looking well ahead along my path, allowing enough time for instinct and knowledge to come to the fore. I quickly backed up a few paces and abandoned ‘Peppy la Phew’ to his own piece of real estate, crossing the street to an olfactory safe zone. Hey, this old farm boy knows when he’s ‘outgunned’!
I must say that an appearance of one of the ubiquitous neighbourhood jack rabbits bounding out from a backyard near the end of my 11km run caught my attention but fortunately, he had no large tail raised in defiance. Another safe run under the belt!
Friday: Mar 18 Scheduled - Yoga.
Actual – Ooooops, how about a day of rest?
Saturday: Mar 19 Scheduled - Can use this day to make up workouts or X-train day.
Actual – Not really formal cross-training but several hours of up-and-down stairs and in-and-out of garages as I started moving stuff from Lisa’s place to my house. We have to be out of the condo by the 31st and as I’m pretty scarce the next week or two, it was a rare chance to move a few things. The big items will be for the movers as no sense dropping a couch on my foot at this point.
Sunday: Mar 20 Scheduled – 32km with first 10km in heart rate zone 1-2, then remainder at Zone 2-3 (4.8-4.9 min/km).
Actual – Starting off at 7:15am in the dark, with 2-3cm of fresh snow, it struck me that even though Sundays are the most popular day for long runs, there were very few out and about and nary a dog walker. I was also thinking that ‘making fresh tracks’ has a whole different emotive appeal when skiing in the mountains rather than running on city sidewalks.
After an hour by myself, I circled back to the coffee shop in Glenmore landing and met up with the “Old Dawgs”, pleased to have a couple of the old boys company for the next hour and a half. The run felt very long and slow, finishing the 32km (20 miles) in 2h51min which was about 20 min slower than this same length training run back in 2009. Seemed to be one of those performance disappointments I mentioned although it didn’t put a damper on the breakfast after; funny, it never really does!
Back home I’ve never been a fan of the ice cold baths to soothe the legs so settled for a hot shower followed by couch time with my two old friends -- the two tubs of water, smoking hot and ice cold – to treat my sore right heel. My legs seemed heavy yet gelatinous the rest of the day, like walking on elephant legs made from jello; so perhaps the ice cold bath after the long run is the answer? Then again, lowering the legs into the ice cold bath doesn’t seem to be nearly as daunting as getting the rest of the attached bits lowered into the freezing water?! Colonoscopies are one thing, physicals another, but easing one’s lower body into a tub of ice water...brrrr, jello legs it is!
(If you’re a fan of Dave Barry’s hilarious writing, check out his take on colonoscopies at http://slowasiceberg.blogspot.com/2008/11/colonoscopy-humour.html)Running’s Life Lessons:
Just a couple to start, as final ‘take-aways’ this week and I don’t mean ‘take-aways’ as in greasy fish’n’chips’ or equivalent from a fry shop in the UK. Even though I’ve been known to sample fares from a fair few fast food joints during the course of my years of travel, a steady diet of them is not good unless one is looking to achieve the first three letters of diet a little more quickly…if you get my drift.
1) Change it up: Doing the same thing over-and-over makes you very good at that particular thing as physically and mentally, you adapt specifically to that activity. So if you always run 5km at lunch or always cycle for an hour in the evening, you’ll be good at those but likely poor at other distances or other activities. Change it up; variety broadens your base fitness and ability to do other things. Go ahead, try something new, perhaps train for a half-marathon….
2) Eat a healthy breakfast: Too obvious? Mum was right; it is the most important meal of the day. A bit of protein, few carbs and you help your body recover from its overnight fast and fire it up for the day ahead. And sorry, the double-double with two doughnuts doesn’t count as a healthy breakfast, unless you’re talking double poached eggs with doughnut shaped porridge as a chaser.
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