As much as the cold weather this year in Calgary has become far too routine, my trips to the Calgary airport have become even more regular. Between my travel and Lisa’s job as a flight attendant, I made 4 return trips across the city to the airport away in the north-east. Perhaps all I really do need is a storage place and access to a shower at Calgary International! So what did the week hold in store...?
Monday and Tuesday ended up becoming quasi-rest days, the Monday planned that way, the Tuesday a case of circumstances and adjusting to other demands on time. I’m not going to admit that the -29C on Tuesday morning affected my decision in any way but did think that although I’d been lucky not to contract the cold everyone in the house and around me seemed to have, I had the start of a sore throat so felt a day of rest was better than pushing the old body. Pushed the speed-work back to Wednesday and stayed inside the condo. Seemed to work as by end of week, was feeling 100% healthy, other than the sore legs!
Wednesday I was in Vancouver for late afternoon meetings so after checking in to the hotel and prior to board meeting, I fit in the speed workout along part of the magnificent seawall. Stepping back outside, the +8C was a most welcome change from the -35C wind chill I left behind in Calgary although Mother Nature had a small surprise in store during the run. After a 15 minute warm-up, I started in on the 6 x 1000m repeats with a 2 minute jog recovery in between, heading towards the Stanley Park beaches for the first three 1km repeats then turning around to finish the last three coming back along English Bay. The first four I hit my target time of sub-4 minute /km pace but the last two, the surprise was delivered in the form of gale force winds and rain. Head down, pushing hard into the wind, my last 1000m took an exhausting 4min50sec. Not sure who dislikes the wind more, runners or cyclists? In either case, there may have been just one or two expletives escaping my lips as I made my way back to the Burrard Bridge!
Thursday was originally to be a 9km run but had modified plan so day was taken up with meetings and traveling back to still very chilly “Cowtown”. Friday was now the 9km aerobic run so Friday afternoon I headed off at 16h30 in the -16C temperature, minding my footfall as snow now covered patches of ice. As I slipped into the Canadian winter running mode -- the unconscious drop of your backside to lower centre of gravity and a quasi-bow legged stance -- it struck me that it was a long ways from the west coast, let alone Hawaii! 53 minutes and 10.25km (6.4 mi) later, I was back in the warm confines of the house, pulling the frost off my eyelashes and muttering thanks for central heating.
Sunday heralded in another day of LSD; and it ended up being Long, Slow and involving some Distance. Thankfully I met up with the “Old Dawgs” long standing Sunday morning running group at 08h30 as setting out for a 29km run on a -17C morning (-25C wind chill), I definitely needed the psychological warmth of a group. Six hearty souls started out with one dropping off after only 2 km or so due to nagging injury and another, being simply wiser or less stubborn than rest, after 10km. The four of us ambled along over the fresh powder covering the running paths, noting how quite it was along those paths for usually on any given Sunday, the paths are busy thoroughfares with runners, walkers and cyclists, even in the winter. The wind chill and fresh snow obviously a deterrent to many on this particular morning.
During the run, guys being guys, I took my share of well meaning “abuse” from the veterans about my pace as, by far, I had the slowest PB in a marathon with a “pedestrian” 3hr4min time back in 2000. The other guys had all run several sub-three hour marathons and now a couple consider 42km simply not a long enough test so have turned to ultra-marathons of 50, 80 and 100km in length. Lord please protect me from any such foolish thought! After 15km we were back at the meeting spot in Inglewood and there we parted ways as I still had 14km to complete so undertook the last half of run solo. I had brought a couple running gels, sticky energy in a foil pack, to help me for second half of run although had no water to wash them down, not because I had forgot but because it had frozen solid in the water bottles in my running belt. The solution was running with one bottle at a time tucked in my waist band, where the heat from my lower back melted the ice enough so I could actually open the bottle and then get a sip of water. You should have heard the hoots of derision from the boys over that ‘rookie’ mistake; bottles too small and no electrolytes to act as anti-freeze....tut-tut! Before I parted from the group, I’m not sure I gained much running credibility when I said that I had borrowed my girlfriend’s running belt?! Good buddies, always good for a laugh or two!
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