Racing..

For the second day, I pushed myself to do a solid tempo run. Did Ontario Place and back, 6K in total. Will try to fit in two more runs before vacation and yes, I will pack my running gear.

500km

500km
Originally uploaded by yumkerun.

Did a 10K city route, which means at the 6K mark, somewhere around Spadina and Bloor, I hit my 500K for the year, give or take a few K.. okay, maybe more than a few.

Anyways, i've run most of them in these training shoes.. and they still look brand new.

Now back..

..to our regularly scheduled running blog.

Last week's total: 16K
Year to date as of last Sat: 488K

Anyways, the weather has changed dramatically since I last went out (a whole seven days ago..) A week ago, I had the trails mostly to myself, much like the entire winter. Today, it's crowded.. At least 15 runners were out there.. Which is good, cause I can chase down slower runners and have faster runners blow by me.. Did the Ontario Place 6K and back. Wicked run.

My calves, however, are hurting.. Lesson learned: standing all day in nice looking shoes that have no support is one thing, deciding to cap the long day with dancing in those supportless shoes is a whole another matter.

Back on the road. lots of mileage to make up this week cause I'm off to Paris/Berlin/Nice as of April 1 for two weeks. Now I have to fit in running in Paris.. ah, the life.

Excuses

Originally uploaded by yumkerun.

The worst running week in awhile.. i think I ran 16K last week..

anyways, my excuse? well, the picture says it all. Sean and Caroline's wedding, and most of my close friends were in town for the night. More pics to come

Coldplay in Toronto

Not a running post, I know. In fact, I didn't run today. Instead, my brother took me to see Coldplay! Wicked concert. I'll put up real pix tomorrow (even have video/audio). For now, a picture


K, here's another one..

From Ontario Place

Motivation

Ran to Ontario Place and back, 6K. On my way there, I was being tailed by a runner going about the same pace.. I decided to use that as a motivator, so I pictured him on my tail, and poured on the speed. I ran about 3 kilometers at quick pace.

Time flies

As I reach my 500K for the year to date, I see my running year coming into focus. In less than two months, my racing season begins. I'm already signed up for a big May, with a 10K and a half marathon coming on two consecutive weeks. I'm expecting the Nike RunTO will come up in late May and I may have been talked into doing a run in June.

So far, I haven't been doing any real training. I don't know, don't feel like doing the intervals, etc., even though I know it's good for me. On the bright side, I do a lot of tempo runs and a few lighter pace runs.

Today, did 10K to Cherry again. I like that run because it is uninterrupted, relatively flat, unlike the city route, which has tonnes of opportunities to hit red lights and a slight incline. Also, the Cherry beach run has lots of wind or, rather, a lack of wind shelter. So it's a nice tough course in that respect.

Toronto the good...

seen through the chainlink fence on the trail back toward the city from Cherry Street.

Cherry beach

Okay, I got my new cellphone, a cool Motorola V3C. Took this picture at the 5K mark of my 10K run today. You can see my long shadow on the beach.

Winter's reminder

yikes.. My hands were burning after today's 10K run back to Cherry Beach and back. Very cold.
Paired with yesterday's 6K, I almost, but not quite, hit the 50K mark.

Oh well, more to come.

Weekly total: 49K
Year to date: 472K

63

Well, I guess I could have waited until I had an even number, but I thought I would point out to myself that this is my 63rd blog entry since starting it in late December. Been pretty faithful to this blog, and I'm glad I did it instead of using my running diary. I just reread my postings and it's fun to look back and see and remember all the mileage.

Today was a memorable day. Another day closer to Spring but the weather is great. I literally crashed into another runner while I was running up Bathurst. I was reaching the end of a sidewalk and as I was reaching the intersection, another runner comes around the corner. We sorta hit the brakes at the same time but we still bump into each other. A quick 'sorry' and we're both on our way, a little wiser to the potential pitfalls of running on narrow sidewalks in Toronto.

That said, I did a 10K and as I write this (6:33 p.m.) it's still sunny. Thank God.

Hurts one way

Did a 6K run to Ontario place and back. Problem: Wind was gusting at 80km/h. Solution: Run your hardest, then have that 80km/h wind push you back home.
Nice.

Spring, summer running

Nice to remember what it's like to run in the sun, 13 degrees, with the sweat pouring down your face. Nice to run the trails and have a lot of company (fair weather runners, I call them in my mind when I'm doing a run in -10 degree without windchill. Nice to compete for sidewalk space for once on a Toronto street, because when it's anywhere above 10 degrees and sunny, you can be guaranteed that the patios will start to open.

Ran to Ontario place and back, then up Spadina, west on King, up Bathurst, east on Bloor, down on Bay and a whole lot of zig zags later, I'd done a whopping 17K. What a great running day.

The week

No long run this week.. Well, maybe tomorrow, but that's 'next week' I guess. An amazing 12 degrees today, with sun, so after a lazy morning, a nice brunch with R. and friends, I did a 10K to good ole Cherry Beach. Odd. The bikers were back, as were some roller bladers, but no runners once I passed Yonge Street. where are you guys?

Weekly total: 51.5K
Year to date: 423K

Running into friends...

So I bumped into Jelly, or rather, I ran behind her at city hall during my 10K run until she called out my name. She was walking home from the gym. Jelly, by the way, is the friend who talked me into doing the Chicago Marathon in October with her and Frank. I, in turn, am trying to talk her into doing the Mississauga half-marathon in May.

Jelly tells me she's run a few miles today. I think she says she's done 2.5 miles or something. Anyways, she reads this and I told her today I'd mention her in this log, so there. By the way, her name isn't Jelly. And I never call her that in person. I actually think Frank gave her that name -- long story, i'll let someone else tell it.

And meanwhile, my friend Fitzy emails me and tells me he did a 5K today, his first real run in 10 years. He's been a gym fanatic recently, and is showing amazing dedication to all things healthy, including eating better.

It's funny how I -- and my friends -- have learned to make time for fitness. All my old newspaper cohorts. We spent five years sitting in an underground office, eating badly, sitting in front of computers and exercising nothing but our typing fingers. The only cardio spent was holding chair races down the hall, or lifting the beer pitchers or beersteins (or stacks of newspapers on circulation morning, the caloric benefits of which were quickly negated by bacon, eggs and toast at the Studio restaurant). We've taken a long, slow road to recovery, logging the miles back into a healthy lifestyle.

Oh yeah, and Faz, one of the few people who I reads this blog, tells me she's running -- and cross country skiing out there in Calgary. To me, she remains the Yoga and Pilates Queen.

They're back...

It's 10 degrees, and a bit misty, but very nice running day. The perfect running day, I thought, as I took the Ontario Place route for the first time in a long time. A lot of runners are back at it, I suspect. I passed at least 12 out there. Anyways, did a quick 6.5K and feel great.

More training needed.

Well, it's two months till the Sporting Life... I've been putting in good miles over the past few months, but I have a feeling that I'm not ready for race no. 1 in May. My last two races were half marathons and I'm not sure I can do the 10K in 41 minutes... I think i'll be best suited to run a fast race in the late summer, when i'll have real marathon training under way. Oh yeah, there's a matter of excess winter weight that I put on since the October half marathon. Think my spring will be spent getting back to a better training weight.

Oh well. Today, I did 5K, much of it at tempo or higher. Funny, but i'm a 10K run away from matching last week's total, so this will be a good week.

This Thursday to Sunday has temperatures pegged at 11 degrees! The bad news: Rain.

Shaking off sleep

Worked Oscar night and only got to bed at 4:30.. up again at 8, then slept from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ugh.. I really really wanted to just stay in bed, but I really talked myself into running since I had a weekday off. Did a brisk run to Cherry beach and back, 10K.

We got off easy...

I haven't written off winter, but wow, where did it go. Barely had any snow, it wasn't all that cold and now we're into March and today was sunny, plus 3 and the perfect day for a long run. Well, I did 10K and plan to do a good run tomorrow.

Not a whole lot better

10K to Cherry Beach and back. Very windy, but a sunny day, and it's a pleasure to have a run in the sun when all I get during the weekdays are night runs. So, I cap off another so-so running week. Too many days off, and overall not a lot of mileage. I'm two months away from my first race (Sporting Life 10K) and the week after that comes the half-marathon. Yikes.

Weekly total: 35K
Year to date: 371.5K

Quick...

5K run in the city..... Yep, nothing more to say than that.