Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Harsh reality (winter) and some planning

Okay, okay, I'm back in Toronto. It's -7C with a low of -13C. I thought about doing my 11 miler tonight but I think my body is letting me know it wants a day off. I ran four days in a row, including an LT run, a 15 + miler and a 10 miler thrown in for measure. Yes, I recall that part of what makes you stronger is the rest days, when those microtears in your muscles start repairing themselves. If I continually run without breaks, well, I risk injury and that's good for no one.

I'm quickly remembering what it really meant to be in marathon training. It means that damned the weather or the time of day, you had to be true to the training, cause if you don't it'll hurt ya back.

So to get in my 11 miler tomorrow morning, I'm not planning any long out-and-back routes. I've plotted out two different one kilometre routes in my neighbourhood, both are within 500 metres of my condo. The first has two big hills for each circuit (with two downhills) seen here. The second is a big old square around the harbourfront building and one roundabout is almost exactly 1 kilometre.

My reasoning is this. I don't know the conditions of the waterfront trail. Plus, it's dark. Also, I might as well start throwing in some hill training in my routine since the Around the Bay and the Flying Pig Marathon both have hilly profiles. Also, doing one kilometre loops is easier on the head (I think).

So the plan: go to bed early and get up for a (shudder) 5 a.m. run.

3 comments:

Marky Mark said...

You're a machine! Be careful out there. it was much icier today than on the weekend and I almost feel a couple of times just walking (although if truth be told I was on my CrackBerry while walking).

Triseverance said...

Keep up the good work, I have never run loops unless I was on a track.

yumke said...

Hey, I picked a good route and there was very little ice.

Bob, the loops got me very bored by the seventh rotation.... I can't handle the same scenery for too long