And, we're outside

Burnaby Lake trails

Unfortunately, due to a cold, the friends that Sonja and I were to meet for our run had to send their regrets.  However, that did not stop Sonja and I from making our way to Burnaby Lake for a little run - my first true run outside since the morning of July 12.  

Vancouver has been blessed recently with summer weather, but it is supposed to disappear tomorrow, so we enjoyed our 24 degree afternoon while we had it.  In advance of a cross country race this weekend, I wanted to see how my foot would handle being outside.  Sonja and I started our run together, navigating our way through swarms of little bugs that decided to gather in the way of all oncoming runners.  Lemming-like in their desire to die, the bugs attached themselves to our skin, only to be crushed as we tried in vain to brush them off of us.  

After deciding we had had enough protein for the evening, we decided to head back to the parking lot.  I wanted to try some race pace running, so I went ahead, and to my pleasant surprise my foot felt great.  That is not to say that I wasn't aware of it, but it was much better than I had imagined it was going to be.  That was the good news.  The bad news was that tonight was a reminder of the fitness that I have lost during my downtime from running.  3:30 min/km was a struggle this evening when not two months ago that was tempo pace for me.  I know that it will all come back in time, but it was humbling and reminded me of the consistent work that I am going to have to put in this winter so that I am ready for the spring races.  I am not afraid of the work, but it is always difficult to look at the mountain from the bottom.  That means it is time to start climbing.  And I am glad to be able to be outside to do it.

School's back for the fall!

That was supposed to follow the tune to "School's out forever!", but doesn't quite work.  Oh well.

As a result of being thrust back to the front of the classroom, removed unwillingly from my summer, I have been remiss in updating the blog.  I have, however, been training still, going to the gym for my every other day dose of Turbulence Training, followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I have been waiting for my foot to improve to the point where I have little to no pain during or after the run, especially the next day, and I am proud to say that I think I have reached that point.  I am going to go for my first true outdoor run on Wednesday with Sonja and some of our friends, and if that goes well, I will sign up for a Cross Country race this coming Saturday.  The x-country race is more for my soul than for training.  There is a series of cross races in the Lower Mainland and while I have raced one off races, I have not done them consistently since high school.  I am looking forward to running around hill and dale and feeling good about it again.  There are no illusions of going fast (my HR was at 180 bpm when I put the treadmill to 2% at 6:00 min/mile.  I used to be at 165-170 bpm), but I am looking forward to having fun with running as I get back into shape.  There is no real need to be fast until March, so it is definitely playtime for the fall and winter!

Weekend Warriors

As I stood in circle with Ross Taylor, Kelly Guest, and Jordan Bryden comparing war wounds (Ross once had a 17 inch rod in his femur; Kelly and Joran both have had broken elbows with pins and wires; my comparatively wimpy non-displaced fracture of the 5th metatarsal), I realized that overall I have been quite lucky in my athletic career.  I have been involved in many different sports and all I had to contribute to the conversation was a broken toe.  I would love to believe that I am a warrior, but I will settle for cannon fodder at this time.  Seeing Kelly, an old training partner from Victoria, as well as Ross, Melanie McQuaid, Stefan Jakobsen, and Norm Thibault, well, it felt like I was back on the Island.  It was unexpected but quite welcomed.  Stefan and Mel won the races, while Kelly, recovering from the nasty broken elbow, won the 10k trail race.  Seeing them has added some fuel to my training fire, especially talking about Gunner Shaw with Stefan and the Thetis Lake Relays with Kelly.  

  The mountains look big here, but they are bigger in real life!

This conversation took place at the Canadian Off-Road Triathlon Championships at beautiful Buntzen Lake in Port Moody.  The venue is absolutely gorgeous and is the site of one of my favourite runs of the year - a two and a half hour epic trail run with Simon Driver as he lead me through about 6 of the 10 vistas around the lake (Buntzen Lake is also home to the ultra Diez Vista and a stop on the 5 Peaks trail race series).  I was at the race volunteering as Gray and Teri Taylor, my Brooks sponsors, are the race directors.  They were hoping that I might race the associated trail run, but I opted for the volunteering instead.  It was a difficult thing to not jump in the 5k run, but I am going to be good and not do something silly that might jeopardize the healing that has occurred to this point.

I came home reinvigorated and had a nap.  But then I went to the gym and did Workout B of the Turbulence Training program I am using, and then ran 30 minutes on the treadmill.  I wore my Garmin 405 for the first time since I broke my foot so that I could see my heart-rate.  It was a little higher than I had hoped it would be for 4:40/km (it settled in about 155 bpm).  I recognize that it is going to be a little while before my heart-rate drops back down, so I will diligently put in my base miles to help facilitate that.

The treadmill is getting boring

I think that is a good sign.  When I first got back to running, I loved the treadmill.  The 10 minutes passed quickly and with a smile on my face.  Even the next few times I went on the tready it was easy and fun.  Just running was fun at that point.

Tonight I began to watch the clock.  I wanted the minutes to pass faster.  I wanted to be done and off.  This is good because it means that I am settling back into running and as such, I am no longer satisfied to be just running, but rather, I need to be running outside.  I am not going to do anything crazy, but I think the time is nearing where running outside will become my reality again.  The foot felt quite good during my 25 minutes, so I am encouraged.

I also completed Workout A from the Turbulence Training program I am following.  Lots of core and legs tonight, but I also threw in some of the chin-up/knee-ups that Craig has written about.  The one thing that I am really enjoying about this program is the noticeable difference in strength each week.  I recognize that the increase in strength is as a result of more neural connections with the muscle, but that works for me.  I am definitely not looking to gain mass, but rather use what I have more effectively.

I am going to try a little outdoor run (not just to get my dinner) on Saturday.  I am excited.

The Real First Day

Today was the first day of classes and it went well.  My throat is a little sore, as it usually is after the first day of teaching.  So much talking after a summer of relative quiet wears the vocal chords out a little, roughing them up.  They adapt pretty quickly, but until then it is zinc lozenges.

Not much activity today - a day off.  Some Wii Fit games and maybe I will challenge my virtual training to a plank contest?  But a needed day of rest otherwise.  Back at it tomorrow.

A new home!(?)

Hurried for time due to our chance at winning a new home in the PNE draw tonight, Sonja and I quickly completed our Turbulence Training workouts.  It was good because we have wanted to see how quickly the workouts could be done, but never had incentive to rush until this evening.  

I was done the strength part of the workout in little over 30 minutes, but then went to buy salmon from the fish market, only to find that they were sold out of fresh salmon, which meant that I had to run the 1 mile to Safeway to wait behind a guy who wanted to know how much a whole frozen salmon cost, much to the chagrin of the fish counter girl who didn't know the code for a whole fish so when she told him $35 dollars he said "Forget it! I'll go catch my own fish for that much!" and promptly left, but meanwhile I have been waiting for 5 minutes, sweating and worrying, and all I wanted was a fresh Coho fillet, which I finally got, and paid for and then ran the mile back to the car to find Sonja, who had finished her intervals in the gym, looking for me at the other fish shop, which didn't have the fish.  I was out of breath by the time I got back.

Suffice it to say that dinner was divine and we do not have a new house.

And I ran outside for the first time in 7.5 weeks!

T-minus 11 hours

Welcome back, Kotter!  A show that was on while I was alive, but too young to watch.  I have been told that my longer-haired self resembles Kotter, and it is said that I work with the Sweathogs, but I should watch some of the classic television series to see the comparisons for myself.

Tomorrow is the first day of school and while I am excited, I am sad to be leaving vacation mode.  I had a restful summer and I feel ready to begin anew, but the unresolved runnning goals of the summer are starting to haunt me a little.  I definitely wanted to run today, but heeded the advice of Dr. Leblanc, "Don't run two days in a row until there is no pain."  I didn't really feel any pain today, but I should allow my body to continue to heal, rather than give into the mind's desire to push it.  

I was glad to see that Hurricane Gustav didn't do its worst, but sad to see that we are going to polls in the near future.  Can't we all just get along?

Today's activity was playing on the Wii Fit, which is surprisingly good.  I was very skeptical when we first got it, thinking that I was too good for it, but I got my butt handed to me when it pronounced my Wii Age as 49!  I have since lowered my age, but there is some gold in that game, especially when considering that it will be getting people off the couch.  I am most impressed with the strength and balance games, but the yoga and the aerobic games are fun as well.  Not as challenging as Turbulence Training, but fun for an off day when I wouldn't have done any core work if it wasn't there.