January 2011
41 posts
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Marathon Training, Week 6 →
When Monday rolls around, I seem to forget that not only is it the beginning of another work week, but another week of training. I think it’s because the week starts with a rest day. I’m always glad to have one after a long run on Saturday and cross-training on Sunday. Today is even a true rest day because our team has a bye week in Dodgeball tonight.
This week is a...
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Marathon Training, Week 5 Day 4 →
I had a great 16 km long run this morning! To make up for the lack of runners I’ve seen lately, I saw a whole group of runners today. I also paced another runner for about 3 km along University Avenue. He was running a bit faster than I was, but my competitive side took over. I also remembered that blackberry is not one of my favourite flavours. Too bad I didn’t think of that...
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Marathon Training, Week 5 Day 3 →
I ran a 5 km easy loop around the neighbourhood. Not too much to say, although this is another day that went by without seeing another runner. I still need to work on getting out the door by 6:30 at the absolute latest. It was almost 7:00 when I started today. That’s not such a big deal for these shorter runs, but a habit I need to work on for the longer ones.
The...
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Marathon Training, Week 5 Day 2 →
An 8 km tempo run this morning. This is my longest tempo run so far. More and more, I’m realizing that the speed I used to run at was right in the middle between easy and tempo. I wasn’t realizing the full benefit of the tempo run, but I was risking injury more than the easy run. Now that I have a mix of each of those speeds, I feel like like I’m getting a better, more...
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I haven’t seen any runners out the last two times. Saturday was very cold, and yesterday there was a light rain. Will I see anyone this morning? The current conditions are -4C and cloudy. It hasn’t snowed overnight, so the sidewalks should be fairly clear. I get a bit more motivated when I see others on their way.
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Marathon Training, Week 5 Day 1 →
A 5 km easy run this morning to begin a new week. In my quest for new routes, I ran over near the University this morning. It snowed yesterday, so the sidewalks were snowy and slushy. This meant I had to work harder and raised my heart rate a bit.
As for temperature, it was much warmer today. Environment Canada said it was -5C, but I felt even warmer en route.
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Marathon Training, Week 5 →
Today marks the beginning of week 5 of my marathon training. Just 13 weeks left! Everything feels great so far. It still seems like a long way to go, but I know it won’t feel that way when I get to the end.
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Marathon Training, Week 4 Day 4 →
This is the longest run to date in my marathon training. Also likely the coldest. I did a few new things today. First, I did put screws in my shoes after running on ice this week. The route wasn’t too icy today (mostly packed snow), but they seemed to work well. I also tried an energy gel for the first time today. I can’t say whether it did any good for me, but it didn’t hurt. I...
Genetic Algorithm used to build a car with the... →
Really entertaining use of a genetic algorithm to build a better “car”.
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Screw Shoes? →
This morning, I was thinking about yaktrax, and then came across this. It’s so crazy that it just might work.
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Marathon Training, Week 4 Day 3 →
Another 5 km run this morning. I changed back to the Bluevale route because I’m getting a bit bored with Margaret Ave. I had to watch my footing today because the sidewalks are still icy. I ran the quieter parts on the road because it was safer. I had a bit of stiffness from yesterday, but all in all it went pretty well.
Temperature was very cold. The way the snow was glittering was...
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Marathon Training, Week 4 Day 2 →
Today I ran a 6.5 km tempo run. I messed up when I programmed the workout in the Garmin, so after 2.5 km I was going by feel. Looking at the data, I think I did pretty well at keeping the pace up!
I also had the pleasure of experiencing my first fall when running. I went off the sidewalk and onto the road to go around a dog-walker, and when I went to go back to the sidewalk, I hit a...
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Hey look, HTML5 has a logo →
I think if W3C can just make it 10% bolder, they’ll have nailed it.
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Marathon Training, Week 4 Day 1 →
Another 5 km run to start week 4. Today’s run went really smoothly, although I found it a bit tricky to keep my pace steady. My heart rate stayed in an aerobic zone.
The freezing rain that was forecast didn’t really happen, and I had a very light rain, more of a drizzle, to run through on my way around the neighbourhood. Temperature was about -3C.
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Marathon Training, Week 4 →
So begins week 4. This week will be a total of 19 miles, or about 31 km. I hope the freezing rain doesn’t come before I want to go out tomorrow morning.
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Long Slow Distance Lessons →
This post pretty much reiterates what I’ve been finding out about LSD runs. I’m slowly learning how not to run too fast, and there are great benefits.
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Marathon Training, Week 3 Day 4 →
An easy 8 km run today. I ran through Bridgeport again today, and hit the hill on Bridge Street. At the bottom, I hated myself for putting that in the run, but I loved it at the top. There was about 2 cm of fresh snow on the ground, and it was coming down steadily throughout the run.
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Marathon Training, Week 3 Day 3 →
Today’s run was 5 km run at an easy pace. After yesterday’s slog through the snow, I had a bit of soreness in my left hip, so I was being cautious on this run. Things felt good overall, and I’m pleased with the pace that I was able to maintain, and my heart rate stayed in more of an aerobic zone as well.
The temperature was about the same as yesterday, but there was only...
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Krispy Kreme Challenge: Great event, or greatest... →
The Krispy Kreme Challenge must be the most deliciously evil thing I have ever heard of.
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Marathon Training, Week 3 Day 2 →
A very snowy run this morning. My plan was to maintain a tempo pace, but there was no way that was going to happen with more than 5 cm of fresh snow on the sidewalks, and things kind of fell apart after the first 4 km. I ran part of the way on the road where it was clearer, but only on quieter streets; I stuck to the sidewalks on the busier parts of the route.
My pace may have been...
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Marathon Training, Week 3 Day 1 →
5 km run at an easy pace. I’m still figuring out how the pacing works on the Garmin. I’m sure it was telling me a higher number than what I see here, which means I was probably running too fast. Is it taking an average and showing me that on the run? That’s not very helpful. I think I’ll have to try the auto-lap timings to see if there is a difference.
The weather...
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Marathon Training, Week 3 →
And so begins another week. I feel fantastic after last week, and I’m happy to say that I don’t have any injuries so far. I think that taking the slow-and-steady approach is really going to work for me. This week is an “easy” week to recover from the gains of the last two.
I’m still feeling the effects of the reverse crunches I did in my cross-training yesterday....
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Another running calculator →
I saw a link to this calculator this morning. I prefer to be given a range for training instead of a specific pace number, but I think it’s worth checking out. If you travel and run, calculating equivalent times at different altitudes might be a nice feature.
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Lessons Learned, Week 2
I just finished my second week of marathon training, and I’ve learned a thing or two in the past seven days. This is my second week of running four days a week, and I’ve found out that there actually are different running paces, and that running without music can be beneficial. Just sixteen weeks to go until May 1!
When I started this program, I thought that it was going to be...
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Marathon Training, Week 2 Day 4 →
A new day, a new route! I decided to try something different. I think I was a bit crazy because I completely forgot about the hill on Lancaster, and I imagined that the one on Bridge Street was smaller. I kept my pace in check today, although I just couldn’t run slower than 6:00/km. This is my last run of week 2; only sixteen weeks to go!
Very cold (-11C) this morning, but...
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Rest day
No running today, but I think I’ve earned this day of rest. I know it’s crazy, but something about seeing all that beautiful fresh snow outside makes me wish I was running today. I guess I’m getting psyched up for my long run tomorrow.
A useful running calculator →
I have used the McMillan Running Calculator, and found it really useful for finding the right pace to run at.
Warning: This site has an autoplay video.
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Marathon Training, Week 2 Day 3 →
5K easy run today. I struggled to slow down, but there is a great temptation to run faster. I think this route was flatter than Tuesday. I noticed that my heart rate was lower today as well.
The weather is getting colder. The thermometer read -10C when I set out this morning, but there was no new snow today.
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
– Michael Pollan
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Marathon Training, Week 2 Day 2 →
I ran today’s 5 km at a tempo pace, between 5:09/km and 4:56/km. This was a new route for me, and coming up the hill on Lincoln Road towards the end was particularly difficult. I think I came close to my max heart rate today when I clocked 201 bpm on that hill.
There was another dusting of snow on the ground today, and the mercury dipped to -7C.
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Marathon training, Week 2 Day 1 →
Today’s focus was on slowing down my pace to an easy run, so my average running pace was around 6:00/km instead of 5:00-5:30 that I have been running. My average heart rate was a bit lower, but still over 170 bpm.
The weather was relatively warm (-2C), but there was a fresh dusting of snow on the ground.
Marathon training, Week 2 →
Just 17 weeks to go.
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Sunday's run →
I ran 10 km this morning. It looks like winter is coming back, because the temperature was back to -5C this morning, and it was even colder running into the wind. This marks the end of my first week of training, and I feel great!
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The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer... →
This should be inspirational for all those who think that “slow and steady wins the race” is just an old adage.
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RoadID seems like a great idea
My last Christmas gift arrived yesterday, and I think it is a pretty neat thing. My kids ordered me a RoadID tag, which is a metal tag with a reflective velcro strip that I can attach to my shoes. It provides some personal information in case anything unfortunate should happen to me while I’m running or cycling. Specifically running, because I’m notorious for not carrying any ID on...
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Rainy days are great for cross-training
I was supposed to run 10 km today, but the pouring rain meant that I stayed inside and did a workout with the EA Active and spent some time on a stationary bike. It’s a shame because it was warm enough today to run in my shorts for the first time in a couple of months. I also found out that the crappy exercise bike I picked up from a neighbour’s curb really should be in the...