Get It In Whenever Possible
My last post spoke of the busy times that have arrived for me and my family, and today was a case in point. After a late night watching the Jays (BTW, they are crushing the White Sox 7-0... wait, make that 8-0 as I write this) I had trouble waking up and so the morning was more rushed than usual. After encouraging Owen to run all the way to the school bus pickup so that we wouldn't be late I rushed to drop my bike off at the store where I bought it for its 6-week tune up. Then I managed to get to work by 9 and had tonnes to do. I did meet up with Mon for lunch and pigged out at an all you can eat Indian buffet restaurant, which was awesome since I was super hungry. Then, back to the bike store, pick up my ride, and rush home to get my running gear (um, 9-0 Jays right now) while Monica was on her way with a birthday present for a friend of Owen's. I got ready in 10 minutes, (um, Jays just scored a couple more and are now up 11-0), even shaving my right knee in order to tape it up, and jumped in the car once she arrived to go get Owen.
Once I picked him up we drove straight north through all the traffic (12-0 now) to get Owen to Chuck E Cheese's for that birthday party. Once he was dropped off I went back to the car to get ready for my run. And that is why this post has that title: I had to fit my run in and this was the only way it would work. The party was in a part of town that I certainly never frequent, and thank goodness for google maps satellite imagery or I might have been stuck running next to 8 lanes of traffic the entire way (White Sox are finally out of the inning after the Jays scored 6 runs), but I noticed a trail that I thought would be worth trying out.
Anyway, I totally forgot the tape for my knee so shaving it was useless, and the rain was pouring down when I got back in the car to get ready. I waited it out for about 15 minutes and then headed out. The one thing I didn't figure on was the elevation I would have to deal with: straight downhill in the first 3k, up and down a bit for the middle, and then (since I was doing an out-and-back) straight up on the way back. My initial plan was to run conservatively, somewhere in the 5:10 - 5:15/km pace range. As soon as I started and hit that decline my plan went all to hell and I was just trying to figure out how to run downhill without killing my quads. The Sporting Life 10k next Sunday will have a lot of downhill running, so I suppose this was good practice. However, by the time I reached the flatter section my left quad was pretty tight and I told myself to just run pretty easy for the rest of the way.
When I hit that trail I was surprised how nice it was. I wish I carried a small camera of some sort because as I entered the trails the rain had stopped and the sun came out. It was beautiful! I saw only three other people along the way and had the place to myself, and there were tonnes of birds chirping and flying about. Robins, a lot of Red Winged Blackbirds, and even some Cardinals. No Blue Jays though. I guess they were preparing to smoke the White Sox in Chicago...
So, long story short I had a good run in the end, even if my quads are sore and all that Indian foot was trying to climb its way out my mouth for much of the time. I actually did learn something about running downhill, but really surprised myself on finding a good rhythm on the uphill too. I really thought that the way back would kill me, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I managed the 10km in 52:11 for an average pace of 5:13/km (8:24/mile), right in the target zone. Though if you look at my Garmin splits you will see that the pacing working out the way it did is a total fluke. I did have to stop for a bunch of long red lights along the way, so I suppose that provided me with some rest, but I actually hate stopping and think it totally breaks my rhythm and usually screws me up. My average heart rate ended up being 149bpm with a max drift at 167bpm.
Most importantly I got my run in on a busy day and evening that threatened to force me to miss it altogether. Unfortunately, the birthday party went so late that Monica was in no mood to go for her run.
Tomorrow is going to be an even crazier day: Malcolm's T-Ball game at 9:45, Owen to another birthday party at 10:45, Owen's first game (and my coaching debut) at 12:30, a coaches meeting for another league at 2:00, and a friend of Malcolm's is coming over to play in the afternoon! Not sure when I will get to eat, or breathe for that matter... (Jays are now up 13-0)
And lastly, I will consider the first 4 miles of this run as part of Marci's Reese's Run. I checked my watch at the 6.44km mark and it read 32:52, so that is what I will submit. Head on over to Marci's blog to learn about this great fundraising event in support of the Arthritis Society of Canada.
Good night everybody! Have a great weekend.
Garmin don't lie.
Once I picked him up we drove straight north through all the traffic (12-0 now) to get Owen to Chuck E Cheese's for that birthday party. Once he was dropped off I went back to the car to get ready for my run. And that is why this post has that title: I had to fit my run in and this was the only way it would work. The party was in a part of town that I certainly never frequent, and thank goodness for google maps satellite imagery or I might have been stuck running next to 8 lanes of traffic the entire way (White Sox are finally out of the inning after the Jays scored 6 runs), but I noticed a trail that I thought would be worth trying out.
Anyway, I totally forgot the tape for my knee so shaving it was useless, and the rain was pouring down when I got back in the car to get ready. I waited it out for about 15 minutes and then headed out. The one thing I didn't figure on was the elevation I would have to deal with: straight downhill in the first 3k, up and down a bit for the middle, and then (since I was doing an out-and-back) straight up on the way back. My initial plan was to run conservatively, somewhere in the 5:10 - 5:15/km pace range. As soon as I started and hit that decline my plan went all to hell and I was just trying to figure out how to run downhill without killing my quads. The Sporting Life 10k next Sunday will have a lot of downhill running, so I suppose this was good practice. However, by the time I reached the flatter section my left quad was pretty tight and I told myself to just run pretty easy for the rest of the way.
When I hit that trail I was surprised how nice it was. I wish I carried a small camera of some sort because as I entered the trails the rain had stopped and the sun came out. It was beautiful! I saw only three other people along the way and had the place to myself, and there were tonnes of birds chirping and flying about. Robins, a lot of Red Winged Blackbirds, and even some Cardinals. No Blue Jays though. I guess they were preparing to smoke the White Sox in Chicago...
So, long story short I had a good run in the end, even if my quads are sore and all that Indian foot was trying to climb its way out my mouth for much of the time. I actually did learn something about running downhill, but really surprised myself on finding a good rhythm on the uphill too. I really thought that the way back would kill me, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I managed the 10km in 52:11 for an average pace of 5:13/km (8:24/mile), right in the target zone. Though if you look at my Garmin splits you will see that the pacing working out the way it did is a total fluke. I did have to stop for a bunch of long red lights along the way, so I suppose that provided me with some rest, but I actually hate stopping and think it totally breaks my rhythm and usually screws me up. My average heart rate ended up being 149bpm with a max drift at 167bpm.
Most importantly I got my run in on a busy day and evening that threatened to force me to miss it altogether. Unfortunately, the birthday party went so late that Monica was in no mood to go for her run.
Tomorrow is going to be an even crazier day: Malcolm's T-Ball game at 9:45, Owen to another birthday party at 10:45, Owen's first game (and my coaching debut) at 12:30, a coaches meeting for another league at 2:00, and a friend of Malcolm's is coming over to play in the afternoon! Not sure when I will get to eat, or breathe for that matter... (Jays are now up 13-0)
And lastly, I will consider the first 4 miles of this run as part of Marci's Reese's Run. I checked my watch at the 6.44km mark and it read 32:52, so that is what I will submit. Head on over to Marci's blog to learn about this great fundraising event in support of the Arthritis Society of Canada.
Good night everybody! Have a great weekend.
Garmin don't lie.
Labels: running
posted by Vava at
10:11 PM
1 Comments:
Holy moly, that IS a busy day! Great job finding the time for your run - and a nice run too! Good work on the hills.
Have fun coaching today!
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