15k to the Spit

It's been a few days since my last post, and a few since my last run. I took Friday evening off due to the calf cramp that hit me in the middle of the night on Wednesday since it felt like there was a golf ball stuck in there somewhere up until yesterday evening. This morning I woke up and tried tightening my calf only to find that that near cramp feeling was gone. I didn't push it, mind you, but I sure was glad that today's run would not have to be averted.

On top of that, with the kids hanging out with my Dad for the afternoon, it also meant that I could run with Monica again. This would have two added benefits: it would be much more entertaining, and it would also force me to slow down (sorry Mon!). We decided to run out to Leslie Spit, or Tommy Thomson Park depending on who you talk to. It's a bit of land that juts out into Lake Ontario, and I'd been meaning to check it out for a long time. The above picture I took with my shiny new IPhone, which I received from my lovely wife on my birthday a few days ago. (I friggin' LOVE this thing, BTW!)

We ran at a nice slow pace on the way out, which is downhill. The weather was perfect for running and we chatted the entire way. The kilometres flew by and before we knew it we found ourselves at the entrance to the park. There we got to run right by the water, which is awesome, with only the clouds of black flies and goose poop to distract us from the lovely views. At 7.5k we turned back and headed home. I hit a port-o-let on the way out of the park, and thank goodness it was there. The "like a racehorse" metaphor, whatever it's supposed to mean, was apt.

Monica stopped at 14k and I continued to finish 15k in 1:34:44 for an average pace of 6:18/km, or 10:09/mile. The calf felt fine, and it was good to get a nice long slow run in, that's for sure. A couple of weeks from now I will be running in my first ever 5k and I wanted to just use this as a recovery type run after my 10k of last week, which left me a bit sore in the legs. The average heart rate ended up being 137bpm, with Garmin toying with my mind when showing that the max was 187bpm. Whatever! Guess I didn't lick those contact points on the chest strap enough...

Garmin don't lie.