Pics from Around the Bay, and back to running...

The family did not accompany me on my Around the Bay adventure since other commitments, much more important than catching glimpses of me running at LSD pace, kept them close to home. On that account I only have what the professionals are peddling as far as pictures go. Not much to choose from and my money, as is my custom when it comes to race photos, stays in my wallet...

All of these are clearly late in the race as I have shed my gloves. The one thing I neglected to mention in my report was that a very kind soul prevented me from losing one of my gloves. When I first took them off I shoved both in my right pocket, which was now empty of Gu Chomp packages. The pocket, evidently, was not deep enough as not too long afterward a fellow runner came up beside me and asked if I was missing a glove. It was a particularly selfless act, I believe, since he immediately dropped back while I continued to hold pace. This tells me that he not only slowed down, picked up my glove, but then proceeded to speed up to catch up to me! Whoever he was I hope Karma works it's magic in one of his future races in the form of a massive PR or a good Samaritan doing something similar should he lose a piece of gear. I know I will be more conscious of such events and will do my part if/when it happens.

The first shot was taken on what looks like that last big hill at somewhere between 26 and 27km. I think the middle photo was taken shortly after I crested that last big hill as I look a little more than uncomfortable. And of course the last photo is the obligatory Finish complete with Garmin check. Good times...

As far as getting back to running I went out for a tentative job on Tuesday night a bit apprehensive of how my calf would hold up. My quads were definitely sore, but I managed a nice even and slow recovery pace and completed 7.6km.

Last night I once again decided to do a slow run and managed 8km. Happy to report that the calf, although not yet 100%, is good to go for slow running. Speed, or my version of it, will have to wait a while.

I may yet fit another run in this evening so I will hold off on the March totals for now.

And lastly I registered for the Toronto GoodLife Half Marathon today. It is set to go on May 15th! That's the next goal race. Let's hope I'm not sidetracked by something like illness or injury and forced to "train" it rather than race it.

Around the Bay 30K "Race" Report

I can't rightfully call this a Race Report because I really wasn't able to race this particular event. Instead, my goal was to make it as good a training run as possible, keep my left calf as healthy as possible, and have fun in the process while running with a friend.

The weather on Sunday morning could not have been much better, although we had some worries as we got out of the car and felt the chilly -10C (14F) with a bit of wind on blowing through our running gear. The best part about the organization of this race is that it ends inside Copp's Coliseum, a big hockey arena. That means all the runners can get ready indoors and use the facilities therein rather than have to manage frozen porta-potties. By the time we got changed and headed outside to line up for the start with the other 11,000 or so runners the temperature had gone up to something that felt rather comfortable. It was still well below freezing, but the Sun was out and the wind had really died down.

Our goal was to run even splits throughout the 30 kilometres taking into account the fact that the last 10-12k were made up of rolling hills, including one major climb at about 26-27k. The friend I was running with had not run a race in over two years due to some pretty bad injuries and illnesses and so we made a conservative estimate that we'd like to finish just under 3hrs.

I told him that I would follow whatever pace he set, but that if that pace proved too aggressive for him I would simply try to keep going and hold it right to the end. Within the first two kilometres it was apparent that he was setting a pace quite a bit faster than the 6:00/km it would take to finish in 3hrs. The splits for the first ten kilometres were:

1.   5:38
2.   5:23
3.   5:08
4.   5:27
5.   5:22
6.   5:22
7.   5:23
8.   5:20
9.   5:25
10. 5:15
total: 54:11 (5:25/km)

I was walking through all the water breaks and eating Gu Chomps starting at 18 minutes. The water cups for the first five or six water stops (up until about 20k) were full of ice. It was that cold outside, but the weather for running could not have been better for this time of year. When not heading into the wind I would unzip my jacket and long sleeve, and eventually I took off my gloves as well.

At the 11k mark there was another water stop and things were going well. The massive crowd of runners was starting to thin out and we didn't have to zigzag nearly as much as in the first ten kilometres. However, things went awry for my friend at this point. As he ran through the water stops during the race he always got a bit ahead of me as I walked in order to drink rather than spill the stuff all over myself. At this particular point I noticed him stumble and immediately realized he'd rolled his ankle. I caught up to him and asked if things were going to be OK. He said he didn't know but that he would try to run through it. By 12k I started to pull away from him and I would not see him again until after the race. He did manage to finish well under 3hrs, but definitely had to fight through some discomfort to get there.

As for me I felt my left calf twinge at the 6km mark and got very concerned that I would have to pull out of this race. I managed to adjust my form enough to let the pain settle down and was able to keep running slow and steady. The hills that I knew were coming in the last third of the race were on my mind, however, and I was very worried about how my calf would hold up.

The middle ten kilometre splits for me were:

11.  5:20
12.  5:23
13.  5:15
14.  5:15
15.  5:30
16.  5:12
17.  5:12
18.  5:20
19.  5:19
20.  5:37
total: 53:43 (5:22/km)

The first 20k went rather smoothly and I didn't feel all that tired. My calf was a constant concern, but I was managing to maintain form and a nice fast cadence with short strides. As we hit a bridge somewhere in the latter stages of the middle 10k I definitely felt something in the calf on the uphill portion. This was not good, but I managed to "glide" my way all the way to the top. The downhill portion was likely more of a problem for not only the calf, but also the quads. As I ran down the other side of the bridge, which wasn't very steep at all, I tried not to think about how I would manage the steep downhill sections coming up.

Well, that was soon to be answered and I'm happy to report that things went better than expected. Rolling hills from just before the 20k mark until about 27 or 28k were a real test. I focused exclusively on maintaining form and pace and continued to walk through the water stops and eat Gu Chomps every ten to fifteen minutes. I only missed the 23k water stop because, for some reason, I really didn't feel like drinking anything at that point.

The toughest stretch of the course started at about 25k. This part started with a long downhill that was quite steep and, while trying to stay relaxed on this portion, all I could think about was the fact that I would have to climb the same type of hill on the other side of the river we would have to cross at the bottom. Sure enough, that climb nearly did me in. Starting at 26k or so the hill goes up up up up. Then the road bends to the right and teases you into thinking that it will flatten out. No such luck! It just keeps going. I was really huffing and puffing, but I would not let myself walk. Many people did walk this hill, and they were well justified in doing so, but I was worried about how the calf would react to starting up again if I did choose to walk. I also wanted to maintain as even a pace as possible for the entire run and walking would have ruined that goal.

The road then takes a left hand turn and again gives you the impression that it will flatten out finally. No such luck. The climb continues. Finally, at almost 27.5km I reached the top of the hill and turned onto York Blvd. In the distance now I could see Copp's Coliseum and my final destination. However, although I was now running on a flat or even slightly downhill section, I was not recovering! One more water stop, were I walked and sucked down one cold cup of water, and then I forced myself to run again. No gas left. I kept on chanting in my head "I can do it. I can do it." to the rhythm of my steps. The last two kilometres were very tough, but eventually I got to the Arena, ran down the steep ramp that was covered in rock salt and very slippery, and then down the chute and under the Finish banner. I was done! And I managed to maintain fairly even pace, my calf did not give out, and I had a great training run that really tested my will to keep going at the end as my body was completely drained of energy stores.

The final ten kilometre splits were:

21. 5:21
22. 5:45 (the first set of challenging hills really hits in this section)
23. 5:24
24. 5:26
25. 5:32
26. 5:12 (this includes that long downhill section, accounting for the faster split)
27. 5:32 (the start of the last major climb)
28: 5:45 (the end of the climb and trying to recover on the flats plus the final water station)
29. 5:22
30. 5:14
total: 54:42 (5:28/km)

Gun Time: 2:46:20.5
Chip Time: 2:42:36.0
Chip Time Pace: 5:24/km (8:43/mile)

I haven't bothered to try and figure out how I placed since they had me registered as a 35-39 year old woman. I will have to get in touch with whomever and get that straightened out... (In fact I just received a reply from the SportStats people that they will correct this at the next update. They're the best!)

All in all this was a big success. I managed a 30k training run, which included hills in the last ten kilometres, at the slow end of my long run training pace range (4:50 - 5:27/km) all the while saving my calf from completely tearing itself to shreds. Although I ran through the 30k split at last year's marathon in 2:30:30 I will call this my 30K PR because that's just the way I roll.

Now I can leave the month of March behind as it was a rather big disappointment due to injury and illness. Here's hoping April is a big improvement!

Trouble a Brewing; Calves a Sucking

Last night I went out for a what was supposed to be a short and easy five to eight kilometre jaunt to test my calves, in particular my left one. Being on very strong antibiotics (think Scorched Earth approach) and following a week where I slept very little and ate almost nothing I suppose this is not unexpected. However, it has me very concerned about my ability to complete the Around the Bay 30k this coming Sunday. The "test" just ups the stress.

I felt great at first and just kept things slow and easy. Then, right about the 2.2k mark, the left calf seized up. How the Hell am I supposed to finish 30k when my calf seizes up at a measly 2k?! I stopped and stretched and proceeded to jog slowly back home for a very unsatisfying 5km.

But I suppose I should be happy. I can no longer remember how hard it once was to run five kilometres. Articles like this one should remind me that I should just be happy to be running at all.

I have to get off these antibiotics so that my body can absorb nutrients.

I have to be happy with just being able to run, period.

I have to go back to low heart rate running since speed (and I use that term very loosely) does not agree with my wonky appendages.

And now I have to do some work...

Man, That Sucked!

Last week was, in a boring word, forgettable. I not only came down with strep throat, but then to add insult to injury had an allergic reaction to the medication! For four straight days I had no sleep, very little food, and almost no water. It left me cranky, irritable, and completely dehydrated. You know you're in trouble when your piss looks like Guiness...

But I am happy to report that I am on the other side of this little debacle. Although I'm still on drugs my throat has stopped seizing up and I am now able to eat, drink, AND sleep. Life be good.

On Saturday I even hit the streets for a little jog. It was pretty good, all things considered, although very short at a measly 5km. In a past life I would have tried running a heck of a lot more, but I am wiser now and won't try to "make up for lost time".

On Sunday it was time for a "long" run. Keeping it short I jogged through the first 11k nice and easy. Everything was going great until all that dehydration finally caught up to me and first my left calf, then my right one, started to tighten up. I stopped a few times to stretch it out, and then hobbled the rest of the way as gingerly as I could to complete the 16km run.

I'd finally managed to find a retailer in Canada that sold the Trigger Point "The Grid" and, having special ordered it, I had picked it up on Saturday. The timing could not have been better as I spent the rest of the day rolling my calves (or playing soccer with the littlest one in the park). I was nicely distracted from the pain by some great March Madness finishes (kudos to Butler for knocking off the first Number 1 seed this year!) and decent tennis at Indian Wells where the seemingly unbeatable Rafael Nadal went down to Novak Djokovic, who should really transfer his citizenship to Djibouti if you ask me.

Anyway, the week's worth of "running" was a paltry 21km, the lowest mark for me in a long long time. Now less than a week away from the Around the Bay 30k, which will most definitely be a training jog at best given all that's gone down, I am in full rehydration mode.

Happy Monday everyone! Hope your first full week of Spring goes well.

Missing In Action: Sick as a Dog

It hit me, I went running anyway, and then it decided that I was a dumbass and hit me harder. What is "it"?

Why, strep throat of course!

Last Saturday, as I scoured the city for a 10th Anniversary gift for my lovely wife with my older son in tow, I started feeling a bit of a tickle in the back of my throat. No big deal. I had gone on a 10km run that morning and things were fine as far as I was concerned.

Sunday morning came and it hurt to swallow. I didn't run in the morning because I felt like crap. Instead, I drove the boys across town to my Dad's, came home and then went out for a nice 16.5km run. There was little that was nice about it. In fact, it was crap. I felt like death in the second half and by the time I got home I knew I'd come down with something that I should not have been trying to run through. The whole "from the neck up" thing is total BS in the case of strep.

After a shower I lay down in bed and proceeded to occupy that space which exists somewhere between consciousness and deep sleep. I couldn't move, I felt cold and hot at the same time, and things were deteriorating rapidly as far as the throat was concerned. By that evening swallowing anything was pure agony.

So, on Monday morning, the wife and I went off to the Doctor's office to get a confirmation on what we already suspected was happening. Indeed, we both had strep throat, but the Doctor said that I won since mine was much more spectacular. Yay for me...

I was so glad to have Monica with me since I could not utter a word to the Doctor and managed a few whispers here and there. Those were mostly of the unhelpful joke variety like when Monica asked if she could go to work that day and the Doctor asked what she did for a living and I interjected that she was a "professional kisser". Hahaha. So stupid...

Anyway, I told that Doctor that I might be allergic to Penicillin given that I'd always been told I'd had a reaction to it back when I was a kid after my appendectomy. The Doctor muttered something about the next best alternative being sold out all over the place because so many people were getting hit with strep and so she prescribed something else. In my past experiences with strep once you get on the antibiotics your condition improves rapidly so I was hopeful that I would be back on the mend within the next 24hrs.

It was not to be. Although my throat slowly (painfully so) started feeling better I had an allergic reaction to the meds. This manifested itself in the form of an itchy rash (gross, I know) and a really weird thing: the palms of my hands and bottoms of my feet became super sensitive to heat! It was ridiculous!!! Taking a shower with barely lukewarm water felt like someone was pouring water straight out of a boiling hot kettle onto my hands!

On Wednesday it was back to the Doctor's to check and see if it was OK for me to keep taking the meds. The answer quickly came back "No!" and I am now on some super antibiotic that is reserved for patients with severe pneumonia! Let's hope that this stuff doesn't kill me...

Oh yeah, the other thing is that everything I put in my mouth tastes like chalk. Not pleasant at all, but at least my throat has opened up for the most part and swallowing now is just a mildly unpleasant experience, not the impossible task that I'd faced for a few days there.

And lastly, from Saturday night until Wednesday night I maybe got one hour of sleep in total. Every time I had to swallow the pain was so severe that I was never able to actually fall asleep. On top of that, as you can imagine, my diet suffered badly. I ate very little and that which I WAS able to get down was either in the form of chicken broth or ice cream. I also became very dehydrated. Not exactly the best way to prepare for a 30k race that is now only 9 days away!

I may not run the thing. Very disappointing...

A Couple of Tests for the Knee

Yesterday I took my first full day "off" in a long time. How long? Well, I couldn't remember so I had to go back into the plan and check. Upon checking I was actually surprised that the last time I did not do any sort of running or working out for a whole day was January 25th. I was sick, and I guess I conveniently forget days where I am forced to rest because of illness and choose only to think of those damned days where injury forced me to take a break. My right calf forced me to take a couple of days off on January 14th and 15th, and I suppose that wasnt' that long ago after all.

Anyway, after yesterday, which was spent at a conference and, to be perfectly honest, is the real reason I didn't end up at the gym pumping some sort of iron, I was itching to try out the knee on the road. So this morning I went through my usual routine with one major exception: I finally cracked open the box of new Asics 2150 running shoes that I had purchased over Christmas. I have a sneaking suspicion that part of the reason for my left knee giving out is that my current pair of road shoes (I have a second pair for the treadmill) is up at 528 miles.

The run on the new shoes was a bit creaky, but the knee held up well and the shoes felt great. I always feel a bit weird coming back to running after a forced break of more than a day and this was no exception. I did the usual 8.5km loop and was quite happy to have no setbacks.

Today was once again spent at the conference, but since it ended early I decided to get to the gym and run a bit bore on the treadmill. This run felt even better than the morning jaunt and I managed to complete 10km (6.22 miles) in 49:43. The knee, once again, was good and despite that I am sitting and icing it while I type.

I happy to be back on the road and will continue to be cautious for the next little while. I guess 18.5km of running on the first day back may be considered a bit much for someone of my running history, but I think it was OK for me to do this as I kept the pace easy and really didn't feel any ill effects both during and after my runs.

Here's hoping the weekend goes well also!

Another Missed Run

Woke up this morning, had all my running stuff laid out the night before, and still pulled the shute. While lying in bed I flexed my knee hoping to feel no pain, but alas it was not to be. Therefore, it's back to the gym at lunch for more upper body weights. As much as I like pumping iron I'd much rather be running.

I guess this week will become an unscheduled recovery week and I hope to get back on the roads on Friday. I am not going to pick up my training as planned because that would mean a rather long run on Sunday. Given the leg situation I think it's wise to keep things short and slow while working back from this injury.

At least I hope that I will be able to start working back in a couple of days...

And, oh yeah, in other not so nice news I went online to finally register for the Ottawa Half Marathon only to find out it had just sold out! Now I have to find a plan B for this race in May. Luckily there are other options, but I was really hoping to run the Ottawa course again this year after having a really fun and successful race last year.

Bummer.

A Curse Upon The Frail Bits

Today I was supposed to get up and run before work.

Didn't happen.

Today I was supposed to hit the treadmill at lunch for some intervals.

Won't happen.

Why?

Because I have become a more mature runner and, as such, must do the most hated "listen to your body" crap or risk a major setback. My left knee is not pain-free or anywhere near that blissful state. Although I'm certain that I could run through this, I do not want to jeopardize my training for the long term just to add mileage to my meagre weekly totals in the short term. The Around the Bay 30k is less than three weeks away, and I do not want to DNS there.

So, it's to the gym I go for nothing but upper body weights. That's what I did yesterday instead of leg weights. That's what I will do today instead of intervals.

And through the magic of self-diagnosis here is what I think is the problem:

1. Tendinitis of the gracilis muscle at the tibial insertion point.

or...

2. Bursitis of the same.

Whatever the case may be, it hurts to run and it hurts to bend my leg. It almost feels like a hyper extension and I think it all stems from my steady state treadmill run last Friday. Just a little too much too fast I guess.

Here's hoping all I need is a couple of days off.

A Little Oh Oh!

Yesterday I had a bit of pain starting in the back of my left knee and it really bugged me when I ran my 8.5km easy run around the neighbourhood. Although I finished the distance and wasn't super concerned, I did not have time to ice and stretch afterward as I had to drive Owen to his basketball tournament in Hamilton. The weather was nasty, the driving was scary, but the kids played amazing and won their first two games of the year going 2-1 on the day! The first win was very exciting because they not only had a buzzer beater at the end of one of the periods late in the game, but also won the game 23-21 on another buzzer beater! My vocal chords were shot after the first game, but I kept cheering the rest of the day, which was very long and had us home well past 9:30pm after more than twelve hours away from home.

This morning I woke up to find that the non-stop rain which started on Friday had turned to snow overnight and I had to shovel the driveway before I could think about doing anything else. With the knee pain and the snow all over the place I headed to the gym and the dreaded treadmill. Once there I commenced to do the longest run of my life indoors. It was tough, boring, and the knee was OK for the first hour, but gave me real trouble for the first twenty minutes of the second hour. I really considered just stopping at 10 miles. In the end I toughed it out and ran 14.14 miles (22.75km) and even though this was well short of the planned twenty-eight kilometres I will take it, all things considered. Now I'm icing the leg, waiting for the rest of the clan to return from winter camp, and then we can head off to Hamilton to see Owen play more basketball. I am really sorry to be missing the semi-final, but I am very excited to perhaps watch the final! GO OWEN!!!

This completes another decent week of running. The total mileage is the most for the year and since last summer, coming in at 77.05km (47.9 miles). I would have set a personal record had I been able to do the planned distance for the long run. Darn it!

PR in Training

You know you're slow when you can PR in training, but it still feels good!

This morning I finally nailed a slow recovery run. I tend to go just a bit faster than I should on recovery paced runs so this was no small feat. I ran 8.5km and kept my heart rate in the 135bpm range, and for the most part it was below that. Mission accomplished!

Then, at lunch I went over to the gym for what I've previously described as the toughest run of the week for me: the steady state. The last time I did this I managed to redeem a previous failure at ran at about my current 10k PR pace for 45 minutes, which is just three seconds slower than my 10k PR. That was close enough, but today I jacked it up just a little bit:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:00	8.3mph	7:15/mile	4:30/km
5:00	8.5mph	7:03/mile	4:23/km
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
55:00	8.1mph	7:26/mile	4:37/km

As you can see I still ran for a total of 45 minutes at steady state (ish) pace, but I increased the speed to 8.5mph for the last five minutes. I figure that probably got me to 10K in a new PR, but I don't have the energy to figure out exactly how long it took me to cross that point. In any case, it was tough, but totally doable and I was not completely gassed at the end. The total distance for the run ended up being 7.36 miles (11.84km). The total for the day, therefore, is a decent 20.3km!

Alright, I lied. I had to know and so did the math. Turns out I crossed 10K in 44:52! That's a 5 second PR if we are to assume that the treadmill is calibrated properly, and I did set it at 1% incline for what that's worth.

Now I'm ready for the weekend, which will be very busy since Owen has an out of town basketball tournament. In amogst that I will fit in one short recovery run and a long run. If all goes well this may end up being the longest mileage week ever for me! Keeping my fingers crossed...

Happy Birthday To My Better Half!

Today is the Birthday of my beautiful wife. She is by far the most important person in my life if we were to ignore my two boys. Can one even separate family members in order of importance? I certainly can't and won't. Simply put, they're the best!

I woke up extra early after an awful night of "sleep" where I tossed and turned and clock-checked far too often. By the time 5am rolled around I was completely wasted. Not Charlie Sheen wasted, for I hadn't smoked "7 gram rocks" or anything, but I felt terrible.

Nevertheless, I persevered and made it outside for a cold and windy run of my usual 8.5km route. This time I listened to Bill Simmons' podcast where he chatted with screenwriting legend William Goldman about the Oscars and the New York Knicks, among other things. A very entertaining podcast I must admit.

When I got back to the house my youngest one, who generally has issues with getting up in the morning, came downstairs on his own ready to make a nice Birthday Card and to help with breakfast. Nice! I then woke up my older son who proceeded to make the best fried eggs ever for his Mother! Like I said, they're the best!

All told, my boys came through and I hope made her Birthday morning a little bit special.

After biking directly into the wind on the way to work, which at a couple of points pretty much forced me into a complete stop, I made it to the gym for a good upper body weight training session. I wish I could do more than one of these per week, but it seems tough to fit it in when I do two leg weights sessions and seven runs every "up" week, two of which are on the treadmill at lunch time. Evenings are difficult to use for working out since that is most definitely reserved for family time, and weekends are tough for the same reason especially when I fit my long run into the mix as well.

Oh well, such is life. At least I get to do one upper body session during a typical week and on my recovery weeks I can replace a couple of runs with more weights. It all works out in the end I suppose.

Marching Forward

Hahaha. That's one of the worst post titles EVER! I stand by it...

Moving on, this IS the first day of the wonderful month of March wherein Spring is a promise sometimes kept, sometimes less so. The local papers are publishing rubbish to the effect that we will have a colder than normal season for the next three months. Just another reason to ignore the local papers.

This morning was a bit of a quick wake up that had me out of bed almost as fast as if there were a fire alarm going off. Instead, it was just my radio going on full blast that I had left downstairs. Hoping to keep the disruption to a minimum (because I love my family, of course) I bolted down the stairs, risking life and limb, to turn the sucker off.

After that it was the usual routine that had me out the door and running a nice and easy 8.5km recovery jog around what has become a customary route.

At lunch I finally managed to go get my haircut, an exercise that I really do dislike and tend to leave much too late. The intended 6 week between haircuts period this time stretched to over three months and it needed doing.

With the locks chopped I headed to the gym for a treadmill interval session. I wasn't sure if I would do the regular step down ladder thing where each fast and slow portion drops from five minutes down to one minute by a minute each time or if I would try something different. Even as I ran my warm up I was still not settled on the type of workout I'd put myself through.

Ultimately I changed things up a bit and I think it was the right move. Although my recovery pace is probably too fast to really get my heart rate get back to low numbers I think this type of training will benefit me in the long run (no pun intended, unlike the crappy title). Taking out the warm up and cool down the average pace for this run ended up being 4:33.5/km (7:19/mile) which is not too bad.

Here's what went down:

Duration	Speed	Pace (miles)	Pace (km)
5:00	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:00	7.5mph	7:59/mile	4:58/km
5:00	9.0mph	6:40/mile	4:09/km
5:20	6.7mph	8:57/mile	5:34/km
40:20	7.9mph	7:39/mile	4:45/km

Although the third interval in particular was tough I was happy with the way I managed to get through it. I was able to concentrate on maintaining good form and staying as relaxed as possible. Also, even though I slipped on this one a little here and there, it helped to try and keep up a fast cadence. I realize that there is still much work to do in this area despite the fact that I've come a long way since last November when I first began to experiment with picking up my turnover rate.

The total distance for the run was 8.5km, and with the morning run it all adds up to 17km (10.6 miles) for the day. A good way to start the month!