Might As Well

Since the whole idea behind this blog is keeping track of my running "pursuits" I feel I need to post about the Sunday run I had so that I can look back on it and compare in the future what I thought about it. Of course, the stats end up on Garmin Connect and all that, but I don't write any thoughts there so sometimes things get missed or forgotten.

In that vein, I ran a short LSD yesterday of just 12km. Two weeks out from the Pittsburgh Half Marathon and things are going well on the injury front (though my left knee tightened up after I ran around playing soccer and ultimate frisbee with the boys last Wednesday). I am mulling over ways to increase my mileage gradually over the course of the Summer and have purchased a good running backpack (at least I HOPE it's a good one having never tried it!) so that I can incorporate commuting to work on foot into that plan. I simply cannot figure out how to get my mileage up without running to and from work sometimes. As such, I will not start this until after Pittsburgh I think since the build up to this race has been steady and healthy and I don't really want to disrupt that. I might do it once though because I have an itch to try it.

But that short LSD I did this weekend went like this:

Once again, the HRM screws up in the first kilometre or so, but then it settles down and I was able to run in the low aerobic range for a bit. Near the end of the run I had to climb out of the Don Valley up Beechwood Drive, which is an almost kilometre long climb that gets pretty steep in the middle third. Naturally, my heart rate went up, but I felt pretty smooth on the way up and was pleasantly surprised at how easy this felt. Although the average pace is once again faster than the last LSD it is just slightly so due to either that hill climb or the fact that I felt a bit run down after a tough week at work. Also, I'm continuing to do the run/walk thing at a 9:30/0:30 ratio. If it ain't broke and all that.

Good times! Looking forward to the race. The Boston victims and their families, as well as all runners affected by the tragedy, will be in my thoughts as I return to "racing". Glad they caught the guy alive and that nobody else got hurt as they were hunting for him. What a senseless waste...