A Slight Scare

My usual Wednesday evening run has not been posted. Why? Well, that's the subject of this here post...

Yesterday morning started off like any other. Drag myself out of bed twenty minutes later than I'd intended, do the whole morning getting-ready-for-work-herding-kids-off-to-school routine, only to be greeted by said "slight scare" while en route to Owen's school bus. We were walking along, happily chatting and keeping a relatively brisk pace since I didn't want to have to deal with missing that bus. Everything was cool. As we neared the one major intersection that we have to cross on our way I noticed the light had changed to get us across. Given that this particular traffic light takes a long time to let people cross the major street I said, "Owen, let's make this light!" and he started running. I, too, started what I would describe at best as a trot when, on the second or third step, PPPPRRRAAAAANNNNGGGGGG! A pop in the right knee that was NOT good. I hobbled the rest of the way across and wondered what on earth all of this would mean for my marathon training. Sure, I've been dealing with numerous repetitive stress types aches and pains, but this was not one of those. This was what I guess you can call "acute". Nothing "cute" about it though...

So, no Wednesday night run. I did consider it, but then thought better of it. It's week 2 of marathon training! I don't want to miss any time at all, but if I have to I guess the beginning is better than towards the end. I iced and compressed, took some Ibuprofen against my better judgement (I hate taking pain killers), and kept my fingers crossed for the best.

Today, the knee feels way better and I hope that this was nothing more than a scare. I am planning to run tomorrow, though nothing speedy as originally I had wanted to do a tempo like thing.

I did swim today though. Again, I shook things up a bit and did the following:

500m warm up (7:12)
10X100m on 1:40 interval (managed between 17s and 20s rest each time)
500m cool down
total time of workout: 34:00

Not bad. Though a dude in the same lane told me that I should pass "on the outside". I gave him the old raised eyebrow, didn't have time to set him straight since this happened in the middle of my intervals, and kept going. Did he seriously want me to pass on the lane rope side? The words "douche" and "bag" come to mind... (also, "rookie", "novice", and "jackass"). I had no problems with this guy otherwise since he at least swam straight, but I guess he felt the need to edumacate me on the ins and outs of lane etiquette. Just wish he'd looked up the rules first...

Swimming Again

Not really all that much to report, and it's getting a bit late and I'm a bit tired so this will likely be a short post. I went for something a little different at the pool this afternoon since the straight 1500m swims have gotten so boring. I set my watch for 3:30 intervals and did 10X200m for a total of 2000m. After each rep I had between 37 and 45 seconds rest, so that means I was swimming a bit faster than the usual 1:30/100m pace, and that was good. A couple of slow people in the lane were not exactly helping out either and I had a bit of an altercation with this one guy who kept getting passed by yours truly and everyone else in the lane, yet he refused to swallow whatever pride he had (along with the chlorinated water that he seemed to ingest with every attempt at a breath) and move over to a more appropriate lane speed-wise. He also had this rather strange serpentine stroke that took up a good three-quarters of the available space so passing him was always a bit perilous with other swimmers heading the other way straight towards me. On one of these occasions I had to squeeze right beside him and ended up pushing him right against the lane rope in order to not collide with the oncoming traffic. I did manage to leave a long scrape down the side of his leg with my fingernails, and no, I did/do NOT feel bad about it.

Tonight was a bit of a hectic night with yet another baseball game to coach. The kids played great and we pulled out a come from behind win, which was nice. More importantly, some of the kids that have been struggling at the plate got some awesome hits. Others made terrific plays in the field that surprised everyone, especially themselves.

By the time I returned home there wasn't time for much other than grabbing some food and icing my knees. I am pretty much finished that and would like to do some light stretching when they warm up. My knees are both feeling a bit off, likely from all the biking and sitting I've had to do at work, but I hope that tomorrow they feel better. Even though it's closing in on 10pm I'd like to think that some sit ups and push ups may still get done...

Is It Even Worth It?

I wonder, as I drag my sorry ass out of the office and up to the pool, if it's even worth it. Not swimming, that I think is a good thing, but rather posting about it. It certainly is good cross training, though I fear I do too little of it. But since last September my lunch time swims have pretty much been the same - 1:30/100m pace no matter what the distance. Case in point: today I managed 1500m in 22:22. I suppose that's a shade under 1:30 pace, but just a shade. That being said I am not swimming to get faster at swimming. I am swimming to get faster at running.

The other thing that I absolutely have been meaning to do, but never seem to find the right time to start, is strength training. Sure, I will do the occasional sit ups, push ups, and chin ups, but there is no consistency with those workouts. And I have not been able to incorporate any leg strength exercises for a couple of reasons: 1. my legs hurt after running and I need the rest; and 2. my legs hurt after running and I don't think it's wise to kick them while they're down.

How does anybody do leg strength stuff between runs? Or perhaps you do it on the days when you run? If so, do you do it before or after your run? I'd like to start doing some basics like lunges and squats, and I guess I should get back into a daily routine of hip flexor and butt strengthening exercises too. It all just seems too much to handle, and I'm only in the first week of marathon training. Yikes!

Hodge Podge of Info

Could this be my first ever bullet list blog post for the sake of brevity?

• Yes.
• I swam this afternoon at lunch: 1500m, 22:20.
• I upgraded both the Garmin Training Centre software and the firmware on the Forerunner 305. Hopefully this will eliminate the issue of disappearing workouts. Thanks to all who left tips in the comments section! (This all will be tested on tomorrow's run. Keep your fingers crossed!)
• The knee is feeling better and better as I continue to ice it regularly and stretch the hamstrings and ITBs. I think my lack of a cooldown after the 5K race is to blame for the tightness.
• Marcy has left the building. (Please join me in a collective "BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!", or for those of European background please feel free to whistle.)
• My slow 8K run (yeah, the one that my watch pooed out without warning) has opened my eyes to heart rate training and I am curious to know what others think of the concept that precludes doing any training in Zone 3, roughly 140-160bpm. That's where I've been doing most of my training, and perhaps it explains why I've seemingly been bouncing from one injury to another.
• With that in mind I've been doing some research and found a good website that can help me figure out my target heart rate zones, VO2 Max threshold, and appropriate training paces. Check it out here, though it may come as no surprise to many "in the know". It was pretty cool to see that my VO2 Max, predicted based on my recent 5K result (where I ran pretty much as hard as I could), generated training paces that seem right on for how I've been training.
• And lastly, I've been running in my new Asics GT2140s and have found them to be quite good. Way more cushioning than either of the Mizunos that I've been using all year, and the arch support seems to be better as well. It is early in the game, but I really hope that these shoes are "the ones" since my foot seems to be getting better. In fact, I totally expected my foot to stiffen up something fierce after the 5K race, but instead it has continued to improve. I'm thinking it's the shoes until I find otherwise.
• And lastly lastly, for real this time, I have also modified my training plan to something that seems more doable than the FIRST plan upon which I had based my previous summer running goals. I am not accomplished enough to attempt the FIRST plan yet and must focus a bit more on building mileage rather than speed. Perhaps someday I will be able to take a shot at a target time (read "BQ"), but for now I just have to be satisfied with finishing. Strong though, not "just" finishing. I don't want to crawl across the finish line simply for the privilege of calling myself a marathoner.

A Little Concerned

Too much stuff going on so this post will have to be short, though not sweet. I skipped my 5k run yesterday since I was still feeling a bit of pain on the outside of the left knee. The run got pushed back to this evening instead. It was a late run since I had baseball practice to coach and then Owen's Spring Concert at his school to go to. By the time I got out it was closing in on 9pm. The weather here has been pretty humid and hot the last couple of days, and although I will never complain about the heat I can tell that my body is not yet acclimatised.

The run was crap. My knee is not better, my pace was slow, and it did nothing for my confidence heading into the race this Saturday. I managed the 5km in 29:36 for an average pace of 5:55/km, or 9:31/mile. I definitely do NOT feel speedy and have no idea what to expect when I line up at the starting line on Saturday evening.

Now it's late, I have not yet packed for our trip to Ottawa, nor do I have the kids' stuff all ready to go. We are driving tomorrow and it's stressing me out a little bit since I really want to miss rush hour traffic if at all possible, especially with a 7 and 4 year-old in the back seat.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I did get to the pool this afternoon and swam 1000m in 14:53.

Garmin don't lie.

A Missed Run, and Swimming Up

Last night I had planned on a nice easy 3k recovery sort of run, but things kind of forced that to not happen. It was Owen's swim-up ceremony from Beavers to Cubs, and the whole process is quite involved and lengthy. The boys had a great time, though, which is the most important thing. Even though Malks is too young to even be a Beaver he got involved in the ceremony and a couple of the games afterwards. It was very cute watching him run around trying to keep up with the big kids, and Owen did a fantastic job of watching out for his little brother the whole time. I'm so proud of both of them! Here's Owen after his swim-up, his Beaver uniform now off, and waiting to get his Cubs woggle for his scarf, awesome hat head and all:


Since I didn't run last night I really didn't want to miss my swim this afternoon. Even though I felt very lethargic I forced myself to go and in the end had a good swim. I managed 1500m in 22:21 and it felt pretty easy. I have to keep up this swimming a couple of times per week since I think this has already paid off in my cardio and in letting my legs rest between runs. On top of that, as long as this plantar fasciitis continues to stay like an unwelcome guest I have to manage my running very conservatively. I'm not sure how much I will swim throughout the summer, but that's still a month or so away when my membership expires and I have to make the decision.

Later in the evening, as I watched Roy Halladay manhandle AJ Burnett and the Yankees like A-Rod manhandles a syringe (not to mention blonde ladies of the night), I also did some chin ups (3X9), sit ups (3X50), and push ups (3X35). I have to get back on the upper body stuff for it looks like that's the thing that falls off first when I get busy. Jays are now 23-12 on the season. The Yankees? NOT! And thanks to the Phillies beating the Dodgers as well this makes Toronto the first team to reach 23 wins on the season. Hope they can keep it up!

Going the Distance

Today I did make it to the swimming pool after a two week absence and managed 1000m in 15 minutes. It was a struggle mentally to go, I'll be honest. I very much felt lethargic and didn't really feel like swimming. However, last night I had one of those classic mid-night wake ups that may keep me from running for a couple of days: 2am CALF CRAMP! I haven't had one of those in years, and it wasn't fun to get reacquainted. Now my calf feels like there is still a bit of a lump in there and I don't want a recurrence of what happened back in March when my calf decided to force me to take a couple of weeks off.

In more interesting news, I did receive an email from the race director for the Sporting Life 10k in response to my inquired regarding the length of the course. Since so many of my fellow runners seemed to have measured significantly longer distances on their Garmins, and the MapMyRun method also produced a longer course, I emailed the folks at the race to ask about their measurement specifics. Here's the response, for your reading pleasure:

"After every race we receive a fair share of emails from GPS users stating that they ran a course that was long. You can be assured; the Sporting Life10k course is indeed 10k. There are a couple reasons your Garmin would read long:

1) When we measure our course, we always take the shortest line possible, where as runners tend to run in the middle of the road or weave to avoid slower runners

2) Garmins, while an incredibly handy training tool, aren't the most accurate tool around. When it comes to accurately measuring a course, nothing beats a good old fashioned bicycle and a Jones counter. I wish GPS units were as accurate as the Jones counter method since it would save us most of the 10hours it takes to measure a 10k course (don't ask about how long it takes to measure a marathon).

Our course was measured by Chris Fagel (Course Director) and Bernie Conway (IAAF/AIMS Grade A measurer for all of North America, who's list of measured courses includes the marathon course for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics). Our course certification # is ON-2009-020-BDC.

Also, if the course was 900m long, the 28:13 ran by Moses Macharia would have been closer to a 25:50... a world record for a road race 10k by over a minute. Moses ran a great race, but not that great :)

Hope this helps. Please forward to your Garmin wearing friends."

Not sure where he got the "if the course was 900m long" part, but I'll take this reply as authoritative and now begin to question just how accurate my Garmin is when it says I'm running at a good pace on a training run.

As far as forwarding the information to my Garmin wearing friends? Done, and done.

A Busy Busy Thursday

Today was super busy on my end, but I still managed to get some exercise in. This morning was spent with the younger son as he had an appointment that I had to take him to, and we had a lovely time. It's so nice to just hang out a bit sometimes, even if there is some other stuff that gets in the way. I really should just take a half vacation day here and there when there isn't some other pressing reason...

Then, after I dropped him off at daycare, I sped off to the pool for a swim before going into work. I was one of the first out on deck and got to swim through still water for a few hundred metres before others started jumping in. It was awesome! I managed 1500m in 22:31 and headed off to the office.

The afternoon was also quite busy as things at work have really ramped up recently. I am also studying for a professional certification exam at the moment, so time outside of work is tight as well. On top of all that I had my second baseball practice with the team this evening. It went quite well, the kids were happy, the parents were happy, and our first game is this Saturday.

This evening, as I watched the Jays win their fifth series in a row to start the 2009 season over the Texan Rangers I managed to do the old strength routine. 3X50 sit ups, 3X35 push ups, and 3X8 chin ups. I also did most of the ankle/foot strengthening routine, which I have to post about sometime. It's pretty involved and takes a long time to complete, which explains why I haven't had the time or energy to write about it. Some of the things I have to do are difficult to describe, so a camera and pictures will have to be involved. It will be time consuming to do this post, I can tell, but I'd still like to manage it.

Now, back to reading up for next week's exam.

T-Ball Practice for the Littlest One

This evening was Malcolm's first ever T-Ball practice, and it was a blast. I really hope he enjoys playing this year and has a great time while learning all the important things - sportsmanship, sharing, cheering, making mistakes, getting better, etc. He's so cute (though I recognize I am totally not objective here)!

(Gotta love that ready position!)

As far as my situation, the cold is almost gone. I say almost because it is lingering in that ultra-annoying stage where I feel like I am constantly in an airplane and my ears just won't pop. Even swimming this afternoon at lunch didn't seem to help much. I managed 1500m in 22:42, but the airplane seems to work under water for some strange reason.

After the T-Ball practice I managed another strength routine consisting of 3X50 crunches on the yoga ball, 3X35 push ups with the yoga ball, 3x8 chin ups without any yoga ball. This is a short and sweet routine that seems to be working pretty well for me. I absolutely have to involve some leg strengthening stuff, but given that I have a lot of exercises and stretching to try and cope with the plantar fasciitis and (to a lesser extent) the lingering hip and runner's knee I can't really start anything right now. Tomorrow I plan on heading out for a nice 5k and if my body cooperates I would like to pick up the pace a little bit for at least a small portion of it. Less than three weeks to go until the Sporting Life 10k, and even if I am running this one for fun only it would be nice to go a bit faster than training pace.

It's a Bit Hectic Right Now

Man, the time is flying by and I can't seem to find the energy to do much these days. Between the demands of two energetic boys and things really picking up at work there's not much time to cope with my foot pain, running, and all that stuff. I've been very diligent about doing my stretching and exercising and such and I hope that all of this will help the plantar fasciitis to finally start it's long awaited journey off of my right foot. I am sort of planning to do a post on what exactly I am doing in the next little while since I think it might be of interest to anyone who is either suffering from plantar fasciitis or this other thing I just learned about (and think I have) called sesimoiditis, but I simply don't have the time right now.

Today was one of those busy busy days, and the weather has been so crappy this week that it somehow makes things even more difficult to deal with. The gear I have to wear and trek around with in order to bike to work is such a hassle and I can't wait for those warm sunny days when I can just jump on the bike with short and t-shirt (and for the kids out there, a helmet of course), but for now it's a matter of staying warm and dry. I did manage to get myself back on the bike at lunch and jumped in the pool for a quick 1000m in 15 minutes. I wanted to do more, but had a prior commitment to sit on a panel on information policy for an old professor of mine who asked me to speak to her class. Crazy! I guess that makes me an adult or something...

Tonight I did the whole strength routine and managed a good amount of stretching and strengthening of the foot. Actually I am working on both feet since I figure if I fix one then the other will take its turn to kick me in the ass. Tomorrow I will try to get a short run in (5k range), though I have to attend a coaches meeting for the first of two baseball teams that I will be coaching this year. Just when I thought things might get a little less busy! Should be fun, though. I never played this sport, and coming from Eastern Europe baseball was a real oddity to me when my family arrived in Canada, but now I think it's great. BTW: the Jays had a nice comeback win tonight, so it's all good.

Month in Review

On this last day of March I thought it was worth a look back and take stock. As I started this month of running things were going pretty well, though my plantar fasciitis was once again flaring up and prompted me to make an appointment to see my physio to try and get to the root of the problem. As she was away my assessment had to wait until the 25th and so I had to run and manage as best I could on my own. I managed to up my long runs to 18k and 20k without any problems, but ran into some issues when I attempted 24k. Due to my lack of proper hydration and nutrition in the two days leading up to this milestone run I paid the price with major calf crampage that would pretty much ruin the last two weeks of planned training leading up to the Around the Bay 30k. After getting some massage therapy the calves loosened up just in time, but on the short test run before the race a new problem crept up in the form of hip/ITB pain on the left side. I didn't let this stop me and ended up making it to the starting line with the goal of just finishing the 30k, which I did despite some major pain. In short: mission accomplished! I'm also a little wiser for the effort.

I also managed a new monthly high in mileage by running 130.6km.

Now, a couple of days after the race, I am pleasantly surprised to find that my expected pain, which I though would be debilitating, is not that bad at all. The biggest thing still lingering from the race is my plantar fasciitis in the right foot, and the hip is feeling like it's pretty much back to normal. Is it possible that I shocked it back into shape? I don't know, but I really don't care.

Today I biked up to the pool at lunch and swam a pretty decent 1200m in about 18 minutes. It was interesting that my shoulders, especially the traps, were tight from the race. I guess when you run that long for the first time your whole body gets a workout at the end just to get you through.

Tonight I did another strength routine with the yoga ball consisting of sit ups, push ups, and chin ups. I'm comfortably doing sets of 40 sit ups and 35 push ups now so I think it's time to think about upping these as of next week. The chin ups are still a challenge, though I think that's partly because I do them after the other exercises, and I'm still stuck on sets of 8.

Tomorrow I am actually planning on heading out for a nice easy 5k, but will leave the final decision until the evening. My quads are tight, but I think with another night off and some stretching and such they will likely be ready for a short recovery run. Here's hoping I'm right! The foot is status quo and I should be able to manage the pain as long as I run slowly. I am working on my range of motion as far as dorsiflexion goes and have already improved on that front. When my range was measured by the physio I only managed 12cm on the right foot compared to 14.5cm on the left (measured from the wall to the longest toe while keeping ones heel down and touching the knee to the wall). Today I measured myself and have improved the right foot to measure 13.5cm! I hope that increasing this range of motion will eventually help the plantar fascia to heal.

I Hope It's Not A Mirage

This morning, after an evening spent either with a hot water bottle strapped to my calf, sitting in the tub, or rubbing Arnika Cream onto/into the affected area, I woke up with a hint less of pain than the previous morning. Could this be, or is this just a cruel mirage come to taunt me? I decided to let it slide and not think about it. After all, my physio appointment is tomorrow and I don't want to show up with nothing hurting for her to ponder and prod.

After another application of Arnika Cream and a morning of rushing the boys out the door on time to catch Owen's schoolbus, I biked down to work. When I got off the bike the calf continued to feel less tight than I expected. Again, I warned myself that wishful thinking will get you nowhere and tried to ignore the lower extremity. Perhaps this was one of those things that, if ignored, would simply begin to act properly in hopes of winning back my approval? Hmmmmm. Maybe.

At lunch I once more got on the bike and headed off to the UofT pool for a short and easy swim. I decided to just be satisfied with 1000m (it took about 15 minutes) and then use the rest of the time I had to stand in as hot a shower as I could handle while stretching a bit. This was a good thing and my legs felt a bit better afterwards. I massaged in more Arnika Cream and headed back to work. On the way I had the strangest feeling of warmth in my quads and inner thighs. I didn't put anything there and if anything I would have expected some sensation in the calves, but the whole quads thing was pretty weird. It was as if I was absorbing the rays of the Sun in this area only, like a cat taking a nap on a windowsill where the sun is only hitting one spot of fur. I wonder what the hell all that was about? Can a 34 year-ol guy get hot flashes in the thighs for some hormonal reason?

The afternoon at the office was spent working (duh!) and sitting at a desk (double duh!), which resulted in my calves tightening up again. I should have practiced some more office stretching, but alas my hindsight is myopic and I forgot my rear view glasses.

On a side not I'd like to thank NWGDC for leaving a comment on my last post re: Chi Running. It seems that absorbing the spirit of this technique, if not the letter of the law, has helped him to run injury free for the past year and a bit. This testament makes for a great boost as far as my running goes and perhaps there is hope that I too can learn how to run more efficiently, minimize injury to the point that will allow me to train for long stretches of time, make all my planned races, and have fun in the process.

In the evening I did another strength routine, this time upping the sit ups to 40 reps and the push ups to 35, all with the yoga ball. I'm still doing reps of 8 on the chin ups, but they are starting to get easier and easier.

A Swim and More Stretching

So, after my post about stretching at work I totally went all out today and pretty much didn't care about what the others thought. I stretched everything I could all day long, and though I may not be as limber as I would like to be I feel like this can only end goodly. (As opposed to badly.)

I went for another swim as well. I did 1200m freestyle in 18 minutes and that was all I could handle. Swimming has become pretty boring these days, which is why I made the switch to pool running a couple of weeks ago. But given how my legs are feeling, and the fact that Around the Bay is a week and a half away I didn't want to tax my legs any more than necessary. I will return to pool running in April to be sure.

Tonight we entertained a friend of Malcolm's for a "movie night", with her Mom over for dinner and such so I didn't manage any strength stuff. The night is young, however, and I might get to it yet. There's a third of a bottle of wine left on the table however...

Still Hurting

I am still recovering from my weekend of poor judgement (which is how I will refer to it from now on) and my legs are tighter than a Puerto Rican bongo drum. I actually have no idea if Puerto Ricans play bongos, or how tight they keep the skins if they do, but I'm watching the World Baseball Classic game between Puerto Rico and the US and the fans seem to fancy hand drums a lot.

I did swim a short distance at lunch today. 1000m in 15 minutes was enough for me. I was unable to go all last week on account of the Canadian National Swimming Championships taking up the pool, and just wanted to get a little swim in. This was all I could muster.

Tonight I did some more crunches, push ups, and chin ups. No squats though. I was afraid of tearing something south of the border...

On a nice note I received an unexpected email from my Uncle in Poland today, totally out of the blue! He's not my real Uncle (who seems to have disappeared down under in Australia a couple of decades ago), but as my Dad's best friend that's how we always refer to him. He told me that he's been following my blog and wished me well. Awesome! Thank you! Perhaps I will have to start writing this blog in two languages? Hmmmmm...

Newbie To Hydration, Oldie to Swimming

Not much to report today really, just a “business as usual” kind of day. I swam at lunch for a total of 1500m in my usual time of 22:30, and it was fine. My left shoulder hurt a bit from the allergy shot I got just before going swimming, but nothing to worry about. I would have probably swam another 500m, but I had to get back to work and didn’t have time.

Speaking of not having time, today just didn’t work out to go headphone shopping. I also have to buy some Gatorade powder or some such thing for my long runs now that they are well over an hour in duration. This is uncharted territory for me and I know absolutely nothing about powders, gels, beans, gu, bars, or any other such thing designed to keep you going long and strong. I guess this will be a trial and error type of thing until I come up with something that works for me, but I must admit that I do not look forward to the process in the least. Therefore, my plan is to start by mixing a pretty dilute Gatorade and water solution since I find Gatorade on its own way too sweet. Is there something other than Gatorade powder, or a specific type of Gatorade powder, that is recommended? I’m shamelessly looking for advice on this since, as explained, I KNOW NOTHING!

This evening I also did a bit of a routine of strength training (or a fair representation thereof) using a yoga ball and some exercises that I took from the RunnersWorld website. It was ok (situps, pushups, squats, and chinups), but I lacked energy. I'll try to do something strength related twice a week as that part has been suffering lately in favour or running.

Back in the Pool

Last week I wrote about my issues with the beast, commonly known as the University of Toronto, and how they all of a sudden decided that I was no longer a student, making my regular lunch time swims at the Athletic Centre impossible. Thanks for the heads up, dumbasses!!!

Well, I've gone through a week of being bounced from the Graduate Services office to my Faculty and back again just to find out that, indeed, I am no longer considered a student and, therefore, my membership at the athletic centre was inactive. It turns out that they are refunding me half my tuition (for the Winter term), which is nice of them and all, but then they will charge me, in a separate transaction, a "balance of degree fee" that is about $300 more than the refund I am so generously to receive! What a Fruitin' joke!!!

Today I decided to go back to the pool and buy a membership as a 1st or 2nd year alumni, which entitles me to a reduced fee. You can imagine my surprise when I was informed that I was not eligible for this reduced membership fee since technically I won't "graduate" until June, and so I have to pay a different alumni fee, which is more than the 1st or 2nd year alumni fee (where I should friggin' fit in since I JUST FINISHED!), but at least a little cheaper than the "anybody off the street" fee. My question, which resulted in a stonefaced dumbfounded look on the three robots behind the counter, is how can I be considered an alumni when I haven't technically "graduated", but not a 1st or 2nd year alumni when their own system tells them that I just finished my last course in December?!?! Naturally, they came up with zero by way of explanation. The best I can come up with is that you can be considered an alumni by this fine institution even if you drop out (probably so they can send you letters begging for money), but when you "finish" is only determined by the School of Graduate Studies and their confirmation of convocation.

AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

Long story short, I paid for a 4 month membership, rented a "non-student" locker (and had to move all my crap for fear of them cutting my lock within seconds, a warning the robots were quick to administer), and swam 1500m in 22 minutes.

The other upside of the membership is that I will have access to this fancy new outdoor race track when the snow melts, where I will be able to do some speed workouts when I get to that point in my running plan. It should be soft and cushiony to run on this:

Catching up

Boy, it's been a busy few days on my end and I am behind on the blog reading and writing. Since blowing a tire on the highway on our way to Ottawa we had a nice weekend of spending time with family and skating on the canal. Also, I caught up with a friend from my grade school days, who now has a three-month old baby boy and was brave enough to meet up with us for some skating in -14C temperatures on Sunday morning. Her little guy slept through the whole thing, nicely sheltered in a stroller!

The world's longest skating rink was nice and solid on account of the cold and we had a great time! There was no lack of space either:



We also hit a great bead store on Bank Street because Owen wanted to make a necklace for his granny as it was her Birthday. The necklace turned out awesome, though it was a bit tough for the little guy to choose the beads he wanted given the massive selection (and this picture captures only a fraction of what was available):



I took Owen back out on the canal on Monday morning as well to get some more skating in before hitting the road back home. There was one last piece of pie left from the weekend and (for some strange reason) someone (who will remain nameless) decided to pack it in a Ziploc bag for the trip back home! If you've never enjoyed a bag of pie, you've never really lived:


Monday evening proved busier than I'd anticipated as another old friend of mine, this time from my undergrad days, called last minute that he was in town from the west coast on a last minute business trip and could we get together? Unfortunately he was staying in the west end of the GTA, about a 45 minute drive in a part of Mississauga that I find completely devoid of any redeeming qualities, and it didn't make sense for him to stay with us for it would put him too far away from where he needed to be the next morning. I drove out to see him anyway and we had a good time catching up over dinner.

Then, on Tuesday, I was back at work and got in a lunchtime swim: 2000m in 30 minutes. I also did some chin ups (8-8-8 pull and 8-8-8 chin) and a few hip flexor things. I haven't run in over a week, but am thinking of heading out tonight as the knee seems to be pretty much pain free except for one spot right at the bottom of the kneecap where it hurts when pressed. Anyway, it's supposed to be freezing tonight, but I'd like to make it out for a short run and hope that it happens.

Keeping the Faith

This afternoon I was contemplating yet another skipped run (in this case tomorrow's) on account of the knee pain as well as the technical and logistical issues that would inevitably arise with me trying to transfer this blog to my new domain. As far as the run goes I think it is likely off since my knee is still not well, but the website was a pleasant surprise. I thought that the process would take days and a lot of wrangling with tech support to get everything from the old domain to the new. In the end the fine folks at Stormweb made the whole process easy as pie. (Now, I've never baked a pie from scratch, but making one using one of those frozen ready-made crusts is pretty easy indeed!) If anyone is looking for reliable, affordable, and helpful hosting services check out this company - you won't be disappointed.

Anyway, as you may already see, the old wonky domain now redirects to this slightly less wonky one. For those who come and read my blog on a regular basis I very much appreciate you taking the time to do so and hope that you will update your readers to the new address. Your continued support is in no small way responsible for motivating me in this running and general health endeavour, especially through all the aches and pains that seem to continually plague my inferior skeleton.

As far as running goes I choose to think positively about my knee ailment, which kept me from running last night. This is a typical case of runner's knee, where I feel the pain right in front just under the kneecap. I can run through the pain, and in fact as I warm up it goes away, but I know that this is not a good thing to do so I am staying off of it right now. I may even have to skip tomorrow's run, with my next one hopefully planned for Sunday when we are in Ottawa.

With all that in mind, I managed to do some other exercise related stuff yesterday evening. I did some push ups (45-55-35-50) and sit ups (50-50-50-50), as well as a bunch of hip flexor stuff that I should have been doing all through December. Stupid me! It was the perfect time to get my core in shape for my return to running, and now I am paying the price. Oh well, live and learn. I still have lots of time to prepare for the Around the Bay race at the end of March (or at least I keep telling myself that I do).

Today I managed another lunchtime swim. As mentioned previously it is getting more and more difficult to stay motivated for these sessions, but I know that as long as my legs keep me from running as much as I would like the swimming will at least help to keep my heart in some semblance of "shape". I managed another 1500m in 22:30 and then had to get back to work on account of the all popular conference call for which I'm sure you all share my affection...

Tonight, in between folding clothes and flipping channels on the TV, I did some more chin ups: 5-5-5-5-5 pull ups and 6-6-6-6-6 chin ups. I don't know when I will ever get to 20 in a row, but for now I have decided to pay more attention to my legs. When my knee is better I will get into doing lunges and squats on top of doing the hip flexor and ass strengthening routine.

Getting Poked and Pricked

Yes, I know. The title doesn't sound very lovely, but that is what I was subjected to this morning as I went for the second of seven allergy shots and for the bloodwork that the Doctor ordered as part of my annual check up. I am not a fan of needles, but understand that they are a necessary evil. With respect to my allergies, the immunotherapy has been a major help. The bloodwork I could do without, however. It kind of makes me feel like they are stealing, seeing those vials fill up with the blood that my marrow worked so hard to create. I'll piss in a cup anytime, they can have that liquid for free, but shouldn't I get a cookie or something for my blood?

With that done, and feeling suitably violated, I managed to get to work a bit late and then (finally!) eat something after a 12 hour fast. (I'm such a lightweight when it comes to abstaining from food, I'll admit it!) I did make it out for a lunchtime swim at least, but due to the fact that I had less time than I would normally have I only managed 1500m in about 22 minutes and had to get back to work. Still, I've so far managed pretty well with getting in two swims a week since September, and I'm sure that will help with my running as I venture into my first full season of racing.

Tonight was more hip and ass exercises, and I am still feeling the runner's knee on the right side so I might have to (regrettably) skip the planned 5k tomorrow, but we'll see. I really have to stop feeling guilty when I miss runs due to aches and pains, but find this very hard to achieve. As a competitive swimmer I NEVER missed a practice, no matter what. Sick, hurt, tired - nothing mattered. I made it to all workouts all the time. Now that I am no longer in that competitive world I really have to stop thinking the same way...

But a tiger can't change his stripes, and I was born in the year of the tiger...

I also did some chin ups: 5-5-5-5-5 pull ups, 5-5-5-5-5 chin ups. The quest for 20 in a row has stalled in a major way, but someday I will get back to it.

The Thrill is Gone

It seems that the novelty of swimming a couple of times a week at lunch has come and gone, and I now am faced with the prospect of talking myself into going through the routine of getting to the pool, changing, showering, jumping in the water, swimming, getting out,... you get the picture.

However, I DID talk myself into it, after I had an unexpected visit from my younger loin fruit! He was downtown with his Mom on an appointment close enough to my office building that they decided to drop in. It was very cool to see him in this context, and he entertained the entire staff for a while until we pretty much had to force him to leave. He wanted to stay with his Daddy! Aaawwwwwwwwww!!!!!!

Anyway, the swim was OK, as far as those things go. I decided to just go until I could go no more or I hit 2000m, whichever came first. The first 400m went by nice and easy, though by the time I got to 500m I was beginning to doubt my ability to go non-stop for another 1500m. It wasn't a physical thing, more mental for sure.

But I did do it (2000m) and it took me 30:30, so that means I averaged 1:33 per 100m. Man, I am so slow compared to my younger competitive days! Of course, back then I used to swim twice a day, 7000-8000m per practice! I must have had a screw loose...

The other thing I should mention is that I felt a twinge of runner's knee in the right leg last night after my run, so I'd better stay on top of that an get back to working on my weak hips and ass... The foot is status quo, not getting much better, but not getting worse either. I think I have to just keep taking it easy.