Category: running

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One Tough Run

The weekend came and went without me having done my long run.  This week was supposed to peak at 19.2km, and if I couldn’t get it done on the weekend, what chance would I have during the week?

While the Nemo blizzard had covered everything in snow, the weather forecast showed that Monday would be well above freezing (again) with rain even, but no rain forecast for Tuesday as well as staying above zero.  Tuesdays have been good days to get out early (thus Trifecta Tuesdays), so I thought I’d get out the door around 6:00AM, run for two hours or so, shower, then head to work, and I thought the conditions would work with me.

First problem: the kids did one of their patented sleepless nights, staggering their wake-ups so that either me or my wife was up every hour and a half on average.  We haven’t been hit with anything too serious during cold and flu season (plenty of friends have been either laid up for more than a week or had to have hospital interventions), but our kids are not 100% nor comfortable it seems.

I got up at 5:30 and though I think I was pretty quiet, my wife let me know she hadn’t been able to get back to sleep after the umpteenth wake-up and Shark Boy got out of bed too.  The next thing I know, everybody is up and Plan A means leaving my wife with two sick and cranky kids for at least an hour before my mother arrives to lend her help.

So… I didn’t get out the door till almost 7:00.  I had equipped myself with my Salomon hydration pack, clipped a Saucony blinker onto its back as well as wearing a Petzl headlamp that  would be trying for the first time.  The extra lighting probably wasn’t necessary beyond the first 15 minutes… but hey, it was my first run in darkness.



I hadn’t gotten past more than a couple of houses when I started to slip – black ice on the sidewalk, in spite of the day before’s thaw.  I had packed my Yaktrax, but I wasn’t wearing them yet, so I went back to my front porch to sit down and put them on.   I ran from my street to the park entrance to get on my usual trail, and there I did not have to deal with ice…. rather slush, sometimes as high as my ankles.  I guess people had tramped down the snow somewhat, and the temperature must have been slightly warmer on the trail.

From that point onward I had to confront either slippery black ice, wet slush or climb over snowbanks that were frozen close to solid. It was also quite windy.  I think I had gotten about 4 km when I started to think about quitting. For about another 4 km I had a thought process that went like this: “This sucks. I should call it a day and head home. I don’t want to go back the way I came though. I’ll just head over to [the next way-point that would present a route home] and see if this gets any better.” I repeated that till I was 8 km in, and then formulated a plan.

I could take the way home after another two major intersections. The streets involved had their sidewalks done by the city as opposed to private citizen homeowners, and the use of salt had made them a little more navigable. When there was a traffic light, I took a right turn until I was probably less than 2 km from home.

I made a phone call home to make sure everything was OK there, then I headed back North so that I could make a 4 km loop that I had to repeat another 2 times to get 18 km total. It was boring running the same city streets over and over again, and I drew a lot of stares from people waiting for buses. On the plus side, I was able to use a gas station for a bathroom break when needed. The general rule was better than average sidewalk clearing, but there were some exceptions….

What happened to the sidewalk?

It was one of those runs where almost everything hurt at least a little, but my right glute was the loudest complainer. I think it and my right hip were starting to almost lock up by the time I was finished.





The good news was that this was going to be the longest run of the year, and I got it done. It’s an extra feather in my cap that it was so challenging… I doubt race day can throw anything at me anymore that I won’t be able to handle.

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Half-Marathon Training Recap: Cadence Workouts, Push-Pulls, Kyle’s Krusade, etc.

  • Sunday: I had a 16km run to get done, and I was looking for new ways to stay entertained.  Audiobooks have been suggested often, and I downloaded an app so that I could digitally lend them from the library, but I haven’t gotten it to work yet, and the whole concept doesn’t really inspire me.  I did, however, find that my Slacker Radio app has a series of stations called ‘Fitness’ which are all good workout songs, sub-divided by musical genre.  The one I ended up using was ‘BPM Workout’ – a station with all songs having a tempo between 150 and 190 beats per minute.  Ideal for keeping a good cadence! Coincidentally, the next day, I found an article in the paper explaining how the right tempo music aids runners in keeping a good cadence and how an app maker is seeking to capitalize on this concept.  It’s an interesting read (as all Alex Hutchinson articles are).
  • Monday: I ran 5km for Kyle’s Krusade.  You can read about it (and how I got a new PR) here.  Please consider joining or simply donating.
  • Tuesday: I was back on the Trifecta Tuesday bandwagon, and started it with a swim.  I was inspired by the idea of tempo music-driven workouts, yes even swimming.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of that series, where I do a little analysis.  I rounded out my Trifecta with Yoga and a Plank for 1 minute 48 seconds as part of Erica D. House’s Killer Core Plank Challenge.
  • Thursday: Having taken a rest day on Wednesday, I didn’t know whether to cross-train on Thursday or run.  I hadn’t packed winter gear, and given how I hate treadmill running, I figured I would do both.  I broke up what was supposed to be 8km in two halves.  After 4km I did a 2 minute plank as well as the following strength workout.

    • I used this machine to do an exercise dubbed ‘waterskiing’ by Katy from Fit In Heels with a little extra.  I configured the rope to have a lower angle than the one shown in the picture





    • 30 Pushups,
    • Back on the rope machine – pulling down as if climbing the rope: 1 minute.
    • 20 pushups with a twist kick again from Fit in Heels.
    • 12 assisted pull-ups on the machine.  I did these pyramid style; starting with 60 lbs of assistance till failure, then 75 lbs of assistance, then 90 lbs.
      • from blogilates.com
    • 16 ‘Scorpion’ Push-ups.
    • 20 Bent-over Rows (35 lbs)
    • 20 Incline Dumbbell Press (35lbs)


Then back on the treadmill for what was supposed to be another 4km, but due to an accidental button press (and a little fatigue and motivation failure) I stopped after 2.6km


Sunday: We went out of town for the weekend.  The plan was to cross-country ski which we did, but getting a late start and with the Lightning Kid unexpectedly and inexplicably objecting loudly for most of the trail.  An hour’s worth only gave us 5km and I wish these apps could appreciate that I’m pulling nearly 80lbs of extra weight along when they calculate calories and such…


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Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!

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Race Recap: Kyle’s Krusade 5k Virtual Race

While I had initially planned on using the Yeti Snowshoe Race as my 5k for the Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Race (to Lisa of RunWiki.org’s great excitement), its cancellation left me looking for another 5k I could use.  The Training Plan said that Monday was to be a 5.6km run, so that would have to do.

The days had been cold of late, but my 16km run on Sunday had gone well so I decided to Race with a Capital ‘R’… even though there was no-one else there.  If young Kyle had to fight cancer, could I offer any less than an all-out effort?  I hoped for a sub 25 minute finish, but I had a few factors against me: I had left both my Garmin and my water bottle belt at home.  I’d be relying on my Endomondo app to track my pace and distance.  Figuring that I’d be working hard, I skipped a thermal layer, and didn’t bother with face protection.  I can’t say that it was a mistake overall, but it did make the start a little uncomfortable.



As I ticked off the kilometres, I stayed under 5 minutes per kilometre, which was what I needed to stay under 25 minutes overall.  My lungs were burning a little, and some of the sharp turns were not ideal for ‘racing’.  You can see the fatigue (and incline) kick in on the 4th kilometre, and for a few minutes I thought I’d have to overshoot my starting point due to some kind of miscalculation, but I heard the 5 km indicator right as I got to the intersection.  24:39, a personal best.

Me with my Race Bib after it’s finished


I want to thank Lisa for devoting her time and effort to such a worthy cause.  Not everyone wants to do this kind of organization and logistics for the enjoyment of others.  Kyle’s Krusade Virtual Races can be done all through February and you can do 5k, 10k or even a half-marathon.  Or you call simply donate… just follow the links!

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Gear Corner: Hoorag Review

Disclaimer: I was provided a free sample by Hoorag in exchange for a review.  I was not asked to write a positive review and these experiences and opinions are my own.

Being outside especially while exercising can carry a lot of demands for clothing and accessories.  You need to keep sweat out of your face and eyes.  You need to tie back your hair.  You need to protect your face and/or neck from the wind, or from the sun.  Hoorags claim to be the better bandana.

My first run in a Hoorag was an easy run with a couple of hill repeats in light drizzle, just above freezing temperature with 20 km/h winds.  I wanted head insulation, but didn’t feel like I’d need my winter hat or any other face protection, so I wore the Hoorag ‘Bandana’ style.

Pic not taken on run day.

It felt comfortable and did a good job of keeping me warm enough – I never felt the cold.  It’s breathable so I didn’t overheat either, and it stayed on without me having to fiddle with it.  I think it even looked OK on the day… this pic notwithstanding.

When temperatures dropped below freezing, I considered wearing it ‘Balaclava’ style (think ninja-mask) but I couldn’t get it to work… I ended up with extra material around the eyes mostly.  That’s OK, because I’ve always wanted to look like Strider-Hiryu…

…minus the threatening sword…

The ‘Face Mask’ style is my favourite way to wear the Hoorag.  I grew up using ‘Tube Sarves’ to protect my face (especially mouth and nose) from the cold and wind.  The problem I always had was that the elastic was on only one end of the tube… wear the elastic at the top of the scarf and it cuts into your face – uncomfortable.  Wear it at the bottom (the better choice) and the top of the scarf is somewhat loose and not protecting your face as well as you’d like.

Hoorag doesn’t have this problem – it’s stretchy top to bottom but both ends have a gentle elastic.  I could get it to hug my face however I wanted; I got a peak right up to the bridge of my nose, but it sloped down past my cheekbones far enough that it wouldn’t interfere with my earphones if I wanted.

If I did any really heavy breathing (like sprints or hills), I found it interfered with my breathing and I would get gassed.  The good news is I was usually warm by that point, and I could easily pull it down to my neck (known as the ‘Neck Gaiter’ style).  On one occasion the moisture trapped in it from such breathing got flash-frozen when I pulled the mask away from my face; other than that, I like wearing it this way and do so for most of my winter runs.

I did try wearing a balaclava once for contrast; the full face mask is the protection of choice for the coldest of cold weather.  Wearing a balaclava means extra headaches putting on headphones, and I found it interfered with my field of vision too, so I prefer the Hoorag, though if it gets cold enough, I wear both!

as well as a hat.

The Hoorag can be worn in ladies’ styles too. When I asked my wife to model it, she was a little overly concerned with how she’d look, and more pertinently: “When was the last time you washed that thing?”

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Half-Marathon Weekly Training Recap: Hanging On By My Fingernails

I’m writing this under pretty extreme sleep deprivation so I’m going to keep this short and sweet.  I missed a lot of training opportunities, and cross-training was the big victim.  Here are the running miles I put in:


Date 1/27 1/28 1/29 1/30 1/31 2/1 2/2 TOTAL
km 11.9 6.4 8 7.2

33.5


A total of 33.5km compared to 34.8km expected.  Not bad, but I really don’t like not getting my cross-training in.  We’re fighting colds and ear infections in the house, and I had some corporate training to attend too.  

  • Sunday’s run was in my old neighbourhood which was fun.

  • I did the Tempo Run on Thursday.

  • Saturday I did my 7.2km pushing the Chariot with the Lightning Kid.  Afterwards he kept me company for some foam rolling.  Best run of the week!


UPDATE: I’m also bummed that the Yeti Snowshoe Race was cancelled due to an extreme thaw this week.  I’m going to do 5k on Monday as my Kyle’s Krusade race.
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Half-Marathon Training Weekly Recap: The Write-Off

Due to the capricious nature of cold and flu season, I missed running and cross-training from Monday to Thursday this week.  I don’t want to bore you with the details, but nights without sleeping sabotage both evening workouts and early mornings, and attending doctor’s appointments and such takes out my regular lunch slot too.

I tried to make up a little by running an indoor duathlon today.  I wanted to hit my tempo run from the plan, but I shorted the warm-up from a mile to half a mile before hitting the main tempo section.  Skipping the cool down, I jumped straight into a 40 minute spin class, then did another mile on the treadmill using a ‘random hill’ program in the Merrell Trail Glove/Minimalist shoes, to try and focus a little on form.

I haven’t figured out how I want to tweak this weekend’s schedule to make up for last mileage, and I’m also nervous about a race I signed up for before the Chilly Half Marathon… I’m doing a snowshoe race!  It’s going to be the Yeti Snowshoe Series ‘Sport’ Course (5k) at Blue Mountain.  The Race Calendar Page has been updated accordingly.

In the lead-up to planning this race, and signing up for it, my wife asked me: “When was the last time you snowshoed?” (I love that she didn’t ask me if I’d EVER snowshoed…). The answer? A sheepish “Junior High”.  I’m fully prepared to make a fool of myself on this event, yet according to this video from Canadian Running Magazine, as long as I’m careful, I should find myself getting the hang of it.  Starting off slowly and carefully is always standard operating procedure in a race.

I’ve chosen to use this race as a 5k ‘virtual run’ for a cause started by Lisa of RunWiki to help ‘Kyle’s Krusade’:

Kyle’s Krusade Virtual 5K, 10K and Half Marathon is a race anyone, anywhere can participate in. You can walk, run, push a stroller, do it with a group or by yourself. The registration for this event is $10 a distance, you can sign up for one, two, or all three distances. 100% of your entry fee will go to The Talbert Family Foundation’s Kyle’s Krusade fund. In turn, to assist with the exorbitant costs associated with having a child with Cancer, they give 100% of their donations directly to the O’Connor family. – From the RunWiki.org website.

Please consider doing a run (and donating of course) in February to help the O’Connor Family.

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Half Marathon Training Week Recap: New Distances

Looking back at the week in training that was:

  • Saturday was the long run, in some very warm weather for the season.  To avoid mud, I stuck to side-walks so my joints and Achilles tendons took more than the usual amount of pounding, I’d have to say.  I was conservative on the way out, and more aggressive on the way back.  Going slow feels weird because I have a time goal in mind for the race, but I think the structure might be paying off…  14.3km done.
  • We were out late seeing the movie Les Miserables, and Shark Boy didn’t get to bed on time either, so Crossfit on Sunday was sacrificed.  Taking a rest day was probably smart.
  • Monday continued to be mild, but I figured it would be dry enough to run on trails.  Almost right, my shoes got wet (though my Salomon XR Missions have done some good water protection for my feet this season) and at least once I had to wipe a big, heavy clump of mud off the soles.  I hit the prescribed mileage, and the pace was slow as recommended (6:34min/kim)… at least on average.  I think I did some walk breaks and speed bursts to keep that average pace.
  • Tuesday was meant to be a Trifecta Tuesday with an early morning swim, plus strength and 1 more activity that I hadn’t decided on (maybe Yoga), but when I got to the gym, I found the pool crowded, and I had forgotten a towel; I went home and had breakfast with the family instead.  I managed to make it to the Etobicoke Olympium at lunch.  The Olympic (50m) pool had been cut in half for lane swimming, but though there were a lot of people there too, the lane etiquette was roundly observed, and it was no problem getting a good workout in.  In fact, I did my longest pool workout swim with 2.3km including drills, 4x75m intervals, 4x200m and another 4x75m.
  • Wednesday was my favourite run of the week.  The trails were dry and the sun was out.  I managed a 6:04min/km pace, and I began to see how a 2 hour half-marathon might be possible.
  • On Thursday, I did a Cross-training session in a group exercise class.  PB Freakin Fit is run by Personal Best (who manages our corporate gym) and is structured much like a Crossfit Workout of the Day (WOD).  Due to the equipment available and the space used, a lot of modifications need to be made.  This workout was a warm-up of jumping jacks, skipping, jogging on the spot, then a countdown: run across the room and back then do 10 push-ups, repeat with 9, 8, 7 push-ups right down to 1.  The first main set was 5 rounds for time (RFT): 20 Frog Jump Squats, 10 Renegade Rows with Mountain Climber, and 20 Hindu Pushups.  The second set involved AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in 10 minutes of 20 ski-jumps, 10 burpees with dumbbell shoulder press, and 20 wide-stance prisoner squats. I can still feel the effects as I write this on Sunday.
  • Friday was a tempo run on the treadmill; new distance (2 miles/3.2 km) at a speed of 6.8mph with a 1 mile warm-up and cool down
    • I took a rest day on Saturday, and on Sunday, in spite of freezing temperatures and 48 km/h winds, I got a new distance of 16km or 10 miles.  That’s more than I’ve run in one sitting in at least 3 years.



I took a weigh-in toward the end of the week: 200lbs. Not great progress but heading in the right direction…


This was a week of new frontiers of distance, and I love seeing and feeling the progress.

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Gear Corner: Review of the Yaktrax Pro

While putting a lot more running miles in the snow, you can’t help but wish for more traction.  I used to have a pair of traction devices (the brand name of which I can’t remember now) that I could put on the soles of my shoes.  They were made of rubber which would hug the outline of your sole, and had little studs on the bottom for gripping snow and ice.  The problems were:

  • The studs felt funny when you weren’t on soft snow.  When you run in the suburbs, you’ll be running over cleared sidewalks sometimes too.  Whenever I was on harder surfaces, I could feel the little cleats pushing back into my feet, like some annoying acupuncture.  I’d actually take them off and carry them or strap them to my running belt if I could see there would be cement for an extended stretch.
  • The little studs could break off.
  • Besides the elasticity of the rubber hugging the outside of the shoe, there was nothing keeping them attached.  I eventually zoned out on a run, noticed one of them was missing, backtracked for nearly a kilometer, and gave up on trying to find it.  I threw the other one in the garbage.


Still, I don’t think I can keep running in the snow without a little help, and based on a little research, more people seem to swear by Yaktrax than any other.  I like the idea of Yaktrax, which puts steel spring coils running horizontally across the soles – I figured that would feel nicer than little pointy bits under my feet.


Yaktrax Run

I went to my local Running Room to buy a pair.  I saw they have a model called the Yaktrax Run, but that had the pesky studs under the ball of the feet, so I stuck with the more basic, classic Yaktrax Pro.
Yaktrax Pro

I was really happy to see that strap on top, which would prevent me from losing them on the run, but how would they feel?  Would they work?  I took them out on a 12km run.

What I noticed:

  • Running on cement or pavement did feel better than with the studs.  You do notice the coils, but they’re not wholly unpleasant, just different than running without.
  • If the snow has been packed down by other people walking/running/skiing on it, and the terrain is flat, IT FEELS LIKE THERE’S NO SNOW AT ALL.  The feeling of running on my usual trail was indistinguishable from when it’s dry.  I step and move forward without any sideways lateral slipping, or lack of traction.
  • Going uphill is still tricky.  As soon as the trail climbed a little, I had to step more carefully again and remember that running in the snow is still simply different, Yaktrax or not.  I do think they helped me get up the hill (and back down again), the difference just wasn’t as stark as on the flats.
  • They can give you a little overconfidence.  When the snow got deeper I simply carried on.  There, the problems go beyond slipperiness and beyond what the Yaktrax can help you with.  Deeper snow means wet shoes and feet, and the resistance of pushing snow aside as you stride.  Another rude reminder that the snow changes your run.


The way this particular run turned out, I hit the deep snow at the furthest point from the start, and having to slow down nearly ruined my schedule; I wanted to be back home in time to go to a haircut appointment.  In spite of the fact that it was supposed to be a long, slow distance run, I hauled it on the way back, and ran nearly a minute per kilometer faster.  The Yaktrax held up fine; that doesn’t mean that you can use them for speed work necessarily, but I got a reasonable variety of paces out of them.  If you’re going to run in snow and/or ice, these are the product I would recommend.

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Half-Marathon Training: Week 2


I haven’t made weight loss an explicit goal, but I figured if I followed a regular training plan (with a higher volume of exercise than I’d been doing previously) and I watched what I ate (mostly avoiding sweets and booze, with better portion control too), some weight should come off.

Oh well…


That’s pretty much what I peaked at during the full holiday craze. I was active during the holidays (relatively speaking), and I felt like I didn’t sin too much, but still I have nothing to show for week 1. Like I said, I didn’t make it an explicit goal, so I won’t get stressed out about it, but I think I’ll try to monitor it in the weekly training posts for posterity’s sake. Having a few less pounds to drag across the finish line should make me faster come race season though…


I actually ran my long (12.2km) run on Saturday rather than Sunday, because on Sunday, I tried Crossfit (see my review here).  It was clearly a beginner session, because we also took the kids tobogganing that afternoon and I was able to pull them along and up the hill.

After 7 straight training days, I took Monday off.  This was more difficult than I thought, because I was feeling really good and strong and able to take on the world – everyone was posting motivation messages for ‘Motivation Monday’ (including me!).  Still, the rest day should be observed; it’s just that the rest day is usually forced upon me by life interfering with my plans…

I moved Monday’s 5.6km run to Tuesday, and I found the missing Blackberry!  Incredibly, it still worked, which means I’ll be able to recover my contacts and other info.  Since it was Trifecta Tuesday, I also did 47 pushups from the 100 push-ups app and a Yoga workout before bed.

On Wednesday I did a 7.4km run on pavement.  I was pretty pleased with my pace.  I could almost feel myself getting faster and stronger.

Due to some early morning toddler wake-up problems and a re-scheduled meeting, Thursday ended up being a rest day, unless you count air-guitar and dancing in the living room with the kids before dinner…

I did my tempo run on the treadmill on Friday; I used an incline of 1.5 and it felt fine. A mile warm-up at 5mph, the tempo run of 1.5 miles at 6.8mph and a mile cool-down (again at 5mph).



Though I’m pleased with my running and mileage this week, I am a little disappointed with strength and cross-training. Cross-fit was tough and a great workout, and the re-structuring of the week was probably what threw everything else into disarray. I should try to figure this out since this weekend will probably also involve a Saturday long run and Sunday Crossfit.