Messy!

It was gorgeous out but the footing was really messy and involved running through slush and getting splashed. For that reason I kept it at three miles with a multi-hour hockey tournament to follow shortly.

Saturday Update

I did three miles this morning as gorgeous flurries fell while it was quite mild. It was a pleasure to see but the footing was a bit slippery. I had a busy work week so I missed my training sessions but did get in a hockey game Thursday night. No goals this week but lots of penalties for both teams and I served the penalty charged to our goalie.

I'm not at the annual Walk of Life for the cardiac rehab program of Toronto Rehab. People are walking on the indoor track and a run wouldn't have worked here unless I knocked people over. Boy I've come a long way since June 16, 2000.

Tomorrow I have a work outdoor hockey tournament too but I plan the regular morning coffee run.

Three in a Row

Since today is a holiday I thought I'd keep it going this morning despite some fresh snow on the roads and sidewalks. It was messy but I did get in three more in 33+ minutes with an average HR of 149. Yesterday's effort seems to have been well tolerated and I feel very much back into the swing of things.

Butterscotch Ripple Ice Cream

This is a memorable post-race party. Great music too and interesting to chat with others who come out to do a race in February. In Canada.

Great Race and Now a Fun Post-Race Party!

Oh and we were under 50 minutes, so I was a lot faster and more comfortable than four weeks ago at Robbie Burns, but I really enjoyed it. It was bright and sunny and the course was a challenging one in terms of rolling hills with a portion in a nice residential area. Mrs. MM was ahead of me for the first half but eventually I overtook her to finish a bit ahead of her. I'm pretty sure we will both be in the race photos. 49:24 and 49:35 respectively with no doubt way higher in her group. We will be back!

Waterloo Pre-Race

Sunny but a bit cold. Lots of hardcore runners are warming up. I'm not seeing post-race timbits anywhere.

5K+ in Strong Winds and Flurries

Last night the wind was howling so much I worried a tree would come down and crash into our bedroom, killing us instantly. That didn't happen. But the winds were still pretty strong this morning especially running north and west. We did a gentle three and a third miles in 36 minutes in preparation for tomorrow 8K race in Waterloo. It will be cold but the snow won't come until well after the race. The only reason not to go would be that we're seeing Billy Elliott tonight and it won't be an early night, but you only live once so I'm sure we can handle getting up early and a fairly short drive.

le But!

It may be another ten years, so best to have a record of it for when I print the blog as a blog book.

Weather Forecast in Flux

The forecast had been perfect but now meaningful snow seems possible. I'm certainly not driving to Waterloo in a snowstorm to do an 8K, so will hope it works out. Based on the hourly forecast it looks like it will be more of a case of flurries with snow to start accumulating well after the race.

Meanwhile last night I scored our team's lone goal in a loss to the league leading team. Am I allowed to be happy?

Four Plus Miles with Ice Pellets

It was quite mild as I headed out-grey, but it was nice to avoid a bitter cold wind. I felt quite energetic and my knee felt normal so I figured I would do a four miler rather than a three. It was pleasant and uneventful until suddenly it started to flurry and then the flurries turned into ice pellets. That weather lasted maybe five minutes but the result was a suddenly slick surface, so I had to switch to the barer roads and dart back on to the sidewalks when there were cars. not bad at all and a decent 43 minute tune up for Sunday's 8K in Waterloo.

6.6 Miles

We couldn't decide on a breakfast destination and Mrs. MM didn't want to sit at breakfast in wet clothes anyway so we decided on a loop in the neighbourhood. My watch said 10K but the Gmaps link shows 10.6K which is a significant difference (with 6.21 miles actually being 6.59 miles). If we do the Waterloo Re-fridgee-eighter 8K a week today it will be no problem. In fact we possibly could go up to the 8 mile distance. But I think we will wait until the registration deadline and see what the weather forecast looks like not only for a race but for a drive.

I give us credit for getting out there this morning after last night's delicious but filling meal at Ruby Watchco with salad, homemade buttermilk biscuits, flank steak with spinach and broccoli and mashed potatoes, cheese, chocolate dessert with a peanut butter cookie and a fair bit of wine. My Polar says the run was a 1,000 calorie effort so I burned off only a fraction of last night's intake. Perhaps an afternoon skate is in order after I finish icing my knee and we have some sort of brunch at home.

Meanwhile it feels pretty good to have done half of a half! Slow (73 minutes) but done and with an acceptable average HR of 145. The conditions were better this week than last and we avoided a lot of hills by not running straight downtown.

UPDATE: I'm rewarding myself now with a delicious hot toddy.

Not Quite Spring but it's Coming

The sun is already higher in the sky and when it isn't hidden by the clouds, it is much stronger. So while it wasn't warm this morning, it still was quite pleasant both in terms of it not being bitter and the reflection of the sun on the white snow being visually appealing. It is again supposed to be a Saturday evening of snow and a warm Sunday morning, so I'm not sure if I'm up for another long run Sunday morning "slushfest" tomorrow. We'll have to see how it really is in the morning. But a long run to breakfast always is appealing.

Toronto Island Longboat 10K

We registered for this one just now, as a 10K. I loved it when I did it in 2009. I thought I was slow then but would be happy with this time now!

Midweek Update

I've tolerated the 10K pretty well but have noticed a recurrence of irritation in my knee. I don't know whether that is from the extra distance, the hills and/or the footing but I worked on leg strengthening at the gym yesterday. I planned a run this morning but slept into 7:15. Between work and the frigid conditions (and likely icy footing), I'm going to scrap it and plan on a trainer session tomorrow with hockey tomorrow night, and then two runs between Friday and Sunday. No trainer next week so I can respond more easily to weather conditions.

I don't know how people train in these conditions for a spring marathon. It must be gruesome.

Six Messy Miles

An unexpected snowfall last night led to a really messy run. The streets were slushy and the sidewalks hard to run on even with Yaktrax. So we did slow miles (maybe a pace of 11:30) and now are starting our reward.

UPDATE: In fact it was a 10K route. 1:08:55 seems quite reasonable for my longest run since December 2009 and in slushy conditions. My average HR was 149 so that's OK.

Crisp and Sunny 5K

It was cold but not bitter and the sun shone brightly with a lot of reflection off the white snow banks. There were snowy patches and clear patches and I opted not to run with my Yaktrax. We took it easy for a 5K in 33 minutes ending at la Bamboche. Tomorrow we plan to go longer and end up at a brunch spot, perhaps for some dim sum downtown. We shall see!

UPDATE: I followed up the run with some relaxed outdoor skating and watched the little kids having fun while getting advice on my crossovers from the Good Doctor. Looking forward to tapas tonight.