PEC Half Elevation

So exactly how steep is a 20 meter climb over a kilometer? Will I be walking the fill kilometer? This full marathoner's race report sounds daunting:

There is a hill at 37km ?? I remembered it as a monster from last year. Saturday when I drove the course I just laughed at this ??monster??. It was about 500 yards long but barely qualified as a hill let along a monster. Now I rounded the corner and there it was. That monster had grown overnight. It stood there is all its glory as a wall to beat back every runner. There are already lots of people walking it ?? these are the 1:50 half-marathoners! It must truly be a monster. I decided I wouldn??t walk. I had to beat this thing. It took quite a toll and slowed me down; this km was a 5:30 (8:50 mile) split.

Good to know in advance!

Neighbourhood Morning 5K

I took it easy and loosened up after a trainer led full body workout yesterday. I felt awfully sweaty but di keep my HR to an average of 146, which is fine. I think I will do this Sunday's halaf at this pace-that in and of itself will be a challenge.

Polar Stats

Here they are and not pretty. However my category placement is surprisingly high at 33rd out of 78th (men 50-54 and with me being the last year in the category). Even weirder is being 400th out of 854 men!

Toronto Zoo 10K

We got 'er done. I was 58:59 which was only 40 seconds slower than my first one in 2007 (when I did my first half)and about three minutes slower than in 2008 (when I did my first-and only-full). It took a lot of effort with an average HR of 162 and my maximum at 175. Both are too high. I walked the hills. It would have been better to come in after the hour mark and look at the animals and even stop for photos as Mrs. MM tells me that Marlene (whom I managed not to see) was doing. There is something psychological about not wanting to come in at over an hour but maybe I should let that go. Mrs. MM came in at about 1:01:00. PEC half a week tomorrow. I will not try to break two hours. I would not succeed anyway. I will try to enjoy it even if I'm more like 2:20.

5K More

I was pretty sore but it was good to loosen up and 5K in 32:30 did the trick. I feel less sore now but am not sure how long that will last...30K in 48 hours is pretty good. Tomorrow is a leg workout and then back at it on Wednesday.

Today's Polar Stats

Here is a link to today's watch and pod stats. I'm not swift and sweat a lot but all seems good.

Getting up There!

20K training run in perfect weather. Slow but steady. A practice half is two weeks from today in Prince Edward County and Scotia is four weeks today!

5+K in the Morngin Cool

I decided to leave the long run until tomorrow and loosen up with a neighbourhood run with my buddies. Now I wish my 18K were done! Oh well. At least I loosened up.

Scotia Waterfront Half Marathon

Once again I'm proud to be doing some fundraising for the cardiac program of Toronto Rehab. Please consider supporting this worthwhile cause that I credit for instilling this enduring running bug in me and, now, in Mrs. MM as well.

Article in The Star

There isn't an online link available yet but here is a pdf to jpg conversion of what appeared yesterday in The Star.

Big Cool Down

Great running weather but it also doesn't get light out all that early. I took advantage with 5K in 32:30 with a finishing HR of 146. Much more gentle. The seasons they are a changing.

Longboat Toronto Island 10K

Just enjoying a delicious picnic after a 10K in 59:27. Slower than two years ago but I was surprised to break an hour. I wore a new pair of the same shoes I've been using for 15 months and that felt a bit better. We started with a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11 and then we were off. It was exceptionally congested for the first couple of kilometers but then opened up and we enjoyed the scenery. The picnic is great and since we're "empty nesters" we don't need to rush home and instead will enjoy the island and stroll and go for tea. I've slowed down but I'm still doing it and that's what matters.

7K to Dim Sum

I took yesterday off so figured it was best to run today to stay loose before tomorrow's 10K Toronto Island Run and also put in some miles. We took it easy and covered the distance in under 46 minutes. We went mainly along Lawrence West which was noisy and not visually interesting, but the dim sum reward well worth it!

5K More

Yesterday was an upper body workout so today I did a 5K before work. I went a but faster with my time being 32:27 but the HR monitor didn't take this time. I seem to be working up more of a sweat than I remember in past cycles, and this concerns me somewhat. Perhaps I'm just getting back into the same shape I was in and also need to drop a few. But I will keep a watch on it. Now that we're "empty nesters" my food intake has decreased and quality of intake has increased at the same time. Odd!

18K in Two Hours Plus

Well that was the longest run in almost two years! We ventured out from the centre of the city south of the 401 but north of Lawrence and headed east to the Don trail. We headed south and then east along the Taylor Creek path to Victoria Park. We considered getting on the subway at that point but continued south to Queen Street East in the Beach where Garden Isle beckons with both a traditional breakfast as well as dim sum and other Chinese delicacies. I had a average HR of 148 (which included some walk and stretch breaks) and a maximum of 168. 18.06K in 2:05:42 using up 1783 calories. I thought as we ran that we might as well have done the Oakville half today but I'm not sure I had that in me.

P.S. I just assumed Oakville was taking place again on Labour Day but I was wrong and it is on September 25th, which is a week before the Prince Edward County Half we are doing.

Meanwhile we're doing the Toronto Island 10K a week today so it's good we got in that long one today!

5K on an Old Railroad Bed

Cool but muggy and quite low energy so I did just 5K on a recreation trail in Haliburton. 35 minutes with an average HR of 145. Dripping sweat even though a short one and now the sun is out. We're now in search of pie!

Two Midweek Short Ones

We were away and did a 5K+ in Boston and 5K yesterday in Lake Placid (pic attached). Not speedy but today's NY speeding ticket makes up for that. Not sure how I'm going to get a long run in over the long weekend but I will try. Only four weeks until the Prince Edward County half!