Monthly Archives: March 2010

I’ve discovered an easy way to run a negative split. All you have to do is to run the first half directly into a blistering 35 kph wind, then loop round and head home with the wind at your back. I just finished a 12 km run with an average pace of 6:57 and yes, it was definitely a negative split. Now that I mention it, I remember that whenever I go biking I look at the weather and plan my route to be all upwind for the first half, or at least I try to have the wind at my back for the second half if the wind doesn’t pick up until the afternoon. But I haven’t biked in a long time so…I hope to this year. So other than it being a little chilly with the wind and all, the weather was not too bad. I was not … Continue reading →

Today’s 13 km run was a bit weird. The snow was so thick and the flakes were big and wet. The snow stuck to the bottoms of my shoes and it was like running with upside down ice cream cones on the soles. Every few steps a chunk of snow would break off and I’d be flat again for a step or two, then the process repeated itself. I didn’t like it much. I think, for iPhone users anyway, that RunKeeper is the best application anywhere and a real steal at only 10.00 for the professional version. I love that application! I was using RunKeeper as usual but I also wanted to test another app I got for my iPhone called CellFlare (cellflare.com). It uses GPS to let (with your permission) others know where you are via the cell network. You can even allow others without cell phones to know … Continue reading →

Very tired today but I managed to struggle through 21 km averaging 7:36 per km. I guess that’s the good part. The bad part is that I felt really ill and over tired today. The doggly part comes from seeing two huge black lab dogs trotting down the road toward me. I had to stop and sort of walk nonchalantly so they would not get all excited and start chasing me. That’s where I lost a lot of time in my run. As soon as the dogs saw me they made an excited bee-line toward me. I pulled out my pepper spray, armed it and just kept walking slowly. They dogs came up to me, I put my hands up, they sniffed at me for a few seconds, then lost interest and continued on down the road. I know from experience that if I had continued running it would have … Continue reading →

I wasn’t going to post about my run today but something good happened and I just have to relish the moment: I ran 12 km today with a 6:15 per km pace – not only that but I noted I past the 10 km marker at 1:02:10 which is a personal best for me at any altitude! I began the run late and I was worried that I might be late for a meeting if I didn’t hustle, so I just thought I would push it as much as I could depending on how I felt and it seemed I must have felt pretty good since I was able to keep up the pace for the whole 12 km. So my time for this run was 1:15:13

I’m still laughing. Sort of. I had a decent run today at the indoor track. As you all know, Wednesday’s I reserve as a tempo or speed run at an indoor track during the winter, and although the weather is now nice, I still choose to run indoors once a week at least until school is out and the children begin flocking to the indoor fitness center in droves. Once school is out, I no longer run indoors because it’s just too crowded and noisy for my taste. I will try to add some hill training soon. Anyway, I ran 11 km, 10 of which was measured. I ran the 10 km with a 6:28 pace which put me at 1:04:47 or so in terms of time. The additional km is just for warm up and cool down. The actual total distance is around 11.75 km. Anyway, the reason why … Continue reading →

By rights, I should be saying “the kilometers, the endless kilometers,” but somehow it just isn’t as poetic. I had a fantastic training run today. I ran 19 km with an average pace of just under 7 minutes per kilometer (6:58). My goal was to run it with a pace of 7:30 per kilometer, but I just couldn’t help myself. I have no discipline. I kept having flashbacks of past runs down the very same roads I was running today. I was thinking about how endless the miles were, are, and will be – if that makes any sense. As I ran down the familiar road, I remember struggling here on the same road in years past. I remember having to stop and walk that same path many times because of bad knee pain, and other injuries. I remember feeling very angry at my lack of fitness, my poor health, … Continue reading →