Category Archives: Training Runs

Today’s run was 10 kilometers at a 7:05 average pace per kilometer. The weather was great at +2 degrees C. I think this is my longest run at any speed in my VFFs so I am happy with the results. I have not run with my VFFs in really cold weather. The coldest I think was around -7 C. Today my toes did not get cold, but I did feel a good deal of frost burning in all my other outdoor VFF runs, probably because it was colder. I kept having to flex my toes and worry about frostbite until around the 3 km mark when my toes warmed up to a normal comfortable temperature. My wife came up with a theory for that and I think it is correct. She thinks my body shuts off blood flow to my toes and fingers until my core body temperature is high … Continue reading →

Finally a break in the weather has occurred and so I did not have to resign myself to the treadmill. The last two or three runs have been on the treadmill because of the minus 30 degree cold and a wind chill to minus 45 degrees C. Today was a nice -2 degree high with a very light wind. I started out low in the river valley by the boat launch area and made one long climb out of the valley on the access road. That hill is 1 kilometer. Then I ran along the paved but still snow covered paths in the Town of Devon. Once I climbed out of the valley, the course was pretty flat with only an occasional tiny hill. I ran 5 km out then back again so the last kilometer was all downhill. I made that 10 km run in my VFFs in about … Continue reading →

I’d say I was pretty much recovered and can now begin my training. Today’s run was 5 km in my VFFs in 35:51 for a 7:07 pace. There was still too much glazed ice on the roads which pretty much kills your pace. No falling down for me today, however.

I think it is interesting to note how I am reacting to regaining my level of fitness after my protracted illness and other circumstances which kept me from running for such a long time. For the record, I did no running for 42 days, then I did one pathetic 5 km ‘run’, rested two days, did another, then stopped again for 22 days to focus on getting ready for my grading in karate. Now we have a long 3 week break until classes start again I think January 10th? So I feel it is now time to begin running again and my first run 3 days ago was 5 km which took me around 46 minutes meaning I walked some of it. Today’s run took me 39 minutes and 15 seconds which means I ran all the way but slowly. Today’s run was better than my last one but I … Continue reading →

According to the 5Peaks.com web site this 7.3 kilometer loop trail has 473 meters of elevation gain. Over the course of my 6 loops, that multiplies out to three kilometers of elevation gain. That’s 2838 meters or 9372 feet of elevation gain over the course of a marathon. Of the three previous road marathons I’ve done, my fastest time was 5:37 or so if I remember correctly. This one took me over 8 hours. But that is because it is so much harder than a road marathon. This was my first attempt to run my first ever trail Ultra (or any Ultra for that matter). Epic fail. I did not succeed in running all 7 loops. I only managed 6 loops. That is disappointing, however I am happy with the fact that I was able to finish at least a marathon. I am unhappy with my time, but hey – … Continue reading →

Although I have run 3 street marathons and countless half marathons, this is the farthest I have ever gone on a trail run. Over the last few years, I have decided that I am not that interested in road runs, although I will not rule that out in the future. I have fallen in love with trail running as it is so much more difficult than road running and consequently much, much more interesting and challenging. So over the last few years I have been running trails almost exclusively. The problem though, is that the trails I so love to run become impassable in the winter. So I have to train on the roads. However, this year I have a solution that may very well allow me to maintain my current level of fitness, and even improve it. I have a new road route planned out for the winter which … Continue reading →