Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Redeeming the run, so to speak

Chatted with KF at the pool today. She was running in the water, her legs a blur, chatting away happily. I'd be gasping if my legs were moving like that. It's spring break so I had a 50 m lane all to myself.

1000 m 19:20 warmup, starting easy and finding the groove.
1000 m alternating 100 m kick and pull. Mostly dolphin kick with fins. Any time I try a kick drill without fins I always worry the lifeguards will harpoon me and drag me out of the pool by my flukes so they can close for the night.
2 x 50 m sprint nearly all out on 1 minute.
100 m easy
2 x 50 sprint
100 m easy
A bunch of pull working on stroke mechanics. No idea how far. Total 1 hour in the pool.

Home. Snack. Limber up to prep for run. Brought a small water and a gu to have a snack at the half way point. Started very easy, and ran down towards Fish Creek, picking it up when my legs were ready. This was a nice steady pace, working on keeping my feet light and quick.

5K in 33 minutes and change.
~6.5 K, walked 30 seconds to slurp the gu and get some water and head back.
My legs were starting to feel it here a bit. I tucked the water bottle in a pocket and started to concentrate on form. I'd get it for a bit, then I'd lose it, and then it would come back. The way home turned into a good exercise in concentration. As long as I kept thinking about form I'd be ok. When my attention wavered I could feel myself slipping back into a clump clump clump stride and I'd have to fix it. Even though I was tired there were only minor niggles every now and then. So I kept running till the 90 minute mark, which was less than 100 m from the house.

After my run the other day where my legs did not want to run, I'm really pleased with this one. It wasn't fast, averaging a 6:55 Km (11:08 mile) pace but it felt pretty good. I was feeling strong for about the first half, and then I slowed down a bit. Well, maybe a lot. But that's ok. Slow isn't stopping.

Really good stretch after.

In other news the gophers are out. I saw a bunch of them in Fish Creek. It's sort of cute how they peer out at the humans. Later in the year they don't have much fear of us. Other than that it was almost empty. It's sort of weird, since I'm used to seeing lots of people there. I guess many of them are at work or on vacation.

Tomorrow is the +15 art ramble. I'll drop Linda off and start. I haven't picked a route yet, but I would like to get to all the open areas.


  1. Those gophers would freak me out at a certain point during the summer - when you are cruising down the highway at 30+ km/hr on your bike and they are crossing right in front of you. Thankfully I won't have that problem this year - instead I have to worry about being part of the food-chain every time I step on mountain trail this summer. Ah, the cycle of life.

  2. Funny, I've never thought about gophers when I'm out on my bike. I've had to dodge mountain goats, and deer of some description (big and brown going kaboing was all I had time for) and a huge skunk.

    Just remember you are at the top of the food chain. Project that with all your might, and hope that some 4 pawed cougar isn't moving so fast after you they don't get the message. You're on your own with the 2 booted version of cougars, but I don't think there are many of them on the trail.

  3. I used to think we had gophers...then I found out they are ground squirrels. Not sure why I always feel skittish around them...they are so small and nonthreatening.

  4. Yay for a good run! I have learned that I need to concentrate on form as well....I tend to last a heck of a lot longer when I do, which surprised me. Some of your advice on running is helping...I am getting good on speeding up every hill, except for the killer hill by the curling club.

    Have fun in your art walk!

  5. I'm with Shannon here --- I even read a blog post by some guy who hit a gopher...maybe it was a squirrel. The little thing darted in front of him, *got tangled in his spokes* then emerged, took a few steps and died. Gad. I've had a couple of close calls and I tense up when I see one standing on the shoulder checking out the scene.

    And like you, I've had to avoid deer. Last year, at Beaver Mines, I had a very near miss with 3. Holy shit my heart was pounding so hard I was shaking. At the Calgary 70.3 one year, I had to swerve to avoid a coyote -- again, a "HOLY SHIT" moment! It looked at me, I looked at it and the moment passed. lmao!

  6. The gophers are are different than back in Ontario. Here they are small creatures, barely a handful. In Ontario they are the size of a medium sized dog with short legs. They are prone to run under things, and go squish, leading to unpredictable results for the squisher.

  7. Lots of photos, but not as much art as I thought. Tired feet. Will be working on blog shortly.

  8. And cows, Julie, don't forget the adventures with cows!

  9. Nice job on the run!

    PS: Sign up for the 70.3 yet? ;)

  10. Not yet. Another month starts on my credit card in a few days. That's a good a time as any.


Looking forward to reading your comment!

Some other posts you might enjoy.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...