New Pants

I ran in new pants today. Well, not that new, but it’s the first time I’ve worn them. I received a Nike gift card for Christmas from my step-mother-in-law and with it, I purchased a pair of Nike Dri-Fit Stay Cool running pants. I’m not sure what model they are as I can’t find them on the website and I bought them at the outlet, so they’re likely last year’s model, but I think they just might be the most comfortable running pants I own.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 8 km
Weather: 12 C, Clear, Wind NW 9 km/h

Whew! I made it!

No walls jumped out in front of me today. My hand was safe and sound. I did, however, see a suspicious looking banana peel on the sidewalk… avoided it like the plague!

Today’s Run:
Distance: 10 km
Weather: 9 C, sunny, very little wind

Hi. My name is Vicki and I’m a klutz

Today, I headed out for a nice afternoon run. I felt good, the run was going well, I was half-way through my planned 10 km when somehow I managed to bash my hand against a stone wall on the edge of someone’s property. I then ended up flailing a bit and started to almost tumble forward, I sped my legs up to catch up with my top half, which was significantly in front of me as I was moving down a bit of a down slope. I managed to not take the giant tumble that I thought I was heading toward and righted myself. I stopped, looked at my hand and saw the blood starting to drip. I started to run again, but then turned around, realizing that I should probably get home to clean up my hand. I was just past a road that goes pretty much straight to my house, so I turned down the road and run the 2 km to home all the while dripping blood from my index finger to my middle finger.

Now it’s all cleaned up and I have a large Band-Aid on which is making typing interesting. My finger is a bit swollen as well, but just due to the scrape and bruising.

Man I’m a klutz. Hopefully, this will be my 2010 (knock on wood, but not too hard, ‘cause that hurts, too).

Today’s Run:
Distance: 7 km
Weather: 7 C, partly cloudy.

Better late than never

I was supposed to do a 10 km easy run yesterday, but I put it off to today after looking at the weather forecast. Yesterday was not the nicest of weather and today was 13 C and sunny. Not too difficult a decision to make to postpone my run to today (I didn’t have another run scheduled for today anyway).

I went for my 10K run after work today. It was nice calm weather and the sun was still out. It  was a nice evening for a run. I estimated what I thought might be a nice 10K route without looking at any maps online and it turned out to be the perfect distance, which was fantastic. I reached my distance when I was just a couple houses away from being back home.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 10 km
Weather: 13 C, sunny, just a little wind

Worth the wait

I played the “watch the weather” game today. The forecast called for some showers and a bit of snow, but also some sunny, partly cloudy parts of the day. I checked out the hourly forecast last night to see approximately when I might want to head out for my long run today and decided mid afternoon seemed like the time. 2pm was showing no more chances of rain.

When 2pm rolled around, I looked out the window and it was still very cloudy. I checked the Weather Network and saw that the temperature was only 3 above. I decided to wait.

Around 5 o’clock the clouds broke up and the sun came out. This was what I was waiting for. I put my Garmin in the window to find satellites, I filled up my Fuel Belt water bottles, got dressed in some running clothes, grabbed my iPod and headed out the door.

The weather stayed very nice for the whole run and I was still back before dark. Definitely worth the wait.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 18 km
Weather: 7 C, sunny, virtually no wind

Bright Sunshiny Day

I can see clearly now, but the rain hasn’t gone too far away. Rumour has it (or the weather forecast) that rain is coming again this weekend.

I took today off because my sister, niece, and nephew were coming to visit. It was fantastic weather today and I got to get out for a wonderful afternoon run.

I took to the trail today and saw many people out cycling, walking, blading, and running. It took me a while to remember that it’s currently March break, which explained all of the people with their kids out at the park.

I got to wear some of my spring running clothes today, which was also very nice. I’m glad to not have to layer these days.

All in all it was an enjoyable run. Now I should get back to hangin’ out with the fam.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 11.3 km
Weather: 17 C, Wind SW 22km/h

Short run before work

I got out this morning to run 5.5 km. It’s tough for me to get out of the house early for a run. I wake up, see the darkness outside, and immediately want to go back to sleep. Today I forced myself up and out, but it did take me a while. I had plans of getting up at 6 and heading out for my run, but I actually started my run around 6:45.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 5.5 km
Weather: 2 C, no wind

I forgot!

As I sit here, watching Breakfast Television, eating my breakfast I realize that I didn’t post after yesterday’s run.

Yesterday afternoon was nice and sunny, so Ryan came to pick up my work stuff (laptop, etc) and I ran straight from work. I got to run in a different area than I normally do (I usually leave for runs from my house) and it was great! Since the time change happened on Sunday, it’s now light longer at night, so I got to get a long run in after work and not end up in the dark at all!

Yesterday’s Run:
Distance: 16.4 km
Weather: Around 10 C and sunny

Cold windy rain = running indoors

I took to the treadmill again today. I would normally rather run outdoors, but not when it’s kind of miserable outside. I knew that I wouldn’t enjoy my run and that I’d just want to be done the second I got out there, so I decided to forgo my long run today and hit the gym for a tempo run instead.

I’ll do my long run tomorrow when it’s back to warmer temperatures and clearer skies. Let’s hope that forecast actually comes true or it might be a not-so-enjoyable long run after all.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 6.5 km
Weather: wet and cold outside, but warm and dry inside the gym :)

Easy Run

Scheduled on my training plan for today was a 4 mile easy run at a pace of 9:46 min/mile. In case I haven’t mentioned it, I’ve been using the SmartCoach personalized training plans from Runner’s World. You set up a plan based on your own results from recent races along with your goals and current mileage.

I’m currently training for a half marathon that is coming up this spring. It’s 6 and a half more weeks until the Waterloo Half Marathon. I’ve never run this race before and I’m looking forward to it!

Today’s Run:
Distance: 4 miles (6.5 km)
Weather: n/a – ran on treadmill

Super quick post tonight

It was another gorgeous day today with highs in the double digits, but I worked late, so I didn’t get out for a run until well after dark.

Tonight’s Run:
Distance: 8 km
Weather: +1 C, wind 4 km/h

Mild Late Winter Days

It was another wonderfully sunny day today. Since I was planning on doing a nice 10 mile run today and it has been above zero for a number of days in a row now, I decided to take to a local paved trail that goes through town. I ran through one park on my way to the trail and saw lots and lots of people out and about, walking, inline skating, and playing with their kids in the playground.

Once I set foot on the trail, I saw many more people. Dozens of people out for walks, riding bikes, and other fellow runners. My plan was to stay on the trail until I arrived at another park about 5 km up. I came across one section that indicated it was “closed” but I saw others coming out of this closed section, so I decided to continue. 50m or so down this section of trail it started to be less user friendly. It was snow, slush, and water covered.

I made my way to the second park, where I saw many more people once again running, cycling, skating, and playing. I encountered some more snow and slush, and also mud. There were a few muddy sections in my run today, but nothing too crazy.

For my route home, I decided to stick to the streets: the nice dry streets. The streets also contained many people out for the nice, sunny afternoon.

I love these extra mild late winter days. There’s still no guarantee that we’re out of the woods for snowfalls as it’s only March, but these mild, sunny days really bring a lot of people out to enjoy the outdoors. It’s always nice to see.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 16.5 km
Weather: +6 C, wind W 19 km/h

Let the Sun Shine

Today was a gorgeous sunny day. The sky was perfectly clear and the snow was melting. It was good. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same and a little bit warmer.

I was excited to run in the nice weather today, but there were still some icy patches although they are now fewer and farther between. The melting ice and snow has caused some large puddles on the sidewalks, but that’s okay with me. It still means melting and melting is good.

I look forward to another good run tomorrow. It’ll be a longer one.

Today’s Run
Distance: 5 km
Weather: 2 C

Treadmill Time

After work, it was time for some speed work. I headed to the gym with Ryan and I hopped on a treadmill.

Tonight’s treadmill experience was much more enjoyable than most times I attempt to run at the gym. I tend to get quite bored with running in place, but tonight, for some unknown reason, the time flew by. I was watching TV while running, but that still doesn’t normally counteract the monotony, especially when running for an hour. It was a very pleasant surprise.

So now that I have my speed work for the week out of the way, I get to enjoy some nice runs over the weekend with our expected above normal temperatures and sunny skies! Come on spring, I’m ready for you!

Today’s Run:
Total Distance – 11 km
Warm-up, 1600 m hard x3 with 800 m jogs, and cool

With kid gloves

Well, not really kid gloves, but I was wearing gloves since it’s winter and all. I was also running with an iPod, which is also a usual occurrence for me.

Gloves okay, iPod okay, trying to operate the iPod with the gloves on – difficult.

I usually end up taking off a glove to go though the menu to start my Nike Plus at the beginning of my run or to stop it at the end. Today I decided to use my nose. Yes, that’s right, my nose. I push “menu” with my gloved finger, but to scroll down the the menu items, I used the tip of my nose. You see, when I use my finger with gloves on, my Nano doesn’t notice that something is attempting to tell it to change either volume or menu selections. The flesh of my nose is recognizable, so this works. I make look like a bit of a tool putting my iPod up to my nose, but if it gets the job done without having to remove a glove…

Today’s Run:
Distance: 5 km
Weather: –2 C

Changes of State

“state change - a change from one state (solid or liquid or gas) to another without a change in chemical composition”

Lately, there have been plenty of state changes. This definitely affects the life of a runner.

This time of year makes me happy as spring is just around the corner, but it also calls for much more planning when it comes to the timing of runs.

During the day, when the sun is shining and the temperatures rise, the snow melts, causing snow banks to turn to water and spill into the sidewalks. Since this is water, people do not necessarily think to put salt on their walks to prevent the freezing, so when the temperatures drop when the sun sets, the water turns to a thin (or sometimes not so thin) layer of ice.

Morning before work = ice
Sunset time of just after 6pm = ice
Work hours = nice and sunny and no ice, but I’m at work

So… if I can manage to get home before 5:30 pm (a rare occurrence), I have a small window of opportunity to run without icy sidewalks. I attempted this today, but when I got outside to start my run around 6:00, the ice had already started to form. Luckily, I was able to find some fairly dry sidewalks.

Welcome to March.

Today’s Run:
Distance: 7 km
Weather: I forgot to check (it was –2 C at 8pm and I ran at 6)