Friday, April 29, 2011

Fitting It In

The last couple of days have been busy and rainy, not to mention windy. On top of that, very busy. So my running this week really has been all about "fitting it in" where ever possible. I've been sleeping rather poorly and this has made waking up early for my intended runs pretty much impossible. Case in point was Wednesday where I "forgot" to set my alarm somehow and then had to "fit" my run into a short space of time before picking up the boys at school.

Thursday is typically not a running day for me, but given that I had to cut my run short on Wednesday I woke up in time to run a short and easy 5km to shake the junk out of my legs after that fastish 11km the day before. It was rather stiff and creaky, but definitely worth doing. At lunch I did my usual leg weight training routine (the one involving lunges, single leg dead lifts, leg press, etc) and then after work I took the boys to the track for some more running. I'm trying my best to make Thursday afternoons our track day and to keep it as consistent as possible. Malcolm was actually disappointed that we weren't going on Wednesday so despite the rain and strong winds we had some fun running around in circles. Malks managed a whole 2km, Owen did some running then practiced his triple jumps, and I jogged a total of 3.2km. It was fun!

Then this morning I once again had trouble waking up. I was hoping to run fifteen kilometres, but by the time I got out the door shortly before 6am I knew I simply didn't have the time to complete that distance. Also, my legs have felt rather heavy from running and weights and fifteen was probably a bit ambitious anyway. Instead, I ran a decent 12km in spite of the soreness I felt and general lethargy. I'm hoping that by Sunday I don't feel like this or my 10K "race" will be more difficult than intended. I'm planning to run from home to the Start (about 6-7km) and then do the race in the 4:17 - 4:24/km pace range (6:54 - 7:04/mile). If I'm feeling like I did this morning I'll be lucky to hold 8 minute miles!

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Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Small Confidence Builder

My running since being sick back in the middle of March can only be described as "blah". I haven't been able to do anything but easy pace, but at least my mileage this month has been back to something resembling decent.

With the Sporting Life 10k coming up this Sunday I was a bit concerned about how my body would react to running faster than the plodding paces I've been managing. I really didn't intend to test myself at all prior to the race, where I am planning on running in the steady state pace range of 4:17 - 4:24/km and not actually racing, but today's run worked out as a bit of a confidence booster.

For some strange reason my alarm was not on this morning and I didn't make it out for my planned 15km run. I'd planned on making that up while Owen was at his baseball practice, but then as the afternoon progressed a big thunderstorm warning for the City of Toronto came along and washed out that plan. I got caught in the downpour on my bike ride home from work and since the practice got canceled I had a small window of time to fit in my run before picking up the boys. I didn't have enough time to run the entire 15km I had planned, and perhaps the fact that I was up against the clock to get the boys from after school care, so I  picked up my pace a bit more than I normally would. I didn't even notice that I was doing it really, it just kind of worked out that way.

Also, heading east along the loop I chose I had a strong wind at my back and this allowed me to run at a decent pace without much effort. Of course, the way heading west meant that I was running with the wind straight in my face. It was strong! And it's also a bit uphill in that direction.

Nevertheless, I ran along and managed three loops before heading home to grab the car and some clothes that needed to be dropped off at the dry cleaners. My splits were in and around 4:30/km for the most part and if I chop off the first and slowest kilometre (5:25) I managed to run a 10K in 46:45! Not bad, all things considered. I'd like to get under 44:00 this weekend, so this really did give me a boost of confidence especially that I didn't find it all that taxing.

The splits after that first kilometre are worth a look:

1. 5:04 (still in warm up mode heading towards that loop)
2. 4:52 (with the wind and finishing at the corner of Woodbine and Cosburn)
3. 4:50 (into the wind and uphill)
4. 4:33 (with the wind again and really easy)
5. 4:32 (against the wind again and up hill, but maintaining good turnover)
6. 4:30 (back with the wind and seemed easier than it should have been)
7. 4:27 (up hill and into the wind, but suprisingly fastest split of the lot)
8. 4:47 (noticing that it was time to head home I slowed down a bit and continued into the wind)
9. 4:36 (I guess the slowing down allowed for a bit of a recovery and my pace improved)
10. 4:30 (last half of this split was with the wind and a good effort)

The total for the run was 11km in 52:13 for an average pace of 4:43/km (7:36/mile). I'm planning on going for a short run tomorrow morning, but will do my best to go really slow.

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Sunday, April 24, 2011

A Decent Week of Running

It was a pretty good week of running even though I wasn't expecting much after suffering through a cold that stopped me from doing anything last weekend and lingered on into this past week. I am still feeling the effects, but at least I'm able to run.

The long weekend started with a 16km run that was supposed to be only fifteen. I ran a bit too far out on the loop that I chose and I supposed that running that extra kilometre wasn't all that disappointing. There were some hilly sections on the way and I liked running them for a change. This shift towards liking hills has been good already even if I haven't seen any actual physical benefits just yet. I managed to finish the run in 1:20:59 for an average pace of 5:03/km.

On Saturday I ran over to the local track with Owen biking beside me and then proceeded to run with him. We warmed up with three laps then I paced him through a workout at just a bit faster than 5:00/km pace that went 400m, 800m, 400m with 60s rest in between. We ran a couple of laps together for a cool down and then I did two fast 800m intervals of my own with 90s rest in between. I managed both in 3:00 exactly, which is about 3:45/km pace. Not bad! I'm glad I only had to do two before jogging home and completing my 10km for the day. Malcolm's first baseball practice of the year was looming and we couldn't be late...

And today was my long run. I've been thinking a great deal about the approach I've been taking to long runs and am considering changing it. Instead of running for a set distance I am thinking of running for a set time. This, in theory, should slow me down a bit while at the same time allow me to stay out on my feet longer. I have to get to a point where I am out running for a minimum of three hours consistently no matter what the pace. Slow and easy, but long, is what I'm thinking.

I sort of planned to do a timed run today and just went off at an easy pace toward the Beaches without any real idea on what route I would take. I was hoping to stay out for at least two hours and just ran along with that goal in mind. After hitting the end of the boardwalk I ran back West and out toward the Leslie Spit. I figured this would be a good route for a two hour run and I was pretty much bang on. At the pace I was running I thought 24km would do the trick, but in the end I ended up running 25km in 2:08:16 for an average pace of 5:07/km. This probably was a bit faster than it should have been, but it felt pretty easy until the last little bit and in particular up the hill on Jones Avenue on the way home. Even so, my fastest split was the very last one (4:51/km). Ultimately, this was not exactly a long run based solely on time. I think I might have to strap the Garmin to my ankle or shove it in a pocket or something otherwise it is very difficult for me to NOT worry about pace.

The total for the week was 76km. Next Sunday I have a 10k to"race" and two weeks after that it's the Half Marathon. May will be a racing month!

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Laps of Withrow Park

Since Owen's baseball practice was cancelled due to the weather my plans to run some hills at High Park went out the window. Instead, I decided that hills should still be the order of the day and I picked Withrow Park as my destination in the evening. As I listened to the Yankees broadcast while they played the Jays just down the road (I and NOT a Yankee fan, but their play-by-play on the radio is very entertaining so I tend to check it out often) I trotted around the park.

Things went pretty well and I didn't feel all that taxed. I'm sure hills will help, but I'm curious if running them slowly is beneficial. I'll have to give it a chance I guess.

The hill up Logan Avenue on the West side of the park is not all that steep or long (about 350m by my calculations), but I ran the loop a total of eight times before heading home. The total on the day was the desired 15km and I managed it in 1:18:46 for an average pace of 5:14/km (8:26/mile). Not speedy, but a bit hilly. I'm still recovering from that nasty cold that hit me over the weekend so this was a definite step forward.

The elevation profile looked like this:

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Slowly, but Surely and Goodbye to Grete

Indeed, I am nowhere near 100% as far as health goes. My immune system, weakened by antibiotics, seems to be particularly susceptible to any and all nasty viruses or bacteria that about as the weather (in theory) warms up. Although we are not seeing anything resembling Spring-like temperatures, yours truly still got hammered with a cold virus.

As reported previously I did not manage a single run over the past weekend. For perhaps the first time ever I decided that caution better than filling in the training log with what would have amounted to nothing more than junk miles. Instead, I remained confined to my bedroom waiting for the cold to run its course.

Monday I still felt like crap, but given that it was from the neck up I made it to the gym at lunchtime for a decent, if unspectacular, leg workout. My heart rate was elevated, but I managed to push as much weight as I normally do so I called it a success.

Today I feel a little better. My head is stuffed up and I have a headache, but at least I'm not going through boxes of tissues at as alarming a rate. I made it to the gym for a good chest and arm workout followed by a spur of the moment run on the treadmill.

I had designs on taking my potential run outside in the evening, but the weather looks nasty as whatever is happening in Texas will be bringing tonnes of cold rain up to Toronto. Given my weakened state I decided that a controlled environment was preferred and so hit the human hamster wheel for a nice 10km run.

To cut the boredom I played a bit with the incline settings during this run. After a 5 minute warm up at 6.7mph (5:33/km) I upped the speed to 7.2mph (5:11/km) for another 5 minutes at 1% incline. I then raised the incline to 2% for 5 minutes, 3% for 5 minutes, and 4% for 5 minutes.

From that point on I alternated 5 minutes at 1% incline with 5 minutes at 4% incline until I finished the run in 52:10 for an average pace of 5:12/km (8:23/mile). Not too bad given how I was feeling. It was nice to throw in some simulated hills as it provided a decent challenge and broke up the boredom a bit. Watching the old Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror" with closed captioning was somewhat entertaining as well. I think it was one of the best episodes they made if only for the goatee on Mr. Spock in the parallel Universe...

Nasty Sulu hitting on Uhura was also amusing.

And on a more sombre note I was surprisingly affected by the news of the passing of Grete Waitz today at the age of 57. I was not even aware of the existence of the New York City Marathon at the time when she dominated the race, but her impact on the sport, in particular for women, is immeasurable. She will be missed. Perhaps it is the timing of this sad news coming the day after the fastest marathon in history, and a real celebration of the sport in both the men's and women's races in Boston (Desiree Davila's runner up finish was a terrific surprise given all the hype around Kara Goucher!), that makes her passing so moving.

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Sunday, April 17, 2011

No Running This Weekend

I came down with a cold on Friday evening that seems to be rather nasty. At first I thought it was a recurrence of the strep throat I battled in March, but now I'm happy that at least it's nothing that serious. However, I'd only be putting in mileage to add to the training log in this condition and not doing myself any good so I've decided that rest is the way to go.

Plus, it's frigging snowing out there right now! April showers my ass...

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Fifteens Abound

This week has gone by way too fast, and I'm not referring to my pace. I've so far managed five runs and it seems that a theme is emerging.

Last Summer I ran quite a few mid-week training runs down the the Beaches and out along the boardwalk. I haven't done it since weeks before last September's marathon until Wednesday.

But I'm getting ahead of myself...

First, on Tuesday I decided once more to commute on foot and ran 6.5km to the office and 8.8km to the boys' school after work for a total of 15.3km on the day. Nothing worth noting about these runs other than I ate much too close to my second run and contended with stomach pains and a side stitch the entire way. I also had to run a bit faster than I probably should have since I had to get to my younger one's drama recital. Happy to report that there was no drama either with my run or the recital...

Wednesday morning I woke up at 5:15am and had a surprisingly easy time getting myself out of bed for my run. Perhaps it was the novelty of what once was a familiar route that had be interested. Who knows. In any case, I got out there and ran a decent 15km out to the end of the Boardwalk and back. The hill on Jones Avenue proved tough, but doable. I have decided to actively seek out more hills from now on rather than avoid them for the sake of a better average pace. This was one of those times.

Thursday was an off day running wise, but I still got a little bit of training in anyway. I did leg weights during the day and then took the boys to the track again. I ran three laps with the younger one for 1.2km, then did some 100m sprints with 300m recovery jogs with the older one. The total for the day was 3km and it was fun to vary the pace a bit, not care about what the Garmin said, and just hang out with my sons while running.

This morning (Friday) I had a really tough time getting motivated to run. The alarm went off at 5:15am once more, but after a poor night of sleep I was really only interested in staying in bed. Had it been raining I probably would have, but somehow I managed to get out there for the same run as on Wednesday. This time the wind was really blowing hard out of the East and on the way out along the boardwalk it was really tough going. Conversely, the return route proved so easy as the wind carried me along. The run up the hill on Jones was tough as usual, but even with the wind in my face (I guess it was blowing out of the Northeast) I managed to make it up quite a bit faster than on Wednesday. This time I ran the 15km in 1:17:14 (average pace of 5:08/km) verses 1:19:53 on Wednesday (average pace of 5:19/km).

Ultimately, I think these fifteen kilometre runs, when done all at once, are better for me than doing the same distance in one day, but splitting it up into two training runs while commuting to work. I think I will still run to work now and then because it is fun to do so, but perhaps not more than once per week. Should I lack the motivation to get out of bed in the morning I guess it's a good second option to have the commute pretty much add up to the same distance over two runs, but I hope to not have to use this backup too often.

The weekend looks very wet for Toronto and I hope that the forecast is wrong as I would prefer a couple more nice dry runs to finish off the week. Next week I'm considering backing off a bit before the Sporting Life 10k, but not too much as I am running this race for training and fun and not for speed. I'll likely not back off at all on my mid-week distance. The goal race for my Spring is the Toronto Half Marathon coming up two weeks after the 10k and I will definitely force myself to give the legs a break leading up to that one.

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

My Carrot is a Geezer

Let's not dance around it: I would LOVE to qualify for Boston when I run the Toronto Waterfront Marathon this coming October. Is it reasonable to expect this to happen? Sadly, no. Asking my body to hold what is currently my 10k PR pace for 42.2 kilometres is a bit of a stretch at the moment, but it all depends on how training goes. Ultimately I should just train smart, train hard, and use the results of said training to set a challenging, but reasonable, goal for race day.

Then comes along the spry 80 year-old Ed Whitlock in Rotterdam this past weekend and I get to thinking... He's more than twice my age, a world class athlete, kicking ass and taking names wherever he goes. I'm just a schmuck attempting to force my wonky limbs to do something resembling a running motion for long enough at fast enough a pace to get to Boston.

I have no idea why I'm thinking this way. It could be the spicy chicken and bean burrito I just ate, but I think I have my Nemesis. Nitmos has Beardsley. I have Ed Whitlock.

Oh, you want to know his time from this weekend? Minor detail. He only broke the old age-group world record by 14 minutes, and his BQ standard by a mere 1 hour and 35 minutes, so you know: meh...

3:25:40

Yup. That may be the goal for yours truly. Not the 3:10 or less I need to qualify for Boston for 2012 (and likely not get in anyway given their new application process). Not the 3:15:59 that was up until recently my BQ mantra and a series of numbers and symbols that magically found their way into a variety of my many computer passwords. And not the nice round 3:30 that I was shooting for last year.

3:25:40 means 4:53/km or 7:51/mile

Take that Ed Whitlock. I'm coming to getcha! My carrot comes not in the smile of my children's faces when I cross that finish line, or the full body massage that I'm certain my wife has waiting for me shortly thereafter. No, it comes in the form of a geezer. And hey, I say that with all the respect in the world that he deserves. He's a spectacularly fast geezer...

... but he's GOING DOWN!!!

Because you're never too young to beat somebody many years your senior.

And yes, you may quote me.

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Busy Week = Mileage High

Well, this week sure was chock full of running goodness. I have my sons to thank for pushing me to a new weekly mileage personal record. I won't recount all of the running, but will just say that the activity schedule for one kid and the request by the other to take him to the track meant that I finished ten runs this week for a grand total of 83.5km (51.9 miles). A new PB by 3km.

This morning I went out for the final run of the week: the all important long run. I woke up at 7am, felt like death and actually managed to fall asleep again, then woke up at just before 9am completely surprised at the time. I NEVER manage to fall back asleep once I wake up at a decent hour so this was weird. I knew it was supposed to start raining mid morning and so I got up fast and got ready to go. I was out the door and running at 9:21 and decided on a whim to run a loop I had done a few times last year which includes a big climb out of the Don Valley up Beechwood Drive.

I was not feeling all that hot and just wanted to run a nice easy pace, make it up the hill a couple of times without collapsing, and get through a decent amount of mileage to finish off the week. As has become a bit of a regular occurrence the run went way better than I thought it would.

After the first couple of kilometres of warm up type running I settled into a nice pace in the 5:00/km range (8:00/mile) and usually pulled of splits starting with the number 4. There was some sort of a small race using the same trail that I was running on, but the first time I came around the racers had not come by yet so I had the trail to myself. I hit the climb up Beechwood at about the 8km mark and managed to get up the hill at a decent pace and, more importantly, I kept on running upon reaching the top and got my pace back to the average within a short amount of time. Nice! I knew the second time up the climb would be tougher, but I didn't slow my pace in anticipation of this eventuality in an effort to conserve energy.

The second time around the trail I hit a large number of racers and proceeded to pass them all as I maintained my 5:00/km, give or take 5 seconds, pace. The second climb up Beechwood was indeed tougher, but I once again managed to crest the top and continued to run while my heart rate and pace got back to normal. It was then that the drizzle that had been happening the entire run turned to a regular downpour. I was soaked for the last 6km of the run as I ran along the Danforth to complete my 24km for the day. By the time I got home certain parts of my body were raw and chaffed; not fun.

But it was a great run! The average pace in the end was 5:02/km (8:05/mile) and included those two big climbs. My last kilometre was my fastest as I tried to push through to the end and was a nice 4:34/km. I also took note that I crossed the Half Marathon mark in 1:46:36.

The elevation profile for the run was worth noting as well:


So, another week done. Feeling pretty much back to normal, although my legs are stiff from getting back to weight training, and looking forward to the rest of the month with two races coming up in May.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Another Race Coming Up (Out of the Blue)

Today was clearly not as exciting a day as yesterday on the workout front, but I DID register for a race that previously I had not even considered running. I ran it a couple of years ago and, for some unexplained reason, I navigated to its website and was surprised to find that the race had not yet sold out. That's crazy since it is a very popular race. I guess they've increased the number of runners or something. Whatever the case I now will be running the Toronto SportingLife 10k down Yonge Street on the morning of May 1st with what is advertised as 15,000 other people. It will be a good rehearsal for the Half Marathon that goes on the 15th since both use Yonge Street as a major part of their routes.

Should be fun! I likely will run fairly easy, but there is a good chance that I will improve upon my PR in this race, which would be cool.

As far as the day went, I got up rather slowly just before 6am and went out for what turned out to be a fairly decent, if a little stiff, 8.5km run. My legs are sore from Monday's leg workout at the gym and I'm not particularly surprised by this, just wish I could recover faster after my leg sessions.

Then at lunchtime I went to the gym and did a fairly fast but good back and shoulders workout that resulted in the much sought after difficulty in lifting my arms to wash my hair. It was just what I wanted!

And not to be outdone by the three workout day I decided that I would run to and from a coaches meeting for my younger son's 5-pitch league and so combined for a nice 4.5km there and 4.5km back for a total of 9km. I was just running slow and easy (and had to make a pit stop at the beginning of the second run at a local fast food establishment for GI issues, which I know all runners can relate to) and the funny thing is that the two runs were less than 1.5 seconds apart in total! Neat.

The total on the day was a tidy 17.5km.

Tomorrow it's back to more leg weights and no running. Here's hoping I can actually DO a lunge, let alone add weight to the process...

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Three Workouts in One Day? Yes Please!

In another life I think I'd have chosen some profession where being physically active was not only advantageous, but also profitable. Alas, I was not blessed with athletic abilities good enough to earn me any money, but I still like to be active.

How active? If I had it my way I'd probably just find enough types of workouts to fill up my days. I find it very tough to sit still and am typically doing something even when I shouldn't be. Case in point, watching TV is almost never done sitting down. I'm either doing chores (folding laundry is a common one), stretching, or exercising. These are typically unstructured type workouts and I don't bother documenting what I do. I just grab whatever I feel like and go to town. Push ups, chin ups, abs, all sorts of dumbbell and barbell stuff. Anything goes.

That being said days like today are rare. Last year I ran to and from work a bunch of times, but for some reason I did not do this even once in a very long time. I decided last night that it would be fun to try it again and got my stuff set to go so that I wouldn't have to scramble too much in the morning.

The only thing that I miscalculated was the weight of my backpack! By the time I loaded it up with my dry cleaned pairs of pants, lunch bag full of food, a bag of workout clothes for the gym, and who knows what else the thing was full and very heavy. Nevertheless, I was undeterred and once the boys got on the school bus I faced the strong wind and set off.

And boy was that wind against me. The entire frickin' way! So I was weighed down, wind blown, and working much harder than I'd intended on my 6.35km journey given that I was running to work and preferred to arrive slightly less than drenched. It's a good thing I'm not much of a sweater (rim shot!) because I didn't really sweat all that much until I got in the elevator.

At lunch I put on my thin running windbreaker (I think the wind has to be slight for it to actually break anything) and went over to the gym, arriving very chilled, and had a decent chest and arm workout with some abdominal stuff to boot. It was one of those workouts that leaves you barely able to wash your hair afterwards. Good times!

Then, after more work in the afternoon, I set off once again for my run home and the third workout of the day. This run was not as much fun. I once again had to fight the wind for significant portions and my stomach did not feel very good at all. On top of that I got a bad stitch in my ribs for the first time in forever that never resolved itself despite my best efforts to alter my breathing patterns and such. I did manage to complete the 7.35km stretch home and then jumped in the car to get the boys from school. Upon getting home I was very happy to get in the shower, that's for sure. I was frozen by then!

Anyway, 13.7km of running and a weight training workout makes for a good day of training in my book.

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Monday, April 4, 2011

London Running

Unfortunately it was not London, UK, but rather London, Ontario where we spent the weekend watching my son's basketball team play their final tournament of the season. Although the team did not fare too well the games were all exciting and the kids absolutely loved playing in the hotel swimming pool, so all was not lost.

As far as I was concerned it was good to get out for a couple of runs.

Even if they weren't particularly exciting or interesting, I was happy to finally start feeling like my old self after all the illness and antibiotics of March. On Saturday it was 8.5km exploring some residential areas of the City near a gym that I frequented when I lived there a decade ago.
On Sunday I wasn't sure what to expect of myself because I'd been up way too late and drank more Bourbon than I'd had in the past five years (which isn't saying a lot since I don't drink very much at all, but a small bottle of Jack is a lot to me). Anyway, after only about five hours of sleep I went out for a run and decided to just do an out-and-back given that I didn't really feel like exploring too much. Although I'd lived in London for almost a year it's surprising how little I remember of the place. So I just ran North along the main drag, through downtown (which I did recognize a lot of), and back. I managed 16.4km and the pace was good too. In fact both runs felt good and my pace reflected this in spite of the fact that I only concentrated on going slow and easy. Saturday it was 5:06/km and on Sunday it was 5:09/km, and through rolling hills too.

Good times. April is off to a good start. Now it's back to leg weights. Tomorrow I will likely be sore!

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Friday, April 1, 2011

March 2011 In Review

It was the worst running month I've had since my calf surgery and subsequent comeback, and I am happy that I am now looking at March 2011 from the rear view mirror. I could wallow in self pity and do the whole "what could have, should have been" thing, but I prefer to look at the positives.

I ran a smart training run at the Around the Bay 30k despite all the setbacks.

I still managed to go over 200km for the month, thereby maintaining my goal of hitting at least this (arguably pathetic, but still a decent) number for every month in 2011.

Cut and paste is my best friend, and so here are the details of a March to forget:


18 runs, that's it?! Dang.

Today, for the first time since I can't remember, I can finally say that I am feeling almost normal. Last night I ran 7km nice and slow, but the last few clicks I felt like I was running through yogurt and had no gas whatsoever (the good type of gas, I had some of the bad type, which may explain the lack of some of the good type, but it was the run that allowed me to go over 200km for the month so that's gotta count for something, right?). What a sentence!

And on that note...

Happy April to all!!!

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