Running hurts my shoulders

The plan was a 4 mile run. The outcome was a little less than that.

I was on the road at 0600 this morning and as soon as began running, the skies opened and the rain started pelting down. That wasn't so bad; I like running in a warm rain, but the workout the day before at the the gym, began to take it's punishing toll early in the run. I had worked my shoulders on Tuesday thinking that would cause the least interference with my running program, but after five minutes, my shoulders were aching, almost intolerably. For me, the worst part of heading back to the weights after a long period away from them, is the muscle pain I have to go through with each major muscle group after the first few workouts. After thirty minutes of running, I could no longer hold my arms in the running position and began walking in from that point. The relief I felt when I was able to relax my arms and let them hang at my sides is inexplicable.

I cut through a trail area to get home a little quicker and as I was coming off the wooded trail, I met a woman just on her way in. She took one look at me and turned around and started walking the other way. I guess I look a little threatening to the ladies when I'm outfitted in my running gear. It was the strangest thing I had experienced in a while...one look at me and gone - a real boost to the male ego.

Once I got back to pavement, I ran for a couple more minutes, but that too was agonizing on my shoulders.

Like I said, the intention was a 4-miler, but you know what they say about intentions and the road to 'hell'.

Muscleheads

I know, it has been six days. I've been consumed by my basement, so much so, that I didn't even run on Sunday; that, for me, is equivalent to a Catholic skipping church. Realizing the half marathon training didn't officially start until today, I decided to rest up after two very exhausting weeks of demolition and destruction.

I made it into the gym today to start on a weight training program for at least the next six weeks - me and all the muscleheads. Why do young men feel the need to examine every inch of their bodies in the mirrors while they curl or squat a few pounds in front of those same mirrors? They must think they look great. Good for them.

Today was supposed to be a running day, but being the first day back to work in more than two weeks, and after looking out the window and seeing the rain, I decided against the run this morning and will move it to tomorrow morning. That's the beauty of training by yourself, you can make those adjustments. Adjusting is fine, skipping isn't. Skipping one workout leads to skipping a second, and once you've skipped two, then it's really easy to skip a third...you see where I'm going with this? Tomorrow is a 4 mile run so I shouldn't have any problem fitting it in if I'm on the road by six. I plan to do the same run on Thursday morning as well and that will get me back on track with the plan, as it appears on paper. As I go back and read the last couple of sentences, I'm still amazed that I can write about a 4 miler as if it's nothing. Less than a year ago, a 4 minuter was a challenge.

It's incredible what your body can do if properly fueled by your mind.

Couldn't run to save myself

I haven't been blogging for a couple of days now, fact is, I'm beat out. I started the jackhammering of my basement floor on Monday to make room for the new plumbing lines that have to be installed. To say that it was a tiring job would not really describe what it did to me physically. Yesterday, I felt like I had gone 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while having my hands tied behind my back. Running hasn't even been considered - I couldn't run to save myself.

I didn't jump on the scale Monday either, simply because I forgot. I was in such a rush to get to the rental store to pickup the jackhammer and get started that it completely slipped my mind; that's o.k. though, I like weighing in on Friday mornings so I'll just switch it until then.

I'm hoping to go for a little run on Friday morning, and then a longer one on Sunday. Next Tuesday is the first official day of the six-week half marathon training. Once I get the plumping in the floors and the trenches filled in again, I'll be able to concentrate a little more on the October event.

Until then, the basement is in ruins, although I'm thrilled to be finished with the jackhammer, that's for sure.

300 metres shy

Today was another busy day - they all seem to be busy since the reno started. I went out for a run at around 730 this morning. It was bright and sunny and there was a real feeling of fall approaching as what wind there was had a definite crispness to it.

I thought my route of choice was a 5K distance for sure, but having only trained in minutes and not miles (or K's), I didn't have the distance clocked. So after completing the run, I jumped in the car and measured it out. Turns out I was 300 metres short of the 5K - kind of feel like I cheated a bit. Oh well, I'll know for next time. Overall, the run felt good, but the breathing has been tough on my first two runs back since the Tely 10. I'm not too bothered by it though; one thing I've learned in by short running career is that after a couple of bad days on the road a string of good days usually follow.

Tomorrow is weigh-in day. I'm curious to see if I moved down at all. Right now I don't feel like I have, but we'll see - hoping to lose a pound or two.

I've been coasting, I admit it

I can't deny it, I've been coasting along this past week or so. Not so much from an exercise perspective, but from a blogging perspecting. My posts haven't been up to par. I guess I didn't realize how all-consuming this home renovation would become. By the time my work day is finished, blogging falls after sleeping on my list of things to do.

I got a good bit of work done today, although you wouldn't say by looking around the basement. I probably could have gotten a little further along if I didn't have to make three trips to the building supply store, but isn't that always the way. I actually need to make another trip, but I'll keep going until a run out of supplies and then go tomorrow.

I haven't been running with any regularity either, but I'm not too concerned at this point. I am doing an incredible amount of physical labour and working up a great sweat, daily. But tomorrow is Sunday, and on Sunday, I run. Some people go to church, religiously (pardon the pun) on Sundays, I run. Period.

The legs just haven't got it

My legs started to get a little sore yesterday afternoon, today there a lot sore. I spent the day limping around my basement and pretty much got the last bit of drywall and sub-floor removed. The plumber came by and drew on the floor where I need to dig trenches to accomodate new drain lines - that'll be a fun task. Nothing like beating your way through 30 year-old concrete.

I think I've decided not to run tomorow, the legs just aren't there. I had hoped to get to the gym and start on the weights, but my partner fell ill and I took advantage of the time to keep working in the basement, it's not like I'm not getting any exercise. We'll have to see what tomorrow brings; it's probably best for me to stay off the road until Sunday.

D-day

Today was another day in my basement - demolition continues. I'm making good progress and I hope to be framing at some point next week.

My legs started to get sore in the afternoon, a result of being off the road for a few weeks. I'm not planning on running again until Friday, or maybe even Sunday, depending on how I feel. This demolition stuff is tiring work.

On the road again

It was good getting back on the road again. The weather was ideal, no wind, sunny and about 15 degrees at 700am. My route was a little over 5K, which was a good start seeing how I haven't run any sort of distance for more than three weeks. The training called for 4 miles, but that's o.k. for today. The run felt great - no real aches or pains and the new shoes performed well. My legs were a little tired and my breathing was a little more difficult than usual, but I never run well early in the week; not sure why, but my best runs are usually on Sundays.

I'm not so fussy about training in miles. It means I have to convert the miles to kilometres and then get in the car and clock off the distances before I can run them. The training for the Tely 10 was in minutes, which was great because all you had to do was strap on your watch and run. There was no pre-established routes; you just ran and hoped you ended up close to home by the time the right number of minutes had passed.

I spent the rest of the day tearing out sub-floor from my basement, back-breaking work to say the least. I also found time to mow the lawn. Needless to say, by supper time, I was pretty tired.

An early night and back to the basement in the morning.

Training started

Today was day one of the training for the half marathon I'm running in October. Not too difficult a day, the schedule called for a rest day. I guess then, the official start will be tomorrow - I know how important a rest day is, but really, on day one?

Most of the day was spent in the basement again working on the apartment. I cleaned up the mess of television and network cables, that I had strung all of the house through ceilings and walls over the past several years. It doesn't seem like much of a job, but it had to be done to get the cables out of the way for new walls, ceilings and the like. If I didn't get it out of the way today, it would only hold me up when the time comes to start hanging drywall.

I must say, I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run. First time out since Toronto a little over a week ago and the first real run since the Tely 10 a few weeks ago. I even have a new pair of shoes to break in - let's hope we both perform well.

The vacation continues

Today was basically a continuation of yesterday - more demolition in the basement. I got most of the gyproc down today so I knocked off around 100pm and spent the rest of the day on my laptop in front of the television watching the final round of the PGA Championship. While I enjoy being active, I live for Sunday afternoons like today.

Tomorrow marks day one of the training for the half marathon in October. I still haven't heard whether I'm running in P.E.I. or Nova Scotia, but not knowing this won't impact training. Should be a successful first day of training, rest is on the schedule - I won't skip tomorrow that's for sure.

Taking it easy, not

It can never be said that eased into my vacation. Today was spent tearing drywall of the walls and ceilings in my basement. I'm tearing down my finished basement so I can finish it again. It's not that I'm bored and needed a little 'make-work' project, there's actually a practical reason for this; my mother is moving in with us so I'm going to give her a proper, two-bedroom apartment. The existing layout wasn't well-suited for such a living space.

Needless to say, while I'm not logging any kilometres on the road, I am working up a good sweat. I expect to have most of the drywall down and in the dumpster by Sunday and I look forward to that because I'm not a big fan of standing in all the dust - protective mask or not.

Easing into my vacation, yeah right!

Working for the weekend

Have you ever noticed one of the busiest days at work is the last day before your vaction begins? Why is it that everyone wants something done or an answer on this particular day, when your already working doubly hard to make sure you're caught up before falling behind? I got through it, and happy to say, I'm on vacation.

For the next two weeks I'll spending a lot of time in my basement. My mother is moving in with us, but that means that I first have to demolish my existing finished basement so I can put a new apartment down there for her. Needless to say, I won't be bored while away from work for the next little while.

Going to make room for the half marathon training though. Traiing officially starts Monday with a rest day, believe it or not - think I can handle that.

P.E.I. or bust

The Vally Harvest Half Marathon may turn out to be the P.E.I. Half Marathon afterall. After speaking with my father, he too would rather run in P.E.I. this year, but, we're waiting to hear from my sisters about which venue works best for them, from a scheduling perspective.

Either way, the training starts Monday. I ordered John Bingham's "Marathoning for Mortals" online just a couple of days ago, and today it arrived in my mailbox. Wow, that was fast. After leafing through it, I think I'll be reading it more for entertainment than for technical advice. The training program outlined in the book is a 16-week program, targeted more at beginniners. I'm not saying that I'm an advanced runner by any means, however, I do have a good training core from the Tely 10 training that I completed just over two weeks ago. The other problem with the book's training plan is simply that I don't have 16 weeks, I have 8 from this Monday, 9 if we run in P.E.I. I do, however, enjoy reading John's work, whether it be his books or his monthly column in 'Runner's World', so I look forward to another humourous read with examples that I know I will be able to relate to my own experiences.

No activity today, resting up for Monday.

It's official, sort of

I sort of heard back from my father today about the P.E.I. Half Marathon. It doesn't look like I'll be running in P.E.I. afterall. Instead, it will probably be in Nova Scotia at the Valley Harvest Half Marathon & Marathon event scheduled for thanksgiving weekend. That would give me exactly eight weeks to prepare, which should be plenty. The plan I'm following is a six-week plan, but the extra two weeks should come in handy for a couple of repeat weeks when things get busy. Like I wrote in an earlier post, I have a good training core built up after the lead up to the Tely 10 so it won't be like I'm starting from scratch. The other good thing is that the training will officially start on Monday, which will give me a few more days to rest up my wonky heel on the one side and the nearly-healed achilles on the right.

So here and now, I'll make my commitments. I will hit the weight-room regularly over the next eight weeks. I will lose fifteen pounds before race day, as my previous goal of twenty is not realistic in such a short time frame. I will be at the starting line in October.

I can do this. I have the power of me.

Bring on the half!

Today was a big day. I decided I am going to run a half marathon next. I am leaning towards the P.E.I. event in October and I'm just waiting to hear back from my father to see whether or not he's going. If not, it will be the Bluenose Half Marathon next May in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

I guess part of my decision is based on the fact that I am going through somewhat of a training withdrawal ever since the Tely 10 finished more than two weeks ago. Not having a goal is really not working for me - I always need to be doing something, for some reason. So I've ordered a copy of John Bingham's 'Marathoning for Mortals' and I will start training soon, once I hear back from my father, which will probably be tomorrow. I think where I've just completed eight weeks of training for the 10-mile event I should be able to turn the training around fast enough to be ready for the 13 plus miles. I'm planning to hit the weights pretty consistently during the training hoping to convert some of the remaining fat into some fat burning muscle and I also want to drop about 20 pounds by race day in October; lofty, but very focused and doable goals.

So let's go, let's get ready for the half!

Glad to need a rest day

Rest day, and happy to be able to write that. It's been a couple of weeks since I needed a rest day, so I'm pretty happy to be back in the swing of things, sort of anyway.

Not much happened today. We were quite late getting home from Toronto so we basically sat in front of the televison for most of the day, me playing on my laptop and my wife drifting in and out of consciousness.

I'm not planning to run tomorrow either, but I look to get back to a 5K distance on Thursday morning.

Back at it

This was a big day. We woke up early and headed for Ashbridges Bay Park in the 'Beaches' area of Toronto. It's a great setup for runners/walkers and cyclists and the trails take you along the shores of Lake Ontario. Oh, did I mention the trails take you along the shores of Lake Ontario and that's kind of a shame because the smell of pollution and whatever else blows through the area is almost more then a runner, desperate for clean oxygen, can take. I saw more runners in the park than I had ever seen at one time, other than during a race. Being Toronto, however, no one acknowledged me, not even so much as 'runner's wave' that I had become so used to in St. John's when passing a fellow runner on the street. Instead, they concentrated all of there attention on their strides and their water bottles. Oh well, whatever works best for you.

We did a 2 minute walking, 2 minute running exercise for about 30 minutes. This was my first time in running shoes since the Tely 10 and I didn't want to push things with the bad heel/leg. I felt great though, so I am eager to see how the heel/leg responds after another night's sleep. We'll see. If all goes well, I'll be out Tuesday morning for little 5K jog, which of course will be at the same clip as my moderate pace.

We made our way back to the hotel to clean up and check out. Our flight wasn't leaving Toronto until 900pm, so we had the whole day to drive around and see the sights, shop, eat, and the like. We stopped in on a running specialty store as I was interested in getting some advice about a new pair of shoes. I had purchased a new pair about 3 weeks before the Tely 10 - a stability shoe, that, in my opinion, caused the injury to my achilles. The sales person was quite pleasant and when I told her that I wanted some advice about a new pair of shoes, she had me strip down to my bare feet and walk the length of the store. She immediately recommended a stability shoe and told her the story of how I thought the stability shoes caused my trouble. I also told her that I thought technology in shoes was a bad thing, at least for me anyways. She looked at me in bewilderment almost as though I had just revealed the Caramilk secret; but I didn't relent. I further explained my case stating that I feel a person needs to be able to stride naturally, and any technology that gets in the way is trouble. She quickly decided that a cushioning shoe would be better for me, I agreed. So I tried on a couple of pairs, but the fit wasn't right. She then brought me a pair of New Balance's that I liked, only problem is she only had two right shoes in my size, and that wasn't going to work; I was out of options at that store. Instead, I purchased a copy of John Bingham's 'Courage to Start' after not being able to find 'Marathoning for Mortals' and my wife and I left for another sports store. My luck changed. I found a pair of Adidas Supernovas for the remarkably low price of $59.99, threw them in the suitcase and felt like I had won a small victory against whomever or whatever it was that had been conspiring against my efforts to get into a new pair of running shoes over the previous month or so.

We made it home at around 2:00am. Overall, a long, but enjoyable day.

Wedding Day

Today was the wedding, the reason we came to Toronto for the weekend. I wanted to get some form of activity in because I knew the rest of the day would be spent sitting, eating, and perhaps, if my wife is lucky, I'll throw a little dancing in as well.

I got up early and went down to the hotel health club. I saw the treadmill, it was available, and as hard as it was to do, I walked passed it and sat down on the rowing machine. I pulled on the cord for 25 minutes or so, or 5K; worked up a good sweat too. When I got back to the room, I talked my wife into a splash in the pool for a half our or so. We then cleaned-up, went for a late breakfast and off to the church.

The wedding was nice, but the reception was more of an annoyance. I stopped drinking alcohol a couple of years ago, not for the sake losing weight, but just because I was sick of waking up with a hangover and basically being able to do nothing for a full day on the weekend while I recovered from the indulgence. Explaining this to your high-school friends is a little more difficult. In the end, it dawned on me that if you took alcohol away from the experiences I had with most of these people throughout high school, we really would have very little to talk about. I won't elaborate any further - I was just happy to see the night end.

Big day planned tomorrow - back running, hopefully!

A day for reflection

My wife and I boarded a plane this morning and made our way to Toronto to attend a friend's wedding this weekend. As is usually the case when we travel, I ended up with the window seat and my wife took the middle - she doesn't have to, I guess she just thinks it would be more comfortable for me and she makes the kind gesture each time; I'm not about to fight her on it because let's face it, the only thing worse than the middle seat on an airplane is a warm toilet seat in the bathroom.

During the last hour of the flight, the cloud cover that had blocked my view of the land below disappeared. I spent the next half hour just starring down on the world thinking to myself how small a space each of us occupies on this earth - sounds rather deep and philosophical I know, but it was a somewhat spiritual experience, not in a religious sense, but in a human-spirit sense.

Having lived in the Toronto area for 18 years, I am quite familiar with the approach into the airport, but today, it through me for a loop. Just a few days earlier, an Air France passenger plane had skidded off one of the main runways at Toronto's Pearon Airport and it has been closed ever since. Not thinking of this, I was expecting a normal touchdown when we suddenly banked hard left and headed towards the downtown core and flew out over the shores of Lake Ontario, confusing me even further. Then we banked hard right and headed back toward the airport. As we got closer to the airport, my eyes remained fixed on the landscape and suddenly, there it was - the wreckage from the crash of a few days prior. Three distinct tire tracks beginning from the end of the runway and leading into the gorge where the now charred remains of the aircraft lay were quite visible. It was an incredible sight - you don't very often see a plane wreck and my thoughts quickly turned to the incredible fact that not one person lost a life in this accident.

We didn't have time for any activity, other then the requisite shopping for a wedding gift. For supper, we treated ourselves to The Keg across the street from our hotel - and I mean treated, we ate like pigs. We're going to have to get some exercise in tomorrow because I'm feeling rather fat as I sit here making this entry this evening.

All and all, it was one of those days where while you didn't do a whole lot, you experienced a lot and the magnitude of my thoughts and experiences is becoming more clear as the day winds to a close. I like days like these every so often; there's nothing wrong with slowing down to 'smell the roses' once and while.

A bla, bla day

Today was just that, a bla, bla day.

I only worked for half the day, but ended up working the other half at home. This was supposed to be a vacation week, but due to scheduling mistakes, I had to hang around the office a little this week.

I'm still on the mend from race day and the achilles is feeling better, not 100%, but better. I had planned to ride the bike, however, there was a threat of rain all day and I'm not a big fan of getting caught in the rain. Tomorrow is a travel day - my wife and I are heading to Toronto to attend a wedding this weekend. I'll be packing my running gear with the hopes of getting back to running on Sunday, that will be a full two weeks rest. Only thing is, it's hot in Toronto, and humid. The run just might take place on the hotel treadmill within the air conditioned health club. I don't plan to do too much, just 20 minutes or so.

It was a bla, bla day, but they're good to sometimes, especially when rest is in order.

Regatta Day in St. John's

Today was a municipal holiday for the Royal St. John's Regatta - the 178th running of this event I might add. It was also a day that never panned-out.

I had every intention of attending the Regatta around lunchtime, meeting my grandfather at the bandstand by the lake and enjoying a hotdog or two while watching a few of the fixed-seat rowing races. My grandfather ended up not wanting to go, mostly due to the rainy weather, so I ended up staying home as well.

The family got together for supper and a little birthday celebration in honour of my nephew. A feed of fried chicken, fries and birthday cake left me feeling a little guilty about it all. I'm not much of a fried-food eater to begin with, so I was feeling doubly bad about it all. I decided tonight it's time to get serious again and get these last 25 pounds off. My father gave me a pair of 34-inch waisted shorts and that is my goal - to be in them by Christmas Day, although I won't have much use for the shorts in December, it's still my goal, and an attainable one at that. That would mean 4 more inches off my waist; that would make me 'small' enough - gladly, I'll have to give up the fried chicken.

Pedaling for work

Today I woke up at 600am, had a little breakfast and a shower and then got my bike out of the shed for the commute into work.

Not a bad experience by any means, although my butt is sore, really sore, from yesterday's ride and my legs feel pretty tired, probably also because of yesterday's ride. It took me about 15-20 minutes to get in, and the same time to get home again. The route is pretty flat, so no major complaints about hills. I can still feel my achilles injury, though, and I'm thinking that Sunday might be a little too aggressive to be going back running.

We'll see what tomorrow holds; it's a municipal holiday here, weather permitting - The Royal St. John's Regatta. Just a little light walking tomorrow and a CLB hotdog at lakeside for a treat. Now I'm off to mow the lawn so I can rest a little tomorrow.

Cross-training not cross-dressing

I'm not a big fan of the term 'cross-training' - makes me think of cross-dressing and I'm really not into that.

Jumped on the bike this morning and ironically I pedalled for 16K, the exact same distance I ran last Sunday. I saw a few walkers, a few bikers, and a few runners as well. As much as I like the bike, I would have rather been running today, but I am still in recovery mode.

I was 'MSNing' with my dad this morning and the first question he asked was 'how are the legs'. My response was simply 'not good'.