Today was a big day, day one of the 12-week Tely-10 training program. The program began with a 15 minute easy run which I did this morning in the rain. I felt pretty good, but I was happy to see my watch hit the fifteen minute mark. This year's race, the 79th in total, takes place on July 23rd.
I've been training indoors for the past few weeks to get myself back in shape to begin the Tely 10 training using the treadmill, recumbent cycle, and rowing machine. I've been feeling pretty good about everything and today was a little milestone along the way, the first outdoor run since last fall. My goal this year is to increase my speed and knock 20 minutes off last year's time - lofty, but doable.
Tomorrow's a rest day which should leave me some time to catch up on my writing - that's the intention, but you know what they say about intentions and the road to you know where.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
The running of the dummies...
Runners are dumb. I live in an area of the world where we get snow, a lot of snow. On top of that, our city is the oldest city in North America and as you might expect, our streets are old, narrow and windy so when we receive snow, driving conditions become quite harardous due to the increased narrowness of the streets and reduced visibility due to mounting piles of the white stuff.
Without fail, however, you will see runners taking to the streets under these conditions, usually running side by side, directly impeding vehicular traffic. Now I love running, and I agree that under normal circumstances, the roads should be shared by cars, cyclists and runners; these are not normal circumstances and common sense should dictate that running in the middle of a slippery, snow-covered street is not a safe practice.
The winter season would be spent by these dummies exericing their brains so the obvious would become just that - use a treadmill or go to the gym. Just get off the roads in wintertime.
Without fail, however, you will see runners taking to the streets under these conditions, usually running side by side, directly impeding vehicular traffic. Now I love running, and I agree that under normal circumstances, the roads should be shared by cars, cyclists and runners; these are not normal circumstances and common sense should dictate that running in the middle of a slippery, snow-covered street is not a safe practice.
The winter season would be spent by these dummies exericing their brains so the obvious would become just that - use a treadmill or go to the gym. Just get off the roads in wintertime.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Ah, the treadmill...
It would appear, I've gotten back on the horse, so to speak. After a few months of distractions, mostly due to a major home renovation project, I have been on the treadmill with some regularity over the past couple of weeks. My sites are set on a half marathon taking place in Halifax in the Spring, so now is the time to start training. I'm pretty much starting over, as a runner, it's amazing how fast you can fall out of shape when you've worked so long and hard to get into shape.
I like the treadmill, I think, at least I like when I'm finished on the treadmill and the sense of accomplishment that I feel. It can be a little monotonous, but I've done what I can to address that by making a stereo and television available for listening/viewing pleasure while working out. I've been putting in a lot of walk-jog-walk sessions, about 30 minutes in total, walking half the time, jogging the other half. My last workout was a 20 minute session consisting of a 10 minute jog sandwiched in between a 5 minute warmup and a 5 minute cool down. There is a method to my madness - I'm first going through a 5-K training program to get me ready for the half marathon training. My results last week put me right on pace to start the 5-K training tomorrow - a lot of 1 mile easy runs for the first few sessions. I plan to complete this training at or about my usual 5 MPH pace, and then get serious about improving my speed during the half marathon training.
I've decided to throw in some abdominal work as well, on my off days from running. I found last year when I was training for the 10-miler, ab work provided some great strength improvements in my running, particularly on the longer Sunday runs, and besides, it's pretty easy to bang out a few leg raises anytime while watching television.
So that's the plan, and getting it down on paper is half the battle.
I like the treadmill, I think, at least I like when I'm finished on the treadmill and the sense of accomplishment that I feel. It can be a little monotonous, but I've done what I can to address that by making a stereo and television available for listening/viewing pleasure while working out. I've been putting in a lot of walk-jog-walk sessions, about 30 minutes in total, walking half the time, jogging the other half. My last workout was a 20 minute session consisting of a 10 minute jog sandwiched in between a 5 minute warmup and a 5 minute cool down. There is a method to my madness - I'm first going through a 5-K training program to get me ready for the half marathon training. My results last week put me right on pace to start the 5-K training tomorrow - a lot of 1 mile easy runs for the first few sessions. I plan to complete this training at or about my usual 5 MPH pace, and then get serious about improving my speed during the half marathon training.
I've decided to throw in some abdominal work as well, on my off days from running. I found last year when I was training for the 10-miler, ab work provided some great strength improvements in my running, particularly on the longer Sunday runs, and besides, it's pretty easy to bang out a few leg raises anytime while watching television.
So that's the plan, and getting it down on paper is half the battle.
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