Training Log Archive: Carbons Offset

13.3

Nose Hill with Becca. Sooooo nice to have company for the run, compared with yesterday. More interesting and it felt easier.
No wind, had to strip down to just the t-shirt and arm warmers. Nice :)

13.8

Several of you already know: Calgary and area got hit with a big snow storm. Toward the mountains it was even worse. In town, the snow melted when it hit the roads and sidewalks, so it was still possible to run on clear (just wet) pavement, but the trails had plenty of snow on them. So I ran pavement. Lots of pavement. Endless pavement. Oh my god, so much pavement.

Background: I've never done a marathon. I don't think I've ever run more than 25 or 30 K on pavement. That's how much I love pavement - not.

But the plan today was to get about 5 or 5.5 hours of running, and I almost always stick to the plan. It's my strength. It's my weakness. Dedicated... / .... Obsessive....., it's a fine line between the two. Once I set a training plan, I no longer own it, it owns me. The Matrix has me. Today probably wasn't going to be a very enjoyable day, given the conditions, but then again what else are you going to do in these conditions. Either do nothing, or consider it an opportunity for some good mental training.

One nice thing about running with a just a time goal is that you're never lost. As long as you put another moving minute on the clock, you're going in the right direction. Even if you are lost, you simply keep clocking time until you figure out where you are. It's not until about the last hour of a really long run that you may have to start strategizing about getting home at the right time. It kind of makes the whole thing seem carefree.

Ran south along the Elbow River toward the Glenmore reservoir. Unfortunately, once I reached the north side of Sandy Beach, the pedestrian bridge is out (from the floods last spring?). So, a big detour and figuring out how to get around all of this, but it's all moving minutes and not being lost. Eventually got to the reservoir and did a lap (about 18 km around). Then made my way back toward the Elbow River which took me to the south side of Sandy Beach and the other side of the missing bridge. I could see my trail on the other side of the river, such a tease. I stop there for a while and seriously considered just walking across. It looked like it was maybe knee deep, easy by AR standards, but I gave in to the "what ifs" and how dumb I would feel if something went wrong. Heck, I still had plenty of time left, so just figure out another way around. All went well except almost getting hit twice by ladies in fancy SUVs in the rich neighbourhoods where they don't have to stop for red lights and pedestrians. I would have been safer crossing the river :)
Continued past home (still hadn't run long enough, even though I was bored out of my mind from all the pavement, so I continued to the grocery store for extra fixings for our monstrous salmon burgers).

A slowish pace considering this was on pavement, averaged 9.4 km/h.

Re-tested some of the gear setup for UTMB:

Better Than Naked shorts with Craft tights over top, to make sure there are no issues with this combo. All was good for this long run. Was also able to get the tights on and off over the Hokas.

Wore the Black Diamond fleece gloves, with the lobster claw overmitts when I got cold. This seemed to be enough on this -1C day. Got a little cold a couple of times but the hands warmed up on their own in this combo. If necessary, a hand warmer would probably make it toasty. I'm thinking of carrying a set at UTMB just in case.

The light toque and the buff around the neck were good all day - welcome protection and didn't get too hot.

The North Face jacket is fantastic. Very breathable, but gave complete protection from the wet snow.
Underneath, I had just a short sleeved dryfit and my light arm warmers , and that was perfect. If I'm also carrying a 200 weight top for UTMB, I should be ready for some really cold weather. I figure the hands will be cold before the torso is, with all of those layers.

Had some acid reflux early in the run. Chewed three Tums and popped a 150 mg max strength ranitidine tablet (Zantac?), and things were pretty good after that.

C • Gripping Tale 16

13.5

I love my rest days :)
(that said, about halfway through them I'm feeling eager to do something again)

13.5

8 repeats of the curling club hill. Didn't push super fast, just steady, because I was feeling a little tired at the start but once I warmed up the reps got faster.
Plus the run there and the run back.

Myotatic crunch with 5 lbs
Cat vomit
Planks
Hip flexor stretch

Beautiful weather, couldn't resist the invitation to go for a ride before the weather gets bad. Rode with Carbon and Becca from Becca's house, out of town and around the Bearspaw/Lochend area. The ladies led for most of it, often side by side. Unfortunately the strange angle of the wind meant it wasn't easy to get much of a draft.
Fun to get out, I was fairly tired for a lot of it. This wasn't in the plan, but tomorrow is a rest day, so that should let me bounce back and be good for the weekend.
Went for Thai food after.

Average watts 136W
Average speed 26.4 km/h

C • Snow 15

14.2

Ran to pick up the car. Practiced some Llew stuff.
10.9 km/h.

Brought the car home, then ran some more.
10.8 km/h.

14.4

Did most of the class outside in the nice weather. A couple of laps on the paths outside to warm up. Then hurdle reach walk, leg swings, runner's stretch, a different lunge with twist, then onto the gravel for hopping squats (driving the elbows back to get off the ground rather than hopping), step backs, high knees. Step backs down a hill to get the feel for how you plant the foot and push off when going up the hill, then run the flat and sprint up the hill 5 times with 20 burpees at the top each time to keep you tired for the next run and sprint.
Inside for a core workout of shimmies, v sits, dead bugs, bicycle crunch, with sprinter's shoulder roll with 3 lb dumbells between each set. Finished with a set of shoulder kickbacks, and hold.
Stretch.