Running and cycling with Bill

Name:
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Darn ice!

So I went out for my regular run last Thursday, and was really enjoying the fresh snowfall, about an inch or so, and was about 3 k into my 9+ k run. The snow muted the sound of traffic, and I was hoping to see some deer in the woods. It was truly a lovely day, until I hit some smooth ice on the trail, buried under the snow, and immediately went down, landing on the left buttock, shoulder and wrist. I said some words of excitation, got up, and decided that it would be a good idea to turn around and head for home, since most everything hurt. Nothing seemed broken, however. Just a few hundred metres from my house, still in the woods, I did see a deer loping alongside the trail just ahead of me.

Coincidentally, I was having my yearly physical check-up later that day, and by the time I arrived at the doctor's office, there was just some stiffness in my shoulder. They concluded that nothing was broken, just bruised. A whole bunch of Advil made things better, much as I dislike taking anything like that.

I had to pass on my weekend runs due to being part of the organizing committee for my writing group's annual Book Fair www.oiw.ca and was busy with that all weekend.

The shoulder is still sore, but I headed out this morning, knowing that the mild weather would have melted the ice. As I got close to where I fell, I saw three majestic deer standing by the trail, two on one side and one on the other. I started talking to them, "Yes, deer, yes deer," just as I say to my wife. They stayed there, checking me out, until I was only about 10 metres away, and then gradually ambled away. Maybe they were hoping I was breakfast.

I took it easy on this run, not trying to set any pace records. So I was a couple of minutes slower than usual, and it did not bother me a bit.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

That was easy

So I have made it through a full week of my maintenance running/workout program, after shaming myself into it by putting a vivid reminder on my frig. Today was a 15 k run, my current version of a long run, and while I was not really trying to run it all that fast, I ended up with a 5:20/k pace, just 5 seconds/k over my half marathon race target pace. Weather was just about right, around 10 degrees Celsius.

A local outdoors store was having a 20% off on everything sale tonight for members of various sports groups, and of course I found a few trinkets I just had to have. My current running gloves, that I bought in NYC in 1992, or thereabouts, have finally worn out, so I bought a new pair of technical ones for cool weather and a fancy pair for cold weather running and x-country skiing. Expensive, but they are supposed to be the ultimate in performance and comfort, don't you know. Also a new polyester balaclava for really cold days (yes, kids, we get it down to -30ish Celsius here, and some cool breezes too), to replace the cotton one I had that gets really damp and then cold from breath and sweat. So bring on winter, I am ready.

Thursday, November 17, 2005


Completing the Richmond Ontario 10k in January 2005 Posted by Picasa

Back on track, I hope

Finally, back to regular running and other workouts, after a week of sloth and excuses. I put together a motivational sheet to hang on my frig, showing my daily training plan, a calendar to check off the successful completion of the day's training and a pic of me completing a race last January, just to remind me of how much fun it is to run in the cold weather. Now I have this big green marker that I use to fill in each day of the calendar after completing each day, and another red marker that I will use if I ever wimp out and do not follow the plan. Yes, it's silly, but just filling in that square every day, in green, is a tremendous feeling.

This morning, I did my 9.35k in 51:09. at a 5:28 pace. Nothing special, wasn't trying for anything special. After dumping my run data into my computer, I realized that since I started using the Garmin Forerunner in August 2004, on most runs and races, I have now logged just over 1000 kms. Actually I've run quite a bit more than that, but that much is duly recorded. Average pace for all that is 5:33/km.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Finally, running again

Good grief, after four great days last week in Grand Rapids, doing 6+ miles a day, I returned home to a ton of work, meetings, short deadlines, early morning breakfast meetings, etc. etc., and all of a sudden it had become Sunday, with six non-running days behind me. Yucch! Finally made it out today for a 9.5k run, and saw two magnificent deer in the fields and woods I run through. One was a majestic male, with large antlers, which I normally never see. He checked me out pretty carefully before ambling off into the trees. Didn't push too hard on this run, just enjoyed getting out, and the weather was nice.

Hope this will get me back on track with my sustainable plan.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Back home again

Did another six mile run on Sunday morning, by myself this time, in a light mist which gradually increased in intensity. Three walkers came out. All in all, a bigger turnout than last year in Baltimore, when only one other person ran once with me.

After the conference wrapped up at noon, the "Canadian contingent" headed out in my van. It's over a thousand kilometres to Ottawa, and it was just after midnight by the time I finally pulled in the driveway, after dropping the other four in various places along the way. It had been very windy all the way, sometimes even pushing the loaded van around a bit.

No running this morning, as I had an early meeting with another potential new client for a website, and we will know tomorrow if we got the contract. As a result of networking at the conference, I may well get another job to do some TV ad script writing; will know that tomorrow as well.

I'm not specifically training for anything right now, after doing seven races in eight weeks, from a 5k to a half marathon, so will get back into my continuation training plan described in an earlier post.

Saturday, November 05, 2005

It's a small world after all

This morning a guy showed up to run with me who is also a member of the Hash House Harriers in his home town in California. Like me, he was the Hashmaster of his group. We did the three mile loop with another runner, Stephanie, from Ann Arbor. We all chatted through the whole run, great early morning stuff. She did one loop and then Kevin and I got to do another loop at a little faster pace. He's a good runner, can crank out seven minute miles when necessary. Fine run, good weather again and great networking. We even had three walkers today. Three runners, three walkers; amazing turnout for this group. I think I had something to do with encouraging most of them to get out and do it. Other folks are asking me how my runs went; people who could not run to the bathroom. "Oh, you're the runner from Canada, right?" Maybe, just maybe, I can motivate a few more folks to get at least somewhat active. There's one guy here who weighs at least 500 pounds, no exaggeration, and can barely wheeze his way into a meeting room.

Now here's a weird one: a lady shows up at the conference from London Ontario, interested in doing personal histories, after just retiring from Bell Canada after 30 years of service. I retired from Bell after 30 years, but not in London. Never met her before. Her husband works in a long term care facility; my wife works in a long term care facility. Scary!

Friday, November 04, 2005

Greetings from Grand Rapids

So we made it here from Ottawa yesterday, in a long drive, picking up two others along the way. Our navigator made a slight error in having us exit the I96 before we should have, resulting in another half hour delay in getting to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. This meant it was too late for me to check out the proposed running trail I had got from some local runners, to use part of the Kent Trails system, before some conference duties, and the onset of darkness.

I checked the area later on, and decided it would be too dark early in the morning to run on safely, as the trails are not lit, and the starting point was not too inspiring. So I checked with the hotel, and found they had a three mile rectangle around the hotel mapped out. Not terribly exciting, but OK under the circumstances.

I made my appeal for runners and walkers at the evening reception, and got a few responses. The Association of Personal Historians is not composed of a large number of really physically fit people, (my not-politically-correct opinion) but I thought it was worth a try.

Six o’clock seemed to come pretty early today, and one lady showed up in the lobby, who really wanted to walk on the treadmill, and one other who was game to run. She runs ten minute miles; a little slower than me, but I was quite OK with that and off we went. We had a pleasant chat along the route, and when we returned to the hotel after some 32 minutes, she headed in and I did another loop, at a slightly faster pace, so I got in my six miles. The weather was very pleasant, and shorts and a long-sleeved technical shirt were fine. I did not bother with the Garmin today. It’s also much further west than Ottawa, so it was dark for most of the run. I will be out there the next three days, and we’ll see who else shows up. Two people who assured me they were coming today were no-shows, for whatever reasons.

I am paying $5 a day for a connection to supposed high-speed internet service, but if this is high speed, I’m Roger Bannister.

I could not get into my blog on Thursday, but made it in late Friday night, when I am posting this. Did another run repeat this morning, and it was great.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Let's hear it for massage!

Wow, and to think I have always poo-poohed massage therapy as just a feel-good. Went to the Massage and Ortho Clinic here in Ottawa yesterday. Sylvie Duford is the owner, and a colleague of mine in the Business Network International group. Told her about my knee pain, and in the course of a half hour massage to the back and legs, she got rid of virtually all the pain, which was still noticeable, but not nearly as severe as the previous week. Did all kind of things to my leg, and it still feels great. Not really sure what happened, but I just know it worked.

Which is very good news, as that means I can run every day in Grand Rapids, starting Thursday, where I will be ensconced for a conference of the Association of Personal Historians until Sunday. Off momentarily with a colleague to Uxbridge, a little northeast of Toronto, to stay overnight with one other participant, and then we head out with two more participants being picked up along the way. The milk run to Grand Rapids, but it sure cuts the transportion costs.