Stupid Weather

Due to the incredibly warm weather, the ice on lake Winnipeg is melting fast. As a result, the Polar Bear Run was cancelled. :(

I was really looking forward to that run. But I understand that safety comes first. The main worry was not that a runner would fall through the thinning ice, but that the support snowmobiles would conk out from having to plow through 2-3" of water all day. Me not knowing anything about snowmobiles accepts this. And while I was still tempted to do the run anyway without any support, the logistics of getting back to my car from Grand Marais to Gimli all by myself are too great. Not to mention the amount of fun running in 2" of ice-cold water would be. ;)

So instead of sitting around holding lemons, I decided to make lemonade. I ran some footpaths that I hadn't run before yesterday, and ran the farthest I had run so far this year. All the way to the Mint and back.

Running Outdoors

After a long and (not quite so) brutal winter, I rediscovered the joy of running outdoors. My long runs last Saturday and Tuesday were my two most enjoyable runs in a long time. I discovered a new trail that goes far.

Maybe "discovered" is the wrong word to use, since I knew of its existence for a long time. I never gave it much thought, since I always assumed that it was one of those "open" paved paths that are boring to run down. Turns out I was wrong. While it is somewhat open, there are enough trees to pass by (and always on the south side of the trail) to give enough shade come summertime. And there enough twists and turns in the path to keep me interested, but straight enough to let my mind wander. A very strange happy medium. And best of all, it's not on the river so it won't get flooded this spring.

I'm finding it hard to scrounge the time to go running with Christopher around now. Even so, I still feel like I'm running better and harder than this time last year. I'm beginning to feel like I'll be able to run a sub-4 hour marathon after all!

This Sunday, I'm participating in a unique race across the frozen lake Winnipeg. When I heard of it, it was too adventurous to pass up. Sure, the terrain may be monotonous ("Oh look, more snow & ice!"), but imagine how cool it would be to tell somebody that you ran across the 11th largest lake in the world?

Crazy 2 Weeks

The last two weeks have been nuts. I'm still trying to get a grip on the major lifestyle change that I'm required to make.

My wife gave birth to my son 12 days ago. This being our first baby, we have absolutely no idea what's going on. Fortunately, I arranged to get some parental leave off from my workplace. So for the time being, it is not a solo effort for my wife to try and juggle everything. I'm here to change diapers, run errands, etc. Really, it's just the feeding part where I'm useless. The real test will begin once I get back to work.

In running news, I ran a personal best at the Hypothermic Half Marathon last Sunday. This is surprising, since the course is slightly longer than a "real" half, and is mostly on snow and ice. I can only suppose that my the speedwork I've been doing on Thursdays is starting to pay off.

Ice Climbing

I had a great weekend of ice climbing. The 10th annual Festiglace ice climbing competition was on, and I entered into the difficulty, speed, and team competitions. I had only been to the ice tower once this year, so I was a bit rusty. But somehow, I managed to pull off getting 1st place in the difficulty and team competitions (thanks go out to my team-mate Rick!).

I even managed to get a run in on Saturday, after the difficulty and speed events. But the team competition went so long that I had no chance to get a run in. Fortunately, today is a holiday here. I got a 15 mile long run in that more than makes up for my missed run yesterday. :)

I almost forgot! I ran a 10k time trial last Thursday, and managed to shave 1:30 off my personal best. So it looks like all my training is starting to pay off.

Weekend Update, with Dale

My weekend long runs didn't end up being as long as I wanted. I had a time constraint on Saturday, going ice climbing in the afternoon. And I just got tired on Sunday. So all-in-all, it was a success. :)

I'm trying to push my pace just a bit more than I did last year. I think I ran too easy in my training before now. But I need to keep reminding myself that LSD stands for Long, SLOW, Distance. It's not a race. At least, not yet.

Cranking Up The Speed

Maybe the word "cranking" isn't the right one. But I am starting to push myself a bit harder than I usually do. I'm working on an experiment that the reason I'm not getting faster as a runner is because I don't try and speed up. Makes sense, right?

I've always run at a pace that I think is "too easy". I usually feel pretty good after most of my runs. From what I've read, that shouldn't be the case for any of them except my recovery runs. So I'm starting to dial the speed up a little bit.

Today, I ran a 4 mile recovery run in just a hair slower than a 4-hour marathon pace. I was very surprised to notice that my legs responded without complaint, and I cruised along feeling quite refreshed at the end. I don't know if I'll be able to run one of my LSD runs at that pace, but I'll try tomorrow and Sunday and report back on my findings.

Hunger After The Run

It's strange. Sometimes I get hungry after I run. And on other days, the thought of food is revolting. Anybody else get this?