Freeze Your Thorns Off – Virtual 5km

Saturday marked the running of the fools…or the Boring Runner’s Freeze Your Thorns Off 5km run…call it what you’d like.  For those of you just tuning in, I’ve been fighting some nagging shin pain (shin splints) as of late, and I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to run Adam’s virtual party, at the very least I thought I’d hit the pavement and see how it went.

As it turned out, after a few days of limited mileage and a pair of new kicks my shins were feeling decent.  I really didn’t know what to expect when I went out the door Saturday night, but after a tentative warmup I got into a groove and decided to push it.  If I had planned things better I probably could have dropped my time by not putting a huge hill in the first km, but being the rocket surgeon I am I was already half into the km long uphill section before the thought even occurred to me.  My finishing time was     25:30:01 (I missed stopping my watch at exactly 5.0km), and after a few failed attempts at taking pics with my phone  under a street light in gusting snow I continued on and put in an awesome 10km workout.  The Kinvara 2’s held up fantastically, and didn’t cause me any hassle which makes me feel better about my purchase (regardless of the great price I paid).

Sunday I had some residual shin pain again but my day was busy enough that when I had to abandon my long run for another 5km effort I didn’t worry about it…too much…Hopefully another easy day today will lead back into some solid mileage again, I was kind of enjoying, but I’m a masochist  at heart though…

so…how was your weekend?

Three Things Thurs…errr…Friday

So, Three Things Thursday didn’t really fly this week…actually it wasn’t supposed to fly at all, but by the time I had time to write something this week, I had too many subjects to discuss and it was Friday.  So be it.  I’ll push few things off and post up the easily digestible tidbits that are on my mind right now?  Sound good?  Too bad…

1.)    There’s something I’m been ignoring the past couple of days that I need to deal with.  Something that’s been whispering at me to “pay attention!”…that “something”? (sigh) slight, nagging shin pain.

Unfortunately, I’m no stranger to shin splints, I’ve had them a few times, usually when I switch between shoes a lot but with my long weekend runs being on snowy days I’ve been opting to do them on snowy trails instead. The runs have been a blast, great scenery etc. but switching back and forth with my road shoes has probably been a bit hard on the old shins. Additionally, I’ve been looking for new shoes as my current ones (Brooks Racer ST4s) are quickly becoming hazardous to my health…foot health.  As much as I’ve enjoyed them, I think it’s time to move on.  I should have done it earlier, but it’s hard finding time to fit everything, so now I’m finally MAKING time.

2.)    On that note: I went out and grabbed a pair of Saucony Kinvara 2s at lunch today.  The last time I tried on Kinvaras I found the outside of my big toes rubbed the side of the shoe and figured that my foot simply wasn’t built to ride in one of the most popular shoes on the market, no biggie.  So what changed? I went up half a size and they suddenly fit pretty well so I bit the bullet and grabbed a pair.  I had a $10 off coupon, and as a bonus the store had stocked the shoes in the wrong spot so I got them at the Kinvara 1 clearance price (they were aware of the mistake and gave me the K1 price before I even noticed the discrepancy).  Sweet, 30% off!  I usually prefer to support small independent running stores, but this is one benefit of visiting a large multi-sport franchise store.  I have a longer post on buying shoes coming up (next week?) and a I hope to have my initial review of K2’s included…maybe 😉

3.)     Saturday marks the running of The Boring Runner’s Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5km and although my shins are being problematic I’ll be giving the race a go.   Do I race it, or take it easy….that all depends on how I feel in my warm up.  I’m supposed to be putting in 26-28km this weekend and I’d hate to blow it all away with a failed 5km run.  Regardless, it’s all in good fun, so check it out if you feel like mixing things up this weekend.

With that, I’m out kids, have a great weekend!

Sweat Your Thorns Off 5km – Race Report

Friday night’s run with Ned was awesome!  We caught up while cruising the rail trail, then after 5km detoured onto some fantastic Bruce Trail single track. Temps were perfect, and the past week’s rain & humidity hadn’t adversely affected the condition of the trail. At one point as we were heading back we ran through a swarm of fireflies, it was a surreal experience; I had never seen so many fireflies in one spot before.  They were literally everywhere, but as quick as we happened upon them they were gone.

The next morning arrived quickly, especially since it was our annual street party and with it a street sale.  I begrudgingly rolled out of bed, put on the coffee and lovingly placed our pile of crap out at the end of the driveway.  The next 4 hours were spent trying to unload a 1964 fridge, two sets of 15yr old rollerblades, a golf bag and 4 books (Why didn’t anyone want my Guinness Book of World Records 1991?).  In typical street sale fashion, I ended up picking up more crap than getting rid of.  I grabbed a new running hat (which I wore on my 5km race later in the day), two sets of kids ski boots, a bucket of lego, a kids hockey helmet, and a DVD (which I didn’t even pay for)…so much for clearing out some space in the basement.

As noon rolled around, we had our annual kid vs. parent road hockey game where the smack-talking kids got rocked by a bunch of us old broken-down geezers…heh heh heh.  As the afternoon rolled on the highlight reel goals were coming fast and furious, the beer flowed freely and by race time I was probably too many brews deep which made fantastic race prep (carb loading anyone?).  Post hockey game, and after fighting through the throng of people asking for interviews & autographs, I managed to sneak away form the festivities just long enough to get my 6km run in.

RACE REPORT:

On leaden legs, I plodded uphill for my 1/2km warmup.  I wanted to have a good showing for all those strangers on the internet who I’d never actually met…virtual peer pressure…damn, who could have seen that coming?  Regardless, when I reached the “starting line” I pumped my chicken wings as fast as I could manage and chugged (no, this wasn’t a beer mile) my tipsy ass to the turn around point (This is where those 5 pre-race beers came into play).  About halfway through my return trip I got the bright idea that I’d take a picture or two of my progress and post it on here, so twice (TWICE!) I stopped and clicked away…then promptly forgot to download the pictures when I got home (Je suis un dumbass).   My finishing time for the 5km was 25:50.40 which averages out to 5:10/km (about 8min miles for you ‘Mericans).  I made sure to celebrate the great race with a bevie (or three) from the 1964 General Electric fridge I unloaded at the garage sale…and managed to negotiate “street party use” for the night into the deal as well (WIN!)…I rock!

Thanks to Adam, for a fun event, hopefully we can do it again next year.

As for Sunday, there was no running.  Just herding children and cleaning up from Sat. night’s party….and trying to stay awake.

TGIF – Weekend Runs!

It’s been a LOOOOONG week and I can’t wait to get out of here.  Not that I don’t’ love my job, but we’ve had a major project on the verge of launching recently and it’s continually being pushed back for various reasons.  It’s frustrating and draining, regardless I’ve got a few pretty cool things lined up this weekend.

First off, I’ll be hitting the trails tonight with Ned (formerly Narcoleptic Ned but now that he’s been re-diagnosed it’s just Ned…which isn’t nearly as much fun).  Ned and I ran the Around the Bay together (or at least the first 2/3rds when he dropped me at a water station…traitor) and have been trying to hook up for a run for months.  The run should be mostly 4-person wide cinder trail (converted rail line) with the option of some easier single track on the return portion.  I’m a tad paranoid about hitting the trails again, especially at night but it’ll be cool to try running with a headlamp.  Hopefully we can take it easy and just fun run it….although Ned doesn’t deal with moderation so well sooooo you may get another injury report to read (WIN:WIN!).

 Second, I’ve entered a Virtual 5km on Saturday.  WTH is a Virtual 5km?  It’s just what it sounds like, a bunch of interweb running dorks promise to run a 5km, time it and report back in via blog posts, twitter, etc. on how they did.  You dear reader, you will get the pleasure of reading my “virtual race” report from the Sweat Your Thorns Off 5km on Monday…ish.  Aren’t you lucky?  It’s run by The Boring Runner and you can check out the race post on his blog here.  Good times!  I’m not sure how I’m going to run this yet; i.e. 5km tempo, part of a longer run, while chugging a beer….what do you guys think?  Any ideas?

Third, we are having a street party!  All the folks on my street are getting together for a street sale, ball hockey game, BBQ, and general merriment. Unfortunately I’ll have to fit in my 5km somewhere, and as one of the party organizers it may be difficult to sneak out.  Still, it’ll be a great way to chill out and let somebody else take care of my kids.

Lastly, depending how I’m feeling (after too many pops, and a weekend of frenzied activity), I hope to get out and do a nice slow/easy 14-16km run Sunday morning…but we’ll see what happens.  Hangover run?

Have a great weekend kids, make it a memorable one!