Lunchtime Loop

Time management is going to be very important the next few weeks. As I've mentioned before, the film festival is just around the corner and I've already resigned myself to starting the taper early for the half. Not that I was on any sort of formal running schedule.
At midmorning I was very low on energy and the thought of doing a lunchtime run was hurting my head. But I convinced myself to go at high noon anyway because I had other things to do after work. It was kind of stupid because it was 30C and very humid, but I didn't want to wait til the evening. I thought I was going to faint. I wasn't sure it was the heat, if it was because I hadn't eaten much ahead of the run, if it was because I'd been awake since 4:30AM because I had to be at work for 6. Pushed through 3.5mi somehow and then actually felt pretty good the rest of the day.

Monkey see, monkey do

My sister has recently been on me to sign up for the 10K Zoo Run in October. I've been inexplicably reluctant to break out my credit card for this one, and I love going to the zoo, especially to see the polar bears. My sister, born in the Year of the Monkey, has been signed up for months, as has my cousin.
My sister asked me to to run with her today. And then she broke out into hives part of the way, and decided to walk the last bit home. She concludes she may be allergic to exercise. I ran a teeny bit further, and just enough to get my heart rate up, until I reached 4K.
The bonus about signing up today is that it was also the last day before prices went up again.

35 days til the half

I got through a longish run (it's all relative) -- 9.5K -- this afternoon. Not too bad for a route I where I was just winging it. Just as a point of interest to myself, since I haven't been keeping a weekly tally: Since signing up for the half-marathon, I've logged about 340K (admittedly, my records aren't exact), about 392K since the start of the year.

Just a little bit of a reality check. The race is a little over a month away. And September is fast approaching -- which means only one thing to me: the 10-day Toronto film festival. Last year I thought I'd be able to keep up with the running between all the mad hours of movies I would take in. The movies easily won. This year, I have no illusions. The movies will win again.

Riverdale Romp or Cemetery Sideroad?

Grasshopper presented these two route options, telling me no more details except that there may be a fence to squeeze through enroute one of the two.
I chose Riverdale. Perhaps the right choice because there was no fence.

He mapped it out afterwards and said it was 3.6K. We were dismayed because we were out for around 40 minutes. Surely even I at my very slowest comfortable pace in high humidity would not take me 40 minutes to jog 3.6K, even if it included a short walking break in the middle, and with a running partner. Could it?

Replenished with water, handfuls of wild blueberries, some crackers, passed on the olives, a chocolate chip cookie, we then schemed over a cool Creemore beer about how to convince enough people at The Office to form a team and enter a race next year.

Then it dawned on us that it was 3.6 miles (nearly 6K). Felt much better about ourselves.

Strangest Question

"Do you want to be a Mormon?"

...is perhaps the strangest question I've ever been asked during a run. It was asked by one of the pair of boys just outside McD's, in my final 10 metres.
If I was as quick-witted as I was quick-footed tonight during the 4.5K, I might have said: "Running is my religion, thanks."

Focused sisters

My sister called at 6pm to say that it was windy and cold and that maybe it would be okay to skip running. I said, not an option, see you in half an hour. I stepped outside and almost turned around myself. She wasn't lying -- it was windy and cold. The clouds were dark, and there was light mist. If it weren't for the fact that I had just said "not an option" not five minutes ago, I'm sure I would've walked back into the house.
I ended up being very focused, determined even. Each step felt sure and strong. I stopped briefly at my sister's, about 3K from my home, and then we were off in a hurry. I let my sister direct the route and the pace. It was her first run in a month and she's starting to feel nervous about this 10K she has in eight weeks. She'll be fine. We did about 3K together and -- I don't know who's more surprised, me or her -- she didn't stop once.

First double-digit K run in a month

It's taken me since Wednesday's escapades to recover, sort of. Thursday was such a write-off. I almost wish I was training for a marathon (I haven't given the half marathon distance the proper respect all summer, and I probably won't start now) because maybe I'd make better decisions about what goes in my body. I didn't drink a lot, but it was a lot more than I am used to, and enough for me to swear off it for the next while. Also, I made the mistake of weighing myself the other day at the gym. I didn't gain much, but enough that I thought back to the ungood stuff I've been eating lately. Though I'm probably exaggerating a little bit -- it's probably that I'm eating about the same as I have been, but my level running has been cut in half. And then some.

I've also put in a lot of time into warcracking... that can't be helping either. But today, suffering from a little fatigue of casting spells, making potions, and killing bog lords, I went out for a long run. First double-digit K run in a month. ELEVEN KILOMETRES.

I surprised Yumke at the finish line of his 15K race tonight. I started my own run around 6:30, just as they were, and waited for about 15 minutes before I did a double-take and saw Fran whizz by. Yumke wasn't too far behind him. Both had strong finishes. Good work guys!
I had cooled down a lot from waiting around and chatting, but it didn't take me long to warm up again. I took a different route home, and found myself on a portion of the 30K race route. Thirteen runners passed me in the 1K stretch that I was on (their 18thK).

Three for three

Ya that's right: Three miles for each expected drinking establishment I expect to visit today. And just enough distance to ease the guilt...for all the work-related functions... Funny, they all represent a different part of my career.
First stop: after work drinks with the newest people at The Office
Second stop: after after work drinks with former source
Third stop: after after after work drinks, fittingly, with former boss who always liked to say "one for the ditch" before last call

If I haven't said this before, I'm glad to be not training for a full marathon. I really don't have the discipline this summer.

Recap: Haven't run since last post. It was packed with other activities (a local food festival, afternoon bbq with friends, followed by a family thing, then more family stuff, and some more family stuff after that). Then a particularly busy day at work where I felt like a zombie. Managed a small weights workout on Tuesday. It all caught up with me yesterday because after I got home at 6:30pm, unloaded the dishwasher, lay down for just a sec... and then it was 5:30AM. At least I'm rested for the bar?

Pizza Thursday haiku

Two miles for pizza
Turtles ice cream for dessert
I run so I can

Warning: Slew of bad subheads below

Twosday: It was starting to rain by the time RunClub was supposed to convene today. Which was convenient because neither of me nor L were particularly in the mood to go out today. And even though I said to her that I wouldn't go to the gym, that decision stuck for about 5 mins. Strangely I veered towards the gym, a place I haven't seen in about two months, immediately after leaving The Office. I have been missing out on my favorite Tuesday body sculpt class in favor of RunClub so I didn't want to pass up this rare opportunity. To kill time before class, I treadmilled it, getting through nearly 2mi before class. Then a whole class of ab work and a particular focus on arms today. It wasn't enough. I ran a second time, putting up 3mi while watching a cooking show about French bistro food (steak au poivre with mushrooms, au gratin potatoes, and French onion soup... mmmmm) and then half a show on low-fat muffins (not as interested).

Week in review:
Wilting Wednesday, Torrid Thursday: Having ignored the heat alert last Tuesday, decided to just take it easy.

Friday Footslog- I'm going to count towards my mileage (not that I have a year-to-date count) my 7.8K walk home from work. I don't know what motivated me to do it; maybe I had already decided it was too hot to run. Besides I had nothing else planned heading into the long weekend. It took two hours and change because I stopped in a few stores along the way (mostly for an A/C break, not because I was actually interested in any of the wares).

Saturday Sloth - Good intentions to go in the morning, bad execution. No go. But had a really nice Chinese lunch with Yumke, then had a 3-hour nap before getting up to go eat with my parents.

Bourne to run Sunday - Managed to convince myself to squeeze in a 5K between a matinee showing of The Bourne Ultimatum and making a big pot of spaghetti bolognese for KidSis who was sleeping over.

Manic Monday - Public holiday here. I repeated what I did Saturday. Which is to say I did nothing requiring running shoes. There was nothing manic about Monday, to be honest. But there were waffles.