Emerging trend

Met up with another friend today, L, whom I recently reconnected with because we belong to the same gym. This friendship also goes back more than 20 years; we grew up together, not through school, but at extracurricular activities such as Girl Guides, swimming lessons, and house league/semi-competitive softball.
Our patio table was given away, sort of accidentally by the slightly clueless hostess named Boo, but we ended up inviting these two other girls, who like us were waiting for a patio table inside at the bar, to share ours. It was a scream.
That picture (L) may look like a mini pint of Guinness but it's actually just a toy, bequeathed to the newly formed friendship among four crazy women to make up for the lost table.
I'm glad I squeezed in a quick 3K run before yoga, and before I met up with L. This is probably not the best, much less recommended, training program.
Run.
Beer.
Run.
Beer.
More discipline needed. Let's start next week.

Devil is in the drink

Two offers to go drinking today on this sixth day of the sixth month of 2006. 6-6-6... oooooooooh, faced with another decision of whether to carbo-load on beer, or go run, or do both.

I declined (actually it's more like snuck away) on the invitation that could conceivably further my career, and opted instead to hang out with my sister and one of my oldest friends in the world. We go back more than 20 years. Before meeting up with them, I did my somewhat regular Tuesday body sculpt class after work. Then I considered running, though that would've made me late for the gathering at the Red Room, which by the way, I don't think the room was actually red. I decided I'd take it easy at the bar, and go for a run a bit after 8.

Of course, when you're sharing a pitcher of sangria, laughing your way down memory lane, and waiting for a plate of quesadillas that would never arrive, you tend to lose track of time.

I didn't make it home for 8. More like 9, and the sunlight was gone. I was rapidly losing interest in doing this run, possibly because crankiness was rising as I was getting hungrier, having had one vegetarian cold roll, and some pita and hummus, while at the Red Room. But at least I went easy on the pitcher, meaning I was still capable of running in a straight line. CMan, ever the sweetie, says that I should run inside, instead of going outside just so nothing will happen to me.

So down to the condo gym I went. Treadmill 3.6miles; then went to the indoor/outdoor track for another mile. Converted to kilometers? 6.6K.
Coincidence?

And now about to watch Omen III.

Realigned

Between the three weeks of pre-training now completed, the 50K ride, and a chained-to-the-desk work environment, I've been feeling a little tense so I treated myself to a massage today for the always-appreciated rest day.
All is right again.

X-training for Heart

Sunday is a cross-training day. So, it's fitting that my first real cross-training day comes with the first outdoor bike ride of the year, and it's a healthy 50K for charity. Not that I actually made an effort to gather pledges this year -- but I promise to sponsor myself, at least $100 in honor of family members who need this important research done for heart and stroke.

Earlier this week, I was concerned about whether to actually do the weekly Long Run the day before the charity event. Well, I did. But now I'm concerned whether I can actually run tomorrow. If I follow Higdon's training manual, then it doesn't matter -- it's a scheduled rest day.

If I follow Coach Jenny, then it's a 35-minute outing, with today having been the rest day. Guess that answers that. I'm on Higdon this week.



So two major arteries -- the Don Valley Parkway and a part of the Gardiner -- were shut down for a good chunk of the day today to cars. Bikes only. And some rollerbladers. Thousands of people were out there having a ball. I'm sure everyone was happy this ride didn't happen yesterday when it was cats and dogs.

My dad and I started our ride late. We were supposed to start at 8AM with the rest of the Corporate Teams. But, I was unprepared. Really unprepared; which I sometimes feel is my metaphor in life. There was no air in my tires before Dad picked me up this morning, having had to rearrange my storage locker last night to dig the creaky bike out of deep hibernation. And so, we tried to put enough air in to get me to the start line, where I was sure I'd get better mechanical support. Turns out there's something wrong with the chain and some wheely thing, as well as the intake valve on the front tire -- guy says there's sludge in there, and that I'd need a new tube, and for $5 he'd change it there, but that if I chose not to, I'd be okay for the day but I'd need to expend a little bit more energy.

Why did I choose to expend energy? Well, it wasn't so horrible. We finally got to the start line at 9AM and then it took Dad and I 3 hours, 10 minutes to complete the course. We've done better in previous years -- I don't know why we were so slow today. The last of our team to finish, but no matter -- the important thing was to hang out with Dad.



We just enjoyed the scenery, marvelling how great it is to just take over the highways, especially the DVP, the highway that connects me to my family every week when I visit.


And this is what Toronto looks like when two major highways are off limits for a few hours (below). It was a perfect day to ride, with 16C temp, partial sun, or go for a run -- which Frank did, and who we (some team members were extra-thirsty ... hello pub) met along the way. He came by later too, with credit cards and extra cash, for those of us who neglected to bring a wallet today.




Good times. Can't wait til next year.

Splish splash

If it weren't for plans to run with Yumke today, I'm sure I would've punked out. I told him I might not go if it rained. But it wasn't raining when I checked in with him this morning. But there was still an 80-percent chance, the forecast said. Fine, we'll run faster, I said to Yumke. Only joking since I just don't run fast. That's fact. And I don't need to. Not yet. Perhaps never.

Yumke showed up at my place at the appointed time, having done some 4K already, and it still wasn't raining. Well, not buckets, just a few drops, and nothing that would deter me from going outside, now that he was here. Well, lace 'em up, here we go.

I traveled light today. No iPod, no cellphone (please see Yumke's blog for pix today).
Just a water bottle. (And a bus ticket tucked in my windbreaker in case it really started to pour. Is that being defeatist before starting? I'm a realist. I will quit if it rains.... but only in training though! If it rains on race day, well, I hope a higher power will help me through that.)

It wasn't a slow, plodding pace as I had intended... or rather, usually employ. Having a running buddy helped me continue for longer stretches than I'd normally go. When I go by myself, I find that I'll take more breaks. I don't know if I'm taking breaks out of tiredness or boredom or what. But having Yumke beside me kept me motivated, to push a little more.

And it's so nice to talk to someone, once in awhile.

Best thing about a city route: Stop lights. You have to stop. No choice. The law says you must. So grateful everytime we hit a red. Disappointed when they stayed green.

Through the adversity of rain, Yumke and I ran just over 9K together.. I did the next 1.5K by myself. It was less fun and with more rain. I'd do this route again -- a mix of city and waterfront -- and preferably in the sunshine. Though maybe not for much longer.. CMan and I are moving in six or seven weeks.

But guess what? I hit my goal to up the mileage by 10 percent!
Weekly tally: 18.15K, up 10 percent from prior week
Training-to-date: 50.85K

Went to strengthen my core, all soaking wet, though not sure how much of it was sweat and how much was rain. The guy beside me today had little balance. I was afraid he'd fall off his ball and into me. He never did, but it did mess with my concentration. Still, I shouldn't be hard on him -- I was once like that too.

Needless to say, I was famished by the end of class. It'd been four hours since my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. Called Yumke to meet up for lunch, as was the plan, and R came too. We headed for St. Lawrence Market, a place that means one thing for me when it comes to lunch: veal and eggplant sandwich (hopefully with mushrooms if they haven't run out). Then Yumke and R showed me the pasta stand. Okay, had to have that too. Freshmade linguine with spicy red/meat sauce. Split the sandwich with Yumke. Of course that was too much food. But we agreed: "best meal ever."

Walked home. Slowly. And mostly through the underground path system to avoid the rain, which was now beating down harder. That was a 4K detour. It's time for a nap.

Arithmetic

To reach my 10-percent increase this week, I need to run 10.35K more. I thought about splitting that into two, maybe doing 3 today, then make the Long Run an 8K.. But I didn't much feel like going out there after work with buckets of laundry, dirty dishes and trash to be attended to. I think I'll just do the whole thing tomorrow. If it doesn't rain, I'm partnering up with Yumke... he's been warned that I'm planning a plodding pace, which may not jive with the 21K he wants to do.

Unmapped

Glad to get back outside. It did not look promising during the day, overcast with the weatherman calling for rain. I needed this time outside. I had been through an eye-glazing meeting earlier in the day, and sorely needed some oxygen to the brain if there's any hope of staying conscious through pivotal Game 5 (Suns vs Mavs) tonight; though some other people out there may claim that the Buffalo Sabres vs Carolina Hurricanes Eastern Conference NHL Game 7 is waaaaaaaay more important. To each his own.
Anyways, I didn't map myself a route before heading out. Just wanted to go where my legs took me. I didn't know how far I'd go either. But headed to the west side of the downtown area, close to where I once rented a beautiful two-level apartment, which was alternately named The Porn Palace by certain friends, though not for any x-rated shenanigans. Oh the fond memories.
The unplanned route also took me through the heart of the University of Toronto campus, and I thought about what I would study if I were to go back or if I were to do it all over again, would I choose a journalism career. I didn't come to any conclusion, though I briefly wondered how different my life would be if I'd become an engineer, taken an MBA, or hung out at the library... as I passed each building.
When all was said and done, I'd run 5.8K; and since the weather is cooperating, now off to grill a steak. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, steak.