Introducing ... the new toy

Running shoes. Check.
iPod. Check.
Cellphone. Check.
Emergency transit fare. Check.
$5, in case I get really hungry along the way. Check.
Lip balm, because my lips hurt real bad, ok? (Well, they don't. But I just wanted to have a Napoleon Dynamite moment). Check.
Water. Check.

And now, introducing the latest addition to the arsenal of stuff I lug around on these training runs...The Garmin Forerunner 201.

It's handed down from Yumke -- I still have to pay him -- who got his snazzy upgraded Forerunner 305 just after Frankie did. Me, I'm not interested in dropping so much coin -- there's the matter of closing on a house very soon -- and for the days when I want to just see where my legs will take me, this little toy should be great. Or for when I'm running along country roads in Kentucky -- like I plan to this weekend.

I took it out for a spin earlier this evening for my scheduled 3-miler. Had a little trouble grabbing a signal right away (welcome to downtown Toronto), as was expected, but caught one and off I went. "Weak GPS signal" flashed a few times, but generally it was neat to see my time on each lap (preprogrammed to beep every kilometre). Except for a marching band that was rehearsing in the park, the run was pretty much non-descript. Like I was just going through the paces, so to speak, doing the run 10/walk 1 program (you know, somehow it's much easier with a watch. Go figure). I don't yet have the software to download the details of the data, but I can say that my average pace was 7:32/km. Best pace: 6:15/km. Total time: 39:09.

Insurance, rain, art

What happens when you sit through an hour of an insurance discussion with 30 of your neighbors who bothered to show up to the special meeting of owners? You get fidgety and really bored. I had to leave after an hour -- we couldn't vote on any of the new bylaws anyway since we failed to make quorum. All I could think about was that this was cutting into daylight, which means cutting into running time.
Returned to my suite quite drained from hearing about premiums, deductibles, and something about red wine on carpet. I was no mood to run.
I thought about skipping the run entirely, using today as a rest day, and running on Friday instead. But then, considering I'll be mostly carbound on Friday -- headed to the States for my sister's second wedding (to the same guy, just a separate party for his American family) -- I figure I'm even less likely to run after a 10-hour car trip.
And considering my mood, I'm already convinced I'm well on my way to recording two poor-quality runs in a row. I stepped outside -- it's starting to rain.

Now, I could've turned around and gone back inside. That would've been the easy thing to do. But all that fidgeting through the insurance meeting really stirred me to move, get the blood flowing once more, and I challenged myself to race against the rain. It wasn't coming down hard, but it was threatening to.. I thought I might have seen lightning in the distance.

Well, it's only 3 miles, I can beat it.

I did.

Got home, and CMan said, "Did you do the whole route? You're back fast". Time check: about 30 minutes. And I had stopped for some five minutes to look at art (recognized the work of Michael Godard -- and it's on sale -- which we are thinking about putting up at our new wet bar in the new basement).

Penguin, I am

What's a Penguin? In the running lexicon, the word "Penguin" has come to mean a person who runs more for the joy of running than for recognition and public rewards. Some of us are perpetual Penguins. We are consumed by the pleasure of movement. --John "The Penguin" Bingham, Pied Piper of the second running boom

Bingham appears in weekly emails that I receive for my Half-Marathon race in September. I hadn't actually paid too much attention to him beyond the weekly inspirational words. But I went to seek him out on the interweb after Bob commented on my previous post where I said I thought I looked like a penguin.

Well, I really did pull that visual out of thin air. Or rather, the stale air in the condo gym... It's official. I hate the dreadmill. Herewith is a pledge to go outside, unless the weather sucks.

Amongst characteristics that make a "penguin" (and yes, these all apply to me):
* you recognize all the regular runners on your favorite route from behind
* you get passed on the uphill by a runner pushing a double baby jog stroller
* you have to memorize the route because you know that you will lose the back of the pack
((see the rest of list at JohnBingham.com))

I guess to take this theme further than I have to... groan now... we're only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of training. We'll watch the weeks melt by and only get stronger from here. Only 115 days left. A salute to the rest of you penguins out there.

Deadmill

Fell a bit short today on the mileage. Left the run til too late -- showed my place to a potential tenant, ate late, got a little caught up in The Bone Collector -- so had to use the treadmill. But my heart wasn't into it. Looking into the mirror, I felt my form was way off (not that I have good form to begin with, but I looked particularly awkward today. If a penguin ran, that's what I thought I looked like. How's that for a visual) I thought I was getting into a rhythm, but it didn't hold.

Called it quits after two miles, one mile shy of the program. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it -- I am going to lose on some days, but there will be other days when I win.

Forgot to tally up on the weekend.
Weekly total (Sunday end): 31.22K/19.4 miles
Training-to-date: 133.3K (up 30 percent from prior week)

Tag, I'm It!

So Bob, who was tagged by Tara, who was tagged by Runner Girl, tagged me.
Guess I'm It.

A) Four Jobs I've Had in My Life:
1. Lifeguard
2. Quality control at meat plant that processed such fine products as the roast beef at Subway, the bacon at McDs, and the ballpark sausages at the ballpark formerly known as SkyDome and now renamed Rogers Centre.
3. Music peddlar
4. Reporter

B) Four Movies I watch over and over:
1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
2. Old School
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. Empire Strikes Back

C) Four Places I have lived:
1. My parent's basement
2. The Porn Palace
3. The Cottage
4. 21 Olive Ave.

D) 4 TV Shows I love to watch:
1. CSI ... 24 ... can't choose.
2. Rescue Me
3. Sopranos
4. The Simpsons

E) 4 Places I have been on vacation:
1. Siem Reap, Cambodia
2. England
3. Venice, Italy
4. Dallas, Texas

F) 4 Websites I visit daily:
1. Globe & Mail
2. A Running Destination (you know, for all the links to other likeminded Chicago-bound runners)
3. NBA.com
4. Bank of Canada (hey, it's job related)

G) 4 of my favorite foods:
1. Toast
2. Wonton noodles
3. Steak frites, medium rare
4. Vanilla cupcakes

H) 4 places I'd rather be right now:
1. At home, in bed
2. On a beach in Hawaii
3. At the movies
4. On a massage table

I) 4 Favorite Bands/Singers:
1. Pearl Jam
2. Sloan
3. Sam Roberts
4. The Strokes/The Killers (it's a tie)


J) 4 Bloggers I am Tagging:
1. Emily
2. FleetFootedFrankie
3. Yumke
4. Travis

TAG! YOU ARE ALL IT!! No touchbacks.

Group therapy

Just to give it a whirl, I tried the group thing today, the Running Room's free Sunday clinic, one that Frankie subscribes to. The runners grouped themselves as distances were called out. Marathoners over in that corner, 5K over there, 10K there, and walkers. Higdon's schedule called for 6 miles today (10K). Should I have gone with that group? Frankie said, no no, come to the marathoners group because that's what we are. Oh, okay. This is before the maps were handed out. And it showed a 15.68K (9.7 miles) trot through downtown, nice trails, a cemetery in midtown, more nice wooded trails, and back downtown. Last Saturday's Long Run of 12.03K was the furthest I had ever run.


Did I really sign up for this?
Yes.
I was able to keep up with the group -- about 15 runners -- for the first 3.5K. Then I lost them at a stoplight. I was pretty certain I'd lose them at some point, and I glad to have brought my iPod buddy for this reason. But luckily for me, there were two others, T & C, behind me. And we formed our own group. I'm not entirely sure if they could've run faster, but they stuck with me, and I'm grateful. And I'd like to think that they wanted to run with me, and not just because I held the map. But we were a good trio. They had watches (I do not know why I don't have one. It's kind of ridiculous, isn't it), and C kept us apprised of when our next one-minute walking break (We were using the run 10 minutes, walk one minute method). All I could think in the latter part of the run was "Here I am, running for my next minute", which, as C and I discussed, wasn't a bad way to think about it. Concentrate on finishing 10 minutes and it's not so daunting. Until you look from midtown and see landmarks of where you started and need to return to...

This wasn't a great run. I felt tired at many points, and the uphills were, well, an uphill battle. I fell behind my mini-group at times too, unsure if I'd ever be able to close the gap again. But I did.

At 3K from the finish, I started to contemplate stopping and leaving the group. And only because the route passed my condo. Which is funny because Frankie thought I'd stop at my condo too. He's glad I proved him wrong though. By this point as I neared my condo, it was just me and C, and if I was by myself, I very well might have quit.

Reached finish. Exchanged high-5s with C. Total time: 2hours, 6minutes. Collapsed outside store to s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Met another woman who was headed to Chicago. Then Frankie and I went for a little breakfast. I had toast. Lots of it. Toast is the perfect food.

But this has been a good start to Sunday. I think I'll stick to the Sunday group, at the very least (they also meet on Wednesdays to do tempo runs and hill training). I need the company to get through the Long Runs. This is not a solitary goal.

Postponed

I'm moving the 6-mile Long Run to Sunday, for two reasons. (And this sets up possibility of joining the Running Room group tomorrow for a trial, ahem, run).

1. I was up late last night with my family, mainly keeping my mother company as we waited for The Call. My Hong Kong grandfather gave us quite the scare. He was taken to hospital, and the attending doctor, in true appalling bedside manner, told the entire family to gather ASAP. Which to any normal person would sound like the end was coming. Turns out, it seems HK Grandpa was just severely dehydrated, and an overnight session with an IV put some spring back in him. He should be ok.

2. I'm also due to play in a friend-organized golf tournament later this afternoon. There'll be a lot of walking, obviously, so I'm thinking that will be counted towards cross-training (which is scheduled for Sunday).

Okay, maybe three reasons... Germany's playing Sweden in World Cup action in about 7 minutes. Go Deutscheland Go!