Customer Service Please

I missed my lunchtime swim today because I spent the entire hour on the phone with my mortgage company trying to opt for an option that (to me) was clearly written in the contract and should have been granted without hassle. Unfortunately, this was not so clear to the company that offered it and the bulk of the time was taken up with discussion how one sentence was to be interpreted. Long story short, we got what we believed was our right to have as per the contract we'd signed, but I missed swimming.

Tonight I made up for it a little by doing some push ups and sit ups (45-55-35-30 and 4 sets of 50 respectively), some more hip flexor stuff, and stretching. The knee still hurts, and I am icing it and all that stuff, but I might try something new tomorrow: taking my running gear to work and running home!

Of course, that all depends on how the knee holds up. At least it's supposed to be getting warmer, which will be nice.

Keeping the Faith

This afternoon I was contemplating yet another skipped run (in this case tomorrow's) on account of the knee pain as well as the technical and logistical issues that would inevitably arise with me trying to transfer this blog to my new domain. As far as the run goes I think it is likely off since my knee is still not well, but the website was a pleasant surprise. I thought that the process would take days and a lot of wrangling with tech support to get everything from the old domain to the new. In the end the fine folks at Stormweb made the whole process easy as pie. (Now, I've never baked a pie from scratch, but making one using one of those frozen ready-made crusts is pretty easy indeed!) If anyone is looking for reliable, affordable, and helpful hosting services check out this company - you won't be disappointed.

Anyway, as you may already see, the old wonky domain now redirects to this slightly less wonky one. For those who come and read my blog on a regular basis I very much appreciate you taking the time to do so and hope that you will update your readers to the new address. Your continued support is in no small way responsible for motivating me in this running and general health endeavour, especially through all the aches and pains that seem to continually plague my inferior skeleton.

As far as running goes I choose to think positively about my knee ailment, which kept me from running last night. This is a typical case of runner's knee, where I feel the pain right in front just under the kneecap. I can run through the pain, and in fact as I warm up it goes away, but I know that this is not a good thing to do so I am staying off of it right now. I may even have to skip tomorrow's run, with my next one hopefully planned for Sunday when we are in Ottawa.

With all that in mind, I managed to do some other exercise related stuff yesterday evening. I did some push ups (45-55-35-50) and sit ups (50-50-50-50), as well as a bunch of hip flexor stuff that I should have been doing all through December. Stupid me! It was the perfect time to get my core in shape for my return to running, and now I am paying the price. Oh well, live and learn. I still have lots of time to prepare for the Around the Bay race at the end of March (or at least I keep telling myself that I do).

Today I managed another lunchtime swim. As mentioned previously it is getting more and more difficult to stay motivated for these sessions, but I know that as long as my legs keep me from running as much as I would like the swimming will at least help to keep my heart in some semblance of "shape". I managed another 1500m in 22:30 and then had to get back to work on account of the all popular conference call for which I'm sure you all share my affection...

Tonight, in between folding clothes and flipping channels on the TV, I did some more chin ups: 5-5-5-5-5 pull ups and 6-6-6-6-6 chin ups. I don't know when I will ever get to 20 in a row, but for now I have decided to pay more attention to my legs. When my knee is better I will get into doing lunges and squats on top of doing the hip flexor and ass strengthening routine.

I'm Committed

Today, on the last day that this cheap bastard could still take advantage of the savings available by registering for a bunch of events at the same time, I committed myself to four running races here in the Big Smoke. They've been listed in the sidebar for a while, but now I can go ahead and put "registered" beside them! The four I chose are:

• Toronto Sporting Life 10k (May 3)
• Toronto 10 Miler (July 19)
• Toronto Waterfront Marathon (September 27)
• Oasis Zoo Run 10k (October 17)

Naturally, given that I've never even come close to the distance in a week's worth of training, I reserve the right to downgrade to the half marathon in September without shame or regret...

Whatever happens, this should be fun. And hey, even though I spent almost $200 I saved $20 for registering 4 events at the same time! I don't really get the logic of spending money to save money, but I'm not going to question this right now. Legs don't fail me now! (or for the next 10 months)

Speaking of legs, my hip feels like Rocky's face at the end of Rocky I (or any one of those movies, for that matter), but there is no sign that I even fell. Then again, it doesn't really feel like anyone caked copious amounts of cheap makeup onto my ass, but it just hurts. The knee is sore after yesterday, but I think it was more the 4 hours of house cleaning rather than the 8k. I may have to skip Wednesday's run if it continues to hurt.

Tonight I did some other stuff:

• Push ups: 45-55-35-30 (why is it so hard to keep doing the max set???)
• Sit ups: 50-50-50-50
• And a bunch of hip and ass strengthening things that I've neglected for far too long.

Cold Gone, Still Cold

Feeling well enough to run this evening I set off for another slow'n'steady 5k right after getting home (since the rest of the family had not arrived home yet, I figured what the hell!?!). Although the snot has tapered off and I only went through half a box of tissues today, I definitely had some more energy. And even though the temperature outside is warm by the standards set over the past two weeks (-7C when I took off), it felt colder somehow, probably on account of the damp air that's hanging over the city right now. It took me a while to get warmed up, and that perhaps explains my inability to stick to the prescribed pace...

This was evident on my run, though I didn't realize it until I plugged the Garmin into the computer and saw the details. As you know, my plan has been to keep the pace in the slowish 6:00/km range (9:40/mile). Tonight I managed the 5k in a faster than intended 27:59 at an average pace of 5:35/km (8:59/m). My fastest kilometre was 5:17, and the only one that was on target was the first, which I managed in 6:05. I guess I have to watch the watch a bit more for more than just heart rate (average: 142) and distance...

Garmin don't lie.


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Now I am feeling up to doing some push ups and sit ups. Although I am in the middle of the sets here I feel confident that I will do the usual routine before signing off for the evening.

Push ups: 45-55-35-30
Sit ups: 25-25-25-25-25-25

Boy, it is nice to be running again!

Nuts for Sanity

Is one nuts if one, upon learning of an extreme cold weather warning, takes off early from work just to get a 5k run accomplished in -15C weather before going to get both kids from two different schools? Well, if that makes one the proud owner of a questionable mental state, then I guess I'm headed for the asylum. (I just hope they have a place to run!)

Yes, -15C and I was out there! It was great. I have to say that I enjoy cold weather running quite a bit, certainly way more than wet weather running. The footing is not good and all that, but it kind of makes it seem like trail running in that I have to watch every step and change my running pattern accordingly.

Anyway, I managed the 5k in 29:40 at an average pace of 5:56/km. This was a bit faster than I should have been going, as my aim is for 6:00 kilometres or slower, but given that I was not watching the Garmin and felt pretty easy. I didn't have a chance to stretch right after given that I had to take a quick shower and then rush to get the boys, but I hope this doesn't mean I will feel anything achy or strainy. Tomorrow will be a cold cold day of skiing, but I still look forward to a good workout that gets the blood moving and works out any kinks left over from this evenining.

Garmin don't lie.


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I also did some push ups and sit ups tonight: push ups were 45-55-35-30, and sit ups were 25-25-25-25-25-25, all while watching The Jungle Book with the boys, one of our favorite movies.

Free At Last

I've been sequestered in a room with a bunch of others going over an RFP for the past two days, but now my section of the review is over and I am free so I thought I'd post a quick update...

On Monday I did some more push ups in an effort to keep that going and have decided to keep doing Week 6 of the plan. Though I didn't do the max set this time I managed 45-55-35-30 for a total of 165. Then I started some sit ups just to see how that part of my body is doing and managed 6 sets of 25. I am contemplating that 200 sit up challenge, but we'll see if that happens. Right now I'm keeping an eye on my foot in hopes that I can keep running...

Yesterday I did NOTHING! (Well, now that I think about it, I did a few sets of 25 sit ups while watching a movie, but I didn't keep track of how many. I think three. Not really worth mentioning.) Oh yeah, the weather forecast had called for a snow storm as well, but that never came. I ended up not biking as a result of that and just missed the bus after dropping Owen off. I ran for probably over a kilometre to catch that bus a few stops down the road in my boots, and it felt OK though I was concerned about the foot. It doesn't seem too bad today so I guess I dodged a bullet there.

That brings us to today. It is C-O-L-D here! -21 Celsius, or -5 Fahrenheit for our American friends. I didn't bike to work on account of the cold and the sober advice of my lovely wife, but would like to try and go for a run this evening. We'll see if that happens. While waiting for the streetcar I did see one person out running, so it's definitely possible.

An evening update:

I braved the chilly weather and made it out for my second run of the year. It was fun, even with the -13C (9F in American) and the frozen slush all over the sidewalks. I'm happy to report that my slow and steady plan was in full force as well: 5K, 33:12, for an average pace of 6:38/km. Pedestrian yes, but I was out there!

Garmin don't lie.


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Afterwards I did some more push ups and sit ups. No max set, but the push ups went 45-55-35-30 (total=165). Sit ups were 6 sets of 25 (total=150), trying really hard to maintain a slow pace and proper form. Nice burn in the gut was had for sure!

I Did It!

What else is there to say?

Sets: 26-26-33-33-26-26-22-22.

Max: 100! Total: 314.

Snowy day to tie a shoe, then shove it in my mouth...

We've been getting more wet snow than you can shake a stick at, and it looks like some back breaking shoveling is in the cards... Given that there's nothing more annoying that your shoelaces coming untied when you are in a groove throwing snow off to the side (or running for that matter), I was intrigued to learn that I've been tying my laces wrong my entire life!

Based on this video from RunnersWorld.com I've learned that what I've been doing since I was a little kid is called a "granny knot". Instead, I have to change the last step of the process to achieve the desired "reef knot" for comfort and (apparently) more security. I haven't really had any issues with my knots coming untied, but I'll try and use this better knot from now on and see what happens.

On a funny note, as we were walking our younger one to school this morning we passed by this Ford Aerostar van that's had a sign in the window for months advertising that is is "For Sale - $1000. No reasonable offer will be refused." Of course the only "reasonable" offer for this hunk of junk would be to give it a mercy killing, but that's another story. Anyway, as I passed by this van I commented to Monica and Malcolm, rather loudly since they were behind me and we were all wearing hoods/hats on account of the snow, "You wanna buy this crappy van???" As I finished the last two words, I passed to the far side of the van and noticed that it's current (unlucky) owner was standing there, and could totally hear what I had said! I felt a little bad, but in the end I figured this guy knew his van was crappy. No offense to any 1996 model year Ford Aerostar owners, but seriously - you can't claim that this is the pinnacle of automotive engineering or quality, can you? Also, if anyone had passed by our shitty Volkswagen Golf before we upgraded it and called it out, I probably would have laughed and agreed with them.

Tonight's push ups: Week 6 Day 2, and I was hurting! Perhaps it was the swimming, or the chin ups, or maybe the shoveling of the heavy and wet snow... I don't know, but I did not feel very strong tonight. I managed the sets OK (22-22-30-30-24-24-18-18) but was not looking forward to the max set. I completed a painful 75, but it was not pretty. The total was 263.

Also on a bit of a strange note, my ankle (the wonky one) was really hurting this afternoon. I didn't do anything that I can think of to it, but around late afternoon the outside above the ankle joint just started to ache like you wouldn't believe. I hobbled between streetcar and bus, and then home. I even did some shoveling (as mentioned above), but the pain was just awful. (My wife forced me to go inside and then, by a stroke of luck, a couple of teenagers came by and asked if they could shovel the driveway for some cash! Who knew that teens can sometimes actually be useful!!! $13 later the driveway was done - nice going Monica!) It doesn't feel so bad right now as I write this, and perhaps it was only some sort of a cramp, but I wonder what the hell is going on a little. We'll see how it feels tomorrow I guess.

Pushing Up

After a morning spent waiting while the "professionals" installed our new hot water tank in such a way as to prevent me from moving the dryer back into it's spot, then waiting another hour plus while they fixed the problem (you'd think that they would figure this stuff out, what with having to do these installs all the time!) I finally made it to work around 1:30. Not a good thing after a week and a half off, but what's one supposed to do?

I stayed late at work to make up a little bit for the lost time, and when I got home I got to the Week 6 Day 1 set of push ups. These went 45-55-35-30 and then a max set where I managed a more than decent 85 for a total of 250. I felt pretty weak actually, most likely as a result of the cross country skiing over the weekend. The most painful spots are the hips flexors though and I didn't anticipate any problems anywhere else. I guess in the end it didn't matter very much as I completed more on the max set than I thought I would.

Tomorrow it's back on the chin ups I think, and I am contemplating getting back to running soon. The foot, although I still feel something there, has reached a point where I now can call it a "discomfort" rather than pain. I am thinking of taking it really easy for the first few weeks, just running short distances (ie. 5k or so) and not faster than 6 minute kilometres (9:40/mile for my American readers). Then if all goes well I can start upping the mileage a bit more in February. I think the cross country skiing will do wonders for my legs as well since that seems to work the hip flexors that running tends to neglect.

Back on the Push Ups

Just a quick post so that I can continue to keep track of my continued efforts towards achieving 100 consecutive push ups. I have lost quite a bit of strength over the Holidays, partly due to the stomach virus and partly due to the copious amounts of food, junk or otherwise, that I've been ingesting.

I started back on the plan a couple of days ago, though I felt really uninspired and couldn't even be bothered to turn on the computer and verify what the Week 5 Day 1 workout was supposed to be. I did 35-45-40-30 for a total of 150 and couldn't even attempt a max out set.

Tonight I did the Week 5 Day 2 workout and managed 19-19-22-22-18-18-22 and then maxed out at 62 for a total of 202 push ups. It was really tough, and I think going back to Week 5 of the plan is the right move. Better late than never, right?

Also, yesterday we spent the entire day cross country skiing with the boys and then did awesome! We were planning on a short introduction, maybe an hour or two, just to ease them into it prior to their lessons starting this Saturday. They both loved it so much that we ended spending 6 hours on the trails! I will bring my Garmin next time and hopefully get to go out on my own once to get a real workout in. The foot still aches; what else is new...