Speedwork at BMO Centre - Ladder

There was a high school hockey tournament at Thompson Arena tonight, so we met at the BMO Centre on Rectory St. in London. This facility houses a large indoor soccer field which was split into 4 smaller fields tonight. The "walking track" on the upper floor overlooks the soccer fields and is just shy of 400 m. long.

John had us doing a ladder -- 1 lap, 2 laps, 3 laps, 3 laps, 2 laps and 1 laps.

Here are my splits:

1:20
2:54 (1:27/lap)
4:41 (1:34/lap)
4:49 (1:36/lap)
3:06 (1:33/lap)
1:25

As you can see, I wasn't able to keep the pace for the latter laps as I was able to for the early laps. But I worked hard throughout all of them, so it was a good workout.

After the workout, John had us do our 20 pushups and 20 situps. Then a 2 minute 50 second plank. Just about bailed after 2:30, but stuck it out.

All in all, a great workout!

17.5 km Long Run in 1:35:30 - 5:27 Average Pace

Today was the gold medal men's hockey game in the Sochi 2014 Olympics, so the entire nation was glued to their TV sets to watch the game. As such, all normal activities were put on hold until Canada beat Sweden by a score of 3-0.

So Jed and I went into GoodLife fitness to run with Scott Meathrell. The plan was a 10 mile run, but we extended it to just shy of 11 miles from GoodLife down to Springbank Park, around the loop and back. We weren't pushing the pace, and it felt good. While my right leg as super-tight for the first 5 kilometres, it felt fine after that. And we seemed to get stronger and faster as the run went on. Here are our splits:

5:34
5:42
5:32
5:35
5:42
5:31
5:24
5:25
5:23
5:28
5:21
5:16
5:27
5:27
5:28
5:22
5:21
4:43 (pace for 540 m.)

It was about -6 C when we started and about -3 when we finished. But the sun was shining which made a difference. Some wind in our face on the way out, and at our backs on the way back. All in all, a very pleasant run.

8 Mile (12.88 K) Tempo Run - 5:12 average pace

It was Gord Ball's 60th birthday today (new age group!) so I went into London to do my tempo run. It was a bit of a miserable night -- warm enough (around 0 C.), but ending with rain. And the footing sucked with lots of puddles and slush that we had to navigate, in addition to dodging cars. But despite the less-than-ideal conditions, we pushed the pace. Here are my splits:

6:02
5:09
5:19
5:14
5:24
5:12
5:15
5:01
5:17
5:02
4:49
4:54
4:51

For the last couple of kilometres, we were on King Street and the footing was pretty good, although we were still having to navigate the big puddles and watch for cars again. But it felt great to have traction!

We celebrated the good run and Gord's 60th with a pint at the Fox and Fiddle after we were all cleaned up.

16 mile (25.75 k) long run - 5:37 average pace.

Jed and I joined the Runners Choice marathon training group today again for a long run. The weather was nicer than previous days -- the high was -8 C. -- and there was a light snow. Here is the route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5300129

Jed and I put in another 4 miles before we started this route, and we extended the run out past the Terry Fox Parkway to give us a total of 16 miles.

I screwed up a bit with the GPS so the total kilometres don't add up, but here are my splits for (roughly) the last 12 miles:

5:30
5:34
5:32
5:26
5:32
5:33
5:26
5:19
5:36
5:36
5:33
5:16
5:41
5:46
5:36
6:04
5:52
6:02
5:42

My legs were certainly feeling it at the end. Jed, however, continued to power up the hills! Average pace over those 19 k was 5:37.

20.17 kilometre long run on snowy roads: 5:40 average pace

Jed and I met at GoodLife Fitness downtown London to run with the Runners Choice Marathon Training Group today. The temperature was -12 when we left Jed's truck. We did a route from GoodLife down to the dam in Springbank Park, around the loop to Storybook Gardens, and then back. Here are our 1 km splits:

5:48
5:49 (Tunnel)
5:43
5:35 (Saturn playground)
5:47 (Guy Lombardo Museum)
5:43
5:59
5:30
5:45
5:43 (Loop around back to Storybook Gardens)
5:38
5:44
5:41
5:26
5:31 (Guy Lombardo Museum)
5:23 (Saturn playground)
5:31
5:30 (Tunnel)
5:56
5:38
5:17 (170 m.)

So an average of 5:40. It was a tough run with about an inch of loose snow over the snow-packed roads and trails -- very much like running on the beach. Jed kept pushing us, though, and we were pleased with ourselves at the end. Our times coming back (uphill) were better than our times going out.

Speed work at Thompson Arena - Ladder from 400 m. to 1000 m and back to 400 m.

Tonight I was very thankful to be running indoors. About -15 C. outside, plus the wind. I'm _so_ done with Winter.

Anyhow, tonight John Ferguson had us doing a ladder from 400 m., rising each repeat by 200 m. until 1,000, and then back down to 400 m. Each repeat separated by a 2 minute break. I ran with Ted and Jeanelle for most of the run.

I was aiming for 52 second laps of the 200 m. track. Here are my splits:

400 m.: 1:42 (51 sec laps)
600 m.: 2:34 (51 sec laps)
800 m.: 3:25 (51 sec laps)
1000 m.: 3:03 for 700 m. then fell apart.
800 m.: 3:33 (54 sec laps)
600 m.: 2:36 (52 sec laps)
400 m.: 1:38 (49 sec laps)

As you can see, everything went pretty well, other than my 1 K loop. I just couldn't keep the pace for the full 1000 m. I left it all out there but walked to the end of 800 m. and rejoined Jeanelle and Ted, who were a little slower than before, but much better than me!

I'm going to blame it on the fact that I played hockey the night before. I already knew it would be a tough speed work session because I _started_ it with sore legs.

23.28 km long run...

Did it at a 5:37 pace. There is the route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5269314

GMap says it was 23.74 km (14.7 miles) -- but Dave House's GPS said 23.28. Anyhow, the run was good. Not as hilling as the prior weekend, and a bit warmer (-4 was the highest temperature I saw on a pixelboard). There were some bare spots on the roads, so we didn't have to battle the slush the whole way. I ran with Dave House, Kate Brown, Jenny Saucier and another young woman whose name I didn't catch. I'd like to be up to 30 km about 2 weeks before Around the Bay, which is March 30. So still another 5 weeks. If I add roughly a mile per week, I should be good.