In The Zone as Colder Weather Arrives (1).

Preparing for a Productive Wintertime.

Running charts all positive; long walks are A1 too.

It took me about one year to do it but I did it.

On November 1, 2018, I joined the YMCA in Downtown London. My first workout included the 3-mile roundtrip from home to the Y, a 1.5-mile's worth of bike riding (i.e., about 30 minutes) and a 1.5-mile walk/run on a treadmill.

The following few weeks I included time in the pool and gradually longer walk/runs. Eventually I developed a weight routine including some free weights and various weight machines.

I kept a journal, recorded my miles and weights and developed a point system to keep my head in the game. As 12 months went by I decreased my Y visits per week and increased my long walks/runs outdoors on city paths. As October 2019 comes to an end and colder weather approaches I have a pretty good point system going and a good idea what I will do to get through the winter.

Are you ready to get out there and plow through the snow?

I will continue The GREAT Canadian Comeback (all in the pursuit of svelteness!) with a well-balanced indoor and outdoor 'fun and fitness' routine that will include walking, running, cycling, weight lifting, and recording progress on my blog. 

With half-decent photos. With the occasional boisterous cheer about a PB or personal best on the treadmill ; )

Results for October 2019. Yesterday's note re a 4-miler in 39min:08sec*. PB!?

*I used to cover four miles in about 32 minutes during training runs (6 - 24 miles, for half- and full-marathons) and in about 30 minutes or less during various longer distance races. But yesterday's run at the Y was my first recorded 4-miler since beginning The Comeback : ) So, yes, it's a PB of sorts, the sort that I now like!

Got my eye on the prize. More PBs and svelteness.

I am in the habit of writing a few stats in a monthly journal now. I am a believer in gradual progress, very gradual, so that I can sense how my muscles, skeleton, feet and joints are handling 5 - 6 workouts per week, the gradual increases in 'pounds of weight' I add to weight lifting exercises, and the gradual increase of speed and distance I add to treadmill runs, etc.

So far, so good. Injury free is a very good thing!  

I like 7-mile walks (2 hours) to U.W.O.; I like 201 visits to the Y in one year.

 I am getting comfortable with 40+ miles/points per week

 My last seven runs are recorded. Red circles,

and one blue circle, are PBs. 

 On Oct. 9 I ran 3.75 mi. faster than 3.5 mi. a few days earlier.

Yesterday I ran 4.0 mi. faster than 3.75 mi. on Oct. 9. Progress!

With cooler weather coming I look forward to walking with a camera in my pocket. And I have the feeling I will stick with 4-milers as my standard distance for at least a month or more. I don't see any reason to go much faster until spring time.

I say that now : )

Photos from last fall and winter.

Happy trails!

Please link to More Miles, and on a Roll!

Photos GH

More Miles, and on a Roll.

Time for a Wee Change.

This iconic runner (?) is featured on my favourite, old T-shirt

I don't know who the runner is. One of my favourites is Emil Zatopek, a Czech Olympian who won three gold medals in 1952. Poland participated in the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games but did not come away with 3 medals in track events.

Maybe it's just a nice picture of a runner who is 7 years younger than me and won 3 medals at his high school track and field day somewhere in Polska.

Whatever the case, my own running is moving along smoothly. I have no nagging injuries, am feeling smooth and steady on my favourite treadmill at the Downtown YMCA and - yup, did it again - hit a fifth PB (personal best time) for 3.75 miles.

Decision time: Do I keep trying to go a bit faster for no particular reason (risking an injury) or slow down and add another quarter mile?

Answer: I am leaning toward racking up a few easy times for the four mile treadmill event. No medals will be awarded but by January 1, 2020, I may be seeing more clearly what springtime may offer. A half-marathon in Toronto while wearing my favourite, old T-shirt?

Stay tuned.

Photos from along the way:

Get around, get around, I get around. But not with The Beach Boys.

So, I won't be hitting more PBs while awhile, but if I like four-milers then thoughts re a half-marathon will sharpen.

Please link here to A New PB, by Five Seconds! 

Photos GH

A New PB, By Five Seconds!

It's Not a Race. But It's a Race!

Sometimes a cool day is a runner's delight

My wife's favourite chocolate treat is a Turkish Delight chocolate bar. Mine is a three-pack of Reese's Peanut Butter cups.

I say, "I buy them by the gross and eat them with a shovel!"

When I was a long distance runner my favourite type of running day was between 0 and 10 degrees with cloudy skies and a light breeze, one that would be at my back on the way home. A strong wind in the face on the way to the finish will dishearten any runner, make a grown man cry or swear like a hardened sailor!

When the two runners passed me on the Terry Fox Pathway (top photo) I thought they had it easy. They could go for days in that weather.

Now I'm doing most of my running at short distances (3.75 miles) on a treadmill at the YMCA. And for the fourth run in a row I have lowered my running time for a PB or Personal Best.

Now, I'm not going very fast - no land speed records for this guy -  but I sure get a kick out of shaving even a few seconds off my time. Yesterday I dropped 5 seconds, to 36min:15sec! Wow! Oh, how I love that feeling of a breeze blowing through what's left of my hair.

Thoughts: My overall fun and fitness routine is working out well. I.e., per week; 3 runs at the YMCA and on alternate days a long walk in the 7 - 7.5 mile range. My goal is to cover 40 - 45 walking/running miles with Saturdays off. Run at speeds within my limits, and throw in a longer run on Sunday if the weather is right. I covered about 190 miles in September and am on track to do the same in October. And if I hear of a ten km. road race in the next 4 - 6 weeks I will enter it, to finish the year with an official time and a bib number for the ceiling of my workshop.

Photos from along the way:

 Go west, young man!

 Or go east, young man!

 Winter is coming so I'll likely stay indoors at the YMCA on Sundays as well.

Good thing I turned around after taking that last shot!

Please link to Three PBs in a Row!

Photos GH

Three PBs in a Row!

Runners Know What I'm a-Talkin' About : )

I'm on the road (or treadmill) and keeping up to other seniors!

PB = Personal Best. Runners keep track of PBs (i.e., their fastest race times) for various distances, e.g., 5-, 10-, 21.1- (half marathon), 30- (Hamilton Around the Bay Road Race), and 42.2-kilometre (full marathon) distances. 

I keep track of PBs too. I am familiar with all of the above distances and others measured in Imperial units. Oh yeah, I'm that old. I still have a rump roast stuck to the inside wall of my freezer that's measured in pounds. Good price too, including 7 pennies, now completely out-of-date. Maybe I'll BBQ it next summer, have you over.

That being said, because I'm in the process of making The GREAT Canadian Comeback, I am keeping track of how I am doing on a treadmill at the Downtown YMCA related to - for the time being, I say now - distances up to 3.75 miles (or, 6.035 km for people who connect with metric measure).

Greenway Park approves of metric units!

This part of the pathway is between 3.5 and 4.0 kilometres

from the Fork of the Thames. Get used to it, I'm told!

When I stepped up from 3.5- to 3.75-mile-runs last week I also bumped up the treadmill speed from 6.2 to 6.3 mph to see if it was within my limits. And... it was. 

As many will know, because of very complicated mathematical laws (I think one must know some physics as well), the faster I run the more apt I am to get a PB. And I have enjoyed 3 PBs in a row without any message from my feet, knees, legs, back, hips or tricky left hip (aka The Gov'ner). Why, if I adjust the speed just a smidge I could quite possibly get 4 PBs in a row at the same distance, something I may never have in my long (lengthening) lifetime. 

If it happens you will be the first to know,

Photos from along the way:

Staying within my limits with a very regular habit of walking or running about 6 times per week is really paying off. I think my weight workout is helping too, keeping core muscle groups in good shape.

Dare I say, svelteness is within my limits as well? And just around the corner??

Stay tuned.

Please link to That Was A Good Idea!

Photos GH