The GREAT Canadian Comeback: A Week's Work (1)

Fun and Fitness, Monday to Sunday

It's all downhill to Stanley Street

Introduction:

I am studiously training for the 'maybe, might be' Around the Bay 30K, to be held on November 22nd, 2020, in Hamilton, Ontario, IF race organizers get permission to go ahead with registration (beginning Oct. 5, maybe) and are allowed to place hundreds of pylons and distance markers around the bay so that runners don't get lost in Burlington.

Might be a go. Might not.

Sometimes I head north on the Thames Valley Parkway (TVP)

That being said, I will train as if it is "a go" and keep a tally of how I am doing for the next five months.

Training Chart - Week 5

Monday: 7-mile walk.

Rain was in the forecast so I walked with an umbrella. Because I carried an umbrella, not a drop of rain fell from grey skies. Typical!

I walked from my house in Old South to the Fork of the Thames, stepped onto the TVP at HMCS Prevost and walked west toward the Wonderland Gardens. I covered one mile, from my house to the community gardens next to the TVP just NW of Prevost, as well as 4 kilometres on the TVP as I headed west toward the Gawdens.

The TVP has distance-markers every half-kilometre and my pace was approx. 5min.10sec. per half-km.

I turned around at the 4.5 km. distance-marker at Wonderland Gardens and retraced my steps home.

Distance - 2 miles (HOME to HMCS) + 8 km. (TVP) = 7 miles. Time - 2 hours.

Comments: Good workout. Had a short but pleasant chat with Alex, the Sausage King as he biked before going into work.

Tuesday: I usually do a run, with lots of hills and repeats, on a Tuesday. However, I drove to Simcoe instead, to meet with the son of a WW2 Navy vet who was in the same crew as my father, in many ways. Drove back to London through heavy rain and took a well-deserved nap once back home. No running mileage, but I'll make up for it tomorrow.

Photo from under Kensington Bridge, on my way to Harris Park

Wednesday: 7-mile 'race pace' run

I set out to run at race pace, an easy 6-min. per km pace, but the day was cooler than usual and my legs were fresh (I took the day off yesterday), so I burned off an extra 20 - 25 seconds with each passing km without feeling like I worked too hard.

Distance - 2 miles + 8 km = 7 miles. Time - approx. 70 min.

Comments: Good workout. Cooler weather helps me run faster and steadier. If the "maybe, might be" 30K race takes place in late November, minus any snow or wind in the face, I'll be a happy camper. Note to self - I need to run a few hills by Sunday.

Thursday: 7-mile run with hills

This hill leads to more hills, more hills, hills.

I only count the uphill part of a hill even though the downhill half is pretty important as well. And I only count uphills that are 100m or more long. Anything smaller is called a 'hilly bit'.

I usually run hills on Tuesday but due to an important meeting that day I ran my hills today. I usually head out the door in the morning but due to another meeting (with four city staff who visited my house to fix a broken water pipe in my yard), I shifted to the PM. If anything, I'm flexible.

Thankfully, the weather was not steamy and I hit ten hills (some were repeats, i.e., the same hill repeated) with good energy. A couple of times I told myself to slow down, "it ain't a race."

Distance - 2 miles + 8 km = 7 miles. Time - approx. 75 min.

Comments: Another good workout. I passed a guy on a bike who was struggling up one hill. As I went by he said, "I hate hills." Made me chuckle, but not out loud. If anything, I'm polite : ) I think the hills are getting easier, and that's a good thing because in Hamilton there are a couple of doozies.

Friday: 7-mile walk

"good pace" = about 5.5 - 6.0 KPH. Yeah, I'm on the clock

Good walk north on TVP toward the University of Western Ontario. I carry a water bottle and can get refills in Gibbons Park. Hey, the 'comfort station' was finally open - good news for two reasons (cold water fountain plus a bathroom; "water in, water out", that's a good deal).

Distance - 2 miles + 8 km = 7 miles. Time - approx. 2 hr.

Comments: Friday is usually a 'speed work' day but my schedule was wonky this week due to a day off on Tuesday. I won't take Saturday off and try to squeeze in some speedy moves.

Walking through Gibbons at a good pace toward my

turnaround marker, north of UWO campus

Saturday: 7-mile walk/run

Week's total mileage (from Sun. - Sat.) = 42.5 miles. AOK

I like this type of outing. I walk for 5 min. then run for 3 min., and cover about a half-km per interval. And, as it worked out, I pushed the pace when running in order to say "I did some speed work, worthy of a geezer." I didn't want to overdo the speed because I have a long run next day.

Distance - 2 miles + 8 km = 7 miles. Time - approx. 90 min.

Comments: The walk/run combo is a 'tweener' and it fits the bill during a wonky week.

Sunday: Long run

According to my running chart, I needed to run 9.5 miles, or one kilometre farther than my last long run on the chart (from two weeks ago). I want to hold the pace very close to race pace (i.e., 6-min./km.) during long runs and on Sunday I did not do too bad in that department.