Finding some new routes

[Decker]

Had a nice cold 7k in the snow on Wednesday. My Canada Geese friends in the pic were out there again near the war memorial for company, likely wondering where all the warm temps went that they heard about on the flight up here!

Saturday’s 14.5 km group run took us through the ritzy part of town past massive homes of music artists like Drake and Prince (at least where he used to live), then down along the railroad tracks and some parks and trails. Loving discovering all these new routes.

With regards to the runs themselves they both went quite well. The pace is still improving for reasons I’m not totally sure of. Managed my fastest ever 5k at 29.16 on Wed, during the 7k run. Considering I could not crack sub 30 since my c25k training, I am happy with that. Last Saturday in the group run we did 17k at 6:16 which, even a few weeks ago was completely unheard of for me. And this Saturday was around 6:20 pace for the 14.5, so it seems to be more or less consistent now. I am trying to pay close attention to my legs and pains etc, but so far, things feel ok. Next week we are ending our long run with a Pancake breakfast with local Maple Syrup - looking forward to that!

[misswobble Marathon]

Well done! New routes awaken your senses and heighten your awareness,and hopefully give a boost to your running 🙂🏃‍♂️

I am racing on a new route this weekend ,through old railway tunnels, and can’t wait

Exciting times! Have fun 😃

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to misswobble]

Railway tunnels! That sounds very cool. Yes the new route really shakes things up and makes you feel like you are just beginning again.

[Oldfloss Administrator]

This looks amazing.. what a great run and a great location too... the geese look suitably impressed..

It sounds like you have some really interesting and exciting routes where you live.. and it s great to share them with you

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Thanks Floss. The geese followed me on my other run too. These routes seem a little mundane compared to some of the beautiful spots people post here, but they are working for me right now.

[Oldfloss Administrator in reply to Decker]

They look great to me and I love seeing them... I met two Canada geese on a run a week ago... just two.. and not quite so impressive in their choice of location

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Oldfloss]

Ha I wonder if those two might find their way here at some point! They don’t always have the best timing...

[SaskAlliecat Half Marathon]

Your training is going so well Decker. Your HM in May should be a piece of cake. Congrats on your sub 30min 5k! I just managed one on Friday(29:59.5😲), but was very much done by the end of it, there were no more km left in the legs. Hoping to get out for a 14k today but could be treacherous - we had 5 inches of wet snow followed by above zero temps and more snow in the forecast today. It will be a mucky/icy mess. Some days it feels like Mother Nature really doesn't want me to achieve this HM goal 😈

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Congratulations on that 5k Sask! Its nice to finally crack it eh? 🙂I am just enjoying the ride right now. You are battling the elements in a big way. I don’t mind running in fresh powder snow, but the wet stuff is tiring. And 5 inches is alot to plow through. But I have faith in you. It’s good endurance training too I guess, right? (insert glass half full imagery here). Go for it!

[SaskAlliecat Half Marathon in reply to Decker]

Thanks for the positive spin on it. That's what I was telling myself yesterday as I was driving through the treacherous highway conditions to a conference. Will definitely be a spike wearing kind of run today.

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Yeah - sounds like spike weather for sure. Stay safe

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

I love running a new route! This sounds wonderful, and mucho congrats on the pb!!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Me too. It beats the cemetery route! Thanks, I don’t fully understand it, but I not complaining

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

I don't think The Smiths had a song about Canada Geese near war memorials...

I think running in a group helps keep your pace up, much like running in a race I suppose (I have never run in a group). From what I have read it does appear that club running is an excellent way to improve speed!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Haha maybe it was on a B side single...

I think you are right roseabi. I can’t put it down to much else right now. The group also has a weekly Wed evening intervals/hills session that I am told is great but very challenging. They will go up and down stairs for an hour. I think my knee would collapse after three sets. For now just the Sat run is plenty. But it is something I might think about later on.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

I see the Canada Geese, near the war memorial, and I sigh. La la la, la la la, er, honk.

Ooh, yes be careful! Maybe a gentler slope for hill repeats, stairs are killer!!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

😆 A dreaded sunny day.

So let's go where the geese are honkin’. And I meet you at the cemetery gates

Stairs are strange for me. I can go up them no problem (at least a couple of times), but on the way down my left knee often has problems and I have to take weight off it. Hills are much better!

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Geese are pretty ferocious folk aren't they!? I remember in my student days a bunch of them that would always come at my bus as it drove past their field!!

Yeah, stepping downstairs puts a lot of stress on the knee all of a sudden. Have you been doing squats to help strengthen them?

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Yes - I remember as a child I tried to pet one of the young goslings n the park before my mum could stop me. Its parents chased me halfway around the pond! Still scarred by that one...

I know I should do squats - and I've got a plan to do them...I just have not done them consistently. Maybe this is the week to begin again. Whenever I've exercised that knee a lot, I have trouble with it, and then I worry It will mess with my running so I stop. Probably because I'm doing it all wrong. I'll need to look up Ringold's lessons again and try once more.

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

It's a tricky one for sure! Hope you can get it sorted.

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

thanks roseabi

[mrrun Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

Ahhh, the squat. Patron Saint of Busted Knee. A few years back badly done squats opened up the avenue of disasters for me that was finalised by my early running. That just nailed it.

As much as proper squat exercises do good things to your legs and make them stronger, the bad ones, the ones where your legs go akimbo and your knees pass your toes, can hurt you in a bad way.

My physio came up with some exercises designed to help my delicate figure go for 21k, and squats are there but now I know what to do and how to do them, and there is no pushing hard.

I'm following Hal Higdon's training and he is advising of taking it easy, especially with gym stuff while going for longer distances, where every tweak matters.

All the best, mate!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to mrrun]

For me, the elliptical exercise seems to be most tied to my left knee. So I’ve pulled out of that and just focused on running. My Dad has had the same thing for years (though he is 90 and still getting around with help from a walker). The squats do help when I am doing them correctly. Just need to get into the habit on rest days. The Hal Higdon approach seems to make sense to me. Happy to hear you have a plan you like too!

[C3PO Marathon]

Sounds like things are going really well. Wouldn't mind a pancake breakfast with proper Canadian maple syrup myself!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to C3PO]

Thank you C3PO, so far so good. Yes it was a nice surprise to find out about the pancakes and syrup at the end of the last run :).