Trading Wasaga Beach for the Humber River

It was an emotional decision to sell our home in Wasaga Beach and move back to Toronto. Beautiful home designed and built just as we wanted it. Sitting on our back deck on a cloudless summer day enjoying a cold one...or two...was priceless.  And as a runner the miles of flat running along the shore of Georgian Bay virtually year round was a major attraction.

The downside was the time apart.  Working in Toronto during the week and travelling to Wasaga each weekend was a chore. We used Skype, cell phone, email, text and phone calls to keep in touch during the week. But eventually it took it's toll.  And is often the case it was a simple statement from a chance meeting that Sally had one day with a lady walking her dog that did it:  "Why are you guys living apart?...Life's too short for that".

Done!

So now we live in a leafy area of central Etobicoke literally steps from the Humber River.  Here's a photo of the creek that runs down one of the trails I now have the fortune to run along each day:

So was it a fair trade?  Sally and I think so.  And so does Tia who now enjoys chasing all the squirrels that inhabit the woods just outside our back door.  

It's nice to be home. And a final note:  Sally never did run into that lady and her dog again.

Until next time...

ThatRunninGuy

Note:  Photo and video shot with the Samsung Galaxy Note.

Heading toward disaster as fast as I could

Did you hear the one about the runner who went out for a long run and spent the last half walking?  That happened to me last weekend on what was supposed to be a relatively easy 1hour and 50 minute training run.  For a variety of reasons it didn't work out quite as planned.

It began with a great meal Friday night.  Sally is a fabulous cook and we enjoyed fresh Halibut over a bed of sauteed greens.  Lots of great protein but not much in the way of carbohydrates.  My fault entirely.

Combined with that was that I was fighting some kind of giddy head feeling.  My late Grandmother often referred to a general malice as having a 'Giddy Head'.  Instead of a shorter run, I pressed ahead with the LSD and figured a daytime cold/sinus pill would work.  Well, it did for the first 60 minutes.

And to compound the situation, my pre-run breakfast consisted of a single piece of bread and a small yogurt.  As you can see, I was heading for disaster...it was only going to be a matter of time.

At around an hour into my 2 hour run the inevitable happened:  I crashed.  Slowed to a shuffle then finally walking.  That sucked!

In the end I managed to get in 1 hour and 50 minutes of training...too bad the last half was walking.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Humans are the Perfect Runners

It turns out that we humans learned to run before we learned to think.  I knew it!  After all we are not the largest, or strongest animals on the planet...and we are not even the fastest runners.  Our unique competitive advantage is that we have the best endurance.  And that ability to outlast every other running mammal led to our dominance.


I wish I had started running earlier.  You know by now that I'm not a natural runner but since 'finding running' nearly 30 years ago now, I've become an obsessed convert.  Heck, I'm even involved in a competitive running event May 6 called Reggae Runners Half Marathon Challenge with Larry and Dan.  We were online friends first, met up in person in Negril last December and will compete individually but together via the Internet this May.  Yes, it appears that the three of us are runners before thinkers...still!  Check out their individual blogs here:  Larry Savitch, Dan Cumming.

Recently CBC aired a great documentary, "The Perfect Runner" that explored the evolution of humans as runners.  If you've read Christopher McDougall's excellent book, "Born to Run" then you'll like The Perfect Runner where Niobe Thompson explains how humans evolved into the best endurance runners on the planet...leading to our dominance!  Here is a short description of the program:

How did our ancestors survive the shift from trees to land, and evolve to dominate the planet? The answer lies in a remarkable ability we evolved far earlier than our powerful brains: humans are nature’s perfect endurance runners. Gemini-winning anthropologist Niobe Thompson (Inuit Odyssey, 2009; Code Breakers, 2011) takes a journey of personal discovery back in evolutionary time, in conversation with leading evolutionary biologists and immersed in cultures whose survival still depends on endurance running. From the highlands of Ethiopia, to the most remote place in Arctic Siberia, to the world's toughest ultramarathon in the Canadian Rockies, The Perfect Runner weaves cutting-edge science with gripping adventure, and leaves the viewer with a new and inspiring understanding of our common evolutionary inheritance as the running ape.

Here is a short video trailer of the program, The Perfect Runner:


The Perfect Runner, Official Trailer from Niobe Thompson on Vimeo.

Sally always encourages me to "Run Christopher, Run".  Now it makes perfect sense.

Until next time...
ThatRunninGuy

Training secrets for the Reggae Runners Half Marathon Challenge

Court and Andrew with me in Negril, at Reggae Marathon,  December 2011

Now I've done it!  I opened my big mouth and accepted the challenge to race with 2 other runners on May 6.  Dan Cumming, Larry Savitch and I are running individual races and have a 21 year age spread separating us.  But through 'age-adjusted' timing, we'll be competing head-to-head.  So instead of taking it easy at the May 6 Goodlife Fitness Toronto Half Marathon I'm actually going to have to 'race'.  Here's my secret training plan guaranteed to propel me to the top:

• Running Stairs.  Once a week for the next 4 weeks or so I have scheduled a session on a set of stairs near home.  I plan to run repeats (run up, walk down) starting with 10 sets and working up to about 20.  I hope to build leg strength so that I can push harder in the closing stages of the Half Marathon.
• Speed work.  Two sessions each week up until the week before the half marathon.  My plan is to keep these to about 6 km each but include 4 sets of approximately 200 metres done at a significantly faster pace with a slower recovery in between.  It won't be the most scientific but hopefully it will give me the speed I need to run the second half faster than the first (the notorious 'Negative Split')
• Tempo runs. Again, two sessions each week of about 6 km each running at a 'near race' pace.  This should help the breathing and oxygen intake.
• Long Slow Distance runs.  Once a week on the weekend I plan a 'long run' to get up to my half marathon target time of 1:55.  I actually plan to exceed that time for my training runs since it is a 'little bit' optimistic.  
• Rest days.  One day off for now but will work up to 2 each week for the month before May 6.

I'm still running in the 'natural-style' in my Puma Faas 500's as well. I still love their minimalist approach;  the fit for my fairly wide feet are excellent.  


The real key to all of this is to stay healthy and injury-free. Unfortunately I had a little setback this past weekend with a nasty flare-up of the plantar fasciitis in my right foot.  Nothing that a few days of rest won't cure so don't get your hopes up Larry and Dan even though you now know my 'secrets'.  I'll be back to training later this week.

Oh, one more thing:  I have to loose a 'little weight'.  Dam, there go those salty snacks!

Until next time...

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Follow me on Facebook at Run for Heart.  

Races for 2012: 
Goodlife Fitness 1/2 Marathon, May 6
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront 1/2 Marathon, October 14
Reggae Marathon, December 1