Need to find a treadmill...

The city I live in has recently spiraled into a winter deep freeze, making it pretty much impossible to go for a winter run without slipping on the ice or losing a limb to frostbite. Running in the evenings came naturally to me over the summer, but I've got to find a way to fit running into my schedule for the winter months. Any suggestions?

I have been keeping up on the lifetime fitness ladder daily and am now up to rung 37, so it's not like I've been a total sloth through the winter months.

Cooler weather running

It's getting colder around here, but I'm committed to keep running outside as long as I can. I've switched from shorts to sweatpants, and my super-technical (read: $10 cotton) running T-shirt has been supplemented by a fleece jacket. Light gloves have been added to my repertoire as well.

I'm really not sure what I'll do once the snow hits the ground - running on slippery sidewalks doesn't strike me as a really good idea. That said, the city does a pretty good job of keeping the sidewalks and pathways clear, so it might actually be a doable proposition. As an added plus, running in cold weather burns extra calories - on top of the running itself, my body will have to burn off some fat just to keep warm!

Another day, another run...

Back home and I headed out for an afternoon on this chilly Sunday afternoon. It felt great to enjoy the crisp fall air fill my lungs while I listened to the repetitive thump-thump-thump of my runners on the concrete.

It constantly amazes me that I can go out and run for over 45 minutes and over 7k (with about 1k devoted to warm-up and cool-down), when it seemed challenging to just go for 20 minutes straight a few months ago.

You can check out the run on Runkeeper here.

Working in Calgary this week, still running!

I'm working in Calgary this week, but that hasn't stopped me from running! I headed out last night for a sunset run along the Bow River - the run can be found on Runkeeper here. At 7.15k, this is my longest run yet... the GPS in my iPhone was a little screwy around the downtown towers, though, so I'm not sure if that's totally accurate. Should be pretty close, though.

Today is a scheduled rest day, but I might be joining some colleagues for a volleyball game tonight. I haven't played since junior high, so I'm fairly certain I'll embarrass myself!

Back to 100%

Wow, I went for a run last night and it feels like I'm totally up to my previous level of running fitness. I was worried that my fitness level would have dropped after being sick for a few weeks, but apparently the human body is pretty good at bouncing back from illness.

My run last night, which you can see in Runkeeper here was for 6.45k (including warmup/cooldown), so about 5.5k of actual running. My eventual goal is to compete in a 5k race, but there aren't really a whole lot of them until the spring. I suppose I could just work on my endurance a bit and aim for a 10k instead!

Mostly healthy, back running

After a few weeks of fighting off some sort of virus-based cold/flu thing, I finally managed to get back to running last night. My run, viewable via Runkeeper here wasn't that long - only about 25 minutes running, and about 5.3km total (including warmup/cooldown), but it felt like a huge accomplishment to get back "in the saddle" after being on my butt for a few weeks.

I'm going to do my best to get back into a schedule of running every other day. It's getting colder now so it's getting harder to run outdoors, and I'm not a huge fan of running on the treadmill. Time to get some winter running clothing, I think.

Downtime... stupid colds...

I really love my kids, but this time of year they morph into festering germ-pods, ready to infect me (the noble parent) with whatever variety of illness the kids are playing with nowadays.

One of my children gave me a nasty cold, and I've been down for the count for a few days now. It's not so much the stuffed nose and coughing - I can deal with that - it's the fatigue! I've never felt so drained. Hopefully within a few more days I'll be able to get healthy again.

I've still kept up with the Hacker's Diet exercises each morning, even though they've felt a lot more challenging lately because of the cold. My goal for the next few weeks is to establish a routine of running on the treadmill at the gym, and hopefully I'll still squeeze in some outdoor runs before it gets too cold out.