Training Log Archive: W

Went for my standard Sunday "long-esque" run, wherein I intend to run longer, then sleep in, leave late, and have to cut it short to get to the shop on time. I honestly thought heading down to Whitemud would make the run longer, but, nope. Somehow I hit 1:35 again without realizing it. Criminy.

Took the opportunity to jog the trails around Whitemud that I'm supposed to be re-mapping. So I have this GPS track of the one trail, and I have no idea what I do with it now. Plugging it into OCAD gives me the trail, but its not the right size, is upside down, and I can't re-size/rotate it enough times to line up with the partial template underneath. This is going to be a time consuming project. On the upside, I can pretty much cover the entire forest with fight green! Easy!

Run in the dark just so I can say I did a double-day. A double day of running, for that matter. Legs felt a little tired but then smoothed out after a while.

And, here's what I learned to-day:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Myotis

Did you know that the Red Myotis is considered "Near Threatened" which is actually just one step worse than "Least Concern"?Talk about dramatic! Those crazy conservationists.


Also a 100km+ week, I think what's more impressive is the mere fact I managed to log consecutively for an entire week to allow that to happen.

A bit of snow last night, really didn't make anything different except shoe choice. Did 5 x 6 minute at sub-threshold pace. Seemed fine. Legs started to get fairly fatigued by the end. Since I wasn't working today had time for a longer warm-up than usual, so that was nice.

In retrospect, I should have gone for another run, but the thought of more running in the dark wasn't all that attractive, so I watched TV and rode the trainer instead. This is probably a sign that I should get my winter gym pass and start hitting the gym. My Bjorn Daehlie top seems to be baggier than usual......

Today I learned about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_White_(album)

Have you ever noticed that even random relatively unsuccessful artists seem to release special B sides on in Japan? Everyone seems to do that. Crazy!

Orienteering "event" at Goldbar. Goldbar is very thick, so it was a lot of trails, thoguh I made a point of foolishly doing some green crashing on occasion, just to see if I could move bit faster (verdic: I can't).

And here's what I learned today (yesterday)!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Democratic_Ac...

Did you know that the Popular Democratic Action party of Costa Rica actually only ever received less than 1% of the vote? Crazy!

15 x 2 minute intervals at FT training. etc. Etc. Of more interest is my first review of the new Bauerfeind Compression Socks:

So, these are excellent socks. The fabric is soft and very lightweight and very comfortable on my foot. Despite having a kind of weird stitching, right on the ends of the toes. Its a little odd, but not bothersome. They felt excellent while running, legs felt pretty well cooled, and who knows how my calves might have felt otherwise.

BUT! (you know there had to be a but), they are nowhere near tight enough. By interval number 4, about 20 minutes in, they had slowly fallen down to halfway up my shin. I would pull them up as far as they go and they slowly fall down again. I tried folding over the top and that seemed to help a little, but that was slowly unravelling and sinking. This is the first pair of compression socks I have ever experienced this happening. I anticipated with the multiple leg measurements one had to make that they would fit perfectly, but clearly they don't. I should have known, I have 5 other brands of compression stuff, and I have always gone one size smaller than they recommend. I guess I assumed these would be different because they were so specific. I will have to experiment more and try to come up with a way of keeping them up, perhaps a simple elastic band will do. I would dearly like to use them more, because they seem excellent.

So, in summary, very high quality socks. Completely incorrect fit. Very disappointed.

On a more cheery subject, here's what I learned today:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legacy_Continues....)

Did you know that Australia has hip hop? Crazy!

C • Freezing rain 5

Pleasant, though dark, run through the river valley. Its amazing how darkness makes the whole place utterly deserted. Its me and the coyotes, mostly. Still, blew passed the running room waddlers with a great amount of satisfaction. Felt oddly different with my form today, I felt like my hips had dropped a little and I was landing quite so fore-foot and I tend to do. It didn't feel bad, just different. A little more full foot. It was an odd sensation. It could also have been because I kind of needed to pee.

Today's wiki-learning was:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psou_(village)

Did you know that Psou, is in the (province? county? region) of Abkhazia, who actually considers itself an independant state from the country of Georgia, and the only countries that recognize it as an independent state are Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu? Eastern Europe is Crazy!

Exciting orienteering related day! First my OCAD10 arrived, which is cool, and I guess now I have to figure out how to map properly. And not just urban areas.

Second, my Bauerfiend socks came. Which look very impressive. It came with an instruction manual that is four pages long. And its not the kind of owners manual that says "congratulations on purchasing our product that's way too expensive and doesn't do nearly what is advertised!". Its more the kind that says "Hey idiot, here's how to use our product properly, don't screw this up or you'll regret it." And that's guaranteed to make it a legit product.

Also, rode an hour on the trainer after an hour and a half of indoor.

Today, in wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_E._Blair

Did you know that there is not a single name of a person, publication or organization in this article that I have ever, ever heard of? Crazy!

C • Socks 3

Did my 5 peaks run, though only had time for 4 peaks. I noticed a few more ways up, so it could turn into the 7 peaks. Unfortunately I checked my watch and had to cut it short since I had things to do. Damn you, things! Still haven't had time to pop by the music store and buy my mic, though I discovered two somewhat fancy looking ones, from a company called "Uher", which I learned hasnt' been around since the '70s. So these are vintage mics. I'll have to take them along and see if its worth trying to use them instead. Means I'd need to get some adapters for them.

Today's learning (which is now actually yesterday):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalium

Did you know that Germany doesn't listen just to trance, but also has speed metal? Crazy!