head over feets, eleven

The shoulder season has arrived in earnest. I don’t know if it will stick or if we’ll get a reprieve of warmish weather for the end of the month. Part of me would like it to be around 10C for my race at the end of October, but that might be wishful thinking. Whatever mother nature decides, she has shed her autumn coat and the leaves are now mostly rotting on the ground for the season. The autumn colours are gone once again.

The last couple weeks I continued my training, in earnest

There was a stat holiday in the middle of the week on the last day of September and so we went for a long walk in the dog park on a Tuesday afternoon. I don’t usually make note of my walks here, else they might fill up every other entry being so numerous, but it is notable because the holiday seemed to have thrown off the rhythm of the week and delayed a couple other fitness activities. 

Thursday I finally made my way back to a pool. As expected the temporary closure of the local pool has turned a quick swim outing into a cross-city adventure requiring planning and navigating rush hour traffic. My goal is to get into the water at least once per week, and when my local pool opens again in December I’ll try and work that back up to a triple. I logged 800 m and they started closing the lanes so I called it.

Met the guys—RM and LG—for an autumn run through Mill Creek later that same evening. The weather is still holding. Sometimes the fall rolls through and gone in an afternoon, but we’re coming up on a week. I won’t complain and I’ll get out as often as I can in this vibe. We did a fast 6k and felt it.

Another long walk filled my Friday. I hopped the bus to the Uni and started off on foot with naught but a sketchbook in hand. Over the course of about four hours of strolling through campus, the river valley, the legislature grounds and downtown I drew four pictures and logged about fifteen klicks on foot. 

Sunday we met for two different runs. We were due to log fifteen klicks on our training plan, but also, we had signed up for a 5k “fun run” called Run for the Cure, a breast cancer awareness and fundraising event. So we met about an hour and a half early and logged a meandering ten klicks through the adjacent neighbourhood. Then we shed some people (who were not doing the fun run) and gained others (who were) and stood around in the cold for about 45 minutes until we set off for a jam-packed five klick not-a-race race. We celebrated with pho nearby. 

And then I got sick. I spent three solid days prone on the couch and then was a little cautious about getting back into my groove.

But with the race just two weeks out, I braved the sub-zero temps on Sunday morning (and dealt with the pain of not running for a whole week) and checked the sixteen klick long distance off my training list. It wasn’t fast, but it was filled with autumn colours.

Tuesday I trekked back across the city for a swim. I can justify the drive because the pool is right beside the vet’s office and I needed to pick up a prescription refill (for the dog, of course) and gas is mysteriously about fifteen cents cheaper over there, which pays for my drive if I fill up over there. There’s a whole story about a thanksgiving altercation involving the dog wherein I wrenched MY shoulder. I swam just 500m because I was sore. But I swam.