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A bit of a tired (maybe even sick?) week. I've been yawning like crazy and can't seem to wake the fuck up. Nevertheless the work goes on.

Saturday morning swim was equal parts good and bad. I was swimming well, having fun and enjoying the workout but I was having some back pain that I eventually gave into and got out early. Swimming actually feels pretty good on a sore back but every turn on the wall was painful. I still managed about 2500m so not too bad.

Saturday afternoon was the CBRR end of the year banquet and chase race. The 8km (ish) race took place on the new Green Link Trails along Rotary Drive and Membertou. They've done a great job on the trails and I'm hoping to do more running on them. I had a great run and really enjoyed the format. My time was 38:41 on loose gravel, hills and turns. Pretty darn happy with that.

Skipped my regular Tuesday workout ritual. Jobs looming overhead in the shop and just not feeling the greatest. Back at 'er next week!

Wednesday I ran home from Sydney River where I got dropped off by a co-worker. Great 7.5 km run in temps hovering around the zero mark with the wind whipping around some small bits of snow. Winter's here. Bring it on.

Long runs really need to start this weekend!

Earth to... whatever.

Lots of work. Not too many posts.

Let us just see:

Last Friday? Another brick session at work. good times. Followed with core work.

Bike and swim Saturday. Took the mountain bike. Good times.

Holiday Monday I swam at the CGC. Not a regular one for me but a good hard workout.

Tuesday was another trip up Hardwood Hill with the pre-swim group. Feeling stronger every week. Followed with a swim. Probably just over 2000m. Elbow is feeling great which makes me happy.

Thursday. Ran 30 minutes easy on the treadmill at work. Followed that with push-ups and core work.

I missed a bunch of stuff I'm sure. Even a dull pencil is sometimes better than a sharp mind.

Tuesday- 11-ish km with the Tuesday night pre-swim group. Chased a couple of faster runners up hardwood hill. Good hard work. A bit sore by the end just like last week. This is a great, tough workout and I'm going to try to do it every Tuesday before the pool. I'll try to remember to time it next week and use it as a bit of a self-test later on.

Swim- 2100m. Great workout but my elbow is still bugging me. More ice tonight. I'm considering dropping out of the push-up challenge but once I start something I like to see it through.

Wednesday- 5km-ish relatively easy run while the kids were at the pool. Cooler and rainy tonight but still a great night for a run downtown. A bit sore after yesterday. Probably take a total off day tomorrow.

Beer Mile/ House Crawl

Let me just start by saying:

Wowsa. 1 beer mile. About 18km of running. 15 flights of stairs. 1 missed step in the graveyard. 1000000 laughs. Lots of drinks. Lots of food. Home by 12. Good times. Can't wait until next time!

The Work Brick

Friday. Had some time this morning at work. I rode the bike-on-trainer for 30 minutes. Similar workout to the other day. Warm up, 1 leg emphasis, stand up intervals, cool down. Only half an hour but a pretty intense workout. Followed it with 25 minutes hard on the treadmill. They say there is value in indoor training sessions. I really prefer the slush and snow and wind to training indoors but, hey, this works too.

Monday, Tuesday Happy Days?

Great run tonight. An unexpected 11-12 km including a long climb up Hardwood Hill. I had planned to to 35-45 minutes but hooked up with a group from the pool and went longer. Felt good. The new shoes are hurting a bit. I'll switch back to the old beaters for a few runs. Funny how old worn out shoes actually feel like they're cushioning my feet while the new ones feel like hardwood.

Swam somewhere around 2000m. Good solid workout with some fun, silly relays at the end. I love The Crusties.

Yesterday I did about 30 minutes on the bike at work. It's a mountain bike on a trainer. Warm up, a few minutes focusing on each leg, 5x1 minute stand up in the hardest gear, cool down. Felt like a pretty solid workout packed into a relatively short period. I'll do that one again for sure. Also did some core work and push-ups. 75 push-ups as part of the challenge I signed up for. They are tough to get through on swim days... speaking of which, I have a set of 80 I'm supposed to do tonight. We'll see...

Let's jump (like a motorcycle over a shark) to Wednesday. I did last night's push-ups this morning along with some core exercises. After work I met Jody and the girls at the pool for the girls Dorados session. Jody and I ran around 7km. It was a good recovery pace for me. I usually run a bit quicker than Jody but I love to get out for a run with her whenever I can.

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Saturday Double.

Managed to bike to the pool again this morning. I left a bit late but decided it was worth it to get a bike in while the weather is warm. Probably about 12 deg on November 3rd. Nutty. Good swim. I lead a lane that I don't usually swim with but since I was late I hopped in to warm up and just stayed there. I'm probably better off chasing faster swimmers around but I still managed to work fairly hard and push the pace a bit. Probably did somewhere around 2600-2800 metres. Elbow is still a bit tweaked. My back feels much better.

Biked to the market for coffee and bread and then home. Probably around 30km on the bike in total. Riding the Giant OCR 2 with a cargo rack and bag.

Capped it all off with a hike in the Baille Ard Trails with dad, the girls and the dogs.

2007 Giant OCR 2 

Thursday Run.

Just over 6 easy km on the way to Mom's for pizza. Felt good. Nice misty night and about 14 degrees. Shorts and a t-shirt on November 1st. For the amount of junk food I've eaten over the last two days I should probably have run a bit longer. I remembered to look both ways before I crossed the street tonight.

Breaking in new sneaks. I just bought two pairs of Kinvara 2s on two different sales. Score. Even though they are the same shoes I've been running in for a while the new ones really feel stiff and harder on the feet. The old crusties are super comfortable. These will get there.

Stylin'