A day for running
2006-04-30

I awoke at 4:30 this morning to help out with the TC10k, and then capped off the day with a nice long jog.

Jogging in the twilight with a hammer in hand was a strange experience! I helped out at the start line -- the fencing went up quick... then marshaled the runners, watched them burn past and took the fencing back down. I'll do anything for a donut and a t-shirt. The number of finishers for the main event was 8,160 -- too many for my liking; i'll stick to the nice small races, with the exception of the marathon. Lesson of the day: Rob Reid is a cheese-ball (in a good way: he was advertising garage sales and open houses on the race route when he had the microphone).

After the clean-up I wandered home, had a nap, and went for a nice long jog around 2 PM:

A nice 18k there (sans elevation), and I discovered some nice new routes (a usual after-work circuit is up to the 12k mark and home) like the hidden stairs to the Walbran Park lookout. I took it pretty easy today, stopping my watch to take in the views or slurp some water. 1:12 of running time + 0:30 of sightseeing/rest. Average heart rate during running (1:12) was 165 -- not very high, but today was about wearing my legs out, not cardio. Got home and gorged myself on food... mmm.

Next week is the Oceanside 10k in Qualicum Beach: this will be the race I finally break the 4:00/km barrier (barring cramps). I'm running 4 times per week nowadays -- and starting to gain some speed.