It seems Ralph The Dog has put me on the blogroll of his new hangout. How embarrassing that I haven't tidied the place up in almost six months.
This blog was originally for tracking my Couch-to-5K training from last summer, but I've been considering expanding it to general time-wasting crap I find on the internets. (If anyone other than Renault reads it, that is)
Also, I've semi-committed myself to run another 5K in March, this time the Slainte St. Patrick's run in Hamilton, so there might be more training log stuff, too.
This is all assuming I have anything at all to say to you people.
Stay tuned...

So Race day was Saturday...8:45AM start. I had a big feed the night before and ran without breakfast. That turned out to be a good idea, as I had good energy and no stomach cramping.
The first 500m or so was spent trying to get past the people running with their dogs, the ladies chatting while jogging, and the four-abreast teams of, well, ladies chatting. Things finally spread out on the main road, and I tried to settle into my regular pace...at least I though it was my regular pace. I glanced at my heart-rate-monitor watch at the 1K mark and it was already 161, which meant I was going too fast...but I still felt good so I kept on. Never got in a "zone" feeling, but the 2K came quickly and then the halfway turn over to Exhibition street for the return leg on a shady quiet road by the park. At 3K my HR was still above my training rate (mid 160-s) buy I still felt really good, and notched up my pace very slightly. Got up to 171 at the 4K mark and started to feel it...slightly lightheaded and mind racing. I pressed on foolishly since I could see the finish, or at least the traffic lights 100m shy of the finish. I had no idea what my time would be , but I was shooting for anything under 30 minutes (since my personal best was about 31). When I turned the bend at the lights the finish line was right there and I crossed at 28:22. A new personal best and my first race in the books.
Next up...one week free of running to rest my ankles (they ached most of Saturday and flared up again during my 3-pitch playoffs Sunday. Next Sunday is the finals so I want to be ready). Then I look for a fall 5K run in the area and do it all again.

OK so I didn't run a mile...mostly because I didn't measure out a 1 mile landmark on my route. I did, however, run a fast 1K, which was 4 minutes exactly. Then I walked around for 2 minutes until I felt sufficiently recovered and ran the 1K back home somewhat slower (5 minutes even).
I think this is critical for me to learn what a good pace feels like. My biggest worry for Saturday's race is getting caught up in the excitement and the crowd and starting out too fast. I have to make sure I stay on my pace and finish this thing.

Busy weekend of staining the wood siding on the house and baseball (playoffs!), so I'm a bit behind.
Next saturday is race day, and I still haven't attempted a full 5K run, so I went for it Friday evening. Weather was good, but damp, and I made sure I didn't eat too much. I kept a deliberate slow pace for the first 1.6k, got worried when I hit the big hill which took me to the 2km mark, but kept on steady to the turnaround and back to the hill. I took the downhill with a long stride and picked up some speed, which I continued for a while before settling back on my regular pace, with a little kick when the finish was in sight. Total time was 30:15. Now that's a bit slower than my projected race day goal, but since I deliberately started at an easy pace, I think it's not too bad. The race will be relatively flat with very gradual inclines & declines, and I can start at a slightly faster pace. I'm going to try for 5:30/km pace and hopefully finish in 27-28 mins, though anything under 30 will be good for a first race.

Sunday ball, being playoffs, was a double-header, and even though I'm fitter now, the short super-fast sprints involved still leave me sore. I'm going to taper off my training a bit (being race week), but tonight or tomorrow, I'd like to try two fast 1-mile runs with a short break between them. Men's Health mag says 8 min/mile is average and 7 min/mile is fit, so we'll see how I measure up.

So it rained yesterday evening, and I wimped out from my run. Today was rainy too when I got home from work, so I was all set for another run-less evening watching pirated movies (as if Woody's gonna miss my money). I had a nice big meal and guess what? It cleared up.
So off I went.
Today was back to the 5-3-8-3-5 run/walk schedule, and I started off confident and fast...too fast. Finished the first kilometer in a blistering 4:45 and felt totally wiped. I don't know if it was the fast pace or the cold weather or the belly full of pasta, but it turned out to be a really dumb move.  I walked for 3 and felt a little better, but the next 8-minute stretch was brutal. My ears ached from the cold, my belly was cramped, and my ankles burned. At the 4-minute turn-around I was set to break into a walk, but I pressed on for the full 8 minutes. I'm pretty sure my pace was way off because my stride felt very short...almost a shuffle-jog. I arranged my 3-minute walk so I would have 1k back home. This last section felt better, and I was able to get back to a normal pace. I felt almost totally recovered and even got into a nice zone where I felt I was being pulled along effortlessly. Finished the 1k in 5:17, which was not to bad, considering how it all started.
Top HR was 156 during the first and third sections. Middle section was a wimpy 144.

Well, it was delayed by a few days, but I finally got around to the big run last night. Twenty minutes non-stop.
I ran a pretty steady pace, and clocked myself at the 1km mark at 5:30. Turned around at ten minutes, so I'm not exactly sure how far I got (probably between 1.8 and 1.9 clicks) at the halfway point. The final k was about 5:20, so like I said, a fairly steady pace throughout.
Max HR was 160,and not at the end. It was at the crest of a slight hill where I cross the railway tracks about 800m from the end.
All in all, it felt good. I was worried since my previous longest continuous run was 8 minutes, but I'm now more confident that I can do the whole 5K on Sept 20.

Busy weekend. Probably did more on the house exterior than ever before. Still found time for a run on Saturday evening.  Workout #2 on C25K week 5, which was:
Run 5 min
Walk 3 min
Run 8 min
Walk 3 min
Run 5 min 

Went well. ..although I never got in "the zone" which made it seem longer. Heartrate got up to 154 on the first leg, 149 on the second, and 162 on the third. I picked up the pace on that last one, purposely trying a longer stride...I made it a 1km run and finished in 5:08. Not bad.
The next run on the C25K plan is a 20 minute steady state run with no walking breaks. It was tentatively scheduled for Monday but I was working up on the roof all day and seriously overheated, then went to Hamilton for a friend's b-day dinner. It'll have to be tonight after work and I'm not looking forward to it.

OK...a blog.
Never thought I'd have one of these...and I guess I still don't - in the traditional sense (if anything about blogging can be called 'traditional'). For now, this is just a place to post my training logs for my new hobby/sport/masochism of running.
I've been following the Couch to 5K plan at  http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml , as suggested to me by fellow mofite middleclasstool. I'm currently up to week 5 in the nine week program, with my goal of participating in the Guelph Downtown 5K race on September 20.
Here's the story so far:

First run:
On August 4 I started my journey. I measured out 5K on some local roads and set off running. After about 1.6K I dropped from a jog to a walk, and alternated walking/jogging as best I could manage. I finished the 5K in 37 minutes, exhausted and humbled.

Couch to 5K:
I started the program on August 6. It's a nine week program and I race in 8 weeks, so I skipped week 1.
The C25K training regimen consists of alternating jogging segments with walking segments, totalling about 20 minutes total per day. As the weeks advance, the jogging segments get longer and the walking segments get shorter. For the first three weeks (weeks 2-4 of the program) I actually trained a little more than C25K recommended, since I was feeling energetic by the end of the workouts. Every run was challenging, but enjoyable and pain-free.
I had one "bad" run in the middle of week 4, but that was mostly due to a piss-poor diet the day of the run (must remember to get my carbs).

Yesterday I had my first week 5 workout (5 min run, 3 min walk, 8 min run, 3 min walk, 5 min run). I picked up the pace on the final 5 min run (a 5:15/km pace) and felt great afterwards. Max heart rate was 152 bpm at the end of the 8-min segment.
I'll try to post a journal entry after each run, listing times & distances, max heart rate, and overall effort (on a scale of ten). So far, so good.