Back with a bang - only 89 days left!

Hi gang,

After a relatively light two weeks as reported here previously, I am back with a bang! Yesterday I ran my running room clinic LSD - 14 km running mostly into very high winds. Know what it is like to run face first into a 80km per hour headwind after you have already finished 12 km? Well, it ain't no picnic, as they say. Anyway, completed the run with a reasonable pace of 6:47 and that distance is 2/3 of a half marathon, 1/3 of a full marathon and I am training for both here, so progress all round is being made.

Song of the day was Crossroads by Cream and I will dedicate this song to my friend and trainer Andy Laird who presented me with a lovely gift this morning of a video called Crossroads featuring, of course, the amazing Eric Clapton - he who makes it look easy.

Andy showed up this morning for a little gymnasium abuse. Started off with some body weight squats followed by a couple of sets which included liberal numbers of squats, lifts, pulldowns, presses, core work and, of course the ever popular "Tuff Enuff" set which includes 2 pushups, 6 mountain climbers and a burpie. Doesn't sound two bad? Try two sets of six of those suckers and call me in the morning.

One last thing, weight is starting to come down and Andy is working on a diet challenge for me in the new year. Stay tuned, you will hear all about it!

Back at you soon. I intend to end the year with a concerted effort.

Paul

Busy time, Bad weather, motivation issues

Hi Gang

Well the long and short of it is that, one very short sprint aside, I haven't been running for the last 10 days. From a training point of view this isn't a problem, from a motivation problem it is.

First of all, the excuses:

1. Things were crazy in Yellowknife and then I was entertaining here at home for a couple of days. Plus, of course, it is a busy timne of year.
2. Weather was bad. I actually went out to run twice - Sunday and Tuesday but in both cases the weather was nearly impossible here.

Reality is I am just a bit demotivated. It has happened before and will again. By the weekend, I should be back at it. Stay tuned.

Paul

Treadmill LSD

Hi there,

Completed a schedule 10 km LSD today and did it in 63 minutes 8 seconds, 10 and 1, with an incline of 2%. Not bad - that is a walk weighted pace of 6:32 which is better than target for my half marathon in Prague.

Song of the day was If I had a Million Dollars by the favorite band of former Toronto Mayor June Rolands, The Bakenaked Ladies.

Talk to you soon!

Paul

Even colder!

My walk to the gym was just marvy today! It is even colder.

Oh well, a further 4 km of treadmill work under my belt giving this week a total of over 26km - not bad for an old guy. My pace was under 6 minutes which was fine and the incline, as always, was 2%.

Today's song of the day was Something tells me by Herman's Hermits. A blast from the past.

Paul

Even treadmill running involves -35C temperatures!

Hi gang,

Wanted to run on the treadmill this morning here in my apartment building in Yellowknife but, alas, it was broken. Checked with management and they couldn't get it fixed in time but they did give me access to a sister building with Gym about 500 m away. That 500 m is a very long distance when it is -35C!

So I wandered over tonight and put in a standard 5.2 km in just 30:35 with an incline of 2%. Not as good as road running but ok once in a while and certainly better than running outside under these conditions.

Today's song of the day was Killer Queen by Queen. Back at you real soon - I sense further short walks, followed by runs in my immediate future.

Paul

Boy, am I tired!

Hi there,

Today I worked out with Andy, a pretty tough set of heavy squats followed by three circuits, and then went for a Hill run this evening.

Boy, am I ever tired and soon going to bed.

Song of the day today was Hey, Hey, My, My by Neil Young.

Got to go - got Zeds to stack.

Paul

If it's Sunday, it must be a Markham 10km Run.

Hi there,

Completed the 10km run with the Running Room in Markham this morning, and let me tell you, it was a tough one. It was -8C with high winds, snow, blowing snow, unplowed rows, unshoveled sidewalks - a mess. The hard part was the footing and the wind but we did indeed complete the 9.89 km, my own time was 1:07:56 - not great but given the conditions, a good time.

Song of the day was September Song as covered by Lou Reed. I really wished it was September today instead of just 14 days before the start, the start(!), of winter.

Later

Paul

Santa Shuffle 2008

Well folks,

After my workout with Andy on Thursday and another one on Friday, I was feeling a bit tender this morning as the 5 km Newmarket Santa Shuffle came along. I ran this last year and did ok, this time I wanted a pace pretty close to 6 minutes per km. Ran with my son James, whose goals are more modest and so we began. It is, after all, for a good cause. Here is a photo at the starting point.






















Anyway the race went well. James and I both acquitted ourselves. My pace was a bit slower than I wanted at 6:12 but there was a killer hill which led to a bit of unplanned walking. I cleared the 3 km in point in under 18 minutes but by 5.2 km I was at 32:06.

More runs coming up as we finish the first week of December - 110 days to Prague and counting.

Song of the day - we seem to have a Who week happening. John Entwhistle's classic 905 from the Who Are You album.

Paul

Andy, the chief inquisitor...

OK, so today was a workout day. A little two slippery for running this evening.

Started off with:

15 x squats with 135lbs
15 x dumbell clean press with 25lbs each hand
15 x bent over dumbell rows with 40lbs
15 pushups
2 x 8 x backward lunge with curl - 15lbs per hand
15 lateral pulldown x 95 lbs

Do four of those and call Andy in the morning.

Paul

6 km - our first run in December!

Hi Gang,

There are 116 days left until the Prague half marathon. Yesterday I managed to confirm that the three amigos in Prague will be joined by a fourth musketeer. My good friend, Arne Halvorsen, from the most beautiful city in Norway, Bergen, will be joining Dieter Fromberger , the mighty Harvey Day and I in Prague. So we have two brits (granted one a nationalized Canadian), a German and a Norwegian. Hey, at least we all speak variants on a German root language - and I guarantee you, we all drink beer.

On another note, someone asked me recently why I am doing this. It wasn't asked in a negative or condescending way but out of genuine curiosity. I have thought about it a fair bit since the question was asked and I don't actually have answer. I have noticed in my running room clinic I am now near the front of the class - always in the top third, usually in the top quarter. The folks at that level, however are usually young women - like 15 years younger than me. Understand that I am not built like a runner. I am built, really, like a coal miner - as both my grandfathers were.

I can tell you that this is not a mid-life crisis thing. I can tell you that I want to live a long life and be fit, rational and well to the end. I can tell you that I would like to pass on, among other things, a legacy of fitness and health to my children and, eventually, to my grandchildren. Other than that, I don't know what it is.

I do know, however, that a lot of achieving this is about imagery. I am very focused and using every tool at my disposal to achieve this goal which is to complete the Reykjavik Marathon in less than 5 hours. Prague is a step on that path. One of the tools I use to motivate me in this is, well, perhaps kind of corny. I actually think it is well done but others might disagree with me. Often when I need to get motivated I watch the following video snippet from the final Rocky film, Rocky Balboa. To set it up, nearly 60 year old Rocky has been invited to fight a exhibition match with the current world heavyweight champion and for very private reasons, agrees to the battle. Here is how he approaches training.



I can tell you that, thanks to my dear friend and trainer Andy, and to my best friend and mentor Harvey, I can do most of what you see in this clip. Not well (damnit, still can't do the chinups), but I am getting better. I appreciate you all following this blog and want to let you know that I am, in reality, as committed to these goals as Rocky is to his in the film.

So, after all the heavy stuff a report on today. Tonight I completed a 6km steady run in just over 36 minutes which is a great time for a road run. Still having a bit of trouble with my pace but it is definitely getting better. Looking forward to next weekend's long run.

Today's song of the day was Hocus Pocus by the Dutch band Focus. A very cool song for a very cool run.

Later,

Paul

Running in the (realitve) tropics

Well, today it was certainly warmer in Markham for a 9 km LSD than it was last week in Yellowknife. It was a really nice run this morning. Comfortable, good pace and good conversation with the folks from my running clinic.

My pace was approximately 6:35 and the song of the day was The Who's Who are you - the last album recorded with the full compliment of Who members. Good lord, I miss Keith Moon.

Anyway that is 88.1 km for the month of November. I will undoubtedly cross the 100 km boundary in December and should be in the 130 - 150 km range by March and up as high as 180 - 200 by July. That will be tough as I don't like running in the heat but, well, August is the date for Reykjavik.

Blog you again soon!

Paul

November's last run in Yellowknife

Hi everyone,

I am flying back from Yellowknife today and just finished a lovely 5.2 km run which I started at 5:15 AM. Must be nuts but at least I did it on the treadmill - baby, it's cold out there.

Today's song of the day is... wait for it.... Dig by my favorite rock 'n roll band, The Who.

Update you again over the weekend from home.

Paul

4 km treadmill run

Hi everyone,

Completed another 4 km run today - kept the treadmill at 2% incline and kept the speed up. Managed the entire 4.02 km in 23:01 which is a 5:44 pace. Nice!

I still have 10 or 11 km to get finished this week but my time is tight. I am on a plane all day Friday so I have tomorrow and/or Saturday. Next Sunday is another LSD, this time in Markham with my running club.

Today's song of the day is Golden Years by my good personal friend David Bowie.

Stay tuned and, as always, be cool.

Paul

9 km in cold, cold Yellowknife

Hi everyone,

Tonight was my 9 km LSD right on schedule in Yellowknife. My next will be in Markham Sunday next and hopefully that will a less chilly event. It was warmer than it has been up here, only -10 with perhaps a further 5 degree windchill. Anyway, I finished with a reasonable pace in spite of poor road conditions - my pace was 6:56, which is really ok, the road conditions were not good. Traction was badly affected.

Well, I was running and a great song started to play, it has been my song of the day before but running around up here, freezing my arse off, nose running from the cold - not a great picture, clearly I am out of my mind. Crazy by Aerosmith clearly needs to be today's song of the day.

Be cool - I certainly am so constrained until the end of the week.

Paul

A fine week of running

Hi all,

I just completed my fourth run of the week, another 5.2 km on the treadmill, cold and blowing snow here in the jewel of Canada's north. That is a total of 22.6 km this week, now all I have to do is get that to the point where I can run that distance in one 2:15 period by March 28th.

So my next long run is targeted for a little more than 9km. I don't know if I will do it tomorrow or Monday but, weather permitting, I will do it at the first opportunity.

Song of the day was Eighteen by Alice Cooper, the world's coolest Sunday school teacher.

Keep an eye on this blog for further updates.

Paul

Another treadmill run and some training information

Hi everyone,

Today completed a 5.2 km run on the treadmill here at the Anderson Thompson Apartments in Yellowknife. Managed it in 30:22 seconds for a pace of 5:50 seconds per km in a steady run. Not bad. Wouldn't do as well on the road but up here, this is the best I am going to get under current weather conditions. Today it is about -15 C but with blowing snow and high winds. Yuck. Just walking to the office is a major event.

Song of the day - Radio Ga Ga by Queen.

So, today, I received my airline ticket for Prague. I am flying to the Czech Republic via Frankfurt on March 22nd, arriving on the 23rd and then returning to Toronto on the 30th. Harvey will be joining me there on the 25th and Dieter will arrive on the 26th. This is our second annual "Prague 1/2 Marathon Adventure" - I am sure there will be some fine Czech food and beer consumed, but not too much, before the run.

With respect to training - here are some milestone runs which will happen before during and after my visit to Prague. This is not a list of every run but just an idea of how I am going to tackle this.

Race month (Long runs described only):

• Sunday March 1st - 21.1 km "Chilly Half" Marathon in Burlington
• Sunday March 8 - 15 km LSD in Aurora
• Sunday March 15 - 24 km LSD in Aurora

Race week:

• Sunday March 22 - 15 km LSD in Aurora
• Tuesday March 24 - 8 km in Prague
• Thursday March 26 - 6 km in Prague
• Saturday March 28 - 21.1 Prague 1/2 Marathon

Post Race week - beginning preparation for Rekyvik (Long runs described only):

• April 5 - 15 km LSD in Aurora
• April 12 - 24 km LSD in Aurora
• April 19 - 18 km LSD in Aurora
• April 26 - 27 km LSD in Aurora

This plan, of course, is highly subject to change but that is how it is beginning to look. I will update you further as we get closer. Only 127 days left to Prague and the pace is picking up.

Talk to you all soon.

Paul

Cold is getting insideous

Hi everyone,

I ended up doing my 4 km run on the treadmill this evening. I may have to settle for treadmill running for the next little while as I just can't really run when it gets down below -20C. I don't find running with a balaclava very comfortable so my face freezes up and we just can't have Paul with a frozen face.

Nontheless, completed 4.3 km today and did enjoy the run. I set the treadmill on a 2% grade to better simulate road conditions and had a really good pace of 6:02 which for a steady run is just great for me.

Today's song of the day was Dance All Night by the Cars - just a good rock and roll diddy. No route to show you 'cause I never went anywhere. I suspect I will be on the treadmill again in very short order.

Paul

LSD in Yellowknife (like you need it, really)

Just taking a few minutes to update you all on today's run. I couldn't really do the 7 km that I needed to on Sunday due to inclement weather. Mostly snow, it is hard to run on unplowed snow.

Tonight's run was good - just a shade under 8 km, running on some of the less plowed snow was difficult and it subtracted from my pace a fair bit. This is a great place to run, generally flat with great scenery, even at night (of which there is a lot this time of year - sunrise is after 8:00 AM and sundown is just before 4:00 PM).

Had a great song of the day today - it has come up on a couple of runs and not been selected so here it is: I would do Anything for Love (but I won't do that) by Meatloaf and Jim Steinman.

Running again soon. Stay tuned.

Paul

Saturday in Yellowknife.

Hi Gang,

Went for a lovely 4 km run this afternoon - really nice. We had a bit of ice fog this morning and it left the trees in just a beautiful state. Here is a picture that I managed to take as I went up the grocery store shortly after my run. This, ladies and gentlemen, is Yellowknife, from ground level.

I am up to about 20 km per week now, that will slowly increase over the next couple of weeks and I am getting really geared up about the next year. A bunch of 1/2 marathons followed by the big on in Iceland. Must admit, it is fearsome but, wow, what a challenge.

Enough, I am running again soon and will re-post.

Today's song is dedicated to my mother - recovering from knee replacement surgery, she, like most of our fellow Welsh nationals is a big Tom Jones fan. I believe they went to the same school in face. Anyway, today's song is Daughter of Darkness. Way to go, Tom.

By for now,

Paul

Suddenly running in snow!

Hi there,

I managed to drop 14 C in the 24 elapsed hours between my last run and that in which I engaged today. I am back in Yellowknife and it is -7 as opposed to 7 and there is a lot of snow here which certainly affected my running performance a bit. Oh well, another 4 km under my belt this week.

OK - so I am geared up for cold weather running here. Special boxers with a bit of up front padding, heavy running pants, a wicking top with a heavy running jacket, a reflective wind layer, gloves, heavy socks and my regular Brooks running shoes. I will be here for two weeks and in that time will run between 8 and 10 times depending on the distance and my running schedule. I will keep you informed of my progress.

Today's song of the day was One More Summer by the Rainmakers.

Ciao,

Paul

A hard day's night...

Hi there,

I had a great couple of workouts today. This afternoon I shaved a minute or so off of the "Andy Torture" thing - you know, the idiotic numbers of evil exercises, separated by 60 steps, do it down, do it up...

Tonight I went to the Running Room for a run and put a 4.8 km run under my belt at a good lap pace of 6:15. Felt much better not trying to keep up with the leaders of the pack but overall came in well.

Tonight's song Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings.

Off to Yellowknife for some cold weather running the next two weeks. Talk to you soon.

Paul

If it is Thursday, it must be Squatday...

Hi Gang,

Quick update. Today's weight training day was simple but excrutiating:

2 sets of:

• 30 second front plank
• 20 second left side plank
• 20 second right side plank
• 30 second glut bridge plank

5 sets of:

• 30 squats with a 110 lb barbell on my sholders

3 sets of:

• 20 seconds Bosu Ball plank (25 seconds for last set)

3 sets of:

• 10 barbell lifts with 65 lbs

Stretching, by god, stretching.

Hard but I have a real sense of accomplishment doing it!

Paul

A couple of days work behind me...

OK, folks,

So yesterday I ran a 4 km steady run with the Running Club in Markham. Good time and pace (6:02) but I probably erred in trying to keep up at the front. Cost me a bit of a forced walk break when I was trying to do it straight through. My target right now for those sort of runs is 6:15 and shortening. Today ran a shorter version of the same route but the pace was at 6:06, same problem. I am running on my own for the next couple of days as I am traveling and will endevour to go at my target pace, not someone else's.

Worked out with Andy yesterday. Did the 40/30 - 30/30 - 20/30 - 10/30 - 10/30 - 20/30 - 30/30 - 40/30 thing again. Shaved six minutes of my time.

Tomorrow is squats! Yeah!

Song of the day for yesterday: David Bowie's Young American's
Song of the day for today: Bangles Manic Monday

Talk to you soon!

Paul

Long Slow Distance...

Yes, folks, I appear to be addicted to LSD...

Long Slow Distance running that is. As part of my marathon training I completed a 7 km run this morning, the first of my current half marathon clinic. My average pace was 6:25 which is certainly aligned with my goals of a 2:15 completion of the Prague 1/2 Marathon on March 28, 2009. Today's run was fun - I was near the front of the pack and we did very well. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was out, it was about 4C and life was good.

Did some weight training with Andy and my sons yesterday. Higher weights, few reps. I completed 3 sets of each, five reps of squats with a 185 lb barbell, five reps of bench presses with 135 lb barbell. Other stuff too but the heavy weights are fun once in a while.

Going to cut this short. Will update again in a day or two. Today's song was Out of the Blue by Roxy Music. Be cool.

Paul

Was that Venus this morning?

Hi everyone,

Yes, in fact, Venus was high in the sky this Halloween Morning. I was out running just after 7 AM and was greeted by the morning star hanging about 6 or 7 degrees above the pre-dawn horizon. Nice!

And, yes, I was out for a 5 km run this morning. Very nice - we are expecting a warm day and it was 8 degrees this morning. I was wearing gloves which came off at around the 2 km point. My pace was about 6:32 and I ran it pretty much straight through. Good news is that my heart rate is never getting all that high on these runs.

Anyway - for a 5km run I am sort of getting up near my target heart rate. It's all good!

Song of the day: Call Me Al by Paul Simon.

Will update after next run. Take care until then

Paul

Ah, squats...

Hi everyone

Andy dropped on by at lunch today and worked me over a bit. Squats. So, here is how this works: take a 45lb Olympic Barbell, add 45 lbs of weights, place on the shoulders of a 49 year old marathon wannabe and have him bend at the knees such that he squats all the way down and then come back up again.

Repeat 29 times

Take a 60 second break and do it again. Your goal is 150 squats.

After a while you will start to get a bit tired, sore - but don't worry, you won't get angry - you are way too exhausted for that.

Anyway after that horrifying experience, then do the plank on the Bosu for a while. Maybe 20 seconds? Maybe four times? Then we could migrate into a farmer's walk - grab two 25 lb dumbells, hold them over your head and march around the room for 60 seconds. Follow that up 20 mountain climbers using a medicine ball to balance yourself with. Do both of those twice.

Not tired yet? Well, how about 10 "Toes to the sky", 12 bicycle crunches and 4 inchworm crawlouts. - do that twice as well.

Now you are tired.

OK so, no run today because of the heavy squats. Therefor no song of the day. But some new on Prague. The titanic treo are back and going. Harvey and Dieter, my cheerleaders from last year, have agreed to join me again in the Czech capital again in March 2009. Thanks guys.

Got to go, back with you soon.

Paul

6 km down, 1500 to go...

Hi everyone,

Run club this evening - same route as last night. I shaved a full two minutes off of the pace by going at tempo speed which came in at 6:15 per km. I need to shrink things down but we are seeing progress.

Some problems with my iPod but suffice to say that the song of the day was Kodachrome by Paul Simon. Great Song!

Tomorrow, we have Andy and Squats!!!

Paul

Offical training launch!!!

As of today (181 days to go), friends, I kick off my formal training for Prague half 2009, Ottawa half 2009 and Reykjavik full 2009. My running room 1/2 Marathon clinic began this evening. Nice clinic - 12 people, mostly ladies, but an enthusiastic bunch as is usual with Running Room Clinics. We had to state our goal for the 1/2 Marathon and mine was to complete Prague in under 2:15. As a stretch, I would really like to come in around 2:00 but will be satisfied with 2:15. After that we walked through some of the scheduling, runs, events and tools and then we were off for a 3km straight run - no walking breaks. Completed 3.15 km in 21:43, a pace of 6:54 - I could have done better but was pacing myself with the rest of the crew.

We will be running the same route tomorrow night and I will report again then.

As for the rest of my "workout day", Tuesday is double duty with a trainer session and a run. The workout with Andy, my trainer, was, err, fun. I did the following circuit work:

• 60 steps
• 40 squats with 65 lbs
• 60 steps
• 30 pushups
• 60 steps
• 20 dumbell swings
• 60 steps
• 10 burpies
• 60 steps
• 10 burpies
• 60 steps
• 20 dumbell swings
• 60 steps
• 30 pushups
• 60 steps
• 40 squats with 65lbs
• 2 x 30 second plank on bosu
• 15 x each side - kneeling axe choppers with bands

It was hard. The intention here is clearly to work on my endurance, my leg strength, my core and my mental toughness. Thanks Andy - I will hate you later.

Song of the day from today's run: Mony, Mony by Billy Idol

Paul

We have a date!

Ladies and Gentlemen - Start your Engines!

The Prague Half Marathon is running on March 28th 2009 - 183 days from now.

I formally relaunch the Prague 1/2 Marathon blog and with my running clinic starting in 2 days on the 28th, now seems to be a good time to update things.

I ran three 1/2 Marathons this summer - Prague, Uxbridge and Ottawa. I also ran a couple of competitive 5 km runs and the Toronto 10 Miller. It was fun but I let myself drift from the end of July through to the end of September. I am now building it up again - we will get there. I will be running Prague and Ottawa as part of my training for the Reykjavik Marathon in August of next year.

I will post my runs and my routes as we did last year. Today I ran the Howl on the Hill, a 10 km run here in Aurora. Nice run, a few too many hills given that I am recovering from a cold. Anyway, we begin...

Song of the day: Raised on Robbery - Joni Mitchell

Bye for now.

Penultimate Entry

Hi Prague blog devotees,


Well, let me walk you through the run and the outcomes therein. We started off and it took about 3 1/2 minutes to get to the starting position. Not unusual in these circumstances. Harvey took the picture to the right showing me waiting to start and then ran around the corner and waited for me to come along before getting the second picture of me pulling out onto the bridge going north across the river.


Didn't really know how to dress for the day. Started off set up for a Canadian March 29th with multiple layers of clothing. Took off my fleece before I started but about 10 minutes in realized that the windbreaker was problematic so I stopped, de-pinned my number plate and RFID tracker and then reconstructed myself by tying the jacket around my waste and putting the number on my T-Shirt.

Probably had too fast a pace for the first 5 km. I was operating under a deficit of information as there was a gap between my watch and my actual starting time. A gap that got worse every time I went under a bridge and the watch lost satellitte signal. I somehow became convinced by the 10 km point that the difference was as much as 25 minutes and I guess the 2:51 for my last practice run stuck in my head so I thought I might be in trouble making the 3:00 time limit for the race. In any case, my pace by the 10 km point was closer to the 6:45 - 7:00 that I wanted but I was more tired that I should have been at that point. Saw Dieter and Harvey just shy of the 10 km water stop but no picture was successfully taken of anything other than my elbow so I shan't include it here.

By the time I got to 15 km I was feeling pretty good but shortly after that at around 16 km I started to feel the first edge of tiredness loop in and was really beginning to wonder about the difference between my watch and the real clock. At 18 1/2 km I did see a clock which indicated the gap was only 9 minutes, I was in good shape time wise so I decided to do a bit of walking to make up for some of the walking breaks I had skipped. Walked for 1 km, ran for a further 1/2 and then ran the last km across the bridge and to the finish line. Whew! Was I ever tired. Dieter and Harvey were there with a cold beer but I needed a glass of water first, drank that, started the beer and then grabbed an apple - best tasting thing I ever had, that apple.

After that, the rest of the day and evening went well. Just some quality time between some old friends.

As to the song of the race. well, at around the 8km point a favourite came up which may have been a song of the day before. This song is also liked by both my sons so I want to dedicate both it and the race to them. They have the capacity to do things in their lives which make this effort seem modest and humble. I have a great deal of faith in the future knowing that there are such young people as James and Andrew in it. The song is the Who's classic ode to the "wild lad" Dr. Jimmy from Quadrophenia.

The next and final posting to this blog will occur when I post a flickr slideshow on this whole experience sometime in the next week or so. I am also regularly posting to my full time daily blog at http://paul-mackin-daily.blogspot.com/ and would ask that you check there regularly for all sorts of fun stuff. In the mean time, I want to thank you all for participating. It has been a tremendous amount of fun for me and I hope for you as well.

Paul

News flash:

From Race Officials:

• Offical Time: 2:31:56


• Offical Pace: 7:14


• Real Time: 2:28:20 (time from crossing start line to finish line)


• Real Pace: 7:12

In the picture to the right, I am the fellow in the upper left of the photo, barely descenable, with the blue shirt with red jacket, tied around my waste, just 2 seconds shy of the finish line. It is far clearer if you click on the picture and see the full resolution version. The girl is Harvey's to explain, not mine.

From my perspective:

• Feet: sore


• Beer: Cold and wet


• Feeling: Fantastic

I am extremely happy with this result. Going to be tied up with Dieter and Harvey for the next several hours but will post a detailed entry about the run in short order, likely Sunday morning.

Paul

Well, this is it.

As I sit here this evening and post to this blog, I am thinking about the journey this has been. I am actually quite tired tonight, no running since Wednesday but a lot of walking. Of course the journey I refer to is our journey together on this blog. Thank you all, for your warmth and support.

Today, Harvey and I went down to the registration tent and I registered as shown in the photo here. Then Harvey, Dieter and I played tourist ending with a wonderful dinner tonight of pasta (at least for me - something of a runner tradition) along with some fine Czech beer. I am now back in my room and ready to hit the sack before 10:00PM. But wanted to touch base with you all as, in my next posting, we will all know how this turned out.

Some links of interest:

The weather channel site for Prague - http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/EZXX0012

The half marathon site:

http://www.praguemarathon.com/index.php?lang=en

My tag number, in case you want to track things: 2492

Wish me well, I will be thinking of you all when the race starts at noon local time, 7:00 AM EDT, tomorrow morning.

Paul

The three amigos are in Prague!

Run in Prague fanatics,

So, two of the best telecom engineers I have ever had the privalge of working with are now in Prague. I pale in comparison to these two stalwarts of the industry and am honoured to have them as my cheering committee for Saturday's run, now annoyingly getting closer.

Dieter arrived around mid day today and we set off for a bit of a pub crawl across the city. Harvey arrived early this evening and joined us for phase two - an increasingly funny afair as we started to realize that we had a subjective bladder age of 57.6 years old - locating WC's became far more important than pubs as we went forward. Nonetheless, we are now feeling reasonably refreshed and ready for next events which include:

1. Final registration for the run tomorrow


2. A good solid walk around Prague


3. A quite dinner in the early evening


4. Early to bed for Paul as Saturday looms before him

No run today but in spite of that all is well, as the boys are back in town...

Paul

In Prague and Running it!

Hey Space Cadets!

I arrived in Prague with minimum fanfare yesterday. The usual adoring crowds completely noticable by their abscence. There was a fair bit of traffic and some blowing snow as my taxi brought me into the city. I arrived at the Hotel Jalta on Wenceslas Square, upacked and crashed for a couple of hours. Did a walkabout of the city in the afternoon and then slept again before going out to have dinner at a nearby restaraunt which featured a pretty good jazz quartet. Had a nice pork steak (the local meat), with a salad and some potatoes. I took the picture shown here (click on it to see the detail) as I was out for dinner, it shows Wenceslas Square at night - very pretty.

This morning up and had a nice continental breakfast, grabbed a map and got onto map my run and laid out a 6.5 km route which included going up through old town square, across the Vltava River, a run along under the castle and then up onto the Charles Bridge, over along the Vltava again to the national theater, up to the national museum and through the park around it back to my hotel. If all goes well a slide show of this should be on the blog tomorrow.

Anyway it was a great run - by concidence my Garmin GPS watch rated the distance as 6.66 km and given that I am not religious, a numerologist or superstitious, the perversity of the number just makes me smile.

Today's song of the day was Bryan Ferry's version of Bob Dylan's All along the Watchtower. We had no winner on last week's contest - shocked and stunned that I am that nobody could check wikipedia and find out the name of the band Cheap Trick and its members.

Today's question is a bit easier. Bryan Ferry played with the band Roxy Music - who was their original keyboardist? Send your answers to pmackin1959@gmail.com

Stay tuned for more news from Prague - Dieter and Harvey arrive tomorrow. More on that later.

Paul

On my way!

Hi gang,

I am writing this from the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge here at Pearson Airport in Toronto. My flight leaves in just over two hours and after a bit of a hectic day, I am settling in for the flight to Germany and my subsequent connection to Prague. I just received one other piece of good news, it looks like I will be bumped to business class and this flight in on a Boeing 777 with private cabins and full beds. Life is tough!

OK so for my last run in Canada for the next couple of weeks, I completed an 8.7 km jog this morning. I am feeling good and fit and only suffering from minor nervousness due to the possiblity of actually making an arse of myself by not completing this. Actually, I feel pretty confident but, one never knows, does one...

Song of the day is All Night and All Day by the Kinks. I will be posting our final contest question tomorrow and will announce the winner of this past weeks.

Tomorrow - pictures from Prague - I promise!

The Paulmeister!

Starting the week the only way I can

Hi there,

I just completed a 10.3 km run from home to my kids place - lovely day for it. I am now into packing mode and trying to get everything finished that I have to before I fly tomorrow.

I will post a longer blog entry from the airport tomorrow afternoon. Today's song of the day is dedicated to a dear friend, Eric Drew, to celebrate the occasion of his marriage to the lovely Lisa. The song Veracruz was written and performed by Warren Zevon, perhaps one of the greatest songwriters of his day - sadly missed after his death of lung cancer. Eric introduced me to Zevon years ago on a weekend trip to my cottage and when the song came up on my iPod today, it made me think of him and the announcement of his marriage.

Eric, I wish you and Lisa all the best, mate.

Guys, I will post you again tomorrow and please, do check out my new blog (http://paul-mackin-daily.blogspot.com/) to which I will be premanently writing as of approximately eight days from now.

Cheers!

So what happens after Prague?

Well, with the 1/2 Marathon one week from today, I have been giving some thought to whether or not I will continue blogging after I complete my trip to Prague. I do have another event scheduled for late April but I have enjoyed this experience a great deal and so I have decided to set up a new blog which will kick in after the end of March.

It is still under construction but you are welcome to check it out as it now stands: http://paul-mackin-daily.blogspot.com/. It's themes are a big more complex than this first effort but, fear not, I will keep you up to date on running as well as other areas of interest.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Paul

Eight days - eight days!

Hi guys,

Just a quick update - ran from my kids place to my house today 12.4 km in 1:26. Beautiful day for it too! Kept my pace under 7:00 minutes which is great for that distance.

Today's song of the day is Bachman Turner Overdrive's Taking Care of Business. Stay tuned, more tomorrow!

Paul

Real men wear Bunny Ears!

Hi gang,

Completed Rebecca's Bunny Hop this evening at the new Running Room in Aurora, hosted by RR President John Straton. Attached are a couple of pictures of the event captured by my friend and colleague Debra Rimmer who kindly agreed to come along and serve as photographer. Completed the 5 km with a lap pace of 6:02, which is pretty darned good for an old guy.

Deb is also the person who correctly answered last week's song trivia contest with the response: Roger Taylor, Brian May and Paul Rogers - as the newly formed version of the classic rock band Queen.

Today's song of the day was Dream Police by, well, let me get to that later. Our trivia contest is regarding this band from the state currently represented by a certain partially African American Senator who is in the news a fair bit these days. These guys, who had a couple of great albums and continue to show up at concerts from time to time have a couple of really interesting characters in the band.

In any case, our trivia contest this week is to name the band in question and the band members of that band. I will update the blog again in the next few days - getting close, kids, really close.

Paul

Whew!

Well, friends, you should be happy to note that with two weeks to go, today I proved I could go the distance. I just completed a run of a shade under 22 km in just about 2:50 minutes

I think this means that I won't be disappointing those of you who have choosen to follow this blog through to its end.

Folks, it is two weeks until the big day. I will be flying to Prague on the 24th, arriving on the 25th and my friends Harvey and Dieter joining me on the 27th. The race is on the 29th.

Well, it is Saturday, and like every Saturday, I have a ton to get done. I will follow up with a further posting on our weekly contest tomorrow. Our song of the day today is Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline - and why the hell not. Keeping checking in, there should be activity every day from now until run day.

That's better!

Well,

Knock on wood and all that but things are looking up a bit. Today was 7C and the roads were great for running back home in Aurora. I was even wearing spring running gear including my favorite baseball cap instead my warmer winter hat. I covered 6.1 km in just over 43 minutes which puts me up at over 36 km this week so far. I plan to do a long run tomorrow and have a charity run next week added to my training. I leave for Prague in just 10 days and I do feel ready for the task ahead.

Today's song of the day was difficult to select a few good ones presented themselves but I ultimately have to go with a real classic. kd lang's live performance of Hallelujah came at just the right moment and added to a really nice run.

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow. Things are starting to move fast and furious now, space cadets.

Paul

Urgh!!!

Well, gentle readers tonight was certainly fun. I am up in Bracebridge in the Muskoka area of Ontario, lovely place and I decided to do a 7.8 km run which some collegues here suggested. They also warned me about the hills and that the footing might be trecherous.

They were right.

Try to imagine running through 8 km of slush and puddles up to your ankles and you will have an idea of the experience. Hey, nobody's fault, winter in Central Ontario. Still I feel as if I have run 50% more than that - it was tough. Add to that a couple of killer hills and a wrong turn. Boy, staying in my room and reading an essay on economics would have been the smarter play.

Ok - so, song of the day, as I hack and gasp away all the collected fluid in my lungs (still got this cold, damn!), Misunderstanding by Genesis.

Tomorrow, day off. I am going to let the roads dry up before I try another Bracebridge run - perhaps next week.

Talk to you soon!

Paul

More than a feeling!

Today I covered the same route as yesterday in about five minutes less time and I am starting to feel that I can actually pull this off. My distance runs this week should be significant but I am still lacking on the long runs.

Just a short post - more tomorrow but today's song is to remind me that I have More than a feeling that I can complete this challenge. Boston's classic song played today whilst I was at km 3 and it is our offical song of the day.

Cheers!

We are down to less than 3 weeks!

Hey guys,

My old friend Harvey called me today from the UK to remind me that we will be meeting in Prague on the 27th and that he wasn't going all that way not to see me finish.

Today I managed to do an 11km run after digging out from the snow storm we had in Southern Ontario yesterday. Attached is a picture of my neighbour and I as we tackled the incredible mounds of snow which awaited us this morning.

Our contest this week was won by Andy Laird, my trainer, who correctly identified Patty Boyd (Harrison) as Eric Clapton's inspiration when he wrote the song Layla. The song was performed by Clapton as Derek in Derek and the Dominos. Andy is now precluded, along with my son James, from further participation in the contest. Today's song of the day was Queen's Bohemian Rapsody and the question of the week is as follows: Very recently, Queen reformed with two of the original members and one other musician who is providing vocals. Please name the three members of the new version of the band Queen. Send your answers to pmackin1959@gmail.com

I will be working out with Andy tomorrow and do have a run planned as well. So check back in regularly and please, this week's question is pretty easy so I expect lots of answers!

Ciao for now...

Paul

Back after a short recess.

Hi guys,

My cold decided to reassert itself costing me three days but I was able to get out for a 5 km run tonight and feel pretty good. This morning, Andy came over and we did a long session of Yoga type stretching and a 30 minute circuit focused on Abs.

Just a really quick post. Our song of the day came down to a toss up between two fine Canadian Bands - The Guess Who and Heart. I decided upon some reflection that Heart wins with Crazy on You.

Assuming I feel ok - I will be back at this tomorrow. Talk to you soon!

Paul

27 days to go...

Hi everyone,

Well, today was a 15.6 km jaunt with just beautiful weather - nice morning for a run. I seem to be able to make the distance and my time, while behind where I hoped it would be, is certainly enough to finish in a timely manner.

OK - so, our contest. We have one respondant to the question of last week: In what film did the Badfinger Song Come and Get it appear and who were the stars of that film. I can hear the howls of nepotism but James Mackin answered correctly that the 1970 film the Magic Christian, staring Peter Sellars and Ringo Star featured the Paul McCartney written song. James will receive a CD with each song of the day for the entire training period I have undertaken for the Prague run. Since that is the only prize I will be giving each week, James cannot enter this weeks contest.

To that contest. Today's song of the day was by a band called Derek and the Dominos entitled Layla. Perhaps some of you have heard of it? In any case, "Derek" composed the song about a particular person - who was that person?

Tonight I drive to Chatham and will run there tomorrow. I will update you further, gentle reader, as to my progress.

Paul

Last run in Yellowknife before Prague!

That's right gang as of next week I will only have Aurora, Markham, Chatham, Bracebridge and perhaps, maybe, Etobicoke, to run in before Prague itself. Tonight completed 5.7 Fartlek training on the treadmill here at the Anderson Thompson apartments in Yellowknife after returning from Inuvik.

Inuvik was great! Really pretty but very cold and I didn't want to rest my newly more or less healed lungs so I decided to go for a walk, take some pictures and run today back in my flat. Inuvik was interesting - very friendly people who really like living there. It is a town of approximately 2400 people, 60% of which are Aboriginal. Here is a picture of the main street which, as you can see, shows the flatness of the place. We are only 140 km from the Artic Ocean and at 68.4 Degrees North Latitude, it is the furthest place north I have ever been. A good place to read up on Inuvik, and it is worth doing, is the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvik. Please note the church shown there, Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church, is very beautiful and I have included my picture of it in this post as well.

Today's song of the day was Bryan Ferry's fast and furious Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. Next workout will be Saturday and you can expect a long run on Sunday. Talk to you all soon!

Paul

Fartlek on the Treadmill

Hi Gang,

Just a short post today - did an short but very intense fartlek session on the treadmill at my apartment in Yellowknife today. Probably a bit too intense as it left me coughing a bit but aside from that I don't feel bad.

I covered 3.3 km in just over 20 minutes and will attempt a longer, slower session tomorrow before tackling a run in Inuvik on Wednesday.

Song of the day - Back Street Luv by Curved Air and you should know that we have at least one successful answer on the trivia question - the rest of you need to reply by 11:59 PM EST on Saturday March 1st to qualify for a one of a kind, well five of a kind, unique prize.

Bye for now!

Paul

Back in Yellowknife!

Hi Everyone, today, as you can see from the photo, I flew out to Vancouver and then North and East again to Yellowknife. Tonight I managed an 8.4 km run in -15C weather and it was lovely. My good friend Duff pointed out a great trail to me and I followed it around really enjoying the beautiful scenary here on the Great Canadian Shield.

I am here until Wednesday when I head up to Inuvik, and weather permitting will go for at least a short run there so that I can claim to have run above the artic circle. Stay tuned.

As to our song of the day, let me use this occasion to launch a new contest for all our Prague 1/2 Marathon readers. Once a week between now and run day, I will ask a trivia question related to the song of the day. Answers sent to pmackin1959@gmail.com will be reviewed every Sunday and one correct answer picked for a prize which the winners will receive by post after I return from Prague. You have to include the answer, your full name and mailing address and what colour underwear you prefer wearing. Well, the last part is a joke... maybe.

OK so, here we go. Today's song of the day is Come and Get it by Badfinger. The question, what movie was this song featured heavily in and who were the two main stars of that film?

I will announce next week's winner along with the music trivia question of the week next Sunday. Have fun!

Paul

Five weeks today!

Well the good news is that I managed to run just under 13 km today - it was great. The bad news is that I have clearly lost some time to prepare for the 1/2 marathon and it is in exactly five weeks.

I am confident that I will be able to do it however but really don't want any more setbacks so I am going to really have to be dilligent for the next month.

Today's run was beautiful, it was -2C and I routed it through the Fairy Lake park in Newmarket which is just a great place to run. Many great songs presented themselves and I am actually almost at a bit of a loss as to what to pick. However, as an inspiration of mine once said "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" and with that in mind, I simply have no choice but to nominate todays song of the day as the Paul Anka version of Smells Like Teen Spirit. No need to thank me for this gem, it is just the kind of guy that I am.

Back in Yellowknife starting tomorrow - temperatures look better, I may even get to run outside.

See you soon.

Paul

So far so good.

Hi everyone

Well I have completed my second 6 km run in less than 24 hours and feel no ill effects! Not bad for an old guy.

Today's route was through central Chatham and was something new for me - I moved away from the core near the hotel and office here and did a more circular effort around the city. A beautiful day for it as well - not too cold and quite sunny. My lap pace was 6:38, not my best but certainly not bad.

Today's song of the day was playing just as I finished the run: Safety Dance by that fine Quebec group Men Without Hats. Great song to run to - lot's of energy.

Back at you again tomorrow - we are now going to try to get back into the swing of things in earnest.

Paul

I am back! Well, maybe...

The antibiotics do seem to be working - was able to get a 6km done with a 6:21 pace for my first road run in two weeks. I feel really good.

If all works out well tomorrow, I will try to get similar distance run then as well and we are back at it!

Song of the day was Hanging on a Telephone by Blondie.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Quick update

Hi everyone,

Well the penicilin seems to be helping and I am definitely feeling a bit better. Today I managed a two km walk on the treadmill followed by a circuit of pushups, crunches, curls and pulldowns. Felt pretty good but not ready to tackle a run yet.

Stay tuned...

Warmer but....

Hi guys,

I am back home and had a bit of a revelation whilest in the Northwest Territories. It was -50 most days I was up there except on Friday when it shot up to -30. Friends, it actually felt warm that day. At that point I suddenly realized that I was clearly being reprogrammed by my environment. Trust me though, -30 actually did feel warm.

Well folks I am still not 100% and have decided that I want to ensure I am better before I pick up running again. Remember when I was saying a couple of weeks ago that I was ahead on my training schedule? Well, this is proving to be a very good thing as I will clearly need that headroom. So here is the plan, I started on antibiotics for a chest infection yesterday and, hopefully, will begin running again in a couple of days assuming this clears up nicely.

This week I will be in Chatham and will update you when I start running again.

Keep the faith!

Still coughing, still -50

Hi Guys,

A better day aside from this persistant cough. I managed to do 6.9 km of fartlek on the treadmill today along with some lateral pulldowns and pushups.

It is still colder than a science experiment involving dry ice and my cough has yet to clear but I was able to squeeze out the run and am feeling pretty good. Today's song was Don't Let it Show from the I Robot album by the Alan Parson's Project.

Cough permitting, I will be back on the old treadmill tomorrow evening...

One rough week...

Well friends, it has been a rough week.

I spent three days in bed with a fever and a bad cough. Then another couple of days coughing my lungs out - all in a just a horrid time.

Today I am back in Yellowknife and felt good enough for a workout in the gym here in my apartment. I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill covering 5.1 km and then completed two circuits of the ususal pushups, crunches, pulldowns, thrusters thing.

It was tough and I am still coughing a bit - granted going in and in -50C weather isn't helping either but in the end I was able to get through the workout. Today's song of the day is the Tom Jones cover of Baby it's Cold Outside. Both Welsh and appropriate...

I will be doing another workout tomorrow, ramping up to a weekend outdoor long run. Stay tuned...

Sick as a dog.

Let me preface this blog with a comment - I don't do sick well.

I think I caught a bit of a cold from my son last week and that, coupled with the long run on Sunday has left me full of the "notwells". In fact, I feel horrible.

Still, after a sweaty night in bed. I was able to do a workout this morning and added a new exercise to my "mini-workout" - 3 sets of 15 thrusters with 20 lbs dumbells. A pretty horrible experience but does work the legs, core, arms and sholders.

I then proceeded to mount the old treadmill and hacked out a 3.5 km run. I felt really good after all that but it seems to have caught up with me a bit this afternoon.

My song of the day is a bit obscure but fun. In 1971 Don McLean released an album called American Pie - and almost everyone has heard the cover song - Madonna, sadly, did a bastardization of it as well. What is less known is that there is not one bad song on this album - it is nearly, in my opinion, a perfect LP with uniformly great tracks. One song stands out though, not as the best of the best but as the most unusual. This one is called Everybody Loves Me, Baby and it is truly unique. That song presented itself via my iPod at the 2.5 km point this morning and is adopted as our Song of the Day...

I will get back to you all once I can get out of bed...

Paul

55 days and counting

Hey everyone - I just did a manual recount on the days between now and March 28th - 55 days is what remains.

So, today there was an 18.6 km run! Wow! To paraphrase Marvin the Paranoid Android from The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "The First Billion Years was the worst. The second billion, that was the worst too. After that I went into a bit of a decline"

It is a considerable distance to run - the trick to it is to keep the pace low right from the start I aimed for a 7:30 pace for the duration and came in at 7:34 and given the snow on the ground and reasonably hilly terrain, well, that 4 seconds isn't too bad.

Speaking of hills, there is one killer hill on today's route near Thorton Bales, just coming onto Old Bathurst Street. Steep and long - my pace dropped to 9:04 for most of it and I had to stop to catch my breath at the top of it. While running up the hill, a song was playing on my iPod - Knife Edge by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It has a really interesting beat, slow, methodical and grinding which was exactly what was needed to get up that hill. So, all that under consideration, I think I have to elect it the song of the day.

Tomorrow back into the gym for a mini-workout and recovery run and then we continue to add kilometers throughout the week.

Blog you all again soon!

Paul

Fartlek continues...

Hi gang, well the snow did keep me indoors today but I did manage to get a 7 km Fartlek session in with a best pace for 30 seconds of 4:43 second per km. Not a bad pace.

I also whipped off a hundred or so pushups - photographic evidence is attached. My form on pushups is improving but I still have a tendency to stick my butt up too high in the air. The form in this picture is good and having my feet on the stepping bench is a nice addition, makes it much harder and a better exercise.

Tomorrow the boys and I are with Andy our trainer again and Sunday is long run day - weather looks good for it too!

Today's song was Surrender by Cheap Trick - I could just hear Ricky Nelson twanging away during some of the hard bits of the run.

Updates coming over the weekend, gang. Stay tuned...

A lull in between the storms...

Hi gang,

Working late tonight so I don't have much time to chat. After this morning's standard mini-workout, I completed a 10.3km run this afternoon in between yesterday's 85km per hour winds and tomorrow's anticipated 30 cm of snow. Oh joy!

Today's song of the day was the James Brown, ever classic,
It's a Man's, Man's World.

Tomorrow, gentlefolk, depends on the weather...

Paul

A fat rat's perspective

Hi everyone,

Well, after an aborted attempt to get to Yellowknife, I found myself having traversed the continent over a two day period and wound up back at home last night. If you not are following the weather here in Canada, it is somewhat extreme and the less said about it in polite company the better.

Today I did a bit of strength training in my gym followed by a 7km Farlek workout. Farleks are interesting - the idea is to mix it up, some fast work, some slow work, some intensity stuff... It is very tiring but apparently helps with endurance. It is also relatively easy to do on a treadmill when winds outside are gusting up to 100 km per hour.

No formal song of the day, instead CBC news following the weather but I will give you one from my flight home last night: Losing my religion by REM.

Now to the fat rat. A very dear friend of mine sent me an article on exercise motivation in rats and it is kind of cool. A skinny rat seems to like exersize and wants to go onto his or her little treadmill all the time but the fat rat is not so motivated and barely goes near the thing. I think of myself as a transitional rat in these matters and use mechanisms such as this one and your encouragement to keep going. So, from one semi-fat rat to all his friends. Thanks for your help and support!

Weather permitting, road work starts again tomorrow.

Paul

Ah, the joys of being 48 years old...

Hi gang,

Today was a bit of a non-starter. I woke up this morning but never really got going. Between just feeling kind of out of it, a ton of work to catch up on and an injured foot from last Sunday's run, there was just no way 19 km was going to happen this morning.

So, I turned to first principals and decided that a day or rest was in order, this being a Sunday and all...

On Friday, however I completed a 9.6 km run to finish out the week with 46 km combined milage. The boys and I completed our week with Andy our trainer on Saturday with a rather brutal little number which left old dad a bit on the tired side.

Tonight I am just finished packing for my next trip to Yellowknife so this week training will be on treadmill and in the gym.

The song of the day on Friday was very appropriate You must think by the Cars. It includes, of course, the line You might think I'm crazy, all I want is you. Well the crazy part certainly applies.

I will update you from Yellowknife in the next day or two and will even promise you a picture from the true Great White North.

Paul

So, now we start working on the time.

Hi Folks,

Just an update on where I am in the whole training situation. Yesterday did my mini-workout in the morning and today a full workout with Andy, again in the morning. The complexes this morning were challenging but a lot of fun and there was more than a little sweat on the floor when we finished.

Today, I checked with my training schedule for the first time in a while and discovered that I was, wait for it... 7 weeks ahead of schedule! Since I don't appear to be going to have any difficulty with the distance now it is time to introduce "Tempo" runs to the mix and the schedule called for one of approximately six km today but at a pace of 6:36 per km. I checked in the plan for my other paces and both the Long Slow Distance pace and the Steady Run pace are spot on so I hoped I should be able to get the appropriate time for this shorter run. Well, boys and girls, it worked. My actual pace on the 6 km Tempo run was 6:35 seconds including walking breaks of 1 minute every 10 minutes. Spot on! I am ever so pleased as that puts me way ahead on my plan to do this run in 2:15 or less.

OK, so, tomorrow we will tackle a 10 km run to finish out the week. In the mean time our song of the day is a sentimental favorite of mine. It played itself on my iPod today and reminded me of a time when I danced to it with my dear cousins Michael and Alison in the kitchen of their parents home in Bristol, England 20 years ago this month. The Communards Don't Leave Me this Way. Here is to you both, Michael and Alison!

Blog with you again tomorrow!

Paul

A good day...

Today,gentle readers, was a good day on the training front. As explained to you in a previous post, I have a little mini circuit training thing that I do some mornings and today was one of those days. I started out with a five minute walk on the treadmill followed by 3 sets of:

25 pushups
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 75lbs

Then, this afternoon I went for a 10 km run. The time wasn't particularly good as the road conditions were not good with a lot of freshly fallen snow and slush, bad for traction, but nonetheless, determination prevailed and I completed 9.7 km in just over an hour and ten minutes. Folks, it is Tuesday, and I already have over 30 km under my belt since Sunday - the km are building up and I am feeling pretty good that, with 66 days to go, I will not disappoint you on March 28th.

Today's song was a Lyle Lovett classic: Here I am

Tomorrow, back both in the gym and on the treadmill - stay tuned.

Indoor day.

Faithful readers - today was a day of not insignificant excercise but it was all done indoors.

At lunch today, my friend and trainer, Andy came over and we completed a series of combinations:

Pushup/Pike with Leg extensions/hip lifts (15 x 2 sets)
Squats (25 body weight, 12 with 135lbs, 36 with 165lbs)
Lateral pulldowns with 85 lbs (12) and 95 lbs (24)
Bench Press with 95 lbs (12) and 125 lbs (36)
Spider Crawl (2 x 10)

After that, accompanied of course by completely inadaquate amounts of stretching, I returned to the office.

This evening, I completed a 3.22 km recover run on the treadmill. It went quite well but treadmill running is not nearly as much fun as road work. Nonetheless, my iPod did its best to ensure a steady supply of music and, as such, we have a Canadian song of the day. A really obscure cover of Smoke on the Water, renamed Dopes on the Water and played on Mandolin by local Toronto Techno Progressive Punk and all round Who fan - Nash the Slash.

Also of note - today Paramount released the Teaser Trailer for the new Star Trek film, premiering in 340 days on December 25th. The trailer can be found on YouTube.

Live long and prosper!

68 days to go!

Hi everyone,

A bad couple of weeks training, I am afraid. A fair bit of travel and it was way too cold up in Yellowknife to run more than once but we progress nonetheless...

OK so this weekend. Yesterday my youngest son and I went to workout with our trainer for a good hour of circuits. That certainly was a lot of fun - although Andrew, my son, is famous for his negotiation skills at getting out of one extra set from time to time.

Today was my long run day and 17.5 km was the distance ran. I now know with certainty that I will be able complete the distance of the half marathon as this far in front of it, I can do all but 4 km of the distance required. My time would be very poor, however, and so we have to get to the point where I can do perhaps 25 km in between two hours forty-five to three hours and then I will know that I can make my hoped for time of less that 2:20 to complete the half.

The route today started from Newmarket and went down through the Conservation area and into Fairy Lake park, it was cold but certainly more comfortable that the run in Yellowknife this past week. A lot of great songs presented themselves during the course of the 2+ hours it took me to complete the run, and so today we have two songs - they came back to back and while of similar periods, they are by very different artists. They sounded great together, though:

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney
Free Fore by Pink Floyd from the Obscured by Clouds LP

Andy is back with me tomorrow for some circuit training and I am now going to introduce some treadmill work into the mix as it appears to be the only way that I will be able to run through my Yellowknife work schedule this winter. Until tomorrow then, folks!

I must be mad!

Hi folks, sorry about the delay in getting back to you. After my last posting I did two more runs in Chatham, about another 12 km or so and then took a very short vacation in Washington DC with my son Andrew.

Today, lord help me, I am in Yellowknife in the Canadian Northwest Territories and, boys and girls, it is cold. The temperature is approximatly -16 C but with wind, probably a lot colder than than. Still the new winter gear served me well as I will be here a bit between now and Prague so my test run of 4 km worked out ok.

Today's song was Magneto and Titanium Man by Paul McCartney and Wings.

I expect to run again tomorrow night and will update the blog at that time.

Lunchtime run in Chatham

Hi everyone,

On a lunchtime run in the lovely town of Chatham today - 3.36 km, just a bit of a recovery run, really.

Just a brief post today as I am in the middle of a pretty intense week of travelling. Today's song was Queen's The Show Must Go On.

Post again in a day or so...

Paul

85 Days and counting

Well folks, best intentions aside, I did not get out on Sunday. I think my body was telling me "wait a second, Tiger, how about a day off for the first time in 10 days?"

So, today I did the long run instead and it was marvelous. 14.83 km with an acceptable pace.

Last week's statistics are up as well:

KM Run: 41.5
Weight: 111.7 kg (2 down, 11.7 to go!)
Longest Run: 13.8 km

Many great songs presented themselves during the just over 100 minutes of the run but I did have to pick one and have settled on:

One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer by George Thorogood

Keep the comments coming, folks, they are greatly appreciated - some more than others, but all welcome!

Friday and Saturday...

Hi everyone,

The last two days have each had a workout - a 7.4 km run yesteday and circuit training today with my sons.

Yesterday's run was a standard run near my place - I started off with a headache but ended up feeling great with a good time for such a distance and it was a beautiful night.

The song for the run was Science Fiction, Double Feature by the original Broadway cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show

Today the boys and I went over to Andy's and we did some circuit work including pulling a 30 kg punching bag across the floor, as many situps, pushups and squats as you can do in 45 seconds and lots of cario work.

Well, I am going to sign off for the evening but will be back tomorrow after a 15 km run. Talk to you then!

The days are starting to go down and the km up.

Hi everyone,

Today was one of my once per week double workouts. Circuit training with Andy in the morning, and a run in the afternoon. First the Circuit:

3 sets of:

20 x squats with 135lbs on the barbell
20 x lateral pulldown with 75 lbs
20 x overhead dumbell press with 25 lbs dumbells
10 x spider crall
20 x rowing with 95 lbs
20 x inclinded dumbell press with 40 lbs dumbells

After the completion of that joyous event, we moved onto abs:

2 sets of:

8 single armed situps with 20 lbs dumbells (each side)
20 "Toes to the sky"
20 second side planks (each side)

Boy, I feel tired just recanting it!

Tonight's run was near the office and it was cold, oh faithful readers, very cold. Anyway the distance was 5.63 km and whilest listening to it the song of the day presented itself and it was You are what you is from the Thing Fish album by Frank Zappa.

Back with you tomorrow....

Hitting the year with a bang!

OK, after our short but snowy Resolution Run in Newmarket yesterday, I decided that a longer run was required... So, as per the route shown our journey today was 9.36 km. It was cold and the road conditions were still poor but it was a very pleasant run nonetheless.

Both today and yesterday I also added a very simple morning workout, all of fifteen minutes long mostly designed just to help me wake up and work out the kinks. This routine will be added every day that I run unless I am also doing a session with Andy on the same day. Here is the routine:

5 minute uphill walk on the treadmill at 3 km/hr
2 sets consisting of:

25 situps
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 27 kg

By next week I will add some stretching to it.

With that, gentle readers, I leave you with our song of the day. Today's little diddy is called Gladiator's Song and it is by a German Progressive Rock band named Triumvirat.

Happy New Year 2008!

Well, faithful readers, happy new year - I hope that 2008 brings joy, happiness and success to each of you and your families.

Today was the Resolution Run - the route below in the new route section. 5.3km in horrible snowy conditions. It was fabulous - shown here is a picture of me lumbering across the finish line. I begin this year excitement and enthusiasm for what lies ahead - particularly the first quarter milestone of the half marathon in Prague, 88 days from today!

As it is the beginning of the month I will now post monthly statistics:



Weight as of January 1: 112.6 kg
KM covered in December: 124.42
Longest single run: 13.8 km on December 30th
Circuit training: 9 hours



And now onto today's running song of the day: Gates of Steel by Devo