Sunday, March 2, 2008

Birthday Half Marathon Complete

Well, my first running goal of the year is complete. I ran a half marathon (13.1 mile/21.1 km) today. Ok, so I was a few days late (my birthday was on this Tuesday past) but I was recovering from a flu and it was freezing out last week.

It was an excellent day for a run. I started out and it was about -9 with little wind and by the end of the run it was -5 (barely any wind). It is also sunny out with no clouds in the sky. So all in all a great day for a run outside.

Besides being a planned annual event, this run was a good yardstick that I can use to measure my training as I get nearer to the Marathon. Todays run went pretty well but I was a little slower than I aimed for and the last 3 miles were hard ones.

Being me, I also decided on a route that had a few hills (nothing drastic like in Newfoundland but hills all the same with long climbs). I put 6 hills into the run which I figured would be an added bonus for this training run.

On a side note, Michele gave me a set of combo ski boots (cross country, skate ski, ice skating) for my birthday and a set of ice blades. I bought a set of touring skis (a classic ski combo for groomed trails and off-trail) which I am going out to pickup today. So now after wishing winter would end just a week ago I want to get out and squeeze every once of winter out of my new toys ;-)

Maybe I'll just go for a short skate on the canal today...

[Update: The speed skate blades for my ski boots rock. Just did a short 6 km skate on the canal with them.]

2 comments:

Scott Parsons said...

6kms of skating after you just ran a half?? You're sick man....and by the way I caught your damn flu. It put my training back a week.

MT said...

I was going to go for a ski with my new cross country skis in the evening but I decided against it last night. I was pretty tired after the run and skate.

The skate seemed to stretch my legs some though and loosen them up a bit. Muscles are pretty tired today; I am hobbling a bit.