Running With Jogging Stroller

My wife is out of town helping out her Brother and our Sister-in-law with their first baby. Baby ETA is tonight or tomorrow. Exciting stuff to have another baby in the family.

So I am on drop-off and pick-up duty this week with our 3 year old (our 8 month is with Mom). Since I missed my long run yesterday I was determined to get it in today. I had hoped to do it in the morning by running my son to Pre-School in the Jogging Stroller (a Chariot) and then continuing to get my total run in of 21.1 km (just a Half Marathon long run this week). The morning got away from me though and that was not going to work.

Not swayed by that I left work early, got home, changed, setup the Chariot and started the first part of the run without my son. I picked him up at the 14 km mark and he joined me for the last 7.1 km.

I am used to only taking one of the boys in the Chariot for a total run and I find that this is ok, though hard on the long runs of 20+ km. Pushing the stroller also makes the shorter, but faster pace runs, a much harder workout. Today's combination of 14 km without any child in the jogging stroller and then 7.1 km with a fully loaded 3 year old really drove home the point that "Man, it is a lot of work pushing the kids."

I never realized how difficult it was until today but needless to say, it was a hard 7.1k. I can only think it must me good for me since it is like an endurance strength work-out. It is a good upper body workout as well as you tip/lift the stroller over crubs/dumps and maneuver around obstacles so I tend to be a little sore/stiff in the arms/upper back the next day (especially after pushing my 3 year old).

I let my 3 year old know today that I appreciate him coming on my runs because he keeps me company, helps me work harder during my workout meaning Daddy gets stronger, and who would not love a companion that sings/tells me stories. Today's story was The Three Little Pigs; of which he would was the wolf and I played the pigs. We were going back and forth telling the story (mostly "let me come in," "not by the hair on my chinny chin chin," "I blew your house down Daddy," and repeat). You might be able to guess that my part was done a little out of breath. He enjoyed it though and it made the last 2 km fly by.

Nike iPod+ Application Locked Up

My last long run on Sunday was my longest run so far this season at 32 km. As those that read this often probably know, I use the Nike + iPod system to track my mileage and to help with training. I also use the results which are uploaded to the Nike+ site to track my progress and create neat graphs of my distance completed. I find that this tool is a great motivator, which we all need sometimes.

Well, I was pretty disappointed last Sunday when the Nike+ software locked up when I hit the End Workout button. I waited and it did not respond, it just sat there. Now, to complete the workout and have it save to the Touch's memory you have to hit a Done button after you review the workout. I never got a chance to hit the Done button. The Touch just froze.

I gave it 20 mins while I changed and drove to meet my running partner for a post run meal. But nothing, it was just hung there doing nothing. So a hard reset later and my workout data was lost. Bummer, since that workout is now lost and means my totals for March are impressive but not as a impressive with the missing 32 km.

This is the first time this has happened to me after a run such that I lost my workout. I have seen the app lock up before but not during a run. Applications locking up seem to be a problem occasionally on the iPhone/Touch (I have a Touch) due to memory leaks I am assuming. I have heard some antidocial reports to reboot your device every couple days or after a download of a large app. Some games (apps) use so much memory that it is suggested you reboot before playing them to make sure all resources are cleaned up.

Funny, how even the most user friendly devices still require a fair bit of know-how of what is going on inside the device to get the best user experience from it. I get this being a developer myself and into gadgets but I wonder how many people out there just find their gadgets an annoyance?

What ticks you off about technology?

Longest Run This Year

I had my longest training run of the year today, 32 km, and it went well.  Just 1 second off my goal pace so that was pretty good.

Joining me for 1/3 of the run was Hiking Man which made that hour fly by.  We talked about upcoming races and unless something intercedes we will be running the two 5 Peaks Trail races coming up in September and October.  There are 5 races over the summer/fall in our region but only one is in the spring, the rest are late August, September and October.  The two races we will do are near by (45 min drive at most), while the other 3 are 2-3 hours away which is more than I can work into a busy family schedule.

Today's run went well, but I did develop a pretty big blister (larger than a toonie) on my right foot behind the big toe.  This was disappointing since it slowed down my last about 5 km.  My big hope right now is that this blister will toughen up that section of my foot and be ready for the extra 10.2 km that race day will bring.

3 weeks to race day and I am getting excited.

I've probably said it here before but a Marathon has 2 halves, the first 32 km and the last 10.2 km.  The first half (32 km) is really about training, your training gets you here and you know you can do it.  The last half (10.2 km) is about the mental game, especially if you develop something like a blister on the first half.

So, with 3 weeks to go, I am now into taper mode.  Which means lower distance running but with higher speed to simulate race day.  Looking at the next 3 weeks I have a 13km, 8km, 21.1km, 13km, 10km, 16km, 10km, 5km, and Race Day (42.195 km).  So another 96.2 km until race day with 390 completed so far this year.

A Running Partner Helps A Long Run Fly By

I had great luck today, I had 2 running partners. First, my 3 year old asked to come on my run and since I was only running 24 km I said ok. (Next week I will have to pass since I have a 32 km run coming up.) So, we went to his swimming lesson, arrived home at noon, had a bit to eat and then packed the car with our gear (running gear, water, toys, food for both of us, and the chariot).

Since I was taking my son in the running stroller I figured the best route for least water, bumps, and maximum side walk space would be along the canal. So we headed down to Dow's Lake and parked. We began the run, my son quickly breaking out his food supplies since he mostly skipped lunch, and started from Dow's Lake towards Laurier.

At about the 4 km mark, I ran into Steve Mahood who ran on the 2007 CBC Ottawa Gotta Run team with me. He had about 16 km to go and was running near my pace so we joined up for our run. My son had passed out at about the 2 km mark and stayed sleeping until about kilometre 16.

Steve and I caught up, ran a little too fast, slowed down often to keep from blowing out but kept up a steady chat for most of the run. Things got a little quiet around the 18 km mark when we were both pushing it. It was good to catch up with an past running friend and it made the kilometres just slip by.

Makes me think I should run with someone more often, it was a good time and I still achieved my goal (while pushing the running stroller no less).

Cool Tech

Some things amaze even me. Now this one has been around for a while but I still think the idea is cool. In some races they will send an SMS message (a small text message of up to 140-160 characters) to the cell phone of a friend/family member with your time/place as you cross at certain points in the race. In Paris they will be sending out an SMS at the half way point 21.1km and at 30km.

The service is being offered by Gaz de France. In case my explanation was not clear, here is an animation they put together demoing the service: http://marathondeparis.jetmultimedia.fr/img/PopUp.swf

So far the site to register for this service has been flaky. I can not figure out the combo of name and birthdate it wants from me to register me. No error mesages, just a little > Invalid < message.

So once I figure out how to get into the site I will see how many people I can register. If you are interested in me adding you to the list then send me a mail with your cell number. Family and friends first. I will also try adding my twitter feed so that it gets twittered. That will show up here or on the right or on my feed if you are subscribed.

Going Strong

Looking at the mileage so far this year I am blown away. Wow, the miles add up when you are training for a Marathon.

This year's training is going very well. Having completed my first Marathon last year I am more confident that with this year's outing. I feel stronger, I am completing my longer runs without the problems that plagued me (calf pains), I am not very sore after my long runs (only stiff for a day though the blisters I have collected last week had me limping a bit on Monday and Tuesday).

Running this much means more shoes. The pair I have now I purchased in the fall last year and I will need to get a new pair to break in for the Marathon. The ones I have now are no longer lasting to the end of my long runs. So they are fine for shorter (10km-ish) runs for a while.

As for some of the issues you must deal with when you start running for 3+ hours (if you are a 4h 28min range Marathon runner, my time from last year), I have been revisiting them recently:

• Blisters: little ones and a huge one on my arch from my orthotics. I am double socking it with under/wicking socks but it is not stopping the fact my feet need to build up some callouses to handle the beating.
  
• Friction Burns (only thing I can think to call them) in private areas, under arms, nipples. Body Glide (looks like a stick of deodorant) has helped out here very well. One note, don't wear one of your favorite shirts when using Body Glide or other anti-friction creams since you may end up with a shirt that is now permanently stained from the oil I assume is in the product. Not sure if the stain came from Body Glide or something else I tried.
• Training takes a long time. You need a supportive spouse when you have 2 children under 4. My wife is a key part of my training plan, her support helps me attain this silly goals I set.
• Sleep is critical. You need more. Missing it (sick, teething 6 month old, overtime) leads to lower energy, possibility of injury and of course being overtrained (which basically translates to under rested for a simplistic look at it).
  
• Food is critical. Junk in, junk out. Be good to yur body, refuel during your run (I refuel about every 45 mins and take water every 20 mins or when I feel thristy).
  

Your body is not a temple, it is a big house of cards and each piece of food, each ounce of sleep, and each training session is just one small piece of the foundation that keeps your house strong.

Underslept + Hard Training = Overtraining

My 6 month old has been teething for about 3 weeks now. He is onto the 7-8 teeth now. My wife, bless her soul, has been taking the brunt of it in the night times (getting up with him) but we are all not getting enough sleep. A screaming kid in the house in the night time does not a good sleep make.

So, pile that one with the training which I have been working very hard to on, and I was blown this week. I rested on Monday instead of cross training, I ran hard on Tuesday, then cross trained on Wednesday, but Wednesday night was a low sleep night so I took off Thursday/Friday/Saturday, and did my long run today.

I needed the break,even with skipping one of my runs, my legs were heavy at the start of the run today. I was facing a 29km run today at a goal pace of 6:09/km. I was blown at about 27km and at 28km I stopped and walked the rest of the way home (only .43km). Actual time was 3hr 1min 55sec or 6:24/km.

Not bad considering I only started to dial up the distance last month, but I am hoping I get more sleep this week so I can tackle next weekends 32km with a little more pep. Here I am hoping to have pep running 32km, heck I am pretty stoked I can hammer out 28km right now. I got a glimpse today that even with a compressed training schedule (I wish I had 4 more weeks) I should be ready for the Marathon in April.

Now, I am going to go crash and read a book while I wait for my family to get home.