20 Km and Rolling Pins and new DM

I ran a 20 K today. The run was not bad. A bit rainy, and in the low 40's. The route I am running currently is quite nice, with a lengthy boardwalk across a small lake. So you are surrounded by web-footed onlookers as you truck by. We ran into Burt again, a man pushing 70 years old, and still running 18K almost every day. I can see why so many athletes come from Victoria, you can train all winter long with little problems from inclimate weather. The kids didn't sleep last night, so I didn't sleep either. Subsequently, I ran on only 3 hours of sleep. I also have a cold from my children, so that was a nuiscance as well. We averaged 5:40 K's for the full 20 K so it was not a bad run at all--slow and steady was the goal today. I am definately sore as a result, and if I want to start streaking, I will have to run through some sore legs tomorrow. So where does the rolling pin come in? The guy I am running with is a Doctor, and told me if you struggle with stetching, you can improve your stetching by rolling your legs out with a rolling pin for about 10 minutes after each run. So I tried it and it definately works. It looks a bit funny, I must admit, but I just make sure I don't do it in public. We will continue to run between about 13K and 20K three or four times a week, and then once we get a good base down, we will start working on some longer distances, and crank up the speed. We ultimately would like to be up to about 80 K a week. I will still keep running Mount Doug as a sort of cross-training for myself on the off-days, to stay in trail running shape for the Gutbuster. The biggest challenge is just not getting injured. To train well, you need to push hard enough that you are super sore, but not so hard that you are injured. I find it is difficult to get the balance right. It is a fine line between mostly dead and completely dead. There-in lies my challenge.

Depeche Mode will be coming out with a new album early next year. I am so excited. Dave will write a few of the songs and that should be interesting. I have just heard a small blip or two, but I can tell it is going to be outstanding. The CD will be followed up by the "Tour of the Universe". I am so pumped and should start saving now, so I can either watch them in Vancouver, Seattle, or Utah. No matter where I go to watch the show, it will cost me hundreds at least, between tix, room and board, and ferry ride. I may be setting up a small donation based organization called "Fund my DM Addiction", to help ensure I make it to the concert (only kidding). I watched the full 1 hour interview when they annouced the tour, and thought it was one of their better media exploits. If you have ever seen some of their earlier interviews you know that they are not know for their brilliant tour announcements or interviews.

End of Semester, 15 Km, and X-Mas

I have just about wrapped up another semester of school. I am in the middle of my 19th year of school, and can't believe I still enjoy it. I have given my students their finals and have written 40 pages worth of reports. I have given many presentations, and just have one last 3 hour written exam on Monday. It feels great to have another semester behind me. The way I see it I only have about 12-14 semesters to go until I am finished with my post-doc. Well -- now that I put it that way, I am a little freaked out. I just take em' one at a time. I went to my first Master's defense the other day and it was interesting and unerving to see the difficult questions asked to the presenter. It will be a wild ride until I am in the hot seat, but I welcome the challenge. I have a lot of work to do, and plan on getting a head start over X-mas break.

Well my injury in early October was a costly one, and I lost 4 weeks of training time. I also was so busy that I honestly couldn't justify the time to running. So I started up again in November. I have been spotty at best, because of my time constraints. I finally found someone to train with, and will be running with my EQ president. He is pretty fast and pushes me hard. We did a 15Km on Monday and it was a quick one. We finished in 1:13:00 so that was a great time (for me, I held him back). We had plenty of 4:20 K's but to be competitive we need to be closer to 3:50 K's or 35 minute 10 K's. After the run I felt pretty good, but on Monday evening I began to get pretty tight. I feared runner's knee again, last bout of RK cost me 6 weeks. So I used rolling pins on my legs, and stretched, iced, and heated for two days straight. I think I have it under control. It was a close one though. I don't want any more injuries. We will run again Saturday for a faster 15 K. I will probably try a shorty tomorrow just to see if I am up to it on Saturday. I am so anxious to get into the 20-50 Km range I just push too hard and train unwisely. It is a case of having my will power out-preform my scrawny body. I have recently read an article on "Streakers" People who run every day consecutively for 30 plus years! Inspiring, and I am probably just crazy enough to try it.

Well with X-mas around the corner we went out and got our tree yesterday--a petite but plump and happy douglas fur. The kids were exstatic and were bouncing off the walls all night. I think it turned out nice. We also went into downtown today, to buy some ornaments for our mom's. There is a store here with 4 floors of ornaments. So we got our mom's Swedish ornaments. We also stopped off at a 19th century castle along the way. It was brilliant. We ended up having a great time as a family. The weather was brilliant and I haven't missed the snow at all. Well that should catch you up to my doings. I can't wait to do some X-mas baking but I have opted to watch my waistline this holiday so moderation will be key. I hope I have the will-power to stop from eating too many delicous sugar loaded desserts.