Last day on the treadmill

Didn't have enough time to run this morning. It was very cold outside and it snowed again last night. Probably couldn't really have ran outdoors as the pavements were covered in a thick layer of snow. Got back to the hotel after a full day working and ran on the treadmill again.

Yes it is so boring. To keep going I had to play mind games with myself, first pretending that I was going to stop at 6k, then 8k but finally ended up doing 10k in about 46 minutes. Did 5:00/k for about 8 minutes to warm up, then the rest of the way at 4:23/k with the last couple of minutes at 4:08/k, then a quick warmdown. Wasn't breathing very hard for the whole session, just slowly going crazy from having nothing to look at despite the TV being on (can't really hear it).

View outside the window

Location 44°N 93°W

Outside in the snow

Did my first run outside on this trip. Just about getting light at 6:30am when I set off. It snowed yesterday morning so there was plenty of snow around (at least for me) especially where it had been piled up by snowploughs. Ran along a long straight road on the pavement. Pavement was mostly clear of deep snow with only a thin layer of compacted snow. Traction was fine on these. Problems arise when there is a dark patch with no apparent snow. These areas are potential areas for slippy slidy ice.

Ran for around 17 minutes along the wide 4 lane road past some houses, a couple of very big malls until the pavement disappeared under a thick layer of snow. After some searching I gave up and turn round to go back. Don't want to risk stepping into a big drain which is hidden by snow. Did a small extra loop near the hotel to make it 40 minutes along a residential streets. Houses round here are usually made from wood, pretty typical to what you see in some American movies.

Didn't feel too cold even though I think it must have been below freezing. Not being windy probably helped too. Had a medium weight long sleeve jersey and running tights with a windproof top over the jersey.

Location 44°N 93°W

On the treadmill

Missed breakfast this morning as I was getting picked up at 7:30am from the hotel but got delayed at the gym. Had to wait for people to finish their workout on the treadmill before I could get on. I wouldn't call it a workout as he was going so slowly that he might as well go out for a morning walk. Should have gone for a run outdoors as it is still unseasonably warm (above freezing) outside with the pavements being free from snow. Ended up doing about 8 minutes of warmup at 5:00/k and then 5x (2:30 @ 4:25/k + 2:30 @ 3:45/k). It was hard as I always find running on a treadmill more difficult than running outside.

Location 44°N 93°W

Hello America

Finally got to the hotel at about 8pm last night after the BMI flight into Chicago was delayed, causing me to miss the connecting American Airlines flight back over the lakes to upstate New York. This made it an 18 hour day from leaving home this morning.

Flew over Newfoundland and Quebec in Canada before crossing over the great lakes to land in Chicago. The part of Canada that we flew over was covered in snow. However, the landscape was quite different compared with Siberia. Had a very unique light meal before landing in Chicago. It was several little sweet and savoury pastries on a nice glass serving plate. Tasted nearly as good as it looked.

Over Quebec in Canada

Small Treats

Weather here is far warmer than expected, probably just around freezing at night. Hotel had a good gym, good at least in terms of treadmills. There were two heavy duty treadmills which have maximum speeds of over 16km/h. More than enough for me. Did about 10k on it this morning in around 48 minutes. Played with different speeds (from 4:20-5:00/k) to keep me occupied as it was so boring.

First day of visit to operating site here. Should be an interesting week.

Location 44°N 93°W

On the way to the airport...

Left home at 0700 this morning to drive to Manchester Airport to catch the 1050 flight to Chicago. There was a warm glow on the eastern horizon with the remnant lights of a few bright stars still just about visible. Little did I know what I would be driving through in about 20 minutes time.

Driving past the west side of Birmingham on the M5 it started raining. The rain started getting heavier but it wasn't big splotches of water. The view from the windscreen started to resemble a room where several feather-filled pillows had exploded. Big flakes of snow filled the air. Beginning to feel the highly variable traction under the tyres of the car. The grip was especially poor in the outside lane. By this time I had slowed down to a sensible speed for the conditions and stayed in the middle to inside lane where it was just water rather than a slushy mixture.

Before long there were blue flashing lights ahead where a police patrol vehicle had stopped because a car was stuck on the inside barrier facing the wrong way. It must have lost traction somehow and spun round. There was another similar incident a bit further down the motorway, and then another. This went on for a bit and I must have counted at least 4 more. Pretty scary. Maybe they were driving far too quick for the conditions.

Just as quickly as it started, the snowstorm ended. It must have been a wave of cloud passing through. Bright morning sunshine again ahead. Got to Manchester Airport with plenty of time to spare. Refueled and dropped off the hire car (Peugeot 307, not very exciting to drive so no review) only to get stuck in a slow moving queue at check in...

Location 53°N 2°W

Keep it moving

Did what should have been a nice 1 hour run today over a decent route. However, what spoiled it a bit was the lingering remnants of Tuesday training in the legs. Didn't have the normal smoothness and had to put in a bit more of an effort but I survived.

Location 53°N 1°W

Short and sharp

10x80m + 6x150m + 10x80m all with very little recovery... It was HARD. Not the sort of hard training that I like. Didn't feel too hard at the start of the sessions but it gradually hits you. Towards the end legs feel like jelly and throat burning from the cold air. It was by a sweets factory too so had to contend with the smell of mint in the air.

Location 53°N 1°W

Horizontal on the pavement

Led the usual Thursday group on a route of my choice. We usually take turns to choose the route. A bit of an up and down route, with two long hills. A bit like running around the 15k Lake Gardens route in KL. Except that the area around Lake Gardens are far more pleasant than this route which goes through some less salubrious areas of Sheffield. Perhaps not a good way to go if you are a slow runner on your own. Not from the threat of violence of course, more from the shouting and abuse you might get from youngsters.

Anyway, went over the first hill, downhill for a bit, and then started on the second long hill. Nice evening, not too cold, no breeze, and more importantly my knee was fine. Despite regrouping every now and then, gaps were beginning to open up by now. Having reached the top of the second (and final) hill in the front, I turned back down the hill to meet up with the tailenders. They were a long way behind. The rest just continued on their way while I finally met the last two people and ran with them up the hill again.

Going along at a nice easy pace and chatting about the likes of Bekele losing a recent indoor 3000m race because he miscounted the laps. Next moment I realised I was heading for the pavement. It's those moments when things happen so quickly that there is no thinking involved, just instinct. In a flash it was over. I must have slid a little bit along my chest, face down but my hands did not touch the pavement too much. Not even the smallest scrape on my chin. Quickly got back up and felt sore on the bottom end of my left palm and right elbow. Checked other places for damage. Perhaps a bit of skin loss on the right knee (thanks to the tights) and a little nick on my right palm. Luckily nothing serious. Looks like I tripped over a big piece of stone (probably about 40cm x 20cm x 20cm) which had fallen off the side wall onto the middle of the pavement. The two other guys moved the stone out of the way and asked how I was.

Well I was good enough to resume running whilst going through the checklist that one makes after falling down to estimate the damage, a bit like an insurance estimator. Looks like no major damage but will hurt quite a bit in the shower. Damn!! What's the funniest thing about it? Apparently the group ahead saw the rock and avoided it while making a comment that someone could really trip over it. Why didn't they stop and move it? Maybe they thought that no one would be clumsy enough. It was a wonderful run though if it wasn't for the accident.

One piece of advice. If you are falling down, a natural reaction is to stick the hands out. However, this may be a bad idea if speeds involved are high because you could damage your wrists or break you arm. On the other hand, if your shoulder hits the ground hard enough, you might break your collarbone (scapula). Many cyclists get this injury but I haven't heard of a runner doing it to himself. Injuries caused by scraping along the ground are usually not very deep but look a lot worse than they really are due to the area. And yes, it does sting like hell in the shower...

Location 53°N 1°W

The sweet taste of hills

It was fartlek training today. Fartlek doesn't refer to any bodily function. It is merely a Swedish (I think) word meaning "speed play". And so it was, a good fun session which I like. It involves running fairly easily and then putting in several hard efforts as you wish. In this case it is when the coach wishes. A coach with over 20 years experience in coaching long/middle distance runners (most notably the 4th place finisher in the Olympic marathon in Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 in his younger days, also another runner who has done 61' in a hill half marathon) and a good runner in his own right (just sneaked under 40' in recent 10k, will be 60 in a few months).

Starts off with a bit of a warmup, a moderate run on flat roads along the valley. Effort for 400m. "Recovery" if you could call that is up a fairly steep hill which is about 600m long, a bit more recovery on a rare bit of flat road. Hard for 100m flat then round a sharp bend for about 100m uphill, recovery down a flight of steps, repeat once. After this it becomes a bit hazy trying to get breath back and clear lactic acid in the legs. It mostly involves jogging on the flat bits and doing hard efforts up long and short hills, some of which pretty steep.

Legs felt a bit weak on some of the flatter bits where the speed demons just went for it. Come to the steep hills I found that I still had a bit of a kick in the tank. Maybe its my lack of weight or something. Just able to find that extra bit on. Managed to overtake someone with a half marathon PB of 75' on a sharp rise and also getting close whenever the road turned skywards. The last effort is probably the longest one and it is flat. Unfortunately my legs were a bit weak by then but could still hold on to finish with a bit of a sprint. Well no, the real ending was bending over with hands on hips gasping for the last bit of cold crisp air. Total distance is around 11km including warmup and cooldown runs.

Don't think I'm a 100% yet. Still a bit light on the flat sprints. But at least its a good session. A large part of running is mental, if you feel right, you will go well. If you believe you are good at a certain aspect, the belief makes you push harder or train more in that particular area. Ah the sweet taste of hills when you feel that you are just floating up them.

Location 53°N 1°W