Huh…
I just finished another pair of shoes (500+ miles), which meant that in addition to starting the new pair, I saved and exported the old pair’s mileage from my iPod so that I could start the count anew with the fresh pair.
As mentioned somewhere previously on this blog, I’m not actively going for a new mileage record this year (which has been incredibly demotivating), mainly because I’m pretty sure my entire family would want to throw me in the river if I were to obsess over mileage even an iota more than I did last year.
So when I checked my mileage progress for this year so far as I entered the new miles in my little spreadsheet, imagine my surprise when I found this:
- Cumulative miles from January 1 to May 2 in 2023 (my record year so far): 2040.27
- Cumulative miles from January 1 to May 2 in 2024: 2125.24
UM.
But then I realized that 1) I had not yet bumped up my daily mileage to 18 miles in 2023 by this point in the year, and 2) I had not yet run a marathon distance in 2023 by this point in the year, whereas I’ve done multiple marathons, multiple 50 Ks, and a 60 K so far this year.
Still, though, I was not expecting the mileage to be that close and for 2024 to be (even a little bit) higher.
I’m going to have to try really hard not to use this as a sign from the universe to go for a new mileage record.
Really, really, really hard.
Also, I’ve taken over 101 million (recorded) steps since I moved to Calgary, which is pretty sweet.
Sixty
It’s done, yo!
My first 60 kilometer (37.28 mile) run.
This was NOT The day to do this. I was not in the mood to run today, I felt like garbage this morning, I got up later than I wanted to, and I ran approximately 18 consecutive miles into 30 mph headwind.
(Hence the terrible pace)
But I did it anyway because I’m stubborn like that.
So this is currently acting as my virtual ultra for the Calgary Marathon. Will I do another one of these? Possibly, if for no other reason than to overwrite that terrible pace.
But the distance has been accomplished at least once, and that’s fine with me.
NOBODY CARES
What normal people do when they’re sad and want to be happy again: listen to music, be with family/friends, go for a walk, watch a fun TV show, eat tasties.
What I do when I’m sad and want to be happy again: sign up for marathons
I HAVE A PROBLEM
Anyway, I’m signed up to do Bloomsday, several marathons, a 50K, and the Calgary Marathon Ultra (60K) over the next several months, so LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO
(I wanna die)
Early Morning Vrooming
I was planning on just doing an 18-mile run this morning because we were going to head to Nate’s parent’s place for an overnight stay, but plans fell through and I ended up doing a 50k instead.
Because I’m that kind of person now.
I probably could have gone for my 60k if I had taken water with me. The drinking fountains aren’t on yet and by the time I was at mile 28 or so it was starting to get quite warm out.
So maybe next weekend.
Oh. Also. For the first twenty miles or so, I’m just minding my own business, thinking about all the weird stuff I always think about on my runs…but then guess what song pops into my head?
It was stuck in my head for ELEVEN MILES.
Freaking AI.
HE DID IT, GUYS
Remember when I posted about Russ Cook (“Hardest Geezer”) and his attempt to run the length of Africa?
He finished today.
It took him 352 days and a lot of health, political, and logistical issues, but he did it.
That’s absolutely ridiculous. He was running like 60K+ every single day. I can’t even imagine that.
You can still donate to his charities!
Today’s Running Question: Can I Beat the Storm?
Answer: Nope.
I could see the clouds encroaching, but I could not outrun them. Got blasted with wind and very cold rain for about five miles.
But the payoff was nice:
Adventures in Running: Ultra Marathon, Non-Potable Water, and Waiting to Die
Ha.
So.
Today I went for a run. Nothing unusual there. I was aiming for at least 29 miles, but was hoping to do another 50k because it’s been a while and I REALLY need to get my mileage up for the 60k coming in May/June.
The run was really nice. Not too hot, not too cold, not too many people out, and I was deliberately trying to take it a bit slower than normal so that I wouldn’t completely burn out if I decided to go for the 50. Also, rather than run through the icy/slushy/wet hell that is Sue Higgins Park (a dog park), I took Nate’s advice and crossed the river to run on the other side.
I also did this because there were public bathrooms there that I was sure I had gotten water from last summer (we had walked down there with my mom).
So all was going well. The other side of the river was WAY nicer than the dog park side, and when I got to 14.5 miles, I turned around to head back home with the intention of stopping at the public bathroom (mile…18?) to grab some water with my little collapsible silicone cup.
Luckily there was no one in there, so I just held my breath (Covid fears…yes, I know, I know…), filled up the cup all the way, and went back outside to drink it.
Tasted kinda off, but not too bad.
Went back in to get some more just to wash out my mouth a little.
And when doing so, I noticed the big sign on the wall: “DO NOT DRINK THE WATER”
Sooooo…yeah. Apparently I’d just drank non-potable water.
(Which is weird, because I’m sure that I drank from that sink last year, hence my not even considering there was a “don’t drink the poop water” sign anywhere)
So I spent the rest of my run wondering if/when I’d experience any negative side effects from that.
I did do 50k, though, and was actually able to run up our hill at the end of the distance, which is not something I thought I’d be able to do at mile 30.5.
So maybe the poop water gave me extra power?
We’ll see if I die in the next few days, haha.
(One can only hope.)
Running Worries
So my ultra marathon is in like three months and I have barely been able to train for it at all because the weather’s been ass. I don’t train like a normal person because my body is truly weird, so my training process is “increase the long run mileage by one mile each weekend until I hit the desired distance of 60K (37 miles).”
Right now I can run a marathon distance without much trouble (I run one every weekend I’m able to run outside), so I’m going to need about 11 weeks to hit my goal.
BUT TIME IS RUNNING OUT
Part of the problem is that yes, I have a treadmill, but there’s no way in hell I could ever run that far on it. I can barely do 14 miles and 18 (my treadmill version of my weekend “long run” when I can’t go outside) is really tough.
So I won’t be able to work on increasing my distance until I’m able to (consistently) run outside.
Like…last weekend was great! 27 miles outside, no problem. But this weekend is too freaking cold (and snowy) to be doing anything outside,* so I had to do a short “long run” and not work on increasing my miles.
It’s just frustrating. It also doesn’t help that I was just really lucky with the weather last year this time and had no problem ramping up the mileage to hit marathon distance prior to the end of May.
*I walked the 1.5 miles to North Hill after running and I felt like I was in some sort of Antarctic storm simulator.
Run, Jacket, Run!
So I broke down and bought one of these jackets from the Running Room a while ago because I’ve seen a lot of Cool People out running in them and I wanted to be a Cool People, too.
I got the “racing red” one, because of course I did.
(I’d get one of those brighter ones, but my running gear gets SO DIRTY SO QUICKLY and I don’t want to run around in a grimy bright green thingy.)
I finally got the chance to wear it on my run the other day and it’s FREAKING GREAT.
It looks like it would be like any other jacket of this material and not breathe at all, but it does. It’s also got mega armpit vents that you can unzip to keep cooler if needed.
The small is really big on me ‘cause I’m short as hell, but it’s still big enough to go over my running pack rather than having to fit underneath it. And the sleeves are nice and long, too, which makes up for the lack of thumb holes.
So if you live in Canada and/or are ever up here looking for a nice running jacket, give this one a try!
STILL GOT IT
It’s good to know I can still do a marathon even though I haven’t been able to get outside and run that distance in several weeks.
I hate being stuck inside.
OH, and I lost another toenail. Kinda. This is just like the top layer of one of my toenails, but that still counts, right?
PUT IT IN THE TOENAIL BAG!
(Also, absolutely no nausea today, so who the hell knows.)
Want My Workout (Running) Playlist?
Yes you do, don’t lie.
- All About Wicked Wonderland – NilsOfficial
- Are You Ready to Go – SATV Music
- Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
- Barbie Dreams (feat. Kaliii) – FIFTY FIFTY
- Barbra Streisand – Duck Sauce
- Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
- Boss Bitch – Doja Cat
- Call On Me – Eric Prydz
- Call On Me (Live) – SYNTHONY
- Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Candy Girl (Sugar Sugar) – Riverdale Cast
- Club Can’t Handle Me – Flo Rida
- Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex
- Crab Rave – Noisestorm
- Damn Son – Tobu
- Don’t Wake Me Up – Diamond
- DVNO – Justice
- End of Time – Beyonce
- Eros and Apollo – Studio Killers
- Euphoria – Muse
- Everybody – Nicki Minaj
- Exit the Premises – Kevin Macleod
- Feel This Moment – Pitbull
- Frantic Feathers – The Snake Charmer
- Gimme More – Britney Spears
- Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne
- Gone – JR JR
- Good Girls Gone Bad – Cobra Starship
- The Hampster Dance Remix – Hampton the Hampster [this is a banger, fight me]
- Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Hello (Single Edit) – Martin Solveig & Dragonette
- Here It Goes Again – OK Go
- Hey Baby – 4-2-4
- Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani
- Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
- I Love It (feat. Charli XCX) – Icona Pop
- International Love – Pitbull
- Levels – Avicii
- Levels (In Reverse) – Avicii
- Light It Up – Major Lazer
- Living On Video – Pakito
- Lose My Breath – Destiny’s Child
- MmmmBop (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Mo Bounce – Iggy Azalea
- More – Usher
- Ode To The Bouncer – Studio Killers
- One O Six (A.N.D.Y. Remix) – Jupiter
- Peanut Butter Jelly – Galantis
- Pork and Beans – Weezer
- RAININ’ FELLAS – Todrick Hall
- Rain On Me – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
- Shake It – Metro Station
- Shout Out to My Ex (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Single Ladies – Beyonce
- Sleepyhead (Haydn Hoffman Remix) – Passion Pit
- Some Say the Devil Is Dead – Ceol
- Sorry – Justin Bieber
- Starships – Nicki Minaj
- Stronger – Kanye West
- Stupid Love – Lady Gaga
- Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
- Superstar – Toy-Box
- T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever) – will.i.am feat. Mick Jagger & Jennifer Lopez
- Tarzan Boy – Bango
- Take a Chance On Me (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Technologic – Daft Punk
- Telephone (feat. Beyonce ) [Electrolight Remix] – Lady Gaga
- Tell Me Ma – Sham Roc
- This Is So Good (Radio Edit) – Ehrencrona
- Viva La Vida – Coldplay
- What a Feeling – Peter Luts & Dominico
- Where Them Girls At – David Gutta
- Wind It Up – Gwen Stefani
- Work Bitch – Britney Spears
- Work This Body – WALK THE MOON
- http://www.nevergetoveryou – Prozzak
- 45 (Radio Mix) – Stars on 45
Luck of the Bucks
I found $15 on my run this morning! It pays to exercise, haha.
I used to find cash ALL THE TIME when I was out walking. Like, I found a $50 once by a bus stop. I haven’t found as much cash since the start of COVID, but that’s probably just from people relying on using their cards more.
Still, though. Dolla dollas!
Sp-sp-sp-speed
Well I hit that resolution a lot faster than I thought I would.
I think I was so fast* this time because it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to run outside and my body was just so happy about it that it wanted to go zoom!
A pace faster than 9:00 sustained for 26 miles is really fast for me.
Now my legs are going to fall off, haha.
Edit: MY QUAAAAAAAAAADS
*By “fast” I mean “subjectively fast for me.” This would get me laughed out of contention for any real competitive marathon race.
Seattle Marathon Swag
Dudes, isn’t this a pretty medal?
One of these days I’ll run a race in person, I swear.
I’m just still scared of COVID.
(And can’t travel during the semester.)
Awooga
(This has absolutely nothing to do with anything I did today, but that’s like half my blogs anyway, so whatevs.)
So I have two different directions I go when I go on my long runs. At the bottom of our hill at the River Path, I either go:
1) left, heading east until I hit the Bird Sanctuary, then I head south until I get to my turn round point, or
2) right, heading west into Bowness Park and then turn north into the Scenic Hills and Tuscany neighborhoods until I get to my turning point.
The first route is WAY flatter than the second route. Observe:
Elevation change for the first route:
Elevation change for the second route:
Note the y-axes in those.
You’d think the first route would be easier, right?
Eh. It’s a lot more monotonous than the second route, and also it’s uphill (even very slightly) on the return trip. The second route is much more varied in terms of scenery and neighborhoods and it’s basically downhill the whole return trip, which is really nice, haha. Especially on a marathon+ run.
Does anyone actually give a crap about this? Nah. But again…that’s like half my blogs.
NUMBER ONE
My first marathon of the year!
I didn’t make it an official resolution or anything, but I’d like to run a marathon a week if possible. There are going to be weeks where it’s too cold to run outside or too smoky or too hot (and there’s no way I can run a whole marathon on the treadmill) so this is not a “EVERY WEEK OR ELSE” thing, but if I can, I’m going to try to do a marathon for my weekend long run each week.
Am I already going to miss a weekend next weekend because it’s supposed to be like -17? Probably. Haha.
Also, this sign:
This is right where I start/end my run, haha.
It’s Not Even a Contest Anymore
It’s time for that racing chart of my cumulative walking/running miles from year-to-year.’
Where’s the glitz? Where’s the glamor? Where’s the excitement?!
It’s not there. 2023 trumps all.
2024 will (likely) not eclipse 2023, so there may be some excitement next year.
But since it’s tradition, here it is.
Walk da Walk, Run da Run (2023 Edition)
Is it walking/running stats time yet?
YES??
WOOOO!!!!
Here are my walking stats for January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
Total number of days walked/ran: 365
Total mileage: 6,515.09
Total number of steps: 14,228,321
Total calories burned: 479,577
Total walking/running time (minutes): 95,233.67 [that’s about 66.13 days]
Average speed (mph) per walk/run: 4.55
6,515.09 miles is approximately the great circle distance between San Diego, California and Naples, Italy or between Helsinki, Finland and Cape Town, South Africa.
I beat last year’s mileage by almost 1,000 miles. Almost. I should have tried harder.
Anyway.
I’m pretty sure Nate will divorce me if I keep ramping this up, so I took the preventative measure of only walking 16 miles today, as the first day of the year basically sets the precedent for the rest of the year.
Edit: the fact that I’m not going to be breaking an old record this year has taken away a big portion of my already very tiny will to live. So that’s fun.
I did not participate in this…
But let’s pretend I did!
It’s the Runner’s World Running Survey 2023. LET’S GOOOOOOO
I have indicated what my response would be by putting a red circle over the appropriate response in each infographic.
I’m circling both for this one, as my first actual serious attempts at running were when I lived in Vancouver (so when I was 22/23), but then I stopped and started again in 2020 when I was 32.
I’m in the majority here.
I’m not in the majority here, haha.
Yeah, it’s a problem.
Another majority.
Don’t bother me when I’m running. Running is my “me time.”
Woo!
Wafflin’
So I’ve been running from my office (rather than from home) the past several runs. When I do so, I always forget to grab my chocolate milk and throw it in the lounge fridge.
And when I ran from my office this morning, that’s exactly what I did. Forgot my choccy milk.
However, I’d bought a few energy waffles last time I was at Safeway because I wanted to try them (as an alternate to the Gu packets). Specifically, these:
So I tried one.
It was super tasty! It’s a lot softer than it looks and kind of melts into a gritty chew when you bite it. This one is honey flavor; I also have a few salted caramel flavored ones too (because the salted caramel has been my favorite Gu flavor so far).
So yeah, if you need some energies, give these a try!
6×1000
Bros, I hit 6,000 walking/running miles today!
Remember back when 5,000 miles was my goal and how much work that was? Yeah, add another 1,000 miles on top of that.
Now I just need to do about 200 more to hit my ultimate goal of 10,000 kilometers for the year. And assuming I don’t die, I should be able to do that in the last month of the year!
Woo.
Ultra
GUYS, I DID IT
I ran an ultra-marathon!*
50K (31.1 miles) to be exact. It took me five hours, but I did it. Got a badge on my Garmin, too.
Turns out breaking through that marathon barrier is much more mental than it is physical (though I kind of figured it would be).
Now…any other year, this distance would be sufficient. But because the Calgary Marathon is celebrating it’s 60th year next year, the ultra-marathon distance has been increased from 50K to 60K. So I need to tack on another 10K (6.2 miles) to what I ran today. That’s another hour-ish of running.
Can I do it?
I guess we’ll see!
It’s so nice, though, to have this distance accomplished.
*I guess any distance longer than a marathon is technically an ultra, but 50K is the generally accepted “shortest” ultra distance in most cases when it comes to actual races.
Longest run AND fastest marathon time?
I’ll take it.
I felt really good today. Like…I felt like I could have gone 50k (31 miles), but I figured I should NOT make that big of a distance jump, just to be safe.
This was counting for my (virtual) Seattle Marathon run, too, so that’s neato.
Edit from mid-December: swag shirt! This one looks super cool (that’s the back of it).
THREE THINGS TODAY
First: I did my longest run ever this morning: 27.2 miles. I also did my fastest marathon time of 4:15. That’s still really slow, but it’s fast for me.
Second: Nate’s mom came up to take him to Canmore for his surgery. They should be back tomorrow afternoon. I hope everything goes well!
Third: I made layer cookies!
The end.
I am a FREE RADICAL
Today was a 27-mile run into a new region of Calgary. Behold!
(Also my fastest marathon time)
(Also, it’s wild that I’m still running in shorts in mid-November)
The area circled in blue is new to me. I’m right up against the edge of the city!
Am I going to apologize for posting a running blog every weekend?
No. No I’m not.
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