Running week in review Part 18 & 19

I think we will be all agree, this is either one of the coolest lines in movie history or the start of the worst one liners in history by Ah-nold. One thing for sure, it's great to be back at it.

I thought for sure my reintroduction to running would be hellish and I would end up like this dude. Look at him, he's a mess. After a three month mistake of taking the winter off, I wasn't looking forward to the awful feeling of exhaustion. What do you know, what happened over the last few weeks have really surprised me.

March 30 - April 5, 2008

Total Distance: 31.04 kms

Average Pace: 6.10

Average Speed: 9.7km/h

My first week back was a tremendous success and also tremendously exhausting. Although I ran a very respectful 31.04kms, my body constantly told me that it was tired and needed a break. Thanks to my Steve Miller Band on my Ipod, it drowned out what my body had to say. I did however, stop at least once during every run for a stretch break.

The first 3 runs I had was 7k each then I moved up to 10k, which was alot faster than I was expecting. I thought for sure I would be starting at 5k and stuck there for a while.

April 6 - 12, 2008

Total Distance: 54.00 kms

Average Pace: 6:01

Average Speed: 10:00 km/h

This week was impressive, for one I uped my pace and speed, nothing overly dramatic but gradual works for me. But my mileage was surprising. They say to increase your mileage by 10% each week, but what can I say I'm addicted once again. I just hope I don't get injured like I did when I was training for the Toronto Marathon back in September. That was awful.

My plan is to stay in the 50km a week over the next few weeks with the hopes to improve on my pace and speed. I want to get back to my pre-marathon conditioning. The one thing that will surely help me is to drop some weight. They say for every pound gained, that's an additional 75 pounds of pressure on your knees when you run. So this is a priority right now. My run fat boy run conditioning is working good. I decided not to weigh myself but to use the fit of my clothes as an indication of my fitness level. Also, if Suzanne starts staring at me more, I'll know I'm on the right track.

My plan is to run a few marathons this year, but I have to start short in order to peak for the Toronto International Marathon in October. My goal is to run the Toronto in the best shape of my life in the hopes of running a pre 4 hour marathon this time around.

Although I have not registered yet, I would like to for the Mississauga Half Marathon on the weekend of May 10, 11.

ANYONE WANNA RUN WITH ME? We have 29 days to get ready.

I'll keep you posted.