C25K W6D3
Today and for the next week will feature 25 minute runs following a 5 minute warm up.

I was very pleased with my run today. It was a cooler day @ only 16 degrees and a bit rainy. We're getting a wee bit of the tail end of Hurricane Gustav here today. Nothing much, a few high wind gusts and maybe only an hour of solid rain.

Anyway the run went pretty well. Along with it being my farthest pure running workout to date, it was both my overall fastest, and some of my individual kilometers we're the fastest I've had to date as well.

I've a busy day ahead with about 5 hours of study time scheduled for my PMP exam and a Toronto FC soccer game late this afternoon.

Shout Out to and from Phedippidations

Oh my. Today this little blog received a very nice shout out on my favourite podcast, Phedippidations. I may start having to be a lot more careful what I write on this simple little blog.

For those of you that haven't heard of Phedippidations I implore you to check it out. Quite simply it is the finest, most entertaining running podcast out there. Steve Walker, better known as Steve Runner has now developed and hosted 151 episodes of his program. It's an extremely entertaining show where he talks about running, runners, wine, family, marathons and life in general. Steve presents each podcast in a funny and highly interesting manner. Both the production quality and the content of Steve's podcast is second to none in the running world, and quite possibly in the entire world of podcasting. It's a fabulous approx. 1 hour program that Steve puts forward to the running community each and every week. He has both my gratitude for his show, and my respect for both his effort and his giving nature.
Thanks Steve,
Run Long and Taper.

Do yourself a favour and download Steve's show by searching Itunes for Phedippidations or go directly to http://steverunner.com/

On another front, I've signed up for the 5K on Sept. 28 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. This run comes just 2 days after the culmination of my C25K plan, so the timing couldn't be better. The actual Marathon is one of two large ones in Toronto this fall. As such, it has a lot of extra events around it including a Fitness Expo, massages, etc. As a 5ker I wont participate is some of the events but I am looking forward to taking in the expo. Some big names in the world of running, such as John Bingham will we holding seminars. It should be a good event and it gives me a nice target for the end of the C25K program.

Say Good Bye to my Little Friend!

C25K W6D2 was put to bed this morning. It's the last run that includes any walking intervals in the C25K plan. Yikes. As fellow C25K blogger, Gary said "I'm going to miss my little buddies."

Oh well, that's progress I guess. As I ran today I felt I was very close to being able to run without the break, and naturally did so in the final day of Week 5 as well. So the coming weeks I am sure aren't insurmountable, just a bit of a stretch on previous days, as is this entire wonderful running plan. 6 short weeks ago running 1 minute at a time was a challenge, and now we're up to 25.

I ran for the first time today in the new Nike's I mentioned in the earlier post. I'd been developing some knee pain, swelling and stiffness and decided to try the new shoe approach. I've been icing the knee and taking some ibuprofen, but rather than a simple overuse issue I thought I might have a slight pronation problem.

I went to my local Running Room Store and had the staff take a look. I'm always a bit suspicious whether the staff at a local store can effectively diagnose this with a quick look. Twice before the people at Running Room had a look and said I had a mild pronation problem which required a stability shoe. (My existin shoes were fairly new at that point so I hesitate to buy.)

This time, one person said it was a significant pronation problem and would require a mobility shoe. She wasn't entirely sure of herself however, and had a more experienced person look. This person disagreed with the other and said a stability shoe would do the trick. So effectively I've had 3 of 4 say a stability shoe, and that's good enough for me.

I settled on Nike Zoom Air Structure Triax II. How's that for a name! I'm sure Nike has a theory on advanced shoe pricing and the main component of the pricing structure is to charge $6 per letter in the shoe's name.

Anyway, I ran in the today, and I must say they feel quite a bit different than my previous Saucony Grids.

These are an all round firmer more structured shoe, with a higher arch and a significantly firmer (almost hard) insole. I thought they were a bit more comfortable and certainly a more stable shoe. Although to the touch, they don't feel very cushioned, in use I didn't detect a problem with the feel. My knee definitely didn't seem to feel as sore as I ran, although the test here will be how it feels a few hours after I run. I certain the inflammation will still take some time to dissipate but maybe this shoe change will prevent it from getting worse. I report back on it over the next couple of week, but, so far, so good.

New Shoes!

I picked up a pair of Nike Air Structure Triax 11 today. 

My one knee has been starting to bother me more and more over the last few weeks. It appears I have a mild overpronation issue and supposedly these shoes should help. We'll see. I certainly don't want the problem to get any worse. I've also taken an extra off day to help with the inflamation. So I'll try checking out the new ride tomorrow morning.

C25K Week 6 Day 1

This run is the second last one with walking segment intervals. I found it a bit easier than my 20 minute run the other day, and in retrospect miles easier than the first day's with 8 minute runs a week or two ago.

Here's my running log: http://www.runnerplus.com/run/5255-435701/

It really is quite astounding how we can improve so rapidly with such a basic training program.

It's a beautiful warm sunny day @25C and 54% humidity. The humidity was not so bad as some others lately. Overall, a gorgeous day here in Toronto area, with a crystal clear skies. A perfect day for the last long weekend of summer.

Over the last week or so I've been starting to get some mild pain around my left knee. The pain is surrounding the interior of the knee and on the tendon / ligament? raising from the back of it.

Clearly this is probably an overuse issue as I've done nothing specific to injure it.

The last few days, I've been icing it and using some liniment on it. I've been doing some extra stretching as well. I'll continue this treatment but also keep an eye on it. If it gets worse I probably should at minimum cut the running down to 3 days in 7 rather than 3 in 6. We'll see.

Boni and I are joining friends on a long bike ride on trails in the Kitchener Waterloo this afternoon. I'll have to be conscious of keeping the bike in easy gears so as not to further strain the knee.

On a sad note, my beloved Toronto FC lost 2-1 late last night in California on a goal in the 4th minute of extra time! It's the 5th time this season that a team has scored on us in the final minutes of a game. Is this a fitness issue? That must have been a pretty lifeless flight home for the fellows last night. It pretty much eliminates any chance of going into the playoffs.