The Virtual Runner Running Blog

I’ve tracked my virtual run to date (23 Aug 2009) using Google earth and since 29 Mar 2009 my route has taken me past Ottawa, Ontario and past North Bay and Sudbury.  I’m still on Route 17 and I’m now running along the shores of Lake Superior and the virtual views are lovely.

My distance covered so far on my meandering virtual run across Canada is 2352 kilometres (1462 miles) and I’m happy to say that my motivation and drive is returning.

I’m now running in parts of my home country that I’ve never been to in real life.  The first 27 years of my life were spent in Canada and the farthest west I have ever been is Oshawa and that’s because that is where I was born.  The farthest west I have been and can remember is Ottawa.

I will see the rest of my own country in time and I’ll see it as a tourist and I’ll bring my son and wife from the UK.  I don’t know when or how but those are things to plan for the future.

I do get asked by a lot of people over here in the UK if I plan on moving back to Canada and the truth is, no I don’t.  I’m happy here in the UK and I’ve got a lovely wife, son and daughter.  I’ve built a life for myself in the UK and I enjoy it here.

As for my motivation returning, it might be linked to changing my trainers to my next new pair and because I registered for a marathon.  I was losing my motivation and it was partly linked to sore feet and achilles after runs.  The other day I decided to move on to my next pair of trainers that have been sitting in the bottom of the closet waiting for me.  I had bought two pairs of Adidas Supernova Sequence trainers (for the price of one) and I think I’ve only got about 400 miles out of them.  That’s not too bad considering I’m a heavy runner at around 15.5 stone (217 lbs).  I still can’t believe I was more than 18 stone (252 lbs) at my heaviest.  And I’m sure I was even heavier than that because at my fattest I never weighed myself… the shock would’ve been too much!

I feel much better now with my new trainers and my marathon goal.  I’ve even slowed down on my easy and long runs in order to facilitate the longer distances I’ll be doing.  All of the training plans I’ve seen for marathon distance have the average pace (for me anyway) much slower than what I have been running.  I suppose it makes sense as I will need to slow down in order to cover the whole 26.2 miles without breaking down.

As for non-running related matters, my wife is still as lovely as always and supportive of everything I do.  My son is still the cutest and the most clever little boy in the world.  My daughter and her husband are doing great.  My best friend Rob is back in contact again (kind of) and travelling around Canada on his own little adventure.  My laser eye surgery is next week (02 Sept 2009) and I’m getting excited.  We’ve got a nice little weekend holiday coming up and when we return I’m getting lasered!

That’s it for now.  I’m still running and I’m feeling it again.  I think that many people go through ups and downs in their training and not just for running either.  I’m just glad I’m feeling it again.

adidas, canada run progress, marathon training, my son, my wife, new trainers, robby kilborn, running log updated

Me and my son hopped on the train this morning and went in to Reading town centre to return the Asics.  No problem, however they had to give me store credit because they were purchased on my fiance’s card.  No big deal.  Money is money.

Phase two (running the half marathon in my existing Adidas) takes place tomorrow morning at 10:05 am.  I also have to remember that the clocks go forward at midnight tonight which means one hour of sleep lost.

I’ve check the weather for tomorrow:-

It’s going to be a bit chilly when the race starts at 4 degrees Celcius.  I’m thinking short sleeved running shirt may not be a good idea.  I recently got a new long-sleeve shirt (although a bit too big) and I think I’ll wear that tomorrow.  Either way, I’m going to be completely drenched by the time I’m done because of the excessive sweating that will take place.

Now I’m going to do something very important.  I’m going to play cars with my son…

adidas, asics kayano, new trainers, reading half marathon

This morning’s run started off okay but the top of my right foot was hurting quite bad by the end of it.  I had to stop in the middle and loosen my laces a bit more to make it more comfortable.  I still managed to cover about 11km (6.83 miles) cause I made a judgement call on the level of pain I was feeling and whether or not I should continue.  Let’s hope it was the right one!

I still think it’s bruising though and nothing more serious because right now (as I’m writing this) it doesn’t really hurt at all.  In fact, if I press on all parts of the top of my foot there is no real pain.  It’s only when my shoe is on and the laced part digs in.

I decided this evening that I would get another pair of running shoes anyway.  I went in to my local Sweatshop and had a chat with one of the experts in there.  I tried on a couple of different shoes (Asics 2140, Kayano and Adidas Supernova) but I decided to go for the Kayano in the end.  The others shoes had too much cushioning in the forefoot I think.

I’ve now got my new shoes and my son is currently breaking them in for me.  He’s such a good boy.  However, I think they may be slightly too big for him.

As for my foot pain.  I’m getting worried about it but I’m trying to keep the worry under control.  I don’t want anything to ruin my chances of running at the end of the month.

Tomorrow is a rest day for me, and depending in how it feels on Thursday, that may end up being a rest day as well.  Mileage isn’t really important to me this week anyway.  I’ve put the miles in over the past few months.  No additional pushing for mileage at this point is going to effect my performance on the day.

Overall I’ll probably do as many as 40km (24.85 miles) this week or as little as 30km (18.64 miles) depending on my poor little foot.

I’m no going to play cars with my little boy and try and get my new shoes off him so Daddy can wear them…

asics kayano, my son, new trainers, pains and niggles

Once again it is time for another pair of running shoes to lay down the miles in.

My current pair (Adidas Supernova Sequence) were pretty good.  In fact, they were probably the best pair I’ve had yet except for the lacing.  They always seem like I can’t lace them up enough (it’s hard to explain – the two sides never came together close enough).

Last time I bought new shoes I think I was adamant I was going to get some Asics and I ended up getting the Adidas.  This time I’m going to just do it (sorry Nike) and get a pair.  Many people rave about them and they win awards etc.  They gotta be good haven’t they?

I’m going to try and get a pair over the next couple of days (difficult if you knew my daily schedule and location of running shops in the area) so I can use them a few times before the Reading Half Marathon.

If I feel they aren’t bedded in right by the time the half marathon comes up then I’ll wear my faithful Adidas on race day.

I need new shoes anyway and this way I may potentially have more cushioning on race day.

As for my run yesterday, I have been suffering some after-affects.  I keep burbing insects… just kidding.  The top of my right foot has been sore and feels bruised.  I think that my laces might have been done up a bit too tight on that foot and after 13.1 miles of running it was obviously hurting me.

Tomorrow is either going to be an easy run or a tempo run… I haven’t decided yet.

asics kayano, new trainers, pains and niggles