10:1 (x11)

Beautiful spring day in Toronto -- sunny, cool, 5C to 8C. The snow is gone and the winter is history for another year (knock on wood...). Started my LSD on the Martin Goodman Trail this morning at 9 am. Saw lots of runners and walkers on the trail -- some in shorts as well as lots of folks walking their dogs (or their dogs walking them). After the first 10 minutes, I removed my toque and began to feel a bit warm and sweating (!) -- but kept the jacket on. As always, I started off very slowly in order to get the legs warmed up (and I'm running conservatively to avoid injury as the Mississauga half marathon is next month). I'm so pleased that I'm able to keep my heart rate under 160 BPM and the breathing is good. After about 7K, I began to run a bit faster as I got in a running groove. My numbers for today are 16.24K, with 7.28 minutes/K, and a heart rate of 154 BPM. I'm so pleased to have got over 16K. Next weekend, I'll do 10:1 (x12). Tomorrow will be a rest day, with hopefully Tuesday and Friday next week with short runs of 10:1 (x3).

Yesterday was the Harry's SpringOff at the High Park. I opted not to compete in that race because of the steep hills. I didn't want runner's knee coming back. But I miss the many goodies -- tech shirt; finisher's medal; finisher's cap; as well as freebies in the goody bag.

Sunday, May 4th is the 10K Sporting Life! So far, 4694 people have registered. On the web site, http://sportinglife.ca/sl10k-main.html, there is a video that shows what you'll see racing on the 10K course. Very nice! I will wear last year's tech shirt from the race. Great race also with a finisher's medal. This will be my LSD before the Mississauga half marathon. I will run conservatively and not worry about getting a PB. It's also my first race of 2008.