Well hello everyone. I can’t believe that is will be December next week. And to top it off we are one month to Christmas tomorrow! Thankfully I have a full month until the last shopping day before that. Lots of time to get ready…
Brrr! Last weekend reminded me of an article that I wrote with a couple of other Calgary runners. My buddy Pete's rule number one of winter running. "When your eyelashes freeze together, stop!" Wise advice from a crazy friend. Still can’t figure out why he won’t try the www.beerbike.hu? I guess since he doesn’t hydrate like me would be the wise reason. See the attached article from my friends at http://impactmagazine.ca/. They always have great articles to refresh our minds. Thanks Elaine for the opportunity to share advice. I feel so Dear Abby.
Hey, the weather is better this weekend so we will try another trot from Max Bell and head north on the Nose Creek Pathway. Let’s check out the new science centre, a couple of golf courses, and if we go far enough, Green Gate Garden Centre should have great Christmas displays to lighten the pockets…See you at Max Bell for 9 am. If you don’t know where this is just email me or call my cell.
Are you all enjoying the transition from the high temperatures we had over the summer to the snow and cool of last weekend? A huge clap for those that braved the cold (and those that braved their treadmills)and finished their long training day last weekend. I had the pleasure of -31 wind chill for just over a half marathon with Jen who will be heading to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. She trooped it out for 31 km! One dirty ugly km for each negative degree. Thanks for the coffee at the end.
This reminds me of the excuse question I put forth last week. We had many replies, even some I could print, and I promised to share them here. So what I have:
- ’my hair is too fabulous to go out in this wind’
- ‘Not in for tomorrow, I'm gonna stay inside haha’
- I forgot my shoes (this one is mine…how lame!)
- I was up till 1 last night, so I'm now very tired
- It's really cold
- I have a treadmill now and a very strong dog who will want to run with me tomorrow
- Carroll isn't going. (awww)
- (edited version) I personally don't like not be able feel my joint working properly for first 30 minutes
Not bad, I expected more especially from the synonym names, if you know what I mean. I noticed that Joy never offered up any excuses? Strange…
This machine would definitely cut down on excuses!
I love telling first-timers that when they complete their goal they will have set a PR. It sounds so accomplished! I have two PR’s I am proud of, 22 samples of wine in Medoc over 26.2 miles and 6 beer over the same distance in Belgium. It is tough to attain these goals, but I am always willing to give my best effort!
IT'S A PR
A Light-hearted Look At Personal Records
Published June 9, 1997, in The Post-Standard.
By Dr Kamal Jabbour, Contributing Writer
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Running, a PR (pronounced pee arr), or personal record, is a runner's best time at a given distance. My PR at 800 meters is 2:26.6. This is the fastest I have ever run 800 meters. The PR is a beginner's best friend and a veteran's fondest memory.
When you change from jogger into runner by entering your first 5K race, you also run your first PR. It is the fastest you have ever run a 5K race. Subsequent 5K races may result in more PRs, as you develop confidence and speed. However, this initial streak of PRs eventually comes to an end. Improvement comes at greater pain, and PRs come fewer and far in between.
All is not lost. A renowned PR expert advises runners to diversify. When you can no longer improve at 5K, consider running a 2-miler or a 10K. Races are held at every imaginable distance from 50-meter sprints to TransAmerica ultra-marathons. Races at metric distances tend to be shorter than those at imperial distances. Enjoy the thrills of both the 1500 meters and the mile. Experience the unparalleled pain of the 400- meter dash. Wave to friends at the end of a 15K and a 10-miler.
By now, your PR portfolio has a dozen entries at different distances. Weekend after weekend, you cross the finish line looking good and you shout to the crowds: "IT'S A PR!" Alas, one day you run out of new distances, and you are unable to improve at any of them.
When you exhaust the various distances available in your area, it is time to travel. Combine the family vacation with a race at an unusual distance. New England is full of races at distances like 7 miles 131 yards and 2 feet.
Despite your best intentions, the day comes to consider more drastic measures. It is time to separate your PRs into categories. Keep separately a track 5K PR, a road 5K PR and a cross-country trail 5K PR. Divide your track PRs into an indoor track 5K PR and an outdoor track 5K PR. Further divide track PRs into fully automatic timing PRs and hand timed PRs. Similarly, divide your road PRs into a point-to-point course 5K PR, a loop course 5K PR and an out-and-back course 5K PR.
Do not forget that point-to-point courses can be level, uphill, downhill, or even wind-aided. Maintain a separate PR for each. On the subject of wind, the weather plays a significant role in road races. Therefore, maintain separate PRs for hot weather, cold weather, rainy weather and fair weather. Better yet, break your PR list into spring, summer, fall and winter PRs.
In fairness to race directors and course designers, we should recognize that no two road races are created equal. Therefore, consider maintaining a course PR for each race, which we will call a CPR.
Age is a good friend of runners. The wonderful invention of 5-year age groups permits us to compete against runners our age. It also gives us the opportunity to reset our PRs and start all over every five years. Now you can have a diapers PR, an elementary school PR, a middle school PR, a high school PR, a college PR, an open PR, a sub-masters PR, a masters PR, an AARP PR, a senior PR and a back-to-diapers PR. Life repeats itself. Anyway, to maintain scientific rigor, mathematicians go a step further and recommend maintaining single-age PRs that you can reset at every birthday.
Short of undergoing a sex-change operation and starting a new PR list in the opposite gender, you may consider combining running with another sport. There are run-bike duathlons, run-shoot biathlons, swim-bike-run triathlons, run-bike-canoe rowathons, and my favourite run-eat-sleep carboloadathons.
A treatise on PRs remains incomplete until PR's evil twin PW is recognized. PW (pronounced pee wee), or personal worst, refers to a runner's worst performance at a given distance. PWs are a lot easier to achieve than PRs, as evidenced by the baby boomers generation.
Kamal Jabbour drives a green minivan with license plate ITS A PR.
His 5K out-and-back flat-course wind-aided summer-season all-age
hand- timed PR is 19:32.8. His list of PRs can be found on The
Syracuse Running Page. His RUNNING Column appears in The Post-
Standard on Mondays.
Your blog looks so summery!
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