I ran 26.6km today which is the longest run I’ve done since May 1, 2022 which was both my birthday and also the BMO Vancouver Marathon (see pic above). That marathon was a bit of a struggle at the end, but still enjoyable. Today’s run was cold with temperatures around -16ºC at the start and not much warmer at the end. It was just two of us today, but I was thankful to have some company for this one. Running that far solo in the cold would have been awful.

We ran up to St. Clair and then through Prospect Cemetery and eventually up to the Belt Line. It was iced over and not runnable, so we hit the side streets instead, eventually making our way over to Mt. Pleasant and then south down Jarvis to Aroma Cafe at Wellington and Yonge (as usual).

I ran pretty well with a consistent pace right through to the end. 30km in four weeks in Hamilton should be fine, although I won’t be setting any records on that run. My left knee continues to cause me grief with some tendonitis on the kneecap which makes the runs a bit less enjoyable, especially in the early and late stages.

This run is the longest of the training cycle, so it’s back down to 23km next weekend and then 18km the week after that. I might push that one to 21.1km as well just to log another half marathon for the year. I’ve run five so far this year already.

Over the last few years, I’ve been hurt, sick, tired, busy, hurt, sick, etc. Now things are finally clicking again. I ran over 60km last week for the first time since the week of October 17, 2022. It’s been an age since I’ve put together a solid set of runs in a seven day period.

It’s 47 days until Around the Bay Road Race and the Sunday runs are heading into the mid-20’s kilometre distance. I’m excited to be hitting those bigger numbers again. I always liked running around 25-28km and this weekend I had a 23km run on my Runna training plan. The weather was not conducive to a fast run, but Sunday runs are not supposed to be fast.

The first half was pretty choppy and relatively slow as the sidewalks were pretty snow-covered in sections and the footing was occasionally treacherous. The second half was along the MGT which was pretty well cleared of snow and mostly bare pavement.

My legs felt fatigued over the last 5km or so because of the poor footing in the first 11km. But I maintained a solid pace right to the end which was encouraging.

Next week is 24km, but I might tack on a bit to that one. There’s more snow in the forecast, so we’ll have to see if maybe 24km might be a better idea than topping 25km. After that is another de-load week and then the push starts to 30km with a longish taper after a 27km last really long Sunday run.

I’ve been battling some sort of sickness since last week and that’s meant no running. I didn’t bother testing, so who knows whether it is COVID-19, RSV, “just a cold” or some other virus that is going around. Whatever it is, I haven’t felt up for any running since last weekend.

I’m going to give it a go this morning though, now that my Garmin notes my health metrics are starting to recover. I don’t feel as tired as I have throughout the week and the sinus congestion is mostly gone.

Of course, it snowed 10cm overnight just to add to the fun. I might just treadmill run instead of going outside. Part of me wants the fresh air though and it’s a balmy -3ºC and sunny which is a nice change from the cold snap we’ve been suffering through.

Skipping Runs

Not running is tough. Each day I would go into the Runna app to see what was on my schedule and each day I would tap “Skip Workout”. I know there isn’t really a coach that is looking at that and thinking I was being lazy, but I did feel that way a bit.

When I was doing everyday running during the pandemic, I actually ran everyday even when I had COVID-19. It wasn’t much – just a mile or two and very easy – but I did get outside to run. I probably should have made an effort to get outside to at least walk or get some exercise this week, but I didn’t.

Here’s hoping the run goes well and that I can ease back into my training plan for Around the Bay which is 78 days away now.

There is no better time than the first day of the new year to define some goals. Short and sweet, here’s mine for 2025.

• Run 2025km – this is not a huge number for me, and doable if I am able to run regularly throughout the year and avoid injuries. The number is more about consistency and staying healthy as opposed to putting in a ton of mileage.
• Eat better – I’ve already started on this over the last few weeks by paying more attention to consuming the right kinds of fuel at the right time and reducing my sugar intake. It’ll be a challenge, but I will cut carbonated, sugary drinks out of my life this year. It’s already been ten days since I last had a soda of any kind.
• Run marathon #16 – it’s been a couple of years since I last ran 42.195km and I’d like to get back the start (and finish) of a full marathon sometime this year. I have a 30km race in late March, then some travel in late May so likely it’s going to be a fall marathon.
• Run a personal best half marathon – it’s a stretch goal, but my 21.1km PB is 1:38:25 and I know that if I train right and have a good race, I can beat that this year.

There’s a few other things, but these are the important ones for me for the year.

We humans tend to notice milestones. Turning 37 is not a big deal but turning 40 means a special party. It’s nothing special when the stock market hits 9,642, but at 10,000? That’s a big deal. I remember the massive parties around the world for Y2K including a massive fireworks show at the Toronto waterfront. In 2001, there were no fireworks off the CN Tower and we probably just went to bed early.

Running Milestones

Running has some of the same things. We have 5km and 10km races. There are 10 milers. Things get a bit weird with the half marathon and marathon thanks to some odd history that may or may not be true but after that, 50km and 50 mile ultras are special.

A lot of runners are looking back at 2024 right now as Strava has dropped their “Year in Sport” round up on their app. Many, myself included, are looking at our goals for 2024 and seeing how we did.

I started the year with a goal to hit 2,400km in 2024. That’s 200km per month and it’s a total I have hit in the past. Everything has to go pretty well to get there and of course, a few things did not go too well this year so 2,400km was out of reach.

I missed a week and a half with COVID-19 in May, after the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon. And I fell on a run on July 21 and busted my finger pretty badly. That cost me 4.5 weeks and a lot of fitness lost.

After that, I revised my annual goal to 1,600km and then more recently, to 1,000 miles (1,609km). I’m just a couple of days from topping that total for the year. I’m sitting at 1,595.6km right now which is 991.5 miles. Saturday’s 8km will push me past 1,600km for the year, but I’ll need Sunday’s run to get over 1,000 miles.

Goals Matter

Tracking goals and milestones like this are important providers of motivation throughout the year. At the start of each new year, I always set some goals and track them; maybe it’s to run 2,400km, or to do 12 half marathons, or to run more than 250 times.

Personal bests in various race distances are always great goals to set and go after, but at some point the personal bests just aren’t attainable anymore. I don’t know that I can get back to my 5km PB anymore, for example. But annual goals are far more attainable since you can alter them based on your current level of fitness or other factors.

I’ll be putting some thought into my 2025 goals in the coming weeks and I’ll be sure to put them down on “paper” here. Maybe 2,025kms is a good total to try for?