I finished an 11 km training run in 44 minutes today. This is the first time that I've kept up a 4:00 pace over 10 km during training, it is as good a time as during any of my 10k races. Even more impressive, this comes just two days after I completed a monster 29 km training run at a 4:50 pace. My marathon goals are looking more realistic all the time.

How does one keep running, week after week? By always having a goal in mind, of course! Well, this might not be necessary for me anymore… now that the winter is finally over, running has become quite enjoyable and I hardly need an excuse. But knowing that I have a race coming up helps me push just a bit harder.

My current goal is the Calgary Marathon on May 29th. I actually registered for it in January but did not tell anyone until this week, because I didn't want people to think that I was crazy. Am I? Well, even last year I was doing some 30+ km training runs to test myself on marathon-like distances, so I'm not exactly going into this cold.

I was worried that I would become injured during my training or my half-marathon, but fortunately I'm still running pain-free. Much better than last year when I had several minor injuries. Let's go through the list: 1) Shin splints soon after I first began running, these can be very dangerous but new shoes and reduced training fixed them. 2) A pulled calf muscle, which righted itself after 6 weeks of reduced training. 3) Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS), which is more of an inflammation than an injury i.e. not very dangerous but incredibly painful.

So what about injuries this year? Nada. So I must be doing something right. It's time to step up to the next challenge!

The April Fool's Run, the "little half that rules". A half-marathon event and nothing but. And my best run to date, at 86 minutes 3 seconds for 21.1 km.

Even though I had an excellent time (better than my expectations), my run was far from flawless. I ran the first half in 40 minutes and the second half in 46 minutes… not the even splits that I was aiming for! But I felt so good running that first half that I really did not want to slow down, too bad that my body eventually made that decision for me! Honestly, though, I think it would have been possible for me to keep that pace for the whole race. So why did I slow down? The main reason was lack of hydration. I only hit one water station (at 12 km) and it was too little, too late. Those flimsy paper cups are so difficult to drink from while on the run. When training I never carry fluid unless I'm going for more than 20 km because I can easily run that far without water and suffer no ill effects. But now I know that if I want to keep up a 4 min per km pace, it is a different story! Sure, I can run 20 km without a drink, but I cannot do so without slowing down… a lot!

The interesting thing is, even though I was very low on energy, I had no trouble accelerating to a sprint as soon as I saw the finish line. So I'm guessing that in addition to the dehydration, there was also a psychological barrier that was keeping me from running at my best… a barrier that didn't come down until the goal was within my physical sight. This is another thing for me to work on during my next race: even if the race is only half-over, the finish line should be mentally in sight and you should be doing everything within your power to keep up your goal pace.

This is the winter that won't end, it is the end of March but the snow keeps falling. The humidity is increasing, however, and this leaves a nice layer of hoarfrost on the trees. I dearly hope for warmer weather, but the snow has not stopped me from training. I still hit the snow-covered pavement four times a week.

Exactly one week from today I am driving to BC's Sunshine Coast for the annual Fool's Run. My goal is to run the 21.1 km distance in under 90 minutes. Wish me luck!

You might be wondering what, exactly, marks the beginning of the running season? The answer: the start of regular training for spring races. That's probably the most accurate answer, but in my case, the timing is also due to the arrival of temperatures that, while not warm, are no longer likely to cause frostbite.

The Winter was not fruitful for my running career. There were many weeks where I managed a full 40 km, but there were just as many where I stayed inside because the temperature outside was 20 below zero. But the cold weather has passed (at least for now) so there are no more excuses. My first race is at the beginning of April, and week one of my 12-week regimen is currently underway: eighteen kilometres done and five hundred kilometres left to go.

The temperature here in Calgary was -20C for a week, and I chickened out on my runs. That's right, no running at all for 10 days. The cold spell is over and I'm back to running again, but it's definitely winter running with the temperature always below freezing, and with packed snow as my running surface.

I've found a simple schedule that works for me. Two runs on the weekend, and two during the week. The weekend runs are nice… the air is crisp and the sun is bright. The weekday runs are less pleasant. At 5pm the sun has already gone down, and the fact that I can't see the ice patches means that I have to run very cautiously. By the time my run ends, it is close to pitch black. And I'm continually blinded by the bicycles with their super-bright headlights. Did you know that many people in Calgary ride their bicycles all winter? The ice must be even more of a problem for them than it is for me.

Oh, and something new today. A beard icicle! I'm used to having my beard become caked with ice, but this was different. I had a beautiful little icicle, about an inch and a half long, hanging off my chin.

Running in the evenings has become a cold and dark experience. By 6pm, when my run ended, the stars were out and the temperature was below freezing. My summer gloves were not enough to keep out the chill, and when I came back indoors, my hands hurt like hell for fifteen minutes while they warmed back up. Next time out I'll take my winter gloves, frostbite could happen very easily on these 10k runs.

My next race is the April Fool's Run in British Columbia. As you can guess from its name, it isn't until April… that is a full 5 months away! How can I keep myself motivated to run during the winter? Especially now that that daylight savings time has ended, and the sun has already set by the time I get off of work?

Honestly, the thing that keeps me going right now is habit. I have been running regularly since February, when I started training for my first half-marathon. Running has become easy, I can just put on my shoes and go. There are no sore muscles, no aches and pains. When it is cold, I put on extra layers (nothing fancy for me, just old sweatshirts). When I can, I leave work before the sun sets and then finish my work in the evening.

Fall has arrived in Calgary, and running in the morning is not as comfortable as it used to be. Since the mornings are well below freezing, and the evenings are getting darker, the best time to run is first thing after I arrive home after work. The problem is that going out for a run is the last thing that I want to do at that time. My after-work frame of mind is focused on rest and dinner. So I have not been going out as often, and only manage around 30 or 40km per week.

How can I turn this around and get back up to the 50km per week that I promised myself? I don't think my reluctance to run is purely psychological. Before dinner I really am short on energy. As a trial solution, I am going to bring extra snack food to work so that the afternoon hunger pangs don't hit me as hard.

The distance running continues. Last week I did 34km again, and this week I did 35km. These long runs are killers, but I've started packing Gatorade and the extra electrolytes are just what I needed to avoid the post-run nausea. It's a huge relief that I no longer have to get sick after every long run. I still feel like crawling into bed afterwards, but that’s to be expected after burning 2000+ calories.

Speaking of calories, when I first looked up Gatorade on the internet, caloriecount.about.com said it had 220 calories per 250mL. So if I drank 250mL for every 20 minutes of vigorous exercise, that would be 1980 calories for a 3 hour run. How could anyone take in that much sugar without getting sick? And more to the point, if someone was exercising in order to lose weight, that much sugar will make the exercise completely pointless. Fortunately, a bit more looking led me to realize that only Gatorade "Carb Energy Drink" has so many calories, and it is meant for carb loading, not for hydration. The Gatorade "Orange Drink" (which I bought) has only 64 cal per 250mL, and since I bring about 1200mL on my run, that's only about 300 cal in total. That's as many calories as a light breakfast. But even then, the stuff feels sticky in my mouth. I miss my water.

I've also been trying to improve my gait, in order to make better use of my "leg springs". In my old style of running, I would roll my foot heel-to-toe because it resulted in a silent footstrike, and I thought that silence meant that I wasn't doing any breaking when my foot struck. This kind of footstrike actually results in the foot landing too soon, and with too much extension, which might be why I had iliotibial band syndrome for a while. Now I am trying to land with a flat foot, with my knee bent, and immediately springing forward with a strong push. It feels like it takes more effort, and it is noisier than my old style (my foot slaps noisily on the ground), but hopefully it will improve my efficiency in the long run. Get it? In the "long run"? Ah, forget it, comedy was never my thing.