Runners' Lounge - Social Networking For Runners

A new social network for runners, the Runners' Lounge, launched this Friday.

Social networking sites are the perfect forum for runners - running is a social activity, it's easily accessible, it has a large number of passionate participants, and its community thrives on exchanging resources.

As the site states:

Runners' Lounge^TM is a social running web site dedicated to three goals:

1. Supporting runners, running communities, and running resources
2. Running conversations, resources, and expressing the voice of ordinary runners.
3. Focusing on increasing the enjoyment and success of running for all levels and partner with organizations interested in the development of running

Other running sites provide conventional functions. However, Runners' Lounge^TM provides a unique, comprehensive package of capabilities to create a special meet-up place for runners to hang out, talk about running, form "runnerships," and join the running community to more fully enjoy running.

I'm always a little reluctant to say a something is 'a first' in a category and I'm asking for trouble here, but to my knowledge this is the first online running network of its kind.

• Complete Running Network - perhaps the closest competitor - incorporates some great social components (Flickr, over 1,300 blogs, widgets and more) but still focuses more on news than people
• Runners' World, while a fantastic resource, revolves around the magazine of the same name
• Breaking The Tape seems to have less depth - it is still user-driven, but I find it primarily useful as a training tool at present.

The Runners' Lounge seems to be on its own as a networking-driven site for the running community, and already has 64 members at time of writing.

This is a site I can genuinely enthuse about - it merges running and social media, which are two topics about which I'm both passionate and still learning (hence my two blogs, which I'm cross-posting this on).

I like a lot of the lounge's fundamental features:

• A focus on connections, not news, and allowing users to form self-defined groups
• A dependence on contributions from members in the form of tips, resources, articles and events
• An embrace of multiple media, including podcasts (although at this point none have been posted)
• A wonderful graphic design - just looking at it relaxes me

For now, the site is still effectively in its beta stage - phase two of development is on the way - so I'm happy to overlook small problems. However, for the site to compete with some of the above-mentioned goliaths, I think it needs to introduce several new features:

• Users should arrive at a more useful page after logging in - an updates, a summary page or an inbox would work
• More intuitive ways to contact people - the 'My Comments' profile section is too obscure and buried for a Facebook wall-type function that should be central to users, and there's no private messaging
• Greater use of 'social' technology - RSS feeds for everything, widgets to push content out to other sites, support for other forms of media (e.g. YouTube video, Flickr photos), etc

If the site introduces features like these while tweaking the existing problems, the other key ingredient - people - should come over time. I'm excited about this site, and I'd love to see it catch on.

One last thing - please - never use the word "runnerships" again.

Up To The Great White North

Ever had one of those days when you just don't want to run? When you wake up and think, "nah, I can't really be bothered today... I think I'll have a lay-in"?

That was me today.

Unfortunately, my almost-out-laws (Caralin's parents) stayed over last night, so I had to get up.

Having already dragged my sorry butt out of bed, it only made sense to take advantage of one of those rare things - a daylight run. So, I grabbed a ride and headed north for the run I've been trying to do for a couple of weeks now... up in the great white unwashed north of Toronto.

(Note: by unwashed, I do mean lovely and pleasant... please don't hurt me next time I'm up there... I know you north Toronto guys can get a little... uh... you know...)

Once I got into it, this was actually a really nice run.

My legs felt good, I felt comfortable at a reasonable pace, and it was good to get back up into an area I hadn't run in for about three years now.

Nine of the first 11km or so were through parks and away from the traffic, which is the best kind of run in my books. The last 5km were along a major road and almost all uphill, but that was ok because the last kilometre or so was downhill and I blasted it out in about 3:50 (teehee... I don't care if it's downhill - it still feels good).

I'll try to get another run in tomorrow, but no guarantees: it's confirmed - we're heading down to Niagara Falls for the final part of my Canadian Immigration saga. Wohoo! My (four) years of living on a temporary work permit are almost over!

Does jumping up and down screaming "YAY!!!" count as a workout?

16k - East Don/Havenbrook Parks/York Mills Road

A simple point-to-point run in the north end of Toronto. Easy to navigate, and mainly along paved paths in park land.

• Either:
• From Finch & Bayview, run north to Steeles (which I did)
  OR
• From Yonge & Steeles, run east to Bayview
• Head east along Steeles Avenue East to Laureleaf Road
• Turn south (right) on Laureleaf Road and enter Bestview Park
• Head south down through the park for about 8km until you come out at the Leslie & Sheppard Avenue East intersection
• Cross to the south-west corner of Leslie & Sheppard, and drop down into Havenbrook Park
• Follow Havenbrook Park down to Duncan Mills Road
• Either:
• Head long the gravel trail under Duncan Mills, around the football field and across the grassland to Don Mills Road (which I did)
  OR
• Head east on Duncan Mills briefly then go south on Don Mills
• Head south on Don Mills Road to York Mills Road
• Turn west (right) onto York Mills Road.  Follow York Mills for about 5km to the finish at Yonge Street.

Here's the map & my run stats.

TTC Info: The easiest way to the start of this run is to go to the Finch subway station and take the Steeles bus north to Yonge & Steeles. Alternatively, take the Finch East bus to Bayview & Finch.

Hey, That Hill's Shrinking!

Yesterday's run was great.

After a tough workout on Tuesday, I was a little put-out to see that my running group was planning to do race-pace runs on the track after our warm-up run.

Why do two fast runs in a week when Boston is still over 200 days away?

I decided to take it easy.

The warm-up loop itself was nice. The group seems to have fallen into a rut of running up through Forest Hill (and up my nemesis - Russell Hill) recently, so it wasn't really anything new. Forest Hill is a great area though, so I don't mind.

Russell Hill is getting easier every time I run it though! My lungs didn't threaten to leap out of my chest for once.

We picked up the pace a little later in the loop - I, along with one other person in the group, didn't have to worry about tapering as we're not racing this weekend, so we stepped it up as we neared the track. I opened the throttle at the end too, running at sub-4 minute/km pace for the last kilometre or two.

I did make a mistake, though - in my haste to get home after the run (it was Caralin's birthday yesterday.. we had a romantic evening of... uh... lesson planning and Family Guy), I forgot to stretch.

My calf muscles are not happy today. Hobble hobble.

Not sure when I'm running next. Probably Saturday - Sunday's run-in of my friend in the half-marathon may not happen as I have to head down to the border to re-enter Canada to finalize my immigration (don't ask me why - I have no idea... it's dumb).

Before I go, I want to encourage everyone to go and support Ali on her Just One More Mile blog. She's about 10 runs away from running 100 days straight, and I'm sure she'd appreciate the support.

Go Ali!

11k - Forest Hill/Annex Loop

An easy loop north into Forest Hill, then south into the Annex. Excellent as a warm-up before a track workout.

• From Bloor and Avenue, head west to Bedford Road. Run north to Dupont Street
• Turn west (left) then right onto Boulton Drive
• Follow Boulton Drive up the hill as it becomes Russell Hill Road
• Follow Russell Hill across St. Clair Avenue West and up to Forest Hill Road
• Turn west (left) onto Forest Hill Road, then south (left) onto Spadina Road
• Follow Spadina Road south, past Bloor Street West, to Sussex Avenue
• Turn west (right) onto Sussex Avenue and head straight-on at the end, onto the Central Tech running track
• Optional: Track workout at Centennial College
• Head east along Sussex Avenue until you reach St. George St, then turn north (left)
• Turn east (right) on Bloor, and head back to the start

Here's the map and my run stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends near both Bay and St. George subway stations.

Yikes, That Was Tough

Wow.

30 minutes after finishing tonight's run, I'm still soaked. Tonight's run was NUTS. I pushed my heart rate higher than I've managed so far this year, and quite frankly pushed myself harder, speed-wise, than I've done since last year.

Why did I do it?

Four main reasons:

1. I hadn't run since Thursday, and quite frankly I had a lot of energy pent up
2. I'm hoping to run a friend in for the last 10k of the Toronto Waterfront half-marathon this weekend. He's been training for six months; I haven't. I need to speed up
3. Thursday's run will be easy - the rest of the group is tapering for their fall races
4. I've got the speed training bug again

So, why was tonight's run tough?

Three sets of interval sets.

That's right - not three sets of intervals, but three separate sets of interval sets spread throughout the 12k run.

One - near the beginning, after a 1-2k warm-up. I did ok with these.

Two - on the track, after about 5k. These were tough. I followed the same pattern as last Thursday, which I found kept me focused and interested. The main difference was that these were a little shorter, and that the track was very loosely-packed. I found that the soft running surface sapped a lot of energy out of my legs, and I found these tough.

Three - three intervals on the road increasing from 400m to 460m, about 5 minutes after the track workout. These really pushed me and I was glad when they were done.

So, a tough run but one that I'm happy with.

Oh, for those of you who wondered, my 'surprise' anniversary trip for Caralin this weekend was down to the Niagara region - Canada's wine country - for the first weekend of the Niagara Wine Festival. Believe it or not, the region is on the same latitude as northern Italy and southern France, so the climate is great for wine growing.

I didn't tell Caralin where we were going until we were nearly there (although she figured it out by then).

I booked a B&B on a vineyard owned by the winner of the 'Grape King' award at the festival last year, which was great... they had an amazing hot tub to collapse into at the end of the day, and the hosts Monica and Matthias were really welcoming. In fact, they gave us a bottle of their own icewine when we left (if you haven't tried icewine, you have to!)

On Friday night, we went to the opening ceremony of the wine festival, then on Saturday we took advantage of the 30 degree weather to do a bike tour of four wineries (Jackson Triggs, Peller Estates, Reif and Inniskillin). In the evening, having already sampled about 20 wines, we went out for a fantastic meal at the Charles Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

On Sunday we did a couple more (Hillebrand and Lailey) and revisited the ones we'd liked on Saturday, with the car, to buy our favourite wines. We also went for lunch at the very good, and very reasonably-priced Niagara Culinary Institute.

A wonderful weekend, a great way to celebrate our anniversary, and a good excuse to lay off the running for a weekend.

Ok, that's it for today - I'm off to veg out in front of the Xbox with Halo 3. I figure I've earned it.

12k - Mount Pleasant Cemetary/Leaside Intervals

An intense speed workout in the Mount Pleasant and Leaside areas, with three separate sets of short intervals.

• From Mount Pleasant and Merton Street, head south to the entrance to Mount Pleasant Cemetary. Turn left into the cemetary, and head right
• Follow the road as it bends around to the left, then take the first right and follow the road as it once again bends left
• As the road straightens out, run your first interval, to where the road bends left (roughly 410m)
• Follow the bend around and take the first left. Begin your second interval here, through to the second turn on the right (roughly 350m)
• Run clockwise around the circle to the second turn-off. Begin your third interval here, through to the exit from the cemetary (roughly 300m)
• Cross Bayview and run along Sutherland Drive to Bessborough Drive
• Turn left up Bessborough Drive and follow that up to Parkhurst Road
• Turn left at Parkhurst Road then take the next right, which leads down into Howard Talbot Park
• On the track, do three sets of the following, with no gap in-between sets (note: the track is 330m, not 400m; adjust your expected times accordingly):
• 2 1/2 laps at your race pace
• 1/2 lap slow jog
• 1 lap interval pace
• Climb back up the steps and out of the park. Turn right onto Parkhurst Road. Follow this road as it crosses Bayview and becomes Soudan Avenue
• At Cleveland Street, begin another interval through to Forman Avenue (roughly 410m)
• Turn right on Forman Ave, then left on Hillsdale Avenue East. Run another interval, back to Cleveland Street (roughly 440m)
• Turn right on Cleveland then right again onto Manor Road East. Run your last interval back to Forman Ave (roughly 460m)
• Follow Forman down to Millwood Road. Turn right, follow Millwood to Mount Pleasant, and run back to the start.

Here's the route map and my run stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends near Davisville Station. You can run along the beltline extension to the start of the run at Mount Pleasant & Merton, or take the Davisville or Bayview buses.

No Run Today

Just a quick update: I planned to run tonight, but as I was about to get changed for my run (at work) my girlfriend called and told me my landed immigrant visa arrived in the mail today.

So, rather than running, I plan to spend the evening drinking champagne and celebrating the end result of four years of hard work and two years of (seemingly) endless waiting.

I'll go for a run tomorrow, though - I promise!

In more running-related news, I'm about to lost my first toenail of the year. Ah, it's good to be back...

Track!

I did my first track workout of the year today.

True to my masochistic nature, I ran with a couple of people who should be able to completely kill me on the track at the moment - they're coming into their taper... I'm coming into reasonable shape. Needless to say, it was a little painful... but I loved it!

Recently, I've been feeling the urge to get back on the track and see what I can manage. This wasn't a great way to test it, as it was a weird workout, but it was still great to cut loose occasionally (before blowing up shortly after... now I remember why I didn't like the track before).

I decided to do the workout that the 1/2 marathoners were doing - I figured going too hard and doing the marathoner workout was just silly when I'm coming off this injury and aren't really in pre-marathon-taper shape.

Still, I managed a reasonable pace - 4:10/km for my 1km repeats, and about 90 seconds for the 400m repeats. I was pleased with that.

Another highlight of the run was a gorgeous St. Bernard dog that we ran past near the beginning of the run. He was huge... and cute!

I want a dog again (my buddy Guinness is back in England)!

Good times, good run, and good to be back on the track.

(Note: Probably no more runs until next week - it's our first anniversary this weekend and I'm whisking Caralin off to... well, I can't tell you, 'cos I haven't told her yet. I'll tell you next week!)

Oh, and one more thing: My pre-approved Boston 2008 registration package came today - yay! I'm getting psyched already...

13k - Annex Loop/Track Workout

An easy warm-up around Russell Hill and the Annex followed by an interesting track workout at Central Tech.

• From Bloor and Avenue, head west to Bedford then follow that north up to Dupont
• Head left on Dupont, then turn right onto Boulton Drive. Follow that, as it becomes Russell Hill, up to St. Clair Avenue West
• Head west (left) on St. Clair to Spadina Road
• Turn south (left) onto Spadina Road, and follow that south to Sussex Avenue
• Turn west (right) onto Sussex, and follow that over to Central Tech
• Do three sets of the following; no rest between sets:
  • 1km at half-marathon pace (for me, 4:10 for the km)
  • 200m easy jog
  • 400m interval pace (roughly 90 seconds for the 400m)
• Head back along Sussex Road to St. George Street, left to Bloor then right and back to the start.

Here's the map and my stats (note: the map didn't kick in for about 1km after the start, and I forgot to hit the lap button before the first 1km loop).

TTC Info: This run starts and ends near both St. George and Bay stations.

A Quick Thought On Achievement

I had a conversation at work today with my boss and a co-worker, where we got onto the subject of running (I think it was because I'm a skinny scrawny wretch again now I'm back to running).

I mentioned that I did a long run last night, and my co-worker replied that she'd "only" done 5km.

I wanted to reach across and slap her.

(in a nice way, of course -- she's great)

Here's my point: 5km is awesome.

By running 5km, she'd done more than (probably) 80% of people in the city had done that day.

I hate hearing people putting themselves down, especially if they compare themselves to someone else.

Everyone is at their own place, and doing this for their own reasons.

Some people run to get or stay in shape.

I'm a lunatic; I thrive on challenging myself and I lose interest quickly if it gets easy. I follow this pattern in everything I do, both in my career and elsewhere.

Both motivations are ok cool, as are all the other reasons for running.

My co-worker should be proud for doing 5km. Similarly, I hope Andria, Elkerette, Rob, Laura, and all the other new runners I follow are proud of their runs too, whatever level they're at.

(oh, and Ali too - you're a machine!)

Ok, I'm done ranting.

Bottom line - be proud of what you're doing. You've earned it.

Rockin' It!

The sunset beat me to the punch again today. By the time I got home from work, it was too late to do my planned run through the East Donland park system.

Seems I've got to become a 9 to 5-er so I can get some interesting runs in.

So with my main plan foiled I was forced to come up with a new route. I settled on a simple... but long... loop through Toronto's east end, which I feel like I've neglected so far.

Today's run really was a no-brainer, literally. It required no effort to remember the route, unlike a few of my recent runs which pretty much require a PhD to memorize.

Simple: just a few streets - Eglinton, Victoria Park, O'Connor, Pottery Road, Bayview.

Simple, but not easy.

For starters, Eglinton is a hilly beast. It feels like non-stop hills, and I'm not talking friendly rollers - I'm talking nasty 2km, 60m elevation-change monsters. Yuck.

O'Connor was the easy part of the run... either flat or downhill for most of the way. Somewhat dull, but hey, that's what you get for picking a road run.

The kicker came near the end. I could have picked a nice, fluffy end to the run... but oh no... apparently I'm a masochist.

So, after 17km I decided to throw in a 3km climb up Bayview. Mmmm yes, what a great idea. I nearly coughed a lung up.

Last up... a relatively flat bit of Bayview then a slow climb along Merton Street.

My masochism kicked in again. Ooh - flat... time to run faster.

Rather than run it easily, I decided to kick the pace up. By the time I got to Merton Street I was about ready to collapse. No matter... those traffic lights never change, so I was guaranteed a rest, right?

Wrong.

"Noooooooooo!" I screamed at the lights gasped under my breath as they changed to let me cross. My inner idiot didn't let me take a break without a red light to give me the moral high ground, so the last km or so wasn't the most fun ever.

Still, this rocked my night: the run was about 1.3km short of a half-marathon, and even after 16km yesterday, it only took 1:32:52.

I'm going to bed with a smile on my face tonight.

20k - Mount Pleasant/Eglinton/O'Connor Loop

A very simple loop through East York. Pretty hilly - this has the most hills I've done recently. Then again, it's longer than the rest, too.

• From Merton & Mount Pleasant run north to Eglinton (if you're coming by subway, start here; use Eglinton subway station)
• Run east for about 7.5km to Victoria Park
• Turn south (right) on Victoria Park briefly, then right again onto O'Connor
• Follow O'Connor for about 6.5km until it becomes Broadview Avenue, then follow that for another 0.5km
• Turn right onto Pottery Road. Follow that down into the Don Valley
• Turn right onto Bayview Avenue
• Climb up Bayview Avenue, and follow that to Merton Street
• Turn left onto Merton Street, and follow that back to the start

Here's the map and my stats.

TTC Info: You can start & finish this run at either Davisville or Eglinton subway station. Both are under 1km west of the start.

Notes on Today's Run: Oops

Tonight's run was nice in principle. Unfortunately, I didn't get out on the road until mid-evening, which put a spanner in the works.

On the plus side, I managed to keep up a pretty good pace (4:38/km) after yesterday's rest day.

For future reference:

• Don't try to run through cemetaries after dark - they'll be closed (I could make an off-colour joke about time for rest, but I'll just let you imagine it)
• Don't try to run through poorly-lit parks after dark - you'll kill yourself... and if you don't, someone else will

Those two notes turned today's run from a potentially great run to just a good one. I had to alter my route in two areas, which coincidentally were the two areas I designed the route around!

Prospect Cemetary - the focus of the run - closed before I made it up there, and Cedarvale Park was just too poorly lit to be worth risking.

Ah well, I guess that gives me an excuse to go back and try it again some time...

16k - Christie/Lansdowne/Eglinton/Forest Hill

A fairly hilly point-to-point route from Christie subway to Davisville/Mount Pleasant. Mainly road running, although if run during the day or early evening it would be easy to switch parts for tarmac/trails.

• From Christie subway station, head north to Davenport
• Turn right for a few hundred metres, then head north up through Wychwood Park
• Head north up Wychwood Ave to Benson Avenue, and head west. Continue along the street as it becomes Rosemount Avenue, and follow that to the end
• Turn north up Greenlaw Avenue to St. Clair Avenue West
• Head west briefly, then north up Harvie Avenue to Eglinton
  • Note: If you get here before 8pm, you can run through Prospect Cemetary, which was recommended to me and was the reason I came this way. Unfortunately the cemetary closes at 8pm weekdays
• Turn right onto Eglinton, and head along to Winnett Avenue
• Turn right (south) onto Winnett, then left on Ava Road. Turn right into Cedarvale Park
• Head left mid-way through Cedarvale and out onto Markdale Avenue. Follow that to Bathurst , then Bathurst down to Tichester Road
  • Note: You can follow Cedarvale all the way down to Tichester - it was late (and therefore pitch black) when I ran this and I didn't feel like risking it, but it would be a nicer run
• Head east on Tichester Road (which becomes Heath Street) along to Alvin Avenue, just east of Yonge
• Note: You can head up to Davisville station from Yonge if you prefer
• Run south down to St. Clair Avenue East, along to Mount Pleasant, and up to the finish at Merton Street.

Here's the map and my run stats.

TTC Info: This point-to-point run starts at Christie station and ends near Davisville station.

Notes on Today's Run: Cool New Trail!

Today's run was awesome.

Not in the "ooh that felt great, my legs were strong and I owned it" way (because, well, my legs felt like crap), but in the "it's great to be out running with a buddy and oooh there's a cool trail I've never found before" way.

I ran with Jeremy from the Runner's Shop today. He's heading into his taper, and I was tired from already doing three 17k runs this week, so we decided to take it easy.

Apparently 5 mins/km (8 mins/mile) is "easy" again. I guess I should find that comforting.

Highlight of the run: We found a wonderful dirt trail that wasn't on the map (i.e. Google Maps).

After dropping down what I think is the steepest slope I've ever run down (we gave up and walked it after a bit), we found an awesome trail that ducks, dives and weaves its way alongside the river into Sunnybrook Park.

It wasn't a fast trail - there were way too many trees to jump over and duck under - but I didn't care. A little mud and a couple of river crossings meant I felt like a little boy again... so cool! I'm definitely working it into some future routes.

Unfortunately there was a nasty hill to climb once we came off the trail but whatever, you can't have it all your own way.

Turns out, despite plotting out a 15k run, by the time you take into account running from home to where I met J & back, this was my longest run since re-starting running.

Combined with three other long runs, that's 67km this week - a 35% increase in mileage over last week - whoops! I'm going to tone it down a bit next week.

I'm aiming to work my way to being able to sustain a consistent 70km/week until I start training for Boston in December, so I'm in no rush to push the mileage. Easy does it.

On the plus side, still no pain in the leg! Good times.

To celebrate, here's a funky pic from Awenda Provincial Park, where I did two runs the other week. It's a shoe tree - cool!

18k - Duplex/Lawrence Park/Davisville Village Loop

The Run:
A great loop from Yonge & St. Clair, split about 50/50 between roads and trails. Plenty of hills, but only a couple that are particularly taxing.

• From Yonge and St. Clair, head north to Chaplin
• Jump west (left) one street, and run up Duplex to the Duplex Parkette
• Drop down into the parkette, and follow the trail as it becomes Blythwood Ravine then Sherwood Park
• Climb out of Sherwood Park onto Bayview, then immediately drop down the other side of Bayview onto a river-side dirt trail
• Follow the trail down where it meets a road in Sunnybrook Park (involves two river crossings)
• Turn right onto the road and climb up to Sutherland Drive
• Follow Sutherland south to Millwood Road
• Turn right on Millwood and follow that back to Yonge, and from there head south back to the start.

Here's the map and my run stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends at St. Clair station, although you could also do it from Davisville.

A new structure for TorontoRunner.com

I'm trying out a new structure for my blog posts. Each time I run I'll post the route details, stats and map in one post... and my thoughts on the run in a separate post.

Until now, I've lumped run details and my notes together. I've put the run details at the top as I want this site to become a useful resource for running routes in and around Toronto.

This evening, it occurred to me that what makes blogging interesting is the personal touch. That's been lost in my posts to date - buried beneath half-a-page or so of directions.

The right sidebar shows all of the running routes I've done, and will continue to do so. However, from now on, I'm pulling all the 'me-bits' out and putting them separately.

No longer!

Whaddya think? Like the idea? Hate it? Couldn't care less? Let me know!

Notes on Today's Run: Russell Hill/Forest Hill

Notice the common theme over the last four Thursdays, ever since I started running with the Runner's Shop crew again? Hills... every week. I have to stop doing long runs on Wednesdays... this is killing me!

I love Forest Hill. Wait... let me rephrase... I love 'Forest'. 'Hill' can bite me... and it did...

For those of you outside Toronto, Forest Hill is where the rich and fabulous live in Toronto. We're talking multi-million dollar homes. Wonderful to look at, but hilly too.

I felt surprisingly good today considering yesterday's run. The laps were tough though, as there was a decent hill half way through each of them, but I made it. Nearly coughed up a lung on the third and fourth (ok, and the fifth) time around, but I'm still here. That's three 16/17k runs in four days.

The route directions say four laps at the top of Forest Hill, but we took a wrong turn early which cut some distance off so we did an extra loop.

My physio says I don't need to come back to him unless I feel pain in my leg now. I guess that means I'm in the clear! 15 months after getting injured, I'm finally back, and it feels great!

17k - Russell Hill/Forest Hill Loops

Simple out-and-back route from the Runner's Shop and up into Forest Hill, followed by a series of 2k laps before returning to the start.

• From Bloor and Avenue, head over to Bedford Road. Follow Bedford north to Dupont
• Turn left on Dupont, then right onto Boulton Drive
• Follow Boulton Drive up the hill as it becomes Russell Hill
• Follow Russell Hill to the end, where it meets Forest Hill Road
• Repeat four times:
• Turn right onto Forest Hill Road. Follow it as it bends right and climb up to Kilbarry Road
• Turn right on Kilbarry and follow that to Russell Hill
• Turn right on Russell Hill and follow it to the end
• Follow Russell Hill south back down to Dupont, and return to the start via Bedford Road

Here's the map and my run stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends near to both Bay and St. George stations.

17k - Queen's Park/Annex/Lakeshore Loop

The Run:
A simple loop through some great neighbourhoods. Plenty to see, and lots of people-watching potential.

• From Queen's Park/Museum station, head north and turn left onto Davenport
• Follow Davenport around as it bends to the north, and turn left onto Dupont
• Head along Dupont to Palmerston and turn south (left)
• Follow Palmerston down to Wellington, and head east (left) to Bathurst
• Head south down Bathurst to Queen's Quay
• Run east along Queen's Quay to Parliament
• Follow Parliament north to Bloor Street E
• Turn west (left) onto Bloor, and follow it to Queen's Park
• Head down Queen's Park and back to the start

Here's the map and stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and finishes near Museum and Queen's Park subway stations.

My Notes on the Run:
Progress! For the second straight 15k run I stepped up the pace - today I averaged 4:35/km. My legs felt tired, and to be honest I was glad of the red lights I hit going up Parliament, but I finished strong along Bloor and Queen's Park.

Palmerston is a really interesting street... lots sights to see - I love the area. You get to run downhill for this part, so you can enjoy the sights more! Plenty of people watching to do along Queen's Quay, too.

The only hill is up Parliament - those 3k are the hardest of the run. It's just long, though - not steep.

16k - Queens Park/Cedarvale/Belt Line Loop

The Run:
A simple loop in the Forest Hill area. The first half is largely one long climb up to Eglinton; once you've made it to the Belt Line, you're as good as home.

• From Queen's Park, head north to Bloor then west along to Bedford Road
• Head up Beford to the end, and turn left (west) on Davenport
• Turn right onto Boulton Drive, and follow it around to the left (similar to last Thursday's run)
• Turn left into Raycroft Park. Follow it up, and fork left by Winston Churchill Park
• Cross St. Clair Avenue West, and head up beside the Loblaws
• Cross Tichester Road and drop down into Cedarvale Park
• Follow Cedarvale all the way to the end, and continue up to Eglinton
• Cross Eglinton and head up beside Allen Road to the Belt Line
• Follow the Belt Line along to the water fountain just after Yonge St, and turn right into Mount Pleasant Cemetary
• Follow the cemetary around to the right, then follow Yonge St down to St. Clair
• Turn right on St. Clair and head along to Poplar Plains Road. Head down Poplar Plains, then retrace your steps back to the start.

Here are the map and stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and finishes near Museum and Queen's Park subway stations.

My Notes on the Run:
I was pretty happy with my run today... I increased my average pace to 4:43/km overall, and I was fairly consistent in pace throughout, meaning I kept up a decent pace throughout the climbs.

Most pleasing, though, was that almost 16k felt comfortable today, and I easily put in a fast finish - very satisfying.

Oh, I forgot to mention this the other day - the bruise I got when the over-excited dog chomped down on my arm the other day is almost gone now... and the tenderness is completely gone. My nervousness when running past dogs now hasn't, though...

Physio appointment tomorrow, so the next runs will probably be Wednesday and Thursday.

17k - Humber Valley/Eglinton/Belt Line

The Run:
A simple but gut-busting 17k point-to-point run, split about 50/50 between hard-packed trail and sidewalk. Plenty of hills - the route is pretty much one long climb apart from the last couple of miles.

• From Old Mill Station, head right out of the exit and turn right at the end of the road
• Cross the bridge over the Humber River and turn left onto the Humber Valley trail
• Follow the trail up to Lundy Avenue. Turn left onto Old Dundas Street for a few metres, then drop down onto the trail again.
• Follow the trail up to Eglinton Avenue West
  • I took a wrong turn and ran south down Scarlett Road, along East Road and up Jane Street. Do this if you want an extra hill - it's a nice one!
• Run east along Eglinton Avenue West until just after Spadina Road, then turn right, down some wooden steps and onto the Belt Line
• Head left on the Belt Line until you cross Yonge Street next to Mount Pleasant Cemetary
• Shimmy left then head north a couple of hundred metres to Davisville Station

Here's the map (had some minor GPS problems; I'll have the stats up here soon) Update: Here are the stats!

TTC Info: This run starts at Old Mill Station and ends at Davisville Station.

My Notes on the Run:
Lots of hills on this one... much more climbing than downhill... found it quite tough, but still managed to average about 5 mins/km.

The 60km Weekend to End Breast Cancer began today and followed the first part of this route up the Humber Valley, which was cool. I did the walk in 2004 and 2005, and it was fantastic to see so many people out again this year. Cancer's has hit my family several times, so this cause is close to my heart. If you haven't done this walk before, I strongly encourage you to sign up for the next one!

12k - Russell Hill (again)

The Run:
Same as last Thursday - Russell Hill Road. Four times.

• From Bloor and Avenue, head west to Bedford Road, and follow that north up to Dupont
• Shimmy one block west (left) along Dupont, and head along Boulton Drive
• Run up Russell Hill Road to St. Clair Avenue West
• Head east (right) for one block, then south (right again) down Warren Road to the end
• Turn left onto Clarendon Avenue, then right down Poplar Plains Road
• At the bottom of the hill, turn right and head back up Boulton Drive and Russell Hill. Do this a total of four times.
• After the fourth descent of Poplar Plains, head south to Davenport Road. Follow that east (left) to Bedford Road, and follow that back to the start.

Here are the map and run stats.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends near to both Bay and St. George stations.

My Notes on the Run:

I have a confession to make. Today I had to compromise on my 'different run every day' rule. Basically, it was that or give up running with my running group, and I'm not doing that. So, I'm making an exception to that rule when I run with the group. Every other run I do will continue with the same principle for as long as I can manage it, though - a different route every run.

Today, for the first time, I'm posting the route map and run data using my brand-spanking-new GPS watch. So you get to see me in my full glory/misery (depending on the run!).

Today's run was tough. Really tough. Tougher than last week. I wasn't prepared for a hill run after yesterday (especially as I cleverly forgot to stretch after yesterday's run). Four laps of Russell Hill nearly killed me and I was forced to briefly stop and walk twice, which I hate doing. From memory, I think Georges (who I ran with today) and I were still in the first four runners doing our distance to finish, but it was brutally apparent how much work I still have to do. In particular, I have to re-learn not to go out too hard, which really hurt me later on. Yikes!

Next run: Saturday, I think.

11k - Queen's Park/Don Valley Loop

The Run:
A simple 10.8k loop from Queen's Park to the Don Valley, down to the lakeshore and back up.

• From College Street West & Queen's Park Crescent, head north to Wellesley Street West
• Turn right (east) and run along to Sumach Street
• Turn right (south) and head down to Winchester Street. Follow the path diagonally through the park and down to Riverdale Park West
• Head up onto the footbridge, then turn right and drop down onto the Don Valley trail
• Head south down to the lakeshore and head west along the Martin Goodman Trail
• Turn up York Street and follow it back up (as it becomes University Avenue) to the start

Here's the map.

TTC Info: This run starts and ends at the Queen's Park subway station.

My Notes on the Run:
I ran with a colleague from work again today, which made the run go by very quickly. We kept up a decent pace, but unfortunately my GPS watch didn't get a signal until about 1/4 of the way through the run. Assuming we kept up the same pace, our total time was about 0:49:54 - roughly a 4:36/km pace. I felt pretty good throughout, which was nice given the increased pace over recent runs.

GPS Update: Found!!!

A quick update on my long-lost Garmin Forerunner 305 - I arrived home this evening to find a package on my doorstep, with GPS watch inside! No sign of tampering, damage or any other interference.

I guess there are two possibilities:

1. A good samaritan found the package on our doorstep, took it into protective custody and returned it today (although still while I wasn't there). That's the "I like UPS and believe what they're telling me" version
2. UPS didn't actually deliver it when they claimed they did. That's the more likely version.

Either way:

1. I'm mad at UPS
2. I'm really happy that the watch turned up.

For the record, CostCo were was great throughout this whole thing - friendly and helpful. Kudos to them and their customer service people!

9k - Awenda Provincial Park

The Run:
Roughly 9km from Toanche Cove B&B (highly recommended by the way) near Penetanguishene up to a dirt trail, along the trail for a while, and back. Directions are again very simple:

• From Toanche Cove B&B head east along Champlain Road
• Follow the road around to the left, and up the hill
• At the T-junction, continue straight up the dirt trail
• Follow the trail for roughly 15 minutes, then turn around and head back

My Notes on the Run:
I'll be honest - I have no idea how long this run was. I was too busy enjoying our relaxing weekend up on Georgian Bay to care. All I knew was that this and the previous day's run were among the most enjoyable I've had for a long time. I could really get into this trail running thing.

Note: If you run along this trail to the end, it brings you out into Awenda Provincial Park. I didn't have time to do this as we had to check out of the B&B (plus I would have had to run back too, which would have been a long run after the previous day's 16k).

16k - Awenda Provincial Park - Bluff Trail

The Run:
A wonderful trail run around Awenda Provincial Park up on Georgian Bay. Directions are simple:

• From beach #4 in Awenda Provincial Park, run back along to the parking lots
• Head up the Nipissing Trail, up the steps to the trail's end
• Turn left along the Bluff Trail
• After about 13km, turn back down the Nipissing Trail and run back to beach #4

TTC Info: Go to the north end of the TTC and drive north for a couple of hours :)

My Notes on the Run:
This run was heaven. The trail is... well... a trail, so watch your ankles (and keep an eye out for the >poison ivy), but those things aside the run is wonderful. Plenty of minor hills and turns to keep you interested. Loved it.

Best part: When you finish the route, you can run into >Georgian Bay to cool off

I finished the run comfortably in 1:08:00 (the 16k distance is an estimate - according to the park map it was about 18k but there's no way I did 18k in that time. I've based the distance on a reasonable pace).