Spring Is Here!

 Love when spring arrives. It's a definite energy booster. The weather is slowly getting warmer and the green is emerging. I am getting around Ontario of late. All driving - a little tiring but seeing a lot of country side.

 Went to Owen Sound, then Collingwood. Got a swim in Collingwood - nice new pool with little crowd. Bonus is it's near Ashanti Café - one of my fav coffee spots. Check it out when in Collingwood. From Collingwood I ended my day in Orillia. Got an 8K tempo run in on the lakefront trail that follows Lake Couchiching. On another coffee spot - if in Orillia go to Mariposa Bakery (see pic above). It's great coffee and treats - building is original from 1911, cool original wood. Next morning I left for Peterborough then home.

 On the weekend I got a 16k run - it was a Death March! I get pretty tired from work travel and my body was yelling at me. Every step was an effort. My run time was 1:38, painfully slow. Since I was so slow I took time out to take a Dork selfie. I like where I live because I can head to the Niagara Escarpment in a few kms for epic hills or 5k west for a flat rail trail (as seen above). It's the best of both worlds - lucky!

 Next day was gorgeous. It got up to 19C with moderate wind and beautiful sun. Best of all Sara and I got out on a "date". Some couples go to dinner or the movies - we use our sitter time to work out together. We got 50k in and loved being out on the bikes.

 Our ride saw very little traffic. Our subdivision is surrounded by farms and country roads. Here's Sara heading down the open road. Look how clear the sky is.

 Once back from our ride we got our Dude out for his ride. Logan enjoys riding which makes me happy. He loves to ride and talk about his computer games, dinos, etc. The sun felt awesome - love that vitamin D!

 Next up on the work front - Brockville. Brockville is a small community on the St. Lawrence River. It's beautiful. I got up early before work and got an 8k run in. I was tired from the drive the previous day and the run really shook the cobwebs out.

 I headed along the waterfront where a trail followed the river. Some cool sights like this whaler.

 This sign definitely describes my current run speed. I am dead slow! There was a time when I could run 9:00 minute miles pretty much all day. My Ironman long runs would average out that way. I've done a couple of Ironman marathons averaging under that pace following the swim and bike. Now 9:00 minute miles feel like tempo! Maybe I'm slowing as I near 50, maybe I need to run more or maybe I just need to work harder - who knows.

 Loons on the river - still some ice.

 This is how clear the water was - this anchor was about 6 feet under. I returned home and the last 2 days have been better for training. I got a good ride in against 30km winds and averaged 30.5 km/hr over 40k - pretty decent result. Yesterday I did a 16k run in 1:28.54. My goal was to get below 1:30 and definitely below 1:38 from last week's Death March. Yesterday's run was much better and I averaged 5:31 per km. It was also 22C so shorts and t-shirt was the order of the day. Hopefully I can extend the streak a little longer. That's all for now - getting ready for another ride!

 

Cheers!