Long vs. Short

Last week when I was running with my Dad we were heading down part of the Goose that he and my Mom would run on when they were first starting out. I say run, but it was more of a run/walk. We discussed how it used to be such a huge accomplishment for him to run to “the next tree” and now, here we were, just cruising along, about 45’ into a run and we hadn’t walked at all.

This got us to talking about all the little milestones and how awesome it feels to overcome them and how great it feels to push your boundaries and also, just how great it feels to be in shape.

Since then, I feel like I’ve been thinking a lot about what I used to consider a “long” workout and what was a “short” workout, and how these definitions have changed from when I first started exercising. Not to mention, how they continue to change from year to year depending on what distance of race I am training for. Often I think they are quite arbitrary.

So, here are my random guidelines to what I currently consider long/short.

Running: Right now, anything under 90’ I tend to look at as a shorter run, while last year when training for short course, 90’ would have been a long run… and when I first started, man, I thought a 30’ run was crazy. I feel like I've mentioned this before, but one of my favourite quotes (which was a New Balance ad from their love/hate campaign a few years back) was “I love that my short runs used to be my long runs.”

Biking: Anything under 3hrs is short, over 3hrs is getting into the long category, although that will probably change as the season wears on and 3hrs will seem like a ride in the park. On the trainer, 2-2.5hrs is long. Anything over 2.5 is flippin’ NUTTY!

Swimming: Anything over about 3.5k I consider long and 2k seems so short now that it’s like a little blip on the radar. In fact, it is quite a treat when I have a 2-2.5k swim. That said when I first started, I just wanted to be able to swim [survive] 500m and the thought of even doing 1k was daunting.

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with all this, but it has been on my mind lately, so there it is.


Now, here is some of the other random crap that is floating around my head this Friday…

1) I can never seem to spell the word occasion correctly on the first attempt. Although, apparently I am having trouble with any sort of spelling today, as this is what came out of my hands/keyboard the first time trying to type the above sentence “I can never speel the work occassion correctly on the first atempt.”

2) I love when I’m running along the waterfront in the morning and a big pack of cyclists (which I’m pretty sure is these guys) come flying past me as I run in the opposite direction. I like the way you can see their lights far off in the distance, getting closer and closer until this beautifully fluid, silent freight train just roars past. (My words really don’t do this justice, but I love it).

3) I did a Pilates class last night instead of my regular strength workout. It was awesome and gave my core a good butt-kicking. I am not sore, but man-oh-man, my run was tough this morning. Coincidence?

4) When I exercise I have trouble being eloquent or coming up with anything but lazy words. This means when I get angry or frustrated, I often get all foul mouthed and swear (not my finest quality).

5) Shane and I watched some of the Canadian Olympic Trials for swimming last night. I wish I could move that quickly in the water. Sooo awesome!

6) Triathlon Canada sent out the drawings of the uniforms for the 2012 Age Group World Championship team recently. It got me pretty pumped for NZ. I’ve been so focused on IMC and training for that, that I sometimes forget what a big deal NZ will be. I’m pretty excited to get to wear the maple leaf and represent Canada.

7) Clara Hughes amazes me. That is all.