Category: exercise

I woke up around 7:30 AM this morning, couldn’t get back to sleep but didn’t want to be up early on a dark rainy Saturday morning. I puttered around, answered some email, fed Smacky and gave him his medicine, put some laundry in… started feeling sleepy again, went back to bed.

Then I realized that I would need some calories for the run later, since I had planned on running at some point today, and thought I should get up and eat something. I figured I’d nap for another hour or two. I thought it was smart to do that; I’ve read in Runner’s World that having 200-300 calories before a tough run is a good thing. Of course, they’re talking about running marathons, so I’m not sure it applies, but I did it anyway. Drank a couple of glasses of water, too, to hydrate. Or something.

Best part was waking up a couple of hours later, face down and sprawled in bed, with Smacky sprawled across the back of my head and neck, keeping my ears warm. What a good kitten. It was actually his snoring that woke me; the strange wheezy purr infiltrated my dreams. I had to move carefully because I was afraid if I moved too quickly he would startle and claw me. Funny cat.

And, as a result of the eating and drinking, and maybe the extra sleep, I ran very well today. I tried not to notice how fast I was going, but it’s nearly impossible not to notice when running on the treadmill (too cold and rainy to run outside). I covered 3.1 miles in 30:14, or just a shade over a 9:45 pace. May not seem fast to other runners, but considering how lousy I’ve been doing this winter I’m pretty pleased with my pace and time. It means that whatever has afflicted me is going away, and I can get back to improving again.

Oddly enough, my legs were stiff for almost the first two miles. Didn’t seem like I could really loosen up until the final 3/4 or 1/2 mile. I warmed up and stretched beforehand.

Went running yesterday after work. The weather was warm for late January. Practically spring-like, again. Which is strange after the freezing rain of last weekend. Kind of almost feels like, oh, maybe there’s something out of whack with the world… or the weather… or… y’know.

Anyway, I did the 2.5 miles of the Esplanade, and kept a slow pace. Stopped and walked a couple of times, but tried to do that for no more than 20-30 steps before I got myself running again. My legs were sore last night, and are a bit tight today, but not too bad.

I tried, I tried, oh, how I tried not to keep track of time. But, in the end, I did, although I’m not going to post it here because if I don’t, then eventually I’ll forget it and that’s almost as good as not keeping track in the first place, right? But I was slow.

Strange to think that I’m about at the same place, both weight-wise and running-wise, where I am last year at this time. Maybe a bit better, with a bit more stamina, but not that much improved. Being too hard on myself? OK, yeah, I am. You wanna make something of it? Didn’t think so… Anyway, if I’m marginally better than I was last year, even considering how well I did during the year, then maybe I’ll finish this year even stronger. That’s my plan. Did I mention in previous posts somewhere that I want to run a half-marathon this year? Yes, I believe I did.

I do have to keep track of my “exercise-induced bronchial spasms” (Nurse Cindy wanted to avoid giving me a diagnosis of “asthma”) over the next couple of weeks, and if it flares up again, I’ll probably have to retain a prescription for albuterol or something similar. Bummer. But, hey, I have friends who use it, and some of them are actual athletes, so I should be OK. I just worry that I’ll internalize it and… oh, nevermind.

I’ve got some thoughts on friendship that I’ll post later. Tonight or sometime tomorrow, depending on how the evening goes.

Oops. I accidentally went to the gym and fell onto a treadmill and ran 2 miles before I could stop myself.

Even though, technically, I was supposed to wait until after my follow-up visit with Nurse Cindy on Thursday.

I think I did pretty well, waiting this long. I’ve done a lot of walking in the past two weeks, though, and went back to taking the stairs. And even so, I could, when I sat down and stopped moving and was forced to feel this body I was living in, I could feel the lack of running just like it was a cold compress on me. Or maybe a hot damp blanket. Something constricting, at any rate. And smothering. Like any attention from your mom would be when you were thirteen. Wait… that’s not a lack of something, is it?

Oh, hell, you know what I mean.

My run tonight was good, even though I kept a fairly slow pace. I didn’t want to kill myself or anything. And I also specifically didn’t keep track of the time. Just wanted to move and run and feel fast again. My breathing afterward was fine, too, so hopefully that almost-like-asthma-but-not-really thing was temporary. Getting the fleas under control on Smacky helped a tonne, I think, too. And, sadly, I no longer let him sleep in my bed. Well, sometimes. But not on nights before I plan to run. Mostly.

The weather’s been strange. We had freezing rain this weekend, but today it was in the 60s and almost spring-like. Crazy (only one ‘a’-crazy, though).

I need to archive my 2004 trophy page and my running log, and set one up for this year. For the record, I participated in 8 official races last year, six 5K runs and two 10Ks. Not bad for a first year runner. I look forward to this coming season to see how much I can improve.

There’s so much in this post that I should link to but damn if I’m not too tired. Check back Wednesday and I might have come back and updated with links ‘n’ stuff. But don’t hold me to it. ‘Cause I’m like the wind, baby.

Had a good run tonight. Not a great one, but a good one, better than the painful one on Saturday. I managed a good pace for 2.5 miles.

I’m not sure what’s wrong lately, I’m hoping I’m not allergic to my new cat, but I’ve been achey and had sinus and breathing problems, and lately a cough. I’m going to chalk it up to a low-level cold, and hope that it goes away soon. Tonight I didn’t have much trouble breathing, although I still have the sniffles and sneezes, a bit, just a bit.

Ran at the gym again today. I’ve been unable to run at a 9:30 or better pace for more than 2 miles lately, so my goal today was to do 3 miles on the treadmill no matter what. I did, in fact, finish my 3 miles (plus another mile on the elliptical but I never count that; that’s just warmup), but at a 9:46 pace or thereabouts. Argh. I want to be faster, dammit.

I could, I suppose, blame it on the lack of music. I brought my iPod (since music (and women in tight clothing) is pretty much the main benefit of running in the gym) but managed to forget my ear buds. Hard to listen to music without some kind of electrical-impulse-to-sound-wave converter.

My goal for next week is to duplicate my best official 5K time on the treadmill. I know I can, I know I can, I know I can…

So, the cold weather is here, and even though I’ve broken down and bought some running clothes more suitable for winter, it’s still too frickin’ cold outside to go running if I do it in the morning before work or in the evening. It’s OK to go running on the weekends during the light of day. Sometimes. But the rest of the time, it looks like I’ll be running on the treadmill at the gym.

Many years ago… like, oh, say, December 2003… when I first started actually running instead of using the elliptical machine or the stair climbing machine or going for a walk and jogging for 5 pathetic minutes before collapsing in a heap, I ran on a treadmill. Runner friends had told me that running on the treadmill is a lot different than running on a trail, or running on asphalt and concrete. It’s easier on your knees and hips, for one thing, because of the extra padding. And it’s BORING.

I like running outside, in the sun, watching all the scenery change, seeing other people out. Yeah, yeah, it’s weird; after all, I am a geek, more accustomed to the cold glow of a CRT or LCD than the sun. But, it’s true. I really like running outside. So the thought of having to go back to the gym, with it’s unchanging scenery and the feeling of confinement is not a positive, motivating thought.

Still, the advantage of running on a treadmill is that I can listen to my iPod. iPods do not do well when running, no matter what anyone else will tell you. Sure, iPods have 32 MB of skip protection, but they are still a hard drive, and hard drives are susceptible to shock, and, speaking for myself, I generate a lot of shock when I run. But on a treadmill, I can set the iPod up on the shelf against a towel and listen to my heart’s content. Or my ears’ content. Whatever.

So since I have music to help motivate me, picking the right music to listen to on the treadmill is important. If I pick some mellow or dour music, even though that’s what I really like, it might hurt my pace. Today I got up early to hit the gym before work, and the album I chose to listen to was “Kill Bill Vol. 1”.

There’s just something about running to the “Green Hornet” theme that really gets my blood pounding… and I think it paid off, too, because I did 2 miles at a blistering (for me) pace of 9:18.5 pace! Whoo-HOOO! Go, me!

I’m going to be working on both pace and distance. When I head back to the gym on Wednesday, I’m going to aim for 2.5 miles at the same pace. Let’s see what happens…

I know, I know, I promised a longer post. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot to post about. Haven’t finished processing the trial I was just a witness in. I’m sure most of you out there in Blogsylvania are tired of reading about my running, but, hell, I only post that stuff for my own benefit.

I did run tonight, 3.4 miles, around 32 minutes. Tried to focus on “just keep going” but had to stop a couple of times (once to pee because I didn’t go before I left the house). Even though it was kinda chilly outside (low 50s, it felt like, here, let me check the Weather channel – current temp is 48 degrees F), and even though I just dropped $123 on running pants and a long-sleeved running shirt, I went in shorts and a short-sleeved singlet. I did wear a cap. Oh, and my new Brooks flashing light, for visibility. Damn, I’m buying a lot of technical clothes and running equipment.

What else is going on? Not too much.

Changed the format of my tables on my running log page for Speed Weeks! It makes more sense to keep track of the intervals or laps that I do, rather than total miles and times and paces and all that.

Sorry I haven’t updated much this week. I’ve got post-election, preparing for the pogrom, blues.

Ran today (yeah, I haven’t been updating my running log, either. Sorry, sorry). It was my long run, 5+ miles. I normally do it on Friday, by leaving a change of clothes at work on Thursday and then running to work in the morning, but since I was home sick on Thursday I, well, didn’t.

So I did it in reverse today, by taking a bus downtown and then running home.

Since it’s still Speed Week!, the plan was to warm up, then run the middle three miles of the run at a significantly faster pace than my normal, then cool down.

And I did!

My first mile was 8:59, my second was 9:16, and my last was 9:08.

I am awesome. My speedwork is helping. I’m going to do one more week of speedwork and then go back to endurance. Or I might design a 3-week cycle that will include a mix of long runs, speedwork, and weight training. Dunno. I’m being influenced by this month’s issue of Runner’s World magazine.

Tonight was “hill repeats” — the plan was to run about a mile to warm up. The mile ended at Sellwood Park, where there’s a trail leading through the park and it’s uphill. It’s a medium slope. I have no idea what the grade is, but it’s “Baby Bear” — not too hot, not too cold. Just right. From where I start to the top of the hill is around 300-400 meters, as near as I can tell. So I was going to run up to the top of the hill, then jog back down… four times total.

I only timed my runs to the top. My times were: 3:16, 3:21, 3:15, 2:57. Yay! From worst to best I improved by 24 seconds!

If I take my best time, and assume it was about 300 meters, that puts my pace at… let’s see… carry the one… Yikes! 15:49!! I have to have been moving faster than that. 400 meters makes it 11:52, 500 meters makes it 9:29. It felt more like a 9:29 pace, to be honest.

But pace isn’t important. Strengthening my legs and improving my speed is what’s important. So I’ll just focus on best time. Yay, me!

I haven’t added this to my running log yet because I’m going to change how I record Speed Week! and right now there’s

• a total eclipse to look at,
• World Series Game 4 to watch,
• friends to chat with,
• and food to eat (’cause I’m starving!)