Zumba!

I had slight intentions of running yesterday, but I have been so busy with Christmas shopping and wrapping that I could not get to school early enough to do so. Instead, I decided to take the Zumba class that one of the school parents has been teaching once a week for the past two months. My kid has taken the class three or four times, and I have watched each time, thinking my hips just don't move that way not to mention there is no way I could stay on beat. And clearly the apple does not fall from the tree, although it has been entertaining to watch the kid!

But having now done Zumba, which I am fairly certain was my first group exercise class since three days before I delivered the kid over eight years ago, I can say it was not so bad. Exertion-wise, I kept up with it, which did not surprise me since I am pretty active. I certainly was sweating, though no more than I do when I run. And was out of breath a few times as well, but probably less so than when I run.

I definitely struggled with a few of the moves. The instructor faces us, rather than having us watch her back, which I much prefer. I just can't seem to do that mirror image thing, and as a result, more often than not, I was going in the opposite direction of everyone else. But I kept moving, I definitely was shaking, and I think I will do it again. Fortunately, the class is on hiatus until after the holidays, so perhaps I can practice some hip shaking in the meantime.

Back on the treadmill

Last week, after who knows how many months, I got back on the treadmill. My timing to run outside has been off, and I cannot bring myself to run in the rain or the cold, both of which we have seen in the past two weeks, so I figured I needed to do something.

As usual, I was reminded how much I hate the treadmill. For the first few minutes, I jogged about 6.0 miles per hour, to the best of my recollection, although it could have been a little slower. I will never understand why running a 10 mph pace on the treadmill is rather difficult when that is how long it takes me to run up that awful hill. Shouldn't it be easier on the treadmill? I had the hill set rather low.

After a couple minutes of that and feeling convinced I would never be able to complete a mile, I decided to alternate running with jogging. So for 20-some minutes, I would run for about a minute, each time increasing my speed 1/10th of a mile until I got to around 8 mph. In between each run, I would jog about a minute at anywhere from 5 to 5.5 mph.

Despite the challenge and how out of breath I was, I think I could have run longer than the 25 or so minutes I did. Unfortunately, the treadmill is a little temperamental, and the last time I switched from about 8 mph to 5-something, the treadmill stopped. After a couple of minutes of unplugging and replugging, I just gave up. Ugh!

Anyway, I considered the run a success because I did run over about 2.5 miles and I do not recall feeling any pain. I would like to go through that routine again to see if I can do it for 30 minutes. Hopefully the treadmill will cooperate next time.

I swear, I have been exercising!

Between Christmas-related stuff and subbing, I have been pretty busy. Too busy to post about my exercising, but fortunately not too busy to do said exercising.

For the past few weeks, I have consistently managed to swim three times a week. Unfortunately, other than a run on the treadmill, which I will blog about next, I have done nothing other than swim, unless you count running around Christmas shopping, which, when you think about it, is really kind of a sport.

I don't know if it is my age or the repetition, but I have noticed some leg pain lately when I have been swimming. It is almost starting to feel like running!

Yesterday was my most productive swim of the past two weeks. I manged to swim 40 laps (20 + 20) and jog about 30 minutes (20 + 10). It was a bit of a struggle for the first 20 laps as my left hamstring was bothering me. But I refused to stop, not so much because I am being dumb (at least I hope not), but because my leg pain pretty much always goes away when I am done swimming, so I reason it can't be serious. When I did my second set of 20 laps, I did not notice the leg pain as much or maybe at all. But I was swimming fast as there was a guy in the pool, and I am all about looking as if I am athletic!

I still contend that swimming is great exercise, and I am going to try to keep with it. Maybe I just need to switch it up a bit. We'll see.

Yep, it's December!

Running won out over Zumba yesterday, surprisingly to me.

I "bribed" myself into running by telling myself that I could skip at least half of the first hill. I figured with 40-degree temps (though sunny skies), my lungs would appreciate staying right where they are and not exploding in the frigid (relatively speaking) temps.

I ran in my lined black pants that typically are used from December through March. I also ran with a thick hoodie over top of my Run Around the Square long-sleeved t-shirt. I opted against gloves and a hat, though the hoodie was up. I started off feeling pretty good, if not a tad cold. A little more than halfway into the first mile, however, I was actually warm and wishing I had worn a thinner hoodie. I did not seem to notice the pants. When I hit the top of the hill, I took off my hood, but after a minute or so decided it was probably smarter to keep it on with the cold temps and my sweaty head.

All in all, it was a pretty good run. I finished off the just-under-two mile jaunt with three or four laps around the outside of the gym, which also included a set of stairs. All told, I ran for about 25 minutes, so I probably ended up running about 2.5 miles.

Mile 0.8 (approximately): 9.36
Mile two: 8:30

As an aside, I ran with my mp3 player for the first time in ages. I keep the volume low so I could hear cars coming up behind me (I run on the road, close to the sidewalk, against traffic). The music was a nice change of pace, and I actually found myself speeding up when Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" came on. At one point, I was actually doing the air drums!

And on that note, see you soon, 40.

The holidays and the weather break my stride.

After my short run on Friday, I did absolutely no exercise for the next couple of days. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and excess of children. On Monday, as much as I just wanted to stay in my PJs and do nothing, I thought better of it and hit the pool.

As I have been trying to do, I mixed it up a bit. This time around, I swam 10 laps, followed by 10 or 11 minutes of jogging in the water, followed by another 10 laps, proceeded by another 10 or 11 minutes of jogging, followed by a final 10 laps and 15 minutes of jogging. I managed to get in some leg and arm water work as well.

I was not feeling it very much; perhaps it was all the food I had consumed over the holidays. My guess is my sugary breakfast did not help. But I got my swimming in, and that is what counts.

Yesterday, I headed back to the pool with the kid, and only got in about 16 laps, though I was swimming around on a noodle with the kid for awhile. I also tread water for a few minutes. I still was not feeling it.

Today, I will either run or take a Zumba class. The cold weather may make the latter more palatable, but my lack of coordination and not wanting to look like an idiot in front of people may tip the scales in the run's favor. We'll see.

Running with my brothers

I cannot tell you the last time I ran with my brothers (one is older and the other is younger, the latter of whom I still refer to as my little brother even though he has about three inches on me). Probably has not even happened this century. In fact, I am not sure we have run together more than once or twice. But late this afternoon, while all of us are my mom's, we decided to take a short, medium-paced run around her neighborhood.

If I remember, I will drive around to see how far we actually ran; I am guessing it was around 1.5 miles, maybe 1.8. The hills were extra tough on me. So much so that for a couple of them I was not running with my brothers but rather running a hundred feet or so behind them. I actually felt as if I were in a 5k.

The temps were in low 50s according to the Indiana Gazette, but it felt more like the upper 40s. By the end of the run, my ears were burning. I'd like to blame my struggles on that, or just the massive amount of food I have consumed in the past couple of days. :-)

Still, I got out there. And I was able to enjoy (more or less) 15 or so minutes with just my brothers, something I so rarely do.

My legs hurt

After a great stretch of exercising, I kind of slacked off. I had that really good swim last Thursday, and then I did nothing until yesterday (Tuesday), other than walking the streets of Indiana for their Light-Up Night last Friday.

It has rained the past few days, and because I prefer to run in no more than a light drizzle, running has been pretty much out for me. So yesterday, I headed back to the pool, determined to get a solid, strenuous workout in.

This time around, I swam 20 laps, which took me around 23 minutes. Then I jogged in the pool for about 30 minutes, a new record for me. I followed that up with another 20 laps, though for some reason that set took me about 30 minutes. I finished up with almost 30 more minutes of jogging in the pool, before I did some leg and arm exercises for about 10 minutes.

It was definitely a good workout, if not a slightly annoying one during my second set of laps. For some reason a woman at the pool does her laps around the perimeter, and she does not really pay attention to where she is going. I don't mind when I am swimming a front stroke; I can move out of my lane/her way. But it becomes rather bothersome when I am on a backstroke, and I have to stop and turn around to make sure I don't hit her. Not a big deal, though.

My legs are hurting a little today, so I am definitely going to take it easy. I would love to get up and run on Thanksgiving, taking my Indiana County route, but not sure if that will happen. We'll see.

One thing I am pretty sure that I will be running towards is the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pies tomorrow!

20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 10 = exhaustion

When I swim laps, I have a hard time keeping track of which number I am on. I tend to swim four or five laps of the same stroke before switching to another, but my mind wanders so easily that I often lose count. Recently, I decided to swim only two laps per stroke before moving on to the next. That has helped immensely, though at least once today, I actually could not remember if I was on my first or second trip for that stroke. Crazy!

Anyway, this morning, to mix it up a bit, I decided to jog in the pool first. Since jogging for 15 minutes has been pretty easy for me, I decided to up my time to 20 minutes. In the interest of helping the balls of my feet and working some different muscles, I decided to jog backwards for the last five minutes. Then I swam about 20 laps (which takes me about 23 minutes). I next got in another 20 minutes of jogging, again including the backwards jogging for the final five minutes. I followed that up with 20 more laps (which may have been 19 or 21). Finally, I jogged backwards for about 10 more minutes before rounding out my workout with some push-ups and leg exercises in the water. And that is where my title comes from.

All told, it took me almost two hours to get everything in, and I was (and still am) pretty darn tired. But it is a fulfilling tired. Throughout my workout, I felt good. Admittedly, during some of the laps, I was not sure I could keep going. But always competing with myself and wanting to do what I set out to, I pressed on.

As I was, per usual, struggling with the butterfly stroke, I realized that it is a lot like that first killer hill when I run. In both cases, I keep doing it, yet the task almost never seems any easier.

The other thing I find interesting is that when I run, even though I typically complete only two miles, I think I have achieved this great workout. Yet when I swim, if I end up doing only 15 laps, which typically takes me about the same amount of time as it does to run two miles, then I feel as if I barely did anything. I guess a big part of it has to do with the intensity; I tend to run harder than I swim, which leaves me sweaty and out of breath; it just feels as if I have run for an hour, even though I never do.

Regardless, I am glad when I can get a really long swim in. I am quite certain, however, even if I jog super slow, I won't be running for an hour anytime soon. Or probably ever.

Running towards 40 at full force

Not wanting to waste an unexpectedly nice afternoon with warm temps (upper 60s!) and partly sunny skies, I  decided to get another Monday run in. I tried to employ mind over matter by telling myself that the first hill is not so bad, and it actually kind of worked. My left foot hurt just a little before the pain soon went away (or else I did not notice it), and I felt as if I had a pretty good groove going.

As I was nearing the top of the hill, I checked my phone and saw that I had been running just over eight minutes, which meant there was a good chance I could complete that first mile in under 10 minutes. When I reached the top of the hill, pretty much gassed, I happily saw that my time was 9:44. The last time I ran that fast was last fall.

I felt pretty pleased with myself, so I tried to keep up a decent pace on the way back, without pushing myself as hard as I did on the way up. I ended up with a total time of 18:33.

Mile one: 9:44
Mile two: 8:49

Today's run marked my seventh out of eight days of exercise. Including in those days were running, walking, and swimming. And eating. But let's just focus on the exercise.

Three more weeks...

The new insoles helped a little

Thanks to Indian summer (wait, is it politically correct to say that?), I ran in 60-degree weather yesterday. I could not bring myself to run in shorts since it is November and all, but it was still nice, and most likely my last 60-degree run until March.

As for the new insoles, they definitely helped. My feet did not have the "walk on clouds" feeling I had when I first put on my Enduro 5s in 2010 or whenever I got them, but I hardly noticed foot pain, so I call it a success.

As for the actual run, I did pretty well. Not my best time as of late, but enough to keep me satisfied and motivated, particular since yesterday marked four weeks until I turn the big 40.

Mile one: 10:00
Mile two: 8:36

After I ran my two miles, I ran around the outside of the gym, which includes about 20-some steps, for about eight or nine minutes, so I got in almost a third mile.

And now, for something I rarely say: I really need to get back in the pool!

A shorter trip up the steps

As pathetic as this sounds, after my four-mile run on Tuesday, I was afraid to run again this week, for fear of it not going so well. On Friday, I instead planned to run up and down the 64ish steps my usual 20 times. Unfortunately, I ended up talking to someone beforehand, so I had only about 13 minutes, which was not enough time for 20 trips.

I ended up running up and down the steps 10 times, for a total time of 8:11. Technically, that is less than half of what it takes me to run up and down 20 times, which makes it sound somewhat impressive. But my guess is had I kept going, it would have taken me over 17 minutes. I am thinking all the Halloween candy is catching up to me.

As an aside, I did replace my original Asics insoles with Dr. Scholl's sports insoles (not sure exactly what they are called). I hardly noticed pain in my left foot, but I was pushing myself, determined to go at a pretty good pace since I was doing only half as many trip. That coupled with my overly sugared body may have been enough to block out pain. The real test will come when I run this week.

As another aside: I will be 40 in 30 days. Here's hoping I can get in at least four more runs before then. And laying off the candy would be good too.

Finally, a long run

Today I ran 40 minutes! I had scraped the back of my heel pretty badly last evening and was thinking about forgoing anything more strenuous than walking to and from my car, but when I walked for 10 minutes this morning without any problems, I figured I had no excuses. And considering the day was sunny and the temps were decent (about 50), how could I not take advantage?

Since I had extra time, I decided I should see if I was able to run more than my usual two miles. It helped that I started near the top of the killer hill, and I kept my pace slightly slower than normal, since I was going for distance, not time. I kept mostly to my main route, going less than a half a mile past where I normally turn around and adding side streets on the way back.

This time when I ran, I forced myself to really pay attention to my feet, since the new Asics seem to always bother me. I noticed that it was only my left foot that hurt and that was not until about a mile in. The pain was confined to the bottom of my foot, so I am wondering if replacing my insole will help. It does not appear that my shoes are too small, as I wondered, since my smaller (left) foot is the one that hurts.

The foot annoyance aside, it was a pretty good run. I felt good, and I probably could have run even longer. Considering I have been averaging just over a nine-minute mile during my two-mile runs and I skipped the killer hill at the beginning, which adds the extra time to my mile, I had to have run about 4 miles. So yeah, me!

Today, turning 40 in just over one month does not seem so bad. :-)

I'll take it.

Since yesterday was most likely going to be the only warmish, sunny day we will have all week, I decided to stop making excuses and get out there and run.

As with some recent previous times, the first hill was not awful. Not great, mind you, and I was still left somewhat breathless, but I did it, and I did not think my lungs were going to burst.

As usual, my feet started out hurting a bit, but after about five or so minutes, I had forgotten about them. I am seriously considering contacting customer service at Asics. What have I got to lose, really? For the record, I have tried on about a half dozen running shoes over the past month or so, but nothing seems quite right.

Anyway, to the best of my recollection, I felt little to no pain anywhere else (maybe a slight knee thing for a bit), and I enjoyed the sun and slight breeze, so all in all, a good run.

Mile one: 9:53
Mile two: 8:15

I have been pretty consistent with my times the last few times out, which I consider a good thing. Since I will be 40 in just over a month, I think I am almost ready to give up the dream of doing this run again in under 18 minutes. If I can manage to run once a week, to go along with my swimming and running up and down the steps, that will be great. But I think I can be happy if I can run a couple times a month, considering my track record this year.

Until next time...

Maybe I need running shoes for the pool?

I was able to get in only about a dozen laps at the pool yesterday, so I went back this morning, not really feeling it. I knew from the get-go there was no way I was going to be doing 40 or 50 laps; I decided to shoot for around 25 or 30. As I have done before, I broke things up a bit.

First I did 13 laps, which took just over 15 minutes. Then I followed it up with 15 minutes of jogging in the pool. When I am jogging in 3', I can get a pretty good pace going, but as soon as I get into 4' and especially 5', it is like running through molasses (not that I have ever done that). I never realized how much I used my arms or at least how important they are when it comes to pool jogging. Considering the water is almost up to the top of my shoulders in 5', my arms are not moving fast with all that water. On top of that, I realized that when I am in the pool, I run on the balls of my feet. I need to look into that to see if this is going to hurt my feet (beyond the irritation I feel).

After I did the 15 minutes of jogging, I swam 17 more laps (technically it was 16.5), and then I jogged for another 10 minutes. I rounded out the workout with about seven or eight minutes of leg and arm exercises.

The slight foot pain aside, it went pretty well. I was also a bit tired, so it took my longer to swim the second 13 laps than it did the first, but what can you do. Keep swimming, I guess!

I did, in fact, wimp out of the 5k.

When I woke up Saturday morning, at around 7:30, I knew if I jumped in the shower right away, I could make it to the Race for Pace in time for the late registration. But the weather and my aching thighs had a different idea.

When I ran steps on Thursday, although it went well, for some reason, it left my thighs extra sore for a few days. I could not see putting my nearly 40-year-old body through a three-mile run, with hills. On top of that, it was quite windy on Saturday, and the temps were in the mid to upper 40s. I was just not ready to face my November run in the middle of October. So that was that.

As for recent exercise, I swam on Friday, though only about 15 laps, thanks to my soreness. On Monday, the kid and I took an almost 30-minute walk, and then yesterday I ran the steps. Feeling a bit pathetic about wimping out on the race, I decided to push myself on the steps and try to beat my time from last week. Time to complete 20 trips: 16:41. So, yes, I did beat last week's time. And my thighs actually feel pretty good today.

Now if only I could motivate myself to run three miles and actually run in a race. If only...

I think I may bag the 5k.

Yesterday, I managed to run up and down the 64ish steps, my usual (well, preferred) 20 times. It went pretty well, and I felt pretty. good. I also managed a pretty respectable time, 16:54, but to be fair, I did stop twice to take a swig of water. It was quite humid out there.

But the more I think about it, the more I am not sure I have it in me to run the 5k on Saturday. I still have not run three miles in months. And I know how disappointed I will be if I run it in over 30 minutes. I realize that sounds silly, but that is the way I am. When I get something in my head...

I may change my mind when I get up tomorrow morning, but I highly doubt. Still, I don't plan to give up running in general or another 5k. At least not yet.

And that makes two

I managed to get a run in today, which means I have fulfilled my "requirement" to run in the Race for Pace this coming Saturday. Still not sure I am going to do it, though. It has been months since I have run three miles, and I am not sure my two-mile timed runs, followed by anywhere from a couple tenths to a half mile of jogging will be adequate preparation.

That notwithstanding, today's run went pretty well.

Mile one: 9:54
Mile two: 8:21

I was pushing pretty hard to try to get that first mile at 10 minutes, which I did. So, yeah, me! But, as usual, I was huffing and puffing. I sometimes wonder how smokers run. I have to think they would be wheezing uncontrollably if I breathe the way I do.

If nothing else, it was nice to get out there an enjoy the good weather. The temps were in the upper 60s, maybe 70, and there was just a little sun. This might have been my last run in 2011 in that kind of weather, which is kind of sad, but I do like to run in 50-degree temps just fine.

Stay tuned...

Not so bad

I managed to get out there and run yesterday. So this means that running the Race for Pace is not out of the question. Good to have something to push for.

But back to the run. When I first started out, I literally felt pain with my first stride. As I typically do when I run, I was contemplating what this post's title should be, and at that point, I am pretty sure they included phrases like "never-ending pain" and "you've got to be kidding me." But once I got past that slight knee pain (or did the side stitch come first? I really cannot remember) and was making my way up the killer hill, I realized I did not feel awful. In fact, I decided right then and there that I was going to make it through the two miles in a decent time. How could I not give it my best shot when the weather was sunny and the temps were in the 60s?

The rest of the run went okay. Some pain, a little bit of difficulty getting up that last hill, but ultimately I finished it and did not feel as if my lungs were going to burst or as if I was in my 40s (which, to review, I am not yet).

Mile one: 10:19
Mile two: 8:18

Not too shabby.

Honestly, I expected my first mile to come in around 10:10, but my second mile was pretty darn good. Now that I look at it, I have to wonder if wrote down the wrong time. I don't think I ever completed my second mile in that amount of time. But let's just assume I did.

Until next time...

15 >> 45

The Race for Pace is just 11 days away. In the past four months, I have run about six times. In the past 30 days, I have managed about three runs. Sure, I have run up and down the steps a few times. I have also been swimming two or three times a week, but as for running at least two miles, on the road, well, that is just not going well.

As I was swimming today, I decided that if I don't run at least two times between now and next Saturday, I should probably skip the race. If I run three times, then I should be able to make it through, though undoubtedly with a time much higher than last year's (27:01).

On a positive note, today, I spent two hours at the pool. The title above refers to my workout there. I swam 15 laps, then I jogged around the pool for 15 minutes. I did that two more times, for a total of 45 laps and 45 minutes of jogging (it took me about 55 minutes to swim the 45 laps).

When I was barely into my second lap, I felt tired and unconvinced that I would accomplish much today. Not wanting to waste this alone time, I decided to break things up and alternate between swimming and running. Well, when you have the resistance of water fighting your arms especially, it is nothing close to running. But I am hopeful that makes the workout even better.

All in all, it was great exercise. It was probably not my fastest, but that I managed to get in the jogging and swimming along with some water exercises such as walking lunges, squats, and push ups, in a two-hour workout, I say bravo to me! (And let's just pretend that when I came home, I did not eat a brat, some cookies, a banana with PB, some tortilla chips and salsa, and a few gingersnaps.)

Hopefully, I will be able to write a post on Thursday or Friday, saying that I manged to get a run in on Thursday.

Stay tuned.

That was pretty productive.

This morning after I dropped the kid off at school, I decided to go swimming. As I have probably mentioned before, the laps I do at the pool are between time spent playing with the kid at the pool. Typically I swim about 10 laps before taking a break to splash around. Some days, I may only manage six or eight before I am summoned to "play with me."

This morning, I decided I would swim at least 30 laps before calling it a morning. My last two times at the pool, I swam 20 and 25 laps respectively, so I figured I, being alone, should be able to surpass that.

I ended up swimming 45 laps, so yeah me! Most laps were at a medium speed, and some were even slow. I ended up doing only about a half dozen fast laps. As I have stated on this blog before, I could probably swim way more laps than what I normally do, so long as I go slowly; I have a lot of endurance.

When I finished lap #45, in about 55 minutes, I decided to run around the pool for 15 minutes. Before I started my swim, I considered going running this afternoon. But once I hit 40 laps, I figured it might be best to skip the run. Jogging back and forth the length of the pool is so much easier than pounding the pavement, and it still counts!

Since I was feeling pretty good, I spent the last under-10 minutes doing some walking lunges, split squats, regular squats, and push ups. All in all, it was a good workout.

But if I expect to run in the Race for Pace, which is two and a half weeks away, I better get myself motivated to run soon.

At least it was the OTHER side of my chest that hurt

I ran steps on Tuesday, as I just blogged about. That was due mostly to weather, but partly to just how darn hard running has become for me lately. Since my stepping on Tuesday was pretty challenging, I figured I might as well just go for broke and get out there and run today.

So I did.

And, much like my 20 trips up and down the steps, this run was no walk in the park. As I struggled up the first killer hill (which, to be fair, I probably do 98 percent of the time), my thoughts alternated between a disappointing, "Am I just too old for this" and a sad/angry, "But some people in their 50s and 60s run almost every day."

I will be 40 in two and a half months. I really wanted to leap into 40 and be able to say that I was in great shape. That age was irrelevant. That I could run circle around people half my age. But lately those thoughts are fading. Sigh.

Anyway, I got through the run with the typical shoe annoyance. (I really think I am going to have to give up on these stupid Asics.) I felt chest pains, fortunately on the side opposite my heart for no more than a couple minutes. My side stitches lasted probably for about five to seven minutes, so, hey, not even a mile. I did not drop over, despite my labored breathing. And, to be fair, the temps had to be near 80, and it was fairly humid.

Mile one: 10:29
Mile two: 8:50

Sure, I wonder if my first mile will ever get below 10 minutes. Or, for that matter, will it ever get close to 10 minutes! But I am still standing, so let's just go with calling it a successful run. :-)

This is getter harder and harder!

On Tuesday, because the sky looked a little cloudy, I decided to run up the 64ish steps near the kid's school. As usual, I decided ahead of time to complete 20 trips up and back. Not surprisingly, after I had made my third or fourth trip up, I considered stopping at 10.

It was just so hard, and I don't know why. Can the difference between almost 39 and almost 40 be that great? I again want to blame it on the shoes, which felt fair at best. I just cannot get over that the next iteration of the same brand and style of shoe would be that much different and worse to boot.

That notwithstanding, because I put a decent amount of pressure on myself when I exercise, I ended up completing all 20 trips. It was not easy and it was not pretty, but at least I did it.

The good news is that I finished my set in 17:19. I looked back at previous posts, and that seemed to be about my best (or at least my best since I started keeping track last year), so perhaps I am being a little hard on myself. But I think what has really been bothering me lately is how difficult it has become for me to get through a run (or steps). I just feel it so much more than I did last year. And I don't like it one bit!

Another tough run

After not running for two weeks, I was not expecting to improve my time from two week ago. But I was not necessarily planning on it being worse either.

Today's run seemed even more difficult than two weeks ago. I felt winded for most of it, which I assumed was because I was really pushing myself and going faster than previously. I figured I was going to hit the top of the hill at 10 minutes, so I was surprised to see about 10:25 on my phone stopwatch. Since I was so disappointed, I pushed myself even harder on the way back, wondering if my age or less-than-great eating habits were catching up to me.

Unfortunately, I am not sure how fast my second mile was. I cannot find the scrap of paper I wrote my time on, although I do recall finishing my run at just about a new minute; I am just not sure if my final time was about 19:00 or 20:00. Considering how fast I thought I was going, I am fairly certain I had to do that second mile in under nine minutes, so let's go with that and call the second mile a good job.

I still hate my shoes, and I am still disappointed that I have apparently lost a step. But what can you do.

In conclusion, swimming does not keep you in really good running shape.

After three months and about 20 days, I finally hit my usual, two-mile running route, thanks to school's being back in session.

Almost immediately, my right knee hurt. My feet (stupid new Asics) were not far behind. Fortunately, the pain mostly subsided after about a half mile. Unfortunately, I had some side stitches to deal with after that.

I am not going to lie (not that I ever do in this blog or in general, actually): it was a pretty tough run. It took a lot out of me, and not surprisingly my time was not great (but not awful, either). At least I did it.

Mile one: 10:15
Mile two: 8:45

Total run time: 19:00

Because I felt I should have done better with such a short run and because I had time to kill, I ran the 65 steps 10 times after that. I have to say, running those steps made the two-mile run seem easy. It took everything for me to finish, and during the last trip, I was pretty much walking. I did manage to finish in 9:30, which is pretty good considering it came on the heels of my run (with a 10-minute break in between). And those stupid shoes...

Since I am subbing Wednesday through Friday and there is no way I would put my 39.5-year-old body through two runs, two days in a row, I am going to have to call it a week at least as far as running goes.

All that said, based on today, I am thinking I won't be running in the Steelers 5k this coming Sunday, as I had recently hoped (even though I had done little in the way of running this summer). I am just not sure I can do it in under 30 minutes, which would greatly disappoint me. I am still planning to run in the Race for Pace again. We'll see.

I made it through the pain

For only the second time all summer, I ran just over 3 miles. I ran the same 3.1-mile route I did a month and a half ago, in Indiana County. This time, however, my time was just under 32 minutes; when I ran on 7/1, I did it in just over 30 minutes.

On the one hand, considering I have run so little the past four months, I should be happy running a 10-minute mile. But on the other, much more competitive, hard-on-myself hand, I am disappointed. Since May, I have been swimming three days a week, except for one, maybe two, weeks. Because of that, I feel as if it should not be a struggle to run three miles.

Today's run included some discomfort in my right foot (either my feet have grown or Asics has made this Enduro size 9.5 slightly smaller than last version's 9.5), some chest pain (hopefully not my ticker!), and a little thigh annoyance. Fortunately, no pain was consistent the whole time, and nothing was too strong.

In the end, I could have run more, but I pushed myself the last few tenths of a mile when I realized I could complete this run in just over 30 minutes. Since my heart rate was over 170 bpm, I decided to walk around for a few minutes and call it a day.

I am pretty sure I will not be Running Around the Square in two weeks, but I would like to get a 5k in at some point, whether I run the Steelers 5k Labor Day weekend or Race for Pace in October. Stay tuned.

And they're off!

So much for my wanting to keep looking for a better-feeling pair of shoes...

This morning, the kid and I decided to race each other. She loves to brag about how fast she is (according to her she was the only girl who received an award for making the President's Physical Fitness time for the one-mile run). And I am all about proving what great shape I am in. So I decided we should put our speed and my seemingly inferior Gel Enduro 6s to the test at the local track.

We started off running just under 100 meters/yards (however a typical track surrounding a football field is measured). I figured there was a pretty good chance she could beat me here, because I am not that fast when it comes to sprints. (Actually, I am not that fast no matter what the distance is.) But I ended up edging her by a few seconds without pushing myself to the limit, as she seemed to be doing.

After we had a chance to catch our breath during a short walk, I asked the kid if she wanted to race once around the track. Based on our sprint and the fact that I am better suited for longer distances, I was thinking I had this one in the bag.

I thought wrong.

I really had to push myself to keep up with her. In the end, because I was kind of winded, I decided to slow up just a bit, and she won. I was both impressed with and surprised by her.

After that, we (well, mostly I) ran a quarter mile a few times and timed each other. I completed my first quarter mile in 1:53, my second in 1:50, and my third in about 2:00, taking breaks in between. Jordan ran her quarter mile in just over 2:00; she seemed much more content timing me.

Based on Jordan's complaining and her pretty much stopping between runs, it appears as if she is not ready to join the cross-country team (not that she wants to). But I think she did pretty well for an almost-8 year old. As for me, I did manage to get in just over 1.25 miles. Pretty pathetic, but running nonetheless.

As for the shoes: When I first starting walking to the track, the shoes felt uncomfortable. But once I started running, they felt fine. These shoes are no Gel Enduro 5s, but hopefully they won't embarrass me too much. :-)

Blame it on the shoes

In April of 2010, I bought Asics Gel Enduro 5 shoes, and was fairly impressed from the get-go. But, like all running shoes, eventually they lost their luster (i.e., they felt too worn out), so I went in search of new shoes.

Like the (mostly) eternal optimist I am, I figured I could head back to Kohl's and get those same running shoes.

I figured wrong.

But, again, being positive, I decided that the Gel Enduro 6 was probably just as good if not better, so I tried it on.

Wrong again.

Nevertheless, knowing that Kohl's has a great return policy, I went ahead and bought the shoes, once a again for such a good price (around $35).

Still not sold on the shoes, I left them in the box for a few weeks, figuring not running for a few weeks when I was swimming so much would not hurt. Then, when I really started to miss running, I went to a few sporting goods stores to see if my beloved 5s happened to be there. No dice.

While visiting Steelers training camp this past Monday, I shared my sad shoe story with Grandma. A woman sitting next to me overheard our conversation and suggested I try holabirdsports.com, which I promptly did as soon as I got home. No 5s there either.

I tried an internet search last evening, and the few 5s I found were not in my size and for prices at least twice what I paid for originally anyway. Sigh.

I guess I am going to have to give up my dream of the Enduro 5. Still not sure if I will keep the 6s or continue to shop around for another shoe. But I need to decide soon before my legs forget what running feels like (they certainly know what swimming lap after laps feels like).

The moral of the story? If you find a shoe you like, buy an extra pair. Wish I had.

50 laps

No, I did not run 50 laps; more on that later. Instead, for the first time ever, I swam 50 consecutive laps at the pool. Well, technically, I stopped after each of the first three as I was having difficulties with my goggles. But after the eyepieces finally starting suctioning themselves to my face, I was in business.

Not surprisingly, I swam at a moderate pace, probably closer to slow than fast. Originally, my goal was to do 35 laps, the most I had previously completed, so I knew I could not swim quickly if I expected to achieve that. But once I finished around 30 and felt fine, I decided I should at least go for over 40. And once I neared that milestone, I decided it was 50 or bust.

During my last few laps, I probably could have been mistaken for a 70-year-old woman; I was swimming awfully slowly. And I considered asking the only other person in the pool to keep an eye on me in case I started to sink. But for my final lap, I managed to do my nemesis stroke--the butterfly. The butterfly as an insect seems light, airy, and graceful. I, swimming the butterfly stroke, look cumbersome, splash way too much, and breath like a panting dog.

No matter. I did my 50 laps. Yeah, me!

As for my not running, I am blaming it on the shoes. More on that later.

Sometimes I forget I am not in my 20s anymore

Considering I have not managed a single run in the Burgh since May, my blog title clearly is not applicable this summer. But the good news is I did run this morning, once again in Indiana County.

Because it is hot and humid, I decided before even I began my run that I was going to keep my run at 20 minutes. When I first started out, it was a little over 70 degrees, but I could feel the humidity, not to mention there was a lot of haze in the sky. I kept a reasonable pace for most of the run, and it went okay. Very little pain, which was surprising considering my right calf has been hurting since yesterday morning (and still hurts now, hours later). Of course, the hills were not easy, but when are they ever. Near the end, when I had been running about 25 minutes, I checked my heart rate.

I have not thought about what my heart rate should be for years, although I do try to check it after most runs. For some reason, I thought that if it was around 180 bpm when I was finishing the strongest/fastest part of my run, then I was doing something right.

Recently, however, I came across an article that talked about heart rate. According to this source, you should ideally work at no more than 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. To determine this:

220 - Age (39) = 181 (maximum heart rate)

85 percent of 181 = 153.85 bpm

I did a quick search on the internet and found a handful of articles with heart rate calculation tools. According to those tools, when working out, my heart rate should be anywhere from 91 to 163 bpm, which is quite the range (the higher your fitness level, the higher your heart rate can go). Unfortunately, nowhere did I read that I should be working out at my maximum heart rate, which I come close to sometimes. In fact, today, when I had just finished the end of my run, my heart rate was around 175. Oops.

I need to do some more research to figure out if I am putting myself at risk for a heart attack or something. When I run slowly, I feel pretty good and have the energy to keep going, so it makes me think that I should run harder and faster, to tax myself. The same is true when I swim. And, as I have stated here many times, I have been swimming on average three days per week for the past few months. This past week, I managed four days of swimming, and one of those days I swam 30 laps. I feel good when I exercise and I think I am in pretty good shape. Let's hope that is true.

C'mon heart!

Endurance

Well, I have not gone running since just over a week ago, in Indiana County. But I am sticking with my thrice weekly swimming. I have been pretty good about completing 20 laps each time; more often than not, I manage 25 or more.

I have found that for the most part when I swim at a reasonable, almost slow, pace, I hardly tire; I am pretty sure I could swim 40 or 50 laps. Not at once, mind you, but over the 1.5 to 2 hours that I am at the pool. Typically, I swim about 10 laps. Then I play with my kid. Then I swim another 10 laps. Then back to kid time. My fitting in any more laps depends on how long we stay at the pool and if my kid has found someone else to play with. (During the rare times when my kid is not at the pool with me, I usually swim 15 laps at a time.)

Today after I did my first 20 laps, when I was not dodging a group of kids or playing a couple rounds of tag with a few of those same kids, I swam probably another 10 laps over a 45-minute period. I also fit in some treading water and jogging. If the chlorine was not burning my eyes and skin so much and I was not hungry (the downside of swimming), I am pretty sure I could have swum another 10 or so.

I may not be the fastest swimmer. And I am certainly not the most graceful swimmer. (In fact, the wake I leave behind [or ahead, really] when I swim the butterfly is something.) But there is something to be said of endurance.

Which I just did. :-)

I had to run two counties over, but I finally did run!

Unless you count jogging in place in the pool for five or six minutes at a time or running up and down the steps about a month ago, up until this morning, I had not gone running in seven weeks. Wow.

I have thought about running a few times here and there the past few weeks, but as we all know, the road to hell (or in this case, the road to being out of shape) is paved with good intentions but not much else. And although I have been keeping up with swimming a few times a week, it just isn't the same; I really missed running. So finally this morning, when I thought the temps were in the lower 60s, I figured now was as good of a time as any to get out there (there being Indiana County, where my running shoes most recently hit the road last summer, I do believe).

I ended up running about 3.1 miles in just over 30 minutes. Although a 10-minute mile is nothing to brag about it, I can take some comfort in that it has been almost two months since I last ran. Plus there were quite a few hills and curves along with the blazing sun. One road worker along the way told me it was too hot to run (my guess is the temps were in the 70s). I agreed, but said when you have not done so in over a month, you just have to do it.

My left knee hurt a bit for most of the run, and the hills were not easy. But I made it through the entire run without walking, which I feared I would, considering my few runs during this past spring were all under three miles.

Which reminds me: About a month ago, a few moms talked about running the Great Race in September. I ran the 10k two times at the beginning of the century, and I would probably feel defeated if I could run only the 5k. But at this point, I would be happy if I could manage that. We'll see.

Let's just hope another month does not go by before I have a running report.

Swim, swim, swim

I may have to consider changing the name of my blog to "Swimming Around the Burgh." I just cannot seem to get myself motivated enough to run. That said, on Sunday, after I had swum about 10 laps, I actually wanted to call it quits for the afternoon. Typically, I try to swim about 20 laps. On a good day, I manage 25. On a slower day, I may complete only 15. I consider doing 10 laps a bad day. So why, even though I was not tired, did I find myself wanting to stop at 10? Did the monotony finally set in?

I took a break to play with my kid, and found myself renewed about 20 minutes later. Since there were about eight people at various parts in the shallow end of the pool, doing laps the entire length of the pool seemed too cumbersome. So I ended up doing laps the width of the pool. Because the pool is not very wide, that meant I could do between six and eight strides of each stroke, but it was enough to break it up for me and lessen the boredom.

I am guessing I did about 50 of those laps, during two different sets. I jogged in place and tread water a few times as well, so I ended up with a pretty good workout.

Hopefully, since the temps are cooler than the heat wave we had last week, I can manage to get a run in, but I won't hold my breath.

Well, it was not exactly running, but exercise nonetheless

I have been pretty good about swimming as of late, so there is that. I know it is not the same as running, but swimming is great exercise and at least my knees are thanking me for it. But on Friday, I decided that, once again, too much time had passed since my last run (over three weeks!), so I had better do something remotely related to it.

I ended up running up and (jogging) down those delightful 65 steps 20 times. Compared to how I felt when I last ran the steps three weeks ago (hot and lousy), this time was so much better. The temps were in the low 60s and the humidity was reasonable. The only downside was there were quite a few weeds covering the ends/sides of many of the steps, so I actually spent some time grabbing and pulling at weeds during my first two treks.

I ended up completing that cycle in just under 18:30. Definitely not my best, but good considering that time included about a dozen pauses for weed pulling.

When I was done, I ran around the upper lot, including up and down the smallish hills at both ends a few times, for about seven minutes.

So there. I ran!

Might as well get used to this humidity now [hurl]

Yesterday the humidity was about 90 percent, temps were in the low 80s, and the sky was mostly sunny. I figured running steps was a more sensible choice because if I became too hot/uncomfortable halfway through my run, I would still have to make it back. If I ran steps, I could stop as soon as it became too much, and then walk the short distance to my car.

Compared to my running steps over a month ago, this time was pretty hard, because of that darned heat/humidity. I originally decided to run up and down 10 times, but by taking a 20- to 30-second water break after every five sets, I was able to run up and down 20 times. I was surprised I completed that workout in just over 18 minutes (not counting the breaks); compared to last time, it seemed as if I was running so much more slowly.

Had I not caught my breath and hydrated those few times, I am sure I would have stopped after 15 trips, maybe fewer. At one point, I actually felt a little sick. This is where a smart person would have stopped, but I just kept going, convinced that if I slowed down a bit and drank some water, I would be okay. I also reasoned that it is the middle of May, and it is only going to get hotter and more humid, so if I could not handle it now, how could I exercise this summer?

Fortunately, I did not get sick, and the feeling subsided about 10 minutes after I finished. I ended up going swimming an hour later. I took it easy, doing only about six to eight not-fast laps, but trying to keep moving for most of the hour of the pool (I swam 25 laps on Wednesday, FYI). I am definitely going to take it easy today!

Now that's more like it

I went for another two-mile run yesterday (Monday). I cannot tell you the last time that I went running two times in a four-day period. My guess is September or October of last year. Regardless, I am happy to report that this run went so much better. It is almost hard to fathom after Friday's craptastic run. Plus I was definitely getting some wind resistance during the first mile. In fact, as the wind was slowing me down, I wondered how often I had contended with wind in the past year and a half and how much it affected my times. I guess I will just have to keep wondering (and maybe wandering).

Anyway, here are my stats.

Mile one: 9:53
Mile two: 8:30

Total run time: 18:23

I cannot explain how I achieved my best time since last fall, when I was much more active. I do know that I was really pushing myself up the killer hill, partly because there were some road workers, and I did not want them to think I was too wimpy for that hill, and partly because my crappy run last week made me feel out of shape. I had to have a better run yesterday.

Now please excuse me while I pat myself on the back.

A long overdue (and mostly painful) run

I finally got off my lazy butt and ran yesterday afternoon. In my defense, other than a few nice days, the weather has been pretty lousy the last month-plus. On top of that, I got the flu second full week in April, which also included an awful cough for over a week after that. In fact, almost four weeks later, I still cough at least a half dozen times a day.

If my blog is correct (and if I have been keeping it up to date), the last time I really ran was on March 18. Yikes. I did run steps just over a month ago, which is certainly good exercise, but not the same as running a few miles. But yesterday I decided I had to stop being so lazy. The sun was finally shining for hours on end (which it may have done one day last week), I felt pretty good, and I have been eating chocolate practically non-stop since Easter, so no more excuses!

I ran the same, boring two miles I typically do. This run was marred by a side stitch that lasted almost the entire time. My head also hurt for most of the run. On top of that, my feet were also in pain. Man, I have had my shoes about nine months, but I don't think I have put more than a hundred running miles on them. I use the shoes some days to run errands. But even so, there is no way I have more than 300 miles logged on those babies.[Stop the presses! I just looked back at some old blog posts. My shoes are actually over a year old. Oops. Looks as if I may need to buy some new shoes.]

Not surprisingly, I ended up with a lousy time: 20:15. I cannot tell you the last time it took me that long to complete the two miles. But considering I had not run in over a month and I had been swimming only once in the past three weeks, I should not be surprised.

Mile one: 10:45
Mile two: 9:30

I actually considered walking the second mile, that is how lousy I felt. But that is admitting defeat, so I soldiered on, deciding that running slowly was better than giving up. Hopefully now that I am pretty healthy, I will get back to swimming a few times a week. I also hope to run at least once a week. We will see.

Why hello, old friend Steps

The weather has been so bizarre lately, particularly in the past week or so. In the course of an hour, one might see rain, snow, hail, sun, clouds. Today, the temps were around 70 glorious degrees, and the day started off rather sunny. Unfortunately, just before I headed to school to pick up my kid, the sky turned gray. Not wanting to waste a warm day but fearful of getting caught in the rain, I decided to run the steps. I figured if the rain came, I would be only a few-minute walk to my car, and if I got too tired, I could stop, again, just a short distant to my car.

Initially, I was planning to run up and down 10 times, figuring there was no use pushing it when my legs had not run steps in about 4.5 months. But after I got through the first 10 without any pain (at a decent, though not fast, pace), I decided 15 would not be a problem. And when I realized I had another seven or eight minutes to kill, I decided I might as well go for 20. And 20 sets I did, at 65 steps up and down, for a grand total of 2,600 steps. Whew! Or, even better, Woo(-hoo)!

I searched the blog to try to figure out how long it took me to run up and down 20 times the last time, but, alas, I came up empty. Although I feel as if I have definitely done it in less time, I am just going to have to be satisfied with my 17:30, particularly since I did it without stopping and without pain. I also did about 20 laps at the pool yesterday, so yeah, me!

Now if only I could summon some resolve to get a run in before too long.

I forget how long it has been!

I wanted to title this post "So we meet again, old foe Side Stitch." Then I realized it has been two weeks since I last posted, which meant it had been that long since I had gone running.

I was super busy the past two weeks. As a result, I arrived at my kid's school only about 15 minutes before school let out (some days only 10 minutes prior), so running was out of the question until I finally had some time this past Friday.

I did my usual two-mile run, but unfortunately, without realizing it, I did not hit the "start" button on my phone's stopwatch feature. I felt as if I was making pretty good time on that mile. I was slightly winded, and definitely in a little pain, thanks to my old foe the side stitch (you can see where I got that title). I muddled through somehow, and I fully expected my first mile to be no more than 10 minutes and hopefully less when I hit the top of the hill. But as I looked at my phone, I saw the time read 0:00. Ugh! Based on what time it was when I started my run and what time it was when I got to the top of the hill/the end of the first mile, I had been running for less than 10 minutes. It could have been as low as just over 9 (though highly unlikely). So yeah! The second mile I did time, and I completed that in just over 8 minutes. So yeah, again!

All in all, it was a good, if not painful, run. The weather was an unseasonably warm 60-something degrees, though it was a bit windy. My timing was near my best. And that is saying something because I went two weeks in between runs, not to mention I had gone swimming only four times during that two-week period, when I typically would have swum six or seven times. Hopefully, I will have more time this week to get in at least one run and another trip or two to the pool (I went today, though did struggle a bit).

Until next time.

I need to run more!

I managed to run only once again this week, on Wednesday. Because I once again got a late start on my way to pick up my kid, I ran about 1.7 to 1.8 miles. I also tried to run as fast I could up the beginning hill, which was not easy. I am not sure how long it took me since I did not time myself; my guess is about 17, maybe even 18, minutes. But I am still mostly satisfied.

I also swam three times this week. I don't remember how many laps I did on Monday; my guess is around 15. I was super tired after only getting about 3 hours of sleep the night before followed by subbing that day. On Wednesday, after that 1.8 mile run, I ran about 15 or 16 laps as well, completing about 10 at once. Then yesterday I swam over 20 laps, swimming about 9 at once, then swimming over 10 after a five minute break.

I am glad my stamina is increasing and I am able to run that many laps at once. Now if only I could run more or at least get back to two miles.

Sun, come back!

Because I was running late, I ran only about 1.8 miles on a sun-filled, warm (about 66 degrees!), but windy, afternoon this past Friday. I ran pretty quickly up the hill, thinking that I might be able to squeeze in the two miles in the 20 minutes I had. Of course that hill that left me pretty breathless, and it took me a few minutes to recover. Ultimately, I decided to cut it short; I just could not take a chance and risk getting back into the parking lot, neither cooled down nor stretched at the same time my kid was walking to my empty car.

Fortunately, I also swam 15 or so laps an hour later, so I did get a pretty good workout in. The very next day, the kid and I walked about a mile in 30-some degree temps. (C'mon, did we really need to lose over 30 degrees in under 24 hours?!)

And on Sunday, I swam about 25 laps, which I thought was the most ground (well, water) I had covered since I started swimming again. But then I realized I did that last weekend. I am now trying to swim three or four laps at a time instead of two, to try to increase my stamina. Hopefully, I can keep that up.

Unfortunately, I developed a slight cold Friday evening. Again. After only about a month and a half of being healthy. Grr.

I am still trying to exercise. And fortunately, I have felt better after I have done something physical. But I have a feeling I will neither swim nor run today. Just can't motivate myself.

I'm running on sunshine!

I ran yesterday, a day that was mostly sunny and about 50 degrees. According to the (rarely correct) weather forecast, it was supposed to be around 40-some degrees during my run, but the temps were happily almost 10 degrees higher than that. I ran in a long-sleeve t-shirt and a jacket slightly thicker than a windbreaker, and I was kind of warm on the way back. Yeah, sun! Yeah, temps that are quite a bit above freezing!

My times were almost identical to what I did last week. Right about 10:10 for the mile up and around 8:30 for the mile back. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the first hill was tough, but I felt pretty good coming back, and I was practically sprinting (which is why it was a little surprising that my second mile was not quicker, although I accidentally exited out of my stopwatch, so I am going by memory).

A few hours after the run and a couple of errands later, I went swimming, managing about 15 laps. So I definitely had a good workout day. Since I did nothing on Monday or Tuesday, I felt as if I need to do a little more. On Sunday, though, I did swim about 25 laps, my most ever. And I actually swam 12 consecutive laps, followed by another 8 after a short break. Yeah, stamina!

Not as cold but rainy

I am happy to report I ran two miles again today. The temps were about 37 while I was running, and fortunately, there was not that crazy wind as there was last week when I ran. On the other hand, it was raining lightly but steadily the entire time, which was a bit annoying considering I did not have a windbreaker to keep dry.

Oddly enough, running up the first killer hill seemed more difficult than it was last week (which had marked over 60 days since I had last run up that hill). No idea why. But I did run a little faster today, so there is that.

Mile one: 10:10
Mile two: 8:29

I swam yesterday, completing about 15 laps. I decided running was the lesser of two evils today. It just made more sense to run in the rain, surrounded by gray skies, after that Steelers loss.

Back on the road again

I finally ran outside again yesterday, running my "usual" route. Even more important is that I ran at all, as it had been over 40 days since I had last done so (not counting jogging in the water one day last month).

The temps were about 29 degrees, and it was windy; in fact, several times during the run, snow flurries were blowing in my face. Probably not the best day to get back in the saddle, but after about 70 days since my last outdoor run, I figured if I was motivated, I should just go with it.

Before I took my first stride, I had pretty much decided to run about 10 to 15 minutes/to at least get one mile in, God willing. But after I ran up the killer hill, and it actually was not that bad, I figured I might as well run to the last uphill near the end of my first mile. I had about 25 minutes to run, so I reasoned that if it took 10 minutes to get to that point (it takes me around 7 or 8 minutes when I am in good running shape), I should have time to spare. When I reached the bottom of the hill, I saw that I had been running for about 8:30 or so, so I decided to throw caution to the wind (and fight the wind, in general!) and do the whole mile, which meant I would be doing the second mile back.

All in all, it was not that bad. I was cold; the thin shirt underneath a thick hoodie left me a little chilly during the first mile, but I was feeling okay during the second/last mile. I kept my hands in my sleeves the whole time, so I was not missing gloves too much.

My stats?
First mile completed in 10:23
Second mile completed in 8:37

Obviously this is nowhere close to my best time, but is pretty much where it was before I really started pushing myself and becoming what I consider "good." Taking the weather and the layoff from running into account, I am quite pleased. I had been concerned that when I finally ran outside again, I would only be able to complete one mile and that it would take me something like 12 minutes. But that did not happen, and I felt pretty good the whole time, which leads me to believe that swimming has done its job of keeping me in shape. I also have to consider that on Sunday, I swam 22 laps, and on Tuesday, I swam about 18 laps, so I definitely have worked my body out this week.

I am taking the day off!

22 laps

First of all, I am pretty sure that post title should have 22 spelled out, but then it loses the impact. Second, I am referring to swimming, not running.

I have not gone running (other than running in the pool) for over a month now, which is my longest layoff since I started running again in September 2009. But I have been swimming three times a week (four during a good week) the entire month of January, so I am hopeful I am keeping in shape.

Knowing that I have not been running, I have really been pushing myself while in the pool. I used to do five laps, six on a good day. Eventually I starting swimming 10 laps, with 12 coming on a good day. Last week, I surpassed that, and today, I swam 22 laps!

The pool I swim in is a junior Olympic-sized pool (so the hotel says), which is 25 meters long (so the internet tells me). Assuming all that to be true, that means today, I swam 1000 meters. In full disclosure, I would swim two laps at a time, stopping anywhere from two to five minutes in between each "set:"; since I come to the pool with my kid, I need to keep an eye on her as well as play with her. But in all honestly, it would be difficult for me to swim more than two laps at a time, unless I am doing the side stroke or "T" back stroke, two easy strokes.

On the one hand, I am super proud of myself. I know that swimming is very challenging, and it uses so many muscles. Plus it is low impact, so it is really good for you. But what bothers me is that even though I can and have been completing a lot of laps in the last few weeks, I feel out of shape because I can't swim for more than a few minutes without needing to take a breather. For someone who does not regularly exercise, that may not seem like that big of a deal. But for someone like me who can run for 45 minutes without stopping (or at least I could before Christmas), it seems odd and makes me wonder if I am not in as good of shape as I think.

Once it stops snowing or sleeting for more than two days at a time, so I can feel reasonably sure I won't slip on ice AND once the temps are above 30, I plan to get back out there and run. I guess that will be the true test.

Until then, I am just going to be proud of my 22 laps!

Running around the pool

Well, technically, I was running in the pool. And I was actually jogging. But since I have not gone running for almost three weeks now, and that was just on the dreaded treadmill, I figured I needed to do something running-related.

So for about 20 minutes yesterday, I jogged in 3' to 4' of water. It was a decent workout; I certainly felt the water's resistance. And it was good to move pretty much nonstop for that length of time. The only snafu was my feet hurt a little, thanks to the not-so-smooth bottom. Not sure if running with water shoes would help, though.

I still have no idea when I am going to get back out there. I had an awful cold last week. Yesterday it was only about 20 degrees. And we are supposed to get some snow today. Maybe by the end of this week I can attempt at least a one mile run. I sure hope so.

In the meantime, I am going to try to keep up with the swimming. I still managed to get in about six laps (which I like to call 12, since I am going up and back) yesterday after my "jog," but as usual, they were not consecutive. At least I am moving!

I don't do sick

Well, I have now gone just over two weeks without running. If my memory serves me correctly, two weeks is the amount of time it takes to lose the fitness level previously achieved. I did swim on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but thanks to congestion from a cold, my laps were rather slow. And the week between Christmas and New Year's, I did nada as far as exercising (I was out of town).

The weather this week has been pretty good for running considering it is January; temps were in the upper 20s/lower 30s with sunny skies on one or two of those days. Yet I just cannot motivate myself to lace up the shoes and get out there, as much as I need and want to.

I really hope my nose stops running and my sinuses clear out so I can put up a post about a run. Even if that post will probably contain phrases like "gasping for air" and "could not run more than 10 minutes without stopping."

Here's hoping 2011 is a good year for my fitness. It would be nice to read about 39-year-old me running farther and faster. But considering how I feel right now, I would be happy if I can get back to where I was in the fall.