My longest run yet

I took a few days off from running. At least I think. Maybe I ran Monday or Tuesday; maybe I did not. But I am leaning towards no. I did, however, run last evening. Sans dog!

This time, I started off running/jogging, right out of the gate. I ran about .6 miles (my usual route with Bailey before we turn around); however, just before I got to the top of that very steep hill at the almost .6 mark, I walked for about 20 to 30 seconds. My heart rate was around 180, which is about 100 percent of my maximum heart rate. As I have said here before, even when I was in the best shape of my life, I still would hit that high (although 10 to 20 years ago that would have been okay). Regardless, once I got to the top, I turned around, and I ran back down the hill, backwards because it is too tough on my knees. When I got back home, I had run about 1.2 miles for about 13:30. So more than a 10-minute mile, but not much.

I continued to run for another approximately 12 minutes, which also included walking for about 20 to 30 seconds up another crazy-steep hill. I ended my bit with about 5 minutes of walking. I am guessing I ran a little over 2 miles total; I am not sure how it breaks down after the 1.2 miles because I ran up and down my street a few times before getting bored and running elsewhere. Once I decided I should finish my run, I really could have kept going, but I decided that was good. I am glad I picked last evening, when the temps were around 70; when Bailey and I walked tonight, it was around 80 and humid. No thanks!

My right knee hurt during most of the run, but not horribly. But the rest of me felt pretty good. I have not decided if I will go with running 1, 2, or 3 times a week, but my goal is to hit one of those!I still worry about ruining my knees. But I do think I am in good shape, so no worries there, particularly since I have no plan to ever run more than 3 or 4 miles again.

I am also continuing to walk most days at work, for anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes.

Now if only I could curtail the eating...