Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Hope I get another run in

I did not blog about my Saturday morning run. I accidentally deleted it from my stopwatch, but I ran for 40 minutes. That I know. I also know that it is not 40 consecutive minutes because I had to stop for a poop break for Bailey, as per usual. And I when I completed the first trip, I dropped her off, wiped off my sweat, gulped some water, put on a little more sunblock, before heading back out. So my first about 13 minutes had two interruptions. But the next 27 minutes, I just went.

I seem recall not feeling too much pain until I had done the first trip, and then not feeling one of my pains until I finished my second trip. Regardless, it went well, and I could have kept going.

I am hoping to get a run in tomorrow night. Friday night I will be packing. And Saturday we head to the beach, where I hope to get two runs in over the next week.

I have also been pretty good about lifting weights again. I started about 3.5 weeks ago, and have done it 3 times per week pretty consistently. I flaked out last night, but because I woke up early today, I got in two sets. Sure, not my usual three sets, but I was mixing it up.

Oh, and I talked to my cardiologist friend who said that it is okay that my heart rate gets up so high when I run up hills. As long as I am not sustaining the 100 percent (which I am not; I think I keep it around 85 percent during most of my run), then I am fine. So, good.

Later.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

An interrupted run

I really wanted to wait to run until tomorrow, mostly because I washed my hair this morning and I hate to wash it twice in one day. But since today's high was only around 73, the humidity was nothing like it had been, and it was not very sunny, I decided to take advantage.

Just as Bailey and I started the awful hill, a little yorkie ran out and right up to Bai. Unfortunately, Bailey is not good with cats, so I am scared of how she might be with little dogs. I tried to yank Bailey away, but the little dog just wanted to see Bai. I left them sniff, and it seemed to go okay, but I was still scared. Fortunately, the owner of the yorkie picked up her dog, and Bailey gave up after a few more attempts. Then we started up the hill, but we lost at least a minute with that. So my 7:30 for the first mile was probably 6:30.

No sooner had we gotten to the top of the hill and turned around did Bailey stop to do her business. Fortunately the rest of the walk went pretty smoothly (though always annoying carrying a bag of crap). As usual, I dropped her off when our 1.2 miles were up, gave her some ice cubes, wiped off my sweat, took a couple gulps of water, and I was off again. But I don't recall feeling any pain anywhere, so yeah.

My second trip resulted in 6:23 for the first half and 6:36 for the second half, so pretty respectable. I ran for another 8 minutes around my street and the field at the end of it. Then I decided to run another 5:30, just so I could hit the 40-minute mark. Sure, there were some rests in there, but all in all, I feel good. I felt my left hamstring pain just for a bit, as well as my right knee pain for a different bit. But, again, it was good.

In fact, I kind of want to run a 5k. Hopefully soon.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Took a week off

Last week, it was quite humid. I had planned to run on Wednesday or Thursday, but between the weird pain I have been having in my right calf and the sticky weather, it did not happen. I still manged to walk a few days during the week, but nothing like usual (walks every day at lunch and walks every evening with Bailey), partly because my leg was hurting and partly because I was busy at work and had plans one evening. In any event, I was headed to my mom's again this past weekend, but rather than run before I left on Saturday, I decided to wait until Sunday and run there (plus the grocery trip Saturday morning got in the way). It had been too long since I had run there (I think, since last October).

My mom's neighborhood is much less hilly (grade-wise) than mine. There is only one really bad hill, and then three or four okay ones. But for whatever reason, they seemed easier than my run in my neighborhood, which contains one awful hill and one almost as bad, but not as long, hill.I actually recall struggling more with the first hill the last time I ran than I did yesterday, so there is that!

My original goal was to run for about 20 minutes, since I had not run for a week. Then when I started, I decided I had better shoot for 25. By the time I finished, I had run just over 30 minutes. I did not "measure" my run, so I cannot be sure how far I ran, but I am guessing it was close to 3 miles.

At one point when I was running up a hill, a guy in his yard said, "That looks like work." And I said, "It sure is." I tend to vacillate between love and dislike for running. I almost always start out pumped up, feeling good, even smiling, but the feeling fades pretty quickly. Yet, when I am nearing the end of a run, I almost always feel as if I could keep going, but I tend not to want to run a lot more than 30-couple minutes. Since I did not think I would make it past 25 minutes, I decided to stop at 30. Plus towards the end of my run, the sun came out, and it was already humid (the temps were in the low 70s, which helped).

At one point in the run, I noticed my three "normal" pains--the left hamstring, the right knee, and the right calf. But it was never awful. In fact, I don't think my calf as hurt so much since. Maybe I worked it out of my body. Let's hope, because I would really like to be able to run once this week.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Should have recorded that last run

I ran Saturday morning, but did not have time to blog about it before I went to my mom's. Originally, I had planned to wait until Sunday morning to run (there), but I figured better to get it done, in case something got in the way. Turns out something did.

Anyway, I, unfortunately, deleted my times for that run. I think I did the first trip with Bailey at around 6 minutes each. One trip might have been under, and one might have been a hair over. So it was good. On my second (dog-less) trip, I ran into a guy I saw last Saturday. We ran together for most of those .6 miles. It turns out this tall, thin guy (who has legs that pretty much go up to my chest) is 62 and has been running since HS, but things have come up that have kept him from running. He has been trying to get back into it, but uses the treadmill at times. I told him I hate the treadmill (not that I have one), but I am sure it is better for my knees. I also told him that my husband is afraid that I will need my knees replaced before I turn 50. He kind of laughed, but he did not say what I wanted him to, which was, "I have the same knees I was born with." I was glad we were able to talk, as that is distracting, and it even helped having him go up that awful hill. But I was also kind of glad that I turned around at the (almost) top of the hill, while he kept going, since I get so winded by that.

Anyway, I thought my second trip was a little slower, although I kind of think I did the first half with that guy at about 6 minutes. I finished it off up and down my street a few times plus a few laps in the field at the end of the street, for at least 8 minutes, and maybe even 9.

I seem to recall that my knee hardly hurt, and my hamstring just a bit. I also don't remember my feet hurting like last time. But this happened three days ago, which is like a lifetime with my memory.

Unrelated (I hope!) to that is that the front of my right leg has been bothering me today and maybe a bit yesterday. I walked around just fine at Kennywood yesterday, but I limped during my short walk at work, and I was slowed during my 20-minute walk with Bailey tonight. If I don't feel better tomorrow, I won't be running. However, if the weather forecast does not change, I might not run the next few days regardless, if 88 degrees turns out to be the coolest.


Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Some new pains

During today's run, I am happy to say that my left hamstring hurt less than usual. My right knee may have also hurt less or about the same. Unfortunately, I noticed some shin pain in my right leg, which fortunately was not too awful. My feet were also bothering me a bit, which I found surprising. I think I have worn these shoes no more than a dozen times, probably less. About 2/3 of those runs were about 3 miles, but a few were only 1 or 2 miles. I do tend to walk a bit, but regardless, at most, I have run about 36 miles in these shoes. No idea what that is about.

Anyway, tonight's run started off with Bailey, who was really moving. So much so, that we did the 1.2 mile trip in just under 12 minutes. I think the trip up was just under 6 minutes, and the trip back, which I actually timed, was 5:45, a new record. It helped that Bailey did not stop to relieve herself.

I dropped her off after that run, gulped some water, and I went back out. The 3-minute break helped. Eating just one burrito (which is still hardly a snack), instead of my usual seconds, helped as well, although I did notice my dinner more during my second run. And temps in the upper 60s/low 70s with little humidity and no sun, also great. In any event, for the repeated trip, I did the first half in 6:24, and the second half in 6:21.

Then I ran more leisurely, other than a couple of faster bits, for the next 8 minutes.

I feel pretty good. My heart rate still gets up there (to the max up the hills), but I can recover fairly quickly.

I will just keep swimming. Keep swimming. Keep swimming.