Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pain. Show all posts

Sunday, July 26, 2015

It was a run.

On Saturday, while at my mom's in Indiana County, I had one of what is likely my last runs there. I did not think about it at the time, but now I realize the significance of it. :-(

From the first step, my left calf hurt. I have been having some problems with it, where at random times I get a sharp pain that tends to last just a minute or two. Because of the pain, I started off running really slowly, wondering if I was hurting myself doing so. But after a few minutes, the pain subsided. I never picked up my speed a whole lot more, but I was okay with that.

I am not sure how far I ran. I ended up lasting for about 33 minutes. My guess is that I ran around 3 miles (I certainly was not doing a 10-minute mile). On a positive note, running up the biggest hill in the neighborhood was not awful. It went better than the steeper, though not nearly as long, hill in my neighborhood. Once I made it to the top, I felt not too bad.

I am glad I ran Saturday morning when the temps were in the low 70s. If I had waited until Sunday, the temps would have been close to 80. I certainly did not want a repeat of last week.

All in all, I am happy with the run. I hope to run during this coming week. We shall see.

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.


Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Still going

I tend to run after dinner. It typically takes me 30 minutes to clean up after dinner (and, sadly, probably only 7 or 8 minutes to eat dinner), so my food has had a little time to digest. But that is not ideal. Fortunately, traffic was kind to me today, and I made it home just a little after 5:30, which gave me enough time for a short, pre-dinner run.

I did my "usual" run down my street, then down, up, down, and up the hill at the top of the other street. This evening, it took me 6:24 for the first half and 6:24 on the way back. I don't think I have ever done both trips in exactly the same time; I tend to run about 20 or 30 seconds faster coming back, since the killer hill is at the end of the first half. In any event, I ran a little faster than I did last week. And I did not walk the end of the killer hill as much as I wanted to.

After that, I ran for just over 9 minutes up and down my street, so I could come close to hitting 2 miles. In fact, I may have run a little more than 2 miles now that I think about it. My round-trip run is about 1.2 miles, and I did that in just under 13 minutes. But I had to come home, eat, do the dishes, and go vote, so I could not keep going, even though I felt good enough to do so (not including the slight pain in my left hamstring). After all that dinner stuff, I ended up walking with the kid and the dog to vote; it is a short walk there and back. And then we took Bailey on another walk after that.

So all in all, I got in a good bit of exercise, and in really great weather to boot. I will most likely run again this weekend. But I am already starting to think about 5Ks. I have not set an "official" goal of running one, because the reality is that I can tire of this. But it is definitely at the front of my mind.

Friday, May 15, 2015

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...

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Guess who ran this week?!

After more than four months, I finally ran a real run, on the road. We had another nice Monday; it was sunny and in the mid 40s, so I decided I had come up with enough excuses not to do it.

I was cold in the beginning. I started running at almost 4 p.m., so the sun was going down and hidden behind buildings for a good part of the run. The thin hoodie and thin long-sleeved tee underneath were almost enough to keep me warm, but my head and hands were definitely chilly. Fortunately, I was able to put my hood up and keep my hands in my sleeves. And, as I suspected, I was plenty warm about a mile into it.

The bottom of my left foot hurt a bit only a couple minutes into the run, but the pain was minor, and I hardly thought about it. My knees did not hurt at all, so victory!

This run was not exactly my usual run. Instead of running up the killer hill, I started more than halfway up that awful section. Then I ran the rest of the first mile. I ran back to where I started, but decided to keep going until the bottom of the hill/where I normally start. Then I ended where I actually did start. So, yes, I did cover the same distance, but it was "out of order" so posting my times will be a little pointless. Ultimately, it took me 20:24, which is two minutes slower than when I last ran. It did the first not-quite-one-mile in just over 10 minutes, but to be accurate, I would need to add at least a minute for the section of the hill I did not run until the end.

Regardless, I am not discouraged. I was 40 back then, and I can believe four months of age once you get in your 40s makes a difference. And even though I have been swimming and doing Zumba, it is not the same as running, so it is nearly impossible to not have a drop off after four months without running. Plus, it was cold. Running in 60 degrees is a lot different from running in 40 degrees. When I was in my late 30s, I loved running in 40-degree temps, but now I much prefer the 50s. To think that a few years ago I ran in temps in the mid 20s is almost laughable. I am pretty sure I won't hit the pavement unless it is above 30 degrees for the rest of my life and I may just stick to the 40s and above. But never say never. [Worth noting, it appears the last time I ran in temps below 30 was in February of 2011, when it was 29 degrees. I last ran in temps in the upper 20s and 30s regularly in 2010.]


Sunday, January 13, 2013

I may be slacking, but I want credit for this.

I cannot believe that I last updated this blog over 1.5 months ago. In that blog post, I complained that it had been a month prior to that post since I had last blogged, and that I hoped it would wait so long again. Um, oops.

I think I kept up with exercise pretty decently the first third of December, but just before Christmas arrived, I was so busy, that for several weeks, all I did was walk a little once or twice. As a result, I gained a few pounds (though I think the bigger culprit there was the volume of sweets I have been eating for weeks).

We had let our pool membership lapse for a few weeks as I just did not feel like paying to renew or all that much like swimming. But when the kid and I walked around the mall on Sunday, that made me feel like a senior citizen (no offense to any of those, not that anyone reads this blog anyway). So I decided enough was enough, and this past Wednesday, we headed back to the pool. I eased into in, swimming just over 10 laps and jogging for a bit, and my legs bothered me a bit, which was something I was not used to when swimming. But I got back in there, and that is what counted.

Since I am often in competition with myself, I decided to go back again Thursday, sans kid, to see if I could really get in a workout. And that I did. I swam 15 laps, jogged for 10 minutes, swam 15 more laps, jogged for 10 more minutes, swam 15 final laps, and jogged another 10 minutes. I took one bathroom break in there somewhere and stopped to catch my breath only one other time. I also did some arm and leg exercises and then ended up five minutes of treading water. I felt really good when I was done, and, best of all, I did not devour a huge amount of food when I came home. I took it easy on myself when I went back the next day, jogging for about 15 or 20 minutes. Yesterday, we took a 15-minute walk. This coming Tuesday, I should finally get back to my weekly Zumba class.

I have no idea when I will run again (when the temps are 55 degrees at 9 a.m. before you reach mid January, you don't have much of an excuse not to), but I am pretty sure my knees are thankful for that lack thereof.

Here's to hoping I can keep up with staying in shape, however that ends up happening. Until next time, whenever that may be.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

9:59:57

Yesterday, I hit the lap button on my phone as I made it to the top of the hill (well, I came close; I don't quite go to the top, but save myself about a dozen steps) and then immediately hit the stop button as my shoe was untied. Once I took care of that, I hit the resume button and started running down the hill. And that was when I saw that I had completed my first mile in 9:59:57. Which is under 10 minutes.

I don't have a lot to say about my run, which took place under sunny skies and temps in the 60s. My feet did not hurt until after I was done running. Unfortunately, my left knee hurt at the beginning and off and on during the run. No idea why that happened. That is my good knee! I felt winded at the beginning, but when a song I liked came on my mp3 player, that helped to push me.

All in all it was a good run. Mostly because I finished my first mile in under 10 minutes!

Mile one: 9:59
Mile two: 8:18

I really think I can be happy keeping it just above 10 minutes. I truly don't expect to go much below the 10-minute mark. I just want to be happy that I can still keep doing this. Here's hoping I can and will.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

A run I am proud of

Yesterday morning my right hip flexor was hurting like, well, something that hurts a lot. I was wincing every time I walked up steps or lifted my knee even slightly. And I am assuming it is my hip flexor because that is what another mom at school told me it was as I pointed to the place where my leg connects to my body, for lack of a better description. This pain was rather unfortunate as it was such a beautiful sunny October day that I hated to think I would miss a chance to run it. Luckily this woman, who is not a doctor, told me I would probably be fine to run; she insisted my body would tell me if it needed to stop. I decided to go with her thoughts. And I am glad I did.

I don't think I noticed my knee or hip flexor hurting at all, for whatever reason. My left foot hurt only a bit and not consistently, which is always a nice thing. And running to Nine Inch Nails and Arrested Development made the experience of running in sunny and mild (the mid 60s, I believe) temps everything it should be. Best of all, I did not feel lousy and winded, as I often do. Maybe I was still on my "I-came-in-third-place-in-my-age-group-and-finished-the-race-in-under-29-minutes" high. Who knows, but I will take it.

Mile one: 10:19
Mile two: 8:26

That first mile was my best this school year. And I have not done my second mile in under 8:30 since last fall, I do believe. Many months ago, I said I might never get my first mile below 10 minutes, and I was probably okay with that. I still am. Even though I won't completely give up on that happening and I am not necessarily considering that as a goal, I will keep it in the back of my mind.

In other exercise this week: swimming on Sunday, nothing on Monday, Zumba on Tuesday, lunch duty along with running and some tag and soccer playing at the park on Wednesday, and a short (20 minutes round trip) walk this morning. May or may not get in something Friday.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Race for Pace


I completed the Race for Pace in 28:55.

If I would have run the race about three weeks ago, when I was working out like crazy, that time time might have been a little disappointing. But I have to keep telling myself over and over that I am 40. Unfortunately, saying it does not help me accept it all that much. Not that I am 40; I am cool with that. But that I am past my running prime. But proof of that was right before me: I ran into a former student whom I beat by about two and a half minutes when I ran the race two years. This year, he bested me by seven and a half minutes.

I know I should be focused on my finishing the race in under 30 minutes, which is great, considering I have been running about once a week. And I am absolutely proud of myself, particularly considering that I struggled a bit during my runs lately. I was not convinced I could do it in under 30 minutes. But I did it.

A few other notes:

It was cold, probably about 35-degrees at race time, but sunny. My running gear consisted of a long-sleeved t-shirt, a windbreaker, yoga pants, socks as gloves, and a flexible knee brace I used to wear at the beginning of this century when I ran several times a week. I unzipped the windbreaker during the last 2/3 of the mile, and maybe even took it off. The socks on my hands also came off about that time (I did not have gloves, but those babies worked great, even for nose-wiping purposes, as gross as that sounds, but it was cold).

I am happy to report that I was almost pain-free the entire time (the knee brace was a good call); even my feet hurt very little, though during the first mile, two of my toes were numb from the cold! I have this odd breathing pattern, which I tried to replicate when I was lying in bed, but couldn't. Regardless, it seems to work for me, and, almost as important, I am not wheezing and gasping as I seem to always notice some people do during these races.

I started off strong, kept a pretty steady pace, struggled a bit near the end up the last hill, but "kicked it in" as best as I could the last tenth of a mile. Having my friend Diane there cheering me on really helped. As I was struggling up the last hill, she made me laugh (or at least smile as I was out of breath) when she yelled, "Go, Faith! Don't embarrass me." 

During the last mile, a woman who I determined was somewhere near my age (which impressed me, because I am lousy at figuring out ages) passed me. I thought about pushing myself even more, in case she was going to be the difference between my getting third place and fourth place. But in the end, the last hill was too much for me, and I could not go any faster. I convinced myself to just keep going as I was so I could finish in under 30 minutes

When the time came for my age group awards, the person they announced for third place was that woman who passed me. I could not believe it! Oddly enough, when I checked my results online that evening, I was listed as being in third place in my age group. I emailed the race director about it, who just emailed me a bit ago saying she would look into it. I admit the competitor in me is disappointed to think they made a mistake that cost me getting my name mentioned and a medal, but the mature gal in me is going to keep telling myself this:

I am 40, I finished the race in under 29 minutes, and I am proud of this body!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

My feet hurt

There are so many thing I want to cover in this post, so expect something quite disjointed.

I will start off listing what physical activity I have done since I last posted a week and a half ago:

  • Zumba the last two Tuesdays
  • Swimming last Wednesday, Saturday, Monday, and yesterday (Wednesday)
  • Running on Monday and Wednesday of this week
  • Short (just over 15 minutes round trip) walk on Monday
  • Lunch duty two days both last week and this week
Although I am satisfied with the amount of exercise I have gotten, I don't feel as if I am making the gains I want to. Normally, I would not care, but on Saturday, I am planning to run in the Race for Pace. As it stands now, I am not sure that I will be able to finish it in around 30 minutes. When I ran this race two years ago, I did it in 27 minutes. There is no possible way I could come close to that considering how my times have dropped off in the last year or so. :-(

On Monday, I had a really good run, and based on that I would think I could finish Saturday's race in under 30 minutes. But I have a bigger problem, which is impeding me greatly: my feet. Unfortunately, my latest pair of Asics Gel Enduros have proven to be worse than my previous pair. My feet were so uncomfortable during Monday's almost three miles (after I did my normal two miles, I ran around the outside of the gym and up the steps a handful of times), I ended up buying Dr Scholl's athletic foot insoles to try to help. Those babies cost an insane $19.99, which is more than half of what my running shoes were on sale (yes, the fact that I paid less than $40 should be a good indicator that I am not buying good shoes!). Anyway, the insoles were little help. They feel good on my feet when I walk, but the bottoms of my feet, particular the balls of my feet, continue to hurt once I hit the pavement. I won't completely blame my Asics; as it turns out the Gel Enduro 7 shoes are apparently trail shoes and I run on pavement. But the Gel Enduro 5 was awesome, and I would assume it was also a trail shoe. Anyway, on both Monday with the old insoles (three miles) and Wednesday with the new ones (two miles), I got through the runs, so I am pretty sure I will make it on Saturday. Just not sure how I will end up. Hopefully, there is not some other issue going on...

I am taking a break today, other than a brief (five minutes one way) walk I have to do as part of a volunteer thing. And if I swim on Friday, I will take it easy and try to swim no more than 10 laps (I swam 18 on Monday and 15 on Wednesday, which is pretty good after a run on those days).

Monday's run
Mile one: somewhere over 9 minutes and under 11 (I forgot to turn on the stopwatch); it was a pretty good run, so I am thinking and hoping it was around 10:30)
Mile two: 8:30

Wednesday's run
Mile one: 10:55
Mile two: 9:17

No idea why Monday's run was better, but it was. Hopefully, I can get back to better times soon. And, more importantly, here's hoping the feet feel better soon. Those babies still hurt a little today.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Slow and steady finished the run

After over a month of not really running, I finally laced up my shoes this morning, two counties over. As I first set out in the cloudy, 55-degree morning, I decided I would try to run for about 20 minutes. But the more I ran (and by ran, I really mean jogged), I figured I might as well keep up my slower pace and go for 30 minutes.

About three minutes into the run (jog), I noticed a slight pain in my left foot and calf, but nothing unmanageable. Soon after, I realized I should have gone with a short-sleeved tee and shorts, rather than my long sleeves and yoga pants, but there was not much I could do at that point. I also ran with a bottle of water, something I do whenever I am at my mom's, probably because she uses bottled water and it helps. For whatever reason, I noticed I prefer to keep the bottle in my left hand and would often switch it back to that hand without realizing it. As my mind wandered, I tried to make a connection between my left-hand preference and my left foot hurting.

About 20 or so minutes into the run, I noticed my right foot and calf hurting, but they could have hurt before that and I just never noticed. Fortunately, the pain was minor.

All in all, I call it a good run (jog). I am glad I got out there and can still do it, even if doing it means doing it slowish.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Swimming and the knee

Other than a brisk 15-minute walk both Friday morning and Sunday afternoon, I had not done anything in the way of exercise since Zumba last Thursday. But because, for whatever reason, my left knee hurt Sunday evening and most of Monday, I was considering skipping my planned swimming yesterday. Fortunately, I thought better.

I ended up swimming, at a pretty good pace, 25 laps in about 30 minutes. I followed that up with about 15 minutes of jogging in the pool and some arm and leg water exercises. I did not notice the discomfort, which can best be likened to having twisted my knee, at all during my 55 minutes in the pool. It came back once I was home, but I will take what I can get. I hardly notice it now.

I have really been slacking off swimming lately, only one day last week, so I was glad to get in that workout at the beginning of the week. Most likely we will swim again on Wednesday unless the predicted 60-degree weather beckons us to the park. I do hope to either run my two-mile jaunt or hit the steps on Wednesday unless it rains. I think I will give my knee the day off today.

Until next time.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

My legs felt like jelly

Yesterday, not feeling like running, I decided to run the 64/65 steps at my kid's school. It had been awhile since I had run those steps (probably since the fall when I last did my "usual" 20 trips). That layoff, coupled with my less-than-stellar-running times as of late, led me to think I would probably not get what I consider a good time. In fact, as I was making my first few trips, I was telling myself that in the long run, I needed to decide if I should be more concerned about timing and perhaps not making as many trips, or if I cared more about getting the "laps," for the sake of distance.

Throughout the run/jog, I felt pretty good. I was out of breath a few times, when I started pushing myself more. And I was breathing heavy pretty much the entire time, but I don't recall my knees or feet hurting at all, so that was good. I did, however, have a (left) side stitch for a bit, but I was able to work through it.

When I had finished my 20 trips, I had clocked in at 16:28, which I am pretty sure is my best time ever.

I have no idea how that can be, considering how my running times have gone in the wrong direction. But I will take it and be proud. In full disclosure, I did stop for about 10 seconds to get a drink, but still good.

I'd like to think I will get a run in on Wednesday or Thursday, but we'll have to see about the weather, which, by the way, was in the upper 50s and partly sunny and a little bit windy yesterday. The next few days are not forecast to be as warm (or if they are that warm, then not sunny).

Until next time.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Leaves are falling

After a month off from running, I got out there yesterday. The day began full of sun and decent temps, but by the time I started running, the sky had clouded up. About halfway through my run, I felt a few raindrops that fortunately did not turn into an all-out rain. Not so bad when it is almost 50 degrees nearing the end of February. Worth noting is that a leaf hit me in the face during my run, which struck me as odd since it is February. Shouldn't all the leaves have fallen off by December at the latest?!

As I began the run, I felt pain somewhere, and I tried to make note of it for this post, but I forget where exactly, so that is probably a good thing. What is not so good is that my left knee has been bothering me since the run; it feels as if I twisted it. Weird, because it is usually my right knee that bothers me. My thighs also are a bit sore, but I blame that as much on swimming some laps at the pool an hour later as I do the run and subsequent five trips up and down the outside gym steps. Yeah, I definitely got in a good workout yesterday.

When I started running, since I had just gotten over my cold, I told myself to take it easy and not be worried about time. This is hard for (competitive) me, and when I looked at my stopwatch on my cell phone as I was nearing the top of the hill at the end of the first mile, I did try to push myself so I would not be too far over 10 minutes.

Mile one: 10:25
Mile two: 8:54

Even though that time is worse than what I did last month, which was against the wind (there was some wind yesterday), I am satisfied. I was sick last week and did almost no exercise. Plus I have to think my nearly gone cough had to affect my running. I know I was breathing hard during most of the run. But the important thing is I went out there and did it. And swam some laps after that. Oh, and I did Zumba yesterday and plan to do it again today.

Hopefully in another month or two, I can work on getting my time back down. But until then, I will try to focus on just getting exercise.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Against the wind but into the sun

According to the weather peeps, today was supposed to be in the 50s, but rainy, so I planned to do my weekly run tomorrow or Wednesday when it was supposed to be sunny, though chillier (between the upper 30s and lower 40s). It certainly did pour this morning, and it was a bit chilly, in the 30s, but fortunately by noon, the rain seemed to leave the skies and the temps started to rise.

So I set out to run around 2 p.m., going my usual route, when the temps were in the upper 40s. As sunny is it was, one could have thought it was 60. In fact with the sun feeling so warm, I decided to skip the sweatshirt/hoodie and wear just a long-sleeved t-shirt with workout pants. Wise choice. I was chilly for only about 30 seconds once or twice the entire run.

As for pain, I felt little, so yeah. I did notice my right knee hurt about halfway into my first mile, but not again after that. The roads were wet, but fortunately, I never slipped.

All in all, it was a good run. Even though the wind on the way down was a bit strong, the sun more than made up for it and left me feeling pretty good.

Mile one:10:12
Mile two: 8:46

Considering the wind, I think I did pretty well time-wise.

Until next time.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

That first mile keeps getting longer!

Wanting to take advantage of the decent (mid 40s) temps again, I decided another run was in order. Today's jaunt was a bit chillier than Friday's; I was only slightly warm as I ran up the hill, but never enough that it warranted removing the same hoodie I wore on Friday. In fact, I almost wished I had gloves on as I was running up the hill, but after about a half mile, I got over that.

My left foot hurt less than it did on Friday; really, it was hardly noticeable, so that was good. But I did not push myself, mostly because I had eaten a pretty big lunch about an hour prior to the run. But a bigger reason for my running without worrying about time was that I don't want to get my heart rate up too high. When I ran up the steps after my two miles on Friday, I checked my pulse, and it was over 180, which is too high for my age, unfortunately. So I just can't see myself giving it my all as I run up the final hill at the end of my first mile.

Mile one: 10:42
Mile two: 8:52

So even slower first mile than on Friday, but what can you do? Over the next few months, I will have to decide if I can accept that mile one may never get below 10 minutes again. For now, in January, at the age of 40, I am okay with it. After all, I am still running!

Friday, December 16, 2011

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.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

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!