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.

I don't know how people run in the heat!

I took a two-week hiatus from running. It was not intentional, but sometimes life (and laziness) gets in the way. This past Saturday morning, after 15 days off from running (but not walking and weight lifting), I got back out there. The night before, I saw that the temps were going to be in the low 70s around 8 or 9 a.m., so I figured I was good. But apparently with a 12-hour lead time, weather.com could not get the temps right. By the time Bailey and I set out for our run at around 8:40, it was nearly 80 degrees with about 75 percent humidity and a real-feel temp of 80 or 82. Yuck.

Usually when I start running, I picture myself as this in-shape, attractive, nice-bodied 30-something. I had no such illusion this time. I was miserable about 5 seconds into the hot run. Bailey was racing down our hill, and I was ready to stop. But I soldiered on. She stopped to relieve herself early on, which was somewhat welcome, and by the time we got to the big hill at the end of the first trip, she was barely moving. I actually had to kind of pull her. When we got to the top of the hill, I stopped for a few second to catch my breath. I was pleased with the 6:17 time. Probably one of my longer times, but the way I felt, I figured it would easily take me 6:30 for that .6 miles.

Running back down the hill was a kind of relief. I don't remember much about the run back home, just that I was anxious to get back and drop Bailey and her BM off. Bailey must have been anxious too; she really pushed us that last tenth of a mile; we finished that half in 6:02.

Once I de-leashed her, I gulped some water, wiped the sweat from my forehead, and tried to apply a little more sunblock to myself, which was pretty pointless as sweaty as I was. After that several-minute reprieve, I got back out there and did the same run again. Nor surprisingly, the second revolution was worse. I ran 6:25 the the first half and an awful 6:53 the second half, but considering I had taken two weeks off and that it was hot and humid, I was perfectly happy with those times. I finished the run with another approximately .6 miles; I did that in just over 7 minutes and on mostly flat surfaces, so it was probably a little further. But even if not, I will take the 3-mile run in about 36 minutes.

I find it unlikely I will run again this week; maybe I will just go back to running weekly. I have been walking Bailey daily for about 1.2 miles. Plus I walk several days a week at work. And I have been keeping up with weight lifting.

I need to do better with eating, but I will take the victories where I can get them and just be glad these legs still move!

Three runs at the beach

I ran only once the week before we went on vacation, but I made up for it during the actual vacation.

I have no idea how far I ran on any of the days. But I ran.

Here are the highlights.

Sunday run
I ran for about 30 minutes, I think. It might have been only 25, actually. This first run was on the bayside, around the neighborhood we were staying in. It was a little humid, kind of warm (mid to upper 70s), and quite sunny. I regretted not running with my hat about 5 minutes into the run, but I figured if I turned around to get it, I might not go back out. I had forgotten how challenging an all-flat run can be. About halfway through my run, I did have this view. Kind of makes up for it!

Big Assawoman Bay, at the end of 120th Street (the street turns into something else)

Thursday run
I had intended to run on Wednesday morning, but I ate too much Tuesday night, and had three drinks over five hours (which is not a lot for some people, but a bit much for me). So I decided to wait until Thursday. The skies were very gray, the temps were cooler than early in the week (low 70s, I think), and it actually started to spit when I first set off. This time, I ran on the beach for about 30 blocks total. As with running on a flat course, I had forgotten how hard it is to run in the sand along the ocean. At times, I felt about 80. But I think I ran about 30 or 35 minutes this time. Maybe longer, because when I finished running along the ocean, I came back to the neighborhood and ran a little more there, including along a "boardwalk" behind our place. I much preferred that weather. No sun! Here are some highlights from that run.

Tough sand to run on

I might not look good, but I look determined!

The short boardwalk behind our place, for yet another, different surface to run on

Friday run
I don't normally run three days a week, but I ate a lot during this trip, and I wanted to run around a park I found (that hubby told me about) the previous day. I figured this would, once again, be a different run. I started off running on 120th Street, then along Coastal Highway. Then I ran around the park, which was quite crowded. When I had been running about 20-some minutes, I ran back to the place, because I had only 30 minutes total to run as I had a friend coming to visit. This day was hot, and I was almost sorry I ran. But I did have my hat, so there was that. I took one pic during this run. As I was running, this "scene" caught my eye, so I had to capture it. Plus it was good to get a little breather.

Lagoon that flow into the bay

I hope to run one day this coming week, but I won't beat myself up if I end up chickening out. I walked so much during my vacation, and I did not sleep well, so taking it easy won't be so bad.

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.

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.

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.

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.