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.

Just call me the every-day marathon runner

If I had a dollar for every time one of the parents at school said to me, "That is so great that you run every day" or "I can't believe you run all the time," I would have a lot of dollars. Each time, I have to tell them that I run only twice a week (and sometimes not even that), which surprises most of them.

On a very good week, I will run and walk twice each, but that so rarely happens. The more likely scenario is I leave my car two or three times a week to walk or run, and if someone saw me exiting my car, they would not necessarily know which of those activities I am doing since I don't start running until I am out of the lot and down the driveway. Of course, I do run by probably a dozen or more cars of parents once I actually start running.

I also think it is funny that one of my friends is impressed because I "run marathons"; to her anything over a mile is pretty much a long-distance run, thus counting as a marathon in her eyes. And a woman at lunch today could not believe I manage to run four or five miles at times.

But back to this week, during which I ran about 4.5 miles on Monday and about 4 miles today, which was followed by eight minutes of running around the outside of the gym, including 20 steps (I counted). Hopefully, I can get an "official" step workout in, but my guess is I am done running for the week. On a positive note, I think I cut a minute of my time from Monday to today. On an indifferent note, I noticed that for some odd reason since the temps have turned cooler, I rarely exhale in a "blowing" sort of way. I pretty much pant.
No matter, I feel pretty good about my last few runs.

Finally two runs in a week

I finally got my butt in gear and ran on Monday and again today. Monday's run was another short one, just over two miles at a decent pace overall. I did manage to pick it up a bit while running through a nearby park on my way back. I appreciated the change of scenery, and my knees and feet appreciated the softer ground. I ended the run by doing three laps around the outside of the school gym, which included running up a bunch of steps (20? 30?), down and around the sidewalk, and along the driveway. It was nice to end the run with that.

Today I had more time, so I ran for over 40 minutes, which was about four miles. I took this run about 25 minutes after eating a not-so-small lunch, so it was a bit more leisurely, at least in the beginning. I felt good overall, though kind of chilly for at least the first mile. The temps were probably in the lower 50s, but sunny, so I ran in a long-sleeved t-shirt. After the first mile, I was glad I did not have another layer. At the end of my run, I decided to walk to the local coffee shop, which is about 15 to 20 minutes round trip.

I most likely will not get a third run in this week; I am happy to have accomplished what I did. But I am going to try to swim and get a 15 to 20 minute walk in.

Running through the pain

When I first starting running again, I would often write about various pains I felt. At one point, they seemed to be far and few between. Today, however, it occurred to me that I probably almost always have some pain, somewhere, when I run, but I just push through it and tend not to notice it so much. Hey, if professional athletes can sprain an ankle or injure a knee and get back out there sometimes during that same game, then I can't let a little pain stop me, right?

This morning it was about 55 degrees when I ran. I was kind of cold in my shorts and t-shirt, which was the opposite of how I felt when I ran in long yoga pants Monday afternoon when it was in the mid 70s. I can never seem to dress right. And right after I felt the chill in the air, I noticed my ankle hurt. I was pretty much willing it and myself to keep going, and eventually, the pain lessened. Or maybe I was too busy being chilly.

By the end of the run, I hardly felt my ankle pain, and a leg pain I had felt in the middle of the run also went away. At that point, I was glad I was in shorts and a t-shirt and happy to have run a good distance. I ended up running about 4.8 miles, my longest since 2002, in about 47 minutes.

It is also worth noting that when I ran my "regular" route on Monday afternoon, I finished the first, tough uphill mile in just over 10 minutes, which was my best to date, even if only by a few seconds. I am still searching for that elusive sub-10-minute first mile.

I will get there.

Running around an indoor track

Over the weekend, I took my daughter to a birthday party at the Oxford Athletic Club in Wexford. While she was playing games, I ran around the track. At the club, 10 laps equal one mile, versus only 4 laps on the local outdoor track; yet I actually found this run to be less boring than on the outdoor track. Being around others has always been a good motivator for me; I don't want people to think I am slow or out of shape, so I am sure that helped keep me going. Running in the AC certainly did not hurt!

A big downside of a short track, at least for me, is I have trouble keeping track of how many laps I have run. I am pretty sure I ran only 8, not 10, when I thought I had completed my first mile. I just don't see how I could have run a mile in just over six minutes, even though I was running at a pretty decent pace, obviously without any hills. But when I correctly counted laps later, the about eight minutes seemed much more accurate, if not disappointing.

I ended up running about three miles (maybe two laps shy). I threw in a fast lap a couple of times as well as a few slower ones for good measure. It was a nice change of pace, and, more importantly, it was good to get another run in just over a week after my last one.