I am pretty sure this week won't be like last

My legs (ankles, thighs, calves) have been sore off and on (mostly on) since last Monday. I guess I overdid it in the physical activity department from Monday to Friday. I was a crazy weekday warrior, if you will.

Friday I stood on my feet for about two hours helping out with a school event. I went home to do laundry, vacuum, and clean the bathtub. When I headed back to school a few hours later, I ran around the outside of the gym for between 10 and 15 minutes, and that run included a handful of trips up and down the steps next to the gym and the steps leading to the main church lot. I am not sure for exactly how long I ran because I had to take a couple-minute break to move my car. I stood again for about 1.5 hours at the park that evening, and that was pretty much it.

I took it easy yesterday with my only exercise resulting from shopping at two stores for brief periods of time. Mostly I sat around. Ah, relief.

Today it is my intent to swim, but buying a new oven and the Steeler game may get in the way.

About the only thing I am certain about is that this coming week won't look too much like last week in terms of exercise. My 40-year-old body will fight me on that.

But despite the soreness, I do feel good. As if my body did great things this week. And, in a way, I guess it kind of did.

Slightly better run

Knowing that the Run Around the Square is just nine days away meant I had to get out and run again this week. This morning I ran the same route I did on Sunday, and fortunately it went a little better. I finished the around 2.7 jaunt in just under 27 minutes, shaving over a minute off my time from four days ago. As I was coming up the last hill, I looked at the stopwatch on my phone and saw that I was almost at 26 minutes, so that gave me the motivation to push myself. I just hope I can find that same drive next weekend.

I also wish I remembered the course for the Run Around the Square. According the race packet, the first 1/2 mile is through Regent Square's streets, which are pretty flat, and the second 2 1/2 miles are through Frick Park's cross-country trails. Honestly, the only trail part I remember from 2002 was when someone handed out shots of beer or champagne (people along the Great Race also hand out one or both of those beverages). I thought that was so cool, so I grabbed one. Not sure if I will be so eager this time, eight years older and all...

Regardless, it might be a good idea to run on some type of trail before the race. Not sure where; I just don't know Frick Park that well to feel comfortable enough to run around there alone. The few times I have walked there with my kid, we do so for no more than 15 minutes one way; I am always afraid the trail will end up being five miles long, and she will get tired.

Hopefully, I will feel motivated enough to run Saturday morning. I want to get in two more runs before the race; three would be ideal for me, but probably not realistic.

Almost there.

Jumping on a bench

Today marked eight days since I last ran or even really exercised. I can't exactly count doing some sort of tricep dips in our little blow-up pool; and walking around the zoo this weekend, although a bit of a distance, was not really strenuous.

So while I was at the park with my kid, I decided to take advantage of the benches there by stepping up on that wooden thing many times. For each set, I stepped up/on the bench 40 times (20 times per each leg getting a turn to "lead"). My ballpark estimate is that I did this at least a dozen times and as many as 20. I would take a break in between each set, for as little as two minutes and as much as 10 or more (there was an minor accident which I was mildly interested in). But I did do this over an hour to an hour and a half period.

I was disappointed that my legs did not shake the way they did when I ran the 65 steps at my kid's school, and I could not go as fast as I did then either, but the bench was quite a bit higher than regular steps and my heart rate was definitely up each time I did a set.

When I was done, I wanted to run around the park, but I really was not dressed for it. Plus, it was odd enough to do what I was doing in front of several families. At least I was setting a good example by exercising, and I was able to keep an eye on my kid the entire time.

But I miss running...