I Expected Better

I thought today would be a pretty good run, even though it was warmer than a few days ago. I was wrong. It was a struggle from the start and I walked three times. I probably could have run through the whole thing, but I also believe in not killing myself needlessly. Tuesday I thought the problem was the blood donation on Sunday, but today I was thinking it might be because I haven't done any weight work in two weeks. Since I hurt my shoulders at the rock climbing gym I've taken time off to recover before starting up again with the dumbbells. I think that's affected my upper-half form because it felt like it was falling apart today. I think I'll start up again on Monday with the weights and hopefully get back to normal.

Post-Donation

I gave blood on Sunday and haven't really noticed any effects until this afternoon. In fact, it felt the past few days like I hadn't donated at all. I was ready for a run today, but I quickly noticed a little fatigue and slowness. I'd planned on doing some speedwork for the first time in a while, and that's what I did. I threw in some fartleks during the course of my 6-miler, speeding up for 4-5 street light poles each time. I didn't run terribly fast, but enough to get down to an 8-minute pace for a few seconds. I also got chicked - twice by the same woman - who totally blew by me when I was shuffling along at 10 minutes/mile. That's okay. I bet she didn't give blood a couple of days ago.

Perfect

This morning the weather was perfect. I left the house around 9 o'clock and ran 6 miles under a clear sky. There was just the tiniest amount of a breeze, and the temperature was about 60 degrees. While I saw a few people out running and walking I expected to see more. Maybe there were out earlier. Whatever the case, I had a great run and felt outstanding. I could easily have gone another two miles or more, but this brought my weekly mileage to 21 and I saw no reason to push it. I hope next Saturday is nice and maybe a will add on a few more to the long run.

Short

Took off for run this afternoon that turned out to be only 3 miles. I planned on going more, but a big front was moving in and storms were on the way. In addition, I had a flat tire on the way to work this morning and struggled with it for way too long. I hate the jacks they put in modern vehicles. I cranked and cranked on it and it got to the point where it didn't move any higher. I finally called The Wife and had her bring the floor jack to me. Within thirty seconds I had the tire finally lifted high enough to remove it after struggling with it for half an hour. Nothing like trying to change a tire on the shoulder of an Interstate highway during rush hour traffic. Anyway, that wore me out and was no help to the shoulder I injured last Friday night. In fact, it set me back quite a bit, and no telling when I'll be able to exercise again. The run was a slog through 90 degree temps and a lot of humidity. In reality it was probably for the best since I'm running four times this week and cutting this run short keeps my overall mileage down.

Two Days in a Row

Another run out of the norm, but really only because I ran yesterday. Today is my normal running day (Tuesday) so it wasn't that far from normal. It rained off and on all morning and into the early afternoon, but by running time it was mostly sunny and humid. I started out with the same cadence as yesterday but by the end of the first mile my knees were hurting. I decided it might be better to ease into this thing so I settled back to my normal rhythm. That seemed to work although I felt a slight twinge at times. I ran the whole 6 miles with the last couple being with the wind at my back - which makes it sweatier since nothing evaporates off my face or front. Nevertheless I made it and felt pretty good. My shoulders are still hurting from the rock climbing last Friday so not sure yet what I'm going to do about my off-day exercises. I suppose I can still do the ankle weight routine, but anything involving the shoulders probably needs to wait.

The Rare Monday Run

I ran today because I didn't run Saturday. Friday was a really stupid day at work and then I spent the evening at a rock climbing place with The Boy. All that combined with a dose of ragweed conspired to give me a nice allergy attack Friday evening, and all day Saturday I felt like crap. I've been pretty fortunate so far this year but Saturday was not good. The body aches and general feeling of being drugged stayed with me all day. I meant to go for a run at various times but just couldn't drag myself to do it. I felt better yesterday and again thought about running but never made it out the door. This morning the sky was cloudy after some overnight rain and the air seemed clear. I went out for a 6-miler and felt great, and still do. I'm hoping this weekend was the worst of allergy season.

I finished Born to Run and did a little more research on barefoot running. I don't think it's for me, although I can see the potential benefits along with the possible side effects. The joy of running is what I'm focusing on from the book, and I think somewhere in there it also talked about cadence. I tried that on my run this morning and concentrated on 180 steps/minute. I checked several times with my Garmin and found that I was able to maintain that rate of footfalls for most of the run, even on the hills. When I started out I felt like I was running in place, but that was okay. I ran a little faster today, 9:17/mile, but I attribute that to the 61 degree temperature than I do the change in cadence. I'm going to keep trying and might have to find a metronome for the iPod or some mp3 that has a beat at that rate.

Lake Shore Running

Spent the first half of the week in Chicago and got up early on Tuesday for a run alongside Lake Michigan. It was sunny and humid, and promised to be a hot day. Still, I enjoy that route quite a bit and it ranks in my top five places that I've run so far. Runners and bikers were out in full force. The hotel was north of the Chicago River and a few blocks west of the lake. I ran south past the Navy Pier and around the backside of the aquarium and then the planetarium. Not many were on the part of the lake, and I ran until the concrete petered out. Funny, I forgot to start my GPS when I started and didn't get it going until over a half-mile into the run. I ended up running about 6.15 miles. When I returned to the hotel I was going up to my floor by myself, but then the car stopped on the second floor where the restaurant is located, and three people had to share my stink in the small car. I almost apologized but skipped it since they were enjoying breakfast while I was out sweating.

Today was a pretty hot run at home with the temperature in the upper 80s. It wasn't bad compared to some of the scorchers we've had lately, but I still took my water bottle with me. I ran 6 miles and only walked two minutes on the hill by the golf course. It was an enjoyable run and I only saw three other people out enjoying the day.

Yesterday at the airport I had to buy a new book since I'd finished the book I took with me as well as the new issue of Runner's World. I ended up buying Born to Run. I've heard about this book in the pages of the aforementioned magazine and probably should have borrowed it from the library rather than overpaying for a paperback version, but I was in Chicago and the library was in KC. Nevertheless I devoured the first half of the book by the time the plane landed. The adventure and the writing reminds of Into Thin Air, which I need to re-read. I won't be running barefoot, by any means. The message I've taken away so far is the joy of the ultrarunners in the book. That translated into a few attempts to smile on today's run, which was mildly successful. Guess it needs more work.

Still Humid, Too

This morning I woke up earlier than planned, but that's okay since it allowed me to get out for a run before the day heated up. There were quite a few other exercisers out in the 8 o'clock hour, apparently with the same thought I'd had. I ran 6 miles and ended up at a 9:37/mile pace. Even thought the temperature wasn't bad it was sunny and the humidity made its presence felt. Looks like summer is going to hang around for another week or so, and that's okay with me. I still haven't settled on a late fall/winter race other than wanting to do a couple of 5k races with the family.

Hot Still

I thought we were done with the hottest of the hot weather, but not quite. It's actually supposed to be in the upper 90s again this weekend. Today was about 90 degrees and I took the water bottle with me again. When I walked down to the end of the block I saw a helicopter hovering around the north part of the neighborhood. On my way home two police cars had sped past me with emergency lights and sirens going. So on my run I decided to head north and see if there was anything to see. There wasn't. I did discover a dirt road that will soon be paved, connecting to the next neighborhood up. I ran through there, back around the elementary school, and down the hills to the traffic circles. I walked a couple of times for two minutes each in order to cool down, and decided today was going to be a timed run rather than a distance run. I still went 5 miles and was outside for right about an hour. That seems the way to do it and hopefully I can remember that next year as well.

Noon Run

This morning I was going to get up at a decent time and run earlier in the day since I'm off work. That didn't pan out. Instead I got up about 9:30 and started my run at 11:15. Normally running in the middle of the day like that isn't the best idea, but the heat has broken and it was around 80 degrees. The killer was the constant sunlight, but it still wasn't too bad. I blew off my Saturday run due to extreme laziness. Today I was back to doing a 6-miler and it went okay. I walked up the golf course hill, where the city workers congregated to remove more dead roadside trees. If you take away the walking my pace was around 9:30/mile. I probably should have had more liquids before I left the house but I still made it. Lesson learned for next time, if I remember.