Slow Hot Run

I kept it slow today, and took walk breaks every mile. Once again my strategy paid off and I actually had a good run. I thought about getting out early, but when I looked at the forecast the humidity was about 97% as the sun rose. Even though it was hotter, at least the humidity was at a tolerable level. Plus I think my tolerance has built up a little bit, or at least enough to get me through 6 miles.

Calling It a Run Would Be Generous

This was both heat and humidity, which as we saw a couple of weeks ago on race day was a bad combination. I ran 6 miles today, and calling it a run would be generous. I walked at mile 2, 3, 4, 5, and up the big hill all the way around the corner to the finish. Given that the humidity level was at 87% when I started that's probably not so bad a record. I weighed before I left and then again when I returned, and the net loss was 3 1/2 lbs. I'm not a scientist but that does seem like a lot of sweat. No worries, though, since dinner and a few snacks made up for the loss, for better or for worse.

The Heat is On

Today the temperature rose up to 90 degrees, a nice 20 degree difference from Tuesday. I pace accordingly, and walked at every mile as I've learned to do. The 6 miles went just fine with those adaptations, and I reviewed my first German lesson and listened to the second. It's still a review of the basics I learned back in high school, but it's good stuff since it will pave the way to learning much more that I've forgotten. Once again, hardly anybody was out in the heat. I saw one other runner, a woman riding a bike, and about three people walking. Looks like we're on the verge of summertime in Texas.

Fast Hill Run

Even though it was overcast today and a little rainy, it was actually a good day for running with a mild temperature. So good, in fact, that I decided to run my hill route. The start was a little slow, and the route out against the wind. I felt pretty strong and ran a really good second half. My overall pace was 9:30, which is pretty fast for hills. And my fifth mile, which was the big uphill part of the route, was at 9:04. Not bad for this middle-aged runner. I enjoyed the run and the rain held off long enough so I could get in the whole 6 miles. I don't think I saw any other runners out this afternoon, just a couple of people walking. Their loss.

Foregoing German

My usual wake-up time is 7 a.m. This morning I awoke at 5:30, 6, and a little before 7. Therefore it seemed prudent to just get up and run. The weather forecast last night said 100%, and if you count a small shower that left some drops on the cars, including the new one we bought yesterday, then they were right. Otherwise not so much. When I went out this morning at 7:30, it was cloudy and windy, and also a little bit cooler than it has been the last week. 

I ran 8 miles and thought about walking a little at the 6-mile mark, but that never translated into practice. I decided to put the iPod on shuffle rather than listening to Deutsch again since there were a lot more people out today. Even thought it was quite moist today I still had a good run. 

Learning German Again

Today was hot, humid, and windy. Not the best running conditions, but I walked every mile whether or not I needed to and survived. At the end of the first mile I didn't feel like a walk was necessary, but I've been at this long enough to recognize what was coming later. Toward the end of the 6 miles I walked up the big hill, and then took it easy the last quarter-mile. My strategy paid off.

The Garmin is working again. I don't know exactly what I did to get it working after doing some online research. I cleaned off the contacts, but that didn't do the trick. Then I tried a hard reset but as I was doing so my phone rang and distracted me, so I don't think it ever actually reset. The funny thing is that after that I turned it off, put it on the charger, and away it went. Let's hope it keeps working so I don't have to go through that again.

Today I added something new to my listening repertoire besides music or podcasts - language lessons. Since I'm headed to Europe next year I checked out some materials from the library. I reckoned that it's been 33 years since I last took a German class, but the first lesson came easy and brought to mind words I'd learned way back then. Fortunately very few other people were out so that I could repeat the lessons out loud. Ich verstehe ein bisschen Deutsch. Don't remember if the spelling is right on that, and there's nowhere to go but up from here.

Clouds Make a Difference

Fortunately the pain in my foot is dissipating. I discovered Sunday that the pain seems to be more of a deep bruise than something like plantar, and centered around the ball of the foot. I suppose I hurt it wearing boots all day at a conference and then walking around on an aircraft carrier all evening. Unfortunately I never had the chance to change clothes into something more suitable.

Today was hot, humid, and cloudy. That last one made all the difference. The temperature was 81 degrees, but the lack of sun shining brightly on me along with a nice south breeze kept me cool enough to run all 6 miles excepting the big hill. My GPS died before mile 4, and then when I got home the cradle is not charging it. Not cool. I'm going to have to do some research on that.

Back in Town

I spent the whole week in Oakland and Redwood City, from pretty much sunup to way past sundown, and therefore I did not run at all. I'm back in town and was craving a run. This morning I slept late, ate breakfast, and then went running. It was a good 6 miles, warm and humid with a couple of walking intervals. The bottom of my left foot has been hurting the past two days up near the toes, and it felt good to get out and stretch. Not sure if this is something like plantar faciitis or just that I walked a heck of a lot this week in shoes I normally don't wear for extended times. At least my left knee felt okay.

Hills on Saturday

I ran "only" 6 miles today, which is a Saturday and normally the day for a long run. I knew there was a 5k/10k going on at my normal route, and I therefore decided to do hills today. My left knee felt great except for one turn coming down a hill and rounding a corner where I jammed it too hard. I had to stop and walk a few steps, but once I started up again it was fine. The only times I really noticed anything else possibly amiss was on downhills, but even then it wasn't too bad.

Looks like we just had bad luck for last week's racing weather. The Saturdays on either side were perfect and would have been a lot better than all the humidity. Oh well, luck of the draw. I certainly enjoyed getting out today when it was in the low 50s. And who knew you could actually run hills on a weekend?

Cooler and Faster

If only today had been race day. The temperature was in the 70s, and there was a stiff wind out of the north that kept it from being overly humid. My first fifty steps were kind of iffy and I almost stopped and turned around because of my left knee. Once I got into rhythm, though, it was fine and didn't bother me the rest of the run. I continued to work on posture, which was a little tougher since I ran the usual 6 miles, but I think it helped. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. Since I'm on a business trip next week I'm considering skipping a few runs, but I might go ahead and take my running gear just in case I need to get out and enjoy some mild weather.

Discovery

Today was hot, in the upper 80s, and I decided post-race to run 4 miles instead of the usual 6. As I started out my left knee was bugging me again, but about half a mile in I made a discovery. I felt like I was leaning forward a little too much, almost hunching, and pulled my shoulders back. Instantly that shot my hips forward and engaged my glutes more, with the immediate effect of my knee responding without pain. Eureka!

Knee pain in my past has almost always been related to shoes, but this time I think it's because of my punching bag workouts. The technique, at least as I've seen it on TV and movies, is to bow forward and keep your head down. Great for boxing, not so much for running. During today's run I had to constantly pay attention since the default was to let my shoulders move forward and throwing my body out of alignment. The more I ran straight up over my feet the better my knee felt. I also ran in a new pair of shoes today to break them in, but I can say without reservation that the change in posture is what made the real difference.