That Kind of Day

Thursday I intended to get home quickly and run on the treadmill before the realtor arrived. That didn't happen. I wasn't too thrilled with that but life is about being flexible, right?

Today I went 5 miles inside. Again, it involved being flexible. Watched the first episode of House of Cards Season 3. It was the Doug Stamper Show, at least for this one. Made the time go by quickly, anyway. Snow all day long. Still ready to move someplace warmer, and then whatever I watch on Netflix will be on my own time. Which will be totally okay with me.

First Run in Two Weeks

What a pain. In my neck, that is. Two weeks ago, the night after my last run, I woke up at 4 a.m. with excruciating pain running down the right side of the back of my neck. I couldn't get back to sleep. I endured a full day of meetings, mainly because I had to give a presentation. By the time 4:30 p.m. rolled around I couldn't move my head from side to side and one of my co-workers thought it was pretty funny. Which I guess it was. The pain had graciously extended itself down my right shoulder blade. I went home and tried to relax. The pain receded to just my neck. I tried to go to bed about 9 and laid awake for several hours. I got up at midnight and The Wife checked on me. She got on the computer to find out if urgent care was open (they weren't). She wanted me to go to the emergency room, which I declined since going and waiting until dawn for help wasn't what I wanted to do. After that she checked the emergency room and sure enough, they were backed up. Then she called a nurse's line where they told her to take me to my doctor or urgent care in the morning. I sat on a recliner in the living room and finally fell asleep between 2 and 3 a.m.

At urgent care we waited longer than normal since one of the doctors was out sick. The doctor who finally came in quickly determined I had a muscle spasm and diagnosed a wry neck. They gave me a shot for the pain and prescriptions for a muscle relaxer and painkillers. I went home and slept five hours. It took about a week to finally feel close to normal. During that time I determined it was best to take time off from running as well. You don't need your neck to run, but I certainly didn't want to do anything that would make the problem worse. Plus it snowed a couple of times.

Today I was excited to get back to it. The weather warmed up to 44 degrees and the sun was shining. I went 4 easy, slow miles, trying to stretch and not push too hard. That was exactly the right distance for my first run back. Snow is in the forecast again, and it seems my next couple of runs might be inside. Oh well, the new season of House of Cards comes out Friday. I guess that should keep me occupied while I'm on the treadmill.

Change of Plans

Lots of stuff going in life right now, which necessitated a change in plans regarding the March race. In other words I won't be running it this year, which is a pretty big bummer. I just can't afford to spend so much time training and then going to NM for a race when there's other stuff going on (cryptically speaking, obviously, until the plans are confirmed or otherwise). I was going to run Saturday, at a lesser distance, but I was painting downstairs while waiting for the day to warm up to a nice temperature. Then while still waiting I started sanding and painting baseboards in the hallway, and by the time I was done I was tired. I knew at that point a run would not go well. I postponed it until Sunday, but that didn't happen either since we went to the remodeling and garden show. All that to say I ended up not running this past weekend.

Today was one of those times where I went out for 6 miles and it felt like I'd been off for a couple of months. Seriously, I felt fat and slow. My legs felt fine, but the rest of me, not so much. The temperature was in the 40s and a little breezy, but I got by without gloves or a stocking cap. I listened to Kansas' Masque on my iPod - what a great album. Two singers whose voices blended perfectly (Walsh and Steinhardt), and fantastic violin melded in with the guitars and keys. It's one of my favorite Kansas albums, if not the absolute favorite. Those were the days of great and inventive musicians. I tell my kids the best decade of music was the 70s. They agree.

Snow and Truncation

I hate to say this, but I probably should have run inside today. The sun was out, but it snowed yesterday and the temperature was only up to the mid-20s with a lovely breeze from the southwest. The plan called for Yasso 800s, which are challenging enough without dodging icy patches on the sidewalks. Most of the route was ice and snow-free, but on the Shoal Creek leg there were plenty of spots to avoid. I ran four of five intervals and decided to stop at 5 miles. The extra mile didn't seem worth the effort or risk of injury. I don't know if I would have done the full 6 miles on the treadmill, but it might actually have been a little more enjoyable. The temperature goes back up for the weekend, which sounds really good right after today's outing.

Escape to the Outdoors

I was able to sneak outside for this afternoon's run between snowstorms. We had snow on Sunday, some of which still lingers in the grass and sidewalks. Tomorrow we're supposed to get more. It was warm enough today, about 50 degrees, to allow for a 6-mile run. The wind was blowing hard from the southwest, about 20 mph, so my tempo run was slowed a couple of times as I ran uphill against the wind. I finished without walking and kept my feet relatively dry. Any chance to run outside in winter is worth the effort. I attended meetings at the Fed today and could have gone out afterward for happy hour, but running outside was more important. Sorry folks.

Treadmill and Netflix

Not my favorite day of running ever. It was cold and raining outside this morning, and still is, which meant I had to do my long run on the treadmill. I set up and decided to watch something different on Netflix. I knew two hours of Friends would be okay but might not distract me enough. So I watched the first two episodes of Peaky Binders, which was new to me. Looks like it's originally a BBC show. That got me through most of my 13 miles. As I said, this wasn't my favorite run, but I made it through. Hoping for better weather next weekend as the mileage increases.

P.S. Just realized this is my 1,000th post, which means I've run at least that many times since I started documenting my runs here. I wonder how many miles that adds up to? I see some bloggers I follow make a big deal out of this milestone, but instead I think I'll just go take a nap.

The Return of Winter

Yesterday it was almost back to normal around here: cold, gray, and windy. It was a day almost built for running inside, but because it was just barely tolerable I went ahead and ran outside. I saw a few others out as well, which I take to mean that I wasn't totally crazy. The plan called for Yasso 800s, which is what I did. Without the GPS it's a little more difficult to follow the plan exactly. Some of my 800s were longer, and a few were probably shorter. Either way I did five intervals and made it through the entire 6 miles with only one walk. That was on the hill by the golf course, uphill and against the wind. I decided to not push it by trying to run that section.

Bad weather is moving in this weekend, and it could be a couple of hours on the treadmill Saturday. It's time once again to think about moving someplace warmer.

57 and Hills

Nice day. Considering it's January, it was a *really* nice day. I even wore shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt. It was right on the border of being warm enough, but I think that caused me to run a little faster and that kept me warm. I ran 6 miles since today was a hill day, going over to 435 and then north by the school. I kept up a pretty good pace and it was a blast to run without layers and long pants. I certainly won't get used to it, but I could.

Saturday Recap

I ran 10 miles on Saturday with the Virtual Running Buddy, who was here to celebrate The Wife's birthday. We got out before the party and did a loop of 4 miles around the neighborhood, and then 6 more on the normal route. It was a very nice morning weather-wise, and sunny, too. We kept the pace slow, at about 10:40/minute even though he wanted to go even slower we were just too blazing fast. It was a good run to set up the next several weeks of increasingly longer outings.

Wife's Birthday Run

Big milestone birthday for The Wife, which deserved a run, of course. I ran 6 miles under gray clouds and a temperature right at freezing. Four of the miles were at tempo pace, which felt pretty good until I was running up the hill by the golf course against the wind. Other than that short walk it was okay.

Run Up Hill (repeat)

Today was hill repeats day, and a nice day for it at that. If there is such a thing for this workout. I ran the first 1.25 miles with Daughter #2, then took off for a hill on Eastern Road. I ran up and down four times, which was a pretty darn good exercise. I extended the hill after the first run and made it a good distance for #s 3 and 4. Then I ran home. I'm pretty sure I didn't go the full 6 miles, so I'll call it 5. It's harder to gauge distance without mapping it first or using a GPS.

Catching Up

Even thought I didn't post I actually ran three times this past week. It's been busy around here, and the weather has been superb. Especially for January.

I ran 6 miles Tuesday and did four of them in a tempo run. Then Thursday was hill day, which is really what they all are. I ran the first mile with Daughter #2 and then did the other five on my own. I was going to go Saturday but actually I'm glad I waited since it turned out windy that particular day. In the meantime I was refinishing our kitchen floor, and I concentrated on that instead of running. To get my long run of 11 miles in I ran on Sunday instead. It was another beautiful day, with just a little wind. I had to get that one in between playing in the orchestra and then picking up Daughter #2 from church. Yes, I was a heathen, but I needed to run then so I could put down the gloss on the floor in the afternoon. Which looks okay, by the way, but man, that was a lot of work. It was almost more exhausting than running a marathon.

First Outside Run of the Year

Ten days into the new year and I was finally able to run outside. It was not warm, but the sun was shining. When I set out the wind chill was in the single digits, but by the time I finished it was about 16 degrees. I was going to go 11 miles but finished at 8, mainly because I thought my nose and lips were about to freeze off my face. That throws my training plan into some disarray, but I can adjust. It was nice to get back into the outside world again, even though it wasn't the best of weather.

Still Inside

I'm still waiting to run outside this year. The temperature got out of single digits today but the wind was still horrific. I ran another 6 miles on the treadmill and watched some more Friends. I have to admit that helps the time go quickly. Still, I'd rather run outside. We'll see how it looks for the weekend.

Single Digits

Today's run on the treadmill was 6 miles, which was the same as the temperature outside. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 1 degree. I was supposed to run yesterday but we went to a matinee. I thought about skipping it and doing my weight workouts, but I figured I needed the mileage more. That puts me in line for two days in a row of running, but that's okay. I'm just hoping it warms up enough to run outside on Saturday.

Going the Full Nine

I should have waited until this afternoon to run, and/or not believed the weather forecast. It was supposed to be a winter storm warning from last night at 9 p.m. until tonight at midnight. Instead we received a misting overnight and nothing today. Which is fine with me. But I decided I didn't want to be cold and so I stayed in this morning and ran 9 miles on the treadmill. Fortunately Friends is on Netflix now and I watched the first 4 1/2 episodes for distraction. I should be taking advantage of days like this, though, because it's quickly going to get to a point where I can't make myself do long distances inside like that as the mileage ratchets upward. Next time I'll certainly be less inclined to trust a forecast of 3-6" of snow.

Botched Outside Run

I was all geared up for a run in freezing weather, and then found my gear wasn't. My pants were in the laundry, but salvageable. My stocking hat and ear warmers were not. That sent me back to the treadmill. I watched an Aziz Ansari comedy show, which was not as bad as the Offerman show I tried the other day. Yes, there was some bad language, but he wasn't blasphemous and at times pretty darn funny. I guess it's hit or miss with the Parks and Rec gang. I got in my 6 miles and wish it had been outside. The forecast for Saturday isn't looking good either, with ice and snow on the horizon. It's winter. Gee, who could have seen this coming?

To the Treadmill

Cold today, with wind chill in the single digits. Which necessitated my first run of the season on the treadmill. I went 6 miles, 3 of it in tempo form. I had the iPad to distract myself tried watching a Nick Offerman comedy show. There was some funny stuff at the beginning but then he veered into mockery and downright blasphemy at God's Word, and I couldn't take it any more. Then I moved to Anchorman 2, which was just not funny at all. Next time I need to find something a lot better than either of those two if I'm going to keep sweating indoors.

Boxing Day Letdown

Today I just didn't feel right, and by the time I stopped my knees weren't feeling great. Not that they were in a lot of pain, but they just felt weak, like if I kept going I could hurt myself. I was going to go 8 miles but stopped at 5. I think it was the consequences of running two days in a row at this point in the plan. I can't run again tomorrow, but maybe I will on Sunday if I'm up to it and the weather is nice. Doubtful.

Christmas, A Nice Day for a Run

Today was the warmest day in quite a few, above 50 degrees. And it was also Christmas. Which never stops me from taking a run, and even actually makes it easier to do since everybody else is occupied. I got up with the family, we opened presents and ate breakfast, and then I took a 2.5 hour nap. The only thing not great about the run was the wind, about 20 mph from the southwest. I walked up the hill by the golf course since I didn't want to run uphill against the wind. Then I walked up it again from the other side just because I'm planning on running again tomorrow due to commitments on Saturday and I didn't want to be totally worn out. I felt a little less than nominal on today's outing, but that points back to my recent gluttony. About time to tone it down, I think.