Mildness

It's been a nice week in Texas. Today's high was in the mid-60s, with some high clouds rolling in this afternoon. I see rain in the forecast for the weekend, but for now it's good. I did some leg exercises yesterday, and today felt good with both knees. I went 4 miles, trying to ratchet the mileage up slowly. Plus I really needed to get out and exercise after the relative gluttony of the past several days. I didn't gorge on tamales yesterday - but I could have. I think they're some of the best we've ever made.

Knee Skip

Skipped the Saturday run since I had some pain on the outside of my right knee Friday and Saturday. I went out today since it felt better but stayed at 3 miles. It felt okay but not 100% during the first mile, and my left knee also felt weak. I think I'm at that point where I need to get back to the leg strengthening exercises. I iced the right one afterward as a preventative measure and as of this evening it's not barking at me.

We did our Christmas celebration today since Daughter #2 has to work tomorrow. Got a new pair of running shorts, socks, and two short-sleeve shirts. Most of my running shirts are dark. These are white and lime-green which will help keep me cooler, or at least as much as possible here in Texas when summer rolls around again. Also got a new pair of sunglasses, and they are feather-light, fit nicely, and worked great on a sunny Christmas Eve.

Account Blow-Up

Went out this afternoon to pound the pavement after a work call on an account that was blowing up. It was about 50 degrees or slightly above, but chilly with a south wind. I went my 6 miles and the quickest pace was about 9:30/mile. Felt pretty good, and it was nice to get the run in before coming back to a full inbox and more conference calls.

December Chill

The cold has definitely seeped its way south and into Texas. We've been below freezing the past couple of nights and this one will be no different. It was in the upper 40s when I ran this afternoon, and at least the sun was out. I ran my 6 miles, and stayed to the eastern path on the way back so I could catch a little more sunlight. A little bit of a breeze from the north kept it nice and chilly for this December run.

Kidnapped

My run yesterday was sabotaged. My daughter and friends kidnapped me, under the pretext of going to brunch, and we ended up in New Braunfels instead at a Todd Snider concert. Plus some barbecue in Lockhart beforehand. What a day! By the time we got back this afternoon at 3:30 or so I was thinking I wouldn't get in a run. Instead, I decided that it was a nice enough day and with all the food I've eaten recently, including breakfast at Denny's at 12:30 a.m. after the concert, I needed it. So I ran 6 miles and it was actually a good run. Probably due to the carb loading from the midnight pancakes.

Brisk

I could have and should have run on Tuesday. We had an evening outing for work, and it was rainy and cool in the morning. I skipped it, though, and probably shouldn't have. At least our water was back on so I could have showered afterward.

Today was sunny but brisk with a somewhat stiff south wind. I went 6 miles. Felt kind of off my game yesterday and today, but this run helped me feel better. Likely I need more sunlight, as well as the exercise. Especially as the holidays draw closer.

Aw Yeah

Back to 6 miles today. That's my long run for the week, which seems a little sad since that has been my normal distance on any day of the week. After all the ups and downs of the past year I'm just glad to be running. If this is my long run for this point in time then that's okay.

Getting Out

Flew back from Austin this morning and got out for another 5-miler this afternoon. Saw about a half-dozen people on bikes, including a couple on a tandem. The only downside is that we have a water leak and had to shut off the water this morning. The plumber won't be here until tomorrow, which means I have to take a sponge bath. But I wasn't going to let that stop me from exercising.

Monday's Run

I ran on Monday afternoon since I was going to be out of town for a couple of days. It was a nice 5-miler. The hip pain I'd experienced on Sunday was non-existent. Nice to be back in the rhythm of running more than once a week.

Sleeping Through Rain

When I got up this morning after 9 the sun was shining. Apparently it was raining when The Wife got up and had stopped, which worked out well for me. The past few days, including Thanksgiving, were colder and wetter, so I didn't run on Thursday as planned. Today was nice, though. I ran 6 miles and it was nice to get back to my regular distance. I'll modify my schedule in the coming week to try and get in three runs since I'll be traveling. We'll see how that goes.

Before the Gluttony

I didn't even take my running gear with me to Kansas this past weekend. I knew it was going to be cold and busy with family time, so no reason to really try and shoehorn in a run. Today was warm, around 70 degrees, and a nice day for a pre-Thanksgiving outing. I ran 5 miles, all good and felt strong. My Garmin beeped at me about two hundred yards shy of the two-mile mark, which was odd. By the time I made it back to the start/finish line it was only about twenty yards off. I guess I can blame it on the wind and clouds. Or sunspots. Or whatever.

One More

Ran a mile more than I did on Monday, getting in 5 miles today. Too many work calls meant I didn't get out until 5 p.m. When I got home it was getting dark, so that was fun. The temperature was quite mild today, about 70 degrees, but as I write this the rain clouds have moved in and look to be around all day tomorrow. My decision to run earlier in the week seems to have paid off.

Four More

Supposedly bad weather is supposed to arrive on Thursday, and I decided to move my regular running days forward. Today I went out for 4 miles and felt pretty good. I had a bit of a stomach...irregularity but I made it back in time and no incidents occurred. Fortunately.

Back Pain

The day after my last post I hurt my back. Not sure how. I cleaned up the garage on that Sunday, and moved the smoker back onto the patio. Maybe the the moment when I yanked that big piece of thick steel was it, but didn't feel like it at the time. That night my lower back went into horrible spasms and I kept waking up. This was new since I've never had back problems before. The next was even worse and on that Tuesday morning I went to urgent care and walked out with prescriptions for pain and muscle relaxers. That seemed to help somewhat but it still took several days before I slept without waking up multiple times. Three weeks later I'm finally to the point where I could go out for a run.

I wanted to go out on Thursday but that was the point where I thought I was okay but realized it was probably best to wait a few more days. This morning I ate breakfast and had my coffee, and then went for a 3 miler. Considered doing another mile and realized I'm not trying to get a medal and that extra mile might actually do more harm than good. I feel good with what I did and will ease back into it over the next week. I've thought about all the gaps in my running over the last year - saving that for a post later - but glad to be back on the road today.

Waiting to Warm Up

How the times have changed. I waited until 11:30 this morning so that it was warm enough to run. The temperature was a few degrees south of 60 degrees, which isn't bad, but it's quite a dropoff from even a couple of weeks ago. I ran my 6 miles and then spent the day smoking ribs and pork, changing the calipers on my truck, and helping with a birthday. I'm tired.

A Day Early

Rain is in the forecast starting tonight and all day tomorrow. Human beings are nothing if not flexible, and I decided to run today even though that's two days in a row. At least this way I get in my run and don't have to try and fit it in between storms, if that's even going to be possible. I went the 6 miles again, but today it was a lot windier from the south, and so I walked up the big hill. Other than that it was good. My legs weren't quite as fresh but that's to be expected. Tomorrow will be a workout I can do in the garage and then hopefully the rain clears out so I can run on Saturday as planned.

Wrong Address

It was a perfect Fall day with sunshine and no wind, temperature in the 70s. I ran my 6 miles without stopping, even going up the big hill. I did get passed twice, which is kind of rare because there usually aren't that many people out. First was by a young lady right before mile one, and then a guy later on after mile four. Oh well, I wasn't going for speed. At least then.

A UPS driver dropped off a package on our doorstep mid-afternoon. Right house number, wrong street. So when I got back from my run, I came inside, grabbed it off my desk, and ran it around the block. It probably added another third of a mile to my run overall. On the way back I cranked up the speed a little bit, and it felt good. It's been a while since I've run anything close to fast. It was nice to stretch out a little bit.

Fall Day

Back to the routine today with some punching of the bag and a 2-mile run to follow up. The sun is lower and the temperature was definitely fall like. That's after a couple of big fronts came through last night and spun up some tornadoes in Dallas. Nothing like life in the south/midwest.

Back to It

Took over a week off due to guys' weekend and other stuff. This morning I remembered that it's a half-marathon day on the path I normally run, and after being off so long I didn't want to do an alternate route with hills. So I waited until 11 a.m. and ran in some nice sunshine with temperature in the mid 70s. Nice outing, felt good, and walked up the big hill. It's nice to be back to it, and my plan is to work on getting back into shape after the short respite.

Up and Down

The weather has been up and down this past week temperature-wise, and today was a little odd. This morning we had a light rain, clouds through most of the morning, but sun breaking through to warm us up on its way to 90 degrees for a high. Then tomorrow's high will be 60 after a cold front passes through. I decided to run late morning in order to avoid the heat, settling for a little humidity from the rain. I think it was a good decision since I ran 6 miles without walking other than the big hill. A little more sweat than Tuesday's run but overall a good run.