In the Pursuit of Wonder

PM - Ran 1.92 in 21:46 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 17.54 in zone, peak 166, cal 509 based on 232 lbs. 11:20 pace.  Brooks Adrenaline.  Right shin still bug'n.

Completed Day 1 of the pushup challenge.  Man that was tough.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 21:45 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 18.22 in zone, peak 167, cal 509 based on 232 lbs. 11:20 pace. Brooks Addiction.

Nearly identical run to yesterday.  Saw a toad on the road.  Didn't stop to examine it, but I am pretty sure it was a red spotted toad.  Today was really warm, so the herps must be starting to come out.  There was a new noise out in the desert.  It was probably bugs, but I am not always very good about telling bug noises from frog noises.  It was kind of humid to.  Also, a bug hit me in the face.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 21:06 AHR 154, 75% of max, HR Range 148-163, 17.30 in zone, peak 167, cal 488 based on 232 lbs. 10:59 pace. Brooks Adreniline.

 Woohoo!  first time I have ran anything under an 11 mpm pace.  Felt like I was running faster than normal.  Right hamstring hurts, may give it a rest tomorrow, we'll see.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 20:33 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 17.02 in zone, peak 168, cal 481 based on 232 lbs. 10:42 pace. Brooks Adreniline.

I was exhausted and it was tough getting the shoes on.  Glad I did it was a nice run, perfect temperature with a slight breeze.  Going hiking up South Mountain to Hidden Valley tomorrow.  We'll see if I can make it through fat man's pass. hopefully I can see a Chuckwalla or two.

8:30 AM - Went on a hike at South Mountain.  Did Hidden Valley via Mormon Trail.  It is 3.9 miles with 775 feet of elevation gain.  This is the third time I have done this hike and completed it in a leisurely 2:01.  All the elevation gain is in the first mile.  Then you connect with National trail and then Hidden Valley Trail.  I made it through Fat Man's Pass even though I had to suck in my gut a bit.  There is a cool natural cave you walk through as well.

I wore my HR monitor and my average HR was 124, peak 172 which was during that first mile, min HR 67 at the start, and total calories 1875.  Just for the record I think the calorie calculator is total crap, but since I have the data I feel compelled to record it.  It probably provides some useful info on how hard you worked even if it doesn't relate to calories.

Saw of few scrubby wildflowers, but no poppies.  No Chuckwallas either, but there were a couple lizards around.  I don't know birds very well, but there was some kind of Jay that was cool looking.  I crushed some Elephant Tree (Bursera Microphilia) leaves in my hand and smelled them, it is really a nice smell.  It  is related to the Myrhh tree from the bible whose sap is used for incense.  South Mountain is the northern most they are found in AZ, maybe the US.  They are a pretty rare tree in the US.  I've shown them to two people now and neither of them weren't very impressed.  They don't get too big at South Mountain, more like big bushes.

I felt good with my performance.  In the past I would have had to stop and rest.  This time I did stop a bit on the way up, but not out of necessity.

Update: I am about to head out for my run (otherwise I am going to fall asleep in this chair) and so I have to clear my watch from my morning hike and wanted to record one more peice of data.  I spent 15:50 in my targeted heart rate zone.  Some of the elevation gain early in the hike as above the range, so I think I got in as much or more of an aerobic workout as on my normal training runs.  That makes me feel a better about not running yesterday.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 21:02 AHR 154, 75% of max, HR Range 148-163, 18.04 in zone, peak 166, cal 487 based on 232 lbs. 10:57 pace. Brooks Addiction.

Would have liked to have ran 2.51, but my shin is still hurting (didn't hurt at all on the hike) and I could tell I wasn't as fresh as I normally am, so I ran the shorter route.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 20:37 AHR 154, 75% of max, HR Range 148-163, 17.14 in zone, peak 167, cal 477 based on 232 lbs. 10:44 pace. Brooks Addiction.

Felt strong today, heard an owl hooting which was kind of cool, and noticed some brittlebush in bloom.  Thought about extending my run, but I really want to do a week with 6 days of running.

I don't have a good excuse for not running yesterday, I was just lazy.  On top of that I ate two extra long cheese coney's from Sonic.  Those buy one get one free coupons are sent by the devil.  Today's run was one of the runs I really hated, but even though I wasn't having fun I ran a little farther than my typical run as penance.  Still managed to be under an 11 minute pace which is kind of surprising to me.  I felt very slow.

 PM - Ran 2.23 in 24:25 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 21.02 in zone, peak 166, cal 572 based on 232 lbs. 10:57 pace. Brooks Addiction.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 19:58 AHR 153, 74% of max, HR Range 148-163, 15.26 in zone, peak 174, cal 457 based on 232 lbs. 10:23 pace. Brooks Adreniline

When I started running the moon was just over the horizon and was a deep orange color and looked very large.  I felt like I was moving at a good pace.  When I turned the corner to come home the full moon was higher in the sky and guided me home.

PM - Ran 1.92 in 20:11 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 16.58 in zone, peak 167, cal 473 based on 232 lbs. 10:31 pace. Brooks Addiction.

I have two observations from my running.

1.  There are always lots of rocks in the road near elementary school bus stops.  Here in az their is desert landscaping everywhere and lots of rocks to get in the road to annoy me when running.

2. Running increases your olfactory capacity.  When out on runs breathing hard I smell trees and blossoms and fireplaces and all sorts of things and when I come home I smell food items and poopy diapers.  I smell all these things much more stongly than when I am not running.

Ran 3.23 in 38:35 AHR 156, 77% of max, HR Range 148-163, 30.46 in zone, peak 168, cal 913 based on 232 lbs. 11:57 pace. Brooks Addiction.

The temperature was in the low 70's.  I decided to drive to a canal and try out running on dirt instead of pavement.  I started off on sidewalk for a short ways and passed some brittlebush and globemallow in bloom.  Then I got to the canal and there is a paved road along it and I ran on the dirt shoulder.  Next time I will run on the opposite side where there is a wider flat dirt area.  I felt hot and the HR monitor kept telling me to walk.  I crossed a major road and didn't have to wait long for traffic. I missed my turnaround point and went a little farther than I planned.  I wanted to exactly 3.1.  On the way back most of the way was walking with small portions running.  I saw a tractor pulling a fake cow around in a field training a horse for some rodeo event.  I made it back in under a 12 minute pace which shocked me.  less than a month ago I struggled to do than a cool temperature 2 mile night run.  my hands swelled a little bit.  I don't think it was the temperature that made it so tough, more the radiant affect of the sun beating down.

Ran 1.92 in 20:03 AHR 155, 76% of max, HR Range 148-163, 15.12 in zone, peak 175, cal 469 based on 232 lbs. 10:26 pace. Brooks Adreniline.

 The best I have felt on a run in a long time.  Got just a hint of what people mean when they talk about spring in there step.  I think I need to pack my running gear in a bag, change right after work and hit a dirt path on my way home from work.  I think the pavement is holding me back.

 non-running observation:  I don't think I have ever been in a home where there is a door between the kitchen and family room, yet every sitcom home has a door there.  I guess it is more dramatic to open doors or something.

Ran 1.92 in 19:47 AHR 154, 75% of max, HR Range 148-163, 15.40 in zone, peak 170, cal 458 based on 232 lbs. 10:18 pace. Brooks Addiction.

I've been having some car issues and have had a little trouble staying motivated.  I've missed two days in a row.  This run my legs felt strong and I turned in a PR, but I hated the run.  I even felt (still do actually) a little nausous.

Ran 1.92 in 20:27 AHR 153, 74% of max, HR Range 148-163, 16.38 in zone, peak 165, cal 467 based on 232 lbs. 10:40 pace. Brooks Adreniline

Shins hurt considerably last half of run to the point of limping a bit.

Sick, sun-burned, and my back hurts from being hunched over under the hood of a car all day.

Still sick, called into work.

Objective: Run slow and see how far I can run without walking.

Ran 2.51 in 31:21 AHR 149, 71% of max, HR Range 148-163, 20.54 in zone, peak 162, cal 686 based on 232 lbs. 12:29 pace. Brooks Addiction.

I have had a head cold/sinus infection for a few days, but I really didn't want to go 4 days in a row without running.  So I did some nasal lavage/irrigation so I could breath and went for a run.  If you don't know what that is I recommend  googling it. It is not as gross as it sounds.  I am a big fan and if you are brave enough to try it I would be glad to give tips.  Anyways, normally I run kinda fast (for me) and then walk when my hr monitor gets above 163.  That has proven to give me much better times than running at a more even pace.  But since I am sick anyway I thought it would be fun to run really slow but run for a long time.  I made it the entire run without walking or my HR monitor going off.  I made it about .8 miles before my HR reached 147 which is the bottom of my normal training zone which I usually reach in less than 1/4 of a mile.  I am now wondering if I could do an entire 5k that way.  Even though my time would be really bad.  It was a nice relaxing run and I felt good the entire way.  The front of my shirt looks kinda gross from running with a sinus infection, but I haven't enjoyed a run that much for some time.  A little slower than 12:30 pace seems to be where my prefered gait changes from walking to running.  Kind of an interesting number to know.  Should help me with some hiking time predictions.

My boss just came in and told me to go home, so I must look pretty sick still.  I hope to run tonight.

I signed up for a military study at ASU.  They said the military has a lot of personel who have to be placed in a desk job because of stress or physical limitations, so the military is funding a study to determine if they should target recruits who have lower responses to stress stimuli or meet certain physical characteristics.  He basically already invited me into phase two which would involve them giving me a free personal trainer and access to ASU's workout facilities.  Today was the first day of 3 different days.  My next day will be a Vo2 max test.  but today they tested cortisol production and stress.  After filling out forms and signing disclosures they inserted an IV.  Then they took me in a room and put heart monitors on my chest and a heart monitor on my finger.  They said that by having the heart monitors in both places they can tell how long it takes blood to reach my finger from my heart.  Not quite sure how that works, but it sounds interesting, even if it was an overly dumbed down laymans explanation of what they were doing.  They had an ekg maching running that showed both pulses.  Also on two of my fingers they put some pads that they said measure how much I am sweating.  They said that is what they use for lie detector tests.

Then they put me through a bunch of stessors.  First they put different colored words of color words on the screen.  For example the word would be green but the text color would be red.  I would have to say red.  These blinked by quickly and there was a beep and I had to say the color of the text before the beep.  This is all while some guy is drawing my blood in one arm, the blood pressure cuff is going off on the other arm and a guy is tapping his pencil on his clip board saying things like concentrate, you can do it faster than that, and what not.  Then I had to do multipication and division problems.  77 x 8, 3/246 things like that in my head.  They showed 6 on the screen at one time and when time is running out, a beeping sound gets closer together and the images fades away.  Once again the guy was there with the clip board trying to get you to encourage you to do it faster and trying to stress you out.  Then the same routine where I had to do anagrams.  Then they put my hand in a bucket of ice water for two minutes.  It was freezing cold.  Throughout the study they kept asking if I was ok and they kept telling me I could take my hand out of the water if I wanted.  I asked how many people took that option and she said about half.  After about a minute my hand was numb and I could have left it in forever.  Then for the final test they had me talk about a stressful event in my life and tried to get me to feel those same feelings again.  In between each test I put this cotton thing in my mouth to soak up saliva and whatever cortisol my mouth produced.

 Yay! I finally got a run in.  Still coughing up a storm.  I've decided I must have become a runner, otherwise I wouldn't feel such guilt for missing runs.  Especially when my mind thinks I have a good reason to miss it.

 Ran 2.93 in 33:29 AHR 153, 74% of max, HR Range 148-163, 25.58 in zone, peak 166, cal 766 based on 232 lbs. 11:26 pace. Brooks Addiction.  May fine tune distance tomorrow.

 Last half of run, toes on my right foot went numb and got kind of painful near the end.  Not sure what caused that.  My shoelaces weren't too tight.  Hopefully that was a one off thing.  My other issue is last saturday I got sunburned working on my car.  Now my neck is sticky with sweat and my shirt collar seems to have irritated the brand new skin.  Someone flashed their brights at me in irritation even though I was in an ample bank lane and there was little other traffic and he had two lanes and a median.  Americans are trending toward far too much pride these days.  Temperature right now 56 degrees.  I was a little chilly on my run.  Also, my time includes an excursion to water the creosote bushes.

Ran 2.57 in 30:03 AHR 153, 74% of max, HR Range 148-163, 19.20 in zone, peak 167, cal 689 based on 232 lbs. 11:42pace. 1% incline.  Brooks Addiction.

First treadmill run ever.  I stood on the side while I ramped up the speed to 5.2 mph. then ran for 30:03.  So the distance started counting before I actually started running (the difference between my watch and the TM was about 45 seconds).  I stopped running at 2.6 miles and don't really know how far it went before I got on, so there is a little estimating on the distance.  Next time I will ramp it up while I run.  Some people on the blog are compulsive about stopping running on even numbers.  I don't have that affliction, but it does drive me a little crazy not to have the distance exactly correct and I don't like that I can't just start the treadmill at the speed I want.  Maybe I can find some reset button or something. It took quite a ways before my HR reached my normal training zone and then at the end of the run I had to keep bumping it down until it got to 4.9 or 4.8 because my hr got high.  I was surprised to see my average HR at only 153.  It seemed like I ran quite a ways at around 163.  I had wanted to run 3.1, but I think I will have to build up to that.  Oh, and my right toe went numb again.  If anyone has any ideas on what could be causing that I would love to hear them.

The new gym at work is nice.  I was a little worried it would be packed the first day, but only 5 of the 12 treadmills were in use.  I don't know how some of you folks run for hours at a time on one of these things.

Treadmill - Ran 2.7 in 31:37 AHR 153, 74% of max, HR Range 148-163, 25.40 in zone, peak 165, cal 723 based on 232 lbs. 11:43 pace. 1% incline. Brooks Adreniline.

Started the TM off at 5.4 a little faster than last time to try and get up to the training zone faster and then started lowering the speed a little earlier than last time. AHR still fairly low. This is the third run in a row where my right toes have gone numb. Right after my run I took off my shoe and felt around. The pain seems to be coming right from behind the middle toe. The ball of my foot right there seemed to be slightly swollen. I can't go to the gym tonight so plan on running outside. Thursday and Friday I may be hitting the ellipitical to give that a chance to resolve itself.