Love2Run

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Body Temperature: 36C

Walked 5851 steps.

Average heart rate during the walk was 102.

There were a lot of people out this morning going to the neighborhood shrine to pray for the New Year.

Today is the professional men's Ekiden national championship. I will relax and watch it on TV. Tomorrow and the next day will be the Hakone Ekiden race for University teams. Lots of good races on TV this New Years.

Body Temperature: 35.4C

Walked 6310 steps.

Average heart rate during the walk was 96. That is a big improvement. I felt really good during the walk.

Body Temperature: 35.6C

Walked 7455 steps.

Average heart rate during the walk was 99 bpm.

This morning I go into the hospital again for some tests.

I have the tests tomorrow, and will leave the hospital on Wednesday.

I am feeling much better than I was last time I went to the hospital, so I am sure there has been improvement.

I spent three days in the hospital this week. There has been some good improvement in my condition. My heart is looking much better. It appears I have some damage to my lungs. It is too early to know exactly to what extent they are damaged and if it will be permanent or not.

The doctor says that maybe I will be able to start doing a little easy jogging in a month or so if things continue to improve.

The doctor says that I can start running a little.

I was really excited, so last night I got all of my running gear prepared and was going to go out for a short jog this morning, but it was raining hard and has been raining hard all day, so I guess I will have to postpone running for another day.

I feel like I am starting all over from the beginning again.

I am going to start by walking with a little bit of running mixed in.

After seeing the most beautiful rainbow that I have ever seen yesterday after it stopped raining, I knew that it would be a nice day today. I was not disappointed. The weather today is beautiful.

I took it really easy today (maybe too easy). I walked 200m and then jogged 200m and repeated that for about 2 miles. I didn't notice any problems and I felt good. I will continue this for this week and then re-evaluate and increase the distance and/or amount of running next week.

I am happy to be running again....and for the time being, I am just going to be a "Hobby Jogger".

2 miles of mixed walking and running.

2 miles of mixed running and walking. I increased the distance of the running portions today a little.

2 miles of mixed running and walking. Time was 20:16 and Heart rate was 108.

Really slow, but I am just happy that I am able to run again.

I had another set back today. I left to go on an easy jog this morning. I jogged very easy about 100 meters and my lungs shut down. I couldn't get any air. I walked back home. I was afraid I was going to pass out before I got home. After I got back home and into the warm room I was able to finally catch my breath.

I am leaving soon to go back to the hospital.

I am really discouraged. I love running, but if this is the new norm for me, I am going to have to give it up.

I returned home from the hospital yesterday. My doctor doesn't know if my problem was COVID related or not, but I had severe blood clotting in both of my lungs, and am very lucky to be alive.

I was put on 10mg of Eliquis twice a day for a week, and then it was reduced to 5 mg twice a day.

I will go back to the hospital on March 22 for another check up.

It is good to be home, I was really getting bored laying in bed and staring at the calendar on the wall. I did do a lot of walking though. The doctor told me that sitting or lying around is not so good and it is better to be moving.

I went to the doctor yesterday for a checkup to see how my condition is.

They took some blood for a blood test. The results looked good. The doctor said that I can even gradually start running again. I am still nervous about running, but I think I will start again next week.

I have to go to the doctor again on April 9 to have another CT scan to see if there are still blood clots in the lungs.

A little over a week ago my doctor told me I could start running again. I have been a little scared to start because I was afraid of the same thing happening to me again.

But today I finally got up enough courage to run again. It felt amazingly good and I was able to breathe easy with no problems at all.

I ran a half mile warm up.

Then I ran 2 miles at 7:00 min/mile pace. I took it easy because I don't want to push it too hard.

I finished up with a half mile cool down.

I have a CT scan this Friday. Hopefully it will show that the blood clots are gone.

I will be serving an LDS mission as soon as my doctor gives me the OK. Maybe I will write more about that later.

Anyway it is good to be running again.

Ran 3 miles.

Basically the same workout as yesterday. I think I will do this workout everyday this week just to get accustomed to running again.

Did a short warm up.

Ran 2 miles. (run just a little faster than yesterday)

Did a short cool down.

Yesterday I had to get some tests done at the hospital for a problem they found while I was in the hospital for the blood clots in my lungs. This problem is completely separate from the blood clots. While I was at the hospital I ran into my Doctor. He asked me if I had started running. I told him that I had just started and that it felt very good with no problems. He was very happy to hear that.

Felt a little muscle soreness from the last couple of days. I guess my body is jut not used to running yet. So I decided to just run 3 very easy miles today.

Did a short warm up run.

Ran 2 miles fairly hard today. Felt really good to run hard. Probably the first time this year that I have really been able to run hard.

Ended with a short cool down run.

I am headed to the hospital this morning for a CT scan of my lungs. It seems like I almost live at the hospital. Today will be the fourth time this week that I have had to go to the hospital.

I ran 5 easy miles today.

This is the first complete week of running I have done since the beginning of the year I think.

I am feeling good and hope I continue to regain my fitness.

PS: Is it just me, or is the comments section of the blog down for some reason.

Ran an easy warm up.

Then ran 5000 meters in 23:06. Felt good.

Ran an easy cool down to get to 5 miles.

Went for a long walk this afternoon.

Ran an easy warm up.

Ran a hard 5000 meters in 20:27 (This is about the maximum capability I have right now. I am looking forward to bringing that time down as I regain my fitness.)

Ran an easy cool down.

I am going to the hospital today to meet with 3 separate doctors. It is going to be a busy day and a lot of waiting in waiting areas.

Ran 7 miles easy today. Feeling a little muscle soreness from yesterday.

Easy warm up run.

12 x 300 m fast with 100 m jog in between.

Easy cool down to get 5 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk in the afternoon.

Ran 7 miles easy.

PM: 3 mile walk

Ran 7 miles easy. This has been good week of running.

PM: Walked a couple of miles. Was going to do more but it started raining like crazy, so I hurried home.

Did an easy warm up run.

Then ran a hard 5000m in 19:58.

Did an easy cool down run to get about 7 miles.

I go to the hospital today to meet with my doctor and get the results from my CT scan. I hope the results are good.

PM: I got the results from my CT scan. They showed that the blood clots in the lungs have almost completely disappeared. That made me so happy. I still have to be on Eliquis for a while, but the doctor says I should be able to do anything I want now.

I went for a 5 mile walk in the afternoon.

7 miles of easy running.

PM: 5 mile walk

Easy warm up run.

3 x 2 miles at a good pace.

Easy cool down run to get to about 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

Ran about 7 easy miles.

PM: 3 mile walk

Easy warm up run.

Ran 5 x 500m hill sprints (walked downhill in between) (I will increase the number of hills as my condition improves.)

Cool down run to get 10 miles. Was able to view the International Space Station fly over as I was doing my cool down run.

PM: 5 mile walk

10 miles at a fairly good pace.

PM: 5 mile walk

Easy 10 mile run.

PM: 5 mile walk

Warm up run.

24 x 200m fast with jog in between.

Cool down to 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

Sore from yesterday.

Did 10 easy miles. I was able to view the full moon (Pink Moon) while I was running this morning. I also had a really good view of the international space station pass over.

PM: 5 mile walk

Looks like there might be rain tomorrow.

Easy warm up run.

Ran 5000m in 19:24.

(My goal for today was 19 minutes or less. I was 24 seconds over my goal. I have decided that when I do a work out and set a goal for the time I want to run, I will put 10 yen (about10 cents) in a jar for each second over my goal. It will become a savings for new running shoes. Today, I was 24 seconds over my goal, so I will put 240 yen ($2.40) in the jar.

Ran an easy cool down to get 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

Warm up run.

7 x 500m hill sprints (walk down). I was only going to do 6 hills but when I got to the bottom of the hill after the 6th hill, there was a real creepy looking guy at the bottom of the hill, so I decided to go back up again hoping that he would go away. When I got to the bottom of the hill after the 7th hill, I didn't see the guy, so I decided to continue on with my cool down, run, when all of a sudden he jumped out of the shadows from somewhere. I gave a scream and took off.

Easy run to get to 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk. It was really hot and humid this afternoon. I didn't enjoy this walk at all.

I was just not into it today. I ran a very easy 10 miles at about 9 min. per mile. I felt like I was moving in slow motion but I just didn't couldn't pick up the pace.

I feel that I had a very good week of running this week, but I feel this is the limit for awhile. I will not do any more increase in mileage. I don't think I am able to completely recover on my recovery days, and so my hard training days are suffering for it. I might need add an additional recovery day in between the hard days.

PM: 5 mile walk

(Shoe money for the week: 240 yen ($2.40))

(Total shoe money: 240 yen ($2.40))

10 mile easy run. Beautiful day today.

PM: 5 mile walk

Warm up run.

10 x 1000m (30-second rest in between) (The goal was to do these in 3:40. I did them in

4:05 (+0:25), 3:36, 3:37. 3:49(+0:09), 3:38, 3:36. 3:39. 3:40. 3:45(+0:05), 3:36. Three of them were over the target goal, so I put (25 + 9 + 5) x 10 yen = 390 yen (about $3.90) into my shoe fund.)

Cool down run to about 10 miles.

I really enjoyed today's workout. I am feeling stronger and faster.

PM: 5 mile walk

Ran about 10 miles at a fairly good pace.

Ran with a friend today. First time I have run with someone in a long time. In running with my friend today, I had forgotten what it is like running with my Japanese friends. The Japanese runners tend to have a short and fast stride. It seems choppy to me, but when I watch them run, they seem so smooth. I tried to match my friend's stride today. It was really hard for me.

PM: 5 mile walk

Very easy 10 miles in the rain.

PM: 5 mile walk.

Warm up run.

8 x 500m hill sprints (walked down the hill in between)

Easy cool down run to get to 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk.

10 miles easy with some fast sprinting spurts mixed in.

Has been a really good week of running. I was able to do a better recovery on recovery days this week. I am not as tired as I was at the end of last week. I feel much more rested. My hard days were able to be hard, which has left me with some calf, hamstring and glute soreness, but a nice rest tomorrow should be good for that.

PM: 5 mile walk

(Shoe money for the week: 390 yen ($3.90))

(Total shoe money: 630 yen ($6.30))

Submitted my application to become an LDS missionary today.

Warm up run.

ran 5000m for time. My goal was to go under 19 minutes. I met my goal and was able to run it in 18:33.

Cool down run to reach 10 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

10 miles very easy. Felt real heavy today. Probably because of yesterdays run.

PM: 5 mile walk

10 mile easy run.

PM: 5 mile walk

10 easy miles in light rain.

PM: Lots of rain so did core exercises.

Did a warm up run.

Ran 10 x 800 m fast (200 m jog/walk) in between.

My goal was to do these at about 2:50.

My times were:

2:41, 2:36. 2:40, 2:41, 2:44, 2:44, 2:47, 2:51 (+1), 2:56 (+6), 3:00 (+10)

I kind of fell apart at the end. Still having a hard time judging pace.

Did a cool down run to reach 10 miles.

Shoe money for today was (1 + 6 + 10) x 10 yen = 170 Yen (about $1.70)

PM: 5 mile walk

I love my afternoon walks. I have been getting some great photos of spring flowers.

The temperature this afternoon was 27C (about 80F) and the humidity was 60%. I was thinking....this is only May, in a couple of months the Olympics will hopefully be held in Tokyo. The temperature is going to be hot and the humidity is going to be high. Running will be like running in a hot steam room. I wonder what athletes are doing to prepare for that, or if there is anything anyone can do to prepare for conditions like that.

Was planning on doing some hill sprints today, but I was still quite sore from yesterday, so I decided to do an easy day. 10 easy miles. PM: 5 mile walk (Shoe money for the week: 170 yen ($1.70)) (Total shoe money: 800 yen ($8.00)) *Thoughts on this week: I have tried to put more emphasis on total recovery between hard days, and this week I have seen that it has made a difference. When running 5000m for time yesterday, I noticed that before my legs, lungs or anywhere else became tired, I started getting a burning in the stomach, which to me indicates that my core is weak. I think I need to start more training to strengthen my core.

Ran 12 miles with 100m, 250m, 500m, and 1000m fast spurts continuously mixed in.

I was dead at the end of this run. It was much harder than I had imagined.

I am going to increase the daily mileage goal this week to 12 miles a day. I will continue my walks in the afternoon if the weather permits. There is supposed to be a lot of rain this week.

PM: 5 mile walk. It started raining before I got home, but I didn't get too wet.

Very very easy 12 miles. I was running so slow I didn't think I was ever going to finish this run. I am still quite sore from yesterday.

PM: 5 mile walk.

12 miles easy with 100m sprint once every kilometer.

PM: Heavy rain so no walking today.

12 very easy miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

I looked out the window before my run and it didn't look like it was raining, so I went outside to run. It was misting but I decided that it was not bad enough to stop me from running.

I ran an easy 12 miles. The misting was worse than I thought, and I was soaked all the way through by the time I finished.

PM: No walking today because of rain.

Warm up run.

10 x 500 m hill sprints (walked down the hill)

Cool down run to get to 12 miles. Started to rain a little toward the end but nothing serious.

This is the beginning of the rainy season here in Japan.

PM: 5 mile walk. I started watching a little league baseball game in the park during my walk while I was doing some stretching. I don't really watch baseball much, but for some reason I really got into this game and ended up watching the entire game. It was really exciting. When I started watching, team A was leading 1 to 0. In the last inning team B tied the score and 1 to 1, so the game went into an extra inning. In the extra inning, team B scored 3 points, so I thought the game was over, but then team A was up, and they scored 3 points, and the last batter made a hit and the final run came in and team A won. It was really exciting and got my heart pumping.

(Total shoe money: 800 yen ($8.00))

5 mile walk in the afternoon. I walked past the track and field complex. I was surprised to see that they were having the prefecture high school track championships today. They weren't allowing people into the stadium to watch, but I went by the practice field and around the stadium to see if I could see any of my old teammates from my high school, but I didn't see anyone. They must have all been inside the stadium. Seeing that today made me wish I was still in high school and racing.

Warm up run.

10 x 1000m (20 second rest with stretching in between) Goal time was 3:36

My times were: 3:39 (+3), 3:34, 3:33, 3:35, 3:34, 3:36, 3:32, 3:24. 3:30, 3:26

The last five were better than the first five. I was very tired throughout the workout. I only had one recovery day between the last hard workout, so maybe right now, one recovery day is not enough between hard workouts.

Cool down run to get to 12 miles.

(total shoe money for today 3 x 10 yen = $0.30)

PM: 5 mile walk

Very very easy 12 mile recovery run.

PM: 5 mile walk

15 mile long run.

It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I did a longer than normal run today. It was not much more than what I have usually been doing, but just the few miles extra seemed really difficult for me.

PM: Short walk

Warm up run.

5 x 2000m (with 1000m jog in between).

My goal was to run these in 7:10.

I could tell from the start that today was not going to be my day for running fast. My body felt so heavy and exhausted from yesterday's long run, but I decided to do the workout anyway and see how well I could handle trying to run fast in an exhausted state. The results were not the greatest.

My times were: 7:20 (+10), 7: 24 (+14), 7:24 (+14), 7:30 (+20), 7:40 (+30)

Lots of shoe money today (10 + 14 + 14 + 20+ 30) x 10 yen = 880 yen (about $8.80)

I would like to try this workout again sometime when I am fresh.

Did a cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: VERY heavy rain! No walking this afternoon.

12 miles at a fairly good pace. I felt like i had much more energy today than yesterday.

I am going to Chinatown today for lunch.

PM: Ate way too much for lunch, but it was delicious Chinese food. Walked 5 miles.

Warm up run.

10 x 500 m hill sprints (walk down the hill)

Cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

(Shoe money this week: 800 yen (about $8.00))

(Total shoe money: 1680 yen (about $16.80))

Warm up run.

1000m + 2000m + 3000m + 4000m at a fast pace (20 second rest with stretching in between)

Cool down to 12 miles.

I really enjoyed this workout. My watch battery died, so I wasn't able to time these runs.

PM: 5 mile walk

Very easy 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

Did a warm up run.

Ran 10 x 500m (500m slow running in between). My goal time was 1:48.

My times were: 1:43, 1:43, 1:40, 1:42, 1:43, 1:41. 1:43, 1:45, 1:38. 1:34

I really had fun with this workout. It was easier than I thought it would be. I think my goal time was too slow. Next time that I do this workout, I either need to lower the goal time, or shorten the recovery time.

Cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

12 very easy miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

A hard, fast 12 miles.

PM: Heavy rain today so no walking.

Warm up run.

10 x 500 m hill sprints (walked down the hill)

Cool down run to get 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

(Total shoe money: 1680 yen (about $16.80))

Warm up run.

I felt super good after the warm up run, so I decided to scrap the workout I had planned and decided to run a 5000 meter time trial instead.

I ran 16:44.57. My goal was to go under 17:30, but I was feeling so super good I really cranked it out. This is a BIG new PR for me. My previous PR was 16:56 back in 2019. I think I still have more in me. My last two 1000m were (3:17) and (3:15) which showed to me that I had too much left at the end.

I finished with a cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk. It was really hot.

Very easy 15 mile long run.

PM: 5 mile walk.

Easy 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk.

Warm up run.

10 x 300m sprints (walking 100m in between).

Cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk

12 miles very easy. Still have some muscle soreness from yesterday.

PM: 5 mile walk

Warm up run.

10 x 500 m hill sprints (walked down the hill in between)

Cool down run to get 12 miles.

This week has been a very good week of running and training.

PM: 5 mile walk.

Warm up run.

2 x (100m + 200m + 400m + 800m + 400m + 200m + 100m) fast (with short jogging between sprints)

Finished the run to get to 12 miles.

My watch completely broke today. :(

I have an appointment at the hospital this morning for a check up.

PM: 5 mile walk

Long 20 mile run today. Maybe I should be more specific. I planned this run so that halfway I would make a pit stop at home where I could use the restroom, hydrate and change into some dry socks and t-shirt. It was very humid out today. It was nice to put on some dry clothes during the run, but it is hard to get started again after a stop.

PM: Short walk in the neighborhood.

12 miles at a good pace. It was raining a little.

PM:

I was going to take a walk but it was raining really hard.

Warm up run.

Ran 10 x 1000m with a little jogging in between. My watch is still broken, so I don't have a time for these, but I pretty much tried to run them all out.

Cool down run after to get to 12 miles.

Rained a little during the workout.

PM: 5 mile walk.

12 miles at a good pace.

PM: 5 mile walk

12 easy miles while becoming drenched in the rain.

PM: Rained all day, so I didn't go for my usual walk in the afternoon.

Warm up run.

10 x 800m fast (200m walk in between)

Cool down run to get to 12 miles.

PM: 5 mile walk.

Easy 12 miles. I felt a little tired from yesterday.

PM: 5 mile walk

No running...Spent most of the day at the hospital.

No running.

My problems continue.Tuesday evening I started getting a really bad stomachache. It really hurt and I felt a little nauseous and had some diarreha, so I thought I must have eaten something bad. It got so bad during the night that I couldn't sleep at all and I almost had my mom call the ambulance to go to the hospital, but decided I would tough it out. Wednesday morning it was still bad so we went to the Hospital. They took a blood sample, Xray and CT scan and found that I had an inflamed appendix. They started treating me with an intravenous drip of antibiotics. I have to go today and tomorrow to receive the intravenous drip, then if it looks like that is working I will continue taking antibiotics in pill form. We asked the doctor if I should have it removed surgically. He said that the antibodies may work for now but there is a good possibility that in the future it will occur again and may have to have the appendix removed. About 40% of people who treat the inflamed appendix with antibiotics end up having to have it removed within 5 years.

Why does all of this keep happening to me?

Anyway I won't be running for a while.

I was supposed to be leaving on a mission in July, but I guess those plans will be changing for now.

Yesterday I went to the hospital and scheduled surgery to have my appendix removed. I will be doing that next week. Before that though, the doctor wants to do a colonoscopy just to make sure nothing weird is going on inside my gut. I will be doing that today.

I was planning on making a big announcement this week about going on an LDS mission in July. I will still be leaving in July. After my surgery I will be doing missionary training at home and then go to my mission assignment.

I don't know if I will be back on the blog before I leave or not, but if not, I will be back in a year and a half.