Running in Life's Slow Lane

5 minutes walk-8r-5w-8r-5w for a total of 31:37.
Distance: 2.47 miles   Avg Pace: 12:48
Monthly total: 7.09 miles Monthly target: 35 miles (27.91 remaining)
Location: MacArthur Middle School Track
Weather: sunny 70F winds S at 10mph gusting to 15mph
Start Time: 1143
 

Today was our second turn at running the 8 minute intervals. In the first 8 minute interval we averaged a 10:50 pace and Teresa (my wife) felt it was a bit too fast. During the second 8 minute interval I let her set the pace and we averaged 11:10. In the last 30 seconds of the jogging I picked up my pace to 9:40 just to get a feel of what it feels like to run close to a 9:00 pace.  

The left calf did not bother me during the exercise. However, after I had rested a few moments I stepped towards the fence to do my stretches and the calf hurt horribly. I did my stretches but it genuinely hurt to put weight on my left leg.

We are considering adding a small run tomorrow (normally an off day) to let Teresa re-calibrate her Nike+ sensor and start us on the path to more runs per week. 

Walked and jogged so that Teresa could get her Nike+ sensor calibrated. Also wanted to start filling in a few smaller runs between the real effort days. We ran a total or 0.5 miles at an 11:00 average pace and walked the rest.

Good luck to all the Buckeye and Tiger fans out there! 

5 minutes walking - 8r-5w-8r + cool down walk for a total of 30:23.
Covered 2.33 miles at an average pace of 13:00/mi.

Nice and sunny but the temps were down in the 50s with a stiff 10-15mph wind from the south. I wore shorts and long sleeves which kept me warm enough but needed a stocking cap as my ears were numbed in the wind.

The most important thing was my calf pain. Doing stretches afterwards I found a stretch that seemed to land right where I was feeling the pain and eased it a bit. Coming home and looking through the exercise sites as well as staring at a few anatomical diagrams leads me to believe the pain is originating near where the soleus joins to become the calcaneous. In the days ahead I am going to focus on stretching the calves.

So who are you rooting for in this weekend's NFL playoffs?

5 minutes walk - ran until tired - cool down walk resulting in total time of 19:16.
Covered 1.46 miles at an average pace of 13:12.

Nice temperature - 54F - but the wind was 15 mph gusting to 20mph from the south. Learning my lesson from yesterday I wore my stocking cap and felt comfortable throughout the run.

This is part of my ongoing effort to sneak light mileage in between the regularly scheduled run days. There were no mileage or time goals and I ran "around the block" here in the neighborhood rather than bother with driving to the track. There is a nice gentle elevation splitting the circuit so I got to run a bit uphill on one side of the loop and back down on the other.

Did plenty of stretches before and afterward to try to work out the issues with the calf muscle but it is still plenty tender.

Didn't sleep at all last night. For some reason the body refused to shutdown even when my mind was completely wiped out. Finally drifted off on the couch around 0230 and was not ready for the alarm at 0630. I crawled off of the couch enough to get the family out the door and take care of a few email chores before napping a bit. 

5 minutes walk - 10r-5w-10r + cool down walk for a total time of 34:35.
Covered a distance of 2.64 miles for an average pace of 13:11.

 Woot! I actually managed to run two 10 minute intervals. Since this was my first time to try for that length of time I was a bit restrained in my pace dropping as far as 12+ during the runs. When I try this interval next (on Sunday) I will be more confident that I can survive and try to move closer to my 10:50ish pace.

The calf was still a nuisance. I have been stretching the calf muscles and the quadriceps 3-4 times per day including once about 15 minutes before I start the warm up 5 minute walk. Today I paid more attention as to when the pain showed up and it was after the first 10 minute run interval. Is the muscle tightening up while I am doing the 5 minutes of walking? Maybe I should walk a couple of minutes to let my heart come down a bit, pause to stretch a bit and then continue walking until it's time for the next run interval.

In addition to having sleep issues again last night, it now seems as though Dale has somehow infected me with his cold via Internet. Scratchy throat, stuff head, etc. The upper half of my body feels like I've fallen down some stairs. I will push liquids, try to rest and hope the cold front passes.


 

Today was a fun run in the sense that I had no overall time or distance objective.
Ran/walked a total of 2.01 miles in 25:20 for an average pace of 12:33.

Weather was nice: about 60F with winds 0-5mph. I worked up an appreciable sweat but was comfortable throughout the run.

This marks my 6th consecutive day of putting in miles so I consider that an important accomplishment. Tomorrow is a definite off day and then I'll be back to it on Sunday.

Yay! An off day with some excellent sleep. The head cold is still kicking my tail though.