Running in Life's Slow Lane

Well it appears there is a visit to the doctor in my near future.

I have very little pain from my ankle now and it only gets tender after I have spent quite a bit of time on my feet. However, the swelling that arrived Thursday night is still prominent and while I have no sensitivity to touch I am thinking that several days of this sort should probably be investigated. While I feel as though I could probably run there is no way I am going to do so with confidence until the swelling is gone.

At least an entire week of running has been lost at this point. Arrrrrgh. 

Oh the difference a day makes.

1.0 mile in 11:40
1.5 mile in 18:38
2.0 mile in 24:02
0.25 mile walked
0.25 mile ran
0.25 mile walked
0.25 mile ran (3.00 miles)
0.25 mile walked
0.5 mile ran in 4:30 (9:00/mi pace!)
- walked to house

When I went to bed last night I had plans of calling the doctor just to get an opinion about my week-long ankle tenderness. Waking up this morning though the swelling was minimal and I only had pain when I turned my ankle near its limits. With nothing to really show to the doctor I decided a trip to hear "Stay off of it a while" wasn't worth the effort. Instead I would go for a run and if I experience pain then I would head straight to the doc.

My goal was 5K at a 12:00 pace with the realization that I had not been on my feet for a week. At the two mile mark everything from the hips down were complaining of mistreatment so I started with the walk/run routine that I use so often. I told myself that none of the running could be at less than the 12:00 pace as I want to train my body to the idea that it is my slowest acceptable tempo. Somewhere around the 2.5ish mark I could feel my body loosen up and the 0.25 mile that I ran from 2.75-3.0 felt really good. The next time to run was at the top of a gradual downward slope pointing towards home so I opened it all up and ran through a full 0.5 mile at a 9:00/mi pace. It felt like I was FAST! Far from competitive fast but Kelly levels of fast.

I don't feel any pain or tenderness at the moment but I am headed off to soak the foot in a cold bath just as a precaution.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma
Temp: 73F
Humidity: 61%
Conditions: Dry, Overcast - feels like spring thunderstorm weather
Winds: S steady at ~15mph gusting to ~25mph

Asics Gel 1120 - 256.97

1.0 mile in 11:20 (11:20/mi)
1.5 mile in 17:12 (11:44/mi)
2.0 mile in 23:04 (11:44/mi)
2.5 mile in 28:14 (10:20/mi)
3.1 mile in 34:55 (11:08/mi) (11:16/mi overall)
0.26 mile walk home

Best training run to date. Close in fact to my official race time from my recent 5K. Definitely got a good sweat going and my quads are tired. Developed a knot in the outside of my left calf but it passed. Time to get the boy off to soccer practice.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma
Temp: 68F
Humidity: 43%
Wind: Steady, NNE at ~17mph
Conditions: Dry, Sunny

Asics Gel 1120 - 260.33

No miles today. Too many lightning-rich thunderstorms moving through the area in waves. I will run in rain but lightning scares me.

Just as well since the quads and glutes were very tired. A day of rest will do me good.

1.0 mile in 11:40 (11:40/mi pace)
2.0 mile in 23:44 (12:04/mi pace)
5.0 mile in 1:01:04 (12:13/mi pace)
1.28 mile walk to find the car

1st mile was an attempt to calibrate the latest (3rd) Nike+ sensor. It was along a flat stretch into the howling wind and down a fairly steep hill with the wind at my back. I failed to get a calibration since I had installed the sensor upside down.

2nd mile was another attempt to calibrate the sensor. This mile was up the hill, into the wind and then back along the flat stretch at the top. Got the sensor to calibrate at a distance about 2% shorter than the GPS reading. Good enough.

With the sensor calibrated I set off once more around the track and then into the residential area south of the track. The residential area shaded me from the wind and did not involve the big hill. I figured twice successfully climbing the hill while facing into the wind was enough for one work out. Finished up at the 5 mile mark. Yea!

I am thrilled to see the pace for the entire distance was close to 12:00/mi considering the course and weather.

Location: Elmer Thomas Park, Lawton, Oklahoma
Temp: 73F
Humidity: 33%
Wind: WSW 24mph gusting to 34mph
Conditions: Dry, Overcast

Asics Gel 1120 - 266.61

4.27 in 51:17 (12:01/mi pace)

For the second day in a row I was forced to run shortly after dinner and it showed up in another side stitch. Since I was focused on a nice slow 4.0 mile run without any concern about pace I was able to slow up and focus on some deep breathing to get rid of the pain. A few nagging twinges in the left knee and some soreness in the lower abdomen but nothing that reached the uncomfortable level.

Since I ran with the Nike+ I don't have any mileage splits, however the paces shown on my chart at the website were
11:11/mi at 1.0 mile
12:30/mi at 2.0 mile (my turn around point was at the top of a small hill)
12:17/mi at 3.0 mile
12:17/mi at 4.0 mile

I thank Van Morrison and his laid back music style for keeping me at a nice smooth pace tonight.

Location: Lawton, Oklahoma
Temp: 61F falling to 59F
Wind: NW steady at 7-10mph
Conditions: Dry, clear, crisp - a wonderful spring evening


Asics Gel 1120 - 270.88

2.25 mi (12:07/mi)

My scheduled called for another 4 mile run today so I took my running stuff along with me to Norman, Oklahoma where I was helping the MacArthur Middle School academic team as they challenged for the state title in Class D (whatever that means). I got through about half of the run before Kristoffer called letting me know they had lost the round and were finished, taking home the 3rd place trophy. The guys were a little down but they had a good chuckle watching me run up to them with sweat dripping off of me.

The distance is an estimate since my latest Nike+ sensor and my iPod were not talking. That is the 3rd sensor so I am really skeptical that the sensors are the source of my problem. I am going to try other pieces of the system and see if my receiver or perhaps the iPod itself are causing my technological distress.

Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Temp: 61F
Humidity: 43%
Wind: NW 10-15mph
Conditions: Dry, partly cloudy

Asics Gel 1120 - 273.13