Doesn't Get Easier

Six slow miles on the mill again. I didn't want to get all bundled up for outside. I promise not to complain about the heat this year. I'll reserve my complaints for the humidity.

Exciting news hit the wire a few days ago regarding the beer mile:

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/james-nielsen-beer-mile-world-record

Lunch run followed by some weightlifting after. My back always complains when I start running more often. Need to do some core work.

No run, but did spread 5 cubic yards of mulch today. Back is tired. Hope to bump up mileage next week.

Ran over lunch hour, all easy pace. Breathing better and feeling good after the 40 minute mark during this run. Weather was outstanding.

Light weights and extra stuff before supper.

Ran over lunch hour again. Planned on making this a morning run, but was up in the middle of the night worrying about my youngest daughter. She has complained of stomach aches for a long time and now she's going in for a GI plumbing check. We thought it was gluten, but now I think it's an acid reflux issue. I'm praying for a simple issue anyway. Find out tomorrow. Too young to be dealing with this stuff. Going with more organic and non-GMO food in our house, damn the expense.

Summer temps today! Painful stomach bloating, not sure why, but had to walk a few times. Going to make some diet changes and see if that helps my belching frequency during my run. Ginger root might help as well.

Lunch time run. Still felt a burping sensation building at times, but less frequent and it didn't actually result in anything. The diet changes and ginger root might have helped. Wait and see.

The usual run around the neighborhood. Heart rate remained in the 100-120 range throughout. Feeling totally out of running shape. Most miles I've run in a week in 7 months though.

Morning 6.5 miles in 56 minutes. Soaked in drizzling rain. Felt really good and even caught myself speeding a bit, well that might be a stretch, let's just say I was going faster but it still felt easy.

Lunch 3.5 miles + light weights. Still feeling really good after the morning jog so thought I'd do a double just for the heck of it. Last 0.5 mile gradually faster down to MP, whatever that is at this point. Followed run by easy squat thrusts, calf raises, and incline crunches, two sets apiece.

5 miles on the TM in the morning. Cold and wet outside so decided to just hop on the mill for a while before work. Followed by one set of push-ups.

6 miles outside during lunch. Cool weather felt really good. Followed by one set of pull-ups. Decided to keep my gym membership so I can run during the lunch hour. Only $10 per month, but thought about running after work instead so wouldn't need it. Problem is I forgot how much I don't like running after work. Feels like I'm cutting into family time and helping around the house.

Slipped this one in late in the day. Didn't feel good until 30 minutes. Week has been a dud running wise. I need to make it more of a priority and do it earlier in the day like the old days.

No run. Skipping rope and weight training.

AM: 5.4 miles, easy jog, legs were a little stiff from weights yesterday.

Lunch: 3.6 miles, didn't want to deal with the wind so did an easy jog on the TM. A little too much leg work yesterday.

Lunch: 7.4 miles

Hot and windy today so cooling system was on high alert. Jogged most of this until the last couple miles were I did a handful of 400s faster with walking breaks. Not sure if I'll ever recapture my old form. Heart still not cooperating and runs 10-20 beats too low.

AM: 6.44 miles. Mixed in some short walking breaks. Heart was just not beating fast enough for energy output. Abstaining from vitamins and other herbal supplements to see if something there has brought on my low heart rate. Long shot, but worth a try. I definitely don't feel overtrained.

AM: 5.1 miles. A couple short walk breaks to check pulse. Felt better than yesterday. Didn't feel so energy drained or constricted with breathing.

PM: 5.5 miles + weighted incline crunch. 

Something felt different during this run. The first 30 minutes started out as usual. Felt like I couldn't catch my breath during 15-30 minutes. Took my pulse at 30 minute point and it was around 108. After that point I then gradually started to feel better and breathing easier. Felt more in balance/homeostasis. Checked my pulse again and it was around 96.  Lower pulse, but felt better overall and could speed up without much issue other than being out of condition.

AM: 10.9 miles in 1:39:56. Most miles I've covered in a week since last September!

Jogged most of way and felt the same as yesterday energy wise. Felt better around the 35 minute mark. Wore a heart monitor during the run. Heart rate was in the mid-90s up until that time, hitting 100-105 on the small hills. After that time it dropped to the mid-80s and I felt better overall. I use to think that feeling meant my heart rate climbed, but it actually meant it fell. I was going about 9:00 pace. Pulse was in the 85-100 range for the remainder of run until the last mile where it gradually climbed to its max rate of 114. Average pulse for entire run was 92 beats per minute. Not sure what to make of all this. Is this normal? Pulse still seems low for the pace even though it was in the low 9s. Also worth noting is whenever my pulse climbed to around 100 I would produce a belch that would trip a vagal response and briefly lower my heart rate by 5-10 beats. This still occurs frequently regardless of nutrition scheme or strategy. Probably over thinking all of this, but still seems odd this started occurring more frequently about 2 years ago. Hoping that it's supplement related and will clear up in a couple months abstaining from all herbs and vitamins. Still don't think it's overtraining, but parasympathetic form and high vagal tone can't be totally ruled out.

Average: 9:10/mile, 92 bpm

Max: 7:28/mile, 114 bpm

Church and later a cookout and volleyball with friends.

A 10.26 mile run or glorified jog around Rochester before breakfast done in 1:31:17. A little warmer and humid. Feeling good and comfortable after about 30 minutes. Problem is around that time my pulse falls about 10-15 bpm and feels like my blood pressure drops as well. A drop in pulse isn't considered normal, but I feel a lot better when it happens and can speed up the pace at that point. Heart is more responsive and climbs easily on hills after that point.

Average: 8:54/mile, 96 bpm

Max: 7:26/mile, 119 bpm

AM: 6.4 miles, general tired feeling most of the way and didn't feel much better after 30 minutes like I have been recently. Legs were in good shape.

LH: 4.0 sloooow miles during lunch and one whole set of push-ups! The exercise not the orange flavored treat.

Lunch: 6 miles. Mixed in several short fartleks during the back half. Frustrated and impatient. One set of chin-ups. Those are tough!

AM: 7.1 miles really slow pace, felt great and "pleasantly tired" at the end.

PM: 6.0 miles really slow again, hot and humid out so exertion was a bit higher versus this morning. Followed by one whole set of push-ups, squeezing in one more rep.

I'm convinced that batteries in fire alarms only die out during 1-4am. I always forget to change them out on whatever holiday.

11.40 miles very slow. Warm and humid. Tired from the start. No explanation other than I did too much yesterday. Plus I'm still trying to keep heart rate around 100 or lower so pace will be slow. Gradually losing weight.

Average: 10:32/mile, 96 bpm

Max: 8:41/mile, 115 bpm