How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 44, cloudy, not much wind. Went to Busey Woods and ran the loop about 8 times for 8 miles. I tried to keep an easy pace, but my lungs felt strong so I worked the run briskly, but in control. I did not feel much soreness from yesterdays track session, and I felt an increase in fitness. My body seems to respond best to hard repeats, so I hope to continue with these over the next month. Afterwards I stretched and felt some soreness in my groin, so the repeats did break down my legs a bit. 4 sets of strength  exercises, and a 40 minute walk home. 

Finished reading "The Possessed" by Dostoyevsky, a decent book, gives a good idea of Russian 19th century culture, with murder, suicide, and political intrigue thrown in for excitement.  Now reading "The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich".

Weather 47 and cloudy with little wind. Was planning to run a very easy 4 miles, but after 2 miles I realized all systems were go. I have not felt strong in a few months, so I did not want to waste this rare moment on an easy jog. When I got to the country club I did a mini fartlek workout on the 7th and 8th fairways, 3x300, when I finished those I was happy that my breath felt easy and free, made a quick recovery unlike last week when the strides made me gag for 3 miles. I circled the cemetery and sprinted the short hill. When I entered Busey Woods I kicked the pace up about 2 gears without thinking about it, and was able to run this pace for about 1000m to finish off the session. 4 sets of strength exercises, and 40 minute walk home.

Weather - 62 degrees, sunny/cloudy, little wind. Beautiful day, my goal was to give my body a rest. If I went for a run I would have to keep the effort to a minimum, which is difficult for me to achieve. I considered taking a zero, thus assuring a decent recovery, but I need to learn to press my will not only in pushing myself faster and farther, but in keeping myself in check. So the goal was 3 miles, with a mild heart rate. I ran to Busey Woods, and at 3 miles I felt good and told myself just 1 more mile, but slow. I was proud of todays effort because although I felt like running hard, I know that I can't do it every day, not unless I want my body breaking down. Afterwards 4 sets of strength exercises, and 40 minute walk home.

On my walk home from work I stopped at the library and found a new running book - " Barefoot Runner, The Life of Marathon Champion Abebe Bikila", by Paul Rambali, published 2006. I'm not sure how good it is, but I have yet to read a running book which didn't teach or inspire me in some way. Last year I must have read 10 books on running, from Roger Bannister's quest for the 4 minute mile, to Tim Noakes monster tome "Lore of Running". I enjoy reading about training ideas, but I am more interested in inspiring anecdotes which reveal the runner's desire to excel and reach their potential.

Weather - 42 degrees, windy, cloudy, hard rain a fallin. Whew, it is sessions like todays which will surface in my mind as I am running the next race, reminding me that I worked hard and am deserving of improvement. I am not very good in cold weather, and although 42 degrees is not all that bad, for me to put on shorts and a light rain jacket took some doing. When I got out the door the rain pelted me, and I was running a little faster than usual so that I could get warm quickly. I was not sure what kind of workout I was going to do, but when I got to Busey Woods I felt surprisingly good, so I decided to cross over into the country club and run fartlek around the 6 perimeter holes. I ran the fairways hard, sloshing through the wet grass, shoes soaked, well, by that time everything was bedraggled, and I would recover from the tee box until the next fairway began, which is about a 30-60 second recovery. I handled all six fairways in control, it was four par 4's, and two par 5's, for a total of about 1600 yards. I then ran through the woods to cool down a bit, for a total of 5 miles. When I finished the rain had lessened a bit, so I decided to do my normal routine of stretching and strength exercises. About half way through it started to pour, and so I finished as quickly as I could, and then walked 40 minutes home - feeling cold, thoroughly wet, and looking forward to a very hot bath. 

Weather - 26 degrees, sunny, windy. Traveling to my parents today, so I decided to run early. 4 easy miles, no problem. When I get back tonight I want to go to Brookens gym to do some strength exercises, since I did not have time for them this morning. Tomorrow I am planning on a track session -  200m repeats. I seem to have had an increase in fitness since I did them last week, so I want to practice what gives me the most gains. 

Weather - 24 degrees, sunny, kind of windy. Fell asleep when I got home yesterday evening, so I did not go to Brookens Gym. Woke up at 7:00am and walked there this morning, did 8 sets of strength exercises and stretches. Walked home and changed into running clothes and ran 1.5 miles to the Urbana HS track. Didn't bother to stretch since I already was loose from the gym workout. Did 10 x 200m repeats, with a 200m walking recovery after each. I felt stronger than last weeks repeats, my legs did not get wobbly and my breathing remained controlled and relaxed. Ran 3 easy miles to the arboretum for a cool down. Towards the end of the run I felt the top of my right foot begin to tighten. That is the same injury which required me to take 6 weeks off after the marathon in July. After the 6 weeks of no running the foot felt better, about 90%, so I started running slow and short, and it seems to have gotten stronger with each passing week. Today it felt like I pushed it too hard. I don't want to have to take another extended amount of time off from running, so I better slow things down for now and see if it starts to loosen up a bit. I was hoping to do 9 miles on Sunday, but if my foot is tight I better just do 5. 

Weather - 29 degrees, not much wind. Ran 1 mile to Brookens Gym and then 3 miles around the basketball court, thought it would be nice to run without being cold, and since this was supposed to be an easy run I knew running around in circles would keep my pace slow. Afterwards 6 sets of strength exercises, and stretching. 

My foot still feels weak, so I think I should run short and slow until it feels stronger. If I can run 3-5 miles everyday I should not lose the fitness I have gained from the past 3 weeks of speed work, but I won't be gaining any either. I will still plan on running the 5 mile cross country race in early December.