Metabo journal

Arby and I walked over to submit the rent check. We calculated that if we walk a 20-minute mile, then we walked about 5.5 miles. At least the temperature cooled off to a chilly 83 degrees.

Ran today around 6:45 in a whopping 93 degree heat, which is nothing compared to the 93 degree heat in Austin. I keep running (ha ha) into this problem where I want to run when it cools off, but I start to feel a little hungry for dinner. So I'm forced to go run while it's still toasty outside. Then I run past a Japanese restaurant that normally smells good, but makes me a little ill while I'm running.

Knees and ankle felt good today, but I seem to have a nagging muscle pain in the medial compartment of my right thigh. According to the acronym BeeF STeak SMells Great, I've decided that it could be the semi-membranosis or the gracilis. I learned that corny acronym in anatomy class and I'm happy to use it! The iPod shuffle selection was great today: The Shins, Patty Griffin, Paul Simon, The Doors, Buena Vista Social Club. It helps me when I get past 2 miles. For some reason I seem to have an upper limit of only running 3 miles (or close to that), and then I poop out. I think it's a mental block...but I burned 380 calories according to the GPS!

Today I ran inside on a track, and all joints and muscles felt good considering I ran yesterday. Running was followed up by 2 bike sprints and some ab exercises. By far, the most entertaining part of the run was when a "tough" guy was working out on the heavy punching bag at the west end of the track. When guys are using the punching bag, I notice that invariably they drop their guard and punch from somewhere around mid-chest level. Sometimes I just want to tap one of them with a little right cross to let him know to keep his hands up.

While running, I discovered that if I focus my vision about 5-10 yards ahead of me and look at the railing and the lines on the track out of my peripheral vision, it feels like I'm running really fast. It also helps if I listen to spanish music or upbeat instrumental music. I didn't keep time today, but I felt like I could have kept running for another 0.5-1 mile. Maybe I was going a bit slower than normal, but maybe today's improvements are due to the 1/2 Snicker's bar I had before going to the gym...it was the best 140 calories ever!

Walked an additional 2.5 miles with Arby after workout. 

Walked nine holes of golf, shot 46. I should have ended the round with closer to 43, but missed some short putts and had trouble sticking my approach shots on the green. Just learning to hit the new driver (Long Tall Sally!), and I've been having trouble getting shots in the air with such a low degree loft. I definitely hit the 7 wood best today...as has been the case for the past few weeks. Still struggling with pulling most irons and hybrids, but the problem may that my right hand is too far on top of the club making me close my club face too early.

 As for running, there was much more soreness in my knees than I have experienced in a long time. I haven't been running on back-to-back days and fear that I am not very far removed from the patellofemoral syndrome that I have been fighting with for about 2.5 years. Walking today felt ok, but there was tightness in the right knee, indicating some swelling. 

Run was somewhat difficult because legs felt heavy due to fatigue and a long week of work. It seems like the hips were able to bear larger proportion of the work. Joints felt good on 2 days rest. Subsequently obliterated all calories burned during the workout at Sugarhouse BBQ.

Today the eastern sky was filled with fat gray and blue clouds that yielded what my Grandpa might refer to as a good 2 inch rain...one drop of rain every two inches. There was even some thunder for the first 5-10 minutes, but it quickly passed and the sky cleared.

I felt a consistent dull discomfort that was more pronounced in the left knee than the right, that I think it could be due to the shoes I was wearing. They were a little older and should probably be retired. Guess that means I'll get to go shoe shopping. Overall the run felt sluggish and I was disappointed that I couldn't repeat the 3.5 mile distance I ran Friday. It seems like if I look forward to running I'll have a bad run, but if I don't care, or even feel a little tired, I have a better run.

Ran 2.85 miles and later walked 2.5 miles with Arby. 

Played 18 holes at Reese Golf Course in the West Tx wind with my uncle. I played from the whites, making the round quite a bit longer than I am used to, but it was fun. I didn't hit the ball great, but I thought I putted ok.

At home for a few days, I ran 3 miles and walked one as a cool down. I took the GPS to check the altitude (just less than 3000 feet), and discovered that there was a 6 foot change in elevation through the run...hence the name flatlander.

Woke up early this morning to run before work, a strong display of will power since I like sleep more than I like Mexican food. The run was smooth, and I would have gone longer if I didn't have to go to work. The new morning routine will hopefully allow me to run consistently once night classes begin in the fall semester.

Walked 3 miles with Arby this evening.  

Ran 3 miles on the indoor track, followed by 1 bike sprint, 100 crunches, 50 obliques, 20 bicep curls. I was inspired by the magical sentence that my workout partner said to me this afternoon..."You look like you've lost weight." (What a sweet girl!)  All joints felt smooth through the entire run and I feel like I have improved my endurance. Recently, at the end of every run I could go longer but have to quit because I need to be somewhere. Soon I plan to run as long as possible to see how far I can go. The pace was slow, but I'll gradually go faster.

Blogging from Boise...I ran 5.02 miles this morning (the furthest ever)! Rarely do I have an open-ended time slot to run like I did today, and let me say that it was much more comfortable than trying to squeeze running in before or after work. I always tend to run better in Boise, maybe because the elevation is 2640 ft, almost 700 ft below Lubbock. My average pace was 10:26 and the total time was 52:20. Pretty good for me! 

During the run I got to see an elementary school fire drill followed by their recess. There was a bright red-headed little boy playing football that reminded me of a little Arby. 

Ran this morning before work starting at 6:37 am. I was rather surprised at how automatic the run felt because I only got 5.5 hours of sleep (hard to sleep without Arby around). I woke up with a lot of nervous energy and I wasn't going fall back to sleep easily. Right now, I think I would not have a problem falling back to sleep...hopefully I'll stay alert through my presentation. My right knee smarted at the end of the run, which felt like razor blades running under the knee cap. Hopefully the pain will subside before tomorrow.

Light run today followed by 50 crunches and 50 obliques. Several weeks ago, 2 miles did not feel like a light run! I have been feeling pretty tired lately so it's good to take a slight break, but still keep up the exercising. Knees did ok today but there was definitely more tension in the right knee. Looking forward to Saturday's 3 leg relay:

1st leg = run as long as possible; 2nd leg = take shower; 3rd leg = get a massage 

Hopefully the 1st and 3rd legs will both last one hour... 

Ran at the field house followed by a bike sprint, 50 crunches, and 50 obliques. Finished the 4 miles in 42 minutes. After running the 5 miles in Boise, my goal was to run 4 miles in SLC since I don't seem to run as well here. I guess a flat, indoor track qualifies, so I'll bump the goal up to 4.5 miles. My work load and class load are pretty heavy this semester and I'm surprised that I was able to get in as much running as I did last week.

BY FAR, the best part of this day was the massage, even though there were quite a few painful knots in my calves that the therapist continued to press on.