Metabo journal

Today's run was difficult again, similar to Monday's run. I was determined to run three laps on my normal route, and I did but it didn't feel good. I finished in 43:30, slower than I have been running. Hopefully I'll come out of this slump soon. I smashed my finger today at work so I have a black fingernail:(...and I could feel the pulse throbbing at the end of the run. It was weird.

I ran at the field house today since it was rainy outside, which I haven't done in a few months. The track is absolutely flat and was easy to run on. Technically I ran 6 miles (45 laps where 7.5 laps = one mile), but I really think it was more. The sign at the track states that one lap = 211 m, but I was timing myself and I ran the first mile in 10:22. I know I was running faster than that, so I reasoned that the outside lane (which I ran the first mile in) must be farther than 211 m. Using the formula for the circumference of a circle (are you proud Mom?) I calculated that the outside lane is closer to 230 m in length if I estimate that the radius is 3 m larger than the inside loop (I stepped it off) and that the 211 m refers to the inside loop. Anyway I ran somewhere between 6 and 6.3 miles, which is a new personal best! I could feel tenderness in my knees towards the end, but they weren't painful. I finished in 63:30. 

Run was ok, knees were sore afterward. There are just a few small things I have come to appreciate during morning runs:

1-dog owners who pick up after their dogs, especially with regard to the sidewalks

2-home owners who water their lawns before 7 am

3-people who don't cook bacon in the morning (the smell of tasty bacon makes it hard to run)

4-drivers who use their blinkers, so you don't have to wonder if they plan to dart across traffic right when you'll be crossing the intersection

5-running routes that avoid school zones 

6-getting home just in time to hear the garbage truck that didn't get the chance to wake you up this morning 

I haven't run in a few days and I could definitely tell due to the build up of nervous energy today, so I planned to go for a jog on the trail behind work while I was in the middle of a 2-hour incubation. Sometimes during lunch my coworkers and I see this man running on the trail who looks old just because he hunches over forward and runs REALLY slowly-I don't know that he's really as old as we think he is. His defining characteristics are his posture and the fact that he never wears a shirt. Anyway, I'm not used to trail running so I was running slow up the hills (out of shape) and even slower down the hills (bad knees). As I was approaching the University I hoped no one from my lab was looking out the window because they might see me and think I was running like the old man- ha ha, right?! But then I look ahead of me and see that the old man is actually running on the trail in the same direction I am going. Of course I have to pass him, since we have so often wondered (very politely) why anyone would run so slow. To save face, I passed him on the section of the trail that is directly outside our lunch window. The part of the trail continuing on past our building has a 0.2 mile hill, and just as I was about a quarter of the way up this old man PASSED ME BACK! It wasn't one of those passes with awkward moments between runners that are close to the same speed, this guy SMOKED ME! I put it in all caps because I almost passed out I couldn't believe it. Anyway-a humbling experience.

New record!!! I started feeling knee pain (not just discomfort) around 6.5 miles, but when I walked up the stairs at home there wasn't any pain. That doesn't make sense to me, but I am happy to have run so far considering I could hardly run 2 miles last May. Two aspects of today's run are encouraging: 1-I did it without needing distraction from my iPod 2-I finished in 71 minutes, which means that I didn't deviate too far from my 10-minute mile pace. The next challenge for me is to slowly work up to running up and down hills.

Ran on a treadmill today for the purpose of running on a constant incline. I ran at a setting of 2 out of 15. Probably not so steep, but I am trying to take it very slowly. After I got off the treadmill I felt a new, weird pain in my right knee- sort of like my tibia was misaligned. It wasn't the normal superficial, under-the-kneecap pain that I have struggled with for so long. Tomorrow I plan to take a rest so hopefully that will prevent any continuing discomfort.

Ran indoors at the field house. The run was a little difficult, maybe due to general fatigue. Followed the run with 50 obliques and 50 abs. I'm considering training for the Las Vegas half marathon on Dec 6...we'll see.

Ran on the Shoreline trail today, and the weather was unbelievably warm for October. I am still struggling with running up and downhill. Recently I have been considering training for a half-marathon, but I will have to start out with a course that is dang flat! It took me 30:47 to do this run. The good news is that my knees are feeling ok.

I decided to run on the Shoreline trail again today since I am working on running hills and the weather was unbelievably nice. I had intended to run further, but still consider today's run a success. I did not struggle as much with the hills as I have in the past, and I also felt pretty good during the run considering that I am fighting off a cold. The most awesome part of the run was when I was running along...and then almost jumped out of my skin trying to stop because there was a tarantula on the trail. Relative to all the other spiders I have seen before, this one was HUGE!-probably 2 inches in diameter. I knew that tarantulas lived in these foothills, but I had never seen one and was beginning to think that everyone telling tales of dramatic encounters with them were liars. Anyway, I took it as my sign to stop running and go home to rest. While walking back down the trail I started sneezing and felt increasing pressure in my head- stupid cold.

Ran 4 tarantula-free miles on the shoreline trail this afternoon. It took me 47:28, which is about the same pace I have been running, AND the GPS reported that I burned 604 calories! I felt quite a bit better on the uphill portions, and even felt my thighs burning indicating that the muscles to prevent knee pain are getting stronger. I did feel some knee pain toward the end of the run, but fortunately the pain was not sustained through my night class.

Ran on the indoor track today. I wanted to simulate running after I am already tired like at the end of a long distance run, so I ran my first mile as fast as I could (8:20) and then followed that up with 2 miles at a 10 minute pace. Afterward I did 50 crunches and 50 obliques. My knees are holding up surprisingly well considering I am increasing my running volume. I am still keeping a careful eye on them.

Update: Last Thursday I registered to run in the Las Vegas half-marathon on Dec. 7. My goal this afternoon was to run 8 miles, but I did 10.1 in a walk/run format. I haven't run for the last few days because I have been trying to kick this nagging cold I have. I don't think it's completely gone because I couldn't breath very easily, and people were also raking their yards which was irritating. I ran the first 7.03 miles and at the end I felt like I couldn't move my legs anymore. Although the weather is perfect (almost 70 degrees) I started to get genuinely cold while I was running- goosebumps and chills. I stopped running and walked home to get a jacket.

At this point I was very discouraged and very negative. I had only run 7 miles and on the day of the race there will be another 6 I'll have to trudge through. I got some water and a jacket and decided to continue walking to cool down. All along I have been fighting my knees to keep them from getting injured, but having to fight my psyche like I did today was unbearable. What is the best way to disconnect my brain from my body just enough so that I can run without interference, but still be able to determine if I am going past the limit that my knees can handle? It's amazing how powerful thoughts are to have such a physical impact on someone. While I was walking and recovering, I decided that 7 miles coming off a week of not feeling well is good enough, and that it will be good enough even if I have to walk at Las Vegas. It's funny how I overestimate my running ability when I'm not running, and seriously underestimate it when I am running.

After walking 1.4 miles to cool down I decided to finish my 8 mile run, and actually ended up running 8.4. 

Ran on the indoor track at the field house, took 50:30. Followed up by 50 abs and 2x30 sec core exercise (pencil). I am trying to increase the distance of my weekly runs to help when I am trying to run longer on the weekends. Knees felt pretty good, some slight pain, but muscles are becoming sore now.

Ran 4X3 minute intervals on a treadmill this afternoon. I set the incline to 5 (out of 15) and ran for 3 minutes at a pace of 5.8. The first interval didn't feel so bad, but it was definitely hard enough by the last interval. In between intervals I put the incline back to 0 and slowed down to 5.0 initially, but gradually increased back to 5.8 before cranking up the incline. Knees are holding up better than I expected!!! I focused on form while I was running on the incline- good solid lines between the hip-knee-ankle and even distribution of weight on all quadrants of the foot. It seemed to help anyway.