13 Sep12 – 20 Sep 12 High Achievements/Major
Difficulty
WHEN
School is in, so when I don’t finish my run before
3:30, I conflict with school sports. JV
Football on some Thursdays, Varsity on some Fridays. I even ran a couple of times along with the
cross country training, and another group that looked like some kind of after
hours gym class. Three days ago, I ended
up running as late as 7:00, but as I ran seven miles, and the days are shorter,
most of that run was in the dark, illuminated by lights from the adjacent
soccer field.
TEMP
Temperature are way down. I have faced my first days in which I wonder
if I am dressed warmly enough. So far,
the heat of a run is enough to run in t-shirt and shorts.
CONDITIONS
The dog days of summer are gone for good, and there
have actually been a couple of rain days.
I don’t necessarily mind a little summer shower in hot weather, if I’m
already running, but I won’t start a run in the rain (especially a storm), and
now the rain is to be avoided, as it should be way too cold.
AIR CONDITION
Same as the weather; there should be few to no
stuffy or high ozone days until next summer.
RUN
TENS! I ran
ten miles twice in this period. I don’t
know that I’ve run a full ten miles since the kids were toddlers. The Pace is just a little off, being that the
ten miles was run 1:45, or 10:30. Oh,
well, I’m just happy about the distance.
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR EIGHT DAYS: 39 MILES
TIME range
RATE est.
9.8 – 10.5
WEIGHT 189
lbs (86 Kilo)
HEART RATE Resting
around 78 bpm
INJURY THREATS
The shin splints set in with a bite. It took longer and longer for the pain to
ease on my runs. By the first ten mile
run, I stumped for six miles before it felt better. I popped back into Striders for the shoe
inserts the kid was showing me. They
cost forty dollars, but they are a lot like the inserts the podiatrist made for
me in the seventies. After one day of
wearing them in my street shoes (the kid says don’t run in them), I was able to
run seven miles easily. (I would have
run more, but that was the dark day).
Then, the following day I was too sore to run and limped around for
hours, until late. I don’t remember how
long it took back in school to adjust, but it is true that all of my good
running was done on those inserts back when.
Once adjusted, I expect I’ll be much better off.
MILEAGE YTD 379 (606 K)
COMMENTS
On that day in the dark, never mind the scent of a
skunk I could not see but assumed would not venture out onto the track, I
picked up a sensation that I haven’t felt in decades. For two miles near the end of the run, my
pace altered naturally, with my knees coming up higher and my foot finding my
next step farther forward. When this
happens automatically, it is like shifting a car into overdrive on the
highway. The effects are not only
greater steps per minute, but more inches per stride, and all with less energy
expended. I have great hopes for the
coming months.
On that note, the coming months should provide at
least two months of good running.
Although we have had blizzards as early as mid-November, last year didn’t
bring any significant snowfall in my book.
If we have another year like last, then I will be able to capitalize to
the max.
