High Achievements / Major Difficulty

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.