Lornitropia Run Log

Normally I hide these posts, just because there’s usually not much to say about a few numbers. However, since the weight for this week is about 5 pounds lighter than last week, I feel like I should explain.

The difference is actually about 8lbs, but because of how the averaging is done, it seems like less. Anyway, Monday before last (the 22nd, I think) I got a sore throat. By Wednesday I had a pretty good fever going (about 103), by Thursday I’d seen the doc and been told it was a virus. By Sunday morning I could no longer swallow, had been up to 104.2 degrees twice, and went to the ER. They said I had tonsillitis, and put me on antibiotics. I’ve had no appetite through all of this, and I’m still suffering from some soreness in my throat, and no appetite. The good news is that it make it very easy to lose weight!

Saturday is when I have my long run, to get my weekly mileage up. When the long run gets to be about twice the other runs, I’ll start increasing them to match.

Anyway, today I got to 2.9 miles, and while my pace wasn’t great I did manage to keep my average heart rate where it should be which is more important. As usual my right calf started to burn, and then got over it at about the 20 minute mark. I found, though, that after about 25 minutes (about when I usually quit) I started to feel better, and I’m pretty sure I even started to run faster. I’m not positive, but I think I was even brinking on getting a runner’s high.

Given how I felt today, it’s tempting to try to run this far every time!

The weather was mid twenties, sunny and pretty calm. I dug out a very old pair of wind pants I’d bought from Land’s End about 12 years ago, and they are awesome - the increase in warmth in my legs is huge, and that has made a big difference in comfort.

I’m starting to learn that if I’m not pretty much freezing as I walk out the door I’m over dressed. Today I wore medium weight long johns under windpants, and an Under Armor turtleneck under lightweight fleece (about 100 weight) under a nylon shell. The shell was soaked when I got home, along with my hair, and I wasn’t even wearing a hat. I’m thinking that with the wind pants, I may be able to get rid of the fleece on my upper half.

I decided to run again tonight to try to get back on schedule. I’m trying to get my weekly mileage up, but if I’d skipped tonight I would have had to run back to back later anyway.

The temperature was mid-20’s, and fairly calm. I felt pretty good other than a brief side stitch, and some burning in my right calf. Both calmed down by the end of the run, and I didn’t feel slow at all overall.

But my time totally sucked! Well over 13 minutes per mile! I’m not really upset about the time, just my perception of how fast I was. I was expecting to be about a minute less than that.

Is running in snow that hard?

We got some snow last Sunday night, and it’s been in the 20’s since then so the roads and sidewalks are still all gunked up.

Since I hiked nearly 6 miles on hilly terrain on Sunday, I decided to take Monday as a rest day, and Tuesday I did strength training instead of running. But today I decided it was time to run. It was a lot harder than I thought, it was cold - 20 degrees - but calm, and my average heart rate was much higher than I expected for my speed. It might be that I was running on mostly snow and ice, and perhaps that made it tougher than usual.

I increased the length of my run today, as part of my plan to increase mileage overall. It was just a few tenths of a mile, because my weekly mileage is still so low, but that’s alright. It’ll get up there soon enough.

I got a new pair of headphones to use with the iPod. The ear buds that come with it sound terrible, and keep falling out. My Etymotic ER4’s sound fantastic, but have stiff cords that create way too much noise when I’m running. They also block too much ambient sound, and I like to hear if cars are coming up behind me.

I got a pair of Sennheiser PX 100 headphones, and they sound pretty darn good. Not the performance of the Etymotics, but at 1/6 the price, I would say they deliver 75-80% of the sound. More than good enough for running.

All in all, it’s been one of the most pleasant runs so far, despite it being the longest, and nearly as cold as any at 27 degrees. There was also a bit of sleet on the ground, but it wasn’t very slippery. I was dressed just right, there wasn’t much wind, and since the pace was the slowest yet (14 min/mile) it was really pretty relaxed.

It seems a common mistake beginners make is training too hard. Running too fast, and at too high of a heart rate. I know I’ve done it, and I’m finding it’s pretty hard to keep from doing it.

So tonight I set my heart rate monitor to keep me in the correct heart rate range, and tried to stay there for my entire run. It wasn’t easy, and I didn’t stay there for the entire time, but I did manage to average just 1 beat above the high limit I’d set, so I was pretty close.

The pace was my slowest yet - 13+min per mile.

I’m hoping that having slow days like this one, each week, will improve my progress.

It was even colder this time - winter is really here! 23 degrees F, and breezy when I left, a degree colder when I got home. Walking outside with just normal pants on was pretty unbearable because of the wind, but some tights were fine for running. In fact, I actually over dressed my torso a bit, although I didn’t really know until I got home and found my fleece all soaked.

Ironically, it felt like my worst run, but it wasn’t my worst time. I think the low temperature had me bounding at too fast a pace, and that wore me down later. I walked three times, but still managed a fairish time so I must have been hauling pretty good in the beginning.

Definitely one of those days where it’s better to have run than to run.

One last thing - I ran with my ipod for the first time. I know, I must be some kind of freak or something, but I always figured I would be bothered not hearing what was going on around me. Nope! I’m definitely going to pursue some books on CD or Audible.com so this time will be even more productive.

Today was my coldest run of the year, and also my best speed ever - just under 11 minutes per mile. It’s 35 degrees F, a bit windy and overcast. The sun poked through a little, but not enough to make a difference.

I was debating whether to start increasing my mileage today, as I’m planning to make Saturday my long run day, but I decided to take it easy. I tend to get over ambitious and that results in injuries so better to get to where the 1.9 mile route is easier before I start increasing. Other than a tad bit of lung burn, I feel great!

Tonight’s run was pretty warm and fairly calm, considering it’s Wisconsin in January. 46 degrees, and maybe 10mph of wind. The earlier rain quit before I got started, which was nice. My Under Armor turtle neck, now washed, was much warmer than it was last time.

My pace was a bit slow, but that’s to be expected given I lifted last night. I’m not sure my body’s used to all the demands yet.

Since running on December 21st (that’s last year already!) I haven’t done any weight lifting at all. Not that I was really pumping any iron, but I was doing a basic routine that did get me strong enough to run in the first place. But once I could run, well, the lifting sorta got left behind. Part of it was spending a week in Florida - carrying dumbbells through airport security would have been a real trick.

So I decided to head down and get back in the groove. YIKES! I lost a lot of strength - for example, I’d been doing ~15 reps of single-leg squats with 36.5 lbs in each hand, and now I struggled to get 14 reps done with 24lbs. No wonder running seems more difficult now than it was a week ago.

What was even more striking was how much balance I’d lost - I was very wobbly.

I’m going to have be more diligent in the future!