Injuries

Well, I think that I have my first running injury. The other week my ankle was a little sore, but I'm not counting that as a running injury. It was just a little sore from my lack of flexibility so I'll just count that as growing pains.

The other day, a day after a run, my left knee was pretty sore, so I took the day off. I was not really sure if I was taking the day off because of the pain and concern for my health, or that it was the first day that the temps were in the teens. I truly believe that it was my knee. Well yesterday I went out after work- I really thought I was going to take another day of rest, but the sirens of running were calling.

About 2.5 miles into my run the sidewalks were starting to get icy and that's when my knee really started to hurt. I think that I twisted it a bit and strained the MCL. I think that I would have been better off if the sidewalks were totally frozen over and not the sometimes-slippery, that they were.

I came home and iced it and today am going to get a brace for it. I plan on not going out today or tomorrow, but Saturday is another story. I'll see how it goes.

Oh, I do need to take it easy. I think my next 5K is in 9 days- December 4^th (and another one on the 12^th). I will compete (participate) in them, even if I have to walk.

Pre-Dawn Running, yuck!

My cousin is a predawn runner. He uses some program where it posts to Facebook after every run. Usually an observation about the sun rising, or the stillness of the morning. Now I’m not complaining about getting his posts, nor about his experiences. I actually enjoy reading them and he is the only other runner I really know, so he keeps me motivated. But I just can not get out and run in the mornings. I have ran in the AM but not predawn. I usually wake up before sunrise, but I have to get a couple of cups of coffee in me and slowly start the day. I also think my body has to acclimate to the ’out of bed experience’. So I end up running around 11 AM if I have the day off or somewhere between 6-9 PM if it’s a work day.
The other night I took off around 6:30, already dark out, and with a slight mist. I headed my way downtown and through the park. The city is setting up for the holiday season with about 2.6 million lights in the park. I don’t know how many were on, but a lot. Because they have not had the official opening, it felt like I had the entire park to myself. It was beautiful. I stopped and took a few pictures from my celphone, but I know they will be horrible and not capture the feeling.
On the way back home I also noticed the sound of the few cars that were out. With the wet pavement, I heard the sound of the water off the tires in stead of the motors. For some reason, I find this much more pleasing. I guess I’m running off on a tangent on why I like running in the rain and not in the PM.
Anyway, I don’t stretch and think that my just moving around throughout the day prepares me of my daily run. Plus, I’m just not into the run in the AM. I’d rather have my coffee.

Running with my Cat

I keep telling my wife that I need to stop running with my cat Clifford. See, Clifford is a nutty cat that has some mental issues. One of those issues is with food, which makes him a hefty 17 pounds (last time I weighed him). He's been on a diet for a few months now, but I don't see an improvement.
I'm a slow runner. A 10 minute mile is comfortable for me. I can and have gone faster, but a tempo run of 10 mm I can do for a long time. I have already set my 2011 goals and one is to run a 5k in under 23 minutes. I really want to go sub 20, but I thought 23 is much more realistic. I've only been running since...August 22 (I just looked it up) and have moved my 5k time from about 39minutes (my first time running the distance) to 28'06. Huge chunks of time were cut off at times- one time I beat my PR by 5 minutes.
Anyway, I need to cut off another 5+ minutes. How can I do that? I know I need to improve my efficiency, but that will come with the miles. another part of the plan is to stop running with my cat. I'm probably an average American weight, so that means about 15-20 lbs overweight, about the weight of Clifford. So if I can lose the cat on my runs that should drop another minute or two. I started out running at 178 and am now down to 166. I think 145-150 is a good weight to try for. Hopefully I can hit my target by about March/April.

Just a few words before going to bed.

About 3 months ago when I decided to take up running, I spent the first few weeks running on the treadmill. Then one day it got a little cold and I knew that the gym would be busy. Living in Wisconsin, I knew that the gym would only get more crowded as the temperature dropped. So I hit the road.
Since that day, I have only been on a treadmill 2 other times. Once when I was out of town for a conference and I didn't have a lot of time, and the other day when I wanted to re-calibrate my Nike+. It was boring!. I should have brought my Ipod, but I've been running the last 2 months without music, I just did not think about it.
Music. Don't like listening to it when running. For one thing it's much safer when running downtown. And if I'm off on the trails, the scenery is enough to capture my attention- so no music- and we don't even have to mention, no phone.
Today 4.5 miles. 37'F Beautiful night
Now off to bed.

Intervals and timing

Today I went to the Y and ran around the indoor track. I wanted to have a known distance where I could push hard for a lap and then walk for a 1/2. Did that for about a mile. Hopefully it will help my speed.
Before that I ran a mile on the treadmill. My Sportsband measured it as .92 miles, so I guess that I have been going about 10% faster then I thought. That's cool. I still need to average about a minute faster then my PR mile to hit my goal in the 5k. (I'm not giving numbers yet)
Since I was at the gym. I did some cross training- arms are sore
I think that I'm going to have to go out for a run tonight. The 2 miles just doesn't feel like a full running day- maybe I can get in another 3 miles, that would be good.

Problems with Nike Plus

I have a few issues as a new runner using the Nike Plus. The unit is not the problem so much as the website. I could complain about how slow it is and that it does not have a lot of features, but there are much worse problems.
Every time I log on, there is a little section that tells me that I ran 'X' days this week and why not try for 'X+1'? Well, maybe I know myself better then Nike because I usually run about 5 times per week and take the other two off- I might walk or crosstrain. By pushing me to run more, it is setting me up for injury. I guess the site is also made to push mileage and time.
Maybe they just need to have a section on runner education. That you don't have to run 100 miles per week, running all 7 days and faster each day. But nothing like that.

Another issue (but not Nike's fault)
Now that I've been running for a couple of months, I think that I have changed my stride. I think that I should probably recalibrate my unit. I took a run today that measured 4.01 miles on the Sportsband but when I used the site's mapping program, it came to 4.22 miles. Usually is is much more accurate. I'm really good at mapping close to my exact route. Even when I ran the 13+ miles, I was less then 1/4 mile off.
Maybe the Nike website should prompt runners to recalibrate every 100 miles for the first 500 or so miles. Just an idea.
I hope that it is off, because then that means that my times are much better!

First 1/2 Marathon Distance Run

To celebrate the NY Marathon, I ran just over 13.1 miles today. I started out with a tough 3 miles. the first mile had a 550 ft. ascent. The 2nd mile was off trail, being more hiking then running. I was following a ridge above the city and got on the wrong side of it, but at least I got some great pictures.
Ok, I really did not set off in running a 1/2, but once I got close to my house I was at 10.5, so I might as well tough it out and go the rest.
It felt great. Both physically and mentally. Now I know that I can run a half. I think that I'll enter the one we have around here in May (forget what it's called).

Podiatrist Appointment

I went to the podiatrist's office yesterday. Good news, nothing really wrong. I don't need orthotics, I 've got good wear on my soles, arches- good, and my shoes that have a lot of cushion (Nike Zoom Vomero+ 4)are the right choice for me. My trouble is that I have very little flexibility in my ankles and that I strained it, probably by running over some uneven surface. I was given instructions on a couple of strengthening/flexibility exercises to do two times a day and and good to go.
oh, I was also told (again) that I need to replace my shoes between 400-500 miles. I'm at 200 now, so maybe I should put another pair on my Christmas list.

Running Errands

Today is November 2nd- which means that after today, we won't have to see all those campaign advertisements on the television. Well, I decided to make my daily run go past my voting station and get that out of the way too.
I never got around to registering, but it was very quick to do it right there. The older women working there were giving me strange looks for voting whit my tights on (remember, WI ).There wasn't a long line so I was able to vote and get out of there before I cooled down too much.
Made it home with a slow 5K ran. I'll probably take tomorrow off.

Change in format

Well, I'm going to change things a bit. I've been writing about every run that I've been on. Since I don't really have an audience and that I already have 2 other daily running logs, I'm not going to just rehash those writings here. So I probably will not be adding to the blog every day- hopefully at least once a week.