Ran Through The Holidays.

Well I pigged out and managed to keep all my workouts in tack. I flew back to Wisconsin to visit family and it was quite different landscape then FL (flat and warm) vs WI (hilly and cold) it was a nice change and quite humbling...hills are tough!!..cold weather rocks (for running) anyhow I turned a 1.5 mile run (after walking 2.0 miles early morning) on Friday after thanksgiving and then on Sunday I did the same 1.5 again....really enjoyed running up there and look forward to doing it again next trip.

After arriving back to FL I was scheduled to do 2.5 miles tonight. It got late (around 9:30) before I finally got a chance to log my run. Nice night..flat..hooray!..but 73 degrees feels like a sauna..lol..oh well.

Reality Check

Seems I'm working to hard...my times are actually slower when I jog the entire distance (when I actually make it) vs when I run/walk (ceiling to floors based on HRM). I'm not that happy with my run today. Despite getting out early for turkey day and a nice breezy 60+ day I really believe I overworked. I must remember that time is not important to a slow loaf such as myself rather distance and quality. I'm going back to running ceilings to floors. I only maxed out my HRM monitor 3 times during the entire run and I think if I would of walked it off those three times I could of ran the whole 1.5.

Oh well I'm off to Wisconsin (I live in Florida) for the weekend as I will have to do some cold weather running (for me mind you) and run some hill and perhaps a treadmill...only two workouts to sneak in so it shouldn't be to bad.

Time to partake in the American tradition known as free gluttony for all...AKA thanks giving.

Solid Effort!

Warmed up 5 minutes on the treadmill (walking) and then ran a 1 mile (no walk breaks) for a record 12:39 apparently I have ran 1 miles faster doing walk/jogs (according to last weeks stats) but I'm not sure that is accurate or not as those mile's' (12:29 twice) were a different route...oh well doesn't matter I'm a sub 13 minute slow ass!...LOL I planned to run another mile but my legs gave out during the second mile so I hobbled home. No matter though as I will have a full 48 hours to recover before my next attempt.

On the other side of things I looked into shoes, I did a thing called the 'water test' by dipping my feet into the pool and then jogging a lap around the edge and observing my foot print. It was pretty obvious to me I am a High Arch underpronation runner. which means I need a high cushioned flexible shoe and I am in the minority (rarest strike style?) I use the least amount of my foot which adds more stress..etc. LOL why can't I just be normal? anyhow the shoe I'm running ironically is pretty good for my foot...a la NIKE Shox, bought them because they looked cool..guess I get lucky sometimes. Seems a good shoe for me would be the Asics Nimbus. Of course it isn't cheap..anyhow something to put on the Christmas list(to company the GPS watch..hehe)

Next Up: 2 Miles on Wednesday

1 Mile JOGGED! (TWICE)

Well it seem taking it easy for 3 days since shin issue has paid off as I was able to run (at a snails pace) 1 mile today after my .5 mile warm up. I tried something new today instead of running between my max and min in my zone 3 (aerobic zone) I tried to stay in that zone the entire run no matter how slow I ran . Sometimes I felt as if I was barley moving but I did it. (although some 60 year old passed me which much of seemed like a full sprint to him...I'm sure he thinks he taught that 'whipper snapper' a lesson..lol).

I felt so good after the run I grabbed my dog Barkley (the faster of the two) and jogged another mile. Unfortunately I don't think I stopped my watch between laps as I ran the second mile in 17 minutes which seems even to slow for me.

Workout was a SUCCESS!

I turned my regular loop (1.6 miles) into a 1.0 mile run/walk I used the first .4 to warm up and then ran/walk (about 75/25) 1 mile (for a total of a snail pace 12:04 mile) and then walked the remainder home to cool down.

My legs felt like lead weights and I was doing what I could to go very easy I even ran on the side of the sidewalk to make it easier on my shins (try not to think about snakes,spiders,etc..LOL). My shins never gave me any shots of pain...but I think if I pushed it they would of...glad I didn't. I hope Saturday I'm full of energy and legs are in even better condition because I would like to work on my endurance without worrying about my leg pains.

Lucky for me my first race isn't until January...as I'm not progressing that quickly (which i hear is a good thing)

On the tech side of this blog I figured out how to get an rss reader to pump in a feed from my running log (http://runstoppable.com) so my workout show up on this website in real time with links to actual routes I ran...how cool is that. Down side is it took me two days to find a reader that would work http://rssfeedreader.com/ ...good site but they want real emails (no freebies) and send monthly checks...so I suspect I will have to keep on top of this one...still easy to use.

Started A Running Log Online

Runstoppable looks pretty nice and lets you do cool google maps and rss feeds. Looks like a winner to me. No Running today as I'm still dealing with shins.

I added two routes (so far) one is my regular route (the grind) the other is when I run to the local apple bee's for a BEER!!...lol

Not a Good Start - Shin Splints Kick IN

Last weekend I bought a fancy runner's watch with a heart rate monitor and some fancy electronics. when I did my run/walks (two days in a row sat/sun) I would try to keep in my HR zone while jogging and when I hit the ceiling (the watch beeps) I would walk until I hit my floor (the watch beeps slightly different) I was able to go a long way (for me 2 miles) without feeling much pain but enough to know I was really working. I gave myself Monday off to recover as I plan to do every week and was excited to go at it after work on Tuesday.

Well I started this evenings 1.5 run at a good level 3 HRM pace (70%-75%) in fact I seemed to stay in the 'zone' fairly easy for a while I thought the damn HRM wasn't working but in fact it was so I was pretty happy about that until about .5 mile marker into my run....dread pain shot through front of my shins....got to be none other then frigging SHIN SPLINTS !

I don't think its that bad as I stopped running when they hit and walked the remainder of the course (1. mile) but I have had them before and remember they are not the easiest thing to deal with. My plan is the following and devised from this article

1. No running on Wednesday
2. Ibuprofen for 4 - 7 days
3. Extensive stretching.
4. Increased warm up times and less strenuous exercise.
5. Ice them down (now)

I really hope this is just a warning signal....as I do not want to have to deal with an injury this early in my career.

UPDATE:

good resource on shin splints

Week 1 - Get in SHAPE!!

Week 1 - Get in SHAPE!!

My goal for this week it to continue to improve and strive to run for as long as I can without much discomfort.

Schedule

• Monday
  Rest
• Tuesday
  25-Min Run Walk
• Wednesday
  25-Min Run Walk or Rest Depending on Feel.
• Thursday
  25-Min Run Walk
• Friday
  Rest
• Saturday
  30-Min Run/Walk
• Sunday
  45-Min Run/Walk