Beautiful Day!- Weeks miles: 16.6

6:30 A.M.
Ran 45 minutes (3.1miles)
Walked 10 minutes
The sun was shinning and the temperature was 61.

9:45AM til 10:45AM
Walk/run hills and steps.
I spent an hour at Indian Mounds running hills and walking up the mound steps. With the exception of the mound steps I ran the hills that were in shade, but I still feel that I got some good training done. The temperature was 79 degrees when I finished up for the day.

A goal that I've achieved is to run 15-20 miles a week.
This week I ran 16.6 miles. Beginning this week I'm keeping a record of my weekly miles. Before running a marathon it is suggested that one run 15-20 miles, 4 or 5 days a week for a year, this is week one of that year. Tomorrow is a rest day.

I went to Academy and bought another pair of shoes. I tried on both mens and womens Asic 2140's. Settled on the men's because the 4E was available. And...they felt the best. I've been training in a pair of mens 2120's which were one half size too big. I bought them because they were on sale for $40.00. I also bought a pair of Avia's womens size 10 and those are the shoes that have put the blister on my toe. I also have a pair of womens Asics and even though I haven't worn them very much I noticed they have the same restricted feel to the toe. So, I'm not sure that I will get any wear out of the womens Asics and will probably stick to the mens 2140's. The purpose of buying a variety of types of shoes was to find out which would work best.

It's not raining!

7:00AM - 7:45AM - In front of the house.
Ran 1 mile
Walked 10 minutes
Ran 1 -.2 mile interval

09:00AM - 11:00AM - At RiverWalk.
Ran 3.2 miles
Walked with a few jogs
Ran 1 mile

Total distances/times covered today
Ran 5+ miles
Walked/ran at least an hour

I ran the interval to get heart rate which was 120. Didn't like the run this morning because I didn't feel like I could draw a good breath, is that being tight chested?
My blistered toe is okay, but the dull pain in my leg medial to the shin bone is still there and has extended down a little further. I'm not worried about it. I'm sure it's got something to do with the way I'm running.
Anyway, it's been raining forever; I've done my run training for the day so I may go to the river and walk, probably won't be able to resist incorporating a few jogging motions. Today was an easy day, tomorrow is a 20 minute day. The weather is going to be beautiful again tomorrow so the plan is to go to Indian Mounds to run.

The Runners Bible

Ran 20 minutes
Walked 25 minutes


In another trip to Goodwill I found the book "The Lore of Running", by Tim Noakes, MD.
I'm going to read the book cover to cover. I've also decided to begin the training plan in the book. It's called the 36 week training program for running 10 to 42km races. I have two races I plan to run, the first will be a 5k that's scheduled for Labor day and the second one will be the 5K Komen race in October. There is another 5km on November the 7th that I will consider. Then it will be time to sign up for a 10-12Km. And honestly, at this point I may be ready for the run, but I may only be buying t-shirts. I also bought a reflector vest in hopes of meeting early mornings with a group to run some this summer.
The reason I'm getting on a schedule (hopefully I'll be good and follow it.) is because even though "I'd rather burn up than to fade away," I'm beginning to see a little overtraining strain and a more reasonable approach may benefit me.
Noakes schedule isn't that different from a lot of the others that I've looked at. In the beginning there is a consentration on walking then walking combined with short jogs. I can run easily for one mile and three miles is attainable although they are 14 minute miles. The schedule is in time and not in miles. I figure I am at week 15 of this training program and I've set up a calendar accordingly. I will have completed the training program by the end of October.

The Serious Training Begins

Ran 3.2 miles; time 45:00 minutes
Walked 2 miles

Still cloudy, the humidity was 100%, the temperature was in the mid 60's.
I still have the nagging pain in my leg. I think I've awakened another of my old work injuries and the problem will go away in time.

Training goal: Run 3.2 miles day one, day two anything goes, but the total distance walked and and ran should be between 6 and 10 miles. I'll include hills and intervals and I can split the day. On the alternate day I will also include a small amount of free weight lifting or even biking. The plan is to rotate the days throughout the week and to have one or two rests days together. Basically the 5K run and 2 mile walk will be my easy days. I hope to steadily improve my time over the next 104 days and to be able to consistently run the 3.2 mile distance under a lot of different circumstances,(terrains and temperatures). I am sure my time will improve as I lose weight. I am sure in training I'll lose the weight.

Signed Up for my first 5K

I signed up for the Labor Day Road Race which will be held on September 7, 2009.

Today:
I.
Ran 2 miles
Walked 1 mile
Ran 1 mile
Walked 1 mile.
II.
Ran 1 mile
Walked 1 mile with 3.3 weights
Walked 1 mile with occasional running with dog.(i'm gonna train my dog to run)
Walked 2 miles with the dog.

Total distance covered today:
Ran 4 miles
Walked 6 miles

The temperature was 66 degrees and the humidity was very high.

5 minutes

I don't know what my deal is today. I only ran 5 minutes, then walked the dog for about 30 minutes. I also rode the bike for about 4 miles. Added another 15 minute walk.

I have pain under my knee on the inside of the leg. It's hot and humid and I ate too much yesterday. Being a little bit compulsive I may walk some more. I still need to lose 10 pounds. I weigh 145ish and I've lost over 10 since January 1st.

Survived my Recovery day of yesterday.

Today
Ran: 1 continuous mile
Walked/ran: 3 miles

Note: Really cloudy. My dog wanted to run with me so during one of my walk/run miles I let her. We are in the moonsoon season. This may be another summer in which it rains every day.

My waist size has decreased from 37 inches to 33 inches. I may have an excuse to buy new cloths! I'm wondering just how much weight or fat I will lose. I'm also wondering just what weight will benefit me most as both a sprinter and a distance runner. I bet there's a web site out there somewhere that can give me that information and I'm going to go find it.

I've got mild mitral valve prolapse. My doctor picked it up a few years ago. I had an ecocardiogram. I did a little research on that subject last night. It seems that I can only be helped physically by a regular exercise program that includes walking, jogging and running. It is a fact that mitral valve prolapse has contributed to the deaths of several marathon runners. So, even though it is a fairly common heart disorder and even though it is rare that a person has died running with MVP, it still bears watching.

4 miles

Ran 4 miles
Walked 1 mile.

Temperature 64 humidity 80%
Ran on the road in front of my apartment

note: I plan to change my minimum distance from 1 mile a day to 3 miles a day. Today's 4 miles was very easy dispite my having either an allergy or beginnings of a head cold. There hasn't been an improvement in my time and I'm not really concerned about that. I hope speed will come with time. I will probably run my first 5K under 45 minutes and that will be an acceptable time for me in the first year that I run. I'm very pleased with the progress I've made.

Ran 3 miles without breaking

-but my shoe came untied three different times! I also have a toe that looks funny and needed soaking.

A.M.
ran 3 miles (45 minutes)
walked 15 minutes

Temperature 52degrees, windy. Ran on the road in front of my house.
A runners high followed this run, or an immense sense of satisfaction.

P.M.
Ran one mile
Walked 3 miles.

After lunch I decided to add another mile that included hills. Walked around the neighborhood with a neighbor.

Easy Day

ran one miles
walked 2 miles

Headache...

I was awakened early this morning by a headache ☹ so I took two advil and a half tab of doxylamine. Slept till 8:30. So today will be a recovery day. My goal is to run one mile and walk 5.

Nice cool day.

Walked 3 miles
Ran 3 miles (non continuous)✌

Aches and Pains

I have a few aches and pains this morning. Usually I would take a few ibuprofen and ignore the aches. After reading a couple of online articles about kidney failure and running and the association with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, I have decided to stop taking them. I worked as a dialysis nurse and kidney failure is no place I ever want to be.

For today I'm trying a different training schedule. I'm going to run my first complete mile then break, drink a cup of coffee then I'm going to run again to add to today's distance. I plan to do that twice. By then the temperatures will be too high to enjoy running. I have noticed that the humidity decreases as the temperature increases so one element of the weather might actually offset the other.

Okay, managed to run 2 miles straight on my second trip out. Now, can I do that again after this next coffee break? Maybe, but I'll take whatever I can get, one more mile would break a record for me. Okay, I ran one more mile. It's 9:30AM and the temperature is 72 degrees and the humidity is 84%. Should I try for one more mile? I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and give it a try.

I made it! I ran one more mile non-stop and I finished off with 1.2 miles in walking so that I covered the distance in training for a 10K. I hope to accomplish several things over the next several weeks. One is to decrease the amount of time it takes for me to run one mile. Two, I want to begin consistently running 3 miles non-stop and three, at least once a week I want to cover the distance of a 10K, which a 10K is 6.2 miles. When training for the 10K I can walk it or run it, do it in segments or break it up, the point will be to train for that distance.

Ran 1 mile
break
Ran 2 miles
break
Ran 1 mile
break
Ran 1 mile
Walked 1.2 miles.
Total segmented mileage 6.2 miles
Afternoon walk 1.2
Total miles for the day: 7.4

A neighbor came by and ask me to walk with her. That added one more mile to my total.

Note: there is additional walking time because I warm up with a walk and I cool down with a walk. I've taken my blood pressure when I took a break and each time it was very good. When I checked my blood pressure first thing this morning it was 169/82, pulse 62. The last blood pressure reading was 120/69; pulse: 82, so I am recovering in a timely fashion and the running is bringing down my high awakening BP and keeping it down.

During the last mile, which was walking, I noticed some tightness in my hands and minor swelling, so I walked with my arms in the air for some of the time. I did trade one set of aches and pains for another set because I can tell from my joints that I pushed myself today. I hope I can begin doing this kind of training at least once a week.

I've been inspired by watching celebrities talking about the open heart surgery they've had. They have this open heart surgery, but then they must change their lifestyle in order to reap permanant benefits of surgery. If the body can survive having the chest cracked open and all the blood vessels and flow disrupted then I think my body should be able to survive the rigors of training for the "run". I hope this change in my lifestyle will prevent me from ever having to undergo that kind of severe trama!

A couple of articles on preventing or reversing heart disease by lifestyle changes:
Can Heart Disease be Reversed?
Medscape - Can be Reversed by Diet

Summertime...

Got up late. The humidity is high.
Ran 1 mile.
I walked for a couple hours and did a few sprints.

River Walk

I went to River Walk and Indian Mounds today. I did run a mile and walked for a couple of hours. Didn't try to repeat the 3 miles today. It was a rest day.

Ran 3.2 miles this morning.

Time: 1 hour 6:30AM-7:30AM
Ran: 3.2 miles
Walked 15 minutes

The temperature at 8:00AM was 60 degrees with 84% humidity.

I feel like celebrating! It was an ideal morning to attempt to add to my distance. There was a cool breeze and a very light drizzle started about half way through the run. I'm 26 days ahead of my goal of a 5K, I guess it's time to change the goal, so what is next? A 10K?

Heat Index; Easy day for this beginner.

Walked 5 minutes
Ran 1 mile
Walked 1 mile

Thunderstorms are in the forecast, the temperature at 6:11 was 65 degrees and the humidity was 97% making the heat index at 76 degrees.
This web site link has a really good heat index calculator in it.
Top Ten Tips for Summer.

Finally! a decent run/walk workout.

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Running distance: 2.2 miles
Walked and ran a total of 5 miles.

I noticed that it took longer to run the first mile, but the total time took for both miles was less than 30 minutes. I also noticed that there still isn't a significant difference in my walking and running times.

My toothache has gone, but one side of my chin and jaw are tender, must be a lymph node. No swelling or discoloration so all is good and I can avoid the expense of an emergency room trip. If I continue to have problems I'll go to a dentist. There was no discomfort associated with running or walking. It's my guess that the increased blood flow will help the inflammation resolve more quickly.

Ran 1.2 miles . . .

I've had a toothache so I didn't run for two days. Today I took it easy. I did not try to run two miles. Not only am I having dental problems, but I got a late start so I quit running when I started getting hot. I finished by walking.

Another Magic Three

Ran: 2 miles
Walked: 20 minutes
Ran: 0.5 mile

It wasn't raining but the temperature index is 79 degrees and the relative humidity is 93%. I started my running at civil twilight. It's time to begin working on mile three so after my initial 2 mile run I walked for a while and drank gaterade, then ran another 1/2 mile. So far it has worked to run segments then when I am comfortable combine the distance segments.

Rainy nights and days in Georgia

I got up early to run. It started raining so I ran right back inside.
To make up for it I ran up and down my stairs, used the stair stepper and ran through my living room for 30 minutes. I hope I can get out and do some intervals later. Each time there is a break in the rain I'll try to get some running done.

06:30AM ran 0.1 mile,--lightening, thunder and rain began.
12:52PM ran 0.5 mile,--till I got hot. Temp: 77+ degrees, humdity 79%

2 miles in 29:15

I worked yesterday, which mean I was lifting, bending, and standing for 5 hours. So, I was afraid I would only be able to run one mile. I ran two miles, but I had to coerce myself into doing it. Got a late start at 7:15AM and the humidity is through the roof at 93%, the temperature is 66 degrees.

2 miles 27.6 minutes

Ran 2 miles today, the time for the first mile was 13.5.
No problems except that I wasn't as energetic today as I was yesterday, but it is the third day of running two miles and the second day of running two miles without a walk recovery being included. It's about time for a complete rest day. More rest time may be more important as I increase my distances.

I ran on the measured road in front of my house. Got a little later start and the temperatures are up to 60 degrees.

Cold bath experiment: day 1.