Food, what's that?

I learned a lesson this morning. Yesterday I was late in getting to work, so I skipped breakfast. I went directly to a meeting, planning to eat afterwards. I became engrossed in revising my software per the decisions at the meeting, and I forgot about eating. I finally had a light supper about 7:30 pm. I also didn't drink much water during the day.

My wakeup HR was 55, and I felt pretty good when I got up. I ran my 6.4 miles and felt fine on the way out. In fact, I ran about a minute/mile faster than I did on Wednesday (I ran my "comfortable" pace, so the faster pace was due to my feeling stronger, not because I pushed myself to go faster). But, on the way back, I had no energy, and the last mile felt like the last mile of a marathon. So, it pays to eat well, because the energy I needed this morning should have come from my meals yesterday. I didn't eat much yesterday and didn't have much energy this morning. :(

Training Graphs

Tired, but OK run

My wakeup HR was 55 this morning, and I ran my 6.4 miles again. I ran a minute/mile faster on the way back than I did on the way out. My only walking was in the longer stretches of shade on the way back. I only got about 5 hours sleep last night, and I was tired when I first got up and also throughout the day. Still, it was an ok run. It's nice to see my HR coming down. I didn't like it to be up at 60+.

I got an answer to my question about male mallard ducks getting their colorful feathers. I saw a few male ducklings in the canal that were starting to get their colorful feathers. These ducklings are older and larger than most of the ones I've seen, but they are still smaller than their mothers.

Training Graphs

Wakeup HR down to 52

I had a nice surprise this morning -- my wakeup HR was 52. That indicates I had a good recovery from my run on Saturday in which I added 1.4 miles to the distance I ran the week before. It also indicates by body is starting to recover from the stress of my skin cancer operations (my wakeup HR has been 59-60 or more with an occasional drop to 56). If it is 56 or below in the morning, I'll run my 6.3 miles again.

Wakeup HR down to 56

My wakeup HR was down to 56 and I felt pretty good. I ran 6.4 miles and only walked a bit picking up litter and some walk/jogging during the last half mile. When I left home the shade temperature was 69F, but it was much hotter in the open sun. There were a couple of places were there were 200-300 feet of shade (large Cottonwood trees lined up along the canal), and that shade felt great!

There are still quite a few ducklings in the canal. They are getting large (still smaller than their mother) and are learning to flap their wings and get some lift as they "run" along the surface of the water. The ducklings are all brown, like their mother, and I'm wondering when the males will get the beautiful color of the male Mallards.

I'm still running on an empty stomach, but I do drink water before I leave.

Training Graphs

Ran 5 miles & carried big piece of plywood

I had a great run today! My wakeup HR was 55 (a new low, I think, for my running during and after my skin cancer surgeries)and I felt fine. I ran 5 miles and only walked a quarter mile while I carried a heavy piece of old plywood and a bunch of tar paper to a dumpster. I was out earlier (8:15 am) and it wasn't as hot as it was on Saturday.

Training Graphs

Getting stronger -- yea!

Starting with yesterday I'm feeling stronger, so I ran 4 miles today. It was hot (89F when I left and 91F when I returned) and the sun felt like an oven. I took it easy and did a lot of walking on the way back. I saw quite a few ducklings in the canal. They are still smaller than their mothers, but they are getting pretty big.

My wakeup HR was 57 yesterday and 59 today. Still high but not in the 60s as it has been the past couple of weeks. I've been on an antibiotic for the past week (had to swallow a pill four times a day for a week, and I think that tired me out a lot. Last Monday my surgery involved a skin graft (an extra hole in my body to provide the skin), and the antibiotic was for that and the pig-skin graft that I had the week before. I finished the antibiotic on Thursday and started feeling stronger on Friday. I've had 8 surgeries for skin cancer and have two more that are scheduled for the first two weeks in August. I'm getting there!

Training Graphs

1st run in three weeks

It's been three weeks since my last run. I've been having weekly surgeries for my basal cell skin cancers, and my body wasn't in a condition to handle running. I had surgery at the base of my nose, between my two eyes, and that surgery caused a headache. That head ache remained until I had surgery on my forehead. The headache continued after the forehead surgery, and I still have it.

During the past three weeks my wakeup HR was 59-60, but Saturday and today it was down to 57. Not much of a change but a bit better. I went running this morning and ran 4.6 miles. A nice way to celebrate the birthday of the USA. I started getting tired and turned around and came home, walking some of the distance. I have more surgery on Wednesday to do a skin graft on a big hole that isn't filling in like it should, so my next opportunity for a run will be Friday or Saturday if I feel ok. Otherwise, I'll rest until I do feel better. I have surgery next Monday, too. Then I'm taking a break from surgery until the first part of August. I've had 6 skin cancers removed and have three more to go (one next Monday and two in August).

One thing I'm learning in life is that trials pass, and things get better. I'm always telling people that patience is a great virtue, and now I'm learning that through my experiences with surgery....