Today was a slow jog/walk

Even though I had 7 hours sleep last night and my wakeup heart rate dropped two points to 51, my energy level was low this morning. My plan was to run a mile to warm up and then do a few cadence drills, but my energy level was so low it was as if I never warmed up. The result was that I did no drills. I had a good run on Monday and ran about a minute per mile faster, and apparently one day of rest wasn't enough. Today I did jog the 4 miles but with a lot of walking. My next run is planned for Friday and if I feel fine, I'll do a few cadence drills followed by a few fartleks. If I still feel tired, I'll abort the run.

One thing that may have contributed a little bit to my tiredness was that I wore my thick, long sleeved cotton T-shirt. When I first got up, it looked cloudy and cold outside. Later, when I dressed for running I put on the thick shirt. After I started running I realized I should have worn a thin, summer shirt.

Day 1 of my running training for a 5K

Even though it was raining, I ran 4 miles on the Jordan River Parkway and attempted to run a faster LSD pace. At the 1.5 mile marker, I could tell the rain was slowing down, and by 2 miles, the rain had stopped. The temperature was in the low 50s (F).

For the first mile I ran a slow pace, 13-14, to warm up. During the next mile I ran two half-mile segments at a faster pace, with a short walking break between them for recovery. In both cases, at the beginning I ran at a 11:30 pace, but by the end of the half mile I had slowed to about 11:45 to 11:50. For the next 1.5 miles I ran a comfortable recovery pace, and during the last half-mile I ran a faster pace so I could time myself. However, at the end, my stop watch still showed 000000. I thought I had started the watch, but I apparently pressed the wrong button, and the watch hadn't started.

My goal today was to run 11:30 for some distance and then if I couldn't keep that pace, to keep a pace under 12 if possible. I did meet that goal. If I'm to run the 5K on June 21, I need to decrease my pace from 12:30 to 9:30. When I do a test run on the race course the week before the race, I need to do it with a 10 minute average pace for the course. If I can do the test run with a 10 minute pace, I hope the excitement and Adrenalin rush of the race will help me do a 9:30 pace for a new PB.

Today I just attempted a faster pace around 11:30. On Wednesday I'll work on that pace and mix in 4 or 5 cadence drills. On Friday I'll polish the 11:30 pace and mix in some fartleks (Saturday will be a busy day, so I'll run on Friday). Next week my goal will be to do the same thing with a 10:30 pace. During the 3rd week I'll do the same with a 9:30 goal.

My wakeup heart rate was OK this morning

I commented yesterday that I didn't have a lot of energy and had a sluggish run until the last half mile. Another factor that could have contributed to that feeling was lack of sleep. During the past couple of weeks I've been getting about 6 hours of sleep when I need about 7 hours. However, I only had about 5 hours of sleep during Friday night. One of the common results of lack of sleep is an increase in ones wakeup heart rate and a general feeling of diminished energy. I've been forgetting to measure my morning wakeup heart rate, so I don't know if my body was tired when I first got up Saturday morning. I did measure my wakeup heart rate this morning, and it was 52, about 4% above my normal of 50 (I had about 6 1/4 hours of sleep last night). It is likely that my wakeup heart rate would have been close to 52 or 53 yesterday morning, and this means it is unlikely that a tired body was the main contributor to my sluggishness yesterday. I think that my not eating breakfast was likely the main problem (I ran about 1:30 pm). The burst of energy I had during the last half mile was probably from the energy bar I ate about 1 1/2 hours earlier.

A nice end to a nice running week

I ran my 4 miles again. During 3.5 of the miles I didn't have much energy, and I moped along at a 13-13:30 pace. However, during the last half mile, I felt energetic, and I timed the last half mile at a 12:06 pace. I don't know if my burst of energy was due to finally getting warmed up or to energy from an energy bar that I ate as I was driving to the Parkway or to Adrenalin from my timing of that segment of the run. What ever the reason, it was a nice way to end the week.

I made one serious mistake this morning. When I got up, I planned on running as soon as I could get out. However, I decided to run later in the morning so I could house clean a bit before I left. My wife has been gone for a couple of days helping our daughter with her kids (her husband is out of town), and I wanted the house to look nice when she returned. The house wasn't in bad shape, but I had a few dishes to do and the floor to vacuum. I wasn't sure exactly when she would arrive, and I didn't want to take the chance that she might come before I finished my cleaning. As soon as I decided to delay my running, I should have eaten breakfast. But, I didn't do that, the result being that when I ran, I had had no food since last evening except for a few handfuls of dry cereal and the energy bar that I ate while driving. The result of this was likely a low energy level, and that was probably the major factor in my sluggishness during my run. I've made this same mistake on quite a few occasions, and it is a dumb thing to do. Seems like I never learn.... My wife and two grand kids arrived about 5 minutes after I returned from running, so it all worked out well.

4 miles, one step to eternity and beyond

When I left for my run this morning, it was drizzling rain, and the temperature was in the mid 40s (F). Quite a change from yesterday's 93. I wore two layers, my summer T-shirt and my nylon wind breaker, and I felt fine during the run. By the time I reached the turn-around, the rain had stopped. It was a nice run. I didn't have quite the energy-level that I had on Monday, but I felt pretty good. My pace for the last half mile was 12:36. I think I've mentioned before that I try to maintain the same pace during the half-mile that I was doing for the rest of the run, so my measured pace will be representative of the whole run.

South Jordan has Park Rangers that patrol the Parkway

I talked with a Park Ranger for a few minutes. I've seen them in their patrol cars on the Parkway, and I wanted to find out if they worked for the State, the County, or the city. I asked the ranger about city plans to extend the parkway north to the West Jordan boundary, and he said the project will go out for bids within a month. So, work might begin in late summer or early fall.

A great 4-mile run

I ran four miles on the Jordan River Parkway and had a great time. The shade temperature was 75 (F) in the shade when I left home, and I enjoyed the relatively cool feeling of a 9 am run. My body felt strong, both legs felt fine, and I felt like a young 40-year-old. However, I started to feel the heat on the way back (the shade temperature was 85 when I arrived home). As I mentioned in my last post, most of my run was in the direct sun, although I had a bit more shade than on Saturday due to being out earlier. My pace during the last half-mile was 12:30, a bit faster than on Saturday as well as a significantly longer run.

I didn't carry water today because I was out earlier and the temperature wasn't an extreme value. I drank quite a lot of water before I left home.

If all goes well this week, I'll level off my distance at 4 miles and focus on speed. For next week, I'm thinking of using my Monday run to just run a faster LSD pace. My Wednesday run will be a mixture of the faster LSD pace and seven or eight cadence drills. On Saturday, I'll run seven or eight fartleks of various lengths and speeds combined with the faster LSD pace. I'll be using my last half-mile as the judge of how well I'm doing, along with my pace as measured by my GPS.

The police guys were out again

On my way back I passed a pack of guys from the police departments around northern Utah. When I got to the end of my run, there were quite a few people mingling around the start of their "race" waiting for the guys to return. When I finished everyone cheered and the timing official shouted 8:30. Yeah, right, doing 1 1/2 miles in 8:30 is slow for me :) The policeman who came in first finished in 9 something. I talked with one guy who lives in Logan (the city where I went to college) and works for the Cache County Sheriff Department.

Finished the week with a third 2.5 mile run

Whew, summer is coming. During my run, the shade temperature was in the low 80s(F), and I would guess that the temperature in the direct sun was over 100. Most of my run was in the direct sun. The only shade I encountered was a small bit at my turn-around and complete shade for about 100 feet in the tunnel under 106th South. Running at 12:30 pm didn't help either. Monday is supposed to be 15 degrees hotter, and I'd better go out in the early morning. I'll take water too. Even though the run is short, with high temperatures I'll need extra water. My run this week was about half an hour, but next week I'll be out close to an hour, and I'll definitely need to drink water during my run.

I mowed my lawn last evening so I wouldn't have to do it today after my run. I will be spraying dandelions, though, and fertilizing the lawn. I'll be doing more walking than I did yesterday while mowing the lawn.

My leg felt fine during the run and still feels fine. Still a bit tight around the knee but no pain or soreness. I'm hoping to do 4 miles per run next week. I plan on leveling off my distance at 4 miles for the next month so I can focus on getting my speed up. I measured the last half-mile in my run today at a pace of 12:44. Slower than on Wednesday of this week, but not bad considering the heat. I measured my cadence during the run, and it was 172. My normal cadence is 180-185, but 172 is good for the heat. One of the reasons I don't listen to music while I run is that I don't have any music with a cadence as fast as my running cadence. Even a fast Sousa march is down in the 140s. Normal military marching is 120. I was thinking while out running today, that it would be nice to have a MP3 player that would let me change the playback speed. By ignoring samples in the digital data, the player could play the music at a faster cadence without raising the pitch.

Another 2.5 mile run and my leg feels fine

I ran the 2.5 miles again today. Last Monday and also last week I'd measured the last half-mile at a 13:10 pace. Today I did it at a 12:16 pace. In all three cases, I ran a comfortable resting pace with no attempt to run fast. My faster pace today is a good sign that my body is recovering.

The temperature during my run was in the low 60s (F). The sky was overcast with a 4-5 mph breeze, and it was a nice running day.

Starting to dream again about the South Jordan 5K

My right leg has been almost pain-free for the past two weeks. There is still a small amount of stiffness under my knee, and I do feel a couple seconds of mild pain if I bend my knee as much as I can or if I bump my leg while getting out of the car.

Because of this improvement, I'm wondering if I would have time to train for the 5K that will be held in South Jordan City on June 21 as part of their Country Fest. I ran the race last year. Most of the course is on the Jordan River Parkway where I do most of my running. I'm not interested in running the race just for the sake of running it. If I thought I could set a new PB by breaking 30 minutes, then I would like to do it. I should have no problem with the distance by June 21; it is a question of how fast I can do it.

An enjoyable 2.5 mile run

I ran 2.5 miles on the Jordan River Parkway this afternoon. My legs have been free of pain over the weekend, and they've felt fine this morning and during the run. Not having soreness after my bout mowing lawns and video taping on Saturday is a very good sign!

Another way to tell that I'm recovering

I just became aware of another indication that I'm recovering from my November injury to my right leg. My normal sleep pattern is to sleep for 5 hours and then wake up for a bathroom call. If I'm under a lot of stress, I'll probably stay awake for a while. Otherwise, I go right back to sleep.

However, after the accident my sleep pattern changed. I would wake up every hour with an intense desire for water and because of all that drinking, bathroom calls. After a few weeks, I began sleeping for two hours. Then three or four hours. For the past two weeks, I've been sleeping five hours. It looks like I'm back to my normal sleep-pattern, indicating my body is getting free of the stress of the accident.

No running today but three hours mowing lawns

Today has been a busy day. I didn't get to run, but I did mow my daughter's lawn and then my own lawn. I was also on my feet for an hour videotaping a concert that my grand daughter was in. I think my feet have had the same stress they would have gotten if I had run 10 or 11 miles. It will be interesting to see how my right leg feels tomorrow. It has felt fine during the day, but I can tell it is tired.

My leg likes 1.6 miles

I ran 1.6 miles yesterday on the Jordan River Parkway. and my right leg has felt fine since then. I'll run 1.6 again on Saturday and then give 2 miles a try again on Monday.

Going to cut back to 1.5 miles tomorrow

My right leg was a little sore last night and this morning when I first got up. I think I'll cut my run tomorrow back to 1.5 miles. My leg wasn't sore at all last week when I ran 0.6 miles, so jumping to the 2 miles I did yesterday may have put too much stress on my leg. My purpose in reducing my running during the past month has been to help my leg heal, and I don't want to over-stress the leg.

Starting the week with a 2-mile run

The temperature was in the high 70s (F) when I ran on the Jordan River Parkway this afternoon. My right leg felt fine over the weekend, so I went for two miles instead of my planned 1.5 miles. The big test will be how the leg feels tonight and tomorrow morning. Right now, the leg feels great!

I didn't run on Saturday because I was busy and let the day slip by....

Good news about my leg from yesterday

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I drove to Evanston, Wyoming to attend two concerts. My daughter was accompanying one concert, and my granddaughter played the violin in another concert. I videotaped both concerts so I can make DVDs of the performances. I was on my feet for about three hours, and my right leg felt fine during the concerts, afterwards while driving home, during the night, and this morning. This indicates that my leg is healing and that my leg muscles are getting stronger.

Because of this improvement, I think I'll run a mile tomorrow and then go up to 1.5 miles each run next week.