A much better run of 3 miles

My wakeup heart rate was 62 but I felt pretty good, and I had a nice run. Sometimes my body limits my run and other times my legs are the limit. Sometimes neither are the limit, and those are the times when I have a great run. Last week my body was the limit. This morning my legs were the limit. I took fewer walking breaks, but the breaks were longer to give my legs a bit more rest.

The temperature during my run was in the mid 50s (F), a pleasant change from the high of 39 last week. Last week there was a 15 mph wind from the South. Today it was a pleasant 5 mph.

Took a 1.5 mile rest run

My wakeup heart rate was in the high 50s, but I didn't feel super energetic during my run in the late afternoon. I ran the 1.5 mile segment of the new north-bound path of the Parkway. I decided that I would do a shorter run to increase the likelihood of a better run on Saturday.

I had a good view of the Heron. It was on a sandbar in the middle of the river. I watched it walk into the river, and I thought, "Good luck, bird, that water is cold."

Added a quarter mile to give me 3 miles for my run

I started my run about 11 am this morning. The temperature was 25 (F) last night, and the air was still cold during my run, even though the temperature in the sun was 50 (F). I was glad I wore my nylon windbreaker. There were a number of runners and walkers on the path, and it was a beautiful day.

My wakeup heart rate was 59 this morning. I felt fine during most of the run, but I started to run out of energy during that last half-mile.

Saw the Heron again today

I saw the Heron again. Standing on the dead branch in the river that has been his perch in the past. I watched him/her for a couple of minutes. It just stood there without moving.

My strategy for adding distance

I'm currently running three days per week, and I usually run the same distance for each day of running during the week. However, that will change in the future. When I get the three days up to 5 miles, I'll cap my Monday run with the 5 miles. That will be my rest run. I'll continue to increase the Wednesday and Saturday runs until they reach 7 miles. I will cap the Wednesday run at that value for my medium run. I'll increase the Saturday run to 10 miles, and that will be my long run.

I should reach the 5 miles by the end of the year, the 7 miles by Spring, and the 10 miles by Summer. However, my body will determine what actually happens :)

Had a great 2.75 mile run

My wakeup heart rate was 57, I felt great, and I had a great run. I was out early (10 am), and the temperature was in the mid 50s (F). A wonderful Fall day. I didn't see many people on the Parkway.

I really do better if I run on an empty stomach soon after I get up. I have more energy since I just got out of bed. When I was younger, I could run at any time of day, but I'm finding, as I get older, that I have less energy later in the day.

I saw quite a few American Coots in the river. I took some pictures of the Coots and of a Heron with my cell phone camera, but they didn't turn out very well. I'll have to take my wife's camera next time. I did get a picture of some horses who were grazing next to the path.



If I feel fine on Monday, I'll go for 3 miles.

Ran the 2.75 miles again

My wakeup heart rate was 62. I ate some food about 1 1/2 hours before I ran, but I should have had the food earlier, because during my run my stomach wasn't feeling very good. During the last 1/2 mile, me stomach felt fine, and I was able to run longer stretches before I walked. The temperature was in the mid 50s (F), and it was a nice Fall day with lots of sun and some clouds.

Saw more Coots in the river

I saw a total of 7 American coots, spread over a quarter-mile stretch of the river. Their white bills stand out and make it easy to recognize them as Coots and not ducks. In my previous post about the Coots (2 days ago), I described their noise as a "chirp", but it is more of a "pip". A shorter sound.

My running interview with Bob Babinski

I was interviewed (via email) yesterday by Bob Babinski about the impact of sports in my life. Bob is an independent producer/director who lives in Montreal and does a lot of work for CBC-TV Sports.

Added 10% to make my run 2.75 miles

I had a nice run. My wakeup heart rate was 59 this morning, and I had more energy during my run. I've slept well for the past 5 or 6 days, and that helps. It usually, though, takes a couple of weeks for my body to overcome serious slept debts.

A nice 1.5 mile run

My wakeup heart rate was 62 this morning. I probably should have stayed home and rested, but I was anxious to get outside. I ran the 1.5 mile round trip on the northern part of the Jordan River Parkway. I felt fine going out but got tired on the way back. I felt about the same as I did on my Monday run. I love being out in the fall. It is my favorite time of the year. I ate the last apple on "the" tree. I've enjoyed those apples during the past couple of months, and I'm looking forward to the crop next year.

I saw two black ducks with white bills. They were swimming in the river, so I couldn't look to see if their feet were webbed. They were about the size of a large mallard, but they made a different sound. They didn't "quack" like ducks usually do. Instead, they made a funny sounding "chirp" sound. Their bodies were pure black, and their white beaks gave a good contrast to their black bodies and made it easy to see the ducks.

10/20/09 Here is a picture from the web of an American Coot. The birds I saw were too far away for the black mark on the tip of the bill to be seen. Click the picture for a larger image.

A better 1.5 miles

My wakeup heart rate was 56 this morning, and I felt pretty good. I left for my run about 11:30 am, and ran more and walked less during the 0.75 miles to the turn around point on the north-bound path. But, on the way back, my energy petered out, and I did more walking than running while going back to my car. Last week was a bad week as far as sleep is concerned, and it will take me a few days to recover from that. I slept well last night, and that is why my pulse rate was down to 56. The shade temperature during the run was in the low 60s (F) with a 10-15 mph breeze. A nice Fall day.

Ran a tired 1.5 miles

I felt tired this morning, partly due to a minor surgery I had yesterday for the removal of a big cyst on my arm and partly due to insufficient sleep the past couple of days. I stopped after completing the out-back of the new northbound path that I've spoken of many times. My wakeup heart rate was 55, which is good, but my energy level was low.

A wonderful 2.5 mile run!

I ran the 2.5 mile route again, and it was a wonderful run. The first phase is the 0.75 mile from the parking lot to the turn around point in the new north-bound section of the Parkway. I only stopped running twice in that distance. The first time was to look at the heron that I've seen in the past, and the second time was to pick apples from "the tree". On the way back to the parking lot, I only stopped twice, once to tell a walker about the Heron and once to take a walking break. That is a significant improvement in my running. During the 1 mile round trip going south, I walked slightly less than I've been doing in my runs.

My wakeup heart rate was 62, higher than I'd like but better than on Saturday. I slept well over the weekend, and that helped. I also was out early (2 hours after I woke up), and that meant I should have more energy than if I had run in the afternoon without eating anything.

Still having the pain I've reported in the past

When the pain first appeared, it was in my right groin, and I did extra stretches of the groin. The pain then moved to my right buttock, and I did extra buttock stretches. Now, the pain is in my right quad, and I'm doing extra quad stretches. During my run, when I stopped as explained above, I stretched my quads, and during the last mile on the southbound part of the run, I stopped several times to stretch my quads. I've only been stretching on days that I run (three times a week), and I'm going to form a habit of stretching every day, with extra stretches on my groin, buttock, and quads.

I saw the heron again

I saw the heron again. It was standing on the tree branch that pokes out of the river. The bird has always been in the same place each time I've seen it. On my way back to the parking lot, I passed a walker, and I told him about the heron. Later, I passed the walker again, and he said he saw the bird and it was beautiful. The bird has a gray body and black and white stripes on its head.

Took a rest day today

My wakeup heart rate was 65 this morning. I was surprised because it was 58 yesterday and I slept well last night. I decided to give myself a rest day and hope the heart rate is down on Monday.

I ran 2.5 miles & felt fine

I had a better run today. I added to my distance and felt pretty good during and after the run. I didn't have as much energy as I had a couple of weeks ago, but I had more than I did last week.

One thing that needs improvement is my meals. I got up this morning thinking I would go out running soon thereafter. But I got side tracked and didn't go running until five hours later. In the meantime I had no breakfast or lunch, only a few handfuls of dry cereal after my stretches.

We had our second frost last night, and it took some time for the temperature to rise to a reasonable value. The shade temperature while I ran was in the low 60s (F). The sky was sunny with a few clouds. Tomorrow will be a few degrees warmer.