Another great run, even if it was snowing....

About an hour after I got up, it started snowing, not just a flurry but a heavy snow. The outside temperature was in the mid 30s (F), and I knew the snow wouldn't stay on the ground. I changed into my running pants and started stretching. By the time I finished the stretches, the snow was slowing down. And, by the time I reached the Jordan River Parkway and started to run, the snow had stopped. But, after I had gone half a mile, the snow started again and continued throughout my run. After the run, I stretched and then drove home, and the snow had stopped by the time I got home. Such are Utah storms in the Spring. Short and unpredictable.

My wakeup heart rate was 58. During my 2 mile run, I ran the 30:30 ratio and felt fine during and after the run.

During my run I saw a sure sign of Spring

I saw two pairs of quail while I was running. I don't know why, but I never see quail during the winter. I do see them during the rest of the year. It won't be long until I see mothers with their young ones. Hmmm... I wonder what baby quail are called.

Another sure sign of Spring that I've seen a lot lately is the Robins. Robins are one the first signs of Spring.

The canals have water in them, about 2 weeks earlier than normal. Another sign that the water-management-people are trying to reduce the level in Utah Lake to make room for a lot of runoff water from melting snow in the mountains. As I drove past one canal, I saw a duck in the water. The duck was a couple hundred feet away, and I couldn't tell if it was male or female.

The level in the Jordan River is a couple of inches higher than it was on Monday. The rock I mentioned on Monday is covered with water, while on Monday the level was just at the top of the rock.

Under my new plan, I ran 2 miles this morning

I ran 2 miles this morning using a 30:30 (seconds) of running and walking. I felt fine during and after the run. My wakeup heart rate was 56, so my body was more or less rested. The temperature was in the high 60s (F), a beautiful day. Assuming that I don't have problems of some kind, I'll run the 2 miles again on Thursday and Saturday of this week and all next week, and then I'll decide if I should increase the distance. This time I'll be sure that any increases are 10% or less.

The level of the Jordan River is about 6-8 inches higher than it was last week. The level today was about the same as it was earlier in the Spring. There is a certain rock that I use to gage the level.

Going to practice what I preach about running

I ran 3 miles today, doing 15:15 segments. As I've commented in this blog during the past couple of weeks, I've been getting pretty tired during my runs. Part of the problem is that I'm probably not fully recovered from my blood clots. Also, when I switched to Galloway's 30:30 ratio of running and walking, I felt like I was going faster that I had been going. I've been saying for years that, since we're not competitive runners, we should run at a comfortable LSD pace such that we feel fine during and after the run. I haven't been doing that; I've felt tired during and after my runs, lately.

Currently, I feel fine up to about 7/8 of a mile, and then I start feeling tired. By two miles, I'm definitely tired. So, I think I will reduce my distance to two miles and continue to run a 30:30 ratio. When I reach the point where I feel fine at two miles, I'll start to increase my distance, but I'll use smaller increases than I've been doing. My increases have varied from a 25% increase to 17%, and those increases are all significantly larger than the 10% or less increases that historically I've been making.

So, back to two miles and smaller and less often increases, and I'll see how things go.

I feel the same with a 15:15 ratio of running to walking

Just a short note to mention that I feel about the same with a 15:15 ratio as I do with a 30:30 ratio of running to walking.

I felt a little stronger during my run today

I continued my running with another 3.5 miles. I did most of the run with a 15:15 ratio of running and walking (22 steps running and 16 steps walking). Sometimes I would forget to count my walking steps and would go more than 16 steps. I did sit down twice for a minute each time. Everything being considered, I felt better today that I did on Monday. I'm not too concerned whether I do the exact number of steps or not. Usually I do, but if I run or walk longer or shorter that is OK. The main thing is that I do relatively short segments of running or walking.

I'm keeping my distance at 3.5 miles for a while so my body can adjust to the increases in distance that I've been making. Those increases have been more than 10%, and my body has been slower to adjust than it probably would have been if I had limited my increases to 10% or less.

I'm really enjoying this nice Spring weather. The temperature in the late afternoon when I ran was in the 50s (F). A great day!

Did 3.5 miles again

I ran the 3.5 mile route again using Galloway's 30:30 ratio for the first mile and 15:15 to 15:25 for the remaining miles. The 30:30 ratio (45 steps running and 33 steps walking) means I end up running 2 miles and walking 1.5 miles. Since I've been increasing my distance, I'd like to keep my speed constant. However, I think that as my body has gotten stronger, I've been running faster. What ever the reason, I've been pretty tired during the past couple of weeks at the end of the 3.5 miles. I'm going to level off at that distance for a while so my body can get used to it.

My wakeup heart rate was 56. My weight has dropped 2 pounds, but I'm still 8 pounds over my pre-blood-clot weight.

Today was a great day with the temperature in the 70s (F). Tomorrow will be another great day, but thunderstorms are expected in the evening (I hope so, we need the rain). Snow showers are predicted for Wednesday evening.

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I was notified this evening that this blog is listed in the nursingschools.net list of men's blogs. #87 in the Aging category.

Another 3.5 miles

My 3.5 mile run today was about the same as the run on Wednesday. My mile splits were 17:01, 17:11, and 18:06. The total time for 3.1 miles was 53:55. During the first mile I followed Galloway's 30:30 (seconds) ratio for running and walking. The thought then occurred to me that a 15:15 ratio might be better since I would do less running before I walked. I tried that ratio during the next two miles, although I sometimes used longer ratios and even the 30:30 ratio due to my forgetting to start running at the end of the walking cycle. I'm actually counting steps not measuring time. I do 45 steps running and 33 steps walking for the 30:30 cycle and 22 steps running and 16 steps walking for the 15:15 cycle. I'm used to walking for 33 steps, and due to that habit I would reach 16 steps and keep on walking until I remembered I hadn't stopped at 16. I would then run more than 22 steps to compensate for the extra walking. As my third split shows, I was getting tired during the 3rd mile, and as I did on Wednesday I walked most of the last 0.4 miles of the run.

The temperature was 80 (F) when I left home in mid-afternoon for my run. Spring is finally here. If this warm weather continues, we'll get a lot of runoff from melting snow in the mountains, and we may have flooding.....

My wakeup heart rate was 57 this morning

My wakeup heart rate was 57 again this morning. That shows that my body is recovering from my "speed" workout yesterday. I had a half-hour nap before my run and a good 7 hours sleep last night.

Ran 3.5 miles today

I increased my run by half a mile and ran 3.5 miles. I also ran faster and averaged 17.4 minutes per mile. I ran the 30 seconds running and 30 seconds walking ratio recommended by Jeff Galloway. There is a local 5K race in May and another one in June that I'm considering. My total time today was 54 minutes for 3.1 miles, and if I can get my time below 50 minutes I might register for the May race.

My 5K PB 28 years ago when I ran marathons was 19+ minutes per mile, which was really good for a 46 year old guy who didn't do any speed work. My PB before my blood clot attack last year was 30:43, which isn't bad for a guy in his early 70s. If I run either or both of the 5Ks this Spring, I'll set a new PB for a guy in his mid 70s who has blood clots. Just for emotional reasons, I'd like the new PB to be below 50 minutes for the race.

I'm not doing any speed work because I'm increasing my distance. Thus, any increase in speed that I make this Spring will be due to having a stronger body.

My wakeup heart rate was 57 this morning, significantly lower than the 60+ that I've had during the past couple of weeks.

Jordan River is rising again

I noticed during my run that the level of the Jordan River is higher, likely due to Spring runoff. As I've mentioned in past posts, the water into the river is controlled by a pumping station, and the level of the river correlates to the level (or anticipated level later on) of Utah Lake.

I ran my three-mile route again

I ran the 3 miles again, but I was tired during the last half of the run. I ran two miles using a 45:30 (seconds) ratio for running and walking. During the last mile, I switched to a 45:60 ratio and then to a 30:60 ratio. I was tired during the run, and I think there are two reasons for my being tired. First, when I went from 2.5 miles to 3 miles, that was a 20% increase, and that is a big increase for me. I knew I was making a big increase, but I thought I could do it since I was running that distance before my last surgery for a skin cancer. I guess I'm getting old, and I'm not in as good a condition as I was before my blood clots a year ago. The second reason is that yesterday was a 1-mile walk rather than a rest day, and I'm not used to consecutive days of activity.

My wakeup heart rate was 60, higher than it has been on previous days, and that likely contributed to my being tired.

Took four grandchildren for a 1-mile walk

My wife and I took four of our grandchildren to the Jordan River Parkway, where I do my running. We brought bread with us, and the kids fed the ducks. Then we walked the Parkway for half a mile and back. It was a nice, warm day, and a nice day for an outing with the kids.

I ran 3 miles today

My wakeup heart rate was 53 (the lowest it's been in a year) and I felt good. I added half a mile to my run and went 3 miles. I started out running for 70 seconds and walking for 45 seconds, but during the last mile I changed to 45 seconds and 33 seconds. It was a nice day for running, although there was a 15-20 mph north wind. The first half of the run was nice, because the wind was a tail wind, but coming back the wind was a head wind, and that made it harder.

Ran with my 7-year old grandson

My grandson and I ran/walked a mile along the Jordan River. We began our run by feeding bread to the ducks. After a mile, my grandson wanted to throw sticks and rocks in the river, and we did that for a while. I finally told my grandson that we had to go back to the car because I was getting cold (my running clothes keep me warm while I'm moving, but they don't while I'm stopped). We had a nice outing.