Cutting all my time-goals in half

I mentioned in a previous post that I have swelling in my legs (especially in the left leg) and that I would be reducing my goals so I would have fewer minutes running and walking. My new goals are as follows:

Rest run of 30 minutes, usually on Monday or Tuesday
Medium run of 50 minutes, usually on Wednesday or Thursday
Long run of 1 hour 10 minutes, usually on Saturday or Friday

Ran a rest run of 30 minutes

I ran a nice rest run today. I was out in the early afternoon, and the air temperature was in the mid 50s (F). The dry, warmer weather that we've been having is continuing. I also increased the time of my running segment by 20 seconds (now 3 minutes 20 seconds) and kept the walking segment the same time (1 minute). I enjoyed the run and enjoyed seeing the birds in the trees and ducks and geese and coots in the river.

Now that I'm back for the rest of the day, I will massage my legs to see if I can squeeze some of the water out of my legs. I massaged them several times during the night and the left leg was noticeably smaller when I finished. The swelling had returned, though, during the morning before I went running. My weight, when I first woke up, was down about two pounds. My wakeup heart rate was way down to 52. I consider 50-52 my normal range, so the extra sleep I'm getting by going to bed earlier is paying off.

Had a good run for 60 minutes

In the late afternoon (the sun was going down when I left home) I ran/walked for 60 minutes and did 3.25 miles. Because it was late when I started my run, I didn't drive to the Jordan River Parkway. Instead I ran about a mile along a canal trail and then continued the run through various neighborhoods, arriving home about 15 minutes after it got dark. It was too dark to see the distance and time numbers on my GPS, and I had to stop under street lights to check the numbers.

The temperature was in the high 30s (F) when I left, and it got a few degrees below freezing while I was running. I felt fine during the run and had a reasonable energy-level.

Ran 1.5 miles and then went home

I'm really goofed up in my schedule. Rather than run in the morning like I should be doing, I waited until late afternoon. I only ran 1.5 miles before I gave up and went home. My problem was that I ate lunch about an hour before I went running, and I had a hard time breathing while I was out. Eating that close to my run was a dumb thing to do. I've made that mistake many times in the past, and one would think I would have learned my lesson about eating and running. I need at least two hours between a good meal and my running. I can eat a small amount of easy digestible food before I run, such as a handful of Cheerios or a piece of dry toast shortly before I run, but not much more than that. Another mistake that I made yesterday, which actually led to my eating too much for lunch, was that I skipped breakfast.

The sky during my run was overcast, but there was no noticeable wind. The temperature was in the mid 40s (F).

Both of my legs are swelling during the day, and I've decided to cut my distance down a bit to see if that helps reduce the swelling. Most of my runs this Spring and probably Summer and Fall will be 2-3 miles, with occasional jaunts of 5 miles. I'm not too worried about the swelling, because it does significantly decrease during the night. This swelling is a new thing that started about a month ago. One nice thing that my reduced distance will allow me to do is to run longer before I walk. I'm currently running 3 minutes, and I'll slowly increase that up to 5 or 6 minutes.

Ran 2 miles today

I ran 2 miles (35 minutes) in the late afternoon. I had planned on running 3 miles, but I was getting tired and I reduced the distance. I only had 5 hours sleep last night, and I hadn't had much to eat by the time I went running. So, everything bunched together meant I was tired, and being tired meant I ran a shorter distance. Concerning the lack of sleep last night, I went to bed at my usual time, but I woke up early and didn't go back to sleep. I did take a half hour nap before I ran.

Today was a warm day for February (56F), but the sky became cloudy as the day progressed, and we're supposed to have some rain tonight. There was a light wind blowing that felt cold, but after I warmed up I felt fine. I saw a whitish duck with black lines going through its body that I hadn't seen before. For several years I saw a duck that was completely white and was larger than a Mallard, but I haven't seen that duck for a year or so. Maybe the whitish duck I saw today is a child or grandchild of that duck.... I saw lots of American Coots with their black body and white bill.

Ran 60 minutes but was tired at the end

When I left home, I hoped to run for 100 minutes, but I could tell I was getting tired and ran reduced my run to 60 minutes (3.06 miles). That was less than I wanted but more than I've been doing, so it's OK. I took a couple of rest stops on the way back.

My wakeup heart rate has been 56-57 for several days, and I'm getting a good 7 hours sleep every night (last Saturday was an exception, as I stated in a previous post)j. As long as I get sufficient sleep and don't push too hard, my wakeup HR will slowly come down to the 50-53 range.

Today was a cloudy and cold day with temperatures in the low-mid 40s. The clouds looked like it was storming in the mountains and also in the north end of the valley, but it didn't rain where I was in the south end of the valley. Our snow pack in the mountains is about 70% of normal, so we need as much snow up there as we can get. Even with less snow, the skiers are having a great time at the ski resorts that are east of the Salt Lake valley.

Ran/walked 2 miles & felt pretty good

I invited my wife to come with me while I ran and walked along the Jordan River Parkway. She is a fast walker, and she walked almost as fast as my combination of running and walking. I was delayed getting started, because I had to sync my GPS with the satellites, and this allowed my wife to get about 1/8 mile in front of me. I slowly gained on her, and I caught up with her just before our turn-around point at 1 mile. On the way back, I slowed my running just a bit so we would be together during the mile back to our car. It was late afternoon when we went out, and the sun was low enough in the sky that it was behind clouds. The temperature was in the high 40s (F) during the workout, and once we were warmed up, we felt fine.

I only had 4 1/2 hours of sleep Saturday night (7 hours last night), so my energy level was low during our workout today. I taught a class in church yesterday morning, and when I teach I often wake up early and don't get a full night's sleep due to anxiety about the class. My wake up heart rate was 58 this morning, but it will take me at least a week of good sleep to get my energy level back to normal levels. I'll be teaching this class (marriage and family relations) every other week for another month, so my running will be probably be reduced during the coming month. By mid March we'll be through with the sequence of 8 classes, and my wife and I won't teach again until new people are invited to attend the class.

While driving to the Parkway, my wife looked in her bird-book and identified the black birds with white beaks as American Coots. The picture in the book was exactly like the birds I see in the Jordan River. The book described how the Coots walk on the water until they get enough speed to be airborne, and we saw some of them doing that today.

Did a tired 2.5 miles

I could tell as soon as I started running that my energy level was low. I kept on going, though, so I could see how I felt after I had warmed up. After I reached 1.3 miles, I turned around and headed back to my car. When I got to my car, I knew I had made the right decision about reducing the length of my run. I began the run using my 3 minute running and 40 seconds walking, but as I got tired I did more walking and less running. On the way back, I probably did about 1.5 minutes each.

The temperature was in the low 50s (F), a sunny sky with beautiful clouds, and quite a few people using the Parkway. During the first part of my run, while going South, I had a 3-5 mph head wind. The wind didn't slow me down much, but it did help to keep me cool, because when I turned around and headed back, I immediately became warm and took off my wind breaker. I still wore long pants even though the temperature was in the 50s.

My wakeup heart rate this morning and also yesterday morning was 56. I haven't been recording my HR for the past several weeks because it was above 60. I was glad yesterday and today to see the HR below 60. I've been sleeping well during the past several weeks, and that contributes a lot to a lower HR.

A nice 4.6 mile run in a light rain

A light rain started just as I got out of my car.  The rain was very light, and I didn't notice it. However, the path did get wet, so I know a mist was falling. I ran/walked 4.6 miles in 84 minutes. During the last half I got tired and did more walking. I did, though, use my 3 minutes running and 40 seconds walking for most of the distance. The sky was overcast, and the shade temperature was in the mid 40s (F) when I left home and in the high 30s when I finished my run.

I parked at the South Jordan East Pavilion and went south for 2.45 miles and then returned. This meant that I went under the new bridge at 11400 South, and that gave me a better view of the Jordan River. The river has increased its level since December. In fact, the water level today was only about 8-10 inches below the peak level last summer. The water level in the river is controlled by pumps at the north end of Utah Lake, and for some reason they are releasing more water into the river than they have in the past (extra water was released last year, too, in February. My guess is that the powers-that-be are lowering the level in the lake to make room for extra water that will flow into the lake during our Spring floods.

A good start for the week with a strong 3.3 miles

Today I had my strongest run since my skin-cancer surgery three weeks ago. I ran 3.3 miles in 65 minutes, and I felt strong during the run. I used my 3-minutes running and 40 seconds walking during the run. I was out about 4 pm and the sun was just setting when I finished. The shade temperature was 38 (F) when I left home. Most of my run was in direct sun, and the warmth from the sun felt good. I remembered to take my gloves (cotton), and my hands felt fine during the run.

The doctor said no running for a week after the surgery, and I observed his advice. I've been conservative in getting back into running. I did some walking with my wife, and I did short 2-mile runs. Then last week, I did my first 3-mile run, and I repeated that today. I think that for Wednesday I'll aim for 4.5 miles, an increase in distance of one mile. 

I saw several cyclists, several walkers with dogs, and two runners. Most people are exercising earlier in the day. The weather forecast looks good for the rest of the week with highs in the mid 40s. I've been sleeping good for the past few weeks, and that really helps a lot.

For my "long run" for the week, I did 3.5 miles in 61 minutes

I was busy all day doing some graphics work to help my wife prepare visuals for her lesson tomorrow. I went out running just as the sun was setting behind the Oqirrer mountains. We have a long dusk here, so I finished most of my run/walk before it actually got dark. I  did my 3 minutes/40 seconds phases of running/walking during most of the distance, but during the last half-mile, I was busy thinking about something and not paying attention to the beeps from my two-phase timer, and I ran through a walking phase. I didn't see many people on the Parkway path, although I did see one couple walking their dog and two runners. The temperature when I left home was in the high 30s (F). I forgot to check the temperature when I got home, but I would guess it was in the mid 30s. We had a lot of sun today, and almost all of the light snow we had a couple of nights ago is gone.

Ran another 2 miles

Today was a busy day, but I managed to squeeze in 2 miles, using the same route that I used on Tuesday. Also, I didn't run until late afternoon. I missed breakfast and lunch and only had a few handfuls of Cheeros and two energy bars before I ran. I had sufficient energy for two miles, and I was actually glad that my schedule didn't allow for a longer run, because I'm not sure how much energy I would have had for a longer run. Also, the temperature was in the mid to high 30s (F), but there was a 15-20 mph wind blowing, and my body had a hard time providing energy for both my running/walking and keeping me warm. Even though I ate the food just before I went running, I didn't have trouble breathing like I did on
Tuesday.

The Jordan River was higher than it was on Tuesday.