Today was a tired 60-minute run

My wakeup pulse rate was 66. That is high enough that I didn't plan on running today. I read emails and made some comments in blogs, and then I took a nap for about half an hour. After my nap, my pulse rate was 56, so I went running and completed 3.1 miles in my allotment of 60 minutes. I didn't have a lot of energy and knew from the beginning that the run wouldn't be very good. I felt OK and went slower during the first half of the run, but I was tired during the second half and took two two or three short rest breaks. I was glad to get back to my car. I saw a couple of runners on the path, several walkers, and several cyclists. It's nice to have a few great days before the dreary winter sets in.

Unlike the East coast that is bracing for hurricane Sandy to hit the New Jersey coast in a few hours, the weather in Utah was a beautiful day for running. The temperature was in the low 60s (F), partially cloudy sky, and wind gusts of 10-15 mph. I lived in Massachusetts for 17 years and know what it is like to be in the path of a hurricane: stores shelves empty, tree limbs falling on power lines, schools and businesses closed, and fear. Power outages happened every year in New England. The longest time we were without power was a week. We had a wood stove and had heat, but we had no water for culinary and sanitary use. We were able to melt snow and get small amounts of water for drinking and cooking. The back roads in Massachusetts are narrow, and tree limbs arch over the road. When we had a heavy snow or high winds, the limbs came down and took the power lines with them. I remember one snow storm in late May. The trees had new leaves, and a heavy-snow storm brought down many limbs. I remember walking outside and hearing pops all throughout the forest. Each pop was a limb breaking and crashing to the ground.


The following pictures, taken from the web, show New England winter storms.

I had a really good 80 minute run/walk

I left home about 5:30 for my second run/walk this week. The temperature was in the high 30s (F) when I left. I didn't check the temperature when I returned home, but it was snowing quite hard. I increased both the run and walk segments of my run from 50 seconds to 55 seconds, a 10% increase. I ran south from 100th South on the Jordan River Parkway, and I felt great during the run -- a relatively good energy level, and I didn't feel tired during the run and took no rest breaks. I completed 4.5 miles. The sky was cloudy, although there were patches of blue sky here and there. There was a scattering of snow falling when I started my run, but the rest of the run was without snow and with times of sun and times of shade. The sun was setting behind the Oquirrh Mountains when I reached my turn-around, and I finished the run a few minutes before it became dark. After I completed the run, I spent a few minutes stretching and then walked a short distance to my car. It was just starting to snow as I approached the car, and by the time I reached home, it was a heavy snow. It apparently didn't snow for very long, because the sidewalks outside have just a very light covering of snow.

I wore long pants and my normal 3 layers during the run, but I had no gloves and no hat. Except for my hands, I felt fine while I was outside. When I first start to run, my body diverts blood from my limbs to my body-core to keep my internal organs warm. When I was younger (my 40s and 50s), my hands would warm up after about a mile of running, but I've noticed during recent years, that my hands remain cold during the run, one of the trials of getting older, I suppose.

I've been running in the iZUMI shoes that I received for testing a couple of years ago. Today, though, I wore my LOCO shoes, because I wanted to try a pair of OrothoLite insoles. I put one in the right shoe and left the original insole in the left shoe. See my runninginjuryfree.org blog for my report on the OrthoLite insoles. I didn't use the iZUMI shoes because they already have OrthoLite insoles in them.

Another nice 60-minute Run

I ran for an hour again, using the same route I used last week.  I did go further, though, due to doing more running and less walking. I forgot both my GPS and two-phase timer, and I just ran until my body said it needed to walk. During the first 1.7 miles, I ran for 1/4 mile and then walked for about 40-50 seconds. During the return 1.6 miles, I took short walking breaks more often. I completed 3.3 miles in the hour.

My wakeup heart rate was 59. For the past couple of weeks, I've only run once a week because my heart rate was high and I took extra rest days. Except for one night last week, I've been doing pretty good in getting 7 hours of sleep each night. During the one night last week, I only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep. I went to bed at a reasonable time, but I woke up earlier and couldn't go back to sleep. We had company staying with us that night, and I may have been suffering from anxiety. Also, I knew the next few days would be busy, and that may have increased my anxiety. Last night was a good 7 hours of sleep. Hopefully, I'll continue getting 7 hours this week.

Today was a cloudy day (rain showers are predicted), and the temperature was in the mid 60s (F). A 5 mph wind was blowing from the south, with gusts up to 10 mph or so. All in all, it was a nice day for running and walking. I felt cool at the beginning of my run, but after half-an-hour, I was comfortable and was actually sweating a bit under the brim of my hat.

I like the Fall with its yellow leaves falling to the ground and temperatures in the 50s and 60s. It's a great time to be alive and outside!

A nice 60 minute run/walk

I just returned from a nice 60 minute run/walk in which I covered 3.27 miles. Today was almost a perfect day. The temperature was in the high 50s to low 60s, not much wind, and beautiful clouds in the sky. I only ran once last week, because my wakeup pulse rate went up to 63. Today, it was 58. I felt fine during the first 2 miles, but I got a bit tired during the last mile. Not so tired that I would take a rest-break or abort the run, just a bit lower in my energy level.

When I parked my car, I saw other cars coming into the parking lot. People walked from the cars to the path, and I realized that cadets from the Police Academy were coming to take their qualifying run. They have to run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes. The officials at the Academy have marked 0.75 miles with a green line across the path and the word POST next to the line. That is the turn-around point for the qualifying test. I started my run before the cadets, and I was about 1/8 mile from the green line when the first two cadets passed me. I was past the green line before other cadets arrived, and I never saw them. I went to the tunnel under 106th South and saw that the path was flooded by rain water, so I turned around. By the time I reached the green line, the three officials (wearing red T-shirts) were gone, and when I reached the parking lot, all of the cars that brought the cadets were gone, too. I finished my run by going north about 0.5 miles and back.

South Jordan City has turned off the water fountains, so during the winter if I need water during my workouts, I'll have to carry it. If I have a good drink of water before I leave home, I shouldn't need any water during my workout.

My wakeup heart rate is still going down

Today is a rest day, but I measured my wakeup heart rate to see if my 7 1/2 hours sleep last night affected the heart rate. The HR was 58. Last week it was 61-62, so it is down a significant amount. I hope it keeps going down, because I not only run better with a lower HR, I do better in my other activities. My "normal" wakeup heart rate is 50-53.

Nice 62 minute run/walk

Today was a great Fall day to be outside running. The temperature during my run was in the low 60s (F). There was no wind, and I ran in the late afternoon and had lots of shade as well as sun. I did 3.4 miles. I didn't carry any water, but I had a nice drink in the parking lot at the beginning and end of my run, and that was sufficient. I forgot both my two-phase timer and my GPS, so I just ran and walked as my body needed a change. I think I ran a little longer than 50 seconds and walked a little less than 50 seconds.

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I don't know how soon we'll get snow, we've had a light frost for the past few nights, but I'm enjoying the crisp Fall days. I didn't run last week, because my wakeup heart rate was above 60, but I did run today because my heart rate was 59. If I continue to get  a good 7 hours sleep each night, my heart rate should keep going down. I hope so. The days are too nice to stay cooped up in my house.

Ran/walked a nice 60 minutes

The temperature was in the mid 70s (F) when I ran this morning, and it was a beautiful Fall day to be outside. There was a slight breeze blowing, but I didn't notice it as I ran and walked. I started my hour run about 11:30 am, so most of the morning shade was gone, but there were periods of shade, and I enjoyed them; I completed 3.2 miles. Because of the Fall temperature, the periods of sun weren't bad.  I only took 2 bottles (2 cups) of water with me, and I had a drink from a fountain just before I started the run and when I ended the run. I still had half a bottle of water when I finished the run, and I poured it out before I took a drink from the fountain. My wakeup heart rate was 59 this morning, still high because I stayed up late for two nights last week and didn't get enough sleep.

I've been running three times per week for 60 minutes, 100 minutes, and 140 minutes. I've decided to reduce the length of the last two runs, giving me 60, 80, and 100 minutes, respectively. Since I don't do much racing and run for enjoyment, I'm more interested in reducing the stress on my old body than I am of increasing my distance to the half-marathon distance. I'll eventually get to the half-marathon distance, but it will take me longer to get there than I had originally planned.