Day 113

It's the last day of 2008 and I finished the year with 113 days of running. Today I decided to go outside and run with the weather being beautiful.

2.95mi
27:00min (+ warmup/cooldown, which I didn't time.)

I don't like the cold and I hate the wind, but it was calm, or nearly so, and warm, so I got outside with shorts and a t-shirt to run. I was slightly chilly getting started with about a 4-5mph wind in my face, and when I passed snow on the side of the road I was thinking perhaps a jacket or long sleeves would have been better, but when I turned back I was nice and warm. The sun shining. This was a nice winter run.

Day 112

1.3mi
14:00min
255cal
2.0 incline

I definitely didn't want to run, but I wasn't worn out. However we skiied today and got back around 7:15pm, so it was a long day.

Day 111

The knee feels better, but I’d still like to hit skiing tomorrow if possible, so I decided to take it easy.

1.52mi

16:00min

296cal

2.0 incline

RICE and ICE

Running definitely takes a toll on your body, as I guess, does every physical activity. The key, to me, as you get older is to moderate it and adjust the levels to match your current fitness and state.

Still, injuries will occur, and while I don’t think I’ve gotten any while running the last 100+ days, I have had to run with injuries from other parts of my life, notably ankle, hamstring, and knee issues. They haven’t been bad and I try to assess as I warm up and start running if I’m OK or doing more damage. So far none of the latter.

So what do you do?

I always learned in sports medicine, mostly when being treated for something, that RICE was the best idea.

• Rest
• Ice
• Compression
• Elevation

It’s a formula I’ve tried to follow, and as things have hurt, I’ve put an ice pack in a wrap I have, put it tight on the ankle/knee/leg, and then lain in bed. It’s not really elevated, but I haven’t had serious injuries.

When I was rehabbing my shoulder in college, I also learned WHEN to do this. Obviously right after injury, but not just then. You want to continue it later in the day, 15 minutes on, 15 off.

But not in the morning. I learned that as well. As you get going for your day, and you need to use the body part, warmth and heat are better. I haven’t done that part, but again, no serious injury. Instead, I move on with my day, and after I’ve exercised, I’ll add ice again the next night.

Seems to be working so far.

Day 110

The knee was a little sore while kneeling and stretching before I ran, so I decided to take it easy.

1.4mi
15:00min
274cal
2.0 incline

Started season 1 of Star Trek, The Next Generation, which Santa brought me. Wasn't quite done with GI Jane, but I've waited 3 days and wanted to get started.

Day 109

I have a sick girl, and after two longer runs, I went a little shorter today, a nice steady run.

1.43mi
15:00min
227 cal
2.0 incline

Day 108

Another nice run, taking advantage of the light work day (and light personal day).

1.9mi

20 min

370cal

2.0 incline

A good steady run, no fast sections.

Day 107

Christmas day, a great day to run. Nothing else much to do, so I decided to go a bit further before relaxing and icing down the knee. It feels better, but I want it fully healed by Jan 5 when karate starts.

1.92mi

20 min

374cal

2.0 incline

Day 106

A nice run on Christmas Eve, before heading out to run some errands.

1.43mi

15:00mi

280cal

2.0 incline

I ran a little faster, moving at 6.5 for most of the run, and felt pretty good. Tia came down and we had a conversation, me breathing easy at the slightly higher pace.

Day 105

Trying to recover a bit after a rough night at karate and a slightly sore neck. Went a bit slower for some of the run at 5.0mph

1.6mi

17:00min

313 cal

2.0 incline

Day 104

I have a karate test tonight, so I decided to take it a little easy.

1.3mi
13:30min
226cal
2.0 incline

Getting Conservative

A friend asked me when I was going to run more than a mile or a mile and a half. I said I wasn't sure, and I'm really not.

I have an active lifestyle, karate 2-3 times a week, snowboarding once a week if I can, I'd like to get back to lifting regularly, and so my body doesn't get a day off outside of the running. Plus I'm a little worried about baseball in the summer.

Plus since I have to think about running tomorrow, I tend to be a little conservative today, not pushing things too hard.

This isn't a sprint. I'm not training for a 5k, 10k or marathon, I'm trying to run everyday, build a habit that keeps me healthy, strong, and motivated. Getting up and moving for 15-20 minutes every single day feels good right now, even when I'm sore.

So I don't want to jeopardize that by pushing too hard on any particular day. Getting through 100 days was a big accomplishment. I think I might push up to 2 miles on some days, but I'm not sure I want to go much further.

Still, when it warms up, I wouldn't mind a 5k now and again.

Day 103

I felt OK when I started, but the neck is a bit sore, which makes it hard to run. I ended earlier than I might have because of that, but still a good run.

1.45 mi
15:00min
282cal
2.0 incline

Day 102

Still going. Felt much better today after a bunch of ice on the knee yesterday.

1.61mi
17:00min
302cal
2.0 incline

Am I Swollen?

The left knee has been a bit sore for a couple weeks. I thought I stained it snowboarding and then with karate as when I bend it, it feels a little sore. And when I wake up in the morning, it's definitely stiff and doesn't want to move.

So am I swollen? Can you tell which one it is?



It's the left one, which is on the right in this picture. It hasn't bothered me when running, as long as I stick to a straight line, so it hasn't slowed me there. We'll see if I make karate next week and snowboarding after that.

The good news is karate closes for two weeks after Monday, so I'll get a break to rest.

Day 101

Trying a slightly different pace out. I'll blog more on that later.

Struggled through this one. I've had a headache all day, got work dumped on my at 3:00 today that I didn't expect, and was struggling to get down there. Plus with relatives in town, I was very tempted to blow this off.

1.63mi
17:00min
306cal
2.0 incline

It's now an obsession. 101 days

Day 100

Quite a milestone in my mind. Sore knee all day, so not a long one.

1.4mi
15:00min
264 cal
2.0 incline

I think I'm definitely on a streak now.

Day 99

After a short skiing day, a sore knee which Delaney kicked with his snowboard, I got it done so I could relax.

1.3mi
14:00min
226cal
2.0 incline

Breaking the Body Down

At our annual Christmas party for ex-JD Edwards folks, a few friends asked me about my running. They were wondering about my motivation and how I was doing. Was I worried about my body.

Absolutely I am.

I'm a big guy. I have a large upper body, thick legs, not exactly built like a runner. More like a linebacker. I've had issues with ankles and knees most of my life, though I think a lot of that is that I've pushed too hard in my training, harder than my body can take. Typically I've broken down after a few months of running.

My ankles hurt as often as they don't when I first get out of bed and limp around. My right knee is sore as we speak, stiff after some nights of karate. I've pulled lots of hamstrings over the years.

But I felt that way before I started this running streak and I don't really feel worse. And as I've run through some nagging injuries or pains, I've started to feel better. They've healed themselves even as I'm using them.

One of the reasons that I typically go 1.25-1.75 miles is that I don't think that's a lot more than I might walk, and I walk every day of my life. I figure an extra mile isn't really breaking things down too much and I do slow down on those days when I feel worse. I do try to listen to my body.

If I tried to build up to running 5 miles a day I don't think my body could take it. Even if I took 2 years to get there. Instead I'd like to build up to an average of 2 miles, perhaps doing 1 mile on days I have other stuff planned, save 2 for the off days, and still give myself a nice easy 1 mile day with nothing else going on.

I'm amazed that I have gotten as far as I have, and I'm looking forward to going further.

Day 98

Fourteen weeks of running. I still amaze myself that I've gotten this far. And it feels pretty good. I cruised through the run today, though I didn't push it with karate coming up later.

1.5mi

16:00min

282 cal

2.0 incline.

Day 97

Still a little under the weather, but this run helped before lunch.

1.46mi
15:00min
276cal
2.0 incline

Day 96

Feeling run down today, a little sick, but the world marches on. Ran a bit slower today, more at 5.2 rather than 6.2 for most of the run.

1.47mi
16:00min
277cal
2.0 incline.

Day 95

A short one with scouts and various errands.

1.31mi
14:00min
247 cal
2.0 incline

Day 94

My knee is sore and skiing didn't help. So I have a new routine for the next few days: stretch, run, stretch, ice. I used ice last night at bedtime and it helped, and again after running today.

1.6mi
17min
316 cal
2.0 incline.

Day 93

Post skiing this was a struggle.

1.32mi
14:00min
257 cal
2.0 incline

Day 92

A short one, trying to get it in before Girl Scouts and editing podcasts.

1.33mi
14:00min
226 cal
2.0 incline.

Day 91

Thirteen weeks in and only the second time that Tia and I exercised together. We both went downstairs this afternoon, me before shuttling kids, her before leaving for Atlanta. She got on the elliptical and I ran.

1.71 mi
18 minutes
334 cal
2.0 incline

We started "Weekend at Bernies", which was a trip to see the 80s styles.

Day 90

I can't believe I made it through 90 days of running.

I felt tired today, so I took it easy, no pyramids in there and I actually extended time by 2 minutes longer than I normally would have with tired legs, but I dropped to 5.2 for that time before the cool down.

1.6mi

17 min

312 cal

2.0 incline

My legs were cold today as well. It wasn't freezing in the basement, but I put on shorts and was working and podcasting in the basement for about 45 minutes before I ran and I could feel it. Cold legs were hard to get going and they didn't really warm up and feel loose for 10-12 minutes.

Day 89

1.74mi

18 min

343 cal

2.0 incline

I really didn't feel like running today after a late lunch, quiet afternoon, I was ready to lay around and watch football. Instead I powered through it.

Day 88

This was a quick one, in between the stress of moving kids around and trying to get some work in.

1.44mi
15:00min
280cal
2.0 incline

Day 87

I didn’t feel like doing it, especially after a long lunch and working, but I decided to not wait until later when I really might miss out. A long, steady run at 6.2 for the most part. I did go to 7.2 for a minute.

1.64mi

17min

320cal

2.0 incline

Not Just Me

A friend that's been following my chronicle sent me this link from Fox Sports on another guy that's been running for a long time. His daughter works for Fox now and she's remembering how he's run for 20 years, and yet still runs 10 miles a day.

That's far beyond me. I know my body won't take that and my guess is Dr. Simon is a bit of an athletic freak, like Dennis Rodman. His body can probably take the pounding and effort, and he might be able to hold things in more moderation. I have a hard time running below 6mph, doesn't feel like work to me, and this is partially a work/effort thing and partially a streak I've got going.

I don't know how long I can go. I have struggled a bit in the last week on a few days, but others have been easy. Getting in a run while skiing was tough, and I'll have to see how that goes. I had a fairly injury free baseball season this past year, but I'm not sure what the future will bring. And there's always karate. The further I go, it's always possible I'll end up with a injury there.

Still it's good to see that someone's family doesn't necessarily see them as a complete freak, and finds some inspiration in there. Perhaps one of my kids will feel that way about me.

Day 86

A leisurely run before lunch. Not sure if I’ll make karate tonight because of the snow, so I went a little longer.

1.57mi
16:30min

307 cal

2.0 incline

Felt good.

Day 85

A quick one in between shuttling kids and a Cub Scout meeting.

1.32mi

13:30min

256cal

2.0 incline.

Day 84

Overdid it at karate last night, almost ready to throw up, but I recovered nicely this morning. With nothing else tonight, I went a touch longer today.

1.7mi

17:30min

330 cal

2.0 incline.

I did 3 minutes (non contiguous) at 7.2mph, running the rest at 6.2. I feel pretty good.

Day 83

Back in my routine and since the run was my first exercise of the day it felt good. I managed to coast through it pretty well, but didn't push too hard with karate coming tonight.

1.43mi

15:00min

277cal

2.0 incline

Side Note: I need some new movies. The Bourne Supremecy, while a good flick, has lots of talking with relatively little action. Since I can't hear that well with the treadmill at 6+mph, I depend on things happening. Might need to rent a few movies soon.

Day 82

We got back from vacation at 8:30, unloaded the car, one kid in bed, one in the shower, and I went running.

1.3mi

14:00min

257cal

2.0 incline.

Good to be back at a "low" altitude.

Day 81 - Winter Park Day 3

I was thinking I was feeling energietic, we didn't ski a lot, I could do more.

I couldn't. I tried a 1.5incline and 6.2, but had to go down to 1.0 in a couple minutes and 6.0 in another. Still I huffed and puffed my way through it. I felt better by 10 minutes, but was still struggling a bit.

1.3mi
14:00min
156cal
1.0 incline.

Day 80

Running at altitude is hard. After skiing for a little over half a day, I changed at our condo in Winter Park (9,000+ ft) and then went over to the Winter Park Athletic Club. After getting access and paying for 2 days, I got on a Bodyguard treadmill, a little lower quality than I've been running on, and got going.

I knew I'd be tired, and the altitude might affect me, so I set a 1.0 incline and tried 6.4, but that didn't work. I huffed and puffed at 6mph for 8 or 9 minutes and then went up to 6.4 again and finished off.

1.4mi

15:00min

244 cal

1.0 incline.

Day 79

Leaving town in an hour for a skiing vacation, hopefully skiing today in Winter Park. So I got up early for the run.

1.3mi
14:00min
256cal
2.0 incline

Running in the mountains in winter will be challenging.

Day 78

Starting week 12. Legs, especially the upper backs of the calves, have sore muscles. Took it slow and steady again. I like the 6.2mph pace.

1.42mi

15:00min

277 cal

2.0 incline

Finished Planet of the Apes. Need to search out a new movie for the next week.

LifeFitness 95T

While I was in Seattle, I got to run on a LifeFitness 95T treadmill and it was really nice. It's a large, commercial quality treadmill, and the ones at the top of the Seattle Sheraton had an additional workout screen added to them with interfaces for TV, iPod, and MP3 players.

I was skeptical, but I turned on the personal trainer for my first run. It was interesting in that some virtual avatar was there encouraging me along. That along with the virtual track, showing my progress around (4 laps/mile) and it helped pass the time. Unfortunately the TV wasn't plugged into my treadmill because I got just static when I tried.

The next day I took my iTouch up there and plugged it in. The have an iPod bottom connector, not a 2.5mm plug, and so you get all your playlists and things on the screen. That was cool, but honestly there isn't a scroll wheel, just a series of buttons, so you want to just pick a playlist of artist and let it run. Trying to change things (other than forward/backward) while running didn't work well.

It's an interesting high tech workout. There are other tracks, including a cross country, hilly 5k track that I didn't run, but I used it as a reference during one of my runs, going 2.4k or so.

The deck felt well, the motor kept the speed up well, and overall it was a good treadmill I enjoyed running on.

Eleven Weeks

I've been running for 11 weeks today, 77 days, and I'm amazed. I never thought I'd have a streak this long. I joked about getting a Nike Plus when I hit 100 days, not sure that I'd actually get there.

Now I can imagine actually getting there. If I can get past the skiing days over the next month, I'll get there before Christmas.

Over 11 weeks, I've run through some pulled muscles, including sore ankles, pulled calves (slightly), pulled hamstrings, and a pulled groin this week. By moving slow, steady, and keeping my speed under control.

I can actually imagine getting to a year now, though that's a long way away. Moving through ski season, more travel, and baseball will be a long journey.

Day 77

I pulled a groin muscle last night at karate, so I took it easy today. A nice, steady 6mph lunchtime run.

1.28mi
14:00min
251cal
2.0 incline

11 weeks!

It's All Relative

I've noticed in trying to run while out of town recently, and then again back at home, that when I start my warmup, which is 2 minutes at 4mph, it feels fast. I have to hold onto the side arms sometimes and I'm racing to keep up to the pace of the treadmill until I can get to the 2 minute mark and start to jog.

However when I finish my run, and then go into my 1:30 cool down, again at 4mph, it feels leisurely, like I'm strolling along.

Speed is all relative. I watched some guy in Seattle running at 8mph and it looked like he was coasting, whereas I probably look like a lumbering rhino at that speed. However with my long legs, maintaining a 4mph pace is fine, while that gets my little girl into a slow jog.

I can tell what kind of day I've been having by how that first two minutes feels. When I've been sitting around or working at my computer, it feels fast. If I've been walking around doing things, like feeding horses or working on fences, it doesn't feel so bad.

I wonder if that's the case with other runners?

Day 76

I found my running and shoes and the routine is back. Or close, a little late today.

1.5mi

15:30min

292 cal

2.0 incline.

Day 75

A lazy day, including me not finding my running shoes, so I used an old pair and ran a bit longer, but easier today. I did do two non-consecutive minutes at 7.5 and felt great, an easy run.

1.77mi
18min
344 cal
2.0 incline.

Day 74

Trying to fit one in between errands and Delaney's birthday party tonight.

1.32mi
14:00min
258 cal
2.0 incline

Good to be back on my treadmill.

Day 73

Up early to run this morning at 7 before heading to the airport. I wanted it done before I left Seattle, but couldn't log it until now.

1.5mi
15min
269 cal
2.0incline

day 72

1.57 mi
17 min
302 cal

Day 72

Forgot to post this last week without access from the convention center. I had the notes on my iTouch with the data.

1.55mi

17min

302 cal

2.0 incline

Day 71

I was sick this morning, tired when I came back to the hotel, but I couldn't sleep, so I went running. Good logic, huh? But it worked, and I feel better.

1.52mi
16:00min
277cal
2.0 incline

For the first time in Seattle, I didn't have any trouble breathing and felt good when running. The 15 minutes came easy.

Day 70

10 weeks!

I'm liking these early morning runs. Today I was on the top of the Sheraton, 35th floor, running while looking NE out over Seattle. Not a bad view.

1.55mi
16:30
252cal
1.5 incline

Day 69

I wasn't sure I'd ever get here. One day from 10 weeks, it's the week of the PASS Summit, and I'm still running. Early morning, huffing and puffing a bit, sore left hamstring, but it loosened nicely.

1.43mi
15:00min
169 cal
1.5incline.

Day 68

It was early, first thing again that I ran. I slept in a hoodie, so I was warmer and felt better. But I didn't push it, not sure how much of a walking day I'd have.

1.44mi
15:00min
171cal
1.5 incline

Day 67

A new city, a new timezone, a new treadmill. Got an early morning one in before heading out sightseeing.

1.44mi
15:00min
169 cal (?- not sure)
1.5incline

I forgot to check the incline and it was about 3 or 4 minutes in that I raised it. It's early here and I felt it, so I didn't push the run too hard. I struggled through about 9 or 10 minutes before finding my groove and running through it. I went up to 7.4mph for a minute around 10 minutes and struggled.

I'm slightly sick, a check cold, and my chest was tight, so this wasn't a great run at sea level.

Day 66

Starting my trip to Seattle with a run before heading to the airport. An early morning one.

1.23mi
13:00min
240 cal

Day 65

Back to the midmorning routine, at least for a day. Felt good to get moving this morning.

1.31mi
14:00min
250 cal
2.0 incline.

Day 64

An afternoon run. Later than I wanted, but I felt good pushing through it.

1.44 mi
15:00 min
280cal
2.0 incline

Day 63

7 weeks of running and I feel good. Had a massage today and all the aches and soreness from yesterday's run is gone.

1.58mi
16:30min
308cal
2.0 incline

Two Months

I thought about writing this at 60 days, then at 61, since both of those are what most of the two calendar length months are. I guess I could have written it at 59 days since February brings us two months with that length, but I decided to go for 62 days, the maximum length for two months.

I have to say I've very proud of myself for getting this far. I've heard that two weeks is the time it takes to make a habit, but I still had to force myself to run through some pain at that point. After 3 weeks it seemed I had a nice stretch where it was easy to run, I started to get them done during the day, I figured out how to get it done on the road, and felt good. Then last week I pulled some muscles and was tempted to skip a couple times. But I persevered.

I don't feel like I'm in great shape, but I do feel like I'm doing something every day and combined with karate, I think I have a good plan for lifelong health. I'm not sure I can keep running forever, but finding 20 minutes to go get exercise every day and building that habit is a good one.

I can start to see how people do this. My wife wasn't sure anyone could do this for years and years, but I've had what I considered a pretty good hamstring pull and still could run through it. A lightly sprained ankle probably would not have stopped me either. Without a catastrophic injury, which I haven't had in a long time, I think I could run most every day.

Day 62

I started feeling like a cold coming on last night. Sore throat, tired, a little woozy. So I got about 10 hours of sleep and while I'm still under the weather, it's not too bad. I decided to try a lunch run and get things kickstarted.

1.43mi
15:00min
280 cal
2.0 incline.

Day 61

A morning run before I get going. From working in bed to moving on the treadmill.

1.43mi
15min
280cal
2.0 incline

The cho pat strap appears to be helping on the right. The leg felt better, though when I stretch I can feel it tight behind the knee.

Day 60

Almost two months and another hard one. After working in the yard, Kendall's soccer game, dinner with a beer, and Saturday night grocery shopping, I decided I needed to hit the treadmill as soon as I got home.

1.33mi
14:00min
260 cal
2.0 incline.

My knees and hams felt better, but the left ankle seems sore. Have to keep an eye on it and take it easy for another day or two.

Day 59

Pulled the left hamstring last night (slightly), twisted the right knee somehow, probably round kicks. The neck is slightly sore, tired, but I forced myself to try this afternoon.

1.21 mi
13min
237cal
2.0 incline

Passing the Time

It's been 8 weeks of running (actually a little more now) and in that time I've had a few runs at the gym while out of town, a few in town before karate, one near the house, but the majority were on my treadmill here in the basement. Over the 8 or so hours I've run here, I've passed the time once with my iPod and the rest of the time with movies. I've rewatched:

- The Matrix
- Goldfinger
- The Fantastic Four
- The Matrix Reloaded
- Hoosiers
- Live Free or Die Hard
- Goldmember
- Austin Powers
- and part of Vantage Point.

Having a TV in front of the treadmill is great. Music works at times, but honestly I find that staring at the same scene is hard and it's hard to zone out. I get get lost in a movie at times, even when I can't hear it well, and pass the time. A few of the longer runs have been because I've had a movie going.

Day 58

A short one with karate tonight, but after a late run yesterday, I wanted to get one in early today.

1.5mi
15:00min
292 cal
2.0 incline

Day 58

A day run before karate. Taking is easy.

1.4mi

15:00min

Day 57

1.28mi

13:30min

250cal

2.0 incline

Tonight would have been the night to stop. Out all afternoon, out with kids, get home at 8:45, tired, a touch of work to do, not good eating, a cup of coffee in my belly at 7:45pm, definitely an easy night to lie down and not run.

I made myself get up and move. The neck is sore, but I’m glad I did it.

Day 56

Slipped it in before lunch.

1.45mi

15:00min

283 cal

2.0 incline

Moved the cho-pat strip to the left leg. That one felt good, but I missed it on the right one.

8 Weeks

I’ve been running continuously for 8 weeks as of today and it’s been interesting. For the most part I’ve been able to incorporate this into my day without a hassle. There have been a few days where I’ve run late at night or struggled to fit it in between the things in my day. A couple times I had to inconvenience myself a bit to slip the run in, but for the most part, across 2 trips, numerous kids events, and general life here at the ranch, I’ve made it work.

In that same time my wife has started and stopped a few times, mainly since she’s busier than I and has other priorities. Still it’s inspiring to me that I’ve kept it up.

My totals for the 8 weeks:

79.3mi

13.8 hours

I left off the calories as I’ve done enough running away from my treadmill that the count is pretty far off. I might just stop tracking them since it’s very inconsistent.

Day 55

Double nickel, another short one to save my legs after working in the yard and karate later.

1.22mi
13:00min
228cal
2.0 incline

Day 54

1.39 mi
14:30 min
271 cal
2.0 incline

A hard one today after out of the house working all day on chores.

Day 53

I dropped Kendall off at soccer and decided to take advantage of this 70F November day and run a loop near Lowes. I hadn't mapped it, but was hoping it was > 1 mi.

It was, 1.5mi, as you can see from the route below. I think I was about 18-20 minutes on this.

Day 52

Just a short one between skiing and trick-or-treating. No time for more.

1.16
12:00min
227cal
2.0 incline

Day 51

The downhill slope to 100 days.

1.26mi
13:30min
247 cal
2.0 incline


Took it easy with karate tonight.

Day 50

A milestone day for me. 50 days! Jammed for time, so I ran before a late lunch, just fitting it in there. I did two sprints of 7mph to push, but otherwise watching the legs.

1.35mi
14:00min
263cal

Seven Weeks

It's been seven weeks and I feel OK. My legs are definitely sore, and adding in karate last week and this has been rough. I'm hoping I can push through it, but I think I need to learn to slow down a bit at karate until I build a bit more strength.

I was surprised how well I could run last night before karate and how quickly I recovered. The endurance builds quickly and I really enjoyed running. Even though it felt like a long time, I could drop into the groove as I was going, counting in my head to track the time, and I surprised myself how quickly and easily I moved around Parker.

I've been alternating legs with the cho-pat strip, trying to head off issues. We'll see if I can keep going, but I am definitely a little motivated to hit day 50 tomorrow.

Day 49

Slipped a run in between all the kid stuff tonight and trying to get work done. A quick one, legs a little sore after 2 miles last night pounding on the sidewalks.

1.26mi
13:30min
247 cal
2.0 incline

Day 48

I was jammed up for time, so I decided to take my stuff and run before karate. I got the kids settled, Delaney in class, and I'd mapped out a route around the block near the school. I felt good and it was easy to run. At the point where it felt like I was coasting well, not breathing hard, feeling the way I felt 10 years ago when I was running a lot for training.

I decided to skip my map and extend it, thinking the map couldn't be right. Remapping now shows it to be 2.0mi. My guess on time is 20 minutes. The route is shown below.

Precor 956i

At the Embassy Suites in Orlando that I was staying at, they had Precor 956i treamills with TVs built on top of each one. It seems like an option, and it had nice controls for changing channels and things.

The treadmill, however, which seemed new, wasn't something that I enjoyed. I usually run at about 6000 ft near Denver and this is sea level, so I expect to feel differently, but the first one I used felt sluggish, maybe even .2-.5mph slower than it was reading. I also had the calorie counter feeling like it was slow.

I set the speeds and incline the same as my treadmill in Colorado, and the distances looked OK, but it felt very weird. They looked fairly new, not spanking, but not older like some of them I have seen in health clubs.

The second day I tried the other treadmill here, same model, and it felt slightly better, but still sluggish. I wasn't thrilled with the overall feel of the treadmill, though my legs felt fine after the runs (immediately) and the next day.

I wouldn't buy one of these.

Day 47

Definitely getting colder. I went to the basement to run and barely was sweating by the end of the run. This was a tough one, traveling half the day, helping kids, tired, not really in the mood to run, but didn't want to quit today.

1.37mi
14:30min
268cal
2.0 incline

Day 46

Sore knees and I'm exhausted, but I stopped by the hotel before heading out to run.

1.21mi
14:00min
156cal
2.0 incline

Day 45

A bit of a struggle to get going today. My eyes hurt at lunch, felt puffy, I felt tired and sluggish, having stayed up too late. But I have commitments tonight, so I needed to get it done.

I jumped on the treadmill again at the hotel, not wanting to waste time driving around for a route. It's threatening rain, which is my excuse for today. I tried a different treadmill, though it felt slightly slow again. The calories are reading much lower than I expected as well, but I noticed it asked for age and weight, which I didn't put in. Perhaps I put that in my treadmill at home, so maybe that's the calorie difference.

Once again I felt better once I was about 8 or 9 minutes in and decided to push a bit longer even though I was tired. I had started my run at .14 mi again, going to 6.4mph, but after a couple minutes I was struggling and slowed to 6.2. Later I realized I was set at a 2.5 incline, so maybe that was it.

1.67mi
17:30min
207cal
2.5incline

I also put my legs in the hot tub afterwards for 10 minutes.

Day 44

A long day traveling, too late to run outside, at least for me, in Orlando. Decided on the treadmill, which felt slow and off. Many, many less calories here at sea level and on a different treadmill.

1.43
15:00min
177cal
2.0 incline

Day 43

Everything is sore. Two nights of karate really added up, more stretching, kicking, etc. Mostly my arms and back, but even my legs.

1.42mi
15:00min
227 cal
2.0 incline

Day 42

1.28mi
13:30min
252cal
2.0incline

A short one before karate. I was going to run outside, but it's raining.

Day 41

I want to start karate tonight, and so I decided on a slow, easy run. Ran at 6.0 instead of 6.2 and no high speed time.

1.28mi
14:00min
250 cal
2.0 incline

Left foot is a little sore.

Inclines

I ran for years at a 0% incline on treadmills while training indoors. I lived in Virginia, which is relatively flat as well, and I didn’t notice it much, though I wasn’t checking much. My speed increasing outside seemed to correlate with being able to push faster on the treadmill (when I had a 20 minute limit at the gym), so I thought everything was OK.

Then my wife told me a few years ago that running at 0% was like running downhill and not good. So I would put it at 0.5% when I thought of it, but that didn’t happen often, and I didn’t worry about it.

Recently we’ve been sharing the treadmill at home as my wife tries to do the every day running thing with me. And she tends to run at 2%, which I didn’t notice at first, but one day I hit the wrong button near the end of a run and saw that I had been running at 2% and wasn’t really any more winded. Running 1.2-1.5 miles isn’t a lot, so perhaps it would make more of a difference if I ran more, but since I don’t, who cares.

I started tracking my incline, but I was curious if it mattered. So I searched around and found this analysis. The conclusion is that running at 0% seems to be like track running, which is really what I’d like to simulate. It cites work done in a couple books and at the low speeds we run, even up to 15mph winds don’t seem to affect us, which is one of the reasons given for running at 1-2%.

The author says that you should run at an incline as needed for your training, not for any compensation for running inside.

This page is interesting in that it says 1% incline adds 4% more effort. Not much for any workout, but over a lifetime, that’s a lot of extra calories. Means I can still enjoy pizza!

Day 40

A short one.

1.56mi
16:30min
292 cal

Day 39

A little longer, a morning run before football.

1.65mi
18:00min
343cal

Fell good. My right knee/shin has been slightly sore the last couple days and I forgot to wear the Cho-pat strap again. Hopefully I'll be OK tomorrow.

Day 38

A quick run before lunch.

1.52mi

16:00min

297cal

2.0 include

Watching Surfwise :)

Day 37

The lunchtime run is a nice routine. I’m starting to enjoy it.

Today I stuck with a steady run and I’ve decided to add incline to my tracking as well. It’s something that I never paid much attention to, but my wife like using it, so I’m going to track where I run.

1.46mi

16:00min

285 cal

2.0inclince

Day 36

My legs were sore after some light lifting yesterday, so I kept it steady at 6mph. The sore legs didn’t hurt me, but I didn’t want to take chances.

1.43mi

15:30min

280 cal

Five Weeks

Today is 5 weeks of running, far and away the longest time I’ve ever continuously worked out. I’ve always had days off and now I’m just doing light and medium days. No heavy ones so far.

That might be the best way to do this since without a day off you can’t really recover that much. I suppose I could go heavy one morning and then wait until late the next night. Add in a massage and hot tub and that’s sounding like a decent idea.

In any case, I’ve totaled things up for now. Still aiming for 47 more weeks in a row.

Weekly Totals:

9.82 miles, about average

104 minutes

197 calories. Less than a Big Mac.

Cumulative totals (7 weeks)

49.47miles

509.4 minutes, about 8 1/2 hours of running.

Day 35

Another lunch run, long and slow. I did get up to 7.5 for two minutes, but I wanted to lift with legs a little, so I took it easy for the most part.

1.6mi

16:30

314cal

Owning a Treamill

We bought a treadmill two years ago to combat some of the Colorado winters. Both my wife and I were trying to get into shape and we had enough cold, windy days that we thought a treadmill would make a nice Christmas present to ourselves.

It was as the week of Christmas we got snowed in for 3 days, we bought the treadmill the first day we got out and then promptly got snowed in again a few times that winter.

This year I've started this streak, primarily on the treadmill, and I've enjoyed it. In fact, of the first month of running, I've done all but 1 day on the treadmill. Even on a recent trip to Indianopolis, when I had great weather and was thinking of running outside, I used the Bally's treadmill instead.

Why?

Part of it is time. The treadmill is always here, even late at night and it lets me get the run in and then move on to the rest of my busy life. It's efficient to come downstairs, warm up, run, and then go cool down with the kids or my wife or go on with the rest of my life. Outside I tend to go a bit longer, since I don't have an exact point that's a mile, and I struggle a bit more since we have some big hills here. Either I'm struggling up them, or pounding hard down them.

Part of it is that I like watching TV while running. I can feel like I'm doing two things at once, and get distracted a bit. I used to run around some parks and that was fun, I could just run without worrying about anything.

That was one reason I didn't run in Indy. I was in a business area, lots of concrete and sidewalks, I didn't have time (or a car) to find a park, and so for now, I thought it was more fun to run on the treadmill, watch TV, and let my mind drift. Outside I have to pay attention, especially when I'm going up and down sidewalks.

As I travel more, I'll look for some places to run. Already I know I'll have a car in Florida and I like Orlando, so I'll map out a route there, probably the same thing in Seattle, though that will be hard to do given the weather up there in November.

Day 34

I like getting this out of the way early. Went a little harder today, did 2 min at 7.5 instead of a steady 6.2. Feeling OK, could have done more, but trying to take it easy and plan on lifting tomorrow.

1.56mi
16:00min
304cal

Day 33

It's miserable, lightly raining, foggy, misty outside, so I got the run done early today, starting "GoldMember" as my entertainment. A quick one

1.31mi
14:00min
227cal

Day 32

Fitting it in around work on a rainy Saturday.

1.42mi
15:00min
277 cal

A good run and I had to hold back and not try to push too hard on the knees.

A Month of Running

I've completed 31 days of running today, consecutively, the most I've run in a row ever. I've surprised myself that I've been able to do it. Even with some busy days, a trip to Indy, and the beginning of bad weather, I've managed to run every day.

Tia says that it's hard to quit now, but I've had some soreness and I wonder how long I'll be able to go. I had a sore knee when bending down, but I wore my cho-pat strap a couple days and I feel better. I've even run through some sore ankles and they've felt better.

It's been hard to maintain easily. I've often run just a mile, enough to build up a sweat and get my heart beating. I've found it hard to rein myself in and gone some longer distances a few times, closing on 2 miles, but I haven't wanted to hurt myself, so I've really worked on just doing the mile slowly. The last few days were like that.

I think it's not a week to week thing, now that I've passed 4 weeks, and it's moving to a month to month thing. Or maybe it will be trip to trip. I have one at the end of this month, and if I'm still going, it will be 45 days. The trip after that will be close to day 60, which will be two months and very exciting.

But it's still a day to day thing and I have to make an effort to find time to run every day.

One interesting thing today in Jubak's column on investing. He mentioned one thing to make your retirement money last longer is to get into shape, get more healthy, and hopefully avoid large health costs when you're older. This is one way I'm doing that.

Day 31

A month of running!

Didn't wait too long today, electing to go before I eat lunch.

1.26mi
13:30min
238cal

Day 30

Ran out of time earlier, didn't get home from football until almost 8. Still made it.

1.36mi
15:00min
266 cal

Day 29

Legs are sore, especially the shins a bit. It has me worried, so I'm going to keep an eye on it and go for some shorter, slower runs for awhile. I'm also going to try running a night and the next morning and then laying off for 36 hours.

1.3mi
14:00min
254cal

Day 28

4 weeks of running. I feel good.

1.54mi
16:00min
290 cal

15 Minutes At A Time

We have a our treadmill in the basement, mostly because we have space and it doesn't disturb anyone else when it's down there. We have a TV built into the Reebok model we got (I don't recommend that), but you have to look down to watch it. I didn't mind, but my wife hated it.

So I knocked together a shelf unit to hold our old TV. We put our 31" tube model down there, so I went for sturdy rather than aesthetic.

In any case, it's nice to watch TV down there while running and it helps to pass the time a bit rather than staring out the wall or out the window. I run with music at times, but it's more motivating and distracting if I know I can see something in front of me.

My wife watches her horse training tapes, trying to be more efficient with her time and learn a few things. That works out well for her, but I'm not that interested in those. I tried watching some sitcoms we have on DVD (Heros, Northern Exposure), but 15-20 minutes of those leaves you hanging more often than not.

So I moved on to watching movies. I tried "The Matrix" first, one of my favorites, and since then I've gone through "The Fantastic Four", "Goldfinger", "Hoosiers" and now "Iron Man", each of them 15-20 minutes at a time as I run. It seems that matches up well with the chapters and I haven't had much issue re-watching some parts. I tend to pick action movies since dialog is hard to hear and you want something light, but I might try some comedies as I run out of things to watch.

I recommend trying a TV near the treadmill, even if you like music. You can always have an iPod or something playing in there, but being able to pop on a movie is great.

Day 27

Back at home, on my treadmill. Too windy outside to run comfortably for me.

1.58mi
16:min
293calr

Day 26

A rough start first thing in the morning, but I got through it. Struggled through the first half, but then felt better. Almost ran more, but decided the pounding last night was hard and didn't want to hurt myself.

1.4mi
15:00min

Day 25

I made it to Bally's just in time. I walked in, gave him the hotel pass and he said they closed in 10 minutes, at 6pm. Yikes! I begged for a couple more minutes and got upstairs to run.

1.44mi
13:30min

I had to cut the warm up short by a minute, but I ran a bunch at 7mph and felt good. Much easier to run at sea level.

Day 24

Indianapolis, near a mall and not a lot of time, so I didn't experiment outside, maybe Sunday. I went next door to a Bally's, forgot my iPod and ran looking out the window, suffering to an episode of Maury. I ran for 10 min at 6.2mph, jumped to 8 for 2 minutes and felt good, so after a minute at 6.2 again, I went to 7.0, then back to 6.2 before cooling down.

1.78mi
18:00min

I checked my heart rate when I was halfway into the 7 and it was 172, then when I dropped from 6.2 to 4 it was down to 147, then 133 a minute later. Not too bad.

Day 24

In Indy for the weekend. I made Andy take a break so I could go run before dinner. Went a little long since running at sea level is always easier.

1.78mi

18min

No idea on calories. Using a strange treadmill in Ballys.

Reining In

The other day my wife and I went running together outside. We don't do it that often, mostly because of our schedules, but also because we run so differently. We have different paces that we like and I have a hard time slowing down sometimes to her level.

Not that I'm a lot faster, just that I like to run at a quicker pace for exercise. She's quicker in the sprint for sure!

In any case, we had a nice jog, me holding back to her pace for the most part, but I asked her on the way back if she wanted a quick segment. She was the one that told me a quick minute or two during the working really pays dividends, and I'd been doing that on the treadmill. She wanted to, so we decided to go from our mailbox to the first loafing shed on the right, likely a good minute run and about 1/8 of a mile.

We got to the mailbox and took off, her ahead of me at a good pace, but only slightly as I was trying to build my steady 8-8.5mph stride. We got about halfway there, about 30 sec in and she pulled back to a jog saying she wasn't ready for that. I kept going, counting the minute in my head and making the loafing shed and then jogging slowly back until she caught me and then we continued home.

I was worried she was hurt, and she said that she felt she almost was. Her legs weren't ready for the pounding yet and she needed a few more weeks to build a good base. I felt fine, but the next day felt a little more sore than normal. Granted we might have run close to 2 miles, and I wasn't at all winded, but I was still worried about the effects for the next few days. After all, I'm in this for a year, not for a few weeks.

In the past I've struggled to run at reasonable paces for a long time. As I get stronger, I want to push myself more, but I've also broken down my body quite a bit and often had to pull back from running for a few weeks here and there. I'm trying not to do that this time, going slow and really limiting runs to 1.5-2 miles and even less if I can.

It's easy to get over confident, something we humans seem to do. We get confident, sometimes overconfident and push things too far. I know I've done it before and seen others do it as well, not just in running, but almost anything people try.

A heart rate monitor might help, and perhaps that would keep me from overdoing it too early in the process. It's been a few weeks and the legs feel strong, I just realize now that I need to rein myself on and prevent injury.

Day 23

A bit of a hurry to get to work on my presentation, so I got this out of the way early.

1.23mi
13:00min
240 cal

Day 22

Slightly sore legs, but they loosened up.

1.4mi
15:05min
273 cal.

Mapping Runs

My wife found this site at one point and showed it to me, but since I wasn't running, I didn't pay attention. However I wanted to run outside today, so I decided to check it out:

www.mapmyrun.com

It allows you to use a real time map to plot out your run and it gives you the distance, which is cool. Saves me driving around with the odometer, and it allows me to get to places I couldn't easily measure before.

I actually used this the other day to map a run outside. My wife and I were thinking to run together and while she wants to do the run every day thing with me, it's more of a hobby for her and not as serious as it is for me. I'd like to get on the streak for the USRA, so I want to be sure I'm going at least a mile.

Her plan was to run for 20 minutes, which should do it, but I wanted to mark things down. So I used the site above to map out a run, ensuring we were going about 1.5 miles and then we ran what I'd mapped, which took about 20 minutes.

She was right, but I was sure.

Three Weeks

I'm almost a little surprised. I had a hard time getting out there Saturday, and I thought the current streak might end there, but I made it out there. Now I'm 3 weeks in and kind of surprised. I figured I'd be broken down a bit by now.

It's very inspiring to reach a milestone like this. Every 7 days gets me a little more excited and closer to that 365 number that I can submit.

Totals
Week 3: 10mi, 110 min, 1596 cal
Overall: 19.8mi, 213 min

Day 21 - 3 weeks!

I did another easy run, slow, steady pace, trying to preserve the legs for the long term. Kept a 6mph pace through the mile, added a 6.4 for the last minute just to stretch.

1.4mi
15:10min
243 cal

Day 20

I'm impressing even myself.

A slow, easy run. I wasn't in a hurry, but was looking for a bit of a break after yesterday.

1.28mi
14:00min
250 cal

Day 19

I got to run with my wife and kids, for at least part of it. We tried for a family outing, with the little kids riding bikes and Tia and I jogging. They got tired of bikes and jogged with us for a few minutes before they walked back to their bikes. It was a short out and back down the road, and I guessed the distance using a web site that I'll blog on tomorrow.

20 min
1.5mi (conservative estimate)
250 cal (slow run)

Day 18

An evening run, even after a margarita at lunch.

1.45mi, 15:00min, 283cal

Day 17

Finally got an afternoon run in. A longer, slower run (for me).

1.7mi
17:11min
330 calories.

And Tia said my belly looks smaller!

Day 16

Just finished, late practice and I'm beat.

1.23mi, 13min, 240 cal.

But I still made it. Another late night run.

Week 2

I completed my second week and the need to finish two weeks was what motivated me to run at 9:30 last night after the kids were in bed. I know I've never run two weeks in a row solid, and it feels like a good achievement.

Totals for Week 2:
Mileage: 9.8mi
Minutes: 103
Calories: 1534

Overall Totals:
Mileage: 19.2
Minutes: 201
Calories: 1534 (didn't track week 1)

Day 15

An afternoon run, but not outside. I regret that slightly, but I started "Hoosiers" on the treadmill last night and wanted to get back to it. It's interesting watching movies 15 minutes at a time.

1.6mi, 16:30, 304cal

Day 14

Two whole weeks! Woo-hoo!!

Short one, lost 45 minutes looking for keys, football, girl scouts, horse feeding in the dark, started my run at 9:20.

1.3mi, 13:30, 253 cal.

Running Together

I had planned on running with Tia, my wife today. We haven't done that in a long time, and we haven't had a lot of time together the last month or so. She's been traveling, and we are a busy couple with 3 kids.

So we talked a bit and were going to try and go between her conference calls, but it wasn't working out, she ran long on one, had another pop up, my eating wasn't matching hers, and so I hit the treadmill, knowing I needed to shower and get some work done before she left.

While she was getting ready she said she'd had a good Body for Life run on the treadmill. She had gone down to the basement to run right before packing. I said that I was on my 13th day of running and felt good. Not great, but I was trying something different. She asked if she should do it with me.

I said sure. It's not that we'd necessarily run together every day, but we'd try to coordinate some runs so that we had some time together. The low mile to mile and a half time frame makes it easy for us to fit it in, and moving at a nice easy pace would be good for both of us.

I miss exercising with her, running, lifting, etc., and life has been so busy, it's been hard for us to get the good workouts we used to enjoy in every day. Going with a lower threshold of a mile has worked for me, so we'll see if she joins me.

Maybe I'll even get her to blog.

Day 13

Today was a busy day, with Tia leaving town. I was thinking we could run together outside between her calls, but she got busy and we couldn't get meals coordinated, so I decided to hit the treadmill. Ran a touch more.

1.45mi, 16:00min, 293cal

Day 12

Had to fit on in between the Broncos game and getting new tires on the car this morning.

1.27mi, 13:30min, 230 cal

Day 11

A quick one in between grass cutting.

1.367mi, 15:00 min, 263 cal.

Feet are sore, which worries me. I'll try ice later to heal them up.

Day 10

Once again in a hurry. Fed horses and then had 20 minutes before I had to leave for softball. Pushed a bit and my legs are sore.

1.225mi, 12:00min, 235cal

Plus about .5 miles of running at softball back and forth and a 3 run home run. :)

Can You Run Every day?

I've always heard that running every day was bad for you. It seems that so many running magazines, articles, sites, etc. stress the need for days off. And I can see the wisdom in that. Running is hard and it's a lot of stress on your body.

In previous years, I've tried to build running routines, but I've often been training for an event, or to get stronger, and so I've pushed hard. Too hard I think as I've often had issues in the 6-8 week period where my shins start to hurt and my body breaks down a bit.

However most of us walk every day and use our bodies, so can running every day be that bad? I wrote in my Inspiration post that Jim Garrett had been running for 28 years. When I went looking for streaks, to see if he was unique, I found runeveryday.com, with some 30+ year streaks! It's neat to see, especially as the lowest person on the list is 384 days. I wonder if I can get to that.

This time I'm going for the low denominator, shooting for between 1-2 miles each day, at a reasonable pace. I might run some longer stretches, perhaps a few 5k races, but really I'm going for a steady, long term pace and then using baseball, karate, weight lifting, etc. to build my body.

Day 9

A quick one again before football. I wanted to run outside, but as usual, the day got away from me and so I decided to get one in before we left.

1.4mi, 14:30min, 260 cal.

Changing Things

I decided to separate out the logs and thoughts into separate categories so that anyone can ignore the logging if they're not interested.

The Routine

I wanted to run at 11:30, got busy and then when I was free at 12:30, I was too hungry. So I ate and planned for 2:30-ish. Forgot about it and the next thing I knew it was 3:14 and time to go get kids.

That's how a lot of my days go, trying to match up the window of time when I'm not too hungry with work to find time to run. I haven't made it enough of a priority and I'm not in enough of a routine to do it consistently. I think I need to pick a time and stick with it, adjusting on the road. That has always worked well for me and when I had to drive to an office, I planned my meals so that I'd be heading out to the gym or for a run at 11:30 every day. I definitely like that.

My normal treadmill routine is based on the Body For Life workouts I used to do. It's modified for time, but as I get in better shape, and my legs get stronger, I'll work a few of these in there. Now, here's what I do:

1 min stretching (both calves and then touching toes)
2 min warmup, 4mph - This is where I walk quickly, get blood flowing
1-10 minutes, 6-6.5mph - Depends on how I feel. I might start at 6.2 or I might creep the speed up every minute or two. This is where I do most of the work and start to build a sweat.
2 minutes, 7-7.5mph - A kick at the finish, making sure I work.
1 minute, 6mph - Starting to cool down
1:30-2:00, 4mph - The cool down

If possible, I then stretch while watching TV or reading to cool the legs down. As always, lots of water.

Day 8

A longer, slower run today. I wanted to add a few minute minutes since I had time, but I didn't want to overdo it. So I ran at 6.2mph for most of the time, moved to a two minute burst of 7, then back to 6 to cool down a bit.

1.8mi, 18:30min

Starting week two and it feels good.

Week 1 totals:

9.3mi
96 min.

Day 7

5:10 - Arrive home
5:13 - check email real quick.
5:15 - change clothes
5:18 - Start running
5:30 - Finish running
5:35 - Take off for football practice with Delaney.

It's day 7 and I'm pretty proud of myself. I don't think I've ever run a full week in a row before. Usually I take at least one day off, even when I was doing a lot of triathlon training. Of course then I'd done probably 7-10 miles in a day at times.

However this was a concerted effort to do one mile a day at a minimum and I've done that for 7 days in a row. I feel good, and honestly I've been delaying too much most days because I know I can go take 15 minutes and run a mile if need be at night. A few times it's been 8:30 or 9:00 at night when I've run. Still better than my wife, who ran last night at 10:30.

This is a good goal and now I'm aiming for 2 weeks. I'm thinking that I'll increase distance in a week or two, but now I know that I'm still building a base and I don't want to go too crazy and hurt myself with longer runs when I don't need them. My normal 15 minutes is getting me moving and sweating and I feel stronger. Today I actually started running at 6.2, increased every couple minutes, doing the last couple a 7mph and didn't feel winded at all.

I'm not sure what I'll do when karate starts again, probably do a lot of one mile runs.

Day 6

Pushing slightly harder, but I was in a hurry, so I had to end early.

1.5mi, 15:00min.

I pushed my over 7mph for a few minutes, however in a schedule to get Delaney to Scouts and get his run in, so I cut things short. Felt good though and strong.

Delaney did his 1.1mi in 15:00.

Day 5 - Feeling Strong

The ankle hasn't hurt today and after some yard work and then a Cub Scout rocket launch, I wanted to get moving before it got too late (and so I could watch Sunday Night Football).

So I went down, knowing this is 5 days and not wanting to push too hard. The legs still need to gain some strength and endurance. So I did a fairly standard slow mile, but then pushed the last minute up to 7mph.

1.4mi, 15:00min.

Day 4

Slower today.

1.3mi, 15:00 minutes

I was out in the yard working on a project, pounding nails and roofing for hours. Definitely felt like skipping today.

Day 3

Not wanting to wait too long, I shot a podcast and had my shorts and shoes already to go. On the treadmill with rain all day outside.

1.5mi, 14:30

Feeling good and surprisingly the ankle actually feels OK.

Day 2

After working all day, running to the ranch store for a panel, taking Delaney to football, I got home at 8:15. Tired, hungry, I was tempted to skip, but I said 1 mile, 12 minutes, make it happen.

1.3mi 13:30 minutes.

I made it through and I feel better.

The mile as a distance is good because it's doable even after a long day. 2 minute walk, run for 1 mile, cool down for at least a minute.

Inspiration

I was watching Hard Knocks in 2008, getting excited about the upcoming football season in the US. This season was based on the Dallas Cowboys, the team I've followed my whole life, and I really enjoyed the show.

During the second week, the show talked about the Garrett brothers that coach on the team. There's Jason, the offensive coordinator, John coaching tight ends, and Judd in the personnel group. However the thing that caught my eye was a spot on their father, Jim Garrett.

He's 78 and while the show a bit of his inspiration to his boys, they show him running at Princeton University on the track. He's hunched over, he's moving relatively slowly, but he's running. They then show Bill Cowher asking John about his Dad and his running. Apparently he's still running.

Since 1980. 28 years and he runs every day.

I was amazed by that and inspired. I thought, "why can't I do that?"

I know why it's hard, injuries, life, and more get in the way. Finding the 15 minutes to run (warm up, stretch, cool down) and get a mile in is possible, but the motivation is hard.

I was inspired, so I decided to give it a try. I went 4 days, then missed one, then went every other day for a few weeks until I hurt an ankle and then decided to take a week off. I felt bad and decided if a 78 year old man, who probably hurts at times, can do it. So can I.

So here's the blog.

Day 1

Starting off on a new goal, running at least one mile every day. I've been running on and off for a few weeks, but I decided to start this blog and motivate myself.

Day 1: 12 min, 1.2 miles