Day 325

With an morning flight, I got up and hit the treadmill first thing. The body was sore, tired, after a busy week of karate and running, and so I minimized the run. Just got through it, and while the legs were tired, I felt good after running.

Day 324

Later than I wanted, but a good run. It was hard to get started, but once I got going, it felt good. Slowed down to not push too hard before karate.

Day 323

A nice steady run for lunchtime. Felt great.

Day 322

A nice steady run, felt good just cruising along. I would have run longer, but work got in the way.

Day 321

After dropping Delaney off at the Food Bank, I worked a bit and then went for a run. I was out in Elizabeth, so I headed to Evans Park. Delaney played football there last year and it's a nice park with a few football and baseball fields.

I ditched the shirt and keys, and ran about 10 laps around the football field, enjoying the sunny day. It wasn't too hot, and the run went fine, but the legs were slightly sore.

Renumbering - Twice

I check the blog every month or so to be sure that I've been numbering my days correctly. It seems as though 2 or 3 times during this streak I've missed a day for some reason, and so I need to change things. Last night as I was logging my run, I did the mental calculation out to 1 year and it seemed wrong. I then went and checked the first day of this blog and thought I was way off.

So I did the wrong thing.

My first step was to start counting down on the days, seeing where I might be wrong, and sure enough I had skipped a couple of days in June. I'm not sure how it happened, but I was two days off. So I began renumbering posts, to correct the days.

Then I did the mental calculation and again things seemed wrong. I opened Excel and started with the Day 1 date in one column and "1" in the next. I did a +1 to each and copied that down 400 days. That gave me a reference and when I checked it, I was 1 day off.

Needless to say I realized that I was thinking 356 days, not 366 in my head. Once I did that, I realized that I'd missed a day completely in May as far as logging, but the Nike + saved me (along with MapMyRun.com). They both had the data, and so I logged that run.

Then I corrected 2 others that were around that time and started renumbering posts, again. Fifteen minutes later I was done and caught up. I tend to blog most days, but there are times I'll skip a day since I'm busy and depend on the Nike+ to keep me up to date. I probably need to make sure I pay more attention to that.

I knew I hadn't missed a day of running; it's the blogging that I mess up sometimes.

Day 320

A long day of baseball and running around, but after I got home, I went down to slog through a run on the treadmill. I started with a slow steady pace and it wasn't too bad, but I was definitely tired today.

Day 319

After a day of chores and cutting some grass, I went for a run on the treadmill. I struggled to get going, and felt tired the whole time, but I did manage to pick up the pace a bit as I went.

Day 318

A nice lunchtime run, pushing the pace a bit. I started slow, but kept it up and felt good on the run.

Day 317

A nice steady run. I started a little fast, and then decided to slow down, make a steady run rather than a faster one, and focus on letting my legs heal a bit.

Things felt good at a slower pace, no tightness, no pain.

Day 316

Day 315

Felt OK today on the run, which was good as my knee was sore last night. Went on a nice steady pace, slowing down near the end to try and take it easy on the legs.

Creeping Up

When I got my Nike + sensor, I started logging my runs over there. And I created a "run every day" challenge as well. It was a public challenge and anyone could join, with their miles starting to count from when they joined.

Since the challenge started, there have been 36 people that joined, but only 29 logging miles. The newest person, or the lowest miles is someone with 2.25 miles. The leader, who isn't me, has 749miles. I think there's something wrong that I'm not leading my challenge, or even in the top 5. I'm 8th, with 276 miles.

I've been slowly creeping up, and it shows a bit of the turtle v hare philosophy. I started as #12 pretty quickly in February (a month in), but have slowly been creeping up. I caught a few people, to move into 8th, and I've been chasing #7 for some time. It's a lady in Great Britain, and she has 286 miles, so I'm only 10 back.

Pretty good considering when I finally got to 8th I was 30 miles back. I got within 12 one time before, but she went on a tear and got back ahead. Her last run was 11 miles, so if she runs with any frequency, she'll stay ahead of me. But I do think that I'll catch her at some point. We might seasaw back and forth, but I think by the time I hit a year I'll be in 7th.

It's silly, and it doesn't mean anything, but it's a little goal, one of many, that keeps me going.

Day 314

Back to the lunchtime routine, felt good overall, but I didn't push it. The hamstring is still tight.

Day 313

The right hamstring felt tight today, not sure why. So I stretched a bit more, and then took it easy, a short run before baseball.

Day 312

Kind of a lazy day, with chores to do outside, but I went for a nice treadmill run before facing the sun. Too many bugs outside to run there.

Day 311

A good run for the afternoon, nice and steady, legs feeling good, a steady pace.

Day 310

Day 309

A shorter, easier one on the treadmill. No leg pain, but I held back and didn't stretch my legs.

Day 308

A nice night for an outside run, though I wish I'd used bug spray. I was slightly miserable on the way back, with lots of bites on my legs.

I started up the driveway and immediately felt the pull of my groin, so I slowed down and just jogged. I didn't quite do my 3 mile run, but I felt good enough to do 2+.

Seventh Place

In my challenge on Nike Plus, I crossed into 7th place today. I passed Emmy from the UK, whose last run was 11 mi. That was a couple weeks ago and either she's not logging on Nike +, or she's not running.

It's a little thing, but chasing someone down, however slowly, is motivating. I remember running 5k runs and I'd often try to keep pace with a person, or slowly try to gain a few steps on a slow runner ahead of me. I'm not the fastest person, but I can keep a good pace, so I'd get to overtake people that started out too fast all throughout the race.

Not that I didn't get overtaken, but trying to keep up with someone close to my pace was a good motivater.

The next person is 24 miles ahead of me, and I'm not sure how often they run, but I'll see what I can do.

Day 307

I felt much better today, walking without pain. That's a long way from healed, so I decided to take it easy. I put a heating pad between my legs for 20 minutes to warm up the muscles, then I went for a slow job on the treadmill. I was watching "Gran Torino" and getting into it, but it felt OK to cruise along at an easy 5.5mph.

Now I have ice on the leg, and it's a little sore, but miles from where it was yesterday. The big problem moving forward will be trying to take it easy until this heals.

Sucking Wind

I wouldn't have thought it would matter, but after 8 days of running at sea level, I struggled my first day back outside in Parker. I'm at about 6400 ft, so a significant difference, but still, only 8 days?

I felt strong in Maryland, running up short hills (30ft of gain) easily, and taking in lots of oxygen. My normal 1.5 mi run felt like nothing. Even the long run felt pretty good, with my legs getting tired before my lungs.

However back in Denver, I did two days on the treadmill, felt OK, and then went outside for a 3 miler. Before I was at the turnaround, I could feel myself struggling to get oxygen on the slight uphills. These are probably the same 20-30 ft altitude changes along the road, but I could feel it.

Makes me really appreciate how strong altitude can make your body, and how quickly you can lose it.

Day 306

Perhaps the greatest challenge to the streak came today. We had a 9am baseball game, and I was late getting started (plus I forgot my Nike + iPod), so I didn't run before. In the 2nd inning I tweaked my groin on the right side, and it hurt the rest of the game (glad we played only 7).

I got home, relaxed for 30 minutes and then was going to cut grass, but I decided to run first. I wanted to get it done, so I could relax later. I went downstairs, forgetting to even change. I had in shorts, and started my walk at 4mph, which was painful. I pulled off my phone and wallet, and then got up to 5.5, slowly jogging along.

It was painful. The first 6-7 minutes hurt, with me making a halfway hobbling jog along. Finally things started to warm up and hurt less, but always hurt. Still, I managed the mile and then stopped.

Ice on the groin now and then a hot bath and fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Day 305

I've run quite a bit this week, about 14 miles before today including 2 3mi runs and a couple 2 mile ones. That's not a ton, but it's more than I've done in most other weeks. With an early baseball game tomorrow, I just did a quick one today.

I felt good, legs not tired, but I reigned myself in.

Day 304

A nice long run outside today in the 90F weather. I did my regular 3mi run and while I struggled a bit with thirst, I felt good on the run.

Day 303

A late day run, after finishing work, and it felt good. A steady jog along for 2 miles.

Day 302

Back to the treadmill. After a long run yesterday, my legs were tired, so I took it easier today and just ran a steady run while watching some Star Trek. I felt good during the run, but I could feel tired legs when I walked upstairs.

Day 301

It's a beautiful day outside, hot, no wind, a good day to go out. With things drying out, I decided to take my long run outside. I did the regular run down the gravel road to the second bus stop for the kids.

And struggled. Back in the thin air I was sucking wind, but I made it. 3 miles.

Day 300

Back to work, and a quick one at lunch. Back to the treadmill to save time, and because it was slightly muddy outside.

I felt good, and the legs are definitely doing better now that I'm off pavement for a few days.

 

Another Milestone

I hit 300 days today, which seems like a big milestone to me. I've been counting down for a couple weeks since I knew I was getting close, and it was a little exciting for me to go running today.

I thought about making this one special, and even considered going for a 3 mile run to mark the day, but I've been pounding on asphalt and cement for 8 days while I was in Washington D.C. and my legs need a break.

So, despite the desire to go harder, I held myself in check, sticking to my plan, and listening to my body. I went 20 minutes on the treadmill, but took it easier than I could have.

I really feel like a year is easily within reach now. 65 days left, and I'm looking forward to each one of them.

Day 299

Back at home, hitting the treadmill in between chores. It felt good to be on the treadmill, definitely easier on my legs. If it warms up and dries out tomorrow, I'll hit the trails around here.

Day 298

The 4th of July and I'm heading home, so a quick run around the local neighborhood while Kendall sleeps. Glad this is the last day on pavement for awhile.

I felt good, but my legs were tired, and I could feel the pounding.

Day 297

Back on a treadmill in the hotel. Another quick one since we need to check out and head back to DC.

Day 296

Heading down to Richmond from DC, so just a quick one so I can get on the road. The legs are definitely tired after the long run in the park yesterday, so I cut this one short a little.

Back on Pavement

I'm running on pavement this week, with no treadmill available and being out of town. With kids i the hotel, I'm hesitant to go far, or be gone long, which means no car trips.

So I've been running in the local neighborhood, mostly on the asphalt, which I think is easier on the legs than the sidewalk. At least this study shows it to be better. So I have a 1.6mi loop I've done, but each day I can tell that my legs are tired.

The first day I did run the sidewalk, but since then, with tired legs, I've tried to stick to the road instead and that's helped. Today I went to a park, but their trails were asphalt, though likely not as hard packed as a road, and I did OK there. I'm a little afraid to run on the grass, not knowing if there are holes or uneven surfaces and not wanting to risk an ankle turn.

I miss my treadmill, and gravel roads and can't wait to get home.

Day 295

I had more time today, and wanted to try something different, so I headed out to Centennial Park in nearby Columbia on a recommendation from MapMyRun.com. I parked, talked on the phone for nearly an hour, and then went out.

I wasn't sure of the route, just picking a trail, and ended up running outside the lake a little bit before finding the route around the lake. So I ended up a little further, a 2.7mi run instead of the 2.4 around the lake. It felt good, and I did OK, but it was asphalt, and my legs got tired about 2/3 of the way in. No breathing problems, but the body was tired, so I took it easy.