Day 356

I felt great, no sore feet, muscles OK, calf, ankle, all doing well. Still, as with today's commentary, one of the things is slow change and I think the last few weeks were pushing a little more than I needed to.

So I slowed down. A nice easy treadmill run, to not push it. I used my running shoes even though I was thinking to try the Five Fingers.

Nike+ Run

Slow Change

One of the things that I've learned in almost a year of running is that you have to move carefully. You can't jump mileage or speed up too quickly, and you can't over-react to pains. I've had friends ask me if the constant running is beating up my body, and for the most part I don't think it has.

But I also monitor. When I have aches and pains, I pay attention to them. I listen to my body day after day, sometimes going slower or running less, trying to see what my body tells me. Using that process, I've had my body heal itself from numerous bumps, bruises, strains, twists, etc. over the year.

If something hurts, do less, and see what happens. If it goes away, you're healing. If it doesn't, and I've had things hurt for a couple weeks, at some point I would go see a doctor and have it examined.

Day 355

I had a good, easy run on the treadmill. The left calf feels fine, but I didn't push it at all. Kept slow, and stopped at 14:00 even though I wanted to run more.

The Nike+ didn't get activated, so the totals are:
16:00min
1.54 mi

Day 354

The homestreatch.

A slow, short jog today.

Much Better

I put ice on my calf a few times last night and then went to sleep. This morning I felt better and after working for awhile, I decided to try a run. I stretched out for about 10 minutes, for what little good that did. No pain in the left calf, though it was tight.

When I got downstairs, I started slow, walking and then a slow 5.5mph jog. It felt OK, though on the verge of something pulling. I kept the steps slow, running carefully, and things went well. I set a time of 14:00minutes, and kept to that, but I'd started the Nike+ late by a minute, so it shows 15:00 total. I did my standard 2:00 cool down walk.

I think I'll be OK, though my guess that a slow day in right field would be my best move tomorrow for the last baseball game.

Day 353

Felt OK on the run, other than a sore left calf halfway in.

Injury Prone

I started the run with a sore right ankle. It was tight, and not really painful, but aching slightly after karate last night. However 5 minutes in it felt good, and I sped up a little. Then I decided that I should take a few slow days to close out the month and try to heal things up.

I ran my mile, turned around, and started back, and felt a pain in the left calf. Strange as I haven't had anything there in a long time. I shortened my stride, and slowed down, and it was better, but now it's sore, and hard to walk on.

It seems that the closer I get to a year the more little injuries that are cropping up. I think I might close out the next 10 days or so with shorter, slower runs.

Day 352

Late afternoon run today, quickly on the treadmill with kids doing homework and other things to get done. Felt great, removed the warm up/cool down from the Nike+ sync for no good reason.

Day 351

I waited and waited, thinking the maid would be done. Finally this afternoon I started the run...

and got interrupted 5 minutes it. I was a .48mi, and had to stop. So I came back a couple of minutes later and started the treadmill again, running to 1.54mi.

Day 350

A nice round number, and a nice easy run. My ankles were sore from a busy weekend, and I started out slow, but things felt good. I cruised through the run, and stopped myself from pushing too hard. I was ready to go further.

Day 349

Outside, cloudy weather, a nice run. My lungs were fine, but the legs were sore and tired. As usual, I got into it a bit by just plugging along, and by the halfway point, I felt great.

Neosporin is my friend

Actually any triple antibiotic works well. We have a few brands at the house, but they help.

Most runners probably don't have this issue, but I play baseball in addition to running and there are times when I'll slide into a base, leaving a nice selection of my skin on the ground or the inside of my baseball pants. Similar to road rash, I end up with an open scrape on my knee or shin a few times a year. If you fall while running, you'll probably get the same thing.

One thing my wife taught me is that you want to keep the skin moist. While you don't want an infection, if you shower regularly, you are probably OK there. The bigger thing is that it might scar, and that the skin tightens up as it grows back. So a little Neosporin a couple times a day keeps it softer, and it's easier to run. I don't have that tightness in the outside of the skin.

Makes for an easier run. One less thing to notice and distract me from the zone.

Clean Sensor

I thought my sensor was dead, so I ordered a new one this morning from Amazon. However I need to run, and I'd like to get outside tomorrow and Tuesday and enjoy the weather. I decided to try and clean my sensor after a search on the Nike+ site that said the sensor should last 1000 hours.

I had trouble getting the sensor out of my shoe, but a sharp knife let me pry it loose. From there It was dirty and dusty, so I cleaned off, and tried to clean out the pocket where it sits. I have no idea if that helped, but I pushed the little button on the sensor and then dropped it in the show again.

I re-linked it with the Nike+ and went on my run.

It seemed to be working again, and was calibrated right where the treadmill had me listed as the run, or at least close to that point.

Not sure if it's working, but at least I'll give it a try tomorrow on my outside run.

Day 348

A nice easy run on the treadmill. I felt good, but stopped earlier since I have a baseball game later.

Day 347

Since my Nike + sensor is dying, I'm glad I was on the treadmill. A nice easy run, 1.5 mi.

MapMyRun.com - Easy Run / Jog: Treadmill run on 08/22/2009

Shared via AddThis

Dead Sensor

At least I think my Nike + sensor is dying. I was running on the treadmill before baseball and when I checked it near the end of my run, it was reading all over the map. So my guess is the sensor is dead. I'll pick up a new one later and test it.

A bit of a shame. I've gone over 300 miles with it, but it's only been about 7 months. Seems like it ought to last longer.

Day 346

A longer run today since I have two baseball games this weekend. Felt good for the most part. A nice hot, lunchtime run.

A Little Roll

I was 13:00 min into what I planned for a 30 minute run, still heading out when I stepped funny with my left foot. It was a slight roll, and I collapsed downwards on the leg to lessen the impact. However I only stumbled and didn't stop running.

It felt a little funny, but it was warm, and I kept going, although a little slower. I was worried it was going to be hurting, but it felt OK on the way back, and after a 15 minute cool down, it still feels fine. I think I'll still add some ice.

Day 345

Afer taking it easy a few days, I'm back to a 2mi run. I was going to run outside, but as usual, work calls.

My ankle was sore last night, and a little sore tonight. Not the joint, but in the achilles, like a mild pull. So I went slow to start, but it felt good and warmed up nicely for a great run.

Day 344

Felt good on a relatively short one. I walked for 1:30 before I started the Nike+ as it was rebooting, and accidently stopped it at 14:00 instead of slowing the treadmill.

Day 343

Felt good this morning with a run inside because there was mud and wet ground outside.

Creature of Habit

I wonder how many other runners out there are creatures of habit. I thought about varying my route today, going a touch further than I normally go outside in our neighborhood. I didn't because I was thinking forward to my schedule the next few days and my legs were already tired, but then it occurred to me that I almost always run 1 of 2 routes outside.

A creature of habit!

Even when I run on the treadmill I kind of have a habit of paces and times at which I run. That got me to think back, and I realized that I've almost always mapped out 2-3 runs where I've lived and then just run those same runs over and over. I'm not sure why, but I just tend to stick to what I like, enjoying the familiarity.

Some of it may be my conservative nature. Some may be that I get to zone out and not think since the route and obstacles are fixed in my mind, but whatever the reason, I like sticking to what I know.

Day 342

What a difference a day makes. The knee feels fine, and I had a nice easy run.

Day 341

Baseball today, but decided to try a morning run again and see. Especially since I'm worried about getting hurt out there and struggling with a run. Felt good.

Day 340

Another quick one with errands to run with kids. The right knee is sore walking around, especially stairs, but hasn't bothered me on the runs.

Day 339

A quick morning run before running errands with the kids.

Day 338

I let the morning get away from me and had to race through a run before a kid errand. Felt good, though the right knee is again a little sore tonight.

Day 337

A busy day, and it's a quick one for me. It felt great, and I wore the strap on my right knee. It was aching in the morning, but didn't bother me on the run.

Day 336

Back home, hitting the treadmill late with a busy morning, I had a nice, leisurely run. I felt great, and no pain in the knee, leg, or back.

Stick to the Plan

One of the neat things about Nike + is the challenges. I wrote about chasing the people that were in my challenge, trying to catch them over time and get onto the front page (top 5) of my own challenge. I'm not sure I'll get there, but it's a measure that helps me to be motivated.

However I also had a plan to run every day and that's my goal. It's more important to me that I manage to run every day without hurting myself, and without damaging my body. I never thought that running every day was good, but after doing this for over 300 days, I've changed my mind a bit.

The thing I've also learned, however, is that you need to balance out your workloads, and your body does need rest. At least mine does, so I have to be careful. It's easy to get sidetracked and drive yourself too hard one day, and then be sore the next.

It's also easy to get excited about catching someone and try too hard to get there. Recently I found myself running over 2 miles a day, over 3 some days, to try and quickly catch someone on the list. And I noticed that my body was really sore a few times, and it impacted the rest of my life.

Using the people ahead of you for motivation is fine, but don't let them dictate your goals. Stick to your own plan, and do the best you can to catch them, without your own guidelines.

Day 335

By myself again, I headed out to the East of the campsite. It wasn’t as hot a day as the last time, but my legs were sore. They felt tired after 5+ miles of running the last couple days, and being on that hard packed gravel. DEfinitely I need to get used to outside running more.

This time I went a touch further down the road, but stopped short (and started late). I had a touch more leg pain in the left knee, I think from the running on ground and the rafting, but nothing major. I’ll need to take it easy for a few days.

19:00

1.9mi

Day 334

Another morning run, outside, this time with company. I felt great, and had a nice leisurely run.

2.44mi, 24:59

Day 333

Running outside, a country road in Howard, CO. It felt good, with only a little more altitude than at home.

20:00

2.11mi

Day 332

We leave for a camping trip today, so I was up early to get the run done before we leave. Never know what might happen.

A nice, easy run.

Day 331

With errands to run and things to go, a short on (relatively) on the treadmill. I reset the incline to 2, not knowing where it's been. Tia had it at 8 when I started, but before that I'm not sure if it's been at 2. In any case, it was a good run, felt great, no pain.

Day 330

330 has a nice ring to it, and I'm smiling ear to ear for the first time today.

A busy morning, lots of stress, and I was looking forward to a run. A little disappointed that Tia couldn't run with me, but I went out, shirtless, in the hot August sun at noon in Denver. It's almost 90, no wind, a great day to run as far as I'm concerned.

I was thinking to take it easy, a short 1.2mi run with karate tonight, but it was just such a nice easy cruise up the road that I went a mile further.

Days like this are why I run.

Day 329

Another day on the treadmill, a nice lunchtime run and a little Leverage on DVD.

I like the Wind!

Well, when it's 90+F outside!

I grew up in the Virginia Beach area, running and biking all around the area. There's a decent amount of wind, enough to enjoy windsurfing, and enough that I hated it when I was biking. Even when I was running, there were plenty of times that it was unwelcome.

We have a lot of wind out here at the ranch where I live in Colorado as well. Some days I can't even stand to be outside walking around with the wind blasting my eyes.

However on a run today, with 90F temps outside, it was a welcome blast as I ran down the road home. I felt nothing going out, and that was OK, but it was getting hot. Coming down the driveway, with a light 10mph wind in my face, it felt great!

Day 328

Back at home, a busy day, I hit the treadmill after 2 days of running outside on concrete to give my legs a break and get done quickly.

I started slow, but it felt fine, and then accidently went to 6.5 when I was looking for 6. It didn't seem fast, so I kept it up for a bit. Legs are fine, and after being at sea level for 3 days, I feel great.

Day 327

Another early morning run in Baton Rouge. This time my left ankle was sore, the achilles tight, so I walked a bit more and then started slowly. I thought I might be limping along, but after about 5 minutes or so it loosened up nicely.

I looped the other way around the lake, passing more fraternity houses, lots of walkers and joggers, and enjoyed the run. I like being near water, and it's a little inspiring to see so many people up at 7am on a Sunday running with me.

Day 326

Up early in Baton Rouge.

A 6:45 alarm, out the door at 7:03, walking along to reach the lake across the street from the Cook Hotel. I started my run North along the lake, passing the sculls out for summer maintenance and making my way around the lake for 10 minutes. It was a 4.5 mi trip around, so I turned back and finished a 20 minute, 2 mi run.