Day 1086

Stuck at the mechanic all day getting new tires, so I couldn't run until later. Raining outside, so my plan of jogging down the road was killed. Had a nice treadmill run, steady, not too hard.

16:00
1.59mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64940296

Day 1085

Great run today. I was going to go outside, but decided to run quicker so I could get a few other things done. I started quick, and got my first mile done in 8:59 and the second done about 8:50. Good times for me.
I also pyramid’d the last 4-5 minutes, going 30 sec at 7mph and then 30sec at 6.4mph.

22:00
2.32mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64672684

Day 1084

Good, steady run today

20:00
2.04mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64445326

Day 1083

Two hot days in OKC and traveling this am didn't give me enough energy, mentally, to run outside. So I hit the treadmill, starting at 6.6 and I felt great. Upped to 6.7 near the end and had a good run. A couple 15s breaks holding the arms and keeping the legs moving, but otherwise a good run.

25:00
2.52mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64266062

Day 1082

Hot run today, pounding the streets outside of Oklahoma City. Felt like my legs were tanning as I ran. Wanted 2 miles, but ran out of energy.

18:44
1.89mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64122932

Day 1081

Not feeling well, and short on time, I decided to hit the treadmill in the Oklahoma City hotel. However with it locked at a top speed of 3.5, that wasn’t a great idea.
So I went outside, pounding down alongside the highway. I struggled at first, but got into it and had a good run.
21:08
2.06mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/64081354

Day 1080

Catching a cold ,and struggled to run, but once I hit 14:00, I pushed to 20.

20:00
2.0
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/63738630

Day 1079

Felt good today, and after about 5 minutes of 6.3mph, I added in some pyramids. I first went to 6.6 a few times, doing the intervals as:
1:00 slow (6.3mph)
0:30 fast (6.6mph)
After a couple of those, I upped the fast interval to 7.0mph and that felt good. The last 3 minutes I went 0:30 fast, 0:30 slow with a slow minute to finish.
22:00
2.25mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/63553684

Day 1078

A good, strong run today. Ran at 6.6 for most of it, feeling good. The knee feels slightly shaky now, but it doesn't hurt and did fine.

22:00
2.27mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/63327526

Zoning Out

The other day I was running outside, enjoying the summer weather. It wasn't too hot, nor too cold, and I had a few things on my mind. As I went down the road, following my normal route, I was thinking about a few pieces I need to write, trying to work out how to attack them and the message that I wanted to send.I found myself a half mile down the road, listening to a different song than I last remembered, and I couldn't remember seeing the last half mile pass.

I had zoned out.

One of the things that I think is important for regular exercise and training is the ability to zone out. You have to let the work, the effort, and the boring, monotonous nature of the activity fade out and let your mind take over. Until you can do that, the running (or swimming or whatever) becomes a chore, step after step.

That can be motivating sometime, and I know that setting goals and pushing through to those goals is helpful. For my son we worked on running from telephone pole to telephone pole sometimes, or making the next driveway, but at some point you have to be able to enjoy the time moving along.

That was critical for swimming, and when I found myself a few laps down the pool without remembering them, I knew I was in good shape and also finding a zone in swimming. That came easier in biking, and eventually running for me.

Now I look for those times. I have had them with other people, or with music, but for the most part they come when I'm running solo, thinking about some issue, and drifting away as the miles go by,

Day 1077

Pulled the groin at baseball last night, but feeling better today. Took short strides, slightly quicker movement to try and not get hurt. The run felt good, but I can feel the groin is still a little tight.

22:00
2.23mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/63116100

Day 1076

Shorter, steady run at 6.4mph

16:00
1.59mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62904580

Day 1075

Took it easy today, going a steady 6.3 and not pushing too hard.

18:00
1.78mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62749264

Day 1074

A nice steady run outside. Tried Runmeter and it helped motivate me to keep a pace up and run hard.

30:19
3.06mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62749486

Day 1073

Easy treadmill run

16:00
1.57mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62749590

Day 1072

Feeling better on the knee. Started at 6.3 and went to 6.4, feeling fine. still going with less distance for a week or so.

16:00
1.59mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62233434

Day 1071

Slower, less distance, taking it easy.l

16:00
1.55mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/62233700

Day 1070

Slower run outside, taking it easy.

21:30
1.93

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/61714422

Pyramiding

I grabbed a graph of my running for last month, and was surprised. I haven't consciously done anything in planning my runs, mostly listening to my body and trying to keep up with 2mi/day. If I felt good, I did try to push harder and go beyond 2 miles, but I wasn't looking back at the runs at all.

I ended up with this, almost a set of pyramids that seem to cycle almost weekly. I had long runs on the 8th/9th, 15th, 21st/22nd, and 29th. All about 7-8 days apart. That was funny to me, and naturally I went less the next day or two after those.

I think I've built a good base, and I am tempted to apply some science to my workouts, but I'm not sure I want to. The goal here isn't to run faster or longer, though I have tried to get to 2mi/day this year to see if I could do it. I'm not sure that was a good goal, however, so I'll keep on running every day, just making sure that I am listening to my body and see what happens.

Day 1069

Tired today, a little worn out from yesterday, so I went a little slower, and shorter today. Knee felt fine, though I am a little worried. Lots of amateur diagnosis today of torn meniscus.
Ugh
16:00
1.53mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/61480922

Day 1068

Good run. started at 5.8, felt OK, then went to 6.1 and a little 6.2. The knee was definitely shaky, but I bet I can do a week of 6.1 and feel OK.

16:00
1.51

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/61320336

Day 1067

Good run, almost back to normal. Ran at 5.8, up from a 5.6 start. Afraid to push it too much more.

24:00
2.21mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/61143568

Day 1066

Knee is doing better. Still sore, but I tried 5.4 today and it went OK. Good striding, though I’m moving a little quicker than normal, trying not to bend the knee much.
Managed a better distance than yesterday. Would have gone further, but slightly worried about overdoing it.
18:00
1.52mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/60923502

Day 1065

Getting better. Managed to run at 5.0mph today, an improvement. Felt comfortable, but was afraid to try and go faster.
18:00
1.42mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/60769372

Running and Diets

I mentioned recently that I don’t really track a diet per se, and instead try to better make choices every day, finding slightly healthier things to eat on a regular basis.
I also don’t really track the volume of food, and don’t mind being a bit hungry most days, but I do try to keep a rough eye on whether I eat more or less. It’s not so much for my weight or size/shape, but more that it helps me understand how much energy I’m expending. There are days that I’m working too hard in a short period, and I worry about wearing myself out, so if I find myself getting really hungry, I pay attention.
It’s one way that helps me to better understand the effort I’m making and not push myself too hard. Which can lead to injury.

Day 1064

Slow, but no pain in the knee as long as I kept at 4.6mph.

18:00
1.31mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/60539036

Day 1063

I made it through a shambling, slow, old man jog with a hurt knee.

26:00
2.03mi

Day 1062

Flew home from New Orleans early, late lunch, and then a short run today before baseball

16:00
1.57mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/60152266

Day 1061

An early morning run around University Lake again. Lots of people this time, and I took it easy, with tired legs.
20:00
2.07mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/59874882

Day 1060

Flew early to New Orleans, ate BBQ around 1, and then managed to get to University Lake around 4. I started around from the parking lot, thinking I’d get to the Cook Hotel and turn around. Instead I was there around 10 minutes in and kept going, thinking I’d stop at 15 and turn back.
However at 15 minutes it felt like I was doing well and halfway, so I kept going.
A bit of mistake as I wasn’t halfway until around 20:00 or so and it was 101F. By the time I thought I might have done too much, I was too far to turn around and kept going, mixing in some walking.
Ended up going all the way around, nearly 4mi, but I was hurting in the sun. Definitely should have had more water around.
43:55
3.93mi
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/59804458

Day 1059

Felt like pushing today, after a indulgent day yesterday at the water park. Struggled and needed a couple of 15sec supports from the arms on the treadmill, but pushed. Went 6.6 for the first 12 minutes and then6.3 to close it out.

24:00
2.46mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/59579306

Day 1058

Early run since I'm spending the day with the kids. Struggled to get going, and pushed a little, but knocked off at 20 min since I knew the body was tired.

20:00
2.05mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/59355954

Day 1057

Nice, cool run outside today with the cloudy day. No rain, which was threatening, but it held off. I zoned out, going down the road thinking about things and missing large sections of scenery. Those are the best days.

24:37
2.39mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/59197022

Day 1056

A little tired, had to slow a bit while running, but also distracted. A busy time at work and a little worried about that. Stopped because I was struggling to focus.

20:00
2.04mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/58989010

The July Totals

I closed out July strong. I made an effort to avg better than 2 mi/day and did that, ending the month with 67.18 miles run, the longest ever. For the year, that means that I'm at 422, which puts me on a 722mi pace for the year.Almost at the 730 distance I'd like to get to and average 2mi/day.

I definitely need to keep up the running across the next few months, and even increase to a good 2.2mi/day or so to up the average.

However the body feels good, legs feel fine, and I think I might be able to get there.