Day 1116

Running early, looping past churches in Liverpool with a friend, going slow.

20:00
1.74mi

View

Day 1115

A run through Liverpool, UK at night, after traveling all day and arriving at the hotel at 8:00. Went for a run, got lost, ran about 25 min, and I think this is short distance, but I made it back to the hotel

2200
2.1mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/70468136

Day 1114

A long, hot, hard run outside. A flight to the UK tonight, so I got up early to get tired, and went for a long run. Had to walk in the middle once (up a hill), and then at the end.

33:48
3.2mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69922830

Day 1113

A good strong run today, despite a lack of sleep. Should have gone more, but I'll try for a long one tomorrow before a flight across the Atlantic

22:00
2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69732684

Healthy

My annual physical, 2 years late, was today. It's been a touch over 3 years since my last one, so I finally scheduled it.

Talked to the doctor about my knee, he checked it and thought I shouldn't do anything if it wasn't really limiting me. That's the same advice I got over the weekend from my brother, an acupuncture/homeopathic doctor. They did suggest I give glucosomine/chondriton a month or so and I got some over the weekend and started taking that. We'll see how I do.

Otherwise, healthy. Doctor was impressed by the running, said it was doing me good. We'll see what the blood analysis shows in a couple days.

Day 1112

A nice, steady run today. Felt good

22:00
2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69568820

Day 1111

I went outside for a longer run on a warm fall day. 80F, and I hoped to do 3mi today. I started my loop and felt good, cruising around a 9:40 mi for 2 miles, but then started to get tired. Around 2.5, I was struggling a bit. Finished 3mi barely.

31:00
3.12mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69414802

Day 1110

Good strong run. Felt like stopping early (mentally), but pushed on.

22:00

2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69236810

Day 1109

Slower run, held back somewhat.

24:00
2.39mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/69024022

Day 1008

I felt something was wrong about 3. My day just didn’t feel right and it was because I hadn’t run. My wife invited me to lunch just as I was getting ready to run, so I had to put it off.

Tired, struggling a bit with the day, so I took it easy.

18:00

1.82mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/68895352

Day 1107

A good run, a little hard since I was stressed and tired, but not too bad.

22:00
2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/68685192

Day 1006

Good run today.

20:00
2.04mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/68508450

Day 1005

Cruising down the road today. A good run on a cooler summer day

24:01
2.39mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/68508790

Day 1104

Good run. Slept in a bit, then a run while my wife did the elliptical. Not taking advantage of Austin, but it's vacation and don't want to travel around to see the city.

24:00
2.5mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/68110042

Day 1103

Waking up late, on vacation, a little lazy, but running before eating to balance things out. I felt better, but the TV wasn't working on the treadmill and I was trying to hurry, so cut a touch short.

18:00
1.85mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67932744

Day 1102

Quick one on the hotel treadmill. Big plans to get to

20:00
2.06mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67826494

Day 1101

Short run, slow  since I ate lunch late, an hour before I ran. Had to stick w/ 6.1 most of the time.

18:00
1.75mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67645726

Day 1100

A milestone and I should have run earlier. Raining when I got home and had to hit the treadmill for a long one. Did the 30sec fast/slow alternates for most of the run until 19:00. Felt hard, but good.

28:00
2.94mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67499828

Day 1099

Easy run today

22:00
2.23mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67501496

Variations

I’ve been running steady most of the last three years, rarely doing more than changing my speed once or twice during the run. That hasn’t been much of an issue for me, but recently I hurt my knee and decided that I ought to try and vary things a little as I build back some strength.

I used to do the body for life run, which was a brutal 20 minutes.

It’s a pyramid workout, and when you get to the level 9 and 10s, it’s hard. If you’re trying to work at that level, you are exhausted, and not just physically. Mentally pushing yourself is hard.

I decided to try a few variations on my own, not building up to that level, but working harder.

A few days I did a 1:00 at a slower pace, around 6.3-6.3mph and then a 0:30 slice at a faster pace, varying the speed slightly, depending how I felt. Sometimes the faster pace was 6.6mph, sometimes 7.0mph, sometimes 7.2mph.

The other pyramid I tried was a two stage pace. 0:30 at 6.3, 0:30 at 6.7, and 0:30 at 7, alternating. Getting a break, but not a lot of a break.

Those are OK, but they require more thought. I prefer a 1:00 on, 1:00 off, and having a reminder to just change on the :00 time. Easier to handle when I’m running, especially with Runmeter, which gives me an update every minute if I want it.

Day 1098

Struggled to get going today. I was looking for a break at 3min, but toughed it out and around 10 min started to feel better.

24:00

2.43mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/67036994

Day 1097

Quicker one, and an odd one. I stopped on an odd number, which I never do on the treadmill. Hopefully I won't create any bad luck with that one.
Felt good, steady 6.5mph

17:00
1.71mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/66823742

Day 1096

Good run late in the day, after a hectic day.

22:00

2.26mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/66723912

1886.5 miles

Today I complete a milestone. Three years of running every day, at least a mile a day. Unlike most of those days, today was a struggle, with me feeling tired, my mind wandering, and unable to get into the zone. Every step was a step to me, and I remember them all. Not a good run.

However I persevered. I wanted to walk a few times, and would plan on walking the next hill, but I never did. I slowed down and kept jogging. I wanted to turn around early, but I didn’t. I went my fairly regular route, and added a few more steps on each of the turnround points (there are two).

One thing I’ve learned in three years is that I’m a grinder. I work through the stuff that I need to, even when I don’t want to. I’ve learned that I like regularity, with just a very small hint of variation once in awhile.

I’ve learned I feel healthier with regular exercise, and that running every day is not only possible, but it helps me monitor my energy level, my happiness, and my effort level. Both in life and work. I can tell when stress is getting higher, when I’m pushing too hard.

I’ve also learned that exercise is my hobby. I sometimes lament that I don’t spend enough time playing guitar, or working with wood, but ultimately I realize that my activities (baseball, snowboarding, running, etc.) are a hobby.

Three years, running every day, has taught me about myself, and at the end of every day, I feel like I’ve accomplished something, no matter what else has happened.

It’s been a good three years and I’m not sure how long I’ll go, but I’ve enjoyed the journey so far.

Day 1095

Hard run, struggled to get going and move through it, but persevered. Wanted to walk a few times, but decided to just slow down and jog.

29:30
3.08mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/66480624

Re-numbering

Tomorrow is 3 years of running, but I had it as day 1092. That math doesn’t add up, so I went back and looked. I realized I had two “Day 841”s and then found two errors.

So I’m renumbering things to get them correct. Keeping track of this daily should be easy, but every once in awhile I mess it up.

Day 1094

A great run. A little pressed for time, but I pushed a bit at the beginning at 6.5 and felt great. I moved to 6.7 for the rest of the run and ended up with a good time and I feel great.

24:00
2.56mi


http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/66313290

Day 1093

Great run today. Cruised along.

22:00
2.31mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/66135764

Day 1092

Outside, with rain threatening, but enjoyed a nice steady run down the road. Runmeter flipped out on my, which was annoying. Getting paces of 10:20 when I felt faster was bad, but then getting 23:00, followed by 7:13, then 28:00 during the run distracted me.

Corrected with a mapping and ended up:

25:13
2.52mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/49441924/

The Year So Far

I really hurt my knee in August, flaring up what I think are torn ligaments in the knee. Likely they've been torn for years, but I did something to hurt them early in the month and had a number of slow days. That with some stress made me slow down the running.

Near the end of the month I felt better, and pushed a bit more, trying to make up a little distance. I ended up getting to my 2mi/day average. Barely.

August was 62.27mi. That brings my year total to 484.42, which is pacing me at 60.55 mi/month or 726 for the year. I want to get to 730, so I'm just below the average. A good September and October should get me above the pace, then we'll have to see if I can make Dec 31.

Day 1091

Great run today. Hit the treadmill to save some time.

24:00
2.54mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/65794182

Day 1090

Good steady run. Late in the day, so treadmill, but felt good

24:00
2.47mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/65651506

Day 1089

Good run in Oshkosh, NE. I headed E out of town, running along route 26, past the Cabelas building and some factory of some sort. Very windy, and nice to look at, but not the place I'd want to live.


20:45
1.98mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/65651824

Day 1088

Good quick ruin, trying to get done on a busy day

16:00
1.66mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/65238020

Day 1087

Short run, pressed for time.

16:00
1.58mi

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/65139200