Thread: Beginner Chronicles

3.7 km
21:57

Finally limped back out to do some running. Even though my leg still felt stiff, I decided to run with my wife tonight. She did a 5.2K route, but I took a shorter one, since I was still not running at full strength. I had to open up my stride a little bit since my thigh muscles felt very stiff. I ran 11/1/7/1/1:57, but felt pretty good afterward. Certainly, I didn't need to ice the knee or take Advil. Encouraging!

6.0 km
36:21

Great run tonight, my furthest distance ever. I've been reluctant to increase my distance until my ITBS injury seems healed, but it's been feeling much better lately. My wife has enrolled in a 10K clinic, so I went along on her run, not sure whether or not I'd be able to finish the entire 6K course. But thanks to her steady pace, I even ran for the first 25 minutes without a break.

I don't want to overdo it, but I think I can go back to running 3 times a week, although I think I'll do 2x at 4-5K and one longer run.

3.4 km
19:26

I just ran straight down Mount Pleasant to Moore and back. I've done this route twice before, and it has a slight hill. I briefly thought about going all the way to St. Clair, but my knee and hip were a bit off, so I just turned around. I had a long red light at Moore and another one on the way down, so I probably could have finished about a minute faster, but otherwise a pretty good run. I drank a big glass of water and had a banana before heading out around 12:30. It was only 19° but very humid, so I was sweating a lot. The real summer ought to be fun...

6.0km
37:44

We woke up early today and were out running by 8:00am. We did the same 6k box route that we did before, but what a difference a week makes! It was already getting hot and humid and even though I had a banana and some water before we ran, I found myself stopping a lot due to nausea and dizziness. My knee was feeling sore and all of my muscles were tight. I stopped too many times, and was disappointed overall, but at least I finished the route.

I hope that the weather isn't too hot this Saturday for our race. I think the humidity really kicks my butt.

3.0 km
16:21

I decided to run a shorter route today in preparation for the race on Saturday.

The knee felt fantastic, the best it's felt in weeks, and so, giddy, I probably ran the first 1k faster than I've ever run before. With the temperature at 33 degrees and 41 degrees with the humidex, I quickly tired. Even though I brought water, it was difficult to drink I was breathing so hard. I stopped a couple of times, and obviously my pace slowed, but I finished with a PR for this distance.

I really need to learn to pace myself! And especially in this type of hot weather. I've been back in my air-conditioned apartment for almost 20 minutes and I'm still sweating from almost every pore!

Thanks, everyone, for reading about my progress. I've decided to continue my entries on my own running weblog. If you're interested, come over and read A Running Commentary