Ehhh

I still run but I haven't posted on here in 2 years.  I would like to ramp up my running.  I've been going out for about 5 miles 4-5x per week.  Just enough to get the heart pumping but I really haven't been pushing it at all.  And I haven't signed up for and run in a race in probably a year and a half.  I've considered a couple but then balked at paying 40 bucks to run a 10k when I'm not in particularly good shape and the race shirts never fit me.

But I want to get motivated again and get back to running a double digit distance at least once a week.  I've got a 1 1/2 year old at home now which makes finding the time a little bit more difficult but not impossible.

This was a windy run around my neighborhood.  Averaged about 8:10 a mile.

I ran from the downtown Y into the foothills for a while today.  I have not run in the hills in a long time so I was soon sucking air but it was a beautiful day.  One of the rubber nubs on my IPOD earphones came off and as I sweated I became convinced that the earpiece was sending tiny shocks into my head.

I ran about an 8:20 pace which was much faster than I thought I was going given the hilliness and my overall outofshapedness for hills.

Boise Bench run.  Just enjoying having the ability and health to run.

I ran 5 miles around the neighborhood at a 7:56 pace.  Today was a run that was really all about why I run. I enjoy getting faster when that happens or boosting my mileage when that happens, but I really run as a healthy way to get rid of stress and anxiety.  And, for that reason, it does not matter how far or fast I run; it only matters that at the end of the run I feel better than I did at the beginning of the run.

On Friday, I lost a co-worker unexpectedly.  From my desk, I can see two other office doors and both offices have seen unexpected deaths in the last 7 months.  I work an incredibly stressful job and sometimes forget how much stress there is since 'stress' is the norm day in and day out.  You deal with stress on a daily basis, you come to expect it, and then lose perspective perhaps on how stressful things are.  I cannot say that stress, or this job, contributed to either co-workers death, but I just kind of wonder if it did eat away a few days, weeks, etc.

I have a 1 1/2 year old.  I'm pushing 42, so I certainly want to age gracefully and be there for as much of her 20's, 30's, and 40's that I can.

So I keep on running, and hopefully I'm adding days, weeks, etc.

5 miles in about 39:44.  I'm just trying to get 25 miles of some sort this week and next week will start getting more ordered about a training regimen.  There was a light rain and I almost talked myself out of running but managed to get out the door.  It helped that I got some long overdue new running shoes.  This is my first pair of Brooks and I'm pretty impressed.

lazy run

Im not doing a very good job of keeping this current.  Ran a slow 5 miles with a friend.  It was nice to get out and run with this guy.  It's been a while.  I might be "faster" than him but he's got more endurance than me.  He used to be my long run guy because I always knew he'd make me finish it.  But our schedules have caused us to miss each other.

Just roamed around the North End.

5 mile run through the east end in about 8:06 per mile.  I've been listening to downloads of NPR's "Snap Judgment" podcasts and I really enjoy them.  They take a theme like "dropping everything" and then air a number of stories dealing with that theme. 

The weather is fantastic in Boise today.  Blue and sunny. 

5 miles on the track in about 8:05.  Originally I was going to run some intervals.  I know that you don't get much benefit, if any, from a speed workout when you're only logging about 20-25 miles per week.  But I like the change of pace and the different muscles that get worked.  So every 2 weeks or so I try to run a latter of 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and back down.

But today I just kept jogging and listening to my podcast, which was fine.

5 slow plodding miles with quads that were very heavy after a weekend of skiing.  About 8:20 per mile.

Track work.  2 mile warmup.  1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4..and then one mile cooldown.  Felt great.

Rained all day long.   I wanted to go for a long run and debated running outside in the rain but I didn't feel the love for that plan.  So I stayed inside at the Y and ran on the treadmill.  People were lining up so I hopped off after 5 miles.

6 miles at about an 8:14 pace.