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.

Garmin died so I don't know exact specs.  It's blustery and chilly out.  Half the run is really easy and the other half is straight back into the wind.

6 miles in 47:35.  About 7:56 per mile.  Great day and felt great out there.

For some reason this just felt like a death march.  Heavy quads.  I felt like a big syrupy pancake.  Ran about 8:20 miles and didn't enjoy a single one.

Great 7 mile run.  My longest run in a long time.  Out and back on the Federal Way bike path.  Not much wind either way.   I was trying to run this slow because at this point this is my "long run".  But I finished up in 55:46, which is better than an 8 minute mile.  Which, for me, is pretty quick.

4 mile track run. I was going to do some speedwork on the track but I just kept running in circles.

5 miles on Federal Way and then the canal bank at the top of Protest.  As I jog along the canal I always fantasize about tipping sideways and falling in accidentally, which gives me a slight sudden case of vertigo, which I deal with by swinging over to other side of the canal bank.  Ran these in about 7:56 per mile.

I'm carrying about 6 extra pounds for my most comfortable weight.  But for some reason I seem to be running a little faster than I think I am. Most of my runs have been sub 8 minute miles which is not uncommon for me but not totally normal.  So I'm not sweating the weight too much.  When I get up to double digit miles I imagine it will melt off.   Plus, I start a month long trial in a  few weeks and the stress of that will easily take 5 pounds off me.

Interval workout.  I ran this on the Boise High Track on a beautiful day.  1 mile warmup.  Then a ladder of intervals.....400, 800, 1200, 1200, 800, 400 and a mile cooldown.  Felt good and happened to blow some of the ache out of my back and legs that resulted from chasing my over-sugared daughter around all day yesterday.

Hill Run.   Ran from the Y to the Boise PD shooting range.  Uphill for 2.5 then downill for 2.5.  I tried to run this a little bit harder than normal because I really should have run longer today but work and kid is bossing me around.

Ran it in 40:13.  Beautiful day.

This was the YMCA xmas run route.  Up up up 15th and then down down down 8th.  I ran it in 51 minutes.  I thought 8:30 was pretty good mile times for not having run hills in a long long time. I'm trying to incorporate more hill runs since I realized this half that I'm training for is 6.5 down and then 6.5 up.

7 miles out and back on the federal way bike path.  Nice day and the wind was in my face for the first 3.5 so it helped on the way back.  I did this run last week in about 8:30 miles and did it today in about 8:04.  I wasn't trying to push it either time...just build up my mileage..but it's nice to see that my legs are apparently feeling stronger.

Slow Federal Way, Protest Canal path run.  Pretty gusty out and my legs were sore from 2 "long-ish" runs in a row last week. 

Real sluggish run in the drizzle.  6 miles in about 8:14 per mile.

6 miles in 46:25.  I did this as a tempo run.  Which for me is to try to maintain about a 7:50 pace.  Beautiful day with absolutely no wind so it was a good time for an out and  back on Federal Way.  But on the way out, they had the running/bike lane full of city landscapers working on the beds so at Bergeson I dumped down to Gekeler and ran back on a couple of canal paths.  It's amazing that you can do 2 flat runs back to back and differ by about 30 seconds per mile.  Just not feeling it yesterday.  Today felt good.

This was just a ramble through the east end from the Y.  I had hoped to run more trails this week but it rained most of yesterday morning so to the pavement I was stuck.  Kind of a sluggish run.  8:15 per mile or so.

5 mile run from my house down along canal path at top of protest.  Tried to run intervals on this run. Not sure about time because the Garmin died.

5 miles at about 8:04 per mile.  The heat just suddenly hit us and it was about 85 when I headed out.  I have to get a little more acclimated before I start to push it in that temperatue.

YMCA xmas run route.  Good and hot when I ran so I stopped about a 1/2 mile short and slowly walked the rest of the way.

I did a hill run in the heat on Monday that really sapped my quads and I was all sorts of cranky yesterday so I took the day off.  I did a flat 7 miler today at about an 8:07 pace.  I wasn't really trying to do anything more than run farther than 6 miles.  Nice day out.

My nemesis in running these days is second helpings.  I've been pretty healthy overall and eating the "right" things but eating too much.  I weigh about 225 right now and my good running weight is about 219.

Torrential rains forced me to run on the treadmill.  I don't hate the treadmill but I'm not too fond of it, and find myself completely unable to run farther than 5 miles on it.  The monotony kills me.  Today I only made it 4 miles.

Windyish day with intermittent rain.  Quads felt really sluggish and this run was sluggish too. I think I was pretty underfueled today as I began to feel really woozy and lightheaded in the last mile.  Felt like napping.

6 miles in about 8:11.  I started a 3 week trial at work that's going to make running during the week difficult.  It's hard to ask my wife to excuse me for an hour in the evening when there's a 2 year old in the house.

virtually impossible to run this week due to work and family.  but i had a real good 7 mile run today and should be able to get back to it.

7 miles on a nice Sunday.  Little colder than I'd like but it was sunny.

56:56 ramble around the Boise Bench.  Beautiful day to run.