That Was Pleasant

Yeah, yeah. I should have run yesterday. Cold, sure, but it was sunny, and how many sunny days do you get in January in Seattle?

Three it turns out. So far anyway. Stuck together with the two at the end of last year we've managed to run together five sunny days in a row, unheard of for this time of year. Completely clear - but cold. Last week's snow is still on the ground, including the track.

So it was off to the slough trail.

The trail is dead flat and runs from Marymoor Park around the north end of Lake Washington and on into Seattle. I don't run the whole thing, of course, just six miles today, three out and back.

Nothing too fast. The first two miles about "race pace" (around 7:45/mile), then 2.5 at about a 9 minute pace, then back to 8:15 or 8:30 for the last mile and a half. It was good. A little over 50 minutes for the whole thing, not bad considering I haven't run six miles since August or so.

The only odd thing was that my feet were going numb, my right foot in particular. It went away immediately when I stopped. Maybe the cold? Maybe not having run that far in a while? Perhaps. But my bold and daring theory is that my calf muscles are squeezing the blood vessels and restricting the blood flow. What do you think? I think it's a good theory. Good for me. And the run was good, too.

Best Run of the Year

Setting the bar low is the key, isn't it? Ran the Resolution Run this morning. It was a gorgeous morning, clear and wind-free. A little cool - below freezing at the start, but warming up to the mid-30s by the end. 

In light of my calf (still tight from Monday), I set a goal of 25 minutes and came in just under that, about 8 minutes a mile. No bad considering my calf started cramping.

In the car.

On the drive over to the race.

I don't get it. Yeah, I strained it on Monday. Light run Tuesday. Bike on Wednesday. Day off Thursday AND Friday, yet when I started driving over this morning after TWO DAYS REST my calf started cramping up. I hadn't even run yet, for heaven's sake. It gave me problems during the warm up, of course, so I resolved not to push. I woke up this morning thinking that sub-24 was very doable, but dropped back to 25 minutes, which is about an 8 minute mile pace.

And my leg gave me no trouble at all during the run.

And when I got done and was walking around after the run it started cramping again.

I don't get it. I don't get it and I don't like it. Grrrrrr.

But it does set a pretty low bar for the next 5K I run this year. I guess that's a good thing. And it is my best run of the year so far.

Taking What It Gives Me

I did not hurt myself today.

What I said yesterday still holds true. I was hurting when the workout started. It did not get worse during the workout, in fact for a while it was getting better. But then it got worse so I stopped.

This is what I do now. I take what is there. I try not to overdo it. This, of course, conflicts with trying to run faster. Two conflicting goals. Excellent. I will never be at peace, will I?

So, today I wanted to do intervals that were shorter and faster than yesterday, repeating sets of 400m/300m/200m intervals. First set: 98/64/?? (I missed the lap button for the 200, but it was certainly sub 40). Second set: 82/65/39...and the calf tightened up, so that was it. The 82 matches my fastest 400 over the last couple of months, so that was good, especially because I wasn't really pushing that hard, but that's probably what strained my calf and made it stiffen up.

Nothing special. Not long enough. Not as fast as I would like. Eh. But it was something - better than nothing - and my calf feels better than yesterday. If the snow is light tomorrow I may run again, otherwise I'll get on the bike and ride nowhere for a while.

The only other person on the track when I finished was wearing Vibram Five Finger shoes, just like me.

Pain in the...

Ah, the joys of aging.

One of the things I'm getting used to is the fact that I am never at 100%. I always hurt. I hurt before the workout,  hurt myself during the workout, or tighten up afterwards. It doesn't matter if the workout is easy or hard, long or short. Today was no different.

Usually I work through it. Today was no different.

Today it was my most common ailment. If I knew anatomy I could name the tendon, but a description will have to suffice. It is the tendon that absorbs the impact when you land on your toes. It runs up through the heart of the calf. Maybe it's the achilles, I don't know. Walking is fine. Running slower is okay, but as I go faster I start landing more on my toes, stressing that one particular tendon.

Today's workout was to be 4 one mile (okay, 1600 meter) intervals, but my calf tightened up around 600 meters and I pulled up at 800. It's not like I was flying. I didn't push like last Saturday, only 3:40 for the 800, a 7:20 pace. I slowed up for the next three intervals, only down to about 8:00, but it was enough. At that pace I'm striking midfoot, not on my toes, so I was able to finish the workout, if not at the speed I'd have liked.

Snow is in the forecast for Wednesday, so I wanted to run today and tomorrow. We'll see if the calf cooperates tomorrow morning.

To Your Marks

I am cheating. One isn't supposed to start their New Year's Resolutions until, well, New Year's, but I need a head start. Some might call it a lack of confidence, but I call it an insightful realization that I need at least 53 weeks to accomplish what most can do in 52. So I started today, a week early.

Today's number is 2:56.

I've been running off and on for the last 35 years or so, sometimes competitively, sometimes just for fun. Currently I'm running in the Club Northwest Winter Grand Prix series, a half dozen two mile runs over the winter. I am not winning, by the way. In fact, last week I improved to 106th place out of 153. I'm just a runner, just a guy, and the times for my longer runs have really suffered in the last few years.

My shorter races, however, have remained reasonable, at least until a couple of years ago.

I ran track in high school, though not diligently and not particularly well. My best mile in high school was a 5:06 (I think), and my best 880 was 2:15, give or take. Yes, those are imperial distances. We hadn't yet advanced to  using the metric system.

As recently as June 2007 I ran an 800 in 2:21 at a Club Northwest All-Comers meet.

My goal this year is to break 2:20 in an 800. I haven't broken 2:20 since high school. I want to break 2:20 one more time.

So around the beginning of November I started working out on the track again, trying to condition myself to run fast. Now it's time to start taking the training a little more seriously. This morning I woke up, did a brief warmup, then ran an 800 as hard as I could.

I ran it in 2:56.

That's nowhere near 2:20, but it is easily the best 800 I've run in the last two months, 15 or 20 seconds faster than anything else I've done, so I feel like I'm headed in the right direction. And it's far, far better than my two mile times.

So now it starts in earnest. Stay healthy. Work hard. See what happens.