Another Good Run!

I debated running today. My quads were feeling it a little from yesterday. I walked a little with high knees and everything felt fine. Then I sat down for an hour and my quads were feeing it again. The plan was 4 miles easy. As usual, I had to force myself to keep it slow the first mile. The second half of mile 1 was a little incline so it was easy to keep that half slow. The first half of mile 2 continued the same incline. For miles 2 and 3 I just worked on keeping it easy. The final mile I pushed a little but easy enough I kept my breathing at 3/3. It probably would have been more comfortable with 3/2 in the second half but I kept it just "easy" enough to maintain 3/3.

Sunday, November 28, 2021 - 8:37 AM

I Am Moving (Pun Intended) In The Right Direction!

This morning is the first time my pace averaged under 11 minutes per mile since July 10, 2020. I have been upset about running so slowly. I didn't realize how slow I have been for such a long time. I feel much better now! I posted the details of that run under the details of today's run.

Main differences:

• Today I had a slower cadence and a longer stride
• Today my Ground Contact Time Balance looks worse, but all other runs in November were close to 50/50.
• Today my Ground Contact Time was 8 ms longer (8/1000 of a second). It's been around 330 for the rest of November.

Saturday, November 27, 2021 - 7:35 AM

Friday, July 10, 2020 - 7:41 AM

I Survived Thanksgiving!

I just made a post (postdated to yesterday) - I Am Still Here! Here are some important takeaways. Not only did I survive but I came in about 600 calories under my goal! Additionally, I came in 1,000 calories under my goal (insurance calories for Thanksgiving) the previous day.

Long story short - I would have still hit my 2 day net calorie goal if I consumed an additional 1,600 calories. Let's see - pumpkin pie - 380 calories, cherry pie - 380 calories, another chicken pot pie - 400 calories - those three total 1,160 which still leaves 440 calories. This thing is, I didn't feel like eating those so I didn't. I looked at pumpkin pie and cherry pie sitting out all day as well as when everyone was eating them. No willpower was required on my part - I didn't have to fight the craving/desire to eat them. I did not even have a craving/desire to eat them.

The hardest part for me in eating healthy is to program/rewire my brain to not want to eat stuff like potato chips, ice cream, french fries, etc. It generally takes me 2 years to reach that point. Hopefully, I have reached it. It's difficult if not impossible to lose weight when you to have to consciously tell yourself to not eat stuff that you really want to eat!

I Am Still Here!

I haven't posted since the 18th. The image below summarizes my running from the 18th until today (Thanksgiving). 

Yesterday's pace does not look so good.

Hear are my notes:

iFIT Live Dana Point Turkey Trot 5K. Trainer ran at constant 4.8 MPH. I did mine 1 mile with the trainer and slowed the remainder with run/walk. That's why my distance isn't 3.1 miles. - 2.0 lbs. Treadmill.

Long story short. I just wanted to burn calories so I took it easy (including lots of walking).

I know it's hard to read, but you get the idea.

I ended up taking a rest day yesterday. I was feeling blah this morning so I took the day off of work. Since I felt better a couple hours later, I decided to go on a run - 4 easy miles, slow but easy. My going easy impacts two important things - cadence (low) and stride length (short). I can increase stride cadence by just turning over my legs faster - that has a greater impact on my heart rate than tiring my legs. I suspect it will also increate my stride length. I think lifting my knees more should increase  my stride length. I know for sure it increases my pace dramatically. Either that or I am also increasing my cadence when I lift my knees more. I am not talking about doing high knees. My easy runs are more like shuffling with minimal strain/use of my leg muscles.

Thursday, November 18, 2021 - 7:34 AM

Back To My Roots

 Finally a good run. I was well rested and had to force myself to slow my pace at the beginning. When I wrote my last post, I figured my next run (today) would be 3 miles. When I decided the route, I was thinking 3 to 3.5 miles. I ended up running 3.5 miles. I did 3x3 breathing the entire run so I could have easily done 4 miles but I am taking it easy. As of now, I plan on running tomorrow but I won't know for sure until then.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021 - 2:55 PM

Plan B

 As planned, I took a rest day yesterday. It was a good decision. My legs weren't sore but had a different feeling. When I woke up this morning, I absolutely did not want to run. Since I woke up at 4:30 AM I had 90 minutes to get in the proper running mindset. It worked, I suited up and started my run. My legs were heavy, my cadence was low, and my pace was very slow. Usually, I have to force myself to run slowly in the start. Oftentimes, I start at a pace of 10:30 or even 10:00. Today, my starting pace was more like 12:15. I made the decision to back the run less than 1/8 mile after starting!

As mentioned in earlier posts, I am working up to 10K runs by following a 5Kto10K plan. The week I am in now calls for [1.8 mile run; 0.1 mile walk] x 3. I completed the first workout of the week on Friday (today would have been the 2nd run). I was not happy with the results and for sure was not looking forward to more of the same.

That gets us to Plan C. Wing it! Actually, I am switching to MY tried and true method of increasing mileage - run longer distances. Something along the lines of add a little more mileage to the runs. For example, run 3 miles, next day run 3.3 miles, next day run 3.6 (or less depending on how I feel). Basically, when it comes time to increase the distance, add 10%. All the runs will be easy runs. I also have the option to work on getting faster instead of increasing the distance on any given run (in which case all the runs won't be easy runs - but mostly).

Another factor is the stupid weather - the heat! It's WAY easier for my to run 3 miles or 3.3 or 3.6 continuous in the heat than the present plan I was following.

As I am typing this, I am thinking of Plan D - hybrid of my method and the 5Kto10K plan.

Due to some appointments, I am taking another rest day tomorrow :(