Last September I began using the Nike+ and my iPod nano to track my runs. Since then it’s recorded 634 km. Not bad. It would be more if I hadn’t sat out nine weeks with injuries to both of my legs (at different times). Still, it’s a decent amount of running considering the last I did was back in high school 28 years ago.
Today I opted for a morning run as a change of pace. Under a sunny sky with little wind I started out with the temperature at 12ºC. It climbed to 16ºC by the time I finished, though I don’t think it played a big factor in my effort.
I had a very good start — the first two km both came in under five minutes but the second half was marred by some cramps and gas (sorry to those running behind me! :P) bringing my overall time down lower than I would have liked. Still, I finished with a pace of 5:27/km and an overall time of 54:38, which is an improvement from the last run. My left leg is still feeling a bit tender but holding up okay for now.
I was a bit surprised both before and after my last run and I want to note both surprises here for future reference. I will be making reference to the past three runs, with the most recent being #3, etc. After #1, I felt fine. A few days later my left leg felt a bit sore. Now, if I hurt myself when running it never surfaces later — I feel it during the run and very much so immediately after. That this didn’t happen made me wonder if there was another cause. I realized I had developed a bad habit of using the sub-woofer under my computer desk as a makeshift foot stool. The problem is it is quite small and my legs were very stretched out. I probably hyper-extended the left leg a bit in the process. I’ve seen conditioned myself to not use the sub-woofer for anything but playing bass! Run #2 came a week later, as I wanted to give the left leg a bit of a rest. The surprise here came the next day when my thighs were actually sore (in that “hey, these muscles haven’t been used in awhile” kind of way). That seemed odd, but it’s a good reason to get off my butt and get back to running more often.
Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):
| km | Sept 2 | Aug 29 | Aug 22 | Aug 19 | Aug 11 | Aug 7 | Aug 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 4:54 | 4:54 | 4:59 | 5:02 | 5:07 | 5:04 | 5:02 |
| 2 km | 4:58 | 5:03 | 5:03 | 5:04 | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:08 |
| 3 km | 5:03 | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:08 | 5:13 | 5:12 | 5:15 |
| 4 km | 5:08 | 5:13 | 5:13 | 5:12 | 5:16 | 5:16 | 5:19 |
| 5 km | 5:13 | 5:17 | 5:16 | 5:15 | 5:18 | 5:19 | 5:23 |
| 6 km | 5:16 | 5:21 | 5:20 | 5:18 | 5:20 | 5:21 | 5:26 |
| 7 km | 5:19 | 5:23 | 5:24 | 5:21 | 5:22 | 5:23 | 5:29 |
| 8 km | 5:23 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:23 | 5:24 | 5:26 | 5:32 |
| 9 km | 5:26 | 5:28 | 5:30 | 5:24 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:35 |
| 10 km | 5:27 | 5:29 | 5:33 | 5:23 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:37 |
