Exercise

I ran for the first time in 31 days today. I had neatly skipped the entire month of May.

The good news:

– it was actually sunny, a rare thing of late
– I finished a full 5 km
– while I could feel the ghost of my injured left leg, it never actually hurt during the run

The bad news:

– slow as all get-out
– cramps
– did I mention slow as all get-out?

The trail was damp from recent rain but no puddles, so conditions were fine. It was breezy but it’s been freaking windy all spring, so nothing new there. I had optimistically planned on a 10K run but after a few km knew I’d be better off starting with a 5K instead.

What’s funny is how my first km is actually pretty decent — 5:03 — but it absolutely plunges by the second km to 5:21 and keeps falling off a cliff after that. I guess after a month off I had exactly 1 km of energy in me. 🙂

Here’s a little table showing how this 5K run compares to the last one from April:

On the all-thumbs part: After initiating the Nike+ sensor, I put the iPod into the left pocket of my shorts. The first few attempts at this seemingly simple task resulted in me accidentally swiping the click-wheel with a finger and turning the volume up to Spinal Tap levels. I finally got it to a point where it wouldn’t burst my ear drums, but I’ve never had that kind of trouble just putting the thing in my dang pocket. I guess after a month off, even my hands are rusty. 😛

Today was my first run in a week and I was a bit worried because I could feel The Spot in my leg even as I walked down to the park.

15ºC, cloudy and a moderate wind blowing. The trail was in good shape, only one other jogger briefly sharing the path with me.

By about the 3 km point I could definitely feel the sore spot in my left leg acting up. I even briefly felt a bolt of pain race up from The Spot to about my knee, possibly by landing on it just right (or wrong). That’s the bad news. The good news is it didn’t bother me enough to hamper my run significantly but I still chose to err on the side of caution and end it at 5k instead of doing a full 10. I’ll try for 10 again on Monday. The other good news(ish) part is the leg doesn’t feel nearly as bad after the run as it did last Friday. I’d probably be fine without icing it, though I’m going to do that, anyway. So I am moderately encouraged overall. Oh, and my times were much better this Friday than last, with my average pace a full six seconds better (5:16 vs. 5:22).

And the title of this post is not a plea for Tiger to not go on Oprah and blubber out another sincere apology for ‘indiscretions’ but rather for him to stop piping in on the iPod at the end of my runs. Today — for the third time in about as many weeks — he came on to congratulate me for running another 250 miles. First, I’m tracking my distance in km, not miles, you backwards silly American and second, running 750 miles would be really impressive. Superhuman, even (I’ve run a little over 450 km).

Results:

Distance: 5.03 km
Overall average pace: 5:16
1st km: 5:03
2nd km: 5:06
3rd km: 5:09
4th km: 5:12
5th km: 5:16

Using the buddy system for encouragement and support, I am now on dailymile and have made friends with a couple of Quarter to Three regulars, Jamie Madigan and Ephraim. It is not without irony that I note that now that I have an ‘audience’ I have been running piddly short runs and skipping days because of a tender shin.

I am hoping to get back into a regular routine of 10ks starting tomorrow (Wednesday).

Cloudy skies, 13ºC and little wind on today’s run.

I knew I was in trouble when I could feel my left leg acting up on the brisk walk down to the park. Although the soreness seemed manageable by the time I got to the 5 km mark, I decided to cut the run short to be on the safe side.

Perhaps fearing rain, the park was nearly devoid of people. I had the trail entirely to myself for the first 3 km. Other than the leg, I again felt fine. I iced it for a good long while after getting home (ironically reading Runner’s World as I did so) and while it remains sore I can’t say it actually is painful, more annoying. Nonetheless I am taking the weekend off and will see how it feels on Monday. I made need to give it more time to fully recover.

While the park did not smell of manure today, there was the distinct scent of a wood fire drifting through one area. I’m not sure why someone would light a fire on such a mild day but as I’m fond of saying, people are weird.

Results:

Distance: 5.04 km
Overall average pace: 5:22
1st km: 5:12 (another tentative start)
2nd km: 5:15
3rd km: 5:17
4th km: 5:19
5th km: 5:22

The one positive I take away is that my pace was fairly consistent, so I don’t think I’m running on an actual injury. But I’ll be cautious for now.

It was cloudy, 10ºC and a light but cool breeze blowing for today’s run.

I began tentatively again, though my first km time was surprisingly decent. After the first few km the tender spot on my left leg began to flare up but it never became painful, just sore. By the midway point I had adjusted to it and the back half of my run was very consistent. Without the leg bothering me I’m sure I could have knocked at least five seconds off my average pace. As it was, 5:30/km is still 4 seconds faster than my first post-injury 10k, so I’m pleased with that.

After the run, I did the usual stretching and had my protein drink, then slapped an ice pack on the leg for half an hour or so. It makes a difference!

The manure part was the distinct aroma pretty much throughout the park. I never did find the source of the stink and it was a tad distracting until I hit the runner’s high and suddenly it didn’t matter anymore. Speaking of which, my stamina was fine for the whole run, which was also nice.

Results:

Total distance: 10.02 km (previous: 10.02 km)
Average time/km: 5:30/km (previous: 5:30/km)
Best time/km: 5:04/km (previous: 5:10/km)

Today it was a glorious 20ºC and sunny for my jog, with only a light breeze blowing. And Tiger Woods did not cogratulate me for a third time for completing another 250 miles. That was the good news.

The bad news is the tender spot on the lower right shin on my left leg was still quite raw, hampering my run and resulting in a sluggish 5k. Weirdly, my time on the second km was actually one second faster than the first, the first time that’s ever happened. My overall times for the run were fairly consistent, despite the annoyance of the leg.

Perhaps even more annoying than the state of my left leg was the group of people with their dogs that decided the trail was a good place to just stand around, despite having, you know, an entire park at their disposal. But no, they were compelled to stay on the path, motionless. As I approached on one lap, I had to steer left and off the trail to avoid them and predicatbly, as I did this one of them decided at the exact same moment to start backing up and nearly collided with me, anyway. People, you have brains, you have sentience, use these things to realize that the world does not end at your nose. There are other people around you. Really! Yeesh.

I’ll be icing my leg and seeing how it feels in two days. I suspect it will need more time to recover, but I’m hoping that it’s more sore than actually injured.

Results:

Total distance: 5:02 km
Average pace: 5:28/km
1st km: 5:18
2nd km: 5:17
3rd km: 5:19
4th km: 5:24
5th km: 5:28

A balmy 14ºC on today’s run under cloudy skies and with moderate wind. At about the halfway point it started to spit but it never amounted to more than that. The trail was a bit softer due to rain but was still dry, apart from one tiny puddle.

Because of the wind I tried out my new cap today. The other one is not adjustable and because it doesn’t fit my head perfectly a good gust of wind can lift it off. While chasing after a cap is a form of exercise unto itself, it’s not one I really want to schedule in as part of my routine. 😛

Tye cap did its job. I never felt the wind tugging at it, so yay for that.

This was my first 10k in 24 days so I expected a slower time and got it: 5:34/km. Not bad, though. I started out very tentatively and it shows in the first km coming in at 5:10. The middle stretch felt a bit sluggish and it shows in the times but the final km were remarkably consistent, which is encouraging for the days to come.

Tiger Woods congratulated me again for completing yet another 250 miles. At this pace I’ll have run the equivalent of coast to coast across Canada in a few days, according to him. The Nike+ site also congratulated me on my first run (see below). Fortunately my actual stats are still in the system.

Results:

Total distance: 10.02 km (previous: 10.02 km)
Average time/km: 5:34/km (previous: 5:26/km)
Best time/km: 5:10/km (previous: 5:02/km)

It is sunny and dare I say actually warm today so I was inspired to do something I have not done in nearly a year of running — run on consecutive days. I know that makes me not hardcore or something, but there you have it.

Today I went all out, though. Or halfway out, at least, doing another 5K run. I felt fine during the run and feel fine after — no pain and the only soreness is from overnight, when three weeks of not running caught up with all those unstretched leg muscles. I suspect they’ll be a bit stiff tomorrow, too, but it wasn’t anything that affected the run itself.

The temperature rose to an early spring high of 15ºC and the wind also picked up, strong enough at times to tug at my cap. I hate that. The sun felt very distinctly warm but not hot. It was pretty nice, overall. The same jogger was on the trail from yesterday, running clockwise, a compact woman in her early 20s who apparently manages to breathe through her nose as her mouth appeared to be clamped firmly shut every time she passed me. To a non-runner this may sound like no big thing but to me, there is absolutely no way I could take in enough air through my nose to keep me going while jogging. Maybe I just have small nostrils. Not that hers were flaring like a bull’s. Anyway, it seemed odd, so I mention it.

I improved considerably over yesterday’s pace without consciously trying. I just worked at a steady, natural gait. The shock came at the end — not when I got the stats on my run but hearing the voice of Tiger Woods congratulating me for the first time since the whole scandal broke last November. With him back golfing and having done the live TV confession thing, it may be that Apple and Nike thought it was time to let him speak again to all the joggers plugged into the Nike+ doohickey. For the record, he said, “Tiger here. You’ve completed 250 miles, way to go.” It was nice, if a little late — I had passed 250 miles on yesterday’s run.

A remarkable 12 second improvement in my overall pace. I definitely shook off the cobwebs today.

Full stats (yesterday’s times in parentheses):

Total distance: 5.03 km (5:04 km)
Overall average pace: 5:21/km (5:33/km)
1st km: 5:05 (5:12)
2nd km: 5:10 (5:20)
3rd km: 5:15 (5:25)
4th km: 5:18 (5:29)
5th km: 5:21 (5:33)

Today was my first run in three weeks, since yoinking my left calf. I don’t think the injury was that serious but it seemed wise to give it ample time to heal before venturing out again. As expected, my time was pretty slow but I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort during or after the run, so I’m tentatively planinng on a full 10k on Friday.

The conditions were close to ideal. It was very mild — around 14ºC — and sunny, with a light breeze. The trail was slightly damp from previous rains but firm and the ruts from a few weeks back were smoothed out. A few other joggers were on the trail, along with a couple of people walking their dogs. And the fountain was working, woo. It almost felt like an early summer day. Ah, summer.

Because it was a short run, here are the complete stats as recorded on the Nike+ sensor:

Total distance: 5.04 km
Overall average pace: 5:33/km
1st km: 5:12
2nd km: 5:20
3rd km: 5:25
4th km: 5:29
5th km: 5:33

Breakdown: Much slower to start and the second lap also reflects the slower pace, as I added a whopping 8 seconds. After that you can see me starting to settle into a steadier pace, with times increasing more gradually.

I might try to break 5:30/km for Friday’s run. That would mark an improvement while not pushing myself too hard in the ramp-up to a more regular running regimen.