A pulled muscle?

Temp. 75 and high humidity.
Ran 4.06 mi. in 44:30 for a pace of 10:57.  Average HR 130; Peak HR 137.  1 stride at the end.  Warm up of lunges and leg swings.  I felt really tired.  I worked in the yard a total of 5 to 6 hours on Monday pushing a mower, then trimming and cleaning around the bushes at the front of the house, which involved crawling and stretching.  When I started my run, I noticed that my left side hurt a bit like I had a pulled muscle.  I went away while I ran.  However, when I arrived home from my run, it hurt when I jarred it or twisted. It hurt throughout the day.  I'll see how it feels.  This run was a 2.  I intended to run for an hour, but cut it off because of the way I felt toward the beginning of my run.

Tough Run

I ran the 9.5 mi. loop at the Ridgeland Mountain Bike Trails in 1:53.  That's a pace of about 12 mi.  I don't think I'll be running this loop again though.  The constant changes in elevation keep me from getting into any kind of rhythm. I really had to work.  My average hr was 134.  Peak hr was 152.  I'm not sure when I hit that, but I know it was for long.  The temp in the shade when I finished was 89.  I'd call this one a 3.

A great run

I ran the mountain bikes trails in Ridgeland with friends yesterday.  They kept me honest on my MAF training.  My average HR running the trails was 128.  I ran approximately 10 mi. in 2 hrs. for a 12:00 pace.  I'm not sure what the temp and humidity were the whole time, but when I finished it was 85 degrees in the shade.  I'd give this run a 3.5.

Another good one

Someone closed my window with the weather from yesterday morning (I always do these journal entries the next morning).  Nevertheless, I recall the temp was in the high 60s and the humidity was 90%.

I left my Garmin at the house and ran only with my heart rate monitor.  I ran 45 minutes, average hr was 130, peak hr was 137.  I know my pace was fairly quick because at the beginning of my run while still warming up, I occasionally felt I was pushing myself.  I did have one brief period of 2 to 3 minutes where I felt a bit light-headed, like I was getting overheated.  Running on the levee, I did 4 full levee laps and 2 laps that were 3/4 of the length of the levee.  I know by that my pace was below 11:00 and I covered approximately 4 mi.  This run was a 3.5.  I also did 3 strides at the end of the run, which felt very good.

Coming Back

Temp. 67; Wind 4 mph S; Humidity 90%; Dew point 65

Ran for 5.69 mi. in 1:00 at an average pace of 10:33.  My average hr was 130 bpm and my peak hr was 137 bpm.  Splits: 10:47; 10:29; 10:17; 10:33; 10:44; 10:25. 3 Strides.  I felt really good.  This was definitely a 4, the best workout I've had in a couple of months.

Oops

Temp.: 58-60 degrees; Winds: Calm; Humidity: 90%; Dew point: 55  5-23-12

I forgot to put on heart rate monitor.  I had to run on my rating of perceive exertion (RPE), which I tried to keep really low.  I didn't feel great the first part of the workout, but felt better as I warmed up.  I ran 5.31 mi. in 1:00, which is a average pace of 11:22.  My splits were 11:56; 11:29; 11:23; 11:09; 11:03; 10:55.  This run was a 2.5.  I did a couple of strides at the end of my run.  Felt good.

Feeling somewhat better

62 degrees; Wind: 1 mph W; 96% humidity; Dewpoint 61 degrees
Garmin problems:  I know I ran 5.23 mi.  I think my pace was 10:55.  My splits for 5 miles were
11:07; 10:44; 10:53; 10:59; 10:55.  Stomach was giving me problems this morning, which made the run occasionally unpleasant.  Even my Timex was messed up.  I apparently didn't stop it.  If I had to guess my average heart rate for this session was 132 bpm.  Because of my improved pace in Zone 2, but because of my stomach, I'd call this a 3.

I Love My Heart Rate Monitor

I went back to the Ridgeland mountain bike trails again today, Sunday.  This time I had my heart rate monitor.  I covered 9 miles minus the distance I walked warming up for about 5 minutes according to the information about the trails.  I ran for 1:42:19.  Assuming the distance of the trails is correct, my pace was around 11:41.  I felt great the whole time, the highest my heart got was 144, briefly.  My heart rate average was 134, which is well within my zone 2 heart rate.  I could tell that my HR never got too high because I could always slow down and get my heart rate down to between 127 and 130, which is the low end of zone 2.  This run was a 4.

A Sort of Long Run

83 degrees; High Humidity

Had problems with my Garmin.  Tried using the heart rate monitor.  It seemed to work until I started running.  You know it's not working when it says your heart rate is 186.  Also, I didn't have any satellites when I started my run.  That meant my average pace was completely inaccurate when I finally got a satellite.  So I had to pace on effort, which I obviously need to practice.  Goal was to run 3 hours.  At about the halfway point, I felt lousy, like I was starting to get overheated.  I felt a bit like headed.  I took my second s-cap, ate three more shot bloks, drank more water, and walked for 5-10 minutes, probably closer to 10.  I felt better.  I finished the 9.5 mi. trail in 1:49:45.  I walked about 5 minutes on the trail warming up, without my Garmin keeping time.  I decided the better part of valor was to stop then.  Sort of disappointing.

Almost back

65 degrees Calm 91% 62 degrees
Another 3.5 run on Friday.  55 minutes at an 11 min. pace.  I feel like I'm coming back.  I'm ill or injured and my fitness level is increasing.

Back on the Levee Again

I ran at lunch today.  The run wasn't a very efficient use of time.  I ran 46 minutes, not including my warmup and cool down.  I was gone from the office for an hour and 55 minutes or so.  But I didn't care today because I got to run and it felt good.  I was a little faster at an 11:34 pace.  Not bad considering it was 83 degrees.  I ran in my NB MT10s, which really felt nice.  I'd give this a 3.5 and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Getting Better; Trying Not to Rush It

Took off Tuesday because my back hurt.  I thought I would need to go to the doctor on Wednesday, but the pain was almost gone.  Turns out it that seems to be muscular.  Thought about running last night, but I needed to get my iPhone.  I also thought better of it, convincing myself that it would be better to wait another half of a day than to push it and hurt myself again.  This morning, I still have a twinge of pain in my right side.  I decided to postpone running this morning and instead go for a short run at lunch time.

I don't enjoy being injured.  All I can think about is that I would prefer to be out running.  What I think about is that I miss running and the great feeling running causes.  I want fitness to improve.  I want to see results.  I know that my sporadic training the last 2 1/2 months has caused my fitness to degrade.  I want to be able to run 100k at the end of July, but know that if my training doesn't get more consistent now, I may not be in shape to run in July.

Back Pain Sucks

I didn't dare to try running this morning as my back hurts too much.  I can definitely tell this morning that the main problem is my right lower back.  I suffer a sharp pain when I inhale deeply.  The pain seems to originate in my lower left back and abdomen.

This is very disappointing.  Just as I was returning to regular training after having pneumonia.

A Nice Trail Run (with a twist)

Ran the mountain bike trails in Ridgeland for 2:30.  My friend Jenny Burroughs joined me for about the first hour.  Nice to have some company.  She seemed to really enjoy running the trails.  This was her first trail run locally.  We jogged it.  I say jogged because my overall pace for the entire run was 14:02.  We ran the 5.5 mile loop (which is really a 4.7 mile loop, if you exit when you get to the trail head.  For the rest of the run I ran the 9.5 mile "difficult" loop.  I didn't manage in that part of the run to stay in my MAF zone.  In fact, I could tell that I had gotten out of my aerobic zone training because my heartbeat stayed up in the 140 bpm range and even into the 150 bpm range.  I walked some of the steeper ascents because I was trying not to blow my MAF zone training.  Part of the time it was raining and the trails got rather slick at the end.  However, I was able to maintain my balance throughout the run.  Just as I finished, the bottom fell out.

The irony of this is that when I got home, I made a dash from the car to the house because the rain was cold.  As I was running under the evergreen, up the sidewalk, I slipped and went down hard on my right hip.  I also banged my right knee.  The knee is too bad and where I hit on my hip doesn't even hurt now.  However, I seem to have twisted my back and strained the muscles in my abdomen.  Disappointing, as I am just recovering from pneumonia.

5-14-2012
Temp: 60 Wind: 3 mph NW Humidity:  95%  Dew Point:  59
Great weather, except for the humidity.  I had some pain in my back and lower abdomen, which is apparently a result of my fall on Saturday.  I'm still slogging along.  I did 6.2 miles in 1:13:43 for a pace of 11:54.  However, my pace did pick up toward the end of the run, 11:28 for the last mile.  I'd give this run a 2.5 because I felt good about finishing it and the fact that I got in 1:13 in the morning.

*Note:  Throughout the day my back and abdomen began to bother me more.  When I got up, I felt stiff, had trouble standing up straight, and my lower abdominal muscles hurt.  By the time I got home from work I was really hurting and had a sharp back pain if I twisted to my right.

Still Going

Friday, I decided on a short run, which made it 5 days in a row running.  I haven't done that in a long time.  Even when training for the Mississippi 50.  I was slower again for some reason.  I ran 4 mi. at an 11:50 pace, which meant I ran for 47 minutes.  I would call this run a 2.5 because I felt good, but my pace was slow again.

A new day

I felt much better today on my run.  I did my lunch sets and leg swing sets for the third day in a row.  My quads were sore, but not excessively so.  Strangely enough, I mainly experience pain in my left big toe, which is not my bad big toe.  My right big toe feels fine on the lunges.

I ran for 1:02 and covered 5.5 miles again.  My average pace was 11:14 and my 5th mile I ran at 11:06, the last half mile at 10:56.  I can still tell where my breathing is a bit labored because I'm still experience some congestion and asthma.  However, I feel much stronger.  This run was a solid 3, mainly because I notice some improvement.  Some of the improvement may have been to cooler temps.

Weather:  Temp. 56; Humidity 92%; Dew Point 53; Wind SW 1 mph; Barometric Pressure 29.95 steady

What's the problem

I ran 45 minutes Monday.  The best pace I could average and stay in my estimated Zone 2 was 11:40.  I could tell that I was still suffering from respiratory problems.  This run was a 2 (only because I know that I'll have worse runs.)  I also added lunges during my warmup.  Usually lunges have been really difficult for me in the past because of a lack of leg strength.  They were much easier on Monday.  I was a bit sore on Tuesday.

I ran 45 minutes Tuesday.  The best pace I could average and stay in my estimated Zone 2 was even worse than Monday, 12:10.  That's 30 seconds slower.  Again, the problem sees to be respiratory problems.  I am wheezing and rattling when I exhale hard.  I think this run was a 1.5.  I did the lunges again and added leg swings to the warmup.  I think this will be beneficial.  I'm trying to stay away from anaerobic work during my base phase, so general fitness cross-training won't really fit.

I ran 1:07 Wednesday.  My pace was only marginally better, 12:01, as I stayed in Zone 2.  My respiratory problems seemed to be a bit better.  (I need to amend what I wrote about lunges.  I began them on Tuesday, not Monday.  Monday, I just had to get out and run, since I had not run since Wednesday of last week, May 2.  Since I was able to get in 5.5 miles, this run was a 2.5, though I am grateful just to be able to get out there and run.

Another weird setback

I seemed to be going along fine on the last Saturday and Sunday of April.  Even when I ran on Tuesday, I felt good.  But Wednesday morning I ran and I sensed something was wrong.  My lungs still weren't clear.  Instead of following my breath, breathing a relaxed manner, and trying to make sure that I breathed on a three for one basis, I found myself having to breath three for one.  I also had to slow down to keep my heart rate in the MAF range.  I felt horrible after my run.

I decided to go back to the Doctor because I really didn't seem to be than much improved.

The diagnosis was that my lungs still weren't clear, that I had a "reversible obstruction" that he would diagnose as asthma, if I had a history of asthma.  I told him that I have a history of asthma.  He referred me back to my pulmonologist.  He also put me back on prednisone, ciprofloxan, Symbicort, an inhaled steroid, and an albuterol inhaler.

I didn't run Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.  I was beginning to feel better, so I ran this morning, May 7, 2012.  I felt worse than I did the day I went to the doctor the second time.  I had trouble with my breath all day.  I'm not sure what the problem is.  I'll take it easy this evening, get in bed, and see how I feel in the morning.

First Long Run in several weeks

Saturday, April 28, was my first long run in several weeks.  I ran the mountain bike trails in Ridgeland.  This was my first time around the long loop, which is billed as being 9.5 miles.  My plan was to run 2 and 1/2 hours.  I arrived later that I intended, a bit after 8:00 pm.  The temperature was starting to rise.  My hydration pack was filled with 70 oz. of water on my back.  This is a tough trail run.  My Garmin said that I climbed 5300 feet, which would be big for me at this point.  I certainly felt it.  I had technical difficulties with both of my heart monitors and I had to run on feel.  My final overall pace was 12:47, slow as molasses on a cold day.  Nevertheless I really enjoyed the run through the woods.  The first 1 and 1/2 hours felt good.  The last hour was hard.  I finished with 11.75 miles in 2 and 1/2 hours of running.  The time on my feet was good, but the number of miles concerns me.  Is my aerobic fitness really that bad.  I know that at the end I felt spent.  At the hour mark, I ate some shot bloks and removed my shirt to cool down.  I try to get my hydration pack adjusted to avoid chaffing.  Unfortunately, I didn't get it adjusted correctly at the bottom.  I know have two bad chafed spots on my lower back, on my kidneys.

Overall, I really enjoyed this run and the trails.  I would give it a 4, if I had run faster and hadn't felt spent at the end.  So it's a 3, mainly because there has to be room for improvement.

Typical Thursday Run

On Thursday, I ran for 51 minutes.  That's as close as I could push it and still make it home to take Thomas to school.  I ran at the levee and was late getting started.  Don't recall now what held me up.  This run was a 2.

Mid-Week Run

Wednesday, April 25, I ran for an hour and a half on the levee.  This run felt good too.  I'd give it a 2.5 on a 1 to 4 scale.