30 Minutes

The weather today is gorgeous: clear, bright blue skies, low humidity, temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. When I ran this morning, the temperature was probably in the lower 60s. It has been, in short, a great day for a run.

I slept well last night. I awoke around 7:45, ate a bagel and cream cheese and drank my coffee. A little later, I headed for Forbidden Drive. Having had more rest than yesterday, I decided to try to run 30 minutes continuously. If it didn’t seem like I’d make it, I’d break up the run. I began at a slow, steady pace, and, after a bit, sped up slightly. Overall, today’s pace was more like a slow or perhaps moderate trot, but I believed that was what was going to be necessary if I was to run the full half-hour.

I arrived at the Covered Bridge, the usual half-way point of my runs along the portion of Forbidden Drive I run most frequently, and my watch read 15:01. So I turned around and ran all the way back.

I felt good throughout the entire run. Admittedly, I did not go too fast, nor did I get my heart rate above 130.  For the first half, my heart rate gradually inched up from around 105, settling in the range of 120-125 beats per minute after about twenty minutes.  But that’s okay: the goal today was to run 30 minutes continuously, and I didn’t want to exhaust myself before the end.

So what’s next? Well, I plan to keep going with the 30-minute continuous run for a while. Tomorrow I’ll rest, but Tuesday I’ll run again. Wednesday, I think I’m going to try a more hilly part of Forbidden Drive: I’ve been wanting to integrate hills into my run for a while, so maybe now is the time to do so. That, I think, will also be consistent with my tendency to push myself gently.

Ambling Along

I don’t get it. I thought running was supposed to help me sleep better. Last night, however, I had trouble getting to sleep. Consequently, I went running this morning less rested than I would have liked to have been.

Taking that under consideration, my run went as I expect it would under the circumstances. I did, however, attempt to push myself a bit more. I began intending to run four minutes before walking for two, but, when I noticed that I’d already run 4’23”, I decided to run 14 minutes. That went well, although I did run at a slow pace and kept my heart rate relatively low. After two minutes of walking, I resumed running, hoping to run for fourteen more minutes. Seven minutes in, however, the run was getting uncomfortable: I tried to adjust my breathing and pace, but nothing seemed to work. I decided to run one more minute to see how I felt, and, if I didn’t feel better, I’d resume walking. The running didn’t seem to get any easier, so I decided to walk two more minutes before running the last three.

I’m not sure why I had so much trouble running 14 more minutes. Two explanations come to my mind. First, the lack of sleep the night before may have inhibited me. Compounding the effects of sleep deprivation may have been that yesterday, I ran hard relatively late in the day. Second, perhaps my body is just not ready to do 14 minutes twice at one pop.

But I’ll live and learn. I may not get to run tomorrow, in which case I’ll next run on Monday evening. Then I’m more likely to be rested enough to try to run longer.

Gently pushing

After a day off, I decided to try to increase the intensity of my run, if only slightly. Wednesday, I ran on Forbidden Drive before heading to the track to run a timed mile. Since I ran the mile in 10’27”, and since I felt like I didn’t really need the two minutes walking between eight-minute runs, I decided to change today’s routine to something slightly more intense: I ran four minutes, walked two, and then ran 11 minutes twice, separated by a two-minute walk.

The first 11 minutes were easy. During the second 11-minute run, though, I found that I was pushing myself—gently pushing, so to speak, because although my body was working harder, I didn’t feel like I was overdoing it. It’s been several weeks, in fact, since I felt this way while running, so it was probably time to push myself a little bit.

I’ll attempt to repeat the run tomorrow and Sunday. If that goes well, I think I’ll try next week to run 30 minutes without a break.

The Timed Mile

Today I ran my first timed mile. I did it in 10’27”—poky, I know, but that doesn’t bother me. I did this after doing my regular 30 minutes on Forbidden Drive.

As I had done yesterday, I ran 4 minutes, walked 2, ran 8 and walked 2 twice, and then ran 4. I could tell that today was a little harder than yesterday. My legs began feeling a little tired a few times, but that feeling dissipated as I adjusted my pace. I also watched my heart rate, which tended to stay around 130-135 beats per minute while I was running.

Again, I see how I’m benefiting from the lessons learned in the previous eight weeks. I’m doing a better job pacing myself. In fact, I found that the two-minute walks were more than enough time to recharge.

Tomorrow is a rest day, but I hope to get in some cross-training. With rain continuing, I’ll probably do a tedious twenty or thirty minutes on the stationary bike. Whoopee.

Today’s running music: Luciano Berio’s Concerto for Two Pianos. Berio’s music is particularly good for running because it frequently doesn’t rely on a steady beat. I can listen and go at my own pace, uninfluenced by the music.

Okay, I’ll call that progress!

I rested yesterday, and I felt lousy (mentally) for most of today. I think my body has become so accustomed to the activity that a day off has a negative effect on my mental state. Since I’ve been diagnosed with clinical depression, I wonder if this reflects my body’s response to the ebb and flow of physical activity. Memo to self: do something active on your rest day, for Pete’s sake!

Today, I tried something new: I ran for four minutes, walked briskly for two, ran twice for eight minutes with a two-minute walk after each, and ended with a four-minute run. It was great! The only time I felt a bit tired was about six minutes into the second eight-minute run. I’m going to stick with this routine this week.

One of the most important things I’ve learned (and re-learned and re-learned) over the past eight weeks is how to pace myself. This has gone hand-in-hand with learning to slow down. In fact, the latter, I think, is a bit trickier, because I tend (as I suppose is typical) to speed up. These lessons are proving their worth as I increase the amount of time I run continuously.

Today’s music: Hindemith, Cello Concerto and Symphony in E-flat.

Mark this day!

I bought my current pair of running shoes on March 5, and I was out running (on Forbidden Drive, of course) the next day, March 6. So, as of this post, I've been running for a little over eight weeks.

How I’m doing after eight-and-a-half weeks

Today I had a quarterly checkup with my physician. I’m on medication to control my blood pressure and cholesterol. Since our family has a history of heart disease, I’ve needed for some time to be more proactive in reducing my risk for heart attack or stroke. It hasn’t helped that, for the past few years, I’ve been overweight. (To be honest, I’ve been, technically speaking, obese, although few people who look at me would say I’m overweight. My wife and physician are the notable exceptions.)

The doctor was encouraged to see that I’d lost seven pounds since my last visit, and he was happy to hear I’d been getting exercise. He also noted that I seem a lot more upbeat. I asked him what criteria he’d use so that I could get off the medication; he said that he wanted to see a twelve months of good numbers.

I’m mildly surprised at how running has affected my demeanor. We’re on day two of what looks to be a three-day span of rainy weather. This weather normally gets me down, but, for some reason, it’s not phasing me. Perhaps having run in the rain yesterday has something to do with it: I don’t feel like the weather has imprisoned me under my own roof. Or perhaps my body has become less sensitive to the alternation of nights and sunny days than it had been.

The one temporary downside to all this running is that, having lost several pounds, I find myself in that odd no-man’s land between even waist sizes. I don’t mind wearing loosely fitting clothing, but I’m looking even more rumpled than usual, and I’m feeling a little bit ridiculous.

I’ve not settled on a routine of scheduling rest days yet, even though I’m limiting myself to five days of running per week. To schedule consistent rest days is something of a challenge, because I have to balance running with chauffeuring kids to and fro. This week, however, it will work well for me to run Tuesday and Wednesday, rest on Thursday, and then to run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Rainy run

This morning I had a good run in the rain. I was surprised to see perhaps a dozen-and-a-half runners on Forbidden Drive, because today was Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run. Surely the hard core would be there, right? Well, perhaps most of them were.

As I did yesterday, I ran at a slower, steady pace. Although I’d planned to alternate two minutes or running with one of walking, I was surprised to find myself frequently running two-and-a-half minutes before glancing at my watch. Further, the thirty seconds off between runs seemed to be sufficient time off between runs. Not once, I think, did I find myself getting tired toward the end of each run. So maybe it’s time for me to experiment with longer runs.

Saturdays … ugh?

I’m not sure what it is about Saturdays, but for the second week in a row, my Saturday run was difficult. I did run at a slower pace, though, and I made a couple of (personal) discoveries.

First, I’m beginning to pay attention to running technique. In my reading, I’ve learned that good technique is one factor that can help prevent injuries. I’m happy to run slowly for a while just so that my body can get accustomed to a better way of running.

Second, I’m also starting to see how paying attention to my body as I’m running can help me understand what feels uncomfortable and may require a change. I’m not talking about the discomfort that yells at you, but, rather, the little bits of discomfort that are easy to ignore.

Realizations like these are helping me to appreciate the benefits of, say, running clubs and forums—that is, places where I can get some help with basic elements of technique and the like.

What Are Running Minims?

American musicians often speak of “running eighths” or “running sixteenths.” They’re referring to a fast passage consisting almost exclusively of notes all having the same, short duration. (The British, by the way, call eighth notes “quavers” and sixteenths “semi-quavers.”) Here’s a famous passage containing running sixteenths:

(If you want to hear what this sounds like, click here.)
If you look at the logo for this blog, you’ll notice that I notated the passage in half notes—what the British call “minims.” The duration of a half note, as you may know, is eight times that of a sixteenth. When the passage above played eight times as slow, it sounds like this.
Like running minims, I’m not in a hurry. If I never run fast (and I never have), that’s okay.