Doh!

I can’t believe it! I went to run tonight, and, when I arrived at Forbidden Drive, I realized that I had forgotten my iPod. What could I do? Scratch the run? Or proceed, dreading that the 30 minutes would seem like four or five hours.

I ran, and it wasn’t bad. In fact it was pretty good. As I had done yesterday, I alternated two minutes of running and one of walking. I’ll probably continue this for at least two weeks and then make a decision about increasing the amount of time I run.

I had planned to rest today, but the weather forecast called for thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and evening. I’ll run in the rain, but I won’t run when there’s lightning. I decided to get in a run today, just to keep running five of seven days per week.

A Little Progress

Tonight, after a day off, I changed my routine. Instead of alternating between 90 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking, I ran for two minutes and walked for one. I think it’s the best run I’ve had to date.

I started at a slower pace than I had been running (I think). At one point, I had caught up and passed a man who looked a few years older than i—and a lot more fit. His slower pace reassured me that I didn’t have to worry that I wasn’t getting enough of a workout.

But I’m still self-conscious about my pace. I know I shouldn’t be. At the same time, if I’m only out for thirty minutes or so, I do need to pace myself.

It’s clear, too, that my cardiovascular system is getting the workout it needs. Between runs, during my one-minute walks, my heart rate was usually between 120 and 125 beats per minute 45 seconds into the walk.  That my heart rate was consistent, I think, indicates that my body isn’t having any trouble with the routine.

Tomorrow is a rest day, and Friday I’ll resume with the same routine as today’s.

I Did It

“It” being running five days in a row: something of an accomplishment for me, because I had my concerns as to whether I’d feel miserable on the fifth day. I didn’t. In fact, I had a pretty good run. Most importantly, I was able to shake off the discouragement I experienced yesterday.

This evening, our family got off schedule, so I found myself going down to Forbidden Drive after 7:00 p.m. That was just as well, though, because today had been another unseasonably warm one. When I ran this evening, the temperature was probably in the mid-80s, down from a high in the low 90s.

I attempted to push myself a little more, alternating a few two-minute runs with one-minute walks. I wanted to do more two-minute runs, but it became clear to me that my body wasn’t ready for that. But I think it’s time that I regularly incorporate more longer runs into my routine.

I also ran a more difficult route tonight, so that might have kept me from running more two-minute runs.

Tomorrow I’m giving my body a rest. I’ll run again Wednesday, rest Thursday, and then run Friday through next Monday.

On Perseverance

This morning, my wife and I drove down to Forbidden Drive where she rode her bicycle and I ran.We had another unseasonably warm and brilliantly sunny day. Temperatures mid-morning were probably in the mid-80s.

Physically, I had a good run. I didn’t push myself as much as yesterday, although I did try to run faster on a few segments. Mentally, however, was another story: today was the first day that I felt genuinely discouraged.

I live with a contradiction. On the one hand, I’ve committed myself to running for the long haul. I’ve set a reasonable goal for this time in my life: I aim to run 30 minutes continuously.  I also recognized that progress will probably be slow. Since I’m 48, I ought to expect my body to adapt to changes more slowly than if I were, say, 28. Yet, on the other hand, I’ve gotten the absurd notion into my head that I’ve hit a plateau—no, worse: I’m closing in on the asymptote.  It’s absurd because I’ve only been running for a little more than a month.

I’ve been using some crude metrics to gauge my progress. Specifically, I’ve been looking at my heart rate at different times during a run. The maximum heart rate for a man my age is 220 - 48 = 172. After a one-and-a-half-minute run, my heart rate is usually around 140, or 80% of the maximum. I’m assuming—unscientifically, to be sure—that I should see an improvement in my recovery rate as my body gets used to running, so I’ve been looking at my heart rate 1’15” after running. At this point, I’m happy to see that around 105 beats per minute (or about 60% of the maximum).  On the other hand, there are days when that rate just doesn’t get lower than 115 beats per minute (or 67% of the minimum). These days, then, I’m trying to get that rate more consistently down in the 60% range—and that is what is not happening yet.

But maybe I’m being unreasonable. Maybe I’ve chosen a bad metric. Perhaps I need to push myself a little more at this point if I want to see that rate come down consistently after a lower-intensity run.

At any rate, I told my wife that I absolutely must run tomorrow. It’s psychological: it’s easy for discouragement to get the best of me. Now is too early for me to become discouraged.

On Not Letting a Beautiful Day Go to Waste

We’re having an unseasonably warm, sunny spring day. Some forecasts predict a high of 87, about 20 degrees higher than normal for this time of the year.  Add to that low humidity—this warm front has come from the southwest—and one has the essential ingredients for a perfect day.

I’ve long despaired about letting days like this go to waste: I need an excuse to get outside. Of course, yard work always awaits me, but at this time of the year, before such weather becomes routine, I’d like to enjoy a piece of the day. (I detest yard work, by the way—a consequence, I suppose, of growing up on a farm with two domineering parental units who regarded yard work as the most direct route to virtue.)

This morning I headed back down to what is becoming my usual route, the somewhat soft trail alongside Wissahickon Creek known as “Forbidden Drive” (so named because cars are not allowed). I proceeded with a little bit of trepidation: only about 18 hours had elapsed since yesterday’s exhausting run. I knew not to be surprised, then, if I had a lousy time.

To my surprise, I felt good during the first part of the run. In fact, nine minutes in I decided that I’d pick up the pace of my minute-and-a-half running segments.  The first segment went well, and I could tell I was pushing myself. I decided to slow down for the next segment, and to alternate faster and slower segments thereafter. The second fast run went well, too.  But by the time I started the third fast run, it became clear to me that I was proceeding more aggressively than my body could take. About 45 seconds in, I slowed down and remained at the slower pace for the rest of the runs.

Nevertheless, this strikes me as progress, however modest it may seem. Tomorrow I may try a different variation: two slow runs for every fast run.

Tough Run

Today I had a more difficult run than others I’ve had lately.  (Okay, it’s really a run-walk: I run for a minute and a half, walk for the same amount of time, and repeat ten times [although today I did eleven].)   Usually the first six to ten minutes are rather challenging, but today, almost the entire run felt like that.  Only toward then end—perhaps in the last ten minutes—did I begin to feel okay.  Even Act I of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West did little to take my mind off of how I was feeling as I ran.

Of course, everyone has bad days, and mine was probably a drop in the bucket compared to the bad days that some more experienced runners have.

It was, though, a beautiful day, and that helped make the run worth it.

These days my plan is to begin running five days a week.  I’m continuing the run-walks that I described above, and I'll probably stick with that for another three or four weeks.

Evening Run

55 degrees and clear skies at sunset.

I always run while listening to music, public radio, or some podcast.  In fact, were it not for portable music players, I don’t think I’d even consider running, let alone exercising.  Tonight, it was Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.  Yep, I’m that geeky.

Ready … Set … Go!

A little over a month ago, I began running again for the first time in about 20 years. I thought initially that running was going to be just one of those things I routinely undertake, like eating, sleeping, or bathing. I’ll run, my thinking went, so that I can get exercise, just as I, as a child, ate my vitamins to grow big and strong (I’m neither, incidentally). I always had believed that some people actually find running quite gratifying, but I’d never imagined that I’d be one of those people. After all, the last time I ran with any regularity, I did so in response to the encouragement of my then-fiancée (now wife), but I can’t say I did so with much relish.  (No reflection on my wife!)

These days, however, I’m finding running much more satisfying than I had before. Perhaps this is because I’m a wiser runner (which, given that I’m pretty foolish, means that I’ve probably moved from about 1 to 2 on a ten-point scale of foolishness). To begin, I have goals (about which I’ll write more in a subsequent post). I’m not running for the sake of running. In fact, I don’t even think I could do so. I’m also in this for the long haul. I’m not in any hurry to achieve my goals: rather, I’m treating them as physiological metrics. (Sorry, but I can’t avoid falling into geekspeak.)

So why have I started blogging about running? I tell myself that I’m doing so to provoke responses. Of course, that also suggests that I’ve deluded myself enough to believe that people will actually read my blog.

Truth is, I’m not sure I can simply blog about running. I tend to follow stray thoughts that arise in one context into other areas. So if the point of departure is running—even broadly speaking—the thoughts may well find a home on this blog.

Or maybe this is only my megalomania speaking!