Painless

Tuesday, Oct 16:

Round and round we go on the North St Paul Community Center indoor track, 13.5 loops per mile for 14 miles. You do the math. I’d rather be on the Gateway Trail, but the rainy weather recommended otherwise. Time 2:03:42, overall pace 8:50, absolutely no pains, plantar-fasciitis or otherwise.

I use my watch to count the laps, and it’s my firm opinion that I never miss or gain a lap. If I’m running a pace of 9:00 min/mi, then the first lap should be at 40 seconds, the second at 1:20, the third at 2:00, and so forth. If I’m going a little faster, as today, then I’ll gradually get a little bit ahead of that schedule. If I slow for water, as today, then I’ll fall behind it a little. At the one-mile point (13.5 laps), I click the watch and start over. That way the watch keeps track of miles AND the current lap within the current mile. It’s a good system, works perfectly. I could just run for two hours and forget about pacing myself, but that’s not me. Yet.

This was my “long” run before my next upcoming marathon, unless the Chicago Marathon a week ago was my long run. I walked quite a bit of that one, partly because they ordered us to walk. Today I took water every even mile, gels at 4 and 8. Breathing was four footfalls per full breath almost all of the way, faster in the last mile. Splits 8:58, 8:40, 9:01, 8:48, 9:09, 8:46, 9:00, 8:44, 9:02 8:47, 8:57, 8:45, 8:49, 8:17. I’m cheered by the fact that there was still enough left to speed up some in the last mile. Good run! I feel great.

Sunday, Oct 14:

Challenge Aging is a new race in the Charities Challenge series of races. Like most of the others, it’s a 5k, twice around Como Lake in St Paul, a nice flat course. My time was 23:38, more than a minute quicker than Saturday, for a pace of 7:37. I tried pretty hard; this was about as fast as I could run in my current state of fitness. It’s more than two minutes slower than my 5k PR from last year. But a week after a marathon and a day after running 8+ miles it’s OK with me. No pains of any kind. A feel-good day, actually.



This morning's breakfast: Organic oatmeal, organic nonfat milk, organic nectarine, organic strawberries, organic plum, organic yogurt, organic dark chocolate. Estimated Weight Watcher points = 7.


Tonight's salad: Organic romaine, organic local fennel, organic candied ginger, dried dragon fruit, blue cheese, raspberry vinegar. Estimated Weight Watcher points = 3.


Last Thursday's dinner: Wild-caught orange roughy, kiwi, organic broccoli, organic pickled beets. Estimated Weight Watcher points = 4.