Geezer Dome

I heard that name used for the Stillwater Bubble today. Indeed, looking around, many of the people walking in the dome were seniors, like myself. However, “geezer” implies men, and at least half of the walkers and runners are women, and according to my resident advisors the term “geezer” is insulting if applied to a woman.

Further, walking and running are not the prime activities hosted by the dome. It’s built for soccer, and during other hours it’s used for soccer, baseball, and lacrosse, as well as many other sports. For example, one day we saw US Marine recruiters from all over the state playing flag football games. So I won’t be using the term geezer dome.

NO WALKING TODAY. As an experiment, I tried to slow down to a pace of 10 minutes per mile, because my natural pace is faster but I'm unable to sustain it. Sometimes this doesn’t work very well, I speed up as soon as my attention wanders, but today it worked and I ran for an hour, six miles, without stopping or walking. It’s good.

Breakfast:

Five Runs, 32 Miles

All in the Stillwater Bubble. Thirty miles last week, thirty-two this week.

Friday, January 28, 2011:

Stillwater Bubble 40 minutes, 4 miles. No pains, no problems. It’s a masterpiece.

Thursday, Jan 27:

Stillwater Bubble 60 minutes, 6 miles. No pains, no problems.

Wednesday, Jan 26:

Stillwater Bubble 40 minutes, 4 miles. Pain in the butt is less today. No other pains.

Tuesday, Jan 25:

Two hours, at least twelve miles in the Stillwater Bubble. Jim ran with me much of the way, but somewhere in there found time to run at least one mile more than I did.

Last night I felt a pain in my left butt, especially noticeable when I got up in the night to go to the bathroom. I think that this particular pain is an indication of arthritis in the hip joint, potentially a major problem. Why now? I take glucosamine every day, because of previous hip pains, and I had stopped for three days. I’ve restarted the glucosamine and we’ll see.

Monday, Jan 24:

Perfect run. One hour in the Stillwater Bubble, about six miles, not a single pain of any kind. Perhaps it pays to take two days off from running now and then. It’s a masterpiece.

Breakfast:

27 Below Zero

Friday, January 21, 2011

Thirty miles this week! I’ve been trying to get back to that mark, and until this week life has intervened. Today I ran another hour in the Stillwater Bubble, very close to six miles. No special pace or training - just my regular walk/run marathon pace. The only pain was the right knee, which I won’t worry about unless it sticks around and gets worse.

Temperature was 27 below at the nearest airport this morning. It was even a little cooler than usual in the Bubble, I'm guessing 45 degrees or so. The garage door opener worked, though, and the car got out and ran fine, neither of those being certain on such a morning.

Thursday, January 20:

I had a blood draw today, in the afternoon, so only ran four miles in the morning in hopes that a short run would not affect the blood test.

After the four miles I walked another 20 minutes or so with my sweeties - at least another mile. No real problems, but I am feeling a slight pain in the right knee. That seems to come and go - I hope it goes soon!

The afternoon blood test was to be certain that the cancer was not sneaking up on my kidneys and bones. Good news - it's not. It's a masterpiece!

Wednesday, January 19:

Six more miles in the Stillwater Bubble. Jim rode with us again, and we ran together quite a bit. That takes patience on his part, because I walk one of the short sides of every 1/5-mile rectangle.

No serious pains; the left hamstrings had a message for me early on, but they quieted down in a mile or so. It’s a masterpiece


Tonight's dinner - "leftover" salad: Organic romaine, organic tomatos, a taste of leftover gluten-free pancake with a little local honey, organic mixed vegetables, leftover organic chicken thighs, organic turkey bacon, avocado, organic mustard, organic red wine vinegar.

No Clif Bar Before Running!

I’ve learned this before, but apparently I’m not a quick study. I ate a Clif Bar about an hour before running at the Stillwater Bubble, and it felt like a rock in my belly for the first hour of running. I do like Clif Bars, but will reserve them for post-run recovery from now on. Until I forget again.

I had intended to run for two hours today, but ran out of gas after 1:40. Ten miles or so, nothing hurts much, it’s good enough.

Fish dinner:

Four More Runs

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Today we ran the Charities Challenge Indoor Races again, this time called Challenge Isolation, held this time at the indoor track of Concordia College in St Paul. It’s a nice 4-lane track, though not as nice as the 6-lane track at Bethel, where most of these races are held.

I ran just two races this time. The 55-meter in 10.76, and the 200-meter in 37.99. The short one is 55 m because there literally isn’t room to run 5 meters more and make it 60 m. My 200 m was about 2 seconds quicker than in previous races this season - I hope that trend continues. There is one more race in this indoor series, and I’d like to get comfortably under 36 seconds. In addition to the races, I ran about four miles of warmup and cooldown.

Friday, January 14:

Jim and I ran in the Stillwater Bubble, sort of celebrating a minor event. He’s half again as fast as me, but we both enjoy the conversation and he stuck with me. 60 minutes, about 6 miles.

The left foot still hurts from the re-injury on Tuesday. Otherwise, though, it’s a masterpiece!

Tuesday, January 11:

Stillwater Bubble again. I ran about 70 minutes, about 7 miles in my walk/run style, until our grandson showed up. Then we ran some more! He just loves to run - his mother says it might be genetic. Ya think?

Afterward I did have some pain in the left foot, at the lisfranc ligaments, an old injury. I suppose it’s caused by the zig-zagging around after a five-year-old. Lots of fun, though.

Sunday, January 9:

University of Wisconsin River Falls Indoor Track. The Stillwater Bubble is open for runners and walkers only on weekdays, but the track at UWRF is open most weekend days, $4 each. We stopped by there for a 4-mile run after visiting a friend in western Wisconsin. It’s a normal 200-m indoor track, six lanes, with the faster runners in the inner lanes and walkers in the outer. Everyone runs in the same direction, which reverses every day.

No problems, no pains. I did a few sprints on the straight sections. It’s a masterpiece.


Recent post-run breakfast: Frozen organic blueberries and strawberries, organic pears, oatmeal with raisins and cranberries, a chunk of very dark chocolate:

Two More Bubble Runs

Friday, Jan 7, 2011:

Six miles in the Stillwater Bubble again, this time after two days off from running. I felt very good today, nothing hurts, not even my tailbone.

After several miles of warmup, I did a few sprints along the long side, each about 86 m, and a couple of diagonals, each about 108 m, mixed in with the marathon-pace jogging. Those sprints felt really good.

Short week, though, only 15 miles. But life will get back to normal.

Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011:

Four miles in the Stillwater Bubble, before heading out of town for Mom’s funeral. The run went OK, but my tailbone still did hurt a little.

The funeral went very well. What a great woman she was. 100 years old. This photo was taken about a month before she died.

Charities Challenge Races at Bethel

Charities Challenge Indoor Races at Bethel University. I ran just two of the races today, the 5k and the 200 m. Neither was an unqualified success, but good enough.

I ran the 5k in 24:12, supposedly, but there are 25 laps in a 5k on a 200 m track and I think I ran only 24. So the actual time probably would have been 25:12 or so if we had counted laps correctly. I’d be happy with that, too. The 200 m sprint took 41 seconds, but that race came pretty soon after the 5k and I know I can do better. I’d like to get it down to about 36 seconds - we’ll see.

Meantime I do have to get past my pain in the butt. A week ago I fell on my tailbone (coccyx) while running the snowblower. It hurt in that instant, but not later that day. Since then, though, it has hurt whenever I’ve tried to run fast. Today it hurt after the 5k and especially during and after the 200 m dash. I suppose I’d better drag my tail to a doctor. What would they do anyway - butt in a sling?

Mom Died On Wednesday

Friday, Dec 31, 2010:

Six more miles in the Stillwater Bubble, doing the run/walk as usual. Tailbone still hurts a bit when I try to run fast.

We’re tapering for a marathon, which we now are very unlikely to run. People are in town, and people are more important than races.

Wednesday, Dec 29, 2010:

Six miles in the Stillwater Bubble, before going to see Mom. She died before we got there, but Dad was with her and that was wonderful. A sweeter person never lived. She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2010, and she will be missed by many.

Monday, Dec 27, 2010:

Five miles in the Stillwater Bubble. I should have done more, but ran short on time. No real pains, except in my butt when I tried to sprint.

Over the weekend my feet slipped forward while running the snowblower, and I fell squarely on my tailbone. Today that tailbone hurt a little when I tried to sprint, so I stopped trying. Otherwise it was a good run, walking about 20% of each loop as usual.