Two Miles Twice

After the longish 12-mile run on Sunday I was due for a shorter one today.  I have several routes plotted to a Kwik Trip station, all about two miles, so I like to .  I ran a little faster than I have been, run / walk 1 to 1 some of the time, total 4.24 miles.

Unfortunately the battery on my Timex watch winked out as I clicked upon arriving home.  I'm sure that I momentarily saw either 46 or 48 minutes as the watch face faded to white.  I'll pick 48, which figures out to a pace of 11:19, much better than I've been doing lately.  Plenty good enough for today.

Brand New Trail

The Zephyr was a dinner train which ran slowly out from downtown for about six miles, then back, on an ancient track no longer used for regular railroad service.  We rode it several times, enjoying both the food and the entertainers, who walked up and down the train in song.  Finally, when the decaying track bed was no longer safe, and the train stopped running, the track was sold to the state for a new biking and walking/running trail.  Now that trail is finally finished.

We had already tried out parts of the brand-new trail, but today I explored another three-mile section, first going from our new home to the trail, about 3 miles, then running on the trail itself, and finally another 5.6 miles back home using other routes.  I felt good and did a fairly energetic run / walk the whole 11.6 miles, returning home in 2:21:12, for a pace of 12:09.

Muscles are a little tired, as they should be, but I could have gone farther.  Next week I will. No other issues, nothing hurts.

Hard and Soft

Thursday, April 23, 2015:

Day Three of my new myeloma treatment regimen.  I felt fine, and a longish run was due, so yesterday I ran out three miles on roads and paved trails to a nature preserve with grass trails, ran about five miles there, and then three miles back, for a total of eleven or so. Doing my usual run/walk I got home in 2:15, a little slower than 12 minutes per mile.

I felt strong the whole time, did some exploring of the grass trails (a few are on the map but don't exist yet), and loved the feeling of the soft earth under my shoes.  It reminded me of Rocky's Run, a fall cross-country race on a golf course.  I should try to get to it this year - all I do is marathons these days.

No pains.  I suppose I'm still feeling some anti-inflammatory effect from the dexamethasone in the treatment regimen, so I need to be even more tuned than usual to what my body is telling me, but this is the morning after the run and I still feel fine.  Ramping up now toward a genuine long run of 20 miles or so, I hope.

Inspired by Dex

My new myeloma regimen includes dexamethasone (Dex), a powerful corticosteroid, the kind of steroid with an unfortunate side effect: it dissolves muscles rather than building them. We use it because it also suppresses my myeloma, an incurable cancer. I just started it last night, though, so it hasn't had much chance to do damage, and I felt strong, alert, and full of pep, another side effect, typically lasting for a day.  It's like waaay too much coffee, and it's actually banned in competitive running, possibly for that reason.  Tomorrow I'll feel down, and I'll probably be my normal self for the rest of the week, until I take it again next Tuesday.

We ran in the soccer dome this morning, avoiding low temps and high winds outdoors.  Because of the Dex I only ran 3 miles, afraid to overextend myself, but without really realizing it I ran faster, finishing the run/walk in 33:20, for an average pace of 11:07, about a minute per mile faster than usual in that venue.  I felt wonderful, actually and certainly could have run farther or faster.

Splits: 11:21, 11:07, 10:53, total 33:20.

Three Runs Today

More or less.  We did some exploring, walking on a grass loop near our home, where we watched a great blue heron for a while.  Then we enjoyed a little park near our home, for a total of about 2 miles.  There is water everywhere - a smallish lake with inlets and outlets plus ponds galore, all with abundant waterfowl.

After lunch we drove to the brand-new paved Zephyr Trail, where the girls ran on the trail itself and I opted for a set of nearby grass trails that are mowed for hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.  The girls traveled 2.5 miles, and I ran / walked for the same amount of time, so I suppose I went about 4 miles.

Back home again, I felt like doing more and ran a 3.5-mile circuit around the lake, adding a newly-discovered grass trail section, in 42:53, for a pace of 12:15.

So that's 9.5 miles running and walking today, with plenty of energy and no pains of any kind. What a delightful day. Life is so good.

I built a picnic table yesterday, so we have a great place to sit in the shade and sip a beverage of choice.  I'll have a beer, thank you, then off to bed early with muscles that know what this day was about.

No Arthritis After All

Monday, April 13, 2015:

Five miles, no problems.  I saw the doctor today and described the left hip problems.  He did some manipulations with my legs, trying to find positions where my hip would hurt, but didn't find one.  Then he did an x-ray of the hip joints and found no evidence of arthritis on that either.

He is sure that the hip pain does not come from a failing hip joint.  YAY!  That means the problem is in soft tissue and it will heal if I treat it right.  I'll see what I can do.

Thursday, April 16:

Busy day.  I mowed for a couple of hours at the old house (the one that's on the market) and then ran about four miles back at the new house.  I felt full of pep today (though I'm yawning now). My cancer treatment is changing - I've stopped the Pomalyst. The new treatment doesn't start until Tuesday, so I get nine days off, and I'm at day four.  Maybe that gives me more energy, or maybe just the idea of it gives me more energy - I can't tell yet.

For more about the new cancer treatment, see my last two posts on Myeloma Hope here and here.

This run included some exploring and a little chatting with new neighbors, so the distance is uncertain - somewhat over  four miles.  The time is exact, 52:09.  I ran more of the time than I usually do, so I'm sure I went faster than usual when I wasn't chatting.  No real pains, but a slight warning from the right hamstrings.

Great Eight Miles

So who knew?  After all my hand-wringing about hip troubles, the pain barely showed up today in an 8-mile run.  Okay, so maybe a little time off helped the hip after all.  The test isn't over though - I'll be really satisfied if sleep is painless tonight.

Splits: 48:03, 52:07, total 1:40:11, distance about 8:02, pace 12:30.