Off The Track...and Slightly Off-Track

Saturday, July 5th 2008

This past week has had up and downs. Last Saturday I had finished the two-mile
run on the Lindbergh HS track, and immediately started to fear the three-mile run
scheduled for Sat, July 5th. Andy and Julie both told me to get off the track
and onto the streets, sidewalks, and trails. The acountant in me was attracted
to the precision of the track, it's measured length, evenness of terrain, and
level surface. But I took them up and hit the pavement. Thanks to mapmyrun.com,
I was able to measure my distances, even to a more precise level than the quarter
miles of the track.

Monday June 30th - My running schedule called for a 7 minute jog, 5 minute walk,
7 miute jog, five minute walk and then a 5 minute jog. I was able to do the
whole routine plus adding some minutes to the final jog. It was a great day to
be on the streets. I rode my bike to work early enough to get my workout in
before work. The sun was out, it was warm, and just delightful. The sprinklers
had already done their thing for the day, and it enhanced the smells of the
freshly cut lawns and the flowers and shrubbery along the way. A good day and
very encouraging for the coming week.

Tuesday, July 1st. It's run month! Twenty-five more days to go. Today's plna
called for a recovery day. "Very slow jog for 20 minutes, 10 minute walk." I
was feeling pretty good, and took it an extra 10% with a 22 minute run followed
by an 11 minute walk. I had to go to a meeting in Bellevue after work, so I took
the bus, and biked home. I must have overdone it because my ankle was swollen
after the 10-mile ride. I hope it doesn't turn into a lingering problem.

Wed, July 2nd. I dropped the van off the prior day for some work, and was to
pick it up after work today. I figured I'd do my workout, which called for a "2
mile jog with walking when needed," after work sometime. The planing for that
was a little easier since a co-worker said to me during the day, "Hey, is that
your Raleigh bike out on the bike rack with the flat tire?" Affirmative... So I
mapped a run to the repair shop. Two miles of flat plus one mile all uphill. I
wasn't able to do the entire 2-mile distance without walking, but I did add some
running interval uphill during the uphill walk like "I'm going to run to that
lightpost, etc.'

Thur, July 3rd. - Recovery day. A good day to rest the ankle. So I did.

Friday, 4th of July. Today's prescription: 10 min slow jog, 10 min walk, 5
minute slow jog, 10 minute walk. ("Slow jog?" I didn't know there was any other
speed.) I added to the plan, running a 10 minute jog during the second set, and
added a 12 minute run after the 10 minute walk. During the third set I was
running towards home and wasn't thinking about my legs or my breathing - I was
just jogging, and when the workout was completed, it was the most optimistic I've
felt since I started the workouts that I can actually do this!

Sat, July 5th. I started to the day watching the videotape of daughter Molly's
brother-in-law, Josh Rohatinksy, finish 5th in the 10,000 meter Olympic Trial
race. I think it was a 24-lap race, and the top three go to the Olympics. The
announcers said that Josh had strained his leg about three weeks ago, and that
had to be discouraging. A three person pack broke away during the race, and Josh
was one of the leaders of the second pack. Just couldn't catch them. It was
disappointing. He finished 8 seconds behind the winner. Imagine the precision
at the Olypmic Athlete caliber. That eight second gap equates to 1/3 of second
per lap difference! Josh's time was 27:54. That's running 4:30 per mile for 6.2
miles!

Today was my day for the 3-mile run. I haven't run an uninterruped 3-miles for
over twenty years. The last time I tried that distance was back in 1989 when I
thought I'd start running to lose some weight before my 20th high school reunion.
The outcome was that I hurt my knee, aborted the running, and ended up playing
some tennis instead.

I took Ringo with me on the run. Ringo is a great dog to take on a walk.
Runnins is a different story. I guess in the world of dog, Ringo considers
himself "all man," and as a result, feels compelled to pee on everything. He can
get away with it on a walk, but it's really annoying when running. I made it
just about 1 & 2/3 miles before jogging up a hill, and just ran out of gas. I
felt kind of defeated as I dropped into a walk. Then it started to rain. There I was,
walking with a wet dog in the rain.

Remember in the movie "The Natural," there's the point where Robert Redford is
having a tough time, and then Glen Close stands up from her seat in the stadium,
in her white dress and hat, and a beam of sunlight falls upon her making her look
radiant and inspires Redford to hit a home run? Chris Farley would pause and just say,
"That was awesome." I would say that scene from "The Natural" was the opposite of
what my running experience was today. Pretty discouraging.

I ran the last 1/3 mile, with the excursion covering 3 miles. As a consolation
prize, I went to Bally's and did a 2&1/4 walk on the treadmill, so that for the
first time I covered the entire distance of the race that is a mere three weeks
away.

My right ankle hurts...