Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Not much there today

YIKES.

20 minutes. That's all folks. 20 minutes. And not even really a good quality 20 minutes. Guess the lack of sleep and travel and lack of sleep - did I already say that? - finally caught up with me.

Question is, do I take tomorrow off, get rest, or push through.

Stay tuned!!

John

ADDENDUM

As Jenny was walking past the treadmill, she noticed that the treadmill looked like it was on an incline. I had NO idea. Sure enough, when she turned the treadmill on it was set at a 4% incline. 4% INCLINE. No WONDER I couldn't run for more than 20 minutes. I was trying to run up a mountain.

WORSE, it was probably at the 4% incline LAST week when I had trouble running. I must have pushed the "4%" button when I thought I hit the "4 MPH" button.

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Life's a Beach



OK, I'm not complaining.

Jenny had a group from Chicago Endurance Sports participating in the ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon. Leaving Chicago to go spend the weekend in Miami, on South Beach no less, is hard to pass up.

The only downside, if there was one, was that our room was on the street and right above the bar. People KNOW how to party on South Beach and we were treated to the sounds of street musicians, cruisers, and revelers all night long. I'm getting old!

But, I was able to run or walk each day. I got in a long walk on Friday, 40 minute runs on Saturday and Sunday, and a 30 minute run/walk on Monday. So, I actually ran or walked 6 out of the past 7 days.

ORN: 1/26: 1 hour walk. 1/27 45 minutes R4/W1, 1/28, 45 minutes R4/W1, 1/29 30 minutes R4/W1.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

A Little Longer

As I said, I'm going to try to push my daily runs from 4 miles to 6 miles over the next few months. There's no particular reason other than I'm enjoying running more often and not having the pressure of doing LONG runs.

The way I'll start that is to do a little walking at the end of the regular workout. So, I did my "normal" 4 mile run and then added a 1/4 mile of walking. Once that feels OK, I'll try run/walking the 4.25 miles and adding 1/4 to the end.

ORN: 4.25 miler; R5/W1 [4 miles], walk .25 miles, 50 minutes total

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Searching for a routine


Back home again, trying to get into something like a routine. I'm trying to stretch my regular run out a little and will start to bump it up once I get a decent base.

The photo is of my grandson, Hunter. I had a career as a musician earlier in my life and my son is a musician. Doesn't look like the apple fell far from the tree! Anyway, that's what distracted me from my running last weekend.

I got in a solid 4 miles on the treadmill today. Nothing fancy, just a good workout on a day when it would have been easy enough to skip it.

ORN: 4 miles, 46 minutes, R5/W1

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Let it snow

Holy SMOKES, it was cold today.

It's been a funny winter for me. I've been away for lots of it and even when I was home [Chicago] is was warm. Now, out in Vienna, Virginia visiting my son and his family, I finally had to run in sub-freezing temperatures.

AND IT WAS COLD!

It's not that I've never run in the cold. In fact, I like it. I like being out on the lakefront path knowing that I'm one of few to be brave enough - or dumb enough - to run outside. I haven't really gotten my winter "wisdom" back, so I was guessing about what to wear, how many layers, etc.

But, it felt good and for that I'm grateful.

ORN: 4 miles, R5/W1, 50 minutes.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Penguin; Missing in Action

Good morning,

I cannot believe that it's January 18th. The last thing I remember it was New Year's Eve and we were setting up the rented cribs for the twins.

Later that week Jenny and I headed down to Orlando for the Walt Disney World Marathon. After a short turn-around we were back in the air going to Phoenix and the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and Half Marathon.

And now it's now.

I have been running, but not as much as I would like. I'm having a difficult time getting into anything like a routine. When I do run, it feels fine. I'm still not going past 4 miles for now, but that's OK. I don't really have anything on the schedule.

It's now been over a year since I last ran a marathon. That's the first time I've gone that long between marathons in 10 years. Not sure what it means.

So, I am still here. And, I promise to get back on the streets and on the Blog.

John

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Happy New Year

Over the river and through the woods pretty much describes the past couple of weeks of my life. Jenny and I drove to Myrtle Beach to spend Christmas with her family, I drove up to Vienna, VA to visit my son and his family, and Terry and the twins drove to Chicago to celebrate my father's 80th birthday.

I ran some. Didn't run some. Walked a little. Rested a little. Mostly, I just enjoyed the time with friends and family.

Being a runner, or being a recreational athlete, means - at this point of my life - finding the balance between obsession and sloth. For me, that's not an easy balance to find. One the one hand, I spent 40 plus years overindulging in everything I did that was unhealthy. On the other hand, I spend nearly 10 years overindulging in something that was supposed to be healthy.

It's the tendency to think that if 3 of something is good then 10 must be better. That's not always true.

So, my goal for 2007 - it's not a resolution - is to run a little bit more, eat a little bit less, and to find a way to sneak up on being 60 years old in two years.

John