dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran approximately 10 miles today in 1:17:54, with an average HR of 133.  There was still some soreness left over from Monday's hike, but it was not too noticable while running.  During the day on Tuesday I drank more water than following Monday's hike, so I suspect that this may have something to do with the lower HR today.

I ran approximately 10 miles today in 1:17:50, with an average HR of 134 bpm.  compared to Tuesday, when I ran the same direction on the canal as today, I had an average HR of 133 at 5 miles in 38:55, versus 137 at 5 miles in 40:30.  I made a point of drinking a few glasses of water after waking up and prior to running to see if the HR would be on the low end like it was yesterday.

I ran approximately 10 miles today in 1:19:16, with an average HR of 138.  I ran the same route as on Wednesday, except I turned around a tiny bit earlier, as on Wednesday I accidentally overshot my turn-around point.  Comparing the two days, I ran the route about 2 minutes slower today, with an average HR that was 5 bpm higher.  If I convert this to total heart beats over the course of the run, my total today was approximately 6% higher than on Wednesday.

Thinking to my new theory that dehydration causes increased HR, I recall that I was drinking quite a bit (and urinating quite a bit) for the first half of the day yesterday.  In the evening however, I drank relatively little, and prior to running today (at 3 PM) I drank only a small amount of the smoothie that Kimia made this morning, drinking no other fluids for the entire day.  So, today's run supports the increased HR with dehydration theory.  I will try to drink lots of fluids this evening, and in the morning prior to running tomorrow to see if my HR decreases.

10 miles.  My back is starting to act up a bit again.

Of any run that I have had while in Arizona, my heart rate today was the lowest.  Average of 132 bpm for approximately 8 miles.  I cut the mileage a bit because my back is hurting more, and I am trying to be careful.

I ran 8 miles today on the indoor track at ISU.  I took off a few days as I was not feeling well, and my back was bothering me as well.  My back is feeling better now, but I still need to be careful.  I should have run yesterday, but I wussed out due to ice being on the ground and not wanting to fall.  Today I ended up deciding to just run indoors instead.  I switched directions every once in a while so that I wouldn't have to turn the same direction for the entire run (when an indoor track has 8 laps you can do that).  Total time of about 56:30 for 8 miles.  Average HR was in the mid to upper 150's.  This also seems to support the idea that not drinking enough water = high heart rate as I tend to forget to drink water when I am working.

I ran 8 miles today.  I can't remember the time on the run, or my average HR, but I did experience my first fall of the winter despite being extra careful and skipping a few days (yesterday included) due to icy conditions or choosing to run indoors on other occasions.  Luckily I did not hurt myself when I fell as I fell into a patch of snow.

No falls today.  Total time of 1:03:59 for 8 miles, and an average HR of 135 bpm.  This run supported my good hydration = low HR theory as it was very windy during the second half of the run and my HR increased a lot fighting the wind, bringing my average up from about 132 bpm during the first half of the run.

I ran 6 miles today.  I ran from school and I forgot to take my watch with me, so I had no time or HR for the run.  I ended up running shorter today because my stomach was bothering me a lot while running and I was having bad cramps.  It also snowed earlier in the day so the trail was fairly slick.  I had three slips that were bad enough I thought I might go down, but somehow I was able to stay upright.

I ran 8 miles today on the indoor track as I was trying to avoid the ice again.  I was forced upstairs to the crummy track as people were playing basketball, volleyball, and frisbee on the nice track, which meant that I was unable to rotate directions as I ran (the upstairs track is only three lanes wide, wheras the downstairs track has 8 lanes).  I was trying harder to run more slowly and not get excited by other people on the track, and with 1 mile left I was on pace to finish in about 1:03:00, however I was feeling good and I decided to run the last mile hard.  My HR maxed out at 191 during the last mile and I ran a 5:18 with laps of 59, 58, 59, 59, 56, and 27 (half lap).  I wonder if this track is actually longer than what is stated (it is listed as 5.5 laps to a mile).  Whether it is long or not, this upstairs track is relatively slow as it is essentially a rectangle with rounded corners, and you have to slow down frequently due to the sharpness of the corners.

Total time for the run ended up at 1:00:13, with an average HR of 146.  Average HR was at 140 bpm at 7 miles.  This run also in my mind supports the dehydration = high HR theory as I again forgot to drink much during the day.  I need to remember to drink more so that I can actually test my good hydration = low HR theory.

Running that last mile hard on the crummy upstairs track last night actually gave me a bruise at the 5th metatarsal head on my left foot as it takes a lot of force to maintain those types of speeds on curves that are so sharp and my foot essentially made ground contact on its side on every corner.  Luckily for me it does not hurt to run as long as I am not taking super sharp corners.  I ran 8 miles in 1:04:22 with an average HR of 137.  I was trying to drink more water to avoid dehydration, and I think that I did an ok job of it (thus the lower HR compared to yesterday) however I also think that it takes more than 1 day to erase the problems associated with dehydration (assuming that my theory is correct at least).

No run today.  I was planning on running in the lab to help another student with some research.  However, my foot is still bothering me a lot after I was dumb and bruised it on Friday evening.  It doesn't hurt to run with shoes on, but the research protocol called for me to run barefoot, which I did not feel comfortable doing right now.  We ended up deciding to have me wait another week or so for me to do the study.

I was still planning on running in the afternoon, but after getting home from looking at apartments with Kimia (we are probably going to move in August to a bigger place) Kimia had a headache and was not feeling good, so she took a nap and I ended up skipping me run in order to watch the kids while she slept.  So, I could have run today, but ultimately I didn't.  I am hoping that the extra day off will help my foot to feel better more quickly.

I ran 8 miles this morning in 1:04:48, with an average HR of 136 bpm.  It was very icy outside, so the effort was harder than my average pace would indicate.  It was also very cold outside, as the temperature at the end of my run was -3 degrees farenheit, and at the start it was somewhere between -3 and -8.

Considering the situation, I am not sure if this run would support my theory of good hydration = low heart rate.  In comparisson my hydration was much better today than it was on Saturday, but my average HR was only 1 bpm lower despite running my route in approximatley the same amount of time.  When I take into account the weather things become even less clear.  The positive is that my average HR was lower.  The negative is that during the last 4 miles of my run today (run in 32:07) my average HR was about 140 (compared to an average of 133 during the first 4 miles run in 32:41).  This causes me to think that maybe (if my theory is correct) I just need to maintain good hydration over a number of days or weeks and that my HR will drop incrementally the longer I maintain good hydration.  The other possibility is that my theory is completely wrong, and I am just grasping at straws (although if enough bad "straws" are taken out through trial and error, maybe I will finally figure out what is wrong with me.... I mean, its been over two years now and I still don't know what is causing my issues, and the doctors I have seen can't really seem to figure it out either excepting the pericarditis, the resolution of which only improved but did not cure adverse symptoms).

On another note, I feel like I should post an update regarding how my back and leg are doing.  My back and leg have been feeling much better of late as the things I have been doing to relieve the pain have been working.  On the other side of the coin, I feel like I am walking on a tightrope and that the slightest thing might set me off and lead to more pain.  There was a little bit of tightness and some mild discomfort this morning which extended into the beginning of my run, although I felt better as the run progressed.  Overall I have been very happy lately with how this problem has been progressing.  I have felt a certain sense of accomplishment from having figured out how to (mostly) get rid of any pain/discomfort without needing to bother seeing a doctor.

I ran 8 miles on the indoor track in 59:50, with an average HR of 150-151 bpm.  Bad day as far as HR goes.  I have been drinking a lot of water too, so this goes against my good hydration = low HR theory.  Even though I was running faster than I do when I am outside, I was seeing a HR above 140 even when I was running closer to 8:00 pace at the beginning of my run.  I have another theory which I think I may start looking into soon if this trend of high HR even when well hydrated continues.

My foot is still feeling fairly sore.  Today it was bothering me a little at the beginning of the run, but as the run progressed I did not notice it anymore.  My back felt decent, although a little stiff.

I ran 8 miles this morning in 1:03:10 with an average HR of 136-137 bpm.  So, HR was lower than yesterday, however it was still higher than is preferrable, and my HR during the second half of the run was much higher than during the first half (132 average during the first half, and about 140 average during the second half, similar to Tuesday).

It was very cold again as well, with temperatures at about -9 farenheit at the start of my run, -6 at the finish, and with windchill approaching -30 degrees.  This is the coldest weather I have ever gone out to run in, but I wore so much clothing that I wasn't really cold at all.

My foot only bothered me for a few minutes at the beginning of the run, and my back felt pretty good as well as there was less stiffness than yesterday.  I still need to monitor my foot a lot, as there is a fair amount of pain if I press on the lateral side near the 5th metatarsal.

I helped another student out with some research today, and I ended up running 3.25 miles in the process, all on the treadmill.

I ran to school today, as my bike was already there (Kimia picked me up from school yesterday).  I rode the bike home in the evening.