dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

I ran about 3 miles with my running class this morning, followed by another 3 miles alone in 21:42.  I was feeling decent, and I was running about 7:30 pace pretty easily, so I decided to run a half mile fast as a test of where my fitness is at, with plans to bail if my quad started to act up.  I ran the half mile in 2:40 (81, 79) with the first half being flat, and the second half having a net uphill.  I felt pretty smooth the first quarter mile, but during the second quarter I felt like my aerobic system was lacking and I had to work harder (I was also running uphill and I sped up).  Overall I was pleased because I was not shooting for a specific time and 5:20 pace came naturally.

My leg felt decent during the run as I could feel just a shade of tightness letting me know that it is not completely healed, but no pain.  My back was acting up again, and I am not sure exactly how to fix that.  I feel like my hips are somewhat out of alignment again, and that may be part of the problem.  I also feel like my hamstrings are super tight all the time.  I am going to work on getting my hamstrings looser, while trying to realign my hips as well.

I ran 6 miles this morning.  I was supposed to meet up with Tyler, but he showed up late and we missed each other (It reminds me of when I used to run with Sasha, except I was the one showing up late).  While running, I observed a couple things:

First, I am not yet ready to run fast at all.  My leg and knee have been feeling sore/tight/stiff/none of the above/all of the above (its hard to describe what it feels like, just know it doesn't feel good) although I feel fortunate that my knee did not bother me while running (I generally only notice the knee when I am sitting).  My left quad and knee had progressively been feeling better, yet after running fast yesterday (for a measely half mile!) they are feeling more tender while at rest.  I also feel that the additional discomfort I felt during my run today was likely due to running fast yesterday.

Second, I think that I may be onto something in guessing that my problems are primarily related to my pelvis being out of alignment.  I performed some stretches/exercises yesterday, and my back felt much better when I woke up this morning (compared to the last few days), while there was no noticable discomfort in my quad either (the knee did not feel good, so its not like I did some miracle stretch or something).  The lack of discomfort persisted throughout the first mile and a half of my run this morning, after which things went downhill.  The last 4.5 miles of the run were not very comfortable as my back and quad were both acting up.  I ended up stretching out my hamstrings and back after I got home with the hope that some good will come of it.  The reason I feel like the exercises I did may have helped is primarily due to how I felt waking up.  Lately my back has felt stiff waking up, which indicates to me that it may not be in proper alignment.  I slept on the same mattress as always last night, yet may back did not feel as stiff in the morning, and there was less pain for the first part of my run.  I will need to keep monitoring things to see if I can keep progressing.

I ran 6 miles today, running a little over three miles with my running class, and then running a little less than three miles on my own.  I timed two miles near the end of the run in 15:01 (7:27, 7:34) but otherwise the distance was an estimate assuming I was running approximately 8:00 pace (seems fairly accurate as I run slower with my running class than when I am alone).

I ran 6 miles this morning in 45:34.  I ran a little faster than I intended to as there were more people out than normal this morning, and I got excited.  

Temps were in the 50's this morning when I left to run, and being a wus for cold weather I was wearing long sleeves, pants, and gloves.  Most other people out running were wearing less clothing than I was, but I did see one other person wearing long sleeves and pants.  Being dressed as I was, I was surprised about 2.5 miles into the run when I passed by another runner wearing nothing other than a tiny pair of shorts and a sports bra.  Now I understand that temps in the 50's are not that cold, but they are definitely not hot either, and I really do not see a point in wearing so little clothing in this type of weather.

This actually reminds me of a Sunday back in late 2005 when I was driving down the road on my way to church and I passed by an older guy out running with no shirt on.  If I remember right it was close to 30 degrees outside that morning (maybe in the high 20's?).  That struck me as downright crazy.  In a strange twist I saw a newspaper article just a few days later where this same guy was interviewed and he talked about running shirtless in New York City when it was 15 degrees outside.  He seemed to like doing it for the attention.  If it isn't for the attention however, why bother?  I remember back when I used to like running shirtless (I would run that way fairly frequently), but even then I would put on a shirt as soon as it started to cool down so I really am not getting it.  Am I just missing something here?

On an additional side note, I have been building bunk beds for my kids with the help of my father in law.  I decided to build them, rather than buy them, because I came across a bunch of free wood, and because I wanted bunk beds that were shorter than the standard height (due to having a toddler that will be sleeping on the top bunk).  We are almost done, and the kids slept on their new beds for the first time last night.  All that is left is to put together the ladder, and maybe do some touchup sanding/staining.  Overall I am pretty happy with how things turned out.  Here are a few pictures of the almost finished project in addition to some other unrelated pics:

The new bed (the kids picked out their own sheets)

The dinosaur Shayon made out of playdough (I think this is pretty good for a two year old)

My sweet baby Kamran sleeping on my chest

I ran 6 miles today, with a total time of 43:30.  I ran the majority of my run with my running class.  I ended up running fairly quickly for most of the run because I was going back and forth between the different groups of students.  The positive I will take from this is that speeding up came fairly naturally.  This tells me that I am likely ready to start increasing the mileage a little more, and that my body should be able to handle it without causing additional pain to the knee, quad or back.  My back felt a lot better while I was running today as well.  I will attribute this to the hamstring and back stretches I have been performing recently, in addition to some core exercises.  The quad and knee have been feeling pretty decent for a while now (with the exception of Tuesday), so after today I see no need to comment further on the progress there, unless something flares up again.  The next step for me will be to get my back pain free when I am not running.  Once that is taken care of I think that the running will take care of itself.

I ran 6.5 miles this morning in 47:21.  I timed 4 miles in the middle of the run in 7:07, 7:10, 7:09, 7:11.  I had no intention of running that fast, but I started off the run fast and then struggled to force myself to slow down until the last mile of the run.  My back did not feel good, but it did not feel horrible either.  I think that I just need to keep doing what I have been doing and my back will eventually get better.