One Hour Runner: Week 1, Day 1 (x2)

OHR - Week 1, Day 1(x2) - Last Night, an hour after dinner, I got back on the road again! Zoe and Stacy were watching "Cheaper By the Dozen" on TV, David was content, and Lila already was asleep upstairs. I was feeling relatively well, and when I walked Teddy outside I realized it didn't seem all THAT cold. So I geared up and went out for a run. I was a little apprehensive because I've heard people comment about how they feel slow when running after a meal, but it wasn't an issue for me at all. It felt great to be back out there! Among other things, for the first time in a week I was able to breathe through both nostrils at the same time. While it was cold out there at first, as soon as I got beyond the warmup walk stopped feeling the cold. It helped that I was wearing, for the first time, my long-sleeve running shirt and long running pants. I also wore my reflective vest thingy for the first time.

The vest, plus my headlamp, plus my red flashing left-arm LED, plus my solid neon red right-arm LED, plus the reflective surface of my left-arm cellphone holder, plus my reflective anklets, had me lit up like a Christmas tree. (One neighbor shouted "It's an alien! It's a UFO!" as I ran passed, in a voice that sounded just like Barney from The Simpsons).

This was a great run, maybe my best yet. Not particularly in terms of time, but just in terms of how I felt while doing it. I felt like I was outrunning my cold. Listening to great music, feet pounding the pavement, I quickly got into the zone and forgot all about feeling under the weather. I.Will.Not.Be.Defeated! (De-feeted?) As an extra bonus, when I weighed myself this morning I discovered that I was down more than a pound from the last time I checked. Yesterday, one neighbor told me that it looked like I am melting away. I'm almost at my goal, now, which is to be right in the middle of the yellow "healthy weight" range on the BMI chart on the right.

Enough Already!

Tomorrow will be one week since the last time I ran. I'd very much like to hit the pavement again, but this head and chest cold still has me in its grasp. The fact that we're in the middle of unusually cold weather here in Florida isn't helping my motivation, either. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the mid-thirties in the morning. I know that for many other runners that's balmy for this time of year, but for me it is frigid. I guess it's good that my cold has coincided with the cold weather - maybe by the time I'm feeling better it will be more pleasant outside.

My safety vest arrived in the mail, and I have some new music loaded up on my nano, so I'm raring to go. Maybe tomorrow? I'm off work for President's Day, so I could even get in a daylight run provided I feel up to it.

The Hiatus Continues

No running again this morning. Just wasn't feeling up to it. I hope this cold passes quickly.







I ordered a reflective vest thingy, and hopefully it will help spark my motivation to get back on the road. When I do start running again (tomorrow, hopefully), I plan on restarting One Hour Runner from W1D1.

Mind vs. Body: Excuses, Excuses

No running for me this morning - I woke up feeling that my head cold had migrated into my chest overnight. The general rule in running is "cold in your chest, stay home and rest" (or something like that). So I reset the alarm and crawled back into bed for an hour. Now that I'm more awake I realize that my cold is still really pretty much confined to my head, which was playing head-games with me this morning to steal an extra hour of sleep.

One Hour Runner: Week 1, Day 2

Week 1, Day 2: I decided to run this morning despite still feeling a bit under the weather. I'm glad I did - by the time I was fully awake and outdoors I was feeling much better, and I would have hated missing the opportunity for a rare daylight run. I did my standard through-the-park-and-back route. I didn't see many people since it was still early, but just as I was passing the canal on Pinehurst I did spot a bright red cardinal sitting on the chainlink fence. I didn't get a great look at him since he flew off as I approached, but I'm pretty sure it was a Malula. A pretty rare sighting for South Florida.

When I finished up my run I came back home, showered up, and crawled back into bed. Zoe and Lila made me breakfast in bed for my birthday. A perfect start to the day!





The Workout: 5 minute warmup walk, 30 minute run, 5 minute cooldown walk.


PM Update: It turned out to be such a beautiful day today that we all decided to walk to the park. We left home at about 5:15, spent some time at the park playground, and then followed the lake-route back home again. We arrived back home at almost 7:00 PM. I enjoyed being able to show everyone the route that I run. It was a nice leisurely walk, but I bet I'll feel it tomorrow because I had Lila on my shoulders the whole way home.

Sick as a Dog

No running for me this morning, unfortunately - I woke up feeling under the weather. Apparently, the winter cold that has been making the rounds in my family has found its way over to me. I'm now dayquil-ized and feeling much better, though, so maybe I'll try an evening run after work.