Today is a day off from running/biking. BTW, on Friday my knees had been hurting a little. Last night, after I recovered from the bike ride, they felt much better, much stronger. The pedaling appears to be therapeutic.
So, how can a 45/46 year old return to exercise and be able to run everyday without soreness or stiffness?
The key is stretching.
Now, I did have soreness and stiffness when I first started running, but I found a trick. I'd take a hot bath at night, followed by some stretching, focusing on my thighs and quadriceps where I usually felt most of the soreness. It really worked. The soreness went away.
So, make sure to stretch well before you run, warm down with walking and light stretching afterwards. Use a hot bath with stretching to work out the remaining kinks.
On Monday, I shall return to running, and I will be slowly increasing my time from 40 minute runs to 1 hour runs. I haven't decided whether to increase each run by 1 minute or 2 minutes each day.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday bike ride
I'm going to guess that I did about a 20-mile bike ride today. Hard to say because I rode for about about 30 minutes, about 6 or 7 miles, before I got on the Catharine Valley Trail at the Millport Post Office and then rode for another 15-20 minutes on the trail itself before I turned around. But it's hard to measure the distance because I didn't have a landmark where I turned around that I could plug into Google maps. Also, the pictures on Google maps are way outdated and don't show the newest extensions to the trail.
I really love that trail, and I hope that someday it will be extended all the way down to Horseheads. It would a great thing to hop on my bike someday and within minutes be on a protected, safe peaceful trail, rather than risking life and limb on Route 14 or on Middle Road. They are working on it, and my guess is that so far they have extended parts of it about a mile south of the Millport Post Office, but the new extension is not complete and they have signs warning people to stay away.
Anyway, I think the bike riding is important to my fitness regimen. Because of my weight, the running could be bad for my knees and ankles. (They are my achilles' heel, as it were). I am able to compensate by wearing the soft braces, but I think that although the braces allow me to run, they can also weaken my knees. So, I need the bike riding to strengthen my knees without straining them under my massive weight.
I allegedly gained a pound today. The BMI is 35.2.
Tomorrow will be a day off. Days off are also critical. I'll probably post some tips on how to manage running every day as a returning runner at my age.
I really love that trail, and I hope that someday it will be extended all the way down to Horseheads. It would a great thing to hop on my bike someday and within minutes be on a protected, safe peaceful trail, rather than risking life and limb on Route 14 or on Middle Road. They are working on it, and my guess is that so far they have extended parts of it about a mile south of the Millport Post Office, but the new extension is not complete and they have signs warning people to stay away.
Anyway, I think the bike riding is important to my fitness regimen. Because of my weight, the running could be bad for my knees and ankles. (They are my achilles' heel, as it were). I am able to compensate by wearing the soft braces, but I think that although the braces allow me to run, they can also weaken my knees. So, I need the bike riding to strengthen my knees without straining them under my massive weight.
I allegedly gained a pound today. The BMI is 35.2.
Tomorrow will be a day off. Days off are also critical. I'll probably post some tips on how to manage running every day as a returning runner at my age.
Friday, June 10, 2011
40:12, 3.4 miles, Day Five!
A good week of running, and it pays off because on the last day I ran the best distance and returned close to the goal. I was only 12 seconds late getting back to the starting point, and I'll take it.
Each day was an adjustment, and today I got on target. The weather helped today. It was much cooler, and now I realize the heat and humidity had been a factor in my struggle on Thursday. It was probably also why I may have felt faint after the run. That seems obvious now.
I also now know my check points and roughly what times I need to be at as I hit each mark:
Corner of Middle Road and Ridge Road -- just under 2 minutes.
Wygant and Ridge Road -- just under/or around 5 minutes
Old Ithaca and Ridge Road -- 12 minutes (which works, because that is 1 mile from the house.)
Today, I hit the intersection with Wygant at about 4:44, a little fast and so I adjusted my speed a little. As I turned on to Old Ithaca Road -- at exactly 12 minutes -- I hit a mild headwind. So I was going against the wind and uphill at that point. It made little difference. I made it to the other side of Woodview Drive at the 20 minute mark. On the return trip, I hit Ridge Road at 28 minutes, which was about perfect, and I got to the intersection with Wygant at around 35:30. That meant I needed to finish in 4:30, and I just didn't have it in me.
So, I lost time on the uphill on Ridge Road. That's why I came in 12 seconds late, but like I said, I'll take it.
I'm starting to see the same faces at about the same point in my run. I've learned that if you wave to someone for a couple of days, they start waving back.
For Saturday, I may take a long bike ride, and then take Sunday as a day off.
BMI is 35.
Each day was an adjustment, and today I got on target. The weather helped today. It was much cooler, and now I realize the heat and humidity had been a factor in my struggle on Thursday. It was probably also why I may have felt faint after the run. That seems obvious now.
I also now know my check points and roughly what times I need to be at as I hit each mark:
Corner of Middle Road and Ridge Road -- just under 2 minutes.
Wygant and Ridge Road -- just under/or around 5 minutes
Old Ithaca and Ridge Road -- 12 minutes (which works, because that is 1 mile from the house.)
Today, I hit the intersection with Wygant at about 4:44, a little fast and so I adjusted my speed a little. As I turned on to Old Ithaca Road -- at exactly 12 minutes -- I hit a mild headwind. So I was going against the wind and uphill at that point. It made little difference. I made it to the other side of Woodview Drive at the 20 minute mark. On the return trip, I hit Ridge Road at 28 minutes, which was about perfect, and I got to the intersection with Wygant at around 35:30. That meant I needed to finish in 4:30, and I just didn't have it in me.
So, I lost time on the uphill on Ridge Road. That's why I came in 12 seconds late, but like I said, I'll take it.
I'm starting to see the same faces at about the same point in my run. I've learned that if you wave to someone for a couple of days, they start waving back.
For Saturday, I may take a long bike ride, and then take Sunday as a day off.
BMI is 35.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
41:16 Day Four
Well, the first half of the run was fun.
Today, the 20 minutes on the way out got me a block and a half past Chestnut Drive, which had been my turnaround point the day before. So today I turned around between Woodview Drive and Oakview Circle on Old Ithaca Road. I could see Wygant Road just up ahead.
Google maps measures the route from my house to Woodview Drive via Ridge Road as 1.7 miles. If I put Oakview in as my destination it doesn't even give the Ridge Road route as an option. Anyway, it was at least a 3.4 mile run.
However, my total time was 41:16, which means it was a struggle on the way back. I blame the 17-year-old in my head for getting me to start out too fast. And on this route, a fast start going downhill means you will cover a lot of ground in the first half of the run. Then you have to work much harder going uphill on the way back.
I would much rather be able to cover less distance consistently than cover more distance and end up struggling at the end. If I do run farther on the way out, it doesn't fully count in my mind unless I can get back in the same time. That's where pacing comes in.
BTW, on the way back, I heard a twig snap behind me, and I knew another jogger was closing in. It turned out to be a female runner, who passed me fairly easily. Back in the XC days, I would have used that to try to run faster to keep ahead. At this point in the run, I just couldn't even keep up as she passed me. Anyway, it helps to keep the ears clear.
As a side note, I felt light-headed about a half-hour after my run. I was making the boys their lunches for school when it hit me. I felt better after I sat down and ate.
I'm not too worried about it at this point. I attribute it to how I have been eating recently. The running has been boosting my metabolism and lowering my appetite. I'm eating less and snacking less. For dinner, I usually eat a plate of spaghetti, but to me that's just fueling up for the next day's run. It's like pulling into a gas station and filling up the tank. The spaghetti is all carbs, and it all gets burned off in the run. By the time I was making the lunches, my body was starved. That's why I felt faint, and I felt better after I ate.
So, the weight loss is not so much from the running. The weight loss is happening because of the higher metabolism and lower intake of food.
These are all things to be tinkered with as I go along.
Today the bathroom scale says I gained a pound from yesterday. BMI is at 35.1.
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| Run for 6/9/2011 |
Google maps measures the route from my house to Woodview Drive via Ridge Road as 1.7 miles. If I put Oakview in as my destination it doesn't even give the Ridge Road route as an option. Anyway, it was at least a 3.4 mile run.
However, my total time was 41:16, which means it was a struggle on the way back. I blame the 17-year-old in my head for getting me to start out too fast. And on this route, a fast start going downhill means you will cover a lot of ground in the first half of the run. Then you have to work much harder going uphill on the way back.
I would much rather be able to cover less distance consistently than cover more distance and end up struggling at the end. If I do run farther on the way out, it doesn't fully count in my mind unless I can get back in the same time. That's where pacing comes in.
BTW, on the way back, I heard a twig snap behind me, and I knew another jogger was closing in. It turned out to be a female runner, who passed me fairly easily. Back in the XC days, I would have used that to try to run faster to keep ahead. At this point in the run, I just couldn't even keep up as she passed me. Anyway, it helps to keep the ears clear.
As a side note, I felt light-headed about a half-hour after my run. I was making the boys their lunches for school when it hit me. I felt better after I sat down and ate.
I'm not too worried about it at this point. I attribute it to how I have been eating recently. The running has been boosting my metabolism and lowering my appetite. I'm eating less and snacking less. For dinner, I usually eat a plate of spaghetti, but to me that's just fueling up for the next day's run. It's like pulling into a gas station and filling up the tank. The spaghetti is all carbs, and it all gets burned off in the run. By the time I was making the lunches, my body was starved. That's why I felt faint, and I felt better after I ate.
So, the weight loss is not so much from the running. The weight loss is happening because of the higher metabolism and lower intake of food.
These are all things to be tinkered with as I go along.
Today the bathroom scale says I gained a pound from yesterday. BMI is at 35.1.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
40-minute run, Day Three
Today, the 20-minute outward trip got me to the intersection of Chestnut Drive on Old Ithaca Road, about 250 feet longer than my run on Monday, and much further than Tuesday's run. Google maps still says it's 1.6 miles from home, but it felt great to me.
What was exciting was that on the way back, I felt a surge of energy. I took advantage of the slight downward incline on Old Ithaca and then was able to attack the hill on Ridge Road. I ran most of Ridge Road pretty strong on the way back, but started to lose steam when I was still three blocks from home. When I hit the point where I'm usually about 2 minutes from home, I was WAY ahead of schedule, and even as my pace slowed a bit in the last block or so, I got to my starting point at 39:23.
However, since my goal was to run for 40 minutes, I decided to keep going. I kept running to the end of the block and stopped at 40:08 at the corner of Stuart Street and Middle Road. That's an extra 400 feet. Google maps says the return trip was 1.7 miles. So, this was 3.3 miles in 40:08.
What also feels good is that I can run every day now and not be sore.
Today's earworm was "Run Around" by Blues Traveler. I'd rather have an earworm than use headphones or earbuds.
You need your ears to be clear when you run. Your eyes can give you nearly 180 degree coverage of of what is happening in front of you. Your ears give you 360 degree awareness. They are a second pair of eyes, and can warn you about dangers that can come from any direction. You need your ears especially on busy roads like Old Ithaca Road, which has a lot of truck traffic. For women, having your ears free also gives you an edge over any potential attacker. (Sorry, that is a reality to deal with. My wife teaches self-defense for women, and that makes me aware of these issues.)
If my bathroom scale is to be believed (and we have our doubts), I've lost about 1.5 pounds since yesterday. My BMI is now down to 34.9.
OK, I'm am looking forward to tomorrow's run. Ciao!
What was exciting was that on the way back, I felt a surge of energy. I took advantage of the slight downward incline on Old Ithaca and then was able to attack the hill on Ridge Road. I ran most of Ridge Road pretty strong on the way back, but started to lose steam when I was still three blocks from home. When I hit the point where I'm usually about 2 minutes from home, I was WAY ahead of schedule, and even as my pace slowed a bit in the last block or so, I got to my starting point at 39:23.
However, since my goal was to run for 40 minutes, I decided to keep going. I kept running to the end of the block and stopped at 40:08 at the corner of Stuart Street and Middle Road. That's an extra 400 feet. Google maps says the return trip was 1.7 miles. So, this was 3.3 miles in 40:08.
What also feels good is that I can run every day now and not be sore.
Today's earworm was "Run Around" by Blues Traveler. I'd rather have an earworm than use headphones or earbuds.
You need your ears to be clear when you run. Your eyes can give you nearly 180 degree coverage of of what is happening in front of you. Your ears give you 360 degree awareness. They are a second pair of eyes, and can warn you about dangers that can come from any direction. You need your ears especially on busy roads like Old Ithaca Road, which has a lot of truck traffic. For women, having your ears free also gives you an edge over any potential attacker. (Sorry, that is a reality to deal with. My wife teaches self-defense for women, and that makes me aware of these issues.)
If my bathroom scale is to be believed (and we have our doubts), I've lost about 1.5 pounds since yesterday. My BMI is now down to 34.9.
OK, I'm am looking forward to tomorrow's run. Ciao!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
How fat am I?
Fair question.
In earlier posts, I've mentioned that I am obese and that I need to lose weight. Already the pounds have started to come off, but you might be curious about where I am and how far I have to go.
As far as I can tell, just about all the extra weight has gone into my abdomen. My legs and arms look the same as they always did. I just walk around with this enormous gut. I look like I'm about 20 months pregnant, at least.
Frankly, I'm too embarrassed to post how much I weighed at my peak last year. I'm not even ready to post my current weight. But I will post my Body Mass Index, which is a means of determining the amount of body fat by comparing height with weight. A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered overweight. A BMI above 30 is obese.
At my worst last year, my BMI was 36.7. My BMI today is 35.2. So, I'm making progress. According to the online calculator I'm using, if I want to be of average weight, I need a BMI of about 27. I'll include my BMI in future posts and eventually include the poundage so you can do the math later.
In earlier posts, I've mentioned that I am obese and that I need to lose weight. Already the pounds have started to come off, but you might be curious about where I am and how far I have to go.
As far as I can tell, just about all the extra weight has gone into my abdomen. My legs and arms look the same as they always did. I just walk around with this enormous gut. I look like I'm about 20 months pregnant, at least.
Frankly, I'm too embarrassed to post how much I weighed at my peak last year. I'm not even ready to post my current weight. But I will post my Body Mass Index, which is a means of determining the amount of body fat by comparing height with weight. A BMI of 25 to 30 is considered overweight. A BMI above 30 is obese.
At my worst last year, my BMI was 36.7. My BMI today is 35.2. So, I'm making progress. According to the online calculator I'm using, if I want to be of average weight, I need a BMI of about 27. I'll include my BMI in future posts and eventually include the poundage so you can do the math later.
Day Two of 40-minute runs
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| Here's today's run. |
It's just a matter of adjusting to the new route. I'd noticed Monday that I was going more downhill on the way out and therefore more uphill on the way back. Today, I think I overcompensated by going out too easy on the way out because I knew I was going to have to work harder on the way back.
I also realized the variations in the incline. It's not all downhill on the way out, but it trends that way.
The thing to remember with hills is that if you start and finish at the same spot and come back the same way, for every hill you climb it will pay you back with momentum on the other side. When I ran cross-country a million years ago, we used that to our advantage in a races. We would try to attack the hills, not slow down, and then just as we reached the top try to accelerate, open our stride and use the downward momentum on the other side of the hill to break away from our opponent.
I don't run like that anymore. Nowadays, if someone else is out there with me, I'm more likely to see if I can keep pace with them. But stride is key. The longer your stride, the fewer steps you need to take, the more distance you can cover with less energy.
To get a sense of stride, just stand with your feet together, then take one step with one foot and leave the other foot where it was. The distance between your feet is your stride, how much distance you cover with one step. An easy way to increase your stride while running is to keep your knees up.
Earlier, when I was struggling with the three mile runs, I'd notice I was looking down at my feet. That's going to slow you down. You are literally driving yourself into the ground when you run like that. So, I kept telling myself, "Head up, stride open." It helped me finish stronger.
Cheers!
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