Reboot

Well, I tried.

I had a couple weeks of decent mileage. Felt some minor pains, but not quite enough to convince me to pull back.

Until now.

Or, Monday, to be precise. Having run a couple of six milers and a seven miler in the last two weeks, I decided that—come hell or high water—I was running 8 miles on Monday. And so I did.

I felt clunky. I never got into that comfortable groove. In hindsight, I think the tightness in my hamstring was causing me to alter my stride slightly. At around mile 5, both my right hamstring and my right knee started aching. Oh, and my right big toe, too. I ran the 8 miles at a faster pace than I should have (although not terribly fast).

I iced the knee and hamstring, then applied heat to the hamstring.

I had an easy 4-miler (with the dog) planned for Tuesday, so off I went, curious about how my body would react. I made it through the run, but later that day, I knew I was done for a while.

This has been a tough year for this old (feeling) body. I'm also nursing some other non running-related injuries, so my body is currently a mess.

Aside from a short & slow pre-donut run I promised my youngest daughter this coming Saturday, I'm taking a few days off from all exercise. Then, I'm going to basically start over. Everything will be short, light and easy for a while. I'm going to vary my workouts quite a bit. I may do a short run one day, bodyweight exercises another, ride my Schwinn Airdyne on another, lift light weights on another, skip rope, ride the bike trainer, etc. Basically, it'll be a general fitness program until I can get past these aggravating injuries.

Oh, I'm not done as a runner. My body just wasn't ready for what I was asking quite yet.

Until it is, I'll see if I can slowly get this body back to where it should be...i.e. not hurting!

'Here' vs 'There'

I just got back from a Florida vacation, and boy is my checking account tired!

But seriously, folks...it is. This may have been...no, it definitely was...the most expensive vacation we've ever taken. Twelve nights of boarding our dog, airline tickets, condo fee, food, theme park passes...

But I digress.

We were in St. Petersburg, FL for 10 days (minus 3 nights we spent in Orlando) visiting family and celebrating my mom's 70th birthday. I managed to run exactly twice while we were there. Both runs were at night, when it was 'cooler.' 'Cooler' being eighty-four degrees with high humidity; a tad more palatable than the hellish daytime conditions. But I gave it a go anyway, as I always do when we visit there. It wasn't pretty. Living in the Seattle area has done nothing to prepare me for running in hot, liquified air. After two jaunts, I shut it down the rest of our stay and worked on another physical goal: seeing if I could do more than 1,000 pushups while I was there (I managed 1,230). Then, I went for a single-week PR and did 1,005 in a full week (half of it in Florida, half back home), totaling 1,530 in two weeks. This week, I'm working on my pullups. As you might suspect, I'm big into the bodyweight exercises currently. I'll get back to the free weights eventually.

Something I wanted to write about was an observation I made, having spent time in Florida recently. It's an observation AND a comparison. I'm sure it will seem condescending and arrogant to some.

What is it? Generally speaking, people in the greater Seattle area are in better shape and more fitness-minded than those in the Tampa Bay area. There, I said it. I can't quote the source(s) off the top of my head, but there's a reason that Seattle usually ranks near the top of the various 'Most Fit Cities' lists found in various publications. Go for a 45-minute drive around Seattle-area neighborhoods and see how many runners and cyclists you see. Do the same in St. Petersburg and you'll be lucky to see any.

I know, it's hot and humid this time of year down there...but I ran (albeit at night, and only twice) and I never saw another fellow runner. The few cyclists I saw while down there were mostly commuters...and none of them wore cycling gear. Not that you have to do so to be considered a 'real' cyclist (or 'cool'), but you get the point.

Now, to get out of the corner I painted myself into. The message I want to relay is that, wherever you are, be that person who gets out and lives the fitness lifestyle. Be the one that others see as they're driving around. You very well may inspire them to do the same thing. It always inspires me.