I ran 8k today, the 7th k was the toughest and the slowest but I seemed to have been able to make it.  It was a cold night as well, not cold but cold for September, I was considering coming back in to get a jacket on.  My leg started to do its thing where it feels like it is going to go numb a couple of times but somehow I was able to get past it and work it out.  I’m not really sure how I did that, if it was from flexing my foot or using my calf more.  I got a stitch in my side as well that slowed me down but somehow it wasn’t able to stop me, it was close though, I was running pretty slow for a bit.  The only frustrating thing about my run is that I did it in just over an hour, which is good in a way since it means I comleted the bridge to 10k program by running for an hour straight, the downside is that I am 2k short of my target, so it will take me about an extra 15 minutes to do 10k.  I might have been able to do it today but I didn’t want to overdue it.  Go me.

And I might have went for 8 if it wasn’t so late.  It was a slower run today, 40 minutes for the first 5k.  My 6thk was the slowest at 9 minutes but than I sped up for the last k.  During the 6th k my leg was bothering me and I got a bit of a stitch but it west away soon after.  I used my dual shock shoe again, it was rough going early on, it felt like it was making the arch of my foot pop up higher than it should.  It was a cool night again but as soon as I got some sweat going it felt hot and icky.  I didn’t notice how sweaty I was until I took off my shirt, that thing is amazing wicking the sweat away and it was soaked through.  Afterwards though I was also amazed at how much my foot was cramping from my shoe, it wasn’t happy at all.  On the bright side, I ran with a hat today and it kept all the sweat out of my eye which I am very happy about.

The super Harvest Moon is huge, This morning I left an hour early to get into work sooner and it took up a lot of the sky and kept things nice and bright.  I wasn’t too sleepy this morning which was good since I was able to notice quickly that my bus wasn’t coming and didn’t actually start to run that early.  I am lucky that I ran across my neighbourhood because I was walking to the bus stop that does have a bus in the morning it was already approaching, I ran across traffic to get in, I’m glad he waited for me, although he was a bit early.  The bottom of my foot feels tight and so does my calf, tomorrow is going to suck.

The air tonight was smokey, it rained a ton yesterday and I guess someone didn’t think through there decision to have a fire tonight, it is everywhere.  I think it was near me since it seemed to be stronger here, I don’t think it help put me out to a great start, the beginning of my run was slow going, around 9 minutes or so. I felt to winded and my breathing was rather labourous.  My legs felt fine although running that slow I don’t think they would feel that bad.  The GPS in my phone wasn’t working again tonight, it said I covered 4k in the distance that I cover 5k.  I rebooted my phone afterwards so hopefully it will be ok for next time.  Kind of disappointing since I could have kept going but I want to know how far I actually make it.  It was a colder night, about 16 but it still felt like the humidity was making it feel like it was 24 or so, it wasn’t it felt like 16 but it still felt gross and sticky out. I’m not 100% sure about my new shoes but I think given the choice I won’t be picking a dual fusion again but I am frustrated because my pegasus keep breaking.  Nike’s website for the pegasus sucks http://www.nike.com/ca/en_ca/c/running/stories/2013/09/pegasus-plus-30

The results came in on a race I ran a few weeks ago, it is weird my time came in only 4 minutes worse than my best time even though i spent a lot time walking, a ridiculous amount of time walking.  The only thing that prevented it from being worse was the 2 minutes I saved at the beginning of the run by running at the pace most people were running, ie an average person’s pace.  I have at least 2 races that I am interested it doing for the year and maybe a third, not sure on it yet.

Tonight we are babysitting Thomas, I thought he was going to be a bit fussier but he has been really chill all day, we haven’t seen him as much but he doesn’t hold it against us, I guess he isn’t as clingy to his parents so it is just easier.  The cats want nothing to do with him though.  He had a nap and cried a bit afterwards but I think that is a fairly normal response and he wanted to be held for a bit after his nap.  He is sleeping overnight, I hope he sleeps through the night, I am doubtful since he went down at 8, actually I think I here him right now at 11.30.  He is making some noises, hopefully he just goes back to sleep.  I think I will be going to sleep now.  I finally finished reading through the available Game of Thrones books, it is really well written and fun to read, now to wait for more books, sigh.  I guess I could read the wheel of time in the meantime.

It has been super humid, today was actually pretty humid as well, it feels like 26.  I checked while I was running, it didn’t feel hot and it said there was a heatwave warning, oops.  I of course couldn’t run yesterday when it was cool because of a headache.  I did 5k,  did stop for a minute twice to rest my leg, it still seems to be doing that thing.  I got new shoes while in the US, they are dual fusion which seemed very soft in the store but not quite so soft when I was running.  The Pegasus ones seem softer but they keep breaking on me.  I got a couple of blisters, my first since running actually I think.  I just might not have laced them u tight enough.  I got a shirt and some more socks while there and got to spend 90 minutes on the bridge, and had to go in and pa hst on my purchases, they didn’t wave us through, boo.

On Saturday I couldn’t do 5k and had to walk during lengths of it, Monday my thighs were still soar because of my fast 1k and Tuesday was too humid to run.  Today I ran 6k at my new usual pace of 7 and a half minutes per km.  My calves didn’t seem to flare up or get annoying in terms of burning or cramps but my right leg did do that thing where it feels all fat and tingly.  It almost feels like blood is pooling in my foot and is trapped there and can’t recirculate back up to the rest of me.  I was thinking if that is the case I don’t think my calf muscle has swelled up at all and is trapping it, not really sure what is doing it or what can be done about it, if it is indeed the issue.  But yay 6k, I’m so sure I couldn’t have done that Saturday, bah.  There is a 5k coming up in Cambridge and the Run for the cure afterwards, I have raised 95$ so far, yay.

Today’s bus ride home was full of students and it is still 1-2 weeks early before they all come back to classes, I hope the buses can keep up with the demand because I don’t want to drive to work, and it would be nice to sit on the bus, I have got really use to reading on the bus, I think I only started maybe a month ago and I am a third of the way through the 4th game of thrones book, it is rather good, as everyone else in the world has already said.

I went out for a 5k today with high hopes that I could finish in 35 minutes but in actuality I was slow and had to stop and walk several times.  I gave myself a rest inbetween runs for a week but I still got winded very badly and the pain that occurred in my leg happened again today over and over again.  Last week I ran in 38 minutes, I think today it was closer to 45.  I haven’t been winded in a long time but it was hotter and more humid than it usually is when I run, also despite being slower overall I did run faster than usual.  The first km I ran was in 6 minutes which is about 2 minutes and 30 seconds faster than my average km, I never actually have run faster than 7 minutes before so I may have very well just ran out of gas.  From reading up online people talk about having an adrenaline surge and being pumped up by the crowd and feeding off the energy but I got none of that at all.  All I noticed was how much faster everyone else was, how near the end a 7 year old girl who was in front of me was able to just go and left my sight as I trailed behind, much like many of the other elderly that passed me or parents pushing there stroller ahead of themselves.  About halfway through my first km a guy was already heading back and passed me when he was at 3.5 km, I think he finished in 18 minutes but I am not discouraged by him since his legs looked like they belonged on a horse.

Meh, next time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanomac-rocks/15022152141/

Not that I thought they would be easier to do, but I thought they would be a little easier to do, like maybe the last km be the most tiring where my muscles are very soar instead of the 2nd km where I still have 3+ to go.  I did it again though and I seemed to have been a lot more sweaty today, it just kept constantly getting in my eyes despite how much I tried to wipe away.  My right leg did it’s thing where it felt sort of tingly and sort of numb.  I did take a break for a minute to stretch out the stitch in my side and the numbness just went away.  I was wondering before if my leg was longer than the other and the constant pounding of it into the road was the cause but I guess not.  Not really sure how to prevent it in the future.

Yesterday Tom came over and his sister came by as well to play some Catan and Dominion, I think it was the 3rd time we used our kitchen table and first time for a game.  Really should do a house warming party at some point.

Had 2 days off again and a mini massage on my calf but it was again another hard run.  I think my pace was quicker at the beginning but not really, I got to the halfway point at the same pace I normally do.  I was a little quicker overall but I think that is due to me pushing it at the end, it only really shaved off seconds, I ran 7.37 per km which I guess breaks down to 38 minutes 5 seconds, it is getting better.  It was a tough run, not as bad as my last one, this one felt like I could do 30 minutes however it was tiring, not only on my calves but my thighs and with my stamina, it felt like I was going to run out of gas in the middle of it, if I had to turn my transitions were slow, I was slow, no runners high just a lot of feeling miserable through out.  I did run for 5.2km, so yay.

Going back to Game of thrones now

I ran 5k, barely.  While running I got 2 cramps in my side, they happened about a km apart at 2 and 3. Approaching the 4km mark my stomach was also grumbly and not happy, maybe from the tuna and chick pea juice.  My legs were burning as I approached the halfway point and both of my calves felt like they had enough, I was even feeling some back pain, not sure if it was from my posture.  In the end I was able to push through and finish it off.  I ran at 8minutes/km again which isn’t too bad based on everything and how crappy I felt.  For the last km it felt like my leg was buzzing and tingling.  It’s been 3 days since I last ran because of the rain yesterday but I was finally able to do back to back 5k runs.  I certainly didn’t feel a runner’s high or that I could keep on running forever, I just felt fire in my legs and the desire to just get it over with.

I had toastmasters today, it wasn’t bad, I forgot my humour speech in the car and had to do one off the top of my head up front.  I think I have mostly written a speech for next week, I hope it goes well.  It’s not good by any means but hopefully will be passable.  I finished reading the first Game of Thrones book today, it was really good and engaging.  The only story I didn’t care as much about was the dragon lady but I guess she’ll be integrated with the story better in the next book.  I should get to sleep.

In my mind it felt like a lot more time has passed.  Actually come to think of it I haven’t been thinking of my failure, just how much time has passed since my successful 5k run and how I have not been able to duplicate that feat. It has been 7 days.  Even today I feared that I would not be able to, my calf that has been the problem has continued to be a problem, it feels tight, unrelenting in letting me know that it exists through being uncomfortable and feeling like if I had to move suddenly it would make sure it gets torn in two probably leaving me in the middle of the road as a speeding car approaches.  I got it rubbed a bit and it seemed to have helped.  It seemed to have been more from having warm hands applied to it, so maybe a heat bag or a hot water bottle would help.  Afterwards I ran out and felt a lot better, my calves both ached a bit and it felt like if I pushed them too far or ran too quickly they would tighten up again leaving me with a long, lonely walk home.  As luck would have it I was able to duplicate my feat from 7 days ago and I ran 5k!  It feels good to know that I was able to do it again and it wasn’t just a one time fluke.  The last few days I have been a little worried and preoccupied with thoughts that I will be spending my next couple of weeks working on getting me back to a level where I can run 5k instead of focusing on taking me further, well more accurately faster.  I still want to get my 5k down to 35 minutes, perhaps even 30 minutes although I don’t have a time frame of when I want to accomplish that goal though, I don’t know what is realistic yet.  I did run about 15seconds/km faster than before, so it is a start.  I did my 5k in 39 minutes vs 40.

Work is going good, starting to get into a groove as it were there but there is so much to learn and unfortunately a lot of it has to be learned through time.  I’ll get there though.  I purchased a Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition player’s handbook and I am looking forward to playing it a bit, should be fun.  Oh well I want to shower now and read a bit more from Game of Thrones before going to sleep.