Post-Run Report: March 30, 2017

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Today’s run was actually really quite nice. I wasn’t really in the mood to run or exercise, but I decided to just go out and do it anyway. What’s 30 minutes out of my day to stay fit anyway, right? The temperature outside was perfect; not too hot, not too cold, and not too humid. I did my 70 push ups and then hit the pavement. My pace average was pretty decent. Not sub-9’s yet, but I figure I’ll be back there again soon enough. I did push it, but not too hard. I pushed just hard enough to get sub 9:30’s.

My next run will likely be sometime Saturday. Not sure exactly when, but most likely in the afternoon. Hopefully, it’ll be nice out as well.

Post-Run Report: March 28, 2017

Wow, that picture makes me look old! Today’s run was okay, but the heat made it far more difficult than I thought it would. I thought I was running a good, fast pace. Turned out it wasn’t nearly as fast as I thought it was. Oh well. I definitely got my workout. 

I started with 50 sit ups. I could have done more, but my tail bone was still sore from Saturday’s sit ups. I will need to use some sort of yoga mat or something from now on to keep from hurting my lower back. It’s still sore four hours later. 

I also did 70 push ups. They were pretty comfortable and I didn’t want to push it. My tail bone and butt were hurting pretty badly when I did my push ups which is why I didn’t do more. Hopefully the pain will subside as I keep doing them. 

All in all, it was a positive day. I weighed myself after the run and came in at 173.7 lbs. that’s 1.5 lbs over my lowest, so I’m happy. This ties the lowest I’ve been since coming back from Spain. Just 8 more to my final goal!

Post-Run Report: March 25, 2017

I held off running yesterday due to my Nationa Guard drill, and I knew we had PT today. It ended up being individual, so I ran 4 miles this morning. The weather was great and I felt great. I also did sit ups for the first time in 20 years and I easily did 31 in 49 seconds. In other words, I will easily pass the APFT next month. 

I did 70 push ups before my run and set out with a decent pace. Legs and breathing both felt great. I’m finally at a point where I can run and it feels good. I also got my 10 miles for the week in which is a goal of mine. 

Post-Run Report: March 22, 2017

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What a fantastic run today! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but today’s run, while I pushed it, was tremendously awesome! I went out with a comfortable pace, and it ended up being my best run in a while, and my second-best for this course! I cut over 20 seconds off my pace from the last run, and I even added a little distance. I felt great during the run; so much so, that I almost went for 4+ miles but decided against it because I didn’t want to risk pushing it too hard before my upcoming drill this weekend and it was pretty hot out.

I felt as good as I’ve ever felt during a run, especially after the first mile. Once I was warmed up, the pace felt comfortable, and my low heart rate confirms that I wasn’t having to push too hard to get such a good pace. I was able to be pretty consistent throughout the run, and my legs had no aches or pain at all except for a little bit on my toes. I think I didn’t tie my shoes tight enough and I my feet were able to move around in the shoes a bit causing them to be a little sore. I need to be careful with that in the future.

As for push ups, I am back up to 70 now, which was nice. I was doing 80 at my highest before my vacation, and I think I’ll be back up to that within the next week or so. I’m also hoping to be running sub-9’s within the next two weeks in preparation for my APFT with the National Guard in April.

It’s amazing to feel so good during and after a run. This is what I was hoping for when I started. I was wondering if I would ever get to this point, where I can run three times a week and not feel pain after a run, and I think I’m finally there. This is great!

Running again today

It’s going to be another hot afternoon, but I’m going to get out there and run. I’m having to get back into the swing of things again as I took four days off from running last week (which I talked about in-depth in my last post), but I am still looking forward to getting out there and getting it done.

With the weather getting hotter, however, I will soon be forced to have to run in the mornings again. That means going to bed earlier and waking up earlier and doing no more than three mile runs. That’s the one thing I hate about mornings: being so limited in the distances I can run. I wake up at 5 a.m. on run days, and that gives me roughly an hour to get dressed, do push ups, (soon) sit ups, run, shower, and get dressed to make and eat breakfast, make coffee, and then hit the road for work.

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As for the Garmin Fenix 3 HR, I’m enjoying it more and more. On my last run, I really liked the display and what it showed me during the run. The font is large enough for me to read without my glasses as I run without them, and its not distracting. It ticks off miles instead of half miles, so I have to get used to that for my three mile runs since I do a turn-around at the 1.5 mile mark, but otherwise, it’s really nice. I also found that using the default watch faces really speeds it up a lot. I was using a custom watch face that slowed it down considerably. As much as I liked that custom watch face, I prefer the faster performance. Besides, the stock digital watch face is pretty decent on its own.

Post-Run Report: March 20, 2017

I’ve been super busy and haven’t been able to run in the past four days. I felt guilty and even angry about it, but things were going on and I just didn’t have the time to go out and run. Well, that ended today. I finally had a chance to get out there and hit the pavement. It was tougher than usual because of the lack of running over the past four days, but I got it done with a respectable pace.

I started with my customary push ups. I did 65 without much effort and decided to just stop there. I didn’t do sit ups (again!) and I really am getting concerned about that. I have an APFT in the Army National Guard coming up in April that I need to do at least 40 sit ups in two minutes for. I need to get a baseline so I know where I’m at and what I’m working to. Anyway, I had a chance to use my new Fenix 3 HR watch today as well, and while it’s a bit bigger and heavier than the Fitbit Surge, it seems to be more accurate and I do like the bigger screen. For my eyes, it’s easier to read. I run without my eyeglasses, and the Surge’s screen was a bit hard to read. Not so with the Fenix.

The run itself was good. I did look at my watch from time to time to see what my pace was, and whenever it slowed, I kicked it in. That made me a bit more winded and it was a harder run than usual, but I’ve already said why that was. Otherwise, it was a good run, and I’m glad I got the run in. I will run again on Wednesday, but I’m not sure when I will run this Friday. I have my first National Guard drill on Friday starting early in the morning, and I don’t know when I’ll be finishing up. Either way, I will make time to run at some point.

It’s good to be back to running again. I hate these small, unplanned breaks.

Post-Run Report: March 15, 2017

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Today was a surprisingly decent run with a pace I’m once again happy with. This is the second run in a row that I’ve completed without looking at my pace during the rune on my fitness watch, and once again, it turned out to be a nice run. The pace is better this time than the last three runs, which also makes me happy.

The best part: I felt good throughout the entire run, had no pain in any joints or muscles, and after my shower, my legs felt normal. Just this morning, I was wondering how long it will be before I can run and still have my legs feel normal afterward. It looks like that point is now.

Today also marks the last time I will use my Fitbit Surge unless something bad happens to my new watch: the Garmin Fenix 3 HR. I decided to move on to a new fitness/smart watch after the battery on the Fitbit started to die after just two days. The Garmin promises to have a more robust battery as well as having more smartwatch features, apps, watch faces, etc. I will do a review of this watch after I’ve had some time to use it more.

As for me, the run felt great, and on the push ups front, I was able to do a comfortable 65. It’s nice to have those numbers start to creep up again. All in all, great running day, and I now look forward to Friday’s run.

 

Post-Run Report: March 13, 2017

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Holy cow, what a great run! I was thinking that it was going to be a hard run. My legs would feel heavy and sluggish, and I would have trouble breathing. My pace would be horrible, and I would feel spent afterward. Nothing could be further from the truth!

I immediately felt great when I started running. I felt so good after the first half mile that I decided to go past four miles today. I’m glad that I did. I also made the decision to not look at my pace once during the run. I’m also glad I did this as well. Today’s run was all about feeling good and running a pace that felt natural. In the end, it turned out that I had a good (not great) pace, that I kept pretty steady, my heart rate was in the “Extreme Suffer” range (according to Strava) and I felt amazing. I don’t know what runner’s high feels like, but during the run, I literally could not feel my legs. At two points during the run, I almost started tripping over my legs when I thought about them. I was literally just along for the ride today.

I’m happy with the run, and I am actually looking forward to Wednesday’s run now. If I can have more runs like this in the future, it’s only going to get better! As for push ups, I stopped at 60. I need to start upping them again soon, but today, 60 was the number to be counted to.

What a great day. I thought it was going to suck and it was 180 degrees from sucking. Just wow.

Post-Run Report: March 9, 2017

Today’s run was supposed to be a slow run, and while it wasn’t nearly my fastest, it was by no means a crawl. I was able to keep the pace below the 10 minute/mile for the average although my last mile was the slowest with a 10:03/mile pace for the last half. I will begin to work on speed again maybe later next week or the week after. My speed is good now. I want to be back to sub-9’s by April.

Otherwise, it was a good run. Felt pretty good and no pain to speak of. Only did 60 push ups, but anything past 60 for me is gravy anyway. I will keep working on this. I’d like to get to 100 easy push ups before my runs.

I didn’t do sit ups again. I hope this isn’t going to bite me in the butt in April.

I’ll run again on Saturday. Hopefully the weather cooperates, but it’s not looking good.