Thursday, April 4, 2019

Week 1 running

4 April 2019

I didn't get in my run in yesterday like I planned but this morning I did get out before the kids were up.  It was raining very gently when I started but let up quickly and made for a pleasant morning.  I'm afraid I did more walking than running or jogging.  I did get in about 3500 steps in half an hour which is a better rate than I do at home.  It was hard to tell for sure how well I was doing on the running stretches since in my house I can count laps between doors and I had no previous experience on the road to compare.

So doing some calculations I need about 8000 steps to go 5 km.  I do that walking in the house every day easy and often twice that, but running it in half an hour will be another matter entirely.  I'm not sure what the best goal would be for a new runner.

My left calf is sore and I guess it's because I ran on my toes too much and didn't always let my heal land.  I'll stretch and walk it off and hopefully feel better tomorrow.

5 April 2019

I woke up feeling good, so went out for another run.  This time I used a stopwatch to time exactly how long I was out.  I ran and walked a different trail and was out for 38 min and took 4900 steps.  My calves that hurt yesterday didn't hurt at all on this run.  This time I had a pain on the outside of my right upper leg (if the quad is the front and the hamstring is the back I don't even know what muscle this was.)  So I'll be youtubing what that's all about and what needs to be corrected in my form now.  The trail did have a few short slight inclines.  Maybe it's as simple as different muscles being used on the inclines and declines than I'm used to in my level house (and the state of Kansas for that matter).  By the end of it I had to walk to my car because that muscle would not let me run any more.  So something in my form needs to be fixed.  Walking around the house again it doesn't hurt any more.

Meanwhile my Xero Shoe sandals came in, and I made them last night.  I just need to trim some excess off the laces.  Tomorrow I rest and Sunday I'll try for a long run while my husband is responsible for our children.  I'll use my Xero Shoes for my next short run.  I don't think my first long run would be best for trying out a new product.  But I bet there'll be some summer days where I'll be glad to use them.

7 April 2019

Yesterday was my rest day and I had a meeting at my church about a change they are making to a more outreach oriented church.  After the meeting I was tired and exhausted and got to bed late.  I've wondered if God would want my running to be some kind of ministry. But it's a very introverted thing. I don't know how to meet other runners let alone talk to them.

So I slept in a bit and still went out for a long run, but about the second half of it I went pretty slow mostly walking and praying as I went.  I had a lot on my mind and just needed to process it all.  I was gone a bit over an hour but didn't use a stopwatch this time.  I went 9400 steps.  I had watched videos about running form and I think my posture has been good, but my arm motions have been sloppy.  I've been practicing good walking posture for years, but your arms don't get all that involved in casual house pacing.  So today I focused on keeping my arms going straight forward and not crossing in front of my body.  When I did this I noticed two things, my shoulders were forced into a more open position (If you hunch your shoulders you can't help but cross your arms in front of your body. I didn't think I was doing this but I must have been at least a little.), and I had more power in my run that seemed to come from no where at all.  So it looks like a 1 hour 5k is my current fitness level.  I don't know if I'm just not pushing myself hard enough because I like looking at the trees and birds and flowers and river, or if I really could do more if I had a running partner to help push me to go faster for longer stretches, or maybe my pacing is off and if I ran slower I could do it longer and so be faster overall.  I'll watch more pacing videos this week.

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