Judebert

Friday's sprint went without incident, so I figured I'd try the other end of the spectrum: constant heart rate. I haven't been able to accomplish that while running, so I figured I'd try it on a bicycle.

Unfortunately, I picked my daughter's 34-inch bicycle, instead of my wife's 36-inch. Even with the seat adjusted all the way to the top, my legs were never fully extended. My thighs are sore.

My seat is sore, too, of course. I hope that both problems resolve themselves after a few more rides.

I needed the gears to keep my heart rate down on the small inclines, and to keep it up on the small declines. But I stayed pretty close to 130 the whole time: I only needed four or five reminder beeps.

I went 4.95 miles; it's only 6.25 miles to work. Maybe I can get my wife to drop me off with a bike, so I can start riding home one day a week!

Judebert

Wow, I don't post much when things are going well. My knee cleared up after about a week, and I got back on the road. Then I went on travel to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I ate out quite a bit, and I only managed to make it to the gym three times in two weeks. I gained a bit of weight.

When I returned, I decided to change my "jog" intervals to "sprint" intervals once a week. I now run as fast as practical until my heart rate passes 135 (it usually hits about 150 before the alarm goes off), then walk briskly until it goes down to 125.

I started on a Wednesday. On Thursday, my muscles were sore from the unaccustomed effort. On Friday, I was having trouble with a muscle in my groin. When Monday came back around, I tried sprinting again; I pulled something in the back of my thigh.

I'm down again. At least my knee is feeling better. I'll pick up again on Wednesday, I think.

Judebert

My run went well enough. I didn't have any trouble with my knee, anyway.

Saturday it actually swelled up a little bit. Still no pain, just stiffness. Ibuprofen doesn't help, ice pack doesn't help... the only thing that helps at all is sleep. When I wake up in the morning, I don't have any problem at all.

I'd go to a doctor, but I've got a big event at work. I'm stuck from 8 to 5.

I'm not running again until this is resolved. I'll probably get a chance on Thursday.

Judebert

For my run on Wednesday, I decided to walk as quickly as possible during my resting intervals. It didn't keep my heart rate in an aerobic zone, but I thought it might cut my time. Not much: 42:06 isn't remarkable compared to my recent times.

Wednesday evening we ate at Texas de Brazil, an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steak house (churrascaria). Thursday morning I noticed that my right knee was stiff. Not swollen, not painful, just... stiff. It continued all through Thursday, and it didn't respond to ibuprofen the way that swelling does.

I don't know if this was caused by gorging on meat or some unnoticed injury I sustained. I've completely blown my diet, and I want to get back on the workout train, but I'm scared of running like this.

I went to bed early, and this morning I seem to be okay. Not perfect, but okay. Luckily my route has several "bail" points. I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Judebert

I've been improving, slowly, doing my heart rate intervals. I've never had a problem with energy, I've never been out of breath; my only complaint is that it's so slow: the morning 5K that used to take 30 minutes now takes 45.

At the end of every run, though, I've felt like I could do another. Which led me to wonder whether I could take on a marathon.

My friends who have run in marathons tell me that my 14:00/mile pace is acceptable, and that I could start training. The websites say I'd need to run a lot more (which I really don't have time to do).

I thought, "I'm doing something new here. Nobody has information about running a marathon on heart rate intervals. Why not try a run on the weekend just to see how far I can actually go?"

My family practically laughed at me.

I suppose I'll have to be my own support this time. I'm not saying I can keep running for four hours, or twenty-six miles. I just want to see how far I can go, and maybe make it a regular weekend running thing.