I “ran” the 3.0 miles anyway
Posted By Jon in Michigan on June 25, 2004
I didn’t want to run last night because I had been so tired this week and “dead legs” had set in, but I just had that guilty feeling of not running. Its so early in the training and it seems so lame for me to be tired already. Heck, why is 3 miles so hard if I ran it in the race a few weeks ago? Lots of reasons but it would be more whining.
Actually, it went pretty well. The legs were feeling bad until the last mile. My left hip got the tired/strained feeling first and then my right shin. Damn shin. Did I mention I hate my shin? I really, really do. My heart rate stayed in the low 150′s.
I put the forerunner on charge last night so it would be ready today when I wanted to set it up (30 minutes looking for satellites). It woke me up in the middle of night beeping, saying “Yoo hoo, satellites! Where aaaaarrreeee yooooouuu?” I kept trying to shut it off in the dark but no luck, had to go to the hallway and turn on the light. After it was off and I was in bed, it gave one last little beep, like when a barking dog has to have the last word.
I soaked in the ice again last night, and it didn’t feel as cold this time. Hmmmm. I wore my dive boots because my toes got so cold they hurt last time. 10 minutes only, then off to bed. I’m not sure if the sweatshirt would work for me, Annalisa, but I like the hat idea. And it might be a good chance to try out my black tea (highest levels of antioxidants!) with honey. Some super runner woman from Japan used royal jelly or bee sting poison or crushed up bee guts or something like that to give her super endurance. They said honey might have worked just as well. I think I’ll try the honey first :)
Jason had asked about the ice bath. Several years ago I had read about a study involving a men’s rowing team (at Harvard or Yale?). They had half the team take the usually hot shower after the workout and the other half took a cold shower. What they found was that the cold shower guys had a much higher level of recovery than the hot shower guys. So now, years later, I find that marathon runners do an ice bath soak after a long run to speed recovery of their legs. I’m not certain why it allows for recovery but my bet is that it reduces the inflammation in the muscle caused by breaking them down, which reduces soreness.
I put “ran” in quotes in the title because I was thinking about what Elizabeth, Lynne, and Mike said about treadmills, and it seems like its not really running because you aren’t going anywhere and you aren’t moving your body forward. Its like you are jumping in place. I need to use the ‘mills because they have a kid’s center at the gym where my son can hang out and play while I’m running in the evening. I guess if I got my butt out of bed at 4:30 I might be able to do it then. But then I would want to kil myself because I’d never get enough sleep.
I’m not so sure the ‘mills are “bad”, but they aren’t like real running, and you definately need to add 1% incline to make it closer to running. I don’t because it bothers my shin. I need to have the TV in front of the treadmill or it would kill me with boredom. I don’t have a TV at home so the shows are really, really bizarre to me (Vampires that are good guys?). The park is definately a pick-me-up and if I had the choice, I’d run there every day. The ‘mill is gentler on my legs but I can run on the grass next to the path to get a softer step. OK, then, I agree that I need to get off the ‘mill.
I bought the newer version of the fuel belt, Marisa, and its the bottles that smell. The belt has a slight odor but I think its from sitting in the box with the bottles. Good point about the soap, Lara! I would probably have done it too. After reading your comment, I remembered doing that same thing with a new water bottle and how it tasted like soap for a long time. It would have bugged the heck out of me if it was my running bottle. Ok, maybe the vinegar then.
Time for work. Thanks again for all the comments, everyone!
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