Treadmill Running
What I noticed on day two was that my lower back was a little stiff and I could feel a slight soreness in my hips, but I pushed through with no problems. The soreness in my back could be from running but also from working out. The hips... It's a growing pain. I've got no qualms with that. On day two I walked to warm up but once again skipped the cooldown. I did walk the final two minutes though. In 35 minutes I ran 1.71 miles.
The next two days I took off from running. On Saturday I went to the gym and I got my run on! The stiffness from previously in the week had left me running free and easy. I managed to finish easily and had time to hit the weights as well! In 33 minutes I ran 1.62 miles.
Real World Running
A DISASTER...
The morning tide was coming in very strongly, meaning that I had to be on constant alert. It looked like it was going to rain (it ended up not) and to get to the dry sand you had to climb a hill. The tide was aggressive and twice my feet up to the ankle were soaked. The sand was not packed down very much so I was sinking in with every step I took and to top it off I was running at a slant so it seemed like I was running uphill the entire time. Sadly to say I only made it five minutes...
So I walk up to the bike path to continue my training when I step on the pant leg of my sweats and it ripped up the seam. Time to get crafty. I roll up my pant leg and then use the two ripped end to tie a knot above my calf to keep it up. I try to do the same with the other leg but the rip isn't big enough so I can't tie it... So I took my bandana off and then tied it around my leg and pant leg above the calf to keep it up as well. Looking at my handiwork I brush off all of the sand off my legs and I start running. I made it about ten minutes without incident. My pant leg without the bandana started to fall down. When the running portion of that leg of the run was over I pulled over to retie the leg where it needed to be. I made it another 5-6 minutes before the leg fell down for the second time. Again I fix it and move on. It happened one more time but at that point, my pant leg was buried deep in my brain compared to the other problem plaguing me...
My under shorts kept falling. The elastic failed on them but I still persist to use them because they'll stay up if I pull them higher than my pants with the belt on. My sweats have no drawstring so I pull them up over my belly to keep them up while running. The same approach doesn't work with those shorts... So every minute I had to plunge my hand into my sweats to pull my shorts up from around my knees. It was a funny sight I'm sure. I was not amused.
Besides that, the run was incredible! I really really enjoyed myself running outside. The air smells salty and fresh. Towards the end of my run a man passed by in the opposite direction on his bike. He had a very stern look on his face. When I glanced over at him his look didn't change but he nodded and gave me a thumbs up. After he passed I smiled to myself and kept on going. I'm thinking about switching this to a full 50/50 indoors outdoors program. It's good because that would free up two days at the gym that I can focus on lifting weights and start to acquaint myself with the stationary bike! In the next few days I'll be making that decision. I need to make sure to remember my pedometer when I go jogging out in public so that I can keep track of my distances more properly and try to match them to the distances I go on the treadmill. One thing I know for sure is that I will not wear those shorts while running again! I'll leave you with a couple other pictures that I took on my disastrous run.
Until the Next Episode