Weekend Runs

The wind was blowing hard on Friday, so I opted to not go for a run after work. By about 10 pm, the wind had completely stopped, and I was really tempted to grab my head lamp and go out to the OC&E Trail for a quick run, but better sense prevailed (actually my wife told me that I was an idiot and should run with her Saturday morning) so I didn't go.

Saturday's run was okay, but it's pretty obvious that I'm not anywhere near being in decent shape. Janet was supposed to go for a 4 mile run, so I decided that I'd give it a shot also. I was hoping that she'd go in a different direction than I planned, but to my disappointment she opted to go the same direction. It's not that I don't enjoy running with her, but I was worried that either my pace wouldn't be fast enough for her and I'd kill myself trying to keep up and I'd keel over dead half way through, or I'd go too fast for her. I have a tough time running with other people because most of them are in better shape than I am and I wind up killing myself to try to stay up, and it makes the run less than pleasant. At any rate, we ran together for about 100 yards, and then I ran at my pace and Janet ran at her pace. I wound up walking another 1/4 of a mile past the 2 mile turn around point, so my dear wife finished well ahead of me.

The run was actually kind of fun. For a few minutes at about the 1 mile point I felt like I could run. The wind wasn't too bad (5-10 mph headwind going out), it wasn't very cold (38), and there were lots of critters to look at (cows, a couple of horses, and tons of birds). The bad thing is that I've lost over 30 pounds since February 1st, and don't have as much extra padding to keep me warm...even though I could easily stand to lose another 15 or so pounds. My hands absolutely froze. I was wearing a pair of cotton gloves, and within the first mile my fingers were icicles. I ran with my hands inside the pocket of my sweatshirt for a little while, but the damage was already done so I just toughed it out. I did manage to finish the run, so ran a full 4 miles!!! Success!

Yesterday after church I decided that I'd go for another run and asked Janet if she'd like to go along, but she's much smarter than I and stayed home. I went 3 miles...1 1/2 into a 10+ mph wind on the way out, and then a pleasant 10+ mph tailwind on the way back. No one was on the trail (probably because of the wind and 40 degree temps), so I didn't have to worry about looking like a runner. I got to just run.

I'm not sure whether or not I'll go again tonight. Janet will probably do her run early in the afternoon, and because it's Doug's birthday (home from BSU for Spring Break) I'm guessing we'll have dinner fairly early. We'll see how I feel when I'm done working today.

Another Run

I went for another run last night. 3 miles. WITHOUT WALKING!!! The pace was really slow, in fact it wasn't much faster than when I do walk....but that's okay. The important thing is that I went.

The wind wasn't blowing much at all, so when I got home from work Janet and I headed out to the OC&E Trail so she could get her work out in. She was supposed to go 3, and I was originally only going to do 2 3/4, but I thought I would run with her and see how I felt and MAYBE do the full 3. I was actually looking forward to running with my wife, but when we got ready to start she decided to run with the wind at her back for the first 1 1/2 miles so she could have a cooling headwind on the way back. Cooling headwind? It was !! Who needs a cooling headwind when any exposed flesh freezes? I didn't have gloves, and my windbreaker wasn't long enough to tuck my hands in the sleeves...my hands had icicles hanging off each finger! Anyway, Janet headed east and I headed west, so we didn't run together. I felt really good when I got to my original turnaround point, so I headed to the point that would give me a 3 mile run. When I made the turn and headed for the parking lot the wind was at my back, I had a slight downhill for about 1/2 mile, and I actually felt like a RUNNER. It was GREAT!!!

We're going again tonight. Right now it's snowing, but temps are in the high 20s, and the forecast calls for highs around 50, so by 5:00 it shouldn't be too bad. I'll give it a shot again tonight and see how I do.

Nasty Weather

I decided not to run last night. Winds were HOWLING! When I left work we had 25 mph sustained winds, with gusts up to 35. Except for the fact that it was only about 40 degrees, it was kind of like spring in The Dalles. I used to run in that kind of nasty weather, but with less than 10 total miles under my belt for 2012 I'm not in any kind of shape to fight the wind.

We got a skiff of snow last night, and the forecast calls for more of the same for this afternoon. Even though I like living here in Klamath Falls, it WOULD be nice to have a warm spring some year. Whether the wind is blowing, it's snowing, raining, or the sun is shining brightly (slim chance of that) I'm going running tonight.

Wish me luck!

3 In a Row!!

I went for another "run" last night...and managed to finish without crawling!! Amazing!! I headed out to the OC&E Trail after work to see if I could string 3 consecutive days of running together, and found out that it WAS possible!


As I was driving home before the run I was looking for every excuse I could think of to not go...Janet had already made me dinner, my left calf hurt, the wind was blowing 20+ mph, snow/rain appeared to be imminent, according to the Plan Z Diet that I've been doing I'm not supposed to exercise...those are just a few of the thoughts that popped into my mind.


So what did I do? As soon as I walked in the door I threw on my color co-ordinated jogging suit, complete with matching shoes, socks, gloves, and stocking cap and headed out to visit my bovine friends that frequently gather to cheer me on. But alas, when I left my truck to head into the wind, the friendly critters evidently had more sense than I do and were having a meeting on the leeward side of their barn. A couple of them DID manage to yell a couple words of encouragement (maybe they were actually words of derision....the wind garbled the words enough that I couldn't really tell) as I stumbled down the trail, so I felt pretty good.


How was the run? It pretty much sucked. I'm not in any kind of shape to be running into the wind yet. I tried to go slow at first (I knew I'd be going slow at the end) but there were a couple of other foolish people on the trail, and I went out faster than I should have. It worked out okay though. I walked about 50 yards 3/4 of a mile into the run (long enough to catch my breath) and then added a 200 yard recovery walk at the turn around point. Just to make up for the 50 yard walk early in the run I ran an additional 100 or so yards past the end point to ensure that my run was a full 2 3/4 miles. The run actually felt pretty good when I had the wind at my back.


I'm trying to decide whether or not to go again tonight. It would be 4 days in a row, and I know that I should probably do a rest day, but I can't run this Saturday, and there's a good chance that Friday will be out too. I'm really indecisive...I'm afraid of re-injuring myself, but don't want to break my strings of runs until I'm actually sure that I'll be able to start up again after a day's rest. We'll see what happens tonight...if I feel good or if the wind's not blowing, I'll probably go. If it's snowing sideways, I'll give it a rest for a day.

Better Day Today

First of all, thanks to my wonderful daughter Laurie for checking out my blog and posting an encouraging message! If by chance someone other than one of my family members happens to stumble on my feable attempt at writing, you can visit a REAL running blog at The (Mis)Adventures of a Jogging Stroller Mom.


Today, since yesterday's suicide attempt was unsuccessful, I decided to give it another shot. This time I decided to head out to familiar grounds, and loaded my carcass in my truck and drove out to the OC&E Trail where my only observers would be of the bovine persuasion. This time of year there are few H. Sapiens, because Klamath Falls, unlike Eugene, is not noted for Inclement Weather Runners. When the sun comes out and the temperature rises above 40 the Fair Weather Joggers in their color co-ordinated jogging outfits show up, but that definitely wasn't the case today. It was great....NO WITNESSES!!!


My run actually wasn't too bad. I was in a really crappy mood when I got home from work, and after snapping at my wonderful wife (who was completely undeserving of my animosity) I decided to try to make amends for yesterday's miserable attempt. So off I went. I ran really slow, but managed to make it a full 2 3/4 miles, and only walked about 75 yards...and that was only to look for one of the mile markers that some Klamath Falls Tool had evidently stolen. I don't know why anyone would get off on ripping off a 4 x 4 post with the number 6.0 emblazoned on it, but this is the Redneck Capitol of the World, and we're populated with idiots, so I guess it's to be expected. At any rate, my run wasn't that bad. My calf felt okay, I wasn't spitting blood, and when I got back to the parking lot I could actually get in my truck without feeling I needed help.

My pace was really slow, but I forced myself to try to run rationally. This is my only my 4th or 5th run since my ill fated Pear Blossom 5k last April, and I'm definitely not going to try to push the pace. I'm old, out of shape, and have nothing to prove to anyone. My goal is to be able to run with my wife as she trains for the Hippie Chick Half in Eugene in May. Today things are looking good. I'll try to keep you posted.

Thanks again for your comments, Laurie! Love you too!

Sucicide Attempt...

That's probably not a very good start to my post, so I need to clarify it just a little bit.

Here's the story...I'll try to make it brief because I'm at work and I don't want to get fired. I went for what was supposed to be a two mile run yesterday, and less than one mile into it I felt like I was going to die. Literally. I wound up walking for about 50 yards before I'd even gone half a mile...definitely not a good start when I'm trying to get back into a regular running regimen. I walked once more (about 50 yards again) before I hit the one mile mark, and then again at about a mile and a quarter, and then again with only two hundred yards to go. My two mile "run" (I was definitely doing the "old man's shuffle"...can't call it running) wound up being closer to only a mile and three quarters. Pretty pathetic. How did I feel? Like I was going to die. I couldn't breathe, I was freezing, my legs felt weak, I had a taste of blood in my mouth... overall pretty lousy. It wasn't good at all.

So what am I going to do? When I go home for lunch today, I'm strapping on my bright blue Nikes and heading out for another two mile stroll. We'll see what happens.....hopefully I won't die.

I'll try to update again tomorrow. If I'm still breathing.

A New Start??

Wow. It's been almost a year since I last posted on this poor blog. I just read my last post, and I had grand plans!! I committed to running, and trying to get in some semblance of condition...HA!! THAT didn't last long DID it!

Just to give a brief re-cap, I was signed up to run the Pear Blossom in April, and I actually did a few runs to get in shape and had great intentions. But I went for a run one morning when it was pretty chilly and wound up severely pulling my left calf. Needless to say, that was the end of my training. I rested my calf until the race, and then re-injured the poor thing less than 1/4 mile into it, and it was all I could do to even finish. That was the last time I ran.

I was signed up to ride my bike in the Salt to Saint, a relay race from Salt Lake City to St. George (425 miles), so even though my running came to a screeching halt I did manage to get in fairly decent shape. The race went well, and we're signed up to do it again.

I'm currently on a diet which only allows me to eat lettuce, breadsticks that came across the Atlantic on the Mayflower, a small portion of protein, and a few types of fruit. The whole process sucks, but it's effective...I've lost 28.6 pounds since February 1st. My target weight is 175 pounds, but I only have until March 21st to shed the rest of the weight and it doesn't look like it will happen. That's probably okay. I've done pretty well regardless.

Beginning March 21st I can start running or riding. We'll see what happens to the rest of the weight at that point.

Hopefully I'll be motivated to continue writing until I have something worthwhile to post when I start working out again...we'll see what happens.