Archive for October, 2008
My first real run in years
Went out for my first real run in years with those new shoes. I’m surprised at how after just a little bit my body seemed to slip right back into the same routines as when I used to run. My stride isn’t top notch, but it still feels the same… just slower and probably shorter. As far as the breathing, no issues, after about a mile, my legs were just starting to feel good… things seem to be going into place. Granted out of 3 miles, I probably only actually ran 2 miles of it, but that’s because I took the dog and being a husky, she wanted to run faster than I could. A dog pulling on your arm with a leash makes it hard to have good form while running, so I walked when she had to be on the leash.
New Shoes
With the decision to start running and getting back into shape comes an expense. Shoes…. I didn’t have any running shoes. Actually the last pair of running shoes I had were left in the back of someone’s truck during the Tour de Franzia in Boulder. But that pair was beat up and never actually got used for running. I’ve been living life with Chacos, boots from Walmart and some black shoes for work. It’s probably been close to 10 years since I really bought a pair of shoes for running.
Plotting your routes
The biggest question I think everyone has after they run is… how far did I actually run? After a while you can get used to your pace, look at how long it took you, and be fairly accurate on how far the run was. But if you’re just starting out, not feeling quite up to par, running in bad weather, or any number of factors… you could have no idea. USA Track and Field has a great little tool though that makes use of Google maps that allows you to plot your routes. Whether you’re trying to plan a route, or trying to figure out what you just did, this tool is incredible. Gone are the days of wasting gas in the car to go plot your run and being stuck to running on sidewalks to keep it accurate. No need to break out the road bike after the run that just made you dead tired in order to figure out how long it was because you were on a rec path. But besides just running routes, it’s just as good for mountain bike routes too. It even gives you the elevation profile of your route… not very useful for those of you in Florida I’m sure, but for us here in Colorado, it can be a major indicator of how hard a route is going to be.
One week ago I was in the hospital
One week ago I was in the hospital having difficulty breathing, low on oxygen, and being treated for “asthma”. I still stay I don’t have asthma though and I’m going to prove it. Since I just started this blog, I’ll fill in the last week real quick to catch up and then be able to continue on a more daily routine of posting. I was released from the hospital on Friday after checking myself in on Wednesday at 7am. Went home, fixed up the mountain and road bikes and didn’t have much of a voice. My brother had come down from the mountains and helped clean the house since that might have been a reason I ended up in the hospital.