Running Journal: Week 7

I am quickly learning that running requires finding a balance between following the training schedule and listening to your body, between figuring out when to push yourself and when you're doing too much too quickly.  But, in finding that balance, I'm also finding improved times and that makes me happy.  I still have more improvement to go before 2 June, but I'm confident that I'll be able to get there.

I also started using a new piece of equipment this week: a 6th generation iPod nano.  A few years ago, I purchased a 1st generation nano, and had enjoyed using it for some time.  It was with this 1st gen nano that I was introduced to the Nike+ Running concept.  Earlier this year, I found out that Apple issued a recall for the 1st generation nano due to reports of batteries overheating.  So, I sent mine in and a week or so later I received a replacement, 6th generation nano.  Since it also works with Nike+, and it's small, I decided to start using it instead of strapping my iPod touch to my arm.  This will sound a bit geek-ish, but the 6th gen nano is the one that you can actually wear as a watch, so I bought a wristband for it and turned it into a running watch.  My headphone cable is a bit long for this setup, so I'm figuring out how to work around that still, but I've enjoyed using this new toy.  I did run into an issue of actually wearing two watches (as I use a heart rate monitor), but I've figured out a way around this, and will write about it in the future.

The more I'm sticking with this, the more I'm actually enjoying running.  Now, if only the weather would cool down just a tad bit when I get home from work, I'd enjoy running just that much more.  But, after this week I'll be running for the next three weeks in the temperate German weather instead of the Arizona heat (well, I'll have a couple days in New Jersey before I get to Germany, but that's still running in a place other than Arizona).

Here's this week's breakdown:

Week 7 Totals: 6 Runs, 11.81 Miles, 2:25:53

Monday: 3.00 Miles, 36:32
I actually don't remember much about this run.  It was getting dark when I left to run, so I was more focused on not tripping on potholes than anything else.

Tuesday: 1.31 Miles, 26:06
As the time might indicate, this was a walk.  My wife and I decided to take a stroll through the neighborhood, as it was getting dark and my legs were very tired after returning to regular training last week.

Thursday: 2.48 Miles, 28:04
This was the first time I had gone to a park to use a jogging path.  It wasn't a bad experience, but it wasn't my favorite.  That could be because I had issues figuring out how far I had actually run.  This park has two paths, so running path 1 is .5 Miles/lap, path 2 is .62 Miles/lap, and path 3 (which is a combination of 1 and 2) is .8 Miles/lap.  I had thought I was on path 1, and I was upset after running 2 miles in 28 minutes.  I then took a second look, and realized I was on path 2 and had run almost a half mile further than I had planned, and had actually run it at an acceptable pace (11:20-ish/Mile).

Friday: 1.01 Miles, 9:39
This was a run of a known distance in order to calibrate my new iPod nano.  Once I finished pushing all of the buttons I had to push, I continued on with the run below.

Friday: 2.00 Miles, 23:50
I had a three mile run on the schedule, so I figured that breaking it up wouldn't be a bad thing.  Of course, when I thought this, I didn't realize that I'd run my first mile a lot faster than I typically run the first mile of a multi-mile run, and I was hurting before I even finished the first half mile of this second run.  But, the combined total of these two runs put me at just over 34 minutes for 3 miles, which means that I'm getting closer and closer to finding/maintaining the pace that would help me reach the goal of completing a 5K in under 30 minutes.

Saturday: 2.01 Miles, 22:02
A nice late-afternoon run was a good way to relieve a little stress.  Not that the weekends are all that stressful, but there was a situation that arose during the day that had me a bit unhappy.  When I got in, I was surprised to see a time that suggested a sub-11 minute pace was actually attainable.  Progress, wherever it can be found, is a good thing.

Week 8 Schedule: 5 Runs, 16 Miles


Thus Sayeth Your Haus