...set an open course for the virgin seas

Statistics:
Distance: 3.2 miles (made up my .2 miles from last time)
Time: 33:21

Course Map/Stats


Observations:

Cold day again. Temp says it's 38 degrees outside. I'm still learning what (and what not) to wear. I wish I owned a pair of long-leg technical pants - the skin-tight kind. Those would have been perfect with a pair of shorts over them. I actually stopped in Fleet Feet before my run to see what they had, but surprisingly they had very little selection for men. So instead of buying something unideal and probably overpriced, I just left, and elected to wear sweatpants for my run today. I'm hoping that today will be my last day in sweatpants. Tomorrow should be about 10 degrees warmer, so I'll leave the sweats behind. On top I wore my long-sleeve technical shirt with a T-shirt over it, and a light windbreaker over that. Pretty good choice there, though I was getting pretty warm by the end of the run.

Oh, I almost forgot. New shoes! I went to Fleet Feet yesterday for a fitting/analysis/diagnosis, and came away with some new Sauconys. The shoes I had been using for the last couple months were comfortable on my feet, but they weren't giving me the kind of support I needed, which was probably causing some of the soreness in my legs. I've got to hand it to Fleet Feet for knowing their shit! First the guy examines me in my current shoes, then he gives me a pair of neutral shoes and has me job down the sidewalk to analyse how my feet hit the pavement. From that he can tell what kind of support I need in my shoes to get the most stability, and I ended up with the Sauconys. I should have taken a picture of the sign on the wall at Fleet Feet that read "When buying running shoes, you can NOT choose color". My apologies to Michael Kors and Neeeeena Garcia.

Anyway, today was my first run in the new shoes, and I feel pretty good. The knee soreness is gone and the calf soreness is a lot more minor than before. It will take some getting used to because the shoe sole really does make my feet hit the ground in a slightly different position than before, which is causing certain leg muscles to be used more than they used to. But in the long run I think this will be an improvement. Also, if they don't feel right, I can return them up to 30 days after purchase and try a different pair.

As for the run itself, it felt fairly challenging despite the short distance. First, it was a bit colder than my last run, and I had more clothes on. Also, I don't think my food intake was ideal today. I kind of forgot I'd be running tonight when I got a heavy meal for lunch. Ideally I'd have had a lighter lunch and then a snack in the afternoon. Oh well, live and learn. Despite that, I pushed myself on the pace. I didn't want to feel complacent at any point on the run, so I tried to keep my pace just that little bit on the pushing-it side. According to the stats, it was the same pace as Saturday, but I'm still a bit dubious about the exact measurements with this GPS tracker. Anyway, I'll be running the same course tomorrow, so I can compare my pace again tomorrow (sans sweatpants).


Street Shout-out:

Shout-out to the sneaky black ninja dog that scared the crap out of me on Wilson Ave!


Track List:
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Under Pressure - Queen
St. Elmo's Fire - John Parr
Come Sail Away - Eric Cartman (South Park cover)
Let Me Clear My Throat - DJ Kool
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Texas Flood - Stevie Ray Vaughn
I Know - Save Ferris
(warmdown)
Walk Like an Egyptian - The Puppini Sisters
Sure-Bla-Di Shot-Bla-Da - The Beastles
Yeah Yeah Yeah Song - The Flaming Lips


Next:
Tuesday - 3 miles

First run done

Statistics:
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 43:52

I'm trying to figure out how to insert this cool widget into my blog that will show the map of where I ran and also give statistics, but I haven't gotten it figured out yet. It uses my Droid and its GPS to track me while I run. It computes speed, distance, and draws a map of where I'm running. I think you'll even be able to follow me live while I run if you really want to. It's actually pretty cool, so hopefully I'll have it figured out by my next run.

For now, click this link for my course map.

Some notes about the link: the GPS is a bit choppy, so it might think I'm going way faster at times than I am, balanced by times that I'm going much slower than I am. The average, though, should obviously be pretty accurate. Pretty freaking cool technology, though, huh?


Observations:

Tough.

Harder than the Shamrock Shuffle, even though it was 1 mile shorter. But there were good reasons for that. First, I hadn't run since Sunday, so it was a longer rest than optimal. Second, the wind! It was nuts today! I had a headwind on the longest leg of my course - the northwest leg - and also portions of the east leg. How that happens I don't know. Sucked, though! Also, it was cold. colder than Sunday. It's 30 degrees now, while Sunday was closer to 40. So I was wearing heavier clothes to keep warm, which made me a heavier person to drag around the course.

I imagine that in July when I'm sweating my ass off in the heat, I'll look back at an easy 4-mile day in the cold and wonder WTF I was complaining about.

The lower part of both of my calves are sore - the part below the big chunk of meat, just above the Achilles tendon. It's probably because that's what takes the initial impact of my running step, and it doesn't normally get that much of a strain in daily life. I'll keep stretching it, and hopefully in time it'll strengthen and not be as sore following a run.

But, I did it, and I kept it under my 11-minute per mile pace. I basically do two laps of a triangular wedge course through Lincoln Square. It's just under two miles per lap. I managed to force myself to make the turn onto the second lap and not stop at two miles, since that's the toughest part to not stop.


Next:
Saturday - 3 miles