C25K - week 6 day 2, done…The worst thing about all of this has turned out to be real tightness in my calves through my achilles. I stretch before and afterward, but it still feels like I’m running on iron. This description is quite pathetic, but it’s not pain as much as I feel like there’s no flexibility with each step. Gorgeous day here…I may even add an outdoor walk later today. Sunny, cool and breezy - perfect as far as I’m concerned.
runnersmom, have you tried foam rolling your sore muscles?
Only when I was in PT - I guess I should invest in one (or the other stick my PT used.) I can’t describe it right, but it’s different than sore - for instance, I’m fine afterwards. It just feels like there’s no “give” when I take each step.
Mowed the lawn this am!
Pilates this morning. My legs have been very tired after marathon walking in the wrong shoes on Sunday, but some excellent stretching helped. I used to think my legs were really strong but all the strength was in the quads - now I’m really working on becoming more balanced. It was funny - I told my instructor I didn’t feel like it was getting any easier - evidently that’s because it isn’t! Every week I feel like I’m working harder and harder. It doesn’t seem that the exercises should be that difficult, but oh boy - are they ever. Good thing I like it.
Thanks Sabaray, Bunsen, Bromfield, and idad for the shirt recommendations. Sun exposure is a real problem for me. Just the cumulative walking between the car and destination is enough to give this fair skin some pink color–never mind the real activities outdoors, not the least of which is the hours and hours of hiking in the sun. I’m checking out your recommendations and some other sources–Athleta, Lands End, J. Crew–for more options. I do have a long sleeved shirt from Columbia, but it feels too warm and sticky, even with the vents. I love the sleeveless Columbia vented shirt too, but alas, no sleeves leaves me with the original problem. I guess that’s why I was looking to try a close fitting shirt–a light-weight fabric that fits like a breathable second skin–wicking away moisture and not insulating with the air pockets of the blouse type shirts. Maybe I’m asking the impossible, as I suspect a tight weave is the secret to the SPF shirts.
4 miles running; shoulder weights, planks, and time in and around the pool netting out gallons of tiny palm flowers that had fallen in. Oh, and 2 more miles tonight with H after it had cooled off. Our high was 93 hot sticky degrees today. I’m wilting…
PlantMom:
If I had to wear long sleeves for hiking in FLA heat and humidity, I would go with ultra-lightweight tech t-shirts. Something like the Patagonia Capilene 1. They are super thin fabric, really so thin that I don’t like to wear them as a top layer, but they are awesome for really hot days or as a minimal base layer under a long sleeve shirt.
http://www.patagonia.com/us/product/mens-capilene-1-baselayer-silkweight-crew?p=45640-0&pcc=1128
In your climate, they are going to get soaked, but they aren’t clingy and they dry instantly. I have found some similar longsleeve baselayer shirts from Reebok at Marshalls.
The Patagonia running t-shirts are similarly lightweight fabric.
Hilly neighborhood walk today on a breezy cool sunny day. Hiking tomorrow! The Welch Dickey Loop. Borderline shorts weather, but with frost warnings overnight and a forecast high of 63 and breezy open ledges, I think I’ll go for the long pants and long sleeve t shirt.
Workout today: hot yoga at noontime–early in the morning, I did a hike on conservation land. Went with a friend on a trail with lots of hills. I’m not sure of the distance (and can’t really find the area on Map my Walk), but I did walk for an hour. My Polar link tracks steps, but I’m not sure how accurate it is. After the walk I had about 6000 steps.
One of the many many things I despise about the PE of my youth (along with ugly uniforms and emphasis on team sports with the assumption we were all coordinated and instinctively knew the rules and that we cared about beating the other half of the room) was how deeply they inculcated the notion that walking was cheating. I am not currently running but I ran a dozen 5ks in the last several years on the basis of C25k. I have a goal of a specific 10k in 2016 and will investigate Galloway or similar to do that.
7 miles this morning. Finally cooler. Not feeling great, combination of sinus problems hanging on and pollen everywhere.
So true PG! Yet, overall it would seem that walking is just about the most balanced form of exercise for the overall population.
I’ve decided that the most perfect running conditions are 55 and sunny with a light breeze. That is what it was last evening when I ran and it was so, so pleasant! I forgot to “Galloway” but was able to maintain a pace most comfortable to me which is right in the 10-10:30 minute/mile time. Perfectly happy there!
The advantage of having partners who live all over town is that I can get a good walk in every 4/5 weeks. Our weekly meeting is on Thursdays and today I’ll head off for a good walk in brilliant sunshine with a mid-70s temperature reading. Perfect conditions.
Last night was running club. We are meeting at a new sports park that has lots of trails. I need to study the maps and learn routes. Most of the group wanted to do a 3 mile run. It was just me, H, and one other guy that wanted to do a 5 mile run. So I ran with the two guys who were much faster than I wanted to run. I got the 5 mile run in at a 7:50 pace which is a lot faster than I had planned. The weather was perfect so it wasn’t too bad but I will be doing my run tonight at a slower, more comfortable pace.
iDad-I hope you are enjoying that hike today. I wish we lived where there were better options for hiking. It’s my favorite vacation activity, but alas there isn’t enough vacation time (or money!) to hike nearly as much as I would like to.
PG-I hear you on the evils of PE. You are so correct that “walking is cheating” is a terrible mindset. My kids haven’t been in PE for many, many years - I wonder if classes and teaching methods have improved given the childhood obesity concerns. Just getting kids interested in being active would be a big plus.
7:50??? LIGHTENING SPEED!
(wow, as iDad would say, “I am not worthy!”)
6 miles, 10:30 pace. (Are you feeling better now abasket ;).
Perfect running weather, 55 degrees and sunny, doesn’t get better than that. And no pain, which is the best gift ever.
Wait. Did I write that post above or did Deb922!!! Your run mimics mine last night!
10:30 pace. One of these days we are going to meet up, have a smoothie and head to a local metropark for a leisurely Galloway run. 
Did my weekly swim, an hour. Felt great. Will be taking a walk this afternoon, too.
My run this am did not go so well. I had to stop about 2 miles in due to pain in my hip muscles. I did a little reading & it looks like my hip flexors are tight (probably due to sitting so much at my day job) & I should probably rest up for a few days. I’ll be looking into some stretching / strengthening for that area - suggestions welcome!
Gertrude McFuzz, my D suffers from hip flexor problems. She finds as long as she does her stretches she can run. She sits all day at her job also.