Pat Report 04/26/2010

Got 12 miles in on Saturday.  Felt reasonably good.  Weather was great.

The second mile seems to be the hardest with the asthma.  If I get through that without coughing up a lung, I can tell it's going to be a good run.


Ups:

This was the furthest I had ever gone on the bikepath on foot.  It was pretty cool.

New running shoes:  Fuck yeah!



Downs:

Still somewhat phlegmy.

Can't run while chewing gum anymore.  I know this sounds crazy, but it seems to aggravate the asthma.

Took a post run Advil for the first time all year (maybe that should be a positive thing).

Speed Work Tuesday

Here are my "fast" half mile times from Speed Work Tuesday:

  3:45

  3:46

  3:47.

Consistent!

Follow Up

It's funny how big a psychological hurdle the double digit mileage barrier is.

When I was at 9 miles for my long run, I wasn't sure I could do it.

But now... Hey!  10 miles!  I'm almost there!  I can TOTALLY do 13.

Pat Report - 4/12/2010

I've had a rough two weeks.  And then out of the blue, I had a great 10 mile run yesterday.  I finally found my "second gear".  If my math is right, the second 5 miles was 7 minutes faster than the first 5 miles.

I'm off the Singulair.  I tried that for about 10 days.  It was working great for the asthma.  But it was also causing mood swings, insomnia and loss of appetite.  I didn't feel like myself at all.

I'm now trying Advair.  Side effects include headaches, sore throat and (gulp) "menstrual problems".  We'll see how that goes.

My thinking about the 1/2 marathon is now trending back towards "do it for the experience, even if you're not going to beat last year's time". 


Ups:

- Weather was great for running.  Low 60s and partly cloudy.

- My legs felt great yesterday.

- It was "Single Ladies" day at the bike path yesterday.


Downs:

- I forgot to wear sunscreen.  I now have a slight sunburn on one side of my face.

- Lungs are still way behind the legs.

- The Single Ladies were mostly in their 60s.

Weekend Update

Stats:

Long Run Sunday - 9 miles
Total for the week  - 19 miles

Ups:

Legs feel good
Back not sore after the long run  (spending an hour a day sitting on the exercise ball seems to be helping)
Sleep - I've been getting at least 8 hours a night for the last week


Downs:

Limited lungs
No speed
Asthma seems much worse below 50 degrees



At this point, I'm 70 / 30 on doing the half marathon.

Weekend Update

Got three miles in on Saturday.

Got six miles in on Sunday (I was supposed to do 8, but I was pretty sore from a full day of gardening and parenting).

The lungs are feeling OK, but not great.  I'm desperate enough at this point that I'm trying the olde tyme folk remedy for asthma: a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water.

It tastes terrible, but it seems to be helping.

I'm going to see an asthma specialist later today.  We'll see how that goes.

Weekend Report

Got two miles in on Saturday.  Got seven miles in on Sunday.

Legs felt great.  Lungs felt lousy.  I had to pause and take a hit from the inhaler twice on Sunday.  First time I've had to do that while running.

Hopefully this will improve as the weather gets better.