Hurdle the Dead, Trample the Weak

4:28 pm: 4 miles

Overall run anaylsis:

Legs felt great. Lungs felt great. Glad to be back. I think that I will continue workouts like this for a while until I'm confident my legs are strong enough to endure more. No real pains in the shins other than some aches here are there.

Running thoughts:

I think I'm going to sign up for some half marathons this summer. Or just some races in general. That should help me to stay motivated to keep running and improving. I also need to start strectching more as well as rolling out my musscles. Tonight I'll have to set an alarm to remind me to do that before bed. Can't wait for the snow to go away so that I can safely run outside. Until then the treadmill is gonna be my best friend.

Other:

After my run I spent an hour in the gym doing a light leg day and then did 100 calf raises in the shower before heading to class. Going to do some core tonight.

3:41 pm: 6 miles

Overall analysis:

My legs were sore from yesterday's workout, but before I ran I spent about an hour stretching and rolling my legs out so my legs felt super super great. The cold made it a bit hard mentally, but around mile 3 I didn't even notice it. Lungs felt great too. Could feel a bit of aching in my shins but I think its just getting used to the runs. Cold made the muscles feel good though. My watch died halfway through the run so I didn't get the last 2 miles of my run. After the run I did 4 X 200m sprints and those really drained my legs. The last two I was really fighting to the end.

Running thoughts:

Geez it's cold, but I'm glad I didn't over dress. I had "Beer For My Horses" by Toby Keith stuck in my head so that was kinda nice to help get my thoughts off of the cold. Gonna stretch and do some more core tonight before bed.

Rest day. Didn't have time to fit in a run. Did some core and stretching though. Will start again on Monday

4:07 pm: 4 miles + Leg strengthening

Overall anaylsis:

Legs are still pretty tight. I did some stretching and rolling this morning and that helped a lot, but I'll for sure be doing some more tonight. I could feel the tightness in my left calf as I ran, but the more I ran, the less I noticed it. Also for some reason I had a bit of trouble (minor) towards the end aerobically. Don't think it was anything serious, just the circumstances of the day. Overall I felt great. Was able to run with the elevation set to 1.5% the entire time. Walked a half mile as a cool down. After the run did some squats and calf raises to help strengthen my legs. Probably could have gone heavier with the weights, but I wanted to keep it light for now.

Running thoughts:

Had a guy next to me try to race me. Anytime I moved my speed up he did the same. Not sure why he wanted to do that since he came after I had started running and then also left before I finished so I guess I won? People are very interesting at the gym.

4:34 pm: 5 miles

Overall Analysis:

Body wanted an easy day so I gave it one. Brought my pace wayyy down and let my legs glide on the treadmill. The incline was set to rolling hills so it varied as I ran, which I enjoy a lot. My legs are sore from yesterday and definitely tired. Starting out was a bit challenging, but as I got into the rhythm then it was alright. Gonna do some core, stretching, and calf raises tonight.

Running Thoughts:

Had a long day at work and I wanted to take my mind off of the unsolved coding problems that awaited me after the run so I watched a Nat Geo documentary called "Sharkatraz" while I ran. It's a documentary about the sharks that hunt around Alcatraz and how the guards would use rumors of shark attacks to scare the prisoners into good behavior. Granted, It's not as great as the title, but I learned some interesting things. Apparently the guards at told the prisoners they had tamed some great white sharks and trained them to hunt prisoners who tried to swim away from the island. They would even say they had caught a great white shark (they named him Bruce) and cut off one of his fins so he could only swim in circles around the island waiting for an escaped prisoner to jump into the water. There are even reports of prisoners claiming to see this "one finned shark". Thought that was kinda interesting.