Dec 26

FIT:
2xloop> 4.4 mi in 36:38 = 8:20/mi ave. That's slow, but it was on wet grass. Splits> 8:01 r, 10:34 h (18:36), 7:41 r, 10:20 h (18:01). So a good bit faster on the 2nd loop (well, 8:11 pace vs. 8:27) - warmup effect. It was a chilly start in a t-shirt (42 degrees), but I warmed up within half a mile and went in sportsbra. By the last half, even the sports bra was too hot... kept that on, though. No iPod, just enjoying running outside, after being stuck on the treadmill for the past 4 months, due to the normal workday making sunlight a stranger to me and the lack of flat, grassy places to run where I live. Plus, I can listen to my injuries better this way.

The day before, strength: 250 crunches/side, 2:00 plank, 90s 6in, 40/45 leg lifts, 15 tridips, 30/30 slow/fast pushups, 2x35 quad dips, 40 pillows, 25-30 doubled resistance bands. The bands had 2x the resistance, so I could pull them only for a shorter distance. It was a diff color, too, so it might've been stronger to begin with. It perhaps strained my muscles and strings (haha, I like that better than ligaments and tendons), esp my rt lower knee. I shd've just said, ok, it's clearly not doing so well, so stop, but I did the exercise through the pain- bad idea. Almost no benefit from the measly 20 or so reps, but it could damage me for future runs. So next time, it's not worth it!

So this all caused me to be pained up in the left knee that night and some the next morning. I was desperate for a run, since I wanted to accomplish something today and take advantage of the flat grass that I'll have for another week+. Thank the Lord, the run went okay. I was tired after the 2nd loop, but felt injury-free enough to go again. It helps to think instead of "one more loop after I finish this first one," to think "I'm going to do 3 more loops after this". It makes just 1 more loop seem less intimidating, and you take it easy mentally (even though not necessarily physically, although it ends up feeling better physically).