Saturday, October 31, 2009

Two Week Break

I imposed a two-week break on my running after waking up several mornings in a row with extreme aching from my knee to my ankle. And, Ares had a sore on the bottom of his foot. However, we have not been completely idle as Ares and I have been taking many long, brisk walks. But, today was the first day running after that break.

It was a nice Fall morning. Ares was so excited when he saw me with my running clothes on. After I got him on his leash, he took off sprinting. We sprinted about two blocks before I was able to slow him down a little bit. Being a husky, he loves the cooler weather!

We ran past Riverside Park, out Jefferson, and almost to the hotel. And of course, as usual, we finished with the sprint up the hill. We saw one other runner and one walker. Ares let me take a few walk breaks, but not many. He was definitely in the mood to run today! He tried to chase one squirrel, but he was more interested in just running. The only time he really wanted to slow down was when some Canadian Geese flew overhead. He had to stop and watch them.

There were some difficult parts when the wind was blowing in my face. I had to make Ares stop so I could catch my breath. There were a few drops of rain on the way back, too. We ended up with 4.4 miles. I hope we can start to run a little more often now. I feel better when I run and Ares really enjoys it, too. Of course I have much work to do this afternoon, and Ares is taking a nap. And we'll see how well I can walk tomorrow after the sprinting today.

Gotta run ...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Blech

I have been feeling too tired in the mornings this week to get up and run. I barely got up to get the dog for a walk (but I did do it). There is a lot of illness in the household and I think that is wearing me out, even though I'm not sick.

I really don't have time to run anymore, and today I was going to just skip it. But it's been a week since our last run, so I figured I'd better go. It was cold this morning, so I waited until about 10 to start.

Ares and I had a decent run. I saw a groundhog, but luckily Ares didn't. We saw some squirrels, and again heard rustling in the woods, but that's about it. My legs feel heavy today, so we walked a little more than usual. I'm not sure why because I have warm clothes on and we warmed up before running. We went a ways out Jefferson past the high school, so we ended up with about 4.38 miles.

It is turning into a nice day outside. After I finish this blog, I need to go out and rake some leaves and mow the lawn for hopefully the last time this season.

Gotta run ...

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sunday Run

I wasn't going to run today. I had all the usual excuses -- I was tired, it was too cold outside, I was too achy, and, most of all, I did not have the time. The time is becoming a big issue. Since I have started working back in the office, the extra time it takes me (driving, getting more dressed up for work, packing lunch, etc.) is about the same time I used to be able to spend running.

But, I had promised Ares a run, so I finally gave in and went. It was a bit chilly, so I dug out my ear warmers and gloves. We ran the Riverside loop, extended it to the Jefferson Street bridge, out past the high school, and then home. By the time we got back to Riverside Park, Ares was more than ready to get a drink from the drinking fountain. Of course we ended with the sprint up the hill.

We saw a few squirrels during our run. At the beginning of the run, when Ares still had a lot of energy, he tried to chase after one or two of them. By the end of the run, he barely noticed them. At one point we could hear something rustling in the woods. I assumed it was a deer, but we kept on going.

We ended up with 4.55 miles. I hope to run a time or two during the week, but time becomes an issue. At least I get one run in a week. And I walk every day. I guess that's better than nothing!

Gotta run ...

Monday, October 5, 2009

Brisk Monday Morning Run

I'm trying to start over with my running, using Saturday's race as my "reset" point.

It was a cool, brisk morning when Ares and I started out. He was a little reluctant to go, but one we got started he enjoyed himself. Part of his reluctance may be a residual effect from the skunk incident on Friday (he smells much better now).

Anyway, we went the usual Riverside loop, but we did run a bit out Jefferson Street too. It was dark out, but I was wearing my hat with the led lights, so we could see a little bit. I think that helped Ares. At one time we did smell the scent of a skunk in the distance -- we turned around at that point!

All and all it was an OK run, especially for a Monday morning. We ended up with 3 miles.

Gotta run.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Zonta Fountain to Fountain 5K

I woke up to a cold, wet morning. It was very tempting to just stay home, but Curt was videotaping the race, so I had to go. I would have gone anyway!

When we started out it was chilly, then the wind picked up and it started raining. But I kept going. It was strange running without Ares!

My time was a bit slower than last year, but I finished. And I was second in my age group, so I supposed that's OK.

It was this same race last year that seemed to start my year of bad luck with running. So, I'm hoping today has "reset" my luck and is the start of a good year of running!

Gotta run ...