17 degrees F wind chill today.

I did not want to run too far today so I walked down to the Rose Garden and ran the 1.3 mile exercise course, chilly!

Snow

We had snow yesterday so my running route in the Lehigh Parkway was coated in white! 32 degrees, nice and crisp for a run!

I'm attempting the half marathon.

I ran the Jack Pressman 5k in the Lehigh Parkway on Saturday with no problem from my recent hamstring injury. Actually I think I needed a good run to work out the scar tissue because it feels better than before the race. So with that out of the way I signed up for the 2010 St. Luke's Lehigh Valley Marathon on April 25, 2010. My plan is to start a program of running with alternate walking breaks as promoted by Jeff Galloway, this seems like a good approach for me as I am injury prone if I run too many miles but I have always been a good,fast, long distance walker. I am also working on an alternate yoga routine for no run days. So join me in my attempt to knock off the half marathon and hopefully add a base for the full marathon at a later date.

Hamstring injury

What happened- I was ramping up my mileage (too much too soon) for a few 5k races in the early winter during September and strained my left hamstring. I was running a 5k every Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus another one on Wednesday. One day there were people in front of me on the path and would not move so I had to jump off to get around them and when I cut back onto the path I felt a sting in my left hamstring. I stopped running and walked for a few steps then continued to run ignoring the pain. I continued on another mile and a half completing my 5k. As usual I stretched and could feel something was amiss but wrote it off and thought it would go away. The next morning I was really stiff when I woke up but after a few minutes of walking the pain went away and I only felt discomfort when I would intentionally stretch the hamstring. Four days after the injury I was running again with no pain, I decided to take it easy and only ran 1.3 miles. Two days after that I ran again but experienced pain at the end of my 5k around mile 3 so I stretched a bit, felt good and completed the run. I waited four days until running again and this time felt pain at .75 miles. Now I was a little concerned so I waited another three or four days before running again but this time I felt pain at .5 miles. Now I knew I was in trouble. I started using ice and ibuprofen five times a day and only walked around as much as I had to. Once I could walk pain free I decided to hold off on the running and walk starting with a mile and working up to four miles. During this time I was researching what other runners have done to recover and I decided to wait a full two weeks before running again and when I did resume running I only ran one minute then walked one minute. I did this “set” five times then stretched. I also stopped stretching before running. I slowly worked my way up to my current set of running eight minutes walking one minute-three times. Tomorrow I am going to run nine minutes-walk one minute for the entire 5k and see how it goes as I intend to run on November 28 in the “I run for Jack” 5k in honor of Allentown Central Catholic cross country couch Jack Pressman who tragically passed away earlier this year. Jack was my sons cross country, track and wrestling couch and was a great guy. One other thing I would like to mention about my hamstring rehab was the foam roller exercise. I read about using a foam roller to massage your muscles so I ran up to Dick’s and picked one up for about 25 dollars and I have been using it before and after runs. I can say that it does feel good when I use it and I am at the point where I feel good about my recovery to the point where I am optimistic I can complete my 5k next week-wish me luck!

Using the bicycle for errands,commuting to work.

It has been stated that many (around 40%) of the errands we use the automobile for are less than two miles from our homes and that many of these short trips can be done using a bicycle. I have always used my bicycle for these trips and even commute twenty miles round trip to work. I needed a few small items from Home Depot the other day and used my mountain bike. The route I selected was through a beautiful park along a small river and while riding I was thinking how, by using the bicycle I was not destroying nature with harmful tailpipe emissions, I was getting some exercise and the trip only took me about twenty minutes longer for the six miles I travelled. Next time you need to run down to the local market or hardware store consider using your bicycle, don’t forget your helmet!

LL Bean Coolmax hat

I thought I would try one of these hats during my weekly runs instead of the usual cotton baseball hat with some company's advertisement on it. I was pleased with the performance; this hat kept me a little cooler and wicked the persperation away from my face. Running helps keep me in shape,and if one more little thing like this hat makes it more pleasent then it is money well spent!

Glen Onoko Falls

Yesterday we hiked to Glen Onoko Falls near Jim Thorpe PA. The weather was nice, a little humid but the water was very refreshing, I understand it is 55 degrees year round. It is about a two mile loop and took us about a little over an hour.