Cold

The wind chill was 2 degrees when I left for my run today, fingers and toes never warmed-up, I hardly perspired but it was a good run. I felt my hamstring a little bit near the end so I slowed the pace and it felt good. I have been taping my right foot for the plantar fasciitis and there are no problems there (I feel like Rain Man and his "serious injury book"). JoAnne and I are off to the organic food store now for oatmeal,pancake batter,apple cider vinegar etc.

Nagging heel pain

I am still having a little heel pain in my right foot from (self diagnosed) plantar fasciitis. It does not hurt when I run but does in the morning when I first get out of bed and I am more aware of it the day after running. Today when I got out of bed I taped the bottom of my foot with 1" wide adhesive tape as suggested here (heelspurs.com/tape.html). It felt great all day, I came home and went running. I could not feel any difference with the tape on while running and/or stretching afterwards. I came home sat at the computer for half an hour, got up and no pain. I am cautiously optomistic that this may be the cure! I plan on taping my foot again tomorrow morning. Hoping for the best.

Running today was great until I turned around into the wind, the weather site said we were having 21 MPH winds at the time I was running. I shortened my walk interval to one minute after running three minutes. With this run/walk interval my overall time is very close to the same time as running with out the walk breaks. Next week my half marathon schedule calls for a four mile run, I am anxious to see if my pace stays the same as my distance increases.

On the no run days, I am up to 45 push-ups and 58 sit-ups, those last few push-ups in the last two sets are tough!

Cross train

It is 32 degrees with the wind chill (I can't figure out how to insert the degree sign :( ) but it isn't too cold so I went for a bicycle ride. My wife got me a pair of Manzella running gloves with the nylon over mitt for Christmas and these worked great to keep my hands warm. I am wearing these in the picture at the top of my blog. I still have an on and off again pain in my right heel so I am not running any more than the half marathon plan calls for. Today I might also do my non-running day exercises because I am attending a professional buyers diner meeting tomorrow after work which is when I normally would do that routine.

Here is a picture of my dog, Reba, after going for a walk in a recent snowstorm, she just turned 13 years old!

One of the reasons I run.

It was beautiful yesterday, the sun was shinning, the temperature was 40 degrees and the sunset is later so I opted to run in the parkway instead of the streets. I dashed home, changed into my running clothes (had them all layed out) and went to the Lehigh Parkway. As I ran my usual 5k course I was enjoying the beauty of the park and thinking that this is one of the reasons I run. To be able to enjoy a trip around the loop, gliding along and feelin fine! Another bonus is all of the other runners doing the same thing, lots of company.

I am ready with a good base to start my half marathon program next week, as I increase my weekly long run I intend to add an occasional bicycle commute to work for some (enjoyable) cross training.

Yesterday workout

After work I did my exercise routine. I am getting closer to my "ideal" one hour workout for non running days. First I start out with Tai Chi, the Yang style as modified by Chen Man Ching which takes about twelve minutes, this is a good warm-up. Next I do 25 to 30 minutes of stretching and Yoga followed by my 100 push-up and sit-up initiative (currently at 40 push-ups and 55 sit-ups) then I do 25 arm curls with 15 pound dumbells. Last night this all took about 58 minutes so I added a few repetitions of climbing the stairs. As I do more push-ups and sit-ups my workout will take longer than one hour and I may add pull-ups to my routine once I reach 100 push-ups and 200 sit-ups. On the running days I am running a 5k three times per week until the last week of January when I start training for the half marathon in April.

All of the above exercise is meant to keep me fit, I would also like to eventually run a marathon and complete a triathlon-stay tuned for more as I complete my journey.

Off Sunday, runner's pouch give-away

Rest day today. I am in the process of writing down my non-running day exercises so I do not forget to do anything and to assure it lasts a full hour.

Check out the free give-away here,


http://enduranceisntonlyphysical.blogspot.com/

Intermodle

Today I ran from work to the repair shop to pick-up my truck. I am still using the run/walk interval that I intend to use for the half marathon. The run went well as the temperature has warmed-up to 41 degrees. I carried my work clothes in my back pack which weighed 15 pounds. I did not mind the extra weight but the pack bouncing around was a little annoying.