My JND Running Log

[BryDubbya]

[quote="jamesndawson"]I feel I'm at an impasse, not progressing. The ankle and the knee discomfort are a significant part of it. Is the 2-day rest on Sat. & Sun. too much?
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[jamesndawson]

Thanks kallefs. Thanks Brydubbya.
I don't think my "run" is really much more than a "jog", though I don't know where one begins and the other ends. After a 3-day rest, I'm afraid the ankle stiffness is still there and the knee problem. It's not painful. Maybe not even "uncomfortable". But it is a little distracting.
I ran Thurs. Mar. 21 & Mon. 25. I skipped Wed. because I was a little too busy to fit it in, so my schedules a little out of sync now. No big problem. The extra rest didn't really seem to affect my stamina.
I think I may be posting here a little less often, probably when my runs are more "eventful". The posts are getting a little tedious I think.

[jamesndawson]

Wed. Mar. 27. First rest at 2/3 point. 2 or 3 rest of way. Sluggish. Low energy. Ankle stiffness, knee pain about the same.
Fri. Mar. 29. Ran the distance with no rests. A lot more energy today. Ankle much better, but still a trace of stiffness. Knee discomfort not as bad too. Let's hope things hold or improve.
Mon. Mar. 31. Ran the distance. 2/3 rests, but my ankle's still better. Not a big improvement, but I seemed to feel more energy.

[hakko]

That sounds like small steps of improvement! I hope you're somehow enjoying it even when you're low on energy. Running can be so much fun, I promise.

[jamesndawson]

Thanks hakko. If and when I enjoy it, it's a subtle enjoyment. I'm certainly glad I'm keeping up with it. I'm 54 and have had joint & pain issues for a while now. I had awful sciatica since about age 20 into my 40's, but it's seldom and minor now. I'm not complaining, just being realistic. If I can run a 5k without a stop, that's a good enough goal for me right now.
Wed. Apr. 3. 2 miles. 3 rests. Very little ankle stiffness. No knee pain.
Fri. Apr. 5. 2 miles. 2 rests. Ankle not so much stiff, but delicate feeling.
Mon. Apr. 8. Ran the 2 mile route in the opposite direction today, just for a change. 2 rests. I'd done 2 1/2 hours of yard work this morning---I have a lawn & garden service---but was determined to get my run in , despite some ankle soreness and just a touch of sciatica. It went okay. I'm going to have to be thinking how I'm going to work my run into my work schedule this spring, summer & early fall. It can get a little strenuous.

[jamesndawson]

Wed. Apr. 10. Extended my a route a little this time, but only by about a 1/2 mile. Rested once. I'm hoping to measure a 3 to 4 mile route and run/walk it (running as much as possible of course). I guess I need to get a pedometer for that.
Sun. Apr. 14. Too much work Fri. & uninspired and tired Sat., so waited til today to run. Tried out a new route, but when I measured in my truck with the odometer, it only turned out to be 1.7 miles. No rest though.
Sat. Apr. 20. I didn't realize til I made this entry that it's been 6 days since my last run. I'm having some trouble fitting it in to my work schedule. I tried yet another route today, but haven't measured it. I'm afraid it might be less than 2 miles, but I'm not sure, could be about that, or a little more. They're building a housing project on my old route and they've put up some gates on the road, so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to run there anymore, but maybe I'll just see if I can go back to that.

[jamesndawson]

Tues. Apr. 23. Ran a new route. (Down College, R. on Summit, veered left on A, down to Summit, veered left on Maxwell, down to Ash, L. onto Broadway, R. onto Ash, L. onto Broadway to home.) 2.8 miles. Didn't feel a lot of energy starting out, but suprisingly jogged it steadily the whole route without a rest. A young boy about 12 or 13 with a couple of his friends mocked me for a stretch as I ran passed them (imitating my "slow" pace). Slightly annoying, but no huge deal. Since I ran the whole thing without a rest, and it's just about a mile longer than the old route, maybe I am making some progress, even with a slightly interrupted schedule.
Sun. Apr. 28. Extended my route by about .2 miles, if not a little more, which brings it to about 3 miles. Started off pretty strong. Had a brief rest when I stopped and talked to somebody mowing a lawn. Stopped again very briefly at a light. About the last half-mile or less, knee started giving me a little trouble, so I stopped and rested, then once again a little later, bringing it to about 4 rests I guess. But I'm pleased I've surpassed my two-mile route and feel like I'm improving.
[About 4 days ago some burglars broke into my house by smashing a backdoor window and stole a number of items including more than $200 in cash and my stereo. They rifled through droors, scattered personal papers and generally made a mess of the place. Last night, they stole about $500 worth of equipment vital to my livelihood, my lawn & garden service. Financially they've put me back at least $800, which is quite a lot for me. So I'm in a somewhat troubled mood, but I going to keep on running, and not let these predators destroy my life without a fight.]

[kallefs]

Running seems to be going fine, looks like you are doing everything right. Sorry to gear about the burglars, any insurance that can help?

[hakko]

That sucks I find running on concrete harder on the knees than running on something softer. Maybe running in a near-by park would help?

[jamesndawson]

Thurs. May 2. 3 miles. Ran the whole way. Just a hint of the old discomfort in left ankle. Knee held out pretty well. Maybe I can keep up if not improve my endurance with this lighter schedule.
Thanks kallef, hakko. No, I'm afraid I don't have any burglary insurance. In this neighborhood, it'd probably be through the roof anyway. I'm going to try some alarms and I've got a security camera outside.
Tues. May 7. I took my run this afternoon at 5:15. It was 84F, hot for this area. I ran the 3 mile route for the most part, but ventured a little to the left on some dirt paths for a few stretches here and there, but went back to the blacktop and pavement, as the paths got too narrow and close to the ridges. As hakko suggested, I may try these dirt paths I see to my side and see if they don't make it easier on my knee, but first I'll explore them just walking to see where they go.
I'm afraid a little past the half-way point I started resting often as my right knee was getting increasingly uncomfortable, about 12 times total. But this doesn't concern me. Every day won't be a great one for endurance. I felt I had a good workout.

[jamesndawson]

Sat., May 11. I thought I'd combine my running with exploring some dirt trails I was seeing on my runs and just seeing where they led to, but I was finding them too steep and hilly, up and down, so I abandoned that plan and just continued on my old 2-mile route. All in all, my total run may've been a little more than 2 miles and there were a few short hills. Can't remember how many rests. It was hot for these parts, 86F, so that kind of dampened my resolve for my 3-mile standard. As you can see, I'm running less frequently, due to a heavy work schedule. But once a week is better than nothing.
Sun. May 19. 3+ miles, no rests. Wasn't easy. I was fairly limp-jogging the last few blocks---the usual knee pain, that worked its way down the calf and ankle. Not excruciating or anything, but definitely uncomfortable. My cardio-vascular endurace is just fine. My joints are another issue. I am still planning to explore that dirt path I see off to the side of my sidewalk-and-road route, but finding the time isn't easy.

[LvH]

[quote="jamesndawson"]A young boy about 12 or 13 with a couple of his friends mocked me for a stretch as I ran passed them (imitating my "slow" pace). Slightly annoying, but no huge deal. ...
[About 4 days ago some burglars broke into my house by smashing a backdoor window and stole a number of items including more than $200 in cash and my stereo. They rifled through droors, scattered personal papers and generally made a mess of the place. Last night, they stole about $500 worth of equipment vital to my livelihood, my lawn & garden service. Financially they've put me back at least $800, which is quite a lot for me. So I'm in a somewhat troubled mood, but I going to keep on running, and not let these predators destroy my life without a fight.]

[jamesndawson]

Thanks LvH. My brother, who's savvier at these things than I am, put up a camera pointing at the back door and I have an alarm on the front door. The only problem is accidentally setting it myself---the combos vague in my mind at the moment---and fumbling to turn off it's (literatlly) deafening "screams". For that reason, I've been avoiding it and using the back. I'd like to see these people, and maybe talk to them.

Wed. May 22. 3+ miles. Two rests. Joints pretty good, so maybe no excuses for the rests. I do seem to regain energy and my speed picks up after a rest though. Just before it I'm moving pretty slow.
Sun. May 26. 3+ miles. One rest, mainly to use the restroom at the park, though I think I would've taken it anyway. But this time it was 2/3 to 3/4 into the route, later than last run. Started out with good energy this morning, about 8:30, which continued throuout the run. In fact, I probably could've put in another mile, but I had important things to do. Again, some good internal conversations helped me along.
Thurs. June 6. Hoo boy. It's been 11 days since my last run. I've been SO busy. The usual route, 3+ miles. 6 rests, starting about the halfway or 2/3 point. My knee starting hurting again. I tried to run through it, but thought I'd better rest it a little after a while. None of my rests were more than about 1/2 minute each and one I had to do because of a traffic light.
I went on a walk exploring the footpaths off to the side of my sidewalk route, but it turned out many stretches were uneven with big rocks and there were too many very steep hills. So for now, I'll stick to my sidewalk.

[jamesndawson]

Sun. June 16. 3+ miles, 4 rests, 10 days since last run. I've been battling a cold since Thursday so I wasn't sure if I ought to exert myself, but actually it felt good. Rests, no more than a minute each, maybe less, were again from the left-knee problem. I was close to limping the last stretch, but decided to push on through.
I've had this cold for 10 days. It's not as bad as it was at first, but is this normal? Also, my right eye is bugging me, like it's got sand or dust in it or something. No noticable redness or inflammation. But I've had this problem intermittently for a while. Part of it's dust from my work, I'm sure, but I wonder if I've got some sort of genetic predisposition to dry eye.
It's strange, while I'm exerted, I'm not feeling the sickness or eye problem at all. It's only pretty much when I've rested they start to bother me.

[jamesndawson]

Sun. June 30. Oh boy, it's been 14 days since my last run. I've got to re-work my schedule. 3+ miles today, 5 rests. I timed it this time---35 minuntes, which works out to roughly a 10 minute mile, which I realize is pretty slow. Maybe I can excuse that by the fact it was 88F, quite hot for this region, but I really don't think I run much faster on cooler days. As usual, my right knee was a major factor in my rests. I bought a pedometer today for $5. This way I can scout out some alternate rights, which'll be nice if only for a change scenery. I looked at the stop watches, but their were in the $16-20 range and digital, and I always have problems with digitals, though I suppose that's the only kind they make anymore. I'm going to have to hunt down the one I bought about 3 years ago.