Let It Flow

I got out today though I was totally unmotivated to do so. Once I got going I had trouble not fighting the run, it took a couple of miles, maybe 2.5, to just relax and let it flow, which it did eventually. It ended up being a good run, 5.2 miles, and I am psyched that I went. I have to confess that I bailed yesterday. The day got away from me a bit, and when it was time to go I just bailed. Yesterday was gray and cold and windy, and though probably in the high 20s it was that really penetrating, heavy chill, and I just couldn't get over the mental hump, and the cold in my bones.

Thirteen or so tomorrow, probably in less than ideal conditions, but I'm ready to attack it.

Devoured

Time: 30:06
Avg HR: 160
Peak HR: 180
Calories: 526
Distance: 3ish miles
Start Time: 6:15 AM
Training Effect: 4.5
Temp: 62 F (92% Rel. Humidity)
Date: 7/20/07

Well there have a been a string of very positive, I love running/working out posts up here so let me interrupt the love fest with a tale of woe.

I ran for 30 minutes today and it was pretty much utter misery from the get go. I bailed near the end but am glad that I ran for 30 minutes which is what I told myself to reach from about 18 minutes on . . . I'd say the breakdown was 80% mental and 20% physical. On the mental side it's been a tough week at work prepping for a client pres yesterday; I left with a migraine on Wednesday; Child Two took a header off the bed yesterday morning and that was scary and stressful.

The weather was super humid and it felt like I was trying to breathe underwater the whole run. I went out too hard for the conditions and just didn't have the mental capacity to finish. I've said it before on this blog sometimes you eat the mile, sometimes they eat you -- today I was devoured.

Under the Weather

I feel like hell today. No run for me -- bummer. I really look forward to going out and it bums me out not to go . . . Maybe I can rebound and get out tomorrow.

Wild Weekend

It was a wild weekend. I got a couple of good old fashioned cross training workouts and one shortened "run." I shoveled heavy wet snow for 35 minutes on Friday night, and again on Saturday morning. Shovelling is a gasser, it's amazing. During my morning shovel session I saw a bunch of bikers go buy the end of the street and I knew I had to run that day. I set out at about 5:20 PM and less than a mile into my route I was wheezing like a madman and had to stop. It was about 30 F and very damp -- not a great combo for me. Ever since the fall of 2001 I've had trouble in this kind of weather, and gotten wheezy, though Saturday was the first time I've ever had to stop. A doctor told me it's an allergic thing, and as I've mentioned in previous posts it's been a tough week for running with this allergy induced trouble . . . I did manage to run and walk a mile or so after I first stopped and probably covered about 2 miles in toto, but man it was tough. See above though for my rebound workout.

LDT Tech

Because I work in the interactive marketing industry, and I'm curious about such things I've added some nifty high tech features to this blog. More for my own curiosity and self education than anything else, but it's also kind of interesting.

FeedBurner
I've added a couple of icons in the right hand column, under "Feeds" -- one is a general RSS feed from FeedBurner (Orange Icon, which is an industry standard symbol for feed) -- it works in all readers. The other is a Google Reader-specific feed. If you know about feed readers you know how cool they can be. Click on the general (orange) icon, and you'll get a link and an offer to place it into your favorite reader. I use Google reader because it's easy and it keeps my online tool suite on one basic platform. The really cool thing about FeedBurner however is that it tracks how many people have your feed and how often they use it. I've got a login on FeedBurner.com that let's me see this data. Right now, we don't have too many subscribers -- so subscribe and get our numbers up! Tell your friends and family and get the word out!

Google Analytics
On Saturday night I was totally geeking out and added some code to the blog template that permits us to track the traffic to LDT over on Google Analytics. I know for instance that somebody (most likely VT Runner) logged in from China -- there is a visit logged from over there. We have a minuscule traffic which is expected for a blog of this nature, and it's all us. It's interesting to see the data and the graphs -- I'll share data as it becomes available and interesting, right now it's gearing up.

I just wanted to let you all know what I'm up to with the blog -- it's not just a writing exercise, it's an educational experience.

Oh, yeah, the cold whipped me again . . . it's got to be 8 F or above for me to go out. Totally arbitrary, but very much a psychological threshold.

Cruel March

So . . . I woke up this AM, intent on going for a run -- the howling wind notwithstanding -- and I headed downstairs to check the temperature before gearing up.

You now see what I saw. I found my weather limit to heading out, and bailed. Bitter cold and still -- I'll run. Windy and teens -- I'll run. Two degrees Fahrenheit and 40 MPH gusts -- time to put on the coffee and oatmeal, and hope I can make up the run another day.