Week 8 Day 1

I woke up at 5 am this morning. Tami said I had fallen out of bed, but I don't believe her.  Next thing I know it's 7 am, and there is no going back to sleep.  So, I get up and head down the stairs.  My right lower leg feels funky, somewhere above the ankle, but only when there is weight on it.  I can stretch it twelve ways from Sunday and it doesn't hurt.  I can poke and prod, and can't find anything sore.  It's hard to pin down where it is.  My plan is to work through it.

I checked the weather on the computer, and it looks like there is a break in the rain.  It was only sprinkling and it was 53°.  I suited up, grabbed a windbreaker, and drove to a nearby middle school to use the track.  Below is a snapshot from Google Earth:

This is an asphalt track, and it is in very good condition.  Even though there was a light rain or heavy mist, there were a few folks out there.  They were wearing jackets, but I left mine in the car.  I knew that after a couple of laps I would be warmed up.  There were a few dozen mean ducks (called geese) along the inside of the track, but the honking didn't bother me.  I clocked the first lap in 2:48, and I felt good.  The wind was 15-20 mph, and my hat nearly came off a couple of times.  My glasses were pretty fogged up by the third lap, but I could still see the watch for split times.  Here are all the details:

The pace column is just the split time times four.  In the last row, I didn't quite make it all the way around, but I did pick up the pace.  My default geek character really loves all the data to be had in a track workout!  In all, I did 2.45 miles in 30 minutes which is 4.9 mph and a pace of 12:14.  And of course, I hadn't done a mile in less than twelve minutes since the Air Force.  (Actually, prior to the C25K program I hadn't run a mile since the Air Force back in 1988!)

I was going to just hit the treadmill this morning, but I'm glad I didn't.  First, I'm still a bit chicken.  And, on occassion, it's nice to think I'm not a complete wimp when it comes to weather.  I came home to a nice breakfast, and I've got the whole day ahead of me.  This includes a haircut and a massage - yep, I got the membership!  I'll let you know how the leg is doing, and I'll talk to my fitness advisor about it on Monday.