Greetings to all. This is my first post. Because it is my first, it is long: I apologize.
I have always loved running, but due to my extreme fragility, never made a varsity team in high school or college, and have never been able to run consistently as an adult.
But I still love running.
As a boy I was inspired by Steve Prefontaine, whom I first learned about from that famous Sports Illustrated cover story. I cried when big black letters at the top of the sports section in the newspaper announced his death.
I am currently struggling with back problems, knee problems, etc. But the effort is worth it, just to run a little bit, even slowly.
Rather late in life I have come around to trying LSD (Long Slow Distance--you knew what I meant!).
"Distance" has different meaning for different people. For me, right now, it means up to 5 miles on the treadmill. ;-)
"Slow" is also a word that has different meanings. In training, I am running ALL my miles at slower than 9:00 mile pace, and some miles slower than 10:00 mile pace.
Almost all training is done on the treadmill, at 2% incline, for these reasons:
- The surface is yielding.
- The pace can be controlled.
- Weather is not a factor.
This summer I have fallen into a routine of training usually six days per week, thus:
- 3 days of stretching + running
- 3 days of stretching + strengthening
A half-hour of stretching per day is helping to keep me in the game.
I have averaged 15 mpw for the last two months, which is a lot for me these days.
Activity this past week:
M - Back stretching routine; Strengthening routine; 1 mile elliptical
Tu - 1 mile running on treadmill, 2% incline, 9:23; local 5K race in 24:28; Hip stretching routine; Basic stretching routine
W - 1 mile running on treadmill, 2% incline, 10:51; Back stretching routine; Strengthening routine
Th - 4 miles running on treadmill, 2% incline, 10:19 mile pace; Hip stretching routine; Basic stretching routine
F - 2 miles running on treadmill, 2% incline, 9:35 mile pace; Hip stretching routine; Basic stretching routine
Sa - Back stretching routine; Strengthening routine; 1 mile elliptical
Su - 4 miles running on treadmill, 2% incline, 9:36 mile pace
Total running mileage this week: 15.1
Hey, we all do what we can.