Track

My legs are still sore from doing steps and a bleacher snake at Red Rocks with Kim and Reynold on Sunday. And they were sore from the Yeti Chase before that. So when my brother suggested that we do a track workout on Tuesday, I wasn't sure how much zip I'd have in my legs.

But zippy or not, I decided to give it a try. For the last decade or so, I have listened to my body and have taken rest days when the aches, pains, and resting heart rate have told me to. Under this philosophy, I've continued to suffer injuries and have watched my performance slowly decline. So at least for the time being, I'm going to revert to the old "summers with Wichita Swim Club" philosophy and continue working out even when I'm dreadfully beat up -- in the hopes of seeing a performance payoff when I taper.

It's called mid-season fatigue, and I'm definitely feeling it right now. I'm consistently sluggish, sleepy, and stiff all over. But I hope to relish every moment of those beat-up feelings, because they remind me that I'm slowly climbing out of my slacker-habit comfort hole. I'm increasing the duration and intensity of my workouts, and trying to be a bit tougher. If my ancient bones and ligaments can take it, I'm confident that by working through the fatigue I'll eventually gain enough strength to avoid additional embarrassments like my Yeti Chase slowdown.

So even though my calves were yelping with each footstep, I participated in the track workout. We ran a couple of laps for warmup, did some short "near-sprints" to stimulate the muscles, and then moved on to the main set: a timed 3000-meter run.

The good news is that Pat didn't quite lap me. The bad news is that the tightness in my legs kept me from attaining the stride length and turnover rate I would've liked...but it was still a better run than I was expecting. My total time is stored in my Timex GPS watch, but I turned it off before I remembered to look at exactly what it was. (I think the 3K was somewhere just under 17 minutes. Not great, but I'll take it at this point in the season.)

I hope to run more this week, and possibly even do a longer run on the weekend. (Another 10K or more would be good.) Don't worry; I'm still being careful to avoid injury, but can appreciate any additional effort that I can throw onto these tired old legs. I'll let you know how it goes.

One other observation: I love the fact that I can download photos of the track I run on, or the house I grew up in, or any location I happen to think of. I'm starting to believe that Google Maps might be one of the 10 greatest inventions in the history of mankind. What's on your list?

Of course, Google Maps wouldn't be possible without the advances made by the US Space Program. Oh, I suppose you could make the argument that those advances were partially driven by the fact that the Commies are always up to no good and need to be watched, but I'll stop short of thanking Kruschev, et al, if you don't mind. It's good ol' American ingenuity at work, it is -- and it makes me sad to think how many people don't recognize the tremendous benefits that come from space and science research. We need to do more, explore more, go higher and farther and faster. You may not think the Borg are coming, but what if you're wrong? What if you're wrong?

Anyway, the point is that Bear Creek High School has a nice track, and I enjoy running there, even when I'm tired. I hope we can keep doing these practices throughout the month. There's supposed to be another snowstorm moving in, though, so we'll have to see how that affects things. If there's enough snow, well, I'd bet that a good snowshoe run would make an excellent contribution to my mid-season base. I've got my fingers crossed.

In the meantime, thank you for all the kind words of encouragement as I try to ramp up this running thing. I do appreciate the support. Keep in mind that I'll always be happy to give you the same encouragement if you want to ramp up your swimming, too. Just let me know, and have a great day!