Another Lesson about Summer Running... Special Florida Edition

When you have every intention of running after a long day at work, it will rain.  It's not my rule.  It's a rule for Central Florida.  It will rain.

So how do you make up for it?

a) treadmill
b) run in place
c) alternate workout

You still have to go out in the rain to get to a treadmill, so option a is out.  Running in place is kept for a special occasion.  That is done when I'm hurt... like a pulled hamstring.  You don't push off, so it's easier on the legs.  That leaves option c.  For this, I did a weight workout.

I did an overall better full body workout even though it didn't have the same cardio effect.  That's OK.  Right now, I need to lose at least 20 pounds before I can do any effective running workouts anyway.  So using 10 pound dumbells:

side lateral raises
arm curls
shoulder shrugs
overhead press
overhead tricep extensions
stiff leg good mornings
bent over rows
bent over reverse flys
push-ups
squats
calf raises
sit ups
high knees

I did 4 sets of 10 reps for each exercise.  With a 1 minute break between sets to get some water, the total workout was 31 minutes.  I feel great.

Lesson about Running in the Summer

I usually sit on my bum throughout the workday.  This morning, we had a few problems that needed to be resolved and they couldn't all be done at my desk.  I had to get up and I walked around from place to place from about an hour and a half.  I knew I walked more than normal and since I was carrying my phone the whole time, I looked up my mileage on the pedometer app.  It turns out that I covered 1.15 miles.

This got me excited.  Probably too much.  I went home for lunch and decided that instead of jumping into a meal, I was going to hop into my running shorts and shoes.  I live on a lake with a decent tree canopy... on my side of the lake.  That tree canopy ran out after half a mile.

I planned on running 5k.  After a mile of 92 degrees, I checked the weather app and it says the feels like temp is 102.  Awesome!  I want to feel 102.  It wasn't very much farther and I changed my route from a single loop with a water fountain at one point to an out-and-back past that water fountain a second time.  It wasn't enough to quell the heat building in my core.

That last half mile with some shade under the trees turned into a new workout.  Run the sun, walk the shade.  Whatever it takes.  In total the workout was good and I finished with 2.75 miles.  A little short of my original goal, but 102 degrees will do that.

When I got home, I took a couple gulps of pickle juice.  I know.  How very hipster Williamsburg of me!  Gotta get the sodium replaced.

When I run in the afternoons, which is becoming prohibitive due to the afternoon storms, it usually takes about 30 minutes to cool down.  Today, it took about an hour.  So the lesson is to either run in the morning or evening when the temps are above 80 degrees during the day.  I think that's a safe rule.

I don't think I mentioned on here that I changed my running website from EolaRunners.com to OrlandoRunners.com.  It is the domain name I wanted years ago, but didn't become available until earlier this year.  I am going to list some of the upcoming races in our area at the bottom of my blog posts.  Here goes:

Upcoming Races in the Orlando Area

• The Ultimate Outdoors Race (multiple distances) - Saturday, August 22 - Winter Garden
• Stone Island 5k / 10k - Saturday, August 29 - Enterprise
• Valencia College Run/Walk For Heroes - Friday, September 11 - Kissimmee
• Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk - Saturday, September 12 - Altamonte Springs

Starting over again

Starting over again. It's never easy to get back into any kind of rhythm.  Heck, I guess I'm not even worried about a rhythm right now. I just need to get any kind of consistency whatsoever. Is that a rhythm?  I'd be happy to just get three runs in a week on a consistent basis for a month and that'll be a good base for me.

With today's kind of weather, it sure makes it hard. It was 83° and very humid. It was raining in the distance. You could see it but it didn't rain where I was. It's  good and bad. The air had the humidity of the storm but no relief from the heat.

I went out planning on running 3 miles. Part way through my run, I thought about taking on about 4 miles, but then gave in and finished around three.

I feel like my head is going to explode.  I don't know if you can tell from the pic below, but my face is a little red.

Well Spring

wellspring
noun well·spring \-ˌspriŋ\

: something or someone that provides a large amount of something : a good source of something

or more like....   well, spring.

I went for a run on Monday, March 23.  I logged into the MapMyRun app on my phone and it says my last run was in August 2014.  I haven't run since last summer.  The weather is still nice in Orlando.  It has been cool at night (60's F) and warm bordering on hot during the days (low 80's F).  I usually go running at the onset of spring which really occurs in February.  I didn't run all fall and winter, which is bad enough.  Subsequently, I've put on a few pounds.  I also added to my running sabbatical and bypassed our pollen season, which is so strong that it actually affects people without allergy problems in Central Florida.  The oak pollen is so heavy that you can see it in the air.  It coats your eyes, nose, and throat with powder.  Normally, I run through it and suffer from non-stop sneezing attacks all night.  This year, I skipped my running in favor of my sanity.

Another thing that has been bothering me... I am pretty sure I have sciatica.  Pain in my hip, calf, ankle, ball of my foot and all on my left side.  I also get cramps on the side of my lower leg and also in my foot... only on my left side.  It's getting worse and one of the best things I can do is lose weight and strengthen my core.

The pollen has died down (hopefully for the year).  Hence my return to running.  It is now Thursday and my legs and thoracic area are still sore from the run.  I'm going on 43 and it's sad that I am this sore 3 days later... after running just under a mile and a half.  Just sad.

We'll see how things go and if I can stack up workouts into an actual routine.

On a positive note, I have made some updates to one of my other websites.  Eolarunners.com.  I have started adding local Central Florida races and put it on the front page.  The races used to be on a different page and this should make it easier to find.  I also bought the domain name OrlandoRunners.com and will eventually transition the website over to that name.  Not everyone knows that Lake Eola is the center of downtown Orlando, but most people recognize the name Orlando.  It fits.  Updates to come.  For now, check out the race list and thanks.  EolaRunners.com