Week of 8/9/2010

8/9/10
2 miles in 19:33/Split 9:48
Pearl City Bike Path. Ran an easy 2 miles concentrating on my foot strike. Felt no pain in my lower left leg. I need to stretch plenty before running and ice down my leg afterwards. I think I will buy an Ace bandage to wrap around my shin during my runs.

8/11/10
2 miles in 20:18/Split 10:10
Pearl City Bike Path. Ran on egg shells without a care about time. Used self-grip athletic tape on my lower left leg. Iced down my leg...but not until 6 hours later. Bottom line: no pain!

8/15/10
3 miles in 31:30/Split 10:30
Pearl City Bike Path. Slow, easy 3 mile run. My GPS watch died so time and distance are only an estimate (used music on iPod for time). After the fact, I checked my route on Gmaps & it measured out to 3.0155 miles! The route: Start at Neal Blaisdell Park near the play structure (going west), continue past Lehua Ave, turn around at the bridge over the stream & go back to the park.

Week of 8/2/2010

8/2/10
4 miles in 42:40/Split 10:40
West Loch Shoreline Park. Ran a slower pace trying to concentrate on a soft foot strike. I got totally lost and had to run an extra 2 miles to get back near the start point. This course has confused me for a 2nd time!

8/4/10
Pearl City Bike Path. Barely ran a 1/4 mile when I felt pain in my lower left leg (uh oh!). I immediately stopped, turned around and walked back to my car. No more running for the rest of the week (wah wah!).

Week of 7/26/2010

Well, this is week 2 of my self imposed layoff. I'm paranoid that 2008 will come back and haunt me (Medial & Anterior shin splints sidelined me for 6 months!). I got to wondering if I'm wearing the correct running shoe. A simple wet test (see image below) confirmed that I have normal arches and a neutral foot alignment (need a stability shoe). My New Balance 1224's are supposed to be for stability but are in fact for motion control (overpronation). Also the stiff midsole is not conducive to my mid-foot strike. Sigh...they'll have to do for now.

Week of 7/19/2010

It seems that I have medial shin splints or more correctly:
medial tibial stress syndrome.
I felt pain, though slight, last weekend and throughout this week when walking. The pain is in a familiar area...inside of my lower left leg (a few inches above my ankle). I have a history of shin splints and want to take no chances. This means time off from running (2 weeks?).

Do I have a pronation problem? Don't know. I think only a gait analysis will give me a definitive answer. The image below illustrates the location of my injury (I've also suffered from anterior compartment syndrome but let's not even go there!).

Week of 7/12/2010

7/12/10
3 miles in 29:33/Split 9:48
Sand Island Beach Park (see above photo). Hot, hot day. The paved path is too windy (I like loops). After a mile, I ended up on Sand Island Access Road. The road is wide, with bike lanes, but this is an industrial area (diesel fumes, the smell of hot glue and other toxic odors).



7/15/10
2 miles in 20:06/Split 10:03
West Loch Shoreline Park (above image). There is a 1.5 mile loop that I had planned on circling twice. Well, after a mile the paved path ended (wrong turn?). I then found myself running on a garbage-strewn dirt road behind industrial buildings and apartments. I died after 2 miles.

7/17/10
2 miles in 19:19/Split 9:40
Kalihi St Loop. There was a light rain at the beginning & end of my run (no problem). I've felt a slight but sharp pain in my left, lower shin on my runs this week (hope it isn't shin splints again). I will have to closely monitor this.

Week of 7/5/2010

7/5/10
2.5 miles in 24:16/Split 9:42
Ala Moana Beach Park (See above video). This is my favorite place to run. There's plenty of runners plus Magic Island! Wanted to go 3 miles but died after the 2nd mile. I struggled to finish that last half-mile.

7/7/10
3 miles in 29:03/Split 9:42
Pearl City Bike Path. It was hot and humid. Felt like someone was sitting on my chest for the first mile. Felt better after that.

Am I really that stupid?

1 - I was sitting in my car, at a park, resting after my 3 mile run.
2 - A homeless woman comes up to me and asks to use my cellphone. I say
     sure.
3 - She asks me to give her a ride. I say sure.
4 - She asks me for $10. I drive to an atm and give her the $20 I withdraw.
5 - She asks me if we can go back, to the park, so she can freshen up in the
     bathroom. I say sure.
6 - She asks me to pick up her gay friend a couple of miles away. I say sure.
7 - She asks if I could drop them off at some bar. I say sure.

I was just trying to be nice but....


7/9/10
4 miles in 39:31/Split 9:52
Pearl City Bike Path. Avoided my usual starting point, at Neal Blaisdell Park, and parked at Best Buy (to avoid another possible encounter with the homeless woman). Meant to go 4 miles at the most (long run) but didn’t turn around until the 2.5 miles point (5 miles? What was I thinking!). I ran the first 2 miles too fast so I struggled just to finish 4 miles (which meant a 1 mile walk back to my car).

Week of 6/28/2010

6/28/10
2 miles in 19:10/Split 9:36
Kalihi St Loop. I thought about reversing the loop (to add a little variety). Nah, nah, nah...hate crossing streets!



6/30/10
3 miles in 28:10/Split 9:21
Pearl City Bike Path (see above image). After the 1st mile, I felt pretty good and thought, "Let's go 3!" I noticed a female runner ahead of me (too far to catch). It gave me something to focus on (other than my fatigue).

7/2/10
2 miles in 18:37/Split 9:19
Kalihi St Loop. I'm getting a bit faster now. When I increase my shorter runs to 3 miles I will need to slow the pace (or risk not finishing!).