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jimsjournal |
Aches and pains -- 04/13/10 |
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Well, the water has been long gone from our basement but, although I have have put in some time spraying and scrubbing and such, we haven't really gotten very far in terms of re-arranging things and clearing out clutter and all of those noble actions we keep telling ourselves that we are going to accomplish. Of course, I also thought that I would probably be updating this journal three or four times a week. Time. There just never seems to be enough time. Nancy is taking two college courses this semester (yes, in addition to her job) -- oh, and she is also a member of the Vestry at church and they just finally completed the task of finding a new pastor and so her time is pretty well booked. So I think it may well be May before we tackle the major basement tasks. Ah well, I suppose by then there will no longer be lines at the landfill/recycling center. Jill has really been looking forward all winter to the James Joyce Ramble 10k race -- which is coming up in a week and a half. I kept saying I needed to start training for it... but I never seem to run any more. There are two reasons for that. One is my heel and the other is due to my lack of training. I have not done any real running since September. I spend much of December and January wearing that moonboot on my right foot because of my torn Achilles tendon. When my podiatrist said that it appeared to have healed and that if I had no further problems, surgery could be avoided. I was eager to start running, but also very hesitant. I have been afraid that I would end up in pain again and would have to have surgery. So I've been avoiding running in hopes that the longer I put it off, the less likely I would be to have a problem. Let that heel really heal. I would workout on the weight bench doing leg lifts and rowing and lifting hand weights and riding the exercise bike... and even, once in a while, jogging a mile or so on the treadmill. I would work out nicely for a week or two -- and then I would skip a day because I was busy or we had to go somewhere or I just ran out of time -- which makes easy to skip the next night -- and then I find I've gone a week without working out. (Fortunately, splitting wood and bringing it in for the fireplace insert is pretty good exercise.) The worst thing, however, is not running. Running a mile is work when you are out of training. So I would run a mile. And a couple of weeks later I might do it again. This is not helpful. But running used to be fun. I used to enjoy going out to run four or five miles. The problem is, it is not fun getting through the first couple of weeks of starting a running program. So between fear of my Achilles tendon and lack of training, I just wasn't getting in my running miles. At seven weeks before the race I charted out a program of how I could train up to being able to make it through the 10k (about six and a quarter miles). The trouble is, I didn't implement it. And then came the rain and the basement flooding. And this past Sunday marked two weeks left before the race. I decided I needed to see if I could cover three miles by alternating running and walking. My theory was that if I could run/walk three miles, then in a couple of days I could run/walk it again and then in a couple more days I could run/walk four miles and then maybe do it again... and then on the 25th I could cover the distance by alternating running and walking... and since one of the unique features of this race is that actors in costume are posted along the course, reading aloud from the works of James Joyce. So, maybe I could bring a camera and slow to a walk when I came to the actors and even stop and take their pictures... and I could end up finishing the course and also having some interesting pictures. I jogged to the bike path and covered a mile and a half and then turned around. I then walked a bit, jogged a bit, walked a bit, jogged a bit for the return mile and a half. Success! I'd covered three miles, just as planned. That was good, except I was exhausted. I felt as if I had covered three or four times that distance. My legs were very sore yesterday. Today they are feeling better, but not recovered enough for me to want to go out and do it again. Maybe tomorrow. Hmmm, maybe I could just walk the whole 10k. Could I be getting old? Naw, that can't be -- my birthday's not until four days after the race.
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