Sunday, March 22, 2015

Day 76 - A really painful week saw the streak come to an end. I'd been having trouble with my right shoulder for a month now. It became significantly worse the day before Day 76 (78 of the streak). I ran on Day 76, and it was painful. That night, I was in the ER, thinking something was torn and getting no word otherwise from the "doctor" in the ER.

I went through a very painful work week, and an excruciating drive home. Jill looked it up and my symptoms were more like tendinitis, which is what I hoped (but didn't really think) was the problem. She gave me a mix of acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Then, I got a shot of cortisone and as I write, my shoulder is an order of magnitude better. It still hurt, but not nearly as much and I'm quite certain it's tendinitis and not a tear.

Unfortunately, I had to learn that by giving up the streak - it just hurt too much and I wasn't open enough to alternative ways of treating it. But it was a great streak and a valuable lesson to learn.

My goal now is to finish 2015...with at least one workout per day. I don't want a run streak because I need to give my shoulder a rest if necessary. But that doesn't mean I can't bike or whatever.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Day 71 (294 left): Ran in an unseasonably warm downtown Chicago and ended up with my fastest outdoor 5k ever and first one under 20:00! I started by just running. I knew I was going faster than normal, but I didn't think I was going that fast. I looked at Strava and at the first mile I was right around 6:00 and I say said what the fuck holy cow! I decided right then I was going to try and run under 20:00. I felt good the entire way, dodging traffic and people (there weren't a lot of either, it was almost 9 p.m.).

I ran along Adams, and Michigan Avenue, had a long stretch on Columbus (where I've finished the Chicago Triathlon twice). The Columbus stretch was pretty fast - no cars. As I headed back I knew it was close. I hit the 19:00 mark at just shy of thee miles. I was almost there.

The phone Strava GPS is a little delayed and I looked down at 3.1 miles and 19:52. I'd later realize that I really ran the 5k in 19:48. I'm very pleased with that.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Day 70 (72 overall, 295 left in the year) was an outdoor run. As Spring arrives, I feel like I "survived" this past winter, especially the last six weeks. It was solid cold. Spring, or late Winter, hit like a wall, with the temperature going from 0 to 50 in a couple of days. Running outdoors beats the treadmill - and I like treadmills.

My leg pain fluctuates from not-so-bad to "I think the streak is over." The run on Day 70 was very chill for the first two miles and then I ran a 6:30 including a 1:16 400. For now, the streak is intact but as I've always maintained, a LOT has to go right for this thing to continue.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Day 66 - 299 more days this year. After a couple of very iffy days of running with a sore left shin, today was the first day of basically no pain. I still plan to take it easy for the rest of March (running - getting hard cardio on the bike). The last week or so was mostly painful and thoughts of stopping the streak were prevalent.

Run at The W Hotel in Chicago for the 2nd time this year - I like the treadmills there I also did some work on the recumbent that day as it turns out. Otherwise, my thoughts are on next week as Spring is going to hit with a flurry next week - as in from 0 to 50 degrees in a week. Going to bring my bike to Wisconsin, and really can't wait to get back outdoors. I made it through the Winter, streak (barely) intact at 68 total days, 66 for the year.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Day 60: A fine Sunday morning, day 60 of the year, 62 of the streak, started with semi hard 30 minute cycle spinning. Sometime during the spin, I decided to run at 9.5 MPH. I started there, and it felt GREAT. Two miles later, I decided to try and break my personal 5k. I increased the speed as I went past the 2 mile mark, finishing the last .25 at 12 MPH.19:13! Best treadmill 5k ever. It rocked.

Day 60 done.