Went real easy up and down Green today. It was a bit chilly, but not as cold as it has been for the past couple of days. Round trip is seven miles. I went real slow, just enjoying being out. The snow - ice - crunchy - slippery conditions kept me slow as well. It was fun getting out ... in the woods, on the hill ... unfortunately there was that big old brown cloud to look at when I got to the summit. I am a bit concerned about this abdominal pain I have been having. Not sure what it is, but am hoping it disapates in the next day or two. Definitely felt it more on the way down today.
From the next day ... There were a couple of other thoughts I had on my easy run yesterday that I wanted to get down ... in my charting this experiment of one.
First, on this easy run, with significant climbing, my stride rate went way down (like 75). I am less concerned about my stride rate on my easy easy runs but I can see how this sort of work makes that a habit - it contributes to a lower stride rate all the time if I do this alot. I will want to make sure that when I go after this run hard that I keep the rate quick. It is funny how dense I have been on this topic. Hill climbing specialist SE tried to tell me this while doing Lindens last year. Master miler PH has often told me that I need "to get them down." Mentally I thought about this a little. It was not until Lucho said, "dude, your stride sucks!" that I actually took the concept to heart.
Second, I am not sure what strained my abdominal - but I am pretty nervous about it: is it a hernia?! It seems a little better today but I need to keep an eye (?!) on that.
Finally, it was good to get off the mill yesterday. The mill is a good tool but it is a drill on my head. When I am on it, I am consistently playing the game of upping the speed, and then downing it. This is good on some accounts (7:20s feel hard? crank the pace to 6:00 for a bit, then bring it back to 7:08 and that feels good), but when you run nowhere (literally), it is a bit like water boarding. Kerrie told me I need to get outside after my workout on Tuesday ... she was right. | 