Day Thirty-Eight

A morning mile around the house.
1 mile - 12.23

Day Thirty-Seven

Tuesday
I got adventerous and motivated today and finally did more than the bare minimum. First, I did a mile around the house to let Toby bleed off some of his energy. Then we ran into the village and out past BQ. I was surprised I was able to run so much. I set a target in my head of 30 minutes, but even after the mile around the house, I was ready to pack it in. It wasn't until about 25 minutes in that I really started to enjoy the run.

We had a little guff from a cocker spaniel near the bridge, but he stayed mostly away. I wish people wouldn't let their dogs loose like they do.

4 miles - 44.17

Day Thirty-Six

Monday
Another mile around the house - wind rain and snow in the space of 12 minutes.
1 minute - 12.12

Week Five Summary

Miles Run: 10
Minutes: 111:21
Falls: 1
Hill Runs: 1
Bare Minimum Days: 6

Day Thirty-Five

Sunday
Another mile, run around the house. Started off with good weather, ended up in the rain.
1 mile - 12.12

Day Thirty-Four

Saturday
One more mile done.
1 mile - 11.59

Day Thirty-Three

Another fast first thing in the morning run.
1 mile - 10.54

Day Thirty-Two

Since it's getting lighter earlier these days, I decided to go for a morning run. Just a mile around the house, but it was fantastic - I am definitely a morning exerciser. It leaves me feeling so energized (and smug, for getting something out of the way early.)
1 mile - 11.26

Day Thirty-One

It was a beautiful afternoon and we went for a nice long run, a lot of it uphill and then we walked the downhills because of my knees. It was a good run.
4 miles - 41.12

Day Thirty

My knee is a little sore from my unceremonious tumble yesterday, so I just did the minimum. Again. Sad that this is becoming a habit.
1 mile - 11.49

Day Twenty-Nine

Monday - Dublin.
I wanted to get my run in early, before my flight, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. I just did a circuit around the neighbourhood and was finishing up when I fell down. Hard. I bruised and cut my knee, scraped up my calf and got a stinging little cut on my hand. Ouch. Since I was only running a mile, I wanted to make sure that I got the little bit of the buffer in, so I continued running for another two minutes after the fall.
1 mile - 11.49

Week Four Summary

Miles: 10
Minutes: 108
Bare Minimum Days: 5
Rainy Days: 2

Day Twenty-Eight

2 miles - 20.59. I used a route I've measure before, so I know I did 2 miles properly. This isn't just a guess based on time. My first mile was 10.17 or so and my second was a bit slower because I was running into a fierce headwind.

The only doing a mile thing is a paradox in a way. It's easy to commit to doing a mile - 10 or so minutes a day. No sweat. It's a small thing. But then I'm by nature a distance runner so I don't usually get to feeling loose and enjoying the run until the 2nd or 3rd mile.

Day Twenty-Seven

Saturday

I was up earlier than I intended, which was good because I was able to get a run in before my all-day writing workshop. It was nice to sit through the workshop without worrying that I had an obligation to fulfill.

1 mile - 12.59

Day Twenty-Six

Friday. I dropped Toby off at the kennel just as the sun was rising and then left work early to drive to the airport, so no hope of getting the mile in before Dublin. After Peter collected me from the AirCoach, I begged him to walk while I ran, as he did during my last visit. He was reluctant, but he obliged and I was glad since it was dark and Dublin now seems so loud and potentially scary in a way that the Middle of Nowhere Cork does not.

1 mile - 14.09.

Day Twenty-Five

We finally managed to get out for a decent run- about 3 miles - 31.14. No rain, no troubles with Toby. Would have been a perfect run were it not for the tightening in my upper leg muscles.

Day Twenty-Four

Didn't mean to have this week turn out to be the week of bare minimums, but there you go. I set out with good intentions, only to have the heavens open up with knife-like freezing rain. Of course, the sun was shining through it, but it felt like more than just a passing shower and it both froze and soaked me to the bone. Not even a rainbow could keep me running through the rain and the wind.

We'd gone out about 3 minutes before we turned back and did the rest of the run (a total of 10.30) around the house.

Day Twenty-Three

Intended on running 3 or 4 miles today to make up for eating too many biscuits at work, but we ended up going into Kenmare and having dinner there. By the time we got home, it was dark and I was nauseaous from the car ride.

I did 11.47, 1 mile around the house. Toby was very good and I was relieved to keep the streak going.

Day Twenty-Two

The weather all day has been miserable - gale-force winds with sheets of rain. No letup at all. Toby and I just did 12.42 around the house. I think that should be a mile - I tacked on a few extra minutes to counteract the fierce headwind that slowed us down often. Toby was good - he stayed close.

Part of the yard is flooded and our rain bucket is showing at least a fresh inch and a half of rain. The lake is also quite high as is the river at work. Hope it's not like this all night.

Going out in this sort of miserable weather to keep the streak alive gives me a certain satisfaction and Pleased with Self-ed-ness that is difficult to get from other activities.

Week Three Summary

Miles Run: 16
Minutes Run: 172
Rainy Days: 3
Windy Days: 2
Rainbows: 1
Perfect Days: 1
Dog Fights Averted: 1

Day Twenty-One

I was a little sore from my first camogie training since September, so I just did another mile around the house. 11.14. Again, Toby trailed along next to or behind me. He looked with interest at a couple of passing cars, but stayed close.

Day Twenty

Again, just a single mile or thereabouts. I did 14.17 around the house. Toby was good again. I don't think he's a morning dog - he trailed behind for most of the run.

Day Nineteen

The legs were a little sore, so I just did one mile - 10.33. Toby ran alongside me and managed not to break away after any cars.

Day Eighteen

It was sunny and gorgeous out all day, so I fully expected the weather to turn bad just before I left work. But it didn't. It was the perfect, warmish spring day with big fluffy clouds, a blue sky and a warm sun.

Toby and I made up for our week of short runs today - we did about 7 miles - 1:14:18. Our most ever. Toby dove into his water bowl when we got home, but otherwise showed no effect from the run. I think he could probably jog at least 10 miles. After 5 miles, he caught sight of another dog and massively picked up the pace. He had plenty of run left in him.