Keeping track of myself

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I wanted to wear a pedometer as a tool of accountability for myself. I think it's time for a little up date.

I wear the peodmeter everyday from the time I leave the house until I go to bed. I never change the mode because I don't really care how far it thinks I go, I just want it to count steps. I have this voice in my head telling me I should do at least 10,000 steps a day. Last spring my Dr. told me I should try to do around 8,500 steps per day but that doesn't seem like enough on days that I exercise. I've had it on everyday day since Jan. 2, 2010. I got some pretty interesting numbers.

As one might expect January started "slower" and I averaged 10,154 steps per day. Thus far in February I'm averaging 11,587 steps per day. If I do the math and convert those steps into miles that's 5.76 miles per day in January and 6.58 miles per day in February. I don't know if it means much because it covers about 16 hours everyday but it must mean something. The numbers you see in the picture are for today.

Today was a wonderful day outside, middle fifties and very few clouds if any at all. We took advantage of the weather and exercised outside. Elly started walking one direction toward the Post Office and I started running another route to the Post Office. I ran past the Post Office, met my sweetie, and we walked back home. TERRIFIC!

I love the Asics running shoes. They are the most comfortable shoes I can ever remember running in. I have a nearly new pair of size 11 New Balance 1063 if anybody wants them. I don't think I'll ever run in them again. The Asics were a little expensive but worth it to me.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another wonderful day in the Great Northwest, who knows what fun we'll have!

Rained out!

I missed my first chance to get a bib number this year. I hoped to do a Sweetheart's Day 5K today and I could have if I wanted to run in the pouring rain. I did that once, it wasn't much fun. So I grabbed my new iTouch that my "sweetheart" got me, strapped on my new running shoes, and headed to the treadmill. I stopped at 5 miles and it was a pretty good run, no where near the 99:59 edge of the earth zone. Someday I'll get there.

Either running on the treadmill is starting to get boring or I'm starting to get spring fever. I hope the weather guesser have the forecast correct because, if they are right, I may get to log some miles outside Monday. The new tunes helped today.

I'm enjoying watching the Olympics, great opening ceremony. Tragic for the young Georgian Luge athlete but racers die in every sport. Kind of comes with the territory, still tragic but it's always a possibility.

My little sweetheart of a Granddaughter isn't feeling well today and she is never far from my thoughts. She called to tell us she wasn't feeling very good but was able to say a very nice "Hi, Ga-ga, hi Ye-ye" and that made a bright spot in the day.

The new running shoes are doing very well so far, no sore spots and no rubs. The balls of my feet and toes felt really good after the 5 miles today. I'll probably walk on the treadmill tomorrow in hopes of the outdoor run on Monday. I logged 20.5 miles in the past seven days. The next chance for a bib on the calendar is April 10 unless I can find another run I don't know about.

I'm glad I don't have to run through snow!

This Year's Events

I'm happy to say that the little leg muscle issue I had last weekend appears to be in the past. I did 4.25 miles yesterday and again today, no pain at all. I'm pretty happy about that since I could hardly walk last Saturday.

I've been thinking and consulting with my coach about what events I should try to do this year. Here's the tentitive schedule; Feb 13 - Sweetheart Run 5K, Apr 10 - Dolphin Dash 5K, Apr 24 - BSA 5K Run, May 16 - Rhody Run 12K, Jun 6 - Olympic Discovery Half Marathon, Jun 26 - Hot Foot 5K, Jul 24 - Whale of a Run 4 miles, Aug 8 - Run for the Light 5 miles, Aug 21 - Race for Literacy 5K, Aug 28 - Kitsap County Fair Stampede 5K, Sep 12 - Skagit Flats Half Marathon, Oct 30 - Halloween Run 5K, and Nov 20- Turkey Trot 5K. I imagine I'll miss a few of these for family activities and other sorts of fun things but here's my plan. I hope I sit down after each event and write a little race report.

Sometimes when I'm on the treadmill I wonder strange thoughts; what happens when the timer reaches 99:59 minutes? I imagine I'm Columbus and about to sail off the edge of the world. Does the treadmill stop and since you're running you fall flat on your face? I haven't gotten there yet but soon I'll break that barrier. Of course, if the weather turns nice and I can get home from work at a reasonable hour my running will move outdoors and this question will remain unanswered until next rainy season.

Another thing I noticed during the last few runs is the ends of my toes are sore. I think my shoes are just a little too short. I trimmed my toenails and can't figure out any other reason for this odd discomfort. I'm going to stop at the Exchange on the way home after work some day this week and take care of the shoe issue. Back to the question of an earlier blog - New Balance or Brooks, maybe I'll switch to new brand all together. I just have to be sure the shoes really feel right in the store.

Healthy and Happy, The Running Ye-Ye.

P.S. Ye-Ye is the correct spelling for the name my lovely grandaughter gave me but I had to modify it to Ya-Ya to get a blogspot.