Adarq.org

yo congrats on the many life changes! the improvement in job condition is not to be underrated, having a job you hate just sucks the life out of you. watched my dad go through that last year, then come out of it this year with a new gig that he really likes. night and day.

fwiw, one thing i like about running is how not time-consuming it is. there's no commute to the gym and only rarely to the track, no real warm-up unless i'm doing speed work (and those workouts are shorter, so it's a wash time-wise). just tie shoes, put on sunscreen and mask, and head out the door. obviously, my runs are longer now than they used to be, but you can gain a lot of fitness with like 4.5-5 hours per week. even now my total running time per week is only 5.5 hours, plus a cumulative hour or so for stretching.

i'm not particularly talented at distance running, either: my history was the same as yours (a casual season of xc in high school during which i ran close to 20 mins). but i'm pretty sure i'll be able to run 18:xx this year, if i stay healthy. that's not very fast, but it's good enough to be top-10 and usually top-3 or 5 in basically any local 5k, which is fun.

that said, i've lost 10 pounds, my strength is basically where it was when i first started lifting weights 11 years ago, and i'm certainly not as explosive as i was in 2016. running is obviously not a great recipe for improving vert, strength, or muscle.

it is fun as hell, though.

- run 19.6 km in 1:42:16
accidental distance PR, first time over 12 miles. ran a mile longer than intended because my mom (who biked along with me) and i got separated just before the halfway/turnaround point and i looped around to look for her. waited for ten minutes at the fork where we must have gotten split up and then came back. we just missed each other and ended up arriving home within ten minutes of each other. so also a lot faster cumulatively than last week (5:13 average pace), thanks in no small part to my being worried/irritated that i'd lost my mom, lol.

- stretch

tired.

good question: towards the hand. have you done anything to make it better or just pushed through it? and has it gotten worse over time?

two things to note: close grip chin ups bother my right bicep a little, as they have for many years. i figure there's something screwy in my shoulder. also, i'm starting to get a little soreness on the inside of my left elbow. fairly sure it's pull up related, as well. neither that bothersome but i just need to be conscious of them and prob to work on shoulder and elbow mobility before i do the workouts. annoying because i've been loving how efficient they are, but better that than get hurt and have to stop altogether.

morning

- push ups x 29,32,30
there's something with hand placement, too, that i haven't quite figured out yet.

afternoon

- run 11.03 km in 56:14
T+DI index 160+. was right at 5:00 pace until i cratered in the penultimate km. these runs should feel pretty easy, so i was happy to let the pace fall off and just focus on not walking. so uphill, so sunny, so hot, so humid.

- stretch

- SMR hamstrings, calves, back

- pull up 10 x 4; x2

if you liked those econ books, you might like doughnut economics, by kate raworth.

king leopold's ghost has been on the list for ages, how was it?

- run 18.01 km in 1:40:00
distance PR. gonna start using temp+dew point index to reference pace. today was 81+74=155 when i set out and 89+75=164 when i got back. at that index i ought to be 6-8% slower than my long-run pace in london's lovely conditions, which was about 5:08, so...nailed it at 5:33 average, although that does include a little pick-up in the final km (4:40).

- stretch

dehydrated.

edit: one hour after workout, body very tired.

yeah and it ended up not storming last night, pissed that i didn't go. you're prob right that it's smarter not to make it up. what i think i'll do instead is long run today, skip tomorrow, then back on schedule from wednesday. the long runs are important, i think i get more out of them than the 10-11k's. this way i'll still get that in but not sacrifice a recovery day.

speaking of which, it's time to lengthen those as well. sub-50 minutes just doesn't seem like enough stimulus anymore, especially if i'm able to maintain that in the heat and humidity. will shift to 11k minimum from this week.

something else i've been musing on: i'd like to find a training partner. in normal times i'd be thinking about joining a club (as i would have done this spring in london). maybe still worth doing that just to get plugged into a little network here.