Running on the Eights

One of my favorite TV channels (especially in the thick of the hurricane season) is the Weather Channel. That is, when they’re not obsessing on the weather in places like southeastern Montana or east-central New Mexico. On the other hand, I imagine that folks watching from other parts of the country wonder why they make such a big deal whenever a dinky tropical storm threatens the Florida coast (actually, I do, too). After all, a 50 mph tropical storm isn’t really all that much. I remember in 1984 when tropical storm Isidore passed directly over Gainesville in the middle of the day without anyone in town paying it the slightest attention. But that aside, what I like the most about the Weather Channel is their feature titled “Local on the Eights”, meaning that at :08, :18, :28, :38, :48, and :58 each hour they give the local forecast and radar. So despite what’s going on in other places, the viewer can be assured of some local attention.

I think this idea has pretty good carryover value to my life. There are various projects that I’ve begun recently, and it’s a good idea to update my progress in them from time to time. And doing so at eight-week intervals seems to be a reasonable span between reports. So, here’s my first report of this kind, this time about my adventures in the exciting and sometimes painful world of running.

Since May 14, I’ve gradually built up my distance and speed, running almost exclusively on treadmills at my nearby YMCA. It’s only been recently that I’ve begun to run on a regular surface, and that has presented a few problems. One, it’s usually pretty hot down here in north-central Florida at this time of the year, with temperatures usually creeping into the 90’s with high humidity. Two, the treadmill sets my pace and thus relieves my mind of that burden. Three, I feel that the very act of running on ground or track is slightly different than treadmill running, emphasizing some muscles over others. So, recently, I’ve begun to mix my workouts between treadmill and track, with me still searching for a good cross-country type course to practice on. Also, I’ve made a point of giving myself one or two days of rest between runs at this stage. I plan to begin using the YMCA’s cross-trainer on days I’m not running, at some future point. My running records so far are pretty modest, and they probably will be for a while. Well, here’s my training record so far:

DATE DAY MILES TIME SURFACE
5-14-- mo-- 0.25 --3:43-- treadmill
5-17-- th--- 0.25-- 2:57----- “
5-19-- sa--- 0.25-- 2:32----- “
5-22-- tu--- 0.25-- 2:23----- “
5-25-- fr--- 0.25-- 2:19------ “
5-27-- su--- 0.25-- 2:09------“
5-30-- we-- 0.35-- 3:44----- “
6-01-- fr----0.50-- 4:40----- “
6-03-- su-- 0.50-- 4:33------ “
6-06-- we-- 0.50-- 4:14----- “
6-08-- fr--- 1.00-- 9:28----- “
6-11-- mo-- 1.00-- 9:07----- “
6-13-- we-- 1.50- 14:38----- “
6-15-- fr--- 0.50-- 4:05----- “
6-19-- tu-- -2.00 -19:35----- “
6-21-- th----3.11- 30:00----- “
6-24-- su--- 3.11- 28:38------ “
6-27-- we--- 3.11- 28:15------ “
6-29-- fr---- 0.25-- 2:30-- asphalt
7-01-- su--- 3.11- 28:09---treadmill
7-05-- th--- 0.25-- 2:07--- asphalt
7-05-- th--- 0.25-- 1:52------- “
7-08-- su--- 3.11- 27:19---treadmill