My Running Update: 1/13

I had been hoping that I could train for longer distances and run in those types of races. On January 31, the Florida Track Club with be holding a 15-kilometer (9.3 miles) race by Newnan’s Lake. Later, in late February, I was planning to run a half-marathon in Gainesville. But I haven’t been getting out there and putting in the miles as I should have. I’m still continuing my running, but at shorter distances and not on a daily basis. But it still would be interesting to try out those two races, with just finishing them being the main goal. We’ll see. I’m obviously not in my late teens anymore, so it isn’t realistic for me to try to drive my body through harsh training as I could do back then. After all, the whole idea is for me to ultimately enjoy distance running as an enjoyable daily activity, combining exercise with leisure. The races are secondary. Here is my training log, from November 13 to the present (click on it to enlarge):

My Running Update: 11/12

My running has been a little spotty lately. I had been experiencing a soreness on my right side for about 2-3 weeks. Although running didn’t seem to exacerbate it, it wasn’t pleasant either. Also, I had been changing my running to a more outdoors, on-the-road type of activity and used my YMCA’s treadmill less often. While this represents a step forward in my training, it also breaks up a simple routine I had established, the YMCA being very close to my home and convenient.

On October 21, I ran an eight-mile loop around far-northern Gainesville nonstop. It was easily the longest I had run non-stop since early 1975. I didn’t seem to be much the worse for wear after the run, but then again it may have been one of the contributing factors to my soreness. But I was still in enough shape to complete the Florida Track Club’s Dog Days 5-K Run on November 1.

I’m trying to come up with a better format to list my training runs on this blog. The way I’ve been doing it is very tedious. I saw on another running blog how the writer was able to copy and paste a spreadsheet showing his training record onto his blog. That seems to be the road for me to take as well, although it seems that a database file would work better. When I compile it, I’ll insert it at a later date at the end of this entry.

As for my training, I do think I’ve found a course comparable to the old “block” I used to run around in Davie, Florida (encompassing the Broward Community College/Nova educational complex) when I was much younger. It’s about the same distance around (three miles) and has long stretches free of serious traffic concerns. It also was the site of two of the races I’ve run so far!

I think I will run in the next race in December. Titled the “Jingle Bell Run”, it will be held on the University of Florida campus and is once again being put on by the Florida Track Club. It, like the last race I ran, will be a 5-kilometer run.

Click on the image below to enlarge (yes, I figured out a method):

My Discomfort Zones Update: 9/16

I haven’t been as consistently bold about jumping into areas that I need to be, although I did have some successes. I think that I need to write out some specific goals and just hold myself accountable (on this blog) for fulfilling them. Anyway, I was able to survive some discomfort zone excursions:

--I had to overcome an overwhelming sense of personal incompetence in the area of home improvement, but I did venture into this uncomfortable area a few weeks ago when I measured and laid down tile for my daughter’s bedroom. We’re planning to redo our entire home’s flooring, and now it seems very feasible. About halfway through the tile laying, I cut one of my fingers pretty deeply, but my wife tended to it and I was able to pick up where I left off and finish the task.

--I have been running more and more out on the open road instead of just running the treadmill. It hasn’t been the easiest thing to do, especially with the weather as hot as it has been at times.

--I finally went to my dentist and got help with a mounting tooth problem. She pulled out the tooth fragments that had been left embedded in my gum and prescribed some antibiotic against the infection. A surprisingly pleasant all-around experience from such an uncomfortable, dreaded place to go (the dentist’s office).

There is a whole slew of tasks that I need to just roll up my sleeves and do, one at a time. And all of them reside firmly in my “discomfort zone”. But they’re all necessary, and I WILL DO THEM! Here are a few that I would like to accomplish:

--Clean out the garage.
--Keep the insurance filings current.
--First record, then restrict personal spending.
--Keep various sections of the house clean.
--Inspect areas needing repair in the house.
--Get car maintained.
--Restrict TV/Web time and record efforts.
--Consistently do piano, reading, writing (blog and fiction), and foreign languages and record time spent at them.
--Run daily unless special circumstances prevent this.
--Maintain yard weekly.
--Meet emergency situations head-on and responsibly.

No, I have little worry about running out of discomfort zones any time soon!

My Piano Update: 9/6

Unfortunately, I've let other things get in the way of simply taking a few minutes each day to practice my piano. There have been lessons missed due to holidays and injury (I cut one of my fingers badly a few days ago, though it's now nicely healed). Like so many things in life, it's all down to getting oneself into the habit of just doing it. So all of those great, ambitious ideas I laid out last time about devoting time to music theory and playing from memory came to naught. But that's why I am doing these updates: I can't keep writing disappointing articles like this. I know what my goals are about piano. But it may be necessary to set some more "public accountability" goals to rivet my attention to practicing properly. And by that I mean doing public performances. After all, last February's recital did make me practice more. Anyway, it's something to look into if I can't get my act together in front of the keyboard.

My Running Update: 8/30

My planned 5K road race on 8/23 was postponed until 10/4 due to tropical storm Fay. So the next opportunity to run competitively will be a 5K race on 9/13 (I’ve already jogged through that course). There’s a 4-mile race on 9/20 as well. Assuming of course, they don’t get bumped off by a hurricane further down the alphabet.

I ran more outside, and tried different improvised courses. I’m beginning to feel more comfortable running on solid ground instead of solely on the treadmill. This may be largely due to me rediscovering my ability to pace myself over longer distances and settle into a sustainable “groove”. Ah yes---after thirty-plus years, it’s all starting to come back to me!

I had planned to run certain days of the week cross-country, certain days on the treadmill, and one day per week on a running track. But the demands of my daily living, along with weather disturbances, caused me to veer from this. And lately, I’ve missed out on running on some days. But this is just a brief hiatus. I’ve got some fun races in store, and the temperatures are bound to get generally cooler.

Ultimately, I want to get to the point where I am going on 5-plus mile runs each day while resorting to the treadmill as little as possible. And maybe in 2010, if all goes well, I may run my first marathon race.

Here’s my running record since the last update (I denoted my own improvised outdoor courses with “x-country”):

DATE....MILES...TIME....MEANS
7-19..........2.0......10:12.....x-country
7-21..........1.0........6:64.....treadmill
7-22.........0.6........5:28.....x-country
7-23.........3.0.......21:28....treadmill
7-24.........2.0.......15:16.....track
7-25.........2.5........17:40....treadmill
7-26.........3.0.......21:09....treadmill
7-28.........2.0.......19:00....x-country
7-29.........2.0.......13:41.....treadmill
7-30.........1.0.........6:36.....treadmill
7-31..........2.5.......18:40....treadmill
8-02.........2.35.....21:52....Ormond Beach course
8-04.........2.0......19:05.....x-country
8-05.........2.5.......17:23.....treadmill
8-06.........1.27.....10:30.....x-country
8-07.........3.11......23:02....treadmill
8-09.........3.5.......25:58....treadmill
8-11..........1.0.........7:14.....treadmill
8-12.........4.0.......29:33....treadmill
8-13.........3.11......24:33.....track
8-14.........4.0.......29:24....treadmill
8-15.........3.11......27:26.....x-country
8-16.........4.0.......35:27.....x-country
8-18.........5.0.......37:18.....treadmill
8-20........1.5........11:14......treadmill
8-20...1 ymca-lap @ 1:29
8-21..........1.0.........6:58......treadmill
8-21...2 ymca-laps @ 3:20
8-22........1.2.........9:02.....treadmill
8-23........2.0.......15:03.....treadmill
8-23........1.6........14:41.....x-country
8-25........2.0.......14:50.....treadmill
8-27........1.0..........7:35.....treadmill
8-27...2 ymca-laps @ 3:04
8-30........2.3.......17:31......treadmill

My Foreign Language Study Update: 8/23

Although I haven’t studied as much as I had wanted, I still passed a milestone of sorts with my foreign languages. On July 22, I made small posts on this blog in Russian and Chinese. I was able to find some websites that I could use to write with Cyrillic and Chinese scripts. The Chinese was considerably slower to write because the characters were arranged according to which radicals they belonged to. I’ve grown used to using the Chinese Romanized pinyin spelling to reference different characters, so this is something that’s going to take a little practice on my part. I also found a site that would enable me to write in other exotic scripts, as well as in Romanized scripts tailored for specific languages (such as French, Spanish, German, Polish, and Vietnamese with each language's special diacritic marks).

I have all of the resources I need to make great progress in the foreign languages I want to become proficient in, but I need to just put in the time and effort. Hopefully, with future blog postings in different languages, I’ll get some responses and be able to interact with others on the Web.

I think the only way I’m going to take the needed time and effort to successfully learn these languages is to commit to regularly posting articles in them (or in something resembling them). So don’t be surprised if you’re looking at this blog and suddenly encounter some weird gibberish. It’s probably just one of my exercises in another language (or possibly just weird gibberish).

On a side note, I think it’s great that Google has an instant language translator. It’s useful for me in that I can translate words and simple, short phrases from a language into English and vice versa. But the process can break down badly when translating full texts and even single sentences. This service is useful, though, within its limitations. And Google does seem to be dedicated to making this service progressively better. Naturally, though, other than its use as a dictionary of sorts, I avoid the Google translation tool, the whole point of my writing in a foreign language being to practice thinking and writing in it.

My Reading Update: 8/16

Lately, my reading hasn’t been with the same fervor as it had previously. I finished the Stephen King Dark Tower series, and like its author, I’m glad to have it behind me! This seven-volume science fiction/fantasy series was good, but not among my favorites of his. I then began reading another ultimately disappointing King work titled Rose Madder. What bothered me the most concerning this novel about a battered wife who decides one morning to leave her abusive husband and strike out on her own is the way I could predict what would happen. And that is not the Stephen King I’ve come to know! After finishing Rose Madder, I began reading his more recent thriller (at least I hope it’s a thriller) Cell. So far, it’s starting out like a story reminiscent of his epic The Stand. At least it’s more interesting and unpredictable than Rose Madder (to me).

I read one of H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories titled The Picture in the House. Lovecraft’s descriptive language is very intricate though macabre. I just recently read Jo’s (another blogger) short fictional account of a similar wandering to an old house titled Summer Episodes. But with this tale, the very descriptive language conjured up feelings of wonder and joy, not fear and revulsion. I like reading both types, but they are vastly different from each other in their affect. Both differ from more standard prose fiction in that they implicitly invite the reader to slow down, take each phrase one at a time, and exercise his or her imagination to create mental visions.

I need to step up my reading, but seeing that my day has a built in time limit to it, and I must spend a good portion of it either working or unconscious, the remaining time needs to be allocated wisely. And that means that my family gets a large section of my time, as well as various home projects and some self-improvement activities (like running, writing, foreign languages, and piano). I’m thinking of just wearing one of those fanny packs that I can carry a paperback in, so that I will be able to create reading opportunities during times (like standing in lines) when I normally wouldn’t be reading. And I will be increasing my short story reading as well.

I’ve always done a lot of what I call casual reading (such as newspapers or magazine articles), and have dramatically increased this type of reading with my excursions into the blogosphere. There are some pretty good writers out there, and their interests span a wide range of topics. I’m especially impressed at the number of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who use blogs to help educate the general public and spur interest in their sometimes very technical fields.

My Writing Fiction Update: 8/9

I finally made the plunge and began writing fiction as a regular activity (though not yet to the degree that I want to). I started slow and made a goal of writing at least one short story or one chapter-length part of a larger story each weekend. Starting two weeks ago, I’ve kept up with this goal, successfully writing two short stories (titled Capper and Two Homes). I’ve revised the former to a great degree while keeping the original version on file. The latter has some flaws that I need to resolve as well. But I did it! Are these two stories worthy of being published and paid for? Probably not in their current state, but with a little tender loving refinement I may, at some time in the future, send them off to a publisher to see what happens. In the meantime, I have some more fiction to concoct this weekend.

Writing a story is a completely different process from putting down my opinions on a blog. When blogging, all I need to do is dip into my memory and beliefs (or some external source like a newspaper or TV), drawing up enough material to “splash” on a page. With fiction, I’m still drawing on resources, both internal and external, but I also have to create a different world, populated by make-believe people, that the reader can imagine as being real. The story needs to reveal a progression of events with a consistency and continuity that makes it seem believable. I also must decide to what degree I will use descriptive language for the story’s settings and characters.

Writing fiction requires me (at this stage, at least) to get myself more into a setting where I can focus more completely on the task at hand and not suffer distractions. Also, a part of me seems to be telling myself that it’s somehow “not good” to be engaging in fantasies and thinking up make-believe stories. While this “Walter Mitty” tendency of mine to daydream has done me disservice through much of my life, though, writing stories is one place that I should welcome it!

My Discomfort Zones Update: 8/2

It recently occurred to me that many events responsible for some of my greatest memories took place during times when I stepped out of my comfort zone and just did what I felt I needed to do, even if it were unpleasant, stressful, or even frightening. Performing for an audience in my piano recital this past February is one such example. Attending social events always challenges my sensibilities, but sometimes they're unavoidable (and even ultimately rewarding). Doing something for the first time that seems scary (like getting on a thrill ride) fits the bill as well (in the "frightening" department). It can be very uncomfortable while consciously working to eliminate bad habits and replace them with good ones. And so on...

I've come to the conclusion that it is necessary for me to periodically allow myself to be challenged to "step out of the comfort zone" and try new directions and strategies. And sometimes this involves a special behavior and ability that, for want of a better name, I will bestow the time-honored term "winging it". By "winging it", I mean being in very uncertain situations, where I'm not sure about everything I'm doing or about what will happen, but still functioning in a confident manner and working those situations out by examining the important things to do and acting on them. Sound too general? Well, that's the point of this particular update: I will list specific opportunities that arise for living out of my comfort zone, and then how I faced up to the challenges. And publish my results on this blog the next "discomfort zones" time around. Ought to be fun!

My Piano Update: 7/26

As I sit here pondering on the level of progress I’ve made with my piano studies, I naturally have some positive and negative insights. On the positive side, I find that I am, at least gradually, becoming more comfortable playing while reading the printed music. In doing so, I am beginning to look ahead on the page while I play to see how to reposition my fingering for upcoming notes. I also seem to have better concentration and results when performing during my weekly class time with my piano teacher. But there are also many areas that I need to work on to meet my own standards as to where I want to be with piano. For one, I want to master playing (while reading the music) in ANY key, not just with C, G, F, D, and A (major keys, along with their corresponding minors) as I do so far. Also, I am simply not putting in anything close to the hands-on practice time I need in order to come to regard the keyboard as “second nature”. Third, I have done very little in the area of “playing from memory”, where I could tap into the vast treasure of musical memories I have and adapt them to piano. I want to adopt a policy of learning pieces by heart so that, when presented with future opportunities to play for others, I’ll have a repertoire to draw upon. And, as piano teacher Dan Starr has suggested on his blog, I need to learn to feel more comfortable looking down at the keyboard as little as possible during my playing. Finally, I need to practice playing faster and more boldly if I ever want to be able to play at a level that people want to listen to.

I’ve seen, by laying out more of a structured schedule for my running a week ago and then publishing it, that I actually adhered to it faithfully. So I’m going to do the same with piano practice and see what happens. Except that my piano study is a seven-day per week process! On Mondays, the day of my piano class, I will devote my homework to studying theory and deepening my knowledge of musical notation, keys, and chords. Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays I will devote to practicing and memorizing my class assignments. And on Wednesdays and Fridays I will “struggle” to painstakingly generate melodies on the keyboard from my mental song archives. Should be challenging and fun!

My Running Update: 7/19

Previously on this blog, I have had a feature appearing with the tag “Eights”, where I would report, every eight weeks, on an area that I am trying to improve in. The idea was something that I heard once from Tony Robbins: publicly announce your goals in order to give yourself a sense of accountability in reaching them. And it’s worked, with some mixed success. One problem I’ve had with this “eight weeks apart” format is that I have trouble keeping up with which date I am supposed to write about a particular area of self-improvement. So, to make things radically simpler, I am getting rid of the “Eights” tag in future articles of this type and will simply write personal endeavor updates for different area each Saturday. Starting with today!

As I had written in an earlier entry recently, I had suffered some aches in my left foot, preventing me from running. Or so it seemed. One day, though, I just got tired of not running and ran anyway, pain or no pain. And, surprisingly, there was no pain during the run! In the following days, the occasional twinges I felt diminished until I went on as before with my running. For a while, I was running a little outside around my YMCA field (distance unknown); in the listing below, I refer to those runs as Y-laps. I missed the July 4 road race I was going to run in, but there are two planned in Gainesville for September, and I’d like to make one of them. I need to get off the treadmill sometimes and run outside on the ground/road/track. Lately, I’ve reserved my Sundays for yard work, so I take that day off from running. My plan for the immediate future is to continue treadmill-running on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays while running on a nearby track on Thursdays and doing long, slow cross-country runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Here is my training record since the last time I published it (except for the YMCA field, I did my running on the treadmill in the Y’s training room):

DATE...MILES...TIME(min)
4-29..... 1.75........ 2:33
4-30..... 2.5........ 16:49
5-01...... 2.0....... 13:24
5-05..... 2.0........ 14:23
5-06..... 1.0.......... 6:31
5-07..... 1.0.......... 7:45
5-08..... 1.5.......... 9:39
5-09..... 1.0......... 6:20
5-10..... 1.0......... 6:32
5-12..... 2.5........ 17:39
5-13..... 2.0........ 12:46 (6:14 mile included)
5-14..... 2.5........ 16:29 [1 y-lap @ 1:23]
5-15......0.7......... 4:38
5-15......1.0.......... 7:10
5-19..... 1.0......... 6:32
5-20.... 2.5....... 17:38
5-22.... 2.0....... 13:19 [1 y-lap @ 1:23]
5-23..... 1.5....... 10:14
5-24..... 1.6...... 10:46 [1 y-lap @ 1:15]
5-26...... ----------...... [6 y-laps @ 9:15]
5-27..... 1.0....... 6:46 [2 y-laps @ 2:50]
5-28..... 1.7....... 11:18 [2 y-laps @ 3:06]
5-29......0.8....... 5:16 [1 y-lap @ 1:15]
5-30..... 2.0...... 13:37 [1 y-lap @ 1:16]
6-02..... 2.0...... 14:15
6-04..... 2.0...... 13:37 [2 y-laps @ 3:05]
6-05..... 1.0........ 6:31 [1 y-lap @ 1:15]
6-09..... 1.6....... 10:59
6-10..... 0.5........ 3:52
6-11...... 1.5........ 11:02
6-12..... 2.0....... 13:36
6-13...... 1.0........ 6:39
6-14...... 3.34..... 25:00
6-17...... 2.0....... 13:57 (left foot hurt)
6-25..... 1.6........ 11:56
6-26..... 2.0....... 14:25
6-27..... 2.0....... 14:04
6-30.....0.5.......... 3:29
7-02 .....2.6....... 17:40
7-03..... 2.5....... 18:30
7-05..... 3.0....... 20:42
7-07..... 3.11...... 21:16
7-08..... 2.0....... 13:48
7-09..... 3.0....... 20:37
7-10..... 2.0........ 13:43
7-14..... 1.5......... 11:08
7-15..... 2.5........ 18:37
7-16..... 1.0......... 6:39
7-17..... 2.5........ 18:41