Week 17: Day 5 - April 29, 2016

• easy trail/road RUN with one dog = 5.37 miles, time = 1:10:17
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.6 miles
• bike commute to bike shop = 25.63 miles round trip, time = 2:15:31, pace @ 11.3 mph

I really believe that low motivation and boredom has now kicked in. I ran so slow this morning and I didn't feel better during the run. I'm glad that I did a run, but I didn't enjoy it. Perhaps I should have gotten in the car and drove somewhere for a run. I think that would have helped. I must do a run on Sunday because I really want to end the week and start a new month with a run. So, I really have to get in the car to run in a different, but familiar area.

Right before I started my run, the sky was mostly clear, but it was windy. The sky quickly changed and it became pretty overcast. Usually I know that there would be no rain when the clouds/overcast are white, but the clouds were somewhat dark and gray. I did check the weather forecast before and it said no rain for today. I knew that it would stay dry, but I was still freaking out about the rain that I almost did not want to go for a bike ride. By mid-morning, the sky became mostly clear and bright/sunny! That made me feel better and I went out for a ride! I went out and got a new tube for future flats on my bike, but on the way home, I lost my bike light (it was on my bag). Part of the ride was on a poorly condition street...so bumpy with lots of cracks! I think the light came loose and fell off of my bag. I think I know where it is, but I'm sorta lazy to get in the car to go look for it! I'm disappointed that I lost it.

Week 17: Day 4 - April 28, 2016

• easy bike ride = 10.25 miles, time = 50:15, pace @ 12.2 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.4 miles

I was being lazy and didn't do a run today. I will make sure I do a run tomorrow morning, so I can have the last run for April! Instead of a run, I went on a bike ride. After my run tomorrow morning, I'm debating if I want to ride (bike) to my bike mechanic/shop to pick up a new tube (spare/extra for future flat tire) since I got a flat on Monday morning. It is a 26 mile round trip commute. This distance is not a big deal because I have done a few non-stop rides that were between 20 to 23 miles. I'm debating to ride tomorrow because I want to ride to work on Saturday and well, that is a 38.55 mile (round trip) commute. I want to ride to the store tomorrow for missing out on a ride from Monday morning because of a flat tire. I think I can do it because a few weeks ago, I went to work on a bike on a Saturday...then did a 17.6 mile ride with my bike friends the next day. I was sore from riding on both days, but I think I'm getting stronger now.

Week 17: Day 3 - April 27, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 4.67 miles, time = 59:54, pace @ 12:40
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

I thought about not doing a run this morning and I almost didn't do one. I changed my mind and decided to get one in anyway because I wanted to finish the month of April with three runs. Sunday is the first of the month of May. I was finally glad to get a run in after two miles.

Week 17: Day 2 - April 26, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 3.3 miles, time = 40:42, pace @ 12:22
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles

I think boredom is slowly starting to kick in now. I wasn't exactly feeling very motivated to get out for a run, but I didn't feel better at the end. On the other hand, I didn't run far enough to feel better anyway, but I was on a time restriction/limit and I wasn't sure if I had enough time for a five mile run and a shower. I told myself to get an easy three mile run in, just to say that I did a run and I didn't miss a Tuesday run.

Week 16: Day 7 - April 24, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 5.18 miles, time = 1:03:23, pace @ 12:14
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles

RUNNING: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 18.71

Total Monthly Mileage: 61.35

Total Yearly Mileage: 285.64

Total Shoe Mileage: 68.65

CYCLING: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 72.10

Total Monthly Mileage: 206.54

This morning, I woke up feeling tired and a little sore from yesterday's bike ride. I almost did not go for a run because of this. It made me lazy and unmotivated, but I was so glad that I went for a run anyway because I felt much better after two miles and I'm not sore anymore now.

Week 16: Day 6 - April 23, 2016

• bike commute to work = 38.57 miles round trip, time = 3:14:25 (h:m:s), pace @ 11.9 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.3 miles

Eating for a bike ride really does help a lot. I have more energy to ride home and any hills that I encounter going home are a little easier. I was ten minutes faster going home from work compared to the last time. Now, I just need to eat well enough before I start my ride to work because it can help me ride/commute to work a little faster. I am working on Monday morning and that will be a bit tricky to find something to eat because I have to be at work by 7:30am and I have to leave home no later than 5:30am. I either need to prepare something the night before or order take out the night before, so I can eat something before I head out to work on Monday morning.

Week 16: Day 5 - April 22, 2016

• easy bike ride = 10.33 miles, time = 50:05, pace @ 12.4 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

I debated if I was going to bike ride today. I was feeling kinda lazy, but decided to get out for a ride anyway because I was expecting a package to be delivered/arrived at my PO Box today and I needed to use it tonight.

Week 16: Day 4 - April 21, 2016

• easy road RUN with one dog = 4.95 miles, time = 1:00:15, pace @ 12:10
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

The beginning of my run was "rough". I was fine waking up and getting ready/dressed, but once I started running, I felt like I was getting bored and losing motivation because I didn't want to run. Then I felt ok after two miles. I think on my next run (Sunday), I have to get in the car and drive somewhere for a run. I was fine during the whole run from start to finish yesterday. Although the cross country course trail at school was technically home and I have ran there many times before, but it has been awhile since I have done a run there. So I think I just have to go run somewhere in a different city that I don't often go running at.

Week 16: Day 3 - April 20, 2016

• trail run (solo) = 3.25 miles, time = 41:10, pace @ 12:40
• easy walk with dogs = 2.4 miles

I went for a run on the cross country course at a local junior college. The cross country course is on a trail and open to the public. I hadn't done any running on this course in quite awhile and there were some very challenging hills. While I don't have the endurance to keep up the speed that I used to have, I still have the endurance to keep running without slowing down to a walk or stop. I hadn't done any challenging hills since February and I'm surprised that I can still run up some challenging hills! I didn't take my dog with me on this run because I knew that there would be some cows/cattle on the trail. The fear in all of us (the cows, my dog and I) go up when my dog is with me. It's a little scary to watch a cow really glare at my dog.

Week 16: Day 2 - April 19, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 5.33 miles, time = 1:06:39, pace @ 12:30
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.5 miles

I'm not looking forward to summer. Although the daytime weather/temperature feels really nice and I like it (for non-running reasons), the morning weather was a bit too warm for my liking. Too bad, I don't have teleportation powers because I would like to go teleport to somewhere that has cooler weather like New York to run for one hour and then come home immediately after the run to work or do something else.

Week 16: Day 1 - April 18, 2016

• easy group bike ride (with meetup group) = 23.2 miles, time = 1:53:24, pace @ 12.4 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

I went for a ride with a group from meetup this morning. This was my first ride with this particular group and I decided to do the ride mainly because the ride was "short" (short compared to most of their group rides which are usually longer than 30 miles) and "easy" pace. It's too bad that I can't do this ride with the group more often because it is every Monday morning. I did work today, but I worked the afternoon shift to cover for someone else. But otherwise, I'm at work on Monday mornings.

Week 15: Day 7 - April 17, 2016

• trail RUN with one dog = 6.07 miles, time = 1:13:55, pace @ 12:12
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles
• easy bike ride = 14.17 miles, time = 1:08:44, pace @ 12.4 mph

RUNNING: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 14.63

Total Monthly Mileage: 42.64

Total Yearly Mileage: 266.93

Total Shoe Mileage: 49.94

CYCLING:  

Total Weekly Mileage: 60.73

Total Monthly Mileage: 134.44

I didn't do a run on Friday as planned. I was tired, lazy and unmotivated, but I feel better about running now. I will not be riding (bike) to work tomorrow because I'm working in the evening to cover someone else's shift. But I will be riding with a group in the morning before I head to work.

Week 15: Day 4 - April 14, 2016

• easy WALK with dogs = 2.5 miles
• easy bike ride = 8.01 miles, time = 42:01, pace @ 11.4 mph

While I think that gloomy mornings make me feel tired, sleepy and lazy, I'm also starting to think that I'm generally not getting enough sleep. I think I just need to catch up on sleep which is causing me to be tired, sleepy and lazy on gloomy mornings and it's not really the weather that is the problem. I'm doing ok going to sleep at a reasonable time (reasonable to me). The last time I felt like I needed to catch up on sleep, I took a few days off for rest without running...but I'm on a running streak where I have been running for four days per week for 16 weeks without missing a run (I'm not a daily, seven days a week kind of runner...). I have been doing well. My attention span usually lasts about four to six weeks (or eight weeks if I'm training for a half marathon) before boredom kicks in, making me want to take a whole week off for a break from running. I didn't run this morning because I was just tired and sleepy. I was going to do a bike ride tomorrow, but decided to do that today and will do a run tomorrow instead.

As far as doing a bike ride to work this Saturday, I'm not sure yet. I'm still on the fence about it. I may get off work as early as 5pm, but it is possible that I won't get off until 6pm because we have fundraiser event on Saturday, even though it will end at 4pm, but depending on how much cleaning and putting things away we have to do. If I get off at 6pm, I won't get home until after 8pm and it gets dark at 7:40-ish pm. That last half hour of my ride in the dark kinda scares me a bit because during that part of the ride, I may be going through a narrow two-lane street that isn't lit very well at night. I'm afraid of getting hit by someone who can't see me because it is dark.

Week 15: Day 3 - April 13, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 3.71 miles, time = 44:16, pace @ 11:57
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

This morning was a bit gloomy with the sun trying to peak through...there were some yellow-orange-y coloring in the clouds. It made me want to go back to sleep, but I told myself to just do a short three-ish mile run to get it over with and I would feel better afterwards. I did feel better and I was wide awake when the run was over.

Week 15: Day 2 - April 12, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 4.85 miles, time = 58:48, pace @ 12:07
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

I felt a little bit sore this morning during my run and I felt a little slow. It wasn't as cold as I would have liked, but it was nice enough...although I'm not sure that having super cold temperature would have helped or made me run a little faster with my slightly sore muscles.

Week 15: Day 1 - April 11, 2016

• bike commute to work = 38.55 miles round trip, time = 3:24:27, pace @ 11.3 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.3 miles

I left my house at 5:50am to head out to work on my bike. While it was still dark at that time, it was only dark for ten minutes and I was ok with that. Once it got more light, there were some morning rush hour traffic during parts of my commute from car people trying to go to work, but pretty calm during most of my commute. My commute with the morning rush hour traffic wasn't as scary as I thought. Most of the traffic was on the freeway. I'm sure traffic on the freeway was moving faster than I could bike/ride, but it still made me look good because it looked like I was moving faster! I'm tired and sleepy now, but the ride from today wasn't as tiring or as bad as the last time.

Week 14: Day 7 - April 10, 2016

• easy trail RUN (solo) = 3.24 miles, time = 40:13, pace @ 12:25
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.3 miles
• easy bike ride = 10.13 miles, time = 50:21, pace @ 12.1 mph

RUNNING: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 17.62

Total Monthly Mileage: 28.01

Total Yearly Mileage: 252.30

Total Shoe Mileage: 35.31

CYCLING: 

Total Weekly Mileage: 17.51

Total Monthly Mileage: 73.71

Sometimes it's nice that the weather forecast is wrong because I got my run in this morning and now I could say that I didn't miss a run yet for the month or year! At the same time, my bike meetup group had scheduled a ride this morning, but it got cancelled because we thought it would rain today. A few days ago, the weather forecast called for 100% rain for today. So much for rain because there wasn't any! I wouldn't have mind so much if it did rain because the weather forecast didn't "lie" about that and I probably wouldn't have mind it so much that the weather forecast "lied" about the amount.

I checked the weather forecast for tomorrow on several websites online. I'm so confused and I don't know who or what to believe. 20% chance of rain....50% chance of rain...overcast and dry...partly cloudy/sunny???? I want to ride to work tomorrow, but I don't want it to rain on my way to work or home!

Week 14: Day 5 - April 08, 2016

• easy bike ride = 7.38 miles, time = 40:00, pace @ 11.1 mph
• easy trail RUN (solo) = 4.14 miles, time = 50:37, pace @ 12:14
• easy WALK with dogs = 2.5 miles

I was lucky that I got a bike ride, a run and a decent amount of walking with my dogs today, despite the rain. There was no rain in the morning, and drizzled on and off in the afternoon/evening. I did a bike ride today because I will not be riding to work tomorrow. Riding in the rain scares me more than the dark and I think I rather take my chances in the dark. I also didn't want to end the week with zero miles for cycling.

There will also be lots of rain on Sunday. There will be a tiny chance that I will run on Sunday morning if the rain can hold out long enough or if I'm brave enough to run in it, but I'm most likely not going to run. So I can say that I have only missed one run for the month/year. I also did a decent long walk with my dogs, then a bike ride, and then a run. So I was warmed up for my run and it was the first time that I did a run that started after 8am! It was gloomy, but it didn't rain during my run. It was a bit too warm for my liking, but I really shouldn't be complaining about gloomy weather because it is better than sunny and warm!

Week 14: Day 4 - April 07, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 5.42 miles, time = 1:05:39, pace @ 12:07
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

I didn't do a run yesterday because I was being lazy and I didn't feel like it. I am a little disappointed that I didn't do a run yesterday now. It will be raining on and off tomorrow, but lots of rain on Saturday and Sunday! Most likely, I will not get to do a run on Sunday because of the rain. And most likely no riding/biking to work on Saturday because of the rain. I feel that riding in the rain is worse than riding in the dark (although wet roads in the dark is worse than just rain or just dark).

If it is not raining in the morning, I will try to get a run in. Even though I can afford to miss a few days of running because my total mileage for the year is ahead of schedule and I'm sure I will be on schedule for the month.

Week 14: Day 2 - April 05, 2016

• easy road RUN with one dog = 4.82 miles, time = 56:59, pace @ 11:49
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.5 miles

I was slightly sore from all the cycling that I did over the weekend. I was a little worried yesterday that running this morning would make me continue being sore even though yesterday was a complete rest day (dog walking only). I woke up this morning, feeling completely fine with no sign of soreness! I can't wait for Friday because that is my next complete rest day (dog walking only) so I can just sleep the whole day away without work getting in the way.

Week 13: Day 7 - April 03, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 5.05 miles, time = 1:03:12, pace @ 12:21
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.3 miles
• easy bike ride with meetup group = 17.65 miles, time = 1:33:28, pace @ 11.1 mph

Total Running Weekly Mileage: 17.69

Total Running Monthly (March) Mileage: 76.30

Total Running Month (April) Mileage: 10.39

Total Running Yearly Mileage: 234.68

Total Running Shoe Mileage: 17.69

Total Mileage (bike) = 56.20

As of Friday, April 01, I took on a "challenge" from my bike friends where we make a personal goal to ride as much as we can for the month of April. It is not a competition between each other to see who can ride the most miles. The point is to make an effort and get out there for a ride. Each rider is eligible to win raffle prizes as long as we are simply trying (even the rider with the least amount of miles for the month!) and "report" the miles on online (facebook group page) each week by Sunday night. Now that I'm riding to work, I've accepted the challenge. So just this weekend only, I did 56.20 miles which is about two months worth of riding if I stay home to ride and just do errands.

Week 13: Day 6 - April 02, 2016

• bike ride commute to work = 38.55 miles round trip, time = 3:28:34, pace @ 11.1 mph
• easy walk with dogs = 2.5 miles

I need to figure out a way to eat a very hearty breakfast if I am going to bike to work. I went to work just fine, but I got very hungry and a bit shaky (low blood sugar) on the way home. Good thing I stashed some twizzlers in my bag because they helped the low blood sugar thing, but I feel like I didn't have enough energy to ride home. Going to work was fine and it took me 1 hour and 35 minutes, but going home was harder because of some long, very gradual inclines that it took me two hours to ride home! I don't work enough hours on Saturdays to get a lunch break, and it's hard to eat a real meal in a ten minute break. So I need to figure out how to properly fuel in the morning so my energy can last for many hours until I get home. Not this Monday, but I was actually considering riding to work starting next Monday morning because I want to ride two times a week! I'm reconsidering this decision because I feel like I need to conquer one day a week first. On the other hand, I like the fact that the ride today made me tired, in a good way, and I really needed this. I'm always angry about nothing and everything and something. If a vigorous exercise like this can drain any extra energy to the point that I feel tired and sleepy, I would be less angry about something/nothing.

I don't feel sore right now, but it may be different in the morning. I will only tell when I wake up for my run. I am also doing another bike ride (with friends this time) in the afternoon. I am certainly crazy and a glutton for punishment.

Week 13: Day 5 - April 01, 2016

• easy trail RUN with one dog = 5.34 miles, time = 1:03:29, pace @ 11:50
• easy WALK with three dogs = 2.4 miles

I think I need to start doing runs that are closer to five miles (or longer). I did a three mile run yesterday and I felt ok. I started my run this morning feeling a bit lazy and tired, but felt much better around mile four. I hope this is not a fluke because I've been somewhat feeling off. I'm not sure if I'm feeling unmotivated or just being bored/tired/lazy. I'll find out when I do another five-ish mile run on Sunday morning!

Finally after two weeks, I got the flat tire fixed on my bike. I have a new tube in my tire and an extra tube for future flat tires. I also got a tool kit, so I can get it fixed on the road, but I hope I'm not alone when I do get a flat because I can use the help from a knowledgeable person (stranger or friend).