I just found out that I have my Air National Guard fitness assessment next weekend! I usually do okay on them, but I've been SO bad about running lately that I'm afraid I won't do very well at all.

Here's how the scoring breaks down:

There are 100 possible points. Up to 50 on the 1.5 mile run, Up to 30 on body composition (BMI or abdominal circumference), and 20 from muscular strength (10 each from push-ups and crunches).

Fortunately, even though my tummy isn't all that slim, my BMI is just within the "normal weight" range, so I will automatically get the max 30 points for body composition.

Last year, I did 38 push-ups in 1 minute for 8.25 points (the scores are adjusted for age and gender), and 33 crunches in 1 minute for 7.3 points. Let's assume I come close to those this year and get 15 points total.

That gives me 45 points before the run. I'll need 30 points on the run to get a passing overall score (75 or greater). Here's an excerpt from the run time score chart:

 

Run Time (mm:ss)	Component Points
13:37 - 14:24	34.00
14:25 - 14:54	32.00
14:55 - 15:18	30.00
15:19 - 15:48	27.00

 

So, I need to run 1.5 miles in under 15:18. In theory, that shouldn't be too hard. I've run 5k (3.1 mi) road races in under 30 minutes... but I'm really out of practice!

I just went for a practice run this morning... I was planning to go exactly 1.5 miles, but made a wrong turn. I stopped at a point that I later measured out at around 1.6 miles... and it took me 15:39. Hopefully, the fact that it's the "real deal" will speed me up a bit next weekend, but it looks like I've got some speeding-up to do!

In other fitness (sorta) related news, I am loving my bike. I try to take it out for a spin as often as I can, although I still haven't used it to get to/from work. This morning, after my run, I went for a ride around the neighborhood and along both banks of the river. It was wonderful!

Yesterday I went for a run for the first time in forever. It felt pretty good, actually.

I'm paying for it now, though.

I had trouble falling asleep last night (possibly, but not definitely, related to the evening run) and only got a few hours of Zs before waking up for a meeting this morning.

I got home from work between 6 and 7, and canceled plans with 99catsaway due to the malaise that suddenly took over. She said it was ok, but I could tell she was disappointed. (PSST: Hopefully I can make it up to you with a fun night out tomorrow, babe!)

Anyway, I fell asleep, completely dressed, on top of my bed, surrounded by my bag, a bundle of clean laundry, and other assorted stuff, within an hour of arriving home. I woke up a few minutes ago, and just about my entire lower body hurts.

Fortunately, it's not the "OW, INJURY" sort of hurt in my bones and joints. It's the "OW, I GOT A WORKOUT" sort of hurt in my large muscle groups. That's a good thing, for sure. But still, it hurts.

Also, talk about a delayed reaction! Then again, that might very be because I took an NSAID after my run to keep my knee in check, and it's finally worn off completely.

Ok, now I need to find a way to get myself back to sleep...

birdiefan1 and I just ran the Brian J Honan 5K this afternoon. I'm still waiting for official results to be posted, but I think we both came in at about 29:35 - similar to our last 5k race.



Special thanks to cutting_rm_flr and scullyseviltwin for making that bright neon-green sign to cheer us on with (even if one of them had to go to work before the race even started), and to dier_vek who was also there to cheer us on. (I believe that he exists now, too!)

Afterwards, we hung around for the Allston-Brighton parade and the Allston Village Street Fair. Overall, it was a great day. I know a lot of hard work went into making today possible, and it was great to see so many people come out to celebrate our Allston and Brighton's bicentennial.

birdiefan1 and I are probably going to run in the Samitans 5K here in Allston next weekend... so if you're in the area (or if you're like 99catsaway and are flying in from Houston just to see it), come on out and cheer us on!

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Even though I got over my cold, I usually have a lingering cough after one. I've been coughing up a storm these past few days, but today was my first nearly cough-free day. I made it the whole run without coughing. As an added bonus, my knee didn't bother me.

I am going to try to run this 2 mile loop every day (or close to it) and work on improving the speed with some sprinting interval training. Fartlek, anyone?



Distance: 2.2 (miles)
Time: 21:50 (mm:ss)
Pace: 10:03 (minutes/mile)

Also, this run looks less like a brontosaurus than my last one.

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Running with birdiefan1



Distance: 3.5 (miles)
Time: 40:30 (mm:ss)
Pace: 11:32 (minutes/mile)

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Distance: 3.8 Miles
Time: 42:00 (mm:ss)
Pace: 10:58 (per mile)

This felt pretty good - I was originally just going to go for 5k, but decided not to take the turn towards home... The knee was a bit achy, but no real pain. I'm gonna ice it and take an NSAID before I head out to dinner though.

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Distance: 2.7 (miles)
Time: 30:30 (mm:ss)
Pace: 11:17 (per mile)

I think I could have run a full 5k today, despite the heat... but I had already set out for this course, and once I got home, I didn't have it in me to keep going. Fortunately, my knee was only a bit achy, and not any real pain.

This week, I'll go for the slightly longer 3 mile course a few times... and maybe find a longer course to run in St. Louis next weekend.

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Same run as the other day, but faster. Still painful at the end though. Ice on my knee now. Naproxen on board. MUST DO PT MORE!


2.6 miles, 28 minutes

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Ugh, this run sucked. I need to be better about my PT exercises!


2.6 miles, 32 minutes (including 5 minutes of walking near the end to let my knee cool down)

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I haven't been blogging my running here lately... partly because I haven't been running as much, partly because I just haven't been keeping track as often, even when I do run, and partly because I've been using a web site called Sanoodi to keep track of my running.

Let's see if I can embed a Sanoodi route into LJ...

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Saturday morning was the NECC 5K. It went very well - birdiefan1 and I had a lot of fun running it, despite the crazy hills (click the map below to see the elevation of the route near the bottom of the page - it was insane, especially compared to all of my previous runs which are almost entirely flat).

Several runner friends had told me beforehand to expect that our time would be faster than our training runs thanks to the adrenaline of running our first event combined with the "keep up with the pack" tendency. When we ran on Thursday, we finished 5k in about 36 minutes. At the race on Saturday, we finished in 31:31 and 31:32 (Rachael beat me to the chute by a half second).

After the race, I was definitely tired and out of breath... but my legs and feet felt pretty good. I made it through the whole day without any real pain or soreness, but when I woke up yesterday, my "trouble" knee was not happy. I could bend it, but not extend it without feeling some major pain. I maneuvered to the kitchen, where I got some ice and some Naproxen... after a little while, I was back in business.

Rachael and I are registered for one more 5k - The Johnny Kelley Road Race in Hyannis on Memorial Day weekend. Maybe after that we'll find some more to run!

Oh, and here's the route for the NECC 5k. Like I mentioned above, click the image to see it with elevation.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, birdiefan1 and I are running a 5K this Saturday to benefit the New England Center for Children. (It's a good cause, and I'm almost at my fund raising goal - so if you're so inclined, feel free to sponsor me).

Anyway, this week has been a lousy running week for me. My knee has been acting up... and my runs have just generally felt crappy. But this morning, birdiefan1 and I met up for our dress rehearsal run - just shy of 5K. I was feeling sore during the run, but now afterwards, I'm doing pretty well. A bit of ice on the knee and I think I'll be ready for Saturday.



3 miles - 36 minutes

Maybe it's because the weather was SO nice today... or maybe it's because I just turned 30 and wanted to make sure I could still handle a long run... but I started running today, and instead of turning around at my usual point, I decided to just run until I couldn't run any more.... and figured I'd figure out how to get home once I was done.

Turns out, that was 4.6 miles (55 minutes) before my knee said "okay, stop now!" I ended up not far from the Red Line, so I just took that back to Harvard Square and walked home from there. Overall, a great run, on a beautiful day - a great way to enjoy the city I call home!

I need to try to fit in a shorter run at least 3 times a week, and a nice long one like this each weekend.


4.6 miles - 55 minutes

0.9 miles - 8 minutes

4.5 miles, 1 hour