Beach walks

Great to hear you are getting along so well and are able to vigorously exercise again. I've had Bursitis in my knees since I was in my 30's, so I feel your pain (no pun intended). It comes and goes, but the elliptical definitely seems to help.

Thank you for documenting your journey. It is clearly something you are passionate about and helps other realize we can sometimes turn things around with enough tenacity.
 

Yesterday I went to the college to see if running a 5k (3.1 miles) without stopping would be possible. My farthest since starting to run again in December had been a quarter mile (400m) so I wasn't sure about being able to do this. However I did manage to run the 5k all the way without walking so I'm happy about that. Now my aim is to keep bringing the pace down each week. My next attempt will be this coming Sunday.

This Wednesday I'm planning to do the sidewalk 110's again, provided the weather permits. This time I will attempt to keep jogging (slow running) between each one instead of walking, to maintain the continuity for 2 miles, which should help to prepare me more for the 5k. The other days will continue being steady on the elliptical plus the treadmill or else just steady walking (or jogging) outside when the weather gets better.

This morning I found a pack of chalk in the garage, which will help to make sure the sidewalk marks will be visible.
I'm looking forward to Wednesday and Sunday. 🙂

@katlupe, thank you. 🙂
 
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Yesterday I went to the college to see if running a 5k (3.1 miles) without stopping would be possible. My farthest since starting to run again in December had been a quarter mile (400m) so I wasn't sure about being able to do this. However I did manage to run the 5k all the way without walking so I'm happy about that. Now my aim is to keep bringing the pace down each week. My next attempt will be this coming Sunday.

This Wednesday I'm planning to do the sidewalk 110's again, provided the weather permits. This time I will attempt to keep jogging (slow running) between each one instead of walking, to maintain the continuity for 2 miles, which should help to prepare me more for the 5k. The other days will continue being steady on the elliptical plus the treadmill or else just steady walking (or jogging) outside when the weather gets better.

This morning I found a pack of chalk in the garage, which will help to make sure the sidewalk marks will be visible.
I'm looking forward to Wednesday and Sunday. 🙂
Sounds like a good plan! I admire the determination you have.
 

The 110 repeats with jogging recoveries yesterday went better than expected. The wind was brisk heading out but mostly sheltered for the repeats and the skies were clear. Today they're grungy everywhere from the jets flying back and forth. I avoid going out on such days and hope the skies will be clear this weekend.

The chalk marks were easy to see, so I will take it with me from now on.

My pace was encouraging for the 5k this weekend. I hope to make the most if it, because rain and cold is forecast for the following week which will keep me inside. The seniors hike scheduled for next Thursday will also likely be cancelled.
 
The 110 repeats with jogging recoveries yesterday went better than expected. The wind was brisk heading out but mostly sheltered for the repeats and the skies were clear. Today they're grungy everywhere from the jets flying back and forth. I avoid going out on such days and hope the skies will be clear this weekend.

The chalk marks were easy to see, so I will take it with me from now on.

My pace was encouraging for the 5k this weekend. I hope to make the most if it, because rain and cold is forecast for the following week which will keep me inside. The seniors hike scheduled for next Thursday will also likely be cancelled.
Hang in there! 🚶‍♂️🏃‍♂️
 
My 5k yesterday went quite well, about a 9% improvement from the previous week. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

I won't be doing the 110s this Wednesday due to heavy rain all week. However next Sunday is forecast to be clear, hopefully a chance for another 5k. Then more rain is forecast for the following week, thus no 110s for three weeks.

Last summer my running was about 10% slower than walking for 110m repeats and I didn't understand why at the time, but the simple reason is that running is harder than walking. However it appears to be possible with practice and has a greater upside. In December the 110s were still slower than walking at first, then each time they got noticeably faster. Now the 5k's are going through the same process.
 
Last night I dreamed of being on the starting line of a big race, but there were only about 6 of us on the starting line. The officials were all there and everyone was just standing around while we were waiting there on the line. After a long wait they announced there were 10 more minutes to the start, so I ran to an isolated spot for a pee. By the time I ran back everyone else in the race had already started and there was no indication of which way they went, so I just started running.

Thus ensued a number of difference experiences, visits to various places possibly with some obscure relation to my past. At one point I met a group of college runners running down a hill. I ran down in the midst of their group, then we were running up a long hill. One of the young runners commented that I was running well, so I replied thanks and that I was 76, which is when I realized that I still had on my long underwear and sweat pants, thus how could I be running up a hill. It didn't make any sense.

Later we were all sitting around and they were asking about people who used to run at the college here in town. However we weren't here in town. We were somewhere else at least 50 miles from here. At that point came the realization that I didn't have the keys to my car, thus I didn't have my wallet, plus I didn't even know where my car was. Then I woke up about 30 minutes before sunrise, got up to go to the bathroom, came back and got back in bed. Okay I will wait and get up when the alarm goes off. Thank goodness I didn't really lose my car keys.

Then I was dreaming again of still not having my keys and trying to find a way to get back home, so my spouse who passed away 10 years ago could drive me to get my car the next day, but I never got back home in the dream. I was in some kind of a dorm where adults were living and there were also classes. I asked to use a phone but the operator kept going on tangents. Finally I asked people outside if they could give me a ride back home, and someone yelled from the distance that he could. I went in that direction and didn't see anyone, then came upon his car.

He was a character, all twisted up and having some difficulty getting into the driver's seat. He started driving off, so I ran around the other side to open the door and hop in the car. He was laughing and playing weird music. I didn't care as long as we got within walking distance of my house. Then I woke up. It was an hour after sunrise already yikes. The alarm must have gone off 8 times since then and I hadn't recalled hearing it even once. Strange. Plus after I woke up the first time and realized it was just a dream, why did I then dream it again?

Maybe that was a message to me that sometimes what the conscious mind knows doesn't always translate to the subconscious mind and visa versa. There have been times in the past that a lady friend would dream something, wake up and still think it was true, for example that there were wolves at the base of the bed that were trying to eat her, and I'd have to convince her they were gone. Then she'd be okay and go back to sleep. Probably things like that happen to all of us. However it's interesting that the same dreams can be revisited after waking up in between them.
 
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All this past week it was raining and cold, so I didn't get out for any practices. All the heavy rain and 15 degrees colder days than usual for winters here this past month and the forecast for today being more of the same finally got to me. Because of that I skipped doing my usual exercise for the previous 2 days and almost ended up skipping this morning.

However the deep blue skies with white puffy clouds contradicted the forecast, so I immediately headed to the college.

I wasn't expecting much after being in the house all week but the 5k went quite well. I stayed a bit slower than my pace from last week the first three laps, caught up over the next two, then picked up the pace quite a bit over the last five which made for a nice improvement. Overall from expecting nothing to trimming my time is a definite plus. 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Today has definitely lifted my spirits. Now I'm hoping to get out on Wednesday or Thursday, and then on the weekend provided the weather is reasonable. All that I'm doing now is good preparation for when the weather gets warmer, which I will greatly relish when it does.
 
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I hadn't been outside for a run or walk since the last 5k four weeks ago except for a session of 16x100y a few days later, but that was almost a month ago. Such long spaces in between tend to create a disconnect mentally and physically between what used to be normally done and what might be possible now, i.e. a disconnect leading to doubt and wondering. The weather has been forecast to be good today, so I'd been planning to do another 5k at the college this morning, the first one for four weeks. My goal was the same as always, to do the best that I'm able to do.

My warm up was mostly going back and forth in the twenty foot hallway, first walking slowly, then gradually faster with naturally longer strides, plus a few laps tossed in of walking with high knees. Those were followed by round trips of short quick choppy running strides, at first only about six inches long, then gradually getting more off the ground and covering more distance. That was all blended together rather casually with several breaks in between. Then I headed to the college when it wasn't too cold and hadn't yet gotten to windy. The weather turned out to be awesome.

I did a few strides back and forth at the college and then started. The first lap was feeling quite ragged and slow, but surprise! It turned out to be the fastest first lap so far. Wonderful! Now to keep it going. The pace dropped off through the first five laps, then got quite a bit faster the last five resulting in another nice improvement from the previous 5k four weeks ago.

The forecast looks good for next weekend, so that will be my next chance to trim it down a bit more.
 
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I hadn't been outside for a run or walk since the last 5k four weeks ago except for a session of 16x100y a few days later, but that was almost a month ago. Such long spaces in between tend to create a disconnect mentally and physically between what used to be normally done and what might be possible now, i.e. a disconnect leading to doubt and wondering. The weather has been forecast to be good today, so I'd been planning to do another 5k at the college this morning, the first one for four weeks. My goal was the same as always, to do the best that I'm able to do.

My warm up was mostly going back and forth in the twenty foot hallway, first walking slowly, then gradually faster with naturally longer strides, plus a few laps tossed in of walking with high knees. Those were followed by round trips of short quick choppy running strides, at first only about six inches long, then gradually getting more off the ground and covering more distance. That was all blended together in progressive manner with several breaks in between, i.e, in a casual manner. Then I headed to the college when it wasn't too cold and hadn't yet gotten to windy. The weather turned out to be awesome.

I did a few strides back and forth at the college and then started. The first lap was feeling quite ragged and slow, but surprises! It turned out to be the fastest first lap so far. Wonderful! Now to keep it going. The pace dropped off through the first five laps, then got quite a bit faster the last five laps resulting in another nice improvement from the previous 5k four weeks ago.

The forecast looks good for next weekend, so that will be my next chance to trim it down a bit more.
Your determination is commendable. Do you eat anything special for stamina, @John cycling? That is my issue now since I started low carb. Yesterday, walked in DC for 2 1/2 hours and was feeling ragged by the time I was done (with my son).
 
Your determination is commendable. Do you eat anything special for stamina, @John cycling? That is my issue now since I started low carb. Yesterday, walked in DC for 2 1/2 hours and was feeling ragged by the time I was done (with my son).

Thank you, @palides2021. 🙂
I have eaten a high complex carbohydrate diet for most of my life, especially since 1974.
Currently I've been eating oats, pinto beans, and some rice every day, due to them being good long term staples.
In the 1970's I used to juice plentiful amounts of organic carrots and celery every day, but they're no longer easy to obtain.

Here I used to have flourishing gardens full of cucumbers, zucchini squash, broccoli and other veggies but sadly stopped growing them in 2004 due to neighbors that kept feeding feral cats which ravaged and destroyed all my gardens. They finally moved a few years ago but the damage had been done. One of them visited later and told me they'd fenced off half their living room for the thirty cats they had in their new location.

I would love to grow veggies again, but haven't been able to get myself to do it after going through all of that, plus a different recent neighbor's wild feral cat has kept crapping in my back yard and digging it up.

What I would love to add to my diet would be plentiful amounts of freshly grown cucumbers, zucchini squash, and broccoli. I used to grow lots of wild purslane as well, would blend it with water in the blender, strain the juice out and drink it yum yum. Purlane can also be cooked in water like broccoli. Adding these to my diet would be a big plus.

I love stone fruit too, and bananas. I used to have a bunch of fruit trees but now they're all gone.
Why are you avoiding carbohydrates? They would seem to me to be a requirement, especially for having endurance.
 
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Compared to a week ago, my plan was to go out more conservatively this morning, while keeping a few seconds under the previous overall pace. That left me considerably behind the fast first lap of a week ago, but put me well ahead by the end of the third one. I kept pulling away from then on resulting in another nice improvement and my fastest 5k since beginning to do these a year ago.

The weather is getting warmer finally, so I'm planning to have a good workout on Wednesday, the first one for four weeks. This coming weekend's weather is forecast to be hot, so I might do the next 5k on Saturday instead of Sunday and will need to start early.

Although much improved by routine lubrication, the treadmill belt has been tending to stick to the deck. That it's hard to walk on when it's off indicates that the belt and deck surface are worn out. I've ordered and received a new belt, fortunately the deck is reversible, and a treadmill cover should be here by the end of the week.

I need to do my taxes before working on that, the folder sitting right beside me, which for some reason I always dread doing (the bloody thieves). Oh pardon me. A Frontier phone company rep will be coming next week to upgrade the 1 mbps copper internet line, but they haven't been able to tell me what they're planning to do. Also I might go shopping this week.

This past week:
mon - 10' treadmill
tue/wed - 30' elliptical + 10' treadmill
thu - off, too cold and dreary
fri/sat - running & walking 1.25 miles each morning through the neighborhood
sunday - 5k at the college

The past few weeks have been a down period for me, due to the unusually cold dreary weather.
I need to get some new walking/running shoes, and to get outside more often with the hopefully improving weather.
Meanwhile I'm looking forward to Wednesday.
 

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