Exercise Diary: tight and tired

Day 2 of pre-8pm gym adventure.  The gym was again packed.  And I somehow ended up running next to the same old man as yesterday, although I wasn't on the same treadmill.  In fact, I was on the treadmill next to the one I was on yesterday, which incidentally was the treadmill the old man was using yesterday.  I realized today that even though he ran intervals, he ran way harder and longer than I could ever do since his intervals were for 1 mile and he did like a bizillian of them.

Sadly, the only reason why I was on the treadmill next to the one I used yesterday was because yesterday's treadmill was broken.  I don't think I'm the one who broke it, but it's still sad and weird to know that just a day ago I was using it and it was fine.  Incidentally the now-broken treadmill also used to be my favorite, until I kept not able to use it and subsequently realized that all the treadmills, except for the really bad ones, are pretty much the same.

One of the result of running next to a broken treadmill was that I got to watch countless number of people getting on it, trying to start it, failing, and moving on to another treadmill or another piece of machinery.  It's kind of funny that neither I nor the girl on the other side of the broken treadmill bothered to warn them, and as far as I know no one had reported it broken to the front desk.  I didn't bother since I couldn't really talk, and also since I had been one of those people who jabbed the touch pad without success, I thought it would be fun to watch other people doing it too.

Watched almost an entire episode of Rizzoli and Isles during my run today.  Too bad I didn't get to find out what happened in the end.  But since I don't even remember what the episode was about now I guess it wasn't a great big loss.

Oh, and I also somehow had the belief that I had to do 3 miles instead of the planned 2.5, that I struggled the last half-mile for no reason.

I don't know how it happened.  Somehow during mile 1.5 I told myself that I was half way done and never realized until after I was done how silly I had been.  My Nike+ was also being bitchy.  Somehow now it thinks I'm running slower than before, after countless times I had to re-calibrate it for over-calculating my speed.  I think it may have to do with the way I moved my legs.  I tried to slow and lengthen my stride as I got faster to control the number of time my feet had to hit the ground, and since my Nike+ iPod uses a sensor on my foot that measures the speed and length of one's stride, I guess I could appear to be going slower than usual.  Except I think the sensor should be smarter than that.  I don't know, I hope I don't have to get a new sensor before switching to an iPhone.  Not that an iPhone would be great to use on a treadmill, but evidently the Nike+running app on iPhone allows you to input your workouts manually, so you will still have a record of your runs on Nike without having the app doing any work.  I wonder if I could do that on the webpage when I move on to my GPS watch.  So far I haven't figured out how.

Anyhoo, today's run was... brutal.  I had a banana before going and I didn't feel hungry or anything during the run, and it was a short run, but I just felt so tired and it was such a struggle.  I should not run the day after a long run, even if the long run was only 5 miles.  My legs were tight from the very beginning.  In fact they were tight all day today, and I could feel the muscles as I walked up and down the stairs.  They weren't sore, they were just tight, and you are aware of them.  Now they are sore, even after stretching and all that.  And the thighs are particularly bad since I think I used my thighs a lot to pull my feet up since the run today really ruined my right foot.  The plantar fasciitis was really acting up, right after I slowed down after my speedier pulses.  It got even worse during my cool down walk, and I really hope I can still walk tomorrow.  I also wanted to use more of my upper body to take some of the pressure away from the legs, but I didn't know how.  I tried to breathe from the core, and all it did was made me spit a lot.  I tried to tighten the core and lift my torso a bit but all that did was giving me tight shoulders.  I know strong abs help with running, but since I still don't have strong abs what am I supposed to do?

But somehow I still manage to finish my run, half a mile more than planned no less.  I didn't stop to walk or anything, and I really hope I either burned more fat than usual or strengthen my thigh muscles some what.  I went home and did two blogilates videos, one on the glute and the other on the arms.  I also resumed my thigh and butt challenge moves, Day 13 of the 30-day workout, on the 25th of this month.  Oh well, better start again some time.  It's really starting to get warmer out (I went to the gym today in my capris, a fleece and a wind breaker, it was that warm), and before I know it I will be running outside with my t-shirt and capris, and I really need to get serious about this weight loss thing.  I realize that now I'm not really trying to use running as a way to lose weight, but rather I'm trying to lose weight so I can run better.  Not just to lose weight, but also to build my muscles.  I like running, and I like to run long and far.  It would be great if I can actually be good at it.  I have marathon goals, goddammit.

Exercise Diary: Delayed Feedback

I've recently taken up recording my workouts as soon as I finish them so I develop the habit of writing about them/ recording them promptly.  But now I think maybe waiting for a bit before writing about them may give me more time to feel about the aftereffects of these workout.

For example, I did my Day 8 Beginner's pilates workout yesterday, and right afterwards I felt good that I managed to squeeze some exercises into my long Wednesday.  But before I went to bed and was brushing my teeth, I could distinctly feel my glutes hurting.  I knew why it was hurting, but I was surprised that it hurt that much.  It was the result of the bridge exercises I did as part of the total body workout video.  The move starts out like a regular bridge you would do in yoga classes, but instead of staying in bridge form you move your hips and back up and down and touch the mat with your tailbone.  I have tried this before and never felt the true effect.  The trick is to squeeze your butt cheeks real tight when you lift back up into the bridge form.  According to the video you pretend there's a penny you are clenching between your butt cheeks.  I don't think I was squeezing that hard, since as big as my butt is I couldn't quite manage to pull my cheeks in that closely.  But the effect was real and my butt was hurting all day today too.

So that was a pleasant surprise and I hope one day I will have cute bubble butt too.

I chose to do my long run (4.5 miles) today since I'm not sure if I will even have time to run this weekend.  Going to Boston on Saturday, which I already knew, and apparently now I'm going cross country skiing with my friend on Sunday, which I just found out today.  On Tuesday on our way to yoga class, as I watched two guys jogging past our car in shorts,  I absent-mindedly said that it's a shame that I never went cross country skiing this year and it's already getting warm.  So my friend came by today and basically forced me to clear my Sunday so she could drive us up to Bretton Woods, which is like more than an hour away from where we are, so we could go cross country skiing.  I was pleasantly surprised, and somewhat overwhelmed, but also worried that I won't get to do my weekend run.  I fear that I will be way too tired to do a long run afterwards, but I thought if I still have the energy to get my butt to the gym after skiing I should at least treat myself with a shorter run.  So long run today, which also meant no pilates.  It's late and I'm tired, and I still have other stuff to do before going to bed.

Don't know how I will feel tomorrow but the run didn't really tire me out in terms of the cardio.  I was doing pretty slowly so I could keep running the whole time, which I did.  My foot was hurting for like the second half of the run.  My Nike+ failed at one point so now it's congratulating me on running twice in one day.  My breathing got hard during the last half-mile so that wasn't too bad.  I watched an episode of the Middle and two episodes of Fresh Prince of Bel-air which was pleasantly nostalgic.  And the gym was empty (every treadmill was vacant when I got there) during finals week and it's kind of sweet.  But I do have to remember to pay attend to interim hours and the new schedule come next term.

So all in all a pretty good workout day.

Exercise Diary: Total Body Workout

Other than the fact that Nike+ needs to seriously get its shit together, today has been a great day workout-wise.  Granted Nike+ is currently undergoing a scheduled site maintenance (and hopefully it will sync my runs properly after it's done), at least last time (that I know of) they did it discreetly  in the middle of the night instead of in the evening when plenty of people are still getting their runs in.  Seriously, yeesh.

I read some post somewhere that in order to burn more fat (which I really need to do), it is better if you do you weights and other general anaerobic exercises first, to burn off all the sugars you ingested before your workout, and then move on to your cardio so you are tapping into your fat supply more.  It sounds like a pretty reasonable strategy so that's what I tried today.  I did my Day 6 of beginner's pilate workout, which consists of 7 minutes of the most tiring warm-up I've ever done, 6 minutes of some intense arm workout (felt great though, and no push-ups involved!), and a killing 5-minute ab workout which is bonus for today since the video was emailed to me as part of the Blogilates newsletter.  None of the moves (there were 5) were particularly hard or foreign, and you would think that doing each for a minute, and doing abs for 5 minutes total wasn't going to be that big of deal.  But I absolutely died after 2.5 minutes and totally cheated after that.  Still tried to do the best I could but it wasn't much.  That's what I like about Cassey and her workout though.  I felt stronger every day, and I could clearly feel the benefit during my runs, and she is very good at encouraging and motivating you to push through, but just as you are beginning to feel good about yourself she makes you humble again by challenging you with something that just absolutely crushes your body, so you don't get too cocky.  I like that.  I need that.

Today's run.  Well.  I'm definitely happier that the weather is finally getting warmer.  I saw at least 5 people running outside today in the 10 minutes I stood there waiting for the bus.  This is the second night in a row that I walked to the gym with only my capris and no outer leg cover.  I didn't even bother with a scarf or a hat tonight.  I think as soon as the ground becomes dry I will venture an outdoor run.  But in the mean time I will stick to the gym.

Today I tried a different running strategy that would keep me more entertained.  I did 10 minutes on a low speed, 8 minutes one button faster, 6 minute at the next speed, etc.  I managed my 2 miles (I know, it's so not a big deal) quite easily, and Everybody Loves Raymond and Julie and Julia (does anyone else still remember that it's actually two stories in one movie?  I totally forgot that Amy Adams was playing Julie and got quite disappointed that they had to cut away from Meryl) kept me very entertained.  I found Everybody Loves Raymond, which I watched only ~10 minutes of, especially funny tonight, probably because I was already releasing endorphins before starting my run.

But I really need to burn for fat to make myself weigh less.  As I got to 5 mi/hr, which really is not a lot, my plantar fasciitis really acted up, quite suddenly too.  My foot is still hurting and I think it will persist for some time.  My foot does that every time I start to run fast(er).  Whenever I persist at the higher speed it would eventually go away until I slowed down or slowed to a walk.  But as my weekly milage goes up this will really be a problem in the future.  More stretching I guess.

Overall all a great day.  Now if only I could just buck up and do my laundry my day would be truly complete.

Exercise Diary: Friday 3-miler

Dragged my butt to the gym today despite getting up super early this morning with very little sleep.  I had the wonderful plan this morning of getting home at 5pm, eat dinner, go to the gym, and go watch the CSSA Chinese New Year Celebration show.  Well, when I came home at 5:30 I felt nothing but exhaustion and just wanted to sleep and not wake up.  So being an antisocial soul after getting up at 8:20pm I decided to skip the celebration (I would've gone to both if the gym doesn't close early on Fridays).

The gym was nice and empty today, but my usual treadmill was still occupied.  I didn't mind it that much, but did find a treadmill that I am now determined to avoid.  It had crappy TV reception.  Did 3 miles, again while constantly staring at the monitor for time and distance elapsed.  It was very torturous.  My Nike+ was being weird again and had to be calibrated once more.  Watched an episode of CSI: Criminal Intent with the sexy Mr. Big Chris Noth.  Still don't really care about CI.

My feet didn't bother me the way I had feared.  I wore my sneakers outside yesterday in anticipation for a run that never happened, and I found that if I walk on concrete in them my left heel bone hurt, a lot.  Like a stress fracture if I ever know what a stress fracture would feel like.  And I was worried.  About my foot and about whether the shoes would be good enough when I will finally be running outside.  I love my Saucony shoes!  Oh well.

But today wasn't so bad.  When I sped up for my last mile my right foot again felt the pressure but otherwise I felt fine.  I think I should take better care of my knees and my left hip though, as I could feel them when I run.

Not sure if I'm going to run tomorrow.  Instincts tell me that I shouldn't, but my pride wants to put another run on my Nike+.  Perhaps I should finally have a date with the ellipticals like I said I would. For the past week I've been fond of artisan cheese and beer, and for two weeks before that had not been doing a lot of running.  And now my scale is telling me that I'm paying for my indulgence and lapse in exercise.  Going to Boston this weekend for some great Asian food so I doubt I will be refraining from excessive eating, but starting next week I'm going back to a light, more normal diet.  I'm thinking of making some sort of beer and beef stew, so I don't have to cook every day and have potatoes as a source of carb instead of rice.  All the beer stew recipes look similar so I'm just going to buy whatever I like and throw everything in the slow cooker with a bottle of whatever beer I have in my fridge.  Hey, it's veggies, beef, and beer right, I don't think much can go wrong with this combo.

Happy Weekend!

Exercise Diary: Beginning-of-the-week long run

3.5 miles Done~

My favorite treadmill was taken again, by a friend of a friend no less.  But the one I got on worked fine enough.  This week's Castle is about its recurring plot line of the 3XK killer, which is kind of dull but still engaging enough.

I don't think I've ever done a real 3.5-miler on the treadmill before.  My Nike+ record may say otherwise, but it usually over calculates my distance.  Today it was off by almost 0.4 miles, which, after the slight ego boost, just seemed too much.  I've calibrated it before uploading the data so it's actually actuate.

The first 3.2 miles were fine.  Started to get bored by mile 2.5 but at least my body could still keep going.  But by 3.2 I was just tired and couldn't go on.  I still ran the whole thing but reduced the speed by quite a bit for the last stretch.  I hope it won't be as bad when I move the runs outside (but given the incessant snow we are getting that's not going to happen any time soon.  But on the treadmill I could manage a steady speed and I think that's important.

Tonight I felt pain on both of my heel bones.  More serious on the left, but I could feel them both.  I don't think it's the running that did it.  I think it's all the walking in my snow boots that really upset my foot.  I got these boots that go up to my calf and when I lift my foot I feel my ankle is being dragged up, and I think with the big cushioning on the side I underestimate how hard I step down with my feet, thus the added pressure.  Although I'm having a busy week ahead I'm not going to run tomorrow, so to give my feet some rest.  But I hope it won't turn into some sort of stress fracture or something terrible.  I still got a plan to stick to and a 25K to run and marathons to finish in the future.

So there.
 

Running Hiatus: a quick update

It's been a hellish nightmare since my last short run around the pond.

Surprising it may be (to me), it's only been two weeks since my last run.  But it seems so much longer than that.

The day after my run I could feel that something wasn't right.  The right side of my right foot felt like it was spasming.  I didn't pay too much attention to it.  I could feel it while walking all the way to work, and throughout the day.  Finally I had to admit to myself that it wasn't just a simple spasm.  I could feel the pain with every step I took, to the point that I was limping up and down the stairs and the hallway.  I didn't know what it was; it didn't feel like a regular plantar fasciitis, or any other foot injuries that I could think of.  It was like something went wrong with whatever connective tissue that went through the bottom of my foot, connecting my heel bone to my little toe.  Just that one part of the foot.  And I know it had something to do with my heel because I felt better walking on my toes.

It got so bad that I decided to leave work early and just get to home.  I didn't know what I was going to do once I got home.  But I desperately wanted to be in the private comfort of my home and just ice, warm, and massage the hell out of my foot.  In the end through some twisted logic my friend and I decided to get a pedicure, since part of the service involved a foot massage.  I left the pedicure with a nice shade of forest green on my nails, but in terms of massage I got next to none.

The next morning my foot got worse as I walked to work and I decided that I finally had to see someone.  I made an appointment with our health center, and though I requested for someone who may be specialized in sports medicine I ended up with some random doctor because she was the only available doctor for the time slot I could do.

The appointment was not very helpful at all.  She basically told me that I have a severe case of plantar fasciitis, which is sort of a relief since it's not something else I picked up, just a worsening of what I already had.  She told me to take a bunch of ibuprofen for an extended period of time, and at the same time do a bunch of stretches.  I basically learned nothing new from that meeting, except for the confirmation of what I had and the permission to take huge doses of drugs.

Since then I haven't been running at all.  I went to yoga once and was pretty sure I screwed up my foot even more during the class.  I thought about going to the gym and do something that's less impact on my foot but got lazy.  I gained a few pounds back from my inactivity.  I took the pills regularly for about 3 days before giving up the regime, and I wasn't even doing my stretches regularly.  All in all I was just being a bad patient.

I also got a pair of Dr. You-know-who's half insoles that promised instant pain relief for plantar fasciitis, and it worked to some degree.  I put them in whatever shoes I was wearing and they did help with the pain relief a lot.  Until recently.  So I decided that it's finally time to take my injury more seriously.

I don't want to get complacent with my injury.  I hated that my weight is slowing getting back to my pre-run days.  I was sort of depressed that because of those few pounds I couldn't fit into the clothes I was able to wear.  I get sad that we have beautiful running weather right now and I'm out of the game.  I'm angry at myself for not going to the gym like I planned to.  I know now that I'm not going to run that half-marathon, but I would be so disappointed in myself if I give up running altogether.

I've been good with my pills and stretching today.  This is my first step toward recovery and toward getting back to running.  I will get back to being active again and I will go back to running soon.  The weight has to go down and the fat has to be burned.  There is no excuse anymore.

Exercise Diary: Short run, then some badminton

• Yesterday was beautiful!  But since it was still too warm when I left work, and that I wanted to play badminton, and I wanted to do a short run, I decided to run on the treadmill.  
• The fitness room was air conditioned and felt so nice!
• I was surprised to see that most of the treadmills were occupied.  
• There was a sad spinning class with one very enthusiastic instructor and what looked like 2 students.
• Running on the treadmill was SO boring!  It definitely takes more effort to keep yourself motivated while running on the treadmill.  1.26 miles never felt so painfully long, even with an entertaining podcast in your ears.  
• Then again, I ran almost a whole mile at a faster pace than one I would normally have done (even with the 1% incline to mimic real roads).
• My workout was cut short (only 16 min) because I was overall running late, and badminton had begun for almost an hour.  So I left the air conditioned room and went downstairs..
• Which is hotter and more humid than outside!  The basketball courts are one of the places in the building that's not air conditioned, and it felt terrible.  What's worse, because of the lightness of the shuttlecock we can't even blast the super giant fans on.  So essentially we were playing in a sauna.
• I thoroughly had my butt kicked by a friend.  I felt so angry and stupid: she's 7 years older than me and a mother, and she's got better figure and played better.  
• I upset my foot again during the play and had to stop and massage my foot a bit.
• After taking a shower upon getting home I iced my foot with my frozen water bottle and it felt slightly better.  Still debating whether I should go see someone.
• Finally cooked.  The peppers, after sitting in the fridge for a week, were surprisingly still edible.  My dried tofu, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.  It got moldy and I was quite upset.  What a waste of food.  

Trail Challenge and Foot Rest

My friend and I are currently doing a Trial Challenge that explores the different trails we have in our town.  While it is called a "challenge", all 7 trails featured in the program are very easy and short to do, as the event is targeted mainly for families with small children.  We still thought it would be fun since, hey us students never explore our own town, and we need the excuse to get outside this summer.  It is a bargain too, because for $3 a piece we each got a water bottle, a trail challenge T-shirt, a booklet with all the instruction, and an invitation to the end-of-summer party with a chance to enter a raffle if we finish at least 5 of the 7 trails by then.

Last Friday we did our first trail.  It was a short (0.8 mile), easy trail toward the south end of our town, tucked secretly behind some big ass mansions we didn't know existed.  The trail was very well maintained with signs on tree barks that guide the hikers.  It curves around the edge of the Connecticut River and offers a very nice view of the water.  The trail was covered with pine needles and moss, but all we got in terms of wild life was a squirrel and the voice of a very pretty-sounding bird, which suited me.

As a way to verify that you did each trail, at the midpoint of each trail is a sign with a symbol for you to copy down.  We found it nailed on a tree near the water.  It was a simple outline of an animal but it was hard to copy convincingly without anything to lean against on.  On our way back we took a short cut that led us to a cemetery that was actually very lovely and well maintained.  The trail was very short, so short that the way getting to and from the trail from our office took longer than walking the trail itself.  But it was a very nice start and we couldn't wait to explore the rest of the trails.

Despite the short and easy hike, and the fact that I was wearing my trail running shoes for the occasion, I was still stepping on uneven grounds and occasionally placed my right foot right on a tree root, and it seriously hurt my foot again.  It was an alarming pain that lasted through most of Friday night.  I don't even know what it is anymore.  It sort of emanates from the heel and spread to the rest of the mid foot, and the pain comes in waves.  I iced my foot and it only moderately helped.  I stayed home for most of Saturday, but the foot still hurt on Sunday so that I gave up on running on Sunday.  Just like plantar fasciitis the pain sometimes goes away after walking or running for a bit, but we all know that it doesn't mean it's actually getting better.  I'm still debating whether I want to go see someone, and I'm kind of reserved on the idea because I really don't know how to describe what I have, and I fear what their solution might be.  I don't think any bones are broken but I certainly don't want surgery, and I don't want them to tell me that I have to rest and not run for an extended period of time (granted I didn't run at all last week, mostly due to laziness).  I still want to do a half-marathon in October but I really haven't been training at all, and my reluctance to train seriously is largely due to the foot.  Perhaps if I get it checked out I would make better informed decisions, as the deadline for registering for the half is approaching.  I just don't want to look like a loser and having to tell people that I hurt myself from not-very-serious running or worse, having to be on crutches or something.  We'll see, maybe I will make an appointment to see someone.

This Week on the Net (6/23-6/29)

I know I skipped a week, just wasn't up to it.  Summer is here, and the blogosphere is filled with tips on running safely in the heat.  Marathon training season is also here, so there are a lot of posts on how to train for a marathon or half-marathon as well.

• Der Scott: How to Run While Injured.  Sad but true.
• Running in the heat; why you are more likely to get a heat stroke during shorter races.  Very interesting reads on how the sweat glands work and how the body takes care of over heating.  
• Training for you first half-marathon. Super appropriate~
• Mount Washington Road Race 2014.  I've heard of this race because some members of our local running club have run it in the past and were featured in their past newsletters.  But apparently it's a much bigger deal since the most recent race was featured on the Runner's World website.  It's a scary ass race of 7.3 miles going all the way up Mount Washington.  It's one big hill.  You climb for an hour or two up on one, one, 12-20% grade hill.  I need time to let that sink in.
• No difference between men and women on weight loss?  Runner's World called our attention to a recently published study that monitored the caloric intake and output of a group of overweight men and women and found that given equivalent caloric intake and exercise output the men and women lose the same percentage of body fat.  Essentially the conclusion of the article is that men and women are capable to lose the same amount of body fat given the same eating and exercise regiment.  It was an interesting study, but it was more interesting to read the comments below the article.  Many people still don't believe it given their anecdotal experiences, and others use it to prove that women have a harder time to lose "weight" than men.  I think I agree with all those who comment this way, since it does sort of prove that given the same regiment, women would lose less than men, poundage-wise.  So when they step on the scale there is still a difference.  But in terms of percent body fat it's the same, which in my opinion is more important.  I'm very frustrated by those who are obsessed by the number that appears on their scales.  I often ask people if they want to be healthy and weight more or sickly and getting to their goal weight as an example, hoping they would realize their ridiculous obsession.  Yet at the same time I step on my own scale several times a day, taking joy when the number becomes lower.  I think that's because I've not reached my goal body shape that I'm happy with.  I think once I reach a healthy weight I would no longer be obsessed.  
• Oatmeal's comic on marathon running.  Everyone seems to be sharing this excerpt of the upcoming marathon-themed book by Oatmeal comics.  Since I saw it first on the most recent Runner's World issue I was unimpressed when everyone was raving about it on the internet.  But it's still pretty funny the second time I read it.  Do go on to his website and read the multipart comic strips on how he started running.  

Exercise Diary: No More Trail Runs, or Runs with Friends

I've been slacking off with my running (and exercising in general) last week.  I only did one short run on Monday, and didn't go to any yoga classes, despite the nice weather.  I've been using my foot as an excuse.  It still hurts even with just normal walking, and regardless of what shoes I wear (from the heavily cushioned running shoes to flat sneakers) I don't feel any significant relief with any one pair.  I don't know if it's still plantar fasciitis, or if it's my heel spur (I didn't know that there's this calcified little hook at the bottom of your foot until I saw an ad for heel wraps that are supposed to help with it), or if it's anything worse, like a stress fracture.  But it's been weeks since I first wrecked my foot and if anything my recent trail runs have made it worse.

After being cooped up for most of the week I decided it was time to go for a run on the weekend.  And on Sunday I went, with a bunch of people.  Ever since my friends heard that I started running they've been talking about doing runs together, and I've been resisting (subtly and sometimes unintentionally) for as long.  I'm still an extremely slow runner, and I like my slow pace.  My heart and lungs can't take a quicker pace, and I usually burn out if I try to follow someone else's pace.  But this time I agreed to go because there was a huge group of us, and it was a good motivation to get me off my butt.

Long story short, it was a disaster.  For me.  The others did splendidly.  Right after we started I could feel that I was going way faster than I'd liked, and I couldn't possibly hold a conversation at that pace.  After crossing two intersections I slowed down, and gave up on ever catching up with the pact.  Even then I was feeling the toll, and after climbing up a hill I was beat.  It was a bad start and I wasn't feeling good that day.  My stomach was full, my body was heavy, and I've been out of it for too long.  It was embarrassing.

And I think we got lost for a bit.  We sort of agreed on a route, and after losing sight of everyone I just went at my own pace around the route we had sort of agreed on.  I ended up walking the last quarter mile with a friend who was new to running and was overheating, and we took a detour to stop by our labs.  I particularly wanted to go to lab since I left my iPod there, which meant that I was running without any ways to track my run.  I know the route and I know approximately how far I ran, and honestly I don't want to know how I did since I did horribly and it's probably a good thing that it wasn't recorded.  But I like to feel "right" when I run, and I don't want to be constantly thinking about how I'm uncomfortable when I'm running.

After getting rehydrated and having my iPod back in lab, I decided to go for another run by myself, just a short run around the pond to make me feel better about myself.  I ended up going to the Pine Park trail  again since it's a nice 1.5 mile loop with shades and interesting terrains.  The run was nice and slow, and when I finished the loop it felt too short.  But I did seriously screw up my foot again.  It was inevitable to step on uneven ground with all the rocks and tree roots sticking out from the ground and at times there were some very alarming sharp pains emanating from my right foot.  I had to limp at times afterwards and today, and I iced my foot for a very long time last night.  I'm seriously debating whether I should go see someone and maybe get an X-ray on it.

So the take home message of yesterday is, I'm going to keep away from the trails for a long while.  Running on paved roads does upset my foot, but not nearly as badly as the uneven trails.  And also, no more running with other people.  To be honest I don't even know why I do it.  I like to listen to my iPod on the run (mostly recently StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson's cosmic podcast), and I like to run at a crawling pace (or more precisely, I like to not follow someone else's pace), and I don't like to talk to people when I run.  I think I only do it because others are kind enough to try to appeal to my interest.  I've never actively sought out companies to run with.  And I guess I just don't want to disappoint my friends.  But I doubt that any of them will want to run with me again after yesterday.  Which is perfectly fine with me and all I hope is that they don't think too horribly of me.