Oops. I think it’s time for an update.

My monthly mileage for June didn’t come out like it should have, but I have good excuses.

The first week I took completely off from running because of my knee. The second week consisted of one slow 2.4 mile run. My cousins came for a visit, meaning that I didn’t have time, and when I did have time I was dead tired. But that doesn’t really bother me, because I knew my knee was still healing, and we were doing tons of sightseeing on the side. Visiting relatives left on the third week, meaning–freedom! I only accomplished two runs of 2.4 miles (and a short run-walk day), however, because my knee still felt “weird,” and I didn’t want to undo the healing that I had been patiently waiting for. I finished off the month with an addition 10.8 miles relatively evenly dispersed. My longest run of the month was my 3.1 miles that I accomplished yesterday, and my knee was okay. Yay!

I found quite a few supposedly good running stores in my area of NC, so I’ll be visiting one of those right away when I get there in three weeks.

For now, I’ll just be building up weekly mileage by the 10% rule and trying to create a “long” run as well.

A synopsis of the week.

Monday–I finished up my training plan with a 5K run, which went a little beyond what the plan actually called for. Yay!

Tuesday–I wanted to go running since I felt “freed” from my plan and there wasn’t anything to tell me that I couldn’t run on consecutive days, but my knee ached a little, so I decided to hold off.

Wednesday–A nice, slow run. My knee still felt a bit funny so I didn’t want to do anything that I would regret.

Friday–Unfortunately, my wisdom on Wednesday somehow left me on Friday. I ran 5K at a moderate pace despite constant “discomfort.” I won’t call it pain, because is was bearable, but it hurt. I really thought it would eventually go away mid-run like it had in the past. Well… I got home, stretched, ate breakfast, gave up on school work for the day, and took two ibuprofen which knocked me out for three hours. Yes, that last part is a little scary as I look back on it. The drowsy side effect could have been intensified my a slight lack of sleep, or maybe I now know why I usually take only one tablet (200 mg) for headaches during the day and save two tablets for nighttime.

Saturday through Sunday–I took off. I really wanted to start running four times a week this week, but I figured that recovery is more important at this point. Tomorrow, Monday, I’m going to hit the bike. And maybe the next day, and the next day… but we’ll see. Although I’m not noticing any apparent swelling, ice sure feels good.

The cause of my problem? Yes, it’s my shoes. No one needs to tell me. But, if I were to wait to start running again until after I bought new, proper shoes, I would be waiting until the end of July. (Shoes are cheaper in the US at this point, there is more variety to choose from in the US, and I don’t know enough about shoes to just order some. I need a running store.) Sorry, I just can’t wait that long. However, now I’m starting to think I might need to limit my weekly mileage until then.

Behám hocikde. — “Huh?”

Living in a country other than the US, I had the opportunity to learn a foreign language. Really, if someone lives somewhere, anywhere, he or she should at least attempt, if not learn fluently, that country’s language. So what would “Behám hocikde” mean? “I run anywhere.” It does not mean that I run to anywhere. It means that I run anywhere that I currently happen to be. Whether I am in the US or overseas, whether I am at home or at Grandma’s house–I run.

So far, since January, I have tracked times and distances of “runs.” The only problem is that I also included my five minute warm-up walk and then usually a five minute cool-down walk. That wasn’t smart. Now I want to get an accurate pace calculation, so I’m entering less mileage (the mileage that I actually run) and therefore less time into my log. Ugh. Now it doesn’t look so impressive. If just anyone happened across it, it would look like I’ve been cutting down mileage instead of building it up. Oh well. At least I know my real pace, and it’s about what I think and not what others think, right?

For two nights in a row I’ve slept 5 and a half hours. I’m not running any races anytime soon so I suppose it’s not that big of a deal, but I’m still a fan of getting 8 hours of sleep if possible. Good for the body, good for the brain, good for the nerves…