Just a stroll with a side of iron

I suppose another challenge in this blog will be to keep the titles interesting. How many ways can I label a weight-lifting workout or a run?

I got a half-mile into my first interval yesterday morning and felt a splint-like twinge in my left leg. Given that yesterday was my sixth day in a row of running, with two of those days being my rougher “weekend runs”, I decided to walk. I’d rather miss a day (or even the rest of the week) in running than to miss two weeks from splints or even longer if I let it compound into something more serious. So a day or two of walking is in order. I may even (*gasp*) sleep in one day, but I suspect that would do nothing other than make me lazy about getting at the ass-crack of dawn.

First mile completed in 13:30 (walking first and last quarter mile). Compare to Monday’s 11:13 (ran last 0.75 mi). Total distance: 4.25 mi.

Presently, I’m taking an iron supplement on top of multi-vitamin and vitamin C. It’s hard to say how evergy levels are doing, since I’m taking the extra iron to counteract a temporary iron loss and a [corresponding?] drop in energy. Early morning wake ups are doable, running is doable and with decent vigor, pleasant social interactions with my roommate are not. Could also be the job getting me down.

I always have trouble walking, even when I know I need to not run. I have all this energy, even at 05:30 and when it’s cold by my standards, and even though I know my hips will be hurting after an hour if I walk at a heart-rate raising clip. I still want to run.

Yesterday evening was weight-lifting. Using school machines, the “weights” are completely off what I expect them to be. Some of the machines are hella heavy in and of themselves, and others seem to lie outright about the weight being lifted over the pulleys, giving deceptively large poundage.

Bench: 15 pounds (6.80 kg), 1 set to failure, 10 reps
Lat pulldown: 108 pounds (49.0 kg), 1 set, 16+ reps
Shoulder press: 10 pounds (4.54 kg), 1 set to failure, 8 reps
Tricep pushdown: 48 pounds (21.8 kg), 1 set to failure, 8 reps

My current goal in weight-lifting is not particularly to build muscle mass–I have sufficient bulk (and muscle), thank you, and with my “mini endurance” running, I would be tearing myself up in protein requirements to come out on the plus side of that equation. Rather, I’m seeking simply to maintain muscle mass (to counteract the effect of the “mini endurance”) and build strength by doing a standard [to me] strength-building workout and increasing protein intake from old sub-healthy amounts to what a light meat-eater would have normally.

(Explanation of “mini endurance” running: I’ve read that anything over about a half-hour a day, three times a week is for more than simply staying [or even getting] in shape. Apparently, running an hour or more as standard procedure is enough to be considered “endurance”. My distances are low, but I am doing intervals for the entire hour that I can get in. Hence my term “mini endurance”–I don’t think I’m qualified to call myself an endurance runner yet, by any means. I’m getting there, though.)

Another challenge, I suppose, will be to kill the non-sequiturs and put in transitions between ideas.