This morning was a forty minute run. The first fifteen minutes were hell. The last five minutes were hell. The middle twenty minutes just got better and better, and by thirty minutes in, I felt like I was floating. I’m keeping an eye out on my left ankle, because it’s been feeling “weak” since yesterday–almost like I twisted it on something, but I don’t remember injuring it and it’s not enough to detract from running. I also almost completed three sets of 15-second planks (I crapped out 9 seconds into the last one). I love these things, because I can feel it working my lower back as well. Today’s workout…

Transportation to the track in the mornings has disappeared so all runs this week will be solely time-based. On that note, I ran for twenty-five very difficult minutes this morning. There was much stopping and starting and slowing down. My lungs just don’t like to cooperate with me on Mondays. I thinking about shifting my two rest days to be interspersed throughout the week–run two days, take one off, run three, take one off. This might make the effects on my lungs a little less jarring. Friday’s weightlifting session didn’t really happen. I’m also not sure if I’m going to be able to go this week. I may call it…

I had a little speedy fun this morning. I wanted to run at damn near the fastest pace I could hold for an entire mile without having serious [asthma-esque] breathing problems. I did the first mile in 12:10, decided it wasn’t hard enough during my quarter-mile walk, and did my second in 10:52, which was hard enough to be a little scary to an un-diagnosed, un-inhalered, un-cell-phoned exercise-induced asthmatic. But it was fun anyway. I know slowed down a little in the last half of the second mile, and particularly the last lap, since at a half-mile my chronograph read 5:01. So I did hold a ten minute mile for…

…was awesome. I didn’t do it in one shot (I walked a quarter-mile in the middle), but I had the energy to hoof the last half-mile of the run and I felt wonderful. My pace was a slow 12:55, but this isn’t significantly slower than my previous three-miler, despite my bit of walking. This leads me to the idea that if I wish to do an hour run, I may want to drop in two walking bits to divide the hour into thirds to give my lungs a break. I experimented a bit with arm-swing techniques during my last lap, and discovered what I think is a good, comfortable amount…