Running is therapy

I did a 3 miler earlier today bringing me to an 8 mile week. Highest mileage in almost 4.5 months. Of course, really any mileage at all at this point is the “most in X months”.

The heel feels pretty good. Some soreness. I have been mitigating it over the last couple of days with a heating pad. Interestingly, it had been pretty sore since my two miler on Wednesday, but using the heating pad last night for a little bit seemed to alleviate the soreness. So much so, I took what was going to be a 2 miler, and tossed on another mile.

Next week the goal is 3*3 (3 runs of 3 miles each). And then I will stay there for a bit.

I have been hitting the gym about 4 times a week, and riding the bike for an hour each time. I plan to at least stick to 3 days a week of biking till I add some more mileage.

I was invited along on a 40 mile bike ride yesterday by Mark, Mark and Vik.

I had a really good time. They are nice guys, and since we are all technologists we had plenty to talk about.

I did ok. I was the slowest of the 4 of us, since they are all avid cyclists, and this was my second time out on the road bike, with the first time being an 11 mile ride.

I dislike just flying down hills. I was breaking a lot going down hill. I *think* that will change over time as I get used to the idea. Also, for the last 10 or 15 miles my gears were slipping with super annoying frequency and regularity. I also had some pretty decent calf pain for the last half of the ride. The seat I have is pretty narrow, and as a result…well it hurts my rump.

I think if I spent some money on getting the gears sorted out, and a new seat it would be a more pleasant experience. I will invest some dough on trying it.

All in all, it was nice to spend time with those guys, and the work out was great. I am still somewhat skeptical about introducing mechanical complexity into my exercise, but time will tell.

As for running, I had intended on hitting a 15 minute run today…but that is what old Nathan would do. New Nathan realizes his calf is sore, and running on fatigued muscles can lead to injuries of the bone and tendon…so New Nathan, he’s going to drink coffee and kick it.