Zombies, Run! Jeffro Complex, 12.5 miles

3:32:12 hours - 12.53 miles - 16:56 min/mile

It took until Monday, but I finally got my 12.5 mile run done. Saturday the weather was awful and I was really tired; Sunday the weather was slightly better but I felt worse—bad backache and wonky stomach. Today, I finally felt okay. The weather was still cold—around 39 F when I started out at around 10 AM, up to about 47 F this afternoon when I finished—but it was sunny and I wore my base layer, neck scarf, and hoodie and kept warm enough. I have found that if I really want to make sure I head out and do a long run, the best way is to just put on my running clothes first thing when I get up. Then, after I finish morning chores and drink a mug of hot cocoa, I'm already dressed and ready to go. If I get up and put on regular clothes, thinking I'll change when I've finished chores, I lose momentum and it's harder to get myself going.

Didn't do too bad today. I was a bit slow but didn't get too worn out. Splits were 15:34, 16:09, 15:30, 16:14, 17:16, 16:06, 19:55 (another bathroom break), 17:35, 17:10, 16:56, 17:08, 17:10, and 16:00 for the last half mile. Slowed down in the last half and wouldn't have made a 3:30 half marathon, but it was close.

Finally got to do the first 20K race from Season 1! No big surprises since I've gone halfway through Season 2 already, but interesting to see a first meeting with one character and a discovery about another. In two weeks I'll do the second 20K race from New Canton's point of view for my 14 mile run, and then I'll finally have the season 1 races done!

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 24

32:19 minutes - 1.97 miles - 16:26 min/mile

Lost GPS after about a mile again, but I used my GPS watch (first time I actually ran with it!) and edited the miles according to what the watch said. Which gave me a pace of about 16:26 min/mile. Kind of slow, but I felt slow today. Mile 1 split is 15:59, so it's probably right. I've contacted support about the problem, hope they can help me figure it out, because this is a pain.

One good thing about the GPS watch — it does have interval timers, so I don't have to carry both watches. It even labels them "RUN" and "WALK" (or HARD and EASY), so I can tell at a glance which interval I'm in. Not so good is that the interval beeps are quieter than the other watch, and I kept missing them, especially when the music was louder or the mission was talking. I had to keep an eye on it to make sure I started running or walking when I was supposed to. I think that's one reason I might have been a bit slow, I was preoccupied with the watch and not paying attention to my pace. (Also I have the beginnings of a headache, blah.) But I got my run done, first time in weeks I've managed to do both midweek runs.

It was cloudy and cool today, good running weather. It's supposed to snow tomorrow, but be sunny and clear on Saturday, so I hope I have decent weather for my 12.5 mile run.

Today's mission was a bit different. Today, I was New Canton's Runner 5 instead of Abel's. Felt a bit strange being someone different! I kept getting distracted futzing around with my watch and wasn't following the story very well. Oh well.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 23

39:51 min - 2.4 miles? - 16:40 min/mile?

Lost GPS again, a little after 1 mile, same as last time. Only this time, I didn't lock the screen, so apparently that isn't the problem. What is going on? Health app says I went 2.4 miles, which seems a bit low for that time. First mile split was 14:55, so that would make the second mile over 17 minutes. I don't think I slowed down that much. I should have taken my GPS watch along to compare. I hope this isn't going to be a permanent problem.

Other than that, the run was fine. I didn't get out there until around 11:30, but it was mid-50s and a bit hazy so fine to run. Fun mission today! Love the little fannish references here and there — Sam comparing the last-minute rescue to Helm's Deep today. And the Major's speech at the end was pretty inspirational.

Only a month until the half marathon, and I'm determined to get all my runs in, so that's one for this week.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 22, 4 miles

1:02:43 hours - 4.01 miles - 15:38 min/mile

So, no midweek runs again this week. I was out of town from Monday through Thursday, and while I brought my running gear along and hoped to get a run or two in while I was away, it didn't happen. But today's 4-mile run went pretty well, anyway.

It was cold and rainy today, not a hard rain but a fine mist that got me pretty well soaked through by the time the run was over. I wore long leggings, long-sleeved tee-shirt, and my running jacket, which I kept on and zipped up the whole time. I didn't feel too cold while I was running, but the front of my legs got cold from running into the rain. At least I didn't have to worry about the sun getting to me!

I had an appointment this morning at 9 AM and wasn't sure how long it would take, but fortunately I was done by 10 and was able to get to the park by 10:30. Since it was a short run today, I didn't worry about getting started a little late. When I got to the park, mine was the only vehicle in the parking lot, but a few others had shown up by the time I left. Not many people to greet on the path today.

My back was sore from driving so much this week, or maybe from sleeping on my friend's couch, and I didn't get much sleep last night, but I felt pretty good and kept a decent pace. My splits were 14:57, 15:56, 14:53, and 15:29. Used the 1:1 minute run/walk ratio and still feel that it's working pretty well.

Next week, 12.5 miles and it's supposed to snow on Friday. Hope it's clear on Saturday.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 21, 11 miles

2:59:41 hours - 11.04 miles - 16:16 min/mile

All righty! Did my 11 mile run today, and it went pretty well. I slept in late, but the weather was cold enough that I didn't have any problem running later in the day. It was cold — around 50 F — and sunny, but breezy. Pretty good running weather. I wore long leggings and long-sleeved tee-shirt. Started out with a jacket on, but took it off after I warmed up and ran the rest of the way without it. It was chilly enough that the sun didn't bother me.

I left the app running in the foreground, and didn't have any problem with the GPS stopping. I wonder if that last time was just a temporary glitch. GPS did work for about 15 minutes before it stopped, and I remember before when I'd lock the screen it stopped working right away. I will try locking the screen again on my next short run to see if the GPS stays on or not.

Today's mission ended after about 2.5 miles, and I ran the rest of the way with Radio Abel. Good to hear Jack and Eugene back again! Although Phil and Zoe from New Canton were starting to be pretty amusing, too. Zoe told a joke that made me laugh out loud while I was running! "Why does Edward Woodward's name have so many D's in it? Because without them, it would be Ewah Woowah." Heh. Helps to do it with an English accent, I think.

Anyways. My pace wasn't spectacular, but it was good enough. My splits were (1) 15:14, (2) 16:02, (3) 14:55, (4) 16:17, (5) 18:37, (6) 16:25, (7) 16:19, (8) 17:06, (9) 16:29, (10) 15:56, and (11) 16:42. Slowed down a little over the course of the run, but not too bad. Mile 5 includes a bathroom break that was probably around 2 minutes. Subtracting that from my total would make my average pace closer to 16 min/mile. Right on the line of what I need to maintain to finish the Star Wars half. I am cautiously optimistic that I ought to be able to make it.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 20

38:51 minutes

Well, obviously, my distance/pace got all messed up today. Looks like the GPS stopped working after 1.1 mile (my pace for mile 1 was 14:34, so I was getting off to a good start, but according to the app, mile 2 pace was 3:07:39!). I remember when I was using my other running app and kept having problems with losing the GPS. Turned out I had to set it to "Always use GPS" rather than "Use while the app is running," or else when the app went into background the GPS would stop. So I checked my settings for Zombies, Run! and there is no "Always use GPS" setting — it's either "Use while the app is running" or "Never." So. Crap. iOS updated itself a couple of nights ago, and it's doing several other annoying things as well. Losing the "Always use GPS" setting might be one of them. So it looks like I'm going to have to let the app run in the foreground while I'm using it, which is inconvenient.

Anyway, I did my run today, which I haven't done in a while. For various reasons I didn't run at all last week, and have only done one midweek run — today's — this week. For one thing, we had some snow, and my driveway's been a mess. It was still a little muddy today, but only in one spot where the gully crosses it on the front side, so I did my run without too much trouble. For another, I've had a lot of other stuff to do, what with getting my mom's place cleared out and ready to sell, and Thanksgiving, and so on. It's been cold enough that I'd rather not do my runs early, but wait till it warms up a bit, but by then I've got to get going on my day and don't have time to run. And it hasn't helped that I've been pretty depressed. I know getting out and running helps my mood immensely, but getting over the inertia of not wanting to do anything in order to do it is really hard, and I haven't been very good at it lately.

The long run I skipped was only a 4-mile run, so I think it won't hurt my training too much. I have an 11-mile run to do on Saturday, so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, I had a good run today and am firmly telling myself that I am not going to miss any more runs except in cases of emergency.

Zombies, Run! Etymology, 9.5 miles

2:36:29 hours - 9.52 miles - 16:26 min/mile

Did my 9.5 mile run today at the park in near-perfect running weather—mostly cloudy, light breeze, temperatures between 55 F - 60 F. I brought my running watch and ran 1:1 minute run/walk intervals, which is feeling like a pretty ideal run/walk ratio. Anything shorter than one minute starts to feel choppy, hard to hit my stride before the interval's over. I felt good the whole run, and never felt like my running intervals were lasting too long or coming too soon.

I used the New Canton 10K race mission, which lasted for the first six miles, and then just ran to music (and silence for the last mile—my playlist ended and I didn't feel like messing with it to start anything else). Interesting mission, Runner 20 (Archie) from New Canton and Runner 5 investigating a lab at Steve Reeves Hospital. It wasn't until the mission was at least three quarters through that I finally realized that I must be New Canton's Runner 5 today, not my usual Runner 5 from Abel. These New Canton missions are really confusing to me! Next mileage-increasing run is 11 miles—too short for the 20K missions, but after that I have 12.5 mile and 14 mile runs before the half marathon, so I'll do the 20K missions for those. For the 11-mile run I guess I'll just do a regular Season 2 mission and listen to Radio Abel the rest of the time.

Even though I felt good and didn't get tired, I ran a lot slower than I thought I was running. Splits were:

Mile 1  15:29

Mile 2  16:15

Mile 3  15:07

Mile 4  16:10

Mile 5  16:47

Mile 6  15:52

Mile 7  17:51

Mile 8  17:06

Mile 9  17:04

Mile 10 15:40

Slowed down a lot after Mile 6 especially. Mile 7 was "slow" because that's the mile where I stopped at the bathroom—probably added about 1:15 min to my mile, so my real pace would have been around 16:30, which isn't that bad. Miles 8 and 9 were uphill and downhill—I'm surprised Mile 9 was no faster than Mile 8. I didn't stop for anything, so why was it so slow? Maybe because the sun was out more during the last few miles, which always slows me down. I was making sure to drink water every mile, and I ate GU after miles 4 and 7.5. (I think the GU at mile 4 was the reason I had to stop at the bathroom after mile 6. I should probably just dump the rest of the GU and buy Shot Bloks instead, the GU always seems to upset my stomach these days. I had decided to go ahead and use the rest of the box of GU I bought for training runs anyway, but maybe that's not such a great idea.)

Anyway, one more long run down!

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 19

35:18 minutes - 2.27 miles - 15:33 min/mile

Pretty good run today. I got a late start because it was COLD when I got up this morning—only 32 F, so I waited until it warmed up a little. When I went out, it was around 44 F. The sun was out, but the wind was bitey. I wore my jacket the whole time.

Today, I ran full laps, and walked a lap whenever I started to feel tired. I think I was running 2–3 laps when I started out, down to one near the end. Felt good, but I still seem to run out of steam quickly. I was thinking today that one reason I seem to do better when I run at the park is that my driveway is so uneven and full of loose rocks—I can't just relax and run, I have to keep my eye on the road in front of me constantly and compensate for landing on rough ground. Plus, there's the fact that the GPS isn't accurate at such short distances. I keep forgetting about that. I think it's pretty close, but I'm probably actually running farther than the GPS measures, so my pace is better than the app calculates. Heh. Excuses, excuses. It doesn't really matter, I'm getting my runs in. It's encouraging, though, to think I'm probably doing better than I realize.

I'll have to do the 9.5 mile run on Sunday this week instead of Saturday, since I'm having some work done on my solar equipment Saturday. Will be nice to have electricity all day long again.

Today I figured out how the runner who supposedly got killed last mission might have actually survived. Makes more sense this way, too. Hope I'm right!

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 18

39:46 minutes - 2.50 miles - 15:54 min/mile

Another slow one today, mostly because I got started late and it was already hot outside. Did the usual 3/4 lap running, 1/4 lap walking. Splits were 15:21, 15:52, and 16:26 —slowed down quite a bit as the run went on. I should probably be doing longer walk breaks. Should start taking my running watch with me and doing timed intervals. Also I think I could start doing zombie chases again, at least during the midweek runs.

I meant to run Monday and Wednesday this week, but I've been having trouble with my electricity this week—the batteries for my solar system are dying and I only have electricity while the sun's out, from around 9 AM until 4 PM. When I got up my phone battery was almost dead and I didn't know if it would last through the mission, so I started doing other stuff and pretty soon it was too late to run. No matter, Tuesday and Thursday works just as well.

Today's mission was sad. I hope it's another one of those "you think they're dead but they're really not" situations that Zombies, Run! seems to be fond of.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 17, 3 miles

44:48 minutes - 3.01 miles - 14:52 min/mile

Well, I guess I can say I've got my speed back. Good run today! I ran at home because my truck's in the shop and I couldn't drive to the park, but it was only three miles today so that was no problem. Ran with chases off and did intervals, about 3/4 lap running and 1/4 lap walking. I timed it out of curiosity, and found that I was doing about 60:30 seconds run/walk ratio. Kind of short on walk times, but okay for a short run.

My splits were 14:28, 14:35, and 15:13, so I was slowing down in the last mile, but still keeping up a good pace. I really need to start remembering to bring my watch on weekend runs, so I can time intervals properly. But anyway, it was good to see my pace back down around 15 minute miles again. Guess I can say I'm fully recovered from my knee injury.

Another multi-part mission today! Next time, we go on a rescue mission.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 16

39:55 minutes - 2.57 miles - 15:31 minutes/mile

Getting better. Got my Thursday run done and now I'm back on schedule to do my 3-mile run this Saturday. Felt like my pace was finally getting back to what it was before the knee injury. I ran short intervals today, no chases, running about 3/4 of a lap and then walking the last 1/4. Splits were 15:09, 15:06, and then 16:16 for the last half mile. I think that last bit was slower because I did a bit more walking at the end and backtracked a bit.

At some point, I tripped on a loose rock and fell, landing on my left hip and scraping up my palms a bit. Not sure how far along I was, but that might also have been why I slowed down for the last half mile. Wasn't badly hurt, but my hip was sore for a while. I will probably have a big bruise there.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 15

37:02 minutes - 2.29 miles - 16:09 min/mile

Got my Tuesday run done. Still slow, but steady. Weather was around 60 F with the sun out. I'm always slower with the sun beating down on me, even though it was coolish.

I'm still running with chases turned off. I did intervals, more or less, of two laps running, one lap walking, which should amount to around a 3:2 minute run/walk. I may not have run two laps each time for the first half of the run or so, because I wasn't keeping track and just trying to remember, which never works for me! So I started marking the first running lap by holding out my pinkie finger, and that made sure I knew whether to run another lap when I got around to the start, or to start walking.

Splits were 15:57 and 16:04, pretty close. I hope I start getting my speed back soon.

There was a cute puppy in today's mission! Awww!

Zombies, Run! Visiting Van Ark, 8 miles

2:16:43 hours - 8.05 miles - 16:59 min/mile

 

Finally got the chance to go back and do one of the Season 1 10K race missions, since I had an 8-mile run to do for my half marathon training. It went pretty well—not a fast run, but a good, solid one with no particular aches or pains. My stomach was a bit wonky, but that's a thing that happens, and not related to my injury, so I'm going to call myself recovered from the knee injury and back to normal. Now to just get my speed back up.

I was planning to run 1:1 minute intervals, but I forgot to bring my watch with the countdown timers, so I just decided to wing it. I took walk breaks for a minute or two every quarter to half mile, or whenever I felt like it. Turned out to be mostly quarter miles on the uphill side and half miles on the downhill side. I had to take one bathroom break at the beginning of mile 4, which added three or four minutes to my time, so without that my pace would probably have been closer to 16:30. My splits were 15:56, 16:27, 15:28, 19:35 (that's the one with the bathroom break in it), 17:10, 16:45, 17:14, and 16:37. I slowed down some after four miles, by about 30 seconds per mile, but I still felt strong.

Weather was cool, around 45 F when I started out, but sunny. I brought my jacket with me but only wore it for the first mile while I warmed up. I would have been fine without it.

Now I can finally start getting back on schedule, with my midweek runs on Tuesday and Thursday and my next week run on Saturday. Then I can start doing Monday - Wednesday midweek runs again. I can do the other 10K race mission in two weeks for my 9.5 mile run, then the 20K race missions during the 12 and 14 mile runs.

Today's mission we found out a bit more about Van Ark. Having already started doing the Season 2 missions, I know a bit about how he ended up, but now I know more about how he got there.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 14

38:24 minutes - 2.34 miles - 16:27 min/mile

Well, good for me! I actually did an afternoon run today. Usually, when I can't run in the morning and tell myself I'll do it in the afternoon, I end up skipping it. But today when I got home, I told myself I really needed to get this run in today, and I did.

It wasn't a great run, but not a horrible one. It was a slow one, taking short walk breaks at the end of each lap, and with chases turned off, but that's probably for the best while I'm still recovering from my knee injury. The important thing was to do it. It was also warm today, nearly 70 F and sunny, which always slows me down. (I actually, for some reason, thought it was cold outside—there was a cool breeze, and in the shade it was somewhat cool, but not in the sun! I'd put on a long-sleeved tee-shirt and jacket but as soon as I saw the temperature, I hung up my jacket and put on a short-sleeved tee instead.)

I will probably do the 1:1 minute run/walk ratio for my eight-mile run on Sunday, too. I hope I can get back to where I was before my injury soon. I worry about not being able to maintain a fast enough pace to finish the Star Wars Half Marathon. I need to be able to run a 3:30 half to finish, and right now I'm not managing that pace even on my short midweek runs. But I also need to not push myself too hard and get injured again. So I think it's better if I just run slower for now.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 13

32:11 minutes - 1.94 miles - 16:34 min/mile

Today's run was horrible. The only good thing to be said about it is that I did it. My back was sore and I felt really tired and icky. Couldn't even run a full lap, so I ended up running about three quarters of a lap and then walking the rest of the way. Even then, it was hard.

It was cold today, too. Around 42 F when I went out. I wore my long underwear under long leggings and short-sleeved tee-shirt. I started out wearing my jacket, but took it off after a bit. It was okay in the sun but the shade behind the house was still pretty chilly.

There was one zombie chase, but when I tried to speed up, it sent shooting pains up my back, so I only increased my speed a little bit, and ended up having to drop supplies. It was kind of close, though. I think I was just about to evade when they caught up with me. There would have been another chase, right after the mission ended, but I shut the app off. I would have walked a bit more to get a full two miles in, but I wasn't going to run from zombies! I should have turned the chases off, but I didn't think of it until I'd already started the mission and it was too late. I think I will turn chases off until I've fully recovered from my injury. I keep getting new aches and pains all over from it. My knee is fine now, but my muscles are all weak and easily strained. I need to take it easier, and I also need to get back to running three times a week—I've missed my second midweek run for the last two weeks. I know from back when I was marathon training that when I skipped midweek runs, I was more prone to soreness and strains.

Anyway, I got it done. It was an interesting mission, trying to save some people trapped on a cruise ship that had run aground. And another runner we thought we'd lost shows up! Yay! And another cliffhanger, sort of. Well, I'll find out what happens on Friday.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 12

47:45 minutes - 3.02 miles - 15:47 min/mile

Couple of days late, but I finally did my three mile long run. I thought about just running at home, since it was only three miles, but in the end, I drove to the park and ran there. It was cold today! Low 40s when I left the house, and that wasn't until 10 AM. It was sunny but the wind was bitey. I wore long leggings, short-sleeved tee-shirt, and my zipper jacket. When I stepped out the door, I almost went back inside to put on more clothes, but I figured since it was sunny I'd be fine once I warmed up, and I was.

Overall time wasn't too bad. I'm still slow, but gradually getting my speed back. I didn't run intervals today, but walked after each zombie chase and at the end of each mile. There were two zombie chases, at 3 and 24 minutes. I'd barely started running before the first one, and evaded it fairly easily. The second was uphill at about a mile and a half, but I still evaded it just after the zombies got within 50 meters. Splits were 15:06, 16:04, and 15:28. Slow on the second uphill mile as usual, but pretty good for the other two.

I am going to try to get two short runs in this week before my 8-mile run this weekend. If I run Wednesday and Friday I can do the long run on Sunday and get back on track from there. My right knee was fine today, no twinges or soreness. I think I just need to build up my speed again.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 11

s

37:09 minutes - 2.31 miles - 16:05 min/mile

Back to my regular runs! I was feeling pretty good today, no soreness or twinging at all in my knee. I am still a bit slow, but it will take some time to catch up to where I was before. I did run/walk intervals, not timed, but more or less one lap running, one lap walking.

 

There were three zombie chases, at 3, 14, and 31 minutes. I evaded them all, but the zombies got within 50 meters on the first and last chase, and within 20 meters on the middle one. Still, I did them, and it didn't hurt my knee. My splits were 15:52, 15:45, and 17:03 on that last 0.31 mile (I think I mostly walked it).

Since I did the 10K on Monday, I will just do this one midweek run and my next run will be my long run on Saturday. I'm only scheduled to do 3 miles, so that will work out fine. Then I'll have another week to build up some more strength before my 8-mile run the week after.

Today's mission was a cliffhanger, and pretty exciting! Although I did have to wonder what I was doing picking up supplies when I was running for my life from a zombie horde with a child in my arms...

Zombies, Run! Virtual Race 10K

1:48:07 hours - 6.40 miles - 16:53 min/mile

I did it! Decided after all to try the 10K — I thought it would be better to do the mileage I needed for my half marathon training, even if I did it very slowly, so I didn't get too far behind on that. If my knee started to hurt, I figured I'd just do more walking.

I drove to the park and got started around 9 AM. Fortunately, the weather was cloudy and cool, and stayed that way pretty much the whole time, so I didn't have to worry about the sun slowing me down! I took my sport watch and started out with a 1:1 minute run/walk ratio, which was what the watch was already programmed for. I kept my running pace nice and easy, and there were no zombie chases to worry about, so I just jogged along. Felt fine for the first 5K or so, but then my knee started to twinge, so I increased my walk breaks to 2 minutes for the next kilometer or so. Then my knee stopped twinging, so I went back to 1:1.

I made sure to drink some water every mile or so, and ate a GU at 3 miles. I didn't get tired or sore anywhere except the knee, so everything else was fine. After about 8 K, my knee started twinging again. I started to do the increased walk breaks, but they didn't seem to be helping. I was on the downhill stretch at that point, and it felt like I was jolting my right leg when I slowed down from my run breaks, so I just kept running. That worked until near the end, when my knee suddenly went, Nope! So I just walked the last few tenths.

My splits were 15:39, 16:55, 16:26, 17:20, 17:27, and 16:37. The first three miles weren't too bad. I slowed down after that mostly because of my knee and increasing the walk breaks. If my knee hadn't been bothering me, I probably could have kept it to around 16:30, which isn't bad considering I'm coming off of a two-week break due to an injury. Anyway I wasn't trying to go fast, just to finish without overdoing it, which I did.

The mission was fun, too. I'm glad I did the training runs, they added to the story. It was pretty exciting in places! It's cool how you get wrapped up in the story and really want to run in the dangerous spots. And my tee-shirt is awesome. Really glad I decided to sign up for the Virtual Race!

Zombies, Run! S2. Training Mission #2

44:30 minutes - 2.59 miles - 17:12 min/mile

Meant to run yesterday but got up too late to run before going to town, and didn't feel like it when I got home. Didn't really feel like it today, either, but I pushed myself out the door a little after 1 PM and finally got it done. It was chilly this morning, so I wore my long leggings and wool socks, but when I got outside it was 75 F and sunny and I should have worn shorts! But I didn't feel like going back inside to change, so I went ahead as I was.

The good news is that I think my leg is finally healed. I didn't feel any aches or twinges at all. The bad news is I'm still really slow, although I did do better than last time. I walked the first 10 minutes or so, and then slowly eased into running one lap/walking one lap. There was one zombie chase at 9 minutes, which I evaded. My splits were 17:26, 16:49, and 16:55, so I picked up some speed as I went along. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get back to my former speed. Today's run was probably slowed down a bit by the heat, too.

I think I will do the Virtual Race on Monday, and just do the 5K. Treat it like a midweek run, and resume doing long runs next Saturday. I'm only scheduled to do three miles next Saturday, because I was supposed to do 6.5 miles today, so that will be doable. Week after is supposed to be 8 miles, I don't know if I'll be able to do that, but we'll see how I feel when the time comes. If I slow down my pace, I can probably do the distance.

Zombies, Run! S1. Training Mission #1

43:23 minutes - 2.48 miles - 17:32 min/mile

Starting to feel like this whole training season is cursed! Last run was October 4, a Tuesday. The next day, I fell off the back of my truck while trying to pull the swamp cooler out of the window (it's too high up to handle from the ground, but the truck bed is just the right height to reach it) and strained my knee and pulled my calf muscle, and was too sore to run for a whole two weeks. In fact, my calf is still sore, but I am walking and moving okay and decided to try a slow, easy workout. I walked most of the way. After about 18 minutes I thought I might try running every other lap, but I'd only done one lap when I got a zombie chase, which was really hard to evade even though I'd been mostly walking up until then, so I decided to just walk the rest of the way except for zombie chases. There was one more chase at 31 minutes, which I evaded a little easier than the first one.

I felt fine walking but my knee is a little achy now. I hope I don't set myself back again.

So, I missed a 5-mile run two weeks ago and a 2.5-mile run last week. This week I'm scheduled for a 6-mile run, which I was going to make the Zombies, Run! Virtual Race 10k. My hope is that I can do the second training run on Friday, then the Virtual Race on Sunday, and just forget about speed and do a lot of walking. I want to still try to do the mileage I had planned, because I have no extra weeks built in to my marathon training schedule. I'll either have to catch up now or skip runs at the end, and I don't want to do that. But it will depend on how my knee feels. If it starts to get worse, I'll have to back off.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 10

33:31 minutes - 2.12 miles - 15:50 min/mile

Curse seems to have moved to Monday—this week, I was awakened at 3 AM Monday morning by a phone call from my mom's assisted living home. She'd been having nightmares and was all agitated and I had to go calm her down. Didn't get home till nearly 5 AM, went back to bed and slept for a couple more hours but felt groggy and dizzy all morning. So, no run yesterday.

Today's run was meh. I slept in a bit late, but it was still only around 50 F outside so it was fine for running. But I still felt tired and had a hard time getting going. I had already started the mission when I remembered that I'd turned the chases off, and I didn't want to stop the run to turn them on, so I just ran without them. Since I wasn't running with chases, I decided to do run/walk intervals, running one lap, then walking one. That felt easier but I was still tired. Splits were 15:54 and 15:23.

I downloaded the next mission and turned zombie chases back on, so I'll have them for Thursday's run.

Not sure when I'll get this week's long run in. I have plans for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's only five miles, so I could squeeze it in Sunday morning if I get up early enough.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 9, 4 miles

1:03:18 hours - 4.01 miles - 15:47 min/mile

I was checking my training plan for the Star Wars Half Marathon to see how many miles I would do on my long run each weekend, assuming I followed the Zombies, Run! training plan, and saw that it only trains up to 12 miles before the half. That, plus the fact that it's five days a week, made me decide not to use that plan. So I went back to my Jeff Galloway schedules to see when I'd have to start to use the beginner's half marathon schedule (didn't feel up to doing the speed-increasing one, considering how blah I've been lately), and it turned out I'd already started. Heh. First week would have been last week for three miles, which, coincidentally, is what I ran last week. This week was four miles. So I did four miles this week, and I am officially training for Star Wars in January!

I went to the park to run, got there just before 8 AM. The weather was cool and sunny, just over 50 F when I started out, but warm enough in the sun once I got going. I turned off the zombie chases—I feel like they've been really tiring me out and making it hard to do even the short runs, and I didn't want to risk having a couple of chases right at the beginning using up all my energy. It felt weird not to have to worry about running from the zombies! But nice to just keep up a steady pace for my whole run. I didn't use a run/walk interval, but I did walk for a few minutes at the end of each mile. I don't know if I'll keep doing that for the longer runs or start doing run/walk/run at some point. I'll wait and see how I feel. If I decide to do timed intervals, I'll just use my sport watch, because I want to keep doing the Zombies, Run! missions.

I wore my running belt with water bottle even though it was not that long a run, because I didn't want to take the chance of getting dehydrated and having my blood pressure drop. I made sure to drink at 2 miles. I also took one GU with me and ate it at 3 miles. Going to try to keep up a schedule of drinking water every two miles and eating every three miles.

I felt pretty good and kept up a decent pace. Not my fastest, but under 16 minute miles, so I'm not complaining, especially with how crummy I've been feeling lately. My splits were 14:57, 16:33, 15:06, and 16:11—faster on the downhill miles, but I did slow down overall by more than a minute on the final mile, which was the same lower loop as the first mile.

Turns out I'll have a 6.5 mile run during the week of the Zombies, Run! Virtual Race, which will be perfect for doing the 10K.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 8

36:52 minutes - 2.26 miles - 16:17 minutes/mile

The alarm woke me at 7 AM, I went back to sleep until the cat woke me at 7:30 AM, so I got up and ran, but I felt tired and slow the whole time. In fact, I gave up running after about 20 minutes and just walked the rest of the way.

Two zombie chases, at 3 and 17 minutes. The first one came so soon, I wasn't even really warmed up yet, even though I am walking two laps (about 4 minutes) before starting my missions. I felt tired already and the zombies got within 50 meters before I evaded, something that usually doesn't happen on my first chase of the day any more. The second chase was even worse—I tried to speed up, but about halfway through I said, forget it, let the zombies get me, and started walking. Somehow, I managed to evade them even so. I guess I'd gone fast enough the first half of the chase to stay ahead. It was soon after that that I decided to go ahead and walk the rest of the way.

Splits were 15:10, 16:31, and 18:14 for that last little quarter mile. Not bad while I was running, and even walking most of the second mile didn't slow me down that much.

I went to a cardiologist and had a stress test yesterday. It was only about 10 minutes walking and running on a treadmill, but I felt exhausted afterwards and never really recovered. Maybe I'm still worn out from it.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 7

41:21 minutes - 2.56 miles - 16:10 min/mile

Slow run today—although I did a bit of switching back that probably made my time register slower than it really was. I accidentally put my running belt on upside down, and then when I went to put my phone in the left pocket where I always put it, my handkerchief was in that pocket. I'd put in a fresh handkerchief this morning, and somehow assumed it was in the right pocket and the one in the left pocket was an old one I'd missed. So I ran up onto the porch to put the "extra" handkerchief on the chair. Then, later, when I actually wanted to use the handkerchief, my right pocket was empty. So I had to turn around and run back to the porch to pick up the handkerchief so I could blow my nose. (Running always makes my nose run. I don't know why. Hot or cold weather, my nose runs.) I don't think the GPS is accurate enough to tell when I turn around and run back 10–20 feet, then turn again and cover the same ground. It probably thinks I'm standing still the whole time.

The other reason I was slow—and slowed way down over the course of the run—was two zombie chases  early, at 5 and 15 minutes. They really wore me out, I think, and slowed me down later. My splits were 14:43, 16:22, and 17:18.

But I got my run done, and that's the main thing. Today's mission was kind of funny, in that most of the time we were blockaded inside an old farmhouse against a horde of zombies. And yet I was still being chased by zombies in the living room, and I was apparently looting these people's house as I went around, picking up shorts in the library and a radio in the living room and so on.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 6

47:20 minutes - 3.12 miles - 15:09 min/mile

Had intended to run yesterday (Saturday), but I made the mistake of drinking a Coke with lunch on Friday—I have lately done some experimenting with caffeine, and decided that I wasn't as sensitive as I used to be, so I've been having the occasional Coke with varied results. Friday's result was as bad as it has ever been—I couldn't sleep that night for hours and hours. Finally got a bit of sleep after 4 AM, slept in late and felt really icky when I finally got up, and skipped my run. Kept telling myself I'd rest a while and run later, but eventually just gave up.

But I slept reasonably well last night, and was able to get up at 7 AM and head out to the park. I was supposed to run 3.1 miles for my 10K training program, and was going to just run at home, but I've been feeling really depressed lately and having a hard time getting myself to run, and I thought it would be easier and more fun to run at the park. Which it was. Nice weather, low to mid 60s. I didn't get to the park until nearly 8 AM, but it was still reasonably cool.

Started off having a good laugh at Jack and Eugene, which was great to get me going. There were three zombie chases, at 21, 28, and 34 minutes. The first was was uphill, near the beginning of the second mile. I'd walked a bit after the first mile and was still feeling fairly fresh, so I still managed to evade fairly easily. The second chase, though, was near the top of the hill, still uphill and only seven minutes after the first—that one was really hard! I kept trying to put on bursts of speed, but my legs felt like water and just couldn't keep it up. Despite that, I evaded the zombies, although they got within 50 meters maybe halfway through the chase. The third chase was after the turnaround, downhill, but I was still tired from the second chase and the zombies got within 50 meters again, but I did evade them. Whew!

Splits were 14:47, 15:18, and 14:42. Kept up a pretty good pace on the second, uphill mile—must have been those chases! Good time, I'm pleased.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 5

43:25 minutes - 2.81 miles - 15:28 min/mile

I managed to avoid the Wednesday curse this week! Had a Tuesday curse instead—really bad day Monday, barely slept Monday night, felt exhausted all day yesterday. But I was tired enough to sleep last night, and was able to get up at 7 AM and get out there and run.

It was a longish run today, but I still kept up a pretty good pace. Splits were 14:59, 15:29, and 15:32. Slowed down a bit but not too much and the third mile was virtually the same as the second. There were three zombie chases, at 6, 9, and 36 minutes. Those first two were very close together! I hadn't even finished walking a lap after the first one when the second one started. Evaded both of them before the zombies got close. The third one was near the end and I was getting tired. I'd run myself down to a walk and decided to walk a lap, and the chase started coincidentally just as I was finishing the lap. I was glad I'd taken a walk break, it made evading the zombies much easier! They got within 50 meters but I evaded right after.

It was a happy story today, which I was very glad of. Monday's mission was a downer. I suspect I was actually putting it off because I didn't want to run it. (Could have skipped it, I guess, but that wouldn't have felt right, either.) I've been battling depression lately and putting myself into a story where someone—a person, not a zombie—was actively trying to kill me was not helpful to my state of mind. So today's mission, where we got to find one of our lost people alive, was very welcome.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 4

32:48 minutes - 2.16 miles - 15:11 min/mile

Having a really hard time getting out to run lately. I feel so exhausted and weak so much of the time, I feel sick. I set the alarm for 7 AM, but when it goes off, I can't drag myself out of bed. I tell myself I'll run later, but by the time I've gotten up and finished morning chores, it's already too hot. I think I'll try running in the evening after it cools down, but it doesn't cool down until the sun goes down, and then it's dark so quickly I don't have time. After missing a few runs, I just gave up again.

But I've been feeling a little better these past few days, so I tried again. And it was a pretty good run today, back to my near-15 minute miles. Splits were 15:20 and 14.55—increased my speed a little in the second mile, probably mostly due to the zombie chase at 25 minutes. Only one chase today, which I was glad of.

I wonder if the high-potency iron pills I recently tried have been the reason I'm feeling better. My red blood cell count was just under the low end of the normal range, but my doctor didn't seem to think it was low enough to be a problem, even though my tiredness, dizziness, irritability, insomnia, and so on are all pretty much textbook symptoms of anemia. I did feel ever-so-slightly better when I started taking a multivitamin with iron in it, but the 18 mg dose of iron in the vitamin pill isn't really enough to treat serious anemia. The other day I decided to see if there was a higher dose iron pill, and found some with 65 mg of iron. Took one Friday and one Saturday and each time felt horrible—sick to my stomach, clammy and dizzy, extremely bad-tempered. But I woke up yesterday, Sunday, feeling much better. Stronger and in a much better mood. So maybe I did need the iron, even though I seemed to have a reaction to the pills?

Anyway. I got in a good run today, and hope I'll be able to keep it up. I've got to start training for my next half marathon by the end of next month!

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 3

40:50 minutes - 2.51 miles - 16:16 min/mile

The Wednesday curse hit me again, so I ended up doing my second run today, on Thursday. (I should probably just forget about trying to do a Mon–Wed–Sat schedule and say it's going to be Mon–Thu–Sat. Anyway, either one works just as well.)

I got up at 7 AM and didn't feel tired, but blah, what a slow, sloggy run I did today. Partly, I think, I was trying to take it easy, since I knew it was a 40-minute mission, and didn't want to run out of steam early. But really, I was just slow and energy-less today. I wonder how long it will take to get back to running mostly 15-minute miles? Seems like I really lost a lot of momentum taking those two weeks off.

There were two zombie chases, at 9 and 28 minutes, and I evaded both. The first one they got within 20 meters, and the second one 50 meters although I evaded just after. I felt like I hadn't really gotten warmed up yet on the first one—it was hard to make my legs move faster. The second one was easier. My splits were 15:56, 16:09, and 16:15. So I didn't slow down much, which is one good thing.

Still didn't have any instruction from the training plan. I guess I'm just supposed to time it myself. Anyway, I attached today's run, which is 10 minutes more than the training run was supposed to be, so it qualifies. The Saturday run is supposed to be 1.9 miles, which I'll have no trouble doing with a 30-minute mission.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 2

36:28 minutes - 2.34 miles - 15:35 min/mile

I started the 10K Beginner training plan today, sort of. It was a bit confusing — I enrolled in the training plan, then it said to attach an existing run or start a new one, so I went ahead and backed out and started the new mission. The training plan banner was above the mission start button, so I figured it was attached, but there were no training messages during the run. (The training plan was supposed to be run 15 min, walk 2 min, run 15 min.) After the mission, there was a button to check to include the mission in the training plan, which I did, so it counts as a training plan run, but while I was running it was just the normal mission. I suspect I was supposed to tap the banner for the training plan before I started the mission. I'll try that next time.

But, in any case, I did my run. The 10K Beginner plan is three runs a week, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. The Monday and Wednesday runs are 30 – 40 minutes, with a longer run on Saturday. Pretty much what I'm used to in training for marathons. I think that will work better than trying to run 4–5 times a week. This should get me ready to do the 10K Virtual Race at the end of October, and also there should be time to squeeze in the two 10K race missions and find out what I missed from Season 1!

It was an okay run today. Three zombie chases, at 9, 15, and 30 minutes, all of which I evaded. I walked a lap or so after each chase, so I guess I sort of did my walk/run intervals as intended. My splits were 15:11, 15:21, and 16:32. Still slowing down at the end, but the first two miles were fairly even. I managed to strain my right hamstring again last time, so I was trying to take it easy today.

At least the weather is better than it was earlier in the summer! Nice and cool, around 50 F when I started out.

Zombies, Run! Season 2 Mission 1

43:28 minutes - 2.80 miles - 15:30 min/mile

Welp, it looks like I took a couple of weeks off. I was having a bad bout of depression and the "I don't want to"s were getting really hard to overcome, so I decided to take a week off and relax. And that turned into several weeks. A couple of times I meant to start running again, but I just didn't. Yesterday I finally made up my mind to do it. Meditated for 15 minutes last night (I'd quit doing yoga and meditating, too), then set the alarm for 7 AM—with the days getting shorter and the weather cooling down a bit, I decided 7 AM was early enough to start.

And I got up at 7 and went out and ran. Went ahead and started Season 2—I'll fill in the races later, or not, whatever. I'm thinking I may start the 10K training program on Monday and see how that goes. Don't know if I'll be able to finish it before starting the half marathon training at the end of October... have to check my calendar later and figure it out.

Anyways. It was a longish mission today, and I felt tired and slow. Overall pace wasn't bad, but my splits were 14:49, 15:16, and 16:10 —really slowing down. But I'll pick up again once I get back into it. There were three zombie chases, at 8, 22, and 36 minutes. I evaded them all, but it was hard.

I'm confused about the story. Looks like Abel's survivors have moved to New Canton and are running joint operations. I remember starting this mission by accident and then stopping it, and I thought it started differently. Oh well, nothing to do about it but just keep going anyway.

Zombies, Run! Mission Big Cheese

1:00:14 hours - 4.00 miles - 15:03 min/mile

Welp, once again, I don't know what I'm doing. Just today, as I was getting ready to head for the park for my 4-mile run, I finally noticed that there are actually six Season 1 race missions—not three—a 5, 10, and 20 K for Abel Township, and a 5, 10, and 20 K for New Canton. So I decided to run the New Canton 5K today, and just tack an extra mile onto the end. Which I did. It seems to be the same events as the Abel Township 5K, only from the point of view of a couple of New Canton runners who just happened to be going to the same location as Abel. I was still Runner 5, only I was New Canton's Runner 5, which was rather disorienting, especially when we were watching the Abel Township runner (who, I assume, was Runner 5, which was me, only I was somebody else. Help!).

So, I figured what I'd do is, next week I'll do the Abel 10K, and just walk the last mile, and then the week after, I can do the New Canton 10K, and run the full race. Then I'll have two 20Ks to fit in somewhere, but whatever.

Pretty good time today. Managed to stick to my usual 15:03 minute/mile pace overall. Splits were 13:57, 15:41, 14:46, and 15:37. You can really tell which miles were uphill! Although, that first mile was half uphill and still under 14 minutes, hmm. Going out too fast, I think, but it didn't really seem to slow me down too much. I walked a bit at the end of each mile, only a minute or so. Didn't feel like I really needed it, but thought it would be a good idea anyway. My stomach was a bit wonky, but not enough to bother me. My left hip got a twinge in it for the last mile or so, don't know what's up with that. Anyway, good run overall. Might try to do four runs next week instead of three, but I don't know where I'll fit them in. Maybe Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, if I can avoid the Wednesday Curse, plus Saturday at the park. I won't be able to run on Thursday due to a medical appointment, so we'll just see how it goes.

Zombies, Run! Radio Abel Season 1

31:36 minutes - 2.03 miles - 15:33 min/mile

I had planned to run three days this week: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, but as usual, Wednesday was a bad day, so I ended up doing my second run today, on Thursday. (I should just stop scheduling runs on Wednesday, then I won't be disappointed when I don't make it.) I feel like I've been off forever, but it's only been two days. Since I've been running 4–5 days a week, I don't usually have two days off. Running three days a week feels like I've been sloughing off, although I always trained for my marathons and half marathons three days a week, so it shouldn't seem so bad. But I've had a stressful week and I've been skipping yoga and meditation, too. I just sort of feel like everything's falling apart. I've got a doctor's appointment today, maybe that will help.

Anyway. I felt slow today, and it looks like I was a bit slower than usual. I ran to Radio Abel and played Hawkwind's Warrior on the Edge of Time. I did a quick estimate of how long the album was, and it came to over 40 minutes, so I didn't run the whole album. There was one zombie chase, at 28 minutes, which I evaded. It helped that I'd decided to put my speed increase down to 10%!

I got up this morning at around 6:40 and didn't get out to run until almost 7, but the morning was cool. Sun's coming up a bit later now anyway, so I might just move my morning wake-up notification up to 6:30 AM.

Zombies, Run! Radio Abel Season 1

31:07 minutes - 2.06 miles - 15:05 min/mile

Well, that didn't work out. I intended to start the 10K training program this morning, so I enrolled in the program and started the app—and then found out that it works by attaching the training program to a mission, so the training sessions aren't missions in themselves. I accidentally downloaded and started running Season 2 Mission 1, then I went Ack! this isn't right and stopped the mission while I tried to decide what to do. There was no point running the training program along with Season 2—the whole point of the training program was to get me to 10K so I could run that before starting Season 2. I thought about re-running the Season 1 missions, or interval missions, or something; but then I decided there was really no point doing the training program, if it isn't its own separate missions. I can easily train up to 10K in a couple of weeks using Radio Abel or the supply missions or intervals. I've already done the 5K (3 miles), so if I do 4 miles this week, then 5 miles next week, I can do the 10K the week after without too much trouble. 

As for the 20K, forget it. This is getting way too complicated. I'll try to work it in later, just to play it, but I'm going to go ahead and start Season 2 after the 10K.

So, anyway, for today's run, I played some more of Radio Abel Season 1. For timing, I decided that most albums are around 30 - 40 minutes, so I'd just play an  album and run till it was done. This morning, it was Pink Floyd's Animals album. I actually started the run a little bit into the album, because I was playing it while I did a couple of warmup laps, and then while I was standing around trying to decide what to do about my run. But the rest of it was pretty close to 2 miles, so that worked out well. I think I had zombie chases turned on, but there weren't any during this run, so that was fine. I kept up a good pace and ran the whole way.

It's fun to have Jack and Eugene say, okay, here's the next song, and then hear Pink Floyd. I guess in my universe, Radio Abel is AOR!

Zombies, Run! Mission Ultra-Violet

46:10 minutes - 3.17 miles - 14:35 min/mile

Today I ran the 5K race mission, Ultra-Violet. I went to the park to run it, since it was a longer run, and distance-based, so I wanted the GPS to be more accurate. And also because it was more fun! I wore my belt with the water bottle, even though it was a short run, to make sure I stayed hydrated. The weather was cool-ish, around 70 F, but the sun was out and beating down on me when I wasn't in the shade, so I'm glad I had the water.

There were two zombie chases, at 12 and 29 minutes. The first one was just as I was finishing the lower loop, and I was getting tired from going uphill and looking forward to taking a little walk once I reached the parking lot, and then—zombies! I tried, but I couldn't evade them and had to drop supplies. That's the first time since my first run, but oh well. Second one came just as I was at the turnaround at the top of the hill, so got to run downhill and evaded them easily.

My splits were 13:55, 15:04, and 14:30. Huh, no wonder I couldn't evade that first zombie mob, I went out pretty fast. Cool that I managed to keep my second mile near 15 minutes, since that one is all uphill. I'm pretty pleased with my time.

Now, to figure out how to manage the 10K. The Zombies, Run! app has a beginner's 10K training plan, three days a week for eight weeks. I may do that. Hm, if I start on Monday, it will get me to 10K on October 1.  Couple of weeks later, I can run the Virtual Race 10K on Sat October 22, then start training for the Disneyland Half Marathon on Monday the 24th. Once I'm trained up for a Half Marathon, I'll be able to do the 20K, and then finally I'll be ready to start Season 2 near the end of January! (Or maybe I'll start sneaking in Season 2 missions on the in-between weeks—I don't think I'll mind too much doing the races out of order.)

Zombies, Run! Season 1 Interval #1

27:02 minutes - 1.81 miles - 14:53 min/mile

Blah. Almost blew it off today. I didn't sleep well last night and felt so groggy when I woke up this morning, I decided to heck with it and stayed in bed. But after half an hour or so, I went ahead and got up and ran. Pretty good time, despite feeling yucky. I used the Interval Training mission again, with Interval #1, which had some 30 second sprints and a couple of 1 minute sprints followed by 1 minute walks. It went pretty well, although some of my sprints weren't very sprint-worthy. I walked a couple of laps before and after the mission, but not on the app.

Didn't run Wednesday this week, either. Another night I lay awake for hours in the middle of the night and slept in late instead. Meh. Four days a week of running is enough.

Zombies, Run! Interval 2

32:29 minutes - 2.02 miles - 16:07 minutes/mile

Today, I decided to try one of the interval training missions. There are three already set up, and you can also design your own. I did Interval #2, because it had walk intervals following all the sprints. It was basically jog for 1.5 - 5 minutes, sprint 30s, walk 1 minute. I was a bit slow today, but I think that's mostly because the mission was 25 minutes and I left it running while I walked a couple of laps to cool down and to get my distance up to 2 miles - my splits were 15:19 and 16:37.

The mission was to clear out a nest of zombies: I'd run out to the nest, get a bunch of zombies to come after me, and lead them back to the kill box, where people with rifles could pick them off. I like that even when you're just doing intervals, there's a story to keep things interesting.

Zombies, Run! Radio Abel: Season 1

32:53 minutes - 2.12 miles - 15:32 minutes/mile

Well, I was all set to start Season 2 today, but when I brought up the next mission, there was a message saying they recommended completing the Race missions before starting Season 2. The races say they are the "hidden story at the end of Season 1," and there are three of them: 5K, 10K, and 20K. Erm. 5K I can do, although I'd rather wait until Saturday and do it at the park. 10K... probably, if I go slow and take walk breaks (and turn chases off). 20K, though, is pretty far without training up to it. So I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that. I really want to run them and hear the story! I wonder if you can run them in sections? Radio Abel has Resume/Restart buttons, maybe the Races do, too. That would be okay, I could stretch out the 20K over three or four days. Even split the 10K in half.

Meanwhile, I had to decide what to do today, if I wasn't going to run the 5K. The app has various other kinds of missions you can run, besides training missions—air drops, supply runs, interval training—and there, down at the bottom (off screen if you don't scroll down, so I never noticed it before) was Radio Abel! There's a Radio show for each season that you can play and just run as long as you like, so I decided to run to that, and just do 2 miles. The only inconvenience was that the app doesn't tell you when you're done, so I had to judge for myself when to pull out my phone and check how far I'd gone, but I guess after doing all these 30-minute runs, I was able to estimate fairly well. There weren't any zombie chases, which was fine with me, I just ran till I was done. Felt a bit slow but my pace wasn't too far off.

Zombies, Run! Season 1 Mission 23

30:50 minutes - 2.05 miles - 15:01 min/mile

Nooooooooo! I thought the season finale would end with some answers, but everything is even more up in the air than before! Well, at least I can start Season 2 right away. There are currently 5 seasons out, so I can go for a while before I run out of story. It looks like the following seasons are longer (Season 2 is 45 missions, plus 16 side missions and 3 Halloween missions), so they'll last me longer than Season 1 did. Although Season 5 only has 20 missions currently, so maybe they're still working on that one.

Anyway, it was a good run. Bettered my pace by one second over my last run! Heh. There was one zombie chase, at 24 minutes, which I evaded before they got within 50 meters.

I decided to use the app's music player instead of playing music externally, to make it a little less complicated. You have to select an already-created playlist; fortunately, I had made up several playlists for use with the Galloway app (which I don't think I ever used, I always used to make up playlists for the day's run on the spot), so I used the Prince of Darkness one, which is basically the soundtrack to John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness, plus, I think, another album of horror tv/movie themes. I love listening to Prince of Darkness while I run—it has a sort of hypnotic quality that keeps you going without being too distracting. It's also good zombie story accompaniment! The whole album is nearly two hours long, so it's good for long runs. Lately, I never get through it all, but when I start half-marathon training again, it will be handy.

Zombies, Run! Season 1 Mission 22

35:05 minutes - 2.33 miles - 15:02 min/mile

Another cliffhanger! Next one's the season finale, though, so I'll finally find out what happens to Abel Township.

I skipped running on Wednesday, as well as taking my usual day off Thursday, because I'd bought a window swamp cooler on Tuesday afternoon and spend Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning installing it. It's a huge thing (87 pounds) and I had to lift it in and out of the window numerous times before I got it right, so I got plenty of exercise without running on those two days. So that leaves the finale for tomorrow.

There were two zombie chases today, at 2 and 16 minutes. I was very glad I'd decided to walk a couple of laps to warm up before starting the mission when that first chase came! I wasn't even really warmed up then, my right hamstring (which never really completely healed after I strained it nearly a year ago while training for Long Beach) was stiff and I couldn't really sprint, so the zombies got within 50 meters before I evaded. But the second chase I evaded before they got within 50 meters, and that one felt better. I walked a little after both chases.

I felt kind of slow and blah today, but my time says not. Splits were 14:46, 14:53, and 15:35. I don't know if I really slowed down that much in my last .33 miles, but I was feeling tired. It would be nice to do a run with an overall pace under 15 minutes. My pace has been steadily getting a little faster and it's close now.

Zombies, Run! Season 1 Mission 21

31:13 minutes - 2.03 miles - 15:21 min/mile

Well, that was a bit of a cliffhanger! Now I want to run the next mission right away. Heh. Have to wait until tomorrow. (And then take a day off and wait until Thursday for the season finale... unless I get impatient and run on Thursday!)

Felt pretty good today, woke up at quarter to six and lazed in bed until the 6 AM beep. Today's mission was 29 minutes, but I didn't adjust it, just ran an extra lap after the mission to make up my two miles. There were no zombie chases during the mission, but one right after, which I evaded without letting them get within 50 meters! Go me! Even managed to keep running after the chase, although I didn't quite finish the lap I was running—I'd already done two miles, and was coming up on the hill at the top of the driveway, so I decided it was good enough.

My splits were 15:30 and 15:02. Still faster in the second half. Hm. Although the GPS distances aren't completely accurate, the second split has pretty consistently been faster than the first, so I think there might be something there. Before, I thought it was from walking the first lap, but these last few runs I've been walking my warmup laps before the mission, and running as soon as the mission starts. Probably I'm still just warming up during the first mile.

I walked two laps before starting the mission, and a lap and a bit after. I think the walking does help. I've been feeling better this week, after having a rough time last week. I think my mood is better, after planning some outings and getting out of the house for some fun. I'm excited about doing the Disneyland Star Wars Half Marathon in January.

Zombies, Run! Season 1 Mission 20

30:48 minutes - 2.04 miles - 15:07 min/mile

Back to the zombies! This season's story line is really starting to heat up. Only three more missions to go in Season 1, so I'll finish it this week.

I somehow slept right through the 6 AM beep on my phone, but woke up around 6:15 AM anyway and got up. Yesterday was a draggy day; I hadn't slept well and ended up sleeping in until after 8 AM. I guess I was tired enough to sleep well last night and feel fine today (so far)!

Today, I decided to walk a couple of laps before and after the mission to warm up and cool down. Probably a good idea, especially since my back and right hamstring were twinging this morning when I got up. Must have slept wrong, or maybe strained myself a little doing yoga last night. Anyway, I felt fine once I got going. There were two zombie chases today, at 3 and 18 minutes, both of which I evaded and managed to keep running after. My split times were 14:48 and 15:10, so I slowed a bit in the second mile. I have to remind myself, though, that the GPS isn't entirely accurate on these short loops around the house, so there's a margin of error on those times.

After thinking about it, I decided that it's just too hot to start training for a half marathon—it's been in the 90s for most of the summer, and is only going to be getting hotter through August, and I don't want to be out running long runs in the heat. Just now, I was checking out the Zombies, Run! training plans, and they have a half marathon training program that pretty much follows the daily schedule I'm doing now—shorter runs Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri and a long run on Saturday. Hm. Not now, though. Maybe I'll try it for a late winter/spring half marathon when I can start training in November or so. I've still never done a Disney half marathon. Last year they had one in January; if they do that again, I think I'll sign up for it!

Edit: Well, allrighty, I checked and the Disneyland Star Wars Half Marathon is January 15, 2017, and registration is open, so I went ahead and registered. If I use the Zombies, Run! 12 week half marathon training plan, I'll need to start training the week of October 24. It will be interesting to try a different training plan—one that has runs 5 days a week instead of 3 days a week, like Jeff Galloway's schedule. Not sure how that will work out, but I'll find out starting in October! If it's too much, I can always cut back after a few weeks. I'm excited! I've been wanting to do one of Disneyland's half marathons for years, and now I'm finally going to do it!