Season 1, Mission 12: Alternates

Uncovered the story behind the zombie plague - and Patient Zero

37:36 minutes - 2 miles

I have been having a lot of trouble getting up early enough to go out and run. The smoke from all the fires this summer has been making me feel icky and making my nose bleed. So I decided to join a gym, so I could run indoors on a treadmill at any time during the day.

I've actually been to the gym twice, last Friday and Monday, doing about half an hour on the treadmill each time, along with some weights on Friday. So I've only really missed two runs.

Today, I ran a Zombies, Run! mission while I treadmilled. I used the interval program, set for 35 minutes (with a five-minute cooldown). I had to stop and re-start the mission after a couple of minutes because I forgot that I wasn't running outdoors and couldn't use the GPS to track my distance. They have a setting to use step count x average stride but I didn't know what to put for my stride offhand, so I just turned tracking off. The treadmill said I covered a little over two miles. I know these things are not totally accurate but it seemed about right.

The interval program sets interval length based on how long your session is. At 35 minutes, I was doing about 2 minute intervals. I set it to do a 1% incline and 3.7 MPH for the running intervals and 0% incline at 3.1 MPH for the walking intervals. I think that's about a 17.6 min/mile? Not fast but not far off from my usual midweek pace.

After my run, I did a short full-body workout. I feel pretty good now. I plan to do weights three times a week along with a 30–45 minute session on the treadmill. I have one session a week with a personal trainer scheduled, starting next Monday.

Haven't yet decided what to do about long runs, if anything. Maybe just wait till the weather cools down. Or, if I go to the gym Monday-Wednesday-Friday, I could still do a long run at the park on Saturday, as long as I don't do a long session on the treadmill on Friday.

Week 9: Three miles

3.36 miles - 56:20 minutes - 16.8 min/mile

15:28 min Magic Mile

Ran at the park this morning, using Jeff Galloway's 13.1 app. I decided to run the uphill loop first, so the Magic Mile at mile 2 would be downhill instead of uphill. I kind of felt like I was cheating, but I figured that it had to be one or the other—either an advantage running downhill, or a disadvantage running uphill, and I might as well give myself the advantage this time. I suppose the only way to make it even would be to arrange it so I'm running the Magic Mile on the downside loop, so it's half down and half up. Maybe next time.

Anyway, I had set my alarm for 6 AM, but was awake at 5:40 so went ahead and got up. It was nice weather at the park, a few clouds and still hazy from all the smoke, nice breeze and around 70 F. My Magic Mile was a pretty good pace, below 16 min for a change, but my overall pace was about usual. I had one Blok at 2 miles or so. I think I have two or three more packs of Bloks. I should probably think about getting some more soon.

Season 1, Mission 11: Back to School

Ran back to the hospital to investigate the CDC file and source of the zombie plague

1.98 miles - 33:57 minutes - 17:09 min/mile

Got my second run of the week done. Had no trouble getting up at 6 AM — I'd been awake since 5, and got up a minute before the alarm. Pretty good run today. The weather has been a bit cooler. It wasn't as chilly as yesterday, but there was a cool breeze.

One zombie chase at 23 minutes, which I evaded without letting them get within 50 meters. I was beginning to wonder when I'd get another chase! Splits were 17:18 and 16:37. I guess that's what a zombie chase does for my time!

Glad I was able to run two days in a row and get my weekday runs in without any trouble. I was worried that I was going to start losing momentum, but I think I'm good.

Season 1, Mission 10: Tess

Tracked down a traitor fleeing Abel Township with stolen military intel

 

1.65 miles - 28:23 minutes - 17:14 min/mile

Ran Wednesday instead of Tuesday, because I had a long drive planned yesterday and didn't get much sleep, and didn't want to be too tired on the way home. I've been thinking anyway that I should change my running schedule—if I do the 4-hour round trip drive every Tuesday, I would rather not be getting up early to run on that day. So I will try Monday and Wednesday instead of Tuesday and Thursday. Except this week, I already didn't run Monday so I will have to run Wednesday and Thursday. I don't generally like running two days in a row, but every once in a while it's okay. And I've got a short one this weekend.

Today's run went pretty well. Weather was chilly when I got up, so I wore long leggings and a long-sleeved shirt. Didn't really need them once I got going, but it was nice for the first few laps. There's still a lot of smoke in the air from all the fires in California, but it seemed fairly clear this morning. I do wonder if maybe I should be taking it easy while the air's so smokey, but it hasn't seemed to bother me.

Speed was a bit better today. I tried to remember to keep my stride short and quick. No zombie chases again. Splits were 16:56 and 17:02. (Still don't get how my average pace can be slower than either of my mile splits.)

Week 8: Eight miles

8.42 miles - 2:21:23 hours - 16.8 min/mile

Decided to give the 8-mile run a try, since the weather was supposed to be slightly cooler and breezy today, and the smoke seems to have mostly cleared. And it was a good run. There was just enough hazy cloud to keep the sun from burning down, and a nice light breeze, so I felt good the whole way and felt like I was keeping my pace up. I used the 13.1 app, and at the beginning, Jeff Galloway gave advice about keeping your stride short and turnover quick, so I concentrated on that for my whole run, while I was walking as well as running. I do tend to lengthen my stride when I get tired, which I know leads to injury, so I concentrated on keeping it short and quick. I think it helped. I do wish this app kept track of mile splits—it's hard to know if/how much I slowed down over the course of the run. I felt like I was keeping pace, but without splits, I can't be sure.

I brought my water bottle and shot bloks and tried to remember to take a sip of water and eat one blok every two miles. I think that also helped. I happened to grab one of the packs of bloks that had caffeine, so I got a little boost from that, too.

Overall pace was decent. Much better than the almost-18-minute miles I've been doing on my short runs, but still closer to 17 minutes than 16.

I ran today with a piece of moleskin on the bottom of my right big toe. I have a big scar on the pad of that toe, and if I do a lot of barefoot walking on rough ground, the skin tends to peel around it. It was pretty painful yesterday. I cut some loose bits of skin off, but that left it raw in places. The moleskin helped, I didn't even feel it while I was running. I don't think you're supposed to put moleskin over broken skin. I might be sorry when I have to take it off, but meanwhile, it's nice padding on my sore toe.

Season 1, Mission 9: Recovery

Investigated the helo crash site. Had a heart-to-heart with Runner 8.

 

1.86 miles - 33:22 minutes - 17:56 min/mile

Didn't feel like getting up at 6 AM this morning, but I did it anyway and got my run in. I think the smoke from all the fires is getting to me. We've had air quality warnings, although this morning the sky seemed clearer than it has. Anyway, same old, same old. Felt slow and ploddy but got it done.

Splits were 17:50 and 17:38, so I actually increased my pace a bit as I went along. No zombie chases again, which is just fine with me. Not sure whether I'll go to the park Saturday or just stay home and do another short one around the house. Weather is supposed to be windy and a bit cooler, so it might be a good week to try the 8-mile run.