Re: Post your daily exercise routine

A decent run yesterday despite a howling gale and some light rain, the wind was in my favour on the outward run but almost had me to a standstill on the homeward stretch. I kept the pace sensible and didn't leave my best bits out on the road.

Although not a scheduled running day today, I delivered my daughters motor to the garage for it's MOT and service and ran the three miles round a scenic route home. She hates getting up early on her day off.......So Dad to the rescue....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Did you all see me wave?

A short few days away to two art festivals and to learn about some painting techniques allowed me to run the Atlantic beaches of east coast Florida. When I ended a lovely six miles on the beach, a man was standing on the boardwalk and mentioned that if I wanted a good cool down, an eastern swim would land me in Morocco.

"Ah," but I told him, "with good fortune and heartly paddling, I would catch the Gulf Stream and Atlantic Drift, which would put me in the UK.

"Oh, no doubt," he replied. "Less dust and better tea."

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

He wasn't wrong Surfermom, but I preferred the 'Queen Mary 2' when I did my crossing .....Talk about opulent.....Don't think much to running indoors though...

However......I would have gladly swapped this morning's eight for a nice warm gym and a running machine. A quick test of the outside conditions suggested that it was quite warm with just the odd spot of light rain possible. It wasn't raining now, but still being dark, I couldn't see the sky or any rain clouds lurking in the distance, so my choice of apparel was chosen accordingly. Tee shirt and shorts with a showerproof running top to finish off my ensemble. I must point out that 'SHOWERproof' is not the same as 'WATERproof' as I found to my cost at four miles when the heavens opened and water surged into every orifice. In an attempt to stop being washed into a roadside drain by the swirling torrent I ran in the centre of the road and risked being taken down by some parent in a four by four taking his precious infant to school. I reckoned that a warm hospital bed would be preferable to being found months later after being washed into the nearest dyke.

I managed to survive my perilous quest and arrived home 'prune like' but safe, and to be honest, it wasn't an half bad run......

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Haha! Quite the good sport despite taking on the appearance of a soggy prune! And yes, it's becoming the time of year in which rain or shine, night or day, I make sure my apparel has something reflective. After all, it would be a thorough disappointment to waste a good run only to become road kill at the end of it . Covey makes an excellent point that the factors that turn a run into both training and testing one's mental and physical fortitude. Obviously you mastered both today...even fending yourself against the modern-day dragons in the form of 4 X 4s .

In keeping with the upcoming Halloween festivities, today I decided to dress up for this morning's run as a sail...though quite unintentionally. Facing a determined north wind, otherwise welcome for clearing away the atmospheric salt, I set off only to seemingly run in place. Pelicans and egrets faced the same fate, but with less determination to travel in a linear fashion, they swirled and dove in the crystalline air while I pressed on. The world looks completely different in the autumn; the sun is nearing even though we are bending away from it, and the shadows lengthen. Through this lens of fall, the colors are more intense and the miles fade away in the cool air. While the first half of the run was an exercise in head-down determination, the last half put me back home in no time - despite leaving me with a disastrous hair style. All in all, two weeks off and a few days running in a new locale has me running ten years younger than I did a month ago. Well, at least I can feel that way for a few more days! Time for a date with a cup of chai and a hair brush .

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Josh Billings, 1818 - 1885 American Writer...

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Running into the teeth of a gale would be the equivalent of doing hill work in an otherwise flat locale Surfermom.....Good work, and I would imagine that untidy hair would not detract from your beauty....Aren't I a smoothy?.....

Would I be right in assuming that as winter approaches and the sun lies lower on the horizon that the magnifying effect of the atmosphere creates some spectacular sunrises and sunsets (if you are lucky enough to live somewhere with less rain than here) As it does with a harvest moon.

Running out of one's socks following short layoffs, makes me wonder if our need to run most days might be counter productive.....What do you think Surfermom.....?

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Such interesting things to ponder, OGF. In the autumn and winter months, the angle of the sun at sunset means that more light passes through the molecule rich atmosphere. Blue light has a short wavelength and is scattered away, leaving the longer, less easily scattered red and orange hues to reach our eyes, rather than a lensing effect affecting the intensity. Because winter light tends to be dryer and cleaner that can allow more colors to reach our eyes without being scattered too. All combined, lots and lots of red, orange, and yellow light reaches our eyes compared to the summer months.

Now as for that "big" harvest moon, it's all a fascinating illusion. Whether the sun is at the horizon or straight above your head, it's the same size, but your brain is seeing it differently. The next time you witness a moonrise, hold your thumb or a finger out at arm's length next to the moon and close one eye, and make a mental note of how large the moon is compared to your thumb. Later, when the moon is well overhead, repeat the observation with your thumb and you will see that the size of the moon never changes. Amazing!

To your point about running with more days of recovery, most everyone would agree that your schedule is probably much better for your muscle and joint recovery than my six-day-a-week routine. I know better, read the research, listen to the pros, and still I am out there. The mental payoff is just to good not to get out there .... the daily calorie burn doesn't hurt either. That said, I sure had a mighty good run today and am thinking that a self-imposed layoff from time-to-time might indeed be. very beneficial.

BTW, this is me after my run today. I was beautiful, alright! (It is also an optical illusion that makes me look like I am in a suit and tie).

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What will probably be my last run in the dark for a while, due to British Summertime ending on Saturday night and all the clocks go back one hour....We'll be an hour closer together Surfermom....

Things went surprisingly well this morning despite the darkness on my first couple of miles. Running down a country road in half light is not too bad until an oncoming vehicle with headlights on full beam takes away what little you could see of the road...
Fortunately I only encountered a couple of these and there were plenty of places to bail out if necessary....

And so with a rising sun and a dry road, and little if any wind, the power kept coming, enabling me to put in a couple of faster paced stretches. I didn't realise how fast until I stopped the watch and discovered it was my fastest run this year knocking a good half minute off my previous best time over the eight mile course....

As with most extraordinary performances I set about analysing just what happened here this morning and why..........Yesterday I walked a local three mile route along the canal towpath and for one mile I sprinted, could it possibly have been that? I do find that sometimes a day of inactivity is followed by a mediocre, or even poor run...I just wish I could bottle this mornings effort and use it at will.....

Thanks Surfermom for your excellent response to the harvest moon scenario, you are probably right (well I know you are) but time forbids me to respond today, but a response is on it's way but I'll put it in the appropriate section (Science and the Environment) so keep an eye out......And well done on your speedy return to running.........You don't look like I expected though.....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Going for a swim today.
Looking back on here the last time was in June so doubt I'll do as well as then, we'll see...

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

After 2 days of no workouts last night I got to get on the glider for a while and today is upper body and glider. Have a great day... workout safe!