Intervals


and sore knees.



The photo is of me in my office, after I came back from the Caltech track. I had to use my cell phone for the photo.

Today, I managed to run 1.5 miles before slowing down to walk the remaining half mile of my usual two mile workout. As I finished my mile and a half, I was joined on the previously empty track by Ryan O., a former grad student in our lab. He's a former grad student because he just finished defending his thesis in December, but he's staying on for a few months as a temporary postdoc in order to complete a paper for publication before going off to his real, first postdoctoral position at Berkeley.

Anyway, if there's one person in the lab I'd likely choose to be a jogging buddy, it's Ryan. And if there's one person who would be the last person I'd ask to be a jogging buddy, it's Ryan. It's not that I don't like him. In addition to being pretty smart -- he is a physicist, after all -- he's also witty, relaxed, laid back, and friendly. He's one of the nicest guys in a lab full of really nice guys (one of the things I like about my job is that I like the people I work with).

No, the reason I'd never go jogging with Ryan is that he's a serious athlete. The guy runs one or two marathons every year, usually the big, competitive ones (e.g,. Boston, New York, LA, etc.). He's always running, and he wears out his shoes once every few weeks, whereas my shoes can go about a year before they need replacing.

Anyway, as I paused my workout at one and a half miles, I chatted briefly with him as he was getting his shoes on. He asked how the run was, and I told him it was the best run I've done in the past three weeks, mentioning I'm trying to lose weight and get back into some sort of shape. I told him I'd just finished a mile and a half and then I'd walk another half mile or so. "Then you'll do another [mile and a half]?" he asked. I laughed and said no, I'd go back to work. "Ahhh," he smiled wryly (everything he does has a hint of wryness to it), "work is overrated."

I asked what he was going to do, and he said he was going to run intervals. I forgot what intervals are, but apparently it involves running a hell of a lot faster than I do, and for a much longer time and distance. As I resumed my workout by walking around the track, he zoomed by me three or four times... I think he even slowed down around me so as not to embarrass me... much.

My knees are pretty sore. When I first started these walks and jogs, it was mainly my calves and thighs that were sore, but nowadays, it's the knees. I'm not sure if it's the age or the weight that's getting to the knees, but short of a real injury, I'm reluctant to give up jogging and return to biking. The problem with biking is that, without some sort of data logger, I have no idea how much of a workout I'm getting. Plus, it's too easy to coast. I'm not willing to try a stationary bike because, frankly, the reason I got a bike was to get out in the sunshine and open air.

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Rough evening. I was yelling at William. James was yelling at me. I think I calmed down enough to soothe William to bed. Eventually, I calmed James down with a sippy cup full of orange juice. The one good thing about this evening was that I was able to tell James to put himself to bed, by himself, and it worked again.

Posted: Tue - January 23, 2007 at 10:09 PM          

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