It's a pretty nice day here in Iowa for January. It's overcast, but about 35 degrees. It's one of those Iowa winter days when everyone flocks to the car wash. Bill ran 3 miles outside a little bit ago, but I decided to do my 8 miles on the treadmill. I decided I wanted to be on the treadmill so I could have my water bottle nearby. It's odd for me to make the choice to run on the treadmill when there's any possibility (much less a probability) of a pleasant run outside, but my feelings about the treadmill have taken a turn for the positive in the last couple of weeks.
I used to think heading to the treadmill made me sort of a wimp, but as long as I am staying on my training plan and enjoying my runs, I guess it shouldn't matter if I'm outside or on the treadmill. I do feel like the treadmill protects my knees a little bit because the surface is softer than asphalt or concrete. I will admit that I am afraid of injury, mainly IT band stuff.
I've started reading a book called "Running with the Buffaloes" about the University of Colorado cross country team in 1996-1997. Adam Goucher, who goes on to lots of success a nationally competitive runner along with his wife Kara, was on that team. I'm only a few pages into it (and I'm having a really hard time keeping all of guys on the team straight) but it seems interesting. The guys' team is running 90-95 miles a week. I just think it's amazing that they can run that much without getting injured. I guess some people can do that, and I'm not one of those people. I also bought "My Life on the Run" by Bart Yasso, who is the editor of Runners' World magazine. It got pretty decent reviews on Amazon, and I usually do enjoy reading about running.
I just finished a book called "Waking" about a guy who was in a car accident at age 13 and became a parapalegic. As an adult, he becomes interested in yoga and intruiged by the mind-body connection among people who have spinal cord injury. I sometimes got a little lost in his philosophy in the book, but I did enjoy it. The guy ends up becoming a yoga teacher for individual with disabilities and able-bodied people. I'm typically not much of a free reader, but I guess I've been on a roll lately. When I find a book I like, I usually power through it pretty quickly, but sometimes I feel guilty spending time free reading when I could be reading stuff for work.
For the first time ever, I got flu shots. I got the H1N1 shot as well as the regular seasonal flu shot. I had to stop in at the doctor last week for something else, and he talked me into it. According to my physician's assistant, it decreases the chance of getting the flu by 40%. I decided I'd do it because I would be bummed if I couldn't run for a week or so due to illness and then lost some of my fitness. My arms are actually sore from the shots. My right one hurts the worst by far, and that's the regular seasonal flu shot, not the H1N1. I have been wondering if the H1N1 usually hurts less, or if it's just a coincidence. I guess maybe I'm exaggerating...it doesn't hurt that bad, but it's achy. Much more achy than I expected. I mean, it's just a shot, and the needle wasn't even very big.
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