Day 1 of Week 3.  5 minute walk, 90 second jog, 90 second walk, 3 minute jog, repeated the cycle and finished with a 5 minute walk.  1 glass of vino last night and a surfeit of water, in fact I drank so much water I had to get up a few times to drain the resevoir.

Cold this morning, frost on the grass in some places.  I decided to try something different and instead of jogging on the street, I drove to a local park that has a bunch of soccer and softball fields and ran on the flat grass.  I thought I might try a session on the grass barefoot, but it was too cold!  Glad I was a boy genius and brought my shoes along.

I was there early so I had the park pretty much to myself, but about half way through, the crazy old ladies with mean little dogs started showing up to walk and poop (the ladies walked, the dogs pooped - just in case you were wondering.)    Most them (the dogs AND the ladies) eyed me suspiciously  from under visors emblazoned with casino and dog food brands.  You could see them running the calculus on who this lumbering beast was intruding on their exclusive pooping grounds, and whether not siccing the dogs on me was giving me an adverse easement for future forays onto their sacred fields.   Then the trios of  moms-with-elementary-schoolers descended from their minivans with cries of "stretch out the calves, girls!"  Since I didn't see any baby cows around, I had to assume they meant their legs and not livestock.  They, too, gave me sideways glances as I chuffed by spewing clouds of stream in the frosty air with every labored gasp.  Luckily they waddled off in a different direction than me, and I was able to slow to my final walk and assess the personal damage.

Jogging on the grass was easier because it was flat and soft, the streets I did the past two weeks on were steep and hard.    I will probably alternate.

Knees were sorer again today, probably because the running time was slightly longer again today.  But they still only needed ice - and no Vitamin I.  The tender achilles faired much better on the flat soft grass.  

While it was not exactly "fun" for the first time I was able to think something other "left, right, left, right, gasp, left, right, left, right, gasp...."

Thanks for all the advice.  Actually the pains and aches are easing for the most part.

Today was the last day of Week 3....looks like Week 4 ramps up pretty good!

I went back to morning jogging, and I must say, I think I like evening better.  It was COLD (for So Cal)   31 degrees and frost everywhere at 6:30 AM...drove to the highschool again since the last experience was pretty good.  The sun hadn't crested the foothills and a bit of east to west breeze was blowing, enough to flap the flap at the end of the field, but not so much at ground level.  Jogged in hat and gloves and didn't take them off.  

I don't know if it was because I was out in the morning versus being nice and warmed up personally after walking around all day long like I was on Sunday evening, or it was because it was just flat cold atmospherically....or what...but I felt a bit more labored today, not as "free and easy" as Sunday night.   It was a pretty cool feeling, completely quiet, no one else around; white frost, green grass, white lines circled by a red track....crunch, crunch, crunch on the grass... and as I was at about the 1/2 way point in the last jogging section of my podcast  and when I was on the far side of the track (the vistor's side of the field) , out of the corner of my eye I saw a person come up a grandstand runway and stand motionless on the track looking across at me.

I hit turn 3 and crunched through 4 and this guy in a track suit in the school colors, starts kind of angling slowly across the track like he is going to intercept me. I was jogging on the grass just inside lane 1 and I just kept my head down and crunch, crunch, crunched along in my own little world, listening to the podcast.  When I am almost to him, I hear him yelling over the music!  I look up and he is about 20 feet away and not quite in front of me and he is in full-on  holler mode!  I can't figure out what his problem is, but I'll be damned if I am going to stop and have a conversation....I'm almost done and I seriously doubt anything is that urgent.   I am almost up  to him and he steps directly in my path with his arms out, sunglasses on and a vein popping out on his neck!   Now I can hear him...."restricted access...yellyell..trespass..yellyell"  I think he must be a coach or gym teacher and he is REALLY wound up!  He thinks I am going to stop, but I give him a little head fake to the right and he falls for it and moves to his left to stay in my path...sucker!  I give another right head juke and step left and crunch right past him.   Apparently this really pisses him off, because he starts chasing me!   He doesn't have to run very fast to catch me.

In a second he is jogging right along side me like we are training buddies and he is in full voice. He is of the opinion that I have no right to be jogging on a public school track and says access it is restricted to students, I am breaking the law,  he is calling the police....  geez.....I remember guys like this from when I was in school...give them a clipboard and a whistle...and watch out.  I glance over and sure enough, there is a whistle bouncing up and down off his chest as jogs in step with me.  Right about then the guy on the podcast tells me it is time to do my cool down walk and so, I do.   This surprises Coach Whistle and he keeps jogging for a couple of steps before he realizes I am am walking....he stops and turns and tries to step in my way again.  I finally yank out my ear buds and tell him just to "save it."  and tell him I am leaving and how sorry I am...but this guy is still steamed...he wants my name rank and serial number....I just laugh and keep walking out to the street.....wow...he stands about 30 yards away and makes a big show of writing my license plate number on his hand.  I roll the window down and wave, and call out, "see you tomorrow!"

Where do they get these guys?

Well, knees were a bit achy again today.  Achilles and ankle felt great....obviously getting a little stronger.   I will head back to the track on Thursday night and try out day 1 of week 4.

Hmmmm....completed D1W4...about as hard and about as easy as I anticipated.  You do step up a bit on the jogging, but it is definitely "do-able."   I did walk for about 15 minutes afterwards, just feeling and listening to the synapses fire and the rigging creak...

I headed back the local high school track again for a session at about 7 PM on Thursday...I figured the chances of running into Coach Whistle were pretty slim. 

As I pulled up I saw that the stadium lights were on - I was bummed thinking that perhaps there was a JV game going on, but I decided to check it out.  I walked up the runway and into the field and saw about 50 kids in the 10-15 year age bracket swarming around some coach-types in the infield and a handful of apparent parents sitting forlornly in the stands.  There was also an older couple on far side of the track out for their evening exercise slowly circling in lane 8. 

I am not sure what the kids were there for, but I think it was some kind of fitness or soccer combine tryouts.   I skirted around them and started my routine on the grass of the infield, just inside the track, drawing a few stares.  I had my earbuds screwed into my head and  had completed the first walk and was into the first jog, when I became aware of a thundering herd behind me.  Whoosh!  The first group of small people with speedy feet blew past me like Indy cars lapping the pace car....then thwip...thwip..thwip...the slighty slower kids fired past me.  This happened in three waves several tiimes during my routine.  I am still not sure what they were doing....but I was fascinated by this one kid who had an afro that would have made Angela Davis  (google her) proud.  His hair had a life of its own and bobbed around almost independent of his head and body.  I bet if he trimmed it back a bit he would have cut a minute off his mile times.

All in all, the first day of week four wasn't too bad, but I was glad for the rest day today.  I also think I jog more easily in the evening than the morning.