Sunday Easy

Ran easy, but still a little bit harder and longer than the assignment called for.  Instead of 35 minutes at something closer to a 9-minute/mile pace, I finished 45 minutes at 8:15-8:20.  I did 3 miles measured on the park loop, and then a little over 2 on the Lusardi Creek loop trail.  I used the Nike+IPod to time my run and listened to music, running with headphones.  That's a switch, but it was okay.  I attached over-the-ear clips to the ear buds, which kept them in my ear securely throughout the run.  I didn't have to fiddle with them at all.

I listened to a down-tempo playlist of Air, Imogen Heap and Thievery Corporation.  Helped me keep from getting carried away and upping the pace.  I'm pretty sure I kept my HR under 140 throughout. 

The Nike+ recorded a distance of 5.5, but I measured it out on MapMyRun and actually only covered 5.25.  There's no way I can see to figure out if the error was continuous throughout, or if it was induced by the rolling hills of the final 2 mile trail running.  I'm going to try not to sweat the distance accuracy.

Tomorrow's a no-run day.  I'm going to swim and work the circuit, adding some leg workout to the mix, based on Mike's recommendation.  I've been sparing the legs from the weight workouts, figuring that they get enough work from the cardio running, rowing and spinning.  But perhaps that's been my mistake and a factor in my fatigue or occasional injury. 

But so far, so good.  Calves feel great.  I've been taking a multivitamin with potassium, magnesium and calcium.  It's possible a deficiency in those essential minerals has been a contributor to persistent muscle strain.  Proper nutrition, added strength training, and slow/gradual buildup in miles are keys to staying healthy on the road to the marathon.

I also, finally, started taking fish oil supplements.  I'm just not eating enough fish.  So, that means taking 2 1000 mg fish oil pills, 1 multi-vitamin pill and 1 500mg additional vitamin C pill everyday.  I'd like to add 500mg of SloNiacin again, but I'm waiting to find a good price. 

I guess that's it.  Back to work tomorrow.  Days are getting noticeably shorter.  Don't like that.