The Outdoor Runner

Lessons learned from a habitual outdoor runner

Author: Jerry Schotz Page 2 of 14

Goose has a cavity

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On June 25, 2020

In Blog

My faithful bike Goose has a broken spoke.

Around the 3,000 mile point, I noticed the rear wheel getting a bit of a wobble which eventually began wearing on the brake and rim.

When I finally took the time to investigate and repair it, I discovered a spoke was broken at the hub.

So a new adventure begins… where do you find spokes and how do you replace one. For the spokes, Amazon of course. But even that was work because you have to know several things like the gauge of your spokes and the length in millimeters. Once you have that best guess, you need to find a supplier and like many things today, there are very few in this country.

After I place the order and watch some how-to videos, I go into disassembly mode, only to discover I need another special tool to take the rear wheel sprocket assembly apart. Fortunately, a company named Park Tool has some great videos and of course, had the tool I needed (and in the USA).

The tool is on order, the spokes arrived, now let’s hope I can get it all to work when I get to work on it again.

In the meantime, my backup bike, Kermit is back on the road and doing well.

April+May Stats and June update

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On June 23, 2020

In Blog

Spring was pretty nice this year. There was a wide array of temperature variations and some pretty wet periods, but nothing horrible in our area.

Now that we’re mostly through June, the temperature and humidity have been more prevalent which makes the cool mornings all that more appreciated. One cool Monday, a lady I intersect with regularly while out on my morning routine mentioned how quickly we’ll be feeling the humidity and she was right, by that Friday morning the moist air had made breathing more laborious.

I run 3-4 times a week and bike the alternating days while keeping up with some short walks during the day. While my legs still protest a bit, I’m extremely grateful for the ability to run 6-7 miles again at a reasonable pace. For example, here is today’s run:

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Below are the totals for April and May

  • April 2020
  • May 2020

March 2020, COVID-19, Stayin’ healthy

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On April 11, 2020

In Blog

If you’re on planet earth you already know what’s happening in the world, so I’ll only share my March updates.

As I mentioned in an earlier post I was able to run a little again and how wonderful that is. I’m still taking it easy and trying different routine alterations to see how my knees react. I found three contiguous days of running about 5 miles, even at a slow pace, was a bit much for the knees, so whenever possible, I’m alternating running and cycling.

Yes, I am calling what I do as running, even though it’s slow and likely looks like a character Tim Conway used to play on the Carol Burnett show. It’s still dark in the morning when I run so at least I’ve got that going for me. Not that there are many people out in the fields where I’m running, or even in the town segments.

The March activity report shows that I’m still moving! I’ve learned a lot about recovery the last 6 months and continue to learn what works and what was a bad idea. If I can look for benefits from this period, it would include additional stretching (Yoga/Pilates) and strength exercises that I’ve incorporated. Also, just how amazing our bodies are at healing if we give them the proper help along the way.

It was a great thing this morning…

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On March 24, 2020

In Blog

… I ran. Like most of the 5 mile route.

My Quads ache. This is great! This means my knees can actually support a multi-mile run again. The average was a 10.21 min/mi which would have been sad to report previously, yet now, it’s exciting! A few of the miles were under 10 minutes, woo-hoo!

In case you’re wondering, I’ve been nursing knee issues for six-months now. Doing all the rehab I could and trying my patience more than it probably should. Yes, I’ve made some over zealous mistakes along the way, but things have been improving during the short and slow runs, so today I just kept going.

I did stop frequently to examine the knee and leg situation, just to be cautious.

I must say that it was so freeing to complete an actual run!

With our current social restrictions it’s great to have my country run time back. And yes, I’ll take it one day at a time plus I’ve gotten used to the bicycle now, so that will remain in the mix.

January/February 2020

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On March 2, 2020

In Blog

Here are the January and February 2020 stats. I will qualify these months as continual improvement yet rather plain. It’s still winter here and that changes the outdoor activities. I don’t even attempt to ride the bike when there is the high probability of ice, especially in the dark. Call me wimpy or overly cautious, I just don’t like the idea of crashing the bike in freezing temperatures a few miles from home.

This means there has been a lot of foot-on-the-ground time, which is alright as I’ve been slowly getting a little jogging blended into my walks. My knee recovery continues and I’m very cautious on that as well. After the “blow-out” in 2019, I really don’t want to risk that again. So when I “run”, I probably look like a duck or a hundred year old and I sort of envision those old Tim Conway skits playing the old-timer, but I press forward with the desire to run again. Like most things, you don’t appreciate them as much until you lose them and I miss the freedom of being on a long run in the country.

Here are the numbers for January and February, I am so grateful for the mobility to exercise!

  • Jan
  • Feb

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