October workout #1

I thought that I'd share with everyone that I officially have done my first workout since September! I can't say that it was anything earth-shattering, but still newsworthy. It consisted of a 16 minute warm-up, followed by 10 x 3 minutes hard, with one minute of light jogging in between reps... or at least this is how it was intended to be. The last few intervals were, uh... altered by a force of nature more powerful than I. Regardless of this, I managed to put in a total of 30 minutes of hard effort. I even cut some of my earlier rests short (although nature's call lengthened some of the later rests). All-in-all, I'm happy with the effort.
Other things of note: my ankle is actually starting to feel better and more stable. Whether I circumvented a serious injury by taking a couple of weeks off, I can never know for sure, but hopefully this indicates that I'm actually starting to learn from some past mistakes.
I think I may have found a new favorite pair of shoes, although I can't actually tell you what they are yet, because I am wear testing them...  :) Lets just say that they're not your typical name brand running shoes. However, I do think that they could be improved on.
Until next time, blaze on!

Little News

The last few days here up in Michigan have really felt Nebraskaish. Meaning: its been windy. One of the hardest things for me to do is find the motivation to get out there on the bike when its windy. Definitely the thing I miss the least about Nebraska... :)
Welcome back, (and welcome anew, to all you newcomers)! There's really not much for me to update. I had a real good week of training, slowly building up my running miles, while putting in some solid hours in on the bike. Then the weekend hit and, with it, cooler, more blistery weather. I've still been slowly working back into my running, putting in what I consider less than solid, but at least consistently building upward, mileage. Biking, on the other hand, has been put back on the back burner, at least until things get less busy at work. Scientifically speaking, life has really picked up, with what feels like a million things to do in the lab. Its good to be busy, don't get me wrong, but I do wish the workload was a little more consistent versus the sudden increase in duties that I've picked up lately. Its also nice having experiments work for a change... but that's a tail for another day.
Well, I guess that's really all I've got for now. Hopefully soon I'll be able to start telling you about workouts and the such, but until then, blaze on! :)

Phoenix Rising

"The phoenix hope, can wing her way through the desert skies, and still defying fortune's spite; revive from ashes and rise." ~ Miguel de Cervantes, The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts & Strange Stories (2008) by Varla Ventura

Hello followers, wayward travelers, and those who have otherwise stumbled upon the online journal of the adventures of me, Kyle Johnson. I have finally returned after a long hiatus from the online world (deciding instead to pursue this thing called "life") to give you all an update on my life.

First off, my life these last few months, which, due to my online AWOLiness, you have not been privy to, has been anything but smooth. This summer, I honestly felt awful. Running in the heat has never been good for me, and when you add in the fact that I have been recovering from anemia, and just overall, not feeling great, was a huge ordeal for me. But, as it always does, summer has come and gone, and fall is finally hear. Actually, surprising to me, I have actually put in some decent performances, running three 8k races in under 27 minutes, which, even not that long ago, was a major accomplishment for me. That being said, I am nowhere near where I want to be (isn't that the theme for pretty much every runner, except maybe olympic champions/world record holders?).

After briefly making a return to the world of okay running, I have decided to take a hiatus. Well, actually, my foot decided for me. While not too serious, my right ankle has felt just kind of off the last month. While I could easily run through it, I decided to back off, taking two weeks completely off from running and just biking. Tomorrow is actually the end of the two weeks, so I'm planning on a three mile run to see how it feels. In the mean time, I have been biking, which is hopefully maintaining my fitness.

So it appears that, once again, I am on the comeback. So I would like to invite you to follow along, as I, like the legendary phoenix, will reemerge from the fire (of anemia, heartburn, and injury), brush off the ashes of what now lay behind me, so that I can once again take wing and blaze again!

Cheers!