15.5

The other day I decided to break a fear and ran home in the dark on a trail from work. I had a great time! I did not plan my nutrition though.

Longest so far

Today I ran my fartherest ever today. A huge step to running a marathon! 21.25 miles in 3:10

5K

Great time at the A&F 5K today.
Sub 21. But I did just get off an international flighr 24 hours ago!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Morning long run images

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Picture from my run

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

And Back...

Yes folks it has been a while but I am back... I lost my way a little and gained 5lbs to show for it... I have been working out but nothing too hard.
So I needed to kick it back into gear.... so I decided to run farther than I have ever done before!! 16.55 in the end... I ran home from work. It's green and it's hard!!
I am back!

The next... not to do!

Okay guys.... I say guys becuase this is who I mostly see do it.
So you are on the treadmill. You are running at a rate that you really cannot sustain for a long period of time. So you decide to jump off to the side and let the treadmill roll.

WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING??? I am sure you sit there for a while and then tell all of your friends you ran "X" miles. Run it... if you can't handle it... slow down.

So I ran 8.3 miles last night 1:20. Nice and easy. However two weeks ago I did the same thing and my HR was lower... I thought that was very interesting. Am I getting more out of shape?

Or maybe it was the 007 movie I was watching and loving!!

Squeeky

So last night I was at the gym running once again. I started out running however I had to stop 15 mins in to see a man about a horse... yes weird phrase.

Anyway, when I got back on the guy that was next to me before was still there. Doing the same thing. Next to me stood a very over weight younger man walking on the treadmill. Now do NOT get me wrong I am happy that he was at the gym! I am happy that he is trying to treat himself better. HOWEVER.....

YES THIS IS A HUGE HOWEVER!!!

He was doing some very annoying things. VERY VERY annoying.

1. He was walking uphill grade 10... TEN!! That is huge, once again this is great... BUT he was holding on. I don't know what people think but holding on completely defeats the purpose. Unless you are training for climbing up a hill using a rope... TAKE YOU HANDS OFF THE MACHINE!!

2. Since he was holding on there was not enough room for his feet to stride so every time he stepped the bottom of the shoe hit the front "kick plate" (maybe) of the treadmill... making a very annoying sqeek sqeek sqeek noise... yes every step, both feet.

So the lesson to learn... when on the treadmill you shoud only head your foot strike and the motor... if you hear anything else you are doing something wrong!!!

Also, if there isn't a handle... don't hold on... and if there is a handle on something that you run or walk on ... it is probably there for safety... so unless you are FALLING, let go!!

A long weekend...

This past weekend I was stuck... indoors!
My wife was out of town for the entire long weekend so I was destinded to ride on my bike. So I logged 1.5 hours on Friday. That one was rough however I was watching the Oylmpics the whole time.
Then on Saturday I was about to edge in 2 hours (2x1) during nap time and bed time.
On Sunday my legs were distroyed. I got in 30 mins during nap time but I was just done.

THEN!!!

I found out that the day care was open on Presidents Day and I was off... so I dropped the kids off there for a few hours. I decided to put in an epic work out.
1 hour of swimming, followed by 1 hour on the bike, followed by 1 hour on the treadmill
Thats right it was a great time! I loved it.

Ellipti-kill-my-calves

So I was planning on my gym night since we are having the blizzard of 2010. Everyone knows that my Wednesdays are one of my long days. Two of my friends asked if I was going to be there and wanted to see if I wanted to work out with them as well, however they wanted to do the elliptical. Since I always go for a conversation I said yes!
However I got there early so I could get a run in. I was able to get 4 miles in prior to them arriving.
Then I jumped on the elliptical for 1:05... and let me tell you this... From a lung perspective it was pretty easy, but from a stretching and calf perspective I was rocked! My legs are dieing today almost like I pulled a muscle. Very weird.

Today weight training was supplimented by snow digging.

Night Run In Feb

Wow what a great day yesterday.
It started out with me doing a easy 45 min spin on the bike, just to get the blood flowing.
Then a friend came over and we left for our run around 10:45 PM. Night runs are the best.
They are so relaxing and peaceful. Anyway, we just ran around downtown Gahanna and through the wooded area. It was amazing! 8.3 miles in the end, 1:20:30. At the end we picked up our pace up the hill back to my house.

On the Road Again

So it was beautiful out yesterday (for early February in Ohio) 41 degrees!
So I decided to take my workout outside.

Now I have been getting outside whenever possible, so my knees don't get too weak from running on the treadmill all the time. But this is the first time I have taken this specific route that is rather hilly. My left hamstring was hurting a little so I decided to stretch a little after my run. What this is telling me is that I really need to get outside more to get my body back into road shape. As always, you need to practice what you race, and I have never seen a treadmill race before. (but, I am sure they are out there) I am not saying treadmills are bad but anything over 50% I would say is bad over time. My GPS battery died along the way as well so according my my watch I only went 3.1 miles. After I got back I mapped it out and it ended up being 6.8 miles in 62 mins. Not too great, not too shabby but fun times.

Let me just say that I love... and hate my Suunto Watch. I hate it because it doesn't give me the information I "want". I could change the settings to make me view what I "want". However, defaultly, when I am monitoring my HR, my speed and distances are not shown. That forces me to change screens if I want to know how far I have gone. This is exactly what I like about it. I run for my allotted time and when I am done I can see what I have done.

Time and effort level is better than distance! You will hear so many coaches say this. Many new running only see miles and calories. I fell into this trap as well. Think about this... You could go out on a beautiful day on a flat course and run 8 min miles for an hour. But then you can run an hour in 25 mile/ hour winds in the snow entirely uphill for an hour. If you keep your effort level (sometimes that relates to HR) the same on both runs you will get the same out of it, if not more from the hill work. The mileage will be far different. If you are worried about what people "might" say about your mileage? ("Only 4 .3 miles! not 5", something like that) Don't worry about them, work your own workout, just know what you CAN do and show them up at the race!

I guess after writing this, I may have to say this is coming from an endurance point of view. Sprinting may be different. I don't know.

The Cold Weekend is Over

So I ran outside twice this weekend. (24 and 30 degrees) It actually wasn't that bad. I ran with a friend. A little over 5 (@9:10 pace, 6.54 mph) and 6 (@8:51 pace, 6.77 mph) miles respectively. Nothing hugely to be proud of, but I can tell my body is ready to start getting out of my base phase. I didn't get my long bike ride in. So I may jump on and spin around for a bit Monday night.

Over all I think I need to work on my run a lot more. I think I want to do a marathon (3:40:00 Maybe? I have no clue what to aim for. I am sure as my long runs get longer I my goal will become more clear. In the end under 4 hours would make me happy. "3-something"

PodCast - Thought

So I am an avid podcast listener so I can stay up to date with knowledge of running and triathlon news and training. I also listen to other podcasts to better me as a person (history) or Humor. I really appreciate the people that take time out of their day to produce these podcasts. Most if not all of them have full time jobs and it is their passion to produce these podcasts. One I was listening to today was Phedippidations, where he was mentioning that he receives a lot of "hate" mail. I am using the word hate very loosely, if you want he full explanation please listen to his latest podcast (Fdip223). Anyway, this is a podcast for him and his listeners, it is a free service and you actually need to make an effort to listen to him. My thoughts are if you have an issue, don't listen to him!! How dumb do you need to be say things like that. It is almost like telling a street artist or someone just doing something out of passion that they "suck". Get over yourself. Be proud that we have a culture that allows this amazing free media. If you have something bad to say, don't say it to someone that is doing a favor to the public, unless it hurts your living. A podcast doesn't, you have an off button.

I do listen to many others. I have listened to some that doesn't jive with that I want to listen to and all I do is STOP listening to them. One of these was Running With Ghosts, this is a great show and well produced. I listened to her for a while and I enjoyed it for a while. But her and I went separate ways so to speak. I have met a few of these podcasts. They are amazing people, with amazing "real" lives as well. Drop your favor podcaster an email and tell them they are doing a great job, I am sure they would appreciated it.

MI:III and a Run

Last night I had to hit the gym very late. It was 9:45 when I jumped onto the treadmill. MI:III was already playing, however just started, in the movie room when I got there. I started moving at a 6.2, nice and easy to warm up. During the run I decided not to do a push run, becuase push runs take up slightly longer time and the gym closes at 11:00PM. Let me say it is hard staying on a treadmill while watching an action movie like that... I get all into it finding myself leaning this way and that. My cadence was off, my arms flying around everywhere. I really had to focus on my form. (Form Form Form... it's all about form)

I stayed at 6.2 until about 15 mins left in my hour run. So I decided to up the pace a little, upwards of 8. In the end I did 6.6 miles. I was a little sweaty. I did work it. But I think it was mostly the last 15 mins. My HR was slightly more than I wanted it to be (Avg. 154)... but hey it was fun.

Bike

Last night I jumped onto the bike at the gym around 9PM last night. Late? Yes, but that is the only time I could get theree. I was able to work in 1.5 hours of high resistance riding. RPMs averaged around 74. I need to get lower than that but I fear on those machines it will turn off if I get lower.

Since I did put high resistance my milage didn't come out very far at all only a little over 21 miles. But I guess if it simulating going up hill... that isn't that bad at all.

Push Run What???

You may ask what a push run is... well check it out from Zen and the Art of Triathlon.
I have had the privilege to workout with Brett, he is a great person and coach.

Incline

So I have been reading a lot about incline on the treadmill. So far I have been running at a 0 incline, when I am on the treadmill. From my reading you should increase the incline somewhere between 1 and 2 to make it more realistic to outside conditions. Considering you will pretty much never have a race on a treadmill I feel I need to simulate outdoors as much as possible. So I have settle to increasing my incline.
I do try to get outside as much as possible but lately our temperature has been bitter cold. But I have gone out a few times.

In the end... no more "0" incline. Race season is coming faster than we all think... time to get ready!

Push Run Interrupted

Tonight I was able to get to the gym prior to the "no parking" time frame around 6PM. At that time you can drive around in circles and still not find a spot. However since my workout spanned that time frame it was packed in the middle of my run. I was able to get in a little over 6 miles in an hour at a nice easy pace. (Avg HR 149, Max HR 180, Incl 1.0) I started doing a push run (15 push ups, 5 squats) for the first 20 mins but after that it was too busy to do my push ups. So I had to run it out.

One thing I noticed last night was this "cool guy", very fit looking guy, got on to the treadmill next to me and he was just bouncing around trying to look all cool. The treadmill was literally being jerked around. The TV on the treadmill was about to fall off. I am sure he was thinking his was loose, but the next guy that ran on it it didn't budge. I am not sure if that is the definition of lack of conservation in your running technique, but I think it might. Don't leap ... run. Don't wear hightops.. wear running shoes. He ended up at 1.2 miles a sweating heap and limped away. Then the next guy that got on had a much better running style but he did the classic look over at my trainer and made sure that his was at a higher rate of speed. He lasted for about 0.5 miles then he dropped off. I am not saying I am a fast runner, but do your own workout please. He jumped off a little later as well.

Let me state first, if you are a seasoned runner and you do not experience injuries, then the best and fastest way is the way you are doing it, from what I have been told. However, that I am sure is a select group of people, and you already know who you are. If you feel like you are not an efficient runner or new to running please go out and do some reading, or research Chi Running. If you are not standing upright shoulders back, arms pushing back and forward not sideways at all, arms bent, landing on your forefoot,etc these may be a clue that you need to change your running style if you plan to go long distances. I have had my running style videoed and corrected by a USAT Certified Coach. If you think you can go out and just run the way that you learned as a kid, you are wrong and you will most likely get hurt. First step research the running style you want to run, then get the shoes to fit that. If you are new to running I would suggest starting out right and getting some Newton, Nike has some as well, or other light weight low profile running shoes that simulate barefoot running. If I could afford to get a new pair of shoes right now I would but I can't. I am just walking as much as possible barefoot and just begging to go out and use my Vibram Five Fingers. We all take running for granted and think we all can run without getting hurt, you may be wrong. At the very least watch the video's online.

I was planning on finishing up my push ups and whatnot when I got home but prior to me arriving home I received a call and we had to take our dog to the vet to put her down.

My wife and I had dueling bike trainers and did a downward spiral work out tonight. I love spending time with her.

Last night.

Last night I was doing an hour base run. I knew I needed to keep my heart rate around high 130's to low 150's. I started out in the 160's so I had to drop my speed, so I can ease my heart rate. In the end it was a great run. Until the end. I have had a lot of thoughts lately of can I really finish this journey? Is everyone right about how I shouldn't do this? I tweeted "The race is short, but right now is forever." I am not really sure what that means now but that is what was in my head at the time.
I wanted to hit the pool but there was as class still in the pool so I just jumped onto the bike for 25 mins, just spinning and keeping my HR up.

Zentri Base Camp

Over the next few days probably months and years I may talk about the camp that I just left. The lessons I learned in those few shorts days will stay with me forever. As well as the people that I interacted with, I hope to know them for years to come.
Today I am going to take off since I have been training a lot recently. But I will have more updates to come.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Yesterday I arrived back from Texas. I was attending the Zen Triathlon Base Camp. It was an amazing experience.

9 Months Later - Couch to Triathlete

Okay I had this blog for about nine months. I started it shortly after I ran my first 5K. Now many thing have come about and I will share with you. Soon to come!