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"