Today was to be 5 miles with speedwork. I started out on the treadmill with my warmup mile going at 3.9 mph. My next mile was to be at 4.2 mph, however, after a half mile I had to knock it back down to 3.8. My ambition to do the warmup mile faster came back to bite me and prevented me from doing the full mile at 4.2. My legs just could not keep up at the 4.2 rate today. I did a quarter mile at 3.8 then kicked it back up 4.2. I held it there for another quarter mile and then dropped back to 3.6 for the next half mile. Realizing my legs were not going to do 4.2 today I lowered my hi-end speed to 4.0 and managed to take this for the next mile, took a quarter mile break at 3.7 and then back to 4.0 to finish out my first four miles. After a brief two minute break to reset the treadmill (it's time limit is 1 hour plus a five minute cooldown) I was back up for the final mile, which I did at 3.8.
Looking back over today's and other previous workouts I am able to see the benefit to starting slow and then picking up the pace. In workouts I have done the slower start I seem to have less struggle with and feel as if I can continue further than what I set out for.
During today's workout I consumed two bottles of Propel (50 calories) and a packet of GU (100 calories). This time the GU was tri-berry flavored. It was not as bad as the banana-strawberry, I could have it again if need be, but I will pass when I have the option. Sunday I think I will give the orange flavored one a shot.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Cool Running
To keep from continually complaining here I am jumping right to the run. Tuesday was a light day for me, only 2 miles on tap. It was 9pm when I finally got the chance to get my run in. The fitness room was locked up. I did not have reflective gear, so, dressed in my lightest colored sweats I opted to do laps around my condo complex. Each lap came in at .56 miles. I did the first lap rather slow, as a warm up. With the temperatures outside being at 32 degrees I wanted to get moving so I would feel warm. My next three laps continually got faster with each one. Throughout the run I was trying to remain focused on my pacing, keeping it more stable. In the past, when not on the treadmill, I have had the problem of my pace fluctuating. Having GARMIN at hand, or rather just above my hand, I was able to continue checking on the pacing. For much of the run I was hovering in the 14:09-14:45 range. During the fourth lap I managed to get the pace steadily in the 13:30-13:50 range. I even looked down and saw the pacing in the 12:30-12:40 range for about a tenth of a mile. Upon completion of my four laps I took a fifth lap as a cool down. My total mileage for the run came in at 2.87 in 43:23, including the cooldown lap. Here are my average pace speeds for the .56 mile loop:
Lap 1: 15:51
Lap 2: 15:35
Lap 3: 14:04
Lap 4: 13:43
Lap 5: 16:21
A great thing about this run is I felt revived. I don't know if it was the cool air or the results on GARMIN when I got inside on the computer to analyze. Either way, I really did feel good about this. Looking at the graph on the computer I was much more successfull in stabilizing my pace and it was easier to see the speeding up as the distance went on.
Today, Wednesday was an off day all around. I took a total rest day. Thursday will be 5 miles with speedwork, Friday I will cross-train, Saturday will be another complete rest day because of work, and I will finish the week Sunday with a 6 mile run after I work the Women's Basketball game at OU. I would love to get outside for the 6 miles but I will have to wait and see what time I get home and if I will have enough daylight.
Lap 1: 15:51
Lap 2: 15:35
Lap 3: 14:04
Lap 4: 13:43
Lap 5: 16:21
A great thing about this run is I felt revived. I don't know if it was the cool air or the results on GARMIN when I got inside on the computer to analyze. Either way, I really did feel good about this. Looking at the graph on the computer I was much more successfull in stabilizing my pace and it was easier to see the speeding up as the distance went on.
Today, Wednesday was an off day all around. I took a total rest day. Thursday will be 5 miles with speedwork, Friday I will cross-train, Saturday will be another complete rest day because of work, and I will finish the week Sunday with a 6 mile run after I work the Women's Basketball game at OU. I would love to get outside for the 6 miles but I will have to wait and see what time I get home and if I will have enough daylight.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Cross-training Weight Loss
One of the reasons I began running is to lose weight. I am sure many of us have used that as a reason to run. When I returned from my three week honeymoon and a weekend cheering my sister on in the Disney marathon this year in mid-January I stepped on the scale. I was shocked and surprised to see it read 252 lbs. Never in my life had I topped the 250 mark. Needless to say, I was not happy with that sight and knew some things had to change. I first began with some walking/running. Then I began to take a look at the foods I consumed. Now, about a month and a week later I stepped on the scale this morning. To my delightful eyes I read the numbers 247 lbs. I was so happy to begin seeing the weight loss I went ahead and ate breakfast, had some lunch later in the day, along with a light snack in the middle. To top it all off, for dessert I had a good 90 minute cross-training session in the fitness room with two bottles of Propel, again one lemon and one berry. There are a couple of ways I can go from here.
First, the cross training session. I started out with a round of strength training doing 15 reps of the bench press, shoulder press, bicep curls, tricep pulldowns, reverse biceps, lats, leg press and calf raises. Next I moved over to the stationary bike for 20 minutes and 3.9 miles. It was warmer in the fitness room than usual, as a result I downed the first bottle of Propel during the biking and right before I started the second round of the strength training. Round two of strength training was the same as round one. At the conclusion, I got on the eliptical for 40 minutes, covering 2.5 miles and finishing off the second bottle of Propel. To finish off the day's workout I made one final round of the weights, repeating the same number of reps.
Second, when I returned home from the workout I had a banana, a blackberry yogurt and two pints of water. When I stepped on the scale before I jumped in the shower it read 245 lbs. WOW!!! I chalk that weight loss up to the depletion of liquids, which I would soon remedy with more water afterward.
The third thing for today deals with the weigh-ins. I know most of you might say don't get too excited over a single weigh-in at a certain weight because it will fluctuate. You may also want to tell me how muscle weighs more than fat and not to get discouraged when I don't see the weight coming off right away. That is true and I am aware of it. But, I will also say that over the course of this past week I have been monitoring my weight, and this is the third time I have hit the 247 lbs., enough for me to be convinced that the growing muscles are now starting to eat away that fat.
Through the running catalyst I have begun and a further look into the foods I eat, the changes I make hope to help me reach my target weight goal. Ultimately, I would like to see myself get out of the 200s and find myself happily around 185. But first things first, I will break it down into 10 lb increments and allow myself a reward upon completion of each 10 lbs. Anyone have suggestions for some quality self-rewards? My starting weight on this mission was 252, I am now at 247, yet I will not accept my first reward until the 240 mark has been successfully achieved.
Please share your comments. I welcome your thoughts.
First, the cross training session. I started out with a round of strength training doing 15 reps of the bench press, shoulder press, bicep curls, tricep pulldowns, reverse biceps, lats, leg press and calf raises. Next I moved over to the stationary bike for 20 minutes and 3.9 miles. It was warmer in the fitness room than usual, as a result I downed the first bottle of Propel during the biking and right before I started the second round of the strength training. Round two of strength training was the same as round one. At the conclusion, I got on the eliptical for 40 minutes, covering 2.5 miles and finishing off the second bottle of Propel. To finish off the day's workout I made one final round of the weights, repeating the same number of reps.
Second, when I returned home from the workout I had a banana, a blackberry yogurt and two pints of water. When I stepped on the scale before I jumped in the shower it read 245 lbs. WOW!!! I chalk that weight loss up to the depletion of liquids, which I would soon remedy with more water afterward.
The third thing for today deals with the weigh-ins. I know most of you might say don't get too excited over a single weigh-in at a certain weight because it will fluctuate. You may also want to tell me how muscle weighs more than fat and not to get discouraged when I don't see the weight coming off right away. That is true and I am aware of it. But, I will also say that over the course of this past week I have been monitoring my weight, and this is the third time I have hit the 247 lbs., enough for me to be convinced that the growing muscles are now starting to eat away that fat.
Through the running catalyst I have begun and a further look into the foods I eat, the changes I make hope to help me reach my target weight goal. Ultimately, I would like to see myself get out of the 200s and find myself happily around 185. But first things first, I will break it down into 10 lb increments and allow myself a reward upon completion of each 10 lbs. Anyone have suggestions for some quality self-rewards? My starting weight on this mission was 252, I am now at 247, yet I will not accept my first reward until the 240 mark has been successfully achieved.
Please share your comments. I welcome your thoughts.
Completing My First Marathon....Sort Of
I have completed my first marathon, well sort of. With my 6.45 mile long run yesterday (Sunday) it brought my new running shoes mileage to an even 26.2 miles. I had no idea until I entered my run into my training log. I was surprised to see I had gone that far already in them. During the run I made note of my 10k time since this was the first time I had actually gone that far. It came in at 1:30:10. I was very psyched to see that.
The breakdown on the stationery 10k treadmill run went like this. I set out for the first mile with the intention of it being a warmup mile at 3.5. Five minutes into it I decided to step up the beat and bumped the speed up to 3.9 for the rest of the first mile. At the onset of the second mile I decided to try the "running" on the treadmill and got the speed to 4.5. This only lasted for a tenth of a mile and then I backed it down to 4.0. I remained at 4.0 until mile three where I went up to 4.1 for a half mile before I pulled an Emeril and "kicked it up a notch" to 4.2. I stayed at 4.2 until I had to stop because the treadmill will only run for 60 minutes and then it does a five minute cool down. At the conclusion of the 60 minutes when the cooldown began I cranked the speed and incline back up until I completed the fourth mile and then hit stop. It took about a minute to clear out the info on the first 4 miles and get the belt back up to speed for the remaining 2.2 miles. With that I was on my way at a 4.2 speed. Once I reached the 10k time I hit the "cooldown" and took that for the five minutes it gave me. Not counted in this run is the 1/4 mile walk from condo to the fitness room and the 1/4 mile back. I never count those. On the way back I did not waste the opportunity to high step it for .2 miles, kicking my knees up to my face, having people look at me weird.
In the realm of refueling, as I closed in on the 45 minute mark of my run I downed my third sampling of GU Gel, this time in the flavor of "Espresso Love." It was pretty good. Of the three flavors I have tried now, I would rank them Chocolate Outrage, Espresso Love, and then Strawberry-Banana from best to worst in taste. My sister had mentioned she did not care for the fruit flavored ones, and I would say that if the other fruit flavored ones taste as bad as Strawberry-Banana I want to stay away from them myself. Throughout my entire run, to remain hydrated, I also put away two bottles of Propel, one lemon and one berry.
The breakdown on the stationery 10k treadmill run went like this. I set out for the first mile with the intention of it being a warmup mile at 3.5. Five minutes into it I decided to step up the beat and bumped the speed up to 3.9 for the rest of the first mile. At the onset of the second mile I decided to try the "running" on the treadmill and got the speed to 4.5. This only lasted for a tenth of a mile and then I backed it down to 4.0. I remained at 4.0 until mile three where I went up to 4.1 for a half mile before I pulled an Emeril and "kicked it up a notch" to 4.2. I stayed at 4.2 until I had to stop because the treadmill will only run for 60 minutes and then it does a five minute cool down. At the conclusion of the 60 minutes when the cooldown began I cranked the speed and incline back up until I completed the fourth mile and then hit stop. It took about a minute to clear out the info on the first 4 miles and get the belt back up to speed for the remaining 2.2 miles. With that I was on my way at a 4.2 speed. Once I reached the 10k time I hit the "cooldown" and took that for the five minutes it gave me. Not counted in this run is the 1/4 mile walk from condo to the fitness room and the 1/4 mile back. I never count those. On the way back I did not waste the opportunity to high step it for .2 miles, kicking my knees up to my face, having people look at me weird.
In the realm of refueling, as I closed in on the 45 minute mark of my run I downed my third sampling of GU Gel, this time in the flavor of "Espresso Love." It was pretty good. Of the three flavors I have tried now, I would rank them Chocolate Outrage, Espresso Love, and then Strawberry-Banana from best to worst in taste. My sister had mentioned she did not care for the fruit flavored ones, and I would say that if the other fruit flavored ones taste as bad as Strawberry-Banana I want to stay away from them myself. Throughout my entire run, to remain hydrated, I also put away two bottles of Propel, one lemon and one berry.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Cross-training and Races
When I woke up this morning I made the decision to cross train. As a result, I feel great. I did 40 minutes on the eliptical and 18 minutes on the bike, along with some strength training on the weights in my condo complex fitness room. Aside from cross-training today I did some searching online and found an 8k in OKC on March 15 I may do, as well as a 10k on May 24, also in OKC. The 10k is named after Willie Nelson as part of the Andy Payne Memorial Races in OKC. That's it for today, a nice and short entry. I'll check back in Sunday after my long run of 6 miles.
Frustrating Start To A Great Finish
Having taken the last two days off from running, I was getting a bit tired, I was anxious to run today. However, my run got off to a frustrating start. First, it was 29 degrees out with a wind chill at 21. I really did not want to run outside in that, plus, the overnight and early morning weather we had had left numerous icy patches around. Again, I did not want to run in/on that and risk injury. Therefore, I settled to go inside on the treadmill. The frustrating part is that when I went to the fitness center here at my condo complex it was locked up still. Someone forgot to come unlock it for the residents to use. I called the management company and through a series of phone calls I was told it would be after 3pm before someone could come by and unlock it......grrrrrr! I was not happy, I wanted to run then, not later. So, nearly two hours later someone came and unlocked the fitness room....yay! Finally inside I get on the treadmill and within two minutes I stopped and had to change treadmills. The first one kept slipping and I just could not get into a groove. So, onto the second treadmill. This one, upon first start up screeched at me as the belt stayed in place and then all of a sudden let loose and started to rotate. Good thing I was not standing on it. After a few minutes and a rise of the incline I did not notice the treadmill slipping anymore. I have noticed it slips the most when it is at a 0 incline and when it is cold.
Onto the workout. Once I got moving I set out for five miles to nowhere by way of speedwork. My goal today was to do the first and last miles at 17:10 with the middle three miles at 15:30. Not once during the workout did I feel tiredness in the shins, yet I could feel the calves working. When I was on my last mile at the slower speed I noticed how much easier it was to do after having done the previous three at a higher rate of speed. Forty-five minutes into the whole workout I sucked down a GU Gel, Chocolate Outrage. It tasted like I was eating chocolate frosting. This was MUCH better than the banana-strawberry I had sampled over the weekend. I see today's run being easier partly because I was on the treadmill, but also because I had given my body two consecutive days of rest, something I had not done in more than a week. My training plan up to this point has had me down for one period of two off days a week or cross-train on those off days. Not having really excercised much in the previous few months I had been out of shape and was sticking to the two off day plan, until I tried to compensate for my working schedule. Doing so caused me to run five of the last nine day prior to these past two off days. I am sure I have just lost you, but it is just the ramblings coming out of my head as I think of them.
Now onto the exciting post workout. Tonight was the showing of Spirit of the Marathon up in Oklahoma City. Hayley and I opted to share our weekly Thursday "date night" at the movies. With our not so healthy bags of popcorn and sodas in hand we made our way into the theater to pick out our seats. Arriving in the theater nearly 50 minutes early we thought we would be really early. We were surprised to see about 20 others already in there sitting and waiting. By the time the movie started the theater was nearly full, it was not a sell out. For the next two hours we watched the movie and the "extras" . We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and laughed at a number of spots. Our hearts went out to some and we could certainly feel and relate to others in the movie. I hear the movie will be out this summer on DVD, so if you did not get to see it you will still have the chance. I would recommend seeing it, if not own it, as it helped put some things into perspective. It was great to relive some history, gain knowledge of some other history and just feel the power of the Marathon.
Back home now, I am trying to figure out my next run. I am scheduled to do my long run of 6 miles sometime during the remainder of the week. I have to work the OSU/OU basketball game Saturday at 7am and won't be home until about 5pm. Wanting to do my run outside that late won't provide me with enough daylight. So, if I do not do it Saturday I would have to do it on Sunday, but that gives me another two days off before I run again. I am leaning towards doing the six miles on Sunday with a cross-train day on the bike and eliptical in the fitness room either tomorrow or Saturday after the basketball game. Any suggestions?
Onto the workout. Once I got moving I set out for five miles to nowhere by way of speedwork. My goal today was to do the first and last miles at 17:10 with the middle three miles at 15:30. Not once during the workout did I feel tiredness in the shins, yet I could feel the calves working. When I was on my last mile at the slower speed I noticed how much easier it was to do after having done the previous three at a higher rate of speed. Forty-five minutes into the whole workout I sucked down a GU Gel, Chocolate Outrage. It tasted like I was eating chocolate frosting. This was MUCH better than the banana-strawberry I had sampled over the weekend. I see today's run being easier partly because I was on the treadmill, but also because I had given my body two consecutive days of rest, something I had not done in more than a week. My training plan up to this point has had me down for one period of two off days a week or cross-train on those off days. Not having really excercised much in the previous few months I had been out of shape and was sticking to the two off day plan, until I tried to compensate for my working schedule. Doing so caused me to run five of the last nine day prior to these past two off days. I am sure I have just lost you, but it is just the ramblings coming out of my head as I think of them.
Now onto the exciting post workout. Tonight was the showing of Spirit of the Marathon up in Oklahoma City. Hayley and I opted to share our weekly Thursday "date night" at the movies. With our not so healthy bags of popcorn and sodas in hand we made our way into the theater to pick out our seats. Arriving in the theater nearly 50 minutes early we thought we would be really early. We were surprised to see about 20 others already in there sitting and waiting. By the time the movie started the theater was nearly full, it was not a sell out. For the next two hours we watched the movie and the "extras" . We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and laughed at a number of spots. Our hearts went out to some and we could certainly feel and relate to others in the movie. I hear the movie will be out this summer on DVD, so if you did not get to see it you will still have the chance. I would recommend seeing it, if not own it, as it helped put some things into perspective. It was great to relive some history, gain knowledge of some other history and just feel the power of the Marathon.
Back home now, I am trying to figure out my next run. I am scheduled to do my long run of 6 miles sometime during the remainder of the week. I have to work the OSU/OU basketball game Saturday at 7am and won't be home until about 5pm. Wanting to do my run outside that late won't provide me with enough daylight. So, if I do not do it Saturday I would have to do it on Sunday, but that gives me another two days off before I run again. I am leaning towards doing the six miles on Sunday with a cross-train day on the bike and eliptical in the fitness room either tomorrow or Saturday after the basketball game. Any suggestions?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Books, Food and a Short Run
I have read and heard that there are good days and bad days in running. In some ways I feel I felt my first bad day today. Today I set out for two miles. My plan was to walk the first mile and then run what I could for the second, then I would do a half mile cooldown around my condo complex. Run time temperature was 50 degrees on a beautiful clear day, I thought it would be great for getting out and running. Three quarters of the way into my first mile I decided to go ahead and start the running, I was feeling good. I found a stride that felt good and went with it, yet I did not really pay attention to the pacing and my body tired rather quickly within the next quarter mile. Returning to a walk I did a recovery quarter mile then stepped up the speed again. Although, this time I paid more attention to my pacing and managed to maintain a slower, yet more consistent speed over a greater distance. That I was happy with. With another quarter mile recovery walk and one more stint on the run I finished up walking it in. At the end of two miles I had gone at an overall 14:21 pace. By the end of my cooldown I had covered 2.71 miles at an overall pace of 15:16. My cooldown was really slow. Now what makes me feel like this was a bad day is that (a) I feel like I labored more during the run than I should have, and (b) throughout the rest of the afternoon my body ached a bit more than it had in the past. I think my body was expecting more activity and when I called it quits at the point when I usually find that light switch it just did not know what to do.
Moving onto other run-related activities, I spent a good bit of time today working on my blog site, giving you more information in the sidebar. It was a pleasure doing it and I have a list of some other additions to come in time. Also today, while out running errands I swung by Borders Bookstore to pick up a book I read about online just the other day. It is called Eat This, Not That. It is a great book for the traveler or anyone that has to or chooses to eat out frequently. It does not tell you to not eat out, what it does do is tell you alternative selections to certain menu items at numerous popular restaurants to help watch your caloric intake. It is quite a jaw dropping eye opener. There is also a section for when you go to the grocery store. The reviews I had read about it were enough to make me go out and get it. And, since I was at Borders and had a 40% off coupon with a $20 purchase, the book was just under $20, I also picked up Running for Mortals, another book written by "The Penguin" John Bingham. Following my book purchases I made my way over to the grocery store. The importance of the grocery store is that I made a change in my cereal purchase this week. Instead of Special K or whatever sweet cereal I was craving, I took advantage of the 3 for $8 Kashi cereals, picking up three different kinds to sample. Now, my marathon sister has been eating this stuff for years so it is not foreign to me. However, now that I am trying to get my weight down and have running goals, I figure this is a good move forward to aid in both goals.
Moving onto other run-related activities, I spent a good bit of time today working on my blog site, giving you more information in the sidebar. It was a pleasure doing it and I have a list of some other additions to come in time. Also today, while out running errands I swung by Borders Bookstore to pick up a book I read about online just the other day. It is called Eat This, Not That. It is a great book for the traveler or anyone that has to or chooses to eat out frequently. It does not tell you to not eat out, what it does do is tell you alternative selections to certain menu items at numerous popular restaurants to help watch your caloric intake. It is quite a jaw dropping eye opener. There is also a section for when you go to the grocery store. The reviews I had read about it were enough to make me go out and get it. And, since I was at Borders and had a 40% off coupon with a $20 purchase, the book was just under $20, I also picked up Running for Mortals, another book written by "The Penguin" John Bingham. Following my book purchases I made my way over to the grocery store. The importance of the grocery store is that I made a change in my cereal purchase this week. Instead of Special K or whatever sweet cereal I was craving, I took advantage of the 3 for $8 Kashi cereals, picking up three different kinds to sample. Now, my marathon sister has been eating this stuff for years so it is not foreign to me. However, now that I am trying to get my weight down and have running goals, I figure this is a good move forward to aid in both goals.
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