Saturday morning would normally be a 14-mile long run, but I had an important 2-hour appointment to attend. The appointment wasn't until 9am, and the location was 7 miles, so I figured hey, why not make it my long run! 7 miles there, 2-hour appointment, and 7 miles back.
While the 7 miles back, didn't quite happen the way I planned (see the long run entry for that one), I did another vlog on the way there. I've kept the destination a surprise, you'll find out where I went at the end of the video.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Run to the Park for Football!
That's right. Yesterday morning, as planned, I ran to the park where some guys from my church (along with random others) have our annual turkey bowl! The distance from my house to the park was 7.33 miles, but with the activity being quite different from running, I wore my backpack full of spare clothes. Basically a pair of shoes, sweats, a sweatshirt, some Powerade Zero, and my Reebok HRM.
I couldn't believe the difference with wearing the backpack. I mean, I'm used to wearing the same backpack hiking, but didn't think it would make me so much slower! So here are the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:25.95
Mile 2: 9:11.28
Mile 3: 9:31.79
Mile 4: 10:16.14
Mile 5: 10:19.24
Mile 6: 12:07.52
Mile 7: 9:29.78
.33 Mi: 2:48.10 (8:36/mi)
Totals: 7.33 miles, 1:13:09.80, 9:59/mi, 919 calories burned
Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself: what happened in Mile 6? Were you walking? Or were you listening to Chariots of Fire again?
None of those. I fell again. There wasn't an excuse this time, either, I looked all over the place for the rock, or the upturn that I fell on. The fact of the matter is, klutz tripped over his own feet. I didn't land gracefully, either, and managed to scrape off the scabs that had formed from last week's fall. I also was so intelligent as to forget a first aid kit or even one wet wipe. Heck, I didn't even have a towel. I had nothing to clean myself up, so I just kept going.
For fun, here's what a closeup of the mile I fell on looks like. Speed and heart rate both take a nosedive.
By the time I got to the park, blood had dripped all over my leg and soaked the top of my sock pretty well. At least my friend Mike had some baby wipes in his car, so I was able to clean myself up. As is the usual routine, not everyone had arrived yet, so we didn't actually start playing until maybe 8:30.
One thing I noticed over last year is how little I was getting out of breath, and how low my heart rate stayed. I was quite happy with it, actually! My football skills suck, of course, since I only play once a year, and even when I did play semi-regularly it was in high school, where I was always the least athletically inclined in my gym class. Over the next two hours, I managed to burn another 665 calories.
So the total for the day was 1582 calories! I was still careful about what I ate later in the day, although I ended up eating more than usual. Along with tomorrow's long run (destination unspecified as of yet), I think I will have made up for it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and to those of you who have the day off, that your extended holiday weekend is wonderful! The ones who are working, like me, I hope your day is as light as mine.
I couldn't believe the difference with wearing the backpack. I mean, I'm used to wearing the same backpack hiking, but didn't think it would make me so much slower! So here are the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:25.95
Mile 2: 9:11.28
Mile 3: 9:31.79
Mile 4: 10:16.14
Mile 5: 10:19.24
Mile 6: 12:07.52
Mile 7: 9:29.78
.33 Mi: 2:48.10 (8:36/mi)
Totals: 7.33 miles, 1:13:09.80, 9:59/mi, 919 calories burned
Now, I'm sure you're asking yourself: what happened in Mile 6? Were you walking? Or were you listening to Chariots of Fire again?
None of those. I fell again. There wasn't an excuse this time, either, I looked all over the place for the rock, or the upturn that I fell on. The fact of the matter is, klutz tripped over his own feet. I didn't land gracefully, either, and managed to scrape off the scabs that had formed from last week's fall. I also was so intelligent as to forget a first aid kit or even one wet wipe. Heck, I didn't even have a towel. I had nothing to clean myself up, so I just kept going.
For fun, here's what a closeup of the mile I fell on looks like. Speed and heart rate both take a nosedive.
By the time I got to the park, blood had dripped all over my leg and soaked the top of my sock pretty well. At least my friend Mike had some baby wipes in his car, so I was able to clean myself up. As is the usual routine, not everyone had arrived yet, so we didn't actually start playing until maybe 8:30.
One thing I noticed over last year is how little I was getting out of breath, and how low my heart rate stayed. I was quite happy with it, actually! My football skills suck, of course, since I only play once a year, and even when I did play semi-regularly it was in high school, where I was always the least athletically inclined in my gym class. Over the next two hours, I managed to burn another 665 calories.
So the total for the day was 1582 calories! I was still careful about what I ate later in the day, although I ended up eating more than usual. Along with tomorrow's long run (destination unspecified as of yet), I think I will have made up for it.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and to those of you who have the day off, that your extended holiday weekend is wonderful! The ones who are working, like me, I hope your day is as light as mine.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Weight Workout + Treadmill
I worked out at the gym today. As I left, it was nice and rainy, too. For a change it was cool in there, so I guess the pattern is hot in the summer, cold in the winter.
I also played with the Garmin 50 a bit more. I had originally hoped that I could wear the Garmin strap while doing weight workouts, and use the 50 to export my ongoing heart rate and calories burned to Garmin Training Center and SportTracks. That didn't happen, because unfortunately, the Garmin 50 only tracks calories burned when the foot pod is active! Obviously it doesn't take heart rate into consideration, otherwise it would work just fine.
It did let me output my ongoing heart rate, though.
While it's neat to have a chart of it, calories burned is much more useful for me. So I'll continue to wear the Reebok strap & watch for weight workouts.
Warmup, w/45lb bar, 3 circuits
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x25lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 3x20
* Side Bridge, 3x10 (both sides)
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 2x15lbs
34 minutes, ~200 calories burned
After the weight workout I decided to try out the foot pod with the Garmin on the treadmill, and it's obvious to me it needs calibration. It's also entirely possible the treadmill's inaccurate, and more than likely it's both. I set the treadmill for 7.5mph (8 min/mi), and ran for what the treadmill said was 1 mile. When I stopped the Garmin, it read 8 minutes. That sounds about right, except the Garmin also said I ran 1.13 miles, averaging out to more like 7:04/mi, or 8.5mph. I need to get out onto the track for some calibration!
8 minutes, ~1 mile, 141 calories burned.
Total calories: 341
I also played with the Garmin 50 a bit more. I had originally hoped that I could wear the Garmin strap while doing weight workouts, and use the 50 to export my ongoing heart rate and calories burned to Garmin Training Center and SportTracks. That didn't happen, because unfortunately, the Garmin 50 only tracks calories burned when the foot pod is active! Obviously it doesn't take heart rate into consideration, otherwise it would work just fine.
It did let me output my ongoing heart rate, though.
While it's neat to have a chart of it, calories burned is much more useful for me. So I'll continue to wear the Reebok strap & watch for weight workouts.
Warmup, w/45lb bar, 3 circuits
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x25lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 3x20
* Side Bridge, 3x10 (both sides)
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 2x15lbs
34 minutes, ~200 calories burned
After the weight workout I decided to try out the foot pod with the Garmin on the treadmill, and it's obvious to me it needs calibration. It's also entirely possible the treadmill's inaccurate, and more than likely it's both. I set the treadmill for 7.5mph (8 min/mi), and ran for what the treadmill said was 1 mile. When I stopped the Garmin, it read 8 minutes. That sounds about right, except the Garmin also said I ran 1.13 miles, averaging out to more like 7:04/mi, or 8.5mph. I need to get out onto the track for some calibration!
8 minutes, ~1 mile, 141 calories burned.
Total calories: 341
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Midweek Run - 6.19 miles
For today's run, I decided to take it a little bit easy due to twisting my ankle during the Turkey Trot on Saturday. Early on it was obvious that it wasn't much of a problem anymore, but I took it easy anyway. Tim ran with me, but lagged behind after the first mile and a half. He came back into the office around 5 minutes after I did.
I also got a chance to use the foot pod with the Garmin Forerunner 305. I didn't take the time to calibrate it, but Garmin claims 96% accuracy with it, not to mention I have the GPS so distance would still be accurate. Annoyingly, I forgot the HRM strap. So what did the foot pod tell me?
My average cadence was 103 strides per minute. What does that mean? I really have no idea! I did some quick research, which didn't turn up a whole lot. I read that elite runners, no matter what age range or length of race, all tend to have a cadence of between 65 and 95 strides per minute, and that the difference in speed is all in the length of their strides. One website said something like, if you have much over 95 that you should be training for the olympics. Wha?
The foot pod is obviously more useful to me at the moment for use on the treadmill, when I don't have GPS signal indoors. I'm sure being able to read my cadence has some usefulness, I just haven't found it yet.
Today's run went very well. The weather was great, cool, but not too cool. There was a slight overcast, which was nice, and there were few people driving because of the holiday week. I kept my pace around 9, trying to stay at or below.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:15.07
Mile 2: 9:14.20
Mile 3: 8:36.95
Mile 4: 8:45.87
Mile 5: 9:02.75
Mile 6: 8:52.15
.19 Mi: 1:36.64 (8:21/mi)
6.19 miles, 55:23.52, 8:56/mi, 777 calories burned (time/distance due to no HRM)
One interesting thing I noticed is that my "taking it easy" pace is still a lot faster than it used to be. I'm much more comfortable maintaining 9-minute miles than before.
My weight was up today, I was 165 pounds. I took it easy on the eating, looking forward to Thursday, knowing I'll likely be eating more that day. I'm going to do the same tomorrow.
Tentatively, my plan for Thursday is to get out the door between 5:30 and 6, run to the park (about 7.5 miles), then play football for a few hours with the guys from church. I'll get a ride back home with one of the guys, then drive the family to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving festivities.
Saturday should be interesting as well, but I'll leave that as a surprise. You do like surprises, don't you?
I also got a chance to use the foot pod with the Garmin Forerunner 305. I didn't take the time to calibrate it, but Garmin claims 96% accuracy with it, not to mention I have the GPS so distance would still be accurate. Annoyingly, I forgot the HRM strap. So what did the foot pod tell me?
My average cadence was 103 strides per minute. What does that mean? I really have no idea! I did some quick research, which didn't turn up a whole lot. I read that elite runners, no matter what age range or length of race, all tend to have a cadence of between 65 and 95 strides per minute, and that the difference in speed is all in the length of their strides. One website said something like, if you have much over 95 that you should be training for the olympics. Wha?
The foot pod is obviously more useful to me at the moment for use on the treadmill, when I don't have GPS signal indoors. I'm sure being able to read my cadence has some usefulness, I just haven't found it yet.
Today's run went very well. The weather was great, cool, but not too cool. There was a slight overcast, which was nice, and there were few people driving because of the holiday week. I kept my pace around 9, trying to stay at or below.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:15.07
Mile 2: 9:14.20
Mile 3: 8:36.95
Mile 4: 8:45.87
Mile 5: 9:02.75
Mile 6: 8:52.15
.19 Mi: 1:36.64 (8:21/mi)
6.19 miles, 55:23.52, 8:56/mi, 777 calories burned (time/distance due to no HRM)
One interesting thing I noticed is that my "taking it easy" pace is still a lot faster than it used to be. I'm much more comfortable maintaining 9-minute miles than before.
My weight was up today, I was 165 pounds. I took it easy on the eating, looking forward to Thursday, knowing I'll likely be eating more that day. I'm going to do the same tomorrow.
Tentatively, my plan for Thursday is to get out the door between 5:30 and 6, run to the park (about 7.5 miles), then play football for a few hours with the guys from church. I'll get a ride back home with one of the guys, then drive the family to my in-laws for the Thanksgiving festivities.
Saturday should be interesting as well, but I'll leave that as a surprise. You do like surprises, don't you?
Monday, November 24, 2008
Turkey Trot Extras + My Birthday!
It's my birthday. Yippee! 39 years old today. So I decided to forego the gym and instead go out to lunch at the Mongolian BBQ place. I tried to be good, but you know how that goes. And it's leading up to Thursday, so shame on me.
At any rate, no gym report, and of course no running, but I do have extras from the Turkey Trot. First up, a Google Earth mapp of the 10k route.
I don't have any pictures of me (nobody to take my photo, since my wife doesn't like my camera and refuses to use it), but I have lots of the kids. First up, Gregory. He ran the 1-mile race, and did great in my opinion. He said he fell down partway through, but got right up and kept going. That's my boy!
Before his race. He's #62.
Countdown from ten... 3... 2... 1... go!
Look at that form, boy! Next we need to work on his outfit.
At the end of the race, dad screwed up and left his settings on manual from the beginning, where everything was in the shade. D'oh! This is the best I could rescue of his finish.
Jenny was going to race the 1/4-mile, with Joy running the 200-meter, but Joy threw a fit until we let her run the 1/4 with her sister. Jenny's #60, Joy's #61, and their mom, Angela, is directly behind.
Jenny ran on ahead and skipped her way through the whole race. The announcer on the mike made a comment about it.
The next morning, Joy was telling me all about her race. She said, "He say, '3, 2, 1, go!', and I go! Me win!"
Jenny tried to get away with two finisher's ribbons. The volunteers didn't seem to mind, but her mom sure did.
Joy finished strong as well, although she was upset that it was over. She wanted to run the 200-meter as well, but we were all ready to eat lunch.
Finally, this is Gregory and his ribbon.
You can see the rest of the pictures here.
Back to running tomorrow, with 6.2 scheduled.
At any rate, no gym report, and of course no running, but I do have extras from the Turkey Trot. First up, a Google Earth mapp of the 10k route.
I don't have any pictures of me (nobody to take my photo, since my wife doesn't like my camera and refuses to use it), but I have lots of the kids. First up, Gregory. He ran the 1-mile race, and did great in my opinion. He said he fell down partway through, but got right up and kept going. That's my boy!
Before his race. He's #62.
Countdown from ten... 3... 2... 1... go!
Look at that form, boy! Next we need to work on his outfit.
At the end of the race, dad screwed up and left his settings on manual from the beginning, where everything was in the shade. D'oh! This is the best I could rescue of his finish.
Jenny was going to race the 1/4-mile, with Joy running the 200-meter, but Joy threw a fit until we let her run the 1/4 with her sister. Jenny's #60, Joy's #61, and their mom, Angela, is directly behind.
Jenny ran on ahead and skipped her way through the whole race. The announcer on the mike made a comment about it.
The next morning, Joy was telling me all about her race. She said, "He say, '3, 2, 1, go!', and I go! Me win!"
Jenny tried to get away with two finisher's ribbons. The volunteers didn't seem to mind, but her mom sure did.
Joy finished strong as well, although she was upset that it was over. She wanted to run the 200-meter as well, but we were all ready to eat lunch.
Finally, this is Gregory and his ribbon.
You can see the rest of the pictures here.
Back to running tomorrow, with 6.2 scheduled.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The following takes place...
Today's an off day. No gym. No running. Not much of anything, really, except one important thing.
Jack's back.
Jack's back.
2008 Davis Turkey Trot 10k
Anyone who's been running for a length of time can tell you, there are good days running, and there are bad days running. Sometimes it seems the world is yours and you could run for hours, days, weeks, etc... then others, you're ready to quit after 5 minutes and couldn't tell anyone why for your life. There are also good races and bad races.
Saying that, you might expect me to tell you all about a bad race. Your expectations also might be wrong.
Yesterday was the 2008 Davis Turkey Trot. There were quite a few different races, including a 5k stroller run, the regular 5k, a 10k, plus kids' events. I ran in the 10k.
Before I go further, though, congratulations are in order for Tim Schafer, my coworker who registered for the 5k event. He's only been running for a month, maybe a month and a half, and this was his first race. He performed tremendously, surprising me, and especially surprising himself, averaging an 8:21/mi pace, and finishing with a 25:55 chip time. Way to go, Tim!
We got up early Saturday morning, and started feeding the kids breakfast at 5am. It's a good thing we were up early, too, because as we found out on the way, the fog was thick the entire way. It's been a long time since I drove Highway 113 through Woodland, and had forgotten how bad it can get this time of year. It's only 45 miles to Davis, but the going was slow. Even once we got into town, it was hard seeing street signs. Once parked, though, we were able to follow folks to the destination.
The 5k was set to start at 8:20, so we made our way towards the starting line. I tried to find Tim, but wasn't very successful. Once that race started, we had a look around before I changed into my running clothes. I was already wearing them, of course, but had outer layers to remove and running shoes to put on. Those would be the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's I bought a few days ago. Call me crazy, but today was the first time I wore them.
I pinned bib #1904 onto my shorts, different from the past, when I've pinned the number to my shirt. This made a huge difference to me, because I wasn't constantly smacking it as I ran. I also packed two gels into the baby-pocket of my running shorts, and shivered while waiting for the race to begin. I ate one of the gels and got a drink from a drinking fountain.
Rather than a starting gun or horn, they started the race with a countdown from ten. 3... 2... 1..., and we were off! I realized quickly that I had picked a place too far back in the pack. It took maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to finally settle in on a decent pace, but I lucked out a few times with a dirt path that ran next to the street that gave me (and quite a few others) a chance to make up some time.
At Mile 1 I glanced down at my time, and surprisingly, the 1-mile mark was right on track with the Garmin: 8:18! I was doing better than I expected.
At Mile 2 was the first water stop. I usually run with a water bottle in my hand, but because of the water stops I chose not to, so it was a welcome sight. I grabbed the water, folded the cup with gusto, and downed it, making sure to thank the volunteers as I passed. The GPS read an 8:05 pace.
Just past the water station, the course turned onto an asphalt path. This immediately caused a bottleneck, moving all of us to a surface about 1/3 the width we had been running on so far. The surface, while asphalt, was a lot softer than the street, and had it been maintained well, would have been perfect. Unfortunately, it was cracked and upturned quite a bit, and I ended up twisting my ankle! I thought for sure it would slow me down or even make me have to stop, but after a quarter mile I was able to get back on track.
At Mile 3, I started thinking about the end. Halfway there, I told myself, seeing 8:10 for pace. But could I keep it up?
Mile 4, I made a bee-line for the water station. The day before the race, it was announced that the "official hydration" method of the race would be Cytomax. Woo! I love that stuff, we used backpacking at Mt. Whitney last year, and it kept me going pretty well. As I approached, I heard some screaming, "Gatorade! Gator... uh, whoops... Cytomax! Cytomax!" I went straight for him and the cup, but ended up splashing it all over my arm, my shirt, the Garmin. At least I got what my dad used to call a "swaller" into my mouth. 8:09 pace.
Mile 5, I was starting to feel the fact that I was running consistently faster than I normally do during training. As the path led over the freeway, the final aid station was in view, and again I went towards it. Water this time, but in styrofoam cups! I did my best, but ended up with some water coming out my nose, and I came very close to throwing it all up! I consider myself lucky that I didn't. 8:11 pace.
Glancing down at 5.18 miles or so, I remember mentally pushing myself to keep my pace. This guy passed me, and as he did, I decided to use him as my pacer. Thank goodness he was there, because I probably would have slowed down otherwise. Maybe not, I suppose there were plenty of people to keep up with. There were weird sculptures of dogs along the path here. One was a dog riding a tricycle, another was a dog chasing a turkey on top of a giant mushroom.
The path went over the freeway, and as we got to the other side and into another park, there was the marker for Mile 6. Keep going, the volunteers started chanting, only six blocks to go! I sped up as much as I could at this point, although I'm sure it was a feeble attempt. I concentrated on not looking like I was in pain for the photographers, but we'll see how that went. 8:06.
Then all at once, I had crossed the finish line. The final .22 miles ended up at a 7:22 pace. I stopped the Garmin, with a final time: 50:27.29! Check out these splits:
Splits
Mile 1: 8:16.72
Mile 2: 8:04.83
Mile 3: 8:08.62
Mile 4: 8:06.12
Mile 5: 8:08.64
Mile 6: 8:04.99
.22 mi: 1:37.97 (7:25/mi)
Needless to say, I was happy. I found my wife and kids, and Joy said to me, "You running!" Liberal kisses and hugs were exchanged, while my wife told me all about how much fun they had doing crafts at the kids' fair.
I made my way over to the food and couldn't believe how famished I was! I ended up having a bagel, a banana, an apple, an orange slice, and a mini bran muffin.
At the booth for a local gym, they had a sign showing how many calories are burned while running at different paces. I ended up having a discussion with the guy there, talking about paces and how many calories I usually burn (I average about 125 calories per mile typically). Then I noticed that they had a body fat device, the same model I had used when I picked my wife up at Curves about 6 months ago.
So I had the guy read mine: 13.6%! For good measure, I had him read it again: 13.4%. This is good news! My previous low was 18%.
We made our way back to the starting line for Gregory, who's 6 years old, to run his 1-mile race. I took some pictures of him at the starting line, but ended up overexposing the end. He was far from first place, but had a blast nonetheless. I had Jenny (4) and Joy (3) signed up for the 1/4-mile and 200 yard dash respectively, but Joy wanted to run with her sister. So they both ended up running 1/4 mile, while my wife "ran" with them. Note the quotes: my wife was going joy-speed, which wasn't much faster than Joy's toddler-walk. Jenny smoked both of them and the announcer at the mike told everyone she was skipping to the finish line.
When it was over, we ate at Baker's Square. I had an omelette, my wife had a turkey wrap, while all 3 kids ate corn dog bites. On the way home, everyone but me slept the hour back home.
Stats copied from the results page:
Overall: 316 out of 1142
Men: 237 out of 532
M 35-39: 33 out of 73
Age/Grade: 55.59% Place: 478
Finish: 50:23 Pace: 8:07
Tag Time: 50:23
Gun Time: 51:05
791 calories burned.
And if you made it this far, thank you very much!
Saying that, you might expect me to tell you all about a bad race. Your expectations also might be wrong.
Yesterday was the 2008 Davis Turkey Trot. There were quite a few different races, including a 5k stroller run, the regular 5k, a 10k, plus kids' events. I ran in the 10k.
Before I go further, though, congratulations are in order for Tim Schafer, my coworker who registered for the 5k event. He's only been running for a month, maybe a month and a half, and this was his first race. He performed tremendously, surprising me, and especially surprising himself, averaging an 8:21/mi pace, and finishing with a 25:55 chip time. Way to go, Tim!
We got up early Saturday morning, and started feeding the kids breakfast at 5am. It's a good thing we were up early, too, because as we found out on the way, the fog was thick the entire way. It's been a long time since I drove Highway 113 through Woodland, and had forgotten how bad it can get this time of year. It's only 45 miles to Davis, but the going was slow. Even once we got into town, it was hard seeing street signs. Once parked, though, we were able to follow folks to the destination.
The 5k was set to start at 8:20, so we made our way towards the starting line. I tried to find Tim, but wasn't very successful. Once that race started, we had a look around before I changed into my running clothes. I was already wearing them, of course, but had outer layers to remove and running shoes to put on. Those would be the new Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's I bought a few days ago. Call me crazy, but today was the first time I wore them.
I pinned bib #1904 onto my shorts, different from the past, when I've pinned the number to my shirt. This made a huge difference to me, because I wasn't constantly smacking it as I ran. I also packed two gels into the baby-pocket of my running shorts, and shivered while waiting for the race to begin. I ate one of the gels and got a drink from a drinking fountain.
Rather than a starting gun or horn, they started the race with a countdown from ten. 3... 2... 1..., and we were off! I realized quickly that I had picked a place too far back in the pack. It took maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile to finally settle in on a decent pace, but I lucked out a few times with a dirt path that ran next to the street that gave me (and quite a few others) a chance to make up some time.
At Mile 1 I glanced down at my time, and surprisingly, the 1-mile mark was right on track with the Garmin: 8:18! I was doing better than I expected.
At Mile 2 was the first water stop. I usually run with a water bottle in my hand, but because of the water stops I chose not to, so it was a welcome sight. I grabbed the water, folded the cup with gusto, and downed it, making sure to thank the volunteers as I passed. The GPS read an 8:05 pace.
Just past the water station, the course turned onto an asphalt path. This immediately caused a bottleneck, moving all of us to a surface about 1/3 the width we had been running on so far. The surface, while asphalt, was a lot softer than the street, and had it been maintained well, would have been perfect. Unfortunately, it was cracked and upturned quite a bit, and I ended up twisting my ankle! I thought for sure it would slow me down or even make me have to stop, but after a quarter mile I was able to get back on track.
At Mile 3, I started thinking about the end. Halfway there, I told myself, seeing 8:10 for pace. But could I keep it up?
Mile 4, I made a bee-line for the water station. The day before the race, it was announced that the "official hydration" method of the race would be Cytomax. Woo! I love that stuff, we used backpacking at Mt. Whitney last year, and it kept me going pretty well. As I approached, I heard some screaming, "Gatorade! Gator... uh, whoops... Cytomax! Cytomax!" I went straight for him and the cup, but ended up splashing it all over my arm, my shirt, the Garmin. At least I got what my dad used to call a "swaller" into my mouth. 8:09 pace.
Mile 5, I was starting to feel the fact that I was running consistently faster than I normally do during training. As the path led over the freeway, the final aid station was in view, and again I went towards it. Water this time, but in styrofoam cups! I did my best, but ended up with some water coming out my nose, and I came very close to throwing it all up! I consider myself lucky that I didn't. 8:11 pace.
Glancing down at 5.18 miles or so, I remember mentally pushing myself to keep my pace. This guy passed me, and as he did, I decided to use him as my pacer. Thank goodness he was there, because I probably would have slowed down otherwise. Maybe not, I suppose there were plenty of people to keep up with. There were weird sculptures of dogs along the path here. One was a dog riding a tricycle, another was a dog chasing a turkey on top of a giant mushroom.
The path went over the freeway, and as we got to the other side and into another park, there was the marker for Mile 6. Keep going, the volunteers started chanting, only six blocks to go! I sped up as much as I could at this point, although I'm sure it was a feeble attempt. I concentrated on not looking like I was in pain for the photographers, but we'll see how that went. 8:06.
Then all at once, I had crossed the finish line. The final .22 miles ended up at a 7:22 pace. I stopped the Garmin, with a final time: 50:27.29! Check out these splits:
Splits
Mile 1: 8:16.72
Mile 2: 8:04.83
Mile 3: 8:08.62
Mile 4: 8:06.12
Mile 5: 8:08.64
Mile 6: 8:04.99
.22 mi: 1:37.97 (7:25/mi)
Needless to say, I was happy. I found my wife and kids, and Joy said to me, "You running!" Liberal kisses and hugs were exchanged, while my wife told me all about how much fun they had doing crafts at the kids' fair.
I made my way over to the food and couldn't believe how famished I was! I ended up having a bagel, a banana, an apple, an orange slice, and a mini bran muffin.
At the booth for a local gym, they had a sign showing how many calories are burned while running at different paces. I ended up having a discussion with the guy there, talking about paces and how many calories I usually burn (I average about 125 calories per mile typically). Then I noticed that they had a body fat device, the same model I had used when I picked my wife up at Curves about 6 months ago.
So I had the guy read mine: 13.6%! For good measure, I had him read it again: 13.4%. This is good news! My previous low was 18%.
We made our way back to the starting line for Gregory, who's 6 years old, to run his 1-mile race. I took some pictures of him at the starting line, but ended up overexposing the end. He was far from first place, but had a blast nonetheless. I had Jenny (4) and Joy (3) signed up for the 1/4-mile and 200 yard dash respectively, but Joy wanted to run with her sister. So they both ended up running 1/4 mile, while my wife "ran" with them. Note the quotes: my wife was going joy-speed, which wasn't much faster than Joy's toddler-walk. Jenny smoked both of them and the announcer at the mike told everyone she was skipping to the finish line.
When it was over, we ate at Baker's Square. I had an omelette, my wife had a turkey wrap, while all 3 kids ate corn dog bites. On the way home, everyone but me slept the hour back home.
Stats copied from the results page:
Overall: 316 out of 1142
Men: 237 out of 532
M 35-39: 33 out of 73
Age/Grade: 55.59% Place: 478
Finish: 50:23 Pace: 8:07
Tag Time: 50:23
Gun Time: 51:05
791 calories burned.
And if you made it this far, thank you very much!
Friday, November 21, 2008
It's almost my birthday!
Normally I really don't care if it's almost my birthday, but I managed to buy a few birthday presents for myself. Not that I wouldn't be buying them anyway, but the dates just sort of fit together.
Present #1: New running shoes! They arrived yesterday, a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's. This time I bought a green pair, and used a coupon at shoes.com to get them for $79. Great deal.
Present #2: New insoles! It'd be silly to buy shoes without insoles, and since my old ones have the same mileage as the shoes did (about 280 miles), it was time. I wear green Superfeet.
Present #2 Garmin Forerunner 50. Yes, I know I wrote about it the other day, but it arrived today. HRM manufacturers must all use the same chipset and customize them for their own needs, because the watch operates quite similarly to my Reebok HRM. It also made the menus easy to navigate. The watch looks a lot better than the Reebok, with larger numbers, so I'm going to use it. I haven't paired the foot pod with my Garmin 305 yet, but it seems to work pretty well with the 50. I'll probably give it all a try on the treadmill at the gym on Monday.
Ooh, and speaking of the gym, here's today's workout:
Warmup, w/45lb bar, 3 circuits
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x10 (both sides)
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs (both arms)
45 minutes, 210 calories burned
Tomorrow's the Davis Turkey Trot! Got our bibs, shirts, & goodie bags on the way home from work, which included some Snickers Marathon bars. I haven't tried those before, and I certainly won't tomorrow. What I will try tomorrow, however, are my new shoes. Fun, fun, fun!
I'll post once I get home and settled.
Present #1: New running shoes! They arrived yesterday, a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8's. This time I bought a green pair, and used a coupon at shoes.com to get them for $79. Great deal.
Present #2: New insoles! It'd be silly to buy shoes without insoles, and since my old ones have the same mileage as the shoes did (about 280 miles), it was time. I wear green Superfeet.
Present #2 Garmin Forerunner 50. Yes, I know I wrote about it the other day, but it arrived today. HRM manufacturers must all use the same chipset and customize them for their own needs, because the watch operates quite similarly to my Reebok HRM. It also made the menus easy to navigate. The watch looks a lot better than the Reebok, with larger numbers, so I'm going to use it. I haven't paired the foot pod with my Garmin 305 yet, but it seems to work pretty well with the 50. I'll probably give it all a try on the treadmill at the gym on Monday.
Ooh, and speaking of the gym, here's today's workout:
Warmup, w/45lb bar, 3 circuits
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x10 (both sides)
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs (both arms)
45 minutes, 210 calories burned
Tomorrow's the Davis Turkey Trot! Got our bibs, shirts, & goodie bags on the way home from work, which included some Snickers Marathon bars. I haven't tried those before, and I certainly won't tomorrow. What I will try tomorrow, however, are my new shoes. Fun, fun, fun!
I'll post once I get home and settled.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
I've fallen, and I can't get up!
Not really. I did get up. But it got me thinking about injuries and my recovery time. Not the major injuries, not broken bones, or hamstring pulls. Nothing that major. No, I'm talking about tripping, landing on whatever part of the body you land on, scraping it up, and then bitching about it. The kind of injury you spend the rest of the day shaking your head about, saying next time, don't do that.
At least, that's how those types of injuries are now. There was a time when these types of injuries were major. For instance, many years ago before my children were born, I played on my church softball team, which I wish was still in existence. I was on first base, and someone hit an outfield home run. As I rounded second, I tripped and went down, hard.
Remember, I was 250 pounds at the time. Instinctively I put my arms out, but after the impact, the soft dirt of the baseline made me slide a good 20 feet. Not a purposeful slide either, it was completely out of control. I skinned myself up pretty badly, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was somehow I injured my right arm and shoulder to the point where I could barely move it. It wasn't broken, but it affected every aspect of my life, including work. I remember it was at least 3 or 4 months before I was back to normal.
Another time, I was out doing night photography on Pass Road, out among the Sutter Buttes. The camera was on a tripod, and I was waiting for a long exposure to finish, just wandering around in the dark. To the side of the road, I took a step to what looked like solid ground, only to realize too late that it was a 3-foot-deep ditch. In I went, and my foot went to the side, making it difficult to walk.
I had it x-rayed and again, no break. After a short while it healed, but with this particular injury I kept re-injuring it by doing not much of anything. One time I was doing dishes and I stepped wrong. BAM, down I went, and the pain was so bad that I was in tears. Re-injuring the thing happened at least once or twice a week for what seemed like six months or more.
Shortly after I started losing weight, perhaps 15 pounds in, I took a hike with a friend from church. At one point, I slipped and down I went, but this time, I was able to get right up. In fact, the thought of how quickly I recovered made me laugh out loud. Of course, I explained all of this to my friend.
Nowadays, when I fall like that it's really no big deal. I fall, curse myself, get my bearings, and off I go. It's amazing the difference that extra weight can have on a person in so many aspects of life. Yes, it slows you down, but you become less graceful. And when injured, it takes that much longer to recover. Thank goodness I never had major injuries back then!
Today on my run I decided to treat it more like a tempo run, going close to what my goal pace will be on Saturday morning. I was actually proud of myself, and ran an amazingly good 5k (for me, anyway). When I got to 3.25 miles, I tripped on an upturned portion of sidewalk. That's not what made me go down though, in fact I caught myself.
No, the sidewalk was a little damp and there was some sort of fungus, whatever you want to call it. This made the sidewalk slippery, so the second my foot came down, SLIP, down I went. Hand first.
Elbow second.
Knee third, but with a strong showing.
But as I said before, recovery time is much, much better now. I probably would have gotten up faster than I did, had I not been lying there screaming at myself. Just to make sure I was alright though, I walked for a quarter mile. Then I started up again to finish it off. And there's a bonus, too, because my split chart gives everyone the bird! So I got that goin' for me.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:40.78
Mile 2: 8:18.98
Mile 3: 8:29.16
Mile 4: 13:36.67
Mile 5: 8:44.75
Mile 6: 8:40.09
.20 mi: 1:38.04 (8:17/mi)
6.2 miles total, 58:08.47, 9:22/mi pace, 766 calories burned.
My goal for today was to run as well as I could as an indicator as to how well I'll do in Saturday's Turkey Trot. Things look good!
At least, that's how those types of injuries are now. There was a time when these types of injuries were major. For instance, many years ago before my children were born, I played on my church softball team, which I wish was still in existence. I was on first base, and someone hit an outfield home run. As I rounded second, I tripped and went down, hard.
Remember, I was 250 pounds at the time. Instinctively I put my arms out, but after the impact, the soft dirt of the baseline made me slide a good 20 feet. Not a purposeful slide either, it was completely out of control. I skinned myself up pretty badly, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was somehow I injured my right arm and shoulder to the point where I could barely move it. It wasn't broken, but it affected every aspect of my life, including work. I remember it was at least 3 or 4 months before I was back to normal.
Another time, I was out doing night photography on Pass Road, out among the Sutter Buttes. The camera was on a tripod, and I was waiting for a long exposure to finish, just wandering around in the dark. To the side of the road, I took a step to what looked like solid ground, only to realize too late that it was a 3-foot-deep ditch. In I went, and my foot went to the side, making it difficult to walk.
I had it x-rayed and again, no break. After a short while it healed, but with this particular injury I kept re-injuring it by doing not much of anything. One time I was doing dishes and I stepped wrong. BAM, down I went, and the pain was so bad that I was in tears. Re-injuring the thing happened at least once or twice a week for what seemed like six months or more.
Shortly after I started losing weight, perhaps 15 pounds in, I took a hike with a friend from church. At one point, I slipped and down I went, but this time, I was able to get right up. In fact, the thought of how quickly I recovered made me laugh out loud. Of course, I explained all of this to my friend.
Nowadays, when I fall like that it's really no big deal. I fall, curse myself, get my bearings, and off I go. It's amazing the difference that extra weight can have on a person in so many aspects of life. Yes, it slows you down, but you become less graceful. And when injured, it takes that much longer to recover. Thank goodness I never had major injuries back then!
Today on my run I decided to treat it more like a tempo run, going close to what my goal pace will be on Saturday morning. I was actually proud of myself, and ran an amazingly good 5k (for me, anyway). When I got to 3.25 miles, I tripped on an upturned portion of sidewalk. That's not what made me go down though, in fact I caught myself.
No, the sidewalk was a little damp and there was some sort of fungus, whatever you want to call it. This made the sidewalk slippery, so the second my foot came down, SLIP, down I went. Hand first.
Elbow second.
Knee third, but with a strong showing.
But as I said before, recovery time is much, much better now. I probably would have gotten up faster than I did, had I not been lying there screaming at myself. Just to make sure I was alright though, I walked for a quarter mile. Then I started up again to finish it off. And there's a bonus, too, because my split chart gives everyone the bird! So I got that goin' for me.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:40.78
Mile 2: 8:18.98
Mile 3: 8:29.16
Mile 4: 13:36.67
Mile 5: 8:44.75
Mile 6: 8:40.09
.20 mi: 1:38.04 (8:17/mi)
6.2 miles total, 58:08.47, 9:22/mi pace, 766 calories burned.
My goal for today was to run as well as I could as an indicator as to how well I'll do in Saturday's Turkey Trot. Things look good!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I am NOT a WOMAN!
My Reebok HRM thinks I'm a woman. Or should I say, thought I was a woman, it's much better now.
I was at the gym, but part of the routine that should have burned 35 to 40 calories only burned 8. This happened the last time I was at the gym, so I decided to look into it. Come to find out, the HRM thought I was a 20-year-old, 5'0", 110-pound, sedentary woman. And today of all days, I forgot my sports bra.
So I fixed the settings. It's much more accurate now.
Warmup, 3 circuits, 30 seconds each exercise
* Jumping Jacks
* Split Jacks
* Squats
* Alternating Lunges
* Mountain Climbers
Workout
* Multidirectional Lunge, 3x10x95lbs
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Single-leg Bridge, 3x20 (both legs)
* Serratus Dip, 2x20
* Plank, 3x10x5 secs
* Hanging Scapular Retraction, 3x10x5 secs
45 minutes, 266 calories burned. Really, this time!
I was at the gym, but part of the routine that should have burned 35 to 40 calories only burned 8. This happened the last time I was at the gym, so I decided to look into it. Come to find out, the HRM thought I was a 20-year-old, 5'0", 110-pound, sedentary woman. And today of all days, I forgot my sports bra.
So I fixed the settings. It's much more accurate now.
Warmup, 3 circuits, 30 seconds each exercise
* Jumping Jacks
* Split Jacks
* Squats
* Alternating Lunges
* Mountain Climbers
Workout
* Multidirectional Lunge, 3x10x95lbs
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Single-leg Bridge, 3x20 (both legs)
* Serratus Dip, 2x20
* Plank, 3x10x5 secs
* Hanging Scapular Retraction, 3x10x5 secs
45 minutes, 266 calories burned. Really, this time!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Weekday Run - 6.2 miles
Today's run was with Tim. I kept at his pace, although I ended up way ahead of him for a while and ended up walking with him a short while. Because of the walking, I told him at a certain point I'd ditch him, so that's what I did.
After I went inside to get my Powerade Zero, I went back to make sure Tim was ok. As I suspected, he was walking. I started the GPS again once I went after him.
Here come the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:43.32
Mile 2: 9:56.65
Mile 3: 12:48.32
Mile 4: 11:34.26
Mile 5: 9:11.68
Mile 6: 9:14.84
.46 Mile: 5:44.09 (12:28/mi)
I ditched tim in the middle of Mile 5. We were about a half mile into it at 10:00/mi when I said, "I'm going to ditch you at the corner." I sprinted to about a 6:30 mile for all of about 200 feet, then averaged about 8:45 for the rest of the mile. It's interesting the average pace for that mile came to 9:11, which I averaged the rest of the way.
After 6.2 miles, I jogged back to where he was and walked with him the rest of the way back.
After I went inside to get my Powerade Zero, I went back to make sure Tim was ok. As I suspected, he was walking. I started the GPS again once I went after him.
Here come the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:43.32
Mile 2: 9:56.65
Mile 3: 12:48.32
Mile 4: 11:34.26
Mile 5: 9:11.68
Mile 6: 9:14.84
.46 Mile: 5:44.09 (12:28/mi)
I ditched tim in the middle of Mile 5. We were about a half mile into it at 10:00/mi when I said, "I'm going to ditch you at the corner." I sprinted to about a 6:30 mile for all of about 200 feet, then averaged about 8:45 for the rest of the mile. It's interesting the average pace for that mile came to 9:11, which I averaged the rest of the way.
After 6.2 miles, I jogged back to where he was and walked with him the rest of the way back.
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills!
What happens when PETA gets into the videogame industry?
Thanksgiving happens! Oh, the humanity!!! Fun game, although I wonder why A) there's blood coming out of the eggs, and B) you cut off the head AFTER stuffing the turkey. No matter, let the slaughter begin!
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills
Thanksgiving happens! Oh, the humanity!!! Fun game, although I wonder why A) there's blood coming out of the eggs, and B) you cut off the head AFTER stuffing the turkey. No matter, let the slaughter begin!
Cooking Mama: Mama Kills
Monday, November 17, 2008
Gym Day
Went to the gym today, and the HRM's caloric readout was strange at the end...
Warmup, w/45lb bar
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x20 per side
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs per side
30 minutes, 103 calories burned
2.5 mi treadmill run @ 7.5mph (8 min/mi), 20 minutes, 127 calories burned. This is where it gets strange. I should be burning about 100 calories per mile, and on my typical runs (including long runs), I burn about 125 calories per. Today according to the HRM I was burning about 60! So while I don't believe it, the numbera at the end is what I'm quoting.
Total calories burned: 227
Warmup, w/45lb bar
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x20 per side
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs per side
30 minutes, 103 calories burned
2.5 mi treadmill run @ 7.5mph (8 min/mi), 20 minutes, 127 calories burned. This is where it gets strange. I should be burning about 100 calories per mile, and on my typical runs (including long runs), I burn about 125 calories per. Today according to the HRM I was burning about 60! So while I don't believe it, the numbera at the end is what I'm quoting.
Total calories burned: 227
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Yet Another Gadget?
Well, yeah.
I'm a gadget junkie. I always have been, since I was a kid. One of my favorite toys when I was 7 years old was a transistor radio my mom gave me. For years I thought it was because I could listen to any radio station I wanted, but now I realize it was the portability of it. I didn't have to be listening to the radio station SOME place, I could listen ANY place. In my bed, in the bathtub, walking to school.
The obsession followed me through life and into adulthood. Anyone who knows me for a period of time (5 minutes maybe?) will soon be introduced to my Treo 755p. One of these days I'm going to have it surgically attached to my hand, but I'm waffling on that because I wouldn't be able to hold a water bottle while running.
Speaking of which, I ordered yet another gadget. I'm a regular visitor of a clearance site called Woot, which has the business model of one item each day. When it's sold out, you can't order until midnight the next day, at which point the next item comes up. On occasion they have what they call a Woot Off, which brings up a new item as soon as the previous item is sold out.
Yesterday, Woot had this:
Yup, it's the Garmin Forerunner 50. But why, you ask, would I want to buy a non-GPS Garmin watch that doesn't measure heart rate, but uses a foot pod to estimate distance traveled when I could just wear my GPS?
* Foot pod. It will allow me to wear my 305 when on the treadmill so I can take the distance data and import it into Garmin Training Center or SportTracks.
* Stylish watch!
* It's 50 bucks!
The $50 thing is the kicker. The Forerunner 50's suggested retail price is $100, which is what Amazon.com is charging for it at present. If I were to buy the foot pod alone, it'd cost $80. Here, I paid $50, got a watch that's compatible with the 305's strap, plus the foot pod. I'd call it a bargain.
Now all I have to do is get back on the treadmill again. I plan on doing that a lot once the hard rains hit.
I'm a gadget junkie. I always have been, since I was a kid. One of my favorite toys when I was 7 years old was a transistor radio my mom gave me. For years I thought it was because I could listen to any radio station I wanted, but now I realize it was the portability of it. I didn't have to be listening to the radio station SOME place, I could listen ANY place. In my bed, in the bathtub, walking to school.
The obsession followed me through life and into adulthood. Anyone who knows me for a period of time (5 minutes maybe?) will soon be introduced to my Treo 755p. One of these days I'm going to have it surgically attached to my hand, but I'm waffling on that because I wouldn't be able to hold a water bottle while running.
Speaking of which, I ordered yet another gadget. I'm a regular visitor of a clearance site called Woot, which has the business model of one item each day. When it's sold out, you can't order until midnight the next day, at which point the next item comes up. On occasion they have what they call a Woot Off, which brings up a new item as soon as the previous item is sold out.
Yesterday, Woot had this:
Yup, it's the Garmin Forerunner 50. But why, you ask, would I want to buy a non-GPS Garmin watch that doesn't measure heart rate, but uses a foot pod to estimate distance traveled when I could just wear my GPS?
* Foot pod. It will allow me to wear my 305 when on the treadmill so I can take the distance data and import it into Garmin Training Center or SportTracks.
* Stylish watch!
* It's 50 bucks!
The $50 thing is the kicker. The Forerunner 50's suggested retail price is $100, which is what Amazon.com is charging for it at present. If I were to buy the foot pod alone, it'd cost $80. Here, I paid $50, got a watch that's compatible with the 305's strap, plus the foot pod. I'd call it a bargain.
Now all I have to do is get back on the treadmill again. I plan on doing that a lot once the hard rains hit.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Long Run - 14 miles
Did my 14-mile long run this morning. I'm still experimenting a bit with methods, seeing what works best for me. Today, I did amazingly well, with an average pace better than I've ever had on a long run!
Splits
Mile 1: 9:30.09
Mile 2: 9:28.80
Mile 3: 9:42.36
Mile 4: 10:02.11
Mile 5: 10:15.82
Mile 6: 9:33.22
Mile 7: 9:20.56
Mile 8: 9:31.15
Mile 9: 9:36.53
Mile 10: 9:46.06
Mile 11: 9:44.19
Mile 12: 9:43.22
Mile 13: 9:59.19
Mile 14: 10:04.51
.04 Miles: :22.35 (10:13/mi)
14.02 miles, 2:16.40, 9:44 average pace, 1779 calories burned.
I did a couple things differently today. I was watching my pace much more closely and tried not to go too fast in the early miles. Although I did, I felt much fresher towards the end so I could run a little faster. The second thing, someone had suggested I eat 2 or 3 gels rather than just the one I was eating before, so that's what I did. I ate one at 6 miles and another at 11 miles.
One thing I noticed is I wasn't completely famished when done running. When I came in the door, I ate something because I needed it for recovery, but I didn't feel overly hungry. This is a good thing! I think that in the future, more gels for this distance is what I'll do.
Another thing is afterwards I wasn't as tired as I've been in the past. I didn't feel compelled to lounge on the couch, to take a nap, or anything. In fact, we were busy the rest of the day, and running 14 miles didn't seem to affect it at all. Thank goodness!
This is the 5th Saturday long run I've done in a row. I think it's safe to say the pattern has been set. No long run next week, due to the Turkey Trot. That will be interesting!
Splits
Mile 1: 9:30.09
Mile 2: 9:28.80
Mile 3: 9:42.36
Mile 4: 10:02.11
Mile 5: 10:15.82
Mile 6: 9:33.22
Mile 7: 9:20.56
Mile 8: 9:31.15
Mile 9: 9:36.53
Mile 10: 9:46.06
Mile 11: 9:44.19
Mile 12: 9:43.22
Mile 13: 9:59.19
Mile 14: 10:04.51
.04 Miles: :22.35 (10:13/mi)
14.02 miles, 2:16.40, 9:44 average pace, 1779 calories burned.
I did a couple things differently today. I was watching my pace much more closely and tried not to go too fast in the early miles. Although I did, I felt much fresher towards the end so I could run a little faster. The second thing, someone had suggested I eat 2 or 3 gels rather than just the one I was eating before, so that's what I did. I ate one at 6 miles and another at 11 miles.
One thing I noticed is I wasn't completely famished when done running. When I came in the door, I ate something because I needed it for recovery, but I didn't feel overly hungry. This is a good thing! I think that in the future, more gels for this distance is what I'll do.
Another thing is afterwards I wasn't as tired as I've been in the past. I didn't feel compelled to lounge on the couch, to take a nap, or anything. In fact, we were busy the rest of the day, and running 14 miles didn't seem to affect it at all. Thank goodness!
This is the 5th Saturday long run I've done in a row. I think it's safe to say the pattern has been set. No long run next week, due to the Turkey Trot. That will be interesting!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Midweek Run - 6.2 miles
Hello everyone, life's getting back to normal after the jury duty. Not being picked to serve on the jury was a good thing, I'm back to eating normal now. Thank goodness, I don't think me or my body could handle two weeks of no gym, no running, and bad food.
6.2 miles today. I tried to watch my pace more closely and do the negative split thing, but I sort of lost it towards the end. Not 100%, but my pace certainly wasn't where I wanted it in the end. I'm getting closer though. My goal was 9 minute miles the first half, and 8:30 the second. Coming off the freeway during Mile 3, though, gravity took hold and I pushed a little too hard a little too early.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:56.22
Mile 2: 8:53.32
Mile 3: 8:36.20
Mile 4: 8:34.73
Mile 5: 9:12.47
Mile 6: 9:22.17
.2 Miles: 1:53.13 (9:24/mi)
6.2 miles, 55:28.24, 8:56/mi average, 780 calories burned.
6.2 miles today. I tried to watch my pace more closely and do the negative split thing, but I sort of lost it towards the end. Not 100%, but my pace certainly wasn't where I wanted it in the end. I'm getting closer though. My goal was 9 minute miles the first half, and 8:30 the second. Coming off the freeway during Mile 3, though, gravity took hold and I pushed a little too hard a little too early.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:56.22
Mile 2: 8:53.32
Mile 3: 8:36.20
Mile 4: 8:34.73
Mile 5: 9:12.47
Mile 6: 9:22.17
.2 Miles: 1:53.13 (9:24/mi)
6.2 miles, 55:28.24, 8:56/mi average, 780 calories burned.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
10k Registration
I'm now officially registered for my first 10k!
It's a week from Saturday. I'll be running 10k tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday on my normal midweek runs, and my goals will now be twofold for each:
* Run negative splits (not those positive ones, as Marcy calls them, hehe
* Run ~9 min/mi the first half and 8:15 - 8:30 mile splits the second half
I'm excited about it. I would love to do a Thanksgiving turkey trot (there are several), but my mother-in-law wouldn't be too happy about not being at her house early. So I'm glad this one's the Saturday before. So now I have a birthday run (my birthday being the Monday following).
I also registered all three kidlets for the fun runs. Gregory (6) will run a mile, Jenny (4) will run 1/4 mile, and Joy (3) will do 200 meters. Mom refuses to run, hehe. It's going to be a fun day!
It's a week from Saturday. I'll be running 10k tomorrow, Tuesday, and Thursday on my normal midweek runs, and my goals will now be twofold for each:
* Run negative splits (not those positive ones, as Marcy calls them, hehe
* Run ~9 min/mi the first half and 8:15 - 8:30 mile splits the second half
I'm excited about it. I would love to do a Thanksgiving turkey trot (there are several), but my mother-in-law wouldn't be too happy about not being at her house early. So I'm glad this one's the Saturday before. So now I have a birthday run (my birthday being the Monday following).
I also registered all three kidlets for the fun runs. Gregory (6) will run a mile, Jenny (4) will run 1/4 mile, and Joy (3) will do 200 meters. Mom refuses to run, hehe. It's going to be a fun day!
Someone STOP Me!
The good news is that jury duty is OVER. I wasn't picked to serve, thank goodness.
The bad news is twofold. First, I didn't get to run today. While that's not too bad, the other sort of scares me.
My diet yesterday and today was horrid. Not just terrible, but full-on Greg's 2003 diet. Seriously.
Breakfast was a belgian waffle at IHOP. Oh, I justified it real good. With jury duty happening I had some time in the morning, so I took my son out for breakfast. Just me and a 6-year-old boy, chomping down on stuff that dad had no business eating. At least I had them make the waffle with their harvest nut & grain batter, but still...
Lunch was fish & chips. FISH & CHIPS! Two big, giant pieces of fish with fries to go with them. Holy cow, man, what was I thinking?
That's just it, I wasn't thinking. So after lunch was over, it was time to go on to work. But did I go straight there? My stomach was full, and I knew better, but I stopped at the donut shop and bought a buttermilk bar.
Two miles down the road, the bar was gone, and I was stopped to buy some Diet Dew. Oh look over there, there's some donuts. Let's just be impulsive! Another buttermilk bar.
I know better than this. Absolutely, positively. Look at the running stats, I'm already up a few pounds, so why am I sabataging myself? Unbelievable.
I did get about 100 pages into A Walk in the Woods. And even though I was complaining about it, the food all tasted good. Why must it all taste good? Anyway, that's enough whining and disclosure.
The bad news is twofold. First, I didn't get to run today. While that's not too bad, the other sort of scares me.
My diet yesterday and today was horrid. Not just terrible, but full-on Greg's 2003 diet. Seriously.
Breakfast was a belgian waffle at IHOP. Oh, I justified it real good. With jury duty happening I had some time in the morning, so I took my son out for breakfast. Just me and a 6-year-old boy, chomping down on stuff that dad had no business eating. At least I had them make the waffle with their harvest nut & grain batter, but still...
Lunch was fish & chips. FISH & CHIPS! Two big, giant pieces of fish with fries to go with them. Holy cow, man, what was I thinking?
That's just it, I wasn't thinking. So after lunch was over, it was time to go on to work. But did I go straight there? My stomach was full, and I knew better, but I stopped at the donut shop and bought a buttermilk bar.
Two miles down the road, the bar was gone, and I was stopped to buy some Diet Dew. Oh look over there, there's some donuts. Let's just be impulsive! Another buttermilk bar.
I know better than this. Absolutely, positively. Look at the running stats, I'm already up a few pounds, so why am I sabataging myself? Unbelievable.
I did get about 100 pages into A Walk in the Woods. And even though I was complaining about it, the food all tasted good. Why must it all taste good? Anyway, that's enough whining and disclosure.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
JURY DUTY!
Jury duty today. And tomorrow. No gym. Depending on how it goes tomorrow, I may run. Otherwise, while this picture wasn't taken just now, this is how I feel about the whole affair.
I did get to read about 3 chapters of A Walk in the Woods. So all is not lost.
Hopefully it's almost over.
I did get to read about 3 chapters of A Walk in the Woods. So all is not lost.
Hopefully it's almost over.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
6-Mile Weekday Run
Today was a 6-mile weekday run. I've altered my running schedule. Recently, I've been running Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, alternating with gym days Tuesday and Thursday. I was finding that I wasn't going to the gym at all, evidenced by how sore I was following yesterday, continuing into today's run. So now I'm in the gym MWF, with running TThS, giving 3/3. While I've only been to the gym once, I can tell it's going to work out a lot better this way. It also gives me a day's rest from Thursday's run before Saturday's long run.
So today. Yes, I was sore, but I decided not to whine at myself over it and push myself. It seems to have worked out well. In fact, I totally surprised myself in the first three miles.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:26.05
Mile 2: 8:15.92
Mile 3: 8:21.99
Mile 4: 8:56.66
Mile 5: 8:59.55
Mile 6: 9:13.67
.20 mi: 1:49.77
Time: 54:03.61, 8:43/mi pace, 780 calories burned.
I'm happy with today's run, although I suppose it might have been better to have flipped the whole thing, with the slower miles first and fast ones later. Still, looking at the chart I would have PR'ed had I been running a 5k.
I even got cheered on by a 16-year-old girl. Why couldn't I have been cheered on when I was 16? Oh well.
So today. Yes, I was sore, but I decided not to whine at myself over it and push myself. It seems to have worked out well. In fact, I totally surprised myself in the first three miles.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:26.05
Mile 2: 8:15.92
Mile 3: 8:21.99
Mile 4: 8:56.66
Mile 5: 8:59.55
Mile 6: 9:13.67
.20 mi: 1:49.77
Time: 54:03.61, 8:43/mi pace, 780 calories burned.
I'm happy with today's run, although I suppose it might have been better to have flipped the whole thing, with the slower miles first and fast ones later. Still, looking at the chart I would have PR'ed had I been running a 5k.
I even got cheered on by a 16-year-old girl. Why couldn't I have been cheered on when I was 16? Oh well.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Back to the gym...
I just got back from the gym, first time there in a few weeks. It went well, although now I'm tired & sore. In a good way, of course.
Warmup, w/45lb barbell
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout, straight sets
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x20
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs
40 minutes, 123 calories burned
Warmup, w/45lb barbell
* Overhead Squat
* Squat
* Good Morning
* Barbell Lunge
* Romanian Deadlift
* Bent-over Row
Workout, straight sets
* Drop Squat, 3x20
* Underhand-grip Dumbell Row, 3x20x20lbs
* Reverse Hyperextension, 3x20
* Elbows-in Elevated Pushup, 2x20
* Side Bridge, 3x20
* Side Lateral Raise & Rotation, 3x20x10lbs
40 minutes, 123 calories burned
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Running Vlog #2
The last video I posted was more or less a test. This one's "for real", I shot video with my Treo 755p on Saturday morning's long run. I'm sure fiddling with it slowed me down at least a little bit. It kept be from dying of boredom, anyway.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Long Run
Another Saturday, another long run. This time around, I had a heck of a time getting out of bed. I ended up getting out the door at 6:30, which actually worked to my benefit. With the cool air, the sun didn't make it too hot, and I was able to leave the headlamp at home. I like the headlamp, I use it while backpacking, but when running it tends to bounce more than I'd like.
For breakfast prior to the run, I had two packages of Kashi GoLean hot cereal and a small apple. I had wanted a banana, but we were out of them. When I got back I ate a PB&J sanwich.
Same route as last week, the difference being A) I was fresher, and B) it wasn't raining. Holy cow, that was bad. It sprinkled a little bit around the 7-mile mark, but nothing like last week.
Last night I went to Fleet Feet to buy a couple more pairs of socks so I wouldn't be out of luck if the laundry hadn't been done. While there, I decided to check out some new energy gel, and found Accel Gel. Not only is it energy gel with lots of carbohydrates, but this brand also has protein. They claimed it was for recovery while working out, so I figured I'd give it a try.
I ate the Accel Gel at the midpoint, which unlike Powerbar Gel or even Gu, had a honey-like texture. I had the vanilla flavor, which didn't taste too bad.
A few hours after my run I did have a lot of gas. I'm not sure if it was the Accel Gel or the Kashi, but those were the only things I ate differently this morning. OK, onto the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:30.28
Mile 2: 9:21.43
Mile 3: 9:26.08
Mile 4: 10:35.50
Mile 5: 10:29.08
Mile 6: 9:48.52
Mile 7: 10:25.20
Mile 8: 9:55.80
Mile 9: 10:09.76
Mile 10: 10:00.48
Mile 11: 10:29.85
Mile 12: 10:23.15
Mile 13: 11:25.19
Mile 14: 11:07.62
.03 Mile: :17.48
For splits, originally I was going to go for negative splits, with the idea that I'd do about 9:30 miles until halfway, and then push myself towards 9 by the end. Obviously that didn't work out, partly because I was vlogging midstream and had to stop a bit here and there to get the camera out. I did manage to keep around 10:00, give or take some.
The last few miles were a little slower, but I managed to finish without being completely exhausted.
Once back, I ate my sandwich, drank my Powerade Zero, and spent time with the kids. I played Mario Kart with my son, took a nap, then later, drove to Roseville to check out Whole Foods. Great store, I was quite impressed. We didn't buy a whole lot, but had a good time.
14.03 miles, 2:23.46, 1775 calories burned. About 8 dogs along the way: 3 lapdogs chasing me at the beginning, 3 dogs loose but on a walk with the owner at around 7.5 miles, and at the last approach down my street, a small lapdog and a huge rottweiler. None were trying to bite.
For breakfast prior to the run, I had two packages of Kashi GoLean hot cereal and a small apple. I had wanted a banana, but we were out of them. When I got back I ate a PB&J sanwich.
Same route as last week, the difference being A) I was fresher, and B) it wasn't raining. Holy cow, that was bad. It sprinkled a little bit around the 7-mile mark, but nothing like last week.
Last night I went to Fleet Feet to buy a couple more pairs of socks so I wouldn't be out of luck if the laundry hadn't been done. While there, I decided to check out some new energy gel, and found Accel Gel. Not only is it energy gel with lots of carbohydrates, but this brand also has protein. They claimed it was for recovery while working out, so I figured I'd give it a try.
I ate the Accel Gel at the midpoint, which unlike Powerbar Gel or even Gu, had a honey-like texture. I had the vanilla flavor, which didn't taste too bad.
A few hours after my run I did have a lot of gas. I'm not sure if it was the Accel Gel or the Kashi, but those were the only things I ate differently this morning. OK, onto the splits.
Splits
Mile 1: 9:30.28
Mile 2: 9:21.43
Mile 3: 9:26.08
Mile 4: 10:35.50
Mile 5: 10:29.08
Mile 6: 9:48.52
Mile 7: 10:25.20
Mile 8: 9:55.80
Mile 9: 10:09.76
Mile 10: 10:00.48
Mile 11: 10:29.85
Mile 12: 10:23.15
Mile 13: 11:25.19
Mile 14: 11:07.62
.03 Mile: :17.48
For splits, originally I was going to go for negative splits, with the idea that I'd do about 9:30 miles until halfway, and then push myself towards 9 by the end. Obviously that didn't work out, partly because I was vlogging midstream and had to stop a bit here and there to get the camera out. I did manage to keep around 10:00, give or take some.
The last few miles were a little slower, but I managed to finish without being completely exhausted.
Once back, I ate my sandwich, drank my Powerade Zero, and spent time with the kids. I played Mario Kart with my son, took a nap, then later, drove to Roseville to check out Whole Foods. Great store, I was quite impressed. We didn't buy a whole lot, but had a good time.
14.03 miles, 2:23.46, 1775 calories burned. About 8 dogs along the way: 3 lapdogs chasing me at the beginning, 3 dogs loose but on a walk with the owner at around 7.5 miles, and at the last approach down my street, a small lapdog and a huge rottweiler. None were trying to bite.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Weekday Run
What?!?! A second blog entry for the day?!?! Eh, who cares.
Another lunchtime run with Tim. This time, I decided to push it a little bit and see what he could handle. Whoops! I shouldn't have done that, and now I feel bad for him. He pooped out around 3 miles and we ended up walking quite a bit. We started back up again a few times, but we walked more than I would have liked. In the end though we were only a few minutes slower than the last time around.
To his credit, he didn't stop to walk until after 5k.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:46.45
Mile 2: 9:36.43
Mile 3: 10:08.18
Mile 4: 13:46.72
Mile 5: 14:40.87
.34 mi: 6:00.28
5.34 miles, 1:02:59, 618 calories burned, 11:47/mi average pace.
Long run in the morning! 14 miles, my goal is to run about 9:30/mi the first half, 9:00/mi the second half.
Another lunchtime run with Tim. This time, I decided to push it a little bit and see what he could handle. Whoops! I shouldn't have done that, and now I feel bad for him. He pooped out around 3 miles and we ended up walking quite a bit. We started back up again a few times, but we walked more than I would have liked. In the end though we were only a few minutes slower than the last time around.
To his credit, he didn't stop to walk until after 5k.
Splits
Mile 1: 8:46.45
Mile 2: 9:36.43
Mile 3: 10:08.18
Mile 4: 13:46.72
Mile 5: 14:40.87
.34 mi: 6:00.28
5.34 miles, 1:02:59, 618 calories burned, 11:47/mi average pace.
Long run in the morning! 14 miles, my goal is to run about 9:30/mi the first half, 9:00/mi the second half.
Halloween 2008
It's a little late, I know. With my computer virtually unusable, I had to find the time at work to upload the pictures.
It was tough getting the kids to stay still long enough to take their pictures. No real trick or treating this year, I got home later than I expected to, so we just took them to the mall, then to Grandma's house. They still had a good time.
Grandma loved spending time with the kids on Halloween. She said there weren't many kids who came over for some reason.
Gregory's school had a little Halloween festival during the day, so they were able to paint his face up. He loved being Spider-Man. BTW, Gregory is 6 now.
Jenny's 4, and was dressed up as a princess. Of course.
Joy's 3, and dressed up as Thomas the Tank Engine. She's really into Thomas, which is nice, because Gregory isn't anymore. So she inherited most of his Thomas stuff.
They all went right to bed the minute we got home. Gregory insisted on sleeping with his makeup on, so most of it wore off on the pillow by the next morning. I didn't see him until I got back from my run, after which I was soaking wet. I told them it was my own Halloween costume.
I hope all of you had a Happy Halloween!
It was tough getting the kids to stay still long enough to take their pictures. No real trick or treating this year, I got home later than I expected to, so we just took them to the mall, then to Grandma's house. They still had a good time.
Grandma loved spending time with the kids on Halloween. She said there weren't many kids who came over for some reason.
Gregory's school had a little Halloween festival during the day, so they were able to paint his face up. He loved being Spider-Man. BTW, Gregory is 6 now.
Jenny's 4, and was dressed up as a princess. Of course.
Joy's 3, and dressed up as Thomas the Tank Engine. She's really into Thomas, which is nice, because Gregory isn't anymore. So she inherited most of his Thomas stuff.
They all went right to bed the minute we got home. Gregory insisted on sleeping with his makeup on, so most of it wore off on the pillow by the next morning. I didn't see him until I got back from my run, after which I was soaking wet. I told them it was my own Halloween costume.
I hope all of you had a Happy Halloween!
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Word of Wisdom
Word of wisdom: after running a 30-minute mile, I realized listening to the Chariots of Fire theme while running isn't a good idea. :)
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I just got back from my lunchtime run. Tim wanted to run with me, so I told him that's fine, but we're going 5.35 miles. I let him set the pace, and this time he actually kept to it, thank goodness. That boy can be worrisome...
Prior to running, it finally happened: my left big toenail came off. FINALLY! It first turned black on my first big hike last summer, back in June. 4 months, geez. :)
Anyway, our average pace was 11:29, but it was anything but systematic. He slowed down a lot at the end. We walked the last .35, he said he wanted to make it to 5 miles without stopping. I slowed down and at one point walked a bit to let him catch up.
Mile 1: 9:51.45
Mile 2: 10:46.37
Mile 3: 10:59.68
Mile 4: 11:20.33
Mile 5: 12:18.75
.35 mi: 6:13.51 (walking)
1:01.30, 663 calories burned, including the walk at the end. Average HR: 133.
Prior to running, it finally happened: my left big toenail came off. FINALLY! It first turned black on my first big hike last summer, back in June. 4 months, geez. :)
Anyway, our average pace was 11:29, but it was anything but systematic. He slowed down a lot at the end. We walked the last .35, he said he wanted to make it to 5 miles without stopping. I slowed down and at one point walked a bit to let him catch up.
Mile 1: 9:51.45
Mile 2: 10:46.37
Mile 3: 10:59.68
Mile 4: 11:20.33
Mile 5: 12:18.75
.35 mi: 6:13.51 (walking)
1:01.30, 663 calories burned, including the walk at the end. Average HR: 133.
Monday, November 03, 2008
I think I know the answer to these musings, but why is my running so uneven? Sometimes it goes REALLY well, while other times it goes REALLY bad, and there doesn't seem to be any in-between. I know a lot of factors weigh in, like how much rest I have, how I'm eating, my mood, the weather, the phases of the moon, the stock exchange, but really. I mean, I understand I'm going to have good days and bad days, and I accept it. But look at these examples.
Last Monday was a GREAT run. 5.35 miles, average 9 min/mile. Tuesday was a gym day, Wednesday Tim wanted to run with me so I slowed down for him and only ran 2.39, making it an easy run. Thursday, the same way only a bit farther, so we ran 3.16 miles. Friday was all mine, so I did 5.34, but I ended up going out too fast at the start and petered out by 4 miles. I ended up walking part of it, and finished with 9:51/mi.
Then Saturday. Saturday was HORRIBLE! Now the weather had a lot to do with that one what with the rain and all, but still. I walked quite a lot of it and ended up with a 12:43 average pace, taking almost 3 hours to finish 14 miles. Sunday was off.
Why the long tirade? Today...
Today, I decided I'd just let it happen. I also told myself that if my pace was going well, I'd alter my route and do ~6 miles instead of my normal ~5. I felt AMAZINGLY well. Almost too well, if you get what I'm saying. The weather was next to perfect, 59 degrees and overcast the whole time. As I came over the freeway I felt wonderful, so extended the route to 6.19 miles. Check out these splits:
Mile 1: 9:01.54
Mile 2: 8:39.15
Mile 3: 8:27.80
Mile 4: 8:53.27
Mile 5: 9:07.93
Mile 6: 8:52.87
.19 mi: 1:29.51 (7:50/mi)
Total: 54:32.07, 8:48/mi average
So why such a difference? Was it the rest day that did it? I'm happy I did so well today, but man, things are inconsistent.
Actually, I do know what the problem was. It was fatigue, pure and simple. Gotta be careful there.
Last Monday was a GREAT run. 5.35 miles, average 9 min/mile. Tuesday was a gym day, Wednesday Tim wanted to run with me so I slowed down for him and only ran 2.39, making it an easy run. Thursday, the same way only a bit farther, so we ran 3.16 miles. Friday was all mine, so I did 5.34, but I ended up going out too fast at the start and petered out by 4 miles. I ended up walking part of it, and finished with 9:51/mi.
Then Saturday. Saturday was HORRIBLE! Now the weather had a lot to do with that one what with the rain and all, but still. I walked quite a lot of it and ended up with a 12:43 average pace, taking almost 3 hours to finish 14 miles. Sunday was off.
Why the long tirade? Today...
Today, I decided I'd just let it happen. I also told myself that if my pace was going well, I'd alter my route and do ~6 miles instead of my normal ~5. I felt AMAZINGLY well. Almost too well, if you get what I'm saying. The weather was next to perfect, 59 degrees and overcast the whole time. As I came over the freeway I felt wonderful, so extended the route to 6.19 miles. Check out these splits:
Mile 1: 9:01.54
Mile 2: 8:39.15
Mile 3: 8:27.80
Mile 4: 8:53.27
Mile 5: 9:07.93
Mile 6: 8:52.87
.19 mi: 1:29.51 (7:50/mi)
Total: 54:32.07, 8:48/mi average
So why such a difference? Was it the rest day that did it? I'm happy I did so well today, but man, things are inconsistent.
Actually, I do know what the problem was. It was fatigue, pure and simple. Gotta be careful there.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
This morning was my weekly long run. It was raining, but not too badly so I decided to go out anyway. I wore my running shoes, running socks, running shorts, and a long-sleeve compression shirt with my lightweight waterproof REI jacket.
The jacket ended up making me way too hot. It's not designed for warmth, but mainly as a rain shell, and insulates better than you would think. At 2 miles in, I stopped to unzip the pits, but by 4 miles I was just drenched.
This would continue to be the case and feel worse as time went on. With the hood on my head, it reminded me of pulling the covers over your head in bed, which then makes your head a toaster oven.
As a result, I slowed way down, and ended up on my feet a lot longer than I would have been normally. In fact at quite a few places, I ended up walking. Also, at my turnaround point I had to use the restroom and had to find one, made a loop around Northgate and down Live Oak Highway to a mini market that ended up not having the facilities. The next one down did, and the person working there was nice enough to let me use it. By routing around this way, I ended up adding mileage so by the end, it was 14.09 miles total. It's the farthest I've ever run, but at least a mile of it was walking. I burned about 1700 calories. Also, my average heart rate was down due to the walking, at 132bpm.
Here are the splits:
Mile 1: 9:53.92
Mile 2: 9:21.45
Mile 3: 10:38.83
Mile 4: 11:05.96
Mile 5: 14:47.23
Mile 6: 9:40.42
Mile 7: 11:00.69
Mile 8: 16:09.46
Mile 9: 10:36.87
Mile 10: 11:53.30
Mile 11: 13:31.46
Mile 12: 17:45.64
Mile 13: 15:58.90
Mile 14: 15:56.20
Mile 15: 10:03 (partial .07 mile)
After entering my run into Trihard, I found out that I ran 30.3 miles this week, making this my highest-mileage week I've ever done. With the M-F 5-milers and Saturday long runs, I can see this becoming my average.
The jacket ended up making me way too hot. It's not designed for warmth, but mainly as a rain shell, and insulates better than you would think. At 2 miles in, I stopped to unzip the pits, but by 4 miles I was just drenched.
This would continue to be the case and feel worse as time went on. With the hood on my head, it reminded me of pulling the covers over your head in bed, which then makes your head a toaster oven.
As a result, I slowed way down, and ended up on my feet a lot longer than I would have been normally. In fact at quite a few places, I ended up walking. Also, at my turnaround point I had to use the restroom and had to find one, made a loop around Northgate and down Live Oak Highway to a mini market that ended up not having the facilities. The next one down did, and the person working there was nice enough to let me use it. By routing around this way, I ended up adding mileage so by the end, it was 14.09 miles total. It's the farthest I've ever run, but at least a mile of it was walking. I burned about 1700 calories. Also, my average heart rate was down due to the walking, at 132bpm.
Here are the splits:
Mile 1: 9:53.92
Mile 2: 9:21.45
Mile 3: 10:38.83
Mile 4: 11:05.96
Mile 5: 14:47.23
Mile 6: 9:40.42
Mile 7: 11:00.69
Mile 8: 16:09.46
Mile 9: 10:36.87
Mile 10: 11:53.30
Mile 11: 13:31.46
Mile 12: 17:45.64
Mile 13: 15:58.90
Mile 14: 15:56.20
Mile 15: 10:03 (partial .07 mile)
After entering my run into Trihard, I found out that I ran 30.3 miles this week, making this my highest-mileage week I've ever done. With the M-F 5-milers and Saturday long runs, I can see this becoming my average.
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