Muscles Like Arnold

This is always a strange day for me. It is strength and stretch day as scheduled. I have a basement full of weights, machines, bikes, treadmill, stair stepper and other various pieces of equipment (I could train Manny Paqiou down there) but I don't visit it often anymore. I ventured into the sub level and did bench presses, dead lifts, squats, dips, decline bench sit-ups and different stretches. I stretched mostly my legs and my back. I hope this leads somewhere. No matter what good lifting comes to my running.....I'd rather have just gone running. But I'm sticking with the program. I always do well when I do.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy weight lifting. I used to do it almost exclusively but I can't really lift with my grand daughter. But she will run with me. I'm looking forward to her and I traveling to some races this spring and summer and just having fun. We don't compete, we enjoy. As for the weights, I'm getting used to it but a strange thing. I always feel like I'm cheating on my running when I work out with weights. But I never feel like I'm missing anything when I run. On the good side though......I forgot how much I miss Sportscenter in the morning. I get to do that again and it's a shame to say but that is my favorite part of the weight lifting.

I Could Run For Miles..........

I went to the fitness center and ran my scheduled 5 miler this morning. That gave me 21 miles for the week, about where I wanted to be. I remember the days when I used to hit 50 miles a week, every week. Maybe I'll get back to that but I'm not sure I even need to. The prevailing wisdom of the day is less miles but quality miles. Unless you are planning on trying to win the marathon, less miles with one weekly long run is the norm. I know it will allow me to stay in the game longer. On a side note, the scales at Wood's Fitness say I gained three pounds this week. That is just crazy.

It's a strange thing about running. If you are into it like I am and all the runners I read about, your feeling about the sport is like no other I can think of. The more you run, the more you want to.......well, run. I came home after chopping along on my 5 miler, worked on the house for awhile and then wanted to go back to "the mill" and run some more. I resisted the urge. You can hurt yourself that way. I wanted to run some more and I couldn't figure out exactly why. "Our sport is your sports punishment." I've heard that lately and it hit me how true it is. If you screw up in football, they make you run laps. In any team sport, you mess something up and you take laps as punishment. Runners on the other hand not only run extensive distances, but actually seek out hills, deserts, trails and any other obstacle that will make it more difficult. And enjoy it.

I'm glad I'm a runner. It doesn't cost much, you can do it anytime, you can do it by yourself every time if you want, and to throw it in for good measure, what other sport can you compete in at a high level and listen to music and pod casts at the same time. If you think of one....write me a note,

Chompin' At The Bit But Sittin' In The Barn.

RECOVERY DAY! Actually it's a day later than it was supposed to be but that's alright. I ran yesterday, as I mentioned and I was supposed to rest. I'm still proud of myself for getting up on a cold winter morning and driving to the gym to complete a run so I wouldn't have to miss a workout. Only running makes me feel like that. I think I would feel guilty if I didn't complete my schedule.

I bought something the other day. Maybe I mentioned it yesterday. I ordered an sock pouch for my Nike + sensor. It's actually a little pouch that sits on top of your shoe attacked to your laces by Velcro. It's very sturdy and well made. Now if only it works. It's black so it's almost unnoticeable on my shoes. I can't wait to try it out tomorrow.

Sunday is my long day at the gym. I so wish I could run outside. I see all these pictures in magazines of runners romping through snow over mountain trails and long stretches of country roads. There is nothing like that here until the ice melts. It would be a huge risk to run my neighborhood in the dark on ice....a risk I'm not gonna take.

Surprise Of The Day

I ran 3 miles at Wood's Fitness this morning in just about 40 minutes and it came as quite a surprise. I hadn't slept well and the previous night I had to take Ibuprofen for my aching legs. In the evening they had begun to feel like I had a tight rubber band a around my calves and the feeling was akin to feeling the blood being cut off to my lower legs. The medicine worked quickly but I still faced another dilema.

My schedule called for me to take today off as a recovery day and then run 3 miles on Saturday. This was nearly impossible. The gym opened late on Saturday and the roads were completely impassable and dangerous to run in the dark due to the deep snow and ice. I was trying to decide....do I run today on tired, aching legs and take tomorrow off? Or do I take today off as scheduled and chance a run on ice in the dark? That was actually an easy decision because I wasn't going to run on ice in the dark. Should I take two days off? This was all going through my head at 4:30 am and I finally made up my mind. I jumped out of bed and went to the gym. I figured if I had to walk the damn three miles I would walk, but I didn't want to miss my workout.

I started my easy jog to warm up and was surprised to find that my legs didn't ache or even feel tired. I wasn't springy but I felt light and strong. I powered through the three miles well, at times hitting 6 mph for short bursts but mostly just keeping a steady pace. I surprised myself. I guess you never know how your body really feels until you ask it to do something for you. Today I asked...... and to my relief, it said OK.

Dean Karnazes UltraMarathon Man

I stated out my day with 50 push-ups and 250 bench crunches. My plan called for strength work and that seemed like work to me.  That was followed by a trip to the fitness center where i did a 45 minute run. I actually covered just about 3.5 miles but my Nike app said I had run over four miles. I didn't cover that much ground. I'm going to have to figure out how to calibrate that sucker. I like the Nike Plus app though. I can listen to pod casts while I'm using the app to map my run. That is very cool.

I've gone on a shopping spree on Amazon the last couple of days. I have a book coming by Dean Karnazes (featured above) called Confessions Of A Night Time Runner. I also bought a runners shoe pouch for my Nike Sportsband sensor. I'll be dammed if I give up on getting that working.

I was tired and sore today and I ran slowly. I've pumped up the running alot lately. I should take tomorrow off.....it's on my schedule....but the gym opens late on Saturday so I will probably run tomorrow and take the next day off. I also weighed in at WF. I went under 180 lbs on their scale for the first time ever. That, at least, was good news.

Like A Speeding Bullet...........

I went to the gym today with a little trepidation. My schedule called for five quarter mile intervals to be held for the fastest possible speed. I was planning to hold a pace of ten minute miles and just hoped for the best. I easily breezed through this workout with just a slight hitch. The entire workout was 45 minutes total and I wish I had more time because I was feeling so good and that damn warm up got me again.

I run first thing in the morning because often I don't get home until 8:00 pm or so. By that time I'm hungry, tired and mentally beat up. I also am very much a morning person so it is very much to my advantage to workout in the morning. But that involves the time issue. I only have about and hour to drive to the gym, do my run and drive home until I frantically run around the house getting ready for work. That is the problem. It doesn't leave me with enough time for an adequate warm-up.

I ran for about 15 minutes and then started my first interval. I suffered at a ten minute mile pace, continued my quarter but had to lower the speed to 5 mph. That pissed me off. I thought about this as I walked a quarter for recovery and then took off again. This time I was able to maintain 5.5 mph with just a little struggle. The point is, that the last two interval quarters were both at ten minute pace done fairly comfortably. I should have been struggling with the last two but I felt much better by far than before. That damn warm-up. I'm going to have to remember I'm old now. I need a long warm up period and before it counts, in the race, I'm gonna be hot and sweaty before I toe the line.



Tin Man From The Wizard of Oz

I ran well this morning at Wood's Fitness I guess. My goal was to cover my 3 miles in under 40 minutes. I managed to cover 3.77 miles in a little over 39 minutes so my run was a great success. But I certainly learned the benefits of a good warm-up. I suppose before a timed run I should jog a little or walk a little and drink some water maybe. Probably do all of those thing and THEN start my timed run but noooooooo. I jumped on the treadmill and took off like a Banshee. My first mile I felt clunky like a rusty old robot. I struggled between running quickly and having to walk just to get my breath. But then, I began to get warm and I felt like a great sailing vessel.

The second half of my run was well paced with bursts of speed that had the numbers on the treadmill computer board rolling around like icons on a gambling machine. Well, not that fast but I was hauling ass. I ended up covering more ground than I thought I would in the time I had allowed even with the struggles at the beginning. I started to feel my muscles warm and work together. I felt my abs control my breathing, my diaphragm pull and push my lungs and help me breath. I could feel my hamstrings push with every step and my quads easily pass the energy of my legs back into my backstroke.

I know this sounds very poetic, but when something goes right...when something comes together and it works and you feel lifted, that carries you along as a runner. I had fun today. And I can't wait to run again tomorrow.

Time To Muscle Up

     Today I lifted weights for the first time in a long time. I couldn't wait to start my new half marathon program so I started it a week early and the first thing it called for was strength straining and stretches. I've collected weight for years so my basement looks like Gold's Gym. I had plenty or iron to throw around. I did a full body workout consisting of bench presses, incline benches, lat pulls, bar rows, dips, squats and decline bench sit-ups. It took me about 37 minutes and I still feel pumped.

I hope this makes me a better runner. I'm not sure how it could. Most of the runners I know are skinny and not well defined, especially the really good ones. But the training schedule talks about muscle balance and strength in your hips and lots of things I still don't know how they pertain to running but I did the workout and enjoyed it. I must admit though that the best part of working out downstairs was being able to watch Sportscenter on ESPN and watching replays of the Steelers kicking the Jets ASS! to move on to the Super Bowl. That was easily the best part.

I hope I don't swell up and get muscle bound. I stumble along as it is without carrying muscles like Arnold. I'm only kidding about that. I've lifted on and off for most of my life and people can't tell. That....is just sad. I'll get over it. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow morning's run.

Phidippides The Stud Muffin

I ran 70 minutes on the treadmill today. I went to Woods Fitness and found my favorite treadmill (the quiet one) and ran the longest run I've done all year. And I got 20 miles in for the week. That might not sound like anything to a long distance runner but 20 miles in a week is nothing to sniff at. That's four runs of five miles, or five runs of four miles or, as I do it, a mix of sprints, hill repeats, short tempo runs and my very important Sunday long run. But it is not, under any circumstances sitting on the couch eating Bon Bons. I also weighed myself after the run in my sweaty running clothes and weighed in at 181 pounds. That is the lowest I've shown on that scale since I've been going to the center.

I listened to a podcast as I always do while I ran. It was unusual to say the least. The podcast is called the100mile Endurance podcast and the voice of the pod was having a meltdown. He had DNF'd a couple of one hundred mile races this year and just completed a disappointing marathon and he was ranting about giving it all up! I mean the podcast, the racing.....everything. I listened and took heart in it. If a guy that devoted and talented could get to the point of depression like that and recover from it, it made me feel that my times of "is it all worth it" weren't that unusual. I can't wait to see if he is back on his podcast next week. I bet he is.

I felt good today. I found a good pace albeit a slow one. I got into a rhythm of running fast for four minutes and walking one minute while I toweled off and took some water. I have no intention of making this my strategy but today it worked. And the time flew by and I felt fresher and stronger after 70 minutes than I had on some of my hour long runs. I firmly believe that as you see yourself, so shall you feel and perform. And today, for 70 minutes. I was Phidippides The Stud Muffin. See you tomorrow.

Bummed Out

     It's a scheduled Recovery day and I'm bummed out. I woke up rested and ready to go but the schedule says today is a day off. I've found long ago that I work much better, at anything for that matter, when I have a schedule to follow. I am just anal retentive enough that if a schedule says I'm supposed to do something like, for example, get out of bed at 5:30, walk through a blizzard and do hill repeats,  I have a tendency to do just that. Today's schedule said it was a recovery day even though I wanted to run.

     I don't know if it a concession to my age or the new wave of training but I don't run as many days as I use to. I remember once running every day straight from January 1st to the end of August without ever missing a day. Today's running gurus would say that is nuts. But in the old days that was the way it was done. If you took a day off, you were considered a bit of a puss. Today, the conventional wisdom is to run maybe four times a week, cross train and lift weights. Starting January 31st, I officially start on a program to run a half marathon, the Ogden Half Marathon in Wheeling, and my schedule calls for just that. I guess I'll get use to it.

     My biggest concern right now is that, because of the terrible weather we have been having, I actually haven't run outside the entire 22 days of this year. That is sacrilege but better that I'm hammering on the treadmill than not running at all.

TREADMILL CONVERSION CHART

Miles per hour	Minutes per mile	Calories burned* in 30 minutes
3.0	20:00	103
3.5	17:08	110
4.0	15:00	118
4.5	13:20	170
5.0	12:00	236
5.5	10:54	276
6.0	10:00	295
6.5	9:14	309
7.0	8:34	340
7.5	8:00	350
8.0	7:30	374
8.5	7:04	399
9.0	6:40	443
9.5	6:19	457
10.0	6:00	473

 

     This is all I have to go by so for now it will have to do. I'm having a good time and improving rapidly so it's doing no harm. But I long for the fall when it was cool and dry and sunny, and I ran like a gazelle. I'm just shittin' ya actually. I just sort of shuffled along then too. It's OK. I've discovered podcasts and audiobooks and there are a surprising amount of books and podcasts about running and endurance racing. When I'm listening to a guy talk about how great the 100 mile Leadville race was in Colorado, it helps me suck up the last mile I have to run in my Sunday five miler.