Ok...So I Didn't Feel That Bad.

Even though my stomach bug hadn't (and still hasn't) run it's course, I decided to go for a run last night. I'm glad I did.

2.86mi in 47:31 (including warm-up and cool-down)
Mile Splits (25/35)
15:42
14:54

It felt good (and still does) to go sub 15:00 for a mile. The last time I went sub 15:00 was 12/19/07 (that was a 14:09 mi). Also, the calf/shin tightness I've talked about was no where to be found. I think I'm starting to find the right warm-up and running/walking strides that work best for me. At this point I'm not really wanting to deliberately pick up the pace beyond where I am now. What I do need is to get miles in. However, the quicker pace does make it easier (time wise) to get more miles in.

One other thing that helped last night is that the weather is finally changing. The temps were in the mid to upper 60 when I started and we had a low of 46 last night. The humidity has dropped drastically since the weekend and dewpoint is now in the 40s. The rest of the week calls for highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s & 50s. FINALLY!!!

Till Next Time...KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!!

Well...I Was Feeling Better

Weather killed my run on Saturday and something knocked me out on Sunday. I don't know what it is, but I guess you would call it a stomach bug. My stomach feels like I've been doing crunches for the last 2 hours. It's just sore. Yesterday I managed to force down about 1000 calories. It seemed like my lunch stayed in my stomach for 6 or 7 hours. That ain't right. It's not that I feel bad, I just don't feel right.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

"I'm Not Dead...I'm Getting Better...I Feel Fine...I Think I'll Go For A Walk...I Feel Happy!"

Quick! Name that movie. Here's a hint.

Yes, I'm feeling much better. This crud is not keeping me down as long as the last time. In fact, I felt well enough to go for a run last night. I did 2.0mi in 35:40 including warm-up and cool-down. The tightness I've previously talked about in my calves, was almost non-existent. It took a little longer for it appear, and when it did, it was nowhere near the level as before. Considering that I did a 15:37 mi was even more encouraging. And, Oh, did I mention it rained...a lot! Last night was my first real run in the rain. I won't say I loved or hated it, but it was a nice change and also a nice challenge.

As I said last week, I am shifting my weigh-in to Fridays. Here are my numbers for the day along with my updated Geek Chart.

Weight: 323.0
%BF: 36.9%
LBM: 203.8
BMI: 45.7

I definitely need to step-up things. I feel like I've been in the 320s forever. But, I have lost 10 pounds in the last month. That number should be 20 or more. So, thanks to my bodybugg, I am able to see exactly why the numbers are what they are.

While hitting 40mi for September is quite a stretch at this point, 30 mi should be no problem at all. In fact, I'll should hit 30 tomorrow as I hope to get in 5.

On a different note, I've played around with the Blog layout. Let me know what you think.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

No Go For The 5k...For Me At Least.

Well, reaching 40mi in Sept is just about impossible. There was a reason why I added "...if I don't get sick" to my last post. I felt something coming, but wasn't sure what it was. It's the crud. A crud that feels a lot like what I had last month.

As a result, along with the rain, I decided not to do the 5k this morning. While I didn't get the exercise in, all was not lost. I actually enjoyed standing at the finish line watching everyone finish (including my wife). It reassured me that I'm doing what I need to be doing and continue to make progress. I'm now adding some goals related to races (like finishing a 5k sub 30:00).

I was looking forward to the race, but I do not regret not doing it.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

The Most Exciting Blog Post In History!

HA! Just kidding!! This won't be all that exciting, but keep reading anyway.

After last weeks runs with 20/40 intervals, I have shifted to 25/35 intervals this week. I also am upping the run portion from 30 minutes to 2 miles, which right now is about 30-35 minutes. My Monday run didn't have great mile splits (17:09 & 17:04) but Wednesday was better (16:25 & 16:01) as I worked to keep the pace (and turnover) up on both the run as well as the walk portions. My only real issue has been stiffness/soreness in my calves around the 1/2 mile spot into the run. It goes away after awhile, but I would really like to know what is causing it and what I can do about it.

The weather is still the main concern about the 5k on Saturday. My plan is to use the 25/35 intervals that I've used this week. It will be an interesting race.

After reading from several different sources, I will be shifting my weigh-in days to Fridays. Something that has been annoying for awhile (as well as back in 2007) is the weekend has too much variability on exercise and eating and tends to be more lax. This leads to some weigh-ins not being a real representation to my current weight. Everything I've read said that Friday may be the best day. This also fits with my current run schedule as Friday is an off day.

Late in August I said that I wanted to get in at least 30mi in Sept (if not 40). Well, I'm already over 23 for September. I should definitely hit 30, and just might get 40...if I don't get sick (did I just say that).

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

Sigh......

Today I'm @ 327.5lb. Not a whole lot of change, and % body fat doesn't make up for the small change. However, I believe I may be holding on to some water as I have been sore since Sat afternoon. My "run" Sat morning wasn't the problem, it was the pick-up "baseball" game at our company picnic.

Here is my Geek Chart for the week...


I don't know why, but I'm kinda flat today. I think it has more to do with not getting my run this morning. I woke at 5am, looked at the radar and decided that there was a good chance of lightning long before I would finish. Unfortunately, rain is forcasted for everyday this week. Even though I've yet to do a run in the rain, I'm definitely not opposed to it. But, if there is a chance of lightning, no way. I need to get some stuff cleared from around the treadmill, so I can at least fall back to that if I have to.

As far as goals... I got in 3 runs (plus a couple walks) last week, but I did not do any core workouts. I've got some figuring to do regarding core/weight/x-train workouts without hurting my runs.

On a slightly different note... I bought a pair of New Balance 1225s and a Timex Ironman Triathlon watch on Saturday. I have retired my Mizuno Wave Alchemy 8s. I'm not exactly sure how many miles I have on them but they are almost a year old and I believe that they have already broken down a good bit. So, my current shoes are the 1225s and the Asics Gel Evolution 5s. I also have a pair of Mizuno Wave Nirvana 5s that I'm waiting to lose some more weight as they have some hard places on the sole that I can feel and cause hot spots.

I got the Timex because I needed something to make up for where the Garmin is lacking. A workout can be added to the Garmin that is great for fixed repetition intervals (ie 30 min of 20/40). But, it cannot be programmed to repeat a interval over a given distance. I also don't like that the Garmin treats each interval as a separate lap. So, I'll continue to use the Garmin to auto-lap the miles and use the Timex to do the intervals.

Right now the weather for the 5k this Saturday looks decent.... Upper 60s with 30% chance of rain.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

Change, Change, Chaaange!

30/30 -> 30/60 -> Galloway 5k to Finish ->.....

Seems like everyday that goes by brings about another reason to modify (or completely change) my training program. I will stick with the Galloway philosophy, but since I registered for the ToT 13k (and by the way I am doing a 1/2 marathon in January), I have settled on Galloway 10k-to-finish program (with maybe some slight deviations to get me ready for 13k).

This morning I set out to do my first "long run" of 4.5-5mi. However, I set myself up to not have the run I wanted. First I went to a new place. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this place, but timing became everything. First I forgot that there was going to be 5k and cross-country race on part of the property. But, all that did was kill my plan of running in that area. But, the bigger issue was the flood (and I do mean flood) of AYSO youth (and parents...and cars) that swarmed the area. There are about 6-8 AYSO soccer fields and ALL of them ended up with games on them. My main issue is that if I would have started when I wanted to I would have been done and gone and never known that any games were played today.

I think the biggest issue was that I had done my last run on Thursday and didn't even give myself 48 hours before the next run. The plan calls for runs on Mon, Wed and Sat but I didn't start till Tues which pushed the second run to Thurs. In the end I did 2.53mi in 48:24. I will now reset to do my next run (sched for just 30 min) on Monday. That should get me back on the right schedule for the 5k next weekend.

Thoughts?

BTW...My Sept mileage is now 16.1mi which surpasses my Aug total of 15.4!

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

Soooo Much to Talk About!

So many things to talk about, but I'll try to keep this as brief as possible.

Got new shoes Monday. ASICS Gel Evolution 5. Also got Superfeet Green inserts. Thank you Fleet Feet Huntsville for the great job you do!

I'm now back in a pair of 42in jeans (and smaller belt) I bought in 2007 when I lost weight then. Looking forward to the pair of 40s still in the closet.

Did first "Galloway" run last night. I using the 5k to Finish plan and am starting at week 4. Week 4 calls for run/walks with 20run/40walk per minutes for 30 minutes. So, with warm-up and cool-down, did 2.49mi in 43:39. Doing the 20/40 makes the 30 minutes fly by. I was a little worried that I would struggle by the end. Quite the opposite, I even finished the 30 min by running the whole last minute. Schedule is a little off from the "plan" this week, so today will be 30 min walk.

It's now official, I'm doing the Tower of Terror 13k. I've registered, booked the flight and rental car. ToT has 18min/mi pace so I'm not really worried about that. The mental opportunity here is that the 13k is almost exactly the distance where I got swept in the 1/2 this year. So, I will have done the only ToT 6.5k in the first year and then the last 13k this year.

I don't believe that I've mentioned it yet, but I also registered for the Family Fun Run 5k (now full) through Epcot on Friday of marathon weekend.

I need to update my "Upcoming Race" list. Looks like I'll (and possibly we, wife) will be doing the C.A.R.E. 5k on Sep 19th.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

Now We're Talkin'!

Last Week...
3 Runs (10.2mi 3:06:07)
2 Core (both 2x intermediate)
1 Bike (4.34mi 0:15:00 - recumbent)
1 Yard Mowing

Today...
329.0 lb

Yep, that's right, I've past my first weight goal.

This Week...
At least 3 "run" workouts
At least 2 core/weight workouts

Here's my updated "Geek Chart"

(click the graph for the full size version)

Something that I'm debating is increasing the number of "runs" per week while cutting down on the time of each one. I believe that I can actually get more time and more distance this way. And, from researching some, it is probably a better plan for keeping injuries and pain at bay. I'm looking at Jeff Galloway's 5k plan that uses 30min walks and run/walks Mon-Thur and then a "long" (only 2-4mi) run/walk on Saturday. His plan calls for specific ratios of running and walking (ie. 20sec run then 40sec walk) per minute. Right now I'm finding off days a little too easy to come by. I'm hoping that a structured plan (and structure within each run) will help with the consistency.

My run last night was pretty much a case of dead legs. The geek in me wants to know exactly why. But, there were just way too many variables at play to know...

4 Days since last run
Mowed yard day before
10 degrees warmer
A lot more humid
Different shoes
Shoes too old? Broken down? Unknown miles. (Brooks Beast)
Core with bike on Thurs
Core morning of run
Too fast warm up walk

The list could go on. Right now, I'm just going to keep going and try to limit the variables and see how things go. I'm also going to go get a new pair of shoes (probably Brooks Beast).

Finally, a HUGE congrats to those that completed the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon yesterday! I have to admit I was a little worried about Jonathan when his 10k split didn't register especially after his 5k split time.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

Making Progress!

Since my last post I've done 3 things that were huge (for me at least).

1. Wednesday night, ran solid lap (1/4mi) while doing 3.33mi in 1:02:43. Even though this was the first time I went for a full lap my heart rate only got up to 167. The full lap was done at a 13:36 avg pace so I wasn't blazing but I wasn't moping either. My focus for short term will be on building endurance and increasing the amount I can run in one stretch and increasing the total run in a workout.

2. Thursday, did 2 sets of the intermediate core workout. I'm still not able to complete all 12 reps of every exercise, but I'm definitely making progress. The push-ups, glute bridge to curl and split squats are the ones that give me the most trouble. But even in just the few intermediate workouts I've done, I've already been able to increase the number of reps of each of these exercises. And now that I'm up to doing the full workout twice, is huge progress.

3. Thursday, did 4.34mi in 15:00 on the recumbent bike. This was the first time on the bike since re-starting. One of the key things for me was that I didn't stop early. I had already done the core workout (and more core than I've done to date), and part of me really wanted to stop about half way through the 15 minutes. But I didn't! While the physical part was not too bad, the mental part is where I surprised myself. And it felt good.

I need to get in 1 more core workout and at least one more run this weekend. I also need to mow the yard so I may get yet another "workout" in.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!

When Tech Geek Meets Getting Healthy

Sadly, my life is computers. It's my job. From networks to servers to desktops to web and software development. I guess it's a blessing and a curse. So what happens when a tech geek gets on a healthy kick?....

Graphs!!!


(click the graph for the full size version)

Left scale is pounds for weight and LBM. Right scale is generic for BMI and % body fat. Right now there are only 3 data points and they happen to be when I was sick so there's not much change...yet.

On the exercise front...

Monday night I did 3.62mi in 1:03:17 with a 52:34 5k after warm-up. My fastest 5k distance time is 47:22 back on 12/19/2007. So I have a previous number to shoot for. BTW, I finished August with 15.4mi.

I took yesterday(Tuesday) off and plan to push hard the rest of the week.

Till Next Time...Keep Moving Forward!!!