Alarm rings at 4:00 am. Get up, drink a large glass of water, eat a banana. Use the bathroom. Brush teeth, mouthwash.
Turn on computer, check weather. 22 degrees, wind chill 9. Cell phone has blinking light: Facebook post from Charlene telling me I'm crazy for getting up at 4:00 am to run. Maybe she's right.
Shorts, exercise pants, cotton socks, long sleeve shirt, heart rate monitor.
Static stretch: Calves, quads, and hurdler's stretch.
Dynamic stretch: walking lunges, toy soldiers, butt kicks, leg swings, hackey sack. Can I touch my toes? Yes.
Lace up shoes. Ear warmer, runner's cap. Opt for the hooded sweatshirt due to the wind. Reflective bands on the ankles, reflective sash from shoulders to waist. Blinking lights: one on the brim of the cap, one on the back of the cap. Running gloves.
Out the door.
3.7 miles, 39 minutes 8 seconds later, back in.
Remove all but my shorts, toss down the basement steps. Drink a small glass of water. Off to the shower: Ouch, the water is hot! No, it's not - my skin is just that cold.
Protein powder, powdered milk, L-Glutamine, 16 oz cold water. Two generic Oreo cookies to kick up the insulin spike. Breakfast of champions, I guess.
Get dressed, take out the dog, pack lunch. Where are my keys? Hanging on the key rack, right where they belong. Remote start the Charger. Kiss Julie, bring in the dog, off to work at 5:55 am.
5k
My First 5k!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
1-21-2010 - Committed!
My alarm was set to 4:30 am - normal time for me. I awoke early; this is not uncommon. I looked at the clock - it said 4:20. Normally I am pretty good about rolling over and going back to sleep for those extra few minutes. But this time it was different. My heart was beating a couple beats per minute faster than normal. Was I sick? I did a self check - I didn't feel feverish, I wasn't coughing, I didn't have a tickle in my throat or nose, my stomach wasn't queasy... so I wasn't sick. What is it?
Then I realized, there is a feeling of adrenaline coursing through my body. The inky blackness of the still morning air, normally hiding from my vision any item beyond a foot or two away from my groggy eyes, revealed something... anticipation. I suddenly remembered.... No use trying to get back to sleep. That just simply isn't gonna happen today.
I got out of bed, shut off the alarm, went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. I asked myself, can I do this? I knew what the answer was. But what if I got injured? What if I found out sometime prior that I could not, for whatever reason? Perhaps I have a flaw in my body that would prevent me? Perhaps personal things would come up that would stop me? Death in the family? Sudden job transfer? Earthquake in Bangladesh? What if sunspot activity unexpectedly increased and I discovered that my body was sensitive to that? Maybe the sunspots would make me stronger? Why am I up at 4:28 am, two minutes before my alarm is supposed to ring?
My legs moved me into the office and I switched on the computer. Oh crap... I don't know what the web site is. Guess I can't do it. That's bogus, Paul, you have Google. So I typed in the words. Up came the web site in the hit list - it was the first one. With ever increasing trembling of the hands, I found the appropriate links, began typing my information. Name. Birthdate. Address. Birthdate again. Credit card info. Turn down the free memberships in this or that club. Name again. Birthdate again. Gee, they REALLY want to make sure that you are over 16... Or perhaps they want YOU to be REALLY sure that you REALLY want to do this by giving you plenty of opportunity to back out?
Then it stared at me. Expectantly waiting for me. Almost daring me. Like in "A Christmas Story", where Flick was triple-dog-dared into sticking his tongue to the post. I looked closer at it... are those - lips? Are they snarling at me? "Come on Paul, do it... he he he..." With quivering hands, I guided the mouse over to it and clicked the left mouse button. The "Submit" button. OH NO! STOP! WHERE IS THE CANCEL BUTTON? Then up came the message...
"Congratulations, you are registered for the Lakefront Marathon!"
Then I realized, there is a feeling of adrenaline coursing through my body. The inky blackness of the still morning air, normally hiding from my vision any item beyond a foot or two away from my groggy eyes, revealed something... anticipation. I suddenly remembered.... No use trying to get back to sleep. That just simply isn't gonna happen today.
I got out of bed, shut off the alarm, went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. I asked myself, can I do this? I knew what the answer was. But what if I got injured? What if I found out sometime prior that I could not, for whatever reason? Perhaps I have a flaw in my body that would prevent me? Perhaps personal things would come up that would stop me? Death in the family? Sudden job transfer? Earthquake in Bangladesh? What if sunspot activity unexpectedly increased and I discovered that my body was sensitive to that? Maybe the sunspots would make me stronger? Why am I up at 4:28 am, two minutes before my alarm is supposed to ring?
My legs moved me into the office and I switched on the computer. Oh crap... I don't know what the web site is. Guess I can't do it. That's bogus, Paul, you have Google. So I typed in the words. Up came the web site in the hit list - it was the first one. With ever increasing trembling of the hands, I found the appropriate links, began typing my information. Name. Birthdate. Address. Birthdate again. Credit card info. Turn down the free memberships in this or that club. Name again. Birthdate again. Gee, they REALLY want to make sure that you are over 16... Or perhaps they want YOU to be REALLY sure that you REALLY want to do this by giving you plenty of opportunity to back out?
Then it stared at me. Expectantly waiting for me. Almost daring me. Like in "A Christmas Story", where Flick was triple-dog-dared into sticking his tongue to the post. I looked closer at it... are those - lips? Are they snarling at me? "Come on Paul, do it... he he he..." With quivering hands, I guided the mouse over to it and clicked the left mouse button. The "Submit" button. OH NO! STOP! WHERE IS THE CANCEL BUTTON? Then up came the message...
"Congratulations, you are registered for the Lakefront Marathon!"
Monday, January 17, 2011
1-10-2011 - Interval training
I had a need to go to the gym and do some heavy cardio work simply to burn some calories. I'm still using the elliptical because my mileage really isn't long enough yet to burn off the calories that I need to burn off. I can pop off 800 plus calories on an elliptical, whereas my 3 mile runs are only burning about 400 calories. So I spent 20 minutes on the elliptical (400 calories), and decided to do some intervals on the treadmill.
I started out on the treadmill at 6 mph for a minute (I was already plenty warm from the elliptical workout), then brought it up to 7.5 mph for one minute. Then back down to 6 for 3 minutes, then continued to alternate - 7.5 mph for one minute, 6 mph for 3 minutes. I did this for 30 minutes. This seemed to work out quite well - my heart rate would run up to 190 right at the end of the 1 minute sprint portion, then come back down to 165 or so during the slower run portion. I will say that during the last couple of intervals, I brought the speed down to 3.5 mph (walking pace) because the intensity was just too high for me.
I think interval training is working somewhat, because my subsequent runs are getting a little easier and quite a bit smoother. I'm able to get into my rhythm sooner. My trainer, however, does not believe that the interval training will be beneficial at this time; I should continue running and building endurance. I'll do some more research and see what I come up with.
I started out on the treadmill at 6 mph for a minute (I was already plenty warm from the elliptical workout), then brought it up to 7.5 mph for one minute. Then back down to 6 for 3 minutes, then continued to alternate - 7.5 mph for one minute, 6 mph for 3 minutes. I did this for 30 minutes. This seemed to work out quite well - my heart rate would run up to 190 right at the end of the 1 minute sprint portion, then come back down to 165 or so during the slower run portion. I will say that during the last couple of intervals, I brought the speed down to 3.5 mph (walking pace) because the intensity was just too high for me.
I think interval training is working somewhat, because my subsequent runs are getting a little easier and quite a bit smoother. I'm able to get into my rhythm sooner. My trainer, however, does not believe that the interval training will be beneficial at this time; I should continue running and building endurance. I'll do some more research and see what I come up with.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
1-8-2011 - Another mileage increase
There is no such thing as too cold.
There is no such thing as too early.
There is no such thing as too far.
I am a runner.
My lunch times are not for eating.
My Saturday's are not for sleeping.
My holiday's are not for taking it easy.
I am a runner.
It's 5:30 am. Do you know where your running shoes are?
If I have to prove to anyone that I am RUNNER and not a JOGGER, I think I did it today. I woke up at 5:30 am and was out the door at 6:00 with my running shoes strapped to my feet. The temperature was 11 degrees, wind chill 4 below. And today is Saturday.
Not only was this my coldest run yet, but also my longest. I've been increasing my mileage slightly over the last few weeks, and I'm feeling good about it. Today was 3.7 miles. I will have to wait and see what my body feels like tomorrow, but it is my plan to stay in the 3 to 3.5 mile range for regular runs, and add in a 4 mile once per week.
I found myself dressed appropriately, for the most part. I wore my polyester running cap and ear warmer, with a long sleeve shirt and short sleeve shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, running gloves, shorts, and two pair of polyester workout pants. I also opted for a heavy pair of cotton work socks rather than the normal no-show socks. I probably looked a bit geeky, but I was warm.
Except for my hands. They were fine for the first 2.5 miles or so, but then my fingers got cold. Really cold. I mean REALLY cold. I kept making sure that I could at least feel things with them, because the term "frostbite" kept running through my mind. But then a strange thing happened at about mile 3.4: my hands warmed up and became comfortable again. I'm not sure what was up with that.
The hooded sweatshirt was mostly ideal, because I could drop the hood and raise it back up again as I needed to. However, I would like a quick way to tie it because when running into the wind, I would like to block the wind from coming in.
I also noticed that my heart rate was quite high most of the way, above 175. I think this is because I am fighting a cold. This cold is the reason that I opted not to run on Thursday or Friday. But today, I was experiencing "running withdrawal", so I decided to go anyway. I did have to walk twice when my heart rate topped 180. But even in the mid 170's, I still felt relatively comfortable as far as my breathing goes. After the run, while I was taking a shower, I began to have doubts as to whether it was a good idea to go out today; I started to feel light headed and nauseous. So I spent an extra few minutes in the shower and turned up the water temp a little bit. As of this writing I feel OK, although not the best. Time will tell.
The only other thing to note is that my right quadricep was feeling a bit tight towards the end of the run and for an hour or so afterwords. This is probably lactic acid that needs to clear. I did pick up the pace a bit towards the end of my run. As usual, I took a protein shake right away after the run. We also had scrambled eggs with ricotta cheese and ham for breakfast.
3.7 miles in 40:18. Average 10:53 per mile. Clothing: see above.
The next paragraph might fall into the TMI category for some, so you have been warned. Stop reading now if you do not want to read about my underwear. My Jockey sport briefs came today; 100% polyester. They worked quite well. All of my clothes were wet and stinky when I was done, but I felt dry all over, even in the areas of a man's body that don't vent well. This is the job of polyester. I think I might have found a winner.
There is no such thing as too early.
There is no such thing as too far.
I am a runner.
My lunch times are not for eating.
My Saturday's are not for sleeping.
My holiday's are not for taking it easy.
I am a runner.
It's 5:30 am. Do you know where your running shoes are?
If I have to prove to anyone that I am RUNNER and not a JOGGER, I think I did it today. I woke up at 5:30 am and was out the door at 6:00 with my running shoes strapped to my feet. The temperature was 11 degrees, wind chill 4 below. And today is Saturday.
Not only was this my coldest run yet, but also my longest. I've been increasing my mileage slightly over the last few weeks, and I'm feeling good about it. Today was 3.7 miles. I will have to wait and see what my body feels like tomorrow, but it is my plan to stay in the 3 to 3.5 mile range for regular runs, and add in a 4 mile once per week.
I found myself dressed appropriately, for the most part. I wore my polyester running cap and ear warmer, with a long sleeve shirt and short sleeve shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, running gloves, shorts, and two pair of polyester workout pants. I also opted for a heavy pair of cotton work socks rather than the normal no-show socks. I probably looked a bit geeky, but I was warm.
Except for my hands. They were fine for the first 2.5 miles or so, but then my fingers got cold. Really cold. I mean REALLY cold. I kept making sure that I could at least feel things with them, because the term "frostbite" kept running through my mind. But then a strange thing happened at about mile 3.4: my hands warmed up and became comfortable again. I'm not sure what was up with that.
The hooded sweatshirt was mostly ideal, because I could drop the hood and raise it back up again as I needed to. However, I would like a quick way to tie it because when running into the wind, I would like to block the wind from coming in.
I also noticed that my heart rate was quite high most of the way, above 175. I think this is because I am fighting a cold. This cold is the reason that I opted not to run on Thursday or Friday. But today, I was experiencing "running withdrawal", so I decided to go anyway. I did have to walk twice when my heart rate topped 180. But even in the mid 170's, I still felt relatively comfortable as far as my breathing goes. After the run, while I was taking a shower, I began to have doubts as to whether it was a good idea to go out today; I started to feel light headed and nauseous. So I spent an extra few minutes in the shower and turned up the water temp a little bit. As of this writing I feel OK, although not the best. Time will tell.
The only other thing to note is that my right quadricep was feeling a bit tight towards the end of the run and for an hour or so afterwords. This is probably lactic acid that needs to clear. I did pick up the pace a bit towards the end of my run. As usual, I took a protein shake right away after the run. We also had scrambled eggs with ricotta cheese and ham for breakfast.
3.7 miles in 40:18. Average 10:53 per mile. Clothing: see above.
The next paragraph might fall into the TMI category for some, so you have been warned. Stop reading now if you do not want to read about my underwear. My Jockey sport briefs came today; 100% polyester. They worked quite well. All of my clothes were wet and stinky when I was done, but I felt dry all over, even in the areas of a man's body that don't vent well. This is the job of polyester. I think I might have found a winner.
Friday, January 7, 2011
1-4-2011 Run
Today I got up early again and went for a run before work. I donned all the reflective gear and lights that I did the day before. There was a bit more snow on the ground, and my right leg was still a bit stiff from yesterday, so I took it easy. No sense in taking risks - I am better off going easy now than risking forced down time that could last for several days or weeks.
Not much to write here except that the temp was 26 degrees with a 17 wind chill. I dressed a bit too warm, but not quite as bad as yesterday. Today I had on my polyester cap, polyester ear warmer, long sleeve shirt, running jacket, running gloves, and two pair of pants. My legs felt a bit too warm, so I should have ditched one pair of pants and worn the shorts instead. My upper body tends to get a little warm after a mile and a half, but I can alleviate that by lowering the zipper on my jacket and lifting my cap off my head for a few seconds.
2.36 miles in 26:30, average 11:13 per mile. Quite a bit slower than I want, but my runs are proving more enjoyable with heart rates staying below 172.
The following paragraph might be considered TMI for some people, but this is a blog for me to keep notes for myself, so if you want to read it, fine; I really don't care if you know what kind of underwear I wear or not. But don't say you were weren't warned.
I have been experimenting with socks, and also with underwear. I tried some polyester boxer-briefs from Jockey, but I tend to sweat in certain places that don't get vented properly, causing chafing in areas that men should not chafe in. So I am going to abandon them, and I ordered some polyester briefs from Amazon that I am going to try next time.
Not much to write here except that the temp was 26 degrees with a 17 wind chill. I dressed a bit too warm, but not quite as bad as yesterday. Today I had on my polyester cap, polyester ear warmer, long sleeve shirt, running jacket, running gloves, and two pair of pants. My legs felt a bit too warm, so I should have ditched one pair of pants and worn the shorts instead. My upper body tends to get a little warm after a mile and a half, but I can alleviate that by lowering the zipper on my jacket and lifting my cap off my head for a few seconds.
2.36 miles in 26:30, average 11:13 per mile. Quite a bit slower than I want, but my runs are proving more enjoyable with heart rates staying below 172.
The following paragraph might be considered TMI for some people, but this is a blog for me to keep notes for myself, so if you want to read it, fine; I really don't care if you know what kind of underwear I wear or not. But don't say you were weren't warned.
I have been experimenting with socks, and also with underwear. I tried some polyester boxer-briefs from Jockey, but I tend to sweat in certain places that don't get vented properly, causing chafing in areas that men should not chafe in. So I am going to abandon them, and I ordered some polyester briefs from Amazon that I am going to try next time.
1-3-2011 - Longest Run to Date!
January 3 was my first day at my new job! They didn't want me to show up until 9:00 am, because that's when their HR people would be ready for me to fill out their paperwork. So I took the opportunity to go running in the morning. I woke up early and put on all the reflective running gear and blinking lights that my beautiful wife got me for Christmas. I had the Xinglet running sash from Amphipod, the Firefly Supernova blinking light from RoadID, the polyester cap with the blinking light on the back, and the reflective straps around my ankles. I did my standard warm up routine and off I went, ready to blind the first driver who was unfortunate enough to shine their headlights on me.
I started with the Supernova light clipped onto the Xinglet, but it was bouncing around too much in the vicinity of my heart rate monitor, and causing false readings (besides being annoying); so I had to move it. I tried moving it higher up on the sash but that didn't work very well; and there wasn't a very good spot to put it on the waist line. So I ended up clipping it to the visor of the cap. I also had the small flashlight that Ben gave to me, which proved helpful in choosing my exact path down the sidewalk and over the curbs.
There was snow on the ground, so I took it a bit easy, especially going around turns. I did a total of 3.36 miles in 37 minutes flat, and my legs felt really good for the rest of the day. My right ankle was a bit sore, but I pinned that down to the tendon for the Anterior Tibialis (the pain was the worst when I walked around on my heels). I also noted that my heart rate stayed below 172, and the run proved rather enjoyable. Even though my average time was 11 minutes per mile, I think running at that rate will increase my longevity in this sport. I am still hoping, though, that my times improve over the next few months.
Another thing I tried was a new pair of socks that my lovely bride gave me. I have been trying different socks over the past few months and decided that I would prefer cotton over polyester. But I keep hearing that cotton is bad because it absorbs sweat and causes blisters. The polyester, however, feels squishy on my feet. So I've been searching. I found the Adidas Sport Performance socks on Amazon and decided to give them a try. I liked them a lot! No squishy feeling - my feet felt warm and dry. They are a mix of Acrylic, Polyester, Natural Latex, Nylon, and Spandex.
3.36 miles in 37:00. Average 11:01 per mile. Weather: 23 degrees with 14 degree wind chill. Clothing: polyester running cap; polyester ear warmer; long sleeve shirt; short sleeve shirt; running jacket; running gloves; shorts; two pair of exercise pants; Adidas Sport Performance socks. Comments: Dressed too warmly. Should have dropped the short sleeve shirt and the shorts. I thought the wind chill would have gotten to me, but it did not.
I started with the Supernova light clipped onto the Xinglet, but it was bouncing around too much in the vicinity of my heart rate monitor, and causing false readings (besides being annoying); so I had to move it. I tried moving it higher up on the sash but that didn't work very well; and there wasn't a very good spot to put it on the waist line. So I ended up clipping it to the visor of the cap. I also had the small flashlight that Ben gave to me, which proved helpful in choosing my exact path down the sidewalk and over the curbs.
There was snow on the ground, so I took it a bit easy, especially going around turns. I did a total of 3.36 miles in 37 minutes flat, and my legs felt really good for the rest of the day. My right ankle was a bit sore, but I pinned that down to the tendon for the Anterior Tibialis (the pain was the worst when I walked around on my heels). I also noted that my heart rate stayed below 172, and the run proved rather enjoyable. Even though my average time was 11 minutes per mile, I think running at that rate will increase my longevity in this sport. I am still hoping, though, that my times improve over the next few months.
Another thing I tried was a new pair of socks that my lovely bride gave me. I have been trying different socks over the past few months and decided that I would prefer cotton over polyester. But I keep hearing that cotton is bad because it absorbs sweat and causes blisters. The polyester, however, feels squishy on my feet. So I've been searching. I found the Adidas Sport Performance socks on Amazon and decided to give them a try. I liked them a lot! No squishy feeling - my feet felt warm and dry. They are a mix of Acrylic, Polyester, Natural Latex, Nylon, and Spandex.
3.36 miles in 37:00. Average 11:01 per mile. Weather: 23 degrees with 14 degree wind chill. Clothing: polyester running cap; polyester ear warmer; long sleeve shirt; short sleeve shirt; running jacket; running gloves; shorts; two pair of exercise pants; Adidas Sport Performance socks. Comments: Dressed too warmly. Should have dropped the short sleeve shirt and the shorts. I thought the wind chill would have gotten to me, but it did not.
Monday, January 3, 2011
1-1-2011 - Treadmill Work
January 1 - Happy New Year Everyone! After the December 28 Interval work, I decided to take two days of rest, because it was the first time I ran intervals and my legs were feeling it. I wanted to run again on 12-31, but we had a thaw (temps were up into the 50's), and around here, whenever we get a thaw after a freeze, it stinks. Bad. There was a stench in the air that was hard to get past - rotten leaves, and probably thawing animal carcasses and so forth. So even though the weather was nice, I opted not to run.
Then January 1 ushered in a VERY windy re-freeze. It was so windy I couldn't even catch my breath when standing outside. So, off to the gym for treadmill work.
I had a hard time because I again ate too much protein for breakfast. So I ended up run-walking for 45 minutes and managed to squeeze out 3.0 miles.
Then January 1 ushered in a VERY windy re-freeze. It was so windy I couldn't even catch my breath when standing outside. So, off to the gym for treadmill work.
I had a hard time because I again ate too much protein for breakfast. So I ended up run-walking for 45 minutes and managed to squeeze out 3.0 miles.
12-28-2010 - Interval training
Today I did some interval training at the gym on the treadmill. The gym I worked out at was in Grand Rapids, so not my home gym. They had some nice treadmills there where you could set up a programmed routine. I setup a routine where I ran at 5 mph for 4.5 minutes, followed by 7 mph for 1.5 minutes. I did this for 45 minutes. I felt pretty good after doing this. A bit sore in a few spots - the right quad just above the connection point to the knee cap, and the left hamstring. I thought it was good that the left side is finally feeling a bit sore as well; that means that the right leg isn't taking all the beating any more.
Total mileage was about 3.5 miles.
Total mileage was about 3.5 miles.
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