Been a while since posting. Putting a lot of words in my sanoodi account...but I got a Nike+ sensor for my shoes, mostly for treadmill running...and just to check out their website. Here's what they provide for websites/blogs...wonder if it will work in blogger's blogs.
Well, it took me having a hernia surgery to feel old and decrepit and NEEDING to run. So, 4 weeks and a couple days after getting all hacked up, I went out, with the puppy and took a SLOW SLOW jog. Just 2.1-ish miles, and I didn't time it or Forerunner it. Felt cool. Legs are sore, and I know I ran, ya know.
Looking forward to running some more! Yay!
Garmin "Data"
Stay young!
First and foremost, here's the link to the garmin data.
I'll repeat and add to what I said there, since I can only put so much on that page. Just read this one for the full gory story...
OK, I've been wanting to write in here, but it's Tuesday night and I'm ready to procrastinate other things and type this up...
So, short day, too busy to do much else, so tried to pick up the pace at the end. Easy to do a negative split when it’s like that. Sunny, about 67°. Only got in 2.25 miles.
Felt super and fine, no problems. Just still do not like running on sidewalks and cross streets with lights…sigh.
Blah blah blah….and GO GO GO!!!!
Nice little 5 miler, that I happened to pull off in 38, ahem, minutes. 52°F, started in the dusk and sunny by the time I was done. Good negative split. Felt really nice. I have to wake up early to run more often.
Woke up to Jackson wet. Just after Jess said how he hasn't had a mistake in so long, and was done so much earlier than Summer. My fault, though. I forgot to have him do a bath-time or bed-time potty. Oops. And he was very tired and fell asleep pretty quick, so his body wasn't able to wake him up. The poor guy. But, he did get me out of bed for my run!!! For that, I thank him greatly! :-D
OK, so, it’s been a while since I’ve written. I’ve only run a measly 4 days since Sept 16th. Once every 5 days. Pains seem mostly gone in back and such, so that’s an awesome result. But my running is slower now. The only really interesting run was on Sept 27th. I was in Colorado and ran up Bergen Pass. Pic here (Not mine, and no it wasn’t snowy then). Very slow average pace, but hey, it was about a 1500’ or so incline, and even the downhill was a pretty technical trail where I had to run slowly and safely. The map I linked to is super rough, it was actually a bit under 9 mile loop, of which I ran 7.25 miles. Yowsers!
Today was just an easy 4.5 miler on a nice cool day, low to mid 60s, street running during lunch at work.
A question. I wonder how many people sign up for “races” but just use them as regular runs, and just to be in a big group? I can NOT sign up for a race without planning, training and TRYING to be faster than a “training” run. I just don’t see the point. Just us competitive people? Why I ask? I’ve signed up for a half-marathon and wonder what I can do. I’ll need to get back into training and do some longer runs. Shooting for 1:30-1:45. Then I’ll look into a marathon. Gulp, I’ve never done a marathon before…probably for the competitive reason, I don’t want to just go out and run it, which I think I could do on any given day (yes, I’d have to walk/run, like many people do).
What do you think? Do you enter “races” just to run? I guess that’s why a lot of races now list a “Fun Run”….whatever……psshhh
I combined the Garmin images to put together the entire route and the elevation:
From the topographic map, you can see I didn't get the entire run in the watch. I turned off the timer for some walking, then said, "Wow, I'm walking more than expected, I should turn this back on until I'm really ready to run again." Which I did, after a mile or so of walking, with tiny bits of jogging in there.
If you can believe pictures on the internet, then this is proof it was me...
63°F and no wind this morning at 6:05AM. That’s the conditions I ran my quick little 2-miler. I couldn’t sleep near the end of it…I went to bed saying to myself, “If you wake yourself up, go for a run.” Well, I kept waking up and finally got out of bed to check the clock at 6. I should have gotten up at 5:30-ish, when I first woke up, but boy, did it look dark behind the curtains. When I left at 6:05 it was still dark, but that’s why the watch has a light on it. ;-D
Anyway, about 7:06 pace, or something like that. First run after the race. Felt great, no pressure. Figures, though, that I pulled a muscle in the center of the right side of my back. I felt tight, so I twirled my arms to loosen up, but I was still too cold and it spasmed. Oh well. A little ice, some icy/hot cream and some more stretching and I’ll be fine. Don’t feel too bad now even. Have a chiro appt for tomorrow, as the last of it from last week anyway, so that’ll help. AND Jess got us some massages set up for tomorrow night, too. So, I should be feeling good! Which is nice, since we’re heading out on our little trip Friday morning.
Go go go
Gosh, what to say?
First, can just check it out here. And here's a pic of the pace, in general.
The last two weeks, I wanted to taper. A short sprint workout day. A longer run nice and slow, a few medium paced runs at race distance, etc...well. I had done too many 4 milers just before then and got bored. Also, busy at work is always a good excuse. But, anyway. I did all right. If I had kept running and tapered well, I likely could have done better.
But going into it, even a week or so ago, I was thinking of just being below 7 min/mi. Well, I did the pace I wanted to start, started slowing as expected, then, I just felt OK, so I kept it below 7 min/mi pretty much the whole time. I went up/down just like the hills, and I didn't push it the last mile. I kind of saved it. I was really feeling it in my legs, so I figured just to push that last bit. I saw the clock ticking up, and realized I was doing great for getting in under 21 minutes, which I wasn't sure about...so I just kept my feet moving and kicked it in for a nice 20:55. Felt great!
Especially after...Friday's run. It felt awesome. After sitting at my desk for 45 minutes it felt like my lower back broke out of NOWHERE. Well, luckily I had already made an appt for my chiro. HE IS A MIRACLE worker. He cracked everything every which way, and lo' and behold...as you read above...it worked. Now, I need to keep stretching and get well again. I have two more appts already scheduled. Tomorrow and Thursday.
OK, that's it. I'm pretty proud of the run, I didn't go out way too fast and crazy, so...yippee!
Go go go!
<<SScreen_090109-001.jpg>> I had a meeting over there, so I ran from there, so I could get a turkey burger from the roach-coach. Pretty “easy”, but did hit a lot of hills. Around 1 mile I did a lap around a baseball field, which ended up being a ¼ at 6:51 pace. I then slowed as I went across the other park and up that pretty big hill. You can easily see where/when I went up and down hills, with the pace jumping around so much. I did push it in a little near the end. Always like doing that.
Right hamstring is a bit tight. Need to stretch that more. Neck still funky. Will try sits/pushes tomorrow morning.
Weather was smokey/ashey (sort of), from all the local fires. Temp was around 80°. A bit muggy, overcast and just plain miserable to run in.
I have no idea how I’m keeping motivated. I’m starting to get bored again. I need to drive somewhere to run in an interesting place. I am looking forward to the race, and going to CO for the golf tourney and a run in the canyon’s with Steve T. After that….who knows. I think I may need to join a group.
Go go go
Well, I moved everything Friday. Unpacked and cleaned up this morning. Then checking emails and doing a few things, I headed out for my first run from the new bldg. Just taking it easy, after 3 days off. Felt pretty rough at first, like I didn’t want to be out there. Check the chart. Funky 1st 1.5 miles, but after that I slowly picked it up, continuously (well, just about every quarter).
I was thinking about the upcoming race a little, and thinking about how I want to go out and pace the race. This profile looks about right from .75 miles on. I want to start fast (I won’t be able to help myself too much. Then I’ll try and slow down nad be fairly even for the .75 or 1.0 miles until 1.75 or 2.0. Then start picking it up every quarter after that. Last ½ mile really be moving and do a kick in sprint as best I can for that last 0.107 miles (what, about 188 yards).
Oh, and, by the by, from the office here, it is 1.20 miles to the mulch path. So, it takes off 0.80 miles compared to running from my old bldg. In a way that’s a good thing. I can head to the path and run on something softer and less heat reflecting. I just don’t want to get bored. But, I should be able to get to the beach and really hit those hills for training! Next time I’ll head out to the neighborhood, though, and see what that is like coming from the other side.
Time to start figuring out a taper program for the race.
Go go go
On Sunday I tried doing my exercises. Well, at least, I did the sit-ups – Week 6, Day 1. I think I’ll be able to complete these and do the 200 fairly “easily”. My gluteus maximus is hurting today, which is a good sign. No running for three days, though. Jess had her friend Lana, from CO, visiting this weekend, so I had some time with the kids. Very fun.
Oh, and onto the push-up PAIN. I did (tried) week 4, Day 3. Well, I’m going to be stuck on week 4 for quite a while. Especially if I get hurt like I have been. I did the 29, then did all of the sit-ups since it hurt so bad. But then I went ahead and did the 33 and 29, in nearly sheer agony. Immediately put on ice, took some Advil and suffered through pain the rest of the day.
I’m going to get out to run (hopefully) today, from my new office! All cleaned up and ready to get my butt to work. I have my iPod playing music in the background. That is kind of nice, since I’m not bugging anyone.
OK, gonna get to it!
Go go go!
Ouch...OK, I don't know how long this is going to take. I just know these pushups are deadly. I put too much strain on my neck struggling and now it hurts. And of course I kept going and completed all the sets for week 4, day 2. The third set of 25 was actually 15 and 10 quickly after. Then I did half of the sets for the sit-ups, week 5, day 3. Then I did the last set of 25 pushups. Then the rest of the sit-ups, ending with 100 for the last set. Then back to the supposed 36 minimum push-ups. I did 29.5, sat up for 15 seconds, did 10, then sat up again for about 10 seconds and then did 6, collapsing on my face. So, I did 25, 29, 25, 25, 29, 10, 6 = 149 spread out. That isn't so bad. But I just never feel OK with moving on if I cheat. Well, I'm going to move on a day, and see. And if I have to, I'll start the week over, again, or just go back a day or two. (Oh, and about the sit-ups, total of (30, 30, 36, 36, 30, 30, 40, 100) 332.
I decided that I do want to do squats, but I'm going to wait until after my race on the 13th. I don't want to introduce a new exercise right now. I'll keep going with this stuff, though.
So, this was just a chillin’ day. Check out that pace…Average of 8:15.7. Temp high 60’s. Funny to say “High”, since it’s such a cool/decent temp to do a run like this. 
Legs still feeling a bit sore, so took it easy. I can’t believe I was able to do this. Just relax and have a recovery type run. Not just a day or two off as the recovery. An actual slow/easy day.
I’ve not put this up on the blog before, but I’ve been tracking the trend of speed, per mile run. The green line is a linear estimate of the pace, based on the miles run. It’s kind of scattered, but there is a bit of a trend. One trend that is very apparent is that most of my runs are between 2-4.5 miles.
I’ve always like shorter distances, so they tend to stand out. I’m surprised to see the longer runs also under the curve. This is just data from May 26th until today. I’d be interested in doing this for the last couple of years….but that would be a pain, and not sure what it would show. I’ll just keep updating this for the year, and start a new one next year. If I can stay consistent in running, it’ll be interesting to see how the chart develops. A similar slope, but just shifted down? Steeper? flatter? Will be neat to see the race outliers, which I’ll have to put in a different color. But, I’m just babbling now. Time to just be happy and run.
Go go go.
OK, this morning I finally got back to the push-ups and sit-ups. Seems like this will take me closer to 3 months than 4 weeks. But still, that is OK. As long as it happens.
Also, I’m not impressed by the sit-ups one. I think I’m going to try to do the full 200 next time. And if it works, I’m going to change it up to full leg lifts, as Jess has suggested. Those seem a lot more difficult. Probably just works a different muscle group…which is weaker for me.
Go go go!
Was just thinking of 4 miles. Then thought I should run on the mulch/bark, and figured that was nearly two miles to get there (it was exactly two miles actually), so I would go down the path until I saw the ocean, or until I hit 3.2 miles out whichever came second. Well, seeing the ocean came second. Ended up doing .75 miles on the track when I got back, which I did to get a full 7 miles and to get my overall pace down under 8min/mi. Well, it took me 7.25 miles to get it below 8min/mi, but I did do it.
I took off SLOW. As I wanted to. Legs/shins/body just overall sore. Needed something smooth. Figured I’d work on just speeding up the entire time, slowly. Which seeing the graph above, I did superbly.
Temp was much more reasonable. A little breeze, and, at least, while on the mulch I was able to have some trees overhead.
The run out is mostly downhill on that path, so it was an uphill run for the return, so increasing speed while also going up hill was a good thing. And going at such a fast clip on the track was a nice way to pretend I was kicking it in for a race. Although I hope I go a bit faster in a race and have a bit less energy to kick it in for such a long time! ;-)
Go go go
<<SScreen_082409-004.jpg>> <<Snap_034.jpg>>
OK, I’m a thermally challenged wimp. 82°F, barely any wispy clouds, no wind, hardly any trees to duck under for shade…and stupidly I started off WAY too fast for this type of day. What does that mean? It means I had to walk. Twice. :-( No negative split, but hey, I got out there and moved those feet!
At least it wasn’t too painful physically. Just took some Advil and everything felt fine.
Garmin has a few more discussion points, but not much else for me to say now.
Go go go!
Legs still sore from the intervals on Tuesday. I'm glad I did them, because the pain feels so good! :-D
Today I started out warming up with a nice 9 holes at Harbor Golf course. Played decent, 4 pars, 4 bogies, 1 blow up hole. Just need to work on my consistency. Kind of like my running. I need to keep it more consistent, and keep building up the mileage. Have a race coming up in 4 weeks and then a couple more before the "BIG ONE" in DC next spring.
Golf had bright sunny skies, but when I ran it got more overcast. Not too warm when I ran. Felt great. So good to be out. Gotta stretch and get to sleep now!
And, no, I haven't done my sits/pushes lately. Going to be an early morning thing. I think my body has recovered from some of the pains pre/post intervals.
Go go go!
OK, nice day out. Overcast, cool and I did intervals on the track! Started with slow jog there, and then some criss-cross and high-knee jogs across the short side of the track. Then it was down to business. 800, 400, 400, 800, 100, 100, 400, 100, 100. So, 2 miles of speed work. Fastest of 3:53 pace for LAST of the 100 yard sprints, meaning sub 15 seconds (Hey, I'm no Usain Bolt (9.58 seconds, REALLY, that man is insanely fast).
Slowest was of course the 800s 2:53 and WAY SLOW 3:16. Hey, I was tired already (and therefore wimped out, I was trying to pace for a 1200).
I definitely need more speed work!
Then just a quarter-ish for a cool-down jog back to my office.
It's nice being so close to the track.
Go go go!
60° Start, 70° Finish. Felt it around 10.5 miles. Last half mile I totally slowed down, not wanting to sprint in and be dumb. I think that was dumb. I woulda puked maybe, but so what? Perfect race, though, I really loved it.