Posted February 13th, 2008.
How many people actually run to lose weight? I am sure a lot of people out there are raising their virtual hands.
But how many people are actually losing weight from running?
I ask this because this is a constant struggle for me, and I know it has been for Joe as well. I recall him telling me, “I have gained more weight since I started running.” I think running is a great way to stay fit and possibly shed some pounds since it is burning calories. For example a 6 mile run for me burns approximately 850 calories. That is roughly a little bit less than a Steak Burrito Ultimo from Baja Fresh. YES!!!! One of these babies will pack on 950 calories.
And guess what? After running 6 miles, I am HUNGRY! I really am. When I was training, I was constantly hungry. My body kept telling me, “FEED ME!”
So I end up eating more than I am burning. The irony …
Please don’t call me tubby if you see me running down the street. That just isn’t nice.
Posted February 12th, 2008.
Today was my first small run in 12 days. After two failed attempts at 20 miles, it was time to take on a number I know I can complete. To be honest, though, I really wasn’t feeling like running today. These last couple of days I’ve been feeling lack luster and lethargic. Driving home from work, I was trying to convince myself that my lack of motivation was reason enough why I shouldn’t lace them up and go out running.
Thankfully, I recalled the advice in Jeff Galloway’s book that said that days like these are sometimes your best days to run. Mentally, you are telling yourself your body isn’t into it. But once you get out there, you just zone and let your body do what you’ve trained it to do. Well, there you go. That’s what I told myself.
And boy am I glad I did. Today’s run invigorated me. I ran the first mile in a decent 9:03. The 2nd in a faster 8:33. The 3rd was slightly faster at 8:23. And the last mile was more than a full minute faster than my first mile at 7:54.
I didn’t intend on running speed miles. It just worked out that way. Fun times.
Posted February 9th, 2008.
Well, although I didn’t do any weekly runs, I did prepare for today’s attempt at a 20 mile run.
I did rest and sleep well during the week. I did carbo-load yesterday with some yummy pad thai noodles. I did buy gatorade and power bars and brought them with me. I put on sun screen, I wore my sunglasses, and cap…
…so where’s the catch, you ask?.. lubricant… I forgot to apply personal lubricant.
You see, if you aren’t familiar with distance running, well you might not know that for particularly long runs, you should apply personal lubricant in areas that are prone to chaffing (inner thighs, arm pits, etc).
In my enthusiastic rush to get out there and run (crossing things off of my mental checklist as I did), I forgot to complete the step mentioned above. The result, I had to to stop at mile 14. Stamina was not the issue, but the pain was. I’d rather stop then keep going and pay for it by not being able to run/walk/sit tomorrow.
So today, only 14 miles. Time: 2:43:17.
Completing the 20 mile run is proving more of a challenge than originally thought. Oh well, there’s always next week.
Posted February 8th, 2008.
Basics
I am not fast runner by any means. I am 5′8″ and weigh anywhere from 175-180 depending on how well I eat that week or really how bad I eat. I run an average of 10 min miles when running anything more than 8 miles and can run 6 miles at a 9:30 pace. I started running and marathon training about a year ago and have logged well over 500 miles. My current running shoes are Adistar Control 4:
They are really comfortable provide a really decent amount of control.
What do I hope to achieve by running?
Well, I am trying to achieve a few different things. I need to lose some weight, about 10 lbs would be good. And I am trying to keep myself fit. I am turning 37 and to all of your youngsters out there, it doesn’t get any easier. But I manage to stay in decent shape. I hope to run a few more marathons before I die, and you know what they say 40 is the new 30.
Keep going…
So if you see my on the road, please feel free to walk up and say hi. Maybe we can compare running trails or share some war stories… cya on the road!
Posted February 2nd, 2008.
So today I was scheduled to do a long run of 20 miles. But I messed up. I didn’t prepare properly for it. It’s been on my calendar… not a surprise… of my own free will… but you’d think I was clueless about it.
I DIDN’T get proper rest/sleep the week leading up to it. I’ve been sleeping like 4 hours a night since Tuesday (just staying up too late (no good reason)).
I’ve been eating poorly. I normally don’t eat very healthy to begin with, so admitting that I’m eating poorly is saying something.
I didn’t carbo load with a pasta dinner the night before (come on, Joe. IT’S 20 MILES).
I didn’t get any powerbars or other snacks to provide energy during the run.
I didn’t buy any gatorade to drink during the run.
I only had one… yes ONLY 1, water bottle with me so that I wouldn’t dehydrate…. ONE?!!?! And I’m talking about the small one that you carry in your hand while you run.
Ill Prepared
Needless to say… my body was in no shape to perform what I was asking it to do. My poor body…. I sure do abuse it with this sport. In spite of the poor preparation, I was able to complete 15.5 miles in 2:48:17. At the end of 14, my body was starting to protest. It took another mile and a half for me to realize it was not due to normal fatigue, but do to lack of preparation.
You have to learn to listen to your body’s messages to know when it is time to push past the pain and when it is best to listen to the pain and stop before you cause serious injury. Today, I experienced the latter and opted to stop and run another day.
Lesson learned: even if it isn’t “the marathon” you have to take your long runs seriously and prepare adequately for them.
Posted February 1st, 2008.
GPS, Heart Monitor, Pace and Distance monitor all in a sleek looking watch. Unlike their predecessor the Forerunner 305, this baby is much smaller and actually looks like a watch. The bezel has a touch sensor that lets your quickly scroll through and select features on the run. Would probably come in handy since trying to press some buttons on your watch can be tricky while running.
A really cool feature is the ability to wirelessly share running data with other Forerunner 405 users, if you can find one, since this unit will set you back 300 clams. Of course this also has the ability to wirelessly connect to your PC via a wireless dongle and track your workouts. Maybe my wife will get me one for my B-day next year.
(product page)
Posted February 1st, 2008.
I think I carry enough drag with me on my rear to not need this as I run to the nearest Coldstone…. mmmm Coldstone…
Anyways, this is a new training tool by Nike that will eventually make you run faster by adding up to 25 lbs of resistance for $50 bucks. The only problem I have with this is how funny one would look running with this thing on. But I guess if you don’t really care about how you look and the laughing stares you will encounter, it might be a good workout as well as building up some speed.
The belt accommodates waist sizes 32″ - 56″. If I had a 56″ waist, I don’t think I could run fast enough to make this thing even work.
Here is the product site.
Posted February 1st, 2008.
Here it is:
109 runs, 627 mi, 81,476 calories (23 lbs.)
WOW! I didn’t know I ran that far. But this has been over the course of about a year. 627 miles…. hmmm… that’s like running from LA to San Jose and back. I currently weigh approximately 178, but this can fluctuate about 2-3 lbs either way in a given week. My goal is to be 165 lbs.
Posted February 1st, 2008.
You will probably notice that there are some additions to the site on the left side. You can now see how much we are both running each time we run. We both use the Nike + system with our iPod Nanos. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you most definitely should. Not a perfect product since the accuracy varies by +/- 1/10 of a mile for every mile you run. But in the grander scheme of things, it definitely helps motivate you to run farther and faster. I will get into more on running techie stuff later on. We will also be changing the color scheme and some of the images since it does look quite drab. Hopefully, we will have a whole new look within this coming week.
Posted January 31st, 2008.
So instead of a speedy 4 miles, I opted for an normal paced run of the same distance. I just wanted to see how fast I would do it if I just “didn’t push it” but rather just ran at a comfortable pace. My answer: 4 miles in 37:50. That’s a average pace of 9:28/mile–a whole minute longer than my speed workout two days ago.
Wow… I didn’t know I made such a big jump.
