Thursday, July 1, 2010
6 weeks in
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wake up
I have gotten into the habit of exercising at night after the kids go to bed, which works out fine now, especially since my running and lifting only take 30-45 minutes. My running will soon take longer then that and I don’t have time to cycle in the evening so I need to make the switch back to the morning. The other reason I need to make the shift is that baby number 3 is only about 6 weeks away and our evenings will probably be much more hectic.
Getting up is a huge obstacle for me and it seems like every time I finally master it and manage to get up every morning when the alarm goes off I end up injured. Hopefully the variety of my workouts will help this time. This morning I got up after one snooze of the alarm and put in the 4 miles on my training schedule. Tomorrow morning I plan to ride my bike to work so I have to get up about an hour earlier then normal to pull that off.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Circuit Training
I am kind of all over the place right now with my training. I am really enjoying lifting, running, and cycling, which is a really good thing since I have a tendency to over run. Though I am far from the best running shape I have ever been in I am probably pretty close to the best overall shape I have ever been in.
My lifting, until yesterday, has been completely upper body. This has been very intentional because I started lifting to get some exercise while giving my legs, i.e. my knee, a break. However, I really think that to get my knee back to one 100% and to keep this from happening again I really need to strengthen my legs all around more. I started looking for a really good circuit weight training exercise and I came across one on the Men’s Health website.
I gave it a try last night and instantly gained some respect for it. It is 10 exercises done for 60 seconds, with 15 sec rest between each. This then is repeated 3 times resting only 2 minutes between circuits. I did one circuit and stopped after becoming nervous about how my knee was going to take it. Almost every exercise involves a squat or lounge like movement coupled with upper body work. It really felt like a great mix of cardio and weight training and it definitely targeted parts of my legs that are not worked while cycling or running.
The only things you need to perform this workout are some dumbbells. Ideally I would do it with several different sets. Probably like 15 lbs, 30 lbs, 45 lbs, and 60 lbs. I however only have 30 lbs., so I will be getting creative. I hope to incorporate this into my workouts once a week.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Back??
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thanks
Monday, October 19, 2009
Defeated
The decision to run my second marathon was made moments after the completion of my first. Disgusted with the way the first one went, I was determined to do things differently. After a week of recovery I went to it, with back to back 50 plus mile weeks, and then I became injured. I spent the next two months trying to get healthy and really stared running again with about 11 ½ weeks to go. I was still in some pain, but I was running. I worked up to about 40 miles a week but the overall average was only 25.5 miles. I had several long runs that would suggest a 3:30-3:40 was well within reach. Just 2 weeks before the big day I ran 15.75 on a very hilly course at a pace under 3:30 with ease.
Wednesday night I began to feel sick. Thursday I started to get worried and Friday I was in the midst of a head cold. Saturday I woke up feeling better but had developed a cough. That’s right, it moved into my lungs. Sunday the cough was worse. Still there was no way I was not running and I still thought I would meet my goal.
Below are the splits that will be haunt me for a long time.
1 8:55
2 8:12
3&4 16:33
5 8:03
6 8:09
7 8:28
8 8:09
9 8:01
10 8:20
11 8:28
12 8:34
13&14 17:20
15 8:42
16 8:54
17 9:00
18 9:28
19 9:58
20 11:32
21 11:26
22 14:38
23 12:18
24 13:38
25 13:04
26.2 12:59
I started out feeling pretty well but not great, I knew that at that pace during a marathon with the crowd and the excitement I should have felt great. With each mile after 13 I began to realize more and more the restrictions I was feeling from my cold. At mile 19 I was demoralized by my 9:58 mile and began to walk. The rest was just horrible. My final time was 4:13:01 only 3 minutes and 17 seconds faster then my first marathon. I know it was because I was sick but it is still really hard to take. I am going to get another race on the calendar quickly and will hopefully have something to feel better about. I have plenty more to say but wanted to get this up.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I'M SICK!!!!!!!!!!!
A couple of people asked about my training for the last marathon compared to this one. I took a closer look at the stats and they are not great. Last time I averaged about 31.5 miles the 12 weeks leading up to the race. This time I have only averaged 25. However, I think my running was much better this time and my long runs were much more strategic. My biggest concern was to get healthy and I have done that, so I am okay with not running really fast this weekend. I know that I will be right back to training and don't have to worry about an injury. I hope I have learned my lesson about over training and will continue to build slowly this time.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Final Thoughts
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Through The Country
Approaching the bottom of the knob I prepared for the accent to come. I had already been running for almost an hour and knew the climb ahead would be challenging. Once engrossed in the climb the sharp turns and tall trees shielded my view of the daunting peak. Turning each sharp corner I began to expect to see the top and was let down several times before finely getting a glimpse of its peak. Once at the stop I turned around and throughly enjoyed the decent, smiling the entire way about my accomplishment.
As I said I planned to run about 15 miles but had not marked the course in advance. I stopped at 2:05:40 hoping it was close to 15 miles but thinking it might be a little short. After getting home my wife and I drove the course and I was thrilled to learn that it was in fact 15.75 miles. That means I ran a 7:58 pace on a course littered with hills and conquered a .75 mile hill a little over half way into the run. All said and done it was a huge confidence builder for me and I can not wait for my next adventure.
Today's Run
15.75 Miles
7:58 Pace
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Little Behind
I have really been neglecting this blog because I have been working on another one. For anyone who reads this one I think you will find the next one to be far more compelling. I will be sharing more in the days to come and will be introducing the new blog in about a month.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Late night and early morning
Tomorrow morning I am taking the day off and actually have the opportunity to get 8 hours of sleep tonight. As for the 5 hours of sleep followed by the hard run in the thick, humid, morning air... it was worth every waking moment.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
20 Mile Run, 12 Mile Canoe trip, and an Ice Bath
20 Miles
2:51:32
Pace 8:34