06/26/2010

Did a "4 miler" today. I got one of the Nike+ sensors and attatched it to my running shoe. Ran what it said was just 2.1 miles out from head quarters. I haven't calibrated the thing, but I don't see how it can be that accurate. I'll probably just sell it on ebay or craigslist after a while see if I can recoup some of the money from it.

While my time was close to what I think I should run 4 miles in, the google maps says the route I ran was .4km shorter than what the sensor said I ran. That's not much for 6.4 km, but when I get up to 15 and 20 km per run that's over a km that'll be dropped.

so I think I'm going to have to keep to known distances most of the time. It was a good run, hot, uphill on the way out, downhill back.

Had to get it all in before my lunch break was over. Anyway...the main goal is as always, to be in better shape than my brothers when I go to the beack in a week. Apparently Jon has been running quite a bit, so maybe we'll do some long runs together next week.

21-June-2010

So I actually got a run in two days ago, though I didn't write it. I went for a 40 min run during my lunch break at work. Probably somewhere b/n 4.5 and 5 miles. Hard to tell I'd have to drive it to measure, and with the Xterra down, I don't have a car available to me while I'm at work.

Today I did 6.6 miles. And it was hot. I don't feel bad saying I was planning on doing much more, but just couldn't make it happen since I run in the middle of the day (during nap time) so as to only be leaving Amy with one little one while Nora is asleep.

Anyway...
Probably take a day off tomorrow, and get back at it on Tuesday evening? I'll have to see how the girls are behaving. I've got a training class on Wednesday, so it's not my usual plan to keep my long runs on my days off, but c'est la vie. I need to break out a 12 or 13 miler. I don't think I've got one of those since I started back to running regularly. One day...

17 June 2010

6.6 miles today. It was hot. I had an early shift to cover at the PD so I was up at 2:45 to be out the door by 3:30 and in my seat ready to go by 4am. Got home at 1400 put on my shoes and hit the trail.

Good runing. Took me 56 min. just under 8.5 minutes per mile. Not bad. I wasn't pushing as hard as I normally do for the 6.6 run because I'll be playing soccer tonight at 9:30 ish.

anyways, good day. weight training tomorrow.

June 08, 2010

Ran just over 10 miles today. Did 9.9 that I measured (3 laps around City Park), then continued on for another 4 minutes or so. Probably close to an additional .4 miles after the 9.9. Felt good. didn't go with any music this time and i think that improved my time.
anyway...today I'll be in the weight room with very little time to run. So that'll have to come later this week.

Short for Wed, June 3, 2010

So I only did 3.3 miles today. I didn't have time to get in all 7 I wanted, so I just pushed to get those that I could done fast and tried to work on my pace.

A couple weeks ago there was a discussion on 850 koa's The Ride Home about running barefoot. They said that running barefoot helps you run on the balls of your feet, and not on your heels or flat footed. But the hosts were divided as to whether or not it was better to run with protective foot gear (designed ostensibly to prevent injuries and make running easier and safer) or to go barefoot because it forced you to run on your toes.

I didn't try going barefoot, but I did try forcing myself onto the balls of my feet for segments of my last couple runs what I've found was this:

Running on your toes tends to change the posture I have. My hips tilt back just a bit and my chest is thrust out more than when I run flat footed on with a heel to toe progression.
Also, I found I took longer, almost bounding type strides that felt strange, but almost like they took less effort than my usual stride. I was moving faster, too. I don't know if it's a more natural gait, but it sure felt like it.

The new posture was better--like the posture they teach you in yoga or martial arts. It seemed to facilitate deeper breathing --which slowed the pace of my respiration over just a couple tenths of a mile.

They radio show was wondering if there was anything to the debate apparently raging in running mags over whether or not running barefoot or with "skins" on was healthier for you than more traditional jogging styles with the heavily support and coushin driven shoes that most runners wear.

My guess was that running on your toes forced a more natural distribution of the forces encountered in running: that time from when your toe hits to your heel striking the ground, the muscles of the foot, lower leg, thighs and hips do a lot of work to negate the impact and make it easier on the body.

And I'm not sure about this, but I think I recall hearing that the thick heels on the back of running shoes were not necessarily intended to coushin any blow originally, but to force runners to run on their toes since when the shoe landed flat, the heel was naturally higher than the ball of the foot.

I came to this conclusion, in part, because I believe God created a magnificent creation when he made Man. I think there are a great deal many things we have messed up because we think we can do them better than the way God intended our body to do them. So when we "rediscover" that the body actually works really well the way it was built, we're really just reaffirming the complexity and wonder of God's creation.

Anyways...got those 3.3 done in 24 min. Not too fast, but not too slow. for me, it was a difficult pace without a partner.
Hopefully I'll get some time later this week for another distance run.

12 miles here I come!

Memorial Day, May 31, 2010

10.2 miles on Memorial Day. Day off today. back at it tomorrow with 7-ish miles...felt good to start to up the distance. got a little sunburned, but not bad enough to keep me from enjoying some good bbq's later in the night!

Summer Time

Time to get back into shape. Over the last week, I've managed to do a little more running. About 4 days ago I was able to get an hour free to do a 6.8 mile run (2x around City Park and City Park Golf course). The following day I carried Nora around the Denver Zoo for a couple hours, and the day after that I did another 3.4 miles.

This morning I woke up and did a 6.8 mile run before going into work. Felt good. If I had time I might have added a lap and tried to make it 10.2 miles.

I probably will have to do that on my weekend, though--to work in my longer runs when I don't have a work commitment etc.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good. I don't know if I'll be able to keep up with a training schedule long enough to make it for a marathon though. I would love to do it, but life keeps getting in the way. We'll see.

There are a couple in the summer and early fall here in CO that I could try to make, but we'll have to see how the new job situation works out etc.

Two-Timing...

Yesterday I did finally get in all 6 miles. Actually I did 6.5 miles. I did the extra half mile cause I wasn't able to do all 6 at one time. I ran 3.5 miles on my lunch break at about 1500 hrs. Then I did another 3.2 when got off of work at 2000.

I was running on the treadmill in the workout room at work--which I hate as I hate hell and all Montagues. But the temp was dropping and I didn't bring any cold weather running gear to work. We got about 6 times the amount of snow we were supposed to get overnight. So we ended up with about 4-6 inches instead of the 1 or less they were calling for last night.

I'll probably try to do another 4 today on my lunch break, but I'm not looking forward to it. c'est la vie. Trying to get all the miles in during the cold weather is going to be tough until I get a gym membership and can run on an an indoor track or something. hmmph.

Anyway, groin is feeling better and the pace I was going was about 7.5 min/mile. Hopefully that will translate to a solid pace when I'm outdoors doing longer distances once the weather warms.

Training Begins...Again

So I'm 14 weeks out from a marathon here in CO, and that means it's time for my training to begin, again. I say again, because a move and an injury have postponed my goal of finishing a marathon by several months.

I bought some new shoes from Road Runners in Boulder, which was a great experience. They measure progression, arches, check your gait with video, and make recommendations on insoles and shoes. The next step would be custom insoles, but that's cost prohibitive for me, and the number of insoles available at Road Runners made it just about a custom fit any way.

Eventually, I'll be getting another pair of the same shoe and same insole so I can alternate between the two pairs during training. This way neither pair is past it's prime before the race.

I'm not looking for a Boston qualifying time or anything like that. I just want to run the whole thing and finish it. I've still got a nagging pulled groin, and I can feel it slowing me down a great deal. Today, I ran the mileage for day 2--Though I'm actually on day 3. Yesterday was a little busier than normal, and I didn't get a true lunch break at work which is where I had planned to do my 5 milers.

Also, lingering pain from a pulled groin 4 weeks ago is still slowing me down. today's run took me right at 50 minutes and running over the ice and snow was brutal. Every time my foot slipped, it stressed the injured muscle and though I feel like I didn't re-injure it, I definitely could feel that it didn't want to work the way it normally does. I should be able to do these runs in 40-42 min.

I weighed myself the other day and I've actually got up to 170. I"m lifting a little more, and I can tell my arms are bigger, but the same unfortunately goes for my waist so hopefully by the mid point of my training I'll be back down to about 160.

So that's my goal. I've got 6 miles on the schedule for tomorrow, run a marathon in May, and hopefully lose 10 to 15 lbs of well, lets call it baby sympathy weight.

Hopefully, I'll be writing tomorrow that I did get my 6 miler in and the time for that run.