Sunday, August 26, 2007

Training 8/20 - 8/26

Mon-Boatman Hill/Oakland w/dogs, 37:09, 9:17/mi

Evening: Weights, upper bulk #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps)PT & wobble, 53 min

Tues- Tripp 10K, 6.1 mi, 47:40, 7:49/mi

Wed- 3.3, 20:58, 6:21/mi
Track workout, 1/2 mi warmup, 4:21, 4-100s, 27, 26, 25, 20; 3-600s - 2:15, 2:13, 2:14; 3-400s, 1:25, 1:1:23, 1:21; 1-100, 18; 800 m cool down, 4:14

Thurs- Rock Quarry, 7.8 mi, 1:09:07, 8:52/mi
Took it easy and ran with Lisa.

Evening: Weights, upper bulk #2 (Back/Biceps/Abs), PT, & Wobble, 43 min

Fri- Rest

Sat-Long Run Lunatics, Country Dozen, 12 mi, 1:37:04, 8:05/mi
Ran last 3 mi at marathon pace, 6:57, 6:54, and 6:39.

Sun- Rock Bridge State Park, 7.6 mi, 1:12:26, 9:32/mi
Ran last 6 mi with Mike D and picked up the pace.

Running: 40.8

Weights: 96 min

YTD Running: 1808.2

September 3rd-Heart of America Marathon
September 22nd-Hocking Hills Indian Run – 60K
October 13th-Baltimore Marathon

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Training 8/13 - 8/19

Mon-Rest

Tues- President's Hill, 7.6 mi, 58:43, 7:44/mi
Started out at a slower pace and then really picked up the pace up the hill to the end.

Evening: Weights, upper lean #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps), 60 min

Wed- 3.3, 22:30, 6:49/mi
Track workout, 1 mi warmup, 8:21, 4-100s, 23, 25, 26, 29; 4-200s - 40, 43, 42, 41; 4-300s, 1:03, 1:06, 1:03, 1:03; 1-400, 1:18; 800 m cool down, 3:47
I had the privilege of running the track workout since Ted was gone. We had 7 people brave the 104 temperature. I took it a little slower than last week.

Thurs- Rain Run Route (it wasn’t raining, but we hoped it would) - 7.4 mi, 1:04:00, 8:39/mi
Ran with Andrew the entire run and just enjoyed the course. Legs felt tired.

Afternoon: Weights, upper lean #2 (Back/Biceps/Abs), PT, & Wobble, 45 min

Fri- MKT, 16 mi, 2:00:51, 7:33/mi
Started at 9:30 and the trail was shady, sunny, windy, and not windy depending on where I ran. I kept a strong pace with all miles 7-something.

Sat-Long Run Lunatics, Tayside 17.2, 2:16:01, 8:00/mi

Sun- Rest

Running: 51.3

Weights: 105 min

YTD Running: 1767.4

September 3rd-Heart of America Marathon
September 22nd-Hocking Hills Indian Run – 60K
October 13th-Baltimore Marathon

Friday, August 17, 2007

Body for Life Update

In March 2001, I started a program to lose weight/fat called Body for Life by Bill Phillips. I am not following the program by the book anymore, but it has made me more consistent about exercise and good eating habits. BFL helped get me to the point where I am today with my running. I probably would have never considered running a marathon if I had not followed this program for several years.

The most important points of the program are high intensity interval training 3 times per week for 20 minutes, 3 forty-five to 60 minute weight workouts 3 times per week , eating 6 meals per day of reasonable size portions with balanced carbs and protein for 6 days per week, and one day per week where you can go all out and eat whatever you want. I still follow eating more than 3 "meals" per day, but have increased the carbs. I'm only now doing 2 weight workouts per week and run 5 - 6 times per week doing way more cardio than the program requires. Also, I don't worry as much as I used to about having a few extra treats since I burn them off with all the running.

In 2001, I weighed 177 lbs and lost 22 lbs over 6 months. Since that time my weight has fluctuated, usually peaking by the end of December and then I lose those 5 or so holiday pounds over the next few months by being more consistent with eating right. In late 2003, Eating for Life, a cookbook was released by Bill Phillips and that has really helped with getting ideas of what to eat. I have noticed that each year, I tend to maintain a lower weight more consistently since I've had to change my pant size several times.

Part of the program includes taking progress pictures and measurements. I’ve taken progress pictures less frequently than the first few years with the last pictures taken in 2004 until today. Today, I decided to take new pictures. I am now 5 lbs less than the pictures in 2004 and 25 lbs less than 2001. Another important part of the program is tracking body fat (since losing muscle is bad), but I haven’t had an official BF measurement in a few years. I can tell by the pictures and past measurements that I’m currently probably somewhere in the single digits.

Here are the pictures I have taken every 3 years:

March 2001 - 177 lbs (bloated and not too happy looking)

September 2004 - 157 lbs

August 2007 - 152 lbs

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Training 8/6 - 8/12

Mon-Evening: Weights, upper bulk #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps), 56 min

Tues- Hugh’s Hulen Hills, 7 mi, 55:22, 7:55/mi
New Tu/Th group course that Hugh designed. I took it pretty easy since still sore from Sunday. The last major hill was some sort of cruel joke. The grade of the hill was very steep.

Wed- 3.25, 21:42, 6:41/mi
Track workout, 1 mi warmup, 7:22, 4-100s, 23, 27, 25, 24; 2-300s - 54, 55; 6-200s, 36, 37, 39, 38, 36, 37; 1-400, 1:13; 1200 m cool down, 5:49
Good workout in the heat. Felt strong on the last 400 staying with Ted.

Thurs- MKT Bridge - 1/2 mi Intervals, 7.8 mi, 0:56:29, 7:14/mi
Completed 5 intervals after warming up for 2 miles. Ran with Scott and his recoveries were faster than I usually run them but I seemed to be pushing him pretty hard on the intervals.

Evening: Weights, upper bulk #2 (Back/Biceps/Abs), PT, & Wobble, 57 min

Fri- Rest

Sat-Long Run Lunatics, Tayside 22, 2:58:30, 8:07/mi
We started at 5:30 am in the dark. Felt very relaxed on this run. Temp and humidity were not awful. Picked up the pace the last 5 miles or so ran 7-somethings with Phil. Felt really good after this run.

Sun- HOA Course/Rockbridge State Park, 24 mi, 4:09:49, 10:25/mi
Woke up feeling good and ready to run. I started at 5:30 am and ran an 8-something pace for the first 2 miles and then encountered 3 other runners on the course so I stayed with them running their pace. Stayed well hydrated thanks to James planting water on the HOA course. Also, was starving at 16 mi and Lisa had food for us so ate a banana which is exactly what I had been craving. She joined in running for the first time in several weeks due to a motorcycle injury. I ran the entire 17 mile loop and then went 7 more miles on the trails of the park.

Running: 64 mi (highest mileage week this year)

Weights: 113 min

YTD Running: 1716.1

September 3rd-Heart of America Marathon
September 22nd-Hocking Hills Indian Run – 60K
October 13th-Baltimore Marathon

Monday, August 06, 2007

Training 7/30 - 8/4 and Sandbagger 10K

Mon- Rest

Tues- Jaira's Jaunt, 7.1 mi, 52:32, 7:24/mi

Evening: Weights, upper lean #1 (chest, shoulders, triceps), 61 min

Wed- 3.75 mi, 24:56, 6:39/mi
Track Workout 1 mi, 7:56 warmup, 4-100 m strides, 2:01- 5:36/mi pace; 2:05 -5:23/mi pace; 1:36-5:20/mi pace; 1:32-5:30/mi pace; 3-300s-1:03, 1:09, 1:10, 800 m cool down, 3:55

Thurs- Rock Quarry, 7.8 mi, 1:04:26, 8:16/mi

Evening: Weights, upper lean #2 (Back/Biceps/Abs), PT, & Wobble, 56 min

Fri- Rest (extremely tired due to lack of sleep)

Sat-The Great Sandbagger 10K
This is a race where you predict your time. You can “win” this race by grossly overestimating how long it will take to run the 10K. Since we stagger the start times from the slowest predicted time to the fastest, usually the person with the largest positive difference between the predicted time and the actual time (lying) wins the race. Theoretically, if everyone told the absolute truth about how fast they planned to run the race, everyone would cross the finish line together, but that never happens.

There were 21 runners that participated. The course is an out and back and quite hilly. I always try to predict my time accurately since I don’t want to win the trophy. This year I predicted to run it in 42:15 since legs were feeling fatigued, it was already 80F and humid, and I wasn't feeling that great. It's always a guess and figured on a good day I could run 41:30, but wasn't feeling it on Saturday. Phil also predicted 42:15 so we could push each other and we usually finish races within a few seconds of each other. We started last since we predicted the fastest time. We had to wait about 30 minutes from when the first person started.

We can't wear watches so I really don't have a good sense of pace, but the first half didn't feel good. I ran right next to Phil for probably the first 2 miles and then pulled a little ahead and started to pass people before the turn around point. Then I started feeling better. Last year I only passed 2 runners on the course starting last so didn't really expect to pass many people. I guess I was sandbagging a little (although unexpected) when I predicted my time since ended up passing 15 runners, placing 5th out of 20 and actual time was 40:54, 1:21 faster than my predicted time. I was the fastest finisher too and my fastest time on this course by 36 seconds when I ran 41:30 in 2004. This was also the second fastest 10K I have run. Results are posted here

Post Race: 10 miles, 1:28:11, 8:49/mi

Sun- Rock Bridge State Park, 19.5 mi, 3:34:40, 11:01/mi
Alarm went off and really wanted to go back to bed. Arrived at the park at 6 am and Jeff arrived a few seconds later. We ran about an 8 mile loop on the Devil's Ice Box side and then ran a 7.5 loop on the Gans Creek side and then another 4 mile loop on the Devil's Ice Box side. Legs felt tired the entire run. Even though I sprayed myself twice with bug spray, my feet were attacked by tiny ticks and a few bites on the buttocks as well. These were the 2 areas that I didn't spray bug spray on the skin. My feet are pretty chewed up right now.

On the loop on the Gans Creek side I tripped on something, went forward and next thing I know, I'm almost hugging a tree. I had put my hands out and caught myself with both hands on a big tree. It was with such force, I was glad it wasn't my head. I was fine and nothing hurt.

Running: 54.3 mi

Weights: 117 min

YTD Running: 1652

September 3rd-Heart of America Marathon
September 22nd-Hocking Hills Indian Run – 60K
October 13th-Baltimore Marathon