Who Likes Music???

Man oh man I've been busy! I've had my head stuck in music production since Friday, hustling to get Hella Sound's second release out the door. I finally got each MP3 rendered, QA'd and uploaded to my shopping cart at 4:30am. Yay! (Note to self: moving around 55 meg files on the internet *always* takes longer than anticipated.)

I'll be putting up a blurb on HellaSound.com about the song soon, but in a nutshell: it's a rip-your-face-off metal song that fires you up and keeps you psyched. I set out to make something blistering and heavy, and I think I got it.

Again, I say onto thee: yay!

Workout

• Distance 6 miles
• Location Crissy Field, SF CA
• Shoes Asics Kayano
• The Lowdown This was a good run. I'd been hustling all weekend (and most of Thursday and Friday) for work, so getting out for a run was something my soul was excited for.
  
  As a huge departure, I brought water with me. I never do this. Ever. The way I see it, races have water about every 3 miles, so I'm going to get in the habit of rehydrating every 3 miles. Makes sense, huh?
  
  Going long? Then go slow. I kept telling myself "easy does it" during the run, consciously slowing myself down and just focusing on cruising. Cruise cruise cruise cruise cruise. "No need to hustle, this was just a cruise"—that kind of thing. In the end, I'm surprised my time and average was what it was. I thought I was going faster than that. Good stuff.

Image courtesy Gerrysan on Flickr.

The Deal with Shoes

There's been a lot of discussion about modern running shoes' detrimental effect; the theory goes something like "modern, high-tech shoes encourage biomechanically incorrect movement and lead to all the injury you see in the running community". Go ahead, Google it—I'll wait for you to come back.

Like almost everyone else, I've invested the effort (and money) in finding shoes that seem to fit my physiology and ability. I chose Asics Nimbus based on my own reading and experience, and my new Asics Kayano from recommendation. And I've noticed how the Kayano does have more structure, does enforce more specific movement than the neutral Nimbus. Are these shoes encouraging bad habits?

I've also recently acquired Vibram Five Fingers "barefoot" running shoes. I'd been relatively obsessed with them since I heard of them, and I believe there is some logic to the idea that walking barefoot—with toes and other footy parts with free range movement—can encourage healthier, stronger lower legs and feet. Honestly, I had no plans of running in the Vibrams. I mostly wanted to get them for cruising around, running errands, etc. (You run a lot of errands on foot when you live in San Francisco.)

My take on the whole thing:
I applaud those that are trying barefoot running. It's commendable, and at some point I might hit the track for some easy workouts in the Vibrams. But I'm particularly aware of my form, my foot plant, and the impact each stride I take. For a 250lb guy, I believe I am remarkably light on my feet. I am the last guy you'll hear *SLAP* *SLAP* *SLAP*-ing on the pavement next to you during a run. As such, I believe modern, highly-engineered shoes are fine.

To say it another way: I could probably learn how to play baseball without a mitt, building up callouses and developing the technique to field a line-drive bare-handed. But why?

What do you guys think? Weigh in!

Workout

• Distance 4 miles
• Location Crissy Field, SF CA
• Shoes Asics Nimbus
• The Lowdown I *never* run two days in a row! Well, almost never. I guess this was an exception to the rule. I've missed cross-training days and whatnot, but I'm not going to miss my run days—even if I have to double 'em up. I ran Tuesday's run on Thursday, so Thursday's run had to happen on Friday in order to get a rest day in before Sunday's long run. (Got all that?)
  
  I felt awesome during this run. Just great. I felt like everything was clicking. It was nearly effortless, really. And imagine my surprise when I got it done in under 40 minutes. Crazy.

Image courtesy slendle84 on Flickr.

My Favorite Endogenous Opioid Polypeptides

The Most Important Thing

When I did my little 36th Year Wrap-Up post, I forgot one of the most important things I learned this year:
Get to know people that run at (or slower than) your speed.
Follow them on Twitter, friend 'em up at a running group, connect with them on dailymile, follow their blog.

Why? Lemme tell ya:

I really started paying a lot more attention to my running—and connecting with other runners—about a year and a half ago (or so). The first few people who I connected with and/or followed their blogs (folks like this guy and this guy and of course this guy) are interesting, inspiring, talented and funny folks. But DAYAM are they fast. Like really fast.

And I'm just not.

In reading their accomplishments, race reports and workouts, I kept thinking "man, I really suck." It wasn't until I started "following" runners that aren't super-fast, super-accomplished, etc that I realized that I don't suck—I'm just slower than these guys.

I still love getting out there, getting faster, going longer. However fast these guys run shouldn't be discouraging for me. I don't even have to come up with some sort of rationalization or whatever; the fact is: It just doesn't matter.

In addition, the more runners I met that were around my speed, the more I discovered that there are plenty of folks that are slower than us, and they still love running, still love getting out there, still love putting in the miles.

So, if I have anything of value to pass along to you at the beginning of my 37th year, it's this: find runners your speed. Your (running) world opens up as soon as you do.

Sunday's Run

Man oh man was I tired when I started this run. Exhausted, even. Three nights of not enough sleep, plus not-so-good food had me feeling mighty sapped.

I'd already missed one run last week due to my schedule (a freakishly busy one for me). I was not about to miss my "long" for the week. I'm a man on the mission, you know?

So, I put on the Asics Nimbus and hit Crissy Field. (The Kayanos were good for the last run, but I did have a wee little bit of tenderness in my left lower leg. I'm getting used to them, and I'm doing it a bit at a time.)

Kids, my ass was dragging. I'm amazed my average pace was ~10:20 (Nike+ data and all), because I really felt SLOW. In addition, it was downright warm out there—warm and sunny, no less—and it got pretty hot pretty fast. It was hot enough for me to stop mid-way and get some water at a drinking fountain, which is something I never do.

I'll admit, that little bastard the Quit Monster did surface momentarily right after mile 2, but I didn't pay him much mind.

Done and done. And once I was finished, I was chock-full of my buddies, the endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds, AKA endorphins. I love those little guys. I felt great the rest of the day.

Image courtesy law_keven on Flickr.

"Running" Late...

(Ya see what I did there? Like, using "running" as, like, an allusion to my workouts, and, like, as part of the phrase? Didja see that? Huh? Heh heh heh.) (Yeah, I suck.)

Yeesh, I'm a little late on this post.

See, I turned 37 on Thursday, which was nice. And I had every intention of celebrating (in part) by offering a wrap-up here on Slow Mofo of what I learned in my 36th year. Insights, clever musings—you know, the kind of thoughtful writing I never, ever do on this blog.

I got all wrapped up in finishing recording on Hella Sound's second release, and never quite got around to posting my 36th Year Report (or my last 2 runs for that matter). So, without further ado, difficulty, delay, fuss or disturbance, here's said runs and said wrap-up.

Birthday Run

Down to the usual out-and-back route at Crissy Field for this 3.5 miler. I guess I'm supposed to take some of these runs more seriously and intensely, but right now I'm concentrating on just getting the miles in and building my base without injury. I'll say this much: even when not trying hard I seem to be sticking roughly around the 10min/mi mark, which I'm happy with. I don't remember a lot from this run, other than I felt really cranky during, and was glad that I'd get a nice endorphin bump afterwards. It's the running-as-drugs method, you see. ;)

"Long" Run

Sunday's "long" run, but done on Monday because Sunday was just too damn busy. I recorded guitar tracks all Sunday—the heavy, Metallica-style chunka chunka chunka riffs—until the wrist of my picking hand was numb. Monday's recording was all finishing up the last few guitar parts—solo-y melodic-type lines, but with a lot of angst and menace in them. (Have I mentioned song #2 is a metal song? That's important to note.) Anyway, my fretting fingers (left hand) were beat up when I was finished, so it was time to run. Again, down to Crissy Field for the run.

Crissy Field is really pretty amazing for a local run route. I mean, it's on the bay, there's a nice big "fire lane"-style trail, the out is a full view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the back is a view of downtown San Francisco. Pretty fantastic. (Oh, I just remembered a detail from Thursday's run: all the tourists were out with the cameras, but it was SO CLOUDY/FOGGY that the bridge was nowhere to be seen. When it's really foggy, it just vanishes. Sorta funny, if it wasn't absolutely miserable. But I digress.)

What I Learned in My 36th Year

Hello 37. That's a nice diagonal stem you have there. Welcome to the party. Can I get you a drink?

This was a helluva year. It had its pleasures and challenges. In bullet-list format:

• Got my little business running I started it when I was 35, but it wasn't until I was 36 that I actually made real progress on Hella Sound—getting our first song up, developing good relationships, finding my voice with it, so to speak. Let me tell you: it is unbelievably gratifying to come up with an idea, make it a reality, and have people respond positively to it. It's a wee little thing now, but I hope to nurture it, grow it and build it bigger and bigger and bigger. More to come.
• Now Exiting Newbieland As stated before, I've essentially been a running newbie for years now. In my 36th year, I finally feel like I have the secret sauce and the magic formula to exit newbieland. Basically, you must appreciate that what you're doing is stressful on the body, and you have to take things slowly. This is hard for the enthusiastic beginner, but unless you're incredibly, freakishly, impossibly resilient, it's absolutely essential. Think about surfaces, think about hills, think about speed and think about miles. All of these will take their toll. Tackle them one at a time. If you're doing hills, don't go long. If you're going long, do it slowly. If you're running on concrete, don't run that far. This, I believe, is the key to building a base healthily, which is how you advance from noob status.
• Got mentions in major media Having Hella Sound mentioned in the New York Times was a dream come true of sorts. I pretty much flipped out and was on Cloud 9 that week. From there Kim Komando was nice enough to write about us for the USA Today. Again, flip-out worthy. We're not big or influential (yet), but this was extremely gratifying. Which is to say: woohoo!
• Hello Bobby As mentioned before, I found out this year—after having horrific headaches for 8 months—that I had a little stowaway growing in my noggin. A tumor, to be exact—and walnut-sized, no less. Crazy, huh? A generally healthy guy doesn't walk around thinking "hey, I've got a tumor growing in my head!", so it took me a while to get used to the concept. As it turns out, it's non-cancerous, non-life-threatening, run-of-the-mill mostly-harmless kind of tumor. We named him "Bobby". The problem with Bobby is, while he's not going to kill me or spread, he has basically done a number on my pituitary gland (which is incredibly important). As a result, little things like my thyroid and human growth hormone production are all cattywampus. Jacked up. Etc etc. For the last 5-10 years, Bobby, as it turns out, has been sabotaging me from the inside, contributing to things like weight gain, recovery time after workouts, inability to gain muscle mass, and in general physiological not-so-fresh feeling. Again: crazy, huh? So, from here on out I take some meds, I get a shot every 2 weeks, and bam, I'm basically good as new. As a matter of fact, I'm better than I've been in YEARS now that Bobby's under control, which is an amazing feeling. I basically feel like I'm 25, which is incredible. Nevertheless, this definitely goes in the WTF?!? category for my 36th year.
• Caught the race bug Thanks to some incredibly cool people on Twitter (you know who you are), I've found myself in more and more races, and am really digging it. I ran a half, two 5ks and two 10ks in my 36th year, and have no less than two halfs lined up for my 37th. Even crazier notions have since come into my head—like doing the Ragnar Relay, and venturing into the land of the Triathlon. Yes, I'm hooked.
• Met some amazing people Look no further than the list of people I follow on Twitter to see amazing people. Granted, most of the amazing people I've met I've only met online, but a lot of these relationships have crossed over into "the real world", as people that live in their mother's basement say, and it's really fantastic. Getting more and more involved in the running community, I'm perpetually amazed with how generous, smart, cool, and fncking funny people are. People have the most amazing ideas, interests and insights. Good times.

I'm sure there's a lot more to say about my 36th year, but like I explained at the start of this post, I'm half-assing this a bit. It's hard to eloquently explain all that's happened in the last year and sum it up in a nice, neat, tidy package. So, instead, here's a picture of a horse:

:: HAPPY :: 2 Runs and a Ride :: HAPPY ::

Friday's run went well—I'm digging the 5k distance, as always. It does good by me. I should have run 5 miles on Sunday; however, I went out and watched UFC 100 and enjoyed myself far, far (far) too much on Saturday, and felt in no condition to run. Or, really, anything. Dumb. But I guess sometimes you have to cut loose a little, and I had an absolute riot watching the fights at Underdogs in the Inner Sunset. Great, great night.

Monday would have been a yoga night but I got walloped with what felt like a bad cold. In the end, I think it was allergies. Normally allergies for me are itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing--nothing sickly. Just sorta like a respiratory system tickle fest. This, however, was really bad. My voice was gone, I had a fever, etc. Crazy. I somehow felt more-or-less fine on Tuesday, though, so I'm assuming it was allergies and not a cold.

Tuesday: 3m

Per The Plan V called for a 3 miler on Tuesday, so I strapped on the shoes and rocked it out. Incidentally, my lovely @LosBee got me Vibrams for my b-day; they were delivered early so I wore them all day up until my run. They are friggen FANTASTIC. I don't know that I'll ever run in them, but they are amazing to tool around in. And after wearing shoes with toes, it's really weird to wear normal running shoes.

(Side Note My take on barefoot and Vibram running: If you wanted to you could probably condition your hands to play baseball without a mitt. But why? Me, I'll continue wearing over-engineered running shoes...for the foreseeable future... I like the added protection, even if it comes at a cost.)

Wednesday: Bike

I've been trying to work cross-training in more, and hopping on the bike is easy to do. I'm not really keeping track of miles or times, just getting out for 30 minutes or so and riding. There's a lot of hills and a lot of scenery in San Francisco, and you definitely get your cardio in. I rode down to the Bay, over to Golden Gate Bridge (up the imposing hill at the foot), back down through the Presidio and up to my place. My quads were friggen *pumped*, jackson. It's cardio-meets-resistance training.

Thursday: 5m Sunset Run

The fantastic Fleet Feet San Francisco holds regular group Sunset Runs in the summer. This was my first. It was a cool event, held in my normal running route at Crissy Field. They had a DJ and giveaways. It was cold as hell at the start, but a lot of fun. The plan was to meet up with a bunch of Twitter runners, but a few were late. I did get to meet @Princesks and her husband in person, which was nice, but got separated from her before the run started. @Adilemmasf, @smellycents and I waited around for them, then started up waaaaaay at the back of the pack. I think we were the last folks to leave the start (except our late-arrival friends, who were still in transit when we began). First off, @smellycents is fast as hell—she's a multiple marathoner/Iron Man-in-training athlete monster (you really should follow her on Twitter—you won't be disappointed). @Adilemmasf is also a mighty speedy runner, but she's nursing an injured achilles. They *said* they just wanted to take it slow, but their "slow" is my "busting ass", and while I foolishly tried to keep up at the beginning, all was better when they went off on their own pace and I eased back into mine. I can't do 9:15 min/miles for 5 miles. Would like to, just can't.

We met up with our other late-arriving friends (@TLM26, @MarathonMaritza, @runnersrambles, @Kristin_running) at the finish, then some of us went over to The Tipsy Pig for post-run refreshment.

The Sunset Run was fantastic, and I'm stoked to do it again. I forgot to shut off my Nike+ while I was standing around at the finish, so my average pace is sorta wonked—clocking a 54:50 split time while you're standing around stretching will do that. Based on the run, though, I think I can comfortably beat out 10:15 min/miles this weekend at the Los Gatos 10k. That was the cruise speed I settled into once @smellycents and @Adilemmasf broke off and went their own pace. I feel really good about the pace and the distance, and am ready to get to it!

People are Amazing

Based on all the comments from my last post, I'm realizing that the experiences I've had with running are not at all uncommon. In people's responses I hear echoes of the frustration I've had with shin splints, being sidelined and being forever lodged in Noobland.

Some people like to feel that their problems are unique to them, and that their experience is one-of-a-kind. I myself have always gotten solace from knowing others have gone through or are going through the same things I am. It makes me feel like I'm not a complete moron—others have been stuck in the same spot, so whatever I'm doing wrong must be an easy trap to fall into.

It's reassuring.

Anyway, in reading these comments and talking to folks on Twitter, I feel confident and determined about shaking the PermaNoob™ status. Thank you for your comments!

I wasn't able to run yesterday, but I got out today and put in 5k. I went back to my Asics Nimbus shoes and put some blue Superfeet insoles in there. Dude, they were awesome! I tried using Superfeet before and hated them, but I got them again on a recommendation from the CPMC Running Clinic. They recommended I used the blues instead of the heartier greens that I tried last time. There seems to be a little lift in the heel, which probably makes it easier on the achilles.

It was a good run. I'm pleased. A little vitamin I after my run and I'm feeling pretty darn great.

Can't wait to go out running again.

Running Music Road Test - Song #3

WTF???

Where are you Nike+???

You're gonna have to take my word for it that I ran 5k today, because Nike+ just ain't workin' today. Maybe they're rolling out some fancy new feature, but between me and you, I suspect they got hacked or something. Some catastrophic data failure maybe. Or something. It just seems odd for them to be down all day long. Maybe they put up some sort of "scheduled downtime" notification, but I didn't see it.

Anyhoo, where was I.

I broke my short sabbatical and went for a run down at Crissy Field. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous day. It was *almost* warm out it was so nice. It's almost never warm in San Francisco.

To make the beautiful day even sweeter, I got to run in my brand-spanking-new Asics Kayano 15s. Check that shoe out. That's a damn handsome shoe. And the colors are almost the same palette as the Hella Sound color palette. Shazzam, I say.

I ordered them on Zappos and, in true Zappos style, they were delivered in a mind-bendingly short amount of time. Seriously. I didn't even have a chance to put my wallet away and the UPS guy was at the door with my shoes.

Again: shazzam.

They feel really nice. I've been running in Asics Nimbus and I really liked them, but Halima recommended I try the Kayanos during my gait analysis session. Halima was right on the money. The Kayanos feel more structured than the Nimbus (what's plural for "Nimbus"? "Nimbi"?) shoes, but not in a painful or stiff way. As a matter of fact, I felt like they really promoted what seemed like a healthy, natural pronation. I felt like each step flowed correctly through my foot and out my big toe (as I'm told your step is supposed to go).

Good stuff. I really like them. I suspect they put a little bit of magic in every Kayano. This is just a guess.

Speaking of guesses (and smearing a fine product/service with no basis in fact), look what's back up!

Looks like Nike+ is back up! Good times, good times.

So there's your digital proof that I went out and huffed it for 5k.

Oh, yeah, and the Road Test; this was another run with the in-progress version of what will be our 3rd song release. It's a metal/thrash song with a bunch of fun stuff in it. Here's what I have to say about it: it totally kicked my ass. I really dug running to it, and once I have a couple little things ironed out in the arrangement I'll be ready for beta testers to take the song out on the road. Again, good stuff.

Total Weight: -18lbs

Running Music Road Test - Song #3 (Thrash \m/)

I bounced down the thrash song and headed out for my 5k run.
("Bouncing down" is the process in which a multi-track recording is merged into a single stereo audio file.)
("Thrash" is aggressive music made popular in the '80s by bands like Metallica—that is, before Metallica started sucking. Badly. The distinct characteristic to the genre is that it makes you want to punch people in the face. And run aggressively.)
("5k" is a metric distance. Why the US never adopted the metric system, I'll never know, but until we do I'll continue to buy my milk by the gallon, my gas by the rundlet and my beer by the hogshead. Stupid British measurement system...)

When I lay out and record an arrangement, I work at 160 BPM. When it's done and thoroughly road tested I go back and re-record everything at the different cadences. 160 BPM is now slower than my 5k running cadence; as such, I didn't come close to 30:00 today, but that's cool: it was a good run and a good road test. There's DEFINITELY some parts to this song that get you really amped up and you fly. There's one part, though, that I thought for sure would be great, but really doesn't work well for running. I'll have to hack it out and rework the piece.

But man, I like it.

In continuing with my warm weather prep, I ran with a dark long-sleeve shirt on and a black shirt over it. The sun was bright—it was a gorgeous day out in San Francisco today—but the breeze was still somewhat cool. Perfect running weather, really. But Los Gatos and San Jose will not be as cool or as kind, so I keep preparing for the worst.

Total Weight: -15lbs

No Sleep, 5 Miles, Beautiful Morning

Someone needs to tell the surfers in San Francisco *why* they call the Pacific Ocean in this area the Red Triangle. There were a bunch of guys out in their wetsuits purposely playing in the same water that great white sharks are made.

To me, this is not a great plan.

What is a great plan, however, is heading out early and taking a 5 mile trot along the Pacific. My normal route is being used for the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon this morning, so I switched it up and ran along Ocean Beach. (Thus the suicidal surfer reference.)

It's a nice little route. There's a "multi-purpose path" along the road opposite the ocean that's asphalt and packed sand, which is easier on the meat than concrete. There's nice little rolling hills and very few intersections to get stuck at. I'll have to run this route again.

No, I didn't sleep last night.

And really, it's not that I have insomnia; it's just my body clock has somehow adjusted itself to Japan time. I have a bad habit of staying up a little bit later every night, working on code or plans or whatnot, and before you know it it's really, really late. So late it's early.

Today I figured to pull a carpe diem: I'm gonna try to stay up all day, go about my business and make it all the way through the day so I can so I can reset my clock and fall asleep at a normal time tonight. Wish me luck on that.

Photo courtesy oskay on Flickr.

29:56 Beeshes!

Check Flavor's clock, yo—I finally hit the sub-30:00 mark! Awww yeah!

I really wasn't pressing it super hard to break 30:00—I was mostly just running how I felt. I felt like hustling, so I hustled. And 29:54 is what I ended up with.

The trick from here on out is to redo this over and over and over again (until I have a faster goal time to shoot for). Just keep truckin', keep having fun, and avoid injury.

On the avoiding-injury front, I really gotta start sleeping better and doing my active range of motion hip exercises.

They're all set up for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon down by the Bay—something I've been meaning to watch every year but have missed for whatever reason. I think I'm gonna cruise down there on Sunday, watch the action and cheer people on.

Total Weight: -17lbs

Run entry on dailymile.com

5k(3x3) = 30:01

I snuck out just in time for the last little inklings of twilight as San Francisco got engulfed in clouds, mist, and night.

(Damn, that's kinda poetic.)

I ended up doing 5k in 30:01—my fastest yet—but really didn't intend to. I was just running, enjoying myself.

I had eaten a 3 x 3, protein-style from In-n-Out just about an hour before; I'm not sure if that helped or hurt. It didn't rattle around, so that's a plus.

Wheeeeeee!

Total Weight: -14lbs

Run entry on dailymile.com

Day 14: Runnin' in the Sun(nin')

 while (john.run.weather() == "sunny") {
  john.mood.happy();
  john.post.insert("GORGEOUS");
 }

That's codeDork™ talk for me reiterating that it was, again, GORGEOUS out again today. Again!

I ran down at Crissy Field. Lots and lots of folks out running, biking and even soaking up some sun at the beach—a relatively rare site up here in San Francisco. It's normally a bit too "nipply" to enjoy the sun, but today was nice and warm.

This was perfect for me, because:

1. I really like the sun
2. I really like warmth
3. I need training experience in warmer weather

The Hal Higdon 10k plan I'm following suggested 3.5 miles today, but since I'm training for a 7 miler and not a 10k, I've been tacking on a little extra each run. As such I put in 5 miles and it felt great.

Nike+ says I averaged 10:24 minute miles across the 5, with little peaks and valleys. I felt like I was going slower than that, but hey, I'll take it.

Incidentally, it looks like I'm running the La Jolla Shores 5k at the end of the month—a bit of an impromptu race, but it fits in nicely with the training plan. A couple things: it'll be good to re-acclimate to race conditions—dodging around people, the crowd, the atmosphere. Also, @MapleJen, the reason @LosBee and I are running the race, said she's shooting for a sub-30:00 time. That's a little quicker than my normal loping Slow Mofo trot, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll have to test-run a couple times and see how I can pace it out for a 5k. Should be doable.

Anyhoo, great run.

My food was a little off-track today—I'm not pigging out, I'm just not eating as macronutrient-balanced in each meal. I also have to get to my abs and hips workout, too. But there's still time in the day, right?

Change of Plans, and with Good Reason

I went to CPMC's Running Clinic yesterday and had my gait and physiology analyzed. It was an absolutely fascinating experience, and I'm going to report on it in detail on HellaSound.com. But, as a quick takeaway, I learned that my hips—not unlike our German Shepherd friend here—are perilously weak.

Halima, the running guru mastermind at the CPMC program, ran me through a variety of tests and examinations, and pointed out a true weakness in my hip muscles (and a potential skeletal issue with my right hip joint). I've been given a list of things to work on and have been instructed to cut down my miles. For now.

Soooo, that means my plans to start the Cool Running 12 Week 10k Training Program, which would have started next week, have been temporarily put on hold.

Basically, until I get my hip flexibility and strength up, I'll be running and lifting three times a week and swimming on off days. That's cool, because I've been meaning to start swimming again, and I'm looking forward to checking out the pool at the local gym. Hopefully it's not full of hair and bandaids, like the 24 Hour Fitness pool in San Diego (I wish I were kidding).

I'll be updating the calendar to reflect my new plan.

Man oh man what an amazing experience it was to be examined and talk about it with Halima. She really knew her stuff, and it was incredibly eye opening. Seriously folks, for about the cost of a new pair of running shoes you can get invaluable information that could affect your entire running (and otherwise) life. I strongly, strongly recommend it.

I'll be going back in a month for a follow-up exam and to talk about my progress. Here's to it!

Image courteys WikiPedia and Photoshop.

A Run and a Lift.

Morning sunshine gave way to a big temperature drop and a torrential downpour; it was crazy to see roll in—it was like one of those late summer days in the midwest when the temperature drops 40 degrees, the sky goes all green and people start looking for funnel clouds and tornadoes. (Hmmmm... spellcheck says there's an "e" on the end of the plural "tornado"...looks weird to me. Anyway, moving along.)

Of course the temp drop was probably only 10 degrees or so, but San Francisco weather generally sits right on the sweet stop between comfortably cool and chilly, so the drop was noticeable.

With my plans to run outside thwarted, I headed over to the gym to get my run in on the treadmill. I wish I could report a great run, but alas it was not to be.

As cool as it is in San Francisco, places generally seem to be stingy with letting fresh air in. The 24 Hour Fitness I generally work out at down in the Marina tends to be a little stuffy. On rainy days, it becomes a bit of a sauna; no fresh air, high humidity, rising temperatures. If you can't find a treadmill in front of one of their few fans, you're in for a weight-cutting session.

I wasn't lucky enough to get one of those fan-blessed spots; the woman next to me was the lucky one, and at maybe 95 lbs and fit even she was sweating buckets. But she was also smoothly cruising at 7.7mph.

Yes, I do check to see what speeds other people run at. I'm always curious. There are some smoking-fast folks out there, for sure. I remember one day in San Diego going down to the fitness area in my apartment complex and seeing this absolute gazelle flying on the treadmill. Just all grace and good form and speed.

When she finished and it was my turn, I had to compliment her—I remember telling her that watching her run was probably one of the most athletic feats I'd seen in person in a long time, which it was. She looked like she was put on this earth to run. We chatted a bit after, I asked her some form questions, and she kept telling me that I needed to loosen up. It was like a friendly gait analysis lesson from someone who was apparently a track star at UCSD. I'll take free coaching wherever I can get it, and I still try (with varying degrees of success) to stay loose and not tense up when I run. Thanks for the tip, random track star lady!

Anyway, I digress. It was hot at the gym, I got all hot, and my left lower leg started to bind up a bit. Screw it. With ramping up my weekly miles and the heel lift changing my gate, I feel like I'm playing with injury fire here. So I stopped short and hit the weights. Maybe I'll run tomorrow, maybe I'll R*I*C*E it and put in a good effort on Sunday.

Weightlifting

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 195lbs
Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 135lbs
Still Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps
Pull-Downs: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Seated Rows: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Ball Crunches: 3 sets of 10 reps

Weights went a lot better than the run. Deadlifts are beginning to be fun, but you can definitely chew the crap out of your shins with the barbell. Good form dictates that you keep the bar close to your lower legs as you lift (to protect your back), and the roughened bar grip gives your shins a deep exfoliation with every rep. Good times.

I'll be adding more reps to the dips and crunches soon. I also just picked up a couple books on core training and lifting, so I'll probably adjust my routine once I've read them.

Man I was wordy today.

Have a happy Valentines Day tomorrow; even thought it's a Hallmark holiday, take it as an opportunity to enjoy whoever special you have around you, and remember (at least for one day) not to take their specialness for granted.

Photo courtesy Jpeg Jedi on Flickr.

What Are Your Goals?

I started my run at around 5pm, so the sun was beginning to go down. It was pretty darn cool out. Chilly, you might say.

Since my left lower leg has been tight, I warmed up my calves and tibialis muscles a little bit more before starting up, and then eased into the run, going slow at first and shaking things out.

Felt good. I'm not sure I'll be running tomorrow, but we'll see how my legs feel.

With the cool weather taking care of any overheating issues, I felt like I had all the cardio in the world. I could have maintained my pace for at least another couple miles.

Running seems to be a negotiation between your cardio, your skeletal muscles and your mind. As with any trio, one party is frequently in discord with the rest, and the strong have to either give in to the weak or try to coax them into playing along.

The cardio element really only gets me when I'm either starting up after a long layoff or when I'm overheating. If I can't dissipate heat quickly enough, I get exhausted.

When my cardio is there, the next thing to start complaining is the skeletal muscles. My hip has occasionally gotten wonky, but it's usually lower leg issues that arise. Shin splints or some type of tibial muscle fatigue and pain.

If my cardio is good and my muscles are adequately conditioned, then it's my brain's turn to be the weak link; every now and again, it starts thinking about quitting.

I'm no great runner. My goals are not to qualify for Boston or win first place medals in my age group. Ultimately, I'm doing this for two reasons:
1. To fend off my genetic predisposition for heart issues.
2. To look awesome naked.

I think these are understandable goals. Right?

So, if I keep working, and keep element of the Triumvirate (cardio, muscles, mind) healthy and supportive of each other, hopefully I'll train farther and farther, get better and better, and achieve my goals.

What about you? Why are you running? What are your goals?

Photo courtesy Go Card USA on Flickr.

It's Feb-Uhr-Yoo-Airy

The stunningly beautiful, sunny, warm weather we've had recently is yielding to the grey sort of blech stuff we normally get this time of year. It could be worse—much worse; it could be bitter cold and snowing. Or slushy.

Today was only a little gray and cool. Honestly, I might not love San Francisco weather for hanging out or having a BBQ, but it is FANTASTIC running weather. It really helps mitigate the heat.

My running feels like it's coming along nicely, and lifting's going well as well. I'll be starting the Cool Running 10k Training Plan beginning in March, and I think I'll be in the right spot for it as far as pre-training. Looking forward to it!

Weightlifting

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 185lbs
Deadlift: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 115lbs
Still Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps
Pull-Downs: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Seated Elliptical Rows: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Forward/Backward Lunges: 3 set of 5 reps each side
Ball Crunches: 3 sets of 10 reps

Although my weight is still up, I think I'm getting a lot closer to pull-up strength. I'll probably start in the next month or so. I'll also be bumping up my bench, squat and deadlift weights now that I'm feeling comfortable and confident with my form again.

It's good, babies; it's good.

Final Test Run with Hella Sound Running Music

Oh babies.

We are so very close to wrapping the first release of running music at Hella Sound. Today was spent fine-tuning the first song for the various stride-rates, and I took the 160bpm version out on the road to test.

It.
Felt.
Great.

I'm giddy like a schoolgirl to share what we got brewin'. I have some more fine-tuning to do (and then some technical stuff to wrangle on the site), and then we'll be releasing the running music doves (as it were).

Stoked.

My Nike+ run data graph kinda looks all over the place, but it felt like a great, energized, consistent run. Me gusto.

Also, to keep y'all updated on the shoe-shim: as you may recall, I put a little lift in my right shoe to make up for the slight difference between the length of my ol' pegs. Well, it's been good. My right lower leg and hip have been pleased as punch, and my gait feels very natural.

I will say, though, that my left lower-leg is a little sore, and my lower back is a little tight. My rationalization-slash-armchair-podiatrist explanation is that my body is adjusting to being back into alignment when I run. So it'll take a little while to get used to it. It doesn't seem to be causing any issues or problems.

Weightlifting

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 205*, 185lbs
Squats (Smith machine): 3 sets of 5 reps @ 135, 185, 185lbs
Still Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps
Pull-Downs: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Seated Elliptical Rows: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Ball Crunches: snicker snicker
*When I got to the gym, both benches were taken. I ended up working in with a guy, and it looked like he was lifting 185lb. But man, the first set was harder than it should have been. While he did his last set I did some math and realized there were 45x2 and 35x2 on the bar (instead of 25x2). Heh heh heh. Hehe. *sigh*

Cocoa Pebble Pancreatitis

Notice how Fred is running in this picture? He seems energized? In full stride? Elated? In no way suffering some sort of horrible insulin flux?

This was not me.

Against my better judgement, I ate Cocoa Pebble Rice Crispy Treats instead of real food for breakfast and lunch, and suffered dearly for it during my run.

Didn't know you could make Rice Crispy Treats with Cocoa Pebbles? Yes, my friend. Yes you can. Normally I would never create such a high-fructose-corn-syrup-disaster, but I was cooking up a storm for the Superbowl and needed to supply something sweet for @LosBee. She's got celiac, so I couldn't use normal Rice Krispies (notice the "K"... I think there's a konspiracy in there somewhere...) because they gum them up with malt flavoring, which has gluten in it. Whole Foods was out of reach, so I grabbed our pal Cocoa Pebbles off the shelf.

Cocoa Pebbles Rice Crispy Treats are actually okay. Really, really sweet, but okay. Edible. They do in a pinch. But they are, to say the least, nutritionally unsound. But, being knee-deep in work and not having a moment to whip up something better, I chomped 'em down. And started wigging out in a sugar frenzy.

For the whole run I felt like I was dragging a piano behind me. After the first mile or so I started feeling a little bit better. But woof. No bueno.

I should probably check to see if I somehow gave myself Type I diabetes or something.

866 Calories Later...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous day in San Francisco. Again! I'm starting to think I've died and gone to Southern California. Or something.

I spent the majority of the day getting food going for the Super Bowl. On the menu:
Grass-fed beef sliders with caramelized onions and Parrano cheese
Slow-cooked BBQ pork shortribs
Homemade guac
7 layer bean dip
Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Knowing I was going to pound down enormous amounts of calories during the game was a motivator to get my run in today. I skipped yesterday's run because by the time I got around to it I was feeling sorta crappy—like I got a little micro-cold or something. @LosBee says it is possible to catch a slight little cold, so I'm going to believe that's what I was feeling.

It was pretty warm and very sunny out there. I was glad that the warmth didn't completely crumble me. If I had more opportunities to run in heat at this level and a bit higher, I think I could get past my inability to handle it.

I felt like I was going pretty slow, but I was going steady. I cruised until about mile 2, then started focusing more. By mile 3 I was trying to focus on relaxing—relaxing my shoulders, relaxing my back, relaxing my arms. I even relaxed my face a little, like you do at the end of a yoga class. It was good. I felt like I had more energy and felt less fatigue in my upper body.

I'm not built like a runner. I'm pretty much built like a linebacker that's gone to seed. But I like having upper-body muscle that's ultimately impractical for running—just one of those things. It's how I'm built. Granted, I have quite a bit of non-muscular weight along for the ride, which sucks, but that's why I'm running. At some point I'll hopefully run that extra non-muscle meat off.

Tomorrow's a rest day for me, but it's also GROUNDHOG DAY! (W00T!) Growing up in Chicago, I know Groundhog Day psychologically matters more to folks that are struggling on the frozen tundra. Out here in San Francisco, I can't complain about sunny, 65+° days in January. So to all y'all that wake up to an ice-cold bedroom and have to scrape the ice off your cars every day, hopefully Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow tomorrow, and winter is over sooner rather than later.

(Oh, BTW: the little gel lift I put in my right shoe seems to be working nicely. I feel really comfortable with it, and so far my hip and other pains seem to have gone completely away. Pretty sweet, huh?)

Photos courtesy of rick and fauxto_digit on Flickr.

¿Por qué se comporta extrañamente mi ipod?

Looks like my iPod may very well be dead.

Nonetheless, @LosBee and I hit Crissy Field for a little 2 mile run today. I have no Nike+ widgetness to verify this, but trust me, we were out there trotting.

Been a long time.