Cliche to show Oscar the Grouch in a blog post (or, if I may, "poast")? Yeah, I guess. But I was grouchy today. So, you get an Oscar.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Self-Reflexive Prater from a Liminal Space
Cliche to show Oscar the Grouch in a blog post (or, if I may, "poast")? Yeah, I guess. But I was grouchy today. So, you get an Oscar.Good Good Good
Tonight almost felt like the perfect summer evening. If it was only, say, 10 degrees warmer. I hit Crissy Field as the sun was fixing to set and put in my 3.5 miles, road testing the next Hella Sound song. The recording phase is all done—I'm in the mixing phase, and am just about ready to release that puppy out into the wild. (It was, incidentally, great to run to.)
I took the new Asics Kayanos out for the third time. The first two times I ended up feeling pretty shin splinty, but I've been putting more miles in (building up the base). I also walked around in them a bit to get my legs/feet acclimated. I think it worked. They felt great during the run—super solid. I reckon those'll be the shoes I run the half-marathons in, and I'm glad that they're starting to feel right.
I took the new Asics Kayanos out for the third time. The first two times I ended up feeling pretty shin splinty, but I've been putting more miles in (building up the base). I also walked around in them a bit to get my legs/feet acclimated. I think it worked. They felt great during the run—super solid. I reckon those'll be the shoes I run the half-marathons in, and I'm glad that they're starting to feel right.
OMG 5K PR @ SFM LOL FTW!
That's right, babies: I officially shaved about 3:30 off my 5k time in today's San Francisco Marathon 5k!
Wooohooo!
I gotta tell ya, I ran my ass off today. I went out there and ran about as quickly and as hard as I could; and although I didn't break 30:00, I'm pleased as punch with my result.
It was perfect weather to run hard: it was gloomy and cool—about 58°, cloudy and humid. I got to the race, did my warm-up (dynamic) stretches and found a comfy spot at the starting corral. From the jump to the end, everything felt right. My cardio felt good, my legs felt good, my cadence felt good; in addition, I felt very comfortable passing through the crowd and maintaining my pace. I believe there's a bit of an art to finding the right place to start in a non-wave, shorter (5k) race. If you're too far back, you'll have to wade through a lot of people. If you're too far up front, you'll get trampled by people that churn out -7 minute miles. Today I felt like I found the right place.
Like I said, I am happy. I do have one major gripe, however: although we wore timing chips, we never passed over a starting line chip sensor. It was actually kinda weird. We initially all gathered behind what appeared to be a starting sensor. Then, oddly, 5 minutes before the gun, they had us all walk forward about 60 yards or so. I noticed as we walked that we stepped over what (again) looked like the start line sensor. It was confusing—we were all wondering why they were moving us up, and some thought for a second that we had begun the race.
Personally, I think somebody effed up. I think they were unable to reset the sensor, or that it wasn't working correctly, or *something*. Something went wrong. Of this I'm sure. And since I was really looking to sub-30:00 today, this was a bit of a disappointment. From the gun to the actual start line, there was quite a bit of shuffling and moving around wasted seconds. Was it 22 whole seconds—the amount of time that'd put me under 30:00? I don't know. I don't even want to speculate.
So, while I'm a little pissed at the SFM folks, I am pleased as punch with my race. I gave it my all and, like I said on Twitter, I think ~30:00 is about as fast as I can run a 5k at my current (250lbs) weight. I have no doubt that I could shave minutes off by shaving off pounds. But, everything in good time.
Next up: get smart, consistent, base-building work done, heading towards October 4th's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. It'll be good.
The Results:
Finish: 30:21
Place Overall: 340 out of 1372
Men: 173 out of 460
Age/Grade: 43.74%*
Gun Time: 30:21
Tag Time: 30:21**
Strollers That Passed Me: 1***
Pace: 9:46****
* I still have no idea what Age/Grade means.
** THERE WAS NO STARTING LINE!!! We never stepped over a starting line chip sensor! They did a count down and we just started running. Basically, I think somebody at SFM effed up and they're hoping nobody noticed.
*** As historically proven, getting strollered doesn't really bother me too much. What bothered me about this one is that she (unlike other stroller pushers that pass me) didn't look like an Iron Man finisher, and yet she didn't really seem to be trying hard. Sorta humbling.
**** My Nike+ says my pace was 9:13. Then again the Nike+ is pretty inaccurate—it thinks I ran 3.29 miles. So, whatever.
Quick note: happy birthday to @TLM26, who celebrated her 27th PRing a marathon. How cool is that? @LosBee, @roadbunner, @audgepodge1, @kristin_running, @chicrunner, @MarathonMaritza, @bicoastalite, @runnersrambles, a few other folks and I all met up at Gordon Biersch after the race to celebrate. Good times.
Wooohooo!
I gotta tell ya, I ran my ass off today. I went out there and ran about as quickly and as hard as I could; and although I didn't break 30:00, I'm pleased as punch with my result.
It was perfect weather to run hard: it was gloomy and cool—about 58°, cloudy and humid. I got to the race, did my warm-up (dynamic) stretches and found a comfy spot at the starting corral. From the jump to the end, everything felt right. My cardio felt good, my legs felt good, my cadence felt good; in addition, I felt very comfortable passing through the crowd and maintaining my pace. I believe there's a bit of an art to finding the right place to start in a non-wave, shorter (5k) race. If you're too far back, you'll have to wade through a lot of people. If you're too far up front, you'll get trampled by people that churn out -7 minute miles. Today I felt like I found the right place.
Like I said, I am happy. I do have one major gripe, however: although we wore timing chips, we never passed over a starting line chip sensor. It was actually kinda weird. We initially all gathered behind what appeared to be a starting sensor. Then, oddly, 5 minutes before the gun, they had us all walk forward about 60 yards or so. I noticed as we walked that we stepped over what (again) looked like the start line sensor. It was confusing—we were all wondering why they were moving us up, and some thought for a second that we had begun the race.
Personally, I think somebody effed up. I think they were unable to reset the sensor, or that it wasn't working correctly, or *something*. Something went wrong. Of this I'm sure. And since I was really looking to sub-30:00 today, this was a bit of a disappointment. From the gun to the actual start line, there was quite a bit of shuffling and moving around wasted seconds. Was it 22 whole seconds—the amount of time that'd put me under 30:00? I don't know. I don't even want to speculate.
So, while I'm a little pissed at the SFM folks, I am pleased as punch with my race. I gave it my all and, like I said on Twitter, I think ~30:00 is about as fast as I can run a 5k at my current (250lbs) weight. I have no doubt that I could shave minutes off by shaving off pounds. But, everything in good time.
Next up: get smart, consistent, base-building work done, heading towards October 4th's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. It'll be good.
The Results:
Finish: 30:21
Place Overall: 340 out of 1372
Men: 173 out of 460
Age/Grade: 43.74%*
Gun Time: 30:21
Tag Time: 30:21**
Strollers That Passed Me: 1***
Pace: 9:46****
* I still have no idea what Age/Grade means.
** THERE WAS NO STARTING LINE!!! We never stepped over a starting line chip sensor! They did a count down and we just started running. Basically, I think somebody at SFM effed up and they're hoping nobody noticed.
*** As historically proven, getting strollered doesn't really bother me too much. What bothered me about this one is that she (unlike other stroller pushers that pass me) didn't look like an Iron Man finisher, and yet she didn't really seem to be trying hard. Sorta humbling.
**** My Nike+ says my pace was 9:13. Then again the Nike+ is pretty inaccurate—it thinks I ran 3.29 miles. So, whatever.
Quick note: happy birthday to @TLM26, who celebrated her 27th PRing a marathon. How cool is that? @LosBee, @roadbunner, @audgepodge1, @kristin_running, @chicrunner, @MarathonMaritza, @bicoastalite, @runnersrambles, a few other folks and I all met up at Gordon Biersch after the race to celebrate. Good times.
Los Gatos 10k Post-Mortem [Lookin' Back & Forward]
Race #6 is in the books, and for me it was a PR for the 10k.
The Results:
Finish: 1:08:40
Place Overall: 277 out of 463
Men Age Group: 38 out of 45
Strollers That Passed Me: 0 (!)
Pace*: 10:18
Splits*:
What a fun day! This was my first tweet-up race with Twitter folks, which included: @jasonwiener, @ridgeley, @smellycents, @sugigrl and @csoto. They all ran the half and I ran the 10k, but we got some good hang-out time pre- and post-race. Such a good time.
@smellycents bombing down the final hill, passing me and screaming "go get 'em John whooooooo!!!" right in my ear—loud enough to induce a fight-or-flight response from my adrenal glands and numbness in my left ear. It was hysterical, because she had basically caught up with me even though she ran 4 extra miles at that point.
I will also be diligently focusing on October's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. That should occupy me for a good 2 months. I'm going to stick to the Higdon plan like glue, put in the miles, put in the time and hope for the best.
Big ups to all that raced this weekend. Y'all rock.
The Results:
Finish: 1:08:40
Place Overall: 277 out of 463
Men Age Group: 38 out of 45
Strollers That Passed Me: 0 (!)
Pace*: 10:18
Splits*:
m1 9:28* Both Pace and Splits are from Nike+, which looks dubious and imprecise. But screw it, it's close enough. I also made the stupid mistake *again* of wandering around with my Nike+ after the run without shutting it off, which explains the fall-off at the end. Duh. I'm an idiot.
m2 9:56
m3 9:58
m4 9:32
m5 10:00
m6 10:13
What a fun day! This was my first tweet-up race with Twitter folks, which included: @jasonwiener, @ridgeley, @smellycents, @sugigrl and @csoto. They all ran the half and I ran the 10k, but we got some good hang-out time pre- and post-race. Such a good time.
Brief Recap & Highlights
- When @smellycents tells you it's a flat, fast course, do not believe her. Aside from the mid-race rolling hills, there was at least 2 hearty ascents and a few downhills to be reckoned with. You've been warned.
- It was toasty out there. Maybe mid-80s or so, sunny and a little humid at race time. I sweat buckets, but thanks to my ridiculous heat-training efforts I was able to weather it well. Success!
- The course wasn't marked well splits-wise. At least I didn't see the markers for the first 5 miles or so. At one point I passed by two course workers that were busy flirting with each other. Out of curiousity (and to get my bearings) I asked them "hey, where are we in the course?" They were late-teens to early-twenties. The guy responded "you're in between mile 2 and 3." The girl, however, responded "don't worry—you're doing fine! Keep going!" What a dumbass. Seriously? Dude, I'm not looking for info, not a cheering section. Oy. Urge to punch...rising....rising...
- I felt like I kept my pace—hills and all—pretty well. I felt better conditioned for this race than others, and a lot more confident. I did Galloway twice—once at about mile 5 for 30 seconds, and then down the final hill. This spurs me on for the next 10k, to keep my pace consistently throughout the whole entire monkey. Well, given a flat course.
Favorite Moment
@smellycents bombing down the final hill, passing me and screaming "go get 'em John whooooooo!!!" right in my ear—loud enough to induce a fight-or-flight response from my adrenal glands and numbness in my left ear. It was hysterical, because she had basically caught up with me even though she ran 4 extra miles at that point.
Lookin' Back
So, 10k #2 is in the bag. I like 10ks. I think this'll be my distance. I beat my previous 10k by :08 measly seconds, but this was a much tougher course and conditions.Lookin' Forward
Next weekend is the San Francisco Marathon, and I'm doing the 5k. It's a flat, flat course, and I'm hoping to sub-30:00. I'm gonna hustle ass and see how it goes.I will also be diligently focusing on October's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. That should occupy me for a good 2 months. I'm going to stick to the Higdon plan like glue, put in the miles, put in the time and hope for the best.
Big ups to all that raced this weekend. Y'all rock.
What is: "No"?
The question was:
Can you run with
AND
AND
in your system?
The answer, as the post title indicates, is "no". The judges would have also accepted "not comfortably" and "not well" as valid answers. More on this in a minute.
It was hot and it was hilly. It was fun running in farmland, though, because the driver in every pickup that went by (and every car was a pickup) gave me the friendly farmer wave. You know, the hand-on-the-steering-wheel-two-finger wave that you get in farm country. It was pretty cool. I'm used to drivers waiting impatiently at stop signs for runners, so the friendly farmer wave was a welcome change.
Both the heat and the hills wilted me a bit, so I ended up walking some—Gallowaying it, if you will. But I got it done.
And now on to my cautionary tale of poor pre-run food choices...
I waited about an hour and a half before running, knowing that chili and exercise don't go well together. I figured that was long enough. And, as you've gathered, I was wrong.
I had to stop several times, which lead to unfortunate vorping and discomfort, but in the end I got this run done, too.
Dammit, if my shins didn't hurt. AGAIN.
This lead to ibuprofen, Ace bandages and a very helpful thread on Twitter. (As of right now I'm not sure how to document a Twitter thread, so you'll just have to take my word that @sheilamking, @smellycents, @timhibbard, @runnersrambles, @ncjack, @ginaharris1, @anotorias, @meechellee, @kelownagurl and @sugigrl were all incredibly helpful. For that matter, if you run and you're NOT on Twitter, go slap yourself and then sign up for Twitter. It's as great a community tool as blogging is, but instantaneous. Friend me up while you're there.)
I'm R.I.C.E.ing today (well, the Rest and Compression part—Elevating is hard to do when you work at a desk). We'll see how the shins feel tomorrow. If they're good, I'll trot. If not, I'll R.I.C.E. again.
Thursday is a Sunset Run, which a lot of Tweeters are doing. I'm looking forward to it!
Can you run with
AND
AND
in your system?
The answer, as the post title indicates, is "no". The judges would have also accepted "not comfortably" and "not well" as valid answers. More on this in a minute.
My Midwestern Mid-Day Heat & Hills Run
I was out in the Midwest early this week and got a chance to run in some real heat and humidity. As I've said before, I've been hoping to get some heat training in as prep for the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon just in case it's hot on race day. San Francisco doesn't really get hot (ever), so I set out mid-day on a humid, 83°+ day for a 5 miler. It was hot and it was hilly. It was fun running in farmland, though, because the driver in every pickup that went by (and every car was a pickup) gave me the friendly farmer wave. You know, the hand-on-the-steering-wheel-two-finger wave that you get in farm country. It was pretty cool. I'm used to drivers waiting impatiently at stop signs for runners, so the friendly farmer wave was a welcome change.
Both the heat and the hills wilted me a bit, so I ended up walking some—Gallowaying it, if you will. But I got it done.
And now on to my cautionary tale of poor pre-run food choices...
My Burrito + Hotdog + Chili Cheese Fries Run
We flew back home yesterday, forcing us to grab grub at the airport. Well, there are healthy choices to be had in airports these days, but I went for a chicken burrito. When we finally got home I was hungry again, and ended up indulging in a hot dog and chili cheese fries from a local chain. They don't serve great hot dogs, but so-so hot dogs are better than no hot dogs. I waited about an hour and a half before running, knowing that chili and exercise don't go well together. I figured that was long enough. And, as you've gathered, I was wrong.
I had to stop several times, which lead to unfortunate vorping and discomfort, but in the end I got this run done, too.
Dammit, if my shins didn't hurt. AGAIN.
This lead to ibuprofen, Ace bandages and a very helpful thread on Twitter. (As of right now I'm not sure how to document a Twitter thread, so you'll just have to take my word that @sheilamking, @smellycents, @timhibbard, @runnersrambles, @ncjack, @ginaharris1, @anotorias, @meechellee, @kelownagurl and @sugigrl were all incredibly helpful. For that matter, if you run and you're NOT on Twitter, go slap yourself and then sign up for Twitter. It's as great a community tool as blogging is, but instantaneous. Friend me up while you're there.)
I'm R.I.C.E.ing today (well, the Rest and Compression part—Elevating is hard to do when you work at a desk). We'll see how the shins feel tomorrow. If they're good, I'll trot. If not, I'll R.I.C.E. again.
Thursday is a Sunset Run, which a lot of Tweeters are doing. I'm looking forward to it!
Running Music Road Test - Song #3
WTF???
Where are you Nike+???
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
("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
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
(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
"Long" Run #1
Beautiful day, went down to Crissy Field and put in 4 miles. This is my first "long" run, as preparation for July's 10k.
I didn't worry about speed—just basically tried to take it easy and log the miles. I ended up averaging about 10min/miles anyway, which historically is pretty good for me. So that's a plus.
I definitely, definitely have to get cracking on my active range of motion exercises for my hips. My left lower leg was a wee little bit wonky, which worries me. I want things to be smooth and happy and healthy.
One note: due to visiting friends and social opportunities, my diet hasn't been what you'd call "strict" the last few days. My weight reflects that, but I'm back on the ball. Takin' care of bidness, yo.
Total Weight: -11lbs
I didn't worry about speed—just basically tried to take it easy and log the miles. I ended up averaging about 10min/miles anyway, which historically is pretty good for me. So that's a plus.
I definitely, definitely have to get cracking on my active range of motion exercises for my hips. My left lower leg was a wee little bit wonky, which worries me. I want things to be smooth and happy and healthy.
One note: due to visiting friends and social opportunities, my diet hasn't been what you'd call "strict" the last few days. My weight reflects that, but I'm back on the ball. Takin' care of bidness, yo.
Total Weight: -11lbs
5-ish k in About 30-ish Minutes
My battery died! I got to about the 3.5k mark and then my iPod crapped out.
Weak!
Looks like I was going at a slightly-under-6min/k pace, which means I might have been able to crack the 30:00 mark.
So, I ended up finishing my out-and-back 5k distance, but I don't really know what my time was.
Que sera, sera, right?
PS: I hate this gloomy weather. HATE.
Total Weight: ~-12.5lbs. Today is all about guesswork, isn't it?
Weak!
Looks like I was going at a slightly-under-6min/k pace, which means I might have been able to crack the 30:00 mark.
So, I ended up finishing my out-and-back 5k distance, but I don't really know what my time was.
Que sera, sera, right?
PS: I hate this gloomy weather. HATE.
Total Weight: ~-12.5lbs. Today is all about guesswork, isn't it?
Nipping at Its Heels
5k in 30:05.
I'm getting getting mighty close to the sub-30:00.
It was COLD out there, son! Friggen COLD! I think I cut holes in my shirt with my diamond-hard nipples. In addition, apparently they turn the sprinklers on Crissy Field in the evening. They lazily spray their way over the running paths, casting a fine mist of delicious reclaimed water *everywhere*.
Did I mention it was cold?
30:05. I probably could have broke 30:00 if I was looking at my timer, but I was just focused on my general pacing and only wanted to see the time once I was done. I'd like to know what it feels like to do it first before I try to overtly manage my pace to achieve it, if that makes any sense.
I'm about 12 pounds lighter than when I started up a few weeks ago, which I'm certain is having a positive effect on my running. I have to rededicate myself to doing my active range of motion exercises and ab stuff, and then I think I'll be firing on all cylinders.
Very happy, y'all. :)
Total Weight: -12lbs
Foggy-ass photo courtesy -Jérôme- on Flickr.
I'm getting getting mighty close to the sub-30:00.
It was COLD out there, son! Friggen COLD! I think I cut holes in my shirt with my diamond-hard nipples. In addition, apparently they turn the sprinklers on Crissy Field in the evening. They lazily spray their way over the running paths, casting a fine mist of delicious reclaimed water *everywhere*.
Did I mention it was cold?30:05. I probably could have broke 30:00 if I was looking at my timer, but I was just focused on my general pacing and only wanted to see the time once I was done. I'd like to know what it feels like to do it first before I try to overtly manage my pace to achieve it, if that makes any sense.
I'm about 12 pounds lighter than when I started up a few weeks ago, which I'm certain is having a positive effect on my running. I have to rededicate myself to doing my active range of motion exercises and ab stuff, and then I think I'll be firing on all cylinders.
Very happy, y'all. :)
Total Weight: -12lbs
Foggy-ass photo courtesy -Jérôme- on Flickr.
A Run, in Conversation Format
- Hey.
- Hey! What's up man?
- What's up.
- Same old, you know. Doing my thing.
- What did you do?
- I went for a run!
- Yeah? How'd it go?
- Oh man, it went great. I felt really solid. That's, I think, the best way to describe it. I got out, I did my thing, and everything went smooth as silk.
- How far?
- I set out to run 5k, but I really felt like I could do a lot more. That's a pretty good feeling.
- Nice. Where did you run?
- The usual Crissy Field out-and-back.
- Was it...gorgeous?
- Oh man. Yeah, it was beautiful out. Clear blue sky, cool, and a nice little wind. There was a good headwind heading out (and thus a nice tailwind on the way back). Windy enough to deter bikers, but not sandblast windy, like it was during the last run. That was just craziness.
- How's the cold?
- I think it's pretty much done. My ear is still jacked up, but I guess inner-ear infections take a while to fix. Ahhhh antibiotics... what would we do without you?
- Was the low carb thing an issue?
- No, I don't think so at all. I mean, I might not be as over-the-top amped as I would be if I was hopped up on sugar and Vitamin Water, but I was by no means dragging. Like I said, I felt really solid.
- Good. Alright, take it easy.
- You too, man.
First Lo Carb Run
I've been doing the low carb thing since Monday and it's felt good. Unfortunately I've been wrestling with this horrendous cold since the middle of last week and haven't been able to do much but groan loudly. I wasn't coughing as much today, and it was gorgeous and warm outside, so I figured it wouldn't be a bad day to strap on the Asics and put a couple miles on. Just get out, stretch the legs a bit and loosen up.
It was a nice run. I was stiff and tight at first, and my lungs were still a little uncertain about what I was doing, but ultimately it felt good. There was an incredible head-wind heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge down at Crissy Field, and the kite boarders were out in full force. I wish I had a camera with me—there must have been 50 of them, streaking across the bay. This must be perfect conditions for the more experienced ones.
Unless I crash tomorrow health-wise, I'll consider myself back in the game and start up the running, lifting and cross-training.
Total Weight: -4lbs
It was a nice run. I was stiff and tight at first, and my lungs were still a little uncertain about what I was doing, but ultimately it felt good. There was an incredible head-wind heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge down at Crissy Field, and the kite boarders were out in full force. I wish I had a camera with me—there must have been 50 of them, streaking across the bay. This must be perfect conditions for the more experienced ones.
Unless I crash tomorrow health-wise, I'll consider myself back in the game and start up the running, lifting and cross-training.
Total Weight: -4lbs
Hawaiian Holo
holo — to runHeeellllloooooo Maui!
@LosBee and I are on vacation, and I got up bright and early and took a trot near the hotel. I figured it'd be better to get up and do the run before it got hot and humid. I mean, there's only so much Bodyglide, you know?
A brand new, soft asphalt road wound around the resort area in Kaanapali. I chose this over the cement path. I friggen hate cement. There was virtually no traffic, and I ran against it so I was sure no shuttle buses ran me down from behind.
I intended to run 5k but I cut it short. Partly because I ran out of route (I wanted to stay on the nice asphalt) and partly because I felt like I had a cold coming on. @LosBee is pretty sick, and I think I may have caught whatever she has. Regardless, it felt good to take a short little trot in Hawaii.
Day 24: Notice a Bit of a Gap? *sigh*
Oy kids. I slacked. I got off-track. Sucks.
I am an asshat.
I have no real excuse. I had a nice "long" 5m run on Sunday the 5th, and then basically the "unbalanced force" of—for lack of a better word—laziness led me to slacking.
Today I got back into the swing. I haven't eaten right, but I did hop on the bike today and go for about a 40 minute ride. It was actually really pretty tough, and it felt great.
I basically just headed down to Crissy Field for an out-and-back. There was a pretty good headwind coming in from the ocean through the Golden Gate Bridge span, and riding into a headwind is tougher than running into it. Seriously. I got a pretty hearty pump going in my legs, and I was sucking a bit of wind. On the other hand, I liked being able to huff-and-puff on the bike versus getting winded in the pool. You can breathe all you want on a bike.
I think the bike will become my usual cross-training activity on nice days (and it was pretty darn gorgeous™ out) and hit the pool when it's crappy. It was fun, and I avoided going over the handlebars and breaking my clavicle. So there's that.
Tomorrow I run and lift. I may skip the lift and focus on the run. I'm actually pretty excited about he La Jolla 5k I have coming up, and I'd like to break 30 minutes. I figure if I get some good fartlek runs in between now and then I just might be able to bust it out.
Yipper skipper.
Total Weight: back to 0
I am an asshat.
An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. — Ike Newton
I have no real excuse. I had a nice "long" 5m run on Sunday the 5th, and then basically the "unbalanced force" of—for lack of a better word—laziness led me to slacking.
Today I got back into the swing. I haven't eaten right, but I did hop on the bike today and go for about a 40 minute ride. It was actually really pretty tough, and it felt great.
I basically just headed down to Crissy Field for an out-and-back. There was a pretty good headwind coming in from the ocean through the Golden Gate Bridge span, and riding into a headwind is tougher than running into it. Seriously. I got a pretty hearty pump going in my legs, and I was sucking a bit of wind. On the other hand, I liked being able to huff-and-puff on the bike versus getting winded in the pool. You can breathe all you want on a bike.
I think the bike will become my usual cross-training activity on nice days (and it was pretty darn gorgeous™ out) and hit the pool when it's crappy. It was fun, and I avoided going over the handlebars and breaking my clavicle. So there's that.
Tomorrow I run and lift. I may skip the lift and focus on the run. I'm actually pretty excited about he La Jolla 5k I have coming up, and I'd like to break 30 minutes. I figure if I get some good fartlek runs in between now and then I just might be able to bust it out.
Yipper skipper.
Total Weight: back to 0
Day 14: Runnin' in the Sun(nin')
That's codeDork™ talk for me reiterating that it was, again, GORGEOUS out again today. Again!
while (john.run.weather() == "sunny") {
john.mood.happy();
john.post.insert("GORGEOUS");
}
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 sunThe 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.
2. I really like warmth
3. I need training experience in warmer weather
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?
Day 10: Strokin'
Stroke: a single completion of the sequence of body movements repeated while swimming in the given style
Good sleep, good food, really really good swim. My endurance in the pool is getting more solid, and I had a lot of good laps doing breaststroke, a little freestyle and flutter kick and frog kick with the kick board.
Felt so good.
We have a visitor tomorrow and I have a lot of running around to do, and then we have several social events that'll probably mildly sabotage my eating, but meh. It's all good. Hopefully I can get my workouts in as planned.
Great. Day.
(Oh, and the weather—if you're curious—was gorgeous. Again.)
Total Weight: -5lbs
Day 7: Sunday "Long" Run
My endless repetition of "it was GORGEOUS out!" is getting old, I know. I know.
But damn, dude, it's been really nice out.
I woke up at the right time, I've eaten the right food, I've done the hip exercises, I did the ab workout, and I got my run in. Good stuff.
Lotta folks down at Crissy Field, getting their run in. Did folks pass me? Sure. Sure they did. And I'm cool with that. I have no problem being a back-of-the-pack-er. I'm a Slow Mofo™ after all. I'm just out there, doin' it.
Feeling great.
Tomorrow is strength training, and I'll hit 24 Hour Fitness, but I'm tempted to bust out the Power Yoga DVD, too. That stuff works, man.
Total Weight: -1lb
But damn, dude, it's been really nice out.
I woke up at the right time, I've eaten the right food, I've done the hip exercises, I did the ab workout, and I got my run in. Good stuff.
Lotta folks down at Crissy Field, getting their run in. Did folks pass me? Sure. Sure they did. And I'm cool with that. I have no problem being a back-of-the-pack-er. I'm a Slow Mofo™ after all. I'm just out there, doin' it.
Feeling great.
Tomorrow is strength training, and I'll hit 24 Hour Fitness, but I'm tempted to bust out the Power Yoga DVD, too. That stuff works, man.
Total Weight: -1lb
Day 5: Powersleeper™
For whatever reason, I slept like 11 hours last night. That's really unusually for me, so I guess I needed it.
I woke up late (a luxury of working for yourself) and went about my usual shizzy: eating, swimming, etc. I actually mixed it up quite and re-figured my food intake for the day so I could eat a delicious burger at Chez Maman. Sooo good.
Tomorrow's a day off, which honestly will be nice. Today I felt pretty worked-over. Like the week of running and swimming and lifting and doing hip exercises and ab exercises and waking up early has worn me out a little. It's good.
I'm gonna turn in relatively early tonight and enjoy my day off tomorrow. I reckon me and @LosBee are heading to wine country! Gotta like that.
(Oh and it was gorgeous out AGAIN and looks to be nice tomorrow, too. Awesome.)
I woke up late (a luxury of working for yourself) and went about my usual shizzy: eating, swimming, etc. I actually mixed it up quite and re-figured my food intake for the day so I could eat a delicious burger at Chez Maman. Sooo good.
Tomorrow's a day off, which honestly will be nice. Today I felt pretty worked-over. Like the week of running and swimming and lifting and doing hip exercises and ab exercises and waking up early has worn me out a little. It's good.
I'm gonna turn in relatively early tonight and enjoy my day off tomorrow. I reckon me and @LosBee are heading to wine country! Gotta like that.
(Oh and it was gorgeous out AGAIN and looks to be nice tomorrow, too. Awesome.)
Day 4: GORGEOUS Day
I looked around Flickr for a nice sunny pic to go with this post but didn't find anything that captured today's beauty at Crissy Field and the Bay. So, instead, I made this crappy image. Enjoy!Today's run went great, even tho I was sucking some wind at some points. As an added value, it was on the warmer side (during which I generally crap out, so it was a great training and conditioning experience.
After the run I hit 24 Hour Fitness and did some lifting: bench, lat pull-downs, still dips. I did one set of squats (on the Smith machine—the squat rack was taken) but it didn't feel right, so I decided to let it go.
Good stuff!
As far as the other parts of the March-May plan, the last 2 nights of drinking and being out somewhat late caught up a bit, and I hit the snooze button for about 45 minutes... Didn't mean to but whatever. Food-wise I feel packed. We'll see how things go, but I feel like I'm getting more than enough food.
It's all about what you eat, because if you pick the right things you can seemingly eat like a pig. I learned that one a while ago, but it's still nice (and easy) to go slam down a burger and fries, you know? But that doesn't really get you where you want to go.
Total Weight: -3lbs
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