It's Get Busy Time

Alright kids, it's time for me to get serious. Seriously.

If you've read this blog for a while, you've seen me follow various plans, set various goals, and try various things to stay on top of fitness. What I've realized recently is that I do need a race on the horizon to stay on top of a running plan. I can do something for a month or so on my own, but if I don't have a goal I lose focus and slack off.

Right now I'm committing to getting serious about this.

Background: More Than You Probably Want To Know

I haven't really elucidated my medical issue I eluded to early on in this blog. I'm not totally sure I will fully explain it; I guess I'm not wholly comfortable laying it out for all the world to see.

It suffices to say that, after having horrible headaches for 8 months, a neurologist found a problem nestled inside my skull. A walnut-sized problem, to be more precise. Not a life-threatening problem, but definitely something that has thrown me out of whack and caused various medical funkeries.

Anyhoo, this little bugger has been growing in there for 5, maybe 10 years, which nicely coincides with quite a bit of weight gain on my part. I reckon it has caused metabolic funkiness, muscle development funkiness, and physical funkiness in general. On top of it, I quit smoking about 10+ years ago and for a short while substituted Snickers bars for Camel Lights, which will, of course, pack on pounds faster than a cheetah can close in on a fuzzy bunny rabbit.

Things are good, and I'm on medicine that has put me back in balance. This medicine, however, is essentially steroids, so it is also contributing to my overall mass. So what does this all come down to?

It's Time To Get Serious

So this post is all about my new all-encompassing plan. It's a 2 month plan leading up to the ING Bay to Breakers 12k in San Francisco, which I'll be running with some Bay Area folk I've met on Twitter.

The Plan: March 2009 — May 2009

The overall plan can be broken into 4 parts:

1. Running Training Plan
2. Strict (for me) Nutrition Plan
3. Hip Rehabilitation Plan
4. Ab & Core Strengthening Plan

Running Training Plan
I'm going with Hal Higdon's Novice 10k Training Program. Yeah, I've run 10ks before, but since my hip is a little jacked up I'm not looking to win medals here—I just want to finish without looking like a jackhole.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	Stretch & strength	2.5 m run	30 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	3 m run
2	Stretch & strength	2.5 m run	30 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	40 min cross	3.5 m run
3	Stretch & strength	2.5 m run	35 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	4 m run
4	Stretch & strength	3 m run	35 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	50 min cross	4 m run
5	Stretch & strength	3 m run	40 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	4.5 m run
6	Stretch & strength	3 m run	40 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	5 m run
7	Stretch & strength	3 m run	45 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	60 min cross	5.5 m run
8	Stretch & strength	3 m run	30 min cross	2 m run + strength	Rest	Rest	10-K Race

Strict (for me) Nutrition Plan
This is going to be one of the major challenges; I tend to eat whatever the hell I want, and a lot of it. But I think this is where the majority of my improvement will come.

I'm going with a rough macronutrient breakdown of 50% carbs, 35% protein and 15% fat. This'll be a huge departure for me, since I eat pretty poorly and indulgently.

Here's a look at what an average day's food intake will be like:

  MEAL #1
  --------------------------------
  PROTEIN POWDER (w/ coffee)

  MEAL #2
  --------------------------------
  MILK   1 cup
  BANANA   1
  EGG   1

  MEAL #3
  --------------------------------
  MILK   1 cup
  WHEAT BREAD  1 slice
  PEANUT BUTTER  2 tbsp

  MEAL #4
  --------------------------------
  CHICKEN BREAST  6 oz
  BAKED POTATO  1 large
  FIELD GREENS  3 cups
  OLIVE OIL  1 tbsp
  BALSAMIC VIN  1 tbsp

  MEAL #5
  --------------------------------
  CHICKEN BREAST  6 oz
  BROWN RICE  1 cup
  BROCCOLI  3 florets

  MEAL #6
  --------------------------------
  ALMONDS   1 oz
  EGG   1
  SPAGHETTI  1 cup

I'm shooting for about 2200 calories coming from pretty darn "clean" food sources. I'll make substitutions as need be (out of boredom or if social eating or drinking plans arise). I generally do well eating like this, and hopefully I won't slack off or get too bored in the 2 months I'll be eating like this.

Hip Rehabilitation Plan
I'm going to religiously do the prescribed exercises every single day, 2 times a day as recommended. These exercises are for strengthening my hips, which will ostensibly improve my running form and overall hip health. Also, they will hopefully prevent injury...
(AROM == Active Range of Motion)

1. AROM Lumbar Bridging (Bilateral): 3 sets of 20 reps
2. AROM Hip Extension/Rotation: 3 sets of 20 reps
3. AROM Hip Abductor (Unilateral): 3 sets of 20 reps
4. Isometric Trans Abdominis: 3 sets of 20 reps
5. Standing Bilateral Hip Stretch: 3 reps held 30 seconds

Ab & Core Strengthening Plan
Like most people that work in front of a computer, my abs (and thus my posture) could be improved. I recently picked up Stronger Abs and Back and plan to incorporate their tiered program into my daily routine. What the hell, why not, right?

Your Part In All This

So why the hell am I telling you all this? Well, basically, I want to be held accountable for staying on top of this, taking the steps every day, and sticking to this 2 month plan. This is something I need to commit to, and to be honest, I'm nervous that I won't pass the gut check. I'm worried that I'm going to wuss out.

So, as usual, this here blog will be my way of posting my workouts, celebrating success, and if it comes down to it, owning up to failure.

Wish me luck. And kick me in the ass if I slack off. Seriously.

A Gift of Running Music for Your Earhole

No, unfortunately I don't have a kick-ass workout to report, but I do have some kick-ass music to report:

Hella Sound running music is now for sale!

Our first release, How To Turn Around A Bad Day, is available for download.

This first song was a long time in the making, and I can't wait to hear how it works for your run. I'm gonna do a little write-up on Hella Sound about the song—provide some detail on the various parts, what I was going for and what my inspiration was, etc. A sort of low-frills Behind The Music, if you will.

Anyhoo, I have a little gift for you folks that read Slow Mofo:

A 20% OFF COUPON!
Coupon Code: GOSLOWMOFO

That's a buck off, just for you. Click any of the links above to go to the song page, or just click this link right here.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

(PSSST! The coupon expires at the end of this month (March), so go get it while the gettin's good.)

A Pool. A Nice Pool. A Very Nice Pool.

After my horrendous experience at the Potrero 24 Hour Fitness pool I scrambled, looking for other available pools to get my kicks (as it were). Rossi Pool in San Francisco got a good review (and doesn't require a $60/month membership), so I gave it a go.

What a great experience. The pool was very clean, with incredibly wide lanes. They use the counter-clockwise lane share method, meaning you can have multiple people swimming in one lane and instead of going back and forth you move in a circular fashion. The lanes are divided into Slow, Medium and Fast, so you're not swimming up anyone's keister. And, in the event you want to go a bit faster than the retired person in front of you, there's plenty of room to pass them. The etiquette for all this is posted on the wall, and everyone seems to get along harmoniously.

I probably spent a total of 30 minutes in the water, 25 of which were doing frog kicks with the kickboard in the slow lane. And yeah, even though I was doing frog kicks I still passed some folks. But hey, if I'm like these folks and swimming when I'm 90 it'll be a miracle.

I bounced to the Medium lane to do full breaststroke, and the Fast lane to do some freestyle, but this whole thing is about working on my hips. And I think I got some good work in. Swimming, along with the hip exercises I was given, seem very effective. Hopefully I get what I'm looking for out of this.

Back on the Horse. A Little.

The intent was to run 3 miles and then lift weights. I ran a little less than 2 and skipped the gym.

I'm recovering from a bit of a nagging cold, but I am mostly feeling my own vincibility (which is to say I'm *not* invincible). The gait analysis has made me want to be cautious and tend to my hips first and foremost, and really this is not a bad thing.

As explained before, I've always based my training predominantly around races, and have frequently jumped into a training program without building up a really solid base. As a result I tend to get little tweaks and pains (and sometimes bigger tweaks and pains) that become an issue.

So, I'm being a wuss. But I'm also looking at this as an opportunity to *slowly* develop my base, for a change. If, for the next month or 2, I only run 2 mile sets, so be it. I'm looking for health and fitness here, not to prove some big monolithic thing to myself.

Rationalization is divine, isn't it? ;)

Now That's a Nasty Pool

Like I said, I was going to start swimming again.

I've had about 2 weeks off with busyness and a cold and was ready to get going today.

Murkiest. Pool. Ever.

Just nasty. I just finished my write-up on Yelp! so head over there and read what I had to say on the matter if you're curious.

Very disappointing. There's one other pool I'm going to try in the area, but if that's a bust then it looks like I'm going to have to wait a bit before I get my swim on.

Tomorrow is a run and a lift. L8r t8r.

Photo courtesy Read Me on Flickr.