Week in the Rearview Mirror: April 8 - April 14, 2012

This was really a good week, with the calf continuing to improve slowly (almost completely healed), and nothing but a bit of an ache in the knee area when I went a bit too hard....nothing a day of rest didn't resolve. For most of the runs this week, I wore my heart monitor, so I have some new numbers to play with. I also tried to pick up the pace at the end of most of my runs (from the last mile, to the last 1/4 mile). It was nice just trying different things, and having a pleasant week overall. I don't really have a race lined up as a goal, although I would like to get to 2000 miles on my bike by the end of the month (only 62 miles to go). That would all be in 11 months.

Here is what last week looked like...

Day	Activity	Distance (in miles)	Avg. Heart Rate	Max Heart Rate
Sunday	Cycling	25.12	125	153
Monday	Running	6.01	153	172
	Walking	0.60	119	129
Tuesday	Walking	3.40	---	---
	Walking	1.00	---	---
	Walking	1.72	---	---
Wednesday	Running	13.13	145	156
	Walking	1.00	---	---
Thursday	Cycling	15.51	117	138
	Walking	1.51	---	---
	Walking	1.77	---	---
Friday	Cycling	30.17	123	147
Saturday	Running	6.06	149	174
	Walking	1.02	148	165

These are my time and distance totals for the week:

Activity	Time Total	Distance Total (in miles)
Running	3:48:56	25.20
Walking	3:06:47	12.02
Cycling	4:35:44	70.80
--------------	--------------	--------------
Overall Total	11:31:27	108.02

In cross-training, I worked in two days of pullups and one of pushups, with one Kettlebell workout. This week increased the pullups a bit, but dipped a bit on the pushups...I'll need to remedy that in the weeks ahead. I did 150 total pushups and averaged 37 pullups per session.

A FAIL on the Yoga this week...just didn't have it in my priority list. Weird that I did that, since I almost always enjoy the classes.

I stuck with the 25 strict crunches per day as a part of the 100X challenge, with one day having 100. I really do need to ensure that this continues to be a part of each week, at least at some level. If I can ever get the layer of "covering" (a.k.a. 5 or so pounds of stubborn fat) off my mid-section, it would be nice if there was some defined muscle in there. Of course, it will have to just magically disappear if I stay with my current eating habits, which includes multiple trips to Yogurtland with toppings like crushed Heath Bar, shaved coconut, and Ghirardelli syrup.

So far this month, I haven't done a single minute of planks, and I can honestly say I don't miss it a bit. I need to do them, since my lower back always felt it the day after, but I'm SO not a fan.

Although I've had a few "anomaly" readings on my heart rate, I believe my maximum is still right at (or close to) 174. I have yet to sustain it at that level though, I've only seen it slowly rise to that level during the sprint at the end of a run, which makes me think it might be a tad higher. I just don't believe that my max is 220 minus my age (which would be 167 for me)....I think its a bit higher, so I'll use 174 for now...but I'm probably just splitting hairs if I'm within 7 beats.

I'm still not sure what my running pace would be in Zone 3 though (or below), since that would only be 132-139. Probably nothing more than a brisk walk. I seem to average a high Zone 1 to mid Zone 2 for my cycling workouts, and Zone 4's for my runs. I may not stick with tracking the heart rate for a long time, but it is interesting for now, and I may find that tracking it from time to time will be interesting.

Happy Running Everyone !!!

Week in the Rearview Mirror: April 1 - April 7, 2012

All things considered, I recovered very quickly from the race (given that it was just 12 miles...makes a big difference), and other than just some tightness in my left calf that continues, things went very well.

Here is what last week looked like...

Day	Activity	Distance (in miles)
Sunday	Running	12.13
Monday	Rest Day	-----
Tuesday	Cycling	22.73
	Walking	1.70
Wednesday	Walking	1.04
	Running	4.03
	Walking	0.63
	Walking	3.88
Thursday	Running	9.09
Friday	Cycling	22.10
	Cycling	9.01
Saturday	Walking	1.01
	Running	6.10

These are my time and distance totals for the week:

Activity	Time Total	Distance Total (in miles)
Running	4:59:23	31.35
Walking	2:00:45	8.26
Cycling	3:28:55	53.84
--------------	--------------	--------------
Overall Total	10:29:03	93.45

In cross-training, I worked in two days each of pullups and pushups, with one Kettlebell workout. This week had just slightly more work in it than the week before, since I averaged 152 total pushups and 30 pullups per session. I also moved up to 25 pounds and 5 repetitions for the Turkish Get-ups (doing the right then the left until I've done 5 for each side with no rest between).

With my wife doing another long run on Saturday morning, and scheduling conflicts arising, I didn't attend Yoga class this week. I did a "bit" better on the stretching and Yoga at home, but need to get back to it being a daily thing. I also added 25 strict crunches per day to the mix as a part of the 100X challenge, so that is thrown in there as well.

On my run on Saturday I was able to really step it up in the last 1/2 mile of my run to start getting used to periodically running a bit faster. It was tough since I'm somewhat used to sprinting right at the end of a race, but completely unused to picking up the speed for more that a tenth of a mile or so. It was a 6.1 mile run, with the first five miles looking like this:

Mile	Pace
1	9:27
2	9:21
3	9:23
4	9:17
5	9:15

At about 5.6 miles I started to up the pace, and got to a 7:49 pace by 5.7, dropped back to a 8:12 pace by 5.8, then peaking at a 6:13 pace right at 6.0. The last mile's overall average was 8:29, with the final tenth at a 7:19 pace.

 I was actually trying to see if I could max out my heart rate to see where the real limit was, but since my heart rate was still climbing during this entire time (from 156 @ 5.5 miles to 174 @ the end), I don't believe that is the true maximum. Also, I felt like I could have probably gone further at that pace (a little), or perhaps have gone a bit faster to finish it off. I just have no real desire to hurt myself doing this, so I want to ease into it.

Years ago, I pulled a hamstring trying to outrun my Golden Retriever in the park one afternoon when she was about four months old. She never even looked like she was trying...just had this silly grin on her face the entire time she was "fast-trotting" and looking over at me.  When I both felt and heard the snap and went down like an Indy car wreck, she thought I wanted to play and started licking me in the face and rolling around on me. It probably "looked" like fun, but it took weeks to be able to walk straight again. I won't be going "top speed" anytime soon. :-)

However, this week I'd like to see if I can't spend a bit more time in the sub-8:30 pace to see what that feels like....perhaps a mile or more, but we'll just play it by ear.

Happy Running Everyone !!!

Week in the Rearview Mirror: March 18 - 24, 2012

This was a pretty good week all in all. I followed my slow build-back plan, keeping the run distance low early in the week and inserting the rest days as planned. By the weekend I was able to string some 6 mile run days together, and the left calf continues to improve. The right instep issue has resolved as  nearly as I can tell.

As such, I'll be moving forward with my plan to participate in the A2A Marathon this coming Sunday. As I stated in a comment earlier, a wiser person might still choose to sit this marathon out and let the healing process complete, but I'm just not that wise...I really want to do this, so I'll roll the dice. Will I get hurt doing this, at least to some degree...probably so. However, I will definitely modify my post-marathon recovery plan this time to include a lot more rest days, and a much more gentle return.

My running plan between now and the marathon looks like this:

Day	Activity / Distance
Tuesday	6 miles
Wednesday	6 miles
Thursday	Rest
Friday	4 miles (Walking)
Saturday	Rest
Sunday	Marathon

So, unless the mid-week runs produce an issue that seems serious, the game is on.Here is what last week looked like...

Day	Activity	Distance (in miles)
Sunday	Walking	1.02
	Running	4.02
	Walking	1.05
Monday	Rest Day
Tuesday	Walking	1.00
	Running	4.00
Wednesday	Walking	1.10
	Running	4.10
	Walking	1.10
Thursday	Rest Day
Friday	Walking	1.03
	Running	6.14
Saturday	Running	6.19
	Walking	0.50

These are my time and distance totals for the week:

Activity	Time Total	Distance Total (in miles)
Running	3:40:27	24.45
Walking	1:40:29	6.80
Overall Total	5:20:56	31.25

In cross-training, both the pushups and pullups are progressing nicely. I'll stop the upper body work by Wednesday to ensure I'm not sore for the marathon, but the numbers are improving. I'm mixing up the reps and sets each time, but I averaged 111 total pushups (9 sets on average) and 31 pullups (6 sets on average) per session last week (3 sessions each on different days).

As far as the March planks challenge is concerned, I completed that on Thursday of this week, to a total of 101. Doing 15 minutes of those in a day (with a 45 second recovery between 1 minute planks) still really works my lower back. I'm not a big fan of this, but I'll keep it in the rotation just for core strength purposes.

I also did three kettlebell workouts this week...a first for me. It seems that everything I do from the cross training perspective works me in a slightly different way, and the kettlebells were no different. You can read more about my experience with them here.

I only went to Yoga on Thursday this week due to a scheduling conflict. My wife is building up for her first half-marathon (which I plan to run with her) on April 29th, and she needed me to watch the little one so she could do a long run on Saturday morning before it got too warm. She successfully completed 13.21 miles in 2:17:49 unsupported for her first attempt at the full half-marathon distance, and I'm quite proud of her. It was also her first time running with a fuel belt with full water bottles, and her first time eating on the run (GU). She managed to run every step of the way, and although she was tired, she came through it beautifully.

Happy Running Everyone !!!

New2U Cross-Training Challenge for March - Kettlebells

While I've tried quite a few things in the name of fitness in my past (a by-product of being on the planet for more than half a century), I had never tried Kettlebells. I had done some reading in the past on them, but just wasn't "sold" on their unique approach to fitness. I have a full rack of dumbbells at home, and although they mostly just keep the rack from flying up and hitting the ceiling, I had thought that they were pretty much the same.

However, there are just some kettlebell moves that one would be "challenged" to do with a dumbbell, so I went ahead and got one. At first I just got the one to the left, and a video with a kettlebell workout. A day or two later, after trying out some of the workouts, I learned that for me this just wasn't enough weight, so I picked up the one to the right as well.


Let's just say that an extra 10 pounds makes all the difference in the world.We all know that an extra 10 pounds around our middle makes difference, but when you start swinging these things around in a controlled fashion, that extra weight changes the whole nature of the workout.

I've done several workouts with these now, and they can be quite challenging. The two arm swing isn't too tough with the weight I have, but the one arm swing is a bit of work. I also do a type of "round the body" exercise where you pass the kettlebell from the left to the right hand in front waist high, then from the right to the left in the back at the same height. The figure eight between the legs is also an interesting one, but I have found that the Turkish Get Ups are some of the most challenging. The extra weight on this one really brings the core strength, stability, and concentration on form to bear and hits quite a few areas of the body at once.

There is even a version of a situp  (in the first 30 seconds of that video) where the kettlebell is held by the "horns" with straight arms above the chest while laying flat on your back. Then, while keeping your arms straight, sit upright and as you do, keep your arms straight and transition the kettlebell to being directly over your head (elbows by the ears)...then return to the beginning position with control. Three sets of 10 of these will remind you where your abs are. :-)

I tried the Goblet Squat with the 20 lb. kettlebell for 1 set of 10, and it felt good while doing it, however, later in the day I noticed my knees right at the apex of the patella had a burning sensation when I squatted down (even without weight). Also, it really worked my upper hamstrings and made them pretty sore (right under the glutes for about 2 to 3 inches). Since I have a long race coming up (fingers crossed), I won't be doing them again until after the race, but this is obviously a weak area for me as well (and I probably went a bit too low for me at this time, which is why the knees were sore). The knee pain lasted about three days (getting better each day), and is now fine. Could have been too heavy for this exercise as well.

This isn't something that I do every day, but I do plan to put this into the rotation of the other cross training I'm doing. It doesn't take a great deal of time to get quite a workout. The twisting and swinging motions take your body through unfamiliar movement patterns (at least they did mine), and the weight being on the end adds to that effect.

All in all, an interesting cross-training option, and not overly expensive....as long as you aren't buying a complete set for home use (which could REALLY get pricey). I just bought one of each size for now, and we'll see how it goes.

Hopefully in the months ahead, I'll try things that just aren't for me. If not, I'll have to quit work since I simply won't have time to fit everything in otherwise. ;-)

Happy Running Everyone !