Saturday, April 9, 2011

OBJECTIVE
10 mi.

ACHIEVED
9.49 mi.@ 8:18

6:06 AM 71° 86% 5 mph

Enjoyable run today back with the crew: Randy, Augie and Josh. Felt pretty good.

PRE RUN
weight=164.5
oatmeal w/skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast

Friday, April 8, 2011

4.08 mi.@ 8:04

6:18 AM

Back home. Warm, steamy morning.

PRE RUN
weight=163
body fat=22%
skim milk, Girl Scout cookie & mini Clif bar

POST RUN
diet V8 splash, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Thursday, April 7, 2011

4.91 mi.@ 8:06

6:00 AM

First time I've been passed on the Lakefront Trail - not due to my speed just that I've been running pretty early until today. Warmer temps & later start had more runners, bikers and walkers on the trail.


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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

OBJECTIVE
30 minutes

ACHIEVED
40:20 (4.90 mi.@ 8:14)

5:49 AM

Heart really wasn't in to it today. Although I did manage to keep going longer than planned once I got out on the Lakefront Trail. Left hamstring was a bit balky over the last mile and a half or so.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
water & maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal

Saturday, April 2, 2011

OBJECTIVE
8-10 mi.

ACHIEVED
10.06 mi.@ 7:57

6:41 AM 71° 82% 0 mph mist/very light rain

This run turned into a ragged progressive. Not by design; it just evolved. I was feeling pretty good at the outset. I started easy and wanted to keep it easy over the first half of the run. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go. I wanted to get 10 miles but was willing to shorten to 8 if I wasn't feeling okay. After the first mile, things picked up a bit and the run ended up looking like this:

9:00/8:13/8:06/8:01/7:48/7:56/7:49/7:32/7:37/7:34

I was pretty wiped out with about 2.5 miles to go. I stopped for water and ended up needing to stop again with about a half mile to go. I obviously don't have a base under my belt nor do I have speed training so the result isn't surprising ... just a little disappointing to confirm where I'm actually at right now. I should be happy that I got some mileage without problems with my calves.

Other running news: I got a massage yesterday and think that helped my calves and back. I ran in brand new Mizuno Wave Rider 13's for the first time today. I bought them several months ago but haven't needed to break them out yet as there were still miles left in my Mizuno Wave Rider 12's. I also threw my hat in ring for the St. George marathon in October. The lottery will be drawn in early May so I've got some time before finding out if I get pulled.

PRE RUN
weight=164.5
body fat=22.2%


POST RUN
SlimFast

Friday, April 1, 2011

OBJECTIVE
3 mi.

ACHIEVED
3.23 mi.@ 7:38

6:36 AM 62° 79% 3 mph

After getting in late last night due to a delayed flight, I slept in more than planned this morning. This shortened my run and caused me to pick up the pace. Felt strong. Off to the Houston Open now.

PRE RUN
weight = 164
body fat = 22%

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Objective
4 mi.

Achieved
Garmin - 4.74 mi.@ 7:40
My estimate - 4.5 mi.@ 8:06

5:06 AM 33° 77% 2 mph

The good ole Garmin doesn't like the concrete jungle of the city. I don't like standing around in the cold waiting for the Garmin to sync up with satellites. That's a bad combination if I want accurate readings here in Chicago.

Felt pretty good this morning. Only saw two other runners and no bikers along the Lakefront Trail.

Will be running in warm weather and humidity the next few days. Heading to the Shell Houston Open PGA golf event tomorrow. Also, expect to make it to the the Final Four too. Turning out to be a very good sports spectating year for me.

Pre run
Nothing

Post run
Instant oatmeal maple & brown sugar


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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Objective
3 mi.

Achieved
3.22 mi.@ 8:27
Hyatt Chicago treadmill
Cascade hills - Level 5

~5 am

Wanted to go outside but temps in 20's kept me on treadmill. Optimistic about calves lately.

Pre run
Weight=170 clothed ???
Water

Post run
Water

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Monday, March 28, 2011

OBJECTIVE
4 mi.

ACHIEVED
4.11 mi.@ 7:48

5:33 AM 59° 84% 4 mph

Felt good this morning. Legs seemed fresh. Body felt rested. Light breeze and nice temperature too.

PRE RUN
weight = 162
21.6% fat
GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN
water, multivitamin, peanut butter power cookie & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Friday, March 25, 2011

OBJECTIVE
3 mi.

ACHIEVED
3.27 mi.@ 8:10

6:24 AM 68° 89% 1 mph

Back home. I'm tired from traveling. Watched the Cougars lose to Florida last night on the plane.

PRE RUN
weight=164
22.2% body fat

POST RUN
diet V8 splash, multivitamin & oatmeal w/almonds, brown sugar & skim milk

Thursday, March 24, 2011

OBJECTIVE
run

ACHIEVED
3.04 mi. treadmill hills in 27:18
ITB exercises & push-ups

~5:30 AM

There was supposed to be snow overnight but when I looked out the window this morning I didn't see any. However the flags at the Hyatt Regency Chicago were extended horizontal from the wind. I checked the weather on my Blackberry and it said the "feels like" temperature was 18F. Enough to push me in the direction of the hotel fitness center. I don't like treadmills. I'm sure I've mentioned that before. The center was surprisingly busy at this hour. I jumped on, set the dreadmill for a 27 minute hill workout at Level 5 and set out. Listened to my MP3 player for a bit but the cords were getting tangled and earbuds were coming out so I switched to the morning drivel on the television. Made it through the boredom and worked up a pretty good sweat. I don't trust any treadmill's calibration so the mileage and incline are always a question in my mind. So the best I can say is that I can at a pretty good pace for 27 minutes this morning.

I went back to my room and cranked out my old IT band exercises and mixed in push-ups during the rest intervals. I haven't done the ITB exercises for a while. I need to do them more. Not that I'm having ITB problems but I think they're good injury prevention as they work leg muscles associated with lateral movement. These are stablizing muscles for running. Can they help my calf problems? I don't know. Certainly not directly but maybe there's some linkage in the chain that benefits and helps with the calf issues.

I still don't have my sleeping and eating routine set while traveling. My nutrition is improving slowly but it's rare that I sleep through the night in a hotel room. This morning I woke up around 2:30 - the same time I did yesterday. Today gave up on falling back asleep so I cleared some work email before going to the fitness center. I also packed since I'm headed back to H-town later today. Hopefully I'm on a plane with LiveTV and can watch Jimmer and the Coogs' sweet sixteen matchup against Florida. I'm holding my breath on this one.


PRE RUN


POST RUN
sugar free instant oatmeal (maple & brown sugar) & Tazo Calm herbal tea

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

OBJECTIVE
3 mi.

ACHIEVED
3.35 mi.@ 8:23

6:03 AM blustery; ~30F w/winds

Another trip over to the Lakefront Trail. I'm not exactly sure what the tidal effects are with Lake Michigan but I was a bit surprised to notice this morning that the waves were coming over the banks this morning. This with with I believe is relatively light winds.

It rained last night and will probably rain quite a bit today. But I caught a window where there was no rain.

And finally, it was cold stepping out from the hotel so I didn't wait for my Garmin to find enough satellites to get a good bead on my location. After flying and when standing among the buildings of the city, the Garmin takes quite a long time to sync. I wasn't going to wait around this morning as it was cool and I wanted to get on with it. Therefore, I'm not too confident in the accuracy of my distance and pace.

PRE RUN


POST RUN
* maple & brown sugar sugar free instant oatmeal

* How can the oatmeal be "sugar free" and the flavor be "maple & brown sugar "? Sounds like I'm eating some bad chemicals ... ?

Monday, March 21, 2011

OBJECTIVE
3 mi.

ACHIEVED
3.22 mi.@ 8:34

5:04 AM 65° 91% 1 mph

Got back home last night. Needed this run for psychotherapy. It's been crazy the past few days. Now another week begins ....

PRE RUN
weight=165.5
body fat=22.2%

POST RUN
oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

OBJECTIVE
run

ACHIEVED
5.19 mi.

6:20 AM

Finally got outside in the Windy City this morning. Found my way down to Lake Front Trail for a run along Lake Michigan. Felt okay. Warmed up pretty quickly once I got going. I found the Lake Shore path to be a surprisingly hard surface - concrete broken in some places.

PRE RUN


POST RUN
instant oatmeal

Monday, March 14, 2011

OBJECTIVE
3 mi.

ACHIEVED
3.21 mi.@ 8:26

6:12 AM 67° 90% 0 mph

Very tight calves starting out today. Got it in before the rains came.

PRE RUN
weight=165

POST RUN
body fat=22.6%
water, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Sunday, March 13, 2011

OBJECTIVE
run

ACHIEVED
5.16 mi.@ 8:11

6:13 AM 64° 86% 2 mph

Right calf was reminding that it's still "there". Was hoping for better after two weeks off the roads.

PRE RUN
weight=166

POST RUN
diet V-8 splash, multivitamin & oatmeal w/almonds, brown sugar & skim milk

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Back in Chicago. Staying at Club Quarters whose fitness room is not nearly as nice as The Wit's last week. Therefore, I found myself on a Cybrex machine this morning. It looked like an elliptical but was more of a glider. I'm not all that familiar with fitness equipment since I rarely use it.

By way of update, I tried running last Saturday but didn't even go a block before my right calf was flaring. I decided rest was the order of the day and have been doing so since. All this rest is going to make the half in a couple of weeks an interesting challenge.

WU ~15 min. Cybrex glider
10x20 sec. all out w/10 sec. rests on Cybrex glider
CD ~15 min. Cybrex glider

Wanted to use the recumbent bike for the Tabata intervals but quickly determined that it wasn't working.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Circa 1968


For some reason this picture really cracks me up.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

WU 15 min. elliptical
Tabata intervals 9x20 sec. w/10 sec. recoveries recumbent exercycle
CD 15 min. elliptical

Back to the hotel fitness room. Went a little harder on the intervals this morning than yesterday. Used a different bike and it seemed much more stable. Also used a tuck position (leaning forward) rather than yesterday's recumbent. (I'm not I cyclist so I probably have this all wrong!)

Felt fine. May try running tomorrow or Saturday to test the calf out.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

WU 15 min. elliptical
Tabata intervals 8x20 sec. w/10 sec. recoveries recumbent exercycle
CD 15 min. elliptical

Calf not a problem as long as there's no impact. Figured I'd take advantage of the equipment in the hotel's fitness room this morning. Wasn't able to go 100% all out on the bike because it started shaking so much that it was drawing too much attention.