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A make-or-break week
Posted February 11, 2012 at 10:22 am | Tags: Cleveland Marathon, long runs, mental, Shamrock Half, training | 1 Comment »
Halfway through training for the Shamrock Half Marathon, and the early stages of training for the Cleveland Marathon, this is one of those crucial weeks as I need a mental and physical boost for the next 5 weeks.
I could not afford to get sick like I did at the beginning of the week, so I fought back the best I could. Lots of fluids and lots of rest. As I briefly wrote about the other day, I managed to quickly get over my stomach bug. It seemed to have zero impact on how I felt running — in fact, that extra forced rest probably helped.
Today I had another moment to help me focus on what’s ahead — I decided last night to “sleep in” and do my long run whenever I woke up.
Just a week ago I was all about getting up early for my long and practicing what I would do for the Shamrock Half. With that race having a 7 a.m. start, I need all the dress rehearsals I can get. Last night, though, I was tired and I didn’t want an alarm waking me up.
This morning I woke up about 5:30 a.m. and had to use the restroom. After I got back in bed, I tossed and turned and thought about what happens on Shamrock morning — it’s usually a bit chilly and it’s dark for a while. No different than today. So I got up this morning and hit the road by 6:30 a.m. for an easy paced 12-mile run.
Training this winter has definitely been easier than most winters with the warmer temperatures, but it’s truly been a challenge for so many reasons. As I spend time thinking about things like I did today, I realize so much of it is mental. I feel like I’ve been mentally tough for a while, so it’s something I haven’t experienced in a while.
It impacts my training, my sleeping, and my ability to write anything worth reading, but I hope with my small victories this week that I can move on from these issues.
Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
A quick bounce back
Posted February 9, 2012 at 9:52 pm | Tags: health | No Comments »
My stomach illness went away as quick as it arrived. I felt good enough yesterday to crank out a solid 4-mile run and then more than 5 miles tonight.
It’s weird, but I’ve learned a lot this week with getting over an illness like this if something strange happens on race week.
OK. That’s all.
No really. That’s all. Good night.
Another February illness
Posted February 7, 2012 at 12:47 pm | Tags: health | 5 Comments »
Nearly a year after being sidelined due to a stomach bug, I’ve been hit again with a horrible illness. I think it started sometime over the weekend; yesterday wasn’t the best of days; and then last night I had a fairly sleepless night as my stomach was killing me.
Today it’s been a toast and water day — I don’t feel like eating anything, and I have pretty much rotated between the couch, bed and toilet all morning. Dare I say it, but I’m starting to feel better this afternoon.
I always say the body has a way of knowing what’s right and wrong and forcing rest whether I feel like I need or not. It’s kind of frustrating, though, that I’ve had such an up and down winter with a couple of bad colds and now this.
I definitely won’t be running today, and I’m not sure if I’ll be ready for anything tomorrow. It’s certainly been an interesting training cycle with my health. At this time of the year it’s usually the weather that’s the factor, but I obviously need to work on a few things to take care of myself.
Image: cbenjasuwan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Time to dust off the bike
Posted February 4, 2012 at 1:37 pm | Tags: #bikeschool, 100 push-ups, bike, core streak | 8 Comments »
It’s funny how I don’t have much to say about running right now. Maybe it’s because training for the Shamrock Half is off to a good start and I don’t want to jinx anything.
I do feel, though, that I need to continue to mix things up. My core streak has started off well and I have no doubts that will only improve my running; my 100 push-ups effort is also continuing — last night I did a total of 80 push-ups with a redo of week 3, day 2. When I look at what I’m doing, though, something is still missing. I’ve felt like that for a long time.
I have a fairly cheap mountain bike that I bought about 4 years ago that has very few miles on it. It sits in a storage building gaining new cobwebs every day. When I see it, I wipe off the seat, check the tires and say the same thing – “I need to start riding my bike again.”
For those of you who haven’t followed me for years, you probably don’t know about my tail bone injury from summer 2008. That injury pretty much ended my biking outside.
When I joined a gym in 2009, I did some spinning on the various bikes in there, but my tail bone didn’t feel right for a long time.
That feeling of pain when sitting lingered with me for a long time. I know that’s only an excuse now, but I wanted to provide some context as to why I haven’t been on a bike in a while.
Today I took an important step to getting back on the bike — I purchased a bike helmet. It’s actually the first one I’ve ever owned.
Now that I’ve made that $20 investment, it’s time to take the next step to hopping on the bike and seeing what happens …
Image: Sura Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Explaining this “winter”
Posted February 2, 2012 at 8:06 pm | Tags: weather | 8 Comments »
This is a complete coincidence that I’m writing this on Groundhog Day …
While most everyone is loving these warmer temperatures this winter, I hate it. Just as flowers aren’t supposed to bloom in January, the number of runs in short-sleeve shirts in January aren’t supposed to outnumber the number of runs in a long-sleeve shirt.
A familiar scene from winter 2010. Definitely not this year.
Little did some of you know, but years ago – like when I was 10 years old – I wanted to be a meteorologist. I was so obsessed about the weather that one of my mom’s friends had a hook-up with WDBJ7, one of our local news stations, who got me a private tour of the weather studio. An afternoon with just me and their meteorologists.
Over the years my career goals went from weather to wanting to be an accountant to eventually leading to the low-paying profession of journalism for the first 7 years of my career.
Through it all, though, my love for the weather never died. Watching Weather on the 8’s on the Weather Channel was something I did ALL THE TIME.
These days I get obsessed with comparing forecasts between the Weather Channel, Accuweather, WxRisk, and my local weather stations, among other sources. That obsession is much worse in the winter because I love snow.
Problem is, this winter has been one of the lamest winters of all time. At least it feels that way after two decent snowy winters in a row. So … why is it so warm?
Many news stories on TV and online do a poor job of explaining this. They tie it to climate change and global warming, which only spreads unnecessary fear and unnecessary office talk.
Simply put, we have been in a bizarre weather pattern for a few years – just as the jet stream had an unusual dip south a couple of winters ago, thus bringing crazy snow storms and cold weather extremely south, this winter the jet stream is extremely north, thus allowing warm air and even Gulf moisture into the southeast.
The lack of snow everywhere contributes to some of the warmer air – when snow covers the ground, the sunlight is reflected back into space keeping temperatures lower; no snow means the ground is absorbing the suns rays, making things warmer.
There are definitely other factors to this — La Niña is one, but even the best meteorologists suggest that this year’s La Niña isn’t a “normal” one. I won’t even begin to try and explain that.
While some people may ask what happened to winter, keep in mind that way back in October the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted a drier and warmer winter than usual.
If you’re really wondering where winter went this year, look at Alaska with its record-breaking cold and record snows. Maybe, just maybe, some of us snow lovers will get some of that this month.
Putting January in the rear view mirror
Posted January 31, 2012 at 8:25 pm | Tags: core streak, long runs, reflection, Shamrock Half | 7 Comments »
I’m not happy with January for a variety of reasons, but how can I complain about it? I spent half of it not feeling well, but I still managed to accomplish more this month than any other January. Here are the highlights:
- My first-ever January race. A trail race is more of an experience than an actual race, but the bloodshed led to some good lessons learned.
- Most miles ever in January. I’m disappointed with 81.5 miles, but in comparing what I did two years ago when I was on my way to a PR in the Shamrock Half, I have more mileage — both in quantity and quality.
- My long run is back to double digits already with a 10-miler this past weekend.
- 478 push-ups.
All in all, I am in a good place heading in February. Next month is sure to be full of more miles and additional speed work as I narrow down a goal for Shamrock. I’m also eager to start my core streak.
It’s all about focusing …
Core streak anyone?
Posted January 30, 2012 at 8:29 pm | Tags: abs, core streak, cross training | 4 Comments »
First off, this is not intentionally the next thing to spread on Twitter or a challenge in which I’m encourage others to jump all over, but if you want to join in the fun, come on.
In yesterday’s randomness post, I mentioned that I was thinking about doing a “core streak” in February. Well, here it is in official terms: I’m doing a core streak in February. I’ll label it on Twitter as #corestreak. If I can do a run streak, I can do a core streak.
The guidelines — NOT RULES — are simple. Do an exercise each day that engages the core. This can be: sit-ups, planks, push-ups, things on this website, or anything in a Google search of core workouts. This can be of any number of sets or reps or intensity.
My main goal is to set a routine of core work from this point forward. Sure I’ve done a variety of core over the years, but I’ve always lacked consistency. A core streak can only help.
No. 833
Posted January 29, 2012 at 8:18 pm | Tags: 100 push-ups, 2012, core streak, Fitbloggin', Shamrock Half, weight | 4 Comments »
I continue to have a variety of things on my mind, nothing more dominant than the other. So for my 833rd blog post, here are a few of those things:
- January has felt like an up and down month, but in looking back at my previous Januaries since I started blogging, this may be the best first month of a year that I’ve had since January 2004 when I started running. That includes a trail race, a nice double digit long run under a 9-minute mile pace and, after tomorrow, more than 80 miles for the month.
- I’m thinking about doing an “core streak” in February — an exercise every day than engages the core. I’ll think of some guidelines in the next couple of days, but I think it would a great addition to what already seems to be working for me in the past few weeks.
- Speaking of what’s working, the 100 push-ups challenge is back in full force. I struggled a bit last night, but I’ve stayed solidly in column 2 and have seen an increase of 10 with my max test in this short time. This time around, I have realized one of major problems with not ever completing this or getting beyond 4 weeks — my goal has never been to do 100 consecutive push-ups. That defeats the whole purpose. My goal, this time, is to do that.
- I’m not ready to talk about weight gain/loss, but I have lost a very little bit each week this month. In looking back at various times I’ve written about weight, I tend to say the same thing. I just know I want to lose a few pounds and hit the Shamrock Half Marathon with weight not being at the forefront of my mind. I know that I’ll weigh less than 2 years ago when I set my PR, and getting another few pounds off me will be me an additional confidence boost.
- I haven’t talked much about my goals for Shamrock, but I will soon. I need a speed test or two to figure out if my “A” goal in my mind right now is realistic. Only 7 weeks to go!
- Scott and I announced some great #runchat news last week — we are speaking at Fitbloggin’ 12. FitBloggin’s mission is “To bring together the community of health-conscious bloggers for education, networking and friendship.” You can read a little more HERE about us being at Fitbloggin’. We’ll have more details in the coming months.
First impressions
Posted January 26, 2012 at 8:23 pm | Tags: Garmin, gear, health, Holabird Sports, Saucony Mirage, Soleus GPS | 1 Comment »
Last week I hinted at some new shoes coming in the mail – a pair of Saucony Mirage. They arrived from Holabird Sports over the weekend and I finally got to run in them yesterday.
Saucony Mirage
I will never judge a shoe by one run, but I really liked the way they felt. The lightness of the shoe was much nicer than I expected.
I got these shoes because I am a huge fan of trying something new without going too extreme. I am pretty sure I won’t get a pair of Vibram’s or anything less of a shoe than the Mirage any time soon. Notice that I’m not saying “never.”
If I can transition to this shoe quickly I will, but for now I’m not going to force the issue. I’ll have one or two runs a week in them before anything high mileage. That said, I would love to wear these awesomely green shoes for the Shamrock Half.
I also have another new product in my hands … or on my wrist – a Soleus GPS 1.0. It’s a long story about how I got this watch, but I want to thank Soleus for the opportunity to wear this.
Soleus came onto the scene recently with an affordable GPS option with a watch that is just that – a normal looking watch with GPS features. Unlike Garmin or other similar companies, you cannot download the data to a computer.
After a few runs with the watch, I like it a lot. The connection to a GPS is quick and the various screen options are nice. I do miss the data that my Garmin 205 provides, however, I never really started using those features until last year. I still don’t download my data often, but I do like looking at elevation profiles and maps on crazy runs.
I have done some comparison with the Garmin – the first run it was just .06 more on a 5.3 mile run; with a co-worker it was .15 more on a 3-mile run. I know that GPS watches read differently and aren’t 100% accurate, but I will continue to compare the two as I decide on which one I like better.
How I handle not having quick access to elevation or maps is yet to be seen. The question is, do I really need it? The quick answer is no. I did fine without it for years. Perhaps I’ll keep my Garmin for those crazier runs, although it seems ridiculous to leave it sitting around when I can easily sell it. My Garmin, though, is old and I don’t know how long it will last.
On the health side of things, I am finally feeling better. I’d say I’m about 90% now – still a little ways to go, but I’ll definitely be ready for 10 miles this weekend.
Ups and downs of feeling bad
Posted January 23, 2012 at 1:10 pm | Tags: health, Shamrock Half | 5 Comments »
Three weeks into the year and I can’t believe that I’m saying training for the Shamrock Half has gotten off to a bad start. Sort of.
Last weekend, I wrote about not feeling well. My mileage fell short by a few miles and I had a long run that just didn’t feel right. It was nice to push it, but it left me feeling bad later in the day.
All last week I struggled with feeling good — lots of snot, headaches and everything else associated with a cold. That led to completely skipping a run, something I haven’t done in a while.
Then yesterday I felt pretty good again. My head was stopped up, but I felt like I could think clear. I went out for 8 miles and had a great run. While it was a bit cold, I enjoyed every second of it. The super snot rockets I got out made me feel even better.
Then yesterday afternoon I took a nap that made me feel crappy again. Same thing last night; then today it’s like I couldn’t even wake up. I decided to stay home from work because going to work every day last week obviously didn’t make me feel better.
Now that it’s afternoon, I once again don’t feel too bad. This up and down and up and down thing is annoying — I feel like the end is near and I know that taking today off running will only help.
Today is all about rest and fluids. I want to run tomorrow and I want to run 10 miles this weekend. I want to have a normal week of training and get my focus back on what I want to do for the Shamrock Half.
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