So, here I am in D.C. on a business trip. The only set of foot wear that I brought with me are my boots. Why no running shoes? Well, beside them not fitting in my carryons, my desire not to have to pay extra for a checked bag, I’ve decided this trip is going to be a week where I don’t run. I would like to, but I have no real desire to run in D.C. in sub-40 degree weather – I really don’t like running around cars and traffic, and there is no way not to encounter those when staying in a hotel in downtown D.C.
So what to do to keep in shape? Good old pushups, situps and squats. 100 of each, in sets of 10 at a time. Maybe some other things that can get done on the floor without anything other than bodyweight. Like burpees, or wall sits for time. Simple stuff to at least maintain some semblance of exercise.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
My Running Journal, 0223210
Today was a so-so run. Pace was nothing spectacular – 10:15 average pace for 2 miles. I got to the end of mile one and really started to reconsider my choice of running a marathon. I mean, really? 26.2 miles, when you huff and puff and feel like stopping after only one?
I’m sure I am going to feel and think that a lot this next year, until I am wrapped up in a foil blankie, wheezing and shaking after completing the marathon.
I had my metronome set to 90 BPM this morning, and that lasted for about half a block. I think 90 BPM is a pace that I need to work up to – the difference between 80 and 90 is huge – it may not sound like much but trying to get my feet moving that fast was an effort in itself. So I dialed back the metronome to 80, and took off. Sore in pretty much all of the same spots. The good thing is that my hip isn’t bothering me quite as much. Still sore, still tight, but a little bit smoother as far as running and walking goes.
I’ve been thinking about running first thing in the morning. The primary reason that I am out on the road as early as I am (and to be honest, 6:30am is not early morning), is to keep myself from forming an excuse not to run for the day. I have nothing else scheduled at that time, and so there is no real reason why I shouldn’t use that time for running. I curious, however, about what early morning running is doing for my metabolism and endurance building. Without getting too far into the science of endurance metabolism, I’m wondering if an early morning workout is a good idea. Not if it is a good idea as far as getting in exercise, but as far as using the average pace from the morning run as what I am judging myself by.
I don’t eat immediately before runs, and so I am working off of what ever my body has immediately available right after waking up – I am effectively fasting prior to the workout, and so my blood glucose levels should be lower. This could account for the overall feeling of fatigue during the early morning run. Honestly, I doubt that this is anything more than me overthinking it, but I am going to start testing my blood glucose levels in the morning before and after each run. In the past I have had moderately high blood glucose levels right after waking up. We’ll see – the downside is that test strips for blood glucose testing tend to be a dollar apiece, and since I am not a diabetic, and I do not have health insurance, the cost of a 50 pack of test strips will come right out of my pocket.
I was thinking about running in cold weather, and how we used to dress for it. Back in the Corps, on cold days we would put on our cotton t-shirts, nylon PT shorts, cotton socks, and then over top of that would go cotton sweatpants and sweatshirts. Compared to what I’m wearing today – Capilene thermal top, midweight fleece shirt, insulated compression tights, nylon shorts, and wool socks.
Clothes have changed, but it’s still cold before the sun comes up.
I’m sure I am going to feel and think that a lot this next year, until I am wrapped up in a foil blankie, wheezing and shaking after completing the marathon.
I had my metronome set to 90 BPM this morning, and that lasted for about half a block. I think 90 BPM is a pace that I need to work up to – the difference between 80 and 90 is huge – it may not sound like much but trying to get my feet moving that fast was an effort in itself. So I dialed back the metronome to 80, and took off. Sore in pretty much all of the same spots. The good thing is that my hip isn’t bothering me quite as much. Still sore, still tight, but a little bit smoother as far as running and walking goes.
I’ve been thinking about running first thing in the morning. The primary reason that I am out on the road as early as I am (and to be honest, 6:30am is not early morning), is to keep myself from forming an excuse not to run for the day. I have nothing else scheduled at that time, and so there is no real reason why I shouldn’t use that time for running. I curious, however, about what early morning running is doing for my metabolism and endurance building. Without getting too far into the science of endurance metabolism, I’m wondering if an early morning workout is a good idea. Not if it is a good idea as far as getting in exercise, but as far as using the average pace from the morning run as what I am judging myself by.
I don’t eat immediately before runs, and so I am working off of what ever my body has immediately available right after waking up – I am effectively fasting prior to the workout, and so my blood glucose levels should be lower. This could account for the overall feeling of fatigue during the early morning run. Honestly, I doubt that this is anything more than me overthinking it, but I am going to start testing my blood glucose levels in the morning before and after each run. In the past I have had moderately high blood glucose levels right after waking up. We’ll see – the downside is that test strips for blood glucose testing tend to be a dollar apiece, and since I am not a diabetic, and I do not have health insurance, the cost of a 50 pack of test strips will come right out of my pocket.
I was thinking about running in cold weather, and how we used to dress for it. Back in the Corps, on cold days we would put on our cotton t-shirts, nylon PT shorts, cotton socks, and then over top of that would go cotton sweatpants and sweatshirts. Compared to what I’m wearing today – Capilene thermal top, midweight fleece shirt, insulated compression tights, nylon shorts, and wool socks.
Clothes have changed, but it’s still cold before the sun comes up.
Monday, February 22, 2010
My "Running" Journal, 022210
Today is a rest day. Apparently, so was yesterday. I was scheduled to run a 3 miler on the Leif Ericksson trail, but I made the decision not to because of a nagging pain in my hip. So yesterday was pretty uneventful.
I’m not too worried about missing yesterday’s run, but I am about to go on a week long business trip to two different cities, and so my workout and running schedule are undoubtedly going to take a hit. I’m going to try and get out and get at least a one miler in – first half of the trip is going to be in D.C., and while there are some decent areas to run in near where I will be staying, the weather looks like it will be pretty crappy. So, we’ll see if I can get motivated enough to run. The second half of the trip is to LA and then a roadtrip back up to Portland.
I’ll get my run in tomorrow, but a one week break, while it doesn’t seem like a long time, is, in terms of working to build cardiovascular endurance. I really don’t want to come back home and have to get back into the shape that I am in now.
The good news is that the nagging pain in my hip, while it hasn’t gone away, has reduced in how it is affecting my stride. By Saturday evening I was pretty much hobbling around. My primary concern right now about that is not exacerbating the injury. Taking it easy on Sunday has allowed me a little bit of time to rest the area.
I’m not too worried about missing yesterday’s run, but I am about to go on a week long business trip to two different cities, and so my workout and running schedule are undoubtedly going to take a hit. I’m going to try and get out and get at least a one miler in – first half of the trip is going to be in D.C., and while there are some decent areas to run in near where I will be staying, the weather looks like it will be pretty crappy. So, we’ll see if I can get motivated enough to run. The second half of the trip is to LA and then a roadtrip back up to Portland.
I’ll get my run in tomorrow, but a one week break, while it doesn’t seem like a long time, is, in terms of working to build cardiovascular endurance. I really don’t want to come back home and have to get back into the shape that I am in now.
The good news is that the nagging pain in my hip, while it hasn’t gone away, has reduced in how it is affecting my stride. By Saturday evening I was pretty much hobbling around. My primary concern right now about that is not exacerbating the injury. Taking it easy on Sunday has allowed me a little bit of time to rest the area.
Friday, February 19, 2010
My Running Journal, 021910
Today is a rest day – no running, no lifting. Just sit back and rest. Knowing this, I slept in this morning. Instead of getting out of bed at 6am, I got out of bed at 7am. The extra hour felt good.
Rest and recuperation are components of the overall process of increasing physical capacity. You can only go for so long in top gear before you run out of gas. And this applies to all things. If you never give yourself the space to ease back, you will most likely burnout at some point, or collapse completely when you do finally take a break.
Sleep is like that. From what I have read, sleeping like a “stone” is not always a good thing. Dropping into bed at the end of the day, and then waking up either fatigued or feeling like you didn’t get any sleep is a good indicator that you have been pushing yourself for too long. There have been several studies/analyses done of sleep patterns, and there seems to be a trend towards binge sleeping. You know, when you sleep poorly throughout the week, and then spend your off days sleeping away the morning. As a child or teenager, this isn’t so bad, as your body in the process of building itself, and most of that growth happens when you are asleep. As an adult, most of the time spent in deep sleep is when your body is repairing itself.
The extra hour that I slept this morning wasn’t a “binge,” – in my defense, I had a cold yesterday, and didn’t really realize it until after I had already gone on my run – I chalked up the stuffy sinuses and runny nose to the spring-like weather, and all of the blooming going on. It wasn’t until later in the morning when I realized that I was considerably more fatigued than normal, light-headed, and really achey. All signs that you have a cold. So I cooked myself after lunch, and before my Crossfit onramp. I have a heated massage table, and cranked that up, and tuned the heat up in the treatment room to about 80. Hopped on the table, and took a nap. Woke up about an hour later, feeling very hot, dehydrated, and not very achy. I drank about a gallon of water, took a gram of Vitamin C, and began to feel a great deal better. Not fatigued, less achy, few if any telltale signs of an actual cold. I still had the runny nose, but again, spring-like weather and all.
My Onramp class focused on front and overhead squats last night, as well as an exercise called “Burpees.” I know burpees as “8 count body builders,” or “suck.” The very basic concept of a burpee is that you start standing, then you are face down on the ground, and then you are back standing up, jump and clap. That is one. The USMC taught me a variation on that – a much more regimented version that does the same thing, but is broken down into an eight count movement. From standing upright, the count is
Bend over at the waist, hands to the hips (1)
Hands to the ground, drop to a squat position (2)
Jump the legs back into a plank position (3)
Lower your chest to the ground (4)
Push back up to a plank position (5)
Jump back into the squat (6)
Stand upright (7)
Jump up and clap over head (8).
Repeat until you vomit (seriously, 8 count body builders are the definition of Ad Nauseum)
The workout last night was 21-15-9 overhead squats and burpees, for time. I finished in 6:15, and I think I managed 5 disciplined 8 counts, and then everything just sort of turned to slop.
By the end of the class, I was winded. I got home, ate a salad with some bread (exactly the opposite of the recommendation of the Paleo diet), soaked, and went to bed. The extra hour allowed me some more recovery time, and I am happy to say that whatever cloud bug I had, I’m pretty sure I cooked it out of myself.
Rest and recuperation are components of the overall process of increasing physical capacity. You can only go for so long in top gear before you run out of gas. And this applies to all things. If you never give yourself the space to ease back, you will most likely burnout at some point, or collapse completely when you do finally take a break.
Sleep is like that. From what I have read, sleeping like a “stone” is not always a good thing. Dropping into bed at the end of the day, and then waking up either fatigued or feeling like you didn’t get any sleep is a good indicator that you have been pushing yourself for too long. There have been several studies/analyses done of sleep patterns, and there seems to be a trend towards binge sleeping. You know, when you sleep poorly throughout the week, and then spend your off days sleeping away the morning. As a child or teenager, this isn’t so bad, as your body in the process of building itself, and most of that growth happens when you are asleep. As an adult, most of the time spent in deep sleep is when your body is repairing itself.
The extra hour that I slept this morning wasn’t a “binge,” – in my defense, I had a cold yesterday, and didn’t really realize it until after I had already gone on my run – I chalked up the stuffy sinuses and runny nose to the spring-like weather, and all of the blooming going on. It wasn’t until later in the morning when I realized that I was considerably more fatigued than normal, light-headed, and really achey. All signs that you have a cold. So I cooked myself after lunch, and before my Crossfit onramp. I have a heated massage table, and cranked that up, and tuned the heat up in the treatment room to about 80. Hopped on the table, and took a nap. Woke up about an hour later, feeling very hot, dehydrated, and not very achy. I drank about a gallon of water, took a gram of Vitamin C, and began to feel a great deal better. Not fatigued, less achy, few if any telltale signs of an actual cold. I still had the runny nose, but again, spring-like weather and all.
My Onramp class focused on front and overhead squats last night, as well as an exercise called “Burpees.” I know burpees as “8 count body builders,” or “suck.” The very basic concept of a burpee is that you start standing, then you are face down on the ground, and then you are back standing up, jump and clap. That is one. The USMC taught me a variation on that – a much more regimented version that does the same thing, but is broken down into an eight count movement. From standing upright, the count is
Bend over at the waist, hands to the hips (1)
Hands to the ground, drop to a squat position (2)
Jump the legs back into a plank position (3)
Lower your chest to the ground (4)
Push back up to a plank position (5)
Jump back into the squat (6)
Stand upright (7)
Jump up and clap over head (8).
Repeat until you vomit (seriously, 8 count body builders are the definition of Ad Nauseum)
The workout last night was 21-15-9 overhead squats and burpees, for time. I finished in 6:15, and I think I managed 5 disciplined 8 counts, and then everything just sort of turned to slop.
By the end of the class, I was winded. I got home, ate a salad with some bread (exactly the opposite of the recommendation of the Paleo diet), soaked, and went to bed. The extra hour allowed me some more recovery time, and I am happy to say that whatever cloud bug I had, I’m pretty sure I cooked it out of myself.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
My Running Journal 021810
Yesterday I laid out three goals
1. Metronome
2. Run faster.
3. Instead of a 2 miler, out and back, I am going to jog ¼ mile to warm up and get the hitch out of my giddy-up, and then run a mile for time.
Well, I completed goals 1 and 2. Goal three, not so much. I got a small quartz metronome. Now I can set a pace, and keep it. Every sounded “beep” should be accompanied by a left foot fall. This morning I set the metronome to 80 BPM. That is nice steady cadence, and works out to 160 steps per minute, and is 10 BPM slower than a “double time” count. Working out the math – figuring that an average slow running stride covers about 36 inches, works out to about 480 feet per minute, and an 11 minute mile. Which is pretty slow, but workable for right now – 80bpm is what I ran this morning. And I averaged 10:37 per mile – the first mile was at an 11:13 pace, and the second mile was at a 10:00 pace. So goal two was met as well.
Goal three, well, let’s say that the fatigue has started to stack up – it was hard to motivate my legs to lengthen out much more this morning – hip is still really tight, and it is making running from the hips painful.
But I finished faster than I started, and while I still don’t think I am anywhere near fast, I will get there.
Having the metronome allows me to really focus on form – and is a taskmaster as well. The idea behind using the metronome is to really set a cadence count that stays consistent – Chi runners use them, as do POSE runners. For the Chi runner, you assume your proper running form, get it into first gear (an easy trot) and count the number of left footfalls in one minute. This gives you a nice solid baseline – in my case, when I took the Chi-running intro, my steady cadence was around 88 bpm. So 80 bpm is a bit slower than my natural cadence – but this morning it felt faster than the cadence that I did earlier in this week. Pose runners aim for 90bpm – or about 180 footfalls per minute – again a military “Double time” is 180 footfalls a minute. In formation runs, 180 steps at 36 inches a step equals a mile in just under 10 minutes. A marathon at that speed would be done in 4 hours, 23 minutes. So I will increase my cadence to 88 and see what happens.
As far as increasing your speed, I know, at least as far as someone practice Chi-running is concerned, the increase in speed is not an increase in cadence. The increase comes about from increasing your forward lean as well as your stride length. I was trying to practice some of that this morning – leaning forward and allowing myself to fall forward, to increase my forward momentum. In order to complete a mile in 8 minutes at a cadence of 88bpm, my stride needs to lengthen out to 45 inches. This morning, my 11:13 pace mile means my stride was averaging just under 35 inches.
In addition to the metronome, I decided that getting some insulation on my legs was a good idea. I have plenty of long underwear which could probably work, but they are designed as base layers and have no wind resistance built in, nor are they designed with running in mind. Having the seams in the correct spot saves a load of chafing and pain down the road. I have been looking at ¾ length tights – with the tight only coming to below the knee, and not to the ankle, I avoid any snag that might occur, as I have a tendency to brush my heel across my ankle as I run. Plus, it isn’t cold enough for me to cover completely up. And I have great calves.
So I poke around my local store (Pacesetter Athletic on Woodstock). Really nice, helpful people who had no idea of what I was talking about. I asked for ¾ length tights, and they directed me to the women’s capris. Eyeroll. They suggested, since they didn’t have ¾ lengths, that I should buy a pair of full lengths and then have them hemmed. Really nice, helpful people, who operate a store dedicated to selling running gear, who have no idea about the products available. So much for supporting the local retailer.
I wound my way towards Next Adventure, to no avail. I remembered that there was a running store somewhere in that neighborhood, but then realized that I was thinking of the Bike and Hike… actually, the store I was thinking about is Portland Running Company. Oh well. I ended up down at the U.S. Outdoor Store downtown, as REI had been stripped bare of tights that would have come close to what I was looking for. I came home with a pair of CW-X Insulator Stabilyx tights. Not only are they ¾ length, but they are lightly insulated, have wind resistant panels on the thighs, and, like all of the other CW-X products, it has a suspension system akin to kinesiotaping – support bands of heavy elastic fabric. The ¾ lengths wrap the quadriceps along the lines of the IT band, region of the adductors, and some other key places. They fit very, very snug, and provide muscle compression, insulation, and wind resistance. Which is awesome. The only drawback, that I see, is the support that they provide. The support itself is great – strong webbing that helps hold things in place – but therein lays the problem. I am right at the beginning of my training, and need to get my body in shape to run. I could argue (and will) that by providing support externally, my body may not develop and learn the internal support needed. Part of my overall goal is to explore how far I can get without using any of the technology out there. I am conflicted about my nice new tights – I’m worried that they may make me lazy, complacent, overly confident, or dependent on them.
How far can I go as I am?
1. Metronome
2. Run faster.
3. Instead of a 2 miler, out and back, I am going to jog ¼ mile to warm up and get the hitch out of my giddy-up, and then run a mile for time.
Well, I completed goals 1 and 2. Goal three, not so much. I got a small quartz metronome. Now I can set a pace, and keep it. Every sounded “beep” should be accompanied by a left foot fall. This morning I set the metronome to 80 BPM. That is nice steady cadence, and works out to 160 steps per minute, and is 10 BPM slower than a “double time” count. Working out the math – figuring that an average slow running stride covers about 36 inches, works out to about 480 feet per minute, and an 11 minute mile. Which is pretty slow, but workable for right now – 80bpm is what I ran this morning. And I averaged 10:37 per mile – the first mile was at an 11:13 pace, and the second mile was at a 10:00 pace. So goal two was met as well.
Goal three, well, let’s say that the fatigue has started to stack up – it was hard to motivate my legs to lengthen out much more this morning – hip is still really tight, and it is making running from the hips painful.
But I finished faster than I started, and while I still don’t think I am anywhere near fast, I will get there.
Having the metronome allows me to really focus on form – and is a taskmaster as well. The idea behind using the metronome is to really set a cadence count that stays consistent – Chi runners use them, as do POSE runners. For the Chi runner, you assume your proper running form, get it into first gear (an easy trot) and count the number of left footfalls in one minute. This gives you a nice solid baseline – in my case, when I took the Chi-running intro, my steady cadence was around 88 bpm. So 80 bpm is a bit slower than my natural cadence – but this morning it felt faster than the cadence that I did earlier in this week. Pose runners aim for 90bpm – or about 180 footfalls per minute – again a military “Double time” is 180 footfalls a minute. In formation runs, 180 steps at 36 inches a step equals a mile in just under 10 minutes. A marathon at that speed would be done in 4 hours, 23 minutes. So I will increase my cadence to 88 and see what happens.
As far as increasing your speed, I know, at least as far as someone practice Chi-running is concerned, the increase in speed is not an increase in cadence. The increase comes about from increasing your forward lean as well as your stride length. I was trying to practice some of that this morning – leaning forward and allowing myself to fall forward, to increase my forward momentum. In order to complete a mile in 8 minutes at a cadence of 88bpm, my stride needs to lengthen out to 45 inches. This morning, my 11:13 pace mile means my stride was averaging just under 35 inches.
In addition to the metronome, I decided that getting some insulation on my legs was a good idea. I have plenty of long underwear which could probably work, but they are designed as base layers and have no wind resistance built in, nor are they designed with running in mind. Having the seams in the correct spot saves a load of chafing and pain down the road. I have been looking at ¾ length tights – with the tight only coming to below the knee, and not to the ankle, I avoid any snag that might occur, as I have a tendency to brush my heel across my ankle as I run. Plus, it isn’t cold enough for me to cover completely up. And I have great calves.
So I poke around my local store (Pacesetter Athletic on Woodstock). Really nice, helpful people who had no idea of what I was talking about. I asked for ¾ length tights, and they directed me to the women’s capris. Eyeroll. They suggested, since they didn’t have ¾ lengths, that I should buy a pair of full lengths and then have them hemmed. Really nice, helpful people, who operate a store dedicated to selling running gear, who have no idea about the products available. So much for supporting the local retailer.
I wound my way towards Next Adventure, to no avail. I remembered that there was a running store somewhere in that neighborhood, but then realized that I was thinking of the Bike and Hike… actually, the store I was thinking about is Portland Running Company. Oh well. I ended up down at the U.S. Outdoor Store downtown, as REI had been stripped bare of tights that would have come close to what I was looking for. I came home with a pair of CW-X Insulator Stabilyx tights. Not only are they ¾ length, but they are lightly insulated, have wind resistant panels on the thighs, and, like all of the other CW-X products, it has a suspension system akin to kinesiotaping – support bands of heavy elastic fabric. The ¾ lengths wrap the quadriceps along the lines of the IT band, region of the adductors, and some other key places. They fit very, very snug, and provide muscle compression, insulation, and wind resistance. Which is awesome. The only drawback, that I see, is the support that they provide. The support itself is great – strong webbing that helps hold things in place – but therein lays the problem. I am right at the beginning of my training, and need to get my body in shape to run. I could argue (and will) that by providing support externally, my body may not develop and learn the internal support needed. Part of my overall goal is to explore how far I can get without using any of the technology out there. I am conflicted about my nice new tights – I’m worried that they may make me lazy, complacent, overly confident, or dependent on them.
How far can I go as I am?
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Running Journal, 021710
Today I ran 3 miles in 36:27.
Slow. Too slow for my liking. I felt like I was running through molasses this morning. Painful, tired molasses. 36 and a half minutes is really way too long – I probably could have walked the course in less time than that – and unfortunately, I’m probably not using hyperbole.
I comfort myself, a teeny tiny bit, knowing that, since I started all of this, this run constitutes my 9th morning run (that I have been tracking). A month ago I was struggling to complete a mile. This morning I wasn’t really struggling – right at the start I had to stop to walk a bit to warm up my hamstring, but other than that, keeping going wasn’t the problem.
Picking up the pace was the problem. I think part of the reason why I was running so slowly this morning, beside having to stop or really slow down to not get hit by cars, was that I was thinking about my stride. Running relaxed still isn’t something that I am doing without thinking about. I’m trying to keep my toes relaxed or slightly dorsi-flexed, landing on the ball of my foot, trying not to let my heel strike, knees bent, hips relaxed, back straight, head up, etc., etc. This morning, at times, I almost felt as if I was running in place – as if I didn’t have any forward inertia.
I know part of that is fatigue – Since the beginning of this month I have started running four times a week, Crossfit three times a week, and a Taiko class once a week. Lots, and lots of energy expenditure. Even with a rest day or two thrown in, this morning was a report by my body that I am pushing it.
I know that this is just the beginning. That my body will get used to it, and get stronger. And so far I have just been going on jogs.
Tomorrow in the Crossfit class we are going to discuss setting goals. Small, short term, measurable and achievable goals.
So I have three goals that I can complete before tomorrow’s Crossfit class.
1. Metronome. I need to set a steady pace count – my chanting to myself just isn’t cutting it. So I am going to find a small device that acts as a metronome, and will run with it clipped to my running gear tomorrow morning.
2. Run faster. I’m jogging, not pushing too hard for fear of really messing up my hamstring. But I think that I can definitely move faster.
3. Tomorrow morning, instead of a 2 miler, out and back, I am going to jog ¼ mile to warm up and get the hitch out of my giddy-up, and then run a mile for time.
As an aside, we were introduced to a popular structure of Crossfit workouts last night – the tapering reps. Last night we finished the class with 3 rounds of 20-15-10 pushups, squats, pullups. That means 20 of each exercise, and then 15 of each exercise, and then 10 of each exercise. For time. I finished in 8:35, and I was the last one. But I finished, and finished as strong as I was able to. So that probably counts for something.
Slow. Too slow for my liking. I felt like I was running through molasses this morning. Painful, tired molasses. 36 and a half minutes is really way too long – I probably could have walked the course in less time than that – and unfortunately, I’m probably not using hyperbole.
I comfort myself, a teeny tiny bit, knowing that, since I started all of this, this run constitutes my 9th morning run (that I have been tracking). A month ago I was struggling to complete a mile. This morning I wasn’t really struggling – right at the start I had to stop to walk a bit to warm up my hamstring, but other than that, keeping going wasn’t the problem.
Picking up the pace was the problem. I think part of the reason why I was running so slowly this morning, beside having to stop or really slow down to not get hit by cars, was that I was thinking about my stride. Running relaxed still isn’t something that I am doing without thinking about. I’m trying to keep my toes relaxed or slightly dorsi-flexed, landing on the ball of my foot, trying not to let my heel strike, knees bent, hips relaxed, back straight, head up, etc., etc. This morning, at times, I almost felt as if I was running in place – as if I didn’t have any forward inertia.
I know part of that is fatigue – Since the beginning of this month I have started running four times a week, Crossfit three times a week, and a Taiko class once a week. Lots, and lots of energy expenditure. Even with a rest day or two thrown in, this morning was a report by my body that I am pushing it.
I know that this is just the beginning. That my body will get used to it, and get stronger. And so far I have just been going on jogs.
Tomorrow in the Crossfit class we are going to discuss setting goals. Small, short term, measurable and achievable goals.
So I have three goals that I can complete before tomorrow’s Crossfit class.
1. Metronome. I need to set a steady pace count – my chanting to myself just isn’t cutting it. So I am going to find a small device that acts as a metronome, and will run with it clipped to my running gear tomorrow morning.
2. Run faster. I’m jogging, not pushing too hard for fear of really messing up my hamstring. But I think that I can definitely move faster.
3. Tomorrow morning, instead of a 2 miler, out and back, I am going to jog ¼ mile to warm up and get the hitch out of my giddy-up, and then run a mile for time.
As an aside, we were introduced to a popular structure of Crossfit workouts last night – the tapering reps. Last night we finished the class with 3 rounds of 20-15-10 pushups, squats, pullups. That means 20 of each exercise, and then 15 of each exercise, and then 10 of each exercise. For time. I finished in 8:35, and I was the last one. But I finished, and finished as strong as I was able to. So that probably counts for something.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
My Running Journal, 021610
Today was supposed to be a 2 miler. I mapped it out, and the route that I decided to run mapped out to be about .02 over – so off I went. Turns out, according to the GPS, that it was only 1.97 miles. 150ish feet short. Looking at the route as charted by the GPA, it looks like I was zigzagging all over the place – if the track is to be believed, I was veering from one side of the road to the other. I’m pretty sure I was running straight down the middle of the road. Since I am using an Iphone, I think it may be using a combination of the GPS chip to track, along with triangulation from cell towers and WiFi base stations. I’m going to turn off the WiFi tomorrow when I head out, and see if that has an effect. There are also all of these spikes in the data chart for my speed and pace - I’m trying to figure out how to correlate the spikes with where I am on the course – like when my pace drops dramatically, is it because I am slowing down as I approach an intersection, or is it because I have made a turn? I need to figure this out, because there are sections of my runs where I have a nice steady, pretty consistent pace, and then suddenly there is this enormous spike.
This morning I did 1.97 miles in 20 minutes, 27 seconds. My pace averaged 10:15 mins/mile, and I finished faster than I started. First mile was down in 10:34, and the remainder I managed to bump up my pace to 9:54. Still not very fast, but this is still only the 3rd week.
Getting motivated to run this morning took a little bit of effort, but once I was up and out of bed, it was much easier to actually get going. I was hemming and hawing between doing the scheduled workout (2 miles), or switching over to my Vibram Five Fingers and doing some nearly barefoot work. The longer distance won out – I need to focus on improving my baseline cardio, and I can work in barefoot stuff later.
The first half of a mile this morning was tough – my hip was really bugging me. I isn’t the “I’m about to rip a muscle” sharp stabbing pain, but a dull ache that says that the muscle is in spasm, and isn’t cooperating. After the first half mile or so, the hip starts to warm up and ease up a little bit, but I am going to have to really focus on not injuring myself.
This morning I did 1.97 miles in 20 minutes, 27 seconds. My pace averaged 10:15 mins/mile, and I finished faster than I started. First mile was down in 10:34, and the remainder I managed to bump up my pace to 9:54. Still not very fast, but this is still only the 3rd week.
Getting motivated to run this morning took a little bit of effort, but once I was up and out of bed, it was much easier to actually get going. I was hemming and hawing between doing the scheduled workout (2 miles), or switching over to my Vibram Five Fingers and doing some nearly barefoot work. The longer distance won out – I need to focus on improving my baseline cardio, and I can work in barefoot stuff later.
The first half of a mile this morning was tough – my hip was really bugging me. I isn’t the “I’m about to rip a muscle” sharp stabbing pain, but a dull ache that says that the muscle is in spasm, and isn’t cooperating. After the first half mile or so, the hip starts to warm up and ease up a little bit, but I am going to have to really focus on not injuring myself.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
My Running Journal, 021310
Today was day three of my Crossfit Onramp experience. The exercises we covered were deadlifts and box jumps. Both a very easy exercises as far as getting the form right, but because of their simplicity they are also very easy to do wrong. Especially Deadlifts. The exercise today was a partnered 10 minutes AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) of 7 Deadlifts and 7 Box jumps. One partner exercises while the other rests, and when both partners have completed one set of each exercise, then they have completed one round. My partner and I did six rounds – focusing more on form than on speed right now. The DL bar was (only) 95lbs, and the box was about 18” tall.
I’m pretty sure we could have done DLs of 115 to 135 lbs and still had good form – in fact I think with more weight, my form probably would have been better – the reason being that with low weights it is relatively easy to unconsciously cheat during the exercise – I “don’t” need perfect form to lift half of my body weight, but I would need it to get up to 2/3rds, and good form also allows you to be energy conservative. I am pretty sure that I was cheating at certain points, if only because I was aware of flaws in my form and was still chugging along.
And I can’t blame that on the weight – we were at a lower weight because we were partnered up, and my partner needed to focus on his form as well as dealing with the weight. Once you have entrained yourself to use good form, there is less thinking about overall body positioning and more brain power can be pushed into your lift.
I think that today’s workout is a good replacement for the scheduled 30 minutes of fast walking in the running training. Tomorrow is a 3.5 miler on the trail, which will probably be a fun, dirty, muddy jog.
I’m pretty sure we could have done DLs of 115 to 135 lbs and still had good form – in fact I think with more weight, my form probably would have been better – the reason being that with low weights it is relatively easy to unconsciously cheat during the exercise – I “don’t” need perfect form to lift half of my body weight, but I would need it to get up to 2/3rds, and good form also allows you to be energy conservative. I am pretty sure that I was cheating at certain points, if only because I was aware of flaws in my form and was still chugging along.
And I can’t blame that on the weight – we were at a lower weight because we were partnered up, and my partner needed to focus on his form as well as dealing with the weight. Once you have entrained yourself to use good form, there is less thinking about overall body positioning and more brain power can be pushed into your lift.
I think that today’s workout is a good replacement for the scheduled 30 minutes of fast walking in the running training. Tomorrow is a 3.5 miler on the trail, which will probably be a fun, dirty, muddy jog.
Friday, February 12, 2010
My Running Journal, 021210
Today is a rest day, and I feel like I need it. So no running this AM. I did zero miles in zero minutes, at a pace of zero minutes/mile.
Slept in until 0630. It’s amazing how luxurious it can feel to know that you don’t have a reason to get out of bed “right now.” Which kind of made it tough to motivate myself to even stand up.
Last night was the second training session of my Crossfit Onramp experience. We focused on back squats (weight bar across your shoulders, behind your head), and kettlebell swings. After learning the proper form, we used what we learned. 5 rounds of 10 squats and 10 kettlebell swings, with a partner, and you are doing it for time. So while one person is doing the squats, the other person is swinging the kettlebell.
Being that it has been a good long time since I honestly did a back squat (sure, there probably have been dishonest ones), my partner and I opted for a relatively light weight of 95 lbs. And the kettlebell that we were swinging weighed about 26 lbs. The each round is completed when each partner has completed one set of each exercise. We finished in about 5:27 minutes. And then my legs felt like rubber bands. Sore rubber bands.
I got home, drank some water, and soaked in the tub with some Epsom salts. This morning, when I was trying to get out of bed, I was thinking about how much it was going to hurt. I think that I may have even dreamt about how much it was going to suck – wiped out muscles that are sore. But getting up wasn’t all that difficult. I’m sore, sure, and stiff, but I can move around. All of the whimpering and whining is purely for show.
Given my profession, I do actually know all of the things that I can do to deal with the soreness and pain. But I haven’t bothered with much of it. Beside some stretching and massage to deal with the pain in my hip, everything else is par for the course. When you are planning on working out, some level of soreness and pain is eventually going to enter into the equation. And being prepared to handle it goes a long way to being able to maintain.
I think that a lot of people get into training routines and get into the pain zone, and then try and figure out how to deal with it. I think that trainers should focus first on recovery strategies before they are needed – when you end up having this happen, you do this. And it doesn’t need to be explicit – encouraging people to stay hydrated (hopefully) means that their bodies can process metabolic waste from their muscles faster. Proper deep breathing techniques improve the exchange of CO2 from your lungs – and CO2 is a metabolic waste. All of that panting that you do after a strenuous workout is actually your body trying to help you in the long run. Applying heat and massage to a muscle helps it to relax and allows for increased circulation to it, which again, improves the flushing of the bad and bringing in of the new.
Not to say that deep breathing, hydration, stretching, massage and heat are all the ultimate panacea for muscle pain, but combined they go a long way. Doing the simple stuff first, before getting into needles, deep tissue massage and herbs, allows you to really explore your baseline potential. What can I do without support?
Slept in until 0630. It’s amazing how luxurious it can feel to know that you don’t have a reason to get out of bed “right now.” Which kind of made it tough to motivate myself to even stand up.
Last night was the second training session of my Crossfit Onramp experience. We focused on back squats (weight bar across your shoulders, behind your head), and kettlebell swings. After learning the proper form, we used what we learned. 5 rounds of 10 squats and 10 kettlebell swings, with a partner, and you are doing it for time. So while one person is doing the squats, the other person is swinging the kettlebell.
Being that it has been a good long time since I honestly did a back squat (sure, there probably have been dishonest ones), my partner and I opted for a relatively light weight of 95 lbs. And the kettlebell that we were swinging weighed about 26 lbs. The each round is completed when each partner has completed one set of each exercise. We finished in about 5:27 minutes. And then my legs felt like rubber bands. Sore rubber bands.
I got home, drank some water, and soaked in the tub with some Epsom salts. This morning, when I was trying to get out of bed, I was thinking about how much it was going to hurt. I think that I may have even dreamt about how much it was going to suck – wiped out muscles that are sore. But getting up wasn’t all that difficult. I’m sore, sure, and stiff, but I can move around. All of the whimpering and whining is purely for show.
Given my profession, I do actually know all of the things that I can do to deal with the soreness and pain. But I haven’t bothered with much of it. Beside some stretching and massage to deal with the pain in my hip, everything else is par for the course. When you are planning on working out, some level of soreness and pain is eventually going to enter into the equation. And being prepared to handle it goes a long way to being able to maintain.
I think that a lot of people get into training routines and get into the pain zone, and then try and figure out how to deal with it. I think that trainers should focus first on recovery strategies before they are needed – when you end up having this happen, you do this. And it doesn’t need to be explicit – encouraging people to stay hydrated (hopefully) means that their bodies can process metabolic waste from their muscles faster. Proper deep breathing techniques improve the exchange of CO2 from your lungs – and CO2 is a metabolic waste. All of that panting that you do after a strenuous workout is actually your body trying to help you in the long run. Applying heat and massage to a muscle helps it to relax and allows for increased circulation to it, which again, improves the flushing of the bad and bringing in of the new.
Not to say that deep breathing, hydration, stretching, massage and heat are all the ultimate panacea for muscle pain, but combined they go a long way. Doing the simple stuff first, before getting into needles, deep tissue massage and herbs, allows you to really explore your baseline potential. What can I do without support?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
My Running Journal, 021110
Ran 1.71 miles this AM in 18:11mins. Pace over the first mile was 11:05 mins/mile, and in the last .71 mile stretch I managed to pick it up to 9:28 mins/mile.
Not bad – finished faster than I started, felt fine after the run, and had a nice easy run for the most part – I chose a path that allowed me to run down the middle of the road. Running on the sidewalk is okay, except that the majority of the blocks around me are residential areas, which means that driveways cross the sidewalk surface. Which is like crossing a curb every 50-100 feet (or less, in some areas). Running on the side of the road is probably safer, but I’m on residential streets, and the crowning on the road is really steep – the center of the road is probably a good four or so inches taller than the edges. By staying in the middle of the road, I can avoid having to change my stride because one foot lands lower than the other.
This morning I was pretty much chanting a mantra the entire way “toes relaxed, land on the forward part of the foot, no heel strike.” As I’ve said before, I’ve taken a Chi-Running class, and have been watching videos of people using the POSE method as well. The idea is to run lightly. So I am trying that – this morning in addition to continually reminding myself to stay loose, to keep my toes relaxed and to not heel strike, I kept making sure that my chin was tucked or neutral, my back was straight, and that I wasn’t pushing off of the ground.
I was thinking about doing some sprints this morning, but instead I ran and extra .21 miles. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was until I was at my turn around point, and I decided there to add an extra five blocks (that, and the street signs in Portland are poorly placed and not often visible). I turned around after the extra blocks, and decided to just work on keeping a good stride while speeding up a little bit. I probably could have gotten my split time even lower – I had picked up my pace, and had a good amount of forward inertia – and of course at that point every intersection seemed to have a car in it.
18 minutes isn’t a very long time, but it is feeling like forever – running by myself in the quiet of the morning is probably a nice time for contemplation, but right now it just feels like forever. I’m making sure to not check my time right now until I finish. I’m hoping that this will allow me to develop a natural sense of my pace.
Overall, it was easier to run. Getting out of bed was a bit tough, but the run was easy. I’m hoping that they stay that way.
Not bad – finished faster than I started, felt fine after the run, and had a nice easy run for the most part – I chose a path that allowed me to run down the middle of the road. Running on the sidewalk is okay, except that the majority of the blocks around me are residential areas, which means that driveways cross the sidewalk surface. Which is like crossing a curb every 50-100 feet (or less, in some areas). Running on the side of the road is probably safer, but I’m on residential streets, and the crowning on the road is really steep – the center of the road is probably a good four or so inches taller than the edges. By staying in the middle of the road, I can avoid having to change my stride because one foot lands lower than the other.
This morning I was pretty much chanting a mantra the entire way “toes relaxed, land on the forward part of the foot, no heel strike.” As I’ve said before, I’ve taken a Chi-Running class, and have been watching videos of people using the POSE method as well. The idea is to run lightly. So I am trying that – this morning in addition to continually reminding myself to stay loose, to keep my toes relaxed and to not heel strike, I kept making sure that my chin was tucked or neutral, my back was straight, and that I wasn’t pushing off of the ground.
I was thinking about doing some sprints this morning, but instead I ran and extra .21 miles. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was until I was at my turn around point, and I decided there to add an extra five blocks (that, and the street signs in Portland are poorly placed and not often visible). I turned around after the extra blocks, and decided to just work on keeping a good stride while speeding up a little bit. I probably could have gotten my split time even lower – I had picked up my pace, and had a good amount of forward inertia – and of course at that point every intersection seemed to have a car in it.
18 minutes isn’t a very long time, but it is feeling like forever – running by myself in the quiet of the morning is probably a nice time for contemplation, but right now it just feels like forever. I’m making sure to not check my time right now until I finish. I’m hoping that this will allow me to develop a natural sense of my pace.
Overall, it was easier to run. Getting out of bed was a bit tough, but the run was easy. I’m hoping that they stay that way.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
My Running Journal, 021010
OOOOOH. I need a massage, a soak in a hot tub, a nice long sit in a steam room, and then another massage.
I ache. All over. But is a good ache – the kind that you get when you have worked out, and your body is letting you know it. There are few, if any sharp pains or intense burning sensations – actually, there are none. Just a whole body ache – every muscle feels like it has worked, and is now fatigued and tired.
Today I ran 3.04 miles in 34.25. This averages out to an average pace of 11:15 per mile. Which isn’t terrible, but it isn’t fast. And it isn’t remarkably faster than last week’s 2.95 miles in 33:39 – which averages to 11:24 per mile. Nine seconds per mile is the pace difference between not stopping on a 3.04 miler, and stopping and walking a half a mile during. But this isn’t a terrible performance, and I am not dissatisfied – I didn’t stop to walk today, I went farther than I was scheduled for (Even if it is only 200 feet more), and I finished faster than I started – my splits for each mile show that I kicked off mile one in 11:23 minutes, mile two I finished in 11:15 mins, mile three went down in 10:58 mins, and I finished that last .04 miles at a pace of 9:38 min/mile. So today I won.
I started thinking about the negatively nannering monkey around mile 1.5. I thought about it, and told it to shut up. And then I made fun of it while I kept running. Tomorrow I think I am going to vary the 1.5 miler that is on the calendar into a speed workout – jog a few blocks, sprint a block, jog a block, sprint a block, etc.
Last night I started my Crossfit Onramp program – a 3 weeks series of training classes, 3 days a week, to bring you up to speed on the majority of the basic exercises performed in a Crossfit workout, as well as getting you up to speed so that you can join established classes. The Onramp program, at least where I am practicing Crossfit, is done in a cohort. Which is a lot of fun, and means that you can egg each other on. They have you do a “baseline” workout to establish, well, a baseline to work from – you do a baseline at the beginning of the training cycle and at the end, and compare the times to see your improvement. The trainers also keep track of your form during the exercises – and that becomes another opportunity to improve. My baseline time last night sucked – close to 7:55 minutes to complete a 500m row, 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 pushups, and 10 pullups. My baseline in the intro class was 7:09 (running instead of rowing). And time and resisting fatigue is the only thing that I am going to show improvement in – because I was a gymnast and Marine, and all of the positional training that I have already received – my pushup and situp form is excellent (thank you boot camp), my squat form is pretty good (thank you Martial Arts and bodywork classes), and since I was gymnast, I already know how to kip, and kipping pullups are allowed in the Baseline workout. Which meant that I had not excuse to use a foam roller under my legs during the pushups, or to jump from a box during the pullups. If I had scaled and jumped during the pullups, I probably could have finished in under 6 minutes. But no, form comes first. Performing the exercise correctly and possibly slowly is more important than ripping through it with bad form.
As you improve your form, and keep that form throughout the workout, you increase your speed as your endurance increases. Same thing with running.
This morning I was awake right around the time the alarm went off. The Crossfit class was last night at 1930, and ended at about 2130. I got home, ate a small dinner, took a hot bath, and then went to bed. Which means that when I started running out the door this morning at 0620, I had had all of 8 hours of recovery. This sounds like a lot, but it isn’t for a beginner. Running against the cold, running against the aching fatigue. Running for me. Toes relaxed, head up, take it easy.
I ache. All over. But is a good ache – the kind that you get when you have worked out, and your body is letting you know it. There are few, if any sharp pains or intense burning sensations – actually, there are none. Just a whole body ache – every muscle feels like it has worked, and is now fatigued and tired.
Today I ran 3.04 miles in 34.25. This averages out to an average pace of 11:15 per mile. Which isn’t terrible, but it isn’t fast. And it isn’t remarkably faster than last week’s 2.95 miles in 33:39 – which averages to 11:24 per mile. Nine seconds per mile is the pace difference between not stopping on a 3.04 miler, and stopping and walking a half a mile during. But this isn’t a terrible performance, and I am not dissatisfied – I didn’t stop to walk today, I went farther than I was scheduled for (Even if it is only 200 feet more), and I finished faster than I started – my splits for each mile show that I kicked off mile one in 11:23 minutes, mile two I finished in 11:15 mins, mile three went down in 10:58 mins, and I finished that last .04 miles at a pace of 9:38 min/mile. So today I won.
I started thinking about the negatively nannering monkey around mile 1.5. I thought about it, and told it to shut up. And then I made fun of it while I kept running. Tomorrow I think I am going to vary the 1.5 miler that is on the calendar into a speed workout – jog a few blocks, sprint a block, jog a block, sprint a block, etc.
Last night I started my Crossfit Onramp program – a 3 weeks series of training classes, 3 days a week, to bring you up to speed on the majority of the basic exercises performed in a Crossfit workout, as well as getting you up to speed so that you can join established classes. The Onramp program, at least where I am practicing Crossfit, is done in a cohort. Which is a lot of fun, and means that you can egg each other on. They have you do a “baseline” workout to establish, well, a baseline to work from – you do a baseline at the beginning of the training cycle and at the end, and compare the times to see your improvement. The trainers also keep track of your form during the exercises – and that becomes another opportunity to improve. My baseline time last night sucked – close to 7:55 minutes to complete a 500m row, 40 squats, 30 situps, 20 pushups, and 10 pullups. My baseline in the intro class was 7:09 (running instead of rowing). And time and resisting fatigue is the only thing that I am going to show improvement in – because I was a gymnast and Marine, and all of the positional training that I have already received – my pushup and situp form is excellent (thank you boot camp), my squat form is pretty good (thank you Martial Arts and bodywork classes), and since I was gymnast, I already know how to kip, and kipping pullups are allowed in the Baseline workout. Which meant that I had not excuse to use a foam roller under my legs during the pushups, or to jump from a box during the pullups. If I had scaled and jumped during the pullups, I probably could have finished in under 6 minutes. But no, form comes first. Performing the exercise correctly and possibly slowly is more important than ripping through it with bad form.
As you improve your form, and keep that form throughout the workout, you increase your speed as your endurance increases. Same thing with running.
This morning I was awake right around the time the alarm went off. The Crossfit class was last night at 1930, and ended at about 2130. I got home, ate a small dinner, took a hot bath, and then went to bed. Which means that when I started running out the door this morning at 0620, I had had all of 8 hours of recovery. This sounds like a lot, but it isn’t for a beginner. Running against the cold, running against the aching fatigue. Running for me. Toes relaxed, head up, take it easy.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
My Running Journal, 020910
Today I finished a 1.4 miler in 14 minutes, averaging 10.04 minutes per mile. My pace increased in the last .4 miles to a 9:42 min/mile avg. So I am finishing faster than I started.
This morning it wasn't too hard to get up - my eyes popped open at about 0550, and I rolled out of bed at about 0605, and was on the road by 0630. I don't like having to use an alarm, since the abrupt noise is really jolting. Waking up with a start doesn't feel very good - that surge of adrenaline in response to the sudden noise while in the drowse/snooze state isn't very motivating. This morning I was in that halfway state - I opened my eyes at 0550, check the clocked, and closed my eyes. I should probably just get moving once my eyes open, but there is that part of me that wants nothing more than to stay in bed, warm and relaxed.
I'm playing with my stride. I took a "Chi-running" basic skills class a couple of years ago - whether or not you believe any of the anecdotes within the books about it being a revolutionary running style, the overall mechanics involved do make for a lessened felt impact. The mechanics of the style are pretty simple, and follow the way that Taijiquan and Xinyiquan practitioners move - your spine is aligned, head is erect and chin tucked slightly, and you lean forward slightly to set your speed - the further forward you lean, the faster you go. And instead of lifting your knees on the forward stride and striking the ground with your knee, your feet rarely come forward of an imaginary vertical line drawn from the tip of your nose to the ground. Which means you take more and shorter strides, and all of the impact is supposed to occur at the ball of your foot. There are other details about the style, but it is very similar to the styles out there that focus on running barefoot.
Which I think that I am heading towards. I already own a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, and have run on trails in them. You very quickly learn not to heel strike at all, and to run "lighter." I think the biggest barrier to my jumping into my VFFs right now is the fact that I basically just bought a brand new pair of running shoes, and I don't want to feel like I have wasted my money. We'll see - I have a 3 miler scheduled for tomorrow AM, and then a 1.5 on Thursday - I'll pull the VFFs out on Thursday for the short run.
I am trying to change my attitude while I am running. Why am I training for a Marathon? My initial impetus is probably centered on a friend's illness, and having a physical outlet for my stress - but if the physical outlet stresses you out as well, then it probably isn't helping. I should probably run because it is fun and an exploration of my limitations - there is nothing physically stopping me at the moment. I have no reason not to.
This morning it wasn't too hard to get up - my eyes popped open at about 0550, and I rolled out of bed at about 0605, and was on the road by 0630. I don't like having to use an alarm, since the abrupt noise is really jolting. Waking up with a start doesn't feel very good - that surge of adrenaline in response to the sudden noise while in the drowse/snooze state isn't very motivating. This morning I was in that halfway state - I opened my eyes at 0550, check the clocked, and closed my eyes. I should probably just get moving once my eyes open, but there is that part of me that wants nothing more than to stay in bed, warm and relaxed.
I'm playing with my stride. I took a "Chi-running" basic skills class a couple of years ago - whether or not you believe any of the anecdotes within the books about it being a revolutionary running style, the overall mechanics involved do make for a lessened felt impact. The mechanics of the style are pretty simple, and follow the way that Taijiquan and Xinyiquan practitioners move - your spine is aligned, head is erect and chin tucked slightly, and you lean forward slightly to set your speed - the further forward you lean, the faster you go. And instead of lifting your knees on the forward stride and striking the ground with your knee, your feet rarely come forward of an imaginary vertical line drawn from the tip of your nose to the ground. Which means you take more and shorter strides, and all of the impact is supposed to occur at the ball of your foot. There are other details about the style, but it is very similar to the styles out there that focus on running barefoot.
Which I think that I am heading towards. I already own a pair of Vibram Five Fingers, and have run on trails in them. You very quickly learn not to heel strike at all, and to run "lighter." I think the biggest barrier to my jumping into my VFFs right now is the fact that I basically just bought a brand new pair of running shoes, and I don't want to feel like I have wasted my money. We'll see - I have a 3 miler scheduled for tomorrow AM, and then a 1.5 on Thursday - I'll pull the VFFs out on Thursday for the short run.
I am trying to change my attitude while I am running. Why am I training for a Marathon? My initial impetus is probably centered on a friend's illness, and having a physical outlet for my stress - but if the physical outlet stresses you out as well, then it probably isn't helping. I should probably run because it is fun and an exploration of my limitations - there is nothing physically stopping me at the moment. I have no reason not to.
Monday, February 8, 2010
My Running Journal, 020810
Today is a rest day on the schedule - although I took it to mean "rest" from running, and so I altered my morning Qigong routine to include a more vigorous form that I need to practice more, and will be taking a Taiko class this evening that should use up nearly as much energy as a 1 mile run, if not more.
Yesterday I met up with a couple of friends and did a brief run on the Leif Ericksson trail in Forest Park. We were scheduled to run 3 miles, and according the markers along the trail we did, but my GPS said that we tracked 2.74. I think we ran somewhere in between that - and we were moving at a pretty slow pace - tracked at 33 minutes for that distance, which means were moving along at about 12 minutes per mile.
One of the people who joined me to run is a friend from my Marine Corps days (R), and she is training to run a half marathon this upcoming April. She is doing most of her training with Team in Training, and is already up around the 6 mile mark.
It is interesting to track her developing running injuries and mine - we have both been training on hard surfaces - pavement/concrete, and yesterday's run really showed the difference between running on a trail and running on pavement. At about the 1/4 mile marker on the trail it goes from dirt/gravel track to a short stretch of pavement which is about an 1/8 of a mile long. Going out we were out of breath, and working on just finding our rhythm, but coming back we had spent the majority of the run past the 1 mile mark talking and just cruising along. Turned around, running back downhill, and neither of us was really complaining about the injuries we both have started to sustain. Until we hit the pavement, and within about 5 strides we could tell the difference - my hip started to ache, and her knees started to burn - and then we got off of the pavement and the discomfort lessened a little bit.
My other running partner (B) yesterday is in considerably better shape than either of us, and so he took off on his own pace, and ended up basically running circles around us. He has been training in Vibram 5 fingers for the past couple of months. I got a pair a couple years ago, back when they were introduced, and quickly realized that I got my best use out of them on the trail, and not on pavement. Running without any cushioning under your feet is a completely different experience, and unfortunately I think that I am too heavy right now to run sans cushion on road surfaces. Anyway B has been training primarily on a chip track, and yesterday he had to run on mud and stones - again, totally different experience for him, and he probably bruised his feet a little.
I'll probably keep running in the shoes that I just got for a while, until I am comfortable running 3 miles a day, and ideally by that point I will have taken off enough weight, or increased my strength levels, so that I can go back to wearing my VFFs.
The run yesterday was fun - and it highlighted what I have been saying about running by yourself - it is far, far easier to keep going when you have someone keeping track of you - R wanted to stop and walk about a mile in, and I wouldn't let her - we slowed down a hair, and I had her change her stride to take some of the jarring impact off of her knees. Without me there, she would have slowed to a walk, and without her there, I probably would have as well.
I'm about to start reading a couple of books about running - the first being "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Had Never Seen." We'll see if I gain anything from it.
Yesterday I met up with a couple of friends and did a brief run on the Leif Ericksson trail in Forest Park. We were scheduled to run 3 miles, and according the markers along the trail we did, but my GPS said that we tracked 2.74. I think we ran somewhere in between that - and we were moving at a pretty slow pace - tracked at 33 minutes for that distance, which means were moving along at about 12 minutes per mile.
One of the people who joined me to run is a friend from my Marine Corps days (R), and she is training to run a half marathon this upcoming April. She is doing most of her training with Team in Training, and is already up around the 6 mile mark.
It is interesting to track her developing running injuries and mine - we have both been training on hard surfaces - pavement/concrete, and yesterday's run really showed the difference between running on a trail and running on pavement. At about the 1/4 mile marker on the trail it goes from dirt/gravel track to a short stretch of pavement which is about an 1/8 of a mile long. Going out we were out of breath, and working on just finding our rhythm, but coming back we had spent the majority of the run past the 1 mile mark talking and just cruising along. Turned around, running back downhill, and neither of us was really complaining about the injuries we both have started to sustain. Until we hit the pavement, and within about 5 strides we could tell the difference - my hip started to ache, and her knees started to burn - and then we got off of the pavement and the discomfort lessened a little bit.
My other running partner (B) yesterday is in considerably better shape than either of us, and so he took off on his own pace, and ended up basically running circles around us. He has been training in Vibram 5 fingers for the past couple of months. I got a pair a couple years ago, back when they were introduced, and quickly realized that I got my best use out of them on the trail, and not on pavement. Running without any cushioning under your feet is a completely different experience, and unfortunately I think that I am too heavy right now to run sans cushion on road surfaces. Anyway B has been training primarily on a chip track, and yesterday he had to run on mud and stones - again, totally different experience for him, and he probably bruised his feet a little.
I'll probably keep running in the shoes that I just got for a while, until I am comfortable running 3 miles a day, and ideally by that point I will have taken off enough weight, or increased my strength levels, so that I can go back to wearing my VFFs.
The run yesterday was fun - and it highlighted what I have been saying about running by yourself - it is far, far easier to keep going when you have someone keeping track of you - R wanted to stop and walk about a mile in, and I wouldn't let her - we slowed down a hair, and I had her change her stride to take some of the jarring impact off of her knees. Without me there, she would have slowed to a walk, and without her there, I probably would have as well.
I'm about to start reading a couple of books about running - the first being "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Had Never Seen." We'll see if I gain anything from it.
Friday, February 5, 2010
My Running Journal, 020510
I should subtitle this - the woes of dietary romanticism.
No running this morning - today is a rest day on the training calendar, and I probably need it. While I feel that this week is a rough start, I think that it actually went pretty smoothly. Except for some snafus with mileage and motivation, everything else is coming into place.
I have added several small, achievable goals into the mix that increase the complexity of the process. Like any other goal driven activity, you can break the process down into individual bits, and each one of those part of the process can be as complex as the entire process itself. Hooray for intellectualizing physical activity! (actually, it is good to intellectualize it, as your Brain is the biggest individual/small system energy consumer in your body. - the more and harder you think, the more calories you burn).
So within the hopelessly complex network of small goals leading to a bigger goal, there are a few that I have started working towards. I have already covered some of it - getting up at an early hour on a regular basis, charting my mileage, following a training schedule, etc., etc.
Today I want to talk about diet, and the small goals therein.
I am about to start Crossfit training, and part of that is keeping a food log and modifying your diet in the direction of the "Paleo" diet. The basics of the Paleo Diet seem pretty simple - the underlying theory behind it is that Humans were distinctly Human by the paleolithic era (Stone Age). And the assumption being that Paleotlithic Man's diet was primarily that of a hunter/gatherer. So the focus of the modern primitive diet is meat. Easy enough, I love meat. Another protein source is tree nuts, which are enormously high in fat and protein, and are very healthful when eaten raw. Supplemented by lots and lots of vegetables (not tubers or legumes, but actual vegetables) - again, this is a good idea, since you need dietary fiber and other vitamins, with a small amount of fruit, and as little processed carbohydrates as possible.
I love it - simple diet to follow, and it is pretty much what I have been trending towards - although I still eat loads of processed foods.
Now, the concept of "processed" foods is an interesting one. I've read a bunch of writing in support of the Paleo diet and the theory behind it - Paleolithic Man had minimal tools, and so would have had limited ability to process foods. Additionally, most tubers and legumes will make you sick if eaten raw on a regular basis. So why would Paleolithic Man eat them? Same goes for grains - the argument being that 10,000 years ago grains would have been found in limited areas, and that the processing necessary to get from a seedhead to a usable, edible product, would have been energy inefficient.
That is a big component, as far as I can tell, about the philosophical theorizing behind the Paleo diet - the food that would have provided the biggest immediate bang for the buck would have been the one that Paleolithic Man would have gone after. The more time you have to spend gathering and preparing food, the less energy efficient it is, or so the theory goes. The more tool development needed to prepare the food, the less likely Paleo-man would have eaten it - tubers and legumes generally need to be cooked in order to be safe to eat for any length of time, and grains need to be harvested and in most cases threshed to be useable, and in order to make them edible, they need to be cooked.
While I appreciate the overall dietary concept of the Paleo Diet (Proteins and Vegetables with a minimal amount of "processed" carbohydrate sources), I would argue that the theory that Paleolithic Man was primarily a carnivore, roasting his kill over an open fire is romantic claptrap.
Think about it for a minute. We can think of all of the tribes that still exist, and that have in effect been recently discovered in the Amazon, as well as the Bushman of the Kalahari, the Australian aborigines, and many of the American Indian tribes.
Yes - they all hunt animals for food. Yes, they all place alot of store on successful hunts - meat is a brilliant source of energy when you can get it. But do any of these particular groups avoid eating tubers or legumes or grains?
Several of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon harvest Manioc - otherwise known as cassava, and is what Tapioca is made from. the Manioc grown in the jungle is poisonous - the plant contains compounds of cyanide in its raw state. This necessitates processing. It is also the staple food source for the tribes that harvest it.
Or several of the American Indian tribes that existed prior to European exploration - putting aside the more advanced forms of plant cultivation that they used, we can look at acorns. Acorns in their raw state are pretty much indigestible by humans - most contain very high levels of tannins, which make them very bitter. Most things in the wild that are bitter tasting Humans avoid. But when you soak them in several changes of water, you can remove the tannins. And then the acorns can be eaten as is, or pounded into a flour and turned into cakes.
Now, it can be argued that manioc/cassava is a bad example - undoubtedly what is meant by "paleolithic man" means pre-pre-agriculture.
Okay, so let's look at the Bushmen of the Kalahari. What do they eat? It is well known that they are great hunters and trackers, and that they eat every last part of the animal that they kill. But they also collect tubers - which are an important component of their diet, as they are great sources of water in the desert.
The argument about efficiency in the Paleo diet doesn't bear scrutiny or logical thought. The argument that you eat what is most convenient in nature excludes most tree nuts. Almost every tree nut in existence comes in the following package - outer layer of fruit, then shell, then nut. Now, I don't know about other people, but I have collected and eaten fresh Almonds. Getting to the nut is a pain in the ass - the fruit around the nut is bitter and slippery, and the shell, when it is fresh, is very difficult to get through. Same thing with Walnuts - slippery, bitter outer skin, tough shell, and then lots of work getting the edible parts of the nut out. How about Brazil nuts? I've never harvested them myself, but from the looks of it, you have to penetrate something that is as tough as a coconut's outer husk and inner shell, and then the shells of the individual nuts. Nice and energy efficient there, huh?
I also don't understand the argument that, since it requires time and patience to gather some of these foodstuffs, that Paleolithic Man wouldn't have done it because of inefficiency. Why? Because he was in a hurry to get somewhere? If we take the romantic idea of Paleolithic Man as a member of a small tribe that existed prior to regular trade and "civilization," then what else, other than hunting and gathering food, would he have to do? Get to the Stonebucks to meet with his next Client? No - when you are existing in the wild, you spend the majority of your time foraging - anything that is edible goes into your bag, and when you hunker down for snacky times, you eat what you found. If you live in a small tribe, and have communication and organization, you will learn to divide the foraging and hunting - that way you optimize, in your Paleo brain, the opportunity to always have at least some food available. Paleo Man didn't have to be anywhere specific most of the time - I doubt that there is much rushing about when you don't have to be anywhere or meet any specific deadline.
While I fully intend to trend my eating habits away from processed and refined carbohydrate sources, I'm not a fan of the argument behind the Paleo Diet. I wildcraft/collect a fair amount of my food, and let me tell you - active hunting is perhaps one of the most dangerous and high energy consumption processes out there, with little guarantee of reward. Tubers don't run away from you.
I could go on and on about this. Suffice to say, I am going to start following a modified Mediterranean diet next week - heavy on the leafy greens, fruit, fish, and nuts, with the modification of adding in animal proteins and small amounts of grains.
My small step will start with modifying my lunch to look like that, and then my dinner, and eventually my breakfast.
No running this morning - today is a rest day on the training calendar, and I probably need it. While I feel that this week is a rough start, I think that it actually went pretty smoothly. Except for some snafus with mileage and motivation, everything else is coming into place.
I have added several small, achievable goals into the mix that increase the complexity of the process. Like any other goal driven activity, you can break the process down into individual bits, and each one of those part of the process can be as complex as the entire process itself. Hooray for intellectualizing physical activity! (actually, it is good to intellectualize it, as your Brain is the biggest individual/small system energy consumer in your body. - the more and harder you think, the more calories you burn).
So within the hopelessly complex network of small goals leading to a bigger goal, there are a few that I have started working towards. I have already covered some of it - getting up at an early hour on a regular basis, charting my mileage, following a training schedule, etc., etc.
Today I want to talk about diet, and the small goals therein.
I am about to start Crossfit training, and part of that is keeping a food log and modifying your diet in the direction of the "Paleo" diet. The basics of the Paleo Diet seem pretty simple - the underlying theory behind it is that Humans were distinctly Human by the paleolithic era (Stone Age). And the assumption being that Paleotlithic Man's diet was primarily that of a hunter/gatherer. So the focus of the modern primitive diet is meat. Easy enough, I love meat. Another protein source is tree nuts, which are enormously high in fat and protein, and are very healthful when eaten raw. Supplemented by lots and lots of vegetables (not tubers or legumes, but actual vegetables) - again, this is a good idea, since you need dietary fiber and other vitamins, with a small amount of fruit, and as little processed carbohydrates as possible.
I love it - simple diet to follow, and it is pretty much what I have been trending towards - although I still eat loads of processed foods.
Now, the concept of "processed" foods is an interesting one. I've read a bunch of writing in support of the Paleo diet and the theory behind it - Paleolithic Man had minimal tools, and so would have had limited ability to process foods. Additionally, most tubers and legumes will make you sick if eaten raw on a regular basis. So why would Paleolithic Man eat them? Same goes for grains - the argument being that 10,000 years ago grains would have been found in limited areas, and that the processing necessary to get from a seedhead to a usable, edible product, would have been energy inefficient.
That is a big component, as far as I can tell, about the philosophical theorizing behind the Paleo diet - the food that would have provided the biggest immediate bang for the buck would have been the one that Paleolithic Man would have gone after. The more time you have to spend gathering and preparing food, the less energy efficient it is, or so the theory goes. The more tool development needed to prepare the food, the less likely Paleo-man would have eaten it - tubers and legumes generally need to be cooked in order to be safe to eat for any length of time, and grains need to be harvested and in most cases threshed to be useable, and in order to make them edible, they need to be cooked.
While I appreciate the overall dietary concept of the Paleo Diet (Proteins and Vegetables with a minimal amount of "processed" carbohydrate sources), I would argue that the theory that Paleolithic Man was primarily a carnivore, roasting his kill over an open fire is romantic claptrap.
Think about it for a minute. We can think of all of the tribes that still exist, and that have in effect been recently discovered in the Amazon, as well as the Bushman of the Kalahari, the Australian aborigines, and many of the American Indian tribes.
Yes - they all hunt animals for food. Yes, they all place alot of store on successful hunts - meat is a brilliant source of energy when you can get it. But do any of these particular groups avoid eating tubers or legumes or grains?
Several of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon harvest Manioc - otherwise known as cassava, and is what Tapioca is made from. the Manioc grown in the jungle is poisonous - the plant contains compounds of cyanide in its raw state. This necessitates processing. It is also the staple food source for the tribes that harvest it.
Or several of the American Indian tribes that existed prior to European exploration - putting aside the more advanced forms of plant cultivation that they used, we can look at acorns. Acorns in their raw state are pretty much indigestible by humans - most contain very high levels of tannins, which make them very bitter. Most things in the wild that are bitter tasting Humans avoid. But when you soak them in several changes of water, you can remove the tannins. And then the acorns can be eaten as is, or pounded into a flour and turned into cakes.
Now, it can be argued that manioc/cassava is a bad example - undoubtedly what is meant by "paleolithic man" means pre-pre-agriculture.
Okay, so let's look at the Bushmen of the Kalahari. What do they eat? It is well known that they are great hunters and trackers, and that they eat every last part of the animal that they kill. But they also collect tubers - which are an important component of their diet, as they are great sources of water in the desert.
The argument about efficiency in the Paleo diet doesn't bear scrutiny or logical thought. The argument that you eat what is most convenient in nature excludes most tree nuts. Almost every tree nut in existence comes in the following package - outer layer of fruit, then shell, then nut. Now, I don't know about other people, but I have collected and eaten fresh Almonds. Getting to the nut is a pain in the ass - the fruit around the nut is bitter and slippery, and the shell, when it is fresh, is very difficult to get through. Same thing with Walnuts - slippery, bitter outer skin, tough shell, and then lots of work getting the edible parts of the nut out. How about Brazil nuts? I've never harvested them myself, but from the looks of it, you have to penetrate something that is as tough as a coconut's outer husk and inner shell, and then the shells of the individual nuts. Nice and energy efficient there, huh?
I also don't understand the argument that, since it requires time and patience to gather some of these foodstuffs, that Paleolithic Man wouldn't have done it because of inefficiency. Why? Because he was in a hurry to get somewhere? If we take the romantic idea of Paleolithic Man as a member of a small tribe that existed prior to regular trade and "civilization," then what else, other than hunting and gathering food, would he have to do? Get to the Stonebucks to meet with his next Client? No - when you are existing in the wild, you spend the majority of your time foraging - anything that is edible goes into your bag, and when you hunker down for snacky times, you eat what you found. If you live in a small tribe, and have communication and organization, you will learn to divide the foraging and hunting - that way you optimize, in your Paleo brain, the opportunity to always have at least some food available. Paleo Man didn't have to be anywhere specific most of the time - I doubt that there is much rushing about when you don't have to be anywhere or meet any specific deadline.
While I fully intend to trend my eating habits away from processed and refined carbohydrate sources, I'm not a fan of the argument behind the Paleo Diet. I wildcraft/collect a fair amount of my food, and let me tell you - active hunting is perhaps one of the most dangerous and high energy consumption processes out there, with little guarantee of reward. Tubers don't run away from you.
I could go on and on about this. Suffice to say, I am going to start following a modified Mediterranean diet next week - heavy on the leafy greens, fruit, fish, and nuts, with the modification of adding in animal proteins and small amounts of grains.
My small step will start with modifying my lunch to look like that, and then my dinner, and eventually my breakfast.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
My Running Journal, 020410
Today I came in about 500 feet short of a mile and a half today - the IMapMyRun app tells me that the route that I jogged was 1.42 miles, and that I finished in 13m59s. Which equates to about a 10 minute mile. Slow, but hey, I'm starting up.
I need to map out my runs a little better - 500 feet is probably about two blocks. Missing the mark by 500 feet isn't terrible, but as I get up in the miles, I need to make sure that I am actually running at least the mileage planned. Right now, I can fudge it a little bit, since I am getting everything dialed in.
I've started using the Imapmyrun app on my Iphone, as well as the website, to track my course, run time, pace, and mileage on the shoes. I've also started using the Daily Plate app from Livestrong to track my diet. I'm not concerned with calorie counting right now, but I need to keep a food log so that I can really focus in on what my eating habits are like.
I have to balance the disappointment that I feel in going slow and not quite reaching the distance with understanding that I need to limit myself.
I have trained with people who insist that you finish faster than you started. This applies to races as well as training.
Right now, I am aiming for a 10 minute mile. It is a pace that I can run at right now without feeling like my lungs are going to burst or that I am going to pass out - and that is important. I'll reference earlier posts - when I start to fast, I wear myself out at the beginning, and end up calling it quits before reaching the goal.
Getting up and running wasn't such a chore this morning, and besides so lingering soreness in one of my hips, the run itself wasn't difficult. What I do need to do is maintain a good pre and post run stretching routine that involves heat. Since I don't have a hot tub, a nice hot bath with epsom salts is going to have to become part of my regular morning routine. Which means that my runs are going to have to be pushed even earlier. Today I was out the door and running by 0630 - the next early morning run, which isn't scheduled until next Tuesday, is going to have to start at 6am for me to fit in a soak. I'll probably end up starting and finishing my days with a soak, since I am going to be running early in the morning, and I start Crossfit next Tuesday. And I need to figure out what is causing the soreness in my hip - I doubt that it is bursitis, more likely a muscle - but which one? So many muscles involved with the movement of your leg, and I can't find my copy of Clemente's atlas.
Tomorrow is a rest day from running, but since the weather looks like it is going to clear up a little bit, I believe that it is time for me to start meeting another small goal, which will be cycling into work. And then I have a mid-morning, 3 mile trail run on Sunday planned, with a group of people.
Right now, I am sore and tired.
I need to map out my runs a little better - 500 feet is probably about two blocks. Missing the mark by 500 feet isn't terrible, but as I get up in the miles, I need to make sure that I am actually running at least the mileage planned. Right now, I can fudge it a little bit, since I am getting everything dialed in.
I've started using the Imapmyrun app on my Iphone, as well as the website, to track my course, run time, pace, and mileage on the shoes. I've also started using the Daily Plate app from Livestrong to track my diet. I'm not concerned with calorie counting right now, but I need to keep a food log so that I can really focus in on what my eating habits are like.
I have to balance the disappointment that I feel in going slow and not quite reaching the distance with understanding that I need to limit myself.
I have trained with people who insist that you finish faster than you started. This applies to races as well as training.
Right now, I am aiming for a 10 minute mile. It is a pace that I can run at right now without feeling like my lungs are going to burst or that I am going to pass out - and that is important. I'll reference earlier posts - when I start to fast, I wear myself out at the beginning, and end up calling it quits before reaching the goal.
Getting up and running wasn't such a chore this morning, and besides so lingering soreness in one of my hips, the run itself wasn't difficult. What I do need to do is maintain a good pre and post run stretching routine that involves heat. Since I don't have a hot tub, a nice hot bath with epsom salts is going to have to become part of my regular morning routine. Which means that my runs are going to have to be pushed even earlier. Today I was out the door and running by 0630 - the next early morning run, which isn't scheduled until next Tuesday, is going to have to start at 6am for me to fit in a soak. I'll probably end up starting and finishing my days with a soak, since I am going to be running early in the morning, and I start Crossfit next Tuesday. And I need to figure out what is causing the soreness in my hip - I doubt that it is bursitis, more likely a muscle - but which one? So many muscles involved with the movement of your leg, and I can't find my copy of Clemente's atlas.
Tomorrow is a rest day from running, but since the weather looks like it is going to clear up a little bit, I believe that it is time for me to start meeting another small goal, which will be cycling into work. And then I have a mid-morning, 3 mile trail run on Sunday planned, with a group of people.
Right now, I am sore and tired.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
My Running Journal, 020310
So I failed to meet two goals this morning, and I chalk it up to a lack of motivation.
I woke up at 0550, and then let the alarm tell me when to get out of bed. I charted a path that was a little over 3 miles, got put together for the run, and headed out. Into a light, cold rain.
This morning was a tough one - I woke up feeling fine, but knowing that I was scheduled to run 3 miles, which to me is a long way, I wasn't very motivated. The "3 miles is a long way" is a difficult mental block - before I joined the Corps, I had never run for more than a mile. I was a sprinter. A mile seemed like a long, long way (even though I was bicycling 7 miles to work/gymnastics in High School).
It is funny to me how you get a distance stuck in your head, and that becomes the insurmountable odd. Intellectually, I know that 3 miles is basically nothing, especially since I plan on running 26 miles in one go. And it isn't like I haven't run further than 3 miles in a single run before. I have.
But all of the times that I have bothered to run farther than 3 miles, I have had other people with me. People that I could talk with, whine about the distance with, and generally stay motivated. It helps me immensely to have another person running with me. Running by myself gets to be boring, and then the negativity creeps in. Which slows you down, or stops you entirely.
So this morning I was supposed to run 3 miles. I failed to meet that goal by about 170 feet - my route totaled 2.97 miles. And I finished in 33 minutes. Beside being a slow, slow pace, I stopped to walk around the 2 mile mark, and walked for probably 1/2 a mile. And I probably didn't have to - but I was cold, tired from waking up early and achey. Raining on me, gait feels funny, "Oh, ouch! uh, my hip hurts, yeah - that's a good reason to stop running."
The other goal that I failed to meet, and this is more important right now than the mileage, is to not stop running.
I basically allowed my negativity to perform an inertia creep on me. Part of me doesn't care about running, or staying shape, or fuck all, and that part of me has undermined almost everything that I have done in life. It popped up as soon as I awoke - that disappointment and not quit dread that almost kept me in bed. It popped up when I realized that I needed to put on a raincoat. got a little stronger in my head when I realized that I needed to actually run with my hood up. At the end of the second block, the monkey was ooking "screw this." I made the first mile, reminding myself that it normally takes me about a mile and half to push past the complaining little monkey.
And then at mile 2, it won. This is where having another person with you to motivate helps. Because, ideally, both people are working to motivate each other. To push a little farther, and to keep the pace up.
*Editted to add* I just read through this paragraph, and I realized that thinking this is again the negative inertia monkey talking. Yes, it is fun to have another person to work out with, and it does help, but to do what I intend to do, you have to be your own partner.*
I didn't need to slow down to a walk - I wasn't running very fast, and it isn't like I was on the verge of exhaustion/dehydration. I allowed the part of me that self-sabotages to do it this morning. Part of this training is to get away from that self sabotaging effort, and redirect all of my negativity into forward momentum. Because if I don't, then I won't even make it the first three miles.
I woke up at 0550, and then let the alarm tell me when to get out of bed. I charted a path that was a little over 3 miles, got put together for the run, and headed out. Into a light, cold rain.
This morning was a tough one - I woke up feeling fine, but knowing that I was scheduled to run 3 miles, which to me is a long way, I wasn't very motivated. The "3 miles is a long way" is a difficult mental block - before I joined the Corps, I had never run for more than a mile. I was a sprinter. A mile seemed like a long, long way (even though I was bicycling 7 miles to work/gymnastics in High School).
It is funny to me how you get a distance stuck in your head, and that becomes the insurmountable odd. Intellectually, I know that 3 miles is basically nothing, especially since I plan on running 26 miles in one go. And it isn't like I haven't run further than 3 miles in a single run before. I have.
But all of the times that I have bothered to run farther than 3 miles, I have had other people with me. People that I could talk with, whine about the distance with, and generally stay motivated. It helps me immensely to have another person running with me. Running by myself gets to be boring, and then the negativity creeps in. Which slows you down, or stops you entirely.
So this morning I was supposed to run 3 miles. I failed to meet that goal by about 170 feet - my route totaled 2.97 miles. And I finished in 33 minutes. Beside being a slow, slow pace, I stopped to walk around the 2 mile mark, and walked for probably 1/2 a mile. And I probably didn't have to - but I was cold, tired from waking up early and achey. Raining on me, gait feels funny, "Oh, ouch! uh, my hip hurts, yeah - that's a good reason to stop running."
The other goal that I failed to meet, and this is more important right now than the mileage, is to not stop running.
I basically allowed my negativity to perform an inertia creep on me. Part of me doesn't care about running, or staying shape, or fuck all, and that part of me has undermined almost everything that I have done in life. It popped up as soon as I awoke - that disappointment and not quit dread that almost kept me in bed. It popped up when I realized that I needed to put on a raincoat. got a little stronger in my head when I realized that I needed to actually run with my hood up. At the end of the second block, the monkey was ooking "screw this." I made the first mile, reminding myself that it normally takes me about a mile and half to push past the complaining little monkey.
And then at mile 2, it won. This is where having another person with you to motivate helps. Because, ideally, both people are working to motivate each other. To push a little farther, and to keep the pace up.
*Editted to add* I just read through this paragraph, and I realized that thinking this is again the negative inertia monkey talking. Yes, it is fun to have another person to work out with, and it does help, but to do what I intend to do, you have to be your own partner.*
I didn't need to slow down to a walk - I wasn't running very fast, and it isn't like I was on the verge of exhaustion/dehydration. I allowed the part of me that self-sabotages to do it this morning. Part of this training is to get away from that self sabotaging effort, and redirect all of my negativity into forward momentum. Because if I don't, then I won't even make it the first three miles.
My Running Journal, 020210
Today was the first day of the rest of the training schedule. Not a rest day, but a run day. 1.5 miles is all. I charted a route around my house that was 1.7 or 1.8 miles according to Google Maps, so I figure that I met the goal of 1.5 miles.
Up before the alarm at 0550something, out of bed by 0610. I loitered in bed for a bit, thinking about what I am getting myself into as far as planning on running a marathon. stretched a little, massaged my feet, got up, and got rolling. My left foot hit the deck and I was off running by 0625.
Right now I'm keeping a loose idea of how fast I am going. I anticipate that I will finish the Marathon in about four hours. Because I plan on being a slow poke.
Back in the day (as in, in my late teens/early twenties) when I was in the Corps, I was a serious sandbagger when you put me out on the road to run. Not that I was out of shape - far from it, but I wasn't trained as a runner. I grew up doing Tae Kwon Do and then Gymnastics – neither of which really push for true endurance beyond a basic workout. I was a sprinter and fast twitch sort of guy. Running more than 400 yards felt like absolute murder to me. I grew up in the D.C. area, near the Potomac. Washington D.C. is built on a swamp, and like every other city on the East Coast south of, say, Portland Maine, the summers are incredibly hot and muggy. Moving fast in hot weather is, well, gross. So I didn’t do it.
When I got in the Corps, I had already broken and dislocated one ankle and severely sprained the other in gymnastics. Being a teenager meant that I didn’t follow the PT advice that I undoubtedly got, and so my ankles were in terrible shape. Pounding from the gymnastics, even though I was landing on mats, had dropped my arches, and to top it all off I have duck feet – EEE is the width for me, not that I knew that then.
So when I got to Boot I was issued boots and shoes based on five seconds on a foot measuring device and the number that I thought I was. Unfortunately for me, Boot Camp was not the place, evidently, to learn good running habits or how to correctly size footwear. I grew to really dislike running. Whereas I disliked it before, once I started having to run more than 400 yards at a time, I really discovered what it was like to have messed up ankles, feet and poor running habits.
They don’t really coach you in Boot Camp. They motivate you for sure, but they don’t coach you. No one sat down with the Platoon at any point and said “Recruits, today we are going to observe each and every one of you running. And then we will teach each recruit what the recruit is doing wrong, or can improve on.” Nope, it’s “RUN!”
I could have trained myself to run properly after getting out of Boot Camp, but the desire to do so never surfaced – I could run my PFT and feel like crap at the end of it, which was acceptable. I stayed in “shape,” but running never became a habit or an enjoyable activity. It hurt, it was tiresome, and I never felt rewarded by it. Truck it or Fuck it.
One of the things that I wasn’t clearly taught was pacing myself. I understood it on an intellectual level, but all of the sports leading up to my entry in the Corps had dealt in explosive, immediate power. Put all of the effort out, all at the same time. Which meant that I could run a sub-six minute mile, and then collapse from the effort.
I have been trying to learn to pace myself. And it is really, really hard to do. All of the intense physical activity that I did as a kid is getting in the way of building endurance. I have to re-train part of myself to learn to move in an efficient way, and that the distribution of my energy needs to be spread out over tens of minutes to hours, and not seconds or minutes in furious pace. I’m terrible as conservation.
This morning I probably ran at about a 7 minute a mile pace – I can’t believe that I was going any faster, but my watch showed 0625 when my left foot hit the deck, and 0635 when I got back inside the house after reaching the starting point and walking a block. We’ll call it 1.5 miles in 9 minutes. Which, believe it or not, is probably too fast right now.
Up before the alarm at 0550something, out of bed by 0610. I loitered in bed for a bit, thinking about what I am getting myself into as far as planning on running a marathon. stretched a little, massaged my feet, got up, and got rolling. My left foot hit the deck and I was off running by 0625.
Right now I'm keeping a loose idea of how fast I am going. I anticipate that I will finish the Marathon in about four hours. Because I plan on being a slow poke.
Back in the day (as in, in my late teens/early twenties) when I was in the Corps, I was a serious sandbagger when you put me out on the road to run. Not that I was out of shape - far from it, but I wasn't trained as a runner. I grew up doing Tae Kwon Do and then Gymnastics – neither of which really push for true endurance beyond a basic workout. I was a sprinter and fast twitch sort of guy. Running more than 400 yards felt like absolute murder to me. I grew up in the D.C. area, near the Potomac. Washington D.C. is built on a swamp, and like every other city on the East Coast south of, say, Portland Maine, the summers are incredibly hot and muggy. Moving fast in hot weather is, well, gross. So I didn’t do it.
When I got in the Corps, I had already broken and dislocated one ankle and severely sprained the other in gymnastics. Being a teenager meant that I didn’t follow the PT advice that I undoubtedly got, and so my ankles were in terrible shape. Pounding from the gymnastics, even though I was landing on mats, had dropped my arches, and to top it all off I have duck feet – EEE is the width for me, not that I knew that then.
So when I got to Boot I was issued boots and shoes based on five seconds on a foot measuring device and the number that I thought I was. Unfortunately for me, Boot Camp was not the place, evidently, to learn good running habits or how to correctly size footwear. I grew to really dislike running. Whereas I disliked it before, once I started having to run more than 400 yards at a time, I really discovered what it was like to have messed up ankles, feet and poor running habits.
They don’t really coach you in Boot Camp. They motivate you for sure, but they don’t coach you. No one sat down with the Platoon at any point and said “Recruits, today we are going to observe each and every one of you running. And then we will teach each recruit what the recruit is doing wrong, or can improve on.” Nope, it’s “RUN!”
I could have trained myself to run properly after getting out of Boot Camp, but the desire to do so never surfaced – I could run my PFT and feel like crap at the end of it, which was acceptable. I stayed in “shape,” but running never became a habit or an enjoyable activity. It hurt, it was tiresome, and I never felt rewarded by it. Truck it or Fuck it.
One of the things that I wasn’t clearly taught was pacing myself. I understood it on an intellectual level, but all of the sports leading up to my entry in the Corps had dealt in explosive, immediate power. Put all of the effort out, all at the same time. Which meant that I could run a sub-six minute mile, and then collapse from the effort.
I have been trying to learn to pace myself. And it is really, really hard to do. All of the intense physical activity that I did as a kid is getting in the way of building endurance. I have to re-train part of myself to learn to move in an efficient way, and that the distribution of my energy needs to be spread out over tens of minutes to hours, and not seconds or minutes in furious pace. I’m terrible as conservation.
This morning I probably ran at about a 7 minute a mile pace – I can’t believe that I was going any faster, but my watch showed 0625 when my left foot hit the deck, and 0635 when I got back inside the house after reaching the starting point and walking a block. We’ll call it 1.5 miles in 9 minutes. Which, believe it or not, is probably too fast right now.
My Running Journal 020110
So no running for me this weekend, or today. Saturday morning I headed up to Seattle for a Qi Gong training seminar, and so all of my energy this weekend was focused on learning a new form.
Today is the start of my pre-training training. I have a good long time before the Marathon, and since I am profoundly out of shape as a runner, I need a nice, slow build up. I need to get in shape to get in shape.
If anyone is curious, I am using the "Spring Training" schedule put together by Hal Higdon. The goal is to build up over a three month period, to get to the point where the final week you are running as much as you will on the opening week of the 18 week schedule. This week I am scheduled to run a total of 9 miles, and Mondays are one of the two rest days (the other being Friday).
So I am luxuriating in this last day before I start. Latte with a bagel and peanut butter. Tomorrow, breakfast will be different - I will start making moves towards a combined Paleo/Mediterranean diet - Protein and leafy greens, with as few carbs as is possible, other than nutritionally dense fruit (blueberries, bananas, pineapple) - So I will probably end up cooking a steak this evening and some greens, and have those for breakfast along with a fruit smoothie of some sort.
I also need to start hydrating myself - one of the things that I do out of habit and inattention is allowing myself to become dehydrated. This really hammers me when I try and train in hot weather - and the 20 milers on the training schedule will be happening during some of the potentially hottest weather in the Portland area. SO habituating myself back to regular hydration is a must.
Which means coffee before running is out - in addition to the coffee itself, I normally have a latte with sugar - which is one of the first things that I am going to have to modify. I hate caffeine withdrawal headaches, but I just need to make it past the first week, and then everything will be a bit easier.
Back to work.
Today is the start of my pre-training training. I have a good long time before the Marathon, and since I am profoundly out of shape as a runner, I need a nice, slow build up. I need to get in shape to get in shape.
If anyone is curious, I am using the "Spring Training" schedule put together by Hal Higdon. The goal is to build up over a three month period, to get to the point where the final week you are running as much as you will on the opening week of the 18 week schedule. This week I am scheduled to run a total of 9 miles, and Mondays are one of the two rest days (the other being Friday).
So I am luxuriating in this last day before I start. Latte with a bagel and peanut butter. Tomorrow, breakfast will be different - I will start making moves towards a combined Paleo/Mediterranean diet - Protein and leafy greens, with as few carbs as is possible, other than nutritionally dense fruit (blueberries, bananas, pineapple) - So I will probably end up cooking a steak this evening and some greens, and have those for breakfast along with a fruit smoothie of some sort.
I also need to start hydrating myself - one of the things that I do out of habit and inattention is allowing myself to become dehydrated. This really hammers me when I try and train in hot weather - and the 20 milers on the training schedule will be happening during some of the potentially hottest weather in the Portland area. SO habituating myself back to regular hydration is a must.
Which means coffee before running is out - in addition to the coffee itself, I normally have a latte with sugar - which is one of the first things that I am going to have to modify. I hate caffeine withdrawal headaches, but I just need to make it past the first week, and then everything will be a bit easier.
Back to work.
My Running Journal, 012910
Woke up this am, about an hour before the alarm, and then again about ten minutes before the alarm. Alarm goes off at 0559. Got out of bed at 0605, and got dressed to go run. stood out in the wind and cold on my stoop with my Forerunner 305 pretending like it was going to boot up. I think I need to reset the thing.
Anyway, after 10 or so minutes of my GPS wasting my time, I went back inside and got my watch. Clock and watch said 0625. I started walking towards the back of the alley where I normally start running from, and decided instead to head off in another direction. Variety is going to be necessary, especially right now, since falling into a specific path at this moment isn't going to help me stay motivated.
managed 1.2 miles in around 10 minutes - I'm telling myself that it's closer to 9 minutes, since it was 0635 when I stepped back inside the house, after walking a block to my start point,and a block back from my finishing point.
I managed to finish faster than I started, though.
Nice.
Anyway, after 10 or so minutes of my GPS wasting my time, I went back inside and got my watch. Clock and watch said 0625. I started walking towards the back of the alley where I normally start running from, and decided instead to head off in another direction. Variety is going to be necessary, especially right now, since falling into a specific path at this moment isn't going to help me stay motivated.
managed 1.2 miles in around 10 minutes - I'm telling myself that it's closer to 9 minutes, since it was 0635 when I stepped back inside the house, after walking a block to my start point,and a block back from my finishing point.
I managed to finish faster than I started, though.
Nice.
My running journal
I've started keeping a journal on a private forum, but I've decided that I may as well make this public.
I'm gonna be honest - I am a stupendously lazy person. Tie that together with a familial history of diet related diabetes, hypertension, and central obesity, and I need to do something.
For a bunch of other reasons as well, I have decided that I need to try running the Portland Marathon, this year.
So, I am slowly trying to overcome inertia. I've been trying to take small steps in this - very often people set a lofty goal, and start really strong, only to find that they run out of steam right after they start. Just like running in a long distance race - it is very easy to get swept up in the excitement, and allow it to carry you along for a couple of miles - and then the excitement wears off, and you are left to your own devices. And for alot of people, myself included, this is where your excitement and drive tapers, wanes, and flickers.
So, small steps - easily achievable, measurable goals.
At the beginning of the year I thought about what is going on in my life. I had a couple of good talks with some friends, and expressed a bunch of my frustrations. A great deal of my static inertia is self imposed - mild depression related to personal circumstances. And the depression and frustration, in this case, comes out of a sense that no matter what I do, the central things causing me frustration will not change. Which, in part, is true - as my circumstances include other people who are dealing with their own problems. Specifically, my mother had to move in with me. Details aside, single men in their early 30s should not be living with their mothers (even if it technically is the other way around).
I allowed myself to descend into a funk over the past year because of this. There is little that I can do to change the situation, as the other person involved in this has to be the one to initiate the change.
But what I can do is try and and gain some semblance of personal achievement. Small steps.
In order to get out of this funk, I needed to stop hibernating. So the first goal was to wake up before 730am. I set my alarm to 630, and did that for a week. Nothing more than waking up before 730am. I did that for a week, and then added another component. Be in the office (I am self employed) by 8, and be ready to teach a class (Qi Gong).
So I did this for two weeks. Waking up and getting out of bed by 730, and getting to the office by 8. In order to complete my morning routine before getting to the office, I needed to wake up earlier. The drive to the office, without traffic, takes 15 minutes. I stop at a local coffee shop to pick up some coffee and a bagel - factors in another 5-10 minutes - etc. So in order to make it to the office by 8, unstressed by rushing to complete my morning routine, I need to be out the door by 730. So I started waking up at 7.
I've managed to do this since the beginning of the year. This week, I added in running. Since it has been at least a year and a half since I have run any further than a block, I knew I had to start slow. Previous attempts at "getting serious" have resulted in mild injury and an increase in personal inertia - reinforcement that I hate running, it hurts, and I get no joy from it. That needed to change. So instead of going out of the gate like a shot, I am starting slowly, and going very, very short distances.
I started this monday - was up and out of bed by 630, and ran a grand total of just a couple of feet over a mile, at a very slow pace of around 10 minutes. And when I got home I was winded, slightly dizzy, and cold (cause it is cold right now). Feet hurt, legs hurt, etc., etc.
Tuesday morning I woke up around 615, and did the loop in reverse. Didn't keep track of the time, but I pretty much feel the same way at the end of the run.
Wednesday was a rest day. While I could try and be gung-ho and run every weekday, I know from experience that this won't happen, and that pushing hard this early is asking for a real injury. You push to hard and you stymie your goal. So I slept in til 7, and did the rest of my routine.
Today I woke up at 6am, and did another mile. I tried not to time it, but I think I probably did it in under 10 minutes. I know that the last half mile I started picking up the pace. It was cold and very windy this morning.
Tomorrow I will run another mile. Next week, I will increase the mileage to two miles in the morning. Etc., Etc.,
I am going to try and keep this going. Small, attainable and measurable goals.
I hope to remember to post my mileage here every day until the marathon.
I'm gonna be honest - I am a stupendously lazy person. Tie that together with a familial history of diet related diabetes, hypertension, and central obesity, and I need to do something.
For a bunch of other reasons as well, I have decided that I need to try running the Portland Marathon, this year.
So, I am slowly trying to overcome inertia. I've been trying to take small steps in this - very often people set a lofty goal, and start really strong, only to find that they run out of steam right after they start. Just like running in a long distance race - it is very easy to get swept up in the excitement, and allow it to carry you along for a couple of miles - and then the excitement wears off, and you are left to your own devices. And for alot of people, myself included, this is where your excitement and drive tapers, wanes, and flickers.
So, small steps - easily achievable, measurable goals.
At the beginning of the year I thought about what is going on in my life. I had a couple of good talks with some friends, and expressed a bunch of my frustrations. A great deal of my static inertia is self imposed - mild depression related to personal circumstances. And the depression and frustration, in this case, comes out of a sense that no matter what I do, the central things causing me frustration will not change. Which, in part, is true - as my circumstances include other people who are dealing with their own problems. Specifically, my mother had to move in with me. Details aside, single men in their early 30s should not be living with their mothers (even if it technically is the other way around).
I allowed myself to descend into a funk over the past year because of this. There is little that I can do to change the situation, as the other person involved in this has to be the one to initiate the change.
But what I can do is try and and gain some semblance of personal achievement. Small steps.
In order to get out of this funk, I needed to stop hibernating. So the first goal was to wake up before 730am. I set my alarm to 630, and did that for a week. Nothing more than waking up before 730am. I did that for a week, and then added another component. Be in the office (I am self employed) by 8, and be ready to teach a class (Qi Gong).
So I did this for two weeks. Waking up and getting out of bed by 730, and getting to the office by 8. In order to complete my morning routine before getting to the office, I needed to wake up earlier. The drive to the office, without traffic, takes 15 minutes. I stop at a local coffee shop to pick up some coffee and a bagel - factors in another 5-10 minutes - etc. So in order to make it to the office by 8, unstressed by rushing to complete my morning routine, I need to be out the door by 730. So I started waking up at 7.
I've managed to do this since the beginning of the year. This week, I added in running. Since it has been at least a year and a half since I have run any further than a block, I knew I had to start slow. Previous attempts at "getting serious" have resulted in mild injury and an increase in personal inertia - reinforcement that I hate running, it hurts, and I get no joy from it. That needed to change. So instead of going out of the gate like a shot, I am starting slowly, and going very, very short distances.
I started this monday - was up and out of bed by 630, and ran a grand total of just a couple of feet over a mile, at a very slow pace of around 10 minutes. And when I got home I was winded, slightly dizzy, and cold (cause it is cold right now). Feet hurt, legs hurt, etc., etc.
Tuesday morning I woke up around 615, and did the loop in reverse. Didn't keep track of the time, but I pretty much feel the same way at the end of the run.
Wednesday was a rest day. While I could try and be gung-ho and run every weekday, I know from experience that this won't happen, and that pushing hard this early is asking for a real injury. You push to hard and you stymie your goal. So I slept in til 7, and did the rest of my routine.
Today I woke up at 6am, and did another mile. I tried not to time it, but I think I probably did it in under 10 minutes. I know that the last half mile I started picking up the pace. It was cold and very windy this morning.
Tomorrow I will run another mile. Next week, I will increase the mileage to two miles in the morning. Etc., Etc.,
I am going to try and keep this going. Small, attainable and measurable goals.
I hope to remember to post my mileage here every day until the marathon.
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