Getting caught up...

I’ve done quite a bit since I posted last.  I ran a 5k for the kick off to the Health and Fitness Fair for ATA last Tuesday.  I didn’t beat my last 5k time and I was surprised because this one seemed to have a lot less elevation change in it.  After the fact according to my GPSr and another guys GPSr (we agreed with in a 1/100^th of a mile) it looked like the course might have been a tad too long, which wouldn’t really surprise me haha.  Google agrees with our GPSrs as well… moving on. 

At the fair I got my Cholesterol and Blood sugar checked and I’m in good shape there.  I’m a tad over the mark in lung capacity.  However this is where I fail… My sit & reach… well it was off the charts.  More accurately said “I didn’t make it to the chart.”  So going on what I’ve known my whole life, and said my whole life, I need to work on my flexibility. 

After work I ran another 3 miles indoors to get me over my 5.5 for the day. That night after Don’s spin class I went to Cindy’s stretch class.  It went alright.  I really dislike yoga though.  It’s not that it hurts, or is weird, I just have a hard time seeing its benefits to the goals I want to ultimately achieve.  Anyway, I managed to hit up yoga at the base with Cassie Grow on Monday and again left with the same feelings toward it.  I’m going to keep going and maybe I’ll start to see results and start to enjoy it more.  I need to get a benefit out of my 10 dollar tjmax yoga mat :P

Onto the snow.  Sunday night we got 4 inches of snow or so in the Manchester area.  Jessie and I went out to jaunt around in the snow.  I got pelted with some snowballs… as did she.  One o’clock came around and Jessie had actually talked me into running on the treadmill.  The treadmill is uncharted territory for me.  I had a 9 mile run scheduled.  Well the Rec Center was closed for the snow… Which is really a lame excuse, I was pretty irritated I got ready to head up there and went up there to a sign on the door.  No running on Sunday.  I ended up only running 11.6 miles  last week. 

 

Monday I got up early to make up for Sunday.  I chugged around the track for 108 laps.  I managed to get this in 1:18:25 which is about 2 min faster than last week.  So I was happy with that.  I really wanted to get one of my 9 mile runs outside but that didn’t happen.   Lunch was the yoga mentioned earlier. 

 

After work, I went home and challenged and beat bowser  in super Mario sunshine just in time for swim class.  I have to say swim class had me ready to die.  I think some of it had to do with the running and yoga earlier in the day.  We swam 3x200, 2x200, 1x200 descending sets.  First couple of two hundreds not too bad.  The last 200 though, it felt like I finished that one with an anchor tied around me. 

 

Tuesday was my normal run of 6 miles.  I like the loop I ran however next time I’ll be running it in the opposite direction.  It’s a 3 mile loop around the rec center which I did twice.  I finished off with spin class which Jessie joined me for.  I think she liked it mostly due to the better music.  However, Nickelback is bad enough, there is  no reason to play it twice (as if there was even a reason to play it once).   Streach class was canceled so no luck there.

Wednesday was a much stronger swim class for me.  I felt like I had improved and felt quite a bit more comfortable with my turns.   With my turns its one of two things that normally get me.  1) if there is someone behind me, I don’t have a lot of control in my flip so I often end up on the wall just wherever, and sometimes that’s right in the face of the person trailing me.  2) I can’t get my breath when I need to and my timing is off.  To say the least I was happy with my performance in the pool.

 

I inhabitants of hell got to try out their ice-skates this morning…  I actually made it to a 530 spin class.  And the best part of my day: I found a 10 dollar bill in my jean pocket when I was getting dressed in the locker room.   Later today I’ll be running my 6 miles and meeting Jessie for dinner.  She is going to the LRCP meeting in Fayetteville and since I don’t have a baseball game, I’m going to tag along.

 

I umpire Friday night it will be my first game of the season (due to the other two being canceled).  Saturday I’m going to wake up and get my 10 mile run done then off to umpire again. 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly roundup

I'd like to write on this 2-3 times a week... Things get rusty after a few days. My memory really lacks sometimes. Ask anyone :P

Anyway... Here is my weekly working out:

Monday: Early morning 1.75 mile light run. I didn't time myself. Just jogged a lap on the trail on base. After work I met up with Jessie after work to talk to her about her new job that she started. Ended up walking around Hastings and picked up a "new" Mitch Hedburg CD. Then off to the pool for masters swim. We did a 2000 yd work out including some sprints. The sprints were actually pretty fun. After swim i went up for a quick abdominal workout.

Tuesday: 5.5 mile run in Tullahoma 51 min. Started at east, ran to the end of the bike trail and back through Macon Manor. I didn't plan on going to Don's spin class in the beginning. On the drive home i figured I'd drive by and see if there were any open bike. I got in surprisingly and was just a min or two late. I think since Don's class is from 530-630 I'm going to give the "flexibility challenge" class a try this coming Tuesday. I greatly need to work on my flexibility.

Wednesday: Swim class. We ended up getting in 2400 yrs. 600 of them were spent on the kick board so don't get too excited. After swim i went up stairs for some weights since i skipped out on Monday. Arms, chest and abs. I'm not working out my legs right now as I'm kinda assuming that my running schedule is making up for any lost ground. After the gym I ran over to wingers for dinner with some of the others from swimming. A couple of cold ones then home for bed.

Thursday: I spent the day up in Cookeville talking to students about ATA's coop/intern program. It was engineers week and they always have a engineering career fair. After i got back from that it was getting late so i opted to run on the rec center track. 5.5 miles (66 laps :S) i ran a pretty good pace 46:47 for a 8:30 mile. That was it for Thursday.

Friday: Rest day.

Saturday: Brad and his girlfriend, Michelle, were at my house. They went to Joyce's spin class. I was supposed to meet them after class for swimming however he forgot his suit. So we went and got lunch, and went to the pool a little later. I think we got in about 750yrs. I lost count and the lap timer wasn't working. We were in the pool for 20-25 min.

Sunday: 9 mile run. It was snowing in the AM. I had plans to run outside. It didn't' take too much to talk me into running inside. I was debating between the treadmill and the indoor track. I've never ran on a treadmill and that is still a true statement. So 108 laps... It really wasn't too bad. I tried out Cytomax as well. It was alright but its going to take some getting used to. 9 miles in 1:20:17. I was pretty happy with that time. I scared some lady on the track... on my long runs i always cough and hack upon finishing... she asked if i was alright, i think she was scared i was going to vomit on her actually :P I walked a couple of laps with some water to recover and then stretched out.

I got home and noticed i had a sharp toenail that cut into my other toe. Lesson learned: keep toenails trimmed better :P It wasn't bothering me during my run, but its quite painful now.

I ran 21.75 miles this week. That's a new threshold for me. I've got 20 miles planned for next week. I'm pretty happy with my performance this week... It seems like I'm finally getting a little faster. I feel confident I'll be ready for my half marathon. I went ahead and signed up for the GJCC triathlon this week. 200m swim, 8.5 mi bike and 2 mile run. It should be a good introduction and get me prepared for running the Mach Tenn the next week. Something else for me to look forward to.

First Race

This is a little behind as its already Tuesday. Anyway....

I ran in the Nashville Predators "FANGtastic" 5k this weekend. It was a new experience. I posted a time of 26:41. I was pretty happy with this. The course was a bit hilly. I think i could have pushed it a little more however i really didn't know what to expect at all. I didn't train for it specifically and the distance is short compared to my training runs for my half marathon these days. I guess my unofficial goal was made by Don asking me in the locker room what time i was shooting for. I was hit cold by this question as i hadn't thought of it before and my reply after a second or two of thought was "I guess i'd be happy with anything under 27" so goal met haha.

I didn't wear a watch so i had no idea on what time i was makeing. I have yet to decide if wearing one would have helped me or hurt me. I'm leaning more toward that it would have hurt me as i would have had some goal in my head and ran just that fast. I doubt i would have finished in a shorter time had i had one.

After the race we ran over to the sports plex to shower up and blow some time til the hockey game. We ran over to the mall as jessie has been on a mission for a few weeks now of going to sophoria. After that we went to mellow mushroom for some lunch and beers... we then continued the beering at the flying saucer. I forgot to use my free pint coupon for my birthday err. i guess it means i just have to go back. Jessie joined the beer club for the quest of getting ones name on the wall (and you get a free tshirt and other free stuff as you progress).

We put a half attempt into finding a geocache. That didn't happen. haha. On to more beer and then the game.

It was my first pred's game to attend that they actually won. I went to my first one last year followed by a few more. I think that was probably my 6th or 7th game. I'm not running a good streak. Anyway they won in overtime in the shootout. I guess we got our money's worth. It was also jessies day for tshirt collection. She got 2 at the race, one at the flying saucer, and i managed to catch one thrown at the hockey game which i gave to her (it was valentines day, haha)

Its looking like i'll get to run in the rec centers 10k in march. I was supposed to be out of town, but we may be getting back early. So i'll be looking forward to that.

Resting a little...

It was a pretty nice day on Saturday and I had planned on riding my bike
in Fayetteville with Jessie. She ended up having a little bit of a cold
so she decided to skip out. I ended up just riding out from my house.
I went through Hillsboro and back thru the base. It ended up being a 26
mile ride. The wind was a little much though. I didn't have anything
in particular in mind on my destination or distance when I got on my
bike. I had kind of thought about riding out to Estill Springs and back
through Tullahoma. But since I didn't have a plan and the wind was
rather discouraging, I made it short.

I bailed out on my long run on Sunday. Mostly because it was nice out
and I didn't really think about what time it was and darkness snuck up
on me. I wanted to go run at Tims Ford state park. To make up for it I
got up at 430am on Monday morning for an 8 mile run. I ran at the trail
on base. I was a little slow at first and almost made up for it in the
end (my first lap was 18:40 for 1.75miles). I think my over all time
for the 8 miles was 1:20:45 or so. Running in the morning isn't really
my thing.

My plan for this week is to be an easy week. I've been working decently
hard for about 2 months to get my running distance up, etc. I think a
small break will do me some good. I figured it'd be a good week for it
as I am running in the Pred's 5K this weekend. It will be my first
running race. I haven't been able to really decide on a good goal
finishing time. I guess I don't' know what to expect.

I was worn out by the time swim class came around. I think I did a
decent job in the pool however. The drills are getting more and more
challenging. After swimming I expected to come home and pass out...
Nope, I was wide awake and ended up taking some Tylenol PM around
midnight.

I was awoken by work calling me at 5:45 Tuesday morning. Not really a
big deal, I should have been awake anyway. I ended up rushing to get
ready and going into work a little early. I skipped packing my lunch
and packing a bag to run after work. I ended up skipping my run on
Tuesday and opted for a 30 min nap instead. Then I went off to Don's
spin class. When I was driving home from the gym, I got called into
work again.. blah. It was for something different than in the morning
at least.

Wednesday was an interesting day. I started it off with Traffic
Court... which really just managed to piss me off for the day. I really
got screwed there and from what I could tell, was because apparently not
wanting to give the officer your SSN and Phone number when he told me I
may refuse to is interpreted as Rude to the Manchester City Police.
Long story short... I have Traffic School coming my direction next
month. After court I ran to Winchester for my dentist appointment and
stopped by Jessie's work to say hi.

Wednesdays swimming was pretty good. I'm trying hard to get myself out
of bad habits. Most of which seem to be in my stroke timing. And I
wish I could get that damn flip turn down. I need to just practice
them where I can do them without being tired from swimming already.

Today I went to the eye doctor for a follow up. She wanted to get some
baseline tests to keep watch for me developing glaucoma. According to
her I'm at a little bit of a higher risk to develop it.

I'm debating on if and how much I want to run today after work. I'm
looking forward to my race followed by some flying saucer and a hockey
game. Weather dependant I'm going to try to do a decent bike ride
Sunday.

3rd shift

Due to some problems at work with some of my systems, I get to sit in and observe for this week out in the wind tunnel from 8pm to 8am.  At least there is only 3 days of shift work for me.   Makes for a almost welcomed shift in my schedule.  I enjoyed being able to wake up whenever over Christmas break then going to run before breakfast.  Its kind of similar with this. 

I left work yesterday early with hope to get a nap in before swim class.  That, as you probably guessed, didn’t happen.  I loafed around the house, played some Dr. Mario with my brother on the original NES.   We are pretty evenly matched.  I definitely recommend  the game for some competition in a quick thinking game.  I’ve been playing it for a while since my brother has been staying with me after he graduated.  He has a job interview with ATA on Wednesday.  Hopefully that goes well for him.   When the time came I headed to swim class.  

We are getting a better work out now that we are moving on to harder drills.  Our coach had us doing 8x75’s on the 1:50 50yds of which was underwater kicking drills, I have to say that was a little rough.  After swim class, I showered got some dinner and headed into work. 

I got off early last night about 3:30 am.  I went to bed and got up around 11:00 or so.  Loafed around a little bit and then went for my 5m run.  It was a little chilly and there were some pretty large wind guests as well.   Overall, it seemed less windy than it did Sunday.  I ran out of the rec center.  It seems like its not hard to find a hill around there.  I ran the 5 miles in 48 min.   I’m happy with that.   I’ve been thinking I need a little motivation to get faster.  I know I can run 9 min miles outside in the terrain and weather, but just don’t have the motivation to do so.  Reading Lana’s latest blog kind of got me thinking about that.   I’m running against the clock for my arbitrary goal.  I try to go faster, it hurts so I back off a little.  I think I was doing a little better with the pace but I’ve been battling side stitches toward the end of my shorter runs in the cold.  Still haven’t found a good solution to that.  Ones they set in it seems like they are there to stay and just get worse every step.   Right after I stop, get a drink and start to stretch it seems to go away. 

Went home and rested up for don’s spin class.  The music was a little different in today’s class.  It wasn’t quite as heavy as it’s been in the past.  All and all it was a good class.  I sat in the back so I feel like I might have cheated myself a little.  Its not as motivating when no one can see how hard you are going.  We did some new things in class too… single leg and pedaling backwards for example.  The pedaling backwards was a little tricky because the bike would only take so much torque before it slipped in the reverse direction.  It was almost like a resting set due to not being able to push it really hard.    After spin, I went home and got ready for work and grabbed some dinner and coffee. 

And here I am midnight at work… only 8 hours left.   So far so good, smooth operation. 

I plan on going home and sleeping as long as I possibly can, going to my swim class, then repeat.  Depending on when testing stops I am kind of hoping I might even be able to make it to a 530am spin class Thursday morning.  I’ll be returning to first shift Friday. 

 

 

Super Bowl...

Well the Steelers won the Superbowl... 6 of them too. It was actually a competitive game all the way to the end which is something not seen in most of the Superbowls (no actual data just going on what i can remember).

I got called into work on Saturday morning which by the time i got there, i pretty much told them to proceed and probably could have just avoided going in if i putzed around a little bit. After work Jessie, Lisa and I did a chilly bike ride. I think we got in about 17 miles. Just slow and easy to get on the bike. Its been a little while since I've been out on the bike. Now if i could just find some time and a nice day to get on the motorcycle.
















Sunday was an interesting run. Chad and I ran from his house to the 55 flea market and back for an eight mile endeavor. The weather was pretty good for the run except for the wind being in our faces for the first 8 miles. After we'd turned around, Brian decided he was going to bother us by driving by honking and shouting. I was kinda hoping for him to offer us a ride. Then on to the creepy guy.

I've been stopped and asked if i knew were someones house is or how to get from here to there, out of the 2 or so times that I've actually stopped running so far I'm batting a .000 on knowing what the hell they are talking about. So I've pretty much decided to just keep running when people slow down (they probably think I'm an ass, i really don't care). Anyway, this guy in a car that was barely running pulled off onto the shoulder and opened his door while we were running up to him (I'm under the assumption his window didn't roll down). Beckoning us to come over to his driver door he had a plastic shopping bag on his lap that i really didn't want to find out what was in it. Chad and I ran past the car on the passenger side to where he starts backing up down the shoulder. At this point we are both wondering at what point to we turn around and confront him and if we are going to actually going to have to defend ourselves. He backed up to the next block and turned off down the road. Creepy. Between that and having to plot to dive in the ditch as a car was acting strangely and almost merging onto the shoulder, i think my next run will be away from the highway.

In a related rant... I know when I'm biking/running down 55 or any 4 lane highway for that matter there is a shoulder, but would it kill people just to change lanes if possible. I think that we had 7 people actively change lanes because we were running down the shoulder.

Overall, i think I'm doing pretty well with the training though. I ran the 8 mile run in 1:20. I have to work 8pm to 8am through Thursday this week. I don't think that will affect my training too too much. I should be able to get my swimming and running in no problem. I'll just sleep when I'm normally at work.

This weeks training plan:

Monday: Swimming and Weights
Tuesday 5 mile run and Don's spin class
Wednesday: Swimming
Thursday: 5 mile run (i would do weights however the rec center will be closed, err)
Friday: Off
Sat: bike or spin (weather dependant)
Sun: 8 mile run

finishing out the week.

Well, i had a pretty busy day Wednesday with not much working out other than swimming. I had an eye doctor appointment, then my allergy shots, almost rear ended some girl and a haircut too. We actually got a decent workout (by my standards for swimming). Looks like we are going to start some new strokes too. Again its been a while... and I've never really mastered the butterfly at any point in my life. Maybe this time around.

Thursday i ran at lunch again. It was a little chilly. I wore the tights and a pull over. I guess the mid 30 degrees days are tough to judge. I was pretty cold starting off, hands numb etc. By the end i was dripping sweat and wanting to shed a layer. Little better time than last time too. Last time was 48:30 instead of the 47:30 i quoted in my last post. I got this run done in 47:50. For the last 1.5 miles i had a horrible stitch in my side. I experimented with how to nurse it. I couldn't make it go away and it progressively got worse, but shallow breathing seemed to make it manageable.

I finished up my day at work and went to the pool place in Manchester to buy some hand paddles for swimming. I picked up a kick board while i was there because i figured it wouldn't be long before she wanted us to get one of those guys.

Spin class was pretty good thursday as well. She does different drills than the other instructors so its a nice change. Some of the music is we'll just say marginal however. After swimming i decided i'd swim a little. Which after getting in the pool i was really too warn out to have a good swim. I swam 8x50. I want to really concentrate on form and i can't do that if i'm warn out so i just quit while i was ahead :P...

Get to be lazy with Jessie tonight. We really don't have any plans as of yet so maybe we'll just sit around the house. She is bringing her bike over though. Tomorrow we are going to ride with Lisa out at the base for a couple of hours.

I am trying to think of a good route for my 8 mile run on super bowl sunday. Go Pittsburgh!