Activity 5/20 - 5/26

A pretty good week:

Monday - 1.25 mile walk. I did a quick walk at lunch.  It was hot enough that I actually came inside and walked in the tunnels a bit.
Tuesday - 4.0 run and walk in 1:00.  Jesus it was hot and humid out.  I did my walking warm up and then started 2:00/1:00. Then 1:00/1:00. Finally I just switched to running between the zone 2 beeps on my watch and then walked back to the office.
Tuesday - 30 minute Core Workout.  Such a good core workout.
Wednesday - 1.5 walk.  I would have done more but a hard day at home left my workout out of the question. While the wife laid down with our daughter to put her to bed, I went for a neighborhood walk.
Thursday - 3.3 in 1:05 walk.  I walked to the dry cleaners and back to drop off the clothes.  Very hot out 88 with 85% humidity.  Nice to do an errand.
Friday - 3.05 in 40 minutes run (13:06) plus 1.00 walking warm up/down.  First chance to use the new/used treadmill.  It was too hot and still in the garage so I cut the running short.
Saturday - Strength training. I did the Coach Jeff total body workout for the first time in months.  Very challenging. I need to start doing some strength training at least 2x a week.
Saturday - 3.05 walking in 1:00.  Treadmill walk in the garage. My son watched an episode of Doctor Who, then came out to nag me to stop.
Sunday - 4.5 in 1:00 (12:53) plus .5 walking warm up/down.  A good run at 2:00/1:00 with the fan moving the hot/humid air around. I don't know if I could do this in temps 15 degrees warmer without passing out. I wanted to run longer but my son nagged the entire time for me to stop.  I was not feeling supported at all...

Weight:
Sunday 167.3 so I'm down .3 for the week and 2.7 overall.  Obviously I'd like to be seeing better results....

Steps:
Monday - 10,073
Tuesday - 10,829
Wednesday - 9,600
Thursday - 13,663
Friday - 12,387
Saturday - 8,032*
Sunday - 18,579

* Saturday I checked the step count while I was on the treadmill for an hour.  It recorded around 1000 steps.  By my calculation it should have gotten around 7200.  So that should be well over 13,000 or even 14,000 steps.

Activity 05/06 - 05/12

I have a very medium week.  No big spectacular workouts but no crashes and burns either.  Not enough steps...

Monday - 1.6 mile walk at lunch time.
Tuesday - 4.0 mile walk at lunch time. I should have run but my stomach was not of the good from the moment I woke up and I didn't want to chance something ugly.  A very nice walk and good pace (17:00 miles).
Tuesday - 30 minute core work.  Very good work.  All the usual suspects.
Wednesday - Bike ride 13.37 in 59.  (13.7 mph). That's fast for me.  Now that I've got my mechanical issues resolved (for a few days) I am riding a bit faster. 
Thursday - 4.0 walk with running in 1:00.  Very slow.  Mostly walking with a bit of running.  I did not feel well before I set out.  Still, I'm amazed at how slowly I'm moving in these run/walks. 
Saturday - 5.05 in 1:20.  I intended to ride my bike but had a hole in my tire and tube so switched to a walk/run.  Felt run down and slow and I was slow.  Again, I find it shocking how slow I am.  Part of me doesn't care about speed because I'd prefer to walk but want the calories burned from running but another part wonders if I'm actually doing "damage" by doing it this way. 
Sunday - I went and volunteered at a race in the morning rather than working out in the morning. And then the family was going to hike but we decided to just not.  Instead we celebrated Mother's day by crafting while watching Downton Abbey and then visiting our friends. 

Weight:

4/8 - 170.0
4/14 - 169.5 (-.5)
4/21 - 166.7 (-2.8)
4/27 - 167.6 (+0.9)
5/4 - 166.2 (-1.4)
5/11 - 165.8 (-.4)

So it's moving and in the right direction.  I think I need to be more active and also eat less candy to lose more.  15.8 pounds to go!

Steps:
Monday - 10,614
Tuesday - 14,304
Wednesday - 7,095
Thursday - 12,613
Friday - 3,933
Saturday - 13,641
Sunday - 4,166

Total - 66,366

Exercise 04/29 - 05/05

Not too pressing but it was a nice week for me. 

Tuesday - 3.9 miles walking in 1:10.  Again I forgot my sports bra and had to walk instead of run.  I printed up a list and will attach it to my gear crate so hopefully this will be the last time.
Wednesday - 11.5 bike in 58.  Lovely ride in a lot of sunshine but having some mechanical issues. I called my brother and asked him about it. From my description he suggested either user error or bad bearings in the rear wheel.  Not to keep any (I don't know if there are any) readers in suspense - I took my bike to the shop Saturday and user error is the answer.  The brake thing was not pulled far enough so it was rubbing and causing issues in tightening down the wheel.  I'm looking forward to riding without dealing with that. 
Thursday - 3.6 miles in 47 (13:03) plus walking warm up/down.  I did 2:00/1:00 throughout and felt really good about it. I was able to keep my HR down throughout and keep it up.  Not fast but felt good.  Oh and it was 53 degrees out with a 14 mph wind.  In Texas! 
Saturday - 30 minute core work.  Then a 4 mile walk to the grocery store and back. 
Sunday - I was feeling somewhat lazy and didn't really want to go for a long bike ride or run so it was perfect when a friend texted to say did we want to hike.  ChocolateDaughter and I met the friend and her dog for an easy hike before gathering the rest of our families and going to a birthday party.  We probably only went about 2 miles but it was lovely. 

Weight:
4/8 - 170.0
4/14 - 169.5 (-.5)
4/21 - 166.7 (-2.8)
4/27 - 167.6 (+0.9)
5/4 - 166.2 (-1.4)

Steps:
Monday - 8,517
Tuesday - 12,189
Wednesday - 8,110
Thursday - 11,655
Friday - 9,712
Saturday - 16,017
Sunday - 9,734
Total - 75,934

I donated a small triple of platelets on Thursday.  Not coincidentally I learned that it is a bad idea to get very cold before donating platelets.  The run done in 53 degree weather immediately before and combined with the cold temperature in the center made my donation very difficult. I will not make that mistake again.

Exercise 04/22 - 04/28

I had another good week although I felt like I ate more (and worse) than I should. That probably shows in my weekly weigh-in (I gained 0.9 pounds at weigh in Saturday).  Still:

Monday - I feel like I probably walked around at lunch hour but I'm not seeing it on the graph.  I also did a 30 minute core workout. I combined exercises from pre-dawn and the box of cards I got. 
Tuesday - 4.2 in 50 (11:54) plus walking warm up/down.  The phone GPS showed less but it was obviously off so I mapped it and came up with slightly more than this. I sort of split the difference.  Ran 1:30/:45 intervals on the hills by the university.  Very humid.
Wednesday - 11.5 in 1:00 biking.  Easy heading out and then hard coming back. Either I hit the wind or was having trouble with my bike again.  Or some combination of the two.
Thursday - 4 miles in 1:00. Mostly just walking with a few minutes of running. Very tired legs. 
Saturday - 4.2 miles in 1:20. All walking.  Very humid out. 
Sunday - 16.28 in 1:20 biking.  Very nice ride but the ground was wet. I hit one spot of mud and started to skid out. I kept myself upright and was quite impressed. 
Sunday - 30 minutes core work.  Very challenging. I mixed the Pre-dawn and the box of fitness cards.  I was already feeling too hot in the house and was pretty much drenched by the end of the core work.  Later ChocolateWife wanted to try some core exercises and noticed that the box shows a few other core moves mixed in. 

As I said my weight was up .9 pounds as of Saturday. But I had worse diet as well as getting my period on Sunday so that probably had some effect. 

I'm still using my phone and Noom to count my steps. I find it very motivating but I'm also aware that it is not all that accurate.  I went for a walk on Saturday and did a few spot checks.  My actual step count was about 120 steps per minute and the phone was logging 70 steps per minute (a very big difference).  Still, it's fun to sort of note the steps and strive to reach the (increasing) goal every day.

Monday - 7,808
Tuesday - 15,320
Wednesday - 9,305
Thursday - 11,652
Friday - 9,502
Saturday - 12,013
Sunday - 9,007

Total: 74,607

As you can see, it is obvious that it's not an accurate count and it awards some steps for bike rides (Wednesday and Sunday) but it's still fun to look at.

Exercise Report 04/08 - 04/14

Monday - I took a quick walk at lunchtime.  1.5 miles in 30 minutes and jogged up the stairs to end it. 
Tuesday - Walk/Run 3.5 miles in 55 minutes.  Again, I mixed in running with walking to do a 1:00/1:00.  I ran over at the track and it was just lovely. 
Wednesday - 1.7 mile walk in 30 minutes ending with the stairs.  It was 40 degrees and had just rained a lot but I walked over to the library to return some books and then to 7-11 for some bananas.  Perfect walk for lunch time.
Thursday - 3.5 miles running in 47 minutes plus warm up/down.  I went to Pease Park and ran on the trails.  Still a 1:00/1:00 so I'm not pushing anything but I'm increasing mileage and calories. 
Saturday - 17.5 miles riding in 1:28.  A lovely day for a bike ride. I adjusted my read wheel and cleaned the brakes so that it was a really smooth ride. 
Sunday - 15.1 miles riding in 1:15.  It was windier and sunnier than the day before but I had a nice ride.  I usually ride in 10-11th gear depending on hills and occasionally 12th.  I noticed that this weekend I was riding primarily in 12th with a few downshifts to 11th for hills.  So I have to assume that my legs are getting stronger. 

I'm maintaining my calories and calorie count. I think I went over calories one day last week by maybe 100 calories. Most days I'm under by 100-300 calories.  I get a baseline allowance of 1500 from the app and then whatever exercise I do, I get 1/2 those calories.  My clothes feel a bit more comfortable but the needle on the scale hasn't moved yet. 

One of my co-workers came by my desk the week before last.  She was one of the people really interested in the stand-up desk and she asked about it.  Then we were talking and she said that she read that you really should get up every 15 minutes - that even every hour is not enough.  Thinking about that I installed a meditation bell timer on my phone. On silent, it lights up every 15 minutes (approximately) and I try to stand up (at minimum) or walk around a few minutes (at best). 

I also started using the Noom app to count my steps daily.  That has some limitations including:

• Obviously the app only counts steps if you have the phone with you.  If you're going to the bathroom or shower or whatever, no counting.
• The step count does not seem accurate when on a run/walk.  One day I calculated that my steps during my lunch time run/walk should have been around 7500.  The app counted about 3500.  It seems to do better in a walk without any running and seems to do better if the phone is in my pocket than if it is on the armband.
• It adds some number of steps to the count when I ride my bike but it's not a # equal to my cadence.  My riding cadence is probably 170-175 per minute (10200 per hour).  It probably added 3500 - 4000 steps per hour to my counts. 

That said, I think for me the two things - meditation/move around reminder and step counting are good for me.  My step counts last week (such as they are were):

Tuesday (partial day) - 8689 (only about 3500 steps for the run/walk).
Wednesday - 7927
Thursday - 12,741
Friday - 7,586
Saturday - 8,482
Sunday - 5,029

So obviously you have to take the #s with a grain of salt when considering the bike riding as well but I think it's a nice measure and incentive, particularly when I'm at work.  Perhaps my goal should be 4000 steps while at work? 

Training Plan Week 9 - 1/21 - 1/28

Planned:

Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - 10 K Race
Sunday - Cross-train

Actual:
None of that.  My back has been an issue since I woke up Sunday (1/20) in pain.  I did a lot of heat and rest throughout the week and then took my friend's advice to see a chiropractor on Friday.  He said it was a problem with my iliosacral joint caused by muscle imbalance and flexibility imbalance. He also said no heat!  He said that there is inflammation and that the heat feels nice but does more hurt than good.  So ... ice. 

Sunday I went for a 30 minute walk with the family.  Not fast and it felt uncomfortable by the end. 

Lots of ice.  Some rest. 

I'm worried about my half-marathon and about letting down all the people who donated to my run for Livestrong and particularly those for whom I'm running a mile.  What if I can't run in their honor? Or only make it 5 miles?

Training Plan Week 8 - 01/14 - 01/20

Planned:
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles race pace
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - 10 mile LSR
Sunday - Cross-train

Actual:
Tuesday - 3 miles in 38 (12:36) plus walking warm up/down.  I ran up and down the hills by campus.  School must be starting because it was more crowded than usual. I won't run through campus until after the semester again.  It was about 35 degrees out but still a lovely run.
Wednesday - I went for a hike with my friend and her dog to enjoy the social for the day. It was a lovely hike and she goes quite quickly (3.15 miles in 1 hour).
Saturday - 11.88 miles cycling in 59 minutes.  We were ready pretty early for the kids' birthday party so I went out for a bike ride.  It was a lovely day and I went easy to run LSR on Sunday (let's revisit that). 

That's it.  I woke up Sunday with something wrong with my back. I've never had any significant back issue before in my life.  But I could barely walk.  I spent Sunday and then the Monday holiday on a heat pack on the couch.  I didn't go to the funeral I planned to attend Sunday or for a run or walk. I didn't clean the kitchen or do laundry.  I sat and sat and took pain killers. 

Today it is slightly better but it hurts and is hard to walk.  Running is literally incomprehensible to me.  The half-marathon is less than 4 weeks away.  So far in my training plan, I've done my 5 mile LSR, skipped the 6 mile, had to stop the 7 mile at 5.5, run the 8 mile, skipped the 9 mile due to my stomach issues, and missed the 10 mile due to my back.  I'm concerned about the race.  Assuming my back feels better I can walk it in the worst case scenario but this is by far the least prepared I've ever been for an event. 

On the bright side, our best friends donated $100 to my Livestrong effort yesterday putting me over my $1500 goal.  I raised my goal to $1750 and hope to get a few more donations but right now I'm well over my previous high.  I guess even if I have to walk the HM, I still have made a difference to those who need services from Livestrong.org.

Training Plan Week 7 - 01/07 - 01/13

Planned:
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - 9 mile LSR
Sunday - Cross-train

Again blogger won't let me upload my image file. This ones shows more bars than last week. 

Actual:
Tuesday - 4.1 miles in 46 minutes (11:13) plus walking warm up/down.  This one was in rain ranging from sprinkling to pouring down rain throughout.  Temp was about 49 so not freezing but bracing.  I ran at the track to avoid having to deal with very much traffic.  Pace seems faster than usual but I checked and double-checked my lap count/math and it seems pretty good. 
Wednesday - Raining again and I skipped the run to go to lunch.  It just seemed... unwise.  While I hate missing a workout it didn't feel right to me and felt really wrong to my ChocolateWife (which I didn't actually know until later but makes me feel even better about skipping).
Thursday - 3.76 in 46 minutes (12:14) plus walking warm up/down.  I ran the hills around and through campus.  It was a really nice run in perfect running weather - 55-60 and sunny.  Strangest sight was a dead adult possum I saw near the end of the run.  I guess it wasn't perfect running weather for him.
Saturday - 20.3 mile bike ride in 1:45 (11.6 mph).  It was supposed to be LSR Saturday, bike Sunday but I wanted to bike in 68 degrees and run in 40 so I switched the schedule.  The only downside was that I was riding in the pretty wet and a little light rain.  Felt really good throughout though.  I don't go fast but I feel like a 20 mile ride is very doable for me now. 
Sunday - 12.5 mile bike ride in 1:02 (12.1 mph).  It was cooler (45 or so) but dry.  I should have done a LSR but my stomach has been very problematic and I'm very nervous about runs when my stomach feels like that.  Bike ride didn't give me my LSR time on my feet but did a little cardio and activity and calorie burning. 

Right now this is probably the least prepared I've been for a race.  I've missed 2 LSRs completely and cut one short.  Right now I'm just trying to keep myself active and make it fit into my life. 

2013 Goals

Well it's 2013 and what are all the cool kids doing?  Setting their goals.  Setting their fitness goals. 

I only set two goals last year and I didn't reach either of them.  So ... what's the purpose of a goal? Should it be specific and measurable such as "I will lose x pounds by March 1 blah blah blah..."  Or should they be more vague and less measurable?  I think that's up to the individual.  I haven't felt driven to setting goals but now I've been thinking of it a lot.  Maybe I'll set motivations for the year such as:

Motivations:

• Run >750 miles and Bike > 750 miles OR Run/Bike > 1500 miles
• Do >75 core workouts
• Run a half-marathon in <2:35:59
• Be more fit
• Love more
• Laugh more
• Make love more
• Volunteer at some races
• Give more
• Forgive more easily, more quickly, more thoroughly
• Pay better attention
• Be more present

2012 Running/Riding Totals

Last year I posted that I wanted to run 1100 miles and break 2:30 in the half marathon in 2012.  I achieved neither of those goals but I had a good year. 

 

I ran 709 miles in 2012 which was markedly down from 2011. But that was because I began to focus on a more varied exercise schedule which included more strength and cross training.  You can see from the graph that in the early part of the year when I was just running, I was logging more miles than in the later part as I became more flexible in my workouts. 

 

 

The graph at the top shows my running miles and the one at the bottom show all miles.  In the later part of the year as I started to do more biking, my miles increased although my running miles decreased. 

 

Although I did not reach my goals in 2012 it was a good year.  I ran a 2:41 half marathon which was a 9 minute improvement from my first effort.  I stayed relatively healthy and had no injuries. 

Training Plan Week 4 - 12/17 - 12/23

Planned:
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 4 miles at race pace
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - 7 mile LSR
Sunday - Cross-training

Actual:
Tuesday - 2.8 miles in 35 minute (12:30) plus 1.2 miles walking warm up/down.  Not a good run.  Too many thoughts in my brain, not enough rest, phone call during saying that the refrigerator was not cooling. 
Wednesday - 3.6 miles in 41 minutes (11:16 mm) plus walking warm up/down.  It was >80 degrees, humid, and windy so I'm really happy with this for a race pace run. 
Thursday - too much chaos and not enough healthy food (no refrigerator) so I did not run.
Saturday - 5.5 miles in 1:13 (13:09) plus walking warm up/down.  Should have been longer but all the bad diet and gluten with no access to healthy food really got me.  I got very suddenly sick on the run.  Sick enough that I had to call the family to come get me.  I'm so glad that the refrigerator is working again.
Sunday - 16 miles in 1:20 on the bike. I went to the post office and mailed everything that needed to go out. Then continued.  Nice ride. 

Weight - probably unchanged and I've had very little control over my diet.  Last week the refrigerator was broken. This week we're at the in-laws'.  I'm trying to be pretty hard-core avoiding the gluten but otherwise, it's hard to eat healthy at all.
Fund-raising - my fundraising for Livestrong is going very well.  I got some donations last week (in response to my "hey the end of the tax year is coming"... e-mails).  I'm over $1100 of my $1500 goal. 

Training Plan Week 3 - 12/10 - 12/16

Planned:Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 4 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - LSR 6 miles
Sunday - Cross train

Actual:
Tuesday - 3.44 in 45 (13:04) plus walking warm up/down.  Surprised at how slow this one was. I felt good while running.  2:00/:45 run/walk up and down some hills and on trails.
Tuesday - Core work for 30 minutes. I did the work after dinner and felt sort of crummy but got it done.
Wednesday - 12.75 miles in 1:00 biking. Schedule was wonky so I came home early and decided to take the chance to bike rather than run. 
Thursday - 4.15 in 50 minutes (12:02) plus walking warm up/down.  Ran a nice 2:00/:45 ratio.
Saturday - Core work for 30 minutes. I got this done before dawn so a good start to the day.
Saturday - Bike 13.66 in 1:06.  A very busy day meant I did my bike ride in the only time available. The ride was just lovely once I managed to avoid being hit by two different vehicles running stop signs at the same intersection.
LSR - Did not.  Sunday was not a good day.  Not good at all. Very upsetting and I'm still having trouble sleeping.  

Notes:
Weight unchanged.
Feelings about weight unchanged.
My fundraising for Livestrong is over $950! 
Four more days of work until I have a week off.
I've biked/run > 1000 miles this year.

Training Plan Week 2 - 12/03 - 12/09

Planned:
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles at race pace
Thursday - 3 miles
Saturday - LSR 5 miles
Sunday - Cross train

Actual:
Tuesday - 3.9 miles in 47 minutes (11:56) plus walking warm up/down on the hills near/through campus.  This one felt really good and was faster than I expected once I got back to work and mapped it.  I ran 2:00/:45 intervals and thought that was a good interval.  I also stopped at traffic lights for 2-3 minutes so pace was even faster really.
Wednesday -  3.61 in 40 minutes (11:07) plus walking warm up/down.  This was supposed to be "race pace" and was even faster than I think of my race pace. First I did 3:00/1:00 intervals then I switched to walking 1:00 per lap on the track.  Distance is approximate but I would feel safe calling it 3.49 to 3.61 which would be between a 11:07 and 11:30 pace.  All still in a good range for me.
Thursday - Pre-dawn core work done pre-dawn.  30 minutes of the pre dawn work but mixed in ball crunches and metronomes.
Thursday - Lovely 11.72 mile bike ride in 1:00.  My intention is that it's ok to put in one bike ride in place of a run 1x a week if I can make it fit with my schedule.
Sunday - LSR 5 miles in 1:05 (13:00).  Very approximate.  I ran on the Trails at Walnut Creek.  I ran a 1:00/1:00 and took it pretty easy.  It should have been run Saturday, Bike Sunday, and core one of those two days.  Instead it was have a migraine Saturday.  Lay in bed. Groan. Moan. Take advil.  I wasn't totally useless, I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, we got the tree decorated.  It just wasn't possible to do any exercise. 

I got my replacement phone so I'm back to logging my food and trying to lose this weight.  I'm also feeling like this cough it finally moving on. 

What I learned this week (specifically Sunday):  Taking my key off my keyring and sliding it into the back of the armband for my phone so I can run with just that rather than the key fob only is a good plan if I know that my key actually fits and opens the doors.  I don't remember that I've ever tried to use the key to open the car door before (the car is 11 years old).  Either it never fit the car door or the lock is rusted or filled with dirt and grunge.  Either way, I found myself hanging out at the park for an extra 10 minutes while my wife/kids/dogs drove over to unlock my car for me. 

This week - 3 miles Tuesday, 4 Wednesday, 3 Thursday, LSR 6 Saturday, Bike Sunday, and core 2x.

Training Plan Week 1 -- 11/26 - 12/02

Yay!  Week 1 of my Training Plan. 

Planned: 
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 4 miles
Saturday - 4 mile LSR
Sunday - cross-train
Actual:

Tuesday - 3.29 in 38 minutes (11:28/mm) plus walking warm up/down.  Wow. I pushed myself on this one.  I ran 3:00/1:00 and for me it was faster than race pace and really working. 

Tuesday - 30 minutes core work.  Basically I did the pre-dawn routine with ball crunches mixed in. 
Wednesday - 3.15 in 40 minutes (12:39/mm) plus walking warm up/down.  I went easier than Tuesday with a 2:00/1:00 but really enjoyed the run.  I'm still struggling with a cough so it feels good to run hot and try and cough up the congestion.
Thursday - 3.43 in 45 minutes (13:07/mm) plus walking warm up/down.  I went back to my winter work schedule so I'll run at lunch time 3 days a week.  I love running at the park but probably lost 2-3 minutes waiting to cross streets.  Without street stops, my pace was more like 12:23.  I ran 1:30/:45 ratios and am considering dropping all my walk ratios to :45.  I feel like I'm mostly recovered by then. 
Saturday - Core work.  30 minutes of Pre-dawn runner's program with some ball crunches mixed in. 
Saturday - 4.8 miles in 1:00 (12:30) plus walking warm up/down.  Saturday was probably the worst I've felt as far as my cough and cold went.  But I went running anyway hoping the heat would help and it did as it has for weeks.  I felt very tight in the chest but enjoyed the feeling.  I wore no HRM because I didn't feel a need it on a LSR.  Unfortunately my phone had no music on it and wouldn't hook up any GPS so it was a naked run.  As it turns out the phone has nothing and after a while on the phone with the company I will be getting a replacement next week.  For the time being I'm using my old phone. 
Sunday - No workout but I knew that in advance. My niece had her fund-raiser for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah and I got up, drove to Houston, umpired, and drove home.  Tiring day but no workout.

Drinking enough water and watching what I eat is going well although I'm not sure how much progress I'm seeing weight-wise in just the first week.  More importantly, I'd like for the entire family to completely kick this cold/cough rather than just sharing it eternally.

Workouts 11/19 - 11/25

Considering that #1 it was Thanksgiving week and #2 I've still been fighting the cough, I had a pretty good workout week last week. 

Monday - 3.77 walking.  This was the day that I was worried I might actually be GETTING SICK.  I decided that running was unwise but I strapped on my backpack and walked to the store, bought some groceries, and walked home.  It felt really wonderful and I didn't start coughing until I got home.

Tuesday - 3.4 miles in 43 minutes (12:38) plus walking warm-up.  80 degrees out 2 days before Thanksgiving.  Still not feeling great but I just enjoyed the heat and the feeling of cooking that cough out of my chest. 

I really thought we would get Wednesday afternoon off work and that I would ride my bike but alas. 

Saturday - 30 minutes. Pre-dawn runner's core workout. I've been doing the pre-dawn routine but mixing in some ball crunches as well.  I'm really excited because I can now do the unilateral bird-dogs.  

Saturday - 20.2 mile bike ride in 1:38 (12.4 mph).  It was really gorgeous out and I really wanted to take a long workout and burn some calories.   Runkeeper was announcing every 5 minutes so every time it did, I pedaled hard for 50 strokes to make it a little more challenging.  This was the farthest I've ever ridden or run.

Sunday - 5.7 miles in 1:16 (13:19) plus walking warm up/down.  I considered this a LSR and did 2:00/1:00 then 1:00/1:00.  I didn't even check the Runkeeper cues, just ran and enjoyed it. 

Other:
Water:  I have been doing a good job of drinking water. I think I drank 64 oz or more every day that I tracked it (I didn't track while out of town). 

Snacking: Reduced but not eliminated. 

Noom: I'm using Noom for my calorie tracking pretty consistently. 



My Half-marathon training plan for the Livestrong officially starts Tuesday (11/27).  I've settled on the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan but I'll be adding in core work and possibly some strength work. 

Workouts 11/12 - 11/18

This was the best workout week I've had in a while. 

Monday - 1.86 miles in 30 minutes (16:07) I went for a walk at lunch time during my work day.  I used RunKeeper to track my miles and speed and sometimes it told me I was walking 13.xx or 14.xx minute miles which is sometimes faster than I run.  Days like that make me consider giving up running and just walking and walking and walking. 
Tuesday - 12.2 in 1 hour biking.  I just took it easy and stretched out my knee.  I know that 12 mph is not a fast bike ride but right now it is sort of my benchmark (faster than 12 mph).  I was telling a co-worker that my biking is hampered by my fears.  I am simply afraid of riding fast or downhill or downhill fast. I'm the sort of person who brakes down hills and makes my wife drive the car on hills.  Perhaps I will become more used to it in time.
Wednesday - 4.0 miles in 50 minutes (12:30 mm) plus the walking warm-up down.  This was my first run since my 10 mile race and feeling any knee twinge. The knee felt very good with only slight twinge so I stopped at that point.  The entire run was in zone 2 and I ran "between the beeps."  On a related note, I finally got my new HRM strap which means I have a working HRM again!
Friday - 12.25 miles in 1 hour biking.  I got to work from home Friday so I was able to head out for a ride right after hours.  ChocolateWife and ChocolateDaughter have had a cold/virus for 2 weeks and I've been getting a cough but I'm very determined to fight it off.  I put on tiger balm and wore a longer sleeve shirt for the ride and felt good sweating it out. 
Saturday - Did Pre-dawn runner's core routine with some ball crunches sprinkled throughout. Really excited. Did all the #plankadays for the full minute and also was able to do the unilateral bird dog without modification - first time ever. Locust pose gave me a little trouble, partially because it is always hard and partially because the puppy licked my face, then bit my fingertips for the full minute.
Saturday - 3.8 miles in 56 minutes (14:44) Trail run.   Again felt very little knee pain or discomfort in spite of running on the trail.  My chest was a bit worse and coughing more but glad I got out and sweat a bit. 

Drinking water - I did a much better job drinking water this week. I don't know that I achieved 64 oz every day but I bet I drank more than 60 oz every single day and well over 64 quite a few days.
Noom - I began using Noom again to track what I eat every day.  I've used it before and ChocolateWife lost quite a bit of weight using it.  It's an app that takes you through a bunch of questions like what do you weigh now and what do you want to weight and how fast do you want to lose weight and how often do you exercise and then gives you a calorie allowance (mine is 1510).  Then you track your food intake by classifying food as green, yellow, red and trying to have 50% of calories green, 35% yellow, 15% red.  The program has some algorithm for increasing your daily allowance according to your workouts.  In the old version I think it raised your daily allowance based on your average workouts the previous 7 days or something but in the current is seems to give you 1/2 of the additional calories burned that day which I think is a pretty good approach generally. 
Weigh-in - I keep forgetting to weigh!
Plan - I've decided to use the Hal Higdon Novice 2 Plan but with the addition of core work and substituting bike rides for scheduled weekday runs some days (not more than 1x a week).  Officially that starts next Tuesday (11/27). 

All in all things are good.  Hopefully CW and CD are getting better and hopefully I will not get actually sick.  I've been trying to pick up a lot of household slack since CW has been sick and of course we have Thanksgiving this week.  But given that, things are fantastic!

Training Plan for the Livestrong Half-Marathon

The Austin Livestrong Half-Marathon is February 17, 2013.  I'm finished with my paid training program and working with the coach, done with the Run for the Water 10 miler, and done with obsessing over the presidential election. 

It's time for me to think about my training plan.  Typically they last 12 to 16 weeks.  I've been looking at various plans with thoughts about tweaking them based on what I've learned from my work with the coach. 

Contenders and thoughts on them:
Galloway to goal plan - I've done this plan before.  It features 3 runs a week plus an easy walk day. The week day runs are basically timed runs and the weekend ones alternate between an LSR and 800 repeats.  This would be the easiest plan to do and easiest to supplement (more on that).  The plan would officially start 11/13 with a 30 minute run and a 5 mile run on Sunday.
Runner's World Smart Coach plan - The Runner's World site allows the user to enter some specific information such as a recent race time, race date, how hard you want to work, and race distance and it spits out a pretty detailed plan.  Start date could vary depending on when I'm ready to make the program spit out a plan.  Upside is that every run has very specific purpose and pace listed.  Downside is that all the Thursday runs (speedwork or tempo) require a 6 mile run which is (for me) a pretty high expectation and time investment for a week day run.  The other thing about the plan is that the LSRs start with a 10 mile run the first week and with the exception of a few recovery weeks all the LSRs are 10-14 miles. 
Hal Higdon - I've never done a Hal Higdon TP but I've heard good things about them.  The Novice 2 plan basically calls for 4 days of running a week.  T-W-Th are a 3 mile, 3-5 mile, and 3 mile run.  The Wednesday run alternates between a race pace run and a normal run.  The LSRs build from 4-12 miles with a week dedicated to running a 5K and another a 10K race.  The plan is 12 weeks long so it would start the week of 11/26.  So the difference between this and the Galloway is basically running T-W-Th rather than running T-Th/walk F and speedwork is every other W rather than every other Sunday.
No Meat Athelete - The No Meat athelete has an entire program called the Half-Marathon roadmap with workbooks and sheets and cds or maybe DVDs and a book and etc.  The book portion is available on Kindle for just 2.99 so I may buy it and see what it has to say.  I'm not sure that I'm going to find anything in a plan that differs significantly from the others listed above but it might be interesting to see what he says will be different for someone "running on plants." 

I'd like to make some decisions and settle on a plan in the next week.  Partially the choice depends on my knee.  Although I've never had any problems with my knee, it has been hurting since the morning after my 10 mile race. I will probably try to put on a brace and run this weekend and see how that goes.  In the meantime, I'm taking NSAIDs pretty regularly and resting it. 

Some factors that will influence my plan and my carrying it out include the fact that the training plan period will include both my childrens' birthdays and parties (or party if they share as they keep saying they will do), my niece's Bat Mitzvah, my niece's Bat Mitzvah project fundraiser softball game, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and the start of the Legislative Session. 

Whatever plan I choose I want to also:
Become more fit (which is a more positive way to speak possibility into reality than saying lose weight).  That said, I'd like to settle at a healthy weight about 8-10 pounds lighter than I am now.  I also believe this would improve my running speed.  Two changes that should be simple but hopefully make a big difference are:

• Making sure I drink 64 oz of water EVERY day by using the water tracking app.  I believe that I average about 40-50 oz of water and 20 oz of iced tea per day. I need to increase my water consumption and be consistent about it.
• Not snacking after 8:00.  ChocolateWife and I have a pattern of watching TV, crafting, and having a snack in the evening.  I need to ... not (to put it simply).  Yes to TV. Yes to time with ChocolateWife. Yes to crafting.  But no snacking.  Or perhaps 1 evening snack a week on the day of the long run.

I will also supplement the plan with at least 2 and possibly 3 core workouts a week.  And if I can get an arms/shoulders or chest/back workout in as well that would be ideal but I'll concentrate on running. 

And I may substitute the occasional bike ride for a run or walk day.  I really enjoyed the bike rides in my plan with the coach and it seems like a good cardio workout but a change of pace that was refreshing. 

I need to make some choices (and need my knee to feel better). I've enjoyed my week+ of rest and I'm ready to get back to a plan!

Race Recap - Run for the Water

Sunday morning I ran the Gazelle Foundation Run for the Water.  I think this was the sixth running and it benefits a program to dig wells in Burundi.  The race price was $39 before the end of August for a 10 mile race which is incredibly affordable. I think the 5K price was $19.  Our swag was a short-sleeved tech shirt and a few coupons.  We got a bottle of water at the finish and I'd pay $39 again for this race.

I've been really tired the last few weeks and skipped quite a few workouts including my last long run.  As late as Friday, I was apathetic about running the race.  I talked to a co-worker and basically came to the conclusion that I had already donated my money to a good cause and didn't want to get up early.  Then Saturday as the day went on, I got more and more committed and invested in running.  I slept very badly and was up well before my 4:45 alarm. 

Weather was predicted to be 41 at race start and as high as 45 by the end of the race.  I wavered on whether to wear shorts or tights and even put on shorts at home, then changed into tights at home, then changed back into the shorts after parking my car while sitting in the car.  The website says that sunrise was scheduled for 7:05.  The race booklet said 6:40-something and the sunrise calendar on my google calendar app said 7:42.  Ok...  I got downtown by 6:00 and parked my car on the street about 4 blocks from the start and finish.  I didn't need to be that early but better early than late.  It was actually about 45 degrees at start. 

I walked down to the start and paced around and did a little jogging and got a temporary tattoo.  I was trying to meet up with a few twitter/running friends but never found them.  My hair is flattened because I was wearing a hat but here's a picture of me at the start. I got the person standing next to me to take it on my phone.  It's the only picture I have from the race. 

My plan was to run 2:30/1:00 until about 7 or 8 miles and then extend that time if I felt good.  The race was a lot of uphill for the first 7 miles and then downhill from there.  The start was good and I crossed the start line when the clock said 1:00 (compared to 28:xx the last time I did the Livestrong).  I spent the first few miles making sure to get out of runners' way when I needed to walk and avoiding walkers and a few dogs.  Right near the start I saw a runner in a spider man costume, a girl in a Super girl costume, and a girl dressed as a popcorn box. 

The sun came up about 2.5-3.0 miles in and was blinding for a few minutes but then just became pleasant.  I was happy to have my hat and took it off and carried it a few times but generally felt like my clothing were perfect and comfortable.  I ran and visited with various people including a man in his 70s who has run 77 marathons starting at age 50 and was run/walking a 1:00/1:00 ratio.  We ran the last few miles together.  By mile 7 I knew I wouldn't break 2:00 but still wanted to beat my last 10 mile time which was 2:07 (actually I looked it up later in the day and it was 2:06:19).  I pushed at the end (last two miles at 11:23 and 12:23), sprinting the last 200 meters or so to clock 2:05:26.  I'd like to have seen a more than :53 improvement but I think this was a hillier course and I really enjoyed the race.  I simply felt happy.  I enjoyed running. I enjoyed the city. 

Perhaps I can expect no more from a race than to say I enjoyed it and felt happy. 

Splits: 11.52, 12:04, 12:53, 13:07, 12:08, 13:38, 12:57, 12:40, 11:42, 12:23

Workouts 10/22 - 10/28

Taper Week. 

It was taper week and I don't think I've ever appreciated a taper week so much or well.

Monday - I was supposed to do 30 minutes of core work by doing Diane's video.  I did 15 minutes while the kids were playing right before bedtime and thought I could do another 10 while they got ready for bed but getting them ready for bed took more than I thought.  And then I figured I would finish while the kids were in bed but the puppies never calmed down.  So... 15 minutes of core is better than no core. 

Tuesday - 2.5 miles in 37 minutes included lots of walking.  Walked to warm up, then jogged, then 3 x 5 minutes in zone 3 with 2 minutes between and then walking home.

Wednesday - I was supposed to do the 30 minute Yoga video. I did about 10 minutes and went "you know what? I don't like this" and quit.

Thursday - 2.36 in 32 minutes. Ran at 3:30 and it was 87 and humid out.  I'm so ready for the cool weather.  Did the warm up, 2 x 5 in zone 3, and came home. Then took the kids out to run .5 miles for their marathon kids. 

Friday - Stretching & foam rolling.  35 minutes.  Lovely in that "ow" way.

Sunday - Run for the Water 10 miler - 10 miles in 2:05:26. (12:32).  More in the race recap post. 

All in all a very enjoyable taper week.

Run for the Water Goals

Sunday (10/28) I’m running the Run for the Water 10 mile race in Austin.  The race starts in downtown Austin at 7:00 which means I’ll have to get up early, drive downtown, and park.  I don’t feel as well trained as I have for my previous races but I think that’s mostly an outcome of feeling so hot and tired on my runs all summer.  A few days ago I told ChocolateWife that next year the first time she hears me complain about the heat to tell me to join a gym and remind me how miserable I was running outside this year.  This morning it was 70 degrees with 97% humidity when I went out for my taper run at 5:00 am.  Sunday’s forecast calls for a low of 49, high of 64 and 20% chance of rain.  I don’t particularly want to race in the rain but I would love temperatures anywhere in that range. 

I feel hesitant to even set any goals for the race at this point but it’s nice to have something to shoot at so:

A goal – break 2:00.  I would have to run better than 12:00 miles and I don’t think it’s likely but perhaps I’m better trained than I know and cool weather could help me.

B goal – break 2:07.  I ran the Austin 10/20 in 2:07 which was 12:41 a mile.  Meeting this goal would give me a PR in my second 10 mile race.

C goal – break 2:10/finish.