Not quite the man

Well I didn't make my dream Monday morning workout (bike ride at the gym), but it would have been a long shot anyway, especially considering NM kept me up on the phone all night. I did get in a short road run at about 9:00 tonight. My knees hurt, my hammy hurt, my heel (STILL F---ing) hurts, but I did it. In the dark. And the cold. All alone.

Nice job on the weigh in NM...you're my hero. I on the other hand stuck true to my word and did not weigh myself this AM, my feeling is that there may only be a 15 lbs difference between us.

Ate OK, missed breakfast - that whole first day back to work after spring break thing had me running a lot behind this AM.

The muy malo:

foot long subway hot italian sandwich. This was supposed to be 6" for today and 6" for tomorrow, but due to my continued lack of will power, it all went down today. Hey, at least I didn't get the chips and cookie.

2 pop tarts
too many servings of an otherwise healthy taco salad
2 cans of diet pepsi


I guess not too bad. Word on the street is that for the Pikes Peak races, 1 pound = 1 minute. seems to be the rule of thumb for many people. With that in mind, all I need to do is drop 184 pounds to get to the course record/ That of course would leave me in the 80 pound range, which of course wouldn't be enough strength to hold my head upon my neck.

Who'da thunk?

So day started with a pleasant surprise when I hopped on the scale. Even did it a second time to make sure I was seeing things correctly. And here I thought I'd had a relatively lame week, workout/eating right-wise. Huh.

Then, stayed true to my goal of hitting the gym at lunch. Was almost talked out of it by the some of the boys making an indian food run, but thankfully another of my pals was steadfast and hit the mills. Ate a little worse snack wise than usual, but I'll get that back in line for tomorrow. Think part of the snacks were just things other than work/working out sucking a bit. Just gotta deal with it. Especially since my postponed brewpub lunch looms tomorrow.

The Forward:
3.03miles/574C/42min

The Backward:
yogurt
grapefruit
3 pieces of jerky
6" turkey/ham sub
small bag of Sun Chips
bag of Skittles
6 jellybeans
7 crackers w/dip
spinach salad
toast w/butter & jam
3-4 bite size snickers
glass of milk

He's Alive!!! And I'm still an idiot!

Just got off the phone with CS. He's alive, Mrs. CS is alive, and so too are the little CSes. Glad to hear they weren't caught up in the cartel wars, swept out by a tsunami, run over by a cruise ship or eaten by a giant squid.

So I took that hard-earned lesson from last weekend and promptly ignored my advice, and waited until late in the day when the wind was up before jumping on the bike. Thankfully not quite as windy as last week, so a little slower going upriver, little faster coming back downriver. In any case, had to go for the ride just to get out of the house. Somehow managed to get myself involved in not one but two fantasy baseball leagues this year, and both leagues had their drafts today. So not only am I an idiot about the bike riding in the wind, but also a loser just in general!


(And though apropos of nothing but speaking of baseball and geekdom, check out this photo I ran across. Can't decide if I'm amused or ashamed that this is happening at the home of my favorite team.)

The Hurt:
big bowl of cereal w/grapes
toast w/butter
6 pieces of leftover sushi
big gulp cherry coke
bag of chips
spinach salad
decent sized glass of milk

The Heal:
18.57mi/1h22m57s/1557C

Hola amigo

Yes I am back, no I wasn't kidnapped, and yes "F-off." I had a great time in Mexico, relaxed, swam, got to hang out with the kids and the extended family and I even got in a ton of workouts.

Sunday: walked from our unit to the pool (about 42 steps) at least 6 times. Also swam up to the bar for a cerveza
Monday: repeated the same walk, but this time I also pushed kids around the pool - a little resistance training.
Tuesday: actually had a 44 minute run on the beach complete with: dead fish (3), walk of shame college students (2), waves crashing on me and wetting my shoes (4), fishing lines to duck under (2), and "chicle" sellers (1).
Wednesday: played about an hour of soccer with Veronica. I also had a beer on the beach while she got her hair braided.
Thursday: returned to the beach and played paddle ball for about 30 minutes. Also played in the ocean...more resistance training.
Friday: lots of lifting...had to finish all the beers in our condo
Saturday: push, pulled, dragged and carried luggage all over the frickin' place.

I may "forget" to weigh in tomorrow.

A Little Improvement...(very little)

Alright, so probably figured by now that Friday was bunk (no workout, didn't eat as well as I should've), so I didn't show my face around here. Don't know if Saturday was much better, so let's go to the videotape.

Last week we moved our running our running group up an hour to try escape the increasing temps during the day as our runs got longer. Of course, as soon as we did that, big cold front comes in, drops snow all over the place (except here in River City of course...dry as a bone) and lowers the temps by a good 15-20 degrees. So the start this a.m. was pretty brisk, but with the right clothing it was pretty comfortable once I got into my pace. Ran my 6 and felt like I'd done it a bit faster than past long runs and I think the numbers below bear that out. Goal this week is to keep the pace up just a bit and to get in all three training runs, starting with one actually on Monday so I'm not trying to squeeze all three in at the end of the week.

AND WHERE THE HELL IS CS!? Won't call, won't write, won't tell me to F-off...He get kidnapped in Mexico?


Coming:
1 packed oatmeal (pre run)
8oz amino vital
Brazilian Blast Smoothie at Keva Juice
1 Hershey's kiss
1 lg Sapporo
small bowl of soup
8-10 pieces of sushi
reese's blast @ Sonic (hey, felt like I'd earned it on the day)

Going:
1h25m40s/6.05miles/917C

Damned slippery horse...

Day started well. Got up early (not early enough to get to gym before work, but early enough to pack a lunch and get stuff together for gym at lunch). Spent all morning cooling heels in court and then hightailed it to gym for lunch. Got in a good run at a slightly faster pace than I'd been doing (yeah, I know, the numbers below are still glacially slow). Went back to the office, ate my lunch and had been a good boy up to that point.

By the time I got home, however, I was pretty hungry and had a snack before I met the rest of the family for dinner to celebrate my father's 69th(!!!). Had a fairly decent thai style green curry with shrimp (wicked tasty), but as is usual when we go out to eat, there were appetizers (stir fry veggies and small plate of asian bbq ribs), drinks (or beer in my case) and dessert. All that good work I did earlier to day, for naught. I shoulda run home from the freakin' restaurant. Could I be any weaker? (Actually yes; I could've had another rib and another beer. Guess that counts for something.)

Well, at least I got the workout it and the muscles worked out. See if I can get back on the horse (again) tomorrow. Not bloody likely, though, since I'm meeting a friend for lunch at one of my favorite brew pubs. Dammit.

The Ins:
yogurt
grapefruit
corned beef sandwich (that's the end of the Patrick's day brisket)
handful of cracker
candy bar
coke zero
7-10 crackers and dip
one small rib
some stir fry veggies
shrimp and veggies in green curry sauce
pale ale
chocolate silk cake w/small scoop of ice cream

The Outs:
3.05miles/590C/42min

When am I going to learn

Didn't feel like getting up at pre-crack o' dawn hours and decided to stay in for lunch, so plan was to go to gym after work today. Of course, as soon as I was halfway through lunch, got an invite to dinner right after work. At some point I'll learn to take advantage of the first opportunity that presents itself and go then. Plan now is to hit mill at lunch tomorrow. Gotta do it, as two weeks in a row w/o hitting all the training runs is pretty pathetic.

Roll call:
cup of yogurt
cup of grapefruit
3 pieces of jerky
6" turkey subway (2nd half of the 5..$5...$5 footlong; anyone else sick of that jingle yet?)
handful of crackers
bag of skittles
1/2 handful of m&m's
chips/salsa
2 beers
crab meat enchiladas
bowl of grapes

Yeesh...

It was a day

At some point, I'll probably feel more disposed to talking/typing. Today ain't that day.

The Montagues:
2.32mi/32min/430C

The Capulets:
cup of yogurt
cup of grapefruit
6" turkey subway
small bag of sun chips
med Dr Pepper
2pc beef jerky
coke zero
8ish crackers w/Irish cheese
sm. bowl of lobster bisque

Better than expected

Was happily surprised this morning when I got on the wheel of fortune and saw that I actually lost a pound or two last week even without getting my weekly runs done. Apparently digging up and removing most of your backyard is a kind of workout on its own.

Spent most the day jumping through foolish hoops at work and then had to boogie after work so I didn't get a workout in on the day.

Down the hatch:
yogurt
grapefruit
corned beef sandwich
1 1/2 handfuls of baby carrots
2 handfuls of crackers
2 pc. beef jerky
chipotle chicken pasta
sm piece o'bread
2 cups of root beer

Back here tomorrow with working #'s.

It both sucked and blew

So, 'member that post a few days ago where I may have mentioned that spring in New Mexico is not particularly pleasant (I was 20 years old and living in DC before I learned that spring can actually be beautiful)? Well let me tell you about today to illustrate my point.

I knew even yesterday that I wanted to go for another long bike ride today. Went out to get the paper (yeah, I'm one of the six people in America that still gets a paper paper), and the morning could not be better for a ride: slightly overcast, temps in the mid- to high-50's and dead calm. So of course I decide to saddle up and go run a bunch of errands (in my partial defense, one of the stops I had to make was for a new inner tube so I didn't spend 20 minutes refilling my front tire, twice, like I did on my last ride). Finally got home about 2, had a late lunch, watched some of the Madness, and then decided to get on the bike and see if I could fix it up, go for a ride and be back in time for Amazing Race.

Tube change took a little longer that it should have because I spent a lot of time pulling goathead bits out of the tire, but got it up and running and was off a little before 5:30pm. By then, the clouds had long since burned off, the temps were in the low- to mid-70's...and the wind was blowing out of the south at 25mph, gusting at up to 38mph. Yeah, that's right.

So you can imagine the blessing and the curse this turned out to be. Unfortunately, it was blowing out of the south, and I, of course, was going to the northbound leg first. (You know, I'm quite the idiot where this is concerned; the same trail goes quite a distance to south of me too, but I always end up going north and then riding back into the wind which always blows from the south. Of course, my choice may have something to do with the fact that the trail doesn't go through the nicest of neighborhoods when I get that far south of home.) Anyway, I positively FLEW for the first half of the ride. Seriously, averaged 3-3:30 minute miles (approx 20mph...on a mountain bike) headed up. And then I had to turn around. It was like I was trying to cycle through a brick wall. For 9 miles. Lovely.

Next time, do the pinche ride first thing. You'd think 30+ springs would've taught me that by now.

The damages:
Small (1pkt) of instant oatmeal
cup of chai
5 crackers w/jelly
slice Costco pepperoni pizza
Lg Dr Pepper
G2
Corned beef
Boiled veggies
Lg skim milk
Grapes
5 crackers
2 baby carrot sticks

The benefits (cycling):
18.47miles/1h24m/1552C

Getting slower by the day

Well, didn't make it out for any of the three training runs this week, so you can imagine how well the 8 today went (the evidence in a moment). It's a cruel irony that going through some very unhappy personal shite can just suck the desire to workout right out of you when working out is probably the one tried and true (not to mention healthy) way to deal with unhappy personal shite. Pinche Joseph Heller.

In any case, got back with the program and ran the long run today. All 8 of those miles, and may I say, at about my slowest pace yet. I'm so proud. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got out there and did it at least.



The ups:
8.05m/2h7min/1258C

The downs:
2 plain blueberry eggo waffles (pre-run)
handful of trail mix
3 slices of toast
cup of grapefruit
cup of mandarin oranges
regular schlotzky's sandwich
bag of chips
large root beer

Fell down a hole...almost literally

So, remember how I said that the digging theme was going to be present for a few days? If only I had known...

First things first. I only got in two workouts last week, partially because I ended up doing a one-day trial that took the better part of 3 days to get done. Due largley to my own mismanagement of time, I didn't get in all three sessions, but I did make at least two:

3/11 - 2.22mi/416C/32min
3/12 - 2.92mi/559C/42min

Saturday morning came and my running buddy got started a bit late and it became readily apparent that we weren't going to make our group on time. Since I already had my trailer hooked up, I decided to skip the long run for the day and instead go out and start excavating my yard. Easier said than done. Between the river rock and caliche, this was a nearly impossible task. Took two loads of dirt out on Saturday. Then Sunday, took two more. By this time, my legs, arms, shoulders and especially by lower back were really protesting. Feel fine when I sit down, but my back takes a few minutes to loosen up when I stand and start walking. And the digging continues. Took another load out Monday night and going to head home and see if I can finish this part of the project tonight. I'm telling myself that the work I'm putting into the digging is compensating for the not running, but I'm not all that convincing. Hopefully I'll be able to get two real running workouts in before Saturday and its 8 freakin' miles gets here.

Yeesh...

BTW, very good to see CS is back in here. Now let's see if we can get it together enough and get in here at more or less the same time.

Who's Right???

So my home weigh in this AM said 255, which is good news and gets me within 3 lbs of my March goal of 252. When I got to the gym I stepped on the "real" scale, you know the kind with the sliding weights. and it read 261. I'm obviously sticking to the home scale since it's the one I've been using for a few years now. Unfortunately the gym scale is probably more accurate and I assure you I wasn't wearing 6 lbs of clothes (maybe 3).

6:00 workout at the gym: 25 minutes on the bike and then some lifting. Pretty easy, HR never above 110 and my average was 6.2 miles, in 25 min with a AvHR of 98. BTW I think my HRM is on the fritz. Saturay it showed that I was flatlining and today my HR was in the 220's. Got in my PM speed workout: 1 mile warmup and 10:00 of 1 min. hard and 1 min. off. Not bad, did well for about 3.5 of my 5 minutes hard.

Ate like crap!

Not even close

Put in the amazing 11.8 miles this week...nuff said.

Next week will probably be even less...nuff said again.

The Subplots

The Diet
So my wife decided that we needed to start a diet together. This would be a first for us, mainly because she hasn't needed to be on a diet. She's hoping to drop a few swimsuit pounds prior to Spring Break in Mexico and decided for me, that I needed to join her. So we're doing the pirated, non-meeting, non-weigh in version of Weight Watchers. The main advantage to this "diet" is that it simply forces you to log what you eat and record the points (aka calories) for everything you eat. It's a simple way to get the portion control and unhealthy snacking back under control. I've never done it for more than three weeks at a time, but I've always lost a few pounds...so why not a gain. This will however be sort lived as we head to Mexcio, tacos, Coronas, salsa, and butt sitting in seven days.

The Workouts
Started running again for the first time in about three weeks on Wednesday. Did an easy (31:00/ 2.2 mile) jog Wednesday morning - at 5:00 frickin' o'clock in the AM. Did a slightly harder and faster 30:00 min. on the 'mill in the pm with some ups (incline - more on this later) thrown in. Did a Friday AM 30:00 minute run again, this time went a bit farther and a bit faster (actually only 28:??). Saturday AM got in a "long" run for an hour. Felt good, was able to push the last 10 min. and most importantly didn't overdo it. Not a bad first week back in the game.

The Plan
Always a f---in plan, we'll see how this one goes. They never seem to last long becasue lfe always gets in the way and then it all goes to sheet. But here it is:
Monday AM: bike and lift
Monday PM: speed work at a nearby track. I'll vary what I actually do in terms of 1 min. on/1 min. offs and ?# x 100 yrds etc.
Tuesday AM- my short little 30:00 min run Trying to keep these easy/ Back in the day when I got down to 236 it was with the extra little workouts. Besides, it's a good (and frickin' early) start to the day
Wednesday PM - semi-long run. Most likely at the gym on the mill or around their 13 laps to the mile track. The goal is to increase the milage here every other week. Last spring I got this workout up to 10 miles.
Thurday AM - 30 min
Thursday PM - pretty hard tempo run. Eventually this will move to the Barr trial
Friday AM - a nice bike ride and lifting at the gym
Saturday - long run
Sunday - possibly something different (skating, swimming, lawnmowing, etc)

The Race
Registered for my fourth Pikes Peak Ascent!!! That explains the ups doesn't it? August 15 is now committed. NM, if you can qualify before Aug you can join me - economy hit this race hard - there are several hundred slots open (after 1600 slots filling in 21 minutes last year.)

Two steps forward...

...and you know the rest.

Weigh in this morning showed some progress. That was highlight of the morning though. Daylight savings kicked my arse and I was exhausted most of the day. Didn't make it to the gym before work (who knew it could be that dark in the morning?), and stayed in the office for lunch and took a nap, feet up on the desk and everything. Thought I was going to start a trial today so didn't even take the gym gear with me, but then opposing counsel went all panties on us and sent in a note from his mommy, er, doctor. Anyway, end of the day rolled around and all I wanted to do was go home, have dinner and go to bed. Should've skipped that middle part.

The damages:
2 cups yogurt
breakfast burrito (egg, cheese, taters, sausage, chile)
small bag cheetos
small bag cheezits
2 large handfuls jellybeans
5-7 little candy hearts
full rack of ribs

Yeah that's right. I'm a weak willed idiot.

Gym tomorrow, hell or high water.

Off day?

So I didn't work out per se today, but I did spend about an hour on the working end of a pick axe this afternoon breaking up dirt in my backyard in a looooong overdue effort to get the yard done. Since I'm already a little tight tonight, I'm guessing I'll be a little sore tomorrow, so I think that counts as a workout. And it will not be the last time I'm doing that kind of labor, either. Expect/hope to see much more mention of that made here. Gotta get that thing done once and for all.

The Sunday Funnies:
bowl of cereal w/grapes and two slices toast
bottle of G2
2 small bowls of green chile stew
2 tortillas
salad greens w/tomato and some cucumber ranch dressing
2 small scoops ice cream
4 ginger snaps

Weigh in tomorrow. Am I being unreasonable in hoping to see some progress?

By the way, talked to CS today. Sounds like he needs to get back in here. Sure hope he does.

Ahhh, the Spring Yuks

Knew going in to the day that I was flying solo to the group run. The GF has got herself a nasty bug that just won't let go of her so knew she'd be in no shape to go this morning. And after I got out there, I was jealous.

Looked like a nice spring morning from the window when I got up, but this is New Mexico. There ain't no such thing as a nice spring morning. When I lived in DC, we had spring. Here, we have summer, fall, winter, and blowing dirt. AND there's a nice cold front that's dropped in, too. Great day, can you tell? Oh, and this was the longest run I'd done since Santa Anna's Revenge in San Antone (yeah, yeah, I know, he won at the Alamo, so what's he got to avenge...work with me).

Felt long, took forever and was glad to get out of there when it was done. Tell me again how I did 26 in November?

The Frick:
small nut/fruit bar
handful of trail mix
Brazilian blast smoothie
chicken salad sandwich
cherry coke zero
chicken club sandwich
fries
Dr. Pepper

The Frack:
6mi/1h 26min/910C

Yeah, well...had to happen sometime

Yeah, so Thursday went all kinds of sideways right out of the gate. Didn't get up early enough to get to the gym before work, friend of mine called to invite me out to lunch, and then got tied up in a bunch of pointless shite at the office until almost 7. By that time I'd just had it, called it a day and went home. In short: Bustorama.

The tally:
cup of yogurt
cup of grapefruit
Blake's Lotacombo (green chile cheeseburger, fries, soda)
1/2 seafood salad
crabcake
rice

But today was a different story. Even though I fudged yesterday, I was bound and determined to get in my three training runs for the week, so bounced out of bed and got the gym before work. Still really slow, still really fat, but got it done. Now, just gotta figure out if I can do the 6 tomorrow.

The numbers:
cup of yogurt
cup of grapefruit
2 small quesadillas
handful of jellybeans
Cherry Coke Zero
fish and rice burrito
5-7 chips and salsa
Tecate Light
grapes

More numbers: 2.23mi/421C/32min

Day 4 in a row (really, when's this gimmick gonna end...)

Holy cow! For the second day running, I rolled out of the house and got to the gym before work. Gotta say, the getting moving that early is tough, but it sure feels good to have the day's workout out of the way by 9AM. And I'm actually surprised the gym isn't more full at that hour. There was NOBODY on the 'mills at 7:45. Let's see if I can keep this up one more day.

And I think I'm getting the right frame of mind about this eating thing. I feel like I ate too much today, but when I finally write it down, it doesn't look all that terrible. See if I can keep that up, too.

Today's score:
cup of yogurt
2 cups of grapefruit
quesadilla
glass of milk
handful of jelly beans
Vanilla Coke Zero
1/2 seafood salad at Landry's
2 crab-stuffed mushrooms
handful of jelly beans

Workout: 42min/2.92mi/522C

Day 3 in a row...and then the collapse

And it started so well...

Got up bright and early and made it to the gym before work. Put in my time on the 'mill, stopped for a smoothie on the way to the office and behaved myself for most of the rest of the day. Then a buddy of mine suggested that we go out for a pint or two and, well, you can imagine the rest. Better yet, don't. It'll disappoint us both.



Today's score:

cup of yogurt
grapefruit cup
Brazilian Blast smoothie (Apple and raspberry juice, raspberry sherbet, blueberries and Acai)
two pieces of banana laffy taffy
vanilla coke zero
6inch ham/turkey
Small bag of cheezits
small bag of cheetos
two pints of beer
and then it all went to hell...

Workout: 2.25miles/32:00/425C

Good news is I can try again and do it right tomorrow.

F-in Chuck Norris.

Day 2 in a row

OK, so I'm not going to get a good workout in today, but since I don't have anything first thing in the morning, going to try and hit the mill first thing. Hit the scale outta bed and gotta admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It wasn't good, don't make any mistake, but it wasn't as bad as I was worried it'd be. I'm dropping 20 before DC/Denver. At least.

In the meantime, the goods:

4 pieces of beef jerky
cup of chai
6inch turkey ham subway
small bag sun chips
20oz soda
small spinach salad
chicken salad sandwich
grapes
glass of milk

Seriously. First thing in the morning. In the meantime, day of rest...


Like that? That's Van Gogh, beeotch. Classing up the joint.

Day 1 in a row

Slow start on the day, and too many carbs. Big bowl of cereal with grapes in it with two slices toast for breakfast, cheeseburger, tots, cherry lime slush for lunch, spinach salad and grapes for dinner. Not great, but wait...

Needed a little head clearing activity so spent a little time giving a good once over to my oh so cluttered garage and took a load (probably just the first) to Goodwill, and then came back and jumped on the bike for a nice long ride. In fact, due to the fact that my front tire lost air not once but twice during the ride, it was longer than I'd intended. Looks like I've got some work to do before the next ride.

18.26mi/1:23/1587C

Weigh in tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it.

I'm baaaaaaaack...

Yeah, so much for New Year's resolutions. After stumbling (badly) out of the gate in keeping up with this little project, decided I wanted to wait until it looked like I was really back on the wagon before I wandered into these parts again. That took a wee bit longer than expected.

Finally, here I am. This week I got in all three training runs and the "long" run on Saturday (OK, we were only supposed to do 3 miles this week, but still, I was out there, right?). In what I'm sure will come as a surprise to no one, I am not where I was at the end of last year; my pace has fallen off noticeably and I know my weight's shot up a bit since the last time I posted it. I'll get to that car crash with Monday's posting. I'm also going to start keeping track of the eating. I've got to see significant improvement in that this year so that I can see significant improvement in the race(s) later this year. I want a marathon time I can actually talk about without thinking that John Belushi could've run the same time on his training diet of cigarettes and Little Chocolate Donuts.



Now I've just got to hope that CS hasn't completely given up on this little project. I'm a bad friend.

Saturday's run: 3.05mi/44min/468C

Perfect Day!!!

Today may have been the most awesome run I've had in...a year? maybe even two years! It was cool, I was alone (for the most part), the scenery was great, the trail was great, I felt great, ran great, finished great, saw 5 great deer, one big ass bone that wasn't quite finished being picked at (and FTR whatever took this animal down had me on notice. This chunk of neck/back bone was big and thick and definitely required something big and thick to kill and eat it. Not too mention this park has a great big cage/trap sitting in it waiting to catch something???). Aside from that distraction, it was a cool morning, I found a great single track, some great lookouts and I ran the entire time. I'm still pretty pumped up about this run!

NM I'll take you there...that is of course if you ever blog again, or run, or come to CO!

2 week recap

Sorry it's been awhile....life!

Eating has been about the same sans the 936 pieces of candy. I've done pretty good, with the occasional snacking, but not terribly bad. Of course if I had actually written it all out there would still be the red highlights. I've realized that if I eat at a normal time (5-7pm) it eliminates an extra snack that otherwise sneaks in. I've also realized if I go to bed at a normal time 10:00-11:00 that too eliminates an extra snack.

Going back to Feb. 1 - I did the same long run as the previous week, except that this time I went out about 5 minutes longer. All said and done it was a great run that last 1:22 (about 7 minutes longer than prescribed). No fox this time and no snow, but still nice. I should have brought a gel, because I sort of pooped out on the uphill return.

Missed my Monday bike and lift session (as always). Missed my Tuesday track speed session - darn, I hate that work out. 5 x 200 yds was in order. Instead, I graded papers.

Wednesday I got in a semi-easy treadmill workout for 45 min. Didn't feel the greatest and sort of struggled. I lifted some and afterwards did one lap (1/13 of a mile) walking backwards. runner's World suggested some backwards walking/running on occasion to strengthen this and improve that. Damn, my legs tighten up even after that one little lap. FTR - I felt pretty stupid doing it, luckily there was no one else on the track and few people playing ball down below.

Thursday - tempo run in the park behing work. Great workout. Weather was cool and getting dark, saw one fox, though he looked pretty grey and made me look twice. 15 min. warm up, 14 min circuit, and about a 10 min cool down.

Not bad for the week.

Wednesday Noday

Didn't get a workout in - sometimes life simply eats up too much time; like from 6:35am - 8:40pm.

Same ole breakfast
same lunch (sandwhich, chips, granola)
a few little pieces of pork for a pm snack
2 bowls of vegi/pasta soup
1 big gulp
1 can soda
half a bowl of cereal (ate dinner at 5:00 and was obviously hungry again by 9:00
1 toast but/jel (still hungry at 11:00)

En Fuego

Just a little reminder with 270 days until the MCM - if I lose 1 pound every 10 days I'll only lose 27 pounds and still be 10 pounds over my goal. Just something to let sink it.

Good good day! Right after work I changed (in my room that doesn't have a door and prayed no one walked in on me) and went out for a Speed workout that consisted of hill repeats. I wore my screw shoes for the first time this year with several new screws added. We lets just say a few of those screws were removed immediately upon return. Did a 16 min, warm up on the snowy trail and then 5 hills, with a decreasing rest time b/w each one (1:10, 1:05, 1:00, & :55). Then had a 17 min. cool down back to my classroom. One fox spotted today (and he was eying me for a long time... and no not the same fox as Sunday - different park). I also passed on the breakfast pastry at a meeting before work!

BTW - Pikes Peak looks great today.

2 slices toast w/ butter/jelly
1 smaller bowl of cereal
1 ham/cheese sandwhich
1 granola bar
2 pieces of chocolate
1 snack sized bag o chips
1 big gulp
4 small leftover pieces of pork
1.5 chicken breasts
1 serving rice
1 serving green beans
THAT'S IT!

I'll take it. Not sure when or how I'm squeezing in a workout tomorrow????

Those darn little things

Written Tuesday about Monday

Well the odds weren't in favor of me making a 6:00am Monday morning workout. To make it really unrealistic, I didn't go to be until almost 1:00 am.

2 slices toast butter/jelly
1 large bowl cereal
1 ham/cheese sandwich
1 granola bar
3 bite sized candies
1 slice of some sort of dessert bread
3/4 pieces of left-over fajita strips (just the beef)
1 plate of pork tenderloin, rice, and gr. beans
pretty good so far, now wait...... wait...... here it comes.....

972 bite sized pieces of chocolate candy
@%#&*#@*&#%@$@!!!!!!

Foxy Foxy

I've been dropping the ball for the past three years now and I'm ashamed. Today I started my long run from home this morning and less than a block into the run the snow started falling. Ran about 25 minutes before I got to one the city's biggest and coolest parks. The shameful part is that this was the first time I had run to this park from home. Other than that it was a nice snowy 1:13 minute trail/sidewalk run that got pretty technical at the park. Whenever you get your butt up here NM I'll take you out to see it. Oh yeh, one fox ran by me (20 feet or so) along the way.

2 slices toast w/ butter/jelly
1 large bowl cereal
1 big gulp diet soda
2 bit sized Reeses PB cups
2 bowls chili
1 small snack bag of chips
5-6 (1 yr old sized) bites of the kiddos left-over burrito
3 bowls beef stir fry/over noodles
13-18 bite sized reeses PB cups - F#*@!!!

Better, until about 11:00 at night)=:

I'm supposed to ride the bike and lift at the gym before work tomorrow - we'll see if that happens?

Off day

Well I didn't run today since I ran yesterday and have a long run tomorrow. Hopefully my knees feel better tomorrow because for some odd reason they're a little sore going up stairs today.

scrambled eggs - probably 2 eggs worth
hash browns - probably 3 big spoon fulls
1 large Sam's club soda
1 slice Sam's club pizza (which is really 2 normal slices)
2 bowls of shredded wheat cereal
3 bowls of chili
4 biscuits

I suppose their was less snacking, now I just need to cut down the quantity

Wouldn't it be nice...

...if I had PR'ed at San Antonio
...if I didn't add a ton of weight during my "off season"
...if my heel, knees, and leg didn't hurt
...if it was always as nice in January as it's been this week (in the 70's)
...if I had a running partner
...if I didn't have to work so much do that I could workout more
...if I cross-trained better
...if I could run before work more frequently
...if running downhill on the Barr trail didn't hurt
...if I didn't eat so much

Now the positives...

...if I broke the 5:00 mark during the MCM
...if I broke the 4:30 mark for Pikes Peak (of course I still need to break 5:00)
...if I swam at least once a month
...if I lifted at least once a week
...if I could run with snow falling more ofter
...if I could lose 4 pounds a month from now until the MCM (=36 pounds)
...if I could always run without music and still hear nothing

Season 4 is officially underway. Here's to our successes!

On that note....here it is:
4:55AM I set out for a 42 min. run. My goal was nice and easy. I felt pretty good, my right knee felt ok, nothing more. It was a great start to the day, nice and quiet, not cold at all, and an enjoyable jog.

2 slices toast with butter/jelly
1 bowl cereal
1 ham/cheese sandwich
1 cereal bar
1 diet soda
1 small snack sized chip bag
1 small bowl of sloppy joe
2 small snack sized chp bags
1 diet soda
1 beer
1 plate full of salad bar
a Ruby Tuesday's grilled fish/rice/steamed broccoli dinner
1 quesadilla wedge

The Return...

Shameful. Three months have gone by, the big event has gone by, the injuries from the event have seemingly healed, and nary a posting since early October. In short: we suck. Here's to being more consistent in '09.

Got out and ran a very slow 3 miles this morning, probably the second, maybe the third run since the San Antone RnR. Knee was...tight, I guess is the best word for it, but I made sure to stretch before the run and again after it, and now, 9+ hours later I'm feeling no pain. Looking more and more like it was just a case of poorly timed tendinitis. Cross your fingers that that's all it is, because I'm going to hit '09 with a vengeance.

My plan is to not only document workouts here, but to do a far better job of keeping track of the eating. Granted it was 25 pounds, but I only dropped 25 pounds over the course of 9 months of marathon training, and eating is largely to blame. Now that I've put at least some of that amount back on (weigh-ins on Mondays), it's time to redouble the efforts and the commitment.

For now, today's workout:
3.35 miles/50:34, 508 Calories

See you here tomorrow.

Saturday Flashback

The program we've been running with down here is primarily geared at getting folks ready for the Duke City Marathon which is on October 19. As such, we're into our taper and did 8 on Saturday and are set to do 10 this weekend. For those of us doing San Antonio, we're supposed to do the Duke City half, then ramp it back up to 20-something the following week before starting our taper into the Rock 'n Roll. Can't believe it's as close as it is.

Like I said, did 8 this past weekend, running along Tramway. Nice cool morning, we started running south from the County Line down to Montgomery and back. Don't realize it until you turn around, but that is one long hill back to the starting point. Still, felt good throughout and shaved about 10 mins off of my last 8 mile jaunt back in late August. Now, just have to do the same on the 20 miler in three weeks.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I know the distress you were feeling, but thankfully didn't have the difficulty you did as a result. Gonna take it real easy for dinner (i.e. NO SPICY) the night before the big event. And GET NEW SHOES, DAMMIT. Don't need you hurting yourself just before this shindig.

TMI

I am not doing very well! I can't say more than that. I ran last Tuesday and that was it for the week. In the past month I've run a total of 4 times (I think). Well, Sunday I went out for a long run, with a new strategy. Instead of 3 minutes running and 1 minute walking (because after awhile it gets hard to get started again after the walk) and thought I'd try running for a mile and then walking for a minute. So I started off at 5:55 am for 20 miles. FTR it's still dark as shite at that time. I busted out the headlamp and whenever I turned my head to the right (into the bushes next to the trail) I'd see a bunch - 4 or 5 pair - of lit up eyes staring back at me. Most likely foxes, but still very creepy. Needless to say I ran on the far left side of the trail until the sun came up. Well the first 10 miles felt great, I was having a blast, enjoying everything, smiling - it was cool outside, no one on the trail, felt like I could run for miles. Well at about mile 15 my insides dropped. You've experienced it DC, if I let it blow - I might end up with a biscuit in my shorts - if I hold it, my insides rumble. I finally made it to a port a pottie in a parking lot. I went in. Said a short prayer. Checked for toliet paper. No such luck. There was however a little box about 10 feet away for dog wallkers to grab a paper sack to collect their dog poo. Now I'm not talking about a grocery bag, I'm talking about an official made for dog poop plastic bag. I'm not sure if it worked, but I used it. Well, after that I pretty much sucked and more less walked it in. The problem was that I was having trouble simply walking. My leg is killing me, although I'm pretty sure it's a secondary effect of my heel, which is the effect of old crappy shoes that need to be replaced.

I haven't finished a long run workout yet - and we're down to like 5.5 weeks. Crap! I think next weekend I'll go for 10 miles nonstop. I'll then try 15 nonstop the following week, and maybe then a 22 miler with the frequent walk breaks which will be my last training run before the taper.

A little note from Colfax and other long runs:
Miles 0 -12 = feel great
12-17 = stop focusing on how much everything hurts and it becomes really hard to get past that (for me at least).
17-22 = gonna be a gut check
22-26.2 = maybe a little adrenealine to bring me in.

I'm hoping the San Ant. course bumps all these numbers back a few miles.

nnnnnn-Nineteen, Nineteen

So as you've probably figured, I've been getting in most of my during-the-week work in on the mill at the gym. As such, ain't much to write about, and I'm sure it would boring as hell reading if I did. We are, however, still doing our Saturday long runs out in the open (and increasingly on the same trail every week, though it's hard to think of a better place, given the lack of traffic/intersections/etc.) Today was our longest run ever: 19 miles or 4 hours, whichever took longer. Being a true Fatboy, 19 miles was more than enough to eat up more than 4 hours. Day started great; still dark, really cool, relatively empty trail (alas, no stray bright green water bottles to be seen, sorry SD). Took it pretty easy but still made alright time for the first half. Coming back got a little tougher, not just because I was getting tired but also because it started getting warmer. Good news, though, I finished it and I finished it running. With seven weeks left to train, tacking another 7 miles on to what we did today may not be impossible.

But it sure is gonna suuuuuuck.

Eating's been all over the map this last week, and haven't been on the scale since the last entry. I'll update Monday (though I'd like to do it now after having burned 2,800 calories per Garmin). Regardless of the weigh-in numbers, I'll be redoubling my efforts to keep it smart. Starting tomorrow.

High Trails

So our school district takes (but doesn't pay for) all the 6th graders on a three night 4 day trip to a camp in the mountains. It's a pretty cool thing and the camp is in a great area in the mtns. Needless to say, after my Sunday run, I took Monday off. We left Tuesday and I still didn't feel like I'd be able to run much. I did take my gear though. Cutting to the meat, I got in a 45 min. run on Wed morning. On Thursday morning I hiked and ran between four different groups taking pictures, so I'll count that as an hour workout, though not a run, but I'm sure my HR was up. Did I mention the camp sits at about 9,000 ft.? The good thing about High trails is that we walk everywhere, so we're on our feet moving for several hours a day. They do feed us well, but the snacks are limited. All in all it was a great week, I ate a lot, but most of it wasn't too bad (lots of starches) and had lots of water and few snacks. I was always moving - as one would expect being the only adult in a cabin with 46 boys and walking around for six hours a day.

This week, not so good. I haven't worked out once. I haven't eaten great either, not bad, but not as good as the two previous weeks. Football ends today, so that will free up a lot of time and allow me to do some work after school and workout without getting home at 8:00. Hopefully this was my little low that i always seem to hit before big races. I'm behind in my training, but I'm banking lots on four things for the marathon: 1)being 10 pounds lighter than Colfax 2) lower elevation 3) flat course 4) cool temps. I suppose we'll find out in 51 days.

How do the 270's feel? You should be able to be in the 260's by SA!!!

The Schilling Effect

So I'm taking everyone back almost two weeks with this post. So I was in NM for the weekend to celebrate grampa's #90. On Sunday morning (the day after the party in which I didn't really eat poorly, but BBQ pork sandwiches aren't known to be good carb loads. In addition I was working off of about 4 hours sleep Sat.) So Sunday morning rolls around and I head off for what is scheduled to be 20 miles of 3 min. running 1 min walking. I don't really know the milage on the Bosque trail, I get some ideas from DC and I head out. Fuel belt with four little bottles and two hand held bottles - all water.. I've got a few Ecaps and gels.

I start at Alemieda and work my way all the way to Tingley beach. I figure it's probably a little short of 10 miles based on my time (it came out to a tad less then 9 miles). I turn around at the Tingley train station and head back. A couple of notes about the run to this point: I started at 8:00 am - a little late for a four hour run. There appeared to be some sort of race (possibly a marathon?) during the first two miles of the run. Paseo and Alemieda are really close to each other, I couldn't figure out what road i was running under because I seemed to get there real fast. There is a bunch crap written, spray painted, marked, floured all over that trail. It appears that every police/fire department, running/cycling club, 5k, 10k, 13.1 or 26.2 event had their own marks on the trail. I felt pretty good, no scary people lurking under any of the bridges, the cyclist seemed to end about 9:00 (the roller bladers didn't start until closer to 11:00).

Now I have this problem of walking and running like a duck, which leads to me clipping my ankles with my opposite heel. After about 7 miles I had the bloody sock, AKA the Schilling Effect going. Much like him, I played through the blood soaked anklet sock, through the pain, and through the bugs that liked the smell. Well i lost one of my little fuel belt bottle somewhere on the return between 1-25 and Montano (keep an eye out DC, it's bright green). About halfway through the return trip my water became very warm and no fun to drink, though i needed it. About three miles from the finish I pooped out and walked it in from there. All in all, the run was good, but I hurt more than ever before afterwards. My back was killing me, my feet hurt, my legs hurt, and everything in between. I actually hurt to the point of being a bit concerned that i may have over done it. I never felt like I would puke, I just hurt.

To make a long story short, Friday night the boy was sick (top and bottom), Saturady afternoon and evening it hit daughter #2 and wife. Sunday evening it hit daughter #1 and me. Problem was, we had a 6 hour drive that evening. Well we waited around to see if it would pass and to make sure the kids were done puking and we didn't leave NM until 8:30 pm. Do the math... it was not a fun drive. All throw up made it into a cup, towel, or blanket so i suppose that was good (though in my mom's car it all made it onto the floor). Fun fun day was that Sunday!

Sorry we missed you DC, but I suppose we'll be seeing you in about 7-8 weeks anyway. Crap!

Wow, that hurt

Ran a 12-miler today. Gorgeous day, nice and pretty cool for most of the run, no wind and through ABQ's bosque. One of the group's coaches decided to run with me, though, and I think it nearly killed me.

We got out great, set a good pace...perhaps too good. The first 7 miles were easily the fastest I'd ever run that distance, and even miles 8, 9 and 10 weren't too bad, but I was suffering for the last two. I clearly did not have enough to drink throughout the week and I was feeling it. Didn't cramp (electrolyte caps seem to be working), but was pretty light-headed for a number of minutes when we finally finished. I think I hurt as much today as I did two weeks ago when we did the 18. Hope this is not a bad sign. Gonna chalk it up as a learning lesson: don't go out fast.

A Quick Update

Been running a lot of the weekday training runs on the treadmill at the gym. Walking distance from the office, proximity of a shower, and the occasional chance to catch a Sox game in the evenings have just made the gym more convenient of late. However, the weekend runs continue.

This last Saturday's was a 6 miler along the west side of the bosque south of Bernalillo. Absolutely gorgeous, especially the middle two miles; gravel trail weaving in and out of the cottonwoods, sunflowers growing in 8ft. high walls on either side of the trail in other spot. And easily the fastest 6 miles I've ever run.

Tonight I went to the group's track work out for the first time in a long time. This was the night we'd be shooting for PR's in the mile. Jogged a 1/2 mile warm up, did the mile in 10:40 (fastest I think I've ever run a mile, and a good 20 seconds faster than the the time my coach had told me to shoot for), and then jogged another 1/2 mile cool-down. Weather was cool and windy with some pretty good rain about halfway through. Running in the Fall weather is awesome.

Hopefully it'll hold for this weekend's 12 miler.

Looong Run

Did my Wednesday semi-long midweek run last night at the gym. Got scared for a second because the treadmills almost filled up, and with me being on mine the longest (and well past the 30 min. limit) I thought I might have to get off. However, the college students didn't disappoint and soon after they were all free except for mine. It's funny because 95% of them will get on the 'mill and go balls out for like...4 minutes, I don't get it? It's very predictable because they never stay on very long. The wife and I get a kick out of it.

As for my workout, my goal was 1:10. I started at a 5.0 speed and 0.0 incline. i upped the speed by a 0.1 every 10 minutes (this equals about 15 less seconds per mile) and upped the incline by 0.5 every 15 minutes. The incline is pretty minor as I think my total incline was less than 300 feet, despite topping out at 1.5%. So I ended up with 6.3 miles (I was shooting for 6.2, get it? 26.2 - 6.2?) in an hour ten with an average HR of 155. I sped up nicely at the end to finish with a 6.2 speed. All in all I felt pretty good during and after. I think the speed and incline increases give me something to care about while I'm bored running to nowhere.

I'm a little worried about this weekend because I'm supposed to do 20 miles of 3 on 1 off, but I'll be in ABQ and not sure about a) time and b) where to do this. What's your plan NM for the weekend run? I suppose if I start at like 6:00 am I can be done and home in time to get ready for all the family events that begin at 11:30.

Football Monday!!

My afternoon started with my first game as head coach of the Lightweight 1 team, AKA "the Smurfs." Except for forgetting about the downs, and the timeouts, and sending the plays in, and a few other things, the game went well. We lost 14 -16 and were one 2 point conversion away from the tie and one yard short on an onsides kick to give us one last chance. All in all I had a blast.

After the game I changed clothes (for the fourth time that day) and headed out for a tempo run in the bear, rattlesnake, mountain lion infested "city" park behind my school. I started out with a 12 minute warmup run - that was supposed to be 10 minutes except I got lost - and then went 12:30 out with the goal of getting back to my starting point in less than 12:30 for the tempo part of the workout. I missed my target by :39 sec. I then jogged it back in for a total w/o of 42:57.

I ate great today (except for the Frosty I just finished) so I'm pretty pleased with the day. Gearing up for a 14 hour day tomorrow and no w/o. Maybe I'll walk up and down the halls of the school during my plan time.

Nice job in the big D. That's pretty good commitment to do that on vacation. I agree, darn the beer! But I'm looking forward to my drinks after SA like you wouldn't believe.

I Survived the Big D Death March!

Saturday, September 6, 2008. Start time: a late 7:30ish. The location: White Rock Lake. The goal: 18 glorious miles.

Got outta town this weekend to see my beloved Sox play a pair against the Rangers. And since the longest run in our program was scheduled for the same weekend, we took the show on the road. Didn't get to the site of the run until much later than I think any of us had hoped, as the sun was already peeking out of the trees and the temps were starting to rise, but the location couldn't have been nicer. As the name suggests, the park surrounds a lake with a great trail/bike path that just happens to be 9 miles around. Parked one car one one side of the lake, the other car on the far side, and stashed water and Gatorade at each (and let me add a plug here: G2 is some good shite...get your electrolytes and very few calories all in one) and set off. Guy we were staying with, helluva good runner but not used to doing this kind of distance, had real trouble with his knee after mile 6 and called it after the first lap of the lake. (When we said our goodbyes Sunday night, he still couldn't bend the knee without great pain.) My GF cruised her way through about 13 miles before backing off because of pain in her knee. I managed to plug along behind them (sometimes WAAAAY behind them) and eventually knocked off the entire 18. As I said elsewhere, it wasn't pretty and it definitely wasn't fast, but it was done. Thankfully, no injuries so far, just a little sore yesterday. And even as bad as it was at the end (too hot, too humid, could not drink enough water even though there were water fountains everywhere in the park (I told you this was a helluva park), and too much walking vs. running), this was the first time I looked my 1mi lap times and realized I should actually be able to make the San Antone cutoff with some real room to spare if I keep the training up and avoid injury.

As you might imagine, the feeding portion of the trip was not so much, but foodwise wasn't so terrible: split a salad and a chicken sandwich Friday lunch, had a dog and one beer at the game that night (SOX WIN!!), had a cheeseburger Saturday afternoon (I'd earned it that morning), and had a nice flanksteak meal at a Latin themed joint that night, a small breakfast sandwich Sunday morning, a dog at the game that afternoon (SOX WIN!!), and then a plate of BBQ that night. All in all, not so bad considering we were "on vacation". Downfall was the cerveza: one (and only one) at Friday's game, one before we left the house Saturday night, two with Saturday's dinner, three more at the pub after that, and then three at the game Sunday. You do the math. But let me tell you, that beer Saturday night after the 18 was one of the best beers I've ever had. Can't wait to sample a cerveza after 26.2.

(Had to fly home Monday a.m., so weigh in will come tomorrow.)

Weigh-in

I don't get it. After my long long run 10 days ago I was at 242 that Saturday afternoon. Now I knew this was BS as it was probably mostly water weight. On Sunday I was up a little more to 245/246, which still seemed very low. On Monday my official weigh-in had me at 254 - which seemed right considering the two weeks prior to that. Then starting on about Wednesday, I've been in the low to mid 240's every time I've checked. I don't quite get it. Now I did eat great last week and I worked out pretty well. In addition, since I'm back to work I'm up on my feet almost the entire day, but still the weight seemed low. In addition there are two places I always feel the fat first; my chin, my hipbone hangover. Neither of these places felt "skinny" during the week.
Today's official weigh-in had me at 247, which is great, but still seems a bit too low (I'll take it, but still seems odd). I suppose if the weight stays steady this week then I'll know it's for real. I'd love to be under 235 for San Antonio, that would be almost 20 pounds less than I carried for Colfax. I wonder if there's a formula that equates pounds lost to seconds off????

da weekend

I've done pretty well this week and for the first time in a while I'd be disappointed if the scale didn't lean my way (more on the scale later). There was no workout Friday, but I ate pretty well. Saturday i headed out with all my waters and gels and capsules for a 15 mile run without walk breaks. Well I ended up running close to home (as opposed to a trail, because I started early and the thought of being alone on a trail at sunrise spooked me - dam animals everywhere). I didn't ant to waste 45 minutes driving to a more urban trail downtown either, hence my run went from my home, to a nearby school, to the track, and then around the track, and around, and around...

Well after 20 laps (for a total of 6.5 miles counting the run to the school), I called it quits. To make things wussier, I called my wife to come pick me up. I felt pretty good, but obviously somewhat bored. I didn't eat breakfast nor did I prepare much for this on Friday. I was happy that i at least got in a short run.

No workout Sunday, but I did cut the grass and do lots of house work. I also ate great. I've started today (as all Mondays) with no carbs. My goal is zero carbs (or close to this) at least twice a week...we'll see.

Speed Work...no really

Today I got in a speed workout that felt pretty good. I did a mile warmup then 8 rounds of 1 minute on, 1 minute off, then a mile cooldown back to the car. It was a short workout (38 min.), but I was able to keep my "minute on" on for all eight rounds (in the past I have generally pooped out at the end and haven't been able to kick it for the latter rounds). The cool thing was watching my heart rate drop from 170 during my fast minute, to the low 1-teens during my minute off. My legs felt a little jello like at the beginning, but I should be getting my running legs back soon.

I ate well today: small bowl of cereal, turkey wrap (not great, but I suppose it could have been worse), and chili and beans for dinner. NO SNACKS today!! I did have a beer watching the Redskins play like sheet.

Runners World mag or online is a great resource, give it a shot.

On track...but track ends with 18 this week!

Proud to say that I'm on track to get in all three of the training runs this week, for about the third or fourth week in a row. Had a bit of trouble around the end of July, early August, but I've found the groove again and want to see if I can make it through the big event...which just happens to be in just over 70 days. !!!

Got in 3 miles in 40 minutes at a 1.5 incline. My times are slowly getting better, but I clearly have a long way to go. Haven't tried the mock marathon (or really even heard of it), but sounds like something I need to give a look. Bigger picture, what the hell am I not reading that talks about mock marathons, electrolyte capsules, etc., etc. The more I learn, the more ignorant I feel.

The eating was knock way off kilter today. Missed breakfast, had to have lunch at 2:30ish, went to (ANOTHER) FFL draft tonight and sampled smoked turkey, Cool Ranch Doritos (a good bit of the former, not a lot of the latter, but still), two chicken wings and two light beers. Already looking forward to tomorrow's run as penance.

Hump Day

Ate OK except for the PB milkshake with lunch (note I said with lunch, not for lunch). I need to work on the snacks between when I get home and dinner. Maybe I should tell my wife to have dinner waiting for me when I get home? I'm sure that will fly. I had a 60 minute run on the 'mill for 5.27 miles and a 161 HR average. My HR jumped pretty high at about 30 minutes and I wasn't able to get it back down. I did of course have the 'mill on a slight incline (1.5%) This was unfortunately my first workout since Saturday's long run and with FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL starting tomorrow, it will be tough.
NM, when are you going to get in your mock marathon (minus the total distance)? I did this for the first time prior to my first Ascent in which I ate what I planned on eating the night and morning before, started at the same time the race started, wore the clothes I planned on wearing etc. It probably a good idea just to make sure the routine works for you guys.

Labor Day

Nice job on the 12 miler! Don't you love the attitude that it's JUST 12 miles? The coolest part I found about running was that the improvements came fast and were VERY EVRY obvious. Despite how slow I am and how much I suck, it's still very obvious when there's improvement, especially that first year.

I started taking electrolyte pills after Colfax and they seem to be working well. I've stopped with the gatorade (I actually did this prior to Colfax) and have stayed with gels, the pills and water only and that seems to work. Maybe in Dallas you guys should just do a fast walking tour of the city. What matters is time on your feet with an elevated HR, if you walked fast from the grassy knoll to the Depository, did the tour, then fast to the ??? took some pictures, etc etc, I wonder if that would count?

We'll see how the weight goes tomorrow (although today is Monday), I was real low Saturday afternoon (242) nut knew it would go back up as water got back into me. I was 252 this morning which seemed more normal. I'm having a hell of a time getting under 250 - we'll see if that changes now that I'm on the wagon again.

Can't tell if I'm getting better or not...

Saturday was a 12 mile jaunt which actually turned out to not be too bad. The coaches, clearly chastened by the water troubles on our 14- and 16-milers a few weeks ago had plenty of water out for us. Still having trouble with cramping, though. Didn't actually go full blown cramp, but felt the calves grabbing during the last 1/2 mile. Full disclosure, I was pushing it that last bit because I wanted to come as close as I could to the 3hr mark, thereby more or less besting my Colfax time by about 15-20 minutes. Came in just a shade over 3, but still got it done. Learned about an electrolyte pill that others in the group have used to great effect, so sent off for some today. Unfortunately won't have 'em until our 6 mile trail run in two weeks.

In the meantime, really worried about the 18 we're supposed to do next week. Gonna be in Dallas, and forecast is for temps no lower than high-70's/low-80's with high humidity. Only bright spot is the the nearly 5000 ft. altitude difference. Going to be tough to get the culo moving and get out on the road at o'dark thirty, but gotta get it done.

The eating has gotten better, as evidenced by the small weight loss, but more apparent in the clothes that are re-entering the rotation. Just gotta keep the momentum going.

And nice work on the 20. We're probably a month away from trying that distance.

So it starts

So after a two week break (and binge...I had to get rid of the leftover food and beer from the post-Ascent party, you know, since someone left me to drink it all by myself), my marathon training started. I actually went for an 1:05 run with the boy last weekend, but this was an earnest DISTANCE run.

We headed out for a 20 mile run at a 3:1 ratio (3 min running, one min walking). Highlights of the trip: two dudes climbing out of a tent under an overpass. Not homeless dudes, regular looking dudes? Who knows? Happened to be running by the Air Force Academy and got to watch the cadets skydiving on our way out. On our way back we got to see the pre-game flyover (AF had their first football game of the season today). Yes, we ran that far! We passed a fellow teacher from my school and we saw a crane in the creek (by far the least feared creature I've seen on that trail in the past 12 months). In case you're wondering about this "we" thing, my 2 year old boy and his jogging stroller joined me on the adventure. There were two sides to this: On the positive, it was fun having him around and his stroller makes it easy to stash lots of gear and water. On the downside, when he needs something (which in his defense was seldom) it required me to come to a full stop. The other negative? neither he nor the stroller are light and dam some of those hills were rough. So I felt good until about mile 17 when the insides started to turn, or should I say drop. If I ran, I really had to squeeze the cheeks, which then made my insides feel like caca. If I walked it wasn't too bad. So I walked for about 5 minutes until i reached a bike shop and marched my non-spandex wearing self in there and pooped a good poop. The problem was that it was pretty rough getting running again after that and I ended up walking in most of the final 3 miles.

Over all I was satisfied with my workout. I'll do the same one in two weeks and if I can run all 20, I'll increase my ratio to 4:1 two weeks after that. If I can't, I'll do this same one again. As for injuries: one chaffed nipple, one big blister and some soreness. Not bad considering I need new shoes and haven't actually "run" in quite a while (I've been on my feet for upwards of 5+ hours several times in the past 2 months, but very little of that was actually running). Total time 4:40

I ate pretty well today also.

Nice job on the weight loss NM, put in a good week and the 270's will be upon you!

The big day...

... and the big disappointment! I recorded my first official DNF today, though not by choice and not because of the way I felt, the way I was prepared, nor the speed at which I was going. The only good news is that about 750 out of 1600 other runners didn't get the opportunity to finish either. My goals for today were a) finish b) break my PR of 5:05 c) break 4:55. Well, I was on pace to accomplish all three goals today and feeling great with about 4.5 (out of 13.2) miles to go. I was warm, though wet from sweat more so than rain, and getting ready to start my push. Then the dreaded outcome happened, the course was closed, the runners turned around , and my 2008 Pikes Peak Ascent was over. The good news is that I felt great running my 8.5 miles back down hill and felt pretty good for a putting in a 17 mile day. The reason for the closure was a combination of lightning, unsafe trail conditions, and a large number of hypothermic runners reaching the top. In addition, the road was closed to ALL uphill traffic as well. Thankfully, due to the COlfax Mar. , I've only been focused on this race since May and not since November like years past.

It's a bummer, what can I do??? I suppose I start training for San Antonio on Monday!!!!!

Then move to Wednesday

I did a three mile run on a school track. Perhaps it was the flatness of the course or the speed at which I ran, but I have been pretty tight since then. The eating is what it is.

Let's start with Monday

Did a little 33 min. hilly run today. I would have gone longer but the thunder scared me back to the car.

I'll spare you the details and say the the eating was OK, but with high quantities (we'll call it the carb load).

Can you see the lump in my throat?

Sorry, my friend, but that says 96 days until the big event. Just seeing that and reading your post, my insides just tightened a bit.

Took Sunday off for rest day and calves were were really tight after the hills work on Saturday. Didn't make it out of bed this AM (damn Olympics keeping me up all night), but planning on hitting the gym for the first time tonight, so treadmill at the least. In any case, the first potential disaster of the day was averted when I hit the scale this morning. Three days in Vegas didn't do quite the damage I was afraid of, but I still have mucho work to do before that ticker gets too much closer to its expiration. God help us all.

Sunday comidas: big bowl of oatmeal w/blueberries/raisins/craisins for breakfast, Costco dog for lunch, handful of tater chips (dammit) at the folks' place, then a nice healthy dinner of grilled chicken kebabs (light bbq sauce) with a grilled corn/green onion dish and salad that my lovely GF pulled together for dinner, and some ice cream w/berries for dessert (dammit redux). Gotta do better today. And the next day. And the next.

Did I mention it's 16 on Saturday?

Counter!!!!

Does that say 98 days until San Antonio? That's 14 weeks. Take out a couple for a taper and this week for Pikes Peak and we're looking at around 11 weeks of training (me freaking out right about now!?!?!?!).

The last hill

Well my mountain and high altitude training is over for the season (those would be tears running down my cheek...NOT!). My next trip up PP will be for the whole enchilada - a fat free one with no cheese of course. I'll do a couple of short runs in town this week to keep the legs loose, then leave it all on the hill.
Drove to the 14, 115' summit...again, saw a herd of mountain goats....again, stared at the clouds....again, figured they wouldn't throw bolts of lightning at me and headed down hill...again. I was the third car on the summit this time, although the toll plaza and parking lot were packed with runners getting organized to come up. I headed down to the 2 miles to go sign, peed off a nice rock, then headed up. My time from 2-1 was great (2 min. PR) and my time from 1 to finish was seconds off a PR, which is good considering the PR was set starting at the 1 to go. I then headed back down, helping out a few of the crews getting the trail in race condition (I mainly acted as a steam roller and packed down dirt and rock they had already moved, but I still contributed). My next mile wasn't great, but it will probably more likely simulate race day pace. I then stuck around for about an hour on the summit making those red blood cell.

Bowl of cereal upon return, three pieces (not normal pieces) of pizza for lunch. Fish and veggies for dinner. 2 bowls of cereal for a late night snack...damit! Oh yeh, and a couple of tortillas with jelly somewhere in there...damit again.

Work starts tomorrow so, which means a fair amount of food being provided to up for the first couple of days - wish me luck. I probably won't lose much this week since I'll also be carb-loading and salt-loading and water-loading this week.

Wed - Thurs - Frid - Sat

Apparently the word "taper" has the same meaning to me as "nothing" because that was the amount of my workouts for Wed and Thurs. I did some work in my classroom, but not much else. I wouldn't say I ate completely for shitake, but I doubt it was any better than you ate...and you were in Vegas!!! I thought I was being good on Thursday as I bought a salad for lunch, in addition I bought a pack of 8 small bags of MM's. My thought was that I'd have the will power to limit myself to one bag a day, thereby taking care of the craving for sweets. Well so much for that theory, but at least I had a salad for lunch.

Friday I simply couldn't workout because our principal demanded.forced.made me/threatened that I had to go on a white water rafting trip with the new teachers for my first "official" day back at work. I did paddle, ate very little (until I got home) and even went for a couple of swims..on purpose. Oh yeh don't forget, all of that while holding a paddle and being weighed down by a PFD!

da da dada da da da (the Olympic theme song). With the exception of days when I'd drink a lot and be completely hung over the next day with nothing to do (obviously pre-POAAKs), today might have been the laziest day this household has ever had. Even the kids were lazy. Between the four of us I think we took 9 or 10 naps. We did nothing - except watch the Olympics!

Last big mountain workout tomorrow morning.

I'll never make the Olympics

Five AM came awful early this morning. Group did a 6 miler up in the foothills which was pretty nice; lotsa rain last night, so everything was nice and cool, even after the sun first came up. Mucho ups and downs, so my time was for shite, but given the abuse I'd just subjected myself to on the trip I guess I should just be glad that I was out there doing it.

Hit the crackhouse afterward for a smoothie, had some more fruit at home, and then a quick turkey wrap for a later lunch. Some pasta w/oil, olives and parmesan for dinner with a handful of Hot Tamales for dessert. Worth noting that I was doing some work at the 'rents this afternoon in the 90+ heat. Nothing strenuous, but by the time I was done, I was more tired and dried out than I had been after 6 miles this morning. Killed a 32oz G2 on the way home without even blinking.

Oh, and next week's big run? 16 miles. I'm gonna die.

Under the Century Mark

Back from Vegas. Most everything I predicted would happen did. Lost money. Ate poorly-ish:

Day 1: salad w/chicken breast for lunch, seafood buffet that night (at least fresh fish/shrimp/crab ain't exactly bad for you, right?), but mucho, mucho beer

Day 2: a grande chai from Starbucks, fruit plate at the cabana, shrimp burrito for lunch, grilled salmon sandwich for pre-show 'snack', and chicken quesadilla for post-show dinner; multi 'ritas at the pool and more than a few beers

Day 3: 6-inch cheesesteak for late breakfast/lunch; buffet at Planet Hollywood for dinner (easily the worst for me meal of the trip); many cheap beers (except for the $65 one at the Hilton) and cheap 'ritas; the good thing is we probably walked 10-15 miles on the day

Day 4: steak and eggs w/bloody mary for breakfast, smoothie at airport on way home, chicken fajita taco w/beans and rice for dinner

Training-wise, not the best effort, but there was some good news: broke down, bought the gym pass and got in two workouts on the treadmill (Vegas outdoors was a freakin' swamp - 100 degree days and wicked humid; reminded me of the worst days in DC back in the day). Made it a bit easier to eat and drink w/abandon. And avoided the usual carb loading that comes with a trip to Nine Fine Irishmen and ended up skipping the pasta at Battista's. Maybe next time if I can ever afford to go to Vegas ever again; place is getting crazy expensive.

Now, back to the grind with a vengeance. That trip to San Antonio is no longer a figment of my imagination.

1-1-1

I was at the Pikes Peak toll road gate 10 minutes after it opened and headed up the mountain. Saw a nice big herd/swarm/flock/gaggle/? of Bighorn sheep on the way up. The clouds looked a little scary but they cleared up on my way down for my 1st of three trips up from the mile to go sign. I had a nice workout and all said I did 6 miles above 13,500 feet. Hopefully the altitude training pays off next week.

2 slices of toast for B, a Schloskxkzsys SMALL sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner. I feel like I had a few snacks in there as well, but I would put today at a 7/10. My plan is a workout Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday before Saturday's race.

They charge you to workout? Who wants to workout so much that they'll pay extra to do it?

Monday

Did nothing as far as working out and didn't eat the greatest: 1.5 breakfast burritos, and a few snacks and a big Jason's Deli salad (probably too big).

The 100 day mark is closing in on us FAST. Enjoy LV!

Now comes the minefield

Spent the last two days recovering from the 14 on Saturday. IT bands were really tight, especially any time I sat for any period of time (ie. work, class, home...pretty much any time I got up). Feel pretty good this morning, though. So of course, rather than going for a run, I'm headed to Vegas for 4 days. That's right, endless buffets, bottomless beers, lotsa sitting on the bunda time. This is not a good idea, training wise. I'm taking the running stuff, though. My goal is to get in at least two of the training runs this week done while I'm gone(with high's in the 100-106 range, I'm probably looking at treadmill time), maybe while everyone else is poolside. Because lord knows my beached-whale looking carcass doesn't need to be anywhere near the pool.

I'm sharing the portion control problem, and it's routinely coupled with the "I didn't have time to eat earlier when I should have, and now I'm starving and going to eat more than I should" syndrome. Not good. Hence the week's result. Hopefully, with class over now, I can get more regular about eating, doing training runs, and starting to hit the gym. Already have the 1st appointment with the trainer set for next week.

Anyway, I'm off for a few days to lose money and to try not to gain weight. I'm not too likely to succeed on either point.

Good luck with the Ascent training.

And though it's a bit late, RIP Bennigan's; underage beers rarely tasted so good.

P.S. Just checked out the hotel's site about it's fitness center - $19 per visit for hotel guests!!! They do give you the option of a $45 three day pass, though. Mighty big of them.

I hate Vegas.

Could I have done less?

I did watch some golf, but only because the US Senior Open was being played a few miles away here in town. I finished a book. Gave the kids a bath. Made dinner. That was the extent of my involvement in the day. We'll consider today a recovery day, and with the Ascent 13 days away, I need to be tapering anyway. I wouldn't say I ate too bad, but not great. I still need to work on PORTION CONTROL, probably my biggest enemy right now.

Sorry the 14er didn't go so well. You may need to a) carry more water then your belt can hold b) get there early and stash some that will be just for you or c) make the girlfriend be your personal aid station. Perhaps you need to simply go back to the basics..just water and some gels (that's all I've been doing since before Colfax, water, gels, and Ecaps and it seems to work well, it also makes those last few gels tolerable, which they were not when I was having gatorade too. Don't you hate the untrusted farts?

You're still doing great man! I'm interested in tomorrow's weigh in...for you, not me.

4 days of summer left:( Did I tell you I'm coaching 7th grade football this year? should be fun.

My Own Private Bataan

So it was pretty much everything I was afraid it was going to be and more. And of course most of it was probably my fault.

Flashing back to Friday night, we went out to celebrate the girlfriend's going away from the office. She's slated to start a new gig after the Vegas Run (already worried about the eating), so took her out to a watering hole to commemorate. I stayed away from the bad bar food save a stray chip and a single mozzarella stick, but the Guinness was calling my name and I had a pint. OK, maybe two. But then I got back to the water, so not too much damage, right? Of course the cold pizza when I got home sure as hell didn't help.

Got up at 5 Saturday morning, and already the insides were, uh...in turmoil. Had a cup of yogurt and some fruit, mixed up the Cytomax at 1/2 strength and headed out. We were a bit late to the meeting place and dashed from the car out to the trail. Got about a quarter-mile in when I had to make a pit stop. WARNING, NEXT FEW LINES FAIRLY EXPLICIT: You know when you're standing there draining the lizard when things around the corner 'shift' and you have to turn off the faucet for fear of other things happening? Yeah, that was me. So tucked everything back in its place and got back on the trail. Made pretty good time for the first 3-4 miles, but had to make another stop somewhere along mile 4 1/2 - 5 1/2. By this point, the tossing in the gut had turned to gas, but gas that couldn't be trusted, if you know what I mean. Also had learned that I do not like the Cytomax fruit punch; even mixed at only half the recommended strength, the stuff is sickeningly sweet, to the point that I need to rinse my mouth out with water after drinking the stuff. NOT what I'm looking for in a 'performance' drink.

So, made the halfway mark and looked forward to refilling the water bottles at the Igloos the coaches had set up. Since I'm almost always at the very back of the pack, I was worried that there might not be enough water, and my fears were pretty much realized. About 200 yards shy of the water station, saw some viejita, clearly not part of our group, walking her dog who decided to avail herself of the water. So she's walking away from the station when I get there and find just enough water in the two coolers to fill one of my 8 oz bottles. By now the sun was in full effect, the temps were probably already in the mid- to high-80's. And things just went downhill from there...

Sparing you the rest of the details, but time on this jaunt wasn't much better, if any, than the Colfax way back in June. One good thing; per the Garmin, burned nearly 2,100 calories. Had a smoothie later that morning, had a bowl of cereal with fruit for lunch, and then a shrimp/rice/cabbage burrito (REALLY good stuff; have to take CS there next time he's in ABQ) with an orange cream soda for dinner. And honestly I think that's all I had on the day.

But criminy did that run suck.

On a lighter note, welcome back, CS. Don't get to talk enough, so it's nice to have you back here.

I told you I'd be back

and I am! Let me recap my workouts for the past long while:
Friday 7/18 - altitude work at the top of PP, short mileage, but high intensity
Tuesday 7/22 - 95 min on the 'mill alternating between a jog and a incline power hike
Wednesday 7/23 - lots of bike riding (and one fall)
Thursday 7/24 - 49 min on a groomed trail. I bit slow, but I'm still trying to get back to the running and quick leg turnover
Saturday 7/26 - 2:10 min, about 11-12 miles. I felt OK but was a bit sore afterwards (the 2000 ft lower altitude helped a lot too
Monday 7/28 - Pikes Peak summit #2, 5:15. Great workout! I was about 40 minutes faster then summit #1 this year and this is my 2nd fastest time ever (fastest training run ever). I felt good the entire way.
Wednesday 7/30 - trail run pushing the jogging stroller. Did this run in 52 min (same run as last week) but considering I was pushing a 22 pound little girl and the stroller....
Thursday 7/31 - about four hours of bike riding in Denver with the family. Nice easy pace, but still pedaling nonetheless. I also had to carry my bike about 200 yards as I got a bad flat and had no repair stuff with me.
Saturday 8/2 - seven miles of altitude work on the PP summit. Lots of people up there training. My times were were i expected and more importantly it gave me three hour above 13,000 ft.

My eating seems to follow a similar pattern every week: do well for four days, do OK for two and do terrible for one. All the big family events are over so that should help some and work starts up again next week so I'll be back on a schedule. Tried on some clothes for the coming school year and for the most part I'm down to a size 38 ( a little tight) but 40's are too loose.

CS is out!

Is anyone else glad to see me?

Let me begin with several congrats to NM. First for the consistent blogging. Second, for the consistent good eating. Third for the the steady weight loss. At two pounds a week you'll drop another thirty prior to the 26.2. One piece of advice for your 14er this weekend: don't go out and eat 5000 calories in food during the rest of the day despite the fact that you'll be hungry. On the other hand, make sure you eat something to start the recovery process (they say PB and banana with a chocolate milk is the best. I need to run (no, not that kind of run) so I'll finish this manana.