Today went ok. I almost talked myself out of running this morning. But, I got out the door around 5:20am. The first half I did really well, but got my heartrate up too high. I was over 180bpm and couldn't get it down much without slowing down. (That HR was at the top of a long hill.) So, I slowed down. As Gary was mentioning, I'm probably taking it too hard. According to Wikipedia I should probably not be going over about 150 in order to build endurance. But I'm often in the "anaerobic" and "VO2 Max" ranges. Not great. Maybe this coming week I will work on longer but slower runs. I will be travelling, so I'm afraid I'll be on a treadmill.
Today for the first time on a run, I saw a raccoon! A relatively large one. He was running across the street on a collision course with me, but as soon as he saw me, he turned around and headed back to where he came from. I'm glad he did turn around because if he kept on, it would have probably meant he had rabies or some other disease.
The stars were out in full force today. Clear sky. I enjoyed that.
bunnies: 5, this time during the first half
people: 2
raccoon: 1
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
One more thing...
I forgot to mention that today's Podrunner podcast had a piece that sampled some guy advocating wearing sunscreen. I was chuckling as I ran along.
Podrunner's version of a public service announcement? Or maybe this was a feeble attempt at subliminal messaging??
Podrunner's version of a public service announcement? Or maybe this was a feeble attempt at subliminal messaging??
Thank you MobiBLU
Beautiful morning today. I got out of the house at about 5am, maybe a little earlier. It was already 66F (12.8C) with a breeze. The stars were only partially obscured by clouds. Very nice.
Today went a tad faster. I ran at 11.03 min/mile. This time I used a 159bpm mix: The Road of Excess. I did feel like I sped up some using the faster music. I was hoping I sped up more than that! By the way, I'm sure you're no longer reading this, but for DJ Steve Boyett and DJ Beatsmith, if you ever feel a neck cramp coming on right before I post a blog entry it's because I have to cram you into this:
This is my MobiBLU mp3 player. It has 1GB of memory. Plenty of space for the workout music and NPR podcasts I use. It's from Korea. It has worked great, especially after I flashed the memory on it so it stopped freezing. Very cute. AND I don't have to use iTunes to get music on it. I would have probably purchased an iPod by now if it weren't for iTunes, and by that I mean the PC application, not the music store.
Bunny count: 5, all in the last 10 minutes. Maybe I wasn't paying attention earlier? Or do they not wake up until 5:15?
People count: none! Only a few cars. Or does the one motorcyclist count?
Today went a tad faster. I ran at 11.03 min/mile. This time I used a 159bpm mix: The Road of Excess. I did feel like I sped up some using the faster music. I was hoping I sped up more than that! By the way, I'm sure you're no longer reading this, but for DJ Steve Boyett and DJ Beatsmith, if you ever feel a neck cramp coming on right before I post a blog entry it's because I have to cram you into this:
This is my MobiBLU mp3 player. It has 1GB of memory. Plenty of space for the workout music and NPR podcasts I use. It's from Korea. It has worked great, especially after I flashed the memory on it so it stopped freezing. Very cute. AND I don't have to use iTunes to get music on it. I would have probably purchased an iPod by now if it weren't for iTunes, and by that I mean the PC application, not the music store.Bunny count: 5, all in the last 10 minutes. Maybe I wasn't paying attention earlier? Or do they not wake up until 5:15?
People count: none! Only a few cars. Or does the one motorcyclist count?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Trying the Fdip152
I was a little faster getting out this morning. Still didn't get right out the door because I decided to try the Phedippidations podcast today. Although Steve makes a top-quality podcast, I'm not sure spoken podcasts are my thing right now for running. I found my mind starting to wander then I'd get annoyed because I would miss some of what he was saying. With the electronic music podcasts, the repetitiveness allows my mind to wander freely. Plus, I have the rhythm to guide my feet. So, I'll probably try this one again some time (I didn't finished the whole hour of the podcast), but I think my standard will be the Podrunner podcasts for now.
One benefit of not doing much of my own pondering during my run is that I might not be as long-winded today!
I did have my HRM again today. No surprises there. It worked the whole time, which was nice.
bunny count: only 4, but one ran with me for a while!
people count: 4 , one runner, three walkers, and a dog
I ran 2.65 miles in 31:17. 11.8 minutes/mile 7.3 minues/km. No speed demon here today. I purposefully took a route that wouldn't have me coming by my house too soon, so that I wouldn't be tempted to quit early!
One benefit of not doing much of my own pondering during my run is that I might not be as long-winded today!
I did have my HRM again today. No surprises there. It worked the whole time, which was nice.
bunny count: only 4, but one ran with me for a while!
people count: 4 , one runner, three walkers, and a dog
I ran 2.65 miles in 31:17. 11.8 minutes/mile 7.3 minues/km. No speed demon here today. I purposefully took a route that wouldn't have me coming by my house too soon, so that I wouldn't be tempted to quit early!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Change of plans
Warning: I was particularly long-winded today.
I really need to start running at night again. I set my alarm for 4:30 this morning, pressed snooze until 4:45am and didn't get out until 5:40 or so. At night, I don't seem to waste so much time. Running in the morning darkness seems safer for some reason, though.
Since this autumn is only going to get busier for me rather than calmer, I've decided to switch plans. The Gateway to 8k program is good and I love the podcasts, but the time needed gets longer and longer as you go on and I want to limit the time I use running right now. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the spring when the daylight hours are getting longer rather than shorter and our schedules have (hopefully) settled down a bit.
So, now the question is, what to do? I think for now, I'm going to stick to 5k and try to get it down to 30 minutes. Podrunner has fixed-bpm podcasts available. Today I downloaded a 154 bpm podcast. This was more my pace. The running segments of the g28k program were 146bpm, a little slow. It didn't really speed up my running. I ran for 31:16 and according to MayMyRun, covered a distance of 2.78 miles, for an average of about 11.24 minutes per mile.
Since I was running later than I wanted to, I kept having to talk myself out of quitting early. At about 10 minutes, I decided I would stop when I got back to my house. However, about 6 or 7 houses before mine, someone came out of her house and started running ahead of me. That motivated me to continue. It's funny how much of a mind game this is. That one little happening that actually had nothing to do with my own actions flipped my thoughts from quitting to continuing. So, I ended up running another 15 minutes and finishing out the 30 minutes.
That kind of head game is one reason why I'd rather have a plan like gateway to 8k. I let the podcast determine when I quit. My mind is left to wander onto other topics more because I must obey the podcast! Maybe there are subliminal messages in the podcast? It is kind of trancey music!
I think my goal for the time being will be to run at least three times a week and at least 30 minutes per run. I'll probably do two runs during weekdays and one on the weekend. I have enough activities spread throughout for cross training and some runs might be replaced by other activities. I thought about entering a 5k at the end of the month, but I think I might hold off, train for the winter and start entering races again in the spring. OR, I just noticed a group I belonged to in college is holding a Pi Mile Run, a 5k which is close to 3.14... miles (it's an engineering student organization - we're geeks, ok?). Maybe I'll do that instead. That is in town and on the same path as my first 5k. Even cooler that I'm an alum of the organization.
This morning, the bunny count was 9. Even with the full moon, it was rather dark, so I might have missed a few. They were all alive this time, although one didn't look very animated. Maybe it was too cold and just wanted to stay put. It was 45F degrees this morning (7.2C). Chilly, but not too bad. I did get a little squeaky in the lungs when I got home. I actually saw four people today. One was running (the one who motivated me to continue). The rest were going about their morning routine, it seems. I passed by the local coffee shop twice on my run. The first time it wasn't open, but by the second time I smelled the lovely scent of coffee wafting across the street. Some day, I'm going to plan my run to end over on that side of the neighborhood and bring a long a bit of money for a coffee. It smells so good!
So, as I mentioned, I used a fixed-bpm Podrunner podcast today. I had always thought that DJ Steve Boyett and DJ Beatsmith were one and the same and DJ Beatsmith was just an alter ego of Steve Boyett. But, it sure seemed like the voice on today's podcast was a different one than I heard oh-so-many times on the Podrunner Intervals podcasts.
I really need to start running at night again. I set my alarm for 4:30 this morning, pressed snooze until 4:45am and didn't get out until 5:40 or so. At night, I don't seem to waste so much time. Running in the morning darkness seems safer for some reason, though.
Since this autumn is only going to get busier for me rather than calmer, I've decided to switch plans. The Gateway to 8k program is good and I love the podcasts, but the time needed gets longer and longer as you go on and I want to limit the time I use running right now. Maybe I'll pick it up again in the spring when the daylight hours are getting longer rather than shorter and our schedules have (hopefully) settled down a bit.
So, now the question is, what to do? I think for now, I'm going to stick to 5k and try to get it down to 30 minutes. Podrunner has fixed-bpm podcasts available. Today I downloaded a 154 bpm podcast. This was more my pace. The running segments of the g28k program were 146bpm, a little slow. It didn't really speed up my running. I ran for 31:16 and according to MayMyRun, covered a distance of 2.78 miles, for an average of about 11.24 minutes per mile.
Since I was running later than I wanted to, I kept having to talk myself out of quitting early. At about 10 minutes, I decided I would stop when I got back to my house. However, about 6 or 7 houses before mine, someone came out of her house and started running ahead of me. That motivated me to continue. It's funny how much of a mind game this is. That one little happening that actually had nothing to do with my own actions flipped my thoughts from quitting to continuing. So, I ended up running another 15 minutes and finishing out the 30 minutes.
That kind of head game is one reason why I'd rather have a plan like gateway to 8k. I let the podcast determine when I quit. My mind is left to wander onto other topics more because I must obey the podcast! Maybe there are subliminal messages in the podcast? It is kind of trancey music!
I think my goal for the time being will be to run at least three times a week and at least 30 minutes per run. I'll probably do two runs during weekdays and one on the weekend. I have enough activities spread throughout for cross training and some runs might be replaced by other activities. I thought about entering a 5k at the end of the month, but I think I might hold off, train for the winter and start entering races again in the spring. OR, I just noticed a group I belonged to in college is holding a Pi Mile Run, a 5k which is close to 3.14... miles (it's an engineering student organization - we're geeks, ok?). Maybe I'll do that instead. That is in town and on the same path as my first 5k. Even cooler that I'm an alum of the organization.
This morning, the bunny count was 9. Even with the full moon, it was rather dark, so I might have missed a few. They were all alive this time, although one didn't look very animated. Maybe it was too cold and just wanted to stay put. It was 45F degrees this morning (7.2C). Chilly, but not too bad. I did get a little squeaky in the lungs when I got home. I actually saw four people today. One was running (the one who motivated me to continue). The rest were going about their morning routine, it seems. I passed by the local coffee shop twice on my run. The first time it wasn't open, but by the second time I smelled the lovely scent of coffee wafting across the street. Some day, I'm going to plan my run to end over on that side of the neighborhood and bring a long a bit of money for a coffee. It smells so good!
So, as I mentioned, I used a fixed-bpm Podrunner podcast today. I had always thought that DJ Steve Boyett and DJ Beatsmith were one and the same and DJ Beatsmith was just an alter ego of Steve Boyett. But, it sure seemed like the voice on today's podcast was a different one than I heard oh-so-many times on the Podrunner Intervals podcasts.
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