Finally a good workout! Oh, and my new bar pad!!

Yesterday, I got my new Hampton International Bar Pad - Extra Thick, so I had to give it a try.  I wrote up a program for this morning based on one from Show and Go.  Because of my hip, I wanted something that didn't have much with loading going through my SI joint.  So, I included barbell hip thrusts, a la Bret Contreras.  I think I got the recommendation from his writings to get this bar pad.

I was pretty impressed when I got the box with the bar pad.  It is much heftier than my old bar pad.  I'm pretty sure my old bar pad is the same as the one we had at my commercial gym.  It is solid, but also cushier.  Nicer on my hip bones.  Also, the cover is nicer feeling can be removed and cleaned.
Look at this:

Here was my workout:

Foam rolling and Mobility
2 chin-ups
A1 Bench press - (warm-up 3 @45#, 65#, 75#, 85#) 3 @95#, 2x2 @100#
A2 1-arm DB row - 3x8 @45#
2 chin-ups
B1 DB pullover - 3x8 @30#
B2 Push-up - 3x5
C1 BB hip thrust - (warm-up 3 @45#) 8 @65#, 8 @75#, 8 @85#
C2 TGU - 4/side @20#,  4/side @20#, 3/side @20# (alternating side with each rep)

There it is!  My heart rate montitor estimated 635cal in 1:19.  Not bad.  Those TGUs really got my heart rate up!

Distant lightning

I have now put together a training plan for the next month and a half.  This morning called for 3 miles.

As I got out to run, I noticed somewhat ominous clouds to the south.  After a few minutes, I started seeing lightning.  Normally, I don't run if there is the possibility of lightning, so I kept a close watch on it.  It stayed to the south and I couldn't even hear the cloud to ground lightning.  I decided if it got close enough to hear, I'd head home.  Just in case, I chose my route to be close enough to home that I could book it home in a couple minutes.

I was very glad I had a goal today.   There were several times I could have justified quitting early.  But, I ended up running my goal of 3 miles.  It was a very slllloooooowwww three miles.  I averaged a 12 min/mile pace.  I was going for distance not speed, so I'm not going to harp on that, though.

No problems with my feet or legs!  That is a very nice feeling.  My stomach did feel a bit off before I started, but it seemed to settle during the run.

I tightened the heart rate monitor a little bit and my reading was perfect this time. (see below)

bunnies: 6 (Some were certainly counted twice, but that is their fault. If they didn't want to be counted twice, they should have gotten out of the way the first time I went by!)

A good hear rate reading

Sore lats

Saturday, I got to the basement to lift in the morning.  I did New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 6, A2.  (Again, this is my second time doing this stage.)  As I was working out, the kids came downstairs and played.  They also watched me some.  I was grunting a bit on the lat pulls and my son, in his infinite wisdom asked me if he should remove some weight to make it easier.  It was funny at the time.  I forgot to alternate the split squats and the push-ups.


Stage 6A2-2

Warm up - FBB (10:00)

Negative Chin-up - 25s @BW, 20x @backpack with 10#, 13s @backpack with 15#

Underhand-grip Lat Pulldown - 10x2 @115#

Barbell Split Squat - 2x8 @60#

Push-up - 2x8 on floor (not the best form, i.e. not quite deep enough toward the end)

Afterward, I foam rolled.

After my son's soccer game and my daughter's gymnastics class, we went with friends on a nice bike ride.  It was from Slater to Ankeny on a bike trail for about 13 miles.  A nice ride on a very nice rail-to-trail path.

This morning, I got out for a run.  First off, I had forgotten to charge my phone, so no music for me.  Pooh.  So, I set out with nothing but the clothes on my back, so to say!  It took me a good two miles to get into the run.  Then my mind started coasting and my legs started going on autopilot. The start was a bit hard because of the soreness in my lats and arms from yesterday's lifting.  That got a little better after about a mile or so.  It was not an overall easy run, but I made 4 miles.  I plan on increasing my long run length over the next few weeks in preparation for my 10k on October 2 and my half marathon on October 17.  I hope to get two 2.5-3 mile runs during the week.

I just purchased a running belt from iFitness.  I got the dual pouch version.  It's not supposed to bounce or ride up and it is also water resistant.  That will be nice when I go to the coffee shop after a long run.  I hate giving them moist dollar bills!  It should also hold my phone and gels.  I'll report back on how it does for me.

Before lifting workout on Saturday, I replaced the battery in my Garmin heart rate monitor strap.  It had been getting some very poor readings lately.  The readings were less sporadic, but there were still some spots where it obviously wasn't reading well.  I probably need to shorten the strap some, since the elastic has stretched some and I'm at the limit of how much I can adjust it tighter.  I have cleaned the contact area, so I don't think that is the problem.  I know for sure my heart rate did not dip to below 110bpm on my run today!

Look at the graphs below for two of my runs.  The red track is my heart rate and the blue track is my pace.

Before the battery replacement (8/27/2010)

After the battery replacement (8/29/2010)

Finished with Break-In!

I just finished Break-In B4 from New Rules of Lifting.  I did 4 rounds and feel great.  I only increased my weights on some of the lifts, but I did improve my rest times and pace and I managed the intervals on all of the A workouts (that's actually a surprise).

I think I will move on to Fat Loss II.  It starts out with sets of 12 reps, which I like a lot better than 15.  Believe it or not, there is a huge difference when I am lifting heavy.

Warm-up: four sun salutations, a little stretching and bw squatting, deadlifts: 7x45#, 6x95#

Deadlift: 2x15@135# (good pace, minimal in-set rests, close to 1 minute break)

Step-up: 2x15@20# each hand (hard to increase weight directly following hard deadlifts)

DB 1-arm shoulder press: 1x(7@25#ea, 8@20#ea), 1x(5@25#ea,9@20#ea,2@15#ea) (pretty much muscle failure at end)

Close-grip lat pulldown: 2x15@87# (a little pause before last 5 reps, but overall less resting mid-set, HARD)

Incline reverse crunch: 2x15@30deg (some mini-breaks, especially toward end)

Lots of sweat, a decent amount of grunting, and a lot of satisfaction!
I managed an average heart rate of 144bpm this time with a max of 179bpm.  Nice.

Back home on wiggly legs!

I'm back from a two week vacation! Although I didn't really "work out" during that time, I got plenty of exercise. We were sightseeing, so I was walking and/or climbing steps or hills most days. The day before we came back, we went up 768 stairs to the top of a church tower ... and back down again. On the way down, my daughter was a bit scared, so I had to carry her down the whole way. I was sweat buckets with my down jacket on and was really glad for my improved strength and endurance! I was also glad I was in Europe where they aren't quite as sensitive to body smells, because I was not able to shower afterward!

Even though I ate like crazy, the activity balanced it out, I guess, because I didn't gain a pound! I'm thrilled about that, because I didn't hold back at all. This was mostly heavy, starchy German food (which I love) and the associated chocolates and cakes and Italian ice cream.

We got back Tuesday night. I was going to go back to the gym on Thursday morning, but my daughter, still somewhat affected by jet lag, woke up early and wanted to stay in our bed. She refused to stay there if I got up, so I decided that was a sign that I could also use a bit more sleep.

So, I headed to the gym today to start Stage 7 of New Rules of Lifting for Women. Holy cow, that was a hard workout. I warmed up with four squats using only the olympic bar, then an attempted (failed) chin-up and a negative chin-up. During the workout, I just couldn't hold myself to 30 second breaks. My heart rate got too high and I had to catch my breath. I was really sweating and huffing and puffing. In fact, I reached about 180bpm... with WEIGHTLIFTING. This isn't running!! See below for my heart rate graph. (The split lines mark the end of an exercise and the beginning of the next rest.) My average heart rate was 144bpm.

Overall, I took 45 minutes not including about 5 minutes for warm up. For some of the exercises, I had to pause a few times to finish the set. I aimed for 15 reps because 20 is just tooooo many!

Squat - 1x8@45# then 1x7@55# - I really felt my hams after this. I probably need to work on hamstring flexibility.
Static lunge, rear foot elevated - 4x15@15# each hand
Push-up - 4x15@level 4 on the Smith Machine (about 2 feet off ground) arms mostly in
Romanian deadlift (w/ BB) - 1x15@95# then 3x15@100#
DB bent-over row - 3x15@25#ea then 1x14.5@30#ea (last rep was about a 80% pull)

I had a yogurt+protein powder treat afterwards, finishing off my protein powder again. I'll have to get some more! I think I'll get the same stuff, NNW Healthy Whey Vanilla Carmel Swirl. Yum!

Pi mile run

Yes, I did it. I finally ran in the Pi Mile Run, a 3.1415... mile run, rounded to 3.1 miles (5k). LOL! It's put on by an engineering group that I was a member of back in college. It was a super small race... 12 people. But, because of that, I came in 5th! The 4th place person just beat me. I didn't have the energy left to kick it more at the end. My Garmin read it at 3.25 miles or so. I'm pretty sure that is correct, because they took a longer route on that course than I have in past races held there. It was a friendly race. I finished the course in 33 minutes. Which means I finished 5k in about 31:29. That would be about my best time, I guess! I need to check my Garmin log and see if it agrees.

It was cold and windy. I'm sure that didn't help turnout. Not horrible for a run, though.

Update: I finally took a look at my Garmin output and although it's not 100% on the mark, I don't see any glaring errors in the GPS tracking. So, I hit 3.1 miles at about 31:06. Not bad! Maybe I'll break 30 minutes some day. The race course was about 3.3 miles.

My HRM was losing contact every now and then. (There is no way I was at 130bpm in the middle of the race!!) But, it looks like my heart rate was around 185bpm for the last 9 minutes of the race. Wow! I guess I did push myself and it's no wonder I was only able to muster a short 8min/mile kick at the end!

Long run!

So, even though we haven't formally signed up for the 10k at the end of September, I'm training for it just so I have some goal. I decided to train as follows. I'm going to run three times a week. Two days will be 30 minutes. At least one of those will have intervals, maybe both. One day will be a long run, with a distance goal that increases every week by 0.5 miles.

So, I started the long run today with a goal of 4 miles. However, I found myself farther away from home at 4 miles than I wanted to be, so I just finished the run by running home. It ends up that I ran for 5.2 miles!! I ran for 1:02, which puts the run at about 12:00 min/mile. That isn't too crazy. That would put me finishing the 10k in an hour and 14 minutes. I certainly wouldn't be the last one across the finish line! I'd even beat the marathoners!

I think I set a pretty good pace for myself. Most of the run showed a heart rate of 170-175 bpm. That seems like a good endurance-type heart rate for me. Toward the end, my ankles were feeling a bit worn out, so it is good I didn't have farther to go.


I think this is the farthest I've ever run! There might have been one other run on a treadmill during the winter that was about the same, but this is pretty good for me! Woo hoo!
Update: That hour run was actually only 4.75 miles. So, here's a new PR!

It was an absolutely beautiful day. The slightest of breezes, 57F-62F and partly cloudy skies. Nice.

I ran to a 149bpm Podrunner mix called Runnerfunker. This might have been the first time I used the whole podcast then started with the next one!! Haa haa... So, I did listen to a few minutes of a 150bpm podcast called Square One.

Intervals!

I've been mulling over which run to participate in next. But, while I decide, I should actually be running. So, I got out this morning and did intervals. Rather than the 60sec high/120sec low intervals in NRoLfW, I did double the number of 30s/60s intervals. From what I've read, it seems like this is more of a true high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout. I think I agree. I can go all out for 30 seconds, but I can't hold that for a minute. So, when I do 60/120 intervals, I have to scale back my high intensity sections.

I ran 27:36 today for 2.42miles. That calculates out to an average pace of 11:24. I did get down to almost 7:30 for some of the intervals, though. It looks like one of the rest periods clocked out at over 17:00min/mile. Believe it or not, I was jogging during that time! Very slowly, but still...

My heart rate monitor must have lost contact during the fast periods, because the graph below shows my HR dropping precipitously as soon as those 30seconds start, then popping back up when I slow down. I think some of the intervals probably got up to about 185-190bpm, judging from the rate of decrease during the slow periods. That little dropoff with the blip at the bottom is typical of the HRM loosing contact. *sigh*


Today's choice of music was a 152 bpm Podrunner podcast called Power Trip. Nice.

4k on the Fourth

I just got back from my second 4k race. The first one was when I was about 4 weeks into the C25K program. This time I cut around 4.5 minutes off that first time. It was rainy and (of course) overcast. The rain was light, however, and it was rather cool for a July day. It was a cool 64F (18C) with about a 10mph (16kph) breeze.

This year, the course was an out and back. During the first mile, we spread out and I was again pretty much running by myself. Although, there were people within a few yards ahead of me to keep me going. Afterward, I'm always thinking I could have run faster, but looking back at my heart rate record, it's rather clear that I couldn't have pushed it much harder without burning out. After the first mile, my heart rate got above 180 and stayed there for the rest of the race. During my final 0.1 mile when I kicked it up a notch to almost a 7min/mile pace, my heart rate got up to 193. My overall average pace was 10min/mile.

It took me 10-15 seconds to cross the starting line (it's a medium sized race with a wide starting line, so I was relatively close to the start), so my official time will be a bit slower. My Garmin shows 24:32 and 2.45 miles. That's pretty accurate, since 4k is 2.49 miles. I'd say 0.04miles is within the margin of error, considering it depends on which side of the path you run on! I set my Virtual Partner to my last 4k time. That didn't help, since I was so much faster this time. At about 0.5 miles, I checked and was 345ft ahead of my VP. So, I forgot about VP and switched to a different screen, one with time, speed, and distance.

I ran with an old favorite Podrunner podcast, Definitive at 154bpm.

Overall, I'm glad I got up and out of the door today, despite the rain. Now, on to the July 4th festivities!

The Envi-run 5k!

This morning was a dreary morning. It was lightly raining with some distant thunder. About 44degF (7Cdeg). Not a beautiful day. However, it turned out to be wonderful weather to run a 5k in! They had a short little run for the kids, but my husband and kids decided not to go to that. So, I went alone. I was running late and my husband had thrown away the entry form I had filled out and had not made it to sending it. I was just going to hand it to them. Not a big deal, but it seemed so at the time, since I was running late anyway. As it turns out, I made it there with enough time, filled out a registration, and got my number, number 42. (Isn't that the meaning of life?) I jumped and jogged in place a lot to keep warm. It was a pretty informal race with around 50 participants. Unfortunately, a lot of them were young, fit grad students at the local university. That's ok. I enter for me, not to win!

At the start there were a few sprinkles, but they stopped and it was dry the rest of the run. The first km was a bit faster than normal for me. But, I evened out and settled into a comfortable pace. I picked it up a bit in the last km, but mostly towards the last half km, since the first half was into the wind. I kicked it towards the end and finished with something around 32:40. I don't know the official time yet. It took me a few seconds to cross the start line, so the official time wouldn't be that accurate, either. I did forget to look at my watch right as I crossed, though. I looked at it a bit later and it said 32:53.

All in all, it was a good race. Afterward, as usual, I felt like I could have tried harder, but the truth is I was over 180bpm for a decent portion of the run. I tried to keep the flats under 180bpm.

I'm ok with the time. I haven't been able to run longish distances in the past several months due to my knee. I think those two 3 mile runs in the past week or two were the only runs over 1 mile, but I'll have to go back and check.

I brought my music equipment with me, not knowing whether I would actually use it. After seeing the small size of the run and the althetic appearance of most of them, I decided the tunes would be fine. After the first 1km or so, I was mostly on my own, so it was good that I had my beats. I used a 157bpm Podrunner podcast called Native Suns.

AMRAP done, sub 10 minute mile!

Today started out with a mile, which I ran in 9:55! Of course, now that I sit down and type it out, I realize I forgot to dial in my 1% incline. Doh! That kind of takes some of the excitement out of it. This time, I started at 5.7mph and after about every 0.1 mile, I increased the speed 0.1mph. So, in the end I was running at 6.6 or 6.7 mph, which is pretty darn fast for me.

I did the AMRAP B workout today. I forgot my log at home, I had to wing it. I'm glad AMRAP is done. I did get sore muscles from it, but I don't feel like I did as much. Strange. I don't feel as exercised.

I will restrain myself and not complain about the person who left 45# weights on the bar today. Oops, I guess I just did. They have a sign up requesting that you unload the bar when done. I thought about making my own and taping it to the squat rack rather than on the wall.

I want to get in a 3 mile run tomorrow. I hope it's a tad warmer. It was super windy and just above freezing this morning. Not exactly what I want to run in. Unless it's raining, I'm going to have to force myself out the door for a run, since I want a little recovery time before Saturday.

This morning, as I got on the treadmill, my mind started playing tricks with me and was telling my that this mile was going to be hard (it wasn't, probably the lack of incline helped with that) and that I wouldn't be able to make it through the 5k this weekend. Darn brain! I know it's wrong, but I thought I had tamed that mental crap more.

I'm even more sure that my HRM transmitter is on the way out. My max heart rate was 205 today, which I know isn't true. After that, it sank to ~90bpm, which was also not true. I'm going to try running without it a bit, I think. Maybe I can get by without one for a while. Save money... for the Garmin 305... LOL!

Another day, another mile... and AMRAP

I was thinking about not running this morning and just doing a few minutes on the elliptical again to warm up. But, then I realized that it's already Friday and I won't be running tomorrow, probably. So, I ran a mile in 10:33 on the treadmill at 1% incline. It seemed a bit harder than normal. During the run, it seemed like my HRM was getting a little squirrelly. I wonder if my transmitter is starting to loose battery power. I think a new one is around $46 (a coded Polar T31). I guess I've had it a while now. It has served me very well. That's still a lot cheaper than buying a new Garmin that I'm drooling over after hearing all about them on the c25k.com forums. I just love gadgets, though. That's kind of the ultimate fitness gadget right now!

I have the Polar F6 heart rate monitor. It has a way to figure out heart rate zones to target. But, it always wants me down below something like 150bpm. That's just not feasible for me if I'm going to break a sweat. I should look back through the features to see what I'm forgetting to use. I like the diary it keeps of zones and times and files them away each week. I can wirelessly download to my computer. Works great.

Today, I did the A workout of AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible) after Stage 1 of NRoLfW. I don't know if I particularly like this. The idea of lower reps - higher weights is one I like. I wasn't able to do a crazy amount of reps, since I used the weights from about session 2 or 3. When I got there to run, a guy was using the squat rack and of course did not unload it. I even saw him sitting there when he was ready to leave watching the news. And they were the 45# weights. Grrrr.

I started reading the Stage 2 exercises. One problem I see coming up is the lack of step available at my gym. Not sure how I'm going to solve that one. I could bring my own fitness step, but that would be a pain in the butt. Hmm....

Faster mile, better deadlifts

Today, I ran my measly mile in 10:22. Not horrible, but not great. I used a 1% incline and ran at 5.5mph with some 6.2mph intervals. This weekend, we are supposed to get hit by a big snowstorm, so I likely won't be running outside, unfortunately. Maybe I'll get lucky and I'll find a break in the weather. Luckily, this weather has to be on the way out and spring will arrive. I hope to add two or three days of running a week to alternate with my lifting days.

During the run, my HRM freaked out and popped up to something like 213bpm. I know that wasn't right. It went back down to 163bpm, which was in line what I was feeling. Both the treadmill and my wristband registered the heart rate, so it must have been my transmitter that was having issues. If this equipment poops out, I might consider going overboard with one of the Garmins. I've proven that I'll actually consistently use the HRM over a long period of time, so it wouldn't be a huge leap to think I would actually use an even fancier toy. Although, I don't use my Polar F6 "Own Zone" calculated heart rate ranges. If I did, I would be over it all the time! I think it wants be to max out at something like 150bpm, which just isn't reasonable for me. Maybe I should set my own limits and have it try to keep me below something like 175bpm. Otherwise, I love my Polar F6.

Today was 1B7 of NRoLfW. I increased my weights on every set. That was a good feeling, but I was definitely pushing my limits on some of them. I tried to pay close attention to my form on the deadlifts. Looking straight ahead and squatting deeper than before seemed to help.

During the second set of lunges, I picked the wrong set of weights (20# dumbbells rather than 15# dumbbells) and my body told me. On a couple of the reps, I was at the point of muscle failure. (This isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds.) When I finished the set, I looked at my notes and realized my mistake. At least that tells me I'm picking the right weights! I normally don't want to train to failure, but rather somewhat close to it. For the 3rd set, I went back to 15# dumbbells and that set went as good or better than the first! For the previous workout I had used 12# dumbbells, although the rep count was 10 for that workout rather than 8 this time.

I'm still not feeling the burn for the Swiss ball crunches. This time I used a 25# or 30# dumbbell held over my head to increase the intensity. The reps increased from 12 to 15, but that still wasn't enough. I think I get more ab work out of the prone jackknives, which also use the Swiss ball.

My hips feel well worked today. It's a good feeling, not an alarming one. I wonder if the deeper squatting is helping that? I just hope it means my hips are getting stronger. That would be a good thing.

I've started looking at 5k races coming up. There is one in a couple weeks. I don't think I'm going to participate in that one. I'd have to drive about an hour to get to it. There is one on the 25th of April that I'm seriously considering. They even have a 200m fun run for kids. I think my son would enjoy that. So, the question becomes, will I be ready for a 5k in three weeks?? I'll have to look into that. The positive about that one is that I know the route and I know it's pretty flat. I ran a 4k race there last year before I finished C25K.

Spring actually *is* coming!

Finally, a spot of nice weather coincided with me having enough time to squeeze in an outdoor run!! I'm sooooo excited! It was about 51F (11C) during my early evening run today. I forgot how much I enjoyed running outside. It is so much nicer than the treadmill. That is extra-true because lately, I haven't found anything very good on the TV while on the treadmill. The other nice thing about today's run was that there was very little wind. Here on the plains, the wind is probably the number one factor whether it's an easy run or not. I definitely felt my decrease in mileage I've had lately, but I got through around 31 minutes without much trouble at all. In fact, I could have done more, but I could tell my knees where slightly week. Actually, the one, if I may borrow a term from the Brits on the C25K forums, was a tad niggly. So, I decided not to push my luck and stop. I don't need to aggravate that again!

Running outside is so freeing and refreshing. There is so much to look at and I always have my path wander around aimlessly. I don't plan it out in advance, so it's always a surprise!

My heart rate showed my resting lately. I had a max rate of 187bpm and an average of 169bpm. Not great, but I was so excited about running outside that I barely noticed it.

Welcome back, runner's high!

Swimming

Due to bad weather and my sore knee, I skipped a few workouts. Last night, I stayed in the town where I work to avoid traveling in the blowing snow in the morning. So, this morning I got up and swam instead of my usual workout. There were a few things I noticed. I used my HRM and noticed since you swim in a prone position, my heart rate isn't as high until I stand up. In general, I didn't get my heart rate up very high, since I found that kicking in the water hurt my knee. It hurt a lot more than running and lifting due to the lateral motion. So, instead of swimming the whole time, I walked back and forth in the water and also did some laps just swimming with my arms. Not the most intense workout, but it was a nice change-up. I hope to get back to normal workouts soon, though.

I really need to focus on my eating. I've been doing very poorly lately. I really need to drink a lot more water, especially.

Upping the speed - yikes

Today, warming up for my weight lifting, I ran a (for me) fast mile. I set the treadmill at 1% incline and 6.0mph. I'm glad I didn't plan on more than a mile! Wow. My heart rate got up to 184bpm.

I did the New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 1 Workout B2 today. I realized I had changed the rep count for workout A too soon on Wednesday. Oh well. Not the end of the world. I'll just stay at that count for 3 weeks total. Today's lifts went well. I was at my limit with the overhead presses. During the second set, I almost got light headed. I added weights overhead to my crunches and that worked a lot better.

OMG - I ran for an hour!!

Since it's starting to snow here, I had my first run using my new fitness club membership. I picked one of the treadmills, the one near the fan. At first it was cold, but I was really glad later on that I had the breeze! After walking for 0.2 miles, I upped the speed to 5.0 miles/hr with 1% incline. The machine picked up my HRM right away and it worked the whole time. I appreciate that. Over the run, I changed the speed up and down between 4.5 and 5.2 miles/hr. As I got close to 3 miles, I felt like quitting, but then I figured I should at least do 3.1 miles (5k), but when I got there, I realized I felt great and decided to keep running. Plus the guy running on the treadmill to my side quit right about then and I didn't want to seem like I was quitting because he was. (I'm silly, ok?) So, I kept running. I had Comedy Central on and some good shows were on. Before I knew it, I had run for 51 minutes. I figured, I was so close to running for an hour, why not keep going? I guess the treadmill is set to only work for an hour, so at about 56 minutes, I had to make it keep going. I made it to an hour!! It probably wasn't a good idea, but it's done. I'll give myself the proper rest, I swear. In that hour, I ran 4.75 miles! That's the farthest I've ever run. Sure, that's not fast, but for me it's far! I kept my heart rate between 172 and 175 for most of it.

Afterwards, I had a good stretch. They had a stretching machine. It was pretty good, especially for back stretches. I think I know now what I was doing wrong for the leg stretches. I'll have to correct it next time.

No bunnies today ;)

Kick the Couch and business trip

Last Saturday I participated in the Kick the Couch 5k (http://worldwidefestivalofraces.com/) and came in at 37 minutes. My son was being cranky at home, so I told him he could ride his bike along side me. That probably slowed me down, especially toward the end where he kept stopping to complain, but probably not running for a week beforehand slowed me down even more. It was interesting to think that people all over the world were running at the same time.

The next day, I went off on a business trip. I spent 5 hours walking around the Fine Arts Museum in Houston, which totally wore me out. There was no way I was going to run after that. I actually had sore leg muscles after that.

The hotel I was staying at had a nice set of treadmills, so I got in two runs on those. The first day, I also did a good circuit with the free weights. I actually remembered how to do a lot of lifts. They did have some weight machines, but not a full set. I think I prefer free weights anyway. The runs were good. This time, I ran the speed I wanted rather than going off of my HRM, so I got up into the 170s. The treadmills could read my Polar HRM (as did the others I used on my previous business trip). But, they weren't as reliable as my wrist watch at correctly filtering the signal. Towards the end, I got sweaty enough that I think the band slipped a little and didn't read at all. That's annoying, but I didn't feel like reaching up under my shirt to adjust the band with a colleague running on the next treadmill over.

On the trip, I stopped at a book store and bought No Need for Speed. I just barely started it, but it sounds like just what I need to stay interested in running. Now that it is getting colder, I'm starting to wonder if I want to join a fitness center for the winter so I have a treadmill for those days when I don't want to go outside. I don't know. In the past, I've used aerobics DVDs in my basement. That worked well, but I would also like to keep running. Maybe I'll run outside when the weather is ok and do DVDs when it is not.

A new animal sighting

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

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!