Race for the Roses 5K 2010

I ate some peanut buttered and jellied toast and a cup of coffee to break my fast. In a moment I will hop into the running clothes I laid out last night. I'll strap on my iPhone armband and Timex watch (I always have a backup plan) and walk down to the bus stop, which will eventually take me to the Oregon Convention Center, site of the Race for the Roses 5K.

This has always been the fastest course for me; in three previous outings, 2006, 2007 and 2009, I've averaged 28m 54s chip time, and logged my fastest-ever 5K, my personal best, in '07: 27m 12s.

It would be awesome if I could make a personal best today, but if I think like that then the negative voice kicks in and tries to tell me no, I can't.

Here's the pushback for that fucking negative voice: I've already this year run two 5Ks under 31m, and both of those had more hills than the course today. And I've been training hard with a focus on speed for the last month and a half. My friend Shawn will be at todays race, and last time we ran together, we spurred each other to run just a bit faster than we each thought possible.

And I'm dedicating this race to my friend, Kevin, who is in the hospital and hoping to get better and go home soon.

With all those facts behind me, I bet I rock the course today. Watch and see!

Labels: exercise

• 6:01 AM 0 comments

Shamrock Run 5K Results

While Shawn, Kevin and I were trying to get in line to get our post-race beers, Kevin asked a blonde woman "Are you in line?" It was confusing, because there were two beer stands on opposite sides of the fenced-off area, and the lines from each blended into each other.

She looked back at us with a look of disdain and surprise. "No!" she said, and sneered, and walked away.

We'll never know why she was so offended at being asked that. But now I'll remember her for the rest of my life.

The weather Sunday was nearly perfect for a race; low 40's, clear, no rain. It could have been less windy, but I have to say I much prefer this year's weather to last year's.

I got a definite vibe that the race, long a Portland running institution, has benefited from new organizers, or at least newly-organized organizers. Lots of little details point to them taking control of the event: from the traffic control at Saturday's packet pickup, to the new tech t-shirts rather than cotton shirts, to the fact that the number of entries were capped, to the staggered start for the 5K event, to the beer garden being in Waterfront Park rather than crammed into a tiny parking lot (I'm glad that they accepted Dale's fine suggestion from last year), it all just worked, and worked well.

And I benefited, personally, from two things: having my friend Shawn there in the race with me, and the staggered start. I think those, plus my training and mental toughness and determination, led me to finishing the Shamrock Run 5K course faster than I ever have before: in 30 minutes and 44 seconds, for a 9:54 pace.

Yes, I've run a faster 5K before, but the size of the crowd at the Shamrock Run, the first major run of the year for Portland, has always hindered me, giving me many people to dodge and weave among as I push myself. So I've stopped pushing myself in the past. But not this year!

And having a friend next to me gave me the excuse to a) not stop running, and b) pace myself properly. Shawn did great for it being his first ever race! And he even finished a step ahead of me: as we passed the 3 mile marker, with the finish line in sight, Shawn got a look in his eyes that I can only call "want-this-to-be-over-ism", and he found his final kick.

And so did I!

Such a fun race. I love the energy of the crowd, the crazy folks who dress up; spotted the guy in the Guinness beer glass costume, someone in a Teletubby full-body costume, lots and lots of kilts (are they still kilts when they're on a woman? Related: rawr), and of course the Southeast Shamrockers (I can't find a webpage for them but, surely, they must have one, right?) in their mullet wigs and sleeveless t-shirts and spandex pants and big sunglasses.

I love this race, and I love my town.

Labels: exercise

• 8:56 AM 0 comments

Shamrock Run 5K 2010

I'm in running clothes waiting for Kevin to show up.

It's 36° F according to my weather widget.

I can hear a train outside.

I've had a slice of toast with peanut butter and jelly on it, and one and a half cups of coffee.

I went to bed last night around 9:00p - 9:30p, although last night we turned our clocks back an hour, so getting up at 5:30a is almost exactly like getting up at 4:30a. Not to mention the fact that I had very restless sleep.

I'm wearing my running pants, new(-ish, I've run in them a few times already) Brooks Adrenalines, long-sleeved (green, for St. Patrick's Day) tech shirt, and my white Shamrock Run commemorative t-shirt over it. Oh, and a black stocking cap.

I've got my timing chip strapped to my left ankle and my iPhone strapped to my left bicep - oh, crap, am I going to be unbalanced?

My worst time in this race was my first year, 2006: 35:07, an 11:19 pace. But that was before they started using timing chips.

My best chip time was last year, 2009: 31:21, a 10:06 pace (my gun time was 34:00). I'd like to do better this year, and it's within my reach.

I'll report back later on my time and experiences.

Labels: exercise

• 6:33 AM 3 comments

Running

Nine days ago I participated in the Running With The Wolves 5K, and I ran the fastest I've run in months: 5K in 0:30:17, for an average pace of 9:44 per mile.

The day was perfect: not too cold, sunny, no rain. There were very few people on the course; only 81 finishers total. But it was fun, and I am glad I did it.

Then I didn't run until tonight.

I had a mildly-injured foot, a bruise or something on the ball of my left foot. Other than that, I really have no excuse. Maybe I needed the break, and maybe I just failed to motivate.

Mrs. McGinnis, my sophomore high school English teacher, once told me, "If anyone learns how to motivate you, you'll be an unstoppable force for good!" She meant it kindly, I suppose; generally I liked her. But that fear of motivation has haunted me for over 20 years. To this day, I don't know what motivates me.

I run because I want to be faster, although realistically I'm too old to ever be considered a fast runner. I run because I want to be thinner, and then I wipe out any gains from exercising with a single donut. I run because I want to meet other runners, and then I just run, solo, through my neighborhood and never join running groups. It's like I'm working at cross purposes to myself.

The inner workings of my mind are as impenetrable as, well, other people's minds.

But I ran tonight; I ran 15 minutes at 6 MPH, and then switched to run/walking, with about a minute break every half-mile. I finished 3 miles in 0:31:28 total.

My plan is to run again on Thursday. I'll be sure to update if it happens.

Labels: exercise

• 6:46 PM 2 comments

More self-improvement by running

I pushed myself a little bit last night during my run. I've been running on the treadmill at work for, oh, about the last four weeks or so, three times a week, like clockwork. And because running on the treadmill is so boring, about all I can stand is 30-40 minutes at a moderate pace (meaning 5.2 - 5.5 mph or so), which definitely taxes my cardio-vascular system but doesn't seem to lead to improvement, as far as I can tell.

So starting last week, and continuing this week, I added a speed workout that I call the "ladder".

Here's how I worked it: five minutes at the normal pace to warm up, then 5 minutes at a "fast" pace, which meant 6 mph or a 10:00/mile pace. Then four minutes at the slower pace to rest, then four minutes at the faster pace, then three minutes rest and three minutes fast, and so on.

Last night, I actually slowed to a fast walk for most of the rest segments, which felt like cheating, but to make up for it, I increased the fast segments by 0.1-0.2 mph each fast segment, until the last one minute fast segment was at 6.6 mph (or about a 9:06/mile pace).

This morning, my legs feel a bit sore, which hasn't happened in a while. I'm hopeful that means I will benefit from the speed workout in both stronger legs, and stronger cardio-vascular heart-beatin' oxygen-breathin' power.

Time will tell.

In related news, I'm still following the 100 pushups program, and this morning managed a set of 5/6/4/4/9, which is an incremental improvement over Monday's set. Once this week's exercises are done, I'm supposed to do another exhaustion test and then use that to re-calibrate. Not sure I'll be able to do 20 in a row, still, like @mizd did, but I'll manage more than 4, I'm sure.

Labels: exercise

• 7:42 AM 3 comments

Chin-ups are hard

Turns out chin-ups are hard. I can't even do a single one unassisted, which makes it very hard to even start a program to train myself to do 25 of them in a row.

But I still want to do this. I want to improve my upper body strength to match the strength I've built up in my legs from running.

Where to begin if I can't even get to the starting point?

Here's where I start:

• Wikihow's Do a Chin-up
• Indoorclimbing's Chin Up Bar Exercises

I began tonight. I'm going to do the simple, use-your-legs and hang-there-as-long-as-you-can exercises every Tuesday and Thursday until I can do at least one unassisted chin-up. I have no idea how long it will take me but I'll re-evaluate in three weeks.

Three weeks puts me in the middle of my Hundred Pushups plan. I know pushups work a different set of muscles but it's all upper body to me. And hopefully that will help me a bit with running.

Or at least help me look good in a shirt. Broad shoulders are always a good thing, right?

Labels: exercise

• 8:44 PM 5 comments

The white stuff

Fresh, unpacked snow squeaks when I run on it.

Skiers and others more used to winter climes know this already. But since it typically only snows once a year in my hometown, I had forgotten it, and had forgotten the sound. But as my trail shoes came down in the regular (slow) cadence of my 5 mph run, and because there was so little traffic and activity even though it was, technically, rush hour, and because the darkness seemed to enhance the sounds, I was keenly aware of the squeak.

Last year I ran in the snow for the first time, ever. And as I stood in my warm living room, a nice warming shot of Baileys Irish Cream in my hand (and some in my belly), watching the fat white flakes covering everything, I remembered.

The scrunch of the snow underfoot. Spots of snow getting in my eyes (should have bought goggles or clear sunglasses). The tunnel of light from my headlamp, occluded by snowflakes. Exertion and heavy breathing and the occasional slight slip of the foot that required a correction to stay upright.

It's crazy. But I love running in the snow. I'm slower than I was last year, for sure, and the snow slows me down even more, and last night I had a a boozy warm glow that was probably both a danger and an encouragement, but… I had to go for a run.

I haven't run outside in months. I think my last one was mid-September; took a break, and have only had the energy for running on the treadmill lately. For some reason, though, when the weather got worse, my motivation went up.

So out into it I went. 2.48 miles, from my house down through Westmoreland Park, and back again.

I'll always be a runner.

Labels: exercise

• 11:33 AM 0 comments

Tales from my first half-marathon

"I would love some coffee!" Dad said before driving me out to the starting line for my very first half-marathon

"Brian? Brian Moon? Is that you?" Mike Russell said to me somewhere between Mile 6 and Mile 7.

"Yay! Go, Brian!" my sister, brother-in-law, niece and girlfriend Lindsey all shouted as I tried to run the last point-one miles inside Hillsboro Stadium.

And 2 hours, 34 minutes and 15 seconds read the clock as I crossed the finish line.

That about covers the important parts. Other, less important parts:

• Once again, the Run With Paula team organized and executed a great race. Lots of happy volunteers, the race started on time, the course was well-marked, and there were lots of water and outhouses out there.
  
• Not that I needed the water. I wore a Camelbak so I could hydrate any time I wanted to. And I did. And it worked well, I think, even carrying "all that extra weight", as a friend said to me afterward.
  
• The weather, which I had been worried about, was perfect: overcast and in the low 60s. It could have been warmer, and it could have been wetter - there was a brief downpour right before the race started. The rain stopped before the starting gun, though, almost as if the weather got it out of its system. But I wouldn't anthropomorphize a natural phenomenon like that.
  
• Lindsey got some pictures of me which are here. I really only expect close friends and family to click that link.
  
• If you finished between 2:20 and 2:40, or know someone who did, check out this set. You may recognize someone in there.
  
• I celebrated my win with food: the customary Helvetia burger at the finish line, breakfast with dad, my niece and Lindsey at J & M Cafe at SE 6th and Ash (and does not appear to have a website), and later, two Whiffies' pies. NOM NOM NOM as the LOLcats say.
  

Yes, I will likely run a marathon this year, too. I mean, at this point, why not?

Labels: exercise

• 6:12 AM 4 comments

Running news and upcoming first half-marathon

I got up early this morning (pre-5:00 AM) so that I could go for a run. That may sound crazy to non-runners, but listen; it's going to be very hot today, and the pre-dawn hours that most people use for things like sleeping are also the coolest part of the day, and so make great hours in which to run.

I did my 5+ mile loop, with the intention of warming up for the first mile, slowly, then attempting 3 consecutive 9:00 miles, a training exercise that runners (and perhaps other endurance athletes) call a "tempo" run. I achieved my goal for only the first mile; the second tempo mile took me 9:38, and I was wrecked after that and ran/walked my way to 11:30-12:00 miles for the rest of the loop. My overall time was 58:22, for about an average 10:47 pace.

This weekend I'm going to attempt another 11 mile run, and then I begin a two-week taper until attempting my very first half marathon, the Helvetia Half Marathon, on Saturday 13 June 2009. I've heard it's hilly, but not as hilly as the 12K Lake Run I did earlier this month.

That's what I hear, anyway.

Anyone who is going to be attending the half-marathon, feel free to let me know or leave a comment in this thread. And if you want to come drink beer and cheer me on, the race starts and finishes at Hillsboro Stadium, and goes past the Helvetia Tavern (I believe, according to the map .PDF file, around mile 3.8). Should be a good time for people not running their first half-marathon.

Labels: exercise

• 7:13 AM 4 comments

Lake Run 12K Un-Official Results

Yesterday I ran the longest race I've ever run - 12K, or a little over 7.4 miles.

And today I would post my official time - if I had remembered to wear my timing chip.

So even though I ran it, in official eyes, I do not exist.

Un-officially, my time was about 83 minutes. When people told me that that course was hilly, they were right. So very right; so very hilly.

Labels: exercise

• 12:15 PM 0 comments

Pints to Pasta 10K Unofficial Results

Team Saponified was represented by one member today. I ran the Pints to Pasta 10K this morning. I ran it strong; only stopped twice for the water stations. My unofficial time, thanks to my trusty Timex Expedition, was 59:59.49, or a 9:39.481 pace (give or take a few). Which is almost exactly what my pace was in the Run Hit Wonder 10K a month and a half ago, at least my "chip time" -- it's 2:40 faster than my gun time in that race. Damn. For some reason I thought I did better.

Still, it felt good. Lots of downhills, which probably helped quite a bit. Started in north Portland, along the bluff on Willamette Avenue, ran down the hill to N. Interstate, then across the Steel Bridge, along Waterfront Park, and then finished at the Old Spaghetti Factory off of Macadam. There were a lot of people. I noticed a bunch of people with black Adidas dri-fit overshirts, emblazoned with the Pints-to-Pasta logo and asked about them; those were the race shirts from last year. This year they just gave out regular cotton t-shirts. Oh, well, at least I got soup, two beers, and a coupon for dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Oh, and a coupon for a free Cinnabon which will be my reward later today. Mmmmm...

Not bad for my second-ever 10K.

It was kinda fun to look around at all these people and think, "I've got something in common with all of them." Struck up a few conversations, although for some reason it's difficult for me to come out of my shell lately.

Labels: exercise

• 10:36 AM 0 comments

Pints to Pasta 10K

I'm running in the Pints to Pasta 10K tomorrow morning. I have to be down at the Old Spaghetti Factory off of Macadam Blvd. around 7:00 AM, pick up my packet, then catch a shuttle bus to the start of the race in North Portland. It's going to be fun. It's my second-ever 10K (the Run Hit Wonder on August 1st being my first), and I've been taking it easy on the running since that last race. I was going to run in Tillamook a couple of weeks ago but ended up in a car accident instead. Oh, no one was hurt, but it still put the kibosh on the drive to the coast.

I'm not sure what to expect for this race but I'm going to do my best. I should be going to bed soon, but I have to go pick up a FlexCar to use tomorrow. Bummer, huh?

I'll get a t-shirt, two free beers, some soup, and a dinner coupon for the Old Spaghetti Factory, plus live music and the accomplishment of running a freakin' six-plus miles. Yay, me. I'm going to be using my new Nike Air Structure Triax 8's in the race. Oh... maybe not. Maybe I should stick with my trusty Brooks Addiction GTS 5s... yeah, running a race in brand-new shoes is probably a Bad Idea.

I'll post any pictures and my impressions of the run tomorrow afternoon.

Labels: exercise

• 8:02 PM 0 comments

Run to work morning

Ran to work this morning. 5.05 miles, 47:56.47 total time, therefore a 9:29 pace. Arrgh, can't seem to achieve a 9:00 or better pace for the longer distances. I was doing close to a 9:00 pace for the first couple of miles but had to pull back a bit.

My hamstrings are tight; especially my right one. I used to be able to touch my toes pretty easily but lately not so much. I need to focus on stretching more, maybe during like Deb does. Stop at the halfway point and stretch out. At any rate, that might be part of the problem.

I think I'll call Jessica and schedule another massage for the week after the Tillamook run. That might help, too.

Labels: exercise

• 6:33 AM 0 comments

Running & Diet update

Ran up Terwilliger Blvd. yesterday morning. Do I need to post the details? I've written about it before. About 5 miles round trip, Dunniway Park up to the Charthouse restaurant and back down again. Ran with a friend, kept a pretty easy pace, legs felt tired and a little sore but overall it was a good tired. Oh, my hamstrings (especially my right one, the leg that's a little longer than the other) were tight and hard to stretch out. I'll focus on stretching them better before and after my next run, which will be tomorrow morning to work, another approximately 5 mile run.

Diet-wise, as of last night I'm about 100 calories over for the week starting Monday. I went over yesterday by 150 or so, but that's OK because my energy output was higher yesterday due to the run. I have noticed a slight downward trend, already, in the running average of my weight, so it's having an effect. Yay, me.

Labels: exercise

• 7:19 AM 0 comments

Exercise / Diet update

My weight has snuck up over my pre-determined upper limit (limit was 175; my average weight over the past week has been 178.5) so I've put myself back on maintainence. That means I'm limiting myself to around 2500 calories for a month. Only exception will be race days. Any day I race I don't keep track of calories.

Last night, my first full day on the new restricted diet, I had exactly 2500 calories. Funny how that worked out, especially considering I had been starving all day long! OK, not really. I'm sure it was psychological, simply because I was thinking about food again all day. Focus on food, get hungry. I mean, my normal eating pattern is 3000-3100 calories per day, so I'm not reducing it that much.

At any rate, I'm going to focus on eating enough protein this time around, which, for a 175 lb. male is around 75-80 grams per day. I'll calculate it for yesterday; so far today I've had 4. I'm going to have to really chow down to make my goal today, huh?

Exercise-wise, I ran in the hot hot heat yesterday. I was going to get up and run in the early morning, which is the best time during the summer, all that nice cool air, and little to no traffic, but decided to sleep in instead. I packed a bag of running clothes to take to work, but it was way way too hot at lunchtime. Thought about going to the gym and running on the treadmill... but that wasn't appealing. Only as a last resort. So I ended up waiting until after sunset and running a short 2 1/4 mile course in my neighborhood. And it was still hot hot hot outside. Bleh.

Haven't been posting a schedule because I'm not working towards anything. Got some races coming up (and if the guys buy into my suggestions for the road trip, I'll have some very grueling races coming up! See yesterday's post) but I'm just running for fun and fitness right now.

Labels: exercise

• 7:05 AM 0 comments

Barefootin' it

Haven't posted in a while. Although... I've written two posts, and they're in the queue to be posted, I just... haven't actually posted them. Not yet. It was good to have written them, I'm simply not ready to share them with the world just yet. Patience.

Normally I'd break different subjects up into separate posts but not today.

OK, in a recent issue of Runner's World I read an article weighing the pros and cons of running barefoot. Then, while looking for something else, I stumbled across a website devoted to the subject -- unfortunately, I can't link to it this morning because for some reason the page is missing today.

After thinking about it for a while, I think I'm going to try to work in at least a mile or two of barefoot running each week. For one thing, it sounds fun. For another, there's a visceral feel to it that appeals to me; the people who write about it talk semi-mystically about being connected to the earth and your body in a way that running clothed (shod?) just doesn't do. There's also a (probably really minor) safety issue, but, honestly, is nature that much safer? There's sharp rocks and twigs and cooled lava... granite slabs have less give than any asphalt or concrete surface.

I'm planning on running a Tillamook trail run in a couple of weeks; that might be a good one to try barefoot, huh?

Labels: exercise

• 7:15 AM 0 comments

Updated Trophy Page

I updated my Trophy Page with my results from the Run Hit Wonder 10K.

I'm glad I finished and vow to do better in my next 10K. I trained so hard to try to increase my speed, and try to get around (or under) a 9:00 pace for the whole 6.2 miles, but it didn't happen. It's OK -- it's good to have goals.

I haven't posted a running schedule this week because I'm taking it easy. Still trying to figure out what my next event will be. There's a "trail" run on the beach in Tillamook Oregon that looks fun; a 5K and a 10K (the 5K trail is out to the end of the penninsula and back; for the 10K you just go out and back twice!). That's at the end of August, and it's an excuse to go to the beach...

Everything's better at the beach...

Labels: exercise

• 7:17 AM 0 comments

Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K

So, what was I busy doing?

How can you ask that? I ran the Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K today! You never pay attention, do you? I've only been talking about this for freakin' weeks now!

I think I did pretty good. (Yeah, I'm calmed down now. Don't know what got into me. (Was it funny for you? It was for me!))

Funniest thing was spotting someone in the crowd I knew. I mean, it wasn't like we were looking for each other. There were over 10,000 people there. Probably way more, since there were 10,000 runners plus all the support staff and security guards and friends and families... so the odds of spotting someone at any particular instant started at 1 in 10,000. OK, probably less than that; human faces are instantly recognizable and the brain is very good at pattern-matching, and even in a dense crowd there's probably 10-20 people in someone's direct view. But, what would you calculate the odds of spotting someone in the crowd, immediately after another friend asked me if that person was racing that day? Huh? Huh? That's one of those weird coincidences that just jump out at you.

Me, being a materialist and not a believer in coincidences that mean something, I just shrug it off. But man it freaks people out when I tell them.

Jake (turning to face me in the crowd): Is Deb here?
Me (knowing that she was planning on running this race): Yeah. (pause) And there she is!

My chip time was over 2 minutes less than my gun time; that's how long it took me to cross the actual start line after the race officially started. Wow, there was a lot of people. I wore a stopwatch, and started it when I crossed the start line, and paid attention to my splits for each mile, carefully judging my pace and all that... kept up with it, until mile 5 (around 48 minutes at that point)... then died on the last long hill up Columbia away from the river, and when I turned onto Broadway, it was sweet and all downhill, and I was flying, and I had a clear shot at the finish line, didn't have to worry about blocking anyone else or having to slow down, and then I was through, and I'd finished my first ever official 10K race!

I was so excited I forgot to a) check the race clock for my time, and b) stop my stopwatch. Bummer. I'll have to wait for the official results to be posted.

It was a fun race, though. My friend, being much faster than me, got to hear each of the acts playing their actual one hit. Apparently they started their sets with their most famous song. Me, lagging behind, got to hear them play, but didn't recognize the songs.

For instance, who is General Public? What was their hit song? I'll google it after posting this, but, for the life of me, I can't recall.

Seeing Devo was great, and I was a little disappointed that the audience started leaving after they played "Whip It!" The younger friends in my group were impressed that I knew the words to some of Devo's other songs, like "Freedom of Choice". OK, just that one, but still.

I'm going to run that race every year. A fun, fun, race. Nike put on a great event (no surprises there) and the proceeds benefited Portland Parks and Recreation. Nifty!

Labels: exercise

• 6:58 PM 0 comments

Early run

Ran this morning. Got up early. Haven't done that in a while. Ran the Three Parks Run, around 3.3 miles, in 33:22.66 -- dog-slow, a 10:00 pace or close enough. But that's what I plan on doing for the first 3-4 miles of the race on Sunday.

I wanted to record the route and it's different legs and lengths here:

Three Parks Run

• Start: SE 13th and SE Linn
  
• 1st Leg (Start to head of Springwater Corridor Trail @ SE Umatilla) - .67 miles
  
• 2nd Leg (Head of Springwater Corridor Trail to SE Bybee & SE 18th) - 1.24 miles
  
• 3rd Leg (SE Bybee & SE 18th to SE Marion & SE 19th) - 1.39 miles
  
• End: SE Marion & SE 19th - total distance = 3.3 miles

Labels: exercise

• 7:20 AM 0 comments

4 mile run, easy pace

I had no InterWeb last night, so I couldn't a) check my training schedule, and b) post about my run last night.

I decided to run 4 miles, and to practice going at an easy pace. I succeeded, averaging a 9:31.6 pace (4 miles in 38:06.47). About perfect. I will aim for that same pace in the first 4 miles of the 10K on Sunday, and then aim for a faster pace for the remaining 2 miles. If I have the energy to average an 8 minute pace for the final section, I will average under a 9:00 pace for the entire race, which is my goal.

Goals are good.

Labels: exercise

• 7:13 AM 0 comments

Training Schedule for week of 7/26 - 8/1

• Monday: Rest day.
  
• Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x2:00 AI, 2 miles
  
• Wednesday: 2 miles
  
• Thursday: Rest day.
  
• Friday: 2 miles, 3 GP
  
• Saturday: Rest day.
  
• Sunday: Race day! 6.2 miles, baby!

Labels: exercise

• 6:37 PM 0 comments

6.58 Mile Run

I did my 6.5 mile run today. I wanted to do it early, but due to heavy drinking the previous night I didn't get out of bed until 9:00 AM, and didn't get out the house until 10:00 AM. Not bad, but it was already hot by then.

So, final score for the run: 6.58 miles, 1:06:08 for the total distance. I started strong -- OK, I started out too fast. Which cost me at the end. I kept up a 9:00 pace for the first 4 miles or so, then started slowing considerably until I was walking. My average pace, then, for the entire distance is a 10:03.039. Again, not bad, considering I was hung over and it's frickin' hot outside. It's already 85 degrees and it's only noon. Bleh. Double-bleh.

I learned a valuable lesson in pacing myself which I hope will carry over to the Run Hit Wonder race next weekend, my goal being a 9:00 pace.

I've got nowhere to go but faster. Right?

Labels: exercise

• 11:52 AM 0 comments

4.58 mile run

Ran my scheduled miles tonight. Well, a little over: 4.58 miles, as calculated in Streets 98. I pushed the pace a little, aiming for a 9:00 pace. But I did even better than that, according to the Cool Running Pace Calculator: total time was 40:14.38, which means I maintained a pace of 8:47.152! Go, me!

I also did the "Gentle Pickups" afterward, six of them. The next-to-last one was downhill and, I'll tell ya, I felt like I was flying!

This is amazing, considering I nearly killed myself on Wednesday, trying to run in the heat and after giving myself severe gastro-intestinal distress from some very very hot sauce at lunch!

Labels: exercise

• 10:41 PM 0 comments

New watch run!

Ran tonight. Did 2+ miles, plus 4 x 1:30 intervals, interspersed with enough slow jogging and walking to completely recover, then two miles home.

Since I had my new watch, I timed the 2+ miles, and the first one I did in 18:35, the second leg I did in 18:51. I'll have to figure out exactly how many miles that distance was, 'cause I felt like I was going faster than a 9:00 - 9:30 pace, but I could be wrong.

My recovery time in-between the intervals is getting better, though. That much I can tell.

Labels: exercise

• 11:00 PM 0 comments

Training Schedule for week of 7/19 - 7/25

• Monday: Rest day.
  
• Tuesday: 2 miles, 6x1:30 AI, 2 miles
  
• Wednesday: 3 miles, or rest day.
  
• Thursday: 4.5 miles + 6 GP
  
• Friday: Rest day.
  
• Saturday: 6.5 miles
  
• Sunday: 4.5 miles

Labels: exercise

• 4:15 PM 0 comments

I beat the Burnside!

Wow! I beat the Burnside!

Caleb, Becky and I left the Forestry Center at 8:00 AM sharp. The course was beautiful, and you couldn't have asked for a nicer morning for a run. Becky quickly left Caleb and I in the dust. I got the feeling that Caleb could have gone faster but kept pace with me.

The first couple of hundred meters or so were uphill, and there was at least one surprise uphill near Council Crest Park, but for the most part it was downhill, in places very steeply downhill. A fun, fast course, although, once again, I tried to maintain a steady even pace.

As Caleb and I approached the bridge, because of the angle, it looked like it was already up! I hadn't remembered that the bridge itself curves up and over the river. About halfway up the slope, I saw people waving flags and thought that was the finish line, and started running faster; I always try to sprint to the finish (or at least lumber along faster)! But when I crested the hill, I saw that the actual finish line was down further, another couple hundred meters. Argh! Trickery! Of course, in hindsight, it makes sense; since the bridge is being raised at 9 AM sharp, you don't want people standing around on the part that goes up.

The race isn't professionally timed (not sanctioned by the USAT&F) so I don't know what my official time was. I'm not sure if I'm going to post the results on my Trophy Page or not. But I saw the clock as I finished and it read almost exactly 8:46 AM, which would make this my first 8K and my fastest 8K ever! That translates into a 9:15 pace! Whoo-HOO!

Caleb crossed the finish line just seconds ahead of me (he saw me running faster and his competitiveness kicked in!) and Becky finished in about 42 minutes! Go, Team Saponified!

Pictures are up in my Flickr gallery.

Labels: exercise

• 10:45 AM 0 comments

Broken training

OK, broke my training again today. Should have done 6 miles, per the Runner's World 10K Training Plan for Beginners, but, dammit, I only did 4 miles. I'm worried about totally killing myself in the Beat the Burnside tomorrow morning, even though I keep reassuring myself that "I'm only using the BtB as a training run".

Yeah. It's not sinking in. The course tomorrow has 650 feet of elevation drop in 5 miles! It's going to be tougher than the Mt. Tabor Challenge!

Anyway, the 4 miles were a bit tough, probably because of the 4 miles I did yesterday in Tryon Creek State Park (see previous post). I'm pushing myself... but am I near the limit? Or over the limit? Or do I have lots of room left before I hit the limit?

Time will tell.

Labels: exercise

• 8:26 PM 0 comments

I ran my 4 miles last night

I ran my 4 miles last night. But I didn't do the 3 "gentle pickups". Why? Because I ran with friends, and instead of wanting to run somewhere nice and flat where I could do my training stuff, they wanted to run in Tryon Creek State Park.

Sure it's beautiful up there, and since it was so hot yesterday it was nice to run in the shade and on the trails, and sure the hills give me a good overall workout... but I did only part of what my training plan was and that mildly frustrates me.

I'm supposed to run 6 miles today but, hoo-boy I am achy all over and don't know why. Shoulders, arms, back, legs... ears are stuffed up, too. Maybe I'm coming down with a cold? Aw, man. Summer colds are the worst! I hope I'm not, I hope I'm not, I hope I'm not...

Labels: exercise

• 10:48 AM 0 comments

Run update: arrrgh

Arrrgh! I didn't run yesterday as scheduled. I didn't run because for some reason I thought Thursday was a rest day. I was supposed to do 4 miles + 3 "gentle pickups". I'll have to do them today, which is going to make for a tough weekend: I'm scheduled to run 6 miles on Saturday and then I'll be running the "Beat The Burnside 8K" on Sunday (about 5 miles). Hmmm...

Labels: exercise

• 7:22 AM 0 comments

Recharged

I'll tell you, I wasn't looking forward to running tonight, at all. I was pretty energetic today at work, even playful at times (the weekend at the beach really helped to recharge my batteries), I got a bunch of stuff done, but by the time I got home I was dragging a bit. Might have been the warm weather, or it might have been my lack of calories today (medium breakfast, medium lunch, no dinner after I got home)... could have been a lot of things, I guess. But an hour or two after getting home, I was in bed napping.

Got up around 8:00 PM, though, and forced myself to get into my running shorts and shoes and head out the door. Today was the "2 miles, 4x1:30 AI, 2 miles" routine. Once I finished my warm up and started running, I surprised myself at how easily I fell into a decent pace. My training instructions tell me to go easy, keep it slow, go for endurance... but I swear I was keeping a 9:00 - 9:30 pace without getting winded. My legs and feet felt light as feathers. It was great!

I finished the first two miles in no time, then started my intervals. Again, I was flying along at a great clip! And it took me much less time than the last time I did intervals (two weeks ago) to completely recover, maybe two minutes total.

Then the two miles home again, and I purposely ran a route that had me going uphill for at least the last half-mile, and I still felt so strong and fast. Tired, but a good tired.

I hope this isn't just a random variation. I'm going to chalk it up to my training routine kicking in. I'll bet I'm going to kick some serious ass on the "Beat the Burnside" run this weekend! Whoo-HOO!

Labels: exercise

• 10:42 PM 0 comments

Training Schedule for week of 7/12 - 7/18

• Monday: Rest day.
  
• Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x1:30 AI, 2 miles
  
• Wednesday: 3 miles, or rest day.
  
• Thursday: 4 miles + 3 GP
  
• Friday: Rest day.
  
• Saturday: 6 miles
  
• Sunday: 4 miles

Labels: exercise

• 8:51 AM 0 comments

Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11

Since I lost a day to my sore ankle last week, here's what my schedule for this week looks like:

Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11

• Monday: Rest day.
  
• Tuesday:
  
• Wednesday: 2.5 miles, Waterfront/Esplanade
  
• Thursday: 3 mile run in my neighborhood
  
• Friday: 4 miles (Four Parks Run) + 3 GP
  
• Saturday: Rest day.
  
• Sunday: 5.5 miles at the beach!

Labels: exercise

• 8:59 AM 0 comments

Neighborhood run

Ran three miles last night. Around my neighborhood. Yay.

Didn't keep track of time. Just wanted to work on endurance. I did have to stop a bit, but it was when I crossed Tacoma Street near the Sellwood Bridge. I have to stop for traffic.

Labels: exercise

• 8:37 AM 0 comments

Waterfront run

Exercise update: Ran 2.5 miles on the waterfront last night. Kept at an easy pace, didn't go too fast but also didn't have to stop and walk at all. Wanted to go easy on my ankle.

I know, I know, I was supposed to do the 2 miles + 4 x 1:00 AI + 2 miles, but I didn't. I went back and checked the printed version of the training schedule and it wasn't in there, either, so I think it's not a typo.

Labels: exercise

• 11:42 AM 0 comments

Pushups and stomach crunches

In other exercise-related news, I've managed to work my way up to 30 pushups and 60 stomach crunches daily. I'm sure I mentioned this before so don't act all surprised.

I started off almost exactly one month ago with this daily regimen, on 7 June 2004. On that day I recorded 15 of each, and I remember that the 15 pushups were difficult for me. I'm so glad that I've been able to increase my pushups so much in that much time. The stomach crunches are another story; yeah, I can do a lot of them, but I still don't have washboard abs. Realistically, I probably never will. If the muscles are getting toned and in shape, they're still under a lot of loose skin, left over from my losing so much fat around my middle.

Kinda icky; when I do my pushups, if I look down underneath myself I can see the loose skin hanging down from my midsection. Bleh. It's both a badge of honor and a source of revulsion to me. Yay, I lost weight. Bleh, I'm not perfect 'n' stuff.

Labels: exercise

• 8:56 PM 0 comments

Sore ankle

My right ankle was sore today. Actually had been since yesterday. Maybe I hurt it at the gym yesterday. At any rate, I figured it was best if I didn't run today. I'll ice it tonight and see how it is tomorrow. If it's better, I'll just start my schedule on Wednesday instead of Tuesday, push it back a day.

Bummer, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Labels: exercise

• 8:02 PM 0 comments

Total mileage for the week: 16.75

Finished the week with a 3.5-mile run, not quite as planned. Also did the "gentle pickups", as planned. My legs are sore now. Should have stretched... Oh, well.

I shouldn't rely on my memory of what my schedule says, it seems. I was supposed to do a 4-mile run. I can't trust myself to be accurate without double-checking.

That makes my total mileage for the week: 16.75. Still my best week ever!

Labels: exercise

• 11:27 AM 0 comments

Training Schedule for week of 7/5 - 7/11

• Monday: Rest day.
  
• Tuesday: 2 miles, 4x1:00 AI, 2 miles finish
  
• Wednesday: 3 mile run (Waterfront/Esplanade? Three Parks Run?) or Rest day.
  
• Thursday: 4 miles (Four Parks Run) + 3 GP
  
• Friday: Rest day.
  
• Saturday: 5.5 miles - Run downtown?
  
• Sunday: 3.5 miles in my neighborhood.

Total miles for the week then will be between 18 and 21 (depending on if I run on Wednesday or not).
I decided that the lack of AI on Tuesday was a typo. I'm also planning on hitting the gym on my rest days for some upper-body training.

Labels: exercise

• 5:53 PM 0 comments

Ran to work

Ran 5 miles to work yesterday. I ran slow, remembering the advice from the training plan I'm following:

"Easy runs mean totally comfortable and controlled. If you're running with someone else, you should be able to converse easily. You'll likely feel as if you could go faster."

So I took it very easy, and when I got to where I normally stop, at SW 1st and Madison, I just kept going. I still had lots of energy left. I finally stopped at SW 4th and Taylor, after going flat-out for a couple of blocks, but I could have continued even further.

I've estimated my normal route and distance at about 5 miles so I guessed I'd gone 5.5 miles, since I'd ran five or six blocks further than normal, but on Friday I sat down with some mapping software (Microsoft's Streets 98, the only one I could find; Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps aren't well-suited to figuring out distances on routes like that) and found that the total distance was only 5.24 miles. Oh, well, I'm not that disappointed. That gives me 13.24 miles for the week.

I did time myself, and my pace for the run was still under 10 minutes. In fact it was 9:56.507 (total time 52:05.7 for 5.24 miles).

Tomorrow I'm going to run... Oh, crap! I just checked my schedule and I'm supposed to run today! 4 miles with 3 "gentle pickups". I thought that was for tomorrow... drat. I'll have to do it tomorrow. It'll be better for me to do it tomorrow. (Am I convincing myself yet?)

I'm looking at the schedule for next week and there are no "AI" days -- Aerobic Intervals. It's the only week without them. Is that a typo? I'll have to compare it to the one printed in the magazine to double-check. Next post will be my schedule for next week.

Labels: exercise

• 5:32 PM 0 comments

Waterfront/Esplanade

I ran the Waterfront/Esplanade tonight after work. Two-point-five miles. I sucked because I've now run two days in a row, but, hey, that's what the plan called for. I didn't push myself very hard, as planned, but still had to walk several sections. I walked, maybe, oh, 10-20% of the distance.

So far this week I already have 8 miles total. Tomorrow's a rest day, though. Then Friday I'll be running five miles along the Springwater Corridor. Saturday will be 4 miles, bringing my total for the week to 17, which will be my best week ever. Of course, one of the goals of my training for this 10K run is to increase my weekly mileage.

Yay.

Labels: exercise

• 8:23 PM 0 comments

I rock!

According to Streets 98 I ran 5.57 miles last night total!

I rock!

Labels: exercise

• 7:39 AM 0 comments

I ran the goal tonight

I ran the goal tonight. 2 miles easy pace, then four one-minute Aerobic Intervals (which means I ran a fast pace but not so fast that I went anaerobic), each followed by slow jogging until I could go back to my normal easy pace, then another 2 miles at an easy pace. I'm not sure how many miles the AI's added to the four miles of easy pace. I'll research it and post it here tomorrow.

It was difficult, especially the last two miles, but I kept reminding myself that endurance is the primary goal. I've got to build up my endurance so that the 6.2 miles/10 kilometers is not a problem. Of course, I don't want to injure myself in training, but I think I'm far from that.

Tomorrow is an optional day, according to the original plan, and considering all I have going on tomorrow I might not do the three miles I planned. I'll try... but Master Yoda says there's only do or do not.

I'm not yet a Jedi, however. After the 10 K I'll be a Jedi.

Labels: exercise

• 10:19 PM 0 comments

Jake to run Hood to Coast

My friend Jake, obviously feeling that taking 20 credit hours this summer on top of a 30-hour-per week (and very stressful all in itself) job isn't fulfilling enough, or stressful enough in combination, has decided to run in the Hood To Coast Relay.

Here's my public advice to him:

Don't die, Jake! Don't die!

Of course, this means that I will once again find myself on that fucking beach in Seaside. Slightly different context, though. And it'll all be overlaid with the previous contexts and memories I've lived through previously.

Who says history doesn't repeat itself? Or at least echoes, changed but similar.

Labels: exercise

• 9:46 PM 0 comments

Oops. No run.

Oops.

I didn't go running this morning. Bad, bad me. Won't be able to make it up tonight, either -- got plans.

Good thing I went for a 6.2 mile walk yesterday. I walked the course for the Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K, just to get a feel for it. Took pictures of each mile point, which I'll post at some point this week. Dayum there's a lot of uphill parts... it even starts out uphill, going east on Alder from Broadway to 12th Ave... Yikes.

So I'll have to shift my running schedule. Basically I'll go with the original schedule posted by Runner's World. Although I'm going to do the 5-mile run on Friday as I originall planned. Like this:

• Tuesday: 2 miles in my neighborhood, 4x1:00 Aerobic Intervals (AI), finish with 2 miles.
  
• Wednesday: 3 mile run - Waterfront/Esplanade? Three Parks Run?
  
• Thursday: Rest day.
  
• Friday: 5 miles easy run - Run to work.
  
• Saturday: 4 mile run - Four Parks Run. During run, do 3 Gentle Pickups (GP).
  
• Sunday: Rest day.

I also noticed that the version of this schedule that made it into the print version of the magazine has another week before the "Taper" week. But since the online schedule fits the time I have left I'm going with that one.

Labels: exercise

• 10:19 AM 0 comments

The Runner's World 10K Plan

OK. The Runner's World 10K Plan is 5 weeks, and starting tomorrow there's exactly 5 weeks until the Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K. So, starting Monday, I'm going to be following the plan as closely as I can. I'm modifying it a little because their plan starts on a Monday but I tend to think of my week starting on Sunday, so it's shifted a little. I'll adjust as the race gets closer.

So, for the coming week, I'll be running as follows:

• Monday: 2 miles in my neighborhood, 4x1:00 Aerobic Intervals (AI), finish with 2 miles.
  
• Tuesday: 3 mile run - Waterfront/Esplanade? Three Parks Run?
  
• Wednesday: 4 mile run - Four Parks Run. During run, do 3 Gentle Pickups (GP).
  
• Thursday: Rest day.
  
• Friday: 5 miles easy run - Run to work.
  
• Saturday: Rest day.

Total for the week will be 14 miles plus whatever the AI and GP add on -- maybe another two miles? I've noticed that the miles on the RW 10K plan don't add up. Huh. Whatever.

Labels: exercise

• 7:35 PM 0 comments

OK

OK. Considering my time this morning, my goal for the Nike Run Hit Wonder 10K on August 1 is to run a 9:00 pace (or better), which means I'd finish in 55 minutes.

I've got 5 weeks to train for it. And I have the training plan.

I can do it! I can, I can, I can!

Labels: exercise

• 12:47 PM 0 comments

Whoo-HOO!

It's amazing what I can do when I just relax.

I ran to work today. My typical 5 mile trek along the Springwater Corridor Trail, from Sellwood to downtown Portland.

After my "mini-intervals" on Wednesday (which made my legs sit up and take notice), today I just wanted to relax and not push myself too hard.

That being said, though, I did want to time myself. I used the stopwatch function on my cell phone (side note: I discovered that my new Sony Ericsson T610 is small enough to fit in the tiny little pocket in my running shorts! Yay! Finally I own a tiny cell phone! Not "Zoolander" tiny, but still...).

And my time for the 5-mile trek: 47:52.2, or a pace of 9:34.4!

Labels: exercise

• 6:17 AM 0 comments

Mt. Tabor 5K Official Time

They posted the results ¹ for the Mt. Tabor 5K Challenge.

I came in 44th overall, 31st Male. Final official time was 29:02:69!

Whoo-HOO! Go, me!

I've added this to my Trophy Page.

---

¹ Update 12/06/2009 - This link no longer functions. I am unable to find a valid page for these results.

Labels: exercise

• 9:37 AM 0 comments

Runner's World 10K Training Plan

Didn't have to search too long.

Presenting the Runner's World Magazine 10K Training Plan.

Labels: exercise

• 8:53 PM 0 comments

Adding more training stuff

Ran the "Three Parks Run" today. Finally started incorporating the training routines from Runner's World magazine into my run. I'm following their suggestions for training for a 10K -- want to be ready for the Nike Run Hit Wonder on August 1st. Today was mini-speedwork: In the 3 miles, I did 4 "gentle pickups" -- gradually picking up speed over the course of 100 meters, then holding at about 90% of flat-out for me for 10 meters, then slowing back down until I fully recover. It was fun and easier than I feared.

I'll post the full training schedule here soon. Or if I can find a link to it, I'll post that.

Labels: exercise

• 8:47 PM 0 comments

Roly-poly gargonzoly!

I ran tonight for the first time in my Brooks Adrenaline GTS 5s, and... wow! What a difference a new shoe makes! Damn if I didn't feel much faster in them -- "Adrenaline" is right! I was full of it! My feet felt better and I could run farther, faster.

Unfortunately, the sensation of speed was only subjective; I did not time myself. I just felt better and didn't have to stop and walk at all until near the end. It may only be a psychological difference but that's enough for me. I ran the "Three Parks Run", or about 3 miles.

I love my new shoes, I love my new shoes, I love my new shoes...

!

Labels: exercise

• 10:50 PM 0 comments

New shoes: Brooks Adrenaline GTS 5

Feeling anti-social today. Spent most of the day cleaning the apartment and cursing the entire race of humanity for all time, past, present, and future. Well, mostly. My apologies to anyone I may have offended today; these moods come and go, and, trust me, you don't want to be around me when I'm like this.

Went shopping for a new pair of running shoes and had to force myself to describe my running routine to the clerk. Didn't want to get stuck with some shitty shoes.

I went to The Portland Running & Walking Company (they used to be just the Portland Running Company but apparently lost a lot of business to people who "just walk"). Tried on a bunch of shoes, ran for the sales clerk, tried on some more.

For the record, I bought a pair of Brooks Adrenaline 5's, in size 10EE (I've got a wide foot). A year or more ago I started with Brooks Addictions, but those are heavier shoes with cushioning for larger folk, like I used to be, and I liked the lighter shoe with its curved sole. Felt good, and much lighter. The clerk suggested them since I've lost so much weight since acquiring the Addictions.

Can't wait to try them out.

Really really really wanted to fit into the Nikes (so I could cash in on my friend's employee discount, hee, hee, hee!) but dammit, Nike makes shoes for narrow-footed people.

Labels: exercise

• 5:41 PM 0 comments

Weekly miles

Time to add up the miles this week:

Tuesday: 5+ miles (ran to work)
Thursday: 2+ miles (Tryon Creek State Park)
Saturday: 3+ miles (Mt. Tabor Challenge 5K)

Total: 10 miles.

About what I wanted, since I'm supposed to "taper" my miles the week before a race.

I've worked my way up to 20 push-ups and over 40 sit-ups in almost 2 weeks. It feels like slow going but I'm sticking with it.

My weight is a little high (174.5 lb this morning) but still in my range. If it goes above 175 I'll cut back on the food until it drops. Hopefully I'm not rebounding...

Next week I'm going to aim for speed more than distance. I'll post a training schedule later.

Labels: exercise

• 10:25 AM 0 comments

Mt. Tabor Challenge 5K

Ran the Mt. Tabor Challenge today. The course was tough but not as tough as I thought it would be. Mostly downhill (which isn't easier, for those of you who aren't runners).

Caleb and I stayed together for about the first half of the race. When we passed the 1-mile marker, Caleb checked his (brand-new Nike) watch and said we'd done that in 7:20, which surprised the hell out of me. That was all downhill, so I was running faster than I should have, even though I'd been purposely trying to hold back.

I finished about the same today as I did in the Lake Run, around 29 minutes. The clock just turned 29:00 as I approached the gates.


From left: Caleb, Jake, Brian (the author)

Jake ran it in 20:23 and probably finished first or second in his age group. Caleb ran it in around 27:00, two minutes faster than me. The nice thing about being the slowest person among my friends is that they're at the finish line, waiting for me and cheering me on!

Labels: exercise

• 2:12 PM 0 comments

Run food movie

Went running in Tryon Creek State Park with some friends last night. Wanted to run, but didn't want to melt in the heat (it was over 90 degrees yesterday in Portland), and didn't want to push myself too hard with the Mt. Tabor Challenge on Saturday, so my friend suggested that it would be cool in several senses of the word.

He was right. It was beautiful up there, and running on the trails was a nice change from running on asphalt or concrete. A nice warm-up for the Mt. Tabor Challenge.

Afterward we went out for BBQ at Tennessee Red's in SE, then saw "Kill Bill Vol. 2" (me for the second time, my friends for the first time).

Labels: exercise, movies

• 10:58 AM 0 comments

Four Parks Run

I turned my "Three Parks Run" into a "Four Parks Run" on the fly.

Instead of going through Sellwood Park directly, I ran along the Springwater Corridor Trail until past the 3.5 mile mark, probably close to 3.8 miles, then went under the trail into the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and cut through it to a trail that zig-zags up the face of the bluff into Sellwood Park, then caught my normal path from there along the top of the bluff and onto Bybee Street, down to Westmoreland Park, etc., etc.

That had to add at least a half-mile, probably closer to a full mile, to the run. The original run is 3.5 miles, including the warm-up and cool-down (3 miles of it running) so I did a 4+ mile run today! And I only had to stop for traffic (and a stupid girl blocking the sidewalk in front of Saburo's on Bybee!)

Labels: exercise

• 5:47 PM 0 comments

My first 10K will be...

I've found my first 10K race... the Nike Run Hit Wonder.

What an awesome idea for a race: gather a bunch of "one-hit wonders" like Ton Loc, Devo, Kajagoogoo, and Tommy Tutone, and have them play along the course.

Only freakin' Nike would come up with something like that.

Got 8 weeks (give or take) to train for it.

I'm so there.

Labels: exercise

• 12:27 PM 0 comments

Oh, right, the week end

I went and added up my mileage for the week yesterday but forgot that my week ends today. I haven't' run today but I plan on doing it, and I'm going to do another 3.5 miles. Y'know, 'cause I rock.

Labels: exercise

• 10:37 AM 0 comments

Running update

Run to work yesterday. Because I haven't been doing well I was unconcerned about time and pace; I just wanted to do the entire distance without stopping or walking. I failed to do that, because my iPod has started skipping. Turns out you really shouldn't run with a hard drive after all. It's still working, and when I get a chance to move my backups off it I'm going to reformat and reload my music and other files on to it, and run a full HD checkup. But not this weekend... well, maybe tomorrow if I get a chance.

So my final mileage for last week was 3.5 + 2.5 + 5.5 = 11.5 miles. Probably my best week, distance-wise, not so good time-wise. But, hey.

Next week I plan on easing back even more on the running and focusing on the gym, just for the change of pace, since I seem to have hit a plateau in running.

I can't remember if I've mentioned here that I've added sit-ups and push-ups daily. Basically, once a day (usually, but not always, at night before bed) I do as many of each in a row as I can. I ended this week with a paltry 29 sit-ups and 17 push-ups. I hope to increase the number significantly over time.

Labels: exercise

• 11:22 AM 0 comments

Not many miles

This week I was weak. I only ran 9.5 miles: 2 miles on Tuesday, 5.5 miles on Thursday, drank myself stupid on Friday (I planned that, by the way), tried to go bouldering on Saturday, ran just over 2 miles on Sunday (today).

I've stopped taking my vitamin supplements, and it seems obvious in retrospect that my lack of energy is tied to the lack of nutrition. I've started taking them again, and I'll see how my exercise goes.

Two weeks until the Mt. Tabor Challenge. Hoo-boy, that's going to be a killer.

Labels: exercise

• 11:48 AM 0 comments

More motivation please

I need to run. I should be running right now. Two days ago I ran the "Three Parks" loop and nearly died, but managed to finish it with an absolute minimum of walking. Two days ago, I planned on getting up early today and running at least 3 miles. Then I went out with someone on Monday evening, and stayed out late, at least too late to get up at 4:30 AM today and be in any kind of shape, and so decided to run tonight after work. All day long I could feel my energy level dropping, and the excuses came out in my head: "Run tomorrow morning! It won't change your schedule that much... You're too tired to run. You don't have to run 3.5 miles, you can just run 2 miles... don't run, go home, go to sleep, you need it... if you don't have dinner that's the same, calorie-wise, as running... don't run..."

Dammit. I'm not going to give in to the negative voices. I'm going. I'm already dressed for a run. I drank plenty of water. It's a beautiful warm evening outside. I just have to get up from this couch and go out that door...

I'm going. See me go? I'm gone.

Labels: exercise

• 6:56 PM 0 comments

Motivated

Ran to work today. I kept a 9:36 pace!

• 5:10 AM - left the house
  
• 5:17 AM - finished warmup and started running towards Springwater Corridor trail head
  
• 6:05 AM - finished 5+ mile run by crossing the Hawthorne Bridge

It's amazing what a little frustration in life can push me to accomplish...

Labels: exercise

• 7:30 AM 0 comments

Hills

I ran the Three Parks loop this morning. I tried to keep track of my time, and I think, not counting my warm-up and cool-down, my run was just over a 10 minute pace, around a 10:20 or so. I wasn't pushing myself again this morning, though. I'll do better. Remember that this route has some hills.

I plan on running to work (long run) on Wednesday, and then I'll do the Three Parks run again on Friday. At least one day in there I'll hit the gym for some upper-body and abs work. Then this weekend I'm going to the beach, to do some running on the sand... whee!

Labels: exercise

• 6:33 AM 0 comments

Three Parks Run

Exercise update:

Ran a three-mile run this morning. Decided to try a different route. Usually when I run in my neighborhood, I just run away from my apartment for a mile or so, then turn around and come back. The only variations I've tried take me back through Westmoreland Park. The advantages are that it's a known distance and it's very flat. But, knowing that I need to start incorporating hills into my running, I changed it up.

I ran downhill towards the river, then turned north and ran through Sellwood Park. Then along the bluff over the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, turned east, then ran back through Westmoreland Park, and even ran by a tiny little park a few blocks from my house, Johnson Creek Park. I'll call this the Three Parks Run.

I futzed around with Mapquest, which is a pain when you're trying to use it to map a multi-point route like that, and it looks like it's over 3 miles. I came up with 3.47 miles, but that's just along streets and not through the actual parks like I ran, but that's as accurate as I want to be. I'll just call it 3.5 miles.

The route includes some mild hills, both up and down, for short stretches of just a couple of city blocks. I like it, though, more because I get to run on grass and trails, and I get to run through the parks. That's much easier on myself than running on asphalt or concrete. Some runners say asphalt is easier on the body than concrete, but I can't (yet) tell the difference. But I can tell a big difference between asphalt/concrete and grass, or dirt trails.

I didn't time myself, so I have only a vague idea of how long it took me. Around a half-hour, maybe. But I wasn't pushing myself very hard, since part of my brain was engaged with navi-ma-ga-shun. Next time I run I'll pay closer attention to time.

Diet-wise... I'm not technically dieting anymore. I'm watching my calories but I'm much less strict. F'rinstance, I had lunch with a boss and another co-worker on Friday, and the boss was buying, so I had a large plate of pasta and even ordered dessert. Lunch was at Pazzo's Ristorante. Soooo goooood. Dessert was a "semi-frozen" chocolate cake layered with pistachio gelato. I knew that if I had even a small dinner I'd go way over 2800 calories for the day. So I skipped dinner entirely. That's what I mean by "being conscious of my calories".

And that consciousness is paying off. My weight has had its ups and downs in the past couple of weeks, but it hasn't varied by more than 2.5 lbs from a base of 171.5. That's essentially a flat line when you graph it (which I do), which means I've found my stable point of weight. My goal has been reached. It's all maintenance from here on out... for the rest of my life.

Let me just say: Whoo-Hooooo!!

Labels: exercise

• 4:33 PM 0 comments

Commute

Ran to work today. Managed a 10-minute pace over the 5+ miles of the run. Not too bad. I've done better but for some reason I haven't been feelin' the run-love lately. Meh.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been busy and stressed and stuffed.

Hello? *tap* *tap* Is this thing on?

Labels: exercise

• 8:28 AM 0 comments

Waterfront with friends

I ran the Waterfront last night with a couple of friends. I brought up the idea of doing two laps, which would be around 5 miles, and they were favorable. Then, during the run, they both sped off like they were being chased by lawyers. When I got to the second lap, I had to stop and walk a bit. I kept thinking of excuses why I didn't do so well, especially considering that I've done that distance before, and recently; it's 5 miles when I run to work, which I've done just last Friday. I thought that it was the weather (rainy and windy), my lack of food (had only taken in 1580 calories that day), lack of good food (ate a lot of junk that day and the day previous), time of day (I normally run in the morning), yadda yadda, blah, blah, blah... but in the end, I didn't do too bad. I only finished about a minute behind my friend, who finished a minute and a half behind his girlfriend.

Then afterward we went and I pigged out on a Quiznos' Black Angus Sandwich, and a mollasses cookie and soy chai from Starbucks'.

Tonight I'm going to the gym and doing anything except run.

Oh, and I feel heavier. I weighed in at 171.5 lbs today, but I feel all bloat-y or something. I can still feel the lump of food I ate yesterday in my stomach and parts south, working its way through my digestive system. I'll feel better once it's gone.

Labels: exercise

• 6:10 AM 0 comments

Lake Run 5K Official Results

They've posted the official results for the Lake Run -- that was fast!

Unfortunately, I wasn't that fast, at least compared to my last race. I finished 176th overall, and 11th out of 18 in my group, with a final time of 29:37 and a pace of 9:32.

Gotta work on my hills, I guess. It might also have hurt me that I ran 5+ miles yesterday. And the train might have cost me more than I thought...

Those are all excuses, but, actually, I did well. I'm happy I went. The next race is going to be massively hilly -- the Mt. Tabor Challenge. Whoo-HOO! Bring it on! Looks like I'll be hitting Terwilliger a lot in the coming month...

Labels: exercise

• 7:06 PM 0 comments

Pre-Lake Run 5K

Quick race-day update before I hit the showers...

I did the Lake Run 5K today. The weather started out nice but it started raining just as I was finishing. My friend warned me about the hills, and, yes, there were a lot of hills, short but steep. There was also a train! I had to climb over the train at one point in the race, somewhere between Mile 1 and Mile 2. I climbed over between cars at the same time as another guy; he was just ahead of me. I waited until he was on the ground and moving and started to jump -- I was in the act of jumping when I saw him stumble backwards. I landed on his ankle. I hope he's OK! I apologized, and looked for him after the race but couldn't find him.The race organizers were nice enough to allow us to adjust our time, on the honor system. I asked for 25 seconds; I thought that was fair.

I saw 29:40 on the clock when I crossed the line, which (after my allowance) works out to about a 9:28 pace; not bad considering all the hills!

Here I am before the start of the race

Labels: exercise

• 9:18 AM

Exercise update

My weight is holding steady at 169.5 lb. I think I'm still losing weight, but slowly. I am really happy with my weight where it is, however, so I'll continue to add calories back into my diet.

I only have circumstantial evidence for the weight loss, however; obviously the graph of my weight over the past two weeks is pretty flat. The evidence is this: when I was on Atkins, my body was in ketosis/lypolosis -- in other words, burning fat for energy, transforming my fat stores into glucose for my muscles to use as fuel. During that time, my body chemistry changed, as revealed by the odd taste in my mouth, and the change in the scent of my sweat and urine.

Well, even though I'm now eating as much as 2600 calories per day (2800 yesterday -- I was weak and had a cookie), I still have that same odd taste in my mouth. Since I'm running every other day, and getting lots of walking and other exercise in throughout the day, my rate of calorie burn must be higher than 2600 calories per day, because, circumstantially, I think I'm still burning fat to replace the calories I'm not taking in.

At any rate, I ran to work today. I picked up some more time -- Left the house at 5:14 AM, and crossed the Hawthorne Bridge at 6:10 AM. Subtract the 10 minutes (approx.) that it takes me to walk to the starting point, and that means I ran 5 miles in about 46 minutes, or a 9:12 pace. Whoo-Hoo!

I totally rock. I'm so ready for the Run on the Lake this weekend.

Labels: exercise

• 6:49 AM 0 comments

Back to the running

Let me quickly post my running schedule for this week. Truncated because of last weekend's road trip.

I ran 2.5 miles this morning, I'm going to go on a street ramble with the Mazamas Club on Thursday night, run to work on Friday morning, then run the Lake Run 5K on Saturday.

My weight's at 169.5 lb this week. I've added in another 200 calories per day, putting my daily intake at 2600 calories.

Oh, and damn, I feel great. Except that when I tanned in the desert this weekend, it accentuated my stretch marks. Hmmm. Not sure what to make of those. I guess I should be proud of them, since they're evidence of my skinniness... I could always claim that they're from my pregnancies, I suppose. Hee, hee, hee

Labels: exercise

• 6:49 AM 0 comments

Exercise / Diet update:

I've got my calories/day almost to maintenance level. Well, it's at maintenance level for all intents and purposes: my weight has held steady around 171 for the last week, and that's where I'm stopping for now. Amazing -- from last fall, I've lost 54 lb.

Ran 4+ miles yesterday morning, as planned, and ran to work today (5 miles running, another half-mile at each end walking/warmup), and I feel great. I did better than last week, I think. I left the house at 5:15, and the time when I crossed the Hawthorne Bridge was 6:15. Assuming I did the first half-mile warmup in 10 minutes, that means I covered the 5 miles in 50 minutes; almost exactly a 10-minute pace. I feel like I could do it again tomorrow morning. Not that I will, of course; I need to be well-rested for the 18 hour drive to the Mojave Desert where I'm going to party my ass off.

Whoo-hoo!

Labels: exercise

• 6:32 AM 0 comments

Schedule

With all the stuff going on in my life right now, it's good to have my exercise routine to establish some regularity.

That being said, I've got to deviate from my "every other day run" schedule, because if I kept up with that, I'd be running on Friday -- which is also when I leave for Coachella. My friend and I are driving through the night to get there by Saturday, so I need to be well-rested. Which, to my mind at least, means I shouldn't be getting up early on Friday morning to run.

So, with that in mind, here's what I'm planning for this week:

• Monday: Run 2-3 miles in the morning
  
• Tuesday: Hiking with the Mazamas after work
  
• Wednesday: Run 3-4 miles in the morning
  
• Thursday: Run 5+ miles to work in the morning
  
• Friday: Off
  
• Saturday: (At Coachella) Dance like there's no tomorrow
  
• Sunday: Probably be hungover and exhausted -- drive back to Portland

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Oh, I've listened to some of the CDs I bought last night, and plan on posting some reviews in the next couple of days. Briefly: I like Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, and am still trying to decide if Stereolab is my taste or not. I had Stereolab confused with a local band, StereoVision. I really like StereoVision's music, but, because I was expecting that particular sound, I was taken aback by Stereolab's sound -- very ethereal and trippy. Anyway, I'll be posting full reviews of them shortly. Stay tuned.

Labels: exercise

• 9:00 PM 0 comments

Modified, and modified, and modified

Ran today. Planned on running 5 miles. Original plan was to get up early, go downtown, change at the gym, then run up and down Terwilliger.

Woke up around 8 AM. Too tired from being out late last night. Had to trash the original plan. OK, time for a new plan.

New plan: get up immediately get up, throw some street clothes and some workout clothes in my backpack, go downtown, change, and run up and down Terwilliger.

Got up, went to the bathroom, weighed myself (169.5! Whoo-HOO!), got a Cliff Bar, checked my email, went back to bed.

Woke up around 10:30 AM. OK, OK, new plan: same as previous plan, only getting up right now.

I resisted eating another Cliff Bar (which hurt me later), but realized I didn't want to carry around a full backpack when I was downtown this afternoon. Since I was getting such a late start, I knew that once I was out of my house and downtown, I wouldn't want to come back home to drop stuff off. So, I had to dress for the day, instead of planning on changing at some point this afternoon.

Alright, then, newest plan: hurry up and get some workout clothes on, go running in my neighborhood, starting right now. Good plan.

An hour later, after checking my email, chatting a bit online, and otherwise goofing off, I finally got out the door. There was a brief moment of embarrassment when I realized that my drunken neighbors were having their weekly "yard sale" -- sucks to be out of work and needing money, I guess. They asked me to buy something, but I pretended not to hear them over my iPod. I did wave, though. I'm only partially a snob.

Since I wanted to run 5 miles (still), I was going to go down the Springwater Corridor trail to about the 2-mile mark, then turn around and come back. That 4 miles, plus the half-mile on the beginning and end that I run to get to the head of the trail, makes a 5 mile round trip.

Unfortunately, my lack of a real breakfast and my dehydration hurt me, I think. I was struggling to make the run out, and by the time I turned around, I was panting, hard. I died and had to stop and walk right at the 3.5 mile point, and continued to alternate walking and running the rest of the way.

Nutrition is important, OK?

Tomorrow I plan on doing a short run in my neighborhood. Hopefully that will make up for the poor performance today.

Labels: exercise

• 5:02 PM 0 comments

Visiting the Charthouse the hard way

I saw 170 lb. on the scale this morning, but I think that's just a random downward spike. I'm pretty sure I'm still holding steady at 172 for most purposes. And next week I'm adding another 200 calories per day to my diet, bringing my daily intake to 2200. If I am still losing at the same rate I was a couple of weeks ago, then I'm still 800-900 calories down from my "stable" intake, at least for this amount of exercise. So I might, in fact, be losing some more weight before I stabilize, which is OK by me.

Speaking of exercise, I ran from Duniway Park up to the Charthouse restaurant, along Terwilliger Blvd. again this morning, a round trip of about 5 miles. It was rainy, but not pouring down. I was cold at first, but warmed up nicely. I think I did it at a 10 minute pace, too; I left the gym at noon, and got back to the gym around 1:15, so, subtracting the time to walk the 10 blocks to Duniway, I did the 2.5 miles up and down in about 55 minutes. Well, OK, that's more like an 11 minute pace. Still, pretty good for as steep as it is.

Last time I ran Terwilliger was on March 11, about a month and a week ago. I weighed 181 that morning. Means I've lost 11 pounds in 5 weeks, or just over 2 pounds per week.

Today brings my weekly running miles to about 13. I'm still amazed at that total. I can remember when the idea of running a mile seemed beyond me.

Also, this is the first time I've actually worn my iPod for the run. It did OK -- only skipped two or three times, and that was after about 25 minutes of operation. The iPod is only really sensitive to jostling when nearing the end of it's 25 minute buffer, and what will usually happen is that it will pause for longer than the normal 2-3 seconds between songs and then skip ahead to the next song in the playlist. Oh, I was playing a specific playlist, not playing on shuffle; when on shuffle mode, the hard drive will spin up after every song. Not good when working out.

Labels: exercise

• 4:28 PM 0 comments

Another milestone!

I ran to work this morning. And, unlike last week, this week I ran all the way across the Hawthorne Bridge, making my total run at least 5 miles!

Didn't see any raccoons this morning, though, but two guys on bikes did pass me on the trail. Probably the same two guys from last week.

Labels: exercise

• 6:28 AM 0 comments

Another milestone!

This morning I ran to work. I've been talking about it for a while, and I finally made it happen. Yesterday I brought a change of clothes and left them in my office, along with the stuff I needed but didn't want to carry when I was running. Which was, basically, everything: my wallet, my bus pass, my cell phone, my iPod (I don't run with my iPod), yadda yadda.

Then, this morning, I got up before 5 AM, threw my contacts in, took my vitamins, got into my running clothes and shoes, and headed out the door. It's taken me about 2 hours to walk downtown before, so I figured that would give me enough time to run and have time left over to shower and change. I was out the door at about 5:10 AM.

I started running about 5 blocks from my house. From there to the head of the trail is about 1/2 mile (according to Yahoo Maps), then I stopped to do some quick stretches, then ran the rest of the distance, all the way to the Hawthorne Bridge, another 3.8 miles according to the signs on the trail.

There wasn't many folk on the trail at that time of day; I saw two lone bikers and a racoon. Once I got going I found it very peaceful. On my previous runs I've found it necessary to think about other things; plans, or my stories, anything but the run. But this morning I was able to either just notice the scenery around me, or zone out entirely and just move.

I walked the rest of the distance to my office, but in the future I plan on running across the bridge, which should make it a 5-mile run. I did feel a pang of guilt that I didn't go the full 5 miles today, but that was immediately followed by the positive voice in my head telling the negative voice to shut the fuck up. I mean I'd just run farther than I'd ever run before!

I got to my office at 6:28 AM, plenty of time to shower and change before I had to start at 7:00 AM.

My right hamstring is bothering me today, so I may not run again until Saturday. I'll stretch it out and maybe even go sit in the hot tub at my gym tomorrow or Friday.

Labels: exercise

• 6:47 PM 0 comments

Future races

In a burst of spending, I went ahead and registered for two more 5Ks:

• The Lake Run 2004, in Lake Oswego, OR, on Saturday May 8th, and
  
• The Mount Tabor Challenge on Saturday, June 19th.

Both of them should be pretty challenging.

I might be willing to try an 8K or 10K event by the time I've completed these. We'll see how I do. It's exciting to have something to look forward to!

Labels: exercise

• 9:01 PM 0 comments

Bridge to Bridge 5K Results

They posted the official results for the Bridge-to-Bridge.

Jake finished in 19:49, with a 6:23 pace, 2nd in his age group, 26th overall, and 25th overall men's.

Caleb finished in 25:57, with an 8:21 pace, first in his age group, 81st overall and 68th overall men's.

I finished in 30:25, with a 9:47 pace, 10th in my age group, 184th overall and 100th overall men's.

Woo-hooo!

Now we're all going to improve our times by two minutes in the next one, right? Right? Who's with me?

Labels: exercise

• 2:13 PM 0 comments

Bridge to Bridge 5K Recap

Whoo-hoo! I finished today's race at least 5 minutes faster than the Shamrock Run! A friend saw my time as I crossed and tells me it was 30:33 or thereabouts. Which means I ran a sub-10-minute pace!

As I was crossing the finish line, I saw the clock for the 10K race, thinking that was my time, and I was so disappointed because it showed over 40 minutes. I thought that I had done significantly worse. Good thing my friends were there to correct me :)

Here's a pic of Team Saponified for the Bridge to Bridge 5K 2004:

From left to right, that's myself, Jake Edge, and Caleb Phillips. Full image is in the Picture Gallery gone. ¹

---

¹ Sadly, this picture was lost in the mists of time. I am unable to update or replace this. Always back your shit up.

Labels: exercise

• 2:05 PM

Bridge to Bridge 5K

I'm running in the Bridge-to-bridge 5K on Sunday. It's going to be challenging. I thought it crossed the Fremont Bridge, but looking at the website the 5K only goes across the Steel and Broadway Bridges. The 10K, however, does cross the Fremont.

My friends are running, too, and they're probably going to kick my ass, but that's OK, it's my second-ever race. I just want to finish.

In anticipation of pain, I made it a long weekend by taking time off from work on Monday. Here's hoping I don't have to spend my day off in the hospital...

---

Update: I've updated the link to point to the current (as of 2009) website for this run. 5 May 2009 - BAM

Labels: exercise

• 7:22 PM 0 comments

Training

Restricting my diet has had an interesting effect on me. For the past few days, after consuming the last of my calories for the day, I've had the overwhelming feeling that the day is over and that there's nothing left to do but go to bed. Weird, huh? Like my entire day revolves around consuming calories. It was especially strong tonight, as I was wandering around downtown on a First Thursday, gorgeous spring evening after a great warm day, seeing all the open art galleries and other things to do, people wandering around... but still all I could think of was, "Well, that's it, time to head home."

I've framed my day totally by the food I eat. Is that a bad thing?

Labels: exercise

• 7:18 PM 0 comments

Results are in!

They've finally posted the results from the 2004 Shamrock Run, and my official time is as follows:

• Name: MOON, BRIAN
  
• City: PORTLAND OR
  
• Age: 39
  
• Sex: M
  
• Time: 35:07
  
• Pace: 11:19
  
• Div: M3539
  
• Divpl / Ttl: 92 / 115
  
• Sexpl / Ttl: 785 / 976

Whoo-hoo! I think a sub-12-minute pace is pretty good for my first event. The rest of the numbers I don't really care about right now.

Labels: exercise

• 4:58 PM

Milestone

I made it:

One hundred seventy-four and a half pounds this morning.

Feels pretty good. Another milestone, another goal reached. I should be happy.

Labels: exercise

• 3:10 PM 0 comments

Small trouble

I'm feeling down on my diet this week. I was going to allow myself an extra 200 calories per day (for a total daily limit of 1800), but I ended up at least 200 calories over that, even. My weight has remained steady all week. My experiment in engineering a "soft landing" to my ideal weight was a bust.

At least my weight didn't go up. That would have been even more depressing.

So, next week, I'm sticking with the 1800 calories per day, instead of upping it another 200 calories, and hopefully my willpower will return.

Maybe I was simply affected by spring break... Yeah, that's it.

Exercise, I did pretty good. I did hear from "coach" this week, and she proposed a schedule close to what I was planning for myself, at least time- and distance-wise, although she advised against the 5-mile run I was planning.

Also except she included swimming on one of my non-running days. I planned on doing the swimming, but decided against it at the last minute. No, really, last minute.

Would you believe I decided against it at the last hour? Last day?

You caught me: I decided against it as soon as she proposed it. I haven't told her yet, but if she reads this page she'll know.

But I ran three easy runs, on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, of two, three, and three miles each. Monday was in my neighborhood, and the others were along the Esplanade. Todays run was good; it was pouring down rain last night, so I was worried I'd end up running in the gym, but this morning dawned without precipitation. There was even some blue sky up there.

I have no idea what my time was. Maybe I should invest in a watch or something. Nah, I'm just happy right now to be able to complete the course I set for myself.

Labels: exercise

• 7:05 PM 0 comments

Adding back

As of tomorrow morning, I get 200 more calories to eat each and every day.

Since I'm so close to my goal, I'm slowly adding calories back into my diet, so that the pounds don't slowly add themselves back to my body.

It's kind of interesting, actually. For the past four weeks I've lost an average of 3 lb. per week, which, at 3500 calories per pound, equals 10,500 calories per week. Since I've allowed myself 1650 calories per day, in a week I've taken in 11550 calories.

If you then add those two numbers together (the ones I burned, and the ones I consumed), then my total calorie needs for my current activity level is... drumroll, please...

3150 calories!

That seems like a lot, doesn't it? Makes me wonder if I'm making a math error somewhere. But I don't think so... I'm pretty active lately, with the running and the swimming and the cycling and the stair-climbing and all that.

So, that's what it would take for me to maintain my weight. Which, after four weeks of calorie-counting, and the previous months of Atkins dieting, seems like an incredible feast. It's twice as much food as I've been getting.

Therefore, I don't want to jump back up to that level. I'll add 200 calories per day and increase by another 200 calories next week, until I'm closer to the 3150 calories per day level that seems like my balance point.

When I started the diet, it took time for my body to start shedding pounds; likewise, there will be a resistance to my body achieving a stable weight. But if I suddenly were to double the calories I took in, that would cause a spike in my weight, and tip the balance back the other direction (that direction being "gaining weight").

I'll probably still count calories for a while, though, at least until I get used to estimating how much I need to eat to maintain my weight. I'm learning a new skill!

But, tomorrow, what to do with those 200 calories? The possibilities are endless!

Labels: exercise

• 8:35 PM 0 comments

Self-coaching

My "coach" is in Nevada visiting family this week, so I'm kind of on my own setting a schedule. When I talked to her last week, though, she said that I'd be getting back to running, so I'm going to include some running.

Last week, which I didn't post here, was all cross-training; no running. Which, as difficult as it seems, was actually difficult to me. My friends noticed a certain edginess in me, which I mainly attributed to the lack of running. Weird. The cross-training was mostly upper-body stuff, swimming, and cycling. It was supposed to help me heal my sore hamstring, which I think it has succeeded in doing.

The main problem (have I mentioned this before?) is that my legs are of unequal length; my right is about a half-inch longer than the left, which is going to cause me problems unless I get some kind of orthotic correction. Bleh.

Anyway, next week I'm going to run three days, and do some other workout (probably upper-body) twice, and take two rest days. I figure two "short" runs of 2-3 miles, and one long run of 4-5 miles. Should be fun...

It's getting harder to fit in my exercise, since I'm getting busier and busier. For one thing my side business is picking up Might just be a spring break seasonal thing, but I'm hoping it's more of a trend caused by word-of-mouth: the more customers I get, the more they tell others about me, which generates more customers.

Better and better. It's easier to take the shit at work when I know there are people who will gladly pay me more than twice my hourly rate to do the same stuff. And I'm good at the basic stuff, and also friendlier than the average tech.

Labels: exercise

• 2:13 PM 0 comments

Taking stock

One hundred and seventy-eight and a half pounds!

Roly-poly macaroni!

To be honest, I had my doubts that I would ever get this far; this all seemed like such a distant goal. I was so used to being over two hundred pounds that I simply couldn't imagine myself ever being in this great of shape. And, in retrospect, I haven't really had to deprive myself of very much. The Atkins diet made the first month or two easy (and, over Christmas vacation (in sunny Puerta Vallarta) I even cheated quite a bit! The hotel had gooooooooooooood desserts...), and after I reached a plateau on Atkins, I was worried because of the horror stories I had heard about "going back" on carbs -- tales of people gaining all their weight back in a short time after reintroducing bread into their diet.

But I switched to counting calories, and, lo and behold, I'm still losing weight. There's no magic to the Atkins diet, I'm convinced; it's just another way to limit calories. Think about it; when someone sits down and binges on food, it's always carbs; chips, bread, candy. There's simply no way to "binge" on pounds and pounds of steak, for example. You get the "I'm full, stop eating" signal long before you've taken in too many calories. Carbs don't seem to have that effect, or have it so slow that it's a simple matter to go overboard in a short time.

Exercise-wise, I've been taking the past couple of days off from formal exercise. I strained a hamstring last week, and it was still sore during the race, so "coach" says to take a few days off from running. I'm still walking a lot (had a side job last night and walked the couple of miles from there to home, for example) and taking the stairs at work (up and down the stairs in two buildings of seven and eight stories), but I'm itching to get back into the gym or onto the streets.

I'm going to take the money I made last night at my side job ($80) and use it to buy some new running shoes. I'm planning on doing one run per month through the end of summer, aiming for an 8K or 10K by the end of summer. There's the Bridge-to-Bridge in April, the Cinco de Mayo 5K, and the Mt. Tabor Challenge in June. Which is where one of my friends did his initial training, explaining a lot of his speed! Well, that and his long legs. Nothing like training on the slopes of a volcano to help your legs get strong...

Labels: exercise

• 7:27 AM 0 comments

I did it!

I finished the race. I have no idea what my time was; things got confusing at the end. Right before the end, I went past a guy with a stopwatch who was calling out the time, and he said something like 33 minutes or so, but then we got to the finish gates and we all slowed to a crawl. OK, we slowed to a walk, but still, it felt like a crawl. I wanted to finish, dammit!

Most important, however, I finished right behind the guy dressed as a pint of Guinness. My friend, who had been passed (on a hill, no less) by the beer guy last year, managed to finish before the beer this year. His personal best!

Sadly, I didn't get many pictures. My friends girlfriend was going to be the photographer, but sometime last week she decided she was going to run instead of spectate, so, no pictures. Oh, well.

Labels: exercise

• 12:30 PM

Shrinking

I am currently wearing size 34 inch waist 501s!

When I started this diet back in November I wore a 38 inch waist. And it was getting snug. At the time I thought that it would be nice to get down to a 36 inch waist, a comfortable 36 inches, where my gut wouldn't hang over my belt and I cut my circulation off when I sat down.

Little did I realize just how much I could lose on this diet. In the store today, I actually tried on a 33 inch waist pair of jeans, just to see how they fit, and they were a bit snug but still do-able. In the mirror, I could almost see my future...

I'm still a bit amazed. I was so impressed that I bought two pairs of pants when I only intended to buy one. And in a month or two these pants will be baggy.

I'm wearing size medium shirts, and 34 inch waist pants. I'm the incredible shrinking man. Here's hoping I don't have to fight a spider with a sewing needle.

Consider my mind boggled.

Labels: exercise

• 6:30 PM 0 comments

Duniway Park to the Charthouse again!

I did it!

I ran all the way from Duniway Park up to the Charthouse, and back down again!

Today was such a glorious day anyway, I was looking forward to my run all day long. Sometimes nervous (can I do it?) and sometimes confident. The weather has been perfect all week long; warm and sunny. And it's contributed to my mood a lot! I am so ready for this race, and everything that lies beyond it. I wish I could bottle up the past six days, as insurance against the doldrums that plagued me all fall and winter. Granted, not all of that depression was my fault. Still...

Anyway, I've got this great new body. I'm in the best shape of my entire life.

And I want to share...

Labels: exercise

• 7:10 PM 0 comments

Diet/exercise update

I changed my daily calorie count to 1600 (down from 1700), in the hope that it would break the plateau I had reached, and it appears to have worked. My weight is once again dropping, and this morning I weighed in at 181. I'm so very close to my goal now...

Still training for the Shamrock Run (on Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!) Yesterday was a rest day, Tuesday I did a lower-body workout and 30 minutes on the bike. I tried to use every lower-body machine in the gym. Would you believe almost all? How about some?

I did leg curls (both pushing and pulling), squats, hip abductor and inductor, inclined stomach crunches. Hmm... that doesn't seem like a lot. But the backs of my calves still feel sore.

Tonight I'm going running up Terwilliger, 5 miles round-trip. All the way up to the Chart House and back down to Duniway Park. Should be fun. And by "fun" I mean "painful but good for me in the long run" sense (pun intended).

I found a cool website that lists various places to run, called, subtly enough, Running Places. (The link is to the Duniway Park page) According to them, it's 4 km from Duniway Park to the Chart House -- 8 km round-trip would be 4,97 miles.

Labels: exercise

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