From Flubber to Iron

It Isn't Easy Going Easy

2012-01-21T11:35:00.002-06:00

My coach prescribed a couple of easy days for me this week. Monday, easy bike. Wednesday, easy run. Thursday, easy bike. Saturday, easy run.

Monday and Wednesday were easy to do easy, as I did them with someone else. Because I was with them, I was going their pace which for me is nice and easy. That worked out great. Thursday, I was suppose to have a nice easy 75 minute bike. I decided to give Terry Hershey Park a try as there is an entrance to it about 5 minutes down the road from where I work. I had forgotten that at that side of the park it has quite a few undulating hills. This caused me to start a bit harder than I figured I should have. Then as I was coming up one of the little hills, I called out to the guy in front "bike back, on your left" as I do for everyone, and he looked left and started swerving left and I had already caught up to him, he wasn't going fast at all on the hill, and was just behind and beside. He ended up pushing me off the path and into the bushes a bit, and I was a bit freaked as it was a quick drop there into Buffalo Bayou. He was very apologetic about it, and I was on my way a bit scared that my tires may have a puncture in them. But it seemed ok. And the adrenaline was firing, so off I went speedy like to put some distance between us. I continued along and managed to reach the end of the park which is about 8 miles long or so, and so I kept going as I still had time before I needed to turn around. I was now at George Bush park on the path (they connect at a dam) and was cruising a long nicely. And then it was time to turn around and I noticed that I had hit 10 miles in 40 minutes. I wasn't really trying or caring about distance since it was a timed ride.

The way back was a bit more congested with pedestrians as it was now more "after work" than when I started, and so I had people dodging and most of them were kind enough to stop or move a bit over if they were too close to the middle. And most of them even thanked me for warning them I was behind and coming around. Been a while since I heard those thank yous on the bike! Good Job Houston!

And of course, the finish of the ride was those undulating hills, so I was pushing a bigger gear by this time and didn't bother to shift, so yeah, legs were hammering it.

Now, it wasn't a hard ride. But it definitely wasn't an easy spin, and I felt it the next day. Then today was suppose to be an easy run. I was still feeling a bit of the bike in my legs today, and when I hit the trail at Memorial Park, I started what felt easy at the beginning, but quickly realized it wasn't when I noticed the times were on the wrong side of 8 min miles. So I eased back a bit, but think I was still going a bit too fast for easy. Normally when I run with my friend for easy we are running between 9:45 and 10:30. And that is definitely easy. Today, the runs were below 9:30 and even 3 miles at below 9. Now it wasn't hard, but I was feeling it in my legs especially after the not so easy bike on Thursday.

But I guess the true test of how easy it really was will be tomorrow's 30 mile bike with a 2 mile run immediately afterwards. I'm not predicting any land speed records being broken on that run at all at this point.

I definitely need to work on training easy on easy days. It's what helps us (active) recover and keeps things working smoothly, but if you are hammering it and not letting the body do it's recovery thing, then you just keep piling more and more damage on the body and it will take longer to recover down the road and will end up harming the hard work!

It's definitely not easy, going easy...

2012 and A New Program

2012-01-10T08:17:00.001-06:00

Hey Gang!

I'm still here! I didn't slack off (too much) since last weekend's 25k. Just haven't had a chance to write, until now.

I've been riding the bike more now, as recovery and as prescribe by my new coach.

Saturday I went out to Brazos Bend State Park and road around the alligators for a while. Unfortunately I broke my pedal, so I couldn't clip in on the left side anymore, which make things a bit more difficult. Sunday I had a short crappy run, because of the legs feeling the problems from the bike the day before, and also these allergy shots I'm taking are taking their toll on me as well.

Yesterday was suppose to be a bike, but since Houston kind of flooded out, I thought it was best to not risk it, and after talking with my coach, her and I agreed that a short easy run would be OK instead. Still trying to keep off my feet as recovery from the 25k. Today will be a 15 mile bike. Should be good, it's been several months since I've ridden the road bike. Looking forward to the speed and agility of it again.

So, I'm just chugging along recovering and working on other things besides running, which is quite nice!

Enjoy your Tuesdays!

25k Done! Goal Achieved!

2012-01-01T20:04:00.002-06:00

I did it!

Yesterday I went out ready to run. I had some trepidations about it since my training was not what it should have been. I knew I could get the distance in, but didn't know if I would be walking the last 5 miles or something. I prepared as much as I could Friday night, making my bottles, gathering my clothing and gear, so in the morning, I just had to worry about getting dressed and getting to the park to run.

And that's how it started. I got up, ate, and dressed and headed off to the park. I got to the park, and geared up, got out of the truck, and proceeded to drop my bottle right into a big patch of sand. Hoping that wasn't a sign of what was to come, I quickly got some towels out of the truck, wiped it off and started off on my run. The plan was to run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute, repeat until the 25k (15.5 miles) is complete. I also needed to make sure I didn't run too fast while doing my runs, so that I wouldn't blow up too early.

Things did start off nice and slow, the runs were good and steady, the walks were nice recoveries. The first two loops (6 miles) went by relatively quickly. I changed out my bottle and sucked down a gel and started back out again. Things were still feeling pretty good until around mile 9 or so. My legs started to tighten up, but the amount of tightness in the legs didn't increase at all for the rest of the run. Then around mile 11 I started to bonk. My nutrition wasn't quite where I should have had it. I was only eating one gel every two laps which is about an hour when I really need to have two gels an hour. After getting back to the truck and sucking down that gel and a new bottle of HEED, I was pretty good after 5 minutes.

Legs were starting to feel pretty fatigued around mile 12-13. But I was managing to keeping them going. Running, and I was even able to do sprints to pass people in tight spots on the trail. I kept going and kept going and when I was finished running for the day, I hit 15.96 miles or 25.7 km. And I did it in 2:41:03.

Not my best time, but, I completed the run and completed it running!

Now, the real training starts again.

2013... Flubber to Iron here I come!

Moving, Allergies and the Chaos it Causes

2011-12-28T20:53:00.001-06:00

So, my running kind of took a bit of a hiatus.

Between moving to a new house, and starting allergy injections to get immune to that which makes me sneezy, wheezy and itchy eyes, my running has definitely suffered. The last two-three weeks there's been very little running. This past weekend I was suppose to run 12 miles, but thanks to a hit on the head that caused me to black out, I wasn't in much shape for anything let alone running.

Today, I went out for an easy six mile run and it turned into three because of the allergies that are causing me problems. Legs felt fine, but my lungs were not happy at all with it. Saturday is my 25k. My goal distance for 2011. I've decided in order to make this happen, I will skip a dosage of the allergy injection so that I'm clear of body and mind when it's time for that to happen.

I know for a fact I WILL complete the 15.5 miles. It won't be a spectacular time, because of my set backs, but it will happen. I just need to focus on the fact that I've killed 10 miles three times before not too long ago, and another 5 miles is nothing! Especially since I will be doing 5/1s to get it done.

I do need to come up with a game plan for tomorrow, Friday and Saturday for nutrition so that I don't end up having problems because of that. Shouldn't be too hard, I know how my body reacts to foods and what I need to make it work well. Then I just need to get my feet moving one in front of the other and I will be flying to my goal.

I just need to remember:

Limits are a fabrication of the mind.
Goals are dreams with a plan.

Not Slacking... Really!

2011-12-13T16:28:00.001-06:00

Well, I've not been really slacking. I have been getting my runs in.

I got my 12 miler done on Saturday with some good results. Again, I was running 5/1s for it, and that averaged out to being 9:06 min miles. So that is 30 second per mile faster than the 11 miles last week!

I then took out all my runs and averaged them, and that came out to 8:31 for 11.1 miles. The walks were 14:42 for 1.25 miles. So, yes I did run 12.35 miles total. I felt not too bad after wards. The legs were pretty tired but I probably could have done 15 miles if I really wanted to push it. I would have paid for it worse than I am now with just the 12, but I could have done it!

That was Saturday morning. Saturday evening, I went with the Texas Outrigger Canoe Club and helped paddled around Clear Lake for the Kemah Christmas Boat Parade. We paddled for about 2.5 hours total and I think it was around 10-12 miles that we did. Not sure for certain as my watch was turned off for about 1.5 hours.

So with those two workouts on Saturday I've been pretty sore and stiff all over from it. Yesterday I also went in for my first allergy vaccination shot. Since then I have been feeling like my allergies (cat/dog) have been trying to come through, but I think the allergy meds I'm taking are keeping it bay, so I'm in a weird state of being ready to be all sneezy, wheezy and eye itchy but it just not happening.

With that in mind, I went for another run yesterday afternoon. Tired, sore and stiff from the Saturday fun, then allergyish from the shot... It felt like a big suffer fest out there. And I felt super slow, but managed to do the 3 miles in just over 26 minutes so that wasn't too bad after all.

I have 5 miles planned tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes, shouldn't be too horrible as I will be running with a friend and that usually makes running much more tolerable.

So, I've not been slacking on my running, just slacking on my updates a bit...

Making Ten Miles My Bitch

2011-12-03T12:56:00.001-06:00

This morning I once again broke through that ten mile barrier.

Today, I knew I could get past it, but I still had the little doubts in my head. "Ten miles is a long way, you sure you want to?" Well, the 11.35 miles I did today, says "YES!" I still worry about running ten miles, just not as much any more. I ran it doing 5/1s, but does that mean I ran at leaset 10 miles today or did I walk some of it? Well, turns out, I actually ran 10.09 miles today. While the rest of it was walking.

The entire run took me 1:48:56, which happens to be 3 miles slower than I ran the 10.35 miles last week. Right off the bat, I not only ran further today, but ran quite a bit faster. Average pace overall was 9:36. My average pace during just my 5 minutes of runs, 9:03. There was one 5 minute interval where my pace was 11::34 but that was because I stopped off at my truck and swapped out water bottles. If I did not need to do that, then I would have had a sub 9 min average for the runs. It is all about fast transition times!

I did try to push myself a bit today, to see how it would work out. I wanted better time than I did last week, and I achieved that. Also, with this week, my legs didn't start to feel much until mile 9.25. So that's also a 1.5 mile improvement over last week. I would say that my training is going well for me. Just need to keep with it. Next week is 12 miles. I'm quite comfortable, sitting here with tired and achy legs, in saying that, 12 miles should not be an issue on Saturday at all. I probably could have pushed that out today if I really wanted to, but no need in going beyond what is prescribed and possibly doing some damage that could harm the goal.

My legs now know what 10 miles of actual running is again. They aren't hating me. My head is in a good place right now. Over all, today was a good day for breaking mental barriers and pushing physical limits. Reminds me of a quote I came up with many years ago when I first started getting into shape...

"Limitations are a fabrication of the mind"

Easy 6 Miles... Wait. What?!

2011-11-30T21:14:00.001-06:00

Yup. Title says it all. I went out and ran with a friend and we did an easy 6 mile run today. Not doing 5/1s or anything... A couple of breaks so we could water up. But nice and easy and completed it feeling great.

I remember towards the beginning of the year I was having problems running. I was able to do 3 miles for a while, and my goal was at least 3 miles 5 times a week. Yeah, that fell through, I'm still not running 5 times a week, that is way too agressive with all the other stuff I'm doing lately. But, it was so bad I just stopped running for several months and would go do it, and then flake, and run and flake. No real motivation to run since it was starting over, and that's always hard.

Now I'm being consistant, getting out there 3-4 times a week following my plan to get my 25k done this year on Dec 31st. And I am now at a point where I can say I went out and ran an easy 6 miles and it is! It's amazing to be able to say something like that after so many struggles through out the year that kept me out of it. But, I'm not going to let it get fully to my head. I know something can come along and derail my path here and I will have to start over, but knowing I can, and doing it so successfully now makes me think if I had to, I could.

And I'm still off the sugars since Oct 31st as well as caffeine, which was totally accidental. But, when I cut out the energy drinks, I just never replaced it with tea like I was planning on. I got too lazy to make a cup. Not sure why it was so easy this time around, no real withdrawal issues or anything, just cold turkey and it worked... So far...

Always a struggle and always staying vigilant!

Ten Mile Break Through

2011-11-29T06:53:00.001-06:00

I'm not a runner. I can apparently run, but I don't think I have the mindset of a runner. Yet. I've been trying to be consistent on my running the past couple of months and with only a couple of minor set backs I've been able to maintain my consistency.

I believe that this is starting to show. Not only in my running times and distances, but in my mental game as well. 10 miles was always my "That is a long ass way to run" distance and as such, I always had a mental block there. This past Saturday, started off with a similar mental block. Especially since I didn't make my 8 mile run the weekend before, nor did I actually run at all leading up to the ten miles. Just a super busy week of parties, get togethers and the like which caused me to miss out on my runs. So there it is, me thinking about all the missed runs leading up to 10 miles. My Wall. The point I struggle at. I've run past it before, but it's been well over a year since the last time or two I've done it.

Because of those set backs last week, I went out with the goal of 10 miles. But with the option to cut it short if need be. I decided that the best way to accomplish this would be to head to Memorial Park and just run the loop there, so I could quit after 3 or 6 miles if need be and figured if I hit 9 miles, I will just walk if I have to, to get that 10 miles.

I set my Garmin up for my 5/1s and set off. And off I went! I had no problems at all until around 7.75 miles when my legs started to tighten a little bit. but I ran through it and finished my run with 10.35 miles in 1:43:01. Even with my 5/1 run/walk pacing I managed a 9:57 minute mile. Without the walks, my run average was 9:11. I was rather happy with that. Of course I didn't recover properly afterwards since I went to the car show here and walked around for another 3 or so hours afterwards, but still. Things are looking good! And I'm kind of looking forward to the 11 mile run scheduled for this coming Saturday.

Also, last night I ran 4 miles, nice and easy and didn't feel like I had too much residual issues from the run on Saturday. 4.13 miles in 35:56, means a 8:43 min/mile average 1) 8:52, 2) 8:35, 3) 9:01, 4) 8:21, 5) 8:53 (for the .13) So it was mostly negative splits except for mile 3, which I don't know what happened there, but still not bad!

Let I said before, I'm mentally, not a runner... Yet. But that may change soon....

Bad Nutrition = Bad Run

2011-11-20T11:22:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, went to the Texas Renaissance Festival, which is always a lot of fun. Great shows, interesting people to watch and yummy yummy bad foods. This year, I was trying to be good and not eat too much crap food. And I was quite successful at it. I had one spiced almond (free sample), some fried alligator on a stick, a gyro, and a sausage on a stick. Based on years past, this is a VAST improvement on how I would normally gorge myself stupid there. For drinking, I had one beer and some mead, so again, not bad.

While that was not all that bad, that is ALL I had to eat and drink through out the day. Obviously, firstly, not enough hydration, since I didn't have anything to drink aside the beer and mead. Definitely should have had some water throughout the day. And I knew I should have, but I didn't. And I also didn't really eat much more than that food either throughout the day. Definitely, not enough to fuel my body correctly.

This all showed up today during my run today. Went out to run 8 miles in the trails doing 5/1s. I got 2.5 miles in and my legs were feeling pretty dead already. Not looking good at all! It's not from lack of rest, I slept almost 12 hours last night (was very tired and apparently needed that sleep!) I had a little bit to eat and drink before I went out for the run, but apparently my glycogen levels were very depleted. I managed to run 4.5 miles and then had to stop, legs were not able to give me any more, so I walked the last quarter mile back to the truck.

This definitely shows me how important nutrition really is. The run wasn't horrible, wasn't even bad. Just had legs that didn't want to work because they were depleted. Will definitely have to keep this in mind when I'm out there doing fun things again. I know I can enjoy some of the bad foods out there, but also need to combine it with the good foods and be sure to drink plenty of hydrating liquids to make sure the body is fueled and ready to be used to it's fullest capabilities at all time. This way I don't have problems with having fun and then running the next day like this again.

This week will be a challenge with Thanksgiving on Thursday. Lots of yummy foods, both good and bad and so it will be a challenge to not gorge myself on either kinds and stay healthy and ready to run on Saturday!

A Week of Confusion.

2011-11-18T08:08:00.001-06:00

What an interesting week this has been. Started off on Monday with my 5k TT so I could take a measure of where I am so I can see some progress.

I also had a one pound weight gain, and 3% body fat loss. Which for me meant I gained 7 pounds of muscle. That seemed odd to me, so I just stuck with what I was doing and waited for today to see what the scale would say. I'm taking these measurements on the same scale, and so it should be a bit more consistent.

Tue 11/08 - 224.8 Pounds 23.4% Body Fat
Fri 11/11 - 224.6 Pounds 23.8% Body Fat
Mon 11/14 - 225.2 Pounds 20.9% Body Fat
Fri 11/18 - 222.2 Pounds 23.1% Body Fat

As you can see, Monday was a strange day there.

My 5K TT was just as strange. I had an average pace of 8:18 min/mile. Which I was a little bit disappointed with as I was hoping for closer to 8:00-8:05 or something. But I did have some struggles with my stomach on it, as such, I took it in stride (pun intended!)

Last night, I went for a 3 mile run, which is only .1 mile shorter than 5k. I went out to do a nice easy run to loosen up a bit and see how things felt after the core workout in the morning, and the 4 mile run I did on Wednesday. I also went in yesterday morning to the Asthma and Allergy specialist and they poked me 64 times with various things to see if I have any allergies I should be made aware of and the only ones that came up were cat and dog (knew about the cat one, but not the dog one.) Anyways, I went out nice and easy, not breathing too hard or anything, and the first mile ticked off, I didn't look at the watch as I didn't really want to know, it was an easy run. I didn't want to start getting competitive with myself.

I finished the run, and saw the time: 23:35.88

Wait. What?! How was that possible? It was an easy run, I wasn't breathing hard at all! So I got home and dumped the data. Yeah. First two miles I averaged 7:55 minute miles. The third mile was 7:41 minute mile. So the average for the three miles was 7:51. My average pace over all was 25 seconds a mile FASTER on this easy run. My average heart rate was 173.

How can one go out, with the mind set to run as fast as they can, and be so much slower than going out for an easy run? This I don't know.

But I do know, if this is the case, I am getting slower closer to my speeds I was at back in 2007/2008, and I like it.

5k TT and Disappointments

2011-11-14T19:55:00.001-06:00

Today I had planned to do a 5k time trial run. This is so I can figure out where I am currently, and watch my progress over the next month when I have another one scheduled on my training program.

Over the 5k (3.1 miles) I averaged 8:18 min/mile pace. I was really hoping for something closer to 8:00. I did have some stomach issues while I was out there, basically it felt like my stomach was punching itself which I think was due to various pills (vitamins, Advil, etc) I popped too close to the run time. Next time, I will take the vitamins, etc after the run so that they won't interfere. I haven't run a 5k TT in years, and last time I don't remember my time, just that it was between 21-22 minutes.

I was looking back at my various runs over the last several months. Most of them were easy when I run the jogging path at Memorial Park, and then I stumbled across one I did in early October, where I ran 3 miles with a 8:24 min/mile pace. That kind of stung. How was I able to run that fast with out really trying? And yet when I was trying I barely did better? One of the things was the stomach issue that's for sure. I had to stop to a walk for about 15 seconds twice to try to set aside the pain. I'm thinking the another thing, was I had a super busy weekend. I ran 5.5 miles on Saturday morning, where I didn't use 5/1s. Simply because I forgot until after the first mile and decided to go with it. That was a surprisingly quick run from and I was quite happy with it.

After that run, I went mountain biking, which I was feeling the run while pedaling around. So, the legs were well worked on Saturday. Sunday, I went outrigger canoeing. Not a leg workout but definitely a back workout. And last time I had planned the 5k TT I had to stop because it was a day after an OC practice and my back gave out. Today, I did feel my back a little bit, so I had prepared for it with a super hot shower and stretching, and Advil (yeah those pills I popped too soon to running time.) I think if I ease off the weekend activities just before the TT, then I should have better times. Plus, with all the training I'm putting in between now and then to get myself back into shape, I am hoping for something better.

Am I disappointed about this run? Sure. But it was a learning experience like always and I know what not to do next time and as well, what to try. I do think I am on some correct tracks though with nutrition and the training, just need to keep at it and keep an eye on things.

Rough Week

2011-11-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

I had a bunch of goals set for November, after a successful October, but this was cut short because of several things going on. First, was my fridge flaking out on me. This meant I had no means of keeping foods after cooking and had to toss a bunch out. This makes it hard to cook ahead and stay healthy. Second was/is work. I don't normally let work get too involved in my non-work time, but the last several weeks it's been hard with two weeks of training and then a major planned power outage at work today. That meant I couldn't plan on anything this weekend for getting out and doing stuff as I don't know when I go in or for how long. Yesterday I got there at 6:45am and left at 11:15pm, then didn't know if I was coming in today in the morning or evening when the power comes back. As it turns out, it will be this evening.

Because of that it's been hard to keep up with my work outs and eating. But, I have been not too bad with eating and making good choices by going to the grocery stores and getting chicken and salads and veggies for lunches while at work. I did have pizza last night, but it was ordered in for the group of us working and I didn't gorge too badly on it. And I had some gnocchi for breakfast today, as it was thawed out from the fridge and needed eating. And some mexican food as well today, grilled chicken with onions, mushrooms and cheese, with rice and beans. So not great, but I never over ate and don't feel bad about doing it. I know the coming week will also be a challenge as I need to get back to working out and eating healthy and restocking my fridge.

All in all, it wasn't a bad first week of November for my goals, not meeting them all, but still meeting some of them. Again, this goes back to my thinking that goals need to be flexible since you never know what life is going to throw your way and you just have to go with the flow and do your best.

Goals: Flexible or Not?

2011-10-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

Today I had a goal to run 8 miles. I woke up this morning feeling a bit cruddy, so I adjusted my goal to run 5 miles and see how I feel. The weather here in Houston is awesome currently. As I headed out, the temps were in the low 50s. After a summer of record weather: most days in the 100s, highest temperatures, no rain, to name a few; these cooler temps which wouldn't feel that cold in years past but this morning it felt cold to me. I don't know if it was because I was feeling cruddy, or just not use to the temps for so long but I was feeling the cold this morning, so I waited a bit before going out when I had planned to. Another goal, running by 8.

So, for those keeping track, that's two goals today alone: 8 miles, and running by 8. I didn't make either goal, I adjusted them. I ended up getting to my run around 10:20 and ran around 6.4 miles. So, I guess I technically made the adjusted goal of run 5 miles and see how I felt. At mile 5 I was feeling a bit tight in the legs so knew I should push past it too much further, but I also was in the back of the trails when that happened so running back was the only option I had.

As disappointing as not running 8 miles should have been since I didn't make that goal, it was one of the most enjoyable runs I've ever had. For me, this means more than reaching any goal, original or adjusted. It's documented quite well how much I'm not a fan of running. So any time I have an enjoyable run, I think that trumps any goals I have. And since this was the most enjoyable this counts as a good run. And I will take it.

This brings up the question. Should goals be flexible? I mean, I didn't reach my goals as I wanted, but still feel great about the run. I didn't make the 8 miles which means I'm behind on the training I am trying to accomplish, but does that much? Will next weeks run goal (10 miles) be achievable because I had a good run this week even though it was 1.6 miles short? I guess I will find out next week!

Why all this talk about goals now? I came across a revelation recently. I set myself a goal for the month of October to not eat out at a restaurant all month. Now, I didn't reach that goal because I did eat out a couple of times, but much less than I normally do, which had a surprising effect on my bank account. So, even though I didn't reach the goal, I had positive results. This has got me to thinking that I really need to start creating myself more proper goals. I always say "my goal is whatever" and although I say that, I don't actually make it happen. I once saw a sign that said "Goals are dreams with a plan."

Time to start planning out my dreams and turning them into goals.

Addictions and Distractions

2011-10-26T08:17:00.000-05:00

Yes. I know. I need to be better at writing up here. But, I have really bad excuses for not doing it. "Tomorrow" "Nothing good to write." "blah blah blah."

Anyways.

So, the last couple weeks I've been in training for work. Basically 8 hour days in front of a computer in a hot conference room. Sitting around eating bad foods and coming out totally unenergized. So, I have not ridden my bike. I have not ran since last Wednesday. I did partake in some Dragon Boat races on Saturday though. So I have not been a complete slug. I was suppose to run 4 miles Monday, but did not as I was suppose to head to Clear Lake for a birthday celebration, but did not because traffic was horrible. So instead, went for a burger and beer.

Yesterday I was suppose to run 4 miles, to make up for the four missed on Monday, but got out of training zombiefied and so, I didn't.

I've been eating like crap because it is free food and well, free food when you are low on money is a good thing! This week I have been making better choices (no chips, extra fruit cups) but I still find myself buying and eating sugar loaded pies, cakes, what have you with out thinking about it until after the fact. This is something I continuously fight with. I keep trying to find that zone that I was in several years ago when I did not have any sugar related items for a couple of years, but it continuously eludes me.

I keep trying to get on the Paleo Diet which I have done before for a couple of months and had great success with it, but then I fell off that fairly hard and just haven't been able to get back on there. Right now, the hard part is because of these distractions at work of free meals. But luckily for me they end this week and I can get back into a schedule next week that I'm familiar with for work outs and eating.

The title is "Addictions and Distractions" and I have discovered they go hand in hand. My addiction to sugar is amplified by distractions to being healthy. The less active I am and the poorer my food choices are, the more I crave the sugary, chocolaty foods. Right now my distractions in life are this this training for work. It will end soon and I can better refocus myself against the addictions again. I will also attempt to get back on the Paleo wagon again once I have time to start cooking and getting things ready. I have always been trying to do it cold turkey. Cutting out the dairy, grains and other processed foods all at once, but this time I am thinking about doing it in sections. Cut out dairy first, then grains, then processed foods (or some order of the three.)

Right now I have been doing "enough" to maintain my weight, which is not a good thing, as if I cut out the extra calories I mindlessly consume (damn you chocolate fudge pies!) I would probably drop weight very fast, with the running I am doing.

Speaking of running. That has been going not too bad all things considered. I have been fairly good at being consistent with it (up until the last two weeks) and so my distances and speeds have improved quite a bit. I have been happy with it and am looking forward to getting back into it so I can continue to improve. The running goal right now is to get up to 15 miles for two long runs, then I can ease off and reintroduce resistance training. I feel this will help me maintain the distance and speed and also rebuild some lost muscle mass, which will in turn help me burn more fat in a healthy manner. Plus, 15 miles has always been my goal distance to have at a moments notice. "Want to go run a 25k this weekend?" Sure! I can do that without thinking! So, we shall see how that goes over the next month as I'm about that far away from getting there!

Until next time (hopefully much sooner than last time!)

Coming Back!

2011-09-20T07:10:00.001-05:00

Hey hey hey... (Always reminds me of Fat Albert)

So here it is, many many many months since I last posted. There have been some ups and a whole lot of downs since then, mostly why I have not posted. But things are slowly creeping their way back up again. I have been back to training, and getting more and more happening there. Third week and this is my first week where my morning workouts (yes, I know it is only Tuesday, but I am 2/2!) have actually fully happened.

Been working on my biking, as I was asked to be a part of a triathlon relay as the biker for it. So, decided that was a good place to start. I have my hard workout tonight which last week, after I was done, well, never finished, because it was the closest I have come to vomiting ever in a work out. It is a rough one! Basically it is 50 minutes long. 5 minute warm up with a cadence around 85-95. Then I spin up to 100-125rpm. Then 5 min rest at 85-95. I do 5 repeats of that. Then, a 10 minute cool down afterwards. Ouch.

I have noticed though after my run yesterday that these spin ups actually sped up my cadence on my run as well. So I had some extra speedy feet last night! I do not know my stats from last night as I have not uploaded them yet, but I know my first mile was sub 8:30 which is quite painful for someone that has not been running much lately and caused me to be super slow on the next two miles! Ended up with a 27:30ish time for 3 miles, so not horrible and a good start!

I have been doing weekly trail runs with a friend as well. I am sure these runs have helped with the running, but we do 5/1s and last night I was not doing 5/1s. But I could tell I had been training for them, as I kept wondering when I could start walking!

Eating wise, yeah, a different story. I have not been good at all here. I am trying to behave and go back to eating Paleo like. But, it is a struggle as I try to find some foods that I can cook in batches so I do not have to worry about cooking during the week. The main problem is breakfasts. Always so rushed in the mornings, that I end up eating from the cafeteria and I have managed to limit the damage there, still would prefer not to (not only for the waistline but the wallet line!)

Anyways, that is the update for today, and I will be back sooner than last time! Promise!

Enjoy!

Biking - Good and Bad

2011-03-15T21:35:00.000-05:00

So I've been putting time in on the bike. Doing the Shiner GASP in May has got me a bit motivated which is good. I've been using my mountain bike lately because I need repairs on the road bike which I can't really afford right now. And unfortunately turns out the mountain bike needs some repairs too, and I just got it back from the shop, so I will be taking it back in tomorrow to see what's up. Just some loose spokes so it shouldn't be a big deal, but still. So that's the bad.

Anyways, today I was suppose to ride an easy 15 miles with a friend. But he got a migraine and so canceled out. No worries, I headed to MP myself and was thinking about my workouts this week and how they just won't fit into the schedule too well because of other things going on. I started thinking about doing more than the 15 miles so my Thursday ride can be shorter since I'm busy that day. But after the first 5 miles, I realized how fast I was going and decided to keep the tempo going and see just how fast I could do the 15 in on the mountain bike. Then as I got closer to the 15, I decided to up it to one hour to see how far I can go in one hour at a good tempo. And as it turns out I managed 17.32 miles. Which is not a bad speed for the mountain bike and for me being out of shape! I can totally see me getting quite a bit faster with the consistent training. After that, I spun easy for another 9 miles, so got a total of 26ish in tonight. Meaning Thursday will technically only need to be 15 miles, but I might just do 5 since it's St Patrick's day and I'm going to be hanging out at Howl (You should come out! Tell them Steve sent you to get in free and a couple cheapo drinks!)

This past Saturday I put in 30 miles and that felt pretty good until I got off the bike. My legs and butt just didn't want to move around too much, but after a nice hot shower things became flexible again and I was good.

I've also started doing weights again last week. And I'm noticing improvements already on that. So that's also motivating. I'm suppose to do it tomorrow but Wednesdays are optional, if I get up and feel good or feel good after work then I will do it, if not, I will do it on Friday, which is not an optional day.

So things on this front are seeming to be pretty good.

Now if I can get the rest of my life cleaned up like this, it would great. Latest truck news, someone tried to break into it. They failed but they screwed up the passenger door lock. So that will have to be replaced once I can save up the money for that. My poor truck... Always getting beat up on.

I'm still here...

2011-03-03T10:01:00.000-06:00

Don't know if anyone really reads this, but I am still here.

I was kind of down and out with a sickness the last two weeks. But I'm getting back into the swing of things now.

Yesterday I realized I have less than ten weeks left before Shiner GASP (a 100 mile bike ride from Austin to Shiner.) This prompted me to get a biking schedule figured out. So for the next 9+ weeks I have biking three times a week, trying to get my mileage up to where I need it to be so I can enjoy the ride. I could probably survive it now, but yeah, enjoying it would be much better.

With that, I will be adding some strength training as well, trying to get my lean muscle back. This sitting around doing nothing has definitely put a toll on my body that it's not use to, and it's time to get things back to where they need to be.

I still need to get my sugar addiction under control. I had a good couple of days this week, but then fell backwards yesterday. ... Interestingly (just now thought of this) yesterday was the only day this week I didn't have my smoothie for breakfast. If it's helping me stay away from those other things, I need to redouble my effort to making sure I have a morning smoothie every day.

Will start posting my frequently again now that I'm getting back into things...

Still Struggling

2011-02-10T09:51:00.000-06:00

There hasn't been much to post about lately. I've been on the bike a couple of times, but that's about it. Still struggling with my bad eating habits as they go down hill as well still.

Trying to dig myself out of this whole I seem to be burying myself in. Probably won't be posting much over the next couple of weeks still as I work my way through this.

Rough Week - Hard Times to Come

2011-01-28T12:36:00.000-06:00

Here it is Friday around noon. I've not run at all this week. So the goal for this week is not going to be met. I'm OK with that. I've stepped back and noticed some other things that need to be paid attention to right now.

Running isn't one of my favorite things. I need to work to get myself out there. This week has been rough because of dealing with truck problems, bike problems, and as of last night phone problems. So with all this other stuff going on, I can't get the energy to get myself out to run.

I'm an emotional eater. When things start getting bad, I will eat. I will eat things that don't taste great, and are bad for me. When things get really rough, I gain weight. Which, in turn, makes me depressed more, and the cycle becomes a spiral and heads downward quickly. It then becomes hard to break out of.

This is where I'm at now. In the spiral. I know this. I know what needs to be done to stop all of this from continuing on. But, it's hard to break that spiral. Emotions is stronger than logic (try arguing with someone who is very emotionally upset about something, using logic.)

I don't want to be here, in this spiral. It makes me tired, lazy, fatter and just all around unhappy. There is a lot I want to do this year and next, but this spiral is pointed the wrong direction to make this happen...

I am declaring war. War on my health. Mental. Emotional. Physical. It's all getting a make over and attitude adjustment. This weekend the war plan will be formulated and the execution of said plan will commence immediately forth with!

Some people have said my previous posts were kind of rough on myself. I reread them and didn't think they were rough at all. And I don't think this one is rough on me either. It's the simple truth of where I'm at, and what needs to be done to fix things. I'm not upset at myself, I just know now is the time to make the changes needed to find the happy Steve that dwells inside.

Rough Time Lately

2011-01-25T09:22:00.000-06:00

Last week I didn't make my goal exactly. I missed out on running five days. But I had five runs in. I doubled up on Thursday because I knew I wasn't going to get a run in on Saturday because of having to take my truck in for supposedly an oil change.

I got to the dealership to get the 115k service (just basic oil change and some other things) and waited around. I did tell them that there was some funky squeaking happening as well so they were going to look into that. After waiting for three hours they came back to me and let me know what was going on. Needed water pump replaced and some bushings on the tie-rods and struts and stuff (not a car guy so no real clue here.) This immediately brought me into a bit of a depression. Broken trucks and bad finances will always do this.

Sunday, went out biking, and got in 20 miles in about an hour forty. I was feeling pretty down still and this ride was actually pretty hard. A 20 mile ride shouldn't be that hard at this point. So, that contributes to the downward spiral.

Monday morning, I wake up at the alarm, and hear it raining and decide I didn't really want to go through the hassle of getting dress to run in the rain. Plus I was really feeling the bike in my legs still. So I went back to sleep with the plan of going running in the evening. Everyone talks about getting your work out done in the morning because something may come up later in the day which makes you miss out on it. And this was definitely true yesterday. I had a scheduled meeting after work, and because of the weather it got delayed about 30 minutes. Then it also went on a bit longer than I had anticipated at this time as well. But that's ok, still plenty of time to go run. Get into my truck, and the battery is dead. Crap. So my mood sinks again, and running is completely out now.

I call up Triple-A and they come out in about an hour, and I get going. Running is out, because it's too late, I would be too wired from it to be able to sleep. Plus I just don't feel like it at all. I stop at Whataburger for dinner. It didn't really taste great, but it was comforting. Yup, I eat crap when I need comforting even when it doesn't taste good.

I get home, and get everything ready so I can run in the morning. It will be a new day and things are going to be good tomorrow!

Alarm goes off at 4am, and it awakes me from a dream where some lady crashed into my truck because she was driving down the wrong side of the road. While waiting for the cops to show, I find out she has no insurance I start going into a bit of a rage fit, but before anything really happens, that's when the alarm went off. So I wake up pissed off. And my knee is locked. I slept funny and it won't move or anything. And I also have a bunch of blood in my mouth from biting through my tongue again. Great start to the day. I'm going back to sleep.

My goal for this week is in a flux, I'm not sure I will make it. But, goals are things to reach for. And the real goal is 3 miles a day, 5 days a week for 2011. There will be weeks when I don't make that happen. There will be weeks when I do make it happen. And I expect down the road, I will have much more mileage than just 3 miles a day. So, I will continue to reach for this goal.

I will also take lessons learned here, to always make sure to get that run in, in the morning, because YES, you don't know what will happen through out the day, which may cause you to miss out on the run or whatever.

Another lesson is some times you do need to just step back and take a break, breathe a little and don't worry about hitting all your goals bang on. In the end it doesn't really matter, as long as you can keep yourself happy and continue to be happy doing what you are doing. Don't beat yourself up because you missed out on a work out, or a financial goal in a certain time or something. Life happens, and it passes you by while you are berating yourself. Something happens deal with it, move past it and get on with the good stuff again.

Supposedly I will be going running after work tonight if my knee behaves it self. If not, then definitely in the morning. We shall see if it happens or not either way. It is OK.

Running Times Two

2011-01-20T20:58:00.000-06:00

Woke up this morning when the alarm went off at 4am. I grumbled. I was exhausted. I was set to reset the alarm when I remembered that this morning I was actually meeting someone at 5 to run, so up I got. Headed to Memorial and was cursing the clouds since it was a full moon last night. It would have been awesome to run in that moonlight. Oh well.

Met up with my running partner and off we went. We chatted and I didn't have much problem at all today keeping with her. I'm not sure if she slowed down a bit because she was running with me, or was just taking it easy, but yeah today was much easier than when we ran the first time week ago this last Monday. It did take us longer, and I noticed when I uploaded the data off my watch that we were running 9:30s instead of the 8:30s last time. Will have to ask about that when we meet up on Monday again. "Make me work! I need the push!" But was also glad it was easy since my plan was to run trails tonight as well.

That's right. You heard me. Or saw me as this case is. Two runs in one day! I did it because I forgot I was going to run with my morning running partner until after I had already posted saying I was going to run trails. So in case anyone showed up (and no one did) I would be at the trails to run with them.

It was colder tonight running than it was this morning too. There was quite a wind blowing which I have problems with. I can handle cold, cold and wet. But not wind. That just cuts right through me, so I bundled up in my big fleecy orange shirt and a wind breaker. And off I went. The trails were closed so I hopped the fence (relax!) and ran down Purple until it came to the trail that has logs across it to keep the bikers off, and heads towards the railroad tracks. I ran along the tracks to the street and then down to the Triangle since it doesn't close. I figured a nice quick lap of that and back would get me about three miles. Of course it had been a loooong time since I've been to the triangle. And it's always been on bike before. I found a trail that I wasn't familiar with at all and it took me to the horse stables of the polo field. Oops. No idea where I was on the trails at this point and was also pretty close to the 3 mile mark at this time, along with thoughts of "this is going to turn into a 6 mile run!"

I back tracked my steps to where the road and trail met and found another trail, and it was short and sweet and dumped me at the rail road tracks. Cool! And I followed that and it went straight to Memorial Drive and was a lot closer than I was expecting! So my 3 mile run, which I was starting to think was going to turn into a 6 mile at least turned into only at 3.7 mile run. Which I did in about 42 minutes. Not too shabby considering I did a little walking wondering where I was going, and hopping over logs and through tunnels and such. And it was ... enjoyable. I definitely will have to be doing a lot more trail running if I want to keep with my running goals.

Speaking of. I may not make my 5 days this week, so I'm cheating a little bit and using one of my two runs today as a second run. It's going to depend on what happens with my truck on Saturday as I need to take it into the shop for it's 115k checkup. Hopefully won't take too long and I can get a quick run in, but if not, then yeah, I'm fudging my numbers a bit, and am OK with that.

Lack of Biking Motivation

2011-01-19T20:09:00.000-06:00

It seems I'm currently lacking motivation to really bike. This isn't so great, considering I have quite a few miles to ride in May. I did get on it, and I did about 11 miles in 45ish minutes. Fairly slow and easy going, but I was very tired from the run this morning and non stop go go go all day. I almost fell asleep at my desk the last two hours of work.

I'm starting to think I might have to nap at work during lunch so I get energized for my afternoon workouts after early morning ones. I'm doing a double run tomorrow so we shall see how I feel for that second run which will be a trail run.

At least I'm not lacking motivation for the running these days, so that's good. Just sad I am on the bike since I like it most. But I'm sure once things start flowing again with a routine that will change and I will be hammer out the miles without second thoughts!

Early Morning Run in the Moon Light

2011-01-19T10:20:00.000-06:00

First favourite way to run is in the rain. But after this morning a very close second is now running under neath a (near)full moon. The bright glow of the moon radiating on the still earth that early (4:45am) in the morning was positively brilliant.

My run sucked still, but it was a good run. Did the 3.04 miles in 27:03, so yeah, not horrible. Mile paces: 8:37, 9:04, 8:54. So yeah, not horrible at all. The first mile did feel more fluid than I did last night, and it slowly got rougher, but over all it was more fluid feeling.

If you get the chance, go out and run in the moonlight.

Still Feeling Off

2011-01-18T22:21:00.000-06:00

So I am still feeling off. Running felt pretty crappy too because of it. But, I did get out there and do it. And today the Suunto decided to work again correctly, so I got my stats and realized no wonder it was a bit rough. The first mile was done at 8:35, followed by 9:02 and then 8:58. I was hoping for a nice easy run, and that wasn't really it.

While I was running I felt like a lumbering troll. Everything just seemed to be moving awkward like. I need to refind the fluid motion I once had, even if it didn't look like it, it felt fluid to me. That made runs a bit more enjoyable. But ah well. I'm still out there running and that's what's counting!

It's late, I'm tired. Night!

Don't Feel Like It.

2011-01-17T19:43:00.000-06:00

I didn't get up this morning to run. The person I was suppose to run Mon/Wed emailed last night saying they weren't going to because they had the day off and wanted to bike instead. So, that has been one run out of three since saying we were going to do it. So much for accountability there. Plus I was just totally exhausted, so the sleep was good.

I woke up in a blah mood, didn't want to go run after work. Work was blah, still didn't want to go run after work. After work was blah and still didn't want to go run. But I ran. Don't really feel like blogging about it, but oh well, I ran so I should write it up here. I had forgotten my watch at home, so no exact distances (not that I would have probably had them since it's been flakey lately.) and just used my iPod's stop watch to time myself on the loop at Memorial. 26:41 was my time. So my nice and easy run tonight was my fastest in a while. There were no stops no walking no nothing, I just ran. While running I didn't want to be running. Hopefully tomorrow I will not be so blah and things will be good again.

Gooooooaaaaallll!

2011-01-15T10:52:00.000-06:00

Did it! Got my first weekly goal done of the year! 5 runs of at least three miles! It was pretty rough today though.

I woke up not able to breathe very well at all. My asthma was effecting me and I think there was also some allergy issues at work. I've been pretty bad lately at taking my Claritin so I'm sure with the whacky weather, it's the root cause of it. But I do plan on seeking out an Asthma specialist and getting my Asthma completely under control soon, which should help a bit.

Last night I said I wouldn't run only if my leg was broken, well, leg wasn't broken so I went for my run, even though I couldn't breathe. I really did hum and haw on going, but decided I really wanted to reach my weekly goal this week, so out the door to Memorial Park I went.

I got there, and I'm still struggling a bit with that breathing thing, but it's better and manageable. Off I went, running down the path. It didn't feel too bad considering I had ran 4 days already this week. I was a bit tight, but loosened up quickly. I managed to get about 1/2 way around the loop before I had to walk because of my breathing issues. I walked for a minute or two and started up again, and managed to only slow down to a walk when I took a drink until the last mile. That's when I had to slow down a couple more times just to get breathing under control. But, I managed the full loop and got my three miles in today to complete my weekly goal! I did it in 27:36, which, considering the slow downs and walks I did was pretty good!

I came home and cooked up a nice pork cutlet with red potato hash browns and fried egg with toast and pomegranate green tea for recovery foods. Yum!

Now I can veg out the rest of the weekend! (not)

Here's the weekly stats:

Day	Miles	Time	Avg Pace
Monday	3.13	28:48	9:12
Tuesday	3.01	27:15	9:03
Thursday	3.27	41:56	12:49
Friday	3.01	27:01	8:58
Saturday	3.01	27:26	9:10
Totals	15.43	2:32:26	9:50 (avg)

I am hoping that next weekend I can add a long run, of 6 miles to this. But we shall see how things progress this week. Definitely off to a good start!

Running in the Rain and Suunto is Unhappy

2011-01-14T21:52:00.000-06:00

Today was run number four of the week. I've almost reached my first full weekly goal of 2011! Just one more run and I will have done it. One week out of two, isn't bad, 50/50 is a good result for me at this time! But I won't be counting those eggs just yet.

Had a decent run today, it started to rain while I was out there running the Memorial Jogging Path, which made it more enjoyable for me. Not sure why, but the more miserable the weather out there, the more I enjoy the run. Yes, I'm odd, but most of you (is there anyone out there?) probably already knew that. It was just a nice easy run, one three mile lap in 27:01. So that was a nice time for getting back into things especially since last week I couldn't even run the entire thing.

I'm not sure what my paces were for the mile splits, because my Suunto T6c is acting up again. It took about 10+ minutes to get linked to the satellites. This seems to be happening more and more frequently. I've not done any research on it yet. Just change batteries and hope for the best. I might have to think about changing out for a different GPS+HRM system. But we shall see what happens there.

Sort of looking forward to my run tomorrow. Will mean meeting my goal of running for at least one out of the 52 weeks this year. So, here's to hoping I don't break a leg in my sleep!

Biking and Running

2011-01-13T22:16:00.000-06:00

So I didn't get my entry in yesterday for my biking as I just ran out of time and fell asleep early. And now it's late and I'm tired but need to get this off before I get too far behind.

Had a nice chilly bike yesterday. I did my first lap and realized I needed more layers, so quickly stopped tossed on my fuzzy orange shirt and that was much better. About a month ago I did buy a nice cycling jacket specifically for protecting against the wind and rain during these cooler months, and it definitely is doing it's job well. So quite pleased with that purchase. The biking wasn't overly great, but I got 13.5 miles in. I bonked at mile 12, and figured it was time to stop before something stupid happened. I definitely need a lot more saddle time ASAP! As well as getting better at my nutrition again, since I'm bonking after twelve miles, which is pretty bad! But over all it wasn't bad.

Today, I ran in the trails a bit. Was a nice change of pace. I think I will feel it tomorrow, as I'm not use to that kind of movement. And I can say that I definitely enjoy running trails much more than I do road. The extra challenges of dodging the roots and hills and rocks and low hanging branches... Forgot about those ones I did. I had a good reintroduction to what it's like to run into a branch with my head. Then as I grabbed my head in pain, I kind of forgot I had a bike bottle in my hand and stuck the spout into my eye. Talk about a double whammy! (Yes you may laugh, as this is funny and I'm sure the sight of it all was hilarious!)

For those of you familiar with MP, I ran from the rugby pitch, to Yellow, keeping left. Then left at Purple and left onto Orange immediately there. Ran along that until Purple popped up, then left until Orange intersected, followed that to where it dumped out onto Purple again. Then I ran Purple back to where Orange dumped out onto Purple, ran Orange back to where I started on Orange, and then back on to Yellow, to Purple then out onto the rugby pitch again. So it was sort of an out and back, just ran Purple back instead of the little Orange trail, to make sure I got some mileage in.

As it turns out, I ended up running about 3.25 miles in 41 minutes. Which isn't bad, as I was taking it slow and several stops and walk breaks. I will keep this path in mind and try it again in a couple weeks to see if there is much improvement. I like how technical it is without being too technical at this time since I'm so prone to injury running trails when first starting out.

Tomorrow should be a nice boring run on the jogging path again to get loose and ready for a longerish run on Saturday.

Refresher on Running Etiquette

2011-01-11T18:40:00.000-06:00

Today class, I would like to go over some basic running etiquette. Brought about from todays run (more on this later.)

1) When running on the trail, side walk, whatever, run no more than two abreast. If on single track, then single file please. This makes room for people coming from the opposite direction. If you do happen to be running more than single file, then when you see people coming at you from the opposite direction, and you are in their way, then YOU move out of their way by going single file!

2) Keep right when not running on the road. The reason for running on the left side of the road, is for safety reasons. You move away from the vehicles that you can't see, and move towards the one you can see. This allows you to dodge idiot drivers, instead of them hitting you. When on the trails or side walks or whatever, on this continent, we drive on the right, so we run on the right. Everyone around you is running on the right, and this is a good instance to be a sheep and join in for safety. Big people don't like to dodge idiots, so we run through you (more on this later.)

3) If you need to spit or blow a snot rocket, look around and make sure you won't nail someone else with your bodily fluids. We don't want to know what they feel like. We have our own that we are trying to get rid of, no need to add yours to ours.

OK. Everyone clear on those? Good.

Moving on.

Today's run was not too bad. I actually made the entire loop without stopping. And that included when I collided with someone. They were running 4 abreast and didn't move out of my path, and at this time I was tired of the people in my way, so I didn't slow, or move, I just was doing my own run in my own lane. About half a mile earlier there were 3 people walking on the wrong side of the path, and I went around them shaking my head and decided that was dumb. Then when I saw this next joker, I decided screw it, he was moving I wasn't since I didn't have any place left to go. So I ran through him. It was a hard thud on my arm that I felt. I heard some kind of noise, but didn't look back because I was too busy having a good run. There. I said it. I had a good run.

I did the three miles in about 27:15 or so I think (I haven't checked the watch yet) and yeah, it felt good. The last mile felt really long though, but it got done with out a walk break. So, I am finally pleased with a run this year. Things are looking good!

Tomorrow morning's run should be interesting. 25F at 5am. I wonder how many people will be out there in the (actual) freezing temps. This kid for one will be just to see who's there and to enjoy the rare cold down here (=

Weekend Camping and Todays Run

2011-01-10T20:08:00.001-06:00

Well this weekend was spent at Hill Country State Natural Area near Bandera, Texas. It was a lot of fun. The Bandera 25k, 50k and 100k was going on this weekend so went up there to check it out and to cheer on the friends that were there running the various races. While I didn't do any running this weekend, I did do some hiking. It ended up being close to 5 miles of very hilly and rocky terrain that was hiked in amongst the runners. Then afterwards did another 2ish mile walk down the road. So while there was no running, the legs were still moving and so I think that counts, especially in those hills. Reminded me of almost like back home. It was a good weekend!

This morning I was up at the crack of too damn early, and went running. First morning run in a long time. I met up with someone who is also training for IMTX, we are going to meet Mon and Wed to hold each other accountable for getting there and getting our runs in. She's much faster and more along in her running (as she's a runner!) so hopefully she doesn't get to sick of me tagging a long as much as I can. But because she was there, I got up and ran. And it wasn't a horrible run. She did push me, and we did the proper 3 mile loop, starting at mile zero and ran around to the mile 3 marker which is past the zero mile marker, since the loops isn't quite 3 miles. My GPS tracked us at 3.11 miles though so not sure who to believe here. But either way, did it in under 28 minutes and it was longer than my previous runs so it was all good. It was good to be running in the morning again. Hopefully I can continue this and be able to get my morning runs in again!

Next run planned is tomorrow after work. So, no chance in missing out that one! Unless I over sleep at work and miss going home!

Update: (9:50pm 1/10/2011)
Just uploaded the stats from my watch and realized the first two miles were done at a pace of 8:34 and 8:22, no wonder I was hurting! The last mile was 10:22 because of that short walking break. So yeah, if I can keep that up, I will be back in no time!

Running Pains, Asthma and Pacing Issues

2011-01-07T06:50:00.000-06:00

I woke up Wednesday and my legs were really feeling the running from Monday and Tuesday, so I decided to call it a rest day. My calves, shins and quads were all super tight, and quads were a bit sore. Since the major goal of 2011 is no injuries I won't go for a run if my legs are already hurting or are super stiff, as I'm kind of prone to running injuries. Better to take a rest day and be able to run tomorrow than to run today and not be able to run for a week or two.

I then made the plan to wake up Thursday and go for a run in the morning. I use to be a super early morning person, but not sure what happened as I really have been struggling the last year to wake up at all in the mornings. Is it age? Change in diet? Change of stress levels? I don't know, but I'm going to get my morning workouts back! And yes. I woke up Thursday morning at 4:45am, ready to go, the alarm went off and I was ready. But again, my legs weren't so happy with that idea. So I decided I would run after work instead. But I didn't go back to sleep. I need to get use to this waking up early thing, so I stayed awake and puttered around the house to keep myself awake and get ready for the day.

After work I did run. My legs were feeling a bit better, just a bit heavy at this point, but better. I headed out to Memorial Park and headed out for the run. I did the three miles in just over 27 minutes. Still really slow for me. But there was lots of walking involved, which means I was probably starting off way too fast, since it's just over 9 minute miles with long walking periods mixed in. I need to get better at pacing myself, more on this in a bit. I also started to have some breathing issues. It was hard to breath out there for some reason, and it's been a long time since I've had asthma issues while running.

I've had asthma since I was two. Before it was cool to have it, I'm a trend setter like that you know? And I never had a daily medicine, just emergency inhalers growing up. Several years ago, I got put on some daily meds and it helped quite a bit, but I stopped with it last year due to needing new prescriptions and needing to find a new doctor. Unfortunately, my current medical insurance really sucks and so it's expensive to go to doctors and such. But I know if I want to make the most of this athletic stuff, I really need to get my lungs under control. So, I will be looking for a good doctor for that, and see what I can do to get all that dealt with.

After the run, I was still having some breathing issues and coughing a bit. Today, I wake up in a similar state, and I'm now worried I'm getting sick. Hopefully I can fend this off quickly and keep moving forward.

Back to the pacing issues. From the people that I know, it seems like when they are running, they find a groove and just start running with it, and know what their pace is. Everyone has a built in metronome I believe. This allows them to keep beat with songs, create new beats, etc. I have a broken one. I struggle to keep beat in songs, which made it very hard for me to dance, but also makes it hard for me to keep a steady cadence when running and biking. Because of this, I wear myself out faster than I should. I start off too fast, too slow, change pace, speed up, slow down, all the while trying to find that sweet spot where I can just go forever.

When I was really consistently training I was closer to having it figured out, but after a couple of years of no consistent training, I've totally lost my cadence keeper. Now I am struggling to refind it, which is why I think I also don't like running. It just wears me out too fast. I think if I can find my pace, I can then not worry about what's going on and just get into a zone and go. Yes. I think this is why I don't like running.

But enough of that, and this morning I woke up feeling not too bad. I probably could have gone for a run but had to get to work early since I'm leaving work early to go camping this weekend. So, I don't see myself hitting my 5 runs this week, but I'm OK with that. It's an over all goal of 2011, not a goal of the first week of the new year! As long as I can mange to hit that goal for the majority of the year, it will be a successful year for this goal.

Running and the Rain

2011-01-04T19:54:00.001-06:00

Today's run was not too bad for a run. Well, yes and no. The running part of it was not great. But it was fun in the rain. It wasn't raining too hard, just kind of misting which was kind of nice.

So, I did the 3ish miles in about 31minutes, which was slow and painful. I had to walk a bit because of side stitches and my left leg started to feel like it was going numb towards last third of the run. So slowed down and walked quite a bit.

But, really didn't mind too much because walking/running in the rain is enjoyable. No puddles to splash the cars with though, maybe tomorrow!

I have decided that my brain likes to walk around a bit too while I'm out there. Just start thinking random thoughts, some good, some bad, but does indeed help to decompress from the day especially after a long day.

But day two is done and I'm good to go for number three!

First Run of 2011!

2011-01-03T18:48:00.000-06:00

Well the first run of 2011 is now done! And I'm glad since it was not fun at all! But I met the first goal of 3 miles (3.04 to be approximately exactish.)

I've not run since the beginning of December, and it showed. I sat around gained weight, lost fitness and it showed. Bad. I couldn't complete the full 3 mile loop at Memorial Park running. I had to walk a little bit which I didn't like at all. But oh well, I'm back at it and getting into the swing of things once again. I'm sure that as I do more and try to keep the goal of 3 miles (at least) five times a week (at least) I will be back to where I was in no time.

So today I didn't have auto lap on so don't know my mile splits, but it was the 3.04 miles in 28:59. I guess it's not too horrible considering I had to walk several times.

Anyways, that's it for today, check back tomorrow to see if I'm still alive!

Goals for 2011

2011-01-03T10:24:00.000-06:00

So 2011 has started. And I needed some goals to kick my rear in gear.

Sure I have another silly little race planned (Ironman Texas) but that won't really do it for me as we can see from my last little attempt at a silly little race. So, I decided that 2011 will be the year I run. My goal is to run three miles, five times a week at least. This will hopefully help my running a lot and get me where I really want to be with it. Which is the ability to just go out and go for a 15 mile run without thinking about it.

So, the first run will be today after work. My first run in about a month as well since my knee started bothering me, so will have to be careful that it is back to being healthy as the other goal, which is the same as my 2010 one (which I made!) is no serious injuries. A serious injury will be defined as keeping me from being able to do anything for more than 1-2 weeks.

I think I need another race goal for towards the end of the year, since I have Ironman Texas in the first half, I need to find something for the second half. If anyone is out there, any suggestions?

Yeah, Failing Again

2010-12-17T19:54:00.000-06:00

So yeah. I'm not updating like I was going to be, but that's because of my failing. I want to be out there doing something, yes, even running would be nice. But right now I'm nursing a bad knee. IBuprofen and ice are my friends for the next week or so (Merry Christmas to me!)

And it's kind of a funky couple of weeks so trying to get any kind of consistent training in the pool is shot, so come beginning of January I will be hitting the pool hard and fast!

Stay tuned! I will be posting more soon!

Stay Tuned!

2010-11-30T13:10:00.000-06:00

I am getting my act back together... So stay tuned for new posts... Soon!

30 Days!

2010-07-29T13:16:00.002-05:00

So yeah, I've seriously slacked off on keeping up with this thing. And with my training... But I've now got 30 days left until I hit up Ironman Canada.

Things are going to hurt!

Bring it!

Huli Drills and Head Winds

2010-03-29T00:16:00.000-05:00

What a day of fun in the sun! Absolutely brilliant! The only problem was the winds that we had while paddling and biking.

Paddling
So while we were paddling we had some pretty bad winds hitting us. Made for some waves crashing into the boat and the ama bounce up out of the water frequently. But we had a good strong crew out there and made short work of that all. Our coach was out on an OC1 (Outrigger Canoe - 1 person) keeping us in check and making sure we were doing the drills and taking pictures of us.

Once we were almost back, coach let me try out the OC1. And well... It didn't go very well. I managed to huli it three or four times without getting anyplace. The wind would pick up and just blow me over like a big sail, which causes me and the boat to flip. It was quite comical! But also tiring to keep flipping the boat right side up and then jumping on it. Eventually coach said he would take it back and put me back in the OC6 (thanks!) I almost had not enough energy to get into the OC6!

My GPS said we did about 6.4 miles, but that was only until I got on the OC1, as the flipping caused it to konk out. The device still works, just lost signal long enough to shut down. And during those flips I managed to cut up both feet, and remove a patch of skin and hair on my leg, which I didn't notice until I got home and showered and yelped in pain! But a GREAT day on the water!

After that several of us went to Boondoggles and got some lunch and chatting in before myself and one of the crew went off on our biking!

Biking

So the plan was to do the same lap that I did last time I was out there. About 20 miles around clear lake. This time I was doing it with one of my friends from the paddling club and so we set off! Oh. Em. Gee. The head wind got us the ENTIRE route! There were spots where I was literally, and not exaggerateingly (that is a word now, and I'm using it in Scrabble!) pedaling to not lose speed going DOWN HILL! It was brutal out there! But we got through it! And my friend was a trooper out there! Not only did we paddle first, but he was out at Chappel Hill yesterday putting in his MS150 training ride on those hills! His legs are going to feel it tomorrow! Sorry Man!

But we finished it in about 1.5 hours and so it wasn't too bad for that head wind. And we got a great full body workout in today doing both the paddle and the bike like that. Hopefully I can wake up in the morning (ok, in 4 hours) to go swim... But it's not looking good since it's only 4 hours away! Yikes!

Enjoy!

Updates of Training and a RACE!

2010-03-27T10:59:00.000-05:00

March 23: I ran! I ran 3.03 miles in 26:34. It was an OK run.
March 23: I biked! 20.37 miles in 1:23:43. Nice easy bike with a friend.

Today, I did the Law Week 8k Race. Friend got me to sign up for it and so I did and we ran! And she pushed the crap out of me.

8:00 [142 ahr]
8:05 [182 ahr]
8:10 [186 ahr]
8:12 [188 ahr]
8:32 [187 ahr]
1:55 (0.18 miles) [189 ahr]

Around mile 4.25, I had some issues with my blood pressure spiking. And had to slow down to a walk for about 1/4 mile. I was quite dizzy and light headed. But after it cleared I started running and finished it off. But all things considering I forgot I could run that fast! DAMN! I seem to be getting my speed and distance back on the running. This is good for that silly little race coming up! Now if only I can get into the pool and get my swim on!

So... BRING IT!

Biking and Running

2010-03-20T14:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't get to my biking on Tuesday like I wanted due to work problems. And I also didn't so much do anything on Wednesday. Yup, I slacked off more.

Then I missed my run on Thursday because ... Slacker. But I did bike on Thursday with a friend. And it was good. We did about 20 easy miles in around an hour and a half. It was a good ride.

Then this morning I did 6 miles. It didn't go as planned since I was planning trail running, but I slept through getting to Double Lake where I was planning on doing that. But still, 6 miles and at then end I felt not too bad.

9:26 (129 ahr)
8:34 (184 ahr)
8:55 (181 ahr)
9:10 (181 ahr)
9:12 (182 ahr)
8:42 (183 ahr)

Looking at those paces, it seems like I'm slowly getting faster while still gaining distance. Both of which is a good thing. So, not only was the run not too bad feeling wise, but stats wise as well. Guess I am happy about that!

Was suppose to do a bike afterwards, but I decided to not, since the rains were suppose to come quickly and not 5 minutes after I got in my truck leaving Memorial, the sky's opened up. So it was perfect timing!

Tomorrow I canoe and bike though! Should be good times! Even if it's windy and cold like it's planned to be!

A Happy Run -- Weird.

2010-03-16T07:56:00.000-05:00

Anyone who actually knows me, knows I don't like running. Fact. Truth. Whatever. I just don't. It sucks. Enough Said.

So when I say I had a happy run... That is pretty mind blowing huge! I don't know what it was about the run, I was alone, just my iPod and my demons running out there together. And when I finished I felt great. I was in a good mood which I haven't really had in a long while, although Sunday was a turning around point for me since I was on the water canoeing with great people, that helped a lot.

I am still sore from Sunday's canoeing and biking too, so I wasn't really looking forward to today's run. But I got out there. And I started off feeling the stiffness in my back and buttocks. But things smoothed out the longer I went. And I apparently got faster the longer I went as well:

Miles:

9:53 min/mile (168 avg heart rate)
9:03 min/mile (168 avg heart rate)
8:54 min/mile (173 avg heart rate)

Needless to say, not only did I enjoy just being out there running, but I'm quite happy with my results today as well!

And to top it off, I burned 630 calories.

And now ... Biking tonight!

Not Slacking! Honest! (only on updating here)

2010-03-14T19:45:00.000-05:00

So, I've only really slacked off on updating my blog here.

So let's see...

March 2nd, I ran. 3 miles.
March 3rd, I rock climbed.
March 4th I biked 11 miles.
March 6th I raced Eco Lonestar with Claudia (4 hours 16 minutes!)
March 8th I started doing some resistance training
March 9th I ran, 3 miles in the morning and biked 15 miles in the evening
March 11th I ran 3 miles.
Today I biked, 20 miles, after getting back into the boat after a long lay off!

So yeah, the boat stuff... I am back in with TOCC and practicing. Today we were out there for about 2 hours and went almost 9.5 miles. It was great to be back out there, but I need a lot of work again! I need to work on my form and strengthen my shoulders some more! Yikes how that all left me!

But it was great to be with the crew again. Good times and with a goal race in mind to help keep us focused we should have a great season ahead of us! Love the paddling!

So there you go. Yes, brief but I don't have much time for these updates since I'm so busy working out or recovering (passed out) from the work outs. Speaking of ... Time for bed! Night all!

Slackeritist and Sickly

2010-03-01T07:06:00.000-06:00

Yes, yes, yes, I know. I've been slacking off on posting here. I have done a couple of work outs since my last posting, but have been not really motivated lately because of various things going on out side the realm of training.

It really sucks a lot when you want to train, but just can't muster the mental energy to do so because of too much crap going on elsewhere in your life. I still have too much of this going on, but things are slowly clearing up and only about one more week until a lot of it goes away (I hope!)

But I have done a 30 mile bike ride and 3 mile run. I was suppose to do a 10k run/race this past weekend but because of finding some bad chicken at the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cook Off, I was down and out.

I was also out for a week because of being sickly, and my parents being around, so I really haven't been able to do much of anything.

BUT! And here is the big news! I hit the pool this morning! YAY! Of course this comes with some slight bad news. My messed up shoulder doesn't like to swim anymore. So it was a struggle. I'm also very out of swimming shape in general so I have a lot of work to do to get back up to where I should be and ready for this race. What I did today was one length of the pool freestyle (normal swimming for tri) and then one length on my back to even things out. I did that 8 times. And for the 25m pools that means I did ... Anyone? Anyone? 200m of both. And then my arm told me I was done.

So I've started back at it, wish I started a lot sooner since I have so much work to do, but, I'm sure once I get things rolling and stay consistent I will get back into shape quickly and be close to where I need by mid April.

So, starting today I'm back in the pool and hopefully I can keep it going and get back to my running and biking as well as needed.

Long ways to go, but not too far away either! Yikes!

Biking and Running

2010-02-09T08:18:00.000-06:00

Well, I definitely need to get better at writing these posts in a more timely manner! But the good news is I've not been overly slackerish.

Firstly! New bike! YAY! Finally after lots of searching and waiting and such. I ended up with a 63cm Cannondale Six Carbon 1 With upgraded crankset from the FSA to Dura Ace, to get to 180mm cranks. I will post pictures shortly!

Saturday I went with a friend and road the Puddle for the Ducks charity ride, of course I had to try out my new bike. We went out and did 37 miles. It was pretty good except for the last 7 or so miles. Between massive headwinds and, my complete lack of shape, it was pretty brutal on me out there. But the first 15 miles were awesome. We casually cruised around at 19.5 mph. I must say, new bike is yummy goodness for the road! She's definitely a keeper!

Then this morning, I went for a nice 3.5 mile run with another friend and took a nice little spill on the way out. But got up, dusted off and had a decent run. Slow but it was cold in the wind and so hard to move fluidly.

I did use the T6c for both of these rides, but still have to really look over the data to see if anything exciting happened. I'm getting more and more familiar with it, so hopefully soon I will know what I'm doing and be able to use it to train with properly rather than just collecting the data!

Enjoy!

Where have I been??

2010-02-02T07:28:00.000-06:00

Yeah, MIA for a couple of weeks. I've been working out a bit, except last week. Last week was a bust due to insomnia. And this week didn't start much better since I missed out on swimming yesterday.

But I did run today. It felt like a pretty crappy run, very slow and painful. I ended up with blisters on my feet due to my socks being end of life and all stretched out and bunching on me now.

But once I got home, I looked at the stats of the run, and was, shocked.

Using my T6c, I have it auto lap every mile, and here are my stats:

8:51 min/mile
8:19 min/mile
9:18 min/mile
5:19 min/.54 mile

So even though it felt crappy, it was a decent run. I just need to get my sock situation fixed, and keep those blisters from coming back.

Even though the numbers say it was a good run, I still feel like it was a bad one. But at least I got out there and did it! That is the first step to improvement!

Some other interesting tidbits:

Average Speed: 6.7 mph
Max Speed: 20.2 mph
Max Heart Rate: 190
Average Heart Rate: 144
Calories burned: 555
Total time: 31:47
Total distance: 3.5356 miles.

Boot Camp and Run

2010-01-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

Well, I went out and did my boot camp tonight. It was good, we did a lot of core and leg workout today, squats and lunges, crunches and bridges and pushups oh my!

While doing the pushups and bridges I noticed that my bad shoulder felt different tonight. It didn't really hurt more or less. It didn't really feel wrong or right. It just felt different. After a couple of the exercises I started to feel my shoulder to see why it felt so different. Turns out, I have muscle up there now. That's why it feels different. Seems to be helping things a bit. So I need to continue with this and try to continue to rebuild the muscle up there to get stability there again. Looking good!

After boot camp, a friend and I headed out and went for a run (since I didn't get up and run this morning [bad Steve!]) up and down the TC Jester trail a bit. Was good, although my legs were pretty trashed from the working out, so the run/walk was about 45 minutes. 3/4 of the distance was ran, the rest was walking so it wasn't too bad.

So it was a good day working out after a rough start and will be continuing to be good from here on out.

No Excuses!

Down and Out and Lazy

2010-01-16T22:58:00.000-06:00

Well, I've not been blogging, I haven't not been doing anything, I just have been a bit lazy on blogging lately. Kind of busy.

But since my last entry, I've done a navigation race with a friend that I had to drop out because I hurt my leg some how in it. Then I also started up boot camp and did some running and biking and got really sick and am still working on getting over the sick. But I'm at about 90% better now.

This coming week training starts up with Swimming and more boot camp and running.

I'm still in need of a road bike, I've been a bit lazy and slackerish on getting on that. Maybe tomorrow I will get out there and see if I can find one.

So there it is, quick up date, I've not been completely lazy, but not doing as much as I should be doing... But it's getting ramped up come Monday morning!

Double Lake

2009-12-24T16:30:00.000-06:00

Today was a great ride out at Double Lake. I have no idea how far or anything I went as my GPS didn't work very well out there... I'm still learning how to make that sucker go.

But the weather was perfect and the trails were happy!

The only problem is I'm still sore and tired from the Boot Camp and rock climbing that I did Monday and Tuesday. So I decided to only do one lap and call it quits since I do have a lot of things to do this weekend and want to make sure I get it all done.

Rock Climbing!

2009-12-22T22:01:00.000-06:00

So, I'm still in all kinds of pain from last nights boot camp. So that kind of made rock climbing interesting tonight.

I lacked flexibility, strength and movement so making some climbs I've done previously fairly easily, I struggled hard tonight. But it's good, muscle fatigue. I will take tomorrow mostly off and recover and recoup and get ready for some biking on Thursday.

It was great to be climbing and my friend I was with was quite helpful in pushing me (I'm blaming you for the extra pain I feel tomorrow!) And it was great to see some people at the TRG that I've not seen in a long time.

Great night indeed!

Boot Camp

2009-12-22T07:37:00.000-06:00

Last week while running with a friend we ran into the instructor of a boot camp session at Memorial Park. We got to talking and he invited us to come join one night, so we decided to do it the next Monday (last night.)

We got there early to do a nice easy warm up run before hand. That went well, we ran the purple loop nice and easy got warmed up. When we got back, the instructor was there setting up. Noticed right off the bat, tires to run with. Sweet! It's gonna be painful!

We meet the other participants of the session and then we start off with some stretches. After a couple minutes of that, we head straight for the tires, we had to pull the tires about 35-40 years, and swap out with the next person in line at the end. We did that about 5-6 times. Then we moved to carrying a bag of sand, doing the same thing, run the 35-40 yards and pass it off to the next person in line. This is great I thought, good speed work and muscular endurance building. I can handle this quite well.

After that we did sprints to each of the cones he had lined up alone the route, and he would holler out something we had to do. Jumping jacks, planks, knee highs, gorilla jumps, and something else I can't remember, we would then shuffle back side ways to the beginning and do it all over again, two more times. It was during this that I realized that my shoulder still need work. I couldn't hold the plank on my left side because it was bothering my shoulder. I need to work on it, rehab the muscle structure and get it strong again.

Next was arm work outs. The instructor handed out pieces of PVC pipe that was filled with something to us all. Then we started doing various exercises like military presses, front and back, 45 degree presses, bench press, tricep raises. All kinds of misery after the first minute of them. Talk about working to muscle fatigue! My shoulder also didn't like too many of these, but I struggled through them.

Then we moved to push ups which I could not do at all. Between the trashing the arms just took and my bum shoulder, I couldn't support myself to do pushups, so I did planks instead. Then all kinds of ab crunches, bicycles, scissors, etc. I was totally feeling it before we were done!

And this morning, I have a huge knot in my back from the work out and all my limbs and core are extremely sore. P90X has nothing on this boot camp stuff.

If I can rehab my shoulder up, I may think about doing boot camp over P90X! And if I can muster up the money to do it. It was a great workout and the instructor was awesome. Very military like, but also very attentive to make sure everyone was OK and not doing something that would do more harm than good.

And for now, I sit on the heating pad trying to fix my back and get ready for tonight's workout...

Memorial to Addicks Dam and Back

2009-12-21T09:59:00.000-06:00

So I was in need of a long bike ride, and someone made mention on Friday about starting at Memorial Park and going West to Addicks dam. And I thought that was a grand idea, so I made it happen.

I had a vague idea of what I was doing. And at 7am Sunday I decided I should probably get a more than vague idea... So I Google mapped the route. Looks nice and simple. The plan was to meet at 8am at Memorial Park. It ended up being just me and one other person. We get going, and head West. Following fairly busy streets (I hate riding on the roads!) for the majority of this part of the leg of our journey.

So we ended up doing about 35 miles in around 4 hours. That may seem slow... OK, it is slow, but the Ant Hills were pretty miserable and there was quite a bit of walking around and through stuff that wasn't very ridable. So we killed a lot of time here. Thanks to Ant Hills it seems our average speed was 8.6 mph.

It was a good long slow ride, great for building up the base again. I felt good most of the way through, towards the end my neck and back were starting to bother me a bit, but that was because I've not been on the bike that long in a while and also haven't worn a CamelBak in a long time either. Today my neck and shoulders are tight from this.

And according to my T6c, I seemed to have burned off 1600 calories during this ride, which is another good thing. Lots of weight left to lose after gaining it since my crash. I'm on the right track here!

Wednesday Night's Run.

2009-12-16T20:29:00.000-06:00

So tonight I was suppose to run with one friend, but something came up and she had to bail... So I managed to find someone else to run with tonight. And it was all good.

It was just the three mile loop at Memorial Park, plus about another quarter-half mile getting too and from there. We ran it in about 30 minutes. I don't have the exact details on the run, still have to upload it to the computer, but it's drying out after washing it to make sure it doesn't cake up and such.

But yeah, it was a good run and I felt good after and during it. So running is getting easier again... Must mean time to kick it up a bit! (6 miles on Saturday should cover that nicely!)

Falling Behind on Posting!

2009-12-16T12:40:00.000-06:00

Yes, I've fallen behind here a bit. I've not been slacking off! Honest!

Saturday, I ran 3ish miles at Memorial Park, and it was good, a bit faster than I'm use to, but was running with someone who is much faster than me so her speeding me up was a good thing... But it was yet to be determined how good since I was racing on Sunday...

Then Sunday, up early for a donut ride with some more friends. The biking was about 10.5 miles and I decided shortly after starting that it was probably not a good idea to have taken my single speed out for this bike, as I needed to keep quasi fresh legs for the run I was doing later in the afternoon! Yikes! Legs were pretty tired after this.

2pm was the start time of the Jingle Bell Run. 5 miles. 2 miles more than I have run in over a year. I was running with a couple of friends and they kind of pushed me a bit. And it was also a bit hilly, and I like the hills. I naturally speed up on hills for some reason, and it's good. We were going through at a pretty good pace, slowly speeding up as the race went on. At about mile 4.25 or so, my brain told me I was done. I listened... Until I saw how strong my friends were going still. And so I unlistened to my brain, and started running again. I'm glad I did, I started to feel not too bad, still in lots of pain since I hadn't run that far in a loooong time. But yeah. It was good. And ended up with a 9:02 min/mile pace average for the 5 miles! Yay! That's faster than I normally run my 3 miles (about 9:15-9:30.)

Sunday night I paid for it, and Monday as well. I was in all kinds of pain from the weekends activity! But a hot bath Sunday and again Monday helped things out, and I was feeling good on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, I went for a walk/run with another friend at Memorial Park and it was good, fun, just what I needed to get my legs moving again.

So yeah, I've not been slacking off on the working out, just on the writing!

Silly GPS!

2009-12-07T19:16:00.000-06:00

So, I cleaned up my T6c, and got it all ready for my run today. Everything was ready to work right off the bat. I changed the screen to the display I wanted, it started looking for the HRM, found... I turn on the GPS pod, it finds it no problem! Sweet! Everything is synced and ready to go!

I start running, I planned on doing my three mile loop around my neighborhood, and I felt good starting off. Then after about five minutes I look down at my watch and... GPS isn't synced to the satellites!! WTF?! I have no speed or distance! Well screw it. I'm not going to play with it, I know my distance and I can figure out my average pace (9:15) for that three miles. After about two miles though, the GPS finally found the satellites and started giving me read outs. Blah. I decided to ignore it the rest of the run, and just go based on my time.

I have yet to look at what is up with the GPS pod and why it took so long to sync or anything. But it was a good over all run and I was happy with it. I thought I was moving a lot slower than I apparently went. I figured I was going mid 10s... But I will take the 9:15s! Even though my calves are starting to seize up already, and now my shins are feeling a bit tight. I did spend a good amount of time stretching everything out, and will continue to do so over the next day or so, until the next run on Thursday.

Now I just need to figure out this silly GPS pod and get it working more reliably! ARG!

Beating Addictions

2009-12-04T17:39:00.000-06:00

Those of you that know me, know I'm not into drugs, cigarettes and don't drink much. And yet I still have an addiction I'm constantly fighting. I thought I had won the fight several times over. I went for months, even a year or more with out touching my addiction. But slowly, I started making excuses. Started to allow it back into my life.

It starts off simple enough, oh, this isn't really it. It's OK if I have this just this one time, it won't do much other than make me sick. Then I will remember why I quit it. But even though it makes me sick, I continue to use it more and more. To the point where I stop thinking about it, or what it is doing to me. How it changes my body in a bad way. Nausea, cramps, too much sleep, too little sleep, weight gain, head aches, body aches, bad recovery from work outs, unable to work out because of just all around feeling like crap.

Then there is also the monetary side of things. Sure it starts off cheap. "Oh, I will just get this small one." And that would be good for a couple of days. But as the addiction takes a hold, it requires more constant feeding. And as you get use to it, you need to not only get it more frequently, but you need to find more pure forms of it. So you start buying more and more, and not only are you buying it more frequently, you start buying more expensive stuff just to get a fix.

I use to ask myself. "How can a drug addict do that to themselves?" Or "What is wrong with that alcoholic? Just stop drinking, it's easy."

Why does one do that to themselves? Why do they do something that causes misery in their life? When I realized I was an addict, then the answers to those kinds of questions became quite clear. Some times they do it because they have this state of mind, where the just NEED to do it. Doesn't much matter how it happens, it just needs to happen. Other times, they do it, but they don't know they are doing it until after it's done. They go about getting their fix and after the deed is done, they think "What the hell? Why did I do that? How did I do that? I didn't even realize I was doing it!"

When I realized that I was doing things with out even knowing it, that is when I knew I had a problem. I had to get clean. I didn't want my body to feel like crap any more. I wanted my body to work well and feel good. I was tired of being a slave to the addiction. I was ... Just tired in general. The path is a long one since it's continuous.

The first time I tried to break it, it took three weeks. Those three weeks were pure hell. I was just in a bad mood all the time, everything on my body hurt and was rebelling against not getting what it wanted. I've heard of other people going through similar issues as they detoxed from narcotics, heroin, coke, meth... How miserable it was.

That fourth week... That was bliss. No more head aches. No more feeling tired. No more body aches, cramps, moodiness, nausea. I was feeling good, energized, work outs felt real good and strong. Recovery times from the hard workouts were quick and less painful. Muscles weren't as tight or cramping as much. Life was good. Seeing better, thinking more clearly, I was like... Super Human it felt! Foods started to taste better... Things that I thought use to be good food (taste wise not health wise) tasted... Gross. Good, well prepared foods tasted amazing!

I was clean! And I felt clean! It was good! I stayed that way for a long time too. At least a year, if not year and a half. Then slowly the addiction started to poke it's head up again and quietly suggested things that would be OK. Wouldn't hurt where you are now. Come on, it's OK! It's still clean, just a bit ... Different. I started to agree. I started to follow that path backwards. First it was just small things, once or twice a week... Then it grew and needed more frequent feedings... Addictions are a hungry beast. They can be dormant for a while... But when they awaken, they are hard to beat, and can't easily be satisfied.

It's been several years since that first attempt at breaking my addiction. I still fight it, and frequently lose the battle. But as I write this, this marks my new beginning. My new attempt at cracking the addiction once and for all. I will tame this beast this time. I will gather up all my resolve and will power and force it out of my system.

So this holiday season, please forgive me if I'm moody, temperamental, irritable, cranky and just plain ole not fun to be around. It's just because I'm trying to re-break my addiction, pretty much at the worse possible time of the year...

But my addiction to sugar, stops now.

Riding with Roadies on a SS Mountain Bike

2009-12-03T13:07:00.000-06:00

My regular bike, Specialized Stumpjumper Marathon 29er, is in the shop because of my lacking a front brake, but I still wanted to get my Wednesday ride in with my buddy who happens to ride with me, so there he is, on his C'Dale road bike, kind of setup racing style. And me on my Specialized Hardrock Comp from 2002, which I converted to a single speed.

Let's just say riding an SS mountain bike with a roadie, is not the most easy thing todo! We went 10 miles, averaging around 10.5 mph (still working on figuring out my T6c! Too complicated!) in a temperature of around 50F if not below that.

The gearing on my bike is 32:16 for those who knows what that means. So my cadence is hillarious when it comes time to pick up some speed, which I did manage to max out at 23 mph on that bike, but I think my cadence was around 50,000 rpm to reach that though!

The SS needs some TLC, the chain is rusty, the brakes, are ... Yeah not so much there, the tires probably need new tubes (I think those tubes in there are 2-3 years old.) But she's a good bike that is always ready for action. So this weekend I think I will give her the once over and make her shiny and proud again!

As for the Marathon, she's coming home from the shop tomorrow. I asked about getting bigger chain rings, and it's possible. But that is something that I will wait on doing until after I get my road bike, as I will need to make sure I have that covered first, before upgrading it. Looks like I will be going from 22/32/44 to 22/38or40?/48. A friend also gave me the suggestion of swapping out the cassette to change up some gearing which might be cheaper. We shall see!

Splashing Cars in the Rain

2009-12-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

So I went out for a run today. It was around 50F and raining. Wet and miserable as a lot of people would think about it. But, like that true whack job that I am, I rather enjoyed it. Scary I know! I enjoyed my run.

I noticed that once and a while the cars passing me on the street would slow down and avoid the puddles to avoid me. How nice of them. I thought to myself, wouldn't it be funny that as they did that, I jumped into the puddle splashing the car? So... From then on I did! If the car slowed down to avoid splashing me... I would gather a bit of speed and jump full force into the puddle splashing the car as best as I could! And I got to see three WTF?! faces while I did it. It was great fun! Made the run enjoyable... Running around splashing the puddles around and such! Great Fun!

I don't really know my times for the splits or anything, I did run 3.05 miles, and it was around 30 minutes. But it was about just getting out there and trying to be out there and get some kind of run in, and I accomplished that. So it was a success. I don't know the times and splits because I'm still trying to figure out the GPS on my T6c, and well it apparently didn't start when I thought it did. I had to map my run to figure out the new distance I ran.

But I think I have it more figured out now, so hopefully next time it will work out!

Over Night at La Grange Hospital Followed by Electric Fence Fun!

2009-11-28T18:09:00.000-06:00

I spent last night in Austin, watching a musical. So rather than driving all the way back to Houston, I decided to find a place in La Grange, since at 8am I was going to be going to Warda to mountain bike.

It was about 2 am and I decided to just crash at the La Grange Hospital. So, I parked, pulled out my beach towel and tried to sleep for the next 7 hours. It wasn't pleasant, but it was free and I got some sleep so I wasn't completely trashed when it came to ride.

So, that was the stay at the La Grange Hospital (;

I waited on Helena and Mike to show up, they got there shortly after I did, so not much waiting around. We geared up and headed on out!

This will be my first time on trails since I had my bike crash where I fractured my collar bone and separated my shoulder. I was very much tentative out there. So between that and having no fitness, I was slow. I've lost my stamina to ride, and my technical abilities. It was a bit ... Scary I guess. Oh yeah, and I had no front brake either. So I was down a bit on the braking power for some of those back hills out there.

But, since when would any of that stop me, right? So out we went! I struggled to keep up with Mike and Helena. But it was good to be pushed like that, helped me get over some of the tentativeness I had around some of the stuff I should have zero problems, but still thought about too much.

So about half way through the trails, we get out of the trees onto the fields. There is a pond that you ride around, and you go between the pond and a fence. The fence also has an electric line on it, to help keep the cows away from each other. So we come around the pond, and there is a big puddle in the way, looking deep we decide to dismount and walk around it. Helena walked around the left side which was pond side. I decided to go around the right side, which was fence side. I knew the fence was electric. I have touched them before, and been zapped. So I (thought I) knew what to expect on the fence should I accidentally touch it. But I wasn't going to. I grab ahold of the barb wired fence to steady myself, and start walking around the puddle. And then my foot slipped and **ZAP** my hip touched the fence, and it felt like a wasp bite. And there was also a popping/cracking/straightening in my spine as well when it happened. WOW that was ... Shocking! I couldn't do much but start laughing at it. My life, the comic strip!

So my right leg feeling a little wonky from the zap, we get back on the bikes and head to the back forty! This is where I started to walk more than ride. Because my front brake doesn't work, I couldn't go down the steep hills, so I walked them. We finish up that lap, and take a breather, refuel, etc. Then we head on out for a second lap.

This time I'm feeling a bit better on the trails, and have a bit of a warm up in my legs, so I go out and do some harder riding on the fun bit at the start... And proceed to wear myself out! HA! So I'm slowing down but building up confidence at the same time. Kind of a dangerous combination, especially with no front brake. So we get through the first half of the trails... up to where we come back out on the fields and I decide I'm done. I don't want to do anything stupid. So, I let the gang know I'm done but will wait for them at the vehicles.

All in all it was a good ride today! Very happy with it... Even with the zapping of the electric fence! Which, by the way I now have burn marks on hip where I touched the live wire. Ouch!

Wednesday Night's Bike Ride

2009-11-28T16:26:00.000-06:00

It was a nice easy night out with a buddy today. Just went and did around 15 miles around the picnic loop at Memorial Park. We did do a couple of pick ups during the ride, only because there was a guy on inline skates and we didn't want to get passed by him. But as we were doing around 23mph he passed us pretty quickly. So much for that plan!

Then we hammered out one last lap, where I got half way through and started to choke out due to mucus problems. I must have had something with cinnamon earlier in the day, I'm still not sure what though. I have to pay very special close attention to that now that I'm back to training. Being allergic to something as yummy as cinnamon really sucks. But luckily on low intensity weeks I can eat some to cover those cravings!

So all in all it was a good day on the bike!

Run vs T6c

2009-11-23T20:55:00.000-06:00

My new toy showed up! The Suunto T6c Multi Sport Pack. Basically, it's the T6c and the GPS pod. And of course I gave it a try tonight for my run. But let's go with the basic parts first, I did my normal 2.46 mile run around my house. I did it in 23:26.9 First lap was 12:03.3 and the second one was 12:05.2. It was slower than what I have been running it, but because I was trying to figure out what I was doing with the T6c.

So, other than slowing down my run, since I don't know what I'm doing with it, it confused me. At first I thought it was wrong. I was running along, and it was showing 7minutes... I was thinking, there is no way I'm running seven minute miles.. Then I thought maybe it was mph. But when I was sprinting across a street I noticed it went down to 3... So no way that could be mph! I got home and it dawned on me! It's a Finnish device... It's defaulted to metric! 7 minutes per km! Now that makes a lot more sense! I still haven't figured out how to figure out how to get the various stats from the watch. I played with the software a bit, but it's slightly confusing as well. Much more playing around required to fully understand it. But no more time left tonight...

Time for bed... Night All!

We Have Failure.

2009-11-23T07:59:00.000-06:00

Keeping myself honest here.

I failed to go swim this morning. I went to bed 2 hours later than I wanted to, and then I didn't sleep well at all (because I actually slept in bed for a change, long story there.)

So between not enough sleep and then getting bad sleep, my body just didn't feel like it was up to get out there and swim. And since I'm still dealing with the whole body rebelling against being active again, I'm listening to it while it gets use to my abusing it. But this won't last for much longer as I don't have enough time to be missing out on workouts that are needed. Especially to build up a base this early on.

So, I missed my morning swim, but won't miss my afternoon run!

Biking Fun!

2009-11-22T12:41:00.000-06:00

Went out biking over at George Bush Park today. It was pretty good, nice and easy out there with a friend. The 20 miles we did in about an hour and forty minutes. So pretty slow going, but still working on building up the miles in the legs. So the slow is not a problem, and I could have probably gone for about another 10 miles with out too much trouble at that speed.

But it was a good place to stop to make sure my legs aren't toast for tomorrow's run after work. And I also am suppose to start swimming tomorrow morning, so we shall see how that goes! Hopefully I remember how to and don't drown in the 3' pool! (=

Bloody Brilliant Day out there today though! Glad I got to enjoy it a bit before I deal with all those nagging indoor chores!

Motivation and Sore Calves

2009-11-21T12:27:00.000-06:00

So today, I started my day off helping out the Team in Training folks with a water stop. The full marathoners were doing 18 miles, and the halfers were doing 10 miles. It was good to see them out there, and a couple of surprise friends as well!

Seeing them out there definitely motivated me for my planned 3-4 mile run today. So after I was done with helping them out, I went back to Memorial Park and ran the loop, 3 miles. It was a bit painful because my calves weren't fully recovered from Thursdays run (I knew that was going to much me up!) but it was still not a bad run. I did the 3 miles (Yes, I added a bit extra to make it really 3 for your pedantics out there) in 27:33.09 or an average pace of 9:11 minute miles. Which tells me, I was running way too fast at one point because I did stop to walk and massage my calves a bit. But it also tells me, I'm getting back into the swing of things.

When I got back to my truck, I got my recovery bottle and while I was drinking that I actually did some proper stretching. I need to get more of that in so I don't seize up like I use to.

So the running continues... And it continues to not completely and utterly suck.

Running When I Shouldn't.

2009-11-19T22:32:00.000-06:00

So I wasn't suppose to run today, because my calves were very tight. But after a rough drive home, in bad traffic and lots of other stuff going on in my head, I needed to get some relief. So, I ran.

For those who don't know me, I hate running. Loathe. Detest. Abhor. etc. Yeah, I kind of don't like it generally. And normally when I am feeling bad, down, upset, disconcerted, disconsolate, and wordy, I just want to curl up and gorge on bad food. So, this going for a run thing instead of eating... MAJOR breakthrough for me.

Of course since my calves were so tight I really shouldn't have gone out. It may have been more detrimental to my legs and ability to run again soon. But the ability to go out and run the demons out was way worth it. It was a slower run than my last one because of the sore legs. But, it was a good mental run.

I do not think I hate running as much anymore because of this. I still don't like it. But, I can't say I hate it anymore.

I just did my 2.46 mile route. 1.23 miles out at a pace of 9:34, and then 9:14 on the way back. Still doing negative splits, with huge gaps, so I could totally be running faster that first bit, but I'm still relearning that I can run. And so I'm happy with these numbers. And happy with the over all results of todays run.......

Even if I can't walk tomorrow.

Running Again...

2009-11-18T08:39:00.000-06:00

Last night I ran again. Third time in three weeks! I'm starting to get pretty consistent there. Although I do realize I need much more running than once a week for this.

So I did a short 2.46 mile run, averaging 9:01 min/mile. I'm apparently regaining my running form faster than I figured. Now if I can get back into distance at these slowly faster times then things will be good! My first "lap" of 1.23 miles was 9:13 pace, and the second one was at 8:49 pace. So I am doing negative splits with out trying too hard for it. I just go out and run and pick it up as it feels good. Now to start making the run a bit longer I think!

My legs aren't feeling too bad today either. So they are adjusting to the pounding again. Should make Thursdays run alright. And then Saturday I will plan on bumping up to 3 miles to see what I can do there.

Here we go...

2009-11-13T12:50:00.001-06:00

I use to blog about my training when I first got into adventure racing. I was excited about AR and just wanted to write my experience down about it. I was pretty good at keeping that blog up to date for a couple years. Then I slowly let it slide.

Now that I'm doing this small race up in Canada next August, I am thinking about blogging it and hoping who ever looks at this can help keep me honest and accountable. If you don't see a post here... Call me out and find out what I'm doing instead of training!

That said... Let the journey begin....