05/13/2012 - Happy Mother's Day

I finally hit the wall. After 6 months of relative inactivity I pushed my legs too far. Just running probably would have been fine, but adding the Nike +Training workouts really took its toll. On Friday I was over half way through my mile run when my feet and legs started to cramp up. I didn't try to push through because I wanted to allow them a chance to rest a bit before attempting my 3 miler on Saturday. My strategy was wise but ineffective. I only made it about a half mile before my legs and feet started cramping again. This time I pushed through the pain and kept going hoping I could get through it, but unfortunately the pain got worse to the point I thought I was not going to be able to stand or walk, much less run.

I only have one more week of the Nike + Training, so I will focus on that before shifting my concentration back onto running.

Curse you D!


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05/10/2012 - Nike+ Training... is kicking my @$$

I could barely walk this morning so I postponed workout #2 until this evening. I stretched out a lot, but can already tell I will barely be able to walk in the morning.

Overall it is pretty amazing. There are some known issues that they are cleaning up. I think this is going to be huge. Unlike P90X, Insanity and the others, you won't need television, Expensive DVD's, DVD player, equipment and what-not. Just shoes and an iPhone. Right now there are very specific drills that they have, and they have three levels, but I can easily imagine the development of other programs that could be easily customizable. A friend of mine is doing couch-to-5K. This shoe/app combo could easily provide the schedule and provide ongoing feedback such as pronation/supination analysis, continuous run feedback and data for run reviews.


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05/09/2012 - 2 Weeks down, 59 to go

Today:
Distance: 2.00 Miles
Average Pace: 11'22"/mi

This Week:
Weight Lost: 1.4 lbs
Total Run: 6 Miles
Long Run: 2 Miles
Total Swim: 1,800 yds
Long Swim: 1,800 yds 

Overall:
Weeks: 2
Weight Lost: 4.6 lbs (1.71 lbs ahead of schedule)
Total Run: 8 Miles
Long Run: 2 Miles
Total Swim: 5,400 yds
Long Swim: 1,800 yds

Instead of swimming I will be doing Nike+ Training for the next two weeks. Last night was my first time and my legs are really feeling it today.


Curse you D!

05/08/2012 - Nike+ Training

I skipped out on swimming this morning because I was very tired and knew I was going to be doing a Nike+ Training workout today. I am fortunate to be Beta testing the shoes and software before they go-live June 29th. The first workout kicked my butt, so I may not be doing 2 miles tomorrow...we shall see.
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05/07/2012 - Three's Company

Today:
Distance: 1.00 Miles
Average Pace: 11'07"/mi


Since Nathan has started running with me, Ryan and Molly have expressed interest in joining us. Ryan really wanted to go Saturday and I gave him the choice of joining us on the two miler or waiting til Monday to do 1 mile. He chose wisely and came on his first run this morning. I was concerned that he may not be able to make it, but he stayed with us the entire time. It was interesting to hear Nathan giving him pointers while we ran, the same pointers I had given Nathan on our previous runs.


Molly has not joined us yet, as we are running around the neighborhood and I am uncertain she would be able to make it, though knowing her personality she would finish out of spite, just to prove her brothers she could do it. We will need to go to the track so if she is unable to finish we can keep running and keep an eye on her.


Next up is a 2 miler on Wednesday.


Curse you D!

05/05/2012 - Cinco de Lebowski

Today:
Distance: 2.00 Miles
Average Pace: 11'48"/mi


Yesterday:
Distance: 1.00 Miles
Average Pace: 11'35"/mi


I was talking to a co-worker the other day about plans for the weekend, asking if he had any Cinco de Mayo plans. He told me he was going to the 5th annual Cinco de Lebowski. I had never heard of it before, which surprises me because I love that movie (who doesn't, right?) So my major plans for the day will include making tacos for lunch and carving some time out to chill with El Duderino.


Curse you D!

05/03/2012 - I suck at flip-turns

Swam 1,800 yard again today. I have never been good at flip-turns, in fact I almost never try to do them. I realize that the only way to get better at them is to practice, so today I did flip-turns exclusively. The good news is that I am now "better" at them, the bad news is I still suck. I missed the wall entirely a couple times. Another couple of times I was too close. Not looking forward to using them again next week.

I am also now remembering some of the less than nice aspects of spending time in chlorinated water. It appears that while swimming I ingest a lot of water. This has some less than optimal consequences throughout the day. I also am starting to have that chlorine smell come out of my pores, and that is after less than 3 hours total time in the water spread over three days.

These realizations caused me to think about some other "enhancements" that will begin to manifest themselves in the future, such as shiny legs, loss of body hair, and potential color changes for the hair on my head.

My legs are feeling much better today than they did Tuesday. My plan is for 1 mile tomorrow morning, then 2 miles on Saturday.

Curse you D!

05/02/2012 - Baby Steps

It was one week ago today that I decided to get back in the saddle, though I really didn't start until 2 days ago... Here are some statistics.

Today:
Distance: 1.00 Miles
Average Pace: 11'19"/mi
Weather: Mild

Overall:
Weeks: 1
Weight Lost: 3.2 lbs (1.76 lbs ahead of schedule)
Total Run: 2 Miles
Long Run: 1 Mile
Total Swim: 3,600 yds
Long Swim: 1,800 yds

Curse you D!


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05/01/2012 - How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time. The prospect of losing weight is daunting...I step on the scale and am overwhelmed by how much weight I need to lose. My job involves spending most days in spreadsheets, so it was natural for me to come up with a template to map out a plan of progress. I looked at a couple of potential events I would like to participate in next year and selected June 30, 2013 as the date by which I would like to hit my goal weight. Setting up some quick formulas I was able to figure out how much weight I would need to lose each weekday between now and then (I excluded weekends because I will be weighing myself fully dressed on my scale at work.) Basically I have to lose 1.44 pounds per week to shed the 88 pounds between now and then. While 88 pounds sounds impossible to me, 1.44 pounds a week sounds very doable.

Today I got up early and was in the pool by 6:00. Swam 1800 yards again, but it was a lot more difficult today than it was last Wednesday.

I felt fine all day yesterday after my first mile, but am feeling a bit sore today. I will have to remember to stretch several times today or tomorrow morning's run could get really ugly.

Curse you D!