On Friday I did shoulders, ran 21:55, 3.1 miles (5k), 7:04 pace, 164 ahr, 181 mhr. 184 lbs fully dressed. Then, I biked 6.60 miles @ a 19.8 mph pace before I had to go to class (20:00 minutes). I wanted to do a full 15 miles, but I miscalculated on the time. You will of course recall that the tri I want to do is a 600 yard swim, 15 mile bike, and 5k run. On tuesday I will attempt to swim 600 yards and see what happens. Hopefullly, I will just be slow and not dead adn bloated at the bottom of the deep end.

Today, I lifted legs and did true squats, and know that I will pay for it tomorrow. This afternoon it got up to 53 degrees, so I went for a run on the Duck Creek Trail without my watch and not knowing how far I would run. It was great and I ran for about 25 minutes, no idea how far. My legs and lower back are already sore, tomorrow is going to be painful.

Saturday and beyond

Hey guys,
No posts for a while, hope everything is okay on your end, I am busy with exams again and not feeling well either. But I have continued to work out, just lighter.

Saturday, I did a spinervals video, 45 minutes on the bike.

Monday, lifted chest, worst ever since I started lifting again, then when I went to run, I bonked at like two miles. Physically exhausted, I just couldn't do anymore. Here are the numbers: 2 miles, 14:08, 7:09 pace, 162 ahr, 171 mhr. Weight = 184 with clothes.

Tuesday, lifted back, better than yesterday but still weak compared to the last several weeks. Only ran a mile today, I just feel strange and sluggish and my heart rate is way too high for the pace I ran. 1 mile, 7:03, 167 ahr, 183 mhr. Like I said, for the pace I was running and for the limited amount of time, my ahr should have been around 160 and my mhr around 165. Weight was 188 with clothes, how is that possible? Anyway, I hope I feel better soon, I am thinking about taking tomorrow off from working out. What do you guys think?

6:35 mile

Well I didn't have much time because I had just done a three hour walking study, but since I had just done the study and was already dressed once again I went upstairs to run real quick. Since I had already walked like 3 miles for the study I decided that I was already warm and just did a mile as fast as I could (almost) with no warm-up or cool-down. It sure made the whole working out thing take less time. :) Anyway, I did it in 6:35. Not too shabby, but far from great. I was hoping to break 6. Maybe next time. :(

today

I lifted medial back and then biked for 45 minutes. 14.25 miles, 126AHR, 145MHR, 19.0 mph avg. Not much else to say. How are the weights coming J? Mike, are you finding the time to excercize?

Slow runner retired and other topics

hey Jason, I just noticed that you are not slowrunner anymore, when did you make the switch? You definitely aren't a slow runner, I am just curious as to how long I have neglected to notice.

Yesterday, MLK day, was beautiful and sunny 53 so I went for a rare outside run. Down Brady st. (wicked 4 minute hill) and ran along the river to the train bridge, then back. Got some new shoes and felt good so I ran a 7:15 pace. 3.6 miles, 26:08. Averaged a 163 heart rate, maxed at 183 on Brady st hill on the way back home. Gym was closed so no weights. 184 lbs, 23% bf.

Today, tuesday, not so beautiful, but sunny 33 so I ran inside. Lifted chest and shoulders, to make up for yesterday, then ran 4.25 miles in 29:50. That my friends is a 7:01 pace, my best in more than 5 years. Average hear rate was way up but I felt fine, 169 (as measured by the machine, not my monitor which I forgot in my bag) and I hit a max of 181, which I don't believe for a second because in the final quarter mile I was running at a 10.0 mph pace and my heart rate was at 174. 183 lbs, 23% bF. Also, I bench pressed 60 lb dumbbells 4 times today, my previous max was 55 before Christmas.

Saturday & Heart Rates

Tracked my heart rate this morning for the second time ever. Then I looked back through the blog to find the last time this topic came up. Back on Nov. 7 we had a discussion about heart rate. I’d just upped my distance from 2.25 to 2.5 and I was looking for input on where I should be. Just after that was the last time I track my heart rate for an entire 20+ minute run. I don’t track it much because I don’t care for the chest strap. If I don’t get it tight enough I can move when I’m sprinting, and if I get it too tight I feel the pressure on my chest and it bugs when I’m breathing heavy during my sprints.

Back to the topic, at the time (early November) I ran 2.5 miles at an 8:29 pace. Including my cool down which isn’t part of the 8:29 pace my ahr was 170 bpm. I hit a max of 193 bpm. This morning I did 2.75 miles at a 7:45 pace with ahr of 169 bpm including cool down, again outside of the 7:45 pace. Max was 188 bpm, and my ahr for the last 0.75 miles was 182 bpm. Am I pushing too hard? Do I risk overtraining? My estimated max heart rate should be about 176-186 bpm. Either way I was over my max a lot. I like my run right now. It’s hard, but I expect it to be.

Maybe my heart rate runs a little fast. Back in November my resting heart rate was 70-75 bpm. This morning after getting out of the shower and eating I was getting basically the same numbers. I’m curious that hasn’t gone down much.

Thursday, Friday, Pocket PC

On Thursday I ran a 7:13 pace, but can't remember time of mileage. It was around three miles and 20 minutes, somewhere in there. I lifted shoulders. Had all the information entered in the pocket pc and this morning come to find the battery completely drained again. I figured out the problem, it is on in my pocket all day at school, and drains the battery. Solution, I need a hardcase to carry it in.

Friday. Did legs this morning, followed by 3 miles in 21:44. That's a 7:15 pace. Weight=186 pre-workout with full clothes, and yesterday's body fat was back down to 23%, which is where I left off in the Bay Area before coming home. Went to class for an hour, back to the gym for abs and obliques and then ran intervals on the treadmill. It worked out to be 3.5 miles in 25 minutes, average pace then is 7:09 but the workout was up and down. I found this nice treadmill at school that lets you enter in programs. It was 7 intervals of 1:40 each, at a 9.0 mph pace followed by an interval of 7.5 mph pace. The last three intervals I got sequentially faster to finish at a 9.5 mph pace. Got my heart rate up to 185 a couple of times, but my legs felt fine even after this morning. However, I made sure to stretch extra long and good when I finished. Talk to you later.

Does basketball count?

So I guess I kind of fell off the wagon when I got back in town. The building where I run at, the CCRB, is on central campus where I have my biomechanics lab but I have spent all week on north campus where I have my mechanical engineering lab. The two campuses are about 10 minutes apart by bus, but then you have to wait for the buses and such as well. I could drive down to central campus, but there's nowhere to park down there either. Last semester I spent a lot of time down on central campus, so I just had to walk up three flights of stairs and off I went. I guess what I am trying to say is that running doesn't work so well for me unless I am on central campus, and since I spent all week on north campus where I have my classes and main research lab I just haven't gotten a run in. I did play basketball last night though. :) I played for about 2 and a half hours with one 10 minute break somewhere in the middle. It was great. Today I am finally going to central campus to do research there and have a lab meeting with the biomechanics group so I will get in a run. I haven't really decided how much I am going to run yet, but as long as I get out and do it I don't think it matters too much.

I think your Christmas weight gain posts merit some comments as well. I too gained some weight over the break. I went out at 180 and came back at 186.8, ouch. The good news is that just by getting back into my typical eating habits I have already dropped back down to 180 again. Hopefully with basketball last night, running today and basketball tomorrow I will be able to drop it a bit further. I have no idea what the % body fat is as we have no such scale. I am highly considering getting one though. We'll see if I can find a way to justify the expense. I really just need to change the eating habits and start doing situps and pushups. I know I have it to do, but I just don't like situps and pushups and I really like eating. Oh well, no time like the present. I think I'll start today.

John, as for the Triathlon I think that would be really fun but am a bit hesitant because I am a very poor swimmer. I tried swimming a bunch the summer before I got married so that I didn't look like a really white fat guy. It served my purposes rather well but I was painfully slow. I know nothing of technique for proper swimming. It was almost embarassing to look at the people around me swimming at least two to three times faster. If you tell me where I can find the video you mentioned on how to do distance swimming I would definitely take a look at it and give it a shot though. The biking and running don't sound like much of a problem and I think it would be really fun to do it together.

Alright, my marathon post must now come to a close so that I can get my day underway (I woke up at 8 AM this morning unlike you early risers). Granted I didn't go to bed until well after midnight because of BBall last night, but still, my morning is slipping past and I haven't even showered yet. Love you both, Mike

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday 1\10\06.
Ran on the treadmill, 23:45, 3.25 miles. That's good enough for a 7:18 pace. I kind of got overheated though. Wish I had control over the thermostat. They crank the heat up and it's on the 2nd floor. Of course, there are fans up there but the treadmills closest to the fans are busted (see monday's posting). Anyway, I actually started with a 10 minute bike ride, then lifted back, focusing on wide grip for more lateral definition, then ran and stretched for awhile. Felt good and I love working back because I can lift the most weight of any upper body workout that I do. Although, I am starting to increase my pec and shoulder strength gradually.

Wednesday 1\11\06.
I slept in a little today, 5:15, luckily Christy was up with Elly and woke me up. Elly has been doing much better at night since we came home. The last three nights she has slept from around 8 pm to 4:30-5:00 am, then goes back down for a few more hours after that. Consequently, CHristy and I are doing much better as well. Anyway, I focused completely on stomach and lower back this morning, then ran upstairs on the treadmill for 2.5 miles. 18:09, 160 avg heart rate, 170 max (at the end) and I weighed 187.5 lbs with 25% body fat (these numbers were from before I left the house, pre-workout. So that makes my pace 7:15, an average three seconds faster than yesterday. Today I actually quit because of fatigue, and time a little bit I guess. I wanted to take a shower before the morning rush. It didn't work. There were already three people in the shower when I got there so I just changed clothes and left. Ate an apple adn a string cheese and I am feeling good. Mike, where are you? Jason, what did you do yesterday, since the day before you did your entire upper body?

Back from the break

Hello my friends, back though dead, and still feeling it. Interpret as you like.

Anywhoo, got up at 4:45, lifted chest, ran 2 miles in 15 minutes flat when the treadmill suddenly shut off permanently. I took it as a sign that I needed to study for my test at 11:00, so I went to the stationary bike where I can usually focus better on reading. I was studying while running too but it is harder to concentrate that way, too much movement in the vertical plane, if you get my drift. Biked for 10 minute, 3.2 miles, 19.2 mph pace. not bad. Got a good sweat on. Showered, went to class, took a test, went to work, more class, and now I am home at quarter 5 getting ready for dinner and thouroughly enjoying life. I love getting up early, and feeling warm and fuzzy at night. Miss you guys a ton. Looking forward to your posts. Slacker, are you still slacking? Just curious if the vacation rekindled any embers. Oh, I almost forgot. I want to do this triathlon in mid-June, any takers? 600 yard swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run. I might be able to scrounge a road bike if either of you want to do it. Mike? We could do it together, push eachother but not compete? Just checking.

Friday 1/6 & Saturday 1/7

No sign of live, but I'll keep posting until John gets back to take over. Kristi and I lifted Friday. Had to get up at 5:30 to do it. We did chest, shoulder, back, tri, and bi in about 1:10. I didn't break a sweat, but I did get a good pump. I'm hoping by getting our time down to 50 minutes so I can get a good sweat out of it as well. I'm sore today in the good way.

This morning I run 2.75 mile in 21:23 for a 7:47 pace. I'll take that thank you very much. Started off this morning a bit slower than Thursday to make sure I has something lift for that last quarter mile. It still kind of killed me, but I'm sure I'll get used to my new distance soon. I had hoped that running a little bit further with you guys would get me ready for 2.75, but I'll adapted soon enough.

My good news is I weighed in at 176.8 pounds this morning; dropped that weight fast. But more importantly I was at 18% body fat. That's without cheating so I probably could have forced it down to 17.5%. Looks like my vacation didn't set me back too much at all.

Hope to hear from someone soon.

Back at it! Thur 1/5

Thanks guys for waking up every morning and running. Now I've got one more thing to miss about being on vacation; running with you guys. John won't be home for a couple of days and Mike probably got very a little sleep last night so I'm betting I'll be the only post today.

Even though we ran regularly I ate horribly and getting back on the scale it shows. I weighed in this morning at 178.4 (not bad,) and 18.5% body fat (bad.) But fortunately not too bad. Last time I was at 18.5% it took me a bit over three weeks to drop to 17.5%. So I'm shoot for 17% by mid February. I'm interested to see if adding in the weight lifting will slow or speed up my body fat reduction. I'm also curious if almost two weeks of high calorie intake has mixed up my body chemistry a bit and might let my body start loosing some weight again.

My run today was schedule to be 2.75 miles, but when I was cramping at 1.5 miles I had to decide to either cut speed or distance. I cut distance and ended at 2.5 mile in 19:15 minutes for a pace of 7:42. I'm lifting tomorrow, but my next run I'll start out a bit slower and make sure I get my full 2.75 miles.

Well everybody back to the grind!