Total Distance So Far: 215.8 miles
Hehehe, by "driven to the drink" I simply mean I had the yen to go swimming again this Monday.
I showed up to the Columbia Pool again after work, this time by myself, and claimed a lap swimming lane. In the shallower water area there were a bunch of little children (3yrs-4yrs?) doing a first swimming lesson kind of class... involving the singing of songs and lots of laughing while their young parents watched from the side of the pool with large smiles and digital cameras poised.
In the deeper end of the pool there was some sort of senior water aerobics class taking place. I couldn't see what the ladies were particularly doing, but they were hovering in a circle following the instructions of a younger lady. They also seemed to be rather enjoying themselves too.
I like the pool.
I ended up doing the same workout as last time, but found it went faster and was notably easier this week. I might need to up the lap count in order to keep my heart rate nice and elevated for the workout tho.
Warm-up: 4 laps with a kickboard (flutter kick)
Intervals: 2 laps non-stop with a 1 minute break between (x 5, alternating between crawl and breast stroke)
Cool-down: 4 laps with a kickboard (switch between flutter and frog kick)
Hmm... maybe I should consider timing my laps too? That could make things interesting. I'll try that next week perhaps.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
another half marathon!
Total Distance So Far: 211.3 miles
YES! I've passed the 200 mile mark, and completed my second half-marathon distance this month!! Who'd have thunk I could travel that far on foot!?!
The group run this weekend started and ended in Vancouver, WA's Marine Park. I'd never been here before even though it's a very short drive from my house. I found beautiful beaches right on the Columbia River that are very accessible from the trail in the park, and I need to bring my pups back here to go swimming.
The route started with an out and back across the park (3 miles round trip), and then from there in the other direction (west) along Columbia Way to Columbia Shores Blvd over to the trail along the waterfront (access between Beaches and McMenamins restaurants). This trail ends on the sidewalk of Columbia St, and which then curves northward past Esther Short Park (all fenced up for the Wine and Jazz Festival). From there we (the 14 milers) had 2 out and backs... one along Columbia to 20th St and back, and then out along Evergreen over I-5 to Grand (in the historical Vancouver Fort area) and back to Columbia. After these we turned around and retraced our waterfront route back to the Marine Park parkinglot.
Today we also were doing the same route as the walkers. This way we could share aid stations. I understand this will be the case for all our remaining group runs until our event days. It's nice to see how large our team really is.
The weather was low 60's and overcast, but not raining like previously forecasted. I wrapped my knee again, which seems to work in my favor, and headed out on the run with Val. The run was a lot easier than our first 14 miler in the St. John's area. However my knees and hips did begin to ache from the run around mile 8 or 9. We were following a suggestion from Val which she read in the book Marathon by Galloway, that we should take a 1 minute walk break every 8 minutes of running. This was supposed to give us more energy for later in the run, and I think it worked!
Stats...
DISTANCE: 14.0 miles TIME: 3:00:08 minutes AVG PACE: 12:51 minute miles
A pretty good pace considering the frequent walk breaks actually!
YES! I've passed the 200 mile mark, and completed my second half-marathon distance this month!! Who'd have thunk I could travel that far on foot!?!
The group run this weekend started and ended in Vancouver, WA's Marine Park. I'd never been here before even though it's a very short drive from my house. I found beautiful beaches right on the Columbia River that are very accessible from the trail in the park, and I need to bring my pups back here to go swimming.
The route started with an out and back across the park (3 miles round trip), and then from there in the other direction (west) along Columbia Way to Columbia Shores Blvd over to the trail along the waterfront (access between Beaches and McMenamins restaurants). This trail ends on the sidewalk of Columbia St, and which then curves northward past Esther Short Park (all fenced up for the Wine and Jazz Festival). From there we (the 14 milers) had 2 out and backs... one along Columbia to 20th St and back, and then out along Evergreen over I-5 to Grand (in the historical Vancouver Fort area) and back to Columbia. After these we turned around and retraced our waterfront route back to the Marine Park parkinglot.
Today we also were doing the same route as the walkers. This way we could share aid stations. I understand this will be the case for all our remaining group runs until our event days. It's nice to see how large our team really is.
The weather was low 60's and overcast, but not raining like previously forecasted. I wrapped my knee again, which seems to work in my favor, and headed out on the run with Val. The run was a lot easier than our first 14 miler in the St. John's area. However my knees and hips did begin to ache from the run around mile 8 or 9. We were following a suggestion from Val which she read in the book Marathon by Galloway, that we should take a 1 minute walk break every 8 minutes of running. This was supposed to give us more energy for later in the run, and I think it worked!
Stats...
DISTANCE: 14.0 miles TIME: 3:00:08 minutes AVG PACE: 12:51 minute miles
A pretty good pace considering the frequent walk breaks actually!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
back on the elliptical
Total Distance So Far: 197.3 miles
Just a little note that I spent about 30 minutes in my fitness center again today on the elliptical machine. I'm really getting much better at using it. In the 30 minutes I was on it today it said I went 3.54 miles! That boils down to an 8:28 minute mile pace. I was "running" at over 200 paces per minute for nearly the entire time I was on the thing. I also tried varying the height of the ramp and increasing the resistance for the first time. That made things interesting.
Just a little note that I spent about 30 minutes in my fitness center again today on the elliptical machine. I'm really getting much better at using it. In the 30 minutes I was on it today it said I went 3.54 miles! That boils down to an 8:28 minute mile pace. I was "running" at over 200 paces per minute for nearly the entire time I was on the thing. I also tried varying the height of the ramp and increasing the resistance for the first time. That made things interesting.
Monday, August 20, 2007
splish splash
Total Distance So Far: 193.8 miles
Alright alright... I'm not sure the total mileage meter is completely accurate with the latest mileage addition. See, I'm back home again finally, and tonight since my foot is aching quite a bit I opted to go lap swimming with Val in place of running fast around a track. It was one of the low-to-no-impact alternatives Coach Joe suggested to me to get my heart rate up.
When I suggested to Val that I didn't think I should run tonight due to a particularly unhappy foot, she eagerly suggested we try swimming. She even knew where we could find a public pool that was open afterwork! I was up for it.
I met her at her house, and we carpooled over to the Columbia Pool. It was something like $6.25/person to get in. They had 3 lanes setup for lap swimming in the center of the pool. I took a quick tentative lap to see how it "felt" in comparison to our laps on the track. Surprisingly, one lap in the pool seemed to be the same exertion for me as one lap around the track. I shared this with Val and suggested we do 4 laps (i.e. a 200 meter swim) in place of the 10 minute warm-up, and then since the training tonight was 5x 800's on the track (800 = 2 laps around the track) we would replace that with 5x 100's in the pool (surprisingly also 2 laps), then another 200m cool-down. Also, to make the warm-up and cool-down more approachable, I suggested we use kickboards.
So that's what I did for my training tonight. I switched out between breast stroke and crawl stroke, and even threw in a 50m of backstroke for variety. It was a nice change of venue, and man did my arms get tired from crawl stroke! I guess I don't use my arms much when I run. Go figure! hehehe.
Anyway, I think this is a great option for me to get my heart rate up and not put stress on my feet. I might continue to do lap swimming on Mondays.
Alright alright... I'm not sure the total mileage meter is completely accurate with the latest mileage addition. See, I'm back home again finally, and tonight since my foot is aching quite a bit I opted to go lap swimming with Val in place of running fast around a track. It was one of the low-to-no-impact alternatives Coach Joe suggested to me to get my heart rate up.
When I suggested to Val that I didn't think I should run tonight due to a particularly unhappy foot, she eagerly suggested we try swimming. She even knew where we could find a public pool that was open afterwork! I was up for it.
I met her at her house, and we carpooled over to the Columbia Pool. It was something like $6.25/person to get in. They had 3 lanes setup for lap swimming in the center of the pool. I took a quick tentative lap to see how it "felt" in comparison to our laps on the track. Surprisingly, one lap in the pool seemed to be the same exertion for me as one lap around the track. I shared this with Val and suggested we do 4 laps (i.e. a 200 meter swim) in place of the 10 minute warm-up, and then since the training tonight was 5x 800's on the track (800 = 2 laps around the track) we would replace that with 5x 100's in the pool (surprisingly also 2 laps), then another 200m cool-down. Also, to make the warm-up and cool-down more approachable, I suggested we use kickboards.
So that's what I did for my training tonight. I switched out between breast stroke and crawl stroke, and even threw in a 50m of backstroke for variety. It was a nice change of venue, and man did my arms get tired from crawl stroke! I guess I don't use my arms much when I run. Go figure! hehehe.
Anyway, I think this is a great option for me to get my heart rate up and not put stress on my feet. I might continue to do lap swimming on Mondays.
Friday, August 17, 2007
not exactly the Boston Marathon...
Total Distance So Far: 189.3 miles
Still in Boston, still running around the pretty reservoir. I've been dragging my dad out to help me go running (i.e. be my aid station and make sure I have water at the ready) at 7am both days I've attempted longer runs. Today was a little more overcast than Sunday, and a little more humid... but a pleasant running temperature all in all, maybe mid 70's?
I've spent the greater part of the week on trains and in Philadelphia actually, much of that wearing my foot splint to keep my bad foot stretched appropriated, but my feet have been more sore than usual all week long. I wasn't entirely sure what that would do for my next run. One thing was for sure: I stayed off my feet as much as I could manage this week, even deciding not to play Dance Dance Revolution on my brother's amazing hard pad controller. What can I say? Marathon training is sacrifice.
So Friday finally is here. Since I (once again) am on a plane tomorrow morning to head back to P-town, Friday was the chosen day to attempt the longer run. The TNT group run on Saturday is going 16 miles... so that's what I was shooting for today. Yeah, I didn't make it.
Here is how I did:
(lap 1) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:29 minutes
(lap 2) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:38 minutes
(lap 3) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:48 minutes
(lap 4) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:01 minutes
(lap 5) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:11 minutes
(lap 6) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:54 minutes
(lap 7) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:37 minutes
(lap 8) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:57 minutes
(lap 9) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 13:09 minutes
total: DISTANCE: 9 miles TIME: 01:42:44 minutes AVG PACE: 11:25 minute mile
Around lap 6 I was starting to ache quite a bit in both my knees. Every step was an effort following this. During lap 9 though, I decided to take a walking break... and noticed as I did so an overwhelming sensation of fatigue, and blackness creeping into my peripheral vision. That seemed VERY wrong, so I decided to cut my run short right there. Sure enough back at the house I weighed myself, and found I had lost approx 3.5 lbs during this run (even though I was drinking water).
That's a dangerous amount of dehydration, and it was a good thing I stopped when I did.
I blame the humidity out here. I should do better once back in Portland. I'm as exhausted and sore right now as I suspect I would be if I had made it all 16 miles in Portland.
It's amazing how hard the humidity hit me. Both of my runs out here ended up being approximately 1/2 of my goal distance. Go figure.
Still in Boston, still running around the pretty reservoir. I've been dragging my dad out to help me go running (i.e. be my aid station and make sure I have water at the ready) at 7am both days I've attempted longer runs. Today was a little more overcast than Sunday, and a little more humid... but a pleasant running temperature all in all, maybe mid 70's?
I've spent the greater part of the week on trains and in Philadelphia actually, much of that wearing my foot splint to keep my bad foot stretched appropriated, but my feet have been more sore than usual all week long. I wasn't entirely sure what that would do for my next run. One thing was for sure: I stayed off my feet as much as I could manage this week, even deciding not to play Dance Dance Revolution on my brother's amazing hard pad controller. What can I say? Marathon training is sacrifice.
So Friday finally is here. Since I (once again) am on a plane tomorrow morning to head back to P-town, Friday was the chosen day to attempt the longer run. The TNT group run on Saturday is going 16 miles... so that's what I was shooting for today. Yeah, I didn't make it.
Here is how I did:
(lap 1) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:29 minutes
(lap 2) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:38 minutes
(lap 3) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:48 minutes
(lap 4) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:01 minutes
(lap 5) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:11 minutes
(lap 6) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:54 minutes
(lap 7) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:37 minutes
(lap 8) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 11:57 minutes
(lap 9) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 13:09 minutes
total: DISTANCE: 9 miles TIME: 01:42:44 minutes AVG PACE: 11:25 minute mile
Around lap 6 I was starting to ache quite a bit in both my knees. Every step was an effort following this. During lap 9 though, I decided to take a walking break... and noticed as I did so an overwhelming sensation of fatigue, and blackness creeping into my peripheral vision. That seemed VERY wrong, so I decided to cut my run short right there. Sure enough back at the house I weighed myself, and found I had lost approx 3.5 lbs during this run (even though I was drinking water).
That's a dangerous amount of dehydration, and it was a good thing I stopped when I did.
I blame the humidity out here. I should do better once back in Portland. I'm as exhausted and sore right now as I suspect I would be if I had made it all 16 miles in Portland.
It's amazing how hard the humidity hit me. Both of my runs out here ended up being approximately 1/2 of my goal distance. Go figure.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Hello, Boston!
Total Distance So Far: 180.3 miles
I had long-standing plans to visit family on the East Coast this week, so surprise! I'm in Boston this week.
Since it seems to be taking me about 2 weeks to recover from the longer runs... I've decided to attempt running 10 miles on Sunday instead of the 12 miles the TNT Oregon team did on Saturday morning. I missed that group run because I had a flight to catch.
My dad (Massachussets resident) had found a location near his house that seemed pretty good to do my runs at. It's a reservoir with a flat running trail around it, banked with pretty boston-esque benches and lots of trees. He sat down on a bench and happily read a book with a pile of water bottles next to him... I began running around the reservoir in laps. Turned out, one lap was 1 mile!
... so here is how I did:
(lap 1) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:03 minutes
(lap 2) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 9:47 minutes
(lap 3) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:40 minutes
(lap 4) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:37 minutes
(lap 5) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 14:27 minutes
total: DISTANCE: 5 miles TIME: 55:34 minutes AVG PACE: 11:07 minute miles
During lap 5, my knee (surprise) locked up. That was it for me for the day. After that happened, I walked back to my dad's bench and we went home.
Not my best run, by any means. I do believe it was the humidity or something that messed with my knee. That's just no good. I did just get here the night before at midnight, so it's also possible I was really worn out from sitting on an airplane and in airports for 14 hours. I'll get as much rest as possible this week and try for a long run again on Friday...
I had long-standing plans to visit family on the East Coast this week, so surprise! I'm in Boston this week.
Since it seems to be taking me about 2 weeks to recover from the longer runs... I've decided to attempt running 10 miles on Sunday instead of the 12 miles the TNT Oregon team did on Saturday morning. I missed that group run because I had a flight to catch.
My dad (Massachussets resident) had found a location near his house that seemed pretty good to do my runs at. It's a reservoir with a flat running trail around it, banked with pretty boston-esque benches and lots of trees. He sat down on a bench and happily read a book with a pile of water bottles next to him... I began running around the reservoir in laps. Turned out, one lap was 1 mile!
Here is a picture of the reservoir:
... so here is how I did:
(lap 1) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:03 minutes
(lap 2) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 9:47 minutes
(lap 3) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:40 minutes
(lap 4) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 10:37 minutes
(lap 5) DISTANCE: 1 mile TIME: 14:27 minutes
total: DISTANCE: 5 miles TIME: 55:34 minutes AVG PACE: 11:07 minute miles
During lap 5, my knee (surprise) locked up. That was it for me for the day. After that happened, I walked back to my dad's bench and we went home.
Not my best run, by any means. I do believe it was the humidity or something that messed with my knee. That's just no good. I did just get here the night before at midnight, so it's also possible I was really worn out from sitting on an airplane and in airports for 14 hours. I'll get as much rest as possible this week and try for a long run again on Friday...
Thursday, August 9, 2007
35 elliptical minutes
Total Distance So Far: 175.3 miles
I seem to have managed to work up to a "10 minute mile" on the elliptical. I decided to just ride the elliptical today until the Distance meter got up to 3.5 miles.... and somehow today that only took 35 minutes... so... weird. I must be getting better at using the thing.
I seem to have managed to work up to a "10 minute mile" on the elliptical. I decided to just ride the elliptical today until the Distance meter got up to 3.5 miles.... and somehow today that only took 35 minutes... so... weird. I must be getting better at using the thing.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
60 minutes on an elliptical
Total Distance So Far: 171.8 miles
Perhaps I overdid it today... doing 60 minutes (+3-4 minutes cool-down) where probably 45 minutes would have sufficed. But, I did 60 minutes. That + the cool-down took me 6.02 miles, and supposedly I also burned a little over 600 calories in the process.
It was a surreal workout as I had the ENTIRE fitness center to myself for the entire hour. I've never had that before!
I was really hungry when I finished exercising... and then as I waited for my late lunch of tunafish sandwich to absorb into my body, I was pretty sleepy. I'm normal again now tho.
Perhaps I overdid it today... doing 60 minutes (+3-4 minutes cool-down) where probably 45 minutes would have sufficed. But, I did 60 minutes. That + the cool-down took me 6.02 miles, and supposedly I also burned a little over 600 calories in the process.
It was a surreal workout as I had the ENTIRE fitness center to myself for the entire hour. I've never had that before!
I was really hungry when I finished exercising... and then as I waited for my late lunch of tunafish sandwich to absorb into my body, I was pretty sleepy. I'm normal again now tho.
Monday, August 6, 2007
happiness runs in a circular motion...
Total Distance So Far: 165.8 miles
Another Monday track session... I'm still on the beginner option thanks to my bad foot.
A little cooler and overcast, but a good day to be running. Lincoln High School's track is more enjoyable when the sun isn't beating down. I think it's fortunate that Lincoln High School is in Portland. heheheh...
Ok, the stats:
Warm-up...
DISTANCE: 1.18 miles TIME: 10:31 minutes PACE: 8:55 minute/miles
Laps..
(1) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:44 minutes PACE: 6:40 minute/miles
(2) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:47 minutes PACE: 6:41 minute/miles
(3) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:49 minutes PACE: 7:03 minute/miles
(4) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:54 minutes PACE: 7:23 minute/miles
Cool-down...
DISTANCE: 0.90 miles TIME: 11:05 minutes PACE: 12:20 minute/miles
Another Monday track session... I'm still on the beginner option thanks to my bad foot.
A little cooler and overcast, but a good day to be running. Lincoln High School's track is more enjoyable when the sun isn't beating down. I think it's fortunate that Lincoln High School is in Portland. heheheh...
Ok, the stats:
Warm-up...
DISTANCE: 1.18 miles TIME: 10:31 minutes PACE: 8:55 minute/miles
Laps..
(1) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:44 minutes PACE: 6:40 minute/miles
(2) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:47 minutes PACE: 6:41 minute/miles
(3) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:49 minutes PACE: 7:03 minute/miles
(4) DISTANCE: 0.26 miles TIME: 1:54 minutes PACE: 7:23 minute/miles
Cool-down...
DISTANCE: 0.90 miles TIME: 11:05 minutes PACE: 12:20 minute/miles
Sunday, August 5, 2007
half marathon anyone?
Total Distance So Far: 162.7 miles
Saturday's group run this week was 14 miles long. We were meeting at Pier Park in St. Johns, a new route for the TNT team. Val and I carpooled there. The route, as it was explained to us, entailed 2 laps around a hilly trail-running trail in Pier Park, then out onto Lombard heading west, a left turn onto Columbia, and out to Kelly Point Park... all the way to the back parking lot there. Once in Kelly Point park we again run 2 laps around their pretty paved waterfront trails, and then head back the way we came to Pier Park. TNT had set up aid stations in the parking lots of each park.
It was roughly a 4 mile run between the parks, on roads which frankly lacked... a sidewalk, a shoulder, or any protection from the semi trucks barreling to and from the industrial area that the parks share the space out there with. It was a little uncomfortable, and coach joe admitted he didn't think the traffic was going to be as bad as it was, but he patrolled that stretch in his subaru outback constantly to make sure everyone was ok. It was reassuring to see him every once in a while drive by and wave at us.
Ever worried about my knee, I opted to try something new out. I loosely wrapped my left knee in an ace bandage to keep it warm. I figured it was having trouble when it cooled off too much. Sure enough, the wrap helped keep my knee toasty warm, and I had no problem with my knee freezing up on this run!! That was a relief! The weather was also not humid, and rather sunny on occasion. I was glad that alot of our run (the laps in the park at least) were under some beautiful old growth evergreens, nicely shaded. Oh, I should also mention we saw a decent number of people walking their dogs out at Kelly Point park. It seemed like a wonderful place to let Fido romp in the water.
Val and I made sure to take all the steep downhills walking (I learned my lesson on that 12 mile run), and eventually took some walk breaks on the way back to the first park. Val's toe was killing her, she suspects she might have broken it in one of our soccer games last week. Still we made it all 14 miles in approximately 3 hours.
I say approximately because I forgot to put on my Garmin initially, and snagged it out of Val's truck once we had finished the 2 laps in the first park, before we headed to the other park. The first 3.26 miles of data was effectively lost, and I have no clue how fast we ran it.
The stats I did capture say that we ran the last 10.74 miles in 2:21:41, giving us an average pace of 13:09 minute miles.
Assuming 3 hours for 14 miles though, that would give Val and I an average pace of 12:51 minute miles. That sounds about right actually. We were intentionally taking it slow (for the last 6 miles or so I don't think I could go any faster than I was actually)... but it worked! we made it!!
And, it occurs to me, that we had just ran our first 1/2 marathon distance too! Amazing!!
After the run, Val and I had to prepare for our BBQ fundraiser. We went to Farpost and picked up some donated items for her raffle. After that we went our seperate ways to shower and nap, and then met back up again at Val's house around 2:30pm to setup for the BBQ.
The fundraising BBQ (dubbed "BBQ to Save Lives"), went really well. It was a good time, we had a keg of Coors Light donated by Coors Brewing Company and a load of steak and chicken donated from Albertsons to grill. I even won some soccer gear in the raffle! We drew on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, hung around, and had a great time. The weather was perfect too.
Altogether a successful day!
Saturday's group run this week was 14 miles long. We were meeting at Pier Park in St. Johns, a new route for the TNT team. Val and I carpooled there. The route, as it was explained to us, entailed 2 laps around a hilly trail-running trail in Pier Park, then out onto Lombard heading west, a left turn onto Columbia, and out to Kelly Point Park... all the way to the back parking lot there. Once in Kelly Point park we again run 2 laps around their pretty paved waterfront trails, and then head back the way we came to Pier Park. TNT had set up aid stations in the parking lots of each park.
It was roughly a 4 mile run between the parks, on roads which frankly lacked... a sidewalk, a shoulder, or any protection from the semi trucks barreling to and from the industrial area that the parks share the space out there with. It was a little uncomfortable, and coach joe admitted he didn't think the traffic was going to be as bad as it was, but he patrolled that stretch in his subaru outback constantly to make sure everyone was ok. It was reassuring to see him every once in a while drive by and wave at us.
Ever worried about my knee, I opted to try something new out. I loosely wrapped my left knee in an ace bandage to keep it warm. I figured it was having trouble when it cooled off too much. Sure enough, the wrap helped keep my knee toasty warm, and I had no problem with my knee freezing up on this run!! That was a relief! The weather was also not humid, and rather sunny on occasion. I was glad that alot of our run (the laps in the park at least) were under some beautiful old growth evergreens, nicely shaded. Oh, I should also mention we saw a decent number of people walking their dogs out at Kelly Point park. It seemed like a wonderful place to let Fido romp in the water.
Val and I made sure to take all the steep downhills walking (I learned my lesson on that 12 mile run), and eventually took some walk breaks on the way back to the first park. Val's toe was killing her, she suspects she might have broken it in one of our soccer games last week. Still we made it all 14 miles in approximately 3 hours.
I say approximately because I forgot to put on my Garmin initially, and snagged it out of Val's truck once we had finished the 2 laps in the first park, before we headed to the other park. The first 3.26 miles of data was effectively lost, and I have no clue how fast we ran it.
The stats I did capture say that we ran the last 10.74 miles in 2:21:41, giving us an average pace of 13:09 minute miles.
Assuming 3 hours for 14 miles though, that would give Val and I an average pace of 12:51 minute miles. That sounds about right actually. We were intentionally taking it slow (for the last 6 miles or so I don't think I could go any faster than I was actually)... but it worked! we made it!!
And, it occurs to me, that we had just ran our first 1/2 marathon distance too! Amazing!!
After the run, Val and I had to prepare for our BBQ fundraiser. We went to Farpost and picked up some donated items for her raffle. After that we went our seperate ways to shower and nap, and then met back up again at Val's house around 2:30pm to setup for the BBQ.
The fundraising BBQ (dubbed "BBQ to Save Lives"), went really well. It was a good time, we had a keg of Coors Light donated by Coors Brewing Company and a load of steak and chicken donated from Albertsons to grill. I even won some soccer gear in the raffle! We drew on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, hung around, and had a great time. The weather was perfect too.
Altogether a successful day!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
40 more minutes on the elliptical
Total Distance So Far: 148.7 miles
Just a quick addition to my "running total" to include my 40 minute workout on the elliptical today... 40 minutes came out to 3.72 miles today, so I was pedaling at a slightly higher rate today.
Cheers!
Just a quick addition to my "running total" to include my 40 minute workout on the elliptical today... 40 minutes came out to 3.72 miles today, so I was pedaling at a slightly higher rate today.
Cheers!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
elliptical workout
Total Distance So Far: 145.0 miles
Wednesdays are supposed to be timed runs according to our workout schedule. I'm, however, not really supposed to be doing anything high-impact between group runs, so I'm banished to the fitness center machines for now.
This was my first time to the fitness center when there was a free elliptical machine. Our fitness center only has 2 of them, and they are a popular device as they provide a decent aerobic workout with low to no impact. The way it achieves this is there are 2 footpads that are cleverly fixed on an elliptical track. A workout motion on an elliptical is something of a combination of a bicycle pedal motion, and a running stride. Your feet never leave the foot pads.
My personal problem with them is I have trouble maintaining my balance on them, and always nearly fall off. Plus there is the added element of feeling like a weirdo, being the girl that is flailing around on the elliptical machine, nearly falling off. No one else seems to have this problem. I must be unique.
Since my feet are a little sore today from my 2 games of indoor soccer last night (shhhh... don't tell anyone I'm still playing soccer this much. Or, um... it's low-impact indoor soccer, yeah!) I wasn't sure how comfortable the elliptical would be, but to my surprise it was very comfortable.
After about 20 minutes on the device I stopped lurching about at strange angles and got more into the rhythm of the machine... however I still had to hold on to the handle bars to keep my balance.
The NICE thing about the elliptical is I learned I'm able to read a book while using it. This helps the time go by wonderfully, as I've got a nice backlog of reading I'm trying to catch up on... not the least of which is Harry Potter book 7... DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS IN IT, I'VE YET TO CRACK IT OPEN.
Anyway, I comfortably worked up a good sweat in my 40 minute workout, and the display informed me that my workout was the equivalent of traveling 3.52 miles (if I were pounding pavement I would expect to go 4 miles in that timeframe, so clearly the elliptical doesn't provide you with an equivalent workout as straight up unreconstructed running). I'm supposed to do a 35 minute timed workout tomorrow... altho I'm thinking of doing 40 minutes again, and in the future pumping my 40 minute workout up to maybe 50 minutes?
The interesting thing was stepping off the machine. My legs felt exercised.... which was rather pleasant. However, I also noticed that my feet were still sore. You see, I didn't feel my feet at all while I was on the elliptical, so that tells me that EVEN WITH unhappy feet, I can get a workout on the elliptical. That's good to know!!
Wednesdays are supposed to be timed runs according to our workout schedule. I'm, however, not really supposed to be doing anything high-impact between group runs, so I'm banished to the fitness center machines for now.
This was my first time to the fitness center when there was a free elliptical machine. Our fitness center only has 2 of them, and they are a popular device as they provide a decent aerobic workout with low to no impact. The way it achieves this is there are 2 footpads that are cleverly fixed on an elliptical track. A workout motion on an elliptical is something of a combination of a bicycle pedal motion, and a running stride. Your feet never leave the foot pads.
My personal problem with them is I have trouble maintaining my balance on them, and always nearly fall off. Plus there is the added element of feeling like a weirdo, being the girl that is flailing around on the elliptical machine, nearly falling off. No one else seems to have this problem. I must be unique.
Since my feet are a little sore today from my 2 games of indoor soccer last night (shhhh... don't tell anyone I'm still playing soccer this much. Or, um... it's low-impact indoor soccer, yeah!) I wasn't sure how comfortable the elliptical would be, but to my surprise it was very comfortable.
After about 20 minutes on the device I stopped lurching about at strange angles and got more into the rhythm of the machine... however I still had to hold on to the handle bars to keep my balance.
The NICE thing about the elliptical is I learned I'm able to read a book while using it. This helps the time go by wonderfully, as I've got a nice backlog of reading I'm trying to catch up on... not the least of which is Harry Potter book 7... DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS IN IT, I'VE YET TO CRACK IT OPEN.
Anyway, I comfortably worked up a good sweat in my 40 minute workout, and the display informed me that my workout was the equivalent of traveling 3.52 miles (if I were pounding pavement I would expect to go 4 miles in that timeframe, so clearly the elliptical doesn't provide you with an equivalent workout as straight up unreconstructed running). I'm supposed to do a 35 minute timed workout tomorrow... altho I'm thinking of doing 40 minutes again, and in the future pumping my 40 minute workout up to maybe 50 minutes?
The interesting thing was stepping off the machine. My legs felt exercised.... which was rather pleasant. However, I also noticed that my feet were still sore. You see, I didn't feel my feet at all while I was on the elliptical, so that tells me that EVEN WITH unhappy feet, I can get a workout on the elliptical. That's good to know!!
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