Post Injury Post!

Well, from the absence of my posts, one would guess that maybe I've run into some problems! Well....this year I broke two toes on two different occasions. Unfortunantly, the second broken toe wiped out my chances of running the GR Half or Full Marathon.

To be brutally honest with myself as well, the broken toes gave me the "excuse" to fall off the wagon as far as exercise. This past week was week 6 since the second toe, so now I can start running again, which I really need to do to feel like I'm accomplishing something in my exercise routine.

This coming week, I will be restarting my exercise routine (Now come on...its hunting season in Michigan right now!) and signing up for the first spring half marathon December 1st in Traverse City. (it reaches its limit early...the Bayshore)

Ill post more later as my routine starts to form! Thanks!

And My First Injury!

Well, it had to happen and I'm glad its earlier in training. My calves (notably the right) has been bothering me on and off the last two weeks. Last night, I had a 5 mile run I had to do on the treadmill. (88+ outside) The run went fantastic.....I ran around a 9:15 pace, and it was very very easy. I could have easily run much further or faster. This morning I woke up and stepped out of bed on my right leg. I almost went down to the ground! Now, I can walk on it but there is moderate pain and discomfort in the ankle/achilles area. I dont know if I strained the tendon or what, but it was enough of a warning sign to lay off the 12 mile long run today. (I wouldnt have made it) Ill see how it goes the next couple days (tomorrow is another off day). Next week my mileage was reducing, so it wont be much lost. Ill try and maintain by elliptical work/bike work to reduce the impact on the area or the swimming pool if that's even too much. Just wanted to leave a note. Wish me Luck!

Week Two Down!

Another week of training down...both weeks I ran all of the runs scheduled although the long runs were run at a slower pace then I would have liked due to the heat. (its been brutal) Here's the breakdown for the week.....

Monday - 4 mile run @ 9:29 pace
Tuesday - 4.5 miles Hills
Thursday - 5 miles @ 9:48 pace
Friday - 5 miles @ 9:45 pace
Saturday - 9.0 miles @ 10:19 pace

This week is going as planned so far. I have been plagued with what started out as moderate calf/shin pain, especially on the right leg. That has pretty much dissipated now, and is only an issue when running on the treadmill or hard surface for an extended period of time. Next week is week 4 anyway, and I am reducing my mileage by a 40-50%. I think Ill do that every 4 weeks to allow my body to adjust to the increased training.

On a sore note, my HRM had to go in for repair. For whatever reason, the button used to start exercises is sticking pretty bad. The repair is pretty simple from what I've heard and doesn't come back, but I had to get it in before the mileage really started piling on. In addition, I was losing HR data 2/3 into my longest runs, but suspect that may have been due to a dying battery in the main unit itself. Ill see when I get it back. (should be next week or so)

Even though its still July and the Crim in Flint is still over a month away, I am really starting to get excited for it. I have reduced my race schedule dramatically this year, with a ramp up starting in August. I am somewhat worried about what the heat will be like in August, but its a 10 miler this time, and I think my wife may be running it too. (although that hasn't been confirmed yet)

Well, that's it for this week....hopefully the weather cools down just a little bit and the injuries stay away! Happy Running All!

Calories!

Now, I am not one that normally counts calories. I run quite a bit during racing season, and assumed I was eating enough and not too much. Just to see where I was at, I signed up on Livestrong.com. This has allowed me to add in everything I eat during the day and get a breakdown of how many calories I'm eating and break it down into categories such as protein, carbs etc. The really cool thing is while setting up your account, it asks you what level of activity your job is. For myself, it is more of a moderate level of activity. This activity does not include your daily exercise routine which is added later. That way, if your job is real physical, then your calorie goal will be higher.

The last two days, I have seriously lacked on the calorie ingesting amount, and frankly was surprised. My normal caloric intake is supposed to be somewhere near the 2200 level. I'm pretty good at keeping that level, but after my exercise burn is figured into it, I'm normally 400-600 calories short. For those people looking to lose weight, I guess that would be good although I think cutting 600 calories might be getting near a max on a 2000 calorie diet, but I'm no expert. Anyway, it really opened my eyes and is keeping me more aware of what I am eating. I've included a link to Livestrong in my list of sites. I don't know how long Ill use it, but for right now, its something I'm interested in following; especially to see how my weight is affected by watching this. (I really only want to lose 10 pounds....15 at the max)

Update of this Week

25 miles down this week! I felt great on every run until today, and that's the reason I'm adding another entry for the week. I woke up early this morning to make sure I got breakfast in (Cin. Life w/2% milk) Right before I took off, I chased down some Sunkist Gummy Snacks for a 100 calorie boost, and brought along a TriFruit GU just in case I needed it. Of course, I brought sportsdrink with me and was running a route that passed water fountains. The forecast today was the 70's up until around 11-12, where the temp would gradually climb to around 85 degrees. (and the humidity is climbing)

Well.....the forecast was incorrect. When I arrived at the TART trail, my vehicle read the outside temp as 76 degrees, and where I parked is only about 5 miles from my house. The first 4.5 miles of the run went without problems. It was hot and getting hotter, but I was downing fluid like I should and I took my GU at the halfway point. I went through a Nathans hand bottle of Sportsdrink, and probably 2-2.5 additional bottles of water, although its probably closer to two. I got to the point where I didn't want any more water, and was just putting it in my mouth and spitting it out to keep my mouth and lips wet. (salt crusted everywhere of course!) Granted, my running times were significantly slower then usual on purpose (about 1-1.5 min per mile slower) but I was doing the work. The last 4.5 miles is where problems started. I noticed that the temperature was significantly warmer then was forecast (it ended up around 83 at that point) and no matter how much water I was taking in, I noticed I was feeling worse and worse. I got about a mile from my car and noticed my hands and forearms had started swelling. Now for me, when this starts to happen I'm typically under hydrated or its too hot to really be running. Maybe its an electrolyte imbalance, or something else...all I know is when it starts to happen, I better be about done!

My whole point in the thread is to make sure you listen to your body. If you need to drink, by all means drink. Make sure you have adequate water or fluids along your route, and if your body is hinting to you that you should stop (dizziness, numbness, cessation of sweating, feeling ill etc) its probably a good time to stop or at least severely reduce the intensity of your run. (I would say stop....but of course that isn't what I did today) The difference with me today was I never experienced cessation of sweating or feeling real ill....I just didn't feel very good. Its important to stop before heat exhaustion or heat stroke set in. Once that starts to happen, your looking at a problem if your far from your vehicle or home.

I have included link about heat exhaustion, heat stroke and heat cramps for any ones review. It better to be safe then sorry!

How This for a Hill!!

Here it is...one of the hill runs I implement every week. This one is fun for half of it (the first downhill half!) and the second half is pretty hard, but it works out the muscles. As you can see by my cadence line, I had 4 reductions in cadence (aka walking!) One of them was waiting for traffic, one was the turn around at the half waiting to cross the road, and I will admit.....two of them were slowing down to a fast walk. Those two are pretty evident because they are on the way up the hill! This is a 4 mile route that is right off my house, so its very easy to schedule it in. I have a second run I sometimes do, but it significantly harder, and is 1.5 miles from my house. This adds three miles to my run, so until my hill run's climb to 7 miles (which they unfortunantly do, but not for at least three more weeks) Ill keep on the run I'm doing or do some trail run's I know of that have hills.

This graph also gives a pretty good indication of how this Polar I have works. As you can see, there is a line for HR which is nearer to the top and flatter except for area's where I started walking. The purple line is for elevation changes. I like that the watch gives you the ability to turn off the feature. If you have to run inside on the dreadmill, you can disable it so it doesnt crowd out the graph. Also, the watch has a finite amount of memory, and this helps to ensure you can save more to the watch. (it all uploads to the software eventually, and at that point you can erase the exercise one by one or all at once) The green line is the cadence monitor, or how fast your feet are turning over. The blue line is how fast your running it per mile. (Im sure you can change that per kilometer if you wanted. My FAVORITE part is the ability to pick out specific data (such as speed) and graph that over time. You can then see if your improving on your training. You can also do this for max heart-rate, average heart-rate, calories, energy expenditure, or any one of many other specific set's of data.

I have really decided to lay off of the racing for a little bit. My next race is the Crim 10 mile run in Flint at the end of August. As I've officially started my marathon running schedule, my mileage is going to start to ramp up and I don't feel like its probably very good to race that hard during training. (unless it happens to fall on a high mileage day) The Crim happens to fall on a day where I have a 15 mile long run, so I'm going to adjust my running that day that particular day to make it work.

As for the marathon running schedule, it's going well....better then I expected . I was expecting my legs would be sore but other then residual light quad soreness from the hill running, I feel pretty good. I already run 12 miles this week, and have a 4-mile 9-10:00/mile run today and a 9-mile run on Saturday. The 9-mile run is also supposed to be around the 10:08/mile timeframe, and we will have to see how that goes. I tend to run about a minute faster per mile then I should, so I'm going to have to really work at slowing down on the long runs. Typically, I take off too fast and run half of it about a minute per mile faster. The last half I end up walking in a couple points typically, and even though the run comes in at the goal pace, I don't know how well that is helping me out right now.

Well, that's it for now! Unless something dramatic happens, Ill continue to post about once a week and more during races and hopefully this training keeps going to way it has!

The Marathon Schedule Approaches!

Well, after a week off due to being out of town and enjoying it too much apparently, I have started the week off great. I wanted to post and mention a little about marathon training schedules.

What a maze of schedules to pick from! There are those schedules that a person only runs 3-4 days, and other where I've seen it all the way up to six. I've seen schedules that are as short as 8 weeks and as long as 18 weeks. (I discounted the longer ones then that) I've seen long runs of only 1 or 2 20 milers in a program, and those that go up to 23. So what did I choose? Well, I would love to break 4 hours in my very first marathon, but don't know if Ill be ready for it by October. I could have finished the half last year in certainly 2 hours, and likely 1:50, but not much faster then that. That time doesn't really bode well for a under 4 hour marathon. I have picked the Runner's World schedule to break 4:00 though. I have looked through the schedule, and can keep up the running at the pace desired until probably August. Then again, hopefully my fitness keeps up. Will I be totally devastated should I not break 4:00? Nope, not really. I just hope to finish the thing with hopefully all of my toe-nails and not crawling across the line. Since I've restarted running from the Mexico trip in April, I've already lost about 7 of the pounds I gained, and that's only with a 20-25 mile a week schedule with many easy runs.

I figure if I'm not ready for breaking 4:00, this schedule will definitely get me close to the goal. But you know I'm going to be on that 4:00 pace group!! I'll hang as far as I can, unless the pace is too quick right away.

On a much different note, my son is going to another school this coming year, and they offer track and field along with cross country. If he puts his mind to it, he's actually quite a good runner. (he's 15) He can belt out 6:00 minute miles without barely losing his breath. He wants to run with me this year, and I think Ill take him on my shorter 3 mile runs. I really would like to see what he can do. Personally, I can only run 3 miles between 21-23 minutes if I'm running fast and its flat. He wants to run on the track team, so I figure he can run with me and maybe I can give him some pointers.

That's it for this week! Until next week!

Another Week Down!!!

Much better week as far as training is concerned. Like I mentioned, I bit the bullet and registered for the Metro Health Marathon early, mainly because I didn't want to miss out on it by waiting too long, and secondly, the motivation factor. I have decided to pass on Charlevoix at the end of the month, but for a much different reason. I was going to register, but after checking out the fee's this year backed out. Its the same reason I'm backing out of the National Cherry Festival's races this year. Some races this year have increased there fee's or the fee's for the half and full marathon are significant jumps up from the other races. If the race is well organized, has enough aid stations etc etc....then its worth it. Am I going to pay over $60 for a race where there aren't a lot of aid stations, the only refreshment at the end of the race is water and the expo is non-existent? No....Now don't get me wrong, I don't really run for the perks, but if I'm going to pay near $100 for a race, there better be some perks!! If not....I can just go out and run the same distance on the weekends, or even worse....crash the race, which I don't condone. These races do cost money and that does peeve me off to see people running it and partaking in refreshments at the end who didn't pay.

Anyway, back to this week....

Sunday - 3 Mile run @ 9:26 pace

Monday - 3 Mile run @ 8:55 pace

Thursday - 800m intervals 8:00/mile pace on 800m with 2 min cool down. 3 miles in 800m intervals and 1.4 miles in warm up, cool down and in between.

Friday - 1.5 mile warm up @ 9:15 pace and 1.2 mile Elliptical Workout for about 18 minutes

Saturday - 7.4 mile run @ 11:17 pace....felt pretty beat up the whole run.

I work close to home for most of the week, but starting Friday, will be in Indiana for a little under a week. Ill likely run all through the week, but keep it real light throughout the week and try to get my long run in Thursday. I wont be running over the weekend, and to be honest, will probably be challenged to run next week at all, but we will see.

After a lot of thought though, I have decided to run the 10 mile run at the Crim in Flint this year. I typically don't run anything in August due to the heat, but I will be in the beginning of transitioning from half marathon to full training, so it will be a good run for the weekend. Ill try and talk by wife into that one as well, but that might be asking too much!!

Metro Health Registration COMPLETE!

Just a small blurb for the week....I bit the bullet and registered today! Better yet, my wife, who said she would never ever ever run a half marathon again is contemplating (and seriously I might add) running the half in GR. Its what I needed to not only stay motivated, but I have mentioned this before.....this race is awesome!

Anyway, training is going better then before....Ill go into detail after the weekend is over, but I have started implementing 800m intervals as well as more elliptical time, as that seems to exercise parts of the legs (and other parts) that don't usually to get as much as a workout.

More later on this weekend!!

Kinda a Slowwww Week!

Welll, this week did not go as planned at all. I had to work out of town, but that is no excuse. I was out of work before 7 pm every night, but two things interferred.....Call of Duty (yes the video game) and MGM Grand in Detroit. I had all intentions this past week of keeping to schedule, but those darn video games! Then, when I had two days of that I end up in the poker room at the MGM Grand. Now, this was my first time in the poker room, and I was a little nervous. I am a fairly good hold em player, and usually cash out when I play with my co-workers or friends....but this was entirely different. (I did cash out though which was good) The hardest part of the whole Poker Room at the casino thing is figuring out all of the players at the table. Ill be doing it again....it was just too much fun!!

Now, for the training. I did end up on a Elliptical three of the days (Monday, Wendsday and Friday) for thirty minutes each time, and I'm probably lucky I got that in. Today, I did do a three mile tempo'ish run in 27 minutes. Now, last year I could hold the 9:00 pace for 10k, and my hope by the end of summer is to be able to hold that for the half. It would be totally AWESOME if I could do it for the full marathon in the fall, but that is expecting too much out of myself. As it is, like I mentioned before, I may not be ready for the Charlevoix Half this month. The only races set entirely in stone are the VASA 5k, the Harvest Stompede 5k and the MetroHealth Marathon. I would love to get some more racing in, but work has been brutal and Ill just have to wait and see.

The next couple weeks I'm working close to home, so will be home mornings and evenings. This will enable me to get back on schedule and see exactly where I'm at as far as long runs are concerned. I did 8.5 and 9.0 in the past month or so and a 6.5 mile last week. Ill probably try either a 9.5 mile flat long run this weekend on the TART trail, or a 8.0 mile run I have mapped out from my house that is surely not flat. Either way, if I can complete those with a minimal amount of issues, I may just try Charlevoix, but certainly as a training run and not a race. If only the weather would cooperate. It was cold for so long, and then all of a sudden, high 80's and low 90's with a crap load of humidity.....miserable!!

Kinda a Slowwww Week!

An All Right Week....

I shouldn't complain about my first full week back since my toe was hurt....but like any other runner out there, if I don't perform to what I perceive as 100%, I'm disappointed. The shorter runs this week went fine, but the long run today was what I wasn't happy with. I look off way too fast, and ended up having to walk some of the route. Although the time was at the slower end of the range I like to run the longer runs at....it didn't go the way I wanted. At least the toe held up fine.

Monday - Elliptical workout - 2.6 miles for 35 minutes
Tuesday - 3 mile run @ 29:15
Thursday - 3 mile run @ 27:07
Friday - 3 mile run @ 28:31
Saturday - 6.7 mile run @ 1:19:16

Ill be out of town this coming week, but the hotel I'm staying at has a pretty good workout room with brand new treadmills. Its supposed to be in the mid 80's to 90's next week, and Ill probably have to run in the morning before work.

Due to having to take time off for healing, Ill probably have to cancel the Charlevoix Half. Ill know more in a couple weeks.

Back in a sense!!

Well, I got on the Elliptical today to ease back into it. For one, I figured if I could do at least that and biking, I would be all right with the hurt toe. Now, after over a week, the toe is "starting" to feel better. No more sharp pain, and the bruising at least on the toe is gone. There is still some bruising underneath the nail and that is uncomfortable, but I'm not sure if its broken now....maybe I just sprained it extremely bad.

Tommorrow I'm going to try a treadmill run. Ill try for three slow miles or until I feel any toe discomfort. The first sign of toe discomfort, I'm going to lay off running for awhile, but I'm hoping for no toe discomfort! We will see later!

Are You Kiddddding Me!!!!

Broken toe of all things to put a huge obstacle in way of my running. Last Saturday, I was running into the garage to get my running shoes on, and rolled my toes underneath my foot with considerable force. I heard (felt) a pop, and the rest is history. The good thing is it looks to be the top bone in the toe, and I can walk on it pretty easily. I can put pressure to an extent on the foot, and bending in upwards is no problem. Downward is another story and hurts like no tommorrow. My wife is urging me to not race in Charlevoix as its 8 weeks away, and its pretty hard to run those long 8-12 mile runs on a busted up toe. I am going to substitute elliptical training and biking (if I can) and see where it goes. I'm really bummed about it, but I dont want this going into July/August runs, and Ill have to start getting into training for the Metro Health run in Grand Rapids.

Ill try and post pictures of the toe.....of course its black and blue right now, and the nail is going to fall off for sure. Just perfect.

Also as a side note, gained about 12 lbs total from the Cancun trip. Perfect!

Post Mexico!

Well....so much for thrashing any miles out in Mexico! (which explains the absence in posts!) Anyway, I had too much fun and now have to get back into the swing of things.

The week before the trip, I did get my long run in, which I desperately needed. I have to adjust my race schedule though. I have been out of town for work pretty much every week this year so far. While I may not be out of town 5 days a week, its been at least a couple days each week. This coupled with the trip and upcoming scheduled events has caused me to revisit my schedule. My family wants me around some more (who would have thought?) so I am trying to schedule a local race later in May. Unfortunately, this race is currently closed, but I am hoping some spots open up for late registration in the beginning of May. Also, I needed an extra couple weeks to get back into running form before I attempted it. Its a half marathon, but I plan on running it comfortably hard. No PR attempts just an easy run on a Saturday! We will see since this race closed rather early this year.

The trip to Mexico has thrown off my training a little in regards to weight also! We stayed at an all inclusive place, and I came back 5-8 pounds heavier. Go figure! Now I have to work my butt off probably triple the time to get that weight off.

As I mentioned in the past, I am incorporating P90x and more elliptical workouts to my routine. Both routines have proven to be challenging, and the muscles I use less have rebelled against the torture. The elliptical workouts are now not as debilitating, but the P90x is another story. I am only doing to core workout on that right now, but man....the last time I did it I was sore for days after.

Anyway, that's it for right now. This week I am slowly going to ease back into it and as I have a fishing trip planned for this weekend, the long run planned is in the air. I don't know if Ill be able to squeeze it in, but if not will jump back on it next week!!!

Another Week Bites the Dust!

It has been extremely hard lately to get my running in! I love to run, but my work schedule has been very busy lately with a lot of out of town work. The work has been in Detroit lately, which is one place I'm not just going to take off outside and run.

I also had some calf issues this past week that have now dissipated. I was pretty worried about the leg, but took it easy with work on the elliptical rather than run too much. I only ended up really with two runs this week, but thought it would be better to do that. I was also probably more worried about the long run on Saturday. Last Saturday, I had to cut my long run short due to the calf issues and was wondering how I would handle it this week. It went extremely well....better than I would have expected. The recap for the week is as follows:

Monday - Elliptical 2.5 miles for 30 min
Wednesday - Elliptical 2.7 miles for 30 min
Friday - Easy Run 3.1 miles @ 9:30 pace
Saturday - Long Run 8.5 miles @ 10:31 pace (1 hour 29 Minutes)

This next week will be a little different. Because of my schedule, I'm going to have to run the LR earlier in week then I typically like to. Ill likely try a 3mile EZ run on Monday, interval session on Tueday, crosstrain on Wednesday, LR on Thursday?, and a very light run on Friday. Like I said, because of schedule Ill have to take it day to day.

GREAT Week Except the Last Day!!!

I had a pretty good week with running with the exception of some cramping issues in my calf towards the end of the week. I am trying to implement more core/cross-training this year, mostlyP90x (not the full program) as well as Elliptical training. This week, I jumped on the Elliptical for 30 minutes on random with the level set half way through. While I did finish the routine, I'm pretty sure that's where my calf problems came from. I would have done the P90x routine, but that kicked my ass the last time I did it, so I changed to the Elliptical.

Monday - 3 Mile EZ Run (9:26 mile Average)
Wednesday - 3 Mile Pace Run (8:34 mile Average)
Thursday - 3 Mile Run at Hotel (9:10 mile Average....was rushed)
Friday - 30 Minute Elliptical
Saturday - 5 Mile Easy Run (10:00 mile Average...was supposed to be 7 mile Long run but calf cramps cut short)

Next week, I'll be working out of town and will again have to run on treadmills. Ill be home later in the week to do the long run outside. Ill probably try and implement more cross training (some on "Rest days" as well) this next week. I'm talking low impact type stuff, like Elliptical or Recumbant bike or similar.

I'm liking what I'm seeing as far as my running performance, other than the cramping issues. My speed is increasing on the shorter runs and the long runs have been going good as far as breathing, heart-rate and leg strength. Hopefully, this past long run was just a minor setback (it hasnt bothered me since) and I can continue on. I'm progressing pretty well on the half marathon training, and the first race is in May so we will see!!!

Good luck to everyone!!

End of Week One!

After a slow start to the week, everything ended up close to back to normal by the end of the week.

Sunday - P90x workout
Tuesday - 3 Mile EZ Run (went out too fast)
Thursday - 3 Mile EZ Run (a little better)
Friday - Intervals 8x400
Saturday - 6 Mile Run (best run of the week)

The new modified schedule seems to be working great. Although my legs were pretty shot at the beginning of the week (from the P90x workout), they ended up getting better as the week went on. My only upcoming issue may be going on vacation. I'm going to Cancun with my wife and another couple in April for a week. Ill try and load up on the harder run's early, and do the EZ runs while I'm in Cancun.

Anyway, on to the next week! The weather has turned cold up here, which I hope doesnt last. With the 50's and 60's weve been having, these mid 30's and low 40's are not welcome.

Oh.....the pain!!!!

Week one of official training has not went according to plan! I did the P90x Core Workout program with my wife on Sunday. My hamstrings felt like they were on fire through today!! As of today, they are still sore, but I can at least get out of my vehicle without sounding like I'm 85 years old with advanced arthritis. Today, I was scheduled to run 3 miles easy.....that wasnt going to happen. Instead, I will now run 3 miles easy tomorrow, then intervals on Friday (its not a real hard session) and end with my long run on Saturday. I have again modified my program. The "easy" program I have only has run's scheduled for 3 days a week, while the intermediate program has 5 days a week. The intermediate has at least one day, and sometimes two days a week with 3 mile EZ runs, but the ramp up in mileage is more realistic. The easy program starts at 4 mile long runs, but only ends at 10 miles. The intermediate on the other hand starts at eight at ends at 12 miles. I am going to implement a program where I run 4 days a week instead, with p90x on one day (Sunday), other cross training on another day and a day of rest. (if I need two days of rest Ill take it) One run will be the long run on Saturday, one run will be an interval or tempo run, one run will be an easy run around 3-5 miles as time progresses, and the other run will be "up in the air" as a rotating day based on what I actually did. The only run I can count on all of time as far as my schedule is concerned is the long run on Saturday. This should allow me to get in the miles I'm wanting, and get in the harder workouts. The last part of the program I'm going to change is starting out at 6 miles as the long run. Week two will be 7 miles, week three an eight mile run, week four a 9 mile run but with a reduced weekly schedule, week five a 10 mile run, week six an 11 mile run with another reduced weekly total, and week 7 12 miles. Week 8 is the week of the race and Ill again reduce the mileage down. I had thought I would do shorter tempo runs every third week or so, but I never have a problem with the long runs, unless the total mileage for the week gets out of hand. This way, I figure I wont get burned out with all the mileage, and can concentrate on quality long run sessions while still having the energy to put in quality runs throughout the week.

End of Week Recap!

Like I mentioned, I restarted back into running this week. It went as well as could be expected and with the pains I was anticipating. I ran three miles on Thursday, and then did four on Saturday...both runs at an easier pace. Sunday (today) I did the P90x Core Workout. I am glad I am implementing some core workouts to my routine. Its something I was lacking last year, and I knew I would need it this year as the closer I get to 40, the easier it is to deposit weight in the core area!!

Now, I am going to bring up a topic that is a pet peeve of mine. There are certain races that I love to run. Most of those races tend to be more local races. While I am all for the usually better run larger races, I love it when I find a small town race that is well run. A great example of this which I mentioned in the past is the Grand Rapids Marathon (the Metro Health) that is run in October. Another race I like to run, mostly because I live in the same town are the Bayshore races in Traverse City, Michigan. My issue is that they have capped the marathon and half marathon at somewhere around 2500 runners. This has happened the past couple years. Last year, I wasnt ready and ran the 10k. (which I dont think is capped) I would think a race would want more runners, and to bring more business to a community. Now, Traverse City isnt a huge venue, and the race is along some pretty narrow roads but that could be changed. (for Gods sake, there are two bays, and they are huge) Just my ranting......as you can tell by now, I missed the cutoff!!!!!

Anyway, Ill continue my Sunday posts unless something comes up midweek that I think is mind blowing important!

Back ON THE WAGON!!

Well, its been some time since I've posted, and Ill admit even ran. I do have some excuses, but nothing that explains the entire absence. About a month and half or so ago, I was running through the house chasing my dog, and my toenail on the little toe caught on a laundry basket on the floor and was completely tore off. That hurt like hell and I decided to take a week off to let it heal which went much longer than that. Then, three weeks or so ago, I was ice fishing and tripped on the ice, with my hand arresting my fall on my ice auger. I needed stitches, the finger still hurts in the cold and isnt completely healed up yet. (the stiches are out though)

My race schedule was set today, which has got me motivated finally to get going. I don't have much of a choice, since the first race is about 8 weeks away, and its a doozy....25k race to start in Grand Rapids. Ill see how it goes, but since its the first race, Ill plan on taking it easy on this one. The whole goal this year is to finish the marathon in October with hopefully a sub 4:00 time. (closer to BQ would be really awesome, but being realistic, I hope to just finish the darn thing)

My wife has decided this year at least for right now to not get into the running as serious as myself. Shell probably enter the same races, but the shorter distance options. She says she has no desire still to run a marathon, and she is deep into the P90x right now. She also adds in runs during the week, but nothing like last year. That's cool with me....it was obvious at the end she was getting burned out by all of the long runs on Saturday, and I don't think 13-20+ mile long runs later in the year will go any further in not burning her out!!

Anyway, today's 3 mile run was the early start to the 8 week half training schedule, which actually doesnt start until Sunday. I really didnt gain any weight in my time off from running, and surprisingly, didnt have tight back muscles after the run. (Ill probably have it tomorrow) One change I am implementing this year that I may have mentioned before is core training. I am notorious for skipping any core training....I cannot stand doing it and feel I'm wasting my time. Sundays are my dedicated days for P90x core workouts, and I'll try and mix up additional non running core/strength training. I have also changed my training plan from the 12 week Hal Higdon plan to a new 8 week plan. The Higdon plan peaked at about 28 or so miles for the week before the race. This new plan peaks at just under that. I liked the Higdon plan, but the beginning part seemed to draggggg on! I'm not going to link the plan until I get a feel for how its going to work, but I think I'm going to like it. While there is less actual mileage than I was running on last years plan, there is more dedicated cross training, which I seriously neglected last year because I was running all of the time!!

Anyway, hope to hear from all you runners throughout the year as the running season gets into full gear, and maybe Ill see you out there!

The Week Wayyy out of town!

This week I am in Madison, WI for training, and those are the weeks where I usually struggle with keeping a routine. Not this week! Sunday did a three mile run before driving here, and tonight finished my 3+ miles doing intervals today. Tomorrow I implement one part of the P90X routine that is so popular, the Core Workout. Wendsday I plan on running 3-4 miles, and then Thursday a short run, with the P90X Ab Ripper unless I'm too beat up from the previous few days...in that case Ill move the P90X to Saturday. Friday I still have class and have to drive home, so that day will be way too long to exercise. Ill probably need day off by then.

Its great to finally get some traction back from the time off. I am excited about the race season coming up, although already my April race may be in jeapordy. I usually go on a fishing trip at the end of the month and the race I really wanted to run was the day I was leaving for Mexico. I scheduled a different race (a 15 miler no less) but that is the day I'm supposed to be fishing, and I don't think I want to give that up. I guess the most important thing is I got back into it. My heatrate is slowly starting to come back down. In the height of running, my resting heartrate was in the 50's, and slowly climbed up into the 70's the more time I took off. Now its starting its reverse trend, and when I run, most of it isnt in the 90% and above zone. (although there is still a little too much) It will take some time to get back where I was, but taught me a valuable lesson about taking too much time off!

First Week of the New Year!!

Well, I had made a decision coming into the New Year that I would restart my running routine. This week has just started, but am well on my way. I ran 3 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles today. In addition, Monday I added 35 minutes of core training. This I'm going to switch up by doing the Core Workouts and the Ab-Ripper included in the P90x routine. My wife is doing the whole routine for her jump back into fitness. I enjoy running too much and don't have enough time to do both the running and P90x, so Ill just adjust the core workout instead.

As for plans for the upcoming year, I have tenatively planned on running a half marathon in Kalamazoo, Michigan in April, a half in March located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a half in June in Charlevoix, Michigan. Then in July, I will probably run either a 5 or 15k in the National Cherry Festival. Those are just the races to get me going when the full swing starts. Ultimately, I hope to run the Grand Rapids Marathon in October. (that's the plan) After I accomplish this, I will start looking at running the bigger venue events such as Detroit, Chicago or New York. Grand Rapids is a very flat race, and Ill likely need all the help I can get. (nothing like a hill at mile 20 to throw you a curve)

Nutrition wise, I'm watching more of what I'm eating now....at least more then I was! In the two month period off, I gained about 8-10 pounds. This was to be expected, and its also winter up here. I hope by Marathon time to be in the high 160's to low 170's. That may end up being a little on the skinny side, but well see where it ends up.

I think that's it for now. Ill post about once a week from now on. Now that I've jumped on the exercise bandwagon, its going too fast to jump off now!