Chicago Marathon Highlight Review

A pretty good highlight reel of the Chicago Marathon from October 11th.  Check it out.

Two miles on day 2

An easy two mile run as I entered day two of my marathon training.



I stayed around 10:30 per mile pace.  I could feel the affects of running two days in a row so tomorrow with a third day in a row I think I am really going to feel it.  Especially since it is four miles.

Two miles - 20:49 and 10:28 first mile with a 10:13 second mile.  I did feel some of the ache in above my ankle but I only really feel it after running or while I am driving the car.  Icing for 20 minutes after a run truly helps.  I am going to just keep doing that at the present time.  I hope that it just works itself away.  Time will tell.

First run for marathon

My three mile run this morning was my first run in nearly a week and it tipped off my 28 week training program for the May 1st Wisconsin Marathon.  All I can say is "wow that felt great."

It was a relief to wake up this morning and have my feet push the pavement behind me.  It was exciting to have the 40 degree air in my lungs in an effort to burn some calories and gain some fitness.



A great 10:25 per mile pace.  It wasn't too fast or too slow and it felt like a good distance to start up again at.

Using Slowgeek.com we get the splits and some more data about the run.

This site is a great resource for Nike+ users to gather more information about their run and their split times if they want them.

As you can see the first mile was 10:20, the second in 10:34 and the last in 10:28.  Fairly consistent and that is what I need to be in the training runs.

Two miles tomorrow!

Running a Marathon

Twenty-eight weeks from tomorrow I will be running in the 2nd Annual Wisconsin Marathon on May 1st. Like last year's half-marathon I will be running it for Salute Inc., a local veteran's organization.

E will be running in the half again this year but joining me in the full 26.2 mile journey will be one of my college roommates, Andy. I am excited to attempting such an arduous activity, one that pushes an individual physically, mentally and emotionally. It is an event that you cannot cheat and one that you cannot take lightly. Over the next 28 weeks I will be training with three to five runs a week at various lengths in not only an effort to finish but to finish in under four hours and twenty minutes. Or even to beat my old roommate by one small step.

Under the jump I have listed out the dates of my runs and their lengths. It all starts tomorrow with an easy three miles. Please wish me luck!

Where I Stand

This week has not been a very good one for me in terms of staying on track with the exercise or the diet. I have had a much more difficult time waking up in the morning and staying within my calorie limit. I am hoping to turn over a new leaf again and get right back on top of this. I have a big announcement coming soon in terms of running but in the mean time I will tell you where I am at with the overall picture.

I weighed myself this morning at 177.5 pounds. A drop of 14.5 pounds since the Fourth of July. I am extremely proud of this and hope to take off another 14.5 pounds by the middle of next April (slow and steady in this race wins it for me). As my running mileage increases I fully expect to drop a decent amount of weight.

In the last few weeks I have set some personal records at various distances.
9:21 mile
18:08 3k
19:25 2 mile
30:00 5k
53:25 5 mile

I certainly have a long way to go to hit my goals by that is why this is a long term project.

I am still debating about running tomorrow morning's scheduled six miler because of this ache above my ankle. Maybe I will get it the weekend off. I will figure that out tomorrow morning. More later.

New shirt and new shoes

Late last week I received a Nike+ Human Race t-shirt that I won on their website from a challenge. I wore it on my last two runs and it is a great dry-fit shirt that will be perfect for me.

Always exciting to win free stuff!

My great shoes that I bought last year from Nike+ ID store (where you can customize the look and even put your name on the shoe) have sadly worn out their life span.  With that they will go into retirement.  I went to a Nike outlet store and picked up last year's model of Nike Air Pegasus.  I will save up some money for the next pair when those run out and I can customize a great shoe again!

The Nike Air Max have been a great shoe for me the last year but the first two runs in the Pegasus have been surprisingly comfortable.

Unfortunately, I did not get to use the shoes or the shirt this morning as I did not go out for a run.  The ache is still there and I am going to give it another day or two and check in on Saturday morning.  I will be going for a mile long walk at lunch but I won't bore you with the details.

Two steps forward... one step back...

I have been delinquent in posting but I have had a couple of good runs my last two times out.

On Saturday E and I did five miles around my hometown. I felt great and decided to just go for it with the last two miles. As I have said before... not the wisest thing to do but it was so much fun.



And then a nice two mile run with four 100 meter strides afterwards. That also felt pretty good.



Some great times and some fantastic progress. I was able to completely dominate the end of my five miles (comparatively speaking). But the strain that a feel a few inches above my the inside part of my right ankle is there. It comes and goes in the amount of pain it produces. I use ice, heat, elevation, stretching and I am not sure what to do to make it go away. I have a couple of decent runs coming up (four miles tomorrow morning and six miles on Saturday). I am wondering if I should just skip them to take the time off to let the area heal properly. It helped when I did this a couple of weeks ago but then after a few runs it came back. That was probably due to the worn out shoes I was using that I need to retire.

So I am wondering what people think. Should I try to go out for the run tomorrow or should I take the rest of the week off and start again on Monday?

Another running discrepancy!

My training program called for a three mile run this morning but I decided to set my iPod's Nike+ to a 5k to make sure that I ran a full three miles in a good time. I wasn't looking for a personal record or that speedy of a time. Just a solid workout.

According to my results on the Nike+ I ran the 5k in 29:56, which would be a personal record.



Meanwhile the Runkeeper map (after being adjusted like always to display a better picture of my actual run) shows a 3.01 mile run.



Usually, I lean more towards the map but this time there were more than a few instances of having to run around some construction that is not seen in the map. I am thinking that the run was probably around 3.05 or 6 but I am going to round up my time to a full 30 minutes and call that my new PR. I have little doubt that if I knew I was going to set a PR that I would have been able to do it in that time and I was not that far off in reality.

This makes this three new personal records in short order. I may need to refrain from doing this and just set a pace prior to runs. Multiple articles that I have read stress the importance of not going out too hard as it may cause injury. I would be wise to heed this advice.

Chicago Marathon is near

Buzz is building around the city as the Chicago Marathon quickly approaches. Over 40,000 people will be there to run this great event. For the latest news check out Runner's World's special site for the event.

I want to comment on what I think is a great attribute of Chicago that shows through this marathon. Resilience. That word fits well with running a marathon and it is especially true after Chicago's disastrous 2007 event when one person died (from a heart condition) and the race was cut off because of the extreme heat. The marathon organizers failed to provide enough water on the course when the weeks ahead of the event were stifling hot and race day was probably going to be no different.

Well it is just two years later and Chicago is a marquee event with Deena Kastor and Samuel Wanjiru will be participating as elite runners. Wanjiru is the 2008 Olympic gold medalist and Kastor is the most herald American female runner out there. That kind of recovery in just two short years show how fantastic this event is and how important many runners believe it to be. Wanjiru is young, fast and ambitious. If the weather cooperates (but when does it in the Midwest?) Wanjiru may shoot for the world record as he has stated that he wants to break in the near future.

That is resilience. Coming through adversity - bigger and stronger. That is the Chicago Marathon...

Also, check out this video with Bart Yasso

It's getting cold!

I am used to running in the 60 and 70 degree days but this morning was about 50 degrees. This is going to take some getting used to but E and I ran our four miles anyways.



And here is the Runkeeper map:



According to the map the total distance was 4.17 miles and not the 4.08 that Nike+ says. My thinking is that the runs (until Nike+ is in need of another calibration) from here on out are in between those two distances in which I am pretty happy with the good solid pace for today. 48:01 for 4.17 miles is an 11:30 pace with the following mile splits:

Mile 1 - 11:45
Mile 2 - 10:55
Mile 3 - 11:05
Mile 4 - 12:32

I can live with those times for today. The thing I have to remember is that I am going at a training pace and not a race pace. Thus, these times are sufficient to continue building up endurance that will lead to being able to run further and faster. I am also doing this to lose weight, which is happening :)

Back from a break

As you can obviously tell I haven't posted anything since last Thursday and haven't ran since last Tuesday. I mentioned in those last couple of posts about some pain near my calf and I decided that it would be best to take a small break from running to hopefully let it go away.

I am anxious to see if this pain has subsided in that recovery time. I had a nice two mile run this morning with a brand new Nike+ sensor (and as you can tell it needs to be calibrated which I did after this run)



I was not running that quickly! Trust me. It was an even two miles according to Runkeeper and my city block math of eight blocks equals a mile.



A total time of 20:34 for two miles - 10:34 first mile and 10:00 for the second. Give or take a few seconds for each. I am happy with this after skipping two scheduled runs and think that the rest helped.

Tomorrow's four mile run with some tempo intervals should be a test.

No run today

I mentioned on Tuesday that I had some pain in my calf muscle area after the four miles and since I have had this pain before I know that I cannot push myself. So this morning I decided that it would be best not to go out for my scheduled run. This way I can have three solid days off while stretching it out and icing it down. I am hoping this will allow it to get better and that I will be able to run properly and healthy on Saturday. My fingers are crossed.

Usain Bolt Cruises Past ESPN

Another great video.



Yesterday I heard a fantastic question on ESPN radio: "Who would you rather be humiliated by? Tiger Woods on 18, Roger Federer in a best of five, or Usain Bolt in the 100 meter dash?"

Go ahead... answer away.

Deena Kastor and her comeback

With the Chicago Marathon quickly approaching I thought it would be nice to highlight a couple of videos from one of the elite runners participating in the race, Deena Kastor. She blogs at Asics who sponsors her. Kastor is a bronze medalist in the marathon from the 2004 Athens Olympics and is the American record holder for women in the marathon and half-marathon. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics she was unable to finish because of a stress fracture that occurred at about the 5k mark. She is also a winner of the 2005 Chicago Marathon and 2006 London Marathon.

So I think her training is probably pretty good! I just hope her recovery is going well and that she is at top notch shape for the marathon in a mere 10 days from now.

Breaking records during a workout?

I certainly wish I could break some records but then again I am not an elite athlete.

This is just amazing stuff:

Dathan Ritzenhein exceeded the U.S. record for 10 miles on Monday in a workout.

The U.S. record holder in the 5,000 meters is gearing up for the World Half-Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England on Oct. 11.

Ritzenhein covered the 10 miles in 45 minutes, 3 seconds -- running 4:30.3 per mile. He did half the workout on the track and half of it on the road. Alberto Salazar administered the workout.

How good is that?

Consider that Deriba Merga's world record for 15K was recently ratified at 41:29. That was en route to a half-marathon. Ritzenhein ran 41:45 for his final 15K on Monday's 10-miler.

I would be willing to bet that something very special is going to happen at the World Half-Marathon Championships. Let's just hope the weather is good for running.

Well that four hurt

This is my first four day training week in the new training program and as such today is the first time I have run back to back days in quite a while.

There are some lessons to be learned in running in consecutive days. Number one: don't go all out the day before like I did by setting a personal record in a two mile run. It just hinders the effort that follows the next day.

While this four mile run was at a good solid pace I found myself aching near my calf muscles. It is a pain that I am familiar with from last year when I ran in older shoes. I will have to take care of it with some good stretching and icing the areas down at night.

It is best to use the runs as a time to follow a steady but not too strenuous of a pace.

Here is today's 4.21 on Runkeeper's map (Will try to have a new Nike+ sensor for Thursday's run):



The mile splits were pretty good as well:

Mile 1 - 11:01
Mile 2 - 10:10
Mile 3 - 10:20
Mile 4 - 10:09

Once again the good news is that I am going out slow and picking up steam as the run progresses. The fastest mile was the last one and continues to show me that I am improving. The final result is 4.21 miles in 43:33 and the four miles being completed in 41:40.

Exciting... let's just hope these aches subside for Thursday's run.

Two mile PR and Nike+ fail!

As I have been saying I wanted to use my two mile run this morning to show myself something special (at least in my mind it would be). I was determined to make my two mile run count for something and break my previous two mile personal record of 21:55. I didn't think it would be that difficult to do so I went a step further and wanted to crack 20 minutes on it.



Well I blew 20 minutes out of the water! I started out quick because of a great pick up song playing on the iPod and slowed down to make sure that I would have energy to push myself at the end. In 20 minutes I ran 2.07 miles and my two mile time ended up at 19:25. A full two and half minutes better than the last time I tried the two mile run in this manner. How exciting!

First mile - 9:51
Second mile - 9:34

In fact that second mile isn't too far off my personal best for the mile at 9:26. It has been a year since I last tried that and this may get me to try it again.

One downfall of the morning was that I was unable to use my Nike+ sensor. This would have just been its third run but I couldn't get the iPod or the iPhone to pick it up. FAIL! Hopefully I can exchange it because that is a little ridiculous.

Sunday reflection #1

I thought it would be a good idea for me to spend a few minutes every Sunday (or as many as I can) to reflect upon how I am feeling with a variety of things when it comes to running. So if you will indulge me.

With each run I am continually impressed with how every workout affects a multitude of parts in my life. While I weigh in tomorrow with fingers crossed for a 178 reading on the scale I feel as though I am looking better and know confidently that I am looking better. There is an obvious toning of my body going on that I wait anxiously for even great results in additional to reach a goal weight down the road.

For the most part I have been waking up before work to complete my run and feel a sense of accomplishment prior to even eating breakfast in the morning. The emotional feedback that is received from this… really it is hard to explain but I guess the best way is that it provides a feeling of self worth that propels one through the day with a Staples commercial of “That was easy.”

Yesterday’s five-mile run with E marked the end of my fourth week of running since returning from the Rocky Mountain’s camping trip. In those four weeks both the emotional and physical aspects of running have been transformative as well as motivational to continue doing what I believe are great things for myself. Furthermore, there was something exemplary in that run. It was both the mental and physical awareness that I could keep running… I was not finished on either one of those levels after five miles. I also ran my fastest with the last mile, which I think is a breakthrough for me.

I commented yesterday that the split of 9:47 was probably a few seconds off putting the real time at 10 minutes give or take two or three seconds. This early and confident building breakthrough is proof that I am capable of something better than what I have been giving so far. I am once again anxious to see what it will result in for me. And as I also said yesterday I am scheduled for a two mile run Monday morning and I hope to prove to myself something again. We can only wait and see as I begin my fifth week of this training and my first four day week as well.

Saturday's five on a trail

E and I are in Ottawa for the weekend and our Saturday morning run took us on a nice trail through the town.

For the last few weeks I have been using my iPhone 3Gs for the Nike+ system and decided to move over to my iPod nano while still using the iPhone for Runkeeper's mapping ability. Well, that move didn't work too well as the sensor is obviously having problems as it said that I ran 5.6 miles and stopped picking up the sensor three separate times. It is a brand new sensor so I am going to have to exchange it.

Regardless here is the Nike+ chart:



There is just no way that I was running in 8:30 minutes splits (more realistic splits are coming up).

In reality it was actually five miles (give or take a little bit as Runkeeper can be quite off as well). Here is the map:



The splits below are fairly accurate. The fourth mile was probably about 10 or 15 seconds quicker while the fifth mile was probably 10-15 seconds slower. I edited the map to be more reflective of the run but what happens is when I make a circle to allow E to catch up the GPS doesn't always catch the circle backs and they need to be made up in the map. At least this is what happened today.

Mile 1 - 10:48
Mile 2 - 11:29
Mile 3 - 11:38
Mile 4 - 11:48
Mile 5 - 9:47

The last mile was a great one and probably just a few seconds over 10 minutes. I felt great and I knew that I was running faster. I feel like I am just a little bit away from being able to carry a solid 10:30 pace for that five miles.

Monday morning I have a two mile run in which I am going to try to break 20 minutes. The last time that I made an effort to really track a two mile run for a personal best I clocked in at 21:55. I am positive that time will be blown away on Monday!

Ryan Hall's Interview

Here is a video of Ryan Hall being interviewed after winning last weekend's Philadelphia half marathon in just over 61 minutes.

This morning's run

Ugh. For the third time I have had a problem using Nike+ and Runkeeper on the iPhone. I think that tells me that I should not be using two running applications at the same time. So go ahead and say duh if you want.

What was my problem this morning? Well they both stopped keeping track of my run at about 2.4 miles and I didn't notice until I finished out my three miles about five or six minutes later. Pretty disappointing but oh well. I have learned my lesson and I will go back to using an iPod nano for the Nike+ and continue using the iPhone for Runkeeper (I like the map functionality of it).

Evidently while the Nike+ stopped keeping the distance of the run it continued counting time so that is why this run is so slow at the end (I know I am slow but not that slow).



And here is the Runkeeper map:



I finished the first mile in 10:27 and the second in 10:08. I am much happier with the second mile for obvious reasons. I guess nothing too special with this run besides the fact that I am getting a little anxious with myself and want to run faster. I have to relax myself and just keep doing the current training and being smart with it.

Two Amazing 100 meter performances

Over the weekend the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix 2009 saw something special from the United States two best 100 meter sprinters.

On the women's side Carmelita Jeter ran a 10.64, the second fastest time ever for a woman.

because a possible error in the anemometer that measures wind at track meets.

On the men's side Tyson Gay is healthy again and proving that he can compete with Usain Bolt by running a 9.69.



These athletes are setting us up nicely for next year's competitions and for the 2012 Olympics in London. Just wow!

It was quite something. In fact the only time faster was Florence Griffith-Joyner's time in 1988 which has been deemed as "probably strongly wind assisted, but recognised as a world record"

Not quite a four

Well my Nike+ told me it was four (and I forgot that I had walked a tenth of a mile to begin with) and the Runkeeper ended up at 3.95. So I didn't quite get in four full miles but I had to do 8 x 100 meter strides afterwards. That should make up for it.

Here is the Nike+ of the run:



And the strides:



I ran these strides in a pace of 4:35 per kilometer upwards of 5:20 per kilometer. Needless to say these must get faster as well. But after a near four mile run I will take them at this point in the training. The real tests will start coming in November to see if I am shaving off enough time to reach my goal for my first marathon.

Here is the map:



And the splits:

Mile 1 10:44
Mile 2 10:27
Mile 3 10:48
Mile 4 10:40 (pace, another five hundredths of a mile and I would have completed the last mile in that time)

I will just keep plugging away!

Tough 5

This was my first attempt at five miles in more than a few months. During a previous four mile run I felt that I could have kept going till five miles but I did not quite feel the same way when I reached the four mile point on this one.



Regardless of how I felt... I made it. And I did better than the chart above shows. According to the map from Runkeeper I completed 5.28 miles in 1:01:09 (time difference is from starting Nike+ up first and walking a little bit). This comes out to an average pace of 11:35 per mile.



Splits were:

Mile 1 - 11:20
Mile 2 - 12:18
Mile 3 - 12:29
Mile 4 - 11:41
Mile 5 - 10:28

The third mile was a little slow because E and I had to stop for two consecutive lights. I am satisfied with the time and performance but I know that I have a long way to go towards my goals.

In order to run the Wisconsin Marathon next May in my goal time I need to be averaging ten minute miles. So five times the length of this run and 20% faster. Ugh!

I guess that is why I still have seven months and twelves days left.

Another walk

After yesterday's four miles my legs are feeling a little sore today. I hope it is not a sign of things to come... i.e. and injury of some sorts. I will completely rest up on Sunday after the five miles coming on Saturday. I thought that my legs could use some stretching and went for a walk this morning.



Easy does it I guess. I also calibrated the new sensor and should be more accurate tomorrow.

Wow, kind of excited

Yeah I ran during the 7am hour again this morning. I am hoping to make it a routine. It feels great to have a nice run out of the way in the morning and help me wake up for the day.

This morning's run called for four miles and once again you can color me impressed with the results.



The first tenth of a mile at least is me walking and the last four miles are actually about 4.2 miles according to RunKeeper and looking at the map. I used a brand new sensor and did not calibrate it. I will do that tomorrow. So here is the map of the run:



I completed 4.2 miles in 43:36 at a pace of 10:23 per mile. With the following splits:

1st Mile - 10:19
2nd Mile - 10:32
3rd Mile - 10:15
4th Mile - 10:14

Fairly consistent and I felt that I was running pretty strongly.

I realize that these results are not stellar by many runner's standards. At this point I am fine with that because I am already steadily improving and I know that I will continue to get better and faster. I look forward to a year from now when I am running at my goal weight and hitting a great stride out there on the pavement.

General Strength

One thing newer runners may experience is that as they continue to run their lung capacity or aerobic capacity strengthens but the muscles or joints do not always follow along at the same progression. There is a remedy for this and Coach Jay Johnson has a nice after training exercise video:

Running Times: Part 1 from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

I was doing these exercises this summer and they really helped with the adjustment from a muscular standpoint. In addition they are a great way to transition from the run to stretching.

But in my first two weeks in this training I had not been doing these exercises. A mistake on my part.

I changed that this morning and followed the Myrtl routine in the video. After three miles and 6 x 100 meter strides these were difficult to finish out. Within two or three weeks though they will just be another part of the routine but with some great benefits of strengthening core parts of the body that are vital to a healthy and strong runner.

Early morning

At least it is for me. I was out pounding the pavement a little after seven this morning for a three mile run followed by 6 x 100 meter strides. A decent Tuesday workout in this third week of Nike+ 5k training.

The first .15 miles or so is me walking and warming up which took just under five minutes to complete.



You can see on the map with RunKeeper that I completed 3.04 miles in 31:37 for an average pace of 10:24 per mile. Miles one and two were run in a pace of 10:26 while the third and final mile was at 10 minutes even. So another negative split in today's workout. This is a good sign as it means that I am capable of more if race day was right around the corner.



After the three miles I did six 100 meter strides in which you can see on this chart from Nike+:



You can obviously see the sharp jumps up and down displaying the sprinting that is happening for 100 meters and then about 25 meters of walking. These are supposed to help with stamina and speed... so we will see.

Monday walk and new Weight!

I forgot to post this last night. But E and I went out for a nice little evening walk to get some light exercise after work.



But there is happier news for this week. Two days in a row I have weighed in at 179. Thus I am even happier to say that I am officially under 180 pounds for the first time in a year. Actually, I honestly do not know when I went over 180 pounds I just know that sometime in the lead up of the November elections the stress, poor eating and poor exercise habits and I found myself over that weight. From there I continued to gain more with the April municipal elections and after losing those elections I spiraled out of control with my weight and lack of exercise. I soon reached 192 pounds on July 10th. Since then I have lost 13 pounds. Just 19 more to go but we will celebrate in small steps of reaching the under at 5 pound increments (174, 169, 164 and the goal weight of 160 or 159).

Yesterday's four

Yesterday evening E and I went out for a four mile run together. It was my first evening run in quite a while and this proved to be a reason why. Runkeeper wouldn't start up and work correctly (I later figured out the bluetooth was on for some reason), my iPhone froze about half way through the run and ended up not saving the first half, we ran into construction in Lincoln Park that we didn't know was underway, and it got dark a lot faster than we anticipated.

Luckily, E's Nike+ Sportsband worked and we were able to tell when we reached the four mile mark. In total we did 4.09 miles in just over 44 minutes. With all of the problems that we encountered I am pretty happy with the results and really feel a lot of improvement.

One thing that I am going to have to add back into my routine with some general strength exercises from Coach Jay Johnson. I will have more on those in later posts. He has some great videos and a great website that I will highlight.

I wish I had the Nike+ chart to show the run or Runkeeper's map but oh well. Sometimes things don't always work.

A messed up walk

Just another walk this morning but this time the Nike+ ended the workout early, in which I had to restart and that is the reason why you will see to charts below.





Nothing too special at all. My calories yesterday were spot on. I was even able to indulge in some ice cream! YAY!

Negative splitting a four miler

This morning called for a four mile run around the neighborhood. Once again though I felt a little sick to my stomach but I went away. Maybe I am just getting nervous about the run or something. But nonetheless, I finished and I actually am quite happy with the outcome.

Here it is on the Nike+



And on Runkeeper showing 4.1 miles ran while the Nike+ is actually at 4 miles exactly because I walked for roughly a quarter a mile to warm up.



According to Runkeeper my splits were:

1st Mile- 11:25
2nd Mile- 11:21
3rd Mile- 12:06
4th Mile- 10:15

Thus my 4.1 mile run I finished in a time of 46:10 for a 11:16 pace.

I am very happy with myself that I negatively split my last mile in just my second week of this training. Additionally, just since last Saturday when I did the first four mile training session I improved my overall pace by 46 seconds per mile. Quite a difference in just 6 days time!

So a nice pat on my own back and we will be returning to the four mile run on Saturday with hopefully another improvement. Maybe I can crack 45 minutes.

Yesterday I was spot on with my calories. I had nothing left at the end of the night but I had a major craving for ice cream or brownies. Typically, with nothing like that in the house I would hardly hesitate to go to the local store and purchase something to quell that craving. But I resisted and drank a diet Dr. Pepper instead. Oh, how I miss ice cream right now.

Quick walk

Just a simple 30 minute walk to get the morning started today.



Decent pace and some decent calories burned. I came home and did some extra cardio as well but stuff that would not make my legs any more tired than they already are. I have to save some for the running. Tomorrow is a four mile day (not the three that I mentioned yesterday).

Once again I came in under my allotted calories. Net 1,761 out of 2,066.

Tuesday's three

I was scheduled to head out for a three mile run this morning but was feeling a little sick. So I waited a while and decided to do it anyways. I have to say that may have been the toughest three miles I have run in quite some time. So I do not recommend running when you are not feeling the greatest.

My Nike+ still needs to be calibrated again as it says that I finished three miles when it was basically 3.2 according to the maps. You can see that below on the Runkeeper map.





I am not disappointed in the run given the circumstances. Actually, I am happy to have finished. I really think I am making some great progress just from a mental perspective. Not too long ago I would have said to forget the run but I didn't and I am proud of that. Instead, I ran 3.19 miles in 35:30 for an 11:08 per mile pace. Not the greatest time but its there for me to improve upon.

Happy to report that my net caloric intake yesterday was about 150 below my allotted amount. I am eating healthy and I am eating until I am full. I am not going hungry because I do not have enough calories left in the day. So chalk up two good things today.

Next run is another three miler on Thursday. I will try to come in under 11 minutes per mile.

Labor Day walk

I woke up this morning and wanted to go for a decent size walk. I was pleasantly surprised by how quite things were in the city. Seems everyone was either sleeping in or they are out of town. E and I found a nice little part of Roscoe Village that we had never noticed before. We may have to go over there for dinner sometime soon. Nothing special on this 3.6 mile walk. Running commences tomorrow with a three miler.



As for calories and my weight I was disappointed to see that in my weight in this morning I remain unchanged from a week ago. I still sit at 180 pounds despite the fact that I reached my goals and that I did a pretty job exercising. Once again I came in under my allotted calories yesterday. I guess I just keep plugging along and hopefully will see results shortly.

Nike+ Human Race 10k

While Nike is not doing the massive Human Race events that it did last year they are still doing some cool social networking outreach in regards to the event. This year they have found Ambassadors for the event. Young athletic people around the country to promote the virtual aspect of the event instead of localized and organized races. They have selected 10 of them. Each with their own Facebook Fan page and an active Twitter account. I have taken the last week following them on each of these pages and some are a lot more active than others. The most responsive person that I have found is Ken who has named his team daRevoluCHIN. Thus I have decided to join his team on the challenge. Oh it also helps that he lives in Chicago. A nice local team.

But back to the Human Race. It seems to me that Nike is obviously being affected by the recession and has decided to scale back (considerably) its big event. Last year there were runs all over the country with concerts after the races. From LA to NYC, Portland to Chicago. There were dozens all across the USA let alone more around the world. This year... just three in the the U.S. Another 27 around the world. Its unfortunate because the Nike+ Human Race could become a big time running event if they would try to continue pushing it and to improve the Nike+ system/website. I strongly believe they are missing out on some great opportunities.

But regardless, I like the system and will run a 10k to upload onto the website on October 24th to join thousands of other people around the world.

13 minute 5k

Imagine seeing someone run faster than you are going in your car for three straight miles. Well in most parking lots or school zones that exactly what Matt Tegenkamp did in his sub 13 minute 5k in Brussels.

Here is him talking about the difficulty of such an accomplishment:

Four miler

Woke up and checked my to-do list. Had to do four miles today. I was a little nervous about doing it well but once E and I got started it just kind of happened. A half mile here and then suddenly we were done with a mile and then two. It wasn't difficult at all but just a pretty slow pace compared to where I want and need to be next spring. But that is what training is for - to reach your goals!

I need to calibrate my Nike+ sensor again! I just did it on Thursday and it was saying that I ran more than I actually did... now it is saying that I ran less than I actually did! So don't exactly believe the chart below. The time is roughly correct but I really ran 4.14 miles as you can see in the map below it.





A nice first long run in the training series for the beginning of fall. I am very happy with it and know that it will go a long way towards next weeks runs. As for yesterdays calories: We went out to a restaurant last night for a celebration and came just 9 calories under! WOOHOO! Tomorrow is an off day in which I will probably do some yoga and I will weight in. Hope to be at 179 even!

Walk off

I always dreamed about hitting a walk off home run to win a game when I was growing up. But my only home run came in little league at 11 when I caught the gap and ran as fast as my little legs would carry me... all the way home.

Today my legs just carried me around the neighborhood for a walk to burn some good old calories.



Not too shabby of a walk, especially now that the sensor is calibrated properly with my iPhone 3Gs.

Yesterday I did well on the calories once again as my net caloric intake was 250 less than my max of 2070. I am sure I will slip up sometimes, I mean its inevitable, I am human but I am happy with how I have done so far this week. Just need to keep plugging along.

Wisconsin Marathon returns

Here is the email that I received this afternoon announcing the 2nd annual Wisconsin Marathon:

The Return of the Cheese!

The best part about reaching the end of your 2009 race calendar is that you get to start planning next year's events. On that note, we're releasing details on the only spring marathon you'll want to run, the 2010 Wisconsin Marathon.

Our entirely renovated and updated Wisconsin Marathon website is now up and running and registration for the 2010 race will be starting soon.

We will be opening registration for next spring's race on September 15.

The Wisconsin Marathon and Half Marathon will take place on Saturday, May 1 2010. You can find all race details at WisconsinMarathon.com.

What is new for this year's race? Well, for starters, we have been working to increased our registration limit so there will be many new friends for you to make along the course. Also, I know you thought our course couldn't be any better, but we've made some small improvements to help eliminate congestion and confusion and to accommodate our additional runners (say "goodbye" to the Parade Loop at the start). Finally, to make the event more enjoyable for the whole family, we have turned our Kids Races into a Two-Mile Family Fitness Walk along the lakefront that is open to all ages.

What will be the same? We will still have our now famous, fun-filled atmosphere on race day capped-off by our Beer and Brat Post-Race Party. We will still have the most beautiful lakefront course in the Midwest. Finally, and most importantly, all finishers will receive the 2010 version of our big cheese medal - once again guaranteed to be the award that you'll want to show off.

We expect the race to sell out once again, so be sure to sign up early.

See you in Kenosha!

Exciting stuff! Can't wait to sign up in just a mere twelve days.

Shock I tell you

This morning I set out to run a full three miles as the second run in the Nike+ 5k training. As you can see in the Nike+ chart below I walked the beginning part to warm up and then took off for the rest. It was quite a different feeling than my previous three mile runs. I had some side aches and I just felt that I was going at a snails pace. But I finished and I feel good now that it is over. :)



And here is the map from Runkeeper Pro:



As you can see the two are at different distances. Nike+ is longer because of the walking at the beginning as well as the fact that the calibration was off. My best guess is about three tenths of a mile because I recalibrated at .25 miles afterwards and it showed .28. Comes out to .36 over the course of three miles.

Oddly enough, Runkeeper Pro was off as well. But the nice thing about it is that you can adjust the map to be more accurate and it then changes the distance. On this morning's run it showed 2.98 and had me basically going through buildings on the run. With some slight good faith editing it now shows 3.15 miles in 35:14, a pace of 11:11. I can do better and I will show you over the course of the coming weeks!

Also, my net caloric intake (total calories minus calories burned from specific exercise) from yesterday was 100 under my allotted amount. I will keep it going today.

Bolt may go for four

If Usain Bolt wants to be a legend then the 2012 London Olympics may be his best chance to prove that he belongs in the company of Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens.

After providing the track and field community with blistering world record speeds in Beijing and most recently in Berlin, Bolt now says he would be open to a fourth event in the 2012 games. It would more than likely fall between choosing the long jump in footpaths of Lewis and Owens or adding the 400 meter race into his repertoire.

Bolt said he has such faith in his coach that he would go against his own wishes if Mills thought it would be better for him to tackle the 400 rather that the long jump. Owens and Lewis each added the long jump to their three sprint events.

Bolt already ran some 400s early in the season to boost his stamina for the 200.

“It really gives you speed and endurance,” the Jamaican sprinter said. “The 400 I don’t want to do, but I think I’ll do it in the future because my coach can be very convincing. And he’ll find some argument for me to do it.”

Bolt would prefer the long jump, relying on his natural speed to send him flying.

“I think I would be pretty good. I tried it when I was young, just messing around,” he said.

It will be a decision that will not come for a few more years and one that will have to be decided between Bolt and his coach. But it is one that many of us look forward to hearing, let alone seeing in 2012. Greatness

Just a walk

Walked for over three miles this morning. Just trying to burn the calories. Also added weights and crunches afterwards.



Yesterday I finished the day off being 474 calories below my allotted amount of 2070. The goal is to come in at the allotted amount or under to continue losing weight. Theoretically, I should lose a pound a week by hovering at or below my allotted amount as it is already 500 calories below my daily allowance to maintain my weight.

First run back

I just returned on Friday from the Rocky Mountain National Park. I now know why athletes train at altitude because it really shocks your system. We hiked about 45 miles in six days including the Longs Peak hike of just under 16 in one day! That was an amazing hike and really pushed my limits. I will probably refer to that day for some time to come when I think that I cannot go on. Because I can.

I started a 5k training session on Nike+ and today was told by the automated coach to run two miles. I am using the Nike+ program on my iPhone 3Gs and also attempted to use RunKeeper Pro at the same time. It actually works just so you know. With Nike+ you will see some of the beginning as well as the cool down walking involved in these exercises. For example today's run:



RunKeeper will only be the running but will show the route because it is a GPS based program:



My chest felt a little more pressure than I would like but it is the first serious run the since hiking trip. Overall, not too bad. Next run... Thursday.

The point of this blog

After many posts and probably just as many breaks in the writing I have finally found the point of this blog. I know what its aim actually will be for the future. There is a sense of relief and excitement with it because I hate doing something without direction and I hate just as much when I do something half-ass.

The purpose of the blog is not for me to make money, although I will continue to post song links, have Google Ads and leave up the Amazon stuff. Two out of those three are things that I actually use when I run.

The goal of the blog is to share with you my runs and how they achieve my goals or end results. But what are my goals in running you may ask? I mean I have not really achieved much besides enjoying it for the most part. Well, with any good idea there are multiple goals... some within reach and some that seem like dreams or impossibilities. But I hope with you following me, encouraging me, and keeping me accountable that I will reach for the highest that are set before me. Without further ado... here there are:

As of today, I weigh 180 pounds. I have lost twelve so far but another 15-20 will have to come off. Let's just put this at an even 20 pounds but on the condition that it will be done in a healthy manner.

This past May I ran/walked the Wisconsin Half-Marathon in Kenosha. On May 1st the event returns but I will participate in the full 26.2 miles. I plan to make this the first marathon that I ever finish. A friend will be running in it and hopes to make it in four hours twenty minutes. I will add something more to this goal. I want to beat him.

As time progresses I will hopefully get faster. I currently run on average about 10 minute miles, give or take a few seconds. My fastest mile this summer is a 9:26 (say whatever you want... I don't care). The first goal is to break 9:15 and then shave off 15 seconds from then on out.

Personal best will be set up and broken from here on out in the mile, 2 miles, 5k, 10k etc. The ultimate personal best will fall in the marathon... all 26.2 grueling miles of it. Over the next two years I want to train myself to run the event in 3 hours, 10 minutes and 59 seconds. That would qualify me for the historic Boston Marathon. In addition a even more dreaming of a goal would be for my 30th birthday present to myself. To run the 2013 Boston Marathon under three hours. A lot has to happen for me to accomplish it but with me luck, pat me on the back when I take a step towards it and help me along the way. Thanks!

Gah! Where have I been?

Wow, have I failed miserably on this task of keeping the site updated. Especially now that we are into the fourth day of June and I haven't posted my June goal yet!

Just horrible of me. Well here it is:



125 kilometers for the month - easy enough for me to do considering that I am either walking or running (or a combination of both) for five kilometers basically every day.

So cheer me on and leave a nice comment or something!

This week's training

After yesterday's disappointing 10k and only losing a half a pound it is pretty clear to me that I need to make some adjustments in my training. So this week (and probably the weeks ahead) I am going to focus on being really strong in smaller distances like one and two mile runs and getting faster in them as well. I am also going to increase the weight lifting regimen.

Today - 60-90 minute long walk, lots of stretching and crunches
Monday - 60 minute long walk, lots of stretching, crunches and weight lifting
Tuesday - One mile run - less than 10 minutes, weight lifting, stretching and 30 minutes of walking
Wednesday - One mile run in 10 minutes, weight lifting, crunches and 30 minutes of walking
Thursday - 60 minute long walk, crunches, weight lifting and lots of stretching
Friday - One mile run in 10 minutes, weight lifting and lots of stretching
Saturday - Two mile run in less than 21:55 plus weight lifting and lots of stretching.

I am also going to try to add more cardio or something as well.

Saturday's Calories and Sunday's Weigh In

For nine straight days I have been under my daily calorie budget by a total of about 1,600 calories. This is on top of the 500 extra that I have already taken out to reach my goal of losing one pound a week. But I didn't reach the goal... I weighed myself this morning and only lost a half a pound (I now have three less calories in my daily budget at 2,132). Not sure why this happened. I mean by this math I should have burned and extra 5,100 calories more than I took in.

It could be a factor a few things. One, I am drinking a lot more water than I normally did before this health kick and two, I am walking and running quite a bit so my body may be storing some of it.

I think over the next couple of weeks as things continue I should really start to drop some weight. No regular Pepsi or Coke and continued healthy eating below the calorie budget will begin helping me see my desired results.

As for yesterdays results I burned over 900 calories from the 10k some light walking. I took in just under 3000 calories with about 500 of them being from Gatorade (probably could have gone with 250 less but it tasted so good). So we are just going to keep it going and hit the goal of 160.

Wrap up from yesterday

Well, I failed miserably to post anything yesterday. I could have posted about my Friday calories and or my 10k run for Salute Inc. yesterday morning. But I didn't so here it all is in a nutshell.

I was once again under my calories for Friday by 287.

Here is my 10k run from the race yesterday.



I did not feel that great before the race and in the early going the running just did not feel right either. I know that I could have done a lot better. But it is what it is so I will just make the next goal for the next race and try to achieve that.

Music time

The Offspring - "You're Gonna Go Far Kid"

Thursday Calories

For the fifth straight day I ended up under my daily budget. I ate 2,280 calories and exercised with a 5k run yesterday that burned 443 calories. Overall I finished the day 1,897 (299 under).

I was definitely hungry at the end of the day closer to bedtime so I snacked on carrots. Much better than snacking on ice cream or something sweet. My next weigh in comes on Sunday. I can't wait to see the scale say something under 190. That will be exciting.

Music Time

Say Hi - "Zero to Love"

A song that I just have started liking by listening to Pandora.