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.

Thursday run

Another 5k under my belt. It turned out to be about two minutes slower than Tuesday's run which is disappointing. The heat was a little tough and I needed to slow down a couple of times.



I have the 10k race coming up on Saturday morning and I wanted to finish this strong but just couldn't do it. I am going to have to strengthen my mental acuity while running - just push past some of the negative thoughts that occur. I know that I can do a lot better.

Wednesday's Calories

I continue to come in under my overall daily calorie budget. I took in 2,252 and burned just under 400 from the walk and some weight lifting.

I was 274 under and already this week I am 642 under (plus the 500 for each day that is already taken off to reach my goal of one pound per week). I am not feeling hungry at night and am certainly not starving myself. I am eating pretty healthy and exercising every day. That's what is proven to work and I am going to do what works.

Just another walk today

Nothing really special.



A mere 40 minute walk - 3.59 kilometers and 330 calores burned. Need to keep it going to see some long term progress.

Music time

Tears for Fears - "Mad World"

Many different version of the song out there but the original artist is usually the best. Although I really do like Gary Jules' version as well.

Next EVENT!!!!

On the left is the photo of me crossing the finish line at the Wisconsin Half-Marathon earlier in the month. It felt great to compete in it and cross the line. After that photo I had a huge smile on my face and a sense of real accomplishment.

In addition to that E and I raised over $1100 for Salute Inc., an organization dedicated to helping our returning veterans based in the northwest suburbs of Chicago.

Well we are going to run in their 6th annual 5k/10k Run/Walk on Saturday. E and I will both do the 10k events. I am hoping to finish the 10k in less than 70 minutes. It would be another personal best at this point (only because I have hardly run it before). And then it will be used as a real stepping point to doing more in the future and getting a lot better.

Wish me luck!

Tuesday's Calories

Yesterday was another good day in terms of my overall calorie intake and exercise. I ate 2,245 calories but burned 440 or so in my 5k run, which I beat my personal record by 12 full seconds.

So I netted 1,802 calories, well over 300 calories below by budget. I weighed myself this morning (I want to stay as accurate as possible on my calorie intake and burning from exercise) and am at 190 still. Next weight in comes on Sunday morning.

A 5k best

I decided to test out my tight calf muscles today after a couple of days of walking and some great stretching. Two previous runs resulted in a pretty painful feeling amounting to my calf muscles being in vice grips. I am happy to report that today it did not happen. Instead I just needed to walk a couple of quick times to provide a small breather and little relief. I hope to be out of that soon and be able to run it faster.

Even better news was that I finished this 5k in 34:42 beating my previous personal best by a full 14 seconds.



I am extremely happy about this and look forward to getting even better.

Music Time

Kings of Leon - "Sex on Fire"

Monday's Calories

The good news from yesterday is two fold - I finished under my calories again and I also went for a long walk. I ate 2,645 calories and burned 545 from exercise netting me 2,100 - just 36 under my daily total.

There are small things that I can do to help. I can wholly eliminate regular Pepsi and Coke (drinking those kinds of calories is just a waste). I can also eat more calories for breakfast and lunch and snack a little better.

It's a work in progress. So far so good. Just need to keep it going.

Bucket List Running

I was appalled at this question posed by Mark Remy over at Runner's World.

So, today's hand grenade -- er, question -- is this: What do you think of folks who run a marathon for the sole reason of crossing it off some sort of "bucket list"?

And has this to add on:

OK. So this guy -- who I'm sure is a very nice man, by the way, with the best intentions in the world -- is basically lumping marathon running in with bungee jumping, seeing the Grand Canyon, getting a tattoo, reading Moby-Dick, and (you can't make this stuff up) owning a Miata. Just another "thing to do" before he dies. One more square in the hopscotch game of life. Tra la la.

Does anyone find this just a little bit irritating? Almost, well... insulting?

I don't know what was bothering Mark Remy when he started writing this that set him off. But why should someone go on a rant about how insulting that someone wants to be able to cross off a marathon from their bucket list? Especially someone who writes for a leading magazine on running.

In my opinion the more people running the better. It will help them get out the door and get some physical activity. There is no denying that our communities need a little of this. But even more so it speaks volumes to professional runners and athletes that someone holds up what you do as something that they would put on a list of things to do before they die. It's not "just another "thing to do" its one of the ultimate achievements that a person has on a list that would allow them to die happily.

And Mark Remy is going to blow it to smithereens with his grenade of a question?

Another long walk

Went on another long walk today. Gotta keep burning those calories. Anyways, glad that I went and spent some time listening to some good music.

Weight Loss, Calories and Yesterday

I did well yesterday in terms of my net calories because I piled the exercise on with that long walk burning over 400 calories. Overall my intake was 2,539 calories. I could have had it lower if I did not drink regular coke. I exercised 542 calories and netted 1,997 on the day. 139 below my goal.

According to the Lose It! application I burned 639 more calories than I took in yesterday. That is a good Sunday. So we will see where today takes me.

A long walk

Today I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. 53 minutes - 4.77 kilometers and over 400 calories burned. Nice!

Stretching it out

In my running I am constantly thinking about stretching. I do not want to pull a muscle and I battle tightness in my legs from time to time... Like I am now with my calf muscles. So I was intrigued to see this article from the Running Doc.

Stretching, as you can imagine, is very important. Clearly, being more flexible allows for some biomechanical imperfections to be “ignored” by the body and prevent injury or chronic inflammation by rubbing. The question is: how do you get to this flexible state. As you know, being Gumby-like is a factor of heredity, as some people with little stretching can contort in all types of positions while others need to work at it.

A global (whole-body) stretching program has been shown to be the answer. Be sure to warm up first, just enough to raise your body temperature about ½ degree (as evidenced by a minimal sweat); this will make your muscles more pliable, like taffy, and easier to stretch. Whenever you fit in a stretch routine, individual to you, daily is the key. Time of day is of no consequence; doing it is. Meet with a personal trainer or coach to go over which stretches and proper technique.

The whole-body stretching seems ideal just for overall health. One thing that I am beginning to do is using a towel to pull on the muscles and stretch in that manner. I did this tonight and my calf muscles feel great. They have not felt this good in a while. I think I am on to something!

Weight Loss Time

While I am loving the Nike+ system and my shoes and the overall experience of running it is time for me to get on a strict plan and lose this excess weight I am carrying. Ideally, I would like to weight between 160 and 165. As I jumped on the scale this morning I stood there staring at 190. Ugh.

I have a stomach that could certainly be smaller and I know that I could be more toned. Over the coming months the hope is to see a drop in 25-30 pounds, an increase in my overall running speed and hopefully more traffic on this blog.

The main tool that I will utilize in my efforts to lose weight is the tried and true method of counting calories and burning more than I eat in a give day. A nice free application called Lose It! for my iPhone. As you can see it does a nice job of tracking your calorie budget during the day. All you have to do is enter the item and how much of it you ate. It even helps you develop the calorie budget you need to reach your goals. Enter your weight, how much you would like to lose a week and it tells you a suggested daily calorie budget. You can also enter you weight as you go and watch it go down towards your goal weight. I entered my goal of 160 and my desire to lose a pound a week. It told me my daily calorie budget is 2,135.

You can also include your daily exercise and subtract those calories burned as well. For example, yesterday I ate 2,388 calories and burned an additionally 360 from exercise (some walking and a shortened run) for a net of 2,028 calories (107 under my daily budget). Not too bad. Now I just need to keep that going and I will see some positive results.

Miler

Yesterday I went out and ran a mile at a steady but above average pace. Looked something like this:



Not too bad I guess. I will keep trying to improve. I will get faster and be able to run farther. Should be fun.

Using music to workout

There is nothing I enjoy more than listening to music on my runs. It helps pass the time and it keeps me going. It is also a great way to relax and to think about other matters.



The workout mixes are pretty good and I have tried a free one at one point. Its nice way to have some personal training when they tell you what to do in the middle of the music. Typically, on each post regarding my runs I link to iTunes the songs I listened to while exercising.

The world and you

There are some great runners out there using Nike+ and you can compare yourself right alongside them.



But I am not even going to come close. Maybe this time next year.

5k with E

This evening E and I went out and ran a nice 5k to keep ourselves going.



Things were pretty slow. I think that I am still a little tired from the half-marathon. It was quite the leap to do 13.1 miles in one day and my legs are still recovering from it.

Create a Challenge for yourself

Need some more motivation? Join a challenge among the millions who use Nike+ or create one for you and your friends.



I have joined some in the past and will do so in the future as I get more distance a little bit more up there. Currently, I use the Challenges feature to keep track of the wear of my running shoes. Most shoes can go about 400-500 miles and then need to be replaced. My challenge is on the right side of the blog.

Setting Goals

Everyone of us has a something bigger we want to achieve - running a faster 5k, losing a certain amount of weight or just trying to run more often. The only way to be able to do this is to set goals along the way of reaching the bigger picture. The video below shows you how to use Nike+ to these goals. I always have my goals on the right hand side of this blog. Making smaller goals will help you find your way to that grand goal that takes time.

Two mile personal record

Last night I laid out all my personal bests and said that I was going to try to beat my two mile best. Well in my first run back since the half-marathon I did just that.



I went two miles today in 21:55 beating my old time by a full minute. There are still some pretty sore muscles in my legs when I started the run and it did affect me enough to the point that I needed to walk a couple of times for a few seconds. You can see that in the dips in the chart. I know that I will continue getting better and will soon be under 20 minutes and hopefully a lot lower than that by the end of the summer.

Tomorrow I am going to try a five kilometer run with E. That should keep me motivated and make it fun.

Personal Records

Alright, these are not meant to be a marker on my overall talent but just stating what I have done so far and what I will be beating over the next several months. I was never a runner in high school or college and am in fact really just getting into the sport.

Personal Records as of 5/5/09
Kilometer - 4:29
Mile - 8:29
Three Kilometers - 16:03
Two Miles - 22:55
Five Kilometers - 34:56
Ten Kilometers - 1h17:55
Half Marathon - 3h00:03

These times are just the starting point for me. I will get a lot better over the coming weeks. In fact, I bet I run my best two miles yet this week.

Wanting to get started already

Yup, I am there already. A few days later after completing a half-marathon, even if it was incredibly slow time, I want to get out running again. But I know that if I went today I would be regretting it right now. My calf muscles and my feet are still quite sore and need that extra day of rest. I have made sure I got out and walked for a at least 30 minutes straight just to warm up my leg muscles and try to loosen them up after Saturday's event.

Thus, we are going to make a go of it tomorrow if the weather holds up. I am going to go for a slow jog for the fun of it and see how I feel. Hopefully all goes well. I am itching to get started again and push myself a little further.

Syncing your first run

Now that you have Nike+ learn to sync your first run. If you already know how then feel free to skip this space filling post!

Getting Started with Nike+

Enjoy seeing my results... well learn to get started with this great video and think about picking up some Nike+ ready items.



Its easy!

Trying to lose some weight?

I know that I am. Runner's World has ten things to help you out with your goal. Here are four that I find particularly helpful and I will let you know how I am doing down the road.

1. To lose 10 pounds of body fat a year, you need to eat 100 calories less per day. Cutting too many calories from your daily intake will sap your energy level and increase your hunger, making you more susceptible to splurging on high-calorie foods.

2. Don't skip breakfast. Eat within two hours of waking.

3. In fact, eat more breakfast than you think you should. Trade in some of your dinner calories for more calories at breakfast.

4. Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Eat at least every four hours, and split a meal in half to make sure you properly fuel up pre- and postrun. For example, eat part of your breakfast before your morning run (a banana) and the rest of your breakfast afterward (a bagel with peanut butter).

Breakfast is a big deal. It gets your metabolism going at the beginning of the day and you keep it going by eating healthy snacks throughout the day. Follow these four and I am sure you will begin seeing results. The bottom line though is it takes work but you can do it!

Wisconsin Half-Marathon

That is the medal I received for finishing the Wisconsin Half-Marathon yesterday. The slogan of the race was "Embrace the Cheese". Fits right in with Wisconsin... I should know because I went to Carthage College right there in Kenosha.

It was an excited race with nearly 2000 participants along the lakefront in Kenosha. The course began near the museum and pushed through the path along Lake Michigan and turned around at the main entrance of Carthage. It found its way back to the old downtown area to the finish line. (Marathoners continued past the old downtown towards Pleasant Prairie and back).

While I was not that diligent on my training for the race I still managed to do a combination of run/walk to finish in three hours and three seconds according to the official time keepers.

Here is what my Nike+ had to say:



As you can see it needs to be calibrated a little bit. But you can also notice how I fared at the beginning maintaining a nice pace and then how I was up and down the rest of the way through. It was just that kind of day.

Honestly, I am surprised I was able to finish. I was lucky enough to be able to run with a friend for 12 miles of the race.

Some of the lessons that I learned from the race. That is definitely need to be more diligent on training for something along these lines. It takes practice and patience to be able to do it well. The other thing is that I will be doing another one of these. It was a great feeling to cross the finish line.