Category: Fitness and Diet

Easy Running – Is this training?

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Yesterday I did a long slow run, though because my Garmin Forerunner 405CX was uncharged (oops!), I ended up getting out my old Polar F11 and Nike + SportBand to do my run. This meant doing a lot of manual entry into the Garmin system. This also meant that I was missing some data, like elevation change and being able to see graphs of minute-by-minute pace vs. heart rate vs. elevation. Frankly, I’m not sure if I truly understand those graphs, but they’re neat to have.

As far as my runs last week, I stayed pretty regularly at a 12 min/mi pace. My long, slow run yesterday ended up at 11:37 min/mi though, I have to admit my heart rate edged more towards 145 bpm. I’m a little disheartened that I’m not running as consistently fast as I was when I was overtraining, or when I was edging towards overtraining. Now I’m also even more skeptical about my ability to run a full marathon in August. I know that the point is to finish, but MY point is to RUN. I want to RUN all of a 5K (can do), I want to RUN a 10K (will do!) – until I get the 10K down, I’m skeptical about jumping all the way to a marathon without sincerely giving my all to a 1/2 marathon. And maybe that’s not this year – maybe that’s next year.

I’m running three days a week, and doing two days of strength training. I have yet to get back on the yoga bandwagon, but I’m hoping that if I enroll in a class, that would give me the energy to get back into it.

Finally, a shout-out to Emily, who competed in yet another triathlon!

Extreme Running – NY Times Article

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Mark Bittman (author of our household’s favorite cookbook, How to Cook Everything ) has a story in the NY Times about ultramarathoner Scott Jurek. Not only is Scott Jurek a man who runs crazy distances, he also is a vegan.

I have no intention of becoming vegan, though I do have the intention to clean up my diet more than it is today. I already eat a lot of fresh, local foods, and most of our meat and dairy products come from local, organic and humane sources. I’m trying to limit my overall consumption of meat and dairy, to make other foods more of a staple of my diet. I see vegan as being an unsustainable ideal when done as it is done by most vegans I know (relying on heavily processed, Big Ag foods and petrochemicals). One of the things that exercise makes me ravenous for is protein and fat, which I usually get from meat and protein. I don’t know if I’m not eating the right plant substances when I get that need, but it seems that nothing else satisfies.

Anyway, I digress. Check out Mark Bittman’s article Diet and Exercise to the Extremes. It’s now time for my short and fast run!

Losing Steam, and Fast

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Uh-oh. I’ve reached the 2 workout per week zone. That’s not entirely true, but I only attempted jogging TWICE last week. I did, however, add weight training back into the routine AND did a 10.5 mile walk/hike between Ballard and Magnolia on Saturday (that took me up a cliff at Discovery Park). My calves are still a little tender from that one, though I made it through the entire hike rather remarkably.

I purchased some size 12 jeans at American Eagle Outfitters on Friday, and am waiting for them to be shipped (I had to have them shipped due to my short stature.) This makes these jeans the smallest size I’ve purchased as an adult. My weight is still hovering above the 160 mark, but I stand at over 100 pounds lost, and have decreased from a plus sized 24-26 to a misses 12. This still puts me at about a 14-16 when it comes to modern fashion sizing, but still, it’s a pretty far leap.

I was just reading the latest Marie Claire magazine about a woman who did a relay with her husband across New Zealand (heck if I can actually find the web version). She started at a size 12 and ended up a size 4 – and I don’t want to say that my hope in fitness is a smaller size, but there’s a novelty in it considering I’ve been large my whole life.

I have yet to go to a Team in Training practice – and it’s becoming something that I avoid because I keep avoiding it. I’m worried about overtraining, and wonder if crazy athletics is what I want to go towards.

One thing’s for sure, though. Hiking up that cliff at Disco Park was one of the most fun things I’ve done in a long time.

Good Run Thursday

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Yesterday I had a really great run. I walked for 4 minutes, jogged for 22, and then walked for the last 4 – and THEN did some strength training at my gym. Overall, it was a fantastic day, and though I’m achey this morning, yesterday’s work out felt really, really good. Some the the achiness I attribute to the strength training. I need to find a good way to tone my abs, as that I hate most of them, and the ones I don’t hate wrench my back (because I’m doing it wrong, I’m sure.)

My pace for my walk/run averaged at 11:10/mi. My heart rate still got a little high if I want to stay in the moderate training range, but wasn’t too crazy, so I feel like I’m doing well. I look forward to see how my run Saturday will be, since it will be my first 30+ minutes running during a week of regular exercise for a few weeks.

I haven’t managed to make it to a Team in Training practice yet – mostly because I’m still unsure as to my ability to do the event, both running and fundraising-wise.

Rethinking Training (with a little help from my friends)

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As I’m looking into braving the chill (damn chill!) of the outdoors today to get a jog in, I thought I’d take up my pal Emily‘s offer to calculate a training schedule.

2010-04-27: 10 20 30
2010-05-04: 11 22 33
2010-05-11: 12 24 36
2010-05-18: 13 26 39
2010-05-25: 10 21 31
2010-06-01: 13 27 41
2010-06-08: 15 30 45
2010-06-15: 16 33 50
2010-06-22: 13 26 40

I can still go out for my 30 minutes total (longer on my slow run days, right Emily?), but I can walk when I’m not jogging – or at least, I think that’s the way I plan it. Last week I did 1x30min and 1×20 min, and walked a fair amount during the week. Today, I might set up to do 10 minutes walk, 11 minutes run, and 9 minutes walk to get me through the end. It sounds about what I’m up for today, and will get me out there, which will be better than me continuing to just sit on the bench.

The sun is out – so perhaps it’s time to go out for a jog, eh?