I wouldn't say I'm all the way up to 100% in recovering from not feeling good on Friday, largely because I'm an idiot and didn't reduce how much I ate even though my stomach hurt, so I didn't want to do my usual 5 miles today. I kept it to a mere 5k, outdoors, near my house.
Why outdoors? One of my friends said it was a nice day for a run. She was almost right. About 5 or 10 degrees warmer, or a sweatshirt or jogging pants, would have been a nice upgrade. Instead, my fingers wouldn't uncurl when I got home until I ran them under hot water for like 10 minutes.
Still, the run was nice. I finished it up in 30:08, and it wasn't really that cold. I was just a little underdressed. As usual for a run near my house, there were small to medium hills all over the place...something people who run in or near, say, Chicago, wouldn't know anything about.
I've learned that I'm a nodder when I run. That is to say, when I pass another runner, I give the little nod to acknowledge them. Really, how tough is it to nod back? I get why someone wouldn't do it in the first place, but I don't get why some people don't do it back when it's done to them.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Long time, no post
Hey there. We haven't chatted in a while. I didn't want you to think I forgot about you. It's just that when I was running on Thursday night (5 miles, same speeds as Tuesday), I was getting really exhausted, and then Friday I think I had some sort of mild stomach bug, and I'm still kind of recovering from that. Plus, I was out of town over the weekend at a charity casino night, where I won a trip to Vegas, baby, Vegas. It's looking like I'll be able to go for a jog at the gym tomorrow, though, so all will be right with the world.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
2 workouts for the price of 1 post
I didn't blog yesterday, but I did go to the gym. 5 miles in 47 minutes at 1% incline, my best time ever for that distance. I got there by doing a mile at 6.1, a mile at 6.2, 1.5 mi at 6.3, 1.25 mi at 6.5, and sprinting the last quarter mile from 7 to 8 mph. That also got me past the 5k mark in just under half an hour, which I think is the first time I've ever done that.
As for today, I finally made up my session to get trained on XpressLine, a circuit training set-up at my gym. You can tell it works, because they dropped the "e" in "express" and jumped straight to the X. It consists of 8 machines with 10 exercises that work every muscle in your arms, legs, and chest. The lower-body workouts weren't bad, since my leg muscles are in decent shape. Not from running, mind you, just from holding my fat ass off the ground for the past quarter century. It was when I got to the biceps, triceps, and the rest of the arms and chest that I realized that the 15 push-ups a week I've been doing are not really getting my upper body in the condition I'd like it to be in. My arms are going to feel like dead weights tomorrow.
So here's the awkward part. This guy at the gym, who started college at Maryland, my alma mater, two years after I graduated, which makes me technically geriatric, was showing me how to use the machines. We chatted a little about the campus and the basketball team, who made it 4 or 5 rounds further than anyone thought they would by getting to the 2nd round in March Madness. But for the most part, we were just quiet while I did the machine and he counted reps. It's weird to have someone standing in front of you, watching you while you're working on these machines. There's no place for me to look except directly at him, which gets really awkward and uncomfortable really fast. They need a better system. For example, having a cute girl standing there instead of a dude would have been a huge improvement.
My favorite advice when it comes to exercising is the one I think I've heard the most, from lots of different people. "Don't forget to breathe." I've been alive for over 26 years, and I've forgotten plenty of things: paying rent, showing up for tests, your name, and the outcome of that volleyball match in "Saved by the Bell" when the tall guy the gang brought in as a ringer hurt his foot, to name a few. Not once have I ever forgotten to breathe, no matter what I was doing.
As for today, I finally made up my session to get trained on XpressLine, a circuit training set-up at my gym. You can tell it works, because they dropped the "e" in "express" and jumped straight to the X. It consists of 8 machines with 10 exercises that work every muscle in your arms, legs, and chest. The lower-body workouts weren't bad, since my leg muscles are in decent shape. Not from running, mind you, just from holding my fat ass off the ground for the past quarter century. It was when I got to the biceps, triceps, and the rest of the arms and chest that I realized that the 15 push-ups a week I've been doing are not really getting my upper body in the condition I'd like it to be in. My arms are going to feel like dead weights tomorrow.
So here's the awkward part. This guy at the gym, who started college at Maryland, my alma mater, two years after I graduated, which makes me technically geriatric, was showing me how to use the machines. We chatted a little about the campus and the basketball team, who made it 4 or 5 rounds further than anyone thought they would by getting to the 2nd round in March Madness. But for the most part, we were just quiet while I did the machine and he counted reps. It's weird to have someone standing in front of you, watching you while you're working on these machines. There's no place for me to look except directly at him, which gets really awkward and uncomfortable really fast. They need a better system. For example, having a cute girl standing there instead of a dude would have been a huge improvement.
My favorite advice when it comes to exercising is the one I think I've heard the most, from lots of different people. "Don't forget to breathe." I've been alive for over 26 years, and I've forgotten plenty of things: paying rent, showing up for tests, your name, and the outcome of that volleyball match in "Saved by the Bell" when the tall guy the gang brought in as a ringer hurt his foot, to name a few. Not once have I ever forgotten to breathe, no matter what I was doing.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
You are only as old as the Wii says
So, I havent written in a while, mostly cause I am lazy. Not too lazy to run 5 miles, but too lazy to write in a blog, go figure. Anyways, I have been running on the track since I went to the personal trainer, as apparently treadmill running isnt as hard. So, I went to the gym last Friday and ran 5 miles on the track, roller bladed about 6 miles on Sunday, and today I ran 5 miles again on the track.
Today I went to a different gym than I normally go to, as it is by my job. I wanted to do spinning class, and I left work a little early. Turns out at this gym you have to sign up for spinning, so I was not able to do spinning. I decided to run on the track instead. However, this track was a lot smaller than the one at the other gym. There are signs all over the track saying to walk on the inner lane. Some smart kids decided it would be intelligent to WALK 3 people across. It was ridic annoying, I literally had to play red rover with them every time I wanted to pass.
Also, on Sunday I tried to do the Wii Fit and play some Wii. According to Wii Fit my Wii age is 50. That's not so good. I think it had to do with my balance, as I have the worst balance ever. However, they have this running game that was pretty fun, but running in place doesn't really work for me.
Today I went to a different gym than I normally go to, as it is by my job. I wanted to do spinning class, and I left work a little early. Turns out at this gym you have to sign up for spinning, so I was not able to do spinning. I decided to run on the track instead. However, this track was a lot smaller than the one at the other gym. There are signs all over the track saying to walk on the inner lane. Some smart kids decided it would be intelligent to WALK 3 people across. It was ridic annoying, I literally had to play red rover with them every time I wanted to pass.
Also, on Sunday I tried to do the Wii Fit and play some Wii. According to Wii Fit my Wii age is 50. That's not so good. I think it had to do with my balance, as I have the worst balance ever. However, they have this running game that was pretty fun, but running in place doesn't really work for me.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Late gym trip
I learned something today. My gym is pretty much totally dead after 9 pm. Thanks to that, I have absolutely nothing interesting to say about today's 35 min bike ride workout, on random hills at level 10, going at an average of 98 rpm, for an average speed of 24 mph and a total distance of 14 mph.
Seriously, that's it. Nobody was doing anything weird in front of me, or next to me, or near me. There was only one annoying college-age girl talking about spring break, and that was as I was walking out of the building, so it barely counts (although apparently, everyone finds their first spring break "overwhelming").
I probably wouldn't have even gone to the gym tonight if it wasn't for the fact that Beth told me she was going, and I didn't want to let her post to the blog without getting something up here myself.
Maybe tomorrow's run will be a little more interesting...
Seriously, that's it. Nobody was doing anything weird in front of me, or next to me, or near me. There was only one annoying college-age girl talking about spring break, and that was as I was walking out of the building, so it barely counts (although apparently, everyone finds their first spring break "overwhelming").
I probably wouldn't have even gone to the gym tonight if it wasn't for the fact that Beth told me she was going, and I didn't want to let her post to the blog without getting something up here myself.
Maybe tomorrow's run will be a little more interesting...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
New shoes!
I woke up around 7 this morning to get to Central Park to volunteer as a chip clipper for the Colon Cancer Challenge. The CCC is actually 3 events: a 4 mi run, followed by a 1.7 mile Remembrance Walk, and then a 15 K (9.3 mi) run. No, people did not do 2 or all 3 events - you could only sign up for one and you could only run the one you were signed up for. For anybody who's never run a race, a chip clipper cuts the timing chips off of the runners' shoes and collects them, just after they cross the finish line. I picked that job partly because it was advertised to be the one that allowed me to show up the latest, and partly because it was the one I could sit during. As it turned out, I had to get there the same time as all the other volunteers, but given how cold it was when I got there, I'm really glad I wasn't doing something like filling up water cups, which, I'm sure, would have ended up with me covered in water and suffering from hypothermia.
Anyway, the 4 mi runners and the 15k runners all had timing chips (the walkers didn't), so we had a decent amount of work to do. After the first run, we got about an hour break while the walk went by and the 15k started. I ended up working until about noon, then headed home.
One nice thing about joining the New York Road Runners is that I keep running (no pun intended) into people that I haven't seen in forever. Last week I saw two guys that graduated from my high school a few years before me and were friends with my sister. Today I saw one of those same guys, who ended up being stationed at the same chip clipping stand as me. Also, I was taking the chip off one runner's shoe when she started insisting that she knew me from somewhere. It turned out she's one of my good college friend's best friends from home, who I've met a few times before, but haven't seen in at least 4 or 5 years.
Anyway, I got home, and having watched nearly 5,000 people cross the finish line after running either 4 or 9.3 miles, and with the temperature creeping up towards 60, I had all the motivation I needed to take my new running shoes out for a spin. They fit like a glove. If they ever make any real non-aesthetic changes to the Brooks Adrenalines, I'm going to be very upset. 5 miles, a bunch of hills, and 48:08 later, I was back home.
A special shout out this post to my sister Stacey, who got me a Garmin GPS runner's watch last year as a graduation gift. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have made it through the first two miles today. It seemed like every time I glanced down to check my pace, I was running faster than a 9 minute mile, which I can't sustain all that long.
Beth pointed out to me last night that yesterday's post was probably the first one where I didn't talk negatively about her, so today I'll just mention that since the last time she's posted (and presumably, exercised), which was a full 5 days ago, I've run 15 miles. There, is that better, Beth? I wouldn't want you to feel left out.
Anyway, the 4 mi runners and the 15k runners all had timing chips (the walkers didn't), so we had a decent amount of work to do. After the first run, we got about an hour break while the walk went by and the 15k started. I ended up working until about noon, then headed home.
One nice thing about joining the New York Road Runners is that I keep running (no pun intended) into people that I haven't seen in forever. Last week I saw two guys that graduated from my high school a few years before me and were friends with my sister. Today I saw one of those same guys, who ended up being stationed at the same chip clipping stand as me. Also, I was taking the chip off one runner's shoe when she started insisting that she knew me from somewhere. It turned out she's one of my good college friend's best friends from home, who I've met a few times before, but haven't seen in at least 4 or 5 years.
Anyway, I got home, and having watched nearly 5,000 people cross the finish line after running either 4 or 9.3 miles, and with the temperature creeping up towards 60, I had all the motivation I needed to take my new running shoes out for a spin. They fit like a glove. If they ever make any real non-aesthetic changes to the Brooks Adrenalines, I'm going to be very upset. 5 miles, a bunch of hills, and 48:08 later, I was back home.
A special shout out this post to my sister Stacey, who got me a Garmin GPS runner's watch last year as a graduation gift. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have made it through the first two miles today. It seemed like every time I glanced down to check my pace, I was running faster than a 9 minute mile, which I can't sustain all that long.
Beth pointed out to me last night that yesterday's post was probably the first one where I didn't talk negatively about her, so today I'll just mention that since the last time she's posted (and presumably, exercised), which was a full 5 days ago, I've run 15 miles. There, is that better, Beth? I wouldn't want you to feel left out.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Another day, another five miles
I didn't work out on Thursday - I was busy folding socks or something equally important - so I made sure to get to the gym on Friday after work to get a run in. I got on the treadmill for five miles, 1% incline, same speeds as last time (6.1 for 2.5mi, 6.3 for 1.25mi, 6.5 for 1mi, 7.0-8.0 for a quarter mile sprint).
Something I've noticed about being on a treadmill for close to an hour: you get to run next to a lot of different people. That's not necessarily a good thing. Sure, sometimes it's just a bunch of different cute girls, which is great, but often, it means you're just running next to different types of annoying behavior. For example, about half the run, the treadmill next to me was occupied by the loudest treadmiller I've ever heard. Now, I have pretty lousy form, and my feet come down on the ground hard. Anyone who has been in my house when I was coming down the stairs can attest to that. That makes my jogging on a treadmill kind of loud. This guy absolutely destroyed me in decibels...and he was just walking. He wasn't even walking fast. And he was not anywhere close to the beat of the songs I was listening to, which just added to the annoyance.
After he left, another guy got on. Every two or three strides (and that is not an exaggeration) he would wipe the sweat off his face or adjust his headphones. That part was fine. It was the fact that every time he did it, he flung his hand all the way out to the side as it was going to do whatever he was doing. Every 5 seconds I thought he was about to smack me in the nose and kept flinching because of it. That got pretty annoying.
But the big news today is: I got my new running shoes. They're the same kind I've been using for the past 2 or 3 years (Brooks Adrenaline GTS). I love them. I'm going to break these out as soon as there's a day I can run outside, and it looks like that will be tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, I have to be at Central Park at 8:30 AM to fulfill my volunteer requirement for NYC 2010 guaranteed entry. I'll be cutting the timing chips off peoples' sneakers after they cross the finish line, because that job starts the latest of all the volunteer jobs and involves sitting.
Something I've noticed about being on a treadmill for close to an hour: you get to run next to a lot of different people. That's not necessarily a good thing. Sure, sometimes it's just a bunch of different cute girls, which is great, but often, it means you're just running next to different types of annoying behavior. For example, about half the run, the treadmill next to me was occupied by the loudest treadmiller I've ever heard. Now, I have pretty lousy form, and my feet come down on the ground hard. Anyone who has been in my house when I was coming down the stairs can attest to that. That makes my jogging on a treadmill kind of loud. This guy absolutely destroyed me in decibels...and he was just walking. He wasn't even walking fast. And he was not anywhere close to the beat of the songs I was listening to, which just added to the annoyance.
After he left, another guy got on. Every two or three strides (and that is not an exaggeration) he would wipe the sweat off his face or adjust his headphones. That part was fine. It was the fact that every time he did it, he flung his hand all the way out to the side as it was going to do whatever he was doing. Every 5 seconds I thought he was about to smack me in the nose and kept flinching because of it. That got pretty annoying.
But the big news today is: I got my new running shoes. They're the same kind I've been using for the past 2 or 3 years (Brooks Adrenaline GTS). I love them. I'm going to break these out as soon as there's a day I can run outside, and it looks like that will be tomorrow.
Also tomorrow, I have to be at Central Park at 8:30 AM to fulfill my volunteer requirement for NYC 2010 guaranteed entry. I'll be cutting the timing chips off peoples' sneakers after they cross the finish line, because that job starts the latest of all the volunteer jobs and involves sitting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
