Week 3: Monday/Tuesday

Mondays during this training call for strength and stretching, so I did my stretching, but skimped on the strength training.  This might be a bad idea in the long run.  I don’t know.  I don’t think I’m to the point where I can or should make judgement calls; I should just stick to what the training calls for.

This morning, however, was the worst day I’ve had with this program.  Maybe it will help to say exactly what I do when I go to the gym before I get into why I think it was so horrible:

Before I do anything, I warm-up easy on a stationary bike.  I go for about 5 minutes, not particularly hard, and then I stretch – legs, arms, etc.  After that I do my workout – treadmill or elliptical – and then I stretch again after I’m done with the core part of the workout.

This morning, however, in an effort to shave some time off of my morning workout, I skipped the stationary bike and went straight into stretching.  Big mistake.  My legs were unresponsive for my entire run, and I didn’t even complete the 2.5 miles I was supposed to go.  I walked for a quarter mile, then ran a mile, and then walked another .75 miles before I had to call it quits.  To make up for my inability to run, I did another 10 minutes on the elliptical, but I was pretty disappointed.  And on top of that, my iPod ran out of charge, making the run that much more arduous.

I guess I found out how my body works best – or at least what it’s used to.  I’m going to have to bust my ass on Thursday’s run.

Week 2: Weekend

The weekend training wasn’t horrific.  Our gym got new equipment – some new ellipticals, a few new treadmills – so we made use of those.  On Saturday I did the new elliptical for 15 and the new treadmill for 15, and both we’re pretty nice.

Then yesterday was the long run.  My girlfriend always says that I think too much when I run, which might be true, but I planned my attack of the 2.5-mile run beforehand.  I warmed up at 3.5 for a quarter-mile, then ran a lap each at 4.3, 4.5 and 4.8, and then ran the rest of the 1.75 miles at 5.0.  So, I ended up doing the 2.5 miles in about 31 minutes.

I have also been thinking about what my goal for the eventual race will be – and I’ve decided on doing the entire 5 miles in an hour is feasible and probably attainable.  I may adjust that based on how the remainder of the training goes, but for now it seems like a good goal.

I also need to start running outside, since I am told that it’s a much different experience.  Rochester doesn’t lend itself to outdoor running this time of year, but I have decided that – weather permitting – I’m going to run outside on Thursdays.  Thursday is always a 2 mile run, so I think that will be good to start getting used to the outdoor running.

Week 2: Wednesday-Friday

Wednesday was a cross training day, and I opted not to jog, since it always seems like it just ends up being another 2 mile run for me.  I can’t work to slow myself down.  So, I went with the elliptical, which is my mechanical enemy.  I’ve just never been able to get into it.  But, I went for 30 minutes and actually didn’t mind it too much.  I thought I was going to make it 15, but I stuck it out and did OK.

Thursdays are always a 2 mile run in this training, and I went for it yesterday.  I warmed up for 5 minutes, and then I ran the full 2 miles without stopping to walk once.  I’d been getting close, walking for a minute or so at some point in the run, but I wanted to make it the entire time.  And I did it.  In 38 minutes (including 10 minutes of warm-up and cool-down), I went 2.55 miles.  So, 2 miles in 28 minutes.  I’m slow, but I figure the speed will come with time.  I’d rather get the distance down.

In other news, a friend of mine is doing the Cleveland Half-Marathon in mid-May, and asked me to do it too.  I’m thinking about it, since I can dovetail my current training with that, but I kind of want to see how this training goes first.

Today is a rest day, and thank God, because my legs were killing me yesterday.  Today they’re better, but tomorrow it’s back to the elliptical, and then Sunday the distance increases to a 2.5 mile run.

5mi Training: Sunday, Week 1 – Tuesday, Week 2

Sunday’s run was the best I’d felt while running since starting last week.  I went 32 minutes (which seems to be my personal time) and went about 2.13 miles. I stayed consistent in my speed, and that enabled me to run about 25 minutes total.

Monday called for strength training and stretching, and we ended up skipping it since we both had horrible days at work.  Not the best excuse, but we did make up for it by getting up at 5AM today and going to the gym.  In my daze of being up so early, I forgot my iPod, so I ran without music.  I thought it would be horrible, but it actually wasn’t the worst thing.  I ran along to the music playing in the step class going on behind me, and I busted my ass, actually running 2 full miles, and only walking for 1 minute while doing it.  It total, in 36 minutes, I went 2.44 miles, walking for the first 5 and last 2, and then the 1 minute in the middle.  So, 2 miles in 28 minutes.  Not great, but I’ll take the stamina I’m gaining.

Tomorrow is cross training, and I think I’m actually going to do the elliptical this time instead of jogging, but we’ll see how I feel when I get there tomorrow morning.

5 mi. Training: Thursday, Friday, Saturday

Despite my lack of posting of the past couple of days, I can assure everyone that I actually did the training I was supposed to.  Thursday called for another 2 miles, Friday was a rest day, and this morning was another cross-training day.  Thursday I alternated speeds – starting higher and then working backward – and ended up with 2.1 miles in 32 minutes.  This morning I stayed constant – right in the middle – and was able to run the same amount that I did on Thursday, and run for a sustained amount of time.  I think it’s important for me to get the distance down before I work on trying to do it more quickly.

This morning, I ran 20 minutes out of the 32 I was on the treadmill.  I warmed up for 5, then ran 10, walked 2 and ran another 10.  I probably could have gone longer, but I need to run another 2 miles tomorrow, and I don’t want to burn out already.

I made a new running mix for this morning, and it worked like a charm.  It was nice to just be able to get into the music and go.  When I tweak it some more, I’ll post it up here for people to see, and maybe make an iMix if people really are interested.  But give me a week to see how it works best.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

5mi. Training: Week 1, Wednesday

Last night’s session wasn’t bad.  The order was for 30 minutes of cross-training – whether that be swimming, elliptical, cycling or jogging.  The girlfriend went with the elliptical machine, but I went with a split of cycling and jogging, despite my determination not to jog.  It actually worked out well, and I went about 1.5 miles in 25 minutes on the treadmill.  I didn’t push very hard, so I actually (surprisingly) enjoyed it.

What I am learning is that I need a new running mix.  I’ve had the same one for about 2 months now, and it’s getting tired – although it is effective.  For Christmas I got one of the new iPod Shuffles that can be clipped to your sleeve (or neckline in my case).  It works like a charm.  I didn’t like having my normal iPod in the cup holder and being beholden to the length of my headphones.

Tonight is another 2 miles.  I feel like I would rather do this in the morning before work, but when I think about the prospect of the alarm going off at 5AM, I literally shudder.

5mi. Training: Tuesday, Week 1

Last night I got myself back on the treadmill at the gym (which is still filled with people who resolved to get in shape, by the way) and ran for a while.  I don’t have the greatest stamina, but the program said to go for 2 miles.  There wasn’t a specific mandate to run the entire way, so I ran for what I could, walked when I couldn’t, and made it about 2.1 miles in 32 minutes.  That’s no great shakes.  In fact, it’s pretty terrible.  But it was Day 1.  It will be interesting to see how that time improves as I go along.

I also invited a couple of friends to run the race with my girlfriend and I, figuring that if they did it, we’d be more likely to do it ourselves, rather than look like we were quitters.

Tonight’s training is cross-training – jogging if you want (which I don’t) or swimming or elliptical or cycling.  I think I’ll take either of the last two, depending on what machine is available at the time I get to the gym.

Back in Business

I’ve been toying with the idea of starting Social Oil again for a while now, but to talk about anything else that comes out of my head that doesn’t have to do with music – politics, pop culture, baseball, etc. I write about music over at my other site Tympanogram, and I write about it a lot.  But there’s more to me than that.

Today I am starting training for a 5-mile race on Saturday, March 13 – Johnny’s Runnin’ ‘o’ the Green.  (I actually don’t know if it’s “of” or “o.”) I’ve never been a big fan of running, but I had been doing it before the holidays and started to get into it.  I figure that there’s no better way to keep after it than to give myself a goal.  Down at the bottom of the page is the training plan I’m going to be using: Hal Higdon’s 8K Training Schedule.  I’m a novice runner, so here’s to Week 1/Tuesday over at Downtown Fitness Club tonight.