Every now and then, I forget how awesome I am. Just thought I'd remind everyone. :)
Running has definitely been going well. Last week was pretty solid. I put in 69 miles in 6 days (and after today, my rolling total will be 77 or 78 mpw, a little higher than I would like), with two quality workouts. The first workout was a 3 mile tempo run, something that I really struggle with, in 5:08, 5:16 and 5:16. Easily the best tempo run I've ever done. The next day was an easy "10 miles at 6:20 to 6:30 pace" with my roommate. It was so easy, we finished it in 59 minutes and 20 seconds! :) Scott, you're a tricky one... The next day I did 8x800 with Scott in the parking lot around our apartment. I don't want to say that it was windy, but it did remind me of Nebraska... so, yeah, it was windy. We ran them in 2:16, then low 2:20s for the next six, and finished with a 2:17. Scott was pretty excited about how the workout turned out. Honestly, I was more excited that I kept up with Scott than with the actual workout. Part of it may be that I really haven't done a whole lot of workouts like it.
Wanna know what is not awesome? Going all the way to Ann Arbor to watch someone run, then missing the race by minutes. I went down there with Jake Crowe on Saturday to watch his run. I had to get in a substantial (but easy) run, which I planned on doing before the race. So after Jake ran his two miles for a warm-up, I proceeded to run 3.75 more before I watched him run. Somehow during this time, the meet got approximately 30 minutes ahead of schedule (it was already 15 when Jake went to warm up). I finished the run as Jake's race was finishing. Of course, I wasn't even aware that he was running when I walked in...
Other things... had to call the insurance and MSU health team today to figure out why they were billing $1000 for an MRI I had in October. Still not sure why. According to the insurance company, they sent a check, while the MSU health team don't have this on their records. Now I have to remember to call them next week to see if anything is being taken care of.
Looks like my next run is probably going to be the Irish Jig in Grand Rapids. Wish I could go home to run in the Shamrock Shuffle, take down the record, etc., but I can't justify paying >$350 dollars for a two day trip home. Especially if I end up having to pay $1000 for an MRI. :(
Well, I'm about to go run in the first snow of second winter (damn you, groundhog, with your incorrect weather predictions). I like winter. I really do. But only for 2 weeks. Then it needs to go away. And stay away.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Fail
The chocolate bowl was outside the lab today... and I failed. Hoping for better luck the rest of the day/tomorrow (by which time the chocolate should be gone)...
My weight is slowly progressing in the right direction. I'm weighing about a pound less in the morning than last week.
Training has been going okay. Felt awful on my Sunday long run. Monday, I was too exhausted to run, and instead took a nap. Not my proudest moment, but was probably necessary. Yesterday's run went okay, dropped a few sub-6 minute miles during a 10+ mile run.
Officially is 4 weeks and 3 days until my next race (a St. Patty's day race). I'm not sure where I'll race, (hoping plane tickets drop into my price range so that I can go home, but likely I'll be doing a Michigan race).
Of note: My right knee, which has been bothering for at least 4 years now (I haven't been able to fully flex it, as there has been a straining sensation inside of my knee when I try, preventing my heel from touching my glute by about 8 inches, while with my left knee I was able to touch my heel to my glute with no problem) has been feeling awesome for about a week now. I'm not entirely sure what to attribute this miraculous healing too, except maybe increased hamstring flexibility. I actually got an MRI about 3 weeks ago, and by the time I went to see the doctor about the results, my knee was feeling better. The MRI did show a large cyst behind my knee and in my gastrocnemius (calf) muscle. My best guess is that the increased flexibility due to my stretching has taken some of the pressure off my knee, and that the cyst was able to drain, effectively enabling the flexion of my knee. :)
So how about the new Boston qualifying procedure? I for, for one, like the idea that the faster you are, the earlier you can register.
Winter is starting to break here in East Lansing (I'm probably getting excited about this prematurely). Its been nice to be able to run without worrying about stepping on a block of ice and twisting your ankle (I did this last Friday) or nearly cracking your head open by stepping on a slick patch of ice (also a recent near occurrence for me). The next couple of days are going to be warmer than usual, and I hope to take advantage of them by getting in some faster running outside.
I guess that's how running has been going for now. Blaze on!
My weight is slowly progressing in the right direction. I'm weighing about a pound less in the morning than last week.
Training has been going okay. Felt awful on my Sunday long run. Monday, I was too exhausted to run, and instead took a nap. Not my proudest moment, but was probably necessary. Yesterday's run went okay, dropped a few sub-6 minute miles during a 10+ mile run.
Officially is 4 weeks and 3 days until my next race (a St. Patty's day race). I'm not sure where I'll race, (hoping plane tickets drop into my price range so that I can go home, but likely I'll be doing a Michigan race).
Of note: My right knee, which has been bothering for at least 4 years now (I haven't been able to fully flex it, as there has been a straining sensation inside of my knee when I try, preventing my heel from touching my glute by about 8 inches, while with my left knee I was able to touch my heel to my glute with no problem) has been feeling awesome for about a week now. I'm not entirely sure what to attribute this miraculous healing too, except maybe increased hamstring flexibility. I actually got an MRI about 3 weeks ago, and by the time I went to see the doctor about the results, my knee was feeling better. The MRI did show a large cyst behind my knee and in my gastrocnemius (calf) muscle. My best guess is that the increased flexibility due to my stretching has taken some of the pressure off my knee, and that the cyst was able to drain, effectively enabling the flexion of my knee. :)
So how about the new Boston qualifying procedure? I for, for one, like the idea that the faster you are, the earlier you can register.
Winter is starting to break here in East Lansing (I'm probably getting excited about this prematurely). Its been nice to be able to run without worrying about stepping on a block of ice and twisting your ankle (I did this last Friday) or nearly cracking your head open by stepping on a slick patch of ice (also a recent near occurrence for me). The next couple of days are going to be warmer than usual, and I hope to take advantage of them by getting in some faster running outside.
I guess that's how running has been going for now. Blaze on!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Racing Weight
Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you are carrying 15 pounds of excess weight. It could be fat, maybe muscle, whatever. But this weight isn't contributing positively to your running performance in any way. Now, imagine that you are free of this weight. You have suddenly lost 15 pounds of unwanted baggage. You feel lighter on your feet. Your belly no longer feels as if though a jug of water is sloshing around inside of it while you are doing your speed workouts. Heat is transferred from your body more efficiently, allowing blood to flow to working muscles instead of being directed to your skin to dissipate the metabolic heat waste that you are creating. Paces that used to leave you breathless now feel easy. You are free...
This is how I felt going into my senior year of college. The weight loss was not sudden, but had occurred throughout a summer, and could directly be attributed to my diet (I had a low calorie breakfast and lunch, then ate as much as I felt like for supper) as well as an increased amount of exercise volume (to compensate for not being able to run- I had an athletic hernia- I was biking about 90 minutes a day, a load that was significantly larger than the 55-60 mpw average that I had been putting in running the previous summers). Coming into the season, I was worried that I would not be fit, as I probably put in less than 100 miles total that summer. However, running quickly came back to me (a first, as other times that I had been sidelined by injury and forced to compensate by cross-training, I felt out of shape when coming back), and at one point in the season, I was our number two runner. I finished running nearly a minute PR in the 8k, and had the best indoor track season of my collegiate career. Somehow, the aerobic capacity gained from biking, along with the lightened work load thanks to the lost weight, I was able to set a new standard of athletic fitness for myself.
Fast forward to the present. I currently feel like I am still carrying excess weight. At 6 feet and 168 pounds, I am what you would describe as a large runner (at least for the level that I aspire to be). I mean, Chris Solinsky weighs about the same as me, but is also a couple inches taller, and he is described as being a very large elite runner. I realize that to continue to bring my weight down to what I believe to be my ideal racing weight, I will probably have to lose muscle. But I have muscle that is not supporting my running to lose. In the next couple of months, I plan to significantly bring down my weight to be a lean, fit racing machine. And I am blogging about this so that I will have people to keep me accountable.
To attain this goal, I plan to use vegetables, fruits and lean meat as the base of my diet, supplementing with small amounts of potatoes, seeds and nuts, and to eat sweets and grains sparingly. I will limit myself to a single glass of wine (I will indulge in alcohol socially). :) Perhaps the biggest adversaries that I will face will be the chocolate/candy bowl that frequents the dining table just outside of our lab, as well as the free food that comes with seminars. It is my hope that by posting about my progress and success (or, if my willpower falters, failure), I will be held accountable, and make steady progress toward my goals.
Blaze on!
This is how I felt going into my senior year of college. The weight loss was not sudden, but had occurred throughout a summer, and could directly be attributed to my diet (I had a low calorie breakfast and lunch, then ate as much as I felt like for supper) as well as an increased amount of exercise volume (to compensate for not being able to run- I had an athletic hernia- I was biking about 90 minutes a day, a load that was significantly larger than the 55-60 mpw average that I had been putting in running the previous summers). Coming into the season, I was worried that I would not be fit, as I probably put in less than 100 miles total that summer. However, running quickly came back to me (a first, as other times that I had been sidelined by injury and forced to compensate by cross-training, I felt out of shape when coming back), and at one point in the season, I was our number two runner. I finished running nearly a minute PR in the 8k, and had the best indoor track season of my collegiate career. Somehow, the aerobic capacity gained from biking, along with the lightened work load thanks to the lost weight, I was able to set a new standard of athletic fitness for myself.
Fast forward to the present. I currently feel like I am still carrying excess weight. At 6 feet and 168 pounds, I am what you would describe as a large runner (at least for the level that I aspire to be). I mean, Chris Solinsky weighs about the same as me, but is also a couple inches taller, and he is described as being a very large elite runner. I realize that to continue to bring my weight down to what I believe to be my ideal racing weight, I will probably have to lose muscle. But I have muscle that is not supporting my running to lose. In the next couple of months, I plan to significantly bring down my weight to be a lean, fit racing machine. And I am blogging about this so that I will have people to keep me accountable.
To attain this goal, I plan to use vegetables, fruits and lean meat as the base of my diet, supplementing with small amounts of potatoes, seeds and nuts, and to eat sweets and grains sparingly. I will limit myself to a single glass of wine (I will indulge in alcohol socially). :) Perhaps the biggest adversaries that I will face will be the chocolate/candy bowl that frequents the dining table just outside of our lab, as well as the free food that comes with seminars. It is my hope that by posting about my progress and success (or, if my willpower falters, failure), I will be held accountable, and make steady progress toward my goals.
Blaze on!
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