Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Redemption: The Uphill Battle
Today's Run: 3.0 miles
Run Time: 30 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 932.3
Thoughts on the Run:
Part of the reason I share this journal is so that the readers understand just because I made a tremendous change in my life and have been training consistently for nearly a decade now, doesn't mean it's easy or I don't have my challenges. While it does become more of a habit and your inclination is more towards working out than not, there are still struggles and mind games.
I'm a little fortunate because I have experience, habit, and routine, and more importantly I have the hundreds of blog readers who are my "accountability" group. You can't imagine how motivating it is to say, "I'm going to quit today ... no, wait, then I'll either have to write about quitting or just skip my blog and they'll know ... wait, I think I CAN do this." LOL ... sometimes pain is a positive motivator.
This morning was a challenge because once again I just didn't feel in the game. I came downstairs and always bring my gear because usually once I'm awake, I'm good to go, but I felt miserable. It was 28 degrees outside and the humidity is 50%. No way. There was no real way to shuffle my schedule so I was ready to throw up my hands in defeat.
I don't like my treadmill because it is consumer, not commercial, grade and so at my weight it doesn't like to run flat (friction gets too hot). So I have to run at an incline.
I was just about to throw in the towel when I sat back and thought about what that meant. I'm not a quitter and there was no real reason to give in. Why was I resisting? Maybe some self-sabotage and an excuse to feel sorry for myself? I'm above all that.
Truth is, there was no real reason. I was just making weak excuses.
So I headed downstairs, put the treadmill on a 6.5 incline (I told you it was an uphill battle) and began to redeem myself for wanting to quit.
I was not about to engage in a boring run so I decided to get creative. I started out in cycles of 5.0 mph, then 6.0 mph, then 7.0 mph, then I'd drop back to 5.1, 6.1, 7.1. That worked well until about 5.5 mph and then at the 7.5 I was struggling (remember, I'm going on a steep incline the entire time). So, I dropped back to 5.0 mph and worked my way up to 6.0 mph adding 0.1 every minute.
I was just over 2.0 miles when I started walking back down. This time I'd wait two minutes before dropping 0.1 miles.
It's all mind games to keep it interesting. I was actually starting to get a little dizzy, gasping for air, feeling like my chest would explode, my feet pounding, and just reached 3.0 miles. My goal was 4.0 miles but right then the treadmill gave me it's own mini-blessing: it gave up the ghost, made a cruel beeping sound and flashed red error warnings in my face. Right at 3 miles.
I stepped off the defeated piece of equipment. I thought I was imagining light steps, but the reality of mass and gravity took their toll on the belt and the poor thing just couldn't keep up. Because of the steep incline and intervals I had burned a whopping 700 calories. Of course, it's all relative (I don't take the machines at face value, just numeric).
It was a victory because I don't have to miss any of my schedule. Even though it was a mile short of the scheduled workout, I actually have a 3 mile workout planned for Thursday. So, in keeping with my philosophy of adapting, I just swapped the workouts ... today was the 3-miler, I'll make the 4-miler on Thursday and still reach my goal for the week.
How's that for redemption?
I'm glad I didn't give up or quite, and that I can write to you about victory and not defeat. Now it's time to wake up my daughter and have some breakfast with her.
Have a blessed day,
Run Time: 30 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 932.3
Thoughts on the Run:
Part of the reason I share this journal is so that the readers understand just because I made a tremendous change in my life and have been training consistently for nearly a decade now, doesn't mean it's easy or I don't have my challenges. While it does become more of a habit and your inclination is more towards working out than not, there are still struggles and mind games.
I'm a little fortunate because I have experience, habit, and routine, and more importantly I have the hundreds of blog readers who are my "accountability" group. You can't imagine how motivating it is to say, "I'm going to quit today ... no, wait, then I'll either have to write about quitting or just skip my blog and they'll know ... wait, I think I CAN do this." LOL ... sometimes pain is a positive motivator.
This morning was a challenge because once again I just didn't feel in the game. I came downstairs and always bring my gear because usually once I'm awake, I'm good to go, but I felt miserable. It was 28 degrees outside and the humidity is 50%. No way. There was no real way to shuffle my schedule so I was ready to throw up my hands in defeat.
I don't like my treadmill because it is consumer, not commercial, grade and so at my weight it doesn't like to run flat (friction gets too hot). So I have to run at an incline.
I was just about to throw in the towel when I sat back and thought about what that meant. I'm not a quitter and there was no real reason to give in. Why was I resisting? Maybe some self-sabotage and an excuse to feel sorry for myself? I'm above all that.
Truth is, there was no real reason. I was just making weak excuses.
So I headed downstairs, put the treadmill on a 6.5 incline (I told you it was an uphill battle) and began to redeem myself for wanting to quit.
I was not about to engage in a boring run so I decided to get creative. I started out in cycles of 5.0 mph, then 6.0 mph, then 7.0 mph, then I'd drop back to 5.1, 6.1, 7.1. That worked well until about 5.5 mph and then at the 7.5 I was struggling (remember, I'm going on a steep incline the entire time). So, I dropped back to 5.0 mph and worked my way up to 6.0 mph adding 0.1 every minute.
I was just over 2.0 miles when I started walking back down. This time I'd wait two minutes before dropping 0.1 miles.
It's all mind games to keep it interesting. I was actually starting to get a little dizzy, gasping for air, feeling like my chest would explode, my feet pounding, and just reached 3.0 miles. My goal was 4.0 miles but right then the treadmill gave me it's own mini-blessing: it gave up the ghost, made a cruel beeping sound and flashed red error warnings in my face. Right at 3 miles.
I stepped off the defeated piece of equipment. I thought I was imagining light steps, but the reality of mass and gravity took their toll on the belt and the poor thing just couldn't keep up. Because of the steep incline and intervals I had burned a whopping 700 calories. Of course, it's all relative (I don't take the machines at face value, just numeric).
It was a victory because I don't have to miss any of my schedule. Even though it was a mile short of the scheduled workout, I actually have a 3 mile workout planned for Thursday. So, in keeping with my philosophy of adapting, I just swapped the workouts ... today was the 3-miler, I'll make the 4-miler on Thursday and still reach my goal for the week.
How's that for redemption?
I'm glad I didn't give up or quite, and that I can write to you about victory and not defeat. Now it's time to wake up my daughter and have some breakfast with her.
Have a blessed day,
Labels: hill running, redemption, treadmill
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Four Miles When They Count
Today's Run: 4.0 miles
Run Time: 43:13 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 924.3 miles
Thoughts on the Run:
This morning was typical: I woke up, felt tired, wanted to make an excuse to sleep in and skip my run. Of course, I've been through this routine before and know once I get out there, I enjoy my runs, so I forced myself to go downstairs and get ready.
Something interesting happened: I still felt lousy and wanted to talk myself out of it. I had been out with my wife last night on a date to see a movie and we were back late. I also was forced to grab some quick fast food ... while I made a "better bad" choice with getting chicken tacos, there was something in the seasoning that just made me feel ill in the evening, so I didn't get much sleep.
I was in the process of heading back up to catch some more sleep when it hit me.
You see, if I didn't have a set goal, this workout would have been passed by. On a calender with green checks and red "x" marks on the missed workouts, this would have been a big, blaring red "x" (my calendar is green so far, by the way).
But it wasn't just that. It was where I'm going with this.
You see, I have a goal I've followed for years to run an ultramarathon ... a race that is longer than the traditional marathon distance. For me, that is a major goal because I have yet to complete a full marathon. Having run several times at distances over 20 miles, I know what it is like.
Some people assume that running distances is proportionate. When you start going longer distances, as long as you work into it, you get used to it and a 20 mile run is like a 5 mile run used to be.
In my experience, that's just not true. A 20 mile run is 4 5-mile runs back to back ... and you FEEL the previous 5-mile segments. While your body may slowly adapt, it becomes a true mental exercise. Your requirements for food, fluids, and electrolytes change. You go through different phases and moods. You might feel sapped of energy, as if you cannot possibly take another step, and yet still have to force yourself to keep moving forward and closer to the goal, only to find you get a new burst of energy and feel great later on.
And how can I possibly train for those TOUGH moments if I'm not tough on myself?
Suddenly it wasn't about feeling sore or tired, but about the opportunity. Here I am, sore from my workouts, tired from lack of sleep and lots of work, feeling like the last thing I want to do is stand, let alone get out and run ... on hills, no less. What a PERFECT opportunity to get out and practice running under TOUGH conditions!
So, I set out and began my jog. And amazingly, while it took a LOT of focus to get through the first uphill mile and get warmed up, once again my decision came with the ultimate reward: I ended up enjoying myself. The temperature was perfect (low 40s), the sun was still under the horizon but showing its presence with a soft glow, I had the streets to myself and once I was warmed up, felt fantastic.
I hit some serious hills and approached them by working on one step at a time. They couldn't defeat me: I may have slowed down, but I never stopped. And each time I felt like I wanted to, I thought to myself ... if I give up during a 4 mile run, how much more reason to quit during a marathon? No way. I'm winning this one ... so I pushed ahead, through the hurdles, and finished.
And finishing feels SO GREAT. What an accomplishment ... to take a day I truly had a mindset of not training, and turn it around into a win. I love it!
One thing I've noticed as well is that I'm really learning how to run correctly for long distances. As a former sprinter, I always had a longer stride and would push out and pump my arms. This would wear me down for distances ... if you think about it, the more you move with each step, the more you fight gravity, and the more impact you have on your body when your feet hit the pavement. Excessive swinging just burns more calories and forces your body to work harder to stabilize.
After watching long and ultra distance runners, I realized most have a short, almost "staggered" looking pace. It's the minimum distance and footfall required to move forward. Arms hang loose and comfortably, not pumping or swinging (after all, on those longer runs, we're out there for hours). So I've started to adopt this method and it has paid off. It is tremendous for going up hills, because I change my stride a bit but keep the pace. I also stopped bouncing off my toes and land flat on my foot so the entire foot can absorb the impact.
Anyway, it was great to finish and then cook myself a breakfast of two whole eggs, two egg whites, and a slice of whole grain toast. I had a snack of a pear and grape juice, lunch was a taco stew and afternoon snack will be lentils with egg plant. Delicious!
And there is no "missed workout" to fret over. Still green on my success calendar.
Take care,
Run Time: 43:13 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 924.3 miles
Thoughts on the Run:
This morning was typical: I woke up, felt tired, wanted to make an excuse to sleep in and skip my run. Of course, I've been through this routine before and know once I get out there, I enjoy my runs, so I forced myself to go downstairs and get ready.
Something interesting happened: I still felt lousy and wanted to talk myself out of it. I had been out with my wife last night on a date to see a movie and we were back late. I also was forced to grab some quick fast food ... while I made a "better bad" choice with getting chicken tacos, there was something in the seasoning that just made me feel ill in the evening, so I didn't get much sleep.
I was in the process of heading back up to catch some more sleep when it hit me.
You see, if I didn't have a set goal, this workout would have been passed by. On a calender with green checks and red "x" marks on the missed workouts, this would have been a big, blaring red "x" (my calendar is green so far, by the way).
But it wasn't just that. It was where I'm going with this.
You see, I have a goal I've followed for years to run an ultramarathon ... a race that is longer than the traditional marathon distance. For me, that is a major goal because I have yet to complete a full marathon. Having run several times at distances over 20 miles, I know what it is like.
Some people assume that running distances is proportionate. When you start going longer distances, as long as you work into it, you get used to it and a 20 mile run is like a 5 mile run used to be.
In my experience, that's just not true. A 20 mile run is 4 5-mile runs back to back ... and you FEEL the previous 5-mile segments. While your body may slowly adapt, it becomes a true mental exercise. Your requirements for food, fluids, and electrolytes change. You go through different phases and moods. You might feel sapped of energy, as if you cannot possibly take another step, and yet still have to force yourself to keep moving forward and closer to the goal, only to find you get a new burst of energy and feel great later on.
And how can I possibly train for those TOUGH moments if I'm not tough on myself?
Suddenly it wasn't about feeling sore or tired, but about the opportunity. Here I am, sore from my workouts, tired from lack of sleep and lots of work, feeling like the last thing I want to do is stand, let alone get out and run ... on hills, no less. What a PERFECT opportunity to get out and practice running under TOUGH conditions!
So, I set out and began my jog. And amazingly, while it took a LOT of focus to get through the first uphill mile and get warmed up, once again my decision came with the ultimate reward: I ended up enjoying myself. The temperature was perfect (low 40s), the sun was still under the horizon but showing its presence with a soft glow, I had the streets to myself and once I was warmed up, felt fantastic.
I hit some serious hills and approached them by working on one step at a time. They couldn't defeat me: I may have slowed down, but I never stopped. And each time I felt like I wanted to, I thought to myself ... if I give up during a 4 mile run, how much more reason to quit during a marathon? No way. I'm winning this one ... so I pushed ahead, through the hurdles, and finished.
And finishing feels SO GREAT. What an accomplishment ... to take a day I truly had a mindset of not training, and turn it around into a win. I love it!
One thing I've noticed as well is that I'm really learning how to run correctly for long distances. As a former sprinter, I always had a longer stride and would push out and pump my arms. This would wear me down for distances ... if you think about it, the more you move with each step, the more you fight gravity, and the more impact you have on your body when your feet hit the pavement. Excessive swinging just burns more calories and forces your body to work harder to stabilize.
After watching long and ultra distance runners, I realized most have a short, almost "staggered" looking pace. It's the minimum distance and footfall required to move forward. Arms hang loose and comfortably, not pumping or swinging (after all, on those longer runs, we're out there for hours). So I've started to adopt this method and it has paid off. It is tremendous for going up hills, because I change my stride a bit but keep the pace. I also stopped bouncing off my toes and land flat on my foot so the entire foot can absorb the impact.
Anyway, it was great to finish and then cook myself a breakfast of two whole eggs, two egg whites, and a slice of whole grain toast. I had a snack of a pear and grape juice, lunch was a taco stew and afternoon snack will be lentils with egg plant. Delicious!
And there is no "missed workout" to fret over. Still green on my success calendar.
Take care,
Labels: hill running
Sunday, January 18, 2009
20 Degrees of Separation
Yesterday's Run: 3.0 miles
Run Time: 30:57 minutes
Today's Run: 4.0 miles
Run Time: 42:44 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 909.3 miles
Thoughts on the Run:
Not much here ... just a quick accountability post. Ran 3 miles yesterday, it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit when I started ... around 30 when I finished ... today's run was closer to the 40s ... so 20 degrees of separation between yesterday and today! Running strong and enjoying it. Not sure if it is simply mindset, but running in the cold this year hasn't been nearly as difficult as I recall from last year!
Run Time: 30:57 minutes
Today's Run: 4.0 miles
Run Time: 42:44 minutes
Total Miles to Date: 909.3 miles
Thoughts on the Run:
Not much here ... just a quick accountability post. Ran 3 miles yesterday, it was 20 degrees Fahrenheit when I started ... around 30 when I finished ... today's run was closer to the 40s ... so 20 degrees of separation between yesterday and today! Running strong and enjoying it. Not sure if it is simply mindset, but running in the cold this year hasn't been nearly as difficult as I recall from last year!
Labels: hill running, running in the cold
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Children of the High Fructose Corn
Children of the High Fructose Corn
High Fructose Corn Syrup has been getting a bad rap. Many people have blamed it on the current issue with obesity. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal described how the corn industry is launching a 30 million dollar campaign to help address the "many untruths" related to the sweetener.
Let me preface by saying two things ... first, it is processed foods in general, including foods with other sugars, that I believe is the culprit, and more guilty than the manufacturers is the people who choose to invest in and consume these junk foods. Second, am I the only one who finds it disturbing that there are 30 million dollars laying around to try to convince overweight and obese Americans that it's OK to consume foods laden with this processed sugar (many of our children who are given "fruit juice" by well-meaning parents are really drinking fruit-flavored High Fructose Corn Syrup concoctions, for example)? Where is the 30 million dollar "eat broccoli because it's incredibly healthy" campaign?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest wants the Corn Refiner's Association (CRA) to come clean. The CRA claims in their campaign that HFCS has "the same natural sweeteners as table sugar." As you may have read in my article, The Sugar Coated Truth, sucrose is a sugar that occurs naturally in nature. HFCS does not occur anywhere in nature. The deceptive labeling that the FDA allows makes it possible to call something "natural" as long as it derives from natural ingredients. What is the "natural" process to obtain HFCS? First, you must have an association like the CRA in order to refine it. Then, that association which has 30 million to spare on campaigns convincing you that their product is perfectly normal and healthy must take corn starch, use chemicals and/or enzymes to break the corn starch down into other molecules, then add another enzyme to further convert portions into fructose.
While the article above states that "the harmfulness of HFCS is an urban myth" some urban mythologists have conducted studies that suggest otherwise ... consider this: "The 2002 UCD study reported on animal testing that showed how fructose consumption contributed to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and elevated triglyceride levels - three of the core symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Other metabolic syndrome symptoms include excessive abdominal fat, high C-reactive protein level, and low HDL cholesterol. Three or more of these symptoms put a patient at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease." Forget the animals ... In Can Fruit Make You Fat? found that overweight people "given large doses of fructose were more likely to put on weight around the stomach than those given glucose." While its not clear from the summaries, it appears the subjects were given pure fructose as opposed to whole fruit. While fruit is high in fructose, I suspect it is also packaged with other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that change its overall impact as compared to the highly refined, processed sugars found in foods.
Again, not to say that HFCS by itself is "evil" ... it's refined sugars and processed carbohydrates that are sinister, and HFCS just happens to contribute to a large extent. If you'd like to read a well-rounded article with some good facts about why we should be very guarded about the multimillion dollar "highly refined and processed corn starch added to all of your food is good thing" campaign, read this article about fructose dangers.
(By the way ... to put this in perspective, the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry "only" spent $168 million lobbying in 2007 ... that's only about 5 times what the corn refiners are investing to push their own special product down our throats).
Don't be a Poser
As many know, I do a bit of running and will be doing a bit more as I work up to my first ultramarathon (a race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles). A friend of mine pointed me to PoseTech website as a source of information. This is a very interesting running technique that attempts to focus not on the right running shoe, nutrition, or training regimen, but proper running form. An interesting concept and read ... I may look into integrating some of those concepts into my own training.
Don't McDiet
Recently someone received a lot of press for going on a diet and losing a lot of weight eating only at the restaurant with the golden arches. The American Institute for Cancer Reasearch cashed a reality check by stating the diet was a crash-and-burn program that couldn't be maintained in the long term. You can probably lose weight on the "insert your food here" diet (imagine, just one bowl of ice cream per day) ... the question is, are you shooting for a lovely corpse, or should overall health factor into what you eat as well?
Grandma's Cigarettes
Here's an interesting blog post about the old argument, "But grandma used to eat lard and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day" used to say we're OK eating junk from a can or box and lifting the remote instead of weights.
Ditch the Shakes for a Cranberry Smile
The New York Times ran an interesting article called Real Thought for Food for Long Workouts. It essentially asked whether we really need all of our bars, shakes, and gels to workout for long periods of time. A few doctors who know what they're talking about (they don't just research muscle physiology and kinesiology in the lab, but actually participate and for example won the Ontario trail running series three years in a row) claim that nothing but water and natural, whole foods is all that is needed.
No matter how much we try to engineer, nature just seems to have figured it out already!
High Fructose Corn Syrup has been getting a bad rap. Many people have blamed it on the current issue with obesity. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal described how the corn industry is launching a 30 million dollar campaign to help address the "many untruths" related to the sweetener.
Let me preface by saying two things ... first, it is processed foods in general, including foods with other sugars, that I believe is the culprit, and more guilty than the manufacturers is the people who choose to invest in and consume these junk foods. Second, am I the only one who finds it disturbing that there are 30 million dollars laying around to try to convince overweight and obese Americans that it's OK to consume foods laden with this processed sugar (many of our children who are given "fruit juice" by well-meaning parents are really drinking fruit-flavored High Fructose Corn Syrup concoctions, for example)? Where is the 30 million dollar "eat broccoli because it's incredibly healthy" campaign?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest wants the Corn Refiner's Association (CRA) to come clean. The CRA claims in their campaign that HFCS has "the same natural sweeteners as table sugar." As you may have read in my article, The Sugar Coated Truth, sucrose is a sugar that occurs naturally in nature. HFCS does not occur anywhere in nature. The deceptive labeling that the FDA allows makes it possible to call something "natural" as long as it derives from natural ingredients. What is the "natural" process to obtain HFCS? First, you must have an association like the CRA in order to refine it. Then, that association which has 30 million to spare on campaigns convincing you that their product is perfectly normal and healthy must take corn starch, use chemicals and/or enzymes to break the corn starch down into other molecules, then add another enzyme to further convert portions into fructose.
While the article above states that "the harmfulness of HFCS is an urban myth" some urban mythologists have conducted studies that suggest otherwise ... consider this: "The 2002 UCD study reported on animal testing that showed how fructose consumption contributed to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and elevated triglyceride levels - three of the core symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Other metabolic syndrome symptoms include excessive abdominal fat, high C-reactive protein level, and low HDL cholesterol. Three or more of these symptoms put a patient at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease." Forget the animals ... In Can Fruit Make You Fat? found that overweight people "given large doses of fructose were more likely to put on weight around the stomach than those given glucose." While its not clear from the summaries, it appears the subjects were given pure fructose as opposed to whole fruit. While fruit is high in fructose, I suspect it is also packaged with other nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that change its overall impact as compared to the highly refined, processed sugars found in foods.
Again, not to say that HFCS by itself is "evil" ... it's refined sugars and processed carbohydrates that are sinister, and HFCS just happens to contribute to a large extent. If you'd like to read a well-rounded article with some good facts about why we should be very guarded about the multimillion dollar "highly refined and processed corn starch added to all of your food is good thing" campaign, read this article about fructose dangers.
(By the way ... to put this in perspective, the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry "only" spent $168 million lobbying in 2007 ... that's only about 5 times what the corn refiners are investing to push their own special product down our throats).
Don't be a Poser
As many know, I do a bit of running and will be doing a bit more as I work up to my first ultramarathon (a race longer than the traditional marathon distance of 26.2 miles). A friend of mine pointed me to PoseTech website as a source of information. This is a very interesting running technique that attempts to focus not on the right running shoe, nutrition, or training regimen, but proper running form. An interesting concept and read ... I may look into integrating some of those concepts into my own training.
Don't McDiet
Recently someone received a lot of press for going on a diet and losing a lot of weight eating only at the restaurant with the golden arches. The American Institute for Cancer Reasearch cashed a reality check by stating the diet was a crash-and-burn program that couldn't be maintained in the long term. You can probably lose weight on the "insert your food here" diet (imagine, just one bowl of ice cream per day) ... the question is, are you shooting for a lovely corpse, or should overall health factor into what you eat as well?
Grandma's Cigarettes
Here's an interesting blog post about the old argument, "But grandma used to eat lard and smoke a pack of cigarettes a day" used to say we're OK eating junk from a can or box and lifting the remote instead of weights.
Ditch the Shakes for a Cranberry Smile
The New York Times ran an interesting article called Real Thought for Food for Long Workouts. It essentially asked whether we really need all of our bars, shakes, and gels to workout for long periods of time. A few doctors who know what they're talking about (they don't just research muscle physiology and kinesiology in the lab, but actually participate and for example won the Ontario trail running series three years in a row) claim that nothing but water and natural, whole foods is all that is needed.
No matter how much we try to engineer, nature just seems to have figured it out already!
Labels: high fructose corn syrup, hill running, mcdonald's diet, sugar, sweetener, workout shakes
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Beating the Hill
Today's Run: 4.89
Run Time: 51:31 (10:32 minutes per mile)
Total Miles to Date: 522.7
Thoughts on the Run:
Two nights of ice, one day of rest, and I was ready to beat the hill into submission today. My foot is still a little stiff but getting better. I was actually excited about the opportunity to get out in the heat and tackle a few hill repeats.
I jogged down and began my repeats. Apparently I'm improving a bit because my average pace including walking downhill between every repeat was 10:30 for this run. It was tough but definitely not impossible and I'm looking forward to the next workout that increases the number of repeats. There were a lot of people out and about.
I pushed hard up the hill and focused on breathing and pace. I found that when I feel like my legs will turn to jelly and I feel like I am breathing underwater, I can still push a lot farther and come out fine. I believe pushing through these "sticking points" is what is going to ultimately improve my fitness overall. I'm certainly finding that I recover (heart rate down, catching my breath, etc) much more quickly after the repeats, when just a few months ago hills would render me "out of commission."
I think a real test will come on Thursday when I do a pace run at the local park ... I did 5 miles at 9:30 two weeks ago, now I'm shooting for 8 miles at 9:30. Will be tough but not impossible and the course is relatively flat. I'll play my 5 mile "recovery" run by ear because I don't want to cut into my most important run, the long 20-miler at Kennesaw Mountain that I have scheduled for this weekend.
I've pulled some old audio programs from my previous company from the archives. There are several that I sold the rights to and look forward to sharing once the new company, Achieve Fitness, comes out with them. There was a weekly teleseminar I had where there is some content I still own. Some of it is interviews with industry professionals and I may put those together, but some were monologues related to the mindset of losing fat, one that focuses on the technical aspects, etc.
It is ironic because there are dozens of websites that allow free video uploads and hosting but almost nothing in the way of MP3. What I've found from some advice from others online is that people are making static images and uploading audio tracks as video with those static images. Interesting!
I created a mailing list that is accessible from the main side or in the navigation to connect with visitors and share things like these audio programs as I remaster them and make them available. My focus on this site is 100% free resources ... I'll continue to fund it simply through advertising and sales of my book.
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
Run Time: 51:31 (10:32 minutes per mile)
Total Miles to Date: 522.7
Thoughts on the Run:
Two nights of ice, one day of rest, and I was ready to beat the hill into submission today. My foot is still a little stiff but getting better. I was actually excited about the opportunity to get out in the heat and tackle a few hill repeats.
I jogged down and began my repeats. Apparently I'm improving a bit because my average pace including walking downhill between every repeat was 10:30 for this run. It was tough but definitely not impossible and I'm looking forward to the next workout that increases the number of repeats. There were a lot of people out and about.
I pushed hard up the hill and focused on breathing and pace. I found that when I feel like my legs will turn to jelly and I feel like I am breathing underwater, I can still push a lot farther and come out fine. I believe pushing through these "sticking points" is what is going to ultimately improve my fitness overall. I'm certainly finding that I recover (heart rate down, catching my breath, etc) much more quickly after the repeats, when just a few months ago hills would render me "out of commission."
I think a real test will come on Thursday when I do a pace run at the local park ... I did 5 miles at 9:30 two weeks ago, now I'm shooting for 8 miles at 9:30. Will be tough but not impossible and the course is relatively flat. I'll play my 5 mile "recovery" run by ear because I don't want to cut into my most important run, the long 20-miler at Kennesaw Mountain that I have scheduled for this weekend.
I've pulled some old audio programs from my previous company from the archives. There are several that I sold the rights to and look forward to sharing once the new company, Achieve Fitness, comes out with them. There was a weekly teleseminar I had where there is some content I still own. Some of it is interviews with industry professionals and I may put those together, but some were monologues related to the mindset of losing fat, one that focuses on the technical aspects, etc.
It is ironic because there are dozens of websites that allow free video uploads and hosting but almost nothing in the way of MP3. What I've found from some advice from others online is that people are making static images and uploading audio tracks as video with those static images. Interesting!
I created a mailing list that is accessible from the main side or in the navigation to connect with visitors and share things like these audio programs as I remaster them and make them available. My focus on this site is 100% free resources ... I'll continue to fund it simply through advertising and sales of my book.
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
Labels: hill running
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