Archive for October, 2004
Yaks
Hey, has anyone used these? Are they good?
Do they really make you stick to the slippery stuff any better? How do they work out in the woods? Any ideas?
Power!
I jammed out five miles on the treadmill today, barely really noticing the effort. This is a GREAT feeling, considering that I’ve been feeling a little laggy of late. I’m not sure to what I should grant credit. Maybe it was that ucky throat feeling yesterday that’s gone today (answer to Jon). Maybe it was just knowing that I’m pushing through. Beats me.
After the run, I hit the weights. I did shoulders, triceps, and then some core stuff including some squats, twists, and the dreaded plank. Generally, I felt stronger than I’ve felt in a while.
I might run more at lunch. I plan to run more after work. I’m going to stuff the next four weeks full of running.
Tomorrow morning, 10 miles no matter what. Then more either at lunch or after work, if possible. That’s the plan for Friday, too. Saturday, I’ll rest. Sunday? Who the hell knows? It’s the first week in a while without a race scheduled. I plan to use that time wisely, too, though. Thankfully, I have a very supportive wife.
Who else is feeling killer lately?
Uh-oh…
I woke up this morning and felt a weird tickle in the back of my throat. Jon said he’s having the same thing. Uh-oh.
The good news is, someone gave me the best motivation yet for doing my marathon in November. Just the kick in the balls I needed.
F you, cold.
Digging In Even More
I started my day off at 4:42 AM, wolfing down a leftover turkey sandwich from Subway, taking my multivitamin, my B complex, my allegra, etc. After throwing on some duds, I fought my urge to get back into bed and snore some more. It was a fight. I was down the elevator, walking out through the glassy foyer of our building, and I was still saying to myself, “I don’t want to go.” In fact, I didn’t even want the lady at the desk to let me in once I was standing there in front of her. I was hoping she’d kick me out for some reason. But she didn’t. I had to go in.
Once I got in, I got down to work. I threw lots of metal up and down to work my chest. I did those assisted chinup things for a while. And I did squats with weight. It feels really cool to do freeweight squats with 220 pounds on my back and not complain. Thereafter, I did some lower back work, some core exercises, and a couple dozen pushups, just so I’d go home feeling like I’d earned it.
This week’s plan is to sneak in runs wherever I can. I’m going to do morning and night sessions, my first doubles since May or June (I forget when I stopped those). That seems the only way I’ll get miles in, between work and darkness. But hey, time changes this weekend.
My goal around training has been to train smart, to train the way my body permits, to listen when it tells me to quit, and to push when I’ve got things in my favor. So far, that’s really working well for me.
Assessing the race yesterday, I’m still lacking some basic cardio power. I’ve got more strength than I have furnace ability. I’m going to focus on that more, seeing as I’ve got the muscle. I’m never finishing sore, just winded and tired. Yes, allergies, but there’s definitely some more work to be done on the cardio front.
What the hell are YOU doing, anyway?
Ravenswood 4.1 Mile Trail Race
What a great event, put on by some wonderful people. There were seventy-something runners, and all types. I came in 51st overall, which surprised me. I felt fairly laggy, and thought there might only be a half dozen people behind me. Time wise, I did somewhere around 44 minutes for 4.1 miles, so a little slower than normal for me. (Updated).
Excellent trail in Ravenswood forest in Gloucester, Mass. If you’re in the state and want a neat place to trail run, check this place out. There’s a great mix of singletracks, swampy areas that are fun/tricky, and some great climbing areas. Just generally a great day.
I won an award, for being the first person to pre-register. Also the 12th. Whoops.
So anyhow, great day. I didn’t go for the extra 16. I wussed out. I’m aiming high and hitting in the middle. I’ll stop taking on such ambitious tasks. I had more 3rd shift work in the last several days than my usual schtuff. Yeah, that’s it.
Anyhow, more training stuff later. Great race.
More Scheming and Planning
I didn’t run this morning, as I was a bit stiff and sore from too little hydration the day before. I’ll try to sneak in the miles either at lunch and then at dinner, or just in the evening. Or maybe I’ll just do 10 tomorrow instead of this morning. This is the heavy mileage week. It doubles as the week to see if I feel up to bumping my running up to ultra distances in 2005 (even theoretically).
After the marathon, I’ll stop training for running until spring. I’ll still get in runs, but not with a specific plan. In fact, I’ll turn over my planning to burning fat and toning up even more. I’ll work on kicking 30 plus pounds off my frame over the winter. While everyone else is allowing on that magical 10 pounds, I’m going to try and carve up the bird a little more. We’ll see. I’m definitely a guy who loves to eat, and even when I eat good for me foods, I still love eating plenty of them. I’m hoping to use muscle mass and calorie burning to offset my appetites.
So, that’s the plan as far as I can tell. Train through the marathon, and then switch over to body work. Yop. A resounding YOP.
Reading:
8 Miles (not 10)
I shot for 10 miles at the gym, but I got 8. Why? Because for one, treadmill running is a killer. Two, I wore my non-technical clothing and I got chafed like there’s no tomorrow.
Why is it all running-related chafing seems to happen to various and sundry areas that could also be classified as errogenous zones? Oh my BUDDHA that hurt! I’ve got red spots nearly anywhere someone would claim as frisky territory.
But whatever. I have another shot at 10 tomorrow. Then Sunday is the big 2-0. Twenty f-ing miles. But wait! I’ve got a 4.1 mile trail race on Sunday. So what am I going to do? I’m going to run that race *plus* 16 miles. Stupid? Probably. But whatever. I’m testing something else here at the same time.
I’m failing a little bit at the “Grit and Determination” part of the test. So, I’m going to try and cram.
Final Note: One difference between trail runnning and treadmill running is that I can’t watch COPS in the woods.
Weighty Issues
Annalisa had some great comments to my last post, so instead of just commenting inside that post, I figured I’d add another. (Mostly because I was worried my replies wouldn’t be found down there in the mire).
I completely agree that there are food addictions that mirror other addictive behaviors, such as sex addiction, drug addiction, religious addiction, etc. They are all related to the same thing, in my estimation. Shading slightly over the little intricacies of the differences, I believe the root cause of any addictive behavior stems from efforts to self-medicate in lieu of finding a personal stability of being (aka, a good self-esteem).
James Fray’s A Million Little Pieces is a good book that tends to go along with my thoughts on the matter.
There are definitely lots of people who are legitimately struggling with their weight issues. I’m not one to judge anybody, though I’m judgmental in nature. Lots of folks are, aren’t they? I know I am. I’ll stick with me. I’m a judgmental bastard. And I say that in either this morning’s post or the one from the other day. I think ex-fatsos are like ex-smokers. We’re even more pokey at the sore spots.
Should we be judgmental? Probably not. You mentioned being slow. I’m a 10 minute miler on good days. I’m pretty darned slow as a runner. Maybe I judge because I’ve always been judged. Maybe it’s built into my core from life.
It’s funny. If kat had regular internet access, she’d have made me take down my ranty posts about this. It’s good to hear some different opinions on the issue.
(And I still have 26 pounds to go to hit my first goal, another 20 after that if I get down to 190, like the BMI says I should be).
Inside Yourself
I was talking via email with a good friend who’s taking on his own fitness challenges. We were discussing how good it makes you feel to really have a handle on things. This relates to conversations I had last night with my wife and yesterday with another blogger friend. The theme seems boiled down to: you have to do it to get it.
Do you get it?
There’s a whole subculture of people with weightloss blogs that seem to spend all their time wondering why the scale is being so cruel to them, but if you read one or two posts back, they’re also talking about a Krispy Kreme feast they gave themselves the night before. But waaaah. Why am I still not seeing results?
You have to do it to get it.
Effort begets results. But I guess that’s secondary to the part where you have to decide what kinds of efforts you want to make and why. Think about it as a pep talk to your body. Here’s how I envision some of those failing pep talks to go:
“You’re really fat!” (silence from the audience). “You should lose weight!” (a mild yeah sound). “You should get out to the gym and get fit!” (same. kinda mild approval). “Give up all the things you think you love!” (silence.) “You have to torture yourself! That’s the way to success!” (lights go out in the empty auditorium).
Like that’s going to work.
The people who’ve made it to a spot where they’ve shifted their “I don’t want to be fat” journals into “I’m really doing this” journals seem to have had a different pep talk. Their inner coaches sound a little more like they’ve had experience motivating people. Let’s listen in.
“You’re a great person!” (yeah!) “Let’s make some choices that tell the world how much you care about yourself!” (okay!) “Let’s give your body reasons to serve you better!” (roar!) “You know what? We can do AMAZING things! Let’s move towards greatness!” (deafening thunder roar sounds!).
It’s so much easier to move TOWARDS something good than to try hard to push AWAY from things that are bad. No sustained movement was ever founded on what the group didn’t want to be. Failing movements or short term groups can do that kind of thing. But nothing that lasts is based on the negative. You have to say what you are, not what you don’t want to be.
You have to do it to get it.
Bye Superman
Most anyone who knows me knows that I have a thing about superheroes. My favorite of all time is Batman, because this guy’s got no powers whatsoever, and yet he crafts himself into this machine of conflict. (Shuddup, if you think I’m talking about Adam West and Bif! Pow!) But this is about Superman.
Christopher Reeve died yesterday of cardiac arrest brought on by complications with an infection. He was 51.
But before that, did you know he was getting better? Did you know he’d started breathing on his own after they implanted electrical stimulators into his diaphragm? Did you know he was starting to be able to move his fingers and his toes, and some larger muscles? Doctors were telling this guy he wasn’t going to live more than a year, if that. He went nine. Power, force of will, and a commitment to turn his tragedy into something that served the greater good.
This is the one and only time I’ll say I admire Superman. And even then, I think we all know I’m talking about the guy in the costume, because that Krytpon loser alien dude is still a wuss.
Bye, Chris.
