Archive for April, 2005
Crazy Week Again
I’m sorry I haven’t been as responsive or gung ho lately. I’m logging plenty o’ big hours. I spent yesterday bitching about it, but come Monday, I’m just going to dig in and push. No sense complaining. It is what it is. You heard what the sarge said, that kind of thing.
Yesterday was an off day.
This morning, I biked another 5 miles, ran 3. I got a stitch, which never happens to me. It really wrecked my running time (3 miles in 29:20), but that’s also because I was pushing a pace that’s faster than my norm (I did my first two miles in 17:50). Today marks the end of treadmill, I think, as well. It’s warm enough and getting lighter earlier, so I think it’s time to get back out onto the muddy-as-hell trails and see what’s what. Lots more fun out there anyhow.
Thanks for everyone’s information about swimming for triathlons. I’m still seeking out the appropriate trail-flavored sprint in my area. In the mean time, I’m excited about this muddy buddy business. And no, I’ve never run one before.
The chiropracter thing seems to be working out. I’m a little annoyed at my rotator cuff, but I’m trying to work around the pain and see how much I can strengthen the supporting muscles. The front deltoid is still all messed up and off limits, but whatever. I’ll do the best with what I’ve got.
While I was running my sphincter off, I watched an infomercial about some kind of mental weight loss program, where you sit around on your lounger and listen to a CD and get incredibly skinny. Uh, yeah.
And again…
I biked 7 miles, ran 3 miles (27:50 with some quick walk breaks), and did some shoulders and upper back work. I took a day off from the grind today, and that was nice, after all the long hours. I’m really enjoying my training as a respite from the blather of what I do for a living.
Motivation is a wonderful thing. It’s great to feel strong in what I’m doing. I’m glad I have a wonderful wife to help me enjoy my life. Oh yeah, and that kid, too.
I’m going to do the Muddy Buddy this year, too. I just have to scare up a coworker willing to do it. Kat mentioned she might give it a go, too.
I guess I’ll have to get swimming if I want to do triathlons, eh? Hey, what’s freestyle swimming anyway? Whenever I try to guess what they do for swimming during triathlons, I can’t really determine if they’re doing anything other than your standard overhand stroke swimming. You tri people, do you know?
And hey Nichole, where’s your website?
Diddly
Today, I did jack shit.
Big Wheels
Sunday, I biked 11 miles (5.5 times two, to be specific). It was just a jaunt back and forth between two towns, and was part exercise and part relaxation. I stopped off at a nice Asian restaurant and had miso soup, seaweed salad, and a little bit of salmon sushi (whatever its proper name is).
Monday, it poured, so I didn’t bike, but I did my squats and lunges. No mileage and really nothing to speak of, cardio wise.
Today, I biked 2.5 miles to the gym, did chest and back and stretching, and ran 3 miles in 28:35. I showered up and biked another 2.5 miles back home. The stretching was much needed. My lower back is really tight, as are my hamstrings, etc. I did some modified downward dog and salutation to the sun and all that yoga stuff. Works swell!
I might have tennis tonight.
Eating wise, I’ve done fairly well. I probably took in a little more in the way of calories than planned, but it was all good for me stuff, so I won’t gripe too badly. I drank TONS yesterday. It was neat. I bought some no-name-brand version of Crystal Lite iced tea in those little plastic tubs. 1/2 of one flavors my 32 ounce Nalgene bottle. Man, I blew through an easy GALLON using that for flavoring.
You can complain that the stuff has NutraSweet so I could get a tumor, but whatever. I drank a gallon of water and didn’t even flinch. And yes, you pee your head off when you drink that much, but eventually, your bladder helps out, and/or stretches its capacity a bit.
Training is the bees knees. I *love* being in training for races. It gives me plenty of motivation to do the right things. It improves my self-esteem dramatically, even when I’m feeling pretty good to start. I carry myself much straighter and taller when I’m in training. I have a little on-board sense of smugness (which isn’t necessarily “nice,” but whatever; it’s there). I am thrilled with the way I feel when I’m in training.
Side note: I took Kat out to get some decent walking shoes and insoles for her big 20 miler this weekend. I’m so excited for her. : )
What about you? Do you notice the difference between when you’re in your racing season and when you’re not? How about the weight loss crowd? Have you thought about running or biking or whatevering an event?
The Coming Week
This coming week starts my first full week of running training since last autumn. I flatly refuse to make this just about running, though, as I believe in having an all-around notion of fitness. Here’s what I’m planning for the week.
Running
T - 3
W -3
TH -3
SU -6
Tot-15
Cycling
All week- cycle to gym, trailhead, beach (depending on where I’m doing what)
Fitness
M - Squats and lunges, arms & shoulders and abs
T - Chest and back and plyometric drills and abs
W - Soccer drills (lots of lateral movement, stops/starts)
TH - Shoulders and back
FR - Deadlifts and hams, and abs
Other
T or W - Tennis
Nutrition
It’s lots easier to eat better when I’m doing full-on training. My goal is to front-load my eating, meaning I’ll try to get the majority of my calories into my body in the earlier part of the day, and I’ll have small snacks after 4PM. I’ll up my protein levels a bit more, using cottage cheese, whey powder, lean meats, and dairy. I’ll get more fiber through morning shakes and upped intake of greens/veggies. I’ll have one tiny treat a day and make Saturday my “whatever” eating day.
Motivation
So far, I’ve got a 1/2 marathon in June, the 50K mountain race in September, and finishing the year with either a 50 miler or a marathon (Stone Cat), depending on how the 50K goes.
I want to add a sprint distance triathlon, but I’m trying to hold out for a trail-type event. I will also probably scare up a few 5Ks for fun. I’m going to consider a cycling distance event, too, though the 100 miler I was thinking of doing is a week after my 50K mountain race, so I might not exactly be recovered by then.
That enough motivation?
(By the way, I heap on TONS of events, and then I backtrack out of the ones I’m not trained to do).
So, that’s my week. What have you got planned?
Monthly Cycles
I rode my bike to the gym this morning, which really felt hardcore, except that it was only 40-something outside, and so I froze my fingers and my bits off. Mind you, I woke up late, so this bike ride idea took up time I already didn’t really have.
I hit the gym and did an arm workout, really shoving myself through a faster pace between sets, but still going as slow and measured as I could with the weights. I blasted out supersets that were like this:
Preacher Curls & Tricep Skullcrushers
DB Shoulder Press & Pulldowns
Reverse Rows (like angled pullups) & Presses
And then I jumped back on the bike and headed back home. Made for a great (but rapid) workout. Tons of fun, really. I like this biking stuff.
Oh, and Heather pointed me towards a place to donate for someone’s run, and as I haven’t done any of that just lately, I gave. With my racing season coming up, I might hit folks up for donations, so I figure I should return the favor in kind ahead of the curve. Right?
I see my fitness stuff as the closest thing I have to being spiritual. It centers me, reminds me of my body’s abilities, and gives me a sense of what I’m capable of at a personal level. Do you get any sense of that when you do what you do?
The Best Thing
The best thing about my fitness efforts are that I am responsible for it all. Nobody owes me anything. No one is waiting on something from me. I am not on a team. I am an individual contributor. I am out there living and dying on my own efforts.
Eat shitty? I get shitty results. Skip a workout? I’ll pay for it.
But as close as I come to spiritually, the notion that I am one with my fitness efforts is a beautiful thing.
Related but not, now that I’m training up for trail running season, I found out a few surprising things. One, I’m suddenly re-INVIGORATED with energy about my training. I’m thinking TONS about it. I am breathing the “in training” mindset. Second, I’m suddenly thinking I might try one of those there triathlon things the kids are all talkin’ about. Sounds like it might be something interesting, and hey, I have a new cheapass bike. It might be fun, right?
A sprint can’t be all that bad. What’s that? A dip in the water, a casual bike ride, and then a 5K? Pffft. If my only goal is to finish, how can’t I, short of some kind of horrible mechanical failure?
I dunno. Do you do triathlons? Hmm. I wonder if they do TRAIL triathlons around here. What’s your story?
Kicking The Tires
Today’s running training focused on building more muscle strength. I did 30 or so slow-motion bodyweight squats. I did the first 10 with the swiss ball between me and the wall, and the next 20 freefloating. I then went into some deep lunges, 12 for each leg, and finished up with a few miles of running.
I did some strength training, focusing on my arms and shoulders, and some ab work (not as much as I should) to balance everything off.
Running alone doesn’t necessarily build good, strong, RESPONSIVE muscle to accomplish all one’s distance running goals. To that end, I try to ensure that I do lots of “extra credit” work to make sure I’ve got some good “wheels” on this car.
Nutrition wise, I went to the grocery store and bought HEAPS of stuff to stick in my office fridge and my cubicle’s overhead bins. I got a big thing of no-name oatmeal (it’s really easy to take a 1/2 cup of oatmeal, a little water from the bubbler, and nuke it for 1:20), some tuna cans, a big bag of walnuts, some string cheese, some yogurt, a few smoothies (and make sure you read the sugar content; I’m not a fan of Atkins as a diet, but the products are usually really sugar-conscious), some meal replacement bars for (just in case) moments, bananas, grapes, and a big salad bag to have with my tuna. That should do the trick. Oh, and some green tea to brew and let get cold at my desk for a nice cool antioxidant treat throughout the day.
As this moves along, I’ll have to find ways to sneak in more runs and more miles. I read in the latest issue of Men’s Health that Matt Damon had to be really creative about his workouts, and that he just snuck three 20 minute workouts into the day because he couldn’t find a solid hour free. That’s the whole deal. Make it work. Throw away excuses and find a way. “Get it done.” That’s really the crux of the issue, isn’t it?
What are you doing to get it done?
This Just In
In an early morning meeting with the board of directors at [chrisbrogan.com], an announcement has been made: the scale has been laid off.
Reporters were surprised when the chairperson of [chrisbrogan.com] announced this at what was originally planned as a simple status meeting. “In light of our recent decision to press forward into trail running and stake out a better market share, we’re going to have to move on. The scale has served us well in the past, and we don’t rule out any possible future joint ventures, but for now, we’ll have to part ways.”
No early indications what this might do to the share value of [chrisbrogan.com], but with all eyes on tech stocks and oil prices, we can assume that things will just move along with the group’s traditional “dig in and push” methodology.
About [chrisbrogan.com]
[chrisbrogan.com] is the market leader in motivational fitness self-reference. Currently training for trail running season, the 2005 year promises to be an improvement over previous years’ performances. [chrisbrogan.com] is currently trading at a 28:30 5K, with longer distances not yet substantiated.
Envy
Here is a tale of envy, both sides.
This morning, I drove to the trailhead of a beautiful little course, where a hundred or so folks were already out running a 10 mile trail race. I showed up in time to see the winners come through, lithe and sleek, and frankly, un-trial-runner like. Then came a few of the folks who look a lot like me. God, I wanted to run that race. But, that’s what you get when you don’t plan your training better, and when you have to visit the chiropracter (crick crick).
Envy part 2. You can all be envious of me, because I got to hang out with the one, the only, Running Chick with the Orange Hat. Yep. She’ll tell you all about the trail race from her perspective, but from mine, I saw this spritely person come racing strong across the line and with a big smile under her trademark orange chapeau.
We hung out and chatted a while, and my friend Luc came by after he finished and said howdy, too. He’s such a good bad influence. Just seeing him makes me want to train up fast so I can run deadly, er, silly trail races.
It was really great chatting and spending time, and I think we might even have a plan for the RBF at large, maybe a … gathering? But that’s her story, too.
My only story was that I really am looking forward to my next race now, whichever one I choose. And oh, I bought a low end mountain/hybrid bike. Hooray!
