Running at Midnight.

Ok, So I exaggerate a little.. I was actually done before midnight.

[caption id="attachment_1204" align="alignright" width="300"] Here is a picture of a puppy. For no reason at all.[/caption]

Having been up late (hey! 11 is really late for me! I'm old!) the night before, there was no chance of getting up in the morning to work out.  I had every intent of working out right after work, but I had forgotten it was my son's night for his school open house. With It being middle school, this meant we got to follow his schedule and go from 15 minute class to 15 minute class as the teachers gave us their syllabus and told us all about how great our kids were.  Over all I was impressed with all of his teachers but one.  We showed up to her class, and she started a conversation with one mother for 5 (remember there is only 15 available) minutes.. Then expected us to stay past the time to move to the next class, so she could finish her speech.  It bothers me when people expect respect, but don't respect you..  But that is a whole other story.

My wife had promised the kids frozen yogurt after, so a cold treat it was!  Needless to say it was after 9:30 when we got home.   Since I had skipped out on my run the night before, it was NOT an option last night.  I didn't relish the idea of running through the streets of my town at 10pm.  I don't know that it would be unsafe - but it seems silly to take that chance.  My kids deserve to grow up with a father after all! (Did you notice the subtle pull at your heartstrings there?)

Rest day and the dreadmill

So, after my 12 miler on Sunday, Monday was a "Rest" day.  So I did nothing. :)  Well, I may have done some whining about how sore/tired my legs were - but I'm not positive.  I will have to err on the side of caution and assume I did.  Mostly Monday was dedicated to being the first day back at school for the kids!

[caption id="attachment_2978" align="aligncenter" width="490"] This year they go different ways, to different schools![/caption]

This is the first year that they are going to different schools, as my son just entered middle school.  They are both excited about it, but as parents? We are more than a wee bit nervous!

Never sore where you think

[caption id="attachment_2831" align="alignright" width="300"] Me resting after using the bowflex.... (ok...ok.. the image MIGHT be from http://www.bowflex-help-online.com/is-a-bowflex-home-gym-worth-the-money.html )[/caption]

Last night I hit my bowflex for a nice workout. My thought is that by swapping days of running and lifting, I give my Plantar Fasciitis a chance to heal (in theory), while working on the upper body/core that I have spent years ignoring. It seems like a good way to develop a balance that I have been sorely lacking.

Now, the thing that surprises me with the bowflex, is that I am usually sore in different places than I expect. With out giving you all the details of last night's workout (imagine how exciting THAT would be... I pushed.. relaxed.. pushed.. relaxed..,) I was sure that today - I was going to be facing some seriously sore triceps. SURPRISE!!!! The Arms are fine, and your back is letting you know it was a great workout!

I'm certainly not complaining, as I know it was a good workout either way.

#Juneathon Day Something or Another - The Treadmill and Bowflex

So I had this thought.  Now it was partially born out of the fact that I didn't have clean running shorts, and my manpri pajama pants were awful comfy, but it was still a thought.

If impact levels make a difference to Plantar fasciitis (to be fair, I couldn't remember if they did or not), and a treadmill has more give than the sidewalk.... Would running on a treadmill hurt less?  See how well I rationalized not going outside?  So with this thought, I went downstairs to the dreadmill.  I set the speed at 7.6, figuring if I was going to torture myself with two miles on the dreadmill, I should at least do it at a sub-8 minute mile.  Then because I felt guilty being on a treadmill, I set the incline to 2.5.

Inspiration

[caption id="attachment_2388" align="alignright" width="206"] Jeremy's 10 mile treadmill run.. Picture by Jeremy Buck[/caption]

Every runner, runs for a reason. It may be health and fitness, it may be that it's a wonderful stress release, or countless other reasons that are as individual as a snowflake. Yet, regardless of WHY, we will find different sources of inspiration. Obviously this isn't true only of runners, but of everyone for various aspects of life.

I have many sources of inspiration for running, and they inspire me at different times and to do different things. My kids continue to inspire me to keep running over-all. I want to be a good example to them, and show them that having good fitness is important. But sometimes it is one person that I know that gives me the inspiration just when I need it. Today is a great example.

A friend (and former co-worker) of mine in NY started running a year or two ago, and now runs 30-40 mile weeks. In fact, he even runs twice a day quite frequently. Many of these long runs are done on a treadmill.  Today I was hitting my treadmill, but had to do it without head-phones.  (In the process of a road trip, I lost mine.)  Now 4 miles on a treadmill isn't the world's worst run - but by 2.5 miles, I am ready to scream.  I thought of Jeremy's run  (See the picture above) and thought that if he could do 10 miles (even with music) then I could definitely finish out 4 miles.  And I'm pleased to say I did.  Thank you Jeremy! 

Just another Magic Monday

Every day, you can choose if you are going to have a good day, or a bad day.  Granted, sometimes life throws a curve ball and tries to convince you to change your mind, but even then - you can maintain your choice with some effort (And perhaps some denial of reality.)

As an example, I had a rather interesting week on the first week I stopped posting.  You may (or may not) be aware that I work in the Information Technology field.  I m the Director of Information Systems for a non-profit that covers 2 states, plus Washington D.C..   As you can imagine, we use quite a bit of technology.  We ran into a problem, that we were not getting enough power into our main office.   Seriously.  Everything would be fine through the night and first thing in the morning, but as people arrived (and turned things on), lights would start to flicker, computers would reboot and battery backups would start to squeal in outrage.   Throughout this week, people were a wee bit amazed I was still able to smile and joke around.. My response to it?  Hey, at least we are getting it all out-of-the-way at once!  This could be random issues popping up for the next three months!  Look how lucky we are!

You see, computers require power.  I know this might be a shocking realization, but when they aren't getting that power, they fail.  This is also true for computer-related equipment (such as IP Phones.)  In fact, steady power hits can lead to a loss of programming for phones.. Hypothetically, lets say you could lose 3/4 of your phones this way..

Starting the Cherry Blossom 10 miler Training Plan

I mentioned a few weeks back that I was fortunate enough to make it through the lottery for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.  One of the really excellent things about this (in addition to getting to run it,) is the fact that they will give you a free training plan.  All you have to do is sign up for the Beginner, Intermediate or Expert level.

I went for the intermediate, as that seems to fit with where I was (As opposed to where I wish I was) the best.  Today's run was listed as a 2-4 miles, so 3 miles seemed the obvious choice!  It was on a treadmill, so it was fairly dull.

#Janathon - Cake and Running Re-start.

[caption id="attachment_2350" align="alignright" width="150"] 1/2 of Yesterday's "Workout"[/caption]

I suspect that at this point, after being sick and then waiting for my injuries to heal, that 10 days off disqualifies me from claiming to be a Janathon participant.  At this point, I am looking forward to Junathon to actually pull it off!

On that note, lets update you on the recent events, just in case you weren't paying attention to the few blog postings that I have actually bothered to write.   On the 11th of the Month I ended up at an urgent care facility due to flu-like symptoms.  While two flu tests throughout the week said I did NOT have the flu, I was lucky enough to have the same effects - fever, achey body, coughing, etc, etc ,etc.  That finally cleared up a week later so that I could actually be at work.  Unfortunately, in the process of  constantly coughing (and here I thought it was a great ab workout), I seemed to have aggravated my existing hernia that hasn't had surgery (right side), and possibly REALLY aggravated my previous hernia that I had surgery on.  I don't know if I damaged the surgery spot or not (it was two years ago), but I seem to have many of the same symptoms on the left side that I had originally.

#janathon Day 10 - Early Morning Run

[caption id="attachment_2306" align="alignright" width="300"] This is what I risk facing when I have to go into a meeting in Alexandria[/caption]

It seems, that despite being up early and doing a nice run yesterday, I never posted about it!

I had a meeting about an hour past my office yesterday, so I had no idea what time I would be returning home. (An hour and a half because I had to go through DC.)  This meant I was probably better off working out in the morning.

(Plus someone at the dinner the night before had been talking about how crazy someone there was for getting up and running 5 miles.  I told him I probably would the next day - so I had to follow through!)

So at 20 minutes to 5am, my alarm went off telling me to get up. (it's NOT 4:40 am, because I promised myself when I got out of the military that I would not get up at any time that sounded like "four" ever again.)  Off I went to my treadmill.  At about 3 miles, I was really bored and thought about getting off of it - but this was one of those cases where I had told someone I was going to do five miles, so I had to live up to it!

I did run in my Sauconys, as I figured 2 days of running in new shoes - I should probably return to the faithful "Standby" for my long run.  It actually (other than being mind-numbingly boring) felt really good!

I was right on my traffic planning however, it did take me one hour and forty minutes to get there. (for the record, only 40 minutes to get home as there was no traffic at that hour)

#janathon - Day 9

Day 9 of Janathon COMPLETE!!!! I had to head into work early today, and back late (although it was late due to a truely lovely dinner. I have to admit, I did not follow my diet for dinner.)  I have been getting hassled by Max for not giving my impressions of the Altra Zero Drop running shoes I got yesterday, so my Janathon run was going to need to be something a bit more trying than my 3 miles in 45 minutes from last night.

I was in a hurry, so I headed down to the treadmill.  Rather than my leisurely 10 minute mile that I have a tendency to do there (I admit it.. the treadmill makes me lazy..)  I figured 7mph should be about right, considering what I have been doing out side and it had the added bonus, that 3 miles would be the perfect distance to finish up the TV show (Dr. Who.) I was watching.

Sorry for the short posting, just an update on Janathon!

#janathon - Day 7 - a SLOW REST day!

OK, So I admit it.  I overdid it this weekend.  Apparently following a fast (compared to my recent running) 6 mile run with a fast short run wears the legs out.

If it wasn't Janathon, I would take today completely off from running and give my legs a chance to heal  But it is Janathon, so instead, off to the treadmill.  While it is only 45 degrees out this morning, I think I have proven that I can't be trusted to run slowly on my own. But that's OK.. Why? Because the treadmill will take care of that for me.

I hopped on, did my warm up walk and went to 6 mph.   And WOW are my legs tired! It felt like I was trying to run faster than I did over the weekend!

oh wait.. I hit 8 not 6... That is certainly not right!  Back to 6 where it belongs, and a nice easy mile ensued, followed by a nice stretching session.

There is no way my legs could do yoga today.  They are FRIED! (and sore.)

#janathon day 4 - Serenity

se·ren·i·ty

[suh-ren-i-tee] noun  (From dicitonary.com)

1. the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.

Synonyms   - composure, calm, peacefulness, peace.

Day 4 of Janathon!  As you might recall (or be polite enough to pretend to), I ran a 5k in my Vibram Five Fingers on the first.  Now fore thought apparently is one of my strengths, in the same way that using the kinect is (total sarcasm there, just in case it wasn't dripping out of your screen.). This is definitely shown through my choice of foot wear that day.   You see, I hadn't worn them on a run over two miles in 6 or 8 months.

[caption id="attachment_2092" align="aligncenter" width="490"] My Five finger Collection![/caption]

Treadmill Speed Work (I'm too dumb for the Kinect.)

Every now and then, something happens that opens my eyes.  Yesterday's recurring theme was speed-work.  Half-athoner mentioned it in a blog posting I read and responded too.  My friend Jeremy (he doesn't have a blog) and I talked about it on Facebook.

[caption id="attachment_1965" align="alignleft" width="298"] My feet at 9 mph.[/caption]

After a while (and in re-reading the Curvy RoadRunners Treadmill Workout From Hell), it occurred to me that I didn't have any speedwork going on.  Bad enough I am being lazy cautious and keeping my speed down, and only increasing it by .1 mph a week - but no speed work?  How is that going to make me any faster?  As I thought about it, I also realized that with this workout, I can't watch TV - so I don't have to worry about the fact that I haven't made a choice on a new show to watch while running.

So, off I went.  I figured I'd start slower to let my legs get warmed up.

Peanut... Peanut butter! Blossoms!

[caption id="attachment_1940" align="alignright" width="280"] Picture from Hersey's Website[/caption]

Ok, Seriously.  I think the person that invented Peanut Blossoms was attempting to figure out how to give people the same warm feeling inside as THAT activity (if you know what I mean.)   I totally think they came as close as humanly possible.

Everyone loves a peanut butter cup - but somehow with these delectable cookies, you get the joy of peanut butter AND chocolate - combined into a wonderful treat that takes multiple bites to eat (multiple bites extends the enjoyment time!)  To top it off, they are ever so easy to make!

I may have mentioned a few times (and I'm sure I will mention it many more times as well,)  But my son is in the Maryland State Boychoir.  One of the things that my ever-so-lucky child gets out of this, is a 9 day cruise to the Bahamas where they are performing.  THis doesn't come cheaply of course.  Well, they offer various opportunities to help make a little bit of money toward the cost of the tour (anyone want to buy a raffle ticket?) - one of which was being able to bake cookies that could be sold at the concert. 

Mr. Potato Head.

Getting out of work early means I can get some of that exercising in BEFORE it is 8 o'clock at night!  Now really, I don't mind (most days) working out at night.. its kind of nice to exercise and do yoga (followed by a MUCH needed shower of course) to end the day out.  It really does let me go to bed stress-free. (Well, except when my wife was hoping for a back rub, and the reason she didn't get one was the treadmill and yoga...)

[caption id="attachment_1888" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Random Picture - with a Random Fact![/caption]

I decided I wanted to see if the Yoga was making any immediate difference.  As you are no doubt aware, I have been using it to stretch out after my runs.  Last night, I didn't. I did my usual calf-stretch, but immediately jumped through the shower afterwards - no Yoga in sight. 

An influential person, running on a treadmill

[caption id="attachment_1794" align="alignleft" width="300"] If the treadmill is good enough for George Jetson and Astro...[/caption]

Last night I got four miles in on the treadmill.  I have been running at 6 mph, with a goal of limiting the pain to my feet.  This seems to be working pretty well, but as I train toward longer and better things I don't want to be doing it at a ten minute mile.  As such, I am increasing the treadmill speed, I have gone up .1 mph per week  for two weeks.  (For the math challenged that is up to 6.2 mph.)  I have also been running exclusively in my Sauconys, also with the goal of limiting foot pain.  This has led to some slight knee pain, though not much. 

Productive Weekend!

Not a bad weekend, especially running-wise, although it was all treadmill based running.

Friday evening I hoped on the treadmill and turned my Battlestar Gallactica on.. Well, it seems it was a season premiere - so it was not the usual 35 minutes in length.  After watching the first half, I decided I wanted to see the whole episode, so my nice 2 mile run turned into a 5 miler!  I will be honest with you (after all, this is the internet and everything on the internet has to be true) - it was not just the show.  I also wanted to see if I still COULD run five miles.  Not only did I run it, but I wanted to go further.  discretion being the better part of valor - I did not.  (That and the fact I was fairly certain walking was going to be a problem on saturday, simply from being a moron and running 5 miles instead of the usual 2.)

I went up stairs and did the first 20 minutes of the Yoga program, just to stretch everything out.   I am VERY happy to report, that I had no out of the ordinary tightness the next day!  GO YOGA! I put out another 3 miles on saturday, followed by a brief stint of yoga afterwords (my wife walked by and accidentally kicked me... Combined with my being a bit self-conscious about doing yoga in front of her

On a Roll with Honor Roll

Last night, I was really torn on whether to run/yoga or take a rest day.  This had actually been on my mind through out the day.  I WANTED to run and then do yoga, but was very aware that my legs (especially my thighs) were really, really sore. I couldn’t see where I would make it through half of the PeoplesYoga Beginner 1 class, let alone all of it!  I alsocouldn't see if it would actually be beneficial to do it,  But I am getting ahead of myself..

[caption id="attachment_1758" align="aligncenter" width="478"] screen shot from peoplesyoga.com[/caption]

From a background stand-point, I think many of the 3 of you were reading this blog back in the July - Sept range, when I started a new job in a new state, and then was (finally!) joined by my family 2 months later.  This of course meant - not only a new job for me, but also that my kids were switching schools.

[caption id="attachment_1762" align="alignleft" width="300"] Their new school[/caption]

They started the school year at Horace Mann Elementary in Binghamton, NY and attended there for 2 entire weeks (you can imagine they weren't paying all that much attention for two weeks...)  A quick weekend move on the 15th of September, one day off as we got them registered and then off to Crofton Meadows Elementary in Crofton, Maryland.  Since Maryland schools start before NY, they were a bit behind.  Combine that with moving  from an "inner-city" school to a National Blue Ribbon school, and I am sure you can see where they might have had some catching up to do.  This was compounded for my son by a 5 day hospital stay as well (As if there wasn't enough working against them already!)

Needless to say, this first quarter was more than a bit rough on the kids.  When you add in a two-week attempt of doing no homework by my son (and hiding all evidence from us - such as notes from the teacher) you can imagine what our expectations were for report cards.



Sometimes life hands you pleasant surprises instead of the "knock-your-teeth-out" kind... :)


Seriously? With everything that went on this quarter - they both pulled Honor Roll? WTF??? I have GOT to have two of the most Amazing Kids (and yes, I capitalized that on purpose) ANYWHERE!!!!

After posting these to Facebook (Remember, nothing really happens unless it is posted to Facebook,) gushing over how amazing the kids are - to the kids (never forget to tell how awesome people are TO the awesome people!) - we HAD to go celebrate!


Since this was their celebration, it only made sense that the kids picked the celebration location and it seemed that big ice cream was in order.  We ended up at Cold Stone Creamery, and while we hadn't been to the local one, these two were very familiar with it from Binghamton, NY. So, two peppermint celebration "I Like It" size ice creams later, you can see our two very happy children with my lovely wife!

So how is this pertinent to my wanting to run, and deciding whether or not to take a rest day?  Well, after half of a cold stone Creamery ice cream (mine is the one in the picture with no one currently eating it), I certainly needed to exercise!  I was after all 98 calories over my daily limit (seriously... After eating Ice cream I was only 98 calories over.. I thought that was remarkable as well!)  I knew how sore my legs were, yet I still was set to go run on the treadmill due to being over-calorie.  (My wife thought I was foolish and couldn't wait to hear if I had managed to keep the ice cream down after running.)   My son? I think he may have saved me.

[caption id="attachment_1714" align="alignright" width="320"] Not Just for Dad's anymore[/caption]

"Dad, When we get home, can I run on your treadmill to burn off some of the energy that the ice cream is going to give me?"

So home we went, and I showed him how to use the new-to-me treadmill. He wanted to start our running, but I suggested a walk so he could get used to it.  So last night he did a fast walk , while watching TV - and stuck it out for an hour!  I may have a chance at turning him into a runner yet!

Thanks to my son, my choice was  made and yesterday was (Wisely) a day of rest.  I know that tonight, when I do two miles followed by Yoga - my muscles will be much happier since they were given a day to recuperate! !  I am not sure if I am interested in doing it the same time as my wife though (and I think she returns the thought.)  I suspect I would feel a bit awkward doing it the same time as her - I'm not comfortable in the poses, and I remain as flexible as a board.  Have any of you worked out with your spouse/girl-boy friend? (I mean when you were both OUT of shape, not two athletes working out together!)  How did it go?  Any advice if we do?

In regards to the Kids? I think they are adapting well and are on-a-roll (see what I did there?) toward a much better life than we had in NY.  I know my wife and I are as well!

(Unrelated side note.. One of the "recommended tags" for this post - is "Barack Obama" - how did they come up with THAT one?)

Still able to walk down stairs!

It sounds like such a simple thing!

Yesterday, I could feel my plantar faciitis bothering me still, but the pain was much, much lower than the previous two.  This of course meant I was game to try running again.  I hopped on to the treadmill, put my earphones in and started up Battlestar Galactica on the tablet (it seems that the Vice President is going to run against President Roslin, and congrats to Commander Adama!)   Trying to focus on "Doing things right" - I started out with a walk for half a mile to get everything warmed up and funcytoning like it should.  Then a nice 3 mile run at an easy 9:22 pace, followed by a 1/2 mile cool down.

Calf stretches.. Hamstring stretches, Achilles stretch and last but not least the ever popular stretch of the Plantar Faciitis.

Of course, the question I was curious about - was how was I going to feel this morning?  I woke up (Always a great start to the day in my opinion), and didn't feel any significant pain - just the usual in my P.F. and  a wee bit of noise from my leg muscles letting me know I had run yesterday.  Got up - could walk fine... The stairs? NO PROBLEM!!!

Now... I have no idea HOW I ran last night.. I wasn't paying attention to my foot strikes, I was paying attention to the TV.  Don't know if I was fore foot striking, Midfoot Striking or heel striking.  Not sure how I forgot to pay attention to that... I'm also not sure if it is good or bad that I forgot...

Ah well, we will see what happens tonight!

Posting from a tablet about a to-sore-to-run rest day

I will admit that I had thought I was being careful, but did have my doubts that I was.  Even while limiting myself to 2 1/2 miles, I have had consistently sore muscles.  Already getting close to an  eight minute mile might be the reason.  For the last two days on my treadmill, I have pushed my distance up just a we bit. 

This morning, I got out of bed and headed down stairs......and almost fell flat on my face. It seems that my poor calf muscles were as tight as could be!  I suppose that running longer, and doing so in the evening instead of the morning can  cause some unforeseen side effects!  Tie that in with my first week over ten miles since march and I can see that today might make a good rest day.

Fortunately the world seems to have conspired against me, or I might have gone anyway.  Who can resist 70 degrees in November?  Due to work (on a day off mind you!), building a table (yay IKEA!), scrubbing bathrooms and headed off to the boy's choir I simply didn't have any time! 

I had forgotten how difficult it can be to take a day off of running, once you find that joy that running brings.  (Talk about a first world problem....)

The formatting of this post might be a bit off as it is my first attempt from my tablet.