Product Review: "Men's Starter Compression Shorts" from Walmart.

So, this review is going to be a no brainer for long-time runners.  I suggest skipping right over it.  However, for newer runners it might be helpful!

I have read about "compression shorts" - and thought to myself that I needed a pair for my longer runs.  I don't have skinny thighs and in my longer runs - I would end up with some chaffing.  Nothing to major, but it was uncomfortable.

This concerned me a bit - especially as I am training for a run that was about 3-4 times as long as my longest runs at the time.  If 6-7 miles left me slightly chafed, what was 26 miles 385 yards going to do to me???

My buddy Dustin (he is training to run the Marine Corps Marathon with me) has used compression shorts all along on his long runs. (I guess in addition to being stronger than I am - he may be smarter too!)  Well I finally broke down and bought a pair. I'm cheap - so I got them from Wal-Mart for $10. 

I think compressions shorts may be one of the greatest things ever created for runners.  Seriously.  These things rank right up there with Vibram Five Fingers in my opinion.  But, I do want to stress one thing. NO ONE should EVER wear compression shorts without other shorts over them unless they are on a bike.  I mean literally ON a bike. If you are going to get off a bike and walk around in them - PUT SHORTS ON OVER THEM!!!  (No one wants to see your junk.)  There are very few people who can wander around in these things and not make other people feel slightly ill. One of the easy ways to know if this applies to you - is do you question if it might apply to you? If so, don't do it.

I mention this so that you realize I run with compression shorts - but with other shorts on over them.   This allows me the benefit without making everyone else pay for it.

I haven't ever tried a pair of "good" compression shorts - only cheapies from Wal-Mart.  I may pick up a good pair to see if there is any difference - but I don't suspect that they are 4 times as good as the Wal-Mart ones (since the price is four times as much.)

To any new runners out there that don't own a pair? GO GET THEM FOR YOUR LONG RUNS!!!! You will thank me for it after your next 10 miler.

Chris Thater Race Report... JUST KIDDING!!!

So, this last weekend was the Chris Thater Memorial Races.  Now practically speaking this is mostly a bunch of bicycle races (with a motorcycle as the "pace-car."  I love watching the motorcycle "lead the pack.") but on sunday at 10 am - is the Chris Thater Memorial 5k.  I like this race a lot - as it is about 1/2 a mile from my house, and the course actually goes within 500 feet of my house.  I have been VERY nervous about running it - considering my recurring calf pain.  Sunday morning rolled around and I took stock of the situation.  My calf was still sore in one spot (about the size of the tip of my finger).  After weighing the pro's and cons - I decided to pass on it.  Then on the Face Book page - "everything is cancelled for today."  This was further followed up with:
As an endnote to this morning's 2011 Chris Thater Memorial Race cancellation, the decision to cancel Sunday's race and music events was made early Sunday morning by a group of city, county, emergency services, and race officials based on the latest National Weather Service predictions for Hurricane Irene's impact on the area. Safety was the determining factor. The events will not be rescheduled, but we hope to see you all again next year.

I would have liked to have run it - I really like the course, the race is always fast, and the crowd is incredible.  But I do feel vindicated in my choice to NOT run it.  Though, I have to admit - I do now wonder if I will be getting a refund :)

A new era in training... Using rather old technology..

So, with my penchance for injuring my calves - leading to down times of running of several weeks - I have decided I need a bicycle.  So doing the wise thing I posted on Facebook and Craigslist that I was looking for a bike!  Surprisingly I got some great offers of people being willing to lend me a bike.. As long as I traveled to Australia or halfway across the country to pick them up.  It seems my friends are comedians...

I found one I was interested in on Craigslist - but the person hasn't responded after I have pestered them for several days via phone and email.  As It kind of reminded me of trying to find a date in highschool - I knew to move on.  On a good note, one of my friends let me know he had found a bicycle in his garage when he moved, and if I wanted it he would happily let me have it.

[caption id="attachment_751" align="alignright" width="640" caption="My New (to me) Ralegh Capri bicycle from the 80's!"][/caption]

Talk about old-school!  I am very excited - it's the sort of bike I wanted as a kid (yes, that was in pre-mountain bike days.. 10/12 speeds were "all that" back in the day..)

Now the bad news.. Tires? Dry rotted.  Cables? Not all are hooked up to where they are supposed to be.  Brakes? Need to "Shoes"  Chain? TBD.

Might be biking... pushups stink.

[caption id="attachment_743" align="alignright" width="121" caption="My buddy on his bike he is lending me. Ok.. not really."][/caption]

So, one of my friends has a bike I can borrow.  Hopefully I can pick it up tonight and see if it is rideable.  I have been wanting to see how I like riding a bike now - so it's a great opportunity to try it, before buying one with taxes this spring.  If I find I do, then I am thinking of trying to do the Pan-Mass Challenge in 2013 with Darryl, a family member of mine that has done it for the last two years.  (mind you - by do the pmc with him - I mean he will finish WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ahead of me, and we can talk about it then...)  It also has the added bonus of getting Yankees fans at work to contribute to something sponsored by the Red Sox.

Bad Run! Bad Run! NO COOKIE FOR YOU!

[caption id="attachment_735" align="alignright" width="213" caption="The cause of my Alcohol-Induced-lllness."][/caption]

So, as you my readers may already know - I was a complete slacker last week and did not run like I should have.  This trend continued on sunday when - due to my alcohol-induced-illness (combined with countless family visits), my long-run did not happen.  However, since i am such a conscientious runner (with an over-active sense of guilt), I felt I should make up my long run last night.  Luckily - we have a the Greater Binghamton Bridge Run Half-Marathon course that was mapped out and certified right in town AND it goes right by my house.  How perfect is that?

So after my wife got home from work, off I went with my trusty water bottle!  I was a little frustrated as my Droid X doesn't seem to have a functional GPS anymore.  I'm not sure if it is a hardware error, or something with a recent update to the Maps/Navigation. 

[caption id="attachment_734" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Map of the Bridge Run Half Marathon Course"][/caption]

  For this run - I was using a pre-mapped course so while I wouldn't have my splits (Frustrating), I would at least know exactly how far I went! 

I took it nice and slow, with no worry about how fast/far I was going.  (This was very easy to do as I didn't have a phone with GPS to give me splits or let me know what my pace was.) 

Vacation Week!

So I have not been consistently posting this week, and I have no doubt that you are wondering why.  First off I want to reassure you that I have not been testing out the effectiveness of a RoadID, nor ran off to Switzerland to try to avoid extradition for some heinous crime. In reality it has simply been a hectic vacation week that has/is including such exciting things as root canals, cave exploration, sister's weddings and not as much running as I had hoped.  After the warrior dash my knee has been bothering me - though I am not too sure if I banged it on a log, wrenched it on the steep down hills or if my wife did something while I was sleeping.  Regardless, I have been trying to give it (and my ever-present Achilles issues) a chance to heal.

I did a nice 4.2 mile run on Weds. and my quads were STILL sore from walking the ski trails at the Warrior Dash.  Yesterday was spent walking through Howes Caverns and the Old Stone Fort - a fantastic but tiring day spent walking - still great exercise!

With my sister's wedding this weekend, I am not too sure what running will happen.

Sorry about any misspellings or grammatical errors, I wrote this one on my  phone!

Saturday's 12.2 miles - my longest run to date!

So, although I already posted about Sunday's run - I thought I would come back to saturday.  I will admit - it wasn't nearly as exciting however, it was noteworthy!  On Saturday, I ran the farthest I have run to date - going .7 miles beyond my previous record!  Having topped my previous "record" - I am feeling quite pleased with my training plan thus far!  This weekend should hit the "half-marathon" distance - probably my biggest single milestone to date!

But about the run - it was a beautiful day for it - and I felt good out there.  The temperatures have cooled a little which means my trusty water bottle lasts much longer!  I headed out through glorious down town Binghamton, and at the 2.2 mile marker - I went by a demolished building.  Luckily for you my readers, I KNEW you were going to ask - "Can I see the demolished building?"  And I took a picture for you!

[caption id="attachment_725" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="A freshly demolished building in downtown Binghamton!"][/caption]

Wild Weekend - Warrior Dash Race Report!

So this weekend, my wife and I did the Warrior Dash.  What can I say about that?

It was a BLAST!!!  But lets give you more than that.  Some background for you - I have run 5ks off and on for a few years - and was a runner back in highschool.  My wife was a sprinter in highschool, and hasn't really run since.  I ask her if she wants to join me - on just about every 5k I THINK about doing, not even just the ones I do run.  She always says no.  Well, For the Warrior Dash - she said yes.  Seriously.  I was suprised too!

[caption id="attachment_689" align="alignright" width="179" caption="Smurfs!!!"][/caption]

So, on the day of the dash - my lovely wife and I got up at 6 o'clock, headed out to the car to drive up to Wyndham Mountain NY for the event.  The drive was peaceful, and since we arrived around 8:30 - the parking was nice and close as well (although another $10.)  We headed up to packet pickup, got our stuff (very smoothly organized I might add) - and headed back to the car (since it was so close, why not leave our valuables there?) 

Some of the costumes were GREAT.  We saw some Smurfs in tutus, folks in grass skirts and countless matching t-shirts.  And we were only in the parking lot! (It got better when we got up to the race!)

We dropped off the sweat pants and excess clothes, pinned our numbers on and headed up to the gear-check.  My car keys went into the check under my bib number (this becomes important later - as my wife explains), and off to Races! 

Freaky Friday! - Strange things found around the Interwebs! - Water Shoes!

[caption id="attachment_679" align="alignright" width="220" caption="Leonardo Da Vinci's "walk on water" shoes"][/caption]

So I had some problems sleeping last night, which can often lead to some rather bizarre thoughts.  I started thinking about triathlons.  I saw over on another blogger's site - where a comment was "I can't swim."  So I began to think about how a non-swimmer could do a triathlon. (it was REALLY late at night ok?  These things come to the sleep deprived mind.)  Now mind you, I have no idea what the rules are in a triathlon, but it was where my mind went.  So, what if someone could just RUN on the water?  Now, I'm not super-genius - so I was pretty sure someone else had thought of this before (Turns out Leonardo Da Vinci did - and he WAS a super genius!! See the picture above for his initial sketch)

Running with Friends

[caption id="attachment_674" align="alignright" width="180" caption="Dustin's build is far more reminiscent of Lawrence Taylor"][/caption]

So my run for yesterday was a nice evening run with my friend Dustin.  Now, you have to understand - Dustin is built somewhat like a linebacker from a football team then a runner.  The fact he is willing to tackle (get it?) the Marine Corps Marathon is an amazing thing.  I know that runners come in all shapes/sizes - but there is a "runners-build" we think of - and line backer ain't it!  He and I met up and went over to a local park for the 6 mile run that "the plan" had on

Namaste.

Last night was our first Yoga class.  I wasn't sure what to expect, only having done Yoga on the Wii.  The interesting thing to me - is that what I learned on the Wii did help! (And Seriously, who woulda thunk it?)

Warrior 1 Pose

 The instructor was faced with the challenge of walking into a room where she knew no one and knew nobody's levels, and teaching a class.  She started out with asking if anyone knew anything about yoga (not really - unless you count the Wii).  So she worked on teaching us some basic poses.

To many rest days makes for a rough beginning!

So, up this morning and out the door!  Granted, there were multiple pushes of the snooze button, but I headed out the door this morning none the less.  The humidity was so thick I felt like I was going to drown, but running in the low 70s (compared to the 90s) was nice.

I took the weekend off (see previous post for all of my excuses) which brought me to 4 days in a row without running.  This causes a couple of unfortunate side issues.  1) It's hard to get up and go running.  It seems that past 3 days off - is where my motivation takes a hit.  It also seems to be length of time off before my surgery site (for those who weren't here in January, I had a left inguinal hernia repaired in Jan.) starts to cause me pain.  The Doctor is a little stumped that lack of exercise causes it to hurt - but regular exercise keeps me pain-free.  I figure it beats the opposite way - even if that would make more sense.  Not many people have built-in motivation like that.

Marathon Training Week 6, along with my excuses for the weekend!

[caption id="attachment_637" align="alignright" width="241" caption="My Son's 9th Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYCE!"][/caption]

 

So, the first thing to say is --

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRYCE!! 

My Son turned 9 yesterday, and had a VERY busy Birthday weekend!

 

Now, lets start with the week in review!  This is what my week should have looked like:

6

Rest

3 m run

5 m run

3 m run

Rest

7

cross

This is what it really looked like:

It's time for “Freaky Friday!” More strange things found around the Interwebs!

Its Friday!! That means its time to show some more bizarre things found out on the interwebs!  Now, with today's post - any of my readers that "like" Runners World Magazine on Facebook may already have seen this first one.  It's the RUNBIKE!

[caption id="attachment_628" align="aligncenter" width="513" caption="The RunBike (Picture from Runbike.com)! It allows a person to run as if they weighed 2/3 to 1/2 of their weight!"][/caption]

Now many of the comments on the Facebook page for Runners World were less than complimentary, and many of them I can understand.  If it is used simply for an overweight person to be able to run, with no changes to diet - then it serves no real purpose to me.  However, if you step beyond that initial impression, some new possibilities come out!

As he advertises, for people who have medical issues - making it low impact has added benefits.  But Think of this.. If a person weighed 300 pounds, they CANT run. It will destroy their joints.  But if you could remove 1/2 or 1/3 of their weight - they won't do as much damage to their joints.  This allows them to gain the benefits of running (as far as calories burned is there a better form of exercise?) with out the damage. It could really allow someone who had hit that dreaded level (Obese) to lose the weight far more quickly than walking.   I think it's a pretty remarkable idea..

This morning thing isn't too bad...

Ok, that title is a lie... getting out of bed just to go run is still bad.  My comforter can be heard over the air conditioning saying "You can run tonight... I'm nice and warm... Wouldn't another hour of laying in bed and dozing be perfect?"  Then I glance at my wife, laying there peacefully asleep.... and face the further urge to stay in bed.

But I didn't.  I managed to get out of bed. I will admit that I ended up waiting until the last possible moment that I could - which would still give me (just) enough time to do the five-mile run on the schedule.

Running in the Wee hours of the morning

[caption id="attachment_613" align="alignleft" width="190" caption="I have had this image for a while - just waiting for the day my lazy butt got out of bed so I could run in the Morning!"][/caption]

I posted last week that I have begun weight training. The unfortunate scheduling aspect of working & lifting is that the timing only works if I get my lazy butt up and run in the morning. (This will mean getting up at ~4 am on some of the long Wednesday runs closer to the marathon.)

Now, understand. I hate getting out of bed. No - seriously. The best part of the day is the laying there with no concerns, cuddled up in the warm blankets, often with a warm kitty purring like a motor next to me. Sometimes one of the kids (and sometimes both thing 1 and thing 2 come in) will come cuddle up with dear-old-dad as well. So, you can see why I have problems leaving this Nirvana I face every morning.

Well, this morning I did indeed, leave this wonderful cuddly feeling. Maybe it was driven by the memory of lifting yesterday - encouraging me to get up and run so that I can lift tomorrow. Maybe it is due to the fact that I started watching may calories again - making me more aware of caloric burn. Or Just maybe, It is me growing a little more responsible (ok, ok.. I admit this one is unlikely.. Stop laughing and pick yourself up off the floor. I'll wait.)

Monthly Review - July's totals!

Just a Quick Monthly review -

Down 1.4 lbs
Ran 67.8 miles (seems awful low when I compare it to other runner's blogs such as detroitrunner or even just watching many others.  )
Lifted 2 times (This was started at the end of the month)
Swam 1 time (would like to be doing this weekly)

As far as my marathon training plan - my mileage has been pretty close to "the plan," although I haven't been completely on with the it for a single week.

I am not to disappointed with the last month, but I am really looking forward to watching my mileage head up in the coming months!

89 days, 23 hours to go!

****** Have you entered for your chance to win a Free Road ID in my “100th Post Competition?” (No Purchase Neccesary!) ***** 
At this point there are only 4 entries in total,  so if you enter in 4 of the 6 possible ways to enter - you will have a 50% chance of winning (as of now)!
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