weds. sports conditioning: 3/30

Needed to get in some good conditioning because Thursday would be a day of dental repairs and Friday I would be help out at a charity event for to assist Japan.  I still felt rundown from Tuesday's workout by the time I went to Class, but I was able to force myself to attend.  The class was exactly what I needed because it had a nice blend of stationary exercises and cardio stations. 

How many people have this burned into thier mind?

Recently, I purchased a new GYMBOSS Interval Timer, which I love!  I had one that I used most of the summer, but I accidentaly left in the gym.  I fianlly admitted to myself that I was never going to find it and ordered another one.  The GYMBOSS is a nice inexpensive gym tool that is an effective way to incorerate interval training into your workout.  I am a big fan of intervals because I hate trying to count reps.  I would much rather work for a designated period of time.  The GYMBOSS is nice because it allows you to set up to different interval periods, which can be set for different lengths of time, and will also count down the number of sets you do from whatever number you designate up to 99.  I used to love using it for skipping rope as well as for regulaer exercises.  I don't run intervals, but I can't see why the GYMBOSS couldn't be youed for running in tervals as well.  The only issue that I have with it is that it has a tone of features but only three buttons, so trying to remember how to program your settings can be difficult at first.  But after a little while, it becomes second nature.  It sort of reminded me of tring to remember the cheat for CONTRA on Nintendo 64.  I am not one for plugging products on my blog, but I really think that the GYMBOSS is awesome (and I have no connection to the company or anyone that works for them.  Just incase you are wondering).  I have used it in the past and don't think many people are aware of it, so I don't mind taking the time to spread the word because I searched high and low for something like this for a long time before I stumbbled upon it.

Lastly, I have decided to start logging my bike commuting totals at the end of the month, but I will cover everything I have done until now just to get it out of the way.  Since 2/14 I have commuted 76 miles by bicycle.

Welcome to Craptastica! 2/17/11

Recently, I have become aware of the Paradox that exists as little old me.  Outwardly, I'm jaded, sarcastic, and have a sense of humour that makes the Mojave Desert look like a effin' wetland.   But, on the inside there lives this annoying optimistic version of myself that is constantly looking at the bright side of things (and loves Musicals.)  Who Knew?  I sure as hell didn't until Hiroko pointed it out to me.  Well, one thing that I have realized, since I have started running, is that my glass is half full nature has really aided me in dealing with the ups and downs of running.  And Yesterday, was one of those days where it was a really good thing that I am the way I am . . . Because, yesterday's run . . . SUUUuuuuUUUCKED!

Hiroko and I attended the Fleet Feet Social Run, and we did the same 4 mile course that I ran last week.  However, this time, I was hurting from the two-a-day that I had done on Wednesday.  I thought that I would get loose once I got warmed up, but in a work, NAAAAAA!  The first two miles were all right.  I was doing 9 minute miles, which is just a touch slower than my normal pace, but the third mile was real . .  real bad.  I was able to keep my pace up, but I was hurting and knew that I was going to have to walk part of the fourth mile.  Hiro and the other lady, who ran with us blew right by me as I dropped off at the three mile mark.  Mile four: just blew chunks, I ran walk all the way in.  At one point, Hiro even stopped and started coming back to see it I was alright before I waved her on.  My legs were just tight, sore, and felt like tree trunks.  I kept telling myself that if I walked just a few seconds more then I would be able to run again.  Each time I started running, I knew that I just didn't have the heart for it.  No matter how much I tried to gut it out.  I would end up dropping back down to a walk.

Honestly, it was a touch humiliating after I took off and left the group the week before because I wanted to be an asshat run faster.  I would say that it was runner's karma, but I know that it was just that I tried to run one mile more than my legs had in them.  After the run, when I finally caught up to the Hiro and the other lady, who were waiting for me a the top of the last hill.  All I could think about was running on Saturday.  I told Hiro how I don't really mind crappy runs every now and then because you lean more from them than you do from the good one, which is when she pointed out my half-full mentality for the 13,392 time.  Even now, reflecting back on the run, I am kind of glad that it happened.  I have had a string of good runs recently, but I haven't been pushing my workouts the way that I have over the last two weeks.  I know that if I am serious about meeting my goals, I am going to be spending more time in Craptastica, so I had better get used to it!

The days run total was 4.00 miles in 38:23.52 for a 9:35 pace.
Mile 1: 9:07.34
Mile 2: 8:51.25
Mile 3: 9:11.20
Mile 4: 11:12.98 ----WTF!?!

The day's Biking totals were 4.33 miles in 29:46 burning 479

Tuesday Toning Class: 2/15/11

I needed to attend Tuesday's Toning class because, if I missed it, I would have gone a whole seven days without attending a workout class,granted I ran on nearly all of those days), but I'm trying to avoid such long breaks between my workout classes and had planned to workout on my own at the gym over the weekend.  However, it was just too difficult to do so considering the wonderful weather.  I had also planned to go to class Monday morning, but I overslept because of some sinus medication I took the night before.  I have chronic sinus problems from a broken nose that are aggravated whenever we have drastic shifts in the weather, so the last week had been a bit rough.  Tuesday the high was back in the 50's for the day, which made it easy to go to the gym but continued to wreak havoc on my nose. 

I really hate side planks and we do them every week, which is why I take classes. 
Otherwise, I would never force myself to do a single plank.

Bryan's class is a good measuring stick by which to gauge my improvement because there are so many exercises that we repeat each week.  I could tell the my core is getting stronger, but I am still not back to the level of overall fitness that I had reached in the summer and fall.  But progress is being made, and if I can avoid the injury bug, I hope to go beyond my prior fitness levels.  I am using the 18lb pound body bar and the 8lb dumbbells for this class right now (b/c I'm lazy), and I didn't have any problems with the weight.  I think that I will be moving back up to 10lb dumbbells soon, but the 18lb body bar is the max at the Y.  Hiroko didn't attend class because she was still at work when it began, but she should be back next week. 

I also commuted to work and the gym on Frankenbike and road at total of 5.83 over 38:13 burning 569 calories. 

Frankenbike & Tir Na nOg: 2/14

Recently, I have started taking Franken-bike (my single speed Cruiser) to work instead of driving.  I really enjoy my commute to work by bike, and I consider it a welcome addition to my workouts.  However, I have never really kept up with it on my blog because I didn't have a good way to track the distances, nor did I really consider these rides to be all that important to my daily workout regiment.  But, I have recently notice that when I talk to Hiroko about my workout, I'll say something like . . . "and I rode my bike to work!"  Like these rides are a huge addition to what I am doing, and she should be impressed.  (Yes, I am trying to impress my wife!  Most of the things that I do are attempts to either impress her or make her laugh, and I am more than OK with that!)  So, I decided that since I have Old Bob, that I may as well use him to track these rides.  Mainly, because I don't want to get an overinflated idea of the of these rides worth.  I realize that they are better than driving, but it's not like I took an hour long spin class either.  Also, I hope that by including these rides in this blog that I will be more apt to ride to work rather than drive when I don't have a good reason to drive.

Today, I rode to work.  I also had to run an errand from my campus to the main campus in the middle of the day and rode then, afterward I rode home.  All in all, I rode 7.03 mile spent 44:03.42 riding (and in traffic) and burned  687 cal according to Old Bob.  On a normal day, if I didn't go to the gym by bike, the total would be half this.  So as I suspected, these rides are not that big of a deal. 

After work today, I went to the nOg for the Run Club.  Since it was Valentines day, they were doing an event where single people were suppose to wear green and people in a relationship were suppose to red: Green for Go and Red for No!  Hiroko couldn't attend the run because her work has been CrAZy all week, and she would need to work from 5am to 5pm on Tuesday, so the nOg run was out for her.  She was joking with me saying that I would wearing a green shirt under my red one, but Audrey, Victor, and Ernie can call attest to the fact that I rock my Red Krispy Kreme Challenge tech shirt the whole time!



Blurry picture of me Rockin' the Red as I run.

I have wanted to take pictures at the nOr Run ever since I started attending, so that people could get a better idea of just how vibrant a running community there is there.  The last run on the 7th had 200 runners according to the club website, and since we all scan in for our runs, that is not guesstimating. 
Today, the weather was awesome -- right around 70 degrees, but windy -- and I would be shocked if we didn't hit 200 again despite it being Valentine's day!

People hatting in the nOg before the run



A group of runners preparing to start their run


















My run was really awesome.  I ran the 2.80 course in  24:48.87 at a 9:05 pace, which is my fastest run at the nOg thus far.  I did the first mile in  8:19.68, mile 2 in 9:10.98 and the last .80 in 7:18.21.  I attempted to take pictures as I ran, but the lack of light made it difficult as you can see from the pictures below.  However, I think I run faster when I try to take pictures!



Oakwood Ave. at the end of mile one.



Heading toward the Capitol at the end of mile two.