A Challenge and a Missing Key

Anyone that knows me knows that I have a bit of a competitive streak in me. And someone decided to put that competitiveness to use for both of our benefits. I had someone approach me on Sunday who is wanting to drop a few pounds. He knows what I've been doing as well, so he shared his goal with me and asked me to set a reasonable "short term" goal as well. We put a friendly wager on it (the loser gets to watch the other person's children for a day while the winner and their spouse take a day out of town without kids.) I have to get down to 210 lbs by the December 7th deadline. And, we decided that both of us can potentially win if we both meet our goals. That's 21 lbs for me to lose in that time. I can do it!!!

There is one thing I need though to help with this. My treadmill key is missing. It disappeared last THursday night. I had it just the day before. If anyone has seen it, let me know. :D Cause it's getting too cold to run outside. I still have some Wii games to exercise with, but the running is critical, and I need that key!!!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Ahh, yes, the name of a great song by Leann Womack and Harry Connick, Jr., but also likely the theme of many nights of running in the next many months.

When I went out running last Saturday night, it wasn't too bad. I was out on my bike last night, about 11 miles total, and it was pretty cool, but today took the cake. We awoke this morning to FROST!!! The first frost of the season. I had to get out and run a little early today since I'll be home watching kids tonight. And it only gets colder as the night progresses. So I took off around 6 PM for my 3 miler. And it was a nippy one. At least til I got warmed up. It felt good to be out again after 3 days off. I was still biking and doing my EA Sports Active on the Wii. But I set a goal at the start of last week to make sure I got in 30 minutes of running 4 days a week for the next 2 weeks. And if I miss one more night this week, I'm toast. But I shouldn't have any conflicts from here out that I can see.

As I ran tonight, I was thinking about all the running gear and bike gear I can get for $1,305. That's the amount of this year's PFD checks. I won't really be spending all of mine on that, but it sounds good in theory.

Stats for tonight: 30:06. 3.05 Miles. Avg speed, 6.1 MPH. Max Speed 9.2 MPH. Avg Heart Rate, 156. Max Heart Rate, 167.

Where shall I run tonight?

Well, I left tonight wanting to mix things up a bit, but not knowing where exactly I wanted to go. So my route was rather random, but I got it done. Left around 8 PM, which has me running through sunset these past few days. It's kind of nice, but I have to be careful of the cars and all. I still don't have the "wear light colors" down very good, but I do a pretty good job making sure I'm on the correct side of the street so I'm running against the traffic and can see what's coming at me.

I'm getting better at the settings on my Garmin. Have it set now where it automatically records a new split for each mile that I go. I like being able to see my pace from one mile to the next, and even comparing from one night to the next. It will be even more interesting once I start increasing my distances.

I wasn't feeling as energetic tonight as I normally do when I run. Probably cause I haven't eaten as well as I should today. We also took the family to the Nikiski pool today too. I didn't do anything too intense there. Mainly played in the kiddie pool with the little kids. I set a goal at the beginning of this week to run for 30 minutes straight, 4 nights a week, for 2 weeks straight. I'm right on track for that goal as of tonight. I think once I make it through next week, I'm ready to start increasing my time/distance a little bit. I also have a feeling that will mean slowing down my pace a little bit as I add more time and distance to my run. That will be a little bit of a challenge I think. As weird as it may sound, I'm kind of competitive, even within myself, and once I've started running at once pace, I hate to slow it down. But I'm going to have to do that as I increase my time and distance, at least initially.

Tonight's stats: Time 32:17 -- 30:30 minutes running, the remainder was the cooldown walk home. 3.1 miles. Avg speed -- 5.8 MPH. Max speed 8.2 MPH. Avg heart rate -- 154 BPM; Max heart rate -- 163 BPM.

Smokey Run

Note to self: Never go running just 30 minutes after eating a piece of cake -- even if it was a small piece.

We got home from a friend's daughter's baptism tonight, and I wanted to get out and run before it got dark. I knew I was going to be cutting it close since I had to drop my daughter off at the homecoming bonfire first. So I ran her there, came home and took off to run. I could tell almost from the start this was not going to be one of my better showings. And it wasn't. But I got my 30 minutes in -- 30:13 actually, and 3.0 miles. As I took off down the road, I could see the volcano steaming. Mt. Redoubt erupted a few times earlier this year, but has been rather quiet lately. At lunch today, I noticed a larger plume then normal hovering over the mountain. It has continued steaming a but tonight. But we haven't heard any warnings of emminent eruptions. It made for a nice view with the sun setting out that way also as I was running. As I ran down Kobuk tonight, I could see another plume of smoke. I'm pretty sure that one was from the homecoming bonfire I mentioned earlier.

Lots of smoke tonight, thus the title.

My running tonight wasn't as smoking as usual. I just wasn't feeling as energized from the get go. And then, about 16 minutes in, I felt like I needed to stop and leave a dump. But I just kept on running. All the way to the end. But it did slow me down a bit. It must have been the cupcake.

When it was all said and done, I had run for 30:13 and covered 3 miles. Average speed was 5.9 MPH with a max speed of 9.5 MPH. Average heart rate was 162 BPM with a maximum rate of 168.

I started using EA Sports Active for the Wii last night too. Watch for updates coming soon on that one.

Running out of Daylight

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Well, I was going to use this headline another time, but something else won out back then. And tonight it applied. Matter of fact, maybe even tonight it should have been running WITHOUT daylight, cause that's what it was.

I knew it would be a late run in the dark tonight. I had a meeting after work and knew that by the time I got home, my wife would be ready to leave for her meeting and I'd be home watching kids. I couldn't let that stop me from getting out though, and so once I got the kids to bed, I got ready so that as soon as my wife got home, I could head out. She didn't get back until around 9 PM, and sunset tonight was around 8:30 tonight, so by the time she got here, the daylight was gone. I had to go anyway.

When I took off, I was going to run my perfect loop, but changed my mind on the route part of the way through due to a lack of street lights along part of that route. It's nice to always have other options.

Overall, the run felt pretty good. I ran the full 30 minutes without problems and walked home after that 30 minutes ran out. Went a total of 3.11 miles during that 30 minutes, and then walked .29 miles more to get back home.

Total Stats -- 36:05; 3.4 Miles; Avg Speed -- 5.7 MPH (6.3 MPH while RUNNING, and ran 3.11 miles in 30 minutes of running.; Max speed 9.2 MPH, Avg Heart Rate -- 161 BPM; Max Heart Rate -- 176 BPM.

2+ Miles With an Untied Shoe

OK, I know, I've got some serious explaining to do. It's been 12 days since my last entry. But I promise there's a good reason. And I'll start with that.

It all started Labor Day weekend. I went on a Boy Scout Outing with my son and his Scout Troop. We hiked up the Russian River trail to Aspen Flats cabin for a 3 day, 2 night outing. The hike was just under 9 miles each way. Packs ranged from a high of 61 lbs for one of the leaders to a low of about 15 for some of the scouts. It turns out that one of them had such a light pack because he left some of his food home. Good thing some of us brought some extra food. My pack was about 42 lbs going in, and about 10 lbs lighter coming out. To make a long story short, when it was all said and done, my knees were pretty sore.

Everything I have read says that when you're sore, STOP. Don't try to push things. So that's what I did. Did not run all week last week. I did continue to ride my bike to work though. I haven't driven the car to work since late April.

After a week off, I was ready to go for it again. I got home from work tonight, checked how long til dinner, and when the answer was, "about a half an hour," I knew I had time. Changed my clothes, and off I went.

I decided to run my "perfect loop" again tonight. That's the route that I discovered that is pretty much exactly 3 miles. My goal right now, for the next 2 weeks, is to run 4 nights a week, and run for 30 minutes minimum each time without stopping. Even with over a week off from running, I managed to make the full 3 minutes without any problems. That's a good feeling.

Did have one problem tonight, but maybe it was good practice for the future, or at least a warning. About a mile in tonight, my right shoe came untied. My good buddy once told me that if that happens, you just keep running. CAn't afford to lose the time. So that's what I did. If I was in a long race, I'd probably get down and tie it. But I decided to punish myself tonight for not tying it properly. I'll be more careful in the future about properly tying my shoes so they don't come untied so easily.

That's it for now.

P.S. Stats for tonight. 30:22 time, 9:55/mile average pace. 9.4 MPH max speed, 163 BPM Avg Heart rate; 172 BPM Max Heart Rate; and 3.06 miles.

Thanks for the Challenge John!!

Nothing like a little challenge to get me to push myself.

As I was running the other night, I was thinking about my pattern I had been following as far as going out for 30 minutes, and extending how long I ran each night before throwing in a 1 minute rest walk. Monday night I was at 20 minutes running, 1 minute walking, and 9 minutes running. I had been increasing my opening run 1 minute each time, but started thinking that maybe I should up it by 2 minutes between days. Then today, I got an email from my buddy John. He said I should try running for 30 minutes. No walking. The challenge had been thrown down.

I also decided to run early tonight since I knew I'd be home with the kids and it would be later before I could run if I didn't. So I came home, changed my clothes, and off I went. In addition to running all 30 minutes, I had another goal. I wanted to make the three mile mark again. I figured that if I could do it with a 1 minute break in there, I coul definitley do it running for all 30. But I also knew that not having a break would affect my pace somewhat. I haven't downloaded and analyzed the data from my Garmin Forerunner 305 yet, but this I do know. The first mile was no problem.The second mile was a little slower, but by the time I was at the 20 minute mark, I knew that if I could just finish with a 10 minute per mile pace, I could make it. When it was all said and dune, 30 minutes of running, and 3.02 miles completed. I had done it. But I definitely had to push myself to get it done. To me, it seemed the biggest goal was to run farther since I had made it 3.01 miles previously in a run that included a 1 minute walk. I think that thinking almost cost me.

Tonight I remembered another reason to run later in the evening. During the 5 o'clock hour, there's still plenty of traffic on the roads. If you can call it traffic in this small town. But still, the smell of exhaust can be bothersome.

I'll edit this later to add the stats from tonight's run. I do know the route I picked tonight was practically perfect. Started and ended right in my driveway with no time to spare.

3.01!!!

WOW!! What a night!! As I was out running, I had so many different potential headlines in my mind. But the one you see above prevailed. I ran 3.01 miles in my 30 minutes!!! WOO HOO!!

I had a board meeting from work last night, and didn't arrive home until about 9:15 PM. I knew my running window was closing as my GPS screen had turned the background to black shortly before I arrived, indicating sunset. So, I immediately changed my clothes and headed out.

And out with a bang I went. I could tell I was out at a prtty good pace when I started. And I finished my first mile in a little under nine and a half minutes. By the time I got to my 1 minute walking break, which came at the 20 minute mark tonight, I was slightly over 2 miles. I knew the 3 mile mark was within reach. When my 1 minute was up, I gave it a burst of speed again. I have to admit, I was keeping a little more of an eye on my watch than I normally like to. But it paid off. When I hit the 30 minute mark, I looked down, and I had done it. 3.01 miles!!! YIPPEE!!!

I'm also starting something new in September -- A 30 Day Challenge with EA Sports Active. It's an exercise game for the Nintendo Wii that I have and I'm going to start incorporating the workouts from there on my non-running days. Should be fun!!

To recap tonight -- 30 minutes; 3.01 miles; 6.0 MPH Average; 160 BPM Average Heart Rate' Max Speed -- 9.3 MPH; Max heart rate -- 172 BPM.