Warmup: 5min rowing
Stretch
Core
Shoulders/biceps (yes, I have an ego)
Michael has suggested we run 10k on January 1st to start the year off on the right foot (that’s figuratively, given that we’re both left-handed). This wonderful idea forced me to bite the bullet and cough up the money for a new pair of shoes. Up to now I’ve been using my Saucony Triumph 5’s indoors only, but I’ve known for a while that by April I’ll need to get the gear to make race day as easy (and safe) as possible.
My quest began at the mall. I made the rounds at the shoe stores and ended up at the athletic “big-box”. The retail jockey gave me some pointers about running in this type of weather (polyester is desirable over cotton whenever possible):
- -15 to 0 degrees – Long sleeve t-shirt, breaker, hat (covers ears), shoes, “wicking” socks, light pants, light gloves
- -15 and below – Add some tights and layer a bit more.
He said he runs 100 miles a week and competes internationally. He looked the part so I guess I’ll take his word for it. That said, I’ll need a wind breaker, some fancy socks, and a pair of light pants by April. Oh, all that and a pair of shoes.
I don’t really appreciate spending as much on my shoes as I pay to heat my house, but it’s done. I walked into the local (good, no the big-box) running shoe store. Here’s (roughly) the conversation I had with the retail guy I’m assuming runs a lot more and a lot faster than I do:
Me: I need shoes. I have these Saucony’s and I like them.
Him: Ok. How about this $160 pair. They’re what I’m wearing now and they’re really good.
Me: Hmm… are all the shoes here good shoes?
Him: Yes.
Me: I’m cheap. What’s the difference between the $160 shoes and the $90 shoes?
Him: …(Shoe technology talk)… “… but I’ve worn shoes with that feature and haven’t noticed the difference… it’s really just personal preference”.
Me: Ok, I’ll have that $90 pair of shoes, please.
As far as I understand it, shoes are like cars.
- Every year the shoe companies release new models of shoes and the old models disappear from the shelves.
- As soon as you wear a shoe outside it loses 30% of it’s value.
- Leaving aside fancy space age technology, brand, and personal preference, there’s no difference (except for 100 mile/week guy and similar competitors) between the $90 shoe and the $160+ shoe.
Still, $90 is a lot of money. It really is more than my average monthly gas bill. I was ranting to Michael and asked him why they’re so expensive…
His answer: Michael Jordon.
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exercise
Distance: 10km
Time: 53:52
Incline: 0.5
W00t! I had a great run yesterday. I finally managed to get through 10k with the incline set (to it’s lowest setting). Maybe watching Canada pump all those pucks into Germany’s net helped…? Part of the reason I was so happy with the run was that I had eaten only 1.5 hours before, wasn’t feeling 100%, and hadn’t worked out in a week (due to holidays). Maybe I can give the credit to my first ever polyester running shirt that I got for Christmas. There’s a logo on the front that is very porsche-esque. Vrooom!
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Oh no! Pete, you somehow got three posts in before I could respond. I have some work to do! It’s been a week since my last post…what have I been up to?
Not enough, to tell the truth. I’ve been to the gym once and played a long game of ultimate on Sunday. the bad weather makes it harder to get out and exercise!
My diet has been mediocre. I haven’t eaten too many treats (considering the season) and I’ve kept other consumption in check.
Sounds like your doing pretty good Peter. Good work! It’s going to be hard for me to get to the gym much this week, but I’ll bring my gear and maybe find a few moments to get to a good life sometime during my Christmas travelling.
Let’s see how the weather is on January 1st. If it isn’t too bad we should have a New Year’s run to get us both of to a good start.
Merry Christmas everyone!
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exercise
Distance: 6.25m (10km)
Time: 56:04
As promised, I took it easy today. And, as hoped, it ended up being fun and encouraging. It was nice to start and finish something as I had planned. It’s nice to finish a run with some in the tank, too. For the time being, I’m going to keep it at this easier pace and slowly ramp up the incline to make the treadmill a bit tougher. I don’t want any surprises when I get onto the pavement again.
Running 10km feels good. I like it when someone gets on beside me and starts and finishes their run while I’m still going. Does that make me a bad person? Of course I need to keep in mind that 10km isn’t even half of the half-marathon so I’ve got lots to work on before April.
Vacation/holidays are finally here. I haven’t really planned out what I’m doing this week but in case posts are scarse a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
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exercise
For the first time in months I did some weights. I warmed up on the rowing machine until I broke a sweat then went and did legs for a bit. After that I went onto to work my shoulders a bit. Not a difficult workout, but boy today am I ever feeling it. I haven’t felt DOMS like this in my legs for a long time.
Today I’ll head out to the gym and see about putting in my 10k. I’m going to do an easy pace and low incline given my last two times out weren’t very successful and also I’m still recovering from yesterday.
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exercise
Distance: 3 m (4.8 km)
Time: 24:30
I reached my goal in getting to them gym but missed out on the goal of finishing what I went there to do.
The goal was 10k (as per the previous weeks). This time I set the pace at my usual 7.5mph and decided to work my way up to the incline so I set that at 0.5 degrees. I didn’t even make it half-way!
There are a number of contributing factors:
- Poor diet and preparation on the day-of.
- I went too late in the day (10pm).
- My stretching routine has been non-existent.
- Trips to the gym have been once-weekly plus ultimate.
The truth: I didn’t (and haven’t been) making it a priority. I touched on this with my last post about motivation and now am living through the consequences. Like so many other things in life I’ve gone as far as I can when it’s really easy but as soon as it’s gotten difficult or less exciting I backed off and tried to “drift”.
I’d like to say that now that this has been realized that I’m a changed man and have put my health back where it belongs on the priority list but it’s not so simple. In addition to the gym/running I’ve also added recently:
- New business venture(s).
- Regular money management.
- Website activities (blogging and others)
- Involvement in multiple committees.
All of these are important, so what needs to happen? Surely it’s possible to do everything at once!…?
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exercise
hmmmm. good post Pete. So far we’ve just been documenting quantities. (I ran X k…I have pain in X joints). Now we’re at the real reason for the blog. Motivation. I’ve set out to run marathons and half marathons in the past, but have never made it. I think we’ll be successful this time because of the blog. Motivation is much higher when people are actually watching your blog. I’ve started telling people about this and they said they were adding it to their reader. Hopefully the shame of not doing what we said we would do in such a public way will be enough motivation for completion.
Anyways, back to the pain. I went to the gym on Saturday and played indoor ultimate on Sunday. I’m in a lot of pain today. My shoulder was hurting from squash, but I was prepared to play through it. Now, my shoulder is hurting more after ultimate. A BAD sign. Time to put down the racket and disc until January, hopefully two full weeks of rest will solve my problems.
In the mean time, I’ll be on the treadmill and eliptical at least 3 times this week. Tuesday, Wednesday and at least once on the the weekend. I need to keep on top of my diet. I’ve been eating better during the week, but this weekend I had a pot luck to go to. I blame Mark N. for breaking my diet. He started a conversation about our favourite bands while standing next to the dessert table. Up until that point in the evening I’d managed to eat fairly well.
One more bloggy thing to say. While exercising I’m listening to Wilco and my new favourite band, Tool.
Mike OUT.
ps. Nice pic Pete.
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exercise
Two weeks ago I was committed to going to the gym multiple times weekly. I was high on running and excited for every opportunity. Now for the second week in a row I have missed my weekend run and will end up running my 10k tomorrow (Monday) to “catch-up”. What happened?
I’m committed to this. So don’t get me wrong here. I can give all sorts of excuses and reasons why I didn’t make it this week, but excuses are… well, they’re dumb.
So I’m going tomorrow, and I’ll probably use the time (50min) to reflect on how this type of motivational low happens. I get all pumped for a project or adventure or task and then find that once I get past the exciting phase and progress becomes slower and more deliberate I tend to slow down. In truth I’ve been in this place before and I’m not batting 1.000.
But here’s the difference: I’m just going to do it anyway. I’ve got a lot of projects happening in my life right now and I’m going to learn the focus it takes to get it done.
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exercise
Another night at the gym, another day with no weigh loss, and today my hips are sore. Hip Flexors are my new obsession!
60 minutes of cardio last night. It felt ok. Tonight I’ll be on the squash court for a while. Thursday will be a break day. I’ve decided to not do any running until the New Year, BUT I’ll be at the gym as much as possible.
I’ve been eating well lately. Much less beer than usual (none since Saturday) and little to no chips/junk food, since Friday night. I’ve also continued to drink more water. I’m writing this down so that I have proof that I actually can eat healthily.
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I went to the gym last night and did an up-tempo 60 minutes on an eliptical machine. I’m trying to avoid treadmills right now. I don’t want to hurt my knees/hips at this point in my training.
After the workout, I weighed myself, only to find I’ve GAINED 4lbs!!! How could this be? I’ve exercised more and have been eating better for the last few weeks. My goal was to get back to 200lbs by January 1st. That goal is getting further away…
I guess I’ll be back there tonight. And I have squash tomorrow. Hopefully this will all pay off eventually!
I agree that the incline can be challenging. You must know a smart ‘little bird’!
On a different note, welcome to all new readers of this blog. Please bookmark or RSS us so you can keep track of our progress towards the half marathon!
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exercise
