D85, why aren't you at your post?

[Mike_d85]

So after meeting a few nerds IRL and not having a daily battle log, then finishing my six week challenge that I loved getting feedback on I've decided to create a battle log.

 

I'm opening up with a long term goal: the Providence, RI marathon on May 1st (Link).  It'll be my first marathon.  I ran into a little trouble with my half marathon (Wicked half Marathon in Salem, MA) in October, but I said that if I ran it under one and a half hours I'd do a full marathon in the spring.  I managed 1:25 even though I was walking/limping for about a mile.  This tells me two things.  One, holy crap I'm way faster over distance than I thought.  Two, I've done something(s) horribly, stupidly wrong.

 

My leg cramped up and my knee didn't feel right for weeks after.  It would feel fine walking, but would hurt after I ran for about a mile of running or hitting a hill.  I started running too soon after the half marathon (about a week) and lifting too soon (less than a week).  I obviously out-paced myself (I was late getting there and couldn't help trying to "make up" time even though I was running my own timer).  And I kind of, sort of, didn't warm up that well.  Or possibly at all.  Depending entirely on your definition.

 

So, to try and avoid injury and to try and maintain a good pace I am if anything over-planning.  Being an accountant my natural response to virtually all stimuli is to make a spreadsheet.  So I did (link).  One tab with my mileage (I track Km from working on 10 and 5k goals), and one tab with my lifting regiment.

 

I've altered 2 things from my half marathon plan: I've stretched the mileage buildup more slowly (18 weeks) and I'm tapering a little more.

 

I start training on the 28th so if anyone has suggestions, notes, criticism, encouragement, knitting patterns, tips, tricks, or knows a good bar in Providence near the race.  If anyone's coming:  I'm not registering until after Xmas, so we can team up.  Also, I don't own a car so I'll pay for gas for a ride.  There are those I suspect of coming. 

 

[AgentsSka]

You ran a 1:25 at the Wicked Half?  Nice time.  You must have placed well.  

 

You ran your own timer?  I'm confused.  Did you not have a bib?

 

Good luck with your training plan.  Perhaps our paths will cross at some point.

[Mike_d85]

You ran a 1:25 at the Wicked Half?  Nice time.  You must have placed well.  

 

You ran your own timer?  I'm confused.  Did you not have a bib?

 

Good luck with your training plan.  Perhaps our paths will cross at some point.

 

Except for my time (and like I said, I outran myself) that race was all kinds of a disaster.  I was late getting there.  When we turned into the race to park the runners took off.  The race clock was around two hours when I crossed the line.  My bib time was all screwed up because I was too close to the start when I was stretching out and/or changing shoes and the timer tripped.  Plus I was signed up for a 10 mile run so my official time would appear under that category.

 

My wife just ran a stop watch on her wrist while I ran.  I never even bothered checking what the official time came back as.

[RisenPhoenix]

Oh hey, you have one of these now.

[Mike_d85]

Oh hey, you have one of these now.

 

As of this morning.  The boss is out of the office and *somehow* I found time to write one up.  Can't imagine how.

[Mike_d85]

Well I'm off to a start on my marathon training.  I did my lifting this morning and I'm heading out for a run tonight after work.  It feels great to be sore after not doing much for the holidays and driving from SC to Boston.  It also feels great to have slept in a real bed instead of an air mattress. I still haven't eaten real food after the roadtrip, but I'm looking forward to it.

 

I'm scrambling tonight to get stuff done, but I'll be back to my regularly scheduled living in a day or two.  I ought to be tired, stressed, and scrambling until some time next week.  Happy holidays.

[Mike_d85]

Sorry I haven't posted, but I've been swamped with work.  3 workouts to log:

 

I got in a weights workout yesterday morning.  My pullups are WAY better now.  I could only do maybe three a month or two ago and I cranked out a set of 5 and two sets of 4.  I'm hoping I can get all the way up to 3 sets of 8 to match the rest of my workout by the week of the race. 

 

I got in a run last night after dinner.  Unfortunately I ate too heavy of a dinner (steak tips) and it wasn't as cold as I thought it was.  I stopped just shy of vomiting and I was POURING sweat.

 

I guess I made up for it this morning since I accidentally ran an extra Km.  It looks like the GPS snarfed though, so maybe it was more like a extra half Km. 

 

I have to run 9k for my long run Saturday to hit my mileage goal and we're going shopping this weekend so some fresh kicks are happening .

[Mike_d85]

I got my 9 K in to hit my mileage for the week last week.

 

I also lifted this morning.  I'm noticing I'm feeling kind of weak so I think I need to kick up the carbs already.  Luckily the wife made a crapton of potato leek soup.    I want to try and really up the weight over the course of the next two months.  Once I start hitting higher mileage weeks in March and April I won't really be able to make any gains.

 

Also, I dig the new guild badges.  I didn't like the old Scout badge.  Looked like something out of the league of silly walkers.

[RisenPhoenix]

The new badges are pretty nifty, aren't they?  I like them, too. 

 

Also I'm extremely jealous of the potato and leek soup.  I now need to make some.

[Mike_d85]

The new badges are pretty nifty, aren't they?  I like them, too. 

 

Also I'm extremely jealous of the potato and leek soup.  I now need to make some.

 

It made for a great lunch today when I had icicles in my beard when I got to work.  Seriously.

 

I took care of most of my paperwork for the marathon.  I got the next day off from work and I signed up for the marathon just now on my lunch break.  I'm going to try and sneak in a hotel reservation this afternoon.  I'm just going to do the recommended host hotel this time.  It seems wise to try and save money by going someplace else, but I was late to my half marathon that way.  Besides I'm not sure if I'm taking the train, driving, or hitching a ride to get there so sleeping at the race site is a good way to stay flexible.

[Mike_d85]

I'm fighting new years resolution crowds at the gym now.  I had to compromise my regiment.  All the squat racks were taken so I had to try to do dumbell versions of step ups and the weight I can shoulder is a lot more than what I can hold at my side.  Same problem for lunges.  I ended up on the cable machines doing random hamstring workouts and leg presses.  Stupid month that cuts my gym bill in half for the rest of the year.

 

I'm considering moving gyms as well.  Planet Fitness is closer to my work, cheaper and they're all over to country so I can pop in if I'm traveling.  Anyone have any thoughts or experiences?

 

I'm trying running home tonight to see if that works in my schedule OK.  Oh, I've been updating my running spreadsheet with the distance ran according to mapmyrun.  I might be a wee bit anal...

[RisenPhoenix]

I'm fighting new years resolution crowds at the gym now.  I had to compromise my regiment.  All the squat racks were taken so I had to try to do dumbell versions of step ups and the weight I can shoulder is a lot more than what I can hold at my side.  Same problem for lunges.  I ended up on the cable machines doing random hamstring workouts and leg presses.  Stupid month that cuts my gym bill in half for the rest of the year.

 

I'm considering moving gyms as well.  Planet Fitness is closer to my work, cheaper and they're all over to country so I can pop in if I'm traveling.  Anyone have any thoughts or experiences?

 

I'm trying running home tonight to see if that works in my schedule OK.  Oh, I've been updating my running spreadsheet with the distance ran according to mapmyrun.  I might be a wee bit anal...

 

Yea, the New Year Crowds are pretty epic.  Give it a month and everyone will realize that exercising is work and time, and they want the quick fix.  Thins out pretty quick.

 

As for PF.... You pretty much automatically lose any barbell-based routine.  No squat racks (I refuse to count a Smith machine), no empty bars.  Dumbbells can go up pretty high, so if you were doing just dumbbell work it could be fine.  But by and large, they have cemented the fact that it's a gym for people who don't like the gym.  That being said, since they are usually individually owned, maybe some things might be different.  But I wouldn't hold my breath on that account.  They are good for getting your foot in the door for being serious about getting fit, but you are probably a bit past that point by now.

 

*shrug*

 

Dunno.  Kind of how I feel about them at this point.

 

(Mind you, I work out at a Work Out World, which is marginally better than PF, because we have one squat rack and one area to DL in.  But it's cheap and near where I live, so I deal with it.)

[Mike_d85]

Well you just talked me right out of that. All I do is barbell work and I went and fell in love with it.

Thanks though.

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[RisenPhoenix]

Yea.  When I used a PF way back when, they at least still had barbells.  I didn't touch them, because clueless, but they had them.  These days, not so much.  My roommate works at a PF, and openly admits that he is not their target demographic.

[Mike_d85]

I got my runs in, but i don't think my GPS like skyscrapers.  I ran in the financial district to run home and my GPS decided I had run 1/2 a Km in about 10 seconds.  Looking at the map afterwards it has a bunch of bizzare jagged lines for the "route" so I think it kept confusing the signal and sending me a few blocks away and back instantly. I just guesstimated the distance as 6 Km, but there's no way I ran 8.5.

 

I can't decide if I should skip lifting or my long run tomorrow/Sat.  We're moving this weekend.

[AgentsSka]

I'm so confused by your use of Km's.  Every time I read it, I think you are out of the country and then remember that you are right here in Boston.

[Mike_d85]

I'm so confused by your use of Km's.  Every time I read it, I think you are out of the country and then remember that you are right here in Boston.

 

Well, when I started setting goals all of the races I could conceive running were 5ks, so I set everything up that way in my apps.  Now I'm just supporting the switch to Metric.  Or something.

 

I'm stubborn.

[Mike_d85]

I didn't run or lift this weekend at all.  Instead I moved up 4 flights of stairs from the basement apartment to the 3rd floor.  Two days straight of carrying anything and everything up the stairs.  Plus my wife got sick so it was about 80% me doing the lifting.  My calves feel like they are growing another set of calves.  However, I will say the rest of my legs aren't really that sore.   I guess I should hit some more stairs on my run.  Or maybe walking up to the third floor will do it for me.

 

I'll be back on my schedules Wed.

[AgentsSka]

Hmm... I know a great place to go and hit stairs on Wednesday's at 6:30am.  If that's too late, you could join the early crew at 5:30.  

[RisenPhoenix]

Hmm... I know a great place to go and hit stairs on Wednesday's at 6:30am.  If that's too late, you could join the early crew at 5:30.  

 

I full endorse this.

[Mike_d85]

Hmm... I know a great place to go and hit stairs on Wednesday's at 6:30am. If that's too late, you could join the early crew at 5:30.

That's squeezing a lot into my morning... I might manage that in the near future, though.

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[Mike_d85]

OK, I made it to the Y this morning.  I keep being surprised by how many pullups I can do compared to a few months ago.  It was that I could barely get two done in a set and I got 3 reps this morning of 6, 5, and 4.  If I haven't said it my goal is 3 sets of 8.

 

I'm going for a run tonight.  I'm planning on 6.5k, but I might try to run over since I missed my run on Monday.  I'll have to see how I feel.

 

Bonus: I found the wedding ring that's been missing for the past two weeks.  It was in the pocket of the pants I am wearing.  It must have made it through a laundry cycle without falling out of the pocket.

[RisenPhoenix]

OK, I made it to the Y this morning.  I keep being surprised by how many pullups I can do compared to a few months ago.  It was that I could barely get two done in a set and I got 3 reps this morning of 6, 5, and 4.  If I haven't said it my goal is 3 sets of 8.

 

I'm going for a run tonight.  I'm planning on 6.5k, but I might try to run over since I missed my run on Monday.  I'll have to see how I feel.

 

Bonus: I found the wedding ring that's been missing for the past two weeks.  It was in the pocket of the pants I am wearing.  It must have made it through a laundry cycle without falling out of the pocket.

 

Nice pull ups!  I really need to work on my pullups.  And lats in general.  They just kill my right elbow for some reason.  Chin ups don't bother me as much, but I really need to up my Lat strength.

 

Good luck on the run - hope they treated the city sidewalks better than my neck of the woods from the ice last night.

 

And huzzah found wedding rings!  I hear not losing them is kind of a big deal.

[Mike_d85]

Nice pull ups! I really need to work on my pullups. And lats in general. They just kill my right elbow for some reason. Chin ups don't bother me as much, but I really need to up my Lat strength.

Good luck on the run - hope they treated the city sidewalks better than my neck of the woods from the ice last night.

And huzzah found wedding rings! I hear not losing them is kind of a big deal.

The run went great, but now I have no faith in my GPS whatsoever. The route and the pedometer of my running buddy showed just under 5.5 miles (~8.8 Km) and my phone showed me almost 12 Km.

The city seems fairly on top of the ice except for comm ave (on the sidewalk, the mall is fine).

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[AgentsSka]

I never had good luck with the phone gps apps.  I remember running side-by-side friends and having considerable differences in distance data.  It drove me nuts.