End of the Week Recap 5/30/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I was in the middle of vacation prep this week, so my numbers are terrible.  But here they are:  I did 16.79 miles at an average pace of 7:36/mi.  Not bad time-wise, but my mileage is pitiful.  I did 30 minutes of swimming and a few bits of conditioning.  When I last weighed, I came in at 160.8, but I'm sure that I'm definitely more than that thanks to vacation, ice cream and blueberry wine.  Look for my mileage to be crappy the rest of the week, not that I expect to blog much since I'll be with my family most of the week.  So run hard for me.  Later kids!

The Vacation Influence

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Today was my daughter's kindergarten graduation, tomorrow is my son's last day of school and in less than 2 days my family heads off on vacation with our family-friends to the southern Land of the Mouse.  Needless to say, my household is in high gear prepping for our trip.  We have snacks in the corner of the pantry, piles of folded laundry sorted for trip and non-trip, and stacks of comics and reading material (not all mine, I swear) to be crammed into duffle bags.  My kids have been so ready for vacation, they "packed" a week ago (I"m afraid to go through their bags, but I'm sure they're stuffed with every doll, action figure, Lego and DS game imaginable).  For my part, I have to sort through which running shoes (someone has to run and fetch Fastpasses.  It may as well be me) to bring, how many tech shirts I'll need (I need that breathable fabric for all my profuse perspiration!  Stinky.), and what kind of socks should I wear (I favor the ankle socks, but they leave a funny tan, after all).  At work, I've poured through every paper on my desk to make sure I leave as little as possible unfinished (to keep people from snooping through my office).  All this being said, I've had very little time to train this week (i.e. I'm tired and I want to take a nap).  I'd be upset if it wasn't still so early into my training program (i.e. It won't hurt anything if I have bacon with my pancakes).  I figure that I can afford a couple weeks of recovery time (sleep and eating candy) this summer before I really hit my training hard (to make up for all those pancakes and candy).  I'm still planning on doing some running next week (Ha!), but I figure my runs will mostly be early (Double Ha!  Not unless the trails are in your bed, lazy ass) before we hit the parks.  Probably just easy runs for not longer than an hour (you betcha), but you never know (not really, I do know.  And it ain't gonna be pretty), I may throw in a tempo run or two to spice it up (or just sleep in).

If you've been following Biggest Loser, like me, this season, then you most likely watched the finale last night.  Michael won losing over half his starting weight.  Say what you want about the artificial conditions of the show, but that is a HUGE weight loss in 8 months!  So a quick congratulations to him.  I hope he sticks with the weight loss (he said that he wasn't done yet), because I think the show, at the very least, gives a platform for living healthier lives that the contestants can promote nationwide.  On a side note, anyone else think that Daris's popularity screwed him and Koli?  If America hadn't voted Daris to compete in the final 3, he would have won the at-home competition prize of $100,00.00 and Koli would have beaten Michael by over 3% total weight loss.  Way to go America.  Where was the Samoan love?  

Now for the hard numbers:  Today I did a short set of half-mile intervals with quarter mile recoveries.  I did 5x.50 mi intervals at 3:14, 3:19, 3:22, 3:22 and 3:29 respectively.  My slowest recovery lap was 2:17.  All right, that's all I have for now.  Later kids! 

End of the Week Recap 5/23/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week I ran 30.19 miles at an average pace of 7:57/mi.  I did 1:36:54 of cross-training/conditioning, but I ended up topping the scales at 160.2 (ugh).  Tonight was also the end of Lost.  I'm still withholding my opinion on the final episode, because, to be honest, I'm still trying to figure it out.  I still have so many questions that weren't answered, but maybe they were never supposed to be really answered (much like my questions about women or Krystal sliders.  How do they make that gray thing so tasty?).  Overall, though, I did like the series. I don't know if it was the best series ever (Sorry guys, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Buffy), but it definitely re-defined what I expected from a TV series.

Okay now for the hard numbers:  I did a 10.9 mi long run at 8:32/mi.  My pace might have been a little higher if I hadn't run part of it on a nearby trail.  Then of course, I fell down.  It was my own fault for trying to tackle a technical trail in road shoes.  D'oh!  Still I managed to escape with a little scrape and finish my run in negative splits.  So overall, I can't really complain.  I also finished up the evening with 24 mins of pilates and kettleball workouts.  All right.  That's it for me.  I need to go figure out what the hell happened in Lost.  Later kids!

The Iron Man 2 Review

Hail my geeky brothers and sisters!  A little departure from our usual programming today, because I finally got to see Iron Man 2.  Let me say if you liked Iron Man, you'll like IM2 more.  On the plus side, the story is more developed and seems more complete than IM.  There's still plenty of cool high-tech action and bad-assery, from Samuel Jackson to Scarlett Johansson, to go around.  On the minus side:  It needs MORE Scarlett Johansson!!! On a very shallow level, the story explores the cost of technology, fame and greed on our humanity.  All the major characters explore this to some extent.  I realize that this is an action flick, but I find it hard to sympathize with Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony Stark as we are rushed through all of these themes in the movie.  I realize that Jon Favreau had a lot to cover, but I don't think we really get to feel any emotional depth as Downey glibly moves from scene to scene and problem to problem like a kid off his ritalin.  The special effects are again, top-notch, as they make me really do believe that a man can slap on an steel jump suit and fly.  The fight scenes are to sum up:  Awesome.  Johansson did an amazing job as the Black Widow.  Okay, I will admit that at times I have not been a huge fan of Johansson, but I think that she was a great compliment to Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts.  It was almost as if Favreau needed both strong actresses/characters to contrast and reign in Downey's Stark.  Johansson's big fight scene was nicely choreographed, but I felt like it needed more.  This is a character that could easily spin off into her own movie and hold her own unlike the horrible Elektra spin-off from Daredevil.  Even her costume was perfect.  It conveyed a sexy practicalness for an acrobatic, and *ahem* limber, super-spy.  And as I said, the consensus around most of my male friends is that the movie just needed MORE Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow.  And I'm not even talking about more naughty Black Widow as there was hardly any of that (I could probably take my 9 year old to watch it).  Sadly her fight scenes were just not long enough, and if given a little more time, could have stolen the show.  So one more time:  More Black Widow!  Are we clear?   Good.

Now for the hard numbers:  I did an 8 mile tempo run today at marathon pace (7:33/mi).  Along with the quick rains and the breeze, it was relatively cool day, which translated into decent numbers for today.  The effort was hard, but I didn't feel all that winded afterwards.  It was a nice change from the sweltering heat that we've had lately, but I probably could have gone without the rain though.  Still, a good run, all things considered.  I just hope tomorrow that we get a break in the rains so that I can get in some base miles.  All right, I'm out.  Later kids!

The Blog Maintenance Update

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I'm doing some blog site maintenance today, which means that I'm playing with the widgets and toys on my blog.  I've added links to my upcoming races if anyone is interested in signing up for those.  I'm also test driving dailymile.com right now, even though I haven't given it access to my blog yet.  Currently I'm using Garminconnect.com and  LogYourRun.com mainly.  I was hoping to streamline my online running logs down to 1 log, but so far I haven't found one that "does it all" (unlike Cherry on the corner, if you have $20).  I like the easy of data integration of Garminconnect and dailymile.  I also like the clean visual of dailymile's widget, but I prefer the overall data presented in LogYourRun.  Anyone else have a preference?

Okay, now for the hard numbers:  Cross-training at the Y today.  I did 10 laps at the pool in 28 mins and 2 recovery laps and 2 water jogging laps in the remaining 7 minutes.  My swimming technique still sucks (like Cherry, if you have $5), but it's still a work in progress.  Tomorrow is intervals, if I can find a track.  I figure that I have 2 options.  I may swing by my old high school to see if they're done renovating it or by my old college to see if I can sneak on it.  That's all I have.  Later kids.

End of the Week Recap 5/16/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week I ran 32.41 miles at an average pace of 8:05/mi.  I did 1:27:00 mins of cardio/cross-training!  However, I clocked in at 159.2 lbs this morning.  I realize that I kinda dropped off the map this week with the updates, and I do not have any excuses.  Well, actually I do have a few excuses, but none of them good.  Well maybe a couple were good, but mostly I was just sleepy.  Hey!  I did a lot of cross-training this week!  Give a guy a break!  Sheesh.  For instance, if you check out my workouts for the week (on the right sidebar), you'll see that I got in a little swimming this week.  Just 5 laps at the Y, but I learned something interesting.  I learned that apparently, I can't breathe for crap, because I was as tired as a...as a...well as a Filipino who can't swim so well (I've got nothing.  Sigh.).  I guess I could blame the remnants of my chest cold on my poor breathing, but I have mostly recovered from it (sniffle, sniffle).  So as I built up my swimming skills, I can only hope that this will translate into better oxygen use for my muscles.  We'll see.

Now for the hard numbers:  I did a long run of 12.04 miles today at an average pace of 8:14/mi.  I did miles 9 and 10 at 7:49/mi and 7:42/mi respectively, which is slightly slower than marathon pace.  I'm fairly ashamed that I couldn't hit my marathon pace of 7:30/mi, but it was raining today and good part of those miles were uphill.  In other words, not fun.

And here's a couple pics from my son's cub scout camping trip this weekend.  Yes, I took him.  Yes, it was raining.  Yes, I did set up the tent.  Yes, I did grill outdoors (Steaks and burgers.  Hmmm).  No, I did not let him play with any sharp instruments.  No, I did not let him make a spear.  Yes, I did take part in a scary story that scared some of the boys.  Yes, we did make smores.  Yes, I shamefully ate 2!  And yes, we did have fun (despite the rain and the scary story).

Here is our tent.  I did remember the inflatable mattress.  Godsend.  Don't leave home without it.

Here are the boys after a long night of camping. 

And finally, (With thanks to my daughter and in honor of Psyche) a quick joke:  What kind of call does a marathoner make?  Long distance!  That's it.  Later kids!

The Comeback Spin

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Just to prove that I'm growing, and not one dimensional, I did a spinning  (the bike, not the rims) class today at the Downtown YMCA.  My first actually, but not my last (dumbass).  It was agonizing fun, and afterwards I felt like a sweaty mess invigorated.  I wrung my shirt toweled off and headed for the street for a quick run in the nasty drizzle cool rain.  It felt great to be out and stretching my legs again (I miss bacon), and tomorrow I'm hoping to get in some decent base miles (I miss pie).  I got such a good workout (for my lazy  ass and I still miss bacon) that I'm thinking of squeezing at least 1 spin class per week into my training schedule (because I hate myself).

Okay now for the hard numbers:  1 hour of spin class.  A 4.15 mile tempo run at an average pace of 7:37/mi, and then to end the day, 3 sets of pull-ups (Thank you Iron Gym!) with reps of 11, 10, and 10.  Later kids!

End of the Week Recap 5/9/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week was a truly unspectacular week as I only logged 9.47 miles at 8:14/mi.  I did a 20 minutes of conditioning/cross-training, and weighed in at an ugly 163.4 this afternoon.  I have 3 reasons for this downward turn that I hope to correct next week.

1.  We had this ridiculous flood down here in Nashville and throughout Middle Tennessee.  You may have read about it in the news, but I doubt it.  So I didn't run.

2.  I got a chest cold, so I didn't run.

3.  I didn't run.

I could have thrown in that "I was sad because my dog died, so I didn't run," but that seemed like overkill.  I also spent an awesome, relaxing, non-floody weekend with some wonderful family-friends this weekend at their lakehouse, and their new boat (woohoo!).  As a Mothers Day gift, my wife decided that we all need bikes so that we can ride together as a family.  I think that this is great idea, and it gives me another cross-training option.  

Happy Mothers Day to all you deserving ladies (even you Psyche).  Y'all should probably get a whole week at least.  And most of all Happy Mothers Day to my lovely wife and mother of my wonderful children. Y'all continue to amaze and delight me every day!

All right.  Next week, I jump back into marathon training as I rebuild my mileage base and kick up my speed work.  Later kids!

The Flood Update pt. 2

Hey everybody.  Nashville, as a whole, is still recovering from the devastation of last weekend's flood.  I ran yesterday, but honestly I feel guilty about having the time to run but not help out with so many people in need.  Driving through town, you still see water being pumped out of buildings in downtown, and in the suburbs you see the roads lined with debris and people's stuff.  If you're interested in making a donation, you can text "REDCROSS"  to 90999 to make a $10 donation to the Nashville Flood Relief Fund.  Also, here's a link to my wife's blog.  It's a non-running blog (yeah, I don't understand it either), but it has good recap of what happened last weekend.  Thanks to everyone for their concern and prayers!

The Flood Update

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  To add to my weekend of my dog passing away, I was one of the Nashville flood victims.  Albeit, I did not have it NEARLY as bad as other people.  However I have not had power for 2 days.  Today, the weather cleared enough that I was able to get gas with the generous help of  some very good friends (Thanks Cserno's!) took me 50 miles outside of town to get some gas.  Of course after we got back, Kroger opened their pumps and let other people fill up!  Somebody cleared one of the roads leading to the interstate, and I've managed to get out and get some hot food.  The waters are receding where I live but there are still a lot of homes underwater.  Thankfully, like I said, I live on a hill so I didn't get it as bad as other people just 2 miles down the road.  Plus my family and most of my neighbors that I know about are all okay.  I want to give a big shoutout to Publix.  They've stayed open during this entire emergency and have been bringing in supplies as soon as they could.  They've even set up powerstrips outside the store for people to bring in their phone chargers and laptops to connect to the world.  They have definitely cemented my customer loyalty!  I've managed to run a few miles, but I haven't had a chance to sync up the data yet.  Mostly it was running to check what streets were open, stores, etc.  Here are some pics from today:

There are still a lot of people out there who need help and it's not getting any better soon enough.  Please keep those people in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks.

End of the Week Recap 5/2/10

Sorry no recap for the week.  My dog passed away last night, so hopefully, I'll be in a better mood next week to catch everyone up.