I didn’t post a running evaluation yesterday. It was because there was nothing to evaluate. I earned a hard F- for the week. I could blame it on the fact that I was insanely busy. I could blame it on the weather or a million other things. But it was really just because I didn’t make it a priority, and I feel like crap about it. I decided to post this today, just for the sake of continuity (and so I can remember what my upcoming schedule is).

I did run today, so I’m on track for another good week. I hope that I can stick to it over the holiday weekend, especially since we will be traveling. Come on will power. Here is the schedule for the rest of the week–

[img]

In the Sept. issue of Details, there was a fitness article that kind of freaked me out. The gist of the article is that long workouts don’t always equal burnt fat and muscle gain. In fact the article goes onto say that the exact opposite could be occurring.

Normally I don’t pay much attention to the fitness advice that comes along by way of Details. Mostly because the magazine usually has 2 to 3 fitness articles, occasionally contradictory articles in the same issue. Anyway, the reason that this one grabbed my attention was because of the studies that were cited. The article starts out talking about distance runners versus sprinters. It points out that “marathoners” come in all shapes and sizes, some of them don’t appear to be in shape, at all. While sprinters, on the other hand, are almost always lean and cut. This totally grabbed my attention. I have also made that observation. My immediate reaction was, “I need to start sprinting.” Who doesn’t want to be lean and cut?

Next the article cites a study that was conducted to compare the effects of short intensive workouts vs, longer/lower impact workouts-

Participants were separated into two camps. Members of the first group ran as hard as they could for 30 seconds and then rested for four minutes. They repeated this three to five times for a total workout time of 18 to 27 minutes. The second group ran for up to 60 minutes at 65 percent of maximum capacity (think moderate-paced jogging). Both groups ran three times per week for six weeks. Despite exercising for a much shorter time, those in the sprint group saw their total body fat decrease by 12.4 percent, while the other runners lost less than half that much.

Yikes! The sprinters were losing twice as much body fat by working out for less than half as long. This was the part of the article that really freaked me out. Apparently limiting workouts to longer/lower impact activities not only reduces the amount of fat burnt, but it can also reduce existing muscle mass. According to the article,

Researchers at West Virginia University wanted to see how two different routines, plus a very-low-calorie diet, would affect weight loss. One group of participants engaged in resistance training on weight machines that progressed from one to four sets of up to 12 exercises three times per week. The second group performed 50 to 60 minutes of walking, stair climbing, or biking four times per week. At the end of the 12-week study, the aerobic group had lost 19.4 percent of total body weight, while the strength group had lost 14.7 percent. But when body-composition measurements were taken, researchers discovered that one fourth of the weight lost by the aerobic group was muscle.

This is crazy! But I seriously think that I have fallen into this trap. This is me in 2008, when I was first getting into distance running. This is me one year later at the same race. Where did my upper body go?

Anyway, this article has totally motivated me to switch up my workout routine, to include some heavier impact cardio. Who’s with me?

[photo: icing my knee]

Overall, this was a pretty good week. I didn’t pull out any amazing times or have any runs that I was particularly proud of. I did end up reversing the order of my longer weekend runs, so that I did 20 on Saturday, to take advantage of Summer Streets. About 8 miles in, I realized that all I had eaten the day before were a few chips and some hummus. So stupid. It ended up being a really hard run because I was so under fueled. But the weather was awesome, so I was in a really good mood the whole time.

Here are my totals for the week:

Count: 6 Activities
Distance: 55.60 mi
Time: 07:22:54 h:m:s
Elevation Gain: 3,680 ft
Avg Speed: 7.5 mph
Calories: 7,902 C

Aaaaannnndddd, next week is a step back week. So, I can look forward to easing up a bit on the millage. Should be a walk in the park.

Week 10=FAIL

I was super lazy this week. Ok, well not all of it had to do with laziness. I have been experiencing some knee pain after my longer runs. So, I decided to take it down a notch and rest after my Tuesday run, so that I could be at full mast for my weekend runs. The Saturday morning pace run went awesome. I was shooting for 7:15 and actually ended up doing about 10 seconds per mile quicker than that. We ended up going to the beach afterward (above [by: Reagan]). On the drive down, the knee pain started setting in again. This bummed me out big-time, especially since I had a 19 mile run scheduled for this morning. As it turns out, a storm rolled in Saturday night, and it still raining as I type this post 20 hours later. I think that if I would have had a shorter run lined up for today, I would have just gone for it. But 2 hours of sloshing feet is a bit much. I have a pit in my stomach about missing one of my “long” runs, since they are the real confidence builders. I’m still debating on whether or not to just wake up at 5 tomorrow and knock out my 19 miler then. Either way, I think that I’m going to have to visit the orthopedic Dr. later this week to get the knee situation checked out. I’ll keep you posted. Here are this week’s results–

Here is the plan for next week:

[photo: Me and my teammate Sam pre-race (by: Reagan)]

This weekend was the New York Road Runners team championship race. Our team didn’ t have the best turnout, but for those who did show, it was a great time. The race kept me from knocking out my 9 mile pace run that was scheduled for this Saturday. But I’m ok with that because I just chalked it up to speed work. I didn’t break any land speed records or anything, but I was reasonably happy with my race.

Training went pretty well this week. Monday and Wednesday I ran with a partner, which is something that I probably haven’t done since last summer. It was really nice. Being able to chat with someone definitely breaks up the monotony of the filler runs. I was either over or under every day this week, on the suggested mileage. But that’s ok. I was pretty pleased with my runs this week, overall. I think that running in the mid 6′s on Saturday gave me a lot of confidence for today’s run. I kept my average well under 8 min/miles. It helps me feel like I’m making progress.

I’m going to go ahead and give myself an A for this week’s efforts. Here are the totals (including cycling to and from work one day):

Count: 8 Activities

Distance: 64.88 mi

Time: 06:53:51 h:m:s

Elevation Gain: 2,869 ft

Avg Speed: 9.4 mph

Calories: 8,421 C

Here is the sched for next week

I threw in a couple of additional shots from the race, below:

[above: Banksy's latest commentary, via]

So glad that it’s Friday again. We have a pretty busy weekend lined up. But it should also be pretty low key, considering that it is a weekend full of elective activities, rather than obligations. Early tomorrow morning is the NYRR club championships. Reagan and I will be representing our team, New York Running Club, in a 5 mile race in Central Park. It is set up so that the men and the women race separately. So we will both be able to cheer each other on at the finish of our respective races. I’m really looking forward to it. It has been too long since I last ran a race.

I’m also going to make some time this weekend to do some long overdue spring cleaning. I mean, it’s not even spring anymore, it’s summer. And late summer, at that. There is a lot of stuff that I don’t use anymore, but have been too lazy to put on Craigslist or whatever. I’m thinking about doing an online garage sale, like Reagan did last year with a lot of her old wardrobe. So, I’ll keep you posted on that one. In the mean time, enjoy this video of Nick Walker stenciling Paris. Have a great weekend!

As promised, here is the dreaded first installation of my weekly running blah on Jake’s Mag.

I’m currently working through one of the Hal Higdon training programs (below).

This week, was week 8, of 18. I can’t believe that after next week I will be half way through. It’s kind of crazy/frightening, especially considering the fact that I have been fairly half-hearted about training this year. I left off after week 5, since I missed both of the long runs for weeks 6 and 7. Anyway, here is a recap of this week’s efforts:

Overall, I have to give myself a grade of about a B, for this week. Even though I skipped Monday, and came up short on Tues (I forgot to check how far I was supposed to go), I made up for it on Wed, with a handful of extra miles. I was also pretty happy with the way that I was able to do as Hal suggested and instead of zoning out for the tempo run, do some “associating.” Associating basically means that instead of just throwing it on autopilot and shuffling along at an 8m/m pace, pay attention to my speed, my body, etc.. By taking Hal’s advice, I was able to do my tempo run at a pace that is close to what I want to be running in Oct. I has similar results on Saturday. I capped off the running week with a change of venue, and did some laps in Central Park. The weather was mid-70′s and the early morning shade made for a super pleasant run.

Here is what is on deck for next week:

(photo: me right after a run)

I love running. But I have been bad about it for the last week and a half. I’m several weeks deep into a training program, right now, and I have really had a hard time getting out the door and putting in the miles because it has been so hot outside. To compound that problem, one of my go-to distance routes is now blocked off, as the result of a pump fire at a water treatment facility that sits along the river. I was writing a weekly summary of my workouts on JNB, before I shut it down. I think that I’m going to have to pick it up again on Jake’s Mag, just for accountability’s sake. So, I guess, look for that on Sundays  between now and November.

In the mean time, I want to share another blog with you. The author is a guy that I have come to know over the past couple of years through correspondence about nerdy stuff. But it started with a conversation about our Nike+ sport bands, which we were both using at the time. His name is Andre, and he is a serious runner. I mean, the dude can run close to or better than a 16 min 5k.

Anyway, since he is basically constantly training, he has quite a bit of knowledge when it comes to running. Everything from improving your pace, to staying injury free, to how to rotate core workouts,  to diet. His blog, “I run like me” is about to turn 1 year old. All I can say, is that I wish I would have had it as a resource, when I started getting into running. Definitely check it out. Feel free to ask Dre questions, too. The dude is super personable. I just hope that he forgives me for choosing right now to tout his blog, when he is coming off of a pretty serious infection that has had him laid up for a while. If nothing else click through to see a photo of his ailing eye.