Wednesday, April 20, 2016

User Error

Monday evening I went out to run a 5k, dutifully warmed up, and then started my tracking app. I pushed myself but felt slow and was surprised at how difficult the whole effort felt. I was displeased with my finishing time and figured I must have walked more than I thought and been slowed down by the humidity. Not every run can be great, so I let it go.

Today I realized what was going on. I'd left my app settings to measure distance based on a constant speed of 16:40 min/mile (which I use for walking around my office sometimes) instead of GPS tracking and ended up running a 4.25-mile "5k." Counting warm-up and cool down, I did 4.9 miles total.

That would explain why it took me nearly an hour. Good to know. And I'll not make that mistake again.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

2015 Races I Ran

For posterity, I'm going to make a blog post for each year listing all the races I've completed. I really only started writing them down in one place in 2013, so it will be a challenge to go back and figure out what the heck I did from 2010-2012.

Here is 2015:
 
Date Name Type Distance
1-04-15 LifeTime Tri indoor 1 hr tri
1-10-15 Bold in the Cold road 15k
1-31-15 Big D Climb stairs 53 stories
2-14-15 Dash for the Beads road 5k
3-29-15 Historic McKinney Kiwanis sprint tri Distance
4-14-15 Five55 Series* aquathlon 500m + 5k
4-19-15 Caveman Tri** sprint tri Distance
5-10-15 JCC Bagel Run*** road 10k
5-16-15 Bubble Run fun run 5k
5-17-15 Grand Tri Fest**** sprint tri Distance
8-08-15 Cobra Brew road 5k
9-07-15 Blackland Tri sprint tri Distance
9-26-15 Jailbreak obstacle/mud 5k
9-27-15 Stonebridge Tri sprint tri Distance
11-1-15 LLS Light the Night charity walk 5k
11-14-15 Trinity River Run road 5k
11-26-15 Cold Turkey (SLC) road 5k
12-6-15 Ugly Sweater Run (NE) road 5k



That's 14 events completed!

Missed due to *injury and **illness
***Canceled due to tornadoes
****Canceled due to flooding
All within a month. No refunds, no transfers, no fun.


2010-12 Races I Ran

2013 Races I Ran 
2014 Races I Ran
...
2016 Races I Ran 

Friday, April 15, 2016

2014 Races I Ran

For posterity, I'm going to make a blog post for each year listing all the races I've completed. I really only started writing them down in one place in 2013, so it will be a challenge to go back and figure out what the heck I did from 2010-2012.

I sign up for A LOT of races because I do it for fun, not for performance. But I'll admit that I pretty much lost my damn mind in 2014.
  
Here it is:

Date Name Type Distance
March US Road Running virtual 5k
3-01-14 Be the Match road 5k
3-22-14 Warrior Dash obstacle/mud 5k
April US RR virtual 5k
4-10-14 White Rock Celebration road 5k
4-21-14 Stand with Boston virtual 10k
4-27-14 Lone Star road 10k
5-03-14 Cinco de Miler road 5 mi
5-03-14 Cinco de Muddo obstacle/mud 5k
5-04-14 Tough Mudder obstacle/mud 12 mi
5-08-14 Katy Trail road 5k
5-10-14 Gladiator obstacle/mud 5k
5-11-14 JCC Bagel Run road 10k
5-14-14 Jumpin Jellyfish virtual 5k
5-17-14 Spartan Super obstacle/mud 8-10 mi
5-18-14 Spartan Sprint obstacle/mud 4-5 mi
5-22-14 US RR Diamond virtual 10k
5-24-14 World Domination virtual 5k
5-26-14 US RR virtual 5k
6-18-14 Merrell Down & Dirty obstacle/mud 6 mi
6-17-14 Red Pirate US RR virtual 5k
7-12-14 RAMS road 5k
8-23-14 Nocturnal Lands fun run 5k
8-31-14 Disneyland road half
10-4-14 Rugged & Raw trail 10k
October Choice 5k virtual 5k
10-14-14 Five55 Series aquathlon 500m + 5k
10-19-14 Honored Hero Half road half
10-25-14 Double Trouble* road 5k/10k
11-15-14 Six:02 road 6k
11-27-14 Turkey Trot road 8 mi
12-28-14 One Big Fat Run virtual 5k

That's 31 races run!

    *Double Trouble was really obnoxious in that I couldn't find any registration confirmation from when I registered in July and did not receive any updates and ended up going out of town instead of running it and couldn't get a refund or transfer or anything.
      
    My 2010-12 Races
    My 2013 Races
    ... 
    My 2015 Races 

    My 2016 Races

    Thursday, April 14, 2016

    2013 Races I Ran

    For posterity, I'm going to make a blog post for each year listing all the races I've completed. I really only started writing them down in one place in 2013, so it will be a challenge to go back and figure out what the heck I did from 2010-2012.

    I sign up for A LOT of races because I do it for fun, not for performance.

    So here's 2013: 

    Date Name Type Distance
    1-19-13 Electric Run fun run 5k
    2-02-13 Graffiti Run fun run 5k
    4-06-13 Hero Rush obstacle/mud 4-5 mi
    5-14-13 Bring Home Bowe road 5k
    6-01-13 Miles of Mud mud/obstacle 4 mi
    6-22-13 Splash Dash fun run 5k
    9-07-13 Mud Factor obstacle/mud 5k
    9-21-13 Neon Splash Dash fun run 5k
    9-30-13 Get Out & Run virtual 10k
    10-05-13 Rugged & Raw trail 10k
    10-19-13 Choice 5k road 5k
    10-20-13 Get Out & Run virtual 10k
    10-22-13 Halloween Team virtual 5k
    11-01-13 Bad Prom Run fun run 5k
    11-23-13 Savage Race* obstacle/mud 10k
    11-xx-13 Get Out & Run virtual 10k
    11-30-13 Ugly Sweater Run fun run 5k
    12-01-13 Fit Fatties virtual 5k
    12-15-13 Spartan Beast obstacle/mud 15.2 mi

    That's 19 races run!

    *Savage Race was my first ever DNF, and I am very proud of it.

    My 2010-12 Races
    ...
    My 2014 Races
    My 2015 Races 
    My 2016 Races


    Wednesday, April 13, 2016

    2010-2012 Races I Ran

    For posterity, I'm going to make a blog post for each year listing all the races I've completed. I really only started writing them down in one place in 2013, so it's been a challenge to go back and figure out what the heck I did from 2010-2012.
    Date Name Type Distance
    7-24-10 Boryeong Mud Festival mud flats 5k
    9-12-10 DMZ International Peace Marathon road 10k
    10-2-10 Energizer Night Race road (zoo) 5k
    10-30-10 ???* road 10k
    11-14-10 8th Sports Seoul Marathon? Type Distance
    11-21-10 Son Koe-Chung Peace Marathon road 5k
    12-19-10 Something Else? road distance
    4-16-11 Warrior Dash obstacle/mud 5k
    5-01-11 Heels and Hills road half
    6-05-11 Merrell Down & Dirty obstacle/mud 5k
    6-25-11 Patriot Games obstacle/mud 5k
    6-16-12 Gladiator obstacle/mud 4 mi
    11-03-12 Foam Fest obstacle/mud 5k
    11-17-12 Glo Run fun run 5k

    *I have pictures from this event but cannot find any other info. It was the "World Cup Stadium Marathon" or something like that.

    That's 14 races run!

    My 2013 Races 
    My 2014 Races
    My 2015 Races 
    My 2016 Races

    Saturday, April 9, 2016

    Let's Talk Truthfully About Trainers

    The Daily Beast has a great article about important questions to ask when you are searching for a physical trainer. It's definitely worth a read:

    ... the health and fitness industry is rife with problems. The hype, the body-shaming, the obsession with weight and body-fat—these things stand as barriers to people actually adopting healthy habits that they can maintain throughout their lives. Even so, this is the industry we look to when we decide we want to learn about our bodies—how they work, and how to take care of them, and how we can use them to experience enjoyable, natural movement.
    So, if you have a trainer, or you’re thinking about hiring a trainer or some other sort of health professional, you want to be in the best hands. I offer here a simple test: three questions to pose to your potential health guru, to weed out the bad ones. And believe me, there are bad ones out there.
    1: Do I Need to Lose Weight?
    No.
    You don’t need to lose weight. If you’re an average American, you probably need to be more physically active, and you could probably tweak your diet in any number of ways. But your trainer should not be telling you that you need to lose weight.
    The above sentiment may surprise, and even upset a lot of people. But the very fact that the idea of “not needing to lose weight” seems so radical is a testament to the brokenness of our health culture.
    Despite our obsession with it, weight is a poor proxy for individuals’ health.
      

    Thursday, April 7, 2016

    I'm Going to Run a Marathon

    I took the plunge and signed up with Team in Training to train for my first marathon, the Dallas Marathon on December 11, 2016. That's 26.2 miles. I don't even like driving that far.

    How it works is that I commit to fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and they provide me race training with a coach and a local group.

    Honestly, I'm really scared.
    Two years ago I completed two half marathons while suffering through IT Band Syndrome, which caused excruciating knee pain that left me crying hard through the last mile or two of the 13.1-mile Honored Hero Run in October 2014.


    Though I'll be working with a coach and seeing other runners once a week, I'll ultimately be logging hundreds of long, hot miles this summer and fall all alone. So I need your help:
    1. Ask me how training is going.
    2. Nicely point out my typos.
    3. Remind me to stretch.
    4. Donate if you can.
    And I'll keep putting in the miles and keep you updated on this journey.

    Monday, April 4, 2016

    Camp Gladiator: Mixed Bag



    This morning was my 8th visit to Camp Gladiator and marked the beginning of metabolic conditioning week, where the workouts utilize the things we've worked on for the past 3 weeks and take it up a notch as far as difficulty/intensity. But where I floundered over the last 2 weeks, today was my favorite CG workout of all.

    Camp Gladiator is kind of like a boot camp setup with challenging exercises but with a positive atmosphere. The trainers are very upbeat and encouraging, quick to offer suggestions for modifications and reminding you to try your best; they let you determine what your 100% effort feels like.

    I signed up because of a spring promotion where I pay $10 up front and can attend unlimited sessions for 4 weeks. If I attend fewer than 10, I get charged more money, so it’s a great incentive.

    Week 1 focused on endurance exercises and included a fitness test that I finished in the allotted time but was unable to complete the last 9 of 50 consecutive push-ups. We’ll test again this Wednesday. Week 2 focused on functionality, specifically core-strengthening exercises. We use yoga mats in a parking lot, and my back, knees, and elbows have been bruised to hell because of it. Week 3 was high-intensity interval training. As an endurance athlete, I can’t really do this stuff.

    Week 4 started today, its focus being metabolic conditioning. We did 3 minutes of alternating hard exercises (dumbbell squats + curl, push-ups + row, dumbbell squats, dumbbell swings, and Russian twists with a dumbbell) followed by rest and then a quick seven-tenths-mile lap for three or four rotations.

    I usually lag far behind the rest of the campers except those who are injured, but I freaking killed it today, pacing and passing a few back-of-the-pack runners on every lap after the warmup except for the final lap when I bonked, in need of fuel.


    And actually on Saturday, my workout partner and I dominated one of the exercises where we take turns holding one another back with a resistance band while sprinting and finished ahead of everyone else, working just as hard. A lot of this can be attributed to flow; we figured out how to quickly switch holding and wearing the band on each rotation, but that doesn't detract from the accomplishment in any way.


    It's been fun and surprising to find out how my strengths translate to CG workouts, because mostly they don't.