Tonight I ventured back to Seward Park for the 2.4 mile loop. I also incorporated RunningStrides with is a concept from Chris Carmichael's TrainRight website (I have no idea if they came up with this or not). Essentially you warm up (I generally do three minutes of walking/jogging) and then do a number of repititions of 100m runs at 5k pace with a one minute rest in between.
The goal as I understand it is to get your system to start the lactic acid cleansing response (lactic acid is the byproduct of anaerobic exercise - it is what makes your musceles feel "full" as you increase exertion). Your body can transport away a certain amount of lactic acid as you exercise (if you are "more aerobic" you are working "with oxygen" and therefore producing less lactic - if you are "more anaerobic" you are working "without oxygen" and producing more lactate). There is a point where you are working anaerobically enough that you begin to produce more lactic acid than your body can transport - this is the anaerobic threshold.
This may or may not have done the trick (one would think 3-4 weeks of consistent training is finally paying off) but I did a great run and felt good for the first time this year running. Based on my time I did about a 10 minute pace which is still awfully slow (I used to be a seven minute miler).
The takeaway is that I'm starting to see good results. We'll see how things progress over the next couple of weeks.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Sunday, October 9, 2005
Running Tour
This weekend was good for getting outdoors. Friday was disappointing as the Yankees lost a heartbreaker of a game (they came back after being down 5-0 to be up 6-5 only to lose 11-7). After the game I did a little indoor running on the treadmill - still at a slow pace but I put a little incline into it.
A short aside - before running I discovered that the exercise room (extra bedroom on the upper floor - treadmill and bike training stand are here) DVD player was brokeen. Not recognizing discs. The good news is that I spent maybe $60 on this one so no big loss. The bad news is I need to replace it because Friday night comedy is just not where it's at. Take the show I struggled through - Hot Properties.
Three gals own a real estate business but sit around talking about their sex lives (Gail O'Grady is dating/engaged to someone 17 years younger and has lied about her age, Nicole Sullivan is the desperate "can't get a date" addition, and the Latin actress is divorced from a gay man and has no "gadar" - good stuff). This must have been the pilot - another woman shows up looking for a place for her and her fiance (oh, this happens in NYC) and confesses to these women she's never met that she's a virgin - they of course cannot keep a straight face (good for business I've learned). Hilarity ensues when we discover that two of the gals have slept with the previously believed virgin fiance. Ultimately the woman dumps the dude since he's been lying and looks like she's joining the firm (after one of the gals was found making out with him...). Great stuff!
OK, that was not so short but I need my DVD player if I'm going to run/ride indoors.
Anyway - I got in a bit more than 1/2 hour run at a nice brisk pace.
Saturday - the plan was to get on the road early on the Mountain Bike that I've been refitting as a commuter bike (see "soon to come" previous post). I got my fenders installed and got out on the road. Maybe 5 minutes in I realize a weird noise coming from the front tire. I stop. It blows.
Let me back up 10 minutes which is when I was looking for my portable pump in the garage. Normally I carry air canisters (CO2) in order to quickly inflate if I have a flat but that's on my road bike which is at the repair shop. So, no air. No pump. I'm walking back home. The good ol' walk of shame.
Back home I'm barely warmed up so I head down to Seward Park for a nice run. Seward is close enough that I've run there (four miles) and I ride through there all the time as Lake Washington Blvd is a bike-friendly road that takes up ultimately up to the Burke Gilman Trail on your way around Lake Washington. The path around Seward Park is about 2.5 miles.
Afterwards I drove out to Sammamish Valley Cycle to pick up my road bike which was in for the annual tune up. Good to know that I can fit the bike in the extended cab of my truck! Great folks out there - buy a bike and get free lifetime tuneups! Oh, I also bought some new tubes (wonder why). I did put road tires on the MTN bike and may have gotten too big tubes - we'll see how these work.
Saturday night I got on the bike at home (on the trainer) for a little active recovery. Active recovery is basically working out only hard enough to get your heart rate up - not enough to tax you but enough to get blood moving through your muscles to move the bad stuff away (this is the lay explanation).
Sunday was a quick run down through Dead Horse Canyon. I described this in an earlier post.
All in all a good weekend - a nice diversion through Seward versus my usual haunts. I think I need to continue to explore other parks in the Seattle area for running. Anyone have any ideas?
A short aside - before running I discovered that the exercise room (extra bedroom on the upper floor - treadmill and bike training stand are here) DVD player was brokeen. Not recognizing discs. The good news is that I spent maybe $60 on this one so no big loss. The bad news is I need to replace it because Friday night comedy is just not where it's at. Take the show I struggled through - Hot Properties.
Three gals own a real estate business but sit around talking about their sex lives (Gail O'Grady is dating/engaged to someone 17 years younger and has lied about her age, Nicole Sullivan is the desperate "can't get a date" addition, and the Latin actress is divorced from a gay man and has no "gadar" - good stuff). This must have been the pilot - another woman shows up looking for a place for her and her fiance (oh, this happens in NYC) and confesses to these women she's never met that she's a virgin - they of course cannot keep a straight face (good for business I've learned). Hilarity ensues when we discover that two of the gals have slept with the previously believed virgin fiance. Ultimately the woman dumps the dude since he's been lying and looks like she's joining the firm (after one of the gals was found making out with him...). Great stuff!
OK, that was not so short but I need my DVD player if I'm going to run/ride indoors.
Anyway - I got in a bit more than 1/2 hour run at a nice brisk pace.
Saturday - the plan was to get on the road early on the Mountain Bike that I've been refitting as a commuter bike (see "soon to come" previous post). I got my fenders installed and got out on the road. Maybe 5 minutes in I realize a weird noise coming from the front tire. I stop. It blows.
Let me back up 10 minutes which is when I was looking for my portable pump in the garage. Normally I carry air canisters (CO2) in order to quickly inflate if I have a flat but that's on my road bike which is at the repair shop. So, no air. No pump. I'm walking back home. The good ol' walk of shame.
Back home I'm barely warmed up so I head down to Seward Park for a nice run. Seward is close enough that I've run there (four miles) and I ride through there all the time as Lake Washington Blvd is a bike-friendly road that takes up ultimately up to the Burke Gilman Trail on your way around Lake Washington. The path around Seward Park is about 2.5 miles.
Afterwards I drove out to Sammamish Valley Cycle to pick up my road bike which was in for the annual tune up. Good to know that I can fit the bike in the extended cab of my truck! Great folks out there - buy a bike and get free lifetime tuneups! Oh, I also bought some new tubes (wonder why). I did put road tires on the MTN bike and may have gotten too big tubes - we'll see how these work.
Saturday night I got on the bike at home (on the trainer) for a little active recovery. Active recovery is basically working out only hard enough to get your heart rate up - not enough to tax you but enough to get blood moving through your muscles to move the bad stuff away (this is the lay explanation).
Sunday was a quick run down through Dead Horse Canyon. I described this in an earlier post.
All in all a good weekend - a nice diversion through Seward versus my usual haunts. I think I need to continue to explore other parks in the Seattle area for running. Anyone have any ideas?
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The circle loop adventures continue
Chris and I continue to run after work around the Downtown Bellevue Park. Last night we came to the conclusion that the long road to fitness is paved with sore legs. Right now we're reconditioning our legs to take endurance running rather than stressing our cardio system. Then again, neither of us are doctors nor personal trainers so we might be blowing smoke.
Tonight I am going to tackle Green Lake. This will be good as I used to live in this area and it's a great outdoor area in Seattle. It's also a different path than I've been on recently. It's a nice rolling 3.2 mile loop.
That's all for now - bicycle adventures will be the next post.
Tonight I am going to tackle Green Lake. This will be good as I used to live in this area and it's a great outdoor area in Seattle. It's also a different path than I've been on recently. It's a nice rolling 3.2 mile loop.
That's all for now - bicycle adventures will be the next post.
Friday, September 23, 2005
More Running
Just a short entry to keep my spirits up. This week I was pretty good - ran twice during the week. Tuesday I ran for an hour on the treadmill (no stopping!). Really needed it that night as it's the night of the marathon phone calls with India - four hours worth that night.
Thursday Chris Holtz and I ran from work down to a local park in Bellevue (aptly named the Bellevue Downtown Park). It's a nice park - gravel and about 1/2 mile for the loop and lots of people out walking and running. It might work to drive next time - the run down and back is on concrete and a bit hilly. The run itself was a bit rough - I think I did a bit much with the hour run and so my calves were a bit sore. I feel pretty good today on rest so it should just be a matter of reconditioning the joints to run that type of distance and time.
The good news is Chris and I both agree that we should do this regularly - hopefully a coupe of times a week.
More progress later.
One interesting article is on how chocolate milk may be as good or better than sports recovery drinks. This is pretty interesting - current thinking is that a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein helps refuel and recovery. The good news is that milk is cheaper and tastes pretty darned good.
Thursday Chris Holtz and I ran from work down to a local park in Bellevue (aptly named the Bellevue Downtown Park). It's a nice park - gravel and about 1/2 mile for the loop and lots of people out walking and running. It might work to drive next time - the run down and back is on concrete and a bit hilly. The run itself was a bit rough - I think I did a bit much with the hour run and so my calves were a bit sore. I feel pretty good today on rest so it should just be a matter of reconditioning the joints to run that type of distance and time.
The good news is Chris and I both agree that we should do this regularly - hopefully a coupe of times a week.
More progress later.
One interesting article is on how chocolate milk may be as good or better than sports recovery drinks. This is pretty interesting - current thinking is that a 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein helps refuel and recovery. The good news is that milk is cheaper and tastes pretty darned good.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Fatty McButterpants
For those of you who watch King of Queens you willl get the reference.
The journey to running continues if but slowly. So far my frequency is about once a week give or take. This is the week to start making it a regular weekly occurance.
The good news is that I seem to be maintaining my fitness - not improving it of course. The circuit I run is near my house in Lakeridge Park along a nice forested path known as Dead Horse Canyon. I live on a hill so it's downhill to the park but the park goes back uphill along a small stream - it's not an easy incline and within a few minutes I'm at my aerobic threshold. Once out of the park it's uphill to home with the invariable walk uphill. Today, however, I made it up to the stairs which is as far as I've made it without walking in awhile. The goal for the next month is to complete the circuit without stopping.
I think some indoor treadmill is in order - that or a flatter course elsewhere. After a month of regular short runs it will then be time to start working on distance.
That's all for now - I just wanted to get my goals on paper so I have something to look back on :-)
The journey to running continues if but slowly. So far my frequency is about once a week give or take. This is the week to start making it a regular weekly occurance.
The good news is that I seem to be maintaining my fitness - not improving it of course. The circuit I run is near my house in Lakeridge Park along a nice forested path known as Dead Horse Canyon. I live on a hill so it's downhill to the park but the park goes back uphill along a small stream - it's not an easy incline and within a few minutes I'm at my aerobic threshold. Once out of the park it's uphill to home with the invariable walk uphill. Today, however, I made it up to the stairs which is as far as I've made it without walking in awhile. The goal for the next month is to complete the circuit without stopping.
I think some indoor treadmill is in order - that or a flatter course elsewhere. After a month of regular short runs it will then be time to start working on distance.
That's all for now - I just wanted to get my goals on paper so I have something to look back on :-)
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