I am back again

Hello there. I am really bad at this blogging and running thing. I've gotten better at the running thing lately, and have decided to bring back the blog as well.

Since I last talked to you, I've moved, making for the third city that will be featured on this blog. I'm in Bozeman, MT ready to go back to school. The area is scenic and should make for some nice running. After a few small runs just down t

he road and back, I tried a longer one. Its a four-mile run. Here's map my run....now apparently with an elevation gain map!

Its not nearly as steep as it looks. Really.

Its actually a fairly flat run. The graph looks scary, but overall, its an elevation gain of about 70 feet over 2 miles. Not to bad. Also, there are mountains. I dont have any pics from the run itself, but this is more or less the view from my front yard. So, yah, mountains.

I have not run up these....yet

Overall, it was a nice run and was great to get back into the swing of things. Expect more updates, as I've decided to run the Bozeman Half Marathon is September. Nice to have a summer training goal. I hope to be better prepared then my last attempt at 13.1 Starting out at 4.2 miles is a good start to the training. Sure, there was some walking (which I am attributing mostly to a cough that I have yet to shake), but it was a good start.

Expect more updates....should be fun this summer!

I was not expecting that

Today was an amazing day weather wise, so I decided to go for a run. I tried a new route out. Its 3.5 miles and is just a loop. Usually at this time I put a screenshot of the map up, but I figure you can picture a 3.5 mile square. 

The run was decent, given my long layoff between runs. Some walking occurred, but I think thats acceptable. There isn't really a goal at this point, just trying to go out and run for fun.

I was enjoying the run when I was running down a highway just outside of town. I looked down...and there was a rabbit.

Not a live rabbit. A roadkill rabbit. Holy shit that was startling.  I've seen roadkill before...but I usually don't stride over it and look into its beady little, glazed over eye.  Its a bit unsettling. 

You need to know these things.

Back to it

So, I have been what as known around the running world as "lazy as f***". Its a technical term. Seriously, I have not been working out very much at all. I walk to work on a regular basis, but that is all of three blocks. Not exactly breaking a sweat here.

I have added to my running apparel arsenal. Behold the track jacket:

Paleness to scale.

Yeah! That looks badass! And indeed it does. I dawned it this afternoon in 50 degree and drizzly conditions and set out, not knowing what to expect. 

The jacket did the trick. Kept me warm (even had to roll up the sleeves on occasion). The route was a four-miler. That said, upon consulting Map My Run when I got home, I found I lobbed off a few blocks. That's ok.

The run started off decent. I didn't run very hard, just getting back into it. After a little over a mile, I picked up the pace a bit. I never really went hard, but was able to work up a sweat.  It a was a decent run. I could have gone harder, but I didn't want to push myself. In later days (and this time, I mean DAYS) I'll do that.

All in all, a good run. And I think I looked cool with the track jacket.

Running...I've been doin' it

Since its been nearly a month since I posted here, I figure lets blog.

I have been running. When I last left off, our valiant hero (me) was running six miles. He was quite studly.

Flash forward to present day and I'm running NINE MILES and am somehow studlier. You didn't think it was possible, dear reader.

TO THE MAP!!




As you can see, its a nice long run in the country. What you don't see is that there is no place to pee. There are houses with people in them that would see since there are no trees to duck behind.

The other thing you don't see are the hills. I didn't think Salem had any. Apparently, that assertion was incorrect. At about mile three there's a short but fairly steep one. Also, from mile six to seven, its one long gradual incline. Wheee!

Anyway, doing this one in about an hour 50 minutes. Not bad. I feel good.

I am studlier...er.

Alan

Six mile run and the dangers of running during festivals

I'm stepping up my march to the Half Marathon, breaking out this six mile route. It comes complete with back road goodness and even some hills, something that I did not think existed in Illinois.

I looked up some back stretches prior to this one too, in an effort to loosen that up. My back had been nagging me for awhile, and it turns out there are some simple things you can do to get it ready to run. I used three primary...uh...positions, for lack of a better word.

1. The Plank

Lie on your stomach. Prop yourself up with your elbows and toes, straighten out your back so its like a blank. (Light as a feather...stiff as a board...haha) Hold the position for 10 seconds, relax, repeat until your back is able to carry heavy set children away from the donut machine about five times.

2. The Bridge

Lie on your back, with feet firmly on ground. Lift your ass in the air (buttocks, for those sophisticated readers I have) and make a straightline from shoulders to knee. Hold for five seconds, relax, repeat.

3. Wall slide

Stand up against wall, with feet 18 inches away from said wall. Slide down the wall until knees are at a 90 degree angle. Hold for a few seconds, then somehow slide back up the wall (I kind of just worked my way up, as wall wouldn't permit me to slide)

Those three worked really well, back trouble was minimal during he run, and it made a difference.

What else made a difference? The Little Egypt Festival, which quarantined off downtown. As I ran down U.S. 50/Main Street, I was feeling pretty good. Tired, but good. And then I came to the barricade.

Now, I could have gone through. I'm a pedestrian after all. But, seeing how I'd have to wait for the inane amount of traffic that occurred at this spot (I think the peoples were trying to get to Hardee's) I decided to run down Westgate to get to Whitaker, which I would take anyway, I'd just join it sooner than I thought.

Of course, this plan turned into epic fail because all the cars that couldn't get to Hardee's were coming my way now. So, on the corner of Westgate and Whitaker, I stood there, waiting to cross the street. I'm not a big fan of the game "Dodge the Traffic" as that game has a tendency to rely on other people having functioning brakes and the reflexes needed to use them. By the time I finally got to cross the street, my aches and pains caught up with me, my rhythm was all out of whack, and I grinded out the last mile to home.

Still made it, despite the quasi-taunts from a car of high schoolers, whom will all undoubtedly be obese in three years. That however, is a rant for another day.

The plan is to try this run again Monday morning, except without that annoying parade. Seriously people, hold festivals when I'm not training for a half marathon.

Hooray

I took a week off from running, because I'm incredibly dumb about this whole training-for-a-half-marathon thing. But, I got back in the saddle today and ran five miles.

I did not stop once, I did not walk any of it. 

Not that I was blazing through it, it still took awhile. I'd really like to know how to a) not get pain in my lower back when I run and b) see what I can do on these runs without it. 

For now though, its an accomplishment that I'm proud of. I was able to mentally block out those things that told me to stop. I should be on the bike tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

The long awaited update

Hello to all three of you that read this blog. I've neglected it the past few weeks, so let's get caught up.

First off, I did make it a month without eating fast food. Nice to accomplish that goal. However, I didn't lose as much weight as I would have liked because I wasn't overly active this month.

Not that I wasn't active. I ran five miles yesterday. That's the furthest I've gone so far in my prep for the half marathon. The good news is I'm not overly sore this morning. A little bit, but nothing bad. Hopefully I can keep that going and get into a good groove.

I've also started riding my bike. I've had a flat tire for a while and only recently got it fixed. I've taken the bike out a couple times and hope to use it on days I don't run. Despite some sore leg muscles (and waking up at 4:30 for work) I plan on riding this afternoon.

Since I've left you alone for awhile, here's some Muse to make up for it. My bad.



More postings to come later...promise!

Dear running

Dear running,

Hey there. I had fun tonight. Maybe its because the radio station I work at plays the above song seemingly twice and hour, but I thought of it when I was running for the first time in three weeks. It made me smile, because wow. That was fun.

I've slimmed down a bit, down to 204. So, I've kept good care of myself since we last saw each other. But still, I felt real good out there. I felt light, especially at the end when I kicked it home.

I thought that maybe going right back to 3 miles would be pushing it a bit to much at first, but it just felt right. So, yeah.

I hope we can do this again soon. I'll bring Gatorade.

Now, excuse me, I smell kind of bad. I'm going to clean myself a bit, but thanks again for an awesome time.

See you out there,

Alan

Tempo...wheee!

So, I had been kind of sluggish this week, so I thought I'd go out for a 3 mile run, push myself a bit, and call it good. The run was nice, I got some sweating done, did walk a bit, but not much.

Then I got home and saw I was averaging 14 minutes per mile. On top of that, I still felt pretty good, like I could maybe run another mile.

So, I did.

I went out and ran my one mile loop with the hope of getting home in 10 minutes. I got back in 11, but called it good. It was a high tempo run, and unlike the first run, I was drained afterwards.

Though, not tired enough to forget the day. I come in a 210 this week.

Good workout today, I'm feeling pretty good about this running thing.

Back at it

So, its been a while since I've updated the blog. I would have written on Saturday, except my run was...not so good.

Shoes became untied twice, I couldn't get into a rhythm, and I ended up running maybe a mile and a half before calling it a run. It just wasn't going to happen.

Today though, was a different story.

I went out for my three mile jaunt, and felt good enough at the mile 2 mark to see if I could tack on another mile. I was doing really well. However, I had tied my shoes a bit too tight, and as I started into mile 4, it was evident that it wasn't going to happen. Everything else felt good, but the shoes didn't.

On Thursday, I'll tie them a little looser, and see if I can't go 4 miles. I can't wait.

Challenge update

Just as I was going to post last night, my Internet became epic fail. Long story short, I was short of 3,000 steps, walked to the pub for a beer, and magic! I had my 3,000 steps. 3,373 in fact.

Today, I was a bit more mobile, thanks to a trip to the grocery store at 5,096 steps. And yes, I was about to call it quits earlier, but saw I was 5 steps away from 5,000. So, I wore it around the house for a little bit just to get over the hump.

I also did another 3 mile run today. Don't know if my legs were fully recovered from the last one, as I felt a bit sluggish. Still ran the whole time and smelled absolutely terrific at the end.

Hey, the blog is titled "My Sweaty T-shirt" isn't it?

Till next time,

Alan

A little bit of everything

Today's post has a little bit of everything. So, lets get to it.

I walked to the IGA to get lunch before heading to work today. Its a nice little jaunt. So little, that I had about 2,000 steps before I even got to work today. Thanks to some grocery shopping, that total got up to 4,614 steps, which works out to 1.93 miles.

After work, I went for a run, but decided to take on an additional mile. Before my usual 2-mile run, I ran my one mile loop. I've only ran it once, but I did post it here. The two runs work together fairly well. Put in a good 38 minutes of work. I'm not blowing past anything, but I had a good workout. Though it got darker before I thought it might. I'll need to invest in a reflective vest. Still, I was pleased with the run.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that today is Wednesday. That means weigh-in day. I come in at 212 pounds, meaning I've lost 8 pounds in the slightly less than 2 months I've been writing this blog. I'd call it success.

And since I've done everything else, I'll give you an iPod it. (Language NSFW)



Another Incubus song? Yes. I've adopted Make Yourself as my sort of anthem during this. Its up to me to get in shape for the half marathon, its up to me to watch out for my health. Thats my story.

I promise, no more Incubus for awhile though. But I like the two songs.

Till next time,

Alan

The run

Well, today's run wasn't very good. I think it boils down to a hydration problem. Something I need to work on. Pace wise, it felt good, but I was forced to walk at times. Hopefully the next run will be better. Also hopefully, that will come tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the pedometer hasn't gotten a good workout, so this is my challenge for myself. Each day this week, I want to talk 3,000 steps, independent of any running workouts I do.

3,000 steps is not a lot, but it would be a lot more than what I'm doing now.

Trying to make up for a week in a day

I had been fairly lazy lately. Granted, I did mow my lawn over the weekend. No small feat, considering how tall the grass was. Plus, I bought a push mower. Fully self powered. So, I got a work out in then, but other than that....its been lazy.

So, with today's weather being perfect (70 degrees, 18% humidity) I went for a two mile run after work. Standard route. I made sure to keep my tempo up for the whole run. I made myself work, and it paid off with a good run.

However, that wasn't enough. I did 15 sit-ups and 10 push ups after the run. Its been awhile since I did either of those exercises, so it should be interesting to see how those muscle groups feel in the morning.

The one benefit to working as hard as I did today...is I felt slimmer. SOmething about a good workout makes me feel fit and athletic. I try to avoid the mirrors while feeling this way. No sense spoiling that magic.


Wednesday weigh-in...I come in at 215 pounds. So, slowly but surely I'm working off some weight. Its going to take a big time effort if I'm to get to 199 by the end of June. That may not happen, but if I can work hard and still drops some pounds, it will be pretty beneficial. I'm not on The Biggest Loser or anything.

Adding to the routine

I went for my typical two mile run today, but I tried to be aware of my stride a little more. When I started to "baby step" I pumped the arms a little bit harder. I worked a bit more out on the run.

Then to top it off, I did 15 sit ups when I got home, because I figured that would be a good way to wrap up the workout. Ab muscles aren't worked to hard during a run, so I wanted to attack them directly and try to strengthen them.

Anyway, it was also Wednesday, so I did the usual scale thing. 216. I'm certain I gained weight since 217, then dropped own to 216. I'm wondering if by working at it I can get to 200 by the end of June. We'll see.

Ah....

Just got back from the run I said I was going on last night, and yes, it was good. A bit slower than I would have liked, but I enjoyed it. I feel great and I'll be more energized through the day then I would have been if I had stayed in bed till eleven.

I need to go out more. I'm not getting any stronger, which is to expected when one goes for a run, takes three days off, then runs again. I plan on going back out there tomorrow.

Follow up 1-miler

Overcast day today in Salem, but I managed to drag myself out of bed early (for me) and get in a one mile run.



Just a loop and an easy one at that. Not much in the way of hills in this town. Despite my soreness, I felt pretty good and maintained my pace of before. It was good enough to get me a little sweaty, which is a good feeling in the morning.

Time to hydrate, shower and head to work.

The first run

Sundays, I work morning at a radio station. This entails waking up at 4 am. However, I also get to go home at 12:30. Sometime between there I decided to go for a run today. The sun was out and it was a good temperature, around 60 out. Light breeze made it pretty comfortable outside.

After work, I came home and I wanted to go then. Stretching, while necessary, is something I don't look forward too. Prep is something I just don't enjoy. I'd rather have my pasta now. None of this boiling noodles stuff.

I stretched anyway, even downed some glasses of water, and stepped off.

Here's the route:



As a former cross-country runner, I don't like linear paths. This route isn't the most efficient, but it was tweaked to get to the 2-mile mark. I didn't really know what to expect in the run. I figured my calves would bitch at me during it (they always do) and I would not have been surprised if I walked for a bit.

Then I got to mile 1. Halfway done with it. I hadn't walked. I wasn't going fast either, but no walking. I told myself I was halfway through. I didn't care if my legs were tired. I was going to finish this thing off.

The last mile was not pretty. I'd classify it as a struggle. But, I did not walk. I did have to stop at an intersection because of a van, but I got right back to running right afterwards.

Finally, 20 minutes after I left my house, I stepped back onto the porch. 10-minute miles aren't anything to be proud of, but considering my lack of inactivity in recent times, I was pleased. It’s a start, and a good one.

We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I'm thinking a walk might be in order to loosen up the legs without pushing them to hard.

Until then,

Alan