Well the December run challenge is in the books and it accomplished exactly what I was thinking it would, it motivated me to get out and run. We had a mixed bag of runs, I mixed up the distance, I mixed up the pace and mixed up running indoor and outdoor. Overall I had my total milage around 117 which I am very happy with. I will have to say there where days I did not feel like going but knowing that I had a friendly challenge going with Rick and Hillard it got me out the door when I probably wouldn't have usually.
So to keep things going I am aiming to swim 50,000 yards in January as well as after every Saturday CT class do a brick run. I would like to start adding distance while dialing back the pace a bit and easing the pace up come Spring. Should be fun and hopefully allow me to get a bit faster this Spring for a the Indy Half Marathon.
As far as the run challenge, I am going to do it again in March and hopefully we can get a few more folks involved.
Now time to get ready to head out for the New Year at Houli's but keeping it low key as running in the morning. Keeping the streak alive, at least for the next two days.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Four Days Left
This week was probably the toughest with the holidays and traveling to get in the runs but they are done, some better than the others but I am very happy with where my running has come since the first of December. I have built a good base and actually started to enjoy running a bit more since are breakup post Ironman. We have four more days left and really it does not seem like that much of big deal as I am off all week and will have no trouble getting them completed.
Christmas day was by far the worst of the month, not that it was Christmas, I was at my in-laws in Dubuque with no treadmill available, it was sleeting, slick and hilly a great combination for me ending up on my on my ass. I did feel quite a bit of an accomplishment when I got back as I was glad to be done and it was a bit of a challenge.
Since Rick and I really have nothing else to do we decided to have a little challenge for January as well. We find it fun, motivating and a bit of a personal challenge as well as holding each other accountable. So for January we are going to swim 50,000 yards. I have added the counter on the right side of the blog to keep track.
Today was another solid day, had to do Computrainer class today as I was out of town yesterday, followed that up with a 6.5 mile run and had masters class this afternoon where I was able to get in 3850 yards. Not bad for a Sunday in December in my opinion.
At masters I was really annoyed as the coach was giving me static for comparing her workouts to what we were doing last year with one of the coaches that she coaches with. She was actually quite defensive which was strange as I wasn't criticizing just saying that it was nice to get in a couple hard longer sets. I like doing some harder sets a couple of times a month. I know folks say you shouldn't go hard this time of year as you will burn out, I disagree I think you should concentrate on form and technique in all three sports during this time of year but you need to go hard every once in awhile to remind yourself what is like to push yourself. That is why it is good to throw in some 5K's in your run plan this time of year, you push yourself but in a much shorter distance. Just my opinion and really that is all that matters as this my blog!
Christmas day was by far the worst of the month, not that it was Christmas, I was at my in-laws in Dubuque with no treadmill available, it was sleeting, slick and hilly a great combination for me ending up on my on my ass. I did feel quite a bit of an accomplishment when I got back as I was glad to be done and it was a bit of a challenge.
Since Rick and I really have nothing else to do we decided to have a little challenge for January as well. We find it fun, motivating and a bit of a personal challenge as well as holding each other accountable. So for January we are going to swim 50,000 yards. I have added the counter on the right side of the blog to keep track.
Today was another solid day, had to do Computrainer class today as I was out of town yesterday, followed that up with a 6.5 mile run and had masters class this afternoon where I was able to get in 3850 yards. Not bad for a Sunday in December in my opinion.
At masters I was really annoyed as the coach was giving me static for comparing her workouts to what we were doing last year with one of the coaches that she coaches with. She was actually quite defensive which was strange as I wasn't criticizing just saying that it was nice to get in a couple hard longer sets. I like doing some harder sets a couple of times a month. I know folks say you shouldn't go hard this time of year as you will burn out, I disagree I think you should concentrate on form and technique in all three sports during this time of year but you need to go hard every once in awhile to remind yourself what is like to push yourself. That is why it is good to throw in some 5K's in your run plan this time of year, you push yourself but in a much shorter distance. Just my opinion and really that is all that matters as this my blog!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Crazy Weekend
The December running challenge is still going strong even though I had to get my run in last night finishing up around 10:30 pm, but that is what it is all about.
This weekend was just crazy busy, good crazy but crazy none the less.
Friday night we had Landon's Christmas program which was entertaining, watching three year old's attempt to sing songs was awesome even though he sings them all the time and knows the words once on stage you could barely hear him sing. The best part was hearing him yell from the stage "There is my mommy and daddy, over there" followed by waving and pointing, it was awesome and he was so proud.
Saturday was started bright and early with the Computrainer class, got home and immediately got my run in. We had gotten some snow so after Landon and I finished shoveling we practiced making snow balls and throwing them at the mailboxes which was entertaining.
Saturday night we had a couple of party's to go to and fun times we had. They started at 4:30 and not getting home until 11 makes for a long day after getting up before 5 for CT class, but I kept the booze under control otherwise Sunday would have been a long day.
Sunday we had to get some shopping done, wrap presents (which takes way longer than it should) and head down to Orland to look at some furniture stores. We ended up not getting back to Naperville until after 3 so once again I didn't swim on Sunday. That is going to change in January as we have good challenge for that month on the horizon. Once we got home the Bergren's were coming over for dinner and just hanging out, it was a fun evening but I still had to get my run in.
So I ended the weekend with my Sunday run starting at 9:45 pm later than I would have liked but I was able to watch the end of the Vikings\Panthers game and thankfully Petersen came though for me to send the Ron Mexico's in to the finals for Fantasy football! What a way to end a great weekend!
This weekend was just crazy busy, good crazy but crazy none the less.
Friday night we had Landon's Christmas program which was entertaining, watching three year old's attempt to sing songs was awesome even though he sings them all the time and knows the words once on stage you could barely hear him sing. The best part was hearing him yell from the stage "There is my mommy and daddy, over there" followed by waving and pointing, it was awesome and he was so proud.
Saturday was started bright and early with the Computrainer class, got home and immediately got my run in. We had gotten some snow so after Landon and I finished shoveling we practiced making snow balls and throwing them at the mailboxes which was entertaining.
Saturday night we had a couple of party's to go to and fun times we had. They started at 4:30 and not getting home until 11 makes for a long day after getting up before 5 for CT class, but I kept the booze under control otherwise Sunday would have been a long day.
Sunday we had to get some shopping done, wrap presents (which takes way longer than it should) and head down to Orland to look at some furniture stores. We ended up not getting back to Naperville until after 3 so once again I didn't swim on Sunday. That is going to change in January as we have good challenge for that month on the horizon. Once we got home the Bergren's were coming over for dinner and just hanging out, it was a fun evening but I still had to get my run in.
So I ended the weekend with my Sunday run starting at 9:45 pm later than I would have liked but I was able to watch the end of the Vikings\Panthers game and thankfully Petersen came though for me to send the Ron Mexico's in to the finals for Fantasy football! What a way to end a great weekend!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
December 15th Run, Cold but fun!
Last night I sucked it up and headed outside for my evening run. It was single digits and really freaking cold. I wanted to press that pace a bit, like I said I yesterday I wanted to mix things up a bit and like many folks have said before, in order to run faster you have to run faster.
I headed out the door and immediately started questioning my sanity as the cold hit my face. I really couldn't help but push it as I wanted the sweat to start as I thought that would help the cold. The run was fun, a bit faster than usual and all not that cold once you got a couple of miles in. I ended up running almost 5 miles averaging a 7:16 pace. I am signing up for a 5 mile run on the 14th of Feb and my goal is to run the entire race at a sub 7 pace, weather may play a factor but that is the plan right now.
Today is a 25 minute run and I will probably get back on the treadmill as I need to go get a bit warmer gloves. I also picked up a pair of smart wool running socks which are awesome but may need to get a couple more pairs.
I headed out the door and immediately started questioning my sanity as the cold hit my face. I really couldn't help but push it as I wanted the sweat to start as I thought that would help the cold. The run was fun, a bit faster than usual and all not that cold once you got a couple of miles in. I ended up running almost 5 miles averaging a 7:16 pace. I am signing up for a 5 mile run on the 14th of Feb and my goal is to run the entire race at a sub 7 pace, weather may play a factor but that is the plan right now.
Today is a 25 minute run and I will probably get back on the treadmill as I need to go get a bit warmer gloves. I also picked up a pair of smart wool running socks which are awesome but may need to get a couple more pairs.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
December Running Challenge Half Empty or Half Full
Well here it is middle of December and quickly approaching the holidays and what do you know we are half way done with the challenge. I will have to say I am still quite enjoying our friendly running challenge. Even with the majority of them lately being on the treadmill. I think I kind of burned out running by September and I needed something to kick start me into gear, this seemed to be just what I needed.
I have stayed pretty much on course with the times but have mixed up the runs with different workouts. I have done some pyramid runs with increasing the speed every couple of minutes, done some hill repeats and also some slow easy runs to recover. I can't remember the last time I have ran this many times at this short of a distance but it was probably when I first got into running. Back than I was happy to just finish a 5K as that was a long ways, now I am still happy to finish a 5K but for a different reason, usually I feel like I am going to puke from redlining the entire race.
This weekend was a mixed bag, I got up and rode the 6:00 am cycling class and immediately went home and worked all day until about 10:00 pm straight through the day but somehow still managed to get on the treadmill and run until for thirty minutes at a good pace. This was actually a very relaxing way to end the day and relieve the stress from working all day.
I got up Sunday, chilled and did a ton of work around the house. I made a deal with myself, I could skip swimming for the day but had to hit it hard on the treadmill later. This gave some time to hang with Landon once they got back from the grand parent's in Iowa before heading to the Endure It! Holiday Party. I ran for forty minutes with almost the entire second half at my current 5K pace finishing the last five minutes well under around a 6:30 average pace.
The hard part of the run challenge is on the horizon, the dreaded holidays. Since we go back to Iowa for the holidays it means that we will be running outdoors. I say we as I can sucker Amy into coming with as we have the built in babysitters with grand parents and it is not very often we can go for a run together.
The upside to all this is that in a couple of days I am on vacation for over two weeks and may have to dust off my trainer and actually ride somewhere besides at Endure It!. I am thinking since I haven't seen the movie The Hangover yet I may watch that and ride one day. I can only watch so much garbage from on demand.
I have stayed pretty much on course with the times but have mixed up the runs with different workouts. I have done some pyramid runs with increasing the speed every couple of minutes, done some hill repeats and also some slow easy runs to recover. I can't remember the last time I have ran this many times at this short of a distance but it was probably when I first got into running. Back than I was happy to just finish a 5K as that was a long ways, now I am still happy to finish a 5K but for a different reason, usually I feel like I am going to puke from redlining the entire race.
This weekend was a mixed bag, I got up and rode the 6:00 am cycling class and immediately went home and worked all day until about 10:00 pm straight through the day but somehow still managed to get on the treadmill and run until for thirty minutes at a good pace. This was actually a very relaxing way to end the day and relieve the stress from working all day.
I got up Sunday, chilled and did a ton of work around the house. I made a deal with myself, I could skip swimming for the day but had to hit it hard on the treadmill later. This gave some time to hang with Landon once they got back from the grand parent's in Iowa before heading to the Endure It! Holiday Party. I ran for forty minutes with almost the entire second half at my current 5K pace finishing the last five minutes well under around a 6:30 average pace.
The hard part of the run challenge is on the horizon, the dreaded holidays. Since we go back to Iowa for the holidays it means that we will be running outdoors. I say we as I can sucker Amy into coming with as we have the built in babysitters with grand parents and it is not very often we can go for a run together.
The upside to all this is that in a couple of days I am on vacation for over two weeks and may have to dust off my trainer and actually ride somewhere besides at Endure It!. I am thinking since I haven't seen the movie The Hangover yet I may watch that and ride one day. I can only watch so much garbage from on demand.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
What's Happening
So the December Running Challenge is in Day 9 and progressing nicely. I have to say this is one of the better idea's we have come up with. There is nothing more motivating than having others holding you accountable and the threat of taunting and heckling if your wuss out. There are days I definitely did not feel like going but know that it is all in good fun and a nice friendly challenge. Since it is crap outside and I could easily just move to the couch and watch stupid shows on HGTV or DIY it is fun to have some extra motivation.
Today was the first Computrainer class threshold testing, a couple of changes from last year as we went increased the duration from 20 to 30 minutes and are only going to do them every other month instead of every month. I haven't been riding as much as I was last year at this time and due to work had missed a couple of classes lately so was not really sure what number I would be at. I had an idea but you really don't know. I was shooting for 270 and ended up at 271 but it took some harder efforts at the end to get it up. I usually go with the strategy of easing into it in build your number up as you go, I was afraid of blowing up so I really went out pretty conservative. I wonder if I could of held a bit higher number if I picked it up more at the twenty minute mark instead of the twenty-five minute mark but no regrets. You learn as you go I guess.
Now let's hope the weather gets better so I can get outside and run long on Sunday. I go in streaks and currently not digging the treadmills as I prefer the cold winter weather at night with all the X-mas lights in the neighborhood.
Today was the first Computrainer class threshold testing, a couple of changes from last year as we went increased the duration from 20 to 30 minutes and are only going to do them every other month instead of every month. I haven't been riding as much as I was last year at this time and due to work had missed a couple of classes lately so was not really sure what number I would be at. I had an idea but you really don't know. I was shooting for 270 and ended up at 271 but it took some harder efforts at the end to get it up. I usually go with the strategy of easing into it in build your number up as you go, I was afraid of blowing up so I really went out pretty conservative. I wonder if I could of held a bit higher number if I picked it up more at the twenty minute mark instead of the twenty-five minute mark but no regrets. You learn as you go I guess.
Now let's hope the weather gets better so I can get outside and run long on Sunday. I go in streaks and currently not digging the treadmills as I prefer the cold winter weather at night with all the X-mas lights in the neighborhood.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Quick Update
So this was day two of our running challenge and I have to say it is great motivation to get out and run. The hell if I am going to be the only one that doesn't complete all 31 days. I am actually enjoying the shorter intervals as well as I think a lot of times we get stuck in the whole capacity that we need to run at least five miles to make it worth while. I am also trying to run the majority of these outdoors, tonight's was crisp but it is kind of fun to run outdoors when everyone else starts to head inside and running through the hood with all the X-Mas lights up is pretty cool as well.
Next week should be a blast, the running challenge continues, threshold testing at Computrainer class and hopefully the first month of the 100's test in the pool. That side thing of work has also been kicking my ass lately as well so hopefully that gets under control but I don't see an end in sight currently.
Below is a video of Landon taking part in our nightly dance party, good times always.
Next week should be a blast, the running challenge continues, threshold testing at Computrainer class and hopefully the first month of the 100's test in the pool. That side thing of work has also been kicking my ass lately as well so hopefully that gets under control but I don't see an end in sight currently.
Below is a video of Landon taking part in our nightly dance party, good times always.
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