Running Recap 5/31 and 100 miles!!

So I decided to make it a taper/recovery week, only doing 1 run for 4 miles. On Monday (Memorial Day) 5/31, I did play some softball and volleyball, which was good and served as a bit of cross training. I was more sore than I expected to be.  On Wed, I did 4 miles in Central Park on a new route: entering at 59th, I went west/north along the west side, crossed over at 72nd towards the east side, then went north on the east side up to 90th. Turned around and reversed course.

Right calf and hammy were sore for the next day or 2, which is what ultimately led to just taking the next few days off. The heat wave didnt help it either.

After my run yesterday (which will be in the next recap), I broke 100 miles for the year! Thought I'd take a moment and celebrate the milestone =)

Running Recap: Week of 5/24

Third straight week of consistent running. I may be onto something here....

So here's the result of what was previously planned:

5/26 (Wed): Hills, Central Park, twice around southern loop, 3.5 miles.
5/28 (Fri): Long run (5, maybe 6 miles)
5/30 (Sun): Tempo

I had to alter my Wed. run simply because it was a 90+ degree day. It was hard to breathe, let along run. Scrapped the hills and just tried to go twice around the southern loop. Barely made that and had to walk near the 3 mile mark. Note to self: DO NOT RUN IN 90+ DEGREE WEATHER!

Friday's long run was a good one, for the full 6 mile outer loop in central park. Coolish day, in the upper 60s. The small 1 mile-ish section at the northern most part of the course had a humongo hill, which I went up at a snail's pace. Fortunately, humongo hills are usually coupled with fairly equal downhills, this one is actually named "the great hill". Which allowed me to coast down, for a short while at least. Completed the 6 in roughly 66 min; avg a 10:55 min/mile (according to Nike+).


Got my lazy butt out on Sunday afternoon (a big feat in itself!); to do my tempo runs at the Cross Island path. Jogged from home to the park (appx 1 mile) as my warm up. Entered the path and did half-mile tempo runs. Maintained roughly a 9 min/mile, but was pretty winded by the end of the half mile. Did that twice. Then on the way back, from the path back to 35th Ave., is about a .3 mile uphill. So I did another tempo run going up the hill.


Its looking good for now, need to plan a taper week soon. Legs are beginning to fatigue a little.

Running Recap: Week of 5/17

Well, seems I'm on track, for now.

Started the week with hills again, as in my previous post, but added an additional rep to make 5.  Thurs 5/20 was my "long" run of 5.2 miles. It seemed harder this time around than last, my guess would be due to the warmer temps. I did finish about 30 seconds quicker than last week, which may not seem like much, but I'm happy with any achievement at this point, no matter how small.

On Saturday 5/22, was my tempo run.

The plan for this coming week:

5/26 (Wed): Hills, Central Park
5/28 (Fri): Long run (5, maybe 6 miles)
5/30 (Sun): Tempo

Inconsistent

How do I always manage to let a month go by without an update? Better yet, how do I let almost a month go by without running?! 

Since the Run as One, I've only gotten a few runs in.  There always seems to be something.  It was my calves (BOTH of them) for about 2 weeks after the race.  A couple runs in that last week for April. And then I came down with some kind of stomach virus the first week of May.  Another 2 runs later,  here we are.  Definitely disappointed in where my training is, I had thought, and wanted to be, much further at this point than I am right now.

This week, so far (May 10)

Logged about 3.5 miles on Monday (5/10), which consisted a little of hill training. Entered Central Park at 59th street, and did an easy jog up to the Boathouse near 72nd as a warm-up.  From there, for those familiar, is a nice hill. So I ran up the hill, at about 75%, up to the traffic light, which was just over .1 mile. Turned around and jogged back down. Repeated this for a total of 4 times.  Then came back down and finished the remainder of the southern loop, from 72nd. 

Did 5.2 miles yesterday (5/12), my longest mileage to date. Entering at 59th, headed north along the east side, making a left (heading west) at 104th street, then back south along West Drive, all the way back down to 59th. It was a damp, cool day, which was good for me. Completed it in just over 56 minutes, without stopping. Good news is that my calves seem fine, so hopefully, those issues are behind me. 

Will look to go back out on Sunday. 

KFC Double Down

Alright, so there's been quite some hub-bub about KFC's new Double Down sandwich. Basically, its 2 pieces of white meat chicken filets, 2 strips of bacon, cheese, and "Colonel's Sauce".  In essence, using the chicken filets as the bun. You also have the choice of having your chicken fried or grilled.  Now, I've seen and/or heard many that are saying how "gross" it is, and how "unhealthy" it must be.  So I just couldnt help myself to do a little comparison, and the results may or may not shock you. If any of these people who are crying bloody murder regarding the Double Down have ever had a Whopper or Big Mac, guess what?  The Double Down actually is "healthier" than either one.  I mean, its all fast food, so NONE are actually good FOR you, but in this case of "lesser of 2 (well, 4) evils", the Double Down (w/grilled chicken) would actually be your best choice.

Here's the nutritional info to help break it down for you:

http://www.wendys.com/food/pdf/us/nutrition.pdf
http://www.bk.com/cms/en/us/cms_out/digital_assets/files/pages/NationalNutritionals.pdf
http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionfacts.pdf
http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

Choose wisely people....

Running Recap 4/5 and JP Morgan's Run as One

Finished the week off with 3 runs, one of which was the JP Morgan Run as One (4mi).  As stated in the previous post, started the week off with a 4.8 mile run along the Cross Island Path.  On Wed., did 4 miles in Central Park, twice (and a little) around the southern (small) loop.  This by far was the hardest run, which I'm pretty sure the 90 degree day contributed.  Struggled big time to just complete the typical twice around, let along do the extra 1/2 mile to complete 4 miles.

JP Morgan's Run As One

A crisp 52 deg. F and 47% humidity at 9AM made for favorable running conditions for this race. Completing the run in 42:10, which was just over a 10:30 min-mile (see above). Not GREAT by any stretch of the imagination, but a good place to start. Remember, this was my first [real] race, EVER! But the most encouraging part of the day was making it through all 4 miles without really struggling at all. Legs felt strong, and was never really out of breath. Kept the heart rate under 180 as well.  Slowed down once for a quick H2O break, and that was it.  Did a nice sprint to the finish, and it was in the books!  Sadly, my left calf is now in pain, AGAIN. It seems to be playing a little ping-pong, in terms of pain. I guess I should be thankful that its never both calves at the same time. Hoping this one wont sideline me for another 9 days. Would like to continue ramping up my training.

Until next time...

Running Recap: Weeks of 3/22 and 3/29

In my previous post I mentioned being slowed by strained calves, which ultimately kept me off the road for 9 days.  So for the week of 3/22, I was only able to get 1 run in at the end of the week, which was a quick 1.6 miles, at the Cross Island Path (Crocheron Park to Northern Blvd). It was pretty chilly that morning.

I've done well recently, having gone out three times in the last 6 days, which included one which was my longest run yet! 2, 3, and 4.8 miles were my distances. Nike+ is still a little wonky, and not sure was calibrated correctly, but I believe I'm still in the ballpark of a 10 min-mile. A little quicker on the shorter run, slower on the long run.  My McDavid calf protector sleeves came in yesterday, so they'll be put to the test as I'm looking to get in another 4 tonight, before my "big" race (4 miles) on Sunday!  This will be my first "real" race (other than the JP Morgan Corp. Challenge, which I dont consider real), so, wish me luck!

Recap: Weeks of 3/8 and 3/15

Was only able to get in 2 runs each week, each of 3.5 miles, except for the first run on 3/8, which was only 1.75miles. Steadily trying to improve my pace each time out. I tried a "tempo" run and it completely wiped me out for the rest of the night. I got home, dug deep to make and eat dinner, took a shower and went to bed, haha. But it felt good to actually be able to sustain that through the 3.5 miles.

I've been hampered by strained calves, which is why I've been limited to 4 runs in the last 2 weeks. First it was my left calf, that healed and is ok now. But last Tuesday I felt a pull in my right calf.  It felt good enough Thursday to go out, so I did, but I apparently reaggrevated it.  So as of today (has been almost 5 days), and its still bothering me. I might just take the rest of the this week off and try to get out on Saturday this week (since its going to be sunny, not as warm though...). Been on a steady diet of ibuprofen and protein, hoping to hasten the healing process.

Oh, and I'm signed up for a 4-mile race on April 11th in Central Park.

This past saturday (3/20) I finally got a quick workout in. Its been a little while, but I wanted to work my way back in. Did pretty much a full body circuit, consisting of:

Squat to shoulder press
Pull up
Push up
Single leg Romanian Dead lift

Did 3 rounds, with a 2 minute rest in between rounds. Felt pretty good, legs were pretty sore the next day, as was my back. Chest wasnt very sore, neither were my triceps. Hoping to repeat the circuit again tonight.

Running Recap Week of 3/1 and a Horrible Reminder....

Spring is (almost) in the air and with that, came my first 4-run week. Ran on Mon, Tue, Thur and Sat., with distances: 2, 3.5, 3.5, and 3 miles; for a grand total of roughly 12 miles! Very productive week, with the Saturday run feeling very easy and energetic. I also split the Saturday run into 1.5 splits (CIP Path- Crocheron Park to Ft. Totten), doing an easy pace for the first 1.5, then intervals for the second 1.5.  Pace is still in the mid to high 10 min/mile- so definite room for improvement there. Weather is looking good (and warmer) this week, so hoping to match last week's outting.

So a couple weekends ago, we made a trip to PetCo to pick up some dog food for little Oreo. We were orignally going to pick up two 5-lb bags, but figured we'd save some money by just buying the big 20 pounder.  We didnt use a cart, because we didnt think we needed it.  I ended up just picking up the 20 lb bag and carrying it around. This is when I got a really really stark reminder of what it felt like to weigh 230+ pounds. As we walked around a little more, which could not have been more than 5 min, with an addition 20 lbs in hand, my knees and hips started to ache. I was getting fatigued. Just to think- at my current 205-210, with the added 20lbs, put me right back to where i was. That was a very scary thought. Never again, will I let myself go like that. Never.

Nike LunarGlide+

These arrived yesterday. The Nike LunarGlide+. Have not tested them out yet, nor will i have a chance to soon. I'd like to wait until most of the puddles dry up before i take them out for a test run. I do plan on using these as my race day shoe. A more thorough review once i've had a chance to try then out.