Monthly Archives: November 2008
A personal 7-mile turkey trot
Some people run turkey trots to make themselves feel better by stuffing themselves at Thanksgiving. This year I was going to run a 5k, but after talking with a friend of mine the other day I decided to just run with a few other people, and log more than 3.1 miles. I was a bit hesitant at first to do what they were planning to do, but I stuck with it this morning and in the end had no guilty feelings about stuffing myself this afternoon. And I saved $20 in the process.
We ended up running 7 miles … yes, SEVEN miles on big hills in Bedford that I’m not used to anymore. This coming from me who has cut way back on running since August. My longest run since the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half has just been 5 miles, I think, while I’ve mostly stuck to runs between 3 and 4 miles with a lot of cross training. Today was the answer I was looking for — cross training does go a long way. At the same time, though, it doesn’t fully replace running.
Don’t look for me to change my plans for this winter — I still plan to keep doing what I’m doing with less running. I am happy though to know that I can still push out a distance like I did today with no problems. Overall it was a great run. Of course with a group we started off faster than I would have liked — the first mile was just a tad over 8 minutes — but overall we kept a good pace. Two of the guys pushed it at the end while me and another guy hung back, finishing in just about a 9-minute mile pace. It made me feel good about what I might be able to do next time I run a 5k.
Lastly, I’d just like to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone out there. I hope you had a great day, and if you happened to run a turkey trot or something even longer, I hope you had a great run.
The "other" category
Since I’m still a relative newbie to the gym scene, it’s easy to say that I’ve been hesitant to try out equipment that I’m not used to. Well, today that changed. Last week I noticed that the Gold’s Gym I go to had some new elliptical-type machines that looked like fun. Usually “fun” and “elliptical” don’t go together very well. Today, I got on it and had a great workout.
The new machine is from Octane Fitness - it’s the Pro3700. It was so much better than a regular elliptical machine with lots of different options. It even has program and level controls on the handle bar so you don’t have to worry about pushing buttons if you want to change up what you’re doing. It also has a small fan on it. Today I did a mile in the “manual” mode, then about 20 minutes in the “X Mode” that targeted specific areas of the body in one-minute increments and then a “30:30″ interval routine, which was pretty intense with 30 second “sprints” and 30 second “walks.”
Overall I did 5 miles in about 40 minutes … thus the category of “other” with my miles. My mileage that I’ll officially mark down in my workout log will be from running, biking, walking and other. And after today, much of that other will be from the Pro3700.
November Snow
As you know, occasionally I do a weekly roundup. Well, this week was a very basic week with a couple of gym visits, a run outside and a few walks with
my dog — a week after being sick and doing nothing, it was pretty good. So instead of getting into any thoughts about the week from a working out perspective, I’ll leave you with these photos of snow.
For many of us on the East Coast, it’s too early to be this cold — a normal high in Richmond this time of the year is in the upper 50s and lows are usually in the mid-30s. This week was nuts. It’s one of only a few times I’ve actually seen snow in Virginia before Thanksgiving.
Two teaspoons of cold air
Last night I was pretty determined to get up and go to the gym. But after walking my dog and realizing that I could handle temperatures in the mid-20s, I decided to go for an outdoor run. It was my first non-treadmill run in a while and it’s the first run in such cold conditions since March. Although I was running much slower that I thought I was going, it was a refreshing run. The cold, fresh, low humidity air was just what the doctor ordered.
I’m not a big fan of running in the cold, but today was definitely a break. It also gave me a chance to blow my nose like my wife hates … fellow runners probably know what I’m talking about … but it was really a relief.
Although I’ll be doing a lot of treadmill running this winter, today was a good example of what I want to do at least once a week over the next couple of months if it’s cold — just get outside and run a few miles and not worry about pace.
Some sort of normalcy
With being sick, having a baby, experiencing strangely cold weather and catching up on work, this month has definitely been off when it comes to working out. Last week was pretty much a rock bottom with the sickness, but instead of worrying about “starting over,” I’ve tried to resume some normalcy this week.
It hasn’t been all that much, but I’ve gone to the gym a couple of times to get some short workouts in, including a good 3.4-mile run last night. I felt pretty good. Once all this snot is 100 percent out of me, it’ll be even better. A few more hours of sleep this weekend will certianly help too. Tomorrow I plan to resume my mini-duathlon with some sort of run-bike-run routine. It’ll probably be short, but it’s a must.
I haven’t decided on the Turkey Trot next week. We’ll be visiting family in Bedford, so I’d do the one in Lynchburg. I need a few more good runs before doing it. I certainly won’t be trying to set any records, but I’d like to still be able to hit around 24 minutes. We’ll see …
In need of a workout
This weekend’s Richmond Marathon festivities (8k, a new half and the marathon) quietly passed without any involvement from me. The weekend almost became a tradition — two years ago I did the 8k, last year was the marathon and until the early baby surprise and my sudden illness I was going to do the 8k this year. When I took my dog out for a walk that morning, though, there was part of me that was glad I wasn’t out there — it was very humid and strangely warm, and then the wind picked up quite a bit. It wasn’t ideal for a race.
But missing out on this weekend has me thinking about 2009. Running a marathon is probably out of the question, but I can’t completely rule it out. At one point this year, I totally ruled out doing the Shamrock Half again in March, but now that I’ve taken time off and joined a gym to avoid training in the cold, the thoughts of doing that race have resurfaced. I still want to do a duathlon, but that’s not until late April, five weeks after Shamrock.
Meanwhile, there’s the desire to just take it “easy” until the summer. By “easy” I mean doing a few shorter races and continuing a lot of cross training until late spring before the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half — haven’t I been saying that for a while now?
I think my issue right now is that my sickness and lack of sleep have prevented me from doing anything in the past week and I have an itch just to run a couple of miles. Sitting still makes me think — when I hit that treadmill tomorrow (I hope), all this craziness will go away.
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