Archive for the ‘workouts’ Category

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Suncrest in March

Friday, March 16th, 2012

It was nice outside today, and fairly warm. Charmaine wanted to go for a bike ride. It sounded like a great idea. We headed out on our usual route up through Alpine and over to Suncrest Drive when Charmaine suddenly turned and started heading up the big hill. I watched for a minute, hoping she would turn and head back home, but it didn’t happen.

I rode up to what is really the base of the hill, where it changes from a nice straight road and starts heading into the switchbacks. I stopped there and asked Charmaine if she was ready to turn back. She wasn’t. She said we should at least ride up two or three of the switchbacks.

I stopped again after a few switchbacks to see if she was ready to go home. Nope. She said something about having as much time as we needed so we might as well go to the top. She was right.

In years past, the first few rides of the season require many stops along this route, but we didn’t stop again until we hit the top. I managed to reach the summit first and pulled into a neighborhood where I could look over the final hill to watch Charmaine make her ascent and cheer her on. She wasn’t fast, but she just kept pedaling. She didn’t even stop when a guy blew past her (going about as fast as I’ve seen anyone go on that hill) in a full Adobe kit. We suspect it was Ryan Packer, but he went by so fast we couldn’t be sure. I raced from my neighborhood vantage point back to the top to see if I could say hello to him, but he was already on his way down the Draper side. The dude is fast.

On our way back it started getting cold and a nice crosswind kept me cautiously riding my brakes most the way back down. I don’t mind crosswinds when I’m pedaling up a hill, but I don’t like them when I’m flying down. It was rush hour by the time we got to the bottom of the hill, so we just headed home. Total distance was about 25 miles with about 2000 feet of elevation gain. Not bad for the second ride of the year.

When we got home I changed into my running clothes and jumped on the treadmill. Just because we went fora bike ride didn’t mean I could skip running today. I ran the first mile at 6.5 mph the whole way (9:13 at mile 1), but then I walked the second mile and decided that was good enough. No jumping jacks or push-ups today, but I still felt pretty good about it.

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Short and Sweet

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

In my mind I was going to hop on the treadmill and walk 3 miles, but after I put on my shoes, I felt like running a little. I set the speed to 7.2 mph and didn’t touch it again the whole first mile. I crossed the 1 mile mark at 8:24. That’s pretty good for me. After that I remembered I was supposed to be walking, so I cranked it down to 4.0 mph and walked a mile. I may have walked further, but one of our neighbors came over and I didn’t want to be *that* antisocial.

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Twisted

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

I must run differently in the new shoes. My stride seems to be shorter and my cadence faster for the same speed in my old shoes. I think that’s mostly due to the extra bounce in my step. I’m also noticing that I must be running differently than I used to. It hurts to run very far at a time. My legs feel like they’re all twisted. The outside edge of the bones in my legs are really tender. I don’t know if it’s the bone itself (doubtful) or something that connects to the bone along that edge, but it’s not cool. Hopefully I just need some more time to break myself into the new shoes and pattern of running.

I walked on the treadmill for a mile before going out on the street today. I wanted to make sure the new shoes were fitting correctly. I’m pretty sure they are. I don’t slide around inside the shoes, and they don’t feel tight. But I had a really hard time running today. I was in pain, and also fairly tired. I seem to be going in the wrong direction. Hopefully I can turn it around soon.

http://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/75423061

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100

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New(er) Shoes

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

I wasn’t quite ready to give up on my shoes this morning, so I told Charmaine not to take them back to the store… that I would do it later. Then I read a bunch of stuff about how running shoes are supposed to fit, how to break them in, how to lace them up for this issue or that issue, etc. I made a few adjustments, put them on again, and jumped on the treadmill. It didn’t take long to realize there really was a problem. My right foot was pretty good, but my left foot really wasn’t. When I was running or jogging, it wasn’t terrible, but if I paid attention I noticed it. When I walked it was really bad. It was sloppy enough that I didn’t think I could live with it long term. Every time my weight shifted to my left foot, I could feel it slide around inside the shoe. That’s not cool.

So I hopped in the car and drove back to Runner’s Corner. They were really nice. They let me try on anything I wanted and made it super easy to exchange them. I went home with the same shoe, but in a size 12 (instead of a 12 1/2). I’m still not 100% sure who makes this shoe or what it’s called, but I like it. I think it may be a tiny bit too bouncy for me, but it’s not a big deal… plus it will probably diminish over time as I pound these babies into the pavement all summer. The shoes say “Brooks” on the back, but I’m not sure if that’s a manufacturer, brand, trim-level, etc. I guess it doesn’t really matter.

Now I have to figure out how to run more distance without walking. Maybe these shoes will never have to walk. Maybe they will never need to know that kind of defeat. We’ll find out soon.

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100
Treadmill: 2 miles walking, jogging, running (experimenting with the shoes)

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New Shoes

Monday, March 12th, 2012

After hitting Costco early in the morning last Saturday, we stopped off at Runner’s Corner and I tried on shoe after shoe after shoe (and ran around the outside of the store on a little path) until I was sick of it and just picked one. It was a lot like taking an eye test.

“A or B?”
“I can’t tell a difference.”

“B or C?”
“Still can’t tell a difference.”

etc.

In the end, I went home with a new pair of shoes, size 12 1/2 (way bigger than I normally wear), and a bunch of new socks. They say cotton socks (I normally wear cotton socks) cause blisters. I haven’t ever blistered, but they are runners and they know what they are talking about.

Today I went out and ran for the first time in my new shoes and new socks. It wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t any better than I was doing in my old shoes. I still broke down and walked up one hill… and walking in my new shoes was fairly sloppy and unpleasant.

http://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/75047377

After I got home I jumped on the treadmill to go a bit more, but I couldn’t run. Every time my foot hit the mat, the treadmill would grind to a halt, causing all sorts of bad things to happen to me. Not cool. Maybe the new shoes were just too advanced for my poor treadmill? I don’t know. So I tried to walk on the treadmill… much worse. The shoes were not only sloppy, but it was hard to really walk. I couldn’t walk at my normal 4.0 mph pace, I had to crank the thing down all the way to 3.0 or 2.5 before I could even walk. I wasn’t happy.

I wondered if something bad had happened to the treadmill, so I put on my old shoes for a second and jumped on. The treadmill was fine with my old shoes, but it certainly didn’t get along with my new shoes. That’s not so bad, I thought. I’ll just have a pair of shoes for running outside and one for the treadmill. But then I realized that was stupid.

As I took my shoes and new special runner’s socks off, I noticed something I haven’t seen on my feet for years. Blisters. The runner’s socks are “guaranteed not to cause blisters”, so it must be the shoes. They must be way too big. You see, when I was trying them on at the store, I was wearing my usual cotton socks, which are much thicker than these new runner socks.

So the new shoes are going back. Charmaine is going to trade them for a size 12. I think that may still be too big for me. My old running shoes are size 11. I still can’t believe I let them send me home with size 12 1/2. What was I thinking? I really, really hate shopping and trying crap on, but maybe I should go back to that store and try to get something closer to what I already had. I don’t know what to do. I’m frustrated.

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Riding the carbon horse

Saturday, March 10th, 2012

That’s right, it finally got warm enough today to ride our bikes. We rode with two of our friends from their house in Orem out to Utah lake and back. It was actually a loop, not an out and back, but there’s no other landmark to describe where we rode. It was a lot of fun. We took it easy and really enjoyed being outside. The total loop was about 23 miles. I can’t wait till the next time we can ride.

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Outside again

Friday, March 9th, 2012

The weather is really getting nice. I was really hoping to get out and ride my bike, but it’s still a little too cold for that. Maybe tomorrow. But I did run outside today. I ran my usual 5k loop, but this time I broke down and walked… twice. The second time really sucks, because there’s no real excuse for it other than a mental breakdown. It was on a nice flat section before a slight down-hill section. Lame.

http://runkeeper.com/user/jtalbot/activity/74460153

For my punishment, I got on the treadmill and walked another 2 miles after I was done.

Weekly summary:
23.1 miles
300 Push-ups
150 Jumping jacks

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More walking

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

I must have pushed harder than I thought yesterday, because my legs are really sore today. Since I wasn’t feeling up to running, I decided to continue my experiment with walking every other day instead of running. So I just walked 3 miles at 4.0 mph. Now that I’ve gone something close to 200 miles on the treadmill, I’m going to start writing a review of it… in a future post.

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Fast Five

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

It may not be fast to anyone else, but I’m pretty sure I set a personal record for fastest 5 miles. I started the day with a bowl of oatmeal. 20 minutes later I started warming up with my jumping jacks and push-ups. They were all easy. I was feeling good. I got on the treadmill and ran the first mile in 9:16 then settled into a rhythm with less rest than usual. I went 2 minutes @ 6.5 mph followed by only 1 minute @ 4.0 mph. I crossed the 3.0 mile mark at 30:47, which is pretty good for me. I couldn’t hold the rhythm with less rest, so I started giving myself 2 minutes at 4.0 mph between intervals. By the middle of mile 5 I was toast and just walked it out. I crossed the 5.0 mile mark at 53:29, which is pretty awesome for me. I haven’t ever kept records of my 5 miles runs (there haven’t been that many of them), but I’m pretty sure this was a personal best. I cut 7 minutes from my time just 2 days ago. I’m feeling pretty good about that. I guess taking a walking day wasn’t such a bad idea after all. I may take another one tomorrow. We’ll see.

Jumping jacks: 50
Push-ups: 100

Time to mile 1.0: 9:16 (6.5 mph ave)
Time to mile 3.0: 30:47 (5.8 mph ave)
Time to mile 5.0: 53:29 (5.6 mph ave)
Time to mile 6.0: 1:08:33 (5.2 mph ave)

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Walking it off

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Yesterday’s little stunt slammed my legs more than I thought. When I got on the treadmill this morning, I was really sore. I decided to just walk a couple miles and call it good. I’m not sure if that was just an excuse or if it was good thinking, but that’s what I did. 3 miles at 4.0 mph. No jumping jacks, no push-ups. I’ll have to run again tomorrow, or it’ll become obvious that walking was just an excuse.

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