Nothing. I've spent the last two days doing some visiting that I haven't been able to do - I spent yesterday in my hometown, seeing a couple friends and some professors from my college. Then today I went to Indiana University to see a friend of mine who's a grad student there. We did about 6 hilly miles of trail hiking in a park but not at any speed, though. (She's slow. And a girl.)
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
This was my first middle-distance run in a while. I left at 9am. Weather at the start was about 75 or so, high humidity and got to probably around 80 at the end.
This run sucked. I intentionally went slow because I knew I didn't have the endurance to keep up a decent pace, but damn! 9 minute miles! Oy.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
I just found out a 20,000 sq ft climbing gym is just by my base, and they have $8 day passes on Sundays for military. As if I need more temptations to fritter my money away on personal sports!
Aug 24-25
Nothing. I spent a lot of time with my family because I won't be seeing them for a few months at least. Got to get in some good talks with my dad.
Aug 26
Traveled back from Indy to San Diego and moved the first of my stuff into my new place. Did a short (2-3mi, I guess) run around the neighborhood to familiarize myself. Luckily there's a nice outdoor shopping mall with pharmacy, grocery store, movie theater, some restaurants, etc 1mi door-to-door, well within bike distance.
Unfortunately, I now live in the part of San Diego that Public Transportation Forgot. Seriously, everywhere else I've been in the city, there are bus stops everywhere. Not in this neighborhood, not a damn one! I'm trying to figure out how I can get from here to the airport without driving (and thus without having to pay to park my car.) The closest bus stop is 1.8 miles from my place, and it'll take $9 in bus fare and nearly 2 hours to travel 20 miles to the airport. WTF.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
Lisa: The sidestroke is just the regular stroke. I've never had good swimming form, and I'm focusing on improving my efficiency. I know that for my level of cardiovascular conditioning I shouldn't be getting wiped out so quickly. The backstroke is the regular backstroke as well.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
Pullups (medium grip, 5 max sets, 90sec rest)
7,7,7,6,5
-I remember when I started this particular pullup workout with a set of 20. :P
High to Low Woodchopper on cable machine
60 2x10 (each side)
Low to High Woodchopper on cable machine
50 2x10 (each side)
Hanging Leg Raises (on roman chair)
3x10
After lifting, the scale in the locker room said I weigh 160.1 lbs with t-shirt, shorts and socks (no shoes.) So I'm only about 5 pounds over where I was in my running prime. I think I could lose 5 pounds of fat off me.
------
27 Aug Evening
Cycling
19.13mi
1:34:39 (12.1mi avg)
I biked from home to a bike trail that parallels a freeway. The average speed is skewed by all the stop lights I had to wait at until I got to the bike path. Once I got rolling I was around 17-19mph pretty much the whole time. Going home on the surface roads SUCKED. I never realized how I was riding downhill pretty much the whole way TO the trail until I was riding uphill FROM the trail.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
Hey Ralph - just popping in to say hi. Good to see you back at it and making such great progress, both with your running and your body comp. Good work, man.
__________________
"Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right." - Henry Ford
"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
"Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
Hey Ralph - just popping in to say hi. Good to see you back at it and making such great progress, both with your running and your body comp. Good work, man.
x2
I don't know how the hell I missed this, but it's great that you're back at it, Ralph.
__________________ In Fitness & Friendship, MAHLER
______________________________ __________________________ There is no light at the end of the tunnel. You carry the light with you.
Beach Run
Torrey Pines (San Diego) / Del Mar, CA
5.00mi
38:54 (7:46/mi avg)
Not bad. Pretty much out-and-back on hardpacked sand during low tide. Beautiful sunset, helped take my mind off the run. I live 2.5 miles from Torrey Pines Park now. Too bad I go to Yuma in a few days.
As a side note, the women who were out for an after-work run at the beach were HOT! Jim, you might want to look for work in north San Diego. :P
3 Sept 08
Cycling
Del Mar, CA
9.48mi
48:23 total (11.8mph avg)
Legs hurt a bit from the run yesterday (yeah, I know) so I went for a recovery bike. On my way to Torrey Pines yesterday, I went up/down a big hill, perfect for hill repeats. According to Google Earth it has a 111 ft elevation rise over a quarter-mile - an 8.4% grade.
So I left my home, traveled 1.5 miles to the crest of this hill and rode my brakes all the way down, then rode paralleling the ocean through Del Mar to the horsetrack and back. I knew I was out of Del Mar Heights (approximately my neighborhood) and into Del Mar proper when I started seeing limousines in front of seafood restaurants and shirtless surfer dudes wandering among bungalows. It was good practice in city riding, as I was caught at a red light at virtually every intersection.
Unfortunately, on the way back up the demon hill I had to unclip halfway through and walk it - I was standing on my pedals in the easiest gear, going very slow. I feared I was going to run out of steam and fall over into traffic still clipped in. I didn't like feeling like a pussy, though.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
__________________
“Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'"
OK, I know I've neglected the log (and all y'alls as well). An update: I've been in Yuma for five weeks and have two more. This course has been tough but very rewarding. I've gotten in about 2-3 workouts (weights, run, or cycle) a week.
On Friday I ran a nighttime 5k race out in town and ran 21:10. Slow for me, really slow, but at least it gave me an idea where I am. I have 15 weeks until the Carlsbad (CA) Half-Marathon, The 5k featured high winds and decent heat for Yuma (high 80s through the race), so I think I would've done better under more, uh, San Diego-like conditions.
My training will be the same as I used to train for all my other halfs: 1 long run, 1 day of Yassos, and 1 tempo run. Maybe one day of easy running, and the other days cross-training.
I did an 8-mile "long" run today along the canal bike path running through the middle of Yuma. It was an out-and-back, and my ~25mph tailwind on the "out" didn't feel so good going back.
13 Oct 08
Run
8.00mi
1:05:41 (8:12/mi avg)
So it begins.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
I did these on the sidewalk around the large Sergeant Major's green here on Yuma. (Yes, there is a gigantic lawn in the middle of the desert.) It took the first two 800s to figure out the right distance. It took me about a minute or so out of each recovery period to walk/jog from the finish to the start.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
And I'd take those Yassos in 50 degree weather with no wind.
__________________
“Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'"
During my PR days I was hitting Yassos in the mid to low 2:40s. So I'm working back down to that. I was also about 10-12# lighter (I'm around 165 now) so I'm sure that has something to do with it.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
__________________
“Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'"
Yuma was 94 degrees for the past week or so. When I got to my apartment it was about 70. I was cold in jeans and a t-shirt.
Yuma has its charm. If you like sun, heat, and rock mountains, it's perfect. Unfortunately, its main appeal to Marines is that it's situated evenly between San Diego and Phoenix. As I'm stationed in, and live in, SD that appeal is minor. But one of the instructors at the school I was in said I'd be a good fit as an instructor. I hope he was just trying to psych me out, 'cause I don't want to get sent back there.
__________________
"If it felt good, you didn't push hard enough. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes' track coach, Ultramarathon Man
"My baby's soft and sweet, somewhere between a flower and a gun" - fiction family
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