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jeffreypratt
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| The best is yet to come |
[Jul. 20th, 2007|07:32 pm] |
So I've decided in the aftermath of my half marathon adventure that I need to get faster. I'd love to do another half marathon someday but only if I can do it in 2:00-2:30, which means I need to train myself to sustain a 10-minute mile or better. As always, the Green Lake outer loop is my "home court". So last night, I had a great run. See the details;. This is hands down the best running I've ever done, and in fact it is a notable improvement over the previous night;. I'm excited about these results and my progress, and I can't wait to see if I can mark off another goal this year! |
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| "Ain't nobody chasin' me, boy." |
[Jul. 14th, 2007|12:27 pm] |
Seafair Half Marathon
Originally uploaded by jeffreyp
Most of the "official" race day photos of me were taken at the finish line, where I looked decidedly tired and made no effort to smile. Not sure where this one was taken, but I have to assume it was during the first half of the race before the pain started.
Look at that cotton t-shirt. What a goober. Both the shirt and the hat have been officially retired. |
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| The Day After - now, the story can be told. |
[Jul. 9th, 2007|09:24 am] |
I'm not nearly as sore as I expected to be after my first half marathon. I'm definitely tight and stiff, though, and my left IT band is super-tender around my knee, but it isn't anything that Advil and a trip to the swimming pool won't fix.
The official results: I finished in 2:50:53 (a 13:03 minute/mile pace). I finished in 1245th place overall (out of 1613, including half marathon walkers), 61/65 in my age group, and 555/628 in my gender.
I'm very proud of these results--it is exactly what I set out to do, and having accomplished those goals without training properly is all the more satisfying. Unfortunately, now, there is a nagging little voice in my head asking how well I could do if I did train properly...
Play-by-play after the jump.
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| OK. All done. |
[Jul. 8th, 2007|02:08 pm] |
Performance against goals in the half marathon?
1. Finish. Check!
2. Finish in under 3:00. Check! Unofficial wristwatch time was 2:52.
3. Don't finish last. Check! Not sure where I ranked in my age group but I'm not too worried.
4. Don't get passed by any of the walkers. Hah! There were guys walking 10-minute miles. See this instructional video for further info.
Three out of four ain't bad.
Lengthy commentary forthcoming once my brain is done focusing 100% of its energy on repairing my calves. |
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| Things I've Learned |
[Jul. 7th, 2007|02:31 pm] |
I'm seriously spending most of my day seated next to a big bowl of whole wheat pasta and a bottle of water and worrying about how screwed I am tomorrow.
I just read this snippet on another blog:
"A high heart rate like that (near or above my age calculated maximum) is indicative of a poorly developed fat burning system. My body had to burn glycogen the whole way, and when that started to run out, well, then I slowed down as did my heart rate. The cure for this is to do most training at or below lactate threshold (or some such, lots of different names for that) which for me is around 140. That trains my fat burning system and avoid over-reliance on glycogen burning, and thus I can now do long endurance events with a much lower heart rate."
I, on the other hand, have been at or near my peak heart rate of 185 on just about every training run regardless of distance and/or speed. In other words, if this guy's post is to be believed, the only way for me to hit my goal tomorrow is to strain my cardiovascular system in a possibly unhealthy way and then run out of gas HARD. Alternatively, I can try to keep my rate rate around 160-170 and I might have a fighting chance.
This sitting still and waiting is driving me nuts. I'd love to go out and run, like cramming for an exam or something. |
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| It's time. |
[Jul. 7th, 2007|08:29 am] |
Today marks the one year anniversary of my elbow surgery, and I'm marking the occasion by eating pasta and resting my legs in preparation for tomorrow's half marathon. I've also been reading training blogs and freaking out about keeping my heart rate under control for three hours while I run up and over hills. This is going to be a ridiculous challenge, but I'm looking forward to it in a sick way.
Yesterday, we went to the Bellevue Hilton to pick up our race materials and I discovered that my registration had not been received by Seafair, so I had to re-register and get a new bib number (3227). I have a sinking feeling that my official results might be difficult to locate. I activated my timing chip and instead of my name, I saw "CF84764". I suspect this means that I won't get to hear my name being called when I cross the finish line.
I have also been assembling a playlist of some horrible awful music for my iPod. We're talking butt rock (Motley Crue, Poison, Quiet Riot), cheesy movie soundtracks (Rocky theme) and gay dance music (Paul Oakenfold, Le Disko) along with some weirdness (Devo, Reload) thrown in for good measure. I can't wait--three hours' worth of music that I'd otherwise be ashamed to listen to!
I feel like I've trained haphazardly--no attention paid to pace vs. heart rate, etc. and just focused on distance. I keep telling myself not to worry, that this is just a baselining exercise, but I can't help but wonder what could happen if I trained properly. I haven't given much thought to what happens next, but... |
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| Two weeks to go |
[Jun. 24th, 2007|01:36 pm] |
One of my favorite scenes in the movie "Rocky" occurs after all of the training when Rocky realizes that, in spite of his best efforts to prepare, he cannot beat Apollo Creed. He says, "'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood."
That is not too different from how I feel this afternoon thinking about the half marathon in two weeks. I ran ten miles last week on flat terrain. Then, we drove the marathon course yesterday and I saw all of the hills. So today, I ran my last long run before the event on hilly streets and sidewalks. Have a look at the route. My shins ache from the cement sidewalks and the terrain took a mile per hour off my pace.
I still think I can finish the half marathon in under 3:00 but it is going to be close. I need to remember that it isn't about winning, it is about going the distance--no matter how slowly. It is about proving to myself that I can do it. I'll have to put the "Rocky" theme song on my iPod for some time after mile 10. I'm going to need it. |
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| First workout with new toy |
[Jun. 18th, 2007|08:15 pm] |
I bought a fancy Garmin 305 heart rate monitor that also has built-in GPS so that it can track my location, elevation, pace, etc. I wasn't going to run today, but with a new toy in hand, I figured a quick lap around Green Lake wouldn't kill me.
Here are my workout results.
See if you can figure out where I stopped for water.
If you change the graph options to display speed vs. heart rate, you can see that there are considerable variances in my speed which I attribute more to the device than my own herky-jerky rookie running style. More interesting to me is how my heart rate stays relatively constant but rises and drops very quickly when I slow down or stop.
It is awfully nice (and motivating) to be able to look down at my wrist and instantly see how far I've gone and how fast I'm going. My worries about maintaining a 12-minute mile just evaporated...I can even set an alarm on the 305 to ring if I drop below a 12-minute mile pace. I wish I'd bought this thing a long time ago. |
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| Another milestone |
[Jun. 16th, 2007|11:05 am] |
I ran 10 miles today in 2:00, which isn't exactly Olympian speed but it is fast enough for me. I think the Seafair Half Marathon is calling my name. I am setting tentative goals to a) finish, b) finish in 3:00, and c) not get passed by any walkers. Honestly, I think I can definitely finish in 2:30-3:00, which would be pretty damned satisfying for a formerly-300 lb. pack-a-day smoker. Once I have a baseline to work with, I can train for something else and set better/faster goals, but as I noted previously, every journey begins with a single step (although I'll probably skip the fun hat this time).
Update: I registered. Now, let's see how badly Dan kicks my ass. |
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| Every journey starts with a single step and a fun hat. |
[Mar. 24th, 2007|11:48 am] |
We finished the St. Patrick's Day Dash! I mean, it took almost 50 minutes to walk/run three miles, but still...
I've made great progress since I started running six or seven weeks ago. I can now get all the way around Green Lake in about 40 minutes, with some walking. Today, my time was 36 minutes with 4 minutes of walking. I can run for 25 consecutive minutes. A month ago, I could barely run for five minutes. I hate to admit it, but I'm really enjoying this. I haven't had a new challenge for awhile, and I feel like I'm making good progress. If I can get all the way around Green Lake without walking in under 30 minutes before I leave for India on Thursday, I'll be quite satisfied with myself. |
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| Even more biking fun |
[Feb. 10th, 2007|04:47 pm] |
I discovered today that my odometer has been overstating my mileage for the past two rides, so today was officially the 30-miler. The previous two were closer to 10 and 20 miles, respectively. I rode from home to Matthews Beach, then back to Gasworks and up Stone Way to Greenlake. I rode around Greenlake then back down to Fremont and home. I felt pretty good until the very end, when I started to bonk on the way up the hill.
I got my new shoes and so running starts "for real" next week. |
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| More fun with fitness |
[Feb. 3rd, 2007|03:40 pm] |
I woke up insanely early today and went for a 30-mile bike ride. I wore rain gear but it did not rain, thankfully. However, it was ass cold. By the time I got home, my fingers and toes were numb and I had to stop along the way to buy a headband to keep my ears warm. I probably could have done the ride in ~2 hours without all of the stopping to get warm. Instead, it took closer to 3 hours.
This turned out to be a pretty good week for exercise activities--I managed a 20-minute session on the elliptical each weekday and the long bike ride. At least something went well this week... |
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| Adventures in fitness |
[Jan. 27th, 2007|04:44 pm] |
The odometer on my almost one-year old bike read 327 this morning. I did not ride much last summer because of my elbow, so today, I decided to start the new year of cycling with a 15 mile-ish warm up ride. My elbow held up great, and I actually feel pretty good, fitness-wise. I just need to work on the hills...ugh. The Chilly Hilly is at the end of February...I might give that a try just for fun. I probably should buy some better cranks first.
I also went to the Seattle Running Company. I hate running, but I've been thinking more and more that I should probably be able to represent my fitness level by proving that I can run five miles. Then, if I can do that and I don't feel like slashing my wrists, I might consider training for a half marathon or something. Since I get nasty shin splints and swollen ankles when I run, I decided to start with a nice pair of proper running shoes. The SRC people put you on a treadmill and make a video tape of your feet while you jog. From this, they are able to determine where you require support, padding, extra room, etc. The shoes aren't cheap but an expert tells me they make all the difference. So according to the SRC sales dude (who looked disturbingly like Adam Morrison), my stride is so weird and I'm so tall that they have to special order shoes for me. Hooray! I get to postpone running for at least a week! |
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