Category: exercise

Hit the gym tonight. Only intended to do my strength training, but when I got there, there was a treadmill open, and I needed to do some aerobics to warm up, so… I did a quick mile. Inspired by my youngest nephew, I aimed for a 9:00 pace, but ended up finishing the mile in 9:24. Cooled down, stretched out, and hit the weights.

I think I’ll take tomorrow off, then try a longish run on Saturday, and more strength training.

Ran last night. Stupid rain was back, so it was back to the gym.

I got on the treadmill after having made the cardinal mistake: starting a land war in Asia going up against a Sicilian when death was on the line not deciding in advance what my goal was.

I had run just under 3 miles on Monday. I want to build my miles back up to over 20 a week by the spring. I also want to build my speed back up. All of these aspirations were floating through my mind but hadn’t coalesced into a daily goal, the goal of that specific session on the treadmill. Those aspirations colided with my stuffy sinuses and overall blah-i-ness.

As I finished my quarter mile walking warmup, I thought, 3 miles? 3.5 miles? 4 miles? 30 minutes, no matter the milage? What, man? What’s the goal?

Again, as I plowed through the first mile, my legs felt strong. I set the pace at a nice 10:10. I did increase the incline to a 1% grade, despite the pain that had caused me previously. Where before my break, I would have heel pain in my right foot and some ankle soreness in the left, there was little to no pain at all unless I lengthened my stride to far and leaned too far forward. Standing tall, and keeping my stride fairly short but quick, produced no pain. However, if I started to lean forward, or I started to run toes-outward even a bit – and there were little pricks of pain. I have to work on my form, then. The strength training will help here.

However, after the first mile and a quarter, my throat became ever-so-slightly constricted, even at this fairly slow pace. I slowed a bit, to a 10:30 pace, and just kept pushing for another quarter-mile at a time. 1.50 miles came and went. 1.75 miles… and I had to slow to a walk. I walked for about a minute and a half, and then picked up the pace again. 2.0 miles came… 2.1 miles… and I had to stop again. Dammit. Is that enough, I asked myself, as I kept walking and my breathing returned to normal. No, I said to myself, that is not enough. I increased to a 9:50 pace and aimed for 2.5 miles.

At 2.5 miles, I decided to aim for 2.75 miles. And at that point, I stopped to walk again. I finished my walking warmup and called it a day.

Today, this morning – I wanted to see if my ankle and heel pain would return. Again, in the past, it would be worse in the morning right out of bed – the tendons would tighten up from not carrying any weight during sleep, and then that first few steps out of bed would feel like needles, mainly in the sole of my foot. But, no, nothing. I think, at the very least, that the 3-week break from running has given me enough time to heal up and strengthen up my feet and ankles. So that’s a positive.

I didn’t do any strength training last night. I will go back to the gym tonight to do that, and then run again on Friday or Saturday. This weekend I’ll plan ahead for the next couple of weeks to get my miles back up to where I’d like – but slowly. I’m aiming for a peak in April, then I’ll start planning for the late summer races and maybe (maybe, may-be) try a half-marathon in the fall.

The weather today was wonderful, at least in comparison to the past couple months. It was almost warm, and sunny, and dry. All day. Not very windy, either. And all day, I thought “If it’s like this when I get out of work, I’m going to run outside, not in the gym!”

It’s been a long time since I ran in the sun. Since Christmas Eve, actually, when I went out with my nephew. I did run outside in the streets on New Year’s Day, but that was at night. And even though the days are getting longer, and it was still light outside when I left work at 4:00 PM, I wasn’t sure that there would continue to be light enough for me to run.

In fact, the negative voice in the back of my head tried to talk me out of running outside today. It told me it was too cold, that I hadn’t packed the right gear (shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt), that it was too windy, that it was going to be dark by the time I finished… lots of excuses.

Good thing I ignored them all.

I hopped to the gym to change, and headed out for a run around the Esplanade. It was a training run, after 3 weeks off, so I didn’t expect a fast pace. However, I did want to see if my strength training had an impact.

I started out strong – probably a bit too strong. I did make it to about the 13:00 mark before having to slow to a walk, which was OK. My legs felt great, actually – the reason I had to stop was my lungs. I guess elliptical trainers don’t work the cardio-vascular system quite as well as running, no matter how fast I push those pedals.

But I only had to stop to walk several times (maybe four? I didn’t keep track), and I tried to make up for those short (0:30 – 1:00 each) by throwing in some faster, harder running. So I turned the loop into a fartlek run.

And I noticed that stronger legs mean several positives. First, of course, they don’t tire as fast, and I was able to push myself along the ground better. But the other main improvement was that they provided far better shock absorption and cushioning, and I was able to maintain a better balance and stronger forward-and-back motion – everything felt much better aligned and in the groove than I remember them being in the past. And that was from the waist down. Yes, even my “core” being stronger helped. I will definitely continue the strength training, as the benefit is clear to me.

My breathing, however, was constrained and wheezy, dammit. I’m hoping part of that was the break in training, and another part is the cold weather. We shall see.

My final time for the measured distance (2.87 miles per Google Earth) was 0:30:41, for an average pace of about 10:41. Just about perfect for my first training run of 2006.

After my run, I went back to the gym and did two circuits (upper/core/legs), with a bit stronger weights than I’d been using last time. Then I tried to sit in the steam room but the steam room was absent any steam. Ugh. So I showered and grabbed some dinner (Bourbon chicken at the mall).

Gym yesterday. Same drill as the past three weeks – 30+ minutes of aerobic (my favorite, the elliptical) and then three circuits of strength training. I did toss in an extra leg exercise, just because.

On the elliptical I did manage an indicated 3.21 miles in 30 minutes, before my cooldown, which would be a running pace of 9:20! I set the resistance lower than previously because I wanted to work on leg speed. Starting tomorrow I’m going to be back to running. We’ll see if this cross-training break has had a positive effect on my running. Looking forward to it…

Exercise update:

I had a choice to make tonight. Today marks exactly two weeks since I last ran. I had to decide whether to continue my non-impact aerobics and strength training, or start running again. I opted for another week of not-running. I just want to be absolutely certain that my plantar fasciitis (right foot) and ankle (left foot) are completely healed before starting to train for the spring. Plus, to be honest, I’m enjoying the break. My breathing and sinus troubles have abated somewhat – running puts a huge strain on the cardiopulmonary system, and even though I’ve been pushing hard on the elliptical trainer, I know that it’s not the same as actual running.

So, tonight, the gym wasn’t quite so crowded. I hope that the New Year’s rush of people has finally subsided, and now I can be assured of getting my favorite machines once again. I did 35 minutes on the elliptical, and managed an indicated 3.17 miles in the first 30 minutes – wish I could run that fast! That’s about a 9:27 pace.

A girl on one of the machines next to me (another elliptical but with handles that swung, also) kept looking over at me while I worked, and I smiled back at her a couple of times. After I finished my 5 minutes of cool-down and started to jump off, she hopped off her machine and asked if I was done. “Oh!” I said, “were you waiting for this machine?”

“Yes,” she replied, “this one doesn’t get tough enough for me.”

“You’re too strong for that machine!” I told her. She laughed and agreed.

Then I did my normal strength training – upper body, core, legs; 3 sets of 10 for each body section; 3 times through; weight for each exercise set to about 70% of what I can lift maximum with perfect form. Instead of two stomach/abs workouts for my core exercises, though, I did two for my back and only once for my abs – incline situps, ugh. And I’m afraid I over did it for my biceps, setting the weight too high at first and backing down a bit for each set of 10. I’m going to be sore on Thursday. So be it. Big biceps look good, even if they don’t really help a runner much.

Exercise update:

Went to the gym, did 30:00 of elliptical, then did an abbreviated version of the strength training I’ve been doing. Only did two circuits instead of three. I got to the gym later than I wanted (it was almost 11:00 AM), and was meeting someone at 1:00 PM and still needed to get some food beforehand. I’m bummed that I didn’t do the extra circuit but I still feel a bit sore tonight so maybe it was enough of a workout.

While I was there, there was a tall bald white guy and a short Asian girl in the workout room, doing Tai Chi moves with actual swords. Tai Chi is amazing to watch, and I’ve long been fascinated by it. I wasn’t sure if the two of them were a class, or if they were just using the workout room to practice on their own. When I was done with my workout, they had finished and I asked them about it.

Turns out that the guy is a Tai Chi instructor and that he gives a regular “empty-handed” Tai Chi lesson on Saturdays, and then invites students to work with him afterward if they’re interested in working with the weapons. Hell, yeah, I’m interested. He suggested that since I’ve never done it before I should try the empty-handed class first. So that’s what I’m doing next Saturday.

Exercise update!

Even though I got to the gym a half hour earlier than usual, hoping to beat the crowds, I didn’t. Ugh. All the elliptical machines were taken. And today, I wanted to do the elliptical. So I waited it out, and after about 10 minutes, got one. Did 30 minutes, not too intense, then did my normal strength circuit. Had a tough time with the inclined stomach crunches. Ugh. But the rest went normally, by which I mean, I’m gonna be sore on Saturday (I’m usually sore two days after, rather than the day after).

Gym again tonight. Damn New Year’s resolution-ers – it’s still crowded. Did 30 minutes on the recumbent stationary bike, then three circuits, 3 sets of 10 each for arms/chest, abs/back, and legs.

This might be my shortest exercise update ever.

Hit the gym tonight. No running (dammit) but I did do 30 minutes on the recumbent stationary bicycle, and another 30 minutes on the elliptical. It was an all-aerobic night.

On a side note, I can’t wait for February, when all the folks who made a New Year’s resolution to hit the gym have given up again, and it gets less crowded. On the other hand, with all the people in the gym tonight, there was a lot more eye candy than normal.

Hit the gym today. No running – I was a good boy. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, managing 3.25 miles in that time (an equivalent running pace of about 9:13 per mile, which shows how much easier the e-machine is), then did three circuits of strength training: upper body (chest or arms), core (abs), legs, makes one circuit. Then I sat in the steam room for a bit until I could feel my sinuses draining. Felt good, but, damn, it took at lot out of me. I’m damned tired. Oh, and my abs were in actual pain. Hope I didn’t do some permanent damage.

The tiredness could be the dark, cold, rainy, gloomy day in Portland, too. Or part of it, anyway. Here’s hoping for some sunshine in the near future. Several of my friends have run off to sunnier climes (or live there). I’m jealous… take me with you next time!