One post I've been meaning to do for a couple of weeks now is a little review of the hat the Librarian's parents got me as a Christmas present. It's a NikeFIT Hatphones hat and it's pretty sweet. The built in headphones work fairly well and are at least loud enough to block out a lot of the road noise/distractions when I'm out running.
The hat's greatest strength is also it's weakness. For a guy like me, I get hot fast. I start sweating even before I start running. I've been known to sweat on a walk. That means, at least for me, that overheating is a big issue. I can say without hyperbole that the hat is like wearing burning coals under plastic bag, it's that warm. That's not so much of a problem on a day like today when it's 22 degrees out. However, I went running the other day, in shorts and a tee shirt, when it was 50 degrees out and I was so warm I had to take the shirt off. Which, as an aside is a hilarious thing to see in the winter in Chicago. A fat, sweaty, white dude, running in a hat and shorts and nothing else. Several people honked and whistled.
The hat is very comfortable otherwise. The sweatband works pretty well at keeping the sweat locked up and out of my eyes which is good, since with out that I'd go nuts. I am a bit afraid of what it's going to smell like come spring time though.
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2008
Start Today
So, here I am back again after a bit of a lazy hiatus. I've mostly been sitting on my ass playing Halo 3 online against various students, basement dwellers and assorted unemployed bums like myself. However, last night I was given the motivation I needed to get off my duff and get moving. Pinky emailed me and several other people about running this years Shamrock Shuffle. At 8k, it'll be the longest race I've run so far. I'm hoping to get in a 10k this year, possibly even a half marathon if I can get my legs/knees to cooperate.
I decided that today would mark the official start of my training and attempt to get back in shape. Over the last couple of months since my Grandma died and I passed the bar I haven't done a whole lot of running, however, I have done a lot of stress eating. I had managed to get myself down to a svelte 190, today I weighed in at a rotund 210. I guess no more cake, candy and extra food for me.
After the weigh-in I stretched out and went out for a run. Do you know what running in 22 degree Chicago weather is like? Well, let me give you a frame of reference. Fill your bathtub with ice and cold water. Then, if your bathroom is small like mine, position a window A/C unit on your toilet and point it at where your head would be. Then, take two ice packs and wrap them around your knees. Next, jump into the ice filled tub and switch on the A/C so that it's running full blast into your face. Finally, have someone, CAREFULLY, stick a hair dryer down your shirt. That should give you an idea of how pleasant it truly is.
I set out to only run 8k today but then I got angry at my current life situation and ended up running 10k at 1:08:48. Only about 2 minutes worse than my best 10K time. And considering how frozen I was I'll take that as a pretty good time for me. Now, If I can manage to shave like 10-15 minutes off that, I'll be a happy boy.
I decided that today would mark the official start of my training and attempt to get back in shape. Over the last couple of months since my Grandma died and I passed the bar I haven't done a whole lot of running, however, I have done a lot of stress eating. I had managed to get myself down to a svelte 190, today I weighed in at a rotund 210. I guess no more cake, candy and extra food for me.
After the weigh-in I stretched out and went out for a run. Do you know what running in 22 degree Chicago weather is like? Well, let me give you a frame of reference. Fill your bathtub with ice and cold water. Then, if your bathroom is small like mine, position a window A/C unit on your toilet and point it at where your head would be. Then, take two ice packs and wrap them around your knees. Next, jump into the ice filled tub and switch on the A/C so that it's running full blast into your face. Finally, have someone, CAREFULLY, stick a hair dryer down your shirt. That should give you an idea of how pleasant it truly is.
I set out to only run 8k today but then I got angry at my current life situation and ended up running 10k at 1:08:48. Only about 2 minutes worse than my best 10K time. And considering how frozen I was I'll take that as a pretty good time for me. Now, If I can manage to shave like 10-15 minutes off that, I'll be a happy boy.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Last Warm Day
I think yesterday will go down as the last warm day of the year. I'm glad I got outside for it. It was warm, sunny and slightly too windy. The only upsetting thing about the day was that, after a couple of months of not exercising regularly and eating too much, I've gotten back up over 200 pounds. I mention this mostly to help embarass myself back into motion.
I'm glad that today is a pretty crappy day. Perfect rest day, but I think I'll try and get the motivation to do some lifting at some point. I've at least managed to do some work on the job search as well. I found one firm to apply to that looked interesting. I also found a firm that I would avoid at all costs. Not because any of them are bad attorney's, but becuase I know one of the partners could bore someone to death. At least this is marginally easier now that I can apply for a job knowing that in less than a month I'll actually be a licensed attorney.
I'm glad that today is a pretty crappy day. Perfect rest day, but I think I'll try and get the motivation to do some lifting at some point. I've at least managed to do some work on the job search as well. I found one firm to apply to that looked interesting. I also found a firm that I would avoid at all costs. Not because any of them are bad attorney's, but becuase I know one of the partners could bore someone to death. At least this is marginally easier now that I can apply for a job knowing that in less than a month I'll actually be a licensed attorney.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
First day back, again
Yesterday was the first day I went on a run since I hurt myself and my grandma died. I'd been getting antsy about not running or working out and eating garbage for last couple of weeks. I was afraid to actually weigh in, I was convinced that I'd just about erased all the hard work I did earlier in the year. I was nicely surprised that I was actually still slightly under 200 pounds.
I took extra long to strech out this time. Pookie sent me an email a couple of days ago with her opinion that my long runs were probably either a cause or at least partially responsible for my constant injuries. While allowing for the fact that she is both smarter than I am generally and knows more about running than I do, I have to disagree with her. My long runs would generally consist of 10-15k (roughly 6-10 miles). I don't think that is necessarily a problem to start running that distance. Granted, it takes a couple of weeks to gradually ramp up to those distances. Also, I wasn't running those distances at a particularly speedy pace. My iPod puts my usual 5k pace at about 6-6:30 min/k and I was running longer distances at roughly 7-8 min/k. So that wasn't the problem.
What I think causes most of my injury problems are bad equipment, lack of stretching/cross-training, and lack of rest. The bad equipment problem was most pronounced when I first started running. I bought the wrong shoes without going to a running store and getting my feet checked out. Big big big mistake. I would hurt myself roughly every 3 weeks, with various degrees of pain. I've solved that problem (and hurt myself when I did) by getting my feet checked out. I bought the proper shoes and some comfy socks which seem to have solved that problem. The other two problems are still a problem though. I don't think I strech out enough before or after a run. I always try to, but I don't think it's enough. I should also be doing more weightlifting/non-running exercise, especially for my legs. The final problem is probably the worst. From the reading I've been doing various running and exercise magazines, the good effects of running stick with you for about 2 days or so. That means you can run one day and still have a heightend metabolism and healthiness for a couple of days. I haven't been paying attention to that. I'll go running on a monday and do it again as early as possible on wed. Or I'll do a long run and follow it up with a short run the next day. I'm simply not able to do that and I should know that by now. For example, this current injury happened becuase I ran Race Judicata on a Thursday, The adventure race (which was close to 5 miles of running) on that saturday or sunday, then shortly after that, I did a endurance training. What killed me was not that I ran a particularly long distance, it was that I didn't recover enough and my body simply gave out. What I should have done was run those two races and then spend the next couple of days lifting and streching.
So, back to the point here. I went out yesterday with the intent to do a slow recovery 5k to get back into the swing of things. I also was feeling gross from not working out and stressed out about various things. Not to mention that I have to start getting ready for the Bucktown 5k in a couple weeks. I saw there was a Sox game on so I made a snap decision to run passed Comisky and check out the crowd. Everything was fine until I got to the corner of 35th and the Dan Ryan. There was a girl passing out some sort of Quaker Oat Snacks. Unfortunatly for her, there was a perfect convergance of crap. Right as I started to approach her, I noticed a large crowd of people coming and if I didn't speed up I would either have to run through them, stop, or run all the way around. Also, at that particular moment, Pennywise came on the iPod. Without thinking I started to sprint through the gap between the Oat Girl and the crowd. Right as I started to pass her, she stuck out her hand to get ready to hand someone some oat snacks. Yup, right as she did that my hand pumped forward and I punched that damn oat snack right out of her hand.
My own mental compulsion wouldn't let my legs stop sprinting. So I did the manly thing and blurted out "sorry" as I watched the oat snack skitter across the ground. I didn't even look at her face, I was too embarassed. I just ran away as fast as I could. I felt pretty bad about it later, and thought about going back, but I didn't.
The rest of the run was good. I had some phantom pains in my legs, but at this point I know the difference between actually have to stop pain, and my body just making shit up. when I got done with the 5k of running I walked and cooled off for about another k. My legs were rubbery and sore, but in a good way. I'd like to run again on Friday, but I'll be busy. That's probably a good thing.
I took extra long to strech out this time. Pookie sent me an email a couple of days ago with her opinion that my long runs were probably either a cause or at least partially responsible for my constant injuries. While allowing for the fact that she is both smarter than I am generally and knows more about running than I do, I have to disagree with her. My long runs would generally consist of 10-15k (roughly 6-10 miles). I don't think that is necessarily a problem to start running that distance. Granted, it takes a couple of weeks to gradually ramp up to those distances. Also, I wasn't running those distances at a particularly speedy pace. My iPod puts my usual 5k pace at about 6-6:30 min/k and I was running longer distances at roughly 7-8 min/k. So that wasn't the problem.
What I think causes most of my injury problems are bad equipment, lack of stretching/cross-training, and lack of rest. The bad equipment problem was most pronounced when I first started running. I bought the wrong shoes without going to a running store and getting my feet checked out. Big big big mistake. I would hurt myself roughly every 3 weeks, with various degrees of pain. I've solved that problem (and hurt myself when I did) by getting my feet checked out. I bought the proper shoes and some comfy socks which seem to have solved that problem. The other two problems are still a problem though. I don't think I strech out enough before or after a run. I always try to, but I don't think it's enough. I should also be doing more weightlifting/non-running exercise, especially for my legs. The final problem is probably the worst. From the reading I've been doing various running and exercise magazines, the good effects of running stick with you for about 2 days or so. That means you can run one day and still have a heightend metabolism and healthiness for a couple of days. I haven't been paying attention to that. I'll go running on a monday and do it again as early as possible on wed. Or I'll do a long run and follow it up with a short run the next day. I'm simply not able to do that and I should know that by now. For example, this current injury happened becuase I ran Race Judicata on a Thursday, The adventure race (which was close to 5 miles of running) on that saturday or sunday, then shortly after that, I did a endurance training. What killed me was not that I ran a particularly long distance, it was that I didn't recover enough and my body simply gave out. What I should have done was run those two races and then spend the next couple of days lifting and streching.
So, back to the point here. I went out yesterday with the intent to do a slow recovery 5k to get back into the swing of things. I also was feeling gross from not working out and stressed out about various things. Not to mention that I have to start getting ready for the Bucktown 5k in a couple weeks. I saw there was a Sox game on so I made a snap decision to run passed Comisky and check out the crowd. Everything was fine until I got to the corner of 35th and the Dan Ryan. There was a girl passing out some sort of Quaker Oat Snacks. Unfortunatly for her, there was a perfect convergance of crap. Right as I started to approach her, I noticed a large crowd of people coming and if I didn't speed up I would either have to run through them, stop, or run all the way around. Also, at that particular moment, Pennywise came on the iPod. Without thinking I started to sprint through the gap between the Oat Girl and the crowd. Right as I started to pass her, she stuck out her hand to get ready to hand someone some oat snacks. Yup, right as she did that my hand pumped forward and I punched that damn oat snack right out of her hand.
My own mental compulsion wouldn't let my legs stop sprinting. So I did the manly thing and blurted out "sorry" as I watched the oat snack skitter across the ground. I didn't even look at her face, I was too embarassed. I just ran away as fast as I could. I felt pretty bad about it later, and thought about going back, but I didn't.
The rest of the run was good. I had some phantom pains in my legs, but at this point I know the difference between actually have to stop pain, and my body just making shit up. when I got done with the 5k of running I walked and cooled off for about another k. My legs were rubbery and sore, but in a good way. I'd like to run again on Friday, but I'll be busy. That's probably a good thing.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Training
Aka, last post for today.
Today marked the first day of training for the Bucktown 5k. I have to get in much better shape so I can reclaim my honor and dignity from Pookie. Worse comes to worse, I’m going to Tazer her before the race. You might say, wait, your giving away your game plan here, Pookie’s gonna know what’s up with you before the race. I say good. That will motivate me to actually beat her, and perhaps, strike some fear in to her mean little corporate heart.
Anyway, I weighed in a nice round 197 pounds this morning. I’d like to drop that down to 187 for the race. It would be nice to run the race a nice 10 pounds lighter, even lighter than the Sox race. I had a respectable time of 29:18 there, and I’d like to beat that by 5 minutes. That might not put me in contention against Pookie, but it will at least be a respectable loss.
Today’s run was a Nike+ endurance interval. Ten minutes of bad music (Pussycat Dolls) to warm up, then 4 sets of three minutes of hard running (and bad music) followed by 3 minutes of rest running (and bad music, this mix really sucks) followed by 10 minutes of cool down (actually a cool Pharrell song). My warm up was good; I managed about a 7 min/k pace. The first two sets were good, I felt like I was charging, including a good uphill over the bridge at Bubbly Creek. The second sets, well, they sucked. I had to drop down to a walk for most of the rest sets and my legs were shot by the end of the run. I clocked in about 6.5k in roughly 50 minutes. The cool down was pretty hard and my legs were cramping by the end. I also walked a little at the end. Holy crap, I’m sweating just thinking about the run today.
After the run, my body felt ok for the most part. I had some lingering cramps from Saturday’s adventure race before the run and my calves were not happy to run today. As the day wore on though, my right knee has started to bug me. I feel like someone is digging around in there with a flat head screwdriver. I’m going to ice it and see how that feels. It better not complain too much, I’m running a easy 5k tomorrow whether it likes it or not.
Today marked the first day of training for the Bucktown 5k. I have to get in much better shape so I can reclaim my honor and dignity from Pookie. Worse comes to worse, I’m going to Tazer her before the race. You might say, wait, your giving away your game plan here, Pookie’s gonna know what’s up with you before the race. I say good. That will motivate me to actually beat her, and perhaps, strike some fear in to her mean little corporate heart.
Anyway, I weighed in a nice round 197 pounds this morning. I’d like to drop that down to 187 for the race. It would be nice to run the race a nice 10 pounds lighter, even lighter than the Sox race. I had a respectable time of 29:18 there, and I’d like to beat that by 5 minutes. That might not put me in contention against Pookie, but it will at least be a respectable loss.
Today’s run was a Nike+ endurance interval. Ten minutes of bad music (Pussycat Dolls) to warm up, then 4 sets of three minutes of hard running (and bad music) followed by 3 minutes of rest running (and bad music, this mix really sucks) followed by 10 minutes of cool down (actually a cool Pharrell song). My warm up was good; I managed about a 7 min/k pace. The first two sets were good, I felt like I was charging, including a good uphill over the bridge at Bubbly Creek. The second sets, well, they sucked. I had to drop down to a walk for most of the rest sets and my legs were shot by the end of the run. I clocked in about 6.5k in roughly 50 minutes. The cool down was pretty hard and my legs were cramping by the end. I also walked a little at the end. Holy crap, I’m sweating just thinking about the run today.
After the run, my body felt ok for the most part. I had some lingering cramps from Saturday’s adventure race before the run and my calves were not happy to run today. As the day wore on though, my right knee has started to bug me. I feel like someone is digging around in there with a flat head screwdriver. I’m going to ice it and see how that feels. It better not complain too much, I’m running a easy 5k tomorrow whether it likes it or not.
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