I swear sometimes it's only been a day or two since my last update and then I look on here and it's been nearly 4 days.
I'll be brief with workout updates because they have been brief. Tuesday was a short 35 minute, 4 mile run and a swim that didn't happen. Wednesday was a 60 minute spin bike workout and a core workout that didn't happen. Thursday was a transition workout and a swim workout and neither of those happened. Today is a rest day. On the other hand, I have finalized the stuff for redoing my guest bathroom (Tuesday), I mowed my yard for the first time this year and the knee high weeds are gone (Wednesday), and I fertilized my yard as well (Thursday). I have a race this weekend so I'm tapering this week. It's my first race of the year and we'll see how I do.
Now, time for a health update. My weight is down to 184 and that's good. Once I get decently serious about it, I can drop weight pretty well. I went to the nurse at work this morning and just got some basic numbers done. Here they are:
BP: 110/72 - Easily in the normal range, but I've seen a lot lower for me but I've been stressed lately.
HR: 48bpm - I told the nurse to check it just to see her reaction. She was amazed that it was this low.
Triglycerides: 47 - I was at 67 back in September so this has gotten even lower which is good.
Total Cholesterol: 160 - I was at 127 last time so I'm shocked that it's this high again. It's not bad, but I'm just wondering why they are so high.
HDL: 52 - This is the highest I've ever seen it and it was 45 before.
LDL: 98 - It was 69 before so this something I'm doing is causing this to be higher. This is just good motivation to cut out the crap but I thought that I was doing better about eating crap now than I was back in September.
VLDL: 9.4 - 13 was the number before and I just found out that this is related to triglyceride levels and that's why this is lower since last time.
TC/HDL: 3.1 - Was 2.8 level so my ratio has gotten worse, but I'm still well in the optimal range.
LDL/HDL: 1.9 - It was 1.5 before so both ratios have gotten worse and from what I can tell, that means my blood chemistry isn't quite as good as it was in September. I really want to get an LDL/HDL ratio of below 1 though and I know it does no good for me besides bragging rights.
Glucose: 89 - It was 90 so this is maintained. I ate a lot of sweets as a kid and I think I've developed a mild insulin resistance. I'm very cautious about this because I'm really scarred of getting diabetes. This number shows that I'm fine, but if I lapse into my old ways, which is highly doubtful, I could be at risk for insulin resistance and eventually diabetes.
So, that's a check up of how I'm doing health wise.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Random Monday Thoughts
Completely random stuff:
1) My weight is at 186lbs this morning. Being sick last week and having a big dinner last night probably kept my weight from being lower.
2) If you wonder why everything in your gym bag smells like chain lube for the last week, that means that there is probably a bottle of chain lube in the bottom of your bag leaking.
3) Gu can be dangerous. I have a method for eating Gus. I tear off the top and then squeeze the majority of it in my mouth. Then, I fold it in half and stick it in my mouth with the open end towards the back. I put pressure on the package with my teeth and then pull it out squeegying all the remaining Gu into my mouth. Well, I did that yesterday and cut my tongue and it really hurts today because it's right on the tip of my tongue.
1) My weight is at 186lbs this morning. Being sick last week and having a big dinner last night probably kept my weight from being lower.
2) If you wonder why everything in your gym bag smells like chain lube for the last week, that means that there is probably a bottle of chain lube in the bottom of your bag leaking.
3) Gu can be dangerous. I have a method for eating Gus. I tear off the top and then squeeze the majority of it in my mouth. Then, I fold it in half and stick it in my mouth with the open end towards the back. I put pressure on the package with my teeth and then pull it out squeegying all the remaining Gu into my mouth. Well, I did that yesterday and cut my tongue and it really hurts today because it's right on the tip of my tongue.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Weird Dream
I have to get this off of my chest and why not here. I had a really weird dream last night. It started off camping in the woods. I like camping so this was pretty cool. It was fall and the leaves were starting to fall and it was very pretty. I'm wandering around the woods for awhile. Don't know what I was doing, probably looking for a place to pee, but I was wandering around in the woods. All of a sudden, a little bobcat type thing comes out of the bushes and is pissed off at me. I stand my ground, puff up to make myself look bigger and I eventually scare him away. As soon as he runs into the bushes, his pissed off bigger brother of a mountain lion starts charging at me. I try to do the same thing to scare him away and I pick up a big branch and try to fend him off. The mountain lion bites the branch in half and then I decided to get the hell out of there. I start running and finally look back and the mountain lion is gone. I think I'm saved. I'm relieved and I'm about to start making my way back to camp. The bushes rustle a bit and then a grizzy bear appears. I can't believe this because it just keeps getting worse and worse. I fend off a bobcat, and then a mountain lion, but I'm going to need help with a grizzly bear. Then, all of a sudden, I hear more rustling behind me and I turn around to see what it is. It's my saviour. It's Gene Simmons from KISS in full KISS makeup with guitar in hand. He scares off the grizzly and saves me from being a bear lunch. I thank him and then he teaches me to play the guitar. I'm a natural and master it in about 5 minutes. Then, we have a jam session and I wake up. I couldn't sleep after this because who could sleep after a dream like this? All I wanted to do was to check myself into a clinic to figure out what the fuck is wrong with me where Gene Simmons and being chased my mountain lions would appear in the same dream.
I just watched the season finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was fucking awesome! This season has been on the downslope and this episode had some redemption.
Ok, now my work outs. I ran this morning. I dida nother 8.2 miles around Town Lake. First lap hurt a bit. My joints weren't hurting bad like usual, but I just hurt. I think my body was still in recovery mode from being sick. I eventually loosened up quite a bit and was feeling much better. I could tell my form wasn't that great and I wasn't picking up my knees, but I was running still. The temperature was OK in the high 60's, but it was really, really humid today and I was sweating almost immediately. The trail was bare because the Capital 10K was going on today. I had no interest in running in it and I didn't know it was today until 2 days ago. The first lap was done in 35:05 with an avg HR of 141. Not bad. Second loop was 34:28 with an avg HR of 136. I know that's not right though because my HRM strap was slipping down and getting incorrect measurements. Total time was 1:09:33 for a pace of 8:28min/mile. I'm happy with that because that is easily Zone 1 for me. After I got warmed up, it was a good run. For the rest of the day, my knees didn't hurt that bad, either. They are usually aching for the rest of the day, but not today.
After the run, I went for a swim at Barton Springs. I also wanted to get in my wetsuit since I haven't worn it since November. I got in and swam all of 50 yards before I got out. Since Barton Springs is a natural body of water, it's subject to high bacteria counts. These bacteria counts go up when it rains like it has the last few days. Also, the rain washes sediments into the water. Cloudy water usually indicates bacteria and sendiments in the water. I swam and I couldn't see anything. With my immune system being low from being sick last week, I didn't want to risk it and cut the swim really, really short. I soaked my legs and then came home and had a Sunday Smoothie.
BTW, I hate the song "Arms Dealer" by Fallout Boy. It's played way too much.
Shoe mileage: 271 miles
Weekly run mileage: 18 miles
I just watched the season finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was fucking awesome! This season has been on the downslope and this episode had some redemption.
Ok, now my work outs. I ran this morning. I dida nother 8.2 miles around Town Lake. First lap hurt a bit. My joints weren't hurting bad like usual, but I just hurt. I think my body was still in recovery mode from being sick. I eventually loosened up quite a bit and was feeling much better. I could tell my form wasn't that great and I wasn't picking up my knees, but I was running still. The temperature was OK in the high 60's, but it was really, really humid today and I was sweating almost immediately. The trail was bare because the Capital 10K was going on today. I had no interest in running in it and I didn't know it was today until 2 days ago. The first lap was done in 35:05 with an avg HR of 141. Not bad. Second loop was 34:28 with an avg HR of 136. I know that's not right though because my HRM strap was slipping down and getting incorrect measurements. Total time was 1:09:33 for a pace of 8:28min/mile. I'm happy with that because that is easily Zone 1 for me. After I got warmed up, it was a good run. For the rest of the day, my knees didn't hurt that bad, either. They are usually aching for the rest of the day, but not today.
After the run, I went for a swim at Barton Springs. I also wanted to get in my wetsuit since I haven't worn it since November. I got in and swam all of 50 yards before I got out. Since Barton Springs is a natural body of water, it's subject to high bacteria counts. These bacteria counts go up when it rains like it has the last few days. Also, the rain washes sediments into the water. Cloudy water usually indicates bacteria and sendiments in the water. I swam and I couldn't see anything. With my immune system being low from being sick last week, I didn't want to risk it and cut the swim really, really short. I soaked my legs and then came home and had a Sunday Smoothie.
BTW, I hate the song "Arms Dealer" by Fallout Boy. It's played way too much.
Shoe mileage: 271 miles
Weekly run mileage: 18 miles
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Feeling better
I'm feeling a lot better now. I didn't go to work on Thursday and slept a bunch, cleaned my house, and did nothing. I skipped working out on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and just rested. Went to Hong's dinner party on Friday night. It was funny because everyone ate until they were stuffed and then started doing crazy yoga poses in normal clothes and stuff like that. BTW, doing pigeon pose or crow pose in jeans isn't fun. There was one guy that teaches yoga and his girlfriend and another guy that used to take gymnastics for years and then there was me who was a little more husky than those two guys. It was a blast, though.
Did the ATC ride this morning. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since I really wanted to take it easy today. I ended up holding on pretty well at first. It felt like I was going to puke a few times though. Once we turned on to Bee Caves, I was blown and took it easy the rest of the way. I did the the Hwy 71 hill in the big chainring as well. I'm starting to feel really strong on the bike again. I can push a hard gear and not get that tired. Hopefully, I'll do better on the ride when I'm not recovering from being sick.
After that, did a brick run and it actually did not hurt that bad at all. I ran at what felt like a very easy and comfortable pace but my HR was elevated. After the run and for the rest of the day, I felt fine. Most of the time, my legs hurt a bit in different spots. Some days my knees will hurt, others my hamstrings and sometimes my calves. Today, everything felt great. Quite surprised.
Shoe mileage: 262.5 miles
Did the ATC ride this morning. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do since I really wanted to take it easy today. I ended up holding on pretty well at first. It felt like I was going to puke a few times though. Once we turned on to Bee Caves, I was blown and took it easy the rest of the way. I did the the Hwy 71 hill in the big chainring as well. I'm starting to feel really strong on the bike again. I can push a hard gear and not get that tired. Hopefully, I'll do better on the ride when I'm not recovering from being sick.
After that, did a brick run and it actually did not hurt that bad at all. I ran at what felt like a very easy and comfortable pace but my HR was elevated. After the run and for the rest of the day, I felt fine. Most of the time, my legs hurt a bit in different spots. Some days my knees will hurt, others my hamstrings and sometimes my calves. Today, everything felt great. Quite surprised.
Shoe mileage: 262.5 miles
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Down with the sickness
Well, I woke up this morning after about 8.5 hours of sleep and I felt pretty tired. I went to swim and didn't feel like it so I went straight to work. At work, I started feeling worse and worse. I decided to skip my workouts today and rest up a bit. I don't feel run down, but I actually feel sick. I may take tomorrow off of work depending upon how I feel in the morning, but I'm sure the workouts tomorrow are out as well.
I know a lot of people that are so into training that when they start not feeling well, they still find any reason to keep working out. However, they aren't doing themselves any good because they are just wearing themselves out further. Their body needs to take care of itself and exercising while sick is just taking away resources from your body getting healthy again. There are some people that say if the illness is above the neck, then exercise is OK, but if the illness is below the neck, then to rest. I disagree with that slightly so if I'm feeling crappy at all, I'm going to rest. I used to be one of those completely obsessed triathletes that would do anything to not miss a workout. I'm a little more relaxed now. I realize that there are other things to life than training all the time. Also, training is designed to be cumulative so missing a workout here and there is not going to matter that much in the long run.
I know a lot of people that are so into training that when they start not feeling well, they still find any reason to keep working out. However, they aren't doing themselves any good because they are just wearing themselves out further. Their body needs to take care of itself and exercising while sick is just taking away resources from your body getting healthy again. There are some people that say if the illness is above the neck, then exercise is OK, but if the illness is below the neck, then to rest. I disagree with that slightly so if I'm feeling crappy at all, I'm going to rest. I used to be one of those completely obsessed triathletes that would do anything to not miss a workout. I'm a little more relaxed now. I realize that there are other things to life than training all the time. Also, training is designed to be cumulative so missing a workout here and there is not going to matter that much in the long run.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Not Pissy Tuesday
I was in a much better mood today, luckily. Still not perfect, but definitely in a better mood.
This morning, I started out with a workout on the spin bike. I had to do some longer intervals today. Got in a total of 60 minutes on the spin bike. After that, I did some shoulder exercises to get them back into shape since they've been hurting lately. After work, I ran 6.1 miles around the track at work. I was quite surprised that I got that far, actually. It got me thinking that I've noticed some decent changes in my running in the last month or so. Either my fitness has really improved or I've changed my stride enough that I'm running much more efficiently now. I've noticed that if I keep the same heart rate, I'm running much faster than I was 6 weeks ago. For instance, I ran the first 1.6 miles at work in 13:30 which is about 8:27min/mile. My average heart rate during this period was only 138bpm. Total time was 51:26 for the 6.1 miles which was a pace of 8:26. That's odd because I definitely felt like I was going a lot faster during the intervals tonight. Either way, I felt like I was flying but maybe my perception was off. Max heart rate was 164bpm and the last 10 minute build period was an avg HR of 156bpm. I would've like to seen that closer to 165 but I'll get there eventually.
After the run, I did some more shoulder exercises. My shoulders were feeling better towards the end of the day and that's a very good sign.
My calorie intake was decent today. I had some chocolate and ice cream, but that was because I could afford to eat that because I burned a lot of calories today. Yes, I know I shouldn't eat that stuff, but I'm a lot better at this than I was a year ago. Even splurging a bit, I still have a calorie deficit of over 1000 calories today.
Time for bed now to get ready for a Barton Springs swim tomorrow. It'll be the first time that I've worn my wetsuit since IMFL.
This morning, I started out with a workout on the spin bike. I had to do some longer intervals today. Got in a total of 60 minutes on the spin bike. After that, I did some shoulder exercises to get them back into shape since they've been hurting lately. After work, I ran 6.1 miles around the track at work. I was quite surprised that I got that far, actually. It got me thinking that I've noticed some decent changes in my running in the last month or so. Either my fitness has really improved or I've changed my stride enough that I'm running much more efficiently now. I've noticed that if I keep the same heart rate, I'm running much faster than I was 6 weeks ago. For instance, I ran the first 1.6 miles at work in 13:30 which is about 8:27min/mile. My average heart rate during this period was only 138bpm. Total time was 51:26 for the 6.1 miles which was a pace of 8:26. That's odd because I definitely felt like I was going a lot faster during the intervals tonight. Either way, I felt like I was flying but maybe my perception was off. Max heart rate was 164bpm and the last 10 minute build period was an avg HR of 156bpm. I would've like to seen that closer to 165 but I'll get there eventually.
After the run, I did some more shoulder exercises. My shoulders were feeling better towards the end of the day and that's a very good sign.
My calorie intake was decent today. I had some chocolate and ice cream, but that was because I could afford to eat that because I burned a lot of calories today. Yes, I know I shouldn't eat that stuff, but I'm a lot better at this than I was a year ago. Even splurging a bit, I still have a calorie deficit of over 1000 calories today.
Time for bed now to get ready for a Barton Springs swim tomorrow. It'll be the first time that I've worn my wetsuit since IMFL.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Pissy Monday
I was just pissy today. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and it just continued all day long. Not cool.
I went to swim practice with Longhorn Aquatics. I'm pretty sure that right now I'm not going to go with LA and go with T3 instead. The facilities at UT are great, but the lanes were really crowded. I started out with 6, maybe 7 people in a 25m lane. I would rather swim with T3 and 2-3 people in a 25yd lane. Also, there are a lot of people that the coaches have to watch and I'll probably get more attention with Maurice and Crissy. I have until the end of the month before I decide, though.
My shoulder was hurting again today. I really need to get this problem taken care of soon. I'm working on it though. I also rubbed the skin off of my toe using the fins today.
After my crappy day at work, I went to the core workout. I didn't do anything that would hurt my shoulder or my back so it wasn't that bad for me.
I went to swim practice with Longhorn Aquatics. I'm pretty sure that right now I'm not going to go with LA and go with T3 instead. The facilities at UT are great, but the lanes were really crowded. I started out with 6, maybe 7 people in a 25m lane. I would rather swim with T3 and 2-3 people in a 25yd lane. Also, there are a lot of people that the coaches have to watch and I'll probably get more attention with Maurice and Crissy. I have until the end of the month before I decide, though.
My shoulder was hurting again today. I really need to get this problem taken care of soon. I'm working on it though. I also rubbed the skin off of my toe using the fins today.
After my crappy day at work, I went to the core workout. I didn't do anything that would hurt my shoulder or my back so it wasn't that bad for me.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Lazy Weekend
Man, I've had a lazy weekend. The only thing that I've done as far as exercise is I ran for 50 minutes tonight. Did 10 minutes easy and then build every 10 minutes after that and finished with 10 minutes easy again. It wasn't a good run, though. It felt like I couldn't breathe the entire run. Also, I couldn't get my heart rate up that high, either. My legs felt fine though and I felt like my form was decent as well, not great, but decent.
I took it easy this weekend because I needed a break. I had a few drinks for St. Paddy's Day and slept in both days. I slept 12 hours on Friday night. I actually got up at 5:30 on Saturday morning. I walked out the door around 6 to go for a run. It was cold and my legs were hurting. I turned around about 25 yards into it and went back to bed. I think it was a good decision, though. I also did some, uh, calorie replenishment, this weekend as well.
I did some PT exercise today on my legs. More importantly, I did some exercises on my left shoulder. It's been bothering me decently since I started swimming a lot again. I don't exactly know what happened to it. It's always has bothered me. It might just be from something like I've slept on it wrong for years. My personal trainer at the gym thinks that I had a rotator cuff tear when I was younger and it never healed correctly. I'm thinking about going to see my PT about it to get it fixed, but my goal this year was to not see the PT at all. I can't be stupid, though and if I hurt, I should go get it fixed. My back has been having spasms as well. I could feel it getting tight yesterday and then today I started having outright spasms again. Not cool. Like my hamstrings, calves, and shoulder, I need to work on it as well. Oh, I could see Dr. Laurie and see what she thinks is wrong and could get me fixed up. I'll think about that tomorrow, though. Now, I'm tired and need to go to bed to swim with Longhorn Aquatics again.
Shoe mileage: 253 miles
Weekly run mileage: 11 miles
I took it easy this weekend because I needed a break. I had a few drinks for St. Paddy's Day and slept in both days. I slept 12 hours on Friday night. I actually got up at 5:30 on Saturday morning. I walked out the door around 6 to go for a run. It was cold and my legs were hurting. I turned around about 25 yards into it and went back to bed. I think it was a good decision, though. I also did some, uh, calorie replenishment, this weekend as well.
I did some PT exercise today on my legs. More importantly, I did some exercises on my left shoulder. It's been bothering me decently since I started swimming a lot again. I don't exactly know what happened to it. It's always has bothered me. It might just be from something like I've slept on it wrong for years. My personal trainer at the gym thinks that I had a rotator cuff tear when I was younger and it never healed correctly. I'm thinking about going to see my PT about it to get it fixed, but my goal this year was to not see the PT at all. I can't be stupid, though and if I hurt, I should go get it fixed. My back has been having spasms as well. I could feel it getting tight yesterday and then today I started having outright spasms again. Not cool. Like my hamstrings, calves, and shoulder, I need to work on it as well. Oh, I could see Dr. Laurie and see what she thinks is wrong and could get me fixed up. I'll think about that tomorrow, though. Now, I'm tired and need to go to bed to swim with Longhorn Aquatics again.
Shoe mileage: 253 miles
Weekly run mileage: 11 miles
Friday, March 16, 2007
Update
I can't believe I haven't updated all week. Life has been crazy with work and house stuff. I just want to say that it feels good to feel like you are totally kicking ass at your job. However, it is getting in the way of more important stuff like working out.
Monday was a rest day. I really needed it. My hamstring was bothering me after last Sunday's run. I tried to get some good sleep as well, too.
Tuesday was just a swim with T3. It was a good swim. I hate paddles, though. I felt like a one legged duck swimming with them. I was in the faster lane and I could keep up with them swimming, but they lapped me doing paddles. Also, my shoulder was starting to bother me. I really need to do some PT exercises to get this from getting worse.
Wednesday was suppose to be a bike ride, but work got in the way. I just never got around to it.
Thursday was a run after work with Texas Iron. It was hot! It was something over 80 degrees and I'm just not quite used to that yet. I'll get there though. After the warmup, it was a track workout. Each interval was 2 laps around the track. First 400 was at 10K pace, next 200 was building up to a 5K pace, last 200 was easy. We were suppose to do 5-8 of them, but I only did 5 of them. My right hamstring was letting me know that it wasn't happy. It was getting worse as I ran. I also started out a little too fast and fell off towards the end of the run. The intervals were 2:14, 2:32, 2:30, 2:38, and 2:35. Ok, except for the first one, I was pretty consistent. My max heart rate for the entire run was 179 even though I was pushing it at the end of a few of those intervals. I can't believe I can't get it that high anymore because I've seen 188 on the bike within the last 2 years. That should put my running MHR over 190. Maybe when I do more speed work, I'll get it up there.
Friday was a swim with Longhorn Aquatics. It was OK. I think I like T3 more, but the facilities at UT are awesome. Coach Whitney told me that I was pausing too long and losing momentum. I tried swimming differently and it felt like I was just flailing my arms around. I finally found a stroke where I wasn't losing momentum but felt a lot better for me. I was also faster because of it too. However, I couldn't put my shoulder under my chin like Maurice was trying to teach me. Having 5 coaches in 2 years has caused me to learn how to swim depending upon who is watching. There were some speed sets today. Those were fun. However, on the last 50m sprint, as soon as I dove into the water, my calf cramped up. That was pretty much the end of my practice because after that, my calf wasn't feeling good. Also, my right calf was hurting pretty badly from the run the night before. I need to get on the TP massage ball and work it out this weekend. Oh, the UT pool was set up for 50m long course and that was fun swimming that. The water was great and clear. Very nice.
Now, does anyone have any opinions on why I should choose Longhorn Aquatics over T3? For one thing, when I swim with T3, I don't get parking tickets like I did this morning. I hate paying for parking and when I get a fucking ticket, man that's a major downer of my day.
But it didn't phase me that much today because I have some good news. I weighed in at 184 this morning. Holy shit! I'm really dropping weight now. How did I do it? I took a pretty big dose of starvation this week. Ok, not really, but I was definitely hungry a majority of this week. I think my feeling of "full" after I eat is probably larger than normal. What I've accidentally been doing and what I'll do on purpose next week is that except for breakfast, I'll always be a little bit hungry after whenever I eat. It probably isn't the healthiest, but I felt fine this week and I'm losing weight. This weekend I need a break though and I'll probably drink a lot. I just need a day to cut loose and it's going to be tomorrow after I get all my workouts in for the day. Should be fun.
I went grocery shopping tonight. I got a bunch of groceries since I'm going to make some large batches of food. I'm going to make some black bean lasagna and then make my couscous/quinoa mixture with some Unbelievable Chicken Marinade. Man, that stuff is good.
Now, it's time for bed since I have to be up at 5:30 to run.
Monday was a rest day. I really needed it. My hamstring was bothering me after last Sunday's run. I tried to get some good sleep as well, too.
Tuesday was just a swim with T3. It was a good swim. I hate paddles, though. I felt like a one legged duck swimming with them. I was in the faster lane and I could keep up with them swimming, but they lapped me doing paddles. Also, my shoulder was starting to bother me. I really need to do some PT exercises to get this from getting worse.
Wednesday was suppose to be a bike ride, but work got in the way. I just never got around to it.
Thursday was a run after work with Texas Iron. It was hot! It was something over 80 degrees and I'm just not quite used to that yet. I'll get there though. After the warmup, it was a track workout. Each interval was 2 laps around the track. First 400 was at 10K pace, next 200 was building up to a 5K pace, last 200 was easy. We were suppose to do 5-8 of them, but I only did 5 of them. My right hamstring was letting me know that it wasn't happy. It was getting worse as I ran. I also started out a little too fast and fell off towards the end of the run. The intervals were 2:14, 2:32, 2:30, 2:38, and 2:35. Ok, except for the first one, I was pretty consistent. My max heart rate for the entire run was 179 even though I was pushing it at the end of a few of those intervals. I can't believe I can't get it that high anymore because I've seen 188 on the bike within the last 2 years. That should put my running MHR over 190. Maybe when I do more speed work, I'll get it up there.
Friday was a swim with Longhorn Aquatics. It was OK. I think I like T3 more, but the facilities at UT are awesome. Coach Whitney told me that I was pausing too long and losing momentum. I tried swimming differently and it felt like I was just flailing my arms around. I finally found a stroke where I wasn't losing momentum but felt a lot better for me. I was also faster because of it too. However, I couldn't put my shoulder under my chin like Maurice was trying to teach me. Having 5 coaches in 2 years has caused me to learn how to swim depending upon who is watching. There were some speed sets today. Those were fun. However, on the last 50m sprint, as soon as I dove into the water, my calf cramped up. That was pretty much the end of my practice because after that, my calf wasn't feeling good. Also, my right calf was hurting pretty badly from the run the night before. I need to get on the TP massage ball and work it out this weekend. Oh, the UT pool was set up for 50m long course and that was fun swimming that. The water was great and clear. Very nice.
Now, does anyone have any opinions on why I should choose Longhorn Aquatics over T3? For one thing, when I swim with T3, I don't get parking tickets like I did this morning. I hate paying for parking and when I get a fucking ticket, man that's a major downer of my day.
But it didn't phase me that much today because I have some good news. I weighed in at 184 this morning. Holy shit! I'm really dropping weight now. How did I do it? I took a pretty big dose of starvation this week. Ok, not really, but I was definitely hungry a majority of this week. I think my feeling of "full" after I eat is probably larger than normal. What I've accidentally been doing and what I'll do on purpose next week is that except for breakfast, I'll always be a little bit hungry after whenever I eat. It probably isn't the healthiest, but I felt fine this week and I'm losing weight. This weekend I need a break though and I'll probably drink a lot. I just need a day to cut loose and it's going to be tomorrow after I get all my workouts in for the day. Should be fun.
I went grocery shopping tonight. I got a bunch of groceries since I'm going to make some large batches of food. I'm going to make some black bean lasagna and then make my couscous/quinoa mixture with some Unbelievable Chicken Marinade. Man, that stuff is good.
Now, it's time for bed since I have to be up at 5:30 to run.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Return to Barton Springs
I went for my long run this morning around Town Lake. It was a little bit hot today. Ok, not bad, but it was in the upper 70's when I finished the run. This was the longest run since IMFl at 8.2 miles. Total time was 70:45 so it was a pace of 8:38 per mile. Not bad for a base run. I seem to be getting faster. I tried to keep it an easy pace and a base run as well and my heart rate never got really high. Max was actually only 157bpm. Average was 145bpm. The first 4.1 was done in 35:14 with an avg HR of 143bpm. The second half was done in 35:31 with a HR of 148bpm. It was getting a little tough towards the end but I kept it up. My hamstring on my right leg was slightly hurting me at first but eased up after awhile. It was bothering my stride a bit. After the run, my knees were bothering me a bit. They've been bothering me for awhile now. My patellar tendons on both knees are sore. It's right where the tendon connects to the patella. It's sore when I do movements like standing up or squats where I load the tendons. Yoga today hurt because of it. Anyone have any ideas?
Afterwards, I went to Barton Springs and swam for a bit. It was the first time that I was there since before IMFL. It was still cold. Not as bad as I remember, but not exactly enjoyable. I did 3 laps and called it quits. I just wanted to get in the cold water to help try to get my legs to heal. I was working on the shoulder underneath my chin while swimming. It's still not completely natural yet but I'm getting closer to it. I also learned a new visualization on Slowtwitch today. When I begin my pull, try to visualize pulling my hand to my opposite hip. This helps to keep the arm close to the body and also promote rotation as well. I'll work on it some more.
Later in the day, I went to yoga. It was good and loosened up my hamstrings a bit. They hurt as well as my patellar tendons. It was relaxing though and I tried to breathe and really get into it. Oh, one more thing. I actually did the Crow Pose in yoga today. I wasn't able to balance for more than a couple of seconds, but I was expecting to come out of yoga today with a broken nose but it didn't happen.
So, that was my day today.
Shoe mileage: 242 miles
Weekly run mileage: 18 miles
Afterwards, I went to Barton Springs and swam for a bit. It was the first time that I was there since before IMFL. It was still cold. Not as bad as I remember, but not exactly enjoyable. I did 3 laps and called it quits. I just wanted to get in the cold water to help try to get my legs to heal. I was working on the shoulder underneath my chin while swimming. It's still not completely natural yet but I'm getting closer to it. I also learned a new visualization on Slowtwitch today. When I begin my pull, try to visualize pulling my hand to my opposite hip. This helps to keep the arm close to the body and also promote rotation as well. I'll work on it some more.
Later in the day, I went to yoga. It was good and loosened up my hamstrings a bit. They hurt as well as my patellar tendons. It was relaxing though and I tried to breathe and really get into it. Oh, one more thing. I actually did the Crow Pose in yoga today. I wasn't able to balance for more than a couple of seconds, but I was expecting to come out of yoga today with a broken nose but it didn't happen.
So, that was my day today.
Shoe mileage: 242 miles
Weekly run mileage: 18 miles
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Great ATC Ride
I did the ATC ride today again. This time, I actually held on for a bit. The ride was huge this morning. It was probably the biggest group that I've seen do the ride at around 75-100 people. Yes, the peloton was huge going out and we took up so many lanes. I was actually feeling really good today. I was sore from sprint workout on Thursday though and my quads and hamstrings let me know it, but I kept pushing. We turned on Southwest Parkway and I was actually using a few stragglers to put me back into the back of the pack. I was actually gaining ground on them and then I hit a stoplight. I almost had it today. After the light, I was in the front with Missy and Tim who wear also wearing ATC jerseys. They are both strong riders and I stuck on their wheels. We had a pack of about 8-10 guys and the 3 of us were in the front pretty much the entire time up to Jack Brown Cleaners. I took one or two pulls but I felt it was good enough sitting on Tim and Missy's wheels. By hanging on their wheels, they were able to push me and kept my heart rate at 160-175 pretty much the entire time. It was a lot of fun. We got to Jack Brown's and rested for a few minutes. Missy's husband was waiting for her and Tim waited for his girlfriend, A-Pack Annie. Then, the 5 of us took off back to the shop. I got dropped at one point, but I was able to catch back up to them. Truthfully, I think they slowed up for me, but I was still pushing hard.
Pretty much the entire ride, I felt like my legs were toast. I was suppose to do a brick, and I was debating whether to do it or not because I thought my legs were going to be trashed. Actually, my legs would feel fine after taking it easy for a couple of minutes. I finished the ride and decided to go ahead and do a brick. Problem was that my hamstring wasn't feeling well. Since I've had hamstring problems in the past and I know how hard they are to heal, I cut the run at 5 minutes and went back to ATC for some tacos. After that, I went to Barton Springs and soaked my legs for about 20 minutes to help promote healing. I have a base run tomorrow so I'll see how my hamstring feels.
BTW, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. A high today of about 82 which meant a ride in the 60's today. Sunny as hell. Just awesome.
Pretty much the entire ride, I felt like my legs were toast. I was suppose to do a brick, and I was debating whether to do it or not because I thought my legs were going to be trashed. Actually, my legs would feel fine after taking it easy for a couple of minutes. I finished the ride and decided to go ahead and do a brick. Problem was that my hamstring wasn't feeling well. Since I've had hamstring problems in the past and I know how hard they are to heal, I cut the run at 5 minutes and went back to ATC for some tacos. After that, I went to Barton Springs and soaked my legs for about 20 minutes to help promote healing. I have a base run tomorrow so I'll see how my hamstring feels.
BTW, the weather here is absolutely gorgeous. A high today of about 82 which meant a ride in the 60's today. Sunny as hell. Just awesome.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Another great swim
I had another great swim this morning. Also, I had someone to pace off of and push me so that was the main reason why I joined a masters swim program. This guy pushed me so much more than I would have done on my own. There were so many points where I felt like my eyeballs were going to explode. I swam 3500yds.
Last night was an evil workout with Texas Iron. After the warmup and drills and strides, we did 10x1min all out, 1min rest. We didn't keep track of our watches so we had Jamie and Andrea yelling "Go!" and "Stop!". They said to do every one as fast as possible. Man, did it hurt really badly, but it was good. I couldn't get my heart rate above 180 so I think that might be my new max heart rate. That concerns me because it was up around 190 only 2 years ago. Today, my hamstrings are sore from the sprint workout.
I skipped the core workout on Wednesday night because my body was saying "Rest" to me. I slept almost 10 hours on Wednesday night.
Also, this morning I weight in at 187lbs. I'll probably be at 186.5 or below after the weekend. Woohoo! I'm excited that my discipline is paying off and I'm finally starting to see decent progress.
Shoe mileage: 233.5 miles
Last night was an evil workout with Texas Iron. After the warmup and drills and strides, we did 10x1min all out, 1min rest. We didn't keep track of our watches so we had Jamie and Andrea yelling "Go!" and "Stop!". They said to do every one as fast as possible. Man, did it hurt really badly, but it was good. I couldn't get my heart rate above 180 so I think that might be my new max heart rate. That concerns me because it was up around 190 only 2 years ago. Today, my hamstrings are sore from the sprint workout.
I skipped the core workout on Wednesday night because my body was saying "Rest" to me. I slept almost 10 hours on Wednesday night.
Also, this morning I weight in at 187lbs. I'll probably be at 186.5 or below after the weekend. Woohoo! I'm excited that my discipline is paying off and I'm finally starting to see decent progress.
Shoe mileage: 233.5 miles
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
It's 8:30AM and I've been up for 4 hours already
I woke up at 4:30 this morning. I was expecting to be bleary eyed, grumpy, and not really motivated. However, I popped up out of bed and got ready in time to leave by 5:00. Why? I had a masters swim practice this morning with T3. It is kind of a drive from where I live, but at that time in the morning, it isn't bad. I swam a total of about 3800yds which is huge for me. I normally swim about 3000-3200yds when I was swimming on my own last year. Also, I've swam at most 2600yds since IMFL. Also, I've been really easy on swimming since IMFL. Today, I was doing some decently hard intervals and I was holding them anywhere from 1:28-1:35/100yds. Not too shabby. However, I got tired pretty quickly and then the speed dropped of a bit. The speed also dropped off a bit because Maurice showed me some things. I feel like I'm a pretty quick learner when it comes to swimming. From doing a combination of swimming and yoga, I can notice pretty subtle difference in my body when I'm doing things. Maurice wanted me to drop my shoulder more when I was extending out at the beginning of a stroke. This felt weird to me but it forced me to roll over more since I know I tend to swim flat. He wanted me to concentrate on putting my shoulder underneath my chin every time. I did it and it was awkward at first. But after about 200yds, my body realized that this was probably a better stroke and the different muscle recruitment started kicking in and working better. I swam slower when I started doing this, but I know in order to get faster, I need to get slower first when I change my stroke. The biggest difference is that it sounded different. The way that I was sinking my shoulder, it caused a hole in the water that would crash together instead of my old stroke where I would gently slip into the water. It was just weird realizing that my stroke sounded different. Overall, it was a good swim.
Last night, I had a fantastic run. I was suppose to do a 40min run with 5x2min fast, 1 min easy. I went wandering around in a neighborhood next to mine and almost got lost. I went a total of 37:55 instead of the 40min and MapMyRun said that I did about 4.77 miles. That's a pace of about 7:56/mile which is way faster than I have been running lately. It felt like I was flying last night and it looks like I was. My heart rate never got above 170bpm or so so I had some gas left in the tank if I wanted to go faster. I didn't because I'm trying to ease into this speed stuff. What made the difference last night? I have no clue, but I just concentrated on high knees, relaxed and down shoulders, and weight forward. Wow, I think this made a difference. I'll do another run on Thursday with Texas Iron and see if I get similar results. I'm just feeling really good because of this today since it seems like my body is back to the point where it wants to get faster again. I just have to watch out for injuries. And I almost broke my ankle off last night stepping into a hole in the road running in the dark. That wasn't fun.
I did a 60min spin on Tuesday morning. It's hard trying to simulate hills on a trainer or spin bike. Didn't feel good during the workout and couldn't get my heart rate up.
Monday night was a tough core workout at J&A. He got pissed off because some people were talking during the workout, including myself. He yelled at us and I shut up. One other guy kept talking and that's where Adam got pissed. It hurt, but I stuck with it because I knew it was only going to be 45 minutes and it was going to be a challenge which I needed. I'm still sore today from that workout and was feeling it in swim practice this morning. I'm going to go again tonight, but do no upper body stuff and do only core work.
Another indication that I'm starting to get into great shape again. Before I went for my run last night, I had my HRM on. I wanted to see how my resting heart rate was. I sat down on the couch and just watched it for about a minute. Once I calmed down, it was in the 46-49 range for over a minute. I'll probably check my resting heart rate the next day that I sleep in, but this is a first for me to see it under 50 consistently.
Shoe mileage: 229 miles
Last night, I had a fantastic run. I was suppose to do a 40min run with 5x2min fast, 1 min easy. I went wandering around in a neighborhood next to mine and almost got lost. I went a total of 37:55 instead of the 40min and MapMyRun said that I did about 4.77 miles. That's a pace of about 7:56/mile which is way faster than I have been running lately. It felt like I was flying last night and it looks like I was. My heart rate never got above 170bpm or so so I had some gas left in the tank if I wanted to go faster. I didn't because I'm trying to ease into this speed stuff. What made the difference last night? I have no clue, but I just concentrated on high knees, relaxed and down shoulders, and weight forward. Wow, I think this made a difference. I'll do another run on Thursday with Texas Iron and see if I get similar results. I'm just feeling really good because of this today since it seems like my body is back to the point where it wants to get faster again. I just have to watch out for injuries. And I almost broke my ankle off last night stepping into a hole in the road running in the dark. That wasn't fun.
I did a 60min spin on Tuesday morning. It's hard trying to simulate hills on a trainer or spin bike. Didn't feel good during the workout and couldn't get my heart rate up.
Monday night was a tough core workout at J&A. He got pissed off because some people were talking during the workout, including myself. He yelled at us and I shut up. One other guy kept talking and that's where Adam got pissed. It hurt, but I stuck with it because I knew it was only going to be 45 minutes and it was going to be a challenge which I needed. I'm still sore today from that workout and was feeling it in swim practice this morning. I'm going to go again tonight, but do no upper body stuff and do only core work.
Another indication that I'm starting to get into great shape again. Before I went for my run last night, I had my HRM on. I wanted to see how my resting heart rate was. I sat down on the couch and just watched it for about a minute. Once I calmed down, it was in the 46-49 range for over a minute. I'll probably check my resting heart rate the next day that I sleep in, but this is a first for me to see it under 50 consistently.
Shoe mileage: 229 miles
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Yum, dinner
I've posted this before, but I just want to reiterate how good my new staple dinner is. I cooked up some tomatoe and lentil couscous while the inca red quinoa was cooking. Once it was done, I threw the couscous in with the quinoa. I also put in a can of chick peas, tomatoes, and red bell peppers. For spices, I put in kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, ginger, garlic, rosemary, basil, oregano, and paprika. Oh, put in some olive oil as well. I cooked up my spicy crusted salmon which had canola oil, kosher salt, black pepper, cumin, paprika, basil, and rosemary put on it. It turned out really well. The salmon was fresh since I was home from the grocery store for less than an hour before the salmon was out of the oven. I had a spinach salad with some fat free ranch dressing and some black pepper. I'm so happy right now because it's such a good feeling to be full off of healthy, good quality food.
Brandon, is this a good, nutrient dense dinner?
Brandon, is this a good, nutrient dense dinner?
Long Post
I have a lot to talk about so this may be a long post. We'll see how it turns out though.
Thursday, I dropped my bike off at ATC on Thursday. I was having problems shifting from my ride on Tuesday. Brad looked at it couldn't figure it out immediately. I dropped it off and then headed to practice with Texas Iron. Let's just say that I hate traffic in Austin. It took me over an hour to go about 15 miles to practice. Not fun. The freeways were Ok, but the surface roads up north were absolutely horrible. Damnit. I was late, but not too late. We did a hill repeat workout. After the warmup, we ran warm up a hill, then a long descend down the other side. I was doing these in about 5:30 each. My body isn't used to running uphill or downhill, but I think I was doing the uphills better than the downhill. I felt like I was running like Phebe from friends when going downhill. I kept my heart rate at around 170bpm. I've could've gone harder, but like I said, I was keeping my heart rate in this range for almost 6 minutes and I'm not used to that yet. Did a 400yd active recovery after each one and then went right into the next one. Tough but good.
Friday was intended to be a swim. I woke up, it was cold, and I didn't make it. I keep being lazy about swimming but that's about to change. I've gotten in contact with T3 so I should be swimming with them next week.
Saturday was another ATC ride. It was either because I was on my Dual which is faster right now or because the group started out slower. I was able to hang onto the main group for awhile with a heart rate of around 170-175. I held it there for a few minutes. Once my heart rate hit 179-180, I blew up and dropped off the pack. I'm happy because I was able to hold on longer. I kept riding at a pretty good pace but not too hard the rest of the ride. However, the wind was absolutely crazy. It felt like it was always either a headwind or a crosswind. My bike was getting blown all over the place and I had to be very careful in my aerobars. Being in my aerobars was squirrely in the first place because I haven't been in them for 4 months. I also had an incident that could've been a lot worse. I was going down a hill on Hwy 71 at 30+mph. I've been buzzed on this hill many times before and I've learned that when I'm going down this hill to go ahead and get in the middle of the lane. Well, I was in the middle of the lane and some asshole tries to pass me on the left. Not like in the lane to the left of me, but in my lane but on my left. Missed me by about 18 inches. Scary as shit since the wind was blowing me all over the place. After he passed me, I moved further to the left so no one behind me would think about doing it again. Man, it just shows how some people in cars have such little courtesy for people on bikes. If I'm going as fast as traffic or close to it, I should have my own lane. Enough of that. I kept riding and there was wind the entire way. I was doing OK until the last big hill. I was going up it and it felt like my quads blew up. They were just done at that point. I got back to shop fine though.
After the ride, did a 30 minute brick run. Because my quads blew up on the bike, this run really, really hurt. I don't think I was going that fast, but I kept going. I estimate that I did aboub 3.5 miles and my avg HR was 144 but that can't be right because it felt a lot tougher than that.
I spent the next couple of hours at the bike shop. Don helped me out refit me on my bike. Here is what I looked like before.
My back isn't flat and my shoulders aren't over my elbows very much. It felt OK, but not great. I ended up moving my saddle forward and flipping the stem over. Before, I had about 48cm from nose of saddle to end of stem. With this new position, I have about 50.5cm. Here is what it looks like.
I not subtle but not drastic change but still a change. Don recommended that I put on a shorter stem to get my torso over my elbows more and here is what that looked like.
However, I didn't feel as good in this position as I did when I just flipped my stem. In the original and this shorter stem position, I felt like my back was curved more. When I flipped the stem over, it felt like my back was in a more neutral position and was flatter. This just felt a lot better. Also, the angle from ankle, knee, hip was 148 degrees so it was close to the recommended 150 degree angle. My torso and hips were at 90 degrees as well as my arms and my torso. I just felt really comfortable in this position. My seat height seems to be a good height as well. I may go lower in the front in the future, but I'll start here for now. I still have about a 4" drop from my saddle to my aerobar pads and that's pretty significant. My saddle is almost all the way forward. The last time I had it in this position, I had an 80.5 degree geometry which is pretty damn steep. What do you think of my fit?
After that, I helped Don set up his computer so that his video camera can download pics onto his computer so that he can post them on his website. We helped each other out that day.
Today was a 60 minute base run. I ended up going on the Shoal Creek Trail today. I've been hearing about it for awhile now and decided that I would take it today for a change of scenery. It's was pretty cool. Some parts of the trail were pretty overgrown, but nice most of the way. However, this is something that I wouldn't want to run on at night. Lots of dark, foreboding places. I had a really good run today. I usually do my base runs too hard and today I took it nice and easy. It really felt like an easy base run. I worked on my form and tried to pick up my knees, keep my shoulders relaxed and down, and kept my weight forward. I think it worked most of the way. My body was feeling pretty good as well. The weather was fantastic in the upper 50's. Windy again, but that doesn't matter as much as when on the bike. I just can't see enough that today was a fantastic run.
I was going to swim in Deep Eddy afterwards, but anything downtown was packed due to the kite festival at Zilker park this weekend. The DE parking lot was full and I was done for the day.
Oh, some other good news. My weight was down to 188lbs on Friday. My next goal in sight is 185lbs. I'll be there by the end of March, damnit!
Shoe mileage: 224 miles
Weekly run mileage: 15 miles (I'm going to start keeping track of this)
Thursday, I dropped my bike off at ATC on Thursday. I was having problems shifting from my ride on Tuesday. Brad looked at it couldn't figure it out immediately. I dropped it off and then headed to practice with Texas Iron. Let's just say that I hate traffic in Austin. It took me over an hour to go about 15 miles to practice. Not fun. The freeways were Ok, but the surface roads up north were absolutely horrible. Damnit. I was late, but not too late. We did a hill repeat workout. After the warmup, we ran warm up a hill, then a long descend down the other side. I was doing these in about 5:30 each. My body isn't used to running uphill or downhill, but I think I was doing the uphills better than the downhill. I felt like I was running like Phebe from friends when going downhill. I kept my heart rate at around 170bpm. I've could've gone harder, but like I said, I was keeping my heart rate in this range for almost 6 minutes and I'm not used to that yet. Did a 400yd active recovery after each one and then went right into the next one. Tough but good.
Friday was intended to be a swim. I woke up, it was cold, and I didn't make it. I keep being lazy about swimming but that's about to change. I've gotten in contact with T3 so I should be swimming with them next week.
Saturday was another ATC ride. It was either because I was on my Dual which is faster right now or because the group started out slower. I was able to hang onto the main group for awhile with a heart rate of around 170-175. I held it there for a few minutes. Once my heart rate hit 179-180, I blew up and dropped off the pack. I'm happy because I was able to hold on longer. I kept riding at a pretty good pace but not too hard the rest of the ride. However, the wind was absolutely crazy. It felt like it was always either a headwind or a crosswind. My bike was getting blown all over the place and I had to be very careful in my aerobars. Being in my aerobars was squirrely in the first place because I haven't been in them for 4 months. I also had an incident that could've been a lot worse. I was going down a hill on Hwy 71 at 30+mph. I've been buzzed on this hill many times before and I've learned that when I'm going down this hill to go ahead and get in the middle of the lane. Well, I was in the middle of the lane and some asshole tries to pass me on the left. Not like in the lane to the left of me, but in my lane but on my left. Missed me by about 18 inches. Scary as shit since the wind was blowing me all over the place. After he passed me, I moved further to the left so no one behind me would think about doing it again. Man, it just shows how some people in cars have such little courtesy for people on bikes. If I'm going as fast as traffic or close to it, I should have my own lane. Enough of that. I kept riding and there was wind the entire way. I was doing OK until the last big hill. I was going up it and it felt like my quads blew up. They were just done at that point. I got back to shop fine though.
After the ride, did a 30 minute brick run. Because my quads blew up on the bike, this run really, really hurt. I don't think I was going that fast, but I kept going. I estimate that I did aboub 3.5 miles and my avg HR was 144 but that can't be right because it felt a lot tougher than that.
I spent the next couple of hours at the bike shop. Don helped me out refit me on my bike. Here is what I looked like before.
My back isn't flat and my shoulders aren't over my elbows very much. It felt OK, but not great. I ended up moving my saddle forward and flipping the stem over. Before, I had about 48cm from nose of saddle to end of stem. With this new position, I have about 50.5cm. Here is what it looks like.
I not subtle but not drastic change but still a change. Don recommended that I put on a shorter stem to get my torso over my elbows more and here is what that looked like.
However, I didn't feel as good in this position as I did when I just flipped my stem. In the original and this shorter stem position, I felt like my back was curved more. When I flipped the stem over, it felt like my back was in a more neutral position and was flatter. This just felt a lot better. Also, the angle from ankle, knee, hip was 148 degrees so it was close to the recommended 150 degree angle. My torso and hips were at 90 degrees as well as my arms and my torso. I just felt really comfortable in this position. My seat height seems to be a good height as well. I may go lower in the front in the future, but I'll start here for now. I still have about a 4" drop from my saddle to my aerobar pads and that's pretty significant. My saddle is almost all the way forward. The last time I had it in this position, I had an 80.5 degree geometry which is pretty damn steep. What do you think of my fit?
After that, I helped Don set up his computer so that his video camera can download pics onto his computer so that he can post them on his website. We helped each other out that day.
Today was a 60 minute base run. I ended up going on the Shoal Creek Trail today. I've been hearing about it for awhile now and decided that I would take it today for a change of scenery. It's was pretty cool. Some parts of the trail were pretty overgrown, but nice most of the way. However, this is something that I wouldn't want to run on at night. Lots of dark, foreboding places. I had a really good run today. I usually do my base runs too hard and today I took it nice and easy. It really felt like an easy base run. I worked on my form and tried to pick up my knees, keep my shoulders relaxed and down, and kept my weight forward. I think it worked most of the way. My body was feeling pretty good as well. The weather was fantastic in the upper 50's. Windy again, but that doesn't matter as much as when on the bike. I just can't see enough that today was a fantastic run.
I was going to swim in Deep Eddy afterwards, but anything downtown was packed due to the kite festival at Zilker park this weekend. The DE parking lot was full and I was done for the day.
Oh, some other good news. My weight was down to 188lbs on Friday. My next goal in sight is 185lbs. I'll be there by the end of March, damnit!
Shoe mileage: 224 miles
Weekly run mileage: 15 miles (I'm going to start keeping track of this)
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