VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

I looked at my calendar, and saw that the Boston marathon was only 23 weeks away.  I hope to score a slot through my running club, and be on the starting line as a 50 year old.  Only 23 weeks, it was the inspiration I needed to get my fat ass off the couch.  I checked my marathon guide book, and penciled in 4.5 miles at base pace for my workout today.

It was 44F, 7C, and overcast this afternoon when I set out for my run.  My highlight was that I finished all 4.3 miles.  I was slow and lethargic, about 2 minutes per mile slower for the same run, when I was in shape.  One step after another on heavy legs.  I finished in just under 45 minutes.  When I was done, I finished my workout in the weight room with single legged curls, extensions and presses, and assisted pull ups and dips.  
It felt good to get off the coach, hopefully I’ll do the same tomorrow, where hill repeats loom in my future.

It’s time that I take a good look at myself, and make some meaningful plans to change what’s been staring back at me in the mirror.  I’ve been relatively inactive since the middle of summer, and I am ready to change.  I love the transformations that I’ve seen from others when they pursue 12 week goals, so I thought that I’d try to see what I can do during the next 12 weeks.  My goal is to set a 5K PR on January 1st.  The steps that I will use in this pursuit are as follows:  

Diet: Dust off the Tosca Reno book and cookbook, and work on cleaning up my diet, and the diet of my family.  I do the bulk of the food shopping and the cooking for my family.  We’ll all benefit from healthier choices.  In addition to eating cleaner, I need to tighten up my portion size, and stop my late night snacking habits.
Core training: I have two different routines, one using light weights and a stability ball, the other using a medicine ball and a bosu trainer.  I haven’t touched either in nearly 6 months.  I like both sets of workouts, and will alternate them for a total of 6 workouts a week.
Cardio: For the month of October, I’ll be building my base.  Focusing on increasing my base runs from 3 to 6 miles, while keeping down, below my normal target heart rate.  I’ll increase my October long runs from 6 to 9 miles. During November and December I will allow my heart rate to reach my usual target zone, while adding hill and tempo workouts.  I’ll continue to increase my long run distance from 10-14 miles.  I’m going to refrain from racing during October, and consider some local 5K races during November.

My goals during these 12 weeks are to get my weight below 185, get my fat% below 15%, and run my 5K faster than 23:38.

I spent today on my bicycle, first commuting to work, then commuting to my weekly class at UVM.  It was chilly and gray for my AM and PM commute.  I found out how much my aerobic capacity has deteriorated as my morning commute left me gasping for air, and when I needed my granny gear to climb the steep hill about 2 miles from work.  During my night commute home, my concern was for my safety.  It had been raining for nearly three hours.  In addition to it being dark, the roads were slick.  I road cautiously especially during my first 2 miles as I navigated through the busy traffic on Route 2 headed out of Burlington.  I arrived home none the worse for wear, and having empirical evidence that I need to heed my AM alarm and get my @$$ out of bed and resume running on a regular basis.

Due to scheduling conflicts that were beyond my control, I had to use my bicycle as my primary transportation vehicle today.  On the way to work, my rear tire suffered a flat while crossing a rough patch of the road that is under construction.  Luckily, another teacher traveling along my route in a truck recognized me and brought me to work and home after school.  Thursday afternoons I am taking a class at the University of Vermont.  I decided to throw my books in a backpack and run the 5 or so miles from my house to campus.  As I began my run, I was struggling with an imbalance between my two legs.  Something was awry with my left leg.  After a mile, I stopped running, and began hitchhiking, with hopes to arrive on time.  Luckily, within 5 minutes I was able to get a ride.  It wasn’t as a hitchhiker, but I was able to hail a passing cab.

I’ve got to get out on the road soon, when I have some time, and try and figure out what’s going on with my leg, and how to fix my stride.

As my summer ended, so did my late night part time job. I’ve been itching to get back on the road, but I’ve had a scratchy throat, and runny nose, and I don’t want the crude to invade my respiratory system. So I’m impatiently waiting, and hopefully I’ll be running with a vengence soon. I have a 4 races scheduled over 6 weeks ranging from 5K to 1/2 marathon.

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah begins tomorrow night, and arrives at a perfect time for me to renew my running.  During the summer I played basketball and bicycled, and began a part time late night job, where I threw luggage, and cleaned airplanes, but which left me exhausted the next day.  Now it’s time to begin the year anew, and look at my running plan.

Starting tomorrow, I plan to run 4-5 times a week, while spending Thursdays on my bicycle.  This will include one or two base runs per week ~7.6 miles each, a hill run, a tempo run and one long run weekly.  I have a half marathon in 2 weeks, and will probably find a 10K, and a few 5Ks to race throughout the fall.  This April, I’m hoping to get one of my running club’s 5 slots to race the Boston Marathon.  So my marathon training would start in November.

I hope everyone has a sweet new year.  L’shana Tova Tika Tavu.

I raced to the top of Vermont today, 4.3 miles up the Mt. Mansfield toll road.  The weather was good for a race, ~68F, 20C at the start, and 56F, 13C at the summit.  The first 3/10th of a mile was paved, and the last 4 miles were on a well groomed dirt/gravel road.  There were some wickedly steep sections including the paved section, and at 1.5 miles, and at 3 miles.  It was a brutal challenge, and I spent much of the race walking.  My mile splits went were 14, 15, 17, 17.  I raced up the mountain about 5/3 slower than if I were running on flats.  I finished in 1:06:31, 28/36 in my age group.

It was our hottest day of the year so far, 89F, 32C, and for some unknown reason, I decided to run some hill repeats.  Near my house I have a 1K loop that includes a 50m hill that is at ~25% grade.  I set out with water at a comfortable pace.  Loop one was fine, but by loop 2 I was struggling.  The third loop had me melting into the pavement.  I decided not to test my limits any further, and lumbered ~1K more to our neighborhood pool where I just let my body collapse into the refreshing water.

I’ve set a fall race schedule beginning in 3+ weeks with a 4.3 mile race to the "Top of Vermont"  3000 feet elevation gain to the highest peak in Vermont.  I figured that the best way to get started was with hill repeats.  I Begin and ended with a 1K warmuo, and then ran a 1K loop that began with a wickedly steep hill up to the airport fence.  I completed 5 loops, before returning home.   My body felt great, all aches and pains that I had 5 weeks ago were gone.

I was visiting my in-laws and got up this morning at 5:15 to run.  I went on a 7&2/3 mile loop and had nothing.  Click, click, click, went my right knee.  I averaged 11+ minute miles, ~2 minutes per mile slower than my normal pace.  The only neat thing about the run was the family of wild turkeys, a mom with 6 chicks that crossed the road in front of me.