VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

For the most part I had a good week.  I started training again, running 5 times this week, logging 18 miles.  I also had 2 nights of bosu ball, core workouts.  I raced 5K, so I now have a baseline to gage my progress, and how realistic my goals are.  As for the negatives, my fitness level is nowhere near where it needs to be, and I have yet to respond to my predawn alarm.  I’ll need to get up early, because the early morning are my only real me times, and if I am up then, I’m assured of getting my run in.

During my race today, my pace was where I want my base pace to be by January.  I need to focus more on my running schedule, instead of going of helter skelter, with the hopes that everything will fall into place.  My next 5K is October 25th.  My goal for that race will be a PR, sub24:08. Starting this week, I’ll be using a 5K training schedule from my book, Brain Training for Runners, by Matt Fitzgerald.  

Proprioceptive Cue:  Falling Forwards
Monday: 6 miles at base pace + drills: Running no Arms, One-Legged Hop
Tuesday: Hill Repeats: 2 Mile warmup and cool down.  4×30 second hill repeats @relaxed sprint speed and 2 minute active recoveries
Wednesday:  6 miles at base pace + drills: Running no Arms, One-Legged Hop
Thursday: Yom Kippur, 25+ hour fast starting Wednesday before sunset to Thursday past sunset.
Friday: Fartlek Run:  6 miles @base pace with 4×30 second fartleks at 1 mile pace sprinkled in.
Saturday: 6 miles at base pace + drills: Running no Arms, One-Legged Hop
Sunday: 7 miles at base pace.
Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Sunday bosu or stability ball workouts.

Today was an ideal for a run, ~46F, 7C, and I was pumped for my 5K race.  Before the race I went to Sunday morning services, at my Synagogue.  After services, I grabbed my gear and changed in the bathroom.  When I was on the highway, half way to the race, I realized that I left my running shoes at the Synagogue.  It was too late to go back, so I sucked it up knowing at least I had my basketball shoes in the trunk.  By the time I grabbed my race bib, and taken the race t-shirt back to my car I had 15 minutes to warm up before the race.  The DJ was cranking out tunes prerace, and while I was warming up I became absorbed in the running party swirling all around me.  It was a celebration, and I was stoked to be a part of it.

It was the 25th anniversary of this race, and the Governor of Vermont was on hand, to start the race.  My intent was to go out comfortably, and run comfortably for the first 2/3 of the race, before focusing on a strong finish.  I began to run, but almost immediately my HR was above my target zone for this race.  I felt as if I was running comfortably, so I ignored my watch, and kept going at that same pace.  I clocked 8:35 for my first mile, and 8:35 again for my second mile.  I was racing at the pace that 12 weeks from now I hope will be my base pace.  Around the 2&1/2 mile point I knew there was someone right on my shoulder.  About 1/10 of a mile closer the person drew even, it was a kid.  I surged ahead, only to be caught again.  I surged ahead, only to be passed after the 3 mile point.  The race was on I sprinted with everything I had, and the 10 year old sprinted too.  Shoulder to shoulder we surged all the way to the finish line where I beat him by less than a body length.  Take that you young whipper snapper.  

My time today was 26:32, under the 27:00 I thought I may run, but 50 seconds over a similar race last October, and 2:24 off my PR.  I have that October race in 3 more weeks, and by then I hope to be challenging my PR.

I just wanted to share with everyone some of what is racing through my head.  First of all I had a great class at Hebrew school yesterday.  How often can you talk about Jonah, Noah and Al Gore in the same conversation, or compare a DR. Seuss story to a Bible story.   Secondly, If you have kids go and see Beverly Hills Chihuahua, it’s much better than I thought it would be, it was a good movie.  If you avoid theaters because of your ADHD, then wait until it comes out on video, but see the movie.

I had signed up for a 1/2 marathon today, but my I haven’t put the work in to run 13.1 miles.  I want the T shirt, so in 4 hours I’ll head pick up my race packet, and then I’ll run the 5K option for that race.  I’ve spoken to my SD running coach, she said go there to be energized by all the other runners, and celebrate with them your joy of running.  She ought to no me better.  I know she is right, but as soon as I’m there, I’ll be too focused on racing to celebrate.  I’m going to approach this as a way to check my baseline fitness.  I hope to run a sub27 5K, and 3 weeks from now challenge my 5K PR.  87 Days from now I intend to be sub21:50.

Here’s a new riddle:
No legs have I to dance,
No lungs have I to breathe,
No life have I to live or die
And yet I do all three.
What am I?

The following is my video demonstrating my core routine.  I do 10 exercices, doing 3 sets of 10 reps each.  When I work my core I superset, working the 1st three exercices together, then the next 4 exercise, and my last superset is the final 3 exercices.  The first nine exercises I do on the bosu ball, the 10th I do on the floor.

A brief description of the 10 exercise are as follows:
1.  Saturn-  Rotate the ball 10X around your head in each direction
2.  Push/Pull-  While holding the ball at your chest push the ball away, and then pull it back to your chest
3.  Side Twist-  While holding the ball at your chest twist right-center-left-center 10X

4.  Hula Hoop-  Rotate the ball 10X around your waist in each direction
5.  Rocking Chair- Starting at your waost lift the ball above your head while keeping yur arms straight
6.  Squat and Push- Like the Push/Pull but squatting first
7.  Thigh Kick and Catch-  Drop the ball and kick it with your thigh

8.  Bosu Ball Extend- Bending at the waist extend the ball until it touches the bosu ball
9.  Discus-  With straight arms extend the ball out from the shoulders in hand, bring it to the center of your body, and extend the ball in the other direction in the other hand
10.  Soldier Walk-  While on the floor, alternate high straight legged kicks

I can still hear my SD running coach’s mantra, “To run fast you need to run fast.”  At first appearance that seems obvious, but what she was saying, reading between the lines is that If all your runs are long runs or at base pace, you will improve your fitness level, but you will never improve your speed.  Then she said for speed workouts she loves fartlek workouts. (Fartlek is a Swedish word which means running for the love of running) In fartlek runs, during your run you pick a point, sprint to that point for 10-45 seconds, then resume at your base pace, until the moment hits you to take off on another sprint.  I can just imagine my running coach on the dunes by Torrey Pines, with her long hair pulled back in a pony tail just taking off for the next dune, enjoying the perfect combination of solitude and nature’s wonder.

Flash forward to this afternoon in Vermont. It was another crisp, clear, and cool autumn day ~54F, 12C, and windy.  I don’t like running in the wind, so I today was only nice for running, not a glorious.  I had some prep work to do at Synagogue, so when it was done I took off on my run.  The Synagogue is atop a brutal hill which leads down to the flood plain near the mouth of the Winooski River, a section of Burlington called the Intervale.  I followed the road into the Intervale, then veered off onto a footpath that rambled along the banks of the River.  My fartlek intervals had me running on the foot path in and around trees whose roots were sliding along the edge of the river bank, and the trees themselves were nearly toppling towards the water.  The river was serene, there was dense brambles, bushes, and trees near and around the path.  Along the route I also passed the sleeping bag and remnants of a fire at a campsite for some local homeless people, and a upside down rusted cadillac left from a joy ride gone bad.  7 minutes of base pace running, then a 30 second dash between the trees and the shadows.  

At 17:50 I reversed my corse and headed for home.  Unfortunately today I wasn’t able to finish my run with a negative split.  That monster hill abused me until I cried uncle.  I had a great run. Thanks, SD coach.  I still have so much room for improvement.  My Journey is still just beginning.

By being the first to post a total on Friday, I know that I am currently the clubhouse leader.  Currently I stand at 57 points.  I have earned the points as follows:
Spirit: [49]
New Friends 4, I’m only counting mutual friends….Spincycler, you’re holding out on me.
Blog Responses 40 (20@2pts each)
Group Activity 2 (Basketball last night)
Going to Synagogue 3(Wednesday for Jewish New Year)
Body: 4
Runs (2)
Ab Workout Wednesday (2)
Mind: [4]
An Hour of Reading (2) Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity by Abraham Joshua Heschel.  During the last 2 days what I’ve read ha talked about how as Jews we are wonderful at fundraising and raising money for charities, but we aren’t paying enough attention to what really matters in Judaism:  Jewish education and spirituality.  Then he went on to talk about the Hassidic movement and how it has succeeded by finding ways through prayer and learning that man can have a more intimate relationship with God.  Heschel also challenges whether the Hassidic movement relies too much on the cult of personality rather than the core teaching from the texts. What can I say, I may don’t think I have your average reading tastes.
Riddles (2) The answer for my first posted riddle:  You use it between your head and your toes, the more it works the thinner it grows.
What is it? SOAP.
My second riddle is as follows: Eight years ago, Sam was eight times the age of his son Sam Jr. Today, if you add their ages together, they add up to 52. How old are Sam and his son?
So my total as of 1:00 AM Friday is [57]

This afternoon was another with ideal running  conditions: cool, crisp and clear. It was 52F,11C, and it was breezy.  I chose to run in long sleeves and a hat, and it was a good choice, as today had more of a bite of autumn.  I had about a 45 minute window for a run, and I was somewhere I’d never run before, so I put 22:30 on my timer and ventured off into the unknown.  My only goal for todays run was that I wanted my return leg to be faster than my outbound one.

My run began on a busy road with a narrow shoulder, so for my own safety and sanity I quickly turned off at my first opportunity onto a quiet country road.  Yesterday may have been my designated hill workout, but today’s run had almost no flat stretches.  It was up one hill then down another.  At about the 20 minute point the road I was on came to a dead end,  a perfect turn around point.  I was able to run faster on the way back, not because of determination or my fitness level, but because of the terrain. But I succeeded on accomplishing my goal, and had a fabulous time doing it.

Last year during the fall I could play basketball for about an hour after school with some hopeful prospects who were trying to impress the coach at open gym.  Unfortunately, this year my schedule has changed, and I have missed out on this opportunity.  Tonight however; my son had an oboe audition for the district wind ensemble, at the high school, during the same time as open gym.  So luckily, while I was waiting for him to have his audition I played some basketball for the first time in over a month.  

Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between playing basketball against men in their 30s and 40s, and playing against high school aged kids.  The pace of the game is so much faster, and more helter skelter.  I had a blast, running, and running during 3 fast paced games.  What I lacked in quickness, I more than made up for with guile and experience.  All too soon, my son’s audition was over, and I had to leave the gym and head for home.

This afternoon was another glorious opportunity to run.  It was 61F, 16C, overcast with just the hint of a breeze.  Today I went for a hill run.  I had a short, 1 mile warmup and cool down, with 4X1 minute hill repeats.  I set out towards the dirt road near my house, and did the hill repeats in solitude.  The repeats were a challenge, and a reality check. I have a long way to go, and today I was just beginning to lay the foundation.

My riddle for the week is:
You use it between your head and your toes, the more it works the thinner it grows.
What is it?

This afternoon was an ideal time for a run.  Autumn was in the air, the leaves are beginning to change. It was 63F, 17C with a nice gentle breeze was blowing.  It was the perfect time to scrape the rust off of my running shoes, and make good on my promise to myself.  I set out on a 4&1/3 mile run that had been my base run during last autumn when I was trying to get my body into running shape.

If felt good to be back on the road again, alone with my thoughts.  I set out at a comfortable pace.  It soon became apparent that I had lost touch of the sensory feel of running.  I was out of synch, neither my breathing, stride, or balance felt quite right.  I had no sense of my pace.  I just new that I was laboring some, I had no fluidity in my movements.  My watched chimed at 8:30, my new goal pace for my base runs.  I was nowhere near the 1 mile marker, but that was all right.  I was back running.  I was off the sidelines and back in the game.

My run today took under 44 minutes, the time wasn’t important, my actions were.  I need to cut 6+ minutes off the time for that run, while running at a relaxed pace to reach some of my goals.  That’s not a concern, today I got back in the game.  I have plenty of time to improve and refine my running.  I looked back at my spreadsheet from last year.  When I first ran this loop a year ago it was my 11th day back running.  In 2007 I was nearly a minute slower than today, and I was carrying an additional 12 pounds.  Today was the first of many steps towards my goal.  My race is in 235 more days, but in many ways I took the most important steps today.