Run Bulldog Run

End Of The Road For The Essential Abd Program

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:48:50 +0000

Just completed the last workout of the final week of the Essential Abs Program.

Today the plan called for 15 reps of each of the following exercises with 7 seconds rest between each one:

Corkscrew
Hip Up
Reverse Crunch
Crossover
Oblique Crunch
Catch
Toe Touch
Crunch: legs up
Crunch: frog legs
Isometric back extension

Now the plan is over I’ll probably go back and repeat Week 5 and 6 for a while with the hope of maintaining whatever core strength I’ve built up over the past six weeks. I may eventually increase the number of reps from 15 to 20, but will start with 16 of each exercise on the weekend. Wish the push ups plan was this manageable!

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McMillan Custom Marathon Plan: Week 4 Day 3

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:43:23 +0000

Week 4, Day 3
Phase: Pre-Marathon
Workout: 50 to 70 minute Easy Run
Purpose: Build Endurance

Bad storms tonight, so just ran on the treadmill at 2% incline for 50 minutes. It was slow and tedious but I got the job done. Hope the weather is more cooperative for tomorrow afternoon’s Steady State run….

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Dean Karnazes 50/50 & Conquering The Game Of Life

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:16:19 +0000

I’m currently reading a special preview edition of the latest publication by super-endurance athlete Dean Karnazes. 50/50 is the tale of Dean’s epic 2006 attempt to cpmplete 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, and is a fascinating account of what it feels like to stretch the limits of human strength.

The soon-to-be-released book not only recounts the ultimate running challenge, but is littered with useful training tips and words of wisdom straight from the horses mouth.

By the way, watch this space for a more detailed book review and unique opportunity to win one of five hardcover editions of 50/50 that I’ve managed to secure from the publisher!

50/50: Secrets I Learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days, is one of those hard-to-put-down books and therefore won’t take me too long to finish. With this in mind I definitely need another fascinating book waiting in the wings, and luckily I think I’ve found it:

Conquering the Game of Life is a self help book recently released by a local orthopedic hand surgeon, who shares his health experiences and personal journey to help the reader capture and play the game of life they desire.

Dr. C. K. Hersh was diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Two years after his cancer treatment his unique insights were further accelerated by the loss of his father. Sadly C.K.’s mother died two years later. With many significant life changes in a very short period of time C. K. set out on a journey of self-discovery that he shares with the reader.

The unique book will entertain the reader and pose questions which will enable the reader to capture the game of life they desire. In addition, the included workbook can be utilized to help the reader structure and ultimately conquer their own game of life.

Dr. C. K. Hersh lives in an historic neighborhood in Portsmouth, Virginia with his wife and two children. On a personal level I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and supporting C. K. Hersh at several local running and multi-sport events, and can honestly say you couldn’t wish to meet a more genuine person.

Conquering the Game of Life is a journey of self-discovery and growth, generously sprinkled with sports analogies that help others learn to play the game of life they desire. I’m sure athletes and non-athletes alike will relate to the series of entertaining stories, exercises, and questions that empower the reader to find his or her game.

I have to say I’ll be sad when Dean’s 50/50 marathon adventure comes to a glorious end, but I’m really looking forward to delve into the 176 pages of self-discovery and personal growth. Who knows, maybe I can improve my own Game of Life?

Hundred Push Ups Week 5 Day 2

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:36:35 +0000

Week 5 Day 2 sees the addition of a couple of extra sets to the workout:

Required: 20, 20, 18, 18, 15, 15, 14, at least 40

I managed the 2×20, 2×18 and 2×15 quite comfortably, but lost concentration (I was mentally tired after my 10 miles of running tonight) and for some reason performed two lots of 14….

I didn’t feel too bad going into the final 40, but could only muster up 30 good ones before my arms let me down.

Not bad though - 164 push ups for the night and I’ll be repeating Week 5 anyway after Sunday’s disaster.

Can’t wait for Thursday [not….]

Tidewater Striders Summer Series Predict Your Time 4 Miler

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:30:52 +0000

I followed up my successful afternoon workout with the Tidewater Striders Summer Series Predict Your Time 4 Miler - an interesting race where you predict the time (surprise, surprise) it will take to cover a pre-determined distance. In previous years the distance has been four miles but this year for some reason it was shortened to 3.8 miles. Anyway, it sounds simple but you’re not allowed to wear a watch, heart rate monitor, GPS or any other timing device - kind of tricky when you’re used to technology pacing you on your runs.

Initially I was tempted to predict a comfortable 28:30 (7:30 per mile pace), but after talking to a few friends soon changed my mind and [foolishly] went for an ambitious 24:59.

It’s always odd when the gun goes off to start this race. I look around and notice several runners instinctively reach to start their watches, but on this occasion their wrists are bare - no stopwatches allowed. Several more glance down at their bare wrists as we round the first corner, presumably to check their non-existent GPS pace. Quite comical really.

I settle in to an early rhythm. Is it too fast? Is it too slow? Who knows. My judgment seems off tonight so I just go with the flow and latch on to a group of high school runners. We chat about cycling and duathlons and triathlons and school and college and other stuff. Before I know it we’ve completed one of the 1.9 mile loops and heading back out to complete the second.

Towards the end I start to feel tired. The faster high schoolers pull away slightly and leave me wondering what pace I’ve been running at. I cross the line and glance back at the turned-around finish line clock which reads 24:29 - 30 seconds too fast and an average pace of 6:27 per mile. Not a bad effort considering my 6 mile workout just an hour earlier, but not close enough to my predicted time of 24:59 to win any prizes…..

Enjoyable evening and a nice 10 miles in the bank.

PS Thanks kids for the company - I enjoyed the chat!

McMillan Custom Marathon Plan: Week 4 Day 2

Steve — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:06:15 +0000

Not much time to post tonight, so here goes:

Week 4, Day 2
Phase: Pre-Marathon
Workout: 15 to 30 minute Warm-Up + Fartlek Workout: 8 to 10 times 1 minute at slightly faster than 5K effort with 1 minute recovery jog + 15 to 30 minute Cool-down
Purpose: Build Speed - Aerobic Capacity (VO2max)
Comments: Run slowly between the fast surges.

Felt good tonight. Luckily the temperature dropped as the afternoon wore on. Around noon it was almost 100°F, but by 5:00pm when I ran it had “cooled” to 87°F.

Everything went to plan - ran 15 minutes as a warm up before getting into the 1 minute repeats. Without a Garmin it was kind of hard to judge pace, but I think I did pretty good - I was certainly working hard. The 1 minute recovery time went fast between the hard efforts and before I knew it I’d completed 8 solid 60 second efforts and it was time to cool down.

Lately the cool down has been one of the toughest parts of the entire workout. My legs were tired and stiff from the effort, but they did loosen up as the 15 minutes ticked away. I guess that’s the whole point of cooling down to flush the lactic acid away from the muscles…

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McMillan Custom Marathon Plan: Week 4 Day 1

Steve — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:47:15 +0000

Week 4, Day 1
Phase: Pre-Marathon
Workout: 35 to 50 Easy Run
Purpose: Build Endurance
Comments: This is a good week for recovery. You may want to run on the low end of the mileage range and take an extra day off.

Three weeks of Base Phase training behind and so far so good. Legs still feel good, I haven’t missed a workout, I’ve met every required pace and above all I’m still having fun.

Looking back I think my last day off from running was June 27th and somewhat surprisingly I’m doing fine with that. I thought by now my shins would be screaming for a break or my knees creaking with the jump in mileage, but McMillan’s strategy of hard/easy running seems to work well for me.

Anyway, onto tonight’s run:

Despite the 91°F temperature and almost lack of breathable air, I had a good run. The first mile was fairly slow, but I was able to comfortable reduce the average pace down to 7:36 per mile by the time I’d finished the workout and logged 5.5 miles. Luckily I’d paid close attention to my water drinking today and had no problems with hydration or overheating. Great start to the week….

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Premium Running Music By Hella Sound

Steve — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:11:03 +0000

Hella Sound is a brand new web site that promises “the best running music, synced to your pace and designed to burn calories.” Sounds impressive, especially if you’re one of those runners that need the right music to propel you through a workout.

Finishing touches are being made to their web site, but you can still go ahead and register; Hella Sound will notify you when their first batch of music is available for download.

According to the web site, Hella Sound provide:

hard-driving original music, synced to your pace and built to burn calories. All of our songs are 30 minutes long and contain rhythmic and harmonic structure to help you stay focused during your run.

All of their music will be totally original and perfectly matched to your cadence (running strides per minute). Hella Sound will offer each song in preset rates (BPM/beats per minute) that will match your typical 135 to 175 running strides per minute.

Looks to be a great addition to the ever-increasing technology-inspired training tools available for runners and I hope it’s not too long before the first songs in their catalog are released.

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End Of The Road For Garmin Forerunner 305?

Steve — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:37:23 +0000

Spent some time last night updating various software versions for my Garmin Forerunner 305Yesterday I thought I’d failed to charged my Garmin 305 correctly and therefore didn’t/couldn’t use it on my 15 mile long run. Today, despite being on charge for almost 24 hours, the same thing happened and the screen went blank as soon as I removed the unit from the charging cradle.

I searched online for a solution, but the news isn’t good; it appears the battery inside the wrist unit will no longer hold a charge and is actually quite a common problem. Several newsgroups, forums and even the Garmin web site suggested a soft reset — which is performed by pressing the lap and mode buttons at the same time, and then pressing the power button to switch the unit on — but this didn’t help at all.

I also read several blog posts where 305 owners had taken their units apart to check the battery connections - a bit too drastic a solution for my liking. I guess I’ll contact Garmin in the next couple of days to find out what my options are, but my gut feeling is that a repair will be almost as expensive as buying a brand new unit with full warranty.

I’ll let you know what Garmin comes back with….

Hundred Push Ups Week 5 Day 1 & More Essential Abs

Steve — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:56:58 +0000

I knew Week 5 Day 1 of the Hundred Push Ups plan was going to be a tough one. I glanced at it briefly last night to refresh my memory and kind of wish I hadn’t bothered. I was even tempted to postpone the start of the week to Monday, but figured it would be just as tough whatever day I chose to do it.

So after my six mile run and weekly yard work was out of the way, I decided it was now or never.

Required: 40, 32, 30, 25, at least 40

I was dreading the opening 40 but they actually weren’t too bad at all. After taking full advantage of the allowed 60 seconds I started on the set of 32; this was where it started getting tough, but I managed to make it through…just. My arms failed me on the next set however, and I could only manage a shaky 22.

60 seconds later I lowered myself into position and gutted out 25 good ones, but could only manage 23 in the final set of the workout; no way could I get anywhere near the required “at least 40″. I’m slightly disappointed, but also quite proud that I managed 142 push ups in one workout - 18 more than my previous highest. Looks like I’ll be repeating Week 5 again next week, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s all progress, right?

Actual: 40, 32, 22, 25, 23

If anyone else is following the plan, please note the slight change in Week 5. On Day 2 and 3, there are actually 8 levels instead of the usual 5 and the time between sets is reduced to 45 and 30 seconds respectively.

With the push ups behind me, it was time to perform the penultimate workout of the six-week Essential Abs program; a nicely structured program that gets progressively more difficult as time goes on.

Today the plan called for 15 reps of each of the following exercises. I usually substitute the frog legs crunch for the corkscrew and switch the isometric back extension for the plank exercise. Today was no exception.

Corkscrew
Hip Up
Reverse Crunch
Crossover
Oblique Crunch
Catch
Toe Touch
Crunch: legs up
Crunch: frog legs
Isometric back extension