Well, just for disclosure's sake, there are no results for this week. I injured my left foot a few days ago, tripping over a pile of wood cut ends near the barn project, and the impact set up a "trauma" in my left big toe. Then, yesterday I got dehydrated working outside all day (I keep forgetting that you have to drink, especially in the cold), and coupled with the toe trauma, this led to an onset of gout in the left toe this morning. Yes, "gout," the condition that makes you sound like you live in the 15th century...
Gout is a form of arthritis. Specifically, it is the crystallization of uric acid in a joint, typically the great toe (i.e., big toe), elbow, or wrist. The toe is especially susceptible because of the great stresses and strains that act upon it; the great toe serves as the single point of propulsion for the human gait. There is evidence that one can be more prone to gout depending on various factors, including diet, trauma, hydration, and genetic history.
Dietary considerations involve consumption of too much red meat. I haven't had a great deal of red meat in the last few weeks, so that's out. But, certainly, I qualified under trauma and hydration! Hydration plays a role because as the base amount of water in your system decreases, by default the concentration (i.e., amount of stuff dissolved in some unit of water) of all minerals and compounds in your blood will go up. So, when you get dehydrated the concentration of sodium goes up, as does the concentration of uric acid. Uric acid is a cellular waste product that is filtered by the kidneys. Unfortunately, if the concentration of uric acid gets too high, it will crystallize... forming sharp edges that cause inflammation in the joint it chose to sit on and form crystals.
So, for me, the treatment is two-fold. I drink a lot of water to get well hydrated, and I take serious anti-inflammatory meds to keep things in check. This strategy usually means I only have to suffer most of one day, rather than the three-to-four days that used to be typical for me (before I understood what was happening chemically). Sadly, that day happened to be today, when I should have been out on the course doing some timed walking/running. C'est la vie, n'est pas?
I did have to spend time on my feet, trying to close in the remaining parts of the barn before real, serious snow starts flying... so I was quite thankful for my orthotic inserts from the VA, the ones with the band of carbon fiber running along the great toe line, that help support the propulsive efforts of that joint. Although, to be honest, I cheated and just limped about not flexing my left foot at all!
Hopefully, I'll be able to get back into things later in the week.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Turkey Trot
Well, we're up in Fort Kent for Thanksgiving... a couple of inches of snow and ice are on the ground, and the temperatures are their typical 10 degrees (F) cooler than down in western Maine... but I love it up here, in my homeland.
So, as we pull in yesterday afternoon, my Dad asks me, "Hey, now that you're a runner, do you want to go into town with me tomorrow for the Turkey Trot?" After I laughed at being called a runner (but had that secret pride nonetheless, especially from my Dad, who has been a runner and Nordic skier for the last 30+ years... trains with Olympians... he likes to run), I decided to go along with him, my brother Pete, and two of my nephews to the Turkey Trot 5K Charity Walk/Run.
The charity part of the event is to raise funds for the sports program at the Fort Kent Elementary School, which is fine by me. The 5K part was a bit daunting... Remember, my END goal for this blog is to get up to 5K, and the farthest I've run so far is one very slow mile back on Veterans Day. Well, so what? I figured I'd just walk by myself and let the fit members of the family do the run.
And that's pretty much what happened, except my Dad decided to walk with me. We had a great time talking about various carpentry projects he's doing, the horse barn I'm building, his ridiculous interactions with the Maine State Department of Education (I'll explain in some future post), fun things happening at my work, and just the sundry things we never get to regularly talk about because we live six hours apart and neither of us like talking on the phone much. It was the best 51 minutes I've had in a long time.
So, like I said, we did the 5K at a walk in 51 minutes, which is about my regular pace, and it was a great time, for which I'm quite thankful.
So, as we pull in yesterday afternoon, my Dad asks me, "Hey, now that you're a runner, do you want to go into town with me tomorrow for the Turkey Trot?" After I laughed at being called a runner (but had that secret pride nonetheless, especially from my Dad, who has been a runner and Nordic skier for the last 30+ years... trains with Olympians... he likes to run), I decided to go along with him, my brother Pete, and two of my nephews to the Turkey Trot 5K Charity Walk/Run.
The charity part of the event is to raise funds for the sports program at the Fort Kent Elementary School, which is fine by me. The 5K part was a bit daunting... Remember, my END goal for this blog is to get up to 5K, and the farthest I've run so far is one very slow mile back on Veterans Day. Well, so what? I figured I'd just walk by myself and let the fit members of the family do the run.
And that's pretty much what happened, except my Dad decided to walk with me. We had a great time talking about various carpentry projects he's doing, the horse barn I'm building, his ridiculous interactions with the Maine State Department of Education (I'll explain in some future post), fun things happening at my work, and just the sundry things we never get to regularly talk about because we live six hours apart and neither of us like talking on the phone much. It was the best 51 minutes I've had in a long time.
So, like I said, we did the 5K at a walk in 51 minutes, which is about my regular pace, and it was a great time, for which I'm quite thankful.
Monday, November 22, 2010
End of Week 5 (or, how to run WITH a cold)
There is a certain lack of elegance to the most basic bodily functions. These are made especially inelegant when you happen to have a cold. As I had during the run today...
Before I go any further, I should admit to having grown up surrounded by potato fields and potato farmers in the northern reaches of Maine (in the very lovely town of Fort Kent - no sarcasm, I really enjoyed it). As such, you learn certain, let's call them "short cuts," when dealing with having, for purposes of this example, to blow one's nose. One simply plugs one nostril with a finger by applying inward pressure on the fleshy bit of the nose, and then takes a deep breath through the mouth, closes the mouth, and exhales as rapidly as possible through what will hopefully soon be a cleared nostril (the one you are not holding your finger up against). Repeat with the other nostril.
Now, it should seem obvious that performing this maneuver while wearing flip-flops is verbotten. Or should be, in decent company. But obvious things are not always evident to me... so I had to learn this particular lesson the hard way. Well, technically it was the "soft and gooey" way, but I'm sure the point has been made.
So, running with a cold... I don't recommend it. My dad swears that running will help "burn off" any kind of cold you may have, but all I really experienced was discomfort and a nasty taste at the back of my throat. Regardless, I had already decided to up the distance, so I did manage to complete a total of 2.4km today, and that is it's own little victory!
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:33.2
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:07.8
Loop 3 (3:1, jog:walk) : 3:29.2
Loop 4 (walk) : 4:39.8
Loop 5 (jog) : 3:08.9
Loop 6 (walk) : 4:43.5
Total distance: 2.4 km, Total time: 23:42.4, Best mile: 14:19.1
Weekly weigh-in: 319 pounds
Average power: 636.6 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 175
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 114
Before I go any further, I should admit to having grown up surrounded by potato fields and potato farmers in the northern reaches of Maine (in the very lovely town of Fort Kent - no sarcasm, I really enjoyed it). As such, you learn certain, let's call them "short cuts," when dealing with having, for purposes of this example, to blow one's nose. One simply plugs one nostril with a finger by applying inward pressure on the fleshy bit of the nose, and then takes a deep breath through the mouth, closes the mouth, and exhales as rapidly as possible through what will hopefully soon be a cleared nostril (the one you are not holding your finger up against). Repeat with the other nostril.
Now, it should seem obvious that performing this maneuver while wearing flip-flops is verbotten. Or should be, in decent company. But obvious things are not always evident to me... so I had to learn this particular lesson the hard way. Well, technically it was the "soft and gooey" way, but I'm sure the point has been made.
So, running with a cold... I don't recommend it. My dad swears that running will help "burn off" any kind of cold you may have, but all I really experienced was discomfort and a nasty taste at the back of my throat. Regardless, I had already decided to up the distance, so I did manage to complete a total of 2.4km today, and that is it's own little victory!
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:33.2
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:07.8
Loop 3 (3:1, jog:walk) : 3:29.2
Loop 4 (walk) : 4:39.8
Loop 5 (jog) : 3:08.9
Loop 6 (walk) : 4:43.5
Total distance: 2.4 km, Total time: 23:42.4, Best mile: 14:19.1
Weekly weigh-in: 319 pounds
Average power: 636.6 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 175
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 114
Sunday, November 14, 2010
End of Week 4
The ground is still waterlogged with the heavy rains we received about a week ago. In the several low areas around the course, there is some standing water, but mostly the moisture lurks in the form of soggy moss and wet grass atop a rich stew of black, viscous mud.
My MT910 trail shoes, described last month, are up to the challenge in terms of grip and support, even in these messy conditions... but what they lack is a certain ability to disallow liquid dirt from getting in through the cool and airy mesh linings... Ah, well. Can't have it all. Although, I used to sport GoreTex socks as part of my bicycling kit, but I imagine they'd be somewhat uncomfortable for running. If conditions worsen, I'll dig them out and give it a go. On the other hand, there's a certain je ne sais quoi to having your foot plunge into freezing cold muck... motivates you to keep warm by running faster!
I does seem I'm getting a little faster... and I want these evolutions to be at least 20 solid minutes of effort... so I'll have no choice next week but to add some extra distance. We'll try by adding one extra lap each of walking and jogging, bringing the total distance (for next time) up to 2.8 km... Over half way to the 5K goal!
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:12.6
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:02.7
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:29.3
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:51.6 <-- Personal Best!
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:40.0
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:16.2, Best mile: 14:36.2
Weekly weigh-in: 319 pounds
Average power: 622.2 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 174
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 117
My MT910 trail shoes, described last month, are up to the challenge in terms of grip and support, even in these messy conditions... but what they lack is a certain ability to disallow liquid dirt from getting in through the cool and airy mesh linings... Ah, well. Can't have it all. Although, I used to sport GoreTex socks as part of my bicycling kit, but I imagine they'd be somewhat uncomfortable for running. If conditions worsen, I'll dig them out and give it a go. On the other hand, there's a certain je ne sais quoi to having your foot plunge into freezing cold muck... motivates you to keep warm by running faster!
I does seem I'm getting a little faster... and I want these evolutions to be at least 20 solid minutes of effort... so I'll have no choice next week but to add some extra distance. We'll try by adding one extra lap each of walking and jogging, bringing the total distance (for next time) up to 2.8 km... Over half way to the 5K goal!
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:12.6
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:02.7
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:29.3
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:51.6 <-- Personal Best!
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:40.0
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:16.2, Best mile: 14:36.2
Weekly weigh-in: 319 pounds
Average power: 622.2 Watts
Heart rate following final run: 174
Heart rate five minutes after cool-down walk: 117
Friday, November 12, 2010
Throw the Change Up!
So, when I used to ride my bicycle a lot, I had a particular training schedule I used when getting ready for a big ride, especially centuries. Monday was an easy spin day, nothing in the big ring. Tuesday was sprint day, all-out efforts for increasing distances allowing full recovery between each effort. Wednesday was a distance day, trying to pedal at least 75% of the upcoming weekend ride, but done slowly. Thursday was interval day, 95% all-out efforts on hills or out of the saddle, never fully recovering between. Friday was another easy spin. Saturday was an easy spin with a couple of sprints. Sunday was the big ride, going for distance in the best time manageable. Then it started back with Monday...
Why do I mention this? I'm running now, not biking... but I realized today that, following my successful one mile attempt from Wednesday, it might be time to start introducing alternate training elements into my three days a week.
Early this morning, then, I set out to do something I hadn't done since high school ski team practice... I was going to go do Fartleks! Basically, a Fartlek is similar to doing intervals or sprint training. You simply vary your pace throughout the course of your run or walk. (If you really want to try this technique, this article has more details).
The way that I did it today was to warm up with one lap, then on each subsequent lap I walked 250m, then started a jog, then sprinted the final 20m. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It was fun, actually. I think it's important to have variety in a training program so that you don't become mindless to what you're doing. So, I'm going to take one of my two non-timed days each week to do something like this... whether they're Fartleks or some other technique. Viva la difference!
Why do I mention this? I'm running now, not biking... but I realized today that, following my successful one mile attempt from Wednesday, it might be time to start introducing alternate training elements into my three days a week.
Early this morning, then, I set out to do something I hadn't done since high school ski team practice... I was going to go do Fartleks! Basically, a Fartlek is similar to doing intervals or sprint training. You simply vary your pace throughout the course of your run or walk. (If you really want to try this technique, this article has more details).
The way that I did it today was to warm up with one lap, then on each subsequent lap I walked 250m, then started a jog, then sprinted the final 20m. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It was fun, actually. I think it's important to have variety in a training program so that you don't become mindless to what you're doing. So, I'm going to take one of my two non-timed days each week to do something like this... whether they're Fartleks or some other technique. Viva la difference!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
What'd you do on the Marines' 235th birthday? I ran a mile!
10 November 1775: The "birthday" of the US Maine Corps... In Basic Training, Infantry School, and all during deployments and training evolutions, we ran. We ran in sneakers and shorts for the fitness tests, we ran in "Boots and Utes" (combat boots and camo fatigues, aka battle dress utilities) for motivation, we ran with rifles, we ran with packs, we skied (running on snow) in the White Mountains and in Norway, we ran in the deserts of Kuwait and Iraq. Running formed the basis of our aerobic fitness, and you need to be fit to be an Infantryman.
So today, on my Marine Corps' 235th birthday, I left work early to go run. I walked a warm-up loop, then ran a full mile. It's the farthest I've run all at once since beginning this experiment... I just picked a nice, easy pace, and kept at it. Considering the distances that Marines run every day, a single mile is not all that impressive. But it was my own personal contribution to the birthday celebration; a return to running marks, in a sense, a return to the ideals of the Corps itself: Semper Fidelis, the motto of the US Marines, means "always faithful." We are always faithful to each other, our brother and sister Marines. The Marines are as effective a fighting force as they are because we don't fight for honor or our country or one god or another... we fight to protect the Marine next to us, because he is our brother. We perform as well as we do not for fame or medals, but because we don't want to disappoint our team mates. Running out on my little wooded course today, doing my first mile in a long time, I felt I was being faithful to the spirit of my Marine training, and being faithful to myself for following through and not quitting.
One of the things Marines do, and I'm sure this is done in many other places, is sing Cadences while we run in formation. It's a call and reply kind of song, following the rhythm of the boots striking the ground... some are about the history of the Corps, some are about tactics, others are just plain cool. In the last 100 m of my run today, in memory of all fallen Marines, I sang my favorite cadence...Note: language warning!
Yellow birdie with a yellow bill
(yellow birdie with a yellow bill)
Landed on my window sill
(landed on my window sill)
I coaxed him in with a bit of bread
(I coaxed him in with a bit of bread)
And then I crushed his fucking head!
(and then I crushed his fucking head!)
Semper Fi.
So today, on my Marine Corps' 235th birthday, I left work early to go run. I walked a warm-up loop, then ran a full mile. It's the farthest I've run all at once since beginning this experiment... I just picked a nice, easy pace, and kept at it. Considering the distances that Marines run every day, a single mile is not all that impressive. But it was my own personal contribution to the birthday celebration; a return to running marks, in a sense, a return to the ideals of the Corps itself: Semper Fidelis, the motto of the US Marines, means "always faithful." We are always faithful to each other, our brother and sister Marines. The Marines are as effective a fighting force as they are because we don't fight for honor or our country or one god or another... we fight to protect the Marine next to us, because he is our brother. We perform as well as we do not for fame or medals, but because we don't want to disappoint our team mates. Running out on my little wooded course today, doing my first mile in a long time, I felt I was being faithful to the spirit of my Marine training, and being faithful to myself for following through and not quitting.
One of the things Marines do, and I'm sure this is done in many other places, is sing Cadences while we run in formation. It's a call and reply kind of song, following the rhythm of the boots striking the ground... some are about the history of the Corps, some are about tactics, others are just plain cool. In the last 100 m of my run today, in memory of all fallen Marines, I sang my favorite cadence...Note: language warning!
Yellow birdie with a yellow bill
(yellow birdie with a yellow bill)
Landed on my window sill
(landed on my window sill)
I coaxed him in with a bit of bread
(I coaxed him in with a bit of bread)
And then I crushed his fucking head!
(and then I crushed his fucking head!)
Semper Fi.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
End of Week 3, or: How to Run in the Cold
It's like when that squirrel had to finally break it off with the foreign exchange chipmunk... sometimes it's just not meant to be, and you wind up driving each other nuts. Weather is like that, too... when it's cold, it should snow. If it's warm, it should rain. It's when weather gets all inter-species curious that we wind up with days like today: 34 degrees (F) and a nasty, windy rain.
Probably would have been better to stay inside drinking cocoa, but I knew if I didn't get outside, and tromp through that course, then I'd be a lump all day. And I was expecting a delivery of freshly cut pine boards for the barn, so get off your ass, Marine...
Running in the Cold, Rule 1. Breathe in through your nose, as the air will be a bit warmer in your lungs. My result? Haha! Breathe through my nose!?! I'm lucky I can gasp enough air through my mouth, nose, and cute little belly button (all at once, this is an impressive sight)... there's no way I could breathe just through the nose without passing out.
Running in the Cold, Rule 2. Wear gloves to protect exposed skin. My result? Well, I use my iPod as my lap-timing device, and I can't operate it with gloves... so, yeah.
Running in the Cold, Rule 3. Do your warm-up inside. My result? Hmmm, no. I suppose I could warm up on the exercise bike, but I would have to re-adjust it for my size, then put it back to my wife's size...
So, in the end, I breathed though every available orifice, went bare-handed, and did my normal warm-up. And I did survive, obviously, but I tell you what, that first lap of running, my legs felt like concrete! So I think I will at least walk two laps for warm-up in colder weather, and see if that helps.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:31.8
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:07.8
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:44.3
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:56.5 <-- Personal Best!
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:44.1
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 20:04.5, Best mile: 15:20.2
Weekly weigh-in: 322 pounds
Average power: 602.9 Watts
Probably would have been better to stay inside drinking cocoa, but I knew if I didn't get outside, and tromp through that course, then I'd be a lump all day. And I was expecting a delivery of freshly cut pine boards for the barn, so get off your ass, Marine...
Running in the Cold, Rule 1. Breathe in through your nose, as the air will be a bit warmer in your lungs. My result? Haha! Breathe through my nose!?! I'm lucky I can gasp enough air through my mouth, nose, and cute little belly button (all at once, this is an impressive sight)... there's no way I could breathe just through the nose without passing out.
Running in the Cold, Rule 2. Wear gloves to protect exposed skin. My result? Well, I use my iPod as my lap-timing device, and I can't operate it with gloves... so, yeah.
Running in the Cold, Rule 3. Do your warm-up inside. My result? Hmmm, no. I suppose I could warm up on the exercise bike, but I would have to re-adjust it for my size, then put it back to my wife's size...
So, in the end, I breathed though every available orifice, went bare-handed, and did my normal warm-up. And I did survive, obviously, but I tell you what, that first lap of running, my legs felt like concrete! So I think I will at least walk two laps for warm-up in colder weather, and see if that helps.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:31.8
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:07.8
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:44.3
Loop 4 (jog) : 2:56.5 <-- Personal Best!
Loop 5 (walk) : 4:44.1
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 20:04.5, Best mile: 15:20.2
Weekly weigh-in: 322 pounds
Average power: 602.9 Watts
Monday, November 1, 2010
End of Week 2
Wow. Two weeks... So far, so good, I guess. Dropped four pounds - can't complain.
An interesting thing happened this morning... we had our first snow! I grabbed this shot of part of the trail while it was still snowing relatively quickly... big, wet flakes that I knew wouldn't last the day, but something I just had to walk and run in for old times (old times being high school ski team...).
I also grabbed a video of the entire trail, while walking, and once I edit the sound a bit I'll post that, too.
Maybe it was the cold, but there were a couple times during the run that my motivation sagged. I found myself saying things like, "It's snowing - no one will blame you for stopping early." I'll often argue with myself like that, with Evil Homer and Good Homer sitting up there on their respective shoulders, offering opposing advice.
In the end, I decided that even if I had to run slowly, I would not stop running during the run sections. I have heard that advice countless times doing dry-land training for Nordic season... "Just keep going! Don't stop!" Heard the same advice in the Marines, during PFTs (Physical Fitness Tests), or during particularly grueling training evolutions... And I even gave that advice to my high school athletes when I coached football and track.
I never really understood it, until I had to tell myself to do it.
I realized that, on this day, in this snow, at this moment, I was out there for myself, and all the excuses in the world would fall flat if I gave up now... because I would know they were excuses, not reasons. So, I managed to lurch through the course with not great run times, granted, but with a stronger sense of motivation and purpose. Can't complain.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:30.8
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:06.8
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:36.6
Loop 4 (jog) : 3:16.0
Loop 5 (walk/jog) : 4:19.8
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:50.0, Best mile: 15:13.4
Weekly weigh-in: 322 pounds
Average power: 633.4 Watts
I also grabbed a video of the entire trail, while walking, and once I edit the sound a bit I'll post that, too.
Maybe it was the cold, but there were a couple times during the run that my motivation sagged. I found myself saying things like, "It's snowing - no one will blame you for stopping early." I'll often argue with myself like that, with Evil Homer and Good Homer sitting up there on their respective shoulders, offering opposing advice.
In the end, I decided that even if I had to run slowly, I would not stop running during the run sections. I have heard that advice countless times doing dry-land training for Nordic season... "Just keep going! Don't stop!" Heard the same advice in the Marines, during PFTs (Physical Fitness Tests), or during particularly grueling training evolutions... And I even gave that advice to my high school athletes when I coached football and track.
I never really understood it, until I had to tell myself to do it.
I realized that, on this day, in this snow, at this moment, I was out there for myself, and all the excuses in the world would fall flat if I gave up now... because I would know they were excuses, not reasons. So, I managed to lurch through the course with not great run times, granted, but with a stronger sense of motivation and purpose. Can't complain.
Lap Times
Loop 1 (walk) : 4:30.8
Loop 2 (jog) : 3:06.8
Loop 3 (walk) : 4:36.6
Loop 4 (jog) : 3:16.0
Loop 5 (walk/jog) : 4:19.8
Total distance: 2 km, Total time: 19:50.0, Best mile: 15:13.4
Weekly weigh-in: 322 pounds
Average power: 633.4 Watts
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