3leggeddog

Auggie’s Dad asked me how I made running suck less and the comment got kinda long, so I thought I’d post.  This applies for me so not sure how it’ll apply to you…assuming that there is actually a ”you” reading this.

 The first thing I did was slow down.  On the treadmill, I’d set it to 5.2.  Ok, I’ll admit I don’t know what the 5.2 referred to, but it’s what felt comfortable cadence wise.  The problem was that at this pace, I could barely run for 2 minutes.  I’d read several articles on Runners World which said if I couldn’t talk while running, then I was running too fast.  At this pace, I could hardly breathe, so I slowed down to 4.1.  Man, what a difference.  It might still be a tad fast, but I can run for 3 or 4 times as long at this pace.  I also recover quicker while walking so my run/walk ratio becomes more run, less walk.

I also discovered that I can’t run to music.  I can ride to it, I can elliptical train to it, but for some reason, I can’t run to it.  I end up running at whatever pace the music is and I tend to listen to fast music.  The weirder thing is that if I hear someone running next to me, I tend to run at their pace.  Yeah, strange I know.  The only way to stop it is to keep a cadence in my head of “pick ‘em up, put ‘em down”. 

The third thing was my breathing.  When I ride hills, I belly breathe instead of chest breathe.  I think I read this in Bicycling Magazine and it really works for me.  I force the air in and out by expanding my lower abdomen instead of my chest.  I get deeper breaths that way and can acutally feel a difference.  When running, I had a tendency to get into a cadence for breathing, two in, two out, two in, two out.  Come to find out, from Runners World, that’s really the way many runners do it.  It felt like a natural thing to do, I just didn’t know if it was the “right” thing to do.  I seem to get hung up on right vs. natural.  Turns out natural is right a lot of the time.

Anyway, this is how I made running suck less for me.  I still don’t enjoy it, but it’s probably because I’ve just not done it enough.  We’ll see how that goes.

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Rode in 16mph winds with 20+mph gusts, thanks to the outer bands of Ike.  I was whipped by mile 30, but got some energy thanks to the Clif Shot Bloks.  Those things rok!! :)  The most interesting part of this ride is that the wind was always in our face, no matter what direction we rode.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 09/13/2008
• Time: 08:20:00
• Total Time: 2:42:38.00
• Average Heart rate: 145
• Max Heart rate: 170
• Calories: 2666
• Distance: 35 miles
• Average Speed: 12.91 mph
• Average Cadence: 80
• Max Cadence: 128

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Ugh.  I hate “running”.  I mean, I suck at it which is probably why I hate it.  Going to do some research as to how I can make this suck less.  And can someone tell me what “20:05.5/mile” means in Avg Pace?

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 09/12/2008
• Time: 05:38:00
• Total Time: 00:40:11.00
• Average Heart rate: 130
• Max Heart rate: 168
• Calories: 443
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 20:04.01/mile

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted, mainly because I’ve not done squat this summer.  To remedy that situation, I’ve started training for a duathlon to be held November 15th.  I’m two days into training…well, 3 if you count my ride this past Sunday…and already my quads are killing me.  I’m walking like the 94 year old lady that lives down the block.  If we raced today, she’d smoke me.

My training plan is a combination of a runnersworld.com running plan interspersed with cycling days.  It was put together by a triathlete friend of mine and I think it’ll work out pretty good.  The hardest part for me is running because I’ve never been a strong runner.  I did a two mile walk/run on the treadmill Tuesday…ok…it was a walk/walk/walk/walk/run/walk/walk/run kinda thing, but I did do the two miles.  Rode 11 miles or so on the stationary bike yesterday morning, but I’ll probably switch to evening bike rides.  I hate riding the stationary bike but it’s convenient.  The gym has spin bikes and a DVD training program so I may do that.  We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m going to post my workouts and progress if anyone is interested.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Bought some Ultima Wild Raspberry and used it for the first time Saturday. Actually I had some at work Friday, but that was really to see how I’d react to it. So far, I like it. Not too sweet, taste isn’t too bad (it has a little malt-like taste), and it went down easily. I mixed it a bit stronger than recommended (1 1/2 scoops to 24oz water) because the single scoop has a very bland taste. Not sure it’s better/worse mixing it like this, but I like the flavor better.

I did notice that it didn’t leave my mouth dried out or sticky after drinking it and I didn’t need to drink as much to kill any thirst I had. At least that’s the way it seemed. And it tastes much better warm than the Heed ever did. I’m riding again tomorrow so it’ll be interesting to see how I do with it a second time.

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Summer is officially here in MS. Rode early morning yesterday and it was like riding through a steam bath for the first half of the ride. It did, interestingly enough, get cooler (or less humid) about an hour or so into it.

Yesterday was a great ride. We went a route I’ve never done before and about half way into it, I realized why I like riding. The people I rode with were fun, there was a little bit of competition going on, and the scenery in rural MS was awesome. Riding again Monday morning.

Also realized I need a new battery for my heartrate monitor strap. Stupid thing’s only a year old.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/24/2008
• Time: 06:50:00
• Total Time: 2:38:00.00
• Average Speed: 13.86 mph
• Max Speed: 27.1 mph
• Average Cadence: 84
• Max Cadence: 109

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For the past year or year and a half I’ve been riding with a combination of water, Heed, and grape Powerade.   On a ride earlier this week, I finally decided that Heed is just not right for me.  It’s way too sweet and I don’t like to drink it anymore.  I thought I was mixing it too strong, but even after toning it down, it’s still hard to drink for the whole ride.  To be honest, I’ve never been thrilled with the taste (Lemon Lime), but hated throwing it out and wasting the money. 

I’ve thought about switching to Ultima, which has zero sugar, but wanted to see if anyone had any opinions on it or other options. I sweat a lot when I ride so I want something to help get the electrolytes back in me while on the road.

Any help would be appreciated.

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Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/19/2008
• Time: 17:52:00
• Total Time: 1:14:58.00
• Average Heart rate: 165
• Max Heart rate: 180
• Calories: 1384
• Distance: 17.3 miles
• Average Speed: 13.85 mph
• Max Speed: 23.4 mph
• Average Cadence: 86
• Max Cadence: 109

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Rode in 22 mph gusts yesterday and that, friends, was a first. There were several times when I had to lean into the wind to keep from getting blown into the other lane. It was interesting to say the least. Also noticed that I was able to get my HR back above 172 and not die. Not sure if that was due to the GU I had or just getting used to cardio again. Either way, I ain’t complaining.

Also need to work on getting my cadence up. I spin better in the low 90’s and tried to change gears to stay there, but the wind threw a kink in some of my plans. Oh well, just something else to work on.

Recovery ride tomorrow…yes, I know it should have been today but plans changed at the last minute.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/11/2008
• Time: 14:05:00
• Total Time: 1:48:37.00
• Average Heart rate: 157
• Max Heart rate: 180
• Calories: 2122
• Distance: 26.4 miles
• Average Speed: 14.58 mph
• Max Speed: 23 mph
• Average Cadence: 85
• Max Cadence: 107

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I’ve discovered recently that the first 10 or so miles of a ride really sucks. It’s the time when I think, “Go home, you can’t do this” or “This sucks, go home” or several other things. I’ve had to learn to ride through it and to keep going, but I’m curious if others out there have the same problem. I know of only one other person that does and it’s someone I ride with. We’ve talked about it and I was grateful to know she felt the same way. Once I/we get past the 8 to 10 mile mark, I/we start to enjoy the ride.

Anyway….just wondering if you have the same issue when you start your workout.

Also noticed that I’ve lost quite a bit of cardio fitness since I’ve been sluglike the last few months. At one time, a heartrate of 172 was still relatively comfortable…I mean, it was still tiring, but I knew I could hit 180 to 182 for a short time without dying. Yesterday, though, I was sucking wind at 172 and it really made me mad. I read somewhere that an elite athlete who takes a 2 week break will require up to 4 weeks to regain the same fitness level they had when they took a break. Guess this means it’ll only take me 5 weeks.

Workout:

• Type: Cycle
• Date: 05/06/2008
• Time: 17:47:00
• Total Time: 1:26:52.00
• Average Heart rate: 155
• Max Heart rate: 172
• Calories: 1373
• Distance: 20.8 miles
• Average Speed: 14.37 mph
• Max Speed: 25.8 mph
• Average Cadence: 83
• Max Cadence: 126

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