Team McAlister » running

Sticking with the stuff that works!

Lou — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:58:47 +0000

In spite of yesterday’s small Cyclemeter meltdown, the ride itself was fine and fun. The icing on the cake though was hitting the Vibraflex, post-ride. You have to find a club or gym that has one of these things! The benefits are exactly (at least for me) as touted on their web site. The Physical Therapist at our club oversees its use and gives tips about how to maximize its use. As good as it is, apparently, you can get too much of a good thing with it. Like any other piece of equipment, it can be misused to your detriment.

Here it is Wednesday and, as bummed out as I was on Monday about MCL pain, today I feel like I can run forever. Not gonna actually try that, understand. Just sayin’…

I have a late meeting today, so a ride is out. I’m gonna try jumping rope today and see how the MCL holds up. No running today, but look out for the weekend! :-)

And, lest anyone, including the fine folks at Cyclemeter, think I’m just ranting about the app, my guess is that the app works as well as it can, but the iPhone’s GPS is the limiting factor. Of course, I’m no engineer – software, hardware, or civil – but based on the way some other location-based apps seem to work, my guess is that iPhone’s GPS model is less robust than is needed.

My training dilemma….

Lou — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 01:16:01 +0000

Tomorrow I should drag my fat, lazy old man butt out of the sack and hit the Carve ride at 7:00 am or maybe 7:30, if I just want the 30 mile option. See, there are 2 starting options and two routes so you can go 30, 40, 50, 0r 60 miles on this fun-filled hammer-fest of a ride. These guys usually don’t race until they’ve been riding for about 2 miles…..and then it’s a balls to the wall, take-no-prisoners sort of deal. I need the ride and the training and the pace. And, if not that ride, then what ride?

There’s a BBQ cook-off in the middle of the River Park ride route. And, I’ve been on that too much lately anyway. There’s the Tour de Rock Training ride which is about 25 – 30 mile no drop deal at paces for every type of rider. But it had 70 folks on it last week and begins to look like the actual TdeR event itself. I want to run, but that can be done on Sunday afternoon when the weather is too nasty to ride.

This is that time of year when real cyclists get out of bed, eat their oatmeal, and get those miles and hours in the saddle working. Why am I reluctant? It isn’t like I have to get home and mow the lawn or anything like that. And the recovery should be do-able because that Vibraflex routine is the best thing ever for getting your muscles back to normal.

Okay, I’m gonna organize my stuff to hit the Carve 7:30 am, 30-miler. Should be done by 9:30-ish which means that I can go vibrate and then hit the Trek/Gary Fisher test ride event being put on by Chainwheel (after some breakfast, of course!).

Cyclemeter: Also for Running!

Colin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:39:54 +0000

Just finished my first run with Cyclemeter. It seems to have been pretty accurate, or at least it’s as accurate as Fitnio ever was. That’s all I really have to go on. Looking at the map of my run, it looks like the GPS doesn’t “check in” as often as maybe it should—I promise I wasn’t zig-zagging down the middle of Polk Street. But all in all, I’d say it compares favorably to any other tracking app I’ve used.

The tweeting feature might be what seals the deal for me. Knowing that it’s sending a link to Facebook makes me feel like I’m really accountable for turning in a good run. It might even make me run more often, if I feel like people might start wondering why I haven’t run lately. Is that a little narcissistic and/or self-obsessed of me to say? Probably. I don’t care though (because I’m awesome).

My running has improved a little, in spite of me not really staying on top of my training. My outdoor runs are a mile longer now but averaging the same speed. That’s pretty encouraging, and in combination with the beautiful weather, Daylight Savings Time, and Cyclemeter, I might even start running more than once a week. Of course, we’ll see about that when the time comes to run on a weekday after work.

The Excitement Builds

Lou — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:51:48 +0000

Getting old sucks! And, having creaky, cranky joints sucks! When you have both, it really sucks! Back in September when I was in San Francisco hanging out with Colin and Schuyler, the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee started bugging me so badly that I could hardly walk. I attributed this new-found pain to the also new running shoes and insoles that had been recently custom-fitted and carefully chosen to prevent injury. Right….

The pain was nearly debilitating at times. This “injury” had all the concomitant features – swelling, stiffness, loss of movement. I could cycle about as much as I wanted without too many ill-effects, but running, swimming, walking were all crossed off my list of activities. By December, when I couldn’t get over it, I plunged into despair and started considering giving up on the triathlon goal to settle for something more in line with what the elderly do, like a Scrabble tournament.

Sometimes though you just stumble into stuff. Actually, if experience is any sort of guide, I usually just stumble into stuff. First, I discovered that unclipping from my bike pedal in a certain way aggravated the problem. Stopped doing that immediately. Big help! Second, I got an app for the iPhone called Muscle Trigger Points. Massage therapists and physical therapists have taught me a thing or two about how body parts are connected and how a tight muscle here causes a pain over there. A daily part of any and all of my not-really-routine exercise is to stretch and try to work on tight muscles. That seems to be ultra-important as I age.

Anyway, about two weeks ago as I was going through my nightly stretching/massage program, I hit a spot in the Vastus Medialis (one of the muscles in the quadraceps group) that literally turned off the pain in the MCL. It was like flipping a switch. No pain. Zero. I almost jumped up and took off running right then and there. Well, not really.

Next day – no pain. So then, added some activities like jumping rope. No pain – at least until I had jumped so much that lots of other stuff was hurting also. Started the massage, hit the spot in Vastus Medialis and Bang! no pain! So that’s been going for several days now.

I’m now ready to begin the running conditioning process again. Yay! We’ll see if this MCL pain is something that can really be conquered.

Back in the groove?

Lou — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:54:43 +0000

Yes, it’s been a long time since this thing was updated. Motivation has been hard to come by. Too much heat? Too much work? Too much humidity? Too much weight? Too much junk food? Too many excuses? Probably. The dream is still alive though. Seeing it may be a little difficult, but it makes appearances from time to time. I find that getting external sources of inspiration and motivation are much more necessary sometimes than others.

Anyway, I’ve been working on that motivation thing. Hitting some group rides to find company on the road. Remembering that sometimes a nice social ride is just the ticket. Racing around isn’t always necessary. Getting some good music to help push you along is also good….just gotta be safe with the earbuds and the traffic! Also, varying the training routine AND (big news) getting back to eating properly for energy during training, recovery from training, and to begin to shake some of this weight.

Just for the record, when I started cycling 3 years ago (and some 9000 miles), I tipped the scales at a svelte 282 lbs (128 k or 21 stone). Got that down to 229 lbs. and was in pretty good shape – BMI etc – until The Wreck. Long story short. The Wreck took me out for long enough that 25 lbs jumped right back on. Even though I got back into fair riding condition, the weight didn’t come off (poor eating, anyone?) and for good measure I went ahead and added 10 more pounds. So, now my friendly scales insist on showing me around 264 or so. Say it ain’t so!

Suffice to say that everything is out of whack at 260 lbs. Low motivation. Ill-fitting clothes. Loss of confidence, hair, teeth, nails. (Just kidding.) Seriously, though with that much weight all sense of focus on training and the pain that goes with it are right out the door. When someone talks about a downward spiral in their behavior, I know exactly what they mean.

It is with a renewed sense of mission that I am taking charge again. Making a training plan. Sticking to it. Making an eating plan. Sticking to it. Taking one step at a time (is this anything like a 12 step program?) on the road to putting together a serious attempt at this triathlon goal. I figure that for the tri to be achievable, that I must be much, much lighter. Must have a different body composition. I don’t think being below 200 lbs is truly practical. Afterall, that is college track scholarship territory for me. There was a time in my early 30′s when I did weigh about 205-207, depending on how much ice cream I ate in a week. I’m thinking that 205-210 is a good place to be, even though it still places me in the clydesdale category.

As of today, I am on Day 2 of a better eating regimen. More fruits, veggies, lean protein etc. No choco chips, Oreos, powdered doughnuts, Famous Amos, etc. More water. Less coffee. Fewer bagels. More oatmeal. Fewer chips. More red peppers. Fewer Cokes. Ouch! And the amazing thing? I swam a half yesterday, cycled for 1.5 hours (with 4 big climbs), and ran for 30 minutes and today I feel great! I ate correctly yesterday (especially post-workout); importantly, I have eaten correctly today. Now, I am ready to do some spinning just to loosen up and shake out my legs a little bit.

I’m back!

One more week of school

Colin — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:20:43 +0000

It’s finals time, so not a lot of time to train… Just as well, since it’s about as humid as Swamp Thing’s butt-crease right now. I did manage a 3-mile trot today, but not having run for the past week and a half combined with the humidity made it pretty unpleasant. Weather’s supposed to clear up today and be nice into the foreseeable future so hopefully I’ll make time to get out and enjoy it before leaving for Little Rock.

I guess I’m the only one still updating this thing

Colin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:57:35 +0000

Running is getting easier! Or at least, its suckitude is on the wane. I’m quickly closing in on a sub-7 minute mile. Friday I did four miles in 38:30, with a best mile of 7:03 and an average of 9:50. The new shoes seemed to have been helping, although I never felt like I hit my stride. My feet were doing all sorts of crazy things trying to reconcile my natural gait and the structure of the shoe. I’m new to running, but this just seemed incredibly wrong to me. Then I saw this article: The Painful Truth About Trainers.

I’ve suspected this ever since I began selling running shoes. They’re just not made to complement the foot’s natural shape or motion. How, exactly, did we run away from bears and lions without $100 Nikes? Pretty well, apparently, judging by our survival as a species. Today I left the Sauconies at home and ran in my Mexico 66′s. These have been my go-to sneakers for some time. They’re thin-soled, lightweight, flexible, durable, and stylin’. And they ARE running shoes—They were first made in 1966, and worn in the ’68 Olympics in Mexico. Hence the name.

Since I was running on basically no cushion at all, I opted for an easy mile on the treadmill just to see how it went. 6.8 mph, no incline, easy-peasy. After a mile I was feeling pretty great, so I thought I’d just round it out to 10 minutes. The 10-minute mark came and went. Here’s a brief rundown of the next several decisions I made: “What the heck, let’s do a mile and a half. Still good… maybe 15 minutes. Ok, let’s just do two miles. Still good… I guess I can walk until I hit 20 minutes. Ok, 20 minutes down, let’s just make this a three-miler.” I didn’t get tired until around 2.8 miles, and managed to keep up my pace until I’d done three miles. 27:40… wait a minute, that’s faster than my average from Friday. Granted, it was a mile shorter, but I think I found my new running shoes.

Even using tendons and muscles that have supposedly been weakened through neglect, I felt almost no pain or discomfort during or afer the run. This, for me, was unheard of until today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but for now I’ll be looking for the receipt for those Sauconies…

Caffeine, Running Fast, and Ratatat

Colin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:42:25 +0000

Not much to report on today, just a short run and weight routine at the gym. I can consistently do a mile in 7:13 now, although it results in a heart rate of around 191. According to the chart on the treadmill this is heart-exploding territory and not to be sustained, but when was the last time I let a chart tell me what to do?

A couple of interesting articles for you today! This first article is about how coffee (more precisely, caffeine) lessens the pain associated with working out.

Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise

And this one is about how there is an ideal running pace for everyone, at which metabolic efficiency is its highest. For men this pace is, on average, 8.3 miles per hour.

Perfect Running Pace Revealed

These two articles would seem to confirm the validity of my preferred workout method, known as the Drink a Lot of Coffee and Then Run Your Butt Off Method.

I have been listening to a lot of Ratatat as my running music lately. Good, good stuff.

The brutal winds at Fort Mason blew away all my ideas for a title

Colin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:23:21 +0000

Today I did the same run as Sunday, but .06 miles longer and almost three minutes faster. I took 42 seconds off my average mile, and 1:14 off my best mile. Somehow I burned 3 fewer calories. Does this mean I’m in better shape now than I was four days ago? So it would seem.

The new shoes are doing well, but I’m going to have to put my Superfeet in them because today I noticed a definite lack of arch support. I don’t know how I missed that when I tried them on, or on my first run.

I got new shoes!

Colin — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:31:16 +0000

Today was my first run on my new running shoes, and MAN does having the right shoes make a difference! I ran (ok, mostly walked) 4.8 miles in 56 minutes. My best mile, I think, was 9:36. I say I think because I used the iPhone app Fitnio to track my run, and I’m not sure exactly what that “9:36 mile” is referring to. Let’s just go with that being my best mile time. The weather is amazing right now, so I’m very glad to have shoes that don’t constrain me to the treadmill.

The shoes are the Saucony Progrid Guide 2. I was pretty set on getting Adidas, since they were my favorites when I sold them, but the Sauconys just fit better. I tried at least one shoe in every brand at Lombardi’s before I made up my mind. Hopefully it was worth the trouble and I’ll be able to run regularly again without fear of injury. Oh, and the best part? My former boss gave me the employee discount. So now I’m sitting on the exercise ball I got with the money I saved!