A Good Effort

I was able to put in 4 days of running last week, I had only been able to put in 3 the week before and my numbers were a bit down as a result. I will say this I was not as fresh for my long run this week as I was last week. There is something to be said for less running. But for my 4 runs I managed:

Tuesday: 3.0 miles - just a slow and easy nothing to write home about but it got the lead out of the legs

Thursday: 3.5 miles - a tempo run and I was very pleased with my speed portion and I have been doing much better on the hills.

Saturday: 3.0 miles - A steady but quick run; however, with my martial arts class later in the morning I was tired on Sunday.

Sunday: 7 miles - I started slow but found a nice pace at mile 4 that carried me the rest of the way. I was dead when I was done and didn't feel better until Monday morning.

Over all it was a 16.5 mile effort. I have been experimenting with some new shoes. I picked up a pair of END shoes that I have been mixing in on shorter runs for the past few weeks. I think I will write a shoe review later this week.

Seven Miles

My long run on Sunday was 7 miles. The heat and humidity are a bear in August and I will say that I was suffering throughout this little ordeal. I have felt for some time that August you merely survive until the better running weather of September rolls around. The heat has been chewing me up even on these not quite long runs. I dropped 4.5 pounds from start to finish on Sunday. That is way too much dehydration for a run that is only an hour and change. I had to put down 80 ounces of water and sit in a cold shower for 20 minutes before I was normal again. Well as normal as I get anyway. I will say that I will be happy when this month is over and the cooler September air rushes in.

But I did manage 15 miles on the week, so not too bad for only three days of running.

Weekly: 15.0 miles

First Week of Training

The First week of training went well enough. I managed to run 4 times last week and did well enough for a week one. I was especially proud of my efforts for the tempo run mid week but not so thrilled on the long run. It was very hot and humid and I struggled to get to the 6 mile mark. But it is in the books and I am looking forward to building on these efforts going forward. My speed was super slow and I felt destroyed when I was finished and needed 60 ounces of water before I felt normal again. My body was telling me "Dude, what they hell were you thinking."

This week I have a speed day instead of a tempo run mid week. I am looking forward to the mile repeats. It should be a good time. But first I need a nice calm recovery run. It is too bad that you can't just do a recovery run for other parts of your life when you feel over your head.

The Philadelphia Marathon is about 95 days away. I am pretty excited to be training for a race again.

Tempo Run

With the new half marathon program I had my first tempo run in months last night. Wow, I forgot how brutal those can be. But it felt good to really push myself through the three middle miles of my run. Nice! I have a good feeling about being back on the wagon. Plus I was stagnating without a true goal.

Back to a Program

I haven't really followed a program since I ran a marathon last year. I think as a result my running has not really progressed the way I would like it to. So as of today, I am back on a program and I will be registering for the half marathon section of the Philadelphia Marathon in November. I like the course, even if I did hurt myself running this same race last year. Truth be told, I was undertrained and I suffered the effects of that.

In other news, today is my birthday. I am 41 today. I don't feel as old as the number sounds.

Swimming Makes Me Tired

My swim week is at an end. I should say I am tried. I swam 5 times this week and three days in a row at the end of the week. Swimming just saps my strength, I have a great respect for those that do this on a more constant basis than I do. I needed a nap this afternoon to recover from my week in the pool. This was a good move. My muscles feel worked but without the damage that a week of running can do to your body. I feel ready to get out there tomorrow and go back to my running program.

In other news, I was a dummy for a black belt test on Saturday. I can always go with a good ass kicking so I volunteered to get beat on a bit in the name of school spirit. It is always nice to be there for those moving up the ranks. Plus, as I always say a good deal of what training provides to you as a practitioner is the removal of the shock of actually being hit. If you can get over that you have a much better chance of getting through a fight.

It's About Pain

I have not been as diligent about posting as I should have been. I think that blogging is an ebb and flow sort of thing. I have noticed that I have some nagging injuries these days. Mostly the culprit is my right hip. When I train heavy the hip lets me know about it. I am not sure if it is a result of my body telling me to slow down or the result of some injuries in my "bullet proof" twenties coming back to demand payment. I know I get a nice creak in my elbow from where I elbowed a man in the fist, while he was throwing a punch. (A dumb move on my part but probably singularly impressive to watch). The point of the day, pain management.

So here I sit attempting to battle to stay in as peak of condition I can get while maintaining a successful law practice. It is a hard balance. As I mentioned, I believe I will need to supplement my running with swimming to cut down on the wear and tear on my hip and calf. These are the two problem areas. Tonight I managed another 32 laps. To go with this I do manage to get my martial arts training in as well. To be truthful the running and swimming are tools to make my martial training more effective. That is the point, well for me it is. The running has its own goals but the reason for doing so was to be more effective on the mat. The surprising thing that running has brought is its own little addiction.

There is something that borders on spiritual about tapping the physical. It is the feeling of truly being alive and connecting to the universe. (If that makes any sense). I have never really be a very religious person, but sometimes when I am really in the heart of a great run or flying through techniques and I get that "perfect moment", I think at those times I truly understand spirituality. Because the feeling is beyond simple satisfaction, it is as if I have tapped into something more. To get there through, there is a pain barrier that has to be broken through first, at least for me. It may be because I am now in my 40's and I can't quite get rolling with out a little bit of discomfort. Once I get there it is worth the little pain barrier.

This has been a bit of an affirmation. Why do I beat myself so relentlessly? By most accounts I am a fairly intelligent man, some might debate it but I like to tell myself that anyway. The answer is that beating myself down is worth it. When I can get those singular "perfect" moments it justifies all of the pain. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy running or swimming or fighting or what ever your poison happens to be.

Some Time in the Pool

I have noticed that I get some injuries when I train too much. A big suprise but true. To combat the tendencies of my right hip, left calf and right hamstring from yelling too much, I have decided to take a more reasoned approach to my training. This is tough for a guy who at some level enjoys chastising himself for not gritting through the pain. So I have decided to take a 3 week on one week off sort of routine. But my off week is a pool week. I am not a big fan of swimming laps, there is too much isolation in swimming. There is too much disconnect from the environment for me to ever be enthusiastic about it. But to keep injuries in check it is a must. So I did 30 laps on Sunday, 25 on Monday and 40 today. That is a lot of laps and I think it is good for me, even if it is boring.

As to the running, I am getting faster again. I dropped some speed after my illness. I think that lung infection really hit me hard in terms of endurance. I am only now getting back to a 10:00 pace. For a while I was around 11:00 to 11:30 for a time. Now I am back to 10:00 to 10:15. With a little speed work I should be ready for a half marathon in November. Here is to happy training.