What a week

This has been a heavy exercise week. The running went well. I was able to run 4 times. I started with a short 3 miler, just a recovery run, on Tuesday. On Thursday, I did some mile repeats for 3.5 miles. Saturday, was a little longer as I was feeling good and managed 4.5 miles. I finished with an 8 miler on Sunday. This gave me a total of 19 miles for the week. This was a great total and I felt pretty good, well aside from being dead at the start of my run on Sunday.

Why was I dead? Well on Friday, I received my P90x kit in the mail. This is a very intense cross training program for those who have not seen the ads. I did the first installment on Saturday as well as having done my martial arts class. When I woke up on Sunday, I was tired to the bone. But I did my 8 miles like a good boy, it just was about a minute off my normal pace. I finished Sunday, with installment two of the P90x and now I am tired from my 5 workouts in two days. Whew!!! I mean it really I do.

I will say this so far about the P90x, it is as hard as you want it to be. Tough stuff if you want it to be. I started this as I was looking to build my muscles before the half marathon in November. Plus, if I can gain some more tone, I would be happy with that as well. I will keep everyone posted.

Cross Training 101

I have been posting infrequently at best as of late. I can only say that my schedule has been a bit on the demanding side these days. This last week I was able to log 12.85 miles and did some cross training as well. I usually do martial arts to fill in the gaps but today I did some circuit training. I am usually worried about my lower back as most men my age start to have some issues there. I have thus far been blessed in that department. I think a lot of that has to do with my fear of developing problems so I do exercised my lower back on a fairly regular basis.

After my 3.5 mile run this morning I did some really basic exercises to blast my core a bit. Everything was done for one minute before moving on to the next exercise with no break in between.

1. Planks
2. Medicine ball swings. (legs more than shoulder width apart and swing a medicine ball from between your legs to over your head)
3. Stepping (up and down a single stair)
4. Crunches
5. Lunges
6. Jumping jacks
7. Standing back extensions (bend at waist and then come up and back further than a standing position)

I then took a two minute break and did it again twice more. I was a very tired at the end. Sometimes one does not appreciate the length of time that a minute encompasses. A minute is very short unless you are doing something unpleasant. This was hard, harder than I thought it should be. I can run well but I think my other muscles were suffering a bit from lack of use. I will have to do more of this type of exercise in the future.

It is good to be giving...

My daughter brought home a nasty bug last weekend. I did OK in fighting it off for 3 days, then well you know, I got sick. She is a girl who just loves to share. I am now fighting a particularly nasty little bug. The fever and weakness were not a big deal as they were only there for about 12 to 18 hours. However, the chest congestion is another matter altogether. It coughed so hard one night I spit up some blood from the broken blood vessels. Blood has a tendency to freak people out, I think I am a bit immune to that effect. I am not sure if that is from my time in the military or something else? However, I did know that I should not continue to spit up blood because that is not good for you. Anyway, it was a minor thing and was only one night. Now I feel fine but I have to cough a bit. The sad news is that I have not run at all this week. The good news is that I feel much better today and hope to log some miles tonight. Here is what was intended versus what actually happened.

Here is what I intended to do this week:

Monday: Martial Arts
Tuesday: Run 4 miles
Wednesday: Martial Arts
Thursday: Run 4 miles (there was a martial arts seminar that I was planning on going to today but it did not work out - I am really bummed about it)
Friday: Run 4 miles
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Run 8 miles

Here is what I did do this week:
Monday: Martial Arts (it was a nice class where my speed and power seemed to gel a bit more than previously.)
Tuesday: Hack up a lung with some blood for good measure
Wednesday: Sleep 12 hours
Thursday: Feel like I just did 12 rounds with Evander Holyfield (all day)
Friday: Nothing yet but hope to do 4 miles tonight
Saturday: Plan on 4 miles
Sunday: Plan on a slow 6 or 8 miles

This taper has been a lot of rest time with injury and sickness. I will say this I will be well rested when I get to start line. I am not worried. I did all the prep work and now my body is just recovering a bit more than it would have. The good news is that my body will be as rested as it could be.

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

I really began running last March, and my first run was the Broad Street Run. This is a great race. The course goes straight through Philadelphia for 10 miles and is downhill the whole way. It is not a steep downhill but it is downhill. I feel like I have come full circle in a way. This weekend the Broad Street Run is here again and this will be the first time I have run a race a second time. It is exciting.

This was my first race ever. I think for that reason it holds some special meaning for me. The excitement and atmosphere was electric. There are thousands of folks with bands and well wishers. It was amazing. I think my real love of running was born on this course.

I am really looking forward to breaking my record from last year. This should not be a major feat as last year my pace was 14:26. I would like to blame it on the sprained ankle I had at the time. But the truth is that I was very fat and very out of shape. This was my start and since then I have dropped about 70 pounds and I generally run about 3 and1/2 to 4 minutes faster per mile. More than the marathon, this one means something to me.

I have learned a lot since last May. I am hoping to have a great time and hope to run a good race. This is great.

Here is my Last year's Broad Street Run race report.

Injury news:
-- After the stretching from my martial arts class last night, my hip feels about 25% better today than yesterday. I think my odds of running the marathon are now about 85%, if this keeps up I see no trouble. I will hold off on any running until Thursday to foster healing but I will continue to stretch and cross train. I have to hit a couple of times a week or I don't feel right. I am a strange man.