My mission trainer is a triathlon "enthusiast". I've always wanted to do one, mostly because I think it is just about the toughest thing anyone can do. And I'm all about tough.
So, last Saturday, I flip on the TV and the Ironman is on. I watch as the best cross the finish line. The women's winner was a girl from England and she was absolutely beaming. She was ear to ear smiling- pure joy. I didn't get to see team Hoyt- the father/disabled son pair. There were 60+ year-old folks finishing- one blind, led by is son. One of the coolest was the man with prosthetic legs.
After watching all these people finish, I decided I want that feeling, so I emailed my trainer at told him that in 5 years, we're doing Ironman.
Friday, February 22, 2008
My Running Workout
Last year I pretty much limped through the finish line of the Salt Lake 1/2 marathon. I registered for the thing in November and started running. I didn't run in December or January. In February, we got a tax refund, I got new Nike+ shoes and the accompanying pedometer sensor. I started running again. In my second week of running, I did 5 miles- more than I had ever run in my life. The 3rd week, I ran 8 miles- again, more than I had ever run in my life. I moseyed through the next week, got sick for a few weeks straight and all of the sudden the 1/2 marathon was a week away. I ran a few times the week of- 2 miles as fast as I could- and went to the race. I was confident because of the drastic success I had early in my training, but also very wary. I paced myself to a very conversational pace and bonked at 9 miles. The remaining 4 miles was walk/jog and extreme pain. I mean pain. My legs and hips were aching and burning all at once. I was miserable.
This year, I registered 11 weeks prior to the day of the race. There's a few reasons:
1) I know that I am a procrastinator, but also that I can turn out impressive work in the short amount of time I leave myself.
2) I really didn't think I could get myself to get running again. It's hard to get up and give myself time to run with everything else going on- the same lame excuse we always give and always hear.
I am in week 2 of running. Last week I ran 3 miles total- 2, 1.5 mile jogs around the block. This week I ran 1.5 miles, 2.2 miles fast, and today, 5 miles. I feel like it's riding a bicycle.
I credit my optimism and success with running to 2 things:
1) A genetic predisposition for endurance. (rather than speed as my football career displayed)
2) A very good workout regimen.
I got my workout online from a site I already lost track of, so I do not take any credit for it's results except those I have made for myself.
The workout consists of running 4 days a week and alternating intensities:
Day 1- Monday- Recovery
The purpose of day 1 is to help your body recover from the last run of the week before. Running easy helps the muscles pump out leftover lactic acid and other substances. It is an easy jog (60% intensity), conversation pace- you can talk freely without gasping for breath- and is timed. To begin 20 minutes is good. I've gotten up to 40 minutes with a focus on speeding up, but still maintaining my breathing.
This is a good out-and-back run: 10 minutes out (my sensor tells me when I'm 1/2 way) and 10 minutes back for a 20 minute run.
Day 2- Tuesday- Rest
Day 3- Wednesday- Fartlek
Funny name, very challenging. Basically, this is where you will alternate intensities. You can time it or use distance. I use time. Example:
35 minute run- 5 minutes @ 60%, 5 minutes 80%, 5 min. 60%, and so on until time is up. This is good overloading work. If there is a good hilly area to run on, that will give you the increased intensity you need without having to time it or anything.
Day 4- Thursday- Intervals
This is the hard day. I find a local track and jog and sprint alternating distances. At first I'll jog turns and sprint straightaways for 1 mile (4 laps). I'll work up to jogging a 1/2 lap and sprinting a 1/2 lap for 1 mile, then 2. After 5 or so weeks, I'll be able to jog one lap, sprint one lap for 4 miles or so.
Day 5- Friday- Rest
Day 6- Saturday- The Big One
Today is race simulation. I am at 5 miles this week. Next week I'll do 6 miles and I'll add 1 mile every week until race week. This is run at race intensity (60-80%), which is entirely up to you. I love the sense of accomplishment this run gives when its over. It usually hurts a bit, but I love a little workout pain.
Day 7- Sunday- Rest
So that's the workout. I try to eat healthy carb stuff throughout the week and within 45 minutes after a workout, I drink a full glass of Chocolate milk- it gives the perfect ratio of protein to carbs for your body to recover energy and build muscle at the same time. Nothing is better for you.
Benefits of Nike+:
Timed or measured workouts using your iPod. You tell it what your goal is: time, distance, whatever. It tells you how far you've gone, how far you have to go, how long you've run, how much longer you have to go, when you've gone half way. After the workout, you plug in the iPod to your computer and let it upload your workout to Nike+.com. On the site, you can set a long-term goal, coordinate goals with other people, have competitions (I'm running for Republicans, Men vs. Women, the State of Utah, and the 25-29 age group right now), but most importantly, you can see all your runs graphed by how fast you were running at each moment, what the mile splits were, your pace, etc. It gives great info. I highly, highly recommend it. And the shoes are the most comfortable I've ever worn.
Good Running!
This year, I registered 11 weeks prior to the day of the race. There's a few reasons:
1) I know that I am a procrastinator, but also that I can turn out impressive work in the short amount of time I leave myself.
2) I really didn't think I could get myself to get running again. It's hard to get up and give myself time to run with everything else going on- the same lame excuse we always give and always hear.
I am in week 2 of running. Last week I ran 3 miles total- 2, 1.5 mile jogs around the block. This week I ran 1.5 miles, 2.2 miles fast, and today, 5 miles. I feel like it's riding a bicycle.
I credit my optimism and success with running to 2 things:
1) A genetic predisposition for endurance. (rather than speed as my football career displayed)
2) A very good workout regimen.
I got my workout online from a site I already lost track of, so I do not take any credit for it's results except those I have made for myself.
The workout consists of running 4 days a week and alternating intensities:
Day 1- Monday- Recovery
The purpose of day 1 is to help your body recover from the last run of the week before. Running easy helps the muscles pump out leftover lactic acid and other substances. It is an easy jog (60% intensity), conversation pace- you can talk freely without gasping for breath- and is timed. To begin 20 minutes is good. I've gotten up to 40 minutes with a focus on speeding up, but still maintaining my breathing.
This is a good out-and-back run: 10 minutes out (my sensor tells me when I'm 1/2 way) and 10 minutes back for a 20 minute run.
Day 2- Tuesday- Rest
Day 3- Wednesday- Fartlek
Funny name, very challenging. Basically, this is where you will alternate intensities. You can time it or use distance. I use time. Example:
35 minute run- 5 minutes @ 60%, 5 minutes 80%, 5 min. 60%, and so on until time is up. This is good overloading work. If there is a good hilly area to run on, that will give you the increased intensity you need without having to time it or anything.
Day 4- Thursday- Intervals
This is the hard day. I find a local track and jog and sprint alternating distances. At first I'll jog turns and sprint straightaways for 1 mile (4 laps). I'll work up to jogging a 1/2 lap and sprinting a 1/2 lap for 1 mile, then 2. After 5 or so weeks, I'll be able to jog one lap, sprint one lap for 4 miles or so.
Day 5- Friday- Rest
Day 6- Saturday- The Big One
Today is race simulation. I am at 5 miles this week. Next week I'll do 6 miles and I'll add 1 mile every week until race week. This is run at race intensity (60-80%), which is entirely up to you. I love the sense of accomplishment this run gives when its over. It usually hurts a bit, but I love a little workout pain.
Day 7- Sunday- Rest
So that's the workout. I try to eat healthy carb stuff throughout the week and within 45 minutes after a workout, I drink a full glass of Chocolate milk- it gives the perfect ratio of protein to carbs for your body to recover energy and build muscle at the same time. Nothing is better for you.
Benefits of Nike+:
Timed or measured workouts using your iPod. You tell it what your goal is: time, distance, whatever. It tells you how far you've gone, how far you have to go, how long you've run, how much longer you have to go, when you've gone half way. After the workout, you plug in the iPod to your computer and let it upload your workout to Nike+.com. On the site, you can set a long-term goal, coordinate goals with other people, have competitions (I'm running for Republicans, Men vs. Women, the State of Utah, and the 25-29 age group right now), but most importantly, you can see all your runs graphed by how fast you were running at each moment, what the mile splits were, your pace, etc. It gives great info. I highly, highly recommend it. And the shoes are the most comfortable I've ever worn.
Good Running!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Back Side of Public Transportation
This morning on the bus to school I was the victim of a public transit atrocity.
The bus effortlessly plowed through the inch of snow covering the park and ride lot on its way to the stop 4o yards away, in the corner of the lot. As it rounded the corner to pull into the lot, I glanced up to see who might be waiting at the stop. At first, it wasn't clear, but as we drew closer, I could see two people. The bus was fairly full, and I had an empty seat next to me, near the front of the bus- very accessible. I ceded that I would share the ride to the train station as I had done many a time before. This did not trouble me, even though I had been troubled earlier by the tardiness of the bus at my stop.
As we pulled up to the stop, a woman emerged from the cover of the bus stop quickly. She was overweight, dressed in green nurses pants and a knitted brown sweater that was too big and very ugly. She had hair that was light brown and too long, and glasses that were too big. She screamed "no class". Her mouth was flapping incessantly, although she wore a smirk as if to say "you're late- I do my job, you obviously can't do yours". I could tell she was upset, but not in the usual angry sort of way, rather in a murmuring sort of way.
As she boarded the bus, she kept ranting, now directing her rant to the driver. The driver answered simply, albeit interrupting her rant, which did not have an end. She began down the isle and stopped by my neighboring seat- she had found her spot. She turned her back to me to sit, still ranting.
As she began to sit, I performed a quick calculation of her sitting trajectory and- no! she was too close! Her big green back side was already coming down, almost in excruciating slow motion. I was pinned the wall of the bus. I had no escape. And then...she sat on me.
"Excuse me" she said.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet pt.1
I spent some time before my mission sitting in a rocking chair in my parents' home reading the biography of President Gordon B. Hinckley. I read eagerly about the similarities I felt in our lives. Some events of our lives were so similar and the biography candidly portrayed an imperfect person in President Hinckley, something that I drew a lot of strength from. I, myself am, and especially at that time, was imperfect, to say the least. His mission experience struck me, where no significant detail was given to his success in baptizing numbers of people, but the struggles he had and the ultimate resolution he found in finally losing himself and simply working in faith. That was the work he had to do in order to do the work God needed him to do. I found my mission experience to be such work, as well.
The similarities are comforting. More importantly, I think, I can look more at the man, his character, and his words and draw an example for myself. President Hinckley was not a Prophet who was more than a man. He was humble, friendly, enthusiastic, and humorous. I think the latter qualities stem from humility, which stems from the lessons learned on his mission. Of all the things I have learned from him is that there is always room to grow, everything will end up fine, and you can't have too many friends.
The similarities are comforting. More importantly, I think, I can look more at the man, his character, and his words and draw an example for myself. President Hinckley was not a Prophet who was more than a man. He was humble, friendly, enthusiastic, and humorous. I think the latter qualities stem from humility, which stems from the lessons learned on his mission. Of all the things I have learned from him is that there is always room to grow, everything will end up fine, and you can't have too many friends.
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