ORN: 3.5 miles, 38 minutes.
... But I had to put you down a little while. I thought I could quit blogging. I thought it was useless and that I had no audience. That may still be true, but I find myself irresistibly drawn back to this silly thing. Oh well. I may as well catch you up on the last couple of weeks. [You, my loyal 14 feedburner subscribers and whoever-else].
Post Half
After the Louisville Half Marathon, I took a bit of a break. A couple weeks, in fact. This was because when I tried running a couple days after the Half, my left knee felt like it was going to fall apart. Over the next several days, I iced it and slathered cremes on it and took copious amounts of ibuprofen. It wasn't until a couple weeks had passed that I could run on it without noticeable discomfort. Now, my knee is OK, though starting last night, it started giving me warning growls, like a petulant, half-crazy toy schnauzer.
I got my medal engraved, thanks to the good people at Medal Engraving. Their service was fast and friendly. I strongly recommend them.
Weight lossage
I started Weight Watchers. Initially it was to support my wife [i.e., she made me do it with her or else], but now I am into it. I've shaved off about six pounds in a couple weeks. I hope to drop below 180 before too long. I haven't seen 180 in a couple years. I'm doing the Core Plan, which is fantastic for me since it requires very little record keeping. Essentially, they give you a list of things you can eat. It's heavy on fruits, grains, and vegetables, but lean meats and fat free dairy are also allowed. Whole grain pasta and brown rice are allowed too, but only once a day. Everything else, beer for example, can be consumed if you want to spend the points on it. You get 35 points a week, and for example, a beer is 3 points.
The big bonus, for me as a runner, is that you can essentially erase points you've consumed that day by exercising. Someone at my weight can run 31 minutes and earn 5 points, for example. To erase the orgy at the buffet line I allowed myself yesterday, all 13 gluttonous points, I would have had to have run 87 minutes. A six pack of beer will cost me a little over 117 minutes of pavement pounding. As a geek, I find hacking the algorithm to minimax food and exercise a lot of fun.
With six fewer pounds to haul around, I notice a very slight increase in my energy level when I run. I feel a little faster, even if that isn't translating into 4-D space. I have high hopes that getting to my goal weight will allow me to be consistently run sub-10 minute miles.
Plots and plans
I intend to run the Louisville Triple Crown of Running and Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon in early 2008. I'm not going to run in any 5Ks or anything between now and then. I just don't feel the need. I was racing to have that milestone ahead of me to motivate me to run, but I am at the point where I am starting to get internally motivated. But I really liked the Half Marathon pace, feel, training plan, etc. It felt right. Five kilometers was too speedy for me, and I have never run a 10K race but I imagine it would be the same.
Technorati Tags: running, planning, workouts, kentucky derby, weight watchers, dieting
... But I had to put you down a little while. I thought I could quit blogging. I thought it was useless and that I had no audience. That may still be true, but I find myself irresistibly drawn back to this silly thing. Oh well. I may as well catch you up on the last couple of weeks. [You, my loyal 14 feedburner subscribers and whoever-else].
Post Half
After the Louisville Half Marathon, I took a bit of a break. A couple weeks, in fact. This was because when I tried running a couple days after the Half, my left knee felt like it was going to fall apart. Over the next several days, I iced it and slathered cremes on it and took copious amounts of ibuprofen. It wasn't until a couple weeks had passed that I could run on it without noticeable discomfort. Now, my knee is OK, though starting last night, it started giving me warning growls, like a petulant, half-crazy toy schnauzer.
I got my medal engraved, thanks to the good people at Medal Engraving. Their service was fast and friendly. I strongly recommend them.
Weight lossage
I started Weight Watchers. Initially it was to support my wife [i.e., she made me do it with her or else], but now I am into it. I've shaved off about six pounds in a couple weeks. I hope to drop below 180 before too long. I haven't seen 180 in a couple years. I'm doing the Core Plan, which is fantastic for me since it requires very little record keeping. Essentially, they give you a list of things you can eat. It's heavy on fruits, grains, and vegetables, but lean meats and fat free dairy are also allowed. Whole grain pasta and brown rice are allowed too, but only once a day. Everything else, beer for example, can be consumed if you want to spend the points on it. You get 35 points a week, and for example, a beer is 3 points.
The big bonus, for me as a runner, is that you can essentially erase points you've consumed that day by exercising. Someone at my weight can run 31 minutes and earn 5 points, for example. To erase the orgy at the buffet line I allowed myself yesterday, all 13 gluttonous points, I would have had to have run 87 minutes. A six pack of beer will cost me a little over 117 minutes of pavement pounding. As a geek, I find hacking the algorithm to minimax food and exercise a lot of fun.
With six fewer pounds to haul around, I notice a very slight increase in my energy level when I run. I feel a little faster, even if that isn't translating into 4-D space. I have high hopes that getting to my goal weight will allow me to be consistently run sub-10 minute miles.
Plots and plans
I intend to run the Louisville Triple Crown of Running and Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon in early 2008. I'm not going to run in any 5Ks or anything between now and then. I just don't feel the need. I was racing to have that milestone ahead of me to motivate me to run, but I am at the point where I am starting to get internally motivated. But I really liked the Half Marathon pace, feel, training plan, etc. It felt right. Five kilometers was too speedy for me, and I have never run a 10K race but I imagine it would be the same.
Technorati Tags: running, planning, workouts, kentucky derby, weight watchers, dieting
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