The wedding day!

Saturday morning in Lewiston Maine.
Beautiful clear skies
with
temperatures
around 40 degrees. I was hoping to get a 14 or 15 mile run in on Saturday or Sunday based on my schedule with the family.
I used the web site favoriterun.com to put together a 14 mile out and back route. To familiarize myself with the route I went out and drove it but somehow missed a turn and got lost. I left the map back at the hotel. After driving around an extra 30 minutes I made it back to the hotel. Feeling tired and a little aggravated of getting lost I decided to just run for 20 minutes. Oh well Sunday was another opportunity for a long run.
The wedding was beautiful followed with a fun reception.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday's weather conditions. I had a better route picked out which was a 14 mile loop. The moment I took my first few steps I knew this was the day for a good run. My energy was fresh which was fueled from a banana and a carboom gel washed down with 8 oz. Water. The run went well. No water or gels needed during the run. And I finished in 1:46:06. I had a nice 4 day break with lots of good food, family, and fun!

musculus quadriceps femoris dolor

Lunch time! It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun brightly shining through clear blue skies. Temperature was around 58 degrees F. I jog from the office to the local track for a nice 10 minute warm-up. Once on the track I continued running but picked up the pace and tried to average a 6:24 pace for a 5 mile tempo run but after the first mile I was 10 seconds behind. Somewhere between 2 and 4 miles my time slipped down another 20 seconds and after 5 miles instead of finishing with a time of 32:00 I had 32:34 on my watch. I realized my legs and in particular my quads were still sore from the 10 mile race from this past weekend. Instead of going to the track Tuesday I just ran 5 easy miles in the park. I thought that would be enough to allow the legs some rest but I guess that was not enough.
I am looking forward to getting a 14 or 15 mile run this weekend while up in Maine for my son's wedding.
Have a great and safe weekend.
Swim, Bike, then Run.

Fitness for Life Test Results

The fitness for life program at Cleveland State University offers individual exercise program recommendations based on evaluation of physical fitness; safe and supervised group exercise geared to each participant's physical capacities; information on improving and maintaining physical condition, weight control, and prevention of training injuries; and a structure for tracking exercise participation and achievements.

Members receive stress tests; measures of their body composition, flexibility, muscular strength and lung capacity; blood analyses; a health risk appraisal; a baseline to assess level of fitness and set exercise guidelines; and a follow-up at the end of the year to help measure improvement in fitness level.

I have been in the program for 5 years and can proudly say that after taking the once a year tests this past Monday there has been improvement in my overall results compared to all the previous years.

Here is a list of the biggest change in results from 4/23/02 with today's summary:

Weight: then 157lbs. now 142lbs.
Body Mass Index: then 23.2kg/m2 now 21.0kg/m2
Total Cholesterol: then 182ml/dL now 173ml/dL
HDL Cholesterol: then 42ml/dL now 54ml/dL
LDL Cholesterol: then 106ml/dL now 106ml/dL
Triglycerids: then 169ml/dL now 61ml/dL
Glucose: then 107ml/dL then 87ml/dL
Blood Pressure - Systolic: then 138mm/Hg now 130mm/Hg
Blood Pressure - Diastolic: then 90mm/Hg now 86mm/Hg
Max VO2: then 60.0ml/kg min now 68.4ml/kg min
Body Composition: then 12.7% fat now 6.8% fat
And the interesting number is my Body Age which is 35 compared to my chronological age of 46.

It's weird when people at work tell me, "you've lost weight". And that I look trim, lean, mean, and thinner. I am surprised people notice these things because if you ask me I don't think I pay attention to peoples weight gain or loss. Ok, I did unconsciously lose 9 pounds since this past January. But all I did was add 3 times a week of dumbbells with the exercise ball to my regular swimming, biking, and running routine. And maybe I have become more aware of my nutrition intake. I try to follow the grazing method of eating healthy foods throughout the day. As my wife's 90 year old grandma would say, "that's all I know".

Ran like a god!

Today I ran the Hermes Cleveland 10 miler race.
The theme of the race is "run like a god". Hermes, the winged-footed messenger god of classical mythology was the Son of Zeus and Maia, daughter of the Titan Atlas. He wore wings on his sandals as a sign of his swiftness. Hermes was a young athletic man and is credited for inventing foot racing and boxing. I felt like the "wings of hermes" were on my shoes today!
Weather conditions I thought was near perfect with tempertures around 56 degrees with some light breeze blowing off Lake Erie. Speaking of eerie we ran a good portion of the race in a fog! Visiblity at times was less than 100 meters. It was a good thing I knew the course because I would loose sight of the lead runners in the fog. I was able to maintain a steady even pace. Water and Gatorade were at the 2, 4, 6, & 8 mile markers. I made sure to drink one good sip of water at each water stop. The "wings" brought me to the finish line in 6th place overall with a time of 1:01:10. Follow link to see results.

The kids race had about 20 kids ages 10 and under. My son, grandson, and their friend toed the starting line. They ran about 200 meters out to a turnaround cone and headed back to the starting line. I gave them a race strategy of starting out easy and to let the kids run fast at the start but that the race would begin after the turnaround. The strategy worked! My son was the overall winner followed by my grandson in 2nd place and their friend took 4th place.
502=grandson(Jeremiah), 503=son(Nathan), 515=friend(Matthew)

Quotes from books I am reading!

These are quotes from books that I am reading and I think reflects some views on life.

Principles to live by for your well being.

"Exercise hard and you will grow younger!
Care about other people and you will grow happier!
Build a life that you think means something and you will grow richer"!
Younger Next Year

These are good to remember when something goes awry during a multisport event.

"Make the best use of what is in your power, take the rest as it comes".

"The thing that upsets people is not what happens but what they think it means"
Healthy Aging

Triathlon Radio

This post is for all those who listen to podcast shows. I have listed my all time favorites.

EnduranceRadio: for runners, cyclists, triathletes, and adventure racers
Get Your Geek On: for triathletes
Phedippidations: for runners
FredCast Show: for cyclists
SimplyStu: for triathletes
Zen and the Art of Triathlon: for triathletes
Triathlon Radio: for triathletes

I listen to a few other shows but these are worth mentioning because I really enjoy listening to all of the shows I listed. I would like to thank Jeremy Vaught from Triathlon Radio for recently having me as a guest on his show to do an interview.
Use iTunes to search for any of these shows.
To listen to my interview select Triathlon Radio Show # 13

5 weeks left for the big half marathon race!

This past weekend I had a wonderful time with my family celebrating the Easter holiday. Two words: We feasted!
Saturday morning I was able to get a 14 mile run in. I ran from my home down the big hills to the Canal Way bike path for an out and back run. I normally drive the 2 miles down the hills to the parking lot of Canal Way but I wanted to use running back up the hills as a good physical and mental preparation training for the coming fall Columbus marathon and even more the "heart break hills" of the Boston marathon in April 2007. You see mental prep starts the day you sign up for a big race. Now I just have to learn nutrition on a long training run and what foods and when to eat during a marathon. When I did my last marathon 11 years ago nutrition wasn't a science as it is today. Even when I did 20 mile long training runs I wouldn't eat or drink water because the thought wasn't there for me. I am hoping to learn a thing or two about nutrition this year to help with my survival of running a marathon.
Sunday was a 33 mile bike ride. I felt great and glad to be out riding on a beautiful day. I think my strength and speed is where I was at the end of the fall season. This could only mean if all goes well I should be stronger on the bike this summer.
This week will include Tuesday track workout and Thursday 30 minute tempo run and a 10 mile race on Saturday. My son and grandson will race in the kids run before I run the 10 miler. They are excited just as much as I am about the race.

more and more barefeet!

How many barefeet you meet
Barefeet in the morning
Barefeet in the night
Here come more and more Barefeet.

Meet my future running shoes. I just have to convince my wife these are worth 70 dollars of coolness. See the web site Five Fingers to learn more about these cute feeties.

In reply to some of the comments people have left:

• Not sure if running barefeet has strengthen my road running but it is getting easier to run barefoot and I'm having fun.
• I found that when I run barefoot at the track to warm up and then put my shoes on my feet felt loosen and are more flexible.
• I believe with more time of running barefeet the benefits of running faster and farther will come.
• I haven't tried juggling while running or while riding my unicycle.

Dragging legs

Can you believe there is such a thing to relieve tired, aching legs and feet? This week my legs feel like I have been dragging my feet through heavy sand. I have no aches and pains but just tired legs.

Tuesday's track workout began with an easy 2 mile jog in shoes and .5 mile barefoot.

The main workout was: 3 x 400's, 3 x 800's, and 3 x 400's (average 400's 1:15, and average for 800's 2:50)

Cool down was an easy 1 mile barefoot jog.

Wednesday was a 20 minute swim at lunchtime. In the evening I was hoping to ride my bike outside but after getting ready to go out the weather turned bad with dark clouds, thunder and rain so I set up my bike on the trainer and did a 1 hour spin.

Thursday's tempo run on the track included 1 mile easy jog then 5 miles at 31:57 followed with a 1 mile cool down jog.

Even though my legs are tired I am amazed I survived hard workouts this week. Next week training will not be as tough and hopefully the legs will be rested enough for next Saturday's 10 mile race. Instead of buying into the marketing of the magic gel I think I'll just give my legs some rest and a massage.

Tuesday and Thursday also included upper body dumbbell workout with the exercise ball.

Tomorrow will be a 40 minute swim at lunchtime and after work I hope to get in a 40 minute bike ride.

The Road to Boston Runs through Columbus!

I did it! It has been 11 years since I ran my last marathon and I signed up today for the Columbus Ohio Marathon this October 15th 2006.
I chose Columbus for two good reasons:
1. I have to fix my 3:30 finish time in Columbus 11 years ago to something better.
2. It is the road to the Boston marathon. If I finish the race under 3:30 I qualify to run Boston in 2007.
I have to admit the inspiration came to me from listening to some rambling diatribes composed during distance long runs of an entertaining and educational goofy podcast shows of Phedippidations. Thank you Steve Runner of phedippidations for all the great shows that have made me laugh and even shed a tear. My eight year old son also enjoys listening to your show and wants me to tell him when a funny part of the show is on.
My marathon dreams are to run the 3 big ones. Boston, New York, and Chicago. Then I may be ready for the big Ironman training plan. I think now is the time for me to get started. Maybe before I hit 50?

Buzzard Duathlon Race Recap!

It was a beautiful day to be out participating in a duathlon race today! The sun was shining through blue skies. The temperature was about 38 degrees F. The race began with a run of 3 hilly miles around Hinkley Lake on the road. I felt comfortable running a 6:00 minute mile pace. I made it back to the transition area to get my bike and took off riding and still feeling good. After cruising with the 2nd lead pack group (on my 2nd lap of 5 around the Lake) my chain popped off going up a hill. I lost my momentum and could not put the chain back on while riding and had to get off the bike to put it back on. And of course being on a hill I could not get back on and ride so I ran with the bike up the hill. I realized these things can happen and just continued to ride my heart out. I completed the 5 hilly laps of 15.3 miles in 46:10 which is a 19.9 miles per hour pace. After racking my bike in the transition area I attempted to unsnap the chin-strap of my helmet but my hands were so cold and numb from the ride that I struggled with it for about 30 seconds but it seemed more like 2 minutes. With the mechanical mishap of the bike chain and the discomfort of frozen fingers I was still feeling strong and happy to be out racing my heart out. On the last lap of running the hilly course I took the opportunity to pass some of the many people that passed me on the bike leg. I finished 13th overall with a time of 1:24:34. It was a beautiful day!
Male Duathlon Race Results

Jump Rope

I recently came across a post from fellow blogger Hilda and read how she had 30 minutes jumping rope as part of her workout. The thought I had was would I count jumping rope as part of my workout? But then I was reminded that I use to jump rope when I boxed for 11 years and remembered why boxers would jump rope. We did it to improve speed, agility, balance, strength, power, and endurance. Then the thought came to me if the benefits were there for boxing then why not for multisport athletes? Today I dug out my jump rope and scheduled 10 minutes of jumping before my dumbbell workout with the exercise ball. I started my stop watch and started to jump. Two minutes went by and I'm thinking wow, how am I going to survive this for another eight minutes. After about 6 minutes I was sweating but holding onto the ropes. Eight minutes and I tell myself 2 minutes left I can do this. I finished the ten minutes and decided I will include this as part of today's workout.
I am considering to jump rope barefoot but from what I've read most websites state that you should not jump barefoot because the foot needs all the support and cushion a shoe gives while pounding the lower legs. But I'm not sure if I believe all that because I land light and on the balls of my feet. I think 1 to 2 minutes barefoot would actually strengthen the many muscles in my foot that would otherwise not get a chance when shod in a shoe. I do plan on adding 2 to 3 days a week of jumping rope to my regular workout schedule for a few months.

Apple Break - Fast

My little experiment of eating only apples during 2 days proved to me that I:
* have the ability to break ingrained old habits of eating whatever food I want.
* realize a change in diet takes time.
* can make smarter healthy food choices.
* can resist free pizza at work.
* have the strength to swim 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes of weight and core exercises.
* did not feel my energy levels were down.
* can survive 2 days eating only apples and probably can go longer.
* am free from excessive daily flatulence.
* felt my digestive organs were resting.
* still like apples.
* can curb the ravages of unnatural appetite.
* did not get irritable from missing all my wonderful meals.
* can do this again maybe next fall season.
* have so much to learn about proper diet and nutrition.
* thought more of my favorite food (see the picture) than any other food.

This little experiment was fun! It was done on my light week of training. The only workout I did was on the first day. I was supposed to eat 8 apples a day but I only ate 6 on Monday and 5 on Tuesday. When the hour came for me to eat I wasn't quite hungry so I would wait. I basically ate when I was hungry. I tried not to exert too much energy both days and even managed to get a 40 minute nap on Monday and a 20 minute nap on Tuesday. I don't quite know how to explain the restful and inner peace I felt both days but it was in me. Maybe I tasted the magic in apples!

Apple Detox

Today is day 1 of a 2 day apple fasting experiment. I will eat only apples and drink only water for these 2 days. I will eat a mix of 8 organic red delicious, gala, and yellow delicious apples, each day. People ask me why go through 2 days of stressing the body of not eating regular balanced meals and eating nothing but apples? I say it is something I have been considering for a few months. And from what I've heard we all can stand to use a little detox/fasting program to cleanse our bodies from accumulated toxins in our plumbing system. An apple fast is considered for people who are new to fasting and do not want to do a more serious fast like water or juice only.

Let's see how I hold up with my apple fast. I'll report Tuesday evening on my experience of missing my usual daily banana, granola cereal, peanut butter & honey sandwiches, and a good mix of fruits and vegetables. I think I miss my daily habit.