Disney Training - Week 13

This was an awful week. I wasn't feeling well, had lots going on at work, was exhausted almost all of the time, and when I finally ran, I somehow hurt my back. Not to worry though, I have a plan to ensure I will still be 100% for Disney.

Swimming
No sessions this week.

Cycling
No sessions this week, although I really wanted to. No idea what is my mental hurdle on this one. My trainer is all set up, my iPad and TrainerRoad are set up and work. I have done successful rides before. And to top it off, I have the TV mounted now with Apple TV hooked up, so now I can watch stuff while I ride. I need to get over myself and just ride!

Running
As I noted, I got in only a single run this week. It was supposed to be my last long week, but sadly next week will need to be my final long week. I did an easy 10-mile treadmill run, but had to cut it short at 7 miles because I was feeling horrible. My back really flared up after I got home and I was having trouble walking the following day. Even as I write this I am still in immense amount of pain. My theory right now is that since I corrected my running form, having a super high-arch orthotic that is extra stiff is causing more impact than is necessary since I don't have the roll-and-collapse that I used to have; I am not mid-foot yet, but have minimal heel striking now. To further this theory, the last time I ran my longest distance I had actually forgotten to put my orthotics into my shoes, and I felt fine and recovered quickly.

So, once my back is better, I am going to try running without my orthotics and see how I feel. I am pretty confident this will do the trick. Plus not having the orthotic in really makes me pay more attention to good form.

Strength Training
I got in some of my stretching, which helped, but not as much as I should have, plus I skipped all of my strength sessions. After reading up a lot, I think my initial strength plan was too generic and not good enough for what I need for Ironman training. Therefore, I just came up with a new strength plan I am going to try and execute starting tonight. I'll post the details later, as I am still finalizing it.

Nutrition
I snacked this past week like there was no tomorrow. Somehow I only gained half a pound. I think this is due to me having inconsistent meals (or missing meals completely). Definitely not a healthy trend, which I started correcting over the weekend.

Final Thoughts
This upcoming week is going to be really telling as to how well my body is going to hold up at Disney. I really hope I can get over whatever mental blocks have been keeping me from my usual motivation and I can get my workouts done. I know my mind and body will feel much better if I succeed. Wish me luck!

Disney Training - Week 11 and 12

With our other cat going through all of these medical issues with his kidney and us trying to keep him stable for surgery, I fell victim again to there just being no time for much of anything, as I was not around much. It will be like this for another week, but I will keep trying to get my long runs and other supporting runs in as much as possible. The end is in sight for training though, and even though it has not been to my liking, or very consistent or successful in regards to my goals, I know I am ready for the first three races with no problem, and I know I'll be able to complete the marathon without injury.

Swimming
Like the last two weeks, I had no time for swimming.

Cycling
Like the last two weeks, I had no time for cycling.

Running
Week 11 was not a good running week at all. Plus with no strength training, stretching, or cross training, my 5-mile run was a lot tougher than it should have been. In addition, I did my 20-mile long run, which was extremely difficult to complete. I was able to walk around after the run and my legs seemed to bounce back better than expected, but during the run was another story. I hit the wall around mile 16, and I struggled a lot until 20. However, with adding some walk breaks, I know completing 26.2 will be no problem.

Week 12 was another horrible week for running consistency. In addition, I ended up having some serious DOMS from my 20-miler because I never did enough proper follow-up stretching or cross training. I know, this is a recurring theme. Anyway, I got in a 4-mile treadmill run, which again felt tougher than it should have. I also didn't get my long run in, but at least managed to get in my 10-miler on Sunday. However, I should have stretched more before, but I was treadmill running at LA Fitness and was on a time crunch for their closing time. So, around mile 6 my back tightened up and I had trouble the rest of the time. As I write this up today, my back is killing me. However, I will NOT be missing my daily stretches. In addition, I will be adding core work to my daily routine, which I'll cover in the strength session below.

Strength
As I mentioned, I didn't get in my stretching or any other strength training. However, I have a plan going forward to help out with my back and legs. Starting Monday, I will be doing my usually daily stretches, plus I will be adding planks, push-ups, superman, bird dogs, and clam shells. I want to add pull-ups, but I cannot do them during breaks at work, so I'll be sticking with something I know I can accomplish during the short breaks I get.

Nutrition
Overall, I am still doing well with weight loss, despite not always eating some of the healthiest snacks. I did have an issue during week 12 though where I ran out of my usual snacks and found myself visiting the vending machine at work a lot, which did not help at all. I made sure to get out and get my snacks, so that won't happen again.

Final Thoughts
As I mentioned, I am not happy with how training has gone or progressed, but I content in knowing I will be able to complete all four races and that I will have a great base for running when I start my Ironman training 2 weeks after the races. Plus with my cat coming home in a week, I'll be able to have a lot more time to focus on my workouts.

Disney Training - Week 7

The week kind of got away from me. More issues with my cat and battling some major issues with my house. I got in three of my five runs though, and finally got my long run in and completed. I was able to get in my stretches most days as well, which was a huge help. As usual, I didn't have time for anything else. Baby steps I guess; need to stay focused on running with Disney approaching quickly.

Swimming
No time this week.

Cycling
No time this week.

Running
As I noted, I completed three out of my five runs. I was able to get a short run, a moderate run, and my long run completed. I was pretty excited because my plan's long run mileage was only a few miles longer than what I completed. So, even though I have missed some weeks and a bunch of long runs, I still have most of my endurance. Granted, my legs were completely shot afterwards and extremely tired the following day (today as I am writing this). So, although I have my endurance, I don't have the strength needed to handle the impact and quicker recovery. I'll have to keep tossing in hills and hopefully some actual strength training to help this out.

Strength
Like the prior week, I got in all of my daily stretches, but no formal strength sessions. I will keep trying to stop coming up with excuses and get these in.

Nutrition
I logged almost none of my meals on MFP. I really need to figure out how to do this without it feeling like a chore. On a good note though, I am eating much better and the Halloween candy is gone. In addition we have Blue Apron three times a week, which has been helping due to the time constraints with everything else going on.

Final Thoughts
Life seems to always toss new challenges and try to get in the way. The key is to tackle things as they come and be able to quickly adjust. This is something I am always trying to work on. I have a good grasp of everything, so I am confident I will continue to see improvements in health, exercise and life in general. Have a great week everyone!

Disney Training - Week 3

Another busy week with moving in and getting situated. It seems I am more prone to injuries now with non-sports related activities. I hurt my other foot to add to the mix. Fortunately, it's nothing major and my other foot is starting to recover now. I finally got my trainer setup, so I got in a couple rides, which were tough but felt really good. I wanted to toss in some strength, but psyched myself out and I just didn't get any done. I will be working hard to get over this mental hurdle this week.

Swimming
I didn't get in any swims, which was really disappointing. Honestly, I was too lazy to drive to the gym to swim. I won't make excuses this week, that's my plan.

Cycling
As I noted, I finally got my trainer setup. I signed up with Trainer Road to have some structured trainer workouts this time around. In prior years, I primarily just rode on my trainer, with no real strategy, other than volume and some slight variability in resistance. Since my primary focus is still running, I'll be starting a cycling plan, but will be focused on building up my legs and building back my endurance. It will be very interesting to do training with power, even if it's estimated power. I have always just done cadence training and never really seen too many gains.

Running
As you know, my foot is still healing, so I am doing no running at all, even though I have just completed week 3 of training and am onto week 4. With how my foot is feeling right now, I expect to be back to some light running by the end Week 4, and back into a modified plan in Week 5. I definitely need to be careful, since I have lost a good amount of conditioning already. My thought right now is I will start Week 5 with a modified version of Week 2, and assuming I am fine from that, Week 6 I will do a faster ramp-up.

Strength
Not only did I not start my NTC strength plan this week, I didn't do any strength training either. I had one session of rehab work, which was just stretching and core. I am pretty disappointed in myself on this one, as I know the key to faster recovery, improvement, and injury prevention is to have my strength up.

Nutrition
Nutrition was a mixed bag this week. In most regards, I did pretty well with making sure I had less snacks and higher quality meals. However, my portion control was still very poor, I didn't log my food even though I set reminders with MFP, and I still snacked more than I should have. However, I am starting to cook more again, which aided in some of my better decisions this week, so I am going to keep focusing on progress.

Final Thoughts
This was definitely not one of my better weeks and I had a lot of excuses. I really don't take injury well and I need to get over that somehow. As usual I have a good plan, but let's hope I can actually stick with it. Good luck to everyone with the endeavors!

Disney Training - Week 2

The week started off really well. My runs felt much better and recovery was very fast. However, the weekend did not fair so well. Even though it was move-in weekend to my new house, I still have planned out time for my two runs. However, Friday when I was working from home, I fell down the stairs and my foot and ankle were bothering me all weekend. So I decided I couldn't afford to risk re-fracturing my right foot, which is where I had landed from my fall. As I am writing this post today, my foot feels a little worse so I may be shifting the next couple weeks around to help recover. After feeling my toe and injury area, it feels very similar to when I had fractured it last. However, it does not hurt like it did, so I am hoping a couple weeks should have me good to go.

Swimming
I got in my usual Monday swim. Even though it was under 20 minutes of swimming, I was completely exhausted. I will need to get myself up to two or more swims a week if I want to stop feeling so drained each time. With my current foot injury, I'll be planning to up my swimming to 3 times a week minimum.

Cycling
I didn't have any cycling sessions, but with my foot, I will be setting up my trainer and starting to cycle a good bit to help keep up my endurance. I don't really have any plans for any major cycling workouts during my training; just the occasional cross training session.

Running
With my latest foot injury, although I am sure I could run, I am not risking it. The last time I was stupid I was out of commission for over 2 years. So I'll be focusing on swimming and cycling to keep up endurance.

Strength
I have been meaning to get my strength routines going, and with the injury, it's just a bigger excuse to roll out my strength plans. Therefore, I'll be doing about 2-4 strength sessions per week. My main focus will be legs, hips and core.

Nutrition
I have not done well at all with portion control or staying away from snacks. With my new move however, I am not stocking anything bad, so I really expect to start turning things around.

Final Thoughts
Overall a great week because I am now living in my new house and I have quick and easy access to lots of fitness facilities and areas. However, a bad week since I hurt myself; although I am happy it wasn't from working out. Now to mend myself so I don't miss too much training.

Half Marathon - Week 11 & 12 Training

Another two horrible training weeks. On a positive note, almost have the painting done at my house that I need in order for us to move in! Aside from that, no time to workout at all.

Swimming
No time for sessions.

Cycling
No time for sessions.

Running
I got in two runs during this two week time period. Fortunately, I think it was just enough to allow me to complete my Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. I had a 5 miler and 7 miler. Both felt pretty good, but were tough since I hadn't run much prior. Recovery-wise, I was completely fine after both runs. I definitely planned on a much slower half marathon than my goal was set for.

I completed my Rock 'n Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon. I definitely didn't come close to the pace I wanted even after I had adjusted due to lack of training. The worst part was how awful my lower body felt immediately after the race. My legs were shaking and I felt pretty awful. In addition my ankles and feet with swollen a bit. I did a lot of stretches once I was re-hydrated. This helped a little, but not as much as I had hoped. As I am writing this post the following day, my legs are still exhausted, knees a bit sore, and walking up stairs is almost a no-go.

Strength
Aside from a few stretches, I didn't get any strength sessions in.

Nutrition
In addition to not getting time to exercise, I didn't do myself any favors with my horrible eating habits these two weeks. With Disney training starting this week, I cannot afford bad eating habits. I will be working diligently, with my goal of logging 100% of my food for all 7 days.

Final Thoughts
Not happy with my training or mental discipline. I was very happy to get a lot of painting done and get a lot closer to moving into my new house though. Therefore, I will just have to be happy with non-workout goals completed and move on.

Half Marathon Training - Week 9

Not a good week at all. Many rush trips to vet hospital and a couple ER visits. Didn't really have time for any workouts. I was able to get in a ride though, and am feeling confident to handle the 80 miler, assuming my dad definitely decides against the 100 miler. Close on my house next week so I won't be getting a lot of training done then either. I am not expecting a great time for my upcoming half marathon, but at least I know I will be fine completing it.

Swimming
As usual, not time to swim.

Cycling
I got in my long ride and it felt really good. The weather was perfect and aside from saddle soreness, I was fine for the whole 3.25 hours. I am feeling pretty confident for the upcoming century, or 80-miler, depending on how my dad feels.

Running
I have no time to run, which was very frustrating, but family first.

Strength
I didn't get in any formal strength, but managed to do my stretching exercises on a lot of the days.

Nutrition
I didn't have time to log almost anything, and overall I did not eat the best. I wish I could get over stress eating.

Final Thoughts
Overall a very emotionally draining week. Next week will be just as draining, for good reasons at least. I just hope I can get more workouts in.

Half Marathon Training - Week 8

Another rough week, but I was still able to get in three runs and a long ride. So, I was pleased with my progression. I still am lacking consistency with getting everything done, but things are too hectic again for me to have the time.

Swimming
No time for swimming sessions.

Cycling
My goal had been to attempt to ride for 4 hours. My legs were extremely tired from the 10 miler the prior day. I still rallied up any energy I had to get in about a 2.5 hour ride. Overall I felt fine during the ride, but my body was so exhausted from lack of sleep and the run that I just could not seem to push myself any harder. I finally got to a point where I was so exhausted I could feel my muscles starting to actually hurt, so I called my ride.

The reason for this ride was to test my current cardiovascular endurance. I have a lot more training to go, but it was a great benchmark.

Running
I got in three of my five runs. For my weekend tempo run, I swapped it with my long run since I had to do a long bike ride on Sunday. My form is definitely holding steady and I am starting to be winded later in my run now. Very excited about my progress and hope to keep it up!

Strength
I didn't do any formal lifting sessions, but I did about 4 hours of super heavy box and furniture lifting. I also was able to get in a couple stretch sessions, which helped immensely.

Nutrition
I decided to quit chips and crackers cold turkey. This has proved to be amazingly difficult, because I guess I truly had an addiction to them. However, just cutting that out helped me lose a couple pounds in less than a week and overall, I felt a lot better throughout my day.

Final Thoughts
I have been struggling in dealing with my stress because I would usually binge eat chips or crackers. However, it feels awesome to have already lost a couple pounds just by cutting that out of my daily eating. I also find myself cooking more, which in turns has me more motivated to go workout. Sadly, life is majorly getting in the way and I am not able to get all of my workouts in that I want. However, as long as I can keep progressing, injury free, I'll take whatever time I can get. Have a good week!

Cycling Plan: Week 2 - Complete

Started off the week motivated and ready to workout. Had an incredibly busy Monday and Tuesday at work, so I didn't have time during the day to workout; at night I just had no motivation or energy. I finally got myself going mid-week and sadly my doubles sessions was too much on my muscles and I was hurting bad for the rest of the week. It was a good eye-opener on how my strength declines so quickly when I lose consistency.

Swimming
I didn't get any swim sessions in this week.

Cycling
I got in one trainer ride for cadence. Since I had to use a stationary, I changed up my goal to keep at a higher-than-usual RPM. This was due to the fact that resistance and effort are so different than when on a regular bike. Overall I felt good, but man are those the most uncomfortable seats ever!

Running
I was only able to get in my interval run this week. However, my interval runs have been quite different than expected. My overall speed is much lower than I want, but I have not been able to run on a track or flat grade at all. Therefore, my interval runs have been with decent hills. I am really liking this type of speed work a lot. I still plan on using a track in the near future, but for now this is really helping my leg muscles.

Strength
I was able to get in two strength sessions. My first session, leg day, was a bit more intense than I expected. I felt tired after, but the following day I could barely walk. This was of course exacerbated by the fact that I did my ride the same night. I'll be hunting for a better workout plan.

Nutrition
I did awful again with nutrition. I may have lost some weight, but I am sure I gained it all back from how poorly I ate all week. I finally went out and bought everything I need to get back in my healthy routine. Now I just need to stay focused and motivated, and then everything will fall into place.

Final Thoughts
Overall another rough week with poor consistency in workouts and nutrition. However, I'll keep adjusting so I can succeed and progress.

Building Plan: Week 17 Complete

This was a really strange week. I started off perfectly Monday through Wednesday. Then life struck like a hammer, missed Thursday workout, got my Friday workout, got super sick during the beginning of my trainer ride Saturday, and struggled through my run Sunday. I can definitely say my quality of sleep was complete garbage and my nutrition was terrible. I am still happy I got a good amount of workouts though, but disappointed I got sick and couldn't get all of my strength sessions in.

Swimming
I really wanted to swim Sunday, but I felt like I was going to pass out after my run, so I decided drowning was not an effective training workout.

Cycling
I got in one full trainer session. I did really well! I maintained my close to my cadence at the new resistance for almost the full 45 minutes. Sadly, for my second trainer ride, I started off feeling a bit off. As I started, my heart rate spiked up quickly and I within 5 minutes I had huge headache. I tried to keep going, but the pain got so bad that my vision went blurry and then I stopped. I felt severely ill the rest of the night. I currently have no clue what happened or brought it on, but I was fine by Sunday late morning.

Running
I got in one warm-up run and 2/3 cadence runs. The warm-up run was amazing and I had good hopes for the week. My Week 6/7 run on Wednesday was pretty awful. The humidity in the gym was stifling and it was a real challenge to complete the run. With how the temperatures have been in the gym lately, I might be forced to start running outside just to have a steady and reliable temperature, even if it is freezing. My next run on Sunday was no better. The gym was insanely hot and my heart rate spiked up very early, causing the whole run to be very challenging, and not in a good way. I am going back to Week 7/8 training and will be starting out a little slower and building. I am not sure this will help things though since the real issue seems to be the extreme temperature / humidity / lack of air flow in the gym lately. It's almost like running on a 90 degree day with super high humidity.

Strength
I got 2/3 sessions completed. I had no way to complete the 3rd session because I got sick. However, as is the usual trend lately, I keep seeing more and more improvement in my functional strength, which is making my recovery for my cardio workouts much quicker. For example, even though my Wednesday run was awful, I felt fine the following day. Usually a run like that would sideline me for 2-3 days. I am going to be bumping up strength training to start really focusing on the gains I need, as I am now at the base level I wanted to get to.

Nutrition
Not much to discuss here; I ate terrible. I had lots of snacks and overate a ton. Hoping that weekend slow cooker meals will allow for more manageable dinners this upcoming week.

Final Thoughts
Despite everything, I still got in a good amount of workouts. I am also finding I am craving workouts more and more, which is a great sign. I used to love working out and it was a way to cope with stress. As I get more excited for working out, I'll hopefully rely less on food and more on exercise.

Building Plan: Week 14 Complete

Week 14 was an interesting week. Although I started out trying to get back into my routine, I found myself not as motivated as usual. I dropped back 2 training plan weeks, and my first run of the week went well. However, my second run was horrible. I had been extra tired and sore from my prior strength day, and knew I should have just done a warm-up run only, followed by a more relaxed strength session. However, I did not do this and could not complete my run. Plus I was so exhausted I did no additional workouts. The following day I had an awesome strength session, but took off Sunday because I just wasn't feeling it. Overall, a decent workout week in regards to consistency, but not too well in regards to success of all sessions. In addition, my nutrition, which I did not log a lot of my meal details, was horrible.

Swimming

I did not have time to get to the pool this week. I really intended to get 2-3 sessions, but my schedule ended up being much different than expected. I am not sure next week is going to be much better, but I am going to make sure I get at least 1 session in.

Cycling

I only completed 1 of my trainer sessions. I had planned on 2, but I did not have time for a double on Saturday, and strength training is more important right now.

Running

I got 2 of my 3 sessions in this week. My first session went extremely well. Despite that though, my heart rate and recovery time was much higher than usual. My second run went horribly. I knew going in that I should skip that day with how I felt; extra tired and severe leg muscle tightness. I tried doing some stretching beforehand, but my run was rough from the get-go. I was not able to complete my planned run, as my foot started acting up. I did not even attempt my third run for the week because my foot was only just starting to feel well again and I decided I wanted a few more days for it to get back to 100%.

Strength

I got in ALL of my strength sessions this week! I was extremely excited about this. I have been slacking the past month or so, only getting a max of 2 strength sessions per week. This was unacceptable, especially since my focus is rebuilding strength. I will continue meeting all of my strength sessions each week.

Nutrition

Not much to say on this. I did horrible with eating, and even worse with keeping track of it in my log. I am focused to change this though, which has been an issue for me for a long time now. I am expecting a really good week of tracking and hopefully sticking close to or right on my caloric goals.

Final Thoughts

I had a rough week mentally and with things going on in my life. This upcoming week is going to be even rougher, but I am determined to not let this get me down and I am going to make sure I press on and get everything done. On a positive note, I am now registered, with my wife as well, for the 2018 Disney Dopey Challenge. I am very excited and can't wait for this. I am going to shoot for at least a half marathon later this summer or early fall. If time, budget, and conditioning permit, I might even shoot for a marathon.

Building Plan: Week 13 Complete

This week ended up being a recovery week, as my foot was really aggravated and I will do anything to prevent getting injured again, especially my foot. I did not do as much stretching as I should have though, which really bothers me. I need to get back into my stretches. Overall, by the end of the week, my foot was finally feeling better and I am hoping to run during Week 14.

Swimming

I got in three swims, all of which felt amazing! With only swimming once per week typically, I forgot how refreshed and loose my body feels after a swim. I definitely need to increase my weekly swim volume.

Cycling

I got in two rides this week. I had really wanted to get 3-4 rides, but laziness and excuses kept me from achieving that. Overall my rides were really well and I found the cadence a bit easy, so I'll be increasing resistance. It's always exciting to see gains even when that is not the focus.

Running

As I already noted, I did not run at all. My foot would flare up during the week, so I made sure I didn't attempt any running. With my foot finally feeling better Sunday, I am hoping to get some runs in. However, I will be a bit careful and I'll probably set my first run to my Week 5/6 Cadence training plan.

Strength

I did no planned strength workouts this week, which is a major mistake on my part. I had planned on doing my original physical therapy routine 2-3 times, plus stretching everyday. I failed miserably on this and will have to be extra cautious for Week 14 to make sure I don't aggravate my food again.

Nutrition

For the most part, I did alright with nutrition. Super Bowl Sunday was not so good, but I have no regrets because I had a ton of fun cooking.

Final Thoughts

If it wasn't for skipping basically all of my strength routines, I would have said it was a successful week. But, sadly, I still show signs of having trouble to get over injury from a mental standpoint. Going forward, I am going to try and approach injuries like DOMS or general muscle soreness. Hopefully I will then not feel defeated and just do a workout to make it better.

Building Plan: Week 11 Complete

So this was a rough week. Monday was an incredibly challenging strength routine. I thought I was doing well on Tuesday, so instead of cycling I ran. Well, I hurt myself a little. Nothing major, but I couldn't do anything for the following two days. I adjusted my schedule though, recovered, and finished out the week on a good note.

Swimming
My shake-out swim was rough. I was spent after my run, but I still managed to get in 800 yards. Had to pound 2 nuun tabs after though to keep me from passing out. Although my swims are designed to just help with my recovery and push myself a little extra, I am happy with how my swims are going. My form has been much better, especially my arm rotation along with my pull and push. It will be exciting later in the year when I start my actual swim training to see what I can do on a fresh swim.

Cycling
I got in a cadence ride this week and it was awesome! I was shocked I could hold my cadence for 45 minutes, which is 15 minutes longer than my previous rides. In addition, I had been having trouble keeping that cadence. I am going to hopefully have another successful cycling week and then I am going to bump up the resistance.

Running
As I noted, my first run was really bad. I started my new cadence training week, 7/8. So aside from it being a lot tougher from that, my legs and body were not remotely recovered from my Monday strength session. Therefore, I was having terrible heart rate spikes and pains all over. My foot is still bugging me slightly. So, I took off 2 days and I waited until Sunday to do another run. My Sunday run was awesome though! I completed it and overall my cadence wasn't too bad. However, it wasn't as good as it could have been because my foot still was slightly bothering me from Tuesday. The gym was also so hot and humid that I was having trouble cooling myself and staying hydrated enough. Looking forward to smarter running and more of Week 7/8.

Strength
Even though I hurt myself, I still got in two of my three strength sessions. They were great as always and I keep seeing more improvement every week!

Nutrition
I am getting better with logging my food. Still not 100% there yet. I have not been too good at quality of food in some cases, but I'll get there.

Final Thoughts
Overall a tough week for me, especially since I don't handle being injured very well. However, I fought through my mental hurdle, recovered, and finished out the week strong. I am so proud of myself for accomplishing that. I look to keep the momentum going into next week!

Building Plan: Week 6 Complete

Well, this ended up being another week of struggle. Constantly exhausted despite getting more sleep. On a good note, I am still seeing improvements in strength and running.

Strength Training

Got 2 of my 3 sessions completed. NTC really knows how to kick my butt. Since legs and core are so important to me, it's really nice that their programs all have that as the focus. They don't neglect other areas, but the focus is core and legs. I am definitely getting better with more of the advanced routines. I still have a ways to go, but it's nice I can do them now, as I couldn't even partially complete them a couple weeks ago.

Running

I use my Garmin 920xt's workout calendar feature to do my workouts because I easily forget what I am doing each day. It turns out my sync for last week didn't work, and I was supposed to be continuing my Week 4/5 running. I hopped on the treadmill, and started my run. After my 2nd interval, I was expecting to be done after my 2 min cool-down. Nope! Beep, beep, and go! Turns out I had my Week 5/6 schedule in there. Aside from the 41 hour recovery recommendation, I totally killed the run! I averaged 180-181 spm for all three intervals. I will definitely be doing Week 5/6 another week or so though, as I should not have that crazy of a recovery period after the run. I felt really good afterwards and nothing hurt.

Everything Else

I hopped on the spin bike a little and mostly did stretches and foam rolling. I was happy I did that much considering how exhausted and busy I was.

Final Thoughts

As usual, I will be trying to improve consistency. I have been having a heck of a time adjusting my workout schedule to all of the random chaos going on. I came up with a rolling weekly plan that should adjust pretty well to this. Now I just need time and energy. Hope everyone is doing well!

On the right track

I accomplished my goal last week; I exercised 3 times. Since I have been out of it for a bit now, I was a little sorer than expected, otherwise I would have gone for a 4th workout. For the most part, I made sure to log my foods. This weekend was a bit tough, but my goal right now is to log 5/7 days, which I did accomplish,

I missed my workout yesterday because I was busy painting and shoveling ice, and I am extremely sore right now. However, tomorrow I will be back into the swing of things. Overall I am doing well, but I can still do a lot better. However, I am very optimistic and progress is progress. Good luck to everyone out there striving towards their goals!

Now for the Kick Start

Last week when I said I was going to try and do some sort of workout in between cooking, I was successful! I didn't do much; some push-ups, crunches, and seated dips. But it was better than my usual nothing and I was really proud of myself.

I didn't get any other workouts in over the weekend, but I made sure to be pretty active. Although I was more active on Sunday, I somehow met my step goal for Saturday but not Sunday. At some point I'll have to figure this out. 

This week is going to be a big week for me. I have two major goals: get no less than 3 workouts in, and start weaning myself off of soda, minus the occasional rum and coke. 

Another upcoming goal is going to be to start getting a minimum number of steps per day, which will force me to at least run most days, if not every day. Hope everyone is going to have a great week and hope everyone enjoyed Super Bowl weekend!

The Road Ahead

Life is full of twists and turns. You never know what is going to come your way and derail you from everything; not just health and fitness. However, success comes from picking yourself up from these challenges and moving forward. True success comes from turning these challenges into opportunities and executing on them.

I cannot say I have done this too well. I typically get going, fall, dust myself off, walk it off, and try to get going again. The last 2 years have been one fall after another and I have spiraled further and further down the rabbit hole. Realization is only part of the path to move forward; acceptance and moving passed this is the other piece. I have made one excuse after another, and never fully accepted everything. I have now and cannot wait to move forward.

So what does all of this mean? Well, I am not going to go cold turkey and set myself up for failure, that’s for sure. Right now it’s all about incremental change and improvements. I’ll be starting with getting myself healthy again. This means getting more sleep, a better eating routine, logging my meals consistently, and getting in some workouts each week.

As I have in the past, I will be keeping track of my progress through blog posts to help keep myself accountable and hopefully, if anyone out there is struggling through hardships, you might find something useful from what I am learning or doing. This is going to be a great year!

I am a long distance runner, but those middle distance runs are so tough

I was asked recently by a few runners on my thoughts on why middle distances for long distance runners seem so tough compared to the short and long distance runs. So, I thought about this for a while, checked my personal running logs, and checked out running forums to see what other people were saying.

For the sake of this article, long distance is classified as half marathon (13.1 miles) distance or greater, mid distance is 5 miles to 10 miles, and short is anything under 5 miles. Personally, I lump 5 miles and under as short distance, and anything over 5 miles to 10 miles as mid, and anything over 10 as long. I found that many distance runners lump 10 miles and up as long distance.

There are two factors to analyze here; mental and physical. I will summarize each in the sections below from my personal logs and my research.

After consulting my logs, I noticed that I actually had a much better time with either short or long distances, and had more trouble with the mid distances. This was surprising because I thought my long distance runs were generally a lot tougher. Surprisingly, I found this to be a pretty consistent scenario for a lot of distance runners.

Short Distance Runs
The physical factor is very interesting topic to tackle. With the conditioning, my body barely gets fully warmed up on short runs. This means my heart rate stays a bit lower, even when I am going at a good pace (for myself). Even with my PR races for short distances, my heart rate never really climbed above the lower end of my average heart rate. For most people however, I found that race heart rate for their short distance races were much more elevated than their average heart rate. But across the board, everyone felt the same after the short distance race...not very tired and their bodies were saying "Hey, when does the race start?"

The mental factor is fun to analyze, because a person's training has a lot to do with this piece. For me, the distance is so short that it doesn't seem daunting to me in any way, and mentally seems more like an easy day run, so I have no issue focusing on the run and before I know it, the race is over. This is completely due to my training. I don't listen to music on short runs, and focus on my form and obstructions in the road. For other runners, I found a similar feeling with the short distances; it was over so quickly, there wasn't really enough time for the runner to get psyched out in any way.

Middle Distance Runs
The physical factor here depends a lot on how a person trains and conditions. If you are a seasoned distance runner, then middle distances are typically a little more taxing on your body, but not enough to really cause any real fatigue. For me, I find that I run my fastest times in my mid distances races. I am sure this is due to some flaw in my training...or maybe I am doing the wrong training. But when I finish a mid distance race, or even training run, I find myself tired but I still feel fine physically. This was the same feeling from most distance runners as well.

The mental factor is the key here. For some odd reason, I found from my logs that I had trouble focusing on my mid distance runs, mainly training runs. Basically, my mind was in the "short distance" mode and I was running without music, but when my mind thought I was supposed to be done, I still had a way to go. This kind of psyched me out and my performance at that point saw a huge slide in pace, as well as somewhat large fluctuations for my heart rate. I wouldn't regain my calm until about 85-90% of the run was completed. In researching this, I found that many runners have the same results I encounter, although it appears most of the runners are able to mentally recover a lot quicker than me.

Long Distance Runs
Physically, long distance runs are rough. You train your body to handle the beating it takes both from the impact of running, as well as the depletion of your energy stores. Therefore, a longer run should feel a lot tougher physically. What's interesting from my logs, is that I found that aside from days where I ran in the heat of the day in hottest part of the summer (oops), my body felt pretty good as long as I was staying hydrated and had proper nutrition before, during, and after my race or my run. I had expected that, even on the nicer weather days, my logs would show the runs were extremely tough; this was not the case. In my research, I found that this was pretty consistent for seasoned distance runners as well.

Mentally, this is a different beast. For me, I go into a distance run (not race) knowing I will be running a long time. I usually try and listen to music, or depending on where I am running, I'll take in the scenery and do lots of thinking about things non-related to running, food, or fitness. For races, I go in with a specific goal and focus on that goal the whole race (I also have a plan B in case something unexpectedly bad happens). Therefore, aside from making sure I keep properly hydrated and energized nutritionally, I don't mentally have any issues with long distances. However, my findings for seasoned distance runners was a little more split than I expected. I honestly expected the results to be similar to mine. Although the majority was similar to my experience, there was an overwhelming amount of people who said that the "middle miles" of their long runs or races they fell into a similar mental trap that they did for the mid distance runs. This would result in a lot of mental fatigue and a lot of people said it would take a long time to mentally recover from it.

Conclusion & Suggestions
So, it appears that most seasoned distance runners don't have any mental or physical issues with short distances. For mid distances, no physical issues, but mental issues are pretty common, but most people recover quickly from them. For long distances, there are always physical issues just because it's a high impact activity for a long period of time, and the mental issues are somewhat split between no problem at all and similar issues with the mid distance runs.

There were tons of comments on how people dealt with the mental aspects of mid and long distances runs and races. However, I will just list the top ones.

1. If you listen to music, have your music playlist have really upbeat, fun, or "whatever really motivates you" songs play during the period you usually would get psyched out
2. If you don't listen to music, keep your mind occupied with anything other than the race or the run
3. DO NOT set notifications, timers, or anything similar before you would usually hit that mental wall, as it will usually trigger that mental wall sooner and cause it to take longer to overcome
4. A good one, and one that I like using, is to take a race in blocks
1. This means 1 mile at a time, or for really long distances, maybe a few miles at a time
2. For each "block", mentally set goals and work to achieve them
5. The best method, however, is to improve the quality of your training runs
1. This could mean training you mind to look at mid distance runs like short distance runs
2. Or you could focus more on timed runs, where you are more focused on running for a certain period of time and not the worrying about the total distance (of course you will want to make sure you are getting certain distances, but that should not be the focus)

I do want to note that there are more technical aspects in regards to changes in the body during the course of longer durations of running, but without being able to interview the hundreds of people I read posts from, I figured trying to bring that in to this would not be very accurate.