The Running Man

I ran 10 kilometres today.

That's about 5 kilometres farther than I've ever run before.

I didn't really set out to do that. I was going to run about 3 miles or so, shoot for 5K (3.1 miles). I ran the 5K and wasn't the least bit tired, so I pushed through to 4 miles. At that point, it was only another mile to 5. And at that point, I figured, heck, let's shoot for the full 6.2 miles, or 10 kilometres.

It took me about 1 hour and 14 minutes to do it. I did some 10-1 intervals, but largely ran it in a rhythm of 7 minutes running and 3 minutes walking.

I just hope I'm able to walk tomorrow.

Reader poll

Is being able to compose perfectly coherent, typo-free e-mails on a BlackBerry while running in excess of 5 mph on the treadmill an amazing talent or a total sickness?

Carb addiction blamed for bigger waistlines

Carb addiction blamed for bigger waistlines

Carb addiction is real, according to researchers who fear that by taking fat out of snacks, food producers are replacing it with more carbohydrates and making them even more addictive.

Really ... is anyone surprised by this?

The Running Man - Home Edition

My Christmas present from my wife last month was a treadmill. We've spent the last couple of weeks researching, and settled on a PaceMaster Gold. The actual purchase was Thursday, but we had to rent a truck today, deciding to bring it home and set it up ourselves rather than pay the fitness warehouse three figures to do that for us. We were reassured that it was an easy set up - a few screws here, clip something there, and it's done.

What they didn't tell us, however, was that the base of the treadmill weighs slightly less than the space shuttle. That posed some problems getting it in the house, but we eventually did it. In the process, I managed to put my left thumb through an industrial stapler unpacking the box ... that was fun. I'll be fine once the gangrene clears up.

Nonetheless, it's all set up in our basement, and for that I'm glad. While I have a gym membership (and I can use a fitness room at work that has some weights and cardio equipment), I've decided that I'm going to use the gym for weight training three times a week (which I hate to do, but I know I have to do it) and then I can run at home in the afternoons or evenings on my own time on my non-weight training days.

The renewed emphasis on weight training has nothing to do with looking buff per se, and everything to do with boosting my metabolism, which is slow at the best of times, and is getting slower with age. As much as I enjoy running, it's not enough to keep me from gaining weight - at least not the 10 to 12 miles a week I had been running of late. Seriously - I was running a minimum of 10 miles per week and I was still gaining weight, despite watching my diet closely.

So, back to weight training I've gone, and in one week, it's already paid dividends and put me back below 180 lbs for the first time in about three months.

The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health

The Research Behind Exercise Music - Men's Health

Whistle While You Work Out

Do your treadmill sessions drone on like C-Span? Instead, think MTV and crank up some tunes. A new study from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia confirmed that listening to your favorite music will help you push harder in your workouts. Men who listened to music while going hard on an exercise bike for 10 minutes pedaled 11 percent farther than those who listened to silence or static for the same amount of time.

Click the link above to read the rest.

Return to running

Having abandoned my Learn to Run class due to injuries, I've been back at the gym doing the Learn to Run intervals on the treadmill. (Although I did a weird half-run on Saturday outside with my wife - I walked a good chunk of the way, and then sprinted to catch up to her as she ran, and then after doing that for a while, just ran along side her for the last couple of intervals, all while not hurting myself.)

The treadmill running has been going quite well. I can pretty consistently do at least one more set than what the Learn to Run manual asks for, and keep up a pretty good average pace of 4.4 or 4.5 mph over the course of the walking/running intervals.

Last night I did the four sets of four minutes running and one minute walking, plus an extra four minute run just for fun. In total, it was about 2.25 miles in 30 minutes and a few seconds.

I'll be back at it tonight. Next week's intervals move up to three sets of five minutes, plus a two-minute run (for a total of 17 minutes of running, which is one minute more than the four sets of four). I'll tackle that on Thursday night.

In the meantime, a couple of weekends of dining out (a date with my wife, and then a wedding) have played havoc with my weight loss. But I'm still consistently in the 178 lbs. range, which is better than the 180 to 183 lbs. range I'd been stuck in for most of the summer. My short-term goal is 175 lbs., and then on to 170 lbs., a weight I have not broken the south side of since I've been married.

Meanwhile, back at the gym ...

Having basically given up on running outdoors, I went back to the gym tonight and proceeded to run 2.25 miles in 30 minutes. That encompassed the five sets of "walk one minute, run 3 minutes" that the Learn to Run class is doing, plus one set of running 4 minutes, and a final set of running 6 minutes.

Running Night (Final part)

Well, after injuring myself AGAIN last night doing the running clinic, I think I'm done. It's no longer fun. I ran on the treadmill at the gym for 12 years without ever once hurting myself, so I think I'm going to drop out of the class and just go back to the gym. I'm brutally disappointed, but my body just can't handle running outside.

Running Night (Part 7 of a continuing series)

After taking a couple of nights off from running due to my shin splint, I resumed running tonight. Slowly. Very slowly. I was passed by snails at one point. But at least I got through 30 minutes without major pain (or minor pain, come to think of it). I did all my running on grass, which seemed to help.

Monday we move up to 5 sets of walking for 1 minute and running for 3 minutes. It will be interesting to see how my injured left leg holds up. Oh well, I know the number for 911...

Running Night (Part 6 of a continuing series)

Well, I managed to give myself a shin splint last night, which I'm not terribly happy about because now I have to take some time off to heal.

See ... this is why I run on a treadmill. I don't hurt myself on that. Concrete is a different story entirely.

Running Night (Part 5 of a continuing series)

Despite (or maybe, because) the fact it's a long weekend, I have to say I am not looking forward to doing the running clinic tonight. Part of it, I'm sure, is that our trip to the Lacombe Corn Maze resulted in a lot of walking, and tired me out. The fact that I utterly hated yesterday's run doesn't help, either. We're moving up to the "walk 1 minute, run 2 minute" intervals tonight, and while I can normally do that without any problem, I struggled mightily yesterday to do six sets of those in the coldest weather I've ever run in.

So my strategy tonight is "survive."

Running Night (Part 4 of a continuing series)

Week 2 of our running class went fine last night. It was 20 degrees and threatening to rain, which was a decidedly different night than our first week, when it was 35 degrees and threatening to incinerate us into ash on the sidewalk.

Our class has moved up from 2 minutes of walking and 1 minute of running to 1 minute walking, 1 minute running. Last night we covered just under 2 miles, and the group kept up a pretty good pace. The next practice run is tomorrow (Wednesday) and we should be able to make it (assuming I don't get stuck at work until 6 p.m. like last week) for that. We're taking tonight off to recoup from a Saturday-Sunday-Monday running stint.

I weighed in this morning at 178.8 lbs. Considering I was 183 lbs a couple of weeks ago, I'm pretty pleased. I still want to break south of 170 lbs. That would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Running Night (Part 3 of a continuing series)

Week two of our Learn to Run class goes tonight. So far, it's been hugely successful: I clocked 25.7 miles last week in 7 hours and 50 minutes of walking and running, and managed to drop about 2.5 lbs. in the process. I'm now slightly below 180 lbs., which is a good start.

In total, my wife and I went out running five times this past week, including Monday night's class.

Tonight, we're doing one minute of walking and one minute of running, at 10 reps.

Running Night (Part 2 of a continuing series)

We're back from our first Learn to Run class, which took place in 35 degree heat and resulted in several of our new classmates spontaneously combusting into ash on the sidewalk.

Which reminds me: Could someone please explain to me the concept of women running outside in 35 degree heat in full makeup?

In all seriousness, though, the first class went very well. It's a good group of people, and I look forward to the practice session on Wednesday night.

Running Night (Part 1 of a continuing series)

My wife and I start our Learn to Run course tonight. It's a 10-week course, and the goal is to be able to run 20 minutes when you're done.

Personally, I hope to lose some weight (my metabolism appears to have shut down entirely of late) and improve my distance running.

Updates over the course of the 10 weeks.

The Running Man and The Running Woman

My wife and I decided this morning to join the Cult of The Running Room and take a running class when we return from our summer vacation.

So the plan is to take the introductory "Learn to Run" class together. Yes, I run - but I suck at running outdoors. I can only run on a treadmill. I'm hoping this class will show me how to run outside properly. And my lovely wife does not run, so this is a chance to do something together.

Updates to follow, assuming we go through with this crazy plan.

Walking workstations move into offices (Edmonton Journal, 15 Jul 2008, Page A13)

I'd love to have one of these computer-enabled treadmills in my office ... although I wonder if I could walk and type at the same time.

Oh, and my weight was back to 178 lbs today. Guess I was retaining water or something yesterday. So I feel better.

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Walking workstations move into offices

Edmonton Journal
15 Jul 2008

Can sedentary office workers multitask their way to a healthier lifestyle? The maker of a new product that combines a treadmill and computer workstation is banking on the notion that companies will invest in products like the “Walkstation” as a way of...read more...
Tech Tags: Edmonton Journal newspaper BODY & HEALTH

The Running Man

As regular followers of this blog are aware (read: there is perhaps one person in the world who has been following The Newsroom that closely in the last 11 years), I used to weigh about 220 lbs. and worked my way down to an almost slim-and-trim 172 lbs. a few years ago. (I once weighed 155 lbs. as a fully-grown adult, but that was due to a weird combination of eating nothing but fried chicken all summer while working at KFC while in high school and biking 14 miles a day to and from work. It was a precursor of the Atkins diet.)

Anyway ... over the last few years, I've kept my weight anywhere between 175 lbs. and 178 lbs., which wasn't bad, although my long-term goal has always been to get south of 170 lbs. again. This past winter, my weight kept creeping up over the 180 lbs. mark mainly due to my older daughter playing indoor soccer nine nights a week, which kept me out of the gym.

So I've made a renewed effort this summer to get my weight down. I've returned to the gym and started running again. (I try do weights, sometimes ... but I really, really hate doing weights.) I do a 5 kilometer pre-set on the treadmill and follow that. In the last 2 weeks, I've dropped 3 lbs., and weighed in at 178.2 lbs this morning.

I'm still hopeful I can eventually get below 170 lbs.

I've also found a great homemade protein bar recipe that I've been using to keep up my protein intake and satisfy my chocolate cravings. I called it my "protein goo" because even in the fridge, it doesn't completely harden but forms a fudgy paste. Still, it's delicious.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Designer Protein Bars - 4 servings

1/4 cup reduced fat peanut butter
3 TBL fat-free chocolate syrup
3 scoops chocolate protein powder
1 - 1 1/2 TBL water (you may need more to get the consistency you want)
In small bowl, combine peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Add the protein and enough water to moisten slightly. Place mixture on waxed paper or plastic wrap, and knead by hand for a few seconds to blend ingredients. Form into four bars of small rectangles either by hand or rolling mixture with a rolling pin between two sheets of waxed paper. Wrap each bar in waxed paper or plastic wrap. Store in refrigerator to preserve freshness.

Make 4 bars

Per Bar: Calories 170/ Protein 17 grams/ Carbs 13grams/ Fat 6grams

10 Commandments for dropping 10 pounds

I ran across this link today, and I'm following most of these already. Shame I don't like green tea or avocado.

But even sensible advice like this ignores the fact that once you hit your late 30s (and I'm STILL in my late 30s ... until November), your metabolism slows down and it gets increasingly more difficult to drop those extra pounds.

As for me, losing 10 lbs. would be great right now. A winter full of indoor soccer almost every night kept me out of the gym, and I'm about 10 lbs. heavier than I'd like to be.