Category: Fitness

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Mile Marker

Mileage 2.5
Time 3:00 PM
Location Outdoors
Weather Rain

The weather was a bit challenging this weekend at the lake. It rained much of Saturday and most of Sunday limiting our selection of outdoor activities. On Sunday I slept in until almost 10 ( I guess I needed it) and was actually the last one up. The weather was still pretty bad 11am so I decided to get a few miles in before we tried to do any lake activities.

The rain was coming down pretty good during the whole run so I had to be careful on the hills to avoid slipping on the small rivers that were forming. The rain felt good and kept me very cool, but after a while my basketball shorts got so wet they were falling down. It was a bit distracting running with one hand holding up the shorts and the waterlogged shoes so I cut the run short after 2.5 miles instead of the usual 3.3 that the route takes me on.

Next weekend I will come more prepared with the correct shorts. 

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Mile Marker

Mileage 3.3
Time 8:45 AM
Location Outdoors
Weather Overcast – Warm

I had a really nice run with my sister in law up at the lake in Elkhorn Wisconsin today. It is always nice when you can share the run with someone else and it makes the miles go by quicker when you can have a nice conversation, unless your out of breath. We had planned to go for a run yesterday but by the time we finished with our chores, it was just brutally hot and we decided to enjoy the day swimming and playing with her kids.Lake House

Today was much cooler and a bit overcast which was perfect for running. There is a nice route we run that is just over 5K (3.3 miles round trip to be exact). It has a nice mixture of hills, curves and a long straight patch from mile 1.5 to the turnaround back to mile 2.

Mary had not run for a while so we decided to take it easy, which was fine with me as I have been slowing down a bit lately. I know it has to do with my lack of mileage but I found out it also has to do with the Nike+ module being out of calibration. I purposely brought the Nike+ and my Garmin 305 watch to see how far off the Nike module was.

Turns out at the end of the run, the Garmin said we ran 3.3 miles while the Nike module said we only did 3.18 miles. The Garmin clocked an average of 9.48 minutes per mile while the Nike put us in at over 9.55 minutes per mile. It’s not that big a deal but it looks like I am going to have to go to the track at the high school and recalibrate the foot pod to the receiver.

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Mile Marker

 

Mileage 3.5
Time 7PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Clear – Cool

I had high hopes of increasing my mileage tonight, but after a long day of mind crushing troubleshooting I was just not up to it. Sometimes the mind takes control and tells you you can’t do it, and today was one of those days. Usually the runs are the best way to clear the mind…not today. Mind conditioning is one of the things I need to work on in addition to the body conditioning. No matter how much you train your body, if you let your mind tell you you can’t do something, you won’t be able to do it.

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Mile Marker

Mileage 5
Time 4PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Clear – Cold

Got a quick 5 miles in before the SOX game tonight. I was watching the coverage of the Masters on TV as I ran and I was amazed at the renewed interest in the game since Tiger came back. Regardless of what you think of him, he is good for the game. I don’t particularly care about his personal life and will pass no judgment on what he did or did not do. He is there to entertain us and he is proving the even after his time off, he still can.

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Mile Marker

 

Mileage 3.5
Time 4PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Raining

 

Had a busy client day today but I wanted to get a few miles in before the Bulls game tonight. A good friend of mine has season tickets thru his place of work and he was unable to attend tonight’s game so he offered them to me. I plan on taking my wife and parents as this will be Lories first Bulls game and a first in many years for my parents.

Bulls Seats

I went to a game last year with my son and his friends in almost the  same seats so I am looking forward to the view. The seats are located in the first row of section 239 in the club level. These are the seats you see just above the first row of suites at the United Center and they are right on the glass so there are no bodies in front of us. The club level offers a waiter as well so you can order your food and drinks right from the seats and never have to leave, except for the bathroom.

We prefer to get up and walk around a bit as there is so much to see on the first level at the United Center. Dad is still recovering from back surgery so we only did a little stroll but we saw a few live bands and lots of interesting fans (6 inch spiked heals at a ball game, really?)

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Mile Marker

Mileage 5
Time 12PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Clear – Cold

 

Did a quick 5K today after being sick for over a week. Boy did that feel good. My lungs were still a bit sore from the flu but not enough to make the run unpleasant.  I can be so hard to put the shoes on but the feeling of the full on sweat is so worth the effort. That reminds me of the old 70’s classic Smokey and the Bandit. ‘I only take my hat off for one thing’ as Burt would say. When it comes to running, I only put my Asics on for one thing.

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Mile Marker

Mileage 5
Time 6PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Cold

Felt really great tonight during my 5 miler. There was a Star Wars marathon going on TV (the first three unfortunately) so I turned off the volume and listened to an episode of Phedippidations. I have not listened to Steve for a while actually since hid rant about Jenny McArthy and vaccinations in his episode # 200. He seems to be against the ropes as far as the future of his podcast (questioning his own future) but I think he underestimates the number of people who listen because he is controversial and not just a boring ‘I ran this much today’ podcaster. I for one will continue to listen as I enjoy his opinions even though I don;t alway agree with them.

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Mile Marker

 

Mileage 5
Time 6PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Raining

I felt really good tonight during my run, until I started paying attention to what was on the TV. I usually tune into something that does not require sound, like a basketball game and then listen to my tech podcasts at the same time. Tonight my daughter was on the couch watching the Travel Channel and there was a show on profiling the 10 best sandwich shops (according to them).

As the show progressed, a common theme was becoming very apparent. Every one of the shops was serving WAY too much food, so much that is was actually sickening to see. One of the sandwiches that they profiled consisted of an omelet made with half a dozen eggs and a full pound of bacon between two thick pieces of sourdough bread. It was so big that it was impossible to pickup although everyone they showed tried to do it.

The saddest part was all the clearly obese kids and adults that were stuffing that thing into their faces with no regard for what all those calories and fat were doing to their body and their future. The sight was so upsetting that I almost had to stop running as I was getting sick to my stomach. That is not just a metaphor, but I actually felt like I was going to throw up on the treadmill. I decided I did not want to ruin my run by stopping so instead I just looked straight ahead (the TV is a bit off to the left) and I only resumed watching once that particular show was over. Here I am trying to get/stay/be healthy and the shops who don’t care are being glorified on prime time TV.

I think instead of making such a big deal out of shows like the Biggest Loser, how about giving some props to the people who put in the time every day to not get fat in the first place. Is it easy? Hell no. Is it worth the time? Hell yes.

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Mile Marker

 

Mileage 6
Time 1PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Clear – Cold

Felt a bit sluggish today but it is probably because of the crap I have been eating. The girls are in Denver for a VB tournament so it has been just the boys and when it is just the boys we tend to do a lot of take out. It all tastes great but I end up paying for it on days like today when I try to increase my mileage. They come back tomorrow night so the food binge will be over by then and we can return to normal.

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Mile Marker

Mileage 6 (3×2)
Time 7PM
Location Indoors – Treadmill
Weather Clear – Cold

6 miles tonight. I did a little speed work trying to increase my overall pace. I did three 2 milers trying to keep the pace under 8.5 minutes per mile. I know that sounds slow for you speedsters but I am working my way back to better endurance and a better overall time.