I'm Back !!!!

Well I have actually been working out and not blogging about it except on face book....Imagine that !!!

I really have been concentrating on getting ready to do some Triathlons this year, my goal race is the Augusta Half Ironman, in September. I have been doing a lot of swimming in preparation (and I mean a lot, well for me anyway)

But I also went back to running on a regular basis, with the help of Tim Cook, my running coach and running partner. He has tutored me in the Galloway method, which uses run-walk intervals. The concept is fairly simple. Run then walk. It gives your body a chance to recover while still moving forward. Tim has run faster Marathons using this method, than just straight out "run the whole distance".

This past weekend proved that the Galloway method works for me as well. I did the Albany, Snickers Half Marathon, and PR'D my 13.1 distance by 13 minutes. I actually PR'D all my splits.....my 5 mile, 10k, 10 mile and the 13.1 I was using run-walk intervals of 1:00 & :45. Meaning I ran for one minute and walked for 45 seconds. This method rocked, and results don't lie !!!

My next blog will talk about the weight I have lost by my new eating habits.

Two Posts in one day.....is Hell freezing over ???

Did a nice lil 5 miler at lunch.....which is good seeing how I didn't have a running partner today.
And if you know me......I need motivation, and having a partner is usually all it takes to get me out there.....peer pressure is a b!&@# !!!

I set out to try a new twist on the route I usually run. I was going to turn this into a loop run today, down at the Riverwalk. When I got to Central City Park, I had gone 2 miles. So I turned around and headed back to the starting point......knowing full well that this was going to be a 4 mile day......well at about mile number 3.75, I got greedy and figured what was one more mile.

So I turned around at the end and backtracked twice more at the half mile point ( from the start ) to give me another mile. So I ended up with a nice number........5.............!!!

It was nice down there.......wasn't too humid or hot.......and running alone wasn't as bad as I thought.


Gonna try and get some swim laps in after work today.......Planning on doing the Vidalia Sprint Tri. next Saturday.

My next post I'll try and recap the Labor Day Road Race........( that was my Goal race for the year )

Yayyy I finally made a new post !!!

Wow I have been slack as heck....last post was in May.

Well this is for Kat........she gets on to me every time she sees me about not posting.

I should have been posting as there has been a lot going on.

I have stayed true to my word and have been running consistently.....amazingly consistent.
I have went from running 6 miles a year ( 3 miles at the bi-annual SWAT requals ), to 84 miles for the month of August.

My mileage has creeped up by having good running partners and doing my daily run at work during my lunch hour.

Here is the breakdown of my monthly mileage from the beginning of the year.
Jan: 24 miles ( included 1/2 marathon )
Feb: 14 miles
March: 09 miles
April: 18 miles
May:35 miles
June: 53 miles
July: 77 miles
August: 84 miles

Can you tell when I started running at lunchtime ( May ).

I think it's being able to get a run in almost every day of the week that has helped out so much,
plus the fact that most of the lunchtime runs are usually in the 5-6 mile range.....sure makes those numbers add up...................


Well it's time for my lunch time run...........gotta stay consistent......with running and blogging.

I promise Kat I will be as consistent with my blogging as I am my running.....if I'm not you can get Chuck to nag me.......you know how I love that.

My next blog will tell ya'll about my speed......has my pace quickened with all these base miles.......hhhhmmmmm............stay tuned !!!!

I have a running Coach !!!

Yep I have joined the P.O.D. group ( Pain Of Discipline ).

I have enlisted Sam as a running coach. He is a well of knowledge when it comes to running, and I have finally gotten smart and started taking advantage of this like so many others.

One of the biggest advantages of having Sam as a running coach is not only the knowledge he has, but the fact I have to answer to someone now when it comes to my running. He is very strict when it comes to being consistent with your running. He is very serious about when he says " try to run at least every other day......no excuses". And I think that's what I needed when it comes to my running. Someone standing over my shoulder making sure I'm doing what I am supposed to be doing.

But Sam is awesome because he is so positive about everyone he helps. He doesn't take any excuses but he is also there to motivate you and keep you going.

There's a lot to having a running program though. It goes like this.

There are four distinct phases to this running program.
Phase I is a base building phase, where Sam has me starting all over with my running, starting with the consistency needed for this program ( running every other day ). He has me running a verrrrryyyyy slow pace. It takes discipline to run this slow. But it's all about heart rate and minutes of running, not mileage ( Phase I remember ). I'm starting to feel better about my running already. The consistency is what I needed anyway to make my running better. That slow pace he started me at has already gotten a little faster ( with my heart rate staying the same ) and that's the whole madness behind the science.

Phase I usually lasts a month, dependant on your ability level and pace. Each phase is a little harder than the previous........Yeahhhh !!!

So let's see how this goes.....it's either gonna kill me or make me stronger....woo hoo !!!

Where have I been ???

I have been slack when it comes to blogging. I have turned into the kind of Blogger that I don't care for. A blogger that forgets to post or gets too busy to post.

OK so now I am making a commitment to follow through with my blogging as well as my running.

I have been running, just not as much as I have wanted or needed to do. It has been incredibly busy at work and at home.

I have been able to usually get to the track workouts as well as doing some swim training. I still have the goal of doing some triathlons, hence the swim training.

The biggest news in my running future is the decision to get smart and join in with the crowd utilizing Sam as a running coach.

Sam has graciously offered his assistance, free of charge, his help as a running coach to anyone willing to put forth the effort of training under his guidance. He has learned a lot in his career as a runner and he is the type of person who is not selfish and wants to keep all this valuable knowledge to himself. He gives back to the running community by helping others accomplish their goals. Sam is a great role model, not only as a runner, but as a family man, friend, and person. Not everyone would donate so much of their valuable time to help soooo many people. For that I want to say thank you !!!

Now for the hard part............to get my butt out there and do all these awesome workouts Sam has in store for me.........................faster times.......better shape..............leaner body...........here I come !!!!!!!!!!

Finding the Silver Lining...........

Well I haven't posted lately cause my running has been non-existent since the Al Toll Masters Race, work has been crazy and I have been trying to get Maddie as much as I can.

But I was able to get some cross training done today.

I have been working on building a Tri bike for the past 12 months. Well I finally got to ride it some today. This was actually a shakedown ride to work any kinks that may have been hanging around. I wanted to do this shake down ride cause I am planning a long ride Sunday, maybe 40-60 miles worth and I thought this ride might help work out any mechanical issues I might have.

Well guess what......there were plenty.

First off as I was getting it all together at the apartment to head out I noticed the bike shop didn't attach the magnet for the computer so I headed to the Bike Store to get one put on. Josh was cool, he found one on the mechanic tray and slapped it on quick enough, plus I did not have a water bottle cage on the frame yet, so I slapped one of those on too, and then I was off to meet at the group ride meeting location.

Well by the time all this transpired everybody had left the parking lot and headed on their ride.....no big deal I knew I was past time to be there, well thennn I realized I forgot my socks.....so I decide to go sock less.....no big deal.

So as I was adjusting my newly magnetized bike computer, I wanted to clear out the little bit of time that was on it from the installation as well as set the clock to the correct time ( now since we have daylight savings time kicking in )....Well guess what, I accidentally set the frickin thing to GERMAN......well I don't speak German so I try to get it reset to English, welll with this being a new computer and seeing as how I don't have the instructions with me, it's time for a call to the bike store. Josh finds a set of instructions and we figure it out and now everything is hunky dory.

Now it was time to clip into the pedals for the first time.......uh oh, I realized the seat post was set wayyyy to high, and it doesn't have the quick release ( it's a Tri bike remember ), and I didn't have the correct tool to adjust it. Well I figured I didn't want to drive it back to the bike store in the van, so I decided I'll just ride it the 4 miles back to the store and get Josh to adjust it for me...........Ohhh if it were only that simple.....the ride wasn't that bad, even though my crotch was cussing at me for the torture it was going through with the maladjusted seat height.

So I get back to the store thinking it was just a little adjustment, well it was a little more than that. Even with the seat post sent all the way down it was still too tall ( tall seat post to start with ) But Josh being the master mechanic that he is........he pulled it out, took out his handy hack saw and took a inch and a half off and adjusted it perfectly.

But while I was there and he was looking at the height and making sure the fit was right, I noticed the handlebars were about 2-3 degrees right, so that got adjusted. I had also noticed the forearm pads were too far out on the ride over so they got adjusted too.

So in and out in less than 10 minutes ( thanks Josh ) and it's back off to the meeting place to see if any other folks showed up late like me.

Well no one was there, so I decided to keep going and put a few miles in.

After all this tweaking I did notice I will definitely have to go with the 10 speed cassette instead of the 9 speed ( lot of shifting problems were occurring on this ride )

Well even with all the crap that happened tonight............it's exactly what I wanted to happen and I couldn't have been happier. I wanted to find most of the kinks on this short ride ( 11.50 miles )instead of a 60 mile ride, far from home or help.

So see there is a silver lining to everything...........if ya look hard enough

Al Toll Masters Race recap.

Well a lot has been going on since my last post, not a lot as far as running but some.

I did get to run the track workout after my last post, Me and Tim ran at the track. I did five miles and most of it was at a 1-1 ratio. I kinda liked those numbers, as I was able to post some pretty good times on the running part of the ratio. After I got warmed up I was hitting the 8:15 to 8:45 min mile pace, which was freaking awesome for me. For just a few of those intervals I was able to dip down into the 7:20 range.....WOW !!! Well I finished off the five miles feeling good about the workout.

That's where the running stopped for a few days since I was busy with work and trying to move into my new apartment. Sometimes I don't think there are enough hours in the day.

Well 11 days after the above track workout came my next chance to run, and this time it was the Al Toll Masters Race. There is the 5k for the younger generation and then for us 40 and over crowd it was the 15k.....woo hoo 9.3 miles of pure pleasure ( can anyone hear the sarcasm in my typing ) I had seen Kerry mention all the hills in some of her posts on the Macon Tracks forum and has hoping she was kidding about the hills. Well let me tell you now from first hand experience. Kerry does not kid when it comes to hills. You know the saying, "what dosen't kill you will only make you stronger", well I guess after running the Al Toll Masters Race, I should be a lot stronger....LOL
But seriously those hills made for an awesome workout !!! It was a great day for running. The weather warmed up from a 26 degree nightmare to a not so bad 40 degrees by race start. The weather was perfect and the sun was shining.

I didn't have that great of a race time but it wasn't too bad since my runnnig hasn't been up to what I had hoped in the previous month. I started the race saying my goal was to finish it in under two hours and I made it with 4 minutes to spare.....LOL

I'm on call all this week with the crime lab and if last nights 4 callouts are indicitave of what my week is going to look like I might not get much running done this week either. But I'm hoping to get some done no matter.