Hi gang,
Working late tonight so I don't have much time to chat. After this morning's standard mini-workout, I completed a 10.3km run this afternoon in between yesterday's 85km per hour winds and tomorrow's anticipated 30 cm of snow. Oh joy!
Today's song of the day was the James Brown, ever classic,
It's a Man's, Man's World.
Tomorrow, gentlefolk, depends on the weather...
Paul
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A fat rat's perspective
Hi everyone,
Well, after an aborted attempt to get to Yellowknife, I found myself having traversed the continent over a two day period and wound up back at home last night. If you not are following the weather here in Canada, it is somewhat extreme and the less said about it in polite company the better.
Today I did a bit of strength training in my gym followed by a 7km Farlek workout. Farleks are interesting - the idea is to mix it up, some fast work, some slow work, some intensity stuff... It is very tiring but apparently helps with endurance. It is also relatively easy to do on a treadmill when winds outside are gusting up to 100 km per hour.
No formal song of the day, instead CBC news following the weather but I will give you one from my flight home last night: Losing my religion by REM.
Now to the fat rat. A very dear friend of mine sent me an article on exercise motivation in rats and it is kind of cool. A skinny rat seems to like exersize and wants to go onto his or her little treadmill all the time but the fat rat is not so motivated and barely goes near the thing. I think of myself as a transitional rat in these matters and use mechanisms such as this one and your encouragement to keep going. So, from one semi-fat rat to all his friends. Thanks for your help and support!
Weather permitting, road work starts again tomorrow.
Paul
Well, after an aborted attempt to get to Yellowknife, I found myself having traversed the continent over a two day period and wound up back at home last night. If you not are following the weather here in Canada, it is somewhat extreme and the less said about it in polite company the better.
Today I did a bit of strength training in my gym followed by a 7km Farlek workout. Farleks are interesting - the idea is to mix it up, some fast work, some slow work, some intensity stuff... It is very tiring but apparently helps with endurance. It is also relatively easy to do on a treadmill when winds outside are gusting up to 100 km per hour.
No formal song of the day, instead CBC news following the weather but I will give you one from my flight home last night: Losing my religion by REM.
Now to the fat rat. A very dear friend of mine sent me an article on exercise motivation in rats and it is kind of cool. A skinny rat seems to like exersize and wants to go onto his or her little treadmill all the time but the fat rat is not so motivated and barely goes near the thing. I think of myself as a transitional rat in these matters and use mechanisms such as this one and your encouragement to keep going. So, from one semi-fat rat to all his friends. Thanks for your help and support!
Weather permitting, road work starts again tomorrow.
Paul
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Ah, the joys of being 48 years old...
Hi gang,
Today was a bit of a non-starter. I woke up this morning but never really got going. Between just feeling kind of out of it, a ton of work to catch up on and an injured foot from last Sunday's run, there was just no way 19 km was going to happen this morning.
So, I turned to first principals and decided that a day or rest was in order, this being a Sunday and all...
On Friday, however I completed a 9.6 km run to finish out the week with 46 km combined milage. The boys and I completed our week with Andy our trainer on Saturday with a rather brutal little number which left old dad a bit on the tired side.
Tonight I am just finished packing for my next trip to Yellowknife so this week training will be on treadmill and in the gym.
The song of the day on Friday was very appropriate You must think by the Cars. It includes, of course, the line You might think I'm crazy, all I want is you. Well the crazy part certainly applies.
I will update you from Yellowknife in the next day or two and will even promise you a picture from the true Great White North.
Paul
Today was a bit of a non-starter. I woke up this morning but never really got going. Between just feeling kind of out of it, a ton of work to catch up on and an injured foot from last Sunday's run, there was just no way 19 km was going to happen this morning.
So, I turned to first principals and decided that a day or rest was in order, this being a Sunday and all...
On Friday, however I completed a 9.6 km run to finish out the week with 46 km combined milage. The boys and I completed our week with Andy our trainer on Saturday with a rather brutal little number which left old dad a bit on the tired side.
Tonight I am just finished packing for my next trip to Yellowknife so this week training will be on treadmill and in the gym.
The song of the day on Friday was very appropriate You must think by the Cars. It includes, of course, the line You might think I'm crazy, all I want is you. Well the crazy part certainly applies.
I will update you from Yellowknife in the next day or two and will even promise you a picture from the true Great White North.
Paul
Thursday, January 24, 2008
So, now we start working on the time.
Hi Folks,
Just an update on where I am in the whole training situation. Yesterday did my mini-workout in the morning and today a full workout with Andy, again in the morning. The complexes this morning were challenging but a lot of fun and there was more than a little sweat on the floor when we finished.
Today, I checked with my training schedule for the first time in a while and discovered that I was, wait for it... 7 weeks ahead of schedule! Since I don't appear to be going to have any difficulty with the distance now it is time to introduce "Tempo" runs to the mix and the schedule called for one of approximately six km today but at a pace of 6:36 per km. I checked in the plan for my other paces and both the Long Slow Distance pace and the Steady Run pace are spot on so I hoped I should be able to get the appropriate time for this shorter run. Well, boys and girls, it worked. My actual pace on the 6 km Tempo run was 6:35 seconds including walking breaks of 1 minute every 10 minutes. Spot on! I am ever so pleased as that puts me way ahead on my plan to do this run in 2:15 or less.
OK, so, tomorrow we will tackle a 10 km run to finish out the week. In the mean time our song of the day is a sentimental favorite of mine. It played itself on my iPod today and reminded me of a time when I danced to it with my dear cousins Michael and Alison in the kitchen of their parents home in Bristol, England 20 years ago this month. The Communards Don't Leave Me this Way. Here is to you both, Michael and Alison!
Blog with you again tomorrow!
Paul
Just an update on where I am in the whole training situation. Yesterday did my mini-workout in the morning and today a full workout with Andy, again in the morning. The complexes this morning were challenging but a lot of fun and there was more than a little sweat on the floor when we finished.
Today, I checked with my training schedule for the first time in a while and discovered that I was, wait for it... 7 weeks ahead of schedule! Since I don't appear to be going to have any difficulty with the distance now it is time to introduce "Tempo" runs to the mix and the schedule called for one of approximately six km today but at a pace of 6:36 per km. I checked in the plan for my other paces and both the Long Slow Distance pace and the Steady Run pace are spot on so I hoped I should be able to get the appropriate time for this shorter run. Well, boys and girls, it worked. My actual pace on the 6 km Tempo run was 6:35 seconds including walking breaks of 1 minute every 10 minutes. Spot on! I am ever so pleased as that puts me way ahead on my plan to do this run in 2:15 or less.
OK, so, tomorrow we will tackle a 10 km run to finish out the week. In the mean time our song of the day is a sentimental favorite of mine. It played itself on my iPod today and reminded me of a time when I danced to it with my dear cousins Michael and Alison in the kitchen of their parents home in Bristol, England 20 years ago this month. The Communards Don't Leave Me this Way. Here is to you both, Michael and Alison!
Blog with you again tomorrow!
Paul
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
A good day...
Today,gentle readers, was a good day on the training front. As explained to you in a previous post, I have a little mini circuit training thing that I do some mornings and today was one of those days. I started out with a five minute walk on the treadmill followed by 3 sets of:
25 pushups
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 75lbs
Then, this afternoon I went for a 10 km run. The time wasn't particularly good as the road conditions were not good with a lot of freshly fallen snow and slush, bad for traction, but nonetheless, determination prevailed and I completed 9.7 km in just over an hour and ten minutes. Folks, it is Tuesday, and I already have over 30 km under my belt since Sunday - the km are building up and I am feeling pretty good that, with 66 days to go, I will not disappoint you on March 28th.
Today's song was a Lyle Lovett classic: Here I am
Tomorrow, back both in the gym and on the treadmill - stay tuned.
25 pushups
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 75lbs
Then, this afternoon I went for a 10 km run. The time wasn't particularly good as the road conditions were not good with a lot of freshly fallen snow and slush, bad for traction, but nonetheless, determination prevailed and I completed 9.7 km in just over an hour and ten minutes. Folks, it is Tuesday, and I already have over 30 km under my belt since Sunday - the km are building up and I am feeling pretty good that, with 66 days to go, I will not disappoint you on March 28th.
Today's song was a Lyle Lovett classic: Here I am
Tomorrow, back both in the gym and on the treadmill - stay tuned.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Indoor day.
Faithful readers - today was a day of not insignificant excercise but it was all done indoors.
At lunch today, my friend and trainer, Andy came over and we completed a series of combinations:
Pushup/Pike with Leg extensions/hip lifts (15 x 2 sets)
Squats (25 body weight, 12 with 135lbs, 36 with 165lbs)
Lateral pulldowns with 85 lbs (12) and 95 lbs (24)
Bench Press with 95 lbs (12) and 125 lbs (36)
Spider Crawl (2 x 10)
After that, accompanied of course by completely inadaquate amounts of stretching, I returned to the office.
This evening, I completed a 3.22 km recover run on the treadmill. It went quite well but treadmill running is not nearly as much fun as road work. Nonetheless, my iPod did its best to ensure a steady supply of music and, as such, we have a Canadian song of the day. A really obscure cover of Smoke on the Water, renamed Dopes on the Water and played on Mandolin by local Toronto Techno Progressive Punk and all round Who fan - Nash the Slash.
Also of note - today Paramount released the Teaser Trailer for the new Star Trek film, premiering in 340 days on December 25th. The trailer can be found on YouTube.
Live long and prosper!
At lunch today, my friend and trainer, Andy came over and we completed a series of combinations:
Pushup/Pike with Leg extensions/hip lifts (15 x 2 sets)
Squats (25 body weight, 12 with 135lbs, 36 with 165lbs)
Lateral pulldowns with 85 lbs (12) and 95 lbs (24)
Bench Press with 95 lbs (12) and 125 lbs (36)
Spider Crawl (2 x 10)
After that, accompanied of course by completely inadaquate amounts of stretching, I returned to the office.
This evening, I completed a 3.22 km recover run on the treadmill. It went quite well but treadmill running is not nearly as much fun as road work. Nonetheless, my iPod did its best to ensure a steady supply of music and, as such, we have a Canadian song of the day. A really obscure cover of Smoke on the Water, renamed Dopes on the Water and played on Mandolin by local Toronto Techno Progressive Punk and all round Who fan - Nash the Slash.
Also of note - today Paramount released the Teaser Trailer for the new Star Trek film, premiering in 340 days on December 25th. The trailer can be found on YouTube.
Live long and prosper!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
68 days to go!
Hi everyone,
A bad couple of weeks training, I am afraid. A fair bit of travel and it was way too cold up in Yellowknife to run more than once but we progress nonetheless...
OK so this weekend. Yesterday my youngest son and I went to workout with our trainer for a good hour of circuits. That certainly was a lot of fun - although Andrew, my son, is famous for his negotiation skills at getting out of one extra set from time to time.
Today was my long run day and 17.5 km was the distance ran. I now know with certainty that I will be able complete the distance of the half marathon as this far in front of it, I can do all but 4 km of the distance required. My time would be very poor, however, and so we have to get to the point where I can do perhaps 25 km in between two hours forty-five to three hours and then I will know that I can make my hoped for time of less that 2:20 to complete the half.
The route today started from Newmarket and went down through the Conservation area and into Fairy Lake park, it was cold but certainly more comfortable that the run in Yellowknife this past week. A lot of great songs presented themselves during the course of the 2+ hours it took me to complete the run, and so today we have two songs - they came back to back and while of similar periods, they are by very different artists. They sounded great together, though:
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney
Free Fore by Pink Floyd from the Obscured by Clouds LP
Andy is back with me tomorrow for some circuit training and I am now going to introduce some treadmill work into the mix as it appears to be the only way that I will be able to run through my Yellowknife work schedule this winter. Until tomorrow then, folks!
A bad couple of weeks training, I am afraid. A fair bit of travel and it was way too cold up in Yellowknife to run more than once but we progress nonetheless...
OK so this weekend. Yesterday my youngest son and I went to workout with our trainer for a good hour of circuits. That certainly was a lot of fun - although Andrew, my son, is famous for his negotiation skills at getting out of one extra set from time to time.
Today was my long run day and 17.5 km was the distance ran. I now know with certainty that I will be able complete the distance of the half marathon as this far in front of it, I can do all but 4 km of the distance required. My time would be very poor, however, and so we have to get to the point where I can do perhaps 25 km in between two hours forty-five to three hours and then I will know that I can make my hoped for time of less that 2:20 to complete the half.
The route today started from Newmarket and went down through the Conservation area and into Fairy Lake park, it was cold but certainly more comfortable that the run in Yellowknife this past week. A lot of great songs presented themselves during the course of the 2+ hours it took me to complete the run, and so today we have two songs - they came back to back and while of similar periods, they are by very different artists. They sounded great together, though:
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey by Paul McCartney
Free Fore by Pink Floyd from the Obscured by Clouds LP
Andy is back with me tomorrow for some circuit training and I am now going to introduce some treadmill work into the mix as it appears to be the only way that I will be able to run through my Yellowknife work schedule this winter. Until tomorrow then, folks!
Monday, January 14, 2008
I must be mad!
Hi folks, sorry about the delay in getting back to you. After my last posting I did two more runs in Chatham, about another 12 km or so and then took a very short vacation in Washington DC with my son Andrew.
Today, lord help me, I am in Yellowknife in the Canadian Northwest Territories and, boys and girls, it is cold. The temperature is approximatly -16 C but with wind, probably a lot colder than than. Still the new winter gear served me well as I will be here a bit between now and Prague so my test run of 4 km worked out ok.
Today's song was Magneto and Titanium Man by Paul McCartney and Wings.
I expect to run again tomorrow night and will update the blog at that time.
Today, lord help me, I am in Yellowknife in the Canadian Northwest Territories and, boys and girls, it is cold. The temperature is approximatly -16 C but with wind, probably a lot colder than than. Still the new winter gear served me well as I will be here a bit between now and Prague so my test run of 4 km worked out ok.
Today's song was Magneto and Titanium Man by Paul McCartney and Wings.
I expect to run again tomorrow night and will update the blog at that time.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Lunchtime run in Chatham
Hi everyone,
On a lunchtime run in the lovely town of Chatham today - 3.36 km, just a bit of a recovery run, really.
Just a brief post today as I am in the middle of a pretty intense week of travelling. Today's song was Queen's The Show Must Go On.
Post again in a day or so...
Paul
On a lunchtime run in the lovely town of Chatham today - 3.36 km, just a bit of a recovery run, really.
Just a brief post today as I am in the middle of a pretty intense week of travelling. Today's song was Queen's The Show Must Go On.
Post again in a day or so...
Paul
Monday, January 7, 2008
85 Days and counting
Well folks, best intentions aside, I did not get out on Sunday. I think my body was telling me "wait a second, Tiger, how about a day off for the first time in 10 days?"
So, today I did the long run instead and it was marvelous. 14.83 km with an acceptable pace.
Last week's statistics are up as well:
KM Run: 41.5
Weight: 111.7 kg (2 down, 11.7 to go!)
Longest Run: 13.8 km
Many great songs presented themselves during the just over 100 minutes of the run but I did have to pick one and have settled on:
One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer by George Thorogood
Keep the comments coming, folks, they are greatly appreciated - some more than others, but all welcome!
So, today I did the long run instead and it was marvelous. 14.83 km with an acceptable pace.
Last week's statistics are up as well:
KM Run: 41.5
Weight: 111.7 kg (2 down, 11.7 to go!)
Longest Run: 13.8 km
Many great songs presented themselves during the just over 100 minutes of the run but I did have to pick one and have settled on:
One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer by George Thorogood
Keep the comments coming, folks, they are greatly appreciated - some more than others, but all welcome!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday and Saturday...
Hi everyone,
The last two days have each had a workout - a 7.4 km run yesteday and circuit training today with my sons.
Yesterday's run was a standard run near my place - I started off with a headache but ended up feeling great with a good time for such a distance and it was a beautiful night.
The song for the run was Science Fiction, Double Feature by the original Broadway cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show
Today the boys and I went over to Andy's and we did some circuit work including pulling a 30 kg punching bag across the floor, as many situps, pushups and squats as you can do in 45 seconds and lots of cario work.
Well, I am going to sign off for the evening but will be back tomorrow after a 15 km run. Talk to you then!
The last two days have each had a workout - a 7.4 km run yesteday and circuit training today with my sons.
Yesterday's run was a standard run near my place - I started off with a headache but ended up feeling great with a good time for such a distance and it was a beautiful night.
The song for the run was Science Fiction, Double Feature by the original Broadway cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show
Today the boys and I went over to Andy's and we did some circuit work including pulling a 30 kg punching bag across the floor, as many situps, pushups and squats as you can do in 45 seconds and lots of cario work.
Well, I am going to sign off for the evening but will be back tomorrow after a 15 km run. Talk to you then!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The days are starting to go down and the km up.
Hi everyone,
Today was one of my once per week double workouts. Circuit training with Andy in the morning, and a run in the afternoon. First the Circuit:
3 sets of:
20 x squats with 135lbs on the barbell
20 x lateral pulldown with 75 lbs
20 x overhead dumbell press with 25 lbs dumbells
10 x spider crall
20 x rowing with 95 lbs
20 x inclinded dumbell press with 40 lbs dumbells
After the completion of that joyous event, we moved onto abs:
2 sets of:
8 single armed situps with 20 lbs dumbells (each side)
20 "Toes to the sky"
20 second side planks (each side)
Boy, I feel tired just recanting it!
Tonight's run was near the office and it was cold, oh faithful readers, very cold. Anyway the distance was 5.63 km and whilest listening to it the song of the day presented itself and it was You are what you is from the Thing Fish album by Frank Zappa.
Back with you tomorrow....
Today was one of my once per week double workouts. Circuit training with Andy in the morning, and a run in the afternoon. First the Circuit:
3 sets of:
20 x squats with 135lbs on the barbell
20 x lateral pulldown with 75 lbs
20 x overhead dumbell press with 25 lbs dumbells
10 x spider crall
20 x rowing with 95 lbs
20 x inclinded dumbell press with 40 lbs dumbells
After the completion of that joyous event, we moved onto abs:
2 sets of:
8 single armed situps with 20 lbs dumbells (each side)
20 "Toes to the sky"
20 second side planks (each side)
Boy, I feel tired just recanting it!
Tonight's run was near the office and it was cold, oh faithful readers, very cold. Anyway the distance was 5.63 km and whilest listening to it the song of the day presented itself and it was You are what you is from the Thing Fish album by Frank Zappa.
Back with you tomorrow....
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Hitting the year with a bang!
OK, after our short but snowy Resolution Run in Newmarket yesterday, I decided that a longer run was required... So, as per the route shown our journey today was 9.36 km. It was cold and the road conditions were still poor but it was a very pleasant run nonetheless.
Both today and yesterday I also added a very simple morning workout, all of fifteen minutes long mostly designed just to help me wake up and work out the kinks. This routine will be added every day that I run unless I am also doing a session with Andy on the same day. Here is the routine:
5 minute uphill walk on the treadmill at 3 km/hr
2 sets consisting of:
25 situps
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 27 kg
By next week I will add some stretching to it.
With that, gentle readers, I leave you with our song of the day. Today's little diddy is called Gladiator's Song and it is by a German Progressive Rock band named Triumvirat.
Both today and yesterday I also added a very simple morning workout, all of fifteen minutes long mostly designed just to help me wake up and work out the kinks. This routine will be added every day that I run unless I am also doing a session with Andy on the same day. Here is the routine:
5 minute uphill walk on the treadmill at 3 km/hr
2 sets consisting of:
25 situps
25 crunches
25 lateral pulldowns with 27 kg
By next week I will add some stretching to it.
With that, gentle readers, I leave you with our song of the day. Today's little diddy is called Gladiator's Song and it is by a German Progressive Rock band named Triumvirat.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Year 2008!
Well, faithful readers, happy new year - I hope that 2008 brings joy, happiness and success to each of you and your families.
Today was the Resolution Run - the route below in the new route section. 5.3km in horrible snowy conditions. It was fabulous - shown here is a picture of me lumbering across the finish line. I begin this year excitement and enthusiasm for what lies ahead - particularly the first quarter milestone of the half marathon in Prague, 88 days from today!
As it is the beginning of the month I will now post monthly statistics:
Weight as of January 1: 112.6 kg
KM covered in December: 124.42
Longest single run: 13.8 km on December 30th
Circuit training: 9 hours
And now onto today's running song of the day: Gates of Steel by Devo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
