Five

Yup, that is officially the furthest I’ve ever run.  After work today, I ran over 5 miles at a pretty decent pace (sub 9:00 miles).  The crazy thing is… I really felt like I could have kept going.  That’s what’s so frustrating about this nagging knee pain: I’m holding back because of this one little potential joint injury, but I’m not pushing the rest of my body to the kind of limit I want to.  I’m not slowing down or stopping short (not a Frank Costanza reference) because I’m tired or sore… it’s just the knee.  And that is really frustrating.  What if I could be comfortably running much longer distances?  … stupid knee.

Anyway, today felt good… a nice moderate/sustainable pace for 5 miles.  It’s weird.  I’m actually kind of proud.  Although the primary purpose of this blog is to embarrass myself toward fitness, I’ve still found a way to brag.  Impressive.  Even for me.

I could remind myself that 9:00 minute miles are still pretty slow… my friend Jeff, for instance, runs them about three times faster than that, for like 40 miles at a time.  Or remind myself that I’d be a lot faster still if I’d drop some of that extra weight (of which there is still plenty).  That said, to go from someone who could seriously not run 2 miles a couple months ago, to be running 5 miles at a somewhat decent pace (relatively speaking)… it’s not bad.  But I still have a lot of room for improvement.  Distance: 5.4 miles (the photo below is also a link, so you can check out all sorts of fun geeky stuff: splits, pace, heart rate vs elevation, etc)

Food today was good and healthy: small bowl of cereal for breakfast, small portion of cheese and crackers and small chicken salad for lunch, a recovery shake (after run) and larger chicken salad for dinner.  Not terribly innovative… but healthy and pretty tasty (thanks to our awesome new Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette salad dressing).  Food: B+

Weight: I gained just a tad, thanks to weekend festivities: 221.2 lbs.  I was thinking about this today… I’ve lost somewhere in the ballpark of 20-25 pounds (let’s call it 22), but my legs are noticeably stronger looking.  It might just be a little more definition, but it’s also not crazy to think I put on a little muscle, maybe even 3-5 pounds worth.  With that in mind, you could say that I’ve easily lost 25 pounds (of fat)… that’s a lot.  (and hopefully just the start…)

Weekend in Review

You may recall my Row v Run post from a couple days ago… and by “you” I mean “probably not you unless you’re Kelly”.  This post will be a bit of a follow-up, as well as a weekend-in-review post, since I was busy (lazy?) and didn’t get anything posted all weekend.

First, another exercise to compete with running… but is it really better for you?  Below are two workouts of about 35 minutes at a sustainable/moderate page … You be the judge:

A)

B)

Any guesses on what the new workout is?  If you guess mowing, you got it!

For the record, “B” was a recovery run.  So yeah, running is probably a better workout than mowing.  In related news, I purchased, assembled, and used a lawn mower for the first time at our new house on Sunday.  And yes, I wore a GPS watch and a heart rate monitor to record the activity.  I’m a dork.  (also, the above map is probably my favorite GPS map ever).

The recovery run was a nice easy “twilight” (not a book/movie reference) run with Kelly.  Nice to have an easy run after Saturday… which was a good bit tougher.  I ran a 5k in 26:00, then had a nice easy finish home for the last 1.5 miles (mostly because it was against a headwind and uphill and I thought I should sort of take it easy).  The knee started to act up a bit just beyond the 4 mile mark, which was disconcerting.  Felt better on Sunday though.  We’ll see…

Distance: 4.6mi on Saturday, 3.25mi on Sunday (not counting mowing)

On Friday, I attended my first ever Chicago Rush Arena Football League game.  Great seats… second row.  Tons of fun with Kel and Browning, but I had to have my customary beer and soft pretzel at the ballgame.  Probably not great for the nutrition.  Also, I had a big HUGE (and delicious) Easter dinner.  Saturday was healthy though.  Overall on the weekend, I’d have to try to average it out… Food: B-

Made good progress again on weight, although I was hoping to hit a bit of a milestone.  Just short… 220.6 lbs.

Row v Run

I really wanted to run today, but my knee and foot were both not feeling super great… So I ended up “going for a row”.  It ended up being a nice 10k, and took about 40 minutes.  I didn’t row quite as hard as the other day… only about 150 watts at about 25 strokes per minute… so… yeah?  Distance: 10k row.

Also, you may remember me mentioning that I’ve actually read people seriously claiming that rowing is a better workout than running.  Internet-folk say the darnedest things.  So here is a quiz for you…

Below is my heart rate data for two workouts.  Both are about 40 minutes.  I’d classify my exertion level as “moderate”, with a strenuous finish.  One is a 10k row.  The other is 4 mile run.

Avg HR: 143 / Max HR: 168

Avg HR: 160 / Max HR: 182

So which is which?  That’s right… #2 is the run.  And to those crew-folk (who don’t read this blog) who respond “oh, should should just be rowing harder”… I’m not sure that’s a valid argument.  I mean, yes, I could row harder, but I could also run harder… soon neither are sustainable for that amount of time.  For instance:

“hey did you know chewing your food is a better workout than running? … yeah, you just have to chew a lot harder”.

See?  Eventually that breaks down.  Running is a crazy good workout… so long as my knees dont’ fall apart.  (other “best” options?  probably swimming and cross country skiing…?)

Food was pretty good today… granola bar for breakfast, small salad for lunch, and outstanding (yet probably not super healthy) fish tacos for dinner.  Oh, also, I had a “breakfast cookie”.  Food: B

Magic number … 220.6 lbs.

Encouragement Wednesday

Sometimes Wednesdays can be a drag… you know, it’s middle of the week, and all you really need is a good pick-me-up.  Well, lucky for you, I am here to institute “Encouragement Wednesdays” (pending name change/re-branding)… I’ll try to mention something that has been encouraging me, and you can live vicariously through how good I feel.  What a deal.

(Yes, I apparently am drawn to theme days… this is sort of a combo of Fat Fridays and “The Culprit”… but with a more positive note).

First up?  Big props to my Mother-in-Law who sent an Easter Care Package (which, coincidentally, also put her on a potential “The Culprit” list).  Included in the package was a bunch of easter-related candy, and a shirt… yup,  just a button up shirt.

wait, what size is it?

…and there it is!  Wednesday encouragement!  My uplifting Mother-in-law is so confident in my ability to lose weight that she is sending me MEDIUM shirts… just so I have something to wear when I slim down.  Thanks, Kathy!  (no need to worry about sleeve length).

Kelly later found that the entire package was intended for Joey, Kel’s little bro who is a freshman at Wheaton College.  That probably makes more sense… except the mailing to Kelly part.  (college students are still allowed to get mail at college–it’s not Kanakuk Kamp… plus that way … ahem… someone wouldn’t have stolen several of his Reese’s peanut butter bunnies).

Speaking of mailing it to Kelly… it was addressed to “Kelly Linn”.  With all due respect to her egalitarian sympathies, it’s been 3 years… let’s get with the program.

The runner-up for “Encouragement Wednesday” goes to my co-worker Liz who told me “you look like you lost like… 80 pounds”, which I think is just enough to make it not a compliment.  Thanks Liz!

——-

Good run today.  Kelly came with me for the first couple miles, and then I went a little longer… ran a good (Illinois) hill on Blanchard Road, and finished strong on the way home (for more info, click on the picture below).  I ran at just under a 9:30 pace which I would say is “comfortable” at this point.  I felt as though, if not for nagging injuries, I could have kept it up for much longer.  We’ll try some interval work later this week to build some speed.  Knee felt fine while running, but not so great afterward… threw some ice and ibuprofen at it… we’ll see how it is in a couple days.  Distance: 4.1mi

Food was good.  Granola bar for breakfast, small amount of cheese and crackers for lunch with a fruit smoothie for an afternoon snack.  And then Kelly made this for dinner:

What we have here is Mango-Chicken-Sausage (which is even better than it sounds) sauteed with red pepper and broccoli on a bed of jasmine rice.  Pretty outstanding.  The only improvement would be…

to throw some mango-pineapple salsa on it.  Now, THAT is delicious.

Food: A

Weight: 222 lbs … and for some “real” encouragement on Wednesday, here is what that looks like in real-life belt sizes:

New Fatherhood

It was a beautiful day today. Well… it was 40 degrees, windy, and rainy… precisely the type of day that makes me hate the spring in Chicago. But nonetheless, a beautiful day.

My baby arrived today.

I recently received official word from the previously-deemed evil, soulless, and freedom-stealing Cannondale Bicycle corporation … turns out, they have relented in their personal attack against my liberties and agreed that the defects in (my old bike) Greenzo‘s frame were their fault, and I am rightfully owed one new bicycle. Free of charge. I win!

That’s right a brraaaaaaannd neewwwww biiiiiiiiike! This is outstanding and admittedly unexpected news. My reaction was a mixture of celebration, and sweet vindication.

“yay! great news! *pause* … damn right! you people owe me a bike!”

Anyway, two downsides: 1) I don’t get to pick the color. They have one bike in my size for warranty replacement, and that’s the one I’m getting. 2) no fork… they are out of stock, and there aren’t any available until late June. (if you don’t know what a “fork” is on a bike, it’s the part that holds your front wheel on.  see diagram.)

The upsides to the downsides? 1) the color available is the EXACT color I would have picked (out of several possible options). and 2) after I discussed this potential problem with my contact at Cannondale, she agreed to send me a “loaner” fork that I can use until mine finally comes.  So it won’t match the bike and will look silly… which is obnoxious, because as a 225 lbs grown man in spandex riding a bicycle, if there is one thing I hate, it’s looking silly.

So I get to REI for work tonight, and check this out… the bike is already there!  They sent it last Friday. There is no possible way for me to convey my excitement in words… so like any proud dad, I’ll just post some photos:

there’s the box it came in… (yeah, that’s right, it’s a box shot)

first sight… even better than the pictures… the matte black looks sweeeeeeet

here it is in (most) of its glory… I haven’t “unsheathed” it yet… waiting for the fork to build it up… but that is a nice looking bicycle frame

gratuitous bottom bracket shot, a la the Bike Snob NYC… beefy

proud dad. clearly, only half my head is necessary to convey my excitement… and there’s that pesky, ubiquitous thumbs-up again… it’s troublesomely common for me. a habit that I can’t seem to shake. are there any photos on this blog where I’m *not* giving a thumbs-up?

Anyway, those are some of the photos I took today at REI of my brand new baby. Can’t wait to give it a spin. At this rate, I can be logging serious miles by May… a possibility I would have previously considered impossible. Really, it is difficult to convey the enormity of the goodness of this news.

Oh, and if you think the poignant sub-plot of Greenzo being violently killed and coming back… or “resurrecting” … into something even better is lost on me during Holy Week, think again. It only makes the beautiful spring bike rides I’m looking forward to all the more meaningful. (Kelly suggests that I not compare Greenzo to Jesus… but I’m not making a *direct* comparison… just saying it’s hard for me to overlook the symbolism. Think of it as me comparing Greenzo to Aslan… less blasphemous that way)…

Really though, I seriously can’t wait to go on a bike ride.

—–

Rest day (worked from 8-10). Distance: 0

Food was good: cereal, grain blend and chicken mango sausage for lunch (if you didn’t catch that, it was “chicken mango sausage”… not a typo), tortellini for dinner. Food: B+

Weight: 223.4 lbs.

New Toy/Tool: Entering the Geekdom…

I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy tracking numbers and patterns and whatnot.  With cycling I was practically militant about it… distance, time, average heart rate, usually some extra notes… for every ride, even just biking to work.

Well thanks to my REI discount, my REI dividend, and an REI giftcard… I was able to pick up a new toy… er… I mean, a new tool to augment my training efforts.  I got a GPS watch.  And it’s sweet.  Now I can really nerd out when it comes to analyzing how slow and out of shape I am.

So, even though today was supposed to be a rest day after “the race” yesterday… I was so eager to try out my new watch that I decided to take it for a nice easy recovery run (was thinking 10min miles would be good, ended up being just a tad faster).  Distance: 2.6 mi.

(More nerdiness?  sure… Garmin allows me to “embed” the workout into blog posts, but WordPress doesn’t allow the plug-in.  Lame.  Am I considering transferring my entire blog to blogspot.com for this reason?  Yes.)

For those of you whose curiosity level borders on “stalker”, you can click on the image above and view the whole work out.  It’s really pretty amazing.

Anyway, the watch will be especially nice for three distinct purposes 1) better concept of pacing while running 2) ability to do interval training outdoors without being completely clueless, and 3) tracking routes while cycling.  oh yeah… and 4) being a huge nerd.

Speaking of nerd… I was reading about this running coach named Jack Daniels (not to be confused with the whiskey distiller Jack Daniel), and his theory of a VDOT value.  It’s more complicated than this (or than I understand) but the basic idea is that I can use some key race-finish indicators to extrapolate what my times would/should be at other distances.  So according to my 5k time (which really isn’t enough data), my VDOT value is 37.  You can check your own VDOT here.

So, theoretically, a VDOT of 37 would mean I should be running a 7:38 single mile, or a 53:28 10k.  Obviously, the number-fun breaks down at some point.  I don’t care what they say my marathon time should be, if I run one tomorrow my time will be DNF.  But it’s still interesting.

Where it gets really interesting (hopefully you’re still sitting down) is in regards to weight… you can measure what theoretical effects weight loss would have on your times… not the training involved to lose the weight, but just carrying around less weight.  There’s a whole nerdy formula and everything.  Multiply your current weight by your VDOT value and then divide by the new weight.  For me, if I dropped another 20 pounds…

225*37/205 = new VDOT of 40.6.

If my VDOT value was a 40.6, my theoretical 5k time would be 23:48.  That’s a pretty big difference… but, so is losing 20 pounds, I guess.  (this entire hypothesis is based on the assumption that I have 20 lbs to lose (I do) and I’m not losing muscle mass… obviously losing muscle mass will start to affect your running time).

All the more reason to lose weight… running will become easier, faster, and hopefully slightly less punishing on my poor poor knee(s).  Again, this is probably not news (“wait, running is easier if you’re less fat?”)… just interesting to see the actual numbers.

I’ll get to these later, but I’m starting to consider some actual running goals.  I’ll have to try to blend them with some of the cycling goals I’ve been considering and we’ll see what we can come up with… but I think it would be nice to be reaching toward something instead of just “trying to run without dying”.  If you have any suggestions, or fun-run type things you’d like me to participate in, let me know… I’m up for pretty much anything…

Food was decent today.  I was over at the Hankinssseseeseses, and made the mistake of sitting within reach of the chips and guac before dinner.  Yes, it’s true: my best defense against my poor nutrition habits happens to be my own laziness… “Oh, I’d love that unhealthy food item… awww it’s so far away!” … when the stars align and I’m near the unhealthy food… well, that can spell disaster.  Other than that, pretty healthy day though, including a delicious dinner of veggie fajitas.  Food: C+

Weight: 223.8 lbs.

Race!

So, I guess I’ll do a “race recap” a la my buddy Jeff … although I’m not sure if “race recap” is the most apt description.  Really, for me, it’s more of a “casual 5k run/walk recap”.

While I’ve been running a distance of pretty close to a 5k for a couple months now (on & off thanks to the knee), this is “My First 5k”.  At least, you know, in the out-of-doors with things like a starting pistol, a bunch of other people, and a big digital clock advertising my inadequacy. It was a fun experience for sure.  And great to be supporting Young Life Access in Naperville.

As a caveat: I’ve been careful not to let speed/time be too much of a focus for my training so far.  The goal isn’t necessarily to “get fast” but to lose weight and “get healthy”.  That said, with the primary activity I’ve chosen for my quest toward health, it would certainly make sense if I got faster as a byproduct.  So, as I embrace my geekdom, I like following numbers and seeing progress, and trying to improve… it naturally follows to want to improve in running ability as well as health.  With that out of the way, on to the race…

The race results are up… you can check them here: www.chicago5k.org … I did okay.  I was really hoping to finish under 25 minutes… but to be honest I don’t have much substantial evidence that would indicate that as a reasonable estimate.  Like I said, more of a “hope”.  As far as conditions, it was a little breezy (which, at least at this point, doesn’t affect me running nearly as much running as it does on a bike… at least mentally), and some very light rain off and on, and pretty dang cold (although I overdressed, and was super hot by the second mile).

Anyway, my official race time was 25:54… but it was a few seconds before I crossed the start line, and they didn’t give us those foot thingys, so according to my watch it was 25:45.  Not that those nine seconds make much of a difference… and either way it was good enough to finish 23rd (go Ryne Sandburg), and 4th in my division… hilariously one spot off a medal… although that’s more of an indication that not too many 20-29 year old males decided to “compete” in the 5k portion of the race.

Also, I had what real runners call a “negative split”… faster on the way back, 13:04/12:41.  Apparently that’s good.  (But really it’s because the people I was pacing with were running slower than I wanted and I didn’t realize it until after the first mile.  Ha.  I’m bad at pacing).

So, goal not quite met (yet), but there’s still some encouragement.  A 25:45 5k is a 8:17 mile… which really is pretty good for me.  For now, anyway (especially considering I literally could not run a 5k two months ago), that’s decent progress.  I’m hoping to continue to improve as this whole “health” thing progresses…

Distance: 5k

More on food later, but it was pretty healthy, minus a bag of “Sour Patch Kids Jelly Beans” which filled me with both awe and horror as I involuntarily purchased them at Walgreens.  Such a beautiful collaboration of so much that I love… so very very bad for me.  Ugh.  (also, how did no one think of these earlier… brilliant!)  Like I said, healthy save for that one gloriously terrible downfall.  Food: B-

Magic number: 223.8 lbs.

Mo Pasta Mo Rowin’

Want to keep this quick, as it’s part of my weekend retrospective… (posting for Friday a couple days late)…

No big news at the close of the week.  I wanted to try to row a 10k, but my knee was a little sore and blisters were starting to develop pretty substantially, so cut it short at 7k. Distance: 7k row.  One of the reasons I like that silly rowing machine is because of all the fun readouts on th workout.  I’m a bit of a geek.  So it’s interesting that I was pulling about a 185 watt average with 32-35 strokes per minute.  I have no idea if that was good or not… but hey, it’s something.

Kelly went to Maggiano’s on Thursday and brought back a bunch of delicious pasta.  Oops. It’s been tasty, but obviously not super healthy.  I’m mostly trying to just keep portions small (because avoiding eating it all together is just a ridiculous notion).  Food: B-

Fat Friday weigh-in: 224 lbs.  (not bad).  So if I’m going with my estimated starting weight of about 245… unofficially, I’m under the “20 lbs lost” milestone.  Still some work to do to get there for the official weigh-ins on this blog…

Here is the progress for my Fat Fridays:

back on track…

Row Row Row Your… Machine?

You may recall (and by “you” I pretty much mean “my wife Kelly”, since she’s the only person who I know actually reads this drivel) I ended my last post in a bit of despair (not to be confused with a PIT of despair) about what to do moving forward for effective yet interesting/fun FRA’s (fitness related activities… we’re a couple more uses away from you starting to think “is he using that acronym seriously?”)

Well, I was brainstorming/researching, and did you know that rowing can be a better workout than running?!?  Let me stop you there.  It’s not.  This is the internet, and you can’t believe everything you read here, even if some lame crew-fanatic who never went out past 9pm in college decides something is a medical fact.

But it’s still a pretty good workout, and “something different”, so I decided to give it a shot.  Instead of running a 5k, I rowed a 5k.  Not bad.  I don’t know anything about speed, but it took about 21 minutes, and (I found out afterward) my “drag” setting was at 10… so… yeah?

Anyway, it was fun, I sorta wanted to have another go after a quick break–I decided to bike a (laughably) short 5k as a breather–but thought better of it.  Kelly was expecting me home for dinner… and what a dinner it was!  Distance 5k row, 5k bike.

I forgot to take a picture because it was so freakin’ good that I just ate it all before it occurred to me how potentially photogenic it might be.  We had marinated chicken (sort of a southeast asian marinade… lime, peanuts, spice, cilantro, that sorta thing) on a salad of spinach, pea shoots, red peppers, diced almonds, some harvest grain blend, and a delicious spicy peanut vinaigrette.  Seriously, best meal I’ve had at home in quite a while.  Ate healthy for breakfast and lunch, too.  Good day.  Food: A

Weight: 224.2 lbs.

Knee

I really do intend to keep regularly logging-via-the-web my progress… but it has been a crazy busy week for me and I haven’t been able to get around to it. On the upside, I’m still actually participating in fitness related activities (or FRA’s), they just haven’t been chronicled it in my typical hilarious fashion quite often enough. Sorry… hopefully you’ll find a way to cope. In regards to mechanisms for the aforementioned coping, I would recommend binging on Girl Scout cookies.

I had a good running week last week. 5k on Tuesday, Thurday, and Saturday, and then on Sunday had a GLORIOUS run outside. It wasn’t great because it was particularly fast (it wasn’t), but because it was outside. It was warm and breezy and colorful and everything smells like growing. And I was able to run to places instead of running like a hamster runs.

Treadmills are for suckers.

And, not that we’re too concerned, but my pace was a little bit faster than it normally is indoors. I like the out-of-doors. I also like saying “the out-of-doors”. Something about it is just askew enough to make it fun.

Anyway, the great post-run feeling of enjoyment and being one with the out-of-doors and running slowly and embarrassingly in plain view was quickly ruined when I was walking downstairs when I got home…

(quick backstory) My legs/feet/knees feel different amounts of “funny” while I run, but I usually chalk it up to being slow, fat, out of shape, wimpy, or any combination therein.

This was different, and I’m not sure how to describe it. It was not a rip or tear or pop… more of a *twinge* on the outside of my knee near the kneecap. And it was acute. I mean, a really really sharp pain. Stairs have been tough ever since, and every once in a while I’ll feel a much more faint twinge when changing direction. “Are you playing basketball or something? What are you talking about changing direction?” … yeah-no. Like when I’m walking. Changing direction like turning a corner at the office. Yup, that’s the state I’m in. Pathetic.

The really tragic part of the whole thing is that it’s been a BEAUTIFUL week. Really just gorgeous, more than you could ever ask for from a Chicago spring. And I’ve actually wanted to run outside. In the out-of-doors. And I legitimately can’t. It’s so cruel. Possibly my least favorite thing in the world has turned into something I’ve enjoyed in a matter of six weeks, and now I’m being deprived of it. I mean, if you approached me in January and told me I can’t run outside this spring, I would have laughed in your face… and then had about 27 more Girl Scout cookies.

But now, sans cookies, and sans running opportunity… there’s just a pathetic yearning. Yearning? Yeah, you’re right… that sounds a little off. But really, can’t ride my bike… can’t go for a run… it’s beautiful out.  Something’s gotta give.  What’s a guy gonna do? Swim indoors like a MORON?!  I need to figure something out…

—

I’ve been eating pretty healthy this week, lots of smoothies, and some “small portion” cheese and crackers (deserves its own post soon)… Food: B+

As far as working out (or FRA’s), I forgot where I’m keeping track, but I ran back to back 5k’s this weekend. Then I tried to run on Tuesday and went about to the end of the block before realizing… no, this really isn’t going to work. Then limping home full of frustration and shame. Distance: 5k, 5k, 500 feet

Weight: 224.8 lbs. getting under that 225 mark is a good milestone for me. I’ll be pretty excited to hit the teens, too. Then really, under 215 is back into the “acceptable” range. Getting into the “two-oh-…” range (sub 210) would be something I’m proud of.  Sub-200 would be awesome.  Not sure if I’ve spelled that out before, but yeah… those are my goals. For now.