Dan's Running Blog

He can't be serious.

2011-10-15T06:30:00.002-04:00

Shockingly, I am back. This morning at 5:00 AM, I restarted C25K for the umpteenth time. I've graduated the program a few times, but looking back at past blog entries I see that I've started and quit quite a few times, as well. I'm determined that this go-round will fall into the first category. There's one thing in particular that I think will help make the difference -- for the first time ever, I had a running partner: my daughter, Zoe. She's 11, and she's been running in her gym class. She can already do two miles, so she's basically just humoring me while I stumble along behind her. But eight weeks from now, with another C25K graduation under my belt, I should be able to keep up. I'm looking forward to it.

I get knocked down, but I get up again

2010-03-04T08:21:00.004-05:00

No, the snake did not eat me. I did stop running shortly after the prior blog entry, though. Now, months and pounds later, I am back. Earlier this week I brushed the cobwebs off my running shoes, replaced the batteries in my headlamp, and hit the street at 4:30 AM for a new round of C25K. I seem to be caught in some sort of temporal loop: This makes - what - four times now I've graduated from the program only to stop running shortly thereafter and restart from the beginning months later? At least I know that I have the ability to complete the program and that it works for me. Two months from now, I'll be about 25 pounds lighter and more fit all around, if all goes according to plan.

One Hour Runner, W1D1

2009-08-08T08:12:00.005-04:00

Yesterday morning I did my first run of One Hour Runner. It was identical to the runs in the last week of C25K, so it was a pretty smooth transition. I set out a bit later than normal, so I ran after the sun was already up. This allowed me to see something I wish I hadn't:

When passing the canal that runs alongside the jogging path through Greenacres Park, I spotted something odd enough to make me stop and take a closer look. It appeared to be reptilian roadkill. There was no gore, just what appeared to be the remains of a rather large tail. Size-of-my-forearm large. I spent the rest of my run thinking that it was the remains of a baby alligator, wondering what could have done something like that to it, and wondering why there was no gore. I was nonplussed to see visual confirmation that there are, in fact, alligators lining the path that I run, but I took solace in the fact that this one was dead.

Then, on the way back, I took a closer look. I realized that it was not, in fact, an alligator tail. It was the shedded tail-skin of a snake. Given the size and diameter of the skin, I'd estimate the snake to be maybe 6-10 feet long. Probably a python. This means that there's a huge snake, now too big for its old skin, that calls my running path home. The path that I usually run in the dark. With overhanging trees. Suddenly a few spiderwebs don't seem so intimidating anymore.

Graduation Day

2009-08-05T08:08:00.004-04:00

Well, I did it. I'm a Couch to 5K graduate. Again. For a third time, actually. Over the last 9 weeks I've seen the following changes:

1. My shirt collars fit more comfortably.
2. I had to switch to a smaller belt. My pants tend to fall down without a belt now.
3. I don't sweat as much when getting ready in the morning.
4. I don't feel the need to adjust the house thermostat down to sub-arctic temperatures all the time.
5. I dropped from 191 to 174 pounds.
6. I went from being able to run for 30 seconds to being able to run for 30 minutes.

Not too shabby. I didn't hit my goal weight of 167, but I'm not done yet. I'm going to continue on with "One Hour Runner" - the training for that is similar to C25k, with three runs a week, getting progressively longer over a 9 week period. It starts where C25k leaves off. The running schedule is as follows:

Week 1: Run 30 minutes, 30 minutes, 30 minutes
Weekly total: 90 minutes
Week 2: Run 30 minutes, 30 minutes, 30 minutes
Weekly total: 90 minutes
Week 3: Run 30 minutes, 30 minutes, 30 minutes
Weekly total: 90 minutes
Week 4: Run 30 minutes, 29 minutes, 35 minutes
Weekly total: 94 minutes
Week 5: Run 30 minutes, 32 minutes, 38 minutes
Weekly total: 100 minutes
Week 6: Run 30 minutes, 33 minutes, 41 minutes
Weekly total: 104 minutes
Week 7: Run 30 minutes, 34 minutes, 45 minutes
Weekly total: 109 minutes
Week 8: Run 30 minutes, 36 minutes , 49 minutes
Weekly total: 115 minutes
Week 9: Run 30 minutes, 38 minutes, 54 minutes
Weekly total: 122 minutes
Week 10: Run 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes
Weekly total: 130 minutes

I'm also starting a "200 crunches" sit-up program that's similar to C25k. Yesterday I took a test to establish my baseline. Based on the number of sit-ups I can do at present (about 20), I'm supposed to start right at the beginning of the program. That's fine by me. I'm using CrunchFu to keep track of my progress.

As for today's graduation run, it was pretty typical: There was a beautiful full moon lighting my way. A black cat ran across my path. I ran into huge spider webs not once, but twice. The threads of the webs stuck to my clothes and skin and floated behind me as I ran, like a race finish-line ribbon. All pretty much par for the course.

Get Running

2009-07-28T16:24:00.008-04:00

Right on the eve of my graduation from C25k (my third graduation, to be precise), I've discovered a new C25k iPhone app: Get Running. If only I had known about it sooner! Get Running works similarly to the other two iPhone/Touch apps I've mentioned previously (C25k and Couch to 5k), but it is more polished. If I were to put together a wishlist of features for a C25k app, it would bear a close resemblance to Get Running's feature set. I am very impressed by my time with it and I am looking forward to seeing further improvements as the developers continue to issue updates.

At the heart of the program is the C25k running regimen. Unlike either of the other two C25k apps, however, Get Running goes a couple of steps beyond with several additional useful features. When you first launch the app (an impressively quick launch, even for my "old" 3G), you are presented with a bucolic image and, along the bottom of the screen, a meandering path comprised of each of the weeks of C25k further broken into steps representing each day of each week. The image of a little runner marks your current place, and you can horizontally scroll the path to the left and right. Impressively, the program calculates and reports on which actual date you are expected to run your next run based upon your prior run. If you try to jump ahead, or repeat a run, you'll find that you can but that a warning will pop up to gently remind you that it is a rest day and/or that you are going out of order.

Select the day of your choice, press the "Run" button at the bottom of the screen, and you are presented with a segmented circular timer. Each segment of the circle represents an interval for that day's C25k run. Separate arcs above and below the circle represent the day's warmup and cooldown. As you run, little green arrows track your progress around the circumference of the circle. You can play your own music (by launching the iPod app prior to launching Get Running), and periodically the Get Running app will cut in with spoken prompts telling you when to walk/run. At present, the spoken prompts simply overlay your background music, and hearing them can be a bit difficult. Splendid Things has already submitted an updated version of the app to Apple for approval. The new version (1.2) improves the audio experience by pausing the music (if any) when Get Running speaks. This is welcome news, as the spoken audio of Get Running is a big part of what sets it so far above its competitors. Audio cues come frequently. They feature the studio-recorded voice of a woman with a very pleasant English accent. She not only tells you when to start and stop, but also how many intervals you have left to go, how many you have done, how much time is left, and even occasional tips and pointers. There must be hundreds of recordings. Run for a few days with her encouraging, and you feel like you have an actual coach congratulating you and urging you on. If anything, the audio cues come a little too frequently (at least in the beginning days of C25k, when there are many small segments) . As C25k progresses and the running intervals get longer and longer, things space themselves out a bit better. Splendid Things has some audio samples on their web page , so you can hear the coach for yourself and also view a tutorial video to see the app in action. And if for some reason you can't get something working quite right, they maintain an active presence on the Get Satisfaction forums. This is not a developer that puts up an app in an effort to make a few quick bucks only to vanish and never update the app again.

Get Running doesn't offer a way to publish your run to social networking sites (C25kapp and RunKeeper allow you to post to Facebook or Twitter following a run). It doesn't map your run (like RunKeeper or MapMyRun) or keep track of your running statistics (apart from which day you ran which run), and it would be nice if the screen could be set to display things rotated to landscape view (so that the timer doesn't look sideways when the iPhone is strapped to my arm). Apart from those minor quibbles, this is pretty much the C25k app I would have developed if I knew how to develop apps. All things considered, there's no excuse not to Get Running. While there is some room for further improvement, my biggest disappointment is that I didn't discover Get Running until my 9th (and final) week of C25k. I just hope they come out with a version for GW28K or One Hour Runner.

Make Your Own Kind of Music, 2009 Remix

2009-07-26T09:28:00.027-04:00

Back in September of 2007, I posted instructions on how to set up a playlist of your own music to go along with C25k. Amazingly, that blog entry, Make Your Own Kind of Music, continues to get comments some two years later. Time and technology march on, however, and in the last two years I've seen other (and better) ways to accomplish what I described back then. At this point, I pretty much would recommend my instructions only to masochists. There are easier ways, now, to accomplish the same result. Here are a few:

PODCASTS AND MP3s:

Robert Ullrey's Podcast - This is the C25k podcast I used my first time through C25k. It works flawlessly, so long as you share Robert's taste in techno music. There's one song that actually made its way into regular rotation on my iPod ("Operator," by dePreslys), but many others ("My Love is Your Love, and Your Love is Mine" or whatever it is called), still haunt my nightmares.

djsteveboy's Podrunner: Intervals provides free, varied-BPM workout music mixes for runners, joggers, and power walkers at all levels, designed to build endurance and improve overall conditioning. The mixes include audio cues that prompt you when to move from walking to running and vice versa.

Take a trip Inside the Mind of Suze and download her C25k music, featuring audio cues. Her music runs the gamut from hip-hop to R&B to teen to 80's and 90's.

Go Nicole Yourself - Nicole put together a collection of commercial music for each of the days of C25k and has made it available for public download. As she notes, "Should you like the music, go buy the albums off of itunes, emusic.com or amazon.com. Support artists and musicians!"

A Question of Perspective - Elisa DelBonis made and posted some mixes for her own personal use while going through C25k. Her mix features commercial music and verbal cues, so as she says "If you *borrow* them you do so knowing you didn’t purchase the music embedded in them. (Or maybe you did and we have the same taste in music… in which case you’re in the clear.)" Check out her page for playlists. It's pop/dance/good stuff you already know that you can sing along to.

Christian Indie Tracks - Christ-centered music from independent artists, divided into downloads for weeks designed to correspond to the weeks of C25k.

Mindplunge - As of this writing it is not yet in existence, but Richard Lemon looks to be in the process of making his own C25k podcast. Check back later on his progress.

HARDWARE-DEPENDENT (e.g. Stuff for iPhones):

C25k - This is an app for iPhones and iPod Touches. It does not itself feature music, but it lets you use your own iTunes playlist in the background while in the foreground the app guides you through each week of C25k, giving you audio prompts every time you need to change from running to walking according to the plan. It can be configured to post your progress to Facebook and/or Twitter. The page I've linked here opens AppBeacon, rather than launching iTunes. If you want the direct link to the app on iTunes, it's here.

Couch to 5k - This, like the C25k app above, is a C25k app for iPhones and iPod Touches. It does not itself feature music, but it lets you use your own iTunes playlist in the background while in the foreground the app guides you through each week of C25k, giving you audio prompts every time you need to change from running to walking according to the plan.

Get Running - Like C25kapp and Couch to 5k, this is just for iPhones and iPod Touches. I think it is far superior to either of its competitors, so if you are looking for an app specifically tailored to C25k this would be the one to get. (It doesn't do all of the things that a more fully-featured general running app, like RunKeeper, does. But what it does, it does VERY well).

C25k app for Android - What's that you say, you don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch? But you have a phone that uses Android? This app appears to do the same thing as the two above, only for Android.

RunKeeper - I use, and love, RunKeeper Pro. I've posted about its benefits elsewhere on my blog. It is an iPhone app that maps your running, allows for the playing of music from your playlist, superimposes clear-as-a-bell audio cues that can be customized for whatever series of intervals you are running, keeps a historical record of your runs, supports posting your workouts to the major social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc), charts your run on an editable map, and so much more.

Nike+ - Available in nano and iPhone 3GS versions. I used the iPod nano version for a while, a few years back, but the battery in the little shoe transmitter died and it is not user-replaceable. It is still attached to the laces of my shoe, silently waiting for me to replace it or just throw it away already. When it was working, it was pretty nice. It overlays training information on top of your playlist. Famous athletes even congratulate you at the end of your runs.

SERVICES:

JogTunes - JogTunes is a site dedicated to helping runners find music that matches their running paces. It boasts a vast selection of music all determined and categorized by style and BPM.

fitMusic - similar to JogTunes, fitMusic provides "fresh, free, fitness music" suitable for running.

run2rhythm - similar to JogTunes or fitMusic, run2rhythm provides "specially composed running music."

C25k.com has a forum featuring a Podcasts, Music and More sub-forum. It's worth checking out.

MAKE YOUR OWN:

Audacity - Audacity is a free program for editing MP3 and WAV files. Here's a great page of step-by-step instructions to create a mix featuring your own music coupled with interval cues. As for the interval cues, you might try checking out sbellcheck, which provides no music track, only audio cues of when to run and when to walk for each week. The whole course is also available for download as an MP3.

Finally...

"Make Your Own Kind of Music" - If you DO want to tinker with the Visual Basic scripts and follow the 2007 "Make Your Own Kind of Music" instructions, they do still work. In fact, they're NEW and IMPROVED, thanks to Scott Gould. Scott recently took it upon himself to update and overhaul the VB script, and he was kind enough to share his results. His new version of the script allows for an initial playlist of any size. It starts adding songs to the running playlist from a random location, randomly selecting a start song from the playlist so that you don't have to hear the same music again and again. If the start song is at the end of the list then it loops back to the start of the playlist. The updated script can be found HERE. If you prefer the original script for some reason, it can still be found back at the original post, or directly HERE. Once again, I'd like to acknowledge Jeff Welch, the original author of the script.

C25K: Week 8, Day 1

2009-07-24T07:39:00.003-04:00

Now that I've reached Week 8 of C25K, I've found I've finally hit my stride. Check out the map and stats for my latest run:

C25K: Week 7, Day 1

2009-07-17T07:03:00.000-04:00

Today was a nice 25 minute run. I'm trying to ignore the fact that my left knee has been bothering me. It's not bad, so I figure as long as it doesn't get worse I'm not going to worry about it. It just aches every so often.

Quick Fixes

2009-07-10T07:58:00.004-04:00

My phone chimed, indicating new e-mail, just as I arrived back at my front door from this morning's run. I checked my e-mail and it was a message from someone that had posted a comment to this blog. I gave a little cheer (I love when people comment) until I read the comment and saw that it was just spam. At least I'm pretty sure it was just spam: Ostensibly, it was from a young overweight person unhappy with their appearance and interested in learning how to start running. Then they gave a link to some diet pills. I decided to disapprove the comment for posting (the first time I've ever had to moderate anything), but to talk about it here on the off-chance that the commenter was sincere. And even if it was just spam, it was still a good question, right?

So here's my answer:

If you are interested in running, I highly recommend Couch to 5k as a good way to ease yourself into a more active life-style. The difficulty curve is very shallow. (Pet peeve: "a steep learning curve" should mean that you go from "not getting it" to "getting it" quickly. Right? People always use that expression the wrong way, I think). Before you start the program, or any exercise routine, you should get yourself checked out at your doctor to get cleared to exercise. Trust me: getting off the couch in an effort to start getting healthy only to keel over dead shortly thereafter is counter-productive. The nice thing about C25k (and running in general) is that you can do it pretty much anywhere, without fancy equipment, at any time that's convenient to you.

Speaking of fancy equipment, there is one thing you should spend some money on: if you are going to run then you should get running shoes that fit properly and that are appropriate for your gait. Visit a running store (not a shoe store in a mall - a real store for runners - they exist and there's probably one near you) and have them analyze your stride. They'll do it for free. Then have them recommend a running shoe that's appropriate for you. It'll make a huge difference and potentially spare you later injury. This I know from experience.

If weight loss is important to you, know that diet and exercise are both important. By 'diet' I don't mean fad dieting, and I certainly don't recommend diet pills. I mean portion control and eating healthy foods. If you don't know what is healthy and what is not, take some time to learn. Otherwise, you'll just be sabotaging yourself. I've completed C25k twice before (by no means do I think this makes me an expert on anything, but I've got the conch and I'm using it for the moment). The first time through, I watched what I ate and wound up losing about 30 pounds by the time I graduated. The second time through, I didn't alter my diet to eat more healthy. By the time I graduated my endurance was better (I was back to being able to run 30 minutes uninterrupted), but I hadn't lost any weight. This time through, I'm eating healthy again. I'm on Week 6, and I've lost about 12 pounds off my start-weight. Running 30 minutes a day, every other day, is a great way to start getting healthy, but you're not going to shed pounds doing it unless you make sure that your caloric intake does not exceed your caloric expenditure. In plain English: burn more calories than you consume. But it's also important not to starve yourself: your body needs fuel in order to function properly. If you under-consume, you may find that your metabolism slows in response, making it even more difficult to lose weight.

Most important: once you start running, make sure you like it. If you don't like it, you're not going to stick with it. If it's not for you, find something else. But, whatever you do, don't fall for any diet pill spam, thinking it is real. Even if it is marketed by the deposed Prince of Nigeria.

C25K: Week 5, Day 3

2009-07-08T07:49:00.001-04:00

I ran for 20 minutes, non-stop. That is all.

Zeno's Greatest Hits: Paradox Remix

2009-07-06T07:29:00.000-04:00

I don't remember it happening, but two days ago I must have stubbed my big toe. Out of nowhere it started aching, with sharp pains whenever I tried to apply pressure to test to see if it still hurt. I tested it a lot, and it hurt every time. Ultimately, I decided to give myself an extra day of rest. Although yesterday would have been a weekend run (my favorite type, since I can start later and go through the park), I passed. My toe ached throughout the day, but by nightfall it seemed a bit better. This morning when I woke up it was feeling fine, so I ran. The run didn't seem to hurt it at all, so it looks like I made the right choice.

Today's running music was brought to me by The Sound of the Smiths (Deluxe Edition), an album I would highly recommend as running music with just a few exceptions*. Unfortunately, a string of those exceptions fell over the course of this run. Running to the live version of "Meat is Murder," or "Asleep"? Not so much. Hearing lowing cows and buzzsaws while running through deserted streets in the still-dark morning was an experience, but not quite the experience I was looking for. I actually looked to my left and to my right to find out where the cows were when the song began.

As far as the run itself went, it was fine. I sprayed myself down with plenty of mosquito repellent before heading out. It may have kept the mosquitos away, but it made me as sticky as flypaper and when I came home I noticed I had a legion of kamikaze gnats suck to me.

Today was Week 5, Day 2, which is the last week of "short" intervals. W5D3 features a 20 minute uninterrupted run. Whee! Today, in comparison, was just:

5 minute warmup walk
8 minute run
5 minute walk
8 minute run
5 minute walk
5 minute cooldown walk

I started anticipating Runkeeper playing the "halfway" chime, my signal to turn back, just before the half-way point of the run. When the halfway mark came and went without the chime, I figured maybe I had done the math wrong. I decided to run a bit more. I ran about half of the rest of the workout, until I was at about what I estimated to be the 3/4 mark, every step expecting to hear the half-way chime. As I ran, I mentally composed a post to the runkeeper forum. I would, in the post, talk about how the half-way chime is inconsistent and doesn't play every time. It was right about then that I recalled my last post to the runkeeper forum, just a few days prior: a post in which I suggested that they implement a half-way point chime since the app doesn't currently feature one. It's the C25kapp application that does. Argh! I turned back around and headed for home.

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*Yes, album. And let me tell you, getting the record player strapped to my arm was quite a trick. The needle kept skipping and scratching the vinyl with every step.

Week 5, Day 1

2009-07-03T08:44:00.003-04:00

I ran through the park this morning, at sun-up, since my office is closed for Independence Day today and I was able to start at a more reasonable hour. The tents are already set up for tomorrow's fireworks. We're not sure yet whether we'll go to the park to watch this year, or whether we'll just pull out lawn chairs and watch from our driveway. It's nice to live so close to the action. Today marked my second day using RunKeeper's new interval training setting. It worked very well, once again. I'm really liking what the developers have done with the app.

We are Borg

2009-07-01T07:45:00.002-04:00

Today the update to the RunKeeper app went live in the iPhone app store. I've been looking forward to this update for a while, as the developers have now added the ability to create customized intervals, complete with spoken prompts. This will now replace C25kapp for me. I tried it this morning and it seems to work quite well. I'll post a review later today if I have the opportunity. Here's the map it produced.

As for my run, it was fine. I'm now moving on to Week 5, which includes the dreaded 20 minute run on Day 3. I didn't eat so great this week, and its reflecting in my (lack of) weight loss. I gained 1.3 pounds over the weekend, and haven't shed any of it yet.

The Running Man

2009-06-24T08:49:00.003-04:00

Week 3 is done. In my first three weeks, I've dropped 10 pounds. Some of that is water-weight, and I think the figure is artificially inflated because my starting weight was probably inaccurate by a pound or two, but it is still starting to be a noticeable difference. I'm only looking to lose 1.5 - 2 pounds a week, so I'm pretty well on course. More importantly, I'm generally feeling healthier and more energized.

I'm really liking the C25k iPhone app I found - it's so much easier than all the convoluted things I was trying to do before. It posts to Facebook, which I hope is not too annoying. This morning's run, though, for some reason, failed to post.

Baby Steps

2009-06-20T09:42:00.005-04:00

Although I tried to start my run as stealthily as possible, I was spotted the moment I walked out the door this morning. A phalanx(1) of mosquitos immediately started dive-bombing at my legs. A bit further on, I was attacked by dozens(2) of abseiling caterpillars - they launched themselves off of the tree canopy, descending toward my head on their silken strings. Obviously, last week's spider has called in reinforcements. But I will not be deterred. I am now in Week 3 of C25k. I am going strong, and I have allies: My sister Sharon has mentioned that she may start C25k. And even my son, Griffin, has started. He's only 14 months old, but his progress so far has been remarkable. Last month, he was completely sedentary - not even walking at all. Then, in Week 2 of his Crawl to 5K program, he started taking a step or two, here and there. Last week, he took six steps in a row! He is doing awesome. Soon he will accompany me on my runs. First, though, we are working through the challenge of getting him to sleep through the night. Stacy and I are "ferberizing" him - a difficult and heart-breaking process that essentially involves teaching him that he cannot rely upon us to assist him during the night. When he cries in the night, we now let him cry. He's supposed to learn to put himself back to sleep. So far this has only really worked with Zoe, our oldest.(3) But we are holding out hope that Griffin may learn to sleep on his own at some point in the next few years.

Apart from the Great Bug Wars, today's run was fine. I love weekend runs through the park, because I always feel very empowered when I run by other park-goers out for morning exercise. They move slowly down the park paths, shuffling their feet. Blowing passed them makes me feel like a young lion, muscles flexing and sweat glistening. The fact that most of them are in their 70's and 80's is irrelevant.

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1. A phalanx of mosquitos is comprised of one, maybe as many as two, mosquitos.
2. I'm assuming it was dozens. I saw only one, but they're pretty sneaky.
3. It's also worked with Stacy - she, too, has learned that she cannot rely on my assistance during the night.

Still running strong

2009-06-16T23:43:00.002-04:00

Should anyone happen to wonder, I did run W2D1 and W2D2 as scheduled. W2D3 is tomorrow. I just didn't have time to blog about my runs, since my parents are in town. Hopefully something really interesting will happen on the run tomorrow, and I'll be able to post an extra-fascinating entry to make up for it. Interesting in a good way. Not in a Dan-got-hit-by-a-car way.

It's ON, Charlotte - BRING IT!

2009-06-11T06:50:00.004-04:00

I finished my first week of C25k this morning. It was an unremarkable run, yet here I am remarking on it anyway. The only thing of note that happened is that - in three separate locations over the course of two miles - I ran through spiderwebs. I hate that! I figure that either (1) this is just a simple coincidence, the type of thing that a normal person wouldn't notice or dwell upon, or (2) there is a spider out there that is seriously trying to interfere with my C25k progress. Well, let me tell you, spider, I am not "normal," and I did notice! I will not allow you, or your snail buddies, to stand in my way! Sure, I may be able to run just 60 seconds at a clip now, but you watch me - I'm done with Week 1 now, so in 48 hours I will be running for 90 seconds! That's right, 90! Let's see you try to stop me then! I hereby challenge you to a 5k, spider, to take place at dawn, in about three months or so. I'll post the specifics later.

Lockout

2009-06-09T22:17:00.005-04:00

Today's run almost didn't happen. I woke up at 4:45 AM, raring to go. I got dressed in my running gear and was out the door by 5:15. I went to lock the front door with my key, and the lock seized. It grabbed my key and wouldn't let go. I fought with it for a good 15 minutes. I wasn't willing to just leave the key in the lock, since that would be the same as just leaving the door unlocked. Our neighborhood isn't particularly unsafe, but neither did I feel comfortable leaving the house unlocked with my sleeping family inside. So, discouraged, I headed back inside and resolved to call a locksmith after sun-up. A half-hour later, I gave it another try. This time, with the help of a little WD40, I was able to free the key from the lock. I figured it was already too late to run by that point, but ultimately I decided I'd rather be late than not get in the morning run, so run I did. And it was good. I now have W1D2 of C25k under my belt. And my belt isn't quite as big as the scale reported on Day 1, either: when I weighed today I had lost 4.5 pounds from last time. That's either water-weight or, more likely, the first weight was just inaccurate. I doubt I really lost 4.5 pounds over the course of 48 hours. But - whatever - I'll take it.

I'm Baaack

2009-06-07T07:10:00.004-04:00

Whew! That was quite a little hiatus I took there. But I'm back and motivated to get back in shape. I weighed in this morning at a hefty 191.4 (pretty darn close to an all-time high), but then I slapped on my running gear and headed out the door. I started back at the beginning - Week 1Day 1 (W1D1) of C25k (Couch to 5k) - correctly figuring that any fitness progress I had made by successfully graduating from C25k two times prior had been nullified by months of sloth.

It was a relatively cool morning when I set out at 6:15, but by the time I finished up at 7:00 the sun had already crested the palm trees and it was quite humid. Not too bad, though. The 'run,' if you could call it that, was great. C25k starts out very gradual - that's the whole point of the program - and so W1D1 is mostly walking: Several intervals of running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds, sandwiched between a 5-minute warmup walk and a 5-minute cooldown walk. If you've never tried it, you should. Each week gets progressively more difficult, but the week prior has prepared you for it. By the end of the program, two months later, you can run for 5k (about 30 minutes) uninterrupted. On the two previous occasions that I finished the program, I found myself loving it but then getting injured shortly after graduation. This time, I'm going to be more careful. (Full disclosure: look back at my prior entries on this blog and you'll see a few unsuccessful, unfinished C25k efforts - last time out, I just gave up for no good reason in Week 4. This time, I'm going to see it through).

Since my girls are now out of school for the summer, I'll be able to go in to work later - I won't have to do school drop-off each morning at 7:45 - and that means I'll have the time to get in my runs. I have the time, I have the motivation, and I'm committed to see it through.

C25k? There's an app for that. I used the C25k iphone app, and it worked beautifully. It essentially automates the instructions I laid out in my "Make Your Own Kind of Music" blog post back in September of 2007, doing all the hard work for you and adding some extra bells and whistles. I highly recommend it and, if you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, I'd suggest you just disregard the complicated instructions I listed back in my earlier post and just buy the app. It's well worth it. My only quibble is that I can't use it and a GPS/map-tracker app (like runkeeper, or imapmyrun) at the same time.

All We Want to Do is Eat Your Brains*

2008-09-02T19:01:00.004-04:00

First, let's get the obvious out of the way: this blog entry is NOT about running. Not even a little. However, it's about something else that's equally near-and-dear to my heart: world peace global warming lemurs television. If you like television, too, and particularly sci-fi and fantasy television (you know, shows about things with lasers and/or that go bump in the night), you owe it to yourself to check out the Television Zombies cult TV podcast and blog. TVZ describes itself as follows:

Discussing the best science fiction and fantasy shows on television. Each week, Tina, Chris, Jeff, Jonah and special guests discuss the latest news and happenings in the world of science fiction and fantasy television, as well as review new episodes of favorite (and hated) shows. From Lost to Doctor Who to Battlestar Galactica, we look at the latest, greatest and lamest (we’re looking at you, Bionic Woman!) and give an irreverent view of new TV. Bad TV may be a brain eating monster lurking in the dusty corners of your living room, but Television Zombies are along for the fight!

I discovered TVZ about a year ago and quickly became a fan. Now, in addition to being a fan, I'm also a contributor. You can check out my first review, but I suggest you take some time to check out the site as a whole, and to listen to the podcast; it's time well spent.

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*We're not unreasonable - I mean, no one's gonna eat your eyes.

Happy Birthday, Lila!

2008-08-22T07:57:00.001-04:00

Rain Delay

2008-08-19T07:54:00.003-04:00

No running for me this morning - Tropical Storm Fay is still blustering its way through my area. Last night we had Tornado Warnings through most of the night. The rain was so heavy, at points, that at about 2:00 AM we gathered up the kids and pets and went into our "safe room." We spent a good portion of the night watching the news and listening to the rain pelting the windows. It was not fun. This morning the effects are still being seen. It looks like there was some tornado damage in areas not far from our home, but we appear to have survived unscathed thusfar. Definitely not safe to be outside running, though. I'm not yet sure whether my office will be open today. School is out, and government offices are closed.

I Feel The Need... The Need.... For Sleep!

2008-08-17T07:51:00.005-04:00

Wait, no, that's not right.

This morning I woke up raring to go. Yesterday my attempt at a morning run was thwarted by uncooperative technology: my iPhone was of the belief that it had no music or podcasts on it (SO not true, iPhone!), and it also decided to stage an impromptu app-strike - all apps kept quitting on launch. Restarting didn't cure anything, so a full restore was in order. I was all geared-up and outside and everything, but defeated I headed back in. I'll get you next time, gadget!

Today was different. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and all my tech was reporting G-for-go. Run Keeper established a GPS lock so quickly that I feared it might actually not be working. The dulcet tones of Robert Ullrey's voice piped merrily through my earphones. The run was uneventful and great.

Since RunKeeper worked well this time out, I actually have a map I can post of the run, generated in real-time as I ran. Only 2 miles, but that's W2D3 of C25k for you. As I ran, I thought about last night's Olympic Marathon and how amazing those runners are. My goals aren't nearly so lofty: I just want to get in shape.

Runs, 2. Runs Kept, 0.

2008-08-14T06:40:00.006-04:00

Whew, this morning it was a balmy 2345345 degrees outside with 34123123123% humidity! It felt like I was running through a bowl of hot jello. Or so I imagine: I've never actually tried running through hot jello...

I did W2D2, and I must say it kicked my butt just a tad. It was good to be out there, though. At the end of the run the sprinklers celebrated my arrival back home. Those things must have either a motion sensor or a sense of humor. They always get me!

I was looking forward to today's run: Now that I know about (and how to avoid) the bug I inadvertently discovered in RunKeeper that kept my run from being uploaded the other day, I was excited to have this be my first recorded RunKeeper run. Sadly, RunKeeper was unable to lock on a GPS signal the entire time. I don't blame the app, I blame the GPS of the phone. But the end result was the same: nothing recorded this go-round. Maybe next time.

We are Borg.

2008-08-12T18:35:00.003-04:00

Today I've added a bit of new tech to my run: RunKeeper, an iPhone app. I'd say it shows promise, and I'll probably wind up loving it, but right now I'm still working out a few kinks and so I recommend it but with reservation.

[EDITED TO ADD: I wrote to the author of RunKeeper with a description of the problem I was experiencing. It's a known bug that has already been squashed in an update that will be available shortly at the app-store. I now recommend RunKeeper with no reservations whatsoever - it's a great app, and well worth far more than the $9.99 being charged].

The interface is spot-on. It's exactly how I would have designed it myself. It gives a very Nike+ minute-by-minute bar graph of your run as you go. It acquired a GPS lock very quickly. Unlike Nike+, there are no audio prompts to cue you in to how far into your run you are. Your phone has to remain on for the duration, so battery life is going to be an issue (though the developer says they're working on possible solutions to make it better). For what it's worth, I ran for a half hour, starting with a full battery, and at the end of my run I was STILL showing a full battery. I was listening to music as I ran, and I would have expected a noticeable amount of battery drain. It could be that there was a glitch in the battery display.

At the end of the run, I was given the option of saving or discarding the data. I saved it, and RunKeeper is now keeping a history log of the runs (again, just like Nike+).

The big problem I'm having is that RunKeeper was supposed to automatically upload the data to their website, to display it on a map, but 10 hours later it still hasn't done so and I haven't figured out how to force it. I tried a second test and that got uploaded to the website quickly. (But still not the first one).

[EDITED TO ADD: As stated above, this is resolved in the upcoming update. Occasionally, if you quit out and then resume, the whole run's data will be viewable on your iPhone but only the portion prior to your closing out the app will upload. This morning, it happened that I quit out almost immediately, in order to start up my music].

And, interestingly, the map doesn't look super-accurate. It showed my general path, but where the road curved it mapped it out as if I was running dog-legs, as though the GPS is being polled for data points too infrequently or something along those lines. If that's the case, I question the overall accuracy of the distance it is reporting. I have an e-mail in to the developer to see what input he can give me about these issues I'm having. We'll see what he says.

[EDITED TO ADD: Per the developer, the better the GPS signal, the smoother the map tracking will look. This makes sense. I'd have thought I had a pretty good signal, given that I was out in the open, on a clear morning, but maybe it wasn't that great. I wish there was some way the iPhone could show you how many satellites you've acquired, like a dedicated GPS does...]

Running with the iPhone is actually much better than I anticipated it would be. I'm used to having my phone with me when I run, and the iPhone is a bit larger and heavier than my old phone, but not by much. I'm pretty happy with the Marware Sportsuit Convertible Armband.

As for today's run, I did W2D1. I was going to continue on with W1D2, but iTunes deleted that podcast from my iPhone and I didn't realize until I was already outside. Fortunately, I already had week 2 uploaded and so I just did that instead. And it was good.

My Sort-of-Triumphant Return

2008-08-10T11:16:00.017-04:00

Like Rocky Balboa, a cockaroach, or bad Mexican dinner (choose your metaphor), I am back! This last month away from running was just a brief intermission, prompted by my getting an iPhone. I carry my phone with me when I run, stashed in an armband, for emergencies. The new phone necessitated a new armband, and it took me a while to find the right one and then get around to ordering it. (Once I finally ordered, though, it came near-instantly: I ordered on Wednesday night, and it arrived at my doorstep on Thursday morning. I wasn't sure how that was even physically possible, until I looked at the return address: apparently Marware is located just about 20 miles from my home).

I also used the month away to see if my left knee would start feeling any better - it had been a bit achey. There was zero change after a month, and so I figure that it's probably not running-related. Since running doesn't seem to make it any worse, and not running doesn't seem to make it any better, and I enjoy running, I decided to get back on track.

As for the armband, I'm pretty ambivalent about it. It's a Marware Sportsuit Convertible. It is designed to be an all-in-one phone case. It has a belt clip attachment, or it can be used without the clip as a sleeve. It has an armband attachment. It even has a little key pocket attachment. It slices! It dices! It even plays Crysis! It's a breath mint! It's a candy! Tastes great! Less filling! ...Whatever. The belt clip seems too flimsy to trust, and I don't like the case enough to use it on a 24-hour basis as a sleeve, which means I'm going to be switching cases every other day. All in all, a minor nuisance. The armband part is super-comfortable, at least. On the bright side, the iPhone means that I no longer need to wear an ipod armband on my right arm and a phone armband on my left arm, making me just a teensy bit less geeky-looking as I run.

Since this was my first run in a month, I decided to take it very easy and just did W1D1. During the walking segments, I took a few photos of my route using the iPhone's camera. It was a morning run through the park, not a weekday-dead-as-night early morning run. No sense posting pictures from those, as they would just be black squares.

1. Leaving my development...

2. Greenacres Park, about a quarter-mile from my home. Ah, Greenacres - it's the place to be. (Official City Motto. No kidding).

3. Running through the park...

4. Some wildlife: a couple of geese, an egret (I think), a squirrel, some white birds, some ducks. Camera-shy: Snails.

That last one is near the area where I once saw a small alligator. That was several years ago. Which means the next time I see him, he'll be a big alligator....

C25k: Week 4, Day 3

2008-07-10T10:24:00.004-04:00

C25k W4D3 - snails and spiders and sprinkers, oh my! I took quite a dousing at the tail end of my run this morning. I guess my timing was off and the sprinklers came on just as I approached them. I don't mind getting wet (it's kind of nice, at the end of the run), but the sprinklers around here use lake water, which smells very sulfurous. I love the smell of sulfur in the morning. (Not really - if I wanted that, I would just stay in bed with my 14 year old gassy dog). All quibbles aside, the run went very well. On to Week 5!

Last night I finished up Week 2 of the pushup challenge. I have to take another endurance test to find out at what level I should be doing Week 3. Even the lowest level looks pretty darn intimidating...

In other news: this morning I weighed in at 179.9! I was shocked, considering what I've eaten in the last few days. Let's see: There was home-made pound cake made for me by a client. There was "Lobster Monster" sushi from Lemongrass, our favorite local restaurant. There was a big bowl of ice cream. There was brisket. I was really anticipating a weight-gain, so I'm very pleasantly surprised that I dropped .3 pounds and broke into the 170's. I should eat poorly more often! (Wait - you mean that's not how it's supposed to work?)

C25k: Week 4, Day 2

2008-07-08T09:51:00.002-04:00

I'm four weeks into C25k now, and this was my first spider run this go-round. It must be that time of year again. I must have run through spider-webs every 100 yards or so, the whole run. I was constantly picking threads off of my arms and head. Apart from that, the run went well. When I came back home, I weighed myself and I am almost back in the 170's again! (180.2 was the official number for today, so hopefully on Thursday when I next weigh I will achieve that milestone).

No Rest for the Weary

2008-07-07T08:50:00.003-04:00

Today was to be a running day, but I had a rough night and getting up at 5:00 AM to run would have meant just a few hours of sleep. So I'm using my built in "use it if you need it" extra day of rest today. I did do W2D2 of my pushup challenge last night, though.

C25k: Week 4, Day 1

2008-07-05T08:32:00.003-04:00

My run this morning was great! Not only was it a weekend run, which means I was able to go through the park in daylight, but it was also the start of Week 4, Day 1. This is one of my favorite weeks of all of C25k, because Ullrey's podcast for this week includes the song "Operator." It's the only music selection of his that wound up making its way into regular rotation on my ipod. Something about that song just gets me going. Week 4 also contains the first 5 minute run. Running for five minutes straight is, in my mind, something that separates runners from non-runners. I think that just about anyone, at practically any fitness level, can run for a minute or two or three. They may end the run wheezing and out of breath, but it can be done by the untrained. On the other hand, I think that to be able to run at a sustained pace for five minutes straight takes some degree of training. Since I was able to run for five minutes straight, twice, to me that means that I'm getting back into shape again. My weight-loss pace has slowed, and, I'm not seeing any muscle gain yet from the pushups, but running for five minutes feels like a real solid benchmark I can wrap my arms around nonetheless.

C25k: Week 3, Day 3

2008-07-03T12:21:00.005-04:00

So this is how W3 ends, not with a bang but a whimper. My W3D3 run this morning was pleasant and uneventful. There were a few unpleasant crunching sounds under foot at various points, which doubtlessly means that the snails must have been out in force, but it was too dark to see them. Yesterday, I finally remembered to change out the battery on my arm-band, so this morning it was glowing cheerily once again. It's this cool thin armband that looks reflective-yellow when unlit and that glows like a bright orange glowstick when powered up.

The best thing about being done with Week 3 of C25k is I don't have to run to that annoying "My love is your love, and your love is mine" techno song Robert Ullrey chose to play during most of Week 3. Ugh. I can hear it echoing in my head, even now. (You know, I think I might have said something very similar in my blog entry for the end of week 3, the second time I did C25k. At least I'm consistent).

Last night I finished up week 1 of the Pushup Challenge. On the one hand, I'm skeptical that doing pushups for just a few minutes, three times a week, is going to have any visual impact on my physique. On the other hand, at the beginning of the week I struggled to do 7 pushups in a row and by the end of the week I was able to do 13, only struggling on the last 3. I guess that means I must be getting better, stronger, faster - right?

C25k: Week 3, Day 2

2008-07-01T08:53:00.003-04:00

Today was W3D2 of C25k and, as my 8 year old daughter would now say, "all is well." (She's started wearing a digital wristwatch. Every few minutes, she announces the time to anyone nearby. After hearing her do it for an hour or so, it started getting a little old. So I decided to have some fun with it: I've told her that whenever she feels compelled to announce the time, she needs to also say "...and all is well." I don't know that anyone besides me thinks it is funny, but I get a kick out of having my own personal town crier).

The only thing really unusual about this run was that it seemed shorter. Not in terms of time, though - I just didn't go as far. Maybe I was taking shorter strides, or moving more slowly? It didn't feel like it, though. I started at 5:30 and was done by just after 6 AM.

I also did Day 2 of the pushup challenge last night. It was a total of about 35 or so push-ups, separated into intervals with 90 second rests throughout. I was feeling a bit sore from the first day's round of push-ups, especially in my upper pecs (whatever those may be called - the area right below the clavicle?) My arms weren't hurting nearly as much. I guess my arms are stronger than my chest, currently, and so my chest has more catching up to do?

In terms of weight, I'm still trending downward at a rate of about 1.7 pounds a week, which is pretty much right on target. I dropped .7 pounds since the last time I weighed (on Sunday), which means I am now down to 182.2.

I'm thinking about starting to do crunches, but I'd like to find something equivalent to C25k or the Hundred Pushup Challenge. Anyone know of anything similar, for crunches or situps?

Before: 183-pound weakling

2008-06-29T12:11:00.003-04:00

I figured that since I'm now serious about getting in shape, it might be fun to have some Before and After pictures. Technically, I suppose I should have taken the Before picture at the start of C25k. I'm already in Week 3, and have lost nearly 10 pounds already. But close enough, right? Hopefully, I'll be able to post an "After" picture at the end of C25k and the Hundred Pushups Challenge that looks substantially different.

C25k: Week 3, Day 1

2008-06-29T09:51:00.003-04:00

I now have W3D1 under my belt. Since today is a Sunday, I did this as a park run. I misjudged the time just a bit, though, and by the time I woke up and had my running gear on it was already almost fully light outside. That's a bit of a problem when you live in Florida, in late June. It was a few minutes to 7 AM, and it was already bright, hot, and humid. I think today is gearing up to be a scorcher. I enjoyed the run, nonetheless. This time through, I've been feeling it in my knees more than anywhere else. Nothing too painful, thankfully.

It's funny how time alters perception. I remember my first time through C25k - at the beginning of week three, I thought that I'd never be able to run for three whole minutes without stopping. But I also remember looking back at week three from the end of the program and thinking "ha! Three minutes? That's nothing!" Now, here I am once again, looking at that same three minute run and thinking that it is quite an imposing hurdle. But I did it today, and so I'm proud of myself. And I'm looking forward to doing it again on Day 2. More than that, though, I'm looking forward to the fact that in a few short weeks I'll be looking back at the three minute runs of week three and thinking how laughably short they are.

In other Dan Health News: Yesterday I started with the Hundred Pushups program I mentioned in my prior post. It begins with a test of the maximum number of pushups you can do, to set a baseline and determine at what level of the program you should begin. I was only able to do 7 measly pushups before collapsing. That put me in the second tier. Then, a few hours later, I started W1D1 of the program: with 60 second breaks in between each, I did: 7 pushups, 7 pushups, 5 pushups, 4 pushups, and 8 pushups. I thought I'd be feeling it in my arms or chest today, but I'm really not. It so reminded me of that classic pushups scene from the beginning of "Stripes," with Bill Murray and Harold Ramis:

I bet you can't do five pushups.

Five pushups?

I got $10 says I can do five pushups.

Okay, let's go. Five good ones. Come on.

- Not Marine pushups.
- No, simple pushups.

I've never heard bones creak like that.

That's none.

- I'm praying.
- You ought to.

Let's go. There's a time limit here.

He's almost set. He's eyeing that rug.

And that's one. All right. He's off. He's moving now.

That's two. Not that good though.

That's three.

I think you're ready for the Special Olympics.

That's three.

- That's four.
- Four.

I was testing you.

And here goes five. Will he do it?

Congratulations. You just doubled your money.

I gotta get in shape. I gotta dry out, or I'll be dead before I'm 40. The Army's my only chance.

C25k: Week 2, Day 3

2008-06-27T06:22:00.002-04:00

Another week down! Not much to comment on for this run. I woke. I ran. I blogged. It was good.

C25k: Week 2, Day 2

2008-06-25T06:48:00.003-04:00

I originally planned to run W2D2 yesterday, rather than today. Like the two previous times I've done C25k, I am sticking to an every-other-day schedule rather than a 3-times-a-week schedule. That way, if there is ever a scheduled day in any given week I can't run, I am still technically on-schedule. It's kind of like having one free pass each week. Yesterday, I had to use that free pass: doing laundry until 1:00 AM the night before meant I was just too tired to get out of bed at 4:45 to start getting ready for the run. I got up, shut off the clock, and went back to bed until 6:30 AM. Today, Wednesday, I got back on track and did W2D2. The run was fine. A few barking dogs took interest in me, but thankfully all were leashed or fenced. Otherwise, the roads were pretty unpopulated.

Last time through C25k, I tried but didn't really succeed at adding a strength-training routine to my running schedule. I think part of the problem was that C25k provides a great graduated structure, but I didn't really have anything similar to follow for an upper-body workout. I've now found what I think will be perfect: http://hundredpushups.com - I'm excited to start with it tomorrow.

C25k: Week 2, Day 1: Cracks in the Pavement

2008-06-22T09:58:00.005-04:00

Today was my first weekend run. I rolled out of bed at about 6:45 AM (I got to sleep in!) and was on the road by 7. It was already fully light, but not yet too hot. Perfect running weather. I sprayed myself down with bugspray (we've had a lot of rain lately) and headed off to the park. This was my first run through the park in about a year. It's funny how it has changed during the course of a year in minor but noticeable ways: the palm trees are a bit bigger and more covered with spanish moss and kudzu, there's a bit more graffiti, and there are a few places where tree roots have begun to buckle the running path, pushing it up from underneath. I wonder what it will look like in a few more years if it is let go? I guess the park and I share a bit in common: we're both a little more overgrown, and we both a few new wrinkles, but we're still holding it together for the most part.

The run itself was fine: Week 2 always seems easier than week 1: tacking on 30 seconds to each run isn't hardly anything, and the intervals between the runs are longer (2 minutes, as opposed to the first week's 90 seconds) and there are only 6 runs rather than the first week's 8. I am really anxious to get back to the uninterrupted runs that comprise the final weeks of the C25k routine, but I know that my body is not ready for me to jump right back to that. Slow and steady wins the race.

C25k: Week 1, Day 3

2008-06-20T06:22:00.003-04:00

In order to write this post, I first had to set the WayBack Machine to Friday, June 20: Although I ran on Friday as scheduled, I didn't have the opportunity to post until Sunday morning (which is now).

W1D3 concluded well; I'd say it was the easiest of the three runs this week. Not much to report. I'm looking forward to my first weekend run, which will take me back through the park route and which will be the first run of Week 2. After this run, I weighed in at 185.7, so I'm moving in the right direction.

C25k: Week 1, Day 2

2008-06-18T08:40:00.003-04:00

I now have W1D2 under my belt. I felt a little sore yesterday, which is to be expected, but it didn't prevent me from getting out there this morning. It was a perfect morning for running: low humidity and mostly clear skies. It was fully dark when I set out, and the sky was just starting to lighten when I returned home. I went out to walk the dog a half-hour later and it had started to drizzle. I looked up and saw a beautiful full-arc rainbow crossing over the route I had just run. I'll take that as a sign that I'm back on the right track.

C25k: Week 1, Day 1 - third time's a charm

2008-06-16T08:56:00.005-04:00

I rolled out of bed this morning, geared up, and hit the road just as dawn was starting to break. The run felt great! I could really feel it in my calves. I'm looking forward to feeling sore tomorrow. Right now, I feel like I have a spring in my step, and I'm so glad to be back on the path to good health. It was good to hear Robert Ullrey's voice again, giving me encouragement through my headphones as I ran.

When I weighed myself after running (which was -- is -- my normal routine), my weight was 188.6. I assume that my weight last night of 194.5 was a false reading, artificially high due to it being post-dinner and taken at the end of the day. Still, seeing the drop first thing this morning was nice.

Hit the Road, Jack

2008-06-15T20:08:00.001-04:00

After a long hibernation, I am back and motivated to get back into shape. I'll be restarting C25k from the beginning. For all those keeping score, this will be my third time through C25k. I've graduated each of the other two times, and I intend to do the same this time around. Only this time, after I graduate I'll keep on going. And going. And going. Unlike the second time, where I completed it but didn't lose any weight, this time (like the first time) I plan on keeping to a better diet so hopefully I'll be shedding some pounds: My weight is 194.5, which is just about as heavy as I've ever been. My sportbrain needs a new battery, as does my Nike+. But I'm not going to let lack of tech keep me off the road. I figure I can pick up a new battery for the former at CVS tomorrow. Getting a replacement battery for the Nike+ is a bit more problematic as I think I may have to send the whole unit in, or something like that.

Where for art Me?

2007-10-05T08:24:00.000-04:00

So, since graduating C25k on September 23, I've run precisely one time. What's up with that, you ask? I'm asking myself the same thing. It's mostly just a combination of unusually bad weather (we've had a spate of torrential downpours of late), my wanting to baby my left ankle until it stops tweaking, and my having a bad late-summer cold. The cold is in full bloom, but my ankle is better and the rain seems to have moved on. I expect I'll start HHST on Tuesday, three weeks later than expected.

It's a Small World, After All

2007-09-30T12:56:00.000-04:00

This weekend I went to Orlando on business. My family joined me. On Friday they went to the Magic Kingdom while I attended a workshop. I joined them at the park about an hour before it closed. Before the workshop, I woke up early to run. Stacy wasn't crazy about my running in the dark in a strange area, so I agreed to just run on the hotel treadmill. I did, and it wasn't that bad. In fact, I kind of liked it. I'm still feeling it in my upper legs. Not so much in my calves, but more more in my quads than normal. It was very difficult to pace myself - I think I went farther and faster than I do when running outside. Between running in the morning and walking in the park at night, I got in about 21,000 steps: roughly double what I'd normally do on a running day. By the end of the day, my ankle was hurting a bit. Then, on Saturday, we went to Epcot. It was a great way to spend the weekend, and a nice precursor to starting HHST this Tuesday.

The Three R's

2007-09-26T09:34:00.000-04:00

Rain, rest, and reluctance. I haven't yet started my post-C25k adventures. Tuesday was to have been my first day of HHST, but I had to be in court in Ft. Lauderdale early in the morning so that precluded my early morning run. Since the Hal Higdon Spring Training program is a more structured program than C25k, with the long run always falling on a weekend, I didn't want to offset the days and instead decided to just put everything off for a week and use Tuesday as an extra day of rest and maybe do some light maintenance runs this week. This decision was reinforced by the fact that my left ankle and shin have been bothering me again (just a bit - don't worry, mom!), and I definitely don't want to overdo it this time 'round. Fortunately, it has rained each morning so far this week, so I feel like I have an extra excuse for not being out there running. If the weather improves, I may do some light running tomorrow, go for a walk on Saturday, and do 3 miles on Sunday, and then I'll be in good shape to begin HHST next week.

C25k: Week 9, Day 3 -- Graduation!

2007-09-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

Today, with a run through the park, I wrapped up this go-round of C25k. Go me! It sounds funny to say it, but graduating from C25k is just as meaningful, to me, as graduating from high school, or college, or law school. I'm really pleased with the goal I set for myself, and with the fact that I was able to achieve it. Now, the trick is going to be continuing on and not hurting myself this time.

I figure I should take this opportunity to reflect on how this time through the program was different than my first time. For one thing, I didn't lose any weight this time through. Then again, I'm only 6 pounds above my goal weight. When I started the first time, I had 30 pounds to lose. So, on the whole, I'm pretty content on that front. As I continue running and my distance increases, I'm sure I'll shed those last few pounds.

Another difference has to be soreness. This time, there really wasn't any. I didn't ice after runs, because I didn't feel the need to. The day following a run, I felt fine. I suspect this is a sign that I could add another day to my running schedule. In fact, I think I am going to do just that: I'm still vacillating between doing the "One Hour Runner" versus Hal Higdon's "Spring Training for Novice Runners," but I think I'm leaning toward the latter. It includes runs on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, a Saturday walk, and a Sunday long run. I really like the fact that it uses both Saturday and Sunday, since I much prefer to exercise in daylight. The thing I don't quite understand, yet, is what to do if I miss a day. Do I just skip it? Or do I shift everything over by a day?

C25k: Week 9, Day 2

2007-09-22T18:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my penultimate C25k run. My office was closed, so I didn't have to do it as an early-morning run, but I woke up early nonetheless so I could go see my daughters perform in their school's "Peace Day" celebration. Lila sang a song ("One Small Voice") with her class, and Zoe read a poem about peace - each in front of 600+ other students. It was an awesome start to the day. I'm registered as a school volunteer, so I was able to sit in on Zoe's morning class and I participated in her class routine, which included morning exercises. Lots of jumping jacks and moves that looked suspiciously like they originated from the Electric Slide. It was a good warmup.

After the Peace Day festivities and some errand running, I finally got around to running at about 3 PM, making this the first time I've ever done an afternoon run. Normally I steer clear of those, because of the heat. Determined, I went out nevertheless. I'm glad I did: it was a good run. The most notable part definitely was running down 10th Avenue North, which I've taken to calling "creepycrawly alley" in my mind since that's where I always run into the spider webs, and see the snails, during my early morning runs. In the late afternoon, there were no such creepy crawlies to be found. There were, however, literally hundreds of little lizards. Little lizards are a common part of South Florida fauna, and normally I don't give them a second thought. This run, though, I couldn't help but notice them: they were everywhere! The sound of my running must have disturbed them, because as I progressed down the sidewalk they would run from the swale, across the width of the sidewalk just inches in front of me, until they reached the other side where they would jump into the bushes. It was truly an amazing sight. I amused myself by pretending I was a T-Rex, my arms loose at my sides in standard jogging form like little T-Rex arms, and that the lizards were tiny velociraptors running in fear from me. It made for a really fun run.

C25k: Week 9, Day 1

2007-09-19T08:31:00.000-04:00

Today has only just begun, but it already is replete with milestones. Today's Week 9, Day 1 run pushed me over the 100-mile mark for miles run thus far this year (for my runs tracked on Running Ahead - my total mileage is more like 144 miles, if I count all runs starting from W1D1 of my first time through C25k). It also means that I have now entered a new city on my virtual Route 66 road trip. Funk's Grove, Illinois, look out! Daniel Terner is in town, tearing up the pavement!

Another milestone today: my weight jumped up 3 pounds since the last time I checked, putting me pretty much right back where I was when I started this go-round of C25k. But we won't talk about that one, will we?

Rain Delay

2007-09-18T08:27:00.000-04:00

C25k W9D1 will have to wait one more day: this morning featured little rain but heavy and frequent lightning. I decided not to run in it. The storm reached its height at about 3 AM. By 5 AM, when I'd be heading out, it had almost fully passed - just very occasional flashes in the distance - but I still decided not to chance it. Good thing, too: a quick search on Google this morning pulled up lots of news stories about ipod-wearing joggers being struck by lightning while running. This quote, in particular, stood out to me:

His eardrums were ruptured, his jaw fractured and he suffered first- and second-degree burns from his chest — where the device was strapped — up into his ear channels, along the trail of the iPod’s trademark white earphones. He also had burns down his left leg and on the foot, where the electricity exited his body, blowing his sneaker to smithereens in the process.

The decision not to run gave me a little bit of extra time this morning. As it turns out, I needed that time to deal with a flat tire on my car. So all is well, and Week 9 will begin tomorrow.

No Sleep for the Weary

2007-09-17T15:14:00.000-04:00

No C25k run for me this morning. David had a rough night. He's teething, and on top of that he has a cold and is congested. He was up every hour or so. Poor little guy! He's getting six new teeth at once. It has left him out of sorts, and the cold isn't helping him feel any better. Stacy took the brunt of it last night but it left me exhausted, as well. I decided getting an extra hour of sleep was preferable to waking up at 4:30 for a run. On the bright side, it means that when I finish C25k it'll be with a weekend park run this Saturday.

C25k: Week 8, Days 2 and 3

2007-09-16T13:39:00.001-04:00

Another 2fer blog entry. This was a great week of C25k for me. By pushing my Day 2 run forward a day, I was able to have two daylight runs this week: Day 2 on Thursday morning, and Day 3 on Saturday morning. I was able to do both as park runs, which I really love. The Day 3 run was an especially good one: Rather than any feeling of running in place, this last time I actually felt like I was propelling myself forward. My pace was no different, my gait was no different; as far as I can tell I did nothing different. It just felt better, like everything was finally clicking into place.

Also, I learned on my W8D3 run that I am not observant AT ALL. I have been going the same way literally dozens of times between this time through C25k and the last. This time, for the first time, I noticed a 7+ foot cactus growing wild right on the side of the road, inches from where I always pass. I know it didn't sprout over night, nor was it planted by someone. So how on earth have I never seen it before? It's not like these things are common and easy to overlook where I live. What's up with that? I guess I've always been distracted when passing by it, every other time?

In other running news, I have joined a group on Facebook devoted to running. The group was started by someone participating in the same Cool Running support-group thread in which I participate. I can definitely see how it will be a great resource for us and I look forward to being an active member of the community, post-C25k. Also, since joining facebook to become a member of that group, I've located and "reunited" with several long-lost high school and college friends I haven't heard from in 10-15 years. We're having fun catching up, and I've discovered that some of them are runners, too.

Rest Day

2007-09-12T08:26:00.000-04:00

I didn't run today, intentionally. I wanted to give my left leg an extra day of rest, since it is the one that was starting to bother me in my last run, and it is also my left ankle that fractured (sprained?), last time around right after C25k graduation. As I get closer to graduation again, and the same amount of intensity and mileage that caused the problem the first time around, I find myself becoming increasingly paranoid that the same thing will happen again. Of course, this time through I've been wearing the right type of running shoes for my feet instead of off-the-shelf "these look nice" sneakers. Hopefully that will make a difference. The other benefit to not running today is that tomorrow I am off work and so will be able to do a sunrise park run.

C25k: Week 8, Day 1

2007-09-10T09:30:00.000-04:00

Despite the title of my blog, very seldom do I have dreams about running. In fact, I don't think I've ever had one. Last night was an exception:

My morning began at 3:30 AM, a full hour before the early alarm went off. At that point, for some reason, I started sleepwalking. I sat bolt upright in bed then started across the room for my running kit. Luckily, my moving about the room woke up Stacy and she asked me what I was doing. I crawled back into bed and fell back to sleep until the first alarm, at 4:30 AM. In that hour, I had dreams about running. I dreamt that I went downstairs with my running kit, and that I took it out onto the back patio where I proceeded to get undressed, outdoors. Nobody was about. I changed into my running clothes and did some stretching out on the back patio. I remember putting on a blue Superman-emblem shirt (that I never wear while running), but I don't think I put on any running shorts. My parents came around and we talked about how impressed they were with my getting up early despite not being a morning person. By that time it was sunrise (in the dream) and I started out for my run. I ran my normal route. I recall feeling that the run was unusually difficult, but uneventful. On the way back, I felt like I was moving very slowly. At one point I stumbled. Other than that, the dream run went well. I woke up feeling exhausted, just in time for my real run to begin.

Out of curiosity, I tried looking up the interpretation of dreams about running. Most of them talk about running from something, or running to something. They talk about fear, and pursuit. My dream wasn't really characterized by any of those things, though. It was just me, running my normal route. Not toward something, or from something. No sense of fear or dread or pursuit. I don't think there necessarily was any deeper significance to the dream, though it did seem to have a residual effect on the quality of my actual run this morning.

My real run was almost what I'd categorize as a "bad" run: I felt like I was pushing it the whole way and I never got into any sort of zone. At some points I seriously considered stopping and walking. My calves, and even the soles of my feet, were burning. At one point I thought I might be courting a shin splint. I perservered, slowly, and when the run finally ended and I started my cooldown walk I felt like I was walking at the same speed I had been running. Some runs it just feels like I'm not really propelling myself forward - that all of my energy is going vertically, none horizontally - this was one of those. Regardless, I finished it. I wore pants. I didn't stumble. So, in my book, it was still a good run.

C25k: Week 7, Days 2 and 3

2007-09-08T14:19:00.000-04:00

I didn't blog about my last run, but run I did. It was a fine, uneventful pre-dawn run made more enjoyable because I was using my own custom playlist with time prompts spoken by Mrs. Roboto. With the completion of that run and today's Day 3 run earlier this morning, I'm now officially on Week 8!

Since this morning's run (W7D3) was a weekend run, I waited until sunrise and ran through the park. It was relatively cool, with low humidity - perfect running weather. I didn't see many other people - just a couple of geriatric racquetball early risers and a few dog walkers, but wildlife abounded: squirrels, turtles, egrets, ducks, geese, and - oh, yes - snails and spiders, too. Some roadkill, too, but that doesn't really count, does it? Fat black bumblebee-like bugs were hovering in the area at one point in the run: I'm not really sure what they were, but we kept our distance from each other. I felt like some kind of bizarro Snow White (only, you know, more manly), with woodland creatures all about me. Just as I finished my cooldown walk, the Chariots of Fire theme started playing on my nano, and so, inspired by it, I ran the short distance remaining back home.

Overslept

2007-09-05T08:25:00.000-04:00

No run for me this morning. I overslept. I heard the first alarm, at 4:30, but slept right through the "real" one at 4:45. I awoke, bleary-eyed, at 5:30. Still early for a non-running day (when I sleep in 'till 6:00 -- ooh), but too late to begin. I don't feel too broken up about it since I've been doing my C25k running every-other-day instead of three times a week. Looks like tomorrow will be a running day, instead.

C25k: Week 7, Day 1

2007-09-04T15:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's run was the first run of Week 7. As I recall from last time, weeks 7-9 really fly by. I feel like I'm in the home stretch, now, and I'm so glad to be done with the interval running. Instead of running to the C25k Ullrey podcast, this time I used my own playlist (with the DINGs and spoken prompts) and it worked flawlessly. Yay! I actually didn't mind the computerized voice. Makes it seem like my nano is one step closer to sentience, though, which is a little freaky.

Make Your Own Kind of Music

2007-09-01T08:12:00.004-04:00

I wrote this entry in September of 2007. The instructions still work, but you might want to check out this more recent post that gives some easier alternatives. It also contains a link to a new-and-improved version of the Visual Basic script mentioned below. -- Dan, 7/26/09

Today's blog entry is a bit different. I'm not going to post about my Couch to 5k run for Week 6 Day 3 (it went well. No spiders or snails to dodge, no sprinklers to avoid - what more could I ask for?).

Instead, I've decided to post some detailed instructions that explain how to make your very own C25k running music, including interval notifications. I'll boil it down to two simple steps. (Each step has 37 parts). Note that you can do either step, or both steps. If you do step one alone, then you'll wind up with a playlist of good running music. If you do step two alone, then you'll wind up with a playlist of maybe-good running music that contains interval reminders. If you do steps one and two together, you'll wind up with a playlist of good running music that contains interval reminders.

The steps, in brief:

1. Create a playlist on iTunes that consists just of the running music that you want. You can make this a regular old playlist, if you like, but why not mix things up and make it a "smart" playlist instead? Below I explain how to do that.

2. Add interval notifications to your playlist. You'll have to make a different playlist for each week of C25k, because the intervals change each week (and in weeks 5 and 6 they change by the day, too). If you are lazy, and like Robert Ullrey's choice of techno-heavy music selections, then use his podcast and your work is done. I suggest that you use his podcast, but when week 6 rolls around and you start doing the uninterrupted runs (and thereafter, continuing on after "graduation"), ditch his music and use the method described below.

Okay - here we go with the more detailed instructions:

A. HOW TO CREATE A SMART PLAYLIST USING iTUNES:

(These instructions created for Windows iTunes version 7.3.2.6)

1. From the File menu, choose "New Smart Playlist" (Cntrl-Alt-N).

2. Select the tick box up top, to say "match ALL of the following rules"

3. Down below, select "Limit to 25 items selected by RANDOM" (or more, or less, depending upon how long you want your list to be).
4. Select "Match only checked items"
5. Select "Live Updating"
6. Now add your conditions, to indicate to iTunes which songs in your library should be chosen. I have the following conditions, but your mileage and taste may vary:

Playlist is NOT Slow Songs (This, for me, is key. I have a separate non-smart playlist called Slow Songs. If I hear a song from my list that I think is not suitable running music, I put it in the Slow Songs playlist. iTunes will exclude any songs found on the Slow Songs playlist when randomly selecting songs for my Smart Jogging playlist).
My Rating is ***** (Common sense reminder: If you are going to use ratings (you should), you need to actually rate your songs. If you don't rate anything, but you require your smart playlist to include only four- and five-star songs, you'll get a playlist with nothing on it).
Podcast is FALSE
Kind IS NOT Audible File
Genre IS NOT Audiobook
Genre IS NOT Children's Music
Genre IS NOT Easy Listening
Genre IS NOT Jazz
Genre IS NOT Spoken Word
Genre IS NOT Inspirational
Genre IS NOT A Capella

I have a couple of others (like Artist IS NOT Yanni) that I use, as well. But who knows - maybe you love running to Yanni. More power to you.

7. Give your new Smart Playlist a title. I use "Smart Jogging"

B. ADD INTERVALS TO YOUR NEW RUNNING PLAYLIST

Taking the following steps will add audible "DING" chimes within your new smart playlist (or any ol' dumb playlist, for that matter), in the intervals you specify. For example, I wanted to prepare an interval playlist for a 25 minute run with a 5 minute warmup walk at the beginning and a 5 minute cooldown walk at the end. To do so, I created a script with intervals of 5, 12.5, 7.5, 4, 1, 5. This puts an audible DING after the first five minutes, after 12.5 minutes (the half-way point of the run), another 7.5 minutes later (20 minutes into the run) to signify there are five minutes remaining, 4 minutes after that (to signify one minute remaining), one minute after that (to signify that the run is done and the cooldown walk should begin) and finally 5 minutes after that, to signify the end of the cooldown walk and workout. I take no credit for making the script that does this - all credit goes to Jeff Welch. His Team in Training page is where I found the instructions that follow with regard to the DING intervals. Pay his site a visit and follow the instructions on it to set up the iTunes DING script. As per his instructions:

Download his script file. (Or, download Scott Gould's improved version. Scott improved the script to allow for an initial playlist of any size. The improved version starts adding songs to the running playlist from a random location, randomly selecting a start song from the playlist so that you don't have to hear the same music again and again. If the start song is at the end of the list then it loops back to the start of the playlist. - Dan, 7/26/09)
Unzip to your desktop.
Add the "Ding.mp3" sound file to iTunes.
Create a playlist that you want to use (or select an existing one, like the smart playlist you created following the guidelines listed above).
Inside the "iTunes Runners Playlist" double click the "CreateRunnersPlayList.vbs"
Give it the name of the playlist you just created.
Give it the pattern you desire.

Example, for a 25 minute run with a 5 minute walk bookending either side:

5,12.5,7.5,4,1,5

Example, for week 1 of C25k, which consists of a 5 minute walk, 8 repetitions of 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking, and then a 5 minute cooldown walk:

5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,1,1.5,5

After running his script, you'll have a new playlist called *Smart Jogging (assuming the playlist you were working from was called Smart Jogging).

With both of the above examples, five minutes into the playlist the song then playing will stop, you'll hear a DING, and the next song on your playlist will begin playing.

Of course, all of these dings are ridiculously hard to keep track of as you are running. So I took it a step further, and I have created spoken voice prompts to accompany each ding. These short spoken MP3s can be manually added to your playlist after each DING Jeff's script inserts. The spoken MP3s say things like "5 minutes remaining", "half-way point", "begin your cooldown walk", "one minute left," etc. A much easier approach would simply be to use the Nike+ system, but Nike+ works only with an iPod nano, and these instructions don't require a nano (or even an iPod for that matter - any MP3 player will do).

The spoken-voice files I made are:

BEGIN WARMUP WALK - "Begin your warmup walk now"
WARMUP OVER - "Your warmup walk is over"
HALFWAY POINT - "Half-way there"
5 MINS LEFT - "Five minutes remaining"
1 MIN LEFT - "One minute remaining"
BEGIN COOLDOWN - "Begin your cooldown walk"
DONE - "All done - congratulations"

Plus a few more generic ones:

BEGIN WALKING - "Begin walking now"
STOP WALKING - "Stop walking now"
BEGIN RUN - "Begin your run now"
STOP RUNNING - "Stop running now"

You can download them HERE. Sorry about the funky computerized voice. My microphone wasn't working well, so I used a text-to-speech synthesizer. It sounds better than Stephen Hawking, and worse than HAL. It is fine for my purposes. Hopefully, for yours too. I actually kind of like it.

Next, import these spoken cues (or make your own, if you don't like mine) into iTunes. Import them by selecting "Add File to Library..." (Cntrl+O) from the File menu of iTunes. There are 11 voice files, plus the DING file you previously added. Once you've imported them into your library, select and drag them over to your *Smart Jogging playlist.

Once you have them in your *Smart Jogging playlist (they'll all be down at the bottom), just drag each one to put it after the appropriate DING. See the picture below for an example of how I have my 25 minute run set up.

Note that the files are of very short duration, just a few seconds each. If you have "crossfade playback" enabled in your iTunes preferences you may find that they bleed together a bit too much for your liking. Adjust to taste. I turned off crossfade playback entirely, and that seems to work best for me.

Please be aware that Jeff's script changes the stop time of some of the songs on your playlist. If your first two songs have play times of 2:30 minutes and 2:40 minutes and you've specified your first interval to last for 5 minutes, for example, then the second song will be cut 10 seconds short so the DING can play at the 5 minute mark, and then the next song will begin. To reclaim your lost 10 seconds, you need to run the second script that he included in his file. It sets things back. Before running it (he calls it UndoCreateRunnersPlaylist, and it is the second script he included in his zip archive), first delete the spoken voice prompts you added to the playlist. Also, be aware that the script will work on the entire playlist you choose - so if you have a playlist that is 60 minutes long, and your script calls for 35 minutes worth of intervals, it will run (almost) two times down the list.

If things get messed up, or for some reason his undo script doesn't work right for you, you can always manually reset the stop times of any affected songs. Do so by (1) right-clicking on the song; (2) select Get Info...; (3) click "Options"; (4) untick the "stop-time" box.

Also, it should go without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that you should use caution before unzipping any files and/or running any visual basic scripts. I've looked at Jeff's script and it is perfectly innocuous, and his zip file and mine are virus free. However, you can never be too careful. Use your virus scanner of choice, just to be on the safe side. I cannot be held responsible if his script causes a llama to eat your monitor, or something else unexpected along similar lines.

If you take the time to set this up, and you like it, please let me know by commenting on this blog entry!

C25k: Week 6, Day 2

2007-08-30T09:16:00.000-04:00

Today is a milestone: it is the last day in the Couch to 5k program that includes intervals of walking and running. Today's routine was:

5 minute warmup walk
10 minute run
3 minute walk
10 minute run
5 minute cooldown walk

From here on out it is solid running, straight through. Still with the warmup and cooldown though, of course. I'm glad to say goodbye to the intervals, because I find that when there is a walking segment a few minutes away I focus on it and it is harder to keep running. If running for a good long uninterrupted stretch of time, I'm better able to "zone" and the minutes fly by. It also means that I'll be able to move away from the C25k podcast and start running to my own music again. My first time through C25k I religiously listened to every second of the podcasts. This time, since I know the routine and what is said, I know I'm not going to be missing anything if I listen to my own music for 25 minutes, rather than Robert's.

From the Cool Running website, it looks like changes are afoot and that there is an impending corporate takeover. It may be that they will start charging for access to the C25k plan, which I think is a crazy idea. Hopefully, rational minds will prevail. Good thing I have the C25k plan reproduced in one of my first blog entries, and the One Hour Runner reproduced as well...

Update: It's been a few entries since I blogged about my run-ins with spider webs. Don't for a second think that this means that I haven't been running into webs. Rest assured, it is still happening with regularity. Twice on this morning's run, in fact. Nothing quite like this, though. Glad I don't live in Texas...

Seriously - I think I may have to start running along the beach. At least I wouldn't have to deal with all the webs, then. Then again, maybe that's not such a good idea, either.

C25k: Week 6, Day 1

2007-08-28T08:42:00.000-04:00

Today's run coincided with the total lunar eclipse. The eclipse started right about when I did and reached its height right as I was concluding.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth, and moon line up (in that order) in such a way that the earth's shadow falls against the full moon. It's not as visually stunning as a solar eclipse (earth-moon-sun, with the moon blocking the light of the sun), which is the astronomical equivalent of you (the earth) holding out your arm and blocking the sun's light with your thumb (the moon). Still, I'll take it - it was a fun distraction during the run, and unlike a solar eclipse you don't need to worry about blinding yourself while watching it. Incidentally, all lunar eclipses are also solar eclipses - if you are standing on the moon looking at the sun, that is. This whole thing got me to thinking about the difference between a lunar eclipse and the "new moon" phase of the moon, and whether they are the same thing. Turns out, they are not: The PHASES of the moon are caused strictly by the percentage of lunar surface illuminated by the sun. That in turn is determined by where the moon is in its orbit around us. On the other hand, a lunar ECLIPSE happens when Earth is directly between the sun and moon, thereby throwing a shadow across the lunar surface. Got it? There will be a quiz tomorrow.

The best part was coming back inside the house, at 5:55 AM, to wake up Zoe and Lila. I told Zoe about the lunar eclipse and explained it to her, and she ran to the window so excited to see it. She went from sleep to awe in 20 seconds.

The run itself was great - back to intervals again for this one and the next, but the third day of the week is an uninterrupted 25 minute run: something to look forward to.

C25k: Week 5, Day 3

2007-08-27T10:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was The Dreaded W5D3, and it was fine. To date, all of the C25k "runs" have actually been intervals of running and walking. Yesterday, however, was the first uninterrupted 20 minute run of the program. I did it, and it was great! 20 minutes is not quite a marathon, I know, but it still feels like an accomplishment. I feel like I'm entering the home stretch of C25k. I really prefer the uninterrupted runs to the intervals that characterize the first half of the program. It also means that I'm nearer to the point that I can switch over to my own music rather than using the C25k podcast for the spoken interval prompts.

C25k: Week 5, Day 2

2007-08-24T16:49:00.000-04:00

Another early morning run. It is starting to become a habit again, which is good. Wake up with the first alarm, at 4:25 AM. Turn off the alarm, go back to sleep until the second alarm at 4:45 AM. Go downstairs with my running kit (my shoebox containing all my running paraphernalia - shoes, clothes, reflectors, electronics, etc) and get dressed while watching 15 minutes or so worth of backlogged shows on the downstairs TiVo. This week I'm making my way through a recent "Doctor Who" episode, 15 minutes per day. Head out the door by 5:00 AM. Do the run, back in the door by 6 AM. Wake up the girls, get showered, load up the car and take them to school by 7:00 AM. Lather, rinse, repeat.

During my run this morning I noticed that the reflective/LED armband I wear on my right arm is dying. It is very hard to see it glow now - it used to have a bright neon glow visible even in daylight when turned on. Even if the lights go out completely, it will still be reflective. Nonetheless, I think I'll try to pick up a replacement at Sports Authority. I'm pretty sure that's where I got this one from.

Now, with Day 2 behind me, the uninterrupted 20-minute run of Day 3 is dead ahead. I can't wait! Speaking of wait - my weight was 172.1 this morning, so I'm headed back in the right direction again. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep the momentum going.

C25k - Week 5, Day 1

2007-08-22T13:17:00.000-04:00

Today was a day of Firsts:

First Day of Week 5 of C25k
First Week that the C25k routine changes multiple times within the week, rather than being the same routine for 3 times in a row.
First Day of School for Lila and Zoe
First Day back to my early morning "hit the ground running at 5AM" routine.
First time Lila turned 4. (Today is her 4th birthday!) Happy birthday, Lila!

The run went well. One snail stepped on, a couple of spider webs run through: so pretty much an average run. My left ankle is a little sore, but nothing too bad. One thing I had forgotten about, with these earlier runs, is the lawn sprinklers. They were on in full force as I made my way back home. Also out in full force as I rounded the final bend were lots of kids standing in the dark at their bus stops. At 5:45 AM! I don't remember being out that early as a kid. My heart goes out to them.

Since I'm now at about the half-way point of my second time through C25k, I thought I'd take a look back at my earlier blog posts to compare where I was then, as compared to now. Turns out I'm amazingly consistent. Apart from the fact that I'm slimmer now, the run itself was nearly identical. Pretty amusing, since this morning I miscalculated the timing of my half-way turnaround and wound up doing a LOT of extra walking at the end, to get back home. Looks like I did exactly the same thing the first time I did Week 5.

Today's run is on the left.
My first time through C25k run for Week 5, Day 1, is on the right.

Now that I'm in Week 5, the new annoying repeated techno song lyric of the week is spoken by a guy saying "Is this for real, or just another dream?" over and over. He should hook up with the "My love is your love, and your love is mine" lady - they'd make a good couple.

C25k: Week 4, Day 3

2007-08-20T13:16:00.000-04:00

Week Four wrapped up this morning with an early morning run up Pinehurst. It was beautiful out! Not muggy at all, and the before-dawn air was still relatively cool. I didn't see the moon but there were plenty of stars. Picking out constellations helped distract me and allowed the time to pass as I ran. With Week 4 behind me, the 20 minute run that caps Week 5 is now dead-ahead. I've done it before, so I can do it again. I just have to keep telling myself that.

C25k: Week 4, Day 2

2007-08-18T12:02:00.000-04:00

Today was a weekend run through Greenacres Park, just after sunrise.

Zoe and Lila spent last night at their Nana's condo, giving us time to get the house ready for Lila's 4th birthday party this afternoon. It's going to be a Dora the Explorer-themed party. Just two kids, plus our own, but Lila (and we) are really looking forward to celebrating this milestone with her.

Have I mentioned in this blog how much I am in love with my wife? Um... according to her, I have not. So let me just say, for the record: I love you, Stacy! Seriously, I do. I ask myself every day how I managed to be so lucky. Stacy is always supportive, no matter what I do, and supporting me in my running has been no exception. She is my biggest cheerleader, and I don't know what I'd do without her.

P.S. According to her I am now forgiven and brownie points have been awarded.

C25k - Week 4, Day 1

2007-08-16T13:26:00.000-04:00

Week 4 Day 1 - done! My calves are aching a little bit, but not too bad. For the first time, I noticed that my left foot was starting to feel a little numb at the end of the run. Maybe I had my shoe tied too tight? That's never happened to me before. This week's C25k podcast features my favorite song from all of the 9 weeks - "Operator", by dePresleys, which I mentioned one post prior. I did this run at 5:30 AM. The kids start back at school on Wednesday next week, so I have just a few more leisurely late runs left: the second half of C25k will commence at 5:00 AM.

C25k: Week 3, Day 3

2007-08-14T09:05:00.001-04:00

I am so very pleased to report that on today's run I encountered a grand total of zero arachnids of any size. I only saw a half-dozen or so small mollusks, and I inhaled zero suicidal mouth-dive-bombing flying insects. This is great news to me, but no doubt it will come as a disappointment to the person that was referred to my blog the other day after doing a search for "bugs swallowed stats" on Google. My apologies to you for such an uneventful run. As it turns out, my blog is ranked #8 on Google (out of 834,000) for that particular search, coming in just below Amazon's listing for the children's book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. I take that to mean it is time for me either to redirect my focus or to start writing a children's book about my adventures.

Today marked the end of Week 3. I almost did the beginning of Week 4, by accident, as I couldn't remember if I had already done day 3 of Week 3 or not. It was a bit of a let down to finally remember (by looking back at my blog, actually) that I had only done days One and Two. It was particularly disappointing because it meant I had one more day of listening to the Week 3 C25k podcast. While I love Robert Ullrey's podcasts and appreciate him so much for having put them together, the music on them is hit or miss for me. Some weeks contain songs that are quite catchy and have actually made it into regular rotation on my playlist (like "Operator" by dePresleys), but Week 3 contains a particularly annoying track that just keeps repeating the lyrics "My love is your love/and your love is mine" spoken by a woman with a vaguely eastern European accent. She must say it literally hundreds of times. Over and over. Argh! I'd much prefer to eat a fly than to listen to that particular song for another day. Luckily, now that I'm done with week 3, I can move on and be done with her. (Though I have a vague recollection that the song may be back on the playlist in week 8 or 9 -- something to look forward to).

EDITED TO ADD: Update! This just in! Apparently, including the phrase "bugs swallowed stats" in this post (I just did it again!) has pushed me to the number one site on Google for that phrase. Take that, Old Lady!

C25k: Week 3, Day 2

2007-08-12T11:28:00.000-04:00

So how many days can I post about giant spiders before I need to rename this blog "Running With Spiders" or something like that? On today's run I saw another one. Up close. Ran right into its web. It was sitting in the middle of its web, right at my eye level. I screamed a little girly-scream. This new one was just big as the other one - he's still in his spot, as well.

Enough about spiders - on to the details of my run: Did I mention I ran into a spider?

C25k: Week 3, Day 1

2007-08-10T12:17:00.000-04:00

Today was the first day of Week 3, Day 1. Supervising my run was that same monster spider, sitting in the same place on the same web. I'm thinking about taking a camera with me on my next run so I can post a picture of it if it is there again.

The run itself was fine. I tried waking up at 5:00 AM today but that plan quickly went south. I wound up hitting the road at 6:00 AM, after falling back to sleep for an hour, which still gave me plenty of time for the run.

C25k: Week 2, Day 3

2007-08-08T11:09:00.001-04:00

This morning, week 2 of C25k drew to a close with an unremarkable run. That notwithstanding, here are some remarks about it:

I rolled out of bed this morning 20 minutes early - I'm trying to acclimate myself to the start of the girls' upcoming school year. I figure it will be easier to make the adjustment by waking up a little earlier each day, rather than all of a sudden. So I was a little bleary-eyed this morning, but I was shocked into full alertness just two steps out of bed as I stepped right into a puddle left courtesy of Buddy, the puppy we are dog-sitting. Lovely start to the morning.

The run itself was great. Low humidity, low snail count. Not too buggy, and no rain. I couldn't ask for better. I wore only one shirt, and that really did seem to help keep me cooler. Who'da thunk it? Right at the tail end of the run, as I was doing the final cooldown walk, I spied a ginormous spider sitting in the middle of a web which spanned the sidewalk and attached to a telephone pole. The spider was easily the size of my fist! (Well, maybe the size of my fist if you were looking at me from across a football field). But it was pretty big. I'm pretty sure it waved to me as I passed underneath its web. I'm also pretty sure that, woven into the web and sparkling in the moonlight, were the words "Some Dog," so when I came back home I decided to forgive Buddy for the wonderful wakeup he gave me.

Today's weight: 172.4
Song of the day: Itsy Bitsy Spider

C25k - Week 2, Days 1 and 2

2007-08-06T11:33:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I did a gentle circuit through the park as my first run of Week 2. It was so pleasant and uneventful that I forgot to blog about it later that day. No pain or soreness afterward, though I definitely felt the burn in my calves by the final run. Today, Monday morning, I did Week 2 Day 2. It, too, was pretty smooth sailing. Very muggy and buggy, but far fewer snails. I almost didn't go, because there was a lot of lightning throughout the night. The light show had mostly died down by the time I headed out at 6 AM, and by then the storm was so far away I couldn't even hear the thunder. By the end of the run I was sweating up a storm of my own, and I was grateful for the slow, fat drops of rain that started in the final leg of my run. Not enough to soak me - just enough to cool down a bit.

Winter morning runs in South Florida start cold but after running a bit you no longer feel the cold at all. Summer runs, on the other hand, start hot and stay hot. Turns out I definitely prefer the former. For my next run, I'll not wear my inner wicking tee and just wear the loose outer one. I'm sure that will make a big difference. I started the habit of double-layering when running last time around, in the winter, both for warmth and so that the inner compression shirt would help keep my fat from jiggling as I ran. This time out I don't need the warmth and my fat is gone, so it's time to lose the compression layer. W2D3, here I come.

Today's weight: 173.6 (still right about where I started, but I'm not concerned).
Bugs swallowed: 1

Rest Day

2007-08-03T08:54:00.000-04:00

For this go-round of C25k, I've been on the fence as to deciding on a schedule to follow. The first time, I ran every other day. That was a slight deviation from the "official" C25k schedule, which suggests you run 3 days a week (in other words, have two days off in a row each week, plus/including a day off between each run). So, in other words, I pushed it the first time. Maybe too hard, since I wound up injured at the end. This time out, I'm not sure whether I'm going to follow the official schedule or do every-other-day again, like last time. I'd prefer to do the latter but I am worried about getting sidelined with an injury once again.

Ironically enough, if I went every-other-day then today would have been my first run of Week 2. I wound up not running this morning, but not because I decided to follow the "official" schedule. Rather, I took a day of rest because yesterday I tripped while trying to avoid falling over David, who was underfoot. I threw myself into a bookcase so as to not have my weight land on him, and I wound up jamming my toe real good. It still hurts a day later, but it's nothing major. I figured a day of rest might be a good thing. Somebody call a toe truck!

C25k: Week 1, Day 3

2007-08-01T14:31:00.000-04:00

Week 1, over and done. This morning's run was fine. The most challenging part was paying attention to the ground in front of my feet so as not to step on the many snails crossing the sidewalk. I missed all but one. Crunch-Ewww. This was never a problem my first time through C25k. Maybe it's because that was winter and this is summer? Or maybe it is just that I've been running at 6:30 AM instead of 5:00 AM. When the girls go back to school at the end of the month I'll be back to running at 5:00 AM and I'll see if that makes the difference - hopefully the snails will still be asleep.

I'm looking forward to Week 2, snails and all.

C25k: Week 1, Day 2

2007-07-30T15:54:00.001-04:00

A spectacularly uneventful W1D2 run this morning. My legs (mostly my quads) were still pleasantly sore from Day 1, but nothing too bad. By the end of the run this morning, though, I was really starting to feel it in my calves. It's good to be active again!

It was still dark when I began, so I was in my full reflective/flashing regalia - headlamp, LED armbands, reflective ankle bracelets, and amphipod reflective Y vest. By the time I was through the sun was up and it was already beginning to get muggy. No real sunrise to speak of, though - it just gradually got brighter.

C25k - Week 1, Day 1

2007-07-28T08:28:00.000-04:00

Today I restarted C25k and got serious again about my diet. I'm up 9 pounds from my low of 164, which was 3 pounds below my goal weight of 167. My goal is to get back down to 167 again, and I'm confident I can do it. I've restarted C25k about 3 times or so over the last few months, so no fanfare this time. I'm just going to quietly persevere through the weeks. Ankle feels great, so no excuses.

My Nike+ sensor battery must be dying - it kept pausing the timer during the run because it wasn't sensing movement. I wasn't going that slowly! Since it was a pain to restart it each time, I just turned off the tracking and used the C25k podcast to keep track of time. I'll get a new Nike+ for myself as a reward when I graduate C25k again, but until then I'll just do without it.

C25k: Week 1, Day 2 - Redux

2007-04-24T09:13:00.000-04:00

Today was Week 1, Day 2 of C25k. Ankle felt great, and the running was easy. I hardly broke a sweat. In terms of cardio, I could probably pick back up at about week 5 or 6, I think. But I want to ease my ankle back in to running, so I'm content with starting way back at the beginning and following C25k's easy ramp upward from the beginning. Funny how easy it seems now, compared to my recollection of how difficult it was the first time through.

Funny thing: the other day I had a new client, that had read my blog! I guess she googled my name after setting the appointment to meet with me. She congratulated me on my running and weight loss, and asked me how my ankle was doing. She looked at the family photos I have in my office and said "wow - you really HAVE lost some weight, haven't you?" It felt a little odd, since I use such a conversational tone in my blog and talk about spider-man, the muppets, etc. Very unlike my work persona. I don't think I've said anything in my blog to be embarrassed about, but maybe I should go back and read through the entries to be sure....

C25k: Week 1, Day 1 Revisted

2007-04-21T09:50:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling good the last few days, so this morning I went out and started C25k over from the beginning. It felt great. Now it's about two hours later, and my ankle is still feeling fine. Yay! Also, when I got back I lifted weights.

Nope.

2007-04-16T16:17:00.000-04:00

After much deliberation, I decided not to participate in the 5k this past weekend. I had been debating whether I would show up and walk it, or take a pass entirely. I opted for the latter, so that my first 5k experience is one where I run. Meanwhile, I'm still pining to get back to running. Every time I think "tomorrow I'll go running again," my ankle starts hurting by the time evening rolls around.

Here We Go Again

2007-04-10T14:46:00.000-04:00

I've been feeling good these last few days, so I think I'll suit up and go running tomorrow morning to see how it feels. I'll take it easy, but I can't wait!

In other news, my first 5k is just three days away, now. I'm absolutely not going to run it. I am, however, considering walking it. Frankly, I'm ambivalent: I really wanted my first "5k" experience to be one where I run. Since there's another one in my area in May, I was thinking about just passing this one up. On the other hand, my mother will be in town this weekend, and I'd love to walk the 5k with her.

Balancing Act

2007-04-03T09:06:00.000-04:00

I seem to be getting the hang of maintaining my goal weight. I've been weighing every other day - this morning, I weighed in at .1 pounds above my goal. On April 1st, I was .1 pounds below goal. Pretty remarkably consistent. Still no running for me, though.

Here's a graph of my weight change, beginning when I started C25k, four months and 30 pounds ago:

Grumble grumble

2007-04-02T09:13:00.000-04:00

I was still feeling some pain in my left ankle on both Saturday and Sunday, so I opted not to do any running this weekend. We did take a walk to the park on Sunday, so the kids could play at the playground, but other than that I was decidedly sedentary. It is all quite frustrating to me - I want to be out there!

Status Check

2007-03-30T08:22:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a bit sore this morning, but in a "day-after-a-workout" good way. On top of that, though, I am feeling some pain in my ankle this morning. Actually, it started yesterday afternoon and became progressively worse as it got later. It's not bad enough to send me back into hiding for six more weeks of recovery, though, I don't think. Unless it continues to feel painful today, I still plan to try to run on Saturday.

He saved everyoneofus....

2007-03-29T08:37:00.000-04:00

Taa daa! Success!! This morning I sprang out of bed at 4:45 when the alarm clock went off, dashed into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then rushed down the stairs to gear up for my morning run. I was on the road by 5 AM, feeling good. I had intended to do less than I did this morning, and to go back to W1D1 of C25k, but when I stepped outside this morning I realized I had forgotten to synch the podcast to my nano. Rather than go back inside to get it, potentially waking David in the process (his crib is in the same room as the computer), I decided just to run to music and to dial back my running time by 2/3rds. The actual run was quite short: I did a five minute warmup walk, about 11 minutes of running, and about 12 minutes of cooldown walk. I didn't intend for my cooldown walk to be so long, but my mind wasn't really working and when the Nike+ chip (now secured in its Marware pouch on my new shoes) announced "half-way point" my brain didn't process it as "okay - time to turn around and head back home." It took another good couple of minutes before I realized that I was not on a one-way trip and needed to head back. I attribute this partly to it being so early and my brain not moving as quickly as my feet, partly because I subconsciously wanted to keep going, and partly because I was on my normal route and wasn't used to turning around so early.

I didn't feel much pain, if any, during my run. I think I felt a little twinge in my ankle at one point but it quickly passed. I hardly broke a sweat while running, which surprised me somewhat. Right now, a few hours later, I'm not feeling bad at all - I'm anxious to see how I feel tomorrow. The most eventful part of the run occurred at about the half-way point, when I ran through an invisible but massive spiderweb that must have been slung by spider-man himself. I'm glad the roads were deserted, for I must have looked like a lunatic - running, flailing my arms and continuously trying to brush the webs off of my arms, face, and hair, all the while my headlamp shining, LEDs blinking, and reflectives reflecting. I'm sure it was a sight to behold.

The new running shoes felt reasonably good. I did feel the arch, especially against the underside of my right foot, but I wouldn't describe it as feeling painful or uncomfortable; just noticeable.

Tomorrow will be a rest-day, though it hardly feels like I exerted myself today. Then on Saturday I'll do an abbreviated park run, and all next week I can do my morning runs a little bit later as the kids will be on spring break. Meanwhile, it looks like I have to start eating a bit more: I hit my goal weight last week and so I just want to maintain at my current level, but my body apparently hasn't received that message yet: I'm down another 1.5 pounds, to 164.4 - my goal weight is 167.

Cleared for Takeoff

2007-03-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Today was my follow-up appointment with the sports medicine doctor. He took a look at my X-ray films and said that he did not see any evident calcification of concern (so maybe not a stress fracture, after all!) but that X-Rays are not always determinative for stress fractures. Nonetheless, he doesn't think any additional imaging (MRI, CT-scan, etc) is warranted at this time since my pain is largely gone and I have been able to hop up and down without any pain for going on two weeks now. He said he doesn't need to see me again unless the pain gets progressively worse after I have resumed running.

I brought my new running shoes (ASICS GT-2120's) to the appointment and he took a careful look at them and agreed they are appropriate for me. He said that this particular shoe is a well constructed motion control shoe, and looks like it would give moderate support to help correct my over-pronation. He confirmed for me that my pronation is moderate. He also was not particularly concerned about the arch support: he took the shoe inserts out of the shoe to examine them. He told me that based on my low arches (my right is flatter than my left, he told me), I will definitely feel the rise of the insert against the bottom of my foot, but that unless it is causing me discomfort or blistering, it is okay to feel the arch support. He suggested that if it does cause any discomfort, I could consider replacing the insert with a store-bought over-the-counter one which will likely be less archy, but that I should try it as it is first. He said that this shoe was much better than the Nike I had with me the first time, since Nike has high-arch support and is more designed for cushioning than for motion control. He said I don't need cushioning, just the motion control. He also said that I don't have to toss out the Nikes, just that I shouldn't run in them. They're not going to cause me problems if I wear them while out and about, they just don't give me what I need while running.

He suggested that I start back at 50% of where I was when I got injured, that I run 2-3 days a week at first, and that I see how I feel in the day following. If my ankle is hurting and the pain persists more than 24-48 hours, I should dial it back. Otherwise, I should increase at a rate of 15% a week until I'm back where I was before the injury, and then go forward from there. Personally, this seems a little more aggressive then what I've seen suggested on the Cool Running boards. The advice I've generally seen on the board is that it takes two weeks to recover for every week away. Since I've been away for about six weeks, I'm expecting it to take about 12 to recover. I've also seen it generally suggested not to increase more than 10% a week. Given that, think I'm going to take a more conservative approach than what he suggested: I'm going to start C25k over again from the beginning. I do plan to attend my first 5k run, on April 14, but I'll walk it.

Looks like my days of sleeping late (until 6 AM) are over. It is good to be back!

Gooal!

2007-03-25T10:05:00.000-04:00

Today I hit my goal weight, finally! Actually, I overshot it by about a pound: I weighed in at 165.9. Now I just need to learn how to maintain. It may prove a little tricky, since I haven't been counting calories or anything like that. I plan to just eat a little more each day, and I'll see what that does. The balancing act begins. In some ways, I think it may prove more difficult than the weight loss, but it's a challenge I gladly accept.

Blue Suede Shoes

2007-03-24T19:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I picked up my new running shoes from Runner's Edge, the running store in Boca. Only the ones I picked up are not the ones that I ordered. When I got to the store, the clerk that helped me the first time was not there. The person that assisted me this time around was just as knowledgeable, and he was not at all happy with the way the shoes I had ordered fit my feet. In his opinion, they were too wide for my narrow foot. He told me that they weren't a good fit and would wear out more quickly as a result. At his suggestion, we looked at a number of alternatives. Eventually it came down to a pair of Brooks Adreneline and a pair of Asics GT-2120's. I went for the latter. We didn't talk price at all (I'm much more concerned about the shoe fitting right than about saving a few dollars), so I was pleasantly surprised that the shoes that I chose were about $35 cheaper than the New Balance 1222's that I had ordered. Since my orthopedist follow up appointment is just around the corner, I'm going to keep these new Asics unworn. I plan to take them to the doctor's appointment and get his opinion on whether he thinks they are good for my feet. If he likes them, they will be my new running shoes. If he doesn't, the clerk said he will take them back. Actually he said they take them back even if I wear them running outside, so long as I don't run through mud and I rinse off the soles before bringing them in, but I don't plan to run before the doctor's appointment anyway.

Ready, Set, Go! (Almost)

2007-03-19T10:27:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened in last couple of days. Still no running for me, but I can feel the hiatus is drawing to a close.

FRIDAY: I had my X-Rays taken on Friday morning. They took four films of my leg. On one of them, Stacy thinks she can maybe see a small fracture-line near my ankle, right about where it has been hurting. It's very faint, but it's there. We'll see what the Sports Doc says when I have my follow-up appointment with him on the 28th. As for my ankle itself, it really doesn't hurt at all any more. Maybe just a twinge now and then. I haven't tried running on it yet, but I did a lot of walking yesterday - shopping with the family - and I'm feeling absolutely fine today.

SATURDAY: Saturday was very relaxing. We visited our former next-door neighbors. They recently moved about 10 minutes away. We spent the day out at their pool. They put us on their permanent visitor list and gave me a key to their community center, so now I have 24-hour access to their full gym, including a three lane, outdoor lap pool! I have been wanting to use swimming as cross-training, and now it looks like I'll have a way to do it. I haven't done much swimming since high school, but in high school I was in water more often than I was out of it: I was a lifeguard, co-captain of my community swim team, and a Special Olympics swim team coach.

SUNDAY: On Sunday, we went shopping. Stacy and the kids went to Babies R Us, while I went to Runner's Edge, the runner's store in Boca Raton, Florida. Let me just say that I will never, ever again, shop for running shoes anywhere other than a running store. I was so impressed with the level of service. I knew from the moment that I walked in that I was in the right place. There was a line of about four salespeople all assisting customers in finding the right shoe for them. I was first in line when I arrived, and I was promptly seen. The woman that helped me was about 60, I think she said, and she just PR-ed in her latest marathon. She took a look at the script the orthopedist gave me, but before seeing it she had already analyzed me at a glance and told me exactly what she thought it would say on the script. She was dead-on. We tried on a bunch of shoes for sizing, and she showed me how to best lace them (using a lock-lace technique to keep my heel in better). Between the doctor and her, I have learned now so much about my foot and gait. I have narrow feet, low arches (nearly flat but not quite), and I pronate. I am a size 12.5, but one foot is slightly bigger than the other and slightly more pronated than the other (which, by the way, probably explains why it always seems to be my left leg that gets injured). I need motion control shoes. I had been running in entirely the wrong shoes for my feet - Nikes are not generally liked as running shoes, and they have high arches. She had me wear a few different shoes and told me to go running outside with them. I did (no pain, by the way!) and we determined that a particular pair of New Balance seemed to work best for me. I don't remember the model number off hand, and they didn't have my exact size in stock - they are ordering a half-size for me and it should be in on Friday. I can't wait!

While I was there, I bought a Marware pouch for my Nike+, since it won't be able to fit in my shoe anymore. Instead, it will attach to the laces. I also bought a pair of running socks, and a pair of swimming goggles.

I'm still very near my goal weight - I seem to be going up and down, circling one pound away from my goal. This morning I was 168.8, so I went a pound in the wrong direction and have two more to go. But overall, I am so pleased with how it has been going. Here's a picture from Saturday, compared to one taken in September, before I started running. Now that the excess weight is off, I just want to keep it off and also get more toned.

Stressed! Maybe...

2007-03-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

This morning I had my appointment with the orthopedist. I think it went very well. I felt very comfortable with him, and he was very supportive of my running. He thinks that my injury is probably an early stress fracture rather than a sprain. He gave me a prescription for X-Rays and I have a follow-up appointment with him in another two weeks. He also did a gait analysis and told me that I have low arches and that I over-pronate a bit. He looked at my running shoes (I brought them with me in case he wanted to see them) and suggested a few different types that will give more motion control than what I currently have. He also gave me a prescription for those, to take to "Runner's Edge," the running store in Boca Raton. Finally, he gave me a stretchy band to use in conjunction with some stretching exercises, and he gave me a list and diagrams of the exercises to do. Since I'm relatively pain-free for the last day or so, he suggested that I try some cross-training so as not to lose all of my cardio progress. He suggested biking or using an elliptical. He also green-lit doing any weight training that doesn't cause pain to my leg.

So, the moral of this story is: I should have had the right shoes, properly fitted after gait-analysis, from the start. I know that that is pretty much the number one rule for new runners, but I ignored it at my peril because the shoes that I bought before I knew the rules seemed to be very comfortable. Comfort does not equal correct fit, as I've learned, and now I've paid the price. Fortunately, this is just a small bump in the road and I'm already well on the way to being healed. Still, the windmills of my mind keep turning as I think about how much farther along I could be if I had only done it right from the start.

And now, the Continuing Stooory....

2007-03-12T12:10:00.000-04:00

Is it normal to be excited about an upcoming doctor's appointment? I've been anticipating my appointment with the orthopedic sports doctor. My ankle has been feeling a little better this last day or two, and this morning I can actually put weight on it without it hurting!

My ebullience about the appointment was quashed a little this morning, though: with 48 hours to go before DR-Day, I received a call from the doctor's office requesting that I make sure to "bring in my X-Rays" when I come to see the doctor. This doctor has never seen me before. He knows nothing about me yet, or about my injury. His office does know that I am having a problem with my ankle, but only because they finally asked why I wanted to set an appointment after 20 minutes of my first responding to their name/rank/serial no. requests when I called to get on the schedule. Had they asked me to get X-Rays then, two weeks ago, I would have had plenty of time to do so. Now, with 48 hours to go and a full schedule between now and then, it's not going to be possible. So, I have to decide if I'm going to (A) show up for the appointment anyway, empty handed, or (B) somehow get them taken maybe after-hours tonight somewhere, or (C) just cancel the appointment altogether because I'm feeling somewhat better anyhow. If I do get the X-Rays, there's a good likelihood that if it is a stress fracture it won't be evident on the film. And, if I do get the X-Rays, there's a chance that since he's never yet seen me, the X-Rays will be taken at an angle other than what he would have wanted, and he'll wind up sending me back for a re-take.

My current thinking is that I'm going to go to the appointment without the X-Rays. I'll let him examine me and then tell me what he wants done. Then, if he wants X-Rays, I'll go and have them taken. They can be sent to him and he and I can then confer on the phone after he has read them. If he needs me back again after that, I'll gladly come back. Considering the treatment for a stress fracture is largely the same as the treatment for a sprain (RICE), and since Stacy is still thinking that the chances of it being a stress fracture are very small, I've begun to question why I'm even going in the first place. Sigh.

Be sure to tune in next episode, when you'll hear Dr. Bob Say:

DR. BOB: Prepare for surgery!

NURSE PIGGY: Dr. Bob, are you really going to remove his brain?

DR. BOB: No, something much more vital than that.

NURSE PIGGY: You mean...

DR. BOB: Yes, his wallet!

In other, more positive, news: I'm now less than 1 pound away from my goal weight! That means I've lost just about 30 pounds since I started in December, having dropped from 197 to 167.9. I've gone from a 38 waist to a 32. My shirt collar has gone from a 17 to a 16. I'm feeling pretty awesome about that. This weekend I started going through my clothing to assemble a pile for donation. I don't plan to ever need pants with a 38 waist again, and I don't want to keep them around "just in case," since that would seem to lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Completely unrelated to running, but just had to share this with the world: My daughter, Zoe, is so mature for her age that we often forget that she's only 7 - just turned 7 in February. Last year when I drove her to school each morning we would play car games and tell stories about forest animals that dress up for parties. This year, the thing she wants to do most is read one of her "chapter books" (she's in 1st grade, reading on a 4th grade level, as she proudly announces to anyone that will listen). She can devour about half of a book in the 30 minutes it takes to get her to school. And I'm not quite sure, at this point, who is fooling whom with this whole "tooth fairy" thing: I suspect that she is playing along and that she doesn't want to let us know that she knows. Occasionally, though, she'll say things that remind us of how young she really still is: This weekend, for example, we saw Barbie in Fairytopia on television. It's a CGI Barbie movie with fairies. While watching it, Zoe turned to me and said conspiratorily "Daddy - I know the fairies can't really fly. It's just like when we saw the live 'Lion King' show at DisneyWorld - the fairies have strings under their clothing. The strings are attached to their belts, and the strings hold them in the air."

Just Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again

2007-03-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I slept through my intended morning run yesterday, but I got home from work early and Stacy and the kids were out shopping, so I geared up and did my trial walk through the park for about 40 minutes. My ankle was still feeling good after 40 minutes of walking, so I jogged home for the last 10 minutes or so. Still felt good, but later that evening it began bugging me again. I'm going to keep taking it easy for a few days - my sports medicine doctor appointment is on Wednesday, and I don't want to do anything that would delay my healing, but it sure felt good to get back out there again!

Also: I weighed myself this morning, and for the first time since maybe high school my weight is now in the 160's! (169.4)

Mad at Myself

2007-03-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

Argh! I'm so mad at myself! Last night I set out my running kit so that in the morning I could roll out of bed and cautiously hit the road for the first time in several weeks. My plan was not to run, just to walk and see how it made me feel. My ankle didn't really hurt at all yesterday, except maybe a little in the evening. I was ready and excited to get back to my routine. After all, I'm so close to my goal now!

The one flaw in my plan? When the alarm clock went off this morning (4:45 AM), I got up, turned it off, and crawled back into bed for another hour's sleep! This is nothing I did in my sleep - I was awake enough that I consciously decided not to run. I am my own worst enemy!

About the picture:

On a close-up view, you can see on the left face, an angry man and on the right face, a woman with a neutral facial emotion. But further back (walk some 5 meters back from your computer monitor), the faces change expression and even genders! If you squint, blink, or defocus, an angry man should substitute for the face of the woman and the left angry face should not be angry anymore.

A New Low

2007-03-07T08:23:00.000-05:00

Still no running for me, but at least my diet is going well. This morning I hit a new low. I am now 170.2 pounds, down from my starting weight of 197! This places me just a hair over three pounds away from my goal weight. There was a weird spike of +2.5 pounds the last time I weighed, but this morning suggests that it was just an anomaly. Maybe I was retaining water or something.

Ankle is feeling okay this morning. It hurt when I put my full weight on it while getting out of the car, but it's not hurting at the moment. Dare I say it? "Maybe, tomorrow morning I will walk."

I'm Still Here

2007-03-06T14:43:00.000-05:00

I haven't gone anywhere, but I haven't been posting as regularly since there hasn't been anything new to report. I'm still RICE-ing my ankle. It still hurts. Occasionally it will stop hurting long enough for me to start thinking - "tomorrow, I'll try walking in the morning!" - only to have it begin hurting again a few hours later. Right now I have an ice pack strapped around it. I'm hopeful that it will feel better by this weekend: my sister is coming into town and we're planning to go to Disney with the kids. Lots of walking at the park is in store, so hopefully it won't be a painful experience.

More Gear

2007-03-03T11:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my order from RoadID arrived in the mail. I picked up a pair of reflective shoelaces and a little ID tag that attaches to my shoe. Now if only I could get out there and use them! I did do some cross-training this morning, at least: crunches and a little upper body weight training with the Bowflex dumbbells. I'm really missing being out on the road, though.

This is getting tiresome.

2007-03-02T17:08:00.000-05:00

Made my appointment with Dr. Sports Medicine Specialist Guru. I'll be seen on March 14.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

2007-03-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

Last night, Stacy did a little research and found the name of an in-network sports medicine doctor. I'll be giving him a call to get my ankle checked out. Somehow, needing a sports medicine doctor seems like an accomplishment. Three months ago, I would have been completely incredulous at the thought. Stacy says to expect not to be seen for maybe two to three weeks, but I'm hoping for something sooner. I wonder if he accepts walk-ins. (Limp-ins?)

Out of Commission

2007-02-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

Stacy checked my ankle again last night. She told me that it has been healing much more quickly than she would have anticipated, but a look of concern crossed her face while she was poking around and asking me whether each poke hurt. When I asked her about it, she told me that now that the swelling has subsided it is becoming more evident that the places I am having pain are over the bone (which suggests to me it might be a fracture after all, although she did not say as much). Still, it's in a number of different places and she thinks it would be more localized if it really were a fracture. Plus, the pain is almost completely gone now (except when prodded). This morning it was still feeling a little bruised from last night's prodding, and so I have an icepack on as I type this. We have both agreed that I won't try running for another few days, and even then I'll just walk my route and see how that feels first. I'll go in for an X-Ray if and when she thinks its needed.

I haven't really been posting about it much, but in addition to my running I've sporadically been using the Bowflex weights I picked up a while back at Sports Authority. I'm going to use this little break to really get into the weight training. I want to work on my abs, pecs, shoulders, and biceps especially, and I should be able to do that without involving my ankle.

Recuperation Day

2007-02-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

No running for me this morning - I'm giving my ankle more time to heal. It still hurts when I try to walk around, although when I am seated it now feels pretty normal. Hopefully, by Sunday I'll be recovered enough to get a weekend run in. In the meanwhile, I'll keep icing it.

Out of the Frying Pan

2007-02-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

Stacy took a look at my leg last night and diagnosed me as having a sprained ankle rather than a stress fracture. So that's good news. But it still means I'll be out of commission while it heals up. I just recovered from my cold enough to begin running again, and now this! The frustrating part is that I can't recall when I might have sprained it. I don't remember tripping, stumbling, over-extending, or doing anything that might have caused it. Oh, well. Looks like I'm on a RICE diet for the next couple of days.

Rest: Injuries heal faster if you rest. Continued use of a moderate or severely sprained ankle can delay healing, increase pain, or worsen the injury. With a mild sprain, activity as tolerated after 1 to 2 days of rest can be helpful.

Ice: Wrap your ankle with a wet cloth. Apply an ice pack over the cloth (held in place with an elastic bandage) for 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours during the first 48 to 72 hours. Remove the ice when your skin begins to feel numb.

Compression: Remove the ice pack and wrap a u-shaped cloth around the ankle knob (held in place with an elastic bandage). Compression squeezes fluid from the injury site and limits swelling.

Elevate: Raise your ankle above your heart for the first 24 hours, to minimize swelling and limit internal bleeding. The less swelling present, the faster an injury will heal.

One Hour Runner: Week 1, Day 2 (x2)

2007-02-21T09:05:00.000-05:00

One Hour Runner: Week 1, Day 2 (x2) - Okay, I'm off my soapbox and back on the pavement. This morning's run was very nice, despite getting a face full of sulfur-smelling sprinkler-water right near the end. The area above my left ankle is hurting a bit now (it was yesterday, too). It doesn't really feel like a shin splint, but it is tender to the touch. I hope its not the beginning of a stress fracture - one of my worries since I'm always running on concrete. It didn't hurt enough to stop me from running this morning, but I'll baby it today and tomorrow and see how it is doing when I run next on Friday morning.

The workout: 5 minute warmup brisk walk, 30 minute run, 10 minute cooldown walk.

Court Day

2007-02-20T14:56:00.000-05:00

My blog is devoted to running, but today's post is not related to running at all. Well, maybe tangentially: I wasn't able to get in my morning run because I had to leave home early for a hearing in Broward. Today's post is devoted to my experience at the Broward County Courthouse this morning.

If you've been following the news at all, you may recognize that the Broward County Courthouse is where all of the Anna Nicole Smith madness is being adjudicated. I have appeared before Judge Seidlin, the presiding judge, on many occasions in the past. My hearing this morning was not before Judge Seidlin. It was, however, in the same division (probate/guardianship), in the courtroom right next to his. Today is the day that Judge Seidlin had ordered every interested party in the Anna Nicole matter to appear before him, so I knew that the courthouse was likely to be a media zoo. I arrived at the courthouse by 7:00 AM in an effort to avoid some of the insanity. Even at that early hour, media representatives from around the nation were setting up their rigs. CourtTV was there. CNN was there. You name it, they were there. I don't live in a small backwater town, and I've seen the 'media circus' in person before, but never to this extent.

As it turned out, what I saw in the morning was NOTHING compared to how many people were swarming at the courthouse when I left at about 8:30. By that time, there were helicopters overhead and the street outside the courthouse had basically been turned into a high-tech village. Instead of thatched huts, there were multiple awnings under which sat banks of computer and video equipment. In the center of each awning, news reporters preened while their little worker drones teched the tech until the tech was just right. The sidewalk for a whole block was peppered with these makeshift booths. Inside the courthouse, I saw the media scrambling to get their press passes in order as the courthouse employees resignedly readied themselves for a day of orchestrated chaos. I was pretty impressed by the procedures put into place by the court, although it reminded me a bit of preparing for a hurricane - after all is said and done, there is only so much you can do.

At one point, while I was waiting for my hearing and they were waiting for theirs, the courthouse general emergency alarm started going off. Somebody probably had just opened a door they shouldn't have. Our hearings were on the eighth floor. I immediately found the stairs and made my way down to the ground level, where I got my first glimpse of the tech village that had sprung up while I was inside. I checked with the guards and made sure it was a false alarm, and then I made my way back upstairs. I must have been one of the only people to have evacuated. When I returned back upstairs I saw that none of the media had budged. It was as if the blaring alarm in the courthouse was just a hazard to be endured for the sake of the job.

As I waited for my hearing, I became increasingly disgusted as I listened to the media talking amongst themselves. There was an air of conviviality that was disconcerting to me. I imagine the atmosphere at Roman coloseums was similar. Somewhere, lost in the midst of all the flashing lights and tech, is a little baby girl, too young to understand that she has lost her mother. Too young to understand that the people claiming to be her father may not be doing so out of love for her or to protect her best interest, but rather for their own selfish purposes. Of course, I didn't see the baby. I doubt she was there. I hope she wasn't there. But even if she was, even though I was standing right there, I doubt I would have been able to spot her in the middle of the media feeding frenzy. What disturbed me most is that the frenzy was to feed us. We, the consumers of Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood. We, the consumers of CNN and CourtTV. Often as not, my family has Xtra or Access Hollywood or one of those pop culture shows on and playing on the kitchen television in the background as we eat dinner. No more, though. I've had my fill, and the last bite was rancid.

One Hour Runner: Week 1, Day 1 (x2)

2007-02-19T09:32:00.000-05:00

OHR - Week 1, Day 1(x2) - Last Night, an hour after dinner, I got back on the road again! Zoe and Stacy were watching "Cheaper By the Dozen" on TV, David was content, and Lila already was asleep upstairs. I was feeling relatively well, and when I walked Teddy outside I realized it didn't seem all THAT cold. So I geared up and went out for a run. I was a little apprehensive because I've heard people comment about how they feel slow when running after a meal, but it wasn't an issue for me at all. It felt great to be back out there! Among other things, for the first time in a week I was able to breathe through both nostrils at the same time. While it was cold out there at first, as soon as I got beyond the warmup walk stopped feeling the cold. It helped that I was wearing, for the first time, my long-sleeve running shirt and long running pants. I also wore my reflective vest thingy for the first time.

The vest, plus my headlamp, plus my red flashing left-arm LED, plus my solid neon red right-arm LED, plus the reflective surface of my left-arm cellphone holder, plus my reflective anklets, had me lit up like a Christmas tree. (One neighbor shouted "It's an alien! It's a UFO!" as I ran passed, in a voice that sounded just like Barney from The Simpsons).

This was a great run, maybe my best yet. Not particularly in terms of time, but just in terms of how I felt while doing it. I felt like I was outrunning my cold. Listening to great music, feet pounding the pavement, I quickly got into the zone and forgot all about feeling under the weather. I.Will.Not.Be.Defeated! (De-feeted?) As an extra bonus, when I weighed myself this morning I discovered that I was down more than a pound from the last time I checked. Yesterday, one neighbor told me that it looked like I am melting away. I'm almost at my goal, now, which is to be right in the middle of the yellow "healthy weight" range on the BMI chart on the right.