Already falling behind

So far, my goals for the New Year aren't faring so well. My January goal for running was 33 miles, which would have been a new monthly high, but I fell short at 28. Twice, including today, I had to cut runs short due to various issues. It sucks because, I feel like I'm making a ton of excuses lately and sometimes, upon further reflection, I kind of am. I really need to work on not giving up during workouts and pushing through the pain when it isn't unbearable. The motivation isn't coming as much as it once was.

Also, I gained weight this month for the first time in nearly a year. It was only a two-pound gain, but that's a very bad sign that I'm either still not improving my eating habits, I've cut back on my overall exercise, or both. That's making it much harder for me to stay out of the pool, knowing I'm gaining weight when I'm not swimming. The shoulder still hurts, but I'm tempted to say 'screw it' and start swimming again as of next Monday. That would be exactly four weeks since I got my cortisone shot, which was the minimum return time my doctor gave me.

On a more positive note, I did at least reach my cycling goal of 80 miles in January, going 83.65. That's a new monthly high for me. I'm also considering taking up yoga. Call me girly, but the more I hear about it, the more I want to try it. It seems like the benefits of yoga are practically limitless and perhaps that will give me that extra edge I'm looking for as far as improving my overall fitness goes.

Anyway, did a three-mile run today near my house. It was my first time doing an outdoor run in Utah since the Turkey Tri in November. It was cold, but once I got going, my body warmed up significantly. I think I'm going to try doing them more often, now that spring gets closer. I'm getting tired of running on that crappy indoor track...

Total distance: 3 miles running (meh)

Workout with some company

Today was a nice workout because Kelly joined me. I haven't been able to work out with him in a while, so it was nice to have a companion at the gym. Just like me, Kelly is training for a marathon, except he is a much braver soul than I and he is going to do the whole thing. He's already done a half before and he's taking a class up at Weber State that is helping train for the full one.

Initially I wanted to do a 3.5-mile run followed by 35 minutes on the bike. Kelly did a long run yesterday, so he took it easy and paced me for the first mile. However, after 1.5 miles my shins were throbbing. I used to get shin splints often back when I was heavier, but they have become much less of an issue over the past nine months or so. I don't know why they flared up so bad today, especially since I didn't work out yesterday. Perhaps I just didn't stretch right or enough. But I had to call the quits and hop on the bike for the rest of the way.

Because I cut my run short, I went for 45 minutes on the bike instead of 35 minutes. I pushed it a little harder than normal, though and I was working up a nice sweat. I followed it with some light bicep/tricep work and some crunches. Then Kelly and I chatted it up in the sauna for a little while before hitting my place for some grilled-cheese sandwiches and watched an episode of "How I Met Your Mother."

On Sunday, I'm joining Kelly for a 7-mile run up by Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Hopefully I can make it. I've never gone that far before.

Total distance: 1.5 miles running, 12.7 miles cycling

Doctors suck!

I'm starting to lose faith in doctors. Not only have I been told separate things by different doctors regarding what's wrong with my shoulder, the more they continue to try and figure it out, the longer I'm stuck out of the pool. My January 3 trip revealed I still have tendinitis and with a cortisone shot I should be good to go in 4-6 weeks. Well, it's been over three weeks and I haven't noticed even a bit of improvement in the shoulder pain. I've done everything the doctor asked, including regular icing, stretching, an ibuprofen regimen and I've steered clear of any exercise that involves lifting my arms laterally... to no avail.


My doctor feels strangly similar to Leo Spaceman (from 30 Rock)

Perhaps I'm just being impatient. Maybe the pain will magically disappear in the next three weeks, but I highly doubt it. It seems like I'm running out of options and I don't know what to do. There must be something seriously wrong, considering how much it continues to hurt and how much I've been pampering it.
Anyway, in the meantime I've still been training for a half marathon. It sounds like there is a strong possibility the Salt Lake City marathon isn't happening this year, due to recent turmoil with finances, so I'm trying to find a race I can still train for. The Ogden Marathon has been sold out for some time, but they hold regular drawings for people who donate to their various charities. I went and donated to one of the Goal Foundation's parter organizations this week's, so perhaps, with a little luck, I can win a spot and register in the Ogden half. Here's hoping.

Today I did a nice easy 45 minutes on the bike, followed by some light weight lifting and did some serious stretching on my shoulder in the sauna. I did my 6-mile run on Monday, although I initially wanted to do it last Saturday. I'm still on for my first 7-mile run this weekend, though.

Total distance: 12.4 miles cycling

First long training run tomorrow

I'm trying a training regimen that I read online in preparation for April's half marathon. Here's how it kind of goes.

Monday: 3-mile run, 30 minutes cross training (cycling, swimming, etc.)
Tuesday: 60 minutes cross training, weights
Wednesday: 3-mile run, 30 minutes cross training
Thursday: 30-60 minutes cross training, weights
Friday: Off/rest
Saturday: 6-mile run
Sunday: Off/rest

You can mix up the days as you feel, but every two weeks the distances increase. So, next week, the short runs will be 3.5 miles, the cross trainings will be 5-10 minutes longer and the weekend long run will be 7 miles. I've budgeted out the weeks before the half marathon so I'm up to 12 miles the week before the race. Hopefully that will be enough and I'm not doing too much too fast.

Anyway, I did my second 3-mile run yesterday along with 30 minutes on the bike. Obviously, behind schedule, instead of taking today off I did 40 minutes of cycling along with some weight lifting. Tomorrow I will run six miles on the indoor track, which I have found to be much less strenuous and painful on my knees and feet than the treadmill. Jen will be with me, so perhaps that will give me extra motivation to push it hard.

Total distance: 9.6 miles cycling

Kids and weight rooms don't mix

I remember lifting weights when I was younger, but I don't think I ever started doing it until I was in my teens. To be honest, I don't think kids should ever be using heavy weights until they are a bit older. For example, today at the gym there were a bunch of kids anywhere from 8-14 in the weight room. This is probably my biggest pet peeve when I work out. They don't know what they are doing, they screw around, they are noisy and they often are using the precious few machines at the rec center when I want to use them.

I don't know what it is that makes them do it, but it seems like they insist on using every single machine in the cardio/weight room for a couple of minutes each, before their attention spans lapse and they move on to the next one. On several occasions I've seen kids almost get hurt because they aren't using machines the right way and its just a matter of time before one of them breaks some of the equipment. I don't know if I should be pissed off at the parents who are at the gym and not supervising their children or if I should blame the rec center staff for not booting these little shits out.

I'm glad to get that off my chest. It's just a matter of time before I smack one of 'em. Anyway, I ran three miles on the track before snagging a bike for 30 minutes after. Good start to the week.

Total distance: 3 miles running, 7.25 miles cycling

Preemptive strike for some afternoon Sizzler

Today is my mom's birthday and Jen and I were planning on taking her and my nephew, Carter to lunch. I slept in and called my mom when I woke up to find out when we were going and it gave me just over an hour to go to the gym and squeeze in a small workout.

The tiny indoor track at the Roy Rec Center

When I got there, for the second-straight time my favorite bike was available. Being strapped for time, I hopped right on and went to it. Once I hit 10.5 miles after about 35 minutes, I figured I had enough time get in a short run, as well. The treadmills were all in use, but since they have been hurting my feet lately anyway, I decided to use the Roy Rec Center's indoor track. It's a very small track, requiring 19 laps for just one mile, but it worked for the time being. I don't know if I'd be able to train on it for long runs, but I suppose it's too damn cold outside right now, so I don't really have much of a choice.

I did one quick mile and had just enough time to get home and shower before my mom arrived. She chose Sizzler and it was indeed tasty. No guilt either, thanks to my trip to the gym. Huzzah!!

Total distance: 10.5 miles cycling, 1 mile running

Zack Fisher-friendly blog

This one's for you Zack. Just like you asked for.

Today was a normal day at the gym. Did some running, cycling and swimming (kicks).

Nothing new or interesting to report.

Total distance: 3.2 miles running, 4 miles cycling, 700 yards swimming (kick)

Weight-gain from vacation

I hopped on the scale this morning, suspecting I may have had a bad week in the diet department. Other than running my 10k on Saturday I spent almost five days doing nothing and eating a lot of crap while visiting my family in Las Vegas. As I feared, I gained two pounds. It may be the first time I've gained weight since I started this whole exercise deal, so I felt extra motivated to finish the week strong.

I got to the gym and found my favorite bike empty, which is a rare occurrence. So, rather than run, I didn't pass up the opportunity to use this particular machine and I went to work. The 10k run spoiled me with the low elevation, so I really felt it on the bike this morning. I only went for about 45 minutes, because I was planning on doing some ab work and calisthenics after. Once that was complete I sat in the sauna and got a real nice sweat. I don't sit in the sauna too often because I had a bad experience that sent me to the hospital once when I was 19, but today I was glad to use it. Stretching in a hot sauna feels so good and is very therapeutic for me and today was no different. I think I'll do it again tomorrow after my run and perhaps some kicks in the pool.

Total distance: 10.8 miles cycling

10k complete and I still have my legs

So I pulled it off. The 10k race wasn't as rough and tough as I thought it would be. Jen, my dad and my stepmother, Marie got up plenty early so we could make it to Boulder City in time for me to stretch and mentally prepare for the run. It only took us about 40 minutes to get there. There were probably at least 500 runners there for all the different races, and I'm told that's actually a fairly small event. I guess a lot of these runs usually have thousands of racers. Holy crap!

Jen and I after the race. The view during the run was amazing.

Anyway, I enjoyed a nice meal the night before at my dad's house, so I felt great when I was at the staging area. When the gun went off I didn't reach the pad for my timing chip for about a minute, because I was in the back, but when I crossed it, I started my watch. Right off the bat, I was surprised by the course. I thought there would be rolling small hills, but the hills were about 1/4 mile each. However, it was nice because for every time I went up, I was able to catch my breath going down, so it made for nice intervals the entire way.

At about the 1.5-mile marker I saw Jen's brothers Tim and Zack at a little parking lot next to the road. They were in town shooting footage of one of the other longer races for their work and I waved to them on my way by. I was worried about my foot hurting before the race, but to my surprise, I was feeling good and didn't have any problems during the race. The temperature was perfect, the aid stations were a nice relief and it felt like I was passing more people than were passing me. I truly believe the altitude drop played to my advantage, because I felt great in the cardio department, way better than any time I ever ran a 10k on the treadmill back home.

Me during the final stretch. I had to dodge the guy and his kid.

With about a half a mile left, I picked up the pace, hoping I could finish strong. By about 1/4 mile left, I looked at my watch and I was shocked to see that my time wasn't far off a pace of finishing in under an hour. I went into a sprint for the finish, which thankfully, was downhill. I ran into a bit of a traffic jam by the time I hit the finish line and had to maneuver around a few people at the last second. My family was there cheering me on as I finished and it felt great. I looked at my watch and it said 1:00.14. But when I looked up at the big clock on the finish line it said 1:05.31. At first, I thought my watch was broken and I was disappointed to see that I didn't get anywhere close to under one hour. But today, the official results were posted online and my chip time is listed as 1:00.12. I only missed under an hour by 12 seconds! My goal was to go in under 1:05.00, so I absolutely killed my previous best time. Awesome. I ended up finishing 50th overall out of 161 runners, and 3rd out of males in my age group, so I was certainly satisfied with that, considering I started near the back of the pack.

A few minutes before race time.

I'm still very sore today and my feet are hurting a bit, but I think I've gained some confidence to move forward and start training for my first 1/2 marathon while my shoulder heels up and I can't swim.

Total distance: 6.2 miles running

Nerves already kicking in for Saturday's race

With Saturday morning's race fast-approaching, I'm already getting very nervous. Mostly about the condition of my foot, which has been sore ever since my short little 1-mile run earlier this week. I went and bought some new insoles that will hopefully keep me going during race day. Jen and I are mostly going on this trip just to visit with my Dad and my stepmother, Marie, but the race is the only thing I can think about.

Carb loading with some whole-grain pesto linguine

Anyway, went to the gym today and didn't want to push anything too hard a few days before my run so I just did 8.5 miles on the bike and went down to the pool. I'm going to try my best to get in as many yards as I can doing only kicks in the next 4-6 weeks while I can't swim, and today I only managed 500 yards before my thighs started to ache. I don't normally kick much when I swim, so those muscles aren't used to it. Normally, the aching is good. It means you are pushing yourself and really getting a good work out, but I don't want to be fresh come Saturday with no soreness.

I'm also starting my carb loading. Today I went to Noodles & Company, probably one of Jen and I's favorite places to eat, and sucked down a whole-wheat pesto linguine with a flat bread. For dinner it's just going to be fruits and veggies and tomorrow I'll add a little bit of protein (probably just grilled chicken) into the mix. Over the next 36 hours I also plan on drinking water like a fish...

Total distance: 8.5 mile cycling, 500 yards swimming (kick)

Cortisone shot = No surgery, but still no swimming

Well, today was one of those good-news, bad-news kind of days. First, I locked my keys in the house when I left for the gym, so I had to walk about 15 minutes to get there. When I was done, Jen had to drive home from work to unlock the house for me. Yeah, I'm stupid. Anyway, I went to the gym to try and get a swim in before my appointment with the doctor later in the morning, because I feared it might be the last swim I would get to do in a while. Unfortunately, I was right...



This is the procedure I had done this morning. Yes, it hurt.

The good news was that my shoulder didn't even require an x-ray or MRI, which is a huge relief on my wallet. The doctor could tell I didn't have a tear or any bone issues based off the exercises he had me do. Fortunately, it's still just the same old issue of tendonitis and it simply refuses to heal, even though I've brought my swimming to a screeching halt. I had to get a cortisone injection in my shoulder, which was not fun and that's when the doctor told me the bad news; no swimming for 4-6 weeks. Zero.

It could be worse, though. Surgery would have likely kept me out of the pool for months, so hopefully when it heals properly and I start swimming again, I will start from scratch and work on having a more efficient stroke with bilateral breathing. That way, I don't put so much wear and tear on the one shoulder. It's still very frustrating though. I put off going to the doctor so I could afford to get an x-ray or MRI done at the beginning of the new year, and I didn't even need one. I could have gone in and had this procedure done months ago. I'd probably be back in the pool already.

The doctor also looked at my foot and told me my pain was because I didn't have the right running shoes, which sucks, because I just bought new ones and it's too late to return them now. Hopefully some ice for the rest of the week will keep the swelling down and some good insoles on Saturday morning will suffice to get me through my 10k. I have to revise my exercise goals for the year (I know, already), with swimming still not an option, so I'm going to drop my swimming goal down to 150 miles and up my cycling goal to 900 miles and my running goal up to 325 miles. Hopefully that will be enough to give me the extra cardio needed to make up for lost time in the pool.

Anyway, I managed just over a mile in the pool today, my last swim for a while....

Total distance: 1,850 yards