Easy Miles

I’m executing in theme with my plan as laid out last week. Yesterday I put in an easy 5 miles (10:11 pace) around the Upper Back Bay. For anyone who ran the OC Marathon or Half, you would be familiar with my run. I started at the top of the big hill where you climbed out of the Back bay and continued 2 1/2 miles toward the finish line. C’mon. You don’t think I’d climb that hill if I don’t need to do you?

Today is an easy three miles (almost not worth lacing up my shoes) followed by some resistance and power training. Since I don’t have a whole lot else to talk about, I thought I would introduce some of the cross training that I’m doing.

The first set of exercises involves core conditioning. After seeing some of my recent race photos, heaven knows I need this. For example, please note the wonderful slouch in this photo taken at the end of the Long Beach Marathon:

Now, normally I think of core conditioning as doing crunches and planks and all those difficult exercises that makes my stomach hurt. But, the Brain Training approach is a little different. For the next three weeks I’ll work on a set of exercises that (supposedly) isolates the important muscles that I need to use for running – lower abs, hip adductors, hip rotators and glutes - by doing a set of exercises that trains the connections between my brain and these stabilizing muscles.

Lying Hip Abduction: This particular exercise conditions the hip adductors and external hip rotators.

Lie on the floor with your head in your hands. Bend your legs to a 90 degree angle. Now lift the top knee maintaining foot contact 12 to 15 times. Switch sides and repeat. You should feel fatigue in your buttocks. I feel like I’ve been paddled by the Boy’s Dean when I’m done (old people – remember corporal punishment in public school?).

Cook Hip Lift: This exercise conditions your lower abs, hamstrings,and buttocks.

Lie on the floor on your back. Draw one knee to your chest. Then, contract your hamstring and buttocks, lifting your butt off the floor two to three inches. Repeat five times and switch sides. I *always* feel the fatigue in my hamstrings when doing this exercise.

 

Kneeling Overhead Draw In: This exercise teaches the lower abs to engage and remain stable.

Kneel and put both arms overhead. Then, draw in your lower abs and reach an extra inch or two. Hold for five seconds. Repeat five times.

Knee Fall Out: This exercise teaches the lower abs to remain activated as the hips rotate.

Lie face up with feet flat on the floor and knees touching. Contract your deep abs by drawing your navel to your spine. Then, without relaxing the deep abs, let you knees fall out toward the floor. It’s tougher than it looks! Repeat 10 times.

In addition I’m doing plyometric exercises. This week, I will be doing Split Squat Jumps (today) and Wall Jumps (Sunday). The purpose of these power exercises is to teach my legs to activate before hitting the ground – which should result in less time spent on the ground and more time in the air (effectively lengthening my stride and increasing efficiency). I’ve often wondered why in most of my race pictures I have both feet on the ground. By the way – I’m finding these exercises, ummm, challenging.

Split Squat Jump:

Start in a squat with one leg behind the other. Lower yourself into a deep squat,  and then jump as high as possible. In midair, switch legs, landing so the other leg is now behind. Immediately lower into a squat and repeat 10 to 20 times. (Umm – more like 3 to 5?)

Wall Jump:

Face a wall with arms extended. Bend your knees slightly and jump as high as possible. Repeat 10 to 20 times like a human pogo stick.

Here what I can tell you. After one week, I have the sorest abs and quads that I have *ever* had since starting on this quest a couple years ago. I have *no choice* but to run slow!

Cross Training Fat Guy

It's been a while since I've spent time cross training. The last couple of opportunities to do so found me with sore legs and tired spirit. But yesterday I felt pretty good, so I had no excuse. I made it home from the office, hopped on my ergometer, and ripped through 35 minutes of rowing.

The basic workout was 5 minute warm up followed by 20 sets of 1 minute on 30 seconds rest. Sounds like a basic interval workout on the track doesn't it! Well, it was. My intervals started with 5 at a moderate 2:15 per 500 meters at stroke rate 18, then 5 at a 2:05 at stroke rate 24, followed by 5 at 2:15 at 18 spm and finally 5 intervals at 1:55 at 28 spm. (Sorry for the foreign language runners. Rowers out there will understand.) Total damage - 5.75 kms on the erg. I was literally dripping and my legs were shaking when I got up off that little seat. W. H. E. W. !!!!!!

I'm back to the trails today with a slow and easy six mile recovery run. I wonder about a week that *begins* with a recovery run. Hmmm....

A Really Big Hill

For those who may not be familiar with Los Angeles, our metropolitan area is ringed by mountains (has something to do with all those earthquakes that we get to live through). As you travel further east, those mountains get downright tall, culminating in a couple 11,000 foot peaks. Yesterday I attacked one of those, 10,064 foot Mt. San Antonio, known to us locals as Mt. Baldy.

We started up the hill a little after 8AM. Part of the popularity of Mt. Baldy is the variety of trails to the top. There's even one option where you can ride a ski lift up to the 7,800 foot level and walk 3.5 miles to the top. Our plan was to go up the Ski Hut Trail (also known as the Baldy Bowl trail). This trail is no nonsense - climbing 4100 feet in 4.5 miles. That equates to a little over 900 feet in elevation gain every mile. From the start, the trail is up up and away, cresting at the top of the mountain.


I last tried this trail back in July 2008. That time, the trail kicked my butt. I had to abort about 3 miles in. Yesterday though, it became obvious early on that my increased cardio fitness and strength from all the running was paying off. Matt and I found ourselves passing group after group of hikers as we headed up the hill. In two hours we found ourselves at the Ski Hut - the major landmark on the trail.


The trail continues working uphill to a bench at the 9,000 foot level.



From here, it's another 1,000 feet and a mile to the top. At this point, the second factor starts coming into play - elevation. Elevation affects each person differently. For me, I start feeling short of breath and find myself gasping. Last year when I walked this trail, I was already gasping at 9,000 feet. Yesterday it was obvious that the air was a little thinner, but I was able to handle it easily by just slowing down. We continued moving up the ridge toward the top.




Just a few hundred feet below the top of the ridge, we ran into the second landmark on this trail. Back in 1949, two USMC Hellcats crashed just short of the ridge. The wreckage is still visible and easily reached from the trail.


We continued our slog up the ridge, and crested the "hill" in three hours and 8 minutes.


The weather was outstanding and the views were breathtaking. As we looked out toward the city, I thought about all those runners doing the L.A. Marathon and the Laguna Hills Half. Remember the discussion about the marine layer/June gloom? Here are a couple photos of the marine layer in action.


Somewhere back in there all the Marathoners are busy running their marathon.


That's Santiago Peak in Orange County poking out of the clouds. Close to that all the Laguna Hills Half Marathoners were sweating.


Speaking of sweating....

We spent about half an hour on the top chatting with folks and having a few snacks. We then headed down the hill


We took the Devil's Backbone trail. This is the same route that I used last year in one of my favorite races, the Mt. Baldy Run to the Top. This time though, I wasn't shredded wheat, so I was able to enjoy the trek down.

This trail's name is well deserved. A lot of the trail is along a ridge top with precipitous drop offs on both sides.


Wow! I ran up that last year?

All in all, it was a beautiful day for a beautiful hike. 10 mile round trip in 5 and a half hours!

If you want to enjoy the rest of the pictures, they are posted on my Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennsphotos2007/sets/72157618802101812/

Hope I'm Not Boring You

But as workout days go, it was a pretty boring day. I got back on the erg last night for another 30 minute session. 5 minute warm up, 4 sets of 4 minutes on/2 minutes rest, and 1 minute warm down. Put in a total of 6.15 km. Did my crunches and some stretching afterwards - so a complete cross training day.

I did get a little excitement yesterday though! I got a call from my son (who is a Freshman at the University of California at Irvine (UCI)) about 2 PM. He said that he had just received an email that the campus was under alert because there was a report of a man wearing camos walking on the campus with a rifle! There were dozens of police cars and a helicopter circling. What the? Here in Orange County? I immediately sent a Tweet, and waited for more details. It didn't take five minutes before I had a dozen or so Tweets from others. Some from other UCI students. Some from reporters for local papers. Some from others living in the local area. It still took about half an hour to sort through what was actually happening from what was rumor, but in the end it really beat waiting for hours to hear about something on the news or in a paper. Really points out the power of tools like Twitter and why newspapers are having a tough go at it these days. (In the end it was a student going to an airsoft tournament).

By the way, if you aren't on Twitter, you should be. If you are and want to follow me, I tweet under gwjones00. Come join us on Twitter. It's sooo much better than Facebook...

I'm back on the trails again tonight. 9 miles general aerobic. Looking for somewhere new to run.

Back on the Ergometer

This three day a week rest/cross train is strange. I'm not used to not having to make a decision about where to run. I'm not used to just rolling into the garage and sitting on a machine. At least it's not a treadmill! Although the machine I use gives Lindsay cold sweats (inside joke - she rowed in college. Lindsay - my daughter reacts the same way).

I was back on the ergometer yesterday for a quick 30 minute workout. I did a series of 2 minutes on, 2 minutes rest pieces for 6.1 kilometers total. Then followed everything with about 50 crunches before calling it a night.

Today I'm out on the trails for 8 miles at general aerobic pace. And just so I'm not setting the wrong perception that a "trail" is a dirt track in the wilderness - here is an "Orange County trail" :

Cross train day

Today I did something that I haven't had a chance to do for a few weeks - cross train. Between my foray into over training and my following work schedule, it seems that I just wasn't able to get to any cross training on days that I wasn't running.

The Cal Coast training plan for novice marathoners has us running Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday is our long run. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are supposed to be easy runs. I don't think we run more than 45 minutes during the week. Sunday definitely needs to be a recover day from Saturday's long run. So, that leaves Tuesday or Thursday for other things. So, yesterday I went back to my old haunt at the Newport Aquatic Center and put in a 40 minute erg session for 8 km. Spent some time in the weight room after that to stretch and do some light lifting. It was actually nice to do something different!

Easy Cross Train Day

Well - yesterday I decided to take it easy. I've been getting real tired and pretty sore after my workouts lately. I think my body is telling me that it's time to (a) fuel up, and (b) get some rest. I got a little concerned on Monday after getting in only 5.8 miles in a one hour run (albeit there were a lot of hills involved). The thing that bothered me the most was some dull pain in my calves and shins. I know those are indicative of possible shoe issues, but I am thinking that it may also have something to do with the amount of work I am putting in as of late.

So, yesterday I toned it down a bit. Got on the erg and went an easy pace for 30 minutes. Ended up pulling 6.5 km. Then into the weight room for some stretching and light weights. Altogether put 50 minutes in of light workout. Just enough to get sweaty!

That leaves me one thing that I have left to get a handle on - food intake. I need to search around for some better ways to assess the amount (and type) of food that I'm eating. I am doing a lot of workout these days. The issue that I am having is somewhere there seems to be a missing link - either I am not burning as many calories as my toys are telling me, or I am eating a lot more than my food log is telling me. Last week was a zero loss week on the scale. I really want to drop 10 lbs prior to the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon on June 1. But, I can't run myself into an injury or get sick because I'm not eating enough either. Interesting balancing act....

Nice Day for a Walk

Today was a lazy day. Stayed out of my office, stayed out of the stores. I even was able to stay out of my car! (That's easy these days - but that's another story). The only ting I had to do was to turn in some overdue library books. So, instead of climbing in the car, I hitched up my backpack and took the two and a half mile walk over to the library from my house.

This was the perfect day to do this too. Beautiful sunny day, temperatures in the mid 60's, and a light breeze to cool things off. I walked over to the Newport Beach main branch, turned in the books, then enjoyed a caprese baguette at Bristol Farms.

What a way to enjoy a Sunday. Altogether, 5 miles of walking on a beautiful day!

Falling behind here.....

Okay - high school baseball season has started. So, a couple of days a week I'll get to spend a couple hours in the afternoon watching some baseball (not always good ball) and taking some photos. My oldest son is on his Varsity team. He may not get a chance to play this year (rotator cuff injury, currently rehabbing), but I still need to go and support the team. I feel for him and the rest of his senior class because this year's team is young and inexperienced. This translates into a lot of bad baseball and losses. For example, yesterday his team had the leadoff runner on in four innings, and even had runners on second and third with one out and were unable to score a run. My son says that they practice situational hitting, and if they do, they we have a bunch of guys whoa re not willing to execute for the benefit of the team. Should lead to a long year...

I'm also the 'team photographer'. All I've got to say is thank God for digital cameras. Otherwise my film bill would be astronomical! If you want to check out some of the photos, they are posted over on Flickr (I know - I should be using Picasa) at http://www.flickr.com/photos/glennsphotos2007/collections/72157604026883499/.

As far as workout? Today was a cross training day. So, after the game wrapped up, I moseyed on down to the Newport Aquatic Center and got back up on the ergometer. Concept2's "Workout of the Day" was to row 500 meter pieces with 2:00 rest in between. So I queued up 10 repetitions and rowed 7.5 kms. This put me at about 370 kms for the year (a rowing year goes from May 1 to April 30). This is down quite a bit from my peak of just over 1,030,000 meters in 2007, but back then I wasn't running three to four days a week either.

Back to the trails today. I need to figure out some variety to my daily runs here. I'll see where I end up today.

Short Day on the Ergometer

Today saw a short day on the ergometer. Being a cross training day, I selected the Concept2 workout of the day - a 7500 meter steady state piece. Off to the Newport Aquatic Center to do my duty.

I am looking forward to running again tomorrow. The days have been absolutely amazing. I'm looking forward to getting out in the sun.

Back to the ergometer!

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my cross training days, so I went back to the erg today. I did some 6 minute pieces - 3 minutes at 18 strokes per minute, 2 mins @ 20, 1 min @ 22, followed by a 3 minute rest. Nine of those with a 5 minute warm up for a total 59 minutes on the ergometer. For a slow guy like me, that equates to 11km and an 800 calorie burn.

Speaking about calories, I've started tracking again. I am committed to losing another 20 pounds by a couple of weeks before the marathon. It's a bitch being hungry all the time!

I'll post more about calorie counting and calorie tracking later today.

Rowing Day!

Today was an off day on the Cal Coast program, so as mentioned yesterday, I opted for a day of cross training. And, my cross training of choice? Indoor rowing of course!

I set up a workout today on an ergometer at the Newport Aquatic Center and went on my merry way. One of the neat things about the Concept 2 rowing machine is its programmable timing computer. The computer allows you to program workouts by distance, workouts by time, etc., etc. - almost an unlimited number of workouts. I programmed a short pyramid - a common type of rowing workout. I did an 11 minute pyramid - up the pyramid at 3 minutes at 18 strokes per minute, 2 minutes at 20 spm, 1 minute at 22 spm, and then back down by going 2 minutes at 20 spm, and then a final 3 minutes at 18 spm. This was followed by a six minute active rest period. This workout was repeated 3 times with a 5 minute warm up session. In total, I rowed 56 minutes, and went 10.2 km. I really enjoy this type of cross training - it really provides a good workout to a bunch of non-running muscles.

Tomorrow it's back to the trails. I'll cheat once again and put in 30 minutes instead of the required 20. Talk to you then!

Cross train!

Folks - time to cross train! Thirty minutes - no running allowed! Back on my second favorite workout - the ergometer. At least I get to move indoors.

There is one thing about indoor rowing that I really like. It is as close to a complete, non-impact body workout as you can get. Today's 30 minute workout has me sore in places that I forgot I had. Rowing is also great for the legs. Most people think that rowing is all about pulling oars (or the handle on a rowing machine). Actually, rowing is all about pushing with legs. My son, who is training for the upcoming racing season, is required to do literally hundreds of jump squats every week. There is not a person around a boat house with quadriceps smaller than a small oak tree.

In fact, the rowing stroke can be broken into four major steps:

1. The Drive: The Drive begins by pressing down your legs. The legs provide force. In a boat, the drive with the legs translates into movement of the boat. Press to the rear and the boat moves forward. On an ergometer, the leg press starts the flywheel moving and translates into flywheel momentum. During the drive, the arms remain straight and back firm to transfer your leg power up to the handle. Anyone who bends their back or arms during the drive is not transferring all the force of the legs into movement or momentum. The last part of the drive is to gradually bend the arms and swing back with your upper body, prying against the legs until you reach a slight backward lean at the finish.


2. The Finish: The Finish involves puling the handle all the way into your abdomen. Tforce to either the boat or the flywheel, translating into speed.


3. The Recovery: The Recovery involves a number of motions. First, the arms are extended toward the flywheel on an ergometer or toward your feet on a boat. This is a critical step in a stroke. You'll often hear rowing coaches telling their students to "swing the arms". It is critical that the arms move quickly to the front. Any hesitation in a boat results in oars dragging in the water and loss of speed. On an ergometer, hestiation results in slowing the flywheel down. Once the arms are extended (elbows literally locked), lean your upper body forward at the hips to follow the arms and gradually bend legs to slide forward on the seat. These last two steps should take place much slower than the rest of the stroke, as this is the time to "rest" (okay - at least to breathe in) during the stroke. For an experienced rower, this step provides just the little rest that allows them to explode into the next stroke.


4. The Catch: This is the final step of the rowing stroke. It really describes the result of proper recovery. At the Catch, the shins are vertical, the upper body should be leaning forward at the hips, arms fully extended. You are ready to take the next stroke.

When you think about this motion, you can see that the rowing stroke provides a workout for the quads, lower back and abs (Drive), arms, shoulders and obliques (Finish), calves and abs (Recovery). Rowing for 30 minutes provides about 600 repetitions - all with no impact on the joints. Talk about working up a sweat. Whew. For me, an hour of rowing is about a 1200 calorie workout. Of course, that's becuase I am the Running Fat Guy......