The Three R’s

Sorry all teachers who might read my blog. We’re not talking about reading, writing and arithmetic. We’re talking about the three legs that comprise my exercise regimen these days – rowing, running and rest.

So far this week, I’ve completed two of the three. Last night was another rowing session in my garage. Five minute warm up followed by 6 sets of 500 meters at a challenging pace (2:05 – 2:10) with a 3:00 rest period. Total distance rowed – 4.5 kms (including a three minute cool down).

That means today is the third leg of the triumvirate. Rest. After three days – so far so good. My knee seems to be okay. Taking it easy certainly has something to so with that I’m sure.

I’ll pick up back up with a rowing session on Friday, a run on Saturday, and a rest on Sunday. Then the fourth “R” – repeat again next week. I just might be back.

On the calorie front:

• Base allowance: 1821 calories
• Exercise allowance: 452 calories
• Caloric intake: 1941 calories
• Net: –331 calories (just right for a rest day)

Mulligan!!!!

That’s what I feel like blurting out at this point. Time for a redo. Time to get back on the wagon and get things moving in the right direction.

Monday night’s re-start was on the ergometer (rowing machine). After taking a few weeks off, the loss of fitness is *noticeable*. After a 5 minute warm up, I did a pyramid workout – 3 minutes at a challenging pace followed by 3 minutes at a rest pace, then 4/4, then 5/5, then 4/4, and a wrap up at 3/3. Total distance rowed – 7.7 kilometers in 43 minutes. And shaking arms and legs to pay for it.

Tuesday I headed to the Back Bay for three quick easy miles. Turns out the only thing it *was* was three miles. It *wasn’t* easy or quick.

I’m back on the ergometer today for another workout.

On a related subject – I am going to resurrect my daily calorie count. Ever since my knee started bothering me a couple months back, I cut way back on training, but not on my diet. The excess poundage is astonishing. WadiaSoft – this time I’m giving you a run for your money!

Getting Back to Business

So my week of recovery ends tomorrow. And hopefully my month of knee pain as well. It still doesn’t fell 100%, but I’m not sure whether that’s because it’s not 100% or if I’m being a (synonym for) kitten because I had an owie. (BTW – if you haven’t read Patrick’s blog post yet about this subject, I highly recommend you do). The bottom line is if I don’t do  something soon, I can pretty much write off next year too.

Not all is lost though! While I’ve been sitting around enjoying my visit from the spreading stern syndrome, I did some research on Runner’s Knee. It turns out that in most cases, runner’s knee is caused when your kneecap does not run neatly up and down in a small groove in your thigh bone. The two most likely causes are improper foot stabilization (shoes) and weak thigh muscles (synonym for kitten).

Since I’ve resolved item #1, the next step is to work on item #2. And for that, I have this machine in my garage exercise studio that can do wonders for quad strengthening – my Concept2 ergometer. So – starting Sunday for the next month, I will row a 10K three times a week and add a couple short runs (3 to 4 miles) to break up the boredom. Hopefully I won’t go brain dead watching the walls.

Executing the Plan

No secret - I’ve been having trouble with execution. Ever since the L.A. Marathon back in March, execution has not been my strong suit. The L.A. “experience” left an “I’ll get even with you” taste in my mouth. But it also left an “eff you” feeling in my body. Maybe that was the sign to take some time off (you’re right Danica). But taking time off leaves an “HTFU” feeling in my brain. So I tried to work through it. I tried to convince myself that training was fun. I tried to put in the miles and hours. What was the result? The consistency in my execution looks like an elevation profile from a trail run. Peaks. And valleys. Deep valleys…

In my daily (okay – weekly) catch up with everyone’s blogs, several have little “tricks” to keep themselves accountable to a plan. Kerrie documents her training day by day. JoLynn has here “MED2010” accountability ticker. Wadia documents his runs – mile by mile, and his weight – pound by pound. All of these folks have been *wildly* successful in meeting their goals. Soooooo….

Starting today I’m going to start my “ETP” (Executing the Plan) counter at the bottom of each post. This will be my little way of holding myself accountable to my plan and ultimately, to the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year. Maybe, just maybe, I can get this big battleship back on track (Hmmm. Aren’t battleships obsolete?) One thing though – I *am* reserving the right to change the plan though. Why would I want to run in the heat and humidity if I can exchange it for a romp in the hills? The point is I need to avoid more weekend mulligans….

As far as execution – I hopped on the rowing machine last night. I chose a random “workout of the day” from Concept2’s website. 5 minute warm up, 30 minute steady state, 5 minute warm down for a total of 7980 meters (4.3 miles). On top of that, I consumed 2600 calories of my 2580 calorie budget (1980 base plus 600 exercise budget) So far so good. Onward and upward!

ETP Day 1

• Training budget: +0.3 miles
• Calorie budget: –20 calories

A Quickie on the Erg

Okay folks. Minds out of the gutter please. The motion on a rowing machine may be well suited, but two sweaty bodies grunting and groaning. Hmmm. Pretty kinky…

Actually the quickie was a 3 sets of 12 minutes with a 3 minute rest. The first set was done at 26 strokes per minute, the second at 28 spm, and the final at a pedestrian 22 spm. Finished 7710 meters (4.8 miles) in 36 minutes of rowing. My arms are still quivering.

Tonight it’s the hills with Cal Coast. This will be my first time running hills with the club. I think I’ll be looking at a bunch of backs all night long…..

Row row row my not boat

That’s the best way I can describe yesterday. I had some plans in the evening, so I hurriedly got up on my ergometer (my not boat) when I got home and did a 30 minute program consisting of 6 sets of 4 minutes on, 1 minute rest, 16-18 strokes per minute (slow and strong – a real strength building set). Total distance rowed was 5500 meters (about 3.5 miles). I should have gone 3 more sets for 45 minutes total, but I’m experiencing some knee tendonitis (old high school injury) that I seemed to have aggravated with my traipsing through the hills on Sunday. So, I decided to take it easy (a little) and shut it down early.

Speaking of shutting down early, my lack of planning for Saturday left me a couple miles short of plan last week – 29.5 miles (5.5 miles rowed, 24 miles run) instead of the planned 33. I did get in my two days of resistance training though, so all is not lost.

This week is more of the same:

• Monday: Row. 45 minutes/5 miles.
• Tuesday: Intervals at the track with Cal Coast. Around 5 miles total.
• Wednesday: 6 mile easy run.
• Thursday: 3 mile run. Resistance training consisting of three sets of Lying Hip Abduction, Cook Hip Lift, Kneeling Overhead Draw In, Knee Fall Out, Squat Jump
• Friday: Rest day.
• Saturday: This is a step back week, so 8 miles easy.
• Sunday: 6 pace miles. Resistance training consisting of three sets of Lying Hip Abduction, Cook Hip Lift, Kneeling Overhead Draw In, Knee Fall Out, Broad Jump
• Total planned miles: 33

Other than my knee, all systems are go. I’m feeling good for the first time in several weeks. And for my knee – it’s nothing that a little ibuprofen won’t cure.

Is It a Perception Thing?

My turn to ask a question. How long does it take for strength and conditioning to degrade? Has my conditioning really gone to pot in four weeks even though I’m still putting in 20 to 30 miles a week? Or is it a perception thing?

I am often my worst critic. I know that. It can keep me going when others might be satisfied with where they are at. It also can lead to disappointment when it shouldn’t.

A prime example was last night. I had a cross train session on my schedule. I positioned the ergometer in the garage, fed the cat, dialed up some Phish on my iPod, and started a steady state row. I felt like I was struggling to keep a 2:20 pace (that’s how long it takes to row 500 meters). After 45 minutes I hopped off. My legs were quivering. I was soaked in sweat. My head started spinning. How can that be? Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that I was invincible?

So I started checking the data. 9200 meters. Average pace of 2:26.7. Hmm. Let’s see here. The last time I rowed this long was… Where’s that Concept2 online log? Hmmm. February 17. Back when I was invincible. Let’s see here. 10000 meters in 48:15 at an average pace of 2:26.00.

My point? Let’s not be so hard on ourselves folks! Perception isn’t always reality. My new philosophy? I start worrying when my mind starts dishing out the complacency.

Seven Kilometers and a Puddle of Sweat

Last night was another row around my studio. I positioned my erg for a killer workout - 5 minute warm up, 15 sets of 1:40 on, 20 seconds active rest, and 5 minute warm down. Forty minutes total. Yes. The garage walls are still white.

If sweat equity is any indication, this rowing workout was a winner. My shirt was wringable and I had sweat dripping - from my legs! The short bursts of power made this a perfect substitute for an interval workout on the track. In fact, I was just shy of 400 meters for every 1:40 that I was on. The biggest difference was the 20 second rest barely gave me time to catch my breath before I was off again. I was able to drive my heart rate up to between 80% and 85% of max. The final tally was 7.2 kilometers - just shy of 4.5 miles. And puddles on the garage floor.

Today's plan will be a 10 mile tempo run if my body permits. My throat is a little scratchy and my nose a little sniffly. All that after bragging to my wife last night how the Emergen-C had kept the colds at bay. Grrrrr.

I'm Officially a Runner

Yes folks. About 5 pm yesterday I officially became a runner:

That is my big toenail. It has been hanging on since the Long Beach Marathon. My feet now *look* like they run. Thank goodness men don't wear open toed shoes..

On the workout front I was back on the ergometer last night. I was going to row a 30 minute steady state piece. I rowed a 5 minute warmup and then 20 of the 30 minutes before my arms turned to jello. I threw in the towel at 5.25 kms. Is my upper body really that weak? Ummm. Yeah. Sad to think I used to do 60 minute pieces a couple years ago. Oh well. Now I have something to work toward.

Speaking of erg workouts, if this is something that you are considering on a regular basis, I'd like to suggest a couple of resources for information on workouts:

• This web page on Concept2's website allows you to select a workout of the day. This is a good resource if you are looking to mix things up a little. A word of caution - you may end up with a pretty difficult workout. If you do, no problem, just click the "Workout of the Day" button again to get a different one
• There are a ton of good articles and information about training in general on Concept2's website here.
• If you're going to erg maybe three times a week (say you're injured or something), there are a couple of web pages on Concept2's United Kingdom website that lets you create your own training plan. For example, if you go here, you can create a training program (yes - they misspell it on their website) that is a sprint program -it would be like training for a 10K. Or, if you go here, you can create an 18 week weight loss program. Because this is the U.K., you'll need to convert your weight and weight loss goals to kilograms.
• There's also a great training guide here, albeit it's a pdf and not truly online.

Finally, if you're just looking to substitute a rowing session here and there instead of running:

• Intervals: Substitute a 500 meter row for every 400 on your schedule. Take a 2 minute active rest in between each interval
• Short runs: Substitute 30 minute steady state at a moderate effort (heart rate or effort) for every 3 to 4 miles on your schedule
• Long run: Just substitute the distance and pace. You will need to convert miles to kilometers, and pace to kms/hour

I hope these resources can provide some structure and guidance to make your rowing session a little more enjoyable. Yes. It's still an indoor machine. But, if the treadmills and ellipticals are crowded and the erg is sitting there all lonely, give it a try! And, if you are really hooked, make sure to visit Xeno Muller's website. You can purchase video podcasts that will turn any rowing workout into fun!

On tap tonight - an easy 4 miler. And no - I'm not sitting on that machine. I've got a big toe to break in.

Another Wet Day

Yesterday was a rare day in Southern California - a wet, rainy day. For those who are uninitiated in the ways of Southern California, one thing we *do not* deal well with is wet. We average about 15 inches of rain a year. Let me repeat that - a year. That means that wet stuff falls from the sky maybe 12 days a year. That means that we don't know how to do things that the rest of the country deals with on a regular basis, like, oooooh, running in the rain.

So, I dressed snug and warm and headed out the door to meet up with my Saturday morning running group. I was immediately greeted by water dropping from the sky. Not just a mist, but a cold, soaking rain. Decision time. It was actually a pretty easy decision. 13 miles isn't going to make or break me at this point, and the thought of being wet and soaked to the bone was not at all appealing.

So, instead of running I retired to my rowing studio (aka garage), and proceeded to row 8 kilometers with a 5 min warm up, 16 min at 22 spm, 3 min rest, and 16 min at 26 spm workout. Hmmm. I ended up soaked anyways.

On the plan for Sunday - 6 miles at marathon pace. Unless I wake up and it's not raining. Then I may do a 10K for fun....

Got My Azz Whooped...

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for comments left about Sunday's run. The whole idea of PTSD hadn't even crossed my mind. All I know is I was real confused about how everything progressed and how painful everything was on a relatively short workout. You bloggers are lifesavers. Thanks!

Yesterday was a rarity in Southern California. Something that happens maybe five or six times a year. Cold. Windy. Rain in buckets. Enough so that this wimp decided that running was NOT going to happen. Especially since this wimp also had sore legs, knees and hips AND the run on the plan was just a three mile recovery run.

So, instead, I pulled my old Concept 2 Model C ergometer from the garage and proceeded to row. For an hour. 11 kilometers. Got my ass kicked.

Well okay. Not for an hour. But 55 minutes is close enough. The workout was 5 minute warm up, then 3 sets of 5 minutes at 18 strokes per minute (spm), 5 minutes at 24 spm, and 5 minutes at 30 spm, followed by a 5 minute warm down. This would be the equivalent of some type of a progression run where you would run 5 minutes easy, 5 minutes at a moderate pace, then 5 minutes at a hard pace. While doing crunches and lifting two pound weights up to shoulder height. It's been a long time since I made noises while working out. The only reason I wasn't embarrassed yesterday was that it was so cold and wet outside I'm sure no one walked by the garage while I was grunting like a stuck pig. I am *sore* today. But not like Sunday's sore. This is the "good" kind of sore that tells us that the workout we did the day before has left us a little stronger. A little more fit. Yes - it was worth the ass whooping.

On the schedule today is a six mile run. It's also 38 degrees outside this morning. This wimp says this run is happening after lunch.....

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 few on the ergometer

Yesterday I ended up scooting back and forth on my rowing machine in the garage. Yeah - not very exciting, but I figure it's about time to start working out a few other muscles. I'm supposed to be in the gym every now and then, but I just never seem to make it there these days. So instead, I put about 30 minutes in on the erg and rowed 6.2 km. I had the doors open to get a bit of a breeze blowing through, but I was still dripping when I was done. Not to mention sore today. I forget all those arm, shoulder and back muscles that get worked when rowing. The only thing I need is to get some batteries in the old Polar chest strap. I guess I could use the Garmin, but on an indoor machine, my old Polar is a great tool to keep track of heart rate and heart rate ranges.

On another note, Christine posed a great question yesterday, "...what is a 'recovery run' and what is the purpose of it?" I know when I first got started (I'm still a relative noob) a couple of years ago, I thought that my 20 miles a week was sufficient to power me through races. It wasn't too long (well - a year actually) before I clued in. To expect to show real improvement, I was going to need to increase my training volume. Run more. Put in more miles. Which meant more days. I wasn't going to have the benefit of an off day between training runs. I started working six days a week. But I still was trying to run each workout like it was a race. Pretty soon I was *always* tired. My pace started degrading. I was running myself into the ground.

About that time I started picking up books to understand more about what I was doing (yeah - running had become a serious hobby, not just a way to lose weight). In all the books I read, there was this concept of a key workout followed by an easy workout. Those easy workouts were called "recovery" workouts. I started slowing myself down on "recovery" days, and slowly but surely, my race times started falling through the floor!

Was it because I was allowing my body to "recover" on those recovery days? Well, actually not. The term "recovery" is really a misnomer. While your pace/heart rate is lower than, say a general aerobic run, the purpose of the recovery run is to be able to add training volume (miles). Turns out the way our bodies become more fit is to react to training stress by becoming more efficient. But,we can only run so many miles at max tilt without breaking down (injury time). By reducing our pace/effort, a "recovery" run, allows us to put in the miles while giving our body a bit of a break. The key to the benefit of a recovery run is starting fatigued . By starting in a fatigued state, your body will call on other neuro-muscular systems to pick up the slack for tired muscles. In short, the recovery run is supposed to improve running economy and train muscle fibers that would normally go unused. The theory is that in longer distances, your body will have more muscle fibers to call on in the late stages of the race. The general rule for including recovery runs is based on how many days a week you run - if you run less than 5 days a week, recovery runs are generally not necessary. Beyond that, recovery runs can be beneficial if they follow either a key workout (lactate threshold, VO2Max) or a long run. Also, the recovery run should be run at a pace/effort much less than normal. For example, on a recovery day, I don't pay attention to my pace. I make sure my heart rate remains at 75% of max or lower. Sometimes that translates to a 10:15 pace. Other days that translates to an 11:00 pace.

So there you go. More than you probably ever wanted to know Christine.....

On tap today - 9 miles -the first four GA, the last 5 at half marathon pace. Which means a recovery run on Wednesday!

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" :

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....

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.