Start of another week and my early morning shift at work necessitates that I do my workout in the evening after work. That was a dicey proposition here!
We have been experiencing severe summer thunderstorm activity here in Montana so I was not able to get out on the trail...both due to excessive mud and the threat of nasty lightning strikes.
Since I'm not looking forward to getting struck by lightning I did today's run on the asphalt streets of Great Falls. Would rather not do that in the summertime...but whatever it takes. Right?
Got a lot of getting ready to do so stepped up my workout today to an 8 mile run.....and didn't even get rained on. :-)
Eight miles was a bit of a stretch and I did have to walk a couple of times for a short distance. Overall it was a great workout and I was able to finish pretty strong.
Tuesday is my day off so am planning to get a both a swim in and a 12 mile bike ride. If I can finish the day with a short run that would be fantastic! However, it's supposed to rain off and on all day tomorrow so don't know if I will be able to get everything done.
Today's dividends?
Cash dividend.....fantastic! Today's run netted four pennies and a quarter. 29 cents.
Physical dividend - Difficult but still priceless!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
How Do You Measure Success?
I keep asking myself how to measure success in this quest for fitness and continued progress toward achieving one's desired goals.
I continue to work pretty hard.....sometimes, perhaps, too hard. Today I ran the Dutton (MT) Fun Days 5k and the results were less than desirable in my quest to break the 8 min. average mile barrier. I turned in what seems like a turtle's pace 26:09 time, which translates to something right at 8:20 miles.
Could be my workout yesterday had some impact on today's time. I know that it usually isn't a great idea to log a hard day right before a quest to run a personal best......but that's just what I did.
Because sometimes life gets in the way a bit, I haven't gotten the workouts in that I have wanted to so I went ahead and did a 5 1/2 mile run followed by a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. Wrong thing to do? Don't know for sure. I think that the real results will show up a little further down the road.
Could be it made me a little slower today, but I'm betting that I will reap positive results in future efforts.
Mostly, I really love to work out. I'm looking forward to wrestling in the Big Sky State Games next weekend and then re-directing my training and thinking toward my first ever triathlon in August.
I do hope that you are achieving your fitness (and life) goals. Keep rockin'!
I continue to work pretty hard.....sometimes, perhaps, too hard. Today I ran the Dutton (MT) Fun Days 5k and the results were less than desirable in my quest to break the 8 min. average mile barrier. I turned in what seems like a turtle's pace 26:09 time, which translates to something right at 8:20 miles.
Could be my workout yesterday had some impact on today's time. I know that it usually isn't a great idea to log a hard day right before a quest to run a personal best......but that's just what I did.
Because sometimes life gets in the way a bit, I haven't gotten the workouts in that I have wanted to so I went ahead and did a 5 1/2 mile run followed by a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. Wrong thing to do? Don't know for sure. I think that the real results will show up a little further down the road.
Could be it made me a little slower today, but I'm betting that I will reap positive results in future efforts.
Mostly, I really love to work out. I'm looking forward to wrestling in the Big Sky State Games next weekend and then re-directing my training and thinking toward my first ever triathlon in August.
I do hope that you are achieving your fitness (and life) goals. Keep rockin'!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Getting There....
Progress - the reason we set goals.
In my last post I detailed a bit of my frustration concerning the plateau I have been bumping up against in my struggle to break the 8 min. per mile average barrier in my training schedule.
Still haven't made that leap....but did make significant progress this weekend. I did run the Black Eagle Dam run on Saturday the 4th as planned. My 5k time was 25:30 and that averages out real close to 8:10 miles.
That's getting close. I have been neglecting my speed work a little since my shoulder injury so am feeling better about picking up the pace a bit.
I did get out again today and get in right at 5 miles a bit latter in the evening. It had started to cool down a bit and I felt very strong.
I work early in the morning....so will take Monday off and am planning on getting in a long, slow run on Tuesday.
Getting past a plateau is a very gratifying feeling.
Today's dividends:
Cash dividend: Zero
Physical dividend: You guessed it....priceless.
Trail day....Secret stone dividend: 1 pretty cool stone. :-)
In my last post I detailed a bit of my frustration concerning the plateau I have been bumping up against in my struggle to break the 8 min. per mile average barrier in my training schedule.
Still haven't made that leap....but did make significant progress this weekend. I did run the Black Eagle Dam run on Saturday the 4th as planned. My 5k time was 25:30 and that averages out real close to 8:10 miles.
That's getting close. I have been neglecting my speed work a little since my shoulder injury so am feeling better about picking up the pace a bit.
I did get out again today and get in right at 5 miles a bit latter in the evening. It had started to cool down a bit and I felt very strong.
I work early in the morning....so will take Monday off and am planning on getting in a long, slow run on Tuesday.
Getting past a plateau is a very gratifying feeling.
Today's dividends:
Cash dividend: Zero
Physical dividend: You guessed it....priceless.
Trail day....Secret stone dividend: 1 pretty cool stone. :-)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Not Getting There Fast Enough
Sometimes it does get a little discouraging when the quest for faster times seem to stall. On Saturday morning we will be doing the Black Eagle Dam 5k...so this morning I went out and did a 'warm-up' run on the course.
Since I don't know the exact start and stop points, I can't be totally accurate but timed myself at 28:47. If you do the math, that's not going to do the trick in turning sub 8 min. miles.
Hence a bit of disappointment. This was only a training run and I will run a little faster on Saturday, I'm sure.......but I'm struggling to attain a goal that I feel I should have already reached.
We'll talk more about realistic expectations in a future post. While it may not be realistic....I think I should be there by now!
Was still a great workout. I did get in about 4 miles on the bike earlier this morning as well.... but didn't hit the pool this week at all. We'll get there!
Toady's dividends?
Cash Dividend: Zero
Physical Dividend: Priceless!
Secret Stone Dividend: 5 awesome "secret" stones.
Since I don't know the exact start and stop points, I can't be totally accurate but timed myself at 28:47. If you do the math, that's not going to do the trick in turning sub 8 min. miles.
Hence a bit of disappointment. This was only a training run and I will run a little faster on Saturday, I'm sure.......but I'm struggling to attain a goal that I feel I should have already reached.
We'll talk more about realistic expectations in a future post. While it may not be realistic....I think I should be there by now!
Was still a great workout. I did get in about 4 miles on the bike earlier this morning as well.... but didn't hit the pool this week at all. We'll get there!
Toady's dividends?
Cash Dividend: Zero
Physical Dividend: Priceless!
Secret Stone Dividend: 5 awesome "secret" stones.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Steppin' It Up
Didn't manage to get here and post on the weekend workouts and usually rest on Mondays...so decided I needed to step it up a bit on Tuesday.
Since I am planning on doing my first triathlon in August, I thought it would be a great time to add a biking/running workout to the mix. I discovered that it is almost exactly 4 miles from the house to my running trail. (You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPu9KJ1AnA )
Got off the bike and started off on my 5 mile running loop with legs that were a little 'wobbly'. That transition is more difficult than some would lead you to believe but after a few strides all seemed to go well.
The one thing that I didn't plan on was the heat. I usually run in the earlier morning hours but wanted the challenge. I did get dehydrated a bit. That ol' sun drags it out of you faster than one might think. I did wind up walking about half of the steep uphill on the way back.....we'll get better!
Net result - A good hard workout and 5 fantastic, new "Secret Stones" (That's another story to be addressed in another post) and my lowest weight to date....165. Need to be at 163 for the Big Sky State Games.
Actually finished up the day with a pretty good 12 mile ride with Laurie at about 8:30 in the evening. Had a very nice ride down the River Trail on a great evening.
Since I am planning on doing my first triathlon in August, I thought it would be a great time to add a biking/running workout to the mix. I discovered that it is almost exactly 4 miles from the house to my running trail. (You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXPu9KJ1AnA )
Got off the bike and started off on my 5 mile running loop with legs that were a little 'wobbly'. That transition is more difficult than some would lead you to believe but after a few strides all seemed to go well.
The one thing that I didn't plan on was the heat. I usually run in the earlier morning hours but wanted the challenge. I did get dehydrated a bit. That ol' sun drags it out of you faster than one might think. I did wind up walking about half of the steep uphill on the way back.....we'll get better!
Net result - A good hard workout and 5 fantastic, new "Secret Stones" (That's another story to be addressed in another post) and my lowest weight to date....165. Need to be at 163 for the Big Sky State Games.
Actually finished up the day with a pretty good 12 mile ride with Laurie at about 8:30 in the evening. Had a very nice ride down the River Trail on a great evening.
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