First mile of 2010

All I wanted to do was run on January 1st, literally that is all I wanted for the start of the new year. Silly me, Why trust the gym that you pay a ridiculous fee to belong to to stay open the hours they have posted on their website?
Nonetheless, I ran my first mile of 2010 today. Just one though. Sometimes I like running fast (obviously), but the problem with being tall and running fast on treadmills is that your knees hit against the front bar.
The first month of this seems like it is going to be more experimental than anything else, the most important thing is just to log as many miles necessary to reach my goal. I think I'll post my total miles on the bottom of each post. That seems like a good idea.
January- 1 mile. 2010- 1mile.

Did you think I left?

I came to my sences in November and decided "Hey, it wouldn't really be fair to do a one-year-challenge and allow yourself 15 months to do it."
Today starts the battle to break the 4-minute-mile and raise $50,000 for charity.
2010- The year of greatness.

I hate treadmills

Today reiterated my hate for treadmills. I suppose you get to a point where you get used to running on them so it becomes second nature, but the first few times after summer/fall is over really sucks. Today I did a light upper body workout and then did 3 miles on the treadmill. My leg was only slightly sore, but I didn't want to push it more than 3 miles today because I plan on doing some extra running tomorrow seeing as how it's the last day of the month. I also noticed today that it's taking longer for me to get winded as I run, which is definitely a great sign. Looking forward to tomorrow, hopefully it's not raining so I can run outside.

Thursday the 29th

As I suspected from yesterday, my right hamstring and right calf are extremely tight/sore today. This early on in my training, I'd be a fool to push them right now. I did an upper body/core workout today and plan on hitting the road again tomorrow. Sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do.

Can't stop me

I think this whole sick business is finally over. Although when I woke up today I felt under the weather again, I think I was able to sweat out most of my sickness in my run today. The run, difficult but rewarding was a 4 miler around Eastport and Annapolis, MD. Dodging puddles from this weekends rain as well as old brick roads is always fun. I would just go run on a track, but honestly I get so bored when I do. The weather here was sixty degrees so I'm going to run outside as opposed to a treadmill for as long as possible.
Today I stretched halfway through my run as well as the end of my run. I can feel my right hamstring tightening up, but enough stretching and rest this weekend should do the trick. If I were one of my clients I would say to take it easy for a day or two, but with my expectations for myself, that isn't possible right now.
I also looked at new running shoes today online as well as supplements designed for endurance as opposed to just strength building. For the shoes, I might want to start with something well known for running like Asics, Brooks, New Balance, etc., but Under Armour has a new running shoe line and even though I might not get them for my first pair, I definitely want to try them out. Still undecided about the supplements, probably leaning towards the GNC AMP endurance stak. We'll see.

10/27/09

Man I am sick today. This sucks, but sometimes you've just gotta fight on. Today was a leg workout day instead of a run. By incorporating weights and body-weight exercises into your running regime, you'll build leg strength as well as build up an extra resistance to lactic acid buildup, which occurs when you're going all out in a run (like when I attempt my sub 4 minute mile).
The workout for today was all body-weight. The reason behind this is that it doesn't take long to do and can be done right from home. (I listened to music and watch tv while I did mine). Simple workouts from home can be extremely effective as well. I did 5 sets of squats and 5 sets of standing calf raises. The calf raises followed the squats after each squat set. I was going for high reps to build up my resistance to lactic acid, teaching myself to fight through the pain. The calf raise number mimicd the squat number. Today I did 50 reps of both, 60, 70, 80, and ended with 100 reps for both. Right now I feel like my legs are on fire. Shower, lots of Vitamin C, dinner, and early bedtime to rest and kick this sickness are in store for tonight.

Overcoming Excuses

Sneezing and coughing the entire morning and suddenly I'm facing a tough decision to either let that excuse stop me from running or to overcome it and get myself out of the house to run. For this self challenge every step I take on the pavement, track, dirt, etc. is going to help. I remember thinking back to when Michael Jordan had the flu in the playoffs and overcame any excuses not to play and led his Bulls to win that night. Thinking about Lance Armstrong overcoming cancer and winning the Tour seven times. Would he have called it quits one day if he woke up in the middle of a race because he thought he was coming down with something? Absolutely not. There's a reason champions are champions. They don't make excuses no matter what the circumstance. Four-miles later I still feel like crap, but that's $.80 more that I'll be donating to charity and one step closer to reaching my goal. Hydration, shower, and medicine are next.