So yesterday I went wandering around some of the Open Space areas around here and found some rather great trails. I did about 11 miles on a trail in the mountains and I had a wonderful time.
This morning I went to another open space park and got in about 6 miles on the trails. The weather has been absolutely wonderful and I am really enjoying the outdoors. I also got some "trail" shoes, they are J-41s and while they are absolutely light as a feather they feel like air on my feet. They were great this morning for the trails.
I'll have to get some pictures posted about those trails - fantastic and very scenic. The one today was all red dirt, so my feet came back looking like Hell Boy's, but it was still fun :-)
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Yesterday - Fries and Beer
Was bad. Fries and beer. And cake. Umm... no workout. I hope Traci did better!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Stationary Bike & Freakonomics
Did 30 minutes on the stationary bike on the hills course today. Averaged rmps of 67, and worked up quite a sweat. The best part was I did it while watching the documentary version of Freakonomics which is on instant watch on Netflix!
A Walk, A Strut and A DVD
Sounds like the start to a great joke, right? Yeah, right - definitely not. So after taking benadryl and being dead to the world for a seemingly eternal piece of time, I went out this afternoon to get some fresh air ... that turned into an 8 mile walk and absolute bliss. Sure, the weather wasn't great, but it didn't matter. I needed to clear my head and this worked out just fine.
Then later on I did Bob's workout. I didn't want to delve into another 10 minute solution because I'm still not feeling 100%, so Bob did the trick. It was stretching bliss and felt like a good workout.
Tomorrow, it is supposed to be in the upper 60s again, so I'm going to try and get a run in during the waking hours, then go to a finance seminar, and then in the afternoon try and map out a new route.
Then later on I did Bob's workout. I didn't want to delve into another 10 minute solution because I'm still not feeling 100%, so Bob did the trick. It was stretching bliss and felt like a good workout.
Tomorrow, it is supposed to be in the upper 60s again, so I'm going to try and get a run in during the waking hours, then go to a finance seminar, and then in the afternoon try and map out a new route.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Repeat This: "I Am A Runner"
Traci, have you heard? Heard what? No, not bird is the word.
WE are RUNNERS. Say it out loud: "I am a runner."
I don't think of myself as a runner. I consider myself a dabbler in exercise. I walk a bit, jog a bit, run a bit, do yoga a bit, and dabble here and there. But according to my book about women runners, we are runners. And we need to say it, repeat it, and live it. We've run many miles. We've done long distances and short distances. We have run, therefore, we are runners. Congrats :)
Today for my workout, I ran 6 miles. Good run. It was cool outside. I decided to skip going to the track around the university, and just wove in and around the neighborhood by my house.
WE are RUNNERS. Say it out loud: "I am a runner."
I don't think of myself as a runner. I consider myself a dabbler in exercise. I walk a bit, jog a bit, run a bit, do yoga a bit, and dabble here and there. But according to my book about women runners, we are runners. And we need to say it, repeat it, and live it. We've run many miles. We've done long distances and short distances. We have run, therefore, we are runners. Congrats :)
Today for my workout, I ran 6 miles. Good run. It was cool outside. I decided to skip going to the track around the university, and just wove in and around the neighborhood by my house.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Rest Day
Wednesday, hump day, will be my new rest day. I did have a relaxing day.
Traci, I hope you had a rest day too!
Traci, I hope you had a rest day too!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Shoe Review & Running Roulette
I have a few mini blog posts to share with you today:
Shoe Review: Nike Skylon 11
The things I like most about these shoes are that they're very lightweight and very breathable. The things I don't like are the stiffness of the outsole at the toe area, and the deep grooves in the outsole. While I was running today, rocks kept getting stuck in the grooves of the outsole. If you saw me on the corner of Bissonnet and Montrose today, kicking lamp posts and scraping my shoe on curbs, I did not step in poop. I was trying to scrape the rocks out of the grooves of my shoes. I will put my miles in in these shoes, but for next time, I'm going to try to get a light shoe with a flatter outsole. I would buy the Nike Moto 7s again, but they were a limited item apparently, and have been replaced by the Moto 8, which is quite different. Yet another reason to go with a more serious running shoe company next time that doesn't change models so often. I've got my eyes on the New Balance 890s and the Saucony Kinvara and A4.
Running Roulette
I put in 6 miles today in the new shoes out on the popular running route around Rice University. I'm not the biggest fan of this running loop. It tends to be busy, and isn't well lit, so running after dark is not very safe. It's about a mile away from my house, and walking there requires making my way through a bit of traffic. And here is where I rant a bit... sometimes I hate Houston. Two times while I was out today, I almost got hit by cars. I didn't dart out in traffic. Both times, I was leisurely walking across the street when these cars (actually, trucks) decided, nope, let's just go ahead and drive straight at the pedestrian and then come to a screeching halt in the middle of the street. Now, the question is, do I keep up with this route? Am I playing the odds every time I head out for a run in this part of town? Or am I better off driving to the other popular running area at a park that's entirely traffic-free? My other option is to do what I was doing before, and that was doing laps and laps and laps around the other, smaller university where there is less traffic.
The Complete Book of Running for Women
I picked up The Complete Book of Running for Women, while I was out on my walk to the grocery store today. I had read quite a few reviews about this book, and picked it out over a couple other running books for women. I haven't had a chance to look through too much of it yet, but the couple parts I did read were so informative. I think I might just use this book along with the online access to Runners World for running info right now. One of the little sections I read before I went out on my run was about running rate (steps per minute). The book noted that as beginner runners get more advanced, their number of footfalls per minute rises generally from about 160 to 180. One way to better your running off the bat is to focus on increasing your rate. So, when I went out on my run today, I spent the first 15-minutes or so timing/counting my rate, and speeding up my rate. I felt like I was moving a bit spasmically, but I did get my rate up to 180. So far, I like this book and recommend it if you don't already have it.
Shoe Review: Nike Skylon 11
The things I like most about these shoes are that they're very lightweight and very breathable. The things I don't like are the stiffness of the outsole at the toe area, and the deep grooves in the outsole. While I was running today, rocks kept getting stuck in the grooves of the outsole. If you saw me on the corner of Bissonnet and Montrose today, kicking lamp posts and scraping my shoe on curbs, I did not step in poop. I was trying to scrape the rocks out of the grooves of my shoes. I will put my miles in in these shoes, but for next time, I'm going to try to get a light shoe with a flatter outsole. I would buy the Nike Moto 7s again, but they were a limited item apparently, and have been replaced by the Moto 8, which is quite different. Yet another reason to go with a more serious running shoe company next time that doesn't change models so often. I've got my eyes on the New Balance 890s and the Saucony Kinvara and A4.
Running Roulette
I put in 6 miles today in the new shoes out on the popular running route around Rice University. I'm not the biggest fan of this running loop. It tends to be busy, and isn't well lit, so running after dark is not very safe. It's about a mile away from my house, and walking there requires making my way through a bit of traffic. And here is where I rant a bit... sometimes I hate Houston. Two times while I was out today, I almost got hit by cars. I didn't dart out in traffic. Both times, I was leisurely walking across the street when these cars (actually, trucks) decided, nope, let's just go ahead and drive straight at the pedestrian and then come to a screeching halt in the middle of the street. Now, the question is, do I keep up with this route? Am I playing the odds every time I head out for a run in this part of town? Or am I better off driving to the other popular running area at a park that's entirely traffic-free? My other option is to do what I was doing before, and that was doing laps and laps and laps around the other, smaller university where there is less traffic.
The Complete Book of Running for Women
I picked up The Complete Book of Running for Women, while I was out on my walk to the grocery store today. I had read quite a few reviews about this book, and picked it out over a couple other running books for women. I haven't had a chance to look through too much of it yet, but the couple parts I did read were so informative. I think I might just use this book along with the online access to Runners World for running info right now. One of the little sections I read before I went out on my run was about running rate (steps per minute). The book noted that as beginner runners get more advanced, their number of footfalls per minute rises generally from about 160 to 180. One way to better your running off the bat is to focus on increasing your rate. So, when I went out on my run today, I spent the first 15-minutes or so timing/counting my rate, and speeding up my rate. I felt like I was moving a bit spasmically, but I did get my rate up to 180. So far, I like this book and recommend it if you don't already have it.
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