One of Those Weeks, and One Bad Experience with Dehydration

Last week was awesome, indeed. It has been 3 weeks since I have rebounded back into the rhythm of running. I can slowly feel my fitness coming back as the weight slowly melts off and my tendons and joints get back into shape. My pace still isn't (not by far though) what it use to be, but I guess that will take another few weeks. But overall, I am feeling better about my running. Out of those 3 weeks, last week was the best thus far, ending the week in 28 total miles. I am sure more will follow in time. Until then I will keep plugging away. That's not to say that last week, I had some pretty ugly runs, but overall, the picture was clear for indicating that systems were returning back to normal. Last week, I did make one very bad error though. Seems you think you know what you are doing, but hopefully lessons learned are swift and to the point. You think I would have learned by now. I remember all of those times in the past were I would forget to place band aids and apply oils for chaffing. (After 1 bad post run shower experience, that's all it took, lol).

Dehydration - Booooooo!
Last week, I did a couple of double runs. Making the most of my time, I decided to run a few miles (3) in the morning then go to work, hydrate, then run 5-6 miles when I got home in the evening to top off a very good day. So I made sure to hydrate during the day, and when I got home, I was fueled and ready to Leap into action (ever so gracefully like an orangutang). I did an awesome 6 miler at a fairly reasonable pace (for me). Afterwards, I had a few sips of water, and then cooled down, took shower, and ate supper. I was feeling okay, but I didn't bother to hydrate as much as I should to replace all that was lost during my run.

The Next Morning
I felt miserable, my head felt like it was going to split in 100 different parts. It was one of those were you think you are better if you stand still, then when you bend down or move.......Ahhhh! I knew right away what was wrong, especially when I went to the bathroom. It was very dark in color...... Yep, the urine test. So.......I began to rehydrate taking sips slowly but ever so surely. I postponed my morning run that I was going to do. Decided not to, given my current status. After slowly drinking about 1000 ml in the next few hours, my urine color started to go pale yellow again, and I felt 100% better. LESSON LEARNED! Hydration before is as important after, and hydration all day long is were it matters.

So, a great week with a lesson learned makes for a better experienced runner!

Running and Safety; Selected for The News Letter at Work (Friday Weigh Station)

After 6 years, I finally got picked to have a featured article in our company's monthly news letter. Since I work in the Safety Dept., I was asked to write something about my running and a bio, and to tie in Safety some how for all of the drivers. Each week, we pick a safety topic and make hand outs, and visuals for the drivers to see. This week, the safety topic is on healthy eating and exercise, and how it effects your job, etc.. So for the news letter, I was asked to write something on myself, as well as on proper nutrition, running safety, etc.. Driving can have a very negative impact on your fitness. Time is something that is scarce. I remember, when I was a driver, finding time to fit in my runs was a nightmare, let alone, trying to eat healthy. But when it boils down, it's all about choice. Being a driver and running was a very difficult thing to manage, but I did it. Now, my hours are pretty consistent since I am off the road more or less, so that helps out more than you know. I started changing my diet from soda to more water, and from chips to fresh fruits and vegetables, and it paid off. A bunch of drivers are going to read this, so I thought I would fill it with stuff they may not know about, that us runners know very well or should know, or not know yet, but will find out sooner or later. And if you are new to this blog, this may present an about me moment as well. This was written for a news letter, and not intended so much for this blog, but thought I would share.
Three years ago, I decided that I needed to change my life by incorporating a healthy diet along with exercise. In high school, I was on the Track & Field team, so I decided to start a running, since that’s what I knew.

So I started running, mainly to lose weight. When I began, however, most of it was walking. I also slowly changed my diet around. I found that a healthier diet is the key. Since then, I have lost close to 40 pounds. Now, on average, I run close to 50 miles a week, and 100 when I am training for a Marathon, etc... Running is the one exercise that I really like doing that keeps my body in check, so I keep at it. Being more fit has definitely had an impact on my driving. I am more alert, more mobile, and I usually never have to worry about passing my DOT physical.

Marathons ran – 2 - Harrisburg Marathon (2010) and the Gettysburg North South Marathon (2011).

Half Marathons ran – 3 – Harrisburg Half Marathon, 2010 and 2011, and the Gettysburg Blue Grey Half Marathon, 2011.

Upcoming Races

The Outer Banks Marathon in NC, November 2012

The Bataan Death March 102k Ultra in the Philippines, March of 2013 (63.3 miles) with a cut off time of 18 hours. This one requires a Support Crew that monitors your safety on the road, as well as your hydration levels, etc..

Just with driving, there are many safety factors that you need to consider while running.

Hydration is essential. You just can not wake up on race day and chug a bunch of water. For a marathon, you need to make sure that you are hydrated at least 3-4 days prior by sipping water constantly through out the day. You don’t want to start dehydrated, because you can not catch up. On the other hand, drinking too much water in itself can cause hypotremia (water intoxication), in which your body does not get enough electrolytes. Too much water will dilute your body’s system and major organs.

When you leave the house to go for a run of any distance, it is important to let some one know where you are going. When I go trail running, I especially let some one know where I will be and for how long. I often bring my cell phone along with me as well.

We don’t have a lot of sun light in the winter months, so I often find myself running in the dark. When I do this I make sure that I have on high visibility wear along with a reflective vest, and head lamp. I am sure that you have heard of runners getting hit by cars. So to prevent this from occurring, I run facing traffic, and I make sure that they see me.

In the summer time, you can risk the chance of certain skin caners due to too much sun exposure. To help counter this, you need to wear sun block (not sun tan lotion) with an SPF of at least 45. Another preventable measure is to try and cover up as much as possible with a light colored fabric.

As you can see, being safe plays an important role throughout your entire life at home and everywhere, and every second of the day; not just on the job. Being safe is also being selfless, by helping those around you with their safety too. Safety should not be taken lightly at any point in time, but should play an important role in your life, for yourself, for your family, and everyone around you. If you are interested in starting an exercise program, it is important to make an appointment with your family doctor to get checked out for any potential problems. Remember to start slow as to prevent getting burned out. Results do not, and should not happen over night, but with the right attitude, determination, and the right diet along with exercise, you will be on track to a new healthier you.

It's Friday, and I thought I would just my weekly weigh in here, in case more people (haha) are interested in reading the above. So....here we go.

Week 1 - 207
Week 2 - 205.2 1.8 loss
Week 3 - 203.4 1.8 loss
Week 4 - 202.2 1.2 loss

Average loss per week now - 1.6
Total lost - 4.8

Randomness - Does doing 1 - 3 count? Don't feel like doing 4-6....

So....I was tagged by Karen from Working it out about this 11 random thoughts about me and questions or something like that. Seems like I am reading a lot of posts and getting to know people a little (a lot) better. I thought I would play along with this but I am omitting rules 4-6. I barely have the time to read blogs and write posts. So I'm not tagging anyone. Besides, every one that I know has already been tagged any ways that I would pick. lol. So here we go...Thanks Karen. Sorry if I am not completing.

1.Post these rules.
2.You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3.Answer the questions set for you in their post.

11 Random things about me.
One - I shave my head every other day
Two - I pray before each run that I may finish well and with all of my heart.
Three - I love to draw.
Four - I am very accident prone, but yet, I work in the Safety Dept. @ work.
Five - I HAVE to have milk when eating anything chocolaty or sweet.
Six - Some times I use Podrunner or Motiontraxx to run to for motivation. Audiofuel is a good one too.
Seven - I play the piano, mostly gospel
Eight - I HATE winter, well the cold, and snow and those things associated with cold.
Nine - Most people find me humorous, and in good spirits most of the time.
Ten - I am very time sensitive, For my Hydration during the day I time it (one sip every 5 minutes, and I set my timer on my watch to beep)
Eleven - I get up at 4am to run.

This is the easiest part - (okay copy - paste - then answer - here we go)
1.What was your favorite vacation of all time?
The Great Smoky Mountains when I was a kid with Grandma and Grandpa in North Carolina.
2.Snacks: Sweet or Salty?
Both
3.What were you doing around this time ten years ago?
I don't remember
4.Hit play on your Ipod (iphone, cassette, 8-track, whatever). What is the first song to come up?
Not a song - Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (AudioBook)
5.What was your favorite memory of 2011?
My wife's surprise birthday party, happy moments.
6.Google “(Your first name) needs”. What comes up? (Mine is ‘Karen needs facebook’ followed by ‘Karen needs a lobotomy fund’. LOL)
Welcome to Rider Kenley, You know what Kenley Needs?
7.What is your favorite running or triathlon related product?
My Ipod Shuffle!
8.If you could only do one race, which one would it be?
Outer Banks Marathon, since it's my home state.
9.Do you prefer to train alone or in groups?
alone
10.What is the one race you wouldn’t mind doing over and over again?
Well, I've only done one race twice, the Harrisburg Half Marathon.
11.What accomplishment makes you the most proud?
My first Half Marathon because I trained well, and if you put in the effort, you get results.

Twitter 5K, a New PR

Over all Place: 187 of 376
Age Group Place: 57 of 75
Time: 28:43
Pace: 9:16

Saturday, January 21st was my first ever 5k race. It was a virtual race, but you still go and record your times. I am amazed as to how many over the world did it, even one of my Filipino friends, Roelle, from daytripped running. I did mine on the treadmill as weather conditions did not allow for safe road running or running anywhere for that matter. (I do not like winter time really). I have been doing a lot of treadmill running to get back into shape and lose weight. Before I go off on a tangent, Ill stick to the race. So I started with a speed setting of 6.6 mph as I remember doing some tempo runs at around 6.2 mph. The first mile was interestingly pretty fast clocking a sub 9 minute mile, which I haven't ran in a couple of months on any kind of run. Should I have started so fast? (fast being relative). The second mile I had to slow it down a bit but not much, as I did not dare go under 6 mph. The last mile was like a progressive tempo run and a mad dash the last .1 miles with speed maxed out at 8 mph. I heard, on marathontalk I believe, that for a 5 and 10k, it SHOULD feel uncomfortable being the beginning to the end, but not like an all out sprint. Pacing for a 5k is rather different for me as I am use to longer distance races were a walk break here and there isn't so bad. Way different mindset for the 5k. Reminds me of when I ran the mile in high school. lol. Burn rubber until the end. All in all, it was a very good race. My end time was 28:43 with an average mile pace of 9:16. I actually learned a lot. The right pace starting off is very crucial to the performance. I didn't actually do too bad, considering my current fitness. With faster 5k and 10k times, I would suspect that my half and full marathon times should come down. I will be doing another 5k in 2 weeks time called the Winter Sucks 5k. Doing this recent 5k has allowed me to gauge were my fitness is, and what my strengths and weaknesses are. Now I know what my 5k pace is. lol. Next time I hope to go under 28 minutes. If I lose another 5 pounds and put in some training, that is a pretty obtainable goal. We will see. Until then,.............. gotta run!

Accountability (Scale House Friday) My First 5k.

So my running this week has been down per the last post. I didn't make it to the gym on Wednesday so I thought I was just gonna cruise through the week and not weight myself at all. My diet has been pretty good, as I have been changing to unprocessed and lots of fruits and what not. So..., I get this comment drilling into me how I should still weigh in and hold myself accountable as I had said, so Friday, I went to the gym and weighed in, and did a measly 3.89 miles and some weights. Low and behold, here are my stats for this week.

Week 1 - 207
Week 2 - 205.2 1.8 loss
Week 3 - 203.4 1.8 loss (same as last week, and I didn't even run as much)
Total pounds lost 3.6

So there's my accountability people. Still sticking with it, 180 here I come.

In other news, I will be running my first 5k ever tomorrow in the Twitter 5k. You can run it anywhere and anyhow you want. Here's the link.

To Sleep or to Run?

This week, my schedule has been so erratic. I have had to make the choice of whether or not to get more sleep, so I can function during the day, or get up and run, and act like a zombie all day. 15 hour shifts can really stop the ball from rolling. I have tried to keep an ongoing hold on my diet for the most part, but not running really is a downer. When I run in the morning, I feel more energized during the day. This week, there might be 0 miles logged, but next week will be a lot better Im sure. I did not bother doing a weigh in this week.

What is the weirdest thing you have seen or have seen some one doing at the gym?

Me? I always get a kick out of seeing people run on the treadmill while hold the rails on the side. What does that do? .........to each their own I guess. (And it's the same person doing it all the time, 10 mph, at a 12% incline to make it more interesting. She just holds her self up and lets the tread go by and touches it with her feet so often. You would have to be there.)

In the meantime, Ill see what I can do to maintain a rolling motion on the ball. Who knows? The week's not over just yet.

Getting the Ball Rolling Again

Last summer, my running base was pretty strong, but that was last year. I remember being able to do a 10 miler with no problem at a decent clip. But, yeah there is always a but, the last few months of 2011, things kind of dwindled down hill. I lost fitness. I lost a lot of aerobic capacity. Maybe it was from going a few weeks with no running and not watching my diet? Whatever the case, it's different now, cuz its 2012. It's January and it's time for action and accountability. The past two weeks have been very good and things are improving. Like sands through the hourglass sifting back through that narrow part, so is my fitness. I still have a ways to go, but it's about patience and consistency. I don't think the consistency part could be stressed enough though. Now I got the ball rolling, it's up to me to keep it rolling.

WMAP Weight Management Accountability in Process

I don't Run to Eat, I Eat to be able to Run!

Week 1 - 207

Week 2 - 205.2 -1.8 loss

I am starting to feel a lot better during my runs. I have not concerned myself with my pace or anything like that. I have found that diet is the key to successful loss in any weight, in a healthy way of course. I can run 10 miles a day every day, but if I eat like a pig during the day, it is very counter productive. So, just getting it right takes time and patience, but it will all be worth it. I have been playing around with the Paint software on the computer, so hope you will enjoy. Take care.

Strength Training for Running

This week is my second into a 15 week base building phase, which at the moment, I can say is doing pretty good. Tomorrow is "Weigh-In Wednesday" so I am pretty excited for that as well. I have decided to incorperate a few new things to my training.

1. Cross Training, right now in the form of biking in place at the gym, I love this, because I can jam out to some music and not have to worry about getting hit by a car. I decided to try this biking thing out because, who knows, maybe a triathalon is in sights. My younger brother does them already, and said that biking does help out running.

2. Strength Training - When I was in highschool, I took weight lifting classes, and wanted to some day look like Arnold Schwarzenegger but that never happened, not even close. I haven't done (stuck to) any weight training for a long time, so I started this last week. The day after the first time I was so very sore. hahaha DOMS.

I have heard that Strength Training for Running can and probably should be different opposed to regular strength training. I have decided to introduce 2 sessions a week including some core exercises too (planks, sit ups, crunches). What I have put together is a series of 10 exercises that works all major muscle groups, thanks to Planet Fitness's 30 minute circut. And I go around full circle 3 times. I only did it once the first time though. There are some of the exercises that I can only do with free weight or by use of the other machines. Ex - Curls, I would rather use the dumbells intead of the machine because of the movement not seeming very natural. Well, I can only hope that more upper body strength will should prevent a lot of tiredness in my arms when running more than 5 miles. We'll see how this turns out. One could only hope that it would help and not hinder.

Do you incorperate Strength Training in your Training Plans? If so, is there any muscle group that you concentrate on more so than others?

WMAP (Weebles Wobble and they Do Fall Down)

WMAP - Weight Management Accountability Process

I have not recieved too many comments on my last post, but with the comments I did recieve and with further thought, I chose not to do a Spring Marathon. Hey, it will be around next year, right? Right now, I am on a regiment of eating right (trying my best to anyways) and just doing some 3-4 runs a week with my long run being not over 10 miles). I also want to start introducing some X-Training into my non running days if time permits. In mid - May, I will begin my extensive training for the Half and Full Marathon in Fall. That is my plan and I am sticking to it. Now to explain the title of this post.

I went to the gym this morning at 5am to do 5 miles which were incredibly slow and feeling way too awkward. This is how my running has been this week and last when I started up after a 3 week break with Christmas and all. Bad idea to stop running during this time of the year you must be saying to yourself. Don't worry, I hear you loud and clear and when I weighed myself today I heard the scale loud and clear too. So, my main goal now is to lose weight, at least 27 pounds before June 1st. That gives me roughly 20 weeks to do it. I need to loose about 1.35 pounds a week. So there is the Weight Management part of it. Now for the Accountability part.

Accountability - Every Wednesday, I will be posting my weight here. Reason - It makes me feel as if I am not the only person I have to answer to, and it's great for motivation as well, as if I am not in it alone. Also, my loving and dear wife told me that if this year I get down to 180, she will give me a BIG surprise, and I might just get a Garmin Forerunner for myself. I never bought one yet, because with my current condition, I don't feel I deserve one anyways.

So let the Numbers and excel spreadsheets begin, well, minus the excel stuff (It's not that complicated).

WEEK 1 - 207 (ouch) no wonder why I feel like a Weeble!!!

Weebles Wobble and they do fall down, they just get back up really fast!

Change of Plans, Or...........Maybe Not?

I have decided not to do a Marathon this spring. (Bob Potts Marathon) Of course, that could again change between now and a few weeks, or even tomorrow, but I don't think so. I will, instead, work on my base mileage and all around fitness. At the end of May I will begin to train officially for the 2012 Harrisbug Half, and then the OBX Marathon in November. But between now and May I want to get fitter, establish a good diet (better), and lose about 25 lbs. So, my racing goals are as follows.

A Race - Harrisburg Half, (Goal - sub 2:00) September

Z Race - OBX Marathon (Goal - Finish with out turning into Fish Bait) November

So there you have pretty much my racing outline for 2012. (2 races) It is time to start from scratch. Over the last month I have lost a lot of motivation. I need to find my running groove again. For now, I am just looking for a 3-4 day a week training schedule to get my long run up to about 10 miles in the next 4-5 months. Wait, I did a 15 mile run last Saturday, as yucky as it looked. Looks like I will have some digging to do, or just be imaginative. It's weird, but my week of running doesn't seem complete with out doing a long run of some sorts.

How I do in the next few weeks will determine whether or not I do the Bob Potts Marathon. We'll see! Truth be told, I really don't know what to do. I'll know soon enough though. I know one thing, I have not felt it on my last couple of runs. It's time to light the fuse again.