Baby (oof) steps (ouch). August 7, 2010
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentHave done more running this week…up to a smashing 12 miles! With around 150 miles on the bike my legs are a bit sore.
Yesterdays run (before my bike ride) went well… 2 miles in 22:22! That included walking breaks on a 5/1 ratio. it felt good . ankle was fine. forgot to bring my HRM (heart rate monitor) so I have NO idea if I stayed in the Mark Allen proscribed training zone (for me) for base work….108-135 BPM. It sure felt like my heart was racing a bit too much. It probably was cranked up…
not to self: Don’t forget the bloody HRM!
The bike ride was fine..although I did manage a good tired feeling by the end. Some days I’m on…some days I’m not. Stil, though
Arr…Booty! July 29, 2010
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentAfter a go ahead from the Doctor for as much cycling as I want…I WILL be participating in the 24 hours of Booty this August.
It’s a fund raiser for the Lance Armstrong Foundation…
Yes, it’s a 24 hour ride which means LOTS of cycling. I am a bit weak at it right now, so I know I won’t be hammering the whole time. The plan is to simply post as many miles as I can….take a break then pick up some more.
It’s not going to be easy, but everyone I have know with cancer or the folks I know who you have cancer…it isn’t easy for them either.
August 28th and 29th from 1 PM to 1 PM. Hoping for no rain after last years deluge and cold wind. THAT was October. This year there will probably be some nasty heat spell with tornados and earthquakes…what seems to becoming the norm around here!
http://www.24hoursofbooty.org
Starting over… July 17, 2010
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentWhen you’ve been outside and active for a long time, you forget what it’s like when you started in the first place. It’s great to have a reminder of just how hard it was when you started running or riding or when you first got in the pool.
I’m just starting back after 10 weeks off after ankle surgery.
It’s the longest I’ve been off in 40 years.
Sure there was a time when I was raising a daughter and for eight years didn’t compete in anything….sure I still ran and biked but only a few times a week, but I was still out there doing something.
This time I went from a week with almost sixteen hours of training time to nil. Nada. Null. Zip. It took two hours on May 12th. (surgery day) to bring it to a halt.
One week on the couch medicated.
Three more weeks on the couch, medicated with a hard cast up to the knee.
Four weeks in a hobble boot. (THEY call it a walking boot, but.Ha! That’s a joke)
Now I’m two weeks into easing back.
I’ve started swimming. Started biking. This past week I was able to run some with the doctors Ok. Just bits though. I’m at three miles this week so far.
It’s great to be starting over. It helps me appreciate what new folks go through, especially running, since, while I remember when I started, I can’t remember what it felt like.
I’ll remember what this feels like for the rest of my life…hard.
I’m Back! July 11, 2010
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentThe Razor’s Edge gets a re-birth.
Am firing this up again to post some up-coming shinannigans here.
Costumes may or may not be involved!
288 June 28, 2008
Posted by anton in : Training , add a comment288. The number of days it’s been since I swam last. September 12 of last year.
You know, I don’t HATE swimming it just hasn’t been my thing. Got focused on last years JFK 50 miler, got sick
had an emergency colonoscopy. (Yikes!) Ran the JFK three days later, sprained my ankle at mile 6 and ran (sort of ) the last
44 miles on it…and on and on…Like I tell folks, as I’ve gotten older the time just seems to slip away…I go to sleep on a Tuesday and when I wake up it’s two weeks later.
Not getting in the water was like that. One thing led to another and the next thing you know, it was now.
Had the wonderful chance to go to my brother-in-law and sister’s river (pronounced “rivah”) place in Virginia. Needed to get out of town and see some family with ML, which is always fun… It was great to have the invite, but there’s a problem with the place from my current swimming perspective…all that water.
It just laps there looking at you…and it purrs to you…”Hey baby…climb in.” One moment the river tries to schmooze you in and the next it roils and caps and flows and defies you to get in it. “You couldn’t swim in me if you had fins and gills!”
So I did. From one pylon to another, about 100 meter out and back, out and back…nothing working, nothing flowing, movements aren’t smooth…everything akimbo. Breathing isn’t right, arms aren’t right, nothing is right and by 800 meters I’m shot. Better to get out of the salty water than hammer away with bad technique.
It wasn’t too bad! Makes me think about getting back to the pool. An aquatic jump start with the “Rivah” for a battery.
Catch UP May 26, 2008
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentMy training of late has not been as focused a it should be…It took quite awhile to get the bottom of my feet back to normal after losing most of the skin to blisters in April (see the previous post). But after a rousing long run yesterday with Scott, down from New Jersey, all seems go.
Plans are to build on biking distance in the next month, finishing a double century in June, July and August. August has me going to N.J. for The Turkey Swamp 50k and at least one 50 miler. First weekend of September is the 24 Hours of Booty (No, not that kind of Booty!) A 24 hour bike ride where I hope to hit 350 miles.It’s a charity ride to raise money for the Livestrong foundation, which helps with quality of life issues for cancer patients.
That will bring me up to the Virginia Double / Triple Ironman weekend the first weekend of October.
The only problem has been the pool…I just have not been motivated to get in the water and swim…but I think I can get past that in the next week or so here… have been doing my pullups and kettlebell workouts to build shoulder and back strength…that will make swimming easier.
For those of you interested, I passed my first Anatomy and Physiology class with an “A”. Part II is this summer.
The school year is winding down and can’t get here soon enough…bring on summer.
Nope, nope, nope. February 29, 2008
Posted by anton in : Training , 1 comment so farTomorrow is the Greenway Trail 50K and Marathon. I’m signed up. I won’t be there. I decided to bag it. Easy to do as sign up is race day. This is a great race, well done and a gem of a race. It’s very much an enhanced Fat Ass Ultra. Point to point. A rural race in an urban setting.
Still suffering with a bit of an ankle problem, lingering from the JFK, It’s a good idea to ease up a bit. When it comes to this sort of thing, I remain the soul of caution. I know folks who have bad knees, hips and ankles…it’s often the result of not listening to your body and taking time off when you need to. How many times do you go to a race and see people who are running injured? What’s up with that? Better to back off for awhile and run for many years into the future than run for the next two weeks and have to leave it all behind….forever.
Still on the radar is the Virginia 24 hour Ultra Run in April. Perhaps the Old Dominion 100 miler in June.
I’m going to lay low with the ankle for another week (swim and bike,walk some) pick up running again the next week.
“Uh-huh! Garsh!” January 5, 2008
Posted by anton in : Training , add a comment
One week away from the Disney races. Mary Lou will be running her second Half Marathon there and I’m in for my third Goofy Challenge.
For those of you who are unfamiliar, the G.C. is quite simple. Run the Half on Saturday. Run the full Marathon on Sunday. No problem.
It’s the other stuff that’s hard!
Getting up at 2 a.m. both days and catching the bus and the waiting around at the race venue till the 6 a.m. start. Not that bad really…and everyone else is in the same boat and it’s quite the party atmosphere so no one seems to mind.
I’m at the usual place in a race taper where I feel fat, dumb, and ugly, having cut back on the training and still eating normally. Legs feel good. Ran my last run of consequence today …a short 7 miler. The other runs this week will only be 30 minutes or so. Mary Lou admits to feeling a little of the same. This year however she has gotten through training without a knee problem and while admitting to a few butterflies, is stoked.
I am too…stoked… this will be our last Disney race and my last Goofy. Time to move on and do other things, race wise. It will be fun to be there for the 15 annual Marathon. They are promising a new style finishers medal to reflect that anniversary.
The ankle that caused so much problem last month (see the blog entry “Oh Snap. Crackle. Pop.”) is much improved. It’s not at 100% but it feels strong and it should be fine on the roads at Disney. I am a little concerned about it for trail running. I’ve noticed I’m a bit gun shy now about spraining it again and trashing my whole racing season…after Disney it’s back to the weight room and work to strengthen it. I would have liked a few more miles in my legs, and at least another long run, but had to take two weeks off after the ankle incident. Still feeling fit from having trained for the JFK 50 miler though.
A week out from the races and the weather looks like it will be a tad cooler than last years 80 degrees…but only just a tad. Sunny too, so the heat could be a problem. Go at a good clip till the sun comes up and the heat gets oppressive. Last year The medical tent was full and there were folks down everywhere the last few miles of the Marathon.
Will post a race report and pics on the return…
Hope all your workouts are going well.
If you’re not working out…start.
“It takes a lot of work.”
Posted by anton in : Training , add a commentPeople tell me all the time…”I can’t believe you’re 53! You look like you’re in your early 40’s.”
I tell them… “It takes a lot of work.”
In 2007, this is how much work it took:
Swimming: 82 kilometers ( about 50 miles)
Biking: 4,800 miles
Running: 1,480 miles
Hours: 680 (which also includes strength training and some yoga and hikes.
I’m lucky. Right now in my life I have the time and the desire.
But YOU don’t have to put in that much time to have a better you. Thirty minutes to one hour, five times a week. This stuff you hear about thirty minutes three times a week is bunk. Period. Yes, that will help you lose a little weight and will improve your heart some…but real change to your body and mind doesn’t come on that. You have to put in the work. Real work. Real sweat, heavy breathing, sore muscle work. Once a week you have to do it for more than an hour, at least, and once a week you have to have a short workout where you think you might puke. That’s it. Simple. Anyone who says different is telling you what you want to hear, not what you should hear.
Five sessions a week, including one long suffer fest, one short puke inducer and three easier workouts that are enjoyable.
Will this help you live longer? No.
You only have the moment you are in right now…no matter how fit you are.
Will this help you have a better quality of life as you get older? Yes.
Will you feel better and feel better about yourself. Yes.
You don’t have to live your life on the couch.
There is a direct connection between your weight and how much TV you watch. No amount of Wii is going to help you lose 50 pounds. That kind of TV doesn’t count either.
Change your life.
But be advised:
It takes a lot of work.
Not so much September 26, 2007
Posted by anton in : Training , 1 comment so farNot so much to report lately… Have been running mostly, getting ready for the fall/winter trifecta: Marine Corps Marathon,JFK 50 Miler and then Goofy Challenge @ Disney World.. October,November,January.
Long runs on the weekend and speed work mid week…like today ,when it’s 90 degrees and 85% humidity. Just ghastly, me reduced to a big ball of sweat. Cooler weather on the way.
This weekend coming I’m going to scoot down to Cambridge,MD and watch my friend Scott participate in Chessieman, an Independant Iron-distance race…Won’t go for the start but will make it down before the end of the first bike loop. Running the AT on Sunday with some folks.
Next weekend I’m off to the Double and Triple Ironman, not as a participant ,as you know by now, but to crew for a fellow doing the Triple.
I hope to use it as chance to get a handle on training that won’t drive me to injury..
Speaking of the hip…seems ok. I mean I’m running 45 to 50 miles a week but biking very little.Hip feels fine. Have re-fit the bike including going back to an old saddle. I just think it was an overuse injury that got away form me…
Have started taking a yoga class offered at my school…it is really helping with flexibility…which may have been part of my hip problem.
Last weekends workouts: Run 21 miles on Saturday. Run 11 on Sunday.
This coming weekend: Run 10 miles Friday. Run 21 to 26 on Sunday. May run a little while at Chessieman.
Today’s speed work: 6 x 800 meters at 3:50 pace (This is called “Yasso’s” after Bart Yasso.) you build up to 10 with the last set done 10 days before your target Marathon which for me is Goofy. Also did 4x hill repeats. Run up a steep hill as fast as possible for 15 seconds then walk down…repeat.