Will it Blend: Nike Shoes Edition

Ha ha... I own this blender. Maybe I'll try blending my old Adidas.

Running with the Garmin Forerunner 305

So this weekend I bought a used Garmin Forerunner 305 secondhand off of craigslist for approximately half the retail price. Wacarra told me about these little gadgets last Saturday on our run, and as soon as I heard about the 305 I was intrigued. Basically, it's a GPS device that fits on your wrist, like a watch... only it tracks all the important things you'd want to know when doing any sort of physical activity or training: distance, pace, heart rate, calories burned, etc. There are literally about 20 different types of data that this thing records. You wear it on your wrist like you would a watch and yes, it's a little bulky and no, I probably wouldn't wear it out on a Friday night, but I did not find it at all distracting to wear while running. There is also an option to strap a heart rate monitor to your chest which communicates with the wrist device.

(Note: not my arm)

So I wore this on Wednesday morning for my 5 mile run and also tonight for my 3 mile run, both at Gasworks. Wednesday didn't work out, as I hadn't cleared the previous owner's user data from the device which was causing a weird conflict with the software. Once I wiped it clean, I was able to start fresh with my new data. There are so many reasons why the Garmin 305 is cool I don't know where to begin. After using it for 2 runs here is what I'm finding impressive:

1. I actually know how far I'm running by distance, not time. In the past, I had measured one mile as 12 minutes of running. Now, I actually know the exact distances I am running. This frees me up to try some new routes.
2. My heart rate is really high! I am averaging almost in the 90% rate of my max, which means I have fallen REALLY out of shape since I stopped running through the summer, but also gives me a good benchmark for improvement.
3. I can set an alert to beep me when I go above or below my target heart rate. Very cool.
4. The unit ships with some pretty basic software, but you can also use the supplementary web-based software called Motion Based (www.motionbased.com). The free version is awesome! You can upload your runs from the device into Google maps, and see all of your data in chart form - what your heart rate was on such and such a hill, how fast you ran during the last mile, how many seconds you stopped for, etc. 

You can also view other Motion Based user runs across the U.S. (there were some runs uploaded tonight from Oildale, CA - my hometown, ahhhh), or filter by your city. So if I want to see what routes people are running in Seattle, I can view them. You also have the option to make your runs private, but why would you want to?

The coolest thing about the software is the ability to replay your run using the Map Player. When you "play back" your route, the little pin glides along your route, giving off real-time data results including what your heart rate was, pace, elevation, etc. at any given moment during the route. It's really cool.

I think this is going to be a useful little tool for helping me improve my pace while training within my target heart rate zone. I'm excited to track my route in Bellingham this weekend for the 15K!

Week 4: Nicely done!

Ran my 8 miler this morning with Wacarra, who has lost nearly 100 lbs. in less than a year through running...

This was a tough week, both mentally (watched far too much political coverage) and physically (my knee was hurting like a mofo all week). I'm afraid the old "knee issue" has reared its ugly head again, despite running with new shoes and a knee brace. I think I've pinpointed the problem which is doing my short runs on the treadmill. I think there must be a problem with my small muscle fibers and tendons compensating for the movement of the running surface... honestly, I have no idea, but I'm going to stay off the treadmill for a few weeks and see if that helps the situation.

The bad news is I took a 4 day break from running and missed my Thursday run in order to ease the pain a bit. I was having difficulty climbing stairs at work and even pushing the clutch down in my car was causing me to wince. After icing my knee and taking the rest it was back to business this morning. Wacarra, who is in the process of tapering down in her last month of training for the Portland Marathon, ran with me this morning on my 8 mile run along Lake Washington in Leschi. We had a great time! I'm not sure if it was the jelly beans I ate beforehand, or just having someone to talk to for a change, but the hour and a half breezed by and I felt like I could have easily done a half marathon today. Some days are just like that I guess.

Next weekend I am off to Bellingham for the Fairhaven Runners Waterfront 15K and I'm pretty jazzed to #1 - look at something besides Lake Washington and #2 - run in an actual event with people cheering us on. Looks like I will be doing this alone, as Raj has to work and my other friends will be MIA. Saaad :(

More unfortunate news - we found out yesterday that we will not be able to stay with one of Raj's friends in Philadelphia as planned (long story), so we will have to book a hotel room, which will run around $200/night for 3 nights. And I was really looking forward to touring Philly with a local! Oh well....

Wacarra told me about a cool little gadget called the Garmin Forerunner 305 today which is a running watch that measures pace, distance (by GPS, so it's accurate), calories burned, and heart rate. I've already checked craigslist and there are several, so I might pick one up today. I do love my gadgets. Looking forward to trying it out and posting a review soon.

Week 3: 3/4/0/7

Not much happened this week run-wise. I was highly distracted by the DNC/Barack Obama speech/CNN commentary/Sarah Palin debacle, and it was hard to focus this week. Regardless, I managed to log 14 miles and finished with a strong 7-miler at Leschi on Saturday.

My left knee is still hurting day of and day after my long runs, even if I wear my patella brace. The dull pain usually subsides 2 days after my long run, and I hope this isn't going to be an ongoing and/or worsening problem. Keeping fingers crossed.

Week 2: Getting easier...

East Lake Sammamish Trail

Week two kicked off with a new gym membership. After heading into my old gym, Anderson's Nautilus at Greenlake, to run on a treadmill during a particularly rainy evening, I knew there was no way this was going to work. Five of their six treadmills were occupied by huge football player type guys, and the temperature in the treadmill room was hovering around 80 degrees.

So I did some research and settled on L.A. Fitness up on 134th and Aurora. Alex had been in a few times and told me it was great, although too far of a trek for her. This gym is awesome! Pool, racquetball courts, millions of treadmills, and it's spotlessly clean. Oh, and the monthly membership is almost half of what I was paying at Anderson's. The choice was easy.

So I settled into a gym routine this week - just in time for several days of Seattle rain. Running on the treadmill is fine for now while I'm still doing light weekday runs of 3-4 miles. In a few weeks when those increase to 5-8 miles, I'll need to come up with a better plan.

So I finished out the week with a 3/4/3/6 schedule, 16 miles total. On Saturday, Raj and I had to get up early to watch Alex compete in her first triathlon, also in the city of Sammamish where he lives, so I got up early from his place and ran the East Lake Sammamish Trail. It looked good on the website, but the loose gravel trail really screwed up my knees, particularly the left knee, which I had problems with in the spring. I won't be running there again.

Later on Saturday, Raj and I drove out to Port Angeles and camped at Heart o' the Hills in the Olympic National Rain forest. We took it easy and just relaxed all day, ate some awesome mexican food, and settled in our tent fairly early. On Sunday, my knee was still hurting and as it started pouring rain, we decided to scrap our hiking plans (and omelette plans....saaaaad) and head home.... which took 5 hours due to a massive car accident on the 101!

Overall, much improvement this week with my runs. I am running between a 11:35-11:50 minute pace, which was close to my half-marathon time. Aside from the physical progress, I am making a huge effort to up my calcium and iron intake, and of course plenty of carbs. It is nearly impossible to "watch my weight" while I am in training mode, so I'm just focusing on eating the best foods I can to give me optimum energy to complete the runs.

Ok, off to the gym for my Monday night run....

Week 1: 15 miles down; hope restored

So today officially marks the end of week one of my 15 week marathon training schedule. I'm following the 16 week schedule (and omitting one of the three 16-mile runs) laid out in the book The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by David Whitsett. It's a fairly straightforward plan which requires 4 runs per week, including one long run (Saturday). I felt pretty good this week, although I hate, hate, hate Greenlake and will be avoiding that loop altogether going forward. I have some sort of mental block which keeps me from enjoying my time there, unless I'm walking with a friend.

I completed all four runs, including 5 miles at Leschi yesterday. However, getting back into the swing of things has been hard and I've definitely had to walk during the runs. Yesterday was especially hard, as I'm not used to running in this "heat." All of my half-marathon training was done throughout the late winter and early spring, and I much prefer running in cold weather any day. This is one of the primary reasons I've chosen the Philadelphia Marathon - the average start/end temps of that race are 45/55 degrees.

I'm reading a few really interesting books this time around and am approaching this race much more creatively. I'm choosing to really focus on nutrition (following the guidelines in Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners) and to make sure I'm fueling my body with the proper nutrients. I know for a fact, with the last race I wasn't getting nearly enough iron in my diet (which would explain my chronic fatigue following the long runs), and according to my last physical I am slightly anemic, so I really need to increase my green smoothie intake during the next few months. Also, I have decided to incorporate one day of weight training into my new routine. I know I should do more, but one day is all I can commit to at this time.

Overall, I'm following the principles of Kaizen - small steps over time equate to big changes. I'm trying to overcome the anxiety I have about the long runs by not thinking about them ahead of time - just conquering them as they come. I'm glad to have week one behind me and am excited to move one week closer to my goal.

Blissfully optimistic or just stupid?

One year ago today, August 12, 2007, I ran my very first organized race: the Seattle Guts n' Glory 5k to help raise money for Chrohn's and Colitis research. I remember every detail of that race: the song playing on my iPod when the starting horn sounded, watching my reflection in the glass of some of the businesses in SODO (thinking - wow, I'm a runner), the turnaround point at Starbucks on 1st ave. S (I worked next door at the time and visited that Starbucks every day .... I wondered if anyone inside recognized me as I trotted by red-faced on the street outside), how far the finish line seemed and how overjoyed I was to cross it.

So today seems like a good day to make an announcement to my dear blog reader(s). And maybe I'm crazy and maybe there is no way in hell that I can make this happen, but..... deep breath..... I have decided to train for the Philadelphia Marathon happening on Nov. 23, 2008. All 26.2 miles of it.

Now there is a good chance that I will actually kill myself in the process. A really good chance. I haven't seriously run in 3 months, and while I'm hoping my body will snap back fairly quickly (I was up to 10 mile runs in May), I'm still looking at a freakishly intense training schedule that takes me from 4 miles this Saturday to 18 miles in approximately 13 weeks. I'm not sure I can do it. But I'm going to try, dammit!

There are a few reasons why I've decided to do this now: I haven't fallen THAT far off my prior training schedule, as a contract employee I can't work overtime (even if I wanted to), I have practically no responsibilities whatsoever at this point in my life, I've gained about 10 lbs. since my last race that I desperately need to lose, and frankly, 2008 just feels like my year.

Making a public commitment solidifies the deal. Makes me accountable. And I'll go back to using this blog for what it was initially intended to do: track my running progress. As I sit here writing this, I can't believe I'm writing this. I'm staring at the "Publish Post" button wondering if this is the right thing to do. And I'm scared to death that I'll fail.

But I guess that's why I don't have a choice but to do it.

Annoyed with these Blogspot templates....

BTW reader(s), sorry about the frequent template changes. I hate the blogspot selection. There are only a few to choose from and they're either A) ugly B) too narrow or C) too wide. I might return to Lefty Minima, which you might recall was the plain white, simple blog that I used for several months. I'll need to jazz it up with a custom header graphic though, and that requires work. Work and effort. And time. And thought....

Another one rides the bus

This morning I implemented my grandly ambitious plan of commuting by public bus from Seattle to Redmond. I decided on Thursday of last week that I officially can’t take it anymore. The commute from Greenwood to Microsoft is slowly killing me. After gritting my teeth through another hour and a half commute to travel 13 miles across the 520, I actually looked up my route on Metro’s Trip Planner and realized it wasn’t that bad. An hour to and from work, but an hour reclaimed! An hour of reading! Of listening to books on tape! An hour daydreaming or people watching! I could only imagine the possibilities… A few points of interest regarding today’s commute:

1. First off, I downloaded the “Seattle Bus” app for my iPhone from the App Store last night for $9.99. Steep price, yes, but it’s an awesome app that gives real time arrival times for your bus route. I’m not sure if it’s based off of GPS or what, but it’s accurate. You can see exactly how many minutes you have until your bus actually arrives vs. going off the scheduled time. This feature kept the anxiety low all morning (I’ll get to this in a sec).

2. Did not work out this morning. Had intentions to. Set the alarm, but when it went off I made an on-the-spot decision that trying to run AND take the bus was too much this morning. So I ended up getting up at 6:15. Still too late, I’ll adjust this tomorrow. Will start running again in the evenings until I can develop a habit and then will maybe switch to mornings. We’ll see.

3. My first bus, the 48, comes every 12-15 minutes. I mistakenly thought I could take the 7:38 instead of the 7:27 and still catch my connecting bus at the 520 transfer point. Um…no. I realized this after it was too late. I still had time though to get my latte at Wayward (new barista, coffee not as good, might switch to Neptune) and had only a few minutes to wait for the 7:38 bus. All was good in the world.

4. Read about 50 pages of The Kaizen Way – loving this book.

5. Confirmed schedules en route – the 7:38 was to arrive at the 520 transfer spot at 8:08. The connecting bus was supposed to depart this same spot at 8:06 L Could I make it?

6. As it turned out – yes! Thank goodness for my Seattle Bus app! I was able to see that the connecting bus was running 11 minutes behind schedule. This caused me to relax and enjoy my latte and book. I caught my connecting bus with less than 10 minutes of waiting at the connecting spot. Yay!

7. Arrived at the stop on 148th and 51st in Redmond at 8:46. Had a leisurely walk into Red West. All in all, probably walked ½ mile total this morning. That’s a full mile per day vs. sitting in my car for 1.5-2 hours. Another yay!

8. The commute in went off without a hitch. I loved it. Got some serious reading done and I feel like I’ve actually learned a thing or two. Might download some NPR podcasts tonight.

9. Another victory for public transportation!

Eagle Creek

Raj and I went camping at Eagle Creek in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (midway between Hood River and Portland) this weekend. Here are some highlights from our camp/hike to PunchBowl Falls. The views were truly spectacular:

There were parts of the trail that were fairly narrow with cable ropes attached to the rock on one side, and a sheer drop off on the other. We were shocked to see several families hiking with infant children and wearing flip-flops no less. They could have easily gone over the edge.

Getting the fire started was a true test of will and determination!

The key to a successful camping trip is a) warm sleeping bag and b) proper ground support. We spent the extra bucks and each bought a Therm-a-Rest, and it's made all the difference. With both of our recent camping trips we've woken up refreshed and relaxed. SPEND THE EXTRA MONEY, it's so worth it! I hit the jackpot at Joe's last weekend and found an $89 Asolo sleeping bag on clearance for $15. One of my better finds...

After spending Saturday night sipping Rosemount Shiraz and roasting marshmallow s'mores by the fire, we drove into Portland on Sunday and spent several hours at Powell's Books (the world's largest bookstore!) and ate dinner in the Pearl District.