It's been awhile....crocidile!!!

So I see haven't updated a post in a little over a month. I supposed I've been busy..perhaps I've just been lazy.

A lot has happened over the past month. I've been running outside more often. I've decided at first that I wasn't sure if that was a good thing especially in the new area where we live. We pretty much live on the top of a hill. Hills aren't good for runners...at least this fat piece of shit runner. Hills hurt. Hills are discouraging. Sure I can tell you that where there is a hill there is a decline....sure that's true but you always have to run back up the hill or in this case hills. I suppose I could call the wife and have her pick me up at the base of the hill so I don't have to run up it but I guess that wouldn't be kosher.

Anyway....long story short I have slowy but surely getting further and further up on the hill on the last half mile of my run. Great way to end a 4-5 miler. Sooner than later I'll make it all the way up without stopping.

Also in the past month activities have included drinking..and more drinking. Wednesday golf nights are fun but I don't think the extra "drink(s)" are helping my cause.

The kicker of all of this is that no matter how badly I am abusing my body right now during the summer I have managed to shed 10 pounds!!! I figure once the golf league is over the extra 15 that I want to shed will melt away like butter. It has to right?...beer=emtpy calories.

All in all I have been incorporating hill work in my runs now. I've noticed that by doing that I am able to run faster and longer during the course of my runs.

On average I'm getting in about 4 and half miles during my lunch at a time of about 34 minutes. If down the road I can manage 5 miles during my lunch hour at around a time of 36 minutes I'll be as happy as a pig in slop!!

Where has the time gone???

So. It turns out that work actually does come before running. It's been a hell of a week here at work but alas it is almost over. I'm not going to try and remember what my runs were this week. I'll just sum it up by the following:

Monday: No Run
Tuesday: No Run
Wednesday: Run, Golf, Drink
Thursday: Bagel in the morning because of Wednesday, Run
Friday: Run

That's my summary. No stats...none needed.

Now to more important things. It has been brought to my attention that this blog is questionable to some and yet funny to others. I won't mention any names.....KC or Tardo.....
It appears that adjectives such as "strong" is funny when describing a run. It has been noted that one doesn't understand why a blog is dedicated to running.

All good points I suppose. All I can say is that I am turning a new leaf. Too bad they weren't around when I had my other blog...the infamous www.buddhasden.com. It no longer exists..lord knows what happened to it. In that blog stories of poo...bathroom etiquette etc..etc...were of normal posts.

Of course the way I am going these days I should about eating and drinking rather than running. That's the path I'm heading down here in the dog days of summer...

I have said enough...fini.

2 for 1

Since I missed my post for yesterday I'll just have to do two updates in this one post.

Yesterday 6/19/08 was good. Felt strong considering I came off a Wednesday night. Decided to take it easy and run at a 8:30-9: min pace.

4 miles at 35:15

Today. I'm feeling drained. Really tired. Hope what my wife has is not trickling down to me. Rather than wander around Wal-Mart or Home Depot I decided to go for my run. Exhausted to the core I started and only mustered up 1 stinking mile at a 9:15 pace. I thought if I started slow my body would get into it....I WAS WRONG.

I wound up doing 2 miles on the eliptical in around the 18 minute mark. I think jumped back on the treddy and did a quick 8 minute mile.

Total for the day:

2 miles running
2 miles eliptical.

The Donger Need Food!!!...

So here we are Wednesday 6/18/08. Wondering to myself why I haven't posted in the last couple of days. Oh..Yeah I haven't posted because I haven't run since last Friday. I was so excited by the fact that I ran on a Friday that I figured I could give myself not 1..not 2..not 3...but 4 days off from the sport. In fact not only did I not run but I went out to lunch the last two days. To make it more reasonable the two lunches were company related and were tied to work. None the less...

Normally I don't run on Wednesday's. This is golf day and usually my day off from running. However due to the fact that I have missed close to 5 days I could not go another day without a run. It didn't matter if it was up my driveway and back something had to be done.

I ran a strong and I mean STRONG 5K distance today. Time came in at 27:30. I was mildly impressed with how refreshed I was after having missed so many days. Perhaps rest is good

No rest for the weary...

I DID IT!!! I finally ran on a Friday. It has had to been at least a month since my last Friday run. All morning long I felt strong sitting at my desk at work and couldn't wait to get out.

Status for the day.

4 Miles 35 minutes.

I tried to keep a semi quick pace (in my standards) during the run and I succeeded.

YEAH ME!!! Now I won't feel bad if I don't make it out this weekend.

Polution Nation...

There is more than one reason as to why I do not run on Wednesdays. The reason I give is to say that it is my "Day Off". In reality Wednesday is my golf league day. I actually leave work early so that I can get to the course and play in our league. By leaving work early it does not allow me to go for my lunchtime run.

Here we are on Thursday and my body/system is fully polluted from the night before. Let's just say that golf is secondary to other "stuff" that goes on on Golf Night. Let's just say we spend a lot of time at the 19th hole...if you know what I mean.

As tired and run down as I feel today I did manage a run. Nothing spectaclar. I actully decided to run a very slow pace. Instead of mileage I concentrated on total time ran. The first 1/4 mile was tough...tough in the sense of trying to talk my body into moving.

Total time: 35 minutes
Total Distance: 3 1/2 miles

At least I can say that I most likely sweated out all of the pollutants out of my body. ...maybe.

Faster is not always better..

My goal for my run today was to increase my pace per mile and hold that pace for the entire run. Keep in mind that I always try to do this but torwards the end my run..usually the last two miles I tend to increase my pace. For example my normal pace is about an 8:40 mile. I would normally have no problem holding that pace for my whole run. At times I have increased that to a 7:50-8:00 mile. Sometimes it's no problem other times it just leaves my legs sore.

Today I held my 8:40 up to the last mile. From there I increased it slightly to 8:25. Not too bad.

Today's stats:

4 miles at a time of 34:50 minutes. Another 1/2 mile after that at a 10 minute mile pace as a cooldown.

Peach Fuzz...

So my run didn't turn out to be so bad today. If I don't get a run in over the weekend Monday runs are usually painful. Throw in missing a Friday run and things can get downright ugly.

My intent today was to just slow down my pace and run for a full 40 minutes. (That's all I can muster during my lunch hour). I figured if I slow my pace down a little I won't wear myself out so fast for having not run in 3 days. I started at a 9:00 a minute pace and kept that up for about 3 miles. I felt great. I did speed the pace up for about a half a mile but quickly brought it back down. My legs were still a little heavy and the lungs weren't in top form. For the last ten minutes I increased the pace again to about 8:30. At this point I was feeling really good and my body was responding pretty well to what I was doing.

When all was said and done I logged in 4 and a half miles in my 40 minute run. Not too bad for a Monday. Truth be told it's the best Monday run I've had in a long time.

Oh I almost forgot. To rid myself of that "sluggish" feeling, I had a peach about a half an hour before my run today. I think it may have given me that little energy boost that I needed.

Remember..."Peaches come from a can..they were put there by a man..in a factory downtown"

Ready....set....HALT....

So...good thing I decided to use this blog as a training record. I can look back some day and see exactly how much of a slacker I really am.

I had every intention of getting out for a run at least one day this past weekend. I was going to wake up, get a few ounces of coffee in me and head out for a 40-50 minute run. I had it all mapped out and was ready to go. A few factors as to why I wound up NOT going out.

-Our area was going through it's first "heat wave" of the season. It was hot and the air was thick. I actually don't mind the heat when I run but first thing in the morning....that's tough.

-My legs felt heavy

-I was tired.

-Did I mention the heat?

To make matters worse I wound up not running on Friday either. Today's run should be fun filled just like an amusement park.

Triple Threat

Friday's as of late have been my achillies heal. See at the company I used to work at no one had any interest in going out to lunch. This was actually good. It allowed me to eat my salad that my lovely wife packed for me each day of the week. I would eat a nice healthy lunch and proceed to go out and have a nice 5 mile run on the trail behind the company.

At this new company I work at Friday's are the days everyone considers a "treat" and mostly everyone goes out to lunch. Of course the choice of places to go are numerous where we are located. Do you think Saladworks would be one of them? Hell no!! We go all out. It's usually Longhorn Steakhouse or Applebee's.

This of course causes two problems.
1. I eat like crap
2. I miss my run. I usually run during my lunch time and if we go out to lunch...well you do the math.

My only saving grace is usually if my co-workers or myself are booked with meetings and we can't make it out.

Sure I can hear you all saying..."well if you go out for lunch why not eat a sensible meal like a salad or soup or salad"

My response is simple. How can one pass up the Ultimate Trio? Simple answer. YOU CAN'T!!!

We'll see what happens.

Thursday is Strong Day

I don't what it is but my Thursday runs always seem strong. Consdiering what I do Wednesday nights there is no reason for my runs to be as strong as they are the next day. Maybe it's because I consider Wednesday my "day off". Could it be the recouperation? Maybe.

Regardless I ran at the Y on a treadmill. I logged my 4 miles right at 35 minutes. I started at a 8:49 minute pace for the 1st mile then increased that time to a 8:25 pace. Not bad for me. I'm going to consider it a good run in my book.

In the beginning it seemed like a chore

I've done the blogging thing before but it really didn't seem to serve any other purpose other then to entertain. I've decided to do it again but this time it will serve a purpose.

A little history if you will. I'm a self proclaimed "runner". I guess you can say it was about almost 10 years ago I started running. I started running basically to lose some weight. For those of you that do not know me I'm not an obese man by any means but I do have some weight to me. Long story short by running I was able to lose about 20 pounds. Over the last 10 years I've yo-yo'ed quite a bit running on and off. It was about 3 years ago when I picked it up again and haven't looked back since. Running has become more than just a way of losing weight. It has actually become very enjoyable. I've decided to start this blog as a means of tracking what I do from times, mileage, food consumption etc...Don't get me wrong I don't want to classify this as a "runners blog" I will occasionally throw in a post about "bathroom etiquette" (long story...comes from my previous blog life" This will be more of a means of tracking what I do so I know what I've done and what I have to do in the future. Does that make sense?

Regardless I'll be heading out for my run in about an hour. We'll see how I make out.