Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Bowing Down to the Trainer


This year I have been trying to avoid the trainer at all costs. Finally it got me. I wasn't in denial in fact I shrugged it off and got to work. Ya' know it wasn't half bad. This may be because I spent only half of my 2 hour work out on it. The first half is as follows...

150 Fludder kicks
200 Crunches
50 Sit ups
100 Push ups
3 sets of dips 15,15,15
3 sets of pull ups 12,12,12
3 sets of calf raises with dumbbells. 10,15,20
3 sets of lunges with dumbbells 10,15,20
3 sets of high jumps 10,15,20
3 sets of squats with a bar 10,15,20
3 sets of side lunges 10, 15, 20
3 sets of table push ups 10, 15, 20.

After the first hour I straddled that trainer for a pyramid work out of tempo, sub threshold and threshold work.

All in all it wasn't that bad but I am looking forward to an off road ride this weekend. I can't wait for it to be 30 degrees again!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Eh...



I guess I shouldn't have passed on the Chocolate milk and Pizza at Ted's house because the only nutrition I got on the way back from the city was the salt from the roads splashing up on my parched lips.

I like riding in the winter, although I would prefer waiting till the late morning or early afternoon. This lets it heat up a little or give me some sun time. Sunday was an early ride. An early finger numbing ride. A ride with snow covered roads, fixed gears, slush filled pot holes, salt, a stiff head wind and a couple good friends.

It is time to slap on the fenders. I was the only one with out any slush guards and probably with the cleanest face.

At 3.5 I can honestly say that I was tired, especially since I haven't pushed the pedals in a couple weeks now and I passed on the chocolaty goodness at Ted's casa.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The E-Helmet


Sure I could run or bike with out any cool technologically advanced gadgets but hey I like ‘em. Although using the power tap on my bike was a little out of my league and with all the hassles that came with it was not for me… What is cool to take along is a GPS.

There are a few websites that appeal to the GPS user such as www.gpsies.com www.mapmyride.com and www.motionbased.com

Motion Based is a website that supplements Garmin’s training GPSs.

Last Sunday was my first “long run” of the HM training plan. Even though the run was only 6 miles it will gradually increase.

The Plan
Week Tuesday Wednesday Sat/Sun
1 4x400 3-mile tempo 6-mile long run
2 4x800 4-mile tempo 8-mile long run
3 3x1600 5-mile tempo 10-mile long run
4 6x400 6-mile tempo 6-mile long run
5 3x1600 4-mile tempo 10-mile long run
6 4x800 8-mile tempo 8-mile long run
7 6x400 6-mile tempo 10-mile long run
8 4x1600 8-mile tempo 12-mile long run
9 3x800 3-mile tempo 6-mile long run
10 4x400 2-mile tempo Half Marathon


This 6 miler was done at my HMP + 30 seconds per mile which ended up being an 8:20 mile pace, nothing crazy.

By uploading the data from my watch, anyone is able to take a look at the course. People looking for a map of runs in any area can look at a map and even press “play” to see how the course was run! Way too cool. Check it out here.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/7438197

Technology is cool but I hope I don’t get too carried away like this guy!

Testing for the Berwyn Fire Department


About a month or so ago I read that the Berwyn Fire Department was accepting applications ($50). Unfortunatly, at the first meeting for us candidates (200) we were informed that there no actual openings in the department. We did, however, take a physical test and upon completion, take a written test. Following this, there will be an oral interview and then the results will be posted. These results are good for the next two years. In this time, they explained, they may hire 2-4 candidates. On the up side, the physical test was pretty cool.
The test consisted of 6 different stages which were... 35 foot ladder extension, 75 foot ladder climb, 200lb dummy drag, 3 stair flights sprint up and down with SCBA gear, 150 foot hose crawl in black out SCBA and 100 lb weight carry in SCBA. All the tests were to be completed under a tight time constraint and was actually worth the money I paid for the application!
Although the tests were all anaerobic they were not too intensly challenging. If you did fail one stage you were disquallified. Too bad there wasn't a ladder race!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Rangers Lead the Way


Rangers Lead the Way, not only in the US Army but through my winter training for core strength. Keeping up with this Ranger instructed work out is a challenge and doing the 2-30 min sessions, consecutively, is a bonus.

After building a base for running, my training has started. Coupled to my training plan is a Garmin Forerunner 305. This tool is out of this world! A couple awesome features is its GPS that tells your pace and how far you have traveled. This is outstanding and humbling. I use heart rate on the bike but actually knowing your real time pace, while running, is incredible when you have a plan, a number and, I guess... guts. I may actually get fast now.

Honestly I thought I was faster and doing 8 intervals of just max heart rate for 1.5 min I thought I knew my tempo speed. I stuck to the pace number I set for a 4 mile tempo and realized, fast, that it was not right. Regardless I kept it up and after 4 miles of cruising, my work out was coming to and end while my thighs felt like they got hit with a bat.

With all this good training I need a good stretch! The book "Stretching," from Bob Anderson will lead the way. This book actually has stretching routines form flying a desk to being in the rodeo!

I do like riding and all but running around in neoprene has its perks too...wait, what!? Hey better than riding on the trainer.