I’ve been looking forward to this all week. My first “official” cycling cross-training session. I’m still very cautious about riding on the streets, but once I got to the lake it was fine. It occurred to me how easy it was, didn’t have to take all the paraphernalia associated with going out for a run, didn’t even change out of work clothes.

A leisurely 25mins to Diversey Harbor. Running would have taken me almost 1.5hrs to get to that point. I read somewhere that bike:run effort ratio is between 3:1 to 4:1, so I guess cycling 50mins is like running 5k. Livestrong tells me that 45mins cycling at leisurely pace = 461 calories, when my rule of thumb for running is 30min = 220-230 calories. Something doesn’t track here. I think the cycling calories burned is too generous.

Anyway, I was able to measure the ride on google maps, but it made me realise how useful a garmin would be. The nike+ only functions for running whereas the garmin does running and cycling. Argh! Another gadget want.

The first race I ever ran was a 10k in Jan-2007. I was unfit and had zero training. I had to walk the part under the western harbour tunnel and I lost the soles of my totally unsuitable sneakers near the end of the course. My time of 1:39 was not impressive at all.

Fast forward 3 years to the same 10k race. With a year’s racing experience behind me, in horrid 91% humidity, I managed 1:14.

Hard to believe if anyone asked me when I started that in Sep-2010, I’d think about a 10k as an easy run, almost a jog. It’s much cooler now, may be 21°C when I went out, and although it was very windy the conditions were good. I wasn’t winded or tired when I finished.

I’ve been lethargic about running the last week or so. I’m thinking can we get to October already so I can get the marathon over and done with. Training has become kinda boring. Although once I get going and warmed up I was enjoying myself. Took me about 3k to completely warm up and I didn’t hit my stride till about 6-7k. That’s a good reminder for this sunday’s HM, start slow and warm up.

One of these days I’ll clock under 1hr. May be the goals for next year is to see about setting some PRs.

18.20km 2:05:00hr 6.51min/km

The training plan is based on an easy run, a tempo or speedwork run and a long slow run every week. Additional easy or tempo run optional. This weekend’s LSR is supposed to be 19km at 7.16. So I did 18km at 6.51, I was already shuffling and being passed by all and sundry, I don’t think I can go slower!

I guess with the limited training time this is the taper for the half-marathon next week. The idea of a taper is not to hit the race distance in the weeks before the race, but to come close and let adrenaline carry the extra distance at the race. It makes sense. If I can get to 18k, it should be ok to go the additional 3k under race conditions.

Back to today’s run. Yes, it’s a distance PR (though i’ll break it next week). I’m less interested in the distance as I am with how I feel. I started slow and took it very easy all through. It was hot, but fortunately dry and occasionally breezy. The lessons learned: don’t be too ambitious with speed, carb-load beforehand and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

10.02km 1:06:53hr 6.40min/km

I missed the first 4 weeks of training and it’s becoming very important that I get back on track. I thought about re-doing another plan, for 12 weeks, but decided against it. I’m following week 5 of the plan, pretend weeks 1-4 were completed. Supposed to be easy 3k run on Monday, I did 5k yesterday. Supposed to be 10k tempo today, and I did. Couldn’t stick to the 6.19min/km for the middle 6k though — was okay for 3k, then got tired. I’m okay about that. LR this weekend, this will be the big test for half readiness.

16.16km 1hr 53min 6.59min/km

That’s 10.04miles at 11.02min/mile. Yes. that’s the furthest I’ve run. And yes. Very slow. I was taking it easy, at almost shuffling speed. Took a bottle of water with me, and had a gel pack haflway through. Ran all the way down to Irving Park then back looping to the roundabout. Felt okay afterwards, I guess cos I did take it easy.

And now I know I’ve done it. Makes me feel The most annoying thing is the nano seized up right after and I wasn’t able to sync it to the nike+ site. And it being a PR too. Ah well, I suppose I have to do it again. And more. And then run 4 times this distance in October.

13.53km 1:31:01hr 6.43min/km

That’s just over 8 miles. Lots of people out at the lake, including many who are starting their marathon training, cos they were showing off their shirt from last year.

Ran into bark in the park at Montrose. By that time it was too late to turn back or find another route. People and their dogs doing a 5k. Dogs everywhere. Fucking dogs. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Apart from that the run was pretty comfortable. And, looking at the nike+, very steady pace throughout. Had a gel at around the 60min mark, though I didn’t really need it. It was a hammer gel I got last week, wanted to try out the flavour. I need to find the locations of water fountains south of Montrose.

On the one extreme, a recent poster in a forum I read sometimes was saying how they were proud to be size 20+. I had to look it up, US size 20 = UK size 24.

On the other hand, people (mainly newbie) join fitness forums and says things like they don’t want to do weight training because they don’t want to become bulky…all they want to do is tone their muscles.

[Insert screaming and face plant here.]

Then on running forums there’s the feeling that, yeah okay, do weights but runners run. I think I’m in danger of falling into this camp of thinking, so I’m gonna make sure I continue to do some weight training.

Talk of weight training always bring up the bulking up vs toning crap. It’s impossible to accidentally bulk up, like you wake up one morning and hey presto, muscles!! I’ve been doing weights for a year and there is a tiny bit of definition, that’s it. Perhaps the best article I’ve read on the subject comes from Leigh Peele who wisely advocates training for the body type that best suit us because,

the only people that look like that lift or train aggressively are those who lift and train aggressively

What’s this got to do with the size 20+ person? I think it’s admirable that a person is proud of their body shape. But potentially ignoring the fact that size 20+ is dangerously unhealthy to the extent of not doing anything about it? Worries me. I’m still trying to unwind 15, 20 years of not eating, not exercising and I was by no means fat. We all have to take responsibility for our health.

Registration opened on Monday but it took me until today to summon up enough courage to register. I hesitated because originally my plan was to move up to the half this year, and not the full. But I thought about it, what’s the worst case scenario? I forfeit the $135 fee. No big deal.

Reasons for doing it:

• a worthwhile goal, personal milestone kind of thing
• it takes place on 10.10.10 — a date to remember
• I live here, people come from all over the world to participate, I don’t have to worry about hotels and stuff
• (related) I know most of the course, it will help

Reasons for not doing it:

• none, aside from not enough training —> unable to finish

Yes, it’s crowded, and some runners complain of being hindered by slower runners. I don’t think I’ll have that problem. It’s also a nice course in terms of elevation. On the runner’s world forum there was a discussion about elevation profile and someone summed it up nicely:

The only marathon flatter than Chicago would be run on a treadmill

Come to think of it, that’s true. I haven’t even noticed, running around here and out to the lake, it’s completely flat. One more reason to run this one.

Haven’t thought about training. I’ll probably follow the Higdon 18-week program, with some adjustments. What I do plan on is one race a month. I’m already registered for:

• 28 Feb — standchart 10k
• 21 Mar — shamrock shuffle 8k
• 29 May — soldier field 10 mile

April will either be another 10-miler, or an easy 5k like the ravenswood or wrigley. Corporate challenge in May is 2 days before the soldier field, so it will be a busy week. A few options in June and July, then the rock and roll half marathon in August.

It’s gonna be a BIG running year.

This is the house this morning. I’d wanted to take a picture with the snow for the last 3 days, but I leave too early and come back too late for there to be any decent light. It doesn’t look too bad, because people have been diligently shovelling.

It was also a nice sunny day, so I took the chance to run outside. It was too cold for the ice to be slippery, and most of the pavement was clear. The only bit was at the end of Foster before reaching the lake that was still full of snow. Had to walk through that. I was slower and more careful, so 6.53min/km is not a good pace.

Had to run inside cos it’s snowing like crazy today. While I was on the treadmill I got to thinking about how my exercise routine / goals / experience would have been different if I had taken the elliptical and gym machine route instead of running.

Several years ago when I was going through a “must exercise” phase I got on an elliptical machine and continued for a few months. The elliptical is easier to use for beginners, and supposedly not as tough on the knees. So when I started this healthy thing again, I tried the elliptical again. Yes, it was easy to use, and I could have continued.

Then I got the nike+. The thing about me is, I love the discipline of having to keep track of data and setting goals. I could have kept track of elliptical workouts on a spreadsheet, but the beauty of the nike+ was the analysis, the website and that I didn’t have to do anything. Problem is, it doesn’t work on an elliptical, or recumbent bike, or anything apart from running. So that was it.

Plus I was travelling quite a lot then and sometimes I don’t make it to a gym. Running was flexible. I didn’t have to make an effort to travel to a gym if I were at home, and of course no fees. In HK I could run at all hours, and it’d be safe. (Not in Chicago though.) Then when I got to PT, there were like 20 treadmills vs 3 ellipticals. So that was it.

The really fun thing about running are the races I’ve been able to participate. I mean, who’s heard of elliptical competitions?

I’d planned to go running on the treadmill at work today, my colleague and I were hosting a 3pm meeting and I thought I’d go afterwards. Needless to say the meeting overran, and then we were debriefing, and then I had to take care of some emails. I had planned on cooking tonight so there wasn’t time to go on the treadmill. At least I have the stuff in my office now, may be I’ll try tomorrow. It looks like snow over the weekend so the prospect of going outside is slim. Sigh.

I so wanted to go running today, but I chickened out. it was too cold, and too windy. yeah, yeah, excuses. I did do something instead!! continued with nrolw stage 2, and did 30mins on the wii fit.

Santa Shuffle results are in. I was crap. 451 out of 803 overall, 17 out of 40 in my division. Blah.

So anyway, I did a summary of results of all my races this year. Total 7 races (strictly speaking the human race doesn’t count so it’s 6). I did pretty okay in all of them. The time for the beachathlon was slower cos of all the obstacles we ran through. It seems like generally I come in the middle of the field overall and within my division (gender and age based).

I really must beat that pesky 6min/km barrier next year.

Because of all the eating over the Thanksgiving holiday, I knew i had to do some serious running for the remainder of the weekend. The weather had been good, and then today when I woke up…it was raining and i heard rumbles of thunder. Sigh.

I did go out after lunch, and now with my new long-sleeved running shirt on top, and running gloves. I ran south along the lake, past Montrose beach. It was pretty deserted, I saw fewer than 10 other runners. At first it was fine, and then after I turned around it started to get very, very, very windy. The worst was that I was running against the wind, which slowed me down a lot. And then it started drizzling. Sigh. I was glad of my dryfit shirt and my hat.

So now I have to be prepared for winter running and figure out how to do it when it starts snowing. There’s a lot of good clothing and tips out there:

• attire — layers, shell, hat, gloves, probably have to wear long pants soon — remember to wear a technical shirt underneath and not cotton
• visibility — I’m thinking of getting some reflective strips for extra visibility, the neighborhood street lamps aren’t terribly bright
• safety — I used to run at all hours, like 11.30pm, midnight. Not anymore in Chicago cos it’s unsafe, and I’d never go out to the lake in the dark. I already carry my ICE card in my ipod pouch, I’m gonna get a road ID soon

Jove posted in her fb status yesterday about how many calories were in a vanilla shake with whipped cream and sprinkles. I jokingly replied “what’s a calorie?” Truth is, not a single day passes without me thinking about calories. To recap, I started 13 months ago and got to where I am now by being very disciplined about my eating and going running. There’s thousands of articles out there about weight loss, diet, exercise. To me, it’s simple mathematics: IF (calories in > calories out) THEN (all is good) ELSE (try harder).

Ricky, Car, mm and other people was worried that I was getting too thin. Hmm. Recently, though, I feel like I’m filling out my clothes again. The problem is: a) I’ve stopped weighing myself and b) I’ve slowed down on strength training so it can’t be muscles building up. I think I’m putting on fat again. Sigh.

It’s likely to be diet, both what I’m eating and what I’m not. I know I’ve gotten too addicted to peanut butter, and too many snacks like chocolate(!!!). Calorie-wise though, I’m having a hard time hitting my target, look at the chart of the last 30 days, I only hit the goal (yellow area) like 5 days so it’s actually a combination of me becoming skinny fat and not eating enough.

So, what’s the plan? Winter is coming, so I’ll have to figure a way to acclimatise to running outside. Remember, I’ve not lived in such a cold city before. Not even Zurich. It’s also holiday season, and I’m prone to eating too much. I think I need to find the discipline again:

• run inside, use the gym at work
• do more weights!!! even if nrolw is too much, just do 50 crunches and some bench presses
• fewer snacks, or switch to healthier snacks
• hit the calorie goal target

That said, I have to start tomorrow. It’s already 9.30pm, there is no way I can eat another 495 calories tonight.

The first run I logged in my nike+, which to all intents and purposes was the beginning of my running career, was on 29 October 2008. So what have I achieved in 1 year:

• 752.07km | 467.31miles
• 83 hours 32 mins
• reduced speed from over 8min/km to around 6.40min/km
• ran in: JPMC corporate challenge, elvis is alive, beachathlon, aids run/walk so far — hot chocolate 15/5 and santa shuffle left this year
• lost 35 pounds, then stopped weighing myself

I have enough goals and tasks already, but generally in the next year I want to try to run one race a month, run faster and move up to half marathon. Achievable? I think so.

I went back to nrolw training today, starting on stage 2. I think I’ll do both workouts with smaller weights this week but not count officially to get back to the routine. Stage 2 has more variety, and some of the exercises look complex. But what I found difficult were the ones I had to balance on one leg — dumbbell 1 point row and rear leg elevated split squat. Workout B looks long, and has elaborate sounding exercises like wide grip deadlift from box and dumbbell prone cuban snatch. It also has 15mins of intervals, so it’ll take longer to complete. Later this week.

Even though I signed up for the nike human race that is supposed to happen today, I seriously doubted that I’d be able to do it. Today was Gram’s funeral and I’ve been up since 6am, driving down to the house, then we were at the funeral home, church, cemetery and the luncheon. It was a sad day for the loss of such a wonderful person, and yet a day where family and friends gathered together.

I got home just after 6pm, and the run was tickling at the back of my mind. The other concern was of course that I’m sick and the only exercise I’d done in the past 3 weeks was the one run at Ptown.

I thought to myself, no harm trying. If I get to tired, I can stop before 10k. I didn’t run to the lake, just made the rounds up and down the neighbourhood streets. And no, I didn’t get tired. I finished in a fairly normal time of 1hr 6 mins.

Finished 7/8 tasks, the first time I’ve not achieved 100% completion.

exercise
• run a full 10k // done
• nrolw complete stage 1 // done
• deadlift half my body weight // done
• full pushup // did that one nrolw workout

food
• vegetarian day x4 // done
• quinoa recipe x1 // done

other
• sort gcls videos // sigh, I’m not sure when I’ll get round to this
• 6-word novels x20 // done

Talking about running, I registered for the nike 10k human race:

the Human Race 2009 is a virtual event - no need to get to a venue - you can run your 10K any where, any time on race day

I’d just started running last year and didn’t learn about this event till afterwards. It’s a self-participation event. Registering on the nike site means the run is tracked and recorded, which I do anyway with my Nike+. I’ve been stuck at 5k for a few months, this will be perfect. Plus this will bring my total race participation to 6 this year, I’m really pleased.