Week 1 Complete! I give it a 6.5.

While I did not blog much this week, I did get quite a bit of running in just a different fashion then my usual, running. I was supposed to do 5 miles on Wednesday, 6 miles on Thursday and then 8 miles today.

I ended up with 5 games IHSA varsity games during the week which gave me about 12 miles total and then popped out 9 U-10's yesterday at a tournament each one is about a mile of running, then I did an older U-17 to top off roughly 12.5 miles.

I am giving the Jacobs vs Huntley varsity game where I did quite a bit of up and down the sidelines in a very fast and competitive game, the data is slightly off because when the game was over I glanced down and noticed I neglected to start the watch for the second half, but it was more of the same so I guesstimated the mileage.

Next week I have 2 IHSA games on Tuesday and Thursday and 2 club (USSF) games on Saturday. Both IHSA games I am in center and should get between 3-3.5 miles in. Plus they are on grass fields so its always heavy going after all the rain.

As well as a programmed run on Wednesday of 4 miles, 6 miles on Friday and 10 miles on Sunday.

The look of the Half Marathon.

Marathon Training Program starts next Monday

Been going through my rest period following the half marathon. Mostly shortish jogs and refereeing, yesterday I did the Zion-Benton vs Lake Zurich JV game which was a rout, and I barely moved at all, 2 miles versus the usual 3 in a JV game. I am looking forward to getting my engine going forward to the Marathon in September.

Return to Running

So I refereed a JV game yesterday, and felt very very good, three days after the race, no residual soreness or pain, so I am very pleased. By the way Lake Zurich won 3-0.

Race Report: The Trailbreaker Half Marathon

Well I ran it, in 3:07:59 (Garmin time) finishing last in my age bracket and 2nd last among men. The wind was not that bad as it turns out, and it barely rained at all so that was all good. Had a few glitches along the way and before the start but otherwise smooth sailing.

My glitches:

• My Bluetooth headset for music would not pair with my phone, so at the last minute no music for the race, which was frustrating, no idea what was wrong with it.
• I was overdressed, had to much on and was hot most of the race until I saw my daughter and gave her some of my stuff. Felt better immediately
• My Garmin worked fine all race but for some reason would not recognize and download here at home, after about 100 downloads with no issue, the one download I really want, no go! I was able to copy the splits from the watch, but no map of the race route for me.
• My fueling plan went awry when I ate a Cliff Bar at mile 4.5 which proceeded to give me GI distress until mile 7.5 when I found a rest room. I would estimate this little snafu cost me 15 minutes.

My positives:

• I was calm at the start plus I felt properly fueled, my hydration was fine, and it remained so throughout the race.
• At no time during the race did I think about quitting, although the GI distress made me very uncomfortable for about 20% of the race.
• My first six miles were 12:04, 12:30, 14:00, 14:23, 13:09, and 13:56. A little faster then I would have liked, but I was very comfortable.
• Mile 12 was 14:07 so I still had something left in the tank.
• I am writing this about 12-14 hours after the race (insomnia) and while my legs are tight, I have no other issues physically.

 The Trailbreaker  

• Getting numbers and chip was a breeze, the start was well organized.
• Race runs the first 2-3 miles and last 2-3 miles on sidewalks in the business section of  Waukesha, which was awkward at times.
• The trails we ran on were nicely paved and clear so that was fine.
• I would personally would have liked to see a few more aid stations, there were only 3 for a total of 5 on the out and back race course.

Future plans

• I start the Fox Valley marathon training on the 22nd of this month, with a slightly different program, three runs a week, Wednesday, Friday and the long run on Sunday. With some weight training in between.
• Two intermediate goals are out there, the Highland Park Half marathon (June 2), and the run portion of the Wacounda triathlon (July 28th)

Race Day! Half Marathon Style

Well my 15 week beginners half marathon program is coming to a head this morning with my first half marathon. I have trained quite regularly for the race with about 4-5 runs a week, and over the 15 weeks I have missed maybe 3 of the scheduled workouts for one reason or the other.

My training times suggest I can do somewhere between 2:50 to 3:00 hours, I would be quite pleased with that, however my main goal is to finish, and get a medal, and get that cool sticker saying 13.1 for my car, and be able to walk tomorrow!.

24 hours to go and 23 mile an hour winds in store for me.

So I made my decision to do the Trailbreaker race on Saturday morning, a couple of days ago and then the moment I registered (non-refundable) the forecast changed to what you see in the picture.

The temperature is fine, the rain is okay, but what really is annoying is the wind S at 23 mph. The race is slightly south west going out and then comes West near the turn around point, then it will be behind me the whole way back. So its a mixed bag. I need to find a slow fat guy to draft off of. Oh wait thats me!

7 or 6 days to the Finish Line?

I ran a nice 5 miles this morning, very slowly with very little discomfort, and residual soreness.

So today is Sunday and its 7 days before the South Shore Half Marathon at its about 11:15 am and with a 9am start next Sunday I should be about the 10-11 mile mark right about now (albeit 7 days in the future). My goal time is between 2:50 and 3:00 for the half. I been using these marvelous McMillian Running Calculators to approximate my potential times. I have done a variety of runs and translated the pace to them and they are all pointing to a range as low as 2:45 to a 3:05.

I am still keeping my eye on the weather as to which half marathon I am running. The 10 day forecast says sunny and 43 on Saturday and 47 and rainy on Sunday. The wind prediction is about the same. If that were actually set in stone I would switch to the Saturday half marathon. I will probably make up my mind on Thursday as to which race however. I have no desire to run in the rain, cold and a 13 mph wind.

Saturdays workout on Friday

So I have thought today is Saturday all day for some reason, so when I glanced at my workout schedule I ran Saturdays workout. Doh! Nice day however for a run, had a steady pace, only slowed down to talk to a friend who was driving by and then at Nippersink so I wasn't run over.

Great Shorts are here!

I ordered some shorts from a company called Race Ready. I went and picked them up from the running store this morning and they are quite nice. The thing I liked about them is they have quite a few pockets on the back for gels and energy bars.

I did my short run in them today on the treadmill and they fit fine, and the stuff in the pockets did not bounce noticeably. I would guess I can stuff about 10-15 gels in there if I needed to, there is also a longer pocket for energy bar sized goodies as well as a sealed pocket for a credit card or key. All in all I am very happy to have them, I can see a marathon in their future!

Long Run Report

Ran with Randy again today, we did 6.5 miles at 13 minute per mile pace. I felt quite good throughout, had a couple of Charley horses in my lower butt but slightly slower pace for a minute or two eased them. They seemed to occur on the gradual uphills.

Two interesting facts that emerge from looking at the run, are 1) We ran each lap slightly faster then the one before, a very positive progress sign and 2) I had a lot left in the tank.

Although what emptied my tank after that run was the 3 x 1/2 miles I did after a 5 minute recovery. The first one is displayed above, the next two were remarkable for their slowness. 6:34 and 7:03

New Race Focus

Upon careful reflection I have decided to do the South Shore Half Marathon on the 7th and use the Trailbreaker the day before. Primarily for logistics reasons, its just easier to do it on Sunday rather then Saturday. I do reserve the right to change my mind again based on weather, wind, cold and or other circumstances.

Tuesday's bonks: Explained?

Since I appear to be turning my body into a science experiment with constant measuring. I can relate one more measurement that I am doing. I read somewhere (can't recall where) about taking your resting pulse early in the morning when you wake up. So I have been doing that with a nice pulse monitor that I have had for awhile.

One interesting thing you can tell from monitoring my morning pulse is that it has drifted down since I started measuring back in early January. My resting pulse rate in the first week of January and has steadily drifted down from the low 70's to the low 50's. Showing as the study said an improved fitness level, which I can tell simply because I can run further faster and easier then I could in Janaury.

But a more interesting fact that you can determine is that for example for six straight days my pulse was in the low 50's in the morning, but two Mondays and Tuesdays in a row, my pulse was in the low 60's. Mondays are my rest days after a long run on Sunday, and then on Tuesday I have had lousy runs. The time frame between runs is as long as I can make (55-58 hours) it to give my body as much rest as I can after the long run. So the last two Tuesdays my workouts have been awful. One workout I actually just broke off and stopped, the other I walked slowly the rest of way. On Wednesday however my pulse has bounced back to the low 50's again.

An interesting indicator I think perhaps and perhaps a way of determining my rest needs. Next week I shifted around my workouts  so I can get some extra rest. I also think it confirms my idea to do the marathon training with only three runs a week. So I can move around my runs to adapt to my bodies signals. Two shorter runs on Wednesday and Friday with a longer run on Sunday. Stretching and weight lifting in between on those days, mostly upper body however.

Nike Free Runner 3.0

So last year I got a pair of Nike Free Runners 2.0 and I loved them, I used them to referee exclusively in and was always comfortable and had no foot problems. They were black with white soles. I have been using this pair primarily for training, but I could tell things were getting compressed,  diet notwithstanding!

So I went to a very nice running store and bought a completely different pair. I let myself be talked into buying them. Since the store did not sell Nike's (overly corporate for the owners taste apparently) They were a German brand name, and very nice looking, and they felt fine on the stores treadmill, but I ran on my treadmill and my legs hurt after a 30 minute run and my feet. So I went and read detailed reviews and discovered that these were great for people who heel strike and need support. Well since the wear pattern on my shoes pretty clearly show that I land further forward and I supanate (medical word) landing more towards the outside of the shoe. I was sold a bill of goods, so I returned them.

I then looked around and discovered Dicks Sporting Goods in McHenry carries them, and off I went. Sure enough there were two versions one exactly like my old pair black with white trim for $99 then amazingly there was a Livestrong branded pair for $74 with the Armstrong Yellow. So as a massive cycling fan, and one that's always been skeptical of Big Tex I have never gone for the branded merchandise in the yellow. But for a discount, hell yes!

Half Marathon Goal Time?

So yesterday I was able to sustain a pretty decent pace time of 13:39 per mile for 11.2 miles, which equates to a 2:58 half marathon (13.1 miles). So squinting at the screen, I think I see my goal right there in the distance! Somewhere in the 2:50 to 3:00 hour half marathon range would be a nice accomplishment. Anything below that would be fantastic in my opinion.

With that long run yesterday which was my longest training run of this 16 week training program, I start a slow taper to the race, which is three weeks from yesterday! This weeks long run will be 8 miles, and then the week after that 5 miles, and then its race day!

10 Miler Today

I ran 11 miles this morning, 4.5 miles of them with my friend Randy, plus as a bonus he talked me into running the last 2 miles, even though I thought I had done 5 laps already. In reality I had done 4 laps. Plus when I mapped the course out last night  it came to 2.0 miles exactly.  Yet when we ran it, it came  to 2.22, 2.21, 2.24, 2.20, and 2.21 miles so in reality I had clocked in 9 miles, by adding another lap I hit 11.2. Completing my 10 mile run.

My 2.2 mile lap times were all in a range between 30-32 minutes or 13:30 to 14:15 minute mile pace so I hit 11.2 miles in 152 minutes a 13:39 pace.

I feel pretty good right now, (1 hour after finishing). I had 2 slices of wheat toast with plum jam about an hour before the run started, and then after mile 4.5 I had a gel (GU Mixed berry) which was fine, and I felt no stomach discomfort with that, Also drank two 20oz lemon lime Gatorade's as well as I came by the house each time. Post run, I had Chocolate milk immediately and then a feta omelet with 3 strips of Bacon.

Rather then show all the segments this is the best lap segment which was lap 4.I think in the future I will just let it go cumulative time.

Good discovery

I had always worried about weather on April 6th at the Trail breaker Marathon. I am not up for running in rain and in snow, so I was idly browsing half marathons the week afterwards just in case I have to punt on the day of the race. However I found something called the South Shore Half Marathon put on by the Badgerland Striders that runs along the south part of Milwaukee's lakefront. Its flat and on trails not streets, and judging by 2012 results about 1,000 people enter, which is actually more then the Trailbreaker which had 357, although they have about the same in terms of Marathoners and people in the 5K.

So at worse I have a fall back, and since both have day of race registration, I have flexibility.

Weather delays start to referee season!

So frozen fields and snow storms have canceled the 5 games I am supposed to have done this week. Its been on the treadmill instead of some great cross training opportunities!

This weeks workout schedule involves a hard week of 22 total miles culminating in "the long run" 10 miles in the lead up to the half marathon in 22 days!

My intention weather permitting is to run a two mile loop from my house, so I can come back to the house as a simulated aid station, since the half marathon route has an aid station approximately every two miles. I will just leave my refreshments and gels on the doorstep.

It also looks like my friend, referee and Round Lake resident Randy will be joining me for part of the run as well.

• Tuesday 60 minutes
• Thursday 40 minutes
• Friday 50 minutes
• Saturday 30 minutes
• Sunday 10 miles

NOTE: I blew Friday's workout, overslept the 5am wake up, and by the time I got home was to tired to go. Overall this has been a blah week exercise-wise. I may run an extra 20 minutes tomorrow, but that will depend on how I feel, because I have that 10 miler on Sunday.

Virtual 10K on May 11th

I was listening to a running podcast Runcast which is chock full of good information and I heard about something called the Virtual 10K which is based in the UK (I think) and I am going to participate in it. I have the course already marked out. I decided to run in it. Then it dawned on me how much I enjoy getting the community involved in things like this.

So I am going to start from my house at 7:30am, I will make sure there are run maps and if I get enough competitors maybe I can talk the girl scouts living in my neighborhood to man an aid station at the halfway spot. If you are interested get a hold of me to register. The race is in Round Lake, Illinois, about 45 miles NW of Chicago.

Yesterdays Run

Got off to a good start by sleeping until 8am. I was planing on getting to gym at 6 for my 6 mile run. By the time I got to the gym it was 1130, and I did the run. Then went to a Chicago Wolves game with my daughter which was quite a bit of fun.

Today is the first day of IHSA Soccer, and I am a referee, so I will be doing about 30-35 games in 8 weeks. I always enjoy the games and the exercise. However today's game (likely to be postponed) is one I am not looking forward to Grant at Zion on a grass field, which is likely to be a mud bath.

One thing I am looking forward to is seeing what my GPS watch calculates for how far I run during a game. My sense is that a varsity game is 2 to 2.5 miles over 80 minutes, but I literally have no idea. The maps should be interesting as well.

Good run/workout today

I was going to out on Fish Lake Road and park at Nicasa and run the short rolling hills that go on for about 3/4 of a mile then turn arround and run back to get some hill work, but it was wet and cold. So instead I ran on the treadmill today, bright and early, for 30 minutes. I went at it a faster then my goal half marathon pace as well, running 10:50 pace for 2 miles, with a short warm-up and cool down.

Then I did my upper body workout that I am going to integrate into my marathon training starting in April.

The upper body work out consisted of 3 x 10 of the following:

• Assisted Dips
• Assisted Pull-ups
• Seated Rows
• Lat pull downs
• Curls
• Shoulder press
• Bench press
• Crunches

Overall a good day coupled with yesterday's run I am feeling pretty good. Tomorrow I have a 6 mile long run, if its decent weather and not wet, I will do it, my right ear is a little clogged today so I might just stick to the indoors version of running as a precaution. I have a nice 2 mile loop I can run so I can check in for my drinks and gel after an hour.

Good run today

Had a good solid 5K time trial. With warm up and cool down jogs I got my 50 minutes in quite nicely.

Post workout/workout blues

So after yesterday's epic rubber legs performance I ran 40 minutes today with little to no discomfort at my goal pace (12:45 pace). After I was done I ran through a light set of dips and pullups on the assist machine at the club. I also did some squats at 67% of body weight. I am exploring a weight training component to my marathon program (not the half marathon build-up) so I am experimenting a little with it in the build up to the half.

Bottom line a good workout today, I am very pleased, I also went and looked at running shorts with pockets at Running Unlimited in Palatine. I had found some nice running shorts with lots of pockets for gels and other goodies from a company called Race Ready which I really liked (shorts and store). My daughter helpfully vetoed poorly conceived length decisions I was attempting to make, and I went for longer rather then shorter.

Only downside was they did not have any my size and length, so those are on order for me in about 10 days. I want to have them in plenty of time, because the one marathon adage I have seen more then once is "no new things on race day" and I want to make sure I can break them in so to speak sooner rather then later.

Brutal Workout

Remember how I said there was no soreness from Sunday's long run, well that's still true but yesterday's 60 minute workout was cut to a 40 minute one with 15 of them spent on the bike, since my legs felt like Jello from the first minute to the last minute.

I made a decision about 20 minutes in that since this was not getting any better, I would switch Wednesday's workout with Tuesdays (i.e. 60 for 40 minutes) and try the longer run tomorrow. But even slashing the workout by 33% did not help, then I just gave up at 25 minutes and rode an exercise bike for a little cross training for 15 minutes, which felt slightly better but not much better.

This post may serve as a mental note to watch these Tuesday workouts following a long run to see if I have similar issues going forwards. While I sometimes think I am 22 again, the reality is that I am 53, and my body does not bounce back from a hard effort as easily as I might pretend to think it does.

5 Weeks Until my First Half-marathon

Well today's a rest day after the 8 miler yesterday, I am feeling pretty good, no soreness at all. Although I think I ate to much yesterday in response to the giant calorie burn of the run.

The next few weeks I will average 18 miles (long run 6 miles), 22 miles (long run 10 miles), 20 miles (long run 8 miles) and 14 miles (long run 5 miles) follows the race week, where I do 7 miles of short days leading up to the race on April 6.

I am also putting a sprinkling of weight training into the program twice a week generally on Mondays and Wednesday. I will have a more organized program of weight training during my 20 week program leading up to the marathon I intend to run. Right now I am looking at a program that will have runs a week (Tuesday, Thursday and long run Sunday). The weekly mileage peaks at 37 miles, currently my thinking will is to use light weights on Wednesday and then work on legs on Friday, giving me a day of leg rest before the long run. Then on Saturday I would do some stretching and pylometrics, although I might do this on Mondays.

The running portion of this is the prime importance, so if I need rest it will come out of the weight training portion of the program.

So this week the program is:

• 60 minutes on Tuesday at an easy pace
• 40 minutes on Wednesday
• 50 minutes tempo run on Friday
• 30 minutes on Saturday
• Long run of 6 miles

So the total for the week, should be between 18-21 miles depending on my pace during the week.

Todays long run

I ran a solid 8 miles at a nice slow pace today. Woke up at 5:00 am and had two slices of toast with cream cheese and then a Gatorade G1 series prime, and was on the treadmill at 5:35. I also had two G2 series Gatorade drinks which I sipped at the mile marks. Sadly I ran out around mile 7, but since I only ran 8 it was not so bad.

I ran at a 16 minute mile pace for the first half, and a 15 minute mile pace for the second half. A negative split! The negative split is always my goal in these runs, even though these are long slow base building workouts.

I also monitored my heart rate on the treadmills heart rate monitor. I was steady in the 120's all the way out to about mile 5 when it drifted up to about 135 by the end of the run. So today, overall, was quite positive, with 33 days to the half-marathon I am comfortable in the knowledge that I can run 13.1 miles, my time might not be as impressive but I do have some speedier short runs coming up this week. Capped by a long run of 6 miles next Sunday and then a 10 miler the Sunday after that, and then I back off my miles in preparation for the half on April 6th.

Post race, I have some soreness in my left arch, which I am treating with some ice and then will stretch out the arch using some arch exercises I just found online.

Frosty 5K Pictures

 Strong form, seconds from the end!

Nice picture, good form, good time as well! I was very please with this run. There are some nice pictures on the Round Lake Area Park District Facebook page as well, of all the runners.

Frosty 5K Race Report

So it went well, I was very pleased with the result 38:41 with the mile splits at 11:43, 12:41 and 12:29. I think I went out a bit to fast, but at no point did I feel uncomfortable. The only issue I had was since I was wearing the layer format, I got hot at one point but remembered that heat escapes via the extremities and took off my cap and gloves and felt better within a minute or two.

The temperature was about 30 degrees and it was very sunny. My nephew and daughter ran as well. With Denise winning her age group, and Chris recorded a 29 flat!

Frosty 5K Preview

So its a few days before the Frosty 5K and I am hoping for a time in the 40-45 minute range. I did 6.5 miles yesterday at a nice steady pace on the treadmill at about 15 minute mile pace. I felt comfortable and this week I am allowing myself a "mild" taper with only runs of 40 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday.

My intent is to run the 5K hard (as in hard for me) if I can sustain 13:30 mile times all the way, and get in the 42 minute range I will be very pleased. My training tells me I can do this, as well as my heart rate monitoring which shows my ability to handle faster paces with my heart rate staying in the 120's for a longer time then a month ago.

My daughter and nephew are going to run with me, so I am staring third place in the family straight in the face!

Tracking my Food Intake

I have been wondering about how much I was eating, so I decided to use one of my favorite techniques to monitor my eating habits. Since if I have to think before I stuff that Twizzler in my mouth I know its 150 calories, I usually think twice.

Been using this wonderful app called MyFitnessPal which has some very nice features: You can scan the barcode of anything and enter it, as well as add your workouts so you can see how many calories you have burned (see the picture, this is not me by the by).

There was almost an immediate slowing of my eating habits, I did not set the calorie intake low, but at the appropriate level for my age and weight. You can enter your weight, and a variety of body dimensions as well.

There is an web based interface and of course an app which is super convenient when you are outside and carrying just the phone.

Travel and Running

I have been traveling quite a bit, Washington DC and Seattle Washington, during this running plan and will hit Seattle twice and Austin Texas as well as Springfield in the next few months. So I need to get organized when I am on the road, which oddly enough the first time I was out in Seattle was harder then I thought, because since it was 40 degrees and wet I did not pack the proper "keep warm" wear! So I ended up a $19 retail version of a treadmill in the hotel for an hour.

First Weigh in Day

So in my never ending quest to reduce weight I decided that I would weigh myself and record all my dimensions on the first of every month. So the baseline was established on January 1. So today I hopped on the scale and discovered that I had lost 5 pounds this month. A reasonable total, and since I have quite Diet Coke for a bit now, I can assume it will get better/faster or something like that.

My dimensions have not changed much, in fact hardly at all, the waist is down about half an inch, although my measurements are quite subjective as to location and methodology.

On January 1 I did take a picture of myself front and side view with just a pair of shorts on for a long range before and after. These pictures by the way are locked in a password protected vault in a zip file that is also password protected as well. Needless to say they are eyes only!

Treadmilling

I am a member of Snap Fitness in Valley Lakes which is convenient and walking distance from the house, they have treadmills which are nice with TV's. However management does not do much in the way of fixing broken TV's and audio issues, which can be frustrating for those long runs. The treadmills work fine however.

Most of my runs have been indoors on the treadmill since the weather has been unpleasant and cold out. I can time my runs and record them with the Garmin, although splits and pacing are not recorded.

I am not sure if its me, or just an illusion I always seem to run further and faster outdoors, perhaps the treadmill is off when it comes to pacing itself, anyway since my marathons are outdoors I am not going to complain.

Missed Workouts

I have only had to miss a couple of work outs so far and I have been able to shift the weeks schedule to accommodate them. However the more worrying thing is that in some I just can't continue at the proper pace to the end.

This seems to be mostly in the longer runs, however intellectually I know that I need to build up my base slowly, the emotional side of me, is like how the hell can I run a half marathon when I can't run 3 miles without walking? However a few weeks ago that would have been I can't run 2 miles without walking so I am improving.

Defeating the Dark Lord

For those of you who have been around me for any length of time know that I love my Diet Coke. So this morning I drank my last Diet Coke and or anything caffeine related. This is a big step, since I love the dark lord from Atlanta!

I have read all the literature on the evils of caffeine, and while I know it, its very hard to put into practice.

UPDATE: One month later, still clean, the only side effect I felt was sleepiness, rather then 7 hours a night it was nearly 9-10 hours for about a week, which has gone away.

UPDATE #2: Still ticking although I unthinkingly ordered one at a McDonalds and had two sips of it before I realized what I was doing, talk about a habit. Sorry to the Libertyville sewers since I poured the offending liquid right out the window in a dramatic gesture worthy of an Oscar.

Trailbreaker Half Marathon

So I finally pinpointed a half marathon to point towards. I decided on the Trailbreaker Half marathon in Waukesha, Wisconsin on April 6.

There is approximately 9 miles of improved/asphalt trails (including the Fox River Trail & Glacial Drumlin Trail). The trail is subject to only gentle grades with the scenic views of the historic City of Waukesha, the Fox River and the Kettle Moraine scenery of southeast Wisconsin countryside. The trail crosses city streets and country roads.

It seems pretty low key and without a massive amount of people plus its a 930am start so we can drive up. Also if weather or injury pops up, it has day of race registration as well.

As a back up there are a couple of other half marathons the week afterwards relatively nearby as well.

Grant Woods Run

Weight Issues

The primary reason I decided to try running with a goal attached is to lose weight. After having lost about 80 pounds back in 2005-06 on the Atkins Diet, I had but about 35 of it back on since then. So candidly my clothes were not fitting as well as I might have liked, and I am not getting any younger!

Rather then diet this time I decided to focus on fitness, since I referee HS soccer and club soccer I need to get into a certain level of shape, but that was generally easy to meet the minimum standard for fitness. A hard varsity game is maybe 3-4 miles over a 2 hour period, with lots of pauses, so the effort was not supreme.

I have tried periodically to diet but with out much success since the Atkins success in 05, however I do like my pasta, bread and sauces!

The Running Plan for the Half Marathon

I am working towards a half marathon sometime in early April and am using a beginners half marathon plan I got from the book Marathoning for Mortals which was an excellent read. The plan is straight forward enough and fits with my schedule.

Basically I have a long run on the weekend, with three smaller runs focusing on different aspects of the run during the week. With some adjustments the program looks like this.

Tuesday-- Easy Run for x amount of minutes
Thursday-- Cross training or run for x amount of minutes at 60-70% of max heart rate
Friday-- Form run focusing on technique for x amount of minutes at 60-70% of max heart rate
Saturday-- Moderate effort run for x amount of minutes slightly higher pace then Fridays run.
Sunday-- Long run at a slow pace for x number of miles.

In this plan I have made some modifications, since I just can't (because of work) do 4 runs during the week I don't do the rest day I should have on Saturday after the moderate effort run. However I try to do longer run later in the day and Saturday run early to give me as much rest as possible.

GPS watch coolness

So for Christmas I got a Garmin Black Forerunner 10 GPS Running Watch. Its pretty cool, I am looking forward to using it. It has a very nice web interface that tracks your runs down to, as best I can tell, the foot! I could tell when I veered wide around a car blocking the sidewalk. (Isn't there an ordinance about that?)and it was perfectly recording on the map on the MyGarmin site.

I enjoy the splits the watch saves, as well as the pacing information. I am sure as I use it more often I will enjoy the other features as well. I am really looking forward to it while I referee HS soccer this spring. This should be quite interesting to see how much I really run on the field, something I have always wondered about what the physical requirements of that actually are.

If you are interested in the watch, click on the picture below for more details.

First run!

So using my new Garmin Forerunner 10 GPS watch (thanks Santa) I am able to track my workouts via the very cool Garmin Connect webpage.

So while the headline says "first run" it was more like first "walk/jog" of the marathon program. It was challenging and I used my heart monitor to watch my heart rate as well, which I maxed out and averaged 148bpm, which is a tad bit high for doing a marathon, but its a start!

Marathon Man

I am a big believer in having large goals. If a goal doesn't scare the hell out of you its probably not big enough! To that end I have decided to run a marathon this year. I have not decided which one yet but will shortly. The obvious one is Chicago, but I am pretty sure we will be on vacation then so I might have to look elsewhere for a local marathon.

I have been thinking about it for awhile now and of course New years is a great time to set goals!

My marathon thinking is as follows:

• Health Benefits
• Weight loss
• Fitness
• Challenging

Seems like a good mix of positives! So follow along on the Blog Mark 2.0 or should I say version 26.2!