Kick the 5 hr energy habit ... a few days later

Well gotta say it's been interesting so far ... I haven't had one since Sunday morning.  I was doing fine yesterday but been wanting to get one all day today.  I have fell sick yesterday, and today I feel just off with muscle aches, headaches, all kind of aches, like not my usual me.  Been drinking white tea in the morning and in the afternoon but it's just not the same.  I have a nagging headache since yesterday and an unsasiable craving for fig Newmans cookies ... Or better said a worst craving than usual for the cookie.  I am at the point I wish I didn't post anything about quitting so that I wouldn't have to be held accountable for quitting, and just have my shot.  Well since I have been thinking about the shot all day I have not gotten anything done.  I got home and just sat in the coach reading up some more about the pro's and con's of the little red devil bottle.  One a day doesn't really seem that bad lol.  I could go work out but even working out isn't really appealing to me right now.  I guess that's what being stress-free must feel like, I don't have a need to work out to relieve non-existent stress ... This sucks!

Kicking the Habit Day 2

092112 1545 – well its really hitting me now including headache back right of the head, fatigue … bloated.   Doesn’t feel like the tea had any effect.  I fought back with Fig Newmans … good thing I can afford the 600 calories!  Not sure what's going on there.

09212 1501 – having a Pomegranate white tea after cooling it off with ice, with KIND bar and greek yogurt.

092112 1358 – Coup de barre but I had quite an heavy lunch (pasta shells in cheddar sauce) so that may contribute more to the fatigue than the lack of the 5hr energy shot.  I had a half shot when I woke up this morning and haven’t really felt the need for more so far today.  As a matter of fact I seemed to feel much better than yesterday.

092012 1614 – Still sluggish but a little less.  My fruit salad gave me a boost in the afternoon but back down again now.

092012 1220 – coup de barre after a hefty salad.   The jitters and headache have passed.

Kick the 5 hour energy habit!

We all have vice an habits, it's part of being human.  Mine as this time in my life is the 5hr energy shots.  I like the kick they give me, plain and simple and without any apologies.  They contain sucralose and are an expensive in a time of tightening budget.  So ... i have been force to stop denial that I have that little problem, look at the issue with an open mind and really decide if I want to continue buying 2-3 of these a day or make better choices for myself.  So today I decided I will kick the habit.  I should be sharing my experience about the Air Force marathon but in a way this is more personal to me than the last race.  I have an addictive personality and have struggled with addictions in the past so this is actually an humbling article than I am writing.  And more personal I guess.  But also this blog gives an outlet not only to share in my successes but also my weakness.

Today I concocted a tea/juice drink and these are my notes.  What I learned from my past struggles is that you don't really leave the addiction behind.  But very often you leave it behind by replacing a negative addiction with a positive.  For me I left a negative behind by focusing on exercising very successfully before.  Here, I am thinking the same methodology could work.  Replace my 5hr energy shots with a homemade concoction that will fill the need I fill with the 5hr energies yet I control the ingredients thus it's a better option.  Of course there is always the possibility these shots don't fulfill any needs at all but psychological.  I started doing them many years ago while my nutrition was real bad.  I took a peak at the energy blend and at first look everything in it I get via Shakeology or my balanced diet.  Do I really need these shots then today or is it just a fabrication in my head I need them?  Interesting questions.  I drank some tea for the caffeine input and now I got the jitters and need to pee so whatever I drank, was way too much.  Also I have somewhat a headache all the sudden.  Jonsing lol

here are my notes for the day:

9/20/12 – First attempt to design caffeine drink to replace my 5hr energy habit.  Today’s concoction:

Black tea, 12 OZ; Ocean Spray Cran-pomegranate 8.5 OZ; Organic sugar, 2 tea spoons.  Notes - Some sugar not dissolved (collects at bottom).  I feel the caffeine jolt.  I miss something “sweet” in the taste though and I have a though that something acidic (orange juice or lemon juice) would blend nice.  Experimenting with this concoction in a separate glass: 2 OZ of the mix, drop of lemon.  It’s more zesty and seem closer to 5hr energy taste, albeit less” in ur face”.

To design a good substitute I also need to understand better their “energy blend”.  Link to the official ingredient description:

http://www.5hourenergy.com/ingredients.asp#phenyl

Some thoughts  just reading this.  What I need to figure out is, is it the blend that works for me or is it just in my head?  If the blend it is then how can I substitute what works in my diet or drink  without needing to drink the 5hr energies as well?

Vitamins

Well really I know I am getting the vitamins I need from Shakeology.  B12 supposed to promote energy I think but I know I have taken B12 supplements before and I felt no different.

Energy Blend

Citicoline

Citicoline is a water-soluble compound essential for the synthesis of phosphatidyl choline, a constituent of brain tissue. Citicoline plays a role in neurotransmission and can help support brain function.*
Compound as in chemical?  Where does it naturally occur?
Looks like enhanced brain function.

Tyrosine

An amino acid that transmits nerve impulses to the brain. It is present in meat, dairy, fish and grains.
Looks like enhanced brain function.

Phenylalanine

An essential amino acid that enhances alertness* It’s found in dairy products, avocados, legumes, nuts, leafy vegetables, whole grains, poultry and fish.
Click here to read more about phenylalanine.
Looks like enhances “alertness, but with a balanced diet and Shakeology don’t I get what I need already?

Taurine

A naturally occurring chemical substance present in meat, fish and dairy products. Adult humans have high concentrations of Taurine in white blood cells, skeletal muscles, the heart and central nervous system. It plays a role in digestion, and is used to process potassium, calcium and sodium in the body, as well as maintain the integrity of cell membranes.*
Mm … so maybe if it helps digest it reduces the energy drain during digested diverting energy back to being more “alert’?

Malic Acid

The body synthesizes Malic Acid during the process of converting carbohydrates to energy. The main food source of Malic Acid are fruits, especially apples, which contain the highest concentrations.
Mmm love apples, I eat one almost everyday.  I noticed fresh fruits in the afternoon seem to boost my energy level.  As a matter of fact I notice when I drink the 5hr energy in combination with fruit the effect seems enhanced.

Glucuronolactone

A natural metabolite found in the human body. It is produced by the metabolization of glucose in the liver. It has been shown to reduce sleepiness*.

Caffeine

Provides a boost of energy and feeling of heightened alertness.* Original 5-hour ENERGY^® contains caffeine comparable to a cup of the leading premium coffee. Extra Strength 5-hour ENERGY^® contains caffeine comparable to 12 ounces of the leading premium coffee. Decaf 5-hour ENERGY^® contains about as much caffeine as a half cup of decaffeinated coffee.

Back to Mt Si

I have been away for a while, busy running and all, but I want to take an opportunity of downtime to write about my run today.  My go-in plan was to hit a couple loops on Mt Si.  Easier said than done, Mt Si is 4 miles long with 3500 feet elevation gain.  I ran it before part of my Chuckanut 50k training.  Muk Bob took me and Wendy, another trail runner up to it.  I recall that run as a tough climb and a brutal downhill back to the trail head.  We ran walked to the top the first time but I had a hard time keeping up.  I felt I was holding the others back.  There was snow the last mile or so of the trail.  But once I got to the top it was an awesome feeling!

Proof I was there !

This isn't photo shop ... yep that's snow on the shoes thank you for my campons!

Wendy, Muk Bob and a random hiker on his way to the Haystack

The downhill killed my quads.  It was brutal, uncontrolled at best and all I could think off was how bad it would hurt to trip and how much fun it was.  We headed back up to the mid point of trail where it levels off a bit and turned back and called it a day.  That was Mt Si training run 4 February 2012.

Fast forward to 8 September 2012.  I am training up for my second ever 50k, which I slipped into my Quadzilla training well cause I figured with all the mileage per week I am doing why not.  Good ideam, bad idea, only time will tell I guess.  So Mt Spokane 50k has a 8,000 feet elevation gain over 31 miles.  So I have been doing some trail climbs for my trails run portion of the Quadzilla training, and felt that I have progressed enough to consider hitting Mt Si again.  That's how I ended up picking Mt Si trail for this weekend's trail run.  I figure I could baseline today's run to February's.

At the same time I read hike reports about an "old Mt Si" trail which is really Little Si, a smaller version of Mt Si at 2.2 miles long and about 1,100 feet elevation gain.  When I drove to Mt Si this morning I just ended up at Little Si and started there.  The run up was fun.  The trail very technical at times.  Although hard I managed the climb to the top relatively easily.  About a quarter mile from the summit I veered off to this lookout rock to admire the amazing view ... The lookout had a huge drop !

When I spot a drop like that in my runs I am reminded of Chuckanut's #12 ... Oh Yeah I wrote like 20 thoughs following Chuckanut 50k ... Check them out here.  Twelve definitely applied here !  Moving on ... I was heading to the trail when I noticed this little guy ... can you spot him in this picture?

He dotted towards the "ridge" then shot accross towards me.  

Stopped.  Checked me out.  I doubt he was expected food as he looks very slim ... 

Then just jumped off the rock onto this tree.  Keep in mind there is a hundred feet drop or more below him ... It was pretty amazing.  Nature is beautiful!

I made the last quarter mile quickly, rested a moment and headed back down to the trail head.  I got in the car and drove to Mt Si trailhead next.  As soon as the trail started climbing I could feel it was going to be a tough one lol ... Reality sinks in.  WTH did I come in for ... Because I started now I got to finish it ... And up to the top I went.  I pushed through at a reduced pace and smaller stride trying to conserve energy and not over extend my calves and achilles.  I monitored my heart rate up, keeping in the 160's BPM.  I was hoping for a straight run to the top but started breaking down at about 3 miles up, from there on it was run/walk lol ... Now I would run/walk such a climb in a race anyway, but for training purpose I push through most my uphill runs in order to develop my climbing stamina further.  I see that Mt Si still got some on me, so I'll have to come back and win it.  Given the fact I did Little Si first it definitely had tired me first.  My legs were heavy and I had lost the bounciness of my legs on Little Si.  When I did finally reached the summit, it was such a treat though.  I found a rock to sit on and just admire the view ... Yeah my personal couch was waiting for me up on Mt Si, in the shaddow of the Haystack ... and had a view too !

After my rest I headed back down for the downhill run.  It's a grueling downhill, even for me today.  I think they should call this trail the LegBreaker instead.  But in comparison to last time I was on it I had directional control rather than just tumbling down a trail I was scanning and placing my feet at locations I picked, bouncing off the trail's banks, obstacles and trunks.  I ran all the way down.  No stops.  My quads weren't burning although after a while I did feel quite a bit of impact back through my lower legs ... Then again that's what a 3500 feet drop over 4 miles will eventually do to you, right?  Finally back at the trail head I took this picture as i was changing shoes ... All sweat and dirt.  Mission accomplished lol

I did a few stretching and strength exercise when I got home but tonight I feel none of the inflammation that has plagued me the last few weeks.  Shins are good, ankles didn't bothered much during the run but they still feel achy and stiff when I walk.  The worst for today i think are 2 nasty knots on the outside of the leg where the ligaments attach to the calves.  I rolled my legs without much success.  However knots in my calves is nothing new so I still think that my training is improving my body's ability to recover.  

My initial plan was to do 2 loops on Mt Si.  But I didn't feel like pushing it.  I am running the Air Force Marathon next week, and although 26.2 flat miles it's still 26.2 miles!  I am going to run "kinda hard" this week instead of "hard" as I had originally planned to allow for more recovery leading into AFM.  I'll be back at Mt Si in 2 weeks prior to Mt Spokane.  Will run Mt Si first with fresh legs and once and for all own that mountain.  Mark my word lol

Wow that's a long article I wrote.  I hope you enjoy reading it, leave a comment either or on the new SBF Runs page on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/SbfRuns .  I created that page to allow for better interaction between you the reader and me the writer.  Also I post comments about activities, articles I read etc ... Check it out and "like it"!

Quadzilla - More Training Notes

Week three training notes.  I am following the Quadzilla pattern of road / trail / paved trail / road for my runs this week.  Yesterday I ran from the Everett Community Transit Transfer Station around to the Navy base, marina and back.  Today I headed out to the Jap Gulch.  I had a great run there.  I managed 1270 vertical feet in 9.25 miles in 1:53 minutes.  It felt like a good pace.  I decided that the trail run will be a slow one.  It's the most likely I get hurt on trails than road.  I don't want to push too hard as such.  My focus will be to run the best Seattle Marathon I can.  So applying the pace I ran today, and I think the actual trail marathon is gonna be pretty flat, 12 min/mile, I can plan to run a 5 hr15 Wishbone run.

Tomorrow seems a great day to follow up with elliptical to rest my body with the low impact machine.  On Gate week, or if I feel like it I will run the mileage but from a schedule point of view scheduling elliptical machine following a generally tough trail run with low impact workout makes sense.  Also the Ghost of Seattle marathon is around Seward park, so flat paved trail, "easy" run for which I feel I just need to be able the distance really, for which cross-training will do just fine.

That would mean that Wednesday I should focus on a paved trail or a road run representative of the Seattle Marathon.  There is that big hill that everyone talk about at about mile 20.  I will investigate further when I run the half marathon course in the coming weeks but till then I'll just run hills to keep my climbing ability top notch.  So ... Either a nice hilly course like St Andrews or hill repeats should do.  Since I did repeats last week I will probably run St Andrews Wednesday.  My original plan was to run the Cascade Pass trail because I have to head to Winthrop Wednesday afternoon (it's on the way) nut now my daughter is going to join me for the ride so we will figure out something to do together.

Well ... I am going to update the training schedule a little then get some rest.  Happy running everyone!

Baseline Week – Update, with a zombie twist.

So, after last Wednesday tumble and some recovery on Thursday I
completed the last run of baseline week Friday early morning, an 11.4
mile run at 8:34 min/mile average. Great distance, great pace. All
in all I’d say I performed real well but also my body was definitely
stressed by the four days of consecutive running at the mileage level.

Add to the mix the Zombie run Saturday. I’d expected it’d be an easy
proposition but it was very brutal. I signed up with SGF and her mom
to be volunteer zombies. She was a stumbler and I was a runner. We
spent the night in Olympia then drove there early for professional
make-up. We were routed to a small wooded area, a stretch of not even
quarter mile trail. That was good since the temperatures reach 100
degrees that day, we stayed cool in the trees’ shadows. The obstacle
we were stationed at was that hill. Si I ended up doing short sprint
bursts up that hill all morning long. It was a lot of fun, but I got
wiped out three times by overzealous runners, one of which hit my left
knee real hard. I also hit my head against the knee of another fellow
zombie and have bruises on my left fore arm the size of my hand …
Definitely a rough day in the neighborhood.



With the beat from the day before I rested Sunday, did Yoga. I hit
the pavement bright and early Monday. I ran doubles Monday, then a
single road run Tuesday. Wednesday I hit the elliptical for a low
impact high intensity leg workout. I was up in the 160’s BPM. Did
the Cross training program SGF showed me, half hour at 70% max
resistance (that’s the highest I had used so far) then increased to
75% resistance. It was pretty intense!

Finally Thursday I did hill repeats. I wanted to run the St Andrews
route but didn’t get to it in the morning so at lunch I headed out to
a hill near work. It was 2 miles warm up run, 4 repeats then 2 miles
back to the gym. The repeats got hard at 3 and 4, then the run back
to the gym I was tired. Total mileage was 9.1, elevation gain 653 ft
so very similar to St Andrews route except the slope wasn’t as bad. I
don’t know that St Andrews would had felt as tough though. I think
the repeats stressed my legs differently. That was my first hill
repeat workout … Although the run like St Andrews train you good for
long strenuous hills; I can feel the repeats develop a different kind
of area, powerful strides and such.

Physically, the last couple of weeks have taken a toll. My calves
were real tight yesterday, stretching helped little. My right glute
is bothering me to the point I was limping yesterday. It felt odd,
like my right leg is longer than my left. I did more Yoga yesterday
night and with some rolling from SGF it feels all much better today.
There is a trail race in the Gulch tomorrow morning, I would love
doing it, but I think some rest is in order. Weight training will
likely do me more good than running the Gulch tomorrow  I don’t know
if it’s the high intensity elliptical, the hill repeats, the mileage
or combination that has caused the tightness and soreness. Even if on
single runs or consecutive runs I can muster easily 10-12 miles, when
it comes to back to back to back to back runs I may have overestimated
my safe limit. Not by much. But as evidenced with my leg troubles I
might had been served better starting with 6 miles back to back
instead of 8-11 miles. So …

Quadzilla rule of thumb: For consecutive training days: start train at
60% comfortable distance under race pace. That bench marks my
training at 6 miles per day not including my long run. The elliptical
can be used to reduce impact on at least one of the days, but I guess
the question becomes at what intensity? I still believe my approach
(mixing different terrain and keeping hills in the mix) is good.
Adding the elliptical (or other low impact machine) will lessens the
impact on my body. This approach I hope will train the body to be
responsive to a variety of stresses while dealing with the consecutive
runs. Double runs in a day are fun but since I already four days in a
row one could question the usefulness of it in this context, but what
can I say … it’s fun!

I started putting a specific training plan together. I would consider
the last 2 weeks hard training. Next week is easy week, so I will
apply the 6 miles per day rule for the first easy week then go up in
mileage from there. I am incorporating the last 15-20 weeks of a
50/100 miler training schedule for Quadzilla. 50 miles has the right
long run mileage while 100 miles is probably a better comparison for
weekly mileage. Last in the mist of that is the Air Force marathon on
9/15 which becomes “just another” training run.

Pace wise, the second marathon is a trail run so I will make that one
extra slow, while the first marathon I do not know where it will yet
however I think I will target a finish time of over 4:30. Ideally I
would hit 4:30 or less for Seattle marathon. It’s hard to predict a
good pace. When I do my 13.1 gate and my 20 gate I will get a much
better idea. What’s a “gate” you ask? Well, I figure I would have
milestones in my training where I run the 13.1 miles distance 4 days
in a row, then later the 20 miles distance 4 days in a row. Same idea
as training a marathon but expended to four days. On gate week there
will be no low impact crosstraining … Just hardcore running!

In my next article I will flesh together the schedule. Stay tuned and
happy running everyone!

Quadzilla Baseline and a twist

I am starting to think seriously about the training approach for Quadzilla 2012 in November.  For that purpose I decided to baseline my running to get an idea what 4 days in a row of high intensity running does to my body.  Monday I hit 8.35 miles at 8.5 min/miles on city roads.  Tuesday I hit 7.21 miles at 8.5 min/miles at lunch, city roads.  Yesterday I hesitated between squizzing a run in the Mulkiteo Gulch after work (trail) or an easy run during Michelle practice.  Turns out that would ned to be a very faithful decision …

As far as yesterday I felt some acute soreness in the upper inside of my right quad when I apply pressure there so my guess is I have a knot.  Also I can feel some overall soreness in the inside of my calves now.  I guess that’s part what I do this “baseline” as the other side of the Quadzilla will be to come up with a race strategy that works.  The last race of the four is the Seattle marathon which I would like to run “hard” (relatively speaking) … Which suggest probably I should run a slower ghost of Seattle the day before … So yesterday would had been the equivalent of that.

Either way, It’s common knowledge that research has demonstrated that the strain of muscle work triggers adaptive responses that make muscle fibers stronger and more durable so I think my approach will work for Quadzilla as long as the strain is incremental.  I plan to incorporate more “Gate week” (gate as opposed to this week which is the baseline.  The gated process will stress my body thru a more intense distance.   Of the bat, 13.1 comes to sense, that is I would run the 4 half marathons course in the next Gate.  A key to marathon training is of course the 20 miles long run.  So that would be the next gate week.  However I worry at this point in time that 20 miles 4 days in a row might be over training for the event.  Yeah I know, me, worrying about over training lol … Maybe I’ll make it 18-20 mile gate week instead to allow for a little bit of play depending how I feel at that time.

The other item of order is the Air Force Marathon of course.  I was thinking of the AFM as a separate “fun” marathon that I would run easy.  But that isn’t the best approach to it necessarily.  I asked coach Jenny on FB her recommendation on training for Quadzilla, and even in her article, she talks how you have to look at these races as a package not single races.  That is, the end goal dictating marathon 1 thru 3 should be how I want to run the Seattle Marathon.  And I should consider AFB within my training for Quadzilla NOT as a single race.  

So with that in mind, I was looking at the 6 weeks between marathon training schedule form Hal Higdon to guide my long runs between 8/5 and 9/15 but now I am going back to the 50 miler training schedule I have also been using, week 9 thru 20.  The other aspect that Coach Jenny mentioned is that my training need to be structured around 4 consecutive running days … Although, and I like her suggestion, some of these days could be low impact cross-training on the elliptical.  Makes sense.  The gated weeks would see 4 consecutive running days while the weeks in between I would time the elliptical to be equivalent to a run …

Here comes the twist !!

warning --- Graphic Pictures! --- you have been warned!

Hit the Jap Gulch trail at lunch for an easy loop was the final decision for baseline run #3.  I sure felt the drain of not having ran trails for a while and the excitement as well of zooming down the trail ...  Were my strides a little too long?  Did my attention shift a split second away from the trail?  Whatever the reason, I tripped.  Wipe out ... My first major wipe out !  I caught myself with my water bottle in one hand and the other just ripped (exaggerated ...)  I felt my body crumbling into a fetal position as I continued sliding on the tip of my right shoulder.  Everything really happened in slow motion and I was past my first though “oh this is going to hurt” as I felt my feel leaving the ground to “oh that’s not so bad right now” to I felt a sharp penetrating pain in the back right side then came abruptly to an end.  I had skidded off to the side of the trail and caught a short tree stub covered by foliage.  As the pain penetrated my body I though I hit a rock.  Scratched and bruised I stood up and got back into the run.  I had searing pain on my back side but was able to keep running, a sign I might have bruised the back muscle but that nothing is broken or tear.  Oh and nice scratches and scrapes, even a little blood drawn make this an epic wipe out that I can brag about now ...

seriously speaking though this little episode reminds me that running trail is a totally different animal. I have lost some agility on the trail.  Considering that the second marathon for the Quadzilla is a trail marathon I can’t lose sight of that in my training , as yesterday demonstrated.  So I should make the second consecutive run a trail run on a regular basis.  I can run the Gulch or continue looking for local trails.  Either way,  good lesson learned today.

I wasn’t going to achieve any training from forcing a run tomorrow.  My legs although I have some soreness are able to output of good amount of power in day 3 which I do not think would be any less on day four, for the given distance, so I will probably retire from running for a couple of days and let my body rest and healed.  I need to draw my training schedule anyway.  I did resistance training instead with a 20 min cardio at the end.  I think tomorrow morning I’ll be out for an early morning run.

Saturday I am accompanying SGF to the Zombie Obstacle run ... Fun fun fun !

Boo!

I ended up heading out for my long run Friday 7/27 night after dinner.  We hit Olive Garden, and well, you know what happens when you eat at Olive Garden lol ... Per my app I was 1400 calories over and an incredible amount of fat in for the day (SGF and I made sure that we ate first then logged the food so we would enjoy our dinner knowing how bad it was gonna be lol).  SGF ended up going to our gym but I didn't since I left my workout stuff at home for the day ... So I headed home, laced my Pegasus and headed out to the Centennial.  The run to the trail was about 7.5 miles.  When I reached the trail, a nice paved trail that follows an old railroad track, it was pitch black, away from the street lights, and about 10:30pm.  I was actually freaked out but eh, if I ever run an 100 miles endurance foot race there's no way around it I would have to spend an entire night running on dark spooky trails alone ... So I headed out ... In the darkness with nothing but a wide ray of light coming off my head.

This wasn't my first run in the night/dark of course.  If you follow my blog you'll know that I ran several times the airport trail near home by myself after dusk, and ran in the Mulkiteo Gulch with Bob at night as well.  What made this run different was the fact it felt more remote from "civilization" than the airport trail and that I was alone unlike the Gulch runs.  My goal for the run was to reach Snohomish, WA.  Trail's end at about 14 miles south of the trail head.  My familiarity with the trail was both comforting yet useless.  I could only see as far as my headlight.  As soon as I started heading out I could feel a "presence" following close.  I pretty much never "shaked" the feeling so the run ended up being more about to manage that feeling rather than shaking it.  At first I turned the music off because I wanted to be able to hear if an animal or someone was creeping up on me or jumping out the bushes because that was really my biggest worry there.  But after 5 minutes or running in total silence but the wind on the leaves I realized how long and creepy that would make the run so I turned the music back on ... With Josh Groban's music on I was able to relax and proceed with the run.

I reached Lake Stevens faster than I though I would.  The run from Marysville to Lake Stevens is downhill.  When I reached 20th Street trailhead, about 7 miles more into the run, I was pretty happy with myself and how I felt.  So decided to press on for Snohomish.  From there on it was about 7 miles of rolling hills.  There was also more spot close to lighted roads so less darkness to deal with. I kept a good pace throughout.  Nearing Snohomish past midnight, I had the scariest episode of the run.  Finally back in the street light I could see my shadow "running" ahead of me ... By then I was in final stretch mode where I picked the pace up significantly, less than a mile from my pickup point on 2nd and Avenue D, when all the sudden I saw a second, lighter shadow overtaking my shadow ... I literally jumped in the air and did a 180, just a reflex, to see who was running up to me like that.  Half way in the air, I could see nothing, nobody, behind me!  I got spooked by my own shadow lol

Oh well... I though that was funny.  SGF was awesome and stayed up to come extract me.  Easy pickup as I sent her ahead my final location.  Avoided some of the confusion we had on some other pickups before!  The final run was 3:30 and I covered about 21.2 miles.

That was going to be the last run for that day, but little did I know I would put in another 7 miles that same Saturday night at Seafair ... Read about that in my next article !

New Page added to SBFRUNS!

I added a new page to my blog.  It's a salad recipe page.  I will update it as I add new finds and old favorite.  Tonight's recipes is Lentil Salad, which I prepared and will have tomorrow at lunch.  Check it out now!

Insanity - Day 16

Yesterday was the first Fit Test since I started Insanity.  The results were I would say non-conclusive lol.  In areas I seem to be real good at I seem to either have lost ground or not progressed while I saw some pretty good improvements through other exercises:

Move	Test 1	Test 2	delta	% Delta
1 - Switch kicks	101	95	-6	0.941
2 - Power Jacks	43	43	0	1.000
3 - Power Knees	71	84	13	1.183
4 - Power Jumops	44	55	11	1.250
5 - Globe Jumps	10	9	-1	0.900
6 - Suicide Jumps	16	21	5	1.313
7 - Push-Up Jacks	21	26	5	1.238
8 - Low Plank Oblique	36	40	4	1.111

Noteworthy though how easy was the warm-up the second time around.  I had forgot that the fit-test warms up with just one sequence instead of three like the workouts.  When I took the first Fit Test the warm-up felt hard.  This time around I was surprised how short the warm-up was.  I think I may not have "brought it" all.  Though on the upside, my forms really improved in these 2 weeks.

I found that 2 days off Insanity in a row work real good for me.   It allows me to continue running hard.  Today 7/17, I did St  Andrews so I'll give me partial credit for Plyo that I skipped because I had to pick family at the airport.  During the run I noticed that my heart rate on these average hills (about .5 miles, 17% grade) peaked at 149 BPM.  I think Insanity has helped in that aspect.

Tomorrow, it's Pure Cardio / Abs.  I'll blog more about that ab workout.  it's very different from other ab workouts.