What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

So far, our schedule is:
June 23- Solstace 10 mi- Northville, MI
July 2- Ciudad del Yunque 10k- Puerto Rico
Aug sometime- Milford 30k, Milford MI
October- Big Heart Big House 10k- AA, MI
october- Detroit Marathon.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

So its been a interesting month or so for me. Had to take some time off from the gym, I was completely overtrained (crossfit is easy enough to do that with, I was trying to deal with stress with too much crossfit), then I got sick, then work go busy.
But here are the good things, I haven’t lost much strength, and I have been doing some work with the Chiro and a massage therapist to finally finish addressing my shoulder injury from two years ago. The funny thing is it didn’t hurt at all, I just went to the massage therapist to have general body work done, but that is when I found out I was hot mess. But at least I know why the shin splints kept coming back.
Some exciting events coming up for me
Warrior Dash June 18
Strongman Event July 16
Highland Games July 30 (Have to figure out the caber toss and hammer throw…but why the hey not)
If I continue to be able to run shin splint free, and can build up to 9 miles I will sign up for a half marathon for the fall. But I am taking it easy, I would rather have all these injuries finally done with than to get half way into training and then have to sit out again.
Also of course the usual hockey, and of course working on my drinking muscles for curling 
As for the diet part, signed up for a new CSA, I was really disappointed with my one last year. This new one seems really great, and I found a great source of grass fed beef and they have chicken and pork products and the best **** bacon I have ever had! Hooray for great food choices!
unh_hockey said:
Going to be joining a crossfit gym in august/sept time frame. Looking forward to posting results and competing against myself in a more structured environment. This will no doubt push me beyond a comfort zone and up a peg on the athletic scale. There are women at this place that can probably outperform me right now ( see winger doing back squats). However, as alpha just said, its all about competing with yourself and showing ones own improvement.
Click to expand...
I agree on the competing with yourself. While I am do well on the lifting there are a lot of things that I need to work on, flexablity, endurance, etc etc. Althought now that I have figured out why I was getting shin splints just thinking about running and now correcting the problem, I have ran the last three days! For the first time in months yay! And I haven’t been able to go into CF a lot lately (maybe once a week) because of over training (took some time off), then I got sick, then work was crazy busy.
But in the end you get your rewards, still managed a 20lb pr on overhead squats. Did 120 for 3 (last time was 100 for 1) and that was with me not doing my lifting program since Feb.
I think you will like going into the facility, most of them seem to have such a great community to begin with and the group atmosphre will bring you to a new level for sure. I couldn’t imagine doing some of these workouts at home, and maintain the intensity without the group motivating me (and well some of that pride thing, like I don’t want to be beaten). I will admit I thought someone had beat my OHS record today, part of the motivation to toss a bunch of weight on my bar.
alfablue said:
Sometimes doing is more important than the relative results. Keep doing it. Even if you have to walk larger parts, you'll feel good that you finished. The competitors who care about YOUR times are not the ones to hang out with. Well, unless you are shooting for world records.... But once you get past 20min for a 5k, the only time that matters is the one each person runs, not anyone else. So nobody else will think more or less of you based on your time.
(I've seen super fast people get inspired by slower ones who really try hard. So you may feel that the time isn't respectable, but your fellow runners may feel that you worked so hard that it's one to look up to)
and let say you finish, but really poorly (in your eyes, since that's all that matters). You can do two things- be depressed and give up, or be disappointed and change your approach to become better.
Knowing you, I want to think I know how you would answer. So it's really important that you do it.
Click to expand...
You know that is true about being inspiring, I don’t set out to be inspiring but a lot of times, I have to grind through the metcon work outs, they just take me longer, partly cause I still am carrying a lot of weight but I have had numerous people tell me it inspires them.
But as far as the 5k, I say go out and do it, experience the event, do the best you can and mark down the time. If for no other reason than when you look back a year from now you can see how far you have come.
I started my mom doing 5ks about 3 years ago, she walks them mostly but she still likes doing them, and likes to improve on her time, and she even runs a little bit of them.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

winger said:
Warrior Dash June 18
Click to expand...

Have you done a Warrior Dash before? Or anyone else?

I am curious if they are as interesting and fun as they look. I am considering doing the one in NY in August but as it is a fair distance from my house I don't want to spend the time and money going to it if they are not as advertised.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

alfablue said:
Sometimes doing is more important than the relative results. Keep doing it. Even if you have to walk larger parts, you'll feel good that you finished. The competitors who care about YOUR times are not the ones to hang out with. Well, unless you are shooting for world records.... But once you get past 20min for a 5k, the only time that matters is the one each person runs, not anyone else. So nobody else will think more or less of you based on your time.

(I've seen super fast people get inspired by slower ones who really try hard. So you may feel that the time isn't respectable, but your fellow runners may feel that you worked so hard that it's one to look up to)

and let say you finish, but really poorly (in your eyes, since that's all that matters). You can do two things- be depressed and give up, or be disappointed and change your approach to become better.

Knowing you, I want to think I know how you would answer. So it's really important that you do it.
Click to expand...

unh_hockey said:
The reason most people quit a routine is usually because of a plateau right after the initial gains/ losses ( depending on your goals). Its like a new company reporting record earnings ; one can only keep that up for so long before things slow down due to the nature of things. If you find yourself truly without free time, an hour a day, than its not an excuse. However, most everyone I know has enough free time during the week to do something. Doctors, investment bankers, and business owners might be except at some point during their careers. On another message board, a dude who is competing for a bodybuilding competition easily works 80 hour weeks and makes my efforts look pathetic. He’s running on nothing, but his dedication is nothing short of amazing. The point? If there is a will, there is a way.

As for me, I sustained bit of an injury over the weekend pushing myself too hard in hockey. Basically my team wasn’t hustling , and I felt I needed to lead by example and do it all…for 3 hours straight. Bad idea. Taking the week off from the gym.

Going to be joining a crossfit gym in august/sept time frame. Looking forward to posting results and competing against myself in a more structured environment. This will no doubt push me beyond a comfort zone and up a peg on the athletic scale. There are women at this place that can probably outperform me right now ( see winger doing back squats). However, as alpha just said, its all about competing with yourself and showing ones own improvement.
Click to expand...

nmupiccdiva said:
Lesson learned--doing core work, weight work, and a speed workout on the track all for the first time in quite a while on the same day, a week and a half after a big race? Probably not the best idea. My everything hurts today.



IIRC, the female equivalent of a "Clydesdale" is an "Athena".
I don't really have anything to add that unh or alfa didn't cover. Truth be told, I think you'd be able to complete the race, and honestly? ANY time is respectable, especially if it's your first. You also still have quite a bit of time here. You might surprise yourself, you never know.
Click to expand...

ShirtlessBob said:
Don't worry. Like 'diva, alfa, and unh have all said, all that matters is that you finish. Keep it up; you're doing better than you realize.


Yikes. Give yourself some time before trying to do everything. Then again, you're looking at a guy who ran 18 miles a week after running a half, then ran a full a couple weeks later.

My next event is a 15K, and I'm hoping to break 1:35:00. However, I'm on pace for 1:45:00. At least my shin splints aren't a problem right now and I've got plenty of gas in the tank.
Click to expand...
Thanks, all! It's nice to be able to come here and get that little bit (or a lot) of motivation I need to keep going. :)

Edit - 'diva, any idea why "Athena"? I like to think of myself as a Greek goddess, but I know I'm delusional :p
 
Last edited:
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

bostonewe said:
Thanks, all! It's nice to be able to come here and get that little bit (or a lot) of motivation I need to keep going. :)

Edit - 'diva, any idea why "Athena"? I like to think of myself as a Greek goddess, but I know I'm delusional :p
Click to expand...

Yay motivation!

MattS said:
Have you done a Warrior Dash before? Or anyone else?

I am curious if they are as interesting and fun as they look. I am considering doing the one in NY in August but as it is a fair distance from my house I don't want to spend the time and money going to it if they are not as advertised.
Click to expand...

This is my first time doing it, last year I watched some people from my gym do it and it looked like a blast. And to be honest this type of event looks more accessible than say the tough mudder....that one looks insane!
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Wanted to do 70 miles today and wound up settling for a hair under 66. That 20-30mph wind really did a number on me; the last fifteen miles or so was right into the teeth of it. I couldn't have gone another 4 miles if I had wanted to - my legs were ready to detach themselves from my hips and start beating me for subjecting them to such punishment by the end. :p
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

bostonewe said:
Thanks, all! It's nice to be able to come here and get that little bit (or a lot) of motivation I need to keep going. :)

Edit - 'diva, any idea why "Athena"? I like to think of myself as a Greek goddess, but I know I'm delusional :p
Click to expand...
Athena is also referred to as the Filly division. I did some research on Athena, though, and found she is also a "shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour."
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Just finished my first tri of the season. It was a shorter sprint (800m, 10.2 miles, and a short 5k course that I think was more like 2.9 miles). I finished in 1:13:37. Probably my best race I've had so far. I felt pretty good although I was a little uncomfortable on the run, I think I need to work on bike-run bricks a bit more leading in to my half-iron in 4 weeks. I had pulled my groin a bit last Sunday and didn't really work out this week. It felt OK during the race, but flared up 20 minutes after I stopped. I think I'm going to take off until at least Wednesday or Thursday and then try to get back to training again. Hopefully this doesn't keep nagging me until the big race.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

pardonme said:
Just finished my first tri of the season. It was a shorter sprint (800m, 10.2 miles, and a short 5k course that I think was more like 2.9 miles). I finished in 1:13:37. Probably my best race I've had so far. I felt pretty good although I was a little uncomfortable on the run, I think I need to work on bike-run bricks a bit more leading in to my half-iron in 4 weeks. I had pulled my groin a bit last Sunday and didn't really work out this week. It felt OK during the race, but flared up 20 minutes after I stopped. I think I'm going to take off until at least Wednesday or Thursday and then try to get back to training again. Hopefully this doesn't keep nagging me until the big race.
Click to expand...
Good work on the tri!

And I'm wondering about my right hamstring. Tried to run last night with my TNT buddies and moved about 100 feet before I had to stop.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

The pull is still hurting, really worried about not getting any workouts in this week but I think I'm going to have to wait until at least Saturday. I think I'm going to have to do only 1 week of taper instead of 2.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

On a more serious note... training, and plans.

Not sure if any of you have heard of the FIRST program- Firman Institute of Running and Scientific Training program. Long story, but the result of the progam is very few miles, total, and very focused running plus some cross training.

One of our friends did it last year, and she's super fast and able to run long. And after reading some RW articles + seeing that they have a reasonable training plan that's 3 runs a week that results in a PR marathong.

The gist of the training is 3 main run workouts. First one stresses VO2 max, so the intention is to run HARD; the second increases lactic acid tolerance, so you run pretty hard for longer; third is aerobic- so you run easy, but LONG. And you must do some other cross training for enhancement. But the point of the less miles is proper recovery time.

Since we already signed up for a team, we are going to stick with them, and adapt. Tuesdays is still about VO2 max, so we'll focus our targets for that workout so that it matches efforts of interval training. Thursdays are all about tempo runs- where I'll be running about 30 seconds faster than my planned marathon pace (or 15sec slower than a "10k pace, which I have not run in a year). And Saturday will be 30-60 seconds slower than PMP, depending on the week.

We just did a half at 9:13, and I *think* we could have done 9:10 had we planned the water walk through more carefuly, so I projected a 9:09 (aka just under 4hrs) for the PMP. Translates to a 8:25-8:30 10k, 8:30-8:55 tempo runs (depending), and keeping my HR above 168 on Tuesdays, whatever the workout is. Saturdays will be 9:30-10:00, with one 20miler.

Weekly peak will be pretty small, though.

Cross training will primarily be Jazzercise, but with hour bike rides on Sundays.

The stretch goal is an 8:50 marathon, so Mrs alfa can comfortably qualify for Boston. Thankfully, if we speed up, we can adjust our paces to match. So if our Saturday runs don't make us both average about 140bpm, we'll adjust. Or if we do some 10k's/5ks in the middle and find we are faster, we'll adjust.

I'm pretty excited. Mainly because I found Tuesday workouts more effective when I played the lazy role and didn't run on Sundays (various reasons). so this may work really, really well. Or not. But any plan can do that, right?

(as an idea- here are some FIRST plans, http://apbrwww5.apsu.edu/matthewsf/running/first training pages.htm the book has quite a few options that are marathon time specific, assuming that it's a reasonable goal for you.)
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

DisplacedCornellian said:
Any tips on transitioning from running on a treadmill to running in the real world? :) I feel the need to get off this hamster wheel...
Click to expand...

Grass. Dirt. Soft surfaces. Pavement will hurt if you don't transition to it, because it is WAY less forgiving than most of your treadmills. So, along the side of any paved trails, on the shoulder of roads, or if you have unpaved trails, cool, go there.
Also, you might feel like you're just a bit slower, as you'll be under your own power and not that of a belt forcing you to go.
But, seriously, get outside. This is the time of year to do it. :)


OK, first 5K in years tomorrow night (and at Midnight, of all darn things). Apparently the course is fast. I'm hoping for a 23:something, but really? I'll just be happy with anything as I haven't raced this distance in forever and I have NO idea what to expect.
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

nmupiccdiva said:
OK, first 5K in years tomorrow night (and at Midnight, of all darn things). Apparently the course is fast. I'm hoping for a 23:something, but really? I'll just be happy with anything as I haven't raced this distance in forever and I have NO idea what to expect.
Click to expand...

22:43. A PR by well over a minute for that distance. :)
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

nmupiccdiva said:
22:43. A PR by well over a minute for that distance. :)
Click to expand...
Well done! :)

Tried to run the Seaway 15K today. Got about 2.5 miles in, but had to stop because my hamstring cramped up something fierce. Am I embarrassed and disappointed? You bet I am. But it's better to rest now and let it heal than to push through and destroy any chance of running for life. :(
 
Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

alfablue said:
So far, our schedule is:
June 23- Solstace 10 mi- Northville, MI
July 2- Ciudad del Yunque 10k- Puerto Rico
Aug sometime- Milford 30k, Milford MI
October- Big Heart Big House 10k- AA, MI
october- Detroit Marathon.
Click to expand...

Done with one. Was very much hoping for a sub 1:30, but the official time was 1:30:change. (side note- pretty much everyone we know who runs with a GPS system, it's 10.1 to 10.15 miles.... hmmmm). So offical speed was just over 9:00, which is a 13 second improvement over what I did a month ago. One week of FIRST looks pretty strong. Unofficially, my Garmin has me at a 9:54 pace. :)

But one gets a reminder how fast others are- I finished 49th...

Mrs Alfa beat me by at least a min, and no real soreness! She got 8th! And one of our friends who has been doing FIRST for a while won her class!

Good day to run.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top