Set Back Week

If Rocky can do it.... I can't

This was a tough week. Just two weeks ago, I had to take time off due to a hip flexor strain. I got back into my routine with a solid 30 mile week, and then was hit by an unforgiving stomach virus Monday evening. I took Tuesday morning off from work, but then went back at it and never took time off to rest, so the dang virus came back Wednesday evening and finally moved on to its next victim sometime around Saturday morning. No running this past week after PR'ing the 13.1 mile distance last Saturday morning on a training run. When I went out this morning, I didn't really know what to expect, but I pulled in a good seven miler and am in good shape to train at my max this week.

Is it mile 10.1 yet?

I really hoped to be at my max for all three of these weeks to get ready for the Pasadena 1/2 Marathon on May 20. I really want to finish this race in under Two hours. There is a monster 3 mile hill on the course from mile 7 to mile 10, and I have not really trained for hills, but I still think I have a pretty decent chance of reaching this goal. I'll be traveling and  running with two friends, Chris and Suzanne. Suzanne recently had abdominal surgery so I should be able to beat her, but I've been practicing elbow shots just in case. Chris is new to running so is just going out to pig out on free stuff in the finishers chute have a good time and run the parts he can.

This was also the week for the drawing for the NYC Marathon, and no dice. I really wanted a chance at this, but it was not meant to be. So now, I have to make plan for the summer and fall, and I'm thinking Core work and base mileage. My December goal is to break 1:45 in the Fiesta Bowl 1/2 Marathon and that is going to require a solid base and mega speedwork. As for the core, I'm going to work in a three day per week routine using kettlebells, planks, crunches, and some other shit I found on the net that helps with hip strength. I plan to establish a 30 minute set that works the more common running muscle groups. My wife and I trade running days, so while she is out breezing through the miles, I will be on the back patio making Google Satellite history.

A couple of exciting bits of running news to share: There are some TMZ-style rumors that Jamoosh may be visiting Phoenix this summer for the SYTO 5K. Has anyone given alert to the local microbreweries?? And Adam, The Boring Runner, just finished the Eugene Marathon in 3:04, a huge PR, and a boston Qualifying time. Great running Adam!

If you have recommendations for core routine, I'd love to hear from you.

Daddy Brick Workout

Pre-Plan Preparation: Share DNA with someone else, and shelter  the resulting infant/toddler in your same domicile. "Experiment" with parenting strategies. Know that it is NOT ok to revise any strategies in the middle of the night, but that you inevitably will --all to the merriment of your child and the bulging database of your local CPS department. Begin a health-conscious exercise plan such as an 18 week marathon plan. Ready?? Here we go!

In this workout, Brick refers to the feeling in your head as you contemplate hitting the road for a morning run following the nighttime sleep patterns of a 2.5 year old.

The workout is presented in Steps hereforward so that you may monitor your progress vs. the sub-tasks required to get to your terminal goal.











Step One: Throw half a bagel in the trash and begin to put your exhausted toddler to bed at ____pm. Repeat 29 times between 8pm and 9:15pm and believe me it will be a progressive part of the workout as you deplete all of your verbal reasoning skills over the 90 minutes. '29' attempts is a good starting point. Many more experienced fathers can get up to 50 --start slow. Gu and water at the 'end' of this stage.

Step Two: Sneak into bed with your spouse. In this stage we have some important DO NOTS:

DO NOT:

• Flush the toilet
• Pee directly into the water
• make any noise while brushing teeth
• rustle the sheets
• turn on any lights within one mile of the house
• have 'relations' with spouse. Silly!! You stopped doing that long ago and besides, it's what got you into this in the first place

DO have a little water. But do it quietly. Sleep quietly.











Step Three: Wake up at 1am. Your child is done sleeping for the night but wants you to come sleep with him in his bed, or go watch tv, or sleep in the living room, or make pancakes. He will be very pursuasive. Don't do it under any circumstances. Talk him into going back to sleep. Failure at step 3 is actually a success. It's 1 am and technically the next day. Congratulations, you have made it through a Daddy Brick workout. Get ready to build a house.

Bikram Baby!!

Blogging about my Bikram experience just isn't gaining any momentum ever since Lauren and Adam posted their experiences. If you want an entertaining recap about our experience, go here and here. Thanks so much to The Bikram Institute of Scottsdale, especially to Andrea, the owner, Robin, our patient instructor, all of the friendly employees

and the homeless guy in the parking lot who offered to pat me dry. I will tell you that I wasn't that phased by the Bikram experience because I couldn't do half of 'dat shit'.

The instructor spent a bit of time with me, but quickly realized that I would need the kind of special attention reserved for Warren from the movie There's Something About Mary.

I was pretty much able to handle the heat. Had to stop a few times and not move, but overall, the heat was what I expected. I had hydrated pretty well that day, and spent some time talking to others with experience. And I do like to sweat, but it never occurred to me to wring my towel out in the parking lot. Yuck Cool! Yuck!!

I highly recommend Bikram to those who are looking for something different. This would definitely count as cross-training and also as a mental break from life-stress--all you can think about for 90 minutes is staying alive.

Cake rating for Bikram Institute of Scottsdale!!


$40 contest alert!! See below...

 "Check out www.theboringrunner@adamrisu CSN stores $40 gift card GIVEAWAY!!"

Thirty-Something

RTP now has 30 followers. Welcome to the latest few and brave little Kelsey who stepped up to the line to become #30. Welcome!!

Kelsey is training for her first marathon and will race for 26.2 this coming January here in Phoenix at the RnR. I'm looking forward to reading about your training Kelsey and hopefully you will be joining the rest of us Phx-based blogging/running nerds for a pre-race orgy meet up.

I read 52 Loaves last week and have been busy building a levain, researching recipes, and emailing the author. Not too much running, but a really nice swim session with Runlaur and..........

-------------------------spoiler alert------------------------

Bikram Yoga this evening with Adam and Runalur!! I'm very excited, but also apprehensive because I have heard some horror stories from people about their first experience with 'hotroom' yoga. But as they say in Hell and Bakersfield, 'everyone into the fire'. I'll report out in the next day or so pending survival.

52 Loaves, by William Alexander, is a chronological self-rising journey of one year in the life of an amateur turned-pro-bread-maker and his family. If you have read anything by Alexander, you know he is anything but amateur in what ever he pursues. The author seeks to recreate the perfect bread and vows to bake at least one loaf per week for one year in pursuit of the pain de perfect. He describes the processes for making yeast and also the chemical reactions in each stage. He travels to France, North Africa, and to production-grade flour mills to better understand and perfect the craft. Hard to believe, but he actually plants a small plot of wheat in his garden and , a year later, harvests, threshes, winnows, and grinds (some by hand) the grain to make flour which he uses to make some kick-ass bread. In the final stages of his journey, he spends several weeks living in an abbey in France teaching the monks how to bake bread and revitalizing their tradition of bread-making and also has a profound and lasting spiritual experience.

I have taken his lead and am now in the final day of a six day process to build a levain (starter dough) that can be used to bake some of the best breads on the planet. There are plenty of informative websites and blogs for this topic, and I fear that I may have left my family behind. No worries from them, as I have promised home-made breads and muffins starting sometime in the next week, and food always trumps in this family. I needed some information about the levain and some other baking topics, so I emailed the author, and he replied with two separate emails within a day. Not to be too self-assured, but I knew he would. He just seems like that kind of guy.

52 Loves gets an overall RTP rating of 'Cake'. I'll have to increase my mileage, or I'll get an overall rating of cake-eater. 30 suckers followers. Who knew??

Swim Swam Swum

Today was day one of the Higdon Intermediate Plan and was reserved for cross training. Esti Ginzberg (left) and I headed over to El Dorado pool for some lap swimming. I found a lane with a slow looking swimmer in it, and took the plunge. I have not swum for exercise since high school.

I had it in mind to swim for 1/2 hour and see how it goes. All freestyle and nice and easy. The lanes are 25 meter long and nice and wide. After a couple of laps, it seemed like I would be smart doing ten laps total and that would be about 30 minutes. I finished in 18 minutes but decided to take it easy. There was some kind of cramp going on in my left forearm.

I oaf/blubbered my way out of the pool and got to talk to a skinny guy with an ironman tattoo. I asked him how many laps would equal 2.5 miles. He looked at me like I had suggested we swim with arms linked at the elbow and said that he didn't think anyone had ever done that kind of conversion.

I later realized it was like asking how many times would I need to skip down my driveway to get the paper and have it equal a marathon.

Determined, I spent some time with an online calculator  (HEY! Eyes back here! I'm describing my first swimming experience in this blog. Esti can wait!!) Anyway (Adam! Did you hear me??!??) By my calculations, I would need to swim 77 laps to get to 2.4 miles, and the pace would take just beyond 2.5 hours. In other words, in an ironman competition, I would get picked up by the rowboat and not even be allowed to get on the bike.

I liked the experience and want to try swimming about 2x per week. We will see how it goes, but its nice to change it up. I also got some advice from Molly, Luke, and Evolving Through Running for yoga and tennis. And a promise from Rio and Runlaur to support and join in on the swimming. My 2 year old loves that pool so I will probably get to play with him over there too. Thanks guys!

It's ok to look again.