20 Second Intervals

What's the point? Well, no point really. I read in Men's Health that running 20 second intervals is a good way to strengthen your legs. In reality, it seemed a hell of a lot easier than mile intervals, and maybe they do some good. Either way, I did 15 of them in the middle of my 4.9 mile run today.

The weather was another great winter running day. I did Jupiter, and back up the same way. My lower back was a little sore during the run. The legs felt good. Sadly, the intervals actually felt difficult - I know - 20 seconds, how the hell!?!? The good thing about 20 second ints though, they are short enough to really run balls out - and you can do a lot of them.

I should also mention that the 200 situp/100 pushup thing has me up to 109 situps (over 5 sets) and 71 pushups (also over 5 sets). Although still early in the training plan - that's well over the 48/24 situp/pushup sets I was doing - only ~10 days in. That's pretty crazy.

Men's Health is interesting. I was reading it while at the Mystic Library with my children - killing time as they played. It was like runner's world - but with a lot more articles on how to get your wife to have sex with you in the middle of the workout/lose weight articles. Observe, even the tag is um...:
href="http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/cms/uploads/1/0901_sexywoman_170x136.jpg">

Good Weekend, Nice Run, Horrible News

I'll start with the good. I had a very nice weekend with friends and family that was topped off by heading over (for the first time) to the Lyman Arts center at Conn College for a stellar showing of Walter Wick's art. Mostly known for his I-Spy work - the creations like the one shown here were fascinating. To see it full scale was amazing. I loved the themes also. My 4 and 2 year old daughters were not as thrilled (a little too young) -but at least they got out of the house. Most older kids seemed to like the art very much - so I highly recommend seeing it - if it's shows up anywhere else.

This afternoon I made it out for a 5.3 miler - I'm pretty sure we motored along fast - as we finished in 41:13 - and that includes about 1 or 2 minutes after I took a spill - certainly sub 8:00's maybe around 7:30s. The new Dave motors even when he's going slow.

Now, the bad news. Looks like my company's merging/acquiring again. Unbelievable - especially considering how the last 2 turned out. This one looks to be an astonishingly bad fit - especially on the heals of the layoffs we just had. Is there no end to corporate greed?

Another Easy Week

I managed another 4.9 mile run yesterday. The weather was perfect for this time of year, but I really was dragging - and for no good reason. I ended up covering the miles in ~42:30 (not certain since I forgot to start timing until 3-4 minutes in) - pace was probably about 8:40-8:50 - much slower than earlier in the week.

Inauguration Run

Well, I was running, so I missed the historic speech. Fortunately I have a DVR so I can watch it tonight. I ended up doing a difficult 4.9 miles in just under 40 minutes (8:08 pace). The run was a little faster than normal, thanks to Dave B., my new running friend (not to be confused with Dave T. - who is apparently not running during the cold weather). Physically, I was alright - although my back is *killing* me from all this snow shoveling. Nevertheless, I'm still loving this winter. Barack's speech will echo on each run:

In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.

In other words - if it's cold out - go out and run anyway. It'll be Spring soon enough, and you don't want to suck. Also of note: this weekend I found a nice Firefox add-on called Stumble Upon. While clicking through random links - I came across this two hundred situps site, and decided to go ahead and add it to my 'strength' training schedule. I started the situps on week 2 and the pushups on week 1. Hopefully, it'll help during the upcoming season.

More Cold Running

Today I probably set a record for the coldest it's been that I've run outside: 16 deg. Truth be told it was not really that bad; actually kinda pleasant. I did 4.4 miles - very slowly, about an 8:50 pace (39 minutes total). But the weather really felt fine. I'd much prefer 16 degrees and little wind (8 mph, wind chill was listed as 6 deg - but I didn't feel it), compared to 30 degrees and 30 mph winds. I'll aim for another 2 weeks of this 'taking it easy' - before maybe adding a third day of running - or some swimming a the Y in February and March. Hopefully by then, I'll have a 10K pegged on my calendar that I can get excited for.

An Icy Five Miler

I headed out later today for a quick 5-miler before the sun went down. I again took it pretty easy - especially around Avery Point - where the trail was iced over. It felt good to get out today: layoffs at work tomorrow, and the Chargers lost yesterday - no way to shine a light on either of those turds. The running though, is always good. The 5 miles felt a lot easier that the same distance last week. I'll try and head out again later in the week.

Damn it was windy today.

but I made it out anyway. I did "the reverse" - including both loops again. The wind wasn't bad until the Avery Point loop, but then I could feel the 30 mph, with 45 mph gusts - not fun running. What's weird is that I completed the 5.2 miles 30 seconds faster than Monday's run, despite the wind. That's 10 miles. I'm thinking of keeping it at 10/week until the end of January - just in maintain mode - before adding more in.

Spring Race Schedule. Some good news. Feburary first is the Super Bowl 5k out at Narraganset and March 1st is the Hare Hop - both 5ks. May is trail run month: the 9th is the Shad Bloom run (10K) out on Block Island, the Trails for a Cure (8M) is May 17th and the Twilight Trail run is apparently a little later (probably trying to avoid the rain) - May 29th. The Niantic Bay 10K is June 12th, which kinda sucks since I'd like it earlier: further from the JP Morgan run, and a possibly a little cooler.

The Winter Run

Here is a map of the standard run route: 4.4 miles - not including the Avery Point campus loops (which I've never got the exact mileage on, but must be around 0.7 to 0.8 miles). So, doing that math, the run including both loops would be about 5.15 (+/- 0.5) miles. Whatever it is, I covered it today in 43:34, good for about an 8:27 min/mile pace. A winter pace. Can't say it felt great, but it counts - and it's the first of 2009 - so that's good.