5/4/10 Track Practice...Our Final Ironmen!

Before practice I worked on my abs a bit and did a 5:10 leg lift. my plan is to increase by 10 seconds everyday. I think a 5 minute leg lift is very great! Anyways, Tuesday was our last ironman challenge. It finished off with 4 200 meter sprints (30 seconds) and 2 400 meter sprints (72 seconds). These were extremely tough times to make and I often found myself wanting to quit, but I kept going and finished all of them and received my points. I now know for a fact that I will get the ironman t-shirt this year. It was a pretty good accomplishment.

Just some side thoughts,opinions,comments,ideas

First off, I would like to say that shin splints absolutely suck! well actually to be more specific, I am suffering medial tibial stress. I wear the right shoes, and i'm not overweight, but running on the same flat track everyday definitely takes its toll on me. I did some research over the weekend, and learned that the best ways to cure it, are to take ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory), tie your shoes tighter, and run on varied surfaces on different days. Another thing I learned is that building calf muscles takes stress off of the shin bones. Not wanting to become drugged out on ibuprofen, wait six weeks to recover, and not being able to run on anything other than the track, I guess the best I can do for now is to tie my shoes tighter, strengthen my calf muscles, and hope for the best!

Second thought, in all honesty, I cannot wait for track to end! Sure, it's fun and such, but I am really aching to just run alone on long distances. Me, the road, and my GPS. I want to get back into half marathon training! ( I am NOT giving up on this goal) I used to see running as a pretty stupid thing to do as a sport, but its so much more than appears to the eye. To me it is a spiritual connection with myself and nature. It is a time of peace and relaxation. I learn a lot about myself during long runs. I am realistically thinking about cross country instead of soccer this season......crazy right?

hmmm what else is on my mind........oh yes, nutrition. I have been reading a lot of articles about eating organic and vegetarian. I am not sure I could commit to being a full scale vegetarian, but the thought of eating organic is interesting to me. One problem is that organic foods tend to be more expensive. I learned that by eating organic vegetables, a person can cut back on 90% of pesticide consumption. That sounds like the cure to cancer! I am going to dwell on this new realm of food, before I make long term decisions. I usually eat very healthy, but why not go all the way with it?!

5/3/10 Track Practice

I was not able to make it to Friday's track practice due to some private issues, but I was eager to run today on such a fine Monday! After warmups, the distance runners had to run 6 800 meter repeats. It was quite a grueling task for a Monday. I made it to 5 and had to quit. I reached a max heartrate of 201, but was not able to post it, due to my computer not cooperating with Garmin products.

4/29/10 Gym Workout

Since I hadn't been to the gym in awhile, I decided to workout there instead of running. I followed my normal routine, but only this time I added 10 pounds to each workout. The workouts I did are as follows:

*note-everything was 14 reps in 3 sets

Chest Press - 80lbs.

Bicep curls - 60lbs

Tri-ext. - 30lbs

shoulder press - 60 lbs

Posterior back machine - 80lbs

bicycles - 1 minute x 2 sets

OSU crunches - 50 times x 2 sets

leg lifts - 1 minute x 2 sets

4/28 Track Practice

Wednesday consisted of an easy tempo run on the bike path. I ended up running with three others down Schenk Creek, and then up the bike trail back to the school. We ended up running 3.19 miles in approximately 27:52 minutes. I also burnt 350 calories on this run. I was extremely disappointed when I tried to upload this run onto my new computer. It does not support Garmin files, nor will it download the installer. I guess I have to use a different computer if I want to post my maps. It's a total bummer.

4/27/10 Track practice

On Tuesday I was hoping to start incorporating my GPS into my blog but unfortunately it died! (I charged it that night) Anyways, the distance team ran a light 1 mile workout. I ran with one other person and just paced myself for a light run.

4/26/10 Track Practice

On Monday, the team ran a light workout due to competing so well in Saturday's events. The distance runners went on a light 30 minute run.