Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Episode 14 - I'm back on my feet again, sort of

after a break, I am back on my feet. Not to the extent that I would like, and the break was not needed or really wanted...it just sort of happened. I lost my motivation and got lazy. Now I get to pay the price with more weight and less energy. I managed to put on about 15 pounds in 2 months. I kept eating like I was exercising and I wasn't doing anything more than typing and walking to the car... bad recipe for maintaining weight and great recipe for doing what I, well, did.

I hope you enjoy it.

Direct link to Episode 14

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Episode 13 - Heart Rate Zone Calculations

The most effective method I have found is the Karvonen Formula. Before you can begin to calculate your zones you need 2 other basic pieces of information, your Resting Heart Rate (RHR) and your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). All zone calculations use these as a baseline.

To calculate your RHR, use your trusty heart rate monitor and take a nap. You may want to be on the safe side and take several naps just to be sure... When your wife comes down on you for napping, you can tell her you have to in order to be in better shape. Once you sort out your personal life and get the lowest Beats Per Minute (BPM), you have your RHR.

Now the hard part, sorting out your MHR. Before you do this make sure you have permission from your doctor. The standard disclaimer here: I did this but I am not a pro or a medical professional so if you get hurt or die, don't yell at me.

The most effective for me was doing a regular run workout and at the end I did a 1 mile all out to the point that when I finished, I could not go any further. Of course, I was wearing my HR monitor so I used the highest recorded BPM as my MHR.

This site has a pretty neat calculator you can use that will show you the 'old' method of calculating heart rate zones along side the Karvonen Formula calculations. All you need to know is your age, RHR and MHR.

There are 5 sones to calculate that I think are the most generally accepted. the lower the number of the zone (i.e Zone 1) has the lowest intensity. You guessed it, the higher the number the higher the intensity up to and including your MHR in the upper reaches of Zone 5.

Zone 1 - The Energy Efficient Zone 50-60% of MHR

Zone 2 - The Recovery Zone 60-70% of MHR

Zone 3 - The Aerobic Zone 70-80% of MHR

Zone 4 - The Anaerobic Zone 80-90% of MHR

Zone 5 - The Red Line Zone 90-100% of MHR

In future episodes I am going to see what I can learn about each zone specifically and share.

Episode 13

Episode 12 - The Marine Corps Marathon...Sort of.

I ran the last 4.5 miles of the MCM with 2 of my sisters and had an absolute blast. I had to wait at the bridge crossing just prior to the mile 22 water stop.

One thing I couldn't bring myself to do was cross the finish line. It just didn't seem right after not actually running the whole thing.

Episode 12

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Episode 11 - It's been a long time!

Well, after nearly a month of nothing, I finally put together all of the snippits that I thought had some value into a hodgepodge episode. It is less than a week from the Marine Corps Marathon and my plan is to run the last 3-6 miles with 2 of my sisters.

Given the race course and where I am staying in Arlington, I hope to meet up with them before they cross the bridge back into VA from DC. I think mile 20 is actually still near the Mall and that seems to be the best place to catch up to them. One of my sisters is having some ITB issues and I am praying that she is able to complete the Marathon, she has worked really hard!

Episode 11

Monday, September 27, 2010

Episode 10 - Goodbye MCM

It looks like the ITBS has won this round. My plan (even though I am still not running) is to do the stretches and back off my miles until I can run for a month or two without pain. Once I can do that I am going to increase by about 5% per week and hopefully build to long runs in excess of 20 miles.

My apologies to Pete (www.runblogger.com) for again forgetting your website address, I seem to do that a lot.

Episode 10

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Episode 9 - Running, running, running

Two runs where I had some pain and the frustration. A big thanks to JKehl and roadrunn3r for very nice reviews on iTunes.

Great news on my Newtons and a big thanks to Tory from Newton Running who has been in contact with me and made it possible for me to get my shoes replaced. The store where I purchased them orignally doesn't carry them any more.

Episode 9

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Episode 8 - A Short Lived Recovery

Well, again I pushed the envelope and have re-irritated my ITB. I ran 10 miles this week and it was too much for my knee. I don't dwell on it in the episode, but near the end of the run cast you do hear me a complain a little about it. It wasn't until after I got home for what I thought was going to be a mid-run break that I realized I had a problem.

I also spent some time talking about some additional gear I have been trying out with some success.

Now the show appears to be retransitioning (is that even a word?) to a recovery podcast. I will go ahead and apologize in advance for the complaining. :)

Have a great week!

Episode 8