It's the SHOES!!

So, here are the Brooks Adreneline GTS 11's (left) and the Asics 2150 (right) next to each other.

Once I wore most of the tread down on the Brooks, I ordered the Asics due to the great deal I got on them.  The Brooks have about 350 miles on them at this point, as I've now designated them to normal everyday walking around shoes.

I got 2 pair of the Asics 2150's for the what was the price of just one pair.  I have one pair Blue and one pair red on the Asics.  The blue shoe you see there is from the pair that I ran the Disney World 1/2 Marathon in.  I rotate them when I run, but tend to favor the blue pair.  I've probably logged 50 or so more miles on the blue pair than the red at this point.

My local running shop at the time I bought the Brooks, also suggested the Asics.   I had even tried both of them on at the shop, and they had me run on their treadmill with the Asics on.  They weren't the correct width and I'd have had to order the shoes regardless of which ones I wanted.  I had bought Brooks shoes before and was satisfied with them, so that's what I ordered back then.

The Asics just aren't as comfortable as the Brooks.  I didn't get any blisters or anything when I ran the 1/2 Marathon.  It's just that they aren't the Brooks.

The best that I can explain it, see how boxy the Brooks are compared to the pointy taper that the Asics have?  The shape of my foot fit better into the Brooks shoe than the Asics.

The Asics tend to squish in on my little toe area because my foot just doesn't have that much of an angle from the large toe to the pinky toe.

Some of my friends have kidded me about having "hobbit" feet.  In order to fit the width of my foot, I'd have to get the Asics another 1/2 size larger and then have to battle the possibility that my foot would then start sliding back to front as I run, let alone the toe flex area then being in the wrong spot for my foot.


Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Week 1 Day 3 of the "And I ran. I ran so far away." plan

Here we are at the end of my first week of my yet to be named running plan.

My focus is really on getting faster.  So on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'm varying the speeds that I'm going, trying to work in a speed that I'm not comfortable with and going with it for as long as I can manage.

Then what I thought I'd do on my Saturdays was to focus on keeping consistent.  So, in the past, my longer runs I'd keep my pace at 4.0 mph and keep going.  Tonight I bumped it up to 4.1!  Ohhhh.... Ahhhhh.  I also kept my walking pace up to 3.5 most of the time.

My general plan from here on out is to keep incorporating some faster intervals on Tuesdays and Thursdays and keeping it consistent on Saturdays, while over time, bumping that Saturday overall pace up little by little.

My segments worked out something like this tonight:

1/4 Mile warm up, started at 3.0 then increased to 3.5 after a minute or so. (.25)
1 mile at 4.1 mph (1.25)
1/4 mile at 3.5 again (1.5)
1/2 mile at 4.1 mph, then I had to pause for the cause (2.0)
1/4 mile at 3.0 up to 3.5 after the pause (2.25)
1 mile at 4.1 mph (3.25)
1/4 mile at 3.5 (3.5)
1/2 mile at 4.0 (4.0)
1/4 mile at 4.1 (I noticed I wasn't doing 4.1 at this point!  ooops) (4.25)
.30 mile at 3.5 (I wasn't paying attention and went over what I intended by a bit)

4.55 Miles total tonight.

With the pause in the middle, I kinda got a bit messed up on how far I had gone, as I INTENDED to keep with full mile segments.  Now  that I have it "written down" I see where I only really messed up at the end.

Well, a pair of shoes I'd like to get are on clearance at Running Warehouse and I'm just really debating on getting them.  It'll put a dent in my budget a little bit... and I really don't NEED them yet, as the 2 pairs of Asics I have in rotation are still very light in miles.  But I'd just really like to get back into the Brooks as I'm not finding the Asics as comfortable as the Brooks I've had.

The Asics 2150s have been decent shoes.  But I just haven't been able to really nail down why I feel so much better in the Brooks.  One of the only reasons I can think of is the Brooks have the larger toe box.

By the time I make up my mind, they'll probably be out of them and that will be that...

Talking with family today, and put a bug in their ear to see if we can find out when our Family Reunion will be this summer.  If the July 23rd weekend is open... I may see about heading up north for a Half in Chicago.  Entry fee isn't bad... it'll be the room prices that are killer!  Sheesh!

I still need to get with my friends in the D.C. area to find out if we're going to meet up this summer too!  I'm really looking forward to that, whenever it may be, since we didn't get together last year.  Maybe instead of playing video games, we'll go out for a run!  Heh :)

I've already begun my planning in Streets & Trips for my Thanksgiving vacation to see family in Florida.  We're going to shoot for leaving Wed after work again and spending the night in Chattanooga, this year I'll know not to jump onto the interstate right away, I'll take local roads till I'm south of Greenwood so I can avoid that parking lot at I-465 & I-65 junction!  Then it'll be from Chattanooga to West Palm Beach on Thanksgiving day.  That's all of the plan I have lined up so far :)

Well, I'm done babbling on for now...

Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Week 1 Day 2 of the "I Should’ve Turned Left at Albuquerque Plan"

Tonight's run was a bit different.  I had dinner late tonight and didn't want to wait too long before I hit the treadmill-o-doom.

Started off with my normal 1/4 mile warm up walk.  I was feeling a little off on my right hip, so I took it easy at 3mph.  By the time that was done, I was feeling okay.  I decided I'd try to do some 1/2 mile stints at a higher than normal pace.

I decided to punch in 4.3 mph for my run.  I could feel that it was harder than my normal runs, but I was able to maintain breathing fine throughout the 1/2 mile.  I returned to a 3mph walk for a 1/4 mile.

During my walk portion, I drank some of the Berry mix Wal*mart stuff.  It seemed better tonight than the last time I had it.

I then entered into another run segment... and that's when things started turning a bit sour, so to speak.  The mixture of dinner and the Berry mix Gatoradeish stuff wasn't mixing well when I started to run again. I made it through another 1/2 mile and was thankful when I got to my next 1/4 mile walk.

I tried going into another run segment, but my stomach was warning me that continuing on this path wasn't the wisest decision tonight.  So I called it at the 1/4 mile mark and did a 1/4 mile cool down walk.

Went shopping last night for a new winter coat.  Had a Kohls 30% off card in the mail that started yesterday.  I did find something that I could wear and with the already 70% off coat and the additional 30% off, the total on it was only $25 or so!

The coat that is going to get dropped off to Goodwill is an XXL that I got a few years ago at Kohls, and that one was $35, so I think I got my monies worth out of it!

I also picked up a "tech" jacket for $18 and less the 30%.  It looks like it will be a nice spring/fall time jacket to wear.

I looked to see if there was anything suitable for running, but they seem to not carry many items in XL size in the athletic sections.  Didn't see any shorts or pants.  There were are few shirts, but I've already got enough tech shirts for running...


Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

Week 1 Day 1 - Make it up as I go Plan

Tonight I did a total of 4 miles again, but had a little bit of change up:

1/4 Mile - Warm up walk
1/4 Mile @ 5 mph (12 minute mile)
3/4 Mile @ 4 mph (15 minute mile)
1/4 Mile @ 3 mph (20 minute mile walk)
1/4 Mile @ 4.7 mph
3/4 Mile @ 4 mph
1/4 Mile @ 3 mph
1/4 Mile @ 5 mph
3/4 Mile @ 4.1 mph
1/4 Mile @ 3.3 mph (cool down walk)

The 1/4 miles at 5 mph were difficult.  It was pushing it and by the end of the 1/4 mile I was huffing pretty hard.

The 1/4 mile at 4.7 wasn't as bad as the 5's, but was still breathing pretty hard.

The last 1/4 at 4.1 mph I was beginning to run out of energy.

Once I got of the treadmill-o-doom, I was drenched in sweat.  That's part of this deal running on the treadmill in the house.  It get's pretty darn HOT sometimes when I'm running.

I went through a whole 16 oz bottle of the new Wal*Mart Gatorade like powder for water tonight (Great Value Tropical Blend Energy Mix).  So far I've tried the Tropical and the Mixed Berry.  So far the Tropical mix is much better than the Mixed Berry.  The Mixed Berry is really too sweet tasting for me while I'm running.  It kinda reminds me of berry syrup than a drink.  It just seems to get thick in my mouth when I drink it (I know, sounds strange..)  The Tropical mix is pretty much a pineapple taste.

The other flavors available are orange and Iced Tea & Lemonade.  Whenever I see an orange powder drink, the first thing I think of is TANG.

After my run I got a quick shower in and had my after run banana while I started this blog entry :)

I think that'll do it for tonight!


Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49

End of Week Zero

This week I've been on the treadmill twice.  Last Tuesday and today.

Last Tuesday I did a few intervals to see how speeding things up would feel.  Overall, it went better than I really expected.  I don't think I hit a limit yet, so next speed intervals I'm going to start a bit faster than I did last time and see how it goes.

Last Tuesday I basically started off with my usual 1/4 mile warm up walk.  I did tweak it up some, and started at 3.5 and ended it at 3.7 mph.  I then did the following intervals:

1  3/4 mile @ 4.5 mph, 1/4 mile @ 3.5
2  3/4 mile @ 4.2 mph, 1/4 mile @ 3.2
3  3/4 mile @ 4.0 mph, 1/4 mile @ 3.0

I didn't think it was too awful bad since I hadn't been running regularly lately.

Tonight I planned to just keep it nice and steady.  I again started with a 1/4 mile warm up walk at 3.0 mph.  I then did intervals of 1 mile @ 4.0 mph followed by 1/4 mile @ 3.0mph to total out at 4.0 miles.

I think next week, I may add another interval to that.  Tonight I felt fine afterwards, but didn't want to push it too much.

My plan is to have my running schedule for Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I'm going for speedier intervals on Tuesday and Thursday with Saturday being a "Longer slow run".

Tonight was also my first night with my new toy.  I had one item I splurged on with my Tax Returns.  I bought a cheap Android 7" tablet.  I've loaded it up with some shows and movies to watch while I run.  It worked out pretty well tonight.  My first movie?  Spirit of the Marathon (2007).  I'm a good portion through it with just tonight's run of over an hour.  Interesting - yes. No, it still doesn't inspire me to run the Disney Full next year.

Now I have a plan, now I have to stick to it.  End of week zero.

Now on to the ugly news.  Since I haven't been running regularly, it's really showing up in the scale.  I've been stuck in the 240's since last AUGUST.  Lunchtime has been really my bad point lately.  While I was running 4 days a week training for the 1/2 Marathon last year, it was easy to hide those extra calories away because I was burning them all off quickly.

Week	Date	Kipp		Weekly%	Overall%
0	3/22/2011	275
1	1/6/2012	247		10.18%	10.18%
2	1/13/2012	249	-2	-0.81%	9.45%
3	1/20/2012	248	1	0.40%	9.82%
4	1/27/2012	247	1	0.40%	10.18%
5	2/3/2012	246	1	0.40%	10.55%
6	2/10/2012	248	-2	-0.81%	9.82%

My next portion of training HAS to include working on upper body.  In the last year, my legs are now very strong again but the rest of me... well... meh.  I've done some work with resistance bands, but I'm now down to just one band and it's about to break too.

We have had a Planet Fitness open up recently nearby, I'm thinking about looking into that.  For 20 a month you get all the resources and can use any other of their facilities too.  For 10 a month, you get their basic and can only use the facility you sign up at.

It looks like most of my remaining vacation time will be right after Thanksgiving.  I'm going to take the week after off.  I've done this many times in the past and it makes for a very nice vacation, being almost 2 weeks long for the "price" of one!

I want to see my friends in the DC area again, we've just got to figure out if it will be Memorial day like we've done in the past.  You say "whaaaa?  You're leaving Indy on 500 Weekend??"  Too many people for my liking.  I'd rather watch it on TV :)  Oh, wow, look at that.  There are even some running events in the DC area that weekend... Arlington 1/2... hmmmm.

Hopefully I can nail down a race I want to go to to get my "official" time for the 2013 Disney World 1/2 pretty soon.  I positively know that I want a corral start further up than I had for this year.  I've been able to find more and more information on races this year online, so hopefully I'll see one that will stand out and get me to sign up for it.



Thanks for Reading!  Regards,


~Kipp

Lighter, Stronger & Faster for 2013! Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon - January 7, 2012 FINISHED 3:48:49