On the Way to 200 Fire Haulers...

An idea:

Ben, you did 160 fire haulers. I was thinking that you can boost that number up to 200 in a matter of weeks.

Here is the plan: we will all continue to do fire haulers, how many and how ever much we want to. Thursdays will be "The Day" in which someone will do 5 more than the person the week before.

Ben did 160 this week, so Anton, you do 165 next week, and then I will do 170 the next, then Ben will d0 175, Anton 180, me 185, Ben 190, Anton and I 195, all of us do 200.

So in 8 weeks we will all be able to do 200. What say you?

Some Thanksgiving PT

Some good Thanksgiving PT.

2 sets Variation Pushups w/ 20 ab between each variation:

200 pushups
400 abs

10 x 8 pullups = 80
4 x 20 dips = 80
2 x 30 neck = 60

Planning to do fire haulers and a 2 mile run this afternoon. Am hoping that the hip will not hurt! I will give thanks if it doesn't.

•••••

Threw in 2 x 95 fire haulers, with 15 minutes in between. Good stuff.

•••••

This was the 1st Thanksgiving in as long as I can remember where I didn't overeat. I am proud of myself. I feel good. I am going to eat a bowl of cereal now. I can, because I didn't overeat at lunch! Ha ha! Ha!

The Mammoth

I named today's workout The Mammoth because it had NO recovery time, and it allowed me to get in a lot of pullups, pushups, and abs in a relatively short period of time.

I did 20 sets. Each set was comprised of 5 pullups, 20 pushups, 25 abs. Right after doing each exercise I would immediately begin doing the next. Right when I got done with a set, I started the next one. So, in just around 25 minutes, I was able to get in 100 pullups, 400 pushups, and 500 abs.

Not that it was easy. The pushups were TOUGH sets 7-15 or so...or maybe all the up to 18. I don't remember. There was a lot of weakness leaving the body, though. That much I know is true.

Maybe The Mammoth will be 40 sets sometime. That would be INCREDIBLE!

After The Mammoth I went inside and did 2 x 95 fire hauler (which REALLY burned today!), 2 x 30 neck, and 4 x 25 dips. I had to take about 3 short breaks (2 seconds or so) when doing the 2nd set of the fire haulers, and had to take a small break during the 3rd set of the dips. Otherwise, it was all good. I was surprised on the last set of dips that I was able to get in all 25 dips without stopping.

A GREAT workout today. GREAT!

Next workout will be The Thanksgiving Day workout. I plan to get in some dive bombers and other kinds of pushups...

Totals:
Abs: 500
Push: 400
Pull: 100
Dips: 100
Fire Haulers: 190
Neck: 60

Clarification.

Perhaps my comment that I am scrapping the 100 plan was mis-interpreted, taken as a statement that I was going to quit entirely.

This is not the case.

I am simply going to train differently. I feel that I need more miles to prepare myself. The low mileage would be good for someone with already a couple 100s under their belt, but me, I need to really go after the training, really be voracious.


So, the plan is still on. It is still on.

Afternoon Shake Out Runs

Remember, Ben, when we used to do 2-3 mile shake out runs in the afternoon, and how great it made our legs feel?

I think I am scrapping the 100 plan. I am going to train how I feel like. If I feel like going 13 one day, I will do it. Yes, ma'am. I will also do some Afternoon Shake Out Runs. ASORs. That's what I am going to do.

I might do max situps, pushups, and pullups next Monday. At first I thought I would delay it to make sure that I could do more than last month, but then I realized that reason was wrong. It is wrong to interfere with the body's natural gains/losses. Plus, it will give me an idea how much progress/regress that is going on. I hope there is progress...although I don't know if I have been doing enough PT. Or maybe I have.

Nacho is looking out the window. I'm sure she sure wants to go outside!

But it is cold. It is cold.

Friday and Saturday Prior

On Friday, I did PT. 21 supersets. Then 2 x 95 fire haulers. Then 5 x 20 dips. And 30 neck.

Friday totals:
630 abs
630 pushups
100 dips
190 fire haulers
30 neck

No time to do pullups. Neck was sort of sore, probably from practicing so long the days before and maybe because my lymph nodes seem to be a bit tender. That's why I only did one set of neck exercises.

On Saturday, didn't do anything other than pullups. It was a pullup day.

I had envisioned myself busting out 150 pullups in 10 minutes by doing 5 pullups in a 20 second cycle. Each minute has 3 cycles = 15 a minute = 150 in 10 minutes. I planned to do reg, wide, close, reverse, left, right.

It was much harder than expected. I did 2 minutes of pullups, then took a 1 minutes break. Then 2 more minutes, and about a 1.5 minute break. Then I extended the cycle to 2 a minute. So in the next 3 minutes I did 30 pullups.

Then I took a break.

A little later I went and did the remaining 60 pullups. Since there were only 2 sets left it was a little easier than the 3 sets prior.

A good day for pullups! Hooray! I hope Sunday = sore upper back/shoulders/arms. That is what I am hoping for.

No Run, Coffee, Practice, Schedule

Hello to you.

I did not run today. It is time for the hip to get better once and for all. I am sick of having it hurt. I am sick. I vomit there on the carpet. Get down on your hands and knees and you will see it.

I drank a lot of coffee today. Probably around 6 cups. It made me really drowsy. Strange.

I have practiced 2.5 hours already today, planning on another hour in about 5 minutes. That's the way to do it. You gotta get after it.

That's the thing I never could understand about music majors at Wesleyan (or any major, come to think of it). It seems that hardly anyone is excited to do what they do. I mean, the music majors should have been practicing at least 2 hours a day. How many people did that? Maybe 1 or 2.

That's what seems to be wrong with it. People don't take things seriously enough. When you commit yourself to something, it should be entirely. For me, it is not only music that I am committed to. Running, yes, I am committed to running. Probably not as much as Ben, it seems, but yes I am committed to it.

Ben, you crazy mofo, I like the enthusiasm you have. And the dedication. You have put a lot of effort into running, and are reaping the benefits, both physical and psychological. And with school, you are studying like a mad man, making sure to get everything done. That's the kind of work ethic that most people lack. What the hell? And Anton, you are doing a lot of stuff, like signing and running and PT and you are already planning out what you are going to do for the next 20 years. Where are other peoples' goals? Why do they simply fall over and die and just let life feckin steamroll them?

That's all I will say for now. Dedication. Execution. Don't say you're going to do something, then sit around on your ass. Get down to business and be productive!

I have a schedule. I think if I schedule some races then I will have a better reason for running. I think I will run the Psycho Wyco again. That was a fun time. And I think I might do the Brew to Brew Solo 44 miler. That would be good too.

You see what I just did? I made a plan. Now I have something to work towards.

Weather.com = crack smokin' tricksters

I check the weather before my run. 36 it says. Feel like 34 with the wind. I wear a long sleeve shirt with a cut off over it. I wear pants. I wear gloves and a hat.

About four minutes into the run I realize that it is much warmer than 36. I take my hat off.

A mile into the run I turn north and am relived to have wind blowing at me. I put the hat back on.

I run for two miles into the wind before turning around.

I turn around. I walk for about 50 meters. Then I start to get really hot.

I rip off the hat. Then my hands get really hot. They are the second things to get hot. Then my upper body gets hot. Then the lowerbody.

Having run a mile with the wind at my back, I am sweating like it is in the 80s. I use profanity at everything. "Damn you, small pieces of rock on the road!" I say. I say "damn you, grass in the ditch."

•••••

I was happy to get home and take off the hot clothes. I check the weather and it says that it is 48. What the heck? What the heck, weather.com? What?

•••••

Put on shorts and cut off. Go do a workout. Was going to do pyramid 1-10-10-1 but then saw my neighbor. He was putting up a shed. The shed was on a trailer and him and another man were moving the shed from the trailer to the ground. It must have been one of those pre-assembled sheds. The kinds that would be found in a Sears catalog.

I do bigger sets so not to look like a pansy. I don't want to be seen doing 1 pullup, then quitting. I want to be seen doing 6 pullups. So I start with 6.

I do this:

6, 9, 12, 15, 15, 12, 9, 6 pullups = 84
20, 30, 40, 50, 50, 40, 30, 20 pushups = 280
40, 60, 80, 100, 100, 80, 60, 40 abs = 560.

I take a break mid-way through. I felt like crap. I decided to walk with my mom to T.O. Haas to get the car. The car had to have its oil changed. It was 1,000 miles overdue.

I get back with the car and head out to the tree again. When you get close it can be seen where I do my workouts. There, where the grass is dying away. That is where I do my workouts. Sorry, lawn. Sorry, dad. I will try to use different parts of the lawn from now on. Maybe even use the woodchips.

Later in the day I do:

2 x 90 fire haulers = 180
2 x 30 neck = 60 each
6, 9, 12, 15, 15, 12, 9, 6 dips = 84

The haulers sort of burned. I retract my comment from earlier, about how they didn't burn. They still do burn. Especially when you haven't done them for almost a week.

The neck felt good. The neck feels strong.

The dips felt easy. There was a little burning in the shoulders, but that is what is supposed to happen. There was a little burning in the shoulders. I felt strong, though. Powerful. I felt powerful and strong.

•••••

Hope you had awesome days! Mine was good. I practiced for about 3.5 hours. I ran, did PT, played guitar, had afternoon coffee and graham crackers with frosting. A good day.

•••••

The hip hurt a bit in the run. I do not know what is wrong with it. After the run and PT I iced it, then took a warm bath with epsom salt and ylang ylang. Now the hip feels good. Most likely it will hurt again when I run, but I will ice it and defeat the pain. Eventually I will defeat the pain!

I also ran in the new shoes. They are good. They feel good on the feet.

Back in the Game, Again.

Ben, you are exactly right...we can't let one bad long run scare us away from running long long long. Exactamente.

I didn't run today, either, unfortunately. In the morning I was doing a lot of college stuff, looking at conservatories and email them...I only had time to practice for about 20 minutes, but that is okay. I will just be extra productive Wed, Thurs, Fri. I don't have to work at all, so I can get like 3 hours in a day.

No PT either. I was going to do some, some low rep stuff, but then decided that since I hadn't done PT for almost a week prior to yesterday, it would be a good idea to just take it easy.

Tomorrow...tomorrow I am going to get up at 7 and be extra productive!

Also, some new shoes came today. I risked it and bought two pair (North Face Fire Road)...don't worry; they were on sale for $50 each...quite a steal! And they actually sent the right size of shoe! And they actually fit! They actually feel quite good on my feet, much more cushy then how they felt at the North Face store in KC. I guess the Rucky Chucky's are just really really soft and make the Fire Roads feel hard. This is not the case! Not!

Okay. I hope you have a good day/night/week/etc. Go forth and pimp them hoes.

No Run, Back into PT

Hello. I didn't run yesterday. I sort of ran out of time.

I did do PT, however. It was hard, probably since I had not done it since last Tuesday...man, I need to do PT more regularly! None of this slacking off!

4 x 50 pushups = 200
2 x 140 abs = 280
20, 10, 10, 8, 8 pull = 56

Week 5 in Review

I ended up doing a long run this past Saturday, but stopped at 28 instead of doing 30. Yes, I was almost there, but just wasn't feeling it. Maybe I didn't eat enough carbs the day before, or something like that. I just felt weaker than usual. The 25 miler two weeks ago was awesome, was almost effortless! But this one...hmm...not as good.

I saw a black dog that looked like a greyhound. It ran with me a little bit. That was a good time, the running with the dog and all. A great time indeed!

And I am not so sure about doing the 100 in February...I think it might be too soon. A 50 or a 100k is more realistic, so I think I am going to go for that. Also, since Anton is bumming around on crutches, it would be nice for me to sort of "wait" and delay the 100...

Also, I am not too sure about the training plan I made...maybe it needs more time before its results are known, but right now I am thinking I might need more mileage. I mean, after the 28 miler, I took off the next day, which should have been 15. So for the week I only had 46 miles. Man...I think I need to be back up around 70...how is the plan for you, if you are following it?

•••••

Week Totals:
46 miles
80 dips
200 pushup
200 situps
80 pullups
360 fire haulers
70 neck

Thursday, Week 5.....Perfect, Mud, Meshuggah, Cozy Pastel Colors

I was going to wait to write a post later, after I had done PT, but I couldn't wait. Today's run was too good, and I just had to get these thoughts down about it while I am still feeling like I am a kite flying around in the sky, not one of those fighting kites with crushed glass on the strings, but a peaceful kite, a panda bear up there in the sky.

I delayed today's run until the afternoon, and left 3o minutes later than planned, that time being 4:30. Since the time changed, the sun was on its way down, about to be tucked under its covers and awaiting to be sung a lullaby. In this case, the lullaby was Meshuggah. Yes, it was a good lullaby, sort of, at least for a run it was. I was so pumped up when I left because I had just found some headphones that weren't broken (packed in some boxes from the apartment that I haven't sorted out yet)...so I put on Meshuggah and went out into the country.

It was a perfect run! It felt effortless, and I averaged at around 7:30 the whole time without feeling like I was going faster than usual. I had to run past a burning heap of rubbish, so that sort of sucked, had to put my gloved hand over my nose and mouth so I didn't breathe in the death fumes.

Decided to run on the side of a cornfield (muddy and not level ground, made me feel like a real trail runner) to head by the leadership center and around the pond, making for a new 6 mile route. Circled back across the huge ass bridge spanning over the two foot creek and headed back for the country roads. Had to run past the burning pile again!

A truck slowed down and I thought it was the farmer who owned the field. I thought he was going to come and beat me down.

The last mile was timed...I just sort of coasted home...7:11 it was, the last mile. Did not feel like I was pushing it too hard, was just letting the legs carry me home. Swing low, sweet cheriot, betches!

After turning for the last 150m stretch, I could see the beautiful sky in the east. Soft pastel colors were brushed on a light blue sky, pinks and reds, oranges and purples, all welcoming me home from the best run in the past two weeks.

Well, I have a day off, then run 30 on Saturday. Maybe I should have taken it extra easy today...but maybe my body needed to get up and go a little. I am not too worried about it...I think today's run was a great preparation for the long runs this weekend...can't even wait for them!

•••••

Felt excited for PT and tried to do some in the evening...only ended up doing 2 x 90 fire haulers. Oh well. It is better than nothing!

Wednesday, Week 5.....Mood, Plan and Goals

Hello. I was in sort of a sour mood this morning. There was just so much to do before work. I had to run, and practice, plus just have some relaxation time.

Got up at 9:30 instead of 7:00. No problem. I could still get everything done...but in order to do so it had to be back to back to back. I ran 6 miles a little after 10, then stretched really good (yoga, mostly) to loosen the hip and the groin. Felt very relaxed and not worried about the day anymore. Ate a casual lunch and watched the squirrels, then took a nap. Now I have to get ready for work. Need to pack some food together into a lunchbox.

The squirrels are so fun to watch! Today there was an obese squirrel, probably the biggest one I had ever seen. I came lumbering across the yard to where we had thrown the nuts, and as it came the other squirrels saw it, became scared, and ran away. It was funny! Ha ha!

The run was very good, very relaxed. I thought a lot about running the 100 miles. Sure, it will be tough, but if I follow the 20 minutes of running/10 minutes of walking, it should go okay. I figure in the 20 minutes I can run 2.5 miles (8 minute per mile), then walk 0.5 miles in the 10 minutes. That means every hour I am covering 6 miles, with plenty of walking and time to take in calories and hydration.

Using this plan, it would take just under 17 hours for 100 miles. That doesn't sound too shabby at all. I know it sounds valiant to say I want to run 17 hours, but that would be a top top goal. Another goal, the mid goal, is 18 hours. The mid-low goal is 20 hours. The low goal is 24 hours. The lowest goal is just to finish.

I've never gone farther than 50, so I don't even know what it is like after that, but I feel confident in my training right now. Everything is going good so far, and I am excited to keep going longer on my long runs. I go 30 this Saturday. Should be a good time. Maybe I will run from Aurora to Cairo. That should be about 30 miles, and it would make running more enjoyable actually having a destination in mind, rather than running loops.

That is all for now...I have to get ready for to leave in 5 minutes! Hope your days are going well!

Tuesday, Week 5.....Jack, it's so cold!

Maybe you know already, but I accidently posted this on my regular blog...feck. It was supposed to go here, on the running blog, the more important one. Read on, if you would like to:

Jack, Anton, Ben, Rose, Marcy, Drake, Linus, Adrianna...it's so feckin cold!

Not really. It wasn't really that cold outside, but there was feckin rain. I like those runs in 10 degrees and snow, but when there is rain and it is 34 it is much more miserable. The rain fecks you, man, it's like a goat feckin you the whole time, the precipitation getting soaked up by the shirt, the shirt that I wear over the microfiber base layers, the shirt that is actually a turtleneck, the neck of a turtle I wear. Turtle power, feck!

I need to get an outside layer, one that repels water. Anton, you swindler, I wanted to wear the white and black Nike jacket, the one that doesn't have any lining, but it has been sent to you. Not really, you are not a swindler, you do not swindle me. You do not swindle my money, or swindle my goats.

Remember the goat? Remember when you got me with the goat those times after swimming? Yes, the image is burned in my mind. It haunts me during the night. When it is dark and I can't see, I imagine that the goat is going to attack me. Blankets as protection? No. Nothing can stop the goat.

So it was a cold run. 6 miles easy. The hip/groin/whatever-the-feck-it-is didn't hurt too much. I think maybe it is just tight. I don't know. I am not a) a psychic, b) a physical therapist, c) a genius. I am not Nostradamus. I am not a French apothecary from sixteenth century France. I am a citizen of the United States of America. I used to like The Presidents of the USA, used to listen to them often. I still know a lot of the words to their songs, songs such as Kitty, Dune Buggy, Peaches, etc.

•••••

PT today. I thought I would be an allstar and do a superset, not in 20 minutes, but in less. I planned to not take breaks, and be done in 15 minutes, but it actually, somehow, took longer, more like 30 something minutes. Feck.

Did 10 sets of 8 dips, 20 pushups, 20 situps, 8 pullups.

In the afternoon, the time after noon, but before night, I did 2x90 fire haulers (as Ben has coined them), and 2x35 neck. Actually, I have only done one set of the fire haulers so far. I plan to do the others right now. Hold on...

(time is passing; please be patient!)

...

Okay. Both sets of fire haulers done. They seemed easier than last week and weeks prior to last week. Probably the easiest they have ever felt. Maybe I am going too fast? I was hauler them like a truck hauls goods, like hoodlums haul ass when the cops are coming. Or maybe they felt good because I have had a lot of rest on the fire haulers (I haven't done them since Thursday). Maybe I am building strength.

The pullups felt awesome today! Hooray! The dips...they were sort of a struggle. The pushups, fine. The situps...well, I was afraid they were going to aggravate the hip/groin/testicles, but they didn't. Not really.

Neck time.

(hold)

...

Okay. 1st set done. I will not take breaks like this anymore. I will refrain from possibly boring you. Sure, you may be a little bored now, but I don't want to make you any more bored.

•••••

Totals today:

6 miles
80 dips
200 pushup
200 situps
80 pullups
180 fire haulers
70 neck

•••••

Another thing I'm going to talk about is my defecation patterns. In the past few days I have been defecating less. I think I am burning all the food I put into my body, thus there is little waste. I don't know why this shoudl be happening, as I haven't been overly physical the past week. And it seems that I might be losing a little bit of that extra or not extra fat plastered to my front. I don't know why this should be happening, not with me eating four bowls of cereal at 11:20 pm after I came home from work. Maybe my metabolism is going into overdrive. Sort of like how a bear hibernates, except exactly the opposite.

I will need to make sure to get the calories in my body. I should be, considering that I have been eating a lot of chocolate lately. I ate like 65% of a big bag of Raisinettes the other day. They are just so good!

Now my stomach is growling at me, making sounds like a ferocious lion. I will have to put pizza into my body.

I also haven't been eating much meat, because, since I have been driving by the meat packaging plant in Gibbon each time I go to Kearney, I keep thinking of the cows being hauled in, the fear, the fright, the confusion, the cramped conditions, the killing, the blood, the sounds, the stench, the blood, the instruments they use to kill the cows, the dead meat falling onto the floor, etc. etc. That is what I think about when there is meat.

Chicken is not too bad, but then I watched this movie called Chicken Run, made in 2000 by Dreamworks, a children's movie. But I watched the movie, and felt bad for the chickens because all they wanted to do was live and have freedom and feel green grass beneath their awkward, dry, almost scaley chicken feet, but no, they couldn't, because the farmer wanted to feck them up by chopping their heads off with an axe. I felt bad for the chickens. I don't want chickens to die, or any animal to die, unless it has to be killed, like in the case of being attacked by hornets or being chased by a rabid animal. I would feck the rabid animal up so hard that it wouldn't even look like an animal anymore; it would like like a pile of bloody rags. Yes, this is probably too much information, stuff that you probably didn't want me to say, about the nasty pile of bloody-looking-rag-once-used-to-be-a-living-animal-but-now-rabid-crazy-threatening-savage.

I think now is a good time to stop. I have seriously been writing for about 20 minutes, and my computer only has 11 minutes of life. It is a laptop. It is not plugged in to the electrical outlet.

Okay, hope this blog was fun. I hope you found humor, had some laughs, attained valuable information about my life, and maybe discovered truth. TRUTH, that philosophical idea, what is it? What the feck is it?

Do you know?

Monday, Week 5.....Inside

I was planning to do an easy 6 today, but the hip flexor decided not to. It's not like I couldn't go run...and it's not like there is a lot of pain (there is hardly any); I just want to make sure that I don't compromise Saturday's 30 miler. That is the most important run this week, and I will do anything to make sure that it is successful.

And then, looking at the program I "made," I realized that today was actually an off day. Hmm. Maybe it was supposed to be an on day, but perhaps when I made it I was struck with the premonition that when today rolled around my hip flexor would need a bit of rest.

I didn't do PT either. I just wasn't feeling in the mood. It is okay, though. It is all good. I will get in a good workout tomorrow.

Hooray!

Plus I didn't want to do any ab stuff just in case it somehow irritated the ol hip flexor. We don't want that. You don't want that (though I don't know why you don't want that), and Arnold Schwartenegger doesn't want that.

My cat doesn't want that.

And your mom. She doesn't want that either.

•••••

I have not gone outside today. It is cold and there is ice on the ground.

Saturday and Sunday, Week 4.....Cold, WInd, Horse

On both Saturday and Sunday, I went for an easy 10 miles. I thought about going 15, but I sort of ran out of time because I had to work both days from 3 to 11:30. Also, I didn't really want to go 15. Especially on Saturday, when the wind was getting me in the face and making my head really cold because my stocking cap is not that warm, although it is puffy. It is deceiving. One would think that the hat would be warm, but it was not. My ears were cold too. The pants worked good, though. They are good pants to have. Good pants to run in.

Regardless of how cold it was (windchill of 24), it was an okay run. It was a fast-ish run for me. Yes, I used to blaze by in 5:20 when running 5ks, but now my pace is 8:00 or a little slower. But, on this cold day, with a cold head, I averaged about 7:42. I was glad that it was a little quicker, the run was, glad that it was quicker and that I did not feel overly exerted. It is a good feeling, it really is.

On Sunday, I was glad that it was 30, with hardly any wind. But then the wind changed directions on me, so that every way I went, the wind was getting me in the face. I don't know how this is possible, especially since I don't think it is even possible for the wind to blow from the north for 50 minutes, then blow from the south for 16, then blow from the north again, then blow from the west. It was always getting in my face. But at least the head wasn't cold, not cold like Saturday, when my head was so cold that it felt like I had a headache.

The pace was good, relaxed. My left hip flexor, I think, it is sort of hurting today. I bet it is from the flutter kicks and leg levers on Thursday. I guess I tried to do too many. It is stupid, my hip flexor hurting from PT. I will have to be careful this week, because running is more important than PT, and if I get injured it should be from running, not PT. Not that I am planning to get injured. I have been luck thus far. I don't think I will be injured, anyway, not with the slow pace and low mileage. I think it is a plan that will bring me luck. It will bring me the luck of the Irish.

Another thing about the pace was that it made me feel like a horse. I felt like a horse pulling something heavy, or maybe a dog pulling a sled across the tundra, maybe one of the dogs who pulled all that medicine and stuff up to Nome, Alaska, when they had that disease outbreak. That is what I felt like. It was a good clip, a nice pace, a nice trot, like a horse. Or like a dog pulling a sled. That is what the pace felt like. It was funny, though, because when I tried to speed up, the legs didn't want to. They felt sluggish when I tried to run fast. But also, equally strange, when I tried to run slower, the legs did not want to run slower. They protested and tried to churn churn churn like they were making butter. This phenomenon is why my pace was even, like a good trot, like that of a horse pulling a heavy cart, or a dog pulling a sled. I am a sled dog. I am a heavy cart horse.

Thursday, Week 4.....Flurries!

Cold day to run. 36 degrees, wind chill 24, flurries, light drizzle. First "snow" that I have seen this year. Fortunately the running pants came yesterday. Fools messed up and sent me navy instead of black.

Ran a total of six miles in the country, on trail, and around the park. Face was cold a bit; glad that I am growing the beard out again for winter. I will look like a grizzly in no time, I hope.

Right before the last mile, my left calf got sort of tight and I didn't like it. I stopped to stretch a bit. Will do a PT workout later. Right now I would, but I have the hunger so I will eat now and do the workout in the afternoon.

•••••

Was going to do the same superset as I did on Tuesday, but decided to do a 1-10 pyramid with 1x pullups, 2x pushups, 3x abs...threw in 25 bodybuilder pushups, 40 neck, 70 flutter kicks, 70 leg levers, 30-25-20-15-10-5 dips, 2x90 arm haulers.

It was cold cold outside. 34 degrees, with a windchill of 24. I did the pyramid in shorts, though. And when I did the bodybuilders, I ripped off the shirt to see what it felt like. What it felt like was cold. My handsies got cold from the stone tiles of the patio.

Was going to shoot for 100 flutter kicks, but just couldn't do it. Yes, I basically quit, but I was feeling it in the abs like someone was branding me, and I didn't want to overwork the hip flexors either. Got the two 15 milers this weekend. It would be good to play it safe.

The dips were AWESOME! I love the burn! On each one, I struggled with the last 3 to 5, so each set was pretty much as hard as the last, even though the reps were less. And the arm haulers made the back feel awesome too...now I can feel it...the muscles want to lay down and have a good night's sleep.

Totals:

330 + 70 + 70 = 470 abs
220 + 25 = 245 push
110 pull
105 dips
180 arm haulers*
40 neck

A nice, good day of PT!

•••••

I found out this afternoon that Anton sprained his ankle. That is too bad! Poor little Anton, has to hobble around for a couple days (or maybe he won't; maybe he will just tough it out...I wouldn't be surprised!).

Well, set-backs are inevitable...all we can do is start over again...but it is during that next time when we want to achieve our goals even more! So even a "bad" thing may actually have some "good," because it can "breed" motivation in the culture dish we call our lives.

•••••

I hope someone else writes in their blogs soon :(

Wednesday, Week 4.....Yoga, Wind, and Fire.

Got up and felt tired, but Nacho was there all peaceful looking so my spirits were uplifted. Got out of bed and rummaged around for a while. Drank a glass of water. Took a dump. Then did some yoga. I felt refreshed.

Then I decided that it would be fun to go run. The weather was nice, sunny, and the wind was blowing, it's way of singing lullabies to us. It was beckoning for me to go outside. But when I got downstair my bed invited me to get back in. After declining this offer, the bed became more vicious. The blankets attacked me, it's cottony tentacles wrapping themselves around my neck, trying to drag me across the room.

I stabbed at the blankets with blade hands. You know the hands I make, the ones I make when I am trying to be a ninja. "Cha-ching, ching!" I say. "Cha-ching!"

•••••

The run was an easy 6 miles. I took a walking break half way through. Coming back was straight into the wind, making the effort more than I wanted it to be.

There was a combine harvesting corn. A dog, I saw, almost ran into the turbine-scissor things, but then I realized that the dog belonged to the person operating the combine. The dog knew not to run into the turbine-scissor things. It was smart dog. It had studied mathematics, the humanities, and a survival-in-the-wilderness manual.

I saw a truck. It was a truck of the electrical company. I think they were going to fix something. If I had to guess, I would say that they were going to fix a transformer or a downed power line. The electrical company fixes things like that.

•••••

Once back home, I drank a glass of water then headed outside to stretch. I actually decided to do yoga again. I would attribute my current state of relaxation to having done two sessions of yoga this morning.

Then, I ate a bowl of oatmeal. I added chocolate chips, milk, and applesauce.

Then, I realized that I am the only one who blogs anymore, and I started crying.

•••••

You wonder why I entitle this post "Yoga, Wind, and Fire?"

Well, the answer is simple: I did yoga, it was windy (15 mph from the south, specifically), and I listened to Stravinsky's "The Firebird" during the run. The piece is 50 minutes, so that's all I listened to. Hooray!

Tuesday, Week 4: Churn, New Superset, Nausea

Woke up a little after 7:00 am, planning to make this Tuesday muy productivo. Decided that I was not hungry for breakfast, so I drank a cup of coffee instead before heading out the door for an easy 6 miles at 8:10 am...since the time changed the sun was already up in the sky. Listened to the Rite of Spring again. I think if I were to compose a piece of music, it would be sort of like Stravinsky's. Churned out the miles like they were cream in a butter churn. Enjoyed the wind on my shirtless body.

Did a different kind of superset when I got back. 10 sets of 8 pull, 20 abs, 20 push, 10 dips. Did 5 different kinds of pull and abs, 3 kinds of push. Only 1 kind of dips: I guess there is only way to do them. After set 6, my arms started feeling really weak on the pullups and dips, but I did not let the fatigue defeat me. I pushed through, hanging from the branch like an ape and keeping my form.

After the workout, I felt like I was going to throw up, so I layed on the ground for about 15 seconds. That made the nausea even greater, so I forced myself to get up and walk around the yard and around the house. My mom called me over and showed me 4 cardinal nests in a bush. That distracted me and probably made me feel a little bit better! Gracias, madre!

I think maybe my workout was hard because of the poor food choices last night. Candy fucks you up, man. It makes you feel weak. Plus, I didn't eat breakfast, which was also probably a bad choice, but I simply wasn't hungry.

At least, I didn't quit. Ha, pain! Can't fuck me over!

Morning Totals:

6 miles
80 pullups
200 abs
200 pushups
80 dips (would have been 100, but I know that some of the dips didn't count...)

•••••

BONUS COMMENT!

I just bought a pair of North Face Arnuva 50s for $42 including shipping and handling. They regularly are $105. Fuck. Running is good stuff. Frugal Backpacker is the place I bought them from. Check it out for some slap-you-silly sales.

•••••

Later in the day I threw in 2x35 neck, 2x85 arm haulers, and an ab workout. It was one I had never done: 2 sets of 10 hanging knee ups, 30 regular situps, 30 oblique both side, 30 atomic, 30 crunches, and 30 reverse crunches. Each set was 190 abs for a total of 380.

•••••

Totals for today:

6 miles
580 abs
200 push
80 pull
80 dips
170 arm haulers
70 neck

Monday, Week 4.....Candy!

Week 4 began with no running, and no PT. It was a planned day off from running, and I just didn't feel like doing PT.

Instead of doing physical activity, I had to go to work. It was sort of boring the first half. The second half was better, and at break I stumbled upon some candy in a bowl. I'm talking about the little Hershey's bars, the mini Kit-Kats, and the single Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Damn, that is some good stuff, and I sort of got out of control. I ate 2 of each in about 15 minutes. Then later on I passed the bowl again and almost stopped myself, but decided that it was predestined that I was to eat 2 more.

Planning an early morning PT, and a run around 9 am. Yes. Fun. Yes. Candy is good. Great Danes are good.

•••••

Ben asked if needed new shoes, if the calf was tight, or if the plantar fascia acting up...

No, no, and no. The shoes have just under 200 miles on then, the calf is okay, and the plantar fascia is good. I think the foot was just a little sore from 40 miles of pounding over 2 days...I think it hurts less now...and I am confident that it will feel better tomorrow.

Thanks for asking, though! It's good to know that someone cares about my foot woes.

Hope your running week is full of goodness!!!!!

Cat.

Sunday, Week 3.....The "Not" Death March.

I put off running in the afternoon in order to practice clarinet for 2 hours. Right now, clarinet is more important than running (although both are activities that I "have" to get done everyday). It was a good decision to do so, because then I still could run in the evening. I can't practice after 9 pm or so because my parents get ready for bed and all that (yes, I am temporarily living with my parents...good times...just like the founder of Clif bar...what's his name?).

When it was time to go running, I really wasn't in the mood. "Damn," I thought. "I should have gone earlier..."

But, it turned out to be a pretty nice run. I expected it to be a death march of 15 miles, due to the fact that I had to run alone, around Aurora, which is basically a square mile block. I run the outskirts so I can stay on gravel and grass.

Around mile 12 the lower inner quad started hurting a bit. The feet started to hurt a bit too, which is strange, because at no point during yesterday's 25 miler was there any foot discomfort.

The total time, including a stop for water and half of a granola bar, an urination while walking sideways, and getting crap like gravel and leaves out of my shoes, was about 2:08. I was satisfied with this time. It is probably just around 8:30...a decent pace. I felt very relaxed and could see a lot of stars...I saw this cluster that I used to know what it was called, and got a glimpse of Orion's Belt low in the eastern sky.

The iPod is what got me through, I believe. I listened to these pieces:

Holst: "The Planets"
Stravinsky: "Petrouchka"
Stravinsky: "Le Chant du Rossignol"
Stravinsky: "Quatre Etudes"
Beethoven: "Piano Sonata 31"

What do you listen to while you run?

•••••

This past week was a good week for training. I got in some good long runs, an awesome PFT, and some recovery.

55 total miles
1318 abs
1028 push
222 pull
105 dips
440 haulers
140 neck

As for the vegetarian thing, I think it would be a good idea to eat mostly plant things. Meat is good twice a week or so, but only chicken, fish, and the occasional lamb. Beef...I'm not too sure that that is for dinner, after learning how the kill them at the packaging plants: spikes are driven through their skulls. Now, if it were a snake beaten senseless against a rock, Bear Grylls style, then I'm all for it. Let's go catch us an anaconda!

Hope you had excellent weeks as well! Run run run run run.

Saturday, Week 3.....The Long Run

Today was an incredible long run. It was a long run of 25 miles. I wore my watch for the first half of the run, just to see what kind of pace I was doing. The pace was a little slower than planned, but oh well. It took a little under 4 hours, probably like 3:52. When I started at 8 am it was 35 and I was in shorts, so maybe that caused the legs to move slowly for the first half hour or so...on the second half of the run, it had warmed up to the high 40s, so I ripped off the shirt and enjoyed the sun.

I took a couple walking breaks, which helped a lot, I think, with keeping the run non-taxing. I did not want to be sore tomorrow. My hip flexors got a bit sore after mile 18, but maybe that is because of the 660 abs yesterday. Regardless, the soreness was good, because it made me make an effort to not focus on the pain and just enjoy the run...

Which I did. It was an AWESOME run: nice weather, sunny, very little wind. I stayed at Lisa's in Kearney, so the new terrain was good to assuage the boredom. Her dad lives right on the outskirts of town, so if you run north for a mile you hit gravel roads.

It was very quiet, as there was no wind to carry sounds of cars and stuff like that. I passed this cow lot called "Moo Cow Lot," which I thought was a good name for a place where they lot the cows. For the entire duration of the first half, I listened to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" (a strange piece to listen to first thing in the morning). Before starting the second half, my iPod decided to not have enough battery, so I left it and just listened to the sounds of nature. Carried a water bottle and half of a power bar the second time out.

I sang some songs to keep me occupied, but only 30 seconds or so at a time so I wouldn't keel over from lack of oxygen. Saw a jackrabbit, too, I think. It must have been, because it's ears where incredibly large and it sprinted like a mofo when it saw me coming. Also saw some type of hawk. I made "caw" sounds at it. There were a bunch of cows, too. I made "moo" sounds at them.

Took a nice cold soak afterwards. It probably lasted 15 minutes, or maybe a bit more. I am not sure. I sort of fell asleep during it.

Now, it is evening, and my legs feel pretty good. Ate a lot of cereal and some chips and a gyro. It was the first meat I have had since last Sunday...and it was nothing spectacular. Maybe the meat just wasn't as good as they used to make it, or maybe I am losing my desire to eat meat.

Hope that your runs and other activities went great today!