Good running week…mostly

I think that this was the first week since I started my half marathon training that I have been able to get all the runs in. I did not do the full workout on a couple of days, but I did get to run each scheduled workout. I should be able to complete my training schedule over the next few weeks as I don’t have any conflicts currently scheduled.

Last week’s long run
This week I had to make up my long run from last week. I was not able to do it Saturday because of camp, but got it squeezed in on Sunday. It was supposed to be 5.5 miles and I got just under 5 miles in. I hated that it was short, but I was just running out of time. And, furthermore, I was running out of steam (details to follow).

Speed work
Monday is my speed work day. I was scheduled for a 1 mile speed session. I was going to do 2 X 800 meters, but, just like last week, the track was closed. I had to run my mile on the street. For my warm up I trotted back home and then gave myself a bit more time between my warm up and the 1 mile run. I spent more time stretching too than last week. When I took off, I felt much better than before and completed the mile in 8:08. My schedule called for an 8:36 – 8:55 pace. I don’t know how bad it is to go much faster than the workout calls for, but it felt good at the time. It may have contributed to my struggles later in the week, but I really don’t think so.

Tempo run
On Wednesday my strength was starting to fade by this time in the week and it showed on this run. Mentally I was incapable of finishing the run. It was scheduled to be a 4 mile tempo run with a 1 mile warm up to start. What I ended up with was a 4 mile run total (including warm up) at a pace of 9:47. That is just a bit slower than the workout called for. But, I mentally could not go on. Maybe my body could have done it but not my mind.

Diet
The problem here is that we have gone on a diet (we=my wife and I). This is a low glycemic index diet. Basically you want to avoid foods that quickly get turned to sugar by your body. The first 2 weeks of it are more extreme in that you cut out anything over a certain level on the index (this includes lots of fruits). After that you start adding things back in that are healthy sugars. It is not a “no carb” diet, but it is very low carb for the first 2 weeks.

This week we ended that 2 week period. I was depleted both mentally and physically. It is not a good idea for athletes to drastically cut back on carbs, but in support of our family getting on track with eating more healthily, I am doing the diet. Now we are past that stage and things are much better.

I bonked
Bonking is what happens to marathoners between miles 20 and 22. Basically your body uses up all the instant fuel that it has (carbs and sugars) and starts eating itself. Not to worry, you probably have plenty of fat stores. The problem though is that fat does not deliver the needed energy quickly enough for sustaining a good running pace.

Thursday I was to do a 4 mile recovery run. Very easy and slow. I had started the morning with some sugary yogurt and peanut butter on a celery stick. So I was getting some carbs back in me. Mentally I was all fired up about the run. Physically I struggled to get the 4 miles under my shoes. When I got home I did some basic stretching (maybe not as much as normal) and then jumped into the shower for a nice long cool down.At the end of a hard run

While in the shower I had a physical breakdown. I started getting all weak and felt sick. I was able to get down onto the floor before I fell down. My wife got me a bottle of Gatorade and snapped this picture. Yes, I shower with my running clothes on. It helps to de-stinkify them.

I believe that I did the same thing as a marathoner. I finally used up all my stored quick energy and started eating myself. I bonked. However, I finally recovered enough to get the day going.

This week’s long run
Friday is an off day and it is also the day that we started eating more carbs as per the schedule (Thursday was a pretty sugary day since we went and celebrated a friend’s birthday with cake, cookies and ice cream, but that was not planned).

Today I got up mentally and physically feeling great. I shoved some food down my throat and got ready for my 6 mile long run. I don’t really have a 6 mile course worked out, so towards the end of my 8 mile course I started running down unfamiliar streets trying to make my way back home a bit more quickly. The total run was 6.22 miles at a pace of 10:50 a mile–right exactly where my training plan says I need to be.

I feel like I am on top of the world after today’s run. I struggled a lot this week but I capped it off well. I am eating better in general and am off the restrictive part of this diet.

The good thing about the diet is that I have lost about 8 lbs. in the 2+ weeks. I am only 4 lbs. away from my goal and I will be able to run my half marathon at 20 lbs. less than my previous halves. I am eager to see how the lower weight and, hopefully, the better training will do to my time.

Totals running: Week=22 miles, Month=52, Year=326.

eBible.com says I can’t be saved!

I was signing up for an account at eBible.com. This is a site that takes the idea of online search and study of the Bible into the realm of social networking. People can leave comments on different verses. There is a whole community atmosphere. I have not delved into it deeply, but I understand that there is a lot of the social networking/bookmarking behind it.eBible error

I was excited about being able to make notes and bookmarks of my own. I don’t use a Bible program on my computer. And I currently have no digital note taking method for my Bible study. I usually just write stuff in the margin of my Bible (which is why I have a wide-margin Bible) if it is just a quick thought. Otherwise it goes into my sermon notes and preparation. The downside is that I would have to know for which sermon I studied a certain passage, otherwise I would never see those notes again. That is what is appealing about eBible to me.

I don’t know that I will use it long term. I just heard about it and decided to give it a shot. I do use Bible Gateway on a very regular basis to look up verses. They have the Spanish version I use.

While going through the registration process at eBible, I got an error that I thought was extremely humorous. This would not be funny, nor have even caught my eye had this not been a religious website.

The highlighted text in the screen shot reads, “3 errors prohibited this user from being saved.”

And I thought Baptists could be judgmental. Here is a website that has never even met me and it is telling me that I cannot be saved!

VW Rabbit

Tonight I got into a discussion about the VW Rabbit with a young man. They never had the Rabbit here in Mexico, or at least not by that name. After spilling all of the information I knew about the Rabbit and the Golf (which is what he owns and what started the conversation), I thought I would look up a little Rabbit history.VW Rabbit

Most of my facts were true. I was off by a couple of years in the production of the Rabbit. I also did not know that the Golf, in all its iterations, is just a Rabbit with many different names. Though it makes sense that they would not build a whole new car. They just changed some of its look and slapped a new name on it. Other names are Golf, Cabriolet, Cabrio, Varient and even the Jetta is a Rabbit.

The Rabbit name has come back into use since 2003.

I got most of my information from a history page at The Rabbit Archive. Wikipedia also has way too much to say about the subject if you are really interested.

Dean III

We are getting quite a bit of wind here and a little rain off and on. The local paper said on their website that we should expect 60 MPH winds as a max sustained speed with gusts a bit higher throughout the day until 6:00 or so this evening. We have heard reports of trees down. We have been very much spared. But just because we have been, that means someone else has been badly hit.

Keep the whole peninsula in your thoughts and prayers throughout the rest of the day and the following cleanup and recovery period.

Why to exercise

This morning as I was running my 1 mile speed workout, I was listening to an interview from Endurance Planet. This is one of my favorite podcasts and is the one that inspired me with the format for Missionary Talks. Though the podcast has changed hosts and formats a bit from those days.

The interviewee was talking about the question that people have on why does he exercise and run, especially when he could enjoy life so much better if he did not spend all his free time working hard. His answer was to the tune that because he is running and exercising, he is enjoying life. That is what he does for fun. Sure it is work, but that does not mean it cannot be fun.

I can’t imagine that people who are not able to bend over and tie their shoe are having more fun than I am. Or those who get winded getting in and out of a car are enjoying a better quality of life than I am. I no longer experience heart burn on a regular basis. I have strength to do what I want to do. I went and played soccer last week with a bunch of teenagers, and while they were much more skilled in the handling of the ball, I was able to keep up with them in the speed and endurance.

Yes, I too am having much more fun as someone who is taking care of the body God gave him. Come join us. You might find that being able to tie your shoe without props is much more fun than dying 20 years sooner than you need to.