Workout

After work today, I went and ran seven miles at the park. My time is still too slow at 1:07. I shouldn’t have any problem hitting 1:03 on a relaxed run or 57-58 minutes on a fast run. My goal as I get myself healthy is to increase my speed.

After the run I did a workout.

Have strong abs (not necessarily requiring a six pack stomach) does help a runner log quicker times and more miles. The abs are a fundamental part of your core that will assist you with posture, breathing, and even climbing hills.

What’s the best way to get stronger abs? It doesn’t take expensive workout equipment, all it takes is crunches and sit ups to work out your abs.

I often see people doing sit ups incorrectly which is a shame. Not only are they cheating themselves out of a good workout but they are possibly injuring their bodies. Sit ups should be done without holding the back of your neck or head. You should have your feet flat to the ground. And you should be tightening your abs as you lift your head and shoulders off the ground.

Lift your body, do not pull. Keep your back straight as you raise your body.Finally, when you lower your back to the ground do not let it touch the ground. Hold it a couple inches above the ground and you’ll get a great burn in your abs.

See more here.

It’s always a little tricky for me to figure out how to get a good run in when I’m out of town for work. Sometimes I will plan my running schedule around my travel schedule so that I can rest/recover while traveling. Other times I want to try to find a place to run in the city.

My stepfather, while staying in Vegas, will run up the stairs of the casino to get his workout in. That is because a lot of the casinos have fitness centers that require a membership fee. For instance, when he stayed at the Luxor, he asked the security guard if he could just run up the 20 or 30 flights and they okayed it.

Today I just did the standby treadmill in the hotel fitness center routine. I don’t really like treadmills because I don’t think they are helpful for anything beyond a steady workout. It messes with my pacing because I’m not a runner who tracks the exact speed. I typically have a stride that works for me that keeps me on pace. It’s hard to find my stride on the treadmill. Also, I don’t think treadmills are very safe as far as damaging knees and shins.

Either way, I got my workout in!

This past week was a little bit of a low mileage week. It isn’t going to be long before I have to step it up for  El Scorcho 50k, but I will wait another week or two.

I took Sunday off because I was feeling lazy. I made up for that by going on a 3.5 mile run in the rain on Monday. Then I ran with a friend on Tuesday with a killer 5 mile in just over 38 minutes. I followed that up with a similar time by myself on Wednesday.

The next chance I had to run was on Friday. I went with a guy in my club and his dog. Towards the end of the run his dog caught, and killed, a baby armadillo. That was a shame to deal with but I guess he was lucky it wasn’t an animal that could have killed his dog.

All told it was just a 20 mile week.

Going home for the holidays meant having to battle with way too much good food. Instead of avoiding it, I took it on full force. We had everything from Mexican food to Italian, from ham to cheesy potato things, and more desserts than you would want to imagine. Alright, maybe you would want to imagine all the dessert. It was great food!

I’m not shy about eating a lot around the holidays because I prepare for the holidays. I run a lot before it all so that my metabolism is already in good form. Then I run and workout during the holidays (admittedly not as much as normal). And I make sure to have some long runs after.

Today I went on a 6 mile run around half of White Rock Lake. There was nothing too tricky about it because my body, even though I ran a little and biked 8 miles in the past few days, was very rested. My pace was even and the temperature was perfect. In fact, I think this has been one of the best running days of the year in Dallas. The sun was up, there wasn’t much of a breeze, and the temperature was perfect for running in shorts and a t-shirt.

I hope that everyone else was able to enjoy their holidays without worrying about the consequences of food. Just put in that long run and stick with your workouts and you’ll be fine!

I like to go on an easy run the day before a race. I know that some people say you should take the day off, but I do better if I run a little bit. It won’t be far enough that it gives me any soreness, but I want to get my heart rate up and a muscles warmed up.

This evening I ran about three miles. I was able to do it with my newly purchased water bottle. It’s one of those bottles that rests on your hands with a cozy strap. I’m excited that I can have a lot of water right there with me for my runs.

I’m going to get a good nights sleep and hope for the best tomorrow!

Tonight I went on a five mile run along the northeast side of White Rock Lake. It was a good run with a strong finish. Not really too much to say about the run itself because it was just a staying in shape run. It did get me thinking about a question my friend asked me at work: what side of the road are you supposed to run on?

I have always read that you should run against traffic but it isn’t advice I follow. Generally, I feel more comfortable running with traffic because I think a car is more likely to be looking for people that way than someone coming towards them. However, I change my thinking when I’m running at night with a light. At night, I want the light to really shine on the person driving so that they know I am running right there. Also, if they have their headlights on then I can see them in the distance and plan accordingly.

My general rule is during the daylight hours I run with traffic but against traffic after the sun sets.

Do you run on Friday? I think that a lot of people take Friday off because they are going to go out with friends or family, they have a race on Saturday, there aren’t many groups that want to run on Friday, or any mixture of those reasons.

I think that it’s one of the best days for me to run. I do enjoy going out with friends on Friday night, but I am able to take off from work a little earlier. This gives me enough time that I am able to go on a speed workout. Since I’m going out, I will be taking a shower regardless, so I might as well get a workout.

Are you as convinced that Friday is a good day to run?