1/19/14 #runchat

Q1: In honor of all the #megsmiles runs this week, tell us your No. 1 running safety tip.

A1-Reflective clothing. I have seen a lot of runners who run at night in dark clothing and it just makes me shake my head. It is important to be seen by others while you run.

Q2-Thanks to @RunSmartOnline for sponsoring this #RunChat. What's your favorite cross training workout? Why do you like it?

A2-My favorite cross training workouts to do involve squats and lunges. Those are my favorite because when I do them, I can feel the difference in my running. They also make my knee's feel better; who does not enjoy that? Lower body workouts have always been a little easier for me to do. 

Q3-On the flip side of Q2, what's your least favorite cross training workout? Why?

A3-Anything involving the upper body. It is not that I do not want to be bulky, I have just never enjoyed lifting. I am trying to be better about it by starting the year off with the 30 day push-up challenge I have been doing (currently at 20 for the day). So far it is going well and I see myself continuing to do upper body work. 

Q4: What was your worst injury that you hope never hits you again? How did you treat it?

A4-I have been lucky enough to not really have any serious injuries(knock on wood). The worse thing I have had to deal with, probably happened the week after the marathon; I bruised my knee cap. When I bumped my knee at work, I thought nothing of it. A few hours after it happened, I had an extremely difficult time straightening my leg out on the train. I did not run for six weeks and limped around for eight weeks. I took for granted how good it feels to straighten your knee and feel no pain.

Q5: What PR would you really like to destroy this year? What's your goal? 

A5-I would love to get a sub 1:40 half-marathon time. Last year I simply just wanted to get a time under two hours and I did that. The easy goal to set is to try and beat that half time this year. 

Q6-When looking for a new race, what's your go-to source for recommendations?

A6-I usually just use friends. Only recently have I started typing something like 2014 races into a google search box. I like hearing from friends that have run races to hear if they enjoyed it or not and what the course is like. 

Songs on the run

So, this year, I will post more of my running playlists. Feel free to send me yours as well. I love getting new music recommendations. Running and music are two of my biggest joys. I can't wait for the many concerts I will attend this year.

Here is my list in reverse order:

FTP-Houdini

The killers-read my mind

Sleigh Bells-Riot Rhythm

Fitz and the tantrums-6 Am

The Mowgli's-Time

Royal Teeth-Wild

Walk The Moon-Tete-A-Tete

FOB-My songs know what you did in the dark

Sleigh Bells-Comeback Kid

Walk The Moon-quesadilla

The Hush sound-Sweet tangerine

The Mowglis-San Francisco

Kanye & Jay Z-Paris


Push-up challenge

I almost forgot to mention my push-up challenge. I can not believe I have made it this far and I am still enjoying it. It is a fun challenge if you have others motivating you and you do not want to let others down. Push-ups are definitely something that I will keep doing.

1/12/13 #runchat answers

Q1-In honor of tonight's awards show(Golden Globes) what's your favorite running-related movie or running scene?


A1-I'm not much of a movie person, but one scene that involves running comes from American Pie. If you have seen the movie, you know what scene I am referring to. For those who have not seen the movie, it is the scene where Nadia comes over to Jim's house to "study".They meet up and then Jim runs over to meet up with a couple of the other guys to watch her on the web cam. Mutt by Blink-182 is playing in the backround while he runs over to the house. The combination of the awkwardness of the scene, the movie, the song and how funny it is, has always made it a memorable one for me.


Q2-What color or design should they create that you'd wear (ProCompression)?


A2-I am a pretty simple guy when it comes to color. If I had to pick a design that is kind of flashy, I would go with sock that is black and gold. I would chose black and gold because I am a Mizzou guy and always love to represent.


Q3-What piece of running gear you plan add (or replace or get more of) in 2014? Why?


A3-Replace-I plan on replacing my Brooks Ravenna shoes at some point. The new pair came out recently and I love it. I look forwad to running in it on a consistent basis. I plan on adding some compression gear to help aid with recovery. It has never been a part of my recovery routine, but it is something I need to give a shot.


Q4-What's your favorite early year race? Why should others do it?


A4-No early year races for me. The F^3 looks fun because I like running in the cold and it seems like it would be a fun race.


Q5-At what temperature will you not run outside?


A5-Ha. I guess the answer came last week when we had temps of -15 F in Chicago. It will take a lot for me to not run outside and that just seemed silly to run outside. Multiple people told me not to run and I decided to listen to them for once. Haha.


Q6-Treadmill runs are _____________?

Newness

Happy New Year to those of you reading this blog. I hope you guys all had a great time celebrating and that your goals are off to a good start. Speaking of goals, one of my goals is to build some upper body strength and cross-train more. One of my co-workers came up with the idea of doing Active.com 30-day push-up challenge.

The idea behind the challenge is to do 100 push-ups a day for 30 days. This sounded like a great way for me to build some upper body strength and cross-train as well, so I decided to join in on the fun. Not having done an upper body workout in quite sometime would make this really challenging. My pecs, arms, forearms and hands were sore after day one.

My arms are still sore on the fifth day( I started a day late), but I believe things are getting better. I am looking forward to the end of the month when this challenge is done to see if there any changes. Pictures will be posted when this is over with. Like I mentioned earlier, upper body strengthening is something I want to stick with, so I will continue to do push-ups after the challenge is over.

I also got back into lower body workouts and even did an ab workout today (1/6/14). Working out the upper half of my body has never been fun, but I know it will be beneficial to my running; I will learn to enjoy and get motivated by others (Bexx).

GPS watch!

Unrelated to the push-up challenge, a friend of mine donated their old Garmin 610 to me! I am so thankful for this because a GPS watch is not something I can really afford right now. It is amazing and it just makes me want to run and analyze my runs all the time. It is really cool to upload my runs to Garmin connect and the breakdowns of my run.

I am still getting the hang of things because I have never owned a GPS watch before. I also love not having to use a GPS app on my phone. Not only does it save me from using data on my phone, but it also saves battery. These are two benefits that if anyone is looking that get a GPS watch that should be noted. The heart monitor feature is also cool. I will have to look into purchasing a heart rate monitor. I am looking forward to the ways that this watch will help me be better runner.

Unfortunately, it has been pretty cold here in Chicago the last few days and I have not been able to use the watch. As much as I want to run, there are days like last night and today where your health is a little more important. With that being said, I will attempt to run tomorrow when the high is 8 degrees!

Keep up the good work on the New Years resolutions or goals that you have.