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.

Random thoughts and some goals for the new yaer

I guess this is the year that I finally started to step my running game up a bit. I knew to be a better runner, I Could not just run. It started off tough, but after a couple of weeks, a good balance had been achieved between doing things like lunges and running. It also helped that it really made a difference in my running.

I ran a great race at the Soldier Field 10M, beat my sub two hour half marathon by a significant amount and completed a sub four full marathon. My running season went really well and I have very few complaints. The one thing I will have to figure out is the cramping issue during marathons. They have attacked my quads twice and I have no idea why. 

With that being said, those races and issues helped me establish some goals for the 2014 year:

Beating my race times from last year

Soldier Field 10M: 1:16:26

Rock N Roll Half: 1:41:26

Chicago Marathon: 3:47:40

I am and very happy with all of those times but that also means I will have to work harder to beat them. Working harder is no problem because it will keep my healthy and energized. I also often tell people that I have to run and workout to eat and drink the way I do :). 

Run with others more often

I ran with others more than I ever have and found that when I did I had some of my better runs. Running in groups allows you to push yourself. Personally, I do not like falling behind and I am pretty competitive. The few times I did it this year, I pushed myself to run hard and found that I could stick with others. If I had been by myself during some of those runs, I am not sure that I would have pushed myself to run that hard. 

Stay healthy 

This is something that all runners struggle with at times because there are a lot of times where we do not listen to our body. Personally, I think I did a pretty good job of listening to my body this year. I battled shin splints and a bruised kneecap. I would have loved to run through both of those issues, but it just would not have been smart. Cross training will also be involved in this goal. I want to develop some upper body strength and try a variety of activities that will benefit my running. 

More races

They are fun! Of course it will have to be something I am smart about because training can be very taxing.  I would love to do at least one destination half-marathon. It would be a fun way to see a city that I have never seen before (Austin, Nashville, Memphis and San Francisco to name a few). A group of friends and I are doing Ragnar Cape Cod and I am very excited about that. I have always wanted to do one of those and I am glad I found a group that wants to do it. 

Those are just some of the goals I can think of. I am sure more will come to my mind as the year progresses. What are some of your goals?

Read more of your blogs 

With the help of #runchat and a few friends, I have met (via twitter) some great people and runners. I love hearing about their adventures and getting tips from them on running. 

Random thoughts

On Christmast Eve, I talked to my former brother-in-law and he asked if I had run on that day, which had been pretty cold and gloomy. Here is the conversation we had:

BIN-Did you run this morning?

Me-No. I ran this afternoon. 

BIN-I thought about you this morning. I said to myself I should go for a run, I know Mike is out there running. 

Me-Haha. You are right about that. 

This may seems like a small thing, but it made me happy. In a small way, I served as some motivation for someone. He may not have known it, but he gave me a great compliment. 

I went for a very cold run this morning and I saw five runners! I waved to one of them from across the street to acknowledge the fact that we are both crazy people. My legs were in great shape because I wore two tights. My core and arms felt great, but my hands took the longest to warm up. The circulation in my hands is not great, so my hands felt like bricks for about a mile. 

Happy New Year! 

Run chat 12/22

Q1-Dear Santa, I'd really love a 2014 race entry to______? Here is why?

A1-I would love a 2014 race entry to the Boston or New York Marathon. I have heard such great things about those races and it would be fun to do them. I do not run races to check things off the bucket list, but it would be fun to be able to say I did those races.

Q2-What was your best running-related purchase of the year? What was so great about it?

A2-All of my winter gear! I ran a lot last winter, but I did not have the proper gear to do it. I never felt too cold, but I also felt really heavy running in my clothes. Purchasing tights, a vest, gloves and a hat have already been a huge help. My gear will make winter running fun and bearable.

Q3-What was the No.1 thing you learned in 2013? How will you apply it to 2014 training?

A3-That I can not just run to be a better runner. I had to workout and some little things to be a better runner. Now that I combine cross training, working out and running together, I have become a better runner. I still need to get better at doing those things consistently, but it is something I will work towards in 2014.

Q4-What was the coolest medal you earned this year? What was so great about it?

A4-The coolest medal is definitely the Chicago Marathon Medal. It is the best because it means the most to me. I worked really hard to complete the race and reach my goal for it. It also gives me something to push for in 2014.

Q5-What is your first race of 2014? What are your top goals for year?

A5- Right now my first race of 2014 might be the F^3 half in Chicago on January 25.

Running goals for 2014

Stay healthy

Sub 1:40 half-marathon

Beat marathon time from 2013

Do a destination race

Attempt to qualify for Boston

Those are all the goals I can think of for now.

Winter post 2

I wrote one blog post on some of the winter gear I have been wearing so far and decided to write another one because I got some more gear. Some of the new pieces are an Icebreaker Blast Vest and sprint leggings, a Brooks Heater Hog long sleeve shirt and Mizuno Breath Thermo gloves.

We had some cold days in Chicago last week and my new gear (minus the gloves) came right on time.  The cold actually made me really excited to test the gear out and I did last Thursday. 

The picture below shows how I layered for the run on the cold day. My base layer is the Brooks Heater Hog long sleeve. It is a very soft piece that creates heat when you sweat. This is probably one of the clothing items I wanted try the most that I bought. I needed a solid base layer and thought this would be a good piece. The only con on the Heater Hog shirt is that it runs a little big. I ordered a medium probably should have ordered a small.

Base layer-Brooks Heater Hog
Mid-layer-Brooks Infiniti 1/2 Zip
Outer layer-Icebreaker Blast Vest

The mid-layer is the Brooks Infiniti 1/2 zip. My review on the piece is here. I wore it as an outer layer and it worked fine, but I knew I would need a good outer layer. I really wanted an Icebreaker piece and decided to go with the Blast Vest. It is made mostly of Merino wool and a little bit of lycra. It is also windproof and water resistant. The back of the vest is also very breathable. The side panels are soft and very comfortable. It is just an overall awesome piece.

Outer layer-Brooks 2-in-1 shot
base layer-Icebreaker Sprint Leggings

The Sprint Leggings were also an item I really wanted to try. It is extremely soft and comfortable against my skin. The fit works great, it is odor resistant and breathes very well. It kept me very warm on a very cold day. In fact, I did not even notice that it had been cold. For those that like pockets in their leggings, this piece does not have any.

Putting it all together

This combo worked extremely well and I know it will get me through the winter. I am lucky to have two great tights that will keep me warm and are breathable. I failed to mention that I also bought an Icebreaker Chase Beanie and I did not like that as much. It kept my head warm, but it barely covered my ears. That is probably because I have a a pretty big head and it just does not fit.  The Mizuno Breath Thermo gloves also worked great as liners. On non-windy days, they would work great on their own. That is all I have for now. If it get anymore winter gear, I will test it out and give my take on it. 

I also started looking at 2014 races recently. What races are people starting to look forward to?