Missed day

I woke up yesterday with a terrible headache.  I had to spend several hours in a very dark room.  Although I feel better today I wasn’t up to do my run.  I’ll have to go tomorrow instead.  Today’s blog post will be about the MiCoach running app that I use.

MiCoach is an Adidas product (I know, too much Adidas) and works with my iPhone.  Currently I’ve set MiCoach to help me train for a half marathon.  My goal this year is not a half marathon but to complete 15ks.  There is no 15k setting on the app so a half a marathon it is. 

THE GOOD

This is a free app unlike Nike plus which costs $1.99 and does not have as many features of the free MiCoach.  The Nike plus app is the one for you if you want Dirk Nowitzki or Lance Armstrong giving you running advice. 

The great thing about this app is that I can choose what music I want to listen to.  I have created a special play list (180 songs) and I can select that play list and click on shuffle.  You can choose different voice prompts (i.e. Female/Male or UK or American) and how much you want the app to coach you during your run.  I have the app giving me feedback every kilometre.  Also the app pushes you to run at different speeds to improve your training (fartlek training.  More on this soon). The app uses the GPS functionality of your smart phone to calculate distance and speeds.  I have heard that cloudy days may affect its accuracy but so far I have not found that to be the case.

THE BAD

The Salvation 3 running shoes that I bought claimed to be MiCoach ready.  They were not.  I have to purchase an Adidas connector for my iPhone so that I could sync the chip in my shoe to the running app.  The problem is that they don’t sell this connector in Australia.  It is coming but it has not been cleared for sale here.  Once I have this connector I’ll be able to hook up the shoe and my heart monitor to give me an overall picture of my run.  Let’s hope that this product is for sale soon.

A friend of the blog is now also using the MiCoach running app.  He was going to buy a Garmin running watch but is now using the app on his iPhone.  At the moment he is training to run a marathon. He thanked me for saving him $300  My work here is done.

Terrible!

What a terrible run.  The run just didn't feel right today.  I woke up early and felt good.  I was excited for my 45 minute run.  I was happy to see the sun out.  It had been raining for a few days and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get my run in. 

I decided to try a different strategy today.  I was going to run as hard as I could for 2ks and then take a walking break.  Than run as hard as I could for each kilometer after that.  What a terrible idea.  I was so spent after the first 2k's that I couldn't get into a rhythm for the rest of my run.  I don't know if the 45 minutes was in my head too much or if it just wasn't my day.  In total I ran 6.37k when I was hoping to run at least 7k.  The only good thing about the run is that I wanted to quit after 30 minutes but I didn't and kept going.  Other than that it was a terrible run.

Here are my times.

1K 6:26
2k 5:90
3K 7:34
4K 8:30
5K 7:07
6K 8:20
.37k 3:12

Calories burned 661

Tracks

Outtathaway - The Vines
Push th' little daisies - Ween
Ready to start - Arcade Fire
Snake driver - The Jesus and Mary Chain
What the water gave me - Florence and the Machine
Root down - Beastie Boys
Sylvia - Pulp
Finest worksong - R.E.M
This is your life - Tyler Durdin/Dust Brothers (The Fight Club soundtrack)
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
Stacked Actors - The Foo Fighters
Help I'm alive - Metric

I don't wanna!

I woke up this morning and the first thing I thought was that I get to sleep in today.  A smile spread across my face.  Then I remembered......it's a running day.  No I wont run today.....I'm too tired.  It's cold outside.  It's raining.  Yes I will stay in bed.

But it's a running day.  So I will run today.  Yes I am tired but not so tired that I can't run.  It's cold outside?  Aren't you Canadian?  You don't feel the cold.  It's not raining.....it's a mist.  Perfect running day.

So I slowly got up and began to mentally prepare myself.  It got much easier when I changed my mind set from I will run to I must run.  It got easy after that.

I once read that it takes between 7 - 10 minutes after you have a cup of coffee to start feeling the effects.  So that is what I did.  I made myself a cup of coffee and slowly put on my running gear.  By the time I was out the door and stretching my legs felt strong.  I knew I was going to have a good run today.  It really is amazing that after such a slow morning that I could feel so great before the run.

I increased my 30 minute distance again.  Last run was 4.65 and today was 4.81K.  Today was also the best 30 minute run this year.  My next run is a long one.  45 minutes.  I'll have to take a different approach for that one.

Here are my times.

1K 6:06
2K 5:52 (new 1K record)
3K 6:50
4K 6:33
.81K 5:59

Calories burned 490

Music tracks

Back in your head - Tegan and Sarah
C'mere - Interpol
City of blinding lights - U2
Flippers - Art vs Science
Charmless man - Blur
Sunday morning - No doubt
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
We walk - The Ting Tings

Living in the tropics is great.....except for running in the summer.

This is by far the best season to run.  I woke up this morning at 8 am and it was 19c.  Perfect running temperatures.  Running in the summer time is painful.  I have to get up at 5 am to run in 22c and it shoots up quick.  I don't like getting up at 5 am  So this is a joy.

So, in a very good mood I went for a 30 minute run.  It was a better run then a few days ago.  Today I only walked for a minute of the 30 minutes.  2 days ago that would be closer to 5 minutes.  I ran a little bit further.  2 days ago I ran just a few meters shy of 4.5k and today I increased the distance to 4.7k

Here are my times

1k 6:32
2k 7:01
3K 6:25
4K 7:05
.7k 4.47

The songs I listened to were

Hard to handle - The Black Crowes
Daddy is gonna pay for your crashed car - U2
Steady as she goes - The Raconteurs
Bridge to nowhere - The Sam Roberts Band
City with no children - Arcade Fire
M.O.R - Blur
Root down - The Beastie Boys
Sylvia - Pulp

The Gear - Part one

On my off days I have decided to do a write up on what gear I am using.  I'm going to work from the bottom up and so logic dictates that I start with shoes.

Ok, so the first thing you should know is that I love adidas.  Most of my gear is going to be adidas related.  I'm not sure when I decided to just use adidas products but that is what has happened. 

My shoe of choice is the Adistar Salvation 3 ( http://www.adidas.com.au/product/V21625/?ref=cXVlcnk9c2FsdmF0aW9uKzM%3D )

One of the reasons I originally got this shoe is that it claimed to be miCoach ready (miCoach is the running app on my iPhone).  Well that was a lie.  It is not in fact miCoach ready.  I had to buy a iPhone connector that is currently not available in Australia.  Once that iPhone connector is ready to buy I'll be able to sync the shoe with my iPhone and use the stride sensor.  Retail price for this shoe will be $100 to $140

It’s a comfortable shoe and my knees have felt better since the purchase.  If you are looking for a shoe in that price range you can't go wrong with the Salvation 3.  Before you buy any running shoe get your running stride checked (under pronate or supinators) and match the shoe with your stride.

wow....that was slow running.

It was a beautiful misty, foggy kind of morning.  Perfect running conditions.  I haven't run for a week.  My last run was the 7K Mt. Gravatt fun run.  I gave my body a week to recover and now I am back.  I am training to run 15K's by August.  To do this I am using my adidas miCoach iPhone app to help me.  There is no 15K setting on the app so I had to select a half marathon.  Ok....why not train for a half marathon as well. 

Todays run was a slow slog.  I ran 4.5K's in 30 minutes.  That is quite slow considering that my best 30 minute run was 5K.  I just have to keep going until I get back to that 30 minute 5K mark.

Here are my times:

1K 6:36
2K 7:00
3K 6:50
4K 6:59
4.5 3:29

Since music is a big part of my life I will also include the songs I listened to on my run.

In the name of the father - Black Grape
Driver 8 - REM
Superfly - Curtis Mayfield
London Calling - The Clash
Bang and blame - REM
Addicted to Drugs - Kaiser Chiefs
Cherub Rock - The Smashing Pumpkins
Human - The Killers


Have you run today?

2012 Rotary Charity Fun Run in Mt. Gravatt

"Hey Kelly is it a flat course?"

"I'm not sure."

What a silly question to ask.  It's a fun run in Mt. Gravatt.  It wasn't a flat course.  On Sunday April 15th 2012 some co-workers and I ran the 7K 2012 Rotary Charity Fun Run in Mt. Gravatt.  It was a wet rainy day but it only drizzled and it made for perfect running conditions.  Not knowing what kind of course to expect I lined up at the start line and off I went.  The race course followed a bush path at Griffith University Nathan Campus. Right off the bat we ran up a hill.....then down a hill....then up and then down......etc etc.  Last year I ran the 10K Bridge to Brisbane but I found this 7K run much tougher.  I don't do much training on hills.  My regular training is very flat.  I decided that after this run I have to start hitting some hills.

Here are my times:

1K  6:26
2K  7:12
3K  7:31
4K  8:12
5K  8:20
6K  7:20
7K  7:28

A special shout out to the girl (I never got her name) who challenged me to a sprint with a 100 m left to go.  I hated you at the time but now I would like to say thanks.

Why do I run?

Why do I run?  I’m not really sure I know the answer to that question.  I started running about 2 years ago.  I guess in the beginning I ran because I had always wanted to.  I was always envious of those that I saw pounding the pavement day after day.  My stamina was next to zilch (I’ve played soccer most of my life but have not had a competitive game in five or six years) so I was scared to start.  Could I do it?  Would I have a heart attack?  Does running really ruin your knees?  At 36 years of age I decided to give running a chance.  I joined a gym, got on that treadmill and I ran.  My god how I hated it!  I didn’t have a plan or any discipline.  I just got up there and floundered.  Not to mention of being petrified of the bloody treadmill (I flew off one once trying to catch my Sony mini disc player that flew out of my pocket).  I could run for a few minutes but it was such a tedious drab affair that I just didn’t enjoy it.  I almost gave up on my running dream.

I than talked to a co-worker (and part time runner) about my troubles.  She suggested I do what she did when she started.  Walk for 4, run for 1, walk for 4 and run for 1.  Do this for 4 times a week for one week.  This seemed doable and much better than my current system.  So I tried it.  So I walked for 4 kilometres and then I ran for 1 kilometre.  I walked for 4 kilometres and then ran for 1 kilometre.  In total I did 10ks!  But I hated this system more than my old system!  I was so tired after walking for the first 4ks that it was difficult to then run for 1 k.  The next day I went to my co-worker to voice my dissatisfaction at her training regimen.  She laughed at me and said no you idiot, you walk for 4 minutes run for 1 minute!  Oh, yeah that makes more sense.  I tried her system the very next day and I loved it.  Before I knew it I was running for 30 minutes and losing weight.  I was in love with running.  It was about this time that the world fell apart.

I’m a Canadian living in Brisbane Australia. I’ve been living her for over 5 years.  One evening I got that phone call that all ex-pats dread to get.  My father had fallen ill and was on his death bed.  My ticket was bought the next day and I was leaving my beautiful wife, my job (with very little notice) and I was flying back home. 24 hours later (and no sleep) I am in my beloved Canada.  It’s airport pickup to hospital to see my father die 2 hours later.  That night was surreal.  I wasn’t feeling anything.  I felt a million miles away from everything.  I managed to get a few hours of sleep but it was disjointed and broken.  I left my bed, walked down stairs, put on my running shoes and I went for a run.  It was 4 am and 4 Celsius and I had had 4 hours sleep in 2 days.  It was the run of my life!  I transcended myself and everything around me.  The jetlag, the sadness and the guilt of not seeing my Dad for the last years of his life washed away from me.  The weight of the world left my shoulders.  Then, I didn’t run again for another year.

Why didn’t I run after that night?  I don’t know.  I tried.  I put on my boots and tried.  I just never let myself get back there.  It felt too much.  But slowly I came back.  I started off things right.  I bought some books on running.  I tried some different training methods, researched different kinds of shoes and started to play indoor hockey.   Last year I ran the 10k Bridge to Brisbane in one hour and nine minutes. 

So, why do I run?  I run because I’m 38 years old and my wife and I are talking about having kids.  I run because I want to get into shape.  I run because my goal this year is to run 15ks.  I run because my father died and I often think about him when I run.  I run because I love it.

I am writing this blog/training log as a testament to my struggles to run 15ks.  I’m going to include all my successes and failures and the very highs and very lows.  This blog will include my weight (and hopefully weight loss), training methods and equipment that I use to reach the 15k milestone.  I hope you come along for the ride and that I can inspire you and you can inspire me.  So what are you waiting for?  Start running.