Running

This week’s big news is that I have finally got the new website for runners up (and running ).

It looks a lot different from my other site . I’m still trying to figure out the best way of combining them (or even whether that’s a good idea). The first site is more of a web service, with weekly e-mail newsletters, but this is a resource site with lots of links. It also has several articles posted, some of which were written for me and others that I took from my newsletters.

Meanwhile, in other news, Billie is busy working on a similar site for her own enterprise. It will be called Empowering for Change and should be available in a week or two. We’re obviously on the way to becoming technogeeks!

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I posted! And what a crazy month — I think I spent about 8 days at home all month (including weekends)! No wonder my running slipped.

We went to Aruba for 8 days, and I only succeeded in running twice. The wind was howling all the time, even more than usual for Aruba, I’m told. And the humidity was low — I’m not used to that!

You see, we were on the leeward side of a desert island, so even though we were in the Caribbean, it was dry. We took a Hobie 16 out for a spin one day and rapidly found out how out-of-shape I was! With the wind really cranking (and gusting, too) I found myself working muscles that I didn’t know I had. For a day or two after, I really felt my age.

We did all the usual things: got too much sun, ate too much, drank enough(!) and toured the island. We had thought about windsurfing (too windy), kiteboarding (too much work), scuba diving (too much effort). So, apart from the Hobie cat, all we did was snorkel.

We got back just in time to get to Trent’s Honky Tonk Tailgate Party in Katy, TX. Our flight had been delayed, so we went straight from the airport to the show, which is on his current tour. Met a lot of friends and family there, and spent the night in Houston before returning home.

(Since then, I just heard that he has a #1 hit! “Back When I Knew It All”, recorded by Montgomery Gentry, was co-written by Trent and just made #1. Great job, Trent!)

After 2 days at home, we left for Vegas, where we had booked a Wyndham Party Weekend to see Bette Midler. Great show, but Vegas is not my favorite place. I managed to get a couple of runs in before we left, but decided not to even try in Vegas.

It was great to get back to running when we got home (another flight delay — this has happened on our last four flights!) After an easy run to get back into it, I enjoyed a 100 minute run in the heat and humidity. It felt great at the time, but after I got back I realized that my clothes were as wet as if I’d been swimming in them!

Four glasses of Gatorade later, I felt refreshed. My hydration technique for those occasions is to drink a sports drink before I go, carry water with me, and drink more sports drinks when I get back. The theory is that after about 30 minutes my glycogen stores are depleted and I’m burning fat, so I choose not to consume anything that will interfere with the fat burning. It seems to work, because after all that overeating my weight is now back to where it was at the beginning of the month!

I wish I had some good pictures to show this time, but they’re all on Billie’s camera and she’s been too busy getting her latest book out to download them.

Until next time …

Alan

I have been traveling a lot lately and unable to keep up my
running

Today, I finally got back to it and, after the initial agony, it
felt great. I congratulate myself on being sensible about it.

You see, when I come back to running after a layoff, the
temptation is to run hard and fast. You know by now this is not
brilliant. So do I, but the temptation is always there.

What I do is force myself to take an easy run after a layoff.
That way I’m even more motivated to go out hard the next day.
Also, my muscles feel better for it.

So tomorrow I’ll go out hard. But I like to keep my schedule
flexible, so I’ll decide later what I’ll do. I’ll see how the
weather is, how I feel, and then either do a long run, a pace
run, hill repeats, intervals or a tempo run.

I generally work out my schedule a week or two in advance, but I
still like to keep it flexible. Some days I’m pumped, some days
I’m low on energy. Since no-one’s forcing me to follow a
schedule, I let it vary according to how I feel.

Let’s say my schedule shows hill repeats, but when I get out
there I realize my energy is low that day. Instead of forcing
myself to do hill repeats and hating them, I may switch to a
tempo run. I can still make it hard enough to feel I’ve achieved
something, but it fits better with my lower energy.

Another time, I might go out intending to do a tempo run and
decide that I’m feeling pumped. After my warmup, I’ll switch to
intervals, a pace run or hill repeats. The first ten minutes, my
warmup, gives me time to decide.

A rigid schedule may be important if you’re training for a
special event, but if you’re just running for health and fitness
it can be a hindrance. So be flexible. You’ll enjoy it more.

And if you enjoy it, you’ll want to keep running!