2009-02-28 My Run Today

Ran 6.19 miles today. Burned 1320 calories.

Got to the gym at about 10:30 today. Good run today. The headphones were a bit more cooperative, though i think i need to spend some time figuring out why they aren't working as well as I'd like. The sneakers are really paying off. Very glad I got them and wondering how fast I'll burn through this pair. Meant to stop by Marathon Sports and thank Kristen and the team.

Jim's Gym Pet Peeves #1

Well, it had to be done.  

Here is the first entry in my list of minor and major annoyances about the gym.  We'll take it slow, I'll try to contain myself to one per day, though there are so many little things that will make this list that it will likely be hard to go too slow.

Pet Peeve #1:  The Wet Locker Room Bench

OMG!  How Rude.  This really is a example of people not caring about others.  Today's example comes in the form of not just a few drops of water, but a outright puddle (2 of them actually) on the locker room bench.  The dilemma for the finder of such a offence is this:  Do I move away (most logical)?  Do I clean this up with my towel (never a possibility unless your completely done using the towel, which is normally after you want to be sitting on the bench!!)?   Does anyone else have a suggestion?

2009-02-26 My Run This AM

Ran 6.05 mils today. Crossed the imaginary six mile barrier. It wasn't a pretty run though.  Had to get up to speed quicker than I have been and finish with a faster speed than I had been.

Burned 1268 calories.

The Saucony Progrid Ride sneakers turn two weeks old this week.  They are really comfortable and feel very light.  My feet are feeling much better and my mileage is only going up, so this is a win.   Clearly these were the right choice.

The arriva head phones only came off my head once during the run today.  It happened at about 40 minutes.  This time I decided to really dry off my head/ears and I think it paid off.  The patented "Wipe head with shirt" maneuver worked well.  

I'm thinking there must be a better way to bend them than what I'm doing so far.  I'm also thinking the 'in ear style' model would be a better choice then the 'iPod style' model I chose.  This wanders into over-analysis, but I think I need to figure out a way for the wire to come over my ear, but the speaker to sit with the end at the top, like a normal apple headphone would.  the current way I've been using them the end of the headphone is upside down.  Likely this going to require some off-the-treadmill creative bending.  

2009-02-24 My Run this AM

Ran 5.91 miles this am. 1230 calories. Not sure about calories yesterday now, maybe I was off by 100?

Weighed myself today (No; I won't be telling the world the details) but some good movement in the right direction, though I don't want a single reading to get me all psyched up.

Got to the Gym at 5:29. Fewer people there early on, but it seems that created a rush by the time I was leaving.

The headphones worked better today, still slipped off, but this was after about 60 minutes instead of 40, so maybe I'm getting them into the right shape, we'll see...

2009-02-23 My Run This AM

Ran 5.91 miles this morning. Burned 1135 calories.

Got to the gym at 5:27, 6 people's cars in the parking lot and already working out :)

Wore the arriva headphones / "wireless" iPod shuffle holder. It worked well for the first 30 minutes of my run, but then as i got sweatier things didn't work so well. More on this later, I think i have more work to do on getting the headphones to sit correctly. Not pleased with them so far.

Arriva Headphones Arrived

My new Arriva headphones arrived on Friday afternoon.  They came USPS priority.  Pretty quick processing by Arriva considering I ordered them Monday night.  

They are really interesting, it took about 5 minutes of bending and playing to get them to sit nicely on my head, but now that I did that once they seem to stay put really well.  So far I've only worn them around the house, but we'll test them out tomorrow on my run.

Weekly Mileage 2/21

23.06 Miles.

4 Runs.

5.765 Miles per run.

2009-02-20 My Run This AM

Ran 5.85 miles this morning.  Right in the area I was shooting for, felt good, mostly, a little shin splint action early on, but very minor.  Burned 1135 calories. 

Got to the Gym at 5:29am, there were about 7 people already there!  I guess I finally just need to ask the woman who normally opens the Gym what time she really gets there.  Not sure I really want to be getting there any earlier, but who knows...

Got to spend some good time thinking about some GTM details for the Messaging NCG, some good thoughts, but one of the downsides of having most of the company 3 hours behind is that you can't quite call people at 4:15 their time to tell them you just finished a workout and have some interesting ideas to share....  But I guess the good part is that you get to run in the morning, then commute to the office without feeling late :)

Ras na hEireann USA

"Ras na hEireann is the most genuine Irish race this side of the Atlantic. It is a celebration of traditions dating back centuries—and simply a celebration of spring in Somerville, Massachusetts."

I registered for Ras Na hEireann, a 5K race in and around Davis Square in Somerville on St. Patrick's day (Sunday, March 15th).  It looks like I got quite lucky that they expanded the registration this year (from 3000 last year to 5000 this year).  It appears that there is a special scoring section for 'bigger' runners, but it's interesting that in the running world bigger is above 170 pounds... Oh well, doesn't matter.

The race is run by the Somerville Striders and B.A Event Promotions.  Here is a link to the race website Ras na hEireann USA race.

I'm not exactly sure what to expect, but with St. Patrick's day in full swing and 15 local bars sponsoring the race, it should be an interesting one.

In the sage words of Mr. Steve... "wow. going crazy with the new hobby."

2009-02-17 My Run Today

Ran 5.96 miles today.

This seems disappointing, until I point out that I was going for 5.75 miles...  

While running I was also trying to figure out how long it would take me to run a 5K... (More on this in some other post).

Ran for standard 70 minutes with 2 cool down minutes.

Burned 1230 calories.  Yeah.

Got to the Gym and was running by 7:45pm.  

New Headphones for shuffle

Marissa was kind enough to load some great running music on the iPod shuffle that we have and I started using it last week.  It really really helped with running, especially drowning out noises from other people and somehow putting me in a trance.  The Shuffle is awesome, but clipping it to my shirt isn't.  

Mandy told me a week or so ago she had gotten headphones for her iPod shuffle that were just headphones, no wires, and the iPod clipped into the headphones.  I couldn't find anything over at apple.com that looked interesting.  The monster headphones look really bad and appear to have quality issue from most of the reviews online.  

Google to the rescue.... I found Arriva.com. now prepare yourself for some really bad web pages.  but.. for 35 bucks (way less than anything else that's even close to comparable) these guys are selling some smart headphones that really make sense.  

So I paid for these via PayPal today...  Look forward to getting them in a few days.  I'll post again to give my thoughts.

:)

2009-02-16 My Run This AM

Ran this morning.  Got to the Gym at about 5:30am.

Ran 5.6 miles.  Had to make a pit stop after 30 minutes.  :(

The last 40 minutes were brutal.  Couldn't wait for the 2 minute cooldown.

I did push it at the end and ran at 5.2 miles an hour.

This was also the first time I was running with the new sneakers.  My feet were hurting a little, but at the end felt really good.  I'm not sure there will be much of any break-in time for these Saucony sneakers becaue they are pretty soft on top.

New Running Sneakers

Got some new Shoes today. 

Went to Marathon Sports in Norwell, 1 door over from my Gym.  We've been there before, but I never connected them with the Marathon sports that is in Boston.

Marathon is Great.  Meghan helped me.  I ran the length and back of their building while she watched how I ran with no shoes on.  I have a neutral run, or almost.  

Meghan brought out a ton of shoes from Brooks, Asics, and Saucony.  I have a Saucony bias, but this really proved why.  The Saucony really did feel better.  I must have tried on 9 different pairs.  They also have a treadmill in the store.  I ran in about 3 different pairs for just a few minutes.  This really helped.  I was kinda tired after my workout, but I wanted to be tired so that I couldn't cheat while trying on the sneakers.

The biggest revelation was that I went from a size 11.5 in my old Saucony's to 12.5 in these new ones.  Oh, the new sneakers are the Saucony Progrid Ride.  Check out Tomorrow's post for the first real run review.

The new Saucony's cost 89.99, not bad considering I never asked or wanted to ask the price of the sneakers while picking them out.  What they say about marathon sports in online reviews is true.  They really do want you to find the right sneaker, no the most expensive.

2009-02-15 My Run Today

Ran 5.75 miles today on the treadmill

.

It was a nice run.  Bumped up the speed just a little over the whole run.

Felt really good.

Got to the gym about 12:30.

Went in the hot tub after for 15 minutes.. oohh.. ahh... what a nice reward.

My Gym

So I work out at Webbs ProFitness in Norwell, MA.  It's about 12 minutes from the house.  We have a elliptical machine at home, so if you don't see me there you can assume I'm working out on that that day, or being lazy :)

It has a pool, sauna, and hot tub (I use the last of these 3 when I have time).  There are all the machined that I'd ever want to use, though don't use too often.  There is no uncomfortable feeling at the gym, it's very relaxed, people are there to work out, not to annoy you.

It's a really nice place, tons of classes and programs.  It never seems overly crowded, at least before and after work, and most times on the weekend when I'm there.  

I'd really recommend Webb's to anyone who lives close enough to go there.  It's really been a great place for us (and it doesn't hurt that it is very reasonably priced).

Weekly Mileage 2/14

16.15 Miles + 1 session on the Elliptical Machine

3 Runs.

5.42 Miles per Run.

Nike.com Clearance

I don't think that clothing from Nike is cheap, but I do really like it and the quality of the gear they make.  I suppose I should try some other brands, but once you find something that works, something that fits, and something that isn't broken, well it;s hard to change.

Nike.com has a great clearance section.  I've purchased a few running shorts and a few items from them recently an have been really happy.  If you sign up for their club (I forget the name) you get free regular shipping the first time you order.  Pretty cool.  So far I've purchased:

Nike Pro - Ultimate 6" Men's Shorts - These are really nice compression shorts / aka spandex, though a little short for a big guy like me.  

Nike Pro - Core Men's Compression Shorts - These are nice, longer than the Ultimate 6" shorts, which I prefer, though the Ultimate shorts are nicer overall, too bad they weren't 7 inches...

Nike Tempo Men's Track Shorts - These are really nice.  They are sorter than your random long athletic short so that they aren't in the way, but my no means are they a 'short short'.  They work well with some of the spandex / compression shorts.  Definitely think these were a purchase well worthwhile.  And I saved about 6 bucks by getting them on clearance.

Happy Shopping

2009-02-12 My Run Today

Ran 5.65 miles today.

The spinning class is really annoying to listen to.  Thank goodness this week I had the iPod.  I really had to crank the volume, but could still hear the screeching of the instructor.

My run was really good today...  thinking that somehow I ran better because of the Spinning class, trying to drowned it out and not let it effect me.. :)  Guess it isn't so bad....

Got to the Gym at about 5:40am.

2009-02-10 My Run Today

Ran 5.5 miles today.

Really stepped it up a bit.  Same 70 minutes as normal.

Got to the Gym at 5:40am.  Nice Run :)

2009-02-09 My Run Today

Ran 5.0 Miles.  

Got to the Gym at about 5:35.

It was a good run.  

Comfortable.. should I be running faster :)

2009-02-08 My Run Today

Wasn't a run.

Did the elliptical for 50 minutes.

Jim went to the Gym

So.  The reason for this blog... to keep me motivated.  If it is either interesting or helpful to others then that's great.  But this is really only for me.  Sorry to sound selfish, but that's the point.

I started running in early December last year (2008) and have been running now 5 or 4 times a week.  I'm up from feeling like my shins were going to fall off and having to stop 4 times while trying to run, to running 5.5 miles while feeling pretty good.

So this is the blog.. read it if it helps.