Miles/Minutes & Distance/Duration

...so, I don't even finish my last post and I get a nice, encouraging note from my old buddy Todd. Thanks, man.

I ran again on lunch today--just 2 miles with Bill near the college. Took a walk break that I didn't think I needed; I had a little pain in my heel and decided that walking for 60 seconds might make it go away. It did. Very cool.

So, I am thinking more about the walk breaks. I bought the watch pictured above for $26. Not bad! It has 9 different interval timers.

I am ready to transition from continuous running to walk/run of longer distances. I have plotted out very cool 2, 3, 4, and 5 mile routes in my subdivision--no out-and-backs at all. By adding little loops and curlicues I have succeeded in making some interesting routes with some recurring features.

• My house is visible from the last 1/3 of a mile of each route--quite a motivator.
• Mile markers are in basically the same places; I've found this helps with "rehearsing" the rest of the run in your head.
• Few "bag it" intersections (i.e. places where I might decide to just head home and make it shorter).

You see, I think that I'm at a place where running LONGER is what I need to do. I mean longer in both miles and minutes, distance and duration. I want to maximize the number of minutes I am out there beyond 15.

In one section of Galloway's book, he urges you not to be rigid about timing of walk breaks. Well, I think I have to be. Without some kind of interval timer, I am tempted (and often do) just keep walking. I think the buzzer would help me. For $26, I can't afford not to find out.

So, here's an satellite image of a 4 miler I've put together. There are no street names here, which hopefully means you won't stalk me on my route and kill me. This is where I will do this run/walk stuff. This is basically my 3 mile route with a curlicue inside it. I have a little bubble to add off the side for an additional mile, making the whole thing 5 miles without leaving my sub. Pretty cool. For the time being, these should be enough to keep me run/walking through the summer.


And this here is the course for the Crim 8k race in late August--just before I go to Canada. Gotta do it. When I ran for the legislature, Bobby Crim knocked doors with me. That is one fit guy!

And Another!

So, I was able to do it again, at the same pace I kept with Steve. This is a bigger deal than it sounds. I have this really, really negative thought spiral when I exercise. Doing it with Steve helped me with this, first because it's embarrassing. Second, it's internal. Third, Steve is a really positive and athletic guy. I also found that talking helps so much when running--having a buddy to shoot the breeze with. So, I did the 5k route in approx. 32 minutes with him 2x.

Could I do it alone?

Well, intellectually the answer is "of course." Nothing physiological changed. But I needed the positive mental energy. I have run this very same route for weeks, and never have I done it all running by myself. I always bag it feeling frustrated and full of failure.

• "The first mile is the hardest."
• "It's a straight shot."
• 
  

Another 3-Miler

REWARD
A pair of $79.95 running shoes
when you complete a solo 3-miler
with a time under 35 min*

I'm doing another 3-mile run with Steve tomorrow. Since Sunday, I've done two of my 2-milers with Bill. We did one outside in the noon heat on Monday; today, we bagged it and did the treadmills. I think it's good to hit the treadmill on regular intervals at this stage--sets a consistent pace and gives you some clue about numbers. I have tried (and succeeded) in not pushing myself early on. I've done 5.5 mph for 2 miles on the treadmill. That's 11 min miles; the 1.5 mile time of 16:30 doesn't even meet "probationary" status for the Navy PFT. Oh, well. To hit the "Good Medium" standard, I'd need to increase my mph:

• Good Low / 14:30 / 6.2 mph
• Good Medium / 13:45 / 6.5 mph
• Good High / 12:45 / 7 mph

And as a way of comparing speed, here is a list of minute times and mph:

• 8:00 / 7.5 mph
• 8:30 / 7 mph
• 9:00 / 6.6 mph
• 9:30 / 6.3 mph
• 10:00 / 6 mph
• 10:30 / 5.7 mph
• 10:50 / 5.5 mph

And my two Jeff Galloway running books arrived today. I am going to like these. I read about his Run-Walk method in the New York Times. My issue is this: I gain a lot of self-satisfaction and even pride in the accomplishment of running without stopping. He really makes a good case for taking walk breaks for every level of runner. I find this convincing, but I want to maintain that sense of accomplishment.

The biggest takeaway for me is that my runs (or runs with walk breaks) should grow to 45 minutes. The major fat burning occurs after 30 min. Now, I am not doing this only to lose weight. I doubt I will lose much if any in the short term. I just see this running thing as a sustainable thing for me for the next 20 years.

I imagine that I will tweak his method to fit me. I'd like to keep doing the 2 and 3 mile runs without stopping. Some day, I would like to do 5 miles without stopping; I am contemplating the Crim 8k road race in late August. I know I could finish, especially if I keep up my current every-other-day schedule. It's the day before I leave for Canada for a conference. It would be great to do that 8k in 45-50 minutes. That would be a real sense of accomplishment.

But back to burning fat. I think I want to lose about 15-20 lbs. That would make me give me a normal BMI, something I could work to maintain. That's only going to happen if I work my way to longer walk-runs. And I think that means putting in more time and distance and using the walk breaks. In fact, this Galloway book recommends 3 workouts of 45 min and at least one that goes to 90 min. I think I could do that. Right now I am getting into it and getting my body used to running. I think I could tolerate the longer walk-runs.

And I am thinking of a reward for myself: a new pair of running shoes when I complete the 3 mile route by myself in under 35 min. That might take me a few tries. But the shoes at the top of this post, the Mizuno Wave Nexus 3, are a good bargain. Now that I am running with my orthotics, I'll bet I can get away with a general off-the-shelf shoe.

*I think the 3-miler should be solo because I need to be able to keep myself positive without a running buddy; now, I will probably need a running buddy most of the time forever. But I want to meet this 35 min goal by myself.

Father's Day Run

I ran 3 miles today with my brother in law and it felt great. I called my dad today, which was hard given the prognosis on his new line of treatment. But the run and this photo made me get past thoughts of cancer and cheer up. Here's a shot from back in the day:

This is me looking over my shoulder at my dad during a race sponsored by Emily's Across the Street in downtown Detroit. Emily Gail was a an entrepreneur and activist in the city when I was a kid in the 1970s. One of my favorite things to do when my dad would take me downtown to visit his office was to go to Emily's shop. I remember she was always there--she coined the phrase "Say Nice Things About Detroit" and was a real champion for the city. I knew this even as a young kid. Her shop was filled with lots of novelty items. I have a particular memory of these popular "kitchen witch" stuffed witches that people bought as gifts. Lots of the Kliban "Cat" stuff (Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head is still my favorite cartoon book).

A couple of interesting things date this picture. First, you can clearly see my dad's Department of Justice running shorts. He has a great USA sleeveless jersey (a good pun, since he was a United States Attorney--USA for short--at the time). I am wearing a WRIF D.R.E.A.D. shirt. I remember begging one of my dad's assistants, Lenny Gilman, to take me out to get this shirt. This means it was probably around 1979 and my folks were going through a divorce.

Also dig my dad's shoes. Those are New Balance shoes, and they've just re-issued that model as part of a vintage line of running sneakers.

Below is a shot of me wearing the shirt from that race:

That shirt must date the picture--not sure when the 3rd Annual race was held, but it must have been 1979 or 1980.

The D.R.E.A.D. shirt has its own back story. WRIF was a popular rock and roll radio station in Detroit (still is). They ran a popular anti-disco campaign with membership cards. It was easy for an 11 year-old kid to get caught up in such a thing. Here are some snaps of DREAD cards being auctioned on eBay right now:



So this Father's Day I am transported back to 30 years ago; my mom was alive, my Dad didn't have cancer, and a nice woman named Emily Gale held a 3rd Annual run where I got my picture taken with my dad in Detroit.

Back to that run, I was really surprised that I was able to do it. I suppose it makes sense--I've been working my way up gradually. Steve ran 1.5 miles to my house and we went out for the 3 miler, then he ran the 1.5 home. We kept a reasonable pace, doing the 3 miles in under 29 minutes, which means about 9.5 minutes per mile--not bad for where I am right now. But I am happier that I finished without wanting to bail. We'll see how the run with Bill goes tomorrow at work. I hope to get stronger and stronger.

Running With Steve

Tomorrow morning, I am running with my brother-in-law. He's doing a longer run (6mi) and I am going to try to do the middle 3 with him. I've been running 2 miles with my pal Bill, and I am not sure I can do the 3 miler yet. I will be sorely tempted to keep going, but I should make sure I walk if I need to. I don't want to get hurt.



It occurred to me today that I could have a very objective and measurable fitness goal for the rest of my life. How I get there might vary over the years, but here's a stab at an outcomes-based fitness goal that will adapt with my needs over time:

1. Be able to pass the Navy Personal Fitness Test (PFT) at the medium-good range
2. Have a normal BMI
   

With a little work, I think I can achieve both of these in a relatively short period of time. I almost have a normal BMI. In the chart above, there's a little tiny yellow corner straight up from my 5'11" height. I'm somewhere in there--lose 15 pounds, and I'm good to go. Now, if I shrink and inch or so, I'll need to drop a few more pounds.

"Run-Walk" Method

I read about it in this article that I found in the NYT Online. The fellow who developed the method is Jeff Galloway. He writes a cool blog.



So, I've started running with my pal Bill. I say started--we've gone out once. But we plan to do 2 miles every Mon/Wed.

I also like the site mapmyrun.com for making accurate routes.