Running and Stuff

Good Week

2010-01-31T16:50:00.000-08:00

It is really funny that I would rather run the long runs then shorter ones. Finished out a good week with a 10 mile run on Saturday with a 5 mile rave pace on Sunday. Glad this week is over but feel really good. Did a hill workout on Thursday this week. Think this work out plan is working out real good. Still need to do some more with the core workouts.
Well till some more miles have been logged.

Another week down

2010-01-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

So it's the end of another week. Little over twenty six miles this week. Was kind of a drop back week. Long run of just six miles. Finished off with a four mile race pace run today. Great day to do this, with all that has happened this week was nice to get some of that out.
So next week start will start the offical training for the marathon and it starts with a mileage increase.
So till next week.... Keep it simple.

2010-01-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

So another week down, 19 weeks to go till the Vermont City Marathon. Have officially started fund-raising. Please visit my page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/uny/vermont10/eric.
I am only asking for a donation of $5 this time around. I will be putting the first 200 names that donate on my shirt for the race. Goal is much smaller this time around but is still for a very big cause.

This week has been pretty good week, I started to up the mileage and really started the speed work.
28 miles this week and it only goes up from there. I will be posting the schedule that I am following. Always get people that wonder what I am doing from day to day. I will only be posting on here once a week unless something comes up during the week. so check back each week.

2010-01-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

My fundraising website is up for the Vermont City Marathon. I will be collecting donations from now till the end of May. Please help our cause, I am running this race for a friend from high school. He has been cancer free for over 10 years now.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/uny/vermont10/eric

Starting Over

2010-01-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Well I am going to start this blog over again. I have currently started training for another year of Marathons.
On the table this year will be first off the Vermont City Marathon. I will be doing this one with the Team in Training group again. I will have the website up soon. My goal for this race will be fir a 3hr 45min.
The other big race currently will be the Hudson Mohawk Marathon in October. I will hopefully be making an attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon. I will be looking for help on race day for this one.
So finished a good eight mile run today. Feeling real good, think I am finally past the injury I had a month or so ago.
Well till next time, keep running.

Finally found WiFi

2009-10-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well finally found a way to contact the world. So made it to Dublin! Nice little city, lots and lots of pubs and lots of futball fans. Well tomorrow is suppose to be nice and a good day for a race. Think everything is ready and now just have to finish in a good time.

More to follow later.....

In JFK

2009-10-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well made it to JFK, now just time to wait. Not much else going on....

Off to Dublin

2009-10-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

Well off to Dublin for the big race, was told a few people wanted to keep track of the process. Well first part is getting there. A couple of planes, buses and a little walking. Well off on the first flight. More later....

Mobile Blogging from here.

Half Marathon

2009-08-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

Completed a half marathon yesterday. Finished in a time of 1 hr and 48 mins. Much better then I had thought, was able to easily cruse to the finish. Really think using the energy gels make a difference. Hard to get enough water out of a cup and keep up the pace. Course had lots of ups and downs the entire way. About a couple of miles into it I started running with this young lady that had a really good pace going. She would roll over the top of a hill and just take off. So for awhile I would have to catch up on the next up hill. We kept this up through the ten mile point and then she started to fade. She finally caught up and I pulled her the last few miles at a great downhill finish.
It was a really great day, sun wad out but never did get hot. Course was great, Like I said lots of ups and downs but no real hard hills at all. Was a little different having to deal with traffic but most people were nice and moved over.
Have put it on the calender for next year. Had a lot of fun. Next race is a 10k in September.

Just finished 18 miles....

2009-08-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well the milage buildup is in full swing. 14, 16, and now 18 miles completed. Have worked up to over 40 miles a week. This next week is going to be a quick tapper and then a half marathon on Saturday. Shooting for under two hours. Think it should go ok. It's hard to think of how much you have to keep up with while running long distance. Have to keep track of when it's time to eat and then to keep up with the fluids. Well got to go. Write soon....

700 miles

2009-07-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

Finally reached 700 miles, really starting to add up quickly. Did a 14 mile run on sunday. Think I emptied the entire tank during the run. Ran out of water about the 12 mile point, so had to turn around and head back to the car to get more. Finished in 2 hrs and 20 mins. Then the next day really felt horable. Drank lots of water and gator aid. But think I still got dehydrated. Felt like I had just had a big night out. So guess it's something to remember for furture runs. Planning on getting a second camel back so that I can change it out half way through.
So far this week I have done a six mile and eight mile run with no issues and actually feel better then ever. Just a couple of weeks till the half marathon. But I also have increasing milage each Sunday. 16 then 18 then the half marathon.
Still doing good on the fundraising. Over half way there. Keep the donations coming.

2009-07-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

Running is a lot like life. Only 10 percent of it is exciting. 90 percent of it is slog and drudge. - Dave Bedford, English distance runner who occasionally put in 200 miles a week in training

2009-07-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 0
Total Miles: 665
So another off week, really starting to like them. I am hopefully going to get my bike fixed then I should be able to start a little cross training with the bike. I also started the push-up and sit-up program that I was doing before. Should help the overall core body strength, also have to be able to show all the new boot chiefs that they old men can still do it.
Started experimenting with Energy Gels, have to say that for someone that doesn't really like strange texture these gels are not great. Right now I am just going to have one at the beginning of each workout till I figure out what flavor is best. Guess I should have just wasted one from each box but I don't want to waste them if I have to. I am using the GU brand for now. I was going to try and get some of the ones that they are going to have at the marathon but it just costs to much to ship from england. I will just take my own with me.
This is the Course Map for Dublin.

598

2009-07-12T12:07:00.001-07:00

Miles Today: 10
Total Miles: 598
So close to the 600 mile, guess that will have to wait till Tuesday. finished the 10 mile run home from work today. Most of the day it was kinda scattered clouds with the look of rain. The they wanted to make sure I had a nice sunny run home. Just as I left the clouds went away and the sun came out. Was int he high 80's most of the way home. Just nice and slow with lots of water and trying to enjoy the shade when it was around.
Heels still kinda hurt, going to change back to how I had my shoes laced before and see if that helps. I think it is just the back of the shoes rubbing. Does feel good to get back to running, looking forward to the four mile race on the 4th, should be fun. Lots of people from work should be coming out for this one. Going to stick to my plan and do it slow this time.

Raffel is on

2009-07-12T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well I finally have my raffel tickets. First prize is $250 Visa gift card, second is a $100 and third is $50. Drawing is the 5th of September. Only have 1000 so get your soon.
Running is going very well. Growing distances are not really putting a strain on me. Think that the cardo is well up to the task, right now just have to have the legs keep up. After about a four or five miles I really start to feel good. This is going to be a light week which will work out good. I have to pack up my garge and get it ready to move this week.
8th of augest I will be running a half marathon in lake george. Should be a blast.

week off

2009-06-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

So had a good week last week, this week was suppose to be a light week. Decided that this week is going to be a off week. Have been having some pain in my Achilles tendons. Think this was from doing the trail run last week. Just not able to handle the extra strain on the body. So after some reading I am going to just skip the Tuesday and Thursday runs this week. I will pick back up with a four mile on Saturday and the a ten mile on Sunday.
Till later...

Great day

2009-06-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

Was a great day at SPAC, started out with a nice light rain. Rain was nice because it keeps the people out of the park. Discovered a new path that runs right next to the river. Real nice run, finished last three miles with negitive splits. Again a real good run, finished in a real steady rain. Tommorrow is a day off then a week of low mileage next week.

2009-06-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Six miles today, 560 miles since I started in Oct. Average time since start is 9:15 min/mile.

Today was rough, had to slow it down a lot due the mileage of last week. Should be fine since next week is a rest week. Going to start doing the push-up and sit-up program next Monday. That should help in getting ride of the last of my gut. I will also be moving in August so should have a bunch of new places to run.

If anyone knows how I can get the calender to be centered please leave me a comment.

2009-06-14T10:24:00.001-07:00

Well another 5K done in the books, did the READ RUN in saratoga this morning. had a 33rd place with a time of 22:51. This was suppose to be an easy day for me, just didn't work out that way. Had a nice steady pace going most of the way and a very good strong finish. Was pleased. So now for along awaited rest day that also happens to be a day off of work. Till later....

Having Fun

2009-06-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

So back to enjoying running again. I have been working day be day through the training scheduel. I have set up a number of races thru the summer.
July 4th in Saratoga for a 4 mile.
Aug 8th in Lake George for a half marathon.
Sep 15th a 10K.
Then in Oct will be the full marathon in Dublin.
Should be a fun summer. I am really looking forward to the half marathon. The course is point to point. I like it when I don't have to double back. Should be fun.
Well either sat or sun will be a ten miler. Going down in the morning to run with the team in training group. Will have to see how far they are going to go.
So far I have collected about $1000 toward the $8000 goal. Will be collecting up to the marathon day. Click on the team in training logo to give a donation.
Till later

Interesting Month

2009-05-25T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday completed the end of an interesting month. We started out with a 5K that turned out very good. I then had the Navy's Physical Readiness Test. We start that out with a many push-ups and sit-ups that you can do in two minutes. Then we move on to a mile and a half run. I had been doing my running training but also had been doing a push-up and sit-up program. That really helped my performance this year. Managed to get 82 sit-ups and 69 push-ups. Was just shy of what I wanted but still was much better then previous years. So for the run it went very well. Much easier to do when you have been training. Just wish I had the time to do it while at work and not on my own time. Finished the mile and half in 10:15. Was really good time.
I really have not been following my training program. Decided to take a few days off and let the body recover. Did what I wanted for the body but really did not help the mind. Had a couple of days with a real low. Did not help that we were waiting for weather Roz was going to be able to go back to school next year. So I have learned that I need to do something every day.
So yesterday I help my cousin Krista with running one leg of a relay for the Vermont city marathon. As a team we finished 127 out if over 400 teams. I was really suprised how well every one did. Krista's husband Guy ran the entire thing in a great time of 4 hours and 15 minutes. This was his first marathon and he had only been training since Febuary. So made my out look for this fall much better. I did a 6.75 mile leg and had no problem keeping a good pace the entire way. So I got my fire set back under me. I am going to run a trail run in June, a four mile run on the 4th of July, and then finish with a half marathon in Aug. So it will be an intersting summer and finish in October.
I will try and get better at updating this page. At the moment I have $150 in donations so we are on the way just a little more.

2009-05-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well off on a new direction. Sorry for no posts lately but been really busy like always. Just signed up for Team in Training. SO check out my fund raising site for that. I will try and keep this update as things progress. But looks I am going to Dublin Ireland in Oct to run the Dublin Marathon. Not much else going on. just keep logging miles.

Race day

2009-05-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

So I have finished over four hundred miles since I started. By the calculations that I did I have about six hindered miles left till the marathon in October. Mileage is increasing each week fir the most part. I have slowed down the pace a little bit for the point I am at.
So today is the 5K in Delmar, NY. Just a race to get myself used to running with alot of other people. So we will see how it goes.

Update:
So posted time was 22:32, with a finishing position of 52 out of about 400 people. Think I should have been 50 but with the way they do ties I ended up 52. Darn age factor. Really cannot believe that I ran the first mile in less then seven minutes.
Will have to see if I do the nine miles tommorow or not. Well more later.

Day off

2009-04-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Well it's a day off in a low mileage week. Still working on increasing the mileage.

2009-04-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 8 miles
Total Miles: 349 miles
Should have checked and done one more mile today, would have finished out with 350 miles since I started back in Oct. Oh well, I will be at 400 miles before I know it. Mileage has really started to increase. So was first day with new glasses. They really worked out nice, never had to adjust or do anything with them. Weight is hardly noticeable. Running on roads really sucks, people really don't know how to deal with someone running on the side of the road. All I care about is that you just stay in your lane. Don't even care if you move over to the yellow line, just stay on the lane.

Been awhile...

2009-04-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well we are just going to do this once a week for now. Just have to much to do in a week. Well it was a good week for running. Finished the last seven mile run in a better time then before. Same course but finish about two minutes faster. Huge head wind on the way back. Have really been working on keeping steady times. Most of my runs I have been able to keep all mile splits to within a 15 to 30 sec of each other. Think the treadmill runs have really helped with this. Have to make sure that I get one or two runs on the treadmill a month.
Got my new sunglasses today, will be fun to see how they work tomorrow. It's nice to have a pair of glasses that really fit my face.
Well it's off to do eight miles tomorrow.

2009-04-02T09:06:00.001-07:00

Almost forgot, Just got done ordering these great shades.

2009-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 4.00
Total Miles: 313.85
Well finally made it to Madrid Spain, Wow that took awhile. Well the mileage has started to increase. Sunday is now up to 7 miles and shortly will be at 10 miles. Starting to feel real good in the 4 to 6 mile range. Have a nice steady 8:30 min/mi pace that I can keep for the entire run. Not much else to say, just keep on plodding along.

2009-03-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

Well today is another Monday. So what does that mean, yep its another day off. Finished off the week very strong yesterday. It was suppose to be an easy week for me. Just run every other day, but I cannot read my simple training schedule. So on my day off on Wednesday I went and ran anyway. Well yesterday I finished the week off with a nice seven mile run. Was planning on doing it on the treadmill during the race. But when I got up it was a relatively nice day outside. So I quickly in Google Earth mapped out a quick seven mile route buy the house. Turned out to be a very good run. Lots of rolling hills to break up the long straight stretches. Its was just an out and back with a big loop in it. So guess now I got my seven mile route for at least the next couple months. So for totals I have run 301.84 miles since 10/1/08. Over the next few weeks my mileage starts to climb each Sunday.

Well till another day......

2009-03-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well its Friday and another day off, I know its been a couple of day. This week was just another week of short runs. I will finish off the week with 3 miles Saturday and 7 miles on Sunday. This mid shift has been killing me. Well guess on Sunday I will be doing the 7 miles on the treadmill and watching the race at the same time, have to multi task to get sleep each day. I will let you know how it pans out. Should be in Madrid Spain buy the end of the weekend.

2009-03-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 4.25
Total Miles: 285

Wow it was cold still, in the upper 20's, wish it would warm up just a little more. I like the 30's and 40's. Oh well at least I am not running in snow anymore. To the right is the path from Google Earth, kinda cool how much info the Forerunner collects. Have to figure out if I can get it to do mile split times for me.
So I do most of my running in the park, can deal with the people that walk there dogs with out leashes or leashes that are too long and people that don't pick up poop. I don't like picking up poop, but today takes the cake. They picked up the poop and put it in the plastic bag then just left the pastic bag sitting on the side of the road. Might as well not done anything, at least if it wasn't in a bag it would have just got washed away.
Well for something better, on my way back there was a group of seven deer that crossed the road in front of me. Nice to see some large game in the park for once. Oh well back to three miles tomorrow.

Guess it's been a few days

2009-03-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a couple of days. I continue to follow my training scheduel. I will catch up on the milage tomorrow. I tried to see if I could due a mile and half in less the 9:30. Well got about half way and was not going to be able to keep going. I was trying to do it on the treadmill. So I think the I was still going to fast. I need to try it outside. I have to start doing situps and pushups prior to my running. I also need to get outside more.
It's hard to believe that I have already got over 250 miles on the first pair of shoes. I have started to motive the difference between the two shoes. Sucks that I might have to get another pair here soon.
I had a thought about running the Vermont marathon here in May but after thinking about it for some time I decided that I should just stick to my training plan.
Well I have another short week, so I will try and post again after my run tomorrow. Till then keep enjoying the day.

2009-03-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 3.5
Total Miles: 267
Well still not 100% from being sick, plus side is being sick is always a good way to loose a few pounds. So the good news is I am finally below 180 constantly. The run today was at my favorite place in the SPAC park, love that place. This entry is a little late due to me having to goto work today then run then back to work. Have to love the thing that pays me the most. Well I think I am going to just take it easy tomorrow and run the treadmill (guess that is really today).

2009-03-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 6 Miles
Total Miles: 264 Miles
Well finished the six miles today, kept up a fairly good pace. Finished with a 9 min mile, but this took almost all I had to finish today. Heart rate was well above where it should have been. Other then that it was a nice day outside. Well tomorrow is another day off and hopefully I will shake this cold buy Wednesday. Till then....

2009-03-14T07:49:00.000-07:00

Miles Today:3 miles
Total Miles:258 miles
Well taking the couple of days off seamed to work. Think I broke my fever while running this morning. Feel much better today then the last couple of days.

Got a new pair of shoes just to race in. Wow these things have gotten light since I was in high school. Bought a pair of Saucony Fastwitch 3 Running shoe. Hopefully they will be good for racing.

another day off

2009-03-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

So I don't know who got me sick but I know my wife feels better today. Guess I know who did it. So today is my normal day off. Planning on running again tommorrow. But enjoying my time off with my dad.

2009-03-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

Miles Today:3 miles
Total Miles: yesterday plus 3 miles
So finally did a 24 mins for 3 miles. But someone got me sick, so I am going to take the next couple of days off. Still planning to do my weekend run. Really felt good on yesterdays run.

2009-03-10T17:06:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 3 miles
Total Miles: 251 miles

Well you have to have a goal to run to, so in Runner's Studio you can set mega goals. Mine is running from Lisbon Portugal to Vienna Austria. So right now I am 59 miles from Madrid and 368 miles from Barcelona. I actually have been to Vienna a long time ago on a skiing trip I took in Austria. it was fun skiing in July in shorts and tee shirts. Well maybe someday.

So running today i did a one mile warm up and then picked up the pace for the next mile and then a mile cool down. Still had an average of 9:30 min/mile. Well three more miles tomorrow.

2009-03-09T14:51:00.001-07:00

Miles Today: Day Off
Total Miles: What ever it was yesterday.
So what do you do on your days off, well I get to goto work. Work sucks wish I could just run every day. Soon enough I will have my time....More tomorrow.

2009-03-08T16:47:00.000-07:00

Miles Today: 6 miles, 3 yesterday
Total Miles: 248 miles
Sorry I didn't get a post put up yesterday, just to much going on and had to get to bed early for the daylight savings time. Well finished the first week of the mileage increase, wow been awhile since I have run that far. Still running to fast outside, guess I got used to the treadmill keeping my pace. My speed has improved, finished the six miles to day with an average of 8:45 min/mile. Close to what I need for a pace to meet my goal. Guess I am getting there.
So sum ask me what I think about while running, well today was man there are a lot of dogs out. It was a nice day to run at the Park but seamed like every corner was another person walking there dog. Well guess we just keep plodding along....Till later.

Day Off

2009-03-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

Well it's Friday and a day off from the running. Greatly needed the rest. This weekend starts the increase in mileage. Looking forward to the increase, like the long runs. Have to remember that I need to use the Forerunner to set my pace so that I don't go quite so fast. Well more tommorow...

2009-03-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

Miles Today: 3.02
Total Miles: 239

Well finally a nice day outside and not bitter cold. Just around 30 so it was a nice day for a run out at SPAC. Did the loop from little spa theater out past the pools and back, sticking to the road most of the time. They at least plowed most of the roads this winter so just a short stretch of ice on one road. The rest of the roads are clear. Think I need to calibrate the Foot Pod again for the treadmill. My times between outside and the treadmill are way off. Did the 3 miles today in 24.53, just a little fast in the beginning. Started out way to fast in the sub 8 min times, hit me mostly on the last hill. still not to bad to for someone that just started running again.

So to keep track of my times I said that I use Running Studio, but also use a Forerunner 305 GPS from Garmin. Did a lot or research before I bought this one, most people that had one really loved it and the newer version didn't have all that many good reviews.

So here is my review:
Pros:
Easy to use, most of the time you just turn it on and hit the start button.
Easy to download data, just put it in the cradle and it does it all it self.
Good button sizes, easy to start and stop or hit lap button.

Cons:
Heart rate display is way to small to read while doing anything.
Hard to get foot pod to work sometimes, turn both of them on and they just don't talk.
Have had a dead battery a couple of times, either was not charging or I just didn't charge enough.

Overall:
I would buy another one, easy to use and has been very good for keeping track of what I have been doing.

2009-03-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Miles Today: 3.02
Total Miles: 236

Good day just a short run at a 9:15 pace, it need to warm up outside so I can get off this treadmill. Watched the Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon while running today. Pace is starting to come down. Another 3 miles for tomorrow.

Use Runner Studio as my running log, great program well worth the money. He has spend a lot of hours trying to make it very easy to use and looks great.

This is what I usually get to look at while running on the tread mill. She likes to sit in her chair and watch me or she comes and sits in front of the fan to make sure that I get a good sweet going.

Well here we go...

2009-03-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

So on this blog I will post my on going training and results for my first marathon. Last October I needed something to keep my busy life more busy (well not really just not going to tell why I am doing this). So I set this goal to run the 2010 Boston marathon. Simple enough right, yea that's what I thought. To my suprise you have to qualify for this race. Again simple enough done that in the past for oyher races. Well the kicker was when I got looking at what time I need, 3 hour 30 minutes. Wow this was going to be a up hill climb. Not that I am out of shape but defintly not in the nest shape. So I sat down and started making a training scheduel. And now the fun starts, planing on running either the Albany or Marine Corp Marathon. So this will be my log of this task.