It was very cold most of this week. I’m tired of being cold. During last Saturday’s run it was about 10 degrees. It was the kind of run where you are covered with frost by the time you finish. Tom had one inch icicles hanging off his hat just below his ears. Fortunately it was a short run, only about 11 miles. Yesterday’s run was a little longer about 23 miles. It was a little warmer about 25 degrees, but I was cold the entire time. This was the final long run before
Finally the results of the Maintain Not Gain contest came out today. My team won the grand prize, a six month membership at NIFS for each team member. Very exciting! I’ve never had a gym membership. NIFS is an awesome facility and I’m looking forward to kicking my strength training up a notch.
My knee seems to be recovering nicely from the little mishap 7 miles into a 21 mile trail run last Saturday. I still did another 6 miles Sunday, but by Monday I was pretty sore so I finally took some Ibuprofen, prescription dosage for a day. That knocked the soreness out of my knee. I sandwiched five half mile intervals into a 7 mile run Tuesday and had a 9 mile pace run Thursday. Tomorrow is a cut back week on the long run so it will only be about 10.5 miles. I also managed to squeeze in a stair workout during lunch on both Tuesday and Thursday. Wednesday was burpee night again this week, 75 burpees. I’ve had two solid weeks of training and I feel pretty good.
My diet has changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks. I’m cutting back on sugar, eating more protein, and getting more carbs from vegetables and fruits than from breads, pastas and other starchy stuff. I wouldn’t say I’m on a zone diet, but that is in part where I’m getting my inspiration. I wouldn’t say I’m trying to lose weight, rather I’m trying to lean out a little i.e. lower my body fat percentage.
Here’s a recipe I’ve been using this week. I’ve been using some lean beef my wife broiled Sunday evening.
Saute a cup of chopped onions, clove of garlic, and a teaspoon of chipotle spice in a teaspoon of olive oil. Add 3 ounces of thinly sliced beef, ¼ cup of cooked black beans, and 6 diced prunes. Stir and cook until heated through. Pour onto a plate and sprinkle a ¼ cup of low fat cheddar on top. Very tasty. You can use whatever spices you like and you could even substitute chicken for the beef. If you don’t want meat at all then use a couple of egg whites instead and call it an omelet. Some mushrooms would be good too.
I like running my intervals on Tuesday. Intervals are one of the best things a runner can do and I like doing them on Tuesday. It fits my schedule, long run Saturday morning, recovery run Sunday afternoon, intervals Tuesday, and pace run on Thursday. Yesterday I was driving home from work and it was pouring rain. It would be difficult to talk myself into going out to run in the rain, so I prayed for a break in the rain. I wouldn’t care if it resumed raining while I was out just a long enough break to get out the door. I had decided to stay in and do conditioning then do intervals on Wednesday. I was just about to start doing burpees when I noticed it wasn’t raining. I was out the door in no time. God is so good. I had planned to do five one mile intervals. The first interval wound up being about 1.25 miles. Then it started pouring rain. I ended up doing 3 of the 1.25 mile intervals for a total run of a little over 7 miles. When I made it back to my house I was dripping wet, but I felt good. I love doing intervals.
Maintain not Gain ended yesterday. My team lost a total of 16 pounds.
Started 2008 off right by running the Resolution Revolution this morning. It’s a three mile loop in downtown Indy. You make one, two, or three revolutions. I ran three, of course. It was cold, snowing, and windy, but I averaged 7:02 per mile with the first mile being my slowest and the last being my fastest. Overall I was about five minutes faster than last year. All those one mile intervals I’ve been doing are paying off.
