Tough hill training

Took a few days off to celebrate birthdays.  It was nice to rest a little!

My run yesterday did not go very well.  After the first hill climb, I could not catch my breath.  I'm thinking the hill might be too steep...

I finished my run at 1.7 miles.  I hope today's goes better.

Ran to work again.

Quick update.  Ran to work for 3.9 miles...  I've now conquered 5% of my 1000 mile resolution!

And a happy one month of Race Ready Ryan!

Monday Workout Forecast and Mercer Slough

I remembered!  Hooray!!  This week looks like an easy one with a 5K on Sunday...  I haven't found one to race so I might just skip that and go for another long run.  I've had a rough day at work so a long run might be just what the doctor ordered!

After work today I ran around Mercer Slough with Glenn.  I run through Mercer Slough during my commute, but I haven't had the chance to really explore... and you know what?  We found some pretty cool stuff!  About 1/2 of the course is mulch which was great on my joints (which are a little sore from yesterday's long run) and the other half was boardwalk. 
On the East side of the park, there were many steep, but very short hills.  Glenn encouraged me to use Kate's advice (it looks like somebody has been reading my blog!).  We also missed our turn a couple of times, but that's OK!  You'll never know what you will find...

Speaking of that, we ran into an old building.  This was apparently the boiler for the greenhouses that were here more than 100 years ago.  Due to development in Bellevue, the landscape had changed a lot and the building is now submerged in the wetland.  I'm glad I had a chance to find it before it's lost forever.  It was nice to learn a little something out there today!

And here's my forecast!

Monday, January 13, 2014:  3M run and Strength Training
Tuesday, January 14, 2014:  7 x Hill Repeats
Wednesday, January 15, 2014:  3M run and Swim
Thursday, January 16, 2014:  30 min Tempo
Friday, January 17, 2014:  Easy Run
Saturday, January 18, 2014:  Rest, Stretch, and Beer
Sunday, January 19, 2014:  5K Race (still looking for one)

Today's Long Run - Phantom Lake

Today I was scheduled for a 90 minute Long Run.  I'm not too strict on these so I found a place that's about 5 miles away to make a 10 mile trip.  I found Phantom Lake in Bellevue near Lake Sammamish.

I left my house about 830AM.  It's supposed to rain today so I wore long pants and my brooks jacket.  I also covered myself in BodyGlide today because last weekend's long run gave me a rash that freaked me out.

And I was off!

I ran down Main Street from my place toward the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.  It looked like they were having some construction going on so I bypassed that and just ran into the park.

There were various uphills and downhills so I tried to use Kate's advise.  Shoulders down-ass up on uphills and longer strides on downhills.  She was right!  I felt that my running was a little more efficient today.

After the first two parks, I ended up at Larsen Lake.  Lots of ducks and a cute little lake.  Most importantly for me, there were trash cans!  GU stop!  I had the vanilla bean flavor... good stuff!

I then ran through what I believe is called the GreenBelt.  Pretty boring, but looks nice.

I finally made it to Phantom Lake.  What a cool place hidden in Bellevue.  When people think of Bellevue, they think of downtown... who knew such cool places were available to those looking.

Anyway... I came home...  one more Salted Caramel GU later and I've had a few beers with lunch...  today's post is very rant-like.  Bye.

Pre-Long Run Thoughts and Planning

I had planned to run with a buddy today, but it looks like she was in a car accident last night.  I assume everything is fine or else I believe I would know different.

That said, I decided to change up my course a little.  I think I'm going to head East today and try to connect a few of Bellevue's parks.  I saw that there is the Lake to Lake trail already, so I'll modify that a little for mine.

I picked up some interesting GU flavors last night.  We'll see how those go!

Group Run with Running Elements

Last night I went on a group run with my LRS.  We did almost the same loop as the last time, but we skipped the terrible hill at Meydenbauer Beach.  My running buddy was Kate from Running Elements.  She gave me some advice on running hills and said to look into run-walking races. 

This is what I learned:
Uphill - lean forward with a straight back and shorten your stride.  The idea behind this is to use less energy while propelling yourself forward. 

Downhill - lengthen my stride a little and expand my chest.  Take full breaths.  Running downhill needs to be the recovery from running uphill...  I know that seems like common sense, but prior to this advice, I had been exhausting myself uphill and downhill.  The goal is consistency!

Tough running commute

Yesterday on my run home, some guy in an SUV pulled into the shoulder to splash me.  He then honked and took off...  How would you react? I just kept running. 

If karma is real, I must have done something to deserve it.  More though, the splash was likely a product of that guy already having a life that I don't envy.  Either way, moving on...  Running on...

7.8 tough miles done!

Monday Workout Forecast

I forgot to post this yesterday!!!  Noooooo!!!

So here's my schedule this week:

Monday, January 6, 2014:  3M run and Strength Training
Tuesday, January 7, 2014:  7 x 400 @ 5K pace
Wednesday, January 8, 2014:  3M run and Swim
Thursday, January 9, 2014:  45 min Tempo
Friday, January 10, 2014:  Rest, Stretch, and Beer
Saturday, January 11, 2014:  3M @ 13.1 Pace
Sunday, January 12, 2014:  90 min long run

It looks like it's going to rain all week so not only will I get in some good training, but I'll be diving deeper into insanity...  Bring on the Summer already!!!

Quick Library Run

I ran to the library to return a book about running!  Success!

2.25 in 18 minutes...  I thought the library was further.

Newcastle beach Easy Monday

Yesterday, I had an easy run to Newcastle Beach after work for a total of 3.3 miles.  It was nice that my buddy Glenn could join me.  The weather was chilly and ground was a little wet, but not bad.

Newcastle Beach is a nice park on the west side of Lake Washington with a view of Mercer Island.  I wad surprised to find a ton of mosquitoes at the dock so we kept moving.

Back at work we did some stretching and ran into a coworker who has been using couch to 5k.  Perhaps it was a tiny moment of inspiration.

First Long Run of 2014

Today I completed my first long run of the year!  I live in downtown Bellevue and ran out to Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island for a total of 9 miles.  It took me about an hour and 40, but I wasn't looking to make good time today.  Just a relaxing, endurance building run.

In this run, I also got a little preview of what to expect in the Mercer Island half... and that, my friends, is soreness from the many, many hills!!! 

This was also the first long run that I completed with my Saucony Triumph 10s.  My feet feel fine, no numbness, no pain, but I do have some shin splints which I don't usually get.  This could be due to the amount of hills I've been running this week though.  Compared to a treadmill, my times are definitely slower, but I'm glad that I've pushed myself to get outside this time around.  Not only do I feel its effect on my training, but my mood in general has been a lot better...  One thing I do wish though, male bikers and runners on I-90 bridge, try cheering up a little!  I've never seen such a group of bitchy athletes before.

Up Early On A Saturday

My sleep schedule is crazy! I can never sleep in on the weekend...  Never have been able to either! I guess it makes sense though.  I wake up early every weekday... 

It looks like I've got a 3 mile easy run today! Sounds good.  Maybe I'll plan it with the sunrise!

Anyway, it's only the fourth...  Resolutions intact?  Here are some lifehacks for your health:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/83774669/

Back in action!

Tonight I made an attempt at a 40 minute tempo run, but it was more like torture.  I suppose I'm still sick, but didn't know how badly until the second mile.  I still completed the 40 minutes, but I felt like each step was a kick in my lungs...  I'm sure more advanced runners would advise against it!

Oh...  And I ran with my new shoes for the first time.  I'll give a better review later.  For now, I'll define them as "grippy."

I've only gone through 2 long training sessions.  The first was when I first started running/racing and the second was for my half marathon.  The truth is, you're gonna have bad runs and it can be discouraging, but don't give up!  See it as a part of your training.  Racing is hard, but maybe it won't be as hard as last night: coming off of a cold, breaking in new shoes, rain and wind in my face, lots of teens smoking on the path, super hungry, can't seem to pick up the pace.  This builds resilience and humbles us.  So, runners, I wish you many great runs, and a few lame ones.

The Start

So...  This cold is killing me! I couldn't run yesterday because I couldn't catch my breath even while cleaning my apartment! But not today...  Oh no!  40 minute tempo run, you're mine!

By the way, my facial hair seems to grow very quickly when I'm sick! Maybe it's to make myself look even worse.  And by facial hair, I mean nose and ear hair!

Back to fitness, I rode my bike to work again.  99 days to go! I've been looking at new triathlon bikes and while it would be awesome to own one, true speed really comes from the rider.  I shouldn't go shopping until I've improved.

Have a great day runners! Keep up that resolution!

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? I know many do and they don't stick to them.  I'm definitely guilty of this, but I figure blogging about it will drive accountability and keep me focused.  

In trying to find what's right for me I read quite a few articles...  And you know what? They are so negative! So many articles explain why resolutions don't work.  Well...  I want to prove them wrong!

Every month, I'm going to have a check-in on my progress and I'm going to make a lot of resolutions because I have lots to work on!

Here they are:

- Run 1000 miles.  For many runners, this will be easy, but I haven't done it yet so it's a goal! The nice thing about having my long runs on Sunday is to be able to play some catch up where I might have been slacking!
- Run or ride my bike to work 100 days. This will help with every other resolution I have and should last me the year!  Perhaps a triathlon is in my future.  Iron man?
- Get to 180 lbs.  I've reached my goal for 2013 by getting under 200. I have some weight to keep working on!
- Get out of Credit Card debt. Not a fitness goal, but very important to me.  Plus, this is a big source of stress for me that I'd love to be rid of.
- Run a full marathon.  It's all about achieving what I considered to be impossible!

This is going to be a great year!

...I drank the Kool-Aid

It's 4:30AM and I'm still not feeling great, but I'm up and getting ready for work!  You know you drank the Kool-Aid when you feel guilty for not being at work to take care of your health!  Anyway, if my health allows, I'm excited to get back.

Tonight is New Year's Eve!  I hope everyone out there has a great time.  My friends tend to not plan much (in fact, most of them have to work), but I really feel like living it up a little so I'm heading into downtown Seattle for a multi-course dinner and a new beer release!

As for training, I'm not sure if I'm up for it, but I really do want to run today.  My schedule says to do hill repeats.  Maybe I can grab a light hill and go at it.  The nice thing about running up hills, you can curl into a ball and roll back down!

How are you spending NYE?  Stay tuned for my New Year's Resolutions post!

Great Wall Marathon

I just read about the Great Wall of China Marathon.  Wouldn't that be amazing? Two problems that stand in my way: run a marathon, afford it.  Adding bucket list items are free!

Monday Workout Forecast

I can't believe I made it to the third one of these!  So what have I done since creating this Race Ready Ryan blog?  A few things!

1.  Created some accountability in that I've been sticking to my runs as planned.
2.  Got my friends involved.
3.  Promoted a local running shop that deserves more attention!
4.  Caught a cold!
5.  Ran my first virtual 5K.
6.  Started bike-commuting to work.

Not bad!  It's as if putting these down in words helps when the results are not immediately tangible.

So here's my schedule this week if my health permits:


- Monday, December 30, 2013:  3M run and Strength Training
- Tuesday, December 31, 2013:  6 x Hill Repeats
- Wednesday, January 1, 2014:  3M run and Strength Training - Happy New Year!
- Thursday, January 2, 2014:  40 min Tempo
- Friday, January 3, 2014:  Rest, Stretch, and Beer
- Saturday, January 4, 2014:  3M run w/Fartlek
- Sunday, January 5, 2014:  90 min long run (3/1)

Under the weather... and I won!

Good day runners!

Yesterday, I received awesome news that I had won the 12 days of Christmas challenge at my LRS!  I stopped in, met Ginny the owner, and got a new pair of Saucony Triumph 10s!  This is what the super kind people at Running Elements said about me on their Facebook page: Ryan did every single challenge for 12 days! We are so lucky to have him as a friend and as fitness inspiration. And we can't wait for him to come in and get his free pair of shoes!

For those of you who had not shopped at a real running shop before, my experience with Running Elements may convince you to stop going to the mall shoe stores when picking our your next pair.

- They checked how I walked.  I was asked to walk barefooted to check my gait (this means manner of walking).  I was told that my gait was very neutral, which is awesome as I'm not placing additional strain on my legs.

- They asked me about what I currently run in.  I mentioned that I don't remember the model, but I run in M9.5 Brooks.  I said that most of the other shoes I have tend to slip in the ankle.  If I had brought the pair with me, they could also analyze the wear on the sole.

- They asked me to test out the shoes.  Ginny handed me a pair of Saucony Triumph 10s (I'm still not familiar with brands and models) and told me to try them out.  She had me run up and down the sidewalk.  They felt amazing!  She also said that I run very efficiently... I'm sure I'll learn what that means as time passes as well.  I did mention, however, that I felt that these were slipping off of my heels.  At that point...

- ...they showed me how to lace my shoes for a better fit.  It was perfect!  After some research at home, I learned that this is called the runner's tie...  I learn something new everyday!  This will make all of my shoes better!  Here's a link that I found helpful: http://katierunsthis.com/2011/10/04/running-shoe-lacing-techniques/

So unfortunately, after getting new shoes and all the excitement from finishing the challenge, I'm actually stuck at home with a cold.  I caught a cold only a month ago as well so I'm quite surprised.  I hope I can kick this soon!  I've got new shoes to break in!

My commute

On Christmas I picked one of my bicycles up from my sister's house so that I can ride it to work.  The ride is only a little more than 4 miles so it's not too hard and it gets rid of the frustrating traffic that I deal with everyday.

Today is supposed to be a rest day, but I biked to work anyway.  Hopefully the ride home won't be too hard.  It's 75% up hill!!!