Trail Running Fitness Test 100831 (13:54)

I performed a baseline fitness test today on the Northshore Trail. I have been thinking about developing some method to test my fitness level so I can watch it improve (hopefully) over time. I realize that my trail running fitness test is anything but scientific. I also realize that certain factors can affect the results of the test. However, I figure tracking something is still better than tracking nothing! Time will tell if this is of any value. In this baseline report I will briefly discuss the factors, the concept, and the results of my first test.

Week 6: I'm LOSING IT!

Thankfully, I am talking about my body fat, not my mind! I weighted in again this morning. For the 6th week in a row, I lost weight. I am down another 1.5 lbs from last week which brings me to a total of 14.8 lbs, or about 30% of my 50 lbs goal. I am pretty excited about it.


Weight Loss Summary

• Week 1: Lost 4.0 lbs
• Week 2: Lost 3.1 lbs (07.0 lbs total lost)
• Week 3: Lost 2.6 lbs (09.7 lbs total lost)
• Week 4: Lost 2.0 lbs (11.7 lbs total lost)
• Week 5: Lost 1.6 lbs (13.3 lbs total lost)
• Week 6: Lost 1.5 lbs (14.8 lbs total lost)

L-Five Trail Run Report (04.1 Miles)

I had an OK run today. No drama. I struggled a little bit with my calf muscles, probably due to trying to change my foot strike. Following is my L-Five Trail Run Report.

Length: 04.06 Miles / 1 Hours and 1 Minute

My training plan called for a four mile run today. In response to the lessons I learned as a result of overtraining, I have decided to stick to my plan unless I have a specific reason to deviate from it. Feeling good isn't a good reason to increase my scheduled miles--I will build up slowly. However, if I am not feeling good, I am OK with dialing back the miles or rescheduling or skipping a run altogether. I am also paying closer attention to the symptoms of overtraining so that I do not repeat my previous mistakes.

View from Northshore Trail

My Best Run Ever!

Yesterday I was planning to take a rest day since I am just returning to running after recovering from my symptoms of overtraining. However, I received an unexpected invitation to run the trails. The invitation came from a person that loves to run, but she only runs on the treadmill at our local fitness center. She's never run the trails because she is afraid of the snakes and spiders and all the other deadly things that are out there (chuckle). I've wanted to run the trails with her since I started my challenge, but I've never been able to convert her. Who is this mystery woman? I am talking about my beautiful wife, Jane!

Jane didn't feel like going to the fitness center yesterday but she knew she wanted to run. So she asked if I was planning to go running. I said that I wasn't--that I was going to take a rest day. She said, "Ah, that's too bad... I was thinking of running the trail today." I've never put my running cloths on so fast! Within minutes we were in the Jeep and headed to the Northshore Trail.

The Dad Life

If you are a dad, you gotta see this. No, it has nothing to do with running, but I couldn't resist posting it. Enjoy!

Strength Training for Endurance

Today I started a strength training program designed to help improve my endurance. I've never really done strength training before, other than a few push ups and sit ups here and there. So this is new for me. I tried to find somewhere online that would provide workout routines and would teach me the proper form. After some research I settled on TrainWithMeOnline. After an initial consultation with the online coach, I decided to start with a basic body weight program intended to build an initial overall base.

Today I started with the Body Weight Work Out #1. I figured I'd blow through it pretty quick and then I could move on to some REAL strength training. Was I wrong! The first group of exercises included a Standing Free Squat, Push Ups, Ab Crunch, and a Side Plank. I had no problem with the Standing Free Squat and the Ab Crunch, but I struggled with the Push Ups and the Side Plank. The exercises made it clear that I am weak in my chest, triceps, and my obliques. I kept track of the number of reps I was able to do for each so I can watch my strength improve over time. I only completed two of three circuits before going on to the next group of exercises. Once I am able to complete all the exercises with the full number of reps and with proper form, I will add a third circuit.

Learn To Run Barefoot

As part of my transformation, I am trying to change my foot strike to minimize the negative impact on my legs and body. I came across the following video that does an excellent job of demonstrating the correct running posture and foot strike. Enjoy!

Running Smart

It's amazing what a few days of rest can do for your health and training! A few days back I wrote about how burned out I was feeling. My trail run last Sunday was a disaster. I only went about 1.5 miles before I started getting the pain in my right calf muscle. In addition, I was feeling exhausted and really didn't want to run. So I stopped at the 1.5 mile mark and walked the rest of the way.

When I returned home I dug into the books and searched online sites so that I could learn more about how I was feeling. I was fatigued, wasn't sleeping well, I was irritable, and I had lost my enthusiasm about running. I was experiencing symptoms of overtraining. I also learned that the best way to counter overtraining is to stop training! So I decided to take a break until my symptoms subsided.

I haven't done a thing since my disaster run last Sunday. No running, no cross-training, no strength conditioning, just rest, rest, and more rest. I even stopped blogging (with the exception of my last weight loss report). Well, the good new is that all the symptoms have passed. I felt better yesterday but decided to give it one more day of rest before resuming my training. My run today was better than I've had in weeks! Here's a quick L-Five Trail Run Report.

Week 5: I'm A Loser!

This morning my wife called me a loser. Normally that would bother me. However, THIS time she was referring to my weight loss. Yes, I lost 1.6 lbs over the last week! Yea baby!!! That makes it a total of 13.3 lbs lost (about 27%) since I set my weight loss goal. I am pretty stoked about my progress!

I was originally losing weight too fast. But I seem to have been able to slow the process and I am staying within the 2 lbs per week average recommended by Weight Watchers. The major change I made two weeks ago was to start consuming the calories that I burned during exercise. When I first started, I ignored the points earned through exercise, and as a result, I was losing too much too quickly. But I think I have it dialed in now. I want to stay as close to the 2 lbs per week as I can. I realize as I get closer to my goal weight that taking off the pounds will become more difficult. So I will take what I can get for now and stop complaining!

I still have one concern about my weight loss. I wrote in my Symptoms of Overtraining post that I am concerned about losing weight and training at the same time. Right now I am struggling with fatigue, restless sleep, irritability, and a loss of enthusiasm toward my training. But I believe this is the result of overtraining, not because of losing weight. As a result, I have temporarily stopped my training until the symptoms subside.

That's it for now.

I never thought I'd be proud to be called a loser!

Symptoms of Overtraining

Last week I wrote about the victory I won over my mind. I was really tired and didn't feel like running, but I pushed myself further than I've gone since I started my Three in Three Challenge. However, in hindsight, I think my mind was trying to tell me something… I am guilty of overtraining.

I’ve heard the term “overtraining” in the past, but to be perfectly honest, I really didn’t understand what it meant or how to tell if I was doing it! So I decided to do a little research on the topic. The following is a summary of what I discovered.

Overtraining is "the state where the athlete has been repeatedly stressed by training to the point where rest is no longer adequate to allow for recovery" (Jenkins, 1998). Some of the symptoms of overtraining can include ongoing fatigue, restless sleep, irritability, loss of enthusiasm, and loss of weight. Tim Noakes provides a more comprehensive list, but these are the items that jumped out as issues I've struggled with over the last week or so. I will expand on each.

An Inspiring Video

Slowing Down

Due to my recent injury and in response to comments posted by my readers, I took a well needed rest day yesterday. I didn't run or otherwise exercise. Instead, I took time to ice my calf muscle and just let it heal. This morning my calf muscle was feeling much better. I probably should have let it continue to rest and taken another day or two off, but I decided to go for a slow and easy jog.

As I was on the trail I was thinking about some of the comments that were posted (yes, I read every one of them--thank you for the comments!) and some of the information I am reading in Lore of Running. I think I am guilty of trying to do too much too fast, and as a result, setting myself up for a more serious injury.

An Intro to Trail Running

I came across a short video about the basics of trail running. Beautiful trail. I hope you enjoy the video!

Click To Play

Where is your favorite trail? What tips do you have for those new to trail running?

5 Reasons Why I Love Running

I’ve had some people ask why I selected running as part of my Three in Three Challenge. Off the top of my head, I can think of five reasons why I love running:

1. Running helps release stress.
When I decided to quit smoking I knew that I would need another avenue to release stress. In the past I would reach for my cigarettes. Although running isn’t as convenient as smoking, running is definitely healthier!

2. Running burns calories.
This one obviously supports my weight loss goal. I could probably achieve my weight loss goal without exercise. However, I find that when I exercise I am also more conscious about what I put into my body. I make better selections when I know that the food I eat and the liquids I drink help to fuel my runs.

3. Running allows me to train for a specific goal.
I am a goal oriented person. As a professional project manager, I have been trained and conditioned to think about goals and to break down goals into manageable pieces. I have broken down my ultramarathon goal and running fits nicely into this mindset.

Injured : (

I had a great trail run today until about the last half mile. I was working on something new, trying to improve my running efficiency (more on this in another post). As I result, I was attempting to change my stride and was moving a little faster than I typically do. Everything was going just great until I felt something give in my right calf muscle. If you have been following my blog you know I have struggled with my left calf muscle. The left side has been feeling great. Now I've injured the right side. I guess injury comes with the territory!

I will see how I feel tomorrow. If it still hurts I will probably bike instead of running. Based on the experience with my right calf muscle, biking didn't seem to bother it. But I will play it by ear (or by leg) and decide tomorrow.

Have you struggled with calf muscle injuries? If so, what do you do to help them heal or to reduce the probability of a future injury?

L-Five Trail Run Report (09.6 Miles)

My long run yesterday was fabulous! But it didn't start that way! I learned a valuable lesson during this trail run that will help me to complete my ultramarathon goal. I posted the details in the "Laughs" and "Learning" sections below. But first, I will start with the context:

Length: 09.60 Miles / 2 Hours and 29 Minutes

My training plan called for a five mile run. I had already decided I was going to run the same loop that I ran naked on Saturday, partly so that I could measure the distance (I know, I'm sick!). From previous runs I estimated it was just over three miles. So if I ran the loop twice, I would get in about six miles, exceeding my distance goal for this run. I ran earlier in the morning than normal, so it was also cooler--about 86 degrees (yea, that's better!). I ended up running the loop three times for a total of about 9.6 miles. I will explain why I did the additional loop in the Laughs section below. First, here's a pic from the trail. Scroll down for the rest of the report.

Somewhere on the Northshore Trail

Week 4: Two Weight Loss Milestones

I continue to lose weight on the Weight Watchers program. This week I achieved two milestones. First, I have now lost over 10 lbs. Second, I was able to successfully slow my weight loss to 2 lbs. this week. As a result, the Weight Watchers system congratulated me instead of yelling at me for losing weight too fast! Here's the message I received this morning:

You lost again this week! Congratulations, and keep doing exactly what you’re doing!

OK, I will do that! However, I am no longer worried about losing weight too fast, thanks primarily to all the comments I have received from readers. I've learned that the early pounds are much easier to take off than those that I will need to work on later. So I am enjoying the quick loss now. I will take what I can get.

Running Naked!

I ran NAKED through the woods of the Northshore Trail this morning. No, I haven't totally lost my mind... I just mean something different than you might be thinking! Let me explain.

If you have been following my posts you will know that I have been obsessed with gadgets and stuff to support my running. Blackberry, Garmin watch, music, headphones, water belt, gels, cablebak, sweat bands, weighing myself before and after a run, tracking, recording, more tracking, and so on, and so on. It gets a little overwhelming after a while. Well, when I woke up this morning I decided to strip myself of all the nonessential stuff and just run naked.

AllSport GPS vs Garmin Forerunner 205 Mystery Solved!

I finally figured out the mystery of the inaccuracies between the AllSport GPS and the Garmin Forerunner. If you are not sure what I am referring to, please read my previous post on the topic.

I have been running with two devices--the AllSport GPS software on my Blackberry, and the Garmin Forerunner 205 watch. I noticed when I started comparing the information collected by the two devices that they did not agree on distance--sometimes up to a half mile off on a six mile run. So I set out to understand why and to figure out how I could fix the problem.

I kinda stumbled on the cause and the solution. Let me explain. I was reading an article on improving GPS accuracy when I decided I needed a simple test to see which device was recording accurately. I mounted both devices on my bike and then rode around the neighborhood, staying on the sidewalks, so that when I uploaded the data I could see it overlayed on the satellite images. I thought this would give me a pretty good idea about which device was more accurately recording the data.

Rest and Recovery Days

On my rest day yesterday I went mountain biking. I don't think I quite understand the concept of a rest day!

Well, actually, I am only joking. In reality, I fully understand that rest days are REALLY important. So why did I mountain bike yesterday? I'll get to that in a moment. For now, back to the purpose for rest days. In order to get stronger you must work your body to wear it down, but you must also allow time for your body to recover. It is during the recovery time that you body rebuilds itself stronger. A lack of proper recovery time can limit performance improvements and increase the chances of injury or overtraining. However, rest and recovery days do not mean that you can't do anything! In actuality, doing nothing on your rest day can cause your muscles to stiffen up. Some examples of rest and recovery activities could include walking, stretching exercises, core strengthening, swimming, and riding a bike.

Week 3: Continuing To Lose Weight

When I weighted in last Monday, the Weight Watchers online program yelled at me. Apparently I was losing weight too quickly. So I set a goal for the last week to lose less weight. I suspect you don't hear that too often! Anyway, in the previous two weeks I was not eating the points I earned through exercise. This week I decided I would eat my exercise points. However, I greatly increased my exercise over the last week and couldn't keep up with all the points I earned. I ate most of them, but not all of them. As a result, I still lost more than recommended and the system still yelled at me, but I am getting closer.

L-Five Trail Run Report (06.4 Miles)

I had an awesome trail run today. I was concerned that I would be too sore or tired from my run yesterday, but that wasn't the case. I woke up feeling good and excited about running. Here's my L-Five report for today's run.

Northshore Trail

AllSport GPS vs Garmin Forerunner 205

I've been having some problems with my AllSport GPS software staying connected while running the trails. On my trail run today, I dusted off my old Garmin Forerunner 205 and ran with both the AllSport GPS software on my Blackberry and the Garmin watch. I was a little surprised to see that they tracked different distances, almost a half-mile over the 6 mile run. I can understand a little difference here or there, but .4 miles seems a little extreme over 6 miles (around 15% difference???). The AllSport said I went further than the Garmin. Although I like the larger number on the AllSport, I have no idea which one is more accurate of the two.

Here's the maps produced by both solutions:

L-Five Trail Run Report (08.6 Miles)

For those of you who have been following my blog, you will notice I originally started with an L-Three report (legs, lungs, laughs), then added another L (learning) for my L-Four Report. Now I've added yet another L for my L-Five report. The new L is for "length" and is intended to describe the distance of my run and provide additional context for the other L's. So here's today's edition of my L-Five Trail Run Report.

Length

Today was my first run with the North Texas Trail Runners (NTTR). They hold regular club runs at trails around the Dallas / Fort Worth area. The run this morning was scheduled at Northshore Trail, the trail I run on a regular basis. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to get out there and run with some other trail enthusiasts.

NTTR, Just Before Departing MADD Shelter

Help Fight Leukemia

A friend of mine was diagnosed with Follicular Lymphoma (a form of blood cancer). He is participating in a walk to raise money to fight Leukemia. Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's evening walk and fundraising event. It is the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of people battling blood cancers and to commemorate loved ones lost. If you are willing to provide a donation to help a good cause, please visit his fundraising page.

How I Quit Smoking

Quitting smoking is easy—I’ve done it dozens of times! At least, that is what I used to tell people to make light of each failed attempt. In reality, quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life, and also one of the most rewarding.

I started smoking in about grade 7 or 8. The other kids I hung out with all smoked and it was the “cool” thing to do. My parents weren’t smokers, so smoking wasn’t a bad habit I picked up from them. It was peer pressure and my inability to stand on my own two feet that was my downfall.

Hydration Advice

I need some advice from the runners out there. I am trying to learn about proper hydration both on and off the trail. I am having some early success with my experimentation, but would love some feedback from others to help steer me in the right direction. I will outline specifically what I am looking for below. But for now, here’s where I am at so far.

I’ve learned from the comments on previous posts that hydration isn’t limited to something you do will running, but instead, is something you do all day, every day. So I’ve increased my water intake throughout the day, and that is working well. However, I am still struggling with how much (and what) to drink while running. I realized that hydration isn’t an exact science and that the combinations of people and running situations vary infinitely. However, I do think that by tracking my hydration I can learn about what works for me and use that information to improve.

Hot Ride

No, I'm not talking about a cool car... I am referring to the mountain bike ride I just finished! I rode with John again today. We started at Murrell Park and headed east for about a mile and a half. Then circled back to the MADD shelter. We rode almost 6 miles over an hour and change. It was hot... about 90 degrees. We went a little further than we did last time. I plan to continue to mountain bike as my cross-training activity.

Here's a map of our ride today.

Week 2: Losing Weight Too Quickly

You probably don't hear too many people complain about losing weight too fast. However, when I weighted in this morning with the online version of Weight Watchers, the system yelled at me:

You’re probably excited to be losing weight, but you’re losing faster than is recommended. Although it’s normal to lose over 2 lbs in 1 week, if you lose more than an average of 2 lbs per week over a 4-week period, this could pose health risks, such as heart irregularities, anemia or loss of muscle mass. Please slow your weight loss; your doctor can help you do this if you’re not sure how.

The Long Run

Today was my first long run in my training plan. Each week I will increase the long runs (jogs), with a few rest weeks (reduced mileage) mixed in. I was scheduled to jog four miles today (I know... for most of you reading this, four miles is your warm-up!). I picked an out and back part of the course that I know well and is more challenging than some of the other areas of the Northshore Trail. When I reached the 1.5 mile mark my calf muscle was hurting again, so I stopped for a bit to gently stretch it out. After about five minutes I resumed my jog. When I arrived at the two mile mark, where I was planning to turn around, I felt so good that I decided to keep going! I jogged for about another half mile, to just over 2.5 miles and then turned around at a small bridge (picture below).

During my jog back I was full of energy and loving every moment. I even started whistling an old classical tune I used to play on the panio when I was young. I saw a squirrel look over me as if I was a nut case (but then they probably look at everything as a nut). The jog back to the MADD shelter seemed almost effortless. I felt really good.