Week 2 begins and a new runner takes the field

So I completed my first of week 2 last night and I feel pretty good. I missed my goal by about 7m or so. Now knowing that the iPhone isn't the most accurate GPS device in the worked I could very well have hit my goal and not known it. Either way I'm still happy with my performance. I purchased, or thought I purchased 2 Compression Calf Sleeves from Zensah. Some how I only purchased 1. I have a second one coming now that I realized my mistake. I used the one after my run last night as I didn't want look like an idiot running with just one. Let me tell you, they make a big difference in recovery. My calves didn't hurt near as much today as they have in the past week. Now some of that could just be in my head but even if it is in my head, I'll take it. My wife decided tonight that she wanted to get in on it as well. She did pretty good and I'm proud of her. I think that it will be good for both of us in the long run. I hope that she can stick with it. Not to mention that I hope that I can stay faster than her. ;)

All that being said here are the results from last night's runs.

Vryce Day 1 Week 2

Distance 3.93km Time 29:47 min Avg. Pace 7:34 min/km

Avg. Speed 7.92 km/h Climb 10m

KAVIK Day 1

Distance 2.85km Time 29:24 min Avg. Pace 10:19 min/km

Avg. Speed 5:81 km/h Climb 43m

Week one completed

Normally I like to post these the day after my run as I am running at night. This one kind of fell to the way side. I have been feeling better and better with run. That being said these rest days have been really nice. So week two is beginning tomorrow night. I'm hoping the weather stays nice as I really don't want to run in the rain, but I will if it comes to it.

My last run was nice. I change my route and there was a nice cool breeze. Not enough to make you feel cold, but just enough to keep feeling refreshed, it was great. All my runs this week have averaged about 3.5km. I'm quite happy with this. Although this coming week I would like to break 4km, but I don't think that the change is enough.

I did change over from TrekSport VFF's to my KSO's and I must say that I like running in the thinner soles more. The ground feel was better and I was able to listen to my feel a little more.

Anyways, here are the numbers from Friday. I'm still proud of my boy for sticking with and helping me to stick with it as well.

Vryce - Day 3 Wk 1

Distance - 3.78 km Time - 30:03 min Avg. Pace 7:58 min/km

Avg. Speed 7.54 km/h Climb - 12m

KAVIK - Day 3 Wk 1

Distance - 2.83 km Time - 28.:37 min Avg. Pace 10:07 min/km

Avg. Speed - 5.93 km/h Climb 41m

And so it continues...

My last run was around my neighborhood, which is ok, but doesn't give me a good idea how just how far I have run. You can run 4 or 5 laps around a track, or in my case a big block, and it's just a loop. So this time I went a little larger and it worked out well and gave me a better perspective what I had done. I got all my intervals this time and managed to get a little more distance in. Even though my calves are a little stiff. I think I need to convince my wife we need a hot tub, but it's not going to happen so I'll take a hot bath this weekend on my 2 day rest cycle.

I've been doing my running in Vibram Five Finger shoes. Specifically the Treksport model. Unfortunately this model isn't good for road surfaces. The sole is a little too stiff and I've developed a blister on one foot just behind my toes. Don't get me wrong, I love these shoes. I'm just not going to run in them anymore, well not on roads surfaces, maybe trail running down the road. I'm going to start using my KSOs for running. The softer sole should work out better for me.

Now while running last night I did make a mistake and stopped my runkeeper app so I have 2 sets of stats for my run. It happens and I'll make sure not to do it again. On a side note, my friend KAVIK's wife has started running the same program on his off nights. I think that this is great and I'm proud of her as well. I mentioned this to my wife and she said, "I bet I could do it too." I'll let her think about the idea and then try and get her going on it. Any ways, here's how we did last night.

Vryce - Day 2 Wk 1 (part 1)

Distance - 2.68km Time - 19:39 min Avg. Pace - 7.19 min/km

Avg. Speed - 8.19 km/h Climb 5m

Vryce - Day 2 Wk 1 (part 2)

Distance - .96km Time - 8:53 min Avg. Pace - 9:14 min/km

Avg. Speed - 6.50 km/h Climb 1m

KAVIK - Day 2 Wk1

Distance - 2.7km Time - 28:34 min Avg. Pace - 10:34 min/km

Avg. Speed - 5.68 km/h Climb 44m

It has begun...

Last night was the first day of our running program. It felt good to be running again after a year, but I'll be honest, by the end of the program I was happy to be done. Having a C25K Podcast was big help. Robert Ullery did a really good job with them. I did miss the second interval so I am looking forward to my next session tomorrow to see what I can really do. If you do use a podcast I highly recommend that you listen to it/them first so that you will recognize all the audio queues. I know that I will be doing that for the Week 2 - 9 podcasts so that I don't miss another one.

So how did we do? You tell me.

Vryce - Day 1 Wk 1

Distance - 3.59 Km Time - 28:06 Avg. Pace - 7:50 min/Km

Avg. Speed 7.66 Km/h Climb 9m

KAVIK - Day 1 Wk 1

Distance - 2.81 Km Time - 28:56 Avg. Pace - 10:17 min/Km

Avg. Speed 5.83 Km/h Climb 44m

I'm almost a foot taller and fair bit lighter, add that to the difference in elevation changes and that is why I'm faster. Honestly I would have been embarrassed if I wasn't faster. That being said, I'm very proud of the numbers my friend posted. This tells me that he is taking this very seriously. I hope that seriousness continues in the weeks to come and the months to follow. They a journey begins with a single step. Well this is one journey I'm happy to be sharing with my friend, even if we are sharing it virtually.

Resurrection and a plan...

A couple of weeks ago a good friend of mine, KAVIK, got a wakeup call from his heart. It wasn’t as serious as it could have been, but it was serious enough. KAVIK and I have known each other for about 20 years now, I’ve known his wife a little longer. I’m 36 years old and about 180lbs. KAVIK is a few years older and let’s just say, more than a few pounds heavier.

So what does this mean to you. Well nothing really but I’m writing this as more from a motivational point of view. You see KAVIK and I live about 2 hours from each other but we have agree to start a running program called Couch-2-5k together. We both have an application for out iPhones call RunKeeper. This will allow us to track our progress and share it with each other. This way we can help each other along the way. I started to do something like this last year, but I couldn’t stay motivated about it. I figure that if I have someone to compare my results with, it will give me that little extra bit of motivation. Besides, I don’t want that lazy bastard beating me. For KAVIK, his motivation I believe would be his loving wife and two kids.

I'm hoping to see my friend this weekend so I can get him setup with Runkeeper properly and hook him up with a C-2-5K podcast I found. I'm hoping that this will be the motivation that I need to continue running like I planned to last year. Watch this space as we're planning on start our running after the weekend.

One more run before the freezing rain comes...

Last week we hit 19c for a high. For March that's pretty good and it was enough to get my butt out of this computer chair and out running. This week is much colder. That being said, I'm trying to make serious effort to be more active. So I ran my usual 1.3km tonight in 7 minutes flat. My calves are still a little sore, so I tried out some Tiger Balm ultra strength. WOW does this stuff have a strong smell. It's not a bad smell, just very strong. It's been about 3 hours since my run and I can feel it on my legs, kind of a tingling sensation. Again, not unpleasant, but just there. It's really helped the soreness in my legs. I'll know tomorrow if my legs don't hurt at all, then I'm sold on the stuff.

Hopefully I can get another run or two in this week without it being too cold. For reference it was 7c when I went out tonight. VFF KSO, Shorts and Long Shirt and my legs weren't cold. My hands did get a little cold, so if it's colder out next time, I'm going to need gloves. Sad thing is I used to laugh at those people that would be out in a jacket, gloves, hat and shorts running in the cold.

Vryce

Another day, another small run...

Yesterday, my calves were stiff and sore, so I decided not to run. I think it was a good idea. Today, they felt better, but still a little stiff and sore, but I went out anyways. I completed the same 1.3km run, although this time I was a little slower with 7:03 minutes. 8 seconds right now isn't a big deal. I thought about going a little further. I'm sure I could have done a full 2km, but I chose to give my legs a break. I'm sure that I'm still going to fell it tomorrow.

I watched a great video of an old Nova episode on You-Tube this evening. The show was about these people that they took who aren't athletic and over 9 months train to run Boston. 9 months, that's amazing. The video is about an hour, but it's worth the time to watch. I hope that it's able to inspire you the way it's inspired me.

Vryce