I Tried the Eliiptical...and I Liked It!!

So, since my season never really got started  this year due to many things, I would think it would be a safe assumption to think I gained a few pounds. So right now my main goal has been going to the gym and now I am trying to lose a few pounds and I am doing that by swimming and cardio. I am really not into the treadmill and my knees are getting a little sore so I have found a new approach to getting in my miles.

The elliptical!

 

I admit, I used to think the elliptical was for old guys with bad knees and I also thought that you could not get a good workout. I really thought it was silly and the whole arm thing was a waste of time. But then to be fair, I had never actually been on an elliptical machine.

So, with me being an old guy with bad knees, I decided to give it a try after doing some internet research. (Internet research is basically useless in my opinion, I mean for every positive article I could find, I could also find a negative article).

It was actually harder than I expected. I wanted to start with 2 miles or 20 minutes. I am guessing that 2 elliptical miles does not equal 2 running miles, but I know 20 minutes is 20 minutes! I did not worry to much about calories burned or HR, I just got on it went. The surprising thing to me is how tough it was to use the arms of the machine. It really gave them a workout so much that I did not use them most of the time. The impact on my knees was nothing, but I think there is some benefit to this machine. So I will continue to use the machine at least twice a week, I will be hitting the pool twice a week, and I will be running on Saturdays.  Plus, I am still hitting the weight room every other day.

So, that is my plan. It's something new, it's something I can look forward too!

Here I Go Again...

I don't know where I'm goin'

But I sure know where I've been

Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday

An' I've made up my mind,

I ain't wasting no more time

Here I go again, here I go again

Man, does this song say it all! I have it in my head to go forward with a 70.3 race in October. So my training plan will actually start Monday, and here is a news flash, I am actually looking forward to it. I am looking to go long again, but not 140.6 long, but a half is doable. So I went and designed my training plan and I will be putting on it the blog weekly to help me be more accountable.

I designed this schedule with the idea of a three week build with a one week recovery. I designed it to have 2 swims, three bikes and three runs. The reason I chose the 2-3-3 is because I think 2 swims a week will be plenty for me. I am pretty comfortable in the water and I think the opportunity cost of adding another swim would not benefit me in the long run, so 2 swims it is.

The bike during the week should be something that I can do on the trainer if needed, but I think I might be able to get out of the Greenline once in awhile. For me, the bike is all about being steady and consistent. I am not going to average 25 mph on the bike, but I want to ride steady for the 3:30 hours I expect it to take me.

The run is always my opportunity, and I think it will be even more of an obstacle with my knees. This is the main reason I am giving myself a rest day on Friday. It is basically like I am starting over with running. I am running a 5K tonight with the family that I will use as a baseline of where I am at. I am not expecting it to be fast at all, but we all start somewhere right?

So, I am excited once again. I know this will be a challenge for me and I know it is one that I know I can do! So, come on and follow along on this ride.

Sometimes I Get Freaky With My Foam Roller...

Oh foam roller, you wonderful painful piece of foam I could not live without!  Oh how I love, yet hate you all at the same time.

Needless to say, the foam roller is turning out to be one of my most important pieces of running gear I own. This was not always the case. I mean, I have always used the foam roller, but I didn't really usseeee it, if ya know what I mean.

In the past, my time with the foam roller was short and sweet, mainly because it hurt like the dickens. This should have been a sign to me that I needed to spend more time rollin. But honestly, I was never quite sure how I should have been using it. Or how long should I be using it???

About 2 weeks ago, I was talking to a buddy that is a super fast sub 3 hour marathoner (something I will never see) and we were talking about how my knees were starting to bother me. The inside part of my knee is what was bothering me. So we talked about this and he mentioned that it was probably my IT band that was causing the pain! He explained to me how the IT band could be affecting my knees. He went on to say how spends up to 2 hours on the foam roller. He will search and search until he finds that sweet spot and then just work it out.

I have never been on my roller for 2 hours!!!

So I went home and did about 20 minutes.  Close enough right?

I rolled very slow and methodical and it hurt, but I could actually feel my IT band releasing after a few solid minutes on it. So I did the same thing the next night and the night after that. 3 straight nights I spent on the floor with my roller. And guess what?

My knees are feeling much better. So I am sold on it and I have been doing it just about every other night and I am loving it ( I really hate it, but you know what I mean) It's a lot like running, you may hate the mile you are on, but you love the end result. So if you do not have a foam roller, get one!

On The Other Hand...

Recently I read a blog post about what to do when your PR's are behind, or basically "how are you going to handle the fact that you aren't as fast as you used to be?" This really got me thinking because I have already been struggling with this.

I know I will never be like the 25-35 year old JFORD when it comes to physical activity. I just won't. My body has changed over the years (knees and wrists are becoming issues) recovery takes me longer than it did, and I am sure if I go curl up in the corner and think about it, I could come up with more, so I won't. But it is true, I am getting older.

Granted I am only 43, but I have a lot of years of sports on these old bones. I have even told my wife that I think I have maybe one more year of trying to be competitive (my definition of competitive). So I have to ask myself this, are there anymore PR's in my future?

On one hand I say no, it's doubtful. I do not have the same drive, the same ego, or the same confidence in my body that I use to have. I think this is normal, that as we age our body change, but it could just be a mental thing as well. But I honestly do not see me going sub 20 on a 5K (not that I ever have before, but it was always a goal) AND I honestly do not see me going to get my aches and pains looked at by a doctor cause I am a big wuss and I am afraid of what they might say, so I just won't go and will deal with it. So I expect a few extra non scheduled rest days here and there out of necessity.

But on the other, I can totally see me setting a new PR in the IM I am racing this fall. Beside the fact that I am racing Brad D at Redman, I actually EXPECT to set a new PR at he 140.6 distance. (So I know this post sounds weird, going back and forth, but this is the way I am thinking right now.) So maybe I am just going to be a long distance guy going forward, cause let's be honest. The longer the race, the less people care about your time, just as long as you finish.

I know I can beat 15:53 on IM (and beat Brad in the process), but I know I will most likely not go under 22 in a 5K and I have to find a way to be OK with that. As I wrote in an earlier post, PR's are forever.