Raining hard here all day kept me inside

I think I am learning a thing or two about staying indoors when it is cold and rainy. I don't need to be sick, and neither does anyone else that comes around me.
I was planning a "long run" today by my injury standards, but the rain just kept on coming down.
Off to the gym I went and I ran 3 miles on the treadmill. After that I hit the legs hard, followed by some BOSU ball squats. I am definitely getting stronger as my legs aren't wobbling like they used to.

My new shoes: Nike Lunar Trainers were freakin awesome during my run. No wonder these were nearly sold out everywhere, even online until the first part of December.
I got lucky with mine by buying a pair of size 13's.
I will do a shoe review after a few miles and throughout their lifetime.

Totals:
3 miles treadmill
Leg workout: Leg press, leg curls, calf raises.

Crossfit here I come.

I did it. I signed up for an ass kickin.

The thing is, will I be able to survive the beating I'll get over the next year from these guys? I see this type of training as a necessity to my running. I need this more than you can imagine. As you witnessed during my fall marathon, I didn't quit. I am not one to give up easily.

When I was doing my own Crossfit workouts in the Summer/Fall, I noticed a huge difference in my strength and endurance. I also noticed my body fat levels were dropping. This is actually what I think helped me get to 3rd place in the Worth It's Weight Loss Challenge.

I told the main instructor at Rogue that my goal was to lean myself out and get down past 190. Not sure if that will happen, but we'll see. I'm in a huge slump and cannot figure out why.

My official Mohican 100 training starts December 1st. I need to set up something different on my Blog to track my workouts and progress. We'll see how that works out in the coming weeks.

How many pairs of shoes is too many. -For a man?

Okay. So, I bought another pair of shoes today. A nice pair of Nike Lunar Trainers -the Livestrong version. They ROCK!
Anyway, I called my wife and told her about it and she said: "Another pair? How many pairs of shoes do you have"?
At the time, I had no idea. I thought I only had about 10 pairs.

When I got home, I gathered up all shoes. Not just running shoes, and lined them all up.
Well, let's just say a got the one-fingered lecture about how she only had 3 pairs of shoes. Upon first sight of the pile, her jaw dropped and there was a long pause.
She counted 20 pairs, and I’m not 100% sure that’s all of my shoes. I have at least 3 pairs of working boots and a pair of yard shoes. That doesn’t count the roller blades, snowboard boots, etc. I can see I am digging myself deeper so, I’ll shut up.

Thanksgiving aftermath:

After eating a plate that resembled something like this above, I ended up looking something like this:
No, It's not me. I swear! But, I did feel like this all night though. So, I did what any person would have done. I packed up my gear and went to the gym when they opened and worked out for 12 hours straight. After that I ended up looking like this:

Okay, I'm kidding. Somewhat.
I went to the gym today for a quick workout. I did feel like a bloated Beluga Whale after yesterday.

I put in a hard 20 minutes of elliptical, and some core work and leg stabilization exercises.
After that I was warmed up enough to go to Chestnut Ridge Metro Park nearby.
This is a nice park with lots of hills.
It showed how out of shape I really was because I was sucking wind so bad.
That’s what happens when you are in a walking cast for weeks on end.

I ended up running 2 miles. My foot felt fine with no issues. I feel it is getting stronger, but I still need to heed some caution for a little while.

I am thinking of going and signing up for Crossfit sessions tomorrow or Sunday. I really need to get my sorry self in shape for the 2009 season.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

There are so many things to be thankful for. Be thankful for what you have and not for what you want.

Bad things are happening all around us, but don't give up hope for those who cannot share in this time of thanks.

On a selfish side note, check out my slide show to the right. These are pictures over the years. I'll up date them periodically.

Quick post of yesterday's workout:

10 minutes of stairmaster
Leg and abs workout



No running. My feet are sore form the POSE running the past two days. I think I'll go back out when it feels right. Just want to stregthen at this point.

The workout for today went really well. I decided to do a little running, and some elliptical work. I started out running without warming up my foot. Bad descision. I was about a mile into my run, and "The Twinge" came back in my foot. I decided I was going to stop at that point and walk a little bit. Not wanting to push it, I decided to hop over to an elliptical. This seemed to help loosen things up a bit as I cranked out 30 minutes.

Since there is an indoor track close to the ellipticals, I decided to end my gym visit with some POSE running. The track is only a 1/10 of a mile long, but still kinda nice to get some running drills in. I ended up doing about a half mile in POSE form.
My foot at that point did not bother me.

I went to my PT appointment, and they ended up letting me run a mile. Wow, two plus miles in 1 day? I'm moving up in the world.

So, I guess you are wondering why do I have a picture of Nelson on my blog? Don't know. I just thought I would upload a picture of him.

Rehab Totals:
1 mile treadmill
30 minutes elliptical
1/2 mile POSE running
1 mile treadmill (PT)

Who's the Dork in the Bright Green Jacket?

Okay, if you must give up on trying to guess, it's me.

I finished out the day with a short Ride around the 'hood. It was about 44 degrees out when I took off which is a lot warmer than this mornings' temps in the low teens. I put the aerobar on my bike, and nearly wiped out on a downhill. It's gonna take some time to learn to control my bike while ridding it.

I wasn't able to get a swim in today since I got to the gym way too early and the pool didn't open until noon.

My workout went really well. My foot had a few twinges in it. I'm putting these "twinges" off as nothing more than achyness from immobility the past month or so.

I started out on the elliptical and went straight into leg work. After that I decided my foot was feeling really good and I went back up to one of the treadmill areas for some POSE running. I didn't do much running as I just want to do a little bit of POSE running each time I go to the gym. Mainly to build up strength in my feet, but it seems wise to not over do anything new right now.

POSE running if you don't know, has you forefoot striking on the balls of your feet.
I practiced putting pressure on that part of my foot while on the elliptical and noticed the pain in my feet went away.

SIDE NOTE:
Congrats to Stuart, aka: Quadrathon on his 1 year anniversary of Ultra running. He ran the PCTR Pt. Mugu 50k today. I am assuming he did well, and will be waiting for a race report soon.

Also, a big congrats to Kim, aka: The Trail Goddess who ran a grueling 50k herself. The elevation changes on this course are nothing to laugh at. Can't wait to read all about it.

Rehab Totals:
30 minutes on elliptical
3.44 mile ride through the hood.
.5 mile POSE run on treadmill

Leg/core workout

Keep the milestones rollin in.

I went to the gym again for a workout. I was eager to hop back on the treadmill to test the waters. Seems all is well with my foot during the run. A few minutes ago it was stinging a little, but I just went and rubbed some dirt on it and now it seems to be fine.
I think my next run, depending on how I feel will be early next week. I wanted to go hit the trail over at Chestnut Ridge. Not sure it will happen or not. Must resist the overwhelming need to go run.


Good luck to Kim who is running the Slim Pickins Double Marathon in Ohiopyle PA.
Apparently there is a major winter storm headed that way for the race. Send good vibes her way, as well as all the other runners out there.

Totals:
Swim: 20 minutes
Run: 1 mile at 10:00/mile (I'm rehabbing my foot damn it)

Started out tonight with plans to go to the gym for a quick workout consisting of time on the elliptical and some leg work. It's getting harder to drag myself out the door since it has gotten colder and darker sooner.

I ended up doing 30 minutes on the elliptical followed by......a run on the treadmill.
It wasn't much, but I was able to run without any issues with my foot. It was a very slow mile, but still a mile. It felt good to finally do a little running. At least build a some confidence in my foot.

I finished out the workout with some leg press, calf raises, and 1 legged squats with the flat balance disks.

The P.T. is going good. I bought an e-stim device to help with rebuilding my foot. It seems to help a lot.
I still feel I am a ways off from trying a long run on trail or road. But, I am getting antsy about hitting the trail this weekend.
I keep telling myself I'm going to wake up early and go for a walk on a trail nearby but, by the time I wake up, it's too dark outside.


By the way, does anyone out there have any good resources for swim training/technique?
I have had issues getting the breathing down while doing my laps. It's not as easy as it looks.

If I can get the swim part of it down, I am thinking.......of doing something I said I would never do.....a Triathlon???? We'll see.

It's that time of year again.
I woke up tonight to let my dog out, and I saw this scene:

I guess, if it's going to be cold then let it snow.

My wife and I got back from a round trip to Tennessee last night. We started out at 5:00AM, and didn't get back until 9:00PM last night. If you've never been to Tennessee, you've got to go. It's so beautiful down there. We went to a town called Peytonsville which is south of Nashville to pick up something off of Craigslist. After the white knuckled, grey-headed drive back with a heavy load on the trailer, we made it one piece. I really enjoyed our drive through Kentucky as well. From what we saw it was really beautiful as well. Actually, I take that back. They need to tax all that Bourbon they make down there and fix there damn roads south of Louisville. I thought for sure we were going to wreck on the way back.

Took my bike out this morning for it's first ride, only to find it pouring down rain.
I went anyway, and rode a quick loop around the 'Hood.

I'll tell you, this bike is fast. According to my Garmin, I maxed out at about 19 mph, and that wasn't on a downhill.
Actually, I wasn't even trying.
Now, maybe some of you may laugh, but I could never acheive this on my MTB even on a decent downhill.

By time I got back which was less than 6:00 minutes, I put in 1.37 miles, and my chest felt like it was bleeding. Now, this is what I was in need of.
I stopped because the rain was relentless, and I was soaked from head to toe.

Foot update:
My foot where I injured it, is doing a lot better. For some reason, I've developed Morton's Neuroma on the same foot. My P.T. unofficially diagnosed this.
I think it is from not wearing a shoe for the past few weeks, and now all of a sudden it's getting irritated from new shoes.
If, you've never had it, just hope you never get it. It hurts nearly as bad as my injury did at it's worst point.
Apparently, it is a highly irritated nerve in your foot that is caused from flat feet. I can tell you, I don't have flat feet. I just think it is from this damn walker boot I have been wearing.

Isn't it illegal to hold someones hand while they're in a car and you're on a bike?

Hey! You're number 1!!!!!

Got my bike today. I was so excited to see what I have been missing all these years.
I need a name for her. Any suggestions?

The bike weighs in at 20 lbs dry which is less than half the weight of my MTB.
I added the Bento bag, and the Saddle bag for spare tools, along with the Profile Design Aqua Rack. I saw this on SLB's bike and thought, hey, I need to get me one of those for those long rides next summer.
I need to take it in to have the tires filled with air. The valve stems are so small. I've never seen anything like it.
The Specialized shoes with the clips are going to take some getting used to. Now all I need is a helmet and I will be set.

Anyway, I was telling my wife that I wasn't able to swim today because the "Arthritis Class" took up the entire pool, and she said "That's not nice, you need to call it something else" -Well, that what the damn class was called.
My workout went really well. I did my typical rehab stuff with the BOSU and balance disks thrown in, along with some leg press. I even hopped on the elliptical for 5 minutes.
As long as I progress cautiously, I will look forward to a run here in a couple of weeks or so.

Update time.

I have had ups and down the past week or so with my foot.
Right now, I am on the upswing of the rehab and things are looking better.
I've brought myself to understand I'll probably not be doing any real running until after the first of the year. In the meantime, I'll spend more time on the bike, and a lot of time on the elliptical, and in the pool.
I've been swimming, and working my upper body, and trying to stay off my foot. As long as I do this, I will be good to get back on track with training.

One thing I have been utilizing a lot is my BOSU ball. Just standing on it has increased the strength in my foot and legs.
Once I heal fully, this thing in itself will get a workout. I plan on using it a lot.
This piece of equipment is so versatile.

Tonight I went to the gym for some swimming and a little weight lifting.

I swam for 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of just walking in the water so the buoyancy would help take the weight off my foot. Seemed to help a lot. I also used one of those balance disks tonight to help rebuild my feet.

For everyone in the weight loss challenge, I have some coupons for free fast-food to (Names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent)Mac Donalds, Pizza The Hut (Yuck) and Dairy Scream below.

Eat up everyone!

Who can resist a Big Smack, Fries, and a cold frosty Coke?

Pizza The Hut may not be great pizza, but when you are starved nearly to death from a weight loss challenge, you'll eat anything. Give it a try today!

Finish off that fat-food I mean, fast-food binge with a cool, creamy dessert from Dairy Scream:

Quick upper body workout and a 5k row at home. Nothing major.

Foot has set me back a little the past few days, but my doctor said it would be like that for a little while. He believes it is a bad case of tendonitis at this point.
I definitely did some damage, but not to the extent that was originally thought. There is still some weakness in that part of my foot, but hopefully it will rebuild soon. Tendonitis is hard to fully heal since there is really very little blood supply to tendons.

SLB has been so gracious to host another weight loss challenge called: Swap Beat BRING IT!

I am gonna start the smack talk and let them all know I'll take them all down even with one leg!


This will keep me motivated regardless of the foot issues.

Great job Robin!!!!!!!
(Hope you don't mind me posting this)

I just checked the live results and saw that Robin, aka: "Gotta Run" did finish MMTR.

Check it out: http://www.eco-xsports.com/livestatsrunner.php?demoid=1231&race=2&year=2008


Rest up Tough One!

I signed up at midnight.

Will be a great one for sure.

Check out the site: Forget the PR - Mohican 50k

The race director is this crazy man: Rob.

He's just Tough as Nails, and really fast. Oh, and he likes beer. Good Beer.