Swimming: 1,500 Meters (.932 Miles)

I swam 1,500 meters today (1 mile = 1 609.344 meters). It was raining today so I swam twenty laps of breast stroke and ten laps of free style. I went to BYU's indoor Olympic pools. It was a pretty good workout. It took me 20 minutes to finish. A calculator estimated that I burned 365 calories. That means that I can have only one piece of pie and come out even. I sure do wish I had the metabolism of a 10 year old.

Monday, 30 October 2006

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Today we had an exciting change. Nate Abbot joined Ben and I on our morning run. Today we did hill running. We drove out to the MTC and ran up the hill around the temple. We did that twice. It was quite a workout for my calves. They are really sore today. We ran 2 miles total, so about a mile of uphill total. It looks like Nate will be joining us on our daily runs.

This weeks training schedule looks like this:
Monday: Hill training
Tuesday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: Interval Training (Fartlek or Yasso 800s)
Thursday: 3 mile run
Friday: Walk 1.7 miles
Saturday: 5K (usually we will do a long run, but we are running a race)

Marathon Photos

Thursday, October 5

Today we took a rest day, and we only walked 1.7 miles. We decided to do a little 5K later on this month.

Wednesday, October 4

We all ran 1.7 miles today. Our paced slowed down to about 10 minute miles. That is good. I would love to run a sub 4 hour marathon, but a much more realistic goal is under 5 hours. If we run at 4:30 then I will have improved my PR by an hour. I would like to lose 30 more pounds by the end of the year. To do that I am going to go run again by myself this evening. I had too much ice cream yesterday, and I have to run it off.

Tuesday, October 3

Today we ran stairs at the south of BYU campus. We did 3 sets. I ran up the first set. The second set I jumped up the steps with both feet. The last set I ran up again. Ben and Melissa are more sane than I, so they ran the second set instead of jumping. It didn't kill me, so I guess I am stronger, but I almost wanted to die.

Monday, October 2

Today we started running. We ran 1.7 miles (actually all of our walks have been that far, but I have just been writing 1.5 for simplicity). We ran really fast. Ben has long legs, so I think he paced us quicker than I expected. We were running a pace of about 8 minutes per mile, so it was a pretty quick pace.

Saturday, September 30

Today we changed from our normal 1.5 mile walk. We all hiked up Rock Canyon. It was a little bit warmer today than it has been the past few days. I was so hot that I had to take off my sweatshirt. The view was really great. I am not sure how far we hiked, but it took us about 2.5 hours. It was a beautiful hike with all of the trees and bushes turing red and orange. At the end we could look down the canyon and see the lake. It was great. Melissa is a little concerned about her heart rate getting too high. With her being pregnant, she is not suppose to get above 150/minute. We will ask the midwife about that at our next visit.

Friday, September 29

Melissa, Ben, and I walked 1.5 miles today. I am feeling completely better, and I am looking forward to next week when we start running again. I am excited to be training for a marathon again. I am even more excited that I will have some company. Training with my wife and a good friend makes exercising SO much easier.

Thursday, September 28

Katie didn't wake up in time, but Ben was waiting for us bright and early at 6am. He has been bringing their Husky, Abby, every morning. It is fun to have a dog with us. Melissa and I have talked about bringing Sandie and Maverick, but we decided that the dogs would rather sleep. We walked another 1.5 miles today.

Wednesday, September 27

Katie Harris and Ben Parker both joined us for a 1.5 mile walk again. My legs are feeling much better. I have a slight pain in my ankle. We are going to keep walking for the rest of the week. We leave at 6am every day, and some days I really don't want to get up. I am glad that I have Mel and everyone else to help.

Tuesday, September 26

Melissa and I walked another 1.5 miles. It wasn't as painful as yesterday, but I am still really sore. We are trying to get a group together to exercise.

Monday, September 25

I was really sore from the marathon. Melissa and I walked 1.5 miles, and it helped to losen me up a little bit.

7 Miles: Wednesday, August 9

Got up at 5:10 am today and ran 7 miles. It was a good run. I can tell that I am slowly getting stronger. It is also nice that I am losing weight. I've lost 19 lbs since the beginning of this year. I am hoping that this week is the week that I get to the 20 lbs mark. Hopefully with the longer runs I will be able to do that and drop some more weight. That is key for me. The more weight that I lose the better off I will be for the marathon. Carrying 5 less pounds makes a huge difference. No more donuts for me.

Big Day on Saturday

This Saturday is going to be a huge day for me. I am doing 20 miles. Completing it will be a huge boost for my confidence. Once I complete this, I feel that I will know that I can do the marathon. All of my training after this Saturday is to help improve time and to better condition my body for the journey.

I am really wanting to lose another 15 lbs before the race. I have lost almost 20 so far. These longer runs, and walking home from work are really helping with that.

I am still walking home from work just about every day. I am resting the rest of this week before my 20 miler this Saturday. Next week will also be a light week (3 miles per day), and I won't walk home. Or if I am hurting then I will just walk home from work.

6.75 miles: Wednesday, July 12

Today I ran with Chad for the first time. We ran 1.75 miles together. I didn't want to run farther for two reasons. One, this was the first time that I had run since I hurt my knee last week. I don't want to push it and hurt it again. Two, this was Chad's first time to run. I think that he could have gone farther, but I don't want him to get hurt and have to drop out as my running partner.

Then I walked to work (about 2.5 miles), and I will also walk home another (2-3 miles depending on which way I go).

3 miles: Tuesday, July 11

I walked home again today (3 miles). I know walking isn't the same as running, but it does help me shed a few pounds. Every little that I can lower my weight, then it will just be that much easier on my race day. I think that I am finally starting to drop weight again.

Monday, July 10

I didn't run today, but I did walk home from work. That was about 3 miles.

1.7 Miles: Wednesday, July 5

Today I only did 1.7 miles. I got out about 3/4 of a mile, and my left knee started really hurting. I really wanted to keep running, but I don't want to hurt myself more. I just walked home.

I was going to run 1.7 miles, and then meet up with Chad at his home. We were going to run about 3 miles, and then I wanted to run an additional 3 miles after Chad went home. I showed up late at Chad's pad, because I had to walk back instead of run. Sorry Chad if you were waiting for me.

My knee doesn't hurt to walk, but it did hurt to run. I'm a little nervous about this. It is my first injury on my road to the Marathon.

I am going to take IB Profen. As I have worked with my doctor in the past, we found out that sometimes my knees hurt, but it is only inflammation from exercise. Taking the IB Profen helped in the past, and that is what the doctor recommends. We did a whole bunch of x-rays when I've had this problem in the past, and there is nothing wrong with my knees. So the plan is to rest, and hope that the pain goes away so that I can run the rest of the week. I will probably not run tomorrow, but I may go for a walk if I have time (we are going to a wedding, so it is going to be a busy day).

7.4 miles: Tuesday, July 4

Today I ran 7.4 miles, and I felt really strong at the end of it. I'm excited that I am getting stronger. It was a little crazy, because Provo was getting ready for the parade, and I had to change my route. It was also a little hard dodging all of the people who refused to share the sidewalk, but I am grateful for all of the people that were willing to give up 6 inches of sidewalk for me. Thank you for sharing! It helps to avoid sprained ankles that can come from running on the uneven ground.