The Kindzia Blog

6.75 Miles - March 30, 2009

I got in 6 miles this morning with Angela with 7 hill sprints at the end.  My legs are toasty at this point.  That leaves me with 6.75 miles to go to get to 500 miles by the end of calendar quarter 1.  I thought that would be a good goal to accomplish for the first three months of the year.

I did better on the hill sprints this morning than last week but still lacked any type of supercharged rocket boosters.  I think there was plenty of left over fatigue from the run yesterday.

April is in two days...holy cow...where is the time going?  Although it seems that time goes by so slowly in certain aspects of my life but then super fast in other aspects of my life.  I don't really want to have life speed up, that's for sure.  I'd rather figure out how to slow time down.  Yet, day after day passes by.  Sometimes I feel I'm not making any real progress with some of my goals yet I also feel I'm doing the best I can with my daily schedule.

In the back of my head I sort of feel like I have four months remaining to have all of my ducks in a row for the rest of my life.  It's a strange feeling.  I turn 40 in August and it's not a "mid-life crisis" type of mentality where I feel I missed out on so much of life but rather, "I'm supposed to totally have my shit together and well situated by the time I'm 40 for the home stretch" type of mentality.

I spend a lot more time thinking about "what a grown up is supposed to do" combined with a legitimate desire to do "grown up things" like worry about my long term health, financial security, legacy, meaning of my life, etc.  I don't seem to take certain things so seriously anymore but then in other situations, I take things far more seriously.

In athletics I can sense I'm less concerned about how I stack up to others as much as how I stack up to myself.  A part of that has been coming to the realization that although I still have room for much improvement, that is going to be the result of smarter training (getting more out of my aging potential).  In real terms, I know at 40+ I don't have the same physical abilities as a 25 year old using the same "smarter training".

Too soon old, too smart late.  Sort of a common thing in life.  It certainly holds true in finance.  I wish I would have known what I know now about fifteen years ago.  I'm sure the same will be true when I turn 55 and say, "I wish I would have known what I know now when I was 40!"  I'm doing my best to expedite my learning curve on multiple fronts in my life while I still have a few decades to enjoy the fruits of my labor (and much of it is a labor of love.)

By the numbers;

• 181.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 209 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 86 - Total days trained in 2009
• 3 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 6.00 - miles run today
• 37.25 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 493.25 - Miles run in 2009 

ING Inspired - March 29, 2009

 

I had 12 miles on the schedule today but was inspired to run 13.1 for all the ING 1/2 marathon folks out there this morning.

There was no rain but the temps were in the 40's with some significant wind so I opted for 70 degrees with no wind...and some UFC on the DVR...with my water bottle next to me...after sleeping in...Hey 13.1 is 13.1 and I enjoyed the run and that's all that counts.

The run wore me out.  I felt like a nap for most of the afternoon.  And I'm also obsessed with a book that I'm reading so overall just feel like curling up and hunkering down for the remainder of the day.  

We have another foster dog that Angela picked up today.  We estimate him at 2 years old and unfortunately he was seperated from his brother (and is a little bit heart broken over that - very sad).  But he's full of spunk and our other dogs (who are older) are a bit overwhelmed by their guest at the moment.  Lot's of action and doubtful that a nap was in the cards for me today.  We are not sure how long we'll have him but we heard that there is a guy who is willing to take both him and his brother and reunite them in a loving home.  That would be great.

By the numbers;

• 181.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 210 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 85 - Total days trained in 2009
• 3 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 13.10 - miles run today
• 31.25 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 487.25 - Miles run in 2009  

Another One - March 28, 2009

Another goose-egg in the training column today.  Zero miles run and no workouts.  We woke up early and headed down to the Georgia Dome to work the expo for the ING Atlanta Marathon.

We were inside the Dome all day but the rain was pouring the last two days.  So much that water was coming in any little hole/vent/leak in the roof.  Our booth was literally taking on water (INSIDE THE DOME). 

What I found a bit disturbing is what the engineering crew told us about the situation.  They mentioned that "As you know, the GA Dome isn't really in a very nice area of Atlanta (most stadiums are in pretty ratty areas of major cities and Atlanta is no exception).  Many of the little holes are the results of bullets..."

How comforting?

This is one of those races where the participants were lucky by one day with the weather.  Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful but the last two days were absolutely terrible with the storms.  If the race was today between 11:00am and 3:00pm, I'm pretty sure they would have had to cancel the race because of legit tornado warnings and thunderstorms.

I've got three days left in the month and I'll do my best to close the gap on 500 miles for the calendar quarter.  I'm at 474.25 so far so need just under 26 miles (a marathon) over the next three days.  I think if I can knock out 13 tomorrow, 5 on Monday and 8 on Tuesday, that would work.  However, if I miss it, it won't be by much and I'm basically on track for where I should be.  As much as I would love to have huge volume under my belt thus far, I know my body isn't ready for that yet and is already telling me that "OK, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR NOW."

By the numbers;

• 180.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 211 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 84 - Total days trained in 2009
• 3 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 0.00 - miles run today
• 18.25 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 474.25 - Miles run in 2009

Diluted or Beneficial - March 27, 2009

I'll be down in the Georgia Dome for the ING Atlanta Marathon working with Angela tomorrow.  The race is just another in a series for the expanding ING line of races but I would say it is nothing close to the epic ING NY Marathon (which was around for years before ING slapped its name on it).

The stats appear to be slightly off from last year but still a decent size marathon/half marathon at approximately 10,000 runners.

Someone mentioned today that there are now about 350 marathons a year in the United States.  It certainly makes it more convenient to find a race but my question is does the overall quality of the races start to decline at a certain point because the field is so downward diluted by the quantity of runners (or lack thereof) at each additional race.

There's only so many sponsors, so many vendors, so many volunteers (and so many runners) that participate in this athletic sector.

Although I believe that running and marathoning will always attract more participants that the sport of triathlon but I also think triathlon is in it's infancy much like running was back in the 1970's before the sport exploded.

Will more races be beneficial to triathlon or is it better that there are less races but bigger events?

In running, there will always be the prestige of the Boston Marathon (just like there will always be the prestige of Ironman Hawaii/Kona in triathlon).  But running was able to expand and invite many more people into the sport by having the races expand into geographic regions that made the races more convenient (and cost effective) for athletes to participate if the athletes could not (or did not want) to travel to New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. or London.

Running has been able to bring in bigger sponsors, more savvy business enterprises and run excellent events (with more competitors).  Is the future of triathlon going to follow suit?  Right now triathlon is still very "mom and pop" with many little race directors, in their tight geographic regions, putting on small events or there is WTC with Ironman races that are on the opposite end of the spectrum (relatively speaking).  Any Ironman race in North America still doesn't have the firepower of a New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon or Boston Marathon.

What would it take for the sport to get there?

By the numbers;

• 180.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 212 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 84 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 2.25 - miles run today
• 18.25 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 474.25 - Miles run in 2009

Getting Worked Up - March 26, 2009

Watch more Megavideo videos on AOL Video

I was reading Lucho's blog over at LUCHO'S BLOG .  He had a little mini-rant about something that annoys the best of us.  I thought I would share the above just for you Lucho!  You'll get it if you read his blog post and then watch the video.

But his mini-rant made me think of how many times my thoughts can be distracted, changed, formatted, and rattled based on things that I couldn't really control.  Then these things end up consuming me during my quiet time, my workouts, or my sleep time.

My most enjoyable runs are those that I'm able to run while my imagination runs wild.  I can daydream, think, ponder, smile and enjoy the moment.  All my senses contribute to the experience.  Maybe I'm smelling the fresh cut grass, nice smelling burning wood, seeing some bright flowers, wildlife while I dream and think about all the wonderful things about my life.

But other times I can be just as apt to go out and run with aggression because of something that somebody did (or what I imagined they did), said, projected upon me or others, etc.  Or I simply am not enjoying the run because I'm too mentally wrapped up in other crap going on.

I'd be curious to know if I end up running better or worse when I'm worked up versus when I'm relaxed and feeling groovy?  I never really monitored that.

As for today, it was pouring rain but I was able to get in a very nice and enjoyable 8-miler on the treadmill while watching CNBC.  It was one of those days where the time and the miles just flew by.  I actually forced myself to get off because I didn't want to have today's run impact tomorrows.

By the numbers;

• 180.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 213 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 83 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 8.0 - miles run today
• 16.0 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 472.00 - Miles run in 2009

Sleep Deficit - March 25, 2009

I'm on official standby for crashing due to some sleep deficit.  Last night I went to bed a little bit later than usual but more importantly found myself awake at about 5:00am and "I DON'T GET UP AT 5:00am like some of you nut cakes!"

My brain is working overtime and as I'm sure you have all experienced, when you can't turn your brain off, you don't sleep as soundly.

I'm not making any major fitness breakthroughs lately.  The improvements in my running are basically coming at the expense of my bike and swim fitness.  However, I'm in a phase where I am making enormous mental breakthroughs.  I seem to go in spurts in life. Much like a growth spurt while growing up, sometimes I just operate on a higher level.  This seems to be happening for me with work.  All of a sudden, things are just making a lot more sense.  I've struggled to piece together what's been going on in the economy, the markets and the psychology of the investor.  I'm also becoming more aware of certain individuals that are quite intelligent and WAY ahead of the curve compared to the normal investor (or Wall Street professional).  Going back over their processes and playbook has been an eye opener for me. 

I realized that I've been off the scent for quite some time at work because the media, politicians, public, pundits created an awful lot of noise.  This has been a tremendous distraction in making progress for me.  Keep in mind, the media, politicians, public, and pundits aren't the ones who have been succeeding lately.  So I took a different course of action.  I stopped paying attention to all the failures and sought out specifically items that "people/professionals did correctly."  It seems obvious to think about it but nobody is really taking this approach because they are all screaming at each other and blaming one another.

Why not just hunt down and dig for the nuggets that are there from the success stories and then backtrack why those people did what they did?

Think about it in triathlon or running terms.  If 95% of the people flop, fail and fall on their faces, should we spend 100% of our time analyzing those people or at a minimum mix in what could be learned from the other 5%?

Of course when dealing with finance, most people aren't going to know where to look or aren't willing to do the digging to find out where to look.  But that is like most things in life.  Very few people want to spend the time to really master a craft whether that is running, triathlon, music or a profession like finance.

I'm sure my progress is directly correlated to the amount of work and effort I am putting in (surprise surprise).  My reading volume is up substantially and my studying has been trending in the same direction as my reading.  In triathlon terms, I already had a good "base" in reading (lots of volume).  So when I added just a bit of intensity I really hit a peak :)

I should probably head to bed extra early tonight and make sure I catch up on a few hours of extra sleep.  If I don't get my sleep, I get a little cranky (and unproductive).

Tired legs today.  I definitely ran in "recovery mode."

By the numbers;

• 181.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 214 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 82 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 3.5 - miles run today
• 8.0 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 464.00 - Miles run in 2009

A Trade-off - March 24, 2009

I had/have very specific intentions to start increasing my mileage but as I review the previous few weeks, I don't really have any net increase in mileage.  I backed off the intensity a bit which I hoped would have paved the way for more energy to run additional mileage but I think the reduction in intensity over the past two weeks just allowed my legs to recover a bit.

So heading into this week I found myself on Monday shelled again.  Today I felt much better but rather than smacking myself with my scheduled workout which was five (5) intervals of four (4) minutes each at (I) pace (6:24/mile) I decided to do more of a Hudson progression run and after an appropriate warm up did 4 minutes at 1/2 marathon pace, then 4 minutes at 10k pace, 4 minutes at 5k pace and then finally 4 minutes at (I) pace followed by a cool down.

It's hard for me to audible the workouts mentally because as much as I know it can be a smart thing to do (react to how your body is really responding), it also opens an athlete up to consistently take the easy way out.  One thing I really liked about the Daniels plan (or my willingness to attempt it full on) was that I lacked any doubt in the plan.  I just looked at the schedule and then proceeded to attempt it with the confidence that I could do it if I tried hard enough.  I usually found that I could do the workouts and certainly made some good improvements over a relatively short amount of time (2 1/2 months).

However, I think it was really starting to catch up to me and thus I felt it was time to back off before I became injured.  So now I'm trying to use some of the methodologies within the Daniels Running Formula with the application of the Hudson method.  Hudson is definitely more moderate (although not to be confused with easy).

But if I am to really subscribe to the Hudson method, my overall mileage requirements have to start increasing and thus I'm going to have to learn where that fine line is between pushing myself hard enough to get faster and work the different fitness substrates but also give myself every opportunity to expand my aerobic capacity throughout the season as I progress to the marathon distance where I will really need that distance and mileage under my belt.

As for the new shoes, they felt great this morning.  I came to the conclusion that I waited far too long to change the shoes as there was a VERY dramatic difference between my new shoes and my old shoes.  I don't think I'll ever wait that long again.  Not smart, especially if I start really logging bigger miles as the season progresses.

By the numbers;

• 181.0 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 215 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 81 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 4.5 - miles run today
• 4.5 - miles on current pair of shoes
• 460.50 - Miles run in 2009

Special Delivery - March 23, 2009

I was upstairs when Angela walked into the room and handed me a package that was delivered.  My new shoes that I ordered from Road Runner Sports.  I had a gift certificate that was given to me by my parents for Christmas.  I saved it for just such an occasion like the need for some new kicks (thanks Mom and Dad!) 

I've heard the rules of thumb like you are supposed to change your running shoes every 400 miles but I also heard from a running shoe person that over the past few years, running shoes are much more durable than from years ago and really do last longer.  How much longer?  I don't really know.  I probably had closer to 800 miles on this pair and they were really starting to break down.  Further, my legs are starting to feel a bit worked over so why take a chance.

My new Asics Kayano 15's are looking good.  I get really protective of my shoes in the beginning.  I don't want them to get dirty, won't run in the rain with them and don't take them on trails until they are already looking beat.  I'll see how long I can keep these looking pristine.  I'm running outside a lot more now that the weather is nice so they aren't going to stay white for long as compared to being on the treadmill all winter.

Sometimes I splurge and get two new pairs of running shoes and keep one for indoors and use one for outdoors.  This way I can preserve one pair and keep them looking sharp.  I can't say this is rational behavior or logical.  Who cares what my running shoes really look like as long as they are performing well.  But, I still like my shoes!

I'm really tired today.  My run was slow and I had some poor performance.  I fell asleep late last night.  I've been begging to go to the bookstore the last few weeks and finally went with Angela on Sunday afternoon.  A purchase of three books later and I was like a kid with a new toy.  I couldn't put my books down.  Where I normally fall asleep by 10:30pm or 11:00pm at the latest, Angela can stay up much later than me.  I also can sleep with TV's on, radio's on, lights on, etc.  I finally forced myself to put my book down after 12:30am.  Angela was up and watching Bewitched and I Dream of Genie reruns (Is that what you do after 11:00pm???)

I paid the price today as I wanted to fall asleep at my desk during the afternoon.  My run was slow but that was because my legs were scorched from the last few days of running.  On Monday's I've been doing 8 second hill sprints (a Hudson technique) and this week Angela and I are up to 6 of them (we work our way up to 8 of them).  It was the first time that Angela not only beat me on a hill sprint but she beat me on 4 of the 6.

On the first one she beat me and I got ticked off so really focused and exploded off the start on the second one (I wasn't in the mood to get beat in sprints).  That wasn't effective as she beat me on #2.  I had a small bout of profanity and pouting on the walk back down to the bottom of the hill ready for #3.  I could tell Angela wasn't into "racing" but rather just trying to do her best so I tried hard not to pout and scream too loud.  I think I salvaged at least a B+ for a positive attitude and avoided getting hit over the head with a frying pan from the Mrs.  That counts for something.

By the numbers;

• 181.4 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 216 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 80 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 5.25 - miles run today
• 456.00 - Miles run in 2009

How We Change - March 22, 2009

I'm coming up on 40 this year and there really are times that I just don't believe it.  How did I log so many years?  When did I grow up? (Angela may dispute that I actually achieved that last statement...) 

I've often heard the saying, "You're only as old as you feel."  The weird thing is that I'm actually starting to feel old.  Not just physically, but more mentally and emotionally.

For example, if I were to back up exactly 20 years, I LIVED to watch, follow and engage in college basketball.  My two first years of college were spent on the basketball court.  As much as I loved playing, I didn't dream about playing basketball as much as I dreamed about coaching basketball and was moving closer to making that a reality.

Fast forward 20 years and at 6:58pm I sat down all excited to watch 60 Minutes on CBS.  Only did I discover that the NCAA basketball tournament is running overtime and that 60 Minutes will be delayed in the broadcast.  AND I WAS DISAPPOINTED!  Where the F%*K is my 60 Minutes?!?!  IT'S 7:00PM on Sunday night...That's 60 Minutes time in my book...SHEESH...

And then it hit me...I'm a masters athlete...and that's no lie...

Schnikees!!!

10 mile run with Angela this morning with the last two at M-pace (7:30/mile).

By the numbers;

• 181.4 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 217 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 79 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 10.25 - miles run today
• 450.75 - Miles run in 2009

Need To Pick A Few Races - March 21, 2009

Today I felt the urge/need to figure out at least a tentative schedule for the remainder of the spring and summer race season.  So far I have absolutely nothing on the calendar.  I know once August rolls around I'll be transitioning into very specific marathon prep and thus don't want too many other distractions from August through October 25th.

But that still leaves me with some time to do some other fun races whether that be some 5k's and 10k's, 1/2 marathon's, and also throw in some shorter course triathlons like Olympics and maybe a 1/2?

I need to check out some dates and kicking around some ideas.  I think in the next two weeks we should really be getting into some fantastic spring weather as far as temperatures so then it's just dodging the spring rain drops.

Other than that, I just knocked out an easy 4 mile run through the park at easy pace.  Tomorrow I'd like to get in 10 to 12 miles after sleeping in for a good chunk of the morning.  That will also allow the temperatures to climb a bit.  The mornings have been chilly the last few days (low 40's).

By the numbers;

• 181.4 - today's weight (January 1, 2009 weight was 184.2)  Goal weight for 10/25/09 is 165
• 218 - Days until the Marine Corp Marathon
• 78 - Total days trained in 2009
• 2 - Missed days of running in 2009
• 4.00 - miles run today
• 440.50 - Miles run in 2009