Spin
Just got back from another good hard spin class with Jenn. Lots of climbs, and some "mountain bike" work - fast switches from high load seated, to higher load standing, to fast downhills, repeated repeatedly. Fun. Now its back to work.
Running Towards Fitness
Personal AwarenessThe ancient Greeks used to believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body not only went together, but were both critical for happiness and a successful life. They were also intertwined, meaning that a weakness in either area would affect the other. When I started this transformation I was overweight and full of excuses. And by overweight I don't mean just a few pounds - I weighed over 70 pounds more than I do now. I finally took my life into my own hands and started exercising. At the time, I had no idea where it would lead - to a stronger body, a happier, more nimble mind, and a chest full of race medals. Healthy mind, healthy body, indeed! It hasn't been easy, or without issues, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.
Upper Body
I didn't have much time this week, so we did a pretty basic upper body workout today. No machines, we stayed purely with free weights.
Dumbell bench: 20x35lbs, 17x40lbs, 8x45lbs each
Kneeling row: 3 sets of 10x45lbs each
Skull crushers: 3 sets of 10x45lbs single bar
Bicep curls: 3 sets of 10x25lbs each
Shoulder ...
90 Minute Elliptical
Does that sound boring? Well, it wasn't scintillating I can tell you that much. It was made worse because I did it at the Gold's on 290, which doesn't have music playing in its treadmill/elliptical room. The good news was that it was simple - just set ...
Workout
Today's was a pretty basic workout. Did five minutes on the bike to warm up, and then hit the weights. The goal was to take it fairly easy, just get back into the rhythm of things, and try to relax a little:
Bench press: 3 sets of 10 reps ...
30 minutes elliptical
So I needed a work break - despite my best efforts to sleep a lot before this race, tonight is going to last well into the wee hours of the morning unless things start going a lot better very quickly. So I headed to the gym. When I ...
Spin
Friday night spin class was brutal, and I loved it. Nothing quite like a six minute increasing climb followed by a 30 second double-time sprint. Ah, my aching legs. Last week, I was halfway concerned that I was going to throw up. This week, not so ...
Spin
I decided to take a page out of Martin's book today for my spin class. I did everything as fast and as hard as I could - and then turned the resistance up. I don't train with a HRM, but by the last sprint I was most definately ...
First Spin Class
Since I had missed my speedwork yesterday, I was going to do it today instead. That would have given me three hard days in a row though, so I decided on a little cross and did a spin class over lunch - my first one.
Spin for Runners
Just in case ...
Friday afternoon workout
Well, its Friday, its lunchtime, and you know what that means ... its upper body workout time! Anyway, today I worked out with Jason, which was fun. Did pretty much the same routine as last week, with a few variations. After starting out with five minutes on ...
Good news at the Gym
Well, I finally made it to the gym at about 7:30 this evening. I'm supposed to have some easy runs during the week, so I set the treadmill at 9:00 and did two miles. Unfortunately, I'm not able to let it go that easily, so I did the ...
About
I'm Richard Stanford, a fit, happy runner. Of course, that wasn't always the case. Dip into the archives to follow my progress from couch potato to sub-four hour marathoner.
I also like to cook, write, code, and play with power tools...
Personal Records
| Distance | Race | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marathon | 2006 Freescale | 3:54:07 | 8:56 |
| 20 Miles | 2006 RunTex | 3:00:08 | 9:00 |
| 30K | 2005 RunTex | 2:42:44 | 8:45 |
| Half M | 2006 3M | 1:42:57 | 7:51 |
| 20K | 2005 Decker | 1:40:42 | 8:06 |
| 10 Miles | 2005 Pervasive | 1:20:13 | 8:01 |
| 10K | 2005 Dublin Dr Pepper | 48:43 | 7:51 |
| 5 Miles | 2005 Turkey Trot | 37:01 | 7:24 |
| 5K | 2005 Margarita Run | 22:32 | 7:15 |
| 4K | 2006 Fila Relays | 17:24 | 7:15 |
| 1 Mile | 2006 Congress Ave | 6:23 | 6:23 |
2007 North Trail Half Marathon
I'll start out by saying that this wasn't a PR. Not even close. It was, however, a really fun race, taking place in the middle of a fun weekend, surrounded by fun friends.
Fun!
Going into it I knew that I wasn't going to PR. To be honest, I was more than ...
Update
Well, so much for keeping the blog current, eh?
I've been doing pretty well, most of the time. I'm currently in Dallas just a few hours away from running in a small half marathon (400 people, give or take) - and I've only managed to get up to 10.5 miles ...
Lunchtime Ladera
This was my third time to run Ladera Norte, and its actually getting easier. I walked once, about 3 minutes into the hill, for a minute (timed), then ran the rest of the way. Not that I was fast - the remainder took me a solid 5 minutes - but I ...
2007 BagelFest 5K
I'm very glad that I did this race. I almost didn't - the idea of doing something where I know that I wasn't going to come close to a PR was not terribly enticing - but I've done it every year since I started running, and its been a whole ...
Unplanned 3 Miler
Well... I know that I said that I wasn't goint to run today... but I did anyway. You see, at lunch today Thon offered to run his 3 mile hill loop with me this evening. Naturally I stuck to the gameplan and told him that I wasn't running until Saturday. ...
Rollingwood Revisited
I went to Rollingwood for the second time - or at least the second time since my recovery - and while ended up running a slightly different course due to inattention, it was a fantastic run. Last time I averaged a 9:41 pace (9:54, 9:30, 9:46) around the hills, and it felt ...
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Famous Marathon Times
| Runner | Time | Pace |
|---|---|---|
| George W. Bush | 3:44:52 | 8:35 |
| John Edwards | 3:30:18 | 8:01 |
| Carrie Sapp | 3:29:06 | 7:59 |
| Boston Qualifier | 3:10:59 | 7:17 |
| Lance Armstrong | 2:59:36 | 6:51 |
| Gilbert Tuhabonye | 2:23:07 | 5:28 |
| Paula Radcliffe | 2:15:25 | 5:10 |
| Paul Tegat | 2:04:55 | 4:46 |