Running Towards Fitness

Personal Awareness
The 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

Boy, I feel weak. This was the second weak chest workout in a row. And it was hurried, so I didn't to any tricep at the end of it. Started out with two 9 minute miles on the treadmill, then headed over to the weights: Bench press: 2 sets, 35 ...

Upper Body II

Lat pulldowns, wide grip: 3 sets, 100 lbs Lat pulldowns, narrow grip: 3 sets, 110 lbs FreeMotion Lat: 2 sets, 80 lbs Rhomboid row: 2 sets, 90 lbs Hammer Strength low row: 3 sets, 100 lbs Squat reverse flies: 3 sets, 15 lb dumbells Single arm cable vertical rows: 2 sets, 60 lbs Medial shoulder raise: 2 ...

Upper Body I

Whoo! This was a weak workout. I needed assists at the end of many weights, even ones that I'd done fine the week before. I don't know if it was bad diet, a lack of sleep, or what, but hey, it happens. I guess. Disappointing, ...

Upper Body II

Lat pulldowns, wide grip: 3 sets, 100 lbs (+10 from last week) Lat pulldowns, narrow grip: 3 sets, 110 lbs (+10) Rhomboid row: 2 sets, 90 lbs (+10) Hammer Strength low row: 3 sets, 100 lbs Squat reverse flies: 3 sets, 15 lb dumbells (+2.5) Single arm cable vertical rows: 2 sets, 60 lbs (+10) Those ...

Lower Body

Time to start working on an official lower body workout. I haven't spent my last purchased lesson yet, so this is just working down the machines. We actually started with some abs, then moved down: FreeMotion Ab - normal: 3 sets, 80 lbs FreeMotion Ab - lateral: 3 sets, 90 ...

Upper Body I

Bench press: 3 sets, 35 lbs (115 lbs total) Incline press: 2 sets, 20 lbs (85 lbs total) Dumbell press: 2 sets, 35 lbs (70 lbs total) Inline dumbell press: 2 sets, 35 lbs (70 lbs total) (+10 from last week) Seated flies: 2 sets, 80 lbs Incline dumbell presses are getting pretty close to ...

Upper Body II

This time I did upper body on Wednesday, since I figure that my legs will be getting a pretty good workout in Eldora on Friday. Lat pulldowns, wide grip: 3 sets, 90 lbs Lat pulldowns, narrow grip: 3 sets, 100 lbs FreeMotion lat pulls: 2 sets, 80 lbs (+10 from last week) Rhomboid row: ...

Upper Body I

Started out with twenty fairly hard minutes on an elliptical trainer, then moved to the workout. This one took us over one and a half hours, which is a little longer than it usually does. Need to pick it up a little next time. Bench press: 3 sets, 35 ...

Upper Body II

Today, we tried doing the Upper Body II workout (back/shoulder/bicep) with three people instead of two. It didn't really work as well as it did with just two. Maybe this will become the Wednesday workout with Jason and we'll do legs on Fridays instead. Or we'll figure ...

My legs are weak…

... and I really shouldn't be surprised. Started out by getting on the treadmill, which was a bit too optimistic. Every time I started running, I stopped about 30 seconds later because I'd identified another muscle group that was inadequately stretched. By the time I'd stretched everything, ...


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

DistanceRaceTimePace
Marathon2006 Freescale3:54:078:56
20 Miles2006 RunTex3:00:089:00
30K2005 RunTex2:42:448:45
Half M2006 3M1:42:577:51
20K2005 Decker1:40:428:06
10 Miles2005 Pervasive1:20:138:01
10K2005 Dublin Dr Pepper48:437:51
5 Miles2005 Turkey Trot37:017:24
5K2005 Margarita Run22:327:15
4K2006 Fila Relays17:247:15
1 Mile2006 Congress Ave6:236:23

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November 9th 2008
Tags: Running

One Comment

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (long)

I'll say its long - 26.2 miles when you haven't run more than about 16 all year is way too long! Let me recap my training schedule for the last two months, just in case you haven't been paying attention (or I haven't been posting it): September 6: 60 mile ...
November 9th 2008
Tags: Running, Races

No Comments

2008 Gazelle 10 Miler

It was great getting to see everyone today. I wasn't sure that I would race - hell, I knew I wouldn't race, I wasn't sure I'd even bother to show up. Packet pickup had come and gone without me, and I was out 'til late last night getting ...
October 26th 2008
Tags: Running

3 Comments

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (quick)

Turns out that yes, I was ready. Kinda. This was my first marathon since I started triathlon and the cardio benefits really showed - my breathing was always under control and my HR stayed low. My legs were really feeling the fact that I only ran ~25 miles in the ...
October 25th 2008
Tags: Musings, Running

One Comment

Am I Ready?

Tomorrow morning, at 5AM (EST of all things), my alarm will go off. It will go off again at 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45, just to make sure. And its not just one alarm, its a combination of the hotel clock radio, the wake-up service, and my iPhone. I think that, as ...
October 22nd 2008
Tags: Workouts, Swimming

2 Comments

Swim Clinic

My swim times have been, well, let's be nice and just say "abysmal." That's fine for now - at the beginning of the year I could barely make it to the other end of the pool, and just a couple of weeks ago I did a half Ironman. ...
October 5th 2008
Tags: Races

4 Comments

2008 Longhorn Ironman 70.3

Wow.  That was the hardest thing I think I've done - certainly including my first marathon.  The big difference was that I went into this knowing that - if I made the cutoffs - I was going to finish.  No question. And I did - some 45 minutes slower than I'd ...

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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Sarah Palin3:59:369:09
Will Ferrell3:56:129:01
George W. Bush3:44:528:35
John Edwards3:30:188:01
Carrie Sapp3:29:067:59
Boston Qualifier3:10:597:17
Lance Armstrong2:59:366:51
Gilbert Tuhabonye2:23:075:28
Paula Radcliffe2:15:255:10
Paul Tegat2:04:554:46
Haile Gebrselassie2:03:594:44

People I Train With

Alex - Addicted to Exercise
Carrie - Tri to be Funny
Erine - Thousand Miles
Frank - Running Blog
Gilbert - Gilbert's Gazelles
Jay - Leotian Blog
Mike - BROTH