26.2 miles

3.8 mile run at lunch on Wednesday

2007-08-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

So I was still a bit sore yesterday from Purple Belt class but for the most part I was doing OK. So I decided to go for a run at lunch. It was a pretty good run. I'm osrta getting a little bored with that trail, I've run it so much. It was still a decent run. I need to do my GOG run tomorrow morning if at all possible. Tonight I'm planning on going to the Muay Thai class and then the Blue Belt class after. Then Saturday I have Blue Belt and conditioning class.

Run distance: 3.8 miles
Time: 35:14

First BJJ Purple Belt program class

2007-07-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well I got my third stripe last week. That means that I can sign up for the purple belt program which is what I did. So last night I went to my first purple belt class and I pretty much had my ass handed to me. But it was fun and I learned a lot.The biggest thing I need to learn is how to relax. I just can't go for it all the time , I have to take my time and move when the time is right. Another thing I realized is that I'm going to get a lot stronger. Because I am very sore today.I also realized that my wind is pretty good. Many people were very tired and I still had plenty left. so that was cool. The first guy I wokred with was Steve. Steve is an older guyand it seamed like he was tired from the very begining. He had pretty good technique but I was able to pass his guard and I think I swept him one time. The next guy I worked with was a younger guy who had his blue belt. This guy pretty much dominated me.We then did a pretty cool drill with everyone in class. It was a back drill where you started witha guy on your back and the idea was to escape the position. After you escaped or got submitted, your partner switched and you got a new partner. It was a cool drill and I got owned the whole time.

During Randori I did ok, I was able to pass Joe's guard several times. I also submitted Cory (She's a blue belt but to be honest, I used my strength to get her in a good position). I worked with Leandro who I think submitted me once and that was it.

I did pretty good with Joe. I think he may rely on his size too much. It was a good class though. I really enjoyed it but like I said, I am very sore today.

Next purple belt class is on Wednesday night.

Run at lunch BJJ tonight

2007-07-26T23:11:00.000-07:00

I went for a 3.1 mile run at lunch today. I pushed a bit too hard I think. My time was 26:10. Not too bad for not really pushing it in a while. It was too hot outside to be pushing it like that though. Still a good run. Some minor pain in my right foot but nothing unbearable. So I'll consider the run a success.

Tonight I went to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. It was a great class as usual. We worked on stand up and base, 2 front collar chokes and scissor sweep. It's a cool sweep and I think I was doing it pretty well. We went live a bit at the end of class so that is always fun too. Then, at the end of class, I got my third stripe. I was pretty happy. I've been going to class for 6 months now and now I finally get to test this stuff out on resisting opponents so I'm pretty stoked.

That's all for now, gotta go to bed. I'm tired.

Tuesday Night BJJ class

2007-07-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Another good class as usual. We worked on two escapes from the bear hug. Over the arms and under the arms. Then we worked on two guard passing techniques.

Bear Hug 1. Under the arms:
1. Move you right arm in between your head and theirs and place your forearm on their throat. Grab your right wrist with your left hand and apply preassure to their thoat.
2. Move your hips out and away from them, creating space between the two of you.
3. Move your right hand off of their throat, down and up under their arm pointing up.
4. Grab their tricep with your left hand and squeeze with your elbow.
5. Do the step in front and back foot work to do the hip throw.

Bear Hug 2. Over the arms:
1. Place both your hands on their hips and push awaywith your arms and your hips.
2. Move your elbows in on your stomach so they can't pull you close.
3. Once the space is created, move your right hand up under their armpit on to his back.
4. Grab their right tricep with your left hand.
5. Do the step in front and back footwork to do the hip throw.

Guard pass 1.
1. Grab both lapels with right hand and posture.
2. Grab pants at hip with left hand.
3. Keep elbows in.
4. Move from your knees up onto your right knee and your left foot. Make sure your left foot is back far enough so they can't grab it.
5. Keeping your right elbow in, keep hold of only one lapel.
6. Reach back with your left hand to release the guard and place their leg on your shoulder.
7. Immediately reach with your left hand across and grab their lapel. Thumb in.
8. Stack them up and begin to move around.
9. With your shoulder, move their leg out of the way and gain side control.

Guard pass 2.
1. Same process as above but they get heavy on their leg when you attempt to put it on your shoulder.
2. Press down on their knee to the ground.
3. You now should have your left knee up and your right knee down.
4. Quickly reverse your leg positions. Left leg down over their leg, with your right leg up.
5. Reach around their head with your left hand and under their arm with your right hand. Gable grip.
6. Move your right knee over their down leg with your left.
7. Move your feet out of guard to gain side control.

Like I said, a great class as usual. Next class is Thursday night. Maybe I'll get my third stripe. Maybe.

Early morning 3.6 mile run in GOG

2007-07-24T07:39:00.000-07:00

The alarm went off at about 5:30am, I hit the snooze once and then rolled out of bed. I was moving kinda slow so I didn't get out the door until about 6:00am. I ran the south loop which is the longer more hilly loop and is actually my favorite. My time was 34:58 which is a 9:43 mile. This is about what I've come to expect lately. This morning I had a bowl of oatmeal and an egg for breakfast with some water. I put some maple syrup in the oatmeal but not too much. It was pretty good.

Tonight I have BJJ at 7:00. Hopefully I'll be getting my 3rd stripe this week.

Monday, July 23rd rest day

2007-07-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a bowl of Raisin bran with milk for breakfast. For lunch, I made a salad and I also have a banana.I'm going to try to get my weights set up so I can lift this Wednesday.

Exercise plan for this week.
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - Run in am, BJJ at night
Wednesday - Run in am, Full body workout at night.
Thursday - Run in am, BJJ at night
Friday - MTB at night if possible
Saturday - BJJ & conditioning
Sunday - Run Waldo

The Plan

2007-07-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Exercise / Fitness Plan
The Goal: Loose 10 punds and get down to 170. This will put me in the top of the middle weight division for BJJ tournaments. My current weight is 180.5 witha body fat percentage of 13.8%. The idea is to drop my body fat percentage to 10% while keeping the same muscle mass.
The plan will be built around my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and running schedules. I'd like to incorporate at least 1 mountain bike ride a week, some crossfit type conditioning and weight lifting.

Fitness Schedule
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 3 miles in am BJJ at night
Wednesday: 3 miles in am Full body weight routine at night.
Thursday: 3 miles in am BJJ at night
Friday: rest day or mountain biking in pm.
Saturday: BJJ in am with conditioning class.
Sunday: Long run or hike.

Diet Schedule
Breakfast:

option 1: raisin bran, protein shake.

option 2: oatmeal with 2 eggs

option 3: oatmeal, fruit protein shake

Morning snack:

option 1: protein bar

option 2: protein shake

option 3: 1/2 peanut butter sandwich

option 4: banana

option 5 : low fat cottage cheese

Lunch:

option 1: Salad with chicken

Afternoon snack:

option 1: fruit - apple, banana, orange

option 2: protein shake

option 3: crackers, gold fish, pretzels

Dinner:
Sensible dinner:
spaghetti with salad
grilled chicken with rice and veggies
hamburger helper with veggies
pork with potatoes and veggies.

A New Mission/focus.

2007-07-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

I went to a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament yesterday. I was really cool. Seeing all of the competitors was very inspirational. I'm convinced that I want to compete once I get enough mat time in.

But If I want to compete, I'll have to loose some weight. I've been thinking about sheding a few punds all summer but have really done nothing about it.

I weighed myself this morning and I weigh 180.5lbs. In order to compete at my desired weight class I have to weigh 170lbs. 175lbs with my Gi on. So that means I have to loose 10lbs. I'd like for it all to be fat because I do have a little bit of a belly at this point in time. So that means that I have to measure my body fat and create a plan to loose weight. My biggest struggle is with my diet. It's not too bad but I do like sweets and I do eat fast food quite a bit. I also drink WAY WAY too much soda. So all of that needs to change.

today I'm going to come up witha plan and take my body fat measurements.

The plan will consist of an eating plan and a workout plan. The goal is to get down to 170 in the next 6 weeks.

THE INCLINE!

2007-07-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

This morning I did the incline. I got out of my car at about 8:28am and jogged up to the Barr Trail parking area. I then started my timer at the trail head to the incline. It took me 45 minutes to reach the top. Including my time to the parking lot, I was at the top of the incline at 9:20 or so. I cooled dow for about 5 minutes and then procceded to hike up the back trail that leads around to Barr Trail. There is a short cut trail down to Barr trail but it's not a real trail. It's been made by people who don't want to go all the way around. It's what you call a social trail. Anyway, I then ran back down Barr trail to the parking area and then down Ruxton to my car. The time when I reached my car was 10:12. So the whole trip took me about 1:45 or so. Not too bad. I'd like to get that down to 1:30 or maybe even 1:15. That would be nice.

Early morning 3.1 mile run

2007-07-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

Went out and ran this morning in Garden of the Gods. Just took it easy to see how my foot felt and I'm happy to report that my foot is feeling pretty good. It's still a little sore in areas but it felt fine after the run and all day. I even went to BJJ class tonight and had no trouble so maybe it was just some kind of minor bruise or something. I'm glad it's better. I'm thinking about doing the incline this Sunday. Should be a good workout.

That's all for now.

My foot still hurts

2007-07-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

The combination of going to bed late and my foot still hurting has cuased me not to run. I have to admit, I have a slight motivation problem going on right now. I'm sure one my foot feels better that I will be ready to run again. so it looks like I'll be taking some more time off. I'm hoping to maybe run on Friday and then again on Sunday.

We will see.

I haven't posted in a while but I'm back

2007-07-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

I was out of town for a week and to be honest, I needed to take a few days off to re-evaluate my running. The purpose of the re-evaluation was to make sure that I'm still having fun running. I don't want it to become like a job for me and some of those Sunday long runs were starting to have that feel. So the best thing for me to do when I feel like that is to take some time off.

Last week I was in California and I did manage to go for about a 40 minute run on the beach. I took the Ipod and it was early in the morning so it was a good run.

Yesterday I went and did Waldo Canyon. My time ended up being 1:36. Not terrible but not great either. It was good to be out there though. Some people on the trail are really kinda funny. When you're coming up on them, they just sorta stop and look at you like they have no idea what to do. Others just let their dog stand right in the middle of the trail as you're trying to get past. Many more people understand trail etiquette and try to get out of the way at least a little bit.

One problem that I'm having is my right foot. I'm not sure what I did but It really hurts. I did something during conditioning class on Saturday. Like I said, not sure whatbut it hurts. It's a little better today. I am planning on running tomorrow so I'll see how it feels in the morning.

5 mile run on July 4th, 3.5 miler on the 5th.

2007-07-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Had a couple of good runs over the past couple of days. Although it was pretty hot on the 4th for the 5 miler. Right foot still has some soreness. Also have some kinks in other places but nothing major. I've got a 3 miler planned for today , then BJJ and conditioning class tomorrow and a 7 miler on Sunday.

BJJ yesterday and took today off.

2007-07-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Monday night I went ot my BJJ class to find that they are changing the school's scedule again. This is the 3rd schedule in 6 months. I don't think it will be that bad. I'm not really interested in doing Muay Thai , I'd much rather focus on being better at BJJ but the new schedule really supports it and it's quality instruction so I'll give it a shot.

I was supposed to go running this morning, just a 3 miler but my right foot/ankle is kinda sore so I decided to lay off. I'll run tomorrow morning and Thursday.

Tomorrow I've got a 5 miler planned.

I think that I'm going to BJJ class again tonight. I'm very close to getting my 3rd stripe so I'm anxious to get it.

Long run on Sunday in Garden of the Gods

2007-07-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I went to BJJ class and then to conditioning class after. I was spent after conditioning class.

Saturday night the kids and I slept in the tent out in the backyard. It wasn't as bad as last time but my back kinda got tweaked. Then I went to Pioneer and got the last few flagstones for our front walk. Man those things are heavy. Went home and placed the stones where they need to be. Then it was just really really hot, so we went to the pool. Hung out at the pool for a while and a friend invited us over to their house for dinner. I realized that if I was going to run that I would have to do it right then.

So it was still kinda hot out but I ran anyway. I was supposed to run 10 miles but I only ended up running about 8.75 miles. I've discovered that while I really love trail running, the trail miles are a lot harder then the road miles. I'm thinking that my next long run will be on a flat trail instead of the hilly rocky stuff in Garden of the Gods.

My next run is on Tuesday morning. I think it will be a 3 or 4 miler.

3.1 mile morning run in GOG

2007-06-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well today was a rest day but I was feeling pretty good after my run yesterday and I did miss a run earlier this week so I decided to get up a go for a 3 miler this morning in Garden of the Gods.

I was a pretty good run. I saw a bunch of deer out there. I really like that loop.

Tomorrow I have BJJ and on Sunday I have a long 10 mile run.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 31:41

3.1 miles at lunch - Monument Valley Park

2007-06-28T16:07:00.001-07:00

An easy three mile run at lunch. I just took it easy. My legs and joints were all fine. Bottom of foot is fine. Felt really good. Tried to focus the whole time on staying relaxed.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 27:18

Rest day tomorrow, Saturday is BJJ and conditioning. Sunday is 10 mile long run in GOG.

Wednesday 4.84 mile run in GOG

2007-06-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

It was a great morning for a run. I'm still having trouble dragging my butt out of be at 5:30am but I was pretty much able to do it today and was out of the house by 5:45. Just took it easy. My knees, ankles and the bottom of my right foot are a little sore but nothing too bad.I'm thinking that I may need some different shoes. The ones I have aren't really working too well for me right now.

Here are the shoes I have:

Here is the old version of the shoe:

I'm not sure what they've changed but I'm not liking it at all.

I'm hoping to break these shoes in over the next month or so and see if I'll be able to run another marathon in them. If not, I'll get another pair of shoes to start training in and use for the marathon.

Tomorrow, I have a 3 miler scheduled. I remember when a three miler seemed like a pretty decent run. Now it's not much of an effort. funny.

A little worn down, missed my 3 miler.

2007-06-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well I think the long run on Sunday including the wipe out, then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu last night has really taken a lot out of me. I didn't get up to run this morning. I really needed the rest. I'm actually really glad that I didn't run. I feel pretty good right now. I may run later tonight if I have time and it cools off a bit. We're sorta going through a hot spell right now.

Tomorrow I have a 5 miler scheduled and then a 3 miler on Thursday.

BJJ on Saturday and a 9 miler on Sunday

2007-06-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to BJJ class on saturday morning and conditioning class after. Then On Sunday evening I went for a 9 mile run in garden of the gods. BJJ was awesome as always. I'm about 3 weeks away from getting my 3rd stripe. I'm pretty stoked about it. Conditioning class is always hard but in a good way.

Sunday night I went for a long run in Garden of the Gods. It was a pretty good run. I"m pretty tired. I got a little lazy on the way back and didn't pick my feet up enough, so I tripped over a root and fell down pretty hard. Surprisingly, I didn't get too banged up. I've got a feeling that my right hip will be sore tomorrow.

I also did some work out in the yard this weekend, fixed the sprinkler valve and got some more flagstones for the front walk.

Thursday morning 3 miler in GOG

2007-06-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up feeling pretty good. My right foot was a bit sore but nothing too bad. I went out to run and felt fine the whole way. I did my normal 3.1 mile north loop but this time I did it backwards to mix it up a bit. I saw only a few other people. It was a really good run. Time wasn't great. I'm still holding around 10 minute miles but I'm sure that will improve with time.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 31:07

Tomorrow is a rest day. Nothing planned. Saturday I have BJJ. Sunday is my long run, 9 miles.

Wednesday morning 4.84 mile run in GOG

2007-06-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

Ran my figure 8 loop in Garden of the Gods. Even though I had to stop and walk twice, I still ran the loop a little faster than I did the last time I ran it. Not sure what is up. I guess that I've done most of my training on flat trails so the hilly terrain of GOG is really taking it out of me. There's only one way to cure that,... Run more hills! So that's what i intend to do. It was a really nice morning out there today. I saw three deer and a bunch of bunnies.

Distance: 4.84 miles
Time: 50:18

Tomorrow I've got a 3 miler planned.

Tuesday 3 mile run in am

2007-06-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Went to Brazilian Jui Jitsu last night. It was a really good class. We worked on the front collar choke from guard and three variations of the scissor sweep. Really cool stuff. That scissor sweep really needs to be set up well.

Ran three miles in Garden of the Gods north loop this morning. Felt ok, just took it slow. It was a beautiful morning in the garden. I saw a bunch of people out there.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Time: 31:08

Tomorrow I have a 4 miler scheduled.

Missed my long run

2007-06-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

The conditioning class from BJJ on saturday was a little tougher than I thought it was going to be. I woke up on Sunday very sore. I decided that I wasn't going to run. I've also reconsidered my training schedule and have decided to go with a slightly less agressive schedule. From now on I'll be doing BJJ on Monday's and Saturdays, smaller runs on Tues, Wed, Thurs, rest day on Friday and a long run on Sundays.

Tonight I have BJJ. Tmorrow I think I'm running a 3 miler.

Saturday Brazillian Jui Jitsu and Conditioning

2007-06-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty much convinced that these Saturday runs aren't going to happen. The reason is, I love going to this BJJ school and I intend to go every saturday. Today I did the Blue Belt class and then the conditioning class after. Conditioning is tough but it feels good when you're done.

Here was the workout today.

1. Back extension "Supermans" 1 minute
2. Sit up stand ups 1 minute
3. 4 star spider 1 minute
4. Push off the wall abs 1 minute
5. Burpees 1 minute

5 rounds

25 minutes of continuous work. Well, not continuous because I took several short breaks. But still a great workout. I was sweatting A LOT!

Tomorrow is a long run 12 miles. Looking forward to it.

Early morning Garden of Gods run

2007-06-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

This morning I ran 4.84 miles in Garden of the Gods. It was really a great run. But boy was I tired and apparently I took it very slow. That's probably a good thing though. I've got plenty of time to increase my speed. The last thing I need to do right now is get impaitient.

Run: 4.84 miles
Time: 51:40

The rest of the week goes like this:
Friday: off
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 12 miles

3 mile run at lunch

2007-06-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

I was scheduled for a 3 mile run today and that's exactly what I did. I probably went out a bit too fast and tried to maintain the pace and it was a bit too much. Next run has been slow and steady.

Run: 3.1 miles
Time: 27:02

The first mile was run at 8:26 pace.

Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run scheduled which I plan to do first thing in the morning at about 5:30.

Oh, I also got some pictures back today from the marathon in San Diego. Pictures below.

Yesterday was supposed to be my first workout

2007-06-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, I was supposed to do hill work yesterday but it was very rainy with thunderstorms all day so I didn't do it. Today I have a 3 mile run scheduled that I'll be doing at lunch. It's looking pretty dark outside by I am ready to run in the rain if I have to.

Monday workout, Crosstrain with BJJ

2007-06-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

I attend a Brazilian Ju Jitsu school twice as a week (Mondays and Saturdays) as my cross training. It's an hour class. We do a warm up that lasts about 10 minutes, then we work on some drills with a partner. After we stretch. Many times, we work on techniques in a live 100% resisting envoironment.

Easy run Sunday, June 10 2007

2007-06-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Today was my first run since the marathon. It wasn't too bad. I really wanted to check and see if my feet and knees were back to normal. Everything felt pretty good. I have had a headache just about all week though. Some kind of sinus headache combined with a freakish headache on the left side of my head that kept me out of work for two days. I also went to the doctor twice. Once for a visit about the headache and another time to get some blood drawn.

Here's the run info:

Route: Garden of the Gods north loop. Course Map
Distance: 3.14 miles
Time: 31:55
Pace: 10:10

Notes: My wind wasn't quite there. Pretty much the only run I've done over the past two weeks has been a marathon at sea level. I'm sure my wind will come back in no time.

The Schedule

2007-06-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

My problem with the last marathon was, I didn't give myself enough time to ramp up to the proper amount of mileage. This time will be different. I got a training schedule from coolrunning.com and I intend to follow it to the letter. Except I'm chopping off the first 4 weeks of the schedule. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons.
1. The race is on Sept. 30th and I don't have enough time to start from the begining.
2. I believe that my fitness level can handle the shortened schedule because I just finished a marathon.

So here's the schedule:

I just ran a marathon

2007-06-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the San Diego Rock and Roll marathon. My finishing time was 5:06. I'm thinking that this isn't too bad for a first marathon. At least I finished, right?

I pretty much got up to about mile 18 and was feeling pretty good. After that I had to start taking some walk breaks. My walk breaks eventually got longer and longer. My wind and fitness level was fine, the problem was the pounding on my feet and knees. I could have done more longer training runs I'm thinking.

The last few miles were very painful and when I stopped, I couldn't wait to get my shoes off.

Overall, I'd say that it was a success. Here I am less than a week later and I'm already thinking about my next marathon.

My buddy emailed me today and we're considering doing the Boulder Back Roads marathon on Sept. 30th of this year. The event is over 100 days away so I'm thinking that I'll have plenty of training time. I won't be starting from zero this time.

So this is what this blog is about. My adventures in my marathon training for upcoming marathons.

Let the running begin.