Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tempo Tempo

Raccoon for two quick laps -

Avg 6:45 for 6 miles

1   7:06
2   6:55
3   6:47
4   6:42
5   6:33
6   6:27

Nice negative splits.  Sadly they were brutal...legs felt really heavy.  This was the 6th day in a row of running.  It's time to rest the dogs.  I cannot run Saturday morning either, so it will be later on Saturday before I get back out.  My legs will like the 36 hour rest.

We are thinking about getting another whippet (dog).  They make it way too difficult to get a dog.  I think it is a sign.  "Dog People" are weird.

I got some of my Brooks running swag today.  Total buzz kill.  The t-shirts were too big, the shorts were the wrong size, and the other shorts go to my knees.  Maybe I am just too short?

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Anxious

I really want to get my miles up.  The abs feel better every day, just trying not to re-injure anything.  So for right now I am trying to play it cool.  Next week I will ramp the miles up a bit.  I will probably get to about 40 miles this week and then step it up slowly.  Last year this time I was a lot farther along.

My next planned race is Bix...so I have plenty of time.

I am going to our Atlantic and Ft Dodge offices tomorrow.  Five hours in the car for three hours of meetings.  Fun day.

No pop in over a week.   

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Catch Up

I haven't updated in a few days.  This thing is hard to keep up with.

Sunday -

I went to the gym again for 30-60 minutes...wasn't sure how I would feel.  Curtis was there and ran the first bit with me and the Feldman showed up to run with Mark and she ran with me for about 10 minutes.  That broke up the run nicely.

The the tri geeks showed up.  I couldn't let them beat me.  Pride is a bitch.  It was good though.  It forced me to drop the pace for 20 minutes.  I am guessing that I ran a bit over 6 miles.

Monday -

Good to get outside again.  Pete, Curtis, Jeff, Mark, and I ran from the gym.  Weird run.  We ran the first mile slow and then turned on the jets.  I didn't get anaerobic, but it was close. Mark and Jeff had no mercy. When we got back to the gym I did my core work and then ran a 1 miles cool down.


Tuesday -


Sushi for lunch at Myabi 9. Good.


I haven't been to Raccoon River Park for a while so thought I would head down. I did not feel great today. I forgot my watch and had to use my cell phone as a clock. boo. I ran too fast. boo.


Teresa dropped me off at the gym after. Did my core work and ran home.


Done.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Inside again

The weather was rough so I opted to run indoors today.  So did Pete, Curtis, Kristy, Christy, and Mrs. Brooks.  Sorry Striders, it was just a bit too slick for me.

Anywho, I ran 1:15:00 at a pretty easy pace.  I am guessing we got 10 miles or so in.  Curtis and Kristy went a bit further.  They logged 12 miles.  The abs felt pretty good.  I don't like doing all this core work but it seems to be working.

After the run we went to Gateway for some delish breakfast.  Too bad they were so slow...I really like their food.

Reno and I are going to see Alice in Wonderland tonight, Teresa and I already went to church, and Northern Iowa beat number 1 Kansas.  Another good day.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

151.0

Last day PT today went well.  First run post PT went well.  Me being awesome is going well.  This blog, well...


This was the first weekday in a long time that I ran outside.  Can you say 65? 


"65" 


Pete, Mark, Shauna (sorry, not sure how to spell Shauna...might be Shanna), Curtis, Jeff, and I ran from PLF.  Most of the group ran 4, Mark and I ran 6 almost.


I don't know if Shauna / Shanna will ever run with us again.  We need Feldman back.  That's not a crack on Shauna / Shanna.  It's a crack on Mark, Curtis, Pete, and Jeff.  Certainly not me.


Let's see, what else?  Anyone want to talk health care?  Yeah, didn't think so.  


G'night Gs!


Oh, I almost forgot.  I weighed 151.0 today, hence the title to this blog entry. 

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

It's on

I signed up for the Pikes Peak Marathon today.  Awww man.  Delsin signed up for the Ascent, and N & L signed up for the marathon too.  Time to get my training on.


Tomorrow is my last PT visit.  I think.  Hopefully it goes well and get to it.


Yesterday I ran at the gym with Curtis and Mark.  We started out nice and slow but picked the pace up nicely.  The weather is nice and supposed to be better tomorrow...but not better this weekend.  Boo.


Tonight I went to Dr. Ganske's (former US Congressman) house to meet Congressional hopeful Jim Gibbons.  Those of us that have been in Iowa for a long time know the Gibbons boys for their 10 state championship wrestling titles.  Jim went on to coach Iowa State.


Also there tonight was former Speaker of the House, Speaker Hastert.  Very cool.


I came home and had a little turkey chili and water.  mmmm.  Healthy schmealthy.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Great Weather

Nice day.  It was nice to see the sun shinning and the temps high.  So I celebrated the warmer day by working out indoors again.


Pete agreed to join me on the elliptical for 30 of my 60 minute workout.  I didn't want to push my luck by running after yesterday went so well.  Not too much can be said about the elliptical.  I hate it...but it works.

After my hour was up, I did my stretches and core work.  Almost as boring as the elliptical.

After going in to the office for some catch up, I took the dog to the park for a quick trail run.  Most of the trails we usually run were washed out.  We still had a good time and probably got 2-3 miles in.  It was nice to get him out for some good exercise.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Perfect Ten

No, not me.  Thank you for thinking I was a perfect ten.  Sadly, I am a only a solid 9.85.

We ran a bit over 10 miles at a "medium hard" pace.  It wasn't perfect but it went better than expected.  It was also faster than I expected.  We rolled out the first mile at just under 8:00.  After than we kept getting faster.

I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat wondering how the abdomen felt.  It's hard to answer...it felt strained the entire time, but good.  My form was good and my breathing was good.  The more I can relax, the better it felt.

Feldman, Downs, Swisher, and I hung together for the first 8 miles.  Feldman was putting pressure on us and pressing the pace.  With each mile our pace got quicker and quicker.  The last two miles we dropped down to low 7's, with the last mile at 7:03.

For the whole run we ended with 10.25 miles at 7:20 pace.  The last mile I could really feel the ab burning.  The good news is that is felt good after the run.

Thank you to Feldman for breakfast!  I "forgot" my wallet.  Swisher ate 22,000 calories at Palmers.  What a display.

Oh yeah, Nick put in 20 miles today.  He looked good.  Nice work!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Not Good

Boo, ugh, argg, rrrrr.  Whatever lame anger expression you prefer.  Today did not go well.


  • I hope that the deep tissue massage broke up some scar tissue and maybe caused some bruising or swelling.  That would explain why I felt bad.
  • It could be the poor diet I had today that caused extra pressure on my abdomen.  My weight was just over 154 lbs...right about where it should be.  My "fighting weight" is 147 lbs (ish). 
  • OR, it cold be that I am not getting better.  That would suck.


I had PT this morning and we went through the usual routine.  Recap, ultra sound, massage, exercise review.  My belly felt gnarly all day.

My run was very unpleasant.  I kept waiting for the muscles to warm up and relax, but they did not.  It got worse.  I failed to stretch prior to the run...maybe that was to issue.  For those tracking numbers, my "pain level" started at 4-5 and ended at 5-6.  That isn't terrible, but it isn't going the right direction either.

Sorry that this is not a very uplifting blog entry today.  I just didn't have a very uplifting running day.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Back on Track - kind of

Today I ran 35 minutes on the track indoors.  We had quite a crew today.  Jeff (aka JG, aka Pause), Curtis (aka Curtis), Kristy (aka Feldman), and Mark (aka Mountain Man, aka the Kid).

I am not really sure what the pace was but I would guess that we averaged 7:30s.  We got progressively faster.  We could barley contain Jeff...the dude was ready to go.

Back to me.  My abdomen felt okay again.  I feel like I am right on the edge of pushing it too far.  Physically I feel  really good.  It makes it hard to hold back when the legs and lungs are strong.

Return to physical therapy tomorrow for some ultra sound and massage.  The rehab seems to be working...I need to keep the core work going.  I will stretch, ice, and advil tonight again.

A little rice and fish for dinner and some American Idol.  I am living the dream.

Later kids...

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Brooks ID

I got an e-mail today that I was selected for the Brooks ID program.  Yeah!  The Brooks ID stands for...
"Inspire Daily" which is something I try to do.

I do not have all of the details, but I am stoked.

I love running and I love the Brooks brand for many reasons.  This will be fun to do something I love and represent the Brooks brand.  repeat...

Physical Therapy

I should change the name of this blog to "Chris Brooks Rehab".  I am still nursing a sore / strained lower ab.  Today was the first day back running at the gym.

I thought the blog would be a good way for me to track my progress.

Today felt pretty good.  I was supposed to keep my pain at a "5".  I think I did that.

The pain started on my left side and moved to the left.  The location was very specific.  I was still a bit sore from PT today.  The deep tissue massage made things more sore than usual.

I ran 4 miles in 30 minutes

  • walked the first 2 minutes
  • .70 miles at 7.5 mph
  • 1.2 miles at 8.0 mph
  • 1 mile at 8.5 mph
  • .5 miles at 9.0 mph
  • .25 miles at 9.5 mph
  • .25 miles at 10.0 mph
I am writing this almost 2 hours after the run and I feel good.  I do feel the ab but the pain is low.  Ice and Advil are on the docket for tonight.

Hopefully tomorrow goes well too...