This is Tuesday so it must be Museum Steps workout night. Julius and Michelle from Phillyfit were there too. The group in total was a pretty good size considering just coming off the holiday. We met Giselle originally from Texas who is going to law school at Drexel. She was in much better shape and faster than us; but that's ok.
Today we did 5 up and downs; 4 around the ramps; 5 more up and downs and one suicide up and down. We finished up with some balance work and 20 pushups. Oh and it was 91 degrees out according to the Peco tower.
At the end I owed me 1 circuit around the ramps; 1 up and down and 10 pushups. I'm really going to have to get better at full pushups because bent knee pushups hurt on the hard sidewalk. I did my make up work and then Julius and I did a slow jog down hill back to Lloyd Hall. Julius also did the extra around the ramp with me.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Blue Trail - Ridley Creek State Park
This morning I set out to run on the Blue Trail at Ridley Creek State Park. Over the years I've hiked all of the trails at RCSP although in recent memory mostly the yellow and white trails. I studied the map before I left to get my bearings and then off I went. The blue trail is an out and back lollipop trail and, as I quickly found out, is not as well travelled as the others in the park. It is overgrown in some spots. I didn't mind that although I did a very thorough tick check when I got back to the car.
It begins with two decently steep descents with a small flat in between the two. I knew I'd be power hiking those on the way back. After that it settles into an up and down meandering. Next time I'll bring the camera. It had rained over night and I drove through a shower on the way to the park so the trail was wet but not messy muddy and the trees and bushes were lush and dense with humidity. RCSP is generally a quiet place to begin with and when you get on the trails it is even more so. I spooked a chipmunk in one spot, met another runner going the opposite way and one hiker with his two -fortunately friendly - dogs. On the return trip there were several fisherman out.
Fortunately I did not run into any kids on their bikes. They are not supposed to be on the unpaved trails in the park but I know they do it anyway. There were a few bad accidents in recent years. The kids thinks it's a cool place to get a thrill ride on their bikes. Unfortunately for them it's not cool it's just plain stupid given the steepness and lack of sightlines.
I really enjoyed the run. I did have to power hike the last 1/4 mile back up the hill to the parking lot and had to slow down to practially a walk in a few very rocky spots and to jump over a few tree limbs. I also went gingerly over the makeshift bridges because my shoes were so wet that I didn't want to slip but other than that I kept moving and feel really good about this run.
It begins with two decently steep descents with a small flat in between the two. I knew I'd be power hiking those on the way back. After that it settles into an up and down meandering. Next time I'll bring the camera. It had rained over night and I drove through a shower on the way to the park so the trail was wet but not messy muddy and the trees and bushes were lush and dense with humidity. RCSP is generally a quiet place to begin with and when you get on the trails it is even more so. I spooked a chipmunk in one spot, met another runner going the opposite way and one hiker with his two -fortunately friendly - dogs. On the return trip there were several fisherman out.
Fortunately I did not run into any kids on their bikes. They are not supposed to be on the unpaved trails in the park but I know they do it anyway. There were a few bad accidents in recent years. The kids thinks it's a cool place to get a thrill ride on their bikes. Unfortunately for them it's not cool it's just plain stupid given the steepness and lack of sightlines.
I really enjoyed the run. I did have to power hike the last 1/4 mile back up the hill to the parking lot and had to slow down to practially a walk in a few very rocky spots and to jump over a few tree limbs. I also went gingerly over the makeshift bridges because my shoes were so wet that I didn't want to slip but other than that I kept moving and feel really good about this run.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Fidgety
*Sigh*. Missed last night's art museum workout. It was Dave's Lions Club installation night and the timing was such that I could not do both. No big deal I thought. I'll just do a hill workout on 8th Street in Media on Wednesday instead. Ahh the best laid plans...
Woke up this morning with a horribly uspet stomach. Actually I went to bed with it. It was worse when I woke up. I went to work briefly to take care of one meeting and then came home and sipped ginger ale and green tea and slept alot. I had small hope to go out in the evening to run anyway. But that didn't happen either. I dressed for running and even went out the door but did not get very far.
*Sigh*. Now I'm still tired and fidgety. The nasea is gone though. I guess that's something.
Woke up this morning with a horribly uspet stomach. Actually I went to bed with it. It was worse when I woke up. I went to work briefly to take care of one meeting and then came home and sipped ginger ale and green tea and slept alot. I had small hope to go out in the evening to run anyway. But that didn't happen either. I dressed for running and even went out the door but did not get very far.
*Sigh*. Now I'm still tired and fidgety. The nasea is gone though. I guess that's something.
Monday, June 27, 2011
New running spot
Tonight I met Jen and Mark at Washington's Headquarters in Valley Forge National Park. From there, according to the map we could take a short walk to the Valley Creek Trail or head out on the Chapel Trail. We opted for the Chapel Trail because none of us had been on it before. The trail more or less parallels Route 23 behind the Valley Forge Chapel along the railroad tracks and river.
The description said large tracks of level trail with some steep hills. There was a lot less level than I expected based on that description and it was awesome. It is a 2.5 mile trail total. We ran out 1.5 and back. It was rocky and full of tree limbs and other trail obstacles and I loved it. I will absolutely go there again.
The really nice part about meeting here is that we could have done either trail. In fact, from there we could have contiuned on the Chapel trail and connected to the River Trail. I wouldn't bring the group here... I don't think everyone would enjoy the trail running and I'd be too worried about folks betting injured. But for the small weekday runs - where it's every person for themselves and not an official USAFit run - it's great.
I can see it becoming a good winter run spot too! It would be easy to put together 15+ miles of trail running from this spot. And if you add part of the Joseph Plumb trail ..well ther is one nice long run spot!
So long story short I had a blast tongiht! Who knew trail running could be so much fun! :)
The description said large tracks of level trail with some steep hills. There was a lot less level than I expected based on that description and it was awesome. It is a 2.5 mile trail total. We ran out 1.5 and back. It was rocky and full of tree limbs and other trail obstacles and I loved it. I will absolutely go there again.
The really nice part about meeting here is that we could have done either trail. In fact, from there we could have contiuned on the Chapel trail and connected to the River Trail. I wouldn't bring the group here... I don't think everyone would enjoy the trail running and I'd be too worried about folks betting injured. But for the small weekday runs - where it's every person for themselves and not an official USAFit run - it's great.
I can see it becoming a good winter run spot too! It would be easy to put together 15+ miles of trail running from this spot. And if you add part of the Joseph Plumb trail ..well ther is one nice long run spot!
So long story short I had a blast tongiht! Who knew trail running could be so much fun! :)
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Heart Rate Monitor
So using about half a dozen different formulas and calculators my max heart rate comes out to 175. I think I should test it for real some day but since all those different methods came out the same I'm using that for now. My resting heart rate - found by taking my pulse for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4 - is 64. That sounds about the same as when the doc takes it too. I really should test it when waking up in the morning but that means remembering to put the strap and watch on when I go to bed and reading it when I first wake up. I dont think that's likely to happen. So this puts my long run training pace at 130-147.
Today I went out at 6am for a 40 minute run. I can't read the heart rate icon on my watch without my glasses and I am not going to run with my glasses (I'd likely trip over something since I dont need them for much but reading and everything else is blurry) so I couldn't check as I went along. That was good anyway. I focused on running slow and comfortable and figured I'd check the numbers later. I ran just over 3 miles in just under 40 minutes.
At 7 the group met and we headed out for our scheduled 8 miles. I did not wear the watch for this part of the run. Today was 'run relaxed' day as I'm trying to get folks to get less absorbed in the numbers and run by feel. So I set the examle by leaving my watch in the car.
When I got home I checked. The average of the three one mile laps was 144. At the high end of the 'zone' but I think not bad. What I didn't do (silly me) was also note the pace. I deleted it as soon as I looked at it. I realize now that I should track the heart rate, pace and other conditions for awhile and see how things progress or change depending on the workout.
I'll start that next time.
Today I went out at 6am for a 40 minute run. I can't read the heart rate icon on my watch without my glasses and I am not going to run with my glasses (I'd likely trip over something since I dont need them for much but reading and everything else is blurry) so I couldn't check as I went along. That was good anyway. I focused on running slow and comfortable and figured I'd check the numbers later. I ran just over 3 miles in just under 40 minutes.
At 7 the group met and we headed out for our scheduled 8 miles. I did not wear the watch for this part of the run. Today was 'run relaxed' day as I'm trying to get folks to get less absorbed in the numbers and run by feel. So I set the examle by leaving my watch in the car.
When I got home I checked. The average of the three one mile laps was 144. At the high end of the 'zone' but I think not bad. What I didn't do (silly me) was also note the pace. I deleted it as soon as I looked at it. I realize now that I should track the heart rate, pace and other conditions for awhile and see how things progress or change depending on the workout.
I'll start that next time.
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