Well, here it is...the second of two 1/2 Marathons in May. Expectations were low for a good time, but Mike and I pulled together to get a sub-2:00 finish. Actually was faster than the Flying Pig time, but not too surprising given this course was much flatter. Nicely organized race as well, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a good first half marathon to try.
Had an exciting driving race home versus a tornadic squall line of storms too, and won! Now it's time for some R&R over the next couple weeks to heal the achilles and ankle soreness, and give myself a chance to plan for the next race. Any suggestions?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon
Half marathon PR today! Today was the culmination of 4 hard months of endurance runs, intervals, and cutting a few worthless pounds of adipose. Really happy to have been able to break 2:00, and with room to spare (1:57:36). Extra special to be able to do it with my brother Andrew, who has been a motivating force for me to get up and go! Now I have a week to recover before ramping up again for the Madison Half Marathon on Memorial Day weekend. Now....a cold beer!!!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Today's Run - Final Tune-up!
Last tune-up before Sunday's Half-Marathon. Ran a bit too soon after a late lunch. Forgot how bad this is! After jog-walking the first mile in 12:00, I got two solid miles at race-pace (9:10-9:15) before a gradual cool-down. A little nervous about some left ankle tightness, but it doesn't hurt when I run, only when I walk or am sitting down? Weird. Gonna give it a go for sub-2 hours Sunday. I'll post an update with the results Sunday morning!
Today's run on RunKeeper:
http://runkeeper.com/user/jpvrabec/activity/33489644
Today's run on RunKeeper:
http://runkeeper.com/user/jpvrabec/activity/33489644
Sunday, April 24, 2011
10 mile run by jpvrabec at Garmin Connect - Details
Nice morning today! Just an easy 10 miler with the Flying Pig 1/2 one week away.
10 mile LSD by jpvrabec at Garmin Connect - Details
10 mile LSD by jpvrabec at Garmin Connect - Details
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Withings WiFi Scale
Back in January, I was looking for a better scale in order to help me keep my weight on the right track while training. I had owned a Tanita scale for several years, but it never seemed to measure weight or body fat% in a consistent way. In addition, in order to track gains and losses, one had to manually record and log your weight. Not exactly convenient. Using RunKeeper to track my runs, I had found via advertisement that there was Wifi-connected scale that would allow the user to automatically upload the data directly from the scale to RunKeeper. I felt like this would be a better way to track my weight changes without any effort. So I went ahead and bought the Withings scale from Amazon for $159. Not cheap, but worth it.
The appearance of the scale is quite modern. It has a very smooth glass surface and a very low profile. It runs on a pair of AA batteries. Set up was a snap and I was quickly able to get measurements of my weight, body fat%, and BMI displayed in digital right on the scale. I then set up a free account on withings.com, and now the scale automatically recognizes me when I step on it, and uploads the measurement data to my secure withings account via my home wifi router. Once the upload is complete, the wifi radio shuts off, so battery life is actually great.
Once everything uploads, it gets even cooler. The website interface is outstanding. Your measurements are displayed in graphic form in a very elegant way. If you are an iPhone or iPad user, there is great free app from the App Store that allows you to access this data as well. The nice part is all this is controlled wirelessly and without any manual input of data on your part. Just login to the site or open your app and the last measurement, as well as a line graph (scale fully adjustable) of your previous measurements (see below). There's also a very nice display feature in which the overall trend of your weight is displayed as a separate line, because the day to day weight may normally fluctuate by several pounds. The apps are especially nice as you can quickly resize/rescale the graph with a pinch of the fingers. Personally, I found that the apps to be much easier to use than the withings website, but it works well too.
In addition to tracking weight, it will track body fat % and lean body mass, and can be used to track height and blood pressure as well (separate accessory needed).
I've now owned the scale for 3 months, and am very happy with my purchase. I generally weigh in a few mornings a week, as well as before and after my long distance run each weekend to monitor hydration loss. A few times per week I will open the withings app on my iphone and check out my progress. Its been enlightening to see not only how much weight will fluctuate with hydration, but travel and sleep as well.
Yeah, its a pretty geeky gadget, but very useful. Send me any questions!
Josh
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The appearance of the scale is quite modern. It has a very smooth glass surface and a very low profile. It runs on a pair of AA batteries. Set up was a snap and I was quickly able to get measurements of my weight, body fat%, and BMI displayed in digital right on the scale. I then set up a free account on withings.com, and now the scale automatically recognizes me when I step on it, and uploads the measurement data to my secure withings account via my home wifi router. Once the upload is complete, the wifi radio shuts off, so battery life is actually great.
Once everything uploads, it gets even cooler. The website interface is outstanding. Your measurements are displayed in graphic form in a very elegant way. If you are an iPhone or iPad user, there is great free app from the App Store that allows you to access this data as well. The nice part is all this is controlled wirelessly and without any manual input of data on your part. Just login to the site or open your app and the last measurement, as well as a line graph (scale fully adjustable) of your previous measurements (see below). There's also a very nice display feature in which the overall trend of your weight is displayed as a separate line, because the day to day weight may normally fluctuate by several pounds. The apps are especially nice as you can quickly resize/rescale the graph with a pinch of the fingers. Personally, I found that the apps to be much easier to use than the withings website, but it works well too.
In addition to tracking weight, it will track body fat % and lean body mass, and can be used to track height and blood pressure as well (separate accessory needed).
I've now owned the scale for 3 months, and am very happy with my purchase. I generally weigh in a few mornings a week, as well as before and after my long distance run each weekend to monitor hydration loss. A few times per week I will open the withings app on my iphone and check out my progress. Its been enlightening to see not only how much weight will fluctuate with hydration, but travel and sleep as well.
Yeah, its a pretty geeky gadget, but very useful. Send me any questions!
Josh
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
10 x 400 meter intervals by jpvrabec at Garmin Connect - Details
Last speed workout before Flying Pig. Cold and windy outside, but I felt really fast. Last split at 6:59!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
14 mile run via Garmin Connect
Tough run today! Lots of cold wind, hills, and wet sandy gravel. This was the longest training run of my "Two Halfs in a Month" plan. Only 2 weeks until the Flying Pig 1/2 marathon in Cincinnati, so will start tapering volume this week.
First Post - Why I Started - Part 1
Well, here it goes! I have many thoughts running through my mind during a long run, and my thought on today's 14-miler was "I should blog about running". My goals will be to share the ups and downs of training, training tips I read about, talk about some of the cool gear out there, and speak out on other random things.
How the Journey Began
I started my journey back in October 2009. At that time my weight had ballooned to nearly 230 lbs, and my life was full of stress and poor coping mechanisms with that stress. Then, on a Saturday evening, between slices of pizza, bottles of beer, and levels of Call of Duty, I received a text message. It was my brother Andrew. The message was simple: "lets run a marathon". I nearly spit out my beer and laughed for about a minute. Sure, I had been in good shape just a couple years ago, even completing a 107 mile bike ride, amongst other bike races, but I was in NO condition to run a marathon, nor could I even imagine training for one. The most I had run at a time was 5 miles, and that was 10 years ago, and I did it just once! I had "sort-of" run for a few months each spring and fall in medical school and residency, but no more than 5-10 miles per week. I don't want to say I was too busy to exercise regularly, because that is a cop out. Some of my med school classmates had found time between classes and clinicals to train for and complete the Madison Ironman after all! I was merely lazy and in denial about my deteriorating physical health. Like most Americans these days, I like my comfort food, and love to wash it down with a tasty beverage or two. The problem was that as I became less active, my diet worsened along with it. Throw in the added stressors of having a child, moving to a new state to start a new job, and the "results" were in. I was fat. I knew it, but it took a catalyst to make a change.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.
How the Journey Began
I started my journey back in October 2009. At that time my weight had ballooned to nearly 230 lbs, and my life was full of stress and poor coping mechanisms with that stress. Then, on a Saturday evening, between slices of pizza, bottles of beer, and levels of Call of Duty, I received a text message. It was my brother Andrew. The message was simple: "lets run a marathon". I nearly spit out my beer and laughed for about a minute. Sure, I had been in good shape just a couple years ago, even completing a 107 mile bike ride, amongst other bike races, but I was in NO condition to run a marathon, nor could I even imagine training for one. The most I had run at a time was 5 miles, and that was 10 years ago, and I did it just once! I had "sort-of" run for a few months each spring and fall in medical school and residency, but no more than 5-10 miles per week. I don't want to say I was too busy to exercise regularly, because that is a cop out. Some of my med school classmates had found time between classes and clinicals to train for and complete the Madison Ironman after all! I was merely lazy and in denial about my deteriorating physical health. Like most Americans these days, I like my comfort food, and love to wash it down with a tasty beverage or two. The problem was that as I became less active, my diet worsened along with it. Throw in the added stressors of having a child, moving to a new state to start a new job, and the "results" were in. I was fat. I knew it, but it took a catalyst to make a change.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.
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