Is this still a running blog? ;)

It has been such a long absence, which would suggest that I have not been running too much these days. At the beginning of 2021, I had such high hopes of running 2021 miles this year. HA! I will be lucky if I run 202 miles. Although running 2021 miles this year is about 5.5ish miles per day, I should have factored in our cold winters in the northeast when coming up with this plan.  

According to my Run 2021 miles in 2021 challenge (NYCRUNS), I’m at 137.6 miles. However, I’m supposed to be at 396 miles at Day #72. Looks like I have a lot of distance to make up over the next 293 days. Since spring looks like it is here to stay, it is time to get my butt in gear with this running challenge.

 
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I’m not sure of the last time I ran more than 3 miles continuously so I know that it is going to be hard to get back on that running horse. I have a tendency to have an “F it” attitude when it comes to running or getting back into shape. For example:

I’ll start running; realize that I’m not running at the level before a hiatus/injury; get frustrated; go on another hiatus; and the cycle repeats. Going into next week, I’m going to mentally prepare myself for thinking that I will be a complete struggle over the next few months. To prevent frustration this time around, I plan to employ The Galloway Run Walk Run method (Link: ***).

A few principles: continuous muscle use will lead to quicker fatigue; quicker recovery; regulation of core body temperature; run-walk-run is interval training  

Let’s hope that using this method will keep me motivated to drop my pandemic pounds or COVID chunk.

I was a little sadden to see a Facebook Memories post from two years ago.

 
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This picture was taken after I finished the NYC Half Marathon in 2019. Since I was returning from a serious back injury, I was pretty shocked and pleased that I ran the half marathon with a time of 2:11. Although this time was way off from my previous time of 1:45 in 2018, I was still so happy to finish this half marathon in under 2.5 hours. Yay Me. Besides the NYC Marathon, the NYC Half Marathon is one of my favorite NYC-based races. Why? Times Square is closed to automobiles only two times a year: 1) New Year’s Eve (obviously) and 2) the NYC Half Marathon. No wonder this race is $150+ bucks. Actually, I think the race in 2017 was a new course where runners started in Prospect Park (Brooklyn); ran across the Manhattan Bridge; along FDR; through Times Square; and ended in Central Park.  

Speaking of Facebook Memories, it has been a little disheartening to see some of my old posts from last year. More specifically NYC’s Lantern Half Marathon.

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Around this time, I was training to run Madrid’s Marathon. I must have been doing a long run hence running an additional 4 miles after the half marathon. I think this was right before in-person races (and everything else) was pretty much shut down. Now, that I’m talking about marathons, I have to see what’s happening with NYC Marathon this year. Also, I need to see when our Iberia Air flight vouchers will expire.  

We’re Gonna Pump You Up

Since I have been neglecting my running goals over the last few months (err year), I figure that I could start lifting weights at my local New York Sports Club [NYSC]. You know, something is better than nothing. Unfortunately, doing this is somewhat problematic because working out in a mask SUCKS. I’ll keep it real and admit that I sweat (a lot), and my mask becomes soaking wet after 15 – 20 minutes of working out. I purchased these “special” masks that are used by athletes, but I guess that my overactive sweat glands were too much for them. I reached out to some folks, the ones who have been posting selfies at the gym, for some recommendations, and it seems like these mask cartridges are the way to go. Fingers crossed.

 
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One other hiccup

My NYSC is probably one of the most raggedy NYSC locations in town. All of the weights and machines look like they are from the 90s (err the 80s). This does not include the fact that most of the cardio machines are constantly “being serviced”. Why are you a member of this gym? You might ask. This particular gym is about equidistant from work and home. There was another (slightly) nicer one closer to my apt, but it shut down during the pandemic.

*Back to my rant.*

Between social distancing and the limited number of equipment (mainly free weights), it’s been tough to do any type of supersets at my NYSC. I think, for now, I will focus on machine weights and not even deal with the free weights section at NYSC. Also, I plan to move my lunch hour from 3 pm to 1 pm so I can work out when there are not as many people around.  

All righty, I guess that’s it for now 

No, wait. My action plan of things to accomplish this week.

-Set up and FOLLOW a sleep schedule.

-Devise a walk-run-walk plan for the week and put it into my calendar.

-Figure out what I’m doing with intermittent fasting. I guess this means setting up and FOLLOWING an eating schedule especially if I’m planning to lift around 1 pm.

-Check out what’s going on with in-person races.

-OH, very important, buy a new pair of running shoes. There’s a hole in one of my shoes.

 
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It's been kind of quiet here

Since I have not made or met any REAL running or fitness goals over the past few weeks, it has been hard to update this thing. Story/struggle of my life, I guess. This lack of progress is definitely hitting home because my COVID Chunk (aka Pandemic Pounds) is no joke.

But that was then, and this is now because I think that I have a new plan on life.

Over the weekend, I read this amazing book, “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Jason Fung.

 
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This book provides quite a bit of information regarding weight gain and (more importantly) weight loss. According to Dr. Fung (and other folks in nutrition), most diets will be unsuccessful unless you manage insulin levels.

Quick bio lesson: Insulin is responsible for pulling glucose (and other sugars) out of the blood and sending it into the liver. Insulin levels tend to increase right after we consume meals and snacks. In the liver, glucose (a very small molecule) combines with other glucose molecules and is stored as glycogen (a large molecule). Glucose is such a small molecule that it can easily move in and out of cells; whereas glycogen is too large to do this and must be broken down into smaller units. If glycogen is not broken down into its smaller subunits of glucose and moved back into the bloodstream, glycogen will eventually be converted into fat. At the end of the day, one should aim to reduce the frequency and amount of insulin that the body produces.

Since this book kind of lit the fire under my evergrowing ass, here are some things that I plan to do to get back in shape. Or rather, things to start my journey to a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully, I am not trying to do too many things at once. Every month, I plan to revisit this list and add or modify things. 

  • Move from 16:8 to 18:6 intermittent fasting. Eventually, I would like to get to a point where I can do one 24-hr fast per week.

  • Get to bed (on weeknights) by 11:30 pm at the latest. No more watching Unsolved Mysterious or other random crap on Hulu/Netflix/Amazon Prime till 2-3 am. Hopefully, this will give me a better chance to wake up early, run my morning miles and, do HIIT workouts. Since gyms are still closed, I plan to incorporate some weighted resistance band training.

    • Speaking of gyms: I have learned that NYC is planning to slowly ramp up the reopening of gyms; however, I'm still a bit hesitant to visit my local New York Sports Club. I mean, my home gym was pretty yucky and a hot mess before this whole pandemic mess. I do not want to even think about the gyms and our new normal.

  • Actually follow the hubby's Whole 30 diet; however, I will give myself one (maybe two) cheat days a week. Let's not get too crazy here. ;)

  • Take more mental breaks during the workday. During these breaks, I plan to go on 10-15 minute walks. If it's too damn hot outside, I'll do a couple sets of planks instead of taking these walks. 

  • I think that is a good place to start for now.

Lets’s see how this goes.

Endomorph, Ectomorph, Endocytosis, Ecto-cooler ?

As I embark on a new struggle challenge to drop a few pounds, I have been reading up on particular training programs that may work for me.

Endomorphic

Unfortunately for me, I am an endomorph ... Why must life be so tough?

Typically, endomorphs tend to gain weight faster and have a harder time losing it. But hey, we were super cool way, way, waaaaay back in the day. From an evolutionary point of view, we endomorphs were more likely to survive because we could to store fat longer. You know, when starvation was a true threat.

Some famous endomorphs include Russell Crowe, LL Cool J, Chris Pratt, the Rock (I guess he does not go by that name any more), and Bruce Willis.

I have pretty much been working out in the wrong manner (well, diet is an issue too) for as long as I can remember. Essentially, I should be doing high intensity, high muscle recruitment exercises with 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. Umm the 20 reps seem a little aggressive. Here are some recommended exercises based on body part:

  • Chest (incline, decline bench press)
  • Back (deadlifts and barbell rows)
  • Legs (squats and leg press)
  • Biceps (barbell curls, and preacher curls)
  • Triceps (weighted bench dips and skull crushers)
  • Shoulders (dumbbell overhead press and military press)
  • ABS (weighted hanging leg press and cable crunch).

The good news is that most of those exercises already are in my Full Fitness app's training programs. I guess that I can just increase the set number from 3 to 5 and not do as much as the other muscle group exercises. Then, I should do 30-40 minutes of cardio after weightlifting. Those lucky ecto- and mesomorphs do not have to do any extra cardio after weight lifting.

Zumba:

I think that I have found a new Zumba home. Over the past couple weeks, I attended three different Zumba classes offered by Crunch Fitness. It was kind of like Goldilocks trying to find the porridge that was juuust right. You know, right before the three bears mauled and ate her.

  • Zumba 1: I signed up for the class online but I saw that there were only 3 other people who had signed up. No bueno. So I did not even attend it. Normally, if there are less than 10 people who has signed up for the class then it's probably going to be wack. I peeked into the class, and it did look a little wack.
  • Zumba 2: Decent class with a lot of people, but the instructor was WAAAAY into himself. He kept taking selfies and posting them to various Zumba sites. Also, he seemed to be literally admiring his ass.
  • Zumba 3: The class that I'm going to stick with. The class had a decent amount of people, the music was excellent (from shazzaming the class, I've already purchased 5 of the songs), the instructor was AMAZING & instruction was on point, and there were guys in the class (although I was the best male, not to toot my own horn). The one thing that I did not like about the class is the instructor made all guys do some routine in the front of the class. I guess that I did a good job, because many of the other students told me that I was really good for my first class with the instructor.

That's it for me. I guess that I should get back to packing.

 

Marathon Training Week 4 - Flow

The general attitude for this week is FLOW.  The past week kind of flowed by and I think that I’m getting a little better compared to last week.

Monday (5.5 miles):

This was a simple treadmill run with nothing to interesting to report.

Treadmill selfie. Normally, I do not compliment myself but I do have to say that I'm getting some nice arm definition. 

Treadmill selfie. Normally, I do not compliment myself but I do have to say that I'm getting some nice arm definition. 

 

Tuesday (0 miles): Happy Fourth of July!!!

Although I did not do anything related to my training plan. I did go to the Yankees/Blue Jays game, which felt like a damn workout. For one, it is a long commute from Bed Stuy to the Bronx. Two, it was hot as hell. It was so hot out that I felt like I was melting. By the fifth inning, I was done and watched the game from the comfort of the Hard Rock Cafe in Yankee Stadium with a couple of refreshing margaritas.

Wednesday:

Nada. A very long work day and there was no time to do anything related to running, except rest. I did enjoy a wonder sushi dinner with someone special at Akaru sushi in Bushwick, Brooklyn. 

Sushi for two.

Sushi for two.

 

Thursday:

Nada again. I was having a couple of crappy days at work and I just wanted to jump into bed, watch crappy TV, and  sleep.

Friday:

I wanted to do some strength training, because I have been kind of lacking with this type of training over the past few weeks, so I hit up the Crunch Fitness near work. Sounds good, right? I did not lift a single weight because the weights area was way too packed. Instead, I found a new Zumba class that was AMAZING – the music & dance moves were mostly latin based and the instructor was very good. Since I made my decision to attend the class at the last minute, I was stuck in the back of the room. I hate being in the back of the room (for any class), because I like to see the moves performed by an instructor rather than the students in the class.

 

Unfortunately . . . this class was the instructor’s last class at this particular Crunch gym.

I auto-shazamed the class, so I could add some more tunes to my iPhone.

Saturday (10 miles):

My weekly long run, which was an in and out run: Bed Stuy –> Williamsburg –> Williamsburg Bridge –> Lower East Side –> Lower East Side Park.

I do not know why the Runtastic app has only 8 miles here. 

I do not know why the Runtastic app has only 8 miles here. 

 

One good thing about my increasing distances is that I will begin to explore more routes during my long runs. Actually, this run was quite nice. Here are a couple of things that made it nice:

  • My pace was faster than last week’s long run and the distance was longer.
  • Via the Williamsburg Bridge, I incorporated hills in the middle and towards the end of the run.
  • I think that I'm getting more acclimated to running in hot weather. 

The interesting thing about this long run is that I ran a little better on the second half of the run. The negative split shows that I am becoming a stronger runner; hopefully, this trend will continue. Since I started my run around 8am, there were not many people out running but on the way back there were more folks. Perhaps, I was more competitive with the second half, because I was “racing” with other people (at least in my head). I’m still am not at the place where I want to be in this training but I’m just going with the flow.

Post run, I hit up Crunch Fitness to stretch (and recuperate) for about 40 minutes. Every time I go to this particular Crunch Fitness in Bushwick, I always have to fight the urge visit the IHoP that is next door to the gym. I am glad to say that I was successful in fighting off my urge for a stack of pancakes. Yay me.

An IHoP next to a gym. What could go wrong?

An IHoP next to a gym. What could go wrong?

Some tunes that got me through the run.

Goals for the upcoming week:

  1. Follow the D*mn training schedule, dude.
  2. Begin to add Fartleks to longer runs.
  3. Decide if I want to run the Montreal Half-Marathon again. I probably will register for it; hopefully, no injuries or work-related things will come up.