Richard Gibney 365 Days of Fitness: Day 139
Day 139 This post is getting in a little late. I was hoping to get this in on the 139th day but we had some company over tonight, which was fun, but the fun lasted longer than I had thought it would, so I'm just getting to it now at 12:50 in the morning. Oh well, the post may be coming the day after but I promise the workout did happen on the 139th day of the year.
As I have mentioned before I've committed to doing this long run for the Kananaskis relay in June, so as much as it goes against my own personal fitness grain, I've been trying to sneak in a little bit of endurance work do prepare for this race. Today happened to be one of those endurance days.
After attending to a few of the typical Sunday things I decided to go for a run. Considering that my run is getting closer, I made today's run a little longer. I wasn't looking forward to it, but the weather was a bit cooler, which was nice and I decided to use my Adidas MiCoach, which was really cool.
I've had the MiCoach app on my phone for a long time, but have never managed to take full advantage of it because I haven't typically been doing a lot of running. However, with having to mix in a little more cardio, it seemed like a good time to take advantage of the program. I personally find long distance running really boring and mind numbing, but having the MiCoach makes it a little more dynamic. By using the MICoach, you can track, in real time, your running pace, distance, and calorie expenditure. In June I will likely have to run around 16km. At the moment, I have no idea what running 16km feels like. By using the MiCoach app, I'm able to know exactly how far I've run and how long it took me to run that distance. You have the option of using a heart rate strap for more accurate data, but I didn't have that option available. I may hit Sports Chek some time this week and add the heart rate monitor.
Today, I decided to go on a long run to get an idea of how it felt, as well as what kind of pace I'd be able to maintain for over 10 miles. I left my house at 4:00 pm and returned just after 5:00. It wasn't as long as what I will be running but it was a good test. I ran from my house around 14th St Sw and 16 ave, to Bookers restaurant by the Homeless shelter at the end of Memorial drive, then looped back to the 14th st bridge and ran home. I understand that for those of you not living in Calgary, this doesn't mean much, but trust me when I say it's legitimately far.
The MiCoach was really cool. Every mile it gave me an update, telling me how far I had run, what my 1 mile pace was, and how many calories I had burned. Unfortunately, my phone died, shortly after the 3 mile mark, making the second half of my run less enjoyable. In the end I ran around 6 miles, which i think is about 10 km. It wasn't as far as what my leg will be at the K100, but it gave me a good idea of what it will feel like. Apparently, I'm not allowed to have an ipod or anything with headphones during my race. I think I'm probably going to play ignorant and use my headphones anyway. Having the MiCoach will make the race mentally so much easier.
I was pretty tired after my run, but not spent. This is good news, as I don't want to be so wrecked after the K100 that I can't continue the workouts. I still don't plan on doing too many long distance things, but at least I have an idea of what it will feel like and what type of time I'm likely capable of posting. The one good thing about all this cardio is the food. We had cheese fondue tonight with some friends, and after running for just under an hour I didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt about eating a massive amount of steak and veggies covered in melted cheese. Tomorrow won't be quite as epic in terms of food, so the food consumption will be dialed back a bit but I still plan on eating my fare share. After all, I've worked pretty hard to maintain and grow this muscle. I'm going to do what I ever I can to maintain it.