Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

May 02, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00
Saucony Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles:						247.50
Hoka Clifton Lifetime Miles:						491.50
Saucony Type A6 Lifetime Miles:						186.50
Saucony Zealot Lifetime Miles:						478.75
Saucony Kinvara 6 Lifetime Miles:						433.50
Saucony Kinvara 6-2 Lifetime Miles:						358.75
Brooks Pure Connect Blue Lifetime Miles:						337.25
New Balance Trainers Lifetime Miles:						314.50
New Balance 1400 Racers Lifetime Miles:						65.00
Brook Pureflow Lifetime Miles:						99.50

Sat, Oct 11, 2008

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Crosstraining miles	Total Miles
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	9.00	9.00

Hit the gym, and did 60 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 15 minutes on the arc trainer, and 15 more minutes on the elliptical to cool down. The middle part of the workout was at "tempo" effort.

I find cross training to be mentally grueling. Dispite having an iPod and about 12 TV's around me, I was incredibly bored. I find it amazing that people choose to do this, even when they are not injured. I personally would much rather face the cold. Fortunately my race is in a week, so I don't have to do this much longer.

A note of sadness: the local fruit and vegetable stand is closing down for the year. I've been going there about 3 times a week lately to stock up on local peaches, apples, melons, and other goodies. Since I don't eat bread, rice, pasta, or grains anymore, I eat a massive amount of fresh fruit instead. And now it's all gone. Sigh. Well, except for the 40 pounds of peaches I just bought. That might last me until Thursday, then it's all gone. On the menu tonight: gluten-free peach crisp. Yum!

Comments

From Jon on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 16:03:37

90 minutes- wow. Yeah, definitely harder than running outside, mentally. For me, 10 minutes in a gym feels like 5 miles outside. The only time I can stand it is if there is a good football game on the TV's.

Where was the fruit/veggie stand?

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 16:18:06

Well, there were 3 college football games on, all with ranked teams...but I find college football as boring as elliptical.

The market is across the street from the State Liquor Store.

From Tom on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 17:41:36

I hear you on the indoor boredom factor. I've been stuck on the elliptical since SGM and can hardly bear it some days.

One question about your elliptical workouts..... do you set the incline any certain level or shoot for any particular RPMs?

So far I've been just setting things up manually, with usually a low incline setting, shooting for around 175-185 RPMs which about matches my running turnover, and then set the difficulty level to whatever gets my heart rate into a zone similar to where I would be if doing the equivalent workout running. It was kind of fun for a change of pace for about 2 days then the novelty wore off. Just wondering what has worked for you. Thanks.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 17:53:55

Tom - sounds like we think similarly on the elliptical, other than the machines I use don't have an incline. But yes, I shoot for similar RPMs for the exact same reasons (closer simulation to running). I don't always track my heart rate, but when I get a reading I like for it to be in a nice "running pace" zone, usually somewhere between 140-160. I figured out this Saturday that if I keep a water bottle next to me, I'll drink more, and that makes the workout feel better. Other than that, my only strategies to pass the time are to find something stimulating to listen to, either music that I'm really digging, or some sort of podcast or talk radio.

From Tom on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 18:17:09

Thanks Paul. One last question...in the past when you've been relegated to doing the elliptical with no running for an extended period of time, do you have any feel for how much fitness/speed you've lost once you get back into running?

I'm trying to brace myself for what to expect if I end up having to not run for a few weeks for even months. The hope is that I can still put in the hours on the boring elliptical and do simulated tempo runs during this time. However I must admit the thought of trying to do the equivalent of 50-60 miles/week inside the gym instead of on the roads is disheartening.

From Fritz on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 18:18:18

Thanks Paul. I am glad to be back at it and in a couple of weeks I am taking a crack at a marathon.

As you can see from all of my treadmill running I actually don't mind the gym that much. Spin class and the stair climber are other options in case the elliptical is boring you to death. It's hard to compare people but I think doing 500 floors or more in an hour on the stair climber without touching the bar is a decent effort.

I hope you are back outside soon.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 18:33:08

Tom - I have a hard time keep up the cross training intensity for much longer than a few weeks. Right now I'm able to go at it hard because I have a race this week and I'm almost there. After this race if I'm still hurting, then I'm done for the year. It's very hard mentally to put in 10 hours/week in the gym when there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But 30 minutes/day isn't so bad, and that's what I do when I'm just trying to maintain some fitness.

Regarding lost fitness, I don't know. I'll tell you have Sunday. ;-) By far the best cross training during injuries is pool running. You can work yourself silly every day with no pound, and you also develop amazing mental fortitude. I had teammates in college who were injured most of the season, did pool running every day, and ended up All American. But I can't vouch for elliptical. All of my previous injuries have been months long, and I've had to completely rebuild afterwards, so I've never just jumped off the machine and into a race.

Fritz - I use the arc trainer on a daily basis. It is kind of a combination between an elliptical and a stair-stepper, and is a very good workout. I can only stand about 15 minutes before I am gassed.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 18:34:39

forgive all of my typos. I just read my post over, and it doesn't make sense in some spots.

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