KCFit.Net

Tuesday Training bLog: Week 8

by Chris Culbertson, posted Sep 24th 2009, 14:41

Brian – Weekend Warrior

Hardest part?  Easiest?

This past week things got a lot easier for me.  I spent the week working from Chicago, where I used to live.  Chicago has a great path for running, it is located right next to the lake and extends as far as you need to go.  I didn’t need to go that far, at this point I am running about 7 miles a day, which takes me about an hour to complete.  The setting made it a lot easier to get out of bed and start going, this path gives you a nice view of the Skyline and the beach.

The hardest thing is that it is starting to get dark, and the sun isn’t coming up until halfway through the run.  For me that makes it a little harder because if I don’t get up early and run it doesn’t happen.  I have been happy that I have been able to increase my mileage without getting sore but I am still not running at the pace that I had hoped.  There is time still, but I need to move running up on my priority list and right now I may be too busy to do that.

We all like to go out and have a good time on the weekends or even during the week.  Does training for your event change how you approach going out on the weekends?  Do you think twice before having a few drinks or just go ahead and have fun?  What are your thoughts on how you can be healthy but also maintain your social life?

I don’t worry too much about going out and enjoying myself from a nutrition or consumption perspective.   I just try to have more good days than bad days and if I behave myself all week then a fun weekend is well deserved.  Where I do have second thoughts is that I know if I stay out too late, then I sleep in late and as I have said, if I don’t run as soon as I get up, it doesn’t happen.  So if I sleep until 10AM then I am not going to exercise that day.  Overall I think you need a social life in order to maintain the exercise path.  Nobody likes a health martyr and I feel I gave up plenty of fun while seriously competing for swimming.  So now, a few beers at night is a good thing.  In fact it should be a major part of my training routine; I will be at a wedding the night before my half-marathon race – so I need the preparation.

Caleb – Avid Runner

Tell us about your training this week:

i only ran 53 miles this week, mainly because i decided to be lazy and take 2 days off.  so the upside is that the five days that i ran were all quality running days.  i ran the zoo race for the chimps on saturday, so i had a little taste of speed.  which is a nice workout for me since i’m not doing any track workouts this fall.

Hardest part? Easiest?

the hardest part—getting my long run in on saturday morning… i had to break it up…i ran a 4 mile warm up for the zoo race (for the chimps), 4 miles in the race, and 14 mile cool down.  what made it so hard was that i was tired from the race and still had to drag myself out there to run another whopping 14 miles by myself.

the easiest part—taking two days off back to back. 

We all like to go out and have a good time on the weekends or even during the week. Does training for your event change how you approach going out on the weekends? Do you think twice before having a few drinks or just go ahead and have fun? What are your thoughts on how you can be healthy but also maintain your social life?

yeah running definitely takes up a quit a bit of time, but its not hard to do because i really enjoy to stay in shape.  i’d say no to going out during the weekends is for races, and that will still depending on the race.  truly now-a-days running is my social life…in nearly every situation running will come up.  so all in all running doesn’t effect my social life at all… 

Chris – Working Out for Wedding

Tell us about your training this week:

Training…hmmm. Well, I have really not been too great with formal training. But I have really developed a more active lifestyle. I am eating much smarter and just more active in general. I got a chance to run a few days, but most days it was just a mile or two. I just feel better everyday and have been more upbeat and jumpy. I have found that I can use this to my advantage in multiple places. Around the house, I just get up and get things done. I am way less lazy and the I’ll do that later mentality is going by the wayside. It is like a positive snowball effect and I keep gaining momentum as I am going down the hill!

Hardest part?  Easiest?

It is getting crazy around our house. The wedding is less than 4 weeks away! Holy cow. This past weekend we had a wedding shower, a wedding to attend, Olivia’s birthday party, and Megan got sick. With our schedule getting more hectic, the hardest thing is to find time for what I have called “formal training” so I continue to get better in the minute by minute choices and activity throughout the day. The easiest part is that I continue to gain momentum and lose weight. It is incredible how good I am feeling and how I don’t feel like I am doing anything extra or crazy, but I continue to lose weight because my lifestyle choices on a daily, hourly, and even minutely (is that a word?) basis are better!

We all like to go out and have a good time on the weekends or even during the week.  Does training for your event change how you approach going out on the weekends?  Do you think twice before having a few drinks or just go ahead and have fun?  What are your thoughts on how you can be healthy but also maintain your social life?

I set out certain goals before I go out. I do not go out very often at all anymore, but I did this past weekend because two of my friends got married. My goal was to spend the time with my friends (not thinking about “taking full advantage of the open bar” at the wedding) and to not eat late. All of my friends went to eat late after the wedding and I went with them but had enough self control to not eat anything. I not only saved myself all the calories, but also made myself feel better mentally because of my self control! When changing lifestyle, it is all about the small victories. I knew that a late night meal is not good for me and generally not a healthy meal on top of that. So I was ok with the beer calories as long as I did not double dip and eat late, too.

Aubrey – Busy Mom

Tell us about your training this week:

Training: Sunday 5 miles
Monday: 3 miles
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday: weights
Friday: pilates
Saturday: rest

We all like to go out and have a good time on the weekends or even during the week.  Does training for your event change how you approach going out on the weekends?  Do you think twice before having a few drinks or just go ahead and have fun?  What are your thoughts on how you can be healthy but also maintain your social life?

The night before a longer run (4+ miles) I try to not go out and drink. If it’s shorter, I know I can still do a run or a workout. I am always fine drinking one glass of wine or one beer, but if I have more than that, I know I will be tired and dehydrated in the morning. There are some nights when I go home early because I need to run in the morning, especially over the weekend. Sometimes I am bummed out because I need to leave early, and sometimes it’s a good excuse to go home when everyone else wants to stay out. My kids are also awake early in the morning, so even if I don’t workout, I have to get up and play with them! I have definitely slowed down with social activities that involve liquor since having kids and trying to be a runner. In the fall there are so many cool festivals and MU/Chiefs watch parties that it’s hard to not be busy and have some cocktails.