My Journey to 50 miles (2nd attempt)... (comments welcome)

[disneygpa]

Well that was a nice 10 day break from work!

One thing I realized during this time off is that I need a hobby for retirement. I suck at golf so that's out. Might have to take up wood working or something.

I got all my workouts in and did a little running. I've been really bad about not running on the weekends. I need to get more focused, I feel like I'm falling behind, which I probably am.

Corona cases since I left have continued to come in. Most of them are associated with people working from home now. So I guess they figured it was safe for some of us to return to work. Masks and gloves are now required at work. Not sure how long that is going to last.

Hope everyone is staying safe!

 

[disneygpa]

Tuesday morning- One new corona case reported yesterday at our plant. Though it was recorded as working offsite.

Got up and ran this morning. That felt great! I haven't run early in quite some time. Nice morning for a run! Didn't sleep very well last night though. I think I was thinking too much about getting up early. Run itself was 3 miles @ EA.

Monday afternoon- started week 4 of my 9 week body weight workout. Holy cow. I don't ever remember doing push-ups with my feet elevated. If I have ever done them it must have been in my Navy days. After finishing 25 regular push-ups per set last week, I figured doing 15 with my feet elevated wouldn't be too bad. Boy was I wrong! I did 4 sets of 15, but they were quite a struggle by the last set!

Bulgarian split squats= wobbly legs!

Everything else wasn't too bad, but I was definitely feeling worked out afterward!!

I had to modify some of the workout. Instead of doing pull-ups (I don't have a pull-up bar) I substituted TRX rows. Instead of jump squats (didn't think the downstairs neighbors would appreciate those) I'm doing squats +40lbs and finally, I replaced the hanging leg raises with TRX crunches.



Nothing planned for tonight. But the weather is super nice up here right now. So if DW is up for a walk, we might get out and enjoy the sunshine this evening!!

On a personal note. Had "Easter" dinner with the kids/grand-kids last night. The littlest guy was hilarious! He's almost 9 months now and every time Mommy would try to join the conversation he would get vocal! He had everyone cracking up!

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday- morning run complete 4 miles @ EB + strides.



Been awhile since I'd run strides. Already feeling those in my legs and I didn't really run them at 100%. It felt good to run a little harder than I have been.
Also have another body weight workout tonight. We'll see how I'm feeling after that!

One more reported virus case reported from a person that works at the plant. Reported as working offsite. I assume by now that anyone who contracts it from here on out is getting it from somewhere besides the plant. The plant has been closed since 3/25 except for a handful of us "essential" folks. They have brought a handful of production people back and most of the maintenance department. I'm curious how long until they bring the entire production staff back? Maybe after the Governor lifts the stay at home order?

Long discussion with oldest DD and her fiance about their future. They are planning on moving to FL this summer and making a go of it in the sunshine. Since I'm being compensated for working during the shutdown with extra vacation days, I volunteered to drive the uhaul across the country for them. What the heck was I thinking!! I'll have to make the drive by myself and maybe Sully the Shepard. My old running buddy. Maybe we'll get a few runs in as we traverse the country!

I'm going to miss having them around, but I'm excited to see where the new adventure takes them. Pretty sure FL is where we are going to retire to, especially since all the kids/grandkids will be there! I've got a little over 4 years until I can pull the plug here. Hopefully my 401k recovers a bit by then. Even if it doesn't I'm still out of here at 58. Not sure if DW will make it that long. She hates the grey winters up here and she'll miss those grandbabies!!

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday afternoon- completed body weight workout. Didn't elevate my feet quite as much with push ups this time. That worked much better. I didn't feel like death after completing the workout!!

Thursday afternoon- 3 miles at EA. Amazing spring weather for the PNW!! Sunny and 68 when i took off. This is the first time this year I've been able to run without gloves/hat/base-layer in one combo or another. Just a fantastic day for an easy run!

Been awhile since I've run 3 consecutive days. Feels good to get back in the groove!!



One more reported case associated with someone that works at the plant. Again, they are working offsite and it doesn't appear as though anyone working physically on the plant is coming down sick. The overall numbers are starting to come down. Less reported cases and more people showing up on the recovered list.

At least in WA it looks like the curve is flattening and maybe we can slowly return to whatever the new normal is going to be soon.

Heading to Vegas for memorial day. Watching closely to see what we might be able to actually do while we are there!!

Stay safe and healthy everyone!!

 

[disneygpa]

Weekend update: Friday body weight workout complete. I'm digging these workouts, but dang they kick my rear!

Saturday 3 miles @ EB + strides. Another stellar day for a spring run in the PNW.



Sunday 4 miles at LR. Got out around noonish for this. It was another beautiful day! Can't really remember the last time I ran my LR pace and 5 days in a week. Everything felt good! I was a little winded after the run. Nothing to serious and I think with more consistency, I'll get back to the way I felt in January after a LR run.



My plan for this week is to repeat the same runs. It felt good to run 5 days!

I'll also be increasing the number of reps in my body weight workout. Same substitutions I had to make to week 4 will apply to week 5.



The squats and bulgarian lunges leave my legs shaky when I finish! Upping the reps on them might be a challenge.

One more case of the virus was reported yesterday at work. Going to be interesting to see if there is a spike of cases after everyone returns to work. Lot's of new rules to follow about social distancing, face masks and gloves. We'll see how many people stick to the rules and whether the company will actually enforce the rules.
Hope everyone can put a smile on their face, take a deep breath and relax a bit! Stressful times to be sure!

 

[disneygpa]

Monday's body weight workout. Well, it finally happened. I absolutely hit a wall last night.

So, this week's exercises are the same as last week. I added 5 reps to each exercise. Those 5 extra reps absolutely crushed me. By the end of the 3rd set I was pooped.
I'm not sure if this is completely the result of the extra reps, or possibly the a added days of running from last week catching up with me. Whatever the cause the fatigue was certainly real enough.

Now I have to make a decision. Go back and do week 4's workout with the lower reps, or stick with week 5's workout and have the possibility of not completing all my sets again. I'm thinking it might be best to go back to week 4, finish all my sets with the lower reps and see how I feel next Monday.

Currently the plan is to run 5 days again this week. So I think with the added fatigue of running, redoing week 4 is my best option.

Also, weird tightness in my right quad yesterday. I knelt down in front of an electrical panel and above my knee in the quad it felt "tight". That's the only way I can describe it. That may have contributed to the fatigue as I did squats and lunges as part of the workout. I don't think this is anything serious. Really just noting it so I have a reference to take to the doc if needed.

No new cases reported that are associated with our plant. Production restarts today with the new social distancing guidelines. Going to be interesting to see if there is an increase in reported cases with everyone coming back to work.

 

[disneygpa]

Tuesday afternoon. 3 miles at EA. Another nice and easy run. Weather was decent, cloudy but warm. Tightness in right quad doesn't seem to bother me very much when I run. But I haven't tried to run hard.



Wednesday morning. Got up early to do my body weight workout. Things were fine until I tried the lunges and squats. Right quad did not like the lunges. I've decided to pull the lunges and squats from my workout until this works itself out or I have to cave in and see the doc. I'm self diagnosing here but I think I've irritated the tendon. The reason I think its the tendon is where the pain is located and how it hurts into the quad when I use it. Like I mentioned above, it doesn't seem to be a problem when I run. So out go squats and lunges for awhile.



I'm gonna play this by ear and see if its still a problem in a week or so.

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesdays run. The weather was crappy and I wasn't feeling great but I headed out anyway. Maybe I should have just stayed inside. Felt pretty good after the first mile but by mile 2 I was feeling off. Tried to push thru it but decided to call it a day after 2.9 miles.

Not really sure why I felt like doo doo. Just didn't feel right. I'm feeling ok today so I'm not getting sick or anything just felt off last night.

Scary report from the plant. 2 new cases reported onsite on the 21st. That is the first day that the plant was opened back to some of the production staff. I really hope this isn't the new trend with people coming back to work and spreading this crap. Ugh.....

 

[disneygpa]

Wow, 5 days since an entry. I'm quite the slacker.

Thursday's run was fine! I'm thinking last Wednesday I just tried too much. I worked out Wed before work and then tried to run that afternoon. May just have been more than my old bones were ready for.

Friday and Saturday turned out to be lazy days. I didn't workout or run. Lazy and unproductive.

Sunday, 4 miles @LR... This felt good! Turned out to be a fairly nice day.

Monday, I'm still doing week 4 over again in my body weight workout. Right quad is still sketchy during regular lunges. Not nearly as bad as when I was doing the bulgarian lunges. I'll keep doing week 4 until I feel confident I move onto week 5.

I think, I'm going to plan on running 4 days a week for now and sticking to 3 days a week for body weight workout. Run, tue, thur, sat, sun. Workout mon, wed, fri.

A little bummed out. Got a killer deal on flight/hotel in Vegas. But, now the Venetian isn't opening until June. Our reservation was for Memorial Day wknd. So, had to cancel the trip. I was really looking forward to some warmth and sunshine! On the plus side, it does free up some money to do more fun things at Aulani in Oct. If we get to go do that.....

 

[DopeyBadger]

On the plus side, it does free up some money to do more fun things at Aulani in Oct. If we get to go do that.....

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday body weight workout went well. I think I'm ready to move to week 5 finally. But I'll really be paying attention to the Bulgarian lunge things! Don't want to hurt my knee again.

Thursday was 4 miles at EB. Felt really good no aches and pains, paces were as good as they get for me.

Friday was supposed to be a body weight workout. Changed to a 3 mile run. Why? Well, I'm working through some questions about my future. Running just seemed like a better way to think than doing the body weight workout. Nothing super serious, financial decisions that need to be made. It worked. We've made some decisions on how to move a little closer to retiring from Boeing by the time I get to 58. Just a shade over 4 years. Probably can't/won't completely retire. I'll find something to do in FL. Gotta stay busy. Might try and get into maintenance at the parks. I believe we'll be in pretty good shape to head to FL to be closer to the kids/grand kids. The run itself was 1 mile EA, 1 EB and 1 that turned out to be my 10k pace. I was just doing it blind, only time I checked the Garmin was when it buzzed at the miles.

Little shout out to my youngest DD. She just finished her certification to become a personal trainer!! Proud of her! She studied hard to get through all of this. So, of course I hired her. She's supposed to be coming up with a workout plan for me. We'll see how that goes. Hope she doesn't try to get even with me for her teen years with a super hard workout for me!!

Things at work have been crazy. Company has deemed mask be worn 100% of the time when on company property. Only exception is eating or drinking. We are even required to wear them alone in company vehicles or walking outside alone. Crazy. I suppose it's the right thing to do. But as I sit at my desk, alone, on the 2nd floor of an otherwise unoccupied building it feels a little silly.

 

[disneygpa]

Monday- 4 miles @ LR, great day for a run! This felt really good. Comfortable the whole way! Might have to start extending the long run day.




I was lazy over the weekend and didn't run. I'm doing some shifting of workouts so my new days to run will be, S, M, W, F. Monday will end up being my long run day. This should probably work ok. Until I start getting back up to double digit miles. Then I may have to rethink my decision.

Tuesday's workout-

W1D1 Upper Body
4x12-15 Single Arm Bent Over Row Superset single leg balance curl to press
4x12-15 Floor Chest Press SS push ups
4x12-15 Triceps Kickbacks SS Front Raise
4x12-15 Dumbbell Pullovers SS narrow press

This was a really good upper body workout for me. I struggled with the chest press SS with the push ups. Everything else was pretty good and might have to add more weight to some of them. Not sore today, definitely feeling the workout. Soreness will probably hit tomorrow.

DD & Fam were able to get FP's for MK on June 2nd. Going to be interesting to see if they actually get to go to the parks.

Our state is starting to open back up. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend!! I'm going to have to find a trail or something to get out on with DW!!

 

[disneygpa]

Dang, I'm really slacking on keeping this up to date lately.

Wednesday was 3 m @ EA, nice easy run.



Friday was 4m @ EB + strides. I skipped the strides again because Thursday I irritated my right quad again. ugh. Run itself was comfortable and felt good.



Monday, I played hooky from work. Took the eldest grandson and had a little adventure!


First we went to the tide pools at Deception Pass park. Didn't find anything cool, no little crabs or fish today. But we did have fun climbing around on the rocks and seeing some sea lions out a little ways. Dang, he's getting big. I suspect he'll catch me in a couple years and he's only 9. He's a good time but he has NO fear of heights. Even scared gpa a little with walking to the edge of some of the rocks. Grandma and mom would have had a cow.



Next we ventured over to Fort Casey. We explored all of the gun turrets. A couple of 10", a couple of 3" and all of the storage areas that are open to the public. Then we walked down to the beach and climbed around on the drift wood. Since this was technically skipping his online school today, I made him read all the historical info signs along the way. With them moving to FL soon, I'm not sure how many more chances we'll get to have a day with just the two of us.

Oh, and I ran yesterday. was supposed to be 4 miles @ LR, but since I skipped Sunday, I decided to do 5. It was a good run. Paces were decent, and it felt comfortable. Left IT band is still an annoyance. Not horrible just annoying,



I managed to get my lower body and full body workout in on Thursday and Saturday. Had to limit Saturday from the right quad issues. Not sure what I'm doing that specifically irritates it. Maybe squatting too deep. I'm going to try and be a little more cautious in how deep I squat or do lunges this week and see if it helps.

Overall a pretty good week last week. We are back to typical NW spring weather this week. Grey with some rain pretty much the next 10 days. Temps will be in the 60's so at least it's not completely horrible to be out in.

A little more sharing and then I'll wrap this up.

With the kids moving to FL, we've decided to put our house on the market. Seems to be the right time as it's a sellers market up here right now and we can make a fair bit on the house. The downside is that we will probably just stay in our tiny apartment until I retire. Or we'll stay there as long as DW can handle the weather up here. When we come down in Feb for Princess, we are going to start house hunting. If we find something, then more decisions will have to be made.

I can't believe that I'm creeping up on retirement. 30 some years sure fly's by!!

 

[disneygpa]

Wow, have I really gone 8 days without an update. SLACKER!!

I've been doing most of my runs and workouts over the past 8 days. Got a little lazy over the weekend. But now I got a plan!

With the lack of races I've felt like there was no specific goal. So I decided to make my own goal. I've decided to try and run a 5k at my calculated race pace!!

I've set the date for the "race" as June 21st and called it "Derek's Solo 5k Covid Race". My submitted estimated 5k time puts me in the "A" corral. I fully expect to take first place in this race. Kinda disappointed with the lack of medals at this race. I think the race director is pretty lame. I'm not even providing a bib for the racer. I expect most of the competition to come from within my brain and that might be my biggest challenge. My wife thinks I'm crazy but when doesn't she think that.

With the help of @DopeyBadger I now have what I think is an aggressive plan to accomplish my goal! Thanks Billy!!

Plan began last night with 3 miles @ EA. That was a nice easy run. Tonight might not be so easy!

Really looking forward to seeing if I can do this! More to follow.

 

[disneygpa]

Well, last night wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be. I survived and actually feel pretty good right now.

It was kinda fun to run "fast" haven't done that in awhile and never that many times in a row!! Fun workout!

I ran all of these intervals at the local middle school track. One to see how accurate the Garmin was and two because it's nice and flat. I didn't want to deal with hills while running at my 5k pace. Oh, and three because they keep the nice, rubber, brand new high school track locked down.



I feel I did pretty good consistent pacing on these intervals. I was a little fast on 5 and 6, but the others were pretty close to my 5k 8:51 pace.

I think my Garmin has a altitude problem. It really gets lost on elevation gain/loss sometimes.

I don't fill my time with much TV. But last weekend DW and I started watching The Haunting of Hill House. Holy smokes that's a creepy show! If you like scary stuff, you'll definitely like this!

 

[disneygpa]

Well, that was a relaxing 3 days off. Got my runs in Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was 3 miles @ EA. Nice easy run. Pacing was really good for me. Very close to my EA pace!! Pleasant day for a run.



Sunday was 3 x 800 @5k pace. This felt a little challenging, but still good! I was a little fast on the last interval, but overall a pretty good job being close to pace.



I'm really enjoying this training plan! No doubt I'm being challenged with it, but it feels great!

With running the faster paces, I feel more tired in my arms and shoulders. Being that I haven't run this fast in a loooooong time. Would it be normal to feel a little more tired in the upper body? I'm sure I am pumping my arms harder than when running slower, pretty sure this makes sense. At least in my brain it does.

 

[DopeyBadger]

With running the faster paces, I feel more tired in my arms and shoulders. Being that I haven't run this fast in a loooooong time. Would it be normal to feel a little more tired in the upper body? I'm sure I am pumping my arms harder than when running slower, pretty sure this makes sense. At least in my brain it does.

Don't know for sure, but a quick google suggests it might be a form issue.

 

[disneygpa]

Thanks Billy. I did a little reading, seems like i might need to focus a little more on what my arms are doing. I just assumed it was from running harder. It's not like its an "oh my gosh" my arms are tired, it's more like hmmm.... i feel that in my arms. So hopefully a little more attention to arm position will help.

Cute story, last night while I was making my loop through the cemetery a little girl, about 5 maybe, said "hi" to me. Now saying hi wasn't the cute part, she asked me "why I was running so fast?!"…. it kind of took me off guard and I didn't really have a quick reply. So I said "I just like to run" so she returned with, "that's nice, have fun!"

After that it got me to thinking.... why do I run? I pondered this for the next 2 miles and ultimately I'm just not really sure EXACTLY why I choose to run.

Normally I joke that my former overweight self is chasing me with cookies. And boy does that guy have stamina...

Really, there are tons of ways I could stay in front of my old self, but why choose running? Not sure I'll ever really have a singular solid answer to that.

Last night was 3 miles @EA, pretty much the same as most easy runs, nice and relaxing and at least to one 5 yr old little girl it was "fast"!



Followed up my EA run with a 4+ mile walk with DW. It was a beautiful evening for a walk and we just couldn't let an evening like that go to waste.

 

[disneygpa]

Wednesday's run. I'm thinking the 4+ mile walk the night before might not have been such a good idea. Between the long walk Tuesday night and the hotter than I'm used to temps, last night's run was quite challenging!

Warm up felt good.

I did pretty good keeping my pace close to my 5k pace during the intervals. Except for some reason interval 7 kinda fell off the tracks. Was a fair bit over 5k pace during that one. I might have been having doubts about completing all 9 intervals at that point. I powered through on 8 and 9 and kept them fairly close to 5k.

Two lessons learned. Long walks aren't the best idea on Tuesday nights, and I'm not used to it being in the mid 70s yet!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Just remember that as the temps continue to climb your paces will fall. And that's ok. You're ok on this one, because it was consistent. But if you notice a fade, then be sure to adjust for the next time out.