Stubborn Running

I'm back... I think

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 13:09:00 +0000

It's been a lot of years and a lot of different types of fitness plans. P90X (which worked flawlessly for a while), soccer, general laziness. I'm back. My wife is running the Philly Marathon and she is doing so well with her training. The more I watched her get into it, the more it inspired me. I made a rash decision to sign up for the Philly half that same weekend. I've checked out a training plan and I'm only 2 weeks behind. Not bad. It begins today... Well, I ran yesterday, so apparently it began yesterday. Away we go!

Weigh in, week 9

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:34:00 +0000

This was a positive week and a negative week all at once. I dropped weight quite considerably. But, I was sooooo hoping that I would be under 190 and into the 180s (I was in the 180s most of the week). But, I weighed in this morning at 190 flat. Wah wah... One less piece of food or one more mile on my Saturday run probably would have done it. Drats.

On the brighter side, that's a 3.2 pound (from 193.2) loss this week after a 2.4 pound gain last week. Like I said last week, the 2.4 pound gain was as a result of a bad Saturday night. So, I'm not sure that 3.2 pounds is really what I've "lost" this week. But, I'll take it. And... any loss this coming week will put me into the 180s. I was trying to think of the last time that I was in the 180s and I think it was when I started work over 7 years ago. So, this will be a nice milestone.

Doing Too Much...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:55:00 +0000

I've been running five days a week, swimming twice and playing soccer once a week the last two weeks. Absent from my schedule has been spin class. It's on Thursday mornings and is really tough to wake up for after a late night at soccer on Wednesday nights (not to mention how sore I've been after soccer). I'm desperately waiting for the weather to get nicer so that I can ride outside and not be so reliant on spin.

But, I think I'm doing too much. Once I add biking back in to the mix (this coming week), I think 5 days of running is probably overdoing it. I'm gonna start "counting" my soccer on Wednesday nights as a running day and not worry about it. In fact, if there is a "toughest workout" of the week, it would probably be soccer. So, I'm not feeling too bad about replacing a day of running.

I'm making this decision because my body is already starting to break down and I'm still pretty far from the triathlon. So, I'm gonna do a little preservation over the next 4-5 weeks until soccer is over. Then, I'll amp it back up again to the finish. I don't want to peak to early and I certainly don't want to drag myself to the starting line either.

Busier and Busier...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:34:00 +0000

Well, this is obvious... You sign up for a triathlon, your training schedule gets busy. But, it is quite a bit busier than I was anticipating. Throw in there soccer on Wednesday nights and it's down right nuts. Eh... I will get through it and all. But, I feel like I'm always working out. There is rarely a time where I just "have the day off". In fact, I'm not sure there is ever a day that I don't have something going on.

Where does that leave me? 15 pounds down and 5 to go I guess. That's cool. And, I've picked up a new fun workout (swimming) that adds new challenges that I really never had before. So, that's fun and new. The soccer is also a blast. I've been wanting to get back into soccer for a couple years now. And I'm hoping by 3-4 games in to feel somewhat comfortable out there. But... very busy, very busy. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable if I wasn't though.

Week 8, Weigh in...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:26:00 +0000

Well... it was bound to happen, right? I had a BAD week. I could blame it on the Saturday night group dinner that I went to last night, or the ice cream at 1 am on Wednesday or the all-around hungry feeling I seemed to have all week. Or, I can chalk it up to a bad week and move on. That's what I think I'm gonna do. I weighed in this morning at 193.2 pounds. That is a GAIN of 2.4 pounds this week.

Do I think 2.4 pounds is what I've really "gained" this week? No. I'm quite sure I'll wake up tomorrow morning at 191 something. But, it was still a bad week. I'd really like to get back on schedule and make sure I am under 190 for my next weigh in. Can't be perfect... but I can't repeat this again this coming week either. Back to basics I guess.

Still Sore? Run it Out...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 12:07:00 +0000

As you might know, I played my first soccer game in ages on Wednesday night. I thought I would be sore... but I had no idea I would the THIS sore. Thursday and Friday I was so sore it was comical. I was literally walking around like an 80 year old. I took a line drive off my right quad in the game. It didn't hurt that much at the time, but man did it make me gimpy. Not only that, all the muscles that I don't use running were sore (mostly my groin from the constant change of direction).

So... I've been running through it hoping it would just go away. And progressively (though not as fast as I'd like) it has. I ran 6 miles yesterday with Nate, Justin, Bill and Mark and it pretty much bothered me the entire time. I'd say 4.5 miles in it loosened up to the point that it wasn't that bad. But, it wasn't great either. I can live through it though. My real fear is that this happens every week. If I have to recover from my soccer game every week for 3-4 days, that's gonna suck. I hope that it was just a byproduct of not playing in such a long time. We'll see...

In regards to the 6 miler... It was good despite the soreness. We ran at an alright clip. We got faster as we went along and finished in just over 9 minute miles. I need these runs every once in a while because I haven't really been pushing the pace on my own lately. So, running with others has become very important to help me do that.

So.... if you are sore and you want to get rid of the soreness... Just keep running. That's what I'm doing.

I Swam 500 Yards, What?!!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:20:00 +0000

So... I almost tried to do this the other day but then didn't... So, my plan was to swim 1 x 100, 1 x 350, 1 x 100, 1 x 350. But, due to a packed pool, I only really had time for one longer swim. So.... why not right? I swam the full 500!! So, I swam 1 x 100, 1 x 500, and 1 x 100... I can officially swim the distance in my triathlon.

Next up? Gotta get faster. I'm still 3 months away from the tri though... so, plenty o' time.

Soccer went well...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 05:34:00 +0000

I'm a little sore, but soccer went pretty well. My shoulder hurts for some reason (don't remember what happened there) and my quad hurts (took a line drive off the leg). But, other than that, it wasn't a complete disaster. I scored two goals on top of everything. However, I think just about every player on the team had two goals (we scored 17). Next game will be a better test. But, I needed an easy first game to ease into this again. But, I was pleasantly surprised.

Weigh in, week 7

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:31:00 +0000

I can't exactly say that I had a good Saturday night dinner (pizza). But, somehow I avoided the Saturday night curse this week. That's even after I had a rough night for eating on Friday at my niece's birthday party (dessert and all). So... another week, another 4 pounds. Yep, you heard that right, 4 pounds!!!

I'm not really trying to lose weight that fast, but I think this cross training for the triathlon seems to be really upping my metabolism or something. So, my weigh-in for this week is 190.8. That's 14.2 pounds in 7 weeks of doing this, just over 2 a week (which was my goal). Another 5.8 pounds to go to my goal. At this rate, I'm three weeks away!

Soccer Again!!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:25:00 +0000

It has been quite some time since I've played soccer in any kind of regular fashion. I've played here and there over the years to varying levels of success. But, I just joined a coed team for indoor soccer this week, I play my first game on Wednesday night.

My friend (and running buddy) Lisa had an open slot on her and her boyfriend's team and she knew that I have been itching to play. So, after 3 games, someone quit their team and they asked me to fill in. My first thought is SWEET. Followed quickly by... OH CRAP. Lisa and Davon (her boyfriend) are both pretty darn athletic. And, I've heard that Davon is pretty darn good at soccer. So, it becomes one of those situations where you don't want to be the guy bringing everyone else down...

So... things in my favor:
1) I'm fit (unlike back when I played soccer)
2) I was a soccer junkie my entire life
3) I'm a great team player

Things that could destroy me:
1) I'm not soccer fit no matter how fit I think I am
2) I haven't touched a ball in... oh... I don't know, over a year?
3) I haven't played competitively in probably 4-5 years

Wish me luck... this could get interesting.

Biking to Running

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 13:20:00 +0000

I did my first workout so far where I went directly from biking (ok, spin) to running. I thought I would be fatigued and it would be tough. But, it was actually a different kind of tough than I was expecting. Aerobically, it was fine, no biggie. But, since you use different leg muscles to bike, the running was really strange.

I did 45 minutes of spin which totally kills my quads and hamstrings and then went right into a 3 mile run. It took a whole mile for my legs to loosen up. I was really having trouble turning them over. I didn't want to run fast for obvious reasons. But, I also didn't want to just "jog" the whole three either. At the end of the first mile, my legs didn't feel as bad and I was able to pick up the pace and finish the other two miles at a nice average clip.

I'm curious though... I'm hoping that the more I do this, the less that transition affects me. If it takes me a mile to get started "running" in the race, that's gonna be a problem. I'm over 3 months away from the race though... so I've got plenty of time to find that out.

Speed Workout and a Dip in the Pool...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Justin, Lisa and I ran over to the F&M track yesterday over lunch to do a speed workout (my dumb idea). Justin and I did 400s and Lisa did a bleacher workout. So, we jogged 1.5 miles to the track and a half mile around the track as warm up. Then, we did 4 400s with 400 jog between each (for a total of 2 miles). They went pretty well. Actually, they were right around (or a little lower) the last time I was doing 400s. That's awesome, because I haven't been doing any speedwork at all.

400 #1- 1:31
400 #2- 1:33
400 #3- 1:28
400 #4- 1:28

I'd like to do these every other week and add a 400 each time until I get to about 8-10 of them. We'll see how wooped the triathlon training makes me though. That will probably have some bearing on whether I keep this up.

And, I got to the pool this morning and did another workout. 100, 300, 100, 300. I'm really getting close to the 500 yards that I'll be swimming in the tri. I think next week might be 350...

Weigh in, week 6

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:25:00 +0000

Andrew and I have developed a little healthy competition. If we're counting, he's way more amazing and lost way more weight. But, we're hovering around the same weight total and trying to get to the same place (thereabouts). So, I've been popping over to his blog and letting him know how great a week I was going to have.

Well... it was a "good" week, but not the great week that I was hoping for. I think Saturday nights are just my night to say "I don't care" and that is ok with me at this point. The only problem is it's the night before my weigh-in every week...

Ok, enough excuses. I had another loss this week. I'm down to 194.8. That's another 1.6 pounds this week. Overall, that's 10.4 pounds since December 27th. Nothing to complain about there.

The "Triathlon" Went Well...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:41:00 +0000

I thought it was going to be much worse than it was. It turns out the toughest part of the whole thing was waking up at 5:00 am. Other than that, it went pretty well. I started it off with a spin class and man those classes kill me. I'm not sure, but it feels like everyone is staring at me the entire time I'm in there. Everybody seems so into biking/spin who goes to those things.

Then, I went swimming on my own... The pool was pretty packed, but I was able to squeeze in and get my laps in. I'm actually getting pretty close to the full distance. I did 250, 100, 250, 100 again and it wasn't that bad (and that is immediately after doing spin). I plan to do 300, 100, 300 the next time I get in the pool. Amazing how quickly this is coming along. I can't wait to start focusing on speed... but, one thing at a time here.

Then, I went on a lunch time run of 4 miles with Justin and Mallory. This kinda sucked, but it's not like we were going slow or something. So... I'm pretty impressed. I made it through the adventure without too much trouble. I'm not saying that I'm going to be fast, but this tri isn't as scary all of a sudden. It's still a number of months away. But, I'm really starting to get excited about it. I hope this energy for it continues!!

Triathlon Tomorrow!!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:06:00 +0000

Ok... not a real triathlon. But, I'm waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to go to my second spinning class (RPM). The class starts at 5:45 and I'm 25 minutes from the gym, you do the math. My plan is to sleep in my clothes and have my car packed for work tonight. That way, I can just wake up and get in my car.

Then, right after I do the spin class, I'm gonna head over to the pool for a swim workout (still undecided on what I'm doing). Then, over lunch, I'm going out for a run of 4 miles with "the crew". So, to say the least, I'm assuming I'm going to be trashed tomorrow. On the bright side, I should be able to eat whatever the heck I want! Sweet...

Pushup Contest, Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:04:00 +0000

Well... I said that I had to catch up 3 pushups... and I didn't do that. I actually lost another pushup. Here are the totals... It doesn't look promising. I'm gonna have to catch up 4 pushups on Friday just to pull off a tie.

Me- 46
Adam- 47
Justin- 37

Swimming Maniac

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:49:00 +0000

I'm really getting better at this swimming thing. I've swam a little bit each of the last three days. I swam a shortened (wanted 500 yds) 325 yds on Saturday. Then, before I went on a 6 mile run in Harrisburg on Sunday, I did 500 yds to make up for it. And, since I was still pretty spent from my six miler (I haven't been doing long runs lately), I decided to take a light day today and not run.

So, what did I do? I went swimming! And, boy did I... I swam a total of 700 yds for the first time ever. I did 250 then 100 to bring my heart rate down, 250 again and then 100 to finish. I'm officially at half of the 500 yd sprint tri distance. And, I think I'm really not that far off from doing the full 500. I'm gonna continue to inch towards it. Then, as soon as I can actually do it, I will start working on times (I have no idea how slow I am at this point).

The six miler on Sunday went well too. I ran with a whole host of people... A guy I just met (Mark Rebuck), Justin (my work running buddy), Nate (my old work running buddy and good friend) and Bill (running buddy who I met through Nate). Then, everyone but Justin went and grabbed Indian food afterwards. Nate and Bill call it their Run4Naan. I dig it.

The run itself was really icy and not that pleasant. At times, it wasn't that bad, but here's a picture of the trail that we were running on...

Pushup Contest, Day One

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:21:00 +0000

We've come to the end of our contest and all the energy spent will all come out in the wash this week. We will be doing a test on Monday (already done), Wednesday and Friday. The person with the most pushups at the end of three days wins. Here are the results after Monday's test.

Me- 47 pushups
Adam- 50 pushups
Justin- 37 pushups

I'm 3 behind heading into the last 2 tests. I need to find some extra effort or something. Don't want to lose. But, 47 pushups is pretty good. I'm pretty happy with that. Would love a nice even 50 though.

Week 5 Weigh In...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:41:00 +0000

Well, don't ever let me tell you that I learn from my mistakes. Last week, I had a bad day on Saturday night (the night before I weigh in) and it negatively affected my weigh-in. This week, I had another bad night. I spent all day hungry (and eating to try to slow it down), and then went to a friends house for dinner and really didn't pay any attention to what I was eating at all. I knew it would be bad for my weigh in, but I felt like I "deserved" it after 5 weeks of good eating. Yeah, that's the kind of thinking that put me in this mess in the first place.

All that said, there is some positive to take from this week's and last week's Saturday night transgressions... I lost weight still! This morning I weighed in at 196.4. That is another 1.4 pounds lost for a total of 8.6 pounds in five weeks. Nevermind that I started yesterday at 194.2. We'll leave that bit of complaining for another day. Because, in the end, my ultimate goal is 185 and I'm continuing to move toward that goal. Progress....

Faster? I think so...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:37:00 +0000

On Tuesday, I went to the gym to run on the indoor track (11 laps to a mile, ugh) and play a little basketball with Lisa. I had planned to try to run fast, mostly because I'm sick of running indoors. So, that's what I did...

I started out at a nice clip... low 7:00 mile. Then, the further into the run I got, the more I want to really pound the pace. I actually felt pretty good and I don't feel like I was going 100%. But, I ended up running 3.05 miles in 21:45. So... if I would have completed the full 5k (I had no way of knowing, since I was only counting laps), I probably would have PR'd. My PR at 5k is 22:51.

So.... I definitely wasn't running at full speed and I would have PR'd. Now, take into account the fact that it was on an indoor track, which I'm sure makes you faster. But, at any rate, I think I'm primed to break my 5k PR. Now, I just need a race to prove it. Must be the cross training and weight loss. Can't wait to see where I'm at...

Then, I finished up by getting wooped by Lisa in a few games of this relay shooting game we've been playing. It's definitely a nice after workout workout. I've been doing a lot of that lately.

Woops... Weigh-in, Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:18:00 +0000

Can't win em all, right? Well, I was feeling really cocky and overconfident by Wednesday of this week. I had dropped all the way down to 195.8 on Wednesday morning. That would have been quite the loss. But, after all that, and a pretty consistent week... I managed to pig out the night before I weighed-in for the week. So... I woke up this morning weighing 197.8. That's a .8 pound weight loss and 7.2 pounds in 4 weeks. But, it could have been so much better. Next week should be a big loss I would guess. Can't be perfect all the time...

My First Spin Class...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 14:12:00 +0000

The thought in my head was that spin class was gonna be difficult, beat the heck out of my legs, and be a little intimidating.... check, check, check. All that said, it was really fun. I can't say that I've ever done anything like it. It's the first time in my life I've even taken a group cardio class of any sort. So, that was weird in itself. But, I definitely see spin classes being a part of my new routine.

Also, until it gets warmer outside, I'm gonna depend on spin class to supplement my biking for a while. I don't intend this to be the answer for my training. But, I really don't think it will matter until I start my actual training program (maybe early March). So... I better get used to this sore butt. I'm sure it comes with the territory.

Still Love My Gym, But...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:04:00 +0000

My gym has this "Face to Face" program that I thought was supposed to support a new member to get towards their goals. On top of that, they offer a nice ancillary benefit of a $50 gift certificate toward services or products at the gym (can't be used towards membership fees) upon completion. So, more motivation to take part in the program...

On to the program itself. So, I go in for my first eval. I brought my goals sheet and they had a little conversation with me about what I was hoping to achieve. I told them that I wanted to start swimming because I was planning on training for a triathlon and I also told them that I was hoping to lose about 20 pounds. She asked if I was interested in weight training and I said that I was. But, I also told her that with all the training for the tri, I was probably gonna be pressed to get any in.

On to appointment number 2. A few days later, they devised a weight training schedule for me and showed me the machines in my routine. Again, I told them I probably wouldn't have much time for this but I appreciated the walk-through.

Then, we hit a roadblock. I got in to the gym on Friday morning for my third appointment and it was a follow up on the weight training "I was supposed to be doing". Well... for the third time I told the trainer that I really hadn't had time for the weight training and didn't realize that this "Face to Face" program was all about weight training. I told him that I thought it was supposed to guide me towards my goals. He told me that the appointment was kind of pointless if I hadn't been doing the weight training. And... I had to agree. Then, he proceeded to say something to the effect of, "We designed this program with the idea that you would have at least 20-30 minutes two times a week". And, I told him for a fourth time... "I don't have that".

So, we agreed to see other people at that point. It sucks, because I would have liked to get that $50 gift certificate to use towards swim lessons (you know, my goals). But, it seems that wasn't meant to be. Eh... I learned the hard way that there is no such thing as a free lunch...

Runiversary Coming Up...

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:02:00 +0000

Andrew reminded me of a milestone that I would hate to forget... So, while I'm thinking of it, here's my annual celebration of running. On January 28th (next Wednesday), I will have been running for 2 years. My life has completely changed (and stayed the same all at the same time) over those two years. But, I really can't imagine a life without running at this point.

I was looking back at my one year anniversary post and enjoying the accomplishment of it all. When you're living it, you tend to forget what you've been through. Just one of the many benefits of keeping this blog alive.

One thing that I do realize is that I (warning, sappy content to follow) miss running with the guy that I started this whole journey with. I don't work with Nate anymore and he still lives as far as he ever did (an hour). But, I think I'm gonna make an effort to get some more running in with Nate, hopefully in the near future.

So... if you're reading buddy... prepare for me to be calling about a nice run on the Conewago (or the Barracks, yikes).

Anyhow... happy runiversary to me... Many to come, I hope!

A Quick Lunch Run With "The Guys"

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Gervase) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:22:00 +0000

No offense to the girls that I run with at work. But, I've been feeling kinda left out among the running guys at work. Well... one thing is that most everyone is faster than me. I don't consider myself to be slow. But, even my running buddy (Justin) has made big strides in getting faster. Part of me is like... awesome, great job. The other part is... man, I better get faster.

All that said, I got the chance to run with Marcus and Justin today. They actually weren't running that fast (for them) at 8:35 pace. But, it was still encouraging to not get dragged along by them. In fact, 8:35 didn't feel that bad over 3 miles for me either. However, if we had tried to do their tempo 7:00 pace, I would have absolutely died.

Eh... I'm sure I'll get faster. But, it's not exactly like I'm putting all my ducks in running right now. With having just started triathlon training, there's definitely enough mental energy going into that. So, the speed work will probably have to wait a bit. But, I really think all this cross-training is gonna add fitness without the wear and tear (ok, I stole that thought from Marcus, but I was already thinking it). So, maybe I'll gain with the weight loss and cross-training. Here's to hoping...