I Quit.

I don't like training indoors. I've said it before and I'll say it again, strength work stinks.

So I'm quitting the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up challenges.

Recently, I picked up Dr. Phillip Maffetone's book, The Maffetone Method which describes his formula to reach "exceptional fitness".

In it, I read the following:

"The other primary concept [in exercise] is fun. This is a very simple and straightforward concept. Working out is fun when it is properly done. Throughout this book I discuss a variety of components of a fitness program that can reduce or eliminate the fun of exercise when they are not done right."
The Maffetone Method
Push-ups and sit-ups are not fun. At least not to me. It really became drudgery to sit down in the living room and grind out my sit-ups and push-ups.

So I quit. And Dr. Maffetone says I can.

MAF Test #2

A couple weeks ago in my weekly log, I mentioned that I took the Maffetone maximum aerobic function (MAF) test. I didn't get into a whole lot of detail on why I did it or the philosophy behind low heart rate training.

The idea is that by always training below your MAF (mine is 151 beats per minute) you can increase your endurance and help your speed in endurance events. If you do speedwork or anaerobic exercise, you can actually hurt your endurance, making you slower in longer events.

The MAF test is to run five miles below your MAF (after a short warm-up). Typically your times will get higher with each mile you run. This wasn't the case with my first test:

Mile 1: 9:18
Mile 2: 9:09
Mile 3: 9:18
Mile 4: 9:30
Mile 5: 9:29

I figured this was because I didn't warm up properly, so yesterday I added two more minutes to my warm-up. Here are my results:

Mile 1: 9:14
Mile 2: 9:23
Mile 3: 9:32
Mile 4: 9:42
Mile 5: 9:39

Slower, but the trend is a bit more like what I'd expect. And frankly, I had expected that the first time out I'd be putting up 10-minute miles, so I'm satisfied with my results.

But what's up with mile 5? Both times they were faster than mile 4 - even when I had that nice trend going in my second test. Weird.

Beth Thinks I'm Weird

...for many reasons.

Besides, the obvious, there's the foods I don't like. I don't like tomatoes -I wish I liked tomatoes, because they're everywhere, but I don't, I don't like nuts besides peanuts, and I don't like raisins.

But the strangest thing I don't like is frozen corn. I mean, after it's thawed. I love corn on the cob and canned corn, but if it comes out of the freezer, I hate it.

You're reaction is probably the same that most people have when I tell them this. They don't believe me. But then, when they try canned corn, then they try frozen corn they notice the difference. They probably still like frozen corn. But at least they understand.

Week Log: February 16-22

Monday: Run 8.1 miles, 1:57 HAT run preview. Muddy and hilly.

Tuesday: Run 8.1 miles, 1:19 Exact same mileage as yesterday, but 40 minutes faster. That's the difference between running trails and running roads.

Wednesday: Core work, push-ups (14-18-14-14-28) and sit-ups (21-27-21-21-55).

Thursday: Run 6.0 miles, 1:02 Another cold, windy day. I am SO ready for spring!

Friday: Core work, push-ups (20-25-15-15-29) and sit-ups (30-38-23-23-56)

Saturday: Run 13.0 miles, 2:45 Very muddy run on the Appalachian Trail.

Sunday: Core work, push-ups (22-30-20-20-26) and sit-ups (33-42-30-30-61)

Total: Run 35 miles

A really good week despite some soreness in my right IT band. I'm currently six miles short of getting 100 miles this month and 17 miles short of 200 for the year-to-date. With the Hiashawha Hills 50K next Saturday, I'll be sure to reach both milestones barring total disaster.

Aches and pains aside, I feel like I'm adapting the increasing mileage really well. Although my weekly mileage hasn't set any new records (my personal best for a week is 59 - 40 on a non-race week), it's rare that I have this many weeks with this much mileage stacked up. February is shaping up to be my highest mileage month ever (again, barring disaster) and I'm pleased to see how well my body is holding up.

Why Not?

I mentioned earlier that I had posted a message on the Runner's World Forums inquiring about the true difficulty of the HAT run.

In that same thread someone gave a plug for the Hashawha Hills 50K on February 28. It's a 'FA' (stands for fat a**) meaning that support is limited to non-existent out on the course. So basically it's a training run with a lot of other people.

Originally, I had brushed this off as not possible, thinking that it would be too far to drive and I just won't be ready for a 50K next week, especially with the HAT run three weeks after that.

But it's been rattling around in my head all week that maybe it's doable. I mean, 31 miles isn't all that much further than 27. And it is free after all. Not to mention it will make a PR more meaningful at the HAT, since it would be based off a previous best time, not just the fact it would be my first race at that distance.

So today I checked how far of a drive it would be on MapQuest. One hour, four minutes. Very doable, even for a 7:30 start. So I e-mailed Beth to see what she thought, since she often sheds a lot of common sense on ridiculous things that I am very gung-ho about.

Her response: "I think you're crazy for running through streams and up mountains at 7:30in the morning next weekend (without aid), but do as you wish!"

Sounds like a green light to me!

Next on my race calendar, The Hashewha Hills 50K!

Desperate for Ad Revenue?

Every day I listen to our local sports station, 1460 "The Ticket." And I've noticed a definite trend in their advertising.

It started out with the basic Viagra and Cialis ads and plugging their station website's "Babe of the Day." Viagra and Cialis is advertised everywhere, so I guess that's not a big deal. But the "Babe of the Day?" C'mon guys, grow up a little.

I get a little sick of sports media always being associated with ogling scantily-clad women. I know sports are a predominantly male interest, but do they really need to appeal to the lowest common denominator?

...But that's a whole 'nother rant for a different day.

So the ads have slowly gotten worse. Lately "Excitement Video" (it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out what kind of store this is) has been advertising on The Ticket, and they're not particularly tasteful ads. I'm to the point where I pull my earbuds out as soon as I hear one of their ads start.

(Are you blushing yet, Ruth?)

Today, I heard the ad that tops them all. I've never heard (or seen) this advertised on radio, television or magazines.

Vasectomies.

Yes, the Urology Center of Central Pennsylvania wants you to get your vasectomy before March Madness. (Most men like to schedule their vasectomies before a big sporting event so they have a reason to sit in front of the TV.) They've gone so far as to offer a package including a sports magazine, a free pizza delivery and a bag of frozen peas. "Lower your seed for the tournament!"

They have to be really desperate for advertising dollars...

HAT Run Preview

I know it's a little early to be pontificating on my strategy for the HAT run, since it's over a month away, but there is something on the HAT run site that I find confusing.

They list the total feet in climbing for the event at 9800. That's a LOT of climbing for a 50K. And that's really a lot of climbing for a 50K that doesn't get much higher than 300 feet above sea level.

I was so baffled by it, I started a thread on the Runner's World forum. After many replies by those who had done the HAT before it became clear that I wouldn't know anything until I saw the course myself.

Since I have today off for the President's Day holiday (and Beth doesn't) I decided to drive down to Maryland a run the 11-mile training loop posted on the HAT run site.

I managed to drive the (slightly less than) 2-hours down there without getting lost. Or evening making a wrong turn. Actually, that's not true - I did turn on route 1 business when I was supposed to be on the bypass. But I didn't lose any time because of it, so it doesn't count.

When I got there, I decided to park at the Historical Area, since the trail went right past it and it was easy to find.

Lucky me, the first mile or so on the trail was among the toughest miles of the day. The "red" Susquehanna Ridge Trail ran along the steep ridge that paralleled the Susquehanna River, so there was a lot of "up and down" (which I still prefer to more mountainous trails).

The run went fine from there, there were several stream crossings (one where I had to go in over the top of my shoes) and a fair amount of mud. Everything was good until I tried to find the "green" Deer Creek Trail.

It was supposed to intersect the "blue" Farm Road Trail, but instead of the trail I expected, there was a paved road (which wasn't on the map). I thought maybe I wasn't where I thought I was and continued on the blue trail, but I never found the green trail.

What was supposed to be an 11-mile training run turned into a 8.1-mile training run, which is just as well, because my IT band started flaring up after about 7.5 miles.

Oh, and coming home - I might have a missed a turn or two and gotten a little lost...

Week Log February 9-15

Tuesday: Run 6.4 miles, 1:02 Did the Maffetone maximum aerobic function (MAF) test. This is done my warming up, then running five miles below your MAF - by heart rate (in my case 151 bpm). Results: 9:18, 9:09, 9:18, 9:30, 9:29.

Wednesday: Core work (~35 min.)

Thursday: Run 8.2 miles, 1:29 Very windy day. Kept heart rate below MAF, which made for a slow pace.

Saturday: Run 6.7 miles, 1:15 Horribly slow pace. Stayed under MAF. IT band on right side was hurting pretty good.

Sunday: Core work - did usual warm-up then initial tests for 100 push-up (28) and 200 sit up (96) programs.

Total: Run 21 miles

This week I make a couple changes to my training programs.

I've mentioned before that my long races don't ever come close to what my 6:30 mile last summer say they should be. That Phillip Maffetone article indicates that poor aerobic conditioning may be part of the problem. By consistently training under my MAF I can increase my ability to stay strong even towards the end of long races.

The second change I made was adding the 100 push-up and 200 sit-up programs to my core work outs. Actually, I'm pretty much replacing my core work out with these programs. I was getting bored with my usual core workouts, so I'll be doing these instead for a while. Hopefully a goal-oriented core program will help me stick to it a little better.

My Needs According to Google

My sister did this on facebook and tagged me. When I googled it, the results were good enough to put on this blog.

So here's the deal:

What are YOUR needs? Type in your name and the word needs in quotes (" Your name needs”) into a search engine and see what comes up. List the first 10 and then tag 10 or more of your friends.

Jeff needs to dance. Some people would probably agree with that.

Jeff needs fish food. I think I need fish before fish food. Unless the fish food was for something else. What that could be, I don't know.

Jeff needs to fix my cocker. At first I thought this meant that I needed to neuter someone's spaniel. But it's from a paintball site, so I don't know...

Jeff needs to see. Actually, it's "Movies Jeff Needs to See" - some kind of list on Amazon.

Jeff needs to make clear he will be the final say for the music allowed. I have know idea what this means.

Jeff needs to fire everybody off his team because they are giving him bad advice. This is from another Jeff's blog. Let me be clear that it is on a blog that is NOT mine.

Jeff needs a band. Don't we all?

Jeff needs to improve his wrestling skills. The kids in the youth group are getting bigger and it would help keep them under control...

Jeff needs you. And so does Uncle Sam.

Jeff needs Facebook. ...actually, I've already got facebook. But thanks.

I'm not going to tag anyone, since that's a little cruel. But if you want to post your needs according to Google, I won't stop you.

What's cool is that somebody else named Jeff will probably do the same search and find their way here...

What a Stupid Run

Saturday morning the people at the National Weather Service predicted a high temperature in the mid-40's, making it a great day for me to do my long run.

Since I know the HAT run will be hilly I chose a pretty hilly route for my long run. The plan was to start at Boiling Springs, run 12 miles South on the Appalachian Trail, then turn around and come back. And that's what I did. If you use the term "run" loosely.

When I reached the trailhead the trail still looked like this:


...from all the cold weather we'd been having. And the temperature was still in the mid-30's, so I felt a little silly heading out on the trail in shorts. But in the long run, shorts were the right decision - I finished the run pretty comfortably temperature-wise.

While I was mentally prepared for a lot of hills, I wasn't so prepared for this:
Tons of rocks. What really bugs me is that I knew better. About five miles from the start is an area known as Rocky Ridge. It's pretty much the highest point I'd be traversing and it definitely lived up to its name.

Rocky Ridge is frequented by rock climbers because of the massive boulders that are all around the trail. Even AT hikers have to do a little rock climbing to get through the trail in spots. Between the boulders and the switchbacks on the south side of Rocky Ridge, it accounted for about 1 mile of walking in each direction, losing probably 20-30 minutes on my overall time.

After Rock Ridge, the AT was fairly flat for about five or six miles (at least flat by Appalachian Trail standards). But my brisk runs seemed to be constantly broken up by treacherous bridges:

I'd always walk over these bridges. I'd hate to take a dunk in that water because I slipped off the bridge! The air temperature might be in the forties, but you can bet that that water is COLD.

I made my turn-around after three hours and two minutes. Slightly more than a 15 minute-per-mile pace. YUCK!

I cut that average pace back down before reaching Rocky Ridge again on the way back. And now all the snow on Rocky Ridge had turned into super-slick slush:

Which made for some MAJOR slow-going.

I made it back to Boiling Springs in 6:37. It stupid of me to pick such a treacherous trail as a training run. The hills may have been good training, but all the rocks and the switchbacks just made for major frustrations.

Lesson learned. Next long run will be at Pinchot Park where there aren't any switchbacks! (There are rocks, but not like Rocky Ridge.)

Week Log: February 2-8

Tuesday: Run 4.0 miles, 34 min. Faster than marathon pace around the neighborhood.

Wednesday: Core Work (~30 minutes)

Thursday: Run 4.0 miles, 37 min. Slower than marathon pace, but not slow enough to be called an easy run. I guess you could call them "junk miles."

Friday: Core Work (~30 minutes)

Saturday: 24.0 miles, 6:37 More than six hours on the appalachian trail. A ridiculous run that I will post about soon.

Total: Run 32 miles

I'm starting to feel the aches and pains associated with increasing your training load. During yesterday's long run my right IT band starting irritating me. This is new, since last fall it was my left IT band that had given me all that trouble.

The good news is that the weather is starting to warm up - hopefully this will not be a temporary occurence (as often happens in early February) and I will soon be able to spend some time on my bicycle(s). More realistically, I will need to take advantage of these warm spells before we descend into the misery that is a Pennsylvania winter.

As long as these aches and pains don't develop into anything worse, I'm still on track for the HAT run. Next week will be an "easy" week (~21 miles), then I'll start upping my mileage again. The last day of February will bring about my last long run before the HAT, 27 miles.

Hair

I've always had a love-hate relationship with my hair. Being a guy, I like to downplay it's importance but the fact of the matter is, I'd like to have good hair.

I go through phases with my hair. Right now I'm in the same phase I was my junior year of high school and junior year of college. I want long hair. But I don't want the work of styling and taking care of it. Every time I've tried to grow my hair out in the past it ended with frustration and a simple short style.

While I gave up on it in high school and college, I think there's hope that I could actually get a decent looking long(ish) hairstyle. This is because last summer Beth convinced me to start seeing her stylist.

In the past I've always just gone wherever there had walk-ins and was cheap. Because I don't really believe you should have to make an appointment to get your ears lowered. This very much limited the quality of my hairstyle. Now that I'm seeing the same person every five weeks or so, I have some guidance on how my hair works. (Basically, that it's "poofy" and needs to be thinnned.) So for the first time in ages...my hair covers the top of my ears.

Quite honestly, what I really want to do is what my friend Missy did. If my head wasn't so oddly-shaped (and if Beth didn't hate the idea), I would totally shave my head.

Snack Strategy

Snacking at work can be tricky. If I stock my desk drawers with something I really like (i.e. something sweet) it tends to be gone in a day (like the box of Pria Bars I bought Monday night). But if I get something I don't really want (i.e. granola) then it sits in my desk drawer while I go downstairs to get something from the candy machine. (Despite my objections to the vending company's practices.)

The ideal way to snack is for me to get something to fill my stomach at 10 AM, lunch sometime between noon and 1 PM, then snack on something sweet to satisfy my taste buds at around 2:30.

Typically I can do this with a Clif, Mojo or Kashi bar in the morning (tasty but not sweet) then have some sort of fruit packed in my lunch that I save for my afternoon snack. Sometimes it might take an extra Kashi bar to see me through, but overall I come home feeling like I've snacked smartly.

Unfortunately, the peanut butter recall has created a shortage of Clif and Mojo bars in stores, so when I stocked up on Monday, I grabbed a box of Odwalla bars (which I haven't even opened yet, because I've never tried them before), a 6-pack of Pria bars (sweet - and now gone) and a box of Chewy Granola Bars "with protein" (sweet - and now gone).

So with two days of the week left I have only the six Odwalla bars. I'll take some Kashi bars I have left here at home, but I might need to re-stock much earlier than planned.

All that to say I need some good snack ideas. The weird thing about me is that the only nut I like is peanuts. So no cashews, almonds, pecans or walnuts (I know, it makes the whole energy bar thing tricky.) What do you like? I need help here, or else I'm liable to down a daily king sized snickers!

I Still Have a Job

...and that's a good thing.

Terms like "bad economy" and "layoffs" have always seemed vague to me. Because my personal economy and my job has not really been affected by "the economy" at large.

But that changed Friday when it was announced that my company would be eliminating about 200 jobs. Part of that would consist of eliminating positions that are currently open, but the rest meant people would be losing their jobs.

And people did lose their jobs. Only one person that I really know personally was affected, but I could see it happening. It was very surreal to see four people packing up their things when I went to the coffee station.

While my department (that I'm currently in - I'll be moving shortly) was not affected directly, we were affected indirectly. There was definitely a could of gloom and uncertainty that hung over the office.

I don't talk about work much on this blog (with occasional exceptions) because, well that's just not the wisest thing to do when you work for a big company. But this was definitely a new experience for me, and one I think worth sharing.

Week Log January 26 - February 1

Monday: Run 4.0 miles, 35 min. Good fast paced run through the neighborhood (needed to get through it to get to the bowling alley on time).

Tuesday: Run 5.2 miles, 52 min. A more comfortably paced run through the neighborhood.

Wednesday: Core work (~30 minutes)

Thursday: Run 9.5 miles, 1:25 Another marathon-paced run through the neighborhood. I managed to keep pace despite some slippery spots out on the sidewalk!

Friday: Run 4.4 miles, 44 min. Another easy paced run, still feeling good despite the increasing mileage.

Saturday: Core work (~30 minutes)

Sunday: Run 6.0 miles, 1:07 This was actually a fast-paced run on the Appalachian Trail. Don't let the time fool you, the hills and rocks makes 11 minute miles feel like nine minute miles on the road.

Total: Run 29 miles.

I feel like I got a lot of training done this week, with three really high-quality runs. I'll probably cut back a bit on the speedwork to once per week, but it's nice to see that I can still maintain nine-minute miles, since lately I've felt like I could barely keep each mile under 10:30.

Next week I'll get a bit of recovery early on, but will need fresh legs for another long run in the mountains on Saturday.