Friday, September 28, 2007

Is Running Really Boring?

When I was younger, I often watched a very long dyke in my birthplace (well, maybe I just thought it was that long). And, there were runners, too. I wondered how they could run every day without being bored.

Another day, while I discussed with my dad (a former athlete, but not runner), I mentioned running and he told me that running on streets is probably interesting, and running on track must be “terribly boring”.

Few years ago, I would have thought he was right. Not anymore!

To walk or run, one must have good legs (strong, not pretty), but the mental side is also important. A physical activity is equally a matter of muscles as of thinking.

When I started to walk, I always used my PM3 player and listened to the music. Once, I forgot it (but it was too late to come back).

So, I started making music in my mind and understood that my brain was there to motivate me. Some time later, I understood that the workout time is my special time for relaxation.

That’s when I am concentrated only on running and on my environment. Even now, I use some songs in my mind to find a good rhythm for running and since one year I don’t use my MP3 during the workouts.

Do you still remember the dyke from the beginning of this post? It is still as long as before, but now I know I can pass from one end to another very fast. Neither running on track is boring. I understand that this way I can improve my performance, especially the speed.

So, what is the answer to the question from the title? Definitely, running is not boring. It is only our perception (when we are not motivated) that makes it boring.

So, go outside and move…

Friday, September 14, 2007

What I ate?

IMPORTANT: Don't even try to eat like me. Our individual needs are different (according to our physical constitution, metabolism, level of the physical activity, etc.).

This is only an example of my menu. Don't change anything in your eating habits without consulting a qualified nutritionist.

Breakfast: a glass of cereal with a glass of milk, half banana

Variant: Two slices of multigrain bread with peanut butter and a glass of milk

Snack: one fruit

Lunch: Meat or fish; two slices of bread or potatoes/pasta; lettuce or tomato, ten pieces of baby carrots

Snack: one fruit

Supper: If I ate fish for lunch, I eat meat and vice-versa; cooked vegetables/salad; bread, potatoes or pasta

Before going to bed: a glass of 1% milk or fat free yogurt

I ate (and still eat) a lot of fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel). I use canned or fresh fish - the latter prepared in the oven or in microwave with a lot of spices and some olive oil. It helped me to get rid of cholesterol.

When you see what I ate, are you surprised I wasn't hungry?

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Montreal Marathon's 5 K (Sep. 9)

 

I am so excited! I set my new personal best on 5 K (24:20).

It was a great race. For the first time I was faster than 25 minutes (my old PB was 25:27). The weather was fair (around 15°C, somewhat windy) and I was in great shape.

Unfortunately, on the water stop, a guy in front of me stopped suddenly so I ran into him and lost few precious seconds and my rhythm was broken.

My running buddy Yves avoided this situation. He set his new PB, too.

One of my toes is painful (did the guy at the water stop stepped on my foot?) but I'll continue my workouts this week preparing for the next race (in 3 weeks).

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Monday, September 3, 2007

Start using a Heart Rate Monitor

What’s the use of a heart rate monitor?
1) You don’t have to stop occasionally to measure your pulse.
2) You can set the alarm so whenever you are too low or too high (if you prefer: when you are out of your training zone), the alarm will remind you to accelerate or to slow down a bit.
3) You can set the timer to remind you when to stop the workout.
4) At the end, you’ll see the statistics (average heart rate, maximum and minimum HR), sometimes even the total time you exercised in your target zone.
You can put all of this to a chart and this will motivate you more than you imagine. I was so amazed with these numbers that I entered them after every workout and was impatient to do. You can even add your morning weight and calculate the daily or weekly progress. Amazing! I did it after two months since the beginning f my program and it was one of the most motivating things I used.

As it was written on About.com - Sports Medicine, Heart Monitor is a gadget you can live without, but once you try it, you’ll be hardly able to continue without it.
Right, you become addicted! You find it so easy to use and so useful, that you want one during each of your workouts. HRM is not a tool for advanced athletes (although they use them, too). You can find them in various shapes, with so different characteristics – from base models, to fitness and running or cycling computers. Every one will monitor your heart rate in real time, most of them have the chronometer, most will be able to set your five heart zones (but you’ll have to enter your maximum HR yourself), some can even calculate your calories consumption during the workout. Mostly, they have a timer, so you can set the time you want doing your workout (ex: 24 minutes) and will remind you that your exercise is over.
The advanced ones will show you the distance you walked (or ran) – based either on GPS signal or by using a foot pod. Some will even allow you to set your workouts on a computer and to transfer them to your watch and exercise according to the programmed session. Some of the famous brands are Polar, Timex and, recently, Garmin. Polar and Timex have basic to advanced models, Garmin only the advanced ones. I would not recommend the Heart Rate Monitors without a chest strap because they are not accurate.
Basically, you moisten your chest strap and put it on your chest, start your watch in chronometer mode and GO! Don’t forget to warm-up and cool down!

Timex HRM GPS Polar1 garmin305
Timex Bodylink Polar F4M Garmin 305