I have been thinking for a while about ordering the Jeff Galloway marathon training software made by PC Coach. I finally broke down this morning and ordered it. I believe it is compatible with my Polar RS200sd heart rate monitor which will be cool. And since I am already taking walking breaks during my running, it might be nice to actually have more information on how often I should be taking them. Currently, I am following a training plan from a Hal Higdon book, and it seems to be working pretty well. I am running 5 days a week. But in the back of the book First Marathons, there was a tip by Jeff Galloway, where he talked about running only 3 days a week. That might be interesting to try to keep from getting burned out.
I hope it doesn’t take too long to come. It might be useful in my training for the Las Vegas Marathon. After I get a chance to try the software for a while, I will post a review.
I did it! I am committed! I paid my money, and registered for the Las Vegas Marathon that I have been training for! I used my US Airways Dividend Miles to book the flight to Las Vegas. I reserved a rental car. I am going!
I am considering whether to go in the race as one of the Running Elvis Impersonators. I think that would be a blast. I emailed the guy at listed on the website, but he apparently is in Hawaii for the Ironman.
Now I just hope there aren’t any problems, such as blizzards, or delayed flights, or whatever. I will arrived into Las Vegas late Saturday morning. I can pick up my rental car, and then head over to Mandalay Bay to pick up my runner’s packet. I have a kind of short layover in Charlotte, NC, but I noticed there are a couple other flights going from Charlotte to Las Vegas that will still get me there in time to get my packet. I was hoping to flying in Friday morning, but the flights that were available to me arrived too late to get my runner’s packet. And since I will staying out in Pahrump, I didn’t want to have to drive back into Vegas on Saturday. It will be bad enough getting up ugly early in the morning to drive from Pahrump, to Las Vegas for the starting time of 6am.
It’s 40 degrees outside right now. Next weekend I am racing in a duathlon and I am guessing it will be cold. The weather forecast says the high will be 52 degrees, but that is a week away. I will need more than running shorts and a compression shirt. I went to the sporting good store, and found some Nike running leggings, and a long sleeve compression shirt made by Under Armor that fit. I took them to the register, but remembered I had a 20% off coupon at home. The guy said I could bring them back the next day, and they would ring in the discount.
So yesterday I took the stuff back. I thought the long sleeve Under Armor compression shirt I bought might not be warm enough. I decided to get another looser shirt that I could maybe wear over a compression shirt. I was looking at shirts, and found a shirt by a sign that said Nike Pro Winter Mock or something like that. It was made of thicker material than the Under Armor shirt I had, or the Nike Pro compression shirt I had at home. But Nike labels suck! They don’t tell you crap about what the shirt is for. They say Dri-Fit, and that is about it. There was nothing on the label that said for cold weather, or for what temperature it was recommended for. It was then I noticed that on the tag of the long sleeve Under Armor shirt I had bought the day before, that it was recommended for extreme warm weather. Ouch! That wont work! I found an Under Armor long sleeve compression shirt designed for cold weather. The tag named the model as Cold Gear, and said it was recommended for under 55 degrees.
Now that I have the leggings, I am wondering if in fact I should have “Cold Gear” leggings too. I may go back to today and buy some longer pants, that are designed for colder weather. I am new to this running stuff, and am slowly learning. I just hope this stuff keeps me warm, but not too warm.
Without Limits
SUMMARY: A very inspiring movie about runner Steve Prefontaine. I highly recommend it!
Though this movie came out in 1998, I hadn’t seen it until a couple months ago. I was down in Gatlinburg, TN to compete in a karate tournament, and they played the movie on HBO. I sat in my hotel room, and managed to see most of the movie. Before seeing this movie, I didn’t even know who Steve Prefontaine was. It immediately went on my list movies that I had to see. So when I got home, I found that the library had the DVD, and I put it on hold. I finally got it the other day. I watched it today while I was on the treadmill running my scheduled 8 miles. The timing was perfect as the length of the movie was almost exactly the length of my 8 mile run, and my cool down. Nice! Donald Sutherland does a great job playing Prefontaine’s coach Bill Bowerman. I grew up in Seattle, (a few hours from where Nike shoes came from) and have been wearing Nike shoes since the Nike Cortez’s originally came out. It was fascinating to learn how the company got it’s start. You gotta see this movie!
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Running With Angels: The Inspiring Journey of a Woman Who Turned Personal Tragedy into Triumph Over Obesity by Pamela H. Hansen
SUMMARY: Has some running, but doesn’t focus on it. Book will probably be inspiring for people seeking weight loss.
Much of the book is about how the author lost several children, and how she battled a weight problem. I think besides her being overweight, I think she also had/has serious self-esteem problems. If someone looked at her funny, she thought it was because of her weight. If her children didn’t do well at something, it was because she was overweight.
She tries various diets but they didn’t work for her. She eventually starts running. And as she starts running, and being more careful about what she eats, she begins to lose weight. She eventually goes on to run a marathon. Parts of her marathon efforts are interspersed throughout the book which is a little confusing. Personally I like books to be a little more chronological.
If you are interested in weight loss, then you will probably find this book inspiring. It you have lost child, then you also might find this book helpful. If you are looking for a book about running, then you might be a little disappointed.
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