My running is getting better and I’m feeling stronger. I monitor my heart rate with every run and have can see the progress. I’m running faster and longer at a lower heart rate. I have yet to put in a long run over 4 miles but I plan on doing that this weekend.

I have 2 heart rate monitors. The Timex Ironman and the Garmin 301. I take them with me every time I run and/work out. The garmin is ideal because I can upload the data to my computer and monitor my progress. But the battery is a rechargeable and wears out fast. It’s really the best piece of equipment I have. Indoors it does a good job, but outdoors it’s a dream come true. Pace, time, heartrate, speed, etc. It does everything in a really convenient package.

The timex is great but it can’t upload to the computer. For running it’s a great stand by. It’s supposed to support some swimming so I’m going to try that this week. Hopefully I won’t electricute myself.

I’ve created a link to a running plan that I am trying to follow for my spring marathon. I took a version of one posted on Runners World and modified it for my purpose. If someone wants to post their workout they are welcome to send them on and I will post them as well.

This week has been a good week for running. I’ve kept to my schedule and am starting to make progress towards my goal - The Flying Pig.
Most people I know that have completed that race say it is one of the best races to run so as my first full marathon I am looking forward to it. It helps to hear other people you know who have run a race talk about it as a positive experience.

Earlier I mentioned that one of my biggest challenges with running through the winter was all of the time on the treadmill. Unfortunately the gym that I belong to doesn’t have a lot of tv screens and they pretty much play two things CNN and Sports Center. What I recently added to my MP3 player was PodCasts. For those that aren’t familiar with this new craze let me explain a little.

PodCasts are nothin more than pre-recorded broadcasts, primarily audio. There are some video podcasts, but 99% are still audio. Some of these are actual new broadcasts from legitimate news agencies, but a lot of them are amateur rants, raves, commercials, etc. They have something for nearly every interest you could have. I even found ‘Casts in foreign languages.

They last from 30 seconds to hours long depending on what you want to listen to. There are multiple programs that you can use to download them. Indiepodder or iTunes being just two of them. A google on listening to PodCasts will give you a whole list of ways to upload them to your mp3 player. This was one that I found pretty clear, Listen to Podcasts.

There is a misconception that you need to have an iPod to listen to these. Any MP3 player will work.

How do these help get through the treadmill running? Well they allow you to focus on something other than your pain, tiredness, or boredom. Some of them are absolutely hilarious while others are completely boring. I try to organize them in such a way so that the funny ones catch me at the end because laughing is always welcome.

Ever wonder what people did for exercise before we took this running as far as we have. Their exercise was part of what they did for every day life like gardening or cutting wood. Yesterday I did some of that old fashion exercise - cutting wood.

We started at around 9 A.M. and went until 3:30 P.M. We cut enough wood to fill 4 trucks and left a pile to fill one or two more. Ash, Oak, and Hickory. Fortunately we had a hydraulic log splitter. Unfortunately for me no one else showed up until I had already cut the wood and was ready to split. My co-workers would say I definitely lived up to my nickname - Chainsaw.

It was a great day despite the cold and wind. There were it’s comedies of events which no one thought to take a picture of gratefully. By the end of the day I had worked probably every muscle I could think of. I was so sore that I could barely move most of the morning and even now am still feeling it.

I will say that I think that my two yoga classes and one pilates class actually kept me from seriously hurting myself which is what I usually do when I take on stupid ideas like this.

Starting tomorrow I get back to work on the normal training program.

I have a subscription to Runners World, Running Times, and Triathlete Magazine. I love reading these and seeing what they have to say. But every single time I get a new magazine I see ideas in their book that I’ve already spent days and sometimes weeks researching. It drives me crazy.

The other day after my yoga class I was talking to one of my co-workers about it and their response was “Oh yeah, I saw that on Runners World just today. Did you get the idea from them?”

No! No! No! It was my idea. Yoga is a great way to xtrain and incorporate a lot of stretching so you’re not adding too much bulk like you can in just straight weight training.

Ok, that’s all I had to say.

Today was my attempt at yet another class - Pilates. Not quite what I was looking for. I’ve spent the day walking around sore and stiff. Anytime you work out you feel sore, but this doesn’t feel like the good sore so I’m killing this one in the future. I’ll stick to my yoga or maybe find another class.

Pilates may be for some people, especially if you are working on your core primarily. Just not for me. It left me looking forward to my 4 mile run this weekend.