3/1 Long Run

Erin at Eri-thon had a great saying that I was repeating Sunday after the alarm went off at 5am. "You know you're a runner when you get up earlier on the weekends than you do during the week so you can get your long run in." :)

This felt like a tough 15.11 miles in 2:33:16 (10:08/mile) @ 149 avg heart rate. I really had a tough time warming my calves up and getting them to do something other than feel like lumps of dead weight. I blame the stairs I did on Saturday. :) Overall a tougher run than last week, but Val said I looked better coming in than last week, and the pace was on y 4 seconds off of last weeks.

I threw my jacket on my belt like I did last weekend, and like last weekend I needed it. It was warmer (high 40s) than last weekend, but like last weekend I could have used my gloves when it was raining. I used Val's Nike headphones with the weird little over the ear hook, and they worked great. I've been happy with the earbuds but the right ear is starting to go.

Ran through Mill Creek and up Seattle Hill Road. I realized that now that I'm a decent runner I really enjoy the rolling winding walking paths Mill Creek has. They're some nice variety. That variety, and the long gradual uphills and downhills I managed to get into this route made my right knee assembly beg for mercy. No pain, but it felt a little 'weak' during the last part of the run, and after. My left, normally my problem leg, was rock solid. Monday's a rest day, so we'll see how we feel on Tuesday.

Finally saw some other runners in the last two miles of the run. They were actually friently which was a nice change. :)

I'm pretty happy with the Lose It program for the iPhone that I've been playing with. I seem to be on track to lose the weight as it predicts, and I get to eat a LOT more because it's more accurately tracking exercise burned calories than I was. I got to eat almost 3800 calories thanks to the long run, 3100 on Saturday, etc... It's a lot of food to eat, and I need to really work on not filling the 'extra' calories with junk.

The other thing that's really nice is that is tracks sodium and cholesterol as well as macronutrients, and unlike my spreadsheet, summarizes in a nice one page chart. Looks like I really need to work on my increasing my protein intake to something closer to 20 or 25%, closer to what the Runners Diet recommends, especially with all the other workouts I'm doing.

The protein thing may be a challenge. I got some protein powder, but it's spendy, does nasty things to my morning breakfast shake, and smells funny. :) There's a big part of me that says that if you have to supplement that way then you probably need to look at your diet. Val devils advocated for me, and points out that I'm not exactly eating like a normal person, I'm in training for endurance events, and that may mean that supplementation is needed.

The other thing that Lose It points out is that I have to get my sodium intake under control. I am amazed at how much I'm consuming (3700mg)(RDA is < 2400). I'm also amazed at how much is in what foods. I think saturated fat may be a little high,but I need to do some more research on that. Also need to research more on trans fats, too. I'm stunned to find out that Bisquick has trans fats...