Last night I did some research online regarding calf-building exercises, as I think inadequate calf strength is a contributing factor to my inability to maintain a fast pace for any length of time (my legs often start giving out before my cardiovascular system does). I also want to build resistance to shin splints which I get from time to time (though not nearly as often as I used to). Googling pointed me mostly at bodybuilding.com, so I focused my search there.

Seems that the lower-leg is composed of three major muscles: the gastrocnemius which is the big bulgy one on the back of the lower leg, the soleus which is the smaller pair of muscles running down the two sides of the lower leg and the anterior tibialis, which runs down the front of the lower leg, covering the shin area. In order to sufficiently work my lower legs, I'd need to target each of these muscles.

I've been doing standing single-leg calf raises for several weeks, and despite a lot of soreness after the exercises during the first week, I've gotten to a point where they're becoming less effective - at least using the methods I've been doing them. My research at bodybuilding.com turned me on t a lot of new options. One of the key components, regardless of the exercise, was to hold each muscle at full contraction for 2-3 seconds during each rep. Doing this alone brought back the pain in the standig calf raises and reduced my maximum number of reps from nearly 30 back down to the high teens. I also learned that the standing exercises primarily work the gastrocnemius, while the seated exercises work the soleus. I also learned that performing both seated and standing reverse calf raises (with my heels on the platform instead of the balls of my feet) will work the anterior tibialis muscles. In the past I had relied on a cable machine to work these muscles, which I do not currently have access to, so this was a nice revelation. I'm not going to go into detail on each exercise, but I highly recommend visiting bodybuilding.com and searching for "calf" or any other area you want to target for some great exercise suggestions.

So, this morning I was looking for some folks to run with and could not find anyone. I decided to try the calf workouts while waiting for people to show (which they never did) and spent a good 25 minutes trying every exercise I found last night. Boy, were my calves smok'n

After the calf workout and realizing that I was not going to be able to find anyone to run with (must have at least 2 people to run outside where I am), I decided to go ahead and try to complete my long run on the treadmill. I planned on running 10 miles and hoped that I could bring myself to do it on a treadmill. We're talking big time monotony here!

I completed the run, though it took me a bit longer to complete than I thought it would (1 hour 41 minutes). I think I'd of been faster running on the ground than on the treadmill. I also had to stop twice and walk for about 2 minutes each time in order to down a bottle of water (I drank 2 17-ounce bottles during the run) because I was parched due to it being a bit warm in the gym. I'd like to get my 10-mile time down to about 80-minutes. I think I could have shaved at least 10 minutes of today's run if I was not on the treadmill, if I let myself cross over my target HR and if I was either running with someone or running competitively and had some folks to pass.

Did I mention how freak'n boring runing on a treadmill for 1 hour 41 minutes was? 

Tags

See All Tags

Today begins my Anaerobic training stage. Hopefully this will help with the monotony that has been my aerobic workouts. I've also shifted the makeup of my workouts from 60% running, 40% cycling to 80/20 - since I want to focus more on running and cannot stomach any more long (2 hour) rides on a stationary bike. Perhaps, once I can ride outdoors again, I'll go for more of a balnce between the two.

Today's workout consited at 10 x 200 meter intervals at my lactate threshold with a 200 meter recovery between each. It felt good to go for some speed for once, and hopefully this speed training will pay off on my 5k and less run times. I think I'm pretty fit aerobically, but I've never been very past. It's time to become fast! I'd love to be able to pull off a 21-minute or less 5k again, which is a feat I have not been able to acheive for about 10 years.

Tags

See All Tags

OK, it's time to get back in shape. I'm going to use this blog as a motivational tool. I'll start posting my trials and tribulations about getting back into shape. I need to involve technology in my routine as much as possible in order to keep myself motivated, so this is a great method to do so!

Tags

See All Tags

Today's weigh-n had me at 194 pounds - only 9 pounds from my goal of 185. I weighed in with my shoes on and my iPod strapped to my arm, as usual, which probably adds 2-3 pounds to my actual body weight, but that's the way I've always done it, so that's the standard I use (when I do an actual weigh-ion, my shoes will be off). I figure it's also a good weight to put in whatever cardio machine I'm using and my HRM for calculating calorie expenditure since that's the actual weight I'm carrying around anyway.

I've noticed a lot of changes in my body composition over the last 10 weeks. My pants are so huge on me now they're almost uncomfortable from all the bunching around my belt line... probably time for some new pants. I'm starting to see definition in places I have not before as well. I think the last 9 pounds will be hard earned (or should I say hard-lost). I think I've done very well at ensuring that all the wight I lost has been from body fat and not muscles; if anything I've added muscle to my frame and not lost it (my shirts are much tighter across my chest and muuuuuuuch looser across my belly now). I've even had to losen the army strap on my iPod holder in order to keep circulation in my arms - definealty a good sign!

Tags

See All Tags