Run, Steve, Run

I had a goal of running over 100 miles during the month of June. I surpassed my goal, barely, ending up with 100.45 miles for the month. That's an average of 3.34 miles a day.

The highlight came on the last day of June when I set a new personal best time for running the 5K. I ran it in 23 minutes, 35 seconds; bettering my previous best (set in May) by 34 seconds. To get 23:35, I averaged a mile every 7:37. This is way faster than I run day in and day out. As a matter of fact for all of June I averaged one mile every 8:58.

1st mile 7:34
2nd mile 7:29
3rd mile 7:50
last tenth :40

So far in 2009 I have run 262 miles, which has burnt about 26,000 calories (about seven and a half pounds worth!)

Running Songs - Tuesday

I think my Tuesday running playlist is the best of the seven.

• Bad Day by Daniel Powter
• Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
• Cool It Now by New Edition
• Don't Bring Me Down by Electric Light Orchestra
• In Your Wildest Dreams by The Moody Blues
• Kissing A Fool by George Michael
• Missing You by John Waite
• My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson
• New Sensation by INXS
• Roll With It by Steve Winwood
• Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrds

This playlist has one of my two favorite running songs, Don't Bring Me Down by ELO. My other favorite is Stars on 45.

The day-of-the-week playlists are nice, but I think I've decided that I really need to make a playlist for each day of the month instead. It would be a lot less repetitious.

Running in May

I had really a great month of running in May. I ran at least two miles 27 out of the 31 days in May (and a few days I ran more than once.)

During May I:

• Did six 2 mile runs
  
• Did nineteen 5Ks (3.1 mile runs)
• Did one 4 mile run
• Did two 10Ks (6.2 mile runs)
• Ran 87.3 miles total, an average of 2.8 miles a day
  

Running Songs - Sunday & Monday

Here are my running playlists for Sunday and Mondays.

Sunday

1. Le Freak by Chic
2. Funkytown by Lipps, Inc.
3. I'm Gonna Be by The Proclaimers
4. My Girl by the Temptations
5. Never Surrender by Corey Hart
6. Pop Muzik by M
7. She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Canibals
8. Something About You by Level 42
9. Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles
10. Your Love by The Outfield

Monday

1. Breakout by Swing Out Sister
2. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
3. I'm a Believer by The Monkees
4. Monday, Monday by The Mamas and the Papas
5. Nasty by Janet Jackson
6. Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel
7. Stayin' Alive by The Bee Gees
8. Take it Easy by The Eagles
9. Viva La Vida by Coldplay
10. We Built This City by Starship
11. We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel
    

Running Songs - Friday & Saturday

My current playlist for running on Fridays:

1. All I Need Is a Miracle by Mike and the Mechanics
2. Beat It by Michael Jackson
3. Jack and Diane by John Mellencamp
4. The King of Wishful Thinking by Go West
5. Money for Nothing - Dire Straights
6. Wake Up Little Susie by Everly Brothers
7. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' by Michael Jackson
8. We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel
9. Wild, Wild West by The Escape Club

My current playlist for running on Saturdays:

1. Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds
2. All Summer Long by Kid Rock
3. Baby, I Love Your Way / Freebird Medley by Will to Power
4. Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners
5. Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears
6. Girls Just Want to Have Fun by Cyndy Lauper
7. Jive Talkin' by The Bee Gees
8. Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer
9. The Long Run by The Eagles
10. Puttin' on the Ritz by Taco
11. Stars on 45 by Stars on 45
12. You Might Think by The Cars
    

Running Songs - Thursday

Here's my running playlist for Thursdays.

1. Centerfold by J. Geils Band
2. Dirty Laundry by Don Henley
3. Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone) by Glass Tiger
4. Hey Mickey by Toni Basil
5. Invisible Touch by Genesis
6. Rock Me Amadeus by Falco
7. Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz
8. Things Can Only Get Better by Howard Jones
9. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!
10. Walk of Life by Dire Straights
11. West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys
    

Running Songs - Wednesday

A general shuffle of all songs or a genre of songs just doesn't cut it when you are running. You just don't want to have to mess with pressing skip. To eliminate this problem, I made a running playlist for each day of the week.

Running Wednesday

1. All Summer Long by Kid Rock
2. The Climb by Miley Cyrus
3. Hippy Hippy Shake by The Georgia Satellites
4. Human by The Human League
5. Kiss by Prince
6. Lean on Me by Club Nouveau
7. Lonely Ol' Night by John Mellencamp
8. The Reflex by Duran Duran
9. Rumors by Timex Social Club
10. She Drives Me Crazy by Fine Young Canibals
11. Top Gun Anthem
12. Walking On Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves
    

New Personal Best

I set a new best time for running a 5k (3.1 miles) today. My previous best time was 24:40, which I ran in the Nappanee Apple Festival race last September. I started off pretty well today and decided to go for a new best time. I ran it in 24:09.

Today's run stats:

• Average heart rate: 168
• Maximum heart rate: 175
• Fastest quarter mile time during the run: 7th and 9th ones at 1:53
• Slowest quarter mile time during the run: 11th one at 2:04
• Weather: 62 degrees and cloudy, there was some wind.
• Final tenth of a mile time: :36
  

This chart shows each quarter mile time of the run (adding up to 24:09.) The blue line shows my average pace at each point of the run (starting at 8:14 minutes a mile and dropping to an average pace of 7:50 at the run's finish.)

The map shows where I ran. The numbers one through twelve show where I was at each quarter mile split.
I usually don't like to backtrack when I run, (it's a quirk) but I was trying to avoid the wind so I backtracked a lot.

Nike+ Vs. Garmin Forerunner 305

I have tried out a couple new running gadgets this spring. The Garmin Forerunner 305 is a watch-like device that uses GPS to track speed and distance. The Nike+ system uses a shoe mounted accelerometer to track speed and distance using an iPod.

Accuracy:
The Forerunner 305 is much more accurate than the Nike+. You can calibrate the Nike+ (which I did using the accurate distance from the forerunner.) However, I found that once calibrated, the Nike+ will give inaccurate readings if you run at a different pace than usual (over 10 percent off.) The Forerunner is consistently accurate to the extent that any variations between runs are unnoticeable.

Coolness:
The Nike+ should win this. It has a nice voice that tells you about your run while you're on the move and has a cool website that it uploads your running data to - on which you can compete in challenges with other runners. The Nike+ blog widget was fun to add to this site as well. However, the battery in the Nike+ shoe sensor is not replaceable. So if the battery dies a new $20 sensor must be purchased to continue using the Nike+ system. My first sensor lasted about 10 miles (a couple weeks in February.) I thought maybe I just had a dud, so I bought another one. The second sensor lasted about a month this spring for an additional 25 miles. That is not fun or cool. I am not buying another Nike+ sensor.

Usability:
Both products work quite well. The interface for the Forerunner is not as advanced as the Nike+ interface on my iPod Touch (way not as advanced.) But even though the interface is not especially slick, the Forerunner is easy enough to use and does way more than the Nike+.

Features:

Nike+

• It has work out settings for Time, Distance or Calories. (You tell it your goal for the run and the Nike+ will verbally let you know your progress.)
• It stores your run history on the iPod and on the Nike+ website.
• It will play your music for you from within the Nike+ app on the iPod. (Although, I found this feature to be limited compared to the iPods normal music playback capabilites. For example, I couldn't figure out how to get the Nike+ app to shuffle a playlist. I got pretty tired of 80s tunes that start with 'a'.

Garmin Forerunner 305

• It tracks 32 different types of data that the unit can display during a run. (I just use 6 - time, distance, heart rate, average pace, pace, and calories burnt.)
• It comes with a heart rate monitor, which is very consistent. It is comfortable and works great.
  
• It can actually lead you back to where you started if you get lost. I don't usually get lost in Nappanee, but I do see how this could be useful.
• It has a backlit display.
• It has alarms that can be set to alert for time, distance and heart rate. (I have mine set to ring every quarter mile and every nine minutes.)
• It has training options to help you keep a certain pace. You can also setup a workout to race against one of your earlier times for a specific run.
• It has nice charging cradle that works with USB or a regular electrical outlet.
• It downloads run data to your computer, where software stores all your run data. Sweet!

The Garmin Forerunner 305 sells for around $175. The Nike+ sensors are around $20. The Forerunner 305 is by far the better value. The Forerunner does more and does it better. I was on my way to spending over $100 on Nike+ sensors this year. If the battery trend continued, I would have had to spend that every year to keep the Nike+ working. While the Forerunner 305 was more expensive to start with, it is rechargeable and should last for years and years and years with no additional cost.

The Garmin Forerunner 305 is way better than Nike+ and probably way less expensive in the long run as well.

Tendinitis

I've never had any trouble with my knees. . . until now. I started having some pain in my right knee in December, especially when doing aerobics. About a month later, I decided I should have a doctor take a look at it. The diagnosis was tendinitis. He said to rest it for ten days, ice it every day and take Aleve.

That was ten days ago and it has been feeling fine the past few days. So, I decided to try to run a slow mile tonight. I could feel the knee pain coming back. I think I am going to have to rest it quite a bit longer - frustrating!

It figures that I had just put the Nike Plus widget on the side of my blog. Now, while I further rest my knee, the widget will continually mock me.

"You've turned into a couch potato."
"You're stuck in a rut."

Soon, I'll probably start hearing:

• "Got Wii?"
• "I blog AND run, do you?"
• "It's a good thing you bought that new running GPS!"

Miles Biked Update: October 16, 2008

Total number of miles biked in 2008.

Steve 549.8
Kristi 441.7
Kylee 355.2
Kenna 355.0
Landen 32.8

Landen's bike computer broke about two weeks ago. (The wire wrapped around the handle bars twice and snapped.) So, that's his final total for the year, which he rode in about 6 weeks.

After about six months of bike riding this year, Kylee and Makenna's mileage totals are within .056% of each other. Pretty typical for our identical twins.

The last few times Kristi and I have jogged, Kylee and Makenna have pulled Landen in his bike trailer behind their bikes.

Nappanee Apple Festival

We took full advantage of the Apple Festival happenings over the weekend. Some of the events we either attended or participated in included the parade, pedal pull, circus show, baby Olympics, church service, pet parade of fashion, and the 5k run.

Landen won all three events for his age group in the Baby Olympics and both of the girls held their own in the pedal pull.

Kylee ended up running in the 5K race. She won her age division (girls under 10.) She decided to enter when we got there and we didn't have our bikes, so Kristi couldn't ride along with her. We were a little concerned that she would get scared running the 3.1 miles by herslef, so we were so thankful that Dick Pletcher rode his bike along with her. This made it a lot of fun for her. Dick even put a call in to Kylee's grandpa in Las Vegas to let him know her progress during the race. She ran the 5k in 44 minutes, 30 seconds. Dick said she ran at least 80% of the time. Thanks Dick! And great job Kylee!

My goal for the race was to beat my previous best time. Trying to beat 26 minutes was in the back of my mind as well. I ended up finishing the 5K in 24:40. My previous best time was 26:49, so I guess the "race" aspect of the run inspired me.

Thirteen Nappanee Apple Festival Pictures

Ike

I ran two miles through tropical depression Ike today. It was awesome! I finished the two miles within a few seconds of my best time, which was pretty good because my shoes were so wet it felt like I was running with bricks tied to my shoes and I think my drenched Cubs shirt added a few more pounds. I figured running heavy made for an extra good training session (and better than usual work out.)

This was maybe the perfect rain in which to run, lots of drops, steady, yet gentle. I saw some guys braving the elements out on the golf course while I was running. They both looked over at me, obviously having discussed "the guy who's crazier than they are." We exchanged a friendly wave.

When I got back, I laid down in the driveway, exhausted with my face to the sky and simply enjoyed the rain drops hitting me in the face.

When I was taking the girls to quiz practice tonight, we saw some high school aged boys getting ready to swim in the retention ponds by the NorthWood parking lot, pool noodles and all.

Running the 5K

A few weeks ago I signed up for the Nappanee Apple Festival 5K run. The race is now less than two weeks away.

Thanks in part, I'm sure, to the cloudy, cooler weather; today I set a new personal best 5K time, 26 minutes, 49 seconds. I bettered my previous personal best by nearly two minutes. Today was actually the first time I was able to run the whole 3.1 miles without walking part of it.

If I can just strip another 10 minutes off today's time in the next 13 days I just might finish second.

Oh, and I liked it better when they called the Apple Festival's 5K "The Road Apple Run."

Miles Biked Update: July 30, 2008

It's been a couple weeks since I updated the Gall family totals for miles biked in 2008. Kylee averaged 3.84 miles per day over the last two weeks. As of July 30:

Steve 408.4 miles
Kristi 303.1 miles
Kylee 230.5 miles
Kenna 225.2 miles

I've also taken up jogging the past few weeks. So far, I've been jogging exactly one mile. Today I had my best time yet; 8 minutes, 28 seconds. I've been wondering how good (or bad) my times are. Today I found the "Age Graded Calculator" at runnersworld.com. For a 37 year old male, 8:28 comes in with an age graded score of 43.3%. Definition:

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Age-graded scores have been categorized into these broad achievement levels:
100% = Approximate World Record Level
Over 90% = World Class
Over 80% = National Class
Over 70% = Regional Class
Over 60% = Local Class

You know who I see almost every single time I jog and bike for exercise? Mark Ingle. He must think I run and bike all day long.