Fitness Geek

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Well, it was a busy one to say the least. We had some family health issues. Mrs. Fit Geek’s grandfather was seriously ill and we spent Saturday with him and the in-laws.

Lil’ Geek was her usual, mini-tornado self, running, playing and fighting sleep with every ounce of her tiny body.

My running this week was a little ying and yang. I did great up through Wednesday and then didn’t run another step through Sunday. I had runs scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, but work, life, laziness and a youngster who didn’t want to sleep, all prevailed.

Total mileage: 10 miles. That’s a shade lower than the 30 miles the previous week.

Overall for February, I had a strong month of running and working out. I’m over 100 miles for the month, and I’m starting to feel gains from the lifting. Because of Lil’ Geek’s schedule, I’m lifting in the evenings and doing it in about 40 minutes. Short and sweet.

I didn’t get near as much done as I’d have liked to for the other aspects of my life, but that’s almost always the case. All I can do is keep striving.

I’ve got a half marathon run slated for March 18 with a bunch of friends. I’m not expecting to hit a PR but it will be a good test for my 2012 goal of breaking 2 hours for 13.1 miles.

This week I’ve got loads to do. I’ll be passing 30 miles for the week in running, lifting at least three times and doing a lecture at work. Busy, busy, busy.

As for Lil’ Geek, I’m hoping to spend tons of quality time with her. She’s my sun and my moon.

Mrs. Fit Geek and I love us some reality shows. This week’s Biggest Loser and Survivor should be good, and I’m looking forward to the finale of Top Chef. At last. It’s been a long season.

Mrs. Fit Geek is always stoked about the Bachelor. Oh well. She’s close to perfect so this isn’t a huge flaw.

Me, I’m lovin’ some Justified. And I’m looking forward to Awake. I’m also big into the second “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (better known to many as A Game of Thrones). The second book so far is stellar.

So the blog is finally back up and running. I’m redoing my blog roll, so if you’ve got a blog e-mail me at schulmanwriter@gmail.com and I’ll add it as long as you add mine too.

Lil’ Geek 3.1

Late Nights and early mornings

Lil’ Geek, you are quite the sleeper. Some days, you are up at 7 AM, others 4 AM is your wake-up call.

I’ll hear you hollering, “Daddy! Daddy!”

On those early mornings, we have a ritual: Bleary-eyed, both of us, we make our way to the kitchen for a nice “Mean Bup.” That’s Lil’ Geek speak for “Green Cup. Preferably filled with milk.”

We curl up on the couch together, watching a portion of Curious George 2 or Strawberry Shortcake before you’re ready to go back to sleep.

A few books are read, just like at bedtime. Then, you stretch out with Tigger and drift off to the land of Z’s once more while I rub your back.

The rest of the day is often tough on your dad because I love my sleep. Yet, those quiet moments together when the rest of the world sleeps are ours and ours alone.

For a two-month stretch, you were up every other day at 3:30ish. It was rough. I stopped running. I was falling asleep at night on the couch.

But those mornings, while they were not easy, they were magical. Many of them we would sleep together on the couch, you on top of me, Tigger always in your grasp. My back would ache the next day and I would be exhausted, but nothing equals you snuggling up close and snoring on my shoulder.

You’re sleeping better most nights now, but when you are up early, we have our quiet fun while the cats doze and your mom sleeps.

We’ll both be tired the rest of the day, but for a few hours in the morning, the world is ours.

On Cholesterol and Health

Today I got my results on my recent issues with cholesterol. The issue being that back in November my good cholesterol was too low, my bad cholesterol and my total were both too high.

A little background: I’m 32 and in decent shape. But I’ve got a family history of cholesterol issues that dates back to the Middle Ages. Of all the characteristics of my family I wanted to inherit, this was not high on the list. Or even on the list.

I’ve been on cholesterol meds for three months and today I got my new numbers. Overall, not too bad. The low is low (73) and the total is good (137). The bad is that my good cholesterol is a bit low (37).

The doctor turned to me and said, “You know we can raise that number. Do you exercise? Run maybe?”

I nodded. “Yeah, about 30 miles a week. Oh and I workout 2 – 3 times.”

He shook his head. “I thought I was doing good with my three miles, three times a week.”

The verdict: I’m out of luck unless I want more meds. My good cholesterol isn’t bad, I just need to keep an eye on it.

One suggestion from the doctor: a glass of wine a night has been shown to raise HDL by up to 10 points over a year. I’m game.

With all that in mind, I plan to change my diet a bit, starting tomorrow. My diet’s not bad, but it could be better. So we’ll see what I can do in the coming months. I’ve got another check soon.

Until then, I’ll just keep putting in miles and not overeating. Starting tomorrow of course. Tonight is pizza night.

2012 Resolutions

I’ve been mostly quiet about my goals this year. Here on the blog, I’ve been just quiet in general. I’m trying to find more time to blog. Hopefully this will be my best attempt.

This year I’ve set out a number of goals that I didn’t accomplish last year. In fact, I accomplished 0 of my goals. 2011 was a failure as a runner, husband, father and person.

With that in mind, here are just some of my goals for 2012.

Running:

1,400 miles – I started 2012 with a slow January, but February is shaping up to put me back on target. As of today, I’m right on track to make this record.

Sub 2:00 half marathon – A long shot right now, but a solid goal. I’m slowly getting speed back, but I want to break 2 hours.

Sub 4:30 in marathon – This is going to be one of the tougher goals. I’ve got a marathon attempt in April and another probably over the summer. A sub 10 min mile sustained for that distance is not in the cards right now, but I really want this one.

Sub 5:30 50K – That’s a sub 10:30 pace. My previous best is 5:42, about an 11 minute pace. If I get some speed in the coming months, this one is possible. I’ll probably make a go of it in the summer, probably an early morning attempt.

Sub 8 minute mile – Nothing too exciting here, but it would be fun to see what I could do.

Other fitness goals:

100 push-ups – I want to complete the 100 push-up challenge this year.

50 bodyweight squats – We’ll see.

These aren’t my only goals, for sure. But it’s a good start. There’s plenty more on the personal and spiritual side.

I’ll update these as the year progresses.

As I mentioned, my running is back to where it should be, at least in regards to mileage. I’m averaging about 30 miles a week, four to five days a week of running. I’d like to be pushing 40 miles a week by April.

Saturday I ran 16 miles, the most for me since last June. It was a good run, and I had some speed for the first half, averaging sub 10 minute miles. I realize that’s not exactly “speed” but for my long runs, I’ll take it. And it is getting better.

The run left me pretty sore, so I’m debating another 16 or doing 20 this Saturday. It’ll depend on how the week plays out.

For now I’m hoping to keep piling on the miles as I prep for a March 18 half marathon PR attempt and an April marathon PR test.

A New Year

2012. I’m hoping this year will be even better than last year. Lil’ Geek continues to grow and laugh and liven up the world.

I’ve got a number of goals for this year. Some are off to a good start. Others, not exactly.

Run 1,200 – 1,500 miles: I’ve got ground to make up here for sure. January will be at best 80 miles. That puts me well behind my goal, but I’ve got 11 months to make it up.

100 pushup challenge: I’m hoping to start this in the next couple of days.

Get in better shape: Not just running.

Run another ultra: As of last November, I’m no longer an ultrarunner. I can’t call myself one if I haven’t run one in the last year. I want to run at least two 50Ks this year with a goal of a 50 miler in 2013.

Be a better father. Lil’ Geek deserves the best.

Be a better husband. Mrs. Fitgeek deserves the best too.

I also want to read more, write and just do more to better myself.

Here’s to a good year.

On Running

My running has suffered this past week. Laziness, plus bad weather plus Lil’ Geek’s internal alarm going off at 3 and 4 am equaled not a lot of running.

That’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve run twice in the last two days and I’m almost back on track. Looking back at the past birthday year (Oct. 2 – Oct. 1) I ran 1,001 miles, my most in a 365 day period.

I’ve got a good base built up and my goal for the rest of the month and November is to build on that base and start doing some speedwork.

I’ve jumped into social media with my fitness. I’m on dailymile as fitgeek, and you can find me on www.fitocracy.com as schulmanwriter.

I’m really wanting to get back into shape over the winter.

That’s it for now. Time to spend time with the family!

Checking In

Another year has passed, and without much blogging. Part of that was time, and part was I didn’t know how to blog. I had plenty to write about, but that wasn’t the problem. It was the how.

How do I write when I feel like most people don’t want to hear me talk about myself. That’s something I’ve struggled with this year, trying to be less about me.

So the blog is changing, just a bit. But it is changing. Instead of writing this for me, I’ll be writing it for Lil’ Geek. The content will be the same, but hopefully it will be a little less rambly. That’s a word, right? Rambly? Probably shorter posts, but more often. That’s the plan at least.

First off, it’s a new year so new goals.

1. I’ll blog at least three times a week.
2. Run at least four times a week.
3. Reach 1,200 miles in the birthday year
4. Run at least three ultra distances. This isn’t races. Right now I don’t think I’ll be able to fit a race into my schedule. I’ve been cutting back on those the last couple of years, and I think it’s been for the best.
5. Read the Torah. I’ve been neglecting this area of my life for plenty of reasons (none are good ones).
6. Get in better shape. Totally vain. But this summer was a wakeup call.
7. Spend more time with Mrs. Fitness Geek and Lil’ Geek.
8. See at least two movies a month. This one has dropped in recent months (mostly for the better), but I want to catch up.
9. Read more.
10. PR at the marathon and 50K distance. Lot of work here, but I’ve got a year, right?

That’s it. Later this week, photos of Lil’ Geek and a recap of the running so far.

A good day

This was one of those days where the only place to be was outside with family. I started the day early, around 4 AM with my longest run of the year, 12 miles.

I had a time goal of sub 2 hours which would mean sub 10 minute miles.

This run was also my first with my new HTC phone and its mapmyrun app. It was fun tracking my splits and recording my route. I finished in 1:55, a good run.

Lil’ Geek was up not long after that and we spent the rest of the day playing. She refused to nap after playing outside, and it was obvious she was tired. She fought it until 5:00 or so when she fell asleep in the middle of eating.

We let her sleep sitting up. She didn’t mind! She woke up eventually but went down for the night a few hours later.

Relaxing days like this make me realize how much I enjoy weekends.

Prepping for 31 Miles

I’m in the middle of training for my second ultra, a 50K that I’m putting on just a few miles from the house of Geek. I’m definitely nervous. My mileage has been so-so. In my first race, I trained with fairly low mileage with my weekday runs average about 4 miles. This time my weekday mileage is closer to 6 or 8 miles at a time.

However, and this is a big however, my long runs haven’t been that long. This past weekend I hit 10 miles for the first time since the 50K in November. The upside is that the run felt easy, with the exception of the last mile when stomach issues slowed me to a walk.

The goal this week is to head toward a weekly total of 30+ miles with my long runs continuing to build to that 20 mile mark.

I had hoped for 100 miles in March, and I would have made it with ease except I lost 6 days of running to a bad cold that knocked me on my butt. I’m a Daily Mile guy and I’ve joined a number of challenges, including hitting 100 miles in April and another for running 1,000 miles in 2011.

Well, the 1,000 one will be a bit harder because I joined in March, and it doesn’t count any miles before you join. Ah well. I’m not one to back down from a challenge.

Tomorrow will be my first run this week since Monday was rained out. The goal is 8 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday and then 6-8 on Friday to get started on 100 for April. I’ll do my long run on Sunday, and the plan says 14. I know I can get in the miles. It’s just a matter of getting up and getting out the door.

Speaking of running, Lil’ Geek spent Saturday running around being chased by grandparents and last night she and I chased each other up and down the hall. She’s a big ball of fun and sugar.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Fitness Geek

Happy birthday to the love of my life. You are the glue that keeps our family together. I hope this day is everything you want it to be and more.

I’m lucky enough to have married my best friend. Have a very happy birthday because you’ve made everyone in your life very, very happy.