Continuing to Progress

I"ve continued this week with the same workouts every other day.

At this stage the knee is continuing to feel a bit better. I think I'll try a 30 minute outside walk tomorrow and if that gives no pain it will be time to kick in with the C25K again. I'll probably start around week 3 and take it from there.

Finally Back.

It's been nearly 2 months since I posted. Please forgive me.

I lost the inclination to post as my running was completely on the shelf for a number of months.

The diagnosis I had on my knee way back indicated 3 problems.
Strained MCL
Bone Spurs
A bit of arthritis

The pain a few months ago really meant I had to stop.

I had a visit with a sports medicine doctor, and subsequent visits with his recommended physiotherapist voer about a month

Frankly I wasn't improving a great deal in that timeframe.

There I subsequently joined my local YMCA (not your father's old Y, let me tell you)

I had a fitness assessment and a program worked out for me.

The Oakville YMCA uses equipment called Technogym. http://www.technogym.com/ca/viewdoc.asp?co_id=13&la=2

Check out the video of system that they use. It called the Wellness System.

http://www.technogym.com/ca/viewdoc.asp?co_id=683&target=commercial&video=nN9UrIe4SxY

This gym is absolutely loaded with equipment. I expect there is about $4 million in equipment in this facility. It's absolutely incredible.

Anyway, initially the program worked out for me consisted of a 10 minute bike warmup. Followed by 10 different strengthening exercises on the technogym equipment, followed by another 20 mintes on the bike. The physio advised against leg extensions because of the knee, but said any other leg exercise would be fine.

Initially I did 2 sets of 12 reps of all 10 machines. I've been at it about every other day 2 months and have increased the weight about 10 lbs. across the board and this week swithched over to 3 sets of each. My weight is down 5 lbs., and my BMI down 4.

Gradually the knee started feeling better over the last few months, so I transitioned from bike to bike/treadmill, and this week to 20 minutes treadmill at 4 MPH.

I gradually moved to treadmill so I could eventually work my way into running again. Over the next few weeks I'll move the tempo up to a running pace.

At this point I'm happy to report even with 20 minutes of brisk walking and all the strengthening exercises the leg is nearly pain free. I'd say it's about 85% and it's not getting worse from the exercise.

So, if everything continues to improve as it has so far, I expect I'll be back to running in early January. At that point, I'll probably go back to the C25K program and start in around week 3 or so.

Cheers for now, and I hope all is well.
Batman

Update from the Bench.

Running is still on hold for me as I work on overcoming a problem with Runners Knee.

I've been going to a physiotherapist twice a week for the last 3 weeks and it's been about 5 weeks since my week 7 day 1 run on my C25K program.

Progress has been OK but not stellar. Generally the leg feels OK if I don't run or walk but as soon as I start walking the symptoms come right back.

I have a series of exercises and stretches I'm doing to recuperate so let's hope we're seeing more improvement in the next few weeks.

I'm also riding a lifecycle every other day for 42 minutes in an effort to keep the general fitness up.

I've had to skip 2 runs that I've been registered for, and at this point, I'll skip signing up until I'm sure I can make it.

On a positive note, I signed up for Steve Runner's Kick the Couch 5K. I mainly walked the distance last Friday. I probably shouldnt have gone but I didn't want to miss this one.

Also, on Monday, Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, in one of the races I had to skip, my son-in-law Mike covered the 5k in 19:43. Nice time for a relative beginner to running. My daughter was in at 26:20. They were 6th and 9th in their respective age groups!

Congratulations Lauren and Mike. Dad is extremely proud of both of you and I really hope you keep at it and keep enjoying running the way you are right now. I'll never forget the day.

Dad

Batman to the rest of you.

On The Bench.
I had the first follow up visit with the physiotherapist yesterday followed by my earlier meeting with the sports medicine doctor.

The phsio conducted a 40 minute assessment of me that included my feet, walking gate, strength, flexibility, leg shape, shoes and workout. It was a great review.

The overall assessment of my knee is that the problem is a combination of things.

I have a strained MCL, extremely tight leg muscles on both legs, and probably a bit of dehydration. Those items all together mean the knee cap isn't tracking properly and is and the tendons around an under it are inflamed and swollen.

The great news is all of this is completely curable over a few weeks.

1) Drink more water that I have in the past. Probably about 10-12 glasses a day.
2) Cut down coffee, which as a diuretic, dehydrates and cancels out the effects of the water.
3) A group of about 5 stretched twice a day, held much longer than I've ever done before.
4) 3 more visits to the physio, where he'll do a bit of acupuncture on the mcl to speed healing.

Even after only one day, I'm feeling a some improvement, so I'm very optimistic this is going to take care of the problem. All the water is probably going to be good in the weight loss department as well.

On a negative note, for the next 10 days or so running is off limits, therefore I'm going to have to skip the 5K I've booked for this weekend.

Yesssss!!! I now be a PMP Matey!

(It's Talk Like a Pirate Day in case you hadn't heard.)

As I posted earlier today, it was a big day for me. I met my sports medicine specialist this morning and had my 4 hour Project Management Professional examination this afternoon.

Good news on both fronts.

The doctor said the knee was a classic case of Runner's Knee. Basically I'll be visiting the physio at his office 3 or 4 times and they'll do some work on it as well as show me some strengthening exercies that are required to deal with Runner's Knee.

He also said to go out and run if I feel like it. I shouldn't harm anything as long as I can cope with the pain that probably will occur until the strenghtening exercises do their stuff.

So'll I think I'll try to resume W7 of C25K on Saturday! Haarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

On the PMP front, I've worked on this for a number of months. It's probably been about 400 hours of study.

The exam was 4 hours long. For me, just sitting still for 4 hours is a challenge on it's own.

Anyway, I am very happy to say I passed it. I felt pretty confident going in and throughout it seemed like I was doing OK. At the end you don't get a mark, simply a pass or fail so I can't really tell how well I did.

That's it for now matey!

Have a great running weekend everyone.

Cheers

Batman, PMP

Harrrrrrrrr!

It's a Big Day!
I've been working for about 6 months on attaining Project Management Professional certification.
I'd probably put it down to about 400 hours of study time.

Anyway, today, I take the final exam. If all goes well, (fingers crossed) following a 4 hour exam I'll have completed the certification and officially be a Project Management Professional.

On the running front, before this afternoon's exam, I meet with a doctor at a local sports medicine clinic. The knee is still pretty sore and I haven't run in a week.

I'm really not sure what to expect, but I'm hoping the prescription is simply some exercises and stretching.... but, as I said, I'm not sure what comes out of this.

Taking another Down Day

I'm letting the knee settle down a bit more.

My visit with the sports doctor is next Friday, but if things feel good I hope to hit the road again tomorrow.

Hurricane Ike

I've seen the National Hurricane Center's warning about Hurricane Ike. OMG. They are saying if your are on the affected coast and in a 1 or 2 story building you can count on "certain death".

I've never seen warnings like that before. Up here in Toronto, the certain death is usually kept to late January exposure issues when it's about -30 on the extremely rare day.

All I can say is the folks down there are in my prayers. My wife and I have a place in Cape Canaveral, FL, and we've been hit with our share of hurricanes. Only about 3 weeks ago our area was flooded with something like 29 inches of rain in a few days. (No damage to our place thankfully)

In Texas, Galveston seems to be particularly vulnerable target. In September 1900 it was the location of the deadliest natural disaster in North American history.

Last year, I read the book "Isaac's Storm" by Erik Larson which document the build up and affects of the storm.

Anyway, I'm not turning this into a book review but I recommend the book.

In the mean time thoughts and prayers go out to all those in the area as well as those that have already been hit in Cuba and Haiti. Those countries seem to be forgotten in our North American press and they, particularly Haiti, have been devastated.

W7D2 Mission Scrubbed.
I tried to get this run in today, but the knee was just too painful. I did about 2km in total only.

On a positive note, I booked an appt. to see a sports injury doctor for next Friday. He's the head doctor for both the Toronto and Mississauga Marathons, so I expect he's seen examples of my problem more than a few times.

I'm looking forward to getting this diagnosed and back on the road to recovery.

Depending on how things fell, I may give the W7D2 run another try tomorrow.

One Day Late W7D1

I took an extra off day to let my still somewhat inflamed knee settle down a bit. I think the new running shoes help but the minor damage has already been done so it will probably take a bit of time to get back to normal. I gave in and went to see a physiotherapist today, and he said I have a bit of a stretched MCL and some inflanation in the miniscus as well. He advised that I take a bit more time stretching and that the tightness in the hamstrings etc. is probably the main cause for the pulling on the MCL. 

Anyway, I did the W7D1 run today and pretty much got through it. The pain was there but not too bad.  The leg felt pretty wobbly when I finished though.

So, I think I can keep going with the plan, and I'll also be doing the extra stretches on everyday including the off days. 

I'm hoping all is still going well for my fellow C25Kers.

C25K W6D3
Today and for the next week will feature 25 minute runs following a 5 minute warm up.

I was very pleased with my run today. It was a cooler day @ only 16 degrees and a bit rainy. We're getting a wee bit of the tail end of Hurricane Gustav here today. Nothing much, a few high wind gusts and maybe only an hour of solid rain.

Anyway the run went pretty well. Along with it being my farthest pure running workout to date, it was both my overall fastest, and some of my individual kilometers we're the fastest I've had to date as well.

I've a busy day ahead with about 5 hours of study time scheduled for my PMP exam and a Toronto FC soccer game late this afternoon.

Shout Out to and from Phedippidations

Oh my. Today this little blog received a very nice shout out on my favourite podcast, Phedippidations. I may start having to be a lot more careful what I write on this simple little blog.

For those of you that haven't heard of Phedippidations I implore you to check it out. Quite simply it is the finest, most entertaining running podcast out there. Steve Walker, better known as Steve Runner has now developed and hosted 151 episodes of his program. It's an extremely entertaining show where he talks about running, runners, wine, family, marathons and life in general. Steve presents each podcast in a funny and highly interesting manner. Both the production quality and the content of Steve's podcast is second to none in the running world, and quite possibly in the entire world of podcasting. It's a fabulous approx. 1 hour program that Steve puts forward to the running community each and every week. He has both my gratitude for his show, and my respect for both his effort and his giving nature.
Thanks Steve,
Run Long and Taper.

Do yourself a favour and download Steve's show by searching Itunes for Phedippidations or go directly to http://steverunner.com/

On another front, I've signed up for the 5K on Sept. 28 at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. This run comes just 2 days after the culmination of my C25K plan, so the timing couldn't be better. The actual Marathon is one of two large ones in Toronto this fall. As such, it has a lot of extra events around it including a Fitness Expo, massages, etc. As a 5ker I wont participate is some of the events but I am looking forward to taking in the expo. Some big names in the world of running, such as John Bingham will we holding seminars. It should be a good event and it gives me a nice target for the end of the C25K program.

Say Good Bye to my Little Friend!

C25K W6D2 was put to bed this morning. It's the last run that includes any walking intervals in the C25K plan. Yikes. As fellow C25K blogger, Gary said "I'm going to miss my little buddies."

Oh well, that's progress I guess. As I ran today I felt I was very close to being able to run without the break, and naturally did so in the final day of Week 5 as well. So the coming weeks I am sure aren't insurmountable, just a bit of a stretch on previous days, as is this entire wonderful running plan. 6 short weeks ago running 1 minute at a time was a challenge, and now we're up to 25.

I ran for the first time today in the new Nike's I mentioned in the earlier post. I'd been developing some knee pain, swelling and stiffness and decided to try the new shoe approach. I've been icing the knee and taking some ibuprofen, but rather than a simple overuse issue I thought I might have a slight pronation problem.

I went to my local Running Room Store and had the staff take a look. I'm always a bit suspicious whether the staff at a local store can effectively diagnose this with a quick look. Twice before the people at Running Room had a look and said I had a mild pronation problem which required a stability shoe. (My existin shoes were fairly new at that point so I hesitate to buy.)

This time, one person said it was a significant pronation problem and would require a mobility shoe. She wasn't entirely sure of herself however, and had a more experienced person look. This person disagreed with the other and said a stability shoe would do the trick. So effectively I've had 3 of 4 say a stability shoe, and that's good enough for me.

I settled on Nike Zoom Air Structure Triax II. How's that for a name! I'm sure Nike has a theory on advanced shoe pricing and the main component of the pricing structure is to charge $6 per letter in the shoe's name.

Anyway, I ran in the today, and I must say they feel quite a bit different than my previous Saucony Grids.

These are an all round firmer more structured shoe, with a higher arch and a significantly firmer (almost hard) insole. I thought they were a bit more comfortable and certainly a more stable shoe. Although to the touch, they don't feel very cushioned, in use I didn't detect a problem with the feel. My knee definitely didn't seem to feel as sore as I ran, although the test here will be how it feels a few hours after I run. I certain the inflammation will still take some time to dissipate but maybe this shoe change will prevent it from getting worse. I report back on it over the next couple of week, but, so far, so good.

New Shoes!

I picked up a pair of Nike Air Structure Triax 11 today. 

My one knee has been starting to bother me more and more over the last few weeks. It appears I have a mild overpronation issue and supposedly these shoes should help. We'll see. I certainly don't want the problem to get any worse. I've also taken an extra off day to help with the inflamation. So I'll try checking out the new ride tomorrow morning.

C25K Week 6 Day 1

This run is the second last one with walking segment intervals. I found it a bit easier than my 20 minute run the other day, and in retrospect miles easier than the first day's with 8 minute runs a week or two ago.

Here's my running log: http://www.runnerplus.com/run/5255-435701/

It really is quite astounding how we can improve so rapidly with such a basic training program.

It's a beautiful warm sunny day @25C and 54% humidity. The humidity was not so bad as some others lately. Overall, a gorgeous day here in Toronto area, with a crystal clear skies. A perfect day for the last long weekend of summer.

Over the last week or so I've been starting to get some mild pain around my left knee. The pain is surrounding the interior of the knee and on the tendon / ligament? raising from the back of it.

Clearly this is probably an overuse issue as I've done nothing specific to injure it.

The last few days, I've been icing it and using some liniment on it. I've been doing some extra stretching as well. I'll continue this treatment but also keep an eye on it. If it gets worse I probably should at minimum cut the running down to 3 days in 7 rather than 3 in 6. We'll see.

Boni and I are joining friends on a long bike ride on trails in the Kitchener Waterloo this afternoon. I'll have to be conscious of keeping the bike in easy gears so as not to further strain the knee.

On a sad note, my beloved Toronto FC lost 2-1 late last night in California on a goal in the 4th minute of extra time! It's the 5th time this season that a team has scored on us in the final minutes of a game. Is this a fitness issue? That must have been a pretty lifeless flight home for the fellows last night. It pretty much eliminates any chance of going into the playoffs.

Equipment Review - Nike +

Let's face it. Just about anyone and everyone that is into running is also into knowing about, if not obsessing about their performance. Keeping track of one's performance and progress is human nature. It's been bred into us and taught to us since we entered kindergarten... if not earlier. When I was in grade school, as long as I was doing well, I couldn't wait to show my report card to mom and dad. Hopefully as well as the marks there'd be lots of great comments, the more info, ( and hopefully praise) the better. Most of us aim to please others as well as ourselves. Scorecards are one way of knowing how we stack up and how we progress.

For years runners used stop watches and gradually digital wrist watches to keep track of their times. They worked, but they were purely one dimensional as they only measured the amount of time one ran, or (with lap timing) the amount of time we took to get from one point to another.

Many years ago these options were expanded by marrying the digital stopwatch with heart rate monitors. Polar was a leading company and products were introduced to market as far back as 20 years ago.

With the relatively recent introductions of a myriad of digital technologies in recent years a number of other options have come to market to help enjoy running and expand the type of information a runner can track.

I'm talking about the world of heart rate monitors combined with GPS and distance tracking such as the popular Garmin 50, 305, 405, as well as Ipods combined with distance and duration tracking such as the Nike + system.

First of all, I truly enjoy listening to podcasts while I run. Initially, while running the Couch to 5K plan, I've used Robert Ulrey's podcasts to keep my on track with the intevals in the program. I'm not a fan of looking at a watch frequently so I enjoy the opportunity to have the podcast be both my entertainment and my coach / timekeeper. I'll discuss some of the worlds great running podcasts in a subsequent post.

Now that we resolved I'm running with an ipod, the idea of tracking my run with the same Ipod is quite appealing. Why have 2 gadget's when one will do the job?

Nike +

The Nike + seems to be a pretty reliable little tool. For about $30 on top of the price of the Ipod you get a device that tracks your speed, distance, and time for each run. It then presents it graphically to you on one of two websites. http://www.nikeplus.com and http://www.runnerplus.com

Thes sites will show each of your runs individually or in a summary bar graph form.

The Nike + website, as well as tacking your data, allows you to enter numerous challenges where your data will be tracked for a particular team or club. It's an additional motivational tool.

I prefer the runnerplus site as it seems to mysteriously present more detailed information than the Nikeplus site from the exact same Nike + data.

On both sites, the individual run is tracked on a graph with the x/y axis representing speed and distance. Individual data points are tracked at each mile / km along the route. Runner plus tracks both the individual segment's statistics as well as the cumulative statistics for the run. Nike + only show the duration for each km/mile whereas Runner+ shows both at each milestone. In other words, you know how long you took for the whole run as well as for each individual mile or kilometer along the way. One very strange point is if you compare your run data at the milestone miles or kilmoters on the 2 sites, the numbers are different. They have the same info at the end of the run, but along the way at the various milestones they have different data. I won't get into the details as to why, but much that I've read indicates that runner+ is the most accurate of the two sites. I therefore now, only use runner+. Why confuse the issue? (Unfortunately, you must upload your date to Nike+ then import it to Runner+. You cant go directly to Runner+... It's only a few keystrokes however.)


Despite the positives I have found a few drawbacks with the product however.

There is no actual legend on the graphs, showing speed. The wavy line is higher if you are going faster and lower as you go slower, but there is nothing that shows how fast the line represents.

Wouldn't it be nice if the Nike + had a small heart rate sensor that it could connect to as well. What about a sensor that could clip on a bike? They are available in more expensive devices. I went for a long bike ride today, and I'd love to upload that data to Nike +. I can't do it. BTW, you can't manually enter any data into the system. It only handles data captured from the device itself.

Nike has recently added some cutesy characters similar to Wii characters that will dance on your computer screen and tell you how your last run went. But really, it's a strange product enhancement to a product that has fundamental issues yet to be properly addressed.

That's my single biggest beef with the system. Essentially it seems like there is quite a bit that could be done or should be done to give the user more info. It's just doesn't have enough info. The lack of detailed interval data on the nike + site is also clearly a drawback if one doesn't want to use the 3rd party runnerplus site. Hopefully Nike spends more time on the core Nike + website before they go off doing any other little bells and whistles.

Considering a 3rd party site like runnerplus does a better job than Nike makes the Nike + site definitely feel like it's 1) either a work in progress ar 2) a work that is gradually being abandoned. There is a lot that can be done on the software side. Clearly Nike should be able to do better. They probably sell millions of dollars worth of this product and yet, they seem to be holding back on significant functionality on the website. Essentially the hype is greater than the actual content.

Overall, it certainly appears to me that we have a classic example of getting what you pay for. The old expression "No bucks, No buck rogers" holds true. The Nike + systems is pretty inexpensive, but the more expensive Garmin systems, do much more as you go up through their price range.

I guess I'm starting to see why people that really get into running are looking more to the Garmin's for the data tracking and are leaving the Ipods for the entertainment of podcasts and music.

I not only want to improve, I want to see the scorecard. I want more info, just like back in grade school.

That's why the one of the Garmins will be probably be on the Christmas wish list.

Week 5 is now a wrap. I'm a 20 minute Man!

That was interesting. It's probably been at least 15 years since I've run 20 minutes non stop. I may have done a session or two on a treadmill a few years back, but 20 minutes of pure roadwork has not been something I've done for a long, long time.

Here's mu log: http://www.runnerplus.com/run/5255-431790/

Anyway, I can't say it anymore, because I did it today.

I was a little concerned as I headed out, because we're back to pretty warm weather. 25C but with 75% humidity so it feels like well into the 30s.

Regardless, being it's only 20 minutes running I decided to head out anyway and give it a go.

I must say I'm not beyond the point where the thought patterns keep on telling me to walk a while every so often. Maybe someday that will stop, but for now the thought creeps in about every 2 minutes or so, especially in the last 6 minutes of the run.

For now, however, I just put up with it and keep going. When the 20 minutes of running was complete I really think I could have run any more at all. That's the beauty of this program. It constantly takes you to the edge of your abilities and increases that point as you continue to improve. You're always at the edge.

My stats today were 4.61 K in 37:49 for an average pace of 8:12 per KM. The pace of my running in the middle km. (that had no walking portions) was 6:50 per km. So it looks like a 5k in the range of 35 minutes is what I'll be ding in a few weeks when I do my first race. Nothing special but it will be a nice benchmark for the future.

Yessss!
I redid C25K W5D2 today

and am quite pleased by the result.

It was a coolish day @ 22 celsius and 13 kpm winds but the asthma didn't kick in.

I don't have accurate stats as I accidentally turned off my workout on the Nike + at the 27:03 mark. However I went for a total of 37:36 . I'm not sure of the distance but it's somewhere in the 4km range.

I was very pleased with the workout as I never really felt like quitting the run early.

I think a pleasant change here was listening to a different podcast that took my mind off the running. Being I didn't have many intervals to track I just listened to a spoken word program and the time flew by.

Next up is W5D3 and my first 20 minute run.

C25K W5D2 today.

I ended up walking the last minute of the 2nd 8 minute run in today's program. A bit of asthma kicked in and I simply felt a need for more air than I was getting.

The stats for today were 4.34 KM @ 8:42 minutes per km for 37:51 minutes.
466 calories

I think I'll repeat Day 2 for my next run before moving on the the 20 minute non stop run of day 3.

Week 5 Day 1 of the C25K is officially now in the books.
With a long post run cool down I went 5.2 KM in 46:06 at a 8:51 pace and burnt 559 calories.

Enough of the facts though, this run was pretty hard. I managed to get through it although I walked about 10 seconds late in my last 5 minute running segment.

The workout consisted of a 5 minute walk followed by 3 5 minute runs separated by 2.5 minute walking breaks. I then follow it with about 15 minutes of walking... which obviously lowers my overall per KM pace.

Today was a pretty hot run. 25 degrees Celsius and 70% humidity therefore felt like 33. (91.5 Faherenheit) Whew!

I'm definitely looking for the moderate temperatures of late September early October.

Very busy PMP study day planned. Less than 2 weeks until the exam now.

I got back to the 100 Push Up plan today doing W3D2... and completing 72 PUs.

I skipped the plan 2 days ago due to some shoulder and back pain. Whereas that pain is not gone, when I tried the PUs today I found that neither shoulder or back seemed to feel any problem so I completed the workout. I'll try it again in 2 days and if all goes well I continue moving forward.

I haven't added an ab workout to my plan yet but keeping planning to do so.

Just a very brief update today as I have quite a few work related activities on the go that I must attend to.

I completed W4D3 today covering 5:19 KM in 45:07.
This was a 8:41 minutes per km and 558 calories expended.

I definitely felt ready to stop the running at the end of the 2nd 5 Minute segment but as was true the last day, I could have done another segment.

The perils of the dreaded week 5 lie ahead. Wish me luck!

I had a little detour on he fitness trail yesterday. It appears I've pulled or strained something both in my left shoulder and back. No doubt it's from the push ups. So I'm going to give the push up plan a couple of days off to see how things feel before I resume. This hopefully doesn't affect the running plan which I resume later today.

I went to BMO Field in Toronto last night to watch the FIFA World Cup Qualifier between Canada and Jamaica. It was a fun evening in Toronto. The stands were sold out and were probably at 80:20 ration cheering for Canada vs. Jamaica.

Canada had a slight edge in play and took a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Jamaica came back however, and scored on a corner kick that somehow eluded Canada's normally stellar keeper Pat Onstad. Onstad felt he was held up (someone had a mitt full of jersey) but his protestations were to no avail.

The event seemed to represent a turning point in support for the Canadian team. In the past, international matches in Canada tended to be somewhat lob sided in their support levels with the majority of fans coming to cheer for their old homeland, or their father or grandfathers homeland for that matter. Last night however, probably based upon the recent success of Toronto FC and the great supporters groups, for the first time ever we had a sea of red. There was a lively Jamaican contingent but Canada now knows they'll be well supported when they play again i Toronto. It was great to see.

I completed W4D2 today. The run is identical to the W4D1 run. I went a similar route to the lake and back. I tacked a iittle extra on to the end so the day exceeded 5k because I wanted to get my congratulations from Paula Radcliffe on my Nike+. (It's funny how we all like a little pat on the back, even if it's from a microchip synced to a little voice clip. The run went very well. No problems, ready to walk after my final 5 minute run, but almost felt like doing another set. My pace was slow, but I'm very conscious of getting ready to run non stop, and I think that is the key versus speed right now. Once I'm doing the 5k non stop I'll start thinking about pace a bit more.

On a completely different note, last night I watched Simon Whitfield in the Olympic Triathlon at the magnificent Mings Tomb Reservoir northwest of Beijing. (I have Simon's blog linked on the right)

What a marvelous race! Whitfield is the Canadian Gold Medal Triathlete from the Sydney games 8 years ago. He's still one of the top 10 in the sport. This race came right down to the finish as Whitfield trailed 4 runners by about 15 meters with about 200 meters left. He put on an amazing kick and quickly took the lead. Two runners dropped off and German Jan Frodeno eventually beat Whitifeld by about 5 meters with an incredible sprint. Still, Whitfield is very pleased with the Gold here, and has shown a tremendous ability to come up big when it count.s Have a look at his blog...he's quite a guy. Well Done Simon. I'm going to need a Simon Whitfield audio Clip for the ipod one of these days!

Earlier I mentioned an October race. I'm happy to say it looks like I'll be having my son in law Mike join me in the event. We'll be running the Run for Hope http://www.5ksmrunforhope.com/?ksm on October 13. That's Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, and it's probably good to get the run in before the annual feast. Mike is pretty long and lean. I'll probably see him at the start and by the time I finish he'll be cooled down and ready hit the road. We also will be tracking that race as part of the Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon, Zen Run 10K, and "Kick the Couch" 5K road race.

If you have a chance list to the Phedippidations Podcast. www.steverunner.com Steve Runner (actually Walker) has a marvelous podcast that he posts weekly. He's been doing it for about 3 years and it's an incredibly enjoyable, well produced program that includes running interviews, discussion, humour and music, as well as some of Steve's generally philosophy. I'm amazed his podcast hasn't been picked up by NPR or some other public broadcaster. It's that good. Thanks Steve!

On my exercise front, today I competed W3D1 of the one hundred pushup challenge. I did a collective 64. Nice change from my 6 during my test before day 1.

I completed W4D1 of the C25K program this morning. After my excitement in the last run I went into this one with a little trepidation. I addressed all of my mistakes from the last run, in that I took some of the asthma medication about 15 minutes before starting, I wore my MIO Heart rate Watch and above all, I started out slow.

The run went pretty well. It's a big step up from earlier runs in that it has 2 sets of 3 and 5 minute running segments. So, for the first time you are asked to go 5 minutes non stop.

I found the first one OK but I was pretty much done as I was into the 2nd one. I managed to complete it, but that was all that was in the tank. Again, as with past runs I'm walking further than the day's program and this time the entire run ended up being about 4.81 kilometers. I took a total of 41:55 minutes. The overall pace that my Nike + calculated was 8:42 min/km.

It will be interesting to see what the time for a 5k will be when I don't have all the warm up, walk segments and cool downs in my October 11 race.

Boni and I did a 20k bike ride today down to Appleby Line and Lakeshore. We stopped for a break at the Paletto Estate, a beautiful early 20th century estate on the shore of Lake Ontario.

It was a fabulous day here today. Mid 20's and no humidity. We've had a very abnormal summer this year in that although each day has started out clear, eventually most days end up cloudy with some thunderstorms. It's very much like Florida's summer here this season.

Today was an exception however, as the lovely air was dry and clear and a bit of a breeze.

We actually had a headwind against us as we traveled south, and we also had it against us as we came back north. How the hell does that happen?

Today was our first time on our bikes this year, and the butt was really feeling it at the end of the ride.

Following the ride we had a bit of a mini celebration with a few Pina Colada. Mmmm. I have to ride more, if it means I get one of those at the end.

A bit later I did my 1000 pushup challenge, W2 D3. 50 PU in total. All went well.

W3 D3 yesterday.

I made a few strategic errors yesterday. I went for my W3D3 run with a near empty asthma inhaler. I took a puff of the stuff as I went out the door, a bit later than I normally do. I didn't realize it was the last puff in the container! I also didn't take my heart rate watch.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

Anyway, the run proceeded OK to start with, 5 minute walk, 90 second run, walk again, 3 minute run.,walk, 90 second walk, 90 second run, walk, then the 3 minute run again. That's where the problems surfaced.

It was at this point that a touch of asthma kicked in. About 15 seconds into the final run. I reached for my trusty spray... and no luck, ...empty.
I tried to keep running and the breathing passages just got tighter and tighter, constricting by the second. Initially I tried to slow down my run, and it didn't seem to help one bit. Just a bit more to go, it thought. Finally, Ullrey said just one more minute. However, my lunges and brain said "no more minutes". I felt extremely faint and dizzy and decided to stop running before I fell over. I just wasn't getting enough oxygen, and I think my heart was racing extremely fast. Aghh.... I hated doing this as it's the first time in the program that I had to walk early. Oh, the shame.

Anyway, I continued along my route and eventually got home.

I normally walk about 9 minutes longer than the Ullrey podcast in order to do a particular route along Lake Ontario that I enjoy.

When I finally stopped and synced my Nike +I found that I was 1 minute per mile faster than my previous 2 week 3 runs.

So, overall, I did a few things wrong here that I'll have to be more careful about in the future.
1) I took my pre-run puff of asthma inhaler too close to the actual run. It's always recommended to do this about 10 - 15 minutes before the exercise in order to avoid exercise induced asthma.
2) I may have not really taken any of the medicine at all. I believe the last few puffs of spray in an inhaler cartridge are propellant and not medicine. I'm not 100% certain of this, but the stuff seems to taste different.
3) I went out with an empty container.
4) I ran too fast.
5) I didn't have my heart rate watch to see how that was going.
6) Given all of the above, I probably should have stopped running sooner.

Probably you could get away with doing any one of these, but the combination of all did me in to the point of a bit of danger, and also sabotaged the run.
I've had asthma for about 48 of my 54 years and am at the point that it's generally controlled much better than ever. That said, I still am an asthmatic, and asthma can be dangerous. I don't want to sound overly dramatic, however in retrospect I really must be careful of this. I can't recall feeling this close to collapse even in my 10 years of ice hockey! I will be more careful!

All that said, I completed the day a few minutes quicker than any other day despite the problems. Therefore, with proper control of the medication I'm confidant that I'll continue to progress going forward.

For those with asthma, I must note that in the past when I was more fit, I found I needed medication les and less as I progressed. I really believe aerobic exercise is a bit of a cure for asthma as opposed to asthma being a reason not to do aerobic exercise. A sound, gradual program, along with proper preventative actions, such as taking an early preventative puff of the medication, and not starting out to quickly, mean you can run with no problem. I just happened to not do the right things on this given day, and vow to be more careful in the future.

Completed 100PU W2 D2 today with 48 pushups total and 14 in last set.

My W3 D2 run went great yesterday. Each day is a progressive challenge but as fitness improves a bit with each day as well, it never seems to be insurmountable.

My runs typically run down to Bronte Harbour and back. Bronte is an area on the east side of Oakville, about 20 miles west of Toronto. Originally a fishing village and way back a British Navy post was located in the harbour.

Naturally the Navy is long gone, and the fishing is purely sport fishing for lake trout, bass, and salmon.

I'm not much of a fisherman, but as I'm seeing the lake and harbour each day I'm starting to get the itch.

There also is a very active yacht club both in Bronte and Oakville.

We only moved down to this area a year ago and I'm truly enjoying being by the lake.

On a side note, I've scheduled my PMP exam for Wednesday September 3. That gives me plenty of review time. The Project Management Professional exam is a difficult 4 hour exam, but I'm feeling reasonably confidant now, and no doubt if I stick to my plan, I'll be ready by September.

Reviewed 1/4 of PMI material today. Went very well. 39/40 in the to chapter tests.

Did W2 D1 of 100pu. No problem. Topped out at 13 PU fo total of 40.

Thing's continuing well on all fronts. Completed Day 2 of the pushup challenge yesterday, and W3 D1 of the C25K today. That's the longest running stretch so far and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Well things are moving along nicely on all fronts.

PMI
On Friday, I received confirmation that my audit with PMI has been approved and I am now eligible to take the PMP exam. I can schedule it immediately but I'll wait a few days so that I can better gauge the amount of study time I need to be ready. I'm already probably about 75% ready, but I'll schedule it this coming Tuesday or Wednesday, and probably take the final exam around the end of August.

Fitness Plan
On the exercise front I'm progressing nicely on both the C25K and the 100 pushups.


I completed Week 2 Day 3 of the C25K with no drama. I have to slow down a bit going forward because I'm reaching 90% of maximum heart rate by the end of the last running segment. In order to keep going 70% - 80% would be better. W1 D2 of the pushup challenge also went well. I'm doing this on the off days from the running. I did about 42 this time with no major problems

The nice thing about the combination of these two plans is that on alternate days I'm taxing different muscle groups thereby allowing recovery time for each group.

The other great point of the combination is I'm betting both upper body and lower body workouts with the pair, as well as aerobic and strength training.

That combined with sensible eating have allowed me to drop 9 lbs. in the last 3 weeks. I have a lot to go but I'm pretty psyched up about it.

Toronto FC

Finally, to top off a great day yesterday, my sport's passion, Toronto FC hade a very unlikely road victory in Colorado yesterday afternoon. The team started the match with only about 5 of their regular starters. The rest were either away on international callups, injured, or suspended.

This team has generally been sucessful at home and lbeak on the road. 3 road victories in 1.5 years up until yesterday. We've also gone through a dry spell at home lately.

So, certainly a win was unlikely in Colorado with so many reserve players playing.

The game is held at altitude and yesterday it was 95 degress at the start of the match. Toronto had 2 additional starter injured throughout the game with Ricketts going down with leg craps and defender Tyron Marchall with what looked like a leg or hip injury.

Regardless of the hardship, the youngsters that came in played a marvelous game, and new comer Chad Barrett scored an absolute world class free kick to the top corner from about 30 yards out. Congrats to TFC for a marvelous victory.

As well as my professional upgrading this summer, I've decided to take on 2 specific physical challenges and programs for the next few months.

I'm going the C25K challenge and the 100 pushup challenge.

These 2 programs progressively take the participant to the ability to run 5 K now stop and do 100 push-ups non stop. The programs each are 8 weeks long and move forward in a slow progression so as not to discourage or injure the participant.

I realize that for many people these are not very difficult goals. I however would struggle to do either one today... so I consider them to be noble and reasonable goals. When I complete them, I'll no doubt come up with something even more challenging.

Hey folks.

Batman here.

I'm keeping this blog for my own purposes... but there's are no great secrets, so I'll put it up in a blog on the off chance that someone else wants to have a look.

I've had an active summer as I'm in a career transition.

For many years I've been involved in sales management in the technology sector. I've built sales teams throughout North America and have been involved in selling software and services for over 20 years.

Many of my past employers have also sold extensive services and I've managed some of the projects as well as the people working on those projects.

This year, I've decided to formalize my project management experience. Initially I obtained the CAPM designation from the Project Management Institute.

Subsequently I've decided to work towards my Project Management Professional designation from PMI as well. The PMP is the worldwide industry standard for Project Management. I'm very enthusiastically pursuing this designation and expect to have it successfully wrapped up by Sept. 08. Right now, I waiting for approval of my experience documentation in and audit from PMI. I've done a great deal of my studying already but following approval, I'll schedule the exam and continue my studies until that time.