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!