Run Chacho Run

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Chicago Training Week 4

The Chicago Marathon is exactly 3 months away. I'm behind on my running schedule. I am supposed to be running a lot more than I am but it's been hot, and I have not really wanted to push myself. Also need to get some new running shoes.

Monday: Off

Tuesday:
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 40:51
Notes: 5:30PM. Humid. Probably the most humid run so far.

Wednesday:
Weights: 1hr Lower Body Workout

Thursday: Off

Friday: Off

Saturday:
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 23:36
Notes: 7:45pm. Nice Breeze. Ok Run.

Weights: 1hr Upper Body Workout

Sunday:
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 24:01
Notes: 1:15pm. Temp 96. Heat Index 100. Humidity 38%. Dewpoint 67. Good Weather.

Total Miles Run 11 Miles
Total Weights 2 Hours
Total Cross Train 0 Hours

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Chicago Training Week 3

Monday- Weight workout. 1Hour. Upper body,abs, and back.

Tuesday-
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 5 Miles
Time: 42:41
Notes: 5:15am. Temp 80. Dew point 75. Humidity 85% Humid! Foggy! Misty! Good Run.

Wednesday-
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 5 Miles
Time: 41:42
Notes: 5:30pm. Temp 98. Dew point 67. Low Humidity. A+ Great Run.

Thursday- Off

Friday-
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 5 Miles
Time: 40:50
Notes: 6:45pm. Double Workout Day
1 Hour Weight workout 7:45am. Upper,abs, back.

Saturday-Off

Sunday-
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 23:34
Notes: Humid. Windy. Good Run

Total Miles Run: 18 MILES
Total time lifting weights: 2 Hours
Total Hours Cross Training: 0

Labels:

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Marathon Training Week 2

I kind of slacked this week.

Monday
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 23:50
Notes: Hot. Humid. 6pm. Temp 97

Tuesday
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 4 Miles
Time: 32:26
Notes: Hot. 5:30PM. Temp 98 Calm Wind/Air Quality Fair. Good Run/Felt Great

Wednesday- OFF

Thursday
Route: Memorial Park Loop
Distance: 3 Miles
Time: 23:35
Notes: 5:30am. Humid. Misty/Fog..drizzle. Good run for the morning.

Friday- OFF

Saturday-OFF

Sunday-OFF

Total Miles: 10 Miles.

Why we love to hate High Pressure

Summer weather blog #1

Why we love to hate High Pressure in the summer?
This week we have set a record high temperature here in Houston just about every day. The hottest day in June ever was 104 degrees set this week.

Why?
A summer high pressure system developed over the area in early June and has brought with it relentless heat.
When you watch the weather forecast the High pressure is the big H on the map. Low pressure is the big L on the map. If you watch the weather in Spanish then you get a A(ALTO) B(BAJA)

During the winter time High pressure system will bring calm winds, bright sunny days, and cool/cold nights.

Now during the summer time this all gets a little more interesting. This is where the love and hate relationship comes into play. High pressure in the summer time brings with it Hot days,calm winds, unhealthy air quality, and warm nights. The winds around the High rotate clockwise. If there is a High pressure system located to the West of us we will get North or Northeast winds. If a High pressure is located to the East of us we will get winds from the South or East. If a high pressure system is located directly on top of us the winds will then be light and variable. This would lead to hot days with excessive ozone.

When we have a tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico it's usually going to go around the High pressure system. So, in the worse case scenario you would want the High pressure system to be directly on top of us or to the West. The winds would steer the storm away from Houston.

If you remember the days prior to Hurricane Rita it was very hot and dry. People who decided to leave the city were stuck in overheating buses. The days before the storm there was not a cloud in the sky. In this care High pressure was off to the East of us. The storm followed the winds around the high. If the high would have been a little weaker or a little more to the East Houston would have suffered a more direct hit than with Hurricane Ike. With Hurricane Ike the high and a meandering cold front to the North brought the storm directly up Galveston Bay.

So when tracking tropical systems in the Gulf always look for the High pressure or the Cold front. If there is a high pressure system directly over us like right now the storms will not come this way. If the High is to the East or there is a cold front splitting the country in half it's possible depending on the location of the storm that we will need to watch out. So, we shouldn't worry about whatever is down there in the Yucatan.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Marathon Training Week 1

Today is the summer solstice I think. It is the first day of summer,and the longest day of the year. From here until Dec 21 the days will get shorter. More hot days and hurricanes to come.

Monday: Buffalo Bayou Trail (EVENING)
Distance: 4.83 Miles. Time 38:34
Notes: Sunny, Clear, Warm, Breezy

Tuesday: Heights neighborhood Run (MORNING)
Distance: 3.5 Miles. Time 27:34
Notes: HOT!!! HUMID!!! Tired.

Wednesday:OFF

Thursday: Buffalo Bayou Trail (EVENING)
Distance: 4.83 Miles. Time 39.14
Notes: 7:45pm. Breezy Humid. Ok RUN. One minute slower than Monday

Friday: OFF

Saturday: Town Lake Run -AUSTIN- (EVENING)
Distance: 7.12 Miles Time: UNKNOWN
Notes: TEMPERATURE 100 DEGREES. Sunny. Breezy. HARD RUN! A little bit of pain in my right ankle..maybe the hills? Forgot stop watch! Think I got sunburn

Total miles run this week: 20.28

Sunday, June 14, 2009

6/8 to 6/14 Routine

This is kind of the bulk up before the big tear down. What I Mean is that prior to starting the marathon training up until about a month into it there is a lot of cross training and lifting weights. By the middle of month two up until the end of month three it's mostly running.

Monday-Weights upper body for 1hour.

Tuesday- Memorial Loop
3 miles. Time 23:09
5:30am. Humid. Full moon. (NO WARE WOLVES)A little queasy for about a minute after the run.

Wednesday- Memorial Loop
4 miles. Time 32:43
5:15pm. Humid. Windy. Hot! Dew Point 71 (sauna)

Thursday- Weights upper body for 45 min.
Jump rope for 20 minutes after run.

Friday- OFF
(Three hours of DANCE/HOUSE MUSIC @ CLUB...CARDIO??? YEAH CARDIO!)

Saturday- Weights lower body for 45min.
Jump rope for 20 minutes after run.

Sunday-OFF

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Pig Flu?

I am back home with this horrible cold. I titled the blog pig flu because when I was in the UK they referred to it as PIG instead of SWINE.

Imagine going on a trip 5,000 miles away from home only to catch the feared swine flu that's overrunning your neighborhood. I really don't have the swine flu it's just a case of strep throat. Not sure how I got it but I have not had strep since I was a kid. So if you work with me or were around me for an extended amount of time you need to take your vitamin C.

Lets see it's Saturday morning at 6:30am. What to blog about? (Searches itunes for some really intense morning Trance Music) Ah that's better.

On the flight back to Houston we had to make an emergency landing in Cleveland. A passenger became severely ill over the Atlantic. We did manage to make to make it to Cleveland and the passenger was removed from the plane by ambulance. About 3 hours into our flight from London the lead flight attendant asked if there was a Dr, nurse, or medical professional on board. There were two MD's on the plane. If there would not have been any MD's on the plane, I am not sure what would have happened. My sister told me that I am not a medical professional, but I am really. I am not sure of what the exact issue that was going on with this passenger. I am not even sure if the passenger was male or female. We were in the back of the plane, and they were in the front. In the case that there was no one else on the plane to help normal people would have had to assist.

There were a few other interesting things about the flight back home. I tried to look out the window when I could only to be scolded because I was making too much light. Someone sitting next to me was trying to watch every movie on the personal entertainment system. We flew over Ireland. It's very green, and there are several lakes and small hilly areas. There are hardly any roads, so it seems like it's an unspoiled place.
Flying over Northern Canada is like flying over another planet. Again there are no roads. You can actually see frozen lakes and glaciers from the plane. I think we flew over each of the Great Lakes except for Superior & Michigan.

We landed about 2 hours behind schedule. A good thing about going on a direct flight is that we did not have to worry about missing our connecting flight. The passengers who were connecting had to get luggage, go through customs, and then re-check all the baggage. They also had to get re-booked on other flight by the airline.

Training for the Chicago Marathon starts on June 16th. It's going to be back to morning runs that begin before sunrise that last anywhere from 3 to 20 miles. Last year during training I lost 30 pounds that never came back. This year I am going to concentrate on eating the right foods, mixing up the cardio and weights, cross training, and monitoring my heart rate. You never know how the weather will be here in the summer. It's the same with race day in Chicago, so I am going to train in all conditions just to be prepared.

Kick balls starts again in a few weeks on Wednesday nights at Memorial Park.

I've got the dog running and house sitting gig all set up.

I've got two books that I am working on reading.

I am writing again. If you come upon a writing contest or anything like that forward it to me.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Last Day in London

So it's my last day in London today. This will probably be the last blog about this trip unless something amazing happens today.

If you plan to visit any city in Europe and you are coming from the states, I can tell you that you will need a vacation of at least two weeks. In Europe people are allowed to take vacation (holiday) for weeks at a time. So if you can get more than a week off you will get to see and do more things.

I did not stay in a hostel, but I saw several of them and the ones in Westminster and Central London are nice.

Will I be coming back? Yes. I want to run the Marathon and watch some of the Olympic games from here. There is a major construction going boom going on as they try to complete all the stadiums prior to the opening of the Olympics.

I prefer to travel alone, but I traveled with my sister and we didn't kill each other. W e actually had a good time. She says she will come back also. It's so different from being in the states. I guess it's a love or hate situation. I love it.

Make sure you upload music from Itunes radio while you are here. The dance music is totally different from the music that you get on the Itunes radio back in the states. Make sure you take the tube to Bond station and get some shopping in.

Here is what we got to do while we were here:
The London Eye
Madam tussaint
British Museum
Museum of Natural Science
Museum of History
Hyde Park
Green Park
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
Harrods
Bur berry Store
Big Ben/House of Parliament
Watchtower House


The funniest part of the trip was when we went to this outdoor market. For those of you who go to the Farmers market this was like a Farmer's market on steroids. There is this booth and this guy has a sign and he is selling TEXAS CHILI. I ask him if I can sample some of his chili. It tastes nothing like Texas chili. My sister was laughing because she knew what I was up to. I told the guy that it needed a little work. He asked me if I was some type of chili expert. I told him that I was visiting from Texas. This guy nearly had a heart attack. He told us he was from France, and that we could have a bowl for free. We declined, but Cam got a pic of it.

Another funny thing we went to this shop and they asked us if we were from Belgium. I will have to do some research into why this guy thought we were from Belgium.

We landed to rainy weather but the rest of the trip was a heat wave. It must have been 80degrees one day, but you have to remember there is no ac here because it does not get hot. The sun goes down around 10p and it's day light at about 4am. I finally adjusted to the time change the day before I leave. I've stayed up and seen the sun rise at least 4 days so far this trip.

If you come to London in Europe in May be prepared to suffer from extreme hay fever. No one told us this, but there are flowers and plants everywhere, and all the tourist were sneezing all over the place. I've never sneezed this much in my life. You can actually see the pollen on your clothes at the end of the day.