Week # 13 Summary 09/20 - 09/26

Day 16 - 1.5 hr Spinning
Day 15 -
Day 14 - 6 hours of running hills
Day 13 - 3.1 mile run of hills
Day 12 -
Day 11 -
Day 10 -

Long Run # 13

Hills, Hills, Hills, this weekend started off by going up Mt. Lemmon here in Tucson. We ran in high altitude appoximatly 8,500 ft. Mt. Lemmon is where Lance Armstrong trained back in 2001 - 2002 with the US Postal Team. Some of you may remember the look from El Tour de France in 2001.
So we ran for about an hour, and then had to buy some of that FUDGE!!!, damn its so good.
Sundays run with the Moja 2 Running Team we ran up Tumamoc Hill its about 750 ft in elevation gain over 1.5 miles, there are two switch-backs that are really steep, I think they may be steeper then the switch-backs when I hiked the Grand Canyon, but then again there are only two. We were lucky to see 3 deer on Tumamoc Hill, its rare to see deer especially with so many homes around.

Week # 12 Summary 09/13 - 09/19

Day 23 - 1.5 hr Spinning
Day 22 -
Day 21 - 15 mile run
Day 20 - 3.1 mile run
Day 19 -
Day 18 -
Day 17 -

Long Run # 12

This weekend the plan was to do my long run, I began my run at 5 am on Saturday, I covered 5 laps around Reid Park in Tucson, for a total of 15 miles, I ran comfortably at a 10 min/mile pace. It is still hot, here in Tucson. At around 7:30 am, the heat, the laps, running on the concrete, and since I dont run with music, just bored me. So I put my long run off, and was going to continue it on Sunday, but I woke up with tight muscles, I was only able to do one lap with the moja 2 running team. On Sunday they covered 2 laps. With all the running and cycling that I do, I really need a massage, I can wait another 3 weeks.

Week # 11 Summary 09/06 - 09/12

Day 30 - 1.5 hr Spinning
Day 29 -
Day 28 -
Day 27 - 3.1 mile run
Day 26 -
Day 25 -
Day 24 -

Long Run # 11

This weekend's group run was up to "A" Mountain we covered about 3 miles, but we ran up a mountain and got to see the view of the city on a beautiful morning. I am feeling good, and the running group is making progress, you can see the improvement on these first time runners.

Week # 10 Summary 08/30 - 09/05

Day 37 - 1.5 hr Spinning
Day 36 - 1 hr Spinning
Day 35 -
Day 34 - 6.2 mile run
Day 33 -
Day 32 -
Day 31 -

I plan on being in Bisbee for the Bisbee 1000, will not compete in the race, but will compete in the Ice man challenge. http://www.bisbee1000.org/

Crazy Cravings

"When you train hard, you must eat like a Champion"

Usually when I run alot, I begin to get these odd cravings. A little over a year after a 20 mile run, I got this craving for potatos. So I bought a 5 lb bucket of potato salad and ate it all in about 3 days, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, you name it, it was potato salad. That means I had a years worth of potato salad in about 3 days.
This time around, for some reason my craving was grilled liver. I can cook, but I prefer grilling. I think liver taste good when it is grilled, and as you can imagine, I bought 5 lbs of liver at $6.00, good for about 2 weeks. My iron intake is great.
It reminds me of the time my friend Trish asked me how my iron intake was. I told her, "Well growing up in a Mexican family, and having to eat beans on average two serving per day, for the first 18 years of my life. I think I don't need to worry about my iron intake for the next 20 years".

Dont Buy This!!!

They claim its an energy drink, but it is not. On sunday I was at Sam's Club, when I saw this product, they had this salesman selling to people and answering questions. As I picked up a box to read the label, he offered me a sample, like he was doing to all the people. I declined and asked him, what in this product gives you energy. He said vitamin B12, but vitamins and minerals do not provide energy, they are micronutrients (needed in relatively small amounts to support normal health and body functions). Macronutrients are the nutrients that provide energy (carbs, fats, proteins). I tried to explain this to him in front of everyone, and he was losing his patience. He tried saying he has professional athletes taking this product, I told him I'm a distance runner and cyclist and would never take this. This product only contains 10 calories, and no sugar. All you are really doing when added to water, is adding color, artificial flavoring, and caffeine. A caffeine containing beverage or diuretic will just increase fluid loss via the urine. Not much energy there is there? In the end the guy was upset and yelling at me "I don't need to talk to you!, Thank you for your time!" I remained calm like I always do, because I get a kick out pissing people off, and I calmly walked away smiling. Most of the people did too. He might blame me for making him lose customers, but it was his yelling that got rid of them. So whatever you do dont buy this product, and if you want to have fun ask the salesmen/women, What in this product provides energy? Explain to them what Macronutrients are, and see if they agree that this item does not provide energy.

Long Run # 10

The temperature is getting cooler, 5:30 am run felt great, the rest of the Moja 2 showed up to run at 6:00am as planned and I ran another 5k loop with them, I felt great and I almost ran another loop, but I was hungry. So I ended up going grocery shopping. I need to pick up my mileage these next 3 weeks, I am noticing my hamstrings are tight, I may need a massage soon.