<p>Week 7 and 8 would be the end of me!</p>
<p>Nice work on the run, Deb
Hops, it’s always nice to have admirers.</p>
<p>22 miles on the bike. gorgeous, albeit windy day. Some steep sections where even in granny gear the quads were on fire.</p>
<p>I could definitely go for some idad BBQ right about now…</p>
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<p>When I was doing the CrossFit, I had an older guy tell me one day as I’m 15 minutes into the 20 minute workout, “You shouldn’t have to work that hard without getting paid.”</p>
<p>On disadvantage of using wireless headphones is that the iPod Touch disables automatic volume leveling on music playback. This might be a BlueTooth thing or specific to my Motorola Headsets but I think that the reason why my S9s buttons eventually died is that I used them so much to adjust the volume.</p>
<p>I found a program that will level all of your songs and ran a test and it worked so I’m going through the process to level them all.</p>
<p>Getting these technical issues solved one at a time makes running more pleasant.</p>
I had another combo plate last night (with a side of butter beans). The rest of it is all in the freezer for a rainy day. My local upscale supermarket gets its fish on Tuesdays, so that’s going to be my fish day, it would appear. Nice salmon had just come in. I’ll be doing my Thai pink-pickled ginger salmon dish. Sear it in a non-stick skillet, flip it skin side down, then pour in the juice of two lemons, about a quarter cup of pink sushi ginger, several TBS of minced garlic, a sliced serrano chile, a dash of Thai fish sauce, a thinly sliced onion, a thinly sliced red bell pepper, a little fresh brocolli, and salt/pepper. Cover and let it steam until the salmon is cooked through. One dirty pan; one fantastic dish!
My local grocery has Ahi tuna on sale, it would go good with the ginger I think. (we have already been eating quite a lot of salmon)
I think I found out what’s wrong with my knee. I had an MRI today & the tech had to put several weights on my leg to keep it from turning out. Pulled deep into my hip. Sure hard to stay that way for an hour.
But it may make me better about my stretches as long as I can do them without getting stuck!
Interesteddad, I thought weeks 5 & 6 looked the most intimidating on paper. I figured, make it through those and I might have a shot. 
How much you want to bet some of those onlookers tried out the carioca drill at home after the party? You’ve probably started a whole carioca movement. I know I had to try it when you posted the video.
The Thai pink-pickled ginger salmon – yum!
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CJane, like the bike trek (I don’t know how to make a thumbs up symbol appear 
). Need to find a good place around here to ride one of these days. As a youngun I didn’t have a car, so I was very attached to my bike.
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EK, glad to hear you got the MRI taken care of today. Step one on the road to figuring out what to do and relief.
<p>emeraldkity–I have one leg that is not aligned in that the knee is turned out if the foot is straight, but if I straighten the knee, the foot turns in. I probably should not run for long periods or I will certainly invite injuries.</p>
<p>That’s ok, I don’t think my future plans include running for long periods. :)</p>
<p>Interesteddad–must try the salmon!</p>
<p>6 miles, 9:00 pace. Probably just running this week - outside of Friday tennis.</p>
<p>You are getting fast, BCEagle! You should run a 10K.</p>
<p>Day off for me. I was thinking burpee fusion outdoors, but the washer/dryer delivery guy didn’t show up until nearly 7 and I just didn’t have it in me to start my workout that late. Oh well.</p>
<p>I think I’m getting in a better mind set about my treadmill intervals. Thanks to you all, I’m now seeing my routine as “intervals” – as opposed to, “I can only keep up a rapid pace for two minutes at a time.” “Intervals” is so much more macho!!</p>
<p>LOL When I run I do “intervals.” Really short intervals.</p>
Definitely more macho! And, easier on your knees… 
The benefit comes from fact that you are working at an intensity that you cannot sustain. If you were decide to just do 30 second running intervals, you’d increase your intensity (speed) to match the shorter interval. Those short bursts are probably not what you want as a steady diet for marathon training, but they do all kinds of stuff that is really fantastic for general fitness and especially for fat loss/prevention.
If you think about it from an athletic standpoint, most sports (other than distance endurance running, swimming, cycling) require short bursts of high effort alternating with some degree of recovery. It seems like the leading conditioning trainers these days have marked out a dividing line somewhere in the range of 2 to 4 minutes as the (painful) upper limit for this kind of unsustainable intensity.
The thing I appreciate about intervals is that it seems to be automatically self adjusting. I mean, I could hop on the Airdyne at 240 pounds, with my belly bouncing off my thighs, and pedal as hard as I could for 20 seconds. I might have ended up pedalling just 50 rpms, compared to 90 rpms now on the same interval, but relative to my fitness at that moment in time, I was getting effectively the same workout. The same max heart rate. The same bent over panting like a dog. So anybody (from a big ol’ fat guy to a pro tennis player) can do a 20 second interval alternating with 60 seconds of rest and they’ll automatically adjust to get a similar workout relative to their fitness. I think that’s really cool.
<p>I know I’ve missed several months worth of posts, but have you all had the “minimalist running shoe” discussion? I’m not talking about the Five Fingers (toes) type, but ones like the Nike Free. I decided to try a pair since I started getting shin splints about 6 weeks ago, and read posts online from people who said the minimalist shoes helped. I’ve never been a big fan of Nikes, though, plus I didn’t want to spend the money on something that may not work for me. So I went to the New Balance outlet near me and spent about $60.00 on a pair. They had all different types – some were way too minimalist for me, I think. I got a pair that still has some support, but nowhere near as much as the Brooks I’ve been using. I tried them for the first time last Wednesday and thought my legs/feet were going to fall off. I used them again on Monday and I actually felt pretty good.</p>
<p>BC – I think you had posted several days ago about an iPod Touch being a tad large/awkward to use for music when running? When I first got a Touch, I bought this armband thing that straps onto you upper arm. It took about 2 minutes for me to realize I couldn’t stand that thing on my arm. Since I bought it at the Apple store, I was able to return it. Instead, I ordered a Tune Belt like this: [Tune</a> Belt - Sport Belt for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, 2G, 1G, iPods, iPod classic, iPod touch 3G, Smartphones, Blackberry Bold, Curve, Storm, Tour, Microsoft Zune, Motorola MotoQ, Nokia N97, Palm Pre, T-Mobile Dash, T-Mobile myTouch 3G](<a href=“http://www.tunebelt.com/domino/tunebelt/tunebelt.nsf/ip2]Tune”>http://www.tunebelt.com/domino/tunebelt/tunebelt.nsf/ip2) It’s a waist belt, which may look dorky, but I don’t really care. It’s made from neoprene that has some stretch to it, and I can cinch it up so it doesn’t bounce around when I run or walk. I personally don’t like carrying anything in my hands, so this works for me.</p>
<p>D (who I mentioned is living with us while scoping out apartments in the area) is big into Cross Fit. She had started going to the one in New Haven about 6 months ago. She found one here in Cambridge close to Porter Square and has already been a couple of times. As I’ve also probably mentioned, D is a certified Metabolic Effect Personal Trainer. She’s hoping maybe the owner of the Cross Fit place will pay for her certification in that – she said they’re a little short on trainers. Ah – the ambition of the young!</p>
<p>Scorcher here today – will most likely need to turn on the A/C for the first time this season.</p>
Those shorts that I bought from Road Runner Sports have a back pocket which is a little bigger than an iPod Touch so I could put it there. I don’t know if I want something back there bouncing around a lot though. The lower on your body the device goes, the more shock it is exposed to.
I think that my best option would be to get a BlueTooth transmitter for my iPod Nano as the Nano has no problems with bouncing around. The iPod Touch would just be nice for tracking runs. In the long run, I’m probably going to go with Garmin.
<p>What do the exercise experts on here think of this quandary I’m noodling on: My neighbors run every morning. They are really dear people and I enjoy their company. They are really strong runners, former high school and college runners. I can manage to hang in there with them but then have to go lie down and take a nap afterward. I’m just wiped the rest of the day. The other day I begged off and drove to a park and ran/walked on my own with my ipod. It was so enjoyable. I’m wanting to do that instead but is that giving into weakness. The more intense workout is with my neighbors. They’re about 10 years younger than me, btw.</p>
<p>sewhappy, I’m a very social creature, but I prefer to run alone, at my own pace. Somehow, buddy runs do not resonate with me. It is fine when we run side by side on treadmills where each can set her own pace. I’m also not an early morning workout person. :)</p>
<p>Nice short run last night. Again, by the time I got all my ducks in a row, it was too late to drive to the trail.</p>
<p>I’ve been invited to run with a small group of ladies at lunch once a week - 5 mile runs in the woods at around 10 minute pace. I was asked before last summer and I couldn’t do to family stuff and schedules but I could do it this summer. I prefer to run alone too at my own pace though I think that 10 minutes/mile wouldn’t be a problem. It would be a variation running on trails instead of something firm and predictable.</p>
<p>Any chance on finding neighbors that run a bit slower?</p>
sewhappy- I completely understand how you feel. It is NOT fun when you are barely hanging on, no matter how slow they “say” they can go just for the pleasure of your company! I prefer to run alone, although my daughter and I are good running partners and really can run at whoever has the slower pace that day. I never trust how I’m going to feel on any given day. I might be fine with other runners, or I might be struggling and miserable.
CBB- We have discussed the lower profile shoes. I like Nike Frees, and I love Brooks Flow and Connect. They aren’t really “minimalist”, but have a lower profile and less weight. Connect is lower profile than Flow. Nike Frees come in several versions, and some are lower and less structured than others. New Balance Minimus are very low profile and minimalist and there is a new Minimus Zero with 0 heel to toe drop. I am liking my Skechers Go Run shoes for short runs but you really can’t be a heel striker to wear those.
I think Brooks Launch is the best shoe on the market right now, but, unfortunately, it is being discontinued at the end of the year. We are all stocking up.