Up Next? Austin - 2/15/09
I want to take a moment to share my reflection as I cruised through my final mile at the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday.
The picture to the side says it all. Although it wasn't anything near pretty or graceful, it entailed a powerful feeling of sheer triumph. It's the reason we run the marathon.
Even after thirteen of these punishing events during which I question every single time why I am out there, I keep wanting more.
As you would expect, my rest days are numbered once again. Sure, it's been a whole four days since a marathon PR. I am already mentally committed to Austin on February 15, 2009.
Although I know I am not recovered, I am yearning. Once again, I am ready to enter the training cycle. And it will be at training cycle like none other before for me. I aim for it to be the cycle that enables me to break that elusive sub-3 barrier.
I will admit that I am nervous and have some concerns. I am fearful of missing out on family time with my wife and daughter. I am fearful of sacrificing a high level of performance in my career, which can be demanding. I am fearful of a reckless training plan that may result in injury.
There, now that I got those fears and concerns out of my system. I can relax for a few more days until I figure out how I will escalate toward the 70-mile weeks this coming winter.
Help needed on treadmill selection
To achieve sub-3 with my schedule, I need to be able to run at any given moment.
Despite losing thousands in the stock market, we are looking to spend. (Why not, right?) Jen is also pushing for a treadmill purchase so she can exercise more frequently with the baby in the house.
To be honest, I hated treadmills for many years and have never wanted one. This year, I seemed to have turned the corner - and realize that I can zone out watching ESPN. My tread distance record is 12 miles.
I learned to use the tread at the gym to my training advantage. I realized the benefits of speed work on the tread for pace control -- as well as a shield from the weather.
We hope to cap our spending at around $3,000. Brands we are exploring:
Landice
LifeFitness
Precor
Pacemaster
Does anyone have any suggestions?
8 comments:
Sorry, no help with the treadmill choice, but I do understand your reasons for wanting one.
Great pic. I love the look of determination.
Workout programs for treadmills involve introducing new ways to enjoy your treadmill. The purpose of interval training is not only to improve the effectiveness of your overall training but also so to reduce boredom. You can get more information about Cross trainer which I browsed on internet can fetch you help.
First, congrats on the PR!
I have a True treadmill, which I tolerate enough to have run 21 miles on while training for Austin in '05. While looking, I also liked Landice (especially the one with the color display) and Life Fitness had some nice ones. I'd recommend finding a specialty store (not Dicks or SportMart) and testing them out. With as fast as you are, you're going to need one that goes up to 12MPH. You also want one that feels very sturdy - a lot of the less expensive models felt kind of wobbly to me and I can only imagine how scary they'd feel with the speed you'd be going. My treadmill is one of the best purchases I've made; living in Minnesota where it's both cold and dark for much of my training time, it is so necessary - and with a young baby, it's sometimes the only way I've been able to run.
Ryan, I used the treadmill doctor to read reviews. We settled on a Pacemaster Gold for $2000.
Awesome picture.
So, are you moving up to Pfitz 70?!
Dude, I'm in your boat too, still trying to break a 3 hour marathon. I bonked at Grandma's marathon this summer but will try again in 2009 either at Boston or Chicago.
You are really close at your time of 3:05. You need to get your half marathon time down more around 1:25. You need to run some % of your long runs at your target M race pace. Email me if you want to exchange ideas. Some very experienced masters runner friends of mine here in Minnesota are helping me now for the next attempt.
I can't help with the tradmills ... I don't do treadmills or spinning. Good luck. Your blog is very cool.
It looks like you are just landing a flip-flop (gymnastics) move. Fabulous!
Ryan,
For good info on how to choose a treadmill, see http://www.treadmill-world.com/choosing-treadmill-elliptical.html
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