Darn blister

During Saturday's awesome long run, I got a blister under my big toe on my left foot. This is a new occasion for me, as I rarely get blisters, and when I do they're always on the instep of my right foot. In that case, I'll just pop them with whatever's handy, and let them drain, cover with a bandaid or two for a day or two, and we're good to go. The skin seems to fuse back together where the water bubble was, and away we go.

This one is a little different. Because it's in a place where two sides of a wrinkle come together (that's not the right phrasing, but I think you get the point), it seems to feel bigger than it actually is. I've popped it a few times, and was able to run Monday and Tuesday on it, but Wednesday I tried putting moleskin on it for a barrier, but it didn't stick. I guess that part of my foot is sweatier than most?

So anyway, I'm taking a couple of days off to let it heal, which means that this week is turning into an impromptu cut back week. That's okay, because I pushed last week and got ahead of schedule anyway. I'm not completely relaxing -- I'm biking instead of running, and it's keeping me busy and my heart rate up. Hopefully I'll be able to get out for a shorter long run tomorrow... perhaps I'll try the moleskin again.

A pound of flesh...

Or, more accurately, a pound of fat. One of the common things one hears as one begins to research diet and exercise as relating to weight loss is that one pound of fat contains 3500 calories, and therefore to lose a pound of fat you need to increase your calorie deficit by 3500 calories to "burn off" a pound of fat, and therefore be one pound lighter.

I've been searching across the interwebs and haven't yet been able to find any concrete studies to back this up, but something about it seems fishy to me. It seems over-simplified, as if any calories we eat go into the same bank, regardless of the "quality" of the calories, or the source of the calories, and then any calories we burn, regardless of the way we burn them (weight training, cardio fitness training, breathing, thinking, etc.) all withdraw the calories from this same bank. I don't think this is necessarily the case.

When I started back at running in January of 2008 after slacking off after my first marathon, I weighed in at 225 lbs. Within a week I was down to 219. According to the "3500 calorie" theory, I created myself a calorie deficit in that ONE WEEK (?!?!) of 21,000 calories???!! Um, no. The running, totaling maybe 10 miles, may have added 1000-2000 calories to my "deficit" total, but nowhere near the 21,000 that the theory would suggest. I believe metabolism is more complicated than the theory suggests.

Does anyone have information or peer-reviewed studies, etc., that can back up the theory one way or another?

Spring Fever

It is absolutely beautiful outside. Okay, so it's a little windy -- so much so that when I was running south, into the wind, I couldn't really hear the iPod very well -- but I can deal with a little wind. I still turned in a great 5.1 mile run today in the Avenues/City Creek Canyon in 50 minutes flat. It was 62°F outside (that's about 17°C for you metric types). The breeze actually helped it to not feel too hot.

I may have to run again later, just to soak up some more of the gorgeous weather!

Long run, nothing special

I went for a really long run on Saturday. It seems that every marathon training session will include at least one point-to-point run from home to work. It shakes out like so: My wife will come pick me up from work Friday afternoon for a family activity of some sort, so I'll leave my car at work. Saturday morning I wake up early, get on the running gear, and head out for what is usually a circuitous 20 mile route, and come pick up my car. This weekend, however, was the first time I'd attempted this since we moved further away from my place of employment. The result? It wasn't a circuitous route, it was pretty direct. But it was still 19.6 miles, which is about 2 miles further than I had scheduled for that week's long run. I finished it strong, however -- surprisingly so. This puts me weeks ahead on my training schedule, which is good. I plan on another long 20 miler this weekend, then a much-deserved cutback week.

So far, a very good start to 2009!

Weekly recap and February totals

Last week was a good week for me. Here's how it shook down:

Monday - 5.1 miles outside in the Avenues for a "hilly" run. 10:02 pace
Tuesday - 4 miles outside in the Avenues at lunch, pace 9:55; 4 miles on the treadmill that night, pace 10:00
Wednesday - Easy 2.5 on the TM as warm up for weights. 20 minutes of weights.
Thursday - 5 mile interval training on the TM - 9:44 avg pace w/ warm up and cool down.
Friday - Bike 15.76 miles in 42 minutes including intervals and a 400+ watt sprint.
Saturday - 19.6 mile long run from home to work. Pace 10:46. I loved this run.

Weekly total: 40.2 miles run, 15.8 miles biked

Totals for February:
122 miles run
80.4 miles biked
1 hr 35 minutes weights

It's official, I'm in.

Weekly recap

For some reason, blogger won't open at work, so my normal blogging time is disrupted. :)

Anyway, here's last week's totals:

Monday: 5 miles at lunch, 6.1 miles that evening - 11.1 miles total
Tuesday: 1.8 miles, 15 minutes weights
Wednesday: 6 mile tempo run
Thursday: 4.5 miles easy
Friday: 14.6 mile bike ride
Saturday: 15.6 mile long run

Totals:
Running: 39 miles
Biking: 14.6 miles
Weights: 15 minutes