Fat Kid’s Ironman Fitness Blog

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 9:30 pm  |  3 Comments »

 

Fixe Commute

Home to PT to meeting to home.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 03/18/2008
  • Time: 21:29:07
  • Total Time: 1:30:00.00
  • Distance: 22 miles
  • Average Speed: 14.67 mph

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 9:30 pm  |  No Comments »

 

Quick Strength Session

Lat pull downs, one arm dumb bell rows, some 21s (bicep curls), some pull ups.

Then Tyler and I headed to have a St. Patty’s Day beer… not exactly super fitness… but at least it was something.

Workout:

  • Type: Strength Training
  • Date: 03/17/2008
  • Time: 21:30:00
  • Total Time: 00:20:00.00

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 8:00 pm  |  No Comments »

 

Easy Run at 180 Cadence

Really focused on my cadence. Tried to keep it slow. Ran to the the Apple store to by some new headphones. They got rid of their “registers” at the Apple store… so you have to walk up to one of their employees to pay for anything… Granted, I imagine 95% of all transactions now are with plastic money… but still wouldn’t it be weird to hand over $50 in cash to some kid standing in the middle of the Apple store who claims to be an employee?

Blister on the bottom of my big toe in the middle of the last toe-joint… hmmm… so… no barefoot running today.

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 03/17/2008
  • Time: 20:00:00
  • Total Time: 00:46:00.00
  • Average Heart rate: 153
  • Distance: 5.1 miles
  • Average Pace: 9:01.35/mile

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 10:59 pm  |  5 Comments »

 

Test Run: Vibram Five Fingers

Went for my first test run with my new Vibram Five Fingers barefoot runners… Did a mile at the track… There was a girls high school soccer game going on at the stadium and I was getting a lot of strange looks.

All in all, I think they felt good. I’ll need to work my way up to longer distances… as my blisters aren’t yet fully callused over.

Vibram Five Fingers

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 03/16/2008
  • Time: 22:54:00
  • Total Time: 00:10:00.00
  • Distance: 1 miles
  • Average Pace: 10:00/mile

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 10:52 pm  |  No Comments »

 

Test Ride: New Cervelo Setup

I’ve been tweaking the setup of my Cervelo, trying to get it more dialed in. The main thing I’m trying to improve is my aero position.

At the suggestion of the guys at SpeedyReedy, I swapped out my “flip up” aero pads and added back my original stationary ones. This allows me to move the pads back further/closer to my seat… which should allow me to position my arms with my elbows at a 90% angle…

For the most part,  I think the arm position was pretty good… but my knees where hitting the pads when I got out of the saddle to climb. And since those pads are very sturdy metal… it’s not exactly something I want my knee caps slamming into. So I need to make some more tweaks.

I also tried out the new bottle cages on my rear mount water bottle rack… uh… yeah… those were a bust. Lost my bottles 3 times… so… I need to take those back to the store, and find a better alternative.

Also worked on adding a new non-Garmin computer to the bike as a backup, and hopefully one that won’t freak out on me everytime I hit a bump… problem is, I couldn’t get it to register the little wheel magnet thing… ARGH… more work to do there.

As for the ride… well… it wasn’t supposed to be a hard effort or anything… but I’m really feeling out of shape lately. Oh well…

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 03/16/2008
  • Time: 22:52:57
  • Total Time: 00:55:00.00
  • Distance: 12 miles
  • Average Speed: 13.09 mph

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 12:00 pm  |  1 Comment »

 

Commute to the Sporting Goods Store

Rode my sweet fixie to REI to go shopping for various sporting goods. I had just got done complaining to my wife about how I hate seasonal shopping and that I wish I could just buy whatever I want whenever I want it. The good news is, that seasonal shopping paid off for me today since almost everything I bought was on seasonal clearance and therefor about 50% off! Woo hoo!

Shopping list included:

  • New Triathlon Shoes - Picked up a brand new pair of Shimanos that were last years model and therefore dirt cheap… but of course brand new! Love it!
  • New Cycling Rain Coat - We’ve had a bit of late winter/early spring rain here and so I had to borrow my wife’s rain coat (she never wears it!). It looked great and fit pretty good, and I was the only one who knew it said “Womens” on the in side… but you know what… that was too much… so as I was at the store I said “Hey, do you have this coat on sale?” Yes indeed they did… Half OFF!!! Oh yeah!
  • FiveFingers Barefoot Runners - ok, these weren’t on sale… they were actually the reason I made the trip… BUT!!! I did get 20% off because it was the big “come in and get 20% off of your most expensive non-clearance item weekend”… plus… we had a rebate check for $50 so I got out of there with a ton of stuff for dirt cheap.
  • I also picked up miscellaneous sundries like new bottle cages, new spd-sl cleats (for the new shows)…but after today’s test run on the bike (story to follow) I’m taking the bottle cages back since they didn’t hold my bottles in on the back of my bike.

All in all, a good shopping trip… and I reasonable workout to boot.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 03/15/2008
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00
  • Distance: 10 miles
  • Average Speed: 13.33 mph

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 11:18 pm  |  14 Comments »

 

Barefoot Running Drills: Q&A

Recently I’ve been working on relearning to run. The process is intended to address some chronic injuries I’ve been getting, and hopefully reverse the damage I’ve caused due to my original running style. The primary focus has been to teach me to run with a mid foot strike instead of a heel strike. I’ve been doing several drills and making some progress. Here’s a recent exchange with my Physical Therapist about my barefoot running drills:

Dear PT:

I’ve been doing the following drills, with the following results:

  • Barefoot running - I like this drill alot. I have to admit I have gotten a couple blisters, but I can really feel the ground, and it gives me confidence than I am landing in the right place… at least I think I’m landing in the right place. I ran about .5 miles in my first track session at shoreline, then on sunday I ran about 1 mile actually on the BG trail. I was wearing my socks, but really it felt very comfortable running on the trail with no shoes. Then I ran about .75 miles at the track at Roosevelt HS last night. Blisters are my only complaint.
  • Rubber band - I really don’t like this drill. The band pulls my hair (I’ve tried wearing longer socks). But more importantly I feel like I’m going to fall over. Can I stop with this drill?
  • The Pony/One legged - I hope I’m getting the hang of this… I worked on this at both track sessions I did.
  • Cadence 180 - I think I’m getting this down… I am considering making my self a 190 cadence and trying to switch to that.

Results… my lower calves are really feeling it. I guess that’s good. But I am having confidence that I’m doing well.

Is there anyway for me to better know if I’m landing in the right place on my foot? I can tell from my socks where I’m landing. It’s mostly on the pads of my feet behind the toes, on the edge of where my arch starts. Is that correct?

-Brad

——————————————————

Hey Brad,

Yeah I really like the barefoot work myself, but be very careful with overdoing it. You might like this product; http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ . I have a pair of these and really enjoy them, did a 3 mile run my first time with them, which turned out to be a bit too much, but really like them.

You can stop doing the band drill, or just to a little bit of it, it’s meant to teach you what it feels like to put your foot down earlier and not overstride.

We’ll recheck the Pony drill, and we’ll start some Cadence Intervals next time too.

I expect to have the calves work harder, but listen to them and be careful not to strain them. If you are running too far forward on your toes you will really increase the strain on your calf. I remember that your heels were hanging too high sometimes when you were jogging in the clinic, so let the heel touch down (after the midfoot), but keep the impact at a minimum.

From your description it sounds like you are landing in the right spot. We will recheck it.

-Your PT

As I mentioned in my note to my PT, my biggest complaint is my calves. They are really beeing activated in a different way. Hopefully, it’s not because I’m “hanging my heels too high”… This is my biggest concern at this point. I am looking forward to getting some more direct coaching on my landing, foot strike, and heel placement.

The good news is, I got another massage today, and my therapist spent probably 30 minutes on my calves. So hopefully everything will be adjusting into it’s new role.

As for these five fingers “barefooters”… Oh my god! They look Awesome… I have to order a pair immediately!

Filed under: Barefoot running, Run, chirunning, massage, pose running, running drills  |  Digg! this story.  |  Leave a Comment

Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 11:31 pm  |  1 Comment »

 

Chest

Workout:

  • Type: Strength Training
  • Date: 03/12/2008
  • Time: 23:31:21
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 11:30 pm  |  1 Comment »

 

Fixie Commuting

Blew a tire hitting a curb. I don’t mean I got a flat, I mean I BLEW A TIRE. POW!

I was on my way to a meeting… fortunately I had time to change the tire. Unfortunately, I only had a 650c tube and it was my 24″ front tube that blew. I crammed this extra big tube into the tire and hoped it would hold. Got me to my meeting, and back home… stopped at SpeedyReedy to get new tubes before I got home.

I also worked a little on Tylers new bike tonight… which mostly means I got to set up my new RED RIM… which Tyler bought for me for working on his bike. Slapped it on the Shogun… it looks SWEEEEEEET… Pictures soon.

Workout:

  • Type: Cycle
  • Date: 03/12/2008
  • Time: 23:30:24
  • Total Time: 00:45:00.00
  • Distance: 10 miles
  • Average Speed: 13.33 mph

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Post by:Brad Hefta-Gaub

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 at 8:00 pm  |  3 Comments »

 

Running Drills

Track session focusing on running form.

  • 180 cadence on the iPod for entire workout
  • 1 lap warm up
  • 1 lap rubber band run - this sucks, almost killed myself
  • 3 laps barefoot (blisters made me stop)
  • 1 mile - focused 180 cadence - focused MFS - 8:00/mile
  • 3 laps - “one legged pony drills”
  • 2 laps - cool down - much slower pace - focus on cadence

Workout:

  • Type: Run
  • Date: 03/11/2008
  • Time: 20:00:00
  • Total Time: 00:32:00.00
  • Distance: 3.25 miles
  • Average Pace: 9:51.13/mile

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Me in 2002 - 200lbsThis is my fitness blog. Some people who knew me a long time ago may wonder, what the heck I'm doing writing a blog about fitness. Many of them wouldn't imagine that I'd have anything to do with fitness. You see, up until age 34, I treated my body very poorly. I sat around at home, at work, at play. I ate junk food and lots of it. And the result was what you'd expect 5'4" and 200 lbs with 36% body fat. (more...)

Activities: Year to Date

Distances
Bike: 2,963 miles
Run : 629 miles
Walk: 17 miles
Swim: 18,799 meters
Hours of Activity
 Bike: 192.5 - 55.1%
 Swim: 9.9 - 2.8%
 Run : 96.8 - 27.7%
 Strength: 41.6 - 11.9%
 Flex: 1.3 - 0.4%
 Walk: 5.0 - 1.4%
 Cardio: 1.5 - 0.4%
 Other: 1.0 - 0.3%
  Total:349.6
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