MY PAL

Typically, my blogging goes hand-in-hand with my running.  If I'm motivated and running a lot, then I will post a lot on my blog.  Well I'm happy to report that even though I'm not blogging much, I've actually been running a fair amount.  After a lackluster March, I've put together back-to-back weeks with mileage in the low 60s.  I've also basically stopped doing any sort of speed workout or tempo run.  Instead, I've been hitting the trails in Hyland Park twice a week, as well as running hill repeats on Fridays.  All the hilly runs seem to be paying off as I feel myself getting stronger.

One of the reasons I haven't been blogging much is because I've added some core work, which I try to do during lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  In addition, I've been jumping on the elliptical on those days to get an extra 20 minutes of calories burned.

The extra calories burned, along with actually tracking my caloric intake (and calories burned) using My Fitness Pal has helped me get my weight down to 150 pounds.  That's down about 8 pounds from last fall.  The thing I like about the website more than anything is that it just makes you aware of all the foods you put in your body.  Just seeing the number of calories in all those cookies you grab everytime you walk by the pantry is enough to keep you honest.  My one complaint about the site is that it doesn't allow you to track your exercise based on your intensity.  It only allows you to track the number of minutes you ran, but doesn't distinguish between a 6 minute mile or a 10 minute mile.  I think their calculations are based on about a 10 minute mile, so if I run faster I'm actually being conservative with the number of calories burned.

Finally, I have posted two interviews recently.

Quote of the day;

"I think an additional factor for my lack of racing is that I just like to run. A lot of people who race, sign up for races to motivate them to run; in other words, they need a reason to get up and run each day. I don’t; I truly enjoy my daily runs, regardless of whether or not there’s an upcoming event." - Kelly Brinkman