May 13, 2010 by gregshore.

Today when I ran, I felt like the world’s fastest man.

I have been working out and running but have been plagued by injury - the kind that makes it difficult and painful but not impossible to run. That’s not a good injury for me to have.

Competed in the Palmetto 200 a few weeks ago and ran over 20 miles in the three legs of the race. That hurt. Skipped the Hell Hole Swamp festival last week.

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July 23, 2009 by gregshore.

Tuesday’s Boot Camp was probably one of the hardest ones I’ve ever done. After the usual warm ups, we started with the Body Bars. Not too bad. I think I would have really struggled with a heavier bar but I got through it ok. Then we went to the roof. The people coming downstairs didn’t look so good. We lined up on the tennis courts in the center. One group would do an exercise - they seemed to be random - while the other group sprinted to the wall and back. This was across two tennis courts. And sometimes, the Marines didn’t like how we did something and we would sprint again. It was been a long time since I felt like I was going to puke in the middle of class.

Tuesday evening I spent 30 minutes on the arc trainer. I would have gone longer but had a doctor’s appointment that evening. Good news from the doc. My lipid profile is excellent - LDL is down, HDL is up. HgA1C=6.3.

Wednesday morning I had planned on running but was so stiff and sore from Boot Camp on Tuesday that I decided to get on the arc trainer after seeing my Charleston Runs training group off on their run. Spent 30 minutes on that as I wanted to meet the runners when they came back as well.

Wednesday evening, my friend, Allan, convinved me to go to Boot Camp with him. I arrived early and wanting to see some of the Tour de France, I grabbed my headphones and hopped on the arc trainer for 30 minutes. Went into the evening Boot Camp session, which tended to be not as intense because of the number of new people, and had a nice surprise waiting. It was the same workout as the one from the day before - on the roof that had been baking in the sun all day. That heat just sucks it right out of you.

Thursday Boot Camp was much gentler in comparison. We did a group workout - 8 or ten people in a group that rotated through stations, running a lap in between.

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February 11, 2009 by gregshore.

Monday’s workout was led by Lt McKee. We divided into four groups by ability. Our group started with arm exercises led by Sgt Williams - overhead presses, pushups, arm circles. My deltoids and trapezius muscles still ached from Saturday’s workout. After 10 minutes we went to the next station, led by Mr. Bowen. Legs and explosive power from the legs and core - squats, lunges, and burpees. One day I’ll be able to do 10 of those without stopping and gasping for breath.

Then we headed to the stairs with the motivation provided by SSgt Cunningham and Lt Ulcak. My knee already was aching so I begged off on the stairs and ran on the track. The next station was plyometrics, led by Sgt Haumschild. He was still ticked off after receiving a traffic ticket over the weekend and wanted us to be miserable about it, too. Again - after hopping around a bit my legs and lungs start to burn. I think that’s a good thing.

On Tuesday we ran on the roof. One whistle = pushups, two = flutter kicks, three = burpees. My friend, Pat, said that whoever invented burpees should be shot. I think she’s wrong - they should be made to do burpees until the lose it, over and over again. I don’t care how fit you are, if you’re pushing yourself, then burpees will wipe you out.

And then we sprinted - again and again. I’m finding that these workouts are starting to cause me some issues later in the day and the next day with my foot and groin.

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January 16, 2009 by gregshore.

Started out the day with Boot Camp. We stayed in the gym and at one point we did a lot of static moves. Low plank, t-stand, high plank, tabletops - I sweat a lot and would hold things until my hands would slip out from under me.  Between that and just not having the upper body strength I had 4 or 5 months ago, I continually ended up on my behind.

My rising blood sugar level was a little elevated - 144. That’s about 14 points higher than it normally is. At the end of the workout is was 199. Normally, it’s about 155. I am starting to get tuned in to what a difference my blood sugar makes and I was surprised at how much I struggled. As I got back into shape, I didn’t notice because I always struggled. It a continual education.

The Healthy Charleston Challenge started this evening. I am now the Lead Mentor for the program and am very excited about it. It was a long meeting but others won’t be quite as long. I weighed in at 244, about 40 pounds heavier than when I finished but that will change.

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December 21, 2008 by gregshore.

Thursday I spent on the arc trainer. It’s starting to get boring.

I received a phone call from the doctor’s office on Thursday, cancelling my Friday appointment. The dosctor said I did not have a stress fracture. I’m glad I don’t  have one but the diagnosis ends there. THe prescription was to reduce running (duh), get new shoes (ok-it’s time to replace one pair anyway), and to do other cardio and resistance exercises. Emailed a trainer and she encouraged me to take some of the classes at the Wellness Center to mix up the variety. She’s also wise and knows I thrive on the structure.

 Friday I ran a pacing frill for the Speedsters and joined them for the warm up and cool down. Saturday, I rode my bike while Steve & Tammy ran five miles. At the Couch to 5K Training session, I ran/walked with the Turtles.

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December 17, 2008 by gregshore.

I’ve worked out every day except Sunday in the last week. I did a group workout on Thursday and then worked with the original HCC TBC on Friday. Saturday I held my first Couch to 5K Clinic and ran with the beginners. Monday and Tuesday I did 45 minutes each day on the arc trainer and the bike. 

I continue to be plagued by something wrong in my left foot and right leg.

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September 26, 2008 by gregshore.

This week has been a little different. Saturday I had a problem with my calf and decided to curtail the running and to see the doctor. I did Boot Camp on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday and bailed on the group runs. I either stayed with those who couldn’t stay with the group or did an ab workout. On Thursday, after our group run, the beginner class worked out with Ultimate Boot Camp. For many, it was intimidating, for others it was shocking. For all, it was eye opening. Some felt overwhelmed - others gained confidence. Amazing to me is the range of reactions.

I ended up in doctor’s office on Thursday morning and finally got to actually meet the doctor more than an hour after my scheduled appointment. Whereas, I’m still not happy about wasting my time, I’m really glad I got in to see him. The diagnoses was that I had a sore soleus (calf muscle) probably caused by the dehydration I had suffered on my longer runs. Coupled with dehydration is also the use of Zocor which can cause problems that are coupled with the dehydration. He told to ice and stretch 3x a day and to take 600 mg of ibuprofen 3x a day. I’m not a big fan of anti-inflammatories but the doc is also a runner and understand my desire to get to the start line healthy. He said to continue the training but if I needed to back off on the mileage to do it with the shorter runs during the week and to continue with the long runs.

So, I jumped right back in on Thursday afternoon and resumed the training. Steve and I ran 8 helf-mile intervals at marathon race pace (11 min/mile) with a one lap recovery in between, a total of 5.17 miles. I felt great afterwards and had no pain in my soleus.

Weigh in last night - 230, down 1.2

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July 21, 2008 by gregshore.

Oh, gosh, that really does sound gross, doesn’t it. Today, Class, we’re speaking of body fluids and nakedness, so if it bothers you, go somewhere else. It’s my blog and I’m staying here.

Last week, during a 12-mile run, I ran into some serious problems because I was not well hydrated. I was probably either on the brink of heat exhaustion or may have even crossed over the line. That’s a problem not only for that run but for all future runs. If you end up with a severe instance of your body adversely reacting to the heat - either heat exhaustion, or more seriously - heat stroke - you are more susceptible to heat illness in the future. So you need to do everything you can combat that without going into hyponatremia.

The sweat test is part of the arsenal of tools to combat dehydration. Plan a run of 60 minutes in the conditions in which you normally train. For me, it’s high humidity and temps in the high 70s. Weigh yourself with no clothes on just before running. Use a scale that is accurate to at least a tenth of a pound, prefereably accurate to the ounce. When you get back from your run, strip down and dry yourself completely before stepping on the scale. Your weight loss in ounces is the amount of liquid ounces you lost during the hour run.

For me - this morning I ran for 56 minutes and lost 4.0 lbs. That’s 64 ounces. No wonder I had such a problem last week - I only consumed 24 ounces in the first 90 minutes and then went for another 90 minutes with no additional fluids. I already knew what I did this time didn’t work and that what I did last year mostly did work. Now I know if I’m running for more than an hour that I need to consume 64 ounces every hour. That’s a lot more than the Fuel Belt carries. I may resort to a Camelback or use some other plan. Bottom line is - I need a better plan next time.

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May 12, 2008 by gregshore.

Boot Camp this morning was good. We spent time withthe body bars. I can feel it this evening. We also spent time doing an Indian run. My group finished eight or so laps. I can feel it in my hamstrings this evening. I like these sessions because it really pushes me far beyond what I would do myself.

I also went for a therapeutic massage this evening. Much different than what I expected. You expect a lot of pushing around of muscles and she did some of that. Mostly she stretched in ways that I couldn’t possible stretch myself, specifically targeting different muscles. It wasn’t just the piriformis she stretched. She stretched everything around my hips. It all feels like jello right now.

After I got done, I still wanted to get in a run. I haven’t done a decent run for more than a week and I’m starting to get itchy. I only had time to run for about 20 minutes before I had to meet TBC for dinner. Much fun.

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May 8, 2008 by gregshore.

They just go together. And I’ve learned that if that can’t hit the beach, they just carry it with them. Today we split into groups and carried around a sandbag as we went from station to station. We also had special visitors. Our Marines brought their comrades to workout with us. You always wonder what they think of a bunch of civilians running, sweating, and shouting “Marine Corps”. Between each station we ran a lap. The Marine that was with us pushed us to run faster - at times I thought he was pushing us a little too fast but everybody managed to keep it together. Good workout.

Considering the pain I was in Monday and Tuesday I was really surprised that I didn’t need to modify anything. I do feel a little stiff and sore - I know the piriformis muscle is still there and still has some issues. I hope to be able to schedule a massage for today or tomorrow.

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