Returning the treadmill

It is final, the Reebok treadmill is going back. The main reason: it is defective and Icon Health won't service it unless I move it to another location in my house. Who is Icon Health to tell me where to put my stuff? They have the gall to tell me they won't repair a defective item that is less than one month old because they don't want me to have it in my garage? Well, fine, they can have it back.

On Monday I rode 45 minutes on rollers. The seatpost on my Griffen broke and I had the hardest time finding a new one that has a 25 mm diameter. Apparently, they don't make 25 mm seatposts anymore. The one I found, a LOOK Ergopost 2.0 looks great but unfortunately, it flares out near the top and so I can't get it in deep enough to be comfortable. I noticed it as soon as I rode so I decided to take it easy and get some workout in without injuries. That is why I kept it short. Later I was able to order a new USE Alien that is the right size.

On Tuesday I ran 8.8 miles on the now-returned treadmill. Had to stop several times to readjust the roller. On Wednesday I rode 30 mi to the top of Redwood at a pretty hard pace. On Thursday I rode 35 miles, and yesterday I ran for an hour on the treadmill. It was then I decided I had done enough adjusting and messing around and the thing had to go.

Today I ran a 10K up Tunnel Rd. I was able to stay with an obviously very slow cyclist. Still I had to run hard to do it.

Five storms in a row

This week we got hit by five storms in a row. One for each day of the week, starting on Sunday. The one on Wednesday was particularly bad, dumping tons on water and causing flooding and mayhem everywhere. On top of it all the temperatures dropped steadily as the week went on and now we are braving 40's to low 50's as a day-time high.

For those of you who live where there is a real winter, 40's may sound balmy, but to us, Northern Californians, it is downright cold. Needless to say, people's blogs and facebook pages overflowed with stories about daring-do survival and building character. I for one, chose to stay inside instead.

Given that the human body does very little, if any, cold adaptation, and that cyclists living in colder climes migrate South every winter like the starlings do, I wonder what the use of suffering in the cold really is. But to some of us though ones, it seems a proof of moral fiber (not to say manliness so as to be politically correct).

On Wednesday and on Thursday, I ran 8.5 miles on the treadmill, trying to keep an 8 mph pace. For some odd reason I seem to have a lot of trouble doing that now. Whereas I could run 8.2 and 8.3 last year, this year I have yet to run over 8 uninterrupted. Today, I ran 7.75 miles in the hills, as the storms finally disappeared. Nevertheless I still had to deal with drizzle for the last 3 miles.

Compounding my treadmill problem is that the new machine has a tendency to go out of alignment and the belt then moves to one side or another. When that happens the only option is to stop and adjust the tension on the roller. However, it appears to me that the vibrations of running undo the adjustment and after half an hour or so, a new iteration is needed. I hope a mat will remedy the situation. This never happened to my (equally cheap) previous treadmill.

However it is clear that this improved version means more useless gadgetry on a cheaper frame. The Healthrider I owned before had a steel frame, whereas the Reebok (don't be fooled they are both Icon treadmills) sports a lot of plastic instead.

An update

The weather has been bizarre. We've been caught in a sun-sandwich of sorts on most days. The Eastern valleys have fog and it spills over the hills, looking very pretty (see picture), but also very cold and wet. To the West, the Bay and downtown Berkeley is covered in haze or fog as well. In between it is sunny and warm.

Twice I went riding in Redwood park, starting out at the Skyline (Oakland) gate and continuing on the rim trail to the Pinehurst gate. The distance is about 4 miles. Twice, when I started out it was warm and sunny at the Skyline gate and I felt distinctly overdressed in my tights, long sleeve jersey and booties. Yet as soon as I approached Pinehurst, a thick fog covered the trail and it was cold, windy, wet, with almost no visibility. Then I felt cold, all in a space of 3.5-4 miles.

On Sunday I ran 12 miles on the Alameda creek trail. It has been a while since I ran that course and it was pretty as ever, with plenty of sun and a salty taste in the air. On Monday I rode on rollers for 1:20, going pretty hard. On Tuesday I ran on my treadmill for about an hour. I tried to run hard, but I could not keep the pace. I also had to stop to adjust the tread belt repeatedly. Then on Wednesday and Thursday I did the Redwood rides described above, with some extras. About 2 hours each.

Today, I ran for 1:06 minutes on the treadmill. I tried a 30 minute tempo run and was moderately successful. I more or less kept my pace at about 8.7 mph. What was even better was that the treadmill did not act up at all, so I could keep going.

I helped Alistair with some time-trial training on rollers and had Annelise run 2.5 miles on the treadmill. All in a day's work.

Holiday madness

I took apart our old treadmill and installed a new one. It just reminded me of how the consumer society is affecting all of us and making our lives less enjoyable. It is something we never hear about. The real cost of cheap items. It is a cost we all pay, each and every day.

The old treadmill, a HealthRider R65 had a sturdy frame, a solid platform but a weak motor, plus some useless "features" to attract buyers. A lot of parts were made of plastic and many broke or chipped over time so fixing it was no longer an attractive option. It was not just a matter of price, although the price to fix it would probably buy a new one. It would have also required replacing many items that were intrinsically OK.

Unfortunately, the HealthRider was a compromise made for a cheap sticker price that resulted in an underpowered, overgadgeted machine.

The T12.80. Lots of plastic.

The new treadmill is a Reebok T12.80. Despite the name, it is in essence a new version of the same machine made by the same people. All these are Icon Fitness treadmills. Healthrider, Reebok, Nordic Track, etc. are just labels. They identify feature sets that attract different market segments. Unfortunately none of these segments is quality oriented. They are feature-oriented instead.

The new machine has even more silly features that I will never use. It has a beefier motor but to compromise the frame is no longer a solid piece of metal. Instead it consists of pieces that are mostly molded plastic. Already some parts are showing signs of wear and the thing is less than a month old.

Because treadmills are sold to consumers who will rarely use them, and almost never after the novelty wears off, they are loaded with useless junk that attracts eyeballs, but breaks easily and may -in some cases condemn the machine. Instead of spending money on sturdy construction, treadmill builders cut corners where it matters most and spend money on eye candy that adds little or no value.

You could argue I should have bought a real treadmill, but these items are so expensive it is no longer worth the cost. I would need to install special circuits and make other modifications to the site. It is too much trouble, especially in a warm climate like California where you can run outside on most days. But even when you go upscale, you cannot free yourself from the market research results, and you still need to pay hundreds of dollars for features that are without any value.

The treadmill market, like so many markets has essentially split down the middle. And the middle, that sweet spot of value for money has all but disappeared. So now we have low end junk and high end super-premium equipment that is only worth it if one spends one's life there.

Treadmills are not the only products subject to these forces. The very same thing is happening to all appliances and electronics. But it did not stop there, cars have become overweight, overstuffed mobile living rooms, that are no longer fun to drive. Then again, where can one drive? Driving has been replaced by commuting, that smog spewing, rage provoking shuffle that is played out on freeways every day.

Wednesday, a 20 mile mountain ride with Alistair on single track in Joaquin Miller park. A bit too technical for me.

Thursday, a 38 mile ride to the golf course in Castro Valley.

Friday, a 20 mi solo mountain bike ride on fire-roads in Redwood. That is more my style.

Saturday, a 1:12 hr/8.9 mi run on the new treadmill. Ran the first hour at 8.1.

Sunday, a 33 mile ride to San Pablo and back over Wildcat, El Toyonal and Lomas Cantadas, with Alistair.

A busy week

On Monday we rode with the Cyclotrons, cresting Patterson Pass at high speeds in nasty headwinds. On Tuesday I ran 12.6 miles on the treadmill. The first hour was fine and my speed was above 8mph but then I had to slow down a bit. I finished the last 2 miles at 7.5 mph. Maybe the heat in the room was getting to me? I find it hard to run 8mph on the treadmill for an extended period of time.

It is not the speed per se. I can easily run 10 mph on the treadmill for a short period of time. Or even 9.0 mph for half an hour. But anything longer than that becomes very difficult. I suspect the cooling is to blame and eventually the lack of efficient cooling gets to me.

On Wednesday I took the little ones to the pool and swam a little over 2 miles (or 180 laps). I swam about 1/3 of that with a pull-buoy to give my arms a workout. I have noticed quite a few times now that I can swim faster using a pull-buoy and no leg movement whatsoever.

Yesterday Alistair and I drove to Walnut Creek and rode up Diablo. It was very hot (93F at the base) and I suffered on the way up. The time-trial course (to the halfway point) took me 35 minutes but I needed another 10 or so to recover. Alistair was quite a bit faster, but even he complained of the suffocating heat. Not so good. After "recovery" we rode up to Juniper but at a slower pace. Then we turned around and came down. Even though this is only a 22 mile ride, I was surprised to see that I burned well over 1,500 calories doing it.

Today I rode 35 miles. Out over Wildcat to Orinda, then Moraga and back over Pinehurst. It went pretty well and I rode hard.

100K week

I did it. I ran 64.4 miles in seven days, or 9.2 miles a day. 103.4 Km. It is the most running I have ever done in a week's time. While it may not impress the hard-core distance runners among you, it did not come easy for me. Although I have to admit that the last two days were better. I did see a dip in the middle.

Every day for the past week (starting on Friday Feb 27), I ran 9.2 miles on the treadmill. I usually started out at 7.5 mph for a short .75 mile warmup. Then I would increase the speed to 8 mph or above. Every day except one, I managed to run slightly more than 8 miles in the first hour (including the warmup). A few days I ran over 8.2, which is pretty good for me. At no time did I ever reduce my speed during the first hour.

At the end of the hour, the treadmill would reset and I would continue at a slower pace -usually 7.0-7.5 for 10-15 minutes.

As a rule I lost slightly more than 2 pounds in fluid each and every time. The room temperature was a balmy 72-74, but I did use a fan to cool off.

I suffered no injuries, although once my left knee did act up a bit, and a few days later I had a diffuse ache in the other knee at night. I did develop a rather big blood-filled blister on my left little toe and some other smaller ones on other toes on my left foot. I also suffered a rubbing spot on my left ankle over the Achilles. Nothing major really.

I hope this will put me on a good base for the upcoming Boston marathon.

45 miles so far

This is proving harder than I thought. I have never run every day for seven days in a row, let alone run fast (fast for me that is). I am running this whole exercise on the treadmill just to make sure I keep the pace. That works out just fine because the weather outside is miserable and wet.

Yesterday I forgot to bring my running shoes so I ran in my tennis shoes. They felt much heavier and maybe because of it, I ran slower. I finished a little over 7.9 miles in the first hour and had to work pretty hard to stay there. Overall, I ran 9.2 miles. No problems with my knees but I ended up with a pretty big blood blister on the bottom of my left little toe. I punctured it and lots of blood came out. But overnight it filled again.

Today, I squeezed some more liquid out of the blister and cut away the skin and covered it with a band-aid. So far so good. I ran 8 miles in the first hour and continued to run 9 overall. I am now 45 miles into my 100K (63 mile) week. I can definitely feel it in my calves now.

Although it was hard, I managed to run faster than yesterday and I ran the second half at 8.2 mph and the final 10 minutes at 8.4 mph. Just fast enough to finish 8 miles in one hour. The first two days I ran 8.2 to 8.25 in an hour.

When I was finished I noticed that my left heel had a rubbing spot where the skin was gone. It was bloody. Blood had seeped through my sock and stained both my sock and my shoes. I only noticed this later and although it hurt in the shower, I had not been aware of it before.

I have been checking my weight post run and I lose about 2 pounds every time I do this. But no cramps, so far that is. Two more days to go.

100K

Today was the third installment in the 100K week. I will try to run 100K this week-nine miles a day for seven days. Having said that, today I actually started doubting that I will succeed. During today's run, my left knee started acting up and 45 minutes into it, it was moderately painful. It did however, stay contained and I was able to finish 9.2 miles at a good pace.

I ran 8.2 miles for the first hour -including warmup- and then another mile at a slower speed of 7.2 miles per hour. The treadmills I am running on will only allow a 60 minute workout max. Then they either stop, or, in case of the more expensive version, they enter a mandatory "cooldown" period where speed drops to 4 mph. There are workarounds but it is kind of messy. In either case one has to briefly stop before going fast again. Not that I really want to run all that much longer at the pace I am running at. 8.2 and that is quite fast for me.

Treadmill test

After not running for more than a week I was curious how it would feel to run 8 miles. Since the weather was only so-so, I felt it would be good to go on the treadmill and check up on things. There are very few flat courses where I live and none starts from our house so there was added incentive to do a treadmill test.

I started out slowly running an 8 minute pace for a mile or so. Last time I went on the treadmill after a long break I had started out running 7:30 miles, which is fast for me, and I ended up with a calf injury. Better safe than sorry. 

I gradually increased my speed until I ran 8.4 mph or a 7:09 pace. Then I kicked it up a few notches until I to a 6:58 pace. That way I was able to run 8.25 miles in one hour, which is pretty decent for me. I added a 5 minute cool down for a total of 8.8 miles or 1/3rd of a marathon. All the while I felt pretty good and I had no problems whatsoever. That is quite reassuring given how close the Boston marathon is. I plan to run more from now until mid April in preparation for the race.  

My goal is to qualify again for 2010 so I can run another marathon next year. Three is a charm they say and I would like to run Boston three times. A Boston qualifier also gets me into New York and I am toying with the idea of running NY this year or maybe next. We will see how things develop.

Burlesque

Another rainy day with some pretty heavy downpours. Went to the club and did my 45/35 routine. Ended up almost as wet as if I had gone outside. I was sweating a whole lot today because the room was so hot. Easily lost 2.2 pounds there. 

I don't understand what management is thinking. The exercise room is way too hot. So hot in fact that people open all the doors to let cool air in from the outside. Which only drives the room heater to new highs. Sure there is a thermostat in the room, but last year, these managers decided not to let users interfere with their settings anymore. They encased the thermostat and made it de facto inaccessible. 

Today there were three people in the room. All were pretty serious about working out. So here we were, all sweating buckets, fans blowing, doors open to get a breath of fresh air, heaters spewing out hot air in an effort to keep up, and all that while the outside is a comfy 52 degrees. I was thinking about dragging the stationary bike outside, but that would have caused serious problems. So I just imagined I was training for Arizona.

Rain and fog

Today started out pretty bad. Heavy fog and drizzle followed by rain. We need the water, but I would still prefer if it only fell at night. No such luck. It has cleared up a bit now but there is still a heavy cloud cover over 4/5 of the sky, and the ground is wet and soggy.

I went to the club and did a "45/30," workout. Even though I label them all 45/30, i.e. 45 minutes on the stationary bike and 30 on the treadmill, the more recent ones have been quite a bit more heavy duty than the first ones I did several weeks ago. I now routinely "bike" 17 miles, whereas before I barely reached 15, and I run almost 4 miles, whereas before I made it only up to 3 at the most (I was injured too).

The stationary bike reads 1,200+ calories, but I think it is way off. I have to work a lot harder to burn 1,000 on my Griffen (with Ergomo) and that takes more than one hour to do. Here I am supposedly burning 1,200 in 45 minutes. Clearly something is not right. Although I do work hard on the stationary bike and my heart rate is above 160 for the better part of the effort.

The treadmill is more accurate, although still optimistic. I should probably say it is  more in line with my expectations--and other treadmills.  It records an effort of about 500-600 calories for the 30 minutes. I seem to recall other treadmills read around 400 for a 3.1/5k run.

According to my Ergomo, I burn about 40-50 calories per mile, at cruising speed, on the bike -nothing on descents of course, and a bit more on the climbs. My healthrider treadmill, which is now broken, always put my running effort at about 120 calories per mile. Somewhere between 110-130 seems to be the treadmill "consensus."

Cold and colder

The weather has taken a turn for the worse. Now it is getting cold. As in freezing or near freezing. The cold weather has made it so the pool stays closed for a few more days. Apparently it will take longer than expected to bring it up to temperature. The club people also blame a "chemical imbalance" whatever that may be. Emptying and refilling such a huge pool is no trivial matter. Not to mention the enormous waste of water. Those valves better be worth it.

It is also too cold to ride outside. With temperatures near 35-6 and constant rain or drizzle, this is not the time to go for a nice ride. If I did, I would probably return blue and hypothermic. I am keeping Alistair at home too. 

So I am stuck with my 45/30 routine at the club -my treadmill broke so no running in the garage either. 45 minutes on the stationary bike, which reads 1,000 calories by the end-I don't believe it, I have to work a whole lot harder to burn 1,000 on my Griffen and there I am measuring my actual power, hence energy use; 30 minutes on the treadmill, because my right calf is still hurting and tense. I run anywhere from 3 to 3.5 miles in that half hour, nothing to write home about, but usually enough to make me aware of the problem in my leg. Actually I spend the first 3-5 minutes walking just to make sure my muscle is warmed up properly.

Monday Monday

Another very wet day. Started out relatively dry but then it came pouring down. Had to visit a client for lunch so I only had time for a short workout. Ran 6.5 miles on the treadmill at the club. Burned 777 calories in 46 minutes. Nice and smooth. I am tapering now and having other obligations is a good way to keep me from over-training.

You know there is always that temptation right before the race to do a little bit extra. Like studying a bit more before the test. But in racing, it is better to rest. So I need distractions. My visit to Fremont was an ideal distraction as it took up most of my day.

As for other news, a good article in the NY Times today about stretching. You may know I do not believe in stretching and I never stretch. Now there is evidence that stretching may actually harm you. I already told you it doesn't do anything, but this article says it is no good either. They suggest warming up instead.