Running » The Running Brothers

The San Luis Obispo Mission

Dec 252010

One of our stops along the run was the San Luis Obispo Mission. The mission was founded in 1772 by Father Junipero Serra, located at the center of downtown San Luis Obispo. http://www.missionsanluisobispo.org/

One of it’s most interesting features is the Child & Bear Fountain that appears in the front of the mission. The fountain has several bears appearing to play in a pond, next to a girl who is wading her feet in the water. The fountain was installed in 1988. http://www.ci.san-luis-obispo.ca.us/specialactivities/archives/pubartphotoinfo/tequski.htm

As a kid, I used to always visit the mission and hang out there with my mother. I especially remember playing with my little brother and sister in the creek which runs alongside the mission. After soaking ourselves in the 2 foot deep creek, we would go have yogurt at the local mall. The Mission at San Luis Obispo is definitely a great place to build memories for you and your family.

To Grandmother’s House We Go

Dec 242010

I had to make a personal stop on our run around San Luis Obispo. My Grandmother who passed away about 1o years ago spent almost her entire adult life in San Luis Obispo.

Her husband, William or Chris Hoover, helped to found the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport in April, 1939. http://sloairport.com/airport_history.html My Grandfather passed away when my mother was a young girl in a plane accident. My Grandmother remained in San Luis Obispo after his passing and lived right next to the downtown area.

To me, her house was unique and warm. Grandma Hoover’s house was what I looked forward to visiting every summer. She was the kindest, sweetest grandma anyone could ask for. So, on this trip I wanted to stop by her house to remember my Grandmother and all her warmth, considering that by this time I was soaking wet.

One thing I will never forget was the way my Grandma said goodbye every summer when we headed back home. She would stand on her porch and wave until we were completely out of site. I imagine my Grandmother like this even today, waving goodbye from her little green house in San Luis Obispo.

CardioTrainer App Review

Dec 232010

While in San Luis Obispo, we decided to try out the CardioTrainer app for the Verizon Droid.

As you read in my brother’s story, the rain was coming down heavily. I put my phone in a zip lock bag so that it would not get wet. We ran around the city and stopped at select locations in order to take pictures.

Basically, you establish a workout, in this case we selected the running workout. Music plays throughout the workout. You can upload your own music, but the music was not to our liking, so we quickly disabled it.

Using GPS, the app records your running route. Below is a map of our first run using CardioTrainer.

Every time you stop along your path for any longer than 30 seconds, the app automatically pauses. We stopped several times on our run and the workout resumes on its own once you start running again, although I wasn’t sure about this so I kept manually restarting it.

The biggest problem was that the app did not follow our complete route. It cut out the 1.1 miles. This could be due to human error.

One cool thing I just figured out is that if you zoom it it gives you an even more accurate impression of the places you ran.

The workout trainer also gives running statistics, so not including the last part of our run we ran 4.34 miles in 55:16 minutes and burned 594 Calories. And we ran an additional 1.1 miles that the program did not account for. Overall, we were running and stopping to take pictures for an hour and 45 minutes, exploring the town of San Luis Obispo.

Running by the San Luis Fremont Theater

Dec 202010

This weekend was an up and down weekend. From a marathon point of view it was a great weekend. My brother and I were planning on running in San Luis Obispo but the different activities and what weather.com says was .43 inches of rain kept pushing out training later and later on Saturday. So around 6:00 pm we decided a night run, rain or shine dark, would have to do. We picked several locations that we wanted to see and started our run slightly after 10:00pm.

It was still raining what felt like a few feet of rain. We started our route along the path we both used to walk when we stayed at our grandmothers every summer. Down Monterey Street past what used to be the best hamburger place in San Luis Obispo, past auto dealership row and then up to the Fremont theater.

My mom used to go in the Fremont theater when she grew up in San Luis Obispo. The theater is just like you would see in the movies, a classic small town mid sixties theater. The Fremont theater has the classic velvet seats, elaborately painted walls and hand crafted ceiling. Now the theater is operated by The Movie Experience, who also operate the more moder theater across town.

If you get a chance to drive through San Luis be sure to drive through downtown, Marsh, Higuera & Monterey Streets. Check out the cool down and if the marquee shows a good movie, stop in, you will certainly enjoy the theater even if the movie isn’t very good.

Running in a New City

Dec 172010

As my brother posted we are headed to San Luis Obispo for a few days and are trying to find a way to stick with/start our training programs. I too really enjoy San Luis and I think every runner (yes I am calling myself that now) enjoys a change in scenary every once in a while.

Wish us luck and hopefully we are gonna come back with some good stories.

The Running Brothers Head to San Luis Obispo

Dec 172010

My brother and I are headed to San Luis Obispo tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we are headed there for the funeral of my Great Aunt Dorothy. What an amazing woman and what a life story. She was the last living person of Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916.

I told my brother to bring his running gear, so we should have some exciting stuff to share with you upon our return. San Luis Obispo is by far my favorite city, so what better place to start my training then in San Luis Obispo. And what better person to start it with than my brother.

How Much Do You Run in a Soccer Game?

Dec 162010

I have an indoor soccer game tomorrow night and so it got me to thinking . . . how much exercise do I really get in a soccer game.

According to an article on active.com, during a professional soccer game, the average player runs 6 miles during a 90 minute game. Which equates to a pace of 4 miles per hour, or 15 minute miles.

However, one interesting component of soccer is that the heart rate of the player is exceptionally high throughout the entire match due to the quick movements and change of pace that soccer entails, making it a great workout. My game tomorrow night is only 40 minutes, because it is indoor. But, chances are that game will net about 2 miles worth of running.

Attempt Number 1 at the 4 minute mile

Dec 132010

Starting this experience we were two relatively inshape, I was probably less so, brothers who had a goal and wanted to document our journey. This journey was going to include several steps, mostly toward our goal.

I felt yesterday was my a nice big step in this journey. I had my first atempt at one of my goals, a 4 minute mile. So how fast can a relatively inshape ex runner run a mile…… 6 minutes and 48 seconds!!! only 1 minute and 49 seconds from goal. That is a total of 408 seconds. Theoretically, I ran each lap in 102 seconds (1 minute and 42 seconds). However, I can certainly tell you that I did not run each lap at 102 seconds my splits were probably closer to 68-110-132-98. My first lap looked great!

Lacey came to witness the first attempt and be the official timer. After jumping the fence and one warmup lap we decided to give it shot. but not before our predictions. Lacey choose 7 minutes and I was looking at something closer to 7:30. Lacey apparently has much more faith in me than I do.

So after reading my brothers posts and having my terrible pacing mile I decided it would be good to understand what splits I would need to run a 4 minute mile. So 4:59 seconds is 299 seconds so four laps that is just under 75 seconds per lap. So next time I will try to control my nevers and take it out a little slower and see if I can get a little closer to my goal.

I am also gonna think of what way I want to look at what improvement I will need to have, here are my options:

I need to get 1 minute and 49 seconds faster
I need to fet 50 % faster
I need to get 27 seconds faster per lap
I need to get one lap faster (that doesn’t make to much since but I think it would work)

What sounds easier? I am going with the per lap improvement for now.

Establishing the Goal: 140.6 or Bust

Dec 092010

Zeb 140.6 miles. Wow! I once traveled cross-country and 140.6 miles per day was about all I could handle, and that was in a 2007 Toyota Tacoma.

According to Mitch Roberts (http://mitchr.sweat365.com/), I would be considered an Ironman if I complete any race that consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run. The challenge is more direct, I will complete an Ironman event.

How long will it take?

To be honest, I have no idea what I am in for, nor do I know how long it will take. I have been fairly athletic my whole life, playing soccer at least once a week since I was 5, but I have never ran, swam or biked on a consistent basis. In fact, the most I think I have ever run in a single day was 3 miles. Who knows how long it will take to train. But, I do want to establish a time frame to accomplish this goal.

I am 29 years old, which I have heard many people say that 28 to 29 is when a male is in his athletic prime, so in order to give myself the best chance, I need to do it fairly soon. The commitment will be to complete 140.6 by my 35th birthday, which gives me a little over 5 years.

Hopefully, I won’t have to wait that long, but who knows how long it will take to get ready for something like this.

I am up for the challenge. If you see me on the side of the road holding up a sign that reads 140.6 or bust, don’t pick me up, just shout some words of encouragement as you drive by and I’ll see you at the finish line.

Establishing my baseline

Dec 082010

Rocky I felt like I needed a rest day, so today was spent thinking about running. When we started this project we came up with many goals and thought we would check them off as we accomplished them (we will find a way to post those soon). The ultimate goals were to run a marathon and an Ironman for my brother. That is several months off, so we came up with some goals that are inbetween our current limitations and the ultimate goal.

I recently finished an half marathon, with minimal training and my body made sure to tell me that was the absolute limit for distance running right now. BTW, the Silver Strand Half Marathon is great event and great for first timers, no hills and great views.

So now I want to find out where I am on another goal, the 4 minute mile. I had to describe this goal when I brought it up because my brother and sister, they thought I wanted to run a mile in 4 minutes and 0 seconds. I like to think of myself as a realist and I am not the next US olympic miler. However, I feel I can run a 4 minute 59 second mile.

So here we go, this weekend will be my first timed mile since junior year of high school when I ran a 5:08. On that day I also ran a 52.3 400M and 2:12 800m, for those of you that are familar with the order of events for high school track meets, that was a tough triple. That day resulted in one of the worst cases of butt lock I have ever experience. This weekend, I plan go to a local high school and give my best shot at the 4 minute mile. I may watch on of my favorate movies “4 minutes” to give me motivation. Hopefully, Roger Bannister will help me out on this one. Wish me luck!

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