Join me as I travel around the country to fulfill my goal of running a marathon or half marathon in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Run Less Run Faster

Recently I purchased these little gems: 


In an effort to improve my half marathon time, and hopefully get that sub 2:00 I want so bad, I bought the Run Less Run Faster book. I've heard good things. It has a lot of info on running, a lot of testimonials, and training plans for lots of different paces for a bunch of different distances. I'm following the half marathon training plan for my September race in Ohio. The basis of the plan is that you do 3 runs (one track speed run, one tempo run, and one long run) and 2 days of cross-training per week. As for the other books. That damn Amazon got me with the "other readers have also purchased..." section. 

Racing Weight? Ha. As if I'm going to stop eating frozen yogurt for dinner 4 times a week.
Athlete's Palate? Ha. As if I'm actually going to learn how to use an appliance other than a microwave anytime soon.

Anyways, I did one of the speed track work-outs from the book the other day. I did it on a treadmill at the gym because there is no way I know how to run around a track 3 times and finish in exactly 6:42. For reals? People can do that?

Do you think they put on Man vs. Food on the t.v.'s at the gym on purpose? It's like they are saying "Hey, fatty! Did you eat any of this stuff today? Well you best get your a$$ movin' on that treadmill. You've got about 16 more miles to go until you burn off all those calories." I almost fell off the treadmill when I saw them making a doughnut that was 14 inches in diameter. No joke. I took a pic so you guys would believe me. Indisputable evidence:
Good thing drool resembles sweat so I could get away with drooling over that massive doughnut.
I started lifting weights because my lack of upper body strength is pretty impressive. I did this beast of a machine (a.k.a. bench press) and could only lift the bar (40 pounds) and 15 pounds of weight on each side. That's less than half my body weight. Pitiful. Don't you worry your little hearts, I'm going to take the text message advice of my dad: "Running good Sammy, but become a gym rat." haha. Say what? Is that even English, dad?

My parents live in Florida. My dad also texted me a picture of him drinking beer at a restaurant on the water with the beautiful sunset and palm trees in the background. I texted him back this picture and told him to get off his lazy butt :)

1. Have you followed the Run Less Run Faster plan or something similar? Thoughts on how good it is? 

2. How much can you bench press? If you can do pull-ups too, get out. I tried to do one and almost gave myself a hernia.


3. Do you text while treadmilling? It will probably be against the law soon.


Happy Running, 

16 comments:

Stephanie F said...

hahah! does your dad speak english? lol. you are gonna get so fast with this. but never stop the froyo.

Unknown said...

Your dad rocks. Reading the FIRST book almost killed me (so! many! testimonials!) but the workouts are hardcore. Good luck!

Rose @ Eat, Drink, and Be Meiri said...

I can barely watch tv on the treadmill without falling off. I'm not so good with the coordination.

Man vs. Food makes me hungry and kind of ill at the same time.

Run with Jess said...

Super funny your text back to your dad! I love RLRF plans - but they are tough. I always run the intervals on a treadmill too.

Pam said...

HA! Funny post! I think I would have to do the track workouts on the treadmill, too. I don't really get track workouts.

I love the Dad texting exchange!

Fruit Fly said...

I took summer school PE between my junior and senior year of high school. I only did this because I didn't want to get sweaty during school or change my clothes in the locker room. Clearly I don't like people seeing me naked - but now I love to sweat from a work out! ANYWAY, we did weight lifting once in a while -- I couldn't even lift the bar 40lb bar!!

I've never actually used a treadmill, but if I did I would totally watch Man v. Food. Love that show!

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said...

I just got the book Run Less, Run Faster and I'm seriously thinking about trading my mileage for some tougher speed workouts. See how it goes!

Alyssa said...

You are making me consider that book! I want to get faster so bad as well! Um, no idea how much I can bench press, because my lazy ass hasn't tried in years. Also I can barely drink water without falling off the treadmill much less text or engage in photography. One time Adam on Mvs.F ate a cheeseburger with ham on a donut and we went across the street to the store to get the ingredients and made our own before the show was over.

Richelle said...

I discovered that after I started doing yoga as cross-training, my running speed improved. I hope RLRF works well for you!

I've forgotten how much I can bench. It's not much, I'm sure.

There have been a couple races where I've had my cell phone on me and I texted the person waiting for me that I was at the 12-mile mark so s/he could start looking for me.

Margot (fasterbunnyblog) said...

I think I do a vague version of 'run less run faster' mostly bc I don't like to do a lot of mileage. Pure laziness :).
I once benched 100 lbs in high school. I was reallll excited.

ashley said...

i have the racing weight book... never made it past the first 50 pages. like you said, so not gonna stop eating yummy stuff...

gloryrunning said...

LOVE Run Less Run Faster. Haven't heard as much on the Race Weight book. Review please! =)

Third Time's A Charm Runner said...

i can barely operate my iPod while on the treadmill...Coordination is not my strong suit.

my husband watches man v. food nonstop. it drives me crazy because it makes me so hungry!

good luck with books, keep us updated on how it works!

Running Moose said...

I've never heard of the Run Less, Run Faster book. I do have Racing Weight and I've read most of it...but have yet to find my racing weight :) Texting while on the treadmill? All I can picture are people crashing off of them while trying to read and type- funny!

Erin @ UntilYouTri said...

I just bought the run less run faster and racing weight books, too. I haven't had time to read them so far with my thesis, but I want to use the run less run faster plan for my fall marathon. Jess from Blonde Ponytail used the run less run faster plan for her marathon!

Unknown said...

RLRF helped me take almost 4 minutes off my half PR. I'm a believer in their plan.

My second RLRF cycle is a bit rougher, not sure why, but I'll figure it out.

I love the track--you should try it sometime. I think you would surprise yourself.