First time back and changing things.. like my RUNNING GAIT

So a lot has happened since my time gone from the blog. School, projects, finals, school again, and now it is spring break! Thank goodness even though I still have a ton of work to do. I had an integral mastery exam today, which I was slaving over all week, and guess what? I slayed it like a black knight! Well felt like I slayed it because I wont know for sure until we get back from spring break. But I felt great when I turned it in and left school on a good note. If you don't know what integrals are, here is a layman version:

Wiki Integrals

So last semester, I hardly had time to train but fit it in whenever possible. Once the semester was finished, things needed to be put in high gear. With less than 6 months left and not meeting the minimum requirements to start my training plan, I was doing everything possible just to get at the right level of fitness to START this program.

But alas, I achieved it, and am on my way to become an Ironman.

I received a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday: Saucony's Stabil Pro CS from Runner's Warehouse. Here is a link along with a picture:

Saucony Stabil Progrid CS at Running Warehouse



These shoes are leaps and bounds better than the last shoe I had, Brooks Beast. That may have been due to my heel striking though but all I knew was that breaking them in was HELL. I had to put them away for six months and went back to my old, tried-and-true New Balance 587s. Those finally gave way and I used the Beast. They were horrendous on my feet. So much so I had to use a heel insert to alleviate the pain.

I am trying to change my running gait. I found that all the heel striking I was doing was contributing to things like heel pains, quad strains and the developing of IT Band Syndrome. I am now employing a midfoot strike. My calves are pretty much obliterated but my quads, knees and IT Band are thanking me. It is still a work in progress and I did have to cut my run in half today but I feel it will pay off once my calves get used to pulling their weight.

Here is my nutrition and workout for Friday 3/11 done at ASU-Tempe Student Rec Center.

2011/03/11 Friday 09:06:32

breakfast
banana
1 cup skim milk
1/2 pb honey sandwich
1-200 mg Caffeine pill

lunch
3 cups vermicelli soup with cabbage, onion and carrots

snack
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup carrots

workout
150 wu, 2x50 arms, 1x50 kick, 8x100, 3x357 breathing- this workout was rough, possibly due to caffeine pill. Also had to take a couple of breaks due to the hot swimmer girl sharing the lane with me.
18 min run- supposed to be 40 min calves are killing me so I need them to heal for the 1:30:00 run on Sunday.

post-workout
turkey and cheese sandwich
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup carrots

dinner
2 cups of vermicelli soup
6 chicken nuggets and 2 cups white rice (I know, I know..)
1 cup skim milk
2 multivitamins
3 Ibuprofen
1 cup cranberry juice

Post-Dinner
One Carne asada burrito
1 bag of Skittles
1 pkg of Twix

Ok so I indulged a little bit... BUT


Tomorrow I have a 3 hour bike at 6:30 am. It will also be my first time meeting and working out with AZ Tri Club, so I'm looking forward to it! Here is their website: AZ Tri Club One thing nice I noticed before meeting the people is that it is a club that does not require membership dues. Good news to a broke college student like me!