September 13, 2013
Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy BIRTHday to MEEEEEEEeeeee!
Happy BirthDAY to ME!
Yes, today is my birthday. Contrary to my ebullient song above, it is a sad day, indeed. Why, you ask? Because I am getting fucking old, that's why! Sure, when you are 17 going on 18...whoohoo! Or 20 going on 21...WHOOOHOOOOOOO!! Even 29 going on 30...yayyyy. But 40 going on 41...BOOOOOO!!
On the bright side, there was...um...we had...er....we did....of forget about it. The only good thing was the cake. It was a delicious Prestigio cake (I am sure I am spelling that wrong.....basically, it is a coconut cake). It is my favorite cake here in Brazil and I ate a HUGE piece. I will be sure to finish off the cake the rest of this week. I plan on gaining 15 pounds eating this cake alone. This would be 15 pounds on top of the god knows how much I have gained already. I am eating like a pig. I have about a week left and I will probably add to that total. I know I am on vacation, but I am pushing it!
To celebrate my birthday, I decided to torture myself with a difficult hill run. I did not do hill repeats, but I ran some insane hills repeatedly. Normally, the best way to get the benefit from running hills is to run up a short, steep hill at a quick pace, rest, and repeat. Because of my self imposed limit of 25 minutes of running, I decided to do a continuous run that incorporated hills instead. I figured I could still get a lot out of the run and also run my 25 minutes.
As I have not taken any pictures of my running routes, I can not post them here, but let me tell you, the hills are formidable! I will attempt to take some pictures so you can appreciate my birthday suffering.
I warmed up a short while and then I tackled my first hill. The worst part, actually, is running down. I should clarify. It hurts going up, no doubt, but running down hills that steep is probably more difficult and actually more apt to causing injury. You either have to run full on down the hill which is a bit reckless because you would be unable to stop if you needed to, or you have to run braking all the way and this puts a strain on your joints. I chose the latter method mostly because there are often cars on the streets and the drivers have right of way here. By that I mean, you get out of the way, or they run you the fuck over!
Here are my numbers:
Time: 25:00
Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy BIRTHday to MEEEEEEEeeeee!
Happy BirthDAY to ME!
Yes, today is my birthday. Contrary to my ebullient song above, it is a sad day, indeed. Why, you ask? Because I am getting fucking old, that's why! Sure, when you are 17 going on 18...whoohoo! Or 20 going on 21...WHOOOHOOOOOOO!! Even 29 going on 30...yayyyy. But 40 going on 41...BOOOOOO!!
On the bright side, there was...um...we had...er....we did....of forget about it. The only good thing was the cake. It was a delicious Prestigio cake (I am sure I am spelling that wrong.....basically, it is a coconut cake). It is my favorite cake here in Brazil and I ate a HUGE piece. I will be sure to finish off the cake the rest of this week. I plan on gaining 15 pounds eating this cake alone. This would be 15 pounds on top of the god knows how much I have gained already. I am eating like a pig. I have about a week left and I will probably add to that total. I know I am on vacation, but I am pushing it!
To celebrate my birthday, I decided to torture myself with a difficult hill run. I did not do hill repeats, but I ran some insane hills repeatedly. Normally, the best way to get the benefit from running hills is to run up a short, steep hill at a quick pace, rest, and repeat. Because of my self imposed limit of 25 minutes of running, I decided to do a continuous run that incorporated hills instead. I figured I could still get a lot out of the run and also run my 25 minutes.
As I have not taken any pictures of my running routes, I can not post them here, but let me tell you, the hills are formidable! I will attempt to take some pictures so you can appreciate my birthday suffering.
I warmed up a short while and then I tackled my first hill. The worst part, actually, is running down. I should clarify. It hurts going up, no doubt, but running down hills that steep is probably more difficult and actually more apt to causing injury. You either have to run full on down the hill which is a bit reckless because you would be unable to stop if you needed to, or you have to run braking all the way and this puts a strain on your joints. I chose the latter method mostly because there are often cars on the streets and the drivers have right of way here. By that I mean, you get out of the way, or they run you the fuck over!
Here are my numbers:
Time: 25:00
Distance: 2.40 miles
Pace: 10:26/m
Max Pace: 6:16/m
Calories: 292
Avg HR: 135
Max HR: 164
One thing I realized during this run that I had not notices previously is the elevation. Sao Paulo is about half a mile above sea level, according to google. Average elevation is 2,493 feet. I have been unable to ascertain what the elevation is here in Aruja though, and where I am exactly, is even higher as the whole condominium complex (not like condominiums in the US, here it more like a gated community) is built on the side of a hill. Not quite Colorado, but still considerably higher than Florida!
The point is, after the run, my breathing was all ragged and it felt like it does when you run outside in the cold for a while. This could be partly the elevation and partly the allergies I have been dealing with since I got here. Whatever it was, it was a hell of a workout. My legs were wasted afterwards. It was a great birthday run for me! I think I will make it a habit of torturing myself on my birthday with insane workouts!
Run for Life!!
One thing I realized during this run that I had not notices previously is the elevation. Sao Paulo is about half a mile above sea level, according to google. Average elevation is 2,493 feet. I have been unable to ascertain what the elevation is here in Aruja though, and where I am exactly, is even higher as the whole condominium complex (not like condominiums in the US, here it more like a gated community) is built on the side of a hill. Not quite Colorado, but still considerably higher than Florida!
The point is, after the run, my breathing was all ragged and it felt like it does when you run outside in the cold for a while. This could be partly the elevation and partly the allergies I have been dealing with since I got here. Whatever it was, it was a hell of a workout. My legs were wasted afterwards. It was a great birthday run for me! I think I will make it a habit of torturing myself on my birthday with insane workouts!
Run for Life!!
No comments:
Post a Comment