The Blerch Came Back...But Not in a Bad Way

I got in! The waitlist for the newly added Saturday day of the Beat The Blerch race opened up a couple days ago and I got into the race.

So on September 20th, 2014 I will be running the Beat The Blerch. This is a 1/2 Marathon trail run on an out and back course. It is a flat course meaning it starts at about 100 ft, rises to about 300 ft and then you reverse that on the way back. In total there is 871 ft of up and down on the course. For around Seattle, this is fairly flat and I can't wait to see what the course is like in person. It has been hard to find anything close to resembling flat like Ottawa, Ontario where it can be stupidly flat.

Then on Sunday I will volunteer as a course official. Doing whatever to help keep participants on course and sporting my Blerch Shirt!

What has been very funny the past few days is that my youngest (6 yr old) saw me registering for the race and was all, "What is that? Who is that? What's a Blerch? Does he fly and kick you? Does he chase you?" To understand better in case you did not check out the other links here is The Blerch:

Image: http://www.beattheblerch.com/

That was funny and I kinda explained away the questions with misdirection, "Anyone for Scooby Doo?"

This morning, he knew I was going for a run when I dropped him off at school. His comment as he was going into school, "Dad, I hope you Beat the Blerch. Bye Dad, I love you." He is a cute kid.

Then when I picked him up from school, on the walk home he was all, "Dad did The Blerch chase you? Can he fly? Did you escape?"

I then tried to explain the concept of The Blerch. How it is like a little bad person sitting on your shoulder telling you to skip exercise and playing outside today. Instead sit inside, eat some chips, relax on the couch, and watch a movie. A movie is way better. Skip that playing outside in the sun today.

He did not get it.

So, I have had to explain multiple times that:

• The Blerch is not real.
• No he does not chase you for real.
• Yes, I still run from him but it is an idea, like Mr. Invisible, his imaginary friend.
• Yes, there might be people dressed like him and pretending at the race.
• Dad is silly sometimes and does not make much sense to a 6 year old.

I previously posted about The Blerch:

• Running From The Blerch
• No Blerch Run, But Next Best Thing

Mid-Month Exercise Check In

Speedier Mark at the
Paris Marathon

‎The first half of this month has been tough to fit in my exercise. For a guy who is off that is strange to hear I know.


‎My parents were here last week and we did lots of touring, some renos at the guest house, and a lot of hanging out. So I set family as a priority there. No regrets on that one.


The week leading up to their visit I was prepping the guest house, cleaning up, etc. I also spent a day chaperoning my son's kindergarten class which took up a whole day. I could have squeezed more in there, but c'est le vie.


So, even when I am off I sometimes find it hard to get those workouts in. I have a bunch of house projects that we just kicked off yesterday which I need to work on this week but my goal is to workout in the morning and then work on house projects after my workout. Then I can't wimp out since I am "tired" ‎and did a lot of house projects so that must count right?


This worked for me yesterday when I rebuilt half of our entrance deck which was rotted. The corner that used to be attached to the house was rotted away and so that side of the deck would sag down when you stepped on it. Before I started work on the step I got my run in first so that the rest of the day was ahead of me.


Good thing I did that workout first. I was totally wiped out when I finished the step.

Consolidation Of Running and Personal Blog

I've decided to consolidate the 1000K blog into DroolFactory. DroolFactory has evolved to cover all my passions and as such I am going to continue to post about running, training, riding, etc, that used to be on 1000K at DroolFactory.

There should be no changes for readers of both. The old 1000K posts still exist but they have been imported into DroolFactory and at a later date I plan to mothball 1000K and redirect it to DroolFactory.

So, expect more running and exercise related items appearing on DroolFactory.

Thanks,

Mark

My Kettlebell Workout

Here is my kettlebell workout I perform regularly. It is great for when I want a workout but don't have much time.

Like I did the day I shot this, I left my jeans on to show you that you don't need to go through a big routine to get ready to workout. I do this one when I get the chance and that makes it easy to squeeze in an extra workout when I can.

April is Fitness Month

Image: 2009 Paris Marathon

Well, I have had a bit of a theme each month since I took time off with the kids. January was about figuring out a routine with the kids and I kicked up the blogging which continued into February with heavy guitar playing. March has been more about doing things around the house and reading a lot.

So, what is April's theme going to be? On the topic of last weeks Blerch, I think it needs to be fighting The Blerch and the best way to do that is to meet it head on and dedicate a month to fitness to help kick start the battle.

So, April I am aim to do more exercise. Let's see if I can beat these numbers:

• 3 runs a week at 35+ minutes per run
• 1 swim per week at 35+ minutes
• Add weight lifting, let's say twice a week.
• I'll try to hit the gym for this but this might end up being kettlebells and bodyweight exercises like pushups, jumping jacks, pull-ups, planks, etc. 

So, that's a goal of 6 days of exercise a week. With 30 days, I am aiming to hit 24 of those exercising.

While I have been off I have done ok with weight but not stepped up my exercise amount. I have mostly lost weight by eating out less and doing more activity each day (walks, playing with kids, canoeing, and house projects).

I lost about 10 lbs the last 3 months with no plan.

Let's see how well I do over a month of dedicated exercise.

Ok, about the time, why 35 minutes? It takes about 5 minutes of easing into your run or swim before you should step it up to your training pace (in my case, whatever pace feel comfortable since I am not training for anything at the moment) and then I want to do 30 minutes of good old Aerobic Zone exercise.  So, to be easier to track I will say 35+ minutes since I hope to up my mileage as the month goes on.

Feel free to message me and make sure I am on track. I'll track everything on Endomondo like I normally do.