Collin's Fitness Journal

Fitness? What's that?

2009-09-15T08:08:00.003-05:00

Are you wondering why I never blog about my training anymore? Well, first I don't train as much as I used to. For example, I'm thinking about doing the Las Vegas half marathon in 12 weeks, but I haven't run in about 3 weeks. I've just been too busy with this...

Today, I am proud to announce the OFFICIAL launch of Collin Kromke Photography, serving Sun Prairie and Madison, WI.

http://collinkromke.com

Check it out and please keep me in mind if you need photos of your family and/or children.

Shameless self-promotion

2009-07-18T23:18:00.000-05:00

I've decided to put one of my personal passions to good use, and I've started my own business (in addition to my full time job as a Social Media Specialist at American Family Insurance). Check it out, become a fan on Facebook, and please keep me in mind if you're in the Madison/Sun Prairie area and need photos of your family or children.

Collin Kromke Photography on Facebook

Eventually, I'll probably start another blog with sample photos and stories of the wonderful families and children who allow me to capture their images with my camera.

Half Way There!

2009-03-08T23:00:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update to mark the day I reached the half way point in my 16 week training plan for the LaCrosse Marathon on May 3rd.

This week I ran 19.0 miles in 3h 19m 26s and biked 8.0 miles in 29m 33s. I also broke 100 running miles for the year this week! I was able to run outside on Friday for my 7 mile tempo run, and it went much better than I expected. I was still pretty sore today, and had to do my 9 mile long run on the treadmill at the Y because it was snowing outside on top of ice from rain earlier in the day. That run went better than expected as well, and I'm running these distances faster than I ever have with minimal walking.

This weeks plan calls for 17 miles of running, but I'll be adding an easy 3 miler tomorrow to bring it up to 20.

I Must be Crazy!

2009-02-28T23:03:00.003-06:00

I just registered for 4 RACES, all within 7 WEEKS of one another! Check this out:

4/25 - Crazylegs Classic - 5 mile run
5/3 - LaCrosse Marathon - 26.2 mile run
5/24 - Madison Half Marathon - 13.1 mile run
6/14 - Capitol View Sprint Triathlon - 400m swim, 12mile bike, 3.1mile run

I'm pretty sure I've lost my mind, but I got a little lazy after the Madison Marathon last year, so I'm trying to assure that doesn't happen again.

I just completed week 7 of my 16 week marathon training plan, and February was a good month. Here are January's totals again, followed by February's totals for comparison:

January 2009:
Run: 5h 47m 28s - 30.02 Mi
Bike: 2h 16m 26s - 33.6 Mi
Strength: 1h 54m (1142 push ups)

February 2009:
Run: 10h 31m 44s - 58.5 Mi (this includes 8.5 miles that were not in the plan!)
Bike: 57m 45s - 13.5 Mi
Strength: 0h 0m (0 push ups)

A couple of things stand out. First, I didn't do ANY push ups. I hated doing them, so I just quit. Some day maybe I'll feel like I have the time and energy for strength training, but until then I'm sticking to mostly running and a little biking.

I nearly doubled my running time & miles, but didn't spend as much time on the bike. That makes sense, considering all the additional time and miles I spent running. I can live with that for now, but I will need to start hitting the bike harder soon with the Capitol View Triathlon only 15 weeks away! I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I also need to start thinking about finding time to get in the pool. I could really use some lessons from someone who can help with my stroke, because I'm horribly inefficient in the water, and I waste a lot of energy. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and be an expert in Total Immersion Swimming.

Some things I've been working on while spending over 16 hours on the treadmill over the last 2 months:

Weight - I've lost 12 lbs since January 1st. I have 6 (or more) to lose before the marathon on 5/3. I have no doubt that I'll reach this goal.
Walking - I'm not allowing myself to walk as often or as far as I used to.
Speed - I'm forcing myself to get faster by, well, you guessed it... running faster. No more 12 minute miles for me. My minimum speed now is 11:00/mile, and I have been working on getting used to 10:00-10:30. So far so good.
Working hard - I'm making sure that I'm always working hard (except on easy run Mondays). I've been pushing harder than ever on my interval and tempo runs, and I am confident it will pay off.

I have 67 miles on the plan for March, and I'll be adding in an additional 14 miles for a total of 81 miles. Hopefully it will start warming up soon, because I'd really like to start doing all my runs outside. Any time the temp is above 40°F and there's enough daylight left to complete a run, I plan to be outside. Last year I made the full transition to outdoor running on April 1. It would be nice to move that up a couple of weeks this year. We'll see if the weather cooperates.

My 100th Blog Post!

2009-02-01T10:48:00.172-06:00

When I started this blog on January 1, 2007, I never imagined that I'd stick to it for more than two years and 100 posts, but it's been 25 months today and THIS is my 100th post! I was thinking of throwing a party for my loyal readers, but you're spread out all over the country, so I hope you'll settle for a

BIG THANK YOU

for sticking with me through all of my boring updates and weak attempts at humor. I'll never be as funny as Steve, as interesting as Krista, as motivated as Carol, as fit as Cristen (my sister), or as HOT as Amy (my wife), but you still come here to support me so I must be doing something right. THANK YOU!

In addition to some races ranging from 2 miles to 10 kilometers, I've also managed to complete a half marathon (May 2007), a sprint triathlon (September 2007), a full marathon (May 2008), and the 203 mile Ragnar Relay Great River (August 2008).

I'm currently training for the LaCrosse Marathon on May 3, 2009. What I haven't told you yet is that I've been giving serious consideration to running the Madison Half Marathon only 3 weeks later on May 24th. After doing one marathon last summer and loving it, I've been saying that I want to do something "bigger" this season, so this may be just the ticket. I don't think I'd be able to recover enough in 3 weeks to do another full marathon, but doing a half seems do-able. Call me crazy, but I also think I could also PR the half only 3 weeks after I PR the full 26.2. That's the plan, anyway. We'll see if I have the guts to register for both of them!

The rest of my plans for this season are the 5 mile Crazylegs Classic on April 25th, at least 1 sprint triathlon, the Ragnar Relay Great River again in August, and MAYBE another full marathon sometime between August and December. The ones that are on my radar are Milwaukee Lakefront (10/4), Chicago (10/11) or Las Vegas (early December). I've found that I don't care so much for anything less than 5 miles these days, so I doubt I'll do any 5K races or shorter this year unless I get an itch to set a PR.

January was a good month. I "officially" started my 16 weeks of marathon training on the 5th, and here are my totals for the month:

Run: 5h 47m 28s - 30.02 Mi
Bike: 2h 16m 26s - 33.6 Mi
Strength: 1h 54m (1142 push ups)

It's been a while since I've run every mile that I planned in a month, but I did it in January. Then, considering that I haven't been on my bike since 9/15/07, I'm very happy that I found the motivation to buy a new trainer and to log just over 33 miles. Every mile on the bike will pay off when it comes time to start thinking about a triathlon, plus I'm sure they are helping with my marathon training and my weight loss.

I'm almost finished with week 3 of the 6 week Hundred Push Ups Challenge (http://hundredpushups.com), and I'm very pleased with my progress. When I started, I could only do 35 good form push ups. After doing only 6 workouts in 2 weeks, I bumped that up to 59! In about 3 more weeks I SHOULD be able to do 100 good form push ups. I'm confident that I'll get there, and I'm getting anxious to start the Two Hundres Sit Ups Challenge (http://twohundredsitups.com).

When I started my marathon training in early January, I decided that I wanted to lose 18 pounds by race day on May 3rd. So far so good, as I've lost 9 pounds since January 5th, putting me WAY ahead of schedule. I had a little set-back this week, though, because we went out to Samba Brazilian Grill on Friday night with 3 other couples and I over-indulged on both the meat and the drinks, but I'll get back on track this week.

Whew! All the pressure of writing my 100th post is finally GONE. I'll try not to make you wait as long for #101.