Friday, January 8, 2010

6th Annual President’s Day Freedom Run 5K Race

RUN and HELP
For the last five years, Boy Scout Troop and Cub Scout Pack 806 have hosted the Annual President’s Day Freedom Run 5K Race and 1 Mile Fun Run to raise money for scouting activities. This year the Young Women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will join in hosting the race. The race will be held on February 13th, 2010. The money earned from this event will help fund the Boy Scout and Young Women summer camps, and other activities they will participate in throughout the year. Cub Scout Pack 806 will also benefit from this run, helping to pay for Summer Day Camp.

The Annual President’s Day Freedom Run 5K Race is more than just a 5K race. It is a sanctioned USA Track and Field Event that meets the standards necessary to be approved and licensed in the United States. This race is run on a USATF-certified course that has been certified for accuracy in distance. Courses must be certified for any road running performance to be accepted as a record, or to be nationally ranked. Because this course is sanctioned, certified, and officially timed using ChampionChip® timing, dedicated racers from all over North Carolina as well as the United States will be in attendance.

Check out a video of the course here!

Date: Saturday, February 13th 2010
Time: 5K Race Starts at 10:00 am. Fun run will follow after 5K is completed.
Location: 3204 Keller-Andrews Road, Sanford, NC 27330 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Meeting House
Distances: 5,000 meters (3.1 miles)
1 mile Children’s Fun Run (for children under 12)

Registration and Fees: $15 by 1/15, $17 between 1/15 and 2/11, and $20 after 2/11 for 5K, and $10 for Fun Run; T-shirts are $6 for adult sizes and $5 for child sizes. Entrants can register online using a credit card at www.active.com (a small additional fee applies to online applications), or use the registration form on this page.

Please mail registration form to:
President’s Day Freedom Run
C/O Stephanie Larsen
PO Box 962
Sanford, NC 27331-0962

Course: The race will be an out and back with a turnaround at the beginning and end of the course. The course will follow Keller-Andrews Road in West Sanford. The course has two gradual climbs and descents. It is a fun and easy course.

Awards and Categories: Top 3 male and female finishers will be awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place trophies, respectively. The first three male and female finishers in each age group will receive 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place medals, respectively. The age groups are 14 and under, 15-19, 20-24, 25-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, and 70+.

Timing: Timing will be provided by Young and Associates. ChampionChip® timing will be used. Results will be posted at www.runnc.com.

Packet Pick Up and Race Day Registration. Packet Pick Up and Registration will start at 8:30 am and will close at 9:45 am. Registration will be located inside the church building.

No refunds or packets can be mailed. If you pre-register, and are unable to go to the race for any reason, we will not be able to refund your money. Planning for each racer costs money and this money is spent even if you are unable to show up. Additionally, we have limited resources and volunteer time, thus preventing us from getting in touch with each non-showing runner to send out the packets and/or t-shirts.

Arrive early on race day. There is limited parking and parking will not be permitted on the road. T-shirts have been ordered for all those who pre-registered. There will be a limited supply of T-shirts on race day for late entries.

In respect for the church that is providing the venue, we ask that no alcohol or tobacco products be used on the church grounds.

Directions: From the Raleigh area, take I-40 to Hwy 1 South. Go to Sanford and get off on the Hwy 42 Exit. At the exit, take a left. You will go about 1.5 miles and take a right onto Carthage Street. Go about 1 mile and take a right onto Keller-Andrews Road.

From the Fayetteville area, take Hwy 87 North to Sanford. In Sanford, 87 becomes Horner Boulevard. You will travel through Sanford for about 4 miles. Take a left at the light onto Carthage Street. Go about 1 mile and take a right on Keller-Andrews Road.

From the South East, go to Hwy 1 north. Go to Sanford and get off on the Hwy 42 exit. At the exit take a right. You will go about 1.5 miles and take a right onto Carthage Street. Go about 1 mile and take a right onto Keller-Andrews Road.

For more information, visit www.runnc.com,

Down Load The Registration Form Here

Join Us on Face Book!

You Can Also Contact: Stephanie Larsen at (919) 718-1437,
or email presidentsdayfreedomrun1@gmail.com.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Exercise Intensity and Workout Update

What About Walking Slow vs. Walking Fast?
There was a comment to my last post that was relating to intensity and the effect of walking slow was compared to walking fast. So if I run or walk at one pace I will burn more calories than if I did the same exercise for the same amount of time at a slower pace. The amount of calories burned has to do with your age, sex, weight, intensity of your workout, and how long you exercise. Age and sex are less of a determining factor. The type of exercise is also a determining factor. so what I have done is looked through the web and found 2 websites that I like with tools for calculating the number of calories burned for any given activity. Check them out.

Calorie Burn Calculator at http://www.internetfitness.com/calculators/calburncalc.htm
Health Status Calorie burn Estimator at http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

One More Thing About Intensity
When you do any activity, your body fuels itself based on the intensity. The lower and longer the intensity, the more fat you burn. The higher the intensity the shorter the length of time you will be able to perform and the more sugar you burn. That is why cyclist, triathletes, and marathon runners have to eat during their competition. So run at and easy pace, for a long time and you will burn a lot of fat.

More Bike Riding and Running
My oldest daughter wants to bike to school. In order to do this, we have to find a path that was off major roads. We used a tool for measuring distances, that I mentioned on the web before, and found a path for her. The next morning, we road to her school. What is nice is that it puts her right where the police direct traffic to her school. One way it is 2.5 miles and took 15 minutes at a nice easy pace. So we road 5 miles. for the week that gave me a total of 12 miles on the bike.

Another daughter of mine loves to run. I took her to a park path and we ran 1 mile. She is young so we ran for 2 minutes and walked for 1 minute. She talked the entire time! It was great. Once we finished, she had to show me how fast she could run one loop of the path. Sher is actually pretty fast and very cute!

An Online Store!
I want to start and online store of people who read my blog. What should I put in it? Email me at getmyfatbuttinshape@gmail.com and let me know what you think. Oh and keep the questions coming!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Bike and How Exercises Compare

How Do Different Exercises Compare?
This is one of the biggest questions I get. I talk a lot about running and someone will say, I want to walk or ride a bike or swim. So if I talk about running a mile, what is the the equivelant of in walking, biking, and swimming? This is not an easy answer and experts disagree. Since triathletes run, bike, and swim; I am going with data from triathlete trainers and experts.

1 mile running = 4 miles biking
1 mile running = 2 miles walking
1 mile running = .5 miles swimming

So this leads to more questions Lets see if I can just give you answers.

Yes! You must walk twice as far a someone would run to get the same benefit even though it takes twice as long. So when people tell me that they walk 2 miles every day and it takes them an hour, they could just run 1 miles in 15 minutes and get the same benefit.

Yes! You should exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. Even though walking for an hour is a long time and it id good for you, it is really only worth 15 minutes of a regular work out.

Yes! cyclist work out just as hard or even harder than runners when they work out. There is a big difference though. Biking is truly a muscle work out. Look at cyclists and their legs! Now here is what people don't realize, If I bike regularly on flat ground, there is no difference between me riding with as little weight as possible and riding with a 100 lbs pack. It's physics. If you are truly running, there is a point at which both feet are in the air. You literally through your body into the air with each step. If you weigh 200 lbs it take 4 time the energy to do that than someone who weight 100 lbs. That is also physics. When walking, one foot will always be on the ground and half the time, two feet will be.

Yes, professional cyclists have supper ultra light weight bikes. They save those bikes for the mountains, when weight DOES actually matter.

Yes, a half a mile swim is long. but the effect on the bike, is even more so swimming, the entire exercise of swimming is resistance against the limbs you move.

Yes, you can break your work out into different times and still benefit, but studies show you will burn 3/4 the calories as you would if you did them together. So instead of walking for two hours, walk for one hour in the morning and one at night.

It take a lot of consistent energy drain over a period of time in order for your body to think "O crap! I am running out of fuel! I had better start burning Fat!"

My last bike Ride Saturday I decided to ride my bike again. Still having some knee pain (unrelated to running, more to do with being over weight and out of shape and running.) So the week before I ran 2 miles, that would mean I would need to bike 8 miles. I only had one day to do it, so I biked 8 slow miles and it took me 1 hour and 27 seconds. Not bad. It was hot too! 85 degree and 70% humidity! I was wet! After that ride, my legs felt funky, so I took a warm shower, cleaned up, then slowly dropped the temperature until only the cold water was on. Plug the drain and let the water fill the tub. I felt great after it was done. Totally less muscle soreness than I would normally had.

Now this week, I may add some biking and running! I will keep you posted!

Monday, July 27, 2009

Back On The Bike

The Halloween Ride
Well, my oldest and I (and maybe my wife) are getting ready for a 30 mile ride on October 27th! Yeah! I am excited and so is my oldest. We will keep you posted.

Today's Ride
I almost didn't get to ride. A huge thunderstorm rolled in a dropped a lot of rain. It only lasted about 2 hours, then it cleared right up! My daughter went out first. When she got back I went out. It is not much of a ride. The ride is a one mile loop. Today we did a sprint ride. We ride the loop one time as fast as we can.

What is the course like?
The course starts out with a quarter mile slow climb. Not really enough to mention. Then a for 150 feet it drops back down. Then another slow climb. It ends with fairly steep climb. I was fine until I hit the last climb. My legs were burning! And my gears need to be adjusted. I would drop into a climbing gear then is would jump back to a sprinting gear! Oh that would kill me!

So that is how I am starting!
This week we will do about 9 miles. The one mile road today, Wednesday we will do 3 at a faster pace, then Friday a nice and easy 4. We will slowly build our mileage with an additional mile a week for 6 weeks, then we will add 2.

Now we will need to see how I feel tomorrow.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Back to Running and Echo Cardiogram

Stress Test and Running
Since I pasted my stress test, I decided to get back to running and yesterday morning was perfect. The baby needed a nap and a walk through the neighborhood seems to work, so I broke out the baby jogger and off I went.

Run? In My condition?
Yes, I did. It was great. Now mind you I didn't do anything crazy. I ran for 4 and 1/2 minutes, then walked for 2 minutes. I did that for two miles. And yes the baby slept through the entire ride.

How was the Weather?
The temperature was in the low 80's and it was overcast when I started. It was hot. Then the sun came out and it was hotter. Humidity was at about 60%. I had plenty to drink before and drank plenty after. It was a good run.

How did you Feel?
During the run and just at the end of my first minute and a half, my left shin started to hurt. (Hence why I decided to walk.) After less then 30 seconds I felt fine. No other pain. Little aches in my quads since the course was really hilly, but over all I felt pretty good.

So how did you feel the next day?
Oh my gosh! My quads ache, my shoulders ache, my arms ache, and my lower back aches. All this from running and pushing a jogger. It was worth it though.

So whats this about and Echo Cardiogram?
Well, I had my appointment today. It is basically a massive ultra-sound of the heart. I wish I could post pictures. The ultra-sound is a 3D picture of the inside of your heart. They did cross sections from the side, the top, and at different angles. The measured the heart walls, speed of the blood flow, volume of the heart and the amount of blood my heart pumps in a minute. the even looked at the sound waves produced by the heart. The type of sound can indicate leaks in valves and other problems. But in my case everything looked good!

On a side note and kind of bad news, I weigh 204 lbs. I will work on that.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Determining Your Energy Needs



By Teri Clark

In order to know how many calories to eat per day, you have to determine how much energy you expend in a day and how these are expended based on your body. Most people assume they need to eat more than they do. This, of course, leads to weight gain.

Here’s a three-step process that will help you determine just how many calories you need per day to maintain, lose, or gain weight.

Step 1: Finding Your BMI
Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is an estimate of the amount of stored fat you have on your body. Understanding your BMI will help you determine if you need to lose or gain weight, or if you are healthy at your present weight.

To find your BMI,

BMI = (Weight in pounds/height in inches) x 703

Let’s look at Susan as an example. She weighs 150 pounds and is 5 ft 7 inches (67 inches). Therefore, you would divide 150 by (67 x 67) to get .0334. Then multiply .0334 by 703 to get a BMI of 23.4. In this case, using the chart below, Susan is in the Balance Zone.

Once you’ve determined your own BMI, look at the chart below to help you determine if you need to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain your weight.

Below 18.5 - Underweight
18.5 to 24.9 - Balance Zone
25 to 29.9 - Overweight
30 plus - Obese

Step two: Determining Your Basal Metabolic Rate

The BMI is a good starting point but does not take into account things such as activity level, age, environment, or muscle mass. Based solely on BMI, an athlete in great shape may show as being overweight or obese. That is why it is important to go one step further and determine your basal metabolic rate (BMR).

Your BMR tells how quickly you burn calories while at rest. Your BMR consists of 60 to 75% of the calories you burn each day for basic body functioning. Knowing this number will help you determine your actual calories needs.

To find your BMR:

1. Multiply your weight in pounds by 4.3.

2. Multiply your height in inches by 4.7.

3. Multiply your age in years by 4.7.

4. Add the answers of numbers 1 and 2 together and then subtract the answer of number 3.

5. Now add 655 to the answer of number 4.

Let’s look again at Susan again. Susan is 35 years old, therefore:

Her first number is 150 times 4.3 = 645
Her second number is 67 times 4.7 = 314.9
Her third number is 35 times 4.7 = 164.5

Now we add the first two numbers to get 959.9. Now we subtract the third number to get 795.4. Finally, we add 655 to get 1450.4.

Step Three: Determining Your Activity Level

The last step is to determine your activity level so that you know how many calories you burn per day. This equals the total number of calories you burn per day.

Sedentary - Desk job, little or no exercise. BMR x 1.2
Light Activity - Light exercise in one to three days per week. BMR x 1.375
Moderate Activity - Moderate exercise three to five days per week. BMR x 1.55
Very Active – Exercise six to seven days per week BMR x 1.725
Extreme – Hard endurance training daily BMR x 1.9

Let’s take one last look at Susan. Susan has a desk job but does try to get light exercise a couple of days per week. That means we take her BMR of 1450.4 and multiply it by 1.375 to get 1994.3 calories burned per day.

What Does It All Mean?

Total calories burned per day, in Susan’s case, 1994, is the amount needed to maintain her current weight of 150 pounds. If she needed to gain weight, she would increase her calories intake by 500 calories of healthy food.

If she wanted to lose weight, she would decrease her calorie intake by 250 to 300 calories and increase her exercise to burn 250 more calories per day creating a 500-calorie deficit.

By doing so, Susan would either lose or gain weight at one to two pounds per week.


Teri Clark is he author of "301 Simple Things You Can Do To Sell Your Home Now"
Learn more about Teri through poems, stories, and writing prompts at http://teribclarkjots.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

THE HEAT IS ON!

Why Does It Feel So Hot?
Our environment effects the way our body feels in different climates. When our body gets hotter we perspire. The evaporation of our perspiration is what allows our body to cool itself. When the humidity is higher less perspiration can evaporate at at time, so we feel hotter.

Heat Index
When exercising outdoors, you need to pay attention to not only the temperature but the heat index. The ideal heat index for any work out is actually 65 degrees. As it gets warmer, you will need to take in more water. Exercising in temperatures over 90 degrees can be dangerous. Here is a website with a good Heat Index Calculator. The NOAA Heat Index

Heat Stress
The longer you work out in high temperatures, the more stress you put on your body. Make sure to acclimatize to warmer weather. Gradually increase your work outs. Do not to high stress activities. No intervals, sprints, or hard runs. Be aware of your sleep! Sleep deprivation has been a common factor in running related heat deaths in the last few years. At any point, if you feel really hot, and your energy is tanking, stop! Don't push it.

How Much Water?
The common suggestions of the past were "Drink A Lot and Drink Often." Then a study was done on Marathon runners and they found a common heat related injury was drinking too much water. So they asked the elite runners how much they drank and the rule of thumb was "If they were thirsty they drank." Hmm makes sense to me, but how much is enough.

My Formula
I can't actually take credit for this. I have read this in several running magazines and on the web. I weigh myself before I run. I take tons of water with me when I run. As I get hot and thirsty I drink. Some times I feel like I drink every few seconds, some times it is every few minutes, but when it is hot I drink. I never do anything longer than 45 minutes in hot weather. I normally go for only 30. Then when I am done, I weigh myself again. Normally I weigh less. They weight loss is water loss. So lets say I weighed 180 (I wish). Lets say the temperature was 85 degrees. I drank 1.5 liters of water in 30 minutes, and when I got back I weighed 179 lbs. 1 liter of water weighs 2.2 pounds. So I drank about 3.3 lbs of water and lost 2 more sweating. So I drink on more liter. That means that at 85 degrees I lost 2.5 liters of water in 30 minutes. As it gets cooler, I will loose less water and as it gets warmer I will loose more. That gives me a guide as to how much water I will need. I do this for every run in temperatures above 80 degrees.

Let me know if this is post has been helpful and post a comment or email me at getmyfatbuttinshape@gmail.com Also let me know if what I have said makes sense. If I need to improve or clarify the information, let me know.

What Do You Want To Know?
What kind of posts you would like to read. What interests you and how can I help you? Post a comment or email me at getmyfatbuttinshape@gmail.com