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Damien Bilka's Homepage
Damien Bilka's Running Page
This site is for runners. If you aren't a runner
you won't be interested.
In fact, now that I think of it, you might not be interested even
if you are a runner. Nonetheless, I have links to my own training log as well
as links to other pages I visit on a regular basis that might be of interest to
other runners. The only reason I add a link to my PR's is that my training is
really slow and cautious right now. If I weren't me and I saw my training log,
I wouldn't come back either. My PR's are nothing special but they are an
indication that I wasn't always this slow (and don't intend to be for too, too
long).
I initially created this site to motivate myself to start training
again after a long layoff and it still serves that purpose. However, my focus
has since been narrowed and now points to this July 4th where I will run my
first 15k. A few months ago my goal was to get in 51 minute shape. Since that
time my hand was broken in an auto accident and I am once again in the
'comeback' stage. My goal has shifted to a more modest 54 minutes. I haven't
had much time to do anything more than update my training log, but eventually I
will add a little more content about running n general and not so much my own.
I also intend to start putting article-type stuff about running
on the page to make it a little more interesting. I can't promise much about
the visual aspect of the page as my knowledge of html is very, very rudimentary
and anyway I don't own a scanner.
Training Logs
Links
My PR's
My Bio
The fruits of an
expensive education
Races
22602- Training Log update. Things are going as well as they have
in years. A little plantar fascitis in the right foot, but stretching seems to
be taking care of it. This week is a down week. I'm off work the week of 3/4
and I plan on setting a new all-time high somewhere in the 80-85 mile range
that week.
21302- Put in a good week of training last week. It was only 55
miles but it's a step in the right direction. I plan on getting into the 80's
per week this spring. The longest I've ever raced is 10k
20702- Broken hand is healing with a plate and 10 screws in it.
Trying to push back to where I was before the accident. I still have hopes of
running well in the July 4th 15k, perhaps in the 52-53 minute range. It's an
ambitious goal considering I ran a 3 mile tempo last week averaging 7:14 per
mile.
120501- A broken hand suffered in a car accident has been a
disastrous blow to my running. I will return to training as soon as I am able
(I anticipate 2-3 weeks from now). Until then: wear your seatbelts.
111201- Updated the training log. Ran 16 miles yesterday - my
longest run since 1998 or maybe even 1997. Hoping to get 60+ miles in this
week.
On a completely unrelated topic, I'm a little suspicious (as I'm sure
many others are, too) of the quick dismissal of this most recent plane crash as
the result of a mechanical malfunction. I read with skepticism the assertions
of anonymous government officials stating that there "possibly" was a
conversation between the plane and the ground about smoke coming from the
plane. Possibly?? I would think something like that would be pretty readily
verifiable.
While the attacks of 9/11 were disastrous for the airline industry, a
second blow could be even more catastrophic. I think people were just starting
to get comfortable again and I know I was thinking that, with obvious
exceptions (like the guy who tried to carry knives onto a plane, had them taken
away, and then was permitted to board the plane), things were safer.
Imagine if all of the enhanced security measures couldn't prevent more
attacks. Who would fly if he/she didn't absolutely have to? What would happen
to our airline industry if nothing we did could prevent future attacks?
Furthermore, why would officials risk giving terrorists another
psychological victory? On the other hand, another attack might only strengthen
the general public's resolve to persist in military action.
Strange times we live in.
102501- Updated the training log. Things are going
relatively well. Assuming I don't get drafted or killed by a biochemical or
nuclear disaster in the next 8 months I'm optimistic about my goals.
101401- Got my blood test results. Disappointingly,
all normal. Now I don't have anything to blame my crappy training on. In that
spirit, upped my mileage this week and felt good, though tired, doing so.
100101- Didn't quite make it a week, but five days off is
significant rest. That, along with giving up soda (specifically, Pepsi), and
eating more iron rich foods (specifically, red meat) have had a real impact on
how I feel during and about running.
I have been debating myself lately on which direction I want to take my
running in 2002. There is a 15k on the 4th of July in my hometown with a fairly
competitive accompanying 5k. I had already concluded that one of these races
would be the focus of the first half of 2002's training. My problem was that I
couldn't decide which it would be. All it took to make up my mind were several
recent runs. Recently, I've been able to start cranking on my runs, something I
haven't been able to do in a long, long time. I figure that the pace I end up
running toward the end of these runs is about tempo pace (or 15k to half
marathon pace - probably closer to the latter). This, in and of itself, is
nothing significant, but I forgot just how much fun it is to crank out mile
after mile at a strong pace. I miss it. And so, since I like the effort level
so much, I've decided to run the 15k. It makes sense. This winter I can get my
mileage up and do a couple of 15k effort runs per week on the road. This will
keep the pressure low and it doesn't really matter anyway since the tracks are
usually snow covered and unfit for speedwork around here. Once things warm up,
I'll start doing some long tempos on the track along with some fast, 5k type
stuff to keep my legs quick. My goal is pretty ambitious - 51:00 - given that I
probably can't run 5k at that pace right now. However, I have no doubt that if
I really was iron deficient and continue to improve the way I have in the past
week, I'll be there in relatively little time.
90901- Taking a week off. I've felt very poorly for a while with
no good explanation (see: miles per week have been the same FOREVER!!) and it
has really gotten worse in the past two weeks. I'm thinking that maybe I'm iron
deficient or overtrained (How?!? How?!?). Either way, I need a break. I was not
enjoying any of my runs, I would get sleepy very early in the evening after I
ran, and the pace of all my runs were becoming too slow to be tolerated. I'm
going to go to the doctor for a blood test. In a way I'm hoping that I'm iron
deficient because then I'll have an excuse to pin all of this bad training on.
My plight has prompted me to write a bit about overtraining and the
pitfalls of the normally admirable dedicated mindset of many runners. I might
bitch a little about some tangential items, but I'll try to keep it focused.
You should see it under the "Fruits of an Expensive
Education" section.
If I am diagnosed with iron deficiency, I encourage you to visit this
site often once I get rolling again because the improvement that is promised on
the front page is going to come.
82001- It's been a good month since the last update, but somehow
I'm not afraid that masses of people are going to take me to task for that. In
an effort to spend more time with my baby daughter, I've begun running in the
morning before work. This worked out pretty well last week since I had to work
at 9, so I could get up at 7 or so and get the running in with time to spare.
However, 9 o'clock duty comes once every three weeks, so this week I'll have to
get up at 6AM (yes, there is a 6 AM, I, too, had doubted the veracity of
these rumors, but they appear to be true). It's nice to have the run out of the
way with the rest of your day to do whatever you want. I have found, though,
that it does prompt less discriminating eating habits during the day for two
reasons: 1) You're hungry all day after you run in the morning, and 2) You have
no reason to eat well as you don't have to worry about how it will affect your
run. Another thing I've found is that it is almost essential to get at least
100 calories in your stomach before running. Otherwise you hit the wall about 4
minutes into the run.
Another thing I've noticed about running in the morning is that by the
afternoon I feel ready to run again. Hence, the one double I did last week (if
you view the training log you can see record of
this rare indulgence). Doing so, however, woudl defeat the whole purpose I had
in mind when devising an all AM schedule. Besides, I only ran 46 miles last
week. Was a double really necessary? After thinking about it, I don't think I'm
going to double again until I can comfortably run about 20 or so more miles per
week in 7 runs.
One more thing. I've got to stop running 30-something mile weeks. They
do me no good.
52601- I've come up with a solution to the problem of how to
express yourself when you become very sweaty during a run. Rather than say, as
so many of us do, "Wow, I...uh, sweated a lot on that run," I've created an
alternative you can use which has not been copyrighted by anyone and can be
used without permission and free of the fear of prosecution by the federal
government. Say this instead, "Boy, I sure did sweat a lot on that run." No
more uncomfortable pauses while you try to conjugate the verb 'sweat' in your
head. No more strange looks when you add 'ed' to a word that shouldn't have an
'ed'. Now people will be able to appreciate your slick condition for what it is
and not how you describe it.
51501- Hopefully most of you don't live on the table scaps of my
thoughts the way some subsist on gruel and garbage. Due to reading some good
training advice on Kevin Beck's webpage I'm
all about specificity now. No more ball busting intervals with no purpose other
than to make myself feel that I did something hard. Oh, no. I'm training with
the longview. It's inevitable that my training is going to progress gradually
due to my current level of fitness and weight. Why not do it right? I'm going
to do my interval workouts with my current 5k goal in mind. That would be
18:30. My workouts are now going to be geared toward getting my body
comfortable at that pace. It makes me want to weep that I'm actually trying
to run that time but such is reality as I currently know it.
Those of you who frequent (or occasion, or rare) this page deserve to
have something to look forward to. After all, you're wasting your time visiting
this page and I'm not giving you much to get excited about, I know. As a token
of my appreciation, I'm going to give you some idea of the goals I currently
have in mind and the time frame in which I expect to acheive them. For those of
you eating or drinking while you read this, I ask that you put your victuals
down momentarily while I spill my guts all over your computer screen. Here are
my lifetime goals, times I would like to acheive before my legs, heart, brain,
or liver fail: 5k 14:59.
31801 - Advice to treadmill users: For those of you who either by
choice or out of necessity run on a treadmill almost exclusively, beware. I ran
on a treadmill for about a month and a half without venturing outside even
once. When I finally did, my legs weren't able to deal with the lessened impact
absorption of asphalt and I was very sore afterward. My suggestion would be
that even though it is much easier to run indoors and avoid the cold and snow
it might be worth it to run outside at least a couple of days a week to keep
your muscles accustomed to harder surfaces.
This page last updated in the year of most people's Lord 2/26/02
E-mail me at damienbilka@hotmail.com
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