Happy December Everyone

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable November and a Happy Thanksgiving.   Of course, if you didn't, things are looking better as the calendar turns to December

I continue to ride high, experiencing seemingly two months of personal and running happiness.   My current 'plan' has me running when and how I feel.   But my hidden agenda is to increase the number of days I am running, and for that reason, I enjoyed a handful of 3ish mile runs in the last couple of weeks, perhaps the first time in a while that I haven't felt guilty about running less than 5 miles.

I have also managed to add some tempo runs back into the mix too, and boy have they been amazing.   Last week before Thanksgiving I went out for a 5 mile run, the first mile was nice and speedy so I decided to hold pace for as long as possible, which ended up being a 4 mile tempo at 7:39 pace followed by a 1 mile cool down.

Yesterday, I looked at the schedule and part of the add more days plan was run (need to get to 7 for the Cookie Monster Streak) .   The log showed 74.1 miles for the month, and I wasn't just going to leave it at 77 or something like that when I could get to 80.  So I set off at lunch, PF bothering me a bit in the left foot, and right knee a bit sore, not expecting much.   After I got moving the first mile beeped off and I realized I was at 7:49 pace, so I just decided to roll with and focus on breathing for the run.   I had decided that I would try to keep this up for 5 of the 6 miles since I had done the 4 the previous week.   And it totally rocked. I felt great after the run (despite the PF and knee, which were mostly gone by the end of the run anyway).  Overall, the Tempo yesterday - 5 tempo miles at 7:50 pace, fastest at 7:30 (last mile) everything else at about 7:55.  With a 1.1 mile cool down at about an 8:30 pace, overall 6.1 miles at 7:58.  Sweet! 6 miles under 8m/m.  Time for a Dancing Banana.That is pretty much how I felt yesterday after rattling that little guy off.  It is really good knowing that I am seeing some speed improvement.   And hopefully will see big improvements this spring when I roll out the speed plan in Feb 

I have basketball games this weekend, so I will probably drop down to 3 miles a day for those days to keep it lighter and avoid too much stress on the joints.

• November Miles - 80.2 (would have gone higher but I took the first week off)
• Yearly Miles - 710.5 - Well past my goal of 600, looking to score 800 by the end of December  I have lots of basketball games the next two weeks so it could be interesting.

Next year's goals need to be ironed out a bit.   But I think I can get to those at the end of December  I hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.   Remember to have fun out there.

Winter Maintenance, Marathon Training, and some Loop Questions

I last ran a whopping 6 days ago.   Last Tuesday to be precise.   That was a tough 5.5 mile run at that.   The run was just two days after my fastest half yet, at 1:49:02.  I followed up that race, by running 3.6 miles as soon as I got home that Sunday  Needless to say the Tuesday run was hard, even at an easy 9m/m pace.   Both my friend and I felt as if we were moving a bit too fast.   So I didn't really mind that I was going to force myself into a running break.

I spent the weekend watching football and playing with my sons.   It was not a weekend wasted.   The week off left me rejuvenated and a bit antsy.   It also marks a distinct line between Racing season and Basketball/maintenance season.   I am looking to the off season to do some major things for my running, let's hit them in list form.

1. Obviously, I want to maintain my endurance.   I plan on doing this by getting in some mid-range long runs over the winter (8-10 miles, 12 if I feel good).
2. I want to build speed.   I referee basketball in the winter, it is a good way to stay running and active during the winter.   Plus chasing high schoolers up and down the court counts as a speed session, especially when I do 2 one hour long games.  Plus my Winter races are all 5k and 10k varieties.  
3. Add at least an extra day to my running over the winter.   To me this means going from 3 days a week running to 4-5 days a week.   Mostly I will just get some shorter 3-4 mile runs in until I can build that solid base.  
4. I want to drop another 15 pounds.   I really want to get down to 185lbs.  And now that I have put this out here, I hope that I can be accountable to this goal.   I say this because I love food, and running has been a way for me to eat as I want.   Time for another change.

Now, all of those goals are focused on completing next year's goal.   Completing a marathon, all 26.2 glorious miles.   Tentatively I have set my sights on the San Francisco Marathon in July as my goal race.   I should be able to firm that up come the end of basketball season, but that is the goal.   I have already started scoping out training plans, and have all but settled on one of the Hal Higdon Intermediate plans.   I like these plans because they appear to focus on mileage rather than on a mixture of workouts.   I attempted the Speed type workouts mixed with high mileage training runs to disastrous results this last summer and since I want to complete a marathon the idea is to get the mileage base to do so. 

Indian Summer Half Marathon (RR)

Is that the sounds of more than one person behind me?   Where did those two guys come from? Really, an all sprint on the last 30 yards?   Wait those aren't the people I passed in the last half mile....

Friday Morning:

"All right!   Let's get three easy miles in as prep for tomorrow's race, no need to push pace, just an easy run to get in the right mind frame." Runner Me says to myself.

"Wait, we have never run the day before a race, won't we be tired and sluggish tomorrow?" The naysayer retorts.

"Look, shoes are on and we are out the door, Runner can deal with those problems tomorrow," runner replies.

Most of the week I was totally oblivious to the fact that I had a race Saturday, most of the month really.  So the thoughts above totally sum up my attitude for this race, a Half-Marathon for crying out loud.
Friday night:   After being informed that my 3 year old was sick all day, dinner plans were left in the air.   I volunteered to grab dinner from a fast food joint after I picked up my race packet.   Nothing says proper pre-race nutrition like a dinner from Jack in the Box.   Food nutrition aside, I managed to do the right things the rest of the night.   Once the kid dos were asleep, I relaxed, watched a bit of TV, and was in bed by about 10.  This being a local race, I knew I could get a good night sleep at home, get up, and have plenty of time to make it to the run.

Saturday Morning:   Alarm buzzing at 6:34.  Who sets their alarm for 6:34?  Snooze for 10 more minutes, get up and get moving.   Want to be out of the house in 30 minutes.   Get moving on morning routine, bathroom, running clothes on, shoes on (as chosen by my 3 year old).  Now, let's grab a quick bite.   Hmmm?  Pop-tart? Perfrect!  Race number...Why is this not on my clothes?   Oh well, I need to go it is 7:25 and the race is at 8!

Get in the car, and BEEEEP! Crap, the car needs gas, well I guess I can fit that in, it is only a 10 minute drive.   After gassing up, where I used the pump time to pin my bib on (see efficiency), I got to the race location at 7:45.  This works out great. Grab a parking spot, run over to the start location, notice I have 12 minutes to go, run over to the bathroom.   Get back, with only 5 minutes to go, having had a decent warm up.

8:00 AM - Off we go!  I stay back the first quarter mile, letting the crowd disperse a bit, so that I can find my pace and go on from there.   About half a mile in I ran through some grass that had just been watered, whoops, now my shoes are soaked, nothing to do now but run! At about the 5k turn-around (seen below) I checked my phone to see pace, 7:57.  Opps, seems I have started out a bit fast, let's just see where this goes as I am feeling great this morning.

A spot near the 5k turn around.  Of course I didn't stop to take pictures today, I was flying!

Miles 2-4 - Nothing much going on. The crowd has thinned, leaving a random collection of people training out.   There are some guys that I pass here, who clearly started much faster than their abilities.   I keep passing people in ones and twos for the next couple of miles.   I pass up water at the first water stop, cause, well, I am feeling great.

Mile 4-6.5 - Around mile four I hear footsteps and voices.   I get passed by a woman in yellow(#1451), briefly, she is central in the plot, and then two other women, whom I don't remember seeing again.   The water stops at 4 and 5.7 miles I grab cups that are unrefreshingly low on water.   Now, I have a habit of taking a slow jog through the water stations in order to drink the water, this doesn't bother me, because drinking the water is important.   The woman in yellow follows suit, slows down and drinks her water, always remaining just behind me.

Mile 6.5-11- Just before the turn around the woman in yellow decides to pass me.   She uses an uphill burst to get past me, normally I do this, but I figured that if she wanted to make her move now that was up to her.   So on we go to the turn around, she passes her family (I assume at this point she is running her first Half) giving high fives all around.   But maintains a steady pace out in front of me.   I use the opportunity to consume my gel after the turn around (Note:  Gels without water are harder to consume).  We come flying into mile 7, I check the phone, distance is 7.1 and time is 58 minutes (this is the last time I check).  Sweet!  I am crushing this right now.   Leaving the water stop at mile 5.7(7.3) I start thinking that I am tired.   Stupid brain, we are rocking, leave this to the us legs and we can get through it.   Better get distracted.   Focus on getting through the next water stop (mile 9) and the final one (mile 11).

Mile 11-13 - Getting through the water stop, I start calculating just how many milestones are left til we can push to the end.   Meanwhile, I have been holding a pace leaving me about 20-30yards behind the woman in yellow (#1451, when you stare at it for 40 minutes you remember it).  As I cruise past the 5k turn-around I know that it is time to start making a move.   I pass a couple of people at the curves in the path near the hotels, then set my sights on the woman in yellow, as well as the guy that keeps passing me (seriously like 5 times in this race this guy passed me).  With a mile to go, I set my path on the inside of the curves and pick up my pace.   I pass the woman in yellow.   Then with a quarter mile to go, pick it up again and pass the guy who keeps passing me.

Mile 13.1 - Is that the sounds of more than one person behind me?   Where did those two guys come from? Really, an all sprint on the last 30 yards?   Wait those aren't the people I passed in the last half mile. In the last tenth of a mile I get passed by two guys that I didn't even know were behind me.   But I did stay in front of the guy who passed me a lot, and the woman in yellow.   Sometime after the last water stop, I started wondering if the clock would have a 4 or 5 in it when I reached the end.   Well, coming up I saw 1:50: and some change. I passed the finish with a time of 1:51:30!!!!!!

This is a PR, by 14 minutes!!!!!

Of course, last time I ran a Half, I did my own virtual race in lieu of traveling to Vancouver WA and missing the birth of my second son.   This so rocked.   Plus I got this - - - -
BLING! 

So as far as PRing goes, I guess the run for fun plan rocks, I have not run a single long run over 10 miles since I ran an 18 miler back in August.   Of course, I want to get faster (shave 6+minutes off of that) and get below 1:45.  So I know that as I get back into training, I will be working tempos and intervals back in.  But for now I am going to revel in a super fast Half time.

Have fun out there!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!

After much discussion with my wife and running buddies, I have decided to drop down to the Marathon Relay with my friend.   He and I will split the marathon and each run 13.1.  I am happy with this decision as it has been taxing on me trying to keep up with the volume of running (and time) necessary to accomplish this goal.   I have decided on taking on one big task a year (read trying the training for a marathon) for the time being in hopes of avoiding burn out.   With this in mind I am looking for a Spring/Early Summer marathon to take on where I can begin training in the early part of the year (February).  I am currently leaning towards a redemption run at the Vancouver USA Marathon (I was unable to run the Vancouver USA Half last year due to the impending birth of my second son).

Moving on to different running issues/problems/phobias/general worry.   I have a lingering issue with my right ankle.   I sprained it last summer before I became a runner, and now I have the ability to reinjure it almost at will.   I rolled it climbing off a ladder back in March and was quite concerned that it was more serious than it really was.   Fast forwarding to this past weekend.   Friday we had a yard sale where we took stuff from our house, my dad's place, and my in-law's place and offered to try to sell what we could and donate all that was left, typical yard sale.   Well, I had wanted to get out and run with one of my running buddies sometime that weekend, and offered Friday after the yard sale as the perfect time to take care of this.   So about 2:30 that afternoon I met up with him to tackle an easy 5 or so before heading home for dinner.   Everything was going well up until mile 2.  His dog, leashed, decided that she wanted to run on the outside of me, instead of in between the two of us.   This caused me to step off the running path into the grass trying to make room for him to pull her back in before she tripped me.   Well, turns out there was a small hole where I stepped off the path.  Crack!   Rolled the ankle and spent a couple of minutes trying to see if it was ok to try to move on again.   I managed a couple of quick sprints up the hill to test it's steadiness before deciding to move on and finish out the run.   I managed to finish the last 3 miles of the run, which was good, though the run wasn't the best I have had.

Typically on Sunday's I like to meet up with my other running buddy to tackle a long run.   This Sunday we were going to try to do 8-10.  When I awoke, I was greeted kindly by my 3 year old.   I absolutely hate leaving him to go run on the weekends.   I texted my buddy and asked if we could go a bit later, he quickly agreed.   I spent the next couple hours getting breakfast and an HD antenna with my 3 year old, then happily went out for the run with my buddy.   We met up about 10 with no particular plan in mind.   We decided to run the path across the highway from his place as opposed to wandering down to the river.   Not being in the best mind to go for a run we decided to just do the 5.5 mile loop and call it a day.   Of course as we got to the end of the loop we decided to try to get a full 7 in, ran the short loop of the path again, and cruised in at 7.14 miles.   I don't know what it is about the 7+ mile distance of late, but I have been loving this distance for a run.   Enough to make me feel like I really accomplished something and yet not so much that I am drained from the effort.

If I were ranking runs in ascending order of awesomeness the last few days, today's would top the list.   Since I stopped worrying about speed and other such tings on my 'plan' and have been running my runs how I feel, I have been much happier about a greater percentage of the runs.   This morning, however, I felt the need for speed.   I was out the door just before 6 in the cool 45* morning air. I quickly realized that this morning was meant to be a fast run.   I warmed up for about a half mile, then turned on the burners, finishing the first mile in 8:15, then really wanted to push it for 2 or so before cooling down and getting ready for work.   Miles 2 and 3 were right at 7:50 a piece, and it felt great to be able to run that speed with what felt like minimal effort (gotta love fall temps).  I ran a cool down mile of 8:45 or so, to pull off a 4 mile run in 8:45.  It was awesome, and left me hoping for a good one tomorrow (I actually want to get up and go again in the morning).  Good to know that my ankle is slowing me down any.

Have fun out there!

It's About Time

That I posted something.   It's been a week since I changed my approach to training and I have managed to run three times in that span (with another jaunt sometime today).  The run when I feel like it plan is in full and total effect.   I even had one of the best runs I have had in months Saturday morning.

I woke up grabbed the gear and ran over to my friend's place.   He lives a mile away so I always use that as a nice warmup/cooldown, plus he likes to push the pace so it is like a tempo run for the middle distance.   Ran a 5-mile loop with him, and his pup,  through the lakes neighborhood, you know a neighborhood that has large ponds in it with paths winding around the 'lakes' . It was a glorious morning, we watched the sun come up transitioning through a deep crimson through to the orange glow of early morning.   A quick stop to grab a couple of things from his place then I was back at home completing a 7.3 miles run.   I loved every minute of it and it didn't feel like and hour of running.   Those run keep you coming back for more.

After that, I went with my three year old and my father in-law over to Pullman to catch the WSU football game.   Now as opposed to boring you all with the minute details of the game we will surmise it to say that the Cougs rocked.   They haven't looked this good (I know the competition hasn't been super) since I was there early in my college life (2003).  So Saturday was a great day!

Sunday, though, had an air of remembrance and sadness to it.   I spent the morning trying to get the antenna positioned to grab the local CBS station (still no luck) and caught bits and pieces of the 9/11 specials on all the channels.   I had intended on running 7 miles to round out a milestone (more on this in a minute) but both my boys awoke as I was preparing to leave, and instead of making my DW get up and deal with both of them I decided to let her sleep for another 45 minutes or so.   I spent the day doing stuff with my oldest son, watched a bit of football, went grocery shopping, where we saw the local firefighters hang a large US flag across the only major intersection in town.   This prompted questions from my 3yo.  Not that he isn't inquisitive as is, but he really wanted to know what all the flags were about, a question that I had a hard time answering at a 3yo level.   I explained briefly about bad-guys and told him that one day he would understand better, an answer he liked, at least he didn't ask anymore questions. But overall a great weekend.

So this leaves me back at the milestone.   I am approaching 500 miles for the year, was a whopping 30 miles or so away from it at the beginning of the month, and have been sneaking up on it this whole time.   I noticed that I was only 24 miles away last week, and had made up my mind to get past that mark and move on. Well, I guess this is like baseball where a hitter is approaching 500 HRs and gets to 499 and sits for 14 games before hitting 2 in a game to go past 500.  That's me right now.   I have a measly little 2.5 miles left to knock off that milestone, so I think that today (lunch run, or after work) I will go out and knock off a quickie in order to take care of that.

My goal at the beginning of the year was to run 600 miles, or 50 a month.   Knowing that I am 102.5 miles from that goal is an amazing feeling.   I will be knocking out the 600 sometime early next month as I taper for the local marathon at the end of October. I have made no plans for November or December yet, though I will try to keep a solid base so that I can start building up next season.   I will run 4 or so local races during the winter months (5ks mostly).

Ok enough for now.  Have a great day out there and HAVE FUN!

Burnout? Funkytown? How one run helped.

Right now I hate running!   Stay with me, I have a solution.

Hate is too strong a word.   I don't like running.  That's not true, I still like running, I just don't want to run.   Perhaps I just want to do something else with that time.   Perhaps, I took too many days off in the last two weeks, a total of 4 runs from August 22 through September 5.  Perhaps it is the rigors of training for a marathon (way harder than I had thought after training for a Half) coupled with rasping a young family (3 yo and newborn).  Whatever the problem is, running seems like work right now, and I don't want to get up and do it, I would rather sleep, play with the kids, try to take care of the house (why is there so much to do?), or play video games.   So with that, and stresses at work, we are starting conceptual design on our project finally, but the company is looking at lay-offs it seems that there are pressures from many sides. 

I imagine that all runners out there have experienced this phenomenon (the I don't want to run phenomenon, Burnout is appropriate I beleive).  Some would say that this is a funk, a stay cation in funkytown if you will.   But it doesn't seem that way to me.   My runs the last couple of weeks have been great (when I wanted to or actually did go do them), I feel fine, I feel strong, my desire is waning

For example, last weekend I took the family on vacation to our cabin in Montana, a great place on Lindbergh Lake.   I ran one time.   Once, for 8 really awesome miles, they really were great.  The road through the forrest was cool when I ran, which had a positive effect on my run (faster than I thought in the higher altitude), very hilly, but an easy trail run on the dirt road at the lake.  I loved being out in nature, and would seriously consider moving out east (or at least to the mountains) to do more trail runs.  But the rest of the weekend I just wanted to relax and enjoy time with my family.   So I did, throwing away a 10 mile run.

Monday night I bought a new video game, Tuesday morning running be darned.   I have been up late playing it for a few nights now, which is the reason I ran yesterday afternoon in the heat.   That run may have actually turned the key for me though.   It was hard, because it was 95* outside and I didn't really want to be running in the first place.   But a funny thing happened during the run, I started thinking about my next run (tomorrow an amount of miles or time to be determined when I get out on the road).  And I have plans to run with my running buddies Saturday and Sunday I am not doing the 14 mile run on Sunday, I would rather go do a shorter run with my friend and enjoy it instead of worrying about trying to cram 6 miles in before I meet up with him. 

So here is the new agenda.   I am going to enjoy running, which means trying to reach mileage as described in my training plan, but not fretting over what type of run it is.   So if the schedule calls for 6 miles of intervals and I don't feel like them, then fine, I will just go try the 6 miles however I feel like.   I will focus on a few key runs, the final 20 mile run I have scheduled for Oct.9 being the last before tapering.   The Half-Marathon rave schedule in two weeks that I am still looking forward to dropping 2 hours on.   And next week's long run, which will be 16-18 miles depending on the week's running and how I feel Sunday.

Things not to worry about, speed, don't know that I am going to improve much speed wise between now and the end of October, especially as this will be my first marathon, and the goal is to finish!  This will give me a goal for next time.   Plus I can look forward to next year and how to train to increase speed over long distances.

So with those three key runs, and a bit of mental toughness, I will be able to complete my first marathon at the end of October  Between now and then, less focus and worry over the miles and training plan, less worry over the house stuff, and more trying to relax during my free time.

So hopefully with this new approach I can get back to running happy. Remember - Have fun out there!

Goodbye August

We had such a nice time together.   But boy am I glad that's over with now hopefully, we can find some time to relax in September.

• The first week we were a bit distracted or tired and took a recovery week.   We also spent time roaming the country side looking for bathrooms, and enjoying a wedding anniversary.   Lowest weekly mileage @ 13.7
• The second week we spent in a funk.   Blame my wife's 10 year high school reunion, or just that it was time for the funk-a-thon, whatever it was at least it was short lived.   I pushed through the agony and the desire to avoid running by putting in my longest weekly mileage to day @ 29.5. 
• The third week we celebrated running for a whole year.   We did this by banging out 5 the day I started running.   We also celebrated by running an impromptu Half-marathon at a faster pace than I have run that long of a distance.   A great week of running, but one without the bustle of added activities. Mileage 28.5
• Perhaps the most tumultuous week was the fourth of the month.   The changed schedule from the week before leading to a missed speed workout leading to a 5.5 mile run with no aim (looking back I loved that run).  Then the first shot at 20 miles, which ended up being 18 in light of trying to stay hydrated. My 10 year high school reunion, golf and a picnic on the hottest day of the year here.   The missed chance to make it to 100 for the month by trying to sleep off the grogginess.   And fantasy football draft.   Glad I moved the long run to Friday - weekly mileage 23.6.
• The last three days of the month spent recovering from last week while preparing for a trip this weekend.   Finally got in those 5 miles needed to reach the 100 mile mark for the month.   A great tempo workout this morning with a really speedy mile at the end just for good measure, perhaps the best run of the month.   That is the best way to leave the month behind.

Turns out this month wasn't too bad.   Though it was busy, and I am certainly looking forward to the more relaxing month of September
Total Monthly Miles - 100.3 my first triple digit month. Hopefully the start of something great.
Have fun out there guys!

Easy or Pointless?

Do you ever feel like you are out for a 'training' run that has no point.   This morning I went out for a run, it ended up being 5.5 miles, but it was kind of aimless.   It wasn't a recovery after a long run or intervals, it wasn't a tempo run, it wasn't really anything other than a nice easy run.   Let me explain how I got here.

Last Thursday, I was still very much in go for a run mode (last Thursday was a rest/x-train day).  So with that feeling in mind I decided to move my long run from Sunday up to Friday, and increase the mileage on it from 12 to 13.  Normally I don't move long runs around, but with every other Friday off and the fact that my running partner had plans for the weekend, I decided to go ahead and move it up to try to get more done at the house this weekend.

So last Friday I got up, grabbed a couple of bills that could be dropped off along my route and set off on my run.   I was breezing along at a sub-9 pace for the first three miles before making my first stop to drop off the power bill.   Then back through town to drop off the water bill (a whopping 1.5 miles separates them).  After that stop I ventured across the bridge, where I startled two deer, and up along the busy road/highway into the neighboring city.   After a wait at the light to cross the bypass highway, I ran a few blocks to make the turn towards my in-law's house.   I was at 7 miles in just over an hour, not my fastest 7 miles, but still was right on a 9m/m pace.   I cruised along down towards the river stopping at several stop lights along the way.   I pulled up to the river path after 9 miles and was now just behind the 9m/m pace (stupid stop lights).  Just 4 more miles to go, so I followed the path down the river, and eventually up to one of the local high schools, where instead of returning on the path, I decided to run around the school and back towards my in-law's, my stopping spot.   The whole run was awesome, a 13.2 mile run in 2:01, which was 4 minutes faster than my previous best in the 13.1 distance.   So I counted this as a double type run, a long run, run faster (almost a minute/mile) than my normal long run speeds.   So really a long, tempo run.  

Move ahead two days.   Sunday I finally got to meet up with my other running partner, who's wife just had a baby 10 days ago.   Needless to say I hadn't seen him in a while.   I ran my warm-up mile over to his place then ran a nice easy 4+ with him, stopping briefly to see the new arrival,   then headed back to my place, for an easy 7 miles (same pace as the 13.2 two days prior).

Monday, is a typical rest day, so I looked at the schedule, trying to decide how to tackle the speed work and the 20 miler on deck for the week.   I decided to move the speed session to Tuesday, and the long run to Friday with an easy recovery today and Sunday   I am taking the end of the week off to hang out with an old high school friend and go to our reunion which is my primary reason for moving the runs around.   Then I was up late on Monday, and slept through my time to run yesterday.   So between everything else going on (getting the house ready for my friend, book club, work) I skipped the workout completely.  Which left me with today.

I want to do that speed session, but I didn't want to do it too close to the 20 miler as it is my first attempt at running 20 miles.   I was afraid of burning out and not having enough energy Friday, something I did two weeks ago before attempting 18 miles (ending up with 16.2).  So there you have it.   I was left with a shorter recovery type run on the schedule this morning, and opposed to trying to pick up the speed on it, or increase distance, or get that speed session in, I just ran.   I like to think that all runs have a purpose, and today's ended up being a run for the sake of running.   Deep down I know that the run has a purpose, I am after all still out exercising, but I feel that I lacked focus this morning, just logging miles for the sake of it.

Runniversary, The Why I Run Story

It all started with a thought.   A simple thought that I could motivate my overweight butt, climb off the couch and run a 5k.  GULP! This is 3.1 miles, the longest I have run or walked in years, especially run, which I hadn't done since high school.   So during my vacation last July/August, I told my wife that I wanted to run the Cable Bridge run here in Kennewick/Pasco, WA.  A simple idea of actually running the 5k.  It was when she told her parents that I felt like was on the hook to do this, like I was committed to doing something I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to do in the first place. 

The Backstory:

I, like so many others, slowly climbed the hill to overweight, little by little, year after year.   I basically stopped all physical activity after high school, as I began working my first real job (retail) and going to the local Community College.   The easiest way to eat was through the drive through, and not the healthy stuff, the good tasting fatty stuff.   This problem continued on through out my 4 years at WSU.  I did eat better (thanks to my wife), but not that much better, the challenges of being in an engineering program mean that food fits around school.   So again, it was fast food heaven. 

After graduation, we moved to New Mexico  I worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week.   We were a bit better about home cooked meals, but the exercise was still non-existent, with the exception of a few 30 minutes walks at night whenever I felt good enough to go for a walk.   I assume that my weight stayed fairly constant through out these 6 to 8 years, though in all fairness, I either refused to get on the scale and find out, or didn't care enough to start a change.  A year after moving to NM, my first son was born.   We continued our walking, but never were consistent with it enough to forge a change.   I became gradually more complacent as the rigors of raising a family and working 6 days a week grew upon me.   The fact that my parents were discussing divorce during the summer of '08 didn't help the frustration level.
Either late in my tenure at WSU, or early on after we moved to NM, my mom was diagnosed as prediabetic.  I mild eye-opener, as my mom's weight issues have fluctuated throughout my life, trying diet fads and all sorts of things, but not exacting a lifestyle change.   This still wasn't enough to make me change the way I ate or how I treated my body.

When I got a new job that took us back to Washington State, I was becoming more aware of my seemingly unhealthy lifestyle.   We had been back in Washington for about 9 months when my parents decided that things couldn't be reconciled and began the official proceedings (Jan '10).  I buried this within me as I usually bury things I don't want to worry or think about.   Then a few months later, already worried about my dad and how he was taking things, he told me that he had also been diagnosed as pre diabetic as well.   This got me to thinking, really hard about my future, and making sure I was going to be part of my kid's future too.   But in May of 2010 I still wasn't ready to commit to a healthier lifestyle, exercising was still out of the question, and I like eating way too much to change that part of my life. 

Running Start:

As the weight of my parent's lifestyle choices and medical diagnosis started settling in, I reached a conclusion that I needed to start changing my life for the better.   So what could I do to change my lifestyle?   I remembered that I had a pail or Adidas running shoes that I had purchased in 2005 or 2006, as a futile attempt to become active while in college.   At this time, Mid-July 2010, I told my wife my that I was going to start running with the goal of running the Cable Bridge Run 5k in December  So, at dinner one evening, she told her parents.   Now I felt as if I was on the hook to start, though I still wasn't sure I wanted to.   I did what I always do when I start a new activity or want to find information, I hit the internet and settled on a plan.   Now I just needed to find the motivation.

I made a deal saying that I would start when we got back from vacation, which put my start running date the second week of August.   After vacation and some work around the house, running day arrived.   I however, took a snooze, and slept on past the time to get up and run.   I still wasn't ready to commit, either to waking up or running.   I kept pushing the start off.   The following week, I again didn't get up Monday morning, so I made a decision, Tuesday I was going to get up, no matter how I felt and get out and run.   Finally, Tuesday, August 17, I awoke at 5:15, went over to the middle school track and started my running life.

The Plan:

I don't undertake anything lightly, I didn't want to take on a plan that was going to be too strenuous, to the point that I was going to burn out.   So I hit the internet searching for a manageable C25k plan. After looking at what seems like a ton of plans I settled on a run/walk plan that called for 30 minutes of exercise 3 days a week.   The plan called for one minute of running to seven minutes of walking repeated three times that first week.   I figured that I could drive to the track, walk a five minute warm-up, then start on the running portion.  That first week was hard, but I had pushed myself to 1.5 minutes of continuous running by the end of the week.  

The plan increased weekly, adding 1 minute of running while subtracting 1 minute of walking.   The third week added a fourth set of run/walking, so that I was now up to a grand total of 35 minutes of activity.   I was using the Wii Fit to track weight and do some cross-training, but I found that it was adding stress to parts of my body, so I abandoned that and switched to using the stationary bike for cross-training.   By the end of September I was up to a continuous 10-12 minutes, but seemed to be at a plateau.   I eventually pushed passed this, and by October I had managed to push myself to two continuous miles.   There wasn't any doubt in my mind that I could complete a 5k event.

I completed three 5k events between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.   The Thanksgiving day and New Year's day 5k I ran the whole distance.   The Cable Bridge run was a bit more difficult, as it snowed the night before hand, and was still snowing at start time.   This was a heavy, wet snow which slowed down conditions on the areas where the roads weren't yet plowed.   I remember cruising through the first two miles of that race, before hitting a wall.   I was suddenly very tired, and had to try to plow through snow.   Maintaining pace was difficult.   In then end I was able to find strength and ran the last half mile to the finish, completing the race for which I had trained.   There was a huge sense of accomplishment that I had been able to change my lifestyle as well as complete something like running 3 miles, which I had not done ever perhaps.

A Year of Lessons:

• Change is hard - To start running after 10 years of a sedentary lifestyle is one of the hardest things I have over done.
• Rome wasn't built in a day - It took me three months to go from stationary, couch potato to running a 5k.  It has taken me almost a year to get to running 16 miles.   Asked last year if I would have trained or signed up for a marathon, I would have told you that you were crazy.
• Running is unique to the person - What motivates us individually varies.   Some people run to win, others to PR, some just for the joy it brings.   Whatever your motivation, enjoy it.
• There are Bad Days - And they suck. They make you question why you do this in the first place.   I look at is a pre-payment for that great run you are about to have.
• Then there are Awesome days - These are those days that training, or the circumstances all align for and make you realize just why you keep running.
• Training plans are good - They provide goals, and help manage daunting tasks.   Focusing on today's run is far easier than looking at the whole goal.   Plus they teach flexibility.
• Listen to your body - The body and mind know when to rest, listen to them and they won't lead you wrong. That training plan isn't set in stone.

The numbers:

• I ran 515 miles in the year since I started running.
• I have run 415 miles since January 1, 2011
• Five 5k races with a PR of 23:00
• Two 10k races with a PR of 51:39
• One (Fake) Half Marathon - 2:05
• 41 lbs lost.

The Final Lesson:

Running was worth it. I started running as a way to get active to start taking better care of my body.   It was something that I decided I wanted to do. I didn't do it as a way to lose weight, or a way to show that I could accomplish a 5k, then give it up.  I wanted it to be a change that I could do for the long haul.   This is probably why I was so successful at continuing to run.   I won't complain about the side effects.   I noticed an immediate shift in the way I approached food.   I was now eating until I was full, trying to watch how many calories I consumed, what those calories were.   I lost 25 pounds in the first three months of running, and had more energy too.   I think that the most important thing about my lifestyle change, is that my sons see that I am an active person.   I will keep running for them, in hopes that they lead a healthy active lifestyle.   But I will keep running mostly for me, because I want to be around to see them and their families.

I took my DW wife to the running store last Friday, in order to pick out a new pair of shoes.  Now, I suppoes that my intentions were twofold.  First I wanted her to get a good pair of shoes if she is going to start getting active again now that the baby is here.  Second, I wanted to look at new shoes (read: try out the Kinvara 2).

The guys at the store are awesome.  They runyou through all the normal tests, stand on each foot, walk back and forth, then recommend a shoe.  First, they grabbed her a pair of Adidas and had her move around in those.  After a few minutes, she told him what she felt in those and then he went to the back and worked his shoe finding magic, brought back 4 new pair.  She eventually narrowed it down to a pair of Sauconys and the Asics GT-2160.  After trying both shoes, she settled on the Asics. Thankfully she absolutely loves these shoes.  Now she just needs to go try them out before we set up a training plan for her. 

In the meantime, I asked to try on the Kinvara 2s.  Let me tell you,  I was so excited to try these bad boys on and take them for a test run.  So out of the store I went for a quick little lap.  They felt great, light and airy, like I could take off, fast.  But, there is almost always a but, they rubbed funny.  What is this, why do the tops of my feet hurt?  Nuts, these aren't going  to work for me.  I can't justify running shoes that rub my feet, no matter how light and airy they seem.  I was major bummed, becauase I was dreaming of these shoes.  Back into the store I went and told my sad story.  They brought out 4 more pair for me to try on.  I decidede on the Brooks Launch.  These are nice, light, but not as airy, shoes, that felt great on my feet.  I should have known, I love my other Brooks shoes.  My wife was impressed that I had the where-with-all to recognize a problem with the shoes, and not  be sold on their awesomeness.  Like I said, if I am going to run 400ish miles in them, they better fit right.  So with the purchase of new shoes in hand, I have officially retired my first pair of shoes, a pair of Adidas with 285 known miles on them.  They were starting to hurt my feet on even short runs.  The new shoes will Launch Tuesday, with and easy run (pun most definitely intended) before they take over interval/tempo runs. 

Speaking of intervals, Friday called for 12x400 with 2 minute recoveries.  The first 8 sets were awesome, the energy was there to lightly jog between each interval. But by set 9, I was drained.  Now the intervals themselves were are all run at roughly the same time, within three seconds of each other, but the final four sets I walked the recoveries so that I could push through.  The average for the intervals was an aweseom 1:34, the fastest being at 1:31 and the slowest at 1:38, a great little workout.

Now, for whatever reason, that great workout didn't translate to a great long run Sunday.  I am guessing that between the hard intervals, the early morning Thursday, or the DW reunion Saturday night, the long run wanted to kick my butt.  And it did, I had no desire to get out of bed, but the knowledge that my friend was going to meet me for 10 later drove me to get it started.  Needless to say, I awoke 30 minutes too late to get the 8 in before hand.  So I decided to try to get 16 in.  I got to the park at 6:40 and knew it was going to be tough.  A very slow 6 miles later, and I met my friend, wanting to stop, so it was good he was there.  We headed out for another 6, slowly, then passed the cars again on our way to finish out his 10 with another 4.  This 16 was bad, it was slow, it was long, it was tiring, to an already tired body.  It ended up being a 16.2 mile run in 2:47, eek.  That was 15 minutes worse than my last 16 mile run.  Oh well.  Sometimes you gotta prepay for that amazing run with a few bad ones. 

Pics of shoes will be up soon.

Have fun out there guys.

Pullman Trip (AKA the Bathroom Saga)

My wife and I 'celebrated' our 5th wedding anniversary last Friday.  I say 'celebrated' in the sense that I went out and bought a super mushy card (I never do this) and she bought me compression socks. We decided to take a trip to Pullman, WA this weekend to celebrate, you know, where we met. This was the first time we took the 1 month old (sorry no pics of him from the trip) on a car trip longer than 20 minutes.  A test drive, if you will, as we are planning on taking an 8 hour trip later this month (he was a trooper by the way, slept a lot). 

Friday morning I ran a 7 mile tempo run.  It was a great run; I ran each mile between 8:30 and 8:45, which is probably my goal marathon pace.  It wasn't a true tempo, I feel like I should run those in 8:15 or so, but it was faster than any other distance I did throughout July. 

Saturday morning, I am the 'first' person up (I assume others have been awake and since fallen back asleep this morning), so I put on my shoes head out for a short run.  I manage 3.5 miles in 30 minutes, a great little run before we head out on the trip.  I weigh in after my run, just for fun, I have lost 4.5 pounds in the last month dropping below 200 for the first time , which deserves a dancing banana.  .

For those readers who have  gone through the joys of potty training, I am sure you are familiar with the fear associated with ‘using’ the potty out in public for the first time. For those that are soon to tackle this joyous adventure, let this be a lesson. 

8:30 AM: Oldest kid dressed, youngest one fed, let's get in the car.

9:30 AM: We are finally in the car, Starbuck's coffee in hand, gas tank full, off we go.

10:30 AM: "Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom", so begins the saga. Eastern Washington a brief description:  There is nothing out here.  Once we have turned off the main highway, there are three little hole in the wall towns between the highway and Colfax, WA.  We are about 5 miles from the first little town.  I didn't know that the first town had a rest stop until we pulled up to it.  Bad news, the toilet is clogged, needless to say no bathroom use here.

11:00 AM: At the second hole in the wall town I promise candy if he manages to get over the hump. We spend 10 minutes 'trying'.  Nope, no bathroom use.  I feel bad that we were just going to use the bathroom and buy the candy anyway.

11:30 AM:  At the third hole in the wall town.  We repeat this sequence again, with the same result, but now the youngest child needs to be fed again. We spend 30 minutes in Dusty, WA, google it for fun.

12:30 AM: We finally arrive in Pullman home of Washington State University.  We grab lunch at Cougar Country, then wander up to the WSU campus to walk around, and do some shopping.  Then decide to head over to Moscow, ID, home of the University of Idaho, 8 miles away.

3:00 PM: We get to Moscow, the oldest one has fallen asleep in the 15 minute drive, and the little one wants to eat again.  So we stop at one of the shops there and take care of all our business.  

4:00 PM: We head to my wife's favorite store in Moscow - Tri-State.  Really it is a clothing, shoe, hardware store, and knick knack store.  But it has a lot of cool stuff.  We wander around looking at stuff for a while, then we see the running shoes.  And just as I am about to try on the Kinvara 2s, I hear "Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom."  So I take him. We spend forever in the bathroom, I eventually promise a new movie, if he can eclipse this milestone.  No luck. 

I did finally try on those shoes, AMAZING! I want to go and buy a pair of the Kinvaras right now! They were so light and felt great on my feet.  I am hoping to go this Friday, and get a pair for me and my wife.

Around 6:00 PM:  I took this picture of my kiddo on the WSU football field, he was sad that he didn't get to see the players practice, but this made up for it I think.

T on the WSU logo at mid-field.

We stopped to get snacks at the local grocery store around 7, where... I became the proud owner of the Blue Bird movie, Rio.  Honestly, I think he waited until he got the most he could out of me before deciding to use the bathroom.  It was quite the trip, and I now know where all the bathrooms on the eastern side of the state are. 

Lessons learned: 1) bring the toilet insert, or go before you leave. 2) Drink less liquids.

I was tired Sunday morning, and wanted to hang out with my family, so I skipped my 10 mile run.  I normally would be upset about it, but, eh.  I suppose this has rambled on a bit, and might be a bit more TMI than I should have shared with the community, but I know that a few of you out there can relate to this.

Looking Forward

Wow, I have so much going on this month it is ca-razy!  (You are supposed to read that last word in a high pitched, comedic type voice.)  Before we move on to August's crazy plans, I want to recap the last part of July.

Saturday, was my youngest son's one month birthday!   I forget how quickly time goes by, and how much newborns change in one month, wow!   It was also a month of firsts for me runningwise.  I eclipsed 25 miles in a week for the first time ever, ran 16 miles in one go for the first time, and ran a total of 88.5 miles in the month.   The 16 mile run was Sunday, and I have been splitting up my longer runs with two friends.   This weekend was the first time they split the run equally.   The first 8 miles were at a blistering (for a long run) pace of 9m/m for a total time of 1:12 run with my friend who just started running with us.   The second 8 miles were run with my friend that I trained for the Half-Marathon with.   Those second 8 miles were slow - like 10:15 - 10:30 m/m, slow.   But I didn't care, its about the company and the miles, not the time (yet).  So the 16 miles was run at about a 9:45m/m pace for a total of 2:35.  Overall a great long run. My wife tried to convince me to head out and run that last 1.5 miles Sunday night to get to a nice even 90 miles for the month.   I decided there was no way my feet were going to let the rest of my body move from the couch to the bed much less and extra 1.5 miles.   It was a fun idea though.

So August,   I have a whole bunch going on, and that doesn't just include ramping up to 20 miles in preparation for my first marathon.

This week my wife and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary .  Next week, we are going to her 10 year HS reunion.   Two weeks after that my best friend is flying down from Alaska to attend our 10 year HS reunion.   Really!  I can't believe that it has been 10 years.   I should note that my wife and I went to high schools in the same city, went to the same community college for two years, and did not meet each other until we went to college 150 miles away.   Sometimes the world works in mysterious ways.
- WARNING  : Definitely not running related, uber nerdy talk coming on a completely different sport.  -

To top all that off, with everyone in my fantasy football league in town for the first time in years, we are holding the draft (for those that play fantasy football you know what I mean about having everyone around) at my place.   I love my fantasy football, and I am elated that the NFL has managed to figure out the labor problems (morons).   Mostly I love the fact that my friends and I get to spend the next 4 months bad mouthing each other and then whining about who wins.

Back to running. Finally, the biggest, and perhaps the most important thing, I will be celebrating my Runniversary this month as well.   I will try to keep the sap level down when I write the post for that.   I meant to kick off the month with a 3 mile shake out, easy, run yesterday, but I like to sleep, so I slept.   I got out and ran this morning, nothing too exciting about a 3.2 mile run, other than it helped get those muscles loosen out a bit.    This week is a short, long run week, which means I get to continue to try to add that 4th running day to my week. Ultimately, I want to build to 5, so that I can increase mileage some more.   Baby steps as I gear up towards a marathon.   I will be able to add those days this winter as a way of maintaining mileage.
Have fun out there.

I have intervals on my training plan.  Honestly, I love intervals at some level. But not 800s.  Last week, my training plan called for those annoying little half mile intervals with a 400 recovery.  When I got up that morning, I had zero desire to run those intervals, and it showed when I did them.  I ran the three of the first four at a 3:18 pace, which is pretty cool, considering I was around 4:00 when I first started.  By the end of the fourth interval last week I really wanted to stop running them, head home, and get ready for work.  I finished them, but they were all over the map.

Fast forward to tonight.  I had 6 miles on the schedule, and they were supposed to be 1mile repeats with 800 recoveries.  But I didn't really want to do those miles, I really wanted another crack at those 800s.  Redemption, the theme I kept telling myself as I was running the 800s tonight.  I run using my phone, so all I know is when to start a new interval, not really how fast I am going.  These are the times I after I checked the coaching part of the app on the website.

• 1 - 3:16 - This felt really good.
• 2 - 3:06 - I felt good in the moment, but looking back this was a bit harder than the others.
• 3 - 3:12 - Another good interval.  It was a bit hard but I kept telling myself I was half way there.
• 4 - 3:19 - I know I am slowing down a bit, but don't know how much.
• 5 - 3:20 - Felt good but I know that I am almost out of steam.
• 6- 3:29 - I thought I was moving faster, but knew that this would be the slowest in the end.

When I looked at the rest of the info, I noticed that the recoveries were almost right on with the intervals as far as times went.  After the workout was finished, I felt really good, that feeling you get when you have had an excellent workout, knowing that you put in your best effort.  Redemption was mine; I conquered the intervals that had kicked my butt the week before.

I killed the 16 this weekend to closeout July.  These long runs have been really nice since my friends ahve been helping split the miles up. 

Have fun out there!

Good Neighbor

I was the good neighbor, but we will have to get to that in a bit.  
Last week I was off, physically, mentally, whatever the reason, I just did not feel the exercise demons demanding to be released.   It was my first week back at work since the baby was born and I think the switch from sleeping until 7 to getting up at 5:30 put an odd strain on me.   So needless to say I did not feel like hitting the pavement early in the morning to complete my runs.   Everyday that went by I felt more and more guilty about not running, or really doing anything at all.   Until Thursday, I guess my wife suspected something.  After I got my oldest into bed, I suggested that I might go for a run, and she quickly said, DO IT.  Yes dear!
I
t was after 9 PM when I went out for the run.   I had no plan, no time goal, no distance goal, just go out an try to run for 30 minutes to clear my head (This didn't stop me from taking my phone and using the RunKeeper app).  So I went.   I have run through my neighborhood enough to know rough distances and use this as a guide to choose a stopping spot.   I ran slow and steady maintaining and 8:30 to 9:00 pace until I reached that stopping spot.   Once there I saw that i was at 3.83 miles or something close to that.   Well, now I can't just leave that last .17 hanging there.   So I decided to run down one more street, use the cul-de-sac and make the last bit of distance.

This is where the good neighbor thing kicks in.   As I approach the corner of the next street, I see a guy out in front of his house pushing a trailer towards the side of the house.   There is a pretty steep hill (if you are trying to push a trailer up manually) on the side of his house.   As I run past I start to think that maybe I should go back and help, so I do, I turn back around and run over to his house.   I stop my time and ask if he could use some help, as he as now all but abandoned the trailer at the bottom of the hill.   About 5 seconds after I stop, so, too, does a local police officer, offering his help.   The three of us take about three minutes to push the trailer up the hill to the side of this guy's house.   He thanks us, and we part.   I had reached my 4 mile 'goal'  , so I just walked back to the house.

Now, I am a total believer in karma.   I also believe that some things happen for a reason.   I am not saying that I was meant to go out specifically that night at that time so that I could help that guy, but what if I wasn't out, what would he have done?   Probably just hooked it up to the truck and backed it up the hill.   Either way, apparently it was exactly the run I was looking for, as I felt better physically, but also that I could help someone.

Strange Occurances

Have any of you guys been asked to race?   Let me clarify a bit then.   How many have been asked to race while in their car on the way to work?   (I am looking for a show of hands)  Now how many by a guy on a motorcycle? (Fewer hands I see).

For the record I drive a VW Beetle, new version, and have a short (like 6 miles) commute to work.   This morning, as I am taking my normal route, I get to the stop light at the intersection of the bypass highway here in town.   Stopped next to me at the light is a guy on a motorcycle.   I have my windows down, as it was a beautiful morning here, and the guys looks over at me and asks if I want to race.   I think about it and say "Not, this morning. ""  This seems really strange to me as I am in a lane that goes straight and he is in the left hand turn lane.   How on Earth were you planning on racing me, considering you will get to go first.   I spent the rest of the ride to work thinking about this, and really the rest of the morning.   Later I get a text from my wife, "My friend says to tell you that the motor cyclist that asked to race you this morning was her dad" .".  To which I replied, that makes a whole lot more sense now than it did this morning when he asked me.   (So for those following, or trying to, that would be my wife's friend's dad.)  Of course I told my wife that it kind of made my morning, and that I should have told him yes and then watched him speed away when the light changed for him.   Oh well, got a bit of a story out of it.

In running news, ran 3.3 miles this morning, was supposed to be easy, as this was my first run since the virtual half on Saturday, which apparently means run at 8:20 m/m to my body, not the 9m/m I was aiming for.

In baby news: Still not here.   Closer according to the doctor, but we want to be greedy and make it one more week.   I think my wife might just go insane.

I get to umpire tonight, which should be interesting as we are supposed to be in the 90s today for the first time (it has taken a long time to get to summer here in SE WA).

My (Fake) 13.1 Race Report

When I last rambled on in a post I mentioned that the arrival of my second child was imminent  Last Monday we were told to expect the little one any day, of course here we are a week later, and no baby .  So instead of going to Vancouver to run my first half-marathon, I stayed home so that I could be at the ready when it was time to go.   However, I did run 13.1 miles, it just isn't official or anything like that.   So without further ado, my fake half marathon.

Friday evening I planned out a couple of routes to run 13.1 miles, an out and back in the park along the river, and a romp through my neighborhood, figuring I would just pick one Saturday morning based on how I felt.   Then I checked the weather to see what the hourly forecast would be, the low 60s and cloudy, with rain to come after I planned to be finished.   Perfect.   I was prepared, I got my clothes and gear all set up and ready so all I had to do was get going first thing in the morning.

Saturday, the alarm went off just before 6, and I snooze it a couple of times just because I can, thinking to myself, I can totally turn this off and sleep in for a little bit longer.   I get up a few minutes later and get dressed and ready to run.   I get a water bottle ready and a couple gel packs and at 6:30 I hit the road, 13.1 miles here I come.

The first 3 miles are pretty good.  The first mile is out of my neighborhood down to a paved path, which I can only do 2.5 miles on going out due to construction on the parallel road.   The first 3 miles are good, I am at a 8:20m/m pace and fell pretty confident that I can hold this for while.   Just after mile 3, I get to the stop light that indicates my turn-around back towards the neighborhood.   At mile 4, I slow down to take in the first gel, and am averaging 8:30 m/m.   I come off the path and turn up one of the major roads in my area an keep on pushing towards mile 5.

Somewhere between miles 4 and 6 I must have mistepped, or hit a curb funny along the sidewalk, because I now have a throbbing pain in my left calf and hamstring.   I don't remember doing anything to it, but I am now very sore.   This stretch also has a couple of hills, so between the ailing leg and the hills, I slow down, walking a bit to try to work out the tightness in the leg.   Finally, around mile 6 I ease back into a reasonable pace and my phone chimes at me to indicate that I am at 9 m/m pace.   Fine I think, I can pick this back up and keep going, I could still get through this under 2 hours.

But, instead of working through the pain, the leg gets more tight.   Between miles 7 and 8, I truly think about heading back to the house and icing up as it has now started to rain a little .   I push on, two thoughts keep me going, first, just run three more miles, a 5k then reevaluate, the second, your training partner is going to run this thing tomorrow, how will you feel if he finishes and you didn't even get to mile 8.  I push it, running/walking to ease the pain a bit.   I get to mile 9 taking the other gel hoping that a shot of energy will really help.   The whole time I am visualizing the path I am going to take, trying to calculate the distances of each segment until I can get to 13 miles.

I push past mile 10 at the bottom of my traditional 2 mile loop, thinking, just round this little section twice to get to 11 then back to the top of the hill and around that loop twice and a short jaunt downhill to get to 13.  Just 3 more miles, let's hit some milestones.   I complete the two mini-loops and reach 11 miles as I head up the hill, thinking it won't take long to get to 12.  But it did, it felt like it was going to take an eternity for the phone to beep out that 12th mile.   I check to see where I am, 11.4, Let's go, run this thing out.   So I do, no more walking breaks just pushing as much as I can go .   I run the last two miles under 8:45m/m, and finally coast to a stop at 13.1 finishing with a 9:33 m/m pace and 2:05:05.  I am sore, disappointed, and tired.  I walk home, just a couple minutes and stretch out .

I have to be honest, I am of course disappointed that I didn't get to go to Vancouver and run this race.   I truly think that I would have run it at about 1:50, but the mental shift from running a race and running a glorified long run is remarkable.   My mind is also a little preoccupied with the impending birth, so I wasn't focused on running as much as normally would have been.  Plus I should have taken the flat asphalt path in the park instead of the ever changing sidewalks in the neighborhood.  But, it was important that I get out and run this, to show that I could.   I have another one on the schedule in three months, and my friend who did get to run in Vancouver is talking about another one next month.   There are tons of opportunities to run.

So there you go readers, the race that wasn't, the almost injury that was, and the mental ability to push through it.   On the leg, compression socks Saturday night helped ease the pain in the calf muscle and by Sunday no pain there at all.   Wrapped the upper leg in an ace bandage Sunday to help diminish that pain.   I should be back out for an easy 3 tomorrow or Wednesday.  I need to take some pictures of my "course" and get them up here.   Have a great week guys .

Bloomsday 2011

I have to share.   I haven't felt this great after a run in quite some time.   My last race was a 10k qualifier in March to get the yellow bib at Bloomsday, and it wrecked me.   I had been running off and on throughout January and February while I refereed basketball and had barely been back on my three day a week running habit for three weeks when I tackled the St. Patrick's Day Foot Race, my first attempt at the 10k distance (the great thing about being a first year runner, every race is a PR!).  But I ran myself flat in that race, I was exhausted afterwards.   But I hit my qualifying time for getting a yellow bib for Bloomsday (1:12 finish time).

My build up last week was great!   I have been running a hill down the street from my house in preparation for Doomsday Hill.   I crushed the hill in my short 4 mile tempo run last week, knocking out the run at an 8:20/mile pace, about 10 seconds faster than my normal tempo runs.   Normally I run speed workouts Tuesday (replaced with the tempo run on the hill) and then the tempo runs on Thursdays  I decided that the speed wasn't as important as the hill, so Thursday became a run how you want day.   So I set out with the goal of getting in 4.5 miles in to close out April at 50 miles total, but once I stopped, I realized I had miss calculated my last loop and finished with a 4.2 mile run.   No biggie, as I ran at a 7:58/mile pace.   I considered myself officially ready for the big run.  

Friday was a day off for me, woohoo every other Friday off, so we headed up to Spokane early for some fine dining (Italian Friday and Five Guys Saturday), some shopping. A mini-vacation if you will.   But, as has been the case on my recent trips to Spokane, the weather was not cooperating.   All week I had watched the weather with a forecast of Sunny and about 50F for race time.  So rain on Friday and Saturday was a bit disheartening, especially since I brought only light weight running gear.  Saturday night, I got ready for the run, attached my timing chip to my shoe, bib to my shirt, and just said, "I hope the weather guy is right" .". 

I was up at six Sunday morning to get ready for the race, went down to the hotel lobby for breakfast and saw fog.  Great, fog, maybe this will burn off before we get started this morning.  And thankfully, by the time we got to the mall to catch the shuttle, the sun had broken free and the haze was burning off to reveal an absolutely gorgeous day.  A short ride later I was at the Yellow starting gate ready to run with several thousand other people. 

Bloomsday Start

I have never started a race with this many people, really have never been in a race that involved as many people as were in the yellow starting group.  Needless to say, it took almost two miles for me to fall into a comfortable pace.  My split at mile 1 was 9:45, way slower than I was hoping to get started at.  Next time I checked my pace around mile 4 I was all the way down to an 8:24 pace.  There we go, pretty much right where I wanted to be. 

Doomsday hill is located between miles 4-5 of this race.  And I have to say, my first though upon seeing the hill was that it was terrifying.  I say this because as you run down the hill, you can look up and see the throng of people climbing the hill, which is probably what is so intimidating.  The climb up the hill isn't so bad, though I really had to push myself to keep up the running, and not let myself walk, the hardest part of the race for me.

 

Me on Doomsday Hill

After the hill I felt like I was home free.  And really I was, the finish of this race rolls through some of the local neighborhoods in downtown Spokane, and all the people are out cheering on the runners, playing music, cooking, it was really a great atmosphere and a great place to have a race.  The race finishes on the Monroe St. Bridge overlooking Spokane Falls.  It is quite remarkable to look out over the Spokane River after you cross the finish line and walk to get your finisher shirt.

The Finish Line

As I have said the whole event is quite remarkable, from the trees (see below), to the course, to the hill, to the finishers shirts.  The whole city gets behind this event.

 The T-Shirt Lines

When we got off the bus back at the mall the hostess at one of the restaurants asked where my shirt was, which I proudly stated my wife was holding on to for me.  (I have pictures of me with my shirt but I need to shrink the photos to fit, they will be up in a couple of days).

Bloomsday Trees

The results:  I rocked this run! Running it in 1:03:48, of course being the first time is a PR  Now I have a goal, to get under an hour.  I felt great all week, so I knew I was going to have a great day.  So now on to my next goal, which is completing the Half-marathon in Vancouver, WA next month.  Hoping I can do that one in under 2 hours.  Looking forward to running Bloomsday again next year!

Training

My friend and I are a mere 7 weeks away from our goal of running a half-marathon.  We are running the Vancouver USA Half-Marathon in Vancouver, WA on June 19th.  We have been training since the beginning of the year, officially on a training program since mid-February.  So a handful of wonderful, and/or surprising things have happened during this time.  So I will just rumble on by them as I write this (note I tend to ramble when I write).

The training plan is a based on the FIRST Half Marathon training plan, available here on runnersworld.com.  This plan was appealing to both of us for a variety of reasons, starting with the low mileage, and the three days a week running.  The plan is also only a 10 week plan, though I expanded this plan to fill up just about all of the time we had available until the Half in June.  The first week of the official training was to be the first week of April, giving us exactly 11 weeks to make our way to the goal of running 13.1 miles.  But I didn't want to start this training plan having only run over 6 miles once (My first 10k was the St. Patrick's Day Foot Race back in March).  So I expanded the training plan to build up our long runs gradually from February on.  So this was really more like a 16 week training plan that incorporated speed work, as neither of us had done interval work before, as well as the climb in long runs.

Now, some strange things have happened to both of us throughout this spring of training.  Starting in Mid-March, both us were beset with injuries.  Mine, an ankle sprain, self-inflicted while working on the house, and his an apparent running injury to the right knee.  With my injury I managed to miss only one run, and got back out and worked through some slight pain to stay on target with my training plan.  My friend missed most of a week, before deciding to see a doctor, who prescribed Physical Therapy and an MRI (which he didn't get).  Both of us are back on track, though I have had an interesting month.

The first week of April I came down with a cold, one my son had, and seemed to magnify in length once I got it.  So I managed only a whopping 3.3 miles the whole week, after having completed my best week ever at 15.5 the week before.  Disappointment, as I was getting better and stronger, the missed essentially a whole week.  So I decided I could make up for it the following week, and did I ever, I got out and ran my intervals Monday morning, a day typically reserved as an off day, then was talked into a 5k fun run Tuesday night.  I rocked that 5k, bringing it in an unofficially 24:10, which is almost 4 minutes faster than my PR.  Friday, I added the hill by my house to the run, about a 200 ft climb over .75 miles, almost equivalent to the hill we will be running at Bloomsday in a week.  Then my friend and I rounded out the week with an 8 mile long run, and a total weekly mileage at 17.8.  I felt great, after another strong week.

Then this last week happened.  I missed my speed workout Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday, and said, well I will just get back on track Thursday.  That didn't happen either, though I did some cross-training in on the stationary bike.  I did finally run Friday, the schedule called for a 5 mile Tempo run, I substituted the hill, and got 5.7 in and felt pretty good about that.  Was prepared to go out for 10 yesterday, then was out much too late Saturday night.  Missed the long run with my friend and had to venture out on my own, where I managed a paltry (as compared to his 10.3) 6.6 miles as I decided not to push cramping, tired muscles.  This was so not the week I was looking for as I head into Bloomsday in Spokane this weekend.

Lessons learned last week. 1) Sleep more.  I did not have much good rest last week, and was asleep by 9:30 last night, a good way to start this week.  2) Before long runs, drink more water.  Hydration was clearly a problem Friday and Sunday, as I had cramping issues both days, worse on Sunday.  And 3) Remember, this is fun, don't stress about missed runs and lost mileage.  This is so hard for me, perhaps all of us sometimes, the mileage is gone, focus on what is on this week's schedule and work to that, the body will be well trained even missing a handful of runs.

My Ankle

A couple of weekends ago, March 18, I managed to twist/sprain my ankle while working in my garage.  Lindsey was out and about and I was home with Tyler.  He and I had gone out and dropped off the recycling, returned a few items, bought some screws, and gone to McDonald's.  Once I had him down for his nap I went back out to the garage to get back to work.  I wanted to get the garage rearranged in order to make room for a fridge that my dad would be bringing from his place.  I was in the process of hanging a yard tool rack, had the holes drilled, and was going to move the ladder to get to the last screw, when I decided to miss the last step of the ladder.  I hit the ground with my right foot, twisted my ankle and immediately felt pain. 

Flashback to last May.  Tossing a football around the back yard with my brother-in-law, I managed to land awkwardly on the same ankle.  On a jump to catch the ball, I landed on the ankle such that the sole of my foot was facing the left leg, a pretty bad sprain that took about 6 weeks to heal up. 

Back to the present.  My first thought concerning this latest injury was, "Crap, if this is hurt as bad as last time, and I am going to be off of it for 6 weeks, I am not going to reach any of the goals this spring."  I limped into the house grabbed and ice pack, and texted Lindsey in hopes of getting some sympathy.  Now, I should have realized this injury wasn't as bad as the last one right away considering I was able to get up under my own power and hobble into the house.  Second, after about an hour on the couch, ice and some ibu, there was only a dull ache in the ankle.  So as soon as Lindsey gets home and looks at my ankle, she pronounces is "not that bad" and tells me to get up and walk around on it to see if I can do anything.  Now, what I really wanted was an excuse to watch basketball.  So I got up, and realizing that most of the problem appeared to be in my head, got back to work in the garage.  I finished hanging the yard tools, moving boxes, and generally cleaning up the garage, which is now ready to house a second fridge. 

All in all, the ankle wasn't that bad.  But I am a softy and a bit of a whiner, and my wife, bless her, takes it, but knows when to push back.  So, I got out and did my chores, planted some plants, cleaned the garage, all that, and then Saturday I actually got out and Umpired my first baseball game in about three years.  The game was a Varsity game (I was supposed to do a JV game, but it ended up being cancelled).  I did however, get to skip my long run Sunday (not that I wanted to), in favor of cleaning out Lindsey's craft room, which houses the stationary bike, which I am back to riding twice a week. 

I finally got back out on the road Tuesday, March 22, to try out the ankle.  Tuesday's are speed days on the training schedule, and this was a 4x400, I set up the coaching on my RunKeeper app, and set off to do the work out.  The coaching on the app worked great, as it beeps when it is time to start a new interval.  My ankle was sore at first but once I was warmed up was great.  So Tuesday was a huge success.  Thursday, I got out and did my Tempo run, 4 miles at 8.5min/mile.  I was a bit slow on the last miles which was a bit disappointing, but I did get all 4 miles in.  Then on Sunday, I reached a new milestone, crossing 7 miles on my long run.  It was a great week even after the ankle scare.

I promise to update and share on the training plan which kicks into high gear next week.

St. Patrick's Day

It has been a couple of weeks since I managed to get on here and get my thoughts and happennings into writing.  This has happened for a couple of reasons: 1) I was in glorious Butte, MT for work the week of the 7th, 2) I have been working on baseball umpiring rules and tests, 3) I have a bunch of spring type activities to do around the house, and 4) I ran the first of the three races on my schedule this spring. 

Where to start in the catching up. The race was definitely the highlight of the week, so let's kick it off there. I was up in plenty of time, had a small breakfast and then started getting dressed. At which point, Mr. T was raring to go. He wanted a race number too, and as you can see in the picture, he got one. Mom made him one and we taped it to his "Daddy's Little Helper" shirt and off we went to the race.

It was possibly the nicest morning for a run so far this early spring. The weather was sunny and in the low 50s when I got going. The course started off going downhill away from Kimo's and into Columbia Park, where it followed the foot path for a little over 3 miles and came back. There was a water station near the 2 mile mark (also the 4 mile mark coming back) where I managed to grab a cup of water both times. The second time I stopped long enough to drink the water, walk for a few seconds and then get going again. There were two great things that happened as I finished the race. first, Lindsey and Tyler were sitting about a tenth of a mile from the end and as I am huffing my was towards the finish line I hear, "Yeah, Daddy!" Which was absolutely amazing for me. Second, as I got close enough to see the clock at the finish line I saw that only 54 minutes had elapsed, so I kicked it up a notch an finished my first 10k race at 55:30 seconds according to the clock. My official time was 55:17.5. Wow, I managed to do this under an hour, and qualified for the yellow bib at Bloomsday in May.

It was a pretty good way to finish off the week. Especially after I got done with my business trip to Butte a day early.  I was in Butte to watch engineering scale demonstrations at MSE where they were scaling up the geopolymer we are testing.  After a bad start to the week, where we didn't have success with the initial formulation.  We ended the week on a positive note.  I also managed to get my baseball umpiring rules test done last week too, and am now ready to get going on that this spring.  It is also time to start working on the yard.  I have seeds to plant, a garage to clean, a wheelbarrow to fix, some dirt to move, and sprinkler valves to prep. 

I will be back in a couple of days with a rant about electronic answering services and to update everyone on this week's running activities.