A Thousand Miles Behind Me.....

(picture from http://interconnects.blogspot.com/2007/04/road-to-3-d-chips.html)

I was reviewing my running log today. Since I started logging my runs last January, I have run 1010 miles. Of that, just over 800 miles were run last year. This year to date I have run just over 206 miles. In comparison, by this time last year I had run just 72 miles. I ran more miles in January this year (74) than I ran in the first four months of last year!

This week has been good so far. I did another 8 miler on Sunday. It went better than last week but I was still a little tired. I replaced my Cliff Shots with Cliff Bloks and tried eating one block each mile to spread it out. I think I like the shots better.

The 8 miler was done in 1:36:53, a 12:06 min/mile pace. Heart rate avg was 163, just above my aerobic zone. My goal is to keep my long runs in the aerobic zone - but it is difficult in the heat. And after working 65 hours last week - I think I was a bit tired.

Today was not a scheduled running day, but my daughter is feeling better so we got out for our first run since the Corp 5K. She struggled a bit toward the end but we finished 2.1 miles in 29:50. Her foot is feeling fine so we should be good for Saturday's 5K. We are not as trained up as we hoped, but that is the way it goes sometimes! We will continue to train through the summer and will target another 5K this fall with the goal to run nonstop for the entire race!

I am excited to see so many folks planning for marathon runs this year! It is nice to have this family of runners blogging to encourage each other as we train.

Run strong everyone!

I'm In!!!

I got this email tonight:

Dear Runner,

Thank you very much for registering with the Marine Corps Marathon. We processed your application. The end of June, please check the Marine Corps Marathon website www.marinemarathon.com for confirmation. Please check our website for the free virtual trainer.

Thank you
Marathon staff

I was concerned that if I waited to register online, I might not get in since in recent years this race has filled up so quickly. Fortunately, I had an early entry form from the Disney Marathon expo. I mailed it in this week.

So now it's week 26 of MCM training!

After wrapping up a long work week, I finally escaped the office today around 4 pm. I was pretty stressed so I did what anyone would naturally do, I went for a run! I was supposed to do 3 miles this morning but didn't make it out earlier. I really needed to run off some stress.

I dressed for my run, loaded up my iPod and took off. I knew it was warm but didn't realize just how warm until I got going. 3.2 miles and 36 minutes later I was pretty "done." It was a hazy 88 degrees with 45% humidity. As easy as I tried to run it, my average heart rate was anaerobic at 165 bpm with a max heart rate of 182. Still, I was quite satisfied with having worked off that stress!

So now it's the weekend...and tomorrow I have to go into work :-(

At least it's blue jeans and t-shirt!

Hard work and good runs

It has been an exceptionally busy week at work with 12 hour days - all the more reason to keep up the running. Although I "bonked" on Sunday, Monday and today were great 4 mile runs. They were very similar in pace - today's run looked like this:

Mile 1: 10:51
Mile 2: 11:17
Mile 3: 11:49 (walking break)
Mile 4: 10:39

Final for 4.01 miles: 44:42 min with avg heart rate of 165 bpm.

The runs felt great, and although I feel a bit tired at the start, unlike Sunday, the tiredness fades and I go stronger on the final mile.

What is great is that I am back to running in the morning. I forgot how much I enjoy watching the sun come up. I am convinced that there is more energy in the morning!

Run strong everyone! :-)

Sometimes you're the windshield, Sometimes you're the bug....

Sunday was my day for an 8 mile long run. I have been slowly moving the mileage of my long runs up and beginning to move into marathon training mode. MCM is now less than 27 weeks away. Time to be building my base. Shirley is helping me plan a good training program to aim me toward a 5 hour marathon.

Saturday was a fun day. My daughter had a great time with her friends celebrating her birthday with a bowling party. A few of us adults joined in the fun and rented a lane to bowl a few games. Unlike Susan, I am not (nor have I ever been) an accomplished bowler. I rent my shoes and hope to find a ball that is light enough for my weak arms to roll but with finger holes bigger than a 10 year olds....I ended up with a decent fitting 10 pounder. I bowled three games - the first I scored a 99. The second was something like 82. By the third frame of the third game I had bowled 4 gutters. The guys offered to put the rails up for me but I declined. I managed to pick up the pace a bit with a couple of strikes and a spare to bring my final score to 100. At least I got to 100 (you must realize I bowl about 3 times a year and my career high bowling game is around 135).

The real significance of the bowling was not my dismal scores. It was the muscles in my legs (and arm) that were exercised that normally are not stressed. So when I got up on Sunday morning for my run, my left shin muscles were sore. I am guessing this is from having the left leg support my entire body weight as I bend my left knee and lean down to bowl while my right leg flails awkwardly behind and to the left of me.

Add to the bowling factor that I had not gotten a decent night's sleep for most of last week. Even after sleeping 8 hours on Sat night, I felt pretty tired when I rolled out of bed around 9 am (yep, to bed late again and sleeping in). But, it was time to run and I figured I would wake up after I got going.

Well.....I didn't really "wake" up during the run. I felt tired the entire time. My heart rate rose early in the run and by the end of the first mile I was running anaerobically (for me that is over 162 bpm), in spite of trying to take it easy. By the time I got out on the road (around 9:40am) the sun was well up and it was pretty warm.

So Sunday, I was the bug...feeling kind of smushed as I ran. I thought about cutting the run short, but I was determined to finish the 8 or so miles if I had to walk it (and I had to walk more than I wanted to). The results:

Mile 1: 11:12
Mile 2: 11:44
Mile 3: 12:13
Mile 4: 12:42
Mile 5: 12:58
Mile 6: 12:32
Mile 7: 13:07
Last .88: 12:01

7.88 miles in 1:38:34, average pace 12:30, avg heart rate 166 bpm

I was tired and sun baked (thank goodness for Bull Frog). As soon as I got home, I showered and it was off to go fishing. Needless to say by the time I got home again, I had my fill of sun. Now don't get me wrong. I live in the "sunshine state" and I love the sun - but 4-5 hours in a stretch is a bit much for me to be in it. And I still felt kind of tired. However, this was nothing a nap couldn't cure. So I took a Sunday afternoon snoozer.

Today was my running rest day. Tomorrow a 4 miler before work. So off to bed I go :-)

Running Adventures Episode 3 - The Winter Park Road Race

"We can live lifetimes in a single day
No matter what you do, I love you anyway
You say if you're lost inside; well, I get lonely, too
Even in the worst of times, I give my best to you"
Sheryl Crow in "Lifetimes"

This episode focuses on the Winter Park Road Race, 2 miler and 10K, run on March 24th. My daughter ran the 2 mile race then I ran the 10K. Later we did a training run where my daughter shares her facts about insects including the Bombardier Beetle and certain special types of ants.

Animal research requests can be made to marathonchris@gmail.com

Featured music this week from the Podshow Podsafe Music Network includes:
"Friend" by Robert Costlow
"Whita" by David Gunn
"Run" by Mieka Pauley

The opening music is "Super soul" by 4saisonz and the closing theme is "Adventures of the Deaf Dreamer" by Josh Woodward.

Other mentions this week:

Nigel from Running From the Reaper
Adam from Burning 20

And some of my blogging friends: Susan, Maddy, Shirley, Kevin, Kyle and Petra

Enjoy!

Corporate 5K and Meeting Maddy (again)!

What a super night!! The race results have already been posted and Maddy's team and my team took first place in our respective divisions!!

The weather was perfect for the event. Perhaps a tad warm but not humid and with a breeze. The race start seemed to go much more smoothly this year, but even though I was within reasonable distance of the starting line, it still took me 2 and a half minutes to get to get there.

My daughter (who was celebrating her 12th birthday) and I ran the 5K together. She had some tough moments but she hung in there. Then in the last stretch, totally outran me to the finish. Our time last year was around 47 min. Our goal was to do 45 min or better. Our final clock (not net) time was 43:50 min :-).

Maddy had an awesome finish time as well, but I will let her report her race on her blog. It was great seeing her again - and this time I got a picture.

My job as captain and team coordinator went well. 75 people registered and at least 60+ arrived and participated. Everyone had a great time eating, drinking and enjoying spending time together before and after the race. I am looking forward to recruiting a bigger team for next year. In my spare time of course!!!

Purges, Running and a Corporate 5K

Time for a quick post. Last weekend I missed out on my long run, doing a gallbladder / liver purge. This was one of those homeopathic approaches to cleaning up your digestive system. Without getting into details, lets just say that I spent Sunday in bed (as well as part of Mon morning). The good news is I am feeling just fine today. I am not sure if the purge did it's thing, but so far I am doing great.

Feeling better, I got up early this morning for a 4 mile run. I took it easy since I was still not sure how I was after the purge. I did just fine with the following splits:

Mile 1: 11:01
Mile 2: 11:24
Mile 3: 11:32
Mile 4: 11:02

Total: 4.03 miles / 45:19 min / 11:14 min pace
Avg HR: 160 bpm

It felt really good - and the weather was perfect. Sunny skies and 58 degrees.

Corporate 5K: As captain of my Corp 5K team, I was busy today getting race packets together for pickup in time for the Thursday evening event. I had the help from a few fellow runner / team mates stuffing envelopes with 2 t-shirts (the race shirt and our team shirt) race information and race numbers. We had 73 people register for the event! I finally got the food ordered today and have started to review last minute details. It can be hectic, but we have a lot of fun. I am hoping to run into Maddy again - this time with camera in hand!

Still working on Episode 3 - hoping to get it out by the end of the weekend. Older daughter's birthday coming up so that will keep things busy!

Run strong!

Another Good Run Today

Although my cold is not completely cleared, it has not progressed beyond a head cold, so I decided to get up early for my run. Early, because the forecast called for 85 degrees today (yes, it is very warm and sunny here - I wish I could send 10 or 15 degrees up north for those of you dealing with the cold weather). I wanted to run while it was still cool and I had a busy day ahead.

So I rolled out of bed around 6:20 am. This was significant since yesterday I could hardly get myself out of bed at 7:30 am. But today, I felt "normal" about getting up (normal means that given the choice I would like to sleep in, but it wasn't too hard to get up...if you know what I mean). Anyway, the temperature was about 52 degrees and the sun was just making its way up.

I set off for a 3 to 4 mile run. I felt great and the temperature made the run easy. I felt so good I almost went for 5 miles, but made my turn for a 4.5 mile run to save a little time. I ran the entire distance without walking breaks and mostly in my aerobic zone:

Mile 1: 11:24
Mile 2: 11:29
Mile 3: 11:33
Mile 4: 11:06
Mile 4.5: 5:41

Total: 4.54 miles, 51:14 min
Avg pace 11:17 min/mile
Avg heart rate: 158 bpm

This is a good sign! One of my goals this year is to get my marathon time under 5 hours. That would be an 11:27 min/mile pace. I am on my way to that goal. Practicing my running at an aerobic pace seems to be paying off by extending the time I can keep my heart rate in the aerobic zone. As I shed the cold and my foot continues to improve, I am hoping to do more tempo runs and some speed work. The other goal this year is a sub-30 min 5K.

What a great way to start the day!! After that things went downhill, or so it seemed. I had to turn around half a mile down the road on my way to work because I forgot something, then arriving at work realizing I left my computer home.

I don't know about you, but I can practically do nothing without my computer. After such a great run, it seemed odd that I could be so forgetful. I attended a few meetings and just decided to head home and work from there for the rest of the afternoon (perhaps this was not such a bad deal afterall).

It's off to see the younger daughter's soccer game this evening, followed by some more time with visiting family from NY.

Best wishes to Irish Blue for a great race tomorrow!!!! She is going to rock that 13.1 mile course. A little cool weather can't stop her!! Maddy and I will send up some warmer weather :-)

When in doubt, go for a run!

Thanks everyone for all the good advice. With the sore throat I was doing the salt water rinses...the ONLY thing that would help the pain. I am past the sore throat phase and now in the sinus pressure, stuffy phase. A little nose spray clears things up enough to sleep.

So, I still have the head cold. Fortunately, it hasn't settled in the chest. My legs were aching late today so I figured that maybe a run would help get the blood flowing and get the legs worked out. Maybe, I thought, those good running endorphins can chase some of those aches away. So, I did what any crazy somewhat sick runner would do. I got on my running gear and ran an easy 5K (35:14). The heart got a good workout because of the 84 degree temperature (Florida summer is a coming) but I took it easy - using my heart rate monitor to guide my walking breaks. Overall the run was in the aerobic zone (average 161 bpm).

After the run, my legs still ached, but I felt ok. Hopefully I am on the tail end of this cold.

Of course, my 7 year old now has a sore throat...

Here is hoping some of this warm weather makes its way up north to some of you folks in the colder climes!

A short running break....

(begin whine) After making it through my marathon training season without any illness, one finally caught up with me this week. Not bad - just a head cold. But annoying...

I felt fine during my long run on Saturday. I ran 7.9 miles at an aerobic pace. I was a little congested but not more than normal when there is extra pollen in the air.

Later that evening while visiting with family, my throat started to hurt.

The next day the throat hurt alot (yes, I am a baby). I took Sunday off to visit with family. I figured I would run Monday.

Monday - throat still a bit sore and no time to get out for a run - another day off.

Tuesday - another day off - sore throat gone but pressure in sinuses. The cold is taking aim at my chest so this is a critical time - whether I will be over it in a few days or another week. Today was another busy work day...AND I left my running stuff at work!

Sigh...maybe tomorrow. I can't stand not running. It has been raining for about 3 days now...this is NOT my Florida. I can't stand lack of sunshine. (whine off)

In the meanwhile, my daughter's heel has been sore since the Winter Park Road Race. We have been giving it a break so we can do the Corporate 5K next week. I am the captain for our corporate 5K team (in case I didn't have enough to do!). We have around 75 runners signed up. It is going to be lots of fun!

Working on Episode 3. I am not sure what the title will be, but I have downloaded some great music to use for the next few episodes.

Run well all!!

Running Adventures Episode 2: Back to Nature

Well this podcast has been a long time coming. I was about 85% completed when my computer crashed. But now that I have my computer back (and some time) I am able to publish Episode 2. It is a bit longer than my target 15 minutes but you will see why it was hard to leave anything out (and I cut lots).

Much of this episode takes place at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville, Florida. We went camping from March 10-14th. I take you on a couple of runs and a walk. After returning, I ran with my daughter on our noisy Lockwood Blvd. The comments toward the end were done at the campground - sitting on a picnic table near a lake early on a sunny warm morning.

References in the podcast:

Adam Tinkoff of Burning 20 - http://burningtwenty.com
Susan - http://irunformylife.blogspot.com
Kevin - http://kevin-bonks.blogspot.com
Nigel of Running from the Reaper - http://runningfromthereaper.blogspot.com

Music:

Opening - "Super Soul" by 4saisonz
Closing - "Adventures of the Deaf Dreamer" by Josh Woodward

During the podcast the instrumental music is from Scott Wilder - a piece called "River Run"

Enjoy!

Meeting Dean

If you have ever read the book "Ultramarathon Man" or heard of the Endurance 50 (running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 consecutive days, then you know who Dean Karnazes is. Tonight, my daughter and I got a chance to meet him in person!

We got to Stetson University about an hour before the talk and he happened to be inside setting up. We came in, met him and had a chance to chat with him, just the two of us, for about 10-15 min. Then we let him get back to preparing while we wandered across campus to get a quick bite.

When we returned about 40 min later, the hall was beginning to fill up and Dean was out of the area. We should have gotten our book signed while we had him all to ourselves....and a few pictures too! But we were happy we got some time just to talk. My daughter told him what a fan she was and how she had started running. He told us about his son running 9 miles on his 9th birthday!

We still managed to get a great seat near the front and right at the center stairway. This proved strategic for getting the book signed later. He showed a clip of his interview on the David Letterman show, then talked about his running and how he got got started. He then addressed questions he is typically asked and then opened the floor up for 30 minutes of open questions. It was great. Interesting facts we learned:

- Dean's resting heart rate is 38 bpm
- His favorite race was the 35th marathon in his 50-50-50 on his son's birthday when he ran the last 9 miles of the race with his son
- Longest continuous running distance is 350 miles
- Favorite ultra race is the Western States 100 miler
- Last year he went through about 40 pairs of running shoes
- In preparation for the 50-50-50 he ran 4 100 mile races and 8 marathons

After the questions we were first in line for the book signing!!!

We had a great time!

It's Back!

I have my computer back! Now to find some time :-)

Stay tuned...