Despite it being hotter than hell this month, I was able to log 140 miles. This is the second most miles I've logged in a single month - January 2008 being the highest at 160. Given that I fell apart physically in February and March, I'm anxious to see how the next few weeks will go. I'm experiencing minor aches and pains, but nothing serious. Mostly, I'm dealing with a sore right arch on my foot and achy knees. Fortunately, my hips are holding up to the increased mileage.
Last night I decided to re-dedicate myself to slowly losing about 10 more pounds over the next 4 months. That'll put me at about 174 pounds on race day. If I happened to get any lower than that I might just start out running with the Kenyans and Ethopians up front. I created an Excel spreadsheet this morning to help with counting calories. This method should ensure that I don't eat too many or, just as importantly, too few calories.
I ended up purchasing about a year's worth of shoes this month. Generally, runners are very particular about their shoes, so when you find one you like its a good idea to buy in bulk. I found great deals online and purchased four pairs of New Balance 768s.
I also registered for the White Rock Marathon taking place on December 14 in Dallas. Jeff Christ planned to run Houston in January, but the event sold out quickly. I didn't want that to happen to me so I went ahead and paid the $107 to get registered.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tagged
I was tagged by a fellow Runner's World Forumite to list 6 random things about myself.
1. I dream daily about taking a trip to Europe - I've never been.
2. My favorite color is green (Kelly Green to be exact).
3. I have two brothers that live in Ireland (they're awesome kids).
4. I played organized baseball from the time I was 5 years old all the way through high school.
5. I plan to run (and hopefully survive) the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 14, 2008.
6. My favorite television show of all time is Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO).
1. I dream daily about taking a trip to Europe - I've never been.
2. My favorite color is green (Kelly Green to be exact).
3. I have two brothers that live in Ireland (they're awesome kids).
4. I played organized baseball from the time I was 5 years old all the way through high school.
5. I plan to run (and hopefully survive) the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 14, 2008.
6. My favorite television show of all time is Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO).
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Marathon Prep
I'm set to begin marathon preparation at the end of June. I've got a day planner in which every run I'll be doing over the 24 weeks of training is written down . I enjoy having the ability to look at any given day and know exactly how far and fast (speed is relative of course) I'm supposed to run. The structure will keep me from making excuses and needlessly moving workouts around - which I do now when I don't want to get out of bed.
Every book, magazine, and website I've read states that first time marathoners should not worry about a time goal. For me, the time goal is a large motivational factor. With that being the case, I've set three seperate goals. One for the best case scenario - perfect weather, great night sleep beforehand, no nagging injuries - which is a 3:30 finish time. My fallback time goals are 3:45 and 4:00. 3:30 is a pretty lofty goal, especially given my history of minor nagging injuries (foot and hip) and lack of experience running 26.2 miles at one time.
I'm using the month of June to increase the consistency of my runs. Over the past few months I've only averaged about 25 miles a week and didn't always get in a decent long run. This month I've structured each week similar to the first week of the official training program. This should help me make it through the first few weeks of marathon training a little easier.
Every book, magazine, and website I've read states that first time marathoners should not worry about a time goal. For me, the time goal is a large motivational factor. With that being the case, I've set three seperate goals. One for the best case scenario - perfect weather, great night sleep beforehand, no nagging injuries - which is a 3:30 finish time. My fallback time goals are 3:45 and 4:00. 3:30 is a pretty lofty goal, especially given my history of minor nagging injuries (foot and hip) and lack of experience running 26.2 miles at one time.
I'm using the month of June to increase the consistency of my runs. Over the past few months I've only averaged about 25 miles a week and didn't always get in a decent long run. This month I've structured each week similar to the first week of the official training program. This should help me make it through the first few weeks of marathon training a little easier.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Still in Austin
Today was my second day of running in Austin. I ran along the hike/bike trial parallel to the river on the south side of town. I ran east until the trail seemed to end (in the ghetto). Then, I ran back to the hotel using Cesar Chavez Blvd. It was an interesting run that allowed me to get a closer look at a part of the city that few people choose to visit. I ended up only running 4 miles according to mapmyrun.com. I plan to get in another decent run this evening to make up the distance I missed.
I've been eating so poorly on the trip that I've taken to riding a stationary bike in the hotel workout room before bed. It allows me to sleep a little better knowing that I worked off some of the guacamole that I consumed.
I've been eating so poorly on the trip that I've taken to riding a stationary bike in the hotel workout room before bed. It allows me to sleep a little better knowing that I worked off some of the guacamole that I consumed.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Austin
I'm in Austin this week for a bus conference. I flew in on Sunday, the 4th, and will be flying out Wednesday afternoon. Before leaving, I decided that I would work hard to get plenty of sleep, eat right, and run during the conference. I usually fail to do all three. Last night I went to bed at about 9:30 - which was a good start. I woke up at 6:00 this morning and headed out for a run.
Unfortunately, my Garmin died about 5 minutes into the run. Somehow the battery went out even though I had charged it for several hours over the weekend in preparation for my trip. I was pretty unhappy at first, but decided to make the best of it.
My hotel is on the southern end of downtown near the convention center (4th and San Jacinto - Residence Inn). I ran north up San Jacinto/Congress toward the Capital building and UT. I enjoyed running through the campus. It was pretty dead at this time of the morning, which I appreciated b/c running in traffic is not much fun. Generally speaking the campus is pretty nice. Much different than Harding, but it has a lot of character for a university of its size (50,000 students I think).
Running around the Capital was fun also. Its a pretty awesome building that puts many other state capitals to shame. After circling the capital, I ran west on 6th street in order to check out REI and the shopping center on the west side of downtown. Of course REI was closed, but I wanted to make sure I knew where it was b/c I plan to head back there during the trip.
After visiting REI, I headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, the hotel has a hot contentinental breakfast and I sure made use of it. The Texas shaped waffles were awesome.
Unfortunately, my Garmin died about 5 minutes into the run. Somehow the battery went out even though I had charged it for several hours over the weekend in preparation for my trip. I was pretty unhappy at first, but decided to make the best of it.
My hotel is on the southern end of downtown near the convention center (4th and San Jacinto - Residence Inn). I ran north up San Jacinto/Congress toward the Capital building and UT. I enjoyed running through the campus. It was pretty dead at this time of the morning, which I appreciated b/c running in traffic is not much fun. Generally speaking the campus is pretty nice. Much different than Harding, but it has a lot of character for a university of its size (50,000 students I think).
Running around the Capital was fun also. Its a pretty awesome building that puts many other state capitals to shame. After circling the capital, I ran west on 6th street in order to check out REI and the shopping center on the west side of downtown. Of course REI was closed, but I wanted to make sure I knew where it was b/c I plan to head back there during the trip.
After visiting REI, I headed back to the hotel. Fortunately, the hotel has a hot contentinental breakfast and I sure made use of it. The Texas shaped waffles were awesome.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
5K
This Saturday I ran my first "race" since the White Rock Half. It was more of a "fun run" than a race. The event was sponsored by the Denton County Health Department as a way to increase the activity of citizens in Denton County. Being the good citizen that I am, naturally I wanted to participate. I also wanted to see how much faster I could run since I've been pain free and have lost weight since my first 5K last summer. Unfortunately, I didn't get an accurate 5k time. According to my Garmin the course was only 2.86 miles rather than the 3.1 which equals 5K. We also didn't wear timing chips so I wouldn't really have an official time even if the course was long enough. On the bright side, the event was a success in that there were a whole bunch of overweight people out there jogging and walking the course. Then they proceeded to eat their body weight in bananas, oranges, and free smoothies after the race.
One important lesson I learned is that I shouldn't eat before a 5K. I didn't throw up my breakfast, but if I had run all-out I think I might have. Even though I held back a little, I still ran decent times over the first two miles. 7:17 and 7:15 respectively. That's pretty darn quick for me. Especially considering my first 5K time was 25:48. I really think with a little speed training and no breakfast I could get close to a 21:00 5K. That would be something.
Other than the 5K running is slow going. I'm in a bit of a rut. I think I overtrained there for a while and my body began breaking down. After taking a break b/c of my foot, it's been tough getting in a groove. I'm going to run 6 miles after posting this. Hopefully that will begin a more productive week.Also - my daughter turns 2 years old in 11 days. That's nuts.
One important lesson I learned is that I shouldn't eat before a 5K. I didn't throw up my breakfast, but if I had run all-out I think I might have. Even though I held back a little, I still ran decent times over the first two miles. 7:17 and 7:15 respectively. That's pretty darn quick for me. Especially considering my first 5K time was 25:48. I really think with a little speed training and no breakfast I could get close to a 21:00 5K. That would be something.
Other than the 5K running is slow going. I'm in a bit of a rut. I think I overtrained there for a while and my body began breaking down. After taking a break b/c of my foot, it's been tough getting in a groove. I'm going to run 6 miles after posting this. Hopefully that will begin a more productive week.Also - my daughter turns 2 years old in 11 days. That's nuts.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Tough Few Weeks
The last three weeks have been tough. I haven't posted anything new b/c I have only been running off and on due to foot pain. The tendons on the top of my foot appear to be bruised, inflamed, or something along those lines. I went to the doctor and received an X-Ray that came back negative. Luckily, it's not a stress fracture but my frustration continues b/c my doctor doesn't know what caused the problem. He just directed me to a podiatrist.
During this down time I joined the recreation center near our house. I started lifting weights and riding the stationairy bike in order to stay in shape. While cross-training is a good thing and will benefit me in the long run, it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to keep building mileage until I could "easily" run 50 miles a week. I've averaged 15 miles over the last two weeks with a few hours of bike riding. Most of those miles were run on the treadmill - which is ridiculously boring (as is the bike for that matter). Fortunately, I do enjoy lifting weights.
My plan is for this to be my first official week back. I ran 6 miles yesterday and four this morning. I'll need to rework my running schedule, but I should be able to get in at least 25 miles this week. Perhaps 30 if I can manage at least 10 miles on Saturday.
During this down time I joined the recreation center near our house. I started lifting weights and riding the stationairy bike in order to stay in shape. While cross-training is a good thing and will benefit me in the long run, it wasn't what I wanted to do. I wanted to keep building mileage until I could "easily" run 50 miles a week. I've averaged 15 miles over the last two weeks with a few hours of bike riding. Most of those miles were run on the treadmill - which is ridiculously boring (as is the bike for that matter). Fortunately, I do enjoy lifting weights.
My plan is for this to be my first official week back. I ran 6 miles yesterday and four this morning. I'll need to rework my running schedule, but I should be able to get in at least 25 miles this week. Perhaps 30 if I can manage at least 10 miles on Saturday.
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