Life 1, Marathon 0

Let me explain myself. Sorry for pretty much disappearing for the past week. First, I have obviously stopped doing the Life v. Marathon posts, I have to concede victory to Life. Due to my bum leg I missed 2 full months of my marathon build-up and decided it wasn't the best idea to run a marathon next month. Don't worry, there shall be other marathons.

Second, I've been crazy busy this past week moving. I'm officially out of the hood and in the woods. I realized some people will find time to run no matter what life throws at them, but with my ruined leg and the move I felt it was just something that was going to have to wait. Good news is, with all the rest (or at least not running) my leg feels back to normal.

I did an exploratory 5k in town today and it seems promising, or maybe it was just the change of scenery. From my initial outing it appears I'll be running in streets that are filled with the type of people that will pull up beside me and ask, "Whatcha runnin' from?".

Life v. Marathon Day 95

Another rest day. I could get use to this, just kidding. Everyday that I don't run I feel that I'm doing myself an injustice. I'll be back at it tomorrow with another 5 miles.

Life V. Marathon Day 94

Sunshine beating down on me, every inch of my body covered with sweat (sorry, bad mental picture), it feels good to go on a mid-day run. I did another easy 5 miler today and the leg still feels good, I'm hopeful, maybe I'll be able to run fast again.

I'll do the same thing tomorrow: 5 easy miles.

Life v. Marathon Day 93

Rest day. Remember, I'm only running 5 days this week.

Life v. Marathon Day 92

I did a little over 5 miles this evening and still no pain in the calf. I'm not necessarily the most social guy around, but I have grown to enjoy seeing tons of people I know out running and riding. Most days I can be running and  out of nowhere I hear my name yelled out, I guess that's being part of a community. I'm going to miss that when I move.

What? Yes, I'm moving. To the middle of nowhere, where you'd think the running would be great, but sadly it's not. I will no longer be able to just step outside and run. There's a 3 mile road between me and good running. Why can't I run down this road you ask? Because of the pack of feral dogs that patrol it, and I assume, eat any runner that decides to venture down it.

You're probably also going to ask why I would choose to move to this place where the dogs are feral and the running is a challenge? Well...that's a topic for another post.

Life V. Marathon Day 91

Pizza and beer. Why? Because I ran 5 miles today with no pain in my right calf, and that my friends is cause to celebrate. I'm going to have to remind myself constantly to take it easy. So if I say I'm going to run a 15 miler any time in the next few weeks, feel free to reach through the computer and slap some sense into me.

Tomorrow, more of the same: 5 miles easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 90

Not much running action today. I did go out on the driveway and jog back and forth to test the leg. The test went well, I felt no pain. I only ran 8 miles for the week and took a total of 5 days off.

I'm going to try to run 5 days this week, hopefully, all will go well.

Life V. Marathon Day 89

Another day off from running. Hopefully, all this rest will reset these issues I've been having with my leg. I feel awful everyday that I don't run.

Life V. Marathon Day 88

No running today. Still trying to be as cautious as possible with this leg.

Life V. Marathon Day 87

Missing running with some runners club peeps, I decided to head to the track for mile repeats this evening. Don't worry, I only did 4 miles at 7 minute pace, no fast stuff. I'm going to stick to this low intensity, low miles thing for a while, until my leg is feeling better.

Who knows, if I cancel my marathon, maybe I'll do Lake-to-Lake. Anyone need a pacer?

Life V. Marathon Day 86

It's like starting all over again. I'm going to err on the side of caution this go around. If you've been following, you'll know that my right calf has been bothering me for about 6 weeks now. When I first noticed it I stopped doing speed work for a couple weeks. That didn't work, so I took a few days off. That seemed to work, but a week later I did a speed workout and it came right back.

So now I'm here, I just took 3 days off and for my first workout back I did 4 easy miles. My leg felt okay. I'm pretty far into my marathon training plan, that means my weekly mileage should be way up there, but my body is just not cooperating at the moment. At this point I'm not 100% sure I'll be ready for my marathon on November 27th. If push-comes-to-shove, and I don't feel healthy, I'm going to drop this one.

Life V. Marathon Day 85

Still no running. I will attempt a run tomorrow. Hopefully, no leg pain. Wish me luck.

Life V. Marathon Day 84

Blerg.

Life V. Marathon Day 83

No running today. Not happy about it. Stupid leg.

Life V. Marathon Day 82

I only made it 5 miles out of 10 today. Due to my leg, I may be forced to make a tough decision.

Life V. Marathon Day 81

Back in the hood and suffering from some fo real jet-lag yo! I didn't start running until 10 pm tonight. I did a modified version of the Lake-to-Lake 10k course. Since it was so late I wanted to avoid any drunks downtown (I was still chased by a drunk lady), so I changed up the route a little. Feels good to be home.

Tomorrow I'll run 10 miles easy. Hope to see you out there.

Life V. Marathon Day 80

My first day back in the states and I was still running in unfamiliar territory. I'm at my lady-friend's, and she lives way outside of town. It was the first time I've run out here and I got a little turned around.

I drove to a nearby park to start my run. It looked like it was about to rain, but I wasn't too worried about it. Then an impressive lightning storm started so I decided to cut my run short. Only one problem, I took a wrong turn. I just keep running

Before I knew it I was running in the dark down some country road and I had no idea where I was. I knew that I could just turn around and go back the way I came, but that's not how I operate. I always think I can get myself out of whatever situation I get myself into. I just keep running.

I figure I need to make a turn to get back on track, so I take my next left. After about  mile I run smack into a dead end. Now I have to run back a mile and get back on the road I was previously on. I just keep running.

Eventually I ended up on a road I recognized and it was about 3 miles from where I needed to be. Once I was back to where I started, I was happy with the distance I ran. While lost, I think I discovered my mantra, "Just Keep Running".

Life V. Marathon Day 79 (Japan)

For my last morning here I have decided to skip my run. I think I did enough damage yesterday. With 20 hours of traveling ahead of me, the last thing I need to be doing is nursing an injury. I woke this morning with what is becoming the all too familiar pain in my right calf. After a week of great running all it took was one speed workout to mess me up.

I've had a great time here in Japan and hope to return soon. It was wonderful to spend time with my son and I'm going to miss him like crazy.

Life V. Marathon Day 78 (Japan)

It's been a while since I've done any speed work, so I thought I'd try it out. My plan was to do a mile warm-up, 3 mile repeats at 5:30 pace, and a mile cool-down. After the second mile repeat I started to notice some pain in my right calf again, so I jogged it out for the last 2 miles of my workout. I'm starting to think this calf thing is never going to go away.

It's my last full day in Japan, so I'm going out to explore a bit.

Later in the day I was able to check out another one of my son's soccer practices.

Then we went out for Indian food again. It was tasty!

Life V. Marathon Day 77 (Japan)

Today was not a good day for running. I felt bad from the start. After a couple miles I was still just not feeling right, then I stepped off a curb weird and felt a shock go up my back. So I hobbled back home and ended up only doing 3.5 miles out of 7.

I did manage to get out a few hours later to check out some more of Yokosuka and grab some lunch.

It's very important to know what color cow I'm eating!

I realize that while I have been in Japan my posts have strayed a bit from running, but I just want to share some of the stuff I'm doing while here. My son, Don, was dying to take me to the 100 Yen sushi place that he loves, and I have to say, it was pretty cool. All the plates of sushi were 100 yen, basically a buck. Check out this fried squid that I had:

Life V. Marathon Day 76 (Japan)

The running community is truly amazing! I think no matter where you are in the world you're going to find runners that are supportive and encouraging. I did a 15 miler this morning on a 6 mile loop. I ran by a group of ladies a few of times. The first time it was hellos, the second time we exchanged words of encouragement "Looking good", the third time I passed them they were finished and chatting at their car, all of a sudden they are hooting and hollering and cheering me on. Where else can you find this level of camaraderie (good thing I have spell check) amongst complete strangers?

This is post-long run breakfast done right! Yes, that is sparkling wine!

I was going to head into Tokyo, but that plan was ruined. There was a protest that surrounded the naval base I'm staying on, so I was not able to leave the base.

Life V. Marathon Day 75 (Japan)

It was one of those mornings that feel so wonderful you could run forever. It was 70 degrees with 50% humidity when I started my run. I was definitely feeling like a running tourist today, just running around looking at everything and taking it in.

This was the view from a steep hill about 3 miles into my run. May not be the prettiest vista, but it still feels nice to survey your surroundings once you've conquered a hill.

Venturing out in town, I came across this nice park. I'll have to investigate it further when I'm not running. I ended up doing a little over 7 miles. Tomorrow I run 15 miles.

After my run I was able to check out my son's soccer game.

Life V. Marathon Day 74 (Japan)

I've run here 3 times now and every time the weather has been different. The first day was typhoon conditions, the second was sunny and hot, and today was like fall; cool and breezy. I did 7 miles this morning, breathing in  the cool ocean air while running along the seawall.

My son started to feel sick last night and woke this morning feeling really bad, so we stayed in today. Hopefully, he's feeling better for the weekend so we can go exploring.

We did manage to get out and have some great indian food. I had Chicken Masala with Nan and a Kingfisher Beer.

Holy Smokes! Look at the size of that Nan! The restaurant had an appropriate name, "Delicious".

Life V. Marathon Day 73 (Japan)

Typhoon Roke came  through last night. It passed north of where I am at so it wasn't that bad here, we had about 60 mph winds with some higher gusts. It's been gray and rainy since I arrived, then I woke up to this:

The sun comes up pretty early here, about 5:30, so by the time I headed out for my run at 7:30 the sun was high in the sky. It was as if I got out around 10 in the morning back in Florida. I did a 1 mile warm-up, 8 miles at MP 6:05, 1/2 mile cool-down.

After my run I was able to take a walk in town. I was on a walking path above the street in this picture. I was thinking of grabbing some lunch, but it was a little early and not many restaurants were open.

So I stopped in a convenience store and grabbed this. I also bought a green tea to have with my lunch and a beer to enjoy after.

After my son came home from school we went to soccer practice. It was cold and windy.

We went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Coco Curry. It's basically a fast food curry place. I did not have the Hot Energy Curry, apparently created by a wrestler. Instead I had this:

Delicious, but I'm not quite sure how well my stomach will feel on tomorrow's 7 miler.

Life V. Marathon Day 72 (Japan)

Because I didn't sleep on the entire trip here, I was able to get a full nights sleep and, hopefully, I won't suffer any jet-lag.

While in Japan I'll be staying with my ex-wife (pays to split amicably) and my son on Yokosuka Naval Base. Pictured above is right outside their apartment, and where I started my run this morning.

A portion of the path along the seawall turns into a grass path, which was great. In the background you can see the battleship Mikasa. This was Admiral Togo Heihachiro's ship during the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, it is now a museum. It was about 68 degrees and rained off and on during my run, but it felt great. I ended up doing 8.42 miles at 6:35 pace.

One of my favorite things about Japan is that there are vending machines everywhere you turn. While running you should always carry a couple hundred yen. You can get hot or cold drinks in a lot of the machines. I chose a refreshing sports drink after my run.

Life V. Marathon Day 71

Nothing to report today. I spent the last 28 hours traveling. There was just no energy or time to run.

While I was happy to be off the plane, I still had a 2 hour taxi (pictured) ride in Tokyo rush-hour traffic.

I seem to have great timing; there's a typhoon heading towards Tokyo. The typhoon may effect my planned track workout with a Tokyo running club. I can't even think about that right now, I must get some sleep.

Life V. Marathon Day 70

I ran 9.4 miles this morning. Becase I have to be at the airport at 5:30am I am going to run at 3am tomorrow, 6 miles.

Life V. Marathon Day 69

I almost forgot what it is like to run without pain. I wanted to get back on track with my training plan, so I ran 10 miles. I did it at 7:21 pace, which is about 30 seconds slower than I was running before I took a few days off to rehab my right calf. Let my mistake be a lesson to you; going too hard without proper recovery can lead to disaster.

Tomorrow I'll do another 10 miles at easy pace. I have to figure out how I'm going to get my run in on Monday, I have to be at the airport at 5:30am!

Life V. Marathon Day 68

I have now taken three days off from running, and I feel horrible. I'm going to run tomorrow morning. I hope three days off was enough to take care of this problem with my calf. Wish me luck.

Life V. Marathon Day 67

Since I'm taking a few days off to rest my calf, I've found I have a couple extra hours to kill. I also need some material to blog about. So I've decided to do a movie review:

If you enjoy sentimentality, cliché, and advertising; then you'll love UltraMarathon Man. This film follows Dean Karnazes as he runs 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. Mostly, it seems to be about wearing The North Face gear, drinking Cytomax, eating GU, and I got a little bit of an idea that it was suppose to inspire America's youth to get out and run. It also gave a venue for people to quote whatever they read on their "Daily Inspiration" calendar that day.

I will say that Karnazes' story about discovering running is pretty cool, and he is definitely a positive force in the running community. It was just hard to really get into the story of the challenges and triumphs of his run when you're constantly seeing close-ups of his shoes, clothing logos, and fueling choices. At one point they're filming him preparing his breakfast, and the box of cereal with his picture on it is in the frame the whole time.

Hopefully, someone saw this film and was inspired to run and not just go out and buy the products featured in the film. I think that Karnazes is truly sincere about spreading the message of good health, but you have to pay for that message somehow. Let's face it, if you are able to do what you love and one way to do that is to pimp some gear, most of us would be all over it.

Life V. Marathon Day 66

What do people that don't run do with all their time? I was stir crazy all day today. Things got fixed that didn't need fixing. Hopefully this calf gets better, because I don't think my lady-friend wants to put up with me being hyperactive around the house for too much longer.

Life V. Marathon Day 65

I may be the most stubborn person I know. I've been ignoring this calf issue for weeks now, but I think it refuses to be ignored any longer. I was suppose to do 14 miles today (the 14 that I have been putting off for a couple days now), but I could only manage 10 miles.

I had to stop running for a few minutes and when I started running again I was limping. Limping is bad. I'm envisioning my marathon goal going up in smoke. I'll be taking a few days off from running, but I will still be blogging.

I've got a trip to Japan to plan!

Life V. Marathon Day 64

Well, I've put off running my 14 miler once again. I think this is as long as I'm able to put it off. I did 5 easy miles this evening, mainly because I'm just not feeling 100%. I'll tackle 14 miles tomorrow.

I'll leave you guys with something funny. I guess the photographer missed me as I went through the finish line on Friday, so he just pasted me in.

Life V. Marathon Day 63

I decided after I started running this evening to switch today and tomorrow's run. After doing four races this weekend I found I just didn't have it in me to run 14 miles. I ended up doing almost 6 miles at recovery pace.

I've been doing some research and it looks like I may be able to do some group runs while in Japan!

Life V. Marathon- Japan Edition

Next Monday Running in the Real World will be taking a field trip. I'll be heading over to the other side of world to see how the running is there. All entries from Sept. 19th - 28th will follow my journey to and in Japan.

How will I stick to my marathon training? Where will I run? Who will I run with? And most importantly, What delicious foods will fuel my run? These questions and more more will be answered as I experience them.

The main reason for the trip is to spend time with my son. He lives there, so this is a rare opportunity for me to see him. Hopefully, I can get him to join me on some runs, and share my love of the sport with him.

Life V. Marathon Day 62

I'm going to add to this post after every race today.

1 mile race, 7am:

Started the morning with a 2 mile warm-up, then it was time to race. Actually, I started the morning off with coffee and an application of BodyGlide to my chaffed nipples. Nipples safe, I ran the 1 mile race in 4:55.

With 1 1/2 hours between races I had enough time to take care of a few things. I was able to blog about the first race, have some more coffee, take a poo, and apply more BodyGlide to my tender bits.

2 mile race, 8:30am:

Lighter on my feet and nipples protected, I headed off for the start of the 2 mile race. The starting line for this race is about 1 mile from my house, so that gave me enough of a warm-up. I believe this is the most challenging race of the series, plus, it has a nasty little hill right at the end. I ended up doing either 10:36 or 10:40, depends on who you ask. Since the technology of my Garmin seems to be over my head, I can't tell you what my time was (I pushed some buttons and messed everything up).

I'm going to eat some protein (eggs to the layman), then take a nap. Next race is a 5k at 7pm.

5k, 7pm:


I had a comfortable lead coming into this last race so I just set the cruise control and ended up doing 17:38. Overall it was a good series, I just hope I have the energy to do my 14 mile run tomorrow.

Life V. Marathon Day 61

Finished the first 5k of the Aching Quad series in 16:43. Tomorrow at 7am is a 1 mile race, then a 2 mile race, and in the evening is another 5k.

I wanted to get all my miles in today so I ran 5.5 miles before this evenings 5k. It should be no problem hitting my mileage tomorrow, 8 miles, with the three races and warm-ups.

Congratulations to Katy, Running in the Real World's #1 fan, she ran a PR at this evening's 5k!

Life V. Marathon Day 60

Well, I said I was going to do 9 miles, but I ended up doing a little under 5 miles. Sometimes you're just not feeling it. I thought it better to save myself for racing this weekend.

Tomorrow starts the "Aching Quad". I'll warm up with 5 miles then I'll do a 5k in the evening.

Life V. Marathon Day 59

Cloudy with light rain. Perfect. Non-runners probably think this weather stinks, but most runners think this is great weather. 

I did 10 easy miles this evening at about 7:10 pace. Tomorrow I'll do 9 miles.

Life V. Marathon Day 58

I've got a problem, and that problem is speed. And I'm not talking about drugs, but like a drug, I can't seem to kick this habit of running fast. With my right calf still bothering me, I should be doing runs at 7:15 to 7:25 pace. I did 8 miles this evening at 6:40 per mile!

Most of you are probably saying, I wish I had that problem. I'm telling you, sometimes it's not a good thing. It can really start to wear on your body after a while and you can end up overtrained. If I continue to run these paces day in and day out, I'll end up fatigued and my body will not be able to recover from my quality workouts.

So...tomorrow is 10 miles easy 7:15 to 7:25 pace. It's going to take more concentration on my part to stay at this pace.

Life V. Marathon Day 57

Did an easy 6 miles this evening. My right calf is starting to feel better. Hopefully, it is 100% by Friday so I can race.

Since I'm planning to race on Friday and Saturday, I'm switching the Tuesday workout for Saturday's. That means tomorrow I'm doing 8 easy miles.

Life V. Marathon Day 56

Knocked out 9.5 miles this morning, now I have the rest of the day to relax. Breakfast comes before relaxing though, and I'm thinking bacon!

More easy miles tomorrow.

Life V. Marathon Day 55

Just an easy 10 today. I did it at 7:01 pace and my calf wasn't as bad today. I have to keep reminding myself to stay at an easy pace. I guess it's a good thing that faster paces are feeling more comfortable, but I don't want this calf thing to turn into something more. That means sticking to the easy miles for a while.

Life V. Marathon Day 54

No excitement today, just an easy 6 miles. I'm going to continue hitting my mileage at easy pace for the next week.

Hopefully, all pain in my calf will be gone by next Friday. I'm planning on doing a local race called The Aching Quad, which is 4 races in 24 hours. That's a 5k, 1 mile, 2 mile, and another 5k in 24 hours. If you want more info on the race, go to http://www.lakerunnersclub.com/.

Now it's time to drink some PBR and paint.

Life V. Marathon Day 53

Well, my right calf continues to bother me. I was able to do my marathon pace run this evening, but I think I'm going to make some adjustments to my training. I'm going to maintain the mileage, just change the pacing a bit.

For the next week I'm going to be doing all my runs between 7:15 and 7:25 per mile pace. Hopefully, I'll see some improvement in my calf.

One more thing: It's nice now that school is back in, we have live music for the track workouts.

Life V. Marathon Day 52

I thought it best to stop after 30 minutes of running today. I planned for 10 miles today, but I only did 4.5. I've been having trouble with my right calf lately and I wanted to save myself for tomorrow's 6 miles at marathon pace.

Life V. Marathon Day 51

Today was speed. I did 1.5 mile warm-up, 3 miles of 400s and 800s, 1.5 mile cool-down. I was feeling good tonight and did the intervals a bit fast. I need to be careful with doing that. I'll pay for the speed on another workout.

Tomorrow is 10 miles easy. This is becoming my favorite run.

Life V. Marathon: Potty Mouth

Bathroom humor has a pretty steady presence on my blog, however, I do feel that it is an easy and cheap way to get laughs. And I would love to stop writing about it, but it just keeps pooping popping up. If running has done anything, it has magnified my attention on preventative bathroom usage. I'll delay a run for as long as it takes to make sure I avoid issues involving No.1 and No.2. If you need to find me before a marathon, it's a safe bet that I'm waiting in line to use the Port-O-Jon. If I cut out of a run early, chances are good that I'm making a beeline to sweet relief.

Now I have found a new problem with having to "do the doo" in the middle of a run: Paper Goods. I hate to use public facilities to go No.2, even worse are park restroom, which is where I found myself recently. About 5 miles into a very sweaty run my stomach started talking to me. It said, "Hey buddy, you better pull over. We've got to let this hitchhiker out.", and I listened.

The restroom was actually pretty clean, which is rare for a park restroom. The problem arises when I tried to grab one of those paper toilet cover things. I'm soaking wet from sweat and the fact that I'm in a room with no air circulation is making it worse. Paper and sweat don't mix. The first one just tore apart in my hands, I got the next one out and quickly discovered I could not let go of it. The last one I did manage to get out and put on the toilet. I did my business and now I was faced with my next set of problems.

When I went to wipe, I realized the toilet cover was now stuck to my butt. So I start pulling it off, but it only wants to come off in quarter size chunks. My legs are already tired from running, now I'm trying to maintain this squatting position while pull little bits of paper from my ass and my legs are starting to quiver. This is no fun my friends. Finally, I get it all off and wipe. The toilet paper has now stuck to my hand. Luckily, it only takes a few vigorous shakes to free it from my hand.

I leave the restroom exhausted, then realize, I still have 7 miles to go.

Life V. Marathon Day 50

I just did an easy 6 miles this evening. I'm having a little trouble with my right calf. Hopefully, some ice and compression will help it.

Tomorrow is speed day. 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles intervals, 1 mile cool-down.

Life V. Marathon Day 49

I ran 12 easy miles today. I didn't get started until about 11am, it was cloudy so it was still cool. I'm having some slow internet issues so I'll write more later.

Life V. Marathon Day 48

Good thing I was really only supposed to do 6 miles today instead of 10. At about mile 7 the poopy monster hit me hard. I thought I would relieve myself with a pee, but it just wasn't enough. I ended up aborting the run and (turtle) headed home. Sometimes I can be an unreliable running partner, this was one of those times.

Tomorrow is 12 miles easy. Hopefully, I'll make it.

Life V. Marathon Day 47

It's the Dog Days of Summer, at least it was on my route this evening. I had not one, not two, but three dogs chase me this evening. Funny thing is, I have never even come across a dog on this route, and I've gone this way at least fifty times. Luckily, two of the three were friendly and just wanted to tag along, and the third was on a chain. The one on the chain, I believe, thought I was a steak.

I did 7 miles easy and .22 sprinting until I realized I wasn't going to be eaten. Tomorrow I'm doing 10 easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 46

These marathon pace days are harder than I thought they would be. I did 6 miles MP today with a mile warm-up and cool-down. Nothing interesting this evening, sorry.

Life V. Marathon Day 45

The weather was beautiful for a 10 mile run this evening. Tomorrow is my marathon pace day, 6 miles at 6:05 per mile.

Life V. Marathon Day 44

Running in Florida during the summer you will either be soaked in sweat or soaked by the rain. I don't know about you, but I prefer the rain. It was a lonely evening at my local track where the Runner's Club usually meets to do speed work.

I ended up doing a ladder workout: 400,800,1200,1200,800,400 at 5:30 pace. There was none of the usual heat-induced suffering because of the rain. For everybody that missed this wonderful workout- Man Up, that includes you ladies. 

Tomorrow I'm doing an easy 10 miles.

Life V. Marathon Day 43

Conventional wisdom says, if you miss a run don't try to make it up. You're suppose to just forget it and stick to your training plan, but since when do I follow conventional wisdom. Instead of doing my usual Sunday long run yesterday I chose to hang out in the pool and drink margaritas, and I don't regret it.

I believe the long run to be the most important part of marathon training, so I couldn't just skip it. As I laid in bed with a margarita buzz, I devised a genius plan; I would run twice the next day. The way I figured it, there would be a full 12 hours between runs, so I would be fine.

I was out the door by 7am to make up my 10 miler I missed yesterday. Then at 7pm I did my 6 miler that was planned for today. I will say that both of these runs were at an easy pace. If it were a long run followed by a speed workout, I would definitely advise against this.

I hope there's no professional running coaches reading this blog. I'm pretty sure they'd think I'm an idiot.

Life V. Marathon Day 42

Margaritas and beer.

Life V. Marathon Day 41

I woke this morning with an aching body and a bad attitude. My alarm went of at 4:30 am, I turned it off. I finally dragged myself out of bed at 6:15, I had to be at the starting line of a 5k in 45 minutes. All I had time to do was drink some Gatorade and hit the toilet, then it was out the door.

It's 1 1/2 miles from my place to the starting line, enough to get a bit of a warm-up in before the race. Even at the starting line I felt half asleep and stiff, not feeling up to racing. A friend from out of town lines up next to me, he runs about my pace, I decide I'll just fall in behind him as the race gets under way.

We hit the 1 mile mark at 5:17, usually I go out way too fast and arrive at the mile mark around 5 minutes. I feel the urge to pass my friend, but stick to the pace and stay put. It was right at the 2 mile mark when I decide that maybe I do have enough energy to run a good race. I swing around my friend, the person at the 2 mile mark yells out 10:37.

Now alone in the final mile, the only thing left to battle is the voice inside my head telling me to slow down. I feel my achy legs,I give up a little speed. Not this time I say to myself, and then out-loud I say "Get over it". I regain the speed I gave up and cruise into the finish. I ran 16:35, a PR.

Life V. Marathon Day 40

Today was payback for last night's adventures in the rain. Not only was I sore, but I am chaffed in more places than I originally thought. Not the easiest 6 miles I've done.

Tomorrow I'm doing a 5k race, so that will be my speed day for the week. Hopefully, I'm not as sore tomorrow as I am today. Good luck to everyone racing in the morning.

Life V. Marathon Day 39

Welcome to Chafe Town, USA.  Located in the lush tropics of my crotch, its average annual temperature is a balmy 98.6 degrees. Population 3. It was an extremely wet run this evening, in case you don't live in the area and didn't notice the rivers flowing down the streets. And wet equals chaffing.

Besides the chaffing, I had a great run. When I set out I knew it was going to rain, but I didn't know it would be a monsoon. I felt like a running superhero out there; high-stepping it through knee deep rivers that were once streets, being pelted in the face with stinging rain drops, and my insoles sliding around in my shoes, bunching up and hurting my toes. All the while I held my pace, 6:05, for 6 miles. Marathon, you don't scare me!

Life V. Marathon Day 38

I should just suck it up and do all my runs before the sun comes up. The only problem is that I hate waking up at 4am. It's still hot and humid out, but the sun is not beating down on you. I did a little over 10 miles this morning. Because I started at 6am, I was home and showered before 7:30am.

Another benefit to getting your run out of the way early is that you don't have to plan your whole day around your run. If a friend stops by and wants to go to lunch and have a beer, I can, without worrying how it's going to effect my workout. Tomorrow is 1 mile warm-up, 6 miles MP, 1 mile cool-down. I think I'll take a nap now.

Life V. Marathon Day 37

On the way to do my speed workout I remembered I had a 5k race this Saturday. Which means, I am suppose to do my Saturday workout today.  Luckily, I remembered before I did the speed work. As I look at my plan for Saturday I see that I have not gone enough miles yet, I've done 7, I need 8. I'll be back in a minute...

Okay, Now I have 8 miles for the day. Tomorrow is 10 miles easy, fo sho.

Life V. Marathon Day 36

One of the reasons I started this blog was so people could learn from my mistakes. You know, things like: microwaving you running clothes, heading out without taking a pre-run poo, or doing a 10 miler in a cotton t-shirt. These are all valuable lessons that I hope you don't have to experience yourself. Well, I have got another one for you.

On a day you're planning on doing your run in the evening, it's best to be careful what you eat during the day. Last night my lady-friend brought over dinner, which was incredibly generous of her. She brought the biggest pizza I have ever seen. This thing was larger than a sewer cap, it was like those pizzas the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ate. Between the two of us we managed to eat 2 1/2 slices. I hate to waste food, so I wrapped the rest up. The problem arises when I decide to continue eating it today, for breakfast, mid-morning snack, and lunch. I'll also go ahead and tell you I had a couple beers with it at lunch.

If you ever want to hate yourself every step of a 6 mile run, follow this meal plan prior to setting out. I could literally feel everything bouncing around in my gut. Lesson learned. Tomorrow is speed day, minus pizza and beer, plus Turtle Power.
   

Life V. Marathon Day 35

Here's a question: What are people thinking when the get a company's logo tattooed on their body? I have nothing against tattoos, I think they're great, I have several. I just don't know why someone would tattoo a Nike Swoosh on their back. In case you're wondering, I did see this, this morning. It boggles the mind.

Anyway, I did 8.1 miles at an easy pace this morning. My schedule said to do 10 today and 8 next Sunday, but I'm switching them. I felt pretty good even though I didn't get out there until 9am. Tomorrow I'm doing 6 miles easy.

Life V. Marathon Day 34

I didn't get out until 9:30 this morning. It was worth it though, I got 10 hours of sleep last night. Most of the time I average about 5 hours sleep, which is not healthy, especially for a runner. I did 6.1 miles in the mid-morning heat at about 7 minute pace.

I'm doing 8 miles in the morning. Hope everybody has a good weekend.

Life V. Marathon- Before and After

   Sorry, I don't really have any good digital pictures of me from pre-divorce. This was taken in Summer 2007 about a year before I started running. Probably weighed about 210 lbs here.

This was taken at my last marathon in February 2011. I think I was at 152 lbs.

Life V. Marathon Day 33

I did an easy 8 miles this morning at about 7:10 pace. I got a horrible cramp at mile 3 and had to stop long enough for it to go away. I was in my abdomen, just below my ribcage. This is the same cramp that destroyed my last marathon effort in Tallahassee.

During the Tallahassee Marathon all was well until mile 17. At that moment this cramp hit my abdomen like a brick hurled from one of the spectators. I had to stop, this was the first time I've ever had to stop in a race. I tried to recover, quickly working my way back to pace, then it hit again. Tried to recover once more, but it happened again. Finally, I had to settle into a crawl at about 8 minute pace for the rest of the race.

I think it happened today because I finished my run late last night, which means I ate dinner late, then I woke up and ate before headed out again. I only gave myself 30 minutes after I ate this morning before I was out pounding the pavement. Not that I really want to, but I wonder if I could recreate this just to see if it happens again. Probably the better plan is to avoid this situation altogether.

Sorry so long-winded. Tomorrow is 6 miles easy. 

Life V. Marathon Day 32

Gnats! Gnats are trying to mess me up. I started out with a mile warm-up on some side streets then headed down to the lake to do my workout, 6 miles at 6.05 pace. All was well at first, I bumped it up to my pace and I felt good. Then, out of nowhere came a cloud of gnats, they went in every opening they could find. They went up my shorts, in my armpits, my ears, nose, finally they hit the back of my throat. One moment I was cruising along at 6:05 pace the next I was bent over gagging and dry-heaving on the side of the road.

I had to get away from the lake. I ended up heading over to the track to finish my workout. It wasn't perfect, but I did manage to get in something that resembled; 1mile warm-up, 6 miles at 6:05, 1 mile cool-down. Tomorrow I'm scheduled to do 6 easy, but I may do 8.

Life V. Marathon- Katy's Q&A

My one and only commenter, Katy, wanted me to answer a few questions. The formatting ended up weird and I couldn't fix it, so you're just going to have to deal with it.

How in the world did you go from non-runner to an insanely fast runner in two years?

 

   Ignorance. I really didn’t know what I was doing when I first started running. I headed out on every run thinking I would run as fast as I could for as long as I could. After building up to two miles I jumped to ten miles, I’m lucky I didn’t injure myself. I did my first marathon nine months after I started running.

   Also, I think I have a high tolerance for pain. I was in excruciating pain for almost two years after I herniated a disc in my back. I learned to ignore it, then I had back surgery and it helped with the pain. I’m sure I have some natural talent for running, but not much.

   Running fast is hugely mental. I think a lot of people run at a pace that is comfortable for them, which is slow, slow, slow. You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone. While running you should mentally picture someone running at a fast pace, then focus on your own form. Do you match your mental picture?

   I can’t believe I’m about to say this. Let me preface this by saying, if I hear one more “Run, Forrest, Run” comment yelled out of some redneck’s truck, I might go on a murderous rampage in my short-shorts. That said; remember that part in the movie when Forrest discovers he can run? Remember his leg braces busting off and all of a sudden he was sprinting across a field? I think a lot of people have it in their head that they’re slow, they need to brake those mental leg braces they're wearing around and just go for it.  

Do you ever get tired/bored with running? Is this something you think you'll want to do forever?

  

   I never get bored with running; I get bored with doing the same route or workout over and over.

   Before I started running I was overweight and suffered from serious back pain (I’ve had back surgery). Now I feel like I’m at the weight nature intended me to be and the back pain is pretty much gone. Running makes me feel great, I want to do it the rest of my life.

Do you actually like running when you are doing it, or do you like the competitive nature of it and the feeling after-the-fact?

  

   I like everything about it, well almost everything. The blisters and the chafing aren’t the greatest things ever.

   I often get asked by people if running feels easier to me than it does to them. I don’t know what it’s like to be someone else, but when I first started running it felt hard and painful at times when pushing myself. It feels pretty much the same when I push myself now. So I would have to say, I probably feel the same things that people running at a slower pace feel.

   Running relaxes me, so I actually do like it while I’m doing it. I feel bad if I don’t run.

   I never thought of myself as competitive, but some of my friends would say I’m full of it and that I’m very competitive. I know that whether training or in a race, if someone is in front of me I feel a need to pass him or her.

You've mentioned running blogs and books here and there, what are your favorites?

   This may work best in list form. I can’t list them all. Some of the books I’ve checked out of the library and I don’t remember their names or authors.

A few blogs:

www.runcourtrun.com

www.theboringrunner.com  (my favorite, very funny)

www.how2runfast.com

Most running books are boring so I’ll only list two and one is not exclusively about running:

Marathon, The Ultimate Training Guide by Hal Higdon

The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss (great section on running fast)

Do your regular commenters (Katy) annoy you?

   No, you do not annoy me. I think it’s amazing that anyone even reads my blog. I wish more people would comment. Thank you.

Life V. Marathon Day 31

Today's Run: 10.3 miles in 1:11:39

How was it: I got out later than I wanted, but better safe than sorry (had to poo). There was some serious moisture in the air this morning. I ended up looking like I fell in the lake. Overall it was a good run and it felt pretty easy.

Tomorrow's Run: 1 mile warm-up, 6 miles at 6:05 pace, 1 mile cool-down.

At about mile 8 this morning I stopped to get some water and had a conversation with some other runners and their coach. He told me I'm running too fast on my easy days. If you've been following this blog you may remember me writing about that very subject. I know I should, but it creeps up on me and before I know it I'm running 20 seconds faster than I should be. I told the coach that I try going slower and he said, "Don't try, do". I guess I got some free coaching this morning.

To my one commenter, look for your Q&A in the next day or two. 

Life V. Marthon Day 30

Wow! I've blogged 30 days in a row. I've been reading a bunch of other running blogs, trying to get ideas on how to make mine more entertaining. Seems like a lot of work. I think I'm probably too focused on actually running to be overly entertaining, and I'm okay with that.

What I did: Day 2 of the new plan and I executed perfectly. Mile warm-up, 3 miles speed (1600@5:18, 1600@5:27, 4x400@1:15), mile cool-down.

How did I feel: Late. I showed up late for tonight's track workout so most my stuff was done alone. I felt strong though.

Tomorrow: 10 miles easy. Sweat. 

Life V. Marathon Week 5-20

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	6 miles	Speed	10	MP 6	7	6	10
2	6	Speed	10	MP 6	6	8	8
3	6	Speed	10	MP 6	7	6	12
4	6	Speed	10	MP 7	6	10	8
5	6	Speed	10	MP 7	7	8	14
6	6	Speed	10	MP 7	6	10	10
7	6	Speed	10	MP 8	7	8	15
8	7	Speed	10	MP 8	6	10	10
9	8	Strength	10	MP 8	7	8	16
10	6	Strength	10	MP 9	6	10	10
11	8	Strength	10	MP 9	7	8	16
12	6	Strength	10	MP 9	6	10	10
13	8	Strength	10	MP 10	7	8	16
14	8	Strength	10	MP 10	6	10	10
15	8	Strength	8	MP 10	7	8	8
16	6	5	Off	6	6	3	Race

Speed- 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles intervals at 10-k pace, 1 mile cool-down

Strength- 1 mile warm-up, 6 miles intervals at 10 seconds per mile faster than marathon goal pace, 1 mile cool-down. Examples: 2x3 miles (1 mile recovery between); 3x2 miles (800m recovery between)

MP- Run at marathon goal pace. Mine is 6:05.

Sunday Long Run- Run at 45-60 seconds slower than MP.
Other Miles- Recovery or easy pace.

Note: This is pretty much the Hansons’ Less is More Plan. The less miles with more focus on race pace really appealed to me, as I usually feel worn out by race day on the traditional 20 miler plan. The original plan is 18 weeks. I felt I needed more high mile base work coming into the plan, that’s why I was following a different plan for the first month of my marathon training. The Hansons’ plan was originally published in the Jan 2011 Runner’s World, you should read the article.

Note 2: This starts today. Yes, the plans says 6 miles today, and yes, I did 8. I wrote this on the internet not in stone.