Running in the Deep South

Sigh.....

2011-01-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here I am.

January 2010.

I'm starting over.

I am pretty sure I have lost any readers due to my long hiatus from blogging but reading over my blog reminded me of how much it helped me to write out my running journey, even if it was just for me.

I discovered something about myself recently. I do not handle job stress all that well. Over the past couple of years I have been in a very stressful job and the one negative response to all of that has been to gain weight and neglect exercise.

I am writing this entry on the day of a wake-up call in my life and I intend to do something about it.

So I am starting over....from scratch that is.

If you were to read over my various blog entries you might see that I was able to run a few races over the course of a few years. Not fast mind you, but I was able to run a couple 10K's, half-marathons, and even a full-out 26.2-miler.

But all of that was then ... and this is now. Now, a slow jog to mailbox would probably give me a side stitch and a walk around the blog makes my back scream in pain, "Why Shane? Why?!".

But I have decided. I am starting over. Even if it IS from "ground one".

This is my blog and today I start the journey back to fitness.

Stay tuned...there's more to come.

Tour de Bodock results

2007-08-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here were my results:

Total Distance: 62 miles

Total Time: 3:50:52 (riding time)

Avg Speed: 16.1 mph

Top Speed: 32.1 mph

(See details and photos of the ride in previous post)

Tour de Bodock

2007-08-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Notes: Several of the race course photos are courtesy of the Shoals Cycling Club.

Saturday I completed the first annual Tour de Bodock. The “tour” consisted of a 100 kilometer (62 mile) bicycle tour in and around the small town of Pontotoc, MS. There is also a 37-mile option available for those new to cycling or short on time.
The most I had ever ridden on a bicycle was 50 miles but had completed that distance a few times. I had a 60 miler scheduled several weeks ago to prepare for the tour but a stomach bug limited me to a VERY difficult 54 miles. However, I felt pretty comfortable going into the ride. I ride with a great group of guys that call ourselves “Team Saltillo” and our goal was just to finish comfortably. I knew that someone would be there with me if I “bonked”. The only thing that did worry me was the 8 am start which is two hours later than we normally ride, making for a pretty hot finish for sure.
We all met up in Tupelo and followed each other over to Pontotoc. The registration area was very crowded so we were all a little late getting back to our cars and bikes. While a few of the guys pumped up their tires, a couple of us cycled over to the wellness center for one more bathroom break before we were off.
The start of the ride was in another parking lot about 100 yards below where we were parked and I was surprised to find a HUGE group of cyclists waiting for the start. I have not heard a number yet but it appeared to be 200 or so cyclists. However, pedaling around the parking lot I could not find the “Team Saltillo” crew anywhere. Finally, I spotted a couple of them but they did not know why everyone else had not gotten down there. The few of us listened to the pre-race instructions and prayer and it was time for the mass exit. It was a very cool experience and I hated for the other guys to miss it and found myself worried about what was going on.
Only about a quarter mile from the start, a couple cyclists went down when one of them got into some gravel on the side of the road. Suddenly, I found myself much more careful! Since we had waited for our posse at the start, we had gone out in the back and I found myself with a group only going about 14 miles an hour. Since the road was flat and fast, I passed a lot of people, especially the first 10 miles. After about 40 minutes, I found myself pretty much all alone except for Matt. We caught up with a few cyclists from the Oxford cycling group and chatted a bit. We went on ahead of them and I was a bit surprised when I found the first rest stop at about 17 miles. I was still feeling great and was excited to see that we had caught up with a big group of cyclists from the area (about 60 or so in number).
The stop was fully furnished with ice cold water, Gatorade, nutrition bars, PB & J sandwiches, fruit, and more. The porta potty was frequented but there was not a long line. I filled my bottles to the brim and used the “facilities”. I talked to a few of the more familiar faces and watched the road to watch for Team Saltillo coming up the hill. I had blood running down my leg but I was not sure why. I had not fallen and did not remember hitting anything.
The big group began to set off. While we were ready to go, we decided to wait and see if they would make it to us. We waited about 25 minutes in all but they never made it. I think we probably left just before they got there.
The next 13 miles can be best characterized as rolling hills. The hills were not that bad at all and I found myself passing several of the cyclists who had left before me at the previous stop. I felt pretty strong but let Matt, the stronger cyclist, pull me on several of the hills. Then we came to a flatter section and Salmon road, an area known for the Amish community in this area. The roads here were terribly rough and the vibrations were getting to my hinder parts! Still, we managed a nice pace of about 18 miles per hour through here and enjoyed seeing the Amish houses and barns. Three Amish boys waved from their yoked mule. A horse and buggy loaded up with an Amish family passed going the other way and a young Amish girl complete in a long dress and bonnet looked just like a postcard playing bare foot out in her yard. The smell was pretty bad through here as "horse apples" filled the road.
We came to the second rest stop at 30 miles. Even though I was still feeling strong, I was ready for a short rest. After about 10 minutes, the other guys finally caught up to us. We would learn that they had a tire issue at the start of the race and experienced two more flats out on the road! It was no wonder they were delayed but had worked hard to catch back up. Although the big group of cyclists was at the stop when we arrived, they left just after Team Saltillo arrived. We waited another 10 minutes to give them a good break and then we all set off together.
Matt wanted to catch the big group and took off at a pace no one else wanted to match and everyone settled in at about 17 miles an hour. When Matt began to slow down, Marcus and I raised the pace to try and catch him. We did, but the others in the group decided to stay at a more comfortable pace. We split up into, essentially, two groups and after a little while, I looked back and did not see them. Mechanical problems can take a major mental toll and I am sure they had worked hard to catch back up to us before.
At around 45 miles, I was beginning to feel the heat. I thought there would be another rest stop at about the 48 mile marker but would not find one. 50 miles went by and still no rest stop. My pace had slowed considerably because the heat was taking its toll. I was managing 16 ½ but any hill slowed me way down. I figured out that the final rest stop was the same one at the 30 mile marker and it would be another 5 miles before we got there.
The 5 miles didn’t seem to come fast enough and we finally stopped at 56 miles. The rest of the guys caught up in a few minutes and I called my wife who was already waiting at the finish. Although I wanted to all finish together, I struck out ahead with Matt so I wouldn’t keep my family waiting too long. Moreover, there was thunder and a storm cloud that appeared to be headed Ponotoc’s way.
Matt appeared to want to race to the finish but I was comfortable with a much slower pace. It was pretty flat to the finish, all except the last couple of miles. The two steepest hills in the entire tour were both in the last mile. Neither was long but I had to go to the granny gear on both. The last hill, I decided to walk the last 50 yards for fear that I would fall from a lack of momentum.
Once I turned left on Main street, I could now see downtown Pontotoc. I knew I was home now. Sam caught up with me right as I made the turn. We rode in together to the cheers of my family. I went back to chat and they took a few pictures. Marcus rode in a few minutes later and they took our picture. We decided to head back to the parking lot but, when I clipped in and stood up on the pedal, the chain flew off the front ring leaving me with no momentum and resulting in a fall to the pavement! 62 miles and I fell right there in the middle of downtown Pontotoc and right smack in the middle of the Bodock festival! Nothing like a little humble pie at the end of a nice accomplishment!
I felt good at the finish and know I had prepared myself for the ride. I would have liked to have finished stronger but I actually had very little drafting opportunities throughout the ride. I look forward to this ride or a similar one next year so I can have a chance to stay with the big group again. Hopefully, mechanical issues won’t slow us down again!

Come to Jesus Moment

2007-08-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school, my friends and I would often engage in activities that we knew we shouldn’t. I am sure I am not alone in that statement by any means. I remember one night on a July 4th when I was only about 16. My best friend and I decided to go out and hit mailboxes. Understand, we lived in a small town with absolutely nothing to do except really stupid stuff like, well, hitting mailboxes. The only problem was we had heard about people hitting mailboxes and heard reports of how fun it was, but we did not know exactly how to engage in this crazy endeavor. But my friend got an ax handle from his dad’s shop and we went out huntin’ a mailbox, nevertheless.

Now, we would learn later that the trick to this mailbox hittin’ thing is to do it on the go. That way you can’t get caught. We didn’t have that little tid bit of information. We go out at about 8 pm that night (awful early for mailbox hittin’ we would come to understand) and picked out a mailbox on a lonely road in my own neighborhood. Well, you can guess that we weren’t the most skilled at these kinds of stupid ideas. In addition, I drove a bright yellow GMC stepside truck that was a one-of-a-kind in the small town in which we lived. Getting the picture? Considering all this it is a wonder how David and I figured out anything in the way of a career but we managed.

Well, we stop, yes I said stop, in front of this mailbox and take the time to roll down the window. David climbs halfway out of the window and is pulling back the ax handle when I look over to the left and see several individuals looking through the storm-glass door of their living room. I see them begin to get off their couches and immediately yelled to David, “NOOOOO!” It was at that moment that I hear the unmistakable clang of a wooden ax handle hitting a tin metal mailbox with full force. I put the pedal to the floorboard, almost slinging David out of the window, so we could get out of dodge!

We drove around our little town that night for all of about 30 minutes and then made the clever decision to return home, just one street over from the mailbox we just caved in. We pulled into my driveway and had not even shut the doors to the truck when a car slung into the driveway and a man twice my age jumped out along with his twenty-something son. Now to get the full effect, you have to read his quotes in your best redneck twang: “I seen what you done and you ain’t getting away with it neither!” he yelled pointing his finger in my face. “We got you now. Uh huh. We got you now!” He nodded confidently, got back in their automobile and left.

My 15-year old best friend and I went into our house and into my back bedroom and sat on my bed, hands in our lap, staring at each other with wide eyes. We sat there for a long time and said nothing. In those days, I had a big ceramic Mississippi State Bulldog lamp that sat on my night stand. I still remember looking past David, staring at that big bulldog lamp. The bulldog looked back, standing there, hands on his hips, menacing look on his face. We just knew that, at any moment, the police were going to be ringing the doorbell and taking us away in handcuffs. It was a moment best characterized as a “come to Jesus moment”.

Unfortunately, I did not learn effectively from this experience and would have several more “come to Jesus moments” during my teenage years. It became an expression we used for those times when we knew we were caught or close to it and we sat there thinking, “what have I got myself into?”

I had another one of those “come to Jesus moments” this weekend but it had nothing to do with hitting mailboxes or, fortunately, any other sort of bad decision-making that brought me into a world of trouble. I planned a five-mile trail run Sunday evening to get back into the swing of running. I have run this trail numerous times and was not at all worried about completing the distance. Oh, I knew that it was going to be pretty hot and I would have to take it slow. But still, I was pretty confident that I could complete the distance without any problems. It didn’t strike me that I have really been relying more on cycling to stay in shape and have been running less and less. In fact, the extent of my running for the last several months has been a 2 or 3 mile “jog” in the air-conditioned comfort of the gym just a couple days a week. Nevertheless, I loaded in the car and headed out to the start of the trail.

The run started off great. I had a great playlist set up on my ipod and was enjoying running through the woods. About a mile and a half in the run I began thinking, “Hmm. This is kinda hard.” Five minutes later I was taking a walk break! I was only able to run a little more than two miles before walking. My pride was hurt. I quickly started back running but had to continue a walk break about every five minutes. I was a long way from the shape I was in when I ran a marathon last year! It was a “come to Jesus moment”! I have lost a LOT of my running shape from my focus on cycling.

My run ended at four miles that day and I am embarrassed to say how long it took me. It was hot and I haven’t run a trail in a while. But really, it just goes to show you that cycling fitness does not translate into running fitness and vice versa. Now that I have been awakened from my running slumber I realize I have to really get working to complete the half-marathon this December. Hopefully, my body at some point will remember how to run again and it will come more quickly that I realize. But at this point, I have been humbled and realize that this “awakening” has taught me a valuable lesson. At least this time I didn’t have to worry about being led off in handcuffs!

Bonked by Bug

2007-08-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

Subtitled: Why you should not bike with a stomach virus.

Ah, the joy of cycling! Building your mileage each week, pushing yourself and your cycling buddies with an increased pace, spinning up the hills. It can be a really fun sport. Which is why I was worried about missing out on the big ride on Saturday when I became ill on Thursday of this week.

I left work early Thursday with all the classic signs of a stomach bug: nausea, weakness, did I mention nausea? We had small, rather cold, missle-shaped pills at home to keep the nausea at bay (if you know what I mean) but what I worried about as I lay on the couch watching Oprah is, 'Will I miss out on the big 60 mile ride Saturday?'

You see, cycling is much different than running. Missing one long run in a 12 or 16-week training program is not a huge deal. But missing a long ride can make you the slow guy the very next week in cycling. At least that is what I have found to be true for a newbie like myself. That's why we have lost a few guys along the way this summer due to really unimportant things like babies being born or family vacations. :-)

So when I felt a little better by Friday afternoon, I figured I would be A-ok for the big Saturday ride. We planned a big dinner out with friends that evening at Olive Garden. The plan was to load up on carbs for the next morning. Only problem was, I got a bit of an uneasy stomach less than hafway through my entree. You have to understand, I don't leave leftovers at a place like Olive Garden. It just doesn't happen. I declined a post ice-cream sundae at my friend's house later in the evening. Again - doesn't happen. I laid out all of my cycling gear, put the Gatorade bottle in the freezer, and set the alarm for 5 am.

Disclaimer: The remainder of this blog entry contains references to my potty problems so proceed carefully.

Five am came early as it always does on a Saturday morning. I began to gather my gear but waited to get my morning “business” completed before heading out the door. I noticed the “business” was a little more “fluid” than usual but did not think too much of it. I also remember not being too interested in finishing my Clif bar en route to our departure site but, again, did not really think anything of it.

I felt pretty good as the ride started off but 10 miles into the ride I began to feel my stomach turn over a bit and had what felt like acid reflux. “Hmmmm”, I thought, “I hope this has nothing to do with my stomach problems this week.” Our first stop came 14 miles into the ride. I had mentioned my stomach acting funny to the other cyclists and had gone into the convenience store we were stopped at to experience a very brief episode of the “squirts”. Well, it is pretty early in the morning, or so I thought, so this is probably just a passing problem (pardon the unintended pun.)

However, 10 more miles into the ride my stomach was doing flips inside my body and the acid reflux was flaring up with each hill. Being a guy, I guess, I felt like I could tough it out. The only problem was, eating or drinking made the stomach problem and acid reflux even worse. A break at 27 miles did not seem to help me feel better at all and I began to struggle more and more, causing our small “peleton” of cyclists to be split up into two groups.

Somewhere after 40 miles we came to an area called “Brice’s Crossroads”, site of a historic civil war battle. I needed an extended break and felt like lying down because my stomach was seriously cramping by this point and my chest burning. The heat did not help matters any and I poured water down my back and over my head, which felt a lot better than drinking it. I decided at this point to continue on, even though a couple cyclists offered to go a shorter route with me.

A few more miles into the ride, the cramping and, especially, the acid reflux seemed almost unbearable. I stopped at a store at about the 48 mile mark and decided I did not want to go on. However, not knowing where I was, I called my wife and told her to meet me in a town just off a major highway that is called “Guntown”. Guntown turned out to be another 6 miles down the road and I only averaged about 14 mph as I pedaled through the discomfort of stomach pain. I stopped at a church at the 54 mile mark. I had bonked but could care less. It was only 6 more miles to the finish but I could care less. I wanted a nice shady spot to sit down and wanted the burning in my chest to stop. Thinking back, I probably should have just finished. It would have only taken another 20 to 30 minutes but, I really don’t have much regret. 54 miles with a stomach virus is not all that shabby after all.

I spent a lot of time in the bathroom later that day. Once it hit me, it HIT me, with sounds my words cannot express. Let’s just say, at one point, I fully expected for some alien-looking creature to come from within me snarling and growling telling me I was doomed. DOOMED! It was not pleasant at all and I am sure I owe much of that to pushing myself on the bike. Now I must redeem myself on some future ride to all of my cycling buddies for seriously bonking on a ride. I slowed a couple of them down but they were still great about it. Maybe I can do the same for them some day. And although I did bonk on this day, at least it WAS by a bug!

Shane.......

2007-07-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Shane! Come back Shane! Shane! Come back!!!

Just where have I been you may ask? Because, if you have been checking, it has been TWO MONTHS since I last posted. TWO MONTHS!!! What in the world have I been doing the last two months. Well, a Lot of EVERYTHING but very little running!

I have actually been on two vacations over the last couple of months, going all the way south to the beach and then going all the way north to Lake Ontario! My family and I took the usual summer vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama, a favorite spot of ours. A couple of weeks later we went to New York State for a wedding and visited Niagra Falls. We rode the "Maid of the Mist" right into the falls, an experience I highly recommend if you have a chance to go up that way.

Just make sure you wear the ponchos because it is like one of those water rides at Disneyworld - you WILL get wet! That's my little girl and boy all decked out in their ponchos. Check out my little boy sporting his John Deere shirt in up state New York!

It was a great time but, of course, the time between trips meant I was always playing "catch-up" at work. Plus, the C.C.O. decided to make TWO visits during this time which was REALLY fun!

But things are starting to slow down now and I've been thinking about the blog. I ran a 10K back in the middle of May but haven't run much since. I've been cycling a LOT - about three or four times a week with rides up to 50 miles. But even still, cycling doesn't seem to take the weight off like running does so I have crept back up a little in the weight department. I haven't been eating all that well and haven't kept up with any of the activity I've been doing on my exercise journal OR this blog. Of course, I say all this while I down an chocolate-oatmeal drop cookie or what my family fondly refers to as "doo doo drops"!

But I have been thinking about some goals for the remainder of the year and will start blogging again to track my progress. I have Two races marked on my calendar for the remainder of the year:

The Los Locos Duathlon in Lakeland, TN benefiting childhood congenital heart disease on September 30th. Childhood heart disease is something close to my heart since I suffered from the disease as a child. It is a duathlon with a 2 mile run, 15 mile bike ride, and another 2 mile run to finish. It will be my first go at a multisport event so I am pretty pumped about it.

I also have marked the Memphis St Jude Half Marathon on December 1st. That's right. I am going just the half distance this year because I have been concentrating so much on cycling. But I plan to work really hard in the fall months to try and get my time below two hours. My wife plans to run it with me so it looks to be a fun family event!

I also want to lose about 25 pounds over the next few months. A lot of it is weight that has just been nagging at me and I haven't concentrated hard enough on it to lose it. But STARTING TOMORROW :-) I am starting a healthier way of eating to try and get rid of the weight. My wife is going to do it with me for a while, even though she doesn't really need to lose weight. I think I have been feeling myself get more motivated because I know I will get up those hills faster on a bike if I was a few kilos lighter!

SO there! I have put all my goals out there so YOU - the blog reader - can track my progress. Of course, I would LOVE any encouragement you choose to offer but feel free just to read along. Then again, if you don't hear from me in a couple more months, you can only imagine how the progress has been going!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

To Be HUMBLED

2007-05-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

My exercise regimen has been humming along the last couple of weeks. The cycling as cross-training has helped me avoid the nagging injuries I experienced on and off last year – at least for now. Plus, I really enjoy it! But this past Tuesday, I had one of those humbling experiences you often have as you start off in a new sport.

I went on a Saturday ride with several guys this weekend and I was mentioning, to one of the more experienced riders, my desire to bike some during the week to work on my skills more often. He mentioned a group ride he knew of on Tuesday evenings that includes cyclists of “varying levels” with some going “as slow as 13 or 14 mph”. “GREAT!” I thought. This would be perfect! I could try to keep up with the faster group but slow down to the slower group if I needed.

I left work a bit early Tuesday, arrived in the parking lot, and quickly scanned the crowd of about 15 cyclists. There were several who looked like professional bikers with high dollar bikes. Immediately I knew that these were people I would not be able to keep up with, so I kept scanning the crowd. I saw a guy who looked more like a recreational cyclist and pulled up to ask about the ride.

He was nice enough and told me they would be glad to have me. I asked him about the pace, telling him that I usually average 15 mph or so for a 20-mile course. He kinda’ of got a look that told me, “That’s a bit slow for us.” But said that there would PROBABLY be other cyclists about that speed and the group would not leave anybody behind. I was getting skeptical but felt it was too late to load up in the car again.

But then I looked around and saw a couple older guys in their fifties. There were a couple middle-aged woman as well. I looked over and saw a woman I often see at the Wellness Center in the mornings. She is probably in her 40’s but in decent shape. She often runs at the track at the same time as I do but I usually go at a faster pace. Suddenly, I felt more comfortable. Maybe I am going to fine! Surely I can keep up with this crew.

“I completed my century this weekend!” the familiar woman proudly exclaimed to the other bikers. Uh oh – sinking feeling in my stomach. (A century is a 100 mile ride.) “How did you do?” another cyclist asked. “We averaged 17.3 mph for the day”, she answered. 17.3 miles an hour average for one-hundred miles!!!! My feelings of comfort suddenly vanished! I felt like I was in trouble and I just now taken my bike off the back of my car!

The ride included 21 miles through the countryside surrounding Tupelo. There were a few rolling hills, one pretty steep but short, but nothing much different than what I normally ride. The first few miles I was hanging pretty well. “Maybe I can hang with these guys,” I thought. Once we left the city limits, however, they were off. The professional guys left us like they had an engine on their bikes. There about five of them and they zoomed off to the tune of 25 or so miles an hour. But there was acceleration in the secondary group as well. I tried my hardest to keep up, keeping my speed at about 17 mph, 20 or so on the flatter sections, but I could not stay in the line.

I was dropped.

I finally made it to their first short water break at 9 miles. I had kept them in sight for the ride so far so they didn’t have to wait long. But they were ready to start again before I could pull my water bottle out of its cage. I started off fast, trying to get a lead and some momentum but they had dropped me once again not more than a mile later. I tried as hard as I could but this time, I lost sight of them.

Fortunately, there was one man who was also having some trouble and I was able to keep him in my sights. I tried to catch up so I could draft off of him, after all, I would be willing to take turns; however, he was not too fond of the idea. Once I caught up he swerved to the right and left, a move I took as him not wanting me on his back wheel. So I fell back again but stayed within 100 yards of him.

I had actually dropped one of the women in the group but did not realize it until getting to the second water break of the ride. I pulled up and was saying something to one of the cyclists. Apparently, I was not paying enough attention until it was too late. Before realizing it, I had come to a complete stop and could not pull my foot off the pedal. In that slow manner many cyclists are familiar with, I fell right over with the bike flipping on top of me! There I was looking up at the sky through the frame of a specialized! Yes, that’s right. I fell right in front of this group of superior cyclists without knowing a one of them. It was a humbling experience to say the least!

They made several comments that made me feel better. They said they had all fallen on the ride before as well, sometimes in the parking lot before even getting started. I told them I could at least provide their entertainment for the ride and we all laughed together.

The last 7 or so miles were pretty uneventful. The group spread out more and I was able to keep up with about half of them. When I pulled back into the parking lot, I made it before the secondary group had dismounted their bikes. I had a chance to talk to a few of them and they were accepting, despite my poor showing.

I told this story to my wife once I got home. She and my sister-in-law who is visiting both laughed their heads off and said, “I bet you won’t go do that ride again!” But actually they are wrong. I averaged 16.4 mph for the ride. That is almost 1 mile per hour faster than ever before for a similar ride of this length. So my desire to improve will probably drive me back there once again, feeling a little more humble once again, but, hopefully, getting faster in the process!

By the way, the 4 miles of intervals were pretty tough this morning! One of the downsides to cross-training I guess, huh?

Gearing up again

2007-04-18T10:34:00.001-07:00

I feel that I am starting to gear up for the race in less than a month but imagine my time will be a little slower than last year because of the time I took off with marathon-related injuries. I ran the longest run so far this year: an 8-miler on a brisk, windy early Sunday morning.

I actually felt GREAT toward the end of the run and felt I had a lot left in the tank as I finished. I think the cycling has helped me a little running up hills because I noticed that they did not take quite as much out of me as they normally do. I zoned out a few times listening to the Relevant Magazine podcast and didn’t realize until after the fact that I had crested a few of the annoying hills on the route.

However, my left foot really started hurting late Sunday afternoon, bringing back some of the memories of why I had taken off so much time to begin with. It was disappointing because I felt good during the run so the soreness was unexpected. I iced the area for about 20 minutes and then took a hot bath and it was a lot better Monday morning.

Yesterday was my birthday and I completed a 5-miler to begin the day and then ate horribly from then on out. One of my departments took me out for lunch and then my parents took me out for dinner at Olive Garden. Despite my best efforts at willpower, I cannot escape from ordering the Steak Gorzongola whenever I eat there and a few bread sticks don’t help anything either. To top it off, I had TWO birthday cakes and, of course, must eat an obligatory slice of each one! So - it was not a good diet day to say the least! Rolling out of bed this morning was a bit more than just a figure of speech!

This morning I had a meeting with my 3rd shift staff so I had to forgo my morning workout. I hope to get a run in some time today but it is not looking too promising. I may ride the bike late this evening instead and add a few easy miles on Friday instead.

I feel I am getting back on track but still having those intermittent conflicts that nag at me and attempt to mess things up. Hopefully, I can stay on track with all my exercising because, starting in mid-May I plan to begin hitting the pool to prepare for my first ever triathlon this fall! For those who have trained for a triathlon before, you know what that will eventually mean: brick workouts. Won’t that be fun! More on that later – I hope you are having a great week!

New Shoes!

2007-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

My birthday present came a couple weeks early this year. That’s because I got a bonus from work that burned a hole in my pocket! But I’ve wanted some cycling shoes and clipless pedals for my road bike so I just got them for my birthday – a few weeks early.

I have read in magazines that clipless pedals and shoes on a bike can help you be as much as 30 % more efficient. I need all the efficiency I can get so I was sold! But it was odd for me that the pedals are referred to as “clipless” pedals when you actually clip your shoe directly to the pedal. Of course, my inquisitive mind wanted to know so I researched the shoes over the internet.

It turns out that, in the olden day, cyclists only had straps to attach their shoes to the pedals on bikes, but the straps were mostly referred to as “clips”. When a new style of pedals was invented that allowed you to mechanically attach your shoe to the pedal, they ingeniously referred to them as “clipless” pedals. The brilliant name apparently stuck because they are still referred to as “clipless” pedals, although you do actually clip your shoe into them.

However, clipless pedals are also known for something else – they can be difficult to get used to. Those cyclists that convert to clipless pedals are known to suddenly fall over to the ground, even though they are at a complete stop. Obviously, this is because they can be hard to get out of. Thus, there was a little hesitation on my part; but, with the efficiency in mind, I bit the bullet anyway.

Being as mechanically inclined as I am, it only took me about 3 hours to install the pedals. I think they usually take others about 15 minutes. But when I finally got them on my bike I thought they looked really cool. I put the cleats that came with the pedals on my new shoes. They enable me to do the clipping part into the pedal. I put the bike in the stand, velcroed my new bike shoes on my foot, and I got ready for a spin. This was it. I was now official!
I had told my wife of the pedals’ notoriety for spills and I think she had a little fun in her head as she watched me mount my bike. Of course, the bike was in a trainer so there was no danger of me falling over, but I was less than graceful as I tried to clip in for the first time. I stumbled a bit but caught myself quickly, looking over at my wife and catching her rolling her eyes. “What?”I asked. She attempted to conceal her smile, “Oh, nothing. I can just see that you are probably going to hurt yourself with those.” I knew she secretly wanted to be there when I do but I would deny her the joy at least on this day.

I will try my shoes on the trainer a few times before I hit the roads. Hopefully, no one will be following me with a camera. Then again, if I were to fall, at least it would be worth something!

Looking at men's backsides

2007-04-03T19:36:00.000-07:00

I have taken up cycling lately. I have a group of friends at church and we try to go every Saturday morning in groups of 4 to 8 different men. None of them are "newbies"like myself so I find myself watching backsides alot, especially on the "hills" we have around here in Mississippi.

It is not like I enjoy the view by any means, but, unfortunately, I have little choice whenever we turn a corner and stare down a few hundred yards of upward real estate. Although its early in the cycling season, they have the power to spin up the hills where my running legs feel the burn every time.

I have been trying to bike on the trainer a few days a week to build up some power and I took in some hills on my long run Sunday morning, but it is coming slow. I know that the extra pounds I am carrying around don't help either. Although I have gotten back in the swing of exercising, it is difficult taking on the battle of the bulge. The BBQ tonight sure didn't help matters but MAN was it good!

But I am enjoying the weeking bike rides a whole lot despite the marks against my manhood as I watch these guys from a, ahem, less than pleasant view. I just hope I am able to stay up with them throughout the season and, perhaps, become a better runner in the process!

Thought of the day:

"The future is that time when you'll wish you had done what you're not doing right now" - John Maxwell

The Curse of the DOWN !!!!!!!!

2007-03-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

To get the full effect of this blog entry, you need to read the title in a low and echoic voice and follow up with an immediate Jaws-like, "da duh.........da duh................da duh da duh da duh da duh!"

What you are about to read is true. Nothing has been changed to protect the innocent.

I discovered this morning that my running habit has often been affected by a curse. It is the curse of the down! (Repeat the first paragraph if you'd like.) You see, my wife and I bought a down comforter approximately 12 years ago. While the duvet covers have changed through the years, the soft, warm, plush, (did I mention soft?) comforter has remained the same.

I was all geared up to start the morning off right. I had my coffee set to go off at 5:15 in the Quisinart, gym bag packed up, lunch prepared, and clothes laid out. My alarm went off promptly at 5:15 am. I actually remember that I was having a dream about terrorists. I was working with an individual of a particular religious persuasion and trying to determine if he was being honest or buying his time to carry out his evil plan. It was a true "24" dream and not the kind you particularly want to go back to sleep for.

I pushed my arm outside of the covers and hit the snooze but then, suddenly, the down comforter wrapped around my shoulder, pulling me back into a spoon-like position. I could not escape its grasp! Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

No more than ten minutes later this scenario would be played out all over again. The down would tease me by allowing me to get one arm out just enough to hit the alarm but then suck me back into its clutches like a helpless bug in a toilet flush. Another ten minutes later its “game” would begin all over again.

It wasn't until an hour and a half later that I finally escaped its evil…although…oh so comfortable grasp! As I staggered down the hallway I could almost hear its goose feathers swishing in glee that another workout had been thwarted.

I got ready, repacked my gym bag with my workout clothes, and headed out the door. I would have the last laugh! I would work out after work! My new plan worked out flawlessly except that a newly formed hole in my sock began to cause a blister and cut my run short. Who knew all these fabrics work together? But I have to figure out how to break the powerful grasp of the down each morning.

Tomorrow is a bike day and I plan to preload my bike on the trainer tonight so I will be all ready in the morning. I have 2 hours of Cyclism Sundays on the DVR I can watch as I ride. Tomorrow I will try a new plan and set TWO alarms to get up in the morning, with one all the way across the room. Tomorrow the marathon starts all over. I just hope I can break the curse!

Building the Base

2007-03-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

I ran an easy 14.5 miles this week. After taking off several weeks of running...uh...who am I kidding.....a couple MONTHS of running, I am focusing on a slow build for my 10K race in May.

I ran only 14.6 miles this week but feel like I had some pretty good runs. I finished off this week with a nice 5-miler on a beautiful 50 degree sunny day. I will build up about a mile and half each week up to a peak of 23 weekly miles, two weeks before the race. In about four weeks from now, I will add in one day that will include either a tempo run or speed work and a long run each week that will cap off at 8 miles.

I have been actually riding the bike more lately, completing a pretty easy 15-miler with 7 church friends last weekend. Cycling takes me back to my childhood and feels almost more like playing than exercising. Plus, I have gotten really into "Cyclism Sundays" on Versus so I can imagine myself in the pelton when I am out there on the roads.

I plan to ride an easy 10 miles tomorrow but I am always a little scared to ride around here with all the crazies and narrow roads. The town I live in is a great community but there are no bike lanes or designated routes. I know I am always taking a chance when I go out there but I enjoy the rides.

I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day!!!

WEARING THE GREEN! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The REAL Marathon

2007-03-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

I know.

It has been three months of no posting whatsoever from mississiprunner.

After completing a life long dream of finishing a marathon, he just vanished off of the face of the earth. What happened?! Did he die? Got hit by a car maybe? Well, he lives in Mississippi so maybe he got attacked by a deer! No. It was nothing like that. I probably have lost any regular readers of this blog, but I think I its time to describe just what happened; if no one else, but for myself.

The marathon was a great success for me. I had thought about trying to finish a marathon for years and last December, my dreams came to fruition. Nagging injuries and burnout affected my training in the waning weeks and my time suffered from what I had hoped, but it did not serve to dampen the joy of finishing the distance for the first time.

Those of you who have trained hard for a race for weeks or even months, know all about post-race depression. It is kind of like postpartum depression but without the baby. (Just joking for all those who have suffered or is suffering from postpartum!) But seriously, there is a let down after a big race when a runner wonders, what’s next? At least there was for me anyway.

I had suffered though ankle and foot pain through several weeks of training and the marathon distance brought on a brand spankin’ new pain on the outside of my right knee. I knew I needed a few weeks of rest, possibly with no running at all. With the holidays coming up and the business of life at full steam, it was easy to sleep in every morning and enjoy the gratification of being a sloth – knowing, of course, that I was actually a runner just on a short furlough.

I didn’t intend for such a long layoff. I started running again a few weeks later but the lack of a goal revealed little motivation. The injuries were still present and whispered in my ear that a few more days off were really necessary. I went through the Christmas holiday and New Year’s with very little running to show on my log. In fact, the last two weeks of December, I ran less than 20 miles.

I decided I needed a new goal. I have always had an interest in triathlons. I have a road bike and thought that this may be just what I needed to get my motivation back. I logged 12 miles the first week of January with some cycling mixed in. Then the flu bug bit me, zapping my energy for a full week. A visit from corporate followed shortly after that, gaining my full attention. Continued work stress and a heavy load of outside activity seemed to take over my life and take away my ability to avoid the snooze button every morning.

I was starting to lose the daily battle of getting out the door to run. Even more, my eating habits were on the slide. My appetite had increased significantly throughout my months of training for the marathon. All the full fat foods and sweets during the holidays, New Year’s eve parties, and college bowl games were REALLY taking their toll. My clothes began to fit more snug and the poor eating habits continued on, reeking havoc on my energy levels. I had lost my desire to eat right, lost my desire to exercise, and lost my desire to run.

What happened? I didn’t really know but I tried to exercise again, starting on the “Ab’s diet” and the corresponding exercise program in early February. I was shocked to discover that 3 miles on a treadmill seemed hard. I slumbered off each time worrying to myself that I had lost all the endurance I had trained so long and hard for. Could I really have lost it that quickly? I didn’t have the answers and knew I had lost motivation. I wasn’t blogging, not even logging in my runs.

Then came another big illness, strep throat. I thought the flu was bad but it doesn’t have anything on its big bully, strep throat! Apparently, adults suffer much greater than children do when they get strep throat; or at least that is what my doctor told me. He said I tested higher on the strep test than anyone he had ever seen. In other words, I had it bad! Another week of absolutely NO running. The week after, I found it even harder to start up again.

My wife began to question, “Uh honey…when are you going to start running again?” She recognized the behavior from a time I weighed 80 pounds heavier. She worried that I was returning to my old patterns that would pack on the pounds once again.

I was getting slower, fatter, and lazy. I looked at the calendar. The month of March had arrived. OH CRAP! Where had the weeks gone? I was hoping to compete in a sprint tri in March but I am not even sure I could finish 3 miles anymore!

That is when it hit me.

I had completed the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in December of last year. But I had discovered that I was currently losing what is my REAL marathon in life. The real marathon was not the one I ran last December or the ones I hope to run in years to come.

The REAL marathon is the one that begins every day with the sound of the alarm at 5 am.

It is the marathon I face as I strap on my running shoes and step out of the house with temperatures under 40 degrees.

It is the marathon I face at 3 pm this afternoon when I stand in front of the snack machine with hunger pains, staring down a snickers bar, playing with the change in my pocket.

It is the marathon I face at 9 pm this evening when I am tempted to empty a half roll of Chip’s Ahoy’s or fill up a mixing bowl full of Fruity Pebbles. It is the marathon I face at 10 pm when I am tempted to stay up a little late watching television, rather than get the sleep I need.
It is the marathon that starts over the very next morning.

It is a marathon I have to face each and every day due to the genes I inherited, the upbringing I experienced, and the lifestyle I have lived.

I know we all face our marathons. Your marathon may sound similar to mine. And I didn’t even mention the spiritual marathon we all face if we are people of Christian faith.

See, I thought I had finished my marathon in December. Thought I had the finisher’s marathon to prove it. But in reality, it was just a corner I turned, or maybe a hill I topped in the REAL marathon I run each day.

So I sat down this weekend with my wife and wrote out a new running plan to compete in the Gum Tree 10 K this May. 10 weeks of running. I entitled it, “The Return”.

The last few months? Let’s call it a pause at a water station.

Now it’s time to start running again.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Hebrews 12:1 NLT

Starting up Again!

2006-12-18T10:57:00.001-08:00

It is getting closer and closer to Christmas, which means that the end of the year is almost here! It has been just over two weeks since the marathon and I ran for the first time this weekend. On Saturday, exactly two weeks after the marathon, I went for a 3-mile trail run near my home. I kept a slow, but steady 9:40 pace and enjoyed every minute of it. My left ankle began hurting pretty much immediately after I started. It was a sharp pain, not just the dull ache associated with soreness. I have been babying it for two weeks now so I just ignored it and it went away after about 5 minutes. It was a little sore afterwards but no more than normal. I am beginning to think that I NEED to run more on it, but just be careful about pushing the mileage up.

On a sad note, I think my ipod is on its death bed. It has been intermittent at best and did not work on the trail run. It is frustrating to strap it on my arm and then it be pretty much useless. I am starting to try and figure out how I can put my mini to rest and save for a new nano. We have already purchased my Christmas present – a new bike trainer for my road bike – so I will have to figure out something else. Of course, trail running is serene enough that I can do without music so I may just stick to the dirt track.

I also biked out on the road for an hour on Sunday. I was with a friend so I did not worry as much about traffic but that is going to be a real concern. People around here don’t know how to be respectful of bikers and I know that it would probably hurt to be hit by a car! But I am already eyeing my first sprint tri in March so I need to build up my cycling endurance. I didn’t push it hard but I only managed an average of 15 mph on the rolling country roads Sunday. I need to push it up to feel comfortable enough to complete a triathlon.

Swimming is another story in itself. I can’t remember the last time I swam so I know I have a rude awakening coming! Plus, I am not all that thrilled about showing off my gut to get in the gym’s pool. I don’t yet have a tri swimming suit so I am going to aim for beginning in the new year when I should at least have some goggles.

Christmas is now just a week away! I hope all of you have most of your shopping done!

The Marathon Post

2006-12-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

WOW!

Post Marathon blues!

It has been hard to blog about the St. Jude Marathon because I felt it took so much out of me! It had been a long eleven weeks of training to get ready for this thing but I made it and here are the details.

I didn’t write a whole lot in the weeks leading up to the marathon because my ankle had been really bothering me and I was getting discouraged. In hindsight, I should have blogged much MORE about this and your encouragement could have pulled me through it. I am sure that many people feel the wearing down on their body a few weeks out from their first marathon but it was discouraging. I felt I had to tone down my weekly mileage to prevent myself from getting so injured that I had to scrap the race all together.

Due to work conflicts, I had to miss my 22-miler so I had only completed a long run of 20 miles, which was 5 weeks from the marathon. I ran a 16 mile long run two weeks away and I was scared I might not have the endurance I would need to get through those final few miles. In the days leading up to the marathon I only ran two 4-milers, but my ankle was still a bit sore.

I also noticed that the “old man” had not exactly left. The Austin business trip, Thanksgiving holiday, and other church dinners and company lunches had wreaked havoc on my eating! With the extra eating and reduced mileage, I had actually put on a few pounds in the last few weeks of my training. I could feel it but didn’t really think no one had noticed until my mom made a comment about it at dinner one evening. Thanks mom!!

For the marathon, I did probably one of the biggest no-no’s of running in such a big race. I bought a pair of running tights that I did not run in until the start of the marathon! A cold front came through and brought temps down so I would need them, but I did not have a chance to run in them before the race. While I had some problems during the race, none of them had anything to do with my tights. They worked great!

The race start was at 8 AM and there were thousands of runners in line. I heard they had almost 9,000 runners in the marathon, half-marathon, and 5k races combined! I wore my new “in-sport” tights, running shorts over them, a long sleeve technical running shirt, technical Adidas pull-over, hat, and a cheap pair of gloves. It was cold but I felt perfectly dressed at the start. I was a little concerned I might warm up and get uncomfortable later on but that was never really a problem.

I thought I lined up in the 4:30 corral but I would later learn that I actually lined up in the 4:45. They did not have signs explaining which side of the rope you should be on but it would really make no difference for me over the course of the race. It was crowded in the corral and I didn’t do much talking.

I pulled my ipod mini out of my pocket and put it on. I had prearranged a complete playlist for the race including some of my favorite podcasts. I ALWAYS use my ipod on long runs because it helps me zone out and ignore the tiredness in my body. I had been saving up podcasts so I would have some good stuff to listen to and was actually excited to listen to some of the shows I’d been saving. I got it strapped on and turned it on when….

WHA?????!!!!

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My ipod was NOT working!!!! Nothing. I had checked it that morning and it was fully charged. It is pretty old so I am not sure what happened but my ipod was not coming on and would not work the entirety of the race! I am not sure if the cold affected it or not but this was a huge blow to me. I am accustomed to listening to my ipod for every workout. It has dragged me through some rough miles and I was not sure how I was going to get through 26.2 miles without it. I had my cell in my pocket and text messaged my wife to get some encouragement. I did not have much time to think about it because, in a matter of minutes, the race was on.

I lived in Memphis for years before moving to Mississippi so I was pretty familiar with the race course. I was excited to run down some of the roads and take in some of the views. I love the view coming off the hill and on to Riverside Drive with the Mississippi River on the left and downtown Memphis on the right. I was excited to run down Beale street and by the FedExForum. I even thought the stretch down Second street beside the Peabody Place and Autozone Park was awesome. There was a huge crowd cheering us on through there so it was much different than any kind of race I have experienced before.

Despite my ipod problems, I was enjoying the first few miles of the race, particularly with all of the crowds. The only problem is I really had to pee!!! I didn’t want to stop at a porta potty because all of them had lines, but by mile 4 I had to succumb to the pressure (pun intended) and wait in line. I timed the wait and it was a bit over 2 minutes to complete the stop. I hate that 2 minutes of my marathon time was a bathroom break but I bet I did better than some people. Plus, when nature calls there is not much you can do!

I had taken it really easy the few couple of miles and I was feeling good as I crossed through the first 10K. My 10K split time was 1:01:44 with a 9:58 per mile pace. Crossing at about 60 minutes is about where I had planned to be which, with the bathroom break added in, meant I was about on pace.

I actually experienced a negative split the second 6 miles. I know part of this was the crowd thinning out and no bathroom break but I was really enjoying myself. I was not missing the ipod yet and the crowds were great. All along the course there were people holding pictures of children treated by St. Jude Research Hospital. I was feeling myself energized by thinking about what I was running for.

I talked with a guy through mile 10 who had run several marathons. He was wearing a crazy pink flamingo hat and chatting it up with everyone around. I told him it was my first one and he encouraged me to not worry at all about my time. “The first one is just you against the distance and no one else,” I remember him saying. “Time doesn’t matter because it is such a big challenge. Just focus on finishing.” Turns out I would need that advice later on!

Mile 10 or 11 went by the Target House, a home away from home for the patients and their families of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Several of the patients stood on the side of the road and cheered. Some of them wore surgical masks to protect them from the germ-filled air outside. I couldn’t help fighting back tears as I thought about how blessed I am with my two healthy children and what the families living inside the Target House must be going through right now as they battle for their child’s life against a deadly disease. I was energized by the moment and ran my 11th mile in just a few seconds over 9 minutes. Soon after someone cheered, “Come on! You only have less than two miles to go!” I looked over and said, “I wish!” She smiled and said, “Ooops!” It was a funny moment.

Heading back toward Autozone Park, the half-marathoners split off from us marathoners and it was a lot less crowded around me. I was feeling really strong at this point and was encouraged to acknowledge the progress I have made in my physical fitness. I can now comfortably run a half-marathon! I knew I would be just a few minutes above a two hour time and I think a sub-2 hour time would have been almost attainable had I been going that distance. My official results reflect a time of 2:09:48 with a 9:55 minute per mile pace. I was on target with a 10 minute per mile pace, I had long since passed the 4:30 pacer, and I was feeling strong. But I knew the hardest miles were yet to come and, sure enough, it would all hit me pretty soon.

I had been walking through the water breaks since mile 6 but around mile 16 I noticed it was taking me a few extra seconds to get motivated enough to start up again. I was starting to tire and realized that I was probably getting close to the height of my endurance level. The smaller crowds and lack of the previous buzz also made things harder, particularly since I didn’t have my ipod keeping me company. My wife and family had planned to meet me at mile 18 so I kept thinking about staying strong until I reached them.

I walked through the water stop and mile 18, took time eating one of my energy gels, and started up again when I saw my family up ahead at the curb. My wife, two kids, next oldest brother and his family, and parents were all there. They were all excited to see me and I was excited to see them too. I dropped off my ipod and hugged my wife who is always a great encourager. I felt like hanging out for a while but reluctantly started running again. I told myself, “Only 8 miles to go.” For some reason that thought was not very comforting!

It was about a mile later that the race quickly got much harder! I know I started slowing way down before mile 20 because my pace at that point reflects that. I crossed the 20 mile point at 3:27:39 with a pace per mile of 10:23. Over the previous 7 miles my pace per mile for the entire race had been slowed by almost 30 seconds per mile! I tried to keep split times using my watch and had slowed down to above 11-minutes per mile by mile 18 and was approaching 12 by mile 20. Missing the 22-miler and the reduced volume in weekly training miles was starting to affect me. My ankle was starting to hurt and I looked at my hands and could tell my fingers were swollen. I was hurting. I began to tell myself that my time was not important. I wanted to finish relatively comfortable. Looking back, I can’t say I regret that decision. A time of a few minute faster would have been nice but not really important enough to kill myself over!

I was walking for a minute or so after each water stop. I was taking in powerade at each stop, although it was significantly watered down by this point. I crossed 13 minutes for a couple of miles there at the end and was just trying to jog from water stop to water stop. Everyone around me was struggling too. Everyone else was stopping and walking and joking about stopping and walking. I overheard one lady complaining to her friend about her shoes and how she felt she was running directly on the asphalt. I passed an older couple who sported t-shirts about running a marathon in all 50 states. I was passing several who looked like they should be doing much better than me, and was passed by several I would have thought would have been much further back. That’s the marathon for you – the great equalizer!

I called my wife to tell her I was off pace and would be in after 12:30 pm. She encouraged me to continue on and I began text messaging her at each mile marker to keep her informed.

I had been passed a long time ago by the 4:30 pacer when I took in some pretzels at mile 23. I was energized by the salty carbs and I picked up the pace just a bit. By mile 24 I was really hurting but still keeping a slow jog. My ankle was killing me and my legs felt like pudding. I was wondering if I would see the 4:45 pacer when she ran up beside me at 24 ½ miles. She encouraged me to stay up with her and we chatted briefly. I told her it was my first marathon and she asked where I was from. She then began to call me by my hometown name and she became my encourager the rest of the way.

After mile 25, she began drifting away and I had to start walking again. The pacer turned around and waited briefly. She refused to let me go and yelled at me to catch up. I felt like I was running an 8-minute mile to stay up with her but then turned the corner and suddenly saw the 26 mile marker. It was just one more turn into AutoZone Park and I knew I wouldn’t have any problems in there. I don’t know who that pacer was but she really helped me finish strong the last couple of miles. I may have had it in me the whole time but I sure needed someone to pull it out of me!

It was an exhilarating feeling running around the outfield warning track to the finish line. I heard my name being called and I lifting my hand in triumph! I was finishing my first marathon! I crossed the finish line and hurt the beep of my time. I would forget to hit my watch so I wouldn’t know my official time until the next day. They put one of the silver blankets on me and hung the finisher’s medal around my neck. I was ecstatic. I had done it! The thrill was starting to set in! After having my time chip cut off, I headed up the steps to the stadium’s concourse. Walking up the steps I thought of all the weeks of training, all of the successes, all of the disappointments. I thought about all of the encouragement and support my family has given me. I thought about what I had just accomplished.

After reaching the top, I immediately saw my wife, my two small kids, and the rest of the family. When the hugging began something unexpected happened. Something I had not imagined and would not anticipate. I began to cry. All of the emotion from the race; seeing all of the pictures of all of the children battling for their life; those children in surgical masks at mile 11; all the hard miles I had to endure and the physical pain; the 4:45 pacer that pushed me near the finish; and my loving family and the support they provided all along the way, through all the weeks of training; it all came washing through and I didn’t have the strength to hold the emotions back. My brother snapped pictures, but luckily, they didn’t take too well and there is no pictorial evidence of the tears! I had finished the race. My official time: 4 hours, 44 minutes, 51 seconds. Not the time I had been hoping for a couple of months ago, but the accomplishment was still there.

Once I had waded through the emotion, I was HUNGRY! And this might have been a big mistake for me – not taking enough calories in during the race. Of course, I ate the mandatory pasta dinner the evening before, but I only ate 2/3 of a Powerbar that morning and 4 gels throughout the race. At my fitness level, and for the amount of time I was pounding the course, I think I should have eaten way more gels than I did. I scarfed down two pieces of pizza and was ready for lunch. We went to Huey’s – one of the best burger joints in town and I had no trouble downing a big burger and fries.

Five days out from the marathon I am still a bit sore but I am getting better. The main concern is my ankle that just doesn’t seem to be getting better. I am going to take two weeks off from running and try to do more cycling. I am currently reading a book on triathlons and hope to get more involved in multisport during the new year. Hopefully, less of a frequency of running will help. We will see.

I also plan to try this same marathon next year but try to build up a base of running more gradually. My body rebelled those last few weeks and I know the lack of training hurt me. But now that the race is over I feel like I am just getting started. I see the marathon as simply a “kick off” to all of the fitness goals I have dreamed about the last few years. The old man is not dead yet, but I got him on the ropes!

If you want to see my official marathon race pictures, click here and type in my bib number – 1842. They are all in the last mile. I will post others when I get them uploaded.

Neyland Run

2006-11-26T06:57:00.000-08:00

I am now in east Tennessee and planned out a 8.5 mile run for the last "long run" before Saturday's marathon. I would start off at Island Home Park and run down beside the Tennessee River before crossing at the Gay Street Bridge. It was really foggy so I was disapointed that I was not able to take in views of the river. To make matters worse, my ipod crapped out after only 2 miles!

After crossing the river, I ran around and joined the Neyland Greenway to continue on to the University of Tennessee campus. I ran up to Neyland Stadium and around through campus to Circle Park, where the "eternal tourchbearer" stands. The campus was abuzz with the Kentucky game just hours away. There were already a dozen fans lined up for the famed Vol Walk two hours before it was scheduled to take place. I had tickets for ther game myself so I got a little excited running through seeing all the vendors setting up and the programs guys tossing footballs. I made a mental note of the placement of the Nathan's Hotdogs stand. I know it is crazy to think of eating a hot dog after a good run but it flung a craving on me!

The return run along the river brought the same fog but I made pretty good time - about a 9:45 minutes per mile pace. I thought it was a good taper run before next week's marathon but all the walking later in the day feet hurt my feet so I will need to do some icing before next week.

I will have to look at my schedule to see what runs I have this week. The main focus will be easy easy. I may only run twice so I will feel realy good on Saturday. I haven't even registered yet but I will do that Tuesday. It is too far to tell but the forecast in Memphis on Saturday is sunny but a COLD COLD day with a high of 39 and low of 24 degrees!!!! In other words it is going to be FREEZING! As a rule, I NEVER run outside when it is that cold!!!!! This may be the first time I have ever run on a day that it is this cold and it will be when running a marathon -- how about that!

So I will be going to get some running tights this week. (I ALWAYS run in shorts). I will get them in time to run in them a couple of times before the marathon. I noticed my favorite local sporting goods store has a couple of options. One brand is InSport and the other one is Brooks. I think the prices is $35 and $50 but I will really need them. I am a little worried I will over or under dress since I am not used to running in this kinda of cold. Of course, I can always hope that it is warmer than that. The weather people are sure enough wrong around here more times than they are right!

So it is now less then a week before the big day. If anyone has any advice that you have found helped you, I would sure like to know. Have a great week!

What's Happening in My World!

2006-11-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

Wow! Thanks for the question Phil because things have certainly been crazy lately and my focus has definately not been on the marathon

Several weeks ago the 20-miler went great and I was really gearing up for the marathon. The reality that I could do it was sinking in and I could see the end of my training in sight.

I completed a 12 miler the next weekend and commented to my wife that I remembered when 6-milers felt like that. I could tell that I was getting accustomed to the longer miles.

Then, I don't know if I was wearing my body down or what but I got a terrible cold that cut into my running the next week. I was really tired and had congestion in my chest. Some meds seemed to finally clear it up before the weekend but I faced a delima: I had to fly out to Austin, Texas the next day for the yearly senior managment conference and I thought that running 22 miles with the week I had was not a smart idea. But the business of packing and getting everything else ready got to me and I actually missed any kind of long run that Saturday!

I did manage to run both Monday and Tuesday in Texas but the heat and humidity down there were both something! I ran once more on Friday and completed a 16 miler this past Saturday.

I know that this is not the kind of taper you want for a beginner running a marathon. 16 miles two weeks beforehand may have been pushing it a bit but I felt I needed to do it with all of the time I had taken off. I must admit that the 16 miles were a little harder than I would have liked. There was not so much a time that I lacked the wind but my ankles bothered me and I had more soreness than normal.

I have been really wrapped up in some major work stuff and my attention has just not been on my running. In fact, as you have noticed, it has been really hard to keep the blogging going. It really stinks that work is so demanding right now because I have put all the hard weeks into training and now I have not been able to "gear up" for it like I would want.

So I guess I am kinda of dragging my butt into the marathon and the reality just has not sunk in just yet. I am kinda bummed about it all and that is part of why I haven;t blogged -- that and all the business that is.

Me and the fam will be traveling to K-town for Thanksgiving Wednesday and I hope to take a few runs around campus to "clear the mind". It's less than two weeks away so I need to be "psyching" myself up! I will try and post more frequently in the days leading up to December 2nd!

20 miles!!

2006-10-31T04:02:00.000-08:00

WHEW!!

20 miles!!!!

So THAT is what it feels like!

I feel like I have entered into the “big boy” miles now! Those 20 miles were NOT easy! I am not sure why, but 20 miles seemed a few notches more difficult than the 18 I completed two weeks ago.

I started off the morning with 2/3 of a powerbar and packed three gels into my camelbak that was full of water. Due to a combination of weather and oversleeping, I was not able to run as much last week, logging only 12 miles during the week. That may be the contributor to my sluggish feeling as I started the run, a sluggish feeling that never quite went away.

I used the google pedometer to map out the route. It is essentially the same route as usual with extensions to meet the distance. I mapped out a small loop in a side neighborhood and it turned out it had a couple of nice gradual hills to run through. The weather was in the mid 40’s when I started. I was dressed perfectly for those temperatures but later in the run (3 ½ hours later) I was burning up!

I was not worrying about pace but, at 10 miles, I was disapointed that I was running about 10:24 a mile. I had not paid any attention and had not wanted to run over a 10-minute mile. I knew that I did not need to try to pick up the pace at that point because I was not really feeling up to it.

After about 2 ½ hours, the miles seemed to be passing more slowly. Partially, I was just bored. Three hours is a long time to be out pounding a road. At about 15 miles my route took me past my neighborhood. I had a tempting thought to just turn right and end my run early. I quickly dismissed it from my mind.

Three miles later, my route took me by my house for a 2 miles loop through the neighborhood to complete the run. At this point I was just hanging on. Quitting was not an option but pace was no concern. I had to keep reminding myself of the short distance left when my wife drove slowly by on her way to church and encouraged me.

I took off my camelbak and gave it to my wife. I told her I was struggling to finish the last mile and she stayed with me and talked me through it. It was a big help and I did make it! 20 miles! It felt like it too! I finished the run in 3:35:58, with a pace of 10:48 per mile. I came into the house, showered and got dressed, and made it to Sunday School before the teacher had started the lesson.

If I had any grandeur thoughts of a fantastic time for the marathon, they were squelched from my mind this weekend. This marathon will be about finishing. Future marathons may include talk of time goals but this one is just about going the distance. In two weeks, I will find out what 22 miles feels like!!!

Happy Halloween!

100th Post!

2006-10-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

TA DA!! This is my 100th post on this running blog! I think that is pretty cool! I’m a little late writing my summary of last week’s running. Things have been SOOO busy lately that I am actually writing this at work! (shhhhhh)

I have not been getting the miles I had planned during the week lately but at least my long runs are going on as scheduled. This past Sunday I completed a 13 miler that went pretty well. I pushed the pace a little bit but not enough that I was ever running uncomfortably. I finished the run at a time of 2:06:20 or a 9:44 per mile pace.

I have found it easier to dial down the miles during the week to help me recover from the long runs. My weekly mileage has been down in the low 30’s as a result but I am feeling pretty good. I still have to ice frequently for my PF and left ankle. I really try to dig into the bottom of my foot with my ice block and it tends to help. Those tendons in my left foot are still pretty tight.

This week I have a 6 miler on Thursday, will probably do an easy 4 on Friday, and then a 20-miler on Sunday! (The longest run of my life to date.) On my long run last weekend I realized that I run by several significant historical sights in my hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi – if you liked Elvis Presley that is. I will try to give you a run down on that later. Have a great week!!!

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

2006-10-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Last week a day in history passed that no one even noticed. Not even me.

Monday, a week ago, was the One-Year Anniversary for the Running in the Deep South blog by yours truly! Yep, one year ago I posted on how I got started running and got this very blog started at the same time.

I can't say that the writing has gotten any better but my running sure has! That week I was planning for a 5K and ran a grand total of 13 miles! The Saturday before I completed a 4-mile "long run" and actually wore my camelbak to stay hydrated! Ha Ha Ha!!! I have to say that I am almost as proud that I have stuck to blogging as running! Usually my efforts at such ventures fall by the waist side after a couple of days!

My first blog entry elicited an actual comment by famed trail runner Scott Dunlap! (He knows Kristen Armstrong personally ya know!) I haven't heard from him since but I have gained some readers over this first year that leave me great feedback and encourage me on a consistent basis. I want to thank Phil, Terry, Jim, Michele, Leonard, my brother R., and parent-in-laws for their "comment support" along the way!

My next post will mark number 100 for this blog, which will probably summarize the long run this weekend. My running is going fairly well this week but I have been busy with the CCO in town at work and the weather has been bad. I hope to knock down 7 in the morning but heavy rain is projected.

I know I have let many of you down when I failed to follow through on my "fearless reviews" of running gear :-) but I thank you for sticking around! I appreciate the support as I continue my quest to complete 26.2!!!

18 miles: check!

2006-10-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Total miles this week: 33.6 (4 times)

Cycling: 50 minutes (Sunday)

Long run: 18.1 miles (10:19 pace)

Another long run in the books!

My wife was out of town this weekend "with the girls" so the kids and I went down to my parents and spent the night so they could watch them for my long run Saturday morning. I showed them my route the night before by driving it in the car after we had eaten out.

My mom is a chronic worrier and she was on me the entire time about how I should not be running that far. She elicited the name of Dr. Donohue, a weekly columnist in the paper who often advices his readers not to overdo it. I am serious when I say that she attempted to talk me out of the run the entire drive. In her mind, my running is only about weight loss and she insists I would do fine by running only 2 miles every day.

I didn't listen to my mom and headed out just before 7 am on Saturday morning. It was cold - in the mid 40's and I had to wear an Adidas running pull-over to keep warm. I felt pretty strong as I started. I had only run 3 times the week before. My wife encouraged me to take off Friday to give myself some rest before the long run and I think it helped. The 18 miles didn't seem any longer than the 16 last Saturday. My lower legs were hurting those last few miles but, otherwise, I felt strong.

I iced a lot Saturday and I feel like I am recovering well. I biked 50 minutes Sunday and the new muscles I am using are a bit sore but I have no muscles soreness from the run! The ligaments in my ankles are a little sore but my PF doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

It is now Monday morning. It was easy to talk myself out of running this morning. When I woke up at 5 am it was cold, windy, and pouring down rain. I told myself that I DID cross train yesterday and turned back over. At any rate, I think the extra day of rest will help me recover from the long run and I will just tack on a couple extra miles on Tuesday's and Thursday's run. This weekend it is back down to only a half marathon distance before kicking it back up to 20 miles in two weeks!

One foot after another

2006-10-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have come to that point in my marathon training where I repeatedly find myself asking the question, “Why am I doing this???”

This morning was definitely no exception. I had driven 6 ½ hours roundtrip yesterday to complete an all day training session with staff of a new program we are opening up. I didn’t run yesterday, leaving the house before 5:30 am and arriving after 8:30 pm. When the alarm went off this morning at 5:00, I hit the snooze of course. (and then again and again). But when I finally DID get up at 5:30, I asked the question again, “Why am I doing this?”

I read a few months ago that the hardest part of running a marathon is not the event itself, but the weeks of training leading up to the race. I have never been a very disciplined person. (I like to think of myself as a perfectionist who just leaves a few things undone because I don’t have time to do them right!) So sticking to this training has been really challenging. It was easier when the miles were not adding up to 35 or 40 a week and long runs were not so taxing.

I can REALLY tell that this week’s 16-miler took a lot out of me. The easy run Monday was not so easy and the 4 mile tempo run this morning was more of a struggle than a 9 minute mile at this distance is usually.

So I’m tired. And I, honestly, am not looking forward to an 18-miler sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning. I mean…18 miles!!!! 18 miles??? “Why am I doing this?” But then I remind myself that this is all an exercise in discipline and I am just going to continue plodding along – one foot after another. Seems like a good Forrest Gump quote would fit nicely here! :-)

P.S. Thanks for all the encouraging words! It helps!!!

Just about 10 miles to go for a marathon!

2006-10-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

Week Total: 35 miles

Long run -- 16 miles

I just finished week 3 of my 11-week marathon training plan and completed the longest run of my life by going 16 miles.

I had planned to go only 15. I completed 12 last week so I mapped out a side route the night before that would add an additional 3 miles. But I forgot I had knocked off a mile the previous week because of a big dog and did not realize until a few miles into the run that I actually mapped out a 16 mile run. I decided I was going to go for it as long as I was feeling okay.

The weather cooperated with a sunny day and temps in the mid to high 40's during most of the run. I felt really good and kept a relaxed pace throughout. I didn't take in any water until about 5 miles and didn't feel I really needed the powergel I finally consumed at mile 8. I never hurt at any point in the run and finished fairly strong at the end!

I have an 18 mile run this Saturday and then begin alternating 20-milers with a half-marathon distance the following weekends. My ankle and bottom of my left foot is still a bit sore but I have started doing something that seems to help. Instead of just icing, I have taken several hot baths for about 15 minutes and then ice it afterwards. It seems to be getting better faster than it normally does.

I have a busy week next week and may have to move some of the runs around a bit. More on that later -- I hope everyone had a great weekend!

New Wheels!!!!!

2006-10-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

Finally! The day arrived when I was able to go out and buy a road bike. I can't tell if my old Fisher Marlin trail bike is jealous or not but I'm sure it will start getting a lot less use!

After a lot of looking and reading reviews on the internet, I went with an 2007 Specialized Roubaix. They gave me a GREAT deal at a bike shop about 45 minutes from my house and the staff there were really patient with me as I tried it and several other rides in the store. It is built to be comfortable for really long rides but is light and aggressive enough for triathlons as well. It is a 30 speed that is made of lightweight aluminum and has a complete carbon fork, carbon seat stays, and carbon seat post. The shop owner thought it would work fine to install aero bars down the road if I desire but I may not worry about it since I won't be doing any serious competion.

I already have two triathlons I know I want to compete in next year. One is the Rebel Man Sprint Triathlon in Oxford, Mississippi that is held in March or April of every year. The other is the larger DragonFly Tri in Sardis, Mississippi in June. There is another sprint tri in Tupelo in August but it is a new event so I have decided on that one yet. In 2008 I would like to tackle a longer olympic distance triathlon, possible the Memphis in May tri in Memphis.

But I am SOOOO excited! I went out on a 12.5 mile ride Saturday and had a blast! I took relatively the same route that I use for long runs and it was wild to cover the same ground in 53 minutes! I was a little sore in the thighs and butt but nothing real major. I may have some more adjusting to the seat to get just the right fit but I still averaged 14 mph without really pushing and I had a lot of gas in the tank when I quit.

So you may be hearing me talk more and more about biking and thinking about tri's -- that it -- once I am able to get through a marathon! :-)

Kicking the mileage up

2006-10-02T14:57:00.000-07:00

I finished week 2 of the marathon plan and it went a bit better than week 1. I woke up late Sunday morning and only had time for a 12 mile run. Actually, it would have been 13 but, at mile 7, I saw a HUGE dog chasing a squirrel across the street about 150 yards ahead. I don’t exactly have an aversion to dogs but I easily talked myself in going the other direction.

I felt pretty strong during most of the run but could feel myself running out of gas near the end. I think I could have easily gone an extra mile. Next week I will try a 15 miler and then 18 the week after. Then, I will alternate long runs of 20 and 22 miles with runs of half-marathon length the weekends in between.
My ankle is bothering me a little after my long runs so I have gone to my old trick of freezing coffee-size Styrofoam cups full of water. They are convenient because you just tear off the top few inches and use them to message the sore muscles (or in this case – ligaments). The speedwork tomorrow will really tell me where I am at.

New Shoes!!!!

2006-09-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! NEW SHOES!!!

I had planned a trip to “Mempho” (the armpit of Tennessee) this weekend for some new shoes since we don’t have a specialty running store in the area but decided to look one more place before making the trek. After my Monday easy run I decided I didn’t need to take another running step in my old shoes. They had 440 miles on them but I felt the cushioning was long gone and my lower legs ached even on the easy runs.

We have an awesome store in the area called “Trails and Treads” that is an outdoorsy type store that carries products similar to what you might find at REI. I have been in there several times looking at the road bikes (which I plan to purchase this weekend – WOO HOO!) but I have never paid much attention to the shoes they carry. Plus, I didn’t know if anyone there is knowledgeable about the different types of shoes (stability, motion-control, cushioning). As you all know, the folks in department stores or most of those chains like Foot Locker have NO clue whatsoever. You might as well be speaking French when you mention words like “stability shoe”. “uhhh, yesssir, all of our shoes are pretty stabile”.

I was fortunate that I caught the owner/manager of the store, Harris, who was, in fact, very knowledgeable about the type of shoe I needed. He didn’t watch me run because I told him the folks at Fleet Feet (which he knows pretty well) determined I have minimum motion and would do best in a stability shoe. He did measure my foot and look at my arch. I told him that the Brooks Axiom I had been using never seemed to have enough cushioning because I have experienced a lot of lower leg problems.

He confirmed what I thought – that the Axiom didn’t provide enough support for the mileage I am putting in. He said it doesn’t really make a good trainer because it is so light. (I have to confess that I may have moved the guy at Fleet Feet this direction because I loved the lighter shoes I tried.) But after trying several shoes at Trail and Treads, I picked a shoe that was in my budget at $95. I went with the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 6. I liked the Brooks Trance a bit better but $130 is just too much for a shoe I plan to replace in three months.

I went on my first run in the new shoes this morning. Off the bat the left shoe seemed hard and I felt I was slapping my foot on the pavement. Once I got going and the shoe was broken in a bit, I was fine and they felt comfortable. The BEST part is - I am feeling NO lower leg pain this morning at all! None of that normal soreness below my calves, at my ankle, or underneath my foot! And today I ran mile intervals so it wasn’t a real easy day.

So I am hoping that this continues to be the case and this weekend’s long run is doable. The temps are going to be GREAT so I hope my legs will cooperate. I am going to see if I can reach at least 14, maybe 15. But if I am struggling at all I will cut short at 13. (Hopefully, not less than that.) I need to get on track so I can do this marathon in December. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Nature Called (and I made a call)

2006-09-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

It had not happened during all of my long runs until this past Saturday. Yes, nature called. And when it called, I was in the middle of a residential area -- nowhere near a public restroom. “Uh, excuse me mam. I know I am sweaty and stink, and you don’t know who I am, but I REALLY got to go so would you mind me dropping a load….” Naaah, that wouldn’t work. Thankfully, I had my cell phone packed in my camelbak and gave my wife a call. I squeezed out another mile (pun intended), and met her at the 8-mile mark a few minutes later. She did her best imitation of the Fast and the Furious and got me home before any “accidents” occurred.

The main culprit here is the Outback entrée from the night before, but I have to be honest with myself: Before calling her, I was really struggling. It was a lot hotter than I had anticipated. I had gotten used to running in the mid-50’s earlier in the week but a warm front meant temps 30 degrees higher. In addition, my running shoes are WAY past due for replacement. I have a pair of Brooks Axioms and I have never been satisfied with the cushioning. Well, what WAS there is broken down now after 440 miles. The problem is, there are NO specialty running stores within 80 miles of my house! I plan to go to Memphis this weekend but, until then, I have to “make do”.

So at mile 6 ½ and 7, I was struggling. My lower legs were really hurting and I don’t know if I could have kept going if I did not have to stop for the potty break. It concerns me because I have little time to make up the difference, but I am hoping that, with new shoes, and lower temps, I can do better at this weekend’s long run, probably on Sunday morning. In the mean time, I am not going to do anything very strenuous so I can avoid injury. Oh, and yeah, I will probably need to avoid any similar meals the night before a big run!

OOPS! Too much?

2006-09-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Man, it felt great this morning!

I mean - a BEE-UTIFUL day!

Clear sky, nice breeze, temps in the low 50's.

I had a 6-miler planned with a pace of about 9:15 a mile. I thought I might push it a bit more if I felt good and come in just under 55 minutes. But I wasn't going to extend myself at all.

I warmed up a mile or two and then felt SOOO good I ran 20 seconds faster than my goal pace. Oops! Need to slow down! But then my fourth mile was even a bit quicker at 8:46. So then I didn't want a positive split so I decided to maintain that pace. I did a heckuva job too, coming in at eactly 8:46 for my fifth mile. My final mile was actually my fastest at 8:35. It was a nice 6 miles at 53:37.

I just hope I didn't push too hard. I GOT to be careful to avoid injury as I crank up the mileage these next 11 weeks. I really need only one speedwork session a week and did not mean to make this a tempo run. I have an easy 4 miles tomorrow and will have to reign myself in so I don't overdo it before the 12 mile long run Saturday!

Marathon Plan

2006-09-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Where did my time go???

2006-09-18T12:28:00.000-07:00

Actually, I know exactly where it went. I have always wanted to teach at the college level and was offered the opportunity to teach an online course at the local community college this fall. Thinking this may be a foot in the door, I jumped at the chance and, what started out as one course, quickly turned into three full sections (78 students) of one subject area.

It is both a blessing and a hindrance. It is a blessing because I am enjoying teaching in the online format and the money I earn will enable me to finally buy a nice road bicycle. (I’ve got my eye on the new Trek 1600). However, all of the hours it takes is making it a hindrance to my focus on training for the toughest task I have ever taken on in my life – marriage (no, just joking honey) – THE MARATHON. (It’s also seriously cutting into my blogging.)

The 14.2 miler race took a lot more out of me than I had planned. I only ran once the week after and took a few more days last week to get on schedule. I think the rest did me some good but my ankle and foot still don’t seem 100%. I can’t afford to take any more time off as I am already behind schedule. Hopefully, the mileage I got in for the 14.2 mile race will help as I jump up in the weekly totals. I’ll have to give it a shot if I am going to manage the distance of a marathon!

I ran just under 20 miles last week. With all the time off it seemed harder than normal. I went 7 ½ miles for the long run, which seemed more like 12. But there were not any added pains to my legs or feet and I am starting to fill motivation ease back in today. My marathon plan includes jumping up to 31 miles this week with a 12-mile long run on Saturday. I will work up to 35 miles and a 15-miler the next week and then start alternating long runs of a half-marathon distance with extended runs reaching 22 miles three weeks before the marathon.

I will try to post my marathon plan later tonight and hope some of you can give me some feedback. Lately, Blogger has not been letting me upload pictures or images of any kind. I don’t know if I am close to my limit in storage space or what. If it doesn’t work, I will type it in another blog entry later in the week. I have some speed work tomorrow and plan to blog much more about training for the first marathon in my life!

14.2 Miler Race Report

2006-09-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

I started my taper a little earlier than planned for this weekend’s Tupelo 14.2-mile race. I discovered a couple of weeks ago that I wasn’t still out of the woods on the ankle. After an 8 and a quarter run on the 25th, my ankle was really bothering me and I felt like my plantar faciitis was starting to come back in the same foot. As a result, I only ran twice last week, both runs 3 miles or shorter. I felt like I had lost some enthusiasm in regards to running the race and you can probably tell by my lack of blogging. Interestingly enough, I received this month’s Runner’s World in the mail on Saturday and read an article called “Taper Traps”, which described some of the things I was feeling. Apparently, I am not the only one who goes through this in the weeks before a race.

I went and picked up my race packet on Saturday afternoon. Much like the race itself, it doesn’t contain any big frills. It had a Tupelo water bottle and a Tupelo notebook. But it did contain one of the most unique race t-shirts I have ever seen. If you like 70’s and tye-dye, you may travel some distance to get one of these.

I hope someone from the Tupelo Marathon and 14.2-mile race reads this blog because the race map has to be one of the crappiest I have ever witnessed. It is very difficult to read and several of the roads are labeled incorrectly. My wife convinced me to go for a drive Saturday night to check out the course. It was probably a mistake because we didn’t get back until 11 am. (It is a 5 am start). The course goes down country roads in a rural area. Using the crappy map we got made several wrong turns and got lost. However, one thing I noticed is the numerous rolling hills I had not accounted for in my training. I felt that feeling in the pit of my stomach, “Uh-oh.” Looks like 2:30 may even be a bit optimistic!

I set three different alarms to make sure I woke up in time. I set the regular alarm, my cell phone alarm that is capable of waking the dead, and my watch alarm, which is pretty useless but served as a “back-up”. Despite all of my worry, I popped out of bed as soon as my bedside alarm went off at 3:50 am. I ate half of a powerbar and drank some coffee. I made sure my playlist for the race transferred to my ipod correctly. I then got dressed and headed out with some Gatorade to sip on the way to the race, just 10 minutes from my house.

I don’t know what you do before races: stretch, meditate, chat with other racers. Essentially, I poop. Yes, it seems the nervousness before early morning races always gets to me and I need to make several trips to the stall before I feel like I have the “all clear”. I think it was a 3-count this race, not counting a few extra visits to the urinal – just to be sure.

During all of my back and forth treks I did not see anyone I knew so I pretty much kept to myself and thought about the race. I thought about my training, all of the weeks of preparation I had put in just for today. I reflected on disappointment because of the injury that seemed to slow me down but also on the satisfaction of knowing I would be able to complete the distance, something that would have been impossible two years ago. While I knew 2:15 was a long shot I vowed I was going to give it my best and leave it all out on the roads.

The start line was about a ¼ mile from the empty building that we all congregated in. At about 5 minutes to 5 am, everyone slowly mosied over to the line. A few guys were peeing on the side of the road but it was still pretty dark so no one seemed to care. I never heard the start officially go off but everyone started heading out so I started my ipod and went with them.

It was dark and, after a couple of miles, there were no more neighborhoods and the streetlights were spaced far apart. In some places, it was pitch black! I mean, you can’t see your hand in front of your face dark! I hardly ever run at night, much less in the middle of nowhere with nothing to light the way. But you know what, it was soooo fun! There were some people with flashlights and it was enough to stay on the road. The ground was really uneven and I think it would be easy for someone to sprain an ankle in this part of the race.

I couldn’t see any mile markers so I could not be sure how fast I was running. I assumed the first water station was at 3 miles because my watch read 28 minutes. I had decided before the race that I would walk through each water station but I only took a few seconds before I got going again. I was feeling pretty good, running a comfortable pace, and the temperature was perfect!

About 45 minutes into the run, the sun started coming out and a rooster crowed from a nearby farm. It was funny to see all the dogs on the side of the road watching the hundreds of runners go by. Some barked, but most looked at us with a confused look like, “what in the world?!” I paid little attention to scenery and listened to a podcast, trying to keep a steady pace. Every once in a while someone would pass me and I would try to stay with them a while. An hour into the race, I was still feeling good and could now make out mile markers. Sure enough, I was keeping a pace just better than 9:30 a mile.

I felt a twinge of pain in my left foot every once in a while. I tried to put it out of my mind and tell myself I didn’t feel it. It was now light outside and I had passed the 7 mile marker at just under 67 minutes. The next water station was at about 8 miles and walked a bit more through this one. I was now starting the section with all of the rolling hills and I was trying to tell myself that I was not slowing down. I told myself I only had a 10k to go but was not at all comforted by the thought! I picked someone 100 yards ahead that seemed to be at a similar pace and determined myself to catch him. A few minutes later I did. Then the hills started!

I was fortunate to catch a pack of runners when the hills started and I used many of them to pace me. My long run has exactly two hills of similar size on its course but I knew I would be attacking several more than that on this one. I used the pace of others around me and would not let anyone pass me. I passed several runners using this method and feel I kept my pace pretty well.

When I got to 11 miles I was starting to hurt. I had completed most of the hill section and was going through a neighborhood. I told myself I had a 5k to go and felt a bit better this time. Marathoners had started heading the other way and I waved to the race leaders. I checked my watch. I was keeping a steady pace but I could tell it had slowed a bit. I could now see that breaking 2:20 was definitely a possibility. But at mile 12, I was really hurting, pushing myself and telling myself not to walk. At the turnaround they told me to head the other way if I was running the marathon. I said, “Not today!” and took both a water and Gatorade. I knew this would probably be the last one before the finish so I took my time. Looking back, had I took a normal break here, I would have had a better chance to make my time. But I was pretty spent! Both feet and ankles were hurting, my legs were killing me, and my right toes were burning from apparent blisters.

I took a left and had the last big stretch before turning into the parking lot for the race finish. I tried to pick up the pace but I could tell 2:15 was probably out of reach. I resigned in my mind that I just wanted to finish under 2:17. When I made the final right and could see the clock I could see that I had done that. I crossed the line and the lady took off the tabs from my race number. She commented that I wasn’t sweating much at all and congratulated me. My official time was 2:15:55. A pace of 9:35 a mile.

My wife came for the finish and gave me a big hug at the end. My legs were heavy and I had to lean on her for support. Someone handed me a bottled water and my wife snapped a few pictures. She had some great words of encouragement and it started to sink in that I did it! I had completed a 14.2 mile race and at a time I was very satisfied with!

As I write this the day after, my legs are soooo sore! I have knots all in my calves and my quads are killing me! I have a pretty funny walk that has caught the attention of my two toddlers! I worked hard to keep a steady pace but I think the hills are the main culprit. The race was really hard and I can’t imagine running a marathon but, you know what? December 3rd I am going to do exactly that! Wednesday, I will start my training for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in Memphis, Tennessee. I will be working on my race plan today and tomorrow and hope to have it up later this week.

Now that I have officially completed the race, it doesn’t even seem real. What seemed unreachable several months ago, only serves as a time that I want to better next year. That is what keeps me hitting the roads, running each and every day. It is a race, not against others, not even against some course. Some people say it is the race against the “fat guy” chasing them. But for me, it is even more than that. It is the race against myself. Leaving behind the self I want to avoid, and racing toward the one I want to become.

For some reason, I cannot get pictures to upload into blogger anymore. You can check out the pictures here:

Race Shirt Front

Race Shirt Back

Finishing stretch

I did it!!!

Made it through the week...

2006-08-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

I was really discontented with my running when I started this week. That bled into my blogging (or lack thereof). It is really frustrating that I have to deal with the ankle two weeks before the 14.2 miler and I am no where near the paces I had hoped.

I pushed myself out the door Monday morning to run at the 1/2 mile track below the gym. After the 3-miler, I felt the familiar euphoria that keeps me lacing up the running shoes morning after morning. I slept in Tuesday morning and still a bit worried about the ankle. I chose a nearby park and enjoyed the scenery. I didn't want to push things so I went just a little over 4 miles. The hills and heat got to me but the run went fairly well. My ankle was still holding up pretty good so I was a little encouraged and decided to push a bit during my Thursday tempo run.

The tempo run included a plan for a mile warm-up and 5 miles at about a 9:15 pace. I was on track the first two miles but actually ran faster the last four. My splits were 9:43 (warm-up), 9:16, 8:57, 9:00, 9:02, and 9:07. I was finally feeling like I was heading in the right direction. Friday's easy run was uneventful and I decided on a 12-mile long run for Saturday morning.

I wanted to run real close to a 10-minute per mile pace and was doing pretty good the first few miles. When I got around 6 miles I could start to feel the tiredness set in and told myself that finishing was more important than pace. But at 8 miles, I was still on track at a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes. I was on track if I could keep up the current pace. That was a big IF!

I finished off my 2nd powergel at about 8.5 miles and threw my wrapper in a garbage can I always use. I decided to use the nearby water fountain for an extra sip of water but was shocked by a splurge of acid reflux went I bent over! I had to stop for a few seconds to catch my breath and take in some water from my camelbak. It surprised me more than anything but I got going rather quickly.

At mile 10 I encountered several large dogs running the streets. I am not exactly scared of dogs but encounters while I am running make me anxious! They were about 50 meters ahead of me and I started walking to see what they were going to do. They went off in the woods, apparently not interested in me, so I started running once again.

The last 2 miles were pretty hard! The sun was beating down and it was getting hot. I had started later than usual because I couldn't one of my podcasts to download into my computer. I was starting to feel the difference! Had I been able to make it through these miles a bit quicker, I may have managed the pace I desired but I couldn't pick it up. I finished at a 10:18 pace. :-(

I will plan a shorter long run of 8 miles this Friday, the last long run before the race. I am going whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River Saturday so I am getting it in earlier in the week. Hopefully, I won't feel too wiped out as a result!

I am only 2 weeks from race day so I have to rethink my original goal time of 2:15 (for 14.2 miles). At this point, 2:25 may be much more realistic. I guess this goes to show you that if you are a beginner like me, you must give your body a rest week in one of these 12 week race plans to give your legs a break. If you don't give your body a rest, it will take a rest anyway one way or another!

Diagnosis

2006-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

My visit with Dr. Bibighaus went very well. He was a great doctor with a history as a runner and seemed to be the perfect person to go see. He felt around on each of my ankles and had me move them in different directions. He noted that my left ankle has less range of motion than the right and decided to do an x-ray. The x-ray did not show any problems so he said that he believes that the ankle is still weak from the bad ankle sprain I suffered last year. Sprains such as these are hard to get over. He said what I am experiencing now is essentially an overuse injury of a weak ankle.

Dr. Bibighaus prescribed me Celebrex as an anti-inflammatory and drew out a device he told me to make that will help strengthen my ankle. It is basically a piece of plywood 12 inches in diameter with half of a wooden ball attached on the bottom. He said to stand on it and rotate it around so the edge of the plywood touches all the way around and it will gradually strengthen that ankle. I found an illustration of this advice on the internet if you want to check out this link. It is the figure 7 -- the one called the "wobble".

I asked him about Osteo-biflex and he told me it is worth a try. He stated that he takes it himself for arthritis and thinks it makes a difference but there was no solid research that confirms it could help me as a runner. Have any of you out there tried it? It is not cheap so I hesitate to buy some buy someone at work told me it would be really good for all of the miles I am putting in.

Most importantly, he told me I can start back running Monday, as long as I use caution and stop if my ankle hurts. He told me to ice it after each run and said I was "braver than him" when I told him I take ice baths!

So, YEA!!!! It is not anything serious and hopefully I can get back on track Monday with only missing the one week of running. The ankle is a bit sore still but I am hoping the device and this medicine will help it come along. Dr. Bibighaus did say that he would be concerned if my ankle continued to cause me problems. He told me the next step would be physical therapy and, if that didn't help, an MRI to see if I needed surgery to repair the ligament. But I am thinking positive that the steps he gave me are going to take care of it!

I bought an extra water bottle holder for my mountain bike. On the long rides I find I want a little more than water. This way I can have a bottle for water and one for a sports drink. I am going out Sunday afternoon and plan to do a lot of riding on the 9 miles of trails at Elvis Presley Park. It is going to be a cooler weekend! YES!!!

P.S. > I have always gotten Celebrex confused with Viagra for some reason so I was taken aback for a second when he first told me he was going to give me some samples! I imagine I had a look of surprise for that second but thankfully he didn't notice!

Injury Update

2006-08-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

The visit to the doctor today was a big ol' waste of time. Someone at work assured me that she was absolutely sure he was in-network for our insurance but when I had filled out all that stupid paperwork -- guess what -- he was out of network. I was not about to pay $200 for a doctor's visit an x-ray so I went back to the office and called around.

Apparently, there are no sports medicine physicians/podiatrists in-network in my area so I started calling around. I talked to a nice lady at a rehabilitation clinic who said she thought an orthopedic doctor would be more appropriate anyway for an ankle injury so I began calling to see when could fit me in.

I now have a 3:30 appointment on Friday with Alexander J. Bibighaus III, MD. Hopefully he is someone knowledgeable about sports-related injuries and hopefully he won’t prescribe too much time off!

I appreciate all of the feedback you gave me from the previous post! I am not suspicious of my shoes, though I can't say I have been thrilled with their support. According to my running log, they currently have 324 miles on them. (Getting close -- but not quite worn out just yet.)

I iced my ankle last night and kept it elevated on the couch. Unfortunately, I am just too busy at work to find time to do the same. I am going to ice it now and take some more Advil. I will try to work out tomorrow with some weights and use the stationary cycle at the gym. If the doctor clears it, I will go mountain-biking Saturday in lieu of my long run.

I am looking forward to the doctor's visit tomorrow because I hope to get this injury behind me. I will update you all as soon as I can!

Oh CRAP !!!!!

2006-08-10T03:36:00.000-07:00

For the last ten weeks, the training has been going pretty well. I have steadily increased my mileage without facing any serious injuries and I am right on track for the 14.2 mile race on September 3rd. Or maybe I should say I WAS on track!

I mentioned in an earlier blog about my ankles hurting. That seemed to go away by Tuesday and I went on a 5 mile run yesterday. The run went well and I was feeling pretty good when I blogged a few hours later. But as the day went on, my left ankle began to hurt a little. Not a serious pain, mind you, but it was feeling a little sore and was pervasive throughout the remainder of the day.

Last night as I was talking to my wife in the kitchen, I was getting my running clothes ready and started to wonder about the ankle. I picked up my foot and looked at the area that is sore and right when the foot came up into the light, exclaimed aloud, "Oh CRAP!"

My wife asked, "What's wrong?" I showed her and she could easily see it as well. The area of the inside of my left foot, right below the anklebone, is significantly swollen!!! It almost looks like a mild sprain but without the bruising. It is puffy to the touch and is sore and stiff!

So I'm thinking "CRAPPPPP!". Once again, a few weeks from a race, I get an injury again! But this one seems like one I couldn't even control! You see, I did sprain this ankle early last year pretty badly playing racquetball. I didn't go and see a doctor but had to stay off of it for several weeks and it pretty much started me back at ground zero with my running. I am wondering if I may have reinjured it somehow with the long run on Saturday.

I iced it with a direct ice pack last night for more than 30 minutes and took some ibuprofen. Yet, it is still sore and a bit swollen this morning. I feel I have no choice but to skip my 7 miler this morning and the rest of the week's running is in jeopardy as well. I will probably try to get in to see the local sports medicine doctor and see what he can tell me. Hopefully, I can at least get better before race day. :-(

Mid-week Report

2006-08-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday’s long run didn’t FEEL too hard but the aftereffects were pretty significant! My lower ankles and the bottom-sides of my feet were both pretty sore. I hobbled around Saturday and Sunday with ibuprofen seeming to be the only thing that helped. It did not feel like an injury of any kind, just soreness from all of the pounding my body is not yet used to.

Monday morning brought an improvement but I was a little concerned about running again and injuring myself. I decided to do a little cycling for 20 minutes and lifted weights. I felt a lot better and planned to run on Tuesday morning; however, we had a crisis at work early in the morning and I was unable to run. It was a hard day at the office so I was too zonked to try and run Tuesday evening. I was a little worried I might be losing my zeal for running but I knew I am too addicted to stop.

I ran 5 miles this morning at about an 8:53 pace. It was hot and I had to push myself a little more than I would have liked, but I am still feeling good now that it is a few hours later. I plan to run 7 miles tomorrow at around a 9:15 pace and will complete a real easy 4 miles on Friday. Hopefully, this won’t be too much leading up to the 16-miler on Saturday. It is the last BIG run before the 14.2-mile race in a few weeks so I will be happy to log it in the books! Then the long run mileage starts going down until I reach my 8 mile taper on the 25th. It’s getting closer!!!

Moving along....

2006-08-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

I had a 14.5 mile run this past Saturday morning. I woke up early and was out the door by 6 AM. My main focus was completing the run and staying comfortable enough to finish. I wanted to avoid walking at any point and avoid the feeling that I was about to die!

I ate a powerbar about a 1/2 hour before I started and took two powergels along for the ride. I decided to be more conservative with my water intake because I didn't want to run out again in the last mile and a half, which is the hottest and hardest part of the run.

I didn't worry about pace so much, settling into a comfortable rhythm and zoning into my podcasts. I should mention here that I have three podcasts I listen to during each of my long runs. The first is called the Relevant podcast and is produced by the editors of Relevant magazine. It is essentially a Christian magazine about contemporary culture. It is the best podcast I listen to and get really disappointed when they post it late and
I have to miss it.

I’ve tried but I’m not into any of the running podcasts that are out there. Since I have an interest in getting into triathlons in the future, there are two "Tri" podcasts I always download. One is called Zen and the Art of Triathlons. I am definitely not into Zen Buddhism but, thankfully, the podcast avoids the subject for the most part because and offer the most entertaining information on the sport of triathlons. I enjoy listening in to Brent's rides each week and the different interviews with athletes.

I also really enjoy Stu's podcast on triathlons called Simply Stu. He offered an insider's look at the Tour de France that was particularly enjoyable and has great interviews with top pro athletes. However, I have been having a tough time downloading it recently and missed several of the podcasts. I am not sure what that is all about.

Anyway, the run was pretty uneventful. Yeah, it was hard but really not too bad. Maybe I should have pushed myself a little harder because it was not too tough. That is, not too tough while I was running. My lower ankles KILLED me later that day and most of the day Sunday. I tried icing it a couple of times and took several ibuprofens. I didn’t run today (Monday) to give my legs a little extra break. I plan to add a mile tomorrow and Friday to try and make up for it a little.

Here are my totals for last week:

Total mileage: 33.1 miles

Saturday: Long run – 14.56 miles – 2:32:25 (10:29 pace)

Thursday: 6 mile tempo – 8:45 pace

Tuesday: Mile and ½ mile intervals – 8:12 pace

I NEED HELP!!!

2006-07-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

I need help in figuring out what I need to do with my long run leading up to a 14.2 mile race on Sunday, September 3rd. Keep in mind that I plan to taper the week after the race and then shoot my miles back up with a marathon in mind for December 3rd. I will focus more on finishing the race than anything but I would like to finish in 2:15 if I can!

I have listed the long runs from the previous weeks below and have three scheduling scenarios I am considering for my long runs to come. I would appreciate some input on which scenario you think is best or any other ideas you may have.

Previous long runs and weekly mileage:

July 1 Long run – 9.0 Pace – 10:32 Weekly Mileage – 25.0 total

July 8 Long run – 10.0 Pace – 9:50 Weekly Mileage – 26.5 total

July 15 Long run – 10.0 Pace – 10:19 Weekly Mileage – 27.5 total

July 22 Long run – 12.0 Pace – 9:55 Weekly Mileage – 28.0 total

July 30 Long run - 13.5 Pace – 10:10 Weekly Mileage – 31.5 total

Here are the three different scenarios:

Scenario # 1:

Saturday, August 5th – 14.5 miles

Saturday, August 12th – 15 miles

Saturday, August 19th – 16 miles

Scenario # 1 maximizes my long run mileage so the 14.2 mile race won’t be as close to my endurance limit. Hopefully that would help me run a bit quicker pace to snag a better time.

Scenario # 2:

Saturday, August 5th – 12 miles

Saturday, August 12th – 14.5 miles

Saturday, August 19th – 12 miles

Scenarios # 2 keeps my miles at (or near) my current endurance limit, minimizing injury risk and basically giving me a 2-week taper leading up to race day.

Scenario # 3:

Saturday, August 5th – 14.5 miles

Saturday, August 12th – 15.5 miles

Saturday, August 19th – 12 miles

Scenario # 3 is basically a compromise of 1 and 2. It pushes my endurance level but gives me a better taper leading up to the race.

Right now I am leaning toward # 3 but would love your input. I am still new at this, especially at these mileages. I know that listening to my body is foremost but I like having a plan to try and go by.

TAPER:

Finally, just how long of a taper run should I schedule for a 14.2 mile race? I know I will have to do my taper on Friday, August 25th because I will be going out of town on Saturday for a whitewater rafting trip and figure I will be too tired to run on Sunday. I was thinking 10 miles but I didn’t know if that is too long and should go 8 miles instead. Advice on this would be appreciated as well!

Shane Runs A Half-Marathon!

2006-07-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

Actually, 13 ½ miles! (Give me credit for that extra quarter mile)

I am training for the Tupelo 14.2 miler on September 3rd and this weekend came time to push my long run to the half-marathon mark. My longest previous run is 12 miles and I have only run double digits a hand full of times. The run would not only be my longest to date but also completes the first time I have run more than 30 miles in a week.

I left the house at about 6:05 am. I had my camelbak fully loaded with water, two powergels, and a cell phone. At about 3 miles I noticed I was feeling a bit sluggish and slowed my pace slightly. To this point I had averaged 9:30 minute miles, which I knew was a bit too fast. Keeping a slow and steady pace was important because I wanted to make sure and complete the entire run without needing to walk.

I felt my pace quicken as I ran through downtown. I just added this section to my long runs so it feels fresher and I really enjoy the scenery. I took in my first powergel at about 5 miles but had a little trouble getting it open. I had timed the run so I could throw the wrapper in a trash bin on the sidewalk so I had to slow my pace to try and tear into it so I wouldn’t pass the can!

I think it was around 7 miles that I noticed I was running way too slow and tried to pick up the pace. Without paying attention, I had slowed down listening to my podcast and had drifted into a slow jog. A mile later I went into the section that includes three large hills. The first two actually felt good and the extra work resulted in me powering down the backsides. The third one was pretty tough and I took in my second powergel right after -- at about 9 miles.

At 10 miles the sun really started to bear down and the temperature was rising fast. Despite the last powergel, I could feel myself getting weaker and I took more frequent sips from my camelbak. I knew my pace had drifted around the 10 minute per mile mark but I was afraid pushing it more may have resulted in a need to walk so I didn’t even focus on pace.

The last mile and a half was pretty difficult. I knew I was running longer than I ever have and the thought of finishing is about all that kept me going the last mile. It was hot and my camelbak was dry. However, I can’t say I was struggling too bad. I felt a slight queasiness and was tired, of course; but otherwise I was doing okay. I was not lightheaded or dizzy or anything like that. I have witnessed runners at races coming in on a half marathon and stumbling all over the place. I was nothing like that. I was steadily plodding along at a slow methodical pace.

I used the google map pedometer to measure 13.5 miles to the exact driveway. There were a couple little hills in the last ½ mile and then I had the drive in sight! After finishing, I took my ipod off and undid my camelbak belt. “13 ½ miles”, I thought to myself. I did it!
The time was just over 2 hours and 17 minutes. I was a little disappointed that I finished above a 10 minute pace but was more pleased to have completed the distance without walking a step. No, there was no finish line. There was no crowd to cheer me in, but I felt accomplished just the same.

My family cheered for me when I came into the house and I immediately ran water so I could collapse in a cold ice bath. I drank some Gatorade I had left over and my wife made me my favorite recovery drink – chocolate milk (fat free of course). I was not able to relax too much because I had to get ready soon after my bath so we could get to Sunday School on time.

I am still a little sore today. The easy 3-miler this morning was not too easy because of the soreness and I reminded myself that this was my punishment for oversleeping on Thursday. As a result, I am pretty tight and have to hobble a little if I I’ve been sitting too long. I am going to try and find some Advil and, hopefully, I will be ok by the time I do my intervals in the morning!

I am going to blog later tonight and need some advice. I have three long runs left (not including my taper run) and I’m not quite sure what distances to choose. I have a few scenarios in my head and hopefully some of you can help me decide. Until then…

Emotionally Addicted

2006-07-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

I woke up bright and early this morning and this time I did not listen to the little red devil on my shoulder suggesting I take a few more minutes to wake up on the couch! I noticed yesterday that missing the day of running put a cloud on my entire day. While I am definitely not addicted to waking up every morning by 5:15 am, I am at least emotionally addicted to running itself. Yesterday reminded me of this fact!

Despite my overtime on the couch and normal intake of morning caffeine, I was grumpy and irritable throughout the day yesterday and pretty sleepy as well. Someone came to my office yesterday and I was trying to explain how I don’t feel myself anymore when I’m not running. Today I ran 5.5 miles and I feel SOOO much better and more energetic than I did this same time yesterday! That probably doesn’t make sense to anyone but us runners!

It felt great to hit the track again today! I could tell my body was geared up for it as well. I warmed up for a 1/2 mile in about 4:45 and then did a 5-mile tempo run in 44:27. My goal was to average 9 min miles. I went a little slow the first mile and should have remembered that a 9 min/mile pace is not THAT comfortable for me! But I did okay the rest of the way and actually had my fastest mile for mile 5! Here were the splits:

Mile 1 -- 9:14
Mile 2 -- 8:52
Mile 3 -- 8:48
Mile 4 -- 8:53
Mile 5 -- 8:40

It may work out great that I will do my long run on Sunday this week. The weather forecast indicates a heavy chance of thunderstorms on Saturday that would have probably nixed my long run. There’s still a chance on Sunday but it is an isolated chance so hopefully I will be okay. I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will blog again Sunday to let you know how the 13.5 miler went!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

2006-07-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

I did the unthinkable today. I overslept and missed my run!

I’m not using it as an excuse but I played racquetball after work yesterday for an hour and a half so I was pretty tired when I went to bed. This morning I woke up after the third snooze and went into the living room. Maybe you have been there. You are half awake and still REALLY tired. The couch had a throw blanket lying on it from the night before and looked SOOO inviting! The thought crept into my clouded mind, “I’ll just lie down for JUST a few minutes to relax and wake up slowly.” And once lying down comfortably under the blanket, “I’ll close my eyes for JUST a second. ………zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

Then I was gone into dreamland. I woke up an hour later – time enough to get ready for work but no time to run. I had missed not only a run, but also one of my important tempo runs. As I got ready this morning, I became more and more angry with myself. Today is my “late day” because I teach two anger management classes at the local family resource center after work. (Sure, start dispensing the Jack Nicholson jokes now.) I don’t get home until after 8 and I am too wasted to think about running.

I packed my workout bag and running clothes and brought them to work with me but I am not sure why. I am way too busy to get in a run at lunch. I will just have to reschedule things I guess. Therefore, I will do my 5.5 mile tempo run tomorrow, 3 mile easy run Saturday morning and the 13.5 long run early Sunday morning. I don’t really like running on Sundays but I have found I don’t have to deal with traffic as much that early in the morning. Another drawback is I won’t have an off day after the long run. To get back on track, I will have another easy run Monday, intervals on Tuesday, and THEN the off day on Wednesday.
This running stuff definitely helps you become more disciplined. It gets downright frustrating to miss a run because you were lazy!

12 miles and countin!

2006-07-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

12 miler on Saturday -- check
Longest run to date -- check
faster than a 10 min/mi pace -- check

Yes, with a little more planning and a little luck with the weather, my run went well this weekend. I didn't try to push the pace at all and made it in at a 9:55 pace for my longest run ever to date!

Friday night I ate some homemade spaghetti and a bowl of Grape Nuts Trail Mix cereal before bedtime. I went to bed at about 10:00 and set the alarm for 5:45 am. I was up and at it by 5:50 but I didn't rush things. I had a half a cup of coffee and filled my camelbak. (Yes, I just can't resist the ease of water riding on my hips -- at least it is the runner's version).

I bought two powergels the night before and loaded them in the camelbak along with my cell phone. I had mapped out a little bit of a different route that took me to downtown Tupelo and around the old historic courthouse. I got out the door at 6:20 and it was a bit warmer than I anticipated.

The run went fairly well. I had to battle diarrhea off and on from miles 5 to 9. I am not sure what that is about unless it was the Grape Nuts the night before. I took my first powergel at around 4 miles and the second around 8 1/2. I made sure to get the ones with caffeine, as they seem to give me a bit more spunk.

I had a semi-close call with a car but, otherwise, the run went great! The only concern as I type this on Monday night is a pain on the bottom/side of my left foot about two inches below my pinkie toe. This has been bothersome lately but has seemed to get a little worse with the longer runs. I am not sure what it is. My shoes currently have 257 miles on them so I wouldn't think they are wearing down yet. It is not like the plantar fascillitis I dealt with a year and a half ago either. I am going to keep an eye on it.

This week I have 31.5 miles planned with a 13.5 mile run scheduled for Saturday! After that I am going to want a little feedback on where I should go with my long runs and when I should taper (and how long of a taper run). I hope everyone is having a great week running!!!

Floyd and Me

2006-07-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

"Floyd and Me"

That is a title of a post I had planned Wednesday night after American Floyd Landis bonked BIG TIME in the Tour de France, losing his race lead by an insurmountable 8 minutes. My mind went back to my bonk on Saturday and a pretty lousy run on Tuesday. I had planned a 6 miler on Tuesday but my legs felt sluggish and it was just too hot. I quit after only 3 miles!

The next night I turned on the Tour de France. I have been captured by the Tour for several years now and was looking forward to watch yet another American pull away from the European crowd. To this point everyone agreed Floyd Landis was the man to beat and many of his competitors seemed to already concede victory.

Then came the collapse.

Floyd Landis suddenly looked human. Very human. On the last climb of the day he lost a minute for every kilometer of the race - more than 8 minutes overall. He cracked. He looked embarrassed. Pulling his radio earbud out of his ear out of frustration, he looked human. He looked a little like me.

I went to bed disappointed and sad. You could see the disappointment all over Floyd’s face - the shamed glances to the crowd surrounding the mountainous incline. I could only imagine the French papers making fun of the American. He had lost the race on one day! That is when the thought of a blog entry came to mind. "Floyd and me"- the two bonkers. One and the same except for one of us is much more incredibly fit and famous than I can ever hope to be.

The only thing is our internet is out at our house. In fact, I am in a coffee shop right now because it is STILL out. I didn't get a chance to post my tongue-in-cheek analogy.

Then came Thursday.

In what experts on the Tour is calling the most glorious one day performance ever, Floyd Landis pulled away on the first climb of the day and never looked back, CRUSHING his competitors in a way that few have ever done. It was pure drive and determination. In one day, he bested his closest rival by 7 1/2 minutes, only 30 seconds out of the lead! He is now very much in the race and has his sights on winning in Paris on Sunday. It blew me away and inspired me at the same time!

It really impacted me way more than Lance’s consistent victories year after year. He had ever reason to give up, but instead he just gave it much more. Maybe me and Floyd aren't exactly alike, but he showed me that bad days don't count. Finishing well does!

I have a 12-miler planned tomorrow. Wish me luck!

I BONKED !

2006-07-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's run was to complete my week's running. After a strong 10-miler last week, I decided to shoot for 11.5 miles - the longest I have ever run. I started my run at about 7 am and it was already pretty hot. At about 3 miles, I could tell it was going to be a hard run. My legs felt a bit sluggish and the sun bearing down made the heat difficult. I took in a powergel at about 5 miles and immediately felt nauseous. It went away after a minute or so but I was wondering if I would need to call my wife to come get me only about 2 miles later! I decided to tough it out to the end, even if I had to slow my pace or even if I had to walk. At about 9.2 miles I started feeling very nauseous and my camelbak was dry. I came to a hill and walked for about 3 minutes. I felt a little better and began jogging again but when I turned into my neighborhood and knew I was at 10 miles, I decided it was time to stop. I walked the rest of the way to my house.

I am not too disappointed with the effort, even though I really HATE bonking and not completing a planned run. At least my week's totals were a mile further than last week. The 10 miler this week though, felt much tougher than the one last week's. I think the main reason was the heat. It reached 92 degrees during the run and there was no wind and not a cloud in the sky. It felt MISERABLE out there and only contributed to the miserable run. But there were a few other reasons as well:

1. My work scheduled did not permit me to do a moderate run on Tuesday so I had to rearrange my runs. My last off day was Tuesday so my legs felt sluggish despite the easy run the day before.

2. The week before I had a perfect pre-race evening meal with pasta and marinara sauce and a green salad. This week I ate sushi, which I don't think had as many carbs. I rationalized it by eating a half of a box of Sugar Babies at the movies.

3. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean Friday night (which was TERRIBLE by the way) and stayed up until past midnight. I know this was a really bad idea the night before a run.

4. I forgot to eat breakfast or anything. I was so focused on getting out of the door as soon as I could, I didn't eat anything. My online log says I burned off 1400 calories during the run so a powergel was probably not enough. Any advice from Phil or Terry on eating before a really early long run? :-)

5. Lastly, I think my camelbak has a leak. It dripped on the back of my legs the first half mile and seemed to run out too quickly. I am going to examine it sometime this afternoon because aqua is definitely important!

I will try to correct some things and go longer next week. I am actually still on track with the plan, despite not meeting the revised goal of a 11 1/2 miler. I hope everyone else's weekend runs went better than mine!

Visit with the Nutritionist !

2006-07-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Monday evening I went to the Wellness Center to ask about seeing a nutritionist. It is free as a member and she happened to have an open appointment that evening. I have been SOOOO frustrated about yo-yo-ing around 190 pounds that I was ready to go on an eating tear! I actually showed a weight gain Monday morning despite all the running and biking over the weekend. It was not like I had splurged or anything so it wasn't making sense to me. I felt a bit silly going but it WAS free and I was pretty frustrated.

We started out discussing my frustrations and I gave her a run down of a typical day's food intake for the ol' deep south runner. Yes, I told her of my occasional tendency....well.......frequent tendency to throw down on cold cereal at night. Especially when the kids happen to have a box of those Chocolate Lucky Charms! MMMMMMMM.

Anyways.....Lost my train of thought. She actually said that I am not eating enough throughout the day. My body thinks I may starve and its metabolism slows down. I am so busy at work I don't realize it, but at night I get REALLY hungry! Therefore, I overeat at night without realizing it. Even though the food I overeat on is not terribly unhealthy, I am eating more than I realize.

She then went into portion sizes and gave me an example of a 2000 calories diet. She said this is the amount of calories I need to take in for my activity level to lose weight gradually. Although it has only been two days, I did actually feel better and I am not as hungry at night.

I poured a bowl of Grape Nut Trail Mix cereal (one of my healthy favorites) last night but used a measuring cup. Boy was I surprised to see how 3/4 of a cup only takes up such a small space in my bowl! I have been eating 2 1/2 cups some nights!

I am going to give this a try for a while -- eating more at breakfast, a snack in between meals, and more at lunch and see how it goes.

As far as the running goes: I wasn't able to run Tuesday due to my work schedule so I took an easy day and did my intervals this morning. This will mean two harder days in a row so we will have to see how that goes. My interval running went pretty well but my STUPID watch didn't work and I don't have an exact readout of the intervals. GRRRRRR!!!!
I am feeling pretty good tonight though and I am looking forward to the long run this weekend! (At least right now anyway). :-)

BLOGGER BLOCK !!!

2006-07-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

I guess you can say I have experienced "blogger block" the last few days since it seems I haven't been able to post. It even took me a while to finally get my hiking pictures up. Thankfully though, I have not let up on my running! If you are just tuning in, I am training to run my 1st race over a 10K distance and, actually, only my second race over 4 miles. I will be running the Tupelo 14.2 miler on September 3rd. Of course, I am not looking to win or anything. Finishing is more in line with my goals!

I would like to finish somewhere in the middle of th pack. I can't find the full results broken down by age group from last year, but with the time I am tagerting (2:15 - 2:25), I should finish somewhere mid-pack overall. If you want to read some comments about the overall race, click here. (This is the marathon guide website and you can find comments about a lot of races on their website.)

I finished a 10-miler this morning! It went a LOT better than the 9-miler last Saturday when I procrastinated watching the Tour-de-France and ran when it was way too hot. Last week my pace was well over 10 minute miles but this week I managed running at a 9:50 pace. I didn't really try to push the pace and felt strong throughout the run!

I am still a little worried about possible injuries as I reach the 30 mile a week mark. It was then that I got my last injury that plagued me in the weeks leading up to the Gum Tree 10K. I have felt better since taking Phil's advice to slow down on easy runs so hopefully I will be okay. You can check out my race log with the link on the side bar or here is my summary totals. I hope you have a great weekend!!!

Total Miles: 26.5

Long Run: 10 Miles 1:38:11 (9:50 pace)

Tempo Run: 5 miles 44:43 (8:57 pace)

Intervals: 4 x 1/2 mile repeats at 7:30 - 8:40 pace
(5.5 total including warm-up, recovery, and cooldown)

Two easy days of 3 milers at 9:30 pace

(I also strength trained 3 days and mtn biked 2.)

More Pictures

2006-07-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

Here is one I took from sitting on top of the bunion:

And one more with another good view:

I hope you enjoyed them!!!

Finally! Hiking Pictures!!!

2006-07-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

I finally made the time to get some pictures uploaded from my 8 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. My computer cooperated this time so I hope you enjoy seeing some of the sights! Above is one of the signs we encountered almost 2 miles into the hike. It didn't tell us how much farther we had to go but we estimated about 2 1/2 more miles.

You can't tell too much from the picture but parts of the trail were almost surreal. It actually felt like we were in one of the Lord of the Rings movies expecting to hear "Froto! Froto!"

I believe this was called the Clearwater Spring Shelter. There were a few people taking their time and resting when we checked it out. It actually seemed nicer than I expected but I would be scared to death to spend the night in one of these places! We knew we were getting close to the Bunion when the trees opened up to this view:

Charles Bunion is definately a place you do not want to visit if you are afraid of heights. There are cliffs with drop-offs of several hundred, perhaps thousands of feet. It was a hazy day but still beautiful! Pictures can't really capture the views but here a few I took:

For some reason I can't get any other pictures to load in this post. I will try doing another one.

Back on Schedule

2006-06-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

It seems something has gotten in the way of my running schedule over the last few weeks: vacation, work schedule, laziness. But I got back on schedule for the most part this week, completing 22 miles for the week including a long run this morning of eight miles. To top it off, I went mountain bike riding today as well for about 30 minutes to give my legs that good ol' dead-as-dirt feeling!

The long run went pretty well this morning but I thought I ran faster than a 10 min/mile pace. Part of the run was around a park that I can't car measure so I have to question the google pedometer accuracy a little on this one. Actually, the more detailed satellite images for my town just became available so I played with it a lot this weekend to map out various routes.

Next week I am shooting for 25 miles and it will be the first time I have gotten up that high in a while. I will be running the easy pace on the two easy days to try to avoid injury but I am ready to push the pace a bit on Tuesday to see if I can lower my long run pace a bit by race day in September.

You can check out my running log for the week online or here is the basic summary:

Total Miles: 22
Easy Days -- 2 X 3 miles
Speed Day -- 1 (2x1 1/2 mile intervals at 8:52 min/mi and 9:05 min/mi paces -- total 5 miles)
Moderate hot day -- 3 miles at 9:07 min/mi
Long run -- 8 miles at 9:59 pace

One picture at least

2006-06-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is one picture I was able to get up from my work computer. It must be my sorry laptop at home that won't cooperate. This is a picture of me just as we reached the bunion. That's the bunion the man in the background is sitting on. You can see from the picture that it is pretty hazy in the background. I read recently that the Smokies have as much pollution as Los Angeles! But it was BEAUTIFUL in person. I have more pictures that are better. I will try to post them later this week.

I have been sticking to my running except I had to be at work really early this morning and missed my run. Hopefully I can make up for it by scheduling my long run Sunday and running tomorrow and Saturday. I will let you know more later! Peace -- out!

Hiking in the Smokies

2006-06-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: For some reason I couldn't get Blogger to load my pictures. I will post the blog now and hopefully update it with pictures later.

I am now back home in Tupelo and back to the daily grind at work. But before I left I had the chance to reach one of the highest heights east of the Mississippi River!

It was about an 8 1/2 mile hike round trip and reached one of the coolest sights I have seen in a while. The hike included a mild 1,1oo foot elevation gain over 2 1/2 miles to a height of over 6,000 feet above sea level before dropping down to below 5,500 feet. The trail itself was a little too rocky for my Nike trail running shoes and my feet were killing me afterwards.

The hike started at the parking lot at Newfound Gap and I was actually able to see where I scratched "Shane loves Tricia" in the metal door facing of the bathroom on the day we became engaged 14 years ago. Kinda silly that I chose there but I didn't want to deface real wood.

The hike to Charles Bunion is completely along the Appalachian trail. The hike starts climbing from the start and I was huffing a little since I was not accustomed to the incline. Nevertheless, we kept a very steady pace and passed several hikers along the way. We were especially proud when we passed a couple of thru-hikers who appeared to be keeping their own steady pace.

While there was a few overlooks on the way up, I was most impressed with all of the changes in the trail as we got higher up. We saw frequent signs of wild boars and what looked like pretty recent bear dung. We got to the top roughly two hours after starting and were treated to some pretty awesome views!

The trail diverges over to the Bunion and basically makes a slight horseshoe around a cliff with a drop of several hundred, perhaps thousands of feet. Right in the middle of the horseshoe is the "bunion" named after a hiker in 1929 named Charles Conner who apparently was the butt of someone's joke about his nasty foot problems. It is a huge rock that protrudes from the side of the cliff from which several climbers have fallen to their death. If you sit on top of the rock you have an incredible view of the mountains and valley below.

During this time of the year in the Smokies, it is hazy and you really don't have clear views of the landscape. Even if it were clear, pictures could not have captured the views we enjoyed but I included a few to give you a feel. We sat and had lunch while gazing at the scenery. It was a great, peaceful moment.

Soon after leaving the bunion we met a couple of older teens or young twenty-somethings that seemed out of place. They were both wearing jeans and had no backpacks, no water, nothing. They both looked exhausted which prompted us to ask how they were doing. They said they had hiked more than 15 miles and had gotten lost the night before and had to spend the night out on the trail. They said that they had been camping at a campground the day before and basically got lost when they went out for a day hike. While they now had their bearings, they had eaten nothing since the day before. We gave them our big bag of granola and what Gatorade we had left. They looked pretty excited despite their weak attempts to tell us it was okay.

Usually when you hike up a mountain, it is all downhill on the way down. But this hike actually includes an elevation gain of more than 500 feat in the first mile you leave the Bunion. It caught me a bit off guard but I survived and we actually did some trail running in some of the safer downhill sections.

We met another through hiker on the way down who was hiking the entire Smokies length of the AT (70 miles). He was already about halfway and in great spirits. He told us of seeing a big 300 pound male bear earlier that morning that he had a face off with. He also described the official Forest Ranger boar hunter he had met a few days earlier. He said he was toting a double barrel 20 gauge shotgun. He said that later that night, he heard five quick blasts from his gun with a high pitch pig squeal following the fourth one. Figured he got his pig!

We also met an older scientist on the way down with a picture of a big beetle on his shirt. He was utterly shocked we had not heard about the Great Beetle Blitz currently taking place in the Smokies. He explained how we could take part and we pretended to be interested. These encounters slowed our pace but added character to our hike.

We ended our hike exactly 4 hours from the time we started. Other than both of our feet hurting, we felt pretty good! I definitely felt like I had completed a long run later that day and the next morning. I had to drive all the way home Sunday night and felt too tired to run this morning. All-in-all it was a great experience but I look forward to getting back in gear for training for the race this September!

Running in K-Town

2006-06-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

I officially arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon and recovered enough from the drive to plan out a run for Thursday morning. I had missed my Tuesday run this week due to so much business at work so I wanted to make sure I got my run in this morning.

I mapped out a 5-mile route along the Neyland Greenway (2.5 miles there, 2.5 back) using Google Pedometer. Apparently, they (the Satellite picture-taking people) are a lot more intersted in Knoxville than Tupelo because the Satelite images are very detailed, whereas you can't hardly make out the big mall on the Tupelo map.

Being a big University of Tennessee fan, I love running the Neyland Greenway. I started at Calhoun's restuarant and ran down the riverwalk where the Vol navy usually parks on big games. You then cross under Neyland drive and run right beside the stadium, which brings chills to a orange-blood fan like me who sees it mostly on television.

The route is not incredibly scenic but it is a nice change from the boring neighborhood I usually run in. It rejoins the side of the Tennessee river about a 1/4 mile down and you have a chance to run down a more scenic route at about 2 miles. I felt really good during the run. I didn't pay attention to pace and ran just what felt good. It came out to about a 9:28 pace for the 5 miles.

That was at 7:00 this morning. I then came home and got ready and the family went to Dollywood! Woo hoo! They had fun and we probably walked another 5 miles, pushing a fully loaded double stroller along the hilly way. Tomorrow will include even more fun at Splash Country!8-0 I hope to run an easy 3-miler before we go but I am bone tired right now.

The hike Saturday turns out to be a little over 10 miles all together. We are hiking along the AT (Appalachian Trail) out to a rocky place called Charles Bunion, apparently named after somebody's nasty feet (named Charles). I am looking forward to the break from civilization, even if it is a short one. These ten miles will probably count as my long run, which doesn't make me feel too bad considering there is some elevations gains involved. I plan to take plenty of pictures and will post them next week!

So nah!!!

2006-06-09T15:52:00.000-07:00

I like checking out the site meter stats and seeing how some people find my blog through various google searches. It's neat when someone from New York finds my site through searching for "runner deep calf pain" on google.

My brother recently sent me an e-mail teasing me for misspelling a Blue tick heeler as a "healer". While he was nice enough to e-mail his comment rather than 'dog' me right on the blog, I noticed that I had someone visit my blog through another google search for, yes, a "blue tick healer". So I had a visitor just for my poor spelling! Just think of all the visitors I probably get for the poor grammar as well!!!

The Blue Tick Healer canine - often confused for the Blue Tick Heeler since they look so similar.

10 miles and all's well!

2006-06-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't have the time to run 4 miles today so I cut it short by a mile - completing 10 miles this week thus far. Today was a "race tempo" run, but only at about a 9:00 min/mi pace. You can check out my split times on my running log. I plan to speed up a little as the weeks progress but only on Tuesdays.

I have to say I felt GREAT after the run and finally feel I am coming out of all of the soreness I have felt for so long. I plan to run an easy easy 3 miles tomorrow -- probably at a 9:45 pace. I will then finish off the week on Saturday with a 7 mile long run, giving me a solid 20 miles for the week.

I have to give kudos to Phil for suggesting I slow down more. It seems I could really see the alternating hard and TRUE easy days paying off even this early. I just hope it continues, especially after I began packing on the miles!!!

The 14.2 Miler Race Plan

2006-06-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

Up until a few weekends ago I have never run a race longer than 4 miles! In a few months, I will be looking to more than double the length of the 10k I completed recently by tackling the Tupelo 14.2 miler on September 3rd. I have devised a race plan that I will be starting this week and I would love some feedback. I have scanned it below.

The plan includes alternating easy and hard days and very little speedwork. The easy days will be true easy days with a relaxed pace of 9:30 or more. I do want to do some interval work down the line to get my race pace down. While I would love to run the race in under 2:15, I will be just happy finishing! Of course, this is all in preparation for the full marathon I hope to complete on December 3rd. So here is the plan - enjoy! :-)

I'm not a snake guy

2006-06-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the snake I killed Saturday. I don't know my snakes all that well but I think it is (was) a rat snake. Since I felt kinda bad after chopping it in three pieces, I would love for one of you to comment back and say something to the effect of, "Oh no, that was a deadly southern viper! Thanks GOD you killed it because it could have killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people!!!!"

By the way, I think you can click on the picture above to enlarge it and get a better look. You know, to identify its viper markings and all.

Running rants and musings

2006-06-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the week of running did not go exactly as I planned in some ways but I did meet a couple of goals for the week.

I missed my run Friday when I overslept. It was raining that morning anyway but I could have gotten on the dreadmill at the gym. However, the rain tranced me back to sleep and to a semi-conscious state in which I turned the alarm off and snoozed all the way to 6:30! I can't say I regretted it because I got some goooood zzzzzzzz's!

I had planned to run that night as soon as I got home. I even called the wife and got the ‘go ahead’. But when I got home the two little faces that pleaded to go ahead and eat and on to the mall were just a little too persuasive. Not that I blame missing the run on the two cute little faces. I am not saying that at all. But I had planned to make up for it today.

I had committed to handing out flyers for our church's VBS kickoff this morning so I scheduled my run for this evening. Interestingly enough, my group was assigned my neighborhood so it was neat to walk the streets with a different goal in mind. We probably walked around 2 1/2 miles with flyers in hand. It was HOT and I was glad I was not trying to run in the heat.

I had to do the husbandly duty of mowing the lawn later in the afternoon. My wife has been sweet and surprising me every week by mowing so far this summer. However, she sprained her foot running last weekend so there was no surprise this week!

It’s not that I hate mowing the yard but I just hate taking the time to mow the yard. Our next door neighbor is paralyzed from the waist down but stays active more than most people his age. He actually mowed our yard one day to be nice. (He said he was enjoying the day so much he just kept on going.) My dad took the occasion to take a ribbing at me saying, “It’s sad that you have to get a paralyzed man to mow your own yard.” It crossed my mind that I better get out there today before my wife did, otherwise, I could hear another major shot coming.

There was some excitement when I saw and killed what I think was a rat snake. It was about 18 inches long and looked menacing enough. I hated to kill it because I know it does good things for my yard but I don’t know my snakes that well and you can’t be too careful with young children.

SO it wasn’t until about 7 that I got to run. I had in mind that I was going to stick to plan and run a slower pace. I started off slow and I have to say, “relaxed” too! I had run about 3 miles and was feeling great when I ran into some friends from church that just had a bad experience with a dog.

Our neighborhood has a lot of runners but there is one drawback – there are a few idiots who think nothing of allowing their dogs to roam loose. Now don’t get me wrong, I love dogs. But dogs are not people and should be supervised properly. There is one particular dog in the neighborhood, a blue-tick healer (I think that is what it is called), who stays in a pin normally but barks with a vengeance. She and her husband encountered the dog outside of its fence and it tried to bite her. The owner just made excuses for the dog saying he had just let its out of its pin for a minute.

I have talked once before on this blog about my slight fear of dogs and lost a little motivation about making the loop again by this dog’s house. After talking to them for 15 minutes I was also cooled down so it didn’t take much to talk myself into just taking the ½ mile back to the house to finish.

I do plan to run a little tomorrow but will be well below 20 miles for the week. On a positive note, I did keep to a 9:30 pace for the run and have not had any sweets since the “commitment”. I will probably run just enough tomorrow to get over the 100-mile mark for my new shoes. I will also type up a plan tomorrow for the next few weeks leading up to the race on September 3rd. I hope everyone else had a great week of running and avoided any snakes or mean dogs!

A New Commitment

2006-06-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Phil from Arizona for his well thought out advice on my
current condition of running and I agree with all that he said in his
comment to my previous blog entry. I have been inconsistent lately and I
began wondering if it is one of two things:

1. My new shoes may not be working well for my feet.

I have had my new Brooks for less than 100 miles. I purchased them from a
store that specializes in running and they watched me jog up and down the
sidewalk to recommend a certain pair. The shoes felt 'made for my feet' but I
noticed the calf trouble soon after I had them. The calf pain has been
insignificant after my long layoff but I do feel a faint twinge still. I
have seen the shoes reviewed in magazines and they receive great remarks
but the continuing calf pain makes me wonder. However, I think I am going with Phil and focusing on number 2 for now:

2. I am actually training too hard.

When I was running yesterday at the ½ mile track, a runner who looked in
much better shape passed me. He looked very relaxed and, since he passed me
slowly, I thought he was probably running (for him) an easy pace. It got me
thinking about how very few of my runs actually seem relaxed and, as Phil
said, are all pretty close to my maximum pace for the distance. I was
thinking I may need to focus on slowing down more a few times a week and
let easy runs truly be easy. Then I read Phil's comments later in the day. Of course, I am fearful of slowing down in that it will take me much longer to better my race paces. It is also hard for me to accept because I feel like I should be making faster progress than this already. But I know this should be more fun and it is getting more and more mundane.

So I will refocus on having at least a few easy days in the weeks to come that includes a pace of 9:30 minutes/mile or slower. I will begin on Saturday with my long run but continue in the weeks to come with my shorter easy runs as well. I may even cut out speedwork all together until I feel I am running 20 miles a week fairly comfortably and without injury.

Now while I am confessing, I think there is another factor at work that has affected my slight weight gain. Just a few of months ago I accepting a tremendous promotion at work and took on a buttload (funny that word wasn't in the blogger dictionary) of increased responsibility. To be honest, I have strayed back into some of the stress eating that plagued me in the past. I notice I am not only eating more, but not being as choosy in what I put in my mouth. Snacking in the evening, sweets in particular, has been the main culprit. Therefore, it is time to take drastic action I hold in reserve just for times like this -- and here it is:

I will swear off ALL SWEETS -- eating nothing, noth--ing (think Hogan's heroes) sweet until June 14th, the day I will officially go on a vacation to east Tennessee. This means no cookies, candy, cereal, etc, even sugar in my coffee -- gulp! (This does NOT mean the nutrition bars I eat in the mornings forbreakfastt.) I will also avoid replacing the sweets with any other junk food like chips or crackers. IF I break mycommitmentt (and this is not a big "if" I must admit) I COMMIT to posting my very worse fat picture from the past on this very blog. That's right - an embarrassing me right there for your enjoyment if I break the commitment. I have asked my wife to hold me personally accountable to my pact with all my blog readers so I will let you know how it goes.

By the way, I love feedback and appreciate all the advice Terry and Phil leave. If you are a regular reader of "Running in the Deep South", please feel free to offer your two cents anytime! Hopefully, you WON'T be seeing a big ol' picture of me anytime soon! :-)

I'm Baaaaaaaaack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-05-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging. Sorry to all of you who check my blog periodically to encourage me in my running. Honestly, I've been in a little bit of a running slump lately and it is showing up in my blog.

I was a little disappointed in the calf injury in the weeks leading up to the Gum Tree. I decided to take it easy the week after but it has kinda' leaked into the week after that. Due to the lack of consistency in my running the last month (partly due to the injury), my running seems more laborious.

I am going to try and put more variety in my exercise and will mountain bike more, try to find a racquetball partner, and do some more resistance training. As it normally goes with me, the lack of running has meant I often ate more than I should. Something about lack of discipline in my running carries over to my eating. I have added a few pounds as a result but I think it is mostly water weight.

I only ran a little over twelve miles this week but plan to kick it up next week to close to 20. The next race I have planned is the Tupelo 14.2 miler on September 3rd. It is a small race that's part of the Tupelo Marathon. I have had very few runs 10 miles or more and I have NEVER run more than 12 miles.

I will be looking more to endure more than anything. I know the nervousness of racing with most of the runners in a different class than me will make it a difficult race. If I run it in under 2:15 I will be extremely happy but, again, time is not as important in this run. Hopefully, it will help me get geared up for the Memphis Marathon the first Saturday in December!

By the way, I have now changed the running log link to the right and it should go to my new running log. I haven't really decided if I like the new one better but I am too lazy to switch back regardless! I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend and thanks to any soldiers out there reading this blog for all of your sacrifices so we can enjoy freedom in this country!!

Mission Accomplished -- BARELY!!!

2006-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

The 2006 Gum Tree Run is now officially "in the books". I have now completed my first ever 10K race!! Now for the recap:

My wife ran the Gum Tree as well and we laid out our clothes last night and went to bed fairly early to get a good night's sleep. I checked the forecast before retiring and it looked like partly cloudy and temperatures in the mid to high 50's at race time. Perfect! However, we were awakened at 5:30 am by strong thunder and penny-sized hail! I checked the radar and it looked like it would blow over by race time; but we were both still getting nervous!

I ate a perfect pre-race breakfast at 6:15 - a big bowl of Fruity Pebbles! After getting ready, it appeared that the storm would, sure enough, blow over. I created another eclectic race-day ipod mix and we headed out the door at 7:20 am.

We got there plenty of time to get our champion chip timing thingies and snapped some pre-race pictures. There was between 800 and 1000 runners registered and there were plenty of folks in line for their numbers.

We did a little jogging and stretching and I was a bit nervous because the calf, sure enough, started hurting. We went over to the start line at 8:15 and I staked a spot about a 1/3 of the way back. I looked around and saw a few people that didn't belong here beside me. I saw some corporate-looking guys I have seen running around the Wellness Center that I KNOW can leave me in the dust. I also stood beside an overweight 50-something lady with a bouffant hairdo. She was chewing gum and chatting with a similar lady beside her in capri pants. I could only think that I would get stuck behind them but I stayed put.

My wife went back to the very back of the line. I am really proud of her because she has been training hard but she had yet to run more than 5 1/4 miles. She was nervous but determined to enjoy the race and didn't want to feel any pressure from those starting off fast around her. She would later say that she probably ran the first two miles TOO slow but she really enjoyed herself, so in that regard, she met her goal.

They had a poor sound system and the start caught me a little off guard. I didn't hit my watch until I was a few seconds past the start line so I knew it would be about 10 seconds slow. I knew not to start off too fast but being stuck behind some slow runners got the best of me and I found myself sprinting (a little) down the shoulder to get in position.

The first mile was pretty unremarkable except that my parents drove over and stood near the first mile marker with our kids. It was REALLY cool to see them and it charged me up! However, by about 2 1/2 miles, my legs felt really dead! You can see on my running log that I only ran once this week and not too many miles last week. The calf felt great but the layoff from running had me feeling sluggish and my 8:30 pace was already starting to fade.

We went through a nice older neighborhood in Tupelo in the third mile and it was neat to see all the folks out by the road cheering us on. There were hundreds of people and their children, sitting in lawn chairs and smiling, clapping, or waving! At one corner, there was a line of five or six little girls in sundresses giving high fives to any willing runners on their way by. One man had the road by his home lined with 60 flags to add to the celebratory atmosphere!

I began to feel better around 4 miles and picked my pace up a bit - but was still only around a 9 minutes a mile pace. I knew I couldn't slow down much more or I would not make my goal time of under 55 minutes. And one of the longest, windiest, and most boring sections of the race was coming up.

The fifth and sixth mile of the race goes down two four lane roads where there is very little scenery. I kept a steady pace and focused on my music. I looked at my watch and knew, barring any breakdowns, I could meet my goal.

The second half of the sixth mile is a gradual uphill and I passes a few runners dry heaving on the side of the road. I began to feel proud of myself that I was relatively comfortable. With the hurt calf, I head really decided not to push myself too hard and I was feeling pretty good. I was too tired to push the pace to much but I wasn't about to die either.

Near the sixth mile I saw my parents again set up in lawn chairs with the kids. I gave a big smile and wave and said hi to the kids. I picked up the pace because I knew it would be close. There was a big crown lining the final stretch and I couldn't see the clock. About 100 yards away I saw that I had a full minute to reach the finish line. I settled into a comfortable pace and crossed at 54:46! Slow by a lot of your standards -- but pretty good for my first 10 K!!!!

They cut the timing chip off my shoe and gave me my finishers medal. I sprinted to the car and grabbed our cooler with Gatorade and the camera. I walked back to where my parents were and waited for my wife so I could snap a few pictures. She finished at 1 hour, 10 minutes and 8 seconds. CONGRATS to her and HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!!

I checked our times online tonight and we were both a little disappointed because it has us both listed 5 seconds slower than when we know we crossed the finish line. Since it took us both a few seconds to cross the start line, we assumed our chip times would be a little faster than out clock times but we don't know how that is supposed to work.

All in all, it was a great run and it gave me a benchmark 10K time to try to beat! Now, I just got to see how long it takes for my calf to feel better. I am not sure if I should take additional days off or just try to run easy through the injury. Either way I look forward to many 10K runs to come!!!

GUM TREE RUN TOMORROW!!!

2006-05-12T19:48:00.000-07:00

The 2006 Gum Tree 10K Run is now less than 12 hours away!!

My calf is better tonight and I plan to ice it before hitting the hay. I didn't run this morning so I will need to do some warming up to get my legs fresh.

With the recent injury, I won't feel too bad if I don't make my time of less than 55 minutes. I just look forward to running and completing MY FIRST 10K EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll give you the full rundown tomorrow night!

WIsh me luck and say a prayer!!!

Unintentional Taper

2006-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

As the southern saying goes, “If you’re scared, say you’re scared!” Ok. I guess I am a little bit scared. I have been gearing up for the Gum Tree 10K Run this Saturday well before I started my training several weeks ago. After all, I have wanted to run this race for a long time, years even. It is not until recently that I have worked up the mileage to make a decent attempt at it.

Then came to calf injury.

I would say it happened two and a half weeks ago during a hill workout but, truth is, I am not really sure when it happened. I changed shoes a week and a half before it started so I wonder if this is part of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t write a lot about the injury in my online running log, probably because I thought it was just a little soreness. So I can’t really pinpoint when it started, but it is a soreness and pain that just won’t go away!

After I realized it was an injury two weeks ago, I took off five whole days! The calf began feeling better but I had an easy week last week, running only 20.3 miles. I felt really strong in my 7.25 long run on Saturday but I must have tweaked the injury because the dull pain came back and has not gone away since!

I have only run one time this week: A run just under 5 miles in which I ran a lousy 9 min/mile pace. I had planned to give it another try today but I overslept! It may have been a good thing because the calf is still pretty sore.

I went to the Runner’s World website that has the figure you can click on to find out what possible injury you have. It told me to wrap my calf, ice it, stretch several times a day, and avoid any hard workouts. I have gotten a six-inch ace bandage and started wrapping it yesterday. With only 4.8 miles of running this week so far, saying I have “avoided any hard workouts” is an understatement.

It is disappointing that this happened just before the race. I plan to run a 3-mile semi-tempo run tomorrow unless something happens. I will probably wrap it during the run tomorrow but I have not decided on the race yet. I still want to run the race in under 55 minutes, but with the injury, I’m a bit….yes…..scared.
Someone commented on my previous post that my legs wouldn’t forget how to run on Saturday. I am sure hoping they don’t!

I'M FAMOUS!!!

2006-05-09T19:06:00.000-07:00

Well.....not really. But I do now have a claim to 2 seconds of semi-fame!

I have now had a letter to the editor published in Running Times Magazine!

In a recent issue of the magazine, I was disgusted with a column written by one of their columnists that strayed from running and delved into the arena of social issues.

She wrote of a race she had participated in benefiting Planned Parenthood and made fun of individuals that held signs protesting the organization. Her criticism of these individuals seemed particularly evil-spirited as she expressed her disgust and made fun of them. Then she turned right around and praised a friend who won the race when he seized the opportunity to grab the microphone and launch into a pointed speech promoting gun control.

What struck me most about the article was how hypocritical she was to describe their protest as "ridiculous" but laud her friend when he does the very same thing! She even went as far to say he was"leading the way for the rest of us"! It seems to be a prevalent trend with some in our country to attempt to surround themselves only with those that agree with themselves and attempt to limit the right of others to express opposing viewpoints.

Running Times printed only a portion of my e-mail that encouraged us to focus more on the common ground we share as runners; and to try to leave politics out of the run, which was a play on the subtitle of the article. You can check out my two seconds of fame in the June edition of Running Times, a fine magazine, on news-stands now!

Week of Running

2006-05-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! It has actually been a week since I last blogged -- oops! The last time I wrote I talked of the setback with my leg. Well, it has gotten better but some soreness is still there.

I waited until Tuesday to run and did an easy 4 miler at the 1/2 mile track near the gym. The run went okay. I could tell I had a little longer of a layoff, as it was a bit harder than it should have been. The calf was a bit sore still so I decided not to do speedwork the next day.

Wednesday I ran 5 miles at the same track at about an 8:30 min/mile pace. The calf didn't bother me at all and I felt a bit relieved with the race about a week and a half away.

I skipped Thursday calling it an off day and ran a 4 mile tempo run on a the treadmill on a rainy Friday morning. I kept a slight incline until 3 1/4 miles and kept a moderate pace (for me) of 8:19 minutes a mile. A little sore in the calf again but felt like nothing to worry about.

I debated for a long time about how far I would go Saturday. It is a run that is a week away from the 10K run and I didn't want to go too far. I also didn't want to undercut myself and lose out on some valuable training. I finally mapped out a route of 7 1/4 miles that went through a nearby park.

The park was especially bustling that day with an antique car show, regional soccer tournament, and a "Dudie Burger" festival. You probably don't know what a Dudie burger is. Years ago someone in Tupelo bought an old train car and made it into a fast food restaurant. It was called "Dudie's" and their specialty was a dough burger made with beef, flour, and water. I think they fried it in grease so it is not the healthiest thing in the world but it was pretty tasty. Although they sold for only a nickel, all of the McDonald's of the world put them out of business in the early 80's. Now they have a festival once a year where they cook them up once again. (I went later in the day with the fam and ate two of them! They now sell for two dollars.)

The run Saturday went GREAT! It was a little hard around four miles but I felt really strong the last mile, sprinting over the last 1/4. I felt a little sore Saturday and today but not as bad as last week.

I am both excited and nervous about the upcoming race and will blog a lot about it this week. I hope everyone else had a great week!

SETBACK

2006-04-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

This week marked the first real setback I have experienced since blogging about my running. I occasionally have to deal with sore muscles and "catches" here and there. I am, after all, still a bit heavy for a runner. So I can't really say exactly when my left calf began to give me problems this week but I assume it was after my Monday workout, which consisted of a 6.3 mile run with about 9 minutes of hill running.

I remember feeling tight the next morning but it did not go away. It has gotten nothing but worse throughout the week so I skipped Friday's run, hoping the TWO-day rest would solve things. I tried ibuprofuin, stretching, icing, hot baths, icing and hot baths; but nothing seemed to help.

So when I woke up this morning and felt the all too familiar pain, I knew I didn't need to do my long run. That's right. With two skipped runs this week, my mileage totals only 14.5 miles.

Only 14.5 miles with the 10k coming up in TWO WEEKS!!!

So I am a bit worried. The pain is a little different that just soreness. It feels like I injured it somehow. When I walk on it, I occasionally feel pain shoot further down my leg, sometimes into the bottom of my foot.

My wife tried messaging it and she and I could both feel knots down the outside-middle of the calf. She tried to message them out but it was VERY painful! It helped for a few minutes but it went back to normal after a while.

So I will give it a go Monday regardless. I will have to say it is a bit better today and maybe it IS something I just need to run through. With the 10K in only 2 weeks, I don't have much of a choice! :-(

New Running Log?

2006-04-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Since October of last year, I have been keeping an online running log to keep track of my progress. If you exercise, I highly recommend you finding some way to log your efforts. It can be tedious at times, but I have found it very motivational to look back and see the progress.

I have been keeping my log on a free site called coolrunning.com and it has worked pretty well. However, recently I found another site called runningahead.com and eric, the guy who runs the site, was helpful enough to transfer all of my info over from coolrunning. It's free as well and has a few extra features like nicer graphs and calorie estimates for workouts.

I haven't decided to switch for sure but check out my current running log at runningahead and tell me what you think!

Houston: We have a problem.

2006-04-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't even summarized my last few weeks of running, but I am actually progressing on my 10K running strategy pretty close to the plan. I have missed a couple of runs the last two weeks. Last week I missed Friday's run because of stormy weather but the week before I did the big no-no: missed my long run! But most recently I seem to have refound my motivation and may actually achieve 30 miles this week!

HOWEVER, I have been having a little bit of a problem lately. My calves have been REALLY sore! I don't know if its my legs getting used to the new shoes or what but when I say sore, I mean limping around the office sore!

I tried extra stretching but it hasn't really helped. I could try taking Ibuprofin more but the bit I have taken didn't seem to help. I haven't tried icing yet but I will try it some and see how it goes. Any suggestions out there? I can't imagine that it is overuse because I haven't dramatically increased my mileage. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to my rest day tomorrow!

STUCK !

2006-04-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a really funny story.

When I was in my first year of college, I attended a 2-year community college in the area. It was a pretty large campus and we inevitably had to park a tremendous distance from our classes. This meant that I had to tote around a huge backpack FULL of textbooks. Sure, it was pretty dorky, but just about everyone had to do it so I didn't feel too awful bad. (Just a bit sore at times).

I was still 18 and always tried to play it cool, just like most 18-year-olds typically do. I remember one particular morning when I pulled into the campus for class and, although I was still early, I had to park in one of the last row of cars. There was an empty space beside me and I sat in my car, finishing my breakfast, listened to the morning radio show, and waited until it was just the right time to head to class.

Suddenly a car pulled into the empty space beside me and I looked over to see two nice looking girls sitting right there in the car beside me! I smiled and they smiled back and I thought, "Cool. Must be my lucky day!"

Now I knew it was just about time to head for class and figured they would be bounding out of their car as well. I reached over and grabbed my backpack and, in one move, turned to open my car door, trying to time my exit just right.

That is when it happened.

I pulled my big ol' backpack in between me and the steering wheel and, yes...I got stuck. Not a little bit stuck - REALLY STUCK! My backpack strap was caught on the steering wheel and as hard as I tried, I couldn't move it to the left OR the right! But to make matters worse, my backpack, with its assorted stack of Chemistry, American History, and Physics textbooks crammed all inside, was pushing HARD against my carhorn, announcing my predicament to those girls beside me I had thought so hard of impressing just moments before!!!

Suddenly I began to panic in my mind! As my carhorn blared on, I quickly glanced over at the girls beside me and I could see them looking over - giggling! I began to squirm restlessly, like a worm on a fish hook, trying to escape my predicament. What seemed like an eternity probably only lasted a few seconds, but the thought crossed my mind, "Can I get unstuck?". The carhorn blew all the more.

Finally, with one final push I pushed my backpack to the passenger seat, turning on my blinker light and windshield wipers in the process. I quickly looked over to see the two girls shutting their car doors and walking to class.

I thought of cranking my car and going back home. I was pretty embarrassed! I finally swallowed my pride and stepped out of the car to head on to class.

--Flash Forward to the Present--

This morning I stepped on the electronic scale at the gym and watched the digits come to a rest: 193 pounds.

STUCK !

Sure, I know I am partly to blame. After all, it was me that consumed the bar-b-q nachoes Friday night, the bacon and eggs Saturday morning. No one force-fed me at the family luncheon on Easter Sunday and it was me who asked for the big birthday-cookie-cake for Monday night.

But am I wrong that most people eat like this all the time and, with a little bit of exercise, keep the pounds off? Will a few splurge meals on a holiday/birthday weekend ALWAYS mean 4 extra pounds?!?

Don't get me wrong, although I get a little impatient at times with my running progress, I am still seeing the result of sticking to the two plans I have been following the last couple of months. But it seems that my weight is just plain going nowhere away from that 190 pound threshold! And now I am getting so frustrated and feeling so stuck I decided to write about it: get it off my chest!

I can explain why I gained a few extra pounds form the weekend but I can't really understand why my weight is so constant. I exercise - run, lift weights, run some more. I watch what I eat pretty closely. I struggled with my weight off and on for years so I KNOW the caloric estimates of what I put in my mouth. I also know that my family's metabolic rate resembles the two turtles on the local commercial for comcast broadband: SLOWWWWW.

So it is frustrating to be stuck. And my tendency is to go with my first response of many years ago when I basically wanted to flee the embarrassment of wrestling with my bookbag in a true "Chris Farley" moment (no I wasn't fat then).

It makes me want to give up. (On the weight loss thing that is, not on the running thing. That has become an addiction I can't give up if I tried).

But I will keep trudging on, keep trying to watch the calories and fat, keep racheting the miles up, and keep hoping the metabolism somehow catches up.

Until then, I will resemble the famous phrase coined by a famous runner - "waddle on"!

2006-04-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER !

Matthew 28 (The Message)

1After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. 2Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. 3Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. 4The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn't move.
5The angel spoke to the women: "There is nothing to fear here. I know you're looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. 6He is not here. He was raised, just as he said. Come and look at the place where he was placed.
7"Now, get on your way quickly and tell his disciples, "He is risen from the dead. He is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there.' That's the message."
8The women, deep in wonder and full of joy, lost no time in leaving the tomb. They ran to tell the disciples. 9Then Jesus met them, stopping them in their tracks. "Good morning!" he said. They fell to their knees, embraced his feet, and worshiped him. 10Jesus said, "You're holding on to me for dear life! Don't be frightened like that. Go tell my brothers that they are to go to Galilee, and that I'll meet them there."
11Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. 12They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, 13bribing them to say, "His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping." 14They assured them, "If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don't get blamed." 15The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around. 16Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. 17The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
18Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: 19Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 20Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

End of an Era

2006-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today marks the end of an era in my short re-lived running career: the end of my Nike Shox 2:40 running shoes.

Yep, it was time for retirement after 418.3 running miles. I didn't need my online running log to tell me; I could feel it in my calves and shins! I will have to say that the shoes worked great for me. They saw me through the greatest increase in miles in my lifetime and I had NO injuries while using them. They will now be my "kick-around shoes" for walking in the mall or whatever.
They are officially retired!

It kinda gives me that feeling when I watched Ol' Yeller as a kid.

Naaah, not really.

My awesome wifey took me to Memphis for my birthday weekend (my birthday is actually Monday). We stayed at the French Quarter and went to see the Redbirds play. We LOVE Autozone Park and even though it is only AAA, it has a big league atmosphere. We scored GREAT seats, just 11 rows behind home plate. Here is a picture from our seats of Chris Duncan just before he hit a home run to left center.

The 'birds got creamed but I still won because I had the Redbirds specialty - Bar-B-Q nachos! They pile Rendezvous pulled pork onto nacho chips, sprinkle with dry rub, then pour on the sauce and cheese! I scarfed down all of mine and half of my wife's!

Part of the trip included going to Fleet Feet in Memphis since we don't have a specialty running store in Tupelo. They watched me run up and down the sidewalk to see what kind of shoes I would need. I thought it would have been funny to hit the button on my watch like I was timing my sidewalk splits but I restrained myself. They told me I was only a mild overpronater and I bought a pair of Brooks Axiom 2's that seemed made for my feet! The folks there were very knowledgeable and helpful. I decided to go there from here on out for my running shoes. They were actually $24 cheaper than the Nike's were so I went to a nearby Target and bought another running shirt. I will run about 8 miles tonight so I'll get a chance to try em' out! I'm sure that with my increasing mileage, I will wear these out much sooner than the Nike's I had. Nevertheless............

.............a new era begins:

Random Running Musings

2006-04-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

I skipped my daily run today. I had run three days in a row so far and didn't want to add a hard interval day on top of that! Therefore, I will do my interval workout tomorrow. My birthday is this weekend and we are going to Memphis to celebrate! I see my long run getting seriously cramped.........anyway..........

I had an interesting occurrence just yesterday. I was on a 4 mile run when, after 2.4 miles, my ipod suddenly died. I have been having problems with the ipod recently that seems to be battery related. I didn't know this when I purchased it, but apparently the folks at Apple have some kind of signal they send to ipods approximately 2 - 3 months after the manufacturers warranty runs out. (They wait an additional 12 months if you purchase the warranty extension unless some dufus employee accidentally sends it out at the standard 13 to 14 months.) The signal causes abrupt battery loss that is eventually terminal in nature.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE my ipod and will probably shell out another $250 for another one when this one finally and completely goes coput. (And when I can find at least $250 worth of junk to unload in a garage sale.) But with all the technology crammed into those tiny boxes, you sure think they could come up with a way to build a better battery!

This got me thinking, however. I felt like I had to stop the run with the loss of tunes. Actually, I stopped more out of frustration than anything. But I got to thinking, CAN I run without my ipod? I know runners do it all the time but I am pretty much addicted to it. I gotta think I would die from the boredom!

I tested it out last night by running another 2.4 miles with my wife and I let HER have the ipod. It wasn't all that bad but I ran with her the entire time and it was a short run. I can't even imagine running a 10-miler without a single song or podcast!!! We'll have to see, but until then, please add my ipod to your daily prayer list!

10-K Race Plan

2006-04-07T20:50:00.000-07:00

Following is my 10-K Plan for the Gum Tree 10-K Run here in Tupelo, Mississippi on May 13th. This will be the longest race I have ever attempted, with a previous longest of 4 miles. I grew up here in Tupelo and always wanted to run the Gum Tree, but never got around to putting in the miles to run.

If you are close to this area, the Gum Tree is a great race to run. I think it is still the largest 10-K run in Mississippi and is described as a “traditional fast, flat USATF certified course (MS96-002-RH), with excellent traffic control and experienced teams of organizers”. It is recognized by Runner’s World magazine as one of the top 75 runs in the nation and uses the ChampionChip timing system. It benefits a great cause –the Northeast Mississippi Habitat for Humanity and there is a great post-race arts festival to enjoy on the lawn of the historic Lee County courthouse.

As a New Year’s Resolution this December, I set a goal time of under 55 minutes. After the run last Saturday, I have a time a little bit quicker but I’m not going to say it so I won’t put additional pressure on myself! I may let you know after the race, depending on how I do. But my main priority is just to enjoy the experience and earn a finisher’s medallion. Here is the plan:

Here is an explanation of some of the terms in case you are not familiar with them:

PI: Pace Intervals – Running at the pace I hope to run the race in. I usually run these a little fast on the treadmill since it is easier.

SI: Speed Intervals – Running at a pace approximately 30 seconds faster than I plan to run the race. Again, I run a bit faster if it is on the treadmill.

10-10s - 10-minute tempo repeats at 30 seconds per mile slower than 10-K goal pace; 3- to 5-minute slow jog after each.

Total Uphill Time (TUT) - Run repetitions up the same hill, or work the uphill sections of a road or trail course.Strides (S) - Over 100 meters, gradually accelerate to about 90 percent of all-out, hold it there for 5 seconds, then smoothly decelerate. Walk to full recovery after each.

One thing I know I need to do with my training is more miles on the streets. I know that doing most of the miles on the treadmill may have hurt me a little in the 5K I just ran. One thing I am looking forward to is the anticipated hydration stations. The 5K run I just completed had NO hydration stations. Now I know it was just a 5K, but I have a condition called Atrial Fibrillation so it’s important that I stay well hydrated, even in a run under 26 minutes!

If you want to follow my progress more closely, be sure to check out my online training log on CoolRunnings. Let me hear from you if you have any comments or suggestions!

Confession Time

2006-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Cycles.

That’s what my running seems to go in: cycles. Just to admit it, I was a little burned out even before the race last Saturday. I have not gone through 6 weeks of this much consistent running IN MY LIFE! But you would have thought that meeting my goal for the race would have really pumped me up and put me on a runner’s high this week. It did…for about a day ….day and a half max.

Maybe I am feeling the low AFTER the race, kinda like the, “O.k., now what?”. Some of you may relate. All I know is getting my lazy rear out of the house this week to run has been more of a chore! That’s why there were no blogs posted this week talking about the ambitious 10K plan I started on Monday.

And not only did it, at least emotionally, affect my running. I found myself cheating a little here and there on my low-fat healthy way of eating. I guess I am an all-or-nothing kind of guy and the eating is just something that goes along with the running and vice versa.

Despite the struggle this week, I was still able to manage to get myself out of the door and out running on each of the planned days this week. And I hit pretty close to my goals too, which is quite an accomplishment considering!

So I have the long run planned tomorrow and, according to schedule, plan to go about 6 ½ miles. Now, as I write this, it is storming here in Tupelo and I can’t say I will be all that disappointed if I get stormed out in the morning. There is always early Sunday morning, or a fresh start next week! J

Yes, I guess I am still wavering. After all, I am going to the Amory Railroad Festival tomorrow with the fam’; and I think I already hear a pronto pup and funnel cake calling my name!

Race Results

2006-04-01T09:34:00.000-08:00

Today I ran the Trails and Treads 5K Run in Tupelo, Mississippi. I have been posting about this race for the last several weeks and followed a 6-week plan to try to run the race under 26 minutes. I had my wife take a picture this morning right before I left. Notice I had my "game face" on:

I was wearing my Nike Shox 2:40's that now have over 375 running miles on them. The Brooks running shorts and Brooks shirt are both pretty new. I got the shorts at Trails and Treads and paid the premium price. I scored the shirt from Marshalls for under $10!

I set up a definitely diverse "Race Mix" for my ipod this morning consisting of the following songs:

The Slam -- T-Bone & Tobymac
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me -- U2
Catchafire (Whoopsie-Daisy) -- Tobymac/Moc/Papa San
Saturday -- Paul Wright
Gold Digger -- Kanye West
Mission Impossible Movie Theme Song
Lose Yourself -- Eminem

I ate a bowl of Grape Nuts Trail Mix Cereal this morning about 2 hours before race time and had a cup of coffee about an hour before. I drank water after that. I arrived at the Wellness Center 30 minutes before the race started and talked with Alex, who I work with. I peed once I arrived but felt like I needed to pee again when we started to line up for the run. I may have drank a little too much water but I think I was just nervous.

I felt a lot of pressure with this run, maybe because I have been blogging so much about my desire to break 26 minutes. I was more nervous before the start than in any race I can remember. I found out a few minutes before the start that I had failed to download the race mix correctly from my computer this morning. Fortunately, ipods have an "On the Go" feature and I was able to recreate it in time.

They started the run with a camouflage 12-gauge shotgun. Just one example of how we DO live up to our reputation in Mississippi at times! I was lined up near the front and felt like everyone left me in the dust once the gun went off. My plan was to try to run the first two miles in 16 minutes, then try to hold on to break 26 minutes for the 3.13 mile run. I felt like I was running SOOO slow at the start because everyone was taking off so fast. I was then surprised I wasn't catching up to anybody in the first several minutes. I felt like I was running too slow, but I was definitely feeling it! I probably should have warmed up before the race. I stretched a little but did nothing else other than walking the 1/4 mile down to the start line.

I was relieved when I finally reached the first mile marker - I had ran the first mile faster than I had thought - at about 7:32. I felt a little better and settled into a pretty good pace. The second mile marker seemed to come longer than I expected but when I looked down at my watch, I was just slower than my goal pace at 16:03. I felt pretty good at this point, knowing that all I had to do was run about a 9 min/mile pace to reach my goal.

That's when it hit me.

The sun had come out, the temperatures were heading to the high 70's, and the humidity was up to about 70 %. At about 2.5 miles, I was beginning to wonder if I could hold on! I am accustomed to running when it is about 20 degrees cooler than this and I could feel the difference!!!

I felt like walking but continued to hold a pretty steady pace, even though I knew I was slowing down. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it. I had one more turn before the finish line, a point that's just a little bit from the end. I looked down at my watch when I reached this point and saw there were only a few seconds over 24 minutes. I finally knew I was going to make it!

There was a slight hill before the final straightaway and I wondered if I should try to sprint at this point. I decided to enjoy the finish since I could see the clock and knew, as long as I could finish within a minute's time, that I would reach my goal. I then saw my cheering wife and kids and felt a surge of energy to get over the finish line. My time: 25:39. I met my goal!!!! Here are some pictures from the end:

Here's me trying to keep up with a high school cross country runner. Thankfully, it doesn't show the guy with the baby jogger that zoomed by me a few seconds earlier! The slight wedgie I had shows I have a few more pounds to lose! :-)

Here I am zooming my slow rear over the finish. The guy clapping on the right works at the Wellness Center in the morning when I work out. He's a really nice guy.

Here is me and the "fam"! We took separate cars and my wife left early since I wanted to stay to see if I won a door prize. I did! I won a small cookbook called, "Southern Delicious Irresistible Cooking". It was put together by a local manufacturing company as a United Way fundraiser.

My wife said that on the way home, my 2-year-old Ethan all of a sudden said, "Daddy run fast! Daddy run fast!"

Makes daddy proud!

All-in-all, it was a great race! Now.....on to finding my 6-week 10k plan!

RACE DAY TOMMORROW!!!

2006-03-31T19:53:00.000-08:00

It is now less than 12 hours until tommorrow's Trails and Treads 5K run. I am still hoping for a time just under 26 minutes but I will have to run a really good race to get my slow rear over the line by then! I also, unfortunately, may be running in the rain! There is a pretty good chance of showers in the morning. YUCK! I will be posting race results tommorrow so......until then........ :-).

Race Day's A Comin'!

2006-03-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

It is now less than five days to race day - the Trail and Treads 5K Run! I have been training for the last five weeks, following fairly closely to "The Plan". As I said in my previous post, I am still sticking to my time goal of 26 minutes. I know it will be difficult for me to achieve but I am going to shoot for it. The Trail and Treads 5K is mostly flat with only the wind to worry about. It is a barebones race with little fanfare. No water stations, not that you need them in a 5K. Last year there was no goody bag but they gave away a lot of door prizes before awarding the winners. Thinking about the race reminds me of some of my past race efforts.

My first race was the Independence 5K Run in Nettleton, MS about 15 years ago. I don't even think they have this race anymore and there were only a couple hundred runners then. I had a weak age group and actually came away with a third place trophy, even though I only ran it in 23:38. In typical first-race inexperience, I ran the first two miles too fast at about a 6:30 pace and bombed the last 1.13 miles. I felt sick at my stomach and tried eating a banana immediately after the race. BAD MISTAKE. BAAAAAAAAAAD. I had to rush to the porta potty and threw up for several minutes. Pretty sad for a 5K! The trophy made it through several moves before finally biting the dust.

I drifted away from running after returning to college in Florida and meeting my future wife. It wasn't until several years later that I got back into it as I found myself creeping toward (and slightly passing) the 200 pound mark. We were going to a church outside of Memphis, TN who started a 5K Run for foreign missions called the Heart and Sole 5K Run. I volunteered the first year and we had a great first run. Afterwards the youth minister told a hilarious story about how the last mile of the race he struggled, yet eventually lost, to a one-armed 80-year-old man. He joked about how he was going to train all year to beat that guy!

The following year I decided to sign up and began running a few months prior to the race. My goal was just to break 30 minutes, which I did accomplish. With less than a mile to go in the race I was struggling, and that's when I saw him. Yes, the one-armed old guy. He was methodically churning along, one arm swinging along with his steady rhythm. I said to myself, "I gotta beat this guy!" Let's just say it was a TOUGH finish but I did come out on top! Barely! The funniest thing is, the guy STILL handedly beat our youth minister!

I ran a 4-miler the next spring, still my longest race to date. It was a St. Patrick's run with green beer and the works. My goal was to break 40 minutes but I came up 2 minutes short. That run was more than 10 years ago! I wouldn't run again until last year, in my quest to lose weight and become a runner again. (Read one of my first posts: "How I Got Started" for more on this quest.)

My first run after this long highatous was a 5K in New Albany, MS last summer. My goal was just to break 30 minutes and it is a good thing I didn't have anything more lofty than that in mind. This race is one of the most hilly you will find in North Mississippi and it was a tough run. I think the hills shocked a lot of people, including one of the high school cross country teams participating. With less than a mile ago, I was running behind a teenage girl wearing high school cross country attire when she suddenly collapsed in the middle of the road! I stopped for a second and asked her if she was okay and she looked at me kinda shocked and nodded. I kept going but felt TERRIBLE I didn't stop completely and assist her. A couple of minutes later I was still considering turning around and going back when she blazed past me like I was standing still! I tried to speed up and keep up with her but I couldn't match her pace. So much for feeling sorry for the little squirt!

The last race I completed was the Race for the Cure 5K. I met my goal of running under 28 minutes and felt like I was finally starting to make progress. In less than a week, I will be trying to take 2 minutes off that time! Just a few more days of running and its race day. Even now I am scanning the web for my 10K race plan for my next race!

Week 5 complete!

2006-03-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

This week completed week 5 of "The Plan" and I have not been this consistent with my running for this many weeks for probably 15 years! This week included tapering down on my long run since I have the race next week. Not that you really have to "taper" for a 5K, but I really just wanted to avoid any chance of getting injured this close to the run. With some of the soreness I've been feeling this week, it was probably a good decision! Here are the numbers for the week:

Total Miles: 20.5 miles

Avg. Pace: 8:50 min/mi

Long Run: 5.50 miles (9:13 pace)

Speed Work: Speed Intervals (5 miles total)

1/2 mile warm-up (8:49 pace)
2 X (1/2 mile SI (8:00)) 1/2 breaks (8:56)
4 X (1/4 mile SI (7:47)) 1/4 breaks (8:56)
4 X (.10 mile SI (7:30)) .10 mi. breaks (8:56)

Hills: skipped! (Did a neighborhood 5-miler instead)

I was pretty sore on Friday and almost skipped running entirely but decided on a 2-miler on the dreadmill. I had been feeling soreness primarily in my lower calves and lower shins. Saturday was more of the same as far as soreness and I decided to cut the long run short. After about 3 1/2 miles, I had to sprint across four lanes of traffic and noticed I was limping. I wasn't really sure why I was limping because I didn't feel any significant pain, but it unnerved me nevertheless. It took only seeing a big dog running loose further down the road to cut my run a mile and a half short and end at 5.5 miles!

Even though I was a little short on the miles this week, I have some things to be really excited about:

After next week's running, I will have run 100 miles for the month of March! This marks the first time EVER I have run 100 miles in a single month!
I have now run five straight weeks of over 20 miles! I have never accomplished this as well; but, the streak will end this week with only about 14 miles planned.
I completed two runs of over ten miles as well! These were the first times I had ever run in double digits!

The Trail and Treads 5K Run is now less than a week away. I am still sticking to my goal time of 26 minutes but I know I will have to run a REALLY good race to achieve it. I will be happy with a 26:30 time but I am not conceding anything just yet!

Tommorrow I will recap some of my most funny 5K race highlights from the past and review some of the past races. Congrats to Terry who completed the Knoxville marathon this weekend! Hopefully he didn't have to pas through a Mickey Dee's for a bathroom break! I am still waiting for him to post his time. I read on the Knoxnews website that it is a pretty hilly one! I might have to try and complete the half next year! I hope everyone had a great week of running!!!!

Week 4: COMPLETE

2006-03-20T17:00:00.000-08:00

I tried doing this blog entry over the weekend. I had it all typed up and tried to insert a picture when something REALLLLY bad must have happened and I lost the entire entry! Needless to say, I didn't feel like typing it all up again, thus the delay.

Overall I had a GREAT week of running last week and I am really proud of a few of the runs in particular. Here are the numbers:

Total Miles: 26.04 miles

Avg. Pace: 9:00 min/mi

Long Run: 11.04 miles (9:34 pace) WOO HOO!

Speed Work: Pace and Speed Intervals
1/2 mile warm-up (8:56 pace)
1/2 mile PI (8:00) 1/4 break (8:56)
1/2 mile PI (8:00) 1/4 break (8:56)
1/2 mile SI (7:53) 1/4 break (8:56)
1/4 mile SI (7:46) 1/4 break (8:56)
1/4 mile SI (7:46) 1/4 break (8:56)
1/8 mile SI (7:40) 1/8 break (8:56)
1/8 mile SI (7:30)
Finished off 4 1/2 miles at 8:56 pace

Hills: skipped! (4-miler instead)

Early in the week last week, I completed a 3 mile tempo run to get an estimate of where I am in my training. I completed the run on a treadmill, but I ran it in 24:56 - first time under 25 minutes in a loooooooooooooong while! I'm going to have to really kick it up on race day if I want to break 26 minutes. But I probably shouldn't have done the tempo run Monday, because I was really sore Tuesday and had to skip my hard hill workout, doing an easy 4-miler instead.

I rebounded strongly on Thursday with a good interval workout, going as fast as a 7:30 pace. I was able to manage a 9:00 pace in between intervals, which helped my overall time for the 4 1/2 mile run (37:46 total - 8:23 pace).

I was excited about my long run Saturday. It was another attempt to go further than this body has ever gone before! I actually felt really good during the 11 mile run, running it at a 9:34 pace which, for me, is just plain cool! I became a little fatigued at around mile 7 or 8 and took a chocolate caffeinated Power Gel. It went down a whole lot better than the jelly beans last week and I felt a good rush of energy about a mile later.

I almost had the CRAP scared out of me with just a few miles to go! It was a section that I have to run WITH traffic as there is no shoulder on the other side of the road. A dump truck came barreling close to me and sent me skirting to the deep grass! It probably wasn't THAT close but it was loud enough to seem like it was going to steam roll me like a cartoon animal.

With a mile left in the run, two old ladies slowed down and tried to ask me for directions. Trying to avoid another stoppage like last week, I just smiled as wide as possible and kept on going! I felt soooo bad to turn down a sweet old lady that looked like Aunt Bee and hope she and her friend didn't get too awful lost! But I was flirting with a 9 1/2 minute pace!!! :-) Believe it or not, I actually thought about adding on another 2 miles to call it a half marathon. The fear of possible injury and the desire to keep my strong pace kept me to my plan.

I actually joined the polar bear club soon after my run! I have read in the past that some marathoners soak in ice baths after their race to limit soreness and thought I would give it a try. After a few minutes of stretching I ran an ice cold bath and sat in it for 20 minutes. I was a little worried about the...well...you GUYS know what I'm talking about! But after I got used to it, it was actually refreshing! I can't say it helped a WHOLE lot with soreness but I think I noticed a difference.

There is only two weeks left to the first race of the year: The Trail and Treads 5K Run. I will reduce my mileage a little this week and focus more on speed before tapering the following week. I hope everyone had a great week of running!!!

SORENESS!

2006-03-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

PAIN !

I know I really should not have pushed it yesterday with a tempo run, what with my long run Saturday and all. But I really wanted to see where I was tempo-wise and it was, after all, on "The Plan". I was pretty happy with my pace yesterday in my 3-miler (8:20) but a little worried because it was difficult to achieve. I only have a couple of weeks and it is going to be hard to maintain that same pace on the "skreets".

So this morning, I felt the soreness more so than I have in a while. My calves were tight and my shins stung to the touch. I don't think this is shin splints - just a reflection of overuse. I've had shin splints before and this hurts more when I touch them - like they are real sensitive. The shin splints I've had in the past hurt primarily when I ran. Of course, it could be my shoes beginning to break down as well. I currently have 323 running miles on them! :-)

All this being said, I skipped the hills segment of my training this week. That's right; I diverged from the plan. But I think it was for the best. The last thing I want is an injury. Tomorrow I plan to avoid any cardio and take a full rest day. Then it is on to some serious speed training on Thursday! I have a lot to do if I want ANY chance of breaking 26 minutes come April 1st!

Week 3 "in the books"!

2006-03-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

Week three of "The Plan" is in the books and it was another TOUGH week. In fact, it hit me that I had almost run the length of a marathon over the course of my running this week - farther than I have EVER run in a week before! Here are the numbers and some highlights from the week:

Total Miles: 26.1 miles

Avg. Pace: 9:17 min/mi

Long Run: 10.1 miles

Speed Work: Pace and Speed Intervals - 2 x .50 (7:53 pace), 2 X .25 (7:40), 1 X.15, 1 X .25 (7:30)

Hills: 4 X 2 min. at 4 % incline

Tuesday was a big day as I not only completed a hard hill workout but sprinted a 1/2 mile later in the day and rode my bike to the park. I plan to push up to a 5 % incline this next Tuesday.

Thursday I had to walk a little in between the speed intervals but was able to push the pace more. I may back off the pace a few seconds so I won't have to walk this next Thursday.

Saturday was the first time I have ever run over 8.5 miles - the first time in double digits for me! I was happy with the effort despite my pace being slower than I had expected. But I think there are a few reasons for this, including the longer distance of course.

It was a lot hotter than what I have been running, reaching 77 degrees toward the end of the run. Now I know this isn't really that hot but it is a sudden change of about 25 degrees than what my body is accustomed to running, so it sure felt a lot hotter!

I also wanted to try a different route this week to take in some new scenery. I mapped out a different course but included several more hills in doing so. the long run course I had been running is pretty flat. But here is a map of the course:

There were some interesting things that happened on my long run Saturday. I was already feeling it after only a mile and a half. I really pushed it this week and was realizing it as I was just starting off this long run. After mile 3, I saw the anchorman for the local t.v. news. He was really nice and waved. I could hear him say hello even as I listened to my podcast loudly. Then something really funny happened.

After 3 1/2 miles, I was running through a nice neighborhood when a car with two ladies drove by me (going the other direction). I soon heard someone yelling, "Mista! Mista!" I turned around and one of the ladies was chasing after me! I stopped and turned around thinking, at first, that I had dropped something. Before she got to me I had surmised that she was going to ask for directions but I was wrong again!

She asked me, "Are you a lawya?"

"What?" I asked, not sure I was understanding the question.

"Are you a lawya cause I needs me a good lawya to get my babies back!"

By this time I had turned back around and was walking fast in the direction I had been heading.

"No." I replied, "I don't really even know any lawyers." She was persistent though. (I have to give her that.)

"Well, I needs me a good lawyer with an adoption case I'm in and I don't know how to find one." I told her to look in the yellow pages, which looking back at it, was probably just too obvious to blurt out. She replied, "No. I needs a GOOD lawyer cause I got a tough case. Let me tell you about it."

"Oh great. Here we go!" I thought, all the time wondering if I should just start back running.

She proceeded to tell me that a few years ago she was put in jail on drug charges for three years and gave up her "babies" for adoption. She said the adoptive "auntie" won't let her see them now and she would have "never signed those papers if I knew she wasn't going to let me see my babies". She needs a good lawyer, she said, because of her "bad past". She needs one that will help her get her babies back.

I tried to be nice but we talked for at least three minutes, which had to really hurt my pace for the long run! In an even more bizarre fashion, she ended up video-taping me using her cell phone when I gave her the number of the local family resource center that might find someone to help her. After she finally walked away, I continued on and met a biker coming down the rode who smiled with a smile like, "Yeah buddy, she hit me up too just up the road!"

Although I had to slow way down for this conversation, I noticed I felt rejuvenated as I began to run again. I was really enjoying the run through this neighborhood, looking at and admiring different houses. Tupelo is weird in how you can cross one road and go from million dollar houses to houses costing less then $60,000.

After mile 6, I reached back into my Camelbak pocket and got one of my packs of Sport beans.I have not used these before and they tasted a lot like sugary gatorade. I liked the taste but I think I will stick to GU because I really didn't like the effort I had to put into chewing these things while I was breathing hard.

After about 7 1/2 miles I had to walk for about a minute. I knew I was about to hit some main roads and wanted to be able to pick up the pace a bit.

I actually had to do about a mile and a half loop in my neighborhood to complete the 10 miles. This was hard when I was soooo tired and knew my house was soooo close! But I did the loop and completed my run! I will have to say that I don't feel much different than I did after my 8.5 miler last week.

I think I will work even harder and do another 10-miler next week before tapering a little for the race on April 1st. I hope everyone had a great week of running!

The Sanity of Running

2006-03-06T15:59:00.000-08:00

A lot of people who haven't seen me in a while notice my weight loss and
ask me how I did it. I tell them about how I get up early and run every
morning and eat a lot healthier, at least during the week. ;- ) Almost
inevitably they reply that they could never get up that early to exercise
and can't fit it in anywhere else in their schedules.

I am not a morning person either. If I am honest, I prefer sleeping in a
warm bed to running out in the cold any day. I have noticed, however, that
with my persistent efforts, it really has become easier for me to
accomplish the goals I have set for myself. In addition, my continued
efforts at running - increasing my miles - increasing my pace - has helped me
to increase my ability to run.

Many of you may have heard the ol' definition of insanity as "doing the same
thing over and over but expecting a different result" . I don't know how
exactly but after I completed my run this morning, it hit me how running is
a lot like the reverse of that truth. In fact, it brings to remembrance a
quote I've heard, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to
do; not that the nature of the thing itself has decreased; but out power to
do it has increased".

Therein lies the Sanity of Running . By doing something with increasing
effort over and over again, it becomes easier. It becomes habit. While to
some, getting out of bed at 5 am may seem pretty insane, I feel pretty
insane if I don't so it each day.

I can't really imagine running 26.2 miles at one time! The longest I have
ever run is the 8.5 miles I did last Saturday. Yet, I can still remember
when a 4-miler was my long run. I completed a 4-miler as my easy run this
morning. :-) So I will keep treading on, continuing my sanity of running,
looking forward to the day when marathon miles actually seem in reach!

Trails & Treads 5K Run

2006-03-05T11:25:00.000-08:00

My wife and I received our applications for the 2006 Trail and Treads 5K run here in Tupelo, Mississippi. For all of you who have never been to Tupelo, Trails & Treads is a local outdoors sporting goods store - sort of like a really small version of an REI store. They took over this race last year, which was simply called the Heart Run in the past. This year, all proceeds benefit the Health Care Foundation of North Mississippi.

It is your typical out-and-back 5K course, very flat, not too much scenery really. It starts and ends below the Wellness Center where I work out. I had planned on running it last year and would have been looking at breaking 30 minutes then. However, I came down with plantar fascilitis in the weeks before and couldn't run. I kept the shirt though, as it is one of the finest you'll get for any race - a long sleeve technical brooks running shirt.

This year I hope to break 26 minutes! I have more hard work to put in over the next few weeks to try and accomplish this goal but I'm feeling pretty good about it right now. If any of you are going to be around here on April 1st, here's a link to the race application or shoot me a comment and I'll be happy to give you more information. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Week 2: Check!

2006-03-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

Week 2 of "the plan" is in the books and MAN was it a week! Honestly, this is probably the hardest I have trained in one week and I felt it in today's long run. Here's the numbers:

Total Miles: 24.5 miles

Avg. Pace: 8:56 min/mi

Long Run: 8.5 miles

Speed Work: Pace Intervals - 2 x (.50, .25, .15) at 7:53 pace

Hills: 3 X 2 min. at 4 % incline

I didn't feel I pushed that hard in Tuesday's hill session so I ran a 2-mile tempo run on Wednesday. I felt missing that rest day for the remainder of the week! Thursday's speed session was hard but I was able to quicken my pace a few seconds. This coming week will start "speed intervals" and I hope to rachet it up another notch!

I felt the miles in today's long run! I was able to hit my goal distance at an okay pace and used my Camelbak Alterra today to hydrate. I also used my injinji socks and I am blister free! (That's one in the picture to the side.) I have what feels like gas pains in my lower stomach. I don't know if it is just my "inners" getting used to all the pounding, my lack of discipline in doing stomach crunches, or maybe it's just both. Maybe one of you experienced runners could give me some feedback here.

Next week is my third week of "the plan", and I will do a little more hill work and will start speed intervals... but I plan to take that rest day! I hope everyone had a great week of running!

HARD DAYS

2006-03-01T19:20:00.000-08:00

I was listening to a podcast yesterday about running (Runcast Weekly) and the author recorded himself running a marathon. He discussed how he was feeling after each mile and it was interesting to hear. At about mile 15 he thought he was going to have an unbelievable time but hit the wall soon after, finishing well behind what he had been thinking earlier.

It was then I started thinking about how our success in such races is only a reflection of the work we put into training in the weeks leading up to the race. My thought progression led quickly to the fact that I had not really pushed myself TOO hard in the hills segment I ran just an hour earlier. I mean....come on Shane! Hard days are supposed to be hard!

So when I woke up today I decided to do a tempo run instead of resting. Sure I may pay for it later but I still pretty good! I wanted to do two miles at my race day pace and went through it with no problems. In fact, I felt pretty good - like I could have finished a third mile at that pace!

So tomorrow is my speedwork day - "pace intervals"! Now, these are not meant to be as fast as the speed intervals I will start next week. But to really push myself, I think I will raise the bar a notch and do them at about a 7:50 pace instead of the 8:00 I have been doing the last couple of weeks. I will let you know how it went later!

ARE YOU COMMITTED??!!!!!

2006-02-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

Are you committed?!!

ARE YOU COMMITTED?!!

Several years ago I worked out at a gym where the owner (a former meathead) would often volunteer himself as a personal trainer during our morning workout. My brother and I were working out one morning when he volunteered to assist us in a bicep routine. He worked us out pretty good but it was really humorous because, during the workout, he would repeatedly ask us, getting louder each time, "Are You Committed??!!! ARE YOU COMMITTED??!!!" I felt like I was in a Saturday Night Live skit with Hans and Frans!

Well, when I woke up this morning and it was in the mid-40's with a steady rain, those words came to mind. It's been a few weekends since I have completed my long run and I really didn't want to miss another one. As I looked out the window at the cold rain, the Ultimate 5K Plan I posted not long ago came to mind. And that is when I asked myself the question, "Are you committed?"

I told myself I would eat breakfast, check my e-mail, and surf the net for a few minutes; and THEN I would get ready for the run. I am happy to say that, not only did I follow through with my plan; but as I walked out the door about 9 am, the rain completely stopped leaving me with perfect running conditions!

Here are my totals for the week (my first week of "the plan"):

Total Miles: 21.1

Avg Pace: 8:59 min/mile

Long Run: 7.30 miles (9:01 pace)

Speed work: 6 X .25 mile PI at 8:00 min/mile

Hills: 6 minutes

I felt pretty good today and was pretty happy with the pace for my long run. I hope my speedwork and hills help me get faster because I have a long way to go to run the race on April 1st in under 26 minutes!

Have a great weekend!

THE PLAN

2006-02-20T17:35:00.000-08:00

OK.

Here's the deal.

On April 1st, I will be running the Tupelo Heart Run 5K. That is... if they do have it. They say they are, but there has been no advertisement yet. (Last year's run, which Tricia ran was NOT the best organized run I have attended by far).

So now it't time for Race goals. The last race I ran was the Race for the Cure 5K back in October 2005. I ran it just under 28 minutes - barely - at 27:59. I am pretty confident I can take a minute off that time. My real goal is to come in under 26:30 (at least an 8:32 min/mi pace). Of course, what I REALLY want to do is break 26 minutes. That would mean a 8:22 min/mile pace, which would be a pretty good stretch for me!

I figured I needed a plan so I scoured the Runner's World website and settled on the "intermediate" version of their "Ultimate 5K Plan". I have revised the plan for my own schedule and have scanned it below. I started out today for a 3 miler. (See my training log) If you read the article, you will note I do some warm-up running before my speed and hill training and figure I will be running somewhere between 20 and 26 miles a week. I will be doing my pace intervals at an 8 min/mile pace, hoping to improve my times. Speed intervals will be a little faster. Check out my plan below and feel free to make comments!

It's true. I'm am an addict.

2006-02-20T15:53:00.000-08:00

You learn something new everyday, you know! Today I learned.....I'm an addict. I am both emotionally and physically addicted to running. I say this because I missed several opportunities to run last week and this weekend.

Wednesday was an off day last week so I planned to miss anyway. But I overslept Thursday morning and missed my run because I stayed up too late the night before watching American Idol off of the DVR. (Yes, I am a man and I can admit it.)

One of my blogging buddies, Jim, had e-mailed me to tell me he would be in town Saturday if I wanted to go for a long run with him. He is A LOT faster than me! With this is mind I only went 3 miles Friday so I could really push myself on Saturday. I was thinking I might go 10 miles to make up for Thursday. This would be my longest run to date. If I didn't manage that, I would run again on Sunday to meet my weekly mileage goals.

Then winter decided to actually move through this weekend!

It began raining early Saturday morning with the forecast predicting the rain changing to ice by 9 am, canceling our long run. Now Jim may have actually went out anyway but I would have REALLY been breaking my wuss rule to go out in rain in the low thirties! So to make a long story short, I didn't get to run ANY this weekend!

Jim is going to try to come again for the 5K Heart Run on April 1st, but I discovered something by missing all of my running this weekend. I was SOOOO stinking lazy! I NEVER take midday naps on Saturday or Sunday but I found myself lying in front of the tv, eating everything in the house, and feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Despite all of my resting, I had NO energy.

This morning I felt the same way and overslept again. I took off work early because I was NOT going to miss another run! (Plus I am starting "THE PLAN", which I will describe in another post later tonight.)

After my run and some weight lifting, I felt GREAT! I found myself whistling as I got ready and then...that's when it hit me: I AM addicted to running!

I felt completely different after exercising! Suddenly I had tons of energy despite exercising off about 500 calories. That doesn't really make logical sense but I am sure an exercise physiologist out there can explain how this happens.

Now I know that this addiction is much easier to break than your standard...say...crack cocaine addiction; but it is an addiction nevertheless. So for all of you out there reading this blog, for fun I have developed the following addiction test:

1. Have you ever worn your running shorts under your dress pants at work so you can get in a run at lunch?

2. Have you ever left early from work, blowing off your responsibilities, so you could get in a missed run?

3. Have you ever broken your own rule about running at night, in the cold, or in the rain, because you had to get in your miles?

4. If you miss a couple runs in a row, do you suddenly feel like you resemble John Candy or Rosanne Barr?

5. When your are in church on Sunday, does your mind often drift to calculating times for certain distances based on different paces per mile?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you may be an addict. If you answered yes to two or more, you are probably an addict. If you said yes to all of em', WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

:-)

Back at it!

2006-02-13T16:25:00.000-08:00

Got back at it this morning! Did 3 miles on the dreadmill at a pretty good pace. I plan to do a speed workout tommorrow with some more pace intervals and maybe some core work if time permits.

The weather forecast is looking better so I may get to run outside Thursday!

Confession: Good for the Soul.

2006-02-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

And on the seventh day he rested.

Actually, he rested on the fifth and sixth day now that he's honest.

That "he" would be me. Yes, that's right: a measily 11 miles running this week.

I am not really sure what happened this week but this is my time to confess and "cleanse the soul".

I know part of my regression had to do with the boredom associated with the dreaded treadmill (dreadmill for short). I had announced to my wife that I was going to hit the streets this week but winter actually decided to show up this year and it dipped down into the low thirties again. (Remember I follow the "wuss rule" of no running below 40 degrees).

I felt that I was becoming burned out. I was starting to feel tired and my morning runs were a chore. In addition, I am sometimes guilty of being an "all-or-nothing" type person. After a big "splurge meal" Wednesday night with family and friends, and a party Friday, I just lost momentum partly because I had eaten so badly.

I hope I am not the only one that has weeks like this. But it helps to know I have read in the past that you need a few days off every now and then. I am just going to try to mentally chalk it up to my body's encouragement to take a break. At any rate, I have my gym bag packed and I will be headed out at 5:15 in the morning! Hopefully, in my next blog, I will be exclaiming my conquest of a successful week running!

DID IT!

2006-02-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

That's what my 2-year old says when he accomplished something: I did it! I did it! Well, I did it too: 8 miler this morning! And not only did I do it, I did it fast! (for me, of course)

After my "failings" on Thursday, I decided to do the ultimate workout this morning. I would do my usual upper body strength training workout and follow that up with a long run at the 1/2 mile track outside the Wellness Center. The Wellness Center track is a meandering 1/2 mile asphalt track I ran on when I was in college. I usually run well here, maybe because of the memories.

I decided to check my split times today, something I rarely do for some reason. I don't know if it was because of the cold, but I ran the first mile WAY too fast for a long run (for me) - app. 8:00 min/mile. I slowed down and targeted 9 min/miles. To my surprise, I was able to pretty much maintain this throughout the run. I ran 6 miles in under 54 minutes - more than 2 minutes faster than I have done it before! I finished the run at 1:12:39 - about a 9:05 min/mile pace! I was really excited because this was a pretty good effort for me.

As I write this at 11:30 this evening, I don't feel any real soreness, just tired legs. I guess my lower back is a little sore. Overall I have a great feeling of accomplishment. For a good calorie deficit, I ran 8.5 miles on Thanksgiving day last year, but ran it almost a minute slower per mile than I did today.

The 5K Heart Run is exactly 8 weeks away. I have the feeling I should back off my long runs a little and target more speed workouts before then but I'm not really sure. I know the course is pretty flat so I don't have to worry about hills too much. Any suggesstions out there are welcomed!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Sing it Brittany....

2006-02-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Oops I did it again!
I missed another run,
I screwed up my miles...
Oh baby, baby...
OOPS!

Well, my mileage will be a little low this week due to missing a run Thursday. Wednesday was a planned off day but we had some friends in from Michigan and were up late with them Wednesday night. I had to get my sleep so I couldn't run in the morning and worked a 12-hour day, leaving me completely spent that evening. To top it off, things were so crazy Thursday, I ate McDonalds, not once, BUT TWICE!!!!!!!!!!

Just Supersize me right now! RIGHT NOW!!!!

But I feel a little better as I write this Friday evening because I had a great run this morning. I only went 3 miles because I have a long run planned tomorrow. I know I will go at least 6 miles but may punish myself even more for the Mickey-D's!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Shane's disclaimer note: Just in case you don't know, the above picture is NOT me! And for those of you wishing I had included a Brittany Spears picture, COME ON! I do have my morals ya know!!!!

Rotating belts and yes, I'm a wuss!

2006-01-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

So what DO you look at when running on a treadmill? Have you ever tried to read on a treadmill while running? I've tried it and my head must bounce up and down too much because I can't even concentrate on a large print Reader's Digest. And my gym, in a stroke of genius, placed the televisions at just the right angled location that you would have to be the little girl in the move, The Exorcist, to have a comfortable view. So what do I usually wind up looking at? That's right: the numbers.

Yep, I watch those little minutes and those pesky miles tick tick slowly by. Pretty exciting huh? The only problem is, I discovered Saturday that I have now developed a habit of looking down when I run. Pretty easy to get hit by a car that way you see. While these Mississippi drivers, unlike the rest of the world, know to show respect by pulling over when a funeral procession comes down the road, they must think runners 'bes' move over now'!

So I decided on Sunday that I need to get out more and run the roads; stop looking down and lookin' all self-conscious and all. The only problem is I am a wuss and HATE to run outside when it is below 40 degrees. So when I woke up this morning, saw the temp at 36 degrees, off to the gym I went, looking all down and all yet again!

I'm starting to get pretty dern bored on the ol' rotating belt, especially now that I am doing longer distances. I tried little games today to break the monotony: like not looking down for a while and trying to guess how far I went, or counting and recounting all of the other people working out. You probably guessed these didn't work too well and I went back to my routine of staring at the numbers. So I'm praying for warmer weather this Thursday and have a route all marked out for me. The weather forecast for this Thurday am? A comfortable 49 degrees! But what?! Rain. And yep, when it comes to running in the rain, I'm a.....

Looks like I'll be staring at the digits yet again. :-(

A Great Week!

2006-01-29T05:58:00.000-08:00

It was a pretty great running week for me this week. I met my goal mileage for the week, exceeding it by almost 2 miles for 21.8 miles. Early in the week, I ran my 2-mile speed run faster than I have recently for a 7:56 pace (good for me). I also unexpectly felt so good on a 4-miler on Thursday that I set a new PR for that distance (35:08). My long run this weekend went well and was a great way to finish off the week.

I'm not as fast as a lot of those runners blogging out there who I like to read as inspiration. (Congrats Jim on that 18-miler this weekend!) But I am making progress, especially with my speed lately, and I'm starting to feel like I can reach the goals I set for the year. Nevertheless I felt good about the week and treated myself to some rainbow sushi at Ichibon's Saturday night!

I have targeted my first race for the year: it is about 9 weeks away on April Fool's Day of all days! It is the Heart Run 5k here in Tupelo. I had signed up last year but came down with plantar fascilitis and couldn't run. I wear the T-shirt and even reviewed it in one of my recent blogs. This next one I will get to earn!

I hope you all had a great weekend! If you have any tips about how I can increase my speed and distances at the same time, feel free to drop a line!

Fearless Review: Technical Running Shirts

2006-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

Beginning this month on this blog, I will review various items I have purchased to either assist in my running or just keep me motivated. I call this a “fearless review” since so many times magazines don’t tell you what they really think because of their worry about the almighty advertising dollar. Well you don’t have to worry about that here on my blog!

This time I will review those ever-popular dry-wicking running shirts. In the old days, cotton was king and no one ever thought to put any of those other scratchy shirts on to pull a four-miler. But these days dry-wicking shirts use high tech materials (i.e. comfy polyester) to wick perspiration away and try to achieve a cool, more comfortable feel. These fabrics are designed to keep t-shirts from sticking to you and, if you are like me with the sweaty middle-back after a few miles, you will appreciate that!

In this blog I will review four different dry-wicking running shirts I have personally owned. Now I know there are hundreds of dry-wicking brands out these days so this is in no way intended to be an exhaustive list; nor do I want to give the impression that this list is a “best of”. But maybe this will be informative for those of you who have been afraid to try anything but a cotton T. Also, it may get some of you to try some brands you haven’t thought of before.

Under-Armour Loose Gear T-shirt: App. $25 ****

Ah…the brand that helps us “PROTECT THIS HOUSE!” This shirt is a loose version of their “heat-gear” shirts and is designed to “cool your body by pulling perspiration off of your skin and moving it to the surface where it evaporates from the fabric”. This was my first sweat-wicking shirt and you can presently see me wearing it in my profile picture. A lot of people think of the Under-Armour brand when they think of technical workout shirts and for good reason. These shirts are quality-made. When it was new, it worked perfectly and wicked moisture away as advertised. Best of all, it has the feel of cotton and doesn’t cling to you like some of the dry-wicking shirts do. However, I have noticed that the shirt has not held up as well in the wash as some of my other shirts so I can’t give it a full 5 stars.

Brooks Podium long sleeve T-shirt: App. $28 ****1/2

Brooks is a name that we often think of when we look for running apparel and this T does not disappoint. Now I have to confess, I got my Brooks shirt free for signing up for a race but it is the same shirt regardless. Mine is long sleeve so it is only good for colder weather but it is a perfect moisture wicking shirt. Although it does not exactly feel like cotton, it is still comfortable enough to lounge around in and has held up wonderfully in the wash. I only wish I didn’t have those pen pricks in the front of it! 4 ½ out of 5 stars.

Target C9 Duo-Dry T-shirt: App. $14 ****

With thick black stripes down the sides (under the arms) and a reflective stripe across the chest, this may be the most stylish dry-wicking shirt I own. The shirt is slick so it feels nothing like cotton but is extremely comfortable and wicks the sweat away as well as the more costly brands. It is the shirt I keep reaching for on most days but I have to give it only 4 stars because it clings a little too much so, yes….it shows off the ol’ nipples! Definitely worth the value price.

Wal-Mart Athletic Works long sleeve T-shirt: App. $12 **1/2

Ok, so I needed another long sleeve wicking T so I went the Wally World route and got what seemed like a great buy in a black wicking long sleeve shirt. To the shirt’s credit, it does a decent job of wicking sweat and is roomy and fits well. However, it feels like a polyester shirt and is scratchy and uncomfortable. If you go the budget route, I recommend you go to Target.

In summary, if you are a runner or like to exercise and have not tried one of the dry-wicking shirts on the market today, do yourself a favor and go out and buy one. You will get hooked and never want to go back to cotton again! But a word to the wise, make sure to try on the shirt first before you buy. Many of the dry-wicking shirts have a tight fit and, unless you are a lot more “studly” than me, you just don’t want to go that route. Also, some of the fabrics of these shirts are less technical than others and are not that comfortable. Make sure you get something that feels cool and comfortable and doesn’t scratch at all, because after a few miles down the road, that will make all the difference!

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think and whether you have tried a shirt you really like!

My Medicine

2006-01-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

Today closes another week of running and one that brings mixed feelings. My wife was sick so I missed out on my long run this week. But I also set two recent records for times in a two-mile speed workout and a four-mile tempo run. I say recent records because I was able to run faster 15 years ago but was far removed from those old paces when I started running in March of 2004. The fact that I accomplished something at least helps me swallow the low mileage, but I also learned something else about my running this week.

I didn't run on Wednesday, which was a planned off day, and overslept and missed my Thursday run too. Thursday afternoon I was talking to some cooworkers who noticed I was a little crankier than usual. I was thinking on what was upsetting me when I realized the real reason for my attitude: running is becoming my medicine!

I stop short of saying the word "addiction" here because I don't "crave" it by any means. But when I go a couple of days without running, I notice that I am more irritable and don't have the same bounce in my step. So running is like a medicine if you will. Maybe you were like me when you were a kid and your mother made you take castor oil, for what I don't remember. Running is kind of like my castor oil. To be quite honest, I don't necessarily look forward to it, but after I take it, I really do feel better afterwards!

I wouldn't really mind if running becomes an addiction for me because it would help me stick to it, but I will settle for it being my castor oil for the time being. Any maybe next week I can take it in my own recommended dosage - 20 miles that is!

By the way, if you haven't noticed, you can check out my weekly running totals in my online running log! Just click the link to the right underneath my profile blurb.

No fat picture this week!

2006-01-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

After struggling the last two weeks to reach my goal, apparently all I needed was a little incentive! After threatening to post my worst fat picture if I didn't reach my weekly mileage goal, I finally came through! It only took putting the ol' pride on the line to keep me motivated!

Not that I'm embarrassed by the weight I have lost. I feel pretty accomplished to have taken off 76 pounds now and kept it off. But that picture of mine is pretty bad and would be pretty embarrassing. Just a week ago some new friends were over and saw a picture of me when I was about 50 pounds heavier. They asked, "Man, is this really you?" I looked pretty bloated to be sure, but not nearly as bad as in the picture I was threatening myself with.

I just know I can't get too comfortable and I need to keep pressing forward toward my goal to lose 20 to 25 additional pounds and increase my mileage and running pace. So the picture worked this week, but I'm not gonna threaten myself with it again just yet. It's a good motivator but like all good parenting, one I only need to pull out when absolutely necessary!

A BIG FAT.....

2006-01-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

ZERO !

That's the number I posted for my weekend miles. A big ol' goose egg. This weekend was supposed to involve a long run on Saturday. I was thinking 5 - 7 miles. We got busy on Saturday so I moved the run to Sunday. No problem. It is still a part of this weeks running stats. But then Sunday rolled through and time got away from me. It's not that I was trying to skip running. It just kind of happened. But it was a wake-up call nevertheless. I have to get more committed.

I am going to focus hard on meeting my goals this week and making more progress in losing weight as well. My weight is up a pound after the weekend! I know it could be Valentine's Day before I know it and I am still at this same plateau. So here is my recommitment for the week:

I will post 20 miles in my running log this week - or - I will post my worst "fat picture" ever on this very blog. Check back this weekend to see what happens....

Barking Dogs and Trail Running

2006-01-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

O.k. I admit it to the world - I am a little afraid of dogs. You see, at a tender age I was chased onto my swing set slide by a huge monster of a jack russell terrier and, although I didn't have proof, I swear today that it kind-of, almost, bit me!

Well, I took off on the neighborhood running-slash-horse-slash-old service road trail with a total there-and-back distance of 3 miles planned. Yet, when I was almost to the end of the "there" part, I heard what sounded like a three-pack of big dogs going crazy barking, trying to figure out where I was on the trail. Not only did I turn around but I ended up having a nice negative split and a great pace for the run! (for me of course).

Now I know these dogs, had they discovered me, could have been just as likely to lick me than actually bite me, but it is that bite me possibility that scares me. So now my trail running is in a flux, at least at this neighborhood trail. But I don't plan to give up! I will just try to work in some time at some of the trails that seem safer (or further from wandering dogs) that I will have to drive to on the way home from work.

Sure it would be a lot more convenient to run the one that's only a mile from my house, but you never know if, around that next bend, there's a cocker spaniel waiting to eat your leg off! More on my next trail outing later!

;-)

Back in...the Saddle...Again

2006-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I am on a Roy Rogers kick lately when I blog but that's the song that came to mind when naming this post, which is about trying to get started off running well again. I was lazy and didn't run today. I have been sooooo lazy during this vacation that I am scared it is going to affect my running. I didn't even log in Sunday's run until today and it freaked me out when I first logged in and read "no runs yet entered for this year".

I am meeting my friend tommorrow at 5:30 am to work out so I know I will get "back in the saddle" but hope to fire it up again so I can feel better about the short term goals I have. Sunday's run sure felt like a chore and I hope the get that "spring" in my stride pretty soon. I plan to hit the trails sometime in this week so we shall see!

2006 Resolutions

2005-12-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it’s that time of the year again…the last day of it that is!!! Time to review the year and how I did on the resolutions I set about this time last year. I really don’t remember any but two of my goals but with this blog, I bet I won’t have that problem next year! I know I did pretty well on both of the resolutions I set, but I did not successfully complete either, which is a little disappointing.

I know one of my resolutions had to do with my Christian faith and reading the Bible through in a year’s time. I started off strong but had a big problem with consistency throughout the year. I finished all of the New Testament (which I read first) but only got through Joshua in the Old Testament. Sorry God!

I also wanted to lose all of the weight I need to lose in this past year. I had some success in this department as well, losing about 50 pounds; but I still fell short – probably about 25 pounds short to be honest! Now with this, I feel like I was more consistent but when I got 25 pounds away from my goal, my body didn’t seem to cooperate. Eating and working out as I had before, I hit a major plateau. I never seemed to push through and will probably find that I have packed on an additional five pounds or so after these last couple of weeks!

There have been some ups and downs in 2005 as I am sure many of you have experienced in this year as well. I will have to say; overall, it has been a great year. We have enjoyed pretty good health as a family and I have got to see my two precious kids grow another year older. My little one-year-old buddy has grown from a baby to a little handsome toddler and my precious three-year-old daughter continues to amaze me with how smart she is.

We have settled into Tupelo now and the community seems to suit us. I have become successful in my job and began work on a license that will allow me to practice independently. We have made many new friends that we love and enjoy being close to so many of my family members.

Most importantly to this blog, I have stayed on track with my running, despite a few setbacks and injuries. I ran two 5-k runs and look to run several more races in the new year.
Now I am not one to get all philosophical, poetic, or cute in my resolutions for the new year. I just like to spell them out there in specific black and white. So far all of you still reading along, here goes:

First my running goals because if any experienced runners are reading this, I would love your input. I am not sure if it is possible to improve my speed while working on increasing distance at the same time. As you will see with my goals, I want to better my pace but I also want to run much longer than I am. I have access to the training programs in several books I have but I am not sure how to improve in my ability to run both faster and longer. But here are goals I have that I think are realistic based on my latest 5k time:

RUNNING

Improve my recent PR 5K time (27:59in Oct. 05) by at least 3 minutes (under 25 minutes)
Run the Gum Tree 10K Run in May 06’ in under 55 minutes
Run and finish the Tupelo 14.2 miler in September 06
Run and finish the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in December 06

Seriously, I am a beginner and would appreciate any feedback from those more experienced out there. I ran some in college to lose weight and had faster times then. I did a 5k 15 years ago at 23:38 and ran miles close to six minutes. Maybe some one can tell me how long it will take me to reach just that level again. Run and finish the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in December 06

Now, on to my other resolutions.

HEALTH

Of course, I want to lose those 25 pounds I mentioned earlier. This may not show exactly on the scale, however, because I want to work out with weights and improve my overall strength and physique as well. So, I guess my resolution here is just to improve my overall physical health through weight loss, continued aerobic training, and strength training with weights.

INTELLECTUAL

I want to keep challenging my brain in 2006. I read more in 2005, but want to consistently read more non-fiction that will increase my knowledge as well as entertain me. So my resolution is to read 4 non-fiction books every two months in the following loose rotation (that I plan to follow loosely). 1 Religious/Inspirational/Christian Living Book, 1 Sports/Adventure Book, 1 History Book, and 1 Psychology/Counseling Book. If I read any fiction, I still plan to stick to my overall goal for nonfiction books. Some of you may read much more than this but I have a lot on my plate and it is hard to read with two little ones running around!

In addition to this reading, I want to keep abreast of the latest research in my field of psychology and counseling. I know I will be attending more workshops in 2006 due to the requirements of my licensure but I plan to carve out a few hours monthly to go the library and read some of the latest research on best practice techniques.

FAMILY

I am blessed with an incredible family. I already mentioned my two beautiful kids but I also have a wonderful, supportive wife who is much prettier now than when I married her twelve and a half years ago. Although I am already closely connected with my family and have a great marriage, I want to concentrate more on bettering these relationships in 2006. This includes watching a little less television and having more date nights with my wife.

FAITH

I would be remiss not to mention the most important relationship in my life. This is one area I want to give the most attention to in 2006. God has been a source of constant strength and support for me and my family, but I want to strive for a closeness in 2006 that I have not experienced in some time, if ever. I resolve toward consistency in every area of my spiritual life. I WILL make time for daily study, meditation, and prayer. Although God knows me pretty in and out, I want to know Him like never before. Toward this effort, I will establish a new blog tomorrow that will include reflections from my journey toward knowing God in a deeper way. This blog will continue to focus primarily on running but the new blog will have a decided emphasis on my spiritual life.

BALANCE

My wife and I have talking about this a lot lately. People often describe me as a very balanced individual and I guess this is true in some respects. But I have a tendency to do well in one area to the detriment of several others. I have struggled throughout my life to stay focused on several pursuits and to do well at those pursuits. So in 2006 I plan to be more balanced in my thinking, in my view of people, in my pursuits, and in my worldview. This is a complex issue and I am not implying that I will lose all subjectivity. Mainly, I just don’t want to be too focused on certain goals that I lose sight of the bigger picture and the things that are most important in my life.

ENVIRONMENT

I have reading more on global warming and although I am a conservative thinker, I am convinced that there are changes taking place in our climate due to our over-consumption of resources. Although I don’t plan to become any whacko (big sigh of relief from # 2 oldest brother), I do plan to do my part. Recycling is not easy where I live as there is no curbside recycling and not an abundance of drop-off sites. Nevertheless, my household has pledged to begin recycling our newspapers, plastics, and aluminum cans for 2006. We will also slowly replace our bulbs to miniature fluorescents, and maybe even write our political representatives about issues of concern. I already drive an economy car and although we don’t plan to trade my wife’s SUV in 2006, when we do, it will also be for a smaller-sized car. Who knows, maybe we will even trade for a hybrid.

SHARPEN THE SAW

I know may have heard this phrase coined in the Covey books but I do see this as an important element I overlooked in 2005. I plan a weekly review of my goals and that I have in my life, the dreams that God has given me, and plan to stay focused on the task that lies ahead of me. I will post a brief weekly review on both of blogs to summarize my efforts and plan to review this for other areas as well. So many times we fall into a state of lethargy that eventually leads to us giving up on things that are really important to us.

I am excited about the new year and I hope anyone reading this is as equally excited. I will now leave you with a paraphrase of a quote often attributed to various individuals from Martin Luther King, Jr to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed, but our power to do is increased.”