Managed to run 3 moderately comfortable miles this morning. Foot only hurt slightly during first mile. After that, I felt good. So after that success, I felt I could go back out and run another 4 tonight. That went very well. No pain at all.
Plan for tomorrow is to run 5 in the morning, 8 in the evening. Get me through that, and I'll be a very happy camper.
Jun 25, 2009
Jun 24, 2009
UGH
Wanted to run this morning. Plan was 7 miles. Woke up and my foot was still fairly sore. Sore enough that I was still limping on it. Not as much as yesterday, but enough. I was tempted to try it out, but decided against it. I'm rarely able to resist the temptation to go run. But I just don't want to risk doing something stupid, 2 days after signing up for the Columbus half-marathon. Yesterday, I started feeling more comfortable on it later in the day, so I'm hoping to get a run in of some kind later tonight, even if it's just 2-3 miles. But it won't be until late tonight. We're headed to the casino today!
My dad is once again playing "banker" b/c he wants to go to the casino. But with my sister in town, he needs/wants other people to be there too. My sister, Monica, has cerebral palsy and so it helps to have other people along. Plus she's dying to see Susan. So my dad has "invited" us along, with one condition. He insists on spotting each of us $400, and we can keep any profit. If we lose, it's on him. Hard to say no, right?
My dad is once again playing "banker" b/c he wants to go to the casino. But with my sister in town, he needs/wants other people to be there too. My sister, Monica, has cerebral palsy and so it helps to have other people along. Plus she's dying to see Susan. So my dad has "invited" us along, with one condition. He insists on spotting each of us $400, and we can keep any profit. If we lose, it's on him. Hard to say no, right?
Jun 23, 2009
OUCH! My foot!
I really hate when I get hurt in a soccer game. I hate it even more when I do it in a game that we have completely in hand, and there's no need for me to make risky challenges. But I guess instinct sometimes takes over. Last night, we're killing some team, only have 12 minutes left in the game, and there's a loose ball in front of goal. I'm near it, and try to get a foot on it. Their defender comes in from behind me, and goes to blast the ball out of the area. Out feet strike the ball simultaneously, his with a lot of momentum, mine with very little. Needless to say, I lose that battle, and the top of my foot takes the damage. Very, very sore last night. This is a somewhat common injury for soccer players, so I'm not overly concerned. I iced it when I got home, and took some Advil. Surprisingly, I slept quite well.
Not sure how, or if, this will affect my run schedule for the week. I had planned on running today and taking Friday off. I may switch those now, although I am feeling much better than last night. Going to ice it a few times today, and may sneak out and test it. If I can get my miles in, great. If not, I'll rest and be ready on Wednesday.
Had considered running the Hyde Park Blast this Saturday, but can't now. Mel has a softball tournament that starts on Friday and goes all through the weekend. So now I'll consider doing a 5K over 4th of July weekend, and work it into my training schedule for the Columbus Half-Marathon, on August 16th.
On a side note, my weight is getting back to where I want it. Still a little work to do to get to the weight I want to maintain. No worries, though. I've been eating better, running better. Helped to sleep well the past 2 nights too, after a couple nights in a row of lousy sleep. Plus, with Susan getting ready for the half-marathon too, I know we'll be eating quite well for the next 8 weeks.
Not sure how, or if, this will affect my run schedule for the week. I had planned on running today and taking Friday off. I may switch those now, although I am feeling much better than last night. Going to ice it a few times today, and may sneak out and test it. If I can get my miles in, great. If not, I'll rest and be ready on Wednesday.
Had considered running the Hyde Park Blast this Saturday, but can't now. Mel has a softball tournament that starts on Friday and goes all through the weekend. So now I'll consider doing a 5K over 4th of July weekend, and work it into my training schedule for the Columbus Half-Marathon, on August 16th.
On a side note, my weight is getting back to where I want it. Still a little work to do to get to the weight I want to maintain. No worries, though. I've been eating better, running better. Helped to sleep well the past 2 nights too, after a couple nights in a row of lousy sleep. Plus, with Susan getting ready for the half-marathon too, I know we'll be eating quite well for the next 8 weeks.
Jun 21, 2009
This was a good week
I had what I felt was a pretty good week. Got a speed workout in, got a decent long-run in, and didn't feel overly fatigued from it.
My speed workout was short. Haven't done one in a while, so didn't want to overdo it. A 1-mile warmup, 3x1-mile intervals, and a 2-mile cooldown. 6:53, 6:32, 6:52. Not bad.
Yesterday's long was just over 15 miles. Met up with the local chapter of Team Challenge, and ran with them. They were doing 11 miles, and they were meeting about 10 minutes from my house. Turned out, the course was 11.58 miles. I ran that with their "lead group" and we finished right at 9:00/mile. The final 2.5-ish miles was a circular loop around a lake in a park. So I doubled back to check on some folks who'd never run that far in their lives. Figured I'd offer encouragement, and perhaps a running partner, if they really seemed to be struggling. But most everyone was doing really well, despite the heat & humidity. When I was done, I felt great. Even considered running a couple of more by myself, but decided to call it a day.
Still haven't run today, but by the time I do, I'll have put in a comfortable 50-mile week. Really feeling like my overall fitness is getting back to where I'd like it to be as I get ready to start my training for a fall marathon.
Might have 2 races on the calendar now. The first is the Hyde Park Blast, next Saturday. It's a 4-miler in Hyde Park. But it's a whole day affair with the different events, ending with the bike race. That should be fun...to watch. The other race is the Columbus Half-Marathon and 5K, on August 16th. AND...it'd be my wife's first half! Now that would be cool!
For this week, I'll have to decide if I'm racing the 4-miler, or just running it. If I decide to race it, I'll get my long run in on Wednesday, and get ready for Saturday. I'd like to "race", but it's not important enough to me to sacrifice getting in a full week of running. Especially if I run the half in Columbus, in August. A PR there would mean WAAAAAAAY more to me.
Oh, and with it being Father's Day today, my gift from my wife? $100 gift certificate to Bob Roncker's Running Spot! Boo-yah!
My speed workout was short. Haven't done one in a while, so didn't want to overdo it. A 1-mile warmup, 3x1-mile intervals, and a 2-mile cooldown. 6:53, 6:32, 6:52. Not bad.
Yesterday's long was just over 15 miles. Met up with the local chapter of Team Challenge, and ran with them. They were doing 11 miles, and they were meeting about 10 minutes from my house. Turned out, the course was 11.58 miles. I ran that with their "lead group" and we finished right at 9:00/mile. The final 2.5-ish miles was a circular loop around a lake in a park. So I doubled back to check on some folks who'd never run that far in their lives. Figured I'd offer encouragement, and perhaps a running partner, if they really seemed to be struggling. But most everyone was doing really well, despite the heat & humidity. When I was done, I felt great. Even considered running a couple of more by myself, but decided to call it a day.
Still haven't run today, but by the time I do, I'll have put in a comfortable 50-mile week. Really feeling like my overall fitness is getting back to where I'd like it to be as I get ready to start my training for a fall marathon.
Might have 2 races on the calendar now. The first is the Hyde Park Blast, next Saturday. It's a 4-miler in Hyde Park. But it's a whole day affair with the different events, ending with the bike race. That should be fun...to watch. The other race is the Columbus Half-Marathon and 5K, on August 16th. AND...it'd be my wife's first half! Now that would be cool!
For this week, I'll have to decide if I'm racing the 4-miler, or just running it. If I decide to race it, I'll get my long run in on Wednesday, and get ready for Saturday. I'd like to "race", but it's not important enough to me to sacrifice getting in a full week of running. Especially if I run the half in Columbus, in August. A PR there would mean WAAAAAAAY more to me.
Oh, and with it being Father's Day today, my gift from my wife? $100 gift certificate to Bob Roncker's Running Spot! Boo-yah!
Jun 13, 2009
Why do I even draw up a schedule sometimes?!?
LOL. I'm not sure I've followed a single day of the schedule I drew up for this week!
Tuesday, I rested. Wednesday, I ran 3.6 in the morning, 9.0 at night. Thursday, 3 miles, easy. At this point, I planned to do my tempo run Sunday, long run Saturday. Friday, 6.05 miles, still no tempo run. Today, 10.88 miles, again easy, with a couple of quick water stops for those I was running with. So somehow, it didn't really feel like a long run. So now I have to decide whether I want to do that tempo run, or if I want do another mid-long run in the 10-12 range. I can see benefit to both.
But I've read that occasionally it can be beneficial to do back-to-back, tougher-than-usual, workouts. Additionally, I'm beginning to think that speed isn't my primary concern in running the time I want to run in my fall marathon. What little speed I have, I don't need to be overly concerned with developing...yet. Endurance should always be my #1 focus. So that being said, I'll look to run 12 miles, and perhaps turn it into a 3/1 run (75% at long-run pace, final 25% at faster pace, but not quite race pace).
As for my job search, it continues to go VERY SLOWLY, but I did a somewhat encouraging call from my recruiter. Hopefully sometime next week, I'll hear some even better news, i.e. someone will have asked me to interview. In the meantime, I'll continue to be patient, enjoy my new found with my wife, and keep on running.
Tuesday, I rested. Wednesday, I ran 3.6 in the morning, 9.0 at night. Thursday, 3 miles, easy. At this point, I planned to do my tempo run Sunday, long run Saturday. Friday, 6.05 miles, still no tempo run. Today, 10.88 miles, again easy, with a couple of quick water stops for those I was running with. So somehow, it didn't really feel like a long run. So now I have to decide whether I want to do that tempo run, or if I want do another mid-long run in the 10-12 range. I can see benefit to both.
But I've read that occasionally it can be beneficial to do back-to-back, tougher-than-usual, workouts. Additionally, I'm beginning to think that speed isn't my primary concern in running the time I want to run in my fall marathon. What little speed I have, I don't need to be overly concerned with developing...yet. Endurance should always be my #1 focus. So that being said, I'll look to run 12 miles, and perhaps turn it into a 3/1 run (75% at long-run pace, final 25% at faster pace, but not quite race pace).
As for my job search, it continues to go VERY SLOWLY, but I did a somewhat encouraging call from my recruiter. Hopefully sometime next week, I'll hear some even better news, i.e. someone will have asked me to interview. In the meantime, I'll continue to be patient, enjoy my new found with my wife, and keep on running.
Jun 12, 2009
The importance of eating right
I'm usually very good about this. I try to eat as well as I can every meal. And on those days when I "slip", I feel OK telling myself that it's no big deal so long as I get right back on track. But I have this habit after a big race of eating not-so-well for long stretches at a time. I don't eat like crap every meal of every day, but I do seem to find a way to have at least one meal that sabotages my day. I've been doing this for the past few weeks, and it's really annoying me. I'm having far more "bad" days than good days. I also have a habit of eating particularly poorly when I'm out without my wife, Susan. I gotta stop this...starting today.
I've determined what I feel is my ideal, everyday weight. It's a weight I feel very good at. Strong, healthy, energetic. And so my rule now is to be within +/- 2 pounds of that weight. When I'm over +2, I MUST EAT EXCEPTIONALLY WELL until I'm back in that range.
It's like I've forgotten how good I feel when I eat right. Put good stuff in, feel good. Put crap in, feel like crap. That's not so hard to figure out, right? I should be able to remember, right? So how is that I've forgotten? It certainly isn't b/c I don't care. So today is the day I get back on track.
I've determined what I feel is my ideal, everyday weight. It's a weight I feel very good at. Strong, healthy, energetic. And so my rule now is to be within +/- 2 pounds of that weight. When I'm over +2, I MUST EAT EXCEPTIONALLY WELL until I'm back in that range.
It's like I've forgotten how good I feel when I eat right. Put good stuff in, feel good. Put crap in, feel like crap. That's not so hard to figure out, right? I should be able to remember, right? So how is that I've forgotten? It certainly isn't b/c I don't care. So today is the day I get back on track.
Jun 8, 2009
Week of June 8-14
Well, after what I felt was good week last week, I'm really looking forward to this one. Just gotta come up with the plan. LOL.
Took today off from running, although I do have indoor soccer in about an hour & a half. Since I do not plan to race this weekend, I want to throw in one speed workout, so I'm thinking something along the lines of:
M - soccer
Tu - rest
W - 8 in the morning, 4 in the evening
Th - 3
F - 4-mile tempo, with 15 min. warmup/cooldown
Sa - 6
Su - 14
Other than that, I need to catch up on my reading (last two RW's, and I've been wanting to delve in Lore of Running again), and do some stuff to try and help me find a job. Yeah, I guess that's sorta important too. Getting laid off sucks. I don't recommend it to anyone. :-)
Took today off from running, although I do have indoor soccer in about an hour & a half. Since I do not plan to race this weekend, I want to throw in one speed workout, so I'm thinking something along the lines of:
M - soccer
Tu - rest
W - 8 in the morning, 4 in the evening
Th - 3
F - 4-mile tempo, with 15 min. warmup/cooldown
Sa - 6
Su - 14
Other than that, I need to catch up on my reading (last two RW's, and I've been wanting to delve in Lore of Running again), and do some stuff to try and help me find a job. Yeah, I guess that's sorta important too. Getting laid off sucks. I don't recommend it to anyone. :-)
Jun 6, 2009
Shame on me
I forgot to add that my wife completed her first 5K today too. So that's one 5K, and one 10K, under her belt now. Afterwards, she said that she had a good time and it kind of inspired her to want to do more of them. I hope so. Race days are much more fun when you have people you care about particpating with you, in some way.
5K PR
Ran my first 5K of the summer. Really haven't trained for one yet, as all I've done since the Pig is run about 25-30 miles a week, no speedwork, and with a lack of enthusiasm too. Not good. But the past few days I've felt my mood improving some, and my runs too. On Wednesday, when I saw that there was going to be a 5K at the park I occasionally run at, benefiting Parkinson's research, I had to run it. My dad has had to deal with Parkinson's for the past 6-7 years.
Didn't sleep well last night at all for some reason, and I ate breakfast at 6:15AM (too close to the race time of 8AM), but I didn't really care. I wasn't looking to PR. Add to that my relative lack of training the past 4 weeks, my goal was to run in the 23's. Tangent...guy who finished 3rd at this year's Pig was in the field. Dude...can...run! He's about 6'2", and just glides. I was in awe. Anyway, I wound up running pretty darn well, by my standards. Finished 7th in my 30-39 age group, 15th overall. On Friday there about 210 registered, no idea how many race day signups. Final time - 21:08. A PR!
So I'm very pleased. Looking forward to running a few more this summer, and being a little better prepared. Could 20-flat be a realistic goal? Not sure. But I'd better break 21-flat. That was my goal for the summer.
Didn't sleep well last night at all for some reason, and I ate breakfast at 6:15AM (too close to the race time of 8AM), but I didn't really care. I wasn't looking to PR. Add to that my relative lack of training the past 4 weeks, my goal was to run in the 23's. Tangent...guy who finished 3rd at this year's Pig was in the field. Dude...can...run! He's about 6'2", and just glides. I was in awe. Anyway, I wound up running pretty darn well, by my standards. Finished 7th in my 30-39 age group, 15th overall. On Friday there about 210 registered, no idea how many race day signups. Final time - 21:08. A PR!
So I'm very pleased. Looking forward to running a few more this summer, and being a little better prepared. Could 20-flat be a realistic goal? Not sure. But I'd better break 21-flat. That was my goal for the summer.
Jun 4, 2009
4 very meaningful miles
I just had a GREAT 4-mile run. Were they fast? No. Is 4-miles a long run? No. Is it b/c I'd already run 10 miles today, and these 4 felt perfectly good? No. It's b/c I think, I hope, I got a friend to take the first steps to a healthier lifestyle.
Here's the deal...I play soccer with Hans. I've occasionally mentioned that I'd love to have him join me for a run, and he typically declines. But Tuesday, after our Monday night game, I get an e-mail from him asking if I'd run with him. HELL YA, I WILL!!! I couldn't believe he was serious. But if he was, I wasn't about to decline the invite. So we scheduled a run for tonight. I figured I'll get my run in, and if he cancels, no biggie, I'll have gotten my miles in. If he does run, I can handle whatever we do together, no issues.
Sure enough, he was ready to go. I jog out to his place, about a mile away, get him, and we go for 20 minutes. After about 5-6 minutes he's breathing heavy from running too hard to start. I'd been trying to get him to slow down. Finally I get him to take a much needed walk break. Then we're off again. Soon, another short walk break. Then we finish our 20 minutes back at his house. Total distance, 1.75 miles. And better yet, he enjoyed it, and wants to run again. How can I possibly say no? I can't. And I don't want to. So we'll get out again in the next couple of days and do it again.
I finish up by running home, and getting to an even 4 miles. And when I finished, I felt as good as I've felt about running in a VERY, LONG time. I can't wait to get out there with him again.
GO HANS!
Here's the deal...I play soccer with Hans. I've occasionally mentioned that I'd love to have him join me for a run, and he typically declines. But Tuesday, after our Monday night game, I get an e-mail from him asking if I'd run with him. HELL YA, I WILL!!! I couldn't believe he was serious. But if he was, I wasn't about to decline the invite. So we scheduled a run for tonight. I figured I'll get my run in, and if he cancels, no biggie, I'll have gotten my miles in. If he does run, I can handle whatever we do together, no issues.
Sure enough, he was ready to go. I jog out to his place, about a mile away, get him, and we go for 20 minutes. After about 5-6 minutes he's breathing heavy from running too hard to start. I'd been trying to get him to slow down. Finally I get him to take a much needed walk break. Then we're off again. Soon, another short walk break. Then we finish our 20 minutes back at his house. Total distance, 1.75 miles. And better yet, he enjoyed it, and wants to run again. How can I possibly say no? I can't. And I don't want to. So we'll get out again in the next couple of days and do it again.
I finish up by running home, and getting to an even 4 miles. And when I finished, I felt as good as I've felt about running in a VERY, LONG time. I can't wait to get out there with him again.
GO HANS!
Jun 3, 2009
Finally!
I'm finally back to post something. I need to stay on this better. I actually think it helps my mindset to be diligent about it. But there has been another reason I haven't been posting. I've been in something of a post-failed-marathon funk. No surprise. Add to that being laid off from my job, and it simply made matters worse. But I finally think I'm over that hill, and ready to resume.
So, for the past 4 weeks, I've done a pretty minimal amount of running. I topped out with a 38-mile week, but most were in the 25-range. Mostly from a lack of entusiasm, some from a feeling of sluggishness during every run. So last week, I ran a VERY light workload. Did I run 20 miles? Maybe. No more than 25, for sure. But more importantly, I feel mentally ready to go out and run, and be active. Had a good soccer match on Monday night, wound up not running last night b/c of the torrential downpour we had, and ran this morning. Was going to run again tonight, but I ate way too much for dinner. I'll just call it a night, and do 2 runs tomorrow instead. Additionally, I signed up for my first 5K of the summer. Saturday morning at the VOA, on behalf of the Tri-State Parkinson's Foundation. Seeing as my dad suffers from this, it seemed like a no-brainer to sign up. I don't expect to PR. It'll likely be a grass course, with potentially a major hill. Don't know the exact course setup. I'll try and get under 23:00.
I've also tentatively decided to run the Indianapolis Marathon on 11/07, so I have plenty of time to get ready for it. This time, failure is not an option. I don't care how I cross the finish line. Fast, slow, crawling, skipping, whatever. But I will get there, under my own power. My ego got left somewhere between mile 14 and 22 at the Flying Pig.
Something else I've learned over the past 4 weeks...I'm very much someone who needs to have a running plan ahead of time. I'm just not nearly as good about my training when I just "wing it" and run however and whatever I feel like. I need the structure that comes with a schedule. So over the next few days, I plan to lay out the next couple of months of running, and posting it on my calendar here at home. That way I know ahead of time what I'm expecting of myself that day. I also find I'm better about my food choices on a particular day when I know I have tough run yet to do. Will use Tim Noakes', Lore of Running to help develop something that I think I can accomplish, and that will have me ready for Indy.
On the job front, I'm looking, but no real bites yet. Expanding my search. Hopefully that will bear some fruit. At this point, I'm a bit nervous. In about 4 weeks, I'll be stupid-nervous.
It's good to be back posting here.
So, for the past 4 weeks, I've done a pretty minimal amount of running. I topped out with a 38-mile week, but most were in the 25-range. Mostly from a lack of entusiasm, some from a feeling of sluggishness during every run. So last week, I ran a VERY light workload. Did I run 20 miles? Maybe. No more than 25, for sure. But more importantly, I feel mentally ready to go out and run, and be active. Had a good soccer match on Monday night, wound up not running last night b/c of the torrential downpour we had, and ran this morning. Was going to run again tonight, but I ate way too much for dinner. I'll just call it a night, and do 2 runs tomorrow instead. Additionally, I signed up for my first 5K of the summer. Saturday morning at the VOA, on behalf of the Tri-State Parkinson's Foundation. Seeing as my dad suffers from this, it seemed like a no-brainer to sign up. I don't expect to PR. It'll likely be a grass course, with potentially a major hill. Don't know the exact course setup. I'll try and get under 23:00.
I've also tentatively decided to run the Indianapolis Marathon on 11/07, so I have plenty of time to get ready for it. This time, failure is not an option. I don't care how I cross the finish line. Fast, slow, crawling, skipping, whatever. But I will get there, under my own power. My ego got left somewhere between mile 14 and 22 at the Flying Pig.
Something else I've learned over the past 4 weeks...I'm very much someone who needs to have a running plan ahead of time. I'm just not nearly as good about my training when I just "wing it" and run however and whatever I feel like. I need the structure that comes with a schedule. So over the next few days, I plan to lay out the next couple of months of running, and posting it on my calendar here at home. That way I know ahead of time what I'm expecting of myself that day. I also find I'm better about my food choices on a particular day when I know I have tough run yet to do. Will use Tim Noakes', Lore of Running to help develop something that I think I can accomplish, and that will have me ready for Indy.
On the job front, I'm looking, but no real bites yet. Expanding my search. Hopefully that will bear some fruit. At this point, I'm a bit nervous. In about 4 weeks, I'll be stupid-nervous.
It's good to be back posting here.
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