Worried

ran my 3 miles tonight. got home late, decided to watch a movie, and then run. it was 10:15pm by the time i decided to run and 32 degrees. the cold was good because i needed to try out the new running tights and long sleeved compression shirt that i just bought. they worked well. it was a little cool starting out but after that it felt pretty good. the only thing i need now are some running gloves. i do not like wearing gloves, ever, but i think i could run in them. my hands get real cold. however, i am afraid i will take them off and not have a pocket to put them in during a run, so i haven't bought any yet, besides, most of them are $20-30, just for a pair of gloves.

what i am worried about is this. for the last year and a half my main running shoes have been my asics. however, after my 18 mile run, the shoes were looking a little beat so i decided i would buy another pair to run the marathon in. i couldn't find any that i really liked so i never bought any. i just thought i would start running in my saucony shoes. they had hurt my feet on longer runs but i thought i could get them worn in by the marathon. however, they have been hurting my feet on the longer runs, still. so 2 of my last 3 short runs i have gone back to the asics and afterwards my shins have been killing me. i guess i will run the marathon in the sauconys, i think i can bear a little pain after 12-13 miles on the outside of my feet rather than shooting pain in my shins after 3 miles.

here are my splits for tonight:

0.5= 4:54 156
1.0= 9:44 4:49 170
1.5= 14:26 4:42 169
2.0= 19:43 5:17 173
2.5= 24:47 5:03 174
3.0= 29:47 4:59 169

3 more runs before the marathon, a 6, 4, and a 3.

thought of the day: marathon 8 days away. this time next week i will be in memphis trying to get some sleep before the marathon. i can't believe it is this close. hope my legs are strong enough. i need a twelfth man on my side (and maybe that many people to run a relay with me to finish the race).

Maybe I Need More Rest

i skipped running yesterday because my legs felt a little tired and my book says rest is the most important part of the tapering phase. i thought running 8 miles while my legs were feeling tired after 2 days of running hills would not be very good rest. so i skipped the 8 miler yesterday and ran 3 today. i ran on a course with some pretty good hills and my legs still felt tired. i need to run 5 tomorrow. maybe the rain will hold off and let me. i ran this 3 miles pretty relaxed, not pushing, but my legs still felt tired.

here are the splits:

0.5= 5:15 149
1.0= 10:01 4:45 165
1.5= 15:01 4:59 170
2.0= 19:50 4:49 169
2.5= 22:01 5:10 172
3.0= 29:57 4:56 174

it was an out and back and my gps seemed a little off at mile 1 then i finished about 100 yards from where i started, so i think my time was actually a little faster, doesn't really matter.

my brother got back into running this past weekend. glad to see it. i thought my goal of catching him was just gonna be gone. now i still have that to work for (although it may take lots of work). after the marathon i plan on doing a good bit of speed work to get a little faster.

thought of the day: sometimes when i am getting close to a goal i wonder if i have worked hard enough. my goal is to finish, so hopefully i have worked hard enough to do that, i guess if all else fails, i can walk. i have now logged over 417 miles this summer. before i run the marathon it will be right at 440. my goal was to run 500 miles this summer. if i can keep running after the marathon i should be able to reach that.

Good 4

i did the 4 miles on my plan tonight to try and get back on schedule. for the first mile and a half i felt as good and as strong running as i ever have. once again i did the hilly route, so by the end i was coming back down to earth. i bought a few new energy snacks to try until the marathon so i can hopefully find something that works that i can get down my throat that will not cramp my stomach. i ate a few of the sports beans before i left just to try the taste and they were pretty good. as i started running, i tried to eat a few gu chomps. they were ok but were a little tough to get down as i was running. neither of them seemed to hurt my stomach as i was running. i also ordered some running tights and a long sleeved compression running shirt today. i am excited about trying them. figured i had to get clothes to help me run in the cold if i plan on running through the winter. if my brother would just donate his treadmill to me i wouldn't have to worry about running in the cold:).

here are the splits for tonight's run:

0.5= 4:52 154
1.0= 9:42 4:49 165
1.5= 14:16 4:34 166
2.0= 19:09 4:52 166
2.5= 23:58 4:49 168
3.0= 28:58 4:59 174
3.5= 33:55 4:56 175
4.0= 38:37 4:42 173

overall, this was a very good run. i felt good, breathing was good, and i feel good now.

thought of the day:"I just kept on doing what everyone starts out doing. The real question is, why did other people stop?" William Stafford. this is not directed to a certain brother, but i did think about him and laugh when i read it. it is really about all the things i have accomplished in life and the things i didn't that i wished i did. now that the marathon is getting closer and more people are asking me about it, i keep hearing, "i don't know how you do it, i never could." so far it really hasn't been that hard (i still haven't finished a marathon yet). i guess it may be easier for me than some because in life i like to have a plan to follow, a map to guide me. when i do, i know that all i have to do is follow the directions, and sometimes they may take some effort or i may have to overcome obstacles or stop for directions, but i will get there. but if you work up to the runs, anyone can do it. for real, i am 25 pounds overweight, old, work long hours, i just make it a priority (most of the time) because i have a short term goal (marathon) and a long term goal (health). and i know if i put it off when i am older, it will be even harder.

5 Days In A Row?

well, i thought having this week off i would surely be able to get in my runs. however, i realized something. i like hunting more than running. i actually run to be in better shape for hunting. i hunted monday morning and during the first part of my run on monday afternoon, i kept thinking i wanted to be hunting. that probably didn't help with the run that day. the rest of the days i hunted all day, expecting to get my runs in at night. i did run wednesday night, but the other nights i didn't get it done. now i have to run for 5 days in a row to get back on schedule. i started off good tonight by getting a 6 mile run in. the book that has the schedule i am using says to take these tapering weeks easy. it actually says, "no one has ever tapered too hard." so if i don't get all the runs in i don't think it will be that big of a deal, but i am going to try my best to do all of them.

i turned my gps on but forgot to sync the gps to my watch. i am sure that i did 6 miles, but i don't have my splits. i ran this 6 miles very easy, not really pushing at all. i did happen to run this 6 miles 3 minutes faster than my other fastest 6 miles of the year. i am feeling very good while running lately.

thought of the day: "Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there" Josh Billings. i am trying my best to stick to this running the plan as best as i can. after i got back from colorado i have done 21 of 29 scheduled runs. i know that probably isn't great for something like running a marathon, but sometimes things get in the way. the marathon is 2 weeks away from today. it is hard to believe that it is that close. i get butterflies in my stomach now just thinking about it. my feelings are mixed. from nervousness to excitement. i am really excited because this has been an 17 month goal and it will be here quick. i am pretty confident, but i know things can happen. one man who was a favorite to win one of the recent marathons dropped out around mile 12. i just wonder how he couldn't even finish when he was supposed to win. slow, steady, relentless forward progress is my plan.

Pushing Too Hard

i ran after i got home from hunting. it was about the same temp as my run on monday but it was after dark. i wore a running jacket and felt pretty good. i felt good and pushed a little too hard at the beginning. i knew it was too hard because there are some big hills on the end of this route that always kill me. about mile 1.5 i decided to slow it down a little so i could finish. as suspected, the hills at the end got me. i feel really good after the run so far. not going to post splits since i need to get some rest tonight.

the thought of the day is: "if life was simpler, it wouldn't be so difficult." -sykes

UH OH

i haven't ran a whole lot since the clarksville 1/2 marathon. i was only scheduled for 3 runs this week, a 3, 7, and 20. i couldn't get the 3 miler in, i was out of town monday, on call tuesday. did the 7 miler on wednesday since i was on call thursday and friday. i had been fighting a sinus infection all week and on antibiotics with a little upset stomach. i was supposed to do 20 miles on saturday. i was so tired after work i had to get a nap in and knew by the time i got up it would be to late to run, so i was going to push the run to sunday. however, i had to take my nephew on a deer hunt (i was hoping he would kill a deer saturday and wouldn't need to go sunday). so we hunted all day (other than going to church). so the run got moved to monday. i went hunting monday until 9:30am. came home and took a nap and got up and got ready to run. it was pretty cool, about 43 degrees. i thought i dressed warm enough. however, the entire run my arms were freezing and my body was cold when the wind blew very hard. i wore my running pants, so my legs were fine. i don't really like wearing those pants. i also wore my saucony shoes for this run, i have not worn them for anything more than 13.1 miles before and they really hurt my feet on that run. i wanted to wear them for the marathon, they seem to have extra cushion, but once again, they hurt my feet on this run. my asics have lots of miles on them, so i was thinking of retiring them. i guess i will have to wear them once more, for the marathon.

i was going to try a gel for this run that i had only used once before. during that run my stomach really hurt me. i thought it was because of the mileage, now i think it might have been the gel.

with all of that background, i will tell you how the run went. i couldn't make it. i felt good. my feet hurt just a little at the begining, but that went away. my gps quit working for about a tenth of a mile at mile 4.5. then, at mile 5.5 i took one of the new gels. then everything went downhill from there. my stomach started cramping bad so i tried to drink some gatorade and that helped a little. i was doing ok, then around mile 8, on some pretty good hills, my right upper leg started cramping a little, nothing i couldn't get past. at mile 10 i took another gel, one that i have used almost exclusively for my runs. i couldn't finish it. i thought i was going to vomit. i had to put the packet in an empty water bottle because i didn't want to throw it on the ground and didn't want to put it in my pocket and have it leak everywhere. the longer i ran the worse my stomach got. at mile 14 i couldn't take it any more, i had to stop. i was going to try to run/walk the rest of the way. but i knew that it would be dark pretty soon and i could not make it to the house even close to the time i was supposed to be home. so i called emily to come pick me up. i kept walking and made it nearly to mile 15 before emily picked me up.

once again, i felt horrible after the run. i felt almost as bad as when i ran my 2nd 16 mile run. i felt "off" the rest of the night and part of today. i am back to normal now. the outside of my feet really hurt. my legs are a little sore, not too bad.

so, this run was a little discouraging, especially being as close to the marathon as it is. however, i think i had a lot of things against me. i didn't carb load as well on friday or saturday as i should have either. i think if i complete the rest of my runs i will do fine during the marathon, sure would have been good to complete this run though. i just have to make getting those runs in a high priority.

thought of the day: "Pain is a part of being alive, and we need to learn that. Pain does not last forever, nor is it necessarily unbeatable, and we need to be taught that" Harold Kushner. pain is definitely something i have felt over the last 6 weeks, but, at least most of it, goes away after a little time.

A Good 7

finally i got back to running. i had to get this run in. i was pretty tired all day. i worked late last night and then had to go in on an emergency call at midnight and finally got home at 1:30am. i just got in my head that i was running tonight and headed out around 7:30pm. i ran a very hilly route and actually finished with a pace 33 seconds per mile faster than the last time i ran 6 miles on this route. my overall pace was 9:38. i was very happy with that pace since the route was so hilly. i knew my starting pace was a little fast and was pretty sure i wouldn't be able to keep it up because there are 2 very big hills that i knew would slow me down. and the last big hill comes right after another medium hill. overall a great run, and i feel really good, despite my sinus infection, that seems to be going away. i think i did run my fastest half mile split in a very long time at 3:55. however, that was going down a pretty long steep hill. here are my splits:

.5= 4:44 153
1.0= 9:19 4:34 167
1.5= 13:15 3:55 169
2.0= 17:46 4:31 171
2.5= 22:53 5:07 177
3.0= 27:21 4:27 171
3.5= 32:10 4:49 179
4.0= 37:06 4:56 178
4.5= 41:48 4:42 177
5.0= 46:48 4:59 173
5.5= 51:41 4:52 176
6.0= 57:09 5:28 178
6.5= 62:27 5:17 177
7.0= 67:23 4:56 175

pretty good run, i have to keep it up.

thought of the day:"We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same" Carlos Castaneda. after reading this i wondered which one i was. sometimes after a long run i feel pretty miserable. i think sometimes we make ourselves miserable to make ourselves stronger. at least that is what i am telling myself.

Will I Ever Run Again?

i have only ran once since the clarksville 1/2 marathon. that is not good. i have a marathon coming up soon. luckily, the week after the 1/2 was an extra week i built into the schedule. however, i did not get my run in yesterday either. i thought i was getting back sunday evening, but i actually got back last night. i was planning on running, nothing was going to stop me. then i got in from the airport at 7:45, would have ran, but i have developed a pretty good sinus infection during the weekend. then i planned on running at lunch today. i still was not feeling good and ate lunch and took a short nap in a chair. now i am on call tonight (worked until 7:30) and really don't feel like doing anything. if i feel good tomorrow i will make up the run and push tomorrow's run to thursday. the bad thing is i am call thursday and friday night too. i am a little worried that i haven't gotten enough miles in for the marathon. maybe after my long run this coming weekend i will feel better (or worse) about the marathon.

thought of the day: even though, when you have a sinus infection you can't smell much, a sinus infection still stinks.

Back on Track

my legs are still a little sore from the race saturday. however, when i started running today the soreness went away. i am not sure what i was thinking, but i started out way too fast. even though the soreness was gone, i could tell my legs were tired because after the first mile, my legs could not keep up the pace. my gps also gave out right at mile 1. i guess the battery died. i am glad it died today and not on a long run. i am not exactly sure how far i ran, but it was very close to 5 miles if not 5. i guess that is one good thing about running the same route most of the time. if i did indeed run 5 miles, it was my fastest of the year by 4 minutes. the first mile was 9:16, which blows my next fastest pace out of the water. it was very sunny while i was running, but still pretty cool.

thought of the day: one of the men i know that was running in the half marathon sent me a text today. he and i ran together during the start of the race, then he went ahead, i caught up to him around mile 6 and we ran together until around mile 10. in his text he told me he had been fighting a kidney stone all week and it really hit him at mile 9. i finished 9 minutes faster than him, he finished with a kidney stone, my run doesn't seem so good now.