i did a 5 mile run on a treadmill tonight and did a core workout. for the run, i started at a 10min/mile pace for the first mile then sped up to 8min/mile for the next 1/2 mile. for the rest of the run i was speeding up and slowing down whenever i could or whenever i needed to. i finished at 48:30, a 9:42min/mile pace. i was really worn out by the end of the run. i haven't been wearing my heart rate monitor since i have been running on a treadmill, i wish i had been wearing it today because i know my heart rate got pretty high a couple of times.

thought of the day: just when i think i might be making progress at getting as fast as my brother, he blows me away. it won't be long (have i said that before?)

A Little Cross Training

i did a stair stepper for 30 minutes last night, rode a bike for an hour tonight, 30 min hills and 30 min cardio. my butt was extremely sore at the end of that hour, ouch. i also did a little upper body weight training tonight. after all of that, i still haven't gotten all my scheduled training in this week. i was supposed to do a core body workout (about 30 minutes) last night and yoga tonight. i only have a 5 mile run scheduled for tomorrow, i might be able to get those in as well, if i don't go duck hunting in the morning...waiting on a call.

thought of the day: could the Golden Rule be bettered? instead of "do unto others as you would have done unto you," couldn't we take it a step further and say "do unto others as they would have you do unto them." i say this because the priorities and desires of others aren't the same as myself. for example, if i bought Emily a gift card to cabelas, that is not being thoughtful of her needs, but i would love it. however, if you look at the golden rule in a more general way of respect thoughtfulness and then apply it to more detailed situations, then you cover all of that. i think the world teaches to look and think about things in its way when we should be looking and thinking about things in God's way.

More Athletic Club

i ran another 5 miles on a treadmill tonight. i started out on one treadmill and was trying to configure it so i could do a tempo run, couldn't figure it out so i moved to another. that one was much better. i ran the first mile at a 10min pace, the next 2 at a 9:13min pace, the next .6 miles at a 9:13min pace, the next .9 miles at a 10:54min pace and the last 1/2 mile at a 10min pace. total time was 48:29 for a 9:42 min/mile pace. while running the 9:13 min/mile pace i did get really hot, i wanted to finish the 4th mile at the 9:13 min/mile pace but just couldn't do it. other than that i felt good for the entire run.

thought of the day: "We cannot do everything at once but we can do something at once" Calvin Coolidge. sometimes i have to remember this, especially when i start looking at my training schedule. i just want to do everything all at once. then, the further i get into my training, the less and less it seems i end up doing. i have to remember my motto, not only for runs, but also for training in general, slow and steady to finish the race.

Too Much Work Again

i was on call this past weekend, had to go in monday on my day off and worked until 7:30 last night and tonight. i made it to the gym monday and i was able to push myself (and emily) to the gym last night. tonight emily couldn't be talked into it, i was tired, and decided i better come home and hang with the wife since i am going out of town this weekend. the bad thing is, i missed my workout tonight (had a bike ride scheduled) and will probably miss my workout friday. no worries, i am just trying to maintain for now. i think joining the gym has given me extra motivation. if i can keep this motivation up and not work so late every night, i will be ready to run up and down the mountains and a few ultras this fall :). however, the gym has also given emily some extra motivation too. she told me last night she was going to beat me in a 5k this year. now, i have to try to beat todd, jeff, marlaina, and emily. luckily, i am the only one in the group in my own age/sex group.

thought of the day: my competition grows, but so does my strength. this may get to be more fun than high school sports.

A New Hope

i joined the clarksville athletic club yesterday, hopefully, to give me the chance to run when it is dark or bad weather outside, and not have to buy a treadmill. also, to help me cross train a little.

i ran 5 miles on a treadmill tonight. i am not sure how long it took, at mile .6 i accidentally hit the stop button while trying to change the channel. i restarted (was planning on doing a tempo run) and ran another .4 miles at 10 min per mile pace. i planned on running the next 3 miles at a 9:15 pace. i did run mile 2 at that pace, but where i was running, in the top of the building, was really hot. my body was feeling like it was a little too much. so, i slowed mile 3 back down to 10 min/mile. however, at mile 2.5 i had to go (#2). i used the bathroom and got on a treadmill downstairs. i picked the weight loss program and it would not allow me to go over 4.5 miles per hour. i finished and felt pretty good.

thought of the day: do something that makes you exercise. (for me that is spending money to use a gym :) ).

A Crazy 4

i decided, after reading J's last 2 blogs this morning, that i had to run at lunch. i had all my stuff in the truck, i try to keep it in there in case i get motivated to run at lunch. i have developed a pretty rigorous plan to get me in shape for high altitude elk hunting and maybe even some ultras in the fall. i have spent about a week trying to develop my perfect plan, fitting in tuesdays as my on call nights and long runs on saturdays, and trying to get all the different workouts in. i think i have it perfected, after writing out 3 or 4 imperfect plans. this plan includes 3 runs a week (one tempo, one interval, one long run), 2 days of strength training, 2 days of yoga, 1 hard bike during the week, 1 easy bike, and one day of hills (running a hill up and down continuously for a set time on some days and hiking with pack up and down the hill some days). the big plan is to maintain where i am now, running long runs in the lower teens and loosely following the scheduled plan i have and in mid may start on my scheduled plan strictly. i might try to start in in february and maybe run a marathon in april. however, that marathon is on opening weekend of turkey season. i know during turkey season i will have a hard time getting in my long runs on the weekends. i need to build up my upper leg muscles this year to be able to get up the mountains better.

i tried a tempo run today. the plan was to run a mile comfortably then run 3 miles at 9:15 pace, then run the last mile comfortably. as i headed out it was about 30 degrees, about 20 mph winds, and snowing. everyone at work told me i was crazy for running in those conditions. i told them i had to be dedicated to get it done, i am a runner. i want to be a much better runner and hunter, therefore i have to run in conditions that others don't want to run in and take every chance i get to run. after running the first 1/2 mile i thought i should cut the run to 4 miles, due to time constraints and laziness. the first mile was about 9:22, the second was 9:14, the third was a little slow at 9:40, and the last was 10:20. those times probably aren't exactly correct, but they are close, i don't have my watch with me right now.

thought of the day: there is a big elk sitting at the end of my hard work, i have to keep him pictured in my head, and the hard work is easy. (there is a marathon under 4 hours too, but the elk is easier to picture). J's hard work pushes me too, the third goal is to beat him in a race.

Rough Night

no running all week due to work. i did get back on my weight training schedule. i didn't run today either, since i had a rough night last night. we had our annual nwtf Christmas party and got home somewhere around 11 or so. about midnight i started having some pain in my abdomen. gas pains i thought. then they got worse and worse. i got in a position laying on the bathroom floor where pain went away for about a minute. i got up to put some pants on to go to the emergency room and the pain got much worse and i had to lay back down. finally, i told emily to call the ambulance because there was no way i could get back up. the emts had to drag me out of the bathroom and through our bedroom because i refused to stand back up. they would not give me any pain medicine until i got to the hospital and was examined. however, on the way to the hospital, the road was blocked by a wrecker who was trying to move a wrecked car out of the way, and there was another car that was blocked. in that car was a lady who was having a seizure, and as i understand it, was pretty bad. there was another ambulance on the way for her, but they were coming from a long way off. so, my emts took care of her and then got back to me. i don't know how long that took, but it seemed like at least 30 minutes. luckily i was able to vomit so the emt gave me nausea medicine that just about put me to sleep and eventually took away the pain. i don't remember much after that other than occasional brief glimpses of nurses and a doctor and getting a ct scan then parts of riding home. they said i was passing a kidney stone. i slept most of the day. i have had just a little pain of about 1-2 minutes once today.

thought of the day: pain sucks.

Trying to keep on

i thought all day yesterday that i was going to run. finally, after i got home from the dump, a little shopping (bought J a late Christmas gift at essex), and having a little work done on my truck, i was hungry and tired. definitely not in the mood to run. i kept thinking i would run at night. that didn't work either. then i thought i'd run this morning, until i was up late cleaning up the house, etc. then i thought i would run at lunch and do some weights tonight. this morning i remembered i had a staff meeting at lunch. finally, i got to leave the office tonight and got home and made it a point to lift some weights, hoping i wouldn't get called in. i just hope i can keep it up.

thought of the day: sometimes, doing what you don't prefer to do can make you stronger. like lifting weights. i would rather run, but knew if i did and got called in, i would not be able to make it to the clinic in time, so i at least got my weight training in, which is what was on the schedule for today anyway.

The New Year

i was able to start the new year with a run. when i saw this race i knew i had to sign up for it. thought if i quit running races i might quit running all together until next summer and for running the race you got a tuxedo technical shirt (which does not look as good as i thought it would). so i did it and i am looking for more races to keep me going. most of mile 1 was downhill so it wasn't too bad. however, i realized just past mile 1 that my right shoe was too tight. i finally had to stop, untie the shoe, loosen it up a little and retie it. that took somewhere between 15 and 20 seconds i am guessing. miles 2-5 were pretty hilly but not that bad, it seemed like the longer i ran the easier i was getting up the hills and the more people i was passing while doing it. however, in the last 3/4 of a mile there was a really big hill that slowed me down and some of those people passed me back. i just kept moving one foot in front of the other. just after that hill there was a blind turn to the left and i could hear lots of people cheering and thought we should be close to the finish. so, as i made the turn, i turned on the afterburners and past several people. however, when i got to the cheers, it was not the finish, the finish still was nowhere in sight. i could not keep that pace up and actually had pushed it so hard, i felt like vomiting now. so i slowed down to my normal pace, and here came everyone else behind me (3 people i think) and passed me. finally i could see the finish, as i was getting near i heard footsteps behind me, so once again i had to gear it up and i did hold them off. my official time was 59:54, a 9:40 min/mile pace. that is 20 seconds per mile faster than my last 10k. overall i was very happy with this run. next year i hope to place :).

thought of the day: sounds simple, but make sure you know where the finish is before making an all out sprint to find out the end is further down the road and you have just used all your energy.