10/16/12 5 miles

my achilles tendon had been hurting since the marathon so i decided to take a full week off to give it a break, even though, i have the nashville ultra coming up. so the last 2 days it had not been hurting, but it was still a little swollen. i hopped on the treadmill, figuring it would be less stress on the tendon to run 6. i could tell it was hurting from the start but it wasn't really painful so i kept on. at mile 2 i had this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach, i felt like i hadn't eaten in weeks and was starving, even though i had 20 chicken nuggets on my way home (yes, that was not a typo). finally, at mile 3.5 i had to jump off the treadmill and run to the kitchen and get a snack and a small drink, weirdest thing ever. don't know if my blood sugar was getting low or what. other than that, from mile 2-3 i felt the best i ever have while running, my legs felt strong, my movement felt fluid-like, it was so easy, my tendon even stopped hurting a little. then mile 3-3.5 the hunger was hitting hard and the legs were getting a little tired (i had bumped up the pace from 6.2mph to 6.6 or 6.8, i don't really remember). then about mile 4 i got an emergency call and only got to finish mile 5 of the planned 6. good thing, i got off the treadmill, hopped in the shower real fast and my tendon was swollen as much as it had been right after the marathon, and it was hurting pretty good now. so, i think the ultra is out of the question. i worry i have some micro-tears in the tendon and i am going to give it a long break before running again. the end for tonight, on a sad note.

10/6/12 Southern TN Plunge Marathon

i wasn't sure i was ready for this, i felt good but i also knew i hadn't got a lot of my shorter runs in lately. i got to the race much later than i wanted to. i knew i needed to use the porta potty for #2 before the race, but we got stopped by a train on the way there. it was also raining, windy and pretty cool. i had bought some wet wipes to use in the porta potty. since i did not get to use the porta potty before the race i stuffed my wet wipes between my fuel belt and shirt along with my trash bag poncho. i did not start out too fast to begin with because my fuel belt came undone about 50 feet into the race. i had to run back and get it in traffic, tighten it up while carrying my poncho and wet wipes and put it back on. once again i stuffed my poncho and wet wipes into it. about another 100 yards, my wet wipes fell out and i had to run back against traffic to get them. not starting off good. about mile 2.5 i felt for the wet wipes and they were gone, who knows where. that concerned me about the future pit stop i knew i was going to have to make. i was going to try and make it to mile 8. the marathon/ 1/2 marathon field split around mile 7.5 and there were only porta potties every 2 miles. when i got to mile 8 the porta potty was full, i think all the marathoners had been waiting for that one. i thought i could make it to mile 10. at mile 10 the porta potty was open and i sat my belt and poncho down on the ground and headed in. to save time i took my shot blocks in the porta potty. one note here. i had used shot blocks for my last 3 long runs (the ones with and without caffeine) and they had been pretty easy to get down. however, as i metioned today was cold and the cold had the same effect on these shot blocks as it does syrrup, they were much harder, so the extra time chewing while on the toilet did help a little. the toilet paper was horrible, oh i missed my wet wipes. i got everything taken care of and got some water to finish swallowing the blocks. it still kind of disturbs me that i was eating in a porta potty. anyway, i was back on my way. from miles 9 to 10 my pace went from 10:05 to 10:28 due to the potty break. i felt pretty good, and up until mile 19 i was still running a 10:24 pace. after that it really slowed, except for mile 23 that was a 10:14 mile, i felt good at that point and felt like i had broken through the wall. i was walking on air, i never thought i could feel so free-ee-e, flying away, into the next hill (sorry, i've been watching greatest american hero on the treadmill) where it all got back to feeling like i was actually running a marathon. the other oddity of this race was that my watch was showing i was actually running less mileage than the posted mile markers, by about .15 of a mile, at every mile. when i got to mile 25 i thought i had it whooped. then, my watched beeped for 26 miles and i still hadn't reached the 26 mile marker. then i got to it and it seemed like forever until i got to the end. but i did. in 4:40.28 officially, a pace of 10:42, a PR by 22 minutes. after the race i needed to sit down and found a seat and got some gatorade. then i got really cold and found a little cafe to get some hot chocolate. my legs and feet were sore sore and my achilles tendon was swollen, never had that happen before. oh, by the way, around 1/2 way through it started raining, the wind picked up and i got cold, so from that point on i wore the trash bag poncho, which covered my bib number, which means there are no photos of me officially for the 2nd half of the race. good thing, in the photos they did get, my form looks horrible, both feet on the ground plodding along. they actually sent me a picture of cousin todd because they thought it was me (the official race photographers). thats all i can think of right now.

9/30/12 12 miles

i did not run much in september, but i did get in some long runs and did surprisingly well, for me. this was a 12 mile run on the treadmill, the balls of my feet hurt, that made me worry since i had planned on wearing either this pair of shoes or the shoes that hurt my foot on the 20 mile run, for the marathon. after this run i decided to wear the asics i wore in my last 2 marathons and just hope they had enough juice. this run took me 1:56.51, a 9:44 pace, wow.

Back: 20 on 9/24/2012

i haven't blogged in a while, since before i went to montana, over a month ago. i haven't ran much in that time either, but i have had some memorable runs. i got back from montana on a saturday and the following monday i ran 20 miles, on the road. this was the longest training run i have ever ran, and it wasn't that bad. i had been dreading it, but kept reminding myself of the marathons that i went into unprepared and i knew i had to do this, more mental than physical i think. of course i started out too fast and i ran the course where miles 2.5 to 6 are nearly all uphill with a big hill to reach mile 6. at mile 6, because i was going too fast, i started getting a side pain. i had also decided to skip my usual mile 5 refuel and to do it at mile 6 at the top of the hill. i needed that walk break. from mile 6 to mile 8 was gently rolling hills, side hurt a little, not too bad. mles 8-9.5 was pretty much all downhill, nice and refreshing. the rest of the run had some small ups and downs. at mile 13 my right foot really started hurting just behind the ball of my foot on the outside. it kept getting worse until i finished. one time i even untied my shoe to let it loosen up as much as possible, that helped very little. my final time was 3:25.07 a pace of 10:15, extremely surprising. i tried using some caffeine shot blocks on this run and did not like the taste but i was able to get them down. everything else was pretty unventful.

An Unbelievable 18 miles

this 18 miles was unbelievable for sure. but not because it was so fast or anything like that. it was unbelievable to me because i did it on a treadmill. yes, this is more than double in distance than any previous run on a treadmill for me. it is also my longest completed training run ever. i know running on a treadmill isn't nearly as tough as running on the road, especially with the hills around here. however, i did the entire run at no less than a 2% incline. my walk breaks were scheduled at 5, 10, and 15 miles. the half mile before all of those breaks i raised the incline to 3% along with the 1/2 mile before the finish. so i basically ran 2 miles at a 3% incline and 16 miles at a 2% incline. i kept the pace at 5.9 mph except for the walk breaks and the last mile and a half. the first 2 walk breaks were at 4mph and the last one was at 3mph. however, i was feeling so good, the last mile and a half i ran at 6.5mph. i did have some trouble with the timing since after 1 hour my treadmill only keeps record of the minutes. also, at an hour and a half my treadmill stops and i had to restart it, which i did rather quickly, especially since i wasn't expecting it to quit. i had started the chrono on my watch to time me after the hour mark but i stopped it around mile 10 when i had to switch dvds and i forgot to restart it when i began running again. so, i finished the run somewhere around 3 hours and 9 minutes, maybe a little faster. that is a 10:30 pace. i was pretty excited about that, even though i was on a treadmill. 2 weeks ago i ran 14 at a 10:15 pace and think i could have done a little better, a week before that i ran 15 miles at a 10:31 pace and was pretty surprised. so not too bad. i think i could have ran this one a little faster since i was able to speed up considerably for the last mile and a half, even with a 1% increase in elevation for the last 1/2 mile. oh, the reason i ran this on a treadmill is because we had an 80 chance of rain/thunderstorms all afternoon. it did clear up around 4pm, giving me plenty of time to run during daylight, but i already had in my mind i was running it on a treadmill and i couldn't change my mind. i watched a dvd of some bowhunting shows for the first 10 miles and then a movie called "Unstopable" for the rest. they kept me occupied enough. thought of the day: most of the time things don't go the way i think they should. good thing...i am not that smart.

Aug 29, 7; Aug 31, 5

i am not sure if i blogged about the run 2 nights ago or not. it was pretty uneventful. it was 7 miles on a treadmill, my second longest run on a treadmill that i can remember, i have some new movies borrowed and i bought a few too, so those keep me somewhat entertained. it was my fastest 7 miles i can ever remember, as a matter of fact, it matches my pace to my fastest 5k. 7 miles in 61:47, an 8:50 pace. i do realize it was on a treadmill, but i did have it at a 2% incline. the run really felt good. tonight i could tell my legs were a little tired. i think from not getting enough rest lately and a pretty strenuous run 2 days ago. so i took it pretty easy. i did the 5 miles in 46:35, a 9:20 pace. towards the end of the run it did feel a little hard to keep the pace so i slowed down just a bit. this has been a good month. this month i ran 112 miles, the most miles ever since i have been keeping up with my runs on log your run (since around july 2010). in oct 2010 i did run 109 miles, i did run 97 in june this year, the third most ever. also, i weighed this afternoon. i was at 168.8, the lowest i can remember in a long time as well. but that was before my small dinner and before the run. at that weight, i have lost just over 21 pounds since june. if i can lose 9 more pounds i will have reached my ultimate goal, if i can lose 5 more i will reach my satisfied goal. once again it's late and i am headed to bed.

Aug 28, 6 miles

ok i haven't blogged in a while, but i haven't ran in a while either. i have ran since i blogged last though. running low on sleep, so this is gonna be short. last tuesday 8/21/2012 i ran 6 miles on the treadmill. i was planning on running wednesday, thursday and saturday. however, i left for kansas city, 2 hours late without running. so i skipped that day. the rest of the week i was too busy, too tired, or too full of food to make it happen. so i have pushed my schedule back a week, i don't think it will hurt anything. should still have time to get in an 18 and 20 miler before i leave for montana. we got home yesterday evening and i couldn't get everything done to run. tonight i ran 6 miles in 54:57, a 9:09 pace. peace.

Aug 18, 2012 14 miles

today's run was with Todd and Lee. Lee couldn't get here until 11am so by the time we caught up and got out to run it was around 12:30pm. it was a little hot, not close to what it has been (high was around 83) but most of the run seemed pretty well shaded and we had good cloud cover. the run went pretty well, i was hoping it wouldn't turn out like the last time we all ran together, the mississippi blues marathon. during that run, the other two were supposed to pace me. they did, right into exhaustion. today was a little different, Todd and Lee have not been running like they had in january and i was able to keep up with Todd for the most part (he did walk several times to let me catch him) and unfortunately Lee only did about 7 miles. however, the longer the run went the more i thought i was going to tire out at the end. we ran this run 15 seconds per mile faster (on average) faster than my 15 mile run last week. i knew the pace was a little fast but it didn't feel all that bad until the last mile or two when i was ready to be done. the overall time was 2:23.25, a pace of 10:15, for 14 miles. i was very happy with that and felt really good afterwards. not like my usual fall-out. the odd thing is we ran this run at that fast of a pace for me and it seemed like we talked a good bit during most of the run. once again it is late and i am tired, my thoughts for the day have all escaped me at the present time.

Aug 16, 4 miles

i ran 4 miles with Thom and Todd this morning. i was a little nervous since i ran 8 last night. however, i was not nearly as sore as i thought i would be. we finished the 4 miles (maybe) in 37:13, a pace of 9:18. however, we went by the mile markers on the greenway instead of by my gps. my gps read 3.93 miles, so we were pretty close. overall it was a good run. thought of the day: i am at 299.63 miles for the year and 109 miles ahead of where i was last year. for this month i have 74 miles at about halfway through the month. this should be my highest mile month ever if i can keep it up. if i get all my runs in i should have 173 miles this month. stay tuned.

Aug 11, 13, and 15

got a little behind on blogging this week. i am here to make it up, but it is nearly 10pm and i have to be up at 5:30am to run so this will hopefully be short but somewhat detailed. Aug 11: i ran 15 miles in 2:37.44. this was nearly 3 minutes faster than my 13 miles last weekend. i think the temp made all the difference in the world. last week it was 85 when i started and 91 when i finished. this week it was 80 when i started and 60 when i finished. a couple of other things i did differently to help with the heat were: 1. i did not wear a hat, it seems to make me a lot hotter so i ditched it this run. 2. i wore a little bit looser compression shirt, that seemed to let a little air in but still kept the sweat off but just wasn't really tight and didn't have any neck on it. 3. instead of 48oz of gatorade i had 24oz of water and 24oz of tang (i thought i was mixing gatorade then realized it was tang when it was too late). i don't think the tang necessarily helped more than gatorade, just noting the facts. i also ran in my compression socks, not sure if they helped or not but since this was a pretty good run, i will probably continue to run my long runs in them. i walked twice. once at 5 miles to get a drink and eat a few chews. at mile 10 i had to walk to get a drink and eat some chews but i also had to restart my ipod and that took a little while. i think i could have done it in 10:30 if this had not happened. i felt really good until mile 14 then i got pretty tired and struggled a little, but i still finished respectably, for me. Aug 13: 4 treadmill miles in 39:02, a 9:45 pace. Aug 15: i ran 8 miles tonight. i started at 7:25pm, so most of the run was in the dark, which i do not prefer. i started out too fast, with some miles right around 9 minutes. at first my legs were really tired, then they felt great. during the second half of the run they got tired again, especially when going uphill. i finished in 1:16.49, a pace of 9:45. i have found over the last week or so that the outside of my right knee hurts a little, this is what really hurt me last year. however, after reading the chi running book, that says most pain can be avoided or stopped by correcting form, i have tried correcting my form when i feel the pain by taking straight steps and not pronating. odd, the pain goes away until i forget about maintaining correct form and start over pronating again. i have been able to stop this pain numerous times by doing this. sometimes my knee is a little sore after the run but i think only because i don't stretch and it tightens up. overall i have been very happy with my runs this week. seems like running on the treadmill at a 2% incline does help with my road runs. my right hip still gets a little stiff after some of the runs but goes away before long. i think, again, i could avoid this if i would stretch after runs, but who has time?:) going to bed.

Aug 9, 5 miles

i was going to run outside when i got home from work, but emily said supper was almost ready, so i decided i better eat first and just run on the treadmill. after eating i watched some of the olympics, relaxed a little, and finally hopped on the treadmill about 9:15pm. i did 5 uneventful miles and felt pretty good. my time was 48:11, a pace of 9:38 at a 2% incline. i am about 86 miles ahead of this day last year. hopefully i can keep up the running. thought of the day: sometimes there are so many thoughts it is hard to pick just one.

Aug 8, 7 miles

tonight emily and her friend adrienne wanted to run. they have a 1/2 marathon towards the end of september and i have been giving them a hard time about not running enough. so emily asked if i was going to run with them and i said sure. i was running 7 and they were trying 3 (after i wouldn't let them quit at 2). so i ran with them to give them encouragement as much as i could. the run actually felt pretty good. when emily and adrienne stopped i was right around 3.3 miles (they finished 3). at that point my pace was a little over 11 minute miles. the rest of the run i was under 10 minute miles. overall a pretty good run. i actually finished in about the time i thought i might have finished even if i had not ran with emily and adrienne. i think running when it was a bit cooler really helped me finish stronger than i would have expected. so the final time was 1:16.24, a pace of 10:55. thought of the day: amazing how much better it feels running in cooler temperatures. i actually ran a large part of this run after dark. this 7 mile run felt easier than the first 4 miles of my last 13 mile run. hope the temperatures stay cool at least at night, i might have to become a night runner again.

Aug 6, 6 miles

very late treadmill run. 6 miles,, 59:10, 9:52. goodnight.

Aug 4, 13 miles

i started today with jeff around 7:50am. (we were supposed to start at 7:30 but i was fighting with my hydration bladder and i couldn't get the top all the way on and i spilled gatorade everywhere) we ran together for a little over 6 miles. we ran about a 2.5 mile loop twice (1/2 a mile run from the driveway) and then back to the driveway. since that loop seemed to have a lot of sun and only a little shade i decided to run my 3 mile out and back twice more and then another side road that was about 1/2 a mile one way. luckily, as i was around mile 7 jeff brought me some ice water and i filled my hydration bladder back up and drank some. then i carried that bottle with ice under my left arm (it wouldn't stay strapped to the pack) until i got back to the mailbox then i stashed the bottle and my hat in the mailbox and continued. at mile 11.7 i stopped for one of numerous walk breaks and called emily to pick me up at the end of the driveway with some ice water and a towel. when i got there i had about .3 of a mile left and was trying to finish it, but when i got to 12.85 i felt like i was way too hot and had to completely stop for a minute or so and thought i was about to vomit. i then walked the rest. the ice water emily had was great. i think i drank it too fast and i thought it was coiming back up. when we got to the house emily made me a smoothie that was cold. after about 15 minutes i cooled off and had to get my snuggie on, in which, i fell asleep for a while. overall, i felt pretty good for this run, other than heat. i think it was about 84 when we started and 91 when i finished. i have no idea what the heat index was but it was hot. this 13 miles was 4 minutes slower than my last 13.1 mile run. thought of the day: run earlier and find a spot that is nearly all shaded next time.

Aug 2, 6 miles

i'm really tired. i did 6 miles on the treadmill in 59:29, at a 2% incline for the entire run, a pace of 9:55. i felt pretty good for the whole run. tired now.

Aug 1, 6 miles

last month was a weak month, due to some hip pain, weather, and personal weakness, i only did 53 miles for the month. since this is my elk hunting fitness blog, i figured i should blog about my exercise over the weekend. we had planned on hiking about 30 miles over 3 days. then the trip got shortened to 2 days and due to snakes the first days hike was shortened from 13 miles to 8.5 miles. since day 1 was shortened the hike out on day 2 was shortened from 9.5 miles to 4.5 miles. but this was not an easy hike. much of the trail was walking from rock to rock or boulder to boulder and several steep uphills and many downhills. not to mention my pack weighed around 45 pounds, which i carried the entire distance (except for the food and drink that i ate or drank along the way). it was definitely a great leg workout. monday a friend came into town and instead of running i went out to eat and ate pizza. yesterday i didn't run because of family stuff and i didn't eat well either. today i finally got back on track with eating, taking supplements and running. i ran 6 miles on the treadmill tonight. i finished in 60:12 and the first 4 miles i ran at a 2% incline. mile 5 i ran at a 1% incline and mile 6 i ran at no incline. running at the 2% incline sure made the running a bit tougher, hopefully more like running on the road. thought of the day: every slump has to end at one point.

July 26, 2012; 4

i ran 4 miles tonight, once again on the treadmill. work has been wearing me out this week. the last 2 days i thought i was going to fall asleep before i left work. when i get home i don't feel like running, then i sit around until i make myself get on the treadmill. the heat is also making me happy i got the treadmill for emily (even though she hasn't used it). i know i need to be running on the road, but it is hard to get out there. my maarathon is about 9 weeks away, but 2 of those weeks i will be in montana. the 4 tonight felt pretty good. there was a little pain under the heel of my right foot, which felt like it was due to the new shoes, it started around 2.5 miles and went away around mile 3. otherwise, the shoes feel good, but i haven't worn them on the road yet. i now have 225 miles for the year. that is 70 miles more than the same day last year and 20 miles more than the year before. i haven't calculated how many miles i've done on the treadmill this year, but at least my heart is getting in better shape and i know my legs are getting a little stronger too. right now i am about 8-10 pounds lighter than i was at this time last year. i just hope i can start getting more road miles in and can keep losing weight. thought of the day: i hope it doesn't bother any of my many blog readers that i don't capitalize and sometimes i don't proofread, i am usually just blogging late and in a rush, i have been trying to proofread more lately. but i am not very educated because i can't remember if proofread is one word or two. i think it is 2 because it sure looks funny as one. i always thought capital letters were a waste of time for the most part. i mean, if there is a period, that means one sentence has ended. and if one sentence just ended doesn't that mean another one is now starting? i guess i get capitalization for proper nouns because some of those words are the same as some unproper nouns. and blogger did have spellcheck but i can't find it any more.

July 25, 5 miles

pretty uneventful run tonight. i had a dinner meeting after work tonight and got home around 8:30pm so i was on the treadmill again. i set the pace to 6mph and stayed there the entire time. the run felt pretty easy except towards the end i could tell my legs want to slow down a little, but overall a nice enjoyable run, watching an elk hunting dvd. thought of the day: i think i really need to start stretching and doing some core work outside of running. i usually run and then come inside to the cool house and sit down and tighten up. i think i would run better and keep from getting hurt if i stretched more and i think the core work would help my running as well. this weekend i am going to miss my long run to do some backpacking to try out some new gear and try to get some big hills in with a heavy pack to get ready for montana. we should cover about 27 miles over 3 days with a 40-50 pound pack on my back. i am cutting back on mileage for my long runs since my 15 mile run was a slight failure. so next saturday i plan to do 13 (i was gonna do 12 this weekend). that should still give me two 18 mile runs and a 20 mile run before the marathon and then another 20 mile run before the ultra.

July 23, 5

i have a lot to blog about tonight and it is late and i am very tired. first off, 2 weeks ago i had been doing pretty good getting my scheduled runs in but had missed 1 run each of the previous 3 weeks. this was the week i had to settle for a very slow 12 miles instead of my planned 15 miles on saturday. monday i had too much stuff going and didn't get my run in. tuesday at work my right hip started hurting whenever i put weight on my right leg. tuesday night i thought i would not try to make up monday's run since my legs had been so tired the week before. wednesday the hip was worse. thursday it hurt more. so i did not run wednesday or thursday and by thursday i had decided to just skip the week and give my legs and hip a rest. so no running the entire week. oh, and i had a very bad sunburn on my back all week too. today i got up and weighed myself. i have lost about 11 pounds in the last month or so. then i started work around the house and sweated completely through my shirt and pants. i came back to the house and did a little easier work in the shade, got plenty to drink, and cooled off a little. then went back to work. i decided to go cut some trees down that were over the road. doing that i once again sweated completely through my shirt and pants. i got overheated and on the 4-wheeler ride back to the house i could tell i was way too hot. i came in and drank about 12 oz of water and then a coke and then got into a cool shower. before the shower i weighed myself and despite trying to drink constantly and the food i ate during the day, i had lost 5 pounds, and when i figured that i had drank around 5 pounds of fluid for the day and had eaten one meal. finally, when i cooled off i went outside and did a few more small chores,came back inside and jumped on the treadmill at 9:30 for a 5 mile run. i did this run a little slower than usual just to see how my legs were going to respond and because i had nearly overheated earlier. i did this run in 51:14, a 10:15 pace, in my new brooks trance 10s, the shoes and my legs felt pretty good. ok, im finishing up and going to bed.

July 14, a little late

it had been raining all day but no thunder or lightning. i was trynig to look for a break in the rain, but of course when that happened it got hot. i had planned a route for my 15 mile run that i thought wouldn't be too bad. on the map it looked pretty level. as i began running i realized it looked level because it was a very gradual incline from mile 1.5 to mile 6. in that time i gained nearly 1000 feet in elevation running uphill just about the entire time. when i got to mile 6 i decided to turn around and hit mile 12 at my driveway and then run my usual, flat, 3 mile out and back from the driveway to finish on some flat ground. at mile 8 i had to start walking a lot. this run was either in sunshine and humidity or rainfall. at mile 10.5 i decided i would have to pretty much walk to 12 and quit. i finished the first 5 miles in 52:41. the last 7 miles (which was 1 mile uphill, then 3.5 miles downhill and 1.5 miles pretty level) took me 1:39.07. i think it was a combination of heavy, wet shoes and running so constantly uphill. my legs just felt so tired. i also lost a waterbottle off my belt. i went back to look for it but couldn't find it (of course i went back in the truck). final pace was 12:36. tired tonight and still have to blog one more run.

July 12, 2012 5miles

missed my run yesterday, had too much stuff to do when i got home and it was late when i got done. tonight i had a meeting at work that ran a little late, then went to eat with one of my partners, then got home late. i was trying to do a little research on the computer, which was extremely slow, then i finally got to run around 11:15pm. my legs felt tired. since the run was so late, i had to run on the treadmill. i was going to try and do a tempo run, my plan was to run the first and last miles at an easy pace of 10 minute miles then run the next 3 miles at 8 minute miles (remember i was on the treadmill). the first mile i felt a little tired, but figured i just needed to stretch my legs a little. at the end of the first mile i was feeling pretty good so i bumped up the speed. at mile 2 i had to slow down to 9:15 minute miles. a half a mile of that and i had to go back down to 10 minute miles. that is where i finished. being on the treadmill this run seemed a little hard. even after i slowed down i was still breathing pretty hard, which is good because i need to increase my O2 capacity. it is late and i have to work and run 4 miles tomorrow. goodnight.

July 9, 2012; 5 HOT

this run was really hot. when i started the temperature was 96 degrees and the heat index was 101. every bit of shade on this run and every slight breeze was extremely appreciated. every little hill however, felt like i had never ran uphill before. but i got it done at a pace of 10:01. that's really all i have to say today.

July 7, 2012, 9 Hot Ones

i tried putting this run off as long as i could today because it was so hot. when i left the house at 7pm it was 93 degrees with a heat index of 102. by mile 2.5 i could tell it was really hot. an area around mile 1.5 and 2.5 miles that is usually pretty cool on my afternoon runs was extremely warm, it felt like heat was coming up out of the creek. my legs felt really tired and i was already wanting to walk by mile 3. at mile 4 i decided i would walk at each mile to cool a little and get a little gatorade. that kept my pace at about the same per mile for the last 5 miles as for mile 4. it also felt a lot easier. i finished the 9 miles in 1:40.56, a pace of 11:13. that is quite a bit faster than my pace on the 13.1 miles last saturday. on this run i lost 4 pounds during the run. i felt pretty good after this run, not like last week. it was 83 degrees when i finished with a heat index of 92. thought of the day: while running this run i started looking ahead to next week's scheduled run of 15 miles. i started dreading it thinking of having to run in this heat and having to start the run much earlier to try to finish close to dark, knowing i have 6 more miles to run than i ran today. i hope it cools down a little.

July 6, 2012, 4

i got a late start tonight, i began my 4 mile run at 10:40pm. got home late from work, did some work around the house, ate supper, did some research and finally got on the treadmill. my legs have felt tired all week. don't know if they are supposed to (this is a reduced mileage week for me) or if it is the lack of sleep, standing too much and walking too much at work, not really sure. the bad thing is that i have pushed my runs back to where i will be doing my long run the day after running for 2 days straight. i guess the good thing is that i only have to do 9 miles tomorrow. i did 4 miles tonight in 39:08, a 9:47 pace. thought of the day: this really isn't a thought but a story. i had to go check a bull this afternoon that hasn't been able to walk well for about a week. he is very weak in his rear legs. since he isn't able to walk, he isn't able to get to the chute to work on him. i was trying to give him a shot in the butt and he was trying to walk away and we couldn't get him to stop. so i thought if i tried to give him a shot in the neck from the front he might stop. when the needle hit his skin he looked at me and flicked his nose into my chest. i compare it to me brushing off a fly on my arm. yes, i went flying about 6 feet back and landed on my back then rolled right up on my feet. i saw it coming but it looked like he did it with such ease that it wouldn't even move me. i have been butted by many cows and calves before and i can usually stand my ground with them. however, he is a big bull and there was a big difference.

July 5 2012, 4 Hard Hot Miles

i had done 19 of my last 20 scheduled runs as of saturday. however, monday i was very busy and the way things went i did not get to run monday. tuesday and wednesday because of various things i was too tired to run. today i took off owrk a little early and got some rest then went out for a run. when i left the house it was 88 degrees with 98 percent humidity. the heat index wass 97. i could tell. the run was my toughest 4 miler of the year. i finished in 41:24, a pace of 10:21. it felt like it took every ounce of energy i had. i don't feel very good right now either. going to bed.

June 30, 13.1 miles

with this run i have 97.3 miles for the month of june, i am pretty sure that is one of my highest months ever. this run was hot, i felt like i was on the border of too hot a couple of times. it has been 5 days since the run and i am just now getting to blog it so this will be a short blog. it was 13.1 miles in 2:36.27. that is a pace of 11:57. i was hoping for a little better pace but when i finished i was just happy to have completed the run. i ran with Todd and we started about 7:10am. by 9 o'clock it was right at 90 degrees and we had very little shade for most of the run. my longest run since january.

June 28, 4 Miles, 2 Tired Legs

today was the third day in a row that i ran because i pushed my monday run to tuesday and i have a long run on saturday that i can't miss so i didn't want to run on friday. i could tell my legs were a little tired. i climbed up the hill to 2.5 miles and made it 5 seconds faster than yesterday. once again after coming back down the hill is when my legs felt most tired. today i ran 4 miles in 39:45, a 9:56 pace. not to mention it was about 96 degrees when i started and 94 when i finished. i thought it would have been cooler since i waited until 7:40pm to begin the run. but i could tell something was going on because i was having a hard time breathing. once again i finished just as it was getting dark. thought of the day: i am not sure why cars do not slow down or get over further when they see a runnner running on the road. i try to stay really close to the white line when i see a car coming and sometimes run on the shoulder if it looks ok. some cars do slow down and get over a good way, but most cars just barely get to the yellow line and don't slow down. i don't think it would slow them down very much to decrease their speed a little for a very short distance. i guess people are just in a hurry and are a little selfish. guess it is something we as runners have to deal with if we want the benefits of running on a road.

June 27, 2012

this was my first week-day run over 4 miles. i decided i would try to make it interesting and add some hills since the real reason i run is to get in shape to climb mountains and running on a treadmill and on flat ground isn't the best thing for that. so i ran my usual 4 mile route on which the top of a hill is the half-way point. but on this run i kept going, made a right and ran another .5 miles uphill. so basically 1 mile up a pretty good hill. i could definitely feel that i ran pretty hard yesterday. at the half-way mark, my legs were definitely tired and i was pretty sure i couldn't go uphill anymore. the funny thing is when turning around and running downhill for a mile it did not seem nearly as easy as i thought it would. also, the last mile and a half was much tougher than the first mile and a half. i was a little behind a 10min per mile pace when i came to the last mile and a half and finished in 52:22 a 10:28min per mile pace. but today was about the mileage, not the time. thought of the day: so far, over the last 5 weeks i have missed 1 scheduled run. some have been a day late and more than i wanted have been on a treadmill, but i think this is the most consistent i have been, ever. that means i have done 17 of my last 18 scheduled runs. funny, i don't really feel that much stronger in my legs or about running than i had before at this point. maybe it will all come out during the marathon and the ultra. i'll keep you posted.

June 26, 2012

i missed yesterday's run due to some unforseen circumstances. probably for the best though since i had to do my long run on sunday. since i am on call tonight i had to run on the treadmill so i had to do my speedwork tonight and i felt it. i ran the first 1/2 mile at 6mph. i was tight but loosened up pretty quick. at .5 miles, like usual i started increasing by .1 mph faster every .1 of a mile. i did that until i got to 7.0 mph then i slowed to 6mph for .2 of a mile and started back at 7.0 mph increasing every tenth of a mile until i got to 7.8mph. then i slowed to 6mph for .3 of a mile. then i stared back at 7.8 mph then 7.9 mph (the fastest i had ever been on the treadmill), then 8.0 mph for .2 of a mile and finished the last .6 of a mile at 6mph. i did get a call at 2.1 miles (about 19:35 into the run) and had to call back so i got a few minutes of a needed break because my abs were burning. the run felt really good, but i barely made the .2 of a mile at 8mph. i could tell i was getting close to the edge of the treadmill. funny, i am enjoying speedwork more than i thought. when i used to try it on the road it was hard to make myself maintain speed, especially on the hills. tomorrow i have 5 miles, hopefully back on the road, not that i prefer the road so much, just that i need it. thought of the day: there is a family oriented (Hutchens-Barnes) race this weekend. it is a 5k that i have talked one cousin into continuing after the race for my scheduled 13 miles. if there are any family members reading this, you know about the race and you better be there.

June 24, 2012 12 Hot, Hilly Miles

today i was trying to plan a new route since i felt like last weeks was a little too hilly in one spot. the route wasn't really that hilly, there was jut 1 extremely steep hill between miles 7 and 7.5. i was trying to avoid that hill. i traced out a loop on google earth that was 5.8 miles, pretty close to 1/2 of the 12 miles i was supposed to run. from what i remembered about driving this route there wasn't much uphill, and to be honest, from what i remembered it was mostly downhill. WRONG. on this run, from mile 1.5 to mile 3.0 was just about all uphill. then there was .5 miles of nice shaded downhill. then another mile of mainly uphill. at mile 4 i had to stop and walk to finish the hill, it was very hot and the hills were getting to my legs. miles 4.5 to 5 were pretty level and 5 to 5.8 were mostly downhill and back at my driveway. instead of making the loop again i decided to run 1.6 miles away from the driveway back to the driveway then 1.5 miles away from the driveway then back to the driveway to end. the main reason i was doing this was to avoid any really big hills. i felt pretty good and my splits were ok but i didn't feel like my heart or legs could take any more of the steep long hills. so i finished, feeling pretty good, in 2:16.37 which is a pace of 11:23. that isn't great but in this heat i am pretty pleased. it was 97 degrees when i left the house, it was a bit cooler when i finished. i planned to finish about 20 minutes after sunset, where you can still barely see outside. as i finished i just had to turn on my headlamp. it was also much cooler when i finished than when i started. thought of the day: you should always drive a new route before running it. i hadn't driven this route in a month or so and probably have only driven it 4-5 times in my life. i still probably would have attempted it, or maybe not, the hills from today were not quite as steep as the one from last week but today's hills were much much longer. i guess the main idea is just run, somewhere. if you run the hills you will be stronger, if you don't, you are still running the miles and you may not kill yourself :).

June 21, 2012; 4 miles

one day per week i am dedicating to speedwork. since i don't have a track i am going to be doing this on a treadmill. tonight i ran 4 miles. i started at 6mph and after a half of a mile i started increasing the speed by .1 of a mph per tenth of a mile until i got to 7mph. then i backed down to 6mph for .2 of a mile. then i went back to 7mph and up .1mph every tenth of a mile until i got to 7.5mph. then back to 6mph for half a mile and then to 7.5mph increasing as before. i could only make it to 7.9mph before i had to back down to 6mph for the last .4 of a mile. i finished the 4 miles in 37:07, a 9:17 pace. this week i really haven't felt like running and my neck had really been hurting. i had to make myself climb on to the treadmill, but after this run i really felt good (neck isn't much better though). my weight has plateaued right now at 185 or so. thought of the day: sometimes, it feels like no matter how hard i try to do the best i can, things just go wrong. i know everything is a work of God. the goods things i do and my successes are all Him acting through me. when tough things happen i know that is Him working through me. it is all to glorify Him, i guess sometimes i have to be extremely humbled to glorify Him. even though i know this, my selfish pride gets in the way and it is hard for me to handle. all i know is that one day i will be in heaven and i will not be worried about the small things in this life that humbled me.

June 20, A Humid Road Run

today was the first short run on pavement in a couple of weeks. that along with the humidity and heat made it a tough one. my pace was about average but the perceived effort felt more than normal. i ran 4 miles in 40:47, a pace of 10:12. i was sweating like crazy by the time i got back. my legs felt a little tired too. i din't like that since i didn't run monday and last night i got more rest than i have in a long time. today i reached 130 miles for the year. last year at this time i was at 118. i think i will blow out last year's total of 474. this may i ran 43 miles, this month i have ran 55 miles with 10 days to go. i hope to get 41 more miles this month. if i can average 80 miles for the next 6 months that will give me 651 miles for the year. maybe i can get to 700, we'll see. thought of the day:my neck and shoulder on my left side, my biannual injury, started hurting last friday. it makes it really tough to run with my shoulders relaxed. the pain is nearly gone but in can still feel the stiffness in my left shoulder blade. the pain didn't hit me as early in the year as normal but it did hit, i was hoping to get through this year without it. guess not. because of the neck pain i have stopped p90x for the week but hopefully i will be able to get back on that next week. i was down to 183 pounds last week, had one great binge day on father's day and gained 5 pounds. i have lost 2 of those pounds and maybe more now. i do like the diet pretty good, but we'll see how it works when i have to add the carbs for the long runs. i think i can still lose 2-3 pounds a week and at least that will help some. if i lose 2 pounds per week until my ultra marathon i will be at 166, that is 1 pound above my goal weight.

6/15 Run posted 6/17

just realized 2 things: my post do not show the date, that i can find and i never blogged about my run on friday. i was at the clinic until 10pm thursday night so i din't run that night. i had a meeting friday after work so i knew i needed to run friday at lunch. i headed to the gym and did 4 miles in 40:03, a 10:01 pace. i took it easy since i was going to be running 10 on saturday.

First Long, Hot Run 6/16

i was a little worried about this run since i have been doing most of my runs on a treadmill lately inside with the help of a fan. this run was gonna be 10 miles on the roan in the sun. when i started i was trying to keep a slower pace since i knew it would be a long and hot run. for the majority of the run i was in the shade and for the first 2 miles there was at least a slight breeze. my splits were exactly where i wanted up until mile 2 which is the first really big hill. i got over it and still felt pretty good. at miles 3 and 4 i was still feeling pretty good. mile 5 was a very long hill and i could tell i was weakening. but i knew from mile 5 to 6 would be back downhill. my pace was getting very slow at this point. at finally made it to the top of the hill for mile 5 turned around and at mile 5.5 i slowed to walk to get some water and a few chews. then back to my slow running. just before mile 7 is the biggest steepest hill and i had to walk about 1/2 way up it. after that the run was basically downhill but i was drained. just before i reached mile 9 i ran out of water. i tried carrying water instead of gatorade this time since i am on a new diet that gatorade doesn't fit in. won't do that again, i just don't like the water as much and several times i would end up swishing the water in my mouth and spitting it out. i finished much slower than i had hoped, but i did finish. my time was 1:57.21 a pace of 11:44. i ended up losing 5 pounds during the run even after drinking 2 pounds of water. my last long run of 8 miles i think was about a 10:30 pace, but it was on a treadmill and definitely no hills like on the road. i think 3 things could have made this run better, 1) a little more carb loading a couple of days before (more on this in a minute) 2) taking gatorade to drink 3) doing more of my runs during the week on the road. eventhough i have been setting the treadmill to .5% incline on all my runs and have even been doing a hill workout on the treadmill, it isn't the same. thought of the day: i saw that jeff posted about the adkins diet not being good for running, well i started a diet last week that is very similiar to the adkins diet with a few more twists i think. i have lost 5 pounds during the week, and i am sure being in a negative enrgey balance before the run didn't help. i did have a coke about an hour before the run to get some quick carbs and ate 5 chews during the run to get some more, i think form now on i will diet monday through thursday and on fridays start getting a few carbs to help out on my long saturday runs. i will see how it works and keep you updated.

Another Treadmill Run, Again

once again i procrastinated until i had to run on the treadmill. i was up this morning at 3:45am to see an emergency and worked until 1pm then came home to try and rest. when i got home i felt dead, like a zombie, when i woke up i felt worse. finally i ate, then cut my hair, snapped some green beens, then ran 4 miles. i started out with an incline at .5 and left it there the entire time. however, i started out at 6mph and after the first 1/2 mile i increased the speed by .1 miles per hour at every tenth of a mile until i got to 7.7 miles per hour. then i had to back down to 6.5mph until i got to 3 miles and then i slowed to 6mph. i finished the 4 miles in 36:39, a pace of 9:10, pretty fast for me. it felt like a really good workout. thought of the day: meant to bring this up earlier, but forgot. the gym that i joined has tvs to watch right in front of the treadmill i like to use. however, they have about 4 channels, at least one always has cartoons. they do have ion channel, which i can tolerate, but when i am watching the tv it will have periods where it just freezes, very often. beginning to think i shouldn't have joined the gym. i have ran a couple of times there, but i can't even enjoy the tv, the one little extra bonus of going to this gym. i know that i have the minimum tv package, but i still get 20 channels and can usually find something on to watch. and i know that what i paid for a yearly membership could easily pay for my minimum package. to think of it, i could have not joined the gym and upgraded my tv package and probably been happier, probably wouldn't have run near as much lately though. oh well, i guess thats just the way it is.

Been A While Ay?

i didn't realize it had been so long since i had blogged. friday i did a p90x chest and back workout, saturday i did not get my long run in. i was off work but very tired and unmotivated all day long. that evening i had to go to my mother's birthday dinner and thought i would get home in time to run. didn't happen, and people came over to the house for a while so i called it a night and ran 8 on sunday on the treadmill. my time was 1:23.34, a pace of 10:27, not too bad, but i really wanted to do my long runs on pavement. monday i ran 4 miles in 39:40, a 9:55 pace, my legs still felt tired from the 8 mile run the day before and it was very hot in the garage, but i got through it. i skipped the p90x workout last night since i felt so tired. i did it tonight (chest/shoulders/tris/abs) and pushed tonights scheduled workout (yoga) off until another day. thought of the day: i have been trying a new diet for the last 2 days. i am not sure how it is going to affect my running but i thought it would be good to do while i am still running shorter runs to lose a little weight for the longer runs when i really need to be fueled properly. it is mainly meats and vegetables, no fruits and no dairy and no sugary drinks (even though once a week i get to eat whatever i want). we will see how it works, you would think running greater than 20 miles per week and doing p90x 5-6 days a week would help me lose a little weight, not sure that is has yet. we'll see.

Another Treadmill Run

as i said yesterday, i had a meeting tonight after work so i made myself go to the gym during lunch and run 4 miles. i tried something new today. instead of doing a manual tradmill run i decided to do the hill workout. it was 1 minute no incline, 1 minute incline back and forth. there were 4 different hill inclines that got progressively steeper then after the fouth incline it started over at the original steepness. i think that made the run a little tougher and so did the p90x workout i have been doing all week so this run was a little slower than the last few, and because i was trying to take it kind of easy so because i don't want to keep pushing too hard and get injured, it is so tough not to run as hard as i can though, especially on a treadmill, i just want to get the run over with. the gym tv doesn't help, they actually have fewer channels than i do and they aren't good channels. also, during a show, every few minutes the screen will freeze. annoying. i know i pay enough alone each month to get the basic package i have for dishnetwork. it is frustrating i can't even enjoy the one thing i joined the gym for. and that was the thought of the day.

Behind Again, but not on Running

i know you are worried but i am only behind on blogging. i have added a gym membership and a treadmill to my training and i will say i think 3 of my last 4 runs i would not have done if i had not had them. i have also added a partial p90x workout to my running, for now. that is taking up a little extra blogging time. so monday i was lazy for most of the day, more tired than lazy i say but didn't do much in the morning and i got up and started doing some stuff around the house and then realized i did not have much time before my 6pm Bible study here at the house (which everyone is welcome to attend). so i hopped on the treadmill and ran 4 miles in 37:24, took a shower, studied The Bible, then did my p90x, which was an hour and 43 minutes of back, legs and abs. not so smart after running 4 miles a little earlier. tuesday i was on call. i got to the house ate supper, changed clothes and got a call to go in to the clinic to see a patient. when i got home it was midnight and i thought to myself, "self, if i am going to 'bring it' i have to bring it tonight as well." so i did 58 minutes of shoulders and arms. tonight i got home late because i had to help someone haul some equipment to my house and then i ate. i watched a little tv to let the food settle and a couple of weeks ago that would have been it. but since i have a treadmill i hopped on, did 4 miles in 38:19 and went right into p90x for 47 minutes of a core workout. tomorrow night i have a meeting right after work so i will try to run at the gym during lunch, which also helps me not to eat as much. but if i don't do that i still can go to the gym after the meeting or come home to the treadmill. thought of the day: i do like having the option of the gyn treadmill or my own treamill to get runs in that i might not otherwise, but i am worried that it is making it too easy not to hit the road. eventhough i do like running on the road better, it seems to go by fater when i know which objects are at certain mile markers and i know where i am, it just seems to go by faster than watchin dvds and constantly looking at how many hundredths of a mile i have gone since i last looked. i do like my treadmill, it seems pretty nice so far. if nothing else i at least want to do my long runs on the road and would like to do 3 out of 4 runs per week on the road, but at least i am getting the runs in. i have done 6 of my last 6 scheduled runs. hope to keep that streak going. PS Jeff, Jeff, where are you? haven't seen any blogs lately.

A new PR I say

today was the Dash to Ditch LYmphoma 5k starting at beachhaven. i got there early and when i realized the race was going to be chip timed i decided to go with my usual plan of starting all the way in the back so st the end i only have to catch up to someone to beat them, i don't actually have to pass them. the gun sounded and i hung around and let everyone go by, even all the walkers. then i hit my watch to start timing and started running. then i started looking around for the chip reader at the start adn realized this was going to be one of those races that only has a chip timed finish. so i messed myself up a little. however, i was not worried beacause i wasn't there to win, i was just running and knew my gps would have my time anyway. when i finished the 3.1 miles the official clock read 27:34, however, my gps read 27:25, which is my fastest 5k by 2 seconds (which i was not expecting at all). when i told jeff and sherri i had a new pr by my gps they said only the official time counted. i say my gps has the official time. after i finished the race i turned around and ran the course again to get my mileage in. i really should have done 8 today to get where i need to be on my schedule, but i will get caught up, i hope, ezpecially now that i have a gym membership and a treadmill. thought of the day: my pr is what i say it is.

Uh Oh

not sure if what i did was the smartest thing i ever did. 2 days ago i joined a gym that is on my way home from work because i have not been able to find a good treadmill at a reasonable price. then emily told me she wanted a treadmill so i started looking again and found one, so tonight i bought a treadmill. i did not get to run yesterday, i was out of work very late and then it was raining. so today i went to the gym and ran 3 miles on a treadmill. couldn't quite figure out the pace at first but finally did and then got it to speed up a little. i finished in 31:59, a pace of 10:40. my left calf was a little tight and my left knee hurt for about 1/2 a minute. my right foot and ankles are a little sore this afternoon. thought of the day: ET is a classic movie that you don't hear much about anymore, but the acting wasn't all that good, watching it on tv right now.

Behind Again

once again i have not had much time so i did not blog my last run. monday i ran 4 miles in 39:38. a pace of 9:54. it was a little warm and humid, but overall felt pretty good. i have basically stopped trying to run at a specific heart rate and just try to go at a comfortable pace. my heart rate isn't that much higher than before for the average, but it seems to hit a higher max. today (wednesday) i ran another 4 miles a little slower. i think my pace could be a little better than what it is on these runs because from miles 1.5-2.0 it is all up a pretty big hill. i figure it is better to run this hill than to worry about fast paces right now. the good thing is, from miles 2.0-2.5 it is pretty much back down the big hill, but i don't feel like i make up the time for that much. today i ran the 4 miles in 41:11 a pace of 10:18. it was a little cooler today, even if i did run a little earlier when the sun was still shining bright. there is a good bit of shade late in the day on this route. my feet have been hurting a little bit. i was thinking it could be my semi-minimalist shoes, but then i was thinking my feet always hurt when i am running. hopefully this time i am building them up a little better with these shoes. some say i should still be doing some runs in my old shoes, i just hate to go back to them, i feel it would be a step backwards now. i have nearly 50 miles in these shoes. it doesn't help that in the past 5 days i have had 2 days at work of 14 hours a day on concrete floors. my calf has not been hurting near as much recently, that makes me think i am getting used to the shoes as well. last week i switched to the thinner insole that comes with the shoe to go more towards a minimalst shoe. i do like that the shoes are pretty light. it will be interesting how the shoes feel when i get to the longer runs. i am running a 5k on saturday, more for the cause than for time. thought of the day: i think i may be over chi running. i like it and i think it has helped me with my form, but i think it is like anything else, there are some good points to use and practice. i do like the concept of pain free running, but it seems like that is what everyone is promoting these days in different ways. some say use weights and some say not to, etc. i think you just need to have a balance.

Last 2 Runs

I don't think i posted my last run. it was about 10 days ago on may 16. it was 4 miles, in 41:59, a pace of 10:30. the next day i missed a run due to thunderstorms and then work and life got really busy. i finally got back on the road today and got in 3 miles. i finished in 28:52, a pace of 9:37. once again i didn't pay that much attention to my heart rate but just ran at a pretty comfortable pace. i felt pretty good, my left calf was a little tight once again but not bad. it was also much warmer than any other run this year, at leat 10 degrees. not horrible though. no thought of the day today, i am tired.

May 14, 5 workouts in a row

I have done 5 workouts in a row. Very long time since i have done that. Still trying to get my technique better. Sometimes it seems like i am doing pretty good but i just cant hold it. Sometimes i just feel like going back to my old style but i know if i can stick to this it will be better for me in the long run. Instead of trying to keep my heartrate at 155 for this run i just tried to keep an easy pace. My heart rate stayed around 165 for most of the run and no surprise this run was a little faster than the previous runs. I ran 4 miles in 41:27 a 10:22 pace. Thought of the day: the weather has been funny this year, all of my runs have been when it has been pretty cool, hope it stays that way all summer. Also, i am going to try to prepare for the 31 mile nashville ultra. Not sure if it will sell out or if it does how quick it will but hopefully it wont because it will probably be a gametime decision.

Over 6 Miles and NO UNDERWEAR!

yes, i thought i would try it. before, i had to have some type of running underwear on longer runs (over 4 miles) or i would gald or chafe, whatever you want to call it, i know you've been there. since i am trying to run with improved form when i grabbed a pair of my running shorts that has the little lining in them, i thought, what the heck. either this new form will help since i am running correctly, or it will kill me since i am running much slower during the learning phase. before it would have just been about an hour of torture. however, now, since i am trying to run based on heart rate, it would take me longer and that could be really bad. i ran 6.13 miles in 70 minutes and no undies, and no chaffing! the funny thing is, this is one of the few pairs of shorts that i have not cut the lining out of. i was actually running with these shorts over my underwear last year, kind of as an experiment. my left calf hurt from the time i started until mile 5. i kept trying to eleviate the pain by using the correct form, but couldn't quite get it down. finally around mile 5 i figured a few things out and the pain went away. after the run i really felt great, like i could have ran 4 or 5 more. my pace was 11:26, about the same as my 4 mile runs during the week. my average heart rate was up a little due to 2 big hills that i had to get up to get the extra mileage in. i did use some tips from the chirunning book and cd i have to get up the hills and they really seemed to make the hills go much easier. can't imagine how i will finally feel when i get this form down. thought of the day: if you don't have to wear underwear, why would you? don't worry, i will be wearing some sort of underwear, it was just a thought.

3 This Week

this was the third run of the week for me, long time since i have accomplished that. once again i was trying to keep my heart rate around 155. it wasn't that bad until the last 1/2 when my heart rate would just jump way up and then it was really hard to get back down. my time started out a little faster than my last 2 runs but towards the end of the run my heart rate when way up and my pace went way down. my overall time was 44:24 a pace of 11:21. still working on this new technique, will keep you posted, watching a video right now on how to make running hills easy.

Trying to stay on track

May 9 2012, 4 miles 45:41, hr avg 156

Not Sure How I Feel

i have been reading the book "Chimarathon". it is about running better for your body, to simplify. the author is a strong prponent of not exerting yourself above your max heart rate. well, mine is 155 and normally my heart rate is around 170 when i run. so, other than focus on the correct techniques i also had to try and keep my heart rate around 155. he also recommends breathing through your nose, figured i would try that as well. i was able to keep my heart rate at 154 as an average for the run, however, i had to go really slow. maybe my heart is not in very good condition right now but my pace was over 11 min/mile. the 2 other runs i have had recently had been under 10 min/mile. on the positive side, i felt like i could run 4 more miles easily when i was done. it will be hard to keep using that heart rate if all of my runs are that slow. but i have a feeling that my runs will get faster. i am only in the technique phase of this program, trying to teach myself how to run with this form, before i start the conditioning phase, so it is ok for now. breathing out of my nose wasn't that bad, i just had to keep thinking about it. my overall time was 44.55. i will humbly take that for now.

May 3rd 2012

i ran 3 miles with Emily. my time was 29.10 and i felt pretty good. nothing too special about this run other than i finally got Emily, who claims she will be doing a half marathon in the fall, to run with me.

Ran 3 miles, 2nd run in about 4 mos. time was 27.56, 86 degrees, sunny. Felt pretty good.

23 Days

it has been 23 days since my last run, the mississippi blues marathon. i was taking off 3 weeks to rest my knee. i guess i still have not really blogged about the marathon either. the marathon started off pretty good. we were ablr to walk to the start/finish line from the hotel room. i was feeling pretty good, a little worried about the knee. we started and it seemed like a decent downhill and then a lonh uphill, it seemed like the entire race was up and down. lee, todd, and i started out and they were pacing me. they were supposed to help me get under 5 hours. however, i think they messed up their paces and were trying to get me under 4 hours. i know around mile 9 we were around a 4:20 pace and i was feeling pretty good but could tell at that pace the hills kept getting harder and taking a toll. around mile 16 i was spent. i spent lots of time walking after that, especially after mile 19. my knee started hurting around mile 19, not long after that the bottoms of my feet started hurting very bad, it was killing me to even walk. lee and todd kept trying to get me to speed up and run a little, i just couldn't do it. then we saw the finish line and i knew we were still too far away to run, even with all of the insults lee and todd were throwing at me. finally, we got to the spot where i thought i could finish strong and maybe even pass a runner or two ahead of me. i started running and it actually felt good, my legs felt better running and stretching than walking. i actually begain running at a pretty good pace, for maybe 75 yards, and then all of the pain and aches came back and the last 20-30 yards was a rapid decline in pace to the finish line. after the marathon i was checked by a dr. at the aid station and he said i likely had bursitis in the left knee, rest, ibuprofen, and ice were the recommended treatment.

so, 23 days later, i headed out for my next run. i was going to do 3 miles to take it slow for a week or two and make sure my knee was up to it. so i did 3 miles in 29.04. i still haven't quite figured my new gps out so i don't have the splits. i felt pretty good, not as easy as i had hoped, but i guess 3 weeks of inactivity (except laying laminate floors in the house) made it a little harder.

thought of the day: duck season closed yesterday and i had only gone duck hunting a total of 3 days. i went deer hunting a little more than that but i think i can truly say i ran more than i hunted this year. and there really isn't any season open until april. for the last several years i have taken about 2 trips each fall to hunt. the only extended trip i took this fall was to run a marathon. we'll see how that keeps up.

Long Time No Post...or anything else

when i looked at my blog a few seconds ago i realized i had not blogged my last couple of runs before the marathon, i am pretty sure i have an 8 mile run that i didn't blog and i never blogged about the marathon. i have been supre busy since the marathon, trying to finish my house and decided to take a little break since my need had been bothering me. i will get back to those blogs in a few days i hope but i just looked up the info from the marathon and wanted to post it so i would have it for future reference. so here are my results.

606/742 overall, 58/59 in my age group, 421 out of all males (not sure how many total males) and here are some splits but i don't remember where and don't have time to figure it out right now. 49:19 1:39:31 2:34:37 3:45:42 5:31:15 total time for a 12:39 pace. to say the least i think we (Lee, Todd and myself) started out too fast for me and i couldn't keep the pace up and i bunked. but, honey badger don't care, there will be more marathons for me to win (God willing). i will blog about all this in more detail one day.