When first putting together my fitness program to get me to Boston in 2011, I never thought getting a tattoo would be something I would have to alter my training schedule around. Since I started my quest to qualify for Boston back in October, I’ve had to alter my work outs or running schedule for injuries, work schedule, vacations and now ink. Well, pigment is technically the accurate term. As many of you know, I have an intricate tattoo covering the top portion of my right shoulder and upper arm. Its one continuous piece of tribal-like marking I created myself that engulfs my existing “SF” logo tattoo with every piece of the tattoo interlocking with the next. What’s there already was, by design, the first of three phases of the tattoo sequence. The first phase, what exists as of last week, covers the upper part of my arm and shoulder. The second phase, what I had done last weekend and will finish this upcoming weekend (it's going to take three 2-hour appointments to complete this phase), covers most of my right peck and the under-side of my right arm. The third phase (scheduled for later this summer) will cover most, if not all, of my right shoulder blade. I’ll start work on that design in the spring.
So how does this impact my training you ask? It’s simple: the healing process. Let me explain: there are a few key people that I talk to and receive advice from that directly impact my running schedule: my trainer, LL. My wife, Shannon. My body. And most recently, my tattoo artist, Jonny. Jonny works at Skin Kitchen Tattoo here in Des Moines. And let me tell you, in my opinion, this guy is the Pierre-Auguste Renoir of tattoo artists in Iowa. I won’t let anyone else put ink on me; it’s Jonny or nobody. So aside from the hetero man-crush I have on Jonny and his amazingly detailed work ethic and out-right passion when it comes to the art of painting on skin, I let him tell me if I can run or not. And I do that, because he knows best about how the body heals after getting inked. In the place where I’m getting this tattoo, there will be a lot of skin movement and friction from running or the functional movements from my lifting exercises. And with Jonny being the expert on how new ink reacts to those types of circumstances, he’s really good for saying “yay” or “nay” to how soon I can run after getting new ink. Case and point – when I go for the fill-in portion for this new tattoo, I have to wait at least 5 days to allow the skin to heal enough so that the ink won’t bleed out and scar from the friction of my arm swinging as part of my running stride.
With all that being said, I’m hoping to get a 14-miler in this Saturday afternoon before my 9PM appointment with Jonny later that night. As of today (Monday), the weather looks good, so hopefully it all works out. Because after I see Jonny Saturday night, I’m on the shelf for a week.
Still haven’t gotten the bugs worked out for the countdown component for my blog. So consider that still under construction.
Training Update:
This past session with LL was a good one. We took a break from focused leg work to do more of an all-around functional workout. This week’s routine consisted of: squat-to-press, Bosu ball lunges, bicep curls, sumo squat to up-right row, backward lunge with peck fly and, as always, a shit-load of ab work. J Though there wasn’t a lot of specific ab exercises, what she had me do was very oblique-focused. This is what I get for complaining about having “back fat” from not wanting to give up Taco Johns. All-in-all, it was a good workout and I’m looking forward to doing it a couple more times before we meet again.
The Running Route:
This past Saturday’s long run was only 10 miles. Based on how I felt after last week’s run, I probably could have gone another two or three miles, but I didn’t want to push my luck and force miles. Going into the run, I had already decided on an easy 10-miler, so that is what I stuck with. But I’m happy to report that for the second long run in a row, I felt great and wasn’t gassed at the end; a good sign that I’m finally getting back into the shape I was in towards the end of last summer before all my injuries piled up. This route was pretty much the same route I’d been running through Ankeny with the exception of staying on the streets instead of using the trails. Literally. For the entire 10 miles, I was in the street. Which was disappointing considering the 10 ft wide sidewalk along 18th street wasn’t cleared from the snowfall the day before. This really surprised me, to be honest. Usually the city of Ankeny is really good about getting the trails and city sidewalks cleared off right away after a snowfall. Especially since those pathways are used so often by runners, walkers and bikers year-round. But, for whatever reason, the sidewalks were junk, which meant Yours Truly was street-bound the entire run.
If there’s one thing I enjoy about running through Ankeny, it’s the scenery. For the most part, it doesn’t matter what side of town you’re on, Ankeny has done a good job over the years of backing up quaint neighborhoods to other developments (new or old) that almost always offer a pleasing sight while running. The route I took Saturday was no different. Starting in my brand new development (Cherry Glenn Estates) and running north, then east I passed a few open fields and an undeveloped lightly wooded area. Just in the first two miles alone, I saw a picturesque snow-covered hill side, the wide-open space of huge corn field and even a couple of deer. Continuing east on 18th St, I ran past another new housing development that backs up to one that’s been there for several years. But the transition from new to old development isn’t so dramatic that I feel like I’m in another town. That’s the thing that I’m learning to appreciate about Ankeny; one development naturally flows into the next. From there I traversed a smattering of new and existing neighborhoods, a sports complex and eventually ended up in “Old Town Ankeny”. This is, by far, my favorite place to run in the entire town. Old Town is only a fraction of the size of Ankeny itself, covering less than 10 square blocks, but the layout and nostalgic feel of the buildings and houses is something out of a small town portrayed in a Hollywood movie. The two story buildings are butted quietly up to each other with store fronts on the ground floor and studios above. And where there are houses mixed in, they are larger, dated homes will yards full of huge trees that have been there for a hundred years. This neighborhood isn’t full of houses that are run-down, but you can tell the homes have been a part of the landscape for several decades. Just running those 10 blocks completely relaxes me. From Old Town, I continue east on 3rd St, crossing Hwy 69 (Ankeny Blvd) and through an area that consists of a couple busy street, some small shops and fast-food restaurants. Once through that, I’m right back into an older, quiet neighborhood that joins another older, quiet neighborhood. Eventually, I hit my 5 mile turnaround sport and get to run back through all the pleasing sights from which I just came. No deer on the return trip home, but still some pretty nice views.
Non-Running Thoughts of the Week:
Here are some of my non-running thoughts since my last blog posting:
- Went and saw Valentine’s Day last night with the Steele's and Hanson’s. I have to admit, I really enjoyed this flick. I didn’t think I would, but I did. I recommend it as a good date night movie.
- Is it OK that I think Ashton Kutcher is cool? I’m sorry, but he is.
- Our new TV doesn’t arrive until Tuesday, but I’m already looking forward to watching something, anything, on it. For those of you who haven’t seen and LED TV, go check one out. What a difference from an LCD it is.
- I’m still sick of shoveling snow. Even though Shannon shoveled from the last round of snow. Thanks Babe!
- I think it’s about time to turn over the music on my iPod. I’ve played out every current playlist I have and now the songs are starting to annoy me.
Running Rant of the Week:
To the super smart high school chick that almost ran me over while turning out of Casey’s: pay attention, put down your damn cell phone and take a freaking look around before running the stop sign and tearing onto the street!
How kids these days are such terrible drivers is beyond me. I have no doubt that this girl at some point was shown the proper way to drive by her parents. We’ve all been there before – 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, radio down, use your turn signal, always be on the lookout and….I don’t know…. don’t run stop signs!
If you haven’t guessed by now, this week’s rant goes to the airhead that almost plowed me over coming out of the Casey’s on 18th. If it hadn’t been for me paying attention to her (not that I wouldn’t anyway), I would’ve been sliding across her hood. But not in a cool way like Bo or Luke Duke. But like in the rolling from hood-to-windshield-to-ground way when someone’s clearly not paying attention when behind the wheel.
And this rant really isn’t about almost getting hit, as any runner will tell you over the course of a running season, you almost get hit several times. That’s why it’s so important as the runner – or biker for that matter- to ALWAYS pay attention to the cars and NEVER assume they see you. In my closest of near misses (there have been several over the years) it’s always a situation where the driver is not paying attention and bleeds through a stop sign or intersection. So I’m not ranting about almost getting hit. But rather because this girl was obviously so engrossed in her phone conversation that not only did she not see me, she didn’t see the stop sign she blew through on her way into a busy street. And I would think I would be easy to spot because; 1) I was wearing all black against the white background of snow. 2) her view of me was not obstructed by tall snow drifts. 3) In anticipation for both of us arriving at the corner at the same time, I put up both my hands just above my head (think referee when a field goal is good) as I always do to draw more attention to myself. 5) I slowed down and locked eyes with her. But despite all that, she still came within a couple feet of hitting me as a result of running the stop sign.
You may be asking, after this latest near-miss, will I be running in the street anymore? Answer: damn right I will. I have just as much right to be in the street just as a biker or a car does. Granted, I’ll admit it’s not the safest place to run, that’s why I always do everything I did above to avoid getting hit. But with sidewalks that have 2 – 4 inches of snow on them, I was left with little choice for a clear running surface. And, I’m not one of those naïve, “feel bad for me” runners either; I realize I’m in more danger when I’m running in the road vs. the sidewalk. So I’m not going to pretend that I’m surprised by almost getting hit. Hell, I’ve almost been clipped while on a closed course during a marathon. It happens on a regular basis for me and every other die-hard runner out there. It’s something I’ve learned to stay aware of when I’m out in the street. So again, to the chick in the red Cobalt, pay attention. Next time it might not be a runner at the intersection. Next time I might be an 18-wheeler that can’t stop on a dime. #justsayin’.
Oh, and one more thing to Little Ms. Oblivious: put the cigarette out, you barely look old enough to drive, let alone smoke. It looks trashy for someone your age. Don’t you know smoking is the most unattractive things a woman can do?
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Qualifier Set
Greetings from the snowy Midwest. I don’t think it’s gone a week without snowing since Thanksgiving. Fortunately, the weather has been cooperating on the weekends lately to allow me to get my long runs in. Three 10 milers in a row over the past three Saturdays with a 12 miler planned this weekend. Of course that all depends on how much snow we get this Friday afternoon and overnight. I’m hoping for only a couple inches, but not holding my breath. I need to be able to log miles Saturday morning because of my upcoming tattoo appointment Saturday night. I’m having more of my arm/should tattoo filled in, so I won’t be able to run for a few days due to the fresh ink. So I need to get my log run in Saturday morning or afternoon or I’ll have to push-back the tat appointment.
It’s Official – Qualifier Set:
I’m registered for Grandma’s Marathon on June19th. This race is best known for its mostly flat route and ideal qualifying conditions. This will be my first attempt of 2010 to quality for the 2011 Boston Marathon! I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. Excited because the route is quick and ideal to qualify with; nervous because of the preclusive off-season of running I’ve had due to various injuries or weather-related setbacks. I feel like I should be farther along in my training and logging more miles a week than what I am (currently logging 20 -25 miles/week), and I also feel like I should be posting faster training run times (averaging 7:45 – 7:50/mile over the last several long runs). Technically I haven’t “officially” started my marathon training that LL is putting together for me, so I may just be antsy or overly paranoid at this point. Nonetheless I officially have a set date for a qualifier. In the coming months as the race gets closer, I’ll start lobbying for everyone to make the pilgrimage to Duluth to come hang out and support me as I try to achieve my goal.
I was planning on adding a countdown timer for Grandma’s, but have yet to get the stupid thing to work on this blog site. Once I figure it out, it’ll be at the top under my intro.
The Routes:
My last few long runs have been primarily the same route through Ankeny. Leaving from my house, making my way around the NW side of town to the main bike trail (formerly a railroad track) that bisects Ankeny diagonally. Then I take that path to “Old Downtown” Ankeny, then east to East Elementary School and back. If I have one complaint about Ankeny it’s that it isn’t very big, so in order to log any kind of serious mileage, I have to double loop my routes just to get in 15 & 20 mile runs. I remember getting burnt out on running the same route over and over last summer and fall. I get easily bored with running the same route week-in and week-out; especially when I’m on them for 3 hours at a time.
Training Update:
After having a couple weeks of focused core and back workouts, this last one was all legs. The good news is I can tell that the muscle weaknesses in my inner thighs and glutes are strengthening (TMI?), but I’m definitely still feeling the burn from a full hour of quad and calf focused exercises. I have no idea how LL comes up with some of the exercises she has me do, but man, they certainly kick my ass each week. In a good way, of course. Last week’s work out included exercises called, “speed squats”, “single leg step-ups”, “standing lunge step-through” and “crouching Cohen curls”. All of them are leg exercises designed to strengthen my quads, hammies, calves and my money-maker. J All of which have to be in top condition to handle the long, steep hills in Boston. I’m secretly hoping for a lighter workout today when I meet with LL, but we’ll see. I’ll let everyone know how today goes in next week’s entry.
Non-Running Thoughts of the Week:
Here are some of my non-running thoughts since my last blog posting:
- Spencer now has an open gap where his two front teeth previously were a couple weeks ago. He’s proudly sporting and empty grill since he lost both front teeth in the last 2 weeks. Mom and Dad are not proud of his ability to squeeze food out of the opening like a Playdough Fun Factory.
- Ty has now become the chattiest 4 year old on the face of the planet. I can remember just a few short months ago when he would say all of five words a day. Now he’s chattering from the time he gets up in the morning until the time he puts his jams on at night.
- I’m having a lot of fun in the poker league I joined. It helps that I’m currently in first place in the overall points standing, but I still have a long way to go to win the league (5 weeks left). Plus I have everyone gunning for me. But, I like that it forces me to keep my poker skills sharp and is helping me become a more-rounded poker player.
- I’m sick of shoveling snow.
- My wife is a damn good cook. Next time you see her, you should ask her to make you salmon or turkey chili.
- I think Shannon is going to have a blast on her ‘MILF trip’ this spring. I hope she remembers her phone has a camera.
- My contract at my client was extended through June 30th, 2010. What a relief to have that locked down.
- Last week’s long run was the most fun I’ve had on a run since Thanksgiving.
Running Rant of the Week:
This week’s running rant isn’t about a person or place. It’s about a thing: the treadmill. Let me ask you this, Mr. Treadmill: why do you suck so much? I mean, no offense, but I loathe running on you. You’re big. You’re bulky. And quite frankly, no one really likes you. It’s very rare that you’ll hear someone say, “I really love running on a treadmill. I’d rather do that than run outside.” In most cases, if someone is on you, it’s because they have to be, not because they want to be. You are to running what a slump-buster is to baseball.
I bring up the treadmill because thanks to Mother Nature being a pain-in-the-ass last week, I was stuck inside on tready for my Tuesday short run. I’ve often said that I have a 4 mile max on a treadmill for no other reason other than I simply hate running on a treadmill. It doesn’t matter what kind of shape I’m in, I still can only manage 4 painfully-long miles on tready. By the time I hit 4 miles on the ‘Machine of Despair’, I’m so mentally defeated that I can’t stand to run another 10 feet. There are just so many things about the treadmill that I do not enjoy capped off by that stupid mileage gage. Or as I like to call it, “The Gage of Evil”. For me, that is the worst part of tready; the mental mind job I get from that gage. I’ll be on a tready, running along, thinking it’s been like 20 or 25 minutes and I feel like I’ve covered 3 miles, but to my unpleasant surprise when I look down to check the mileage, it’s only been .4 tenths of a mile. Aarrgggghhh! I’m the type of runner that has to have stuff moving by me when I run; gives me the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of making progress. But on tready, I’m stuck staring at a TV screen that I can’t focus on because of the bounce in my stride. Or I’m stuck enjoying the obnoxious sounds of the heavy-footed person next to me pounding the shit out of the treadmill while clambering around, arms flailing like they’ve never run upright before. Though it’s quite comical to see, it’s annoying having all that ruckus next to me with no way to run away from it.
So, to you Mr. Treadmill, this week’s running rant is dedicated to you. With any luck, I won’t be on you for the rest of the year. It’ll be like we’re married and my birthday has already come and gone.
It’s Official – Qualifier Set:
I’m registered for Grandma’s Marathon on June19th. This race is best known for its mostly flat route and ideal qualifying conditions. This will be my first attempt of 2010 to quality for the 2011 Boston Marathon! I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. Excited because the route is quick and ideal to qualify with; nervous because of the preclusive off-season of running I’ve had due to various injuries or weather-related setbacks. I feel like I should be farther along in my training and logging more miles a week than what I am (currently logging 20 -25 miles/week), and I also feel like I should be posting faster training run times (averaging 7:45 – 7:50/mile over the last several long runs). Technically I haven’t “officially” started my marathon training that LL is putting together for me, so I may just be antsy or overly paranoid at this point. Nonetheless I officially have a set date for a qualifier. In the coming months as the race gets closer, I’ll start lobbying for everyone to make the pilgrimage to Duluth to come hang out and support me as I try to achieve my goal.
I was planning on adding a countdown timer for Grandma’s, but have yet to get the stupid thing to work on this blog site. Once I figure it out, it’ll be at the top under my intro.
The Routes:
My last few long runs have been primarily the same route through Ankeny. Leaving from my house, making my way around the NW side of town to the main bike trail (formerly a railroad track) that bisects Ankeny diagonally. Then I take that path to “Old Downtown” Ankeny, then east to East Elementary School and back. If I have one complaint about Ankeny it’s that it isn’t very big, so in order to log any kind of serious mileage, I have to double loop my routes just to get in 15 & 20 mile runs. I remember getting burnt out on running the same route over and over last summer and fall. I get easily bored with running the same route week-in and week-out; especially when I’m on them for 3 hours at a time.
Training Update:
After having a couple weeks of focused core and back workouts, this last one was all legs. The good news is I can tell that the muscle weaknesses in my inner thighs and glutes are strengthening (TMI?), but I’m definitely still feeling the burn from a full hour of quad and calf focused exercises. I have no idea how LL comes up with some of the exercises she has me do, but man, they certainly kick my ass each week. In a good way, of course. Last week’s work out included exercises called, “speed squats”, “single leg step-ups”, “standing lunge step-through” and “crouching Cohen curls”. All of them are leg exercises designed to strengthen my quads, hammies, calves and my money-maker. J All of which have to be in top condition to handle the long, steep hills in Boston. I’m secretly hoping for a lighter workout today when I meet with LL, but we’ll see. I’ll let everyone know how today goes in next week’s entry.
Non-Running Thoughts of the Week:
Here are some of my non-running thoughts since my last blog posting:
- Spencer now has an open gap where his two front teeth previously were a couple weeks ago. He’s proudly sporting and empty grill since he lost both front teeth in the last 2 weeks. Mom and Dad are not proud of his ability to squeeze food out of the opening like a Playdough Fun Factory.
- Ty has now become the chattiest 4 year old on the face of the planet. I can remember just a few short months ago when he would say all of five words a day. Now he’s chattering from the time he gets up in the morning until the time he puts his jams on at night.
- I’m having a lot of fun in the poker league I joined. It helps that I’m currently in first place in the overall points standing, but I still have a long way to go to win the league (5 weeks left). Plus I have everyone gunning for me. But, I like that it forces me to keep my poker skills sharp and is helping me become a more-rounded poker player.
- I’m sick of shoveling snow.
- My wife is a damn good cook. Next time you see her, you should ask her to make you salmon or turkey chili.
- I think Shannon is going to have a blast on her ‘MILF trip’ this spring. I hope she remembers her phone has a camera.
- My contract at my client was extended through June 30th, 2010. What a relief to have that locked down.
- Last week’s long run was the most fun I’ve had on a run since Thanksgiving.
Running Rant of the Week:
This week’s running rant isn’t about a person or place. It’s about a thing: the treadmill. Let me ask you this, Mr. Treadmill: why do you suck so much? I mean, no offense, but I loathe running on you. You’re big. You’re bulky. And quite frankly, no one really likes you. It’s very rare that you’ll hear someone say, “I really love running on a treadmill. I’d rather do that than run outside.” In most cases, if someone is on you, it’s because they have to be, not because they want to be. You are to running what a slump-buster is to baseball.
I bring up the treadmill because thanks to Mother Nature being a pain-in-the-ass last week, I was stuck inside on tready for my Tuesday short run. I’ve often said that I have a 4 mile max on a treadmill for no other reason other than I simply hate running on a treadmill. It doesn’t matter what kind of shape I’m in, I still can only manage 4 painfully-long miles on tready. By the time I hit 4 miles on the ‘Machine of Despair’, I’m so mentally defeated that I can’t stand to run another 10 feet. There are just so many things about the treadmill that I do not enjoy capped off by that stupid mileage gage. Or as I like to call it, “The Gage of Evil”. For me, that is the worst part of tready; the mental mind job I get from that gage. I’ll be on a tready, running along, thinking it’s been like 20 or 25 minutes and I feel like I’ve covered 3 miles, but to my unpleasant surprise when I look down to check the mileage, it’s only been .4 tenths of a mile. Aarrgggghhh! I’m the type of runner that has to have stuff moving by me when I run; gives me the sense of accomplishment and the feeling of making progress. But on tready, I’m stuck staring at a TV screen that I can’t focus on because of the bounce in my stride. Or I’m stuck enjoying the obnoxious sounds of the heavy-footed person next to me pounding the shit out of the treadmill while clambering around, arms flailing like they’ve never run upright before. Though it’s quite comical to see, it’s annoying having all that ruckus next to me with no way to run away from it.
So, to you Mr. Treadmill, this week’s running rant is dedicated to you. With any luck, I won’t be on you for the rest of the year. It’ll be like we’re married and my birthday has already come and gone.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
LunarGlide Eclipse
I’ve decided to add a countdown to the 2011 Boston Marathon on my blog site. Not quite sure how to do it yet, but know that it’s coming. I’m hoping a countdown will help keep me, and you, motivated to see my goal get closer. I’m also going to add a countdown to my first qualifying marathon. I’m hoping to decide on one soon, so once I do, I’ll add that countdown clock. Most likely going to be Grandma's Marathon in Minnesota in June. Again, that’ll give everyone reading this Pulitzer worthy blog an idea of when my next event is. :-)
What a winter it’s turning out to be. And I don’t mean the blizzard, below-freezing temps, record snow fall, fog and ice storms. I mean the amount (sever lack thereof) to road time I haven't been able to get in due to Mother Nature’s influence. It wasn’t until this past week that I was finally able to piece together a full week of running:
The routes:
Last Tuesday, I logged a 4.5 miler over my lunch hour in WDM. For this route, I took Westown Prkwy to 50th, north to the Greenbelt trail, followed the trail to 103rd and then back on 103rd/Clark Street. What a hilly route this turned out to be. On 103rd St, I ran up a hill that reminded me a lot of Brady Street in the Quad Cities, just not quite as long. For those who haven’t been to Brady Street, it’s the famed first mile of the Bix7 route (http://www.bix7.com/2009/). It’s a solid ¾ mile straight up one of the steepest hills in Eastern Iowa. No joke. And it sucks the entire way up. The best I’ve been able to manage for a first mile time is 11 minutes. Granted, that’s with 20,000 other runners crowded around me, but you get my point. Back to the route - the trail itself in the Greenbelt Park was snow-covered, but thankfully there was traction. I’d regret the decision to run the trail later that night when my knees and lower back were sore from running on the uneven snow. Nonetheless, it felt good to finally run outside.
Last Thursday I got in a 5.5 miler. Same story, different day. Hills, hills and more West Des Moines hills. All-in-all, a good run. Pace and stride felt solid. Took a different route and was able to take in some pretty cool WDM scenery of “old money” houses tucked back in quaint neighborhoods. Running in the street was a little dicey from the slick conditions, and I ended up sliding rather than running through a few areas.
Saturday was my first long run in a month. I was hoping the route I went on was 8 miles (I didn’t map it out before heading out), and when I mapped it out online when I got back, it was actually 9. So that was a nice surprise. Not too bad of a pace either for not having run long in a while: 9 miles in 1:10:00 (7:46 pace). Best thing about the route is that it was flat (thank you Ankeny).
This Tuesday was another 5 miler. This time I was in my new kicks (see details below) and had my Nike + iPod trainer with me. Having it has finally, after all these years of running, allowed me to track my pace, mileage and overall splits. Hoping for a flatter route, I took Westown Prkwy west over the interstate to 60th. South on 60th to Ashworth, back to 42nd and then back to the office. Nothing too exciting with this run.
This Thursday route sucked. Only 4 miles because my legs were tired from this week’s round of workouts. But what made it challenging was the pace. I forced the pace the entire way. I had it set in my head that because it was a shorter distance, I was going to push pace to make up for the lack of extra mileage. What a mistake that turned out to be. Of course I was able to complete the run, but my gate and breathing rhythm felt like an unfolded lawn chair through most of it. I was spent by the 3rd mile and had to coast in the last one.
Not in a million years:
For those who don’t follow my wife (@GraceyJones) on “dat Twitta”, I broke down and bought a pair or Nike running shoes. Yes, Nike - can you believe it?!?! For those that don’t know, I loath Nike and their corporate overlords that oversee the migrant, wage-sucking sweat shops around the globe. But, man, they sure can make one helluva running shoe. At the advice of my trainer, LL, I bought the 2010 model Nike LunarGlide shoe and they are ballin’! Well except for the colors: lime green - yes lime green - dark grey and blue. I should be fairly easy to pick out in a running crowd. They’re twice as light as any Adidas running shoe I’ve ever owned and they feel great during my runs. If you’re wondering why I bought them, it’s simple; it was a “business decision”. The LunarGlide shoe is one of the best distance running shoes on the market today. It’s the first self-correcting shoe for your running side. In other words, it neutralizes the over or under pronation on you may have in your natural running stride (see pronation defined at: http://www.nbwebexpress.com/achieve_more/running_gait.asp). For me, I over-pronate, meaning my feet roll significantly inward during the normal foot fall of a running stride. That’s why if you watch me run from behind, my knees tend to “kick out” just after my foot makes contact with the ground. The shoe’s sole helps keep my foot more inline with a natural rolling motion that will ultimately save my knees and back from pain down the road (pun intended). And since I regularly run more than 15 – 20 miles per week, having that extra support will hopefully help prevent injury as well (which we all know I’m paranoid about).
Training update:
Still hammering away with the crazy-intense leg/hip/core workouts with LL. Now that I’m back to running 20 miles per week, I’m hoping to shed that annoying remaining 7 pounds I put on over the holidays.
Lately, LL has focused my workouts mainly on my hips and inner thighs to further strengthen the muscle weaknesses and imbalance I have in those areas. To get a glimps of some of the leg work I'm doing, try doing a squat while standing on an upside-down Bosu ball, holding a 22.5 kettelbell. Talk about wobbly legs! Hopefully all these leg workouts will pay off this spring when speed work begins.
Running rant of the week:
To the people of West Des Moines, Iowa – would it kill you to move over when I’m running in your lane? Even just a foot or two would be nice. Instead, you hold steady on your lane, barely giving me room to squeeze by your two ton vehicle and the three foot high pile of snow on the curb. Ever heard of the phrase, “share the road”??? I’m sure some of you may be wondering why I’m running in the street to begin with and not on the sidewalk. I can answer that in three simple points:
1. Revert back to my last blog entry about the people of WDM not clearing off their sidewalks.
2. The constant up/down impacts of going from sidewalk-to-street and street-to-sidewalk at every corner steadily wears on my knees and back. Especially after 4 or 5 miles.
3. I’m a running snob; I don’t like to run on the sidewalk, even if it’s cleared off. Look around and when you see a runner in the street instead of the sidewalk, you can bet that they are an advanced runner. I’m defining “advanced runner” as someone who most likely runs year-round and more than 15 miles/week. These runners feel the same way about the sidewalk that I do (see points 1 & 2 above). The street offers a much more consistent surface to run on, and, unless you’re in WDM, there is usually plenty of room for a comfortable stride.
Anyway, back to my rant; all this week and last when I was on the street, only a few vehicles were kind enough to move over to give me some space. It’s almost like this phenomenon of runners in the street is a new concept to everyone else and they aren’t quite sure how to react, all the while none of them move over in their lane. Case and point: over the last couple weeks of street-running in WDM, I’ve been honked at, flipped-off (courteous of Valley High School students who think they’re being funny when, in fact, they’re being douches), stared at and yelled at. Yes, yelled at. One lady took the time to slow down as she approached me, rolled down the passenger window and yell at me for being in the street. That was a first for me. In all my years of running, that hadn’t happened to me before. I didn’t know what do to, so I just smiled and waived.
To sum up this rant: do us runners a favor and just move over a tad when you see us in your lane. We’d really appreciate it. Besides, if you hit us, I promise our lawsuit will out weigh your vehicle any day.
What a winter it’s turning out to be. And I don’t mean the blizzard, below-freezing temps, record snow fall, fog and ice storms. I mean the amount (sever lack thereof) to road time I haven't been able to get in due to Mother Nature’s influence. It wasn’t until this past week that I was finally able to piece together a full week of running:
The routes:
Last Tuesday, I logged a 4.5 miler over my lunch hour in WDM. For this route, I took Westown Prkwy to 50th, north to the Greenbelt trail, followed the trail to 103rd and then back on 103rd/Clark Street. What a hilly route this turned out to be. On 103rd St, I ran up a hill that reminded me a lot of Brady Street in the Quad Cities, just not quite as long. For those who haven’t been to Brady Street, it’s the famed first mile of the Bix7 route (http://www.bix7.com/2009/). It’s a solid ¾ mile straight up one of the steepest hills in Eastern Iowa. No joke. And it sucks the entire way up. The best I’ve been able to manage for a first mile time is 11 minutes. Granted, that’s with 20,000 other runners crowded around me, but you get my point. Back to the route - the trail itself in the Greenbelt Park was snow-covered, but thankfully there was traction. I’d regret the decision to run the trail later that night when my knees and lower back were sore from running on the uneven snow. Nonetheless, it felt good to finally run outside.
Last Thursday I got in a 5.5 miler. Same story, different day. Hills, hills and more West Des Moines hills. All-in-all, a good run. Pace and stride felt solid. Took a different route and was able to take in some pretty cool WDM scenery of “old money” houses tucked back in quaint neighborhoods. Running in the street was a little dicey from the slick conditions, and I ended up sliding rather than running through a few areas.
Saturday was my first long run in a month. I was hoping the route I went on was 8 miles (I didn’t map it out before heading out), and when I mapped it out online when I got back, it was actually 9. So that was a nice surprise. Not too bad of a pace either for not having run long in a while: 9 miles in 1:10:00 (7:46 pace). Best thing about the route is that it was flat (thank you Ankeny).
This Tuesday was another 5 miler. This time I was in my new kicks (see details below) and had my Nike + iPod trainer with me. Having it has finally, after all these years of running, allowed me to track my pace, mileage and overall splits. Hoping for a flatter route, I took Westown Prkwy west over the interstate to 60th. South on 60th to Ashworth, back to 42nd and then back to the office. Nothing too exciting with this run.
This Thursday route sucked. Only 4 miles because my legs were tired from this week’s round of workouts. But what made it challenging was the pace. I forced the pace the entire way. I had it set in my head that because it was a shorter distance, I was going to push pace to make up for the lack of extra mileage. What a mistake that turned out to be. Of course I was able to complete the run, but my gate and breathing rhythm felt like an unfolded lawn chair through most of it. I was spent by the 3rd mile and had to coast in the last one.
Not in a million years:
For those who don’t follow my wife (@GraceyJones) on “dat Twitta”, I broke down and bought a pair or Nike running shoes. Yes, Nike - can you believe it?!?! For those that don’t know, I loath Nike and their corporate overlords that oversee the migrant, wage-sucking sweat shops around the globe. But, man, they sure can make one helluva running shoe. At the advice of my trainer, LL, I bought the 2010 model Nike LunarGlide shoe and they are ballin’! Well except for the colors: lime green - yes lime green - dark grey and blue. I should be fairly easy to pick out in a running crowd. They’re twice as light as any Adidas running shoe I’ve ever owned and they feel great during my runs. If you’re wondering why I bought them, it’s simple; it was a “business decision”. The LunarGlide shoe is one of the best distance running shoes on the market today. It’s the first self-correcting shoe for your running side. In other words, it neutralizes the over or under pronation on you may have in your natural running stride (see pronation defined at: http://www.nbwebexpress.com/achieve_more/running_gait.asp). For me, I over-pronate, meaning my feet roll significantly inward during the normal foot fall of a running stride. That’s why if you watch me run from behind, my knees tend to “kick out” just after my foot makes contact with the ground. The shoe’s sole helps keep my foot more inline with a natural rolling motion that will ultimately save my knees and back from pain down the road (pun intended). And since I regularly run more than 15 – 20 miles per week, having that extra support will hopefully help prevent injury as well (which we all know I’m paranoid about).
Training update:
Still hammering away with the crazy-intense leg/hip/core workouts with LL. Now that I’m back to running 20 miles per week, I’m hoping to shed that annoying remaining 7 pounds I put on over the holidays.
Lately, LL has focused my workouts mainly on my hips and inner thighs to further strengthen the muscle weaknesses and imbalance I have in those areas. To get a glimps of some of the leg work I'm doing, try doing a squat while standing on an upside-down Bosu ball, holding a 22.5 kettelbell. Talk about wobbly legs! Hopefully all these leg workouts will pay off this spring when speed work begins.
Running rant of the week:
To the people of West Des Moines, Iowa – would it kill you to move over when I’m running in your lane? Even just a foot or two would be nice. Instead, you hold steady on your lane, barely giving me room to squeeze by your two ton vehicle and the three foot high pile of snow on the curb. Ever heard of the phrase, “share the road”??? I’m sure some of you may be wondering why I’m running in the street to begin with and not on the sidewalk. I can answer that in three simple points:
1. Revert back to my last blog entry about the people of WDM not clearing off their sidewalks.
2. The constant up/down impacts of going from sidewalk-to-street and street-to-sidewalk at every corner steadily wears on my knees and back. Especially after 4 or 5 miles.
3. I’m a running snob; I don’t like to run on the sidewalk, even if it’s cleared off. Look around and when you see a runner in the street instead of the sidewalk, you can bet that they are an advanced runner. I’m defining “advanced runner” as someone who most likely runs year-round and more than 15 miles/week. These runners feel the same way about the sidewalk that I do (see points 1 & 2 above). The street offers a much more consistent surface to run on, and, unless you’re in WDM, there is usually plenty of room for a comfortable stride.
Anyway, back to my rant; all this week and last when I was on the street, only a few vehicles were kind enough to move over to give me some space. It’s almost like this phenomenon of runners in the street is a new concept to everyone else and they aren’t quite sure how to react, all the while none of them move over in their lane. Case and point: over the last couple weeks of street-running in WDM, I’ve been honked at, flipped-off (courteous of Valley High School students who think they’re being funny when, in fact, they’re being douches), stared at and yelled at. Yes, yelled at. One lady took the time to slow down as she approached me, rolled down the passenger window and yell at me for being in the street. That was a first for me. In all my years of running, that hadn’t happened to me before. I didn’t know what do to, so I just smiled and waived.
To sum up this rant: do us runners a favor and just move over a tad when you see us in your lane. We’d really appreciate it. Besides, if you hit us, I promise our lawsuit will out weigh your vehicle any day.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Holiday Hills in WDM
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!
I had my first run in West Des Moines last Thursday. First and fore most, I had no idea WDM was so hilly! As I always do before heading out, I mapped out my run on the USA Track & Field web site (http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/); nothing major, just a little 5 mile loop. It didn’t take me long to realize I was in for quite the hill work out.
The route: the weather was perfect for this time of year: light winds, sunny and temps around freezing. I started at 42nd & Westown Prkwy and headed south on 42nd. Not too bad down 42nd, just the slightest downhill for a half mile or so. Then I turned right (west) on Ashworth. This is where it went downhill quickly. Literally. Right after the turn from 42nd, there was a long, slow, gradual down-and-up hill covering the better part of half a mile. Like every runner will tell you, the going down part wasn’t bad, but the going up part was a challenge. Especially on snowy, icy sidewalks. Not wanting to fall flat on my ass for the whole world to see, I shuffle/ran the down slope portion of Ashworth and then had to run half in the snow and half on the sidewalk for traction for the up slope (more on slippery sidewalks in my rant below). Once up the hill, I turned left (south) on 50th St. I don’t know why I never realized this when driving on 50th St, but that thing is all down hill from Ashworth to EP True. Normally, this would be great for a run; I’d be able to rest while coasting down it and I don’t normally expend much energy going down long hills. That was definitely not the case this time thanks again to the snow-filled and ice-covered sidewalks. The entire mile down 50th was a game of Try Not to Fall on Your Ass. All the way down was a combination of “old man shuffle running” mixed with “trail run high-stepping” with a bit of “slide sideways like your on an ice rink” and a lot of “clearing hurdles of piled snow at every corner”. I don’t think I hit any type of stride cadence the whole way down. Good news is I didn’t fall; bad news is all that “combo running” made my knees ache. At this point, I turned left (east) on Stonebridge Rd. Stonebridge is a subtly winding road cutting through a quiet, modest home neighborhood. I was in the street on Stonebridge because apparently no one on that street owns a shovel. The first part of Stonebridge is flat, which offered my knees a bit of a break, but after a couple blocks it was back up-hill again. This hill was steeper than the one I had just come down on Ashworth. It was right about this time that I realized how little about the topography of West Des Moines I knew. Here I was thinking I would run a quick 5 on a flat route in WDM as an easy tempo run. That was hardly the case. It was also at this time that I realized that in all the stories Shannon has told about her childhood, growing up on this side of town, going to Fairmedows and such, she failed to mention how freaking hilly this part of town was. Or if she did mention it, I glossed right over those parts of her stories. OK, so it’s probably the latter, but still, there are way more big hills to contend with in WDM as there is around downtown. Back to the route, I stayed on Stonebridge for a mile until arriving at Valley West Drive. Turned left (north) on Valley West Dr and continued - you guessed it - up another flippin’ hill. “How long can this one hill be?” I though. If I go up any higher I’m going to be having afternoon coffee with St. Peter. OK, so I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get my point. Valley West Dr eventually levels out and even dips down a bit at the corner of Ashworth. I turned left (west) on Ashworth, traversed more ice-covered sidewalks up a short hill and eventually got back to 42nd St. Turned right (north) on 42nd and ran all the way back to Westown Parkway. Total length of run, 5.14 miles. Number of sore knees and back from slip-sliding my way through the route, 2 and 1. Number of times I almost fell on ass, countless.
All and all, not a bad way to pop my WDM running cherry, but believe me, I’ll be looking for something I little less hilly for my next route.
Training update: I mentioned to LL during my last training session that I mention her a lot in this blog. So, LL, I hope you’ve found your way to my little running blog world you see before you. Again, she’s found yet another way to kick my ass with a workout. I know I “complain” a lot about the workouts she has me do, but I can really tell a difference in my running from them (for the record, you should hear me complain during the training sessions with LL; I’m ten times worse. I know, can you believe it, me whine and complain? Shocking isn’t it? ). To qualify for Boston, I have to run 7:28s (3:15:59 for an overall time). Thanks to LL’s butt-kicking workouts and me keeping with my long runs during the off-season, my last few 10 mile runs have all been around 7:30 pace. This is significant because I technically haven’t started the running portion of my training for my qualifying quest. I’ll officially start that in late winter/early spring. The long runs I do now are “maintenance” runs to keep my long-run base up so I don’t have as much ground to cover (pun intended) once I get serious about my running training. So by knocking out 7:30s now, that’ll help the tone and hopefully expedite my speed training in the spring.
Running rant of the week: To the people of West Des Moines, Iowa - first of all, let me say that this side of Des Moines is filled with cozy neighborhoods, trendy coffee shops, beautiful houses and eye-popping landscaping. For that, I say thank you for being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. But, people, seriously, c’mon. What’s with the uncleared piles of snow and skating rinks you have for sidewalks??? You’d think that by living in nice neighborhoods and on busy streets, you’d make more of an effort to keep your sidewalks cleaned off. My “run” was more of a shuffle-and-slide-a-thon as I made my way through your “upper-income” neighborhoods. I guess I was expecting more what with the big houses and fancy landscaping and all. I figured everyone on this side of town would actually had a shovel or snow thrower. Let me be the first to tell you that shuffling down your sidewalks only to have to leap over the 3-foot high piles of snow and ice steeplechase style at every corner really sucks for us runners. Do us and every other WDM sidewalk-bound mountaineer a favor and clear off your sidewalks. I hate to be a whiny bitch about his, but there’s really no excuse, other than laziness, for not keeping your sidewalks passable. Especially at the corners. Take the extra few minutes and clear a path for everyone to get though. I couldn’t help but think as I was traversing the snow-piled corners, how would an elderly person make it through the piles? Answer – they wouldn’t.
OK, ranting done. Sorry about that. Just frustrates me. Especially since I’m not in training for a trail run.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with their families. Enjoy this time together and I’ll be back in a couple weeks with another post.
I had my first run in West Des Moines last Thursday. First and fore most, I had no idea WDM was so hilly! As I always do before heading out, I mapped out my run on the USA Track & Field web site (http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/); nothing major, just a little 5 mile loop. It didn’t take me long to realize I was in for quite the hill work out.
The route: the weather was perfect for this time of year: light winds, sunny and temps around freezing. I started at 42nd & Westown Prkwy and headed south on 42nd. Not too bad down 42nd, just the slightest downhill for a half mile or so. Then I turned right (west) on Ashworth. This is where it went downhill quickly. Literally. Right after the turn from 42nd, there was a long, slow, gradual down-and-up hill covering the better part of half a mile. Like every runner will tell you, the going down part wasn’t bad, but the going up part was a challenge. Especially on snowy, icy sidewalks. Not wanting to fall flat on my ass for the whole world to see, I shuffle/ran the down slope portion of Ashworth and then had to run half in the snow and half on the sidewalk for traction for the up slope (more on slippery sidewalks in my rant below). Once up the hill, I turned left (south) on 50th St. I don’t know why I never realized this when driving on 50th St, but that thing is all down hill from Ashworth to EP True. Normally, this would be great for a run; I’d be able to rest while coasting down it and I don’t normally expend much energy going down long hills. That was definitely not the case this time thanks again to the snow-filled and ice-covered sidewalks. The entire mile down 50th was a game of Try Not to Fall on Your Ass. All the way down was a combination of “old man shuffle running” mixed with “trail run high-stepping” with a bit of “slide sideways like your on an ice rink” and a lot of “clearing hurdles of piled snow at every corner”. I don’t think I hit any type of stride cadence the whole way down. Good news is I didn’t fall; bad news is all that “combo running” made my knees ache. At this point, I turned left (east) on Stonebridge Rd. Stonebridge is a subtly winding road cutting through a quiet, modest home neighborhood. I was in the street on Stonebridge because apparently no one on that street owns a shovel. The first part of Stonebridge is flat, which offered my knees a bit of a break, but after a couple blocks it was back up-hill again. This hill was steeper than the one I had just come down on Ashworth. It was right about this time that I realized how little about the topography of West Des Moines I knew. Here I was thinking I would run a quick 5 on a flat route in WDM as an easy tempo run. That was hardly the case. It was also at this time that I realized that in all the stories Shannon has told about her childhood, growing up on this side of town, going to Fairmedows and such, she failed to mention how freaking hilly this part of town was. Or if she did mention it, I glossed right over those parts of her stories. OK, so it’s probably the latter, but still, there are way more big hills to contend with in WDM as there is around downtown. Back to the route, I stayed on Stonebridge for a mile until arriving at Valley West Drive. Turned left (north) on Valley West Dr and continued - you guessed it - up another flippin’ hill. “How long can this one hill be?” I though. If I go up any higher I’m going to be having afternoon coffee with St. Peter. OK, so I’m exaggerating a bit, but you get my point. Valley West Dr eventually levels out and even dips down a bit at the corner of Ashworth. I turned left (west) on Ashworth, traversed more ice-covered sidewalks up a short hill and eventually got back to 42nd St. Turned right (north) on 42nd and ran all the way back to Westown Parkway. Total length of run, 5.14 miles. Number of sore knees and back from slip-sliding my way through the route, 2 and 1. Number of times I almost fell on ass, countless.
All and all, not a bad way to pop my WDM running cherry, but believe me, I’ll be looking for something I little less hilly for my next route.
Training update: I mentioned to LL during my last training session that I mention her a lot in this blog. So, LL, I hope you’ve found your way to my little running blog world you see before you. Again, she’s found yet another way to kick my ass with a workout. I know I “complain” a lot about the workouts she has me do, but I can really tell a difference in my running from them (for the record, you should hear me complain during the training sessions with LL; I’m ten times worse. I know, can you believe it, me whine and complain? Shocking isn’t it? ). To qualify for Boston, I have to run 7:28s (3:15:59 for an overall time). Thanks to LL’s butt-kicking workouts and me keeping with my long runs during the off-season, my last few 10 mile runs have all been around 7:30 pace. This is significant because I technically haven’t started the running portion of my training for my qualifying quest. I’ll officially start that in late winter/early spring. The long runs I do now are “maintenance” runs to keep my long-run base up so I don’t have as much ground to cover (pun intended) once I get serious about my running training. So by knocking out 7:30s now, that’ll help the tone and hopefully expedite my speed training in the spring.
Running rant of the week: To the people of West Des Moines, Iowa - first of all, let me say that this side of Des Moines is filled with cozy neighborhoods, trendy coffee shops, beautiful houses and eye-popping landscaping. For that, I say thank you for being aesthetically pleasing to the eye. But, people, seriously, c’mon. What’s with the uncleared piles of snow and skating rinks you have for sidewalks??? You’d think that by living in nice neighborhoods and on busy streets, you’d make more of an effort to keep your sidewalks cleaned off. My “run” was more of a shuffle-and-slide-a-thon as I made my way through your “upper-income” neighborhoods. I guess I was expecting more what with the big houses and fancy landscaping and all. I figured everyone on this side of town would actually had a shovel or snow thrower. Let me be the first to tell you that shuffling down your sidewalks only to have to leap over the 3-foot high piles of snow and ice steeplechase style at every corner really sucks for us runners. Do us and every other WDM sidewalk-bound mountaineer a favor and clear off your sidewalks. I hate to be a whiny bitch about his, but there’s really no excuse, other than laziness, for not keeping your sidewalks passable. Especially at the corners. Take the extra few minutes and clear a path for everyone to get though. I couldn’t help but think as I was traversing the snow-piled corners, how would an elderly person make it through the piles? Answer – they wouldn’t.
OK, ranting done. Sorry about that. Just frustrates me. Especially since I’m not in training for a trail run.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with their families. Enjoy this time together and I’ll be back in a couple weeks with another post.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Up to Speed
OK, OK, so I’ve been getting a ton of grief for announcing in my last update (October) that “I’m back” when, in fact, I haven’t posted since then. What can I say, things have been hectic over the past couple months. Allow me to bring you up to speed…
[insert weak excuses for not blogging here]
Injured – Some of you may know this, as I’m sure you heard me whine and complain about it, but for those who don’t, I was injured for all of September and October and most of November. Well as injured as a runner can be and still function normally day-to-day. So I finally broke down and went to the doctor after experiencing knee pain for two months. What started as a small irritation in my left knee in September, turned into major knee pain by late-October. I was having trouble running, going up and down stairs and working out. I had cut-back my running mileage steadily over that two month period to try and give my knee a rest, but it just wasn’t getting any better. In fact, it was getting worse. So, I go to the doctor and sure enough, I have Runner’s Knee (tendinitis). By that point I was barely running 10 miles a week and had quit most leg workouts, so gearing-down for another couple weeks wasn’t too hard to do. It was harder on me mentally more than anything else, just ask Shannon, she’ll vouch for how whinny and bitchy I was from not being able to run. Nonetheless, I took it easy for a few more weeks and was able to resume my normal 20 – 30 miles a week running schedule in late November. Been gimping along ever since. J
Job – some of you may know this already, but for those who don’t, I chose to leave my current client, Aviva, and opted to pursue another consulting opportunity at Sammons Annuity Group. It’s a much smaller company than what I’ve ever worked at (400 employees), but the chance to work in a pure Agile project environment was something I couldn’t pass up. So I left* Aviva and started here last Monday. Ramping down at one client to go to another was like the sprint at the end of a marathon; you’re cruising along and all of a sudden, there’s a ton to do, and limited time to do it in. So, that chewed up a lot of my free time over the past few weeks.
* I’ve agreed to stay on at Aviva, working 5 – 10 hours a week (evenings/weekends) until the end of the year. So technically, I haven’t officially left there yet.
Home Life – what can I say, things are hectic for everyone around the holidays and our Halloween and Thanksgiving was no different. Though we didn’t travel far to be with families, the hustle and bustle was still present. That combined with an overwhelming amount of work to get done before “leaving” Aviva kept me pretty busy.
So there, those are my “excuses” for not keeping up with the bloggage. I dare not vow to keep up the blogging multiple times a week, but I have made it a goal to update this thing a few times a month. After all, my one, two, three….six steady followers are probably on pins and needles wondering how my training is going. You know you are!
Segway to a training update – Like I said a few paragraphs ago, I’m just coming back from a setback, so my miles aren’t quite where I’d like them, but I’ve still been able to crank out 20 miles/week (two “easy” runs and a long run of 10 miles) for the past few weeks. All and all, I’m not too far off my maintenance schedule for the “off-season”.
LL (my trainer, Lisa Leon) and I have been meeting one a week for the past few months and I’m happy to report that that is going well. LL continues to kick my butt with new and different exercises week-in and week-out. Things like Bounding, Reach Thrus, Superman-to-Banana Rolls, Side Plank Repeaters and my personal favorite; Bird Dogs. The goal here is for her to put together workout routines that help strengthen my muscle weaknesses (hips, gluts, lower back) and improve the imbalances I have (hammy vs. quad, low back vs. abs, inner thigh vs. outer thigh, etc). And to this point, she’s been doing a great job. I can prove it by the amount of sweat I leave on the gym floor by the end of a one-hour workout session. Apparently I have a lot of imbalances, but according to LL, most die-hard runners do. So we’ve been spending the first part of the off-season working diligently on lunges, core work, hip-flexors and glut firing (not that kind of firing, Chad).
As for logging miles, I’d like to stay on the 20 – 30 mile/week regiment for the next couple months, but with a winter that’s started off with one helluva bang (14 freakin’ inches and a blizzard for the first snowfall of the season – don’t get me started on why I didn’t replace my snow blower when it died last year); I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to run. I’m holding out hope that I can stay on that pace, otherwise getting to Boston might take longer than expected.
Next steps – continuing having LL whip me into shape and picking a spring marathon to qualify with.
For my non-running blog thought of the week – I recently joined a poker league as a winter activity to keep me out of trouble and hopefully sharpen my poker skills (or lack thereof). I think Shannon is secretly happy I did it so I’m not interrupting her Thursday Night TV with my constant puttering around the house and roughhousing with the boys during her shows. I’m sure she’ll enjoy the extra piece and quiet around the house a couple times a month. Anyway, the league meets twice a month (every other Thursday) and we had the first league tournament last week. It’s a points league where you accumulate points for how you place in each tournament (along with any money earnings for that night’s tourney finish – top 3 get paid), with the top point-getters finishing in the money at the end of the league. What a blast! It was like playing at Prairie Meadows; I didn’t know anyone (except for Big Sexy) and, more importantly, I didn’t know anyone else’s style of play. I was both nervous and anxious to play with a new group. In the end, I finished 3rd out of 11 taking home $30 in prize money. Not bad for my first showing. We’ll see if I can validate my showing next week for Week 2 of the league. I’m sure it won’t be easy, I have a feeling I’ll have at least one person gunning for me.
Ideally, I’d say, see you in a couple days with another post, but with me, you just never know…
Thursday, October 1, 2009
I'm Back!
OK, so I didn’t really go anywhere, but it’s been a few weeks since my last post, so I feel obligated to make the announcement that I’ve returned from my slacking of blogging. Actually, I wish I could say I’ve been slacking, but it’s been quite the opposite. The last few weeks have been crazy hectic at work with me being in Topeka, KS for most of last week for one of my projects. And when I’m not running around at work, Shannon, the boys and I have settled into our normally busy home life of running from place-to-place with whatever free time we have in the evenings on weekends.
So an update on my running/training schedule: I’ve officially decided not to run the 2009 Des Moines Marathon. This decision was difficult in that I feel like I could physically complete the ‘thon, but mentally I just haven’t been into the training and preparation leading up to the event. After having already achieved a PR in July, the continued preparation for the Des Moines ‘thon started taking a mental toll on me right away. Like I mentioned in my last post, I think I hit the wall with my training. Some refer to it as “over training”. No matter what I call it, I just feel that by forcing the run, I’m increasing my risk of injury or mental collapse. And for those who have run any kind of race, the mental aspect, the mental training and strength, is, in my opinion, far more difficult to overcome than the physical aspects. So by not having the desire to sustain the necessary training, I lost the urge to put in the required miles for training. If that makes sense…
Since my last post, I completed the Cyman Triathlon on September 13th. By my guesstimate, I completed the event in 1:25:00, 23 minutes faster than last year’s time and 2 minutes faster than Hickory Grove a month earlier. I say guesstimate because I don’t have an official time according to the event. Here’s how it went down: that morning when I got to the transition area right after it opened, I went to the registration table to get my arm and leg marked with my bib number and age. When I got there, I told the half-awake guy my bib number. “261”, I said. Without feeling the need to double check my arm for what he put on there, I got my markings and headed to the chip table for my timing chip. Here is where I made my mistake; instead of telling the lady handing out chips my bib number, I just showed her my arm and reached for the timing chip she handed me. Again, without checking the numbers, I slapped on chip on around my ankle and started setting up my transition area. What I didn’t notice was the zombie with the marker put ‘216’ on my arm instead of ‘261’. So when I was given chip 216, it wasn’t even activated; thus not registering anytime I went over a timing mat in and out of transition. But thanks to being able to recognize other people’s bib numbers in the pictures Shannon took of my heading in and out of transition, I was able to piece together fairly accurate times for each leg or the tri.
I had a great swim, approximately 9:45 in the water. My first transition was considerably faster than Hickory Grove, probably less than 2 minutes. The bike however was a different story. About 10 miles into the 14.5 bike while aggressively changing gears, I threw my chain. At first I couldn’t believe I had done it. It’s never happened to me before, in training or an event, but I’ve heard it happening to other people. And I can confirm what I’ve heard from them, throwing your chain during the bike portion of a tri “sucks balls” (quoting Jay from every single Kevin Smith movie). Once it registered that I was pedaling my ass off and not going anywhere, I quickly pull off to the side of the road, chuck the chain back on the gear box, and hop back on my bike with only losing a minute or so. All-in-all, it wasn’t that big of a setback, but mentally, I was thrown for a loop and just that couple minutes of not making progress on the route wrecked my psyche for the rest of the event. I kept having that, “hurry up, now you’re behind schedule” feeling. I was able to hammer out the remaining 4.5ish miles in decent time; by my guess I think I averaged a little over 18 mph on the bike, so I was pretty happy with that. Transition two from bike to run was quick, but what happened on the run “equally sucked balls” (again, quoting Jay from the big screen duo of Jay and Silent Bob). About a mile into the run, I got the worse side cramp I’ve ever had while running. Cramping has happened to me a few times during training runs, but never during an event. So needless to say I was frustrated and pissed off at my body. Again all I kept thinking was, “now I’m even farther behind schedule!” I had to stop and walk through the water station at mile one and the rest of the run was a hard grind. I had to slow my pace just to allow myself the opportunity to breathe deeply. The worst part was my legs felt great, but I couldn’t capitalize on “fresh” legs for the run. In the end, the entire run was terrible, but I still managed a 24 minute 5k.
Thanks to a great swim, a quick fix on the bike and a grinder of a run, I was able finish with a new PR for a sprint triathlon.
So with Cyman complete and my decision not to run DSM, my events for 2009 are all but over. In a few weeks, I’ll be running the Susan G. Koman run for breast cancer. That will be my last event of the year. However, my quest for qualifying to the 2011 Boston Marathon officially started yesterday. I met with my new trainer, Lisa Leon, who subsequently kicked my ass with her redonkulously challenging lunge and squat-based workout. Nonetheless, I feel like I’m off to a good start with my training. I know I said I would start my Boston qualifying training until November, but Lisa and I agreed to ease into this round of training as it is something new that I’ve never done before. Now all I need to do is figure out which 2010 marathon I’ll use to qualify on.
Lastly, I’d like to send a shout out to the high school douchers that went out of their way to splash me on my run today. Thanks a bunch, a-holes! Its one thing to get splashed inadvertently, but it’s another to watch a car switch lanes for no other reason other than to careen through the only puddle big enough to reach the poor sap running in the rain. Man, that shit was funny when I was doing it in high school. Now it kind of sucks being on the receiving end. God it sucks getting old…
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Can you hit "the wall" during training?
Is it possible to hit “the wall” during training? After a couple months of lackluster, unmotivated training, I think it is. I tell ya, I can’t seem to find the energy or drive to train like I did in the spring. I think because I hit my marathon goal time for the year back in July, I’m having a hard time staying motivated for the DSM marathon in October. It’s not that I don’t want to run it, because I do. It’s just that I don’t want to train as hard as I did in the spring and early summer. I was going balls-out with my workouts; Mondays were 60 minute recovery workouts, Wednesdays I was meeting with my trainer for an hour and Fridays were hour and a half hard workouts. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays were run days ranging from 6 – 22 miles, and I rested on Sundays. At that time I was really getting into the functional and leg workouts because I had never done them before, so it kept my attention and desire. I was seeing direct results in my running pace dropping steadily, so the reward for me was totally worth the effort. That was then. I think it’s safe to say I’ve plateaued with my training since the Okoboji marathon in July. Though I understand that my per minute pace time can’t always drop like it had been, I get that, but I’m to the point that even running doesn’t interest me like it used to. Now I’m running because I have to, not because I want to. I remember going through this when I trained for my first marathon in 2007; towards the end of my training I was running because that’s what the training group was doing. And if I didn’t do it, I thought I wouldn’t be able to run the marathon. But, when I finished that marathon, all the thoughts and feelings of the mentally challenging training vanished and were replaced by tears of joy and the incredible high of doing something I never thought possible (yes, I actually cried when I finished my first marathon; I was overwhelmed with emotion).
So, it is 2007 all over again? Part of me doesn’t think so. I say that because this time I know what to expect when finishing a big race. Granted, no two finishes are ever the same, but I’ve got perspective that I didn’t have in ’07. This time it’s different. Lately I’ve been asking myself if I really want to run the DSM marathon. My answer is always “yes”, but to what extent? Because I’ve plateaued in my training, I don’t feel like I’ll be able to better my PR from July. So it’s hard to stay motivated to run 26.2 miles “just for the shirt” as they say. Again, I get that I’m not always going to be able to run faster than the time before, but having that revelation sink in has been a factor lately when it comes to motivation. OK, so I don’t know I won’t run faster, but based on my training output and lack of motivation lately, it feels like it’s not going to happen. Next year I’ll be on a quest to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon, so that training should keep my attention and dedication. I seem to be in a lull since last month. I wonder how long it will last. Since my “official” training for Boston doesn’t start until January, it could be a while before I snap out of it.
So, what say you devoted readers of the GimpyRunning blog? All two of you. :-) What’s your take on my dilemma? Am I burnt out or just a wuss that needs to suck it up and train? I’d like to know your thoughts.
So, it is 2007 all over again? Part of me doesn’t think so. I say that because this time I know what to expect when finishing a big race. Granted, no two finishes are ever the same, but I’ve got perspective that I didn’t have in ’07. This time it’s different. Lately I’ve been asking myself if I really want to run the DSM marathon. My answer is always “yes”, but to what extent? Because I’ve plateaued in my training, I don’t feel like I’ll be able to better my PR from July. So it’s hard to stay motivated to run 26.2 miles “just for the shirt” as they say. Again, I get that I’m not always going to be able to run faster than the time before, but having that revelation sink in has been a factor lately when it comes to motivation. OK, so I don’t know I won’t run faster, but based on my training output and lack of motivation lately, it feels like it’s not going to happen. Next year I’ll be on a quest to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon, so that training should keep my attention and dedication. I seem to be in a lull since last month. I wonder how long it will last. Since my “official” training for Boston doesn’t start until January, it could be a while before I snap out of it.
So, what say you devoted readers of the GimpyRunning blog? All two of you. :-) What’s your take on my dilemma? Am I burnt out or just a wuss that needs to suck it up and train? I’d like to know your thoughts.
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