Yoga today...

Yoga today was a good workout. It felt great to stretch my muscles out. I am seeing more and more flexibility every class. I still have trouble with balance, but I am getting less self conscious about falling over. It helps when I can get in the back of the room so I don’t feel like I am distracting those behind me. Here is a picture of the studio from my normal spot in the back....



One area that I have seen great improvement in is my feet. I never really thought about stretching and strengthening my feet, but they feel great. I rarely have cramps in my feet while running since I started yoga.

I am feeling a little odd today since I haven’t run. Six straight days was good in some ways, but I know my body needed the break today. My quads were really tight and it felt good to stretch them out. Tomorrow I hope to get in another 10+ miles. I can’t believe that the Spinx half is only three weeks from this Saturday. I am going to push through some mileage these next few weeks and then taper off for a few days before the half. The 10 day forecast looks great for running with lows in 50’s.

One other note... The Garmin is great. I have really enjoyed being able to explore new areas and not worrying about how far I have run. It also allows me to take off across a field if I want to get out of traffic.

Good luck to my friend Mark Harris who is running the Army 10 Miler this Saturday in Washington, DC.

10.5 nice and easy...

I wanted to run a faster pace this morning, but after the speed intervals last night I didn’t have it in me.  Instead of the 9:15 pace I wanted for my long run, I had about a 9:37.  I felt good though, so that was a positive.  I have been running without my iPod for the last month and I am thinking about taking it with me for my next long run to see if it helps or hurts my pace.  

I have a busy 6 weeks coming up with 3 races (possibly 4 if we do the 1 miler in Clemson this weekend).  I have a 5K on 10/11 that I will probably be leg tired going into because I will be in a heavy week of training for the Spinx half on 10/25.  Then on 11/8 I have a 5K that I hope to really be able to sprint through and shoot for a new PR.

After that, things seem to slow down until the first of the year.  I am going to keep my eyes open though because I seem to find races that aren’t heavily publicized if I look hard enough.

After 6 straight days of running, I am looking forward to Yoga tomorrow.

Need for Speed..

We took the dogs and my son up to the track at the local school this afternoon and I ended up running speed intervals.  I had never really done them before, so it was a new experience.  I was kind of surprised that the later ones were easier than the first few.  I think I am going to try to some each week.  It was a nice change of pace from my normal running.  Now I wonder what I will feel like running in the morning...  I’ll just go out and see how it feels...

Rest day?

So far I have been resting today. I think we are going to at least get a walk in this afternoon, but that will be about it. I want to run 11 miles tomorrow, so I don’t want to do much today.

I have eaten too much in the last 24 hours and I can feel it. I need the break from the four straight home games so that I can get back into a normal eating routine.

So, hopefully we will get a little exercise, a salad for supper and an early bedtime. Then I can get in an early run and start the week off right.

Got in my 30 for the week...

I got out for a quick 3.25 this morning to get to my total of 30.8 for the week. I felt pretty good, but my legs were a little tired. I was going to get it in last night, but the rain stayed around and I went to the gym with Lee instead. I think the tread climber is what made me leg-weary this morning. Even though I didn’t exactly hit race pace, I did run negative splits on each mile. I was happy with that.

Now it’s off to Clemson to undo all the exercise I did this week!

5 in the rain..

Wow, what a refreshing run in the rain. We need the rain and I had forgotten how much I enjoy running in a cool, light rain. I looked for lots of big hills today and had no trouble finding them. The uphills were challenging, but I had two significant downhill portions that really demolished my quads. They felt like jell-o when I got done, but in a good way. I got in 5.47 at a decent pace. I have run about 27.5 miles this week and feel great. I hope to get up and get 4 EASY (read that slow) miles in tomorrow to get me over the 30 mile mark.

My biggest issue right now is fear. Things are going so well with my running that I am getting nervous! How weird is that? Hopefully the yoga is going to continue to help me stay healthy.

Another 5+ Day...

I got in a little over 5 miles today at a moderate pace. It felt really good out, even with the wind. I am glad I remembered my Body Glide. If you aren’t familiar with it, this miracle product is great for preventing chaffing in sensitive areas...

I also started thinking back to when I first began running late last year. I started out in cotton t-shirts, under armor compression shorts and gym shorts. As the weather cooled and my intensity increased, the cotton t-shirts and shorts got more and more soaked and uncomfortable. The chaffing got serious then too. After a few runs with band-aids covering sensitive areas on my chest, I discovered Body Glide. I also understood why everyone likes the new wicking fabrics so much.

Since then, that is about all I run in. Even if it is cold and I need a sweatshirt or long sleeved shirt, I still wear the wicking shirts underneath. I have consistently found good deals at Target on the Champion C-9 line of athletic clothes. I’ll also pick up some great technical shirts at Fleet Feet when they have their sales.

Tomorrow, I wanted to go to Yoga, but I don’t think that will happen. I hope to get 5-6 miles in before work.

Long run in...

Well, I didn’t get up quite as early as I wanted but I was able to get 10.35 miles in. The cool weather was great. I ran in my Pearl Izumi’s today and I am pretty sure they are now my favorite shoe. I need to retire my oldest pair of Sauconys, so I think I will get another pair of the Pearls in the next few months.

The Garmin was great today. I actually had to break out the instruction book to find out how to get the backlight to work so I could see it in the dark. I also set up an ‘auto lap’ for 1 mile. It beeps every mile and records the split time. I was surprised that I ran a pretty consistent pace. I need to pick it up from miles 4-8 to get my time where I want it, but overall I feel good about where I am.

Between mile 7 and 8 I had a big downhill followed by a big uphill and my quads really let me know. We worked them hard in Yoga yesterday and I think that contributed to the feeling. Once I got off the big hill, they felt better and held up for the rest of the run.

I only saw a few people out today, but I did recognize two of them. Amy and Megan were working hard running up Shannon while I was doing a mile on the track at Lake Forest. I like seeing people I know. The only other person I recognized was the guy delivering papers on Sweetbriar and McCarter. He had to dodge me about 3 times. I keep waiting on a copy of The Greenville News to hit me on the head.

Women and rubber straps...

Well, you might think it would be a guy’s fantasy to be in a room full of women and rubber straps, but it isn’t! We used resistance bands in Yoga today and it took the workout to another level.

Aside from the core strength workout, I had a small victory today in the flexibility department. We got stretched out enough that I actually touched the top of my feet (yes I kept my legs straight!) for the first time. I may make it to the toes yet.

Hills and Yoga

What is a hill? That is an interesting question. When I started running, I realized just how many hills there are around my house. Cars tend to make you ignore hills unless they are really big. Around our house, there are very few truly flat sections of road. When I first started running on the track at Lake Forest, I thought it was hilly because of the incline the track is built on. Then when I started running on the road, I realized how flat that track really is relative to our neighborhood. When I ran at the beach the first time, I truly understood the difference between flat and hilly. Now, I actually like hills most of the time. With the Garmin, I found that my pace stays fairly constant over the course of an entire run, but you can definitely see slow downs on the big inclines. No surprise there, but I would like to work on being able to maintain speed up hills. I think that is where I can cut the most time off of my races. Based on my time at the BMW, which was a flat course, I would say that I could shave 30 seconds a mile off my times if I could maintain pace up the hills. We shall see. Right now my focus is really on increasing distance, not speed.

I am going to do a long run tomorrow morning. I want to go for at least 10 and would like to go for 11 or 12 if I have time. October 25 is coming up sooner than I like to think and I want to be ready to at least finish the Spinx Half Marathon. My goal would be under two hours, but I am not sure how realistic that is right now. I am starting to get a little antsy about this race since it is such a huge distance increase. If I can get that distance in a long run in the next three weeks it will make me feel much better. I hope having the Garmin will keep me from going out too fast.

I have decided to try and place my long runs the day after a Yoga class. I have noticed that any run the day after Yoga feels great, so I hope that carries over to a long run.

Garmin is great...

I used the Garmin at lunch and it was great. I decided to take a different route halfway through, and I liked that I could easily still track my distance. I saw some interesting stats at first glance... My loop included about 1250 feet of uphill and an equal amount of downhill since I started and finished at the same location.

I also liked the calories burned function, which should be close to accurate since it has my weight and captures my heart rate during the whole run.

Now I just have to read all the instructions so I can learn how do the different workouts and create my own.

Looking forward to lunch...

I was going to get a long run in today, but decided to sleep in and get 5 miles at lunch. I am looking forward to using my new Garmin on the home course and see how far I have actually been running. I suspect I will be disappointed to find out my routes have been a little shorter than I though, but at least I will be fairly accurate from here on out.

It will be nice to be able to just go out and run and not worry about being on a specific route. I like to be able to detour if I see construction going on or a ‘For Sale’ sign that I haven’t investigated yet.

I was a little disappointed in my totals from last week. I only got 22 miles in and one yoga class. I need to get close to 30 miles in this week and I hope to make 2 yoga classes. I may start adding some speed work on a track in the evenings to get some extra miles.

Garmin is here & a great two miles

Got the Garmin, charged it up and took it to my race tonight. Of course, I left the heart rate strap at the office, but the distance and speed was mostly what I was interested in.

This race was really neat. BMW has a performance driving school near their plant here. The course was on their track and through some parking lots and access roads. Totally closed off, so it was fun to run. They had the start divided off by estimated times. Of course, lots of folks had no idea where they should be and we still had to struggle to get running at first.

I ran 14:44 for a 7:22 average. That was a great time for me and I think it would have been 10-15 seconds faster if I hadn’t been so bunched up the first .2 of a mile.

When the race was over, they had beer, water, gatorade, fruit and the gigantic pretzels that were as thick as bagels. We also saw some of the professional drivers on the course and they were flying. You could ride with one for a $10 donation, but we had to leave and pick up my daughter at a party... maybe next year.

I hope to run tomorrow morning before we leave for the game.

Thanks to Marion who’s blog turned me on to sporttracks software... I imported my Garmin run and it put it on a Google Earth map...

Waiting....

Waiting on my Garmin...... It should be here today. Maybe I can charge it and use it at tonight’s race.

Tonight we are running the BMW 2 miler. It is on a closed course at the BMW performance center. I am sure the race will be filled with lots of elite runners. This is the kind of race that I am using as a speed workout and not really trying to make a goal time. I just want to see how fast I can run over a ‘short’ distance. I was going to go out and run 3 or 4 miles this morning, but decided to take it easy and then run with my Garmin in the morning before going to Clemson.

We ate pasta last night and I overdid it, but hopefully it will give me the juice for a speedy run tonight.

I am starting to get excited about the Spinx half in October. I hope there will be people out in their yards supporting us on the run, I am going to need it! I used the Runners World tool that predicts finishing times based on past races of different distances and it projects I can finish the half in just under two hours. I guess I will make that my goal, although my real goal is just to finish and hear my name called out as I enter West End Field...

What great running weather!!

It was perfect running weather this morning. Even though I only ran 5 instead of the 8 or 9 I was planning on running, it was great. I slept in and didn’t have time for the longer run. It was a cool 61 degrees when I went out and I enjoyed every minute of it.

My new Garmin 305 should be here tomorrow. I finally decided on the 305 after hearing of more issues with the 405. That and I had enough money saved up for the 305 too! Depending on when it gets here tomorrow, I may use it at the BMW 2 Miler tomorrow night. I’ll be anxious to see how my ‘calculated’ distances match up to the GPS. I hope I have been running further than I think!

We have a busy racing schedule coming up, so I hope the cool weather holds out. As of right now we have the following races on the schedule:

9/19 - BMW 2 Miler
10/4 - Clemson Downhill 1 Mile
10/11 -Furman Blue Shoes 5K
10/25 - Spinx Runfest (Half for me, 5K for Lee)

After that, I need to look around. I hope there is a Turkey Trot in Greenville somewhere on Thanksgiving. If not, I may just have to have my own...

Got in 5....

Got a quick (for me anyway) 5 miles in at lunch. The only downside was I didn’t get any lunch!

A Clif bar and fat free popcorn will have to do....

Also got to check on the new dog and see how she is recovering. She is far from 100%, but she is looking better.

Lazy tail....

By the time we got home from swimming and got Julian in bed it was 11:00. Then I had to finish some work and didn’t get in bed until midnight. When the alarm went off, I just couldn’t get up and run. I was looking forward to the cool weather too...

I hope to do a quick 4 miles for lunch to get some work in. Maybe tomorrow I can go for 8 or so.

Yoga...

It feels good to be stretched out....

Just when I feel like I have improved my core strength, we have a class like today where I feel my ab muscles shaking like an earthquake.....

At least I only fell once during the balance pose....

Off day...

I was going to go out for a short run today, but I heard the rain this morning and decided to give myself a rest after the 10 miles yesterday. I will be going to Yoga today, so that will be enough of a workout. My legs feel good and I haven’t had any pain. Tomorrow I want to go out for 7 miles at a decent pace.

Julian has her last swim meet tonight and then we need to figure out what she is going to do between now and basketball season.

The Biggest Loser starts tonight too, I am glad we have the DVR set up to record it. It is kind of a goofy show, but I really like it. It was one of the things that got me off my tail and moving about a year ago. The one thing I really got from that show is that there is no shortcut. You have to decide you want to get healthier and then follow through. They present unrealistic results because they are in a controlled environment, but that does show you how much of a lifestyle change is required to lose weight.

Someone asked me “Are you through losing weight yet?” Well, I guess the answer is yes, but that doesn’t change anything. I am committed to making sure my lifestyle stays healthy and that requires as much effort as losing the weight did. In fact, it is a little harder because when I was losing weight, it was like a game where I won every week when the scale went down. Now, the focus is on keeping the scale where it is.

Another question I get is “Do you weigh everyday?”. This seems to be a very polarizing issue when I discuss it with other Weight Watchers folks. Weight Watchers only wants you to weigh in once a week because of the normal ups and downs your body has. However, I weigh ever morning and every night. The scale is not what defines me, but it does help keep me on track. It is kind of like running without timing yourself, I need the feedback that I was running fast (for me anyway) or slow. It helps to reinforce the new self image I am trying to develop of a healthy, athletic me.

Long run done!

I was a little nervous about my weight this weekend since I didn’t exercise after Friday, but everything held up pretty well. Even with the homemade lasagna last night, I maintained my weight....

I did not want to get up this morning when the alarm went off at 5:00, but I managed to get out of bed. Once I am up and walking, I am OK. It is getting out from under the covers that is hard. I took two 8oz bottles of Gatorade in my fuel belt and headed out about 5:15. It was a beautiful morning to run because of the full moon. It was pretty warm and humid though, so I was drenched by the time I hit the three mile mark at the pool. If the cover wasn’t on it, I would probably have jumped in.

I had wanted to get 8.5 in, but I got 10. I felt like I could have easily made it for 13 or 14, but the clock caught up to me. It felt good to get that long of a run in. I had no pain or cramps. I ran negative splits between the first 5 and second 5 and really was moving really well at the end. I think the two days rest did me right.

I am getting close to buying my Garmin, but I am now having some second thoughts about getting the newer model 405.



Or the older model 305...


I have read that the 405’s touch sensitive bezel kind of gets wacky if it gets sweat on it. And if I wear it while running, I will definitely get sweat on it! I also have heard that the 305 is more comfortable and the battery last longer. I think the 405 does have better satellite reception though. I think I am going to go to Fleet Feet and try on the 405 and see what I think...

Tomorrow I want to get a short run in and go to Yoga class...

We have a busy week this week as Bobby starts back in Cub Scouts and has baseball practice tonight. Julian has her last swim meet on Tuesday. We have church on Wednesday and we are running the BMW 2 mile on Friday night. Oh yeah, our newest addition to the family is having her surgery on Tuesday too... Here is a picture of Indy (b&w dog) and her new friend Pearl (on the bed).... I’ll get better pictures when we get a new camera, this came off my phone...

Ready for Monday...

Spent Saturday at the ball game and today doing school projects after church. I’ll get back on the road Monday after a nice two day rest. Hopefully I can get 8.5 miles in tomorrow morning.

Building the base....

I went out today and ran an easy 4 miles. This is the third day in a row I have run and the 4th out of the last 5... I am working on building a base of 30 miles a week to prepare for the Spinx Half and then push that up to 40 as I prepare for the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February.

So far, I have done well with no aches and pains showing up. I attribute this mostly to the Yoga I have been doing for the past month or so. My flexibility in my quads, hamstrings and calves is significantly better than it was. I think this has really helped me react to potholes, stepping off curbs and stepping on debris.

I may try to get 4 or 5 miles in tomorrow morning if I get up in time. That would give me 27-28 miles this week.

I also would like to get to the point where I run 10 on Monday, 7 on Wed, 8 on Thursday and 5 on Friday. That would make a nice week for me with Yoga on Tuesday and Saturday. Once I get to that level, I want to add a mile a week to the Monday run until I get to 13. We’ll see.....

5 more miles...

5 more miles today....

I was going to bike this morning, but I decided that two days of yoga will probably be enough cross training right now. I really need to start building my mileage base. I need to get up to about 30 miles a week relatively soon and then really start hitting a training program.

Why do I run?

The question of “Why do you run?” was posted on one of the weight watchers message boards that I frequent. I had to stop and think about it....

The easy answer is that I run to stay in shape, but I don’t think that is really the whole truth. I could go to they gym where I have a TV and weather doesn’t matter. I could play basketball, soccer or some other high intensity sport. I could just focus on my diet and maintain my weight. So why do I choose to run?

Initially, it was because I wanted to get my 4 miles in faster because I was getting a little board walking around the track 16 times. Then, once I started running I noticed some things other than just losing weight and getting in shape.

First, every mile I run seems like a mile further away from the ‘old’ me that was out of shape and unhealthy. Each step is reprogramming my self image to see myself as healthy, fit and someone who makes good choices. Each step takes me away from the old me that dealt with stress and joy the same way... by eating!

Second, every time I finish a run it builds my confidence that I can accomplish whatever is in front of me. Running is a physical battle within yourself. You will always have some pain, fatigue and/or other issue that comes up during a run. Mentally, you have to be able to focus on the task at hand and block out the distractions. If you are 4 miles from home, you don’t have a choice. You have to win the battle and make it back home. Mental toughness comes into play. You build up the mind to be able to block out discomfort, doubt and fear.

Third, I enjoy the competition. Running is very competitive, even when you are alone. You can try to beat your last time or make it up a hill you have never conquered before. In races, you do compete with others but also with yourself and your previous performances. There are not many sports where 7 year olds can compete with 70 year olds and both can win by meeting their personal goals. At the end of a race, everyone is smiling and enjoying the success you feel from finishing a race. There are no losers in running. As my friend Bill Buck Bates told me, “No matter what your time was, you beat all the folks that chose to sit on the couch.”

Fourth, I do enjoy the endorphin rush I get from running. There is always a smile on my face when I finish.

Fifth, I solve a lot of the worlds problems while running. It is amazing the clarity with which I think while running. I am able to find solutions to problems, make decisions and set goals while I am on the road. Somehow the physical exertion clears my mind of the negative thought patterns or self imposed limitations that might creep into my mind during a normal day.

Finally, my ego does come into play. I just enjoy doing something that I thought I could never do. I like being able to say I am a runner. I enjoy knowing people think I am an idiot when they see me out in the rain or the 100 degree heat. I know that is not necessarily a good reason to run, but I have to be honest here.

Nice 7 miles today...

It was very humid and a little warmer than I had hoped for, but it was a good run. I almost stretched it out to 9 or 10 but I felt good at 7 and had run a good pace, so I decided to end on a high note. I’ll probably try to make Monday mornings my long day and go for 10 then.

I ran in my oldest pair of shoes and they still feel OK. I think I am going to keep them in the rotation for a few more months. I want to make it through the end of the year with the three pairs I have and then get a new pair to break in for the Marathon. Sounds like a good Christmas present.

I have two pairs of Saucony Pro-Grid Omni 6’s and one pair of Pearl Izumi Syncro Pace II’s. I like the Pearl’s for racing because they seem a bit lighter. All my shoes have super feet green inserts too. They are expensive, but have been worth it in my opinion. I’ll give a shout out to the folks at Fleet Feet for setting me up with the shoes.

The race calendar is really filling up. If we add in the Race for the Cure and the Caine Halter Lung Run, we will be running almost every weekend for the next two months. Sounds like fun to me!

Yoga today...

What a workout today. I didn’t realize it until afterwards, but we worked pretty hard. I am very happy with my improved flexibility and core strength. My quads are significantly more flexible. We also work on parts of the body that I had never considered stretching before like the top of my feet and my shoulders. All of this has made a big difference in my running.

Prior to taking yoga, I was wasting a lot of my energy trying to maintain good form. I also suffered from some calf, shoulder and knee (IT Band) pain during longer runs. All of that is gone and I attribute it to my increased strength and flexibility. My breathing is also improved and allows me to control my pace better.

So, if you get the idea that I am now a big fan of Yoga, you are right. My instructor, Karen Noonan, gets a health history from you before you start and makes sure that you work within your limits. It is amazing how she keeps up with each student’s individual constraints during class.

Just like biking is a great ‘off day’ exercise for running because it works the opposing leg muscles, Yoga is great because it works on strengthening and stretching your whole body.

Fired up...

This month’s Runners World magazine is all about marathons and it is getting me fired up. I hope I can maintain this level of excitement for the next six months as I get ready for the marathon. These cooler mornings help too. I was going to ride this morning, but decided that Yoga would be enough for today. I don’t want to go in with tired quads, I have enough trouble balancing as it is!

Bobby had baseball practice last night and while I was out at the fields, I started looking around to see if I could run out there. The fields aren’t surrounded by the best neighborhood and it is dark during most of his practice. I think I will be able to go on one of the empty fields and do some speed work though. Once I get my Garmin 405, I will really be able to judge my distance and then I can run laps around the fields for distance too.

Fall is a great time for running races. I just went through my calendar last night and I believe you could run some sort of race every weekend between now and Thanksgiving. This year, I am going to run a Turkey Trot somewhere on Thanksgiving day to offset my food intake. Weight Watchers takes a holiday on holidays.... I just have to remember to keep it a holiday and not turn it into a holiweek!

Upcoming races...

Well, we have the BMW Performance Classic on 9/19. It is a two mile sprint with cool prizes and adult beverages at the finish line.... Hmm, I might have to run more than two miles to work that off...

We also have the RC Cola and Moon Pie 1 mile downhill race at Clemson on 10/4.

Next up is the Furman Blue Shoes 5K on 10/11.

Then the Spinx Half Marathon (5K for Lee) on 10/25.

We may do the Race for the Cure 5K on 9/27 if the timing works out.

I’m glad Lee humors me by doing these races. Knowing I have a race coming up gets me out of bed and on the run. There is nothing like the fear of failure to get you motivated!

Actually, each race I complete places another brick in the wall that I am building between the ‘old’ me and the ‘new’ me. Filling my mind with reminders of my new lifestyle helps me keep from backsliding (good southern religious term there) into my old habits. I have a wall in our mud room where I hang all my bib numbers from each race. It is a reminder of how far I have come. Eventually that wall will be so full that I won’t be able to remember each race. When that day comes, I will have built a strong image of the new me that hopefully will serve to keep me healthy for the next 50 years or so....

7 hard miles today...

I thought I was going to have a nice, easy run today but it wasn’t that way at all. I figured since I rested yesterday, I would have an easy time this morning. I guess I had not completely recovered from the triathlon. I struggled the first two miles and tolerated the next three. After that, I felt pretty good. I had hoped to run 8 or 9 this morning, but I just didn’t have the time with my slow pace.

Yesterday we closed the neighborhood pool down. Between that and going to the Clemson game on Saturday, I realized summer was officially over for 2008. I am enjoying the cooler mornings for running, but I always hate to see summer go.

Bobby starts fall baseball practice tonight and Julian still has Wade Hampton swim team for a few more weeks, so we have lots going on. Once Julian is done swimming, I am going to get her and Bobby started on some light running and hope to have them ready for the Greenville News run in January.

Lee is contemplating run/walking the Myrtle Beach half marathon in February instead of running the 5K there. I think she can handle it. I am still planning on running the Spinx half in October and then the Myrtle Beach full in February. If that goes well, I will taper down after the spring running season and then start next August really getting ready for the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC in October of 2009.

I will be glad to get back to Yoga tomorrow. I think part of my problem today was that I missed Yoga class on Saturday. I think I will ride a few miles in the morning tomorrow too.

Beat my goal....

The results of the triathlon were posted late last night and I was happy to see I beat my goal of 1:45. I finished in 1:38:39 and Lee finished in 1:36:37. I was very happy that my swim time was under my goal of 8 minutes and my run time (including transition) was right on pace with a 26 minute 5K including transitioning from bike to run (probably 1-2 minutes).

The day after the race, I definitely feel like I want to try it again to see how much I can improve my bike time if I use a road bike. I think I could knock 10 minutes or so of my time.

What a hilly course...

Well, after my first triathlon, I can’t say I am hooked but I can say I am intrigued. I don’t have results yet, I don’t know what is going on, but the website says they will be available later this evening. I don’t need to see the official results to know that Lee smoked me on the bike ride. Those road bikes just crushed me going down hill. Well, they crushed me going uphill too but I expected that.

One thing I didn’t expect was that it would take about an hour for me to get into the pool. Since they line you up by seed times, we were in the back because we had put down a slow seed time. Next time, I will probably not put down quite as slow of a time. The elites were moving well, but after the first 10 or so swimmers it started slowing way down. Several of the elites were done with the triathlon before we got out of the pool. I also didn’t realize that I would have to tattoo my bib number on both arms and both thighs. We also had it on our bike and our helmet as well as the regular racing bib. When I went to the football game this afternoon, everyone wondered why I had 1318 written all over me!

My friend Judy suggested we take 5 gallon buckets to use in the transition area. That was a great idea because you can sit on them while you are drying your feet and putting on shoes.

The swim went about like I expected. I really will have to work on this if I am going to do more triathlons. Lee started a length ahead of me and finished about a length and a half ahead of me. I got passed by two people. One of them should have been seeded higher. The other one just had a nice, steady stroke.

Going into the transition area, I hit the body glide again and quickly put on a shirt, socks, shoes, fuel belt and helmet. I grabbed a couple of bites of a Clif bar too. Lee was out of there before I knew it and I only saw her one time on the bike route. Then she hit a downhill and was gone. I really struggled on the early uphills. Once I got in a groove and got my gears right, I did much better. Since the bulk of the crowd had gotten out way before us, we were pretty spread out and I literally went a couple of miles in one stretch by myself. The scenery was great but I was ready to get off the bike. I was happy I had my fuel belt as the gatorade really helped me in the last half of the ride and in the 5K.

Now, the run was really great. It started uphill and ended uphill and I passed several of the bikers that had passed me on the ride. It was obvious to me that most of the crowd was made up of cyclists.

I need to get our camera replaced so we can take pictures at all these events. I hope to find some online and I will link them later. If you are a runner and haven’t done a sprint-tri, I would recommend it. It will force you to work on parts of your body that don’t normally get work in running.

Now, if they would just publish the results so I could see how I really did... Days like this make me want a Garmin more!

Ran anyway......

I was originally going to Yoga today, but work got in the way. Even though I normally don’t do much the day before a race, I decided to stretch my legs a little this morning and got 4 miles in at a nice, easy pace. It felt good and I know that I probably won’t do anything on Sunday, so I will have a full day off then. I still need to 2 buckets for the race to use as storage and seats at the staging area. I also may pick up 2 chamois towels because Judy told me they really get you dried off quickly. I also need to figure out what food to take. I think I am going to carry my old standby, a clif bar. I’ll carry gatorade in my fuel belt too.

Once this triathlon is over, I am going to start putting together a marathon training schedule for Myrtle Beach. I have seen several websites that help you create one and the book I am reading has some in it as well. My next book to read is all about running your first marathon, so I am sure it will have tips as well.

I’m also saving up for my Garmin 405 GPS watch. It will really help when working on pace for the marathon.

I love this weather!

It was a nice 65 degrees when I went out this morning. There were lots of people out and about, especially after 6:00. I am going to have to start wearing my ipod even if I don’t listen to it so that I have some sense of what pace I am running and how long I have been out. When I looped by the elementary school at my 6 mile mark, there were several teachers already there and I started to panic that I had been out too long.

7 Miles today at an easy pace today. I took it pretty slow the first 3 miles and then picked up the pace. I could have easily run 10+ today, but I didn’t have the time. Hopefully that energy will carry over to the triathlon on Saturday. I got in another 3 or 4 miles of biking last night chasing Bobby around Lake Forest while Lee got used to the road bike she borrowed. I am starting to enjoy the biking and we may have to trade up to some road bikes if we enjoy the triathlon. I will definitely get a light on my bike if I keep riding because it is pretty scary to be flying down a hill in the dark and worrying that you may hit a rock or pothole and wipe out.

Julian has a swim meet tonight and I am a timer, so it looks like another 2 hours at the Westside Aquatic Center. She and her friends are really enjoying swim team and the exercise is great. I think I am going to start working with her and Bobby on a little running at night. I want to get them up to where they can run a 5K in the spring....

Lots of people ask tell me they can’t run because of various ailments or failed attempts in the past. My experience is that most of the time people start way too fast. Here is a link to a beginners running plan called Couch to 5K. You will see it abbreviated a lot of places as C25K. Take a look and realize that you can run a 5K in just a little over two months without a lot of work!

Action Shots...

I just found some cool (well, OK maybe not cool) action shots of our running this summer...


In this one, I am the guy in the middle with the old school headband on.....



In this one, I am getting last minute instructions from my coach (bib #359). Once again, I’m the guy in the old school headband...



In this one, I am leading the pack (yeah, right). I’m the guy in the old school headband.... (Notice a pattern here?)

4 Miles Easy?

Ran 4 miles at lunch today at just under a 9 minute pace. 4 Miles is a good lunch distance because I can knock it out and shower in about 50 minutes. That keeps my lunch at an hour and right on schedule.

It should have been an easy run, but with the bike ride this morning and the heat at mid-day it was not as easy as it should have been. Lee wants to ride tonight for some practice. I am either going to ride with her or run some intervals at the track while she is riding or toss some balls to my son to get him ready for fall baseball....

Rain or No Rain?

Looks like the latest Hannah projection keeps us dry. :(

I wasn’t looking forward to racing or tailgating in the rain, but man we need it!

Got my bike ride in...

I have a real hard time living up to the promise I always make when trying out a new race distance or in this case a new type of race. I keep telling myself to just be happy if I finish this sprint-triathlon on Saturday and don’t worry about the time. Then I go out and ride 14 miles this morning and realize how far back in the pack I am going to be and it stinks.

Also, I now formally apologize to any biker that I may have honked my horn at in my younger days. I’m sure the guy that came up behind me in the dark and honked his horn got a big laugh when I almost jumped off the bike. The peace I find running in the dark of early morning is not there when I bike. I am constantly looking for a stick, rock or pothole in the dark. I am convinced that before I get to the bottom of each hill I am going to hit something and flipping over the handlebars.

So far so good though, the next time I ride will be in the rain from Hurricane Hannah on Saturday morning in the race. Should be a very pleasant experience.

Once this is over, I am going to start training for the Myrtle Beach Marathon. I’ll run the Spinx half as part of my training. So if you see me looking disoriented and with an empty fuel belt during the next few months, help the old guy out and point me towards home.

Training today....

Got 4 miles in this morning and I have yoga today too. After three days of swimming, I am ready to take a break from that. If we decide that triathlons are going to be a regular event, I will definitely have to do a lot of swim training. Even though it is a small piece of the race, I should easily be able to cut my time in half with some regular training. I am even more impressed with what Phelps did in the olympics after my small amount of training.

Lee borrowed a road bike from a friend yesterday. That should help her on the ride. It has a great seat on it and looks real comfortable. I need to work on my gear shifter because I can’t get my bike all the way into low gear right now. Lee also borrowed a fancy triathlon suit for the race.

My biggest concern right now is the weather. It looks like Hannah may be dropping a lot of rain on us during the race. I don’t mind running in the rain, but I am sure that biking in the rain will be a lot more of an issue for me.

Sprint-Tri week begins...

I started my sprint-tri week with a great yoga class. Lot’s of lower body work today including some stretching on the IT band. I think this will be one of the biggest benefits to my running because I hear of lots of runners that have IT band problems as they increase their mileage in training.

I’ll probably get my swimming in again today, maybe shooting for more than the 300 meters required for the race. Tomorrow, I hope to get up early enough to ride my bike down to the pool and swim, then bike home, then run 4 miles.

Thanks to some of our friends (Judy and Mike, it’s your fault), I have decided to up my schedule for my first marathon. I am going to target the MB Marathon in February. This will let me work the Spinx half into my training schedule. If nothing else, I should be able to eat my hot dog at Peaches Corner without guilt after running the marathon...

I also want to apologize to those in my yoga class today. I’ll try to get in the back next time so I don’t distract you as I continually struggle with my balance poses!

:)