7 more today....

It felt great out today and I enjoyed every bit of my run. I am going to enjoy the next two weeks of ‘light’ running before I start full blown marathon training. If all goes well, I will have three 20 mile runs prior to the marathon in February. I am hoping to get Lee to run part of my long runs with me.

I originally thought I would just run multiple loops of some of my normal routes on these long runs, but now I think I may try to map out either one big loop or a destination run where someone drops me off and I run home. I think I could do some pretty fun runs that way, especially if I incorporate some of the downtown area and swamp rabbit trails.

Last week I went in Fleet Feet to get some Shot Bloks before the race and I saw the ’13.1’ stickers at the checkout stand. I almost went ahead and bought them, but I am just too superstitious. I felt sure I would be tempting the running gods to strike me down with a sprained ankle or pulled hamstring. So I waited until after the race, but now I have them proudly on display. I can’t wait to add a ’26.2’ right beside them in February! I used to think it was funny that my kids got excited about getting stickers, but I guess I am no different!

I need to run...

Well, I couldn’t bring myself to get out in the freezing temps this morning before work and I am paying for it now. I wanted to get 10 miles in today, but it looks like I’ll get a big 0 in. If I am lucky, I will be able to run after church tonight. I’ll settle for a quick 5 miles today and then I can try to work in a 10 miler tomorrow.

I need to get out and find some cold weather running gear too. I have a few long sleeve technical shirts, but think I would like some long sleeve compression shirts. I hear they are really good at preventing chafing. I also need to get some running tights. My legs don’t normally get too cold, but I think that on these cold/windy days it would be nice to have them on.

So, I need to do some shopping and figure out a way to get my run in.... I don’t think its going to happen today!

The finish line...

After I finished the race Saturday, I had the opportunity to sit in the stadium and watch others finish. That was pretty neat. One thing that struck me as I watched was the different running styles was that the finish line doesn’t care how beautiful your stride is or how skinny your waist is. Before I started running, I would have thought that all people in races were bean poles with perfect gaits and long strides. After running for almost a year, I realized that there are runners of every body type, gait and speed. I learned to never judge a book by its cover when trying to project finishing times at the start of a race. I have been passed by knock kneed women, bow legged men, foot shuffling senior citizens and gazelle like teenagers.

Once we cross the finish line, we are all equals. The times may be different, but the results are not. We all asked our bodies to do something that takes as much mental toughness as it does physical strength. We all started out on the same side of the starting line and we all ended up on the same side of the finish line. My coach, Allan, put it this way last Saturday as we were waiting for the start and a girl in front of us heard us talking about our ‘goal times’.... Allan told me his goal for the marathon and she turned around and said “I’m just hoping to finish in 6 hours!”. Allan replied, “I promise you that the medal you get will look exactly like the one I get...”. He was right, the finish line looks the same to all of us and that is the beauty of running. Sure there is some competition, but the biggest competition is with yourself.

Back in the saddle....

I went out for an easy 5.4 miles today. It felt good to be back on the road, no soreness at all. I did have a little foot cramp but I am sure that yoga will straighten that out tomorrow.

I have had some time to reflect on the race and I have been reading some comments of others. I think the Greenville Track Club did a great job. I was even more impressed when I found out that a lot of their volunteers were not able to come because they were high school football players that had their games moved to Saturday because of the rain. There was plenty of water on the course and there were more spectators than I expected with the weather. This was the first race I have done where they put your name on your bib, and I appreciated the people calling me out by name as I was running. It was a great experience and makes me wonder what it would be like to run a big city marathon where the streets are lined with people.

I’ve also been thinking about what distance is my favorite to run in a race. I think the half marathon is a great distance. It requires training, but you don’t have re-arrange your life to prepare for it. I will be interested to see how I feel after the full marathon in February. After the half, I felt pretty good. I think I would like to run the Myrtle Beach in February, the Marine Corps Marathon next October and then the Disney Marathon after that. I won’t ever be a Boston Qualifier, so I think getting those three in would be a great accomplishment for me and then I could drop back to 10K’s an Halfs.

Weekend Wrap-up...

Wow, what weekend...

First the race...

I have never run a half marathon so I have nothing to compare it to, but I had a great time. I thought the course was pretty cool. As I feared, it was a little too tight when we hit the Swamp Rabbit Trail the first time. Also, it would be great if they could remove the poles that keep vehicles off the trail. The guy beside me almost got a free vasectomy when the girl in front of him jumped out of the way. I thought the water stops were well placed and well staffed. Thanks to Fleet Feet for the Gu!

My last mile was my fastest, so that is a good thing. I averaged an 8:42 pace on the chip time and my garmin. I was pleased with that and I would love to get close to the same pace for my marathon in February.

Here is a picture of me and my friend Tim at the starting line. I am in the headband and Tim has on the white visor....



Here we are with our medals on...




After the race, I hauled dear son up to Camp Old Indian for a day of hiking and other activities and a very cold night in a tent. We made it back in time for Sunday School. We had a busy day with church and other activities (a lot of it was eating, yikes!) and I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. I’ll probably run tomorrow and see how I feel.

Quick race report...

Just a quick report... I made my goal of under 2 hours with a 1:54:14 on my garmin.

Off to camp with young son for the night... I’ll check back later...

16 hours until the race....

Well the big race (Spinx Half Marathon) is tomorrow morning at 8:00. Young son is running the 1.2 mile kids marathon at 8:10 and Lee and young daughter are in the 5K at 9:00. I hope Lee is able to push young daughter to run some.

I have taken care of most of my pre-race tasks. I got some more Shot Bloks (gummy bear like electrolyte candy) today. I picked up all our packets, numbers and chips at the expo. I have been hydrating. I am glad I read Runners World regularly because I noticed an article not long ago that said drinking lots of water prior to a race can actually flush out your electrolytes. I don’t want that, so I am mixing some gatorade in with my hydration plan.

I still need to pick up some band-aids. I was going to just go with the body glide, but with the possibility of rain and the cool temps I think I will go old school with some band-aids.

I also need to do a little shopping because I need to get together the food and stuff to take camping with young son tomorrow night. Yes, I am looking forward to a night in a sleeping bag and tent to recover from the half marathon!

Thanks in advance to all those volunteers that make the race possible. I’ll be easy to pick out if you are watching the race. I’ll be the guy that you see and say “I don’t think he really understood how long a half marathon is...”

Thanks Megan....

One of the other Greenville Track Club bloggers posted a message about her pre-race jitters. That got me thinking and then it got me worrying!

Now every time I stand up, I feel a pain that I am sure is a pulled muscle. Every time I sneeze, I am convinced I have the flu. I look at the map of the race and I think, ‘there is no way I can run that far’. I will be glad to get out there Saturday morning and get moving. One thing I am trying to do to calm my nerves is laying out a race ‘strategy’. I am starting to put together a mile by mile pace plan.

One thing I have decided is that I am going to focus on finishing strong rather than finishing fast. I am going to do my best to go out slow and speed up. I would like to get two miles in at a moderate pace and then speed up for 5-7 miles and see how I feel. I would love to finish under two hours (OK, I have now publicly stated my goal) but I mostly want to finish.

I have a short run scheduled today and yoga tomorrow. I may have to schedule some Pepto training sessions if the butterflies in my stomach don’t settle down!

5 Mile Tempo Run

I ran another five mile tempo run today. Actually, I ran the first three at my tempo pace of just under 8:00 per mile and the last two at about 8:30 a mile. I wanted to see how good I felt slowing down after going out fast. I hope to be able to go out at a target pace on Saturday, but if I go out too fast I wanted to see how well I recovered when I slowed down.

I felt pretty good and I felt like I could have kept up the 8:30 pace for quite a while. I hope I feel the same way Saturday!

I need to by Fleet Feet and pick up some more Clif Shot Bloks for the race. I am planning on wearing my fuel belt even though they are having water every mile. I like being able to drink out of the bottles and I like being able to drink on my schedule. I’ll also carry a half of a clif bar just in case I really crash.

Now that it looks like it will probably be wet and cool on Saturday, I am a little unsure about what to wear. I also wonder if I will wear my ‘rain’ shoes or my ‘race’ shoes. I would much rather wear the Pearl Izumi’s I like to race in than my older Saucony’s, but if it is really raining I’ll probably go with the old shoes.

Hopefully the rain will bail out before we go to Camp Old Indian after the race. Nothing like a night in a sleeping bag after 13 mile race...

Yoga today...

We did a very intense workout today. Lots of quad, hamstring and core work. I sweated like I had been doing cardio for 30 minutes. It is a great feeling to be totally stretched out at the end of the workout.

We also did a lot of specific work on our knees to strengthen the joint. I will definitely go again Friday to get totally loose before the race on Saturday.

On another note, my daughter won an award for Most Improved Swimmer on her high school swim team. She worked really hard this year and I am proud of her determination and effort. Now, we will try get her to run a 5K before the spring swimming season begins.

Saturday is looking to be cool and wet. I’m not sure what that will do for my run, but I don’t think it will matter too much. It is a good thing the races are ending at Fluor Field so that the spectators and early finishers can stay out of the weather while the rest of us penguins waddle through to the finish....

Race Week!!

Well, the wait is over. Race week is finally here. The Spinx half marathon is this Saturday and I guess I am as ready as I can get. I hiked yesterday and then went out today and ran five miles at a pretty fast pace (for me anyway) with a time of 31:59.

I will do Yoga tomorrow and hopefully Friday. I will run hard again Wednesday four or five miles and probably an easy jog for five or six miles on Thursday.

I want to put together an actual plan for my run this week too. I want to get a realistic goal time set and then lay out a mile by mile plan that lets me achieve it.

I need to get some more shot bloks. I want to run with them again this week just to make sure my stomach still handles them OK.

It should be an exciting week and I am looking forward to Saturday.

No running today...

No running today. I walked a good bit, but that didn’t make up for the eating I did! Our friends the DeYoungs put on a tremendous tailgate today. They fried fish, shrimp, onion rings, hush puppies & french fries. That was on top of the brownies, chips, dips and other stuff....

Oh well, I guess I will run it off next week during the half marathon.....

Tomorrow our Sunday School class is going to Paris Mountain for a picnic and hike. I’ll probably do a little run later on in the day as well.

10 miles and a fall....

If you were driving down East North Street this morning and saw a guy perfectly execute a face plant on the sidewalk in front of the Bi-Lo at the North Hills Shopping Center, that was me!

It was quite an experience. I thought I had perfectly planted my foot on the curb I was stepping onto, only to have it slide off and leave me doing a Super Man like dive to the concrete. Fortunately, I just scraped up my hands and bruised my pride bone pretty good. I briefly thought about doing 10 push ups to make people think I had some kind of really tough training program going, but my hands were burning too much for that.

I got up and kept on moving. The blood clotted up pretty quickly so it wasn’t too bad as I finished up the run. I wanted to go for 13 or 14 miles, but I just didn’t get started early enough.

I liked the Clif Shot Bloks. The texture and flavor were pretty good and I washed them down with a bottle of water with no problem. I felt a pick up pretty shortly after eating them. I’ll definitely take some on the half next week.

5 more in the books...

I got in a great 5 miles at an 8:16 pace. That felt great to me. I am really trying to run my shorter runs at faster paces than I used to. I am going to try and get in a 10-14 miler in the morning and then figure out a taper plan for next week to rest for the half on 10/25.

I have started hydrating a little earlier in my runs lately and I think it is really helping me keep my speed up for longer periods of time. I have some Clif Shot Bloks that I am going to try on this long run too.



If I like them, I will probably carry some in the half along with a half clif bar. I have some friends that carry fig newtons with them on long runs, but I would eat a whole sleeve of them and I really don’t want to do that.

I just realized that right after the Spinx Half, my son and I leave for a cub scout camping trip. So much for a great nights sleep after the race!

7 great miles today...

I felt great today and got in another 7 miles at my goal pace. It was a little warm in the sun, but felt great in the shade.

I have been reading John Bingham’s Marathoning for Mortals and I am really enjoying it. At first it was a bit scary as the case is made that it is not something to attempt unless you are totally committed. Once I got further into the book, it became evident that the beginning is like being beat down by a coach or drill instructor at the beginning of training to be built back up in the end. It has lots of practical advice, but the best part to me is that the enthusiasm of the author comes through loud and clear. It has me fired up and I hope to read it through again in January.

7 miles Monday, Yoga today...

I got in seven miles Monday at a good pace. I kept a consistent 8:30 pace for the whole run. I would love to keep that up for the half marathon in two weeks, but we’ll see how that goes.

We had substitute yoga instructor today and he was pretty good. We did some poses with a wide stance that I liked because I could get my hands flat on the floor.

I have been having some email conversation with Allan, my running coach. He is trying to ease my nerves about the half marathon. It is good to get feedback from someone that has been running for a long time and someone that has known me for a long time too. Since his parents and my parents know each other, I doubt that he would encourage me to do something that would actually cause me bodily harm. Plus, he knows my athletic ability pretty well since we were on the JV basketball team together back in the day.... In fact because he knows me so well, he about had a heart attack when he saw me at the Reedy River Run last year!

I spend a lot of time thinking about training, nutrition and hydration for the race. I don’t always spend enough time talking to people that have done the distance and listening to their experiences. I plan to do more of that in the next two weeks and I’ll do it again leading up to the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February.

Furman Blue Shoes 5K

This was a fun race. It was my first time running a true cross country course. I was a little intimidated at first as the college and high school teams were unloading and heading up to the course. I briefly thought we were going to be running against them. I was very relieved to find out that the 5K was just a preliminary event to the big Cross Country meet that Furman was hosting.

Some of the kids were cheering us on and that was pretty neat. I ran a little slower than I would have on pavement, but I was happy with my time.

I got out for a little over 8 miles at a slow, easy pace today. Then we went to the mountains and did a little hike with my son and the dogs. The dogs wore me out. I need to get a prong collar for Pearl (the new dog) so she doesn’t pull her collar through her neck. I got quite the triceps workout holding on to them.

We need to get some more miles in for Bobby. He has to have 25 in by the time of the Spinx Kids Marathon.

Tomorrow... I may try to get in a short run before work or during lunch. I’ll see how my legs feel.

Wasted day... race tomorrow...

I got a different kind of cross training in today. Duke Power decided to enforce a right of way through our back yard that they had ignored for 50 years and I had to move a shed. Two of my neighbors had to move sheds too, so we got together and scheduled it today. I spent the day cleaning out the shed, throwing away stuff, taking down a fence, taking down the ramp... blah blah blah...

Well it is all done and I didn’t have time to run today. I was going to go out late today and try to get a few miles in, but with the race tomorrow I figured I would just take the rest and move on.

Hopefully I will post a decent time tomorrow, but I am not too worried about it. I am just looking forward to running on the grass. I haven’t run off road before, so it should be interesting.

7 miles today...

I got 7 miles in today. I ran at a fairly moderate pace and felt pretty good most of the way. I was only scheduled to run 5 today, but I decided to run 7 today and an easy 3 tomorrow so that I will be pretty well rested for the 5K on Saturday. I am fading fast, I need a caffeine fix!

Blame it on the dog...

One thing that got me out moving, even before I was trying to lose weight was our dog, Indy.


Two years ago, Lee told my son that he could have a dog for his birthday if he improved his penmanship. Now, how are you going to tell a second grader that he didn’t improve in something? So I knew then we were getting a dog. Well, after a false start with a dog someone was rescuing, we ended up at the pound. They had a nice, two year old, crate trained, calm dog. We decided to think about it while we went to get a haircut. We came back, with Lee’s dad in tow now as well, and someone was sitting outside with our dog!

Needless to say, emotions started running high. The next thing I know, we get stuck in the kitten and puppy room. I’m allergic to cats and constantly feel the guilt of depriving my family of a cat (well, not that guilty they could get an outside cat if they really wanted one!). There is this cute, small, docile puppy in a cage by itself. I try to suggest that maybe it is alone because it is unsociable, but no one listens. The next thing I know, they are all taking turns holding the little puppy with the one broken ear. It starts nuzzling up to them and I know that it is all over and done with.

48 hours later, the sedatives that they had the dog on to make it appear adoptable have worn off and we have a bundle energy on our hands. As Indy grew, her favorite thing became sleeping all day so she could drive us nuts with tennis balls all night. She retrieves them, she puts them under the chairs so we have to get them, she holds one in her mouth and plays soccer with the other one.

In an effort to regain some relaxation at night, we started walking her more and more. It didn’t really slow her down, but it did get us moving and started on our journey to a healthier lifestyle. We finally solved the problem of her not being tired at night. We got another dog. So they play all day and then we all rest at night.

Rainy day run...

5.4 miles in the rain today. I don’t mind running in the rain. I generally sweat so much that it looks like I have been in the rain anyway...

I tried to go out at a normal pace and then kick it in for three miles. I kicked it in for one mile and then decided to just enjoy the rain and go at a normal pace. All in all, I averaged about 8:33 a mile I think.

One thing about running in the rain is that I look down a lot more. I saw a dead squirrel, a dead bird, a shoe and half of a hamburger. I also saw a pile of dog waste that I avoided, only to step in a puddle that was MUCH deeper than I thought. That’s why I wear my oldest shoes in the rain!

The Spinx Runfest is coming up and I think we are all going to be running in an event. It will be a great family day!

One other thing...

I want you to meet my running buddy, Body Glide.



I first met Body Glide when I weighed about 50 pounds more than I do now and was still running in cotton shirts. A friend introduced us and we have had a close relationship ever since. Once and a while, I forget to take my buddy with me and I end up being bloody mad about it when I get home!

After my 13 miler yesterday, I discovered that I may need to strengthen my friendship with good old Body Glide. It seems certain parts of my anatomy weren’t ready for the extra three miles....

If you like this....

If you like this blog, you will probably love the ones I have linked over on the left sidebar. These are fellow Greenville Track Club members that also blog. The good thing about their blogs is that they actually know a lot about running, so you may learn something from them!

Standing still but gaining ground?

Well, today is a cross training day and I used yoga for that. It always amazes me how much I can sweat while standing still!

I toyed with the idea of taking a short run this morning, but I am glad I didn’t as we worked our lower body pretty hard in class today.

Two months into yoga and I can see some real progress. On a good day, I can actually touch my toes with my legs straight. That is probably an improvement of 3 to 4 inches in flexibility. If you saw me today you might laugh at this, but my balance is improving as well. Today I managed to fall forward onto my head twice during crow pose, I hope my head didn’t dent the floor! The first time I tried crow pose a month ago, I couldn’t bend my knees enough to really get in position to balance.

Another area of improvement is my quadriceps flexibility. They have stretched out nicely and my stride feels much more balanced when I run.

Five days straight of running coming up with the Furman Blue Shoes 5K part of it on Saturday.

It looks like I have a couple of wet runs coming up if the weather forecasters know what they are talking about. Sometimes I really enjoy running in the rain. I hope this will be one of those times.

LSR finally done...

Thanks to Lee taking the kids to school this morning, I had time to sleep a little later and still get my my 13 mile run in. It was hard to slow my pace down early on, but I was glad I did later on. I had eaten a lot of carbs last night so I didn’t eat anything this morning before the run. I did carry gatorade with me in my fuel belt.

This was by far the longest in distance and time that I have run. I ran about 13.2 miles in about 2 hours and 8 minutes. I ran about 90 seconds a mile slower than my normal pace. I was glad to run the distance, because now I know I can finish the Spinx half on 10/25. My question now becomes “Can I break 2 hours?”. Given my normal race pace, that shouldn’t be a problem. However, I am not sure I can sustain it for 13 miles.

I wonder if they are having any ‘pace groups’ for the Spinx. I might be interested in finding one if they do. Tomorrow is a Yoga day, but I might try to squeeze in a 3 mile run early if I can.

Furman Blue Shoes 5K is this Saturday. It should be fun as it is all off road.

Arrrrrgh....

I didn’t get to bed until late last night and then I just couldn’t get my lazy tail out and running this morning.....

I guess I will move my long run to tomorrow morning and try to get back on schedule from there.

Sometimes sleep just wins out...

:-|

Yoga today... LSR tomorrow...

We had a great day today... One kid went off with their youth group to Carowinds and the other one had baseball practice at the same time we had Yoga. It worked out well.

Yoga was crowded as Karen is getting bigger crowds now that she has her own studio. It was fun being back on Saturday when we have coffee afterwards.

From Yoga, we picked up Bobby and headed home to clean the house. Then the fun really began as we loaded up both dogs and went to Paris Mountain for a hike. We went up the sulfur springs trail for about 1.25 miles and then back. It was pretty steep and the dogs were a hand full the way they pulled. The weather was great though and we had a good time.

After that, we headed out for some shopping for Julian’s birthday and then dinner with Lee’s dad. Now we are watching ‘Honey I Blew Up the Kid.’

Tomorrow, I start into my new schedule with a 13 mile run. I hope I get out of bed and get it done. It will be the longest run I have had to date and I am doing it to prepare for the Spinx Half.

Marathon training officially begins...

Well, it is kind of beginning anyway... I have officially registered for the Myrtle Beach Marathon. I am proud to report that Lee has registered for the half marathon!

I think I have settled on Hal Higdon’s training intermediate II training plan. I like it because it focuses on one tempo run per week and one long run per week. I am not sure I could handle trying to keep up with speed work as well. I also like that it gives me three 20 milers during the training. I still don’t understand how I will suddenly be able to run 26.2 miles when my longest run in training is 20 miles, but enough people have done it that it must be true. :)

I added a calendar to my web page to keep track of my training schedule. I had to modify a few things to take care of the Spinx Half on 10/25 and also because I want my X-Training to be on Tuesdays instead of Mondays if at all possible.

We’ll see how it goes. I am pretty excited about it in general and hope I feel the same way when I hit the big mileage weeks.

Anniversary of the first day of the rest of my life...

Wow, what a difference a year makes. One year ago today, at 11:40 AM, I walked into Weight Watchers for my first weigh in and meeting. I remember it very well. It was a little intimidating because I was the only guy there. Fortunately, the leader was very good and she made us all feel comfortable. As I read the materials and listened to reports from those that had already been members for a while, I realized that it wasn’t the program that was magic, it was the desire for change.

Several people had obviously been attending for a long time with what I considered relatively little progress. Others had shown significant weight loss. As I listened to the side conversations, it became obvious there were two types of conversations going on. Some people were talking about what they could eat on the plan and ways to eat more and stay within their ‘points’. Others were talking about ways to take what they were eating or liked to eat and make it fit into the plan. The difference may sound subtle, but over time it became apparent that it was the difference in successful participants and not-so-successful participants.

There is a different topic each week at the meetings and they also try to give you some tools to help you change your mindset about food. Tools for discovering what you think about food and why you think it. Tools to help you change your self image. Tools to help you deal with situations where you will be surrounded by less than healthy choices. A hammer is a great tool, but it is useless if someone doesn’t swing it. The same is true with the Weight Watchers tools.

I lost a little over 8 pounds the first week. That actually made me a little depressed because I had logged all my food for the week and I still ate a lot of food. Then I realized how much I had actually been eating before and it was disgusting. That is when I resolved to make this work.

Other than my desire to change, the single biggest factor in my success has been that Lee did the program with me. It made it nice to have the accountability at home and at the meetings. She was willing to try recipes I found online, even if they weren’t for her favorite foods. She even started running so we could do the races together. She swore she would never run a race, now she is going to do a half marathon!

Today I ran the first annual Robert’s Weight Watchers Anniversary 5K in 24 minutes flat. I am also going to do my monthly weigh in. I never thought I would celebrate anything by running and then getting on a scale. As I said at the beginning, what a difference a year makes...

Another one in the books...

10.6 miles early this morning. I would have gone further, but once again I did not want to get up and get moving. My transition time from bed to driveway was about 25 minutes. I need to cut that down to 5!

I altered my route a little today and did about 3 miles on the Lake Forest track. This let me focus on some pacing and avoid a second loop up East North Street. I enjoyed the cool temperatures and I look forward to the Furman Blue Shoes on 10/11 to see if my 5K time picks up with less heat.

I am currently looking at marathon training plans for the upcoming Myrtle Beach Marathon. One thing I have noticed is that most of them for beginner/novice/intermediate runners start out with lower mileage than I am currently running. I am trying to figure out if I just up their mileage in the early weeks to meet my current level and stay there until the plan increases it or if I just keep doing what I have been doing until I hit the week in their plan that has similar mileage.

There are lots of races coming up. I hope to fit many of them into my training schedule. I heard there is usually a 5K at Eastside High School on Thanksgiving. I may see if that is happening this year. If not, I may run the first annual ‘Robert Prepares to Pig Out 10 Mile Turkey Trot’. You are welcome to join me!