I suppose it can't all be good news now can it?
I knew it was going to be hot this Sunday, so I planned accordingly. Saturday night I made 4, 10 oz. bottles of Nuun strawberry lemonade, and got all my clothes ready for Sunday's run. I drank lots of water (even more than my normal gallon a day), and went to bed nice and early, about 9 pm.
I woke up with the birds at about 4:30, got laced up and threw on a pot of coffee. I ate my normal Sunday breakfast (a couple of Quaker soft baked bars), drank half a cup of black coffee, metered out my GU doses (for miles 4,8,12, and 16), made a quick bathroom break, and headed out the door at 5:00 to beat the heat.
This week has been rough going for some reason. My normal long distance time of ~10:50/mile has been slowed down to about 11:30, even if I push to go faster it just hasn't happened. Sunday's run started off even slower. I planned to go that same ~11:30 to keep the heat/humidity from being too much of a factor, but my feet just didn't want to listen. The best I could muster was about 11:45, no matter how hard I felt like I was pushing.
I decided about 2 miles in that I wasn't going to try and push at all, I was just going to let my pace dictate itself to me. I figure my body knows what it wants to do. The next 8 miles or so were fine. I went through a good amount of fluid, ate my chomps at the prescribed mileage, and generally was having a good run. Not a great run, but a good run.
Right around mile 10 I became aware of my hydration situation. I simply did not have enough to do 19 miles at my current rate of consumption. I tried to meter out what I had left, but at mile 12 when I heeded nature's call there was no mistaking that I was dehydrated. My route at that mileage is not really near my house, so I decided to keep plugging along, go a little slower, and be careful with the fluids I had remaining. At mile 15 (a full mile before I was 'supposed to'), I ate the last helping of chomps to try and give myself the energy to just keep moving. A few times I noticed that my feet were barely leaving the pavement, and the act of lifting my legs was much harder than it should ever be.
I thought about things I've read, "your legs aren't giving up, your head is" and the like. I also thought about the dangers of dehydration and running in the heat. I kept having this internal dialog with myself. Calling myself a weakling, a coward, an idiot. I finally gave in to myself just before mile 17, and stopped moving. I hung my head in disgust. In running you only have to beat yourself, and I failed. I called my wife to let her know I was on my way, and walked the last mile home.
I know that I made the right decision, that doing this much in the heat was too much too soon for my still fledgling running self. I still HATE that I gave up. It makes me angry, it makes me sad, it makes me wonder if 26.2 is even possible?
I will try for 19 again this coming Sunday, but I'm going to make some changes. I'm going to come up with a route that swings by my house around mile 12-14, so that I can restock on water if I need to. I'm going to push for that ~10:50 time, because my body just moves better at that pace. I need to use my brain to force my body to do what I need it to do. I'll do 19 even if I have to walk some of it, and move on from there. I have to get better at this, backwards is just not an option.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
A boring little blurb on progress
Sunday 6/24/2012
I got up early to beat the heat and hit the road at 5:40 AM. Breakfast consisted of 2 Quaker Soft Baked Cinnamon Roll and a cup of black coffee. I waited my customary 10 minutes after eating and headed out the door. Run fueling consisted of GU Chomps at miles 4.5, 9, and 13. I also tried a new hydration method, NUUN tablets. The flavor wasn't too bad (tri-berry), but the extra salt *seemed* to make an actual difference. I've got some other flavors to try, and the pink lemonade flavor is surprisingly good.
I got up early to beat the heat and hit the road at 5:40 AM. Breakfast consisted of 2 Quaker Soft Baked Cinnamon Roll and a cup of black coffee. I waited my customary 10 minutes after eating and headed out the door. Run fueling consisted of GU Chomps at miles 4.5, 9, and 13. I also tried a new hydration method, NUUN tablets. The flavor wasn't too bad (tri-berry), but the extra salt *seemed* to make an actual difference. I've got some other flavors to try, and the pink lemonade flavor is surprisingly good.
I ran 18 Miles, at a comfortable clip of 10'49"/mi. I felt good throughout the run, calm, comfortable, and in control.
I'm 'reading' (audiobook) the new Stephen King novel 11/22/63. It is very good, and very detailed. I am surprised by how completly ignorant I am of American history from this time period. It was 9 years before I was born, and all I can think is that my kids (who were both born after 9/11) will have the same detatched emotional response to that earth shattering event as I do to Kenned'y assination. I think I'm going to do a little non-fiction Kennedy era reading on the side, might be good for my brain. ;)
This week started off rocky. I didn't exercise Monday or Tuesday, as my stomach was just not feeling up to the task and I didn't get any quality sleep Sunday or Monday night. I had a good run this morning (Wed 6/27), and am planning ahead to a great run this coming Sunday as I tackle the same 18 mile route one more time.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Serendipity -or- for lack of a compass
Sunday morning, June 17th, Father's Day. The morning started like just about any other Sunday. My youngest daughter had a bad dream about a hippopotamus (she's two, it's the scariest thing she knows). I assured her for the 100th time that there are no hippos in her bedroom, and tucked her back in. Four O'clock in the morning is no time for hippo crisis! Shortly after 5:00 she called to us again, my wife went and brought her back to our bed to sleep. Unfortunately she didn't sleep more than about 15 minutes before she was giggling and gently kicking me and picking at my eyelids. Fortunately she is extremely cute, and she sealed the deal by hugging me and explaining to Mommy that "I love Daddy very much!". (BEST. FATHER'S. DAY. PRESENT. EVER!) So we all got up, and got our day started.
I got dressed, drank a cup of coffee, ate my breakfast, stretched, checked my route map, and headed out the door. I checked my route map. I did. I really did. It didn't matter. 13 miles into my run I made a couple of bad decisions and ended up adding an extra mile and a half to what was supposed to be a sixteen mile run. On the bright side, I guess I know what my 17 and 18 mile routes look like... if I can remember it.
I ate my GU at the scheduled intervals (4, 8, and 12) and had good energy throughout the run. I also finished my latest audiobook "Wild Cards II : Aces High", so I'm going to be starting Stephen King's "11/22/63" tomorrow. I hope it is as good as I've heard.
I ate my GU at the scheduled intervals (4, 8, and 12) and had good energy throughout the run. I also finished my latest audiobook "Wild Cards II : Aces High", so I'm going to be starting Stephen King's "11/22/63" tomorrow. I hope it is as good as I've heard.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
One month later
OK so I've been lazy about posting here, but since I'm pretty much the only one who reads this I'm not exactly worried about disappointing the fan base. ;)
What has changed in the last month? I've lost 5 more pounds (leaving about 6 to go to my goal weight), and have managed to put on a little bit of muscle. My core feels stronger, and my running form has improved a bit. I still have a little hip discomfort in the groin area, but only when I'm not running. I've gotten my long run up to 16 miles at a comfortable pace of 11:00/ mile (which is about 30 seconds per mile faster than what I had originally planned for, so color me optimistic!).
I've been experimenting with fueling for the long run too. Before my workout it is either a mix of Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios and almond milk, or a couple of Quaker Soft Baked bars (so far I have only tried the Banana Nut). I'm thinking that on race day I probably won't have easy access to almond milk, so I'm trying to find dry fuel that is high carb and easy on the stomach. So far, this seems to be a good choice.
During my run I have been using GU Chomps (Cranberry Apple with Caffeine). A full serving is 4 chomps, which is basically 90 calories of sugar, and I eat them at miles 5 and 10. I have felt a 'bonk' the last couple times out in my last 2 miles, so I'm going to try something a little different on this Sunday's run. I'll be upping the 'dose' to 3 servings at miles 4, 8, and 12. I'm thinking (hoping?) that it will give me a more steady amount of energy to draw from. We shall see. Post workout is either a protein shake or a Met-RX bar. Lunch follows pretty closely after that. ;)
My training schedule has undergone a pretty drastic change starting this week. I am not doing HITTS on Tuesday and Thursday for the foreseeable future. Instead I will be doing a moderate 4 mile run (which will increase to 6 over time) at what I consider a fast pace (goal here is ~9:30/mile). This should help me add a couple miles to my overall base as well as build a little extra stamina as my perceived effort will be higher for these shorter runs.
Saturday runs will increase from a moderate 5 mile effort to 8 miles, and eventually 10 (to pair with the 20 on Sunday). The idea here is that I am again building more endurance and getting 'used' to running on tired legs on Sunday. To be fair though, with the amount of running I have been doing... my legs are *always* tired! ;)
Friday's double sessions will also be getting an overhaul. I have been running 8 miles in the morning at a comfortable pace and then going to my Spin class at night after work. I'm not sure what is going to happen here honestly, there are two possibilities. 1) I drop the run and just do Spin Friday night, or 2) I change Friday to my rest day and move Spin to Monday night. This is a tough decision because I *really* enjoy my Friday night Spin class (my moment of zen at Just Ride), and the instructor is phenomenal. However, my training guide highly suggests that Friday be my rest day before my back to back lengthy runs on Saturday and Sunday. I canceled tomorrow's Spin class because of prior commitment, so I'll go for a run tomorrow morning instead, but I really need to make a decision before next Friday.
Do you ever dream that you are flying? I do, and when I do it looks an awful lot like the girl shown below. During this morning's run I had an experience that felt like I was flying. It was AWESOME!. I am usually really cautious on this one particular hill as it is steep and I happen to run down the hill. Today however I maintained my 'push' pace down the hill and for a few seconds I had the odd sensation that I was flying. It was truly amazing. :)
So that's it, not much in the last month... ;)
What has changed in the last month? I've lost 5 more pounds (leaving about 6 to go to my goal weight), and have managed to put on a little bit of muscle. My core feels stronger, and my running form has improved a bit. I still have a little hip discomfort in the groin area, but only when I'm not running. I've gotten my long run up to 16 miles at a comfortable pace of 11:00/ mile (which is about 30 seconds per mile faster than what I had originally planned for, so color me optimistic!).
I've been experimenting with fueling for the long run too. Before my workout it is either a mix of Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios and almond milk, or a couple of Quaker Soft Baked bars (so far I have only tried the Banana Nut). I'm thinking that on race day I probably won't have easy access to almond milk, so I'm trying to find dry fuel that is high carb and easy on the stomach. So far, this seems to be a good choice.
During my run I have been using GU Chomps (Cranberry Apple with Caffeine). A full serving is 4 chomps, which is basically 90 calories of sugar, and I eat them at miles 5 and 10. I have felt a 'bonk' the last couple times out in my last 2 miles, so I'm going to try something a little different on this Sunday's run. I'll be upping the 'dose' to 3 servings at miles 4, 8, and 12. I'm thinking (hoping?) that it will give me a more steady amount of energy to draw from. We shall see. Post workout is either a protein shake or a Met-RX bar. Lunch follows pretty closely after that. ;)
My training schedule has undergone a pretty drastic change starting this week. I am not doing HITTS on Tuesday and Thursday for the foreseeable future. Instead I will be doing a moderate 4 mile run (which will increase to 6 over time) at what I consider a fast pace (goal here is ~9:30/mile). This should help me add a couple miles to my overall base as well as build a little extra stamina as my perceived effort will be higher for these shorter runs.
Saturday runs will increase from a moderate 5 mile effort to 8 miles, and eventually 10 (to pair with the 20 on Sunday). The idea here is that I am again building more endurance and getting 'used' to running on tired legs on Sunday. To be fair though, with the amount of running I have been doing... my legs are *always* tired! ;)
Friday's double sessions will also be getting an overhaul. I have been running 8 miles in the morning at a comfortable pace and then going to my Spin class at night after work. I'm not sure what is going to happen here honestly, there are two possibilities. 1) I drop the run and just do Spin Friday night, or 2) I change Friday to my rest day and move Spin to Monday night. This is a tough decision because I *really* enjoy my Friday night Spin class (my moment of zen at Just Ride), and the instructor is phenomenal. However, my training guide highly suggests that Friday be my rest day before my back to back lengthy runs on Saturday and Sunday. I canceled tomorrow's Spin class because of prior commitment, so I'll go for a run tomorrow morning instead, but I really need to make a decision before next Friday.
Do you ever dream that you are flying? I do, and when I do it looks an awful lot like the girl shown below. During this morning's run I had an experience that felt like I was flying. It was AWESOME!. I am usually really cautious on this one particular hill as it is steep and I happen to run down the hill. Today however I maintained my 'push' pace down the hill and for a few seconds I had the odd sensation that I was flying. It was truly amazing. :)
So that's it, not much in the last month... ;)
Monday, May 14, 2012
New "Longest Run"
I awoke at 4:45 AM to the sound of birds chirping and the earliest scraps of sunlight peeking through the window. I covered my head with my pillow and tried for what seemed like eons to get back to sleep. At 4:46 I got out of bed and got dressed for my run.
I sneaked downstairs as quietly as possible (which is hard to do on those squeaky stairs). I put on the coffee, found my running shoes, and I swear it took me the entire time the pot was brewing to put them on and tie the shoes. "This is proof", I thought, "that there is no life before coffee".
I poured myself a big bowl of Cheerios, and then just stared at it blankly. The thought of eating food just soured my belly. I decided to go down to the basement and fire up my gaming computer. I played a couple quick missions of "City of Heroes", a game in which I get to wallop bad guys across the skull with a large stick with absolutely zero social repercussions. After a while I dragged myself away from my cathartic bad habit and went upstairs to eat my Cheerios and start my day. I debated over another cup of coffee, but thought better of it and headed out the door.
I was feeling a bit sore and sluggish, nothing new really, as most of the time the first couple of miles feel exactly like that. It was at mile 3 when I still felt stiff that I started wondering what was wrong with my legs. It took me a while longer (the brain is completely non functional this early in the morning), to realize that the reason I was sore was that I had run in a 5k race the day before. I wanted to come in under 30 minutes in that race, so I pushed myself hard. I ended with a time of 28:54, and came in #222 of 443 runners... dead middle of the pack. I was quite pleased with that time (9:28/mile) as my marathon training pace is significantly slower at roughly 11:30/mile.
I ate my GU chomps at miles 5 and 9, and finally started to loosen up at mile 10. Holy cow, 10 miles of thinking "I am not going to make 14 miles today", before I finally felt like I was going to make it, ugh! I ran out of water at mile 13, so I may need to switch to my 4 bottle belt soon, especially as the weather heats up.
I wear glasses, but not when I'm running. They tend to fog up or jostle around on my face, and generally make me uncomfortable. They would have, however, prevented that stupid bug from slamming into my eyeball at mile 11. Those little suckers hurt!
I finally stopped running when I got to the little loop in my neighborhood, looked at my watch, and realized that I was just over 14 miles. I walked the last little bit (a quarter mile maybe?) home, unplugged from my iPod, and listened to the birds. Overall it was a good run, I felt strong, like I might have been able to pull off 15 miles, but I decided to play it safe and leave that for another day.
I sneaked downstairs as quietly as possible (which is hard to do on those squeaky stairs). I put on the coffee, found my running shoes, and I swear it took me the entire time the pot was brewing to put them on and tie the shoes. "This is proof", I thought, "that there is no life before coffee".
I poured myself a big bowl of Cheerios, and then just stared at it blankly. The thought of eating food just soured my belly. I decided to go down to the basement and fire up my gaming computer. I played a couple quick missions of "City of Heroes", a game in which I get to wallop bad guys across the skull with a large stick with absolutely zero social repercussions. After a while I dragged myself away from my cathartic bad habit and went upstairs to eat my Cheerios and start my day. I debated over another cup of coffee, but thought better of it and headed out the door.
I was feeling a bit sore and sluggish, nothing new really, as most of the time the first couple of miles feel exactly like that. It was at mile 3 when I still felt stiff that I started wondering what was wrong with my legs. It took me a while longer (the brain is completely non functional this early in the morning), to realize that the reason I was sore was that I had run in a 5k race the day before. I wanted to come in under 30 minutes in that race, so I pushed myself hard. I ended with a time of 28:54, and came in #222 of 443 runners... dead middle of the pack. I was quite pleased with that time (9:28/mile) as my marathon training pace is significantly slower at roughly 11:30/mile.
I ate my GU chomps at miles 5 and 9, and finally started to loosen up at mile 10. Holy cow, 10 miles of thinking "I am not going to make 14 miles today", before I finally felt like I was going to make it, ugh! I ran out of water at mile 13, so I may need to switch to my 4 bottle belt soon, especially as the weather heats up.
I wear glasses, but not when I'm running. They tend to fog up or jostle around on my face, and generally make me uncomfortable. They would have, however, prevented that stupid bug from slamming into my eyeball at mile 11. Those little suckers hurt!
I finally stopped running when I got to the little loop in my neighborhood, looked at my watch, and realized that I was just over 14 miles. I walked the last little bit (a quarter mile maybe?) home, unplugged from my iPod, and listened to the birds. Overall it was a good run, I felt strong, like I might have been able to pull off 15 miles, but I decided to play it safe and leave that for another day.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Falling Flat
Sunday morning I laced up my shoes and dressed for the weather. It was a bit chilly so I wore my new Brooks Running LSD II jacket which is water proof, light weight, and a good wind breaker. I ended up being dressed a bit too warm by mile 5 as the temperature crept up and so did my body temperature. Fortunately I was able to remove the jacket, tuck it into it's own pocket, and attach it to my water belt with the built in clip all whilst running. Also, according to my wife, the jacket is 'pretty'.
I added fuel to my regimen, using a 1/2 packet of the GU Chomps at miles 4.5 and 9 (as well as a cup of cheerios with some almond milk before setting out). The run was a nice relaxing way to start the day with absolutely beautiful weather. I ran into an old friend from high school while out, and we exchange pleasantries before he continued on his way at a much faster pace than mine. That didn't bother me though, he's always been in great shape and I was at mile 12 while he was basically just leaving his driveway.
The remainder of the day went to getting the house ready for my youngest daughter's second birthday party. I joined my wife and kids at the grocery store and finish up the shopping, helped put the groceries away, put up decorations, prepared food, and picked my mother up for the festivities. It was a grand time, the kids played, the adults reminisced, and folks heard about my plans to run the marathon in January.
Most people were supportive and some just shook their head at the crazy man. I got the sense that while most people were being outwardly supportive of the idea, at least a few of them figured it was something I couldn't do, shouldn't do, and shouldn't even try. It was disheartening to overhear some of the comments made, and I began doubting myself. Then I remembered that two years ago I couldn't run a mile, now I run 13 with (relative) ease. I can do this. I'm not going to win any races, but I damned sure can finish, and that is my goal.
I'm just getting started.
I added fuel to my regimen, using a 1/2 packet of the GU Chomps at miles 4.5 and 9 (as well as a cup of cheerios with some almond milk before setting out). The run was a nice relaxing way to start the day with absolutely beautiful weather. I ran into an old friend from high school while out, and we exchange pleasantries before he continued on his way at a much faster pace than mine. That didn't bother me though, he's always been in great shape and I was at mile 12 while he was basically just leaving his driveway.
The remainder of the day went to getting the house ready for my youngest daughter's second birthday party. I joined my wife and kids at the grocery store and finish up the shopping, helped put the groceries away, put up decorations, prepared food, and picked my mother up for the festivities. It was a grand time, the kids played, the adults reminisced, and folks heard about my plans to run the marathon in January.
Most people were supportive and some just shook their head at the crazy man. I got the sense that while most people were being outwardly supportive of the idea, at least a few of them figured it was something I couldn't do, shouldn't do, and shouldn't even try. It was disheartening to overhear some of the comments made, and I began doubting myself. Then I remembered that two years ago I couldn't run a mile, now I run 13 with (relative) ease. I can do this. I'm not going to win any races, but I damned sure can finish, and that is my goal.
I'm just getting started.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Week 1 coming to a close
As week number one comes to a close I find myself concerned with 'fueling'. I haven't run a half-marathon since March 20th, but my 'long' runs have typically been around 12, so I'm not too nervous about adding one mile to this Sunday's run.
What I'm pondering is the use of 'GU Chomps'. I used to use these things all the time when I first started running more than 8 miles, but now I can comfortably run 13 without them. As I start to head towards larger numbers (hello 20, you are a scary looking number!), I start wondering when I should start eating these things.
I don't want to eat a serving at 13 miles and start running out of steam at 14 because I haven't gotten them into my system soon enough. I'm going to have to play with these things to see where they fit in best. The recommended every 45 minutes seems a bit excessive since (as I said) I've never really needed them to get to 13, but what lies beyond 13? Will my legs start to wobble without proper fuel, or am I just over thinking the whole thing too much?
I'll start playing with them this week, maybe take a serving around 8 miles into my 13 miler and see how it goes. So many questions... thank goodness I've got 8 months to try and figure all this stuff out!
What I'm pondering is the use of 'GU Chomps'. I used to use these things all the time when I first started running more than 8 miles, but now I can comfortably run 13 without them. As I start to head towards larger numbers (hello 20, you are a scary looking number!), I start wondering when I should start eating these things.
I don't want to eat a serving at 13 miles and start running out of steam at 14 because I haven't gotten them into my system soon enough. I'm going to have to play with these things to see where they fit in best. The recommended every 45 minutes seems a bit excessive since (as I said) I've never really needed them to get to 13, but what lies beyond 13? Will my legs start to wobble without proper fuel, or am I just over thinking the whole thing too much?
I'll start playing with them this week, maybe take a serving around 8 miles into my 13 miler and see how it goes. So many questions... thank goodness I've got 8 months to try and figure all this stuff out!
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