Finding time

It’s hard to find time to run, write, remodel the house, keep a girlfriend happy and stay on top of life.  I took three days off of work to get some work done around the house and have barely made long term progress.  Last weekend, I was able to finish up strong by doing a cycling cross training in lieu of the nine miler.  Then on Saturday, I did 14 miles in the rain.  It felt great.  

This week, I have decided to cross train one of my longer runs do to a slightly sore knee.  Also, on Friday, my brother will be in town from Denver and we can get a longrun in together and talk.  He will have to slow way down for me as he is one of those freaks of nature who runs marathon’s in the 2:40’s.

Getting close to finishing some remodeling and will get the treadmill/excercycle set up with a TV, so I can add some work in addition to my normal training.

A strange week

This week was the craziest running week I have had in a long time.  My running weeks are Monday Through Sunday.   I have done it this way for a long time, so Sundays are my last and longrun day, since most marathons are on Sundays. I also use a three week schedule that has an easier week every third week to help with injury prevention and serves as a recovery week.

 

Last Saturday was the North Shore trail run that I wrote about and punished my quads severely.  Sunday was  a 17 miler, done mostly on Asphalt and some concrete.  I was slightly sore, but this being my step back week, not concerned. 

 

On Monday, I showed up for my weekly Rec-league basketball game hoping to sit on the bench some and to play a little easier.  When I arrived, we only had 5 guys and were missing our big guy, which meant I had to battle the monsters in the paint.  Luckily, our big guy showed up about mid-point of the first half.  So I switched to power forward on defense and some type of rebounding guard hybrid on offense.  Now we only had one sub, but I couldn’t seem to find a chance to get myself out for a rest.  So I tried to let some of our fast breaks go without me trailing, which I usually do to hunt offensive rebounds.  Skipping out of a half dozen sprints didn’t really give me the rest I was hoping and I was very tired and super sore after that game.

 

Tuesday, I decided it would be wisest to take as my rest day.  Normally Friday is my rest day, but this week, I felt I should listen to my body and rest now,  cross train if I had to later.  I needed to rest my quads, hips, and was having a soreness in the knees for the first time in years. 

 

Wednesday, at work, a couple of guys wanted one guy to challenge me to a race.  I agreed to do it, even though a fifty yard dash has nothing to do with anything I train for.  I got completely blown away.  I admitted defeat and was actually happy, because for the first time, the other guys at work seemed interested in running.  We discussed different distances and where conditioning overtook any natural speed.  With a defeat in my pocket, I went home and did an easy 4 miler on mostly grass.  It was rainy and cool, perfect running conditions. Other than being terrified of a moron losing control of a car, I love the rain.

 

On Thursday, my fellow runacrosskansas participant danrdanny, signed up for the Patriots run.  It started at noon and people run till 9:11 PM in rememberance of the 911 attacks.  He had to drop out with a sore foot that has been nagging for a few weeks, but it inspired me to do something special.  I did a 9.11 mile run, but I took plastic bags with me and would pick up litter as I went.  Some areas I had to walk there was so much, but I wanted to do something that was both good for me and helped the neighborhood in some small way.  So I did 9.11 miles in the rain, picking up trash, and I actually enjoyed it very much.

 

On a side note:  I want to tip my hat to both presidential nominees for pulling negative ads against each other and even appearing together on this day.  We all need to remember that both idealogies want whats best for the country, but have different ideas of what to do.  Thanks guys, for showing strong charecter.  Any of us who can’t put one day of country first and leave the attacking behind probably don’t deserve to vote.

 

Today is Friday and have 9 on the schedule, and 12 for Saturday.  But because of the nagging knee issue, I am going to ride my excercise bike in the house for an hour and a half at a quick clip instead.  I have been toying with the idea of making every third week alot more cross training and less running.  I will see how I like it.  I would prefer to be out on the mountainbike trails, but we have had so much rain I would only be tearing up trails.  So indoors it is.

The North Shore Trail Race

This past Saturday was the North Shore Trail Race, held in Lawrence, at the Clinton Lake trails.  The event is run/promoted by The Trail Nerds, a local trailrunning group that always has fun events and has a race director that sets the bar against which all others are measured in my mind.  In the future, I will discuss him and the flip side of the coin, a local race director who hopefully will choose a new career path in the next few years.

 

The trail race was only and $8 entry fee and instead of a race T-shirt, you received a race bandanna.  I, for one, like events that have anything other than a white t-shirt.  I already have a hundred white t-shirts… give me a hat, bandanna, colored shirt or anything else please.  (One of many areas the Trail Nerds always get the gold medal in!)

 

I had never run the trails, but my fellow runacrosskansas runner, Danny, talked to some other runners who  had informed him that it was a rooty run.  Seeing as how my best race ever was the Psycho Wyco, run by the trail nerds on a rooty/rocky/hilly course, I arrogantly decided I would run near the front and see what I could do.

 

 When the race gun fired, a group of seven broke away from the pack fairly early and I ran in sixth place for a mile, then picked off a few guys over the next mile as I wanted to keep the lead group of two in my sights.  These guys where really hauling it and I foolishly ran their pace, until about the third mile where I was keeping pace but feeling fatigued and therefore, running with poor form and even poorer footing choices.  I stepped on a root and semi-rolled my ankle.  It wasn’t enough to cause any pain, but enough to scare me into running the next mile at a slower pace to make sure I could finish strong.  A few guys passed me and I had to suppress my ego, and tell myself that injury avoidance was more important, and I had run stupid out of the gate and now had to pay the penance.  When we came to the five and a half mile mark, I felt like I could pick it up and did so, but only slightly.  With two miles left, I could hear a guy behind me and actually caught a glimpse of him on a switchback section.  He was probably 20-30 seconds behind me with two miles left.  I didn’t want to get passed again, so I decided to run the rooty decents smart, push the uphill sections and smoke the flat, muddy sections.  Luckily, there were a couple of long sections where I really put some speed down and had good footing.  When I came out of the woods and crossed the fields, he was nowhere to be seen, so my plan had worked.  About 45 seconds later, he came through, and I could see my motivator.  I was proud that I had put such a nice gap on him in only two miles, but amazed, because he was at least 25 years my senior.  I hope to be just running for fun by that point, but hats off to all you guys with the grey hair who still can push (and sometimes beat) us young guys. 

 

The Trail Nerds deserve credit for another great race.  

Dreadmill

I take great pride in the fact that during training for my big events, weather has never hindered me.  If I have a six-mile run scheduled and it’s raining cats & dogs, I put on some clear glasses, a visor and moisture control socks and I get in my six miles.  Training for last years Dallas White Rock Marathon, I relished my runs in deep snow.  On some days, it was so deep, my pace slowed by 50-75%, so I changed my runs to time based instead of mile based, but I got in the time.  The only time I really hate running is on 90+ degrees.  Here in Kansas City, those days, especially when humid can make a man want to give it up.  I try to run earlier in the day and utilize shady routes (plus my long runs utilizing the beat the heat workout I posted a while back).  One particular memory sticks out.  On a cold and windy day, I had put in seven miles, and when one of my friends called me, they were shocked to hear I went running.  They didn’t even want to go to the grocery store, because of the walk from the car to the door.  It made me proud to think I had toughened up over the past few years to where weather wasn’t a determinant of my running schedule.

 

It’s hard to keep me indoors.  I rarely have used a dreadmill (treadmill if you hadn’t figured it yet), and don’t particularly like them.  Part of the running experience is the runs in 6 inches of snow, or getting caught in a rainstorm with a buddy when you are miles and miles from his house.  The treadmill represents (in my mind) running to try to lose weight, not running for the sake of running.  But, while developing my plans for adding work to prepare for the Run Across Kansas, I decided I should consider one for adding a few miles here and there.

 

So today, I purchased a used treadmill.  I was lucky enough that one popped up locally that was a very high quality unit with little wear.  The current owners were nice enough to let me test run it, and I am pleased with my purchase.  Now, I will make it a goal to add some walking and slower running miles while multitasking in some other way at home. 

 

I will run during Sportscenter or the Chiefs games.  I will walk while watching movies.  Between this new purchase, and my exercise bike, I have no excuse for not tacking on an extra 3-5 hours of light work inside per week.  Should be fun to see how many extra easy miles I can squeeze in.

 

I am going to begin posting my weekly workouts just so I can show what I am doing in preparation to Run Across Kansas.  Not only to provide accountability, but also to maybe get some suggestions back.  I am sure some people will say that I am not running enough miles or running too many miles… but perhaps some of you can help me out along the way. 

Komen 5K

The Race For the Cure has to be one of the most unique events I go to.  I have heard a lot of competitive runners say they don’t like it due to the sheer numbers of people involved.  It has 20,000 + people every year and you will spend more than a fair amount of time weaving around people who don’t know about starting line ettiqutte.  You will see a woman in her 60’s with a pair of jeans and a bandanna tied around her neck lined up next to the six minute mile sign in the starting area.  You will see packs of joggers, lined up 5 abreast in matching shirts in front of a couple of speedy kids who have never done this course before.

But, this race is not one to enter for a PR or push the pace.  This is one to enter to be part of an amazing event.  The event raises money and awareness for breast cancer, something which has affected a woman in all of our lives.  You will see lots of people running with pink squares pinned to their backs. Each of these is to honor a survivor in their life, or to celebrate the memory of a loved one lost.  Thousands of survivors do the event in their pink shirts so everyone knows who they are and can cheer them on.  At the end of the race, they are treated to a special “survivors village” of extra goodies.

 

I have done this race a few times, and was well aware that this is a tough place to attempt a PR or go for the gusto.  My long time running partner Jon wanted to crack the elusive 20 minute 5K barrier.  This will be his third attempt, and he should be admired, because he doesn’t choose easy courses, he takes on whatever is in his way and goes head on.  In this particular race, I agreed to be his pacer, since I have done it a few times now and have the Garmin 305 keeping pace readily available.  On race morning, Jon showed up in full force, but with a cold running full force in him.  I asked if we wanted to dial it down, but to his credit, he wanted to push it anyway. The hilly course and his illness didn’t slow him down… for the first 2.4 miles.  It finally caught up to him, and we had to let the pace come down a bit, but hung on for a 20:50 finish.  It’s amazing to think that sick and hilly, we can do this, as ten years ago, neither of us could have ran the entire course without walking.

 

Big props goes to my girlfriend, Erin, who completed her first ever 5K and declared herself free of the couch of doom.  Less than two months ago, she decided to tackle the 5K.  We worked out a training schedule and she was ready come race day.  My original plan was to finish my run, and turn around and run back down the course to hopefully catch her and cheer her up the last hill and watch her cross the finish line.  Due to multiple factors, I didn’t get to do either of these, but I am still so proud of her.  The running bug has her, and now she is committed to doing the San Antonio Half-Marathon this November. 

 

But the biggest props go to all the survivors.  Congrats to those ladies (and a few survivormen) who have beaten breast cancer and come to the race as an inspiration to the rest of us. 

Beating the heat

With the heat being in the 90’s lately, it’s been increasingly difficult to get a quality long run in.   I have been testing different strategies to ensure I stay properly hydrated and don’t overheat.  I have in the past had difficulty remembering to hydrate properly on long runs, especially in races.  I also have been too proud/stupid/arrogant to put walk breaks in when I should have due to heat or injury prevention/recovery.  I have tried tricks to get myself to do it, but with upper 90’s, it was imperative to find a way to force walking and hydration into my routine.   My most recent long run was an experiment in insanity.

 

The schedule had 13 miles on it for my long run this week.  Seeing as how it was 90+ degrees, I knew I had to adjust somehow.  I considered doing trail running with my fuel belt on and looping back to the car once for refill.  I considered dropping off a refill at a park along a trail system I use and then driving to the next access point for a starting point.  Finally, I came up with a winner of an idea.  It combined my need to get to a water bottle frequently with a light weights workout.  It would be tough, but the most important thing is staying hydrated and avoiding injury.

 

First step was to set up my idea.  I combined all of the different loops I run from my house and estimated total distance.  I would be shy of the 13, but I would be fine with that.  I set an ez curl bar and a couple of dumbbells in the back yard and rolled my water filled heavy bag out to the center of the yard.  I was set.

 

First, I ran the loop from my house to the local community college and back.  Mostly dirt/grass, I love this loop, because at almost 200 lbs, I can take a beating running a full schedule.  The grass loop allows me to add mileage with less pounding.  I ran strong, but felt perhaps I was going to fast.  When I hit the edge of my property, I slowed to a walk and headed for the back yard.  After taking a drink of Gatorade, I began my first lifting session.

 

10 bent over single arm rows with each arm

10 upright rows

10 ez bar curls

10 dumbbell shrugs

 

Upon completing this loop with about 60 seconds of rest between each, I drank some water and walked back to the property line for the beginning of my second loop.  This loop and I have a history.  It has two big downhills and two big uphills, and when I started running on a regular basis a few years back, I would often have to walk the last hill.  Now, I like to remember those defeats when I crest the last hill as if it were but a speedbump.  It is a reminder of how far I have come and a reminder to stay sharp.  After 2.6 miles of hills on sidewalks, which is why I rarely run this loop anymore, I hit my property line and began the same walk/Gatorade/lift/water/walk combo from before.

 

I had planned on doing a downward ladder, with each run becoming progressively shorter than the one before it, but since I wanted to run the 2.1 miler with my dog, as she does better on grass, I headed out on my 1.85 loop through across the bridge and through a duplex and apartment complex.  This loop has some dirt/grass, but is primarily run on chip and seal roads.  Upon returning home, I did the same combination as before, making this my third set of lifts.  Only this time, I got in a little extra rest going inside to grab the dog and put water outside for her upon our return.

 

My dog loves running.  She gets so excited that the first 50 yards are always more bounding like Tigger than actual running.  As we set off on our 2.1 mile loop, half grass, half sidewalk, she settled into stride and put on her best smile.  I was glad I had rotated my loops, as the temperature was beginning to drop, with an impending storm rolling in.  The cooler temperature meant we could keep a higher pace. I am very big on making sure my girl is comfortable and not overheated, so often, our runs together are much slower and shorter in the heat.  We came around the last corner and surged up the hill to our walking point.  This time, instead of lifting, I hit the heavy bag for one song on the Ipod.  I love heavy bag work.  I think it keeps the heart rate up and contracts the abdominal muscles with each thrown punch.  It felt great, and I was staying hydrated on schedule.  My girl was laying out in the grass with a big joker smile and relaxing when I closed the gate and headed out for my last hurrah.

 

My last loop was another 1.85 mile or so loop through an older duplex neighborhood and a new development that is half completed.  It is half chip and seal and half asphalt, so I was geting a good mix of surfaces to run.  As I crested the last tough hill about 1 mile in, I felt a sense of accomplishment.  This workout was tough, but I had stayed hydrated and felt as if I could run it all over again with the same gatorade/water resting combos.  The last half-mile was a breeze and I came to the gate ready for one last boxing round.  I hit the bag for my last song of the day.  As the music faded, a smile spread across my face rivaling the dog splayed out in the shade.  This was controlled insanity, and a ton of fun.

 

After putting away my weights and bag, an ice bath and protein shake completed my days goals.  As someone who pushes too hard on long runs regularly and makes hydration errors, I think the weight/boxing breaks tricked me into taking walk breaks and hydration stops.  If I have to battle the heat again, I have found my plan.