Guilt run

Distance: 6.25 mi

Time: 59:02

After the soaking I took last night, I got up at 4:45am this morning and headed to the computer to see what the radar looked like.  I didn’t even have to turn the machine on.  A look out my window told me the whole story.  It was pouring.  Had been for some time… And ended up raining HARD until about 9:30am.  Personally, I felt like the track workout in a thunderstorm demonstrated my dedication enough, so without even so much as a second thought, I staggered back to bed and completely enjoyed my extra 2 hours of sleep.

Then I read a post by one of the CMC members who was questioning her own dedication and drive.  Part of that email used the shining example of the 40+ members who still showed up in the driving rain for a 7 mile run this morning.

…sigh…

Now I have guilt…

I tried all day to shake it off, but I knew that unless I ran sometime today I was going to be difficult to live with.  Of course, the rain let up all day until just before I got off work, then started back up again.  But I decided that, dammit, if those people could run in the monsoon we had this morning, I could at least put in some miles.  I went to a trailhead that was close to my house and decided to try a route I had been playing with.  The trail, although soggy, was runable, save a few puddles and soft spots, so I took off.  The sky was threatening but not raining, so I held a little hope that I wouldn’t get rained on AGAIN.  The route goes from a creek bed up into a big park and when I say up I mean that it only gains about 150 in elevation, but it does so in about a quarter of a mile… yeah… it hurts.  But once up the wall and into the park it was a great route and one that I will definitely do again.  It kind of loops about 1.5 miles from the start and just when I hit the main trail again to do that last 1.5 miles… you guessed it… another monsoon.  The rain was at least coming straight down this time but the drops were HUGE and kinda hurt.  The trees were not even any help and, in fact, the drops were so big they were knocking leaves, twigs, kites and even small animals out of the trees so I kinda had to dodge a bit.  The monsoon stopped exactly 3 seconds after I shut the door to the truck…

Soggy Bob

Distance: 3 mi

Time: Speed work

A spectacular thunderstorm blew through our track workout this evening and had the adverse effect of cutting the workout short, but man!  What a show…  There was a small shower in the area when I got to the track, but I knew from looking at the radar that the big Magilla was coming.  I quietly urged everyone to get a move on, but to no avail.  Everybody wanted to chat, so we started about 15 minutes late.  Man did we need that 15 minutes.  We ran a 3,2,1 set where you run 3 minutes at your 5k pace, rest for a minute and then run the reverse direction and try to nail the same time back, rest for two, then run for two, then back… you get the picture.  We were going to run some 800m relays but a huge and ominous gust front let us know we weren’t doing any of that.  When we started the temperature was 90 degrees.  In about 5 minutes that had dropped to 72 degrees and it was raining so hard you couldn’t see the other side of the track.  But I could see that the sprinklers were on… heh!  Anyway, I ran an 800m cool down in a driving rain and was anticipating hail so I basically ran from cover to cover twice around the track.  No hail though.  Just soggy Bob… VERY soggy…

I do like these workouts though because they make me think and focus on things that I normally wouldn’t, such as form.  That and they are a good break from the rigors of long miles.  I did kinda tweak my quad though, so I’m off to stretch and rub a bit of “the precious” on it… which, for the uninitiated is a wonderful homebrewed concoction that my wife makes that is fantastic for sore muscles.  I don’t even wanna KNOW what’s in it… I just know it works so I’m good with it.  Hopefully it will be OK to run on tomorrow morning, provided the deluge has stopped by then (it’s supposed to pour all night… SQUISHY!).  Note to self: Wear OLD shoes tomorrow…

Still not quite right

Distance: 6.2 mi

Time: 55:45

Man… I don’t know.  I’m not sure if I caught a bug or what happened but I’m still feeling weak and uncomfortable since my Saturday eat fest…  And, of all things, my lungs let me down today.  I just felt like I was breathing way too hard for the effort I was putting in and it wasn’t like I was really “breathing hard” as much as my chest hurt.  I also got a stitch about mile 5 and had to belly breathe for almost a mile to get rid of it.

On the up side, the local running group I have been working with on Tuesdays and Thursdays just keeps getting better.  We had 101 people this morning!  …and this was just a training run… nothing special.  I just think that’s cool…

Because of the way the running schedule is set up, I run Tuesday morning and then don’t run again until Wednesday evening, so maybe a little more break will help me get through this odd time.  I hope so, because the down side is that I run at 5:30 pm on Wednesday and then run again at 5:30 am on Thursday.  It’s almost like two-a-days!

Too much of a good thing…

Distance: 4 mi

Time: 35:30

We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday (15 years!  Woot!!!) by getting a sitter for the kids and going downtown for some us time.  We haven’t been out on a “date” for over 2 years and being without the kids was… weird.

Since this was the specialest of special occasions, I decided to forget who I was for the evening and just… eat…  Good food…  And LOTS of it.  And, although it was wonderful… it was awful…

For the first time in over a year… I had a steak.  And not just your garden variety 6 ounce top sirloin either.  This was at least 14 ounces of corn fed New York Strip.  A side of mushrooms in sauce.  A good bottle of Petite Syrah…  Crab cakes as an appetizer.  It was culinary heaven like I haven’t had in far too long.  Then we went to a local coffee shop for a GOOD cup of coffee and a sweet treat.

I should have known something was up when I barely made it to the coffee shop before my tummy made “THAT” noise.  I proceeded immediately to the bathroom where I had to listen to a loud and vocal protest from my colon as to the richness of the food…  Then I got my yummy coffee and a brownie and sat with my lovely wife and enjoyed the evening.  All the while my tummy continued to make “THOSE” noises and I started to notice an uncomfortable knot in my stomach that would, unfortunately, be there for several days.

We got home, put the kids to bed and then proceeded to stay up until the wee hours of the morning because the coffee had ten times the caffeine we are used to.  All the while, my tummy continued to make “THOSE” noises.  I dozed off about 2:30 and awoke at about 5am thinking, “ok… today is my 13 mile run”.  Then my tummy made “THAT” noise again and I knew there would be no running, at least on a trail… that day.  I spent the rest of the day VERY groggy and miserable, unable to concentrate, and extremely lethargic.

Even this morning, I went for a run and still had that uncomfortable knot/cramp in my stomach.  My legs felt heavy and sluggish.  I felt like I was breathing too hard for the amount of effort I put out.

So what is the moral?

Good food is bad for you.  Don’t eat good food.  Only eat food that is good “FOR” you.  Oh… and especially don’t eat a huge meal of “good food” when you have only been eating food that is “good for you” for over a year.  It’s like eating blasting caps.

…oh… and decaf after noon…

…ugh… I AM getting old…

A run other than just a run

Distance: 5 mi

Time: 42:49

Did the 5:30am run this morning with CMC.  This was one of the first “runs” I have been on since I started running again almost 1 1/2 years ago where I was actually supposed to DO something.  Oh sure, I have tried to go at a certain pace or do fartleks or intervals, etc. but mostly I just run.  Today’s run was called a “tempo” run.  The purpose was to set a pace that you could gradually increase as you went.  Because I was a bit sore from the track workout the night before, I decided to start at 9 minute pace, then go to 8:30 and then finish at 8 minute miles.  It was tough…  I even got that odd, “I think I might just puke” feeling for a minute or two from the effort.  I haven’t had that feeling since wind sprints in high school baseball…!

The one thing I can say about all this is that the group definitely challenges me.  No, they don’t push me or yell encouragement or run next to me spouting inspiration.  They just run.  But because I am there and because the group makes the effort to organize this, I feel obligated to push myself and give it my best.  I can already tell it is helping.  Not so much on the trail as it is when I go up a flight of stairs or need to jump off the bed of the truck.  My legs feel stronger.  My knees, although still crunchy going up stairs, are not as bad.  I feel like I can jump again.  Not that I really need to, but I “feel” like I can.  This is a change from the way I used to feel.  I was afraid to jump because I wasn’t sure my legs would catch me on the way down.  I know the benefits of cross training, but I just got too focused on putting in the miles.  While this is necessary as well, I think these other types of running are very helpful and, from the way I feel (if a bit sore from the effort), will be the way I train from now on.

First track work in 20 years

Distance: 4 miles (ish)

Time: Speed work

No… Really… I haven’t run on a real track in 20 years.  It was…  Weird…  But FUN!

I decided to try the track workouts that CMC does on Wednesdays as a break from the monotony of long miles.  That and I have kind of been feeling that I was starting to only use one group of muscles because when I had to make quick changes or do something like trail running that took more control, it felt like my body just couldn’t do it.

Tonight we did a mile warmup, 2 X 800 buddy runs (you take off and run one lap and then your buddy joins you for a lap and then you stop and your buddy runs the last of his two laps), 4 X 400 buddy runs and then we tried to make a relay team that could break the 4 minute mile.  There were many different ability levels there some slow, some elite.  And there were just enough of us to make two “teams” of 12 runners.  What is amazing is that with all of the pretty fast runners we had (I ran a 12:89 for my 100 leg… not bad for an old, fat guy) we were still only able to make 4:15.  It makes the mile record all the more amazing…!  I betcha we get 4 minutes next week…

Anyway, it was great fun and a welcome change.  Stuff like this re-energizes me and makes me want to run more.  It also makes those long runs more unique and less of “the same old thing” only longer…  We’ll see how I feel tomorrow.  I’m sure I’ll be sore.  But I should be, really.  That’s the first time the dust has been blown off of some of those muscles since I was in college…!  The group is supposed to run graduated intervals tomorrow (increase your speed a little each 1.5 miles) morning.  Hopefully my legs will let me go!

A truly important milestone

Distance: 5 mi

Time: 42:03

Today I hit what I consider to be a seriously important milestone.  I stepped on the scale this morning and it read 190.  Although that doesn’t sound significant, it means that I have lost 50 pounds.  And of all the numbers, percentages and measures of success, that is, by far, the most significant to date.

See, all of this marathon training is secondary.  I’m not going to say it’s meaningless because I don’t want to de-value it, but it is, and has always been, simply the motivation to make me run so that I can achieve my ultimate goal of losing weight.  And as much as I have whined and complained about not losing weight as fast as I want to, this IS working.  It has taken me about a year and a half to lose this weight and will probably take me another 6 months or so to get to my goal weight of 170.  Two years is a long time to stick with a goal and it’s easy to see how people can give up.  I have wanted to many times.

When I toe that line in October, I will have already won.  I will be fit, healthy and strong.  I will be in charge of my body again.  Compared to the struggles I have had over the last couple of years with my weight, the marathon will be easy… or… at least much shorter!

I ran this morning again with the Columbia Multisport Club.  I am definitely going to make this a part of my running schedule for the rest of the summer.  Getting in 5 miles (or more) before breakfast makes the day go much better, and gives me time to be with my family in the evening.  Yes, 5:30 am is early.  But it is also MUCH cooler and it’s fun to run with people.  Today’s route took me up a hill I had never been up before which, although painful after my soggy 10 miler yesterday, was a nice change.

Water, water… everywhere

Distance: 10 mi

Time: 1.33:40

…especially in my underwear… 

wait… that’s not how it goes…

If you haven’t guessed, I got caught in a downpour EXACTLY half way through my 10 mile run today.  Yep… I made the turn and it was like somebody hit the sprinklers…  except there was hail…

I learned a lot about a Mizzou Sophomore co-ed who dove under the tree across the trail from me in the 2 minutes we waited for the hail to stop though…!  She, unfortunately, picked the wrong side of the trail though, as one side of her tree was receiving the brunt of the hail and the other side was covered in poison ivy…  It looked like it hurt…  For my part, I only got a few minor hail dents and a good soaking.  It was actually kinda fun…

I had forgotten how pleasant running in the rain can be.  It was very soothing and, even though it was warm when I started, it cooled down under the storm clouds.  That plus the rain helped keep me nice and cool.  The other thing I forgot was how UNpleasant running with shoes full of water can be…  Squishy!

But, I’m none the worse for the soaking.  A bit stiff and sore from the run so I’m off to stretch.  Tomorrow morning I am going to try to run with the CMC group again.  Nothing like 5 miles before breakfast!

The run medieval

Distance:  4 Mi

Time: 37:20 

Even an SCA event can’t keep me from running…

We went to the big SCA event for this area (Kingdom) on Friday.  It was very fun (if a little hot) and we got to see friends young and old.  The relative opulence of our tent was shattered however by a slow leak in our air mattress that had us both sagging in very uncomfortable spots by about 2 am.  That, plus the usual parties, drums, singing and general drunken din made for a very poor night’s sleep (read: I didn’t sleep).  Since I was up at 5:30 anyway, I decided to go for a run.

I just took off down the road, between all the pavillions and past armor stands, fighting fields and the snoring horde.  The sun was just up and besides a few sleepy merchants (who eyed my with an odd distrust for being up so early…) getting ready for the breakfast crowd, I was the only thing stirring in camp. 

I found a trail around the lake we were camping by and set in to work the stiffness of sleeping on the ground for the first time in 5 years out of my back and legs.  I would love to say that I warmed up and felt fine, but I was pretty groggy and stiff, so I mostly just wobbled and hobbled for the distance.

The view was spectacular once I got on the other side of the lake from the camp.  The sun was deep red and just rising over the encampment.  Smoke from the dregs of a hundred fires added an eerie fog to the  scene.  It was really cool, in a medieval sort of way…

Anyway, the bulk of the rest of the day was spent in the water trying to keep cool without frying like a piece of bacon.  I was successful on the first half of that effort, but the second half didn’t go so well.  I look like I just need butter and lemon and I’ll be ready to serve.  It was worth the risk of skin cancer, though…  The people were really fun and very friendly.  A good time…

I have found my people…

Distance: 8 Mi

Time: 1:05.23 (WOW!! 8:10 miles for 8 miles?  SWEET!!!)

I have said all along that I would eventually have to switch my running schedule to mornings when the weather got hot.  I have been running in around 90 degree heat and, although tolerable, it’s not real pleasant.  I was reading an article in the paper about a local club that does Tuesday/Thursday group runs at 5:30am on one of the local trails.  How popular are they?  This last Tuesday, they had over 130 runners.  This is NOT an organized race.  Just a group run.  How cool is that?

So I decided to join them this morning 1.) to see what they were about and 2.) to see if I could do it…

MAN THAT WAS FUN!!

I got to the trailhead at about 5:15 and there was nobody there…  Uh oh…  Did I go to the right trailhead?  Just after I turned off the truck and got out, a car pulled in.  Then another, then a bunch more.  By the time we took off, there were over 90 runners, 10 dogs, 4 strollers, etc.  The group is mostly VERY fit triathletes, but there are some “just” runners in there too.  I was a bit worried about getting dropped out of the parking lot, but decided to go anyway.

There were 3 routes in short (5 miles), medium (6.5 miles) and long (8 miles) distances to accommodate skill levels and time constraints.  I didn’t really know which one I would be in so I just took off and decided to pick one as I got closer.  The group started out together at about an 8:30 pace and then slowly picked it up.  I felt surprisingly good and the people were very nice, so I decided to go long since the group I was running with was doing that and it fit into my plan.  I ran most of the distance with another first time marathoner named Kathy and we seemed to be at about the same skill level so we ran the distance together.  Of course, because we stuck to our pace (albeit really fast for both of us) and the other long runners picked it up, we ended up being some of the last ones in (most people turned around at the first turn) but we had big grins on our faces because we had a great run and really enjoyed ourselves.  That was awesome…

…can’t wait til Tuesday!