Rocky Mountain Half Marathon Race Report

Short version: I finished my 3rd Half Marathon with a time of 2:24:11. While that’s 24 minutes off my PR pace, that’s OK! My knee hurt throughout the race due to a flare-up of Runner’s Knee so I’m just thankful to have finished and wasn't really concerned with my time!

Long version: I was a little nervous about this race because I’ve been dealing with a case of Runner’s Knee in my left knee over the past few weeks, and it hurts pretty badly when I run longer distances or run really hard. But, I had registered for the race a few months ago and our hotel was already paid for so I decided to do the race anyhow. We spent a couple of days in Colorado prior to the race to get acclimated to the higher elevation and also visited some family and friends and enjoyed a small family vacation in downtown Denver.

The couple of days prior to the race, I made sure to stay super hydrated since we were up in the mountains, and also got in a lot of walking and some good swimming at the hotel pool, and felt really good up to the race with no major ills. I slept really good the night before the race (oddly enough) and woke up promptly at 6am when the hotel wakeup service called. I ate my usual breakfast of a bagel, peanut butter, banana, and some Powerade, then dressed and walked the 1 mile to the race start.

I did some light jogging around the block to warm up near the starting line, and did some stretching to loosen up my muscles. Since I was particularly nervous about my knee and how well it would hold up, I had to use the porta potties not once, but twice to take a pee, finishing the second time about 3 minutes before the race started. Yikes, that was close. The weather was perfect, with sunny blue skies and temps around 60, along with light winds. It was a beautiful day. The race started soon enough and we were running. My knee immediately began to hurt within the first few blocks, and I knew at that point that it was going to be a very, very long run.

My wife and daughter were able to meet me along the course at about 1 mile, and I was so thankful to see them. I waved and kept running. My motto lately has been, “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, but never give up,” and I just kept repeating this over and over in my head as the miles ticked off and the pain continued in my left knee. I ran mostly, but did stop to walk occasionally every mile or two, and also to stretch my left hamstring, which helped with the pain in my knee. I did have to stop at about mile 5 to use the porta potty again, but otherwise, the remainder of the run was OK and really fun, other than my knee just ached non-stop. The knee pain wasn’t severe, just a nagging dull ache that kept my pace pretty slow overall.

The course started in downtown Denver and continued for about 4 miles amongst the sky scrapers, then along the South Platte River, then past Elitch Gardens, past the Denver Broncos stadium, then to and around Sloan’s Lake (which was awesome with snow-capped mountain vistas in distance), then back into downtown Denver.

I was also initially worried how the higher elevation would affect me since I’m a flatlander from Omaha, but I wasn’t really running hard enough to even be significantly winded. Unfortunately, what was slowing me down was my stupid knee and the pain it was causing. The last mile of the race was especially painful as I kind of hobbled toward the finish line, but I did cross it with a big smile on my face, as I again saw my wife and daughter cheering me on about 500 feet before entering the finisher’s chute. Ironically enough, as I saw them, the song “Taking Care of Business” by Bachman Turner Overdrive came onto my Ipod, which really pumped me up too.

I had a finish time 2:24:11 (well within the back of the pack), and I was really happy with that. While it’s 24 minutes off my PR pace, that’s OK! I never expected a PR in this race because of the altitude, and I’m just super happy I was able to finish it, and despite the pain in my knee, I had an awesome time and am so glad that I persevered. The medal was also very cool, and certainly worth the effort put into the race!

After munching on a bagel, a banana, and drinking both a bottle of water and Gatorade after the race, we walked the 1 mile back to our hotel, I enjoyed a super hot shower and changed clothes, and then we hit the Interstate for an 8-hour car ride home. Ugh. It was also lunchtime, so we decided to stop at Ihop for a much-deserved celebration meal. I enjoyed a huge stack of chocolate chocolate-chip pancakes (yes, double chocolate), 2 scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and about 4 cups of coffee. I then proceeded to eat the rest of my wife’s breakfast, including her left over pancake, another egg, and also polished off the remainder of my daughter’s hamburger and French Fries. In other words, I ate like a pig, and it felt good with no guilt! At that point, I let my wife do the driving so I could stretch out in the back seat and iced my knee all the way home. When we got home, my knee felt great, and I have no major aches and pains anywhere else in my body. Yeah!

And now, marathon training begins next week for a fall marathon in either September, October or November. I need to let my knee rest a bit, but I definitely feel confident that after 3 half marathons under my belt, I’m ready to try a full. We’ll see. Race on!

At about 1 mile into the race. Since it was Flag Day today, I decided to wear a flag running outfit, with a flag visor, stars and stripes singlet, and flag running shorts and flag socks. I got a ton of crowd support which was cool! Note the knee brace on my left knee, which helped, but certainly didn't eliminate the pain.

ITB Issues

After my second half marathon race in as many weeks, I believe I may have stressed my ITB band. That's the Iliotibial Band, a tendon that runs the length on the outside of the thigh. This typically causes knee and hip pain, and is a result or running too much, too fast, or on a cambered road, downhill, or simply from having a tight ITB to begin with. It can also be caused by leg length differences. In my case, in may be all of the above, since during my race on Sunday, I did start off with some knee and hip pain, but then it went away during the race, but then came back on strong after I got home. The race course itself was hilly, I was running beyond my comfort zone to try and reach a PR, I did another race just 2 weeks ago, and I do have leg length issues. When you combine "all" of those in one day, it's no wonder I have issues. To alleviate this, I used some ice on Sunday, took Advil, and have been doing various stretches to help make my ITB more elastic. It seems to be working since I was able to do a 3 mile recovery walk/jog today at the gym, after doing some light non-impact swimming yesterday. The stretches I've been doing involve doing side lunges, step downs, a lying ITB stretch, the piriformis stretch, wall bangers, and a couple of standing ITB stretches, and also using the stick to massage the thigh muscles and ITB crossways (not up and down), and also using a foam roller to roll out any kinks and knots and break down any scar tissue that might be developing there. It all seems to be working OK, so I hope to continue on the path to recovery. I also may start taking a glucosamine supplement, but I'm not sure if there's any scientific evidence that it actually works, but I don't believe there are any serious side effects either. I have another 5 mile Boystown Fun Run on Memorial Day that I've registed for, but I have no intentions of racing it, just hope to be able to run it for fun. My wife and daughter will be doing the 1 mile fun run/walk.

2nd Half Marathon a Success

I ran my 2nd half marathon in as many weeks this morning, over in Papillion. This was the 2nd annual running of the race, which helped to support the local food pantry and the Special Olympics. I didn't exactly know how well I'd do in this run, since I just raced 2 weeks ago. In the beginning, I started out racing, but then experienced some knee and hip pain so decided to slow down a bit. But, that pain went away by about mile 5 or so, and I decided to race it afterall. By about mile 10, I quickly did some math and realized I could try for a Personal Record so I really began to push it hard. In the end, I came in with another sub 2 hour time, at 1:59:45, but missed a personal record by 16 seconds from my race 2 weeks ago. I still had a blast though, it was such a great run, and am pleased with my time. I was really sore this afternoon, and my left knee was really in a lot of pain. I iced it, and have been taking Ibuprofen to ease the pain. I don't think I've torn anything, but probably just pushed it a little to hard. (edit, I believe it's an ITB issue). It's kind of surreal, I can't stop eating. I've eaten enough food today for 2 normal days I think, I just can't seem to satisfy my hunger. Will definitely have to watch my food intake over the next few days. I've now got 4 weeks until my next race in Denver in mid June. I plan to rest up for a few days, then get back at it and start training hard. The elevation in Denver will be a real challenge.

400 Career Miles

I surpassed the 400 mile mark in my running career today, an awesome accomplishment! I'm taking another taper week this week, in preparation for my next half marathon race this coming Sunday. Nice, slow runs this week, with about half my normal mileage, easing down in distance each day. Friday and Saturday will be full rest days, and also carb loading days, to store enough fuel and energy for the race. I'm still not sure if I'll race the event, or just run it for fun, it will all depend on how my legs feel, and whether I feel I've got enough kick to put the hammer down. In the end, it won't really matter, it should be really fun, and that's the most important thing. I ran on the treadmill indoors yesterday since it was raining outside. Ugh, I hate running on the treadmill now, especially since I've been running outside so much. The time on the treadmill just passes so slowly for me, versus when I'm outdoors. I think I'll have to learn how to be a cold weather runner so I won't have to be on the treadmill so much this winter.

1 Week Post Race

Well, running during the last week has mostly been light and easy to aid recovery, since I ran a hard race last weekend. Overall, I feel I'm well rested, and have recovered as much as I'm able. In fact, today, I did a long run around 11 miles, and it felt really good. I also bought new shoes, since my 2nd toes on each of my feet were cramped last week when my feet swelled, so shoes 1/2 size bigger really helped. I wasn't excited about buying new shoes, but feet are important. I was a little worried about the shoes being too big, but I just used the top-most eyelets to snug the shoes up a little more. The weather was cool this morning, with just a slight breeze, but the run felt great. I did forget to take my bottle of Gatorade with me, but found that I did fine without it. For upcoming training, I do have another half marathon in Denver in mid June, so I need to get back into the saddle of doing hard training. To that end, there is another half marathon race in Papillion next weekend, and I believe I will run it, but not race it. It's a good opportunity to do my long run. Of course, I say I don't intend to race it now, but race day adrenalin may change that. It's a small race with only 300 runners or so.

Celebrating Mother's Day

Mother's Day is this coming Sunday, which makes it a somewhat sad day for me since my mother has been gone for nearly 9 years, may God rest her soul. But, it reminded me last night of all the wonderful foods she used to make when she was alive, and it brought back a flood of memories of some of her favorite recipes. Although, it also occurred to me that I don't have any of them written down. I have one or two, but I can think of at least a dozen things she made that I just absolutely loved. For example, she always made the best meatloaf. And while there are probably thousands of recipes out there on the Internet for meatloaf, none of them, are, well, moms. So, here was my mother's meatloaf recipe, (thanks to my sister for sending it), simple, yet delicious. 1 pound hamburger, 2 eggs, about 1 cup of catsup, crumbled crackers. Get everything in a bowl, hamburger, eggs, and catsup, mixing together. Add crumbled crackers, salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. During the last 20 minutes put more catsup on top.

Some of the other favorite things mom used to make include macaroni and cheese, Bisquick custard pie, cream puffs, scalloped potatoes, potato soup, fudge, breakfast meat, any cake, need I say more. Ah, the good ol' days.

Ah, That Feels Better

After a good rest day yesterday (Ok, I did do a ton of yardwork, but no running), I decided to get back out on the road today. After waking up, I felt really good, and nearly all the aches and pains have disappeared. After lunch, I headed out for another nice, easy jog. But, I felt so good, I was able to pick up my pace to my normal speed, with no major problems. That felt really good, knowing that my recovery is in full swing, and my body is repairing the damage that I did to my muscles on Sunday. I ran in the heat of the afternoon, with temperatures in the mid 70s. While it was warm, it felt good to get a really good sweat going, and I cranked out 3 1/2 miles. Ahh, it felt wonderful. I also bought a running moisture-wicking visor to help shield sun off my face. I decided against a normal hat since I've heard it can trap heat on these really hot runs. I still don't want to run too hard, too long yet, as I want my muscles to return to their full capacity without putting too much stress on them. Slow and steady build back, and I should be stronger than ever.

Oh, My Aching Joints

Today has been a somewhat hard day, and I'm a little stiff and sore. That's to be expected, but as long as I keep moving, slowly, things continue to improve. I decided to go for a very slow recovery jog this evening, just to keep the joints limber. The first half mile or so was very painful in my knees and feet, but after that, once everything was warmed up, the run felt good and I was able to complete a 5k, but at a slow, leisurely shuffle. The key is to not rush back into your training, but to ease back into it, and give your body a chance to fully recover. I intend to keep taking it easy this week, with nice short runs, slowly improving my speed back to normal, and then begin training hard again next week as I have another half marathon race in Denver in 6 weeks. The challenge in that race is the elevation. The course itself is relatively flat, meandering through downtown Denver, past the football stadium, around a nice lake, and back. But, the 3500 elevation difference will slow my pace by a few seconds for each 1000 feet gain. My strategy is to build endurance down here by speeding up a little, and hopefully getting in a little hill work, and also running in the heat. The Denver race is just a fun run to me, as I thought it would be a great weekend getaway.

The Race Is In the Books

Short version: I finished my first ever race and HM in 1:59:38 Garmin time, official time 1:59:29. My goal time was 2:05, so I blew that out of the water. Didn't stop to walk once. My wife's first HM time was 2:33:16, and her goal was just to finish since she's struggled with her training and has been sick for the last couple of weeks. We feel great, and have grins on our faces from ear to ear, we are so proud of what we've accomplished, and better yet, we were able to do this together. Weather was absolutely perfect, partly cloudy, light wind, start temps in the mid 50s. I placed 1648 overall, and was 171/303 for my age division. My wife's goal was to finish in the top 5000 (there were 4808 entrants in the HM). She finished 3834, and was 308/434 for her age group.

Long Version: Today was the culmination of 15 weeks of hard training, going from not being a runner at all in January, to completing my first ever race (and HM) in sub 2 hour time. Training went well, taper went well, carb loading went well, everything just fell into place for an awesome run!

We woke up at 415 am this morning to get ready for the race after a really good night's sleep. After assembling all our gear last night and having my standard breakfast of bagel, PB, and Gatorade, we were on the road at 515 am for the 1 hour drive to Lincoln. About halfway down, we both had headaches for some reason, so we had to stop and grab some Motrin from the gas station. Got to the starting line around 630 am, headed to the restroom (we opted for the real bathrooms inside the football stadium) warmed up a little and checked our bags. My wife was nervous, I was not nervous at all for some reason.

My wife met some friends that she was running with (co workers), I hugged and kissed her, wished her good luck, and headed to the middle of 9:00 pace group. My wife and friends were at the back of the 10:00 pace group. The energy was amazing. They played the national anthem, blew the cannon, and the race was on. It took about 7 minutes for me to cross the starting mat.

Everything just clicked with this run. It felt great from the very beginning. I had no major aches and pains throughout the run, and I can honestly say that I had so much fun. Although, I did get a little nauseous around mile 10, but it passed by mile 11. I started out at solid 9:30 miles, ramped that up to 9:10, and eventually 8:40 miles with a nice negative split and finished with a flat out sprint. I did eat 1 GU 15 minutes prior to race time, then took Gu again at 4.5 miles, and 9 miles. I did carry my own Nathan water bottle with Gatorade, just because that's how I trained. I also grabbed 2 waters along the course, with the cups having lids and straws. That was cool, and allowed runners to not worry about spilling it all over themselves. As far as music, I've trained from Day 1 with my Ipod, but didn't use it all in the race. I had it hooked up, with my earbuds hanging on my shirt cuff, but didn't need to use it once. There was plenty on the course to keep my attention, it was so much fun. The crowd was really cool along the whole race, and I really appreciated their enthusiasm which helped to really push me. That race day adrenalin is for real folks.

When I hit mile 11, I realized that I could knock out a sub 2 hour time if I continued to put the hammer down, and just run. Getting my sub 2 hour time time by 31 seconds was just pure luck I guess. Like I said, everything just clicked when it was supposed to.

The only part of the course I didn't like was a 2.5 mile stretch on an 8 foot wide bike path along Highway 2. It was shoulder to shoulder, back to chest in that stretch. I said screw that and ran on the grass right next to the trail, which allowed me to cruise past runners just about every second. Hey, it worked for me, and was part of the reason why I got that sub 2 hour time!

My wife, while running her own race, did awesome as well! She has chronic asthma, and has been sick lately over the previous couple of weeks, and also has struggled with her training. Her lost long run was 3 weeks ago at 10 miles. She did super and only walked 1/4 mile. I'm so proud of her, I can't even begin to describe how wonderful she is, and how cool it was to be able to do the event with her. Even though we didn't run it together, we each had to run our own race, it was a great feeling to meet back up at the end to give each other a hug and kiss and that we'd just made memories that would last for the rest of our lives.

My brother in law did take a few pictures of us running during the race, and I was able to high-five my sister too, and another sister was there, although I wasn't able to find her in the huge crowds. Our daughter wasn't there, but we called her from the finish line as soon as we were able.

Bottom line, words just can't describe how happy we both are!!! This was an awesome, amazing, crazy, surreal experience, and we're living proof that you can do incredible things if you're willing to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and just say, "Well, why not!"

We're home now, sitting on the couch, and just resting. 13.1 miles, been there, ran that! Bring on the next race!

Garmin Split Times:

Mile 1: 9:30
Mile 2: 9:30
Mile 3: 9:25
Mile 4: 9:27
Mile 5: 9:12
Mile 6: 9:12
Mile 7: 9:00
Mile 8: 9:00
Mile 9: 8:57
Mile 10: 8:43
Mile 11: 8:35
Mile 12: 8:40
Mile 13: 8:24
Last 0.25 1:55 (7:32 pace)
Total: 1:59:38

I also wanted to express my thanks to EVERYONE on the Runner's World chat boards!! There are some great folks there and I appreciate so much all the advice that everyone has been willing to give to this once newbie runner. Everyone there has been so positive, and I truly think they all helped to push me today, to a safe and almost unbelievable sub 2:00 finish! I also want to thank my coworkers for giving advice and continued inspiration, and also my family for the love and support for something that was completely foreign to me (running) a few months ago.

Post-Race Pic, note the huge smiles on our faces!

Race on!

Pre Race Day Jitters

Today is the day "before" the big day. I've been tapering my training this week, and have run only half of what I normally run. I feel as if I'm losing everything I've done in training up to this point, even though that's not the case at all. I've also been carb loading the last couple of days. Ugh, I've gained a couple of pounds, and definitely can't wait to stop so I can get back to my normal foods. Pasta, potatoes, pancakes, bread, you name it, I've done it. It's supposed to give you extra power in the race since I'll have a higher than normal carb load on board. It's just making me fat. Today, we headed to Lincoln to get our race packets. We visited the race expo, although it wasn't that great, and we drove the course for the race. So, I think we're as ready as we're going to be. I actually slept fairly well last night, even though I had to get up every 2 hours to pee. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I've been drinking like a fish. Bottom line, I'm well hydrated, have got extra fuel on board, now I just have to go out and run. It's kind of a surreal feeling that my 15 weeks of training has culminated in this single moment. I'm assuming that it will all be a little anticlimactic tomorrow after the race is over, but that's why I've signed up for more races, to keep me motivated to continue my training. The weather for the race tomorrow should be nearly perfect. Temperatures should be in the mid 40s, winds should light from the north (at my back for the first 6 miles or so), and it should be dry. In the back of my mind, I have a goal time in mind, but in the end, it doesn't really matter how I do. I know I'll finish, my training has already proven to me that I can do the distance. I just hope my body remembers, and it goes according to my master plan. 13.1 miles, in an official race, in another 14 hours, I should be able to say, "Been there, ran that!"

Up to 33.7 Miles

Finishing my 14th week of training for my upcoming Half Marathon, I ran 33.7 miles this last week. I did another run of 13.1 miles on Friday, and finished strong, despite temperatures climbing into the mid 70s by the end of the run. It was getting hot, very hot. I don't have any major aches and pains, and feel good about the race next weekend. I just wish it were here, I'm getting anxious to just go out and run. Now, on the flip side, I've been very healthy over the previous 14 weeks, having not been sick even once. I think the running really strengthens your immune system. But, unfortunately, just 1 week out, I'm now getting sick. Ugh. My throat is sore, so who knows what I might be getting. I've stressed myself out a little over the last couple of days, burning the candle at both ends, and maybe some stupid bug got in. Just have to battle through and run my race no matter what.

Another Week With 30+ Miles

32.8 miles in the training log this week, and I feel really good. A little stiff today, but not bad. I actually did my long, slow run on Friday (again), and ran 13.1 miles on one of the trails here in Omaha. So, I enter my last week of hard training with hopes of getting another 33 miles in or so, and will then taper next week to rest up for the race. The half marathon distance run that I did on Friday was mostly good, although the last couple of miles were tough as the arch of my right foot was hurting pretty bad. Still can't believe that I've been training now for a full 13 weeks, with only 2 weeks to go. In many regards, I wish the race were this week, as I feel I'm ready, and just want to run it and get it over with.

On a bright note, my wife was able to push past her comfort zone this past week and did her first double digit run on Saturday. She was able to do 10 miles. Most of the training plans say that if you can run 10, the adrenaline on race day should take you the last 3 miles. I hope that's true.

After the Lincoln HM, I have a half marathon scheduled in mid June in Denver, and will then take the summer to do a novice training program (bump up from beginner) in prep for the Omaha half marathon at the end of September, and then the Kansas City half marathon in the middle of October. Beyond, then, while it's so far away, I probably would do maintenance running in November and December, but then begin an 18 week plan to run a marathon at "next" year's Lincoln, NE race. Pie in the sky stuff, but you have to have goals.

By the way, I did the distance on Friday in 2 hours and 9 minutes and 53 seconds. My goal for the race finish will be somewhere near that, and am hoping that race adrenalin will push me harder. I've held back a little on my training runs so I wouldn't trash myself for the rest of the week, but I plan to run full-bore at the race, with NOTHING left in my gas tank when I'm done. I hope to be a quivering pile of goo by then, and will have to crawl home. Otherwise, if I'm not spent, I'll know I didn't race hard enough, and will always wonder how hard I should have pushed it.

I'm nervous, and a little anxious about the race, but am confident in where my training has taken me, and confident in my ability to run a strong race. Bring it.

Feeling Old

My daughter turned 13 yesterday. Yikes, where has the time gone? It's also the first time in awhile that I've really felt, well, old. Not that I am old, I just felt old as I laid down to go to sleep last night, thinking about the fact that I've got a teenage daughter. It seems like a lifetime ago, but at the same time, has passed in the blink of an eye. My daughter had a good day, and got to do the things that she wanted, and I think she enjoyed herself, although most of her friends were out of town, and they were on a break from school, so she spent it with us. We continued to celebrate with my wife's side of the family today, and our daughter got some great gifts. In another blink of an eye, she'll be graduating from high school, off to college, and then getting married. While I look forward to seeing her grow into womanhood, it also scares me beyond belief.

32.3 Miles This Week

Another week closer to our race, which is just now 3 weeks from today. The past week has been busy with 5 out 7 days spent running. This was the first week in a long time that I've had some significant pain while running, mainly in my ankles. I first thought it might have been my new shoes, but now attribute it to just being stiff and sore, and continuing to ramp up my weekly mileage. After a couple of miles, I was able to run through the the pain as all my joints got well lubricated. The week end in a 12.1 mile long, slow run on Friday morning. It felt great, (after the first couple of miles that is). While I was sore after the run, it wasn't anything uncontrollable, and I felt a shear sense of accomplishment. One more hard week is in store, with a weekly mileage log of about 34 miles hopefully, with a long slow run of 13.1 miles. Then, the following week, I'll probably keep about the same distance, but then do a significant taper the week of the race to be as strong as possible for race day. It's hard to believe that I've been training now for 12 full weeks, but also awesome to see how far I've come.

A 29.4 Mile Week

Well, another week of training is now in the books. I've completed 29.4 miles this week, culminating in my 11.1 mile long run that I mentioned earlier, followed by a 6 mile recovery jog yesterday. I feel pretty good, but definitely deserved the day of rest today, but will have to hit the pavement again tomorrow. The mileage only increases from here on out with a 12 mile run this week, a 13 mile run next week, and in the final week before the race, I believe I'll taper back to 8 or 9 miles. I just hope I remain healthy between now and then, and that I don't turn my ankle taking out the garbage or something.

My wife on the other hand is struggling with her training. She has been quite busy with work, and just hasn't had the time to get her long runs in. I think she's been running during the week at the gym, but her long run training has suffered. And now, it seems she's getting sick again. She has Asthma, and the running really stress her system. I have some concerns whether she'll be able to complete the mileage without hurting herself. I think she wants to prove to herself that she can do it, but I'm concerned about her health, and that she'll push it too far just to prove me wrong.

Long Run up to 11.1 Miles

My long run was supposed to be this coming Sunday, but with the impending winter storm, I had to move my long run up a couple of days. Today, I did an 11.1 mile run along the Keystone Trail here in Omaha. The run felt great, although my fingers did swell up a bit, and my right foot cramped up around mile 10. Other than that, no aches and pains, and even tonight, I feel pretty good, albeit a little stiff, but not really sore. The Lincoln Half Marathon is now just 4 weeks away, but I'm definitely getting more confidence that I'll be able to complete the full distance. In fact, I've registered for my second Half Marathon, the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon in Denver on June 14, and also plan to register for the Omaha Half Marathon on September 27, and the Kansas City Half Marathon on October 17. This running thing has certainly become addicting. It just feels good, so it's important to take advantage of the moment when you can. I was able to do the 11.1 mile run today at a solid 9:50 pace, so that's a great pace for someone who wasn't a runner just 11 weeks ago. In the coming weeks before my race, I plan to run 12, 13.1, then taper down to 8 or 9 miles the week before the race. While I have no plans of competing in any of these races, finishing strong is my main goal, and just to have some fun!

I'm a Gear Snob

I admit, I'm a gear snob. In other words, I like to have the best of the best, sometimes. With sunglasses, I'm definitely a gear snob. After I had LASIK surgery 18 months ago, I was finally able to wear sunglasses. I first started with a pair of Walmart cheapies, but soon found out that you get what you pay for. Soon after that, I tried out some Oakleys, and man, was I hooked. The Oakley lenses are far superior to the drug store specials, and you get spoiled with having the best. High Definition Optics rock. Recently, I left my Oakleys at work, and had to use my backup pair of El cheapos in the meantime. Wow, what a difference, like night and day. In fact, this is my 2nd pair of discount store specials, since the first pair broke. Guess, what, this second pair just broke too. And the lenses were junk, it felt like I had cataracts in my eyes when compared to wearing the Oakleys. Yes, the Oakleys were about 10 times more than the cheapies, but it's worth it to me.

Speaking of sunglasses, now that I've been running a lot, I find that I have to wear sunglasses when running, or my eyes dry out too much. So, I ordered another pair of light-colored lenses so I could wear them at dusk. I wear black iridium lenses for full sunlight, G30 rose-colored lenses for partly cloudy skies, and wanted a pair of persimmon lenses for nighttime. That's the nice think about Oakleys, you can change the lenses depending on the lighting. So, I ordered the persimmon lenses last week and they arrived today. Only, they sent me 2 "different" lenses, yes, both persimmon, but for 2 different version of Oakley sunglasses. Doh. So, I had to send the mixed up lenses back and hopefully, will get the right lenses in a few days. It's always something!

Double Digit Run...Finally

Well, I can now say I've hit the double digits for a single run as I ran 10.4 miles yesterday for my LSD (long slow distance) run. And I ran that 10.4 miles without stopping (except to grab a snack and a water bottle from my car at the halfway point). It truly is amazing to me, since just 10 short weeks ago, I was NOT a runner, and now, just 2 1/2 months later, I can literally run double digits. I feel like Forest Gump, ha. In the last week, I've run 28.4 miles. In the last month, I've run 110.8 miles. Again, the only word that can describe that is amazing. More importantly, on my 10 1/2 mile run today, it felt good. I felt strong, and literally thought I could have run further and longer. And now, 12 hours after the run, I still feel good with no major aches and pains. That's a miracle in itself, that I've been able to accomplish much of my running injury free. I did have some Achilles Tendinitis early on, and occasional sore/stiff legs here and there, but so far, in my 215.9 career running miles, it's been pretty smooth. I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope that I remain injury free over the next 5 weeks. Yes, my half marathon is now just 4 weeks and 6 days away. That's slightly daunting, but also surprisingly refreshing knowing that I hit 10 miles today, and should be able to complete the full 13.1 miles just as strong as I was today. I fully intend to cross the finish line with a smile on my face, and an unthinkable amount of pride in what I've been able to accomplish. I do have a goal of finishing with a time of 2:10, which is a solid 10 minute mile. I honestly think I can do it. Has it been easy? Absolutely not, I've worked very hard for this, with a ton of sweat and determination. Not much blood in there, and maybe just one tear. Ha.

New Running Shoes...Already?

Well, my Nike Pegasus 25+ running shoes have about 210 miles on them. Yikes, how did I rack up the miles so fast? Well, I'm now up to the mid 20s for mileage each week, so yes, the numbers do add up pretty quickly. While they are still fine, I am finding that I'm getting a little more ankle and knee pain more frequently now. Not sure if that's because I'm running so much, or that the shoes are starting to lose their cushion. Probably a little of both. Plus, with another week until my half marathon, I'll be pushing 350 miles by race day, and that may be pushing it for having a smooth, ache free race. So, I went to the local running store and got a pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 12s. They recently won the Runners World editor's choice award, and are definitely a quality shoe. I went with size 12, although the running store wanted me to buy a 12 1/2, but they just felt too big and loose. I've had no problems with my feet at all in my Nike Pegasus 2007 or 25+ in size 12, so I'm not going to change now. We'll see how they feel when running. They sure felt awesome when I tried them on. I could have gotten them for a few $$ cheaper online, but decided to give the LRS some love instead.

9 Mile LSD Run, Yowza!

A couple of nights ago, I headed out well after dinner (around 830 pm) for what I thought was just going to be an easy 3 or 4 mile run. At about 1/2 mile into the run, I started to have a sugar crash and thought I should head for home. But, that quickly passed, and after that, I felt really good. It was dark, but I had a blinking red light on my jacket, and it was in the lower 50s. The miles quickly ticked off as I ran through my local neighborhoods. I reached 4 miles, and felt good enough to do 5. Five turned into six, and six turned into seven. When I hit seven, I thought I could surely hit 8 miles since I ran that far last week for my LSD run. When I hit 8, I really wanted to push myself to get 9 in this week. While the last couple of miles were hard, I indeed clicked off 9 miles on my run, and staggered home. My heart and lungs still felt strong, but my legs were pretty much done, and not sure they could have given any more. So, yesterday, I rested. Wow, it was a hard run, but now I just need to turn 9 into 10, and 10 into 13.1. The Lincoln Half Marathon is now just 6 weeks from today. Yikes, I can't believe that, in fact, it makes me a little more than nervous. But, I know I certainly put in my the required training, and should be more then well prepared for the run in a few weeks. Now, I just have to make sure I don't injure myself, and indeed, I should be wearing a medal around my neck, proudly I might add. Not everyone can run a half marathon, and I hope to prove to myself that I can do it.

Regarding gear, I have purchased a few toys to help out. I did purchase a SPIbelt, which is an elastic belt with a small pouch to put small, personal items (SPI). It works great, and is just big enough to hold my cell phone and car keys, and a couple packs of energy gel if necessary. Great running accessory. I also purchased the blinking, red light that I mentioned, so I'm more visible at nighttime. With the weather turning nicer, I've definitely been out running more on trails and on the streets in the neighborhoods, so I want to make sure I'm seen by traffic.

In case I'm not seen by traffic, or some vengeful person tries to run me down, I also wear a Road ID necklace. It's essentially a dog tag with all of my pertinent ICE (in case of emergency) info, should I be rendered unconscious. It's assurance that I'll be identified if something happens to me while running.

My health has also moved into the "remarkably healthy" (words of my doctor) category due to my running. My resting heart rate is about 55 to 59 beats per minute on average, although I did measure it at 49 bpm one night a couple of weeks ago. I just tested my blood pressure this evening also, it was 98 over 58. That seems a tad low, based on my physical exam from earlier this week, which was 120 over 70. My cholesterol was 152, my triglycerides 50 (should be less than 149) , my HDL was 57 (should be 40-60), and my LDL was 87 (should be less than 90). So, all in all, I'm doing great. My weight has stabilized around 156, so only just a couple of pounds below my pre-run weight.

Wow, Accomplished So Much Today

I was up at the crack of dawn. Man, I'm tired. Had to get up early to get my wife and daughter to school by 7 am, then I had a routine physical at 8am. I was the first appointment of the day, but oddly enough, didn't get seen until about 820. No wonder doctors are always so late. Then I drove to Lincoln to the Sid Dillon dealership to exchange my punctured tire. That was an easy process, and they immediately honored the road hazard tire warranty. I stopped by my sister's work to pick up a computer monitor (one that I actually bought from her 6 months ago, but just have never been able to connect at the right time or place to get it), then drove back to Omaha. I got the tires rotated on my wife's car, got a haircut, did some shopping for a new grill and new trees in the backyard, and then mounted my new tire and put the spare back in it's hidey hole. I then mowed the yard, and created another 8 bags of mulched thatch. The bags were very dense, at least twice as dense as the unmulched thath from yesterday. I then rearranged the junk in the garage so the garage door could be installed tomorrow, and also used the blower to blow out the dust in the garage and also blew off the driveway and sidewalks. Then, yes there's more, after dinner, I headed out and ran 5.3 miles, at my best pace to date, doing 9:05 miles. Wow. Since the night was still and young and I was very sore, I headed to the gym to sit in the whirlpool for awhile. Phew. It was a long day, but the yard looks awesome, I'm so pleased. It really looks great, I can only imagine how good it's going to look this summer. I still want to get some fertilizer down before the rain comes later this week, but that should be an easy job, perhaps tomorrow evening or Friday evening after work. I wish all days were this productive. Ha.

New Toys

While money is tight right now, I'm going to go ahead and buy a couple of new toys for our house. We have a 3 car garage, a double and a single. We've always had a garage door on the double from the day we moved in, but left the single alone. I've always used the key, or just flipped the knob and manually raised it whenever necessary. But, I'm ready to get an opener on the 2nd door now too. I've wanted one for a long time, but the money has always gone for other things. Oh well, it's something that we'll really use, so it's time to get er done. We also need a new grill, since our old grill is bad shape. I've nursed it along through the years replacing burners and whatnot, but I'm tired of it and want a really nice grill for our deck. I don't want a huge grill, but I do want something better than what we've got. Again, it's not really in the budget right now, but I'm going to make it work. I also want to get another security light installed under the eave in the back of our house (we have one now), and a couple of things I don't want to mention. With the house refinance complete, I feel confident that spending a couple of months of the extra money saved will be well worth it in the end.

It's Never Easy With Me

On the way home from work last night, the air pressure sensor for my tires came on. I pulled over to check the tires, but they all looked fine. I made it home OK, but this morning, the right rear tire was half flat. So, I limped up to the gas station to refill it, but it didn't last long. Within a couple of hours, it was half flat again, and I could hear it leaking. So, I filled it with my portable air compressor and headed to the tire store. Of course, the nail nicked the sidewall, and if they repaired it, it probably wouldn't last. Doh! Why are things never easy for me? I do have a road hazard warranty for the tires from the car dealership, but that's in Lincoln, and I live in Omaha. Double Doh. So, I had the tire company put the spare tire on, and I will drive the tire down to the Nissan dealer to have it swapped out. The bad news, I'll now have 3 tires with 16500 miles on them, and one brand new tire, assuming they also agree that it can't be fixed. I honestly don't have time for this, but have no choice. I'm guessing that they will try to repair it first, rather than having to pony up for a new tire, and when it fails, then, and only then, will they replace the tire, which means "another" trip to Lincoln, and possibly being stranded on the side of the road somewhere when the patch fails. I said it before, why is it never easy with me?

And So It Begins...

I noticed that over the last few days, as the weather has warmed up, that the grass was starting to show some green. The problem with my yard though is that it literally gets choked with dead thatch. This will be the 6th year for this yard, and I did dethatch the yard about 3 years ago, but it really needs to be done every year, although I have aerated every spring and fall for the previous 2 years. This year, I decided to do a full dethatch again. It's a delicate balance as you want to pull out the dead grass, but don't want to chew up the ground an destroy the new shoots. Well, I can only say that it was a huge success. After renting the power rake and running over the yard twice on setting 2, (from 1 to 6), I was amazed at the amount of thatch being pulled out. I wanted to go deeper, but the ground was still soft in some areas, and I did get a lot out. In fact, it took me about 6 hours to rake and bag the thatch, all 19 of them. Yes, that's right, I bagged 17 30 gallon sacks of thatch, and 2 54 gallon trash cans. Holy moly, that was a huge job, and I'm so sore this evening. In fact, I loaded the last pile of thatch just as the sun was setting in the west. Wow, I'm tired. But honestly, the yard looks so good right now. It's ready to be mowed, and hopefully, I can get that done tomorrow, and possibly get some fertilizer down by the end of the week as some rain is in the forecast for the weekend. Phew, a big job, but I'm so happy that's it's done. My neighbor thought I was a little premature, but I honestly don't think so, I think my timing was perfect this year. I still need to do an aeration too, and I should have a kick ass lawn this year.

With regards to other gardening chores, I do have to replace my two apple trees this year. I naively didn't put bark guards on last fall, and damn rabbits chewed the bark right off them. They are dead. There are a couple of welling buds on them, but it's not worth it to nurse them back. So, I think I'd like to replace them with a pear tree and a plum tree perhaps. A lesson learned.

I also want to build a cedar arbor, and get a couple of Concord grapevines going. I don't really know much about the pruning of the grapes, but I do have some friends who might be able to help. They own a winery in northwest Iowa, so perhaps they can give me some pruning and training advice. I'd also like to plant a couple of non-fruit-bearing crabapple trees. I think there is a Snow Crab variety that does not produce fruit, but they do flower nicely in the spring. They really weren't in my master plan last year, so I may need to develop a new plan. Ha. Oh well.

I also do have a couple of sink holes to fix this year, along the side of the house, and at the back of the property where the electrical cables are buried. It's always something. I also would like to pull up my landscaping brick and relay them, to get them in a nice straight line again. Ah, never-ending chores.

OMFG, I'm a Runner

Well, 8 weeks into my training for the Lincoln Half Marathon and I just knocked out an 8-mile run (full loop around Lake Zorinsky here in Omaha) for my weekly long run. http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7802342 Eight weeks ago, I couldn't run for more than 15 minutes. And now, I just ran for an hour and 20 minutes, non-stop (had to stop once to retie my shoes), at a solid 10-minute mile. I've been able to do my tempo runs during the week at 9:15 pace, but I slow it down (long slow distance) on my long runs. I never would have imagined I could have come this far in just 8 weeks. But I feel great, and ready to push for more. No major aches and pains. The Lincoln HM is still 7 weeks from today, so am just over halfway through my training. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm truly starting to believe that this goal of doing a HM will be reachable. More importantly, I'm having fun. I've gone from not being a runner, in that I didn't like it, couldn't do, to absolutely loving the idea of running, and find that if I don't get my runs in, I'm not happy. Weird. I'm now at 24.2, 24.2, and 26.0 miles for weekly mileage for the previous 3 weeks. OMFG, I'm a runner!

Running Man...That's Me

The half marathon training is going well. I've run 18 miles this week already, and still have an 8 mile run planned for Sunday. The weather had turned cold late last week and much of this week, but the temperatures have rebounded into the 40s today, headed for highs near 70 by Monday and Tuesday. I ran 5 miles yesterday in 31 degree temps, and it was chilly. My daughter was also doing track practice during the same time, and she was frozen popsicle by the time she got done. I feel that I'm really accomplishing something during my runs, and have improved my pace from 16:40 minute mile when I started 8 weeks ago, to a solid 9:15 minute mile as of this week. My VO2 max (whatever that is) has gone from 14 to 33 in that time. I still need to remind myself to take deep breaths, which seems to help, but otherwise, I'm doing pretty well. My aches and pains are not major anymore, and I find that I'm recovering pretty well after runs too. There's only 7 weeks left until the Lincoln Half Marathon, so that gets me nervous at times, but as long as I continue on my present track, I should be able to complete it without any trouble. I hope. One day at a time, and slow and steady wins the race.

And Another Week Begins

Another training week has begun for the half marathon, which is now just 7 weeks away. I've consistently run 24.1 miles in the previous 2 weeks now, and will continue to ramp up my mileage, eventually reaching 11 miles on my long runs. The runs are going OK, and I find that I'm able to do them without stopping, so that's good. Getting into the runs is the hard part though, as I struggle through the first couple of miles, but eventually get into the groove. But, unfortunately, I'm now coming down with a chest and head cold. I don't know where that came from, as no one in my family is sick, and no one at work is sick. Ugh. That's not what I was looking forward to right at the mid point of my training. If it comes down to it, I can use this as a taper week if I get sick enough to not run. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

We've also had a recent cold snap here, with freezing drizzle yesterday, and now wind chill values below zero again this morning. Just can't believe this, and am so ready for winter to be over. Well, I was ready for winter to be over when it began 3 months ago. I just want it to be warm. It's coming, but just not soon enough.

Went out to dinner last night at the Chinese buffet. We haven't eaten there in a long time. Now I know why, I ate way too much. We were in utter disgust at the family at the table next to ours. The four kids were completely out of control, throwing food, spilling food, dumping food on the floor, etc. Then, they spread to the next table, pulling out the sugar packets, tearing them open, spilling it everywhere. Why can't people keep control of their kids in public. I wish I would have said something to them, but didn't want to make a scene and just wanted to eat in peace. They were complete morons, and oblivious to how miserable they were making everyone else in the restaurant. I can only imagine what their home life must be like.

Busy Week

Well, we did close after all on Monday night. I got a call later in the day on Monday, and since the title office Bank of America works with has an office on Omaha, they were able to send a closer directly to our house. So, indeed, we signed all the papers Monday night, and the loan officially disbursed yesterday (there is a 3 day waiting period if we had changed our mind). So, that's a huge load off my shoulders to know that our mortgage is now tucked in and put to bed. Phew. Now, we just have to wait for our old mortgage to settle out and refund back a huge chunk of money that had been sitting in escrow. That will be a good feeling since I really had to drain our emergency fund in the meantime.

I also need to submit our taxes in the next week or two. I've got everything entered into the program and it's all ready to go, mostly. I do have to re-tweak some of capital losses, but otherwise, it's ready to go. We do owe money to federal, but will get most of that back with a state refund, so in the end, it's a wash.

Running has gone well this week. I'm at 21.1 miles this week so far, and actually did my long run today. I did another 7 miles on the treadmill at the gym since it was cool and rainy outside. I seem to have worked through most of my pain issues once again, and everything continues to click well. The Lincoln Half Marathon is now just 8 weeks away. I feel fairly confident that I should be able to do this, especially since I've still got 8 weeks to continue to increase my mileage. Ideally, I'd like to get to about an 11 mile long run in that time, and the remaining 2 miles on race day should be powered mostly by adrenaline. My 7th grade daughter is also starting track this coming week. While she's never really done any athletics because of her back, she's excited about the opportunity. We'll see how she feels after the first week. Ha.

I did a great geocache run yesterday, driving about 500 miles round trip to check off a few counties in the Nebraska 93 County Challenge. It was an awesome day with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s. Geocaching is very interesting, mostly that it usually takes me to places that I wouldn't otherwise go, and I often learn interesting tidbits of history along the way. Plus, it's just a fun way to kill some time, although I certainly have enough at home to keep me busy.

I am so ready for spring to arrive. Tonight, we actually "spring" forward, and set the clocks ahead one hour. The grass and trees still are dormant, although the buds on the trees are welling up more and more. I expect it will be another week or two before things begin to wake up, although, while out geocaching in south central Nebraska yesterday, I did see a few yards that were already starting to green up. I need to get the mower tuned up and do have some necessary yard work, but progressively warmer temperatures will be nice. It will also help to get outside more and more for my runs.

Great Visit with my Brother

My brother from Colorado Springs was here this past weekend for a quick visit. He arrived Friday night and flew home yesterday. While it was a quick trip, we had a great time catching up with each other, and just overall relaxing and having some fun. It's always good to visit with family, especially when you live quite a distance apart and don't get to see each other very often. Glad to see you brother!

On an unrelated note, we are supposed to close on our mortgage refinance today. Ha, I'm having serious doubts whether that will happen. We were supposed to have been sent the papers on 3 separate days this past week, but nothing showed up, and now, I can't get ahold of our mortgage representative on the phone to find out what's going on. It's making me more than nervous, since the whole deal expires in another 2 days. I'm also beginning to wonder if they aren't stalling on purpose since they ultimately don't have the available cash line to complete the deal right now. Who knows. All I know is that it's giving me an ulcer worrying about it, trying to keep the logistics straight.

One of our credit cards was also compromised over the weekend. Not sure how, but the crooks apparently made a fake card and tried to use it about 800 miles from here at a local Walmart. The activity triggered a fraud alert on our account. I contacted the company and immediately closed down the account. The only problem, all of our automatic payments through various companies are on that card, so it will be a hassle to get all those payments changed to a different card. Since it happened on 2/28, and at least 3 payments come out on 3/1, I've got a bit more to deal with to get the extra charges for a denied transactions and late fees removed as well. This will be the 4th time in our adult lives that we've had something like this happen. I think we've paid our dues, but dumbass crooks will always be on the prowl. It's crazy.

I woke up this morning with a very bad pain in my back too. I apparently slept wrong last night and tweaked my back. That happens if I sleep in the wrong position. I know that, and consciously try to not sleep in that certain position, but I must have been so tired last night I didn't know the difference. Ugh. That will probably take a week to work itself back out. Hope that doesn't affect my running training, but we'll see.

7 Mile Long Run

Well, today was a new milestone in my running, I was able to do a 7 mile long run, without stopping. The run felt pretty good, although my right ham string did cramp up about 4 miles in, and didn't go away until the end of the run. Not sure why that happened. It's not that I pulled the muscle, it just cramped up. So, that's 24.2 miles of running this past week. I feel stronger each and every day I run, and am able to go farther each time. The half marathon is only another 6.1 miles, so I've been able to get myself past the halfway point. That's an exciting motivator that should carry me through. My first race in Lincoln is now 9 weeks away, still plenty of time to take and slow and steady, and continue to build my long runs up to 10 to 12 miles eventually. I'm beginning to think beyond Lincoln, and what options would be available. I tossed around the idea of trying to run a half marathon a month thereafter, however running marathons through the summer doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Ha. There is a marathon in Kansas City in early June. I may consider that one, but would probably then not race until September in the Omaha half marathon, and perhaps another half marathon in Kansas City in October. Who knows. I still have to get through my first one, but that's becoming more and more likely as I continue to build my miles.

The World is Full of Idiots

Gallup recently completed a scientific poll that 9 out of 10 people are dumbasses. Well, I'm the 1 in 10 that isn't. OK, so yes, I've been a dumbass before, but it's not a routine thing. But, the world is full of rude, uncaring, thankless, unapologetic dumbasses. I see them every day. Like all the lazy lumps at the gym who don't bother to pick up their towels and put them in the hamper. Dumbasses. Oh the guy at the gym who sprawls out, and takes up the space of 3 guys with all his stupid, useless stuff. Dumbass. Or some of your neighbors, who do stupid, thoughtless things. Dumbasses. I could go on. How about the guy that I went out of my way to help yesterday, going above and beyond what was right to help him out. Did I get a single word of thanks? No. Dumbass. Sometimes I think how wonderful it would be if I were stranded on a desert island so I wouldn't have to deal with a world full of dumbasses. Ah, it would be nice, but I'm sure I'd annoy myself sooner or later, because, yes, I too am a dumbass every once in awhile. :0 Anyhow, enough about that.

I've run 22 miles in the past 6 days, and today was a day of rest, finally. But, I did a lot of work around the house, cleaning and decluttering, so while I didn't exactly "work out", I did work hard. I need to hit the gym early in the morning tomorrow for a run, then have more work to do at home. Another snow storm is coming in tomorrow night, with 2 to 4 inches expected. My brother will also be in town, and it seems whenever he visits, it always snows. He visited us in Kentucky once and we had a record 22" of snow. He visited a couple of years ago here in Nebraska during a blizzard. 10" of snow with 60 mph winds. I'm not sure how he times this, but it never fails. He must be cursed or something.

We are closing on our refinance on Monday, hopefully. We still haven't received the final paperwork, but it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow. We're a couple of days late from our original plan (closing on the the 28th of February), and that shifts everything back another month. I know I'll be glad when it's all over, once all the money get shifted here and there, and we get a refund of our current escrow account, and get the new one started. It's a little stressful right now with so much money going in different directions, but in the end, we'll be ahead of the game, and able to save quite a bit. I only have 2 payments left on my LASIK surgery too, so that will certainly help things. And, in another 7 months, we'll only have 1 car payment to make, instead of 2. Yeah. And, we'll get our washer and dryer paid off then too, so there is a really bright light at the end of the tunnel in the not too distant future.

Long Run of 6.2 Today

We are going to our Church fundraiser dinner tonight, so I thought I'd better get my long run in today (since I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in tomorrow after a full night of open bar). Hmm. I got off work this morning, and even though I had already been awake for 18 hours, I felt wired. Not sure why since I should have been dog tired. But, I headed to the gym anyhow and ran 6.2 miles. That's a 10k! Holy moly, that's the longest I've ever run, and I did it without stopping. And, the strange part, it felt really good. I felt as if I could have run a LOT more, but can't push this. I've already had two minor injuries, in both my lower and upper right calf, and need to just take it slow and easy. But the run was good today. I felt strong. It's now becoming clear that I really can do this. Really, there's nothing you can't accomplish if you just set your mind to it.

Shopping...Again

Ah, I just love to spend money. NOT! We have our annual church fundraiser dinner this coming Saturday. It's a black-tie affair, and everyone always dresses to the nines (what the hell does that mean anyway?) So, I thought I'd better try on my suit to see if it still fits. Um, I'd have to say no. I was completely swimming in it. Instead of looking like a dork, I decided to go out and buy a new suit. I must say, the suit I ended up with is very sharp, and I'm pleased. Ended up with a 40R for the jacket, and 32x32 for slacks. It's a black pinstriped suit, very classy. I also bought a maroon-red shirt to wear, and a new black tie. Very cool.

Last week, I also bough some new shorts for the upcoming summer. I tried on all my old shorts and they were also way too big. That's the perils of losing weight, you have to eventually buy a whole new wardrobe. I have been making do with some of my other bigger shirts over the winter, but the shorts definitely are too big, so I didn't have a choice. Size 29 or 30 on the shorts. Yowza! I love it.

I also bought a new winter coat, although I probably won't wear it until next winter. Ha, buy then, I probably will have gained the weight back. NOT! I'm never gaining the weight back. I'd rather die first.

By the way, this morning, I had a wake up weight of 156. That's a legitimate weight. The running I've been doing is burning 400 to 600 calories per run, and that's a lot. I'm eating well, but hopefully, I'm starting to burn some of my fat too. Although, I did get measured for fat content a couple of weeks ago at work through a health drive. That measurement was 18.9% fat. My scale yesterday said I was down to 15%, but this morning, it bounced back up to 20%. I really don't think I can trust that scale, it just doesn't seem to give accurate fat measurements. But, I think my spare tire is looking better, but still a ways to go. Is it possible to be both fat and skinny at the same time? Ha, yes I think I've mastered that with flying colors.

I also did another 3.1 mile run today. I think I've been able to work through my latest round of pain by stretching a few times a day outside of my normal post-run stretch. Tomorrow will probably be a day of rest, and hoping to do a long run on Saturday around 5 miles.

Light Workout Today

Since my calf was hurting a little today so I decided to just do a light 3 mile run at an 11 minute pace, and then did a nice round of stretching in the sauna. Too much too fast. Slow and steady wins the race. Have to keep telling myself that. Ugh.

5 Miles...Like Butta!

Back on the trail today after doing a cross training day yesterday. Actually, yesterday was supposed to be a strength day, but I just wanted to take it easy, so did a 20 minute swim/water run, then just did a little bit of stretching in the sauna. Today, I ran 5 miles at Standing Bear Lake. It was cool and cloudy today, so I decided to buy a pair of lightweight running gloves and hat to wear, and also got a compression long sleeve shirt to wear under my running jacket. I stayed toasty and warm, with a temperature around 41. The first part of the run was harder than I would have thought after my big mileage days this past weekend. But, part of that was probably anxiety too, since I had to run off trail, along the street, in the mud for about 1/2 mile on the west side of the lake. Yuck! Hated that part. Anyhow, quickly got into the groove though, and the miles ticked off after that. My heart rate was a little higher than I would have liked, with a run average of 149 bpm, so I tried to consciously slow it down a little with deep belly breathing, and it helped a little. I am having a little bit of calf pain in my right leg tonight, higher than the pain I had last week. I didn't get to stretch as much as I would have liked after the run, so I probably just tightened up a bit. I just have to keep telling myself everyday, "Slow and steady wins the race." "Complete, not compete."

Heart Rate Zones

I did some research on what exactly heart rate zones are, and at what level I should be training at. I mainly did this to help support my wife who again overdid her run today. She's very competitive, which is a bad thing sometimes and nearly killed herself again today. Well, that's twice in just 8 days now.

Anyhow, we each have our own Forerunner 305 now, which does have a heart rate monitor accessory. I really didn't have an interest in wearing that chest strap monitor, and thought it would be cumbersome and uncomfortable. But, today, I decided to give it a try, and also to try and keep myself in the right zone. I got off work at 4pm, and even though it was only 30 degrees, with 5" of snow still on the ground, I suited up to head out for a trail run. I wore a pair of tights under my running pants, and just a normal shirt under my running jacket, along with a pair of lightweight gloves. I have to admit, I really wasn't that cold. I decided to run on the West Papio trail. It was very icy for the first 1/4 mile, but then it was apparent that the city of Omaha had already cleared it past that. So, I ran out 2.1 miles, turned around and came back. Even though I had already run my long run yesterday, I just wanted to run. I love to run now, and that's just after 4 weeks of training. Strange.

The heart rate monitor worked great. It wasn't as uncomfortable as I had imagined, and I can now see how beneficial it could be to train in the "right" zones. It also was helpful to control my pace, to know whether I could go faster or slower.

So now, I intend to run with the heart rate monitor attached. I'm shooting to do most of my training in zones 3 and 4, with periodic bursts into zone 4, and occasional zone 5 speed work. I'm becoming a fitness freak.

New Milestone of 5.5

Well, I've hit another milestone today. I was able to run 5.5 miles for my long run today, without stopping, and without any trouble. I initially was just going to do a short 3 mile jog, in lieu of doing some cross training. At 30 minutes in, I felt so good that I decided to make this my long run day, so I just continued my pace for another 30 minutes. I believe I was a little dehydrated today as I barely broke a sweat. What's more important, I felt as if I could have kept going, but decided to not push it. Slow and steady wins the race. I was running a 11 minute mile pace, much slower than my previous two runs of 9:30. So, I've proved that if I slow it down a little that I'll have no trouble continuing to increase my long run distance each week. The Lincoln Half Marathon is now 11 weeks away. Still a lot of time, but it will sneek up fast.

Otherwise, we got several inches of snow yesterday, from 6 to 8 in the Omaha metro area. It was a quick moving system and blew in and right back out in a few hours. It was a little depressing since we'd melted of our snow previously, and I had been out running on the local city trails. But, hopefully it won't last long now that we're already moving into the latter half of February.

Another 3.2 miles in the Books

Had a great run along the west trail at Zorinsky Lake today. It was a bright, sunny, mild day. It was a little cool at the start of the run, with temperatures in the 30s, but it quickly warmed into the 40s and I warmed up. I feel as if I'm really able to get into the groove when running now, and am looking more and more forward to getting out on the trails and sidewalks as we get progressively warmer over the next few weeks. It's still hard work, but seems like it's becoming easier as I continue to build up the miles.

The Calm Before the Storm

Well, more snow is on the way, from 5 to 8 inches, coming in tomorrow morning, then exiting tomorrow evening. We've had some very nice days lately, and honestly, I'm ready for spring. The thought of more cold temperatures and heavy snow just makes me sick. Ugh. I hate winter. It could be a long weekend, as I have quick turnarounds on my job, and will have to find time to dig out in between then too. Yuck. But, we could also be facing severe weather if spring had really sprung, which will bring hail, high winds, and tornaodes, and I'm not looking forward to any of that either.

Not Eating Enough

Well, I had a wake-up weight of 155lbs this morning. I think it's clear that I'm not eating enough, since I'm training at least 5 days a week, and burning 400-500 calories per workout. I thought I had been eating well, but probably not well enough. Ideally, I don't really want to gain or lose weight, but just want to maintain.

Had a good 4 mile run today. I wanted to run outside since temperatures were in the 40s, but it was still pretty windy today, so decided to run at the gym instead. I have been taking an Acclerade drink before my workouts, and also Endurox R4 afterwards. They are 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio sports drinks that are supposed to give an extra boost of energy before, and help my muscles to recover after runs. Don't know that I'll ever have any way to measure whether it works or not, but I can use the calories.

The runs themselves have been hard, and I find that I have to dig deep to keep pushing myself. That's probably a good thing. But, I also am finding that I really feel good after the runs, and after a rest period, feel as if I could run again. I'm just hoping that I can keep it up for 13 miles. The training plan I'm following does gradually build up the mileage each successive week on the long run, but the training runs are typically 3 miles in the beginning, then 4 miles, and eventually 5 miles per day. In other words, the calorie consumption will continue to increase, so I need to make sure I'm eating enough so that I'm not losing muscle, and have enough energy in my body to complete the longer distances. I am still eating good things (lean meats, whole grain breads, vegetables, non fat dairy products, fruits, etc), probably just not eating enough.

A Busy Day

Wow, it's been a long day. I got about about 6am because my wife was stirring and woke me up. So, I decided to stay up and go for a road trip. We've been experiencing some ice jam flooding across the area and I wanted to see it for myself. So, I drove up toward Westpoint where the Elkhorn River was out of its banks flooding some of the park in town. Along the way, I grabbed a few geocaches to add to my list. I had intended on getting back home by lunchtime so I could go for an afternoon run around the lake, but thought that since I was already up in northeast Nebraska that I could make a loop and grab a few more geocaches. I'm interested in completing the Nebraska 93 County Challenge (visiting a geocache in every county), and thought it was a great chance to knock out about 5 more counties. So, I didn't get back into town until about 4pm.

No rest for the weary, we went out ro eat at the Hollywood Diner. It was OK, but the sweet potato fries were delicious. We then came home and watched the Biggest Loser (I really do enjoy that show, and it was the inspiration for me losing my weight last year), and then went to the gym at 9pm to run 3.1 miles. So, it's been a long day and my body is ready for sleep. By the way, was able to run my personal best this evening, at a 9:37/mile pace, despite my thinking that it's easier to run earlier in the morning versus late at night. No pain at all, so am glad that I've worked through that, at least for now.

Recovery Day, and Back at It

After our long run on Saturday, we attended a party at a coworkers house. It was a fun party, but we both drank just a little too much and didn't feel well at all on Sunday. Sigh, we never learn, and we say every time we drink that much that we'll never do it again. But, how quickly we forget. Anyhow, Sunday was spent lying around recovering.

Today, I was back at the gym, running as normal. No pain today at all, and I was able to run 4 miles in 40 minutes, a solid 10 minute mile. Yeehaw! My wife on the other hand is now coming down with a bad cold, after her asthma attack on Saturday. This will put even more of a delay in her training. No rest for the weary though, if we intend to get our training in before the Lincoln half. It's now 12 weeks away, so there's no time to waste. Am still concerned whether my wife can do it or not though. She says she can, and can be quite stubborn about such things, and said she'll complete it if it kills her. Somehow, I believe it.

Today's Long Run Felt Good

Well, I just couldn't let a good day go to waste. Temperatures were in the mid 50s and the skies were sunny and bright. After a lot of stretching yesterday, my lower calf muscle felt really good today. So, I decided to try my long run around the east loop of Lake Zorinsky. The first mile gave me some minor pain in my lower left ankle on the front, but no pain on my right lower calf. Amazing. So, I ran. The loop itself is paved asphalt, and is a really nice trail, but there still are patches of ice (despite the warm temperatures, with a new record high yesterday), and lot of snowmelt running onto the trail too. Sure gave my shiny white Nike shoes a run for their money, guess they can't stay clean and new forever. Only stopped running when I hit the occasional ice patch. Anyhow, 4.5 miles later, I had completed the loop and was back at my car. The run felt good, time passed, I wasn't huffing and puffing, and it just felt, well, good! In fact, it felt great! I just love how I feel after a run, with a sense of accomplishment, a sense of "can do", and feel so proud of myself. Still seems strange that just 3 or 4 weeks ago, I didn't really "enjoy" my running, and looked at is as a chore. Today, I was excited. I was excited to be outside. I was excited to meet other runners on the trail. I was excited to hear the GPS watch tick off each mile and to be able to look at my pace. In fact, I wish I could have done more. Just have to remember, slow and steady wins the race. Complete, not compete! One odd thing, I saw a woman riding her horse on the Zorinsky trail. Didn't think that was allowed since it's such a crowded trail with runners, walkers, and bikers. Seemed a little dangerous to me.

My wife did her long run today too, but she didn't have as good of luck. She has asthma, and today really hit her hard. In fact, when she got home, I was very concerned since she was still huffing and puffing (a good 20 minutes after her run), and couldn't catch her breath. I feared for her life for a minute, and have significant concerns whether she can complete the half marathon or not. She's going to her asthma doctor next week to discuss her options, and possibly adjust her meds if necessary. She's been dealing with severe asthma for the last 4 years or so. It has gotten significantly better since then, but perhaps this is too much.

Pain is Decreasing...

Well, today was a scheduled rest day anyhow, but it was hard since it warmed into the lower 60s. I ached to get out and run today, but knew I had to take it easy. I started an extended stretching routine today, to try and frequently stretch my lower calves. I did stop by the local Running Store, Peak Performance, to ask whether or not my shoes needed inserts. They felt that the pain was 1) expected, 2) sounded as if it wasn't that bad, and 3) think I should not train as hard. This evening, the pain is almost gone, but the muscle and tendon are still tight. So, perhaps the stretching is helping. Of course, not putting the strain on it with additional training is helping too. The PP guy did suggest I use a heel lift in my shoe to help take the strain off the muscle when I'm walking around too, so perhaps I'll stop at Walgreens to see what they have. He suggested that if I'm still having trouble in a week or two, to come back in to possibly look at different shoes. I'm using Nike Air Pegasus 25+ shoes now, and they feel good, but if they are they are the cause of the problem, I would definitely consider changing. It's kind of weird that I was a bit anxious to get out and run today, since only 3 weeks ago, I approached my runs with some trepidation. Even with the pain yesterday, I otherwise felt really good, before, during, and after the run, and was excited to be outside running for the first time. Just wish I could have taken advantage of the warmer weather today, but these days will come again soon.

Lower Calf Strain

Here we go again. I'm a dumbass! Yesterday, I complained about some minor pain in my lower right calf. Well, today, the pain had diminished. It was still there, but just barely noticeable, so I decided to do a light run to see how it felt. Plus, it was bright and sunny and temperatures had warmed into the mid 40s, and I was extremely anxious to not waste the day. So, I put on the Forerunner 305 (GPS pedometer) and went for a light jog through the neighborhood. First, let me say that the run felt awesome. It felt good to NOT be running on that stupid treadmill, and the time seemed to pass by very quickly. The Forerunner watch was cool and worked flawlessly and definitely glad we made the purchase (now we might have to buy another one, hmmm). The pain in my calf wasn't too bad, just a low dull ache, but I was able to run through it. At about mile 2.4, it hurt a little more, so I walked for a couple of minutes, but was able to start running again and completed 3.1 miles (5k). This was after being awake for 17 hours, so it was my evening, and it just felt good. The bright sunshine sure helps knock down the case of SAD I've had the last couple of days.

Now, back to this pain. After a 5 hour nap, my lower calf is tight, just like it was yesterday. It's not an extreme pain, just sore. After doing some research, it seems that I may have just strained it, or it could be a case of Achilles Tendinitis. The cause is probably the combination of not enough stretching, too much mileage and too many hills too fast, and possibly the way I run (over pronating more than my shoes allow). I did test my foot type and it seemed to be neutral, and my shoes fit that profile, but perhaps when I run, that changes. I believe there are some shoe inserts that I can use to try and fix that. Anyhow, the remedy is RICE, or rest, ice, compression, and elevation, taking a break from training, and more (a lot) stretching.

I've come so far, and I'm actually looking forward to the running now, and certainly don't want to back down, especially if the weather is nice. But, if I'm injured, it will only get worse and I'll never get back on track. So, despite my anxiousness about continuing my training, I guess I'll have to ease off for a few days and let this heal.

In retrospect, I definitely have pushed it too much. I still have 12 weeks left, and I've been able to accomplish a lot more in just 3 weeks of training than I ever had envisioned, so taking a few days off now is probably not the end of the world. Slow and steady wins the race.

No Pain, No Gain...Um No Way!

There's that old adage, "No Pain, No Gain." But, that doesn't sound fun. Today, during my training run, I started to get a sharp pain in my right calf about halfway through. At that point, I decided to ease down, and end the workout since I didn't want to strain any of my muscles any further. I had run about 2.3 miles, short of my 3 mile goal, but at the same time, you can't train if you're injured. I was doing a hill-setting on the treadmill, running about 6.3 mph when I started to notice the pain, so perhaps it was just too much too fast, and was my body's way of telling me to back off. So I did. I also really started to stretch after my 4 mile run yesterday too, so perhaps I just put too much stress on that calf muscle. Now, it's not that I can't walk, or have a limp, it's just that my right calf muscle feels tight, even well after the workout. So, I'll give it a couple of days to heal and will begin again. The run was particularly hard today since I felt as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and just couldn't let it go. I was also tired, after only getting about 5 hours sleep (stress will do that), so all in all, it just wasn't a good day. Temperatures are supposed to warm into the mid 50s the next couple of days. While that sounds like a great opportunity to get out on some local trails here in Omaha, I'll just have to take it easy and not overdo it.

Out of Control

Have you ever woken up one day and realized that your life is controlling you, instead of you controlling your life? I feel like that sometimes, that I'm on a path that I wouldn't have chosen, but because of circumstances, events, family, and friends, or just fate, sometimes the choices are already made for you. I'm sure everyone has been to this point to some degree, whether we realize it or not. Am I to the point where I can't make significant changes? Probably not. Am I at the point where I can make subtle nudges. Definitely. Will I ever regain control of my life, rather than my life controlling me? Perhaps. But in the end, it's up to me, and ultimately, I hope to regain control of my life and get back on the right path. What does all this mean? Who knows. It's late, I'm tired, grouchy, and just in an overall bad mood. Again, life controlling me, instead of the other way around.

Time to Shop

I’m not a shopper. Sure, I like to spend money like everyone else, but when it comes to shopping, I usually try to get in and get out. Today, I went shopping. I should have went to the gym, but decided to do some shopping instead. While it was a productive day, I did come home frustrated with a few things.

First, I need a new pair of headphones for my Ipod. The pair dates back to my original Ipod shuffle from a few years ago, and they are basically shot. Left earbud is blown out, yadya yadya yadya. Since I primarily use it for working out and yardwork, I decided to try the Nike Skylon headphones. They were a little pricey, but upon reading reviews after I got home, they generally don’t receive good marks. Ugh. Should I try them anyhow, or take them back and not risk it.

Second, I decided to get another workout outfit, since I’m really sweating during my marathon training workouts. Previously, I wouldn’t sweat a lot, and thus could stretch the washing for a couple of days, etc. But now that I’m sweating a ton, I need to wash more frequently. To help in that matter, more clothes are needed. I have about 4 good sets now, but think 1 more will really help. I’m pretty particular about my workout clothes, and wear only Nike Dry Fit. So, I bought a shirt at Kohls and a pair of shorts at Dicks Sporting Goods. But, the colors don’t match. They were both the navy blue, but the shirt is a lot darker than the shorts, and it looks tacky. So, will have to try to find a darker pair of shorts tomorrow so it doesn’t clash so much. Ha, I’m so vain.

I also bought a new pair of jeans. I have a couple of Levis 560 jeans, which have a really baggy seat, and they drive me nuts. So, I bought a pair of Levis 505 jeans, which are the regular fit jean, size 31x34. They fit great! I also grabbed a pair of new walking-around-shoes at Dicks. Got a pair of Asics shoes on clearance. They are the low-end running shoes. Definitely wouldn’t want to use them for my training, but they are good enough for everyday shoes. My previous pair is now a year old, and have a lot of miles on them, so time to relegate them to the yard shoes. I also bought underwear today. But, I’m not happy with them. They are too big, and I should have bought a smaller size (bought medium, but should have bought small). Can’t return them now that I’ve worn them (ha), so will just have to wash them in really hot water a few times to shrink them down. I also bought a new dress shirt and a new belt, to wear to our church annual dinner fundraiser in a couple of weeks. Arriving in another day or two in the mail are a couple pair of Dockers Khaki slacks. I can’t get the size I need in any store, so decided to just order them direct from their website.

So yes, I shopped.

20.1 Miles This Past Week

Week 2 of the training is complete, with a total of 20.1 miles on the treadmill. I did my second long run today, of 4.2 miles, in 45 minutes. That's not bad, and I just have to keep telling myself, "baby steps." Remember, Complete, not Compete! Amazing how that one letter (l) can make a huge difference. I've registered for the Lincoln 1/2, so now there's no backing out, although my registration hasn't shown up yet on the Lincoln Marathon roster list. Bring it on!

Lincoln Half Marathon

Well, it's official. This past week, I've committed myself to doing the Lincoln Half Marathon, which is coming up the first weekend in May. That's 14 weeks away, more than enough time to begin training, and be race ready. My wife (and a few of her coworkers) have already registered, and I'll be registering this weekend.

I've never really run before. While I did do track in high school my freshmen year, I was never competitive. My goals for this first half marathon will be to complete it, not compete in it. What's the point of doing it if I have no intention of competing? Just to prove to myself that I was able to accept the challenge, face my fears, push myself beyond my abilities, and actually succeed. Plus, I think it will be an incredible accomplishment that I'll never forget.

I'm actually just completing my second week of training. I have to admit, I don't really enjoy running, but am finding I feel really good after the run is over, and feel a sense of accomplishment. I've found that I really need to run with headphones, but supposedly during the race, headphones are explicitly banned. Ugh. But, I've also found that I can't really run without them, and I think that may be somewhat dangerous if I do all my training with my Ipod, but then can't use it in the race. Will have to sort that one out very soon.

So, within the coming weeks, I intend to blog quite frequently about my experiences. Yesterday, I ran/walked a total of 4.2 miles, which culminated in my 8th day of solid running. While that's a lot of miles for so early in the training program, I really just wanted to push myself past my comfort zone. I am following a plan, mostly, and do understand how important recovery is, and that you have to allow time for your body to heal. In fact, I intend to start following the training program fairly religiously, (as much as possible at least). I'm using Hal Higdon's novice half marathon training program. He is apparently fairly well known in the running community, and he does have several training plans to choose from, and a lot of people have had a great amount of success following his program.

13.1 miles. Can I really do this? A month ago, the thought of running 4.2 miles in one session seemed laughable. But, I did it yesterday, and felt like I could have done more. So, with 13 more weeks of training, I truly believe that 13.1 miles is doable! I've also found that if you keep telling yourself that you can't do something, either because it's too hard, or it's beyond your abilities, then you probably never will accomplish it. But, if you keep telling yourself you can, you eventually will!

Economic Stimulus

I think everyone knows the economy is in trouble and has been for a long time. Anyone can take a quick glance at their 401k and come to that conclusion pretty easily. Last year, before the financial meltdown, a tax rebate stimulus program was implemented. Our family got $1500. While it was a nice jolt, we immediately spent it just as we were requested to do. We bought new trees for our yard and helped pay down our credit card bill. Didn't save a single penny of it. I'm sure most typical Americans did the same thing. They spent it. Did it make a difference? Personally, I don't think so. And then, through the year, gas reached an all-time high, the housing market collapsed, the banking industry collapsed, the automotive industry collapsed, and things looked pretty bleak. Our personal wealth (401k values) dropped about 40%. In fact, I'm guessing many Americans were wishing they had kept their tax rebate checks instead of spending them to try and stimulate a losing battle.

Now, with the new Obama administration in office, they are coming up with a new economic stimulus plan, which will cost another trillion dollars. Part of the plan includes another tax cut for the working class, with substantial spending on infrastructure, which will hopefully lead to new jobs. The tax rebate they are putting into place would call for a $500 credit per person, but there has been some debate on how it would be implemented. Some were looking for a through-the-year approach with about $20 more in your paycheck each payday. Big deal. That will do absolutely nothing to help stimulate the economy. A lump sum payment didn't work last year, and it's not going to work this year. In fact, I would banter that some people may save a lump sum payment for a rainy day, since we're in what can be likened to a monsoon.

$500 is a pittance in the grand scheme. Why not make it $5000? Why not make it $10000? Why not make the ballooning cost of this program 2 trillion instead of 1? The country needs a huge jolt. $500 spread out over 26 pay periods will do ABSOLUTELY nothing to help improve a bleak, somewhat hopeless situation! That's just my opinion. I'm not an economist, nor do I play one on TV. I just know how it would affect my bottom line, and the ultimate conclusion is that it wouldn't.