16 in Sac
Sacramento needs to make a lot of noise about their beautiful bike trails. They are perfect for running...oh, and biking too. Actually, the bikers and the runners seemed to coexist nicely in Sac, which is not a common occurrence. Kudos to Sacramento!
I did 16 on the bike trail and did most of the run at 10:15 pace, but then I kicked things down a notch during the last 6 miles and got my average pace down to 9:33 at the end of the run. I'll let you do the math on that one. It was a better than average run and part of what made the run so great was all the people running on the trails. Most were doing their last long run before the CIM. Seeing all those people on the trails got me pumped and I think that that was what made the run move so well at the end.
6 on the trails
It was very foggy for this run and dark too. When I first hit the trails it felt like someone had put a mover's box over my head and asked me to run, which is not the most comforting feeling.
Turkey day 6
We avoided the 28,000 people who showed up for the "run to feed the hungry" and did 6 with a small group of friends and family on the bike trail. Eric was not feeling 100 percent, which gave me the ability to keep up with him for 1 mile before he kicked the s**t out of me. He's going to make his time for Boston (3:20) with ease. Anyway, after the run, with an air of superiority, I proceeded to tell everyone about how I despise the nationwide "turkey trots". The gist of my argument was that millions of people burn 300 calories on a 3.1 mile run and then they use this one time event as a green light to indulge on an extra 3000 calories, which leaves them in a worse place than if they had not run at all. I was feeling pretty full of myself and then I proceeded to eat WAYYYYYYY too much at Abby's house that evening. I'm such a fraud.
16,17, 18??? back on the AZ Canal
You'd think that two runners with GPS devices would be able to run together and provide to you precise input on every mile, calories burned, altitude, outside temperature, heart rate, etc, but that would be predicated on those two runners being able to use said GPS devises. Brice's Garmin watch was being pissy about which satellites to use and wouldn't start working until about 1.2 miles into the run. My Timex watch was doing great until the receiver ran out of battery power about 10 miles. So we pieced together that we did about 16.5 miles.
As for this run. It sucked. It sucked so hard that it needed vast improvement for it to just suck mightily. I ran out of gas at about 10 miles and was doing the dead man shuffle for the remaining 6.5 miles. I guess that that should be good training for the final 6 of the marathon, but the fact that we would have needed to tack on almost 10 more miles for a marathon to happen didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I think that I'll play with the pace for the next run.
Product review:
I used Hammer Gel, their workout drink and post workout recovery drink last week and I have to give them supremely high marks. The gel was super mild and gave me everything I needed to do the run. The drinks helped me do well during the run and to recover after the run. Hammer Nutrition ROCKS! Use it if you get a chance.
This week I wasn't so lucky. I couldn't find anyplace with Hammer stuff, so I went to the local Sports Authority and got PowerGel from Gatorade (Vanilla) and then some drink stuff for my run and the post run recovery. PowerGel is vile. Why do the people at Gatorade insist on giving us nasty drinks and even worse running gels? Their drinks are like maple syrup and their gels are like cake frosting. When you are running, choking down that stuff doesn't do the tummy a whole lot of good. In fact, I really wanted to to hurl when I took that stuff today. As for the drink and the post-run-recovery stuff. I can't remember what I purchased, but Michael Phelps was prominently featured on the sales display. It was ok, but I think that the Hammer Nutrition stuff spoiled me for other drinks.
Now get back to work...
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
9.3 in the hills
Distance 9.3
Time 1:28:53
Quality 7
I set out to 8 and ended up doing 9.3, why? It wasn't that I was feeling motivated, rather it was that I needed a restroom very fast and there aren't a lot of options for you when you are 4 miles into a run and it's 5:30am. So I detoured to the local Safeway. Their restrooms get high marks. I'd like to thank the guy with the initials "BN" for making sure that the place was clean at 9pm last night, or at least that's what was on the little timesheet on the back of the door. The rest of the run was uneventful. I did negative splits, which had me down to about 8 minute miles at the end of the run. The knee feels good, calves are fine, and not reall issues to worry about. I'm heading to Sacramento tomorrow for Thanksgiving week, which means I get to haunt my old running grounds. More specifically, my next blog will reference a long run on the American River Bike Trail.
A brief note about weight:
I'm very conflicted right now. You may recall that I proudly shouted out in my blog that I got down to 187 pounds (which was still probably 30 pounds heavier than my hay eating brother, Eric, AKA Karen Carpenter). Now I find myself jumping up to 194.4 pounds. AHHH! So let me get this straight, I increase my miles and effort, and I gain 7.4 pounds????? Here's my conflict, I've held in the back of my mind that I should get down to 185 by the time I hit the streets for the marathon on January 18th, which is a much more attractive thought than carrying around 10 extra pounds for 26.2 miles; howerver, if I'm at 195, then I qualify for the Clydesdale division, which I may have a shot at placing in if my time is ok. I need to push ego aside and take the weight off.
Now get back to work...
Time 1:28:53
Quality 7
I set out to 8 and ended up doing 9.3, why? It wasn't that I was feeling motivated, rather it was that I needed a restroom very fast and there aren't a lot of options for you when you are 4 miles into a run and it's 5:30am. So I detoured to the local Safeway. Their restrooms get high marks. I'd like to thank the guy with the initials "BN" for making sure that the place was clean at 9pm last night, or at least that's what was on the little timesheet on the back of the door. The rest of the run was uneventful. I did negative splits, which had me down to about 8 minute miles at the end of the run. The knee feels good, calves are fine, and not reall issues to worry about. I'm heading to Sacramento tomorrow for Thanksgiving week, which means I get to haunt my old running grounds. More specifically, my next blog will reference a long run on the American River Bike Trail.
A brief note about weight:
I'm very conflicted right now. You may recall that I proudly shouted out in my blog that I got down to 187 pounds (which was still probably 30 pounds heavier than my hay eating brother, Eric, AKA Karen Carpenter). Now I find myself jumping up to 194.4 pounds. AHHH! So let me get this straight, I increase my miles and effort, and I gain 7.4 pounds????? Here's my conflict, I've held in the back of my mind that I should get down to 185 by the time I hit the streets for the marathon on January 18th, which is a much more attractive thought than carrying around 10 extra pounds for 26.2 miles; howerver, if I'm at 195, then I qualify for the Clydesdale division, which I may have a shot at placing in if my time is ok. I need to push ego aside and take the weight off.
Now get back to work...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
30 Minutes on "the rack"
Soooooooo, events conspired to rob me of my 6 mile run today. C'est La Vie. "Fortunately" I have my fall back, Mary's combination clothes line and dust collector, otherwise known as the Elliptical Stair Thingy. Goodness how I hate being in that room with a ceiling fan and Mary's screen saver to keep me company for 30 minutes or so. The good news is that I hijacked Mary's computer and trashed her current screen saver, which featured the "vision and values" of Deloitte (teamwork, diversity, integrity...puke). Ahhhhh, the serenity of flying toasters, an oldy, but a goody.
Nonetheless, the confined space still conspired to play with my mind. I was focusing on maintaining a relaxed, efficient form and my mind was curious what the kids were watching in the other room. So, instead of relaxing and being efficient, I got the theme song from Sponge Bob Square Pants stuck in my head. Repeat that in your head for 30 minutes and tell me how you feel when you are done. I'm seeking fresh air and pavement on Friday.
Now get back to work...
Nonetheless, the confined space still conspired to play with my mind. I was focusing on maintaining a relaxed, efficient form and my mind was curious what the kids were watching in the other room. So, instead of relaxing and being efficient, I got the theme song from Sponge Bob Square Pants stuck in my head. Repeat that in your head for 30 minutes and tell me how you feel when you are done. I'm seeking fresh air and pavement on Friday.
Now get back to work...
Monday, November 17, 2008
3 runs, one posting
Ok, this is now becoming a habit, and a bad one at that. To my defense, I've been traveling and working a lot of hours.
6 in Jersey
The weather warmed up in Jersey for my second run. So my poor choice in winter running gear didn't come back to haunt me on my second run. The run went well, but I do have one observation: my never-fail GPS that I use in Arizona has yet to work in New York and New Jersey. I've tried it three different times and all three times it failed miserably.
Mental note on the run. It doesn't work well when you lead a group of 30 for an all day development program (which usually wipes me out), then run 6 miles, then take a very quick shower before heading out with a client for dinner. I made it through the appetizer (fried pickles, which was surprisingly good) before I bonked hard. I have no clue how I made it through dinner, but Kurt was very helpful at carrying the conversation.
3.8 on a treadmill
They finally fixed the treadmill at my hotel, so I cranked out a quick three...after an all day training session with 36 people and before a dinner...Ok, so I'm a slow learner. But the 3 went well. I cranked out a few 7 minute miles on the machine. The only disheartening part of this run was when I looked at myself in the full length mirror during the run. 7 minute miles feel very fast, but the mirror says otherwise. Oh, well.
Skipped the long run this weekend:
I got home late on Saturday and, after a week of 1-on-2 with the kids, Mary was not thrilled about my desire to disappear for 2.5 hours on Sunday morning. I quickly readjusted my plans and stayed home with the kids while Mary went out on the town for the better part of the day. I'm good with that. I love her and I plan to be married to her forever, so what's one long run in the grand scheme of things, yes?
8.5 on Monday.
I can't remember the last time I ran on a Monday. I'm usually recouping from a long run. This morning was wayyyyy cool, the Leonid Metor Shower is in full glory today and tomorrow just before dawn. I was able to see around 8 killer meteors streak across the sky. Nothing makes a run move a long faster than actively lookng for your next meteor. If you get a chance, you'll see them again tomorrow morning. The only drawback is that the moon is a gibbous right now and directly overhead in the morning, which means that you'll only see the big metors.
Ok guys, get back to work...
6 in Jersey
The weather warmed up in Jersey for my second run. So my poor choice in winter running gear didn't come back to haunt me on my second run. The run went well, but I do have one observation: my never-fail GPS that I use in Arizona has yet to work in New York and New Jersey. I've tried it three different times and all three times it failed miserably.
Mental note on the run. It doesn't work well when you lead a group of 30 for an all day development program (which usually wipes me out), then run 6 miles, then take a very quick shower before heading out with a client for dinner. I made it through the appetizer (fried pickles, which was surprisingly good) before I bonked hard. I have no clue how I made it through dinner, but Kurt was very helpful at carrying the conversation.
3.8 on a treadmill
They finally fixed the treadmill at my hotel, so I cranked out a quick three...after an all day training session with 36 people and before a dinner...Ok, so I'm a slow learner. But the 3 went well. I cranked out a few 7 minute miles on the machine. The only disheartening part of this run was when I looked at myself in the full length mirror during the run. 7 minute miles feel very fast, but the mirror says otherwise. Oh, well.
Skipped the long run this weekend:
I got home late on Saturday and, after a week of 1-on-2 with the kids, Mary was not thrilled about my desire to disappear for 2.5 hours on Sunday morning. I quickly readjusted my plans and stayed home with the kids while Mary went out on the town for the better part of the day. I'm good with that. I love her and I plan to be married to her forever, so what's one long run in the grand scheme of things, yes?
8.5 on Monday.
I can't remember the last time I ran on a Monday. I'm usually recouping from a long run. This morning was wayyyyy cool, the Leonid Metor Shower is in full glory today and tomorrow just before dawn. I was able to see around 8 killer meteors streak across the sky. Nothing makes a run move a long faster than actively lookng for your next meteor. If you get a chance, you'll see them again tomorrow morning. The only drawback is that the moon is a gibbous right now and directly overhead in the morning, which means that you'll only see the big metors.
Ok guys, get back to work...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mike "the steam engine"
Distance: 7ish
Time: 1:08
Temp: 31 degrees
Let's pretend that you are heading out on a trip to the east coast where the forecast for the following week is cold, cold, cold and cold. As well, you are planning to go out into the elements for a couple of runs. Do you pack a running jacket and hat or do you throw ONE long sleeve shirt into your bag and think that that will hold up to freezing temps? Guess what I packed...I'm an idiot.
So I wake up early and see that water would freeze if it were outside and I think, "OK, I'll head down to the exercise room and crank out some miles on the treadmill." However, the treadmills needed to be in service for that to occur. So I donned my single long sleeve shirt and out to the elements I went. I looked like steam engine as I ran down the road. Every breath created a white cloud around me. It was friggin COLD, but I did it. I'm sure that my face will defrost sometime around dinner tonight.
Other observations from the run:
Now get back to work...
Time: 1:08
Temp: 31 degrees
Let's pretend that you are heading out on a trip to the east coast where the forecast for the following week is cold, cold, cold and cold. As well, you are planning to go out into the elements for a couple of runs. Do you pack a running jacket and hat or do you throw ONE long sleeve shirt into your bag and think that that will hold up to freezing temps? Guess what I packed...I'm an idiot.
So I wake up early and see that water would freeze if it were outside and I think, "OK, I'll head down to the exercise room and crank out some miles on the treadmill." However, the treadmills needed to be in service for that to occur. So I donned my single long sleeve shirt and out to the elements I went. I looked like steam engine as I ran down the road. Every breath created a white cloud around me. It was friggin COLD, but I did it. I'm sure that my face will defrost sometime around dinner tonight.
Other observations from the run:
- They say that smell is one of the most powerful senses for memory recall and I would agree. I ran around a park that had piles and piles and piles of bright red, orange, and rust colored leaves in it, and as I got close to the piles I caught the smell of those slowly decaying leaves, which, oddly enough, is a beautiful smell. I can't give it an adjective that would do that scent just. The only word that comes to mind is that is smelled like "fall" and I immediatly was pulled back to my childhood in New York and Maryland. The feeling was so strong is was almost a physical event for me. It was crazy.
- In New Jersey, pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. A plumber, white SUV, and a Mercedes all did their best to put an end to my life. In their defense, I'm sure that at least one of those drivers thought that I was completely insane and that I needed to be euthanized.
- The architecture is really cool out here. All the homes have very small profiles from the street, but they go back forever. I'm told that this is because of taxes. Home owners used to be taxed on the width if their foundation that bordered the street, so everyone made homes that were 10 feet wide and 100 feet long.
Now get back to work...
Monday, November 10, 2008
13.2 in Fountain Hills
Distance: 13.2
Time: 2:22:00
I never knew how small fountain hills was until I did my long run today, which took me out to the fountain, up to the highest point in fountain hills, down past my house, back out to the fountain for two laps around it and back home. I ran out of room in my little town. Now all the restaurants are crap in this town, you can't fit enough people in it's borders.
Get back to work...
Time: 2:22:00
I never knew how small fountain hills was until I did my long run today, which took me out to the fountain, up to the highest point in fountain hills, down past my house, back out to the fountain for two laps around it and back home. I ran out of room in my little town. Now all the restaurants are crap in this town, you can't fit enough people in it's borders.
Get back to work...
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Early AM 7
Distance: 6.9 miles
Time: 1:08
Mental note: late night viewing of election results and 4:30 am alarm clocks don't mix well. Also, it's turned a wee bit nippy in the desert. So the fact that I was sleep deprived and that it was colder than normal outside really made it hard to extract myself from my comfy bed, but I did it.
The run was uneventful, slow and dark. The cool thing was that my bladder was under control. I've not mentioned this in recent blogs, as I put it under the TMI (too much information) label, but I've had a big issue needing to pee a lot during my recent runs. It's pretty annoying. What's worse is watching the "flomax" commercials and giving it serious consideration. Eric recommended S!Caps to me because he thought that, maybe, I was having trouble getting the fluids to my system. Let me back up a little. I've been trying everything short of total dehydration to keep things in check, which is a little scary when you consider what dehydration combined with 26.2 miles could do to you. Anyway, it looks like the S!Caps, which have sodium and magnesium in them, worked. No potty stops today. I'll let you know how well they work after my next run.
Now get back to work.
Time: 1:08
Mental note: late night viewing of election results and 4:30 am alarm clocks don't mix well. Also, it's turned a wee bit nippy in the desert. So the fact that I was sleep deprived and that it was colder than normal outside really made it hard to extract myself from my comfy bed, but I did it.
The run was uneventful, slow and dark. The cool thing was that my bladder was under control. I've not mentioned this in recent blogs, as I put it under the TMI (too much information) label, but I've had a big issue needing to pee a lot during my recent runs. It's pretty annoying. What's worse is watching the "flomax" commercials and giving it serious consideration. Eric recommended S!Caps to me because he thought that, maybe, I was having trouble getting the fluids to my system. Let me back up a little. I've been trying everything short of total dehydration to keep things in check, which is a little scary when you consider what dehydration combined with 26.2 miles could do to you. Anyway, it looks like the S!Caps, which have sodium and magnesium in them, worked. No potty stops today. I'll let you know how well they work after my next run.
Now get back to work.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
30 minutes on the rack
Distance: ??
Time: 31 minutes
I wasn't completely motivated to run this morning and my kids helped me to stay that way by threatening to wake up mommy in the early AM. So, in order to help Mary catch a few extra z's, I decided to hit the rack (the elliptical trainer in Mary's office) and I figured that I'd be smart by throwing in a DVD into her computer so the kids would be occupied for my 3o minute crank. HOWEVER, her computer goes into sleep-mode after 5 minutes of inactivity. And the biggest challenge around this is that when her computer goes into sleep-mode, you need to hit ctrl+alt+delete and enter a password for it to come back on. Is my 2.5 year old gonna do that for me? Is my 5.5 year old going to do that for me? Nope. So here's the routine for my AM workout: spin, spin, spin, curious george shuts off, climb off the rack, get computer running, get back on the rack, spin, spin, spin, repeat cycle every 5 minutes. I had a less than ideal run this morning.
Now get back to work...
Time: 31 minutes
I wasn't completely motivated to run this morning and my kids helped me to stay that way by threatening to wake up mommy in the early AM. So, in order to help Mary catch a few extra z's, I decided to hit the rack (the elliptical trainer in Mary's office) and I figured that I'd be smart by throwing in a DVD into her computer so the kids would be occupied for my 3o minute crank. HOWEVER, her computer goes into sleep-mode after 5 minutes of inactivity. And the biggest challenge around this is that when her computer goes into sleep-mode, you need to hit ctrl+alt+delete and enter a password for it to come back on. Is my 2.5 year old gonna do that for me? Is my 5.5 year old going to do that for me? Nope. So here's the routine for my AM workout: spin, spin, spin, curious george shuts off, climb off the rack, get computer running, get back on the rack, spin, spin, spin, repeat cycle every 5 minutes. I had a less than ideal run this morning.
Now get back to work...
Monday, November 3, 2008
Testing your manhood
Run: 14 miles
Time: 2:19:00
First, Brice and I did 14 at the AZ Canal again. For anyone in Phoenix who might ever read this blog, if you are doing a long run in Phoenix, I highly recommend the AZ Canal. I never see anyone out there, and it amazes me.
Brice, was suffering from one of the many tweaks, twinges, and winces that hit you when you train for a marathon. His calf is giving him trouble and he wasn't sure that he thought he'd do 6 and see what happened after that. I was thinking that the total run for me should be around 12 or 13, and then he pops off with the idea to 14, which had me a little scared. And now that my readers are completely confused, let's just say that nothing bad happened to his calf and we did the 14. We did it under 10 minute miles, which is 30 seconds faster than what we've logged in the past. As such, I'm getting a little excited about possibly finishing the marathon closer to the 4 hour mark, as evidenced by me checking out a marathon pace calculator online. Hmmmm. 9:44 minute/miles, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Testing your manhood
The marathon tests you in many unforeseeable ways. In the never ending pursuit to keep comfortable (see eric's blog about his long run this past Saturday) runners use a bunch of stuff. One of the biggest sources of discomfort for runners is chafing all over: under your arms, between your legs (especially if you have a little extra weight, trust me I know this one), on your chest, etc. So most runners use either petroleum jelly or Glide. We'll put so much of that stuff on us that we could enter ourselves in a greased pig contest before we hit the road for a long run. Recently I ran out of Glide and had to go to the local sports mega store to get some more. I originally thought nothing of this endeavor, but then I couldn't find the stuff in the 5 acres of sports stuff at the store and I was forced to ask a zit faced kid for glide. He tried not to snicker, but was unsucessful and then he needed help. So now I needed to ask two people for body lubrication (and I thought buying tampons for the wife sucked). Finally, we found the Glide and I made my hasty exit. What an ordeal.
Now get back to work...
Time: 2:19:00
First, Brice and I did 14 at the AZ Canal again. For anyone in Phoenix who might ever read this blog, if you are doing a long run in Phoenix, I highly recommend the AZ Canal. I never see anyone out there, and it amazes me.
Brice, was suffering from one of the many tweaks, twinges, and winces that hit you when you train for a marathon. His calf is giving him trouble and he wasn't sure that he thought he'd do 6 and see what happened after that. I was thinking that the total run for me should be around 12 or 13, and then he pops off with the idea to 14, which had me a little scared. And now that my readers are completely confused, let's just say that nothing bad happened to his calf and we did the 14. We did it under 10 minute miles, which is 30 seconds faster than what we've logged in the past. As such, I'm getting a little excited about possibly finishing the marathon closer to the 4 hour mark, as evidenced by me checking out a marathon pace calculator online. Hmmmm. 9:44 minute/miles, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
Testing your manhood
The marathon tests you in many unforeseeable ways. In the never ending pursuit to keep comfortable (see eric's blog about his long run this past Saturday) runners use a bunch of stuff. One of the biggest sources of discomfort for runners is chafing all over: under your arms, between your legs (especially if you have a little extra weight, trust me I know this one), on your chest, etc. So most runners use either petroleum jelly or Glide. We'll put so much of that stuff on us that we could enter ourselves in a greased pig contest before we hit the road for a long run. Recently I ran out of Glide and had to go to the local sports mega store to get some more. I originally thought nothing of this endeavor, but then I couldn't find the stuff in the 5 acres of sports stuff at the store and I was forced to ask a zit faced kid for glide. He tried not to snicker, but was unsucessful and then he needed help. So now I needed to ask two people for body lubrication (and I thought buying tampons for the wife sucked). Finally, we found the Glide and I made my hasty exit. What an ordeal.
Now get back to work...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
