Running Accident

First off, I was not the one in the accident, it was a fellow runner from the running group.  She wasn't in my pace group, so I'm not exactly sure of the details, but apparently she was hit by a car that wasn't looking as she was passing an intersection.  Just goes to show you how you've always got to have safety on your mind.  You can't assume the other guy saw you.   You’re running time isn’t as important as your health.

Hopefully she’ll be ok.  I didn’t hear where she was injured, but they were taking her to urgent care.

My run tonight went well.  I ran with two people doing a 1:30/1:00 interval (most of the runners do intervals there) .  It’s nice to have someone to talk with on the runs.  I’m glad I’ve started back there.  Hopefully Jen will start going.

Yes! This means you!  I know you read this.  lol  Uncle Mickey says “I Want You!” 

Tomorrow I’m off work.  I plan to begin phase two of the yard makeover and run 3 miles.  Then off on Saturday and the race on Sunday. 

Lunch Time 3 Miles

I tried a new route at lunch today. It's 3 miles and a pretty even route with some small hills. The run went well. About midway I took a Car-Boom energy gel. I didn't have any water and it made my mouth thick so in the future, I need to make sure I carry water if I'm going to take one. I didn't notice an effect with it. I only had about a mile left, so that might not have been enough time to take effect. It was a bit windy, but I still finished the 3 miles in 29:50. I always feel accomplished when I get my pace below 10 min/mile, even if only a few seconds. Now to finish out the work day and to watch Connor while Paige is in swim class. She goes to the Michael Phelps Swim School.

Also,I found a race for kids and plan to sign Connor up for it. Paige will be with her father, but maybe he'll take her, or let us have her that morning. She'd love it. I'm thinking of the 100 Meter Toddler Trot for Connor, and the 1 Kilometer Run for Paige, if she can come.

Here is the race I'm running this Sunday.  It looks to be a small race.  I should definitely PR this race.  My Big Fat Hairy Goal (BFHG) is to run it in under 29 minutes.  I think it's doable if I really push myself.  Otherwise my normal goal is to run it in under 30 minutes.

Group Run

Tonight I decided to meet with the Fleet Feet runners. This is a running store that has group runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Most of the runners do interval runs. That's not quite my thing, but I enjoyed it anyway. I ran with a group of about eight runners and we were doing 1.5/1.0 minute intervals. We ran for 43:49 and when I mapped it out, we went 3.65 miles. It was a pretty easy run (not use to the walking breaks) and met a few more runners there. I need to convince Jen to try it there. I really think she would fit in. Any suggestions on how to get her up there? She's pretty shy when it comes to this kind of stuff.

Also, I signed up for a 5K for this Sunday. It's a small run for a local high school fundraiser. I looked up last years run and there were only 156 runners. Should make for a relaxed race.

"I love it when a plan comes together!"

There are some days, rare as they are, when everything seems to go your way. No matter how difficult the task or complicated the details are, it just works. It's like the stars aligned just for you and nothing can go wrong. Today... today was not one of those days.

Last night I had to reset my alarm because of the weekend and well, lets just say I got AM and PM confused. So I woke up late, rushed to get ready and forgot my running stuff. So I decided to run as soon as I got home because it was supposed to start raining again. Well, it never really stopped since yesterday, just slowed to a drizzle, but I'd rather run in a drizzle than a downpour.

I got home before the family. Quickly changed and let the dogs out. Grabbed my walkman and water and headed out. It was here where I made the cardinal mistake. The mistake every distance runner dreads. No, it wasn't forgetting to stretch. Nor was it running without water. How about forgetting your house key and getting locked out..... nope. It was forgetting to do a bathroom check before taking off.

Now I was only planning a short 2 mile run at a slow pace. Just enough to get the legs warmed up but still, when you've got to go, you've got to go.

I decided to cut it short and just turn back at the stop sign, making it roughly 1.5 miles. Now, for anyone that's been in this predicament, I'm sure you're familiar with the bitter-sweetness of speed under these circumstances. You WANT to run fast because the faster you go the sooner the sign of relief, but you DON'T WANT to run fast because of the fear of letting it loose. So which to do? I elected to take it slower. I'm pretty good at holding it in, so I wasn't afraid I'd have an accident.

I finished the 1.5 miles in 15:28. Still not too bad, but I was developing a side stitch, probably from holding it in.

So to quote Hannibal from The A-Team "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Today just wasn't one of those days.

Another great run!

Before tonight's run I was telling Jen that I couldn't expect to keep improving by a minute or so each run like I have been lately. So of course tonight I beat yesterdays by 1:04! I finally broke the 30 minute 5k mark (29:53)!

Before taking off, I had decided to pretend I was in a race so I immediately pushed myself and was quite winded within a minute of running. I didn't expect to keep it up the entire run. Honestly, I figured I'd start off too fast and end up walking before it was over. I hit the turn around in 15:17. The return trip was a struggle and I kept having to talk myself out of walking, but I'm glad I didn't!

The entire run, my feet and legs were feeling "normal" well, as normal as a runner's legs can feel when being pushed. I mean, I didn't have any foot pain issues. I'm thinking that the week off from the sickyness helped my feet recover from the damage the old shoes were doing. Who knows! I've finally started feeling like I'm not going to fall apart.

Oh any Connor's birthday party was great. His Godfather bought him a mickey airplane ride-on toy that he just loves.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Finally!!!!

After 9 days of recovering from being sick I finally got back out there and ran my regular 3.1 mile route.  I still have a residual cough, and since I haven't run in over a week, I wasn't sure how it would go. 

This route is a pretty nice out and back with several gradual hills all along a sidewalk except for about 100 yards right before my turn around.  Tonight, I hit the turn around at 16:35.  A little faster than my previous runs, so I knew I was doing well.  On the return trip, I could definitely tell I was going faster (I always run better the second half, after my legs have warmed up), but it wasn't until I finished and ready my time that I realized I was kicking butt.   Well, relative to my runs this year.  I ran it in 30:57, a whole minute faster than my last run!

Go me!!

I did some calculating and if I had run the first half as fast as I did the second, my time would have been 28:44!  That's a HUGE difference, and much closer to where I used to run before the five year sabbatical.  My last race from back then was in 25:47. Maybe I really should start some stretching before my runs like I used to.

Does anyone else have slow times their first mile out too? 

In other news, we are having Connor's 2nd birthday party tomorrow.  His birthday was on April first, but we pushed it back, hoping the weather would be better.... Their calling for rain now.  Lets hope the weather dorks are wrong!

Three Things Thursday

Uno. So... yeah, it's been a week since I've been running. This cold has wiped me out. I still have a lingering dry cough, stuffy nose in the mornings, and my voice finally got back to normal today. With that being said, I plan to start back tomorrow, unless I turn worse again. Every day that I haven't run has made me feel like a lazy heffer, so I'll be glad to get back to it.

Dos. Today was Earth Day. One of the Captains (Army) and I were asked to participate in an Earth Day celebration at Fort A.P. Hill in Virgina. We updated a display board with relevant functions we perform (mosquito and tick surveillance, pest management consultations, and various other public health-insect related tasks) It was a perfect day to sit outside and talk about what we do with a bunch of middle and high school kids. The best part.... watching the kids scream and freak out when they realized the big brown thing sitting on my shirt was actually a large roach. :)

Tres. For lunch today I had a HUGE stromboli. There is a restaurant down by the fort that has three sizes (personal, medium, and large) last June on my first trip down there, several of us ordered the medium. The waitress laughed and asked us if we were sure. When it came out, it was massive. Think of a medium sized pizza folded in half, then stuffed with extra meats, cheese, and sauce. I could barely finish half of it. So today, I decided to order the "personal" It was still huge! I ate half of it, plus about an inches width of the second half. The rest I brought home to Jen. Total width was about 14 inches across and about 6 inches top to bottom. All for the price of $7.95!

Tres (Part B) After such a massive lunch, I decided to try making a green monster smoothy for dinner. They're yummy!

Update

Well it's Sunday and I haven't run since Thursday. The sicky-ness continues. Yesterday I was planning to get a short run in, but I was still coughing like a wild banshee and since it was fairly cold out, I didn't think it was worth the risk. Today has been a lazy day. Mostly watching movies and trying to recover so that I'm all better for the work week. Jen's got it some, and poor Connor has been having breathing difficulties. Jen's been giving him nebulizer treatments to help clear his wheezing.

I hope today's rest day works. My shoes aren't wearing out by themselves!

ugg! And a happy 50th posting

SO today marks my 50th post on here. A bit of a milestone, but nothing compared to those of you with 1500 posts! I was hoping to at least have some good news from a run to tell, but alas, I do not.

On Wednesday I received the first of three shots for a rabies vaccine. As part of my job, I may need to work with wild animals and so getting vaccinated is a good thing. However, yesterday I was feeling pretty yucky. My division chief is moving stations and we had a farewell happy hour for him last night. I could tell I was getting a fever, shivering and could feel I was hot. So when I got home, I said good night to the kids, and headed to bed. When I checked my temp, it was 102.6 and fluctuated between 102.2 and 102.5 all evening. I even had Jen call the doctor to see if I should be more cautious of the fever since I had just got a vaccination. Actually, it's the third vaccination I'd had in a week (H1N1 and Tdap last Thursday). Today I woke up with the fever down, but a yucky sore throat and some congestion. I hate to take two days in a row off from running but I might. We'll see how the day progresses.

So next Wednesday I'm supposed to get the second shot in the three short series for rabies. I foresee another fun filled fever night in the near future. Ugg.

Double Dipping Wednesday

No,

I am not talking about ice cream! lol. I essentially did two runs today. Work was very busy so I was unable to do any exercise during lunch. When I got home, I thought it would be a good evening for Paige to run so I asked her and she wanted to. For those that don't know, Paige is my 5 year old step daughter. We planned to do 3.1 miles as a run/walk with 1 1/2 min intervals. Shortly before an intersection, I asked if she still wanted to do 3 miles and she said yes, but once we got to it, I asked if she wanted to turn back or keep doing the 3 miles and she decided to turn back. It was a good run for her, a nice warm up for me (1.43 miles in 26:23)When we got back I decided to head out again and at least make it a total of 3 miles.

Once I was back out there, and not going a 5 year-old's pace, I kicked it up and decided to do my 3.1 mile route that I've been doing lately. If you recall from Sunday, I ran it better than the previous week. Well let me tell you, I ran it about 45 seconds faster tonight than I did on Sunday (31:52). No stopping for water/GU gel though. A full 3.1 without walking.

There it is folks! a double run day, with a significant improvement on my time, and probably the farthest I've run in a day in at least 5 years to boot!

Go me! ..... and Paige!

Parade Field Monday

I ran around the parade field today (1.55 miles) I beat my time on Friday for the same course by 1 second. Whaoooo! Can you feel the improvement? lol. It was a good run. I could feel myself being a bit stiff at the beginning then loosening up after I settled in. I didn't stretch much first. I've got to get better at pre-stretching.

Sunday run

This weekend I've spent the majority of the weekend working on our yard. Since I moved in 3 years ago, a war has been going on in our yard between the shade trees and the grass that is trying to grow.... The shade trees won. This year I've decided to not try and seed the grass again, it's a futile effort. Instead, I've decided to turn our side yard into a woodland shade garden. This weekend began the first part with unloading nearly 40 bags of mulch, and 13 bags of top soil/humus/compost. Needless to say it's been a tiring, yet relaxing weekend.

With that said, I didn't run yesterday, in fact nearly all I did was the yard. I even skipped lunch (unintentionally). Today I decided to do the same route as last sunday. An out and back. Last week I realized I had cut off the cul-de-sac by our house, so my time should have been about 20 seconds longer. Tonight I ran it correctly.

About 1/2 mile into the run I was thinking "I really should not have eaten three hot dogs before my run" Although they were yummy (First time grilling this season), I probably should have waited until after the run. I did decide to take my FuelBelt Sprint Palm Water Bottle. I got it at the same time as my running shoes. It's a small bottle with a strap for easy running with. Also, I took a GU gel lack with me. First time with those as well.

I got to the turn around in 16:45. Last week I made it in 17:00, but I also didn't run the cul-de-sac, so again it should be about 20 seconds later. Meaning I made it there about 45 seconds faster than last week. I had my GU and some water, I was walked for a little over a minute with this, then started running again. The second half went fairly well, and I ended in 32:42. a bit fast than the 32:58 from last week, but once again, add that 20 seconds for the cul-de-sac, and it makes it about 35 seconds faster than last week. Plus I walked for over about 1 1/2 minutes tonight. I still think the shoes was the problem. My times are getting better now, and my feet don't hurt near as much as before.

SO even though I really didn't feel great starting out, the run ended well, starting off the week well. Let's hope it continues.

Also, way to go Jen on her 1.5 mile run/walk. keep it up babe!

Friday Feet Feat

Today's luncher was great! 1.55 miles in 15:25. That equals a 9:57 per mile pace! First time in years I've broken that. Now that I've made my pace goal for the time being, I need to focus on increasing my distance. Hard to do when I'm pressed for time at lunch. I guess I need to start working out more at home.

Triple Treat Thursday

Numero Uno.
My new shoes arrived yesterday. After much research and debating, I chose the Brooks Glycerin 7 shoe. It's a neutral shoe with a lot of cushioning. Great for supinators like me. Today I tried it out for my typical lunch time two lapper. Right away I noticed a difference in how my feet responded. I could tell there was no resistance with rolling inward like with my older shoes. The cushioning was great on my heels too. For once, it didn't hurt to walk to Subway after my run.

Numero Dos.
Running at high noon on a day with predicted highs in the mid 80's after having a day with digestive issues is not the best way to get your run in. Unfortunately, I don't always follow what is logical. That's why today I found myself outside, sweating buckets, and hankerin' for a big glass of water. Good thing I only do short distances at lunch time. While my feet were feeling good (see Numero Uno), the rest of my body was hot, sweaty, and not into it. That's why my time sucked. I ran the 1.54 miles in 16:12. with my first mile being at 10:43 Not as good as my time earlier this week, but still a big improvement from when I started!

Numero Tres.
I was talking with Jen about this while we waited for the 5K to start a few weeks ago. Why is it all the running clothing is in bold colors? I've always been an outdoors man and love to wear olive greens and other "Earth" tones. Yet, I can not find athletic clothing in these colors. Today, I ran in a white Adidas shirt with dark blue stripes down the sleeves, matching shorts, white socks, and my new grey/black/gold running shoes, then I had my Texas A&M Entomology hat with a lighter blue brim and light tan body.

Back to the 5K race, I told Jen that I wanted to find all earth tones and be "That Guy" that wears outdoorsman colors to all my races. Now I just need to know where to find them!

Easter Three Miler

I originally planned to get up and run this morning because we had an Easter celebration to go to and I wasn't sure when we would get home. Unfortunately, I slept horribly last night, and decided to not run this morning. I ended up sleeping in until nearly 10:00!

So this evening, we got home, and I was still exhausted. We all laid down and I fell asleep until about 7:30. I really did not feel like running but knew I needed to get out there. I didn't run yesterday, and only hiked on Friday, remember? I laced up my functionally inappropriate shoes (see below) and grabbed my reflective vest as it was almost dark.

Last night I mapped out several new 3 mile-ish out and back routes. I tend to run better when I have a defined turn around and know I'm half way done, and just have to get back. So I picked on and off I went. At the turn around it was 17:00 flat. I thought "I can do better than that! Lets go!!!" so on the way back I picked up the pace and made it back in 32:58. I pretty substantial negative split! Not great but getting closer to my goal.

Now on to my shoes. I've been doing a lot of research online about running shoes, my shoe form (supination) and it's negative effects. I've learned a lot about my feet and many of my feet troubles are directly linked to being a supinator, for example: weak ankles, sore heels, bone spurs at the back of the heel. and high arches. In conjunction with this, the shoe I have is made for stability to help with people that over-pronate. Ummmm.... yeah, that would basically be the opposite of how my feet are now. Things could have been differently 5 years ago. After working on my feet for 5 years, and having gout, the mechanics could have changed.

SO..... Tonight I'm ordering a new pair of shoes that I've decided should be good for my feet. If not, they have a good return policy. Plus, I'm getting them for about half what you'd pay in a store for the same model!

In other news, my secret plan to turn Jen into an ultra-marathoner is underway. On Saturday, we stopped by Road Runners, and she got her feet tested. This morning she ordered herself a pair of shoes, and this evening has been researching the Couch to 5K training.

All in due time....... Heh heh heh!!!

3 Mile Hike

Yesterday I took a 3 mile hike at Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area.  It’s a nice hiking area because it’s not too hilly, the paths are pretty decent, and there’s never an abundance of people.  For my birthday, I got a new macro lens for my camera and wanted to try it out.  The hike went well, and about halfway through it, I broke out the macro and got a few shots in.  Overall, the hike was easy, and fairly slow paced.  Mostly I was enjoying being outside in the nice weather.  Below are a few shots I took with the new lens, and a few of the hiking area.

Today, I elected to take a rest day.  Tomorrow, I plan a “long” run.  Probably about 3-4 miles.

 

Macro lens no zoom                                      Macro lens with full zoom

  Up close of creek                                       Path with creek crossing

Three Things Thursday

A lot of the blogs I read do a "Three Things Thursday" so I figured I'd join the bandwagon. Here are my three:

1. Today is Connor's 2nd Birthday! For those of you that don't know him, Connor is a very happy little boy, and by "little" I mean he is very small for his age. Connor's favorite things in the world are Mickey Mouse, trains, hats, and shoes. He's always smiling, and loves to play and explore new things.

2. I signed up for the Army 10 Miler. Yeah, I know, I posted about this already, but I wanted to add to it. When I first started this blog, I mentioned that I've always wanted to run a marathon, and this latest adventure into running was going to lead up to me running the Baltimore Marathon. Since that time, I've decided that it might be too lofty of a goal at this point. I considered running a half, but when I saw this one, I knew it would be the one.
It takes place in DC, and I've become very familiar with DC after spending nearly a year working a service route in DC. I enjoy being around The Mall area, and the scenery would be great. Plus, I work for The Army.

I still have a full marathon as a goal, just not for 2010. We'll see how the rest of this year plays out.

3. Running shoes. I've been researching a new pair of running shoes, and let me tell you, it's not going well. I've been told by a running shoe store that my current shoe is good for my feet. Reading up on this, it appears that is not true. I have very high arches, I am a supinator (sounds like I should go to jail for something doesn't it?), and have prior medical issues, so it's not an easy choice. Besides, after spending the $55 for the Army 10 Miler, and about to spend another $55 for our Family Fitness Run at the end of the month, I really don't feel like spending $100 for a pair of shoes.

I'll keep ya informed!

Army 10 Miler

I have officially registered for The Army 10 Miler this October. I've never run this far of a race before. it's a bit daunting, but exciting as well.