Week 7 - Half Way There

Four short months ago, I was nervous to even commit myself to running a half marathon. Thirteen (.1) miles is a daunting task, especially when at the time I was only going three miles consistently. Starting this training schedule, this week was circled, this would be the week potentially I could run thirteen (.1) miles. I say potentially because even though I was intending to do the "medium" training schedule, somehow I got put in the harder training program, cough CT cough!

Last week's weather conditions were horrible! This week's were different, to remain positive. Had somebody told me I'd be running more miles than double the temperature, in a snow storm, I would have laughed or at least assumed I'd be on a treadmill inside!

I'm not sure how a record run can be uneventful, but it was. No crazy drivers, no euphoric spells, no pain, it was simply a very nice run. The first mile was the most difficult, trying to get my body's temperature raised was the only uncomfortable part of the whole run. Even though it was snowing, the roads were bare for the most part which made everything easier. In the end, the run was going to end at thirteen miles, but it's impossible to go that far and not go the extra. I had to do an extra little jog to make sure I ended the morning making it an "official" half marathon with the .1.

A coworker had run a half marathon and I remember asking him if he'd do it again a few days after. He grimaced an answer and I he didn't say no, but it was something based on the body language that I could tell wasn't high on his priority list to do again either. I think that's were my reservation came from when first getting talking into trying for this half marathon, I remember my coworker's look. Well, not only did I do the thirteen (.1) this week, in crazy cold temps, but I could have EASILY gone longer! To date, I don't think I've ever felt as strong as I did not only during the run, but after. If this is any indication, I'm so glad I decided to challenge myself doing the full marathon. Had I only committed myself to the half, I'd be very disappointed in myself of how little confidence I had in myself. Three months of training to go and I'm half way there, plus a little more (.1).

Week 6 - Still Here

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right? That's going to be the theme for this week. My knee has been bothering me and I have to say it's behavior is kind of strange. It's been giving me more trouble when not running than when I do run. I'm starting to wonder if it enjoys running as much as I do and it's secretly having a temper tantrum when I use it only for walking. CT's hip is still giving her trouble, at least that's what she says. I've got a new theory on that too, I think she's attempting to trick me into thinking she's injured and she's really planning to leave me in the dust come marathon time. She complains about it, even spoke with a couple of the doctors at Run Camp about it and got some information, but between you and me, I know this is nothing more than a snow-storm, because she's not getting any slower!

Speaking of snow storms, that's what this week's run was in. Go to bed Friday night with bare roads and thought it's going to be awesome to run with good footing tomorrow only to up the garage door up and find two inches of new snow on the ground. So much for that idea. It truly was a miserable run, not only were the roads a mess, it was still coming down the whole time we were running and to top it off the whole way back seemed to be going against the wind. Ended the day doing 12 miles, in those conditions it really felt like 24!

I'm at roughly 590 miles running since I started in May. Lots of miles have been on trails, but there's also a big chunk of miles that I've done on the road. This week marked a first, a car actually tried to hit us this week. I'm constantly on the lookout for the drivers who aren't paying attention. Almost every car it's fairly obvious if they see me based on how they react. The cars that I don't see that reaction, immediately become threats and I become much more aware of making sure I have an escape route. The car today, was in that danger zone, then I watched him actually angle so he'd get even closer to us. It would be one thing if it was only me by myself, but in this case CT and one other person from our group was with me. It was no accident, which was also confirmed at the next water station when we found another guy in our group almost got hit by the same car. I don't understand that behavior, I hope karma has something special lined up for that jackass. (Karma, if you are out there and need ideas, come find me...I've got a few for ya)

Maybe it's snow on the top of my head, maybe it's gray hair from my close call. Either way, I'm thankful to be back and thankful nothing happened to my friends! (I had a secret goal of making it all the way through Run Camp without a single picture taken of me, but my white top proved too popular to keep the streak intact.)

Week 5 - Signs

Signs come in all different forms. They could be the obvious ones, for example road signs, where you're suppose to follow them. Speed limits, that's just a suggestion, right? Signs can be used as a gesture, for information, or offer direction. They can be direct or subtle, but the sign is only effective if we notice it. I kind of like the subtle ones. The one I'm specifically thinking of is this night. I easily could have shrugged off the conversation as nothing more than friendly chit chat. But something was very different. What prompts an acquaintance, known from a completely different sport, to plant an idea which spread like a virus? To me, that's a sign. I easily could ignored it, but the randomness of what took place, there was something special to this sign.

Getting out of bed at 5:45 in the morning on a Saturday, I'd classify that as a bad sign! Yet, this is what's required. It was a cold and snowy morning, lots of new snow this week, and it was still coming down. Run Camp started with a clinic on what paces we should be running our various distances at. I admit, I zoned out and this is what was running through my mind. 7:45, finally it's time to go! Stepping outside, the snow had stopped, the sun was coming out, there was still a chill in the air. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was a sign it was going to be a good run! ;)

Five weeks in, I've put in lots of miles. The past two I've started to get a few aches and pains. My ankles have been sore, which I believe has to do with running on the snow which calls for constant adjustments. I don't mind that pain, because I know they are getting stronger. I worry most about my knees and one has been giving me slight pain, not while running, but more after. Then on one run this week and at about mile 4 today I think I felt Plantar Fasciitis for the first time. It went away quickly, so we'll keep an eye on that. My partner, CT, is nursing some hip pain, so I'm not the only one. We check on each other during the run, typically her question to me is "How are you feeling old man?". Yeah, so I'm a few months older than her, but I hardly think that qualifies that statement! Today was especially funny to me because when I turned to answer her, it was so cold that ice crystals had formed on her eye lashes, eye brows, and better yet had turned the top of her hair pure white! My instant thought was this little old lady next to has no business calling me old....and hey she's kind of a fast to be keeping up with me!

The distance that I'm running now, I have to start thinking about nutrition along the way. I've been hesitant so far because it's just one more thing to keep track of. There are a number of different options, but I like easy, so my choice is something called GU. It comes in a small foil packet, has various flavors, and the concept is to rip off the top, then squeeze the contents into your mouth as you run. I've been reluctant to try it so far because I worry about cramping or worse yet, it not agreeing with me and making a spectacle of myself hurling all over the road. Somewhere around mile 4, I felt very euphoric. Maybe it was runner's high, I don't know what it was exactly, but that was my sign that today would be the day to GU. We reached the 5.5 mile marker, stopped and took our GU...which was almost frozen solid. Maybe it was psychological, maybe it really did the trick, either way it worked. I felt much better for the second half.

After the run today, we stopped at a coffee shop to kill some time before another running clinic, Gazelle's GFR (Good Form Running). This is where this picture comes from. Sometimes those subtle signs are hard to recognize, but how could you not notice this one? I think it's safe to say, this is the sign I love running!

Normally, I'd end my post here, but I at least have to comment on one thing that made me smile from the clinic. I can't say enough good things about Gazelle's and I want that on record before I say this next part of this story! If I could have paid them extra for what happen, I would have, but honestly I didn't! The clinic video tapes you running, then they critic your form, offer pointers, and basically try give you hints to run properly. I talked a number of friends into joining me for this class and even had a guy who's been running with me on Wednesday nights in the class. It's somewhat nerve racking when it comes to be your turn on the big screen. The first thing they point out on me was basically a compliment. Had they supplied popcorn, ALL of my friends would have thrown it at me! You should have heard the grown, boos and hisses from my "friends"! Talk about putting a target on my back, thanks Gazelle's! I was already feeling great from doing 11 miles (a new record for myself), but the cool sign from the coffee place for my blog entry for the week, and now this....sure was an AWESOME week!

Week 4 - Lots of Ones

It's New Year's Resolutions time! You know, the time of year to make those little promises to yourself that last one, maybe two weeks tops. I have to be honest, I do enjoy seeing all the new faces at the gym then watching them dwindle down until it's only the same faces that I've seen for years. I've never understood the concept of resolutions. I respect making the decision to change something for the better, but waiting for a specific date to roll around to officially start, sorry but it's doomed to fail. If that goal isn't burning deep down inside you because you want it so bad to want to make it happen immediately, then waiting for this magical date isn't going to any difference.

1/11/11 at 1:00 (probably should have been 1:11 huh?) was when the race started. It is a cool date and time, but for me the significance had nothing to do with the 1's, or starting any resolutions. I did break out my Cake is a liar shirt to secretly goof on people who were starting the New Year active, yet will probably be on the couch come next month. My real reason to stand out out in the cold, run a few miles, on a day I'd normally lay on the couch and watch football all day, the company. With five friends around, all wanting to be active, the decision is pretty easy and the uniqueness of the date plays no part in it.

It was great that the conditions weren't blizzard like, which I wondered about when I signed myself up for this event a month ago. The day before, temps were in the 40's! Which only caused some overconfidence, because when it came to race time, with the wind, it was still darn cold! Crazy Train brought her niece to run the race with us. Her name is Bug and I swear I didn't make that one up! Becca kept Bug company and warm in the car while CT and I did two laps of the park prior to the race starting. Our team leaders were suppose to meet us and do them with us, but just like everything so far, we were left to do our own thing (that doesn't count as complaining, when it's a fact does it?).

One One One equals three in my book, which also happens to be the number of things I'm going to remember about this race. The first, CT predicted that Bug would start out fast, hit the good sized hill in the middle of the course and proceed to walk up it. Bug did start out fast and with the number of people participating, that alone was a challenge. We lost sight of Bug a number of times, but by the time we got to the hill we were shadowing her. CT and Bug may be related, but this Bug has wings or something because she POWERED up that hill! I couldn't have planned it any better, not that I like to tease or anything, but being able to look over at CT and say "Oh yeah, it really looked like she had trouble with that hill" rolling my eyes with a smirk made my day!

My second favorite moment was almost at the end of the race when CT proved again to me that we are very similar because I think she too likes to pick a villain out. I believe her comment was "how is that possible", when she spotted a kid (all four feet of him) that was maybe 5 or 6 years old still ahead of us running with his parents. Fun run or not, there are just some people that you don't want to finish behind. I generally pick adults for my villains, apparently CT has no shame picking on little kids, so to keep her ego safe, we made the move on the kid.

Speaking of egos, the second I get get one, it's like clockwork that I either get humbled or in trouble. It would be the latter this time. Becca is still out of commission with her back (and I know it's killing her to not being able to run). She was on photo detail again for this race. I didn't see her once the entire race and according to her, as she went to get action pictures of me, I started dodging in and around people making it impossible to get shots of me. I'd accuse her of fibbing and that she really spent the race inside the heated car, but not only did she manage to get action shots of some of our friends, but those friends also saw her and were waving and yelling at her! No escape from this ONE either, guess I'll take my verbal beating, and add it to the other ones.