Mid-Packers Lament

I don't remember where I heard it but the quote was something along the line of any adventure with 100% probability of success was not an adventure.  In essence where's the fun of doing something you know you can do.  It's the uncertainty of achieving the goal that makes the adventure.

                                                                Who's the old guy?
                                                        (photo courtesy Debbie G.)

This Saturday was the Soaring Wings Half Marathon in Conway, AR.  A halfmarathon is 13.1 miles.  The point 1 is probably the most important part.  This was my my second half marathon.  The first Half I completed was the Little Rock Half this March in 2:10:56.  My goal for this one was simple- break 2 hours.

The day was perfect for running.  The temperature was great, lower 40's sun shining.  It was a subdued but happy atmosphere with 1700 people there with the same or similar goal for the race. 
Race.

For most us (mid-packers/age groupers) it's not a race in the traditional sense.  I do not expect to come close to winning the 'race'.  I don't expect to even place in my age group.  98% of us nut jobs who attempt this type of race don't go in expecting to be in the top finishers.  Many don't go in expecting to even finish.

For most of us, it's the adventure.  I think.  I can't really speak (write) for anyone else but that's got to be it.  Whether it's about achieving a goal, weight loss or whatever the adventure is the experience.  There are other ways to lose weight that are less strenuous and don't require race fees or 40 degree (or below) temps.  There are far loftier or more attainable goals to achieve.  So there has to be something more.

I say it's the adventure.  The process.

So , my adventure this fine Saturday was simple run 13.1 miles in under 2 hours.  To do this I found the 2 hour pace group.  A pace group is where an accomplished runner runs at a slower than normal pace for them in order to lead a group at their desired pace.  I had only one race under  my belt and had not followed a pace group.  I wish I had.

This time would be different.  I found the 2 hour pace group and found a spot at the back.  My spirits were bolstered when I found the leader was dressed as Batman.  Yes, I would be paced by none other than the caped crusader himself.

Anyone who knows me knows this was perfect.  I am a huge Batman fan.

My strategy would be simple- keep the caped crusader in site for the first 8 miles and the make my move.  I cussed him for the first 3 miles. He was supposed to run 9:09 miles not 8:45 and not 9:00! This was not a sprint it was a marathon or a half marathon at least.  We had 13.1 miles to go.

As the race wore on and his group tired Batman slowed a bit to the actual 9:09 pace.  I planned on making my move at mile 8 but at mile 6.5 my opportunity presented itself and I took it.  I passed the god d*mn Batman and didn't look back.

At this point I was feeling really good.  I was halfway and feeling strong.  Everything was going perfect.  I had not had to make a restroom break (cost me 5 minutes at LR).  I was passing people left and right.  It was a great feeling like all the hard work and training had paid off...until mile 12.  Mile 12 would've been fine had mile 11 not been uphill.  Miles 11 and 12 were uphill the whole way.  The grade wasn't crazy but it was the cumulative effects that blew.  By the end of mile 12 my time goal for the final mile was out the window.

                                              

My wife encouraged me to finish up with an 8:00 minute mile 13.  Sorry dear, wasn't going to happen.  I wanted to.  She's been very understanding and encouraging of my running.  I wanted to do it for her.  That moment of pride telling her "You asked for it! I did it!"  It just wasn't going to happen.  Not that Saturday.  I still managed an 8:38 final mile.  Next post I'll get my Garmin out and post the mile by mile times.  I think they are interesting to look at.  You can definitely see the hills!

So, big finish I ran hard finished strong and managed to cross the finish line Anyone who stuck around to this point deserves to get the results so here they are.

I finished 35th in the male 35-40 division (there were 77 of us)
I was 387 overall out of 1700.
My official time was 1:57:17 (2:43 faster than my drop dead goal)
Average pace of 8:58 per mile.

To put this in perspective I managed to complete this 13 minutes 39 seconds faster than Little Rock.  It was a full 1 minute 2 seconds faster per mile.

I took Sunday and Monday off now it's back to work for Little Rock Full Marathon.

HALFway there

I've been too busy (lazy) to post anything so I'll catch up quickly.  Ran alot.  Ran some more.  Back started hurting.  Kept running.  Lots of heating pad.  Kept running.  Against all common sense my back quit hurting anyway.

Had a great weekend away with the lovely wife to Hot Springs.  Everyone should stay at the Arlington and do the spa thing once.  Once. Ran around Hot Springs. (I will expand on this in another post)

Encouraging results in my training.  I completed my first half in 2:10:56 ish.  When I ran my 13.1 mile long run 2 weeks ago I did it in 2:04:05- 6 minutes 51 seconds faster than my previous Half and most importantly only 4:06 away from my goal.  That goal being to break 2 hours.  Sub 2 hours seems attainable.

Here I am just days out from the Soaring Wings Half.  Winding down the runs and trying to rest up for the race.

As far as training goes it has been uneventful.  I run 5 days a week 4 of those at 5 a.m.  Saturday I run when I feel like getting up and around.

Uneventful is good.  It's like traveling.  Eventful usually means trouble.  So other than the back issue training has been uneventful.

On one hand, I am looking for ward to getting this weekends Half behind me. On the other, I have completed a half before.  It's something of a known entity.  On Sunday I enter uncharted waters consisting of 2 a days and 20 mile Saturday runs.

 I officially signed up for the LR Marathon http://www.littlerockmarathon.com/index.cfm last week before I came to senses and realized, really realized what I was doing.

I'm so gonna die doing this.  (If anyone ever reads this tell my wife and daughter I love them.)

Lance Armstrong apparently said "pain fades quiting lasts forever" or someting silimar.  It's probably from his cameo in Dodgeball.

I like the Keanue Reeves quote from The Replacements better "pain heals, chicks dig scars but glory last forever, woh."   I might've added the 'woh'.  I'm a little fuzzy about that.

Anyhoo, the point is this better be pretty fucking glorious.

Flat tire

This Saturday I decided to do another trail run.  This time there would be no cross country 5k before the run.  This time I would run 3.5 miles in turn around and go back an out-and-back route.  7 miles would be tough.  This is no flat course the trail I chose is a mountain bike trail around Pinacle mountain.  I forget the elevation my Garmin recorded I'll add it in later.

The Jackfork trail is the same trail I ran last time with the Hard/Harder sign.  This time I chose Hard.  It was definitely not Harder but by mile 6 I was more walk than run.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

About a half mile in I step down and feel a sharp poke to my left foot.  I think oh sh!t I've stepped on a nail because (as everyone knows) there are nails everywhere on the side of an undeveloped moutainside in a state park.  Nails are at the top of the Trail Running Hazard List.

The list is as follows
1. nails
2. bears
3. snakes
4. falling and breaking your leg in the middle of nowhere without anyone knowing where you are and dying of exposure

I might have mixed up bears and snakes but the rest is 100% accurate.  I read it on the internet.

As I was saying I, at first thought I had fallen victim to the nail.  Instead I found a stick stuck to the botom of my shoe.  There was a piece about 1 inch long stuck through the bottom of my shoe and quite possibly through my foot.  I immediately pulled it out wishing much later I'd taken a picture frst.

I'd just driven 30 minutes to get there and decided I was running no matter what.  So I gingerly took off and felt only minor pain.  As I ran along I tried to pay attention to see if my shoe was filling up with blood.  The pain quickly faded and I forgot about it.

My foot is fine.  The stick didn't break the skin.  The lesson learned is- there is a reason people in the 'know' recommend trail specific shoes.  Bigger lugs that release mud, a thicker (more puncture resistant) sole and generally an upper that will keep  out small rocks and debris.

Where have I been?

It’s been a while since I posted.  I’ve been working a lot and then there’s vacation.  The family and I went to Cozumel with friends for some relaxing and scuba diving.  I’ll post pics on that when I get my hands on them.  An anniversary came and passed unnoticed last month while I was on vacation.   As I drove into work yesterday morning and the date hit me I realized I have been running regularly for 2 years now.

Only 2 weeks have passed in the last 108 weeks where I have not run at least 4 days for every 7.  The majority of those weeks I have run 6 days.  Only on the last few months have a cut back to 4 days.

When I began running there were no other goals than to do better and lose a few pounds.  I had no intention of running a 5k much less a marathon.  I have at this point run two 5k’s a Cross Country 5k and a half marathon.  I also have a half marathon planned for October 31^st and my first full marathon in March of 2012. 

My question is why.  Why am I doing this?

I haven’t really gotten faster.  I haven’t really tried.  I can face it, I've never been The Flash.

I’m not getting thinner.  I’ve evened out at 15 pounds lost.  There’s none of that muscle vs fat shit either I’m not building muscle anymore.  Bite me.

Actual vacation picture

Is it the endorphins?  I feel better about myself but never had “the runner’s high.”  I’ve tried.

Boredom?  Nah, I’ve got plenty of other recreations that require no sweat (or compression shorts) whatsoever.

Sense of accomplishment?  Hmmm.  This one may have legs.

Since I started running it was one small goal after another.  First, run/ walk for half an hour a day. The goal was running more every week and walking less until no walking.

Then it was complete a 5k in under 30 min.

Then complete a half marathon in under 2:30.

Then a marathon before I’m 40.

Dumbass

Yesterday I recounted my tale of trail running and posted this picture.  I love this sign it's like life's signpost.  There is no easy path in life.  It might start out easy but the easy way always leads to difficulties.

Why am I reposting the picture other than because I like it?

I'm recounting my story to a coworker about being tired and sweaty and after 4 miles of running encountering this sign.  In the story I wuss out and take the Hard path to the left instead of the Harder path to the right.

Much like life when I took the easier path I wasn't paying attention to the arrows.  Something occurred to me as I held up my phone for the umpteenth (that's a highly technical measurement) time.  Left was HARDER.  Right was hard.  I went left.  Shit.

On the bright side I was already looking forward to trying it again.  Now I really want another shot.  No 5k beforehand and take the RIGHT turn and it should be even more fun.

Dumbass.

Happy Trails To You

The cross country 5k was this weekend.  It was fun but in a way kind of a let down.  The organizers were great.  The Mighty Bluebirds organization were great hosts.  I tried not to have preconceieved ideas but still had certain expectations.  We ran around a cowpasture.  It was well maintained and well marked.  I don't know what I was expecting but that wasn't it.

I was disappointed in myself.  Whether it was the heat, humidity or use of new muscles I was disappointed mostly in myself.  I'm used to running in roads or the occasional soccer field so I found the extra stability needed to run in a pockmarked field wore my calves out quickly.  Really quickly.

Regardless of my poor performance I still got an award!

I didn't deserve it.  I was beat my a 9 year old girl and a 67 year old woman.  Granted, I think the 9 year old was a juicing.  She had that roid rage look in her eyes and she was muscled like midget body builder.  The old lady was a marathon veteran.  She had her compression gear on, a Garmin GPS and a "Toenails are for sissies" shirt.  I was kidding about the 9 year old I'm dead serious about the old broad.  She was hard core.  A machine.  So maybe I did deserve it.  After the overall winners got their awards my time such as it was earned the award.  I'll take it.  Why not.

After the 5k I went over to Pinnacle Mountain Park and ran on the Jackfork Mountain Biking Trail.  I've really been interested in trail running lately.  It worked out well because my lovely wife would be in class for a couple more hours.  I could go the few miles to the park run for an hour or so and then go pick her up and head home.

After a search to actually find the trail head, I'm off armed with my windows phone, my Garmin GPS watch and my camelbak full of col sweet H2O.

The trail starts off easy enough and I'm just behind a maountain biker.  The trail gradually becomes more difficult but is still fun.  Before the first ile is over I pass the mountain biker whiole he's stopped on the side of the trail.  I never see him again.

One mile in the trail splits and I see this.

I've already run a 5k (3.1 miles) and now I'm 1 mile into my first trail run.  I take hard.  They were not exaggerating I manage to walk/run another mile of twists, turns, hills, valleys, rock and roots before deciding that it was time to turn around.  I was doing more walking than running so I knew I was done.  So I walked /ran the 2 miles back out for a total of 7.24 miles on the day.

The timing was near perfect.  As I emerged from the trailto the parking lot I get word from my lovely wife that class is done early.  So I pick her her up and we go help Krysta move.

2 seasons in Arkansas. Cold and Hot.

I like spring and fall.  Shorts and a light jacket.  Flip Flops.  Running and scuba diving.  But I live in Arkansas where we have 2 seasons.  Cold and Hot.  Either it's colder than a witch's hoo ha or it's Africa hot with 100% humidity.  Right now we're in Hot and it sucks.

As I countdown to my vacation I am still trying to run regularly.  Reasons range from both the weight control aspect to maintaining a base for an October Half Marathon but the heat during anytime other than the asscrack of dawn makes it difficult.  In order to keep interest and effort alive I have signed up for a cross country 5k.  I've never done a cross country anything so I'm really looking forward to it.  I have no preconceptions about the cross country aspect other than it will be hot and should be fun.

I have plans to go to Pinnacle Mountain Park afterwards (the 5k is not too far away) and run a mountain bike trail aftter the 5k.  We'll see how that goes.

Rapture or lack thereof

A senile asshat in California decided Saturday May 21 Jesus would return and take the faithful to heaven.  He lined out the very elaborate proof in scripture and numerology but completely forgot the part in the bible where it says no man can know the day!  The whole point to the vagueness of prophecy is so you can avoid the whole being wrong part. He's going to get what he deserves.  Saturday evening he had to look his followers in the eye and say 'oops'.  Can you imagine the realization he had to come to?  Either he was wrong and a spectacular lunatic (he is) or, and this is the part that would crush him, it did happen and he's still here!  Asshat.

While these well meaning followers of his were wringing their hand and praying I was at my own temple.  I planned to go out in style.  Jimmy played in Frisco, baby!  My friend Bad and I got kitchen passes and road tripped the 5 hours to Frisco,TX.  We were met by 4 friends (Steve, Stacy, Dan and Sharon) and the 6 of us tailgated until the show.  Even though it rained like a mofo on the trip down with flash flood and tornado warnings the grounds were in okay shap and there was no mud pit.  In fact, other than a brief time when I was concerned Steve had been raptured (false alarm he was checking out a jeep) it was a great time and everything was great.

The show was great as well.  You don't perform as long as Jimmy without polishing the show.  He has it all down.  He played the standards as well as dusting off a couple of my favorites from the past.

Live from the floor.  I would think this about sums it.

BTW the photo's in focus we're the ones out of focus.

I thought maybe we had in fact been raptured.  Jimmy on stage, all the beer I could drink, good friends and great food what what else could it be but heaven? The thing that brought me back to realization was the fact that without Angie and Chloe it couldn't be heaven, but man it was close. 

Funny story but not really

So funny story, after posting about the whole nipple chafing thing I did a 9 mile run and really wished I had done a better job of lubricating.  No blood but chafing. Unpleasant chafing.

Ouch.

Always time for lubrication

Life is full of nevers.  I'll never run unless chased by something I can't beat down.  Then, okay I'll run but I'll never run a distance where I have to carry water that's crazy.  Lubrication while running?  I'll never need that!  I could go on.  Once you become a parent dignity goes right our the window.

Why does this come up?

As I get older (another day closer to 40) I find more and more things are no longer black and white.  If I hadn't already given in on the frst one I wouldn't be writing this.  If you've read the other posts where I review my Camelbak you'll know I gave up on that one when I started running 10 + miles at a time.  So now we're onto lubrication.  It's not something I hear talked about much on podcasts or in magazines.  Although I will give a shout out to Running with Pack podcast.  Alan and Stevie had a guest on who threw out more info than I think even they were expecting on the subject.

Lubrication huh! What is it good for?

I haven't really run longer than 8 miles at a time sine the Little Rock Half Marathon March 6th.  I've had a hard time with my longer runs because I'm bored with my route.  I found a way to add 4.4 miles of new territory and am excited about Saturday's long run.  That brings me around to the lubricant.  An 8-10 mile run like I'm planning will require lubricant or I'll experience chafing.  This is something you learn from experience.  Harsh, harsh experience.

The office pointed out that bloody nipples are an actual problem for men but there's also the chafing issue.  Even when you were comfy clothes, compression shorts or whatever there are still places that rub.

   Do you need lubrication for a 5k probably not.  10k doubt it.  Half marathon or more I would say almost defininitely.  As Orlando Jones pointed out in the movie Evolution, there's always time for lubrication. It is the endurance athlete's dirty secret.  That thing that's just done and not talked about.  If you are experiencing issues chafing don't get discouraged.

Here are some alternatives to using a lubricant.  Your moment of Zen?

Yes, the first dude is wearing manpasties.

So the next never is I'll never wear tights to run...
                              

Camelbak test

I tested out my Camelbak Mini Mule Sunday.  The intention was to run 9 mile on my 39th. It didn't happen.

I ran the 5k Saturday and for whatever reason my calves got that tired muscle burn almost immediately.  It never went away and I struggled through the whole thing.

When the Sunday run rolled around 1/2 mile in I was in the same position.  Calves were on fire.  Here lately runs haven't felt good until around mile 4 anyway so I thought if I could hold on maybe it would even out.  It didn't.

I carried my Camelbak Dave and Jess got me for my Bday.

I liked it pretty well.  It was overkill for a 3 mile run it's really more for a 9 mile + run but i think it was for the best I did a shorter run to test. 

There were a couple things I learned before we step up to a longer run.

1. Bleed the air. Hold it upside down and suck the air out so it won't slosh.
2. Run the hose to the left side.  It faces to the right and was inconvenient to grab flip and sip.  A simple switch to the left side fixes it no problem.

Update 1 week later:

Saturday rolled around again and I made the changes and went out for a comfortable 7 mile run around town.  Again, the the capacity is a bit much for even 7 miles but it's fine when you consider the room you have for a cell phone, keys and wallet.

I was concerned about chafing which is another reason for slow increases in mileage.  Even after an hour and a half comfort was great.  After bleeding the reservoir there was no sloshing and it rode comfortably on my back loaded with wallet, phone and house key.

It's crazy now I think about the start of my running and how getting through the first 3 miles sucked so hard and I was wiped at the end now the first 3 suck but it is fun after that.  It's as if my legs just quit bitching and decide to go with it.  They're like f*ck it!  I ended my run at 7 only because I had stuff to do not because my body said stop.

On Sunday I broke out the Vibrams again and did a short 3 miles.  My calves are a little sore/tight but no big deal Monday off should help quite a bit.  I really like the Vibrams I'm just not the most patient when it comes to slowly adding miles.

Asscrack of dawn

Up this morning at the asscrack of dawn.  I'm not talking about a stripper.  I'm talking about the sucky time before the sun rises.  I decided in my warped logic to run a 5k this morning.

Why:
1. Lovely wife is gone to medical coding class and child is asleep so I'm solo anyway.
2. It's the day before my birthday (warped logic).
3. It's for a program that helps fund PE4Life in school.
4. Its international week in the Premier League no games this morning.
5. Why not?

I've got to leave and go do this now I'll finish this when I get back.

I'm back.  It is 44 degrees and rainy.  I made all the rookie mistakes.  I got there 15 minutes before the start.  I didn't do a good job stretching.  I had to make a last minute port a potty stop.  I started too fast.

I'm pretty sure that wearing the Vibrams Sunday and the Wednesday before the race trashed my calves.  They were sooooo tired at the very begining of the race I can't think of any other reason why that would happen.

No PR for me.  (UPDATE: around 3:30 off my 5k PR) Oh well there are always more 5ks usually 3 or 4 a day this time of year.

Anyway, it was for a good cause, I didn't walk it and the t-shirt is kinda cool.

In case you're curious the PE4Life program is designed to encourage lifelong fitness and combat childhood obesity by teaching kids about sports, fitness and nutrition.

Happy Birthday to me...

Last weekend I had a birthday party with friends.  It was kind strange for me because I generally don't like to do stuff before my birthday.  However, schedules are what they are and this was the most opportune time.

I got an awesome Batman cake.  It was homemade even better!  Sorry bakery cakes can't compete flavor wise with a good homemade cake.

I also got a couple of great running related gifts.  I will discuss them more later because I haven't been able to use them yet.

One is a Camelbak Mini Mule hydration pack.  This one was hand picked by my good friends Dave and Jess.  They are aware of my running and are accustomed to the insane summer heat and humidity in Arkansas so this is the perfect gift.  Besides the hydration bladder it also has enough room for cellphone, gels, a small camera, cash or whatever.  It even has the front chest strap for comfort.  As next January rolls around and I'm looking at 20 mile runs I think this might be my new best friend.  Sunday is my actual birthday so I'm going to run 9 miles on the 39th birthday.  I'm looking forward to trying the pack out.

                                       
The other amazingly thoughtful gift was a pair of Motorola SD-10 bluetooth headphones.

                                                               Like dees ones.                                     

I am planning a phone upgrade in the next couple of weeks.  Almost certainly a windows 7 Samsung Focus.  It integrates my Zune software with a smart phone ( I hope I'm smart enough to use it).  Anyhoo, Microsoft say they aren't making Zunes anymore so I figure upgrade the memory on the phone and use it  double duty music player and phone.  I realize I'm not the first to come up with this idea.  With the Bluetooth headphones shown above I can listen to music while running and make and receive calls as well.

My lovely wife loves the idea of being able to get a hold of me in case of emergency.  I like that aspect as well but I have to admit part of me like the thought of being in my own head a bit without the interruption.  It's a trade off accept the possibility of the unimportant interruption to be able to receive the important message.

Update on the Vibrams:  I've worn them on 3 runs so far.  Recapping- first run was a 2 miler on Wednesday.  After this first run my calves were pretty sore.  The second run was the following Sunday (much sooner than they recommend starting off) 2.25 miles.  After the second run my calves were fine so the third run was 1 week exactly to the first.  I ran 3 miles the following Wednesday (yesterday).  Today my calves are fine everything's groovy.  I intend to wear them for a 5k this Saturday.

I'll post on how that goes and family bday party we're having tonight.

Are you looking at my monkey... feet?

Happy (early) Birthday to me! It's early but I got my birthday present from my lovely wife and daughter last night.  I got just what I tried on at a local store and then ordered from the ol' interweb.  A pair of Vibram Five Finger shoes.

As a disclaimer, I always try to order from local companies.  I believe in supporting the community even if it costs a couple extra dollars.  In this case, none of the local retailers had the style I wanted so I had to confirm proper sizing in the store and then I ordered online.

That said, my lovely wife and daughter hate them, but they're what I wanted so I got them anyway.   Thank you girls.

What are Five Finger Shoes?

I'm glad you asked.  Here's a picture.

Fit your foot like a glove.  The idea is we were made to not wear shoes and this is as much like bare foot as you can get but still protect your feet.  This model in particular is made fro running.

They make me look like this...

Obviously, I don't obsess about my appearance.

I did a lot of research before buying these shoes.  How to run in them etc.  All the books say start slowly and gradually add distance.  They say use the 10% rule.  No more than 10% of your weekly mileage should be run initially.  For me, that's 2 miles.

I was so excited I got up and did a 2 miler on my usual day off just to try them out.  It seemed to be a big success.  We'll see tomorrow I guess.

The usual problems people encounter are foot problems (too much reliance on cushy shoes), Achilles tendon problems (it natually shortens because of heeled shoes) and calf soreness ( back to the cushy shoes).  Several months ago I changed my stride because of achilles tendon and hip flexor issues I went from the typical running shoe heel striker to a more mid-foot strike.  Because of that change the Vibram were not much of an issue with the footstrike and while I have some calf tighness my foot and ankle feel fine.

If I can walk tomorrow I'll do another 2 miler with them Sunday.

I can say that my average pace was up a good bit.  I don't know if it was because I felt like I was running in socks or just the general feeling of freedom.  I was like the return to a simpler time when I was a kid and went barefoot all the time playing in the yard.  It felt good.

I know I won't wear these for every run.  My wife my not let me wear them in her presence.  So far though no buyer's remorse.

UPDATE: The day after using the new shoes my calves are really tight and kind of sore.  Still no buyers remorse but I'm glad I took the advice to go easy.

The time is now

So...

The Little Rock Marathon has come and gone.

When I started this I said that I was shooting for around 2:15.  I threw that out the window after injury and illness and told myself "just finish with out having to walk" and it's a success.

I have 0 experience with races. One 5k is all I've ever run so I have no clue or strategy.  Anyone surprised?

I did try to keep in mind one phrase I read somewhere "you can't bank miles."  It means you can't win the race in the first miles.  You win it in the end so save gas for the end.

Fortunately my friend Special K and 2 of her friends were running so I had good company to chill with ( see what I did there?).

 It was cold.

                           

I was expecting a temp of about 50 degrees.  Instead I get 38 with a windchill of 32.  No problem it's what I trained in.  However, I did not do a good job of stretching beforehand so my left shin burned for the first 2-3 miles.  It finally worked out but I really though it was going to be a looooong day.

I started the race having to pee.  That sucked.  I thought I had that handled but an hour out in the cold proved otherwise.

At mile 2 this was most of the other guys.  North Little Rock you can thank me for not marking my territory.  I did lose 5 minutes around mile 4.5 waiting on a port a potty.

After reliving myself I was relieved (see what I did there?) to find I felt good.  Mile 5 hit and I felt good.  Mile 7, halfway there, still good. 8, 9 10?  At mile 10 I literally got chills when I realized all I had  left was a morning run.  Just over 3 miles left and I felt great.

I was too conservative.  So, I decide to leave it all on the road and start passing people, Never mind the fact that I'm screwed if I'm too tired to move afterwards.  I have a 3/4 mile walk to the card and I'm all alone driving myself home.

I turn onto La Harp at the old Balch Oldsmobile building and I'm feeling great.  I'm still passing people

One woman actually cheers me as I pass her.  For that, I say to her thank you.  Not many sports where that happens, it's nice.  All us mere mortals are competing only with ourselves.

I finally see the finish line and break into a run.  I can hear the announcer saying every body's name as they cross.  Then I cross and... he mispronounces my name.  No biggie, I'm used to it just gimme my medal!

                                           

The finish line was great someone ran up to me and put one of the astronaut silver foil blankets on me.  They put a medal around my neck.  I got my picture taken.  People are holding out food to me.  I'm special!

It was somewhere in the haze of bananas, Little Debbie's Swiss Rolls, beer and chocolate milk I realized I was soaking wet and freezing my a$$ off.  The astronaut blanket is for $#/T!

                                                   

The astronaut blanket is a silver freakin trash bag.  I was so disappointed.  I very quickly realized I was not so steady on my feet.  My legs had been running for 2 hours straight and didn't quite grasp that they could do other things.  Standing, walking it all took concentration.  I waited for Special K for as long as I could stand it (i waited1 banana, 1 swiss roll, 1 milk and 2 beer if you are wondering) and had to bail.

My time was 2:10:56 under my goal but not my best.  Got a medal anyway.

I have a 5K in mind for the day before my 39th birthday and another half marathon in line for October.  This time I want under 2 hours.  The full marathon next March is coming soon.  So is 40.

If you want to see my dramatic finish you can go to the link below and watch.  I'm the dashing fellow in all black with the white hat (that's how you can tell I'm one of the good guys).  I come in at the top at around 13 seconds into the video.
http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp?EVENTID=75437&BIB=4593

The Gods Must Be Angry

It's been a while since I posted and there's lots to update.

So the leg thing worked itself out with lots of stretching, time and  flexoril but, I missed several days of much needed runs.

Then came the flu or whatever it was.  Thursday to Tuesday with 103+ degree fever and all the coughing and joy that goes with it.  Right in the peak of training.  No 12 mile run.

                                                    
I went to the Dr and got my brain swabbed.  They call it a flu test.  Turns out it's not the flu he doesn't know what it is wrong with me so... Amoxicillin it is!  After a week of horse pills I got well enough to run and then the leg acts up again.  2 weeks from the race and the longest run I've got is a 10.5 mile.  At this point I'm not sure the leg will hold up for 13.1 or that I have the endurance to run the whole thing if the leg doesn't go out.  Nothing against the run/ walkers but I wanted to run the whole thing!

                                                   

I'm pretty much following the taper plan.  Pretty much.  Business trip to Vegas means running schedule is okay in fact I'm running more because of the time difference.  Diet is FUBAR.  Not watching what I eat so I probably gained 5 pounds.

I'm consoling myself with the fact that this is just the first step and my actual goal is the full marathon 1 year away.  This race is as much a trial run as anything else.  A building block.  By the way that's not me in the picture.

Bitch, Bitch, Bitch

I said I would talk more about the sore knee.  It seems that it is a tight hamstring causing the tendon on the back of my knee to feel like an over tightened guitar string.

I’ve been freaked out by this injury(? ) for a couple reasons.  The first is that it could completely ruin my chance to hit my goal time for the half marathon.  That whole I just want to finish doesn’t work.  Set goal.   Achieve.  Set new goal.  I have a realistic goal in mind.  I want to finish between 2:00 and 2:30.  Not unrealistic at all considering on training runs I have completed 10 miles in 1:45.  Sooooo, now I’m looking at several months of building mileage out the window.  The second reason is that I’ve never had an injury like this one.  I’ve had sprains and broken bones I know how to deal with those.  This is new and I don’t have time for a long learning curve.  I know I sound like a whiney wuss.

                                                        My wife thinks this is me.    

First step to a solution is to define problem.

I have to give a huge thanks to my great friend and neighbor Shari.  She is the massage therapist and owner of Mind Over Matter Massage in downtown Jacksonville.  It’s hard to even write ‘downtown Jacksonville’ without hearing the Asian boy from the Unique Furniture (he’s like 19 now).  If you’re from central Arkansas you’ve seen the commercial.  Anyhoo, Shari came over on Super Bowl Sunday and worked on my leg.  How awesome is that?

So, after a full day of rest and Shari working on my leg Sunday I decided Monday evening (last night) to give the leg a short test run in new shoes.

New shoes.  I love them and hate them.  Not this particular pair just new shows in general.  I love getting new shoes. Everyone does.  I remember the best part of starting a new school year was the new pair of shoes.  Out with the old skanky sneaks in with the new.  Since I started running shoes are a crap shoot.  They feel great in the store but around mile 2 they feel like you have a board strapped to your foot.  Nevermind blisters.  Shoe companies in their never ending wisdom and attempt to ‘improve’ existing product take the shoe that fits you great and completely $%^& it up.

For the record February is just past the right time to buy running shoe.  The clearance is on for the old styles but they are down to the sizes that fit only midgets or mutants (not that there's anything wrong with that.) So every pair I looked at they were out of my size.  After trying on a dozen or so different shoes I buy my first ever pair of ASICS.  It's not important or a big deal but when has that stopped someone from blogging it. 

Me, my new shoes and my jacked up leg walk into a bar.  I mean go for a short run.  I decide I’m going to do 2 miles really slow. 1 mile out and 1 mile back.  I kissed my wife and told her to send out the search party if I wasn't back in 30 minutes.  I typed all this and now I wish I had a great end to the story something insane crazy funny.  Instead I just rambled.  I got nothing.  You read all this for a big let down.  No payoff nothing happened.  My leg bothered me but not too much.  I made it  home no search party.

Sorry.

A Pirate Runs Towards 40 or The Further Adventures of a Husky Boy...

So where to begin...I guess at the beginning.

I was born a poor black child.

Sorry, that's wrong.  I can't live a lie.  That's the beginning of The Jerk with Steve Martin.  I just love that line.  Best opening to a movie EVER.  I expect there's going to be more references to this movie before the adventure is over.

In reality, I'm 38 (white, not that it matters) and training to run my first half marathon (13.1 miles) next month just days before my 39th.  The idea behind this blog is that I want to chronicle my efforts to run the half marathon (13.1 miles) with the goal of runing the full marathon (26.2 miles) just before the big four oh.  I'll expand on my family (sexy supportive wife Angie and wonderful daughter Chloe), my great friends, work and my life in general as I go along.

I'm not sure why I'm doing this, the marathon running not the writing.  I know why I'm writing.  I hope the why of the marathon crystalizes as I'm doing this.  Is it mid-life crisis?  Ignorance? Stupidity?  Acomplishment? All of the above or none, I don't know.  Yet.

I do know a little over a year and a half ago my lovely, talented, brilliant, wonderful (I'm a proud parent) daughter Chloe was playing soccer and was preparing to move up to the "big" field.  The big field is around 10 yards longer and wider than a football field.  She was worried that she would not have the cardio for that size field.  In her defense, she was moving up to the big field about 3 years sooner than is usual.  Girls just don't turn out for sports in the same numbers as boys.  So we wind up with a U14 team made up of girls from 11-14.

Anyhoo, the aforementioned wonderful daughter asks if I'll run with her.  Help her get in shape.  As a good dad and encouraging coach I agree immediately.  I compliment her on her diligence. I tell her that's she a great example for the team, then...I panic.

I'm 5'9" and at the time 2 bills.  200 POUNDS. WTF. OMG.  FML.

                                                          actual photo Christmas 2009
                                                Okay, maybe not but it felt like it at the time.

I'm not sure I could keep up with her when I was her age.  I was a husky kid.  She's definitely not.  If you are not familiar with "husky" it means you're chubby.  Chubby's not nice to say unless you're talking about a 6 month old baby.  I wasn't 6 months old anymore so husky I was.  Fortunately, when I hit about 13 that went away naturally as I got taller.  Once I quit growing and stopped playing sports I got husky again.  It snuck up on me.  Husky or not I've played about every sport you can play in Arkansas I even ran track (poorly) but  I.   Hated.  Running.  Probably why I played a lot of baseball.  Baseball is a lazy man's game.  Running was punishment.

Fact: Every coach for every sport punishes players by making them run.

Back to the story, I started running without her because she had a sore ankle.  Figured it would work out great.  I run a week or 2 without her get a little head start on the conditioning.  When her ankle got better she would join me. Simple.

As with most plans this one didn't work out and I had to make adjustments on the run so to speak.  (see what I did there?)

She never joined me and I never stopped.  My clothes started fitting better. (encouragement) I had more energy.(encouragement!) I noticed weight loss.  I now hover around 180.  (encouragement!!) And there was a sense of accomplishment as I went from jog 1 lap/walk 1 lap to jog 2/walk 1 then 3/1 then jog for a 30 minutes without stopping.  The 45.  Then 60 minutes. Then 80 until this week was 110.

Saturday one hour fifty minutes. (encouragement?)

My knee hurts now. (not so encouraging.)  More on that later.

As I mentioned, this journey? started over a year and a half ago so I'll be sharing things that occur in the now and talk about things I've learned the hard way.

Finally, I feel like I should explain the title of the blog "It's My Own Damn Fault..."? I batted a buch of titles around.  Beside being a parrothead reference it's fairly apropos.  I bought into the dream of boat drinks and idealized tropics Jimmy has been hawking some 23 years ago (yes I was 16 more on that another time).  Mainly though running is something you can do on your own.  No team. No coach.  You and whatever is ahead of you.  No one to blame for your failure or success but you.

Yesterday my knee hurt pretty bad, and yes, it's my own damn fault.  Jimmy please don't sue.