Watching some NBA Playoffs

So tomorrow is the first race, and I got off work a little early so that I could get to bed at a reasonable time. Check-in starts at 7 AM, which will be a couple of hours earlier than my normal wake up time. Ate a nice helping of spaghetti tonight in order to help fuel up for the morning, if there is such a thing. I'll try to post some pictures, and possibly a video, at some point over the weekend. Again, hopefully I do not finish last. I'll post my race time, position (maybe), and playlist as well. Later.

I'm actually 5 weeks in

In terms of training to run, I am currently on my 5th week of training. I need to start off by giving credit to Hal Higdon for his running program. The man knows his stuff, and his guides are simple and challenging at the same time. I use the novice training. Nothing too hard, just running, running, and a little more running. Not really advanced enough to do the serious training stuff, but maybe in time. So as I was saying, I am five weeks in to the 5-K program. It worked great in my schedule in prepping me for the Governor's Cup 10-K, which is really the race I am most interested in. So, I figured I get through the 5-K training and see if I would be adequately prepared to take on the 10-K. So far, I think it is working. After the 10-K, I am planning on running in the Kansas City Marathon...well, the half-marathon version, at least. Hal has a program for that as well. He's the man.

As for progress, I think I have made some improvements. Starting well, warming up a little quicker, etc. Today's run was a distance of 2 miles. I try not to think about time when I'm running, but it is natural. Today I ran the two miles in around 18:30. I'm pumped about that. When I run this 10-K, my goal is to run it in under an hour. I'm even more pumped about the fact that the wind gusts today at the lake were nearly 40 miles an hour, and the second half of my run was basically against the wind the entire time. Going over the dam at Lake Shawnee is particularly brutal as the wind blows off of the lake. I figure it adds some mental toughness, which I figure I'll need to run long distance.

As for what I'm listening to when I'm running, I have recently been starting off my run with "The State of Massachusetts" by Dropkick Murphy's. I've got a limited playlist of basically all fast rock songs. Got to keep that pace up somehow, right? Of course, the iPod is on shuffle, so even though I have a small list, it always seems to be different. Funny how that works. Today's playlist included the following songs in this order:

"The State of Massachusetts" - Dropkick Murphy's
"Behind Closed Doors" - Rise Against
"Error: Operator" - Taking Back Sunday
"XO" - Fall Out Boy (don't judge me)
"Animal" - Pearl Jam
"London Beckoned Songs Written About Money By Machines" - Panic! at the Disco

So anyways, if you are still reading, I'll be writing a little pre-race jazz tomorrow night. Probably about the weather, or something. Later.

Attempting to run

So, I decided to set up a blog for people to track my running. Yes, I do not really get "blogging", and nobody will probably care about it, but I figured it was a good way to kill time and chart my progress as I attempt to run over the course of the 2010 Summer and Fall. Basically, I'm running to lose weight, and keep myself interested in exercising through the summer, fall, and hopefully, eventually, year-round. I have not taken running seriously for several years. In 2005, I was training to run for the River Run 10K when I developed an excruciating pain in my left foot. It got to the point where I actually had to see a podiatrist to see what was going on. I was told I have extremely high arches, and that it was somewhat surprising that I had not developed any foot pain in the past. So, with the help of some orthotic inserts, I was able to take care of my foot pain, but I was not able to take part in the race.

Long story short, I have not tried running since. But, starting this year, I vowed it would be different. I have always had a problem losing weight and keeping it off. I get into workout lulls where I skip going to the gym for months at a time. By signing up for races and running throughout the summer, I want to see if I can beat the weight gain for good. I will be running this coming Saturday, 5/1/2010, at Lake Shawnee here in Topeka for my first competitive distance race. We'll see how it goes. I am aiming to finish anywhere but last place in my age group, 25-29, while not passing out after the race. I'm in my 5th week of training, and I'll come back with more informative, less boring post later tonight.