Double Dip

So I did not get around to talking about Sunday's 4 mile run, so I'll start there. This was my second attempt at 4 miles, and that is not a fun distance to reach. I would imagine it will get easier once my distances increase, but this run was not too great. The time was 39:16, which is an improvement over my last 4 mile time, but it really does feel like I'm dogging it on these runs. It all boils down to mental approach. I have approached these longer runs as if they are longer runs, and so I take it easy. So easy to the point that it keeps me out running longer than I need to be out there. I would imagine that over time, I'll stop thinking of these long runs as a difficult task and just treat them like any other run. I do have about 6 weeks to go until I run my first 10-K, and by that point I plan on being able to make that run in under an hour, so I'll have to try to pick up my pace.

Also, it does not appear I will be able to post a playlist after runs anymore. I recently decided I would use the Nike Plus run tracking system during my runs to be able to keep a more accurate log of my runs, as well as keep them all in a place online that I would be able to easily compare and contrast what I've been doing. I also joined a couple of the Nike Plus group challenges amongst the online community to keep me focused on improving and making sure I get my runs in. First, I'm trying to run 210 miles in 2010. Shouldn't be a big deal, but it would have been nice to have started that before this week. Second is to have 4 runs with an average of under 9 min/mile in the next month. I'll have 12 runs, so this shouldn't be a tough one either, but we'll see. Until next time.

Hmmmm....

Well, I'll start by saying that that personal record time that I had set has made me a little bit unrealistic in my running times. That was a great time for me, and after running a 27:23 yesterday, I was thinking that I was really, really struggling to get back into the swing of things. But, that is a actually a comparable time to what I was running before the break. What really makes me feel pretty good about it is that I am running away from the dam, on a track that I would consider to be more difficult, and my times really have not suffered. Once I get the hang of the hills (of which there are many) on this track, I think I'm going to really benefit from the increased difficulty. I've got a 4-mile run on Sunday, so hopefully I don't party too much after (hopefully, please) celebrating a US win over Ghana tomorrow. You've got revenge coming, Ghana.

Today's Playlist: - Race Mix

"The Good Left Undone" - Rise Against

"Give 'Em Hell, Kid" - My Chemical Romance

"Behind Closed Doors" - Rise Against

"You Know What They Do TO Guys Like Us In Prison" - My Chemical Romance

"Entertainment" - Rise Against

"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" - My Chemical Romance

"I'd Tell You But..." - Anti-Flag

"Bricks" - Rise Against

"Injection" - Rise Against

"Re-Education (Through Labor)" - Rise Against

The Return, Pt. 2

OK, so I actually had to do some work when I was at work last night, thanks to an untimely Trauma, but nevertheless, Part 2 moves forward. I thought I would go out and get a comeback run in yesterday morning, which was hot. It was basically as humid as it was last week, but the heat was out of control. I was able to make it out at 8:30 in the morning to hit the lake. Super hot, by the way. I was not planning on running any harder than normal, as I did not feel like going for a personal record or anything like that since it was my first run back from the week off. It was not easy. By the halfway point I was completely drenched, and the humidity was sweltering. Also, the week off did not help with my shoulder pain like I was hoping, so I had to call in the big guns and hit the chiropractor today. That did help, but that's not really important.

The time it took for the return was was 28:03, which I'm ok with. The last half-mile was so tough, it was about as close to stopping and walking as I've come over the past three months. But I stuck it out, and probably lost 10 pounds due to the sweat. It was something else. Now, speaking of weight loss...as I stated in one of the very first blog posts I made, I was taking up running to try to keep losing weight after I plateaued at the gym, and to keep me from getting into a several month lull that I typically go through every few months. Since the beginning of the year, I have been working hard, although the running has been by far the most beneficial workout I've found. So, today I weighed in at 187, which adds up to a 19 pound loss since the beginning of the year. But I am not satisfied. My goal for the year was to, at some point, hit 175 pounds, although I would like to get to 170, truth be told. But for now, I realize it is a marathon not a sprint (no pun intended), and I'll just continue to be patient, watch my diet, and keep running. Until next time...thanks for reading.

The Return, Pt. 1

Yes, my monumental return to blogging is so massive, it will actually require two different posts to fit it all in. So, Coach Jones (@pujolsrawks on twitter) and I went to St. Louis, and I thought it would be a perfect time to schedule a one week break in order to rest my legs, allow my tired body to recover, and hopefully come back much closer to full strength. But before that, I still had some running to do, starting with last Tuesday, 6/15.

Let me take you back to 6/15. Humid. Muggy. Warm. Not windy. Not exactly ideal running conditions. By the time I finished running I said to myself that I would much rather run in the wind than run in humidity. You can not catch your breath when it is 75% humidity, or whatever it was, and there is no way to cool down, even in the shade. There are plenty of tree-covered spots along my normal route that the welcome break from the sun was unexpectedly worthless. But it is a whole new ballgame with this humidity, probably not helped much with the lake nearby. On the other hand, the lake does provide a nice boost of wind which, even though it doesn't really cool you off per se, does seem to help with the buckets of sweat I was pouring off.

I had decided before the run that since I was taking a week-long hiatus, I was going to make sure that I ran my ass off so that I could have a good time to look back on. I put on the Race Mix, treating this particular run like a race event. Quick start, easy middle, and fast finish. But, I did not count on the sweltering humidity to play such mind games with me. As I was finishing up I kept thinking about how brutal the heat felt, and that it seemed to be slowing me down as I finished. I always make sure to finish my runs and never stop to walk, as I think it builds up a mental toughness needed to run in races, and I made sure to keep going on this run.

So I get done, thankfully, and I certainly felt like I had given it my all, especially since I was sweating in a manner that I did not feel my body was capable of doing. I was so very excited to see my time, a Personal Record, of 25:26. More than 1:30 seconds off of my previous personal best for 3 miles. That made it all worth it, and I was able to go into my break with a great feeling about where I was heading.

I forgot to write down my playlist, but I would have to say that my notion of using a Race Mix was the right call for this particular run. Part 2 to come shortly...

Ready for St. Louis

We're heading to STL later this week, and my legs are ready for the break. Especially my shins. Today was a 4 mile run, and since I have yet to run this far, I really didn't want to overdo it. So I ran slow. Really slow. Probably too slow, as a matter of fact. This more than likely contributes to why my legs hurt while I run, but I don't want to run too fast and then have to struggle to make it back. So, it was a nice easy run. Nothing spectacular to report, except that it was very humid again today, and apparently so humid that my headband could not stop me from sweating into my eyes. I don't really like that part. Also, I apparently did not warm up my back properly, or get it stretched out enough, because the last mile my upper back tightened up quite a bit. No big deal, but something I need to keep an eye on. Still have more than 4 weeks for my next 5-k, and then 7 weeks for my first 10-k.

No playlist today. Too lazy.

World Cup

Starts tomorrow. USA won't win the whole thing, but they absolutely should advance out of the group stage. No excuses. The team is loose and ready, so hopefully they play like it.

Really struggled to get out of bed and go run today. Luckily I had the day off so I did not have to rush out and get my run in. It was another very windy day out at the lake, so that definitely affected my time. I also tinkered with my iPod a little bit today, discovering that there is a stopwatch function that can be used to show lap (mile) times. I was able to run through the wind for a 3 mile run (SIDE NOTE: I changed up Hal's routine, turning the Thursday run from 2 miles into 3 miles. Wasn't sure I was getting anything out of just 2 miles any more. If I'm going to be able to improve my 5-K, and eventually 10-K times, I'm going to need to be able run comparable distances at a good practice pace. I am trying to go in that direction.) in a reasonable amount of time. Total time today was 27:32, which, when factoring in the wind, is almost 1:15 faster than the time I ran in comparable wind just 3 weeks ago. So, even though I wasn't really feeling it today, I would say that I had a good run.

No playlist today. Sorry.

MLB Draft

OK, so even though this blog is supposed to share an account of how my running is going, I can't stop paying attention to the MLB draft to write very much. All I know is I freaking LOVE what the A's are doing in this draft. Finally deciding that they have had enough of the college players with limited upside and started drafting high school kids with tremendous upside that can develop some real power. Only into the 4th round, but so far, things are looking great.

So, back in the saddle today with the running. 3.5 miles, which I should have done over the weekend, but I switched the distances around for the race. On the longer endurance runs, I decided that I was not going to go for any personal records or anything, because covering the distance is the most important thing for me. Getting my body used to extended distances is critical to being able to partake in a 10-K. Today's run was sort of an educational event, in that the things I have been learning over the course of the past 10 weeks really came into play. I elected to not start with a pace song, just to stay in the mindset that I'll run at a pace I'm comfortable with. I must be getting used to the running, because I didn't really start to even breath harder until about the 1.5 mile mark. Other things I have learned about running that I needed to use in today's run is to keep my head up. You'd be amazed at how often I feel like I've strained my back because I look down at the ground when I run instead of looking ahead. But, all things considered, it was a pretty good run considering the amounts of booze I had after the race on Saturday. That did not seem to affect me. Time for the run today was 32:41, so a 40 second decrease from the last time I covered this distance, and well on pace to run the 5-K in under an hour. I might have to re-evaluate my goal on that particular distance at a later date. Until next time...

Today's Playlist:

"Animal" - Pearl Jam

"Viva La Gloria" - Green Day

"Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" - Fall Out Boy

"Misery Business" - Paramore

"London Beckoned Songs..." Panic! at the Disco

"Bro Hymn" - Pennywise

"Chop Suey" - System of a Down

"Sweetness" - Jimmy Eat World

"The Good Left Undone" - Rise Against

"Drones" - Rise Against

The results are in

So, the official numbers are back from yesterday's run, and I once again did not finish last in my age group. That's a big thing for me, but I wasn't nearly as worried about it as I was last month. Overall, my official time, thanks to the magic scoring chip, was 27:12. A big time improvement from just 5 weeks ago. A reduction of nearly 3 minutes, from 30:03. I'll take it. Apparently there were 458 people running in this race, and I finished 138th. Doesn't appear they have full age group breakdowns in the results, so I'll probably go through and figure out where I placed within the 25-29 age group, since I'll have time. But, officially a successful race in my mind. I'll be interested to see the times for the Hospital Hill run in KC, because I had thought about running that one as well.

Results page

Paperback Writer

So, they've got a band playing Beatles songs at the end of the race today, and this is first song that I remember them playing when I crossed the finish line. They apparently were playing "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas when I actually crossed the finish line, so I'm glad I had my headphones on for that.

As for the race (since that is hopefully why you are reading), I thought it went really well. For this being my second race, I learned more about actually running a race. We'll get to my time in a little bit, but I need to describe the race set up a little bit. First, this appeared to be a bigger group than the Ronald McDonald run, so the start was slow going. The first Kilometer (they had the Kilometers staked out, which was very helpful for pacing) was slow...very slow. Lots of bottle-necking throughout the start of the run, as the slower folks were still in it at that point. The run today started at The Exploration Place, ran North along the river, turned back up the river across from where the old Riverside Hospital was...you know...I'll just make this easy for you guys. The map can be seen right here. Anyways, until we hit the first bridge across the river, the pace was slow. Once we hit that turn, I was able to really start running the way I wanted to. Now, what they did in this race is attach a computer chip to your racing bib, and that did not start your time until you hit the sensor at the start, and ended when you crossed the sensor at the end. So, while I crossed the finish line in the 27:30-27:40 range (I honestly did not see the clock for the exact time), a few seconds, probably 10 or so, will be shaved off of that time.

Now, when you look at the scope of the run, in relation to my previous run, and how I've been training, I really cannot be anything but ecstatic. I mean, I shaved around 2:30 minutes off of my time in 5 weeks. Now, I realize that my first time wasn't anything to write home about for an experienced runner, but for a guy who had been running for 5 weeks, I was OK with it. Now, in another 5 weeks I was able to make that a pretty nice time, all things considered. I'm pretty pumped about the progress, I won't lie. My 3 mile runs had been under 9 minutes a mile, and when you consider the abnormally slow start I had today, my average mile time would have probably been under that. I felt great when I got done even though it was hot, and realize that I probably could have pushed it a little harder, but I knew that this was not my last race of all time or anything, so there was really no reason to overdo it. As long as I can make some more progress on the next race (the BIG ONE in the Sunflower State Games), I think I can carry this through the summer. All I know is that I've been running for 10 weeks, I cut 2:30 off of my time, and I'm feeling good. Clearly if this fat guy can do it, anyone can. Until next time...

Today's Playlist: RACE MIX

"The State of Massachusetts" - Dropkick Murphy's (glad I burned this song when it was a slow pace, because there was no chance to go fast anyways)

"House of Wolves" - My Chemical Romance

"Injection" - Rise Against

"To The End" - My Chemical Romance

"Behind Closed Doors" - Rise Against

"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" - My Chemical Romance

"Re-Education (Through Labor)" - Rise Against

"Give 'Em Hell, Kid" - My Chemical Romance

"I'd Tell You But..." - Anti-Flag

80%

That's my guess as to how my body will be feeling on Saturday. My shins are really feeling it, and now I have some left knee soreness. Nothing that a good week off wouldn't fix, but that isn't coming for me for a couple of weeks, so I've just got to fight through it. Today was my last run before the race on Saturday, and it was just a nice quick two mile run. I made sure to have a good stretch today to make up for the sub-par stretch I had on Tuesday. I was able to make the two miles in 16:06. Not quite under 16:00, but I made the split right around 8 minutes, so I'm good with that. The time encourages me that I can end up with a good start and hopefully a good finish on Saturday. What is not going to be great is getting up at 6:15 in the morning and having to drive my ass all the way to the Exploration Place to get ready for the run. Oh well. It's a first shift world, and us second shifters get the shaft. And the hourly differential bonus, but I won't go into that. But that won't be that big of a deal. I'll be ready to go and I'll make sure to write and let all 3 of my loyal followers know how I did. Until then...

Today's Playlist: I decided to make an actual "Race Mix" to try out. Not too much different, it seems.

"The Good Left Undone" - Rise Against (Not a great starting song, but not terrible)

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" - Anti-Flag (Good fast paced song to run to)

"Drones" - Rise Against (High pace)

"To The End" - My Chemical Romance

"The State of Massachusetts" - Dropkick Murphy's

"Behind Closed Doors" - Rise Against (only :23 seconds worth)

Rain or Shine

I've postponed runs before on account of rain, but that really wasn't an option today. The race is on Saturday, and I've got to get my miles in. Still on 3 miles, which appears to be the case for the duration of Hal's 10-K training. 3 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Thursday, and gradually longer runs on Sunday. If I'm still alive by the time I hit the 6 mile runs, I'm looking forward to that 10K in Manhattan in August.

It was a terrific morning for a run. Slightly cloudy, slightly breezy, and with my new breathing shirts, 80 degrees was no big deal. Looked for a nice solid run to get some momentum going into the weekend. It really makes a difference when it is not windy, by the way. I ended up with a time at 26:53 today, so I'm glad for another sub-27 minute time. I will say, I was having a nice easy run until the last mile when it started to rain buckets. Chances of thunderstorms today were 30%, and I would have missed them had I been out there about 20 minutes earlier. No big deal. I think it really pushed me to finish strong, as I estimate that my last mile was under 9 minutes, which shows a nice consistency throughout the run. I really think my time will be very solid once I am around some other people running.

Today's Playlist:
"Camisado" - Panic! at the Disco (OK running song, good beat)

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" - JET (Good tune, not sure why it's on here)

"Brooklyn is Burning" - Head Automatica (Too slow to be an effective running song)

"London Beckoned Songs About Money Written By Machines" - Panic! at the Disco (Good running song. Can't believe that album came out 5 years ago)

"The State of Massachusetts" - Dropkick Murphy's (really was glad to see this come up during a run, because I was able to gauge how I really run with this song. I thought I paced pretty well with it)

"Murder City" - Green Day

"Panic Switch" - Silversun Pickups (Long, but fast paced. Feels like I'm chasing something when it is on)

"Sleep Now in the Fire" - RATM (only 12 seconds today)