Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

After deciding that I would not be ready for the Country Music Marathon after my 17 mile run on March 20th, I went EIGHT DAYS WITHOUT RUNNING a single mile. I was not sure how I would be affected by the layoff - well rested or loss of conditioning.

I ran a very slow 3 miles in 30:26. The conditioning wasn't that bad, but I still wondered to myself, "How did I do 17 miles? I know couldn't do it now." I was also wondering why I was even running. I could be home sitting in front of the TV or doing something else. Running takes up a lot of time. A 3 mile run takes up an hour or so after showering, etc. For me, a 15-miler or more takes a day or two, because of the recovery period my old body needs.

PAIN! A few hours after my 3-miler, I was about to sit down when PAIN shot through my left knee! I fell to the floor and writhed in pain for a few minutes. The pain was on the outside of my left knee and ran a short ways down. I finally stretched it out and was able to walk around fine. It seems to only hurt when I move it certain ways. This has the same feeling as my right ITB did as I tried to let it heal. Because I do NOT want to go through that again, I am restarting my running - with 3 miles being my long run.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

17 Miles

I was dreading this run, because of the way my two 16 milers went. At the 4 mile mark, I thought to myself, "I have just under a half marathon left". This didn't do too much for morale. After a few more miles, I was feeling that this 17-miler was going better than either of the 16s. That feeling ended before I reached mile 14. I kept moving, and probably could have walked faster than my jog. I also seemed to be going uphill faster than running down. The ITB in my left knee was in pain. I didn't want to over-extend it or have it strike the ground any harder than it had to. I learned my lesson with my right knee.

It took me a PowerAde, water, chocolate milk, Dr. Pepper, and almost 3 hours before I could pee. My legs (especially knees) are killing me. My whole body is drained. So, I have decided NOT to run the Country Music Marathon. The CMM has been my goal since I injured my right knee in November and was unable to run the Memphis St. Jude's Marathon in December. Instead, I will decrease my mileage and look for another half or full marathon that is further down the road.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

This 5 mile run started off like yesterday's 8 miles, grasping for breath. I also felt like I had lead shoes on. However, I loosened up a little today and finished at an 8:50 pace. And, finally, a beautiful day for a run, which I believe helped me "speed up".

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I missed Monday's run once again. So, through 11 weeks, I've only completed one week as scheduled.

I thought maybe I would be a little rested for today's eight miles. I was wrong! I felt like I did when I started running in August. I was huffing and puffing before I got to the end of my street. I pushed to get under 10 minutes per mile and finished at 10:01.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 16 miles...again...

Yes, I'm a little behind in posting this run.

I ran a few errands in the morning, because I knew I would be worn out after the run and would not want to do them then. I was also waiting for the temperature to rise a little more.

When I returned from my errands, I forced myself to get ready to run. When I walked out the door, it was drizzling a little. I very easily talked myself out of running in that mess, went back inside, and changed. My wife had just gotten out of the shower, "I thought you were going running?" (I guess it was more of a question than a statement). I went out to my truck to get something I had meant to bring inside - it had stopped raining, so I had to make a "statement". I changed back into my running clothes and headed out for 16 miles, hoping the rain would hold off.

About 2 miles into the run, I was wishing that I had no worn a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve shirt. It was around 50 degrees and I was burning up. For miles 6 through 8, that mentality had changed - the wind had picked up and I was "freezing". I was so mad at the wind I wanted to throw something.

I turned around at mile 8 and headed back home. This time I had brought some gummie Life Savors for a pick me up. I had read that besides gels, energy bars, etc. that some people use gummie candies for a little boost. I don't know if it was the candy or just in my mind, but I did run miles 9 (9:31) and 10 (9:28) faster than miles 3 through 4. (As a side note miles 6, 7, and 8 were 10:07 each. Three consecutive miles to the second seems impossible.) The wind wasn't too bad until I reached the homestretch of the last 2 miles. The wind, plus my exhaustion, pushed my time to over 11 minutes per mile for these last two.

Overall, this run was 6:06 faster than last week's 16-miler. To me, that is amazing - cutting off 6 minutes in 16 miles. I was also impressed with my 10:03 pace, especially with an 11:40 for my last mile.

The rain did hold off...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

My first run since Saturday's 16-miler (I missed Monday's 5). I tried to push myself at times, but not like I did on last week's 7-miler. I thought I would feel just as good as last week, but I didn't. I was thinking during my run that I had another 16-miler coming up this weekend. The bad experience was trying to scare me away from doing it again. I also remembered that my previous long run was 13.1 miles. Adding 2.9 miles to a long run can be exhausting, so I hope to be more prepared this time.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Saturday, March 6, 2010 --- 16 Miles!!!

Well, I feel lucky to be alive. Sixteen miles almost killed me. I thought that it might, so I kept putting the run off. It was a gorgeous 62 degrees, and I still kept talking myself out of running. "Maybe tomorrow." My wife was going to a pageant, so I finally talked myself into running about 4:30. The temperature had already dropped to 53 degrees and I knew it would be dark when I returned 3 hours later. In fact, I would probably spend the last hour running in the dark.

As I started out, I felt pretty good. I had completed a half marathon a week ago today. I ran 7 miles Thursday like it was just a walk in the park. I told myself, "I can do 16 miles - maybe not at a decent pace, but I can do it." Well, I almost didn't make it. As darkness fell, so did the temperature and my belief that I could do it. The last few miles, I was happy to get one foot in front of the other. (This was 2.9 miles further than I have ever ran before). My feet were getting to the point that I did not want them to hit the ground. I kept moving just to get home.

While in the shower, I just started freezing to death. I kept turning the hot water up. My teeth chattered as dried off. I took some flu medication as a precaution to anything that might be coming on, turned up the heat, got under some blankets, and fell asleep. When I woke up, my pillow was soaked with sweat. I woke up like that 2 more times. I didn't even feel like eating the pizza I was going to reward myself with. The next day I felt fine, except for some soreness.

Friday, March 5, 2010

March 4, 2010

My first run since the Oxford Half. I felt good. I tried to run it at the same pace as the half marathon, but I was 7 seconds a mile behind. Seven miles seemed so easy...

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Oxford Run 4 Hope Half Marathon - Saturday, February 27

I had been doing pretty good on eating this week until yesterday on the drive to Mississippi. I had some cereal with me that I was to eat, no matter where we stopped for Sherri to get something to eat. We stopped at Paul's Pizza Palace and got pizza! I kept telling myself that I was not eating any pizza, but I gave in - I just could not stand it.

I did not have to get up until about 6:30. However, I started tossing and turning at 4:30. After failing to go back to sleep, I got up at 6:00. The temperature was to be around 33 degrees at 8:00, (the Half started at 8:30). The high was expected to maybe reach 50, but that was to be after noon, and I hoped to be finished by 10:30.

I was running a decent pace (for me). According to the volunteer calling off the times, I was running 8:04 per mile after the first 4 miles. The only other time I remember being called out was 1:36:?? with 2.1 miles left. I knew then that if I could maintain a 10 minute pace I would beat my Clarksville Half time. I did - a whole 33 seconds faster. I feel pretty good about that, especially since this course had a lot more difficult hills. I am disgusted that I ran out of steam, though. My finish pace was 8:59, when I started off so well. I know I started off probably faster than I should have, but I still should have finished a little stronger. The reason for my fast pace was a 12 year-old girl running with her father. I wanted (had) to pass her! Six or seven miles into the run, her father had to "hit the bushes". She continued, but at a walk. I passed her! About a mile-and-a-half to 2 miles down the road, they passed me and the whole experience began to unravel. The whole problem was just one hill - the one hill that almost made me quit.

I finished with a time of 1:57:33, which was 94th out of 232 finishers. I was also 9th of 17 in the 40-44 age bracket and 23rd of 135 males.

Now, do I want to run the Country Music Marathon? Maybe I should just do the half and try to improve on my time again...