Longest EVAH!

Whew! There's my longest run ever; it's not very pretty, but it's all mine! Now I begin my taper for next Saturday's mini. I'll do 8 on Monday and 4 on Wednesday, then it's two days of rest.

I have a lot of confidence now that I will make the distance barring any injury. I wanted to quit (walk) on this run, but I just kept going. "Only another 4 miles....only another 4 miles..." When I hit the 10 mile mark, I knew I had two more miles in me.

When I hit the 11 mile mark, the wind decided to blow the hardest that I'd felt during the run...and it was a headwind...of course. Oh well, the finish line was in sight; one more mile. "Come'on! You can make it!" And I did! Yay on me.

See Brad Run. Run Brad Run!

I did this run with my friend Brad; he was kind enough to slow down for me. I need to do more runs with people that are faster than me so that I don't get lazy; I don't know about you, but I'm lookin' back on my last couple of runs and thinkin'...laaaaaazy.

BUT! I only have three more lazy runs until my mini marathon on May 7th, so, I won't change anything. Now after the mini, I'll need to be getting into better shape with some speed work.

(Psssssst! This Saturday, 12 miles, pass it on!)

First run at age 44

Yesterday was my birthday. yay. I gave myself a birthday present: my first piecing. Now, I'm not the kind of guy that pussy foots around when I dive into something, so I wasn't about to have my first piecing be in skin or even cartilage.

No, I was going to go all out, so I got my jawbone pierced! It's more like I got it drilled, but I now have an implant where one of my teeth used to be. It has a healing cap, and I need to wait 3 months before I can get a crown glued to it.

But, anyways. It's shiny; the oral surgeon says it's "monster truck," whatever that means...

He is Risen!!

Yeah, I know I'm late with the Easter greeting. Got this little run in just before it started raining; yay on me!

30 miles for the week!

And there you go! It sprinkled a little bit, but the temp was pretty warm (high 60's.) I just did circles around the neighborhood. I need to find better routes if I'm going to be going over 8 miles; it's a bit boring running around the same stuff.

Hair of the Dog

This run made my new consecutive two day total record 16 miles; the previous record was 13, I think. Anyways, I wasn't too sore after yesterday's extended run, and five miles was just about right. I may have been able to do more, but I was grateful that I could stop at 5.

This Saturday is an eight miler and will cap my week total at 30 miles. This is by far the biggest mileage week that I've had in my life.

Also, a side note about yesterday's run: I gained a huge amount of confidence for my mini at the end of the run; words really can't describe the feeling that I now know I can finish the race running, with no walking.

It was a bit iffy before yesterday, but now I have the confidence that my training is working and that I'll be ready come May 7th. I'm looking forward to it!

Scheduled 8 mile run

Turned into my longest run ever! I meant to do an out and back, but at the 3.5 mile mark, I had a choice: turn left and catch the next road north, or turn around and head back.

I turned left. Then, I had another choice at the 7.25 mile mark: go for 10 (turn right) or get in about 8.5 or so (turn left.)

I turned right. After I was committed to running out the route, started mentally preparing myself for the case of hitting 10 miles before I got near home, which was a good thing as I was about a half mile from my house when the watch marked the 10th mile.

So then, I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound of flesh; I might as well do 11 rather than 10.61 or some other weird number. I did a little extra coming into the subdivision and ended up running past my house for the last .15 miles.

My previous longest run? 8.2 miles. Yeah, I'm shattering records!

Back to the grind

Same old story: Went out too fast; paid for it on the back side of the run. Also, I tested my new hydration belt and ended up accidentally hitting the stop button at mile 2.53. Of course, I didn't notice until the 3 mile mark when I was waiting to hear the chime for the mile mark.

And it never came...sniff...sniff...I was crushed.

So, I stopped, pulled myself together, drank a little water, started the watch again, and set off at a slower pace. So, the last mile is an estimate based on what looked good, I mean my average speed.

Other than totally wrecking my time, my new water belt seemed to be ok. I'm not sure I like 22 ounces sitting on the small of my back, and I can already feel my back tightening up a bit from it. On the plus side, I do have some liquid along with me on my run, and I also have a pouch (IT'S NOT A FANNY PACK!!!) for goo and stuff.

I'll test it some more Wed on my scheduled 8 miler. I might even run outside of the subdivision for that one. Oooooo, scary!

Race for the Cure (5K)

This is my unofficial time, of course. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyways, I was very pleased with my time. I love the fact that each mile was faster than the last. I didn't really like the fact that the course seemed to be longer than 5 clicks, but meh...(yes, I would have finished under 28 minutes if it was just 3.1 miles.)

I got to spend just a little time with Alvin, Kathy's husband, and their two kids before the race. Al made these really nice signs for all the team members; I didn't get to see any of the other team members before the race began, so I didn't get a group photo, unfortunately.

If you are of a mind to contribute, it's not too late. Just follow this link. Also, thank you, if you've already contributed.

4th Day

Today marks the fourth day in a row that I have worked my legs; enough is enough! I'm taking tomorrow off...from legs anyways. Chest and Tri's (and some abs as always) are on the docket for the gym tomorrow.

Steady

No knee pain.
No stops.
No drinking on the run.

I'm feeling much better than Saturday; that's for sure! I'm really happy with the results when I take into account the fact that we did legs for our workout last night.

Tomorrow is another 6 miler, and Saturday is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. If you are so inclined to sponsor me, I would greatly appreciate it. You can use this link.

A tale of two runs

Saturday: I was supposed to run a 15K race this day, but my back was hurtin' in the morning when I got up. So, I skipped it. But, I owed Coach Michael 9.3 miles, so I got out in the afternoon and ran. Well, as you can see, I didn't make 9.3 miles.

It was actually worse than that as I stopped at the two mile mark, three mile mark, and 5 mile mark for a little breather and water. I just wasn't feelin' it.

My hips hurt, my back hurt, my knee started to hurt, and I was just out of it. I guess some days you're the windshield, and other days you're the bug.

Today: I had a six mile run scheduled. I wanted to stop at the three mile mark for water, but I didn't.

I wanted to stop at the four mile mark for water, and I didn't.

I did end up stopping at the six mile mark. And I did get some Gatorade.

Sunny weather

I had to stop at the house at the 3 mile mark for water; I was parched! Even with that drink, I still slowed down as I was panting in the 70 degree heat. By the time I got home, I was seriously in need of fluid; that's one thing I really need to manage better.

It might be time to get some sort of fluid belt to run with. I know my coach has one for his longer runs, and eventually, I'll need one for my longer runs if I decided to venture outside of my neighborhood.

This is the last run until Saturday and my first 15K race. I'm hoping to finish under 5 hours...set the bar low, so that you will be sure to achieve it. Fiiiiiiiiiive Hooooooouuuuuuurrrrrrzzzzz.

I can do that.

Lamb Speed Records

Your eyes are not deceiving you; I really did say Lamb. No, I mean that last mile was 9:28. I tried to pick a pace that I could maintain, and I actually sped up the last 4/10ths.

I felt really good on this run. I didn't do it right after work, as is my normal routine due to the rain, but rather, I did this one about an hour after dinner. The light held well enough, and the chicken korma burps subsided around mile 2, thankfully. I mean, I really like chicken korma, but I could do without the burps.

Working out with kettlebells

Our workout routine is a bit messed up with my tech school last week, so we had our Friday session today, and we worked out with kettlebells. After we got home, I went for this run.

It was a bit blustery, so I was fighting the wind during the slower miles, or at least that's my explanation, and I'm sticking to it. Oh, and there were two hills in there. Little tiny baby hills, but I'll throw any excuse out there that works.

So, let's get a good picture of this run:
I did a semi-cardio workout before it.
The wind was blowing all directions, but especially against me.
And I was running up hill for at least 8 miles of it.

Well, when I look at it that way, I'm pretty happy with it!