26.2

Feel’n good this morning. Knees feel good, run felt good. The first mile stunk! I was running at a 12:50 pace. (Hey, its Monday!) At the two mile mark, I wasn’t much better hitting 25:15. However, the last mile only took 11 minutes!
What happened?
I noticed something on my three mile runs. At the end, I felt I could hustle to the finish line and I would run the last minute or so a lot faster than the rest of my run. I don’t like this. It is actually a pet peeve of mine to see amateur runners “sprint” to the finish line. To me, it shows that they didn’t know how much energy to expend for the distance they were running. It also makes me think that they left something out there. They didn’t run as hard as they could have. (It is different if you are a pro and are trying to “kick it” at the end to outrun someone… but why would an amateur need to “kick it” after 5 hours to come in 1,357th place?)
So, at the 2 mile mark, I turned up my pace just a hair. I wanted to end out of breath at the finish. I wanted to see the finish and have to struggle just to reach it. And I did. I rounded the corner, saw my stopping point and I couldn’t increase my pace a single step. I could maintain what I had going, but I couldn’t speed up.
Overall, it was a good run. I didn’t feel so amateurish!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/18/2008
• Time: 06:15:00
• Total Time: 00:36:12.00
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 12:04.35/mile

This run was “ok”. I planned to run 4 miles, but my body was really feeling sore and tight this morning (probably due to the millage increase this week). I didn’t want to hurt anything, so I turned it in to a short recovery run, just to keep my legs moving and to loosen everything up.

I’ll ice again tonight and tomorrow and will enjoy the Sunday off. I think I’m going to have to start more strength training during the week too keep the muscles strong around my knee and to keep my legs strong in general.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/16/2008
• Time: 10:30:00
• Total Time: 00:24:02.00
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 12:01.44/mile

Well, I planned on taking a walk break after 2 miles, but I was so lost in thought, I forgot. Then, when I remembered, I was feeling so good, I just decided to finish. It went well. Just a slight twinge of knee funk near the very end of the run so I’m icing it and watching the Olympians do their Olympic thing. This may make me sound like a kid, but I really want to go swim.

Thanks for reading.

Here’s the stats:

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/15/2008
• Time: 18:15:00
• Total Time: 00:36:06.00
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 12:01.44/mile

I’ve increased my millage for my midweek runs. Tonight was a very nice 4 mile run. I took it pretty easy, jogging with Katie for the first 2 miles and running just under my 2 mile pace on the last 2 miles. It was a beautiful night for a run that I didn’t want to do at first, but I’m SO glad I did!

My midweek runs will stay at 4 miles for about a month and then will start to ease up to the 10K Chile Pepper Run.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/13/2008
• Time: 08:00:00
• Total Time: 00:51:50.00
• Distance: 4 miles
• Average Pace: 12:57.54/mile

Another major accomplishment today on my regular run: I didn’t stop, but this time, it was 3 miles!

My knee was feeling a little funny half way through (probably sore from the hill work Saturday). I really had to focus on lowering the impact and absorbing the shock in my entire body and not my legs. That was pretty tiring. Everything feels good right now. Tonight when I get home from work, I’m going to ice it a lot. It looks like I will be investing in a knee brace SOON.

Thanks for reading!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/11/2008
• Time: 06:40:00
• Total Time: 00:36:30.00
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 12:10.22/mile

Ouch! Today, I ran 4 miles with one GIANT hill in the middle. It was one of those where you turn the corner and look up… and then actually bend your neck up to see the top! Yea… It hurt. I’m tired. It was right at the 1.5 mile mark that the hill started. The crest is near 1.75 and the bottom is at the 2 mile turn around… then I do it all again!
I had never run this route before, but now that I have, I will be saving it for my hill work and days that I want to completely punish myself!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/09/2008
• Time: 07:15:00
• Total Time: 00:57:27.00
• Distance: 4 miles
• Average Pace: 14:21.24/mile
• Ascent: 150 ft
• Descent: 150 ft

2 miles, non stop! I love that!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/08/2008
• Time: 07:15:00
• Total Time: 00:23:53.00
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 11:57.13/mile

Here it is!

Stopped twice. 1 minute after 2 miles and just before the last quarter mile I took a minute long breather.

Progress.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/06/2008
• Time: 07:15:00
• Total Time: 00:37:26.00
• Distance: 3 miles
• Average Pace: 12:28.44/mile

You stretch and get warmed up. You may take a minute or two to walk a few circles. Then you hit the side of the watch and go. My goal for today: don’t stop. Run 2 miles with 0 breaks, 0 minutes of walking.

But, when I looked up to start running, I realized why I hate running on Tuesday mornings: Trash Day. The side walks were full of trash! Some were even spread into the streets. Forget the side walks. I ran in the street (into the direction of traffic of course). I only passed about 5 cars the entire time & I didn’t have to hurdle as many turned over trash cans, so it was a good move.

So, I’m still running and nearing the last quarter mile of the day. I hadn’t stopped yet. My breathing is getting a little tougher. I can tell that the heat is starting to wear a little. I round a corner, take a deep breath and NASTYNESS!  Flies, Food, & just about everything you can think off enters my body in that deep breath as I stumble over open bags of other peoples trash!! I coughed the stench back out, but it was too late. I felt like I was part of the trash! I couldn’t shake a piece of something off of my leg for another 5 strides!

But I kept running. About 4 minutes later, the run was over and I was back at the house… taking a cold shower & trying to cool off before work.

So, today was kinda a big deal. I didn’t stop and I was “fast”, for a fat guy!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/05/2008
• Time: 07:15:00
• Total Time: 00:24:19.00
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 12:10.22/mile

Hey everyone.

Well, as you know, I was supposed to run a 4 miler this morning, but I missed a turn without realizing it and that 4 miler turned into a 3.6 miler.

I mapped my run online last night and I thought I remembered all of it this morning. There were only 4 turns total. What I didn’t expect was to miss a road sign and a “kink” turn in the road. So, I ran as long as I could and then when it joined a major HWY, I turned around and ran back. The problem was, until I passed by that road from the other side, I had no idea that I missed a turn! At first, I actually thought I had gone farther than planned…

So, for about 10 minutes, I was thinking about how good I was feeling at that part of the run and how I expected to feel much worse. A rabbit ran across the road in front of me and I had to walk for a couple of seconds. I thought I was about to die!! I had NO IDEA what was coming out of those bushes!! I had to calm down…
My breathing was perfect, my pace was good… and then I passed by the turn I SHOULD have taken 15 minutes earlier. My mind was racing.

Right after that turn was a hill and as I began my climb, my mind began turning against me. My mind was telling me how I was “so stupid to think that I had gone further than planned. I was dumb to think that I could feel that good late in a run. I was weak. Much weaker than even I anticipated.”

Why does your mind do that? Near the top of the hill, I had to walk. I was discouraged and I had no idea how far (or not far) I had run. All I knew is that my pace and my breathing were similar to what they always were, so I just estimated that I had covered a mile for every 13.5 minutes I had run. I didn’t know if this was right or not, but I knew I wasn’t doing anything fancy. After walking for a minute, I started to run again. My mind continued to beat me down.

After running another 3 minutes, I had to walk again. I was approaching a busy road; that was my excuse, but really, I was just trying to tell my mind to shut up and let me run! That is when my legs started to fail for the first time all week. I thought I was approaching 3 miles by the amount of time that had passed. I crossed over the road and ran the rest of the way. I ran up a street just before my home and I knew it would add 0.3 of a mile to the run.

When I got home, I mapped my actual run to find that I ran 3.6 miles. I’m a little disappointed by that, but it was still my longest run yet and I kept my “normal” slow and steady pace. My knee feels good. My legs are pretty stiff, but they are ok. No blistering.

So, in all, I would say that it was a “good” run, but I don’t like the mental battle. I felt like something in me was trying to sabotage my run, sabotage my goal. What is that about? How do I get rid of it?!

Thanks for reading.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 08/02/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:48:33.00
• Distance: 3.6 miles
• Average Pace: 13:28.99/mile