Not a bad day, or a bad race- but not quite as good as I hoped. It was way too hot, even at 9AM, and that certainly didn't help. I had hoped to manage something very close to a flat 8-minute mile pace. I didn't really think I had any chance at the prize money, but basing the prizes on gun time instead of chip time was a little more motivation to start up front. I still got a little caught in the crowd behind some slower runners, but not nearly as badly as I had in a number of other races. The start went fairly well, and having Edwin C Moses Blvd to spread out across definitely helped ease the start-up crunch.
The first mile went well, and I managed the a reasonable pace- 8:39 or so. I had expected to go a little faster than that, but it was about what I could do just then. I was trying to hold back just a bit, and expected to pick up the pace each mile along the way. As it turned out, the best I could do was maintain about that pace. I kept playing games with the plan- where, exactly, would I start my "kick"? In the end, I couldn't really have done better. I worried if I was going to throw up most of the last quarter mile or so. Seems like I probably couldn't have done much more there, though I did manage a slight kick in the last 200m or so to the finish. My time put me in 21st place for my age division- out of 45 in my age bracket. On the other hand, to make top 5, I'd have to take 2.5 min/mile off my mile pace. Not sure that's doable- though that's about the pace I hit in the kick section.
So, end result- I'm pretty happy about this. I'd love to have had a little faster time, but I pulled off a time at approximately my personal 5K record, in the heat. It clearly wasn't my best day, and I still managed this time. Now, on to the marathon training... I'm behind, but I need to work on catching up.
Monday, May 30, 2011
New Challenges
edited a bit tonight, to fix all the typos, etc- from posting on the phone.
Well, here we go. Another summer season, and I have to figure out what to work on.
Running a marathon-check. I'm signed up for the Air Force Marathon in September. Already struggling with doing the training- I'm behind. RAGBRAI- little training done for this or anything, with all the rain and work and family stuff. But today, I can do one thing:run. The Lou Cox 5k, and try for a personal record. It's a fast field, with actual prize money to draw the best runners. Hope they can drag me to my best time. I just really want to feel like I've left it all out there. We'll see in about half an hour.
I'll let you know how it turns out. Here goes everything.
Well, here we go. Another summer season, and I have to figure out what to work on.
Running a marathon-check. I'm signed up for the Air Force Marathon in September. Already struggling with doing the training- I'm behind. RAGBRAI- little training done for this or anything, with all the rain and work and family stuff. But today, I can do one thing:run. The Lou Cox 5k, and try for a personal record. It's a fast field, with actual prize money to draw the best runners. Hope they can drag me to my best time. I just really want to feel like I've left it all out there. We'll see in about half an hour.
I'll let you know how it turns out. Here goes everything.
Friday, May 6, 2011
The plans for the summer...
So, activities for the summer:
- Train with my wife and run at least one 5K with her- preferably 3 or 4
- Ride RAGBRAI again- this year's route is like a tour of the towns that I have a connection to in Iowa, so it seems like I have to do it again
- I'm tired of thinking about running a Full Marathon and letting the "You're crazy" comments keep me from doing it. I'm registered for the Air Force marathon this coming September. Guess I better get started training for that
- Proving the "You're crazy" people's point, I'm toying with the idea that I might just barely be able to hit a Boston Qualifying time in that marathon. Since Boston is scheduled to keep getting harder to qualify for each year, I feel like it's now or never. Just not sure yet that I want it bad enough to work as hard as I would need to for that one- and not sure I can even manage it. Looks like I'd need to run the whole thing at an average pace just above 8 minutes/mile- which is currently slightly better than my 5K mile pace. Definitely not easy.
- Try out some other fitness options around- I'm somewhat interested in seeing if I'd like everything from Zumba to Kettlebell workout classes to some other Yoga classes.
- Maybe lose another 10-15 pounds (which will be difficult at this point, but should probably help with the Boston Qualifier craziness
- Make a road race plan for the summer with 5K and trail races to keep up the variety and see what's fun
- Really work on improving my sleep- that's the one part of overall fitness that I'm still not doing very well at. I know this is an important piece to making any of the rest of this work.
- And, oh, yes- update this blog much more often. At least every other week seems reasonable, and I think it will help me work out the issues that remain and keep on top of what I'm doing with this active, fit life.
Moving on to new goals
Well, this about winds up another semester here with a personal trainer, and summer is just around the corner. This is the time of year that it's easiest for me to plan what's coming as we move into the active summer season. My wife just finished a fitness competition program at the YMCA, and she continues to see improvements in her fitness. I think she's finally at the point where she wants to try some running, so we'll train together to get her ready for her first 5K. She's sure she can't do it- and I would bet money she could do it right now if she could believe that she could. I've done so many things that were only about half about the physical conditioning. I'm excited to keep moving forward with her, and I think we'll have a great time in our active life this summer.
This past week, I had a sad time in my life. My dog, Shadow, had been getting old and struggling with getting around a bit for a while now- but she still had energy and was ready to go. Just a bit slower. A few weeks ago, she went downhill and started having seizures. These became more often, and we had to say goodbye to her this past week. I knew it would be hard, but I still said to myself, "She's just a dog, and it's time for her to go". I was surprised at how difficult it was for me. That morning, after she was gone, I wasn't sure what to do with myself the rest of the day. I planned to go ahead and go to my scheduled training session, thinking it would do me some good. I felt I needed to go into work for at least a short while to deal with some needs there. Next thing I knew, I found myself thinking about the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest takes off running across America on a whim- trying to make sense of his feelings. I found myself with the urge to have a nice long run alone. I cancelled my trainer at the last minute (sorry), and headed home to do a run. I decided that I wouldn't have a goal for time or distance and would just run as far as felt right. Having occasionally hurt myself a bit by overdoing runs, I decided that I would make a rule to run as easy as I could stand to. That would still let me get into the run, but would be less wear and tear on my body. I chose a route that would give me repeated options to lengthen or shorten the run- lots of places to "turn back" or go on. And off I went.
It was a somewhat cloudy day, as all of them have been lately, but not too cool at the start. I ran. I thought about Shadow. I ran. I remembered what it was like having her around. I ran. I thought about all the changes in my life- and how she was there through them. It started to cool off and the wind started to blow as it got ready to blow in a storm. I ran. Mostly, I managed to go at an easy pace, which is currently hovering around above 10-minute miles.
As I finally decided it was time to close the loop and turn back home, I realized that she wouldn't be waiting there to greet me. Of course, I knew that, but it seemed to make it all real again. After a moment of sadness, I had a picture in my mind of this enthusiastic puppy. Though she had less energy and less ability to jump around like that, she seemed to still be that way. A few days before she died, she was laying on the floor and seemed unable to get the energy to get up. I was trying to move some things around and grabbed her leash as a part of that process. She was still slow, but she dragged herself to her feet, enthusiastic to have the chance to go somewhere with me. The puppy was still there, even if the body wasn't quite willing. That was still her until the end. My mind went on to imagining here now- back to being the puppy she always was, without the limitations that her body had given her for the last few years. I felt joy in that image- and realized I was doing 6-minute miles. I eased up, satisfied that this was going to be OK. In the end, one of the longest runs I've done in about a year- a little over 8 miles. Somehow, the run worked. I'll still feel sad, but I also know it was time and she's free now.
It's interesting that a run seemed like the thing to do, and that it worked. Guess this stuff really is a part of my life now. Shadow was one of many things that brought me here, with her unconditional love and her enthusiasm. I owe her thanks, and I owe her a life well lived. Guess I better get started...
This past week, I had a sad time in my life. My dog, Shadow, had been getting old and struggling with getting around a bit for a while now- but she still had energy and was ready to go. Just a bit slower. A few weeks ago, she went downhill and started having seizures. These became more often, and we had to say goodbye to her this past week. I knew it would be hard, but I still said to myself, "She's just a dog, and it's time for her to go". I was surprised at how difficult it was for me. That morning, after she was gone, I wasn't sure what to do with myself the rest of the day. I planned to go ahead and go to my scheduled training session, thinking it would do me some good. I felt I needed to go into work for at least a short while to deal with some needs there. Next thing I knew, I found myself thinking about the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest takes off running across America on a whim- trying to make sense of his feelings. I found myself with the urge to have a nice long run alone. I cancelled my trainer at the last minute (sorry), and headed home to do a run. I decided that I wouldn't have a goal for time or distance and would just run as far as felt right. Having occasionally hurt myself a bit by overdoing runs, I decided that I would make a rule to run as easy as I could stand to. That would still let me get into the run, but would be less wear and tear on my body. I chose a route that would give me repeated options to lengthen or shorten the run- lots of places to "turn back" or go on. And off I went.
It was a somewhat cloudy day, as all of them have been lately, but not too cool at the start. I ran. I thought about Shadow. I ran. I remembered what it was like having her around. I ran. I thought about all the changes in my life- and how she was there through them. It started to cool off and the wind started to blow as it got ready to blow in a storm. I ran. Mostly, I managed to go at an easy pace, which is currently hovering around above 10-minute miles.
As I finally decided it was time to close the loop and turn back home, I realized that she wouldn't be waiting there to greet me. Of course, I knew that, but it seemed to make it all real again. After a moment of sadness, I had a picture in my mind of this enthusiastic puppy. Though she had less energy and less ability to jump around like that, she seemed to still be that way. A few days before she died, she was laying on the floor and seemed unable to get the energy to get up. I was trying to move some things around and grabbed her leash as a part of that process. She was still slow, but she dragged herself to her feet, enthusiastic to have the chance to go somewhere with me. The puppy was still there, even if the body wasn't quite willing. That was still her until the end. My mind went on to imagining here now- back to being the puppy she always was, without the limitations that her body had given her for the last few years. I felt joy in that image- and realized I was doing 6-minute miles. I eased up, satisfied that this was going to be OK. In the end, one of the longest runs I've done in about a year- a little over 8 miles. Somehow, the run worked. I'll still feel sad, but I also know it was time and she's free now.
It's interesting that a run seemed like the thing to do, and that it worked. Guess this stuff really is a part of my life now. Shadow was one of many things that brought me here, with her unconditional love and her enthusiasm. I owe her thanks, and I owe her a life well lived. Guess I better get started...
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