So, it happened, I missed two straight days. Totally unplanned, but somewhat necessary. I didn't get much sleep the night before. My backs been giving me some issues as of late. Seems weird since all the heavy lifting I did was last week, and the great run I had on Tuesday, those normal signs just weren't there. But, about an hour after I laid down for bed, and just as I fell asleep, I must have turned and that's when it started....the same thing happened last night but not as much. Ive been using my Compex religiously the last couple of says on my back, so the loosed up muscles and extra blood flow are helping. Just need to stay on top of it. Another point of interest is the big toe on my right foot. I smashed it a bit during the move out when a piece of equipment fell. Just a glancing blow, but one i noticed the other day had turned up black and blue under my nail. No pressure or pain, so it was a surprise to me when I saw that. I managed to cut the nail back quite a bit, and all this goo and blood came out. Had to drain it again this am after the run, but it's all good.
My run this morning was basically a makeup of Wednesdays. Just a 35 min recovery jog. My legs were a little stiff for missing two day, but after about the first quarter mile I was in a regular stride. I want to get to the point where my easy days are at an 8:30 pace, and my hard tempo run days are in the 6:45 - 7:15 range. Right now my easy days are a bit too easy. I'm running at about a 9:15 - 9:30 range. Tomorrow, we have a 30 minute tempo run on store since I'm not running the race this weekend. I want to, but I think I'm going to hold out for the 10 miler, and a 30 min tempo run would better suit my goals, and would also give me a good gauge as to where my fitness is right now running at my current weight.
All in all, things are still moving forward post Coffee house days. I may even have good news to report on that front! Skadoosh!
Keep running and LIVESTRONG!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A beautiful run!
So today was the first day of running with my running group since we've closed the store down. Our group, the grinders, is named after my coffee house (It's a Grind). Our motto is that you have to win the workout. Well, today I did just that. OK....Not on all three segments, but on 2 of the three. Today was a quick interval session of 2 sets of 3/4 mile, 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile repeats. Rests got shorter with the distance. 2 min, 90 sec, 60 sec. My goal times (which oddly enough weren't supplied to me from momma Michele) were based off of other runner in my group that I typically run with. I put myself with Paul and Rhonda's group who had target times of: 3/4M=5:30; 800=3:30; 400=1:42.
My 3/4 miles I crushed and ran the two sets in 5:22 and 5:24. I'll claim it, but there was a pretty good wind at our backs. But hey......Take the victories in life when they come, eh??
My 1/2 miles were back the other direction, and into the stiff headwind. Not too good on these one. I ran 3:46 and 3:50 on the two. I tried to do that little cycling trick of tucking behind some of the other runners, but they're smaller then me....so not much benefit there.
My 1/4 mile intervals were great. Ran 1:42 and 1:40 for the two sets. Still into the headwind, but I had someone pushing me to my upper limits on the last go around. Than you Steph for that motivation. You kick ass!
The morning pleasantries were a lot of question about how I'm doing and how sorry they were that we had to close the doors. I'll make it through this little period. I'm strong in that sense. I can compartmentalize things very well. So, even when times get tough on that future legal routes that we're going to have to go through, I know that I can put it to t he side. Strangely, mama Michele didn't say much. Not sure if she's upset or not about the closing, but we'll see where that goes. She's going to see a much better runner in me, not that I have more free time on my hand. :)
The excitement didn't hit until the jog back tot he car. Seems it's getting cold enough to bring out the slithering kind. The path that we jog on is black pavement. Gets nice and warm during the day, and the snake head there at night to keep themselves warm. No telling how long this little guy was there. Probably ran right by him when I was going to meet the group. It was dark then, and I DEFINITELY didn't see him then. I barely saw him with the morning light that was there. Glen shooed him off with a stick and tumbleweed as protection. The snake got really mad, curled up in to a protective mode, and struck at the bush a couple of times. But Glenn's seen the crocodile hunter play with snakes before.....About the only thing he didn't do was grab his tail. But Snake saved and all, he got him pushed back into the desert out of the way of walkers and joggers.
Hope everyone has a great day, and LIVESTRONG!
My 3/4 miles I crushed and ran the two sets in 5:22 and 5:24. I'll claim it, but there was a pretty good wind at our backs. But hey......Take the victories in life when they come, eh??
My 1/2 miles were back the other direction, and into the stiff headwind. Not too good on these one. I ran 3:46 and 3:50 on the two. I tried to do that little cycling trick of tucking behind some of the other runners, but they're smaller then me....so not much benefit there.
My 1/4 mile intervals were great. Ran 1:42 and 1:40 for the two sets. Still into the headwind, but I had someone pushing me to my upper limits on the last go around. Than you Steph for that motivation. You kick ass!
The morning pleasantries were a lot of question about how I'm doing and how sorry they were that we had to close the doors. I'll make it through this little period. I'm strong in that sense. I can compartmentalize things very well. So, even when times get tough on that future legal routes that we're going to have to go through, I know that I can put it to t he side. Strangely, mama Michele didn't say much. Not sure if she's upset or not about the closing, but we'll see where that goes. She's going to see a much better runner in me, not that I have more free time on my hand. :)
The excitement didn't hit until the jog back tot he car. Seems it's getting cold enough to bring out the slithering kind. The path that we jog on is black pavement. Gets nice and warm during the day, and the snake head there at night to keep themselves warm. No telling how long this little guy was there. Probably ran right by him when I was going to meet the group. It was dark then, and I DEFINITELY didn't see him then. I barely saw him with the morning light that was there. Glen shooed him off with a stick and tumbleweed as protection. The snake got really mad, curled up in to a protective mode, and struck at the bush a couple of times. But Glenn's seen the crocodile hunter play with snakes before.....About the only thing he didn't do was grab his tail. But Snake saved and all, he got him pushed back into the desert out of the way of walkers and joggers.
Hope everyone has a great day, and LIVESTRONG!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Let the GAMES Begin!
Well, it's been a LONG road to get to this point, but now I have a new gift that was given to me recently. The gift of time. It was a sad day this past weekend when we had to close down our business. We had poured four years of blood, sweat and tears into that venture to only see sales dwindle down to the point at which we were forced to make the difficult decision of closing our doors. Probably the most difficult part of all was all of the friends that we had met along the way. Many of whom are part of my running group. We've enjoyed countless hours of coffee talk post our long runs. That will just have to shift somewhere else, but with all the sadness of having to make those decisions comes the silver linings. I get more time to focus on something that was starting to take a back seat. And that's my health. Since my push to the New York City Marathon, and running probably one of the most fun marathons I've ever ran, I started to put running to the side. My weight increased to well over 200 pounds, ans I was getting FAT! And I'm not talking PHAT.....You know...the spare tire kind. Those extra 20-30 pounds made running unbearable.
Well, I had to make a change in that department, stop eating so doggon much, and switch my diet over to the Nutrisystems plan. And what do ya know....I'm 16 pounds lighter after the first go around, and running isn't as hard as it was 6 weeks ago. And just in time to start gearing up for my next challenge, and probably my toughest one yet. Work on qualifying for the Boston Marathon!
I know, yer saying, that's freakin NUTZ.....I haven't even bested 4 hours yet, how do you expect to get 3:15 min marathon when you have NEVER broken 4 HOURs??? We'll I've asked myself that very question. !) lack of commitment to the training plan. A lot of that had to do with that business we owned. Working the engineering day job and coffee house by night, my days were already jam packed. And here I am trying to fit in marathon training program. Not sure I was thinking too clearly, but now I know where my major failures were. It's miles on feet (or lack thereof). I always found the reason to not get the long run in. I worked late and closed the coffee house. I had to get up early to leave work so that I could make the bank by 4. You name it, the coffee house was my crutch. Well, that crutch has been smashed over a pile of bricks, and there is NO excuse! You heard it here first. No missed group workouts. No missed long tempo runs.
It's time to git 'er done. Today was the first day, and I did my scheduled 3 mile run. They will gradually work into 3 speed sessions, one recovery workout, a mid week long run of 10-12 miles, and a Sunday long run getting up to 22 miles.
So look out Boston, the Kid's plotting his course to the girls Welsley and I WILL make it there!
Well, I had to make a change in that department, stop eating so doggon much, and switch my diet over to the Nutrisystems plan. And what do ya know....I'm 16 pounds lighter after the first go around, and running isn't as hard as it was 6 weeks ago. And just in time to start gearing up for my next challenge, and probably my toughest one yet. Work on qualifying for the Boston Marathon!
I know, yer saying, that's freakin NUTZ.....I haven't even bested 4 hours yet, how do you expect to get 3:15 min marathon when you have NEVER broken 4 HOURs??? We'll I've asked myself that very question. !) lack of commitment to the training plan. A lot of that had to do with that business we owned. Working the engineering day job and coffee house by night, my days were already jam packed. And here I am trying to fit in marathon training program. Not sure I was thinking too clearly, but now I know where my major failures were. It's miles on feet (or lack thereof). I always found the reason to not get the long run in. I worked late and closed the coffee house. I had to get up early to leave work so that I could make the bank by 4. You name it, the coffee house was my crutch. Well, that crutch has been smashed over a pile of bricks, and there is NO excuse! You heard it here first. No missed group workouts. No missed long tempo runs.
It's time to git 'er done. Today was the first day, and I did my scheduled 3 mile run. They will gradually work into 3 speed sessions, one recovery workout, a mid week long run of 10-12 miles, and a Sunday long run getting up to 22 miles.
So look out Boston, the Kid's plotting his course to the girls Welsley and I WILL make it there!
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