Oxygen Deprived

My running has been dropping off for a while now. Numerous weekly runs gradually became fewer and fewer, mileage diminished, minor injuries crept in, and finally the cold and snow ultimately unmotivated me. I once welcomed the change from the cold weather to the warmth of running indoors on my treadmill and though I have many conveniences indoors, it's just not the same as running outside. Unfortunately, we are still in a deep freeze this week and many sidewalks and streets are ice and snow covered - some even impassible, at least as far as running is concerned.

But as my weight starts to creep back up and as my fitness and energy levels plummet I've started to feel the urge to run again. I miss the days of nice weather where I was consistently able to get in my runs in. I also love the thought of running in most any weather and plan to get some warmer running clothes soon. My main concern though is my footing and not necessarily the temperature which unfortunately warmer clothes won't help.

But first things first, I need a plan! Which initially, is just to start getting some consistent mileage in again even if it's on the treadmill. Beyond that, I need to pick out some up and coming races to train for.

Posted by Heath at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, a little late is better than never... right?

Despite allerigies, a head and chest cold and a dip in my training I had what I'd call a fantastic run on my first 1/2 marathon, Labor Day - Monday, 4 Sep 06. My official time was 1:56:44 which relates to an average 8:54/mi pace.

I went into this run just wanting to relax, enjoy the race and to run the best I can. By the best I can I mean as fast as I can but also well. And by well I mean strong and steady. I think I was able to relax and enjoy it because my expectations had been lowered by my lack of training and because I was well rested, I felt fresh and ready to run.

After a good nights sleep I woke up feeling good. I proceeded to get dressed, grab all my gear (garmin, hat, Sudafed, 2 GUs (though I only ended up using one), etc…) and tape off my nipples (if you've read any number of my other posts you'll know why). I wasn't able to find the small round band aids that have been so highly recommended so I decided to try out using athletic tape. I used scissors to cut small dime-sized circles out of the tape and then carefully applied them trying to avoid involving any more hair than absolutely necessary. The idea seemed pretty sound so of course I never actually tested it out before hand. And fortunately for me it worked perfect, just as expected!

Sometimes it seems that no matter how much effort you put into leaving on time that it just doesn't work out that way. As we drove towards downtown we had the pleasure of seeing numerous hot air balloons lifting up from downtown in front of Pikes Peak for the balloon classic that was in town. It was pretty neat and the kids loved it. It became more evident how little time I ended up having once we actual got close to the park where the race was to start and were told to do a u-turn and go back a few blocks to park. As we headed back numerous runners were running across the bridge and I remember thinking that it looks like everyone’s getting all warmed up. It wasn't until we were parked (which worked out pretty well as we found a spot right away) that I realized that they probably weren’t warming up, but actually trying to get to the starting line on time.

I quickly acquired GPS, strapped on my heart rate monitor, pinned on my bib (lower this time than in my race through Garden of the Gods), grabbed my GUs and headed off running towards the starting line. As I ran across the bridge and down through the park I started to realize that not only was I probably not going to get a chance to stretch but that I might actually be late. As I followed another runner who was also trying to figure out where the starting line was he looked back and asked me where I got my number... I felt bad telling him that I got my number days prior and that he would probably need to head back to some tents we already passed to get his.

Finally I saw a familiar face and asked where the starting line was, he directed me to the other side of the park and as I continued to head that way I heard a gun go off, tons of people were cheering and a huge group of people starting to run towards me. I continued to pass the crowd of runners going the opposite way, resisting the urge to just jump into the crowd until I finally found the starting line. By that time all runners were gone and the spectators were all walking away, I rounded a pole and ran through the start.

It only took a matter of seconds to start catching up to people but unfortunately I all the way at the back of the pack. I tried to run by as many people as I could but the road turned into a trail and quickly narrowed. Leaving me stuck, shoulder to shoulder, row by row in a running traffic jam. I almost started to stress at this point but then I thought, maybe this is just what I need - a good steady warm up before I start trying to throw down any tougher paces. I continued to pass as quickly and as often as I possibly could, darting around and between people when the opportunity would arise. I started thinking to myself, this could actually be pretty interesting to see where I actually end up and how many people I actually pass during the course of this race. Then I laughed to myself as I recalled Ali's blog subtitle.

"While running, it is rude to count the people you pass out loud"

With that in mind, I continued to relax and settle into a nice pace which really wasn't that far off of what I had planned to run in the first place. By mile 1 the trail had widened and it became easier and easier to run at my desired pace. Soon after, I caught up with the leader of the Garden of the Gods training group I ran in. We chatted for a little while which was also probably a good move as it slowed me down once again. I was fine with this when we were hovering around 9:00/mi but when I noticed us spending a good amount of time around a 9:30 pace I had to part ways. I continued to steadily pass people for a good while though this slowed down the further I went as I was catching up to faster and faster runners.

I ended up arriving at the half-way turn around before I knew it. It was a beautiful day and the course was great. I felt great and was able to hold a good pace for much longer than I had expected. The nice part about the second half of the course is that it's slightly down hill most of the way which definitely helped as the miles wore on.

At around mile 10 I started to struggle a little bit and though my splits don't show it, I really started to hurt at mile 11. By mile 12 I was having an extremely hard time holding my pace and I was now being passed by some of those whom I had recently passed in the last couple miles. I struggled at mile 13 and when I finally made it back to the park, saw my cheering family and could actually see the finish line I started to feel a bit better. Although the finish line seemed like it was still a good mile away.

I passed on most water stations which I know I need to get better at but I really think this helped me until possibly towards the finish. My final place was 118th out of 407 so it looks like I could have passed around 290 people! Good thing I wasn't counting... out loud.

All in all it was an excellent race, great course, friendly people, beautiful weather, perfect temperature and lots of food and festivities at the finish.

Splits according to my garmin with a total time of 1:55:56 for 13.32 miles at an average pace of 8:42/mi.

Mile:

1. 9:06


2. 8:53


3. 9:11


4. 8:41


5. 8:39


6. 8:32


7. 8:39


8. 8:20


9. 8:23


10. 8:36


11. 8:36


12. 8:36


13. 8:58


14. 8:20 for .32 mi

Great race, course and run! I really enjoyed the 1/2 marathon distance and I'll definitely participate in another. I really think I'm getting hooked on this running stuff and look forward to continuing my running journey.

Posted by Heath at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For anyone who might be interested. I've just finally had a chance to log my race info and I plan to have an entry about how the race went very soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Let me just say, it was a great race, I really enjoyed it and feel that it went very well. My official time was 1:56:44... more to come soon!

Posted by Heath at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I started to blog yesterday but after several minutes decided it was to negative and abandoned it. Today, though not feeling much better I thought I would give it another try.

There hasn't been much running to talk about this week as along with my busy schedule I've also had some annoying allergies accompanied by what seems to be a head cold. I was weak and achy on Wednesday and yesterday it started moving into my chest. Despite this yesterday afternoon I was feeling a little better and so I left work a tad early in an attempt to get home and run before the pending afternoon rain shower which was off glooming in the north. But, by the time I got home I had missed my opportunity as the wind and rain had already arrived. I felt defeated at this point and decided to eat dinner as I was pretty hungry. Well, by the time I finished eating (maybe 10 or 15 minutes later) it was absolutely beautiful outside. Blue skies, nice cool breeze and the late afternoon sun was brightly shining on the mountians. I couldn’t possibly run now that I just ate dinner but the kids and I did manage to get a nice bike ride in though. Which helped curve the insanity I was starting to feel from being inactive most of the week.

With determination I woke this morning and proceeded to get a decent 6.5 mile run in. My paces were okay, nothing great - it was just good to be running. I'm still not feeling that well so my sinuses and a slight cough bothered me a little but all in all it was a good run. It was also my first chance to use my new Brooks Adrenalines. This is my first time every using a shoe from Brooks and so far I really like the fit and the comfort and it was a pretty smooth ride too. Though I've been wanting to try a new shoe for a while now, I normally wouldn't switch to a new pair just days before a race but my other shoes were getting extremely wore out. I did notice some slight pains in my legs towards the end of my run but I think that was just my lack of running this week coupled with not feeling all that great. My feet felt fine!

I haven’t had a chance to log my workouts from Monday and this morning yet so I could reference them here. All I know is I’m not going to get caught up in what could have been, I just want to relax, run like the wind and enjoy the ½ marathon on Monday. I just really hope I feel well, is that asking too much?

Posted by Heath at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (36) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm still not completely sure how time can slip away so fast. Not getting a chance to blog definitely affects my running motivation, though probably not quite as much as not getting to read other blogs I enjoy.

All in all things have still been going pretty well. I've been able to continue running a decent amount while focusing on everything else I have going on. Of course, when I say a decent amount it's still not as much as I would like but I suppose that's how "finding a balance" fits in.

With not always being able to get in all my runs or mileage in I’ve found myself sometimes feeling a bit hurried, running stronger and faster than normal. Yet, I always tried to focus on having a purpose for every run. One side affect and result of what I'd like to think is an overall fitness gain is that my easy pace has increased from around 10:11/mi to around 9:40/mi.

I've also been continuing to concentrate on my stride rate and find that after I have a faster run my pace stays fast for several days and that I actually have to focus on slowing it down. I'm not sure how I ever ran before without concentrating on a fast and steady stride rate, it's made such a difference in both my running and my overall fitness.

So, all though I wasn't able to follow an exact training plan I feel I adjusted, for the most part, pretty well to my time constraints. In the near future I'll have even more constraints to deal with but hope to transition to a stage of my running where I can still grow and learn while balancing life's other demands. It would be interesting to know how I could possibly have performed in next week's 1/2 marathon if I had never had any challenges in my training. Though I would rather be wondering that right now than how I’m going to complete a full marathon next week - there’ll be time for that in the future.

But honestly I'm just happy to be able to get up on a Saturday morning and head out for a 10+ mile run which a year and 40+ lbs. ago I wouldn't have (happily) dreamed about. I set out this morning with a good easy pace which then dropped to low 9s and even some mid and low 8s. Upon finishing my first 6 mile loop and starting on my second 4+ mile loop it started to rain (the hard straight down kind) so I changed plans and headed home, which for once was actually pretty close by. Once I got home it really started to lightening and thunder so I feel like I made a good choice. I was a little disappointed though since I wanted to go longer and my pace was feeling great. In my mind I was sort of trying to plan on what kind of paces I'd be doing during next week's race. A good run though!

My game plan for this last week is to just try and run as often as I can. Mostly easy, maybe once a little longer and a tad bit faster here and there, but overall just often. Even if most of the runs are shorter followed by a couple days of rest next weekend I think I'll feel ready to run come next Monday.

Posted by Heath at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I got lots of rest last week, at least from running and this week has started the same way. Maybe I have a sleeping disorder, no... it's probably a waking disorder as that's the part I seem unable to do.

So here's where I'm at:

Monday: Day off...

Tuesday: 3.36 miles of an easy pace. Decent short run. Pace was fast even when trying to slow it down. Maybe I should increase my easy pace? Yet, it wasn't that easy by the time I was done. Weather and empty hunger pains ended my run a little early but it was better than not running at all. Stride rate was good though.

And here's what's in store for the rest of the week:

1. 3 or 4 easy runs followed by 6 to 8 x 20 to 30 second strides. I really need to start remembering to do these strides as I'm normal almost done with my run when I realize I haven't done them yet.
2. 2 miles easy pace + 2 x (15 to 20-min tempo pace with 3-min rest) + 10 to 12-min tempo pace + 2 miles easy pace
3. 2 miles easy pace + 12 to 13 miles or 100 minutes marathon pace, whichever is less + 2 miles easy pace

Note: Numbers 2 & 3 reflect my original marathon training plan and probably need to be adjusted. Possibly I'll leave number 2 as it is and just shorten the marathon pace portion of number 3 to something that's not completely above my level of running.

I wonder if there is such a thing as 1/2 marathon pace? Never mind, it would most likely be even faster and therefore above my ability at this point, yet something I should probably look into soon.

Posted by Heath at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There's not a whole lot to talk about for this past week in training, if you can even call it that. It started off with some needed rest from my misadventure the Saturday before which then turned into a week of rest and finally ended with some frustration at my lack of motivation.

Monday: More much needed rest from the previous Saturday.

Tuesday: Ended up being yet another day of rest. I heard you should rest for 3 days after having heat exhaustion but to be honest I felt really good and should have ran anyway.

Wednesday: 5.76 miles at an easy pace. Good run, after a few days off my legs were feeling good and pace was pretty strong.

Thursday: Another day off?! Seems I'm getting a bit carried away with this whole rest thing.

Friday: 8.24 miles of mixed, tempo and easy running. Good run, I felt pretty fresh since I haven't done much running this week. It was a little cooler out and the breeze felt good at times. At other times it was windy which made it hard to hold my pace when going up hill. I'm stoked about 4 miles of tempo pace though! I actually thought I only did 3 and was surprised when I got home and realized I did 4. Maybe I ran through a time warp.

2 miles easy pace (10:11/mi) + 4 x (1 mile tempo pace (8:12/mi) with 1-min rest) + 2 miles easy pace (10:11/mi)

Saturday: I had the best intentions but I missed my morning run then the day got really hot and by the time evening came around I had been working outside all day and was just too beat to run.

Sunday: 3.28 miles at an easy pace. Harder run, took too much time off this week and I can definitely feel it. Just trying to get some mileage in before weeks end.

In light of both the heat exhaustion experience and the fact that I recently switched from the full marathon to the half. I told myself that taking it easy one week wasn't going to kill me and in fact, it might just be what my body needs (Friday seemed to support this theory). Of course, like most good things even rest should be kept in moderation and not taken to an extreme.

Posted by Heath at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's official, I've been in contact with the race director for the American Discovery Trail Marathon and I'm now registered for the half marathon, instead of the full. It was kind of a tough decision because deep down I feel that I can run a full marathon. How well? That's still up in the air but even with the abbreviated training program I've been doing I feel like it's possible.

I didn't make the decision based on how some of my recent runs have gone though maybe I should have. I made the decision based on a hard look at the priorities in my life right now and how my schedule, with a good number of those priorities, is either about to or needs to drastically change. So, in an attempt to better balance those priorities I just felt it was the right thing to do.

To quote myself in a recent email:

"I've been realizing that my priorities with other things in my life haven't been set to well. I could still do the training yet be able to cut back a little bit and not have the stress of needing to get such long runs in. This in turn should give me more time for the other aspects of my life that have been neglected. I mean, I'm not sure why I was in such a hurry to run a full marathon as I've hardly done any racing. It was probably just the excitement of it but I want to continue to run, get in better and better shape and learn more about running for years to come. That should be my goal, not just getting a marathon under my belt. It's a tough decision though because part of me knows I can do it (how well though?). Like Jeff has posted about recently, I need to find that balance where my priorities are in order."

It's a decision that I feel good about. I'm excited to stick with the training program (tailored slightly I'm sure), to better my fitness and performance levels and to enjoy life with as little additional stress as possible.

Posted by Heath at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

In continuing to blog well after the fact, here's how last week turned out. I ran (and walked) for a total of 30.32 miles in roughly 5 and 1/2 hours.

Monday: 4.29 miles at an easy pace. Decent run, legs felt good though I was a little low on energy (just tired). Kept it a bit short so as to not push to hard in anticipation of my long run later in the week.

Tuesday: Slept in and wasn't able to fit a run in later in the day. Plan was to just run a little longer on my other easy runs to make up for it. After all, some days you just need to rest.

Wednesday: 4.32 miles with intervals. Didn't get much sleep and tried to make up for it by sleeping in a little. This only left enough time for my shortest workout of the week. Being so tired I had a hard time hitting and keeping some of my paces but overall it was still a pretty good run.

1 mile easy + 3 x 1000m (.57mi) @ 8:42/mi pace with 3-mins of rest between + 1 mile easy

Thursday: 6.67 miles followed with 6 strides. Good afternoon run. Some pain in my left shin again but once I got going it was completely manageable. Struggling to hit my pace a little bit, I've been hitting faster paces lately even when I focus on going slower. I think it's from the speed work (probably a good thing) so today I focused again on my stride rate which helped get me back into the correct zone.

Friday: Another bad morning for getting a run in and again, I wasn't able to make up for it later in the day. I had originally planned to pick up the mileage slightly again today, like yesterday, so I could get my weekly mileage in without running on Sunday (since I didn't run on Tuesday).

Saturday: 15 mile LSD. I had originally planned to do 13 but then thought, since I missed Friday that maybe I would run a little longer (which I need anyway) and only have a short run on Sunday or possibly even still take Sunday off.

It was really hot (95 F) and I was getting a much later start than originally planned. I set out from a new location at around 10:30 in the morning and headed north on an urban trail (the same one that cuts all the way through town) up across the USAFA. I started the run completely hydrated, with a full 36oz of water in my fuel belt and more fluid in the fridge at my work which was only a block or so away. The first 3 miles went great; I was feeling good, enjoying the new scenery and holding a good pace. I was planning to do an out and back where I would turn around at 7.5 miles and with the way I was feeling I was thinking about trying to throw some marathon pace into the mix on the way back.

But shortly after hitting mile 3 something happened, I found it getting harder to keep my pace and without even thinking about it I had taken a couple of walking breaks by the time I hit mile 5 – one at about mile 4 and at mile 5. I found this a little strange as I don't normally walk, at all. I don't have anything against walking, I just don't do it. If I'm having a hard time running then I might end up moving pretty slow but I've always really tried to keep running. At mile 5 I found myself standing under a tree and not feeling very well. I took a couple minutes, drank one of my 6oz bottles of water, gued and decided to take off my shirt (another first while running) to see if I could cool off a little bit.

I really didn't even realize what was happening. I did think about turning back for a moment which would have still put me in at 10 miles for the run. And if I was feeling well I could have extended that even further once back by where I started. But I felt like I was just having a couple tough miles and that I would just snap out of it. And I seemed to be right, for a mile or so anyway things went pretty well. This trail has lots of hills and I felt like the overall elevation gain was also pretty decent.

At mile 6 the walking started up again with increasing frequency and duration but I continued on literally out into the middle of nowhere. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew the further I went the further it was to get back out but I just kept going. Was I just so determined to get my weekly mileage in or did my long run have to be 15 miles? Was my mind even working at this point? I don't know.

By the time I got to 7.5 miles and turned around I wasn't feeling good at all, I was walking more than I was running and to be honest, some of my thoughts where pretty crazy. Occasionally, I would see a biker ride by and I recall having the growing urge to say something, to ask for help. But what would they do, put me on the back of their bike and give me a ride? Call for help? It just didn't seem sensible at the time. Once or twice I felt like someone might have noticed that I was doing that well by the way the looked at me but I'm not totally sure.

As I was starting my journey back I was just a few hundred yards away from the interstate that runs through town. Do I try to hitchhike back? At this point I still felt like I was going to get a second wind. That though it was up hill and down on the way out that over all I would be losing a lot of elevation which would have to make things easier.

WRONG!!!

Without going into all the details of everything that happened over the next couple of hours I could best describe what took place as a death march. I was able to run less and less until finally I couldn't run at all. My heart rate was sky high, even when just walking and way too high when trying to run. I was having chest pains and cramping in my legs. My stomach was upset and several times I thought I was going to be sick.

I did try to ration my water, I ate some energy beans I had with me and I tried to take advantage of any shade I could find along the way. I even thought about lying down to take a nap here and there but I didn't do it. I kept myself moving, even in the shade I continued to pace in circles feeling as though if I stopped walking I wouldn't be able to start again. I tried numerous attempts to run again as the thought of walking all the way back out seemed horrible. Each time I was only able to continue for a minute or so, if even that long. I ended up running out of water several miles from the end. So much for rationing. All I could really do was just keep going. I did think a lot about the water and Gatorade that awaited me back at my work, sitting cold in the fridge, just a block or two from my jeep.

During my last couple miles there was an older man walking just a few hundred yards ahead of me at one point and I thought for sure I'd catch up to him. He came into view occasionally and he appeared to be walking with a pretty bad limp. But I was never able to catch him and he just continued to get further and further ahead.

I have my garmin set to pause if I slow down below a certain pace, I believe its 3.5 mph, assuming that if I'm going below this speed than I'm obviously stopped, or at least not running. Fortunately, because of this my mileage reading on the way back wasn't completely accurate. It ended up being a mile off due to all the pausing caused by my slow pace. So it only showed 14 miles when I made it back instead of 15. This was great because I really didn't know how I was going to make it another mile. The bad part was the time it showed was also wrong and I had been out there even longer than I thought.

What was planned to be a 2 to 2.5 hour run turned into a 3.5 hour painful ordeal. Finally, I made it back and headed over to my office where I was able to take on some additional fluids. I ended up nearly fainting a couple times though and ended up calling home for a ride. My family is awesome! They took care of me, got me home safely and feeling better in a matter of hours. Mostly with rest, a lot of fluids but I do recall something about a wet towel on my head and a cold bath.

From reading online my wife Julie thinks I had heat exhaustion. I'm just surprised how fast something like this can come on and how dangerous it can turn out to be. I should have turned around at mile 5 but I thought I would get over how I was feeling, I mean I run 5 miles all the time and never feel like that. But that should have been the sign I listened to and in the future I'm going to be a lot more aware of what my body is trying to tell me, even if it means erring on the side of caution and not getting all of my mileage in.

Lessons Learned:
1. Always listen to your body and try to make good decisions based on how you feel, even if you need to err on the side of caution.
2. Always carry a cell phone on these longer runs.
3. Don't underestimate the heat.
4. Don't underestimate the importance of being properly hydrated, and fueled for that matter.
And from last week's misadventure…
5. Always let your loved ones know where you are going and how long you'll be gone.

Sunday: Some much needed rest.

Posted by Heath at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Where does the time go? I've been so busy with work, work, vacation, work and well... just life. Last week was my 3rd official week of training for my early September marathon and here's how it went.

I ran a total of 35.5 miles in roughly 5 hours and 45 minutes with an average pace of 9:43/mi.

Monday: 5:45 miles at an easy pace though it didn't feel all that easy. Struggled to stay on pace and had pain in both my left shin and my right upper hamstring.

Tuesday: 4:25 miles with 3 sets of intervals (8:42/mi pace for 1000m (.57mi) with 3-min rests) in between a warm up and cool down mile. I'm loving the speed work - it feels so good to run faster!

Wednesday: 4.74 miles at an easy (hard) pace. Left shin was really hurting, stomach got really upset and both nipples ended up bleeding again (same shirt as last time - shirt has been demoted to a garage work rag now)!

Thursday: 5.02 miles at easy pace. Went back to bed in the morning due to rain but made time in the afternoon for my first run on vacation in Pagosa Springs. Found some good back roads, a nice high school track and made my way down a county road for a bit. Elevation is just slightly higher than home at around 7100 ft. My left shin and right upper hamstring still bothered me at the beginning of the run. Overall a good run and the hot springs are excellent!

Friday: 5.06 miles at easy pace. Lots more rain but was able to get my run in the morning between rain storms. Good run, tried to explore the area a little more in preparation for my long run but quickly realized I had already found the best spots to run at. Turned back along the San Juan river and looped through the previously found territory.

Saturday: 11+ miles of mixed (tempo & easy) running. I was really excited about the workout I had scheduled and thanks to the hot springs my left shin and right upper hamstring felt great. The workout called for 2 miles easy (10:11/mi), 5 x 5-min at 8:12/mi with 1-min rest, followed by an hour of easy pace running. From my previous runs I had it all figured out, I would run my first mile down to the high school with the good track, then I would do a half mile up into a neighborhood and back so as to be back at the track at two miles. Then I would do the speed work portion of my workout on the track. Afterwards, it was off down the county road (CR) for my hour of easy pace running.

The 2 mile warm-up went well. I arrived at the track, hung my fuel belt over a fence post started off. Since I was running for time I didn't figure the lane much mattered and ended up running in #4. This was actually my first time on a track and I loved it. It was an artificial track, kind of spongy and it felt really good to run on. Holding this faster pace for 5 minutes wasn't too bad at first but by the 4th and 5th set it was getting pretty tough. Focusing on my stride rate seemed to help quite a bit. While heading down one side of the track with the breeze at my back I really could notice how humid it was from all the recent rains. It was a pretty area to run at though, quiet with mountains off in the background and surrounded by rolling hills covered with Pine and Aspen trees.

Once finished with the track I grabbed my fuel belt, gued and headed off down the CR I found for my hour of easy running. Since my easy pace is roughly a 10 minute mile, and since I was 1 mile from the hotel (in the opposite direction), I decided to do an out and back of 2.5 miles down the CR. That would put me back at the high school at 5 miles and then with 1 mile back to the hotel I should be just finishing up my hour of easy running by about the time I get there.

Almost as soon as I started heading down the CR it started to lightly rain. It felt good and didn't really bother me though it did look like it could get quite a bit worse. I was determined to get my full workout in so I keep on going and going and going... The CR wound around through some private land. It was all uphill and I thought it would stay that way for the entire time but then I crested a ridge (7400+ ft.) and started to head down into a valley.

By the time I was almost to where I needed to turn around the sky opened up and it started to downpour. Within seconds I could feel my socks and shoes become wet and heavy with rain. I decided that was close enough to my turn around point and that I had probably pushed it to far anyway and headed back. I found myself running harder than the easy pace my workout called for but I felt like I was so far out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a downpour that I just felt the need to pick up the pace. Then the lightening started to strike all around. And as I came back over the ridge which, due to a rather large clearing, I found myself to be almost the tallest thing around. At that moment lightening crashed within a couple hundred yards of where I was. I almost stumbled and fell down from it as the booming thunder erupted. I found myself fighting the urge to stop and kneel down as far away from the tall trees as I could. Then another strike hit almost as close as the first. I honestly started to fear for my life at this point. You hear about runners or people doing stuff in the mountains getting hit by lightening and now I could see the headlines: "Runner Struck Dead!" or "Stupid Runner Killed In Rain Storm!"

I didn't have anyway to get a hold of those I was on vacation with and they didn't know exactly where I was at either (there's a lesson or two there somewhere). So, I did the only two things I could do, I prayed and I ran faster with my only goal being to drop some elevation and get back down to a lower spot in the valley where I was more familiar with the area and where I wouldn't be such a target for lightening. The worst part was the anticipation of waiting to hear when and where the next lightening crash would happen. I kept this faster pace up for miles and needless to say my pace wasn't easy but I was definitely getting a good workout, that's for sure. As I got close to the high school the rain started to let up and the lightening subsided. I finished my run, completely drenched and with 1 bleeding nipple but I made it back safe and sound and that's all that matters.

Sunday: Rest

Posted by Heath at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

For the last year I've been trying to lose some weight. I haven't been on any diets per say or counted calories though I do try to be very conscious of what I'm eating, trying to eat only when hungry, eat better, eat less, run more, drink lots of water, etc...

This last week I've been hovering right around 40 pounds below what I used to weigh and needless to say I feel great. It's really amazing the difference gaining some fitness can make in your life, both in terms of how much energy you have and how you feel. Not to mention how it affects running. I think back to how I was running a little over a year ago and think about how I'm running now, or better yet, I picture wearing a 40 lb backpack on all of my runs... ouch!

As I reflect, I think one of the hardest things about losing weight is having patience, as most people know, it's not good to lose to much weight to quickly. So, if you want to do it right you could be in it for the long haul – depending how much you want to lose and how hard you’re currently working to lose it. When there's at least some progress it definitely helps to fuel the motivation. Of course I had a bigger goal in mind but I would normally just try to focus on what I thought would be possible for any given day or week. Though it’s probably best to focus on weekly versus daily goals as your weight naturally fluctuates which can be frustrating - make you feel like your not seeing the kinds of results you want or that you are working so hard to obtain.

Over the last few months (or even longer) I've been staying pretty steady at around 35 lbs below my initial weight – which in reality was about my initial goal. It's been nice because I’ve been able to focus even less on what I'm eating yet because of the added benefits of being able to run further and faster I've been able to maintain my weight more easily.

Lately, I’ve started to think that I could stand to lose another 10 to 20 lbs, but now not so much with the goal of looking and feeling better (though hopefully that will happen too) but mostly so I can just run better. My friends and family would all say I'm crazy and that I don't need to lose anymore weight - they're all really nice like that. But during really hard efforts I can feel it holding me back, maybe not a ton (no pun intend) but I feel it. Obviously, my level of fitness plays a roll but if you look at what you could potentially do with an equivalent level of fitness while carrying less weight - it's a no brainer.

So, not out of obsession but more out of the desire to run better which in the end, I may obsess about a little.

Disclaimer: By my title "Run More, Eat Less", I’m in no way trying to trivialize the process, effort or the difficulty some people experience trying to lose weight, but for me it’s become like a slogan.

Posted by Heath at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I ended up with over 33 miles in 6 runs. I've been feeling good and seeing improvements in my pace and stride rate. I had originally scheduled myself to run 7 times last week but I'm glad I took yesterday off, though it wasn't that restful when you consider all the strenuous yard work (moving tons of rock and building a deck) I've been doing. I really need to heed the wise words from Jeff when it comes to taking days off - among other things.

On the schedule for this week is more of the same, easy pace mileage with one long run and one short race. According to the book I'm using the long run (this one anyway) shouldn't exceed 25% of my totally weekly mileage. I'll try to take that under consideration but with scheduling at least one day of rest plus participating in the monthly 2 mile race on Saturday it may have to be a tad bit longer.

I'm definitely excited to start getting into more quality workouts along with starting to build up my long run mileage.

On another note, I finally had time to play a little bit with the look and feel of my blog. Well, I added some links and a header image. More to come as time allows...

Posted by Heath at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, it's not really that much of an accomplishment but I'm pretty excited about making it six days straight into my abbreviated marathon training program. I still have some stuff to finalize and figure out but so far everything has been going well.

Pace: As the week progressed my legs started to feel a little tired but overall I felt strong, stronger each day in fact. Today was back and forth a little bit, I had a few miles that I had a hard time holding back at an easy pace and other miles that I could hardly manage my easy pace.

Mileage: I'm looking to hit 40 miles this week if I run about 6.5 tomorrow. I originally was going to start with 35 mpw and then increase to 40 mpw but since I'll soon be focusing on more intense workouts I didn't want to over due it and combine more intensity with an increase in mileage. I still may need to increase my weekly mileage later but there's a good chance that 40 mpw will get me threw 'till the end.

Stride Rate: After less than one week of focusing on increasing my stride rate from 152 to the 180s I'm now running consistently in the low 170s. Not too bad an adjustment after just 6 days. Occasionally it gets pretty hard to keep my legs turning over this fast but I think when I do hills seem much easier. Maybe it's because there's less ground to cover with each step - makes sense. Or maybe it's because I'm running at an easy pace. Regardless, I'm curious (not to mention excited) to see how picking up the pace will feel with a faster stride rate.

Posted by Heath at 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Today is only my 3rd day into my marathon training plan and running 3 days in a row feels really good. I know running 3 days in a row doesn't sound like much for someone attempting to train for a marathon, and you're right, it's not. But it's still more consistent than I have been with my running in recent weeks. In the past, I've ran 5 to 6 times a week routinely but recently it appears I've gotten out of that habit.

I've also noticed that my pace and my stride rate are also more consistent with less concentration. It's pretty awesome how quickly the body can learn and adapt - hopefully this trend will continue as the workouts become more intense.

There's definitely something to be said for consistency and I'm excited to see how running consistently over the coming weeks will not only make me feel but also how it will help to improve my fitness level.

Posted by Heath at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, today was officially my first day of marathon training as I've finally managed to come up with a training plan. I know 11 weeks isn't much and for some reason I thought I had longer than that, but once I laid it out that's all there is.

I've been reading Daniels' Running Formula which lays out some really good advice for a 24 week training program which is then dividing into 4 phases. He also realized that runners won't always have 24 weeks and provides some good information for tailoring the program to fit the number of weeks that you do have available. This being said, I know won't be as prepared as I would have been if I had the full 24 weeks but if I stick to what's planned for the next 11 then I should at least do okay. I mean, compared to just running as I normally do.

The other thing that makes me hopeful is that I'm not starting from scratch as I've been running and training already, just not as much, as focused and as serious as I know need to be.

Phase I:

A couple weeks of regular and consistent easy pace runs with some strides thrown in (still need to figure out how to do those) and my first long run towards the end of the second week (probably not much longer than the 10 mile race I recently ran). Nothing hard, just an abbreviated base building phase. I'm still thinking about what my weekly mileage should start at but I'm leaning towards 35 to 40 miles per week. The plan calls for running most every day which shouldn't be a problem. When running 6 or 7 days week with at least 1 run being a long run these miles should divide out pretty easily. Plus, I wanted to have a fair amount of mileage but with the abbreviated program I didn't want to assume that I'd be able to make any big increases later on while also increasing the intensity and quality of my runs.

I also want to focus on increasing my stride rate while performing these easy runs. I read that the average stride rate for successful runners is in the neighborhood of 180 foot falls per minute (90 per foot). I counted mine several times while just running as I normally do and each time it came out to about 152. Then I tried to increase and maintain my stride rate so that I might not only feel what a faster rate feels like but so that I also might get used to it. I thought at first since I'm taking more steps per minute that I would end up running to fast but the problem seems to be the opposite. Since I'm taking more steps I'm trying to make them smaller to maintain an easy pace but I find that I'm going a little too slow. My legs are getting used to turning over quicker though I'm still not getting to the 180s I have been able to maintain in the 160s. Maybe when I'm running at a faster overall pace it will be easier to increase the rate even further. At an easy pace even the 160s feel like my legs are turning over pretty fast compared to how fast I'm actually running.

Posted by Heath at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, it's official - I just received confirmation that I'm now registered for my first marathon!!!

From Active.com:

Important Information Regarding Your Registration

Thank you for registering for a Sixth Annual American Discovery Trail Marathon event.

Let the training begin!

Posted by Heath at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Last Thursday morning, as I was trying to quickly catch my breath and stretch before my group headed out - I heard something mentioned about a training run on Saturday in which they would run the entire 10 mile course. My first thought was - I don't need to do that because I already did that last Saturday. But as the weekend drew nearer and as I thought about the long run I still needed to fit in this week - I realized why not run the course again. The best way to get good at something is to practice, not to mention what a beautiful place to run and the group would meet early which means I'd have time to get the run in without interfering with other plans already in place for Saturday.

With this in mind, I headed out quickly after work on Friday to pick up a fuel belt and some gels. I've been wanting to get a fuel belt for sometime now and thought this would be a perfect time as it's really starting to warm up and I need to start getting used drinking on my runs. I'm also starting to experiment with gels and so I bought some for me try out as well as a couple to pay my friend back as he's been gracious enough to offer me one on a couple of our recent long runs. I was planning on going to a running store that I hadn't been to before, it's actually located downtown but as I got off work and realized how much traffic I would have to contend with I quickly thought of another running store that I wanted to try. It was also much more on the way home than the first and so I gave them a quick call via 411 and they had what I was looking for. This ended up saving me a ton of time as I just stopped in quickly on my way home. I ended up buying the belt which holds 6 bottles and has a small pouch to hold a couple gels or what have you. I think 6 bottles might be a bit overkill for most of my current runs but with wanting to train for a marathon in the near future I figured it would be the best way to go. Besides, on shorter runs I could also use it without bringing all the bottles along just depending on how far I was going to be running.

So Saturday morning I got up early and drove across town (traffic was much better than during the week which was really nice) but when I arrived I had a hard time finding anyone else from the training runs. After a minute or two of driving around the parking lot where we were to meet I finally found a couple cars. There were only 6 people there (including me) and no one that I recognized. After some quick stretching I put on my garmin and my new fuel belt and went over to introduce myself. Three of the runners stated that they normally run around an 8:00/mi pace (I knew I wouldn't be running with them) and apparently one of the others there is the leader of one of the trail groups. He stated that he was going to take it easy and run a 9 or 10:00/mi pace. This is my goal pace for race day but I thought what the heck, I might as well try to hang with him as much as possible. The other runner was planning to run with him too and I got the feeling they've ran together before.

Anyway, so off we went - all together at first but then the faster group of 3 quickly started to pull away. We were running at a pace faster than that of what I'm used to but all in all it wasn't too bad. I thought about telling them that if I start to fall behind that they didn't need to feel that they had to wait for me - as I know the course and have done it before. But I held back telling them this - I thought I would bring it up later if needed but told myself at that time to just concentrate on keeping up the pace and staying with them for as long as possible.

As we hit the hills I had a hard time settling into my normal breathing - probably because we were going faster than I was used to. A trend I noticed was for the leader I mentioned to push hard on the hills leaving the two of us. The other runner was faster than me on the downhill but I was able to catch up to him and often pass him on the uphill portions. We'd all kind of get back together at the top of each hill and then proceed on. After several miles I noticed that I was starting to drift back (i.e. fall behind) on the downhill as they really seemed to be pushing it much harder than I was used to but I continued to catch up to the slower of the two on the uphill. It was interesting to see how much faster I was running while trying to keep up with them. I felt pretty good and after a while got some kind of normal breathing going even though my pace was faster than I'm used too. I felt a little tightness in my stomach as well but I also contribute this to the pace we were holding.

Speaking of, my mile splits came out looking like this... 9:41, 9:26, 10:05, 9:03, 9:14, 8:47, 9:39, 9:46, 10:17 and 9:37.

I also had two more at 11:41 and 11:56 on my way back to the jeep - I was totally wiped out by this point and felt like crawling or just laying down for a little while. But these were after what would have been the finish line on the race course.

I have never run so many sub 10 minute miles together, not to mention a sub 9 thrown in there too! Wow! That gets me pretty excited about the progress I'm making. This sub 9 minute mile was also the mile that I gu'ed which was a little tricky for me at first as I normally slow down (not speed up) to do this sort of thing so I guess that was good practice for race day.

Once we reached trading post (end of my sub 9 minute mile) we started the climb back up and at this point it was agreed that everyone would just continue back on their own if needed which would ensure that everyone (besides me) would also be getting a good workout. Though I didn't bring it up I thought it was a good idea as this is the part of the course represents a long climb and I didn't want anyone waiting on me. But as it turns out, I wasn't the one bring up the rear. The trail group leader heading off and I was able to keep him in sight for most of the first climb which lasted about a mile. During which time I was able to pass the other runner who openly admits the uphill portions are his weakness (he's very fast on the downhill though). I think he normally runs trails during the morning training runs but the group I'm in runs these hills every time and I've really been working hard and pushing myself on them which seems to be starting to paying off. By the time we climbed the first mile or so we were all alone, I never saw either of them again until the run was finished.

I kept pushing the up-hills as hard as I could and found that I wasn't able to push the down-hills as much as I had when I was trying to catch up and stay with them on the first half of the course. All in all I keep it moving pretty well though. I tried to make myself comfortable by breathing and drinking water from my new fuel belt (I only ended up drinking two of the four bottles I brought).

I must admit, I ran hard enough that I didn't notice much of the surrounding beauty though I'm sure it's all still there. I think a high point for me (no pun intended) was when I had finished pushing up the last hill (the highest point of the course) which is around mile 9 and I was roughly at 1:29:30 with less than one mile to go and it was literally all downhill from here. I knew even if I ran a 10 minute mile I would still beat my race day goal of an overall 10 minute mile pace. I pushed and tried to keep my legs moving on this downhill. My legs were feeling extremely spent at this point and it was about all I could to just to keep them landing out in front of me. I ended up down where the finish line would be with somewhere around an hour and 37 or 38 minutes. I don't recall right now as my garmin actually clocked mile 10 before the finish line and since I had to continue to run out of the park I just remember it was somewhere around there.

I was really excited as I had just beat my race pace goal on a training run. I guess maybe it wasn't as worthy a goal as I had once thought. So that leaves me with thoughts of a new goal, not really knowing what that should be since I really don't know how much more I could actually push on race day than I did on this run. Maybe I'll be surprised - who knows!

If I leave off the 2 mile run back to my jeep (for which it was 90% uphill and my legs were completely destroyed) then my overall pace for the 10 mile race course was 9:34/mi (if I recalculated my time correctly at 10 miles to be 1:35:41). That just amazes me!

Posted by Heath at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

For Thursday's training run in the garden I actually woke up on time, as opposed to Tuesday, and headed out even earlier than normal. As I drove across town I started thinking about getting in a warm-up by parking somewhere sort of close to where we all meet and then running in - this would also give me an opportunity for a cool-down following the training run. I've often thought of this as I near the park but have never had time to give it a try. So, since I was running early (pun intended) I thought I would park at the visitor's center and start from there.

Unfortunately, as I pulled into the parking lot it had a gate closing off the entrance. This was kind of a drag but I felt determined to give this a try. So I went back up the road (the way I came in) which is actually took me further away from where I needed to meet everyone. But I knew there was a pull off right by some good trails and paths to get me where I needed to go. I parked, got some things ready and stretched for a moment while my garmin acquired its signal and then off I went.

Remember, the whole idea was to get in a warm-up run before the normal training run started. Well, I'm not so sure that's what I got. In fact, I think maybe I should have had a warm-up run before my warm-up run!

Being that I didn't know how far away I was from the parking lot where we all meet up, nor did I know how long it would take me to get there, I ended up running pretty fast. As I ran towards the park, I starting getting a little concerned that I was going to be late (again) and not have any time to finish stretching or catch my breath before my group headed out. I was also noticing that the number of cars passing me on the way into the park had started to drop off considerably.

Well, I made it before they left but not by much. It turned out to be 1.6 miles from the pull off to the parking lot and I had run right in at around a 9:00/mi pace. The last .6 miles of which had been up a one significant hill and yet I was able to keep a strong constant pace. I didn't get much time to stretch but I was feeling good and warmed up by this point.

A moment later off we went and on menu was to practice running the first major hill of the race (most of which I had just done at a 9:00/mi pace). We ran down to the entrance of the park (which I had just came through moments before) turned around and started back uphill. I was feeling good and had already decided to run hard and run hard I did! We went back up the hill holding a very strong pace. We then continued at a very good pace down and around a portion of the actual race route. Once we reached the back side of the loop most of the group headed back towards the parking lot but not us! Those I were with were just shy of 5 miles at this point (I had my extra 1.6 miles from my warm-up run) so all 5 of us decided to start off down towards the trading post but planned turn to back at the top of the next hill a little ways off. At this point we headed back up to where we had split off from the group. Then Dean and I headed back out the way we came in, towards the front of the park, it's longer this way but it gives us an opportunity to practice the end of the course which include the last couple major hills.

The rest of the run went really well, we continued to run strong and made it back to the parking lot in no time. At this point I had originally planned to run back to my jeep for the cool-down portion of my run but I was already at 9 miles, not to mention it was getting late. With this in mind I called an end to a great workout and caught a ride back to my jeep with Dean.

So my plan of getting a warm-up and cool-down run in didn't really happen but it did turn out to be a great run. My miles splits ended up like:

9:05, 9:00, 9:37, 9:25, 9:09, 10:04, 10:17, 9:56 and 10:20.

Wow, I'm really starting to think that I can better my 10:00/mi pace goal for race day. I could change my goal but maybe it would be more fun to leave it where it is and then just see how much I can better it by.

Posted by Heath at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Tuesday morning I woke up late for my training run in the garden. I'm not sure why but I don't seem to be hearing my alarm clock lately. Regardless, I was determined not to miss this run so I quickly put on my running clothes, gathered my stuff and ran out the door. Initially, I felt a bit stressed as it's a good half hour drive (at this point I had 20 minutes) and with the stop lights and the surprising amount of traffic already out and about it could take even longer. But then I realized, who cares if I'm late? I will still get a good run in (it’s a gorgeous morning) and I'll still get credit for the run (they take attendance and you get free stuff for making so many of the runs). And then I had a great idea, what if I used this as an opportunity for a speed workout by trying to catch my group. Well, now I was totally excited about getting a good speed workout and completely at ease with being late.

When I arrived at the entrance to the park I noticed my group already heading down the road. I continued up to the parking lot where we all meet, proceeded to put on my heart rate monitor and my garmin and then decided to stretch while my garmin was trying to acquire a gps signal. This seemed to take forever as I'm realizing that my group is at least 3 to 5 minutes ahead of me now. Finally, my garmin finished acquiring its signal and off I went...

My mile splits for the run turned out like this: 8:31, 9:04, 9:01, 9:33 and 9:36 (.93 mi)

Assuming that my group was probably running their normal route I just continued to press on. I tried to get a glimpse of them here or there as I could occasionally see a turn in the road up ahead or the road would crest over a hill in the distance. I might have spotted them once but it was hard to tell from so far away, also, it could have been one of the faster groups which gave me a little hope. As I made my way down towards the trading post I saw my friend Dean (who is normally at the front of our group ripping up the hills). He said he had just been hanging towards the back of the group today taking it easy and had needed to make a pit stop. I said I arrived late and was getting in a good speed workout while trying to catch up to the group. He was also up for the challenge so away we went. Our group has really improved since these training runs started so I know they’re also holding a pretty good pace. But with the pace we were doing, plus the fact that the group circles back at the top of each hill to pick up anyone that might have been dropped; I really thought we'd eventually see them. I did become less optimistic though as the run went on but I was getting a killer speed workout in on these hills. Then, as we approached the last hill before getting back to the parking lot Dean (who had been slowly pulling away from me at this point) shouted "there they are!" So, we continued to run strong, catching them on the last major hill.

Afterwards I was telling leader of our group that we had caught up to them and he stated that he has tried this very same thing in years past but with no success. This was also encouraging as it's not an easy thing to do. What might have been our saving grace was that before the trading post the group had ran down a little bit further to balanced rock and back, not that far really but it definitely would have added a couple of minutes which then could have helped us to catch them on that last hill. I was very pleased with some of the paces I was able to hold and it was a great run, hard, but great nonetheless.

I was definitely much more successful at playing catch up during this run that I have been with my blogging this week.

Posted by Heath at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My first ever Parrot Predictor reading shows 4:19:52! I know it's just an estimate and maybe not even that good of one since it’s based on just one week with nothing to compare it too. But I'm still very stoked about the possibilities of being able to run a marathon anywhere in the neighborhood of 4:19!

I've been wanting to run a marathon for a while now and think I've found one that might be a good fit for my first - the American Discovery Trail Marathon. I know nothing of its prestige or how it would compare to other marathons around the country but I found it appealing for the following reasons.

1. It's a local marathon so I wouldn’t have to travel and I can train for it on the same roads and trails where it will take place.
2. It's supposedly pretty inexpensive as far as marathons go.
3. It's on mostly well groomed urban trails.
4. It's relatively flat with little elevation gain.
5. And most of all, it's not until September 4th, which gives me the summer to train and prepare.

I haven't registered yet but I plan to soon. My initial goals are 1) just to finish and 2) to finish somewhere around my Parrot prediction if things go well.

Posted by Heath at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

On Saturday I finished up the week by running the entire 10 mile course for the up and coming race in Garden of the Gods. Overall the run went great, the weather was perfect (even a little warm once out on the road yet comfortable), my legs felt fresh and my shins didn't hurt. A friend, Dean, who I met at the training runs, met me at 9 am. We dropped my jeep off at the visitors’ center (near the finish line) on our way up to the starting line. While parking, we made plans to meet up on race day at a set of flag polls close to the start.

We started off a little bit faster than I was thinking we should for a long training run like this but we were both feeling pretty good. But since we’ve never run the entire course we didn't really know what to expect. We also both have the same goal of a 10:00/mi (or under) pace for race day. I guess we kind of started out to challenge whether or not that is a worthy goal.

My mile splits ended up like this... 9:47, 9:26, 10:06, 9:45, 10:19, 10:15, 11:17, 11:10, 11:01 and 9:53.

The first two miles were mostly flat or slightly downhill but then the hills start, the first of which is steep and long. This is followed by miles of running uphill and down as you make your way through the park. The scenery was just beautiful! At around half way (mile 5.5) I took an extra gel (only my second time) that Dean had and was feeling good. In fact, when we got down by the trading post I started to think that maybe a 10:00/mi goal on race day might not be ambitious enough as we were at a 10:00/mi overall pace and this was only a training run.

Well, then begins the climb back up from the lowest point to the highest point of the course which takes us roughly from mile 6 to mile 9 (11:00+/mi splits). Dean actually ended up having some fueling challenges – he didn't feel good early on and then bonked about the time I was starting to feel like pushing it (gel from mile 5?). As we approached mile 8 I started to speed up and pushed hard all the way up through the last hill at mile 9. This last hill is a killer. I was feeling good and pushed it pretty hard though my splits don't necessarily show it - I was able to drop my pace and push all the way to the top of this hill which is a huge confidence boost. Once at the top it's finally all downhill to the finish line but after that last hill it seemed to take a while to get a good stride going again.

So, all in all it was a great run and I’d have to say that a 10:00/mi overall pace is still a worthy goal.

Posted by Heath at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

After yesterday's easy run that turned out to be, well, not so easy and today's workout in the garden my legs are completely shot. When trying to keep my pace on the hills this morning my legs just wouldn't respond. I'd push and nothing!

We actually started off fast this morning and the first hill felt great, I was able to maintain a good pace and stay at the front of the pack. But shortly after I found myself struggling to keep up, especially on the hills. I felt like I was going slow but some of my splits still ended up looking really good (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th respectively).

8:58, 9:35, 9:09, 10:41, 10:33, 9:59 and 11:37 for the last .75 mi.

I think it was a combination of going out too fast and my weekly mileage as I'm already over 25 miles for the week (in 4 runs). Lately, my mileage has been down a little as I've been concentrating more on quality runs. But this week looks to have both quantity and quality as I'm planning a 10 mile run through the garden for this Saturday morning (actual race course). That will put me at over 35 miles for the week. It's been a while since I've broken the 30 mile/week barrier. My shins were also bothering me a little bit today but I'm hoping with tomorrow's rest day my legs will be fresh and ready to go on Saturday.

Posted by Heath at 9:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday I was able to get in a quick speed workout where I alternated 1 min hard and 1 min easy running in between my warm-up and cool-down miles. I'd never tried this before but it seemed to give a good workout as I was able to push a pretty good pace with the easier min breaks. My mile splits were 10:27, 8:51, 9:31, 9:18, 9:27 and 10:20 (partial mile cool-down) with an overall pace of 9:33/mi. I did notice some pain in my left shin. It felt like a shin splint which I haven't had in a long time though it was manageable. Even though my mileage was a little less than normal last week I hammered it pretty hard on Saturday's 2 mile race.

Today we had our midterm for the Garden of the Gods training runs. It included running out of the park down by the trading post and then back in by way of Ridge Road. The hill was incredibly steep and seemed to just keep going and going. It has several places where it looks like it's going to flatten out but then just climbs right back up towards the vertical again. I ran it pretty hard and stayed close to the front of the pack. This was pretty much my overall goal for the day and for the most part it went well. My left shin did bother me a little bit until I was warmed up but once again it was manageable. We ran pretty hard today but it didn't really feel all that fast with all the hills though some of the mile splits tell a different story... 9:16, 8:59, 9:12, 10:55, 10:56, 8:41 and 9:59 (.78 mi) The last mile and a half, or so, are from a buddy and I going a little long after reaching the parking lot with the group. Overall the average pace comes out to 9:42/mi which I'm very happy with especially given the hills we ran today. Hopefully that equates to a passing grade on the midterm!

I actually remembered to bring my camera this morning so I could take a couple pictures but don't think I'm going to have time to post them, not right now anyway.

I now need to turn my attention to a final this afternoon, plus a take home final due tomorrow. Not to mention work, a flat tire and a sick family member! What am I doing blogging?

Posted by Heath at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was my first running in the Nielson Challenge put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners club. It's a pretty neat and as far as I know rather unique event. Essentially, you show up and race yourself and who ever beats themselves by the most is the winner. Once you establish a base time, as I did today, then you race against that time, plus (actually minus) the handicap that's computed to help keep things fair. It's held on the first Saturday of every month and looks to be a good way to judge your fitness as well as being another motivator for training. And besides all of that, it's FREE!

Having no idea how fast I can run 2 miles, how fast I should start out and things of that nature. I came up with a plan that went something like this. I know that I can get down into the low 9:00/mi range during training runs now and since this is only a 2 mile race I figured I'd shoot for an 8:00/mi pace. Then at 1 mile I could evaluate how I was feeling and start slowing the pace if needed, hang on to the current pace or possibly even speed up if at all possible. Well, this turned out to be a pretty good plan.

I showed up around 7:30 for a start time of 8am. There was only a couple people there and it was pretty cool and damp. I thought I'd do a little warm up run around the northern loop of the park while waiting for everyone to arrive and get set up. The warm-up was a good idea as my legs where pretty tight and I had some aches in several different places.

When I got back I felt pretty good and people were starting to form a line to get signed in and pick up their bibs. I jumped in line too and then spent some time socializing and stretching until it was time to start.

As the course was being explained and volunteers were being acknowledged I decided to move towards the back of the pack of 59 runners, not knowing how fast everyone else was going to start off and not wanting to be in everyone's way.

Once the race started I found myself in the middle of the pack as the pack quickly stretched out along the well groomed park trail. My garmin showed that I was doing around a 7:30/mi pace. Figuring I should stick with the plan I let myself drop the pace a little bit though I never let it climb all the way up 8:00/mi. At this point, though I was feeling pretty good my biggest concern was not knowing how long I could hold this pace. At the first 1/2 mile marker I still felt pretty good and had settled in at a pace of around 7:45/mi. My breathing was a little heavy but still for the most part under control. As I passed back by the start/finish line I heard 7:55 called out for the mile split. Not too bad I was thinking but I was starting to hurt and was unsure that I could keep this pace up for another mile.

Strangely, I actually ended up speeding up early into the second mile. I noticed that I was holding at several different sub 7:00/mi paces as I worked my way up to the next 1/2 mile marker. At this point, though I was impressed with my pace I was really starting to feel the pain. But, with only a half mile to go I just tried to hold on. My pace kept slowly slipping back up until I saw the bridge that comes just before the start/finish line. My friend had told me that when you see the bridge to turn it on. I'm not sure how much I turned it on but I gave a good effort and just tried to keep my legs turning over at a consistent pace.

Well, it turns out that overall I came in 24th and set a base time of 15:54. Which might end up being a tough time to beat in the future but it gives me something to shoot for and will definitely be a challenge. The race was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing how I can better my time in the months to come.

Posted by Heath at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

For blogging or much of anything else for that matter. But, fortunately I have been able to get in two killer workouts this week.

The first, a tempo run with some of my fastest mileage ever. The mile splits looked like this...

9:58 - 149
9:24 - 156
8:54 - 174
9:20 - 172
9:36 - 168
6:45 - 172 (.66 mi, 10:11/mi)

With an average pace of 9:32/mi and heart rate of 165.

I've just recently started getting my pace down around a 10 minute mile so to be able to string together t