The Thorniness of Going It Alone

I haven't gone on a group run or workout since early summer.  When I quit the Y last year, I thought that I would struggle to find the motivation to workout.  Nor did I think that I would be able to force myself to workout at home.  However, much to my surprise, I have been able to motivate myself and have actually been more diligent about my workouts than I was when I attended fitness classes on a regular basis.  I didn't think that running alone would be an issue.  I have always enjoyed my alone and time growing up as an only child has kind of prepared me to deal with long periods of solitude.  So, I don't feel The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (shout out to Silltoe), which is a major blessing.   I do tend to get bored running the same route after a while but that would occur regardless.

The main issues that I have about running and working out alone are that it is easy to get in a training rut.  I have made an effort to incorporate some of the exercises that I dislike into my workouts, but when going it alone it is very easy to just do the things that you enjoy day in and day out.  And when it comes to running, there is no one around to force you to push the pace or go a bit longer than you planned.   Over the past few weeks, I have had some over use strains that I think are the result of my lack of attention to stretching and an imbalance in my workout.  I am making an effort to correct the issues, but when your going it alone, it easy to fall back into the same habits.  Also, I think that running with other people might just be what I need to push myself out of my comfort level and grow as a runner.  Once the weather improves and the time change happens, I'll try to take advantage of some of the local group runs when I get the opportunity.  I'm not sure really need to return to taking fitness classes if I am able identify the exercises that I normally avoid and put then into my routine at times.  So far, things have gone much better than I  expected that they would once Hiro returned to work from the baby, and as long as I can pay attention to the needs of my body and my family, I'll be a happy running dad in 2013.

Hitting the Starting Line Cold

I'm not sure about you, but I like to run an 8k or a 5k a few weeks out from running a Half.  It is a good way to judge where I am physically and to get out some of my pre-race jitters.  Unfortunately, do to some self-imposed travel restrictions, and some baby imposed schedule issues.  I can't find a good race to run before The Tobacco Road Half Marathon on March 17th, which means that I have not run a Race since November and have only run that one since June.

I have trained and feel ready to tackle the distance, but I'm kind of afraid that I'll either flame out in the beginning of the race or run too conservatively because in an attempt to avoid going out too fast.  Granted, these are the same anxieties that I usually carry into every race, but I often use my previous race as a point of reference to quell my paranoia.  In this case, I am just going to have to adjust on the fly because I have no other options.  One thing is for certain, the race will quickly be upon me, and I am looking forward to lacing "em up and making yet another stab at a sub 2 hour half!  Sunday, I did a very icy 10 miler in Umstead park that felt awesome.  I had not run in Umstead since the start of my wife's third trimester some time in August, and I had missed those damn hills in a way that I could have hardly imagined.

Two Weeks of Baby Balancing Workouts

For the last two weeks my wife and I have been passing our son back and forth as we work around each others schedules, and I've been trying to get in my runs and keep my workout schedule where it needs to be.  Fortunately, I think that we have done well and being alone with my son has caused me to make some positive changes as well.  For one, if the weather is nice I am much more likely to go for a walk.  Kaito loves to ride in his stroller and a 3.5 mile stroller walk is and awesome way to get him to take a nap while burning a few calories.  Also, I am so busy around the house with diaper changes, feedings, bottle washing, dishes, laundry, clean ups, and playtime that I don't have time to sit around and snack.  When I do go for a snack it is usually something easy like an apple or orange.

My workouts and runs have dropped off a little, but a lot of that is to do with getting use to our new schedules and finding out what works and what doesn't.  Also, I lost one day due to a migraine, which pre-baby wouldn't have matter all that much but was more difficult to reschedule now.  It is interesting that in the past my schedule had nothing but flexibility, which sometimes led me to put off a workout thinking that I could do it later in the day, only to to delay again and again, until I ended up skipping it.  Now, I know that if I don't get up at 4am on Saturday morning, I am not running that day.  So in some ways the nature of my schedule is adding motivation to my workouts, which is something that I would not have expected.  We'll see if this continues but as of now things are going well, and I am off now, because I have no more time in my schedule for blogging today.

New Challenges for a New Year

I would LOVE to tell you that I am setting new distance goals for 2013, or a new pace goal, maybe even a foray into the Marathon, but those goals are all secondary at this point.  My wife's maternity leave ends this week and rather that put or son in daycare (we don't have family in the area to help), we've decided to just work around our work schedules.  Luckily, I can work from home a little and my wife schedule is flexible enough to mostly work around mine.  However, workouts and runs will all be subject to very narrow windows that will be inflexible.

My son is still too small to go in the running stroller yet, but we will be incorporating lots of long walks in to out exercise regime.  Over the Christmas holiday I made a concerted effort to begin working out at home rather the relying on the gym, so that I can get in my workout on days when a trip to the gym becomes an impossibility.  Kaito is pretty good about sleeping after walks and after he eats, so I should be able to get my exercises in during those times on most days.  In addition, I've taught myself to incorporate household chores into my workouts.  My main concern is finding time for long runs.  Any run under 6 miles can be sandwiched into a lunch hour or done early before work hours, but those runs over six are going to mean no sleeping in on weekends and I will have many a sleepy day ahead of me.  So really for this year, my goal is just to stay fit, keep running, and do more than my fair share of taking care of my son, the house, and our cat.

I see keeping it all together as my big challenge for this year, and frankly, I am looking forward to it because . . . well I am awesome at wasting time.  Since I've become a dad there are many other things that I would like to be awesome at rather than wasting time, for an example see the video above.

My World At the Moment

On October 14th my world turned upside down.  Kaito's birth was a couple of weeks early and even though Hiroko and I were pretty well prepared, you're never really prepared to deal with a new child . . . never. . . ever. . . and we weren't.  Three day's after his birth I found myself checking my son in to the Hospital, sleeping on couches and chairs as he spent two days being treated for Jaundice.  Not where we expected to be.  But finding myself in a children's ward among kids and parents, who were dealing with devastating illness like cancer, opened my eyes to the realities of fatherhood rather quickly.  And despite Kaito's illness being fairly routine, let me tell you, when someone hooks your three day old son up to a machine to monitor his vital signs, it will make you go weak in the knees.  Two day's later, we were home and doing fine, but the realities of parenthood were stark and boundless joy mixed with cold hard panic and fear with nearly every moment.

I managed only two runs in the first three weeks of parenthood, and despite missing running, my responsibilities to my wife and son took priority over everything.  I routinely forgot to take my inhaler, didn't bother to even check the score of the Raider game, and didn't turn on the TV for weeks.  Blogging not only fell to the wayside, it nearly fell off the map when the responsibilities of parenthood combined with a new job at work.  However, slowly, day by day, as I've gotten more sleep, my life has begun to feel slightly more manageable . . . at times.  I've found time to run and workout regularly, the Raiders have been so Godawful that I don't even waste my time, hockey is on strike, but The Walking Dead and Radio Lab still provide my with some nice entertainment, and I even managed to run a race . . . . with only three hours of sleep.

And there is Kaito . . . he is now the center of everything.  Words are feeble things that can't hold the weight of meaning needed to describe the love a parent holds for their child, and I am not a skilled enough writer to adequately put them to the task.  Let me just say that the feeling of his hand wrapping around my finger will never fade from my memory.  And I never knew joy until I felt the softness of his hair or his feet kick the palm of my hand.   I can go on and on and on, but it is getting late and sleep in a rare commodity these days.  Not sure when I'll get back to blogging regularly, but when I find the time, I'll continue to write about the place in my life that I have carved out for running.  

An Admission that I Suck and Shout Out to Morgan & Spike as They Get Hitched

Originally, I had a grand idea of organizing a virtual run in honor of Morgan & Spike's wedding, but I SUCK I have been swamped by a position change at work and baby freakouts planning and have had to scrap the idea.  Many MANY apologies to Morgan and Spike.

However, if you are running this weekend and think about it.  Please send a shout out to Morgan and Spike on there wedding day!  They're AWESOME people and are taking the first step in their new lives together this weekend.

A Happy Little Runner Running Through A Bob Ross World

Saturday's run was just enough of a struggle that it caused me some concern about running on Sunday.  My plan had been to make an attempt a topping my weekly mileage out at 30 miles, which would be my new high water mark.  But, Saturday, had been a bit warmer than I had expected, and I was feeling the miles more than I should.  However, since I am inching close to the uncertain times of Hiroko's pregnancy, I thought that I had better go for 30 miles now.  Luckily, the morning was nice and cool with just enough cloud cover and strong breeze that kept everything nice and cool.

Entrance to the Greenway at Meredith College

I have been running the same route over the last few weeks in order to stay closer to home and get used to wear most of my runs are going to take place over the next year or two.  Luckily, the Greenway near my house really offers a lot of interesting sights as well as a challenging course.

I go through two tunnels, cross run bridge, run through a college campus, a museum, past a research farm, a small lake and into a State Park all in the span of five miles, which makes this a pretty awesome place to run.  Sunday, I began to feel like as though I were running through a world created by Bob Ross.  The sky was impossibly blue, and filled with happy clouds and happy trees, which just caused my run to pass by with an amazing senses of calm and ease.  Frankly, the feeling actually mirrored the calming high that you get from watching an old episode of Bob Ross' show.  I ended up doing 11.5 miles and crossing the 30 mile mark in a rather peaceful fashion that left me with the feel that good old Bob was smiling down on me saying something like "let's just add a happy little runner on the side of this road".    

Turkey Love Run!

 

 

Bowling was one of my PE classes in college.  Yep.  Bowling.  One of the things that remember from that class was that three strikes in a row is called a Turkey.  After Sunday's awesome run and Tuesday's fantastic run, I set out yesterday morning on mission for my 3rd great run in a row.  It was going to be my Turkey run.  The morning was cool so I decided to run through the Museum park near my house.  The area is beautiful on mornings when there is a little fog, and it didn't disappoint yesterday.  I ended up doing 6.5 miles and just enjoying the heck out of my Turkey Love Run!  I've No idea when the last time I had three runs like this in a row.  

Assembling a Great Run

Running has been a soul crushing catalog of everything that sucks over the last few weeks.  Sometime in early to mid August, the wheels just came off and nearly all of my runs just turned to excrement!  Heaping piles of EXCREMENT!  Mile after mile spirit snatching crappy crappy runs.  The only thing that helped was running trails, but then scheduling and late summer thunderstorms conspired to take trail running away, leaving me to slog along the city streets of Raleigh.  My mileage has been sinking quick, runs have gotten cut short, and I've been wondering if I am suffering from burnout.  Or perhaps, it is anxiety caused by my impending fatherhood.  To top things off my shoes smelled worse than Basil's litter box and all of the music on my I-pod was putting me into a coma!  Arrgh!

Luckily, yesterday seemed to offer me hope that things are going to get better.  Aside from the weather improving, and the realization that my fall allergies begun, which require some medication, I had three big things come together.

1. Brooks Ghost 5's
2. I Was Totally Destroying It
3. Angry Angel Beer

Last week my wife and I decided that, even though the Asics I had worn during the summer had many more miles on them, the stench was too much and they had to go.  I wasn't really happy with the clunky nature of the shoe, so I decided to try something different.  Luckily, the running store that I shop at had a pair of Ghost 5's in my 15 wides!  As soon as I put them on I knew this was it.  I did two short runs in the earlier in the week and the felt awesome. However, during my run on Sunday, I realized that I had long last found "my" shoe and know how Cinderella felt when she put on the glass slippers!

Also, One of my friends posted a song from a band I Was Totally Destroying It that I had seen a few years back and really liked but hadn't bought any of their Cd's.  So last week, I bought I bought Preludes their 2011 offering, and wow!  It was just what I needed.  I love the whole CD.  It is awesome when you find a local band that you really like and can easily identify with.  I listened to this CD three times over the course of my 10 miler.  Both the music and the lyrics were appealing and help push me along as I ran.

Confidentially or maybe not, in two of their songs I Was Totally Destroying It: All Get Lucky and With You Now the lyrics refer to someone as an Angry Angel, which is interesting because a local brewery that I like Big Boss Brewing Company makes a beer called Angry Angel and I just happened to have one in my fridge.  Every time those songs would played I would begin to think of just how good that beer was going to taste when I got home.  It was great fuel for an awesome run.

. . . And awesome it was.  I tackled 10 miles for the first time in nearly a month, and more importantly, I finished this run stronger than I started it.  I can't recall the last time that I felt stronger over the last five miles that I did over the first.  I just hope that this run is a sign of things to come and not just a momentary blip.

Best Wishes Virtual Run October 13th to 15th

Many of people in the Blogging and running world know these two, right?

Image stolen and used without permission, don't be mad!  Please!

Morgan & Spike are two of the best people that I never met in real life, but interact with via the wonderful world of the Internet, and as many of you know, they are getting hitched on October 13th.  Morgan has been the most supportive and encouraging person of my running, fitness, and blogging life.  Her comments and have meant so much to me, and I wanted to let her know just how much her encouragement means to me.  When she was suffering from a stress fracture and couldn't run for around a year, she still took time to read about my running life and send me some encouraging words.  It meant the world to me, and I think that I have found a way to say thank you.

The Plan: A Best Wishes Virtual Run For Morgan & Spike

When: Anytime Between October 13th and 15th (the wedding is the 13th and Morgan's Birthday is the 15th)

What You Do:  Take a run in honor of Morgan & Spike, send me an e-mail at: gregjd77@gmail(dot)com and tell me the number of miles you ran in honor of Spike and Morgan. Links post, and pictures would be awesome as well!  All will be shared with Morgan and Spike.  I plan to do a write up of every ones effort and share it on by the end of October.  (Adam at the Boring Runner is also planning to help as well and I'll add a link to his page shortly)

What You Get: A warm fuzzy feeling inside for having done something nice for two people on their wedding day.

What I Get: The same warm fuzzy feeling.  Nothing more.  I do not wish to profit from this in way.  I don't do promotions on my blog, nor do I have ads or profit from my blog in anyway.

Do you have to know Morgan or Spike to participate:  No, not at all.  On my wedding day total strangers went out of their way to congratulate my wife and I and wish us well.  It was wonderful!

Do Morgan & Spike know about this:   I am not trying to keep it a surprise and did ask permission.  This is my way of attempting to do something nice for a couple on their wedding day.