Return to Social Running: 10/27

As I've noted in the past, I am not the most social animal.  In fact, I'm kind of like a neighborhood cat that always around but never really interacts much with others.  I don't really run with others all that often.  The nOg Runs are great for me because I can run with tons of people, but I can keep to myself without seeming like the weird creepy guy.  Really, I am not recluse, shut in, completely devoid of social skills and personal hygiene.  I bathe daily -- often with soap!  Seriously, small talk just isn't my thing.  I can do it, but given the opportunity to avoid it -- I will.  And, I damn sure won't seek it out.  If I see someone that looks completely disinterested in meaningless yet somewhat obligatory social interaction.  I'm more than happy to leave that person to themselves. 

However, that doesn't mean that I am against the idea of joining a running group.  I would love to find a group of people, who are obsessive as I am to meet up and run with on a regular basis, but I just don't know many people in my area that fit the bill.  I've gone through some major re-locations as an adult and have been rather piss poor at maintaining personal relationships, so I am not one of those folks that has a bunch of close friends that they can rope into joining them for merry escapades and adventures.  Also, running sometimes borders on a spiritual experience to me, and those moments are usually only found when your alone and perhaps on the verge of collapse.



All of this being said, running still is a great social outlet, and sometimes even the neighborhood cat, who most often scurries off under a car when you walk near it, will come up to you and act like it wants to play.  Well, Thursday night, this cat wanted to play . . . I needed to run with other people.  I just couldn't bring myself to hit the streets alone after work, and Hiroko was beat from a 12 hour day at work!  So, I ventured to Fleet Feet for their social run.  I am pretty off and on with the Fleet Feet Thursday night social runs, but I was pretty much a fixture in early spring. But, I stayed away while I trained for my Half Marathon.  It was good to get back to running with other people in a small group.  They were doing a Halloween costume thing, but I wasn't aware and came sans costume.  Otherwise, I might have dressed up as Peggy from the Discover Card Commercials, "Hello, My name Peggy.  I help you."  My run was awesome, and it was good to run with someone else.  I ended up doing the four mile course; however, there was only one other runner running that distance, but we made the best of it.  We ran with the other groups until our turn off at around the1.5 mile mark, after that we were on our own.  The lady I was running with said she a had been doing about ten and half minute miles recently, but that she was willing to try and keep up until we hit the hills in the fourth mile, then all bets were off.  But, she did really well and hung with me for most of the course and only really fell behind at the end of the last hill.  I was really glad to run with her because, since she didn't know the route that well, it forced me to make sure I didn't go out too fast on the early down hill and flat portion of the course, which I tend to do on this route, only to pay the price on the last long hill.  I am hoping to focus on my pacing before my next half, so I can set a realistic goal. 


I was really happy at how I handled the hill and finished the course and can see a huge difference from the last time I ran it in May and fell out.  I have one more race coming up and don't really know what to expect.  It is a 10k with a course that is similar to this course.  But, I doubt that this run will give me any real insight into how the race will go.

I did 4 miles in 40:55 for a 10:07 and felt fine after the run.  Really.  It was the best I have felt after a run in some time.

Mile 1 9:42
Mile 2 9:51
Mile 310:08
Mile 410:48

Last weeks nOg Run: 10/24

Last week Hiroko and I attended the nOg Run together for the first time in ages.  It will likely be that last time for ages as well.  Hiro's work is entering her busy time of the year, and it is getting colder here.  Hiroko . . .HATES the cold.  I, on the other hand, don't mind the cold as much as I do the heat.  I am not fond of wind, but could I can deal with for the most part.  I am actually looking forward to running in the colder months to come, but by far Fall is my favorite season of the year. 

The run itself was nice, and I felt much better after the 10 mile race than I did the Half Marathon.  In fact, I had no real ill effects from the 10 miler to speak about at all.  Anyway . . . I am about a week behind on this blog and nothing stands out about this run other than it was nice to run with Hiro at the nOg.

3 mile  28:17 for a 9:25 pace

1 9:30
2 9:17
3 9:29

Here is an interview I found with Anton Krupicka from last winter that I figured would be nice to share, since winter is quickly coming on:

Return to the nOg: 10/17

Hiro getting a new PR

Sore.  Stiff.  Beat all to hell.  That was how I felt on Monday.  Luckily, Hiroko and I had planned a small vacation around the Half Marathon, and I didn't have to work until Tuesday.  By late afternoon, I knew that I needed to get a run in but knew that it would be a slog-a-thon if I tried to run alone.  Luckily enough, Monday night is the night that Tir-Na-nOg hold a social run and trivia contest, which ofter draws over 300 runners to the streets of downtown Raleigh.  I tried to get Hiroko to join me but she was rest on her laurels after finishing 4th in her age group in Neuse River Brigde Run's 5k.  Yes, that's right.  Hiroko did one training run a then crushes yet another 5k!  I'm really glad that I was running in the Half and not the 5k because this might have been the time that Hiroko finally beat me. 

Anyway, the nOg Run ended up being just what the doctor ordered for me.  I was able to ride the wave of a huge group run, and push myself into running a nice three miler.  I missed most of the nOg run's while I was training for the half.  I had forgotten just how much fun I have a the nOg run.  I am going to try to attend a few of these over the course of the next few months just to give myself a change of pace.


I did 3 miles in 29:13 for a 9:44

1 9:20
2 9:42
3 10:12

Wednesday Evening Sports Conditioning Class

Monday I did some stretching and general maintenance at the gym.  Nothing really enough to consider it a real workout.  Tuesday was a rest day because Hiroko and I planned to go out for dinner with some friends.  Wednesday's workout almost didn't  happen because of too much sake and Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, but I persevered and went to the Sports Conditioning, which end with just enough time for me to get home and shower right before the face off.  The workout was really awesome and left me a sake sweating mess!  lots of push ups, sprints, abs, dips, lunges, ect.

As for the hockey . . .I had actually called Boston in 7 games at the start of the series.  Everyone else was say Vancouver in either 4 or 5, but I had faith in Tim Thomas and knew that the Sedin twins and Luongo would wilt under the pressure like the flowers they are!  I am not even a Boston fan, but I am so glad that they won!  The Sedin's and Burrows had more diving penalty minutes than points and that type of play should never get rewarded!  So in honor of the Boston Bruins I give you -- The Dropkick Murphys:



And . . . Queen:

Taking On the Fleet Feet Four Miler: 6-9-11

The four mile Fleet Feet course has been kicking the crap out of me since the heat went all nuts-o on us.  But, with the Komen Race for the Cure 5k in less than two days, I needed to prove something to myself by running this course well before the race.  Therefore I went to the Fleet feet social run with the idea that I would handle this course.  Also, I knew that this would be the last run of my first year of running.  Last year's Komen was my first race of any kind, and it awakened my passion for running.  So, I sort of had the idea that I wanted to finish my first year running with a good effort.

 The high for the day was once again in the mid 90's and well into the range that makes me crazy.  But, by 6pm the heat had noticeably dipped, so that once our run began it wasn't as wretched as it has been in recent evenings.   I started the run out fairly well and my goal was to run about a minute off of my race pace, which I thought would be in the mid 8 min mile range.  The Komen course runs right through my neighborhood, which makes my very familiar with hilly nature of the course, so staying in the 8 min mile range will be a challenge for me.  I decided that for the social run that a pace somewhere in the 9 min. mile range would do just fine for the first 3 miles and that I would take whatever I got from the last mile, which concludes with a hill that has been killing me for weeks now.

The first three miles were uneventful.  I ran them strong and was able to stay in the time range I wanted.  But, no matter how well I was running the prospect of that last hill just loomed over me for the entire run.  I tried to tell myself that I have run this hill successfully more times than it has gotten the better of me.  But the memories of my last two failures wouldn't fade and all I could do was dread that hill.  When I finally turned onto the last mile, I was in attack mode and just went after the hill.  I stopped looking back for the other runners, and just focused upon pushing my way up the hill.  I broke it down in section in my mind and tried not to focus on the whole thing.  I didn't allow myself to look too far ahead, and section by section I steadily progressed up the hill.  When I got to the top of the hill I was out of a little more out of breath than I wanted to be and my legs were a little more sore than they needed to be with a race less than 48 hours away, but after taking on that hill, my mind was relived and that made it well worth it.And in honor of that -- I leave you with the greatest music video ever made.


I did 4 Miles in 39:11.19 for a pace of 9:48

1 9:14.47
2 9:29.14
3 9:37.14
4 10:50.34

Miami Marathon Registration Run -- 6/2

Well Boys and Girls, I did it.  I have committed myself to running in the Miami Marathon in January.  I am excited, nervous, and slightly overwhelmed.  Regardless of the outcome of good, bad, ugly, downright scary, I am determined to make every effort to enjoy the challenge of this commitment.  I am in 100%!  It is that simple.  If I were not, I wouldn't dream of doing this.  As my love of running has grown over the last year, the challenge of a marathon has been looming off in the distance, seemingly waiting for me to make this leap.  Well, yesterday was the day where I put my chips on the table, and if all goes as planned, I'll go all in on Jan. 28th!

I'm In!

My eating habits are already changing, but I am going to have to get tough on myself, and I expect to have injuries, wretched runs that make me doubt myself, swollen feet, sunburns, fights with horse flies swarms, runs in every weather extreme Raleigh can imagine, and I am sure to face difficulties that I haven't even considered.  But, I welcome it all.  I want and need this sort of challenge in my life, and if in the course of my training anyone that reads this blog begins to hear me bitch and moan too much, please feel free to remind me that I wanted it.

After work I celebrated my registration by attending a very hot Fleet Feet Social Run, which I enjoyed a great deal.  I chose to run the 3 mile hilly course because it most resembles the Komen course that I will be running next Saturday.The heat was still a sweltering 93 yesterday, but we are expecting it to relent for the next five days!  High's in the mid 80's to low 90's!

I ran 3.07 in  28:48.92 for a 9.23 pace.
Mile 1 8:57.71
         2 9:24.67
         3 9:54.67

And just to reflect my mood here is my song for the day:

The Mizuno "Run with Us" Truck at Fleet Feet Social Run: 5/26

Mizuno One Pager

The Mizuno "Run with Us" Truck stopped by the Fleet Feet Social run last night and brought tons of shoes for everyone to test run, some awesome prizes, and pretty cool give always. Despite temperatures in the low 90's and some unforgiving humidity, there was a pretty large turn out. Fleet Feet also offered a 10% discount on all Mizuno purchases made that night, which was a nice little plus. I recently purchased two new pairs of Saucony and moved up to a 15 wide after ripping my last pair, so I wasn't looking to purchase anything last night. However, Mizuno is a brand that I know little about, so I was interested in seeing what they had to offer. Truthfully, I hadn't even expected them to have any 15's for me to try on, but shockingly, I was wrong. In fact, the Mizuno "Run with Us" Truck had two pairs from which I could choose. I can't tell you how much that impressed me because far too often stores won't even stock 15's, which is really frustrating. Finding that Mizuno had brought two pairs with them, on the off chance that someone with large feet might come to an event, just made me really happy and scored the folks at Mizuno some major points! I tried on the Mizuno Wave Rider 14, which are offered in a 15 wide. The Truck had the standard 15, and I decided to give it a try anyway. Immediately, I could tell that I had made the right choice by moving to a wide. I tried to give it a go nonetheless, but I quickly thought better of it and went back for my shoes. Still, just the fact that the 15's were there was impressive, and next time I go looking for shoes, I'll be much more likely to look into Mizuno's offerings. On many occasions when I have asked people about Mizuno's, I have been told that they run narrow and that I shouldn't waste my time, but now that I know that they offer 15, and 16 in both standard and wide sizes, I won't be so quick to dismiss them.

As for my run, I had planned to do the 4 mile loop, but I lost my group when I went back to exchange my shoes. When I returned to the run, I decided to run the course in reverse and do an out and back when I met up with the group. I could tell right away that this wasn't going to be a good run for me. I had a lot of soreness from the prior day's sports conditioning class. And, the humid air was much more punishing than I had expected. I am still in my first year of running, and I spent last summer either running early in the morning, on the treadmill, or injured, so I am not really experienced with the Raleigh's humidity from a runner's perspective. Of coures, having lived here I know the challenges our summers bring, but trying to run in this climate is whole different animal.

I met the group at about a mile and a half into my run. And, fell in with them knowing full well that I would basically be re-running the most hilly portion of the course, and would now be running it in the more difficult direction. Right away, I could tell that I wasn't up to snuff today. My stomach felt dicey, but I wanted to try to push through. I made it nearly all the way back, but I was increasingly struggling to keep with the guy with whom I was running. Just as we got the the steepest portion of the run, which is right at the end, I felt done in and dropped down to a walk. I was a little disappointed in myself, but I knew that I just didn't have the will to push myself the rest of the way. But, that's alright because I know that this frustration I am feeling about falling out of my run will be fuel for my next run.

Thursday Fleet Feet Social Run: Road Testing the Little Piggy that Stayed Home -- 5/19

After three days of ice, anti-inflammatory medicine, and no running, the little piggy that stayed home was felling pretty good .  The bone which the swelling was around is still sticking up more than the bone on the opposite foot, but the pain had subsided.  After thinking about it for absolutely no time at all, I decided to go to Fleet Feet's Social Run for the first time in a good while.  I feel in with a group that was targeting a 4 mile run at an 8.5 minute pace, which is faster than what I have been doing recently.  A 9 min mile pace would have been right in my comfort zone, but after thinking about it for absolutely no time yet again, I decided to go with it.

I though that we would build up to that pace gradually because that was what we said we would do when we set out.  However, I seemed to be mistaken because we started out right around 8 flat for most of the first mile.  I decided to hang on as long as I could but knew I couldn't maintain that pace for 4 miles.  We did the first mile in 8:16.25 after we backed off a bit toward the end of the first mile.

The second mile was nearly the same pace and I thought that I would just drop back at the two mile mark.  At the pace we were running I would beat my 5k PR if we maintained this pace, and I wanted no part of a training run PR!  If I am going to break that sucker, I want it to be in a race!  My toe was just a little sore just as we started the run but any pain I was feeling quickly faded.  We did the second mile in 8:17.74, and I told the other runners that I was going to drop back and not to worry about me.

However, as the third mile progressed I closed the initial gap that had opened up between us right a the two mile mark.  This wasn't on purpose or ego driven in any way.  I just felt as if I had hit a pretty good groove and keeping pace well.  My new goal became to hang with them until the three mile mark.  We were no longer in danger of eclipsing my PR, but I just felt that three miles would be a good place for me to stop and walk.  The foot was still feeling good but there just wasn't any need to press my luck -- No need for the running Whammy.  The last mile took 8:48.49, and I happily shut it down.  I could have pressed on, but this just felt like a it was enough.  I had done 3 miles in 25:22.32

Thursday Fleet Feet Social Run: 4/14

I attended the Fleet Feet Social Run on Thursday.  We did 4 miles in 38:15.42 at a 9:34 pace.  In the past, I've spoken about how I am sort of in between pace groups on this run, which is frustrating because I don't run with the slower group and be unintentionally pushing them to run faster or run with the faster group that will run me into the ground by the second mile.  Staying my own pace would most often would leave me running alone, which kind of defeats the purpose of attending a social run, but I have been thinking more about it, and this run could be a good place for me to learn about pacing.  I have just been so happy to be running that I haven't given enough attention to pacing and understanding how it will benefit me as a runner.  Up till now, I have just been amazed to be running.  Recently, I have come to think of myself as in the my toddler stage as a runner: I am up and about, happy as hell to be doing it, but not skilled in the slightest!  Now that the weather is getting nicer, more people are beginning to show up to the run, and almost all of them are more experienced than I.  They may not be running at my pace, but they know how to maintain their pace, which is a skill that I lack.

As for my past post regarding Frayed Laces and her Chicken Nugget post, she has since removed the post from her blog, which has caused a lot of folks to come to my blog to read what she wrote.  I know that FL is taking tons of heat in lots of forums right now for what she wrote, which I think she deserves.  But, I would ask that people refrain from getting nasty.  She wrote something pretty boneheaded and smug sounding, but I honestly think that it was more out her own over exuberance and commitment to the sport she loves.  I am not saying she deserves a pass for what she said, but that one post doesn't sum her up as person anymore than eating nuggets after a long run sums up a persons status as a runner, which is I hope the lesson that she learns from all the ire she brought down upon herself.

nOg Run: Monday 4/11

Hiroko and I went to Tir Na nOg and did the run on Monday, which was the hottest nOg run thus far this year.  The 6pm start time of the nOg run are going suuu-uuck come mid-June!  My legs felt a tad better than they did the day before, which meant that they were still tights as hell.  I wanted to get the run in hopes that an easy run would keep my legs from tightening up.  Hiroko has been working like crazy, so she hasn't been running at all.  Not that she runs all that much to begin with.  She enjoys races, but isn't big on training, and I am pretty sure that she enjoys running on the dreadmill more than running outside because she doesn't have to deal with hills and can watch the Food Network or read a gossip rag while she runs.  I, of course, am the exact opposite and now despise the Dreadmill and want no part of it if I can help it.  Oh-well. 

On Monday, we did the run together and since my hammies were still pissed, I stayed with Hiroko for the whole run.  We did the 2.8 mile run in 26:27.51, which is about a minute and a half off from what I have done over my last few nOg runs, so I am pleased that I was able to resist the urge to faster because of the crowd.  I did the first mile in  9:32.1, the second in 9:25.77and the last .80 in 7:29.63 for  9:23 pace.