First Lunch Hour Run: 5k 10/13

The Free to Breathe 5k on Nov. 6th in Raleigh is being run right on the campus where I work.  The course goes right past my office, so today just before lunch, I thought to myself "why should I wait till after work to run?"  So, I changed in to my running clothes, which I had in my bag for the gym and went for a run.  I ran the exact course that I will be running on the 6th.  I took along a stop watch that one of my co-workers had for his work, so I even have an accurate time: 28:23:15, which is not bad at all.  This is a hilly course and there was some lunch hour traffic to deal with, but mainly -- I never really opened it up.  I just ran my normal pace the whole way.  I think that this might be a slower course than the last two race that I have run, but I won't know that for sure until I have run it a few more times.  I plan to run it at least two more time before the race, and the lunch time run might happen more often.  Luckily, I live very close to work, so I can go home and shower if needed.  However, what I may end up doing is riding my bicycle to work in the morning, running at lunch, ending at home, showering, then drive back to work and put the bike back on the rack on the way home.  Hmmm . . . sounds like a plan to me!

Monday Plycore:Slowly Backing It Down 10/11

I could have taken Monday off, but I want to do a little cross training before my taking a day off.  So, I went to Plycore class, which was nice.  It was kind of different from what I am used to doing in the class.  It was much more of an aerobic and kind of low impact, which I really needed.  I stayed for 45mins of the class before going and hitting the foam roller and stretching.  I knew before class that we would no longer be running outside in the morning as part of this class, so I will now be able to change up my workouts a bit easier over the next few weeks.  I might be able to move my long runs to Sunday if Friday's CrossFit class kicks the tar out of me.

Tuesday is an off day, and I plan to run on Wednesday rather than attend class.  I may or may not do the ab portion of class, but I plan on starting a daily ab workout for myself over the next two months.  I am pretty sure that my gut negatively effects my running and working on my core would really help my running.  I don't plan to go crazy but just get in a little bit each day to see if I can tighten up some.  At the least, my back and upper legs will benefit from it. 

Mentally, I am feeling alright following the run.  I am really glad that I signed up for the 5k in November because two months would have been just too long to wait for my next race. 

Recovery Run or Whatever You Choose to Call It and an Article: 10/10

I am not a science guy but the science of running interest me.  From time to time, I will post different articles about running that I come across not because I take them as gospel, but because I am pretty new to running, and I want to know what the conventional wisdom is saying.  There are so many sources of good, bad, and misinformation out their that I am more looking for patterns rather one place that holds all of the answers.  So, I have been reading tons of blogs, looking up articles on the web, and have signed up for a subscription to . . . wait for it . . . yes . . . Runners World in order to get a broad range of information.  Recently on other blogs I have been reading: I Am Boring said something about doing a recovery run, and despite not being able to find the post again because I am too lazy to scroll through his whole blog again, so I google the heck out it the term and found lots of interesting info, which all seemed to disagree with each other on one level or another.  Below, you find a link to one article that seem fairly interesting, didn't put meet to sleep, or sound like someone rocking back and forth on their own little hobby horse. 

A Fresh Perspective on Recovery Runs

The reason that I was interested in the concept of a recovery run is that I felt like total garbage after each of my last 5k's for the better part of week, something I didn't care to repeat after Saturday's race.  I already figured that it would be less likely because this race was on a much less humid day, and my conditioning has improved greatly since either of those races.  But, I just didn't want to sit on my couch and watch football all day, so after reading up on recovery runs and deciding that I probably didn't need to do one, I did one anyway.  I also think that I just wanted to get back out there to try to aid in my mental recovery.  I felt better about the race after getting a nights sleep, and the time didn't bother me.  It was the fact that I had to stop running that really had me down.  I basically wanted to run just to clear my mind.  However, I wanted to take it easy and run on as flat a surface as I could.  About a mile from my apartment there is road that is just perfect for my needs.  Fleet Feet of Raleigh is right near there, so there are all kinds of runners and jogger running along that stretch of road.  It also has really nice bike lanes, so it is just ideal.  I walked the mile to where the road started then did an easy 3 mile.  It was just what I need to sort myself out.  After walking the mile home, I felt really relaxed.  I didn't have any pains or soreness to speak of at all, so I was just pleased as punch with my recovery run or . . . whatever?

Triangle Run/Walk for Autism 5k: Lessons Learned (race report) 10/9

OK, I set a new PR: 25:45!  This is 45 seconds faster than my last 5k, and this was on a much more difficult course, which make me happy.  However, I did not get my goal time of 25:00 mins flat, but I did learn a lot a valuable lessons. 



My motto for the race which is from Frayed Laces Blog.

 The Triangle Run/Walk for Autism 5k was a race that I had been looking forward to for about four months.  I signed up for the race sometime in June and had really big aspirations about, both running and civic.  I tried to organize a team for this race at work, but it never got off the ground like I had hoped.  I was able to put together a small team, but I had really hoped to have a lot more people take part in the race, and I was disappointed with this aspect of the race.  The people, who did join me were awesome, and I really want to thank them because this race was really for a great cause.  Being a team leader is something that I will do again, but I will make sure that I on those days I am running the race just for fun and enjoyment because I need to focus on either my individual goal or organizing my team -- not both.  Yesterday, I just couldn't get focused on running my race.  I am the type of person that internalizes a lot in order to get focused.  For about 20mins. before the race I need to just listen to my music go over things in my head and just pump myself up, which isn't really a good way to go about things when you are leading a team, so I won't try to combine the two efforts again. 



Prerace warm up

 Also, this race was my first competitive race with close to 1000 participants, and I really did not know what to expect.  I know that there would be some bunching up at the start of the race, but I was not prepared for the number of slower runners who lined up at the front.  I expended a lot of energy at the beginning just trying to weave my way through the crowd.  I should have expected this, and I did to some extent, but I just wasn't prepared for it.  I also should have lined up a bit closer myself, by my timing chip I can tell that it took 30 seconds just to reach the starting line, which is not bad when think about how long it takes a some Marathons, but for this event, I was clearly lined up in the wrong spot. 

Unfortunately, I let these distractions effect how I ran my race.  I really wanted to get clear of the pack, which led me to run the first mile at a much faster pace than I wanted.  Also my quad had started to tighten up the night before just enough to be a distraction.  I don't think that it effected how I ran physically speaking, but mentally I was distracted by the slight burning I felt in it.  At the one mile mark, I was doing OK and was optimistic that things would get better for me as the race progressed, but it just never happened.  The 1.5 mile marker was right at the foot of the on big hill on the course, which I went up fairly well, but the hill didn't level off.  Instead, you made a right turn and immediately went in to a slow incline, which just took the life out of me because right after that incline I started having really bad pains in my back right side on the edge of my rib cage.  I tried to run through them but right as the were hitting I was also running past a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop/factory and smell nearly made me sick.  Eventually, just after the 2 mile marker I had to pull up for a few seconds to catch my breath and let the pain subside, which it did.  I was able to get going again, and recover most of the distance that I had lost, but the pain returned, so I had to do the same thing two more times before I reached the 2.75 mile marker, after that point I was able to gut out the rest of the way but I wasn't able to recover all of the ground that I lost from pulling up.  I would say that I lost about 20 seconds from pulling up. 

Hiro & I walking with our friends after the race: She is still smiling!

I know that these difficulties later in the race were the result of my bad start.  I just wasted to much energy, got flustered, and ran too fast.  My first mile should have been a 9min mile not an 8!  Hiroko on the other hand Had a great race!!  I am really proud of her.  She finished at 26:45, ran the whole thing, legged it out with some guy at the end who might have cross the line one second before her, but who she smoked on the chip time!  She said that she couldn't stop smiling the whole race because she was enjoying herself so much!  I am really glad because now I might be able to get her to run with me a bit more!  After the race we walked back and met some friends of our who were walking in the non-competitive race with their son, who has Autism.  Hiro and I were really happy that we could walk with them and support a cause that help provide their family and many other families with much needed assistance.  We all had a really good day and enjoyed our time walking together.

Greg how do you feel about the way you ran today?

After the race, I started feeling really hungry and got kind of cranky.  I didn't go and eat anything from any of the hospitality booths, which I really should have done.  My hunger and dissatisfaction were so strong that when Hiro offer to cook when we got home, I spent my time looking for and registering for another 5k which I'll run in 27 days!  The course for this 5k is going to be much more hilly, but is run right where I work so I can get practice on the course.  All in all this was a good experience.  I learned a lot about myself and how to be a leader vs. an Individual runner both of which are important to me.  I got to support a really great cause.  Hiroko was able to enjoy a race in a that she did not expect.  And, I was able to meet a lot new people that I expect to be running with again very soon!

Did you have fun today?  Of Course!

Pre-Race Stuff and Goal Time Announcement: 10/8

This post will be about my pre-race stuff, no workout yesterday or today.  I went and picked up my race packet yesterday, and I am not feeling any nervousness, which is different from my last 5k.  I started getting nervous on the way to pickup my race packet, and I didn't really settle down until about a mile into the run.  Right now, I'm a calm as a Hindu cow. . . we'll see if this continues.  Last night Hiro and I went and drove the course, which pretty strait and flat with only one good sized hill right around the 2 mile mark.  Hiro is getting a bit wound up about it.  This will be her first timed run and she has not been running nearly as much as I have.  We are not planning to stick together at all because I really want to go after my goal time.

I ran my last 5k in 26:30.8 on a really flat course, but one that had many more twists and turns and on a much warmer day.  My goal time for this 5K is 25:00 minutes flat, which would put me at just over 8 minute mile pace for the whole race, and would mean that I shave 90 seconds off of my PR.  I am not sure how realistic this goal is for this race, but I would rather flame out trying for a goal I am not sure that I'll reach than pick something safe just so I don't have to come back On my blog and say I didn't get my goal.  So, there it is:  My goal is 25 Minutes!

The tightness in my quad has passed, and my heels feel better than they have in months.  I am not feeling anything from Wednesdays 4.8 miles.  The heels were a little sore yesterday, but today they feel good.  I'll tape everything up good tonight before bed, and be ready to roll in the morning. 

Here are some of the songs that will be in my I-pod for the race:

Black Sheep by Metric
How You Like Me Now by The Heavy
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes
Steady as She Goes by The Raconteurs
Back Against the Wall by Cage the Elephant
Electric Feel by MGMT
Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert (don't judge me!)
E-pro by Beck

Speaking of I-pods, check out this I-pod give away Shut Up and Run! is doing if you have time.

Well, I guess that this is about all for now.  Next post should be a Race Report.  See you at the Starting line!

Wow! Is for Wednesday: . Quesadilla Fajitas 4.8 mile run Two-a-day! (10/6)

The plan is toast!  But, I think it is in a good way.  Here are the most important details of the day:

1. I got up and went to Sports Conditioning Class: it was so-so.
2. I went to work and had a craptastic day, and I am not even sure why.
3. I ate Mexican food for lunch.
4. I came home and went for a run.  (I know where you might think this is going considering I once held the nickname "Puke Skywalker," but not this time!
5. I ran 4.81 mile along the most hilly street in Raleigh  and did it in somewhere around 40 mins. (I need a Garmin!!)

Alright, let's expand on the these.  The class was only alright because I didn't really feel like pushing myself too hard.  And, to be honest I am struggling with this class because it never changes all that much.  I know that I need the ab workout and cross training is important.  However, it is difficult for me because the class has change very little in the year that I have been attending.  I know that their is a good side to such stability, but I am just not enjoying it at this moment.  I stopped at the 30 minute point to get some extra stretching and to use the foam roller, which I have been doing over the last few weeks when the class begins doing more jumping exercises, which would wreck my heels.

Today's Lunch: not sure how I kept this in me!

I am going to make the work portion of this quick b/c it isn't important in the long run.  I just had one of those days where you think I would just can't wait for work to be over, and you would love nothing more than to uninvent the fluorescent light bulb!  Fluorescent light bulbs -- Yuck!  Mexican Food yum!  However, running nearly 5 miles after Mexican food when you weigh as much as a small Llama is not the best idea. BTW: (My weight = Small  llama regardless of eating Mexican)

In fact, it usually a recipe for disaster.  However, today was not the case.  I had not planned this run, but after work, I knew that I needed to run or I would just sit a stew all night, so I asked Hiro if she want to go for a run with me and once she stopped laughing enough to shake her head no, I was out the door without any real idea where I was going.  I decided to run along Wade Ave. because it is the only really hilly spot near where I live, and I wanted to run on cement somewhere more challenging than the 5k course will be on Saturday.  Also, if I had seen someone running along that street 6 months ago, I would have thought they were nuts.  The street is only has small rolling hills, but they are some of the biggest hills that you will find around here.  I had a bit of stomach pain toward the tail end of Wade Ave., but it in noway slowed me down.  Once I hit about 2.5 miles had no problems.  I was really shocked at how easily I handled the hills.  All of those Umstead runs are paying off.

It was a nice cool day, and I was running just before Sundown, so it felt great to be out.  I still had a nice sweat going and could tell that this was going to be a great run when I finished.  The best part of the run came at the last half mile or so.  I was running south on a street and a running group happened to be running north (may a dozen or so people), and we me up at an intersection at the same time, and we all turned west at the same time.  I fell right in with them for the last half mile of my run, it was an awesome feeling because I ran right to the front of their group and then out past them.  I wasn't trying to do it, but I was just running really strong and got excited.  I doubt that they cared in the slightest.  But, I just really liked the feeling because it made me think that I might be able to call myself a runner at last. 

Plan Change, The Second Worst Movie, and Road ID: Oct. 5th



I can't believe they made a sequel! I know
That if I go to hell, I'll be forced to watch them
for eternity.



The instructor for my toning class was changed today, so Hiroko and I decided not to attend.  I might have stayed in the class had the instructor not said for us to get a Bosu as soon as she entered the room. I HATE THE BOSU!!!  There are several things in this world that I could live my whole life and not experience again and be very Happy:

1) Watch the Ethan Hawke movie Before Sunrise -- 2nd worst film that I have watched.  Pretentsion Optimized!  I would almost rather watch every Merchant/Ivory production ever made than that movie.
2) Eat in a cafeteria again.  (Germ factories and heaven's waiting room) honestly few places force us to face our own mortality more than a cafeteria, and I live in the south, so throw in some morbid obesity to go along with everything else!
3) A drunken 5am train ride from Roppongi station to Kasukabe.  Trust me.  This one has to be lived about once every other weekend for the better part of a year to be understood.  Horrid.

4) Stepping one single foot on a Bosu.  My finger is still messed up from the one bosu class my wife talked me into attending. 

5) Living in Fairmont, WV.  The only way I will move back is in a box!  Some people love the place, and I do like to visit, but living there is not for me.

Anyway, now that my rant is over, and I have alienated every member of the Fairmont, WV chapter of the Ethan Hawke Fan Club, which is meeting at this very moment in the K&W cafeteria on Gaston Ave., I'll move on.  (btw: I know that there is no K&W in Fairmont, but there should be, they would make a killing --  pun intended!)

So, all today's workout consisted of was a 1 mile run, which was awesome.  I was able to complete it in 7 and a half minutes on the indoor track.  I feel like I could have dug a bit deeper if I wanted, so I feel real good about this.  I am not planing to get anywhere near this pace on Saturday, but I like knowing that I have it in somewhere.

Today, when I arrived home I got my Road ID, which is something that every person that runs, cycles, hikes, or does anything active outside should really have.  Both Hiroko and I ordered them.  Mine is here and Hiro's will arrive by the end of the week.   Here is a coupon for $1.00:
Coupon Number: ThanksGreg845069



PS:  the worst movie ever is Gummo!  I can't warn you enough: Don't watch this movie!  Save youself the pain, and just schedule yourself the labotomy because watching this movie will permantly damage the fabric of your soul.  I am not kidding.  I am rarely offended by anything, but Gummo was, boring, offensive, and and repugnent.  Don't watch it!

Race Week: 3 mile Indoor Track Run (10/4)

Race week is here, which means that the excitement is in the air.  I'll need to take care this week to avoid doing anything stupid (very difficult for me) before this weekend's 5k that might jeopardize my run.  Right now, I an excited about this run.  I have prepared  more than I did before my last 5k, and the heels are much improved.  Here is my plan for the week, which I started with today's run:

Monday: 3 mile indoor track run
Tuesday: Toning Class with optional 1 mile run
Wednesday:  3 mile outdoor run and Sports Conditioning class Ab session
Thursday: off
Friday: off
Saturday: 5k

I might alter this a little and do something light on Thursday, but this is the plan as of now.

The 3 mile indoor run was today's workout, and it went off without a hitch and was one of the better runs that I have had on the indoor track.  I was able to run complete the run in around 26 minutes, The track wasn't very crowded, so that helped a lot.  Also, I put some new music on my I-pod (Adam Lambert, Kidding . . . ok, not really . . . just one song!  I know I just lost some man points) that really inspired me to pick up my pace.  I felt great running this because I was able to push myself a lot harder than I have been doing recently.  My quad burned a little, and I had a couple small twinges of pain in my left heel, but they didn't interfere with the run in the slightest.  My upper body is still sore from Friday's push up hell day and made the first mile a bit interesting, but I was lucky that I need to focus on my lap count, so I couldn't think about the soreness too much.  Pushing it felt awesome because I know that as hard as I went today that I still had a lot in the tank that I should be able to draw on for the race.  By the end, my lungs were burning a bit, but I never attempted anything close to a kick.  I don't want to get cocky about this run on the weekend at all.  I just want to try to run as hard as I can and know that in the end I didn't hold anything back.  We'll see how that goes on Saturday, but for today, I am feeling awesome after two good runs in a row!

Redemption Run 10/2

Today's run was much delayed and rather uncertain for most of the day.  I woke up late this morning with my upper body sore as all get out.  The quad felt much better after a night of muscle cream, but I was worried that if I tried to run today that I would have a repeat of last weeks piss poor performance.  But as the day progressed I really wanted to get outside and run.  The weather in Raleigh was actually great for the first time in what feels like months, so I went to Umstead at around noon for my Saturday run.  My energy level felt good, but the soreness I felt had me really worried.  I didn't think that the upper body soreness would hold me back, but I didn't want to injure my quad.  Next Saturday is my next 5k, which made me both want to run but also more than a little worried about aggravating my heels or hurting the quad.  But having just put in a lackluster effort on Friday in class and the aforementioned piss poor performance on last week's run, I was determined to run today.

This is a small bridge that I run accross as part of my run.

Everything ended up going much better that I had hope it would.  I started out a bit gingerly and didn't try to push things at the beginning.  The quad was holding up well, but the upper body soreness was really annoying for the first mile of the run.  My energy level was very different from last week, and I knew fairly early in the run that I should be able to complete it if i paced myself.  By the half way point the run was going well, I had stuck to my plan, and was just a few minutes behind my normal pace.  The mild burning in the quad that I felt at the beginning of the run had subsided, and the soreness of my upper body had just wasn't flaring up as much as it was staying on an even keel.  Flare ups seem much worse to take, so just past the half way marker I decided to open it up a bit and see if I could get back on pace.  Once I got passed the place where I stopped running last week, I was able to shake off my last distraction and really get down to running.  The trail was in good shape considering the 6 inches of rain we got this week.  I thought that it would be damp, but it wasn't.  The only problem I had was staying on the trail because of all of the fallen leaves and pine needles.  I almost lost the trail and ran into the woods twice.  Over the last eight minutes, I pushed it hard than I think that I ever have on one of these runs.  I made up all of the time, I needed to and completed the run in exactly 45 mins.  By the time that I hit the bridge to stop running, my chest was pounding and lungs were burning, but all of the soreness had vanished.  Once I caught my breath, I felt great.  I am very glad that I did this run because it helped me to put those crappy workout's to bed.  Now, I have a couple of days of light workouts and then the 5k on Saturday.  I can't wait!

CrossFit: Push Up Hell Day (10/1)

This was not my best effort.  No denying it, so I am not even going to try.  The problem that I have with myself on days like today, is that I should have either decided that today's workout was not for me and done something else or committed to it fully but mailing it in is only going to get me hurt.  I took yesterday off to rest my quads, but my left quad hasn't responded.  It isn't anything that I need to worry about -- it is just really sore.  But, the main problem with today's effort was that I knew before the workout that it was too difficult for me. 

Today's Workout (proposed:

50 Push ups / Suicide / 5 Squats

45 Push ups / Suicide / 10 Squats

40 Push ups / Suicide / 15 Squats

35 Push ups / Suicide / 20 Squats

30 Push ups / Suicide / 25 Squats

25 Push ups / Suicide / 30 Squats

20 Push ups / Suicide / 35 Squats

15 Push ups / Suicide / 40 Squats

10 Push ups / Suicide / 45 Squats

5 Push ups / Suicide / 50 Squats

In 30 mins.  The portion in Red is about what I completed (at some point in the40 rep set I switched to girl push ups).  Also, the instructor gave each of us a mini H2O bottle, which we place on its side, so that we could keep proper form.  We needed to make sure that our chest touched the bottle each time.  On a good day, I can do 50 push ups with crappy form, so I pretty much knew that this was going to be a nightmare for me, and the squats were not going to be kind to my quad.  So, I should have gone and done an ab workout or something if I wasn't going to really commit to this workout.  Instead, I gave what was clearly an uninspired effort.  I won't take this class next week because I have a 5k on Saturday the 9th, but I will be back in two weeks, and I not be mailing it in then.