215 and 4 Miles

I have another 5K coming up on Sunday. I'm not sure I'll do any better at the 5K, but my running has got a little stronger. Over the long weekend I managed 3.88 (fri) 4.08 (sun) and 4.01 (mon) mile runs. First runs ever over 4 miles. On Monday my run was extra enjoyable because I went to the dam / state park by our house and did my first trail run (3 miles of it was trail). It was cold, peaceful and relaxing. I want to make a habit of doing that run when I don't have a race on a particular weekend. I turned around at the 2 mile mark because I didn't want to push past the 4 mile mark round trip, so I still have a little more trail to explore.

Here is the exercise activity summary for the run (with pics embedded, pretty neat):

Mondays run through Clough State Park

Also the weight is slowly going down again. I weighed this morning (not after a hard sweaty workout like I like to do, hey it makes me feel good) and I was exactly 215. 40lbs down. 15 to go before the New Year. Not sure why I'm picking 200lbs by Jan 1st, but it seems like a good round number (no pun intended), and I have 3 months to lose 15 lbs. Very doable.

4 more races for the rest of the year. Would have more but Oct is a busy month for us. Hopefully I can find some in November.

Loco Moose 5K Concord NH 2010

Things went... well. My time was 35:15, which is a 11:23 pace. Over 3 minutes faster than my last 5K about two weeks ago. I'm pleased, but not really happy. Still there was too much walking. The first mile I did in a little over 10 minutes, so again out of the shute too fast. My exercise program spoke into my ear and said "Your average speed is 6mph" and at that point I knew I was in trouble. I have very limited reserves and using them to push that pace on the first mile spells doom for the next two. I think I had to start walking at the 1.3 mile mark, I was so pissed at myself. For all the exercise I do, I should be able to run longer than I do. So I did my normal walk / run thing.

I would have come in a few seconds faster but I felt stupid / rude zooming past this little 16 year old girl at the last few seconds, so I just let her keep her lead. Despite my not being able to run long distances, I have a good finishing 200 meter speed. I just don't like to use it for evil.

Here are the results:

Loco Moose 5K Concord NH 2010

It was a good event. I won a raffle. Grabbed the book that was on the prize table, should have grabbed one of the mugs.

Sad things from the results:

I'm the last Male to finsh the race.

I'm the last in my age group by far (next closest guy was 5 minutes ahead of me)

Next 5K in another two weeks. I don't foresee another 3 minute improvement. I'll shoot for 1.

EDIT: I think the race was mis-measured. My GPS on my phone measures everything pretty accurately, and it measured 2.98 miles. My GPS hit the 1 mile mark and 2 mile mark right on the button with what they measured. And when I think back to the race instructions, I thought we were suppose to go on the far side of a building instead of where we went. So my "PR" of 35:15 was pretty much BS. I was in back (big red guy in the picture) so I was just a lemming following the pack.

Race Day!!

For a tiny little 5K that no one really cares if I'm there or not, I do get myself worked up quite a bit over these things. Last night I woke up at 2am, not being able to fall back asleep. When I thought I did fall asleep, the next clock check revealed 2:20. It was a rough night. Eventually I managed to put togther some stretches of sleep that got me to 6am.

So my plan / goal:

36:00. There is NO reason I shouldn't be able to do this. This is a fast and flat course, although I think its a trail and I've never run on trails (since highschool at least). I need to go out of the gate slow, and do reverse splits (look I'm a runner, I used 'reverse splits' in a sentence!!! Hope I'm using it right). Current personal best is 38:31.

Also I'm trying to decide if I'm going to wear headphones or not. I never have on the road/ race and I don't really want to, but it may take my mind off some of the pain I'll be experiencing.

Just had breakfast, bowl of cherrios with blueberrys, and an english muffing. Will probably have a piece of pita bread with peanut butter before I leave.

OH boy!

COOLEST THING EVER!

Daves Morning Workout

I want to go on another run to use this again! Did my local 5k this morning. Slow, but pretty steady. Only stopped twice very briefly because I was getting sick to my stomach (just like highschool).

Broke 2 Barriers

First, as seen in my last post, I broke the 220lb barrier. I think I was a teenager since I last weighed below 220. I was 217 this morning, but I'm done talking about my weight until I hit another milestone. Hopefully 210, but I'll probably mention something if I hit 215 soon.

Second, last night I did a non-stop 5K on the tread mill. I get so bored on the treadmill, even with TV and music or podcasts its tough to keep my legs moving. This time I decided to go slow, a 5mph pace and just keep it constant. I'm reading the book Born to Run and a great quote that comes out of it is:

"If it feels like working, then you're working too hard."

With the quote dancing in my head, I just found a comfortable pace and ran the entire 36ish minutes. It wasn't easy, but I wasn't dieing either (until I cranked up the speed to 6.5 the last 400 meeters). I was going to take a rest day today, but I'm excited to try it again tonight.

Race is on Sunday, figure I can do an easy workout Friday and rest Saturday. After all its only a 5K, not like I'm prepping for a 1/2 or anything.

219

219!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feeling Better

So last nights trip to the gym was a good one. Did my 3.1 miles in 37:45. Its not thats its a good time, it just felt pretty good. I think I ran for 24-25 minutes non-stop which is my biggest problem. Hopefully I can have another good night tonight. Four more workouts before the next 5K on Sunday. Probably take Saturday off.

Bad Running Day

Yesterday morning I did my neighborhood 5k, in 38:30 which is a great time for me. The course I have mapped out is insanely hilly and there isn't any part of it I would consider flat. Either up or down. So this time really made me happy.

Then this morning I tried the same route again thinking I would do even better. The complete opposite happened actually. I managed to do the first mile ( up the a killer hill) in pretty good time, but it drained the life out of me. I started to jog the second mile but my body just shut down. I'm pretty sure it was 75% mental. My back felt tight and my legs weak, but I probably could have kept going. So I just walked home, thinking. This is when the discouragement reared its ugly head.

I've been doing this since on March 31. I've made a great deal of progress, from not being able to run 30 seconds to (sometimes/rarely) running as long as 40 minutes. But every mile still kills me. Whenever I start a jog, I'm out of breath within seconds. The first 1/2 mile of just about every run my legs feel like they are going to fall off. I'm sure if I weighed less it would help a great deal, but I've seemed to plateau at about 221-222lbs and its not budging. I'm getting frustrated, which is something I've avoided the past few months of doing this.

And now, next Sunday I have a 5K with a local running club. Based on last years results I should finish in 5th place. I mean 5 spots from last place. Ugh. What was I thinking?

First sub 12 minute pace for 3 miles

To be exact it was 11:59 min / mile, but that still counts! I'm feeling very zippy in my new shoes, but my feet are still getting used to them. Feet are kind of achey, and starting to form a blister near my heel. I'm going to take tomorrow off because I've done 5 days straight days this week (almost 14 total miles, almost 33 for the month so far. Hopefully will hit 50 for the month). The plan is on Sat and Sun to do my neighborhood 5K. Or maybe Sunday do the long version which is roughly 4.something miles.

Last Sunday (this was probably running blog post worthy to help me keep track) but I managed to do my neighborhood 5k without stopping once. Under 40 minutes, which is really slow, but its extremely hilly. A nice milestone.

Brand new Wheels!!!

I treated myself and got some new shoes for running. Like little clouds on my feet. Also, most expensive shoes I've ever bought (they don't give running shoes away!!!). I did a casual 2 miles on the treadmill last night breaking them in, and they felt ok after I got them adjusted right. When I did a 400m at 6.5 mph I couldn't feel my feet hitting the deck, I was so light on my feet. I have 10 days till my next race to break them in. Look forward to running on them tonight.