I feel just a little lost...

So its been 25 days since we ran the OBX Marathon. Our first of hopefully many more to come. Since then I've ran another half marathon and signed up for several 10ks and a 50k in the next few months. I really didn't take much of a break after the marathon. Well I actually took three days off if you call that a break. I did take a week off the Turkey Trot Half Marathon I ran on the 23rd of November. Now that I've been back to running this weekend I feel a little lost.

For the last four or five months it seemed that my plan guided me from one run to the next. Now that I don't have a plan in front of my I'm not really sure what to make of it. At first it was kind of nice to be able to just run what you wanted to run at whatever pace you wanted to run at. But now part of me misses that structure I had.

This year I've been kind of brutal with my body. Tearing a calf muscle, pulling a hamstring, a TFCC tear in my wrist, and all those many miles. 1020 so far this year... but who's counting? So now is the time that I should be figuring out a good rest cycle to help my body heal up a bit. But somehow I signed up for a 50k shortly after the new year.

A 50 kilometer run would equal roughly 31.0686 miles according to the google machine. That's about 5ish miles longer than that marathon I ran in November that I didn't come close to my time "goal" on. What would cause a human being to sign up for such a thing? A good deal! That's right the NC Fat Ass 50k held on the All American Trail on Fort Bragg, NC on the 25th of January is free! I fat ass event is a race that isn't sponsored, or timed, or even supported by anyone other than a few volunteers. Race times are recorded by the participants on the honor system.

I don't know about you, but that just seemed like the perfect opportunity to enter the Ultra Marathon World. Part of me hopes that by getting my old body accustomed to running longer than 26.2 miles it will make a marathon seem like cake. Well I've got 50 days to get by butt into shape. Time to get unlost and get a training plan on track.

Sixteen weeks and 26.2 miles

The day has finally come for the Outer Banks Marathon. An event that we have been training for what seems like an eternity. Its hard to believe that its over... well at least this one. There were friends of ours running several of the races this weekend. A few of them ran multiple races. But what's a 8K one day followed by a Half Marathon the next? My hats off to them! Fayetteville Running Club and the Fort Bragg Chapter of Team RWB were in full force. We did run into another Team RWB runner from the DC Chapter.

The morning air was a bit chilly but at only 48 degrees is seemed worse than it was. Maybe it was the cool breeze coming off the ocean. Either way the skies were clear and we were ready to run. The course started off in Kitty Hawk, NC heading south along the Inter-Coastal Waterway side of the Outer Banks. The locals were out in full force cheering us on as we ran through their neighborhoods. From there we ran down to Kill Devil Hills, NC and around the Wright Brothers Memorial. So after that the adventure began. We found ourselves running on a dirt trail through the woods for about the next 3 miles or so. It felt like an eternity. I'm not sure if it was the hills and dirt or that I just wasn't expecting it. Either way we made it and found ourselves back on pavement.

The rest of the course was a mix of residential and open road. Other than the miles and the wind the next challenge would be the "Bridge". To make matters worse the bridge is strategically located at mile 22 of the course.

If I hadn't been so tired from the previous miles it really wouldn't be that big of a deal. Between the hills several of the races in Fayetteville and the hills in our Wednesday night run I would like to think I don't do to bad on hills. I feel no shame is saying I walked a step or two on that bridge. Once the decent from the bridge was done it was only a few short miles to the finish. Kelly made it to the finish at a smoking 4:01:47!!!

I'm glad we had some friends there to capture forever the look on her face. I know I am proud of her. I came in about 21 minutes later at 4:22:10. My only small complaint is that according to Garmin the course was a quarter mile long. It's hard to believe that its actually over. We have spent the good part of the last four months training and preparing for this day. Our first Marathon is in the bag. Guess it's time to start planning the next adventure. Maybe a Ultra Marathon?!?! After all it's all about the miles!!!!!

We have arrived in OBX!

After a short four hour drive from Raeford to Kill Devil Hill, NC we are here and all checked in at the hotel. This is one day that being a Gold Hilton Honors member came in handy. They upgraded our room to one that faces the ocean.

We still have two days till the race so there is plenty of time to cause some trouble. Tomorrow we are supposed to run two miles. This will be our last training run before the big race. We drove part of the course today on the way to packet pick-up.

The Expo for the race was full of different vendors just waiting to share their goods with us for a slight fee. There was one running shoe store that had some killer prices. We picked up a pair of Merrell Running shoes for Kelly for over 50% off. Now starts the waiting game... I so ready to get this going!!!!

Time to taper!

First off I'd like to give a big congratulations to all the runners who completed their first Half and Full Marathons over the weekend. As fall is finally in full swing so is the race season. Kelly and I had the privilege to help at the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, NC yesterday. Team Red, White, and Blue were out in full force manning one of the water stations on the course. I'm sure Kelly was more helpful than me since she handed out water and I just offered a few words of encouragement. FRC was also in full force out on the course both with runners and supporters. It was inspiring to see they people give everything to push their bodies across that finish line. I can only hope that next week my first Marathon is more on the inspiring side and less on the going to make it on YouTube video of funny marathon finishes side.

Today starts week 16 of our journey to OBX. Last night we ran 8 miles in the neighborhood to finish off the previous 15 weeks of training. This week we have three shorter distance run before we tackle the training run of all training runs. Well that is until I get a wild hair somewhere and attempt a longer distance. I'm sure after next Sunday, Kelly and I will have plenty of lessons learned and things we would do differently next time. As of right now I hope I can take full advantage of this taper and physically and mentally prepare for OBX.

Im back!!!

I want to start off by first saying a huge "Thank you!" to my wife Kelly. It has been 18 days since my surgery and she hasn't killed me. For the first two weeks after surgery she did everything from help me shower to tie my shoes. Today was actually the first day since the surgery that I did both on my own. But lets not get a head of ourselves.

I woke up from surgery with a big surprise of being in a cast and being told by my surgeon, "It was worse than we thought". To add insult to injury, I was also told I couldn't run for at least two weeks. I will paraphrase the next two weeks... no running, shower with a trash bag over my arm, can't seem to figure out how to be left handed, go to work in slipper because they don't haves laces... did I miss anything? I finally had my post op appointment on Tuesday to find out just how bad it was. I didn't just tear the ligament...it was a complete rupture that had to be repaired. I also found out that I had a good deal of arthritis that had to be cleaned up. So instead of a cute little incision that I was expecting... I got to see this when the nurse cut off the cast.

The good new is that The doc said I could start running as long as I gave it another 24 hours and kept my new brace on all the time. This new brace is a two piece plastic form fitted contraption that keeps me from attempting to do anything dumb with my right hand. Kelly came up with the idea of wearing a warm up sleeve on under the brace to keep the plastic from rubbing my skin. This also gave me a washable option since they just gave me something that resembled a mix between an old sock and an ace wrap. Not something that was going to hold up to daily running and washing. Internet shopping and overnight delivery brought me two pairs of warm up sleeves. Yes, that's four sleeves with thumb holes and moisture wicking goodness.

Tonight was my second run since my surgery and it feels so good to be back out pounding pavement. My first run back was a three mile run immediately followed by a five mile cool down on Wednesday night (I was told three miles was a good distance  for my first run back). I could feel each and every bit of those 8 miles the next day. I never claimed to be the brightest bulb on the tree. Tonight I ran five miles around the neighborhood. Kelly is out running the Tuna 200 relay with our Running Club Team so I had to figure out how to tie my shoes all by myself. Right now Kelly is running her second leg of the relay which is 9 miles long.

Now I have to figure out how to get back on track for OBX. I already missed one of the two 20 mile runs in our training program. The last one is supposed to be this Sunday. Do I suck it up and go for the 20 even though I had a two week hiatus from running? Do I not and start the plans tapering next week? Either way I need to be prepared to run 26.2 miles on November 10th... possibly with my brace on.   

About to be left handed for awhile!

Today is the last day in the ninth month of the this year. Today is also a Monday, the first day of week thirteen of our training plan. What I hadn't planned on was that today is the day I will be having my little repair done to my wrist. Here in about ten minutes we will begin our journey to the surgery center where hopefully magic will happen. Although I can't wait to get healed up and get back in the gym, I am just hoping this doesn't have to much of an impact on my training. As of the last time I met with the surgeon, she said I could still train for the Marathon as long as I took a week off after the surgery. Hopefully after getting "opened" up she will feel the same way.

My attempt at being left handed should be quite comical.. well for Kelly at least. I bet typing with one hand will nice and slow. I really can't think of one thing that I use just my left hand for... its either my right or both.

Well Kelly just said we need to get going. So here it goes...

Just one of the side effects

So it's been about 11 months now since me and Kelly began running as a "hobby". Ok, so it had more to do with one of the side effects we suffered from quitting smoking... weight gain. Either way we have put in a few miles since then and seen some pleasant side effects. Another thing we have been trying to do is eat a little healthier. Neither of us have any plans to eat bark and leaves, but we would like to think we have been improving our daily diet. A big step was trying to cut out as much processed sugar out of our diet. We also try and make as much of our meals from scratch as possible. This always is a challenge with both of our jobs and our training schedule. I figure as long as little by little we improve our intake and continue to increase our energy expenditure something amazing will come of it all... right?

This brings us to today's little adventure. Friday after work we met up at the South Post Commissary on Fort Bragg to do our weekly grocery shopping. With fall finally approaching I saw one of my favorite seasonal beverages... Apple Cider!!! I grabbed a gallon jug of the fruity swill but before I set it in the cart I took a glance at the ingredients to make sure there wasn't any added sugar. Apples... check... Potassium sorbate... what? Sodium benzoate... Huh? For some reason now I needed to know what magically ingredients were added to cider that I so craved. Oh, just some preservatives that are commonly added to beverages and other food items. That can't be so bad.. or can it? I should have stopped reading there and remained happily ignorant. But no one ever said I was the brightest bulb on the tree (yes I know it isn't Christmas time yet). 

Sodium benzoate found in beverages are at levels that are below those considered dangerous for consumption. Oh that makes me feel so much better. Solid potassium sorbate (which is rarely encountered in food) is a skin, eye and respiratory irritant. But what about the form found in Cider? Now I'm sure that neither of these preservatives will cause me to grow a third nipple or catch the gout, but it does make you think a little about all the added goodies that the experts put in our food.

Well Today I was going to do something about it. Today is the day I was going to give Apple Cider its freedom from all that is unnatural. I decided to attempt to make my own apple cider. My google machine hummed to life and soon I had all the knowledge I needed to create my autumn swill.

With the help of Kelly's high powered food preparing device I was able to finish the first step of my project. I used a three bags of different types of Apples and began to grind away. Already this was beginning to be a pricey endeavor. This was about nine dollars of some of the commissary's best apples. Soon I had a large bowl full of what looked like soupy apples sauce. Now I began to strain away the sweet juices that would make at least a gallon of cider (or so I thought). After two different sized strainers I was finished...

 

 

 

 

What?!?!?! is that all my labors and nine bucks of apples made? I will say that it tasted so much better than what I could have purchased in the store. I also have a huge bowl of home made apple sauce that is just one of the side effects.

    

Who put that wall there?!?!?!

So it's been a while but I'm back. Once again I was out and about traveling on business last week. Another week spent finding new and exciting locations near my hotel to run. But that's not really what we are here for, now are we? This last week the mileage did increase yet again. We ran 5 miles on Tuesday, 8 on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, 8 on Saturday and then 18 miles on Sunday. Sunday was a first for a couple things for me. First off it was the longest I've run so far in my short existence on earth and also the first time I hit a major...

Sunday mornings run started off great. The weather actually was playing along for once. It was cool, overcast, with a very slight mist in the air... Perfect for getting in some miles. Off we went... then at around the 12 mile mark there it was...ARGH!!!! For the next six miles I questioned many things to include everything from what was I doing to what did I do differently this last week. Was I getting enough sleep, enough water, enough fuel... was I increasing the mileage to fast???? Why was I able to run 17 miles last Sunday strong and still feel like I could have run farther? Or was it a combination of all of it? The remainder of the day I sat around sore without much motivation to do much.

The Monday morning came and to my surprise... I wasn't near as sore as I thought I would be. What evil voodoo had befallen me to reek such havoc on my training? So after a little thought and reflection this is what I've come up with.

1. It happens. It's not a common thing but there is just going to be some runs that suck... try to prevent it, but deal with it when it does happen.

2. What you do, don't do, eat, don't eat, drink, or don't drink will effect your performance either positively or negatively. Some of this will be in our control and some won't.

3. Everyone of us will hit a wall at some point... it's what we do after that abrupt collision that is important.

I have spent the majority of my adult life involved is some sort of physical fitness activity. I have never really experienced the physical and emotional event like I did for those last 6 miles. But I will say that I am glad I got a taste of it on a training run and not during a race. I am sure there might be a couple other walls in my future and hopefully I will be a little more prepared to not only try and prevent it but also to be able to push through it when it does happen.

No we weren't lost!?!?!?!

What exactly were two runners doing walking down State Route 22 in Southern Pines this morning? Now that seems like a fairly silly question to be asking... one, aren't they runners? and two, how did they get there? Well my friends you are about to find out. But before we get two carried away, don't you want to hear about my week?

Now I know this might come as a surprise to some of you, but once again I was out gallivanting about the country in service to Uncle Sam. This little trip led me to the home of Country Music. My Tuesday run ended up being on the treadmill at the hotel. This was the first time I had been back on a treadmill since returning from the "Stan". Although I can stomach running on a treadmill, I wouldn't say that it's my first choice. So off I went (not going anywhere at all) for four miles of fun. As with most treadmill runs there isn't really much to talk about... so I won't. Lucky for me, my schedule Wednesday morning was pretty open and I was able to get my 8 miles in on the open road. One downside to staying at a hotel right near an airport is there is limited routes you can run. I was able to figure out a route with the help of the WalkJogRun App. What I wasn't mentally or spiritually prepared for was all the hills that just so happened to be along my route. I should have known better since I lived in that part of the country for a few years. But there I was screaming, "Why, God, Why!?!?!?!". Ok, so that might be a slight exaggeration but you get the picture. My work schedule on Thursday once again forced me back into the small closet of a gym at the hotel and back on the treadmill. This time I was going to put those four miles to good use and practiced my reverse splits. That is one thing a treadmill makes easier... either keep up or get thrown off.

Let's get back to this story of those two weary runners. In our continual attempt at keeping the routes fresh and new, we decided to drive the 45 minutes from our house to the Reservoir Park in Southern Pines. There is a two mile trail that goes around... yep you guessed it, a Reservoir. Off this said trail there is multiple other offshoot trails that goes who knows where. I am sure there is someone that does know this jewel of information. I would even go out on a limb and say they have said information available on the world wide web. Well, lets just say this adventurous duo didn't really plan out a route. So off they went this way and that... down one trail till it dead ended, and then back to another offshoot. This time there were a few twists and turns and what appeared to be a loop trail. Well before they knew it their 8 miles was finished... what they didn't know was that the journey was long from over.

To make sure our hero's of the story didn't over do it, they began to walk thinking the loop they were sure to be on would finally intersect... it never did and they soon found themselves at a trail head nowhere near Reservoir Park and their vehicle. The city of Southern Pines was nice enough to place a map at the trail head which showed the way back. Option one was to retrace the trail they way they had come or to follow the road back to Reservoir Park. Option two seemed like the shorter distance so off they went. Its funny what strange things you happen on while wondering aimlessly down the road. As we passed a church parking lot there stood a fairly large woman with her arms raised to the sky screaming in some foreign language or speaking in tongues. That's stuff you just can't make up. Well our travelers did finally make their way back to Reservoir Park and their vehicle. Who would have thought there would be a three and a half mile cool down walk at the end of the 8 mile run. All in all it was a great run on some good trails. Next time I think we will plan our route out a bit more. Good thing tomorrow is a 17 mile day!!!

Halfway there!!!!

So with the completion of the 13.1 miles of the Harrisburg Half Marathon we arrived at the halfway point of our journey to OBX. It seems a little crazy to think of it as the halfway. I am pretty excited about both Kelly and my results. Going up north to race in weather that was about 10 degrees cooler and 10 percent less humidity helped. All and all it was an amazing weekend. A great race and a good mini vacation. Friday nights murder mystery dinner on the riverboat was a really good time and a good reason to get all dressed up

Saturday probably wasn't a good day for our training... we visited Hershey, Pennsylvania. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate but they were literally giving it away. We did have a good time in addition to having way more chocolate than is good for any living creature. They have things for kids of all ages. I actually learned a lot, both about how chocolate is made and about the man that made it famous. I never knew that Milton Hershey was such a philanthropist. This world would be a much better place if we had a few more men like him.

Now let's talk about the race. I can't even begin to give this event enough credit. The course was along the Susquehanna River in downtown Harrisburg, PA. The course started and finished on City Island, a small island in the middle of the river. The rest of the course was either on multi use trails along the river or on a frontage road near the river. The early fall weather in Pennsylvania was perfect for running. It was 66 degrees with 73% humidity when we started off at 8am on Sunday morning.

I think the cooler weather really helped my performance in this event (note that this is the third time I mention the weather... can you tell I'm from Ohio?). My overall time was 1:46:06 which was a 8:03 minute mile pace. As this was the first Half Marathon I ever raced it was a PR for me. Out of 1,034 participants I placed 167th and 132nd out of 460 males. In my age category I was 29th out of 72. Overall I was very glad in performance. I still wonder if I could have pushed it a little more. The overall winner ran at a 5:30 pace so I don't think I could have kept up with him.

I would recommend a destination race as a great vacation any day. Our weekend in Harrisburg was relaxing, fun and just happened to include a Half Marathon. There are so many great locations in this country I am hoping to see as we plan many more mini vacations around our future races.

 

Hopefully just a small bump in the road...

I had my appointment today with Dr. Barrie at the Fayetteville Ortho Clinic to find out what needs to be done to fix my wrist. After reviewing my MRI and X-Ray results and trying to make my wrist do things I don't think it's supposed to do, to include a very loud pop, the good doctor informed me that not only do I have a TFCC tear but is disconnected from the head of the Ulna.

They scheduled me for surgery on September 30th. The procedure is an outpatient surgery which should only take around an hour for her to "tack" the TFCC back to my ulna and repair whatever else she finds in there that is messed up. I will have to wear a brace and splint that will completely immobilize my forearm, wrist, and hand for 6 weeks. Guess what just happens to be six weeks after my surgery... OBX. She said that if I take some time off right after the surgery to let the incision site heal a bit before I start running. Hopefully worse case I should only have to take a week off running. Even a bigger hopefully this doesn't impact the big day six weeks later. But what this does do is put me out of the running for our October event... the Tuna 200 mile relay.

I ask the doctor about when I would be able to start lifting again and she told me that I would be able to get back to lifting sooner if I had broken my arm... I guess I won't even be able to do something as simple as a push-up for about six months.

So on a good note we ran our four miles tonight around the neighborhood. I set my Garmin to view the current time while I ran. I wanted to see what kind of pace I kept without checking my pace as I ran. I was actually very surprised that I kept a pretty even pace for the entire run. My average pace ended being a 8:19 minute mile pace.     

Has it really been 8 weeks?

Today marks the end of the 8th week or our 18 week Marathon training plan. It's hard to believe that we are still a week shy of the halfway point and the Harrisburg Half Marathon. In these last eight weeks we have ran over 240 miles and burned an estimated 47,000 calories (not that I'd put much faith in calorie estimation). That puts us 55 days into our 125 day journey to OBX. That is 70 days and only God and Hal Higdon knows how many miles until we race our first Marathon. The day we run the Outer Banks Marathon we still will have 26.2 miles or 46.1648 kilometers or 138,336 feet (depending on your favorite unit of measure).

With all of todays high tech training tools available to an athlete there is one that is easily overlooked... The Donut of Misery!!! This is a tool I commonly use while deployed in far away third world countries that I seem to frequent to help me chart my stay. A couple easy changes and BAM!! A perfect training tool to help keep you aware of where you are in your timeline to your goal or event.

I guess we should talk about today's little jaunt. The "plan" called for a 15 mile run and who am I to break from the plan. We chose to do two laps around the Pope Army Airfield flight line and then some. Our attempt to get an early start wasn't as successful as we had hoped. I had set the alarm for 5am but then by the time we ate breakfast, packed everything up, and drove to Pope it was already after 630am and the sun was beginning to creep above the horizon. The 100% humidity was pretty evident right from the get go. Even with a hydration vest with a .75L Camelback I could never seem to take in enough water to make up for how much I was sweating due to the humidity. Once I was finished and back at the Pope Park where we started and finished the run, I continued to hydrate and drank a protein shake. I could tell I was going to feel the after effects of this run.

Now back at the house, showered, fed, and typing away I can feel the after effects of the run. We are both relaxing in our compression socks (yes, Kelly finally broke down and got a pair) and looking forward to Labor Day... a day to celebrate and take a small break from running. I think my body is telling me I need to rest.  

 

Back from my travels

Well it's been two long weeks and I'm finally back from my travels abroad. Spent some time in beautiful eastern Europe. My flight over there landed me with a 6 hour layover in Berlin due to my flight being delayed out of Newark from the latrine on the airplane not being serviced. That was the first time I had to deplane because it literally smelled like crap. I didn't know that made an aircraft unserviceable. Either way that is not how I'd want to spend an 8 hour flight across the big pond. I did take advantage of my layover and went and saw some of the sights in Berlin. I was a little disappointed I didn't get a chance to run there... but that would have meant a little longer of a layover.

Once we were done with our little site seeing excursion it was back to business. The biggest difference I noticed between eastern Europe and east coast of the US... the weather. It was beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather almost the whole two weeks I was there. Did I also mention there was no humidity? NONE!! So needless to say I was not only able to get my planned runs in... but I also was able to do most of them along a beautiful brick path that paralleled the Baltic Sea coast.

  My travel arrangements on that first day luckily was in the afternoon allowing me to get in my five miles that morning. Then a day to travel and knock out a three mile run once I arrived. Good thing I got some naps in on the plane. I did notice a big difference in my performance not having to deal with the heat and humidity. I was able to hold a sub 9 minute mile for 14 miles on my LSD run and a sub 8 minute mile on one of my seven mile runs. Now that I'm back to 80 to 90 degree days with 80 to 100 percent humidity we will see how my performance changes. Either way I tried to make the most of my time away. I am so glad to be back in the good ol' USA and back with my training partner!!!

We are now nine days away from the Harrisburg Half Marathon. This weekend our mileage will be the highest so far during this train up. We run seven miles on Saturday and then 15 miles on Sunday. Next week we taper down just prior to the race. This next week will also be our time to make sure we have all of our last minute race day/weekend preparations made. We are going to make a mini vacation of the race so we've made reservations for the Dogs to go to their resort and reservations at the Harrisburg Hilton for us. It works out good because the hotel is two blocks from the Start/Finish line of the run. There will be a riverboat murder mystery dinner and a day trip to Hersey Pennsylvania thrown in with all the other race weekend activities. But first we have a week of training to do!  

This doesn't feel like hump day

Why is it impossible to pack for a trip and not feel like your forgetting something? Even times I've made a list (and checked it twice), I always have that daunting feeling like I'm forgetting something. I'm not personally a fan of living out of a suitcase... but trying to train while living out of a suitcase has to be another level. Just knowing that if I don't pack it I go without it always drives me to over pack. Even when we go back country camping, I'll hump 75lbs of stuff on my back just to make sure I have EVERYTHING I could possible need. One would think that 18 years in the Army would have made me a minimalist... nope I end up going by the motto "Two is one and one is none". So lets see, running shoes... Check! Running shorts, shirts, and socks... Check! Garmin watch... Check! Hydration pack and GUs... Check! Normal people clothes... Check! I think I've got it all... who am I trying to fool. I'm sure I'm missing something! On a good note I was able to fit the 18 inch foam roller we have into my suitcase.

I will admit that one little thing that helped me pack so much is a nifty little contraption called the "Flip Fold". I have always been a little OCD when it came to folding my T-Shirts so I ordered a couple so me and Kelly could enjoy folding T-Shirts together. After trying it out I'm in love with it.

Since I seem to have a plethora of running shirts it helps me fit them and my "normal people" T-Shirts in my drawer. Even my Team RWB shirt fell in love with the Flip-Fold! I wonder if Flip-Fold wants to sponsor a fledgling athlete?

Packing for training while traveling

So we just got done with our three mile run for the night. We ran a little later than we had planned due to attending the monthly meeting of Fayetteville Running Club. Our one time we get together and manage to not run. Today Suzy Goodwin gave a great presentation on preventing injury and effective running. It was a very informative class that any runner could take something away to improve their personal training program. This has been a topic I have spent the majority of the last 8 months studying and researching so it was really good to hear some additional information from a knowledgeable source. Then it was straight home to change and hit the road. I could definitely feel this weekends miles as I ran. I didn't so much feel it in my leg muscles but in my feet. I might have over done it just a tad. I can tell I'm not as much of a mid foot striker as I need to be. Nothing an ice bath won't help solve... or make you forget for a bit while your body parts are slowly freezing. I guess no more bonus miles for me for awhile. I need to learn to stick to the "plan".

What I should be doing now instead of sitting here typing away at this old computer is packing. Tomorrow after my morning run I have to head off on a trip for work. That will put me living out of a suitcase and a hotel room for the next two weeks. Now I'm sure that doesn't sound all that bad to the average Joe... but first off I can't take my running partner with me, and two it adds some challenges to our Marathon training. So now I have to figure out what all I'll need to take with me that I can shove in a suitcase to cover my running needs for two weeks and still have room for things like normal clothes. I guess I should leave the foam roller at the house for Kelly. I will be able to take some things with me like Physical Therapy bands and ball, GPS watch, IPod, headphones, hydration pack, body glide, GU packs, and at least two pairs of running shoes. Luckily for me my running clothes don't take up much room. One of the many perks of short shorts! I have found some limited information on the Internet about running in the areas I will be staying. Hopefully the Hotel staff will be able to give me some advice to safe areas to run. Hopefully I won't forget something I need... toothbrushes are easy to replace... finding a running shoe in a size 15 isn't.

Four weeks to Harrisburg!!!

So yesterday marked the completion of the fifth week of training. That means there is only four weeks left till the Harrisburg Half Marathon and 13 weeks till OBX. I am feeling a little more comfortable about the Half Marathon. Yesterday morning I ran 13.1 just to try it out. I about killed myself just to get it in two hours. Hopefully I can shave some  more time off before the race. Right now other than sore ankles, I'm feeling pretty good. The additional five miles I ran yesterday evening probably didn't help much with that. But, you know me... never claimed to be the smartest guy out there. I did however catch up with where I needed to be for my goal of 1000 miles in 2013. Last week I ran 37 miles which put me at 615 miles for the year.

Last nights extra free miles were actually part of a little birthday party. The Fayetteville Running Club turned five years old. So in celebration we ran... I know imagine that. We had a route for our Couch to 5K members, a 5K route, and a 5 miles route. Of course I picked the 5 mile route because it wasn't like I had run 13.1 miles earlier. The routes wove all through downtown Fayetteville. Our event hosts, Teri and Zef, do an awesome job setting up a run. Prior to the run they go out and chalk arrows along each route so runners don't get lost. We had a pretty good showing so there were runners all over the place last night. After the run we all met up at Huske Hardware House for some appetizers and beer (Carbs)...  and cake. But, I'd rather get my carbs from beer over cake. If your reading this and thinking to yourself.... "Self, I should really join a running club", then what are you waiting for? If you want a little extra motivation to whip your butt into shape, or just want to log in a few miles, or just want to meet strange and wonderful people who REALLY enjoy a lot of running, then FRC or your local running club is the place to go. I know FRC has helped a lot in me getting where I am now. Running Clubs provide motivation, accountability, friendship, and good times.

Now on to the start of week six. The "plan" calls for 26 miles this week with the LSD run being 9 miles. My body is ready for a bit of a break at this point. The part that sucks is that I have to leave Wednesday on a trip for work and will be gone for about two weeks. I now get to face the challenge of keeping up with a rigorous training schedule while traveling. Hopefully I will have more options that the treadmill at a hotel. I know some of the guys I work with think my running is a bit extreme so I'm sure I'll be getting after it alone. Not to worry, I'm won't let something like that slow me down. 

It's finally Friday!!!

Today is a great day for a few reasons. First, it's Kelly and my sixth wedding anniversary! I've got to say I love that woman. It also happens to be a off day from running. Now you might be wondering why someone that loves running would also be excited about taking a day off... well I'll tell you. I need it! Between work, life, and running... I'm smoked. I really need to rest up for the weekend long runs. It's been a few days since I've been on here so let's first catch up.

So we left off after last Sundays LSD run. Monday of course was another well needed day off. On Tuesday we ran our 3 miles around our neighborhood. Wednesday was the famous FRC Rite Aid run. We had to add a little to our normal route out there again to make it 6 miles. If you are sitting there reading this and telling yourself "Self, I really should go out and try this Rite Aid run I always hear so much about", then I suggest you do it. You can run any distance you are comfortable with, the people are great, and it's a great way to celebrate that halfway point of the work week. Now back to the story.

We finally catch back up to last night. After work Kelly met me up at Hendrick Stadium on Fort Bragg. Kelly did the track workout with FRC while I ran the stairs. I will admit that running the stairs is one of my favorite track workouts. I start off with a one mile warm up around the track. Then the fun begins. For ever following lap around the track I hit the stairs. That's three flights up and three flights down. I do this for two miles and then an additional mile around just the track as a cool down. My cool down mile never ends up being much of a cool down as I always seem to try and push it out that last bit. Did I mention it was 90 degrees? Oh I left that out you said... sorry. There is nothing like conducting a great workout... want to make it even  more challenging? Do it in an oven!

Today we rest and prepare for 6 miles tomorrow and 12 miles on Sunday. The temperatures are supposed to be around 90 for both days. As of right now the plan is to do Saturdays run at night... and then wake up early and knock out the 12 miles on Sunday. I guess we will have to wait and see how the plan goes. I've replaced the bladder in my Nathan hydration vest with a Camelback bladder. I will have extra water, some pedialyte, and some snacks in the truck for post run. Hopefully I've learned something since last LSD run.

Can you say it's a bit warm out there

There we were on a Saturday night getting ready for bed and trying to plan out the next day. We had both ran the 10K that day and were a bit tired. We knew we had an 11 mile run ahead of us the next day... So me being the brilliant man that I am, I suggested just waking up without an alarm clock, eat some breakfast, and then worry about getting out on the road for our run. Fast forward a bit and now its 10am, already over 80 degrees out and the sun is just laughing at us. So off we go... well I also decided to try out one of my new Nathan Hydration Race Vest. About 2 miles into the run I tried to drink... and imagine that... there was some kind of leak in the mouth piece that let more air in than water out. Every time I tried to take a drink I got mostly air with a little water. What was I thinking trying to try out a new piece of equipment on an 11 mile run. Needless to say that at the completion of our run I was pretty dehydrated and a pissed at myself. Now that I'm home... been drowning myself with water and had a couple turkey sandwiches, I am feeling a lot better. It's funny no matter how together you think you've got it, you show yourself you've got a long ways to go. I do like the Race Vest by Nathan. Before this all the packs I've used on runs were camelbacks. This pack has pockets on the font which are accessible while running and a clip on the chest strap to keep your drinking hose from flopping about as you go.

I really like everything about this Race Vest except the drinking hose and bladder issues I had. I will be switching out the bladder and drinking hose with a Camelback one. Sometimes some companies are just better at what they do than others. But as far as the design and fit of the pack I think it is better suited for runners an any Camelbacks I've owned. The pockets sit up higher which allows clearance for your natural arm swing as you run. I will definitely be more prepared for next weeks 12 mile LSD run. I don't foresee the weather cooling down much anytime soon. So we will be starting off way earlier. Sleeping in is sooooo over rated (well Kelly would disagree with me).

 

American Red Cross Run for the Red 10K

Today we ran the American Red Cross Run for the Red 10K. They had a 10K, 5K, and 1 mile walk/run for the kids. All the proceeds of the race went to our local Red Cross chapter. There were 168 runners that ran for the 10K and 180 for the 5K. At 7am it was 75 degrees and 100% humidity. Not to shabby for the first week of August. It only got up to a low 90 degrees today. But the bonus today was not the wonderful North Carolina weather, but the challenging course. You might not think of downtown Fayetteville as "hilly", well let me tell you they found the terrain and made good use of it. Below is the elevation profile of the USATF certified 6.2 mile course.

I was a great course, a great cause, and there were some great runners out there. It maybe wasn't the largest event around, but I was glad we were able to work it into the "plan". I think it's good to break away from a normal training plan and participate in a run like this. It encouraging to see people finish their first 5K or 10K and seeing the finishing times of the winners helps stoke the inner fires.

Well even if your not into stoking inner flames I was glad to get out with Kelly and log in some miles. Of course the new groovy running attire helped.



Tomorrow is another day and another run. The "plan" calls for 11 miles and its almost 9pm and we have yet to figure out our route for tomorrow. I guess we better go figure that out.

 

Another run, another day in the bag!

Today we ran another 3 miles. I attempted to concentrate on my foot placement but don't think I was a successful as I would have liked. I think for the most part I was just tired. Kelly on the other hand, wanted to get some speed work in so she incorporated some fartlek's into her 3 miles. Even with feeling tired I was glad I got out there and got my miles in. I hear it's all about the miles... but who knows. After we got back to the house I tried to video record myself running on the treadmill to check my foot strike and gait. That also didn't quite work like I thought it would. There wasn't enough light in the room so even when I slowed the video down I really couldn't tell exactly where I was striking. I could tell I wasn't doing a severe heal strike so that's a plus. I know I've come a long way... exactly 556 miles since the first of the year. But I know I have a long way to go... hopefully at least another 444 miles. Not only the distance... but the improvements in my form and gait. But I can't stop here. I've got to be constantly working towards becoming a stronger and better runner. So what kinds of specialty runs do you do? So there was another thing that crossed my mind as I was finishing up my run. We were actually walking back to the house when we passed another couple out running. We had crossed paths with them earlier when we were running. This time as we crossed paths the lady mentioned how we were walking faster than she was running. Part of me wanted to tell her that at least she was out there moving. But I didn't want to get in the way of their run so I just kept it to myself. I'll admit I love to see people out moving. It doesn't matter how fast or how slow, whether its on two wheels or two feet. We have become the leading nation in obesity. We as individuals might not be able to fix that problem. But we can get out there and move... and with it improve our own lives... maybe even extend it. So take every day and every run and make the most of it.
    

Another bump in the road...

Well we got the results back from my MRI... yep, I have a torn TFCC in my wrist. What the &!@$ is a TFCC you ask? The Triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) is formed by the triangular fibrocartilage discus (TFC), the radioulnar ligaments (RUL’s) and the ulnocarpal ligaments (UCL’s). Don't worry, I thought the same thing when I read that for the first time also. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be able to sit down with my physical therapist and ask a few questions (which means a million questions). I also have to have some x-rays of my wrists prior to sitting down with the Ortho doctor. Looks like surgery will be in my near future. The bright side of all this as my Physical Therapist put it... at least you can still run. Well that's exactly what I did and what I will continue to do. Today we ran 3 miles around the neighborhood. Did a pretty easy pace starting off and then worked the pace up as we went. The run is just what my calves needed from the abuse I put them through this weekend. So my weight lifting is on hold for awhile but I can still run. Good thing I didn't decide to start a weight lifting blog.

Welcome to Week Four!

It is now 103 Days will the OBX Marathon and 40 Days till the Harrisburg Half Marathon (but who's counting). This week we have added a 10K race in place of a 6 mile pace run. We might feel it a bit more on Sundays 11 mile LSD run. Today we switched up our leg workout by alternating timed sets of Air Squats and Step-Ups. Then a quick Abs workout to finish things off. My calves are still thanking me for this weekends activities. I hope to have eliminated all heel striking prior to OBX. I would love to hear from other runners out there that are planning to run OBX and what they are doing to train. If your thinking OBX might be calling you... you still have 15 weeks to train up for it. I'll go ahead and leave the link here for you.

http://www.obxmarathon.org/

Week 3 of training is complete!

This week we made some modifications to the "plan". The total mileage for the week was the same... just how we got there was a little different. Thursday is when it seemed to fall apart. By fall apart I simply mean we didn't follow the plan. Thursday was supposed to be 3 mile run day... ended up being a day off. Friday was supposed to be a day off... ended up staying a day off. Now all of a sudden we were at the weekend with 14 miles to make up over the two days. Saturday morning started off with the Fort Bragg Family 5K... well that made up for 3 of those miles, now we had 11 miles left. We quickly came up with a strategy to make up the needed miles without putting either of us in the hospital... or even worse.... the couch. I had ordered a pair of training shoes from Newton Running. The Sir Isaac Newtons! The shoe is designed to promote a proper forefoot landing while running. Well here I am with these new shoes... a need to get some more miles in... sounds like a Saturday evening run. We decide to hit the mean streets of the Riverbrook Subdivision for another 3 miles. Right from the get go I could feel how much easier it was to tell if I was doing a proper forefoot strike. It made it feel weird to either heel strike or land with a mid foot strike. What I wasn't ready for was the fact that by the first half a mile my calves were on fire. That wonderful feeling pretty much stayed the rest of the way... At that point I wished I was wearing my beloved compression socks. With the run in the bag and another 3 miles knocked out it was time for a couple things... first a shower and then to put on my compression socks. I was expecting to wake up last night to my own screams of pain and anguish. Luckily for me I woke up after a good nights sleep with the sound of my alarm clock and sore calves. It was now day two of the weekend and we still had 8 miles to get in. Since we already had to go on post so that I could get my MRI on my wrist (possible torn ligament from weight lifting) we figured we would get our miles in on Pope Army Airfield. There is a 6.5 mile loop around the airfield that is mostly sidewalks. We started off at the Pope Gym did the loop and then added another 1.5 miles to get in our 8 miles. This was are LSD (Long Slow Distance) run so we set a goal of running a 10:00 minute mile pace. Our overall average ended up being 9:50 minutes per mile. Another week closer to OBX and we are still on track.   

It's never too late, but now's a good time!

For some reasons it seemed that physically I started a downward spiral at age 30. My metabolism seemed to slow down, I found out I had Obstructive Sleep Apnea, physical fitness slipped on my priority list, and at age 35 I hurt my back on an Airborne Operation. From age 30 to 36 my weight and physical fitness level went on a rollercoaster ride. At age 36 I decided that 20 years of smoking was probably a little much and that I needed to quit. I went from a solid pack a day to zip. Well the side effect of that was my weight jumped from 240lbs to 265lbs. Let's just say that it wasn't a good 25lbs that I had acquired. November of last year is when Kelly and I made a choice... we were going to take back control of our lives. A friend of mine posted on Facebook today, and I quote "If you want to change your body, then exercise. However if you want to change your life, become a runner". On November 3rd, 2012, Kelly and I decided to become runners. You might be asking yourself... why is he going on about all this. Well I'm going to tell you. Today we ran the Fort Bragg MWR Family 5K, which I ran in 21:19. This set a new Personal Record (PR) for me. Also, another friend of mine took a picture of me while running today which closely resembled another picture I have of me on that November 3rd 5K. So as it was...all the planets aligned and it was meant to be that we talk about a few steps in the journey of my life. This is my life, and as far as I know the only one I'm going to get. I've made it this far, why not see if I can get a few more miles out of this bod of mine. I know most people who are reading this know me, but if you or someone you knows needs a little kick in the pants... It's never too late, but now's a good time!

Tuesday nights alright for Running!

So no poop, there I was... wearing my short shorts, a bright orange shirt, my Garmin Forerunner 310X, and my Merrells. It was 2100hrs (9pm for those of us who don't like math) and off we went for our 3 mile run. One would think that at such a late hour it wouldn't feel so hot... but it did. Tuesday's runs are always a nice break. After all the miles over the weekend and then Monday's Leg Workout it's nice to just shake things out with a shorter jaunt. I've been noticing that my legs aren't as sore as they should be which tells me it's time to shake things up a little bit in the strength training department. Legs and Abs are the only the body parts I'm working out while I wait to have my MRI on my wrist. Even with this little set back in my training I don't want it to effect my running. I'm sure it will effect my beach appeal but I'm not really to worried about it. Kelly's crazy about me and I notice her checking me out all the time. So back to the running... I played around with my pace a little bit. The first mile I just did an easy warm up, and then ramped it up a little for the second. The third and final mile I kicked it in trying to keep my "5K Race Pace" for the whole mile. This Saturday, Fort Bragg MWR is hosting their monthly "Free Family 5K" on post. It is a timed, but not chipped event. We are going to run it and I am hoping to get a "PR" (Personal Record). This will probably be one of the last 5K's I run before the Marathon. If you live around the Fort Bragg area I strongly suggest you come out to Hendrick Stadium at 8am on Saturday, July 27th. Well it's time to call it a night. Go run!!! I'm going to bed!!!

It's Monday and I got a package in the mail!

So after a nice trip to visit family in SC we got back home to a couple packages waiting at the front door. Kelly got a new pair of running shoes she had ordered and I got the Level 1 Training System from www.Born2Run.com. Eric Orton the author of "The Cool Impossible", and coach of Christopher McDougall, author of "Born to Run", developed a system to first strengthen the feet and then to condition the other supporting muscles used during running. The Training System includes a training wedge, two poles, and a DVD. Since today was an off day from running and "Leg Day" for strength training, I decided to try some of the foot strengthening exercises in between leg exercises. I did come to a realization that my feet need a lot of work. This has been caused by a lifetime of wearing shoes that do the work of my feet. Eric covers a detailed training progression in his book. The DVD just showed proper form for the exercises. This will be a regular topic of discussion here and I suggest something you add to your training program. Strength training will make or break a training program. Now there is a million options for strength training from lifting weights, crossfit, or body weight exercises. These will help prevent injuries and increase your performance. If weight loss is your goal then adding strength training will help your body be more efficient at burning fat. I will be adding those foot strengthening exercising to my routine. My next steps toward my marathon and a lifetime of natural running. 

It's a wrap on week deuce!

So this mornings 9 mile LSD run brought an end to week 2. We went back to the Costal Carolina University's campus to run again. The weather couldn't have cooperated more with us. During the entire run it was overcast with a light breeze and 75 degrees. My attempt at pacing this week was a lot better. I managed to keep a 9:53 minute mile pace. I really never thought that keeping a slower pace than my goal race pace would be such a challenge. There will always be that part of me that wants to just step it out and see what I'm made of... And then there is the other somewhat wiser part that tells me ill never make it 26.2 miles at a sprint. This week we logged in 25 miles. Next week the miles actually drop back some to allow for recovery. Don't worry folks, the following week it ramps right back up. So I was just thinking earlier that I've kind of been just touching on topics as they come up. I welcome any and all comments and/or question. Or I can just ramble on from day to day... Either way I'm going to blog away as the miles go. Just thought I'd open it up a little... As long as this doesn't turn into Dr Phil or Dear Abby. So who else is out there training up for a race? I know Kelly and I aren't the only ones... Or are we?

Visiting family and getting our run on!

Kelly, Mike Jr. and myself are in Conway, SC visiting my Grandma, Aunt, and cousin and her family. Just a nice weekend visit with family. Conway is only about a two hour drive from our humble abode in Raeford. Not sure why we let life get the best of us and not visit more. Today the "Plan" called for a five mile run. It's a good thing this trip came up so we can talk a little about finding run routes while traveling. Luckily I had my family who is familiar with the area here to bounce some run route idea off of them. There were a few I found online that wouldn't have been good to run. A couple could have been downright dangerous. Now I'm no stranger to danger... but I'd rather not dodge crazed "are we almost to Myrtle Beach" drivers in bumper to bumper traffic. We did end up finding a couple routes on the USATF website at the Coastal Carolina University Campus. They have a beautiful campus here in Conway, SC. School is out for the summer so other than a few people showing up for some summer camps we had the place to ourselves. We were able to run around the campus for five fun filled miles. My goal was to run at a 9 minute mile pace... and for once I was actually able to keep my goal pace. Well it averaged out to 8:59 minute a mile pace. Let's just call that close enough. I seem to have a problem with setting a goal pace and keeping with it. The ones I seem to have a hard time with is my LSD (Long, Slow, Distance) runs. Guess we will see what happens tomorrow. Below I've put a couple websites that I have found that were helpful in finding run routes.

1. WalkJogRun - This is probably one of my favorite run route websites. Not only do they have a run route finder, they also have a run route creator and a smart phone app. http://www.walkjogrun.net/

2. USATF - Another great source for finding run routes. This is the website I found the route we ran this morning. http://www.usatf.org/routes/search/

3. Runners World - Not only a good route finding tool, but a great resource for runners of all skill levels. http://rw.runnersworld.com/route/routefinder.html

Switching up the plan a bit for an event!

Here it is another day closer to November 8th. That means there is 113 more days till the OBX Marathon. So according to the "Plan" today should have been an off day, but we decided to switch it up a little so that we could run the 503d MP BN (ABN) Reunion 5K. Since yesterday called for a 3 Mile run we just took yesterday off and ran today. Which worked out in my favor since I ended up bringing home some hardware. Didn't know they had a category for fastest Alumni... But they did and I guess that makes me the fastest "Old Dude" out there. It was great seeing some good friends and always a joy to be around our Nation's finest Paratroopers. I should be packing up right now for our trip to Conway, SC to visit family... but I seem to be typing. This weekend should be interesting because we not only will have to juggle our training runs while visiting family... but also finding run routes in a new area. Thank God for the Internet and IPhone apps. Saturday calls for a 5 mile run and then a 9 mile run on Sunday. Well we just might have to talk about some good resources for runners who travel this weekend. Until then...

Training Day 10 and a little bit of reading

Day 10 draws to an end with FRC's weekly Rite Aid run. Once again I took a wrong turn and went for a little longer run than planned. Not only that but I also started at a little to fast of a pace. This humidity is crazy and it's kicking my butt. The run did put me over 500 miles for the year. I am still lacking some miles from my calf injury earlier this year. Once the mileage starts building up during this marathon training plan I'll catch up in a hurry. So over the last few months I have been doing a bit of reading and wanted to share a few of the titles that I suggest for a good read. Some of them deal with Marathon training but others deal with becoming a better and stronger runner. They do not appear in any order and I've just put a little about the book. I don't want to spoil the read for you. Hope you enjoy and get as much of them as I did.

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall - This book really got me interested in improving my running efficiency. I was hoping the book would go a little more into the bio mechanics of how we were "born to run", but later I read the book by his coach, Eric Ortan, and that filled in the gaps this book left.

Danny Dreyer does a great job in his book on helping to fix many of the issues we face as runner by improper running techniques. He goes into the whole eastern "CHI" thing a little too much for me. But it was still an informative book.

A great book for someone wanting to train up for their first Marathon. Jeff Galloway recommends the Run, Walk, Run method for completing the 26.2 mile race. I have tried his method on 10 mile runs and was able to keep a great pace. Not sure if I'll incorporate it for my Marathon but its still a good book.



This is the book that answered all my questions that I had when I finished reading born to run. Eric goes in great detail how to fix improper running form and gives some detailed training advice. This will be one I'll be rereading several times. Hopefully some of his methods can help with some of my running flaws.

This book and Hal Higdon's training plans are what Kelly and I are basing our Marathon Training Plan from. His book covers training guidance for beginners and experienced runners alike. A must read.

This was my latest read and I will definitely be going into this one some more. Dabby Abshire is the cofounder of Newton Running and has really done a great job in this book in laying down a path to more efficient and "natural" running. Another book I will be using to help me improve my technique.

 

 





Day 9 and training from Jordan Lake State Park

So here we are at Jordan Lake State Park and I have to say we have had perfect weather. The water was a little cool from all the rain we have been getting lately. It was nice to get out this morning and put a few miles in on a completely new course. I kind of wish the "planned" run was a little longer than 3 miles. But, you've got to stick to the plan... Or so "they" say. To change things up a bit I ran with my Merrell Bare Access 2's. They are a zero drop minimalist shoe with some padding along the entire foot. Most days I run with a shoe that has a 4mm drop. One day I hope to completely transition all my run to minimalist running. We ran a mile and a half out and then back. The route from our campsite was a blacktop road that curved with small rolling hills. As I ran along this road with the early morning sun peaking over the tree tops a young deer lept onto the road and began to run with me.... Ok so I saw a deer cross the road. So maybe I'm not quite there yet... But I can dream. So all and all a great morning run. What made the run even better was the post run dip in the lake. Nothing like dropping the shoes and going straight in. The cool water felt so good on my legs. Now if only I had my own lake in either my front or back yard. But I guess thats why they call this a vacation. I think getting a change of scenery can always help liven things up. After months of the same "scenery" while in Afghanistan I sure was ready to get my feet running in the good ol' USA! Time to go cook up some hobo packs. Which by the way are not only a good camping food but also great fuel for the machine (depending on what you put in them).

Day 8

Today is a scheduled day of no running. We did however wake up, get a light breakfast, and then work out legs and abs. We started with Air Squats, then followed with lunges. I have been trying to keep my air squats as deep and explosive as possible. This has really helped with tackling hills on my runs. For our Ab workout, I did 100 sit-ups followed by oblique crunches and White Russians. Of course the beverage would have been a little more enjoyable on a morning like this... but does nothing to help my  accomplish my goals. Later today we will be leaving to go camping at Lake Jordan State Park. We plan on doing some cross training while there by doing some swimming. Tomorrows run will be an easy 3 miler around the park. I am so looking forward to getting away and doing some much needed relaxing. I did get a new piece of equipment for an early birthday present I plan on doing a good test on. I just might have to do a full review on it. I'm sure by now your at the edge of  your seat waiting to hear what this equipment is.... its a hammock!!!! With that I better get off here and help Kelly pack.

1 week down... 17 weeks to go!!!

Today's 8 mile run brought an end to our first week of training. All and all it was a great run. The weather actually played along with us and I felt really good the whole way. What I was really disappointed about is my pace. Now here is the crazy part. I wasn't disappointed that I ran it to slow... I was disappointed that I failed to keep my pace at the goal pace I had set out to run. Now there are a couple goals of a LSD (Long, Slow, Distance) run. First is to get your body used to running both the distance but more importantly the time spent pounding pavement. The other is to get your body used to burning fat stores instead of glycogen. Most trainers say you should run your LSD runs at about a 2 minute per mile slower pace than your goal pace for the marathon. I want to be able to run a sub four hour marathon so I need to run at a 9 minute mile pace. So with that in mind I should run my LSD runs at an 11 minute mile pace. I tried that and I think it hurt me more to run at that pace so I set my goal to run all my LSD runs at a 10 minute mile pace. Today I ran an overall pace of 9:05 minute mile pace. Not really sure how much of an effect that will have on the two goals of my LSD run, but I need to learn to set a pace and keep it. My fear is that come the day of all days... RACE DAY, I will start off at too fast of a pace and I'll burn myself out and not be able to finish in my goal time. I thought that after four months of mostly running on a treadmill in Afghanistan that I would be able to set a pace and keep it. What I found was that running on a treadmill did nothing to help me with pace setting but only to turn off my brain and run. Kelly on the other hand set the same time goal as me and ran a 9:54 minute mile. That is only 6 seconds off of her goal pace. I guess I should have ran with her. Of course that would help with running the pace... just not setting and keeping my own pace. I did some more testing with fueling up mid run today. At 45 minutes into the run I took one GU gel. Most long runs I would take fuel according to the miles. This time I did it by minutes instead of miles. I think that is one change I am going to make to my fuel plan. This way no matter what distance I am and no matter what pace I am running I will be providing my bod the much needed calories it needs. One additional thing I really need to start researching is electrolyte/salt replacement. Saying that I am a heavy sweater is an understatement. To make matters worse I seem to be a salty sweater. So I guess I have some studying to do. So in recap, set a good pace for YOU, listen to your wife, and make sure you give yourself the much needed nutrition/hydration it needs.

5 mile Saturday!

Today starts the first weekend of our training plan. After our Friday off of running I was glad to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. Our run route of choice today was our neighborhood. Two laps around the subdivision was exactly five miles. We managed to avoid the rain but with all the humidity in the air I looked like I survived a tropical storm. What didn't help todays activity was this thing called a "cheat day". A poor excuse for a steak sandwich for lunch just sat at the bottom of my gut the whole run. I guess I should be glad it stayed put the whole run. We are trying to eat healthy Sunday through Friday and then go a little crazy on Saturdays. I think I will be a little more careful in the future with my food choices. Cheat days are supposed to be fun and exciting. The pizza I had topped full of greasy meaty goodness made up for my earlier failure at lunch. The true test will be tomorrow morning. Sundays are our scheduled LSD runs... and just in case your wondering... that stands for Long, Slow, Distance. Week ones LSD run is a 8 mile run. We are going to go to the Cape Fear River Trail and meet up with some other running friends in the morning. The CFRT is a 4 mile paved trail that goes between Clark Park in the south end and the Jordan Soccer Complex to the north. On the north end of the trail there is 3 nice hills that are always a joy to traverse. This is why we plan on starting at the south end so the hills are in the middle of our run and not at the end. I plan on playing around with fuel gels on tomorrows run. So far of the gels I've tried I think I like the GU brand. They seem to digest with no drama while running. Mid race fueling is one thing that I need do some more research on. Well my alarm is going to go off in about 6 hours. Goodnight and I'll see you on the trail tomorrow.