Posts Tagged ‘health’

Last week I hinted at some new shoes coming in the mail – a pair of Saucony Mirage. They arrived from Holabird Sports over the weekend and I finally got to run in them yesterday.

Saucony Mirage

I will never judge a shoe by one run, but I really liked the way they felt. The lightness of the shoe was much nicer than I expected.

I got these shoes because I am a huge fan of trying something new without going too extreme. I am pretty sure I won’t get a pair of Vibram’s or anything less of a shoe than the Mirage any time soon. Notice that I’m not saying “never.”

If I can transition to this shoe quickly I will, but for now I’m not going to force the issue. I’ll have one or two runs a week in them before anything high mileage. That said, I would love to wear these awesomely green shoes for the Shamrock Half.

I also have another new product in my hands … or on my wrist – a Soleus GPS 1.0. It’s a long story about how I got this watch, but I want to thank Soleus for the opportunity to wear this.

Soleus came onto the scene recently with an affordable GPS option with a watch that is just that – a normal looking watch with GPS features. Unlike Garmin or other similar companies, you cannot download the data to a computer.

After a few runs with the watch, I like it a lot. The connection to a GPS is quick and the various screen options are nice. I do miss the data that my Garmin 205 provides, however, I never really started using those features until last year. I still don’t download my data often, but I do like looking at elevation profiles and maps on crazy runs.

I have done some comparison with the Garmin – the first run it was just .06 more on a 5.3 mile run; with a co-worker it was .15 more on a 3-mile run. I know that GPS watches read differently and aren’t 100% accurate, but I will continue to compare the two as I decide on which one I like better.

How I handle not having quick access to elevation or maps is yet to be seen. The question is, do I really need it? The quick answer is no. I did fine without it for years. Perhaps I’ll keep my Garmin for those crazier runs, although it seems ridiculous to leave it sitting around when I can easily sell it. My Garmin, though, is old and I don’t know how long it will last.

On the health side of things, I am finally feeling better. I’d say I’m about 90% now – still a little ways to go, but I’ll definitely be ready for 10 miles this weekend.

Three weeks into the year and I can’t believe that I’m saying training for the Shamrock Half has gotten off to a bad start. Sort of.

Last weekend, I wrote about not feeling well. My mileage fell short by a few miles and I had a long run that just didn’t feel right. It was nice to push it, but it left me feeling bad later in the day.

All last week I struggled with feeling good — lots of snot, headaches and everything else associated with a cold. That led to completely skipping a run, something I haven’t done in a while.

Then yesterday I felt pretty good again. My head was stopped up, but I felt like I could think clear. I went out for 8 miles and had a great run. While it was a bit cold, I enjoyed every second of it. The super snot rockets I got out made me feel even better.

Then yesterday afternoon I took a nap that made me feel crappy again. Same thing last night; then today it’s like I couldn’t even wake up. I decided to stay home from work because going to work every day last week obviously didn’t make me feel better.

Now that it’s afternoon, I once again don’t feel too bad. This up and down and up and down thing is annoying — I feel like the end is near and I know that taking today off running will only help.

Today is all about rest and fluids. I want to run tomorrow and I want to run 10 miles this weekend. I want to have a normal week of training and get my focus back on what I want to do for the Shamrock Half.

A year ago yesterday it all unraveled — I knew I was injured and I knew I probably shouldn’t be running. My second marathon, though, was something I felt like I had to do.

A year ago this past weekend was my second Richmond Marathon.

I think it’s taken me a year to figure out why. This gets into those weird conversations about the overused “everything happens for a reason” things, but despite a very solid 2010 with running, I know that I lost focus. My runs meant nothing — they just become training runs for the sake of training runs.

This past weekend, as I had a solid run on Saturday, I realized how focused I am these days. Even though I am undecided on what marathon I want to do next — there’s no if this time around — I am extremely focused on running just to run right now.

Running remains fun, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted it to be. I’ve had fun in my “come back” this year and I can’t wait to keep having fun as I close out the year.

Of course as I type this I’m at the peak of a horrible cold. I think it started at the end of last week and just got gradually worse over the weekend. This morning I couldn’t hardly sit up for more than 10 minutes without being dizzy. I’m better this afternoon and am taking every step I can to get back out later this week for another run.

When I’ve been sick before, running is the last thing I think of, but today it’s the first. It’s all about having fun, and sitting on the couch all day hasn’t been fun.

This almost didn’t happen.

Friday morning I had a slight sore throat that led to feeling kind of bad that evening. I felt like I was shaking it off, but as I had trouble sleeping, I had brief thoughts of a DNS.

Feeling good 13.1 miles in

Fast forward 13.1 miles to the middle of the Baltimore Marathon. There’s no reason not to — I fought of those stupid thoughts, started the first few miles slow (my first official split at mile 5.8 was 49:10, an 8:29 pace) and at the half way point I had picked up the pace and was at just under 1:50, an 8:23 pace. I was in the zone like never before.

But that feeling of a cold was still there and 20-30 mph winds were in the forecast. I had to push it before the weather elements hit and before my body would have no more of that running a marathon stuff.

Well, around mile 18 the wind hit. And a few miles later I suddenly needed water like never before. I wasn’t thirsty, but a bit of a stopped up nose and slightly sore throat was making my mouth so dry. I’m sure the wind didn’t help.

I couldn’t have prepared for what I was feeling. I was able to push mile 19 out in 8:35 as I tried to fight those thoughts; slowed down to just over 10 minutes for mile 20 and then managed to do mile 21 in 9:18.

I kept doing math in my head of what I could do, but I just wasn’t feeling good. My legs were actually doing great — there was no “wall hitting” feeling — but everything else was getting to me.

So mentally and physically, I axed my “A” goal of 3:45. I knew that if I slowed down, walked a bit every few minutes and grabbed two cups of water plus Gatorade that I would easily hit my “B” goal – a sub 4-hour marathon.

Getting ready to head through Camden Yards for a very cool finish.

I spent the last few miles soaking in the sights and sounds (tons of cowbells in Baltimore), backing off quite a bit (miles 23 and 24 were a few seconds over 10 minutes) and doing what I could to avoid further sickness.

Then it hit.

I had the absolute worse cramp ever in my left leg. I nearly fell down. I stopped, stretched, rubbed it out, and … nothing. I could not move. While I freaked out a bit, I had a little more than 15 minutes to spare with a mile to go to get to my “B” goal.

I took a deep breath, repeated those steps and took the shortest strides of my life for the final mile. I wasn’t going to get to the huge crowd through Camden Yards and walk.

My time? 3:56:17. 762nd out of 3,207; 582nd out of 2,015 men; 104th out of 336 in my age group.

This was far and away the best running experience since finishing my first marathon 4 years ago. There’s a lot more from this race and weekend that I’ll eventually blog about, but for now this is a moment I want to soak in and celebrate.

It’s not often that I sit down for a blog post and struggle to come up with something. In the past few days, though, that’s the case. Today I turned to Twitter to get people to ask me running-related questions to spur my mind a bit. There were some great questions that I’ll answer below, a few that I can use for a future #runchat session and some that I just can’t answer (sorry @TedWeismann, I don’t know anything about maintaining glucose levels on a run).

Q: @teacherswhorun: How can you use a half marathon time to find expected full marathon time?
A: The timing of this is great since I’m going to run a half marathon this weekend. While both of my marathons haven’t produced results I was hoping for, I have found that the McMillan Running Calculator is fairly accurate with predicting times. I actually used that calculator, among other things, when coming up with my Baltimore Marathon goal a few posts ago.

Otherwise, take your pace on a comfortable long run and take anywhere between 30-60 seconds per mile off that to come up with a goal. Some say your long runs should be even slower than that — simply put, there are no simple answers out there. I’d love to hear other ideas in the comments section.

Q: @thetk42one: Socks or no socks? Discuss.
A: Socks. Preferably Injinji. How about you?

Q: @FitNotFried: I  joined a running club, but as a new runner my pacing is too slow, and I get left behind. How can I improve?
A: About 5 years ago I joined a training group for my first long-distance race and was terrified. Fortunately the group was big and was pretty much divided up into 3 groups — fast, slow and everyone else in between. My suggestion would be to talk to whoever leads the club and tell them about your concerns. My bet would be that there will be others in the group who are at or near your pace. Together you’ll all get faster and stronger.

Q: @trumpdabeast: What has been your favorite race that you ran, and what is your dream race to run?
A:  I LOVE the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach in March. I’ve done this race 4 times, but unfortunately missed it this year coming back from my injury. Oddly enough, I don’t have a dream race. I just want to get through a marathon uninjured.

Running the Shamrock at Virginia Beach will produce scenes like this.

Q: @notdiyheather: When wanting to increase mileage, is it better to run longer or run more often?
A: I think some of this is a personal preference and it depends on what you’re training for. I like to gradually increase my mileage by some sort of combination of running longer and more often. Honestly, I think the answer to this question is one I’m constantly seeking — both approaches have worked at various times for me in my running. I’d love to hear some advice in the comments section.

Q: @TheHeldawg: How do you effectively use BodyGlide? How much? When?
A:  I use BodyGlide or Mission whenever I’m going to be running for more than an hour or for races 10k or longer. The more humid it is, the more I put on.  Put it in between your legs if they rub, your nipples, your feet and, yes, even your butt. It’s probably impossible to put on too much.

Q: @runforsushi: What are your rules for running when sick? 
A: If you have a fever, DON’T RUN. It’ll only make you worse. If I have a cold, I’ll run — in fact, I think it helps clear me out. Otherwise, if I feel bad — fever or not — I opt not to run and rest up. This question reminds me of one of my second ever blog entry when I woke up with a fever on race day. Check it out here.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my tweet this afternoon. This was a lot of fun. If you have any answers to these questions that you’d like to share, please leave a comment! I hope you’ll join me and Scott for #runchat at 8 p.m. ET this Sunday!

Go figure that after I write about lofty August goals that I suddenly felt miserable for a couple of days. After my post the other day, I felt kind of weird knowing that I was about to approach a week with less miles. Apparently I needed rest more than I realized.

After a good run to kick off the week Monday, it was like I immediately started feeling bad. I gradually got worse yesterday, but have gradually gotten better today after opting to take my first two-day rest break from running in this training cycle. It’s my first two-day break since mid-June.

The timing of this is pretty good since I was planning to cut back to about 25 miles this week. Of course I can still hit that with more miles in the second half of the week, and I have no urge to “catch up” if I fall behind. It’s a built in recovery week for a reason. If i happen to run fewer miles than I planned, it’s not a big deal. I’ll adjust however I need to. The body has never lied to me before.

* * *

On a side note, I have changed my commenting system and am trying out Intense Debate. It’s as simple as before — if you leave a comment, your name and an email address (that is never displayed), you can then hit “Submit Comment” and it will show up as usual. If you have a website, you can leave that too and your name will be hyperlinked. None of that is different.

Intense Debate will allow you to comment using your Twitter, Facebook, WordPress, OpenID or Intense Debate accounts if you prefer to do that instead of the “guest” option above. All options will allow you to use CommentLuv, a feature I had before. If you have a website, enter it until the CommentLuv area and make sure the box is checked. Your last blog post will then have a hyperlink at the end of your comment.

If you have any issues with commenting, please let me know with a comment on my Contact page.

If I could get those few days back when I was sick and add an extra two days to make this a normal-length month, this would have been the best month in a long time. But I can’t get that time back, so I’m left with what I still think is a pretty good February.

Here’s a look:

The pescetarian lifestyle
Getting rid of meat and still eating fish was easy. I’m not sure if I want to continue this lifestyle or not – a good burger or steak every once in a while or some Chick-fil-A every couple of months sounds delicious right now – but I still say this commitment to four weeks of eating differently has changed me.

My eyes are open to eating things like black bean “burgers,” eggplant parmesan and breakfasts without bacon or sausage. While I continued to eat fish, having a tuna sub for lunch filled with spinach and jalapeños felt much more satisfying than, say, a cold cut sub.

While I got filled up during my meals, I haven’t had many bloated feelings (except for when my wife and I pigged out for her birthday). A lot of meat-based meals leave me feeling like that and I don’t miss that feeling.

Weight loss
Thanks in part to eating differently, I’m ending the month at 187 pounds, down from 1.8 at the end of January. I just feel better overall and a little bit of weight loss certainly gives me a boost of confidence. I continue to want to focus on how I feel rather than a particular number, but weekly weigh-ins will continue.

5 miles
The other day I hit my long run goal for the month – 5 miles. And it was a good 5 miles. My overall mileage took a hit with my illness, but I still logged 44 miles, which included a sub-9-minute mile paced run tonight — the first non-race run of that pace since the end of September. Had I not gotten sick, I would have been close to 60 miles. I can’t complain about that.

What’s ahead
As the calendar changes, I have some things in mind. The “#dailymission” on Daily Mile the other day of doing a max plank test was a huge wake-up call to my weak core. I did 1:13.

I could blame being sick sucking the life out of me or that I did it without warming up or I did it without shoes, but I know I can do better than that. No excuses anymore — I have to work to increase that. While I’ve done a lot more core work and cross training in the past couple of months than I probably did all of last year, I’ve got a long way to go.

By the end of March, I want to hit 2 minutes. Plain and simple goal.

When it comes to running, my dancing around on what’s next is over. I signed up tonight for the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k presented by Martin’s in Richmond on April 2. (This will be the one and only time I mention the name in full.) For those not familiar with this race, the Monument Avenue 10k has expanded registration to 40,000 people this year, making it one of the largest 10ks in the country and putting it in the top 25 races in the country as far as size. It’s also been one of the top “10 greatest places for runners to hit the road.”

I ran this race in 2008 and 2009, both times as a fundraiser. This time I’m just looking at this as a “comeback” race. I’m not looking for a PR – I want something that’s affordable, something to give me confidence and, most of all, something that’s a lot of fun. This race will do all of those things.

On that note, I officially deferred my Shamrock Half Marathon entry to next year. It hurts to miss my most favorite event ever, but it’s also motivating. How so? I know that to avoid a repeat of this I need to get stronger, run smarter, get refocused and so much more. Missing this race will make me a better runner. It just has to.

As for anything else this year, I’m not making any commitments right now. I want to get through March with continued progress and then kick-start April with the 10k.

It’s amazing how Mother Nature gets so easily confused with a couple of warm days. A few years ago, I wrote about seeing dandelions in February. Today it’s the Forsythias that are already starting to bloom after a record high yesterday of 75. I’m not complaining too much though — it’s been a cold, but very dry winter around here. I’m looking forward to the spring and running without layers. But still, it’s a little too early for this:

As far as running goes, I ran a little more than a mile last night in shorts and short sleeves — probably the first time I’ve been in short sleeves since the marathon. Then I got up and ran 3.4 miles this morning, my first decent distance run since before the stomach virus hit. My lungs and legs felt pretty bad, but I’m glad I could get back out there.

I didn’t write about last week’s weigh-in because getting sick made me not want to think about much of anything. For the record, it was pretty much the same — 189. The thing is, getting sick has totally messed things up, or has it helped put me on track?

On Saturday morning I weighed nearly 3 pounds less than the day before — 186.6. OK, fluid loss was certainly the reason for that. I was drained. I was on empty.

This week’s weigh-in is even less — 185.8. There are a number of things this could be.

• I’ve actually lost weight. Living this month as a pescetarian has opened my eyes to so much. I have been eating better and eating less. Perhaps it’s taken my body three weeks to understand what’s going on.
• My body is still empty. Without going into details, getting sick cleaned me out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
• I haven’t gotten rehydrated still. I’ve been trying to drink more water to replenish what was lost a week ago.
• A combination of all the above.

The real answer will come a week from now in my final weigh-in of February. I’m hoping that I can get out of this month with some kind of loss and then keep that going into March. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll continue my mostly meatless eating or not. I don’t miss it. I haven’t had any cravings for a burger or chicken or steak. I may find myself limiting those things to once a month or certain occasions. Otherwise, my life seems fine without it.

Better yet, get the shocks out and get this body going again. My running recovery was coming along so nicely until Friday came along.

Then BAM!

I’ve had some sicknesses stop me from running for a while, but it’s been a long, long time in which I’ve had something absolutely put me back to what feels like square one. I know I’m not really starting over — but with a fully empty stomach, having to hydrate myself as if I’ve never had water, and pretty much taking a week off running, it feels like I’m restarting.

But you know what? This is a good thing. The spinning wheels in my head have slowed way down. I had pretty much decided not to run the Shamrock Half Marathon this year, but the decision to pull out was very tough. That was until I found out recently I could defer my entry fee to next year. Then after getting sick, I didn’t have to think about the decision. It’s what I’m doing.

The Shamrock Half, to me, is not about just finishing. It’s a tradition for me to want to go out and prove something. This year wouldn’t prove anything to increase my mileage over the next five weeks to go out there and risk hurting myself. I’ve come too far already to take that chance right now. It’s not a DNS … it’s a true deferment with very little money lost since I signed up on race weekend last year.

I’m instead going to put my focus on some things in April and then I’ll wait until then to focus on things later this year. Recovering from my ITB injury (uh, result) has changed my frame of mind for now and I have no issues with continuing this way for a while.

So as bad as getting horribly sick was, it’s like it was my body’s way to tell me to completely stop. I always listen to my body and it’s always right. I hope, though, that my body will be ready to keep running 4 miles at a time with no problems very soon.