Monthly Archives: September 2008
Silly September
At the end of the month, I usually do some sort of month recap. I’ve missed some months along the way — like last month, which ended with a race and I pretty much forgot about it — but I usually like to take a look back on what has happened both positively and negatively.
If you have followed my blog, you already know that September was pretty much an off month for me. I did it for various reasons, but the No. 1 reason was to give myself a break by choice. Sure I’ve had some breaks in the past year, but they were mainly due to injury. I wanted a break by choice. It wasn’t a complete break from running — it was a break from doing things because of a race. My random runs were actually pretty good. I happily increased my dog’s miles along the way as well. I also got back on the bike after a couple of months off it. I didn’t get many miles, but it was enough to feel comfortable again on two wheels. The totals: 24.8 running miles (compared to more than 100 miles in August); 19.9 biking miles; and more than 20 walking miles. Surprisingly, when it comes to running, it wasn’t my lowest total for the year — that came in April when I was getting over an injury.
So now that September is over, I can finally answer the question of what’s next. I have decided to run the Ntelos 8k in Richmond in November. It’s the same day of the Richmond Marathon and the new Richmond Half Marathon. Simply put, it’s a huge running day in Richmond. While it’s not a “big” race when it comes to mileage, it’s a “big” race with more than 2,000 people taking part in the 8k. That distance is what I’m comfortable with right now. It’ll be nice over the next six weeks to have a few runs a week in the 3-4 mile range and “long” runs in the 5-6 mile range. It’s a welcome break from what I’ve been used to for almost two years. I’ll detail my goals sometime in the next few weeks.
I may do a 5k along the way, but honestly I just want to spend the next couple of weeks getting into a normal routine. My September normal is over and it’s time to get refocused.
Rain and wind … and sleep
Whatever you want to call it — a month off, a month of laziness, a month of recovery — today I am even happier about the choices I have made concerning racing this fall. It’s raining … it’s windy … it’s strangely cold … and I don’t have a gym membership. While I respect all of you training for an upcoming event, I am perfectly content to get an extra half hour of sleep in the morning.
Getting to the bottom … of my feet
Last week I started experiencing some discomfort (not pain) in my feet and some pain (not discomfort) in my back. Actually, my back pain probably started two weeks ago. It was never anything that seemed out of the ordinary. I had just come off a few months of increasing my mileage and had just ran a long race — it wasn’t anything unusual … but it wasn’t going away.
Then this week it clicked — I’m wearing nicer shoes to work that didn’t have gel insoles in them. I hadn’t really wore those shoes too much over the summer, so my feet really weren’t used to them. So last night I bought some new insoles and today … well, today everything felt much better. Problem solved. I guess my feet have become spoiled with using gel insoles, but man they feel good.
I’m still easing off the mileage with running while putting a little more emphasis on the bike. It’s a whole lot of little things adding up to some fun workouts. September will eventually go down as a good recovery month for me. It really has helped my mind a lot with not worrying about racing.
Planning around life
I’ll hit this nail on the head one more time … I am glad I’m not training for a long-distance race right now. The weather is beautiful, but unlike last fall, I feel like I can do something with my weekends now, although much of them have been very busy. A year ago, it seemed I planned my life around running. This year I am planning my running around my life. This week, though, was actually more about getting back on my bike instead of running. And my tail bone feels fine, thankfully.
This coming week I’ll probably run more than last week, although the upcoming weekend is already going to be busy. I really don’t mind though — it’s a very nice change of pace.
Take It and Run Thursday: Running Blogs
Today’s “Take It and Run” theme over at the Runners Lounge is about running blogs. I certainly have my share that I read — some not even listed over to the right side of this page. I really like this theme — I’ve been looking to update my list of regular blogs I read and them link to them, so I’m anxious to get to today’s posts if I ever have the time. Anyway, here’s a look at some of my regulars. Thanks to everyone who reads mine regularly!
Andrew is getting fit — This is a great mix of humor, facts, weigh-ins and various motivation factors. Andrew is literally a world away and updates his blog often.
Rob Dares — What started as a weight loss journey turned into running a marathon. Rob has a great story to tell that just keeps on going.
Non-Running Nancy — Who doesn’t ready Nancy’s blog??
Recast In Iron — Jason was one of the first bloggers I came across when I started blogging last year. Together we made it through the Richmond Marathon and the Shamrock Half Marathon … yet we’ve never met! Anyway, Jason’s journey continues with goals beyond doing a marathon.
A Viking, Running — This guy is hilarious. He may be sporadic with his posting — sometimes three or four times a week; sometimes he’ll go a couple of weeks without writing — but it’s always a great read.
The Journey … — This girl does it all despite a very busy life. Check it out.
Back in May, I gave a shout out to several bloggers. The title was “Yo Bloggers” — click here to check it out.
Hello bike, remember me?
There’s no question that my tail bone injury in July really screwed some things up for me in several ways. Missed runs, missed sleep, missed job interviews, no biking, no driving, lots of bitching about my tail bone hurting … most of these things have worked themselves out, except for biking. I tried getting back on my bike a couple of times in August, BUT my butt still hurt too much for a smaller seat and bumps on the road. Instead of trying to bike at least once a week, I just ran. And eventually, my bike seat gathered a lot of dust and dog hair on the spokes.
For the past month or so, I’ve thought a lot about going out and biking. I then had some good excuses going on in my mind — first was the race and I didn’t want to start over close to a race; then my job came along and until this week I’ve had a rough time adjusting to a new schedule after two whirlwind weekends out of town. Then this weekend came and went; then I was in D.C. for the day this past Monday for work; then I ran yesterday … and damn, I can’t think of a reason to not bike today. So this evening after a walk with my wife and dog, I busted out the two-wheeler and went out for a few miles.
It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. It was better than thinking about doing it. Now comes the fun part of making it a regular thing, all while combating the fact that daylight is getting less and less every day. I cannot get up earlier to get my full workout in, so I’m in a gradual shift of become a person who works out in the evenings. So far it hasn’t been too bad. I’m pretty much staying very open minded about when I can get a workout in. I feel, though, that a gym membership may be coming this winter.
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