Monthly Archives: February 2013
13 goals: February update
These four weeks of February have zoomed by with the fewest updates in a month on my blog since it all got started 6 years ago.
This month has been a good month though. I’ve dusted off the cobwebs left by the flu and early winter to get in some great speed workouts, I ran more than 80 miles and had a big increase in cross training.
I got in nearly an hour and a half on the exercise bike at my apartment’s gym, as well as lifting weights 6 days. This last day of the month also featured my first road bike ride of 2013, part of my first brick workout in more than 3 years.
I definitely want to do more, but I’ve taken the important step to making cross training routine.
Now onto an update of my 13 goals for 2013:
1. 5k PR – official or unofficial
I won’t focus on this until late spring early/early summer.
2. Run at least 2 races I’ve never done before
One down with Disney, something else probably to come this summer. Nothing new on my schedule for now.
3. Run a 5k – official or unofficial – with my friend Brandon
Maybe I should publish his phone number so you can text him and remind him of this. I’m sure he’d love that.
4. 50 consecutive push-ups
I did a max test of 24. Not much improvement from January, but with a focus on other cross training this month, I didn’t include many push-ups. I’m planning to kick off March with a test.
5. Ride at least 200 miles
See the intro.
6. Weigh in at less than 180
Small progress. Like a few tenths of a pound progress. No excuses for this,but I am eating better. I just have to stop eating bad, too.
7. Do a plank at least once a week
Right on target.
8. Run a race without a watch
As I mentioned last month, this is pretty much done, although Disney was not something I “raced.” I’ve considered this for Shamrock, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that.
9. Run with my sister Heather
Plans are under way for one of the craziest things ever for us in April. I can’t reveal the secret yet.
10. Do an exercise at least once per month that I haven’t done the rest of the year
Hitting the bike today was certainly something I didn’t do in January, but I also want to point out that I did leg presses at the gym a couple of times.
11. Eat at least one salad per week
Easily on track for this.
12. Limit myself to one soft drink a month
February’s soft drink day came on Super Bowl Sunday. No urge for any since then.
13. Run ON the beach
Whether this is Shamrock weekend or this summer, I’m really looking forward to this one.
Doggy wake-up call
Let's run already.
The best runs are the unplanned ones, which for me has sort of been my frame of mind lately.
While I have mileage and time-on-my-feet goals each week, I’ve been doing more running lately that falls in the category of doing what feels right.
That was really working well for me about a year ago and it’s about time I’ve gotten back to it.
Today was one of those days in which I wanted to sleep in a bit. Mondays have been good for that this winter.
Duke, however, had other plans. While he’ll occasionally whine right next to my face, he doesn’t do much nudging at me. Today was a full force nudge, coupled with whining and pacing back and forth in my room.
If he could talk, I think it would have been along the lines of “GET THE EFF OUT OF BED ALREADY DUDE!”
And I fully believe it was because he wanted to run. His sense of urgency to use the restroom was nothing unusual when he hit the grass.
So we ran. And after a mile, I decided we should do some quarter-mile intervals.
After feeling a bit sluggish for the first couple of intervals I stepped it up in the final two, hitting 1:52 and 1:50. It’s been way too long since I’ve hit that speed, but it felt good. I did 6 intervals total and felt like I had much more to give.
I don’t like having to say “it’s been a while” with these runs I’ve had lately, but it’s all starting to feel new to me.
And I really like that. I’ve gone on and on long enough about why my running has been lacking, and I think that it’s time that I focus on days like this where everything feels almost right again.
The slow return
What’s worse: an injury or the flu?
I guess that’s a loaded question because it depends on the injury, but from my experiences I can confidently say that getting the flu is worse. Not only does it drag you down for a couple of weeks, there’s the lingering cough.
Some inspiration from Halls while I had the flu.
And more coughing. And more coughing.
It’s been two months since I had the flu. It’s only been a few weeks that I haven’t had a cough.
Running in the past couples of months has been a struggle. While I’ve talked a lot about needing the downtime, I didn’t want that to include not running at all for a week, then only running less than 10 miles in a week for two weeks after that.
In hindsight, it seems like a miracle that I even did Disney. But I also know that Disney led to someone as a setback for me as my cough returned after that trip following a small break.
When I’ve been injured, getting out of shape was only my fault. Feeling sorry for yourself is stupid and unnecessary. I’ve learned that the hard way.
With the flu, though, I simply couldn’t do anything.
Now, though, I’ve had a couple of weeks that have felt like major breakthroughs. I’ve managed a couple of short tempo runs with my pace right around 8 minutes a mile. I did a progressive run last night in which I was able to close out the final mile in 7:51.
I’ve also been eating better. My wife and I now have a Customer Appreciation Card for a local market that gives free food after a minimal purchase.
This week, for example, we spent $12 on apples, strawberries, potatoes, squash, avocado, bananas and blueberries and got a head of cabbage and 2 pounds of apples for free. More on that in a future post.
I’ve added more cross training than usual, but I could be doing more. I go to our apartment’s gym a couple of times a week to do about 20 minutes on the bike and then weights. I’ve been consistent with that for several weeks now and I can’t wait to do more.
Getting the flu in December was like pushing the reset button for me, even though it’s not something I wanted or needed. That said, it’s given me a fresh perspective and a greater appreciation for all things running.
The Shamrock goal.
I thought about writing about the weather, but I’d sound just like everyone else (you know … 60s one day, snow the next).
I thought about writing about my lack of speed in the past two months, but it’s nothing I haven’t experienced before after much-needed downtime.
I thought about diving into what I could have (or should have) done differently with the final month or so of training for the Richmond Marathon.
There are a lot of things I’ve thought about in the past couple of weeks when it comes to the Shamrock Half Marathon, but none of it would make sense. If anything, it would sound like a bunch of excuses as to why I’m not setting a goal of a PR this year.
Instead, I’ve turned my focus to how I can run Shamrock in a way that will make my experience a month later at the Blue Ridge Half Marathon better than last year and how I can start focusing now on one my main goals for the year with a 5k PR.
There’s no doubt that the Shamrock Half Marathon is my favorite race tradition. Last year was far and away the best experience of my 5 races there. Getting so close to sub 1:40 was such a thrilling moment that I immediately knew I had to make that a goal for this year.
My voice of reason is here to say, though, that is a really crazy idea right now. With less than 4 weeks to go, I’m not setting that goal.
In fact, I’m not setting a specific time goal. I fully expect to not hit the lap button on my watch for the first half of the race.
It’s a drastic shift for Shamrock, but one I need to do so I can focus on the rest of the year. Sub 1:40 will happen eventually for me, but just in a different age group and maybe in a race not named Shamrock. …
My not-so-secret love affair
Over on the #RunChat blog Scott and I have a “Things you love about running” blogging challenge going on with some great giveaways. It was one of my favorite contests last year that pretty much resulted after we both had a lull going on.
It’s one of those things every runner should do every once in a while — make a list of what you love about running. Valentine’s week is the perfect time to do it.
Since I’m in somewhat of a blogging lull, I thought I’d come up with a (short) list too.
The start of the Walt Disney World Marathon in January felt like small towns of runners coming together for a big celebration.
1. The community
Someone made a comment to me on Twitter the other day about “real runners” and that you’re not a “real runner” if you listen to music. I call that out because I’m here to tell you those most runners do not have that attitude. The running community — both virtual and at races — is a strong one. The positivity that I see through the lens of #RunChat is amazing and grows stronger every day.
I demand more snow in Virginia.
2. Snow
I love a peaceful run the day after a snowfall.
3. Me time
As great as the community is, I also enjoy how running can be such a solo act. If asked on an interview if I work better as a team or as an individual, I would draw the comparison to running.
Sometimes running with others makes me stronger and will lead me to produce a better result than I expected; the work I do solo, though, is what gives me the confidence to run in a group of like-minded people. That makes sense, right?
Also, just being out there without worrying about anything else in life is pretty nice.
4. Hills
Yeah, I said that.
5. The new shoe smell
It’s kind of like that smell of a new car. It’s one of those things you really don’t encounter that much in life, so smelling shoes that haven’t touched my feet yet is one of the great joys of running.
What’s on your list? Head over to the #RunChat blog entry to find out how you can share yours and win great prizes.
Why I keep going II
I don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself lately why I’m running or why I’m focused on another race or why don’t I just do something else.
I think it’s a natural stage of running, and it’s one I haven’t been through in a while. I think my previous post really hinted at changes that I’m making.
As I creep closer to 1,000 blog posts since 2007, as well as nearing my 10th anniversary of the day I started running (Jan. 1, 2004), I’ve been reflecting on old blog posts. Some of it is figuring out what I want to do next; some of it is just fun to see where I’ve been.
In between the endless posts about training for specific races, being ecstatic about PRs and many other random thoughts, I occasionally have these moments that are obvious breakthroughs that keep me going.
I think I’m in the midst of one of the moments.
Today I read a post from October 2007 titled “Why I keep going.” I don’t know why I stopped on that post to read it all the way through, but I did. Today is also the 8th anniversary of my Uncle John’s death, who died after a courageous battle with lung and brain cancer. Maybe he had something to do with my mind stopping and focusing on that post.
My Uncle John was such a great guy. When I first started running I thought a lot about him a lot. I thought about him throughout my first marathon experience, knowing that he would have thought that was the craziest thing to do, but still would have been one of the most supportive people out there. He gladly would have had a beer with me at the finish line.
With every Relay for Life that I’ve done, I feel like I have conversations with him, giving me some advice about life along the way.
Since that original post there have, of course, been a lot of other life changes. My grandfather that I wrote about in that post has since passed away; my father, while cancer free, continues to have to worry about cancer returning as he still gets a PET scan every year.
There are so many other joys in running that have come up since then — I now can have my son run alongside me when he chooses; my sister is training for the Shamrock Half Marathon; my wife did her first 5k last year.
We’re not out there running for ourselves. We don’t necessarily run “because we can,” like my blog says.
I run for my health; I run to bring awareness to diseases such as cancer; I run to have conversations with people who are no longer with us; I run to enjoy things in life such as sunrises or the peacefulness of snow.
I don’t run because I want to set PRs for the rest of my life; I don’t run because I think I’m cooler than someone else; I don’t run because I want to run on the streets of Boston one day.
Sometimes I run for others; sometimes I run to be selfish.
I run to build memories with Duke; I run because I want my son to grow up and live a healthier life than me; I run because it keeps the stress away; I run because I know when I don’t that I start to drive my wife a little crazy; I run so that I can find new places for my family to enjoy mini-vacations in places we probably wouldn’t normally travel.
Running isn’t a “thing” I like to do on the side; running is a part of who I am and, yes, helps define and shape my personality.
I’ll never apologize for going for a run or talking about running. I won’t apologize for a post like this that’s more than 500 words, nor will I apologize if I don’t go into details about what’s going on with my running life.
So … why do I keep going?
Because I have absolutely no reason to stop.
Image courtesy of Vlado/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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