Monthly Archives: March 2013
13 goals: March update
Ending the month with runs in Ohio. This is Mosquito Lake.
This month and 1st quarter of 2013 have been all about setting myself up for a better rest of the year. So far, so good.
My current state of running and overall fitness is good. There’s always an element of “it could be better,” but if I was in a full state of content then I wouldn’t be pushing myself. I like where things are, and I like where things are heading.
Here’s how things went in March for my 13 goals for 2013:
1. 5k PR – official or unofficial
I believe that with my current speedwork that I should be in a good place to go for this mid-summer.
2. Run at least 2 races I’ve never done before
One down with Disney, more to come.
3. Run a 5k – official or unofficial – with my friend Brandon
We’re working on that.
4. 50 consecutive push-ups
While this wasn’t a big focus in March, I did increase my max to 28.
5. Ride at least 200 miles
10 miles this month in between some bad weather. I’m at 14 for the year.
6. Weigh in at less than 180
I stepped on the scale early in the month, but nothing recently. I know there’s no progress here, but I’m feeling good about what I can do in the next few months.
7. Do a plank at least once a week
Right on target.
8. Run a race without a watch
As I’ve mentioned, this is pretty much done, although Disney was not something I “raced.” I’ll be doing the Monument Avenue 10k next month with my sister and will probably leave the watch at home.
9. Run with my sister Heather
See No. 8.
10. Do an exercise at least once per month that I haven’t done the rest of the year
Bosu ball push-ups. Tough stuff. Much different than normal push-ups, but they’ve helped overall with my bigger push-ups goal.
11. Eat at least one salad per week
Easily on track for this.
12. Limit myself to one soft drink a month
March 13 … I’m not sure why, but it was just one of those days in which I needed a pick-up. I’ll probably have my next one tomorrow as I travel from Ohio to Virginia.
13. Run ON the beach
Shamrock weekend was way too cold and messy to do this. I’ll figure out a better time soon.
No. 1,000
I haven’t met a runner who doesn’t enjoy a milestone. Longest run ever. PRs. 500 miles. 1,000 miles. Finishing a first 5k. Running a mile.
I’ve had some great milestones since I started this in April 2007. Today is one of those that feels a bit weird — 1,000 posts. Of the previous 999 posts, there are many I don’t remember. Most are forgettable.
Every so often, though, I write something that I will bookmark and re-read. In a way, it’s how I measure my success, failures and other lessons learned. I don’t blog to please anyone; I blog for myself.
It’s no different than when I kept a journal when I was a teen, only this is public.
Sometimes too public. Sometimes not public enough for people who want more insight. Mostly, though, it’s just the right amount for me to be able to reflect.
And that’s what today is. A reflection on posts that I like — some are posts that hold special meaning and continuously help me evolve; some are here because there’s a memory attached to them.
In honor of my 1,000th post, here are some of my favorites:
My 1,000-mile journey
It’s bittersweet that my one-time huge mileage goal happened the way it did. I learned a lot of lessons in 2010 — both good and bad — and that post highlighted many of those moments.
Game changers
This post isn’t necessarily anything special, but for a couple of weeks in January 2010 everything changed. A cold long run in the rain; a mountain adventure with some friends through ice. It often takes getting out of my comfort zone to set me straight, and this post highlights those moments.
Sham Rocked III
This is the race where I realized that PRs really aren’t that important. Doing something that others say are impossible are. This was my first race as a dad in 2009 and one that I hold close to me whenever someone wants to talk about how busy their life is. Wake-up calls by babies in the middle of the night is not an excuse to not run, and I was determined to prove that in early 2009.
Attack of the gnats
This post is one of the main reasons I do not run in the evening often, especially in the summer.
11 things my grandfather taught me
Of all my 2011 “11 things” posts, this one is far and away my favorite. It’s full of a ton of life’s lessons.
I am a marathoner
If I write a race recap of 500 words or more now, I go through it with a fine-toothed comb and edit it. Nobody wants to read mile by mile recaps. Really. My first marathon, though, and what I felt in the final miles became worthy of my longest post ever.
That feeling I had when crossing that finish line is a memory I’ll hold onto forever.
This is one of my favorite post-race photos ever, which was after the 2007 Richmond Marathon.
Preparing for “different”
Late winter/early spring half marathon. Marathon training. Fall marathon.
Repeat.
With the exception of early 2011, I’ve been in a pattern that I’m ready to break.
I haven’t talked much about it because I wasn’t sure I was sure, but I’m starting to feel really good about my decision to not run a marathon this calendar year.
Duke and I on a trail by the James River on Saturday. More trail runs are definitely in store for us this year.
I don’t have that itch anymore. It’s gone.
I thought running the Shamrock Half Marathon might strike up some desire to do 26.2 again later this spring or early fall.
But nope. It’s just not there.
I’m pretty excited about the next few weeks of running — the Monument Avenue 10k is going to be a pure fun event with my sister. I can’t even begin to hint at what is going to happen that day because it may cause me to break out the word “epic.”
A week after that I’ll be tackling Mill Mountain in the Blue Ridge Half Marathon. Many of my runs in the next two weeks will be focused on hills.
Hills, hills and more hills. Except for the complete flatness in Ohio this weekend.
It may be some of that “too little too late” type of training — similar to the speedwork I did for Shamrock — but I’m excited about this challenging event. I’m approaching it with more focus than a year ago, but not enough that I’m taking it too seriously.
After that I have a nice huge gap on my race calendar. Nothing is even on my radar from mid-April to mid-November. That will change, but I like not having this self pressure to turn my focus on “what’s next” with training.
This past weekend I realized how much I’ll enjoy doing some different things this spring and summer. I did a short trail run on Saturday with Duke and a 40-minute bike ride on Sunday. It was such a nice change from a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call to go run for 90-120 minutes.
A year from now I could very well be focused on a marathon again, but I’m not peeking into my crystal ball to worry about that. For now I’m happy with what’s ahead and it’s been a while since I have felt that way.
Lost files, Vol. V: Sham Rocked I
Early morning before the Shamrock Half in 2007. That was also the first year of the Daylight Saving Time change in March, so this felt really early.
Out of my 6 Shamrock Half Marathons, the one I remember the most is my first one. There were snow flurries the day before; race day was frigid.
I looked up old weather data today to see what it actually was — the overnight low was a record at 28. That’s 10 degrees colder than this past weekend’s “cold” race.
I debated on whether to run short sleeves or long, two layers or one. I ended up taking a short sleeve layer and putting it under my long sleeve shirt and wore two layers. I wore my gloves the whole race.
Until now, though, the only record of that race that anyone could find is in the archives of the races times on the Shamrock site. I had a post on my myspace for a while, but eventually took that down.
I saved those files, though, and today I give you my first Shamrock Half Marathon race report. It’s about as brief as my post was from this past weekend.
* * *
Originally posted Tuesday, March 20, 2007, titled “Simply put, it’s rewarding”
I’ve said this before after finishing a long race — it’s hard to put into words what it’s like when you’re done.
Physically, when you can’t hardly walk later in the day is when you know you’ve pushed yourself as hard as you can.
On Sunday, that was the case. But it wasn’t painful.
After the 10 miler last year (The Lost Files Vol. IV), I was in pain from my knee. This weekend’s race felt, and still feels, rewarding. All those mornings of getting up and running in the cold certainly paid off.
Mentally, it’s grueling to run that far with a time in mind that you want to beat. I went in with a goal not really set in stone, but as I began running, I realized more and more how I wanted to beat 1:45.
The first couple of miles were the slowest mainly because of the mass amount of people running the race. But once I had room, I let my mind settle down and took everything one mile at a time. When I got to the halfway point, I knew that all I needed were six solid 8 minute miles.
Sooo, long story short, my chip time (that’s the time from when I crossed the start line to when I finished) was 37 seconds faster than 1:45.
* * *
That’s it. That’s all I had to say. It wasn’t long after that when I signed up for the Richmond Marathon and began this blog.
It’s been a long time coming, but now I finally have a recap of some sorts from all my Shamrock Half Marathons:
2007 - Lost files, Vol. V: Sham Rocked I, 1:44.23
2008 - Sham Rocked II, 1:49.07
2009 - Sham Rocked III, 1:49.30
2010 - Sham Rocked IV, 1:42.52
2012 - Sham Rocked V, 1:40.48
2013 - Sham Rocked VI, 1:49.32
No changing my training
I’ve never come away from Shamrock weekend with so few thoughts. Usually the day after I’m ready to sign up for the next year (which I will sometime this week) and browsing hotel costs thinking I’ll find a deal (although now I’m pretty set on staying at La Quinta next year).
This year I’m just kind of mad at myself for not being in prime shape for my favorite race. While I ran a time that I fully expected, I can’t help but know that I could have been more mentally and physically ready this year.
That said, I woudn’t go back and trade my down time for more runs; I wouldn’t go back and do more tempo mileage; I wouldn’t change anything from my long runs.
If you think I’m beating myself up, I’m not. I know I can’t have it both ways, so that’s why I’m using Sunday’s race as a measuring point.
I still ran sub 1:50 for a half marathon. I ran a good race, just not my best for this course. And just like I said in my post about the rain the other day, so what?
There’s nothing I can do about that now, so I’m moving forward and will talk about the Blue Ridge Half Marathon soon.
My final thoughts from Shamrock aren’t going to come from me, but instead from a photo of my son.
His joy of running a short kids race reminds me of the finer things in life. All my PRs and goals and personal experiences aren’t nearly as important as seeing this kind of happiness.
Sham Rocked VI
Cold. Windy. Too out of shape to race this course like I know I can.
The best part of today may have been the awesome finishers blanket to stay warm.
Today’s Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach was the slowest of my 6 on this course. There’s no shame, though, in setting a personal worst on this course in 1:49:32.
It wasn’t for lack of testing what I had in the tank though.
I hit the first 3 miles in just a little more than 8 minutes each mile. I was feeling really good, so I pushed it.
7:36 for mile 4.
I knew, though, that kind of pace would just be too difficult to maintain. While it was fun to push it, I decided a couple of miles later when I couldn’t get back to that pace to ease up.
It was around that time that the cross wind off the ocean just kind of cut through everyone like a knife. It was kind of funny to see everybody put their head down and try to fight through it.
As we hit mile 9 and headed down Atlantic Avenue, the wind eased off and I kept the pace cut back. I kept thinking to myself that if it’s not going to be a PR day, it’s still going to be a sub 1:50 kind of day. No need to push it any harder than that.
Coming down the final stretch on the Boardwalk, the race kind of lacked the same feeling it usually does. It was dreary, the ocean was rough, the sand was packed down after overnight rain, the wind was nuts again and the crowds just didn’t have its usual intensity.
I threw my hands up at the finish just happy I didn’t let the weather defeat me this time around. I fulfilled my goal of feeling good about what I did on the course. I really don’t care about this being my slowest of my Shamrocks, but it will also be a fairly forgettable morning.
Today’s race was just a small part of a great weekend that I’ll save for another post later this week. For now, I want celebrate half marathon No. 17.
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