Who wants to run in Sherwood?

Sherwood is hosting the Oregon's Run for the Roses races in June.  Not to be confused with the other Race for the Roses in April.  Registration for the  races in Sherwood open on January 1st, and, well, I will copy the text from their Facebook status:  Registration for Run for the Roses 1/2 Marathon, 10k and 5k begins on January 1, 2011. We are offering every fan of this page a $5 discount for registration into this years event if we can get up to 500 fans of this page by the end of day on January 2, 2011. Click the "suggest to friends" link on the left hand side and invite your friends to this page so that you and your friends will get the $5 discount. 

With the prices starting at $25 for the 5K, $35 for the 10K and $45 for the first ever Pikermi at the event, it is an economical race.  Prices include the t-shirt, so heck that is an even bigger bargain.  Plus, it is in my home town, and I get to walk to the start line!  If there are enough people that want to come and play, I may convince all the girls in my neighborhood to put together a cheering section for all of us, and these girls all get crafty and make banners and the like for little things, so this would be an EXTRA fun project for them.  It is six months away, and was a lot of fun last year, and should be again this year.  I am still waiting for the map to be posted for the Pikermi, so I can do a few practice runs, but there is plenty of time for that.


As for my runs either today or yesterday...not so much.  I need to get to bed before midnight if I expect to be able to get up at 4:00 and go for runs.

Dang it! I got Tagged

So I feel a mixture of "wow, really, you tagged me?" and "Wait, now *I* have to do this."  Thanks to Danny for tagging me, that has to be the best compliment I have gotten in a while.  It means that you actually read my blather and are telling others about it.  DANG.  Now I have to keep up.  Since I have today off, and the Mrs. is trying out the newly installed shower head, I have a few minutes to think about this.

Marathon Training began(ins)

Monday morning, it was VERY clear I had not gone for a run in a while, it took me a bit over 30 minutes to get ready to go out the door.  I swear to dog it took way longer to get ready to run than the shower shave and dress for work.  And I wasn't showering or shaving.  It's not like my stuff is all over the place either, everything is within 5 feet of everything else.  Ridiculous!  Mizumo tights, shorts over (cuz I'm a little bit bashful), my spiffy new Nike LS Thermal Tech shirt, my phone, ID, BellyBand, item said bellyband was purchased for, socks and my Nikes.  30 minutes to get ready.  CRAZY

Shhhh, don't tell anyone

But, I have officially slipped over the edge.  I did something today, just a few minutes ago in fact, that I used to swear I would never ever ever ever do.  Because the only people who do this are CRAZY.  The kind of crazy that requires straight-jackets, Thorazine and a long long visit with Nurse Ratched and Dr. Spivey.

This is for ALL of us (we know who we are)

This weekend was a bit crazy, but I did make it to the Nike Employee store and got some new kicks...  No I'm not bragging....well, OK, maybe a little...I got some Pegasus 27's and a pair of the Nike Run Free+ in all red.  They are way cool, and a trip to wear.  I had them on for a little bit last night and they make you feel like you need to be running.  Oh, darn.

Happy Friday! I think

I would like to start by sending good thoughts and energy out to two friends who have fathers that are not doing well right now.

I ran on Sunday the 4th (sorry, I've been busy this week) and managed to pull of a PR.  Not bad for not having run for over a month.  Talk about a taper.

Busy week

And not enough running.  Actually no running at all this week.  I do have a little 5K in Portland on Sunday, the Jingle Bell Run.  Last year is was colder than the dickens and this year it looks like it will be raining.  I'll take a nice "warm" rain over the 27 degrees we had last year ANY day.  I haven't really run any distance in a month, but knocking out three point one miles should be pretty easy. It is all good.  It is for a good cause too.  Arthritis research, we need to get rid of it before it becomes a problem for me...wait, that's not right.

Thanksgiving reflections

This has been quite the year.  I will have to say that I am thankful for my wife, first and foremost.  Without her, very little of what I would be doing right now would be worth anything.  She has kept me sane and focused on the things that matter for the last 18 years of marriage, and for the last 20 years that I have known her.  There are many other things that I am thankful for, but she will always be first.

The ankle's fine!!

Congrats to those that ran this weekend.  If you met your goals, great!  If you did better than you thought you would, FANTASTIC!!  If you didn't do as well as you hoped, there will be other races, and other days.  Remember, when life throws a garbage can at you, take it out like you're a linebacker.

I went to the Y this morning and started the C25K VFF style.  This is in an attempt to shift my foot strike.  My barefooted running friend CatChowder1 cautioned about trying to push too far too fast, and I assured the young lady that I wouldn't.

Friday's non-running musings

So, I think from now on, I will post some musings about different sports on Fridays.  Just because it is my blog, and only three people read it anyways.  Hi TRF.

November just isn't my month****Updated

I have been fighting a cold all week. It is sitting right at the verge of being a real cold, or going away, and has been since Friday.  This got me thinking about last year at this time.  I had signed up for the Jingle Bell 5K and it was to be the finish race for my Couch to 5K program.  I ended up fighting a cold at the start of the month, then there are those pesky familial obligations at the end of the month, and I didn't get a run in at all the entire month.

I am actually OK with this year being a bad month for running, as I am basically resting the ankles right now anyway, but it sure is annoying.  I have been taking Airborne every few hours, and last night as I was opening a new bottle of Lemon-Lime, I got to wondering if an Airborne margarita would be any good.  I might have to find out since they don't seem to make the Nighttime product anymore.

*******UPDATED*********

I can now tell you, to make sure that you salt the rim on your Airborne Margarita.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that much different than just doing a large shooter...so maybe I should have had a lime and some salt standing by.  But, I think in about another hour I will take another and send myself to bed.  Isn't that the normal prescription, "Take two of these and call me in the morning?"

Cheers!

I need to run some...

I have been feeling pretty good, but lazy lately.  I think that it is time to break out the VFF's and start moving my foot strikes forward.  My heels are still tender when I walk a lot, but I feel the need for speed, or at least, early morning mists and fogs and seeing the sky turn gray.  I might go out tomorrow morning for a short run.  I know that I am "starting over" with these, and that there is likely to be some run/walking involved over the next few weeks, but I am OK with that.  Stay tuned loyal listener.

Oh, and TRF, good luck this weekend, I am sending SPEED vibes your way.

And now the REST of the Story. (Hat-tip to Paul Harvey)

So, when we last left our intrepid runner, he was just clearing mile 8 with a new running partner, and was heading up Terwilliger.  Lets pick it up from there...

Run Like Hell---Portland!! RR

The day dawned warm with scattered clouds.  At 5:30 it was 68 degrees, with a light off-shore breeze of about 7 Mph.  With the humidity at about 54% this would be a great day for a run.  That is, it would have been if the race was Run Like Hell HILO.  But this was Portland, this was the end of October, and this was definitely NOT Hawaii.

t-minus 17 hours

Getting ready.  Picked up most of the "adult" beverages on Thursday.  We have secured enough tent to cover the driveway provided it isn't blowing too much.  We're expecting the end of a typhoon to blow through tomorrow.  So we may be indoors for the party.  I am drinking a ton of water today, and have my stuff mostly laid out.  I won't lie and say I'm not a bit nervous, 'cause I am.  But, by this time tomorrow, I will have finished my first Pikermi.  So, until then, send me energy, I think I will need it.

Tearing out flooring hurts

Saturday, the Mrs. decided it was time for our 11 year old carpet and "hard woods" to leave the house... yea me.  I spent the whole bloody day stooped over tearing out carpet and busting "engineered hardwood floors" out of the main floor.  Why?  Well, the carpet got done in by a carpet cleaning accident about 10 years ago, and never recovered.  Did you know that if you have a stain-treated carpet you are only supposed to clean it with HOT water?  Yeah, me either.

Shamrock Run 2011--Only 30000 Runners

Get your spots while they last!  They opened registration today for the March 13 event.  So they have the usual suspects again this year, but with all new starts to the runs.  And the finish line is a few blocks from the start line, presumably to prevent finishers from being trampled by starters as we make our way to the free beer.  Also, new long-sleeved tech shirts from Adidas for your troubles.  This is a huge fund raiser for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, so it's all good.

Wow, fighting colds is tiring

So we are about 11 days to my first Pikermi.  I am actually getting kinda jazzed about it.  I am, however, fighting the start of a cold.  How do I know this?  My throat has that lovely scratchy feel, and I am Tired.  I didn't even here the alarm go off this morning, and I woke up just in time to get in the shower and get to work.  Not really the auspicious start to the day I was hoping for.  There are several reasons that I am getting excited for the 24th to get here, and it just isn't about me.

Saturday in the Rain w/ picts

Saturday was a lovely rainy day.  And how did I spend my morning?  Why, in a long slow run of course!  Oh, and I have pictures of my favorite back road.  I had thought about bringing a camera last weekend when I got to the start of the backroad that I run nearly every weekend.  And, I did this weekend.

7 Things about Me

I never ever do this type of thing, but in an effort to be a better 'net citizen, I will play, just this once.  This comes to me via ERG as she felt I needed to share.

 Here's the rules:

1. Thanks and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award to other bloggers.

 I will already NOT comply on number 3 as I don't read that many blogs, and the ones I do are already listed in other blogger's entries.

Now then, on to the second part...

Break-up Song (or, Parting is such sweet sorrow)

It was with some regret that I managed to transfer over to here most of the blog-postings that I had made at the "other site".  I only brought over the ones that weren't completely site-specific.  I also managed to delete the photos from the account.  Thus I end my brief tour there.  It was fun, and I met some interesting and fun folks, some are followers here, some I may never see again.  It happens.  The part that is the most saddening is that this was all brought about by the "other site" trying to help their users with a big upgrade.  Alas, I may never hear from CatChowder1 or TexasRunningFool, or fill in another Friday blank for mnchick34 again.  But this is the path I must needs take.  In a little while, I will begin the "remove friend" process along with notes to each person as to why, in case they haven't been following along.  It seems the only polite thing to do.  I figure once I do that, the only reason to use the RWOL account will be for info from RW directly.

Tuesday's Gone with the wind

And it took my 5 miler with it.  We have a couple of sick kidlettes at home, and that led to a less than ideal sleep cycle for Monday night.  I do so love waking up every couple of hours to fetch water or motrin, or whatever.  So instead of a solid 6 hours of sleep, I got most of that in four chunks.  Then, when I woke up, MY throat was sore, and I figured I could use the extra sleep, so, no run on Tuesday.  Which is OK, as that will push my long run out to Sunday, which is fine since the Pikermi will be in three Sundays from now.  I feel like I am ready to do the distance, but not set any land-speed records.

Ten Mile Saturday

I think that I will bring a camera with me next Saturday on my (hopefully) 12 mile run.  As I cleared mile 1 and started into the farmland that is part of my regular route, I thought that this would make a great photo, and there are some other spots that would make for some interesting pictures of my morning runs.  The rolling hills that make up a little over 1 mile of my runs.  Saturday was a beautiful, but slightly humid day for a run.  I got out the door a little after 8 and it was just about 50 degrees and about 80% humidity, with an overcast sky that was mostly just "high fog" more than real clouds.  This was going to be my longest run since my ankle started acting up, and I was going to try for the first time the PowerBar brand energy gels.  I have four of the same flavor, so I was hoping for the best with that part of the day's experiments. 

My trip to the gym

Did in my plan to run this morning.  I went to the Y to do an ActivTrax baseline assessment and I got there early enough that I could do a little cardio to get warmed up, and to make up for the 1/2 mile a bagged on during yesterday's morning run.  Well, I hopped onto the elliptical machine, grabbed one of the programs and bumped the resistance to 5.  They say when running you should hold a stride count of 180 per minute or so, so that was what I went for.  The first few minutes I managed 160, then as things warmed up I pushed to 170.  At the half-way point, I only had 15 minutes plus a 5 cool-down to work with, I was able to hit 180.  I held it there for the remaining 7:30 and my legs were pretty gassed when I was done.  Final stats in the 15 minutes was 1.6 miles, so that makes up for my half mile shortage nicely.  But I still wanted to run this morning.

It was early morning, yes, today.
I was up before the dawn.
But I'm and early morning runner,
and I must be movin' on


OK, so that is not EXACTLY how the song goes, but hey, read my status.  I ended up only putting in 3.5 instead of 4.1, so I didn't cut it too short, but my insides wanted outside, so instead of one more block, I bailed.  Eh, it happens.  I'm headed to the Y tonight for an ActivTrax intro.  Supposedly it will help me focus my cross-training.  I'm sceptical, but we will give it a go.  Worse case is, it is free and it can't hurt.  Since the appointment for the base-line is at 5:30, it will give me time to get in a bit of cardio for a warm up before hitting the weights.

SO, now to the story of a little 4 mile run back in the dark ages when CatChowder1 and TexasRunningFool were still playing with Barbie dolls.  This is long, so this would be a good time to bail if you are so inclined.

Wow, Time's fun when you're having flies

Well, where has all the time gone?  When last we left our intrepid runner, he was contemplating a Pikermi in July.  Well, lots of stuff happened and that isn't one of them.  First, I ran the two 10K's and kicked butt for first time runs.  Both were under an hour, so I was quite pleased with that.  I met some odd folks at one of the races in town this summer.  One of them dragged me by force into a web-site called "Runners World".  They have a place there called "the Loop".  It is half-forum half-blog site, altogether fun and supportive of those who run.  I'll come back to this, more updates....

No More Complaining About the New Software---This is about running.

Yesterday I did something that I never thought I would.  NO CC1 and TRF, I have 4 daughters so THAT isn't it.  I regestered the Mrs. for a race.  Specifically the Run Like Hell Portland 5K.  So she will be getting up with me on my b-day and going for a little run.  It will be her first race, and I am hoping that she has a blast.  I think the Warrior Dash put the bug in her.  We had a lot of fun after, and she and Number 1 hung out waiting for me to finish my wave, so she had a lot of time to find out how much fun it is at a race.  She has been sort of working on the Couch to 5K thing, and she is on week 6 and feeling pretty proud of herself.  She doesn't need the full "rest/walk" time to get her breathing back.  Also when she finished her first run for 20 minutes with no breaks she came home and mapped it out.  She was beside herself.  1.7+ miles.  As she points out, "I've never run a MILE non-stop in my life.  I was one of those girls in Jr. High PE that walked the whole mile."  Needless to say, I'm proud of my little woman.

Today's 4 miler felt fantastic.  I didn't tape up the ankle to see how it would do, and it was fine.  There is only the slightest amount of tightness in it right now, and I expect by noon it will have passed.  Look out 8 miler, I'm coming for you in the morning!

I will be doing that little 5K on Sunday as a recovery run; http://www.runningwater5k.org/  So if anyone in the Portland area wants to come and play, let me know I will look for you.  If I know you are coming and there is more than 3 of us (up to 5) we can get in for the price of 2 and the extra we can donate to a good cause, donuts and coffee after!  ; )

See no bad mouthing the feed function that seems to track CC1 through every page in RW.  No grousing about comments made to feed items that you have to find like easter eggs.  This was ALL about running.

***Apologies to those reading this with no idea who or what I am mentioning from the other site. 

OK, I'll wait for you to run up the hill and put your tail down. --Moved from other site

So, this morning's 4 miler got a 30 second pause in it.  As I made my way along my normal route, I noted a little movement along the path a ways in front of me.  Now the little LED flashlight gives off enough light to see where my steps are, and to shine a driver's eyes to let them know I am on the road, but it isn't really good too far away.  So I rely on my very good night vision for distance stuff.  I recognized the shape right away.  Pole-cat!  Lovely little furball of a weasel, but with a tendency to spray when frightened.  I slow down and watch where he is going.  Well, as I approach, he stops, looks at me, turns and runs away and back across the path towards the hill he had just come down.  Why did I pause, well, he had his tail in the "Cocked and Locked" upright position, and I really didn't feel like trying to sneak into the house to get my money to go buy a shopping cart full of tomato juice smelling like fresh skunk.  He gets up into the tree-line and as I run by I can see him right at the edge watching me run.  The rest of the run was quite uneventful after that.

My heel continues to heal, and right now isn't too sore and tender.  I should be able to get a few more runs in this week. I am thinking of trying for 8 on Saturday with a nice little recovery 5K on Sunday.  I posted about it over the weekend, but since I'm not in the Middle yet, no one really noticed (except ElktonRunGirl, which was quite flattering, since I know by the time she commented I had dropped off the page).  There is a little fundraiser on Sunday in Sherwood for bringing fresh water to Zambia.http://www.runningwater5k.org  They have an interesting price structure for the race, $35 for one, $70 for up to 5.  If there are any Portland area folks who want to get together and have a fun little run next Sunday then have donuts just down from the Start/Finish line, we could put together a "team" and have a little fun.  I will be there anyway, as I like to support the local races, because then they might have more next year...  Let me know if you are interested.

Have a marvelous Tuesday.

Two things today---one good, and one eh ---Moved from other site

So, maybe I pushed it a little today.  I could have shortened it up at 5, but I so wanted to go a bit past 6.  As I type this, I realize only runners will get this.  I have been recovering from my bout with Achilles tendinitis as has been chronicled here on these hollowed "pages".  I got a few runs in the last couple of weeks, and my ankle/heel has felt a bit tight after but not too bad.  This morning, I mapped out a nice leisurly 6.8 miles and took it slow, and I mean slow, I used the same playlist as I had for other long runs along that same basic path, and I was about a song behind and "losing ground" as I went.  That is one of the benefits of running with music, since I am TOO cheap to own one of them thar fandancy computators that hang on your wrist and all, you can judge how you are doing by the songs playing.  Ever see the movie "Hudson Hawk"?  If you did you, me and my projectionist are the only ones, but in that movie, Bruce Willis' character times his thefts by singing music.  His partner tells him they have invented watches since he was in prison.  Anyway, that is how I time my runs. I don't do splits and I just go.  So today I just went, and now my ankle is complaining...I am hoping that by tonight it will have settled back down as was the case after the Warrior Dash.  We shall see.

Now to the second thing.  Around Sherwood there are all these little yard signs for a running water 5K, so I looked it up.  I looks like one of the local churches is putting on a charity event for getting fresh water in Zambia.  The interesting part is the registration fees are the same for on-line as well as day of event.  $35 each or a team/family up to 5 runners for $70.  SO, any Portland area Loopsters want to come to my neck of the woods next Sunday for a little jog around town?  Here is the link to the page:
http://www.runningwater5k.org/
 
It might be a fun little recovery run for some of you, or a chance to hang out after at Sesame Donuts and knock back a coffee and maple bar.  Just a short walk from the finish line.

5K-ish in 35:42:00 isn't a PR--but DANG fun!! W/ LINKS to Picts.

Saturday I went for a nice little warmup on my healing heel.  I got a nice 3.25 miles in in 30 minutes.  Not to shabby, and as someone pointed out to me, that is their race pace, and I did that for my warmup getting the ankle back into training shape.

Sunday, was a WAY different story, and one I hope to repeat next year, only a bit faster.  You see, yesterday, I got the fam up, made pancakes (good pre-race meal right?), and got all the girls dressed.  We took Numbers 2, 3, and 4 to the in-laws so they could play with Grandma, and the Mrs. and Number 1 and I headed to the fields of North Plains to the Warrior Dash.  Now the Mrs. isn't a runner yet, but I do have her on the Couch-to-5K plan (insert evil laugh here) so I was the only one running this day.  We got to the site about dead on 12:00 noon, for my 1:00 race time.  Wondered through the crowd and found packet pick-up, gear check and the ID check booths.  Got wrist-bands, tied on the timing chip, was warned to make sure I still had my shoes at the end, and checked our stuff.  Number 1 had pockets so she got to hold the important stuff, like cash, and my free drink ticket.

We walked up to the course to watch the last three obstacles, the Warrior Roast, Tire step, and the mud pit.  When we got to the fires, they were diverting runners around it.  It took a couple of seconds to resolve what was going on.  As far as I could tell by the tableau before us, that a woman had cleared the first fire jump, but had stumbled and fell hands first into the second.  This was not a pretty scene, and one that caused my eldest to be very nervous for me until I finished.  They re-opened it while we stood there, and she was carted to the waiting ambulances.

Next we watched people stumble and fall through the tires, then to the mud pit.  Nice bit of fun this looked to be.  They have a guy with a garden hose spraying water on the runners and then down a short 4' drop to a watery mud pit followed by a low crawl under barbed wire to the another slope of mud, and then a short distance to the finish line.  While we are standing there, a large chap dressed as a viking jumps down into the pit.  We could tell that he thought it was deeper than it was, and he did not land well.  He took about 10 minutes to go the final 50 yards or so, and hobbled to the medics at the end.  I watched them tend to his right leg a while, then he too got carted off to the ambulance crews.  I'm thinking---"I am just getting over Achilles tendinitis am I nuts?"

DUH!

Off to the line-up I go.  Try to stretch and warm the quads up in a "small" pack without kicking anyone.  The flames light up, and we are off.  We start down a steep little path, and talk about first turn pile-ups.  The first 300 yards are one big pile up.  We get stuff sorted for a short period, and we come to the first surprise obstacle.  A water crossing that by now is nothing but water rushing happily over very churned up mud, round the corner after getting wet to our calves and hello hill! The first of many long steep climbs.  One was steep enough that they ran ropes down in case you needed to pull yourself up.  Down a very steep hill, steep enough that I was afraid I would actually loose my footing and fall forward down the hill and take out the people in front of me.  At the bottom of that hill, into the "waist deep water" to then climb over log.  This water would have been waist deep to the late Manute Bol, it hit me just below my ribcage.  I ended in the drink more than once, and as some here may know, I don't like cold water and this water was cold.  Got out of there, and over some hay bales, then over a bridge that was a ladder climb up and over the road, then a run down along the parking lots to a bunch of little challenges, like two different cargo net cimbs, a small "repel" that had turned into a sit and slide down the mud.  We got to jump over a few cars then up some more gorram hills.  At this point, I am walking up the dang things because I figure as steep as they are, I could walk faster than I could run them, and based on the number of people I passed, I wasn't wrong.  At the top of one, we got to go through the "Blackout" trench.  Basically a ditch that they put a bunch of tarps over, then mad sure that it was very dark inside by having two sets of curtains to crawl through on each end about 6' apart.  Since I had seen pictures of someone's knee from Saturday's fun, I "spider" crawled through rather than hands and knees.  Down a little hill, just to climb the next one, and we are almost there.  Thanks for sticking with me so far, if I was ForeverRun (a.k.a. Sara) this would be the end....but I promised pictures.

At the end of the last climb, we get to the Warrior Roast.

This is the second jump and I had to showboat a little.

Through the tires was slow, as the Mrs had asked that I take some time for her to get to the mud pit.

This is after the first slide into the pit.  This mud was as much gravel as mud and my knees are a bit chewed up this morning.

But in the end...

A nice finisher's medal, and to the victor goes the spoils!

After this, a washdown in the Ganges, as the Mrs. was calling it.  They didn't have shower just another gorram cold pond for us to get most of the mud off.  A quick change of clothes and off to the beer and turkey legs!  The camera batteries had died by this time, and I don't have any shots of me getting "clean" of the party after.  But I would do this again next year--no question.

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! ---Moved form other site

Heck, I might even futterwacken vigorously when I get home tonight.  I snuck out at 5:00 this morning and went for a slow 20 minute little test of the ankle.  It felt pretty good to be, as Willie would say, on the road again. 

I waited until now to "officially" post about it since I wanted to see how my ankle felt after a few hours.  So far, it feels about like it did at this time yesterday, a bit tight but not anything too bad.  I might get up and see if I can go for 25 minutes tomorrow morning.  I have that lovely little obstacle course race on Sunday that I would be quite put out if I couldn't run the whole length of.  But, at the same time, I am not interested in blowing out my ankle. 

That and I will need to gently cram for a Pikermi at the end of October.  Can one gently cram?  And now it seems I am also signed up for a race that doesn't even exist yet.  How cool is that!?!

OK, when do the guys with the "Self-Love Jacket" show up? ---Moved from other site

I have just offered to pay for my neighbor to run in NEXT year's Portland Marathon, under the condition that she trains with me to get me into shape for it.  She has run it in the past.  Her eyes lit up like I had just given her the bestest Christmas present EVER.  I will need to save some extra scratch to pony for two rides, but it will be worth it.  So, when do the guys in the white coats get here to take me away?  Clearly I have a cog that has slipped quite a ways out of allignment.  Thorazine and a padded cell, please.  I am a short distance from Dammish State Hospital, and while I know it hasn't been the same since one flew over it, they have lots of space.  So, once my heel is better, and I can sneak through the Pikermi on my b-day, I will get ready by building one heck of a 2011 schedule.  I can start it with the Jingle Bell Run in December.  We will add some more to it as we go along.

 Yup, off my cracker now.  Heck, I am still thinking that I want to put together a HTC team as well.  Prospective members must enjoy running, lots of kids, hanging out on the beach near a bonfire, and being well, loud.  That would make a heck of a Craigslist ad.

OK--Pikermi is a GREAT name (Hattip to mnchick34) ---Moved from other site

So, thanks to mnchick34's Friday Fill in the Blank I went looking at the various races that one might enter in New Zealand.  There is a nice race at the bottom of the world, well not actually, but very close, a couple hours drive.  I have a virtual friend that lives on the opposite side of the South Island as this race, but it would be a trip to go there to race, so *IF* I were to ever do it, it would be with the intent to spend a few days drinking beer with my friend.

I pull up this one particular race's website, the Marlborough Marathon, as it has a Marathon, Pikermi, 10K and 5K races.  A good time for all runners.  This would be a grand way to spend a Saturday, and the best part would be posting my results here on Friday before the race.  I pull up the Course Description page with maps AND elevations (are you listening American RD's?).  Take a look at the names they use:  Course Details.  I mean really Half Marathon is bad enough, but Quarter Marathon and 1/8 Marathon?!?! That is TOO much.  I know they get a little bit of water on the brain on the South Island, but that is taking things a little too far.  What do they call the 1500 M, a 3 centiMarathon?

Cross-training hurts---or was it the sandals? NRR-I'm on the DL ---Moved from other site

I went to the Y last night in my Catchowder inspired footware.  Slipping on the VFF's I wondered down to the end of the building where they kept the only rowing machine only to find they had aquired a second.  Hmmm, I really should get up here more often, they have an espresso bar now too?!?!  Anyway, I strap in, and start pulling, I actually like rowing machines, they give you one heck of a workout in a fairly short time.  Nothing like working ALL of your major muscle groups at once for generating some sweat.  Got done, stretched and then hit the showers.  We were having an "end of summer--what are we going to do to find an excuse to drink" party in my driveway so I needed to not be too late getting home.  Plus, two of the neighbors are in the Hood-to-Coast this weekend, and we wanted to help them with their "carbo-loading".  Heh heh heh.  Pasta salads, manicotti, and a curried chicken salad (which is my lunch today).  I bagged it at 9:30, I was feeling the workout and the early morning wakeups.  Plus my heel was not happy with me.

I can't tell you the exact date that my current heel issues started, but I can tell you what "shoes" I was wearing.  I have an older pair of sandals that the Mrs. insisted I wear yesterday as it was hot at the time of the party, and she made me go put on shorts.  I for one am quite happy to be wearing jeans in the summer as the sun and I have an agreement.  I won't show any skin to it, and it won't leave me blistered and scarred (anymore).  I stick to this agreement like glue.  But after wearing those sandals for three and a half hours, my heel was YELLING at me.  So off to bed I went.  I won't tell you what time it was that the Mrs. came in and told me that the baby was asleep in the chair downstairs and that I needed to get up and go get her...and that I needed to make sure that 2 and 3 got to bed.  I had to ask where 1 was, she was sleeping across the street.

When I woke up this morning, my left elbow is very irritated with me, and my heel is pi$$ed off too.  Hmm, maybe I do need to sit on a bike at the Y.  Have I told you how much I dislike stationary bikes?  I think of them less than treadmills.  But I think if I want this heel to get better before I turn 42 I need to not be so mean to my ankle.  Oh, and the sandals are in the can to be picked up tomorrow and hauled to a nice landfill somewhere, because I'm not taking any chances.

Ahh, that didn't feel as good as clynn78's ***Updated*** --Moved from other site

OK, so I am still nursing this ankle, and I have been feeling less than stellar about my fitness level.  I can feel the lazies sneaking in.  So I called the Mrs. and informed her that I was stopping at the Y tonight for some XT.  She thought that was a great idea.  This tells me she thinks I'm getting lazy too.  Not a good sign.  I bought some KT tape last night on my way home and taped up yesterday, so far so good, the heel didn't hurt too bad today, hence the "need" to stop at the Y.

I get there and do a quick warm up on the eliptical machine.  My heel didn't really like this, but it kept itself content to just remind me that it was an "issue".  I then did the rounds of the usual machines that I used to do regularly.  Boy howdy!  It has been a while since I was on those machines.  Not only did the settings that I had down in my book not match what I could even come close to doing tonight, I was getting winded lifting weights.  In fact, over 3 hours later, I'm still feeling a bit out of it.  Anarobic excersize is not my thing.  Plus there were a couple of guys pounding out some mileage on the dreadmills, and I REALLY wanted to hop on one and remind myself why I hate them so.  In fact, I did the whole, yes, no, yes, no dance on the indoor track after I was done with the weights as to whether I was going to get on one or not.  I settled for 20 minutes on the eliptical with the resistance set at 10 and rolling through one of the "programs".  After the cool down I stretched and then hit the showers.  Dang I can tell the last seven months of running has really ramped up my sweat factory.  My cotton shirt was drenched.  I suppose I should wear one of my tech shirts, but I feel like those should be saved for running.

Tomorrow morning, depending on how I feel, both in terms of just general malaize and my ankle, I will try for an easy 4 miler.  I did one Saturday, and the ankle hurt most of the day afterwords.  But I can ice it right after, and get up every couple of hours to stretch during the day, so I should be OK.  We will see.

*******UPDATE FROM THIS MORNING*******

No run this am.  I got out of bed at 4:30 and the ankle said, "Yeah, you know all that Elliptical low impact stuff, well, here try this on... "  So I got up anyway, and went and iced the ankle and chilled (get it) for the time that I would have been out for a four miler.  Or at least part of it.  I will hit the gym again today on my way home and maybe do some rowing instead of the ellipticals.  It is supposed to be good for core muscles more so than the elliptical.

Ah, That both hurt and felt good. ---Moved from other site

So I went for a 4 miler today, and running on the flats and up hill felt pretty good.  Downhill however, kind hurt the heel a lot.  I got home and iced it.  It felt good to be back on the road, but dang, this heel pain is a pain. 

I started out thinking I would take it slow, and when I got to the two mile mark, I hit the button on the iPod and the Nike+ Super-Accurate-Highly-Adaptive-to-Changes-In-Pace Device told me that I still had .2 to go for two miles.  And, as we know, .2 miles doesn't matter.  But it did tell me that I had been running for just under 19 minutes, and that was pretty good for the first run in a week, and only the third in over a month.  Two miles later, my heel was HURTING and so were my lungs.  Man am I out of shape in a short time.  Although, there may be some correlation to my "fitness" this morning and the three rather large Rum and Cokes that I had last night.   My final stats for todays run: 4.1 miles at 9:28 pace; and one REALLY irritated heel.  I will roll my legs again tonight with the evil Stick as that seems to help for some reason.

If the heel isn't too bad in the am, I may go for a quick 3 or 4 again.  I need to get back up to decent mileage soon as I have a Pikermi that I really want to do in October.  I think I can work through this pain, but we will take things on a day to day.  Have a good weekend, and to all you either in the middle of races (you won't see this so, meh) or getting ready for one tomorrow, run well, and finish strong.

"I shoulda stood in bed" ---Moved from other site

There I was at 4:15am this morning, thinking my heel feels great, today is the day to start in with the VFF's.  So, up I get, shorts on, tech shirt on, iPod--don't worry about the Nike+ receiver I don't have a pouch for the VFF's, slip my toes in and pull up the backs and strap down.  Flashlights on, and out I go.  I knew that my legs and feet would get tired running in this niffty new way, so I opted for one of my short routes from my C25K program.  Good plan.  At about the 3/4 mile mark, my feet were getting tired, as were my calves.  So, with no shame, I started walking.  In less than another 1/4 mile my heel starts to hurt again.  OK, so maybe I was taking a few heel-toe steps while walking.  BUT, the ole left foot felt fine.  Dagnabit, I think the tendinitis isn't quite 100% gone.  I mosey home, with a couple of more jog sessions, and then stretch.  Ow, yup, tighter than a mummy's NVTS as my father-in-law would say.  Well, lets put some ice on it, and get it elevated for a bit.  Yeah, that hurt like heck 15 minutes later when I stood up to go take a shower.  Now as I sit here at work, my heel feels like I have someone placing my foot on coals that are just about ready to cook on.  Maybe I should have given it some more time, or not tried the new running style, but either way, we shall have to see how it feels tomorrow.  I think I may be relegated to the gym and the elipticals for a while...  Not too happy with that thought.

CATnip 5K RR ---Moved from other site

As two of you know, I have been fighting a bum ankle.  I was/am fighting tendinitis of my right ankle.  So as the three web-sites that I looked to for advise on how to deal with it suggested, I took about 10 days off of running and gave my ankle a lot of rest and ice at least three times a day.  So Friday was the Second Annual CATnip Friday 5K.  I like the local races for a couple of reasons, the first being that I can walk to the event and get in some warm-up running on my way there; secondly, I can train on the course as often as I want before the event.  Home field advantage is kinda nice when you are encouraging others that there are only two short little hills left, and they can make it.  I was hoping to have either Number 1 or my wife join me since this was going to be my first run in almost 2 weeks.  I was planning on going out and running REALLY slow.  Neither joined me, as the temperature was near 90 at the start time and my wife didn't feel she could do it and she didn't want our daughter to go either.  I was a bit disapointed.

I made my way to the back third of the pack at the start and waited for the horn.  When the horn sounded we took off and I meandered through the gates of the high school fields and out onto the roads I run all the time.  We wound through the neighborhood and after about 1/2 mile my ankle had warmed up nicely and I was plugging along.  There was a woman in very cool plaid running shorts that was in front of me and I noticed that she was running on her toes (like we are supposed to).  So, now I just hung at that possition and watched her feet (really).  I was hoping to stay at that pace until the first little steep downhill, I wanted to see how one runs downhill on their toes without falling on their face, but alas, that was not to be.  As we crossed the 1 mile mark, the vollunteer there calls out "8:54".  Wait!  What?!?  Um, excuse me, that is about 2 minutes faster than I want to be running.  But my ankle felt good, so I stayed even with Plaid Shorts for as long as I could.  At about the half-way point however, my lack of running for that many days started to catch up, and she left me to wonder what hills look like.

As I neared the end of the run, there were a few people starting to walk, and I get so pumped when running, I had to encourage them.  One person nodded and tried to get going again, the other just gave me a dirty look.  Oh well, I was having fun and I was running again!  As I approached the last turn on the track the timer was ticking off 28:52; 28:53; 28;54; and I was thinking, "um sub 10 miles on a 're-hab run'?".  I finished with a recorded time of 29:11 which is technically a PR.  Not what I had in mind for the evening, but hey, I get to start running again!!!  And that is the best victory of them all!


After the race, I talked to Plaid Shorts, and she was very nice and recommended that I read a book called "Pose Running".  She said it took a while to get used to running that way, and that she slowed way down at first, but she is a believer and having watched her run, I would say she was definitely relaxed moving along the roads.  I may have to give that a look.

Game Day---time to decide ---Moved from other site

So, here it is, the mid-morning of the CATnip 5K.  It is a fund-raiser for the Cat Addoption Team, here in lovely Sherwood OR.  I paid my fees, bought the shirt (it was extra, and it is BLACK!), but that was before my ankle started to give me grief.  I haven't run in two weeks, and the heel felt good yesterday after about 30 heel raises and some short sprints across the warehouse (the guy filling sandbags thought I was nuts).  I still iced it when I got home, but that was mostly so I could have a beer without having to chase Number 4 up and down the street.  Is that wrong?  The moms on here are exempt from answering.

So, back to the race, I think that I will put on the VFF's and con the Mrs. into run/walking it with me.  Our neighbor can watch the girls while we are "running" and since the race is literally less than a mile from our home, it shouldn't be too much of a hastle to get everyone there.  Plus, there will be some fun stuff for the littles to do.  I was contemplating having Number 1 go with me, but the Mrs. doesn't think she could hang for the 3.1 miles.  It will be 90+ here today, and I might bring my fuel belt along, just to have extra water for us.  Well, if the Mrs. doesn't run with me, I will run the whole way, if she does go it will be an R/W.  She has started the Couch to 5K program a couple of times now, and I am hoping that getting her to one race will infect her the way the Jingle Bell Run did me last December.  Races are such a kick in the A$$ that how can you NOT get the bug when you do one?

This will be a great test of the ankle and a nice way to spend my Friday night.  My three or four tomorrow might be the Crawfish Crawl....we'll see.

Rough couple of weeks. ---Moved from other site

So instead of my "hot date" with the Mrs., last week, I have been re-habbing a VERY sore ankle.  I don't go to Dr.s so I will only guess that it is tendinitis.  It has been responding fairly well to ice and ibuprofen, so I ice it every night when I get home from work, and then again before bed.  I do a nice 800 mg of IB just before bed as well.  It leaves me a bit groggy in the am, but then that is what the Gods gave us coffee for.  I have a 5K race on Friday, that I am currently listed as a "Game day decision" (ahh the NFL starts soon....).  We will see how I feel in the am, since the race starts at 6:50 pm.  I might be able to hobble along on Friday.  I am more interested in getting it well enough to cram for a Pikermi on 10/24 than to kill myself this week, so that is on my mind as well.

Oh, and did I mention that I kicked a stack of firewalls when wearing VFF's.  Turns out that they don't offer much in the way of "impact protection" for little toes.

 Cheers.

HAWT Date with the Mrs. planned for tonight --Moved from other site

So, after 18 years, it was official last Thursday, I still chase the Mrs. around the house, or anywhere else for that matter... I figure it is time to give her a little assistance on maybe being able to outrun me.  So tonight I am scheduling a nice little "restart" with her.  I need to get my form changed soon, and so I figure the best way to do that is to help her get into running.  Tonight's date will be Week 3 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K plan for her, and I will go along with her running in my VFF's to get me used to running in them.  We plan on running together Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings.  Nothing says you are married with kids, like the thought of going for a run or to the gym as being a ROCKIN' good time.  My heel is giving me grief again, and when I was running this morning I noticed it is probably because I am putting my foot down oddly to try and favor that side.  This is going to be an issue quickly if I don't get it corrected.

 I did a nice 8.5 on Saturday at a slow and easy 10:30 pace.  I stopped to talk to a friend that was having a garbage sale, and as I stood there I could feel my legs tighten up, so I bid her adieu and took off to finish my run.  This morning I decided that with 13 weeks until my first Pikermi, I needed to get serious about it, so I went out for a nice easy 3 miler to wake up the legs and give the heel a bit of encouragement to relax a bit.  It felt better by the end, but now as I type this up 5 hours later, it is sore again.  Tomorrow will be a gym morning to lift some weights and get a little rowing time in.

To rub it in a bit to you who have been dying in the heat, this morning it was 57 with 97% humidity.  Just a little shy of a perfect 60 and raining.  Tonight should be a nice evening for running as it will still be light enough to not need my light sticks.

 See not as inflammatory as my last post.

Running "Alone" a question to all --Moved from other site

So, this has been brought up a couple of times in passing, and I think that this is the normal, "I don't want to offend anyone" approach, but I'm a rabble-rouser.  The question really came to the fore this morning as I was getting my normal load ready for my short weekday run.  I get my shorts and a white tech shirt on, and get my cell phone out of its normal during the day case, and strap on my BellyBand holster and slide my .357 into its place, slide my phone into one of the "Extra Magazine" slots, get the Nano set-up and adjust the volume so I can hear things coming up the road and just make out the words in my ears, slide my ID into my pocket, and off I go.
I have read the whole list of articles about not running alone, and I just don't have a choice.  All of my neighbors that run don't have to be at work at 7:00, so I go way before they are even up, and a couple of them get out the door by 5:40.  I see them when I am heading back in.  I always silently say, "I'm not running alone, I have a running partner, the late William Ruger, and I head out all the time together.
So my question is, do you carry, and if so why?  I run in a safe town, we just have coyotes and the occasional other critter that might need some dissuasion that I am not actually breakfast.
As for my run this morning, it was great.  The Nike+ and the nano, are now officially nuts, as my mapped route this morning was 5.1, and they are swearing I only ran 4.55.  I haven't done the math yet for this one, but it was just a bit over 46 minutes.  I want to get about 1 minute faster before my birthday, so now that my foot feels much much better, speed drills are in my future.  Yea!?!?

 OK, so from my house, if I go out 1/4 mile, I lose all street lights and drop into farmland with lots of cows goats, horses and chickens.  I tend to be a little paranoid--OK a LOT paranoid.  As for chafing or rubbing, the bellyband holds the firearm nice and snug.  It actually bounces less than my water belt.  As for extra weight, how many go out with a fuel belt full of water and not give that any thought?  25 extra ounces isn't much, but then I saw a guy this morning in a weight vest that looked like it might weigh 20 lbs. Also, see I am a rabble-rouser.

I blame you all! ---Moved from other site

So, I started running for real in January, I have run a 5K, a couple of 10K's, and am planning on a Pikermi on my birthday this year when I turn 42.  That idea came from Team Pikermi showing up on Facebook.  That concept of the name change because the race is a REAL race in itself and not part of something rang true with me.  So I joined Team Pikermi, I think even before I ran my first 5K, I'd have to go look.  Nope, just after. 

I was happily cruising along, running in the mornings by myself getting stronger and able to run longer, and enjoying it.  Then I go and look some training plan up, and I end up having to register at Runner's World in order to print it off.  Rats. That was the beginning of the end of my sanity.  I read a couple of blogs while I was here that first day, and then forgot about it.

 Then at the second 10K, with a start just a mile from my home, I run into juanitagf wearing a Team Pikermi sweatshirt.  I talk to her for a few minutes and she asks me if I am on here.  I said that I was and wasn't.  I told her that I thought I probably was as I had to register in order to print something off.  She went off to do her warm up and then I chatted briefly after the race.  She had had a good day, and said she would be blogging about it.  Intrest piqued, I logged on and looked for it.  A couple of days later, there it was, and I was mentioned.


Now I am hooked.  I come in daily and read about other nutters who get up too early, or go running after work.  And now my two neighbors are trying to talk me into the one race I said I would never do.  A marathon.  And YOU GUYS are helping their cause.  You evil rotten people.  Talking about BQing, and getting finisher medals and shirts.  Making me want to be part of that club...   How dare you wear down my normally high resistance to peer-preasure and the like.  Now I am secretly planning next years attack at the Portland Marathon.  How bad is this infection you have given me...I know I need to run 7:18's in order to BQ.  You Bastards!  How dare you make me part of your crazy!  So, now we will see how this goes.  I have even acquired a pair of VFF's to help improve my form...AGAIN, Bastards...getting into my head... I could name you all as accomplices in this.

Oh well, there are worse addictions, and at least you haven't tried to convince me to TRI.

First run in 12 days---Moved from other site

So this morning at 4:30 I rolled out of bed, drank my FRS (I pre-make it the night before so that I can give it the "full 30" before I actually start running) and contemplated if I really wanted to give the heel a go.  See, 12 days ago I went for that nice 10 mile long run, and pulled up at 3.  My heel was killing me by the end of the day.  I asked here, and got some good advice.  I went to the running store and tried the new version of my current shoe.  OH MAN, did that feel good.  I could tell that given my slim 185 lbs that my shoes were not going to make it to 300 miles unless I change my foot-strike.  I will start working on that as soon as I can get a pair of VFF's.  I rested, iced and IB'd my foot for a week, and then just kinda let the lazys take me the first part of this week.  Those damn lazys are hard to beat.  But, I got up, got dressed, tucked my phone in my belly-band and headed out the door a little before 5.  I figured a light easy 4 miler would be a good test of both the new shoes and the heel.  Both were up to it, and I thought about adding one more to go 5, but figured that I shouldn't push it.  I will go for a nice 7 or 8 on Saturday morning before work, and then get back to a regularly scheduled program.

 The worst part of the whole thing is it killed my Pikermi plans for the 1st.  I could no more climb the trails for that race right now, than I can fly.  That is OK, though, I will train for the one on my b-day in October.  I want to work on hills more anyway, so it is all good.  I was looking at my running log, and I need to bump my weekday runs in length, so it is a good thing that I got hurt.  A little set-back may be just what I needed to get me to focus on cross-training and getting faster.

 I am looking forward to trying out the VFF's if I can find them.  REI is out, and they have no replenishment schedule.  So I will be calling a couple of the other stores that carry them to see if they have them.  I am wanting to run with my wife wearing those at night to force me to change my foot strike.  She is trying the Couch to 5K thing and it would be a great way for me to get intervals in wearing those while she gets up to running speed.

All in all, it was a great morning.  I feel better for having had my run, and am happy my heel is better.  I should probably still see a Dr. about it, but, hey, it ain't fallin' off, so it must not be that bad.

A little advice wanted please---Moved from another site

So, I started running on a regular basis back in January of this year.  I have been doing OK in the aches and pains department.  Saturday was to be a nice easy 10 mile long run.  It has been warmer here than I like, and I got out about 8:30 am.  By mile 3 I was done.  I walked the last bit home, my loops keep me not more than 1/2 mile from my house as a crow flies, and by the time I got to the house my right heel was killing me.  I've got about 240 miles on a pair of Nike Zooms and I don't think they are done, but they could be.  I'm not the lightest runner in the world coming in at about 185.  So, here it is on Monday, and the heel still hurts, which may really mess up my Pikermi plans for August 1.  Now for my two questions.

 Question 1: how long should I give my heel to stop hurting before I go see a Dr.  Keep in mind, I am male, and, "if it ain't falling off, it ain't hurt" is how I function.  It was over two years before I had a hernia looked at, let alone fixed.

 Question 2:  I've been hearing a lot about the VFF's and there seem to be more than a few of you Loopers that seem to be sold on them.  Have those that have run in them for a  while gotten any results with regards to race speed or the length of the runs they can now do?  I am thinking about getting a pair and then paying for a babysitter to get my wife re-starting the Couch-to-5K with me running in the VFF's to get up to speed with the different foot strike, and her into running.  I would still do my "other" runs the other days of the week, but this might be a solution to Q1 in the long run.

 Thanks for your time, and I have enjoyed reading the posts I have read from others.

It has been a long week

Well, I got in a couple of runs since my last post.  I ran a four miler on Wednesday that I felt OK during.  The ankle is a little weak and sore yet, but there isn't much to do but keep icing it down, taking some Advil from time to time, and keep doing leg lifts on just that foot.  I know that it is a strength and stretching issue, so that is what I am working on with that foot.  It actually isn't feeling too bad today.

Yesterday, I did a nice slow 5 miler.  Considering that I took two weeks off while I am supposed to be building up to two 10K's 5 miles is pretty major.  I will try much harder to get to the gym starting this week.  I need to get some cross-training in to help rehab the ankle, and working with actual weights will help.  My plan is to be at the Y at least three times a week, and go running three times a week.  I need to get to 6+ miles in about 2 weeks, so I think that will be my goal for this week's long run and next weeks as well.  I may actually map out the two races coming up and just "run the races" before the race.  Since they both go by my house, I don't need to start off by going somewhere to start from.

If I can get my ankle to stop hurting every time I finish a run, I will add in a day of wind sprints at the track.  It is an easy mile jog to the track, do a mile or two of intervals, and then a nice slow jog back home.  That should help the ground speed a bit.  I just need to get this ankle strong enough to take that kind of pressure.  Well, time for me to go do some more leg stretches.

Two weeks off, not how I wanted to train

But hey, that is why I say to be flexible.  My left ankle needed the time off that the oral surgeon forced me to take.  The look he gave me when I asked if I could run the day after he cut my mouth to ribbons was almost classic.  Turns out that when they put large holes in your head they don't want you to ramp up your heart-rate for fear of filling your mouth with copious amount of blood.  I didn't push it since my ankle was still giving me fits just walking around.  So, I took some time off from running and let my ankle get better.  Oh yeah, and my mouth too.  Both felt great this morning, and I busted out a 4 miler with no problem.  Tomorrow, per my "personal trainer" I will be heading to the Y to get in some weight lifting and maybe some elliptical or rowing machine time.  I definitely do not need to put in a lot of cardio time, since that is what the running is for, but I think getting in some different leg work would be good.  I think I will be firing the Nike Coach as well.  It doesn't have a lot of flexibility to the system, and that is by design, they can't have every runner modifying the system every other day, so they make it fairly static.  I will look at some other schedules and go with those.

My Sister-in-law came up for the weekend of my wife's birthday, and we talked ourselves out of running the late July Pikermi in SW Washington.  Her boy friend grew up in the town where the race is, and he said that it is not the nicest lake, and the humidity at that time of year would make for a miserable run.  So I think instead we will look at doing a 10K on the beach the weekend before.  A 9:00 start time in July would be bad anywhere but on the edge of the Pacific.  Nothing like 60 degree days and cool breezes to make a nice run.  I may still find a pikermi before the one on my birthday, but we shall see.  I am registered for the one on my birthday, and I will train hard all summer for that one.  There are two races coming in the near future in the town I live in so those will be fun.  They are also cheap.  Some of these races are pricey to run in, so I have to keep an eye on that as well.

Ankles are still sore

I slept in today, and then went out for my long run.  This week's long run was another 5 miler, I had to gut it out a bit, and then once I got home, iced both of the ankles.  The left is sore from Sunday's run on back roads.  I hugged the side of the road and my left foot was constantly striking on the edge of the road, and thus my foot was angled to the side.  This stressed the tendons and the joint.  It may be a bit sore for a few weeks, but I think I can work through it, we shall have to see.

So today's run was around town on city streets and sidewalks.  That makes for a nice place to run, and our little town is pretty quite in the mornings.  There are very few cars that one has to contend with during the runs.  I stay off the main drags so I only see a handful of cars even when starting out at 9 am.  Later on in the summer, that course will be filled in town with the Saturday market crowds, and I will have to adjust my routes a bit, but by then I should be in full Pikermi training, so my long runs will be incorporating a large hill and back roads more and more.  I will need to get out a bit earlier to work around potential traffic on the back roads so that I can keep my ankles off the edges.  I don't think it will be too much of a problem, but still, I would like to live to see the race.

I just read an article about how much water to drink during the day, and it seems like a crazy amount.  Here is a link to that article: LINK.  I would say it is safe to assume that we all do not drink enough water.  It is easier if you carry a water bottle, but that is a lot of water.  I need to be drinking about 100 ounces a day according to that, and if I adjust for my caffeine: I need 95 ounces for my weight, plus an additional 20 for my coffee habit, makes for 115 ounces of water a day.  For those of you playing along at home, that means I need to drink a gallon of water every day.  I already drink three bottles about everyday, so I need to add in two more.  That won't be too hard, but that is still a lot of water.


Next week, starting Tuesday to give my ankles some rest, is 4 miles, 2 miles, 4 miles, a day off, then 5 miles.  So I am adding 2 miles to my weekly total next week.  Run days are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I just hope my ankles heal up while I move forward.  I really don't want to take time off.  But, at this point, I am early enough in the cycle, that I would still make it through the next two races, it would just be harder to finish with good times.

This morning's run

Was scheduled to be 4 miles on a hilly course, run hard on the uphills and easy on the down.  It was also very dark on that lovely back-road.  I may need to get a clip-on light for my hat in addition to the hand held flashlights.  One worked flawlessly, the other not so much.  I will be writing the manufacturer and seeing if there is a repair kit or new batteries for it.  It just did not want to run both bulbs at full brightness, so I ran with just the "glow-stick" portion on.  That reminds me, the new flashlights are cool.  They look like over-long glow-sticks.  At the front they have a bright white LED for forward light, and the back is a colored LED to illuminate the glow-stick.  I have green and red.  I ended up with the red one tucked into my reflective harness (vest is the wrong word for it as it is just a few straps).  The green one worked great and cast way more light than I would have thought.  I think I would still like to have a little more forward light than these produced, but I was able to point the light where I wanted as I was running.  I may not need the extra lights if I can get the red stick to work correctly.

I do not know how effective they were at signaling to drivers that I was there, as I only saw three cars between the time I left the lighted, sidewalked sections of my run and my return to those same sections.  And they were all in front of my by 1/4 mile or so and going the same direction as I was.  However, that doesn't mean that as I approached an intersection that my lights did not alert the driver approaching that intersection from my left that I was there and moving into that intersection in front of him.  And on mornings that I go out when it is still dark, I will carry them with me.

My ankles tightened up a little on the last long downhill, but by the time I got done running hard on the last uphill they had loosened up again and as I type this are not feeling too bad.  The pain this morning is a more expected inside the ankle and not outside the ankle pain, so I am certain that it will go away by tonight with a little random stretching throughout the day.  I also scared the hell out of some unseen animal that was in some tall grass near a stream.  It moved, I hissed very loudly and there was lots of splashing in the water.  Nothing like a quick shot of adrenalin at just about 2 miles to make the rest of the run seem pretty easy.

All in all, I would say it was a good run, and I will try very hard tomorrow to get up and go to the Y.  I feel I need to start working with some weights in the hopes that they will help with the ankle issues.  I am trying to find some quality information on that, but all I have found so far is how to treat the issues, not how to train away from them.  I will spend more time on that as well.

Been a busy week

Last week went well.  I did not, however, get up to the Y and do any cross-training.  I really need to start that.  I got in my three mile run on Tuesday of last week, and then Thursday I got up and chugged out 5 miles!  By the end of that 5 miles I was actually surprised in that I felt like I could push a little more if I had needed to.  But, after clocking in the 5 in a 10:40 pace, I went home, stretched and showered, and got ready to get to work.  I am now shifting my schedule a little to move my "long run day" to Saturday.  I won't be able to continue getting up progressively earlier just to keep tacking miles onto the end.

I tracked out a couple of 4 mile paths to run and then I bought some spiffy cool lights to run with over the weekend.  I am a going to keep talking about carrying lights when runners are out in the dark until I get a movement started.  I see lots and lots of reflective material out on the street, but that means the car or truck has to have its lights on you for the fabric to do its job.  If you are approaching an intersection, the driver won't necessarily see you until he is making you into his new Saucony-clad hood ornament.  If you carry a flashlight for visibility that is great, the moving light catches peoples attention.  But too often I see people out without any sort of light, and they are relying on their reflective clothes and street lights to keep them safe.

Sunday morning dawned slightly overcast and I waited for the sun to clear the Cascades before I headed out onto the streets.  I wouldn't be needing my new lights for this run.  I wanted to see what I would be running on in the daylight on the new path.  After about 3/4 of a mile, I left the sidewalks of my development behind and trucked out onto country roads.  Complete with nice goats, cows and llamas to run along side.  It will be a GREAT path for the days that the Nike "coach" wants me to "on a hilly coarse, run hard up hill and easy on the down" as this route has about 4 good little hills that I "get" to run up and down.  This should be good for helping to build speed.

When I finished my run, my left foot, specifically my ankle, hurt.  I applied a little ice and kept it elevated for about a half an hour.  I stretched about three times on Sunday and just could not seem to get whatever was hurting to stop.  I limped around a bit the rest of the day.  Monday came and I had the same pains in the outside of my ankle, but I gave my foot a couple of REALLY good manual stretches and that seemed to help, so I knew that it was tendon related.  So, I went to work limping a little and stretched as often as I could.  I got home and the ankle was still bugging me a bit, so I decided to look it up.  And there, right on the Internet, was what the issue was.  Since I was running on back roads with no sidewalks, and it was during the day, so I couldn't see cars coming via headlights, I was sticking very close to the shoulder of the road.  This meant that my left foot-strikes were below and angled away from my right.  This in turn stressed the tendons and the joint, which were doing their best to get my foot back to square.

I gave my foot the day off today, and I will go out tomorrow for another 4 mile run in the morning.  It will be dark, so there will be two differences right off the bat.  One I will be able to run more in the road, as I will be able to see the cars coming from further away and around corners, and I get to try out the new lights.  Look for a light update tomorrow.

Shamrock Rocked!

Today was the big day.  The Portland 32nd annual Shamrock Run.  To say this is an event in my little burg is an understatement.  There were 21,500 participants in the various events today.  They had to stagger the starts so that everyone had a clear stretch of pavement to get sorted out on before the first turn.  I gathered up with the 9-10 minute mile group and settled in for about a bit of a wait.  The horn sounded and the 5-6's took off, then they moved the 6-7's up, then the 7-8's then 8-9's, then us.  All told it was easily 7 minutes after the horn that we were allowed onto the track.  So my official time is "horn to finish" but they do use chips, so we also got our net-times, which is pad to pad for each runner.

I started off towards the front of the group by dint of my just kind of not moving to the back of the line when we were gathering up.  I dodged and wove my way through slower runners, faster runners, people asking about the kilt, and the general throngs of people that comprise that many people participating in an event.  My official, "gun time" was 37:03, my actual "net time" was 29:20.  So my estimation of how long we were waiting is just about accurate.  It was a little cold at the start, the weather people getting it wrong again, so it was about 6 degrees colder than the predicted 40, but I went with the event shirt (short sleeved and my kilt.  I, hopefully will have photos from this one soon, although there wasn't the same level of photo ops as during the Jingle Bell Run.  I need to get a photographer to come out to a race so I can get some good shots, maybe in May. 

So, today's run counts as my first run towards my training for the two 10K's.  Tomorrow I will hit the Y bright and early and get in some serious stretching and some weights.  Nothing fancy, nothing over the top, just toning weights and reps.  I am thinking that since Mondays will become a light run day as well, that I may have to look at the whole program and figure out which day(s) will be for rest and which will be for weights.  There is a limit to what I can do given my work schedule, but that will be part of the process of this blog, figuring what works and what doesn't.  So far, I am very happy with both my efforts and my results.  Now, I want to redouble my input and hopefully get that back.  I am holding at about 190 in weight, and I ran an 5K today without having to walk at any point during the race.  Three months ago, that was not possible, and I was 205 easy.  I look forward to the challenge I have given myself, and look forward to the seeing the results.

C25K is finished!

So today marks the end of my Couch-to-5K training.  Cool Running is where it is from and here is the link to the training plan.  This is a great starting point for anyone wanting to start running.  They also have a Facebook presence and it is large and supportive as well.  Everyone wants you to succeed in getting going.  There are people from all levels there, including folks training for marathons offering advice and encouragement.  Plus it is a great place to brag about your morning run.  I am now in the rest period for my race on Sunday, and I will get photos from the race and I will post them here for all to see me in my kilt at the race.

So now is the planning stage for the next two races.  Since they are so close together training for one is training for the other, so into the breach I go.  Sunday's race will be the first "training run" of the next training cycle.  So I have cobbled together the following rough schedule, combining some from here some from there, and tracking it with the ever present and encouraging Nike+ site.  I do like that I can look back and see how far I have come in terms of both distance run and time spent doing it.

So the following schedule will be started on Sunday, and I will update this as we go forward, so next week will be:
    Sunday ---        3 mile run
    Monday ---       stretch and light weight work out.
    Tuesday ---      3 mile run
    Wednesday --- stretching and light weights
    Thursday ---    5 mile run
    Friday ----        stretch maybe some elliptical time.
    Saturday ---     rest -- the all important rest day.

Now before everyone flips about the 5 miles on Thursday, this will not be run at 10 minute miles, I am thinking probably more like 12 minute miles, and it will take over an hour to do.  This is fine with me.  I will just have to get up earlier.  The two 3 milers will be at a faster pace, so Thursday is just to log the distance in.  Since the goal is to get up to 10K by May, and be able to post a good time in both, I think I can push a little harder than I have.  Keeping in mind that I am all about being flexible with this whole thing, I will not go until my feet are bleeding, but I am finishing up my runs feeling pretty good right now, so finishing one a week feeling spent should help me get faster and better as we go.

One of the things that I noticed this morning on Facebook this morning was someone in the early stages of the C25K program asking for advice on leg pains.  I have had the knee issues, but actual leg-aches, I have been surprisingly free of them.  I owe this, I think, to the amount of water that I drink during the day.  I drink at least 2 liters of water everyday, and most days it is closer to 3 or 4.  I carry a water bottle with me everywhere, and after my morning coffee is gone, I switch to water, and that is all I drink for the rest of the day.  Hydration is key to keeping your body in good shape.  That and paying attention to the little aches and pains and not ignoring them.  Ice is your friend, those achy knees got wrapped after every run, and now they aren't bothering me at all.  Even my ankle is not complaining as much as a couple of weeks ago.  I am still mindful of them and am working on strengthening the muscles that support both, you would be surprised at how weak your legs really are. 

Well, until the race!

Monday Morning Runs

Monday morning runs, kinda hurt.  Often I don't get enough sleep, and last night was no different.  It doesn't help that Number 4 was awake often and loudly last night, but at 4:40 when the alarms went off, I dragged myself from bed and got ready to go pound some pavement.  I did the 5K loop around town as I wanted the hills this morning.  The half-way point is just before I leave my neighborhood proper, and drop down into a city park that leads to "old town" and the long hill.  So I could, in theory just turn around and retrace my steps back from whence I came, and still clock the 5K.  But hey, where is the fun in that?  That long hill is a nice training climb, and as most of the races I am likely to do will have hills in them, there is no reason to shun them now.  Even if they don't believe in Candy Mountain.

My knees no longer hurt when I finish, it is now just my right ankle.  And it feels like it just needs a really good POP to fix that.  I almost got a good solid pop out of it this morning and it feels much better.  Oddly, it only starts hurting after I stop running and am walking the cool down "lap" in front of the house.  In fact, my legs feel good enough that I am wearing my boots again at work in stead of my old sneakers.  Also, I ran this one slow enough that I was listening to Wagner at the end, which I hadn't done yet up to today.  I have been running at the 10:30 mark for the last two weeks, and I knew I was slower this morning, but I didn't push when I was going downhill and I didn't try to "kick" when I got the "300 Meters left" notification from the voice in my head.  I maintained a steady pace and I am pleased that even on barely 5 hours of interrupted sleep I was able to maintain my pace.

I am looking forward to running again on Thursday, I want to see how I do after a couple of days rest--just like on race day.  In only 6 days, I will have knocked out the second 5K race, and the first one that I will have run entirely.  I am now looking forward to the next run in May.  I am working up a training schedule based on several different ones found on-line, so I will be chronicling what I am doing and with what sort of frequency.  I think that the main thing I will be putting forth on here is that there should not be any hard, set-in-stone schedules and that training for the non-professional runner should be fairly loose.  We already have too many things demanding our attention, this is a chosen hobby, it should be fun and NOT work.  I will unveil the schedule next week, and you will see it will be relaxed and loose.

Changed schedule

So, here it is Sunday night.  The Oscars are over and movies I've not seen have been rewarded.  Iran yesterday to make up for having missed my Thursday run.  Flexible schedules and not being too anal about sticking to them is what will help you survive getting back into running.  I had to go to Woodinville on Wednesday and I didn't get home until after 12:00 am on Thursday.  In fact, as I was plugging phones in I noted the time; 1:00.  Four hours until I needed to get up for that run...maybe Friday.  Turns out I'm not as young as I once was.  Friday morning came, alarms went off, and I ignored them.  So yesterday afternoon, after working for a few hours I went for a little run; 3.1 miles to be exact.  For those of you following along at home, that is 5K.

To plot my path through the neighborhoods, I used both Nike's site and LiveStrong's site.  both gave the same distance, but the LiveStrong site shows you the elevation changes of your run in relation to the distance.  So I knew heading out that at 2.5K I would start up a long rise that would take 500M to complete.  Then I would get to decrease my elevation to below my start-point over the next Kilometer.  This meant that my LAST click was spent climbing back up to the starting point.  This loop will be a permanent fixture in my running loops.  I also managed a nice comfortable 10:10 pace over the whole distance.  I look forward to a day in the future when we look back on a 32:00 5K with nostalgia, and marvel at how much faster I am doing that distance.  I'm not crazy and think I will do a 10K in that time, that ship sailed decades ago, but I think a 45 minute 10K is reasonable.  Maybe not in May or June, but by the end of Summer certainly.  I will strive for that Airborne quality speed of 7 minute miles, as I feel that is reachable.

This time next week will be the "victory post."  The race has sold out, I have my team together, not whom I had originally thought, but hey, being flexible is what this is all about.  So this week we have learned that Lance's site is cooler than tha parent site for the maps...elevation info is great for planning a run.  We have also learned that---well actually life taught this one years ago--being flexible with plans is key to not going gray before I'm 42.  The next race is scheduled and paid for, so after next Sunday, we roll right into training for that one.

Sore Knees S-U-C-K

Well, OK so really it is only one knee, but still.  It gets worse as I sit, so I have been trying to keep it moving.  As I sat at work I did crunches and kept the legs flexing.  I ran about 10:40 - 10:50 miles, so I was just under 30 minutes for 2.75 miles.  I kinda like the distance setting on the Nike+; it is nice to hear the voice in my head tell me constructive information for a change.  The last little bit today, I let the voice get the better of me, which is probably why my knee is pissed now.  At 300 meters to go, I kicked it up a gear and finished at a 8:12 mile pace.  A little fast, and now my right knee is mad at me.

I am looking forward to testing the 5K setting next week.  I will have three practice races starting in 5 days.  I am looking to push for 32 minutes on the runs.  I will know if I am under that without the voice in my head.  I created a couple of play-lists that I haven't hit the ends of the "2.5 Miler" is 34 minutes long and I based that on what I was averaging inside doing run-walk-run stuff.  It is kind of nice to think that the time I thought of a few weeks ago would be enough to cover 2.5 miles and it just might cover the entire 5K.

I am sticking to the schedule as I am so close to the race, but on the 15th I will start adding in some cross-training and weights.  I think that I will go with elliptical machine time and weights to get the core and upper body strength up, but also focus on getting the quads and legs stronger as well.  I am going from the thought that with stronger calves and quads, I should be able to increase my ground speed.  We will wait and see how the runs go from here.  I am looking forward to it.

Only 5 Left

There are only five training runs left.  I needed to ice my knee, per my "personal trainer" this after noon.  I will take a few ibuprofen this evening.  I did make the 2.75 mile run at an average of 10:10, and I felt pretty good once I got going.  I tried a different setting on the Nike+ settings today.  I tried the distance setting.  I set the system for 2.75 miles and then set out.  At .5 miles it chimed in and told me where I was at.  Then again a few more times during the run, at the last little part of the run it rattled off the distance to the end in 100 meter intervals.  It was very interesting.  It made it hard to not want to just shred the last 300 meters, but I knew that if I did that my knee would REALLY be hurting right now.  I will rest tomorrow and then run again on Tuesday, rest then run on Thursday.  Two days rest, then 3 mile runs for three runs next week.

I am sticking with the schedule and I am not changing anything until after the race.  The day after the race, I will add in cross-training and weights.  I want to increase my stamina and my strength and work towards a Pikermi---if you want to know what that is go to http://teampikermi.com.  We have t-shirts and everything!  We will see on that one...but it is certainly a possibility and the one I would aim for would be on my 42nd birthday.  That is a long way off, so in the mean time, I will begin working towards a couple of "back-to-back" 10K's, one in the middle of May, and one the first weekend of June.  I think I can get to 6 miles by then, and if I can get there, I should be able to run one, rest for a few days, then ramp back up for the next run two weeks later.

So this will be a short post today, but I will begin working up the training program in the next few days, and I will post that for your perusal.

Two days of rest...hard to not run this morning

Thursday's run was great.  I felt good, the knees felt good, and I tracked a good time.  So I am taking my two days off on Friday and Saturday.  I did go out and calibrate the Nike+ transceiver, for both a walking pace and a running pace.  It was all I could do to keep from just doing a bunch of laps and turning a rest day into a run day.  I refrained as I would have gotten into trouble with the Mrs.  I had told her what my plan and schedule was, and I was expected back at an early time.  Had I run this morning, I would be setting up my tent in the backyard and sleeping on an air mattress.

Tomorrow morning I am doing 2.75 miles, and I am looking to maintain my pace of 10:30 or so per mile.  I have a nice course plotted out, and it is actually a 2.8.  Three runs next week, then three 3  milers the following week.  Two rest days, and then the Shamrock Run!  A short 14 days from today.  I will then start the training program for the next two runs.  I say two runs is that they are within two weeks of each other, so I will train to do both.  There is a 10K available on both days, so I will have to see where I am at in 12 weeks on whether I do both as 10's or split them as a 10 and a 5.  It will depend on the knees and the other training.  I will begin adding weights back into the mix starting the day after the race.

I will work up a good combination of all the different programs out there.  I think they all have some good points and some bad points, so I want to see what works and what doesn't.  I think a lot of the sites are big into "if you want my full program, you need to pay me".  Who knows if mine will be any better than the ones you can find on the 'net, but I will see what works for me, and what doesn't, and I will post it here.

Tuesday's Run

Well, Tuesday came early, and I got up and faced it with aching knees and tight calves.  I really need to do a better job of stretching everyday just to keep things loose.  I set off at a slow pace, but plugged along at about 10:37 minute per mile pace.  No there are no Kenyans in fear of my displacing them on podiums around the world, nor is "Pauler Radcliffe" in danger of me challenging her to a winner take all marathon.  But, hey, considering that my Jingle Bell Run 5K was completed at 38:05 just 11 weeks ago, that is an improvement of  just under 2 minutes a mile!  and I am looking forward to running the whole thing at that 10:30 pace which means that I am looking to finish the race in about 32 minutes---for those of you who can't count.  And, since my "personal best" mile pace is just over 10 minutes, I might even try to bring this one in just under 30 minutes.  We will just have to see.

So back to the run, I wore my spiffy new jacket and it was quite toasty.  In fact, at roughly one mile I had to unzip the neck a bit to let the heat out.  I may get to test it in the rain tomorrow morning.  I finished my run and cool down walk just before it started to rain.  Timing is everything.  The legs loosened up by the end of the first mile, and while the right knee complained quite a bit after, it felt good while I was running.

As I am typing this it is Wednesday afternoon, and my knees are a little sore, but not bad enough for me to take Tylenol or wear one of my braces.  I got a little sleep last night and hit them with some ibuprofen.  I am also looking at the calendar and the countdown is really starting.  There are only 18 days until the race, and only 7 training runs until then as well.  Wow, if that doesn't make it seem like a short time, nothing will.  Seven short little runs, and then one short little race, which I am actually going to treat as the starting run to a 10K training regimen.  I am looking up all the different training schedules and programs for moving on up to a 10K and I will probably end up with the Natty Bumpo version of the 10K training program.  So far some of the ones I have looked at are a little extreme, and look like they were designed for Prefontaine after he was a world class runner.  I may have to design one of my own.  I will keep you posted.

Two runs in since Friday...

I had a REEEEEALY long week last week, and I had to work until midnight on Friday, which is why I didn't post about Friday's run.  So Friday morning comes and I knew that I was going to have a very long day, but I got up at 4:45am and dragged my butt up to the Y and did 2.25 miles.  My knees are giving me a bit of grief about the latest activities.  So I started looking up knee exercises to help ease the pains.  It turns out there are many many sites that will give you some good choices.  I had already upgraded the shoes, so there had to be some other things that I could do the help my knees.  One of the things the sites all talk about was running on short tracks, or tracks in general.  There is some extra stresses in running in circles on the knees.  So thy all said get off the track and start doing some road work.  Since I am past the run-walk-run stages of the C25K program, I did just that.

This morning I slept late, as yesterday was another long day at work.  Not the lovely 20 hour day I pulled on Friday, but since I only had 6 hours of sleep going into Saturday, I was a bit run down.  So I slept in.  I got up about 8 and then I got dressed in some slightly warmer clothing and hit the pavement.  I mapped out a course on the Nike +, or on the LiveStrong site.  For 2.5 miles it was a simple "around the neighborhood" jog this morning.  It has a couple of shallow hills and a good one at the end.  I "get" to run this one this week two more times.  Then I get to add a little bit more distance, and I will probably change the directions of where I go.  That way I can see more of the neighborhood in the dark.

Now, warmer clothing is needed at this time of year when going outdoors.  I have been a big fan of running tights for a very long time.  I know that some of my family members are going to question this statement.  But, when I was in high school, I had a pair of tights that I called my Spiderman tights.  They were Nikes that were red and blue, and the red was a mesh material.  They were awesome.  I wish someone still made some like that.  So, my current tights are dark blue and solid, but they will definitely keep the legs from being too cold, and keeps the legs from seizing up.

I also got a jacket to keep myself dry when it starts raining in two days, when next I get to the road, there will be moisture in the air.  I don't mind my legs being a little damp, but my back would be a bit cold if I got very wet, and that will end a run quick enough.  The new jacket happens to be a Livestrong Nike Fit jacket.  I will need to get a safety vest tomorrow, but the new jacket is bright blue and I carry a flashlight outside, I still want to have something that will reflect the lights of passing cars.

I have less than three weeks until the race, and the next ones are a short 11 weeks away from today.  I need to be very diligent with making sure that I get out the door everyday that I have a run scheduled.   Everyday that I skip is too precious to miss.  I do have the minimum number on the team, there are potentially more people signing up for it, but if they don't, I have met the minimum number.  The next two races are potentially 10Ks.  We will see how the legs and knees do in the coming weeks.