Starting over W1D3...going barefoot!

So, there was an interesting little side effect noted during Sunday morning's little jaunt.  It turns out that when you are an established runner (if you have run a handful of Pikermis and a couple of marathons, you are established in your running) and you "start over" with the Couch to 5K deal, you are signing up for 9-ish weeks of speed drills.  Think about it, in week one you are running for 60 seconds with 90 second recoveries repeated 8 times.  Sounds like speed drills to me.  And they have been, I covered about 1.7 miles the first two days, but Sunday, I covered 2 miles in that same time.  Now, I know, quick math says, "big deal, that is 10 minute miles. You were doing that for an entire 26.2 miles before." Yup, you would be correct, but when you add in that 12 minutes of that time is walking, then you start to see the deal.  Next weeks, starting tomorrow, is run for 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes, run for 90 seconds, etc.  I will be interested in seeing how much ground I cover in the 20 minutes of this cycle.

Anyway, the calves are starting to get used to the work, that they are now having to do, and the push-ups and crunches are coming along.  Next is to get some dumb bells and add in some actual weight training to see if I can improve the rest of the upper body.  Don't think I want to look like the guys on the cover of the weight lifting magazines, but I wouldn't mind a little extra mass.

Starting Over -- Week 1, Day 2

And going into W1D2, my calves were not very happy with me.  Oh well, sucks to be them.  They will just have to get used to it.  Took a day off from the crunches and last night gave the belly a working over...heh.  I'll get something resembling a stomach if it kills me.  Today's little run went well, though I am noticing that I am running a wee bit faster in these short bursts than I normally would.  That may adjust how I approach the latter weeks, I may stick with running for time versus distance.  I will know if I am faster by the distance I am covering by week 5, so that will be an extra thing for me to pay attention to.  Anyway, push-ups and crunches every night, or nearly so, I might start adding in lunges and the like, just to be clever...

New Year, new goals

I have had my VFF's for a while now. They mock me, often, rotten little pieces of rubber. They sit there as though to say, "You *thought* you were runner enough to try barefoot."  I have actually, a few times, but each time there was a race too close to get in the time to develope the needed strength of leg for this. So they got used as gym shoe more than running shoes.  That is all gonna change. I don't have any races scheduled until late May. I got lots of time, and today, thinking this might be the best way to do it, I did Week 1 Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program. I am gonna stick with this little project as I hope the benefit is longer shoe life and better form and thus less injury.  Also, my abs hurt, crunches every night, and not just straight crunches, but a mix of regular and side and reverse. Hopefully, I will have a six-pack to go with the new legs in May.

Just a short quick post

December...ah, December...I often refer to you as Dismember.  Mostly for what you do to my wallet.  Three years ago, I ran my first race, the Portland Jingle Bell Run.  A simple 5K for the Arthritis Foundation.  That first race was COLD...and I ran in a kilt.  Since that time many things have changed, and I have run many more races.  I might still run this years...I don't even know when it is, but life is changing for me, and I will need to get my training schedule back into order.  I need the running more than ever as a means of maintaining my sanity.  I will get back to posting regularly.  I need this as much as the running.  There are a couple of other things I am working on as well, and as they come to fruition, I may share them.  They are for me, and I will jealously hold them to my chest.  Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting.

Portland Marathon part two----sorry for the delay.

Picking up where we left off last installment…We had gotten to downtown Portland and parked.  We had found our way to the correct coral for ME…the others were in different corals.  I decided that it was time to drop off the bag I brought and said, “I’m gonna go check the bag.”  I walked over to the bag check…this is the same pretty much everywhere, garbage bag, sharpie, and a label.  You dump your stuff into the garbage bag, write your bib number on the label, slap that on the bag, hand to volunteer.  There were more than a few confused by this process and the poor guys working the table were explaining it over and over…

Hello? Is this thing ON?

Wow!  When was my last post?  During the Reagan Administration?  OK, it wasn't THAT long ago, but it surely feels like it.  Where did the time go?  Last thing I remember, was the Run for the Roses in June, and meeting Stacie and Kim.  Next thing I know, I have just finished the Portland Marathon...slower than my first one.  Wait, is that right?  Yup, nearly 4 minutes SLOWER than my first one.  What the heck?  Did I crash out?  Did I hit the wall harder than last time?  Did I injure myself?  Stop for a beer at the tavern at about mile 19? (no but I did think about it)  And, why on earth would I say I had the BEST time ever?  Welcome back to the ramblings of me...

Run for the Roses, and I got to meet a few fantastic people.

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, on the west side of the Cascades.  I like the rain.  I do everything in the rain.  It is a function of having grown up in the rain.  I firmly believe the State bird should be the SLUG, and the state flower is MOSS.  That or the razor fern.  I actually like ferns.  I move around, I have been in places that have two seasons, and in places with four, complete with snow and ice and such.  I, however, prefer to live here in the PNW, where we have four seasons, Spring (warming rain), Summer (warm rain), Fall (cooling rain) and Winter (cold rain).  Why would I want to live somewhere that averages three feet of rain a year?  Everything stays mostly green all year round.  I can run in January outside, and not worry about my water bottle freezing, and I can get out in July and August in the mornings and not fight with temps in the triple-digits.  What does this have to do with the race on Saturday?  Well, for the past few months, we have had temps that barely reached 60, Saturday was 60 at 7:00 am.  By the time the race was well under way it was hot to my moss and algae covered self.  But I still had a lot of fun.