A Little Workout

I've been a little antsy to run fast lately, so this morning I ran a "workout." I ran over to the middle school and ran a brief fartlek workout on the soccer field. I alternated a lap hard with a lap easy for eight laps. It was not hard at all, but it felt good to get the legs moving a little.

Why did I run the workout on the soccer field? I watched a video last week on Flotrack that featured some athletes in the Nike Oregon program doing a workout on grass. It seemed like a good idea, so I tried it. You get the benefits of running fast without the pounding you'd take on the road.

Update

This weekend has gone by way too fast. Is it too much to ask for another Saturday and Sunday? I'm not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow--I know this week is going to be hectic.

Training went well this week. Having a tired wife who wanted to go to bed early helped. I'm running about 45 minutes a day now, and I want to add in an extra 15 minutes per day over the next week or two.

I still don't have any definite racing plans. I'm thinking about the Army 10 Miler as a goal race, though.

Three-Day Weekend

I finally took my first day off in 2010 this weekend. I was out late Friday with friends, and slept in Saturday morning. I was just unable to get myself out of bed before my wife left, and then with the kids and a house there's just too much else to do on a Saturday to run any other time than the first thing in the morning.

Sunday and Monday's runs were good. I want to get up to running an hour a day and then begin some tempo and fartlek work. After running Monday morning, the kids and wife and I went to IHOP for breakfast. It's become something of a tradition to go out for breakfast on federal holidays. Plus, we had some gift cards from Christmas we hadn't used yet.

Update

There's not too much going on with my running at the moment. I'm getting out the door each morning, getting consistent as I think about building up the daily mileage. I'm working on putting together a plan for the year. I don't think I want to run a marathon, so I'm going to try and find some shorter distance races and maybe a half-marathon this fall.

I'm sure everyone's seen the destruction in Haiti by now. I have a friend who has some family there. They're ok, but can't get out of the country. I was also glad to hear that the kids at an orphanage run by two women from Pittsburgh will be able to come to the US.

Hunger

One way that I know I've been running is my appetite. I certainly feel more hungry and am eating more than I was a month ago when I wasn't running much.

The weekend was pretty good. I had a good run Saturday morning, and just a short run Sunday morning. I was up late Sunday night, so I just ran for half an hour this morning. It's amazing how much different it feels without the wind. This morning was probably the coldest temperature-wise, but without the wind it was much more bearable.

We took the Christmas tree and decorations down this weekend too. Our living room and front yard are so empty.

New Snow

Last night we received a dusting of snow. I've always loved running in the snow, and had a great time this morning as I made footprints on the sidewalks.

Thus far I've run every day in 2010. I don't expect to run every day this year, but a week and a day of consistency is nice since I don't think I had that for the majority of last year.

I've been slacking off on my core exercises this week. Last week I did well, but this week I've been lazy.

Winter Weather

I've lived in Virginia for seven-and-a-half years now, and this is the longest stretch of cold weather I can remember. It's been colder before, it just hasn't remained cold for this long before. It reminds me a lot of winter in Pittsburgh.

In addition to the cold, this weekend featured 30 to 40 mile per hour winds as well. Running into the wind felt like standing still at times. Saturday and Sunday I ran for about 40 minutes.

This morning was cold, but at least the wind had died down. Like the past two days, I ran for 40 minutes. Now it's time to finish up work, and since the wind has lessened when I get home I can fix the Christmas decorations that were blown out of place.

New Year

I'm not a big fan of new year's resolutions. It's not because I don't like resolutions, but rather I think the new year is an arbitrary date and could just as easily be replaced by July 24. That being said, it's the first day of 2010 and I'm writing in my blog again. This year, I resolve to write on a regular basis. We'll see how long that lasts.

I started of my new year with an easy half hour run. I'm still trying to get consistency back into my running. I don't have any concrete plans for 2010 yet, but I'm fairly certain I won't be running a marathon this year.

I hope everyone has a happy new year!

My Aching Back

I don't know how I did it, but I strained my lower back Wednesday night sitting on a couch. It felt fine when I sat down, but it was sore when I got up.

I didn't run Wednesday or Thursday but got out for an hour this morning. It was only supposed to be 40-45 minutes, but I was feeling good and took advantage of it. It's finally hot and humid here, so I was quite soaked when I was done. Jenny gave my back a massage last night, and I really didn't feel anything other than a little stiffness when I was running uphill.

This weekend I'm going to a baptism and working around the house. Since we won't be moving anytime soon, we might as well improve the house we have.

Motivation

Why is it that I can feel so enthusiastic about my run the next morning the night before, but when my alarm goes off all I want to do is stay in bed? Ideally, I'd love to have a schedule that allows me to run in the afternoon when I get home from work, but with three small children that want/need my attention, it's just not possible. Overall, I think it's just getting in the frame of mind that when my alarm goes off, it's time to get up and do work.

I didn't run at all over the weekend, but other than that it was good. I weeded the garden and cut the grass, we had a party for my and my in-laws anniversary, and I started a project with the kids. Monday and Tuesday I ran, but this morning I couldn't drag myself out of bed.

Slacker

While I had planned this week to get back on track with my running after vacation, it didn't quite work out. I ran Monday, Wednesday, and today, but was off Tuesday and Thursday. This morning was the steamiest it's been all summer. Usually by now it's hot and humid all the time, but it's been cool so far this summer. The traditional DC summer weather is only supposed to last a day or so, though, since it gong to cool down this weekend.

In between work this afternoon, I watched some of the Paris Golden League meet. Anna Willard's kick to win the 800 was impressive!

Vacation

I didn't get in the running I planned on during vacation, but at least I had a good time. We spent the first couple days in Pittsburgh seeing some sights with my mother-in-law, who had never been there before. After that, we headed to Indianapolis to visit some of my wife's family. The highlight of Indy was the zoo. It's not too big, but they had a lot of interaction with the animals and the kids had a good time.

I ran when I had the chance. The few days I did run I ran for about a half hour except for July 4, when I ran for a whole hour.

Now it's back to work for about a month until the family and I head off to Hilton Head for a week at the beach.

More Travels

It's been very nice to be back in Pittsburgh for the fourth. The weather's been great, cool even, especially for July. It's a welcome change from the 90s and the humidity we usually have on the fourth.

I ran for just over an hour yesterday. It was one of the longer runs I've done for a little while. I could definitely feel some tightness in my hamstrings and butt, so I need to make sure I stretch those out better. This morning I ran for 20 minutes, just about all I had time for before church. I just ran for a little while to try and loosen up so I could come back and stretch.

Tomorrow morning we're headed for Indianapolis to see some of Jenny's family. I was disappointed to see a little while ago that IUPUI was demolishing their track. I watched the 2007 US championships there.

Communication

One benefit to blogs, facebook, twitter, etc is that they allow the user to communicate with others anywhere in the world who share interests. It's for that reason that I'm attempting to actually write this blog again.

As far as my training goes, it's been aimless lately. Due to work and home responsibilities, I haven't been running as much as I'd like. Things seem to be settling down, and I'm trying to get to a consistent schedule so I feel like I can pick a goal to start training for.

Consistent

I've been nothing if not consistent this week. I haven't quite been running the miles I'd like to, but at least for the time being I'm getting out the door. Really, as I've mentioned a million times before, I need more sleep. I'm continually hitting the snooze two or three times before I get out of bed, cutting out some of my running time.

Sick

This cold is getting really tiresome. I haven't run much at all since Cherry Blossom. It's been a mix of days of and 20 to 30 minute runs. In addition to the lack of running, I've also been suffering from a lack of sleep, which I'm sure is not helping my cold get any better. Here's to getting better soon!

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Race Report

The overview: this race did not turn out liked I had hoped.

When my alarm went off Sunday morning, I was not ready to get out of bed. I wished I had gone to sleep earlier last night and hit the snooze button two or three times. I finally got out of bed, had breakfast, and got going a little later than planned. After sitting in Saturday's traffic when I went to pick up my number, I took the Metro Sunday morning. Taking the Metro added a few minutes to my trip, and I made it to the race about a half-hour before the start. That didn't leave me with much time to warm up, since by the time I changed clothes and checked my bag it was time to get into my corral. As I waited in the corral for the start, I really had to go to the bathroom but by then the lines were too long for me to wait in and still make the start.

The race started at 7:40 and I still had to go to the bathroom. About a half-mile into the race, I saw some porta-johns and took a break. I thought it best to stop early and get rid of the discomfort. Once I got back on the course I felt much better and probably only lost about 45 seconds. When I was back on the course, though, I was weaving through runners while trying to maintain a steady pace.

The first half of the race seemed to go by pretty slowly. I was trying to stay under 7 minute pace, but my stomach wasn't feeling too great. In the days leading up to the race it felt pretty heavy a lot of the time and when I ate I would feel full quickly. When I tried to pick up the pace, it would get more uncomfortable.

About halfway through the course, we passed through the start/finish. This part of the course had most of the spectators and I picked up some energy through here. After that, the course went around Hains Point and then back to the finish. I heard that the Hains Point portion of the course was bad because it was desolate, but it didn't feel that bad. After we got out of East Potomac Park, we headed past the spectators to the finish. I was able to pick up the pace and finish strong.

Splits were 7:44; 6:49; 6:59; 7:02; 7:24; 7:10; 8:03 (must have been long); 6:40 (must have been short); 7:38; and 6:59 for a finishing time of 1:12:33.

I'm taking this week easy and then starting my 5k/10k training for a few races this spring and summer.

Tapering

I've been taking it easy these few days before the race. I'd like it to be a good measure of my fitness, so I want to go into it as fresh as possible. I'm pretty close to picking a couple 5ks and 10ks to run in the May-June-July time frame, and I'll be working out my training schedule for those races soon.

I realized I hadn't worn my racing flats for quite a while, so Wednesday morning I went over to the track and ran a few laps in them. They felt a little funny at first, but after about a lap I was used to them again.

The weather should be good Sunday morning, so here's to a good race! And good luck to everyone else racing this weekend!

A Change in Plans

My original plan this spring was to run the Pittsburgh Marathon. But then I tried to actually register for it, and registration was closed. I looked for other marathons nearby on or around that date, but none really seemed feasible, not to mention the fact that honestly I don't feel ready for a marathon. I haven't been doing the volume necessary to run a good marathon. So I'm shifting my focus and I'm going to find some good 5k/10k races this spring, and then build for the Richmond Marathon this fall. Richmond and I have some unfinished business after the DNF in 2007. \

I'm signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler this weekend, and while it was originally intended as marathon tune-up race, now I'm going to use it to gauge my fitness. I've run the race twice before and both times finished around 66 minutes. This year we'll see if I can PR.

Update

It's about time I update this. Training has been going all right, but honestly not quite as well as I would hope. It seems like each time I put a few good days together, I set myself back with a few poor days. I need to work on my consistency.

Since I haven't written anything since the Super Bowl, I figure now is as good a time as any to say "Go Steelers!" It's times like these that make me wish I still lived in Pittsburgh.

Speaking of Pittsburgh, that where I am visiting the family for the long weekend. It's nice to be back around the old hometown for a few days.