Test Run Thursday .. aka "TRT Day I"

Well today marked the first day in about 2.5 weeks that I tested out my foot.  My goal was to run for about 0.5 miles and see what happened.

This was also a chance to test our my new garmin 910xt.  Of course the GPS didn't work inside and then when I hit the start I didn't get an exact distance and instead of running 0.5 miles I ended up just running for 10 minutes.  During the run I felt exhausted, but no pain in my foot.  After I stopped got home and showered I noticed it was just a little sore and walking to work wasn't exactly fun (although not sure it ever is!). 

Tomorrow I'll take a day off and maybe see how it goes on Saturday with another test run.  If I'm still having issues next week it will probalby be time to go see a doctor.  The good news is that right now my foot feels great.  However, I think the big concern is how my breathing was after running 10 minutes and knowing I have the Baltimore 10 miler coming up in mid June.  Amazing how exhausted I was after that run!

Cleveland Weekend

Well there was no running this weekend.  I did go to the Cleveland expo and also attended the races on Sunday, but just didn't think I could run without pain and not have a setback. It was a great opportunity though to see some of the elites in action for the 10k.  Normally I'm pretty impressed when I see the times after a race is over, but I got to see first hand how fast these guys really are.  I did have the running bug though as I saw everyone lining up:)

Start of the race

...this guy ran 4:37 pace I'm pretty sure that's cheating

Anyways, the picture above is of the winner Julius Kibet with a time of 28:44 (4:37 pace).  It's great they offer prize money for this race as there were a couple of other great times.  After I thought about his pace I realized that my best 800m time ever (back in high school) of 2:15 was only a tad faster than this guy's pace for 6.2 miles.  Unbelievable!

I did get back to some light working out this Friday and also today.  My hope is to get some strength exercises in and not bother my foot.  I was able to do lunges today..I wouldn't say it was painful, but uncomfortable. The Baltimore 10 miler is coming up and need to feel 100% going into that race!

Friday Deadline (and birthday thoughts)

With my foot healing I've made Friday the new deadline to decide to run in the 5K on Saturday.  It's pretty close, but part of me knows the past week and a half has been a struggle...I also don't want to have another setback and then have to rest for another 3 weeks...it's also my birthday this weekend.  Some thoughts on birthdays:

The older you get the less your birthday means until you get to like 60 and then they start being milestones for staying alive....isn't that cheerful:) 

One benefit to getting past a certain age is that you can get your birthday presents anytime within a 6 month window of your birthday....with some members of my family that means I get taken out on my birthday meal in November.  On the other hand I got a birthday check in March this year.  I'm fortunate enough to have a May birthday, so nobody can really package presents as a Xmas/Birthday...although I suppose with this 6 month window anything goes!



Nothing has really changed though in the years I've been celebrating my birthday.  I always chose to spend my birthdays with a close friend or two (or my family) instead of a ridiculous party...mainly because of how much I hate the individual attention as captured in the cartoon above. 

This week I was fortunate to get another one of my gifts early.  I've been wanting a garmin 910xt, but unfortunately my practical ways of spending money have never allowed this to happen.  Oh it's been in that amazon.com "wish list" for quite sometime, but I got it on Sunday...unfortunately I have not been able to use it. 

Until Friday then... 

To Run or Not to Run

Well officially the longest time off, since I started running around this time last year.  It's been a week and although my foot is definitely better than it was I would still only rate it at 75-80%.  My goal was to get out for 2 runs this week before the Cleveland 5K and 10K...now I'm hoping I can get out on Thursday for a 2 mile jog and see what happens.  I'm fairly confident that I could run a 5K on Saturday...now the only question is how horrible will my foot feel afterwards?  Anyways, going to rest and take it easy for another couple of days.  The 10K is probably not happening on Sunday....which is a bit disappointing

Houston Marathon

Well officially signed up for the Houston Marathon yesterday.  I'm still undecided if I'm going to stay with the Baltimore 5K this year or try the full marathon.  I'm 99% sure I'm not going to do the half, but this could be my first marathon.

As I don't learn any lessons I already know that training for this around the holidays is going to be a bear!  Last year just starting to train for DC I was annoyed and the weather was really good...so hopefully I luck out again. 

First things first though.  My foot needs to recover.  Getting better each day...although I'm sure walking to work does not help the recovery:)

MD Half Marathon Recap:

Well 2nd half marathon is in the books.  Arrived at the race about 7:30 only to find out that my very detailed and elaborate playlist did not update on my nano...luckily I still had my playlist from DC and I pretty much just chalked this up as a "lesson learned" moment. 

Prior to the race there was a slight drizzle and it was a bit chilly (Although I would take this everytime over a hot dry day).  I took position between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups.  I actually talked with the 1:40 guy prior to the race and sort of wish I had the confidence to do that pace group...I didn't.  On a flat course I wouldn't have had any doubts, but the thought of 7:38/miles yesterday just seemed super hard.  Also, if I was thinking it was hard my mental toughness would be crap around the hills. 

So 3 - 2 - 1 ...(bang) and we were off.  I started with the 1:45 pace group.  The guy's name was Josh and I talked with him for probably the first 3 miles or so.  The girl I didn't really talk to at all, but she kept my going when I needed it.

Miles 0-2:

  Things felt pretty good.  Held a pretty good conversation pace there was a hill that started at 1.5 and although I felt it in my legs I really wasn't breathing too hard.  First mile marker on the course was way off as we all looked at our watches and I had about 9 minutes and I looked at Josh and remarked "yikes", but by the time we hit mile marker two we had a cumulative time of 16:00, so right on track.

Miles 2-4:

  With every uphill was a generous downhill and my legs felt much better.  I managed to stop for water at every stop and I managed to spill 75% of that water on my shirt....it's quite obvious I need a sippy cup :)  I'm going to have to figure out something better if I plan to do a marathon ... also a "lesson learned" moment (DC I was fortunate to have a guy passing out water bottles around mile 6?)  Even splits again.

Mile 4-5:

  At mile 4.5 I would start the ascent up the massive hill, but I would also see my fiance's parents (she was running and so was her sister), but I was the first to pass that area. I gave them a wave and they took a couple of pretty good pictures (that I don't have right now).  The hill was about .5-.6 mile up...but not as bad as I had planned in my mind.  I was still able to crack some jokes, but by the time we had finished the first 5 miles the pace group was only 4 of our original 8 .... and that included our two pace group leaders. 

Mile 5-6:  At mile 5.5 or so started the "Dozer Dash" ... I would later find out my Dozer Dash time and my overall ranking were near identical.  Same general feeling though that my breathing was fine, but I could really feel the hills in my calves...especially my left calf muscle...which I wanted to stretch.  Based on stretching mid run I have two experiences 1.)  Stretch for 30 seconds and have an amazing run 2.)  Stretch for 30 seconds....run 5 minutes stop for 30 second stretch and repeat .. followed by being super annoyed.  So I kept going.

Mile 6-8:  The pace group kept chugging along at 8 mile splits and although I can easily calculate those in my head to infinity when I'm not running...after spilling a liter of water on shirt, dumping a cup of water on my head...not realizing that my headphones now would sound like I was listening to them underwater, my calf burninggggggggg, and some sort of odd left foot ailment I could not figure it out.  Anyways, I trusted the pace group...but right around this time I knew setting a PR was near impossible and I had even started questioning finishing with the pace group.

Mile 8-10:  I really expected this to be worse...this was really around the time I started falling apart in DC, but overall breathing was great...in fact I just telling myself your breathing is fine you are in shape enough to just keep this up.  Everything on my left side of my body hurt..maybe it had something to do with the course or how I was running, but I felt the streets of DC were not as pitched.  I felt at times I was running around a NASCAR track....ok it wasn't that bad, but hey I was going to complain about something!:)  At this point looking at my watch meant very little...I choked on a peanut butter gu around this time and had most of it all over my face...I'm sure it was a sight.

Mile 10-11:  I felt close...I guess the force was strong with me at this moment as I really just knew it was almost over...breathing was again really good. 

Mile 11-12:  Actually a horrible but cool part of the course mile 11 had sort of a loop (the horrible part was the up and down of the loop), but you could see people coming back around the loop.  I think based on what I figured that these people were about 8-10 minutes ahead of our group.  I didn't see the 1:40 group so it was atleast 6 minutes ahead.  Anyways, I looked at one guy and gave him a Tiger Wood's fist in the air.  He gave me one back.  I have to say running at this stage is completely different then my high school days.  Great to give people bit's of encouragement and etc.  Girl pace group leader forced me up a hill and I told her to bring me kicking and screaming to the finish line.

Mile 12-13.1:  The mile 12 marker is really amazing. The thought was you probably have 9 minutes left in the race....go try to pick off any runners you can...that was the left part of the brain thinking...the right part was all worried about how the pace group people would feel as I left them.  I broke a little bit early and got gobbled up by the 3 people I ran the whole race with.  As we neared the finish I was dying....Josh and the other 3 had passed me and he turned around and said "come on we are almost there"...my body was rapidly declining...but I went for it.  Dug down and put on as much of a surge for probably a 400m as I could and ended up passing a couple of people near the end.



There I am #1030...falling apart near the end..team 1:45 with arrows:)



My future father in law has some horrible pictures of me near the finish...this is actual the best picture around that time on the charm city run site.  I have the "somebody shot me look" ... again.  My left foot is in bad shape...no swelling, but the outside of it is super sore. 

Overall :  112 out of 1188

Age Group:  24 out of 95

Overall Time:  1:43:57 (I was happy to see this at the end because at some point the pace group must have picked it up without my really knowing it...or maybe that's why I was sucking wind at the end!)