Faster than public transportation

I've notice that I'm getting more and more out of shape. I recently bought a new pair of Brooks running shoes for a literal steal off of Sierra Trading Post. These are the first pair of brooks I've ever owned [really]. They're fairing okay for now, but it may not be best to ask someone who is trying to get back into running after a seven month sabbatical from it [with sporadic runs here and there]. Anyways, you can check out my run here or below. If you want to know how much I got the shoes for and how I got such a spankin' awesome deal, let me know and I'll fill you in.

Run/Walk

Twilley in Philly

I forgot...

That is, I forgot how good it feels to run... Mapmyrun has a new format, and Gene likes it. You can check out today's 3 miler here.

Getting back on track...

You can check out my run here. First serious run in a month + awful allergies = a lot of phlegm and me almost throwing up in front of dreamland bbq. I had to start back sometime. 25:03 2.83 miles.

And the winner is...

You can check out the full results here. If you're unable to tell by the picture, that's a Mohawk. So, now I can say that I have 26.2 under my belt. I walked away feeling [generally] good about marathons - about the experience of being in one, the instant camaraderie you have with other runners, and cool gifts and food people lavish on you as you run and finish the race. There were 2,457 half marathoners. 126 relay teams for the marathon, and 703 marathoners [although, I do not believe all finished who started]. My chip time was 5:08:28. I'll be honest, I wanted to run faster - I was pacing myself close to an 8:35 pace for the first 10 miles or so. Then, injury set in. From about mile 14 to the end, I felt as if someone was taking a hammer to my left knee. A more experienced marathoner told me that it was due to the fact that I was overpronating and that I may need to purchase orthopedics for it. Additionally, I had to use the restroom twice during the run. The first time was because I had to pull a number one. The second was rolling a deuce [thank you to the lady-relayers who let me cut - much appreciated]. In any case, I accomplished my [public] goal of finishing - I received a great shirt, a cool medal, and some props from other runners at the after party. I think I'd definitely do it again - and the cool part about it is that I'm pretty sure that I could shave an hour off my time [and tell folks, "I just beat my PR by an hour!]. If you can't tell, the Mohawk won out - but only by a small margin [3 stars total] over the Martin Luther Monk cut. So...Happy day. Be sure, however, that there will be more in the future. I'm looking at running back to back half's in the fall - there's one in Virginia Beach, VA and Philadelphia, PA - they are two weeks apart from each other and you receive a special medal for running both.

Counting down...

The Mercedes Marathon is one week away. In celebration of my first running of a Marathon, I've decided to throw up a special vote. You, the reader, are entitled to help me choose what kind of haircut I'll have on race day. Now, to make this as democratic as a vote in our very own Republic, I've narrowed the choices down. You can vote here! I've also put a voting link @ the top of the page. Drop by throughout the week as I hope to have updates and information for spectators up. If you so choose, your support on race day would be appreciated and noticed!

Tonight's run...

I ran a little over 5 yesterday morning. Here's tonight's run. Nothing extraordinary. I ran through Homewood. I ran over Red Mountan, past the rear end of Vulcan, god of the forge. A note: city folk are much more friendly than the people who are driving on Hwy 75 between Oneonta and Center Point. Well, most are...except for the drunks yelling at me from Zydeco. At the very least, drunkenness is an excuse [albeit a bad one]. Running at night always gives an opportunity to run faster. It gives an opportunity to feel alone for a little while. It give me time to reflect over the day and to pray for my friends. It makes me tired. With that, good night!

The sort of things that make you hate the country...

Yesterday's run was supposed to be longer, but I just got tired of it all. You can check it out here. I got tired of the roads without shoulders. I got tired of the unending straightness of the roads. I got tired of the dearth of scenery. I got tired of the rednecks who kept honking their horns at me. So, I called Laura to come and pick me up. By the time she arrived, I had only run about 17.6 miles (which is about 4 1/2 less than I wanted to run yesterday). I felt like (and feel like, today) that I could run more. The worst part was the people honking though - there's only so much you can take. Altogether, I think I'm progressing well. I ran a 5 miler and then an 8 last week. This week I'm going to throw in a couple of extra short runs into the mix. I've a new addition to my regiment - a Camelbak. It holds 50 oz of liquid refreshment and certainly beats stopping every hour in hopes of finding someone who will give me a glass of H2O. I've also posted a new review for the watch I've been using. I give it 3 out of 5 stars, you can check out the review on Amazon to see why. I'll have this week's schedule up tomorrow evening. Thanks for reading!

True to the blog's title...

You can check out my run by clicking the picture to the right. I know it's been some time since I've posted, but [fyi] I've definitely been doing more running than blogging. Last week was my "easy" week, so my three runs were 6 or 7 miles, depending on the day. This week I ran 5 miles on Tuesday morning, 7 miles on Thursday morning, and [accidentally] 20 miles today. I've noticed that there are a lot of new runners [and walker's] on the street as of late. My guess is because of New Year's Resolutions. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the company. It is just a little more interesting to see how folks are literally coming out in droves. Tuesday morning I ran through a pack of runners [well, not actually through; they were on the other side of the street running the opposite way]. It was just below freezing out. They look nice and bundled. The interesting part was that I saw no less than 4 head lamps within the pack and no less than 2 "tail lights." About today's run, a few shout outs if you will. First, to the fine folks at the McDonald's on Clairmont next to St. Vincents, the Oporto Animal Hospital on Oporto Madrid Blvd, and Starbucks at the corner of 20th St and 8th Ave S - thank you, because when I was thirsty you gave me a drink. Secondly, to those girls who screamed out their window at me on the corner of 20th St and 8th Ave S, thank you for your exuberance at the fact that I was bent over catching my breath after just running 20 miles. To my lovely wife, thank you for coming at the precise time that I walked out of Starbucks to come and pick me up [I told her if I wasn't back by 12:45 to come and look for me - driving my route backward - and she did! With Powerade!]. I bought a variety pack from E-Gel and today's flavor was vanilla strawberry. I was very tasty and I was happy to actually drink water with it. E-Gel is to be taken in place of a sports drink as it is filled with electrolytes for that athlete who...um...expends a lot of sweat. I bought the pack off of their website for a very reasonable prices [about 33% cheaper than what you or I could purchase it from a local store for]. So, like I said...today was 20 miles. It was a quite hilly 20 at that; you can check out the elevation profile on the left in more detail by clicking on it. Each vertical line represents 1/4 of a mile. This is [thankfully] a feature that was recently debugged on mapmyrun.com and a helpful one at that. The run itself took me through some areas that I've never run before. I started out in southside, ran through Highland Park, then Forest Park, through Avondale, then Crestwood, Eastlake, an area called Gate City after that, back through Avondale, back through the Medical District and finally back into Southside. It was an accident because my plan was actually 19 [the actual training schedule says 18]. I ran completely past my turn because I didn't check out the detail when I mapped the run. This mistake took me about 1/2 mile in the wrong direction. Again, the fine folks at Oporto Animal Hospital showed great kindness in directing me on the right path and I am very much indebted to them. I did walk some today - maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile total - but I needed it. Today's lessons were hydration and nutrition. I actually ate breakfast this morning and yesterday I drank and drank and drank [non-alcoholic beverages]. Breakfast consisted of instant oatmeal, Ugly Fruit, and a cup of coffee - and it all made a huge difference in my performance. Part of the reasoning, unfortunately, was because I thought that to get my money's worth at Jason's deli, I needed to drink at least three glasses of Powerade [it was $1.75 for a fountain drink for crying out loud!]. Part of it too, was that I was [and have been] noticeably dehydrated. In all, I ran a lot more than I thought I'd be able to - 6 more miles to a marathon...4 weeks until the marathon.