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!

Run hard.

Check out my run here. My legs have felt awfully tight when I started out tonight [probably because I didn't run for 5 days]. This, undoubtedly, made my first mile hard and slow. My first mile on this route is mostly uphill - I try to make a lot of them that way these days. The middle mile, however, was smooth with only a hump in the middle. My first mile took almost 10 minutes. I ran my second in less than 8...which means that I probably ran the third in similar fashion. I was hoping to nail a consistent stride tonight. I'm satisfied with the time [it's close to a minute per mile faster than it should have been], but I'm not too happy with the inconsistency. On the plus side, it's a negative split - the first third was slow, the last 2/3's or so were fast. On the negative side, I can't run with the same parity for a long distance. In any case, if any of you have any ideas of how to run a more consistent mile during training, then shoot them my way. My last race was the exact opposite of this training run - I ran my first two miles in about 14:30, but finished the race at just 8 minutes per mile - this means I had some miles that were singly, or collectively, much slower than the 7:15 average of the first two. On a lighter note, if anyone is willing to pay my way, I will run the Antarctic Marathon next year [something I will never pay for myself as the cost is $15,000 - this is more than Laura and I paid for both our vehicles combined].

If I don’t run now...

I'm listening to Feels Like Home by Norah Jones. Tonight's run is here. I didn’t run this morning. I woke up too late. It was too cold. I needed to get ready for work. This afternoon, I lounged a bit. Time went by. It was cold outside. It was cold in our apartment. It was getting dark and the weather was rainy all day [it still is].

I kept telling Laura, “I don’t want to run.” She finally told me, “Then don’t.”

I contemplated what sort of lazy disposition would keep me inside now. The thought came about that if I don’t run now, I certainly won’t run when things become very difficult. The weather won’t be warmer in February.

When you take a look at the statistics, in fact, Birmingham usually has 60% more rain in February than in October. On average, February is 16.8F degrees cooler than October.

I realized that if I didn’t run now, I wouldn’t run at all.

Today's Run: 3.15 miles Time: 27min 58sec / 8:53 per mile Prescribed Distance for 10k Training: 3 miles Prescribed Time: 29min 30sec / 9:50 per mile

Happy happy run run...

I'm listening to the CD Forest by George Winston. You can check out my run here. It was more hilly than I expected. It really seemed like I was running up hill [I know, impossible] the whole time I was running. During the run I thought about how funny it seemed that places are not often how we imagine or remember them to be. For example, I would have sworn that Valley Ave. was flat by memory - but it was gradual inclines and small drop-offs throughout. I remembered to smile through my run and I thought about how much more friendly the drivers are to you when you're running than when you're walking. As cars would approach and swerve I throw out the courtesy fingers [yes, fingers - 2] and nod - they would usually do the same. Running up Greensprings Highway, a trucker gave me two courtesy honks as I smiled at him and waved for his courtesy of not plowing over me. I saw some folks in Army T-shirts partaking in a car wash - they had yellers standing in the median. The first [older] woman that I passed looked at me, smiled, and yelled "Even if you don't need a car wash, we take donations too!" I passed two younger guys in army shirts in the median at an intersection. The shorter of the two enacted his freedom to yell "Run good man!" There were definitely folks who weren't as nice as these, but their stares and fast driving didn't matter as much as the encouragement and friendliness of these others. Altogether, it was a good run. The portion of Greensprings and Valley on today's loop are part of the Mercedes Marathon. I felt that I took to the hills pretty well and I think that they'll just strengthen and harden me for the upcoming Vulcan 10k. I'm excited! Today's Run: 7.56 miles Time: 1hr 9min 53sec / 9:15 per mile Prescribed Distance for 10k Training: 7 miles Prescribed Time: 1hr 8min 42sec / 9:50 per mile

It was colder in Vail...

Morning Star

I stepped out onto the deck from our apartment. It was cold. It was dark. It was windy. If there was any solace to the situation, it was the fact that when I looked up I could see so many stars so clearly through the patchwork of clouds. I walked the trash down the outdoor steps and felt the chill air caressing my skin. The air itself seemed to goad my constitution to walk back up the steps and climb into the warmth and comfort of my bed.

Only for a second. It was colder in Vail.

I walked a block down the street to my normal start point – the corner of 17^th St and 14^th Ave. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, though there’s never a lot of traffic here at 5:45 in the morning. The first mile is always the hardest. My muscles had only just awakened from their rest. My bones ache in the morning cool. My hands were pained as the cold wind steals my pleasure of running in the morning.

But it was only the first mile, and I know that every progressive mile would open up the doors of my endorphin centers. I knew that I will soon be on a runner’s high and that there wouldn’t be as much pain…not until I stretched at the end.

I ran. I avoided the early morning drivers who liked to run red lights. I ran around the bumpers of those who liked to test the cross walks with their bumpers. I glared at the drivers who didn’t understand why a man would run in 47 degree weather – those same drivers who refused to share the road. I ran.

Today’s Loop: 3.53 Mi Time: 34:03 / 6.22 mph Prescribed distance for 10k Training: 3 Mi Time: / 31:30 / 6.1 mph

New Equipment I’ve been running with La’s Nokia Cell phone. It doesn’t set well in a pocket [when I have a pocket] during a run. Further, she has told me that she’s a bit tired of having a sweaty cell phone. I received a Timex Ironman Watch a few years ago as a Christmas present. The more I read, the more I was convinced that it wasn’t worth the price it would cost to replace the battery. You can see [or purchase] my new watch here.

It’s called the Timex Marathon. There’s nothing particularly fancy about it – it’s lightweight and it tells / records time. My particular model is red and has a plastic strap [the Ironman had a cloth strap that smells putrid now].

I like my new fancy pants watch.

Speaking of Pants…

Re: How to induce a BM. You must be thinking both preemptively and causally. The preemptive portion is in regard to what you eat. When I plan on running, I try not to eat too many foods that are greasy or “heavy” the night before. Simple proteins, grains, and vegetables seem to do the trick [especially w/out preservatives]. A good beer helps too.

Causally, I usually plan to wake up 15-20 minutes before my planned run. I’ll take a quality read or an inspiring running magazine with me. Now, pushing can hurt more than it helps. In fact, I’ve learned [not from personal experience] that pushing too hard can actually cause a bulging disc in your spinal column. I don’t want that, and I doubt that you do either.

You may want to set the mood. I’ve learned that tranquility is the key. I take reading material because you kind of want to take your mind off of…things. Stage fright is a common occurrence and the need to perform can be a real drain on the task at hand. I’m not saying take deep breaths, but you may want to light a few candles or bring in something to occupy your mind more fully.

Look at it all like a tractor trailer. You can run a lot faster when you're not carrying a load. Furthermore, running itself tends to shake things loose. If you want me to go anymore in depth, then e-mail me.

That’s a lot, and it is all I have for tonight. Tomorrow is a 7 miler and I’m pretty excited about it.