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!

Better...

Check out my route here. So here's the deal. My Runnersworld schedule told me that I should run 2 miles tonight [actually, last night, but last night I was too bust getting angry at Publix, where shopping was not a pleasure - another post for another blog]. A friend whose help I've enlisted in training [I've actually asked him to be my "Coach," and I hope that he is tweaking my schedule even as we speak] told me that he didn't think 2 miles was going to be enough. He told me that after my performance on Saturday, I really needed to start working on my base more and increasing my mileage during the week. So, I took his advice and ran 4 instead of 2 [4.31 to be exact]. I was pretty determined to make this a great run. I was pretty determined to eat some pretty big hills in the process. I took a hill at the very beginning and a 1/2 mile hill at the end. My pace was close to what I race [I ran an 8:13 tonight], which is not really what I intended. The more I thought about it while running though, the more I thought it might be a good thing to really make myself more tired while running. Needless to say, I was a little wet when I came home [I tend to sweat profusely out of my rear when I exercise, the picture is proof to the fact]. Tonight's interesting sights include a half mutilated pigeon, a woman who damned me, and lots of people taking in a warm winter's night. I'll cover them in the order that I saw them [which happens to be backwards from the order that I listed them]. The current temp in Birmingham is a balmy 56F degrees; I'm pretty sure it was warmer when I started out earlier. The plus side to this non-wintry weather [because yes, I love wintry weather] was the fact that there were a ton of people walking about on both the north and south sides of town. I've noticed that a lot of people are walking dogs on the north side of town these days - I can't decide if it's for protection or because they really enjoy letting their dogs defecate on city streets. Then, there was the woman who damned me. Most people might also be afraid of a near 200 lb, 6' tall, Asian male running towards them in the dark. Those same people also tend to walk funny [as if drunk] and wear way too much clothing for 60F degrees. When I run towards people like this [because they tend to overreact about 90% of the time] I usually try to cough, breath harder, or stomp to announce the fact that I am running behind them. My methods apparently need tweaking; they never work. As I ran past this lady, she invoked the name of the Lord to provoke condemnation upon me. All I could say was, "My bad," and I ran. I really did thank God that there was no condemnation for me. I figured that I had more favor with Him as I am typing this now and have yet to taste the sting of death [knowing too that my Christ drank the condemnation that was due me]. I also prayed for her as I ran a few more blocks - something I don't do often enough and something I'm learning to do more. Then there was the half mutilated pigeon. If you're looking for him, he's set in front of Subway on 20th Street right next to Starbucks. The irony of it all! On a different note altogether - if any of you know a good race to run in the Southeast during the winter or early spring, shoot over a link or a name - I'd like to go on a short road trip with a race destination. *Blogger is not working correctly [as it most often does not], but I will add the picture as soon as possible.

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.