5K

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3 days running and back on pace!

Getting my running legs under me again.  Yesterday was my third run since I took 2 weeks off and lost 20 lbs.  I felt really good running and felt my stride was longer and easier to maintain.  Ultimately I ran just over 9:00 pace on Monday and just over an 8:00 pace yesterday.  I did feel like I was pushing it a bit after the first mile, but I knew I was running well and wanted to see what I could do.

The good news is I am still not taking and anti inflammatory meds or fish oil.  I think that is my biggest success from my time off.  I used to be in a lot of pain with my hips and back that I had to be on meds everyday.  Now I really have almost no issues other than after my run yesterday my left hip hurt for a while, but the pain went away on its own.

I am trying to keep to my run plan.  Today and tomorrow I up my mileage to 4 miles each day and then Sunday I go up to 6.  I hope by next week to be in the 5 mile a day range again.  I just didn’t want to take things too fast.  Also, I didn’t have any muscles pulling as I ran yesterday so that was great.

Our next race is a 5k in May.  It was our first race we ever ran and it will be fun to compare our progress.  TJ has a training plan worked out for me when I get myself back to normal running.  My goal is to finish in the 20 minute range, which would be a miracle.  But in the past year I have seen a lot of miracles happen because of my running.  I wish more people could experience what I experience.

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Running makes life an adventure!

5 more days to go on my diet and run recovery.  I am using a physician’s weight loss diet and am now at 182 lbs which is the least I’ve weighed since college.  It is going to be great to run again knowing that I have about a bowling ball less weight to run with.

I am a bit worried about getting running after my diet.  Mainly I know I’ll have to go slow since I’ve had almost no fat or carbs for a while.  I tend to want to push the envelope a lot and I want to be sure I don’t do that.

TJ is working with me on a running plan for our next race.  It is going to be the “Spring Scramble” in the first week of April.  This was our first 5K we ran after we began to run in March of last year.

Wow, a whole year is almost up.  I began running on March 25, 2012.  Is amazes me how far TJ, RS and I have come in a year.  Looking back at our first 5K, I barely finished in 32 minutes.  My goal for this year is to finish in the 20 minute area.  I am sure with TJ’s help, I’ll get somewhere close.

Life is always an adventure if you make it one.  That is why “I love running”.  Running is all about getting out there and doing it.  It is up to me to run.  Sometimes things get in the way like injuries or other responsibilities, but for the most part If I run, I do better at running.  If I run, I feel better about myself.  If I run, I feel like I have accomplished something.

The more I run, the more I love running.

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Best fall marathon? TJ wants to qualify for Boston!!!

First, yesterday was a great run. I mentioned in an earlier post that I tend to run faster after exerting myself in a 5K race. I started doing tempo runs this week with the input of TJ and it made a huge difference. I had a record 10K run yesterday in 50:55 total time. It really wasn’t much effort, except at the end when I was trying to get my 10K in under 51:00. I know it was the tempo run from Wednesday that made the difference.

The training continues for our half marathon. Today is a hill day (ugh) – my first. TJ says it helps a lot, but I’m not looking forward to it.

After our half marathon in February, we look for a marathon in the fall. TJ mentioned finding a fast marathon as he wants to qualify for Boston. He also wants me to qualify, but at this time I don’t see that happening.

Right now we are looking at Chicago or Jacksonville. Both are considered fast marathons. The advantage to Jacksonville is that I have a friend there we could stay with. The advantage to Chicago is that we also have friends there and we love to go to Ballydoyle’s Irish pub and also get some Giordano’s pizza. Another option that would mean a lot to me is the Marine Corp Marathon. The main reason for that is that this is the marathon my Dad and siblings always ran. It would be great to make my first marathon the same one my dad ran in years ago – also since <a href=”https://runat49.wordpress.com/why-i-run/&#8221; he is the inspiration for my running.

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions. It is still early, but I know that April is when sign up begins for the Marine Corps Marathon and last year they filled up quickly.

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Half marathon prep – 24 days and counting

Yesterday was hard…

To begin with, I did an incredibly dumb thing and reduced that amount of Ibuprofen my physician told me to take.  My thought was that since I was feeling better and taking some really good fish oil, maybe I could reduce the amount of Ibuprofen I take.  Bad thought.  My back hurt so much yesterday, I wasn’t sure I could run after work as has been my habit.  The good news is I didn’t let that stop me.  I have learned over the past 10 months that if I want something or someone to talk me out of running, then I won’t run.  With all that I have, I want to finish a full marathon (planned for this fall) and be able to add my name to my siblings as having completed such a feat.  Of course it will be about 20 years later than they, but better late than never.

Okay, onto the prep.  According to the run plan that TJ helped me develop, yesterday was a tempo run.  My plan was to run 3 miles between 7:23 and 7:29.  I must say I was a bit worried with the way my back felt, but after work I got on my running clothes and shoes (Saucony Type A5 – great racing flats) and started my mile warm up run.  At the end of the mile, I kicked into my tempo run.  Here are the splits from my run:

Mile 1  – 8:87
Mile 2 – 7:05
Mile 3 – 7:06
Mile 4 – 8:31
Mile 5 – 9:14

My plan was to run 3 miles in the mid 7 minute pace.  I made it 2 miles and had to slow down.  I try to always keep my goals I set, but as TJ said, I ran my miles too fast and much faster than my plan.  It was really hard to do 2 miles, but three… not gonna happen.

I did get my 5 miles in and did an overall pace of 8:11 which is good for me.  Also I ran a 5K based on the middle 3 miles in 23:34 which is my second fastest time and that without anyone around me for motivation.  Overall I’m happy and now my goal is to get to 3 miles next week.  It gives me something for which to prepare.

Today is a regular run for 6 miles and then tomorrow, hill runs.  Why do I punish my body this way!  I guess it is because the pain of the run is long forgotten after the results come in.  I want this half marathon to be my best.  Of course being my first one it will be, but still I don’t want to look back and say, I could have done more.

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Why I run

I have a couple of reasons that I run.

To begin with, I always regretted not running with my Father and siblings back in the 80s and 90s. My dad began running around age 55 and ran upward of 15 marathons before he stopped around age 74. He eventually passed away due to lung cancer. My late sister and my brothers also ran and all ran marathons with him. I was in college when he started and then ended up 800 miles away raising my family later on. Well here I am now dad, 50 years old and running my first half marathon. Here I am now KT. You always encouraged me to at least get on a treadmill once a day as you saw me gaining weight and getting sick more often. Here I am. I run because of you. I wish you both were here to see.

Secondly, I run because it is the one competition I can enter that has a level playing field. Sure there are those like TJ that are naturals. But for the most part, I know that if I run 6 times a week and slowly increase my mileage, one day I can be good, at least for my age. I am not an athlete and never was. I was the last to be picked for teams when I was a kid. Really, sports didn’t interest me much. Now at 50, I run. I’ve run almost a thousand miles in the past 10 months and am one of the 10% of runners that get through the year without getting hurt. Each run I pray for God to keep me from getting hurt. He knows I have to run and why I am running.

Running, as I said, makes a level playing field. Thus I started running 10 months ago and this month came in 22nd out of 690 in my last 5K. I didn’t come in 22nd and 3rd in my age group because I am a natural. I did so because I run 6 days a week whether it is hot, cold, raining or snowing.

I cannot make an excuse.

I just run.

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What a week

About 10 years ago an older man saw me rushing to meet someone for a meeting and told me, “sometimes the journey is the destination”. I found a shirt with a similar saying on it and have worn it in my last two 5Ks. That saying really helps me in running, especially running the same route in my neighborhood six days a week. For some reason, some days/weeks I go out to run and just dread the time. I am sore or tired from getting up at 3:00am. I usually run after work, somewhere around 2:00pm so it has already been a long day.

This was not one of those weeks…

Here are the personal records I broke in the past 7 days:

5K race – Time: 22:10 Pace: 7:09
10K run – Time: 52:17 Pace: 8:22
10 mile run – Time: 1:28:36 Pace 8:49

To steal a line from Apple, running this week “just felt right”. I really didn’t push it (other than my 5K). The journey was my destination and I felt great. I’ve decided to try and keep under a 9:00 pace for my half marathon next month. Being my first race over 3.1 miles I don’t know what to expect. I have heard from TJ that it is wise to begin slow and finish strong. I am really looking forward to it. Then after a couple of 5Ks this summer and our first marathon will happen in the fall. Who would have thought that less than a year ago I couldn’t run more than 2 miles. I am really enjoying the journey!!!

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5K and beyond…

TJ is my running partner. We don’t actually run together much, but he is my knowledge base for running. He does the research and I put into action the things that I can. RS is also a running partner, but has had some troubles with injuries lately so he is trying to get his feet under him again.

TJ and I just ran our 5th 5K together. It was a great day. It was in the 60’s and overcast at 7:15am when the gun went off. Just for the record, TJ is in his 20’s and I am in my early 50’s, but we have been running the same amount of time. TJ is a natural runner as far as I can tell. He ran his first 5K in “gorilla glued” work sneakers that had holes all through them. That was in April 2011. He finished in 22:45 and won his age group. Not bad for just running 3 weeks and not every day. I finished in 32 minutes and was just glad to survive.

Last Saturday we ran in the 5th 5K of our year. TJ finished 2nd overall in a photo finish with the 3rd place finisher. TJ was probably 20 yards behind the 3rd place runner and passed both the 3rd and the 2nd in the last 100 yards – WOW. I ran my best 5K thus far. I finished in 22:10 and got 3rd in my age group and 22nd overall. Oh, did I mention there were 690 people in the race? My goal was to finish under 22:00 and I came close. Actually I pushed it a bit too hard as I needed some attention from paramedics after I finished. I needed about 15 minutes to get my breath back and then I was fine.

RS came along to cheer us on as did my other kids and my lovely wife of 26 years. On the video that RS took of me at the finish I can hear my family cheering me on, but in the race I couldn’t hear anything because of the shape I was in.

Now we begin training for the our first half marathon on February 16th. This will be our first race over a 5K. I have no goal, but TJ wants to finish in 1:30:00. I will meet him at the finish line probably 30 minutes after he finishes.