Hill run

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33 miles of running last week

It was a good weekend for me.  It was bittersweet as I missed running the Mercedes half marathon this year.  It happened yesterday, but because of my hip injury, I wasn’t able to get my training started soon enough to participate.  I did think of all those runners as I was running up my mountain yesterday morning.  Funny, I didn’t see one runner in the entire State park.  Not one.  I guess they were all in Birmingham. I wish I was.

My run yesterday consisted of running up the mountain that I now call “my mountain”.  I figure since I conquered it 3 times now, I can call it mine.  I went by myself yesterday as TJ was wanting to run a long run and RS was sick.  RS did come with me to walk and take some pictures though.

The run itself was uneventful.  It is about 1.5 miles to the road that leads up the mountain.  Then a 2 mile climb (800 ft) and then I continued about a half mile so that I’d have 8 miles in by the time I got back to my car.

I really think this run is one of the best runs for getting me into shape.  It is like a hill run and speed workout all in one.  Also, once you run up and down and still have to run smaller hills for 1.5 miles, it really takes it out of you.

All in all I can feel the strength growing in my legs after each run.  I feel less sore today than I did the first two times and my hip has almost no pain.  I think I will keep this mountain run in my weekly runs for a bit.  Just to get some real endurance and strength built up.

As to the rest of my weekend…  Nothing much happened.  I had a good time with my family.  It was a beautiful afternoon yesterday so we cooked out at TJ’s and then called it a day.  Back to work now and back to my 5 mile runs (or 5.5 mile runs if I decided to add 10% again this week). Last week was a record week mileage wise for me since my marathon.  I managed 33 miles.  Not bad, but far off the 50 miles I used to run.  Time will allow me to get back there.

Have an awesome week.

Tom

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Running Super Juice

Fresh from my confidence building weekend, I actually ran a hill workout yesterday.

I haven’t run a specific hill workout since the half marathon we ran in February. I have run “improvised” hill runs just during my regular runs.

I guess I have some hope of not only trying to finish but also getting into the 3:30 finish for my marathon. Thus it makes it easier to suffer the pain of a workout rather than just trying to rack up the mileage.

Beet Root Juice

Beet Root Juice

One thing I have been doing that I think really helps is drinking beet root juice. I read about this a month or so ago and so I set out to try some. Publix has it in stock in their juice section. It comes in a 500 ml bottle and so I just drink a whole bottle down at one time. The taste isn’t bad. It tastes sweet, but has a beet aftertaste (I wonder why).

I realize psychology has a lot to do with performance in running, so I have given it some time before I wrote anything. I have some 3 out of 4 weeks (about 2 bottles a week) and here are the results:

  • Week 1 – Drank beet juice – Ran a 5K in 22:08 and then the next day ran 17 miles at a 9:15 pace.
  • Week 2 – Didn’t drink beet juice – Ran 16 miles in 9:30 – crashed – jogged/walked 2 miles – walked 2 miles.
  • Week 3 – Drank beet juice – Ran 10 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday (Sunday’s pace was 8:53).

Of course these are my own observations and correlations, but I do feel a difference with the juice.

Yesterday I was dragging. I didn’t recover properly from my run on Sunday. I came home from that run and eat popcorn and oatmeal cream cookies. I paid for that indiscretion. Mentally and emotionally I was a mess after my run and into yesterday. I was grumpy and in a fog. I decided to go out and get some beet juice as it also has a kick after I first drink it. It did help, but I was still dragging. By the time I got home though, I got out to run in 95 degree real feel temperature and had a great workout. 10 repeats up the hill and 6 miles overall.

The beet juice has nitrates that help with performance. But for me, it seems to stop “The Voice” that tells me to stop. I didn’t hear that voice at all on Sunday and I didn’t hear it yesterday either. I was tired and thirsty after my repeats and my running slowed down, but I could have gone further if I had some gatorade available. As it was, I thought it better not to overdue it and take a chance of getting hurt.

So that is my “unsolicited review” of beet root juice. I write from experience and I have no health degree, so take it for what it is worth. As for me, I’ll be drinking beet juice at least for the next 2.5 weeks. 🙂

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More “Voices” from another run blogger!

More voices…

It is amazing how many people have had the same experiences as I in dealing with “The Voice” that continually speaks negative thoughts during a workout or run.

Another blogger, Mimi’s Getting Fit, just posted a great post talking about the same issue.  When you get a chance, go read the post and also peruse her blog, you will be inspired and motivated after you see all that she has accomplished!

Yesterday, as I sat at the Chiropractor’s office waiting to be seen, I began pondering…  “What, for me, would be the best way to stay positive about my workouts and long runs?”  Good question, I answered. 🙂

Hmmm.  What really excites me about a particular run is the feeling just after I finish.  As I sit on the back porch, throwing a stick to “The Dog” and look at the stats of my run; that is the best feeling.  It is the feeling of accomplishment.  The feeling of beating the odds.  I never thought I’d be a runner, let alone one who likes his stats!

For instance yesterday, I ran hard hill workouts in 108 heat index and humidity.  I only ran 4 miles overall, but they were good miles.  I got home, soaked in sweat, and sat outside in that same 108 heat and felt great.  The run wasn’t easy, but that feeling of accomplishment was so powerful.

I say all that to say this… Each day I am going to reach for that goal.  The goal of enjoying the results of my runs.  So when I head out to run (after getting up at 2:30 AM, working 10 hours, running to the store on the way home, then finally heading out in the summer heat to run) I am going to begin by thinking of the end.  Thinking of the point of exhilaration I experience after a good workout.  Thinking of the positive.  SILENCING THE VOICE!!!

Everyone has a reason(s) they run, workout and or exercise.  Everyone has a voice telling them at times that today just isn’t going to be a good day to go out and they need a break.

Recognize “The Voice” and defeat it with the very reason you run or exercise.  Your motivation.  For me,  it is that feeling of, “Ahhh, what a great workout” and playing with “The Dog”!!!

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The dreaded hill/trail/hill run

Some days you head out to run and things just click.

Some days you head out and it is just a normal run.

Other days are like yesterday…

TJ, RS and I decided to try out the 5K course of the CityFest 5K that is happening a week from Saturday.  Being a new course to us and an area we hadn’t run before, it was exciting to see how to run this race.  Now understand it was nearing 90, but this was a rough 5K.  Almost every 5K I have ever run starts with a downhill in the beginning, not this one.  It has a slight upgrade for about half a mile and then the hills start.  I’m thinking about 2 miles of up and down hills and not necessarily small hills either. TJ remarked that this course is not a course to set a PR on.  I guess I’ll keep to my original plan to just go out and have fun.  I know though that the competitiveness in me will come through and I’ll want to do well.  We will see.  There is a masters award given (40+), I’d like to win that.  My thought is that those who aren’t expecting this course won’t be able to keep a good pace.  I just have to figure out a strategy and then run the plan.

After the course, RS went home as he didn’t drink enough water for the heat.  I don’t think I did either.  I thought I had 96 ounces of water, but it might have been 64.  Anyway, TJ and I decided to run a trail that goes down to a park.  Not a good idea.  After the hills and a gravel trail for a mile, I was shot.  At the end of the trail we had a choice to make.  One was to go back via the trail and the other was to run up a rather large hill with traffic and very little shoulder (actually no shoulder, just lumpy grass).  We went for the hill as I couldn’t face the trail.

After the hill we just ran the neighborhood home.  Not bad, but at the top of the big hill my heal / achilles / something started hurting.  I was all taped up, but I found out after I got home that the tape didn’t hold for some reason.  So I concentrated on relaxing my foot and not pushing off but using gravity and actually had a good run at the end.   I was glad to stop and go soak my foot in ice water and drink Gatorade.  TJ went on for another 5 miles.  I had nothing left.  The hill/trail/hill run took everything out of me.

All in all it was a hard, but good workout.  I realized that during the summer I won’t be pushing speed as much as distance (except for speed workouts).

It seems summer is finally arriving a month or two late.

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It took 13 months before I got injured running…

Every once in a while I have a day where I don’t feel like running, but I go out anyway and have a great run.

Yesterday was not one of those days.

I was tired and just wanted to skip my run, especially since it was “hill run Thursday”.  I did what I always do, I got home, changed and went out for my run. It began well enough.  I ran relaxed and got  2 miles into my run and my achilles started bothering me.  So I just tried to keep relaxed and the pain subsided, so I kept running.  By now it was hot and I was a bit tired and finally got to the hill that I run.  I rested a bit and then started my reps.

I got to the top of the hill and heard a dog barking.  I hear dogs barking all the time on my runs, so I ignored it.  As I ran, the barking got louder and I had the realization that the dog was behind me.  As I turned to look, I noticed a large doberman right behind me and it didn’t look happy.  My first instinct was to stop running and start walking.  I knew I needed to get past its house, but if I kept running, it might get bothered.  As I walked and kept my eye on the dog, I heard a voice of a woman calling for the dog.  I looked up and there was a woman sitting on a porch.  She called to me that it was her neighbor’s dog and she didn’t know why it was out.  I yelled to her, “Am I safe?”  Her reply was, “I’ve never known it to bite anyone”.

I finally got to the point where the dog went home and I started running again.  I decided to run at the top of the hill through the community a bit to figure out what to do.  You see, this hill was the only way out of the neighborhood and I had to go right back past that dog.  I was a bit concerned.

Finally I decided to make my trek back down the hill.  About a hundred yards before the house with the dog, I started walking.  I quietly walked past the house and never did see the dog.  I started running again and finished my run in the rain.  By the time I finished, I was cold, tired, my achilles was hurting again and I wished I had just stayed home.

Now here I am writing this.  My achilles still hurts, the top of that same foot hurts and my opposite hip hurts.  It has been 13 months of running with no injuries and now I feel totally beat up.  On top of that, we have our 5K in 2 weeks.  It is the last real 5K I want to compete in since I need to start training for the Lehigh Valley Marathon in September, my first marathon and hopefully my Boston qualifier.

So, I am taking at least today off and possibly the whole weekend.  I will see how I do.  I definitely don’t want to be out of running long because I was stupid and kept running on a hurt foot.

Oh well…  As I mentioned in the post yesterday, I learn by experience.  Sometimes that is a positive thing and sometimes it isn’t.

The joys of running.

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Running, obsession, and a midlife crisis

I’ve been feeling a bit lethargic about running lately.  I’m not sure why.  Don’t get me wrong, I still run 6 days a week and still do my workouts.  I think the warmer weather has made it harder to get outside and get going.  But it isn’t about wanting to run, it is about running.  If I only ran when I felt like it, I would probably run a couple days a week and eventually just stop.  To be honest, I get up at 3:30am, get to work by 5:30, leave work about 2:00pm, get home by 2:30, get running around 3:00, finish running about 4:00, cool down and take a shower by 4:30 and then I get a chance to rest.  It makes for a long day.

Someone asked me recently if I was obsessed with running.  I guess I am to some extent.  I really am not an obsessive person, but I think having a goal that I desperately want to meet has made me more obsessive.  Also, as I have written before, if I weren’t obsessive, I wouldn’t run.  I have to push myself and I like that I can do that.  I have only really pushed myself a couple times in my life.  Running has brought out an area of my life that I never knew I had, discipline.  So I run each day and thank God that I live in a country that gives me the freedom to do so.

Yesterday was Hill Run Thursday.  I decided to try and break my record for running up this huge quarter mile hill.  I have only done it 4 times in a row in the past, so I thought I would try to get to 5.  I put on my new Saucony Fastwitch shoes (which I love by the way) and did a 2 mile warmup.  Then the hill…  I ran up and down over and over.  In the end I actually ran 6 repeats of this hill – a new personal record.  I wasn’t trying to break any speed records, but I broke my record and my goal for running this hill.

As I was running home I thought to myself, having goals and meeting or exceeding them makes running (and life in general) much more fun.  It is when I have no goals or deadlines or challenges that my life becomes boring and plain.  Running gives me new goals almost weekly and I love it.  I love the challenge and the trill of running up a huge hill 6 times in a row (I never thought I’d say that).  I love running farther and faster.  I can’t wait for my marathon in September to see how far I have come.  Boston or not, I think I have come a long way since March 2012 when I started (my Nike Plus app tells me so anyway).

So in the end I don’t think I am obsessive about running.  I think that by the time I turned 49, I looked at myself and didn’t like what I saw.  I was obese, lazy, on a CPAP to breath at night.  I had a type of a midlife crisis.  I didn’t buy a fast car or try to “find myself”.  I just went for a run and never stopped.

Now that I am 50, I like who I am.  So if that is obsessive, then I guess I am obsessive.

But I think happy might be a better word.

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Hill run day. I actually enjoyed it.

Hill day isn’t a day I look forward to most of the time.  Yesterday wasn’t an exception.  I had to work later than normal and it was still quite warm, but with a nice breeze.  The day did get better when TJ said he wanted to run with me, so I had someone to run with.

We ran 2 warmup miles and then hit the hill.  As I’ve mentioned before, the hill is quite steep and then less steep but long.  It is about a quarter mile long, but you know when you’ve run up it, believe me.  I think because it is getting warmer out, this workout was tougher than the last time I ran the hill.  I was so out of breath each time we got to the top of the steep section.  Then we would finish and go back down to start up again.  I made it up 4 times and TJ ran 3 with me and the 4th he ran at his pace, which was just a little faster than mine 🙂

We also saw RS running the hill.  He ran it 8 times which is what TJ does if he isn’t running with me.  I actually contemplated running more reps up the hill, but my hip has been bothering me and I didn’t want to push it.

So we headed home.  Now this wasn’t my normal easy jog home after a hill run.  In fact my last half mile was paced at about 8:15 (with a shoe that came untied).  So it was a great workout in the end.

Cooler weather returns today with storms and rain.  The weekend is going to be beautiful with temps in the low 70s and sunny clear skies.

So much going on in the world.  It is nice to get away and run with your kids.

Life is good.

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The heat returns and running gets harder

The heat is back.  I realized last week that the heat was an issue and now this week I can see it is going to be a long summer of running.

Yesterday went well.  I ran the paired back 5 miles I budgeted after the pain of running too much without a break last week.  I thought of running further and might have, but kept getting a pain in my hip and down my leg every quarter mile or so.  It would last only about one or two strides, but it was consistent for the first 3 miles.  I figured that since I am to hill run workouts today, I should keep to my original plan and only run 5 miles.

Oh and did I mention the heat?

It was only 81 officially, but the heat index was 85 and I imagine when you add the radiation from the pavement it must have been close to 90.  This might have been easier if we had slowly gone into this situation, but 2 weeks ago I was running with a jacket and now I am so hot that my shirt is soaked after my run.

The good news is that tomorrow the rain comes back and the temp won’t even reach 60.  Then low 70’s and sunny through the weekend.  So, I look forward to at least a few more days of cool weather in which to run.

This does make me wonder about this summer.  Last summer I remember running in the upper 90’s and even in the 100’s, but I was also only running 2 miles a day, not 7 or 8.  I guess I’ll have to get used to it and take it slow.  TJ told me that running in the heat has a similar effect to running in high altitude.  So, if I can get used to running well this summer, it should bode well for the Fall marathon season.

BTW, Jeff sent me a Facebook pic that simply said,

“If you’re trying to defeat the
human spirit, marathoners
are the wrong group to target.”

Great post.  There is so much going on in the world right now.  I am thankful I took up running when I did.  I can put up with a little heat.  Running is worth it!

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Running hills on my running off day…

How do you run hills on your running off day?  Well I did it.  Okay, not the wisest choice I know, but it started off with an easy run with TJ.

We both had the day off from work, so we thought we would go explore a nearby neighborhood.  We are always looking for new areas to run in since running the same places day after day can get a little boring.

So off we went.  I knew getting to the neighborhood was going to be a little uphill since I have been in that area before.  Unfortunately it was uphill for a lot of the way once we got out of our neighborhood.  We finally got there and decided to run around a bit.  Now these hills aren’t as steep or as long as the hill we run on our hill day, but there were nonstop hills from the moment we entered the neighborhood until the moment we left, 2 miles later.  The hills weren’t small by any means either.  In fact, one of them we decided to walk up since it was so big and it was our day of after all!

It was a lot of fun running with TJ.  We don’t run together much, so when we do it is always a fun.  Also we did run slowly, even compared to my normal pace.  We ended up with a 9:11 pace, which is down from 8:30 for me and down much more for TJ, so it was a good run on our off day.

Ultimately this will help me get to my goal of 48 miles this week.  I believe that will be record mileage for me if I stick to my plan.  Then next week I’ll back off my mileage a bit in order to not overdue it.

All in all it was a great day.  Run early, doctor appointments in the afternoon and then I walked a couple of miles in the evening.  I love the Spring!!!

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Hill run redux

Yesterday’s run obviously had leftover fatigue from my hill run the day before. I ran well in the beginning, but then hit the new part of our workout where hills become larger and longer. Ouch.

My pace started in the mid 8:00 area and then did a nose dive to low 9:00. I could feel it hit my body just as if I was doing hill workouts.

One reason could be I ran a bit earlier in the day since I took the day off from work. TJ wondered if I am upping my mileage too quickly. One day isn’t a huge deal, but I do wonder if I need to not run as many hills on my easy runs.

Going on a short run today and then take my lovely wife to Starbucks. Tomorrow is a 12 mile long run. Should be fun.

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Hill run and weight loss. Great day!!!

My hill run days are not days I look forward to. However I must say that I like them more than my tempo runs.

Yesterday went well. It was still cool and overcast but not raining. I got my 2 warmup miles in and then headed for the hills!

I did better this time. As I’ve mentioned this hill is very steep on the first half and then less steep but longer for the last part. This time I decided to time my assent on each half with the stopwatch in my phone.

So… I ran the hill 4 times up and down. This was the first time I ran down as it is so steep I was concerned running down it, but I figured eventually I’d have to start, so I went for it. The first time up I ran the steep part in 1 minute and the long part in 1 minute. Not bad. After going up and down 3 times, I went for my forth. It was tough. I did it in 1:11 for the steep part and 1:04 for the long part.

All in all it was my best hill run so far. My splits were in the 8:00 range until after my fourth run up the hill, and I finished the last two miles in the 9:00 range. The whole run was at 8:49 for 7 miles and 6:00 faster than last week.

One last note: This morning I got on the scale and weighed 176.9. That is lower than I have weighed since college. Wow, it has been a strange week. I started weighing 184 and ended lower than after my diet. Must be because I added some carbs to my diet.

7 miles today and then the weekend. I decided to take today off from work, so it is going to be a nice 3 long weekend for me. More time to run 🙂