Well, this post is going to be short. I got all of my runs in last week and was able to work out on Thursday and Saturday. We had to cancel running in the trail run 5k due to the weather, I didn't feel like running in mud and ruining my shoes. Sunday was the hardest run due to the heat. I also found out I have been running 4.5 miles instead of 4...yay me.
Today is trail runs again so I am sure my next post will be a lot longer.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday trail run...
Sucked crap through a tube.
I cannot believe I am paying someone to make me sprint through woods for four miles and almost cause me to have a heart attack.
The training session was the absolute worst so far. I arrived early, met and chatted with some of his other clients. He told me that we were going to do a warm-up lap and then a timed lap. I thought two laps sounded short so I proudly exclaimed "but you had me down for four miles today". The coach replied back, "ohhh, don't worry, each lap is over two miles".
"Great", I thought. I ran my first four mile run two days earlier and he was now going to have me running over four miles through trails.
Trail running is much harder than regular sidewalk, asphalt or track running. While hitting the trails, you are running on soft dirt, avoiding sticks, ducking under branches, avoiding puddles, slipping in mud...etc. None of that crap is present on sidewalks.
Also, before we started running, a bunch of guys came running out of the woods and said "hi" to the coach. All of these guys looked like runners, tall, skinny, nothing but legs and lungs, and I knew that at some point their running was going to effect me in some way.
So, down the trails we ran and I immediately went to the back of the pack. Everyone there had been running longer than me, and, it was a warm up lap. "So", I thought, "I will just take this lap at an easy pace and not worry about it". Man did my intention not hold up. "Come on Robbie" said the coach, "lets go to the front of the pack and have everyone follow us...I am going to show them a new trail today." "F*&k me" I thought. We darted off and sure enough, after taking a turn that the professional runners missed, we were in front. The lungers ultimately caught up to us, and it was just me and the coach with his other four clients jogging behind us.
We kept moving at a pretty brisk pace and then the coach fell back to run with his other clients. It was at this time that I backed off my pace a bit because 1. I suck and wanted a break, and 2. the trails we were running on were all uphill.
How is this possible you ask? I have no f*^king clue but I swear to god, every trail was uphill. We did not go back downhill one time. It was like this coach plotted out the worst possible run ever with no down hill stretches. "Say, how can I make the worst possible run ever and make people who pay me money subjected to it once a week....no downhills in a trail run muwahahahahaa".
The last half mile stretch of the run included a steep incline of about forty five degrees. No shit, forty five degrees. The incline went for about a quarter mile and I ran up it at what I thought was a pretty decent pace. I was on my own, so I was keeping my eyes set on the professional runners up ahead of me to let me know where I was going. I was actually keeping up with them pretty well until we hit that incline. At that point, those guys just sprinted right on up the hill and left my fat ass behind. I did see where they turned though, or so I thought, and when I made it up the hill I took a left on the next trail I saw. "Wrong turn Robbie, Hold up", said coach. I went back to the hill and saw the coach and one of his other clients jogging up towards me.
When they reached me the coach said, "alright [client], go tell the others we are going to run the lap again at twenty minutes...see if y'all can catch us". Now, at this point, there were only three of "us" standing there. Thus, if he told one person to go tell the others to catch "us", his definition of "us" was obviously me and him. "F&(k me".
"Come on Robbie", said coach, and we were off. The coach started running, not jogging, and, much to my chagrin, I followed him. We went over the same uphill, bastard course that I had just ran, but we were going about fifty percent faster than the previous lap. Within the first five minutes I was already out of breath and feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. "Come on Robbie, don't let them catch us" yelled coach. The definition of them, at this point, included those professional runners made up on nothing but legs and lungs. "F*&k them" I thought, "I am going to die".
We kept speeding through the jungle of Spanish Fort and the coach kept sprinting away saying things like "we are almost there", "don't let them catch us" and "we are about to be on a down-hill". That last part made me huff back "there are no freaking downhills", but all John could probably hear was "there wheeze cheese grater grits" due to the effect the pace was having on my ability to breath and live. We kept sprinting until we came around a curve that had been burned into my memory from the previous lap, "fat man's death curve" as I like to call it. Yes, the ominous curve before the "hill of doom".
The coach started up the hill, bounding away with no worries in the world, "come on Robbie, attack the hill" he said cheerfully. "Bologna sand dingus" is all I could muster out while sprinting up Mount death. I put my head down, looked at my feet and started running as fast as I could up the hill. "There you go Robbie, now we are running" said the coach. "Burp blimpie corn bread" I coughed and just knew the end of the torturous journey was up ahead.
NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!. It turns out we had another half mile to run to get back to where we had parked. "Come on Robbie, almost there" yelled coach. By this point, all the talking and running had caused me to develop a pretty bad stitch in my side and all I could do was wheeze and die slowly. I kept running with him until I saw that beautiful, dirty, old mustang of mine and knew the end of the death march was coming up. I sprinted to the end and felt like Cory Haim at the end of Lucas when I reached that car of mine.
"Good run Robbie" exclaimed the coach. "We beat them and made our time of twenty minutes on the dot".
Roughly a minute later the rest of the people came out and I did not stick around to chat. I needed water, and fast. I hopped in my car and sped home.
Well, the good news is that I made the run and am on track to complete all of my runs this week. The bad news is two-fold, 1. I have been in court a lot so lifting weights has been pushed off, 2. I have to run trails again next week. Shit!!!!!
I cannot believe I am paying someone to make me sprint through woods for four miles and almost cause me to have a heart attack.
The training session was the absolute worst so far. I arrived early, met and chatted with some of his other clients. He told me that we were going to do a warm-up lap and then a timed lap. I thought two laps sounded short so I proudly exclaimed "but you had me down for four miles today". The coach replied back, "ohhh, don't worry, each lap is over two miles".
"Great", I thought. I ran my first four mile run two days earlier and he was now going to have me running over four miles through trails.
Trail running is much harder than regular sidewalk, asphalt or track running. While hitting the trails, you are running on soft dirt, avoiding sticks, ducking under branches, avoiding puddles, slipping in mud...etc. None of that crap is present on sidewalks.
Also, before we started running, a bunch of guys came running out of the woods and said "hi" to the coach. All of these guys looked like runners, tall, skinny, nothing but legs and lungs, and I knew that at some point their running was going to effect me in some way.
So, down the trails we ran and I immediately went to the back of the pack. Everyone there had been running longer than me, and, it was a warm up lap. "So", I thought, "I will just take this lap at an easy pace and not worry about it". Man did my intention not hold up. "Come on Robbie" said the coach, "lets go to the front of the pack and have everyone follow us...I am going to show them a new trail today." "F*&k me" I thought. We darted off and sure enough, after taking a turn that the professional runners missed, we were in front. The lungers ultimately caught up to us, and it was just me and the coach with his other four clients jogging behind us.
We kept moving at a pretty brisk pace and then the coach fell back to run with his other clients. It was at this time that I backed off my pace a bit because 1. I suck and wanted a break, and 2. the trails we were running on were all uphill.
How is this possible you ask? I have no f*^king clue but I swear to god, every trail was uphill. We did not go back downhill one time. It was like this coach plotted out the worst possible run ever with no down hill stretches. "Say, how can I make the worst possible run ever and make people who pay me money subjected to it once a week....no downhills in a trail run muwahahahahaa".
The last half mile stretch of the run included a steep incline of about forty five degrees. No shit, forty five degrees. The incline went for about a quarter mile and I ran up it at what I thought was a pretty decent pace. I was on my own, so I was keeping my eyes set on the professional runners up ahead of me to let me know where I was going. I was actually keeping up with them pretty well until we hit that incline. At that point, those guys just sprinted right on up the hill and left my fat ass behind. I did see where they turned though, or so I thought, and when I made it up the hill I took a left on the next trail I saw. "Wrong turn Robbie, Hold up", said coach. I went back to the hill and saw the coach and one of his other clients jogging up towards me.
When they reached me the coach said, "alright [client], go tell the others we are going to run the lap again at twenty minutes...see if y'all can catch us". Now, at this point, there were only three of "us" standing there. Thus, if he told one person to go tell the others to catch "us", his definition of "us" was obviously me and him. "F&(k me".
"Come on Robbie", said coach, and we were off. The coach started running, not jogging, and, much to my chagrin, I followed him. We went over the same uphill, bastard course that I had just ran, but we were going about fifty percent faster than the previous lap. Within the first five minutes I was already out of breath and feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. "Come on Robbie, don't let them catch us" yelled coach. The definition of them, at this point, included those professional runners made up on nothing but legs and lungs. "F*&k them" I thought, "I am going to die".
We kept speeding through the jungle of Spanish Fort and the coach kept sprinting away saying things like "we are almost there", "don't let them catch us" and "we are about to be on a down-hill". That last part made me huff back "there are no freaking downhills", but all John could probably hear was "there wheeze cheese grater grits" due to the effect the pace was having on my ability to breath and live. We kept sprinting until we came around a curve that had been burned into my memory from the previous lap, "fat man's death curve" as I like to call it. Yes, the ominous curve before the "hill of doom".
The coach started up the hill, bounding away with no worries in the world, "come on Robbie, attack the hill" he said cheerfully. "Bologna sand dingus" is all I could muster out while sprinting up Mount death. I put my head down, looked at my feet and started running as fast as I could up the hill. "There you go Robbie, now we are running" said the coach. "Burp blimpie corn bread" I coughed and just knew the end of the torturous journey was up ahead.
NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!. It turns out we had another half mile to run to get back to where we had parked. "Come on Robbie, almost there" yelled coach. By this point, all the talking and running had caused me to develop a pretty bad stitch in my side and all I could do was wheeze and die slowly. I kept running with him until I saw that beautiful, dirty, old mustang of mine and knew the end of the death march was coming up. I sprinted to the end and felt like Cory Haim at the end of Lucas when I reached that car of mine.
"Good run Robbie" exclaimed the coach. "We beat them and made our time of twenty minutes on the dot".
Roughly a minute later the rest of the people came out and I did not stick around to chat. I needed water, and fast. I hopped in my car and sped home.
Well, the good news is that I made the run and am on track to complete all of my runs this week. The bad news is two-fold, 1. I have been in court a lot so lifting weights has been pushed off, 2. I have to run trails again next week. Shit!!!!!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Weekend Training...
I completed both of my runs this weekend. That means week one of marathon training was a total success. I ran all of the required miles and was able to get in my upper body workouts (I am doubtful this trend will hold as my mileage increases).
I was able to work out upper body twice this weekend since Friday was a running "rest" day. I went to the gym straight after work and then celebrated my brother's and future brother in law's birthday with some gross Pizza Hut pizza. How anyone could call that crap their favorite pizza amazes me. I use to like Domino's until the video of the two idiot employees spraying bodily fluids all over their customer's pizza surfaced. I do not care if they gave me twenty dollars for every pizza I ordered, I doubt I am going to ever frequent the Noid's favorite pizza place again.
I woke up abnormally early on Saturday, 7:00am, and went running with my wife over on Main St. in Daphne. I decided to switch up locations because I was tired of dealing with two huge hills on every run (my main course has big hills going each way), and I wanted to try something new. I am glad I did because running on Main St. was peaceful, beautiful and FLAT. I ran the three miles slightly faster than the "Easy" run I had on Thursday. I also managed to get some new ear buds for my ipod so this run was far more enjoyable. I started the run keeping pace with my wife to keep the pace easy, but ultimately decided I wanted to "run" when the faster music in my ipod started playing. We finished the run pretty easily and timely.
Later that day we went and saw Angels and Demons. I really enjoyed the movie and am glad I was not able to finish reading the book in law school. I thought the Da Vinci Code movie stunk and I attribute those feelings directly to having read the book prior to seeing the movie. I was unable to finish reading Angels because I had law school finals to prepare for and did not have the time or the ocular ability to read for pleasure while also reading for school.
I woke up pretty early on Sunday, 7:30, and went straight to tackle my long run of the week (a scant four miles). My wife decided to join me and we ran on Main St. again. I mapped a four mile course out on mapmyrun.com. I knew Sunday was going to stink because I was running four miles for the first time, and because I was going to work out upper body that afternoon so that I could get all of my workouts for the week in. I told BW to just run where we did the day before and that I was going to go a half mile ahead and turn back around to meet her at the finish. I was even so bold as to tell her that "I will give you some water if you need it when I turn back around and meet you at mile 1.5".
This run started at the bottom of a hill so I was a little winded heading into the first mile. I ran at my normal pace, not easy, and managed to get to 1.5 without any major issues. I did, however, decide to slow it down for the next mile so that I would be able to run back to the car without having to stop (pride dictates that a male runner can never get so exhausted that he has to walk during a run...that would simply be too embarrassing). By the time I made it back to the 1.5 mile marker, BW was nowhere in site. I knew then that I had run that mile pretty slow and that I had overestimated my running prowess compared to BW's (next time I will let her carry the keys so that she can have some water without waiting on Turtle Waller). The rest of the run was pretty uneventful and I finished it up in forty four minutes. I was pretty pissed about the time but assured myself that I ran one of the miles at a slow pace.
We then went home, ate breakfast and chilled until 12:30. I then went to the YMCA, did my upper body workout and came home.
My schedule for this week is:
Monday Off
Tuesday 4 miles at the trails with coach (and hopefully upper)
Wednesday off for Court
Thursday 3 miles easy (upper body definitely)
Friday Off
Saturday 3 miles easy (upper body definitely)
Sunday 4 miles easy
Tuesday is going to be a bad day because trail running stinks and I am training with coach. I am sure he will not let me run that one "Easy". Hopefully I will not blow my wad doing something stupid like last Monday.
I was able to work out upper body twice this weekend since Friday was a running "rest" day. I went to the gym straight after work and then celebrated my brother's and future brother in law's birthday with some gross Pizza Hut pizza. How anyone could call that crap their favorite pizza amazes me. I use to like Domino's until the video of the two idiot employees spraying bodily fluids all over their customer's pizza surfaced. I do not care if they gave me twenty dollars for every pizza I ordered, I doubt I am going to ever frequent the Noid's favorite pizza place again.
I woke up abnormally early on Saturday, 7:00am, and went running with my wife over on Main St. in Daphne. I decided to switch up locations because I was tired of dealing with two huge hills on every run (my main course has big hills going each way), and I wanted to try something new. I am glad I did because running on Main St. was peaceful, beautiful and FLAT. I ran the three miles slightly faster than the "Easy" run I had on Thursday. I also managed to get some new ear buds for my ipod so this run was far more enjoyable. I started the run keeping pace with my wife to keep the pace easy, but ultimately decided I wanted to "run" when the faster music in my ipod started playing. We finished the run pretty easily and timely.
Later that day we went and saw Angels and Demons. I really enjoyed the movie and am glad I was not able to finish reading the book in law school. I thought the Da Vinci Code movie stunk and I attribute those feelings directly to having read the book prior to seeing the movie. I was unable to finish reading Angels because I had law school finals to prepare for and did not have the time or the ocular ability to read for pleasure while also reading for school.
I woke up pretty early on Sunday, 7:30, and went straight to tackle my long run of the week (a scant four miles). My wife decided to join me and we ran on Main St. again. I mapped a four mile course out on mapmyrun.com. I knew Sunday was going to stink because I was running four miles for the first time, and because I was going to work out upper body that afternoon so that I could get all of my workouts for the week in. I told BW to just run where we did the day before and that I was going to go a half mile ahead and turn back around to meet her at the finish. I was even so bold as to tell her that "I will give you some water if you need it when I turn back around and meet you at mile 1.5".
This run started at the bottom of a hill so I was a little winded heading into the first mile. I ran at my normal pace, not easy, and managed to get to 1.5 without any major issues. I did, however, decide to slow it down for the next mile so that I would be able to run back to the car without having to stop (pride dictates that a male runner can never get so exhausted that he has to walk during a run...that would simply be too embarrassing). By the time I made it back to the 1.5 mile marker, BW was nowhere in site. I knew then that I had run that mile pretty slow and that I had overestimated my running prowess compared to BW's (next time I will let her carry the keys so that she can have some water without waiting on Turtle Waller). The rest of the run was pretty uneventful and I finished it up in forty four minutes. I was pretty pissed about the time but assured myself that I ran one of the miles at a slow pace.
We then went home, ate breakfast and chilled until 12:30. I then went to the YMCA, did my upper body workout and came home.
My schedule for this week is:
Monday Off
Tuesday 4 miles at the trails with coach (and hopefully upper)
Wednesday off for Court
Thursday 3 miles easy (upper body definitely)
Friday Off
Saturday 3 miles easy (upper body definitely)
Sunday 4 miles easy
Tuesday is going to be a bad day because trail running stinks and I am training with coach. I am sure he will not let me run that one "Easy". Hopefully I will not blow my wad doing something stupid like last Monday.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Day three of training...
Stunk. Running easy is boring. It felt like it took an hour to run three miles. I do not know how long it took me though because I had to put my ipod back in my car in the middle of my run. Running without music also added to the boredom of the run.
Why did I put my ipod up you ask? Well, I have been told I have a pretty big head. So naturally, I assumed, I would have pretty big ears. Not the case at all. I bought some new earphones with replaceable ear buds for the ipod. The only ones that fit in my ear are the bitch-like smallest ones. While working out the other day, one of the ear buds popped off the end of my headphones and I could not find it. Since I have not been able to get to best buy to purchase a replacement, I had to use the bigger ear buds so that I can enjoy some music while working out.
That strategy is fine for lifting weights, but for running, they kept popping out of my ears every thirty seconds. It also was not helping that I bought some of those running shorts that are not made of very heavy material. I used to be able to run with my ipod in pocket, but with the new shorts on it feels like I am John Holmes running when the ipod is in my pocket. So I now have to hold it in my hand when running and that adds more pressure to the over sized ear buds.
Oh well, another rest day today, which means another upper body workout. Three miles on Saturday and Four miles on Sunday. Hopefully I can get some new earphones so that I do not have to endure another thirty minutes of hell again.
Why did I put my ipod up you ask? Well, I have been told I have a pretty big head. So naturally, I assumed, I would have pretty big ears. Not the case at all. I bought some new earphones with replaceable ear buds for the ipod. The only ones that fit in my ear are the bitch-like smallest ones. While working out the other day, one of the ear buds popped off the end of my headphones and I could not find it. Since I have not been able to get to best buy to purchase a replacement, I had to use the bigger ear buds so that I can enjoy some music while working out.
That strategy is fine for lifting weights, but for running, they kept popping out of my ears every thirty seconds. It also was not helping that I bought some of those running shorts that are not made of very heavy material. I used to be able to run with my ipod in pocket, but with the new shorts on it feels like I am John Holmes running when the ipod is in my pocket. So I now have to hold it in my hand when running and that adds more pressure to the over sized ear buds.
Oh well, another rest day today, which means another upper body workout. Three miles on Saturday and Four miles on Sunday. Hopefully I can get some new earphones so that I do not have to endure another thirty minutes of hell again.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Second Day of Training
Well, nothing really eventful occurred for the second day of training. I was scheduled to run 3 miles at an "easy" pace. I remembered my coaches advice and ran this one easy. I was able to complete it in approximately 28 minutes. My new running times really make me embarrassed about my first 5K time.
I finished that race drooling, out of breath with snot all over my clothing and clocked in at 30.04. I hope the lower times and easier time running will only get better as my training goes further.
I was late in getting to run though. A partner of mine needed to me to stay late at work at start a meeting for him. So I had to go to the gym at 7:00pm at night. Including my upper body workout, I was home by 8:15. I was not able to get to bed until around midnight.
Let us hope I can do my next run at an earlier time and better pace.
I finished that race drooling, out of breath with snot all over my clothing and clocked in at 30.04. I hope the lower times and easier time running will only get better as my training goes further.
I was late in getting to run though. A partner of mine needed to me to stay late at work at start a meeting for him. So I had to go to the gym at 7:00pm at night. Including my upper body workout, I was home by 8:15. I was not able to get to bed until around midnight.
Let us hope I can do my next run at an earlier time and better pace.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
First days of training...
Monday was my first day of training and wow is I stupid. I met with my trainer at a local track at 6:00pm. I had to rush home from work to change and meet with him, and take care of some other business, so I was frustrated and stressed out when I got there. Additionally, I have become obsessed with drinking water, and have to now pee once every thirty minutes to an hour. I made sure to urinate when I got home and changed, but guess what...yep, when I arrived at the track ol' small bladder came calling again.
I arrived at the same time as the coach and did no stretching before hand, big mistake.
The first thing we did was go over my running schedule. He has me running five days a week with a rest day on Monday and Wednesday. My shortest run so far is going to be three miles, and my longest will be two four milers on Thursday and Sunday.
The coach notified me that we would not be doing anything big today, just quarters. Now I am not the dumbest guy in the world, (some misspellings and grammar errors on this blog may prove otherwise) so I figured "quarters" meant I would run a couple of times around the track. Boy was I wrong.
He started me out by jogging two laps to warm up. When I finished that exercise he told me what he meant by "quarters". Sure enough it was running laps around the track. But, he wanted me to run one fast lap, one jogging and repeat until I had run six laps fast and six laps jogging.
Now I have to remind you, I have never run track before, but I do know what run fast means. So when he told me to run the first lap fast, I thought he meant Michael Johnson move your gold Nike covered feet fast.
And I was off. I went into the first turn thinking "man, I am really moving". I came out of the first turn and into the first straightaway with a big ol' grin thinking "I should really become a sprinter; I may be the fastest white guy on the planet". By the time I made it to the second turn my mind had finally quit dreaming and all I could think was "there is no f=&*ing way I am going to able to do this five more times. By the time I reached the coach and completed my first lap I could barely talk. He told me "I think you ran that one to fast, 1.20", next time run it at your 5K pace". Gee, thanks for that information Thomas Timely. I could have used that prior to me coming out of the blocks like Seabiscuit. I was not able to say much to him because all I could think about at the time was me suffocating and my desire to drink a gallon of water. But he was having none of that, "Okay, jog one easy and take your time before running the next one fast". "F*&k you" I thought.
I did all of the remaining laps, each at a progressively slower time. I averaged a 1:50 time for the faster laps and could barely finish the sixth one. There is truth to the saying "blowing your wad" and I am not referring to the dirty use of the phrase. I also had to pee the entire time I was running and there is absolutely nothing fun, funny or rewarding about suffocating, suffering a mild heart attack and having to pee all at the same time.
When we were through my coach reminded me to run all of the "easy" runs at an "easy" pace. Now, I am a firm believer in not being fooled twice so I asked "what is an 'easy' pace to you, because we obviously have different definitions of the word 'fast' and to me, it does not get any easier than walking". "Run to where you can still hold a conversation", he said.
So I left the track, day one was complete, and my legs were tightening up again. I learned two things from this session: One, "fast" is a relative term that can screw up your day and cause a world of hurt; and two, always carry a Gatorade or similar big mouth bottle in your car in case you have to pee prior to being tortured with running drills.
I arrived at the same time as the coach and did no stretching before hand, big mistake.
The first thing we did was go over my running schedule. He has me running five days a week with a rest day on Monday and Wednesday. My shortest run so far is going to be three miles, and my longest will be two four milers on Thursday and Sunday.
The coach notified me that we would not be doing anything big today, just quarters. Now I am not the dumbest guy in the world, (some misspellings and grammar errors on this blog may prove otherwise) so I figured "quarters" meant I would run a couple of times around the track. Boy was I wrong.
He started me out by jogging two laps to warm up. When I finished that exercise he told me what he meant by "quarters". Sure enough it was running laps around the track. But, he wanted me to run one fast lap, one jogging and repeat until I had run six laps fast and six laps jogging.
Now I have to remind you, I have never run track before, but I do know what run fast means. So when he told me to run the first lap fast, I thought he meant Michael Johnson move your gold Nike covered feet fast.
And I was off. I went into the first turn thinking "man, I am really moving". I came out of the first turn and into the first straightaway with a big ol' grin thinking "I should really become a sprinter; I may be the fastest white guy on the planet". By the time I made it to the second turn my mind had finally quit dreaming and all I could think was "there is no f=&*ing way I am going to able to do this five more times. By the time I reached the coach and completed my first lap I could barely talk. He told me "I think you ran that one to fast, 1.20", next time run it at your 5K pace". Gee, thanks for that information Thomas Timely. I could have used that prior to me coming out of the blocks like Seabiscuit. I was not able to say much to him because all I could think about at the time was me suffocating and my desire to drink a gallon of water. But he was having none of that, "Okay, jog one easy and take your time before running the next one fast". "F*&k you" I thought.
I did all of the remaining laps, each at a progressively slower time. I averaged a 1:50 time for the faster laps and could barely finish the sixth one. There is truth to the saying "blowing your wad" and I am not referring to the dirty use of the phrase. I also had to pee the entire time I was running and there is absolutely nothing fun, funny or rewarding about suffocating, suffering a mild heart attack and having to pee all at the same time.
When we were through my coach reminded me to run all of the "easy" runs at an "easy" pace. Now, I am a firm believer in not being fooled twice so I asked "what is an 'easy' pace to you, because we obviously have different definitions of the word 'fast' and to me, it does not get any easier than walking". "Run to where you can still hold a conversation", he said.
So I left the track, day one was complete, and my legs were tightening up again. I learned two things from this session: One, "fast" is a relative term that can screw up your day and cause a world of hurt; and two, always carry a Gatorade or similar big mouth bottle in your car in case you have to pee prior to being tortured with running drills.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Training for my first marathon
Dumb, a glutton or what?
I guess my decision to start training for a marathon puts me into one of the aforementioned categories. I am a thirty year old, previous smoker who, until two months ago, never ran over two miles in one sitting in his life. My new "quest" came about when I came to the realization that I no longer wanted to be viewed as an overweight smoker.
I quit smoking on January 30, 2009. Shortly thereafter, a buddy of mine asked me what I thought about running in a community 5K event. I eagerly took him up on his offer and set out to run my first 5Kwithin one month. I went from running 0 miles a week to 15 miles a week and completed my first 5Kin 30:04.
What did I learn from this modest endeavor? Running pain and overuse injuries are very real and hurt like hell. I went from hardly being able to run two miles to being able to run over 3 within a month and all I did was hurt my knee enough to where I had to take a week and a half off from running.
If anything, the aforementioned experience taught me that I needed to follow some sort of training program if I was ever going to be able to finish a 26 miler. So where did I turn? Did I call around to schools or look in the phone book for coaches or running instructors? Heck no, son. I googled that sumdabitch and found Ol' Hal Higdon and a myriad of other marathon training programs. Many of these online sources consisted of four month training programs. All of them had the familiar warning that you should already have a running foundation of a year prior to prepping for a marathon. Did or am I going to take their advice . . . NOPE?
However, I am cautious. Instead of diving right into the marathon program, I decided to do the responsible thing and follow Hidon's base establishment program. In this regard, I have run the following since starting on his base build up in March:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat/Sun
3/23 up le/1.75m upper le/1.5 up/1 0/2miles
3/30 Up 2 m+ le Rest 1.5m/up le up/2m
4/6 Full 2.6m up Rest up/1.5 0/2.2 m
4/13 Up/1 2.5m Rest Up/1.2m Rest up2m/3m
4/20 Up/1.5 3m Up 2m Rest up 2.9m/3m
4/27 Up 3.1m Up 2m Upper 2m/softball
5/4 Up 3.1 Rest Upper Rest Upper/Rest
You will notice that the forgoing schedule has up, upper or le in the columns. That represents the weight lifting I have been doing while training to run. So logically, up or upper stands for upper body and le stood for legs. I refer to legs in the past tense sense I am no longer weight training that particular body part. Why you ask? Because working out legs, including running six days a week was causing joint and knee pains. Getting old sure is a bitch!!!
The upper body workout concentrates on the following muscles: Chest, biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and abs. The workout is completed with one exercise for each body part consisting of four sets. The reps for each set goes in the following order 12, 10, 8 and 6. On the Saturday or Friday workout I add in a burnout exercise for the fifth set which consists of doing an additional 12 reps with your 8 rep weight and then doing a different exercise another 12 reps (bench pressing your 8 rep weight 12 times and then doing butterflies with 30lbs dumbbells for 12 reps) or doing a pyramid of 6 reps with lighter weight each new set all the way down (6 reps of curls at 60lbs, 6 reps of curls at 50lbs all the way down to 10lbs).
I have continued weight training because none of the running sites I have read state any type of definite weight training program and none of them affirmatively state that you should not lift weights. I intend to keep lifting the weights so that I can be lean and have muscle (we will see how staunch I am in this position when my mileage goes up substantially more) without just being legs, bones and lungs.
You will also notice that on the May 4th week I took some time off from running. This is for two reasons. The first reason started around the Sunday where softball is mentioned. My fraternity had its first annual (can it be annual if a second has not occurred yet?) softball game of actives vs. alumni. I had only played one game of softball in the eight years prior to this game. I had no hesitation in my physical ability to play in the game because in my mind, I had been lifting weights and running regularly for well over a month (I was running prior to the above referenced journal). BOY WAS I WRONG. Between base hits and fielding I did a lot of sprinting in the game. The next morning I woke up and my upper thighs felt like someone had filled them up with concrete. That was my first determination that my running program probably was not preparing my legs enough for the pounding they would take in a marathon. I did not realize different muscles were used for running sprints versus running for a sustained period of time.
The concrete upper leg syndrome was not the only benefit (because of my realization) that I received out of going to the game. An old friend of mine was there as well. He was always a heavier built fellow (like myself), but when I first saw him he looked like he had lost around thirty pounds. After the game my wife gleefully exclaimed "Robbie, guess what so and so is training for"? "A MARATHON!!!". I then discussed my desire to train and run in a marathon with my friend and he let me in on the secret as to why he was already running 12 milers and had already shed around 30 lbs *within five months of starting to run from scratch)....he had a running coach. My friend told me all about the program he was on and the assistance he was receiving and it really sounded like a great tool to have. Thus leading me to my second reason for taking some miles off.
I called the coach and discussed the possibility of him working with me. He quoted me his price (which was more than what my friend was paying...either bad luck or my bartering skills suck) and told me what all would be involved in the training. He would help me with speed, endurance and strengthening my legs. We would meet once a week and he would prepare monthly training regimens for me to follow. He also told me that lifting weights should be fine, but not to do really low reps because bulking up was not ideal for running. We scheduled our first meeting, Monday, May 11 and left to go on our merry way. Now, my second reason for taking a running break may not be readily apparent. But I assure you, the reasoning has already been laid out. It is for two interrelated facts. One: I knew the coach was going to bust my ass on the first meeting so I figured I would heal up my ever worsening joints prior to being properly trained how to run. Two: Weight training can cause you to pull muscles that will effectively keep you from running, hence why (I believe) many sites do not make a recommendation on whether you should weight train or not. Long story short, I pulled my groin muscle while working out my chest muscles... not working out legs...chest. Man, getting old really is a bitch.
So, I guess my real training is going to begin this afternoon. I am going to blog about the experience and hopefully, keep this journal going until the day of the marathon, early December. I really am looking forward to completing this challenge. Every site I have read recommends you focus on the reasoning that you are attempting to run in a marathon. For me, I would like to be able to complete a marathon within one year of quitting smoking. My second reason is also to improve my health so that I can hopefully, live longer than my dad and granddad did who died at the ages of 41 and 43 respectively.
Let's hope those are strong enough reasons to keep me going.
I guess my decision to start training for a marathon puts me into one of the aforementioned categories. I am a thirty year old, previous smoker who, until two months ago, never ran over two miles in one sitting in his life. My new "quest" came about when I came to the realization that I no longer wanted to be viewed as an overweight smoker.
I quit smoking on January 30, 2009. Shortly thereafter, a buddy of mine asked me what I thought about running in a community 5K event. I eagerly took him up on his offer and set out to run my first 5Kwithin one month. I went from running 0 miles a week to 15 miles a week and completed my first 5Kin 30:04.
What did I learn from this modest endeavor? Running pain and overuse injuries are very real and hurt like hell. I went from hardly being able to run two miles to being able to run over 3 within a month and all I did was hurt my knee enough to where I had to take a week and a half off from running.
If anything, the aforementioned experience taught me that I needed to follow some sort of training program if I was ever going to be able to finish a 26 miler. So where did I turn? Did I call around to schools or look in the phone book for coaches or running instructors? Heck no, son. I googled that sumdabitch and found Ol' Hal Higdon and a myriad of other marathon training programs. Many of these online sources consisted of four month training programs. All of them had the familiar warning that you should already have a running foundation of a year prior to prepping for a marathon. Did or am I going to take their advice . . . NOPE?
However, I am cautious. Instead of diving right into the marathon program, I decided to do the responsible thing and follow Hidon's base establishment program. In this regard, I have run the following since starting on his base build up in March:
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat/Sun
3/23 up le/1.75m upper le/1.5 up/1 0/2miles
3/30 Up 2 m+ le Rest 1.5m/up le up/2m
4/6 Full 2.6m up Rest up/1.5 0/2.2 m
4/13 Up/1 2.5m Rest Up/1.2m Rest up2m/3m
4/20 Up/1.5 3m Up 2m Rest up 2.9m/3m
4/27 Up 3.1m Up 2m Upper 2m/softball
5/4 Up 3.1 Rest Upper Rest Upper/Rest
You will notice that the forgoing schedule has up, upper or le in the columns. That represents the weight lifting I have been doing while training to run. So logically, up or upper stands for upper body and le stood for legs. I refer to legs in the past tense sense I am no longer weight training that particular body part. Why you ask? Because working out legs, including running six days a week was causing joint and knee pains. Getting old sure is a bitch!!!
The upper body workout concentrates on the following muscles: Chest, biceps, triceps, back, shoulders and abs. The workout is completed with one exercise for each body part consisting of four sets. The reps for each set goes in the following order 12, 10, 8 and 6. On the Saturday or Friday workout I add in a burnout exercise for the fifth set which consists of doing an additional 12 reps with your 8 rep weight and then doing a different exercise another 12 reps (bench pressing your 8 rep weight 12 times and then doing butterflies with 30lbs dumbbells for 12 reps) or doing a pyramid of 6 reps with lighter weight each new set all the way down (6 reps of curls at 60lbs, 6 reps of curls at 50lbs all the way down to 10lbs).
I have continued weight training because none of the running sites I have read state any type of definite weight training program and none of them affirmatively state that you should not lift weights. I intend to keep lifting the weights so that I can be lean and have muscle (we will see how staunch I am in this position when my mileage goes up substantially more) without just being legs, bones and lungs.
You will also notice that on the May 4th week I took some time off from running. This is for two reasons. The first reason started around the Sunday where softball is mentioned. My fraternity had its first annual (can it be annual if a second has not occurred yet?) softball game of actives vs. alumni. I had only played one game of softball in the eight years prior to this game. I had no hesitation in my physical ability to play in the game because in my mind, I had been lifting weights and running regularly for well over a month (I was running prior to the above referenced journal). BOY WAS I WRONG. Between base hits and fielding I did a lot of sprinting in the game. The next morning I woke up and my upper thighs felt like someone had filled them up with concrete. That was my first determination that my running program probably was not preparing my legs enough for the pounding they would take in a marathon. I did not realize different muscles were used for running sprints versus running for a sustained period of time.
The concrete upper leg syndrome was not the only benefit (because of my realization) that I received out of going to the game. An old friend of mine was there as well. He was always a heavier built fellow (like myself), but when I first saw him he looked like he had lost around thirty pounds. After the game my wife gleefully exclaimed "Robbie, guess what so and so is training for"? "A MARATHON!!!". I then discussed my desire to train and run in a marathon with my friend and he let me in on the secret as to why he was already running 12 milers and had already shed around 30 lbs *within five months of starting to run from scratch)....he had a running coach. My friend told me all about the program he was on and the assistance he was receiving and it really sounded like a great tool to have. Thus leading me to my second reason for taking some miles off.
I called the coach and discussed the possibility of him working with me. He quoted me his price (which was more than what my friend was paying...either bad luck or my bartering skills suck) and told me what all would be involved in the training. He would help me with speed, endurance and strengthening my legs. We would meet once a week and he would prepare monthly training regimens for me to follow. He also told me that lifting weights should be fine, but not to do really low reps because bulking up was not ideal for running. We scheduled our first meeting, Monday, May 11 and left to go on our merry way. Now, my second reason for taking a running break may not be readily apparent. But I assure you, the reasoning has already been laid out. It is for two interrelated facts. One: I knew the coach was going to bust my ass on the first meeting so I figured I would heal up my ever worsening joints prior to being properly trained how to run. Two: Weight training can cause you to pull muscles that will effectively keep you from running, hence why (I believe) many sites do not make a recommendation on whether you should weight train or not. Long story short, I pulled my groin muscle while working out my chest muscles... not working out legs...chest. Man, getting old really is a bitch.
So, I guess my real training is going to begin this afternoon. I am going to blog about the experience and hopefully, keep this journal going until the day of the marathon, early December. I really am looking forward to completing this challenge. Every site I have read recommends you focus on the reasoning that you are attempting to run in a marathon. For me, I would like to be able to complete a marathon within one year of quitting smoking. My second reason is also to improve my health so that I can hopefully, live longer than my dad and granddad did who died at the ages of 41 and 43 respectively.
Let's hope those are strong enough reasons to keep me going.
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