I Hail from the land of Nike

I have always liked the Nike brand. Perhaps it is because it is a local company (I live right near the Nike campus), perhaps I just like the swoosh… or maybe it is the cool commercials… but there it is… I like Nike. I don’t buy super expensive shoes for my running right now… but I do buy Nikes and I have never had a problem with them. I did have a pair of court shoes for racquetball that fell apart, but the running shoes seem good to me. But what do I know. If any Nike executives would like to hire me as a programmer in gratitude for my free advertising… please feel free to stop me somewhere on the loop around the Hillsboro Airport any Sunday morning. (In theory, someone might read something in this Blog… in theory at least)

This morning as I set out on my 8 mile run, there was a full moon to the west and the sun was coming up over the Portland west hills to my East. The ground was wet… it actually rained for the first time in quite awhile, and it must have been about 50 degrees. I remember reading on another site, if you are comfortable when you start your run, you won’t be shortly… and I was definitely cold to start. My nose immediately started running and my eyes were watering. (At least I wasn’t dehydrated)

There are some very subtle things that happen when I am running that I like. I like how sometimes you can run through pockets of air that are significantly warmer or colder. I like to watch the water evaporating off the street as the sun begins to ride. I like the occasional peacefulness when I am running on a stretch with few cars. I like the zones I can get into where I am not even aware I am running at all… like I am standing on one of those moving belts in the airport. I admit… that doesn’t happen too often… but it does.

I passed just one runner today… going in the opposite direction. He was listening to an IPod. I don’t run with head phones on outside. I really don’t need the music to distract me. If I am on a treadmill I will use music… but on a run I think the music would be more annoying than pleasant. There seems to be a natural rhythm to everything sometimes when I am running, and I think music would just ruin that balance. Not to mention… I have had 2 Ipods die on me back to back… both after running. I think a cheap MP3 player would be a better bet.

The run was rather uneventful. I picked a very manageable pace as a target (8:50) and finished at 8:48. For an 8 miles run… I am pleased with that. I felt I had more in my legs both speed wise and distance… but didn’t want to push it. The last thing I need right now is an injury. I was only supposed to run 4 miles but I missed the 8 miler on Sunday because I ran a 10k… so I figured I needed another long run. Next week is my take it easy week. Though my goal is to run a marathon… I have yet to run 26.2 miles in a week! This week I topped out at 25.2, and I am tempted to run another mile tonight just to make it a marathon. =) Nah. All in good time.

I ran with my fuel belt on. I feel a bit dorky with it… but the liquids came in handy. I know they are not that necessary on runs less than 10 miles… but I didn’t have time to drink a lot before taking off. I filled two of the 4 containers with Gatorade Endurance. I hardly notice the belt when running. I won’t be taking in to marathons because they will have plenty of liquids along the way… but I think it will be handy for some of my longer runs… and at least eliminate most of the need to stash bottles on loops.

I think I am about 250 miles into the 1000 I plan to cover training for a marathon. I know a lot of programs are shorter than that… but I am trying to build up a good base, and I want to be completely ready come marathon time. Failure… is not an option.

I have been browsing some of the other online running Blogs lately. There are quite a few good ones… and I am learning a lot about running. It is nice to read some info that is not written by the extreme ultra athlete, as I am just a geek who is learning to run. Eventually I will get around to listing some of the Blogs in the links of this site. Still sorting through them right now.