Running while camping is never that easy for me. I don’t seem to get as much rest, and usually wake up feeling a bit off kilter. The scenery though… is stellar. This past Sunday I headed out for 18 miles in Southern Oregon. The altitude was about 4500 feet above what I am use to, so I threw whatever pace I was supposed to run at out the window. I didn’t seem to be sucking wind as much as I thought… but my pace was definitely slow.
I was camping at a lake and when I arose fog was drifting off the water like it was dry ice. Camping these days (at major camp grounds) is hardly solitary, but if you get up before 7, the world is yours. I headed out and quickly ran past all kinds of wildlife. Deer, cows (in the middle of the road no less), all sort of assorted small furry animals, blue herons, bald eagles… you name it… it was there wondering what the heck I was doing.
What I was doing was stumbling my way through 18 miles. The first 13 or 14 were OK, but I fell off pretty fast thereafter. It seems as though I can only muster a good long run every other week. Possibly a byproduct of FIRST? I don’t know… maybe I am not cross training hard enough. It is difficult though when I am having trouble just walking, to cross train really hard. BTW… if I fail with FIRST… it shouldn’t be taken as a lack of endorsement for the training plan. I am having trouble following it to a T. I think I bit off more than I can chew and am running faster long runs than I really should be. I just really need to qualify for Boston now. I don’t know if there will be a tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
And so, I run
My wife knew that I was going to run the Portland Marathon in the Fall. She is fine with that and supports my running in every way. But there is one teensy detail about the marathon I didn’t share with her… it is the day before our anniversary. Doh! Now, I won’t say I am in the doghouse… but she certainly wasn’t happy about the timing.
“So what do you want to do for our anniversary honey?”
“Hobble around like an arthritic 80 year old?”
Now… I am not saying that crossing the finish line of a marathon isn’t a wonderful awe-inspiring experience, but shortly after that experience… let’s just say romance isn’t the first thing crossing my mind. The desire to crawl into a fetal position and sleep for a week is up there.
Good Lord. What other sport do you get in shape for half a year just to cripple yourself? And about this ‘in-shapness’. Half the time even during training I am nursing some body part that isn’t working just right and am forced to down Ibuprofen just to get through my day like an able bodied person. =) Oh to be young again… like in my 30’s. LOL.
It is in spite of all of this that the marathon is still a most worthy endeavor. It may be a bit like a mirage in the desert enticing me on and when I finally get there, what was driving me is gone. The vision though… has kept me alive, healthy and happy, for the most part, through the journey. The finish line pulls me alone like a long lost loved one. The reason it may seem like a mirage, is that what I get out of the accomplishment of a marathon, isn’t what I expected. When the mirage dries up, I am not left in the middle of desert, but the glow of an accomplishment that makes other things I thought impossible, doable. You can’t put that in a pill and sell it.
And so, I run.
“So what do you want to do for our anniversary honey?”
“Hobble around like an arthritic 80 year old?”
Now… I am not saying that crossing the finish line of a marathon isn’t a wonderful awe-inspiring experience, but shortly after that experience… let’s just say romance isn’t the first thing crossing my mind. The desire to crawl into a fetal position and sleep for a week is up there.
Good Lord. What other sport do you get in shape for half a year just to cripple yourself? And about this ‘in-shapness’. Half the time even during training I am nursing some body part that isn’t working just right and am forced to down Ibuprofen just to get through my day like an able bodied person. =) Oh to be young again… like in my 30’s. LOL.
It is in spite of all of this that the marathon is still a most worthy endeavor. It may be a bit like a mirage in the desert enticing me on and when I finally get there, what was driving me is gone. The vision though… has kept me alive, healthy and happy, for the most part, through the journey. The finish line pulls me alone like a long lost loved one. The reason it may seem like a mirage, is that what I get out of the accomplishment of a marathon, isn’t what I expected. When the mirage dries up, I am not left in the middle of desert, but the glow of an accomplishment that makes other things I thought impossible, doable. You can’t put that in a pill and sell it.
And so, I run.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Progress
I am beginning my second month of FIRST. My very first interval a month ago was 3 1600 meter sprints. It was hot…and I was not in great shape… and my times were 7:27, 8:14 and 10:10. (I gave up and jogged the last one because I was too tired to sprint) This morning, in slightly rainy by perfect temp weather, I ran 7:13, 7:08, 7:08. I’ll take that improvement. It still isn’t as fast as I am supposed to be running based on my 5K time (should be 6:58) but it is still a vast improvement over where I was a month ago. Now if I could just string another 23.2 miles of those together! LOL. Yikes.
Another thing… look at my heart rate… a month ago on my 3x1600 interval, 155,157,148 (jogged most of last one). Now look at my HR from this morning, 142,148,151. In fact, this mornings HR averaged LOWER than an 11 mile run a few weeks ago. What is up with that? It is possible the heat made quite a bit of difference, but I do know I felt a lot stronger in the 4th laps of my intervals this go around
Another thing… look at my heart rate… a month ago on my 3x1600 interval, 155,157,148 (jogged most of last one). Now look at my HR from this morning, 142,148,151. In fact, this mornings HR averaged LOWER than an 11 mile run a few weeks ago. What is up with that? It is possible the heat made quite a bit of difference, but I do know I felt a lot stronger in the 4th laps of my intervals this go around
Monday, July 16, 2007
Reality check
Qualifying for Boston at the Portland Marathon this Fall will be very very difficult for me. I am a realist for the most part. I always try my best but I don’t have pie in the sky expectations. My performance is usually very close to what I think it will be. Right now I am struggling trying to keep on my interval times, and of course the speedier long run. The reality is… I may be biting off more than I can chew right now. I do know that someday I WILL qualify, but will it be in Portland this Fall? I will give it my all. I will stay on pace until I can’t run anymore. Hopefully the finish line will come first.
A realistic goal for Portland is perhaps a 7:59 to 8:15 pace though. Reality sucks.
A realistic goal for Portland is perhaps a 7:59 to 8:15 pace though. Reality sucks.
The perfect 20 miles
Twenty miles is a long way no matter how you slice it. Last week’s 17 miler was a bit of a letdown because I slipped off pace around mile 14. This week I was determined to stay on pace the entire 20 miles. My biggest concern regarding FIRST, is whether it will give me the endurance I need for a full marathon. Last week I was seriously wondering. Yesterday though, my pace was exactly on, and I was within 16 seconds of my planned pace. Not bad for a 3 hour run.
Now comes the trick… to recover enough to do 3 one mile sprint intervals tomorrow. Here is the quandary for me with FIRST, the key runs and interval runs are based on my 5K run time. Well… I know what that is… so the pace for those is set. The long runs however, are based on your projected marathon pace (PMP). Again… I know what that is for me… 8:38. BUT, if I want to qualify for Boston I have to hit 7:39. In other words, for a 20 mile long run like yesterday where I am supposed to use PMP +60 (9:38 per mile) I used 9 per mile. Right now I am adding an extra 20 seconds to my project time, because I think my body would fall apart if I tried to take the whole chunk at one. In two weeks after an 18 and another 20 mile long run, I think I will drop the long run pace a bit. And then about a month later… I will drop it to my final goal.
Next Sunday I will be camping, and shortly after my 18 mile run I will have to drive 6 hours back home. Actually… I think I will recruit my wife for the drive so I can take a snooze. Nothing like a nap after a long run.
I am a morning runner now. My work schedule has changed and I have time to run in the morning before work. That would have been tough before because I was already getting up at 4:50. =) Something about getting up at 3:15 to run did not appeal to me. Since it is summer right now… running in the AM is quite nice. It will be a different story this winter.
Now comes the trick… to recover enough to do 3 one mile sprint intervals tomorrow. Here is the quandary for me with FIRST, the key runs and interval runs are based on my 5K run time. Well… I know what that is… so the pace for those is set. The long runs however, are based on your projected marathon pace (PMP). Again… I know what that is for me… 8:38. BUT, if I want to qualify for Boston I have to hit 7:39. In other words, for a 20 mile long run like yesterday where I am supposed to use PMP +60 (9:38 per mile) I used 9 per mile. Right now I am adding an extra 20 seconds to my project time, because I think my body would fall apart if I tried to take the whole chunk at one. In two weeks after an 18 and another 20 mile long run, I think I will drop the long run pace a bit. And then about a month later… I will drop it to my final goal.
Next Sunday I will be camping, and shortly after my 18 mile run I will have to drive 6 hours back home. Actually… I think I will recruit my wife for the drive so I can take a snooze. Nothing like a nap after a long run.
I am a morning runner now. My work schedule has changed and I have time to run in the morning before work. That would have been tough before because I was already getting up at 4:50. =) Something about getting up at 3:15 to run did not appeal to me. Since it is summer right now… running in the AM is quite nice. It will be a different story this winter.
Saturday, July 07, 2007
The unexpected 5K
I have never raced a 5K that I am aware of. Certainly not in this decade. The day before the 4th of July my wife mentioned her work was sponsoring a 5K walk / fun run. We decided that I would run the 5K, and she would walk with the boys. After I finished… I would run back to them and walk the rest with them. The route was on the Hillsboro 4th of July parade route.
I do not feel like I am in great shape right now. Many reasons. I just started a new job this week, so there was some chaos surrounding the transition, a few camping trips (that involved a lot of beer) and I am still adjusting to FIRST. BYW… I gained like 5 pounds in the first months on FIRST. I just don’t think the cross training burns enough calories so I have to adjust my eating habits a bit.
Anyway… so the 5K. I felt I could run one mile in 6:45, one at 7, and one at 7:15. That was my goal at least. FIRST is actually based on your 5K time, and since I haven’t ran any 5K, I just did my best to guess at what it would be. I guessed between 22:11 to 22:50. The reality was, 22:25. First mile was 6:45. Second was 7:15, and the last was 7:30. I think I went out too fast at first… as my watch was reading under 6 for the first ½ mile it seemed. Nuts. No way I could keep that up. The other thing to note is… there is no way I would have been able to hit that pace for even 5 seconds a month ago. That is a definite difference with FIRST.
I am a bit torn with weather FIRST is going to do me right. I thought about switching to a more conventional program, but I think it is too late… I am going to see this cycle through and see where it gets me. I think I will try to pick the cross training up a bit. But still, no matter how hard I push I just can’t burn the same amount of calories that way. I’d have to cross train for 3 hours to burn the same amount of calories as a 1 hour run I think.
I have a nice 17 mile run tomorrow. Yee-haw. It is hot now so I will have to get up pretty early.
I do not feel like I am in great shape right now. Many reasons. I just started a new job this week, so there was some chaos surrounding the transition, a few camping trips (that involved a lot of beer) and I am still adjusting to FIRST. BYW… I gained like 5 pounds in the first months on FIRST. I just don’t think the cross training burns enough calories so I have to adjust my eating habits a bit.
Anyway… so the 5K. I felt I could run one mile in 6:45, one at 7, and one at 7:15. That was my goal at least. FIRST is actually based on your 5K time, and since I haven’t ran any 5K, I just did my best to guess at what it would be. I guessed between 22:11 to 22:50. The reality was, 22:25. First mile was 6:45. Second was 7:15, and the last was 7:30. I think I went out too fast at first… as my watch was reading under 6 for the first ½ mile it seemed. Nuts. No way I could keep that up. The other thing to note is… there is no way I would have been able to hit that pace for even 5 seconds a month ago. That is a definite difference with FIRST.
I am a bit torn with weather FIRST is going to do me right. I thought about switching to a more conventional program, but I think it is too late… I am going to see this cycle through and see where it gets me. I think I will try to pick the cross training up a bit. But still, no matter how hard I push I just can’t burn the same amount of calories that way. I’d have to cross train for 3 hours to burn the same amount of calories as a 1 hour run I think.
I have a nice 17 mile run tomorrow. Yee-haw. It is hot now so I will have to get up pretty early.
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