Ad hoc 10K race

8/15
I think I will run 10k race tomorrow. No… I haven’t trained for it… and yes… I will probably be hurting afterwards… but it has just been too long since I have raced. My PR for a 10K is 7:42… but I haven’t ran one in a long time and my ½ marathon pace is only a few seconds slower. Still… I haven’t been running enough lately to try to break a PR right now. Between 8:15 – 8:30 is probably about right… who knows… maybe even slower. I am just not in shape yet. In about a month I think there is another 10K that I will try to PR in.

After race 8/18

That was nice and humbling. I trotted along at a meager 8:36… just two seconds faster than I ran a whole marathon. =) Since I haven’t run with a watch on in months… I haven’t really known what pace I was running… but I knew it was slow. With my lack of being in shape and the heat (it was near 80 even though the race was at 8:15 AM) I didn’t plan to push myself. I just wanted to get out there and start again… and that I did.

I also exceeded 20 miles running in a week for the first time since I stopped training for Eugene. This week should be about the same… but since I am not on a set schedule yet… I don’t really know. Which reminds me… I need to make a schedule.

In two weeks there is the ORRC Wildwood Trail run… another 10K that I think I will also run… hopefully around 8 minutes per mile by then… and the on Sep 13 is the Oktoberfest 10K. (Why do they have Octoberfest in September?) If I haven’t PR’d at 10K I will try to here. Then on October 11th is a 15K at Blue Lake. Then it is heads down training for Seattle if I want to be able to run it.

I can't think of a title for this post

After heading out into the morning sun for a run yesterday, I felt like I was reconnecting with a long lost soul mate. I can’t understand exactly why I like running now… when I once regarding it with disdain or something I would do only if a bear was chasing me. Maybe it is the runner’s high. I definitely have felt that at times during runs and afterwards.

Once I thought that I would find meaning through my running… like I’d one day run up on a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, of have a great revelation that changed my life. The truth is much more subtle… and you’d have to view a much wider expanse of my life to see it.

If I could glance and the pre-running me at 50… and the post running me at 50, the difference I am sure, will be striking. Long distance running can be that way. It unfolds at a leisurely pace. Hills that seem frozen in the distance turn into hills sliding away behind you, and all the while you can hardly tell you are moving.
It is not much harder to run 20 miles than 1 if you are in shape for the journey. (Well… assuming you are NOT in shape to run that 1 mile) I can remember a time when running 1 mile was a big deal for me. I’d tell a friend and they were in awe (as we drank our 10th beer of the night).

I don’t know how long I will keep running. I am still not even back into my grove. I did learn one thing though… by trying the 22 or whatever week training plan… is that it is certainly possible to get burned out. I maintained focus on that schedule for months… and then just LOST it. One day complete dedication… the next I fumbled it away. It took me a few weeks to realize it… and by then… I just couldn’t muster the energy to restart.

Pain is good

Pain is good… or so they say. Sign of progress. No pain… no gain… and all that stuff. When I was younger and much lighter… I could run all day with relatively no pain. I didn’t even know what sore was really. I can remember running the Seaside half marathon and suffering pretty much no pains.

But that was then. Now… and pretty much from age 30 on… sports and activities hurt. With running… I feel I am in a constant state of pain and recovery. If I am feeling good… I am not pushing it enough. I have to play Sherlock Holmes to decipher exactly what my pain is saying. I have to sort out for instance… if it is saying ‘you ran too far… or too fast’, or ‘Houston, we have a problem.’

So far I have been just about injury free with running. All those horror stories about ruining knees etc… seem to be just stories. But pain free? Yeah right. I am to the point where I can feel pain after regular day-to-day activities. Pull a few weeds… and the back hurts. Paint a room… arm does.

I suppose I should be grateful at least my parts are functioning enough to be yelling at me. Oh… I try to take care of them the best I can… a few supplements, aspirin, a lot of water and a massage here and there if my sweetie has time. But I have to wonder if young people really understand what is in store for them. I remember older people telling me… but really… I thought they were just out of shape. I had no idea that being *in* shape could be the cause of so much pain.

SportsFest is just about over. Soccer and basketball are done… so just softball now, which (knock on wood) is one of the few sports that doesn’t seem to bring me much pain.

I realized yesterday that I probably missed my chance to run the Portland marathon this year. My measly mileage this summer is not enough of a base for me to hit training full steam. I will have to set me sites on something later like Seattle.

Mia is sleeping enough now that I may be able to continue running in the morning… that is if I can garner the motivation. If I just circle something on the calendar I think I will do it. Just haven’t grabbed a pen yet.

Run to work

Running a marathon seems so trivial compared to the power of a newborns first smile. I do still dream of running the Boston Marathon someday, but it will be something I have to figure out how to fit into my life without interfering with my other responsibilities.

My latest idea is running to work. I work about 4.5 miles from home… so running in is a good little workout, and we have showers at work. As long as I can get my work cloths there ahead of me someone… it works fine. I ran in this morning. Once I get my endurance up a bit… I can run home too. I know two 4.5 mile runs don’t equal a 9 miler… but it may be the best I can do for now.

My running at lunch stopped when Sportsfest started. Sportsfest is where a group of companies here compete in various sports at lunchtime or in the evening. Right now I am playing basketball and soccer… so 3-4 days a week I am already busy at lunch. The other two days I am nursing wounds. =) Softball is starting up next week too… and between basketball, soccer, softball and running… I have to watch shin splints and other nagging overuse injuries like that.

I have to admit I had no idea how life changing a newborn would be. I am so used to being able to stick to a schedule or doing whatever I wanted on an ad hoc basis, but now I am tied to Mia’s schedule… and it is a whopper. It isn’t unusual to not even find the time to be able to make coffee and drink a cup before it gets cold in the morning. There just isn’t time between the diaper changes, crying, feeding, burping, and changing cloths after spitups. But when she smiles… all of it is replaced by pure joy that no finish line could ever match.

Miles for Mia

I ran 6 miles yesterday… thinking that was one for each of her days… but alas… she was really only 5 days old. The last one was for good luck I guess. It’s been awhile since I ran more than 4 miles… in fact most of my runs the past few months have been the two mile variety.

Because my wife will be staying at home now, in theory it might be easier to fit some runs in. Previously I dropped the youngest off at daycare in the morning and picked him and his older brother up each day. Of course… Mia tends to require a lot more time… especially for the next few weeks.

I have a one… yes ONE mile race for work coming up next week I think. I am not going to try to do much… I am just not ready for it… but I will run the best I can. There are 3 and 5 mile runs coming up in a moth or so too. I hope to be a bit more ready for them.

Right now I am just content that the family is complete… healthy and happy. The cold summer so far makes for good running weather… and I plan to start taking advantage of that.

Mia is here!

Emilia Rose (Mia) arrived on 6-4 and 2:46. 2-4-6 6-4-8... sounds like cheer! =) I actually ran 4 times the week before she arrived... but all my time now is spent taking care of her mother and staring at her.

The starting line

I haven’t been running much lately… at least not with a set schedule or goal in mind… but I do run every once in awhile. I think I am someone who needs a pretty set schedule. Mostly… the soon to arrive baby (less than 30 days now) is consuming my thoughts.

We went to a birthing class last weekend, and I was surprised at how many similarities there are between training and running a marathon and having a baby. There are breathing techniques that are useful in both. Relaxation techniques… pain management, visualization, and counting tricks I am pretty sure all marathon runners pick up.

I fear I will bawl when Mia is born. During my marathon training I felt similar when I thought about finally reaching my goal. There is certainly no energy for tears at a marathon finish line though… and most likely I will be able to remain focused and swallow my feelings and bury them deep in my core as men are supposed to. =)

It seemed like the start of my first marathon would never arrive. Even standing in the starting chute it seemed like forever away… but then one moment bowed to the next, and my dream started to become reality. It is a good thing the times of sand keep carrying us forward… through rough times and good times… through training… marathons, labor and everything in between.

In a few weeks I will get to see Mia line up at the starting line of her life… and the mojo from that moment might propel me for the rest of my days.