A good week

Next week I have a race… at work of all places. The corporate park my company office is in has an annual event called the Sportsfest. They participate in all kinds of sports… softball, volleyball, golf, bowling etc… etc… and surprise surprise… they have 3 running races. I just joined the company… so I missed the 1 and 2 mile races… but next Thursday is a 5 mile race. Nice. I have to run 6 miles on Thursday already… so I guess I will just fit it in a work. =) I have no idea what to expect… I know the course won’t be roped off or anything, and I expect only 25 or so people will run. Who knows… maybe less. In other words… I might have a shot in this one. =) Last year I hear there was a intern that was on the local college track team that won all the races. Lets hope this year the interns are less athletic. Regardless… it will be fun to be able to do something run-related at work.

Tuesday I had 6x400 times 2 intervals. I don’t mind running ¼ mile ever… I mean.. for those short of distance no pain can do me in. I was supposed to run at 6:33 pace. My pace times were:
6:35
6:29
6:31
6:27
6:27
6:33
6:36
6:36
6:46
6:34
6:34
6:17
I felt very happy to have finished without falling apart because I started to get tired near the end of them. This morning I had a 6 mile short tempo run with 3 one mile laps of:
7:34
7:32
7:31

The pace I was supposed to run was 7:33. So overall this week, I am thrilled with all of my runs. My knee felt a little gimpy today after my run, but I think it is OK. Yesterday someone asked me why I was limping on my left leg… I didn’t think I was and shrugged it off. Then the next day my left leg really does hurt. LOL. They jinxed me. (Or saw an injury I didn’t feel?)

This weekend there is an airshow at the airport I normally run around. I am not sure I will be able to run my normal route. Last year a jet crashed into a home during the show. I attended the air show they day before… but was just turning for home after a visit to my sisters when I saw the smoke pour into the sky from the crash:

Air show crash

The first thought we had was… please… not our house… but it was actually more than a mile away from where our house is. Only the pilot was killed in the crash. People said he was a hero for not ejecting, which is a great feel good story… but civilian planes like that (even old military ones) are not supposed to have ejection systems. The pilot also took off into miles of farmland… then turned back to try to get back to the airport and crashed on just about the first house he could have. (Actually damaged 3 houses) Anyway… I am thinking a hero would have choose the field, but I realize things happen very quick in an emergency. Thank God no one on the ground was hurt.

Lucky 13

Today my long run was 13 miles. Such a nice break after 20, 18, 20… and really… I need it. The pace however, was supposed to be faster than my long tempo run. =) That would put me at under 1:45 for total time, and my fastest half marathon race time is 1:41:25. My mile times were:

7:59
7:59
8:01
7:57
7:57
7:56
7:54
8:00
8:02
7:59
7:53
7:53

Total time: 1:44:21 7:58 pace, just a tad over 10 seconds slower than my race time.

It helped that this week I did not lock my keys in my Jeep. Last week, after the first 6.5 mile lap of the airport, I stopped at the Jeep to drink water, only to find I ran with the car key instead. WONDERFUL. I had to run 2.5-3 miles home to get the Jeep key before I could drink any water. For me… while I can run 10-12 miles without water without too much of a problem, that is too far if I am going to continue running. Anyway, today I had water at the 6.5 mile mark like I was supposed to, and it was a better experience.

I am approaching the one year anniversary of this Blog. It all started back on August 6th… just a short year ago. (Though it seems like a long time now) On August 8th last year I tried to run 3 miles in under 8 minutes per mile, and couldn’t. Now I can run 10 miles first, and still run the last three in under 8. =) My what a difference a year makes.

Running is an endeavor that takes a lot of patience, which is perfect for me. Patience has always been one of my strong points. The progress I have made over a year is pretty big… but it is has come slowly, and with a lot of hard work. I do miss some of my more leisurely runs, and I think really that is the way things are supposed to be. I am just killing myself now for this BQ thing… but thereafter I think maybe I will slide back into run for the sheer joy of it. My wife has asked me many times if I enjoy running. I always say I do… but she looks at me kind of strange when she sees me hobbling after a hard run. There is something magical about running though. It keeps me young and makes me feel like an old man at the same time.

Here is my ‘motivation song of the day’. It is my powersong on my IPod. I love the song because it embodies my BQ journey… and the lingering doubts I have about whether I can prevail… and how I should listening to the other voice… the voice that says… I can… I can redefine my impossible.


Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns

Oh,what I would do
To have the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the voice of truth says "this is for my glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

but the stone was just the right size
to put the giant on the ground
and the waves they don't seem so high
from on top of them looking down
i will soar with the wings of eagles
when i stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
singing over me

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says do not be afraid
And the voice of truth says this is for my glory
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe (I will choose to listen and believe)
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the voice of truth
I will listen and believe
'Causes Jesus you are the voice of truth
And I will listen to you.. oh you........

8 mile redemption

After laying such a goose egg on Sunday, I really wanted to bounce back and have a good run today. The batteries went dead in my GPS on Tuesday so I am not really sure how I did on my intervals. Today was an 8 mile long tempo run. The pace I was supposed to keep was 8:03. Besides my warmup and cooldown laps, my miles were:
8:02
8:02
8:01
8:01
8:00
7:57

Yes! I am back. I don’t know why or how the running Gods dish out good days and bad days, but I sure do like the good ones. Here again… is my quandary though. Because I want my marathon pace to be such a stretch from my last one, my 13 mile run on Sunday (yeah a short one!) is supposed to be at PMP + 15. My BQ is 7:39 + 15 = 7:54. ARGH! My long run is FASTER than my long temp run! May the powers of Pre help me.

No magic

As much as I’d like to believe it so… my body is telling me that no… it will not be ready to BQ in Portland. I just might make it try anyway… but it may not be in the cards. When I first realized this, I was upset. Then I realized, there is still time for me to change my path… to tweak my schedule… there is still a chance if I change my course a bit… then who knows.

Honestly… I can’t tell what is up with my body right now. The last three weeks had long runs of 20, 18 and 20. I bombed on the last two. The 18 I blamed on the altitude… but last Sunday… there is just no excuse for what happened. I was feeling great, after the first few miles when I can usually gauge my run, I thought… sweet… it will be a good day. The reality is, I fell apart as bad as I ever have on a run. At mile 17.5 I semi-collapsed into a steaming pile of goo. I can’t recall EVER stopping on one of my runs (except for a stop light or water). This time I was done, finished… kaput.

During the run there was a time when I realized that despite my efforts, I would not be able to keep pace (which by the way… was equal to my actual marathon pace) and for a few miles I thought… this can’t be happening. I was having a conversation with my body… I say go… you go… you don’t get to say no... but slowly, and things happen agonizingly slowly on a long run… like a train wreck in slow motion, I realized, I am not going to be able to finish at this pace. I coasted slower… and slower… and slower… and then there was some nice green grass and that is where I ended up. (With 2.5 miles to go) At this point I would have called a taxi had I had a cell phone. As it was… I sat where I fell watching the As much as I’d like to believe it so… my body is telling me that no… it will not be ready to BQ in Portland. I just might make it try anyway… but it may not be in the cards. When I first realizef this, I was upset. Then I realized, there is still time for me to change my path… to tweak my schedule… there is still a chance if I change my course a bit… then who knows.

I might still be there today had I not noticed someone out of the corner of my eye crossing a parking lot toward me, presumably to see if I was OK. Good Lord the humility. I stumbled up and off without so much as a glance in their direction… my pride and I were trying to take the next exit to nowhereville. The last 2.5 miles were no picnic either. Even given up my pace goal of 8:45 per mile… I kept slowing down like a car out of gas. It was nuts! I think at one point I was on the verge of going backwards. Then… at about 1.5 miles to go… it happened. I WAS PASSED! In my 1+ years of trainin runs, I think I have only been passed once. Double that now. And I think I was stumbling along at about 10:30 per mile about then. I can WALK faster than that. Everything just seemed to fall apart. I finished without walking. That was my only saving grace. My moral victory. Pitiful as it was. Afterwards I was in bad shape…. Very dehydrated. Took a day straight of drinking water before I could pee. What they heck happened to me?

Here is my official ‘Bad Day’ song. I listened to it a lot last Fall while running. I am a sucker for Fall… and I love the line “you kick up the leaves and the magic is lost.” It is exactly how I felt on my run on Sunday… when for the second long run in a row… I couldn’t find the magic.

Bad Day
by Daniel Powter

Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to gray
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee you go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carryin' on

Because you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Will you need a blue sky holiday?
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on

You had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day

(Oooh.. a holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong

(yeah...)

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You've seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

18 in the woods

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.

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.

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