Sweet 16

Saturday was my day to run the weekly long run (16 miles this week). I had planned to get an early start on Saturday morning, but I woke up to a hard steady rain. I waited until the afternoon before I realized it was not letting up. Since I was not interested in running the the pouring rain for 3 hours, I decided to go the the health club and run on the treadmill. I've run a lot of miles on the treadmill this past winter, but I stopped after reading that it was not as good as running road miles.

I got to the health club about 2:00. I set the treadmill to at 10 minute miles and started out. I also set the incline at 1 percent (I had never done that before) to make it more like 'real' running.

The are several things I decided I really like about treadmill running.

1. Hydration - Whenever you're thirsty you can grab your beverage.
2. Pace - You can set the speed you want to run and not have to think about if you're running too fast or too slow.
3. Surface - The treadmill is padded, so it's easier on the knees and joints.

I felt like the incline was working my calves more than normal. I decided there was no way in heck I was going to make it 16 miles straight through, so I decided to take walk breaks (the Jeff Galloway method). I would run 1 mile, then stop and stretch out for 30-40 seconds. At the hour breaks I took bathroom breaks. I'm not sure if it's cheating to take breaks, but it was the only way I was going to finish.

It felt good to finish. I felt a whole lot better than last weeks 14.5 mile run. And I finished the 16 miles in less time than the 14.5 mile run...even with the walk breaks. I decided I was dehydrated last week. I lost 4 pounds on the long run and that's not right. So this week I ate more before my run and drank Gatorade Rain during the run (my new favorite).

I was planning on doing some lite elliptical today, but laziness won out. I'm considering a 2-3 mile run yet tonight. I'm sore from yesterday, but I want to get in good training before next week.

This morning something tragic happened in church. I may never forget it as long as I live. I'll write about it next time.

Training Update

Last night I worked until 5:00, finished mowing the lawn, didn't eat dinner because I was already 10 minutes late for a meeting at church. After the church meeting I had 45 minutes before the health club closed. I lifted weights (leg extensions and hamstring) and started elliptical. But by then I only had 18 minutes before it closed, so I did 10 minutes of elliptical I decided to go home and see if I felt up to running 3 miles.

When I got home I was quite hungry, overate, and then was too full to run. In addition, my left knee and right hip were in pain from the elliptical and Wednesday's run. Uh oh, I forgot...I wasn't going to make excuses (see my previous post on excuses). Anyway, I decided to call it good after the elliptical and weights and rest up for the Saturday long run.

I'm getting butterflies about the run tomorrow. The 14.5 miles totally kicked my butt last Saturday. How am I going to run farther than that tomorrow? I feel like I'm right on the line of pushing myself too far. I'm ok for now, but if I run too much more/harder I'm risking getting injured. Yet, I don't feel I've trained enough to do the long run this week. Maybe my goal is beyond my reach?

No, I'm unwilling to give up yet. I will run Saturday until I physically cannot run anymore. Then I will walk until I can't walk anymore. Then I will call for help, because I'm not into the whole crawling thing :-)

Some changes for this week's long run:

- No lifting today (Friday)
- Start the long run earlier in the morning
- hydrate with Gatorade instead of water
- hydrate more frequently

On that last note, I think I'm going to get a couple small clip-on water bottles. I've been leaving water on the side of the road, but that means no fluids for 6-8 miles.

Hopefully my next update will be more up-beat than my last post-long-run update.

Excuses, excuses...

Yesterday I did 45 minutes of elliptical. The machine said I burned just under 750 calories. I keep wondering if I'm wasting my time with the elliptical or if it is beneficial?

Today I did 5.5 miles at just under 9:30 minute miles. It's hard for me to imagine keeping that pace up for an entire marathon...and still coming in over 4 hours. It was an absolutely perfect evening for running, 60 degrees with a slight wind. Otherwise the run was pretty uneventful, other than me almost pooping my pants (I made it home just in time).

Today while I was running I kept thinking about a slogan they have posted on the wall in our health club, "99 percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses". I'm not sure who did the statistical analysis on that one. I'm sure my college stats professor would be asking if there was a Control Group or if it was a Double Blind study. But I found it motivational none the less.

I don't want to be one of those people who has a habit of making excuses. Lord knows I could find plenty of excuses to stop this crazy endeavor (don't get me started).

Today I'm resolving not to make excuses. So if I do fall short of my Grandma's goal, I'll at least be among the very elite group of people (1 percent) who still failed despite the fact they never made excuses. :-)

...to Every Generation

Last night I ran 3.5 miles with the kids. My daughter E ran with me the first 1.4 miles with me, and A ran the whole thing. It was a bit slower pace than normal, but I was ok with that since my legs are still not 100 percent from Saturday's long run.

It's fun for me to see the kids getting into running. I totally didn't expect them to want to run with me. But they started asking to run with me once around the block (.7 miles). My daughter, who is fairly athletic and very competitive, made it about a quarter mile the first time she tried. Since then she has worked her way up to twice around without stopping.

My son was the biggest surprise. He has always been a below average when it comes to sports. He has many talents, he's just not good at athletics and is not particularly competitive. At age 4 he was getting beat in running races by his 2 year old cousin. I found myself embarassed last summer when I found out he was slower than his sister (who is a year and a half younger than him).

When teenage boys think about who their kids will be, they imagine athletic superstars. I told myself I would work with my kids and train them to be great at the 3 big sports...basketball, baseball and football. But when A came along we never showed any interest or aptitude in sports. When I would throw him a ball he would never throw it back...instead he would turn 180 degrees and throw it in the opposite direction.

So when he asked to run with me a few months back I said "Sure" but I didn't expect much. But he really surprised me. "The Boy" ran 3 times around the block (2 miles) without stopping on his first try. The pace was not lightning, but it was not terrible. Since then we have run once or twice a week. A couple times we've run 4 miles together.

"The Boy" has demonstrated endurance in spite of his weird running style. I could quite put my finger on what was wrong, but it looked like he was shuffling his feet and his elbows were locked in close tho his body. Then "The Wife" clued me in...his stride was too short. So last night we worked on increasing his stride length. And boy did he fly!

After E stopped running "The Boy" and I had a Man-to-man talk. I told him how proud I was of him. I told him that I would love him even if he was in a wheel chair, and even if he wasn't good at music and math. I loved him because he is my boy. But I told him it was really cool for me to see him turning into an awesome runner, and that I'm really proud of him. It felt a little bit weird to say, but I was glad we had that talk.

Here are some pictures of the kids from the Earth Day 1K:

The Pre Race Stretch...

And there off...

Almost there!

A boy on the run..

At the finish line.

A proud Mom...

The Big Winner

Well, I've pretty much recovered from my Saturday long run. I still have some pain behind my right knee. It's a muscle type pain, so I'm not terribly worried about it.

Yesterday (Sunday) I did 35 minutes of elliptical. I could tell my body was not fully recovered...I felt a little weak. Even though I was sore the elliptical did not hurt much more than normal. I was glad to get a good workout without pain, but it also made me think a little. If doing elliptical is not hurting my muscles that are sore, it's also not training those muscles. So I'm not sure I'm getting full benefit from my elliptical workout. But the cardio aspect is good, and my body is not ready for running 6 days a week. So for now, I'll continue with the elliptical.

Tonight I'm going to shoot for a 4 mile run. I'm going to see if "The Boy" wants to run with me. It will slow me down a bit, but I think the bonding times are good.

Last Friday I mentioned that "The Wife" had won a sweepstakes. She won the grand prize in the Cinderella sweepstakes: a trip for 4 to Disneyworld! We're all pretty excited about it. It'd tell you when we're going, but I think posting the days we'll be on vacation might be an invitation to burglars. Anyway, we're looking forward to the trip!

The Long Run

Today was my "long run" day. I had been dreading it for the last couple days because I was scared the distance was too far. Well, there's good news and bad news. Good news: I completed the distance (14.5 miles according to the Google Pedometer).

The bad news was that the distance really kicked my butt. I walked much of the last mile and a half. I almost had "The Wife" come and pick me up, but I was determined to try to finish. The last mile was sooo hard. Every step was painful. The 14.5 miles ended up taking my over 3 hours.

When I got home I totally crashed in bed. No, stretching the muscles...I literally had nothing left. After about 1/2, I decided to take a bath. The whole time in bed and in the tub I felt terrible. When I got out of the tub I puked. In all my years of running I had never pushed myself to the point of vomiting. I've felt sick before, but never quite like this.

I felt like I needed to eat something (it was 4:00pm and all I had eaten was 2 slices of toast for breakfast). But my stomach didn't feel ready. I finally ate some soda crackers.

This isn't supposed to be this hard. I feel like I gave it literally everything I had today and still basically limped to the finish line. I can tell there is no way in heck I'll be able to do 16 miles next week. I might try 15, but I'll be dreading it all week based on what I just went through.

Two things I'm going to change for next week. First, no weight lifting the day before my long run. My hammies were hurting the most of all, and I think it would be better if I didn't lift next Friday. This probably deserves a "Duh".

Second, I got started too late in the morning. I was dreading the run so I found a way to put off the start until 11:00am. I needed more fuel and I didn't have it. I tried my first Cliff Shot energy gel, and that was interesting. The jury is still out on that, though.

I'm not sure what my legs will be able to take tomorrow...

How far is Heaven?

Last night I did 42 minutes of elliptical. I was going to stop at 40, but the Motley Crue song "Home Sweet Home" came on, and I found my body was incapable of stopping. It had been forever since I had heard that song.

Today was my rest day before my long run tomorrow. But I went to the club anyway and did a little bit of weight lifting, swam a few laps and soaked in the hot tub. I've been lifting weights (legs only) once a week for the last 9 months or so. Someone said it's a good habbit if you have bad knees. It seems like the only day that will work for me to lift is my rest day. I'm not sure if it's bad to lift on my rest day or not.

Tomorrow is the long run. I supposed to do 14.5 miles. Frankly I'm scared. I've never gone that far before. I've done mileage in the 13ish range like 4 times, but everytime I've been totally spent by the end. Also, I'm abandoning the "frequent walk break" plan. I'm actually a bit stressed about it. If I can do it It'll feel great. If I can't it will be a big set-back. As Shaggy would say, "It's hope that keeps me moving on...".

Today was a weird day. I took a funeral day to go to my uncle Kenny's funeral. I liked Kenny...I went hunting with him (and others) every November. Hunting this year wont be the same without him.

I find funeral talk interesting. Everyone finds a way to put a positive spin on the persons' idiosyncrasies. Deep down I think everyone realizes that this person was (and all of us are) far from perfect as a, Christian, father, employee, or whatever. I guess in this case a little denial is harmless...one last day to try to remember the person in a positive light.

But not all funeral denial is harmless. During the funeral it was raining. Several people suggested that good ol' uncle Kenny was causing it to rain because he was a farmer and liked rain. Do they really think dead people control the weather? Or were they just being cute?

Someone said he was in heaven so he could take care of his grandchild that had tragically died a few years before. Do they really think dead children need babysitter?

They also wondered if he was swimming in heaven, because he wouldn't have to worry about drowning. I'm not sure swimming will be a common activity in heaven.

Ironically, in front of the church I saw a car parked with a bumper sticker that said, "If there aren't horses in heaven then I don't want to go". Give me a break. I have a feeling God would say, "Don't worry, you won't" to that bumper sticker. This person is saying that their relationships with horses are more important than their relationship with God. I don't think that's OK to say even as a joke.

We will be in heaven to do one thing - glorify God. Not ride horses, go swimming, play golf or any other things we enjoy doing on earth. We won't be busy controlling the weather or taking care of other dead people...that's God's job. I think people make up activities to do in heaven because glorifying God for eternity doesn't sound fun to them. I guess it shows how messed up our priorities are.

The other weird thing that happened today is that "The Wife" won a sweepstakes. More about that in another post.

The Power to be Strong

Last night I ran 7 miles at just under 10 minute miles. The last mile and a half was right into a strong wind. Overall the run felt good. "The boy" biked with me to keep me company.

I've got to start being more consistent if I'm going to do this marathon thing. I need to ramp up my long runs and start doing them consistently every Saturday. I figure I need to run at least two 20-something milers or I probably won't be able to finish Grandma's Marathon.

It's hard to know how much to push myself. If I don't work hard enough I won't be ready. But if I push myself too hard, I'm going to hurt my knee or hip again. I've been trying to do elliptical 2 or 3 days a week in place of running. I think it is less jarring on my body, but I'm not sure if it's as effective as putting on road miles.

Phil Collins wrote the theme song to Disney's version of Tarzan. The song is a great pump up running song. I like the opening line...

"Oh the power to be strong, and the wisdom to be wise. All these things will come to you in time."

That is my prayer. God, give me the power to do this thing. Help me to know when I should push myself faster when I should push myself further, and when I should rest. Amen.

The song continues...
"On this journey that you're making, there'll be answers that you'll seek. And it's you who'll climb the mountain, it's you who'll reach the peak. Son of Man, look to the sky, Lift your spirit set it free. Some day you'll walk tall with pride Son of Man, a man in time you'll be..."

On June 17th, will I be "walking tall with pride"? Time will tell.

The Reason for Running

Last night I did 35 minutes elliptical after a meeting at church. I'd like to have gone more but I ran out of time (the community center closes at 9:00). I can see scheduling is going to become more difficult. Between work, church meetings 2 nights a week, running the kids to baseball and dance its tough to squeeze in a workout. Sometimes I run late (like 10:30pm) which I usually enjoy once I get started. Other times I poop out and skip that day's workout entirely. If I want to meet my goal I have to stop doing that. I wish I was one of those weirdos who gets up at 6:00am to run.

Many people have been asking me why I started running. I usually laugh off the question and say something like, "I was having a mid-life crisis". The truth is that the real motivation to run is more complex and maybe more personal too.

When I began training, my goal was to run a marathon once to say that I did it. I remember clearly thinking, "It will be a defining moment in your life". I wanted to be the type of person that sets big goals...and achieves them. And what's bigger than completing a marathon? When playing that game Two truths and a lie I wanted one of the truths to be that I've run a marathon. Silly huh.

But today my motivations are more diverse. I still want to do it to achieve something great, but there are three new reasons that have popped up:

3. I've told so many people about it that if I back out now I'll really look like a quitter and a loser.
2. Health reasons - I like being more physically fit and weighing less.
1. I believe me running a marathon sets a great example for my kids.

I believe that by setting a big goal like running a marathon, I am inspiring my kids to do big things. I can tell my kids, "work hard in school" but the truth is that working hard in school is not fun. How can we motivate our kids to push themselves? How can we inspire them to do something that they don't want to do? ...to make themselves better? ...to endure short term 'pain' for a long term 'gain'?

I believe that the best way to inspire them to greatness is to be an example. When I run, my kids hear my labored breathing. They see the pain on my face. They see how much fun I'm not having. Yet I endure. I do not complain. I finish my run and get closer to my goal.

Though this process I believe that the attitudes of my kids are being subtly changed. I believe that because of this goal I set for myself, they will be inspired to set goals of their own. It has had another unexpected impact...my kids are becoming runners. More about that in another post.

It's interesting to me that what started out to be not a motivating factor at all (setting a good example for my kids) has become maybe my biggest motivator.

Saturday I completed my first half marathon. The Earth Day Half Marathon was held on a beautiful spring day in central Minnesota.

My goal was to cross the finish line. I did not have a specific time I was hoping for. Secretly I figured it would take me about 2hrs and 20 minutes, but I told myself I was not running against the clock, I was just running to finish. But somehow all that changed on race day. My plan to have frequent scheduled walk breaks (a.k.a. the Jeff Galloway method) went by the wayside. I was either too proud, or too into the moment to stop and walk. So I got to mile 10 and basically hit the wall. My leg muscles were killing me and I basically did not feel good.

I walked much of mile 10. My son joined me on mile 11 and together we ran the last two miles. His presence really helped me out and was a source of motivation not to stop. I finished with a time of 2 hrs 20 minutes and 57 seconds.

Although my time was about what I expected, there a voices telling me how bad I did. (Ok, not actual 'voices'). I found myself comparing my time to others that ran the half marathon. My time was in the bottom 20 percent. Heck, I almost got beat by a 78 year old man named 'Francis'.

But then I realized what was happening. It is so true that "comparison leads to discontentment". So I've decided not to listen to myself and be proud of my run. Proud that I finished. Proud that I made a goal and met it. And excited that I am one step close to Grandma's marathon, June 17th 2006.