cold 5 miler
Ran 5 miles at 11:19 pace this morning. Weather was nice as long as I wasn't running into the wind. Iced left shin when I got back and it seems to be ok. I'm going to have to get creative finding routes around the house to run.
rescue run
Rolled out of bed on a few hours of sleep and a little hungover to make my way over to Palmer Park for the Rescue Run. The weather was decent, although a little breezy, but comfortable enough for shorts and a light shirt. Once on scene, I got registered, filled out my shirt raincheck form and headed off for a quick warmup lap of the park.
A couple minutes prior to the gun, I took my spot towards the back half of the pack and waited for the herd to start moving. I think I went out too fast as I was picking off scores of people up until the top half of the first climb. My heart was racing and I was reduced to a walk to finish the first big climb. Once it leveled out on the road to the overlook, I slowed the pace and continued on to the turnaround. I got a quick swig of water and headed back. I had visions of running sub 30 but knew it wasn't to be when I made the turn at 17:30. Not wanting to let the dream fade, I made decent time to the hill and then went flying down the big incline that had kicked me in the ass a few minutes earlier. About halfway down the hill, I glanced down at my watch to see I was moving at a decent 6:46 pace. However, once gravity was no longer on my side, I realized the tank was empty and coasted in for a 31:33 (31:15 watch time) finish. Not terribly impressive but it was nice to sweat out the beer from the night before at least.
Looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow and resting up for some big mileage this weekend. Looks like the weather could be nasty on Sunday so that one might be on the 'mill.
A couple minutes prior to the gun, I took my spot towards the back half of the pack and waited for the herd to start moving. I think I went out too fast as I was picking off scores of people up until the top half of the first climb. My heart was racing and I was reduced to a walk to finish the first big climb. Once it leveled out on the road to the overlook, I slowed the pace and continued on to the turnaround. I got a quick swig of water and headed back. I had visions of running sub 30 but knew it wasn't to be when I made the turn at 17:30. Not wanting to let the dream fade, I made decent time to the hill and then went flying down the big incline that had kicked me in the ass a few minutes earlier. About halfway down the hill, I glanced down at my watch to see I was moving at a decent 6:46 pace. However, once gravity was no longer on my side, I realized the tank was empty and coasted in for a 31:33 (31:15 watch time) finish. Not terribly impressive but it was nice to sweat out the beer from the night before at least.
Looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow and resting up for some big mileage this weekend. Looks like the weather could be nasty on Sunday so that one might be on the 'mill.
training for 26.2
After taking a couple weeks off following the Rock Canyon half, it was time to start laying plans for the next challenge. I did some digging on the interwebs and perused a few training plans until I found one that I felt I could handle and would get me ready to tackle a marathon. I've got 18 weeks of running and cross training lined out to get me to the start line of the Colorado Marathon on May 3rd, 2009.
This week marks the start. I got my first run done at the Jack Quinn's Running Club Tuesday night run and then did 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym on Wednesday morning. Nothing spectacular for pace at this point but I'm just trying to get the miles in for the first few weeks. I waffled about which race I was going to run at this morning's Rescue Run but settled on the short course since I was only on the hook for three miles today.
The shins are already starting to bother me a little but I'm hoping that healthy doses of Vitamin I and ice will keep them from flaring up too much.
My wife gave me a Garmin Forerunner 305 for Christmas so I've been having fun geeking out with the results from the few runs I've brought it along on.
Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day and then I've got a 5 miler on Saturday and an 8 mile long run on Sunday.
Here's to hoping I can get most of the runs in and life doesn't get in the way too much.
This week marks the start. I got my first run done at the Jack Quinn's Running Club Tuesday night run and then did 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym on Wednesday morning. Nothing spectacular for pace at this point but I'm just trying to get the miles in for the first few weeks. I waffled about which race I was going to run at this morning's Rescue Run but settled on the short course since I was only on the hook for three miles today.
The shins are already starting to bother me a little but I'm hoping that healthy doses of Vitamin I and ice will keep them from flaring up too much.
My wife gave me a Garmin Forerunner 305 for Christmas so I've been having fun geeking out with the results from the few runs I've brought it along on.
Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day and then I've got a 5 miler on Saturday and an 8 mile long run on Sunday.
Here's to hoping I can get most of the runs in and life doesn't get in the way too much.
rock canyon half marathon
Pretty good time for my first real half marathon. We headed down to Pueblo early Saturday morning. I got there about a half hour later than I wanted to but still had plenty of time to get checked in and run a few hundred yards. I took my place in the back of the pack and we were off a little after 9am. The temps were pretty cold when we got started, but the sky was clear and the sun warmed things up. We ran two laps around City Park before heading out to the Arkansas River trail. I really had to focus on keeping a slow pace those first couple laps. I ran those first two in around 10:15-10:20 without much effort.
Once we got out to the river, we found ourselves on a concrete bike path which I wasn't terribly thrilled about. Luckily there was some single track off the the side that I ran on. We neared a little nature center and restaurant on the river where an aid station was set up. I grabbed a couple swallows of Gatorade and pulled a Gu out. After the aid station it was a pretty flat run up next to a little bluff. It opened up into the "canyon" and followed the river almost all the way to the dam. About 5 or 6 miles into the race, I started thinking how easy the race had been so far. I wasn't exactly setting any speed records, but I felt I had maintained a comfortable pace and ran a smart race. I quickly told myself not to get too carried away with those thoughts; I was sure it wouldn't be that easy for the entire distance.
As we neared the dam, more and more return runners were coming towards me. I thought I was getting close to the turnaround, but it was still a ways off. Once I hit the final outbound aid station, I started feeling a little sluggish and noticed a twinge in my left achilles. It started to get difficult to maintain a solid pace. I would feel myself slow way down and then have to talk myself into picking it up until a certain landmark or spot on the course. This cycle repeated for the next couple miles. When I approached 10 miles in, the head games started. I really wanted to walk for a bit, but at the same time, I knew that it would be that much harder to start running again if I did. I pushed on through mile 10. I kept looking for short stretches where I would tell myself I could take a quick walk break only to keep running through them. This pattern repeated itself until I got to the bottom of the hill leading back into City Park with about .2 miles remaining.
Like most hills, it didn't seem bad going down, but it was brutal looking back up. I took a few strides on the way up and my calves quickly knotted up. Even walking I could feel my hamstrings started to lock up as I made my way up the hill. Once I got to the top, I managed to find a real slow run and jogged it in until the final turn for home.
I was pretty sore immediately after the race. I grabbed some Gatorade and then laid on the ground for a few minutes and had my wife stretch my legs. That did wonders to at least make me mobile, but it didn't take long for the outside edge of my right foot to start hurting so much that I was convinced I broke it. Between the achilles on my left leg and the right foot, I hobbled around for a couple days but both of those issues seem to have taken care of themselves. Looking forward to running this weekend between snowboarding and studying for finals.
Planning on running the PPRR Rescue Run on New Years Day, the PPRR Winter Series (long?), and then start focusing on full marathon training for Colfax I think. (yes, I'm crazy!)
Once we got out to the river, we found ourselves on a concrete bike path which I wasn't terribly thrilled about. Luckily there was some single track off the the side that I ran on. We neared a little nature center and restaurant on the river where an aid station was set up. I grabbed a couple swallows of Gatorade and pulled a Gu out. After the aid station it was a pretty flat run up next to a little bluff. It opened up into the "canyon" and followed the river almost all the way to the dam. About 5 or 6 miles into the race, I started thinking how easy the race had been so far. I wasn't exactly setting any speed records, but I felt I had maintained a comfortable pace and ran a smart race. I quickly told myself not to get too carried away with those thoughts; I was sure it wouldn't be that easy for the entire distance.
As we neared the dam, more and more return runners were coming towards me. I thought I was getting close to the turnaround, but it was still a ways off. Once I hit the final outbound aid station, I started feeling a little sluggish and noticed a twinge in my left achilles. It started to get difficult to maintain a solid pace. I would feel myself slow way down and then have to talk myself into picking it up until a certain landmark or spot on the course. This cycle repeated for the next couple miles. When I approached 10 miles in, the head games started. I really wanted to walk for a bit, but at the same time, I knew that it would be that much harder to start running again if I did. I pushed on through mile 10. I kept looking for short stretches where I would tell myself I could take a quick walk break only to keep running through them. This pattern repeated itself until I got to the bottom of the hill leading back into City Park with about .2 miles remaining.
Like most hills, it didn't seem bad going down, but it was brutal looking back up. I took a few strides on the way up and my calves quickly knotted up. Even walking I could feel my hamstrings started to lock up as I made my way up the hill. Once I got to the top, I managed to find a real slow run and jogged it in until the final turn for home.
I was pretty sore immediately after the race. I grabbed some Gatorade and then laid on the ground for a few minutes and had my wife stretch my legs. That did wonders to at least make me mobile, but it didn't take long for the outside edge of my right foot to start hurting so much that I was convinced I broke it. Between the achilles on my left leg and the right foot, I hobbled around for a couple days but both of those issues seem to have taken care of themselves. Looking forward to running this weekend between snowboarding and studying for finals.
Planning on running the PPRR Rescue Run on New Years Day, the PPRR Winter Series (long?), and then start focusing on full marathon training for Colfax I think. (yes, I'm crazy!)
gearing up for my first half
Ok, so I've technically done a half (Pikes Peak Ascent) but that's never been much of a run for me. I signed up for the Rock Canyon Half Marathon in Pueblo on December 6th. Yeah, that's this Saturday. My longest run to date has been 10 miles so I hope I'm ready to extend that to 13.1 on Saturday. I'm going to get one more easy run in at JQRC tomorrow night and then take the rest of the week off. Weather is shaping up to be absolutely killer for running on Saturday with highs in the mid 50s and not much in the way of wind.
Followed Bucky around Section 16 last Friday and I could tell that I hadn't been focusing on hills much lately but after the brutal first climb, the downhill was a nice treat.
Followed Bucky around Section 16 last Friday and I could tell that I hadn't been focusing on hills much lately but after the brutal first climb, the downhill was a nice treat.
still running
So sometimes life gets in the way of blog posting, but fortunately, not in the way of actually running. After the miserable performance at the Ascent (hey, I showed up and started and actually made a 15ish mile roundtrip), I took a little time off from running to relax. I said just a little. Within a couple weeks, I was back on the incline and getting in short runs around the neighborhood and Palmer Park.
I toyed with the idea of running the PPRR Pony Express 15 miler but just didn't feel I was quite ready to run/hike that. I've continued to battle the same shin issues that plagued me last spring on and off but not anywhere near as severe. I think I've finally built up a base over a sustained period of time that the soft tissue on the posterior of my shins has gotten used to the abuse.
In October, the PPRR Fall Series kicked off and I ran the first two of those races. I missed the next two for weekend trips, but felt pretty good about the way those races went. Later in the month, Josh talked me into showing up for Jack Quinn's Running Club on Tuesday nights and I've been running down there every week since.
About the same time, the mention of the Rock Canyon Half Marathon in Pueblo came up and I started training for that as well. With about two more weekends left to train for that, I've got a couple of decent long runs planned to hopefully get me ready for the half on Dec 6.
After the first of the year, I'm pretty stoked about running the Rescue Run on New Year's Day and then the PPRR Winter Series. With the Incline Club starting up workouts pretty quick too, I'll probably be joining those crazies for some cold weather Sunday runs as well.
PS - hi bucky.
I toyed with the idea of running the PPRR Pony Express 15 miler but just didn't feel I was quite ready to run/hike that. I've continued to battle the same shin issues that plagued me last spring on and off but not anywhere near as severe. I think I've finally built up a base over a sustained period of time that the soft tissue on the posterior of my shins has gotten used to the abuse.
In October, the PPRR Fall Series kicked off and I ran the first two of those races. I missed the next two for weekend trips, but felt pretty good about the way those races went. Later in the month, Josh talked me into showing up for Jack Quinn's Running Club on Tuesday nights and I've been running down there every week since.
About the same time, the mention of the Rock Canyon Half Marathon in Pueblo came up and I started training for that as well. With about two more weekends left to train for that, I've got a couple of decent long runs planned to hopefully get me ready for the half on Dec 6.
After the first of the year, I'm pretty stoked about running the Rescue Run on New Year's Day and then the PPRR Winter Series. With the Incline Club starting up workouts pretty quick too, I'll probably be joining those crazies for some cold weather Sunday runs as well.
PS - hi bucky.
almost d-day
Haven't posted much here lately. Been real busy with life outside of running but I have managed to get some training in for the peak. Nerves are starting to kick up and I'm ready to run on Saturday. Looks like the weather could get interesting. Talking about inches of snow for Friday night and into Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to put a post up here after the weekend detailing smashing of goals and such.
