Running – Page 6 – A Constant State of Hunger

RR #11 – New Year’s Day Frosty 5K

One thing that became abundantly clear as I started looking at January races is that, in the Northeast, New Year’s Day runs were going to be by far the best bet. If I had been unable to go today, it would have been 50/50 and pick ‘em whether I could have found a race to run this month.

Guilford, Connecticut, sits on the I-95 corridor just east of New Haven and right on the Long Island Sound. I knew nothing about it when I registered – I picked this race because it is relatively large for one of these (probably close to 1,000 runners, including the kids fun run) and they’ve been doing it for years. So at least they’d have their ducks in a row. As it turns out, Guilford is an absolutely beautiful town. We started and finished at the large town green, which is surrounded by old colonial style buildings filled with shops, restaurants, etc. Everything about this town was charming as hell – Guilford, Connecticut, acquitted itself quite well to anybody that drove in for the race.

Guilford Town Green - obviously not today, also not my picture — Guilford Town Green – obviously not today, also not my picture

This was my first 5K since the PR at the Celtic Classic in September … and though I don’t feel as strong now as I did then, I hoped that I might have a reasonable shot at a PR here, and, with some luck, at the 30 minute barrier. The temperatures were predictably cold – 25 degrees or so at the start – but they did start it at 11am, so it could have been much worse. The course itself was a big loop with a little out-and-back spur down to the water. Things were mostly flat – the one “hill” was a bridge over train tracks, and there was a 40 – 50 foot climb in the last mile. Nothing major.

Mass confusion at the start – the megaphone wasn’t working, so nobody could hear anything. Somebody sang the national anthem, but unless you were in the first third or so of runners you couldn’t hear it – most didn’t even know it was going on. Then the guy raised his hand, counted down, dropped his hand, and we were off.

My intention was to set off comfortably too fast (if that makes any sense) and work to hold it. And initially that plan worked great. My first mile came in at 9.39, which is the fastest official mile I’ve run since high school. Which was great. The second mile came in at 10.07 – which was less great – and it was at about half-way when the wheels came off.

For the bulk of my running “career,” my shins have been a problem. Most of this is weight and pronation control related, but I haven’t always known that. Years ago, in my first little attempt at running, shin splints forced me to stop. And when I started this time the most difficult part was managing through the initial pain in my shins. However, after that first 6 to 8 weeks, things eased up and the only time I’ve had a problem is if I’ve taken more than 2 or 3 days off between runs.

Well, at around mile 1.5 of this 5K my left shin tightened up and hurt like hell. And I couldn’t make it relax. The rest of the run was one of the more acutely painful I’ve done in a long time.

At first I was mystified – what in the world might be causing this? Slowly it dawned on me what the problem was … I hadn’t warmed up adequately. See, when I do my training runs I deliberately use the first mile as a warm-up mile and hold back. Even on my short runs. Almost always, mile 3 or mile 4 is the best mile for any run that goes that long, because I’ve had a chance to warm up. Well, this time, I took off fast right out of the gate and didn’t give those muscles a chance to ease into it.

So … live and learn. From a high-level perspective, I’m happy with my overall time – 31.42, a 10:18/mile pace. Splits were 9.39, 10.07, 10.54, and then 1.03 for that last tenth of a mile. Plus I got a mid-week run in in a fun way, and got to see a cool new town in coastal Connecticut. Happy New Year!

Notes:

– I’m struggling to dress in the cold. Especially in these situations where I’ve got to kill some time out there, I want to make sure I’m adequately layered. But I’m finding that I’m getting too warm by the end of these runs / races. Though today was cold enough that by the time I got back to the car my sweat had chilled and it took a hot shower to get me warmed back up. I’ll keep tinkering with the layers, though, and eventually get it right.

– Always Read the Plaque – that’s what Roman Mars would tell us – and so when I saw a big monument in the middle of the town green I had to go over and take a look. Turns out, it was a big Civil War monument, listing the names of all of the soldiers that died in the war from Guilford. I have always been fascinated by the Civil War, and as a Southerner have obviously seen my fair share of monuments. However, outside of New York City (which is loaded with them), I’ve seen very little of that up in the Northeast. This was a quite interesting find – and somebody had placed a holiday wreath on the statue soldier’s arm.

Guilford Soldier's Memorial - also not my picture — Guilford Soldier’s Memorial – also not my picture

– The little out-and-back was deceptively short – I’m now accustomed to much longer runs than this – so it was a little jarring when we met the leaders when I was only at about mile 0.9. BUT – they were only at about mile 1.5 or so.

– There was actually packet pickup for this race at a local running store for the last couple of days, so I think many people did that. Because I only did it on race day, I got no SWAG except the t-shirt, which was a nice blue long-sleeved cotton job with a tastefully understated logo on the front. I like getting shirts I might actually wear out.

– That was January – the streak is now at 11 months. I’m registered for races through May, so no end in sight.

– Next race – Super Saturday Run for the End Zone 6K, Montclair, New Jersey

New Year’s Not Resolutions

One thing I’ve always considered interesting is how polarizing the discussion of New Year’s Resolutions becomes. On one side, you’ve got those that make them, or have made them. They use the New Year as a fresh start – and they do so with varying levels of success. They invade gyms for two or three weeks … and often, and usually, go home. Sometimes, though, they break through … and it was a New Year’s Resolution that started it.

Then you’ve got the other side. The folks that not only don’t “do” New Year’s Resolutions, but they look down on those that do. Like this quote: “New Years resolutions are for the weak…if you live life being the best person you can be EVERY day, then you will have no reason to make yourself better one day out of the year!” Or this tweet from The Oatmeal:

My New Year’s resolution is to keep making fun of unmotivated people who make New Year’s resolutions.

— Matthew Inman (@Oatmeal) December 31, 2013

Now – I lean toward agreeing with the latter … if you do it right, you won’t need a resolution. But, see, it isn’t black and white, and it isn’t that easy. I’ve seen resolutions work – my Dad finally quit a 3-pack a day habit with a New Year’s Resolution. It was a reason, maybe it was an excuse, but it did it. Sometimes a resolution doesn’t work and is annoying – but sometimes it is able to provide that final push over the line.

So I don’t judge. I don’t really make resolutions, but I don’t judge.

Last year, on New Year’s Day, I went for a 3.1 mile run – I didn’t run a formal race, but I went out and did that. And while it wasn’t a resolution, it was the kick I needed to focus on a goal that had already been made. And so it worked like a resolution, I guess. And what made it all work was that the goals had been set.

And so this year, I’m going to articulate some goals. Not resolutions, exactly … but this is what I’m working toward in 2014.

Good luck in the coming year! May your goals be challenging but achievable, and may they provide you with a beacon to march toward.

Running:

1,000 miles

At least one race or running event every month

Finish the marathon … and not let it scare me from bigger goals

Nutrition:

Weight Watchers. Every day. It works.

Water. Consistently. Much more water.

Keep the bacon, egg, & cheese sandwich to Friday morning only … but drink a leaded Dr. Pepper with it.

Home:

Take my son camping. In such a way that he’ll want to go again.

Give my wife at least one day a month, every month, that’s just hers.

Cook more. I love it, but didn’t make it a priority this year. Change that.

Career:

Spend time, every day, making & revising my things-to-do list.

Two contacts a month. I hate “networking,” but it is just a reality.

Give my team Christmas presents.

Other:

Minimum of two blog entries per week through March. Up to four by the end of the year. Make the blog work.

One tweet per day. Every day. And try to make it meaningful.

Get the basement finished. All the way.

2013 Year-in-Review

2013 was a good year for me.

In November of 2012, I decided I was going to start running … and I made a handful of halting little tries. On and off throughout December, mostly walking, I think I wound up with 18 total miles in 6 weeks. But, I had registered for a 5K in March of 2013 and, struggle to move though I might, I made my mind hold on to the goal.

On January 1, 2013, in the middle of the afternoon, I drove to a local trail and ran a bit over a mile-and-a-half out and turned around and ran back – 3.1 miles. I mention the afternoon because that’s why I was on the trail instead of the road; running in the daytime was something I didn’t do much because I was embarrassed to be seen. That “baseline 5K” took me 49 minutes and 30 seconds, for a 15:43 / mile pace.

But I did it. And it felt good. And it made me start thinking that I could do it. And so, on January 3^rd, I got up at 5am, bundled up, walked out of the house, and made it about half a mile before the cold drove me back in. Epic fail. But I went back out on the 4^th, and then the 5^th, and then the 6^th. Eventually it became a habit, and then a bunch of goals … and it has since become, if not a passion, at least a hobby.

The rest is history.

In 2013, I went for a run 181 times, for a total of 679.7 miles – an average of 3.75 miles per run. I ran in 11 races, including a 4K, five 5Ks, two 10Ks, a 15K, a half marathon, and a Ragnar. I ran races in Central Park in the snow, on the beach in Los Angeles, on the runway of JFK airport in Queens, through the countryside of southeast Tennessee, and down the boardwalk of Virginia Beach. I’ve done training runs at the beach at the Hamptons on Long Island, down Duke of Glouchester Street in Colonial Williamsburg (dodging horse *ahem* piles the whole way), and in rural Arkansas. My 5K PR is now 31 minutes and 15 seconds – a full 18 minutes (18 minutes!) faster than that January 1 baseline.

And I lost 38.4 pounds. I went from an XXL (and sometimes XXXL) shirt to an XL … 48 inch (and sometimes 50) pants to 42 inch (and sometimes 40). From the last hole on my belt to the first hole on my belt. Well north to well south of 300 pounds.

2014 is going to bring bigger and better things – I’m putting pen to that paper now – but I believe that New Year’s Eve, and this week between Christmas and New Year, is a time to reflect on the past year. Upon reflection, I’m proud of this one.

How did your year go?

Rock and Roll Virginia Beach Finish Line

Just Shoot Me

Six times. In the last just over a year of running, I’ve been required (or at least made the decision) to run on a treadmill just six times.

Those include the last two days.

Seriously – I don’t know how people do it. If all of my miles had to be run like the 5 miles I ran today or the 3 I ran yesterday, I’d have quit months ago. Give me the fresh air and the scenery and, you know, real movement.

Back home, and back outside, tomorrow.

RR #10: Ted Corbitt Classic 15K

New York Road Runner’s races have always intimidated me. Based on what you see online, as well as what I saw when I visited as a spectator, this seems like an elite group of runners. So I’ve been reluctant to register for an NYRR race, if for no other reason than that I felt like I had to lose some more weight and get faster before I wouldn’t stick out. This one, however, just called to me, for several reasons. First – I needed a December race and this fit one of the only open time slots. Second – relatively rare distance, so automatic PR. Third – Central Park in December. So … I registered.

Controversy at the start. The weather, it was not so great. The temps were in the mid- to upper -20s, and up to 3” of snow was being forecast in the area for Saturday. However, and this was how I made my personal call, the snow was not supposed to really start in earnest until late morning or early afternoon. Well, the weather people got that wrong – about the time the race started, the snow started going strong. Many people felt that the combination of the temperatures and the snow should have led the NYRR to call off (or at least postpone) the race, or declare it a “fun run.”

The NYRR has a program for its members called the 9+1 program – if a member registers for and runs 9 qualifying NYRR races throughout the year, they get a guaranteed entry to the New York City Marathon. The Ted Corbitt Classic 15K is the last 9+1 qualifying race of the year, and many people counted on it to complete those requirements. Now, if the NYRR decides to cancel the race or call it a “fun run,” those that were registered for it didn’t need to actually run it to get their 9+1 credit. However, the decision was made to run this as a scored race as planned – and some folks who had to commute down to NYC to make it (like, for instance, me – though I wasn’t meeting any requirements) were pretty upset. They believed that it was unsafe to travel and the NYRR should have called it.

Not me. But taken at the race - these were the conditions. — Not me. But taken at the race – these were the conditions.

For my part, I had exactly zero problems commuting. Metro North is a beautiful thing. It was, however, holy balls cold. In order to minimize the time I was required to kill outside, I went into the city and picked up my bib on Friday afternoon – and I was glad I did. People everywhere.

We got lined up in our starting corrals, heard a couple of words from the President of the NYRR, the Star Spangled Banner, and we’re off. Those of us near the back had to wait about 5 minutes to get to the starting line, but the crowds thinned out pretty quickly – I had no problem running whatever pace I wanted. Because late arrivers and late registrants had to start at the back of the line, there were several people blowing by me at the beginning. It was not easy to keep it in check and start at an appropriate pace.

My overall impression throughout the race, and particularly in the early going, is that I wasn’t prepared. My two recent down weeks are still lingering. I also made some pretty basic mistakes. I had my usual pre-race oatmeal, but that wound up being nearly three and a half hours before I started running, so was probably gone. I didn’t eat anything after that, and probably didn’t have enough water. I also only brought one gel, when I routinely eat two and sometimes three of them on runs this long. I was basically running on a low fuel tank the whole time, and my energy levels made that very clear. After the race was over I got very light-headed, and had to sit for some time. If we’re thinking of races like this as practice for the marathon or other longer distances, I learned some very valuable lessons.

I also made the mistake of not adequately, um, eliminating prior to the race. #1 AND #2. Let us just say things got uncomfortable and move on from here.

Having said all of that, the run itself was quite gorgeous. The course is two loops around Central Park, starting at 102^nd Street on the east side, crossing over and running down the west side, and then doing one loop at 72^nd Street and then the other farther down, near 59^th Street. That’s a pretty dramatic course under normal circumstances – Strawberry Fields, the Columbus Statue, the Fred Lebow Statue, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, etc. and etc.

Now add snow. It was beautiful.

Central Park is known for rolling hills, which I overall found to not be too bad. The only one that was rough was coming up the east side, between the 72^nd Street traverse and the Met. I remember on the first loop thinking how much that hill was going to suck on the second loop. And I was right. But it is clearly a known commodity, because there were several people and groups lined up from the bottom to the top, encouraging us to “keep pushing up this hill.” Those people were great. They helped. And I gutted out that hill (and the last two miles, really) without ever walking. It was a great feeling to top out and know that I’d done that without walking – I’d conquered it, physically AND mentally.

I ran this at an 11:47 / mile pace, which is slower than I would have liked but really all I could expect given the last month of training. My finish was way near the bottom – out of 4,280 finishers, only about 260 finished behind me – which does prove out the theory that the people that run these things in NYC are no joke. This probably wasn’t helped by the weather, either – the people that came out to this one were the people that were willing to run in that weather. I’ve got to believe that will skew the finish times faster.

This volunteer, between miles 2&3 (and 5&6) was awesome and encouraging... — This volunteer, between miles 2&3 (and 5&6) was awesome and encouraging…

Methinks I’m now over my fear of the NYRR, so we’ll see what is out there going forward. I’ll certainly have this one on the list going forward – I hope I get to do it again next year.

Notes:

– At 3.22 miles on my watch (and about 8.5 miles for them) – the leaders lapped us. Even knowing they got a 5 minute or so head start as we were making our way down the corrals – holy crap. No, seriously – holy crap. By the time I got done running they were somewhere having brunch.

– Running in the snow is peaceful and beautiful when it is a gentle, straight down snow or when the wind is relatively low and coming from behind you. When it is blowing in your face? Not so much.

– Really disappointed in how poorly I handled the fueling situation. That was just a very preventable problem, and I won’t make that mistake again.

– Really happy, though, with my last two miles (including that big hill) – those miles were more mental than they were physical, and I was proud of having toughed it out. Turning the corner to see the finish line was glorious, though.

– In my head, I’d expected a nice, peaceful subway ride up to 103^rd Street from Grand Central, and a slightly snowy but mostly solitary stroll from the subway station over to the park. I have no idea where I got that silly idea, but, yeah, I was wrong. The 6-train was PACKED with runners. Bibs and running shoes everywhere. And it was worse going back the other way. I guess I’m a romantic – but my romanticism got shat upon this go ‘round.

– Based on my watch, my time at the 10K split would have knocked between three and four minutes off of my 10K PR. NYRR doesn’t do an official 10K split, though, so it doesn’t count. Feels good to know that I’m steadily improving.

– NYRR doesn’t really do SWAG – it keeps costs down for the races, which is part of their mission. All I got for this one was a long-sleeved cotton shirt. However, it was a very nice long-sleeved cotton shirt, with understated logos and sponsor logos. Also, it turns out I’m a big fan of bibs that are custom for individual races – colors and race names. I keep a scrapbook of my bibs, and the custom ones are so much more interesting to see.

– That was December’s race, which means the streak is up to 10 months. January, February, March, and April have also been registered for, so … onward!

– Next Race – Frosty 5k, Guilford, Connecticut … January 1.

Fred Lebow Memorial Statue, Central Park

Throwback Thursday Race Report – RR #7, Celtic Classic 5K

(I’m a member of the Running Fools board over on The Motley Fool, and when I started running again they were the ones I went to to talk about it. I’ve made it a point to do race reports after my events … and I’m going to be posting those throwback reports here to get us up-to-date. This was a good 5K, in Bethlehem, PA. This report was written in September, 2013. This is also the last “make-up” race report – anything posted after this one will be new stuff…)

So, I hadn’t run a 5K since early May, which was still relatively early in my running “career” … or at least in the sense that my mileage has dramatically increased since then. I was looking forward to this one, then, because it was pretty much a certain PR, in what was expected to be ideal conditions for a 5K.

Before the crowds thinned... — Before the crowds thinned…

There were probably in the neighborhood of 800 runners total at the race, which includes the folks that ran the 10K. It was, as expected, a beautiful morning, with a start/finish area near a stream underneath a huge, arching bridge … just a nice way to start a fall morning. Temps were a bit warmer than I would have thought – probably upper 50s / lower 60s, but once the sun came up the day warmed up well into the 70s.

Thanks for coming, national anthem, 3-2-1, gun. Lots of walkers, and there hadn’t been any discussion for them about lining up at the back and staying to the right, so the start was a bit of chaos. About the time that lined out we headed uphill for our only real climb, and then looped back around near the start line. At about a mile and a quarter, we went off onto a crushed gravel trail, and I was quite happy at the 5K / 10K split to be making the turn back to the start. Not that I didn’t feel good, just that I was running at a pace that was quite unsustainable for much more than the 5K. I wound up on a bit of an island for the last mile or so – nobody really in contact behind me, and the people in front of me quite aways up there. I almost reeled one of them in, but just ran out of course.

So the goal had been to try and really push throughout the race, and that’s what happened. I deliberately haven’t been listing my actual times on these reports, but this time it is relevant to the story – I finished in almost exactly 31 minutes (official results not yet posted – this is my Forerunner), which knocked 6 full minutes (six!)(count ‘em!) off of my previous PR. My stated goal was what I felt to be an almost inevitable 35 minutes, with my “outside chance” goal of 33 minutes being my real hope. At around mile 2 I knew I was going to be able to get to that, and the question was whether I’d have enough of a kick to push 30 minutes – the holy grail of fat guy 5K goals. Didn’t quite get there, but I am very happy with this race.

Notes:

– I registered for this one back in January, as part of my “register for the whole season at once” strategy for making sure I’d be prepared for the Ragnar. As a result, I was bib #2. More than one person noticed.

– Also, I didn’t realize that this race was part of a bigger event – the Celtic Classic is one of the largest Celtic heritage festivals in the country. The national championship Highland Games were there (and watching those guys throw the hammers was amazing), and we got to watch the parade with all of the pipe bands. My two-year old was completely enthralled. By the end of the day my legs were screaming at me, but it was an awfully good day.

– Met an interesting guy while we were waiting for the start – he lives fairly close to me, and is on his third time running through the country. He’d already done a marathon and a half-marathon in all 50 states, and was working his way through again running 10Ks – this was Pennsylvania. Fascinating guy to talk with – he’d started running in the 80s as a coping mechanism when he quit smoking, and it just never stopped.

– As happy as I was with my time, it didn’t take long to get humbled. I went and got my water and cookie, and just about the time I got back to cheer for more finishers … the 10K winners came through. Like 5 or 6 minutes behind me. They did 100% more distance in less than 20% more time. Yikes – I gotta keep working. 30 minute 5K or bust.

– Interesting swag – cotton shirt with the same logo this race has had for several years, the standard local coupons, pens, candy, used deck of playing cards from the local casino, and a light bulb (?).

– I’d already had September covered for the monthly streak, so I’m still at 7. I am officially registered for races in each month between now and March, and I’ve already got April and May picked out – so unless something happens, it’ll get to 15. As always, nobody is threatened by this at all.

– Next race – Ragnar Tennessee

Throwback Thursday Race Report – RR #6, Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon

(I’m a member of the Running Fools board over on The Motley Fool, and when I started running again they were the ones I went to to talk about it. I’ve made it a point to do race reports after my events … and I’m going to be posting those throwback reports here to get us up-to-date. This was my first half marathon, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This report was written in September, 2013.)

Short Version: I was warned (here http://boards.fool.com/so-rnr-half-is-an-ok-race-if-you-foll…) … but I did it.

And the longer version isn’t all that different from the short version – it was a miserably hot and humid day. They’re reporting that one person died (though that wasn’t necessarily the heat … it happened at the first mile marker and there was a lot of blood, apparently) and thirteen people had to be taken to the hospital with things like dehydration, heat stroke, etc. A week ago they were forecasting a high of 80, and it wound up being more like 90 and brutal humidity. Yeah.

My training, I think, was spot on. My really long run was a negative split 11-miler two weeks before the race. My taper went as planned, and I felt strong. I had the traditional pasta carbo-load the night before, and my traditional race morning breakfast of steel-cut oats. I couldn’t have done anything differently … I believe that.

The race started “right,” too. Miles 1, 2, & 3 were all the exact same pace and were exactly my goal pace. Mile 4 was only 10 seconds slower, but that was the mile where we had the hill. And mile 5 was about 45 seconds slower, but that was the first water stop that I actually used (I was carrying a water bottle so skipped the first handful of stops). So, through mile 5, my times reflect that my race strategy was going perfectly.

And then I completely melted down in Mile 6, and ran that mile and each subsequent mile nearly 2 minutes per mile slower than my goal pace. Holy crap. It was at the 10k split that I knew my “outside chance” goal was off the table, and by Mile 9 I knew my stated race goal was a goner. I and the people around me were like the walking dead at that point, shuffling through as best we could. By the time we got to the boardwalk for the last mile to the finish we were mostly only running when we saw photographers or because it just seemed like we should have.

I’d expected a total zoo in the chute after the finish line, but it wasn’t so bad – tons of people and tons of help. I almost passed out at one point before I got some food in me. But, well, I did it. I found out my chip time when I had it engraved on the back of my medal – which is something I felt I should do for my first half-marathon – and I wound up being just under 10 minutes slower than my stated goal time. But some friends I was running the race with confirmed what Kevin said in the link above – EVERYBODY runs this thing 15 – 30 minutes slower than they normally would. Which means I’m ecstatic about my finish.

Now for a bit of the personal before my usual notes – in April of 2012 I saw one of those pictures that you read about where I didn’t recognize myself, I’d gotten so fat. I stepped on a scale and the number scared me to death, and I signed up for Weight Watchers that week. I lost 35 pounds pretty quickly, but after a difficult summer gained 20 of it back just as quickly. I was in a funk and didn’t know what to do about it. And then a friend emailed me and told me about this Ragnar Relay he had just run and how much fun it was … and suggested that I might want to do it. And when I asked him if he thought I could, he said 100% and then said one of the more important things anybody has ever said to me. He said “and when you do, you’ll be one of the select few people who are able to say they actually followed through.” The running got me out of my funk, and since April of 2012 I have lost 55 pounds and completed a half-marathon that sent people to the hospital. And in October I’m going to run that Ragnar and follow through.

And it feels good.

Notes:

– I either overestimated how much entertainment there was going to be on the course or underestimated how important my iPod is to my training – because I missed it badly. I listen to audiobooks, not music, so it is merely a distraction and not an adrenaline boost – but there were times I could have used the distraction. I now have to determine whether I want to stop using it during my training or go ahead and use it during all future races.

– Even though I’ve spent years down there and I know it, it is always jarring to be reminded how much of a military town Virginia Beach is. The absolute best were the Navy guys at the Mile 5 water stop singing Anchors Aweigh – absolutely incredible. And there was also the man (and his daughters) running in honor of his son and carrying an American Flag through the race. To Kevin and all of the others on this board that have served or are serving – thank you for your sacrifice and your service.

– That was the last time I’ll ever run in that pair of shoes – which is the only one I’ve had since I started back up. 415 miles on those shoes, which means 415 miles since last November. In the grand scheme of things that is a relatively small number. But two years ago it might as well have been 4 million.

– I took nearly twice the GU that I normally do and it didn’t even move the needle. Did I mention it was hot and humid?

– Of course, because this was a Rock ‘n’ Roll event, holy crap there was a lot of support. The race swag was cool, and this was my first race expo. Which I enjoyed a rather lot. I am irrationally excited to be in legitimate possession of a 13.1 sticker.

– Having Frank Shorter at the start line was more motivational to me than I thought it would be. Seriously – there was an Olympic Gold Medalist right there. Smiling at us.

– Seven months in a row running a race, with races scheduled for October, November, and December. I’ll get to 10, at which point, all bets are off.

– I am officially announcing that I have signed up for the Rock ‘n’ Roll USA Marathon in March. It’s not that I’m partial to the Rock ‘n’ Roll folks, but more that the timing and the location worked with my calendar. My long runs are going to have to hurt less than that half did for me to stay excited about that distance.

– Next race: Celtic Classic 5k … and I intend to improve my 5k PR by several minutes. Seriously – I’m going to try and bomb this one.

I barely even remember this... — I barely even remember this…

The Runners

This is fascinating. Interviews with strangers … as they are running. I think more than anything this demonstrates the meditative side of running – these topics are clearly on these people’s minds…

An Anniversary

One year ago today I went for my first run. I set the alarm for 5am, laced up my brand new pair of shoes, and hit the door. And walked right into a light ice-fall – basically a misty rain with some frozen stuff in it.

But I went ahead and did my thing. And I started a log, one that I’ve kept for every run since. Here’s what I wrote after that first run:

“First Run!” was all I could think to say, really. In later notes, I talk about how I felt and what the struggles were – or I let the runner’s high get involved and write things like “Great run!”

After this one, though, there wasn’t much to say. I mostly walked. And I walked over to a parking lot near my house and ran around the building a couple of times … because I was embarrassed for anybody to actually see me. Several runs went by before I was able to run within eyesight of people. For that first half dozen runs, I ran in the service lane behind the shopping centers near my house.

Nobody uses those service lanes.

Especially at 5am.

If I’d wanted to use more space in that note, I would have said “That sucked!” And probably “Holy crap, my shins hurt!” And maybe even “What the hell am I doing this for again?” But I wanted to be positive, so I just wrote “First Run!”

For the record – after the second run, I wrote “Second Run!”

The ball started very slowly – in terms of frequency and volume AND speed. Look at that entry again – I got a mile and a half done in 30 minutes. In my last 5K I did 3.1 in 31. At the time I’d run for 30 seconds and walk until I could breathe again. The walking time was embarrassing. But I went for run #2, and then run #3. And eventually the frequency started improving. And the volume. And the speed.

In the last 365 days, I’ve gone running 181 times. What started with a mile and a half on a rainy icy morning turned into a year in which I ran 600 miles. 600! That number feels almost unbelievable now, but it is true. I’ve run 5Ks & 10Ks, a Ragnar and a Half Marathon. Zero to runner – that’s what it has been.

And it has been amazing.

I’ve been in a real funk lately – and then I’ve had my toe injury for the past week. But today I ran 2.5 miles. Tomorrow I’ll run my scheduled 4. This year I’m going to run a marathon, and no telling what else. And next year I’ll be as far away from today’s run as this run is from that very first one.

See you next year.

Ragnar Pictures!

OK – so I got the finish line pictures back from the Ragnar folks – and also got some pictures in from my teammates (hi, Sarah!) … so we gots pictures.

I’ve put a few back in the race report, but there are a few others that turned out pretty good, as well. So I’m putting all of these in one gallery here, to have them in one spot.

Ragnar!