Discontinuing...

I am discontinuing this blog... I have been writing two blogs for a while now, and decided to just merge the two together.  I ask that you please keep following me - over at my new blog.  http://www.knivesup.blogspot.com/.

Thanks!

My first early morning run

Tuesday - 6/21/11

Out and back through town

2 miles / 29 minutes

Went for a short run this morning.  This week, I started a new work schedule, giving me some extra time in the morning to work out.  Hopefully, it will allow me to be more consistent.

The run wasn’t too bad, just a quick out and back.  Did about two miles, in about 29 minutes.  Felt a little tight when I started, and loosened up as it went along, but there was some pain in my right ankle and calf muscle, but nothing too bad.  I tried to keep my heart rate in the monitor’s preprogrammed “zone”, which was between 127-143.  When I went over, I would walk, when I hit the lower end, I would start running again, which equated to about 2-3 minutes of running to 1 minute of walking.  Not sure if this was productive or not, but it seemed to work for me.

Since I was scheduled on the medic unit last night, I haven’t had a chance to set up my Garmin yet, but I plan to take care of that task tonight, and will hopefully be up for using it quickly.  I do want to do a few tests to see if the heart rate monitor and maybe the calorie burn figures are similar to the Polar HR monitor I’ve been using, just to see how things compare.  Really hoping this device will entice me to get out of bed more often than I have been!

Weekend in the Battlefields

Friday was one of the most exciting days I’ve had in a long time!  First, my parents were in town (granted, they came Wednesday, but mom wouldn’t let me take vacation, so Friday signified “the weekend with them”).  Second, my Garmin 310XT arrived!!!

Now, disclaimer time.  Even though it arrived on Friday, I knew I wouldn’t get to use it until after the weekend.  It would take time to get set up, time to get used to it, and I knew I would want to spend every second with the ‘rents.  I was ok with that…

Last night, when I got back to my apartment (and got laundry started…) I sat down and opened the box.  Even without a monitor on, I could feel my heart rate increasing…



My new Garmin 310XT, sans the baggies...

First, why do companies have to package every single little piece in it’s own plastic baggie?  What happened to putting all the pieces in cutout cardboard, with little twist ties?  So much easier.

The monitor was, as expected, a dead battery.  So it charged overnight.  Can’t wait to use it, although because I am riding the medic unit tonight, I doubt I will get to use it until tomorrow.  I will definitely spend part of my medic shift setting it up, though.

Now, for workouts… I haven’t been logging all of my workouts.  When I started this blog, I figured it would be a “running” blog, but I have been doing a LOT of walking, and while I have kept track of it, I haven’t always logged it here.  I probably won’t start, either, but felt it was worth mentioning, since I haven’t done a ton of running, either.  But I did run this Saturday, so…

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Run through part of Gettysburg Battlefield

3.74 miles / 55 min.

Back at it...

Oops, I forgot to report on my latest run.  First off, apologies.  I took off about 6 weeks, to let my legs heal.  I ended up deferring my Frederick 5k race until next year, and literally did not run at all for 6 weeks.  I walked a lot, though – not that it’s the same.

So for my first run, I knew I had to take it easy.  I planned to just do a 2 mile out and back (1 mile each way), walking as needed, but when I started, I decided to revise that.  I was really good about limiting how much I actually ran, and certainly how hard I ran, but I did a 4.7 mile loop.  I ran more at the beginning, and walked a bunch at the end, but I finished feeling great, and even the next day, didn't have much in the way of soreness, so I call that a win.  My stats for the run:  Monday evening, April 23, 2011 - warm and humid, 4.7 miles, 1hr 13 minutes, with an average heart rate of 138, which felt good to me.  I have to admit, my HR didn't seem to be the issue, as I thought it would be, but rather my lungs were the limiting factor.  Obviously, walking was not the cardio exercise I needed to maintain my lung strength.  But for a first run, I was pleased.

And then the bad news...

Three days later, I was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, bringing with it a nice painful cough.  So no running since then.  Joy.

I am revising my training plans a bit.  Starting this weekend (assuming I can breathe without coughing by then...) I am going to start a slow run/walk program to get me back to speed again, and while doing that, I'm going to also do the Insanity DVD program.  It's a three month program that is aimed at cardiovascular health and weight loss, and I am hoping that the combination of the DVDs and the running will get me healthy and prepared for the marathon.  I believe the Marine Corps training program starts at the end of June, so I need to be semi-ready for that.

I am also making some life changes.  I am going to change my work hours, so that I better utilize what little free time I have.  By moving my hours back one hour, I should be able to get up and run in the morning before work, without having to get up any earlier.  It will also eliminate wasted time after work, as most of my evening activities begin later and the time between was wasted watching tv or surfing the net.  Either way, we'll see how this works...

More to follow...

Irish Sprint 10K

Irish Spring 10K

March 26, 2011

Quantico Marine Corps Base

Quantico, Virginia

Well, that's over. It wasn't as bad as I had expected, but it wasn't great, either. But, I finished, chip time of 1:18:34. Placed 667 out of 714. I know I could've done better (aka, less walking...) but for the amount I trained (or didn't train...) I can't complain too much.

I chose to not run with my cell, aka GPS. Really wish I had, but oh well. I think I dressed a bit warm for the day, but at the time, I was freezing - it warmed up a decent amount during the run, so I guess that couldn't be helped. And it wasn't like I sweated buckets or anything - just had to pop my hat off a few times when the wind wasn't blowing.

The race started out ok - a big group of people running around a track. Hill #1 was getting out of the stadium. Lots of people were half-heartedly complaining that the first hill shouldn't be so early, and I agree. I ran a decent pace for the first mile, mostly because there was a wall of people in front of me preventing me from running off too quickly. I took my first walk break then, with a nice young lady who had a stitch. We chatted for a bit, and then jogged up Hill #2, a bridge, right after the first mile marker. One of those nasty bridges that if you go off too fast with your car, you're going airborne. Nice. She gave up about half way up and walked some more - I think the stitch was still bothering her - and I kept going. She passed me later on and looked like she finished strong.

From mile marker 1 to mile marker 2, we ran through the Air Station, which was awesome. It was right on the water, so there was a bit more breeze, but there were big helicopters taking off, and one big jet that took off and scared everyone. It was a nice diversion. HIll #3 came just before the water station, a long slow hill that wound through what looked like dorms. I ran and walked as needed. My legs hurt for a while, especially my right outer shin, but it was more of a burning than a hurt. I'm not real sure when it went away, but somewhere around mile marker 4 or so I realized it wasn't hurting anymore. Interesting change... About mile 2.5 was the first water station...a welcome sight, but I inhaled a bit of water and coughed some, which bothered me for awhile.

Mile 3 to mile 4 was flat, and boring, going through part of the base that looked like housing or offices... not much to look at. Right around mile 4 was a Pipe and Drum Corps, playing 'O Danny Boy'. They were great. As this was near the stadium, there was some bystanders along the road, cheering everyone on. This helped some.

Just after mile 4 was the second water station... I made sure to drink slowly, and tried to not take as big of drinks. It worked. And then began the death march... hill #4. It lasted from the water station to just before mile marker 5 - a long, slow uphill, through the woods (no wind...) with nothing to act as a distraction. The road was divided in two with cones - we ran up, did a u-turn, and ran down. So the entire run up, there's runners coming back down. I have to say, the most demoralizing sight is watching an eleven year old go sprinting down the hill while I am laboring to walk up it... definitely not a great motivator. But I made it to the top, did the u-turn and was able to coast most of the way back down the hill. Passing mile marker 5 was probably the biggest motivation - one mile left!

As we came back down the hill, you start to hear the noise from the stadium. The road wraps around the stadium bowl, and we would get occasional glimpses into it. The entire time, we could hear the music playing and the announcers calling out the names and times as people passed the finish line.

Rounding the corner to head down into the stadium, the Pipe and Drum Corps had moved so they were right there, and were playing another Irish tune. Running out onto the track was an odd feeling - all of the racers who had finished, and lots of spectators, were lining the track, cheering people on. We ran straight down the long end of the track, then circled around to the finish line - backwards from most track directions. This was weird, too, because I didn't get a good sight of the finish line until I was about fifty feet away from it. But I saw the clock there, and knew that I had met my goal of an hour and twenty minutes. I ran through the finish with a smile on my face - I'm pretty sure I was too tired to raise my arms in the air. I collected my coin (not a finishers medal, but a challenge coin...) and wandered over to the refreshments table.

After passing through the finishers tent, I mad sure to walk around for a bit, then stretched out some to make sure I didn't cramp up, Then I got my "door prize" - a sunglasses holder - and got in line for a massage. It was cool to talk to some of the other finishers, to feel part of the group, although it was a bit anti-climatic for me, not having anyone there cheering me on. After my massage, I made my way back to my car alone... most of the stadium had cleared out, the Marines were taking down the tents, and it felt as if I had missed the party or something.

It was a long two hour drive home, with lots of different thought processes going on. Happy I finished. Upset I hadn't trained better. Disappointed that I had to walk as much as I did. Content that I actually accomplished my goal, but discontent knowing I could have beaten it by a lot more if I had trained better.

I am still not sure I consider myself a runner, since I am pretty sure I did more walking than running. And now that I am home, my calf muscles are sore, my knees are stiff, and even though six miles is a lot for some, in runner's circles, it's really not that long of a distance, so I don't quite feel like I have much to brag about. We'll see how things progress in the future though...

But all in all, I finished, I met my goal of 1:20, and I didn't die... so 'SUCCESS' !!!

Do or die time...

Praying I don't die.

Well, there's not much time left now... tomorrow, I drive down to pick up my race pack. I plan to walk or drive the race course, if I can, just so I have a bit of knowledge of where I will be running. After that, I am planning to stop by the National Marathon's race expo, in DC. Hey, it's on the way home, anyways... :-)

Not sure how I feel. Not great, for sure, but not certain if it'll be good or bad. I have been taking it easy, so my legs should be rested. But I fear the pain... it almost seems inevitable at this point, though. I know I will finish, I just don't know how much walking there will be... and how fast I'll be moving the next day.

More to follow... (unless I die...)

Anyone have a towel?

Yeah, thinking I have wasted a couple hundred bucks...

Went for a short run after work this afternoon, before I have to go to the station for my duty shift. Planned to do a quick 2 mile out and back... needless to say, it was a wreck. Within the first mile, I had shin and ankle pain... not as painful as it has been in the past, but still painful enough to make me walk... and it never went away. Starting to think the shin splints are more like stress fractures...

I am supposed to run the Irish Spring 10k next weekend - 9 days away. How in the world am I going to go 6.2 miles if I cannot even go 2 miles at an easy pace.

And I will not even begin to talk about the marathon in October... like I said, I think the marathon entry fee was wasted money...