The Last Hard Day of Work

This past week was an up and down time of training.  After running 21 miles a couple weeks ago, my body was in no mood to continue running again.  This came into true fruition after I ran only two times last week, both five mile runs.   However, I was preparing for a 5k on Saturday which went really well.

A quick race recap:
The day was cold and it was raining all evening the night before causing the trail to be very slipper and full of leaves.  It seemed like it was going to be a slow race and I would just give it my best.  With my lack of warming up as usual, I walked...shivering... to the starting line.  At the very last second I decided not to go with my headphones and handed them off.

With the start of the race we had to make a 180 turn which caused a big slow down in addition to every turn needing to be taken slowly for fear of falling.  I started out in second after 100 yards and was quickly passed by a teen running in 5 fingers.  This is basically how the race progressed till the end.  I was around 50 meters from second the entire time while the guy in first really took off. 

I was hoping to finish around 19:00 to improve on my last 5k time.  I came around the final turn realizing that I had a chance to break 18:00!  However I was unable to do so but still finished in 18:01!  I received a trophy for finishing 3rd overall!  So many new PR's and records and just a great time!

After the 5k and frisbee Sunday, I had very little interest in running the 21 I was supposed to over the weekend.  I had thought to myself that with the last 21 I ran, I could get away with skipping this one.  I decided to research it on Monday after my class before I went on a basic run and came across a good quote about the final long run. 'This is the last day you will have to work hard until marathon day'.  Taking this to heart, I tied on my shoes and left to run 21 miles.

The first half was okay, a little over marathon pace coming in a 1:26 (2 minutes above).  The second half I really pushed myself and just kept on saying 'last day to work hard'.  I finished the second half in 1:20 (4 minutes before pace).  I felt great! Tired! and Great!

I feel that I am heading into the marathon now as prepared as I could ever be.  Basically through the soreness and all I am at a point where I could just say, 'you know, why dont I run 21 miles today?' and just go do it!

Less than 3 weeks to the marathon, pushing forward.  Its all downhill from here.

Five Goals To Marathon Day

One thing I have prided myself on for some time has been my goal oriented self.  I carry around a goal sheet in my wallet for the past few years of long term goals I have wanted to accomplish.  Out of the 10, I am very proud and happy to say I have 3ish to go (ish... maybe will explain at a later point).  In preparation for the Baltimore Marathon in just over 30 days, I have thought about what it means to me and what I want to accomplish.

With this, I came up with five goals I want to accomplish by the end of the Baltimore Marathon.  Again with my same goal regulations of they have to be tangibly attainable goals, not 'moral' goals.

1. Eat well for 30 days up to the marathon.

Yea, yea, some days I eat well... but honestly most days I tend to drift the other way.  All the running I do helps maintain my weight though which is good and I am happy to say I am yet to put on weight.  I read a fair amount into how eating well allows better running and overall fitness.  I want to be as fit as I can come marathon day and so leading up to the marathon I will take care of my body food wise for 30 days real well.

2. Race day weight of 175
This is the loftiest goal out of the five.  It means losing around 10 lbs which I believe is possible.  Especially with eating well and taking care of myself for 30 days I think it is going to happen.  It will be super hard but if it wasn't hard, what would be the point?  Having a lighter race day weight will also make it easier to run and again, I want to be in super duper shape.  It is possible!

3. Run one 5k race previous to the marathon
I haven't had a chance to run any of the races I planned to heading up to the marathon.  I really enjoy the races and miss them.  In an attempt to really work on this one, I am already signed up for the Shaker Nature Center 5k on the 24th I believe, next Saturday.  If all goes well, I want to break 20 minutes again... maybe even 19:00.

4. Do 30 strait pushpins
If there is one thing I lack at, it is upper body strength.  Since I started my run training, I have really lacked in the muscle toning.  If every day I work on some abs and push-ups, I think no problem I can hit 30 push-ups in a row after 30 days.  I can also work on some new exercises for my app development... more on that in the future...

5. Finish the Baltimore Marathon
I was originally thinking finish the marathon sub 3:30... but that was my goal for the Cleveland Marathon and I know how that ended up... I will start with just the ideal of finishing a marathon, and I WILL.

Anyone else really goal oriented?  Any goals they want to share?

45 Days and Counting

Today marked 45 days and counting until the Baltimore Marathon.  This was quite the eventful week for me too in regards to that.  For the second strait week, I had a very good week of running.  I ran 44 total miles and my 7 mile time was one of my best ever (I almost beat it today, but slowed up between miles 3-4).  Even my long run of 17 miles was ran below my marathon goal pace.

This all led me to officially signing up for the Baltimore Marathon.  This past week I registered, sent in my shirt size and am gearing up to go.  I would like to thank my mom for taking care of the registration as my birthday gift.  I look forward to using it to finish my first marathon.

School has started this week causing life to need a little balancing.  With all the classes I am taking and all the driving (out to Orrville, OH twice a week), it is going to take me a few days to figure out a new routine.  I didn't run the first two days this week but was resting Monday and just didn't find the time or energy to do it yesterday.  Today I pushed out my 7 miles and think I may need to start running mid day.  Going to have to start bearing with the heat! Haha, just kidding, its CLEVELAND!  The mid day temps are already not bad at all.

As I am here eating my hearty salad for lunch, I figure with 45 days to go, 'Lets see what I can do'.  I have already beyond surprised myself at my new fitness and running ability/passion.  I wonder with 45 days of being super good with eating and running, what pre-race fitness level could I attain?  Judy has been strong with me while kicking sugar to the road for 30 days and that is half way through.  This wont be too hard to add to it?  Will it?

Sign Me Up!

I had a really good training week this past week.  It was quite hard to push through at a point but made it through.  A quick recap of the work:
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - 1 mile warm up, 3x 1 mile runs, 1 mile cool down
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - 7 miles
Friday - 10.5 miles
Saturday - 15.5 miles
Total -41 miles

With such a good week, I am going to start running with a watch again to really work towards the marathon. I even ran today and made my 3 miles in 19:20 which was pretty good.  The biggest part of all this is that now I will be signing up for the marathon.  Baltimore Marathon, here I come!

Baltimore Marathon Running Festival 2012

Before I sign up for the marathon, I have started to look through their charity pages.  I have never tried to run for a charity before and am interested in learning more about it.  The one that really caught my eye was the Best Buddies charity that worked on inclusion in schools and professional positions.  I sent them an email and am waiting to hear back on more information.

Best Buddies Maryland Charity

I am going to poke around a few blogs too and ask some fellow runners if they have ran for charities in the past and why they chose who they did.

Stay classy Cleveland, OH

Is it really a success?

So this past week, I finally hit my goal of breaking 100 lbs in weight loss.  I weighed in at 183 Wednesday morning and from my original base of 285 that is 102 lbs overall so far.  The whole time since then though it has not been such a 'joyous occasion' as I was expecting it to be.  It is very great in my mind that I am at an acceptable weight that is healthy, lowers my chances of diseases, I worry less about diabetes and other issues.  Overall healthy.

What comes to mind though that I cant get out of my head is everyone keeps on saying nice things to me about how well I have done losing weight, but what about before?  People don't go walking around saying to fit people, nice job, looking good, way to get it done.  Maybe they do for workout partners.  I high five Donny after a hard workout, mentally wish people good luck in the gym when I see someone struggling, and so on.

The biggest issue is that do I really deserve people saying great job for the weight loss?  It is more so because now I am at a healthy weight, but what did I do before?  How horribly was I disrespecting myself as a person before to even get to 285 in the first place?  People who don't have to go through this already respect their bodies in a way that wont cause a weight loss.  I think it is great that people work hard to lose weight and it is difficult, but it comes down to what was I doing to myself to let this happen in the first place.

I dont mean to be disrespectful but I do get disgusted going to fast food restaurants and seeing the people there eating.  There is a sense that I get looking around and thinking to myself what I used to do to myself and the results of it.  Now I am healthier but the USA and the world needs to start learning to respect themselves.  I keep thinking to myself when I get a craving 'I need to eat tomorrow too, why not wait to eat this extra food until then.'  The theory is there is always tomorrow, no need to gorge anymore today.

Its not about if, but when it will happen...

There are times when I think to myself that I have gotten over all my injuries.  I think my body is finally realizing the ability it has and is strong enough to push through after the weight loss and changing of lifestyles and running styles.  However, I think the new thought is not if something will happen anymore but when.  I have worked hard the last 2.5 weeks in my beginning preparations for the Baltimore Marathon.   This past Wednesday during my ultimate frisbee game (which we won!), I rolled my ankle.

Rolled might be an awkward way of putting it.  When it happened there wasn't pain, I just heard a pop or snap.  It hurt though when I tried to continue to run and kept on rolling lightly... just became plenty weak.  I took myself out of the game after a few points but played the final point.  We were tied and won like 16-15 or something like that, by one.

The point I am getting to is that injuries happen and I am realizing slowly that when they happen, it is about doing what is right and healing correctly.  I do not have swelling and no pain when I walk, but it hurts and easily bends and is painful then.  I am still icing, resting and getting it back.

There was a time before when I would think I am strong enough to work through it and continue to run through the pain... then I was out for 6 months.

I am waiting until Monday to start running again to give myself the opportunity to heal as much as possible.  I do not believe missing half a week will affect me too much in my overall training.  Things like this just happen and I am learning it is not about getting frustrated with it but just roll with the punches and just do what is possible.

Almost There and New Running Partner

So as promised, I did my Monday weigh in today.  I weighed 186!  I have 1 more lb to go until I reach my 100 lb mark.  For the next two weeks (the final two weeks in my 30 good days) I will be working hard to lose some more weight so I can stabilize at and below 185.  There is still some fat to lose and I am planning on taking the winter months after the marathon to really work on fitness and cut back on the running then.

On a more running oriented note, this past week I started running with a new partner... NPR.  I will admit that I believe I am addicted to NPR.  I listen to it all the time and if you are around me, the words 'so I was listening to NPR and...' come out plenty of times throughout the day.  My friend Doug who I met in Israel mentioned before that he ran to pod-casts or books on tape.  I decided to run to NPR this past Saturday during my long run.  Great idea!

I ended up listening to the news for the first twenty minutes and then Car Talk came on for the last hour of the run.  It was funny, intriguing and great.  Something that I dont always need to pay attention to but to pop in and out of was great.  I really enjoyed it and even ran to NPR for my 3 mile run today with Cody.

Cody is coming along well.  We ran again today for 3.25 miles.  It was a pretty slow pace after the first half but he is slowly going to get better and better!  He seems to enjoy it so we will keep on working.  He seems to get really worked up while running and tends to bark and other dark meanly or other passerby'ers (I am making up words... yes) occasionally.  It is something I am trying to reel in but will do some research on this week to see what others say.

Week three is in progress!  Stay classy Cleveland, Ohio!