Monthly Archives: May 2009

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”
Frank Shorter

“There are clubs you can’t belong to, neighborhoods you can’t live in, schools you can’t get into, but the roads are always open.”
Nike

Getting your runs in is not always easy.  You are not able to always easily get your runs in just as you had planned.  The one thing needed that I continually try to work on is my schedule.  I can become pretty rigid but I have been working on being more flexible and when and how to get my runs in.  I hate to be the dictator or everyone who is around me in regards to their time.  I try do to what I can.  If it means delaying a run, or pulling a double on a day or two.  I always try to remember my running plan is the guide not the law.  Do what you can but get those runs in.  Flexibility is the key.

As you go out on your long run this weekend I have some random things I have been thinking about while running the past couple of weeks.

Why are you running?  Who are you running for?  What is this doing to you and for you?  What do you hope to get out of it?

I just encourage you to unplug the Ipod this weekend and think about these things while you run.

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”
- Steve Prefontaine

I was really unsure of what to expect for the race on Saturday as my last run before the race was anything but positive.  It felt like every muscle and joint in my legs had revolted.  I had also just spent 2 full days on my feet which I don’t usually do.  All that being said I was still hopeful of doing well.

I was going down with my family to run in the race.  This is a real first to have so many in my family together for a race.  My mom, dad, sister, aunt and my wife.  This was probably the real highlight of the day.  Looking and seeing so many in my family supporting a great cause and running to stay healthy.  That was great to see.  This was my wife’s second 5K and second race.  She did this race last year.  She managed to beat her time this year and doing so with little training.  She did a great job.  My dad also set a PR with his 5K time.  My mom, her sister and my aunt also had great races.

We got out that morning and the weather was pretty ideal.  A nice cool breeze to start the day.  As we began to line up for the race I noticed this would be anything but organized.  We could not hear anything going on behind us which is where the stage was.  Before I knew it we were off and running.  As we start the first thing that greeted us was a hill on an overpass.  The first thing that greeted me were the two days of standing and lifting boxes!  My lower back began to scream at me a little bit to start off.  After the first quarter of a mile I had convinced myself this would not be my day.  I did not feel good, it was too crowded and the hills!  I had forgotten about the hills on this course.  Not exactly a PR friendly course.  The first mile especially was tough because of hills.  This also provided some good news though.  The hills really seemed to thin out the crowd.

All that being said it made for a slower than preferred first mile.  I knew my pace needed to be a 6:26 to get under 20 minutes.  That made my first mile a 6:37.  As this point I was still not feeling confident about the PR.  The good news is that I really began to loosen up and feel good by this point.  Once I began to take on the second mile I felt normal and was really able to make up some ground.  There were a few hills on mile 2 but more down than up.  By the time it was all said and done for mile number two I made up any ground I lost from the first mile and I was back on track with a 6:10 second mile.  With 1.1 miles left I knew it would be close.

I felt tired at this point but knew I could just lay it all out there for another mile and I had a good chance at a PR and running under 20 minutes.  The good news is that the last mile is the flatest of the race so it really allowed me to pour it on and feel strong.  As I finsihed mile 3 in 6:16 I was confident that I might be able to hang on and I would probably get the PR.  I made one last turn and knew I was close and enjoyed seeing a downhill finish line.  19:44 was the final time on the clock.

A great experience and I was very happy about the end result.  I had not put much concentration on a 5K time in quite a while so it was exciting to be able to get a PR in this race.

It really is a nice race for a great cause and it seems like it is becoming a mother’s day weekend tradition for my family.  It is about 15,000 people strong so it also makes for a great experience with all of the runners and walkers.  I highly recommend you give this one a shot for next year.

Next up for me is the Peachtree Road Race.  Another tradition for my family.  I can’t imagine not running the Peachtree Road Race.  As fun as the Disney Marathon is becoming for me each year, the Peachtree is one I would never miss.  Two years ago I ran a 42:15.  They had to change the finish last year and the end of the race was up hill!  That was tough.  It sounds like this year will be back to normal with the same finish we are used to.  So badly wanting under 42 minutes and missing so close by 16 seconds.  I have just under 8 weeks.  I will keep you posted.  Hope to see you at the Peachtree!

Six years ago today, I received the motivation I needed to make some changes in my life. 

On the way home from the hospital with this little guy I knew I wanted to make some changes.  This was the best time to take action.  I wanted to be the best example I could of how to live your life.  Still aiming for that and missing a lot!  But I am trying!  I have made some major changes and dropped some serious weight in the last six years.  Six years ago I was a couch dweller and I am very thankful for the changes that I made.  I needed the motivation and this little guy gave it to me.  Every marathon, ultra-marathon and race that I run I do so because of my two boys.  At the beginning, middle and end of my races my thoughts always to go my boys for giving me the motivation and my wife for knowing how much I need to run.  Thanks boys!  I needed just a little push.  Happy Birthday!

Good luck on your long runs and races this weekend.  I will let you know how Saturday goes.  Run Strong

The definition is to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning

to continue to exist especially past a usual, expected, or normal time

So with Mother’s day approaching I thought I would put down a couple of thoughts.  One of the things I am really excited about is that both my mom and dad are training to run the Disney Half Marathon this January.  I can promise you that there are the exception and not the rule.  It is great to have parents who are out running a race like this.  This will be number three for my dad and the first for my mom.

Much of my persistency I picked up from them.  Growing up we had good time and bad times.  I don’t think we really had rough times but then again I don’t think I would have noticed.  The attitude I always observed was, “Well this is the situation so let’s just deal with it and move on.”

I imagine much of this is what drives me today to attempt the things I might have always seen as impossible to me.  At least when you are backed in the corner or fall flat on your face you don’t really need a navigator to help you at this point.  You just know that you have to keep moving forward.  I owe a lot to my parents for not really teaching but living out by example the idea of not quitting.  I have dealt with tough times in the past and I am sure I have some just around the corner.

To take a great line from one of my favorite Disney Movie quotes, “Just Keep Moving Forward”.  (Meet the Robinson’s)

Happy Mother’s day Mom!

We are 4 months into the new year.  Many people in the new year I am sure set goals and resolutions about changes they would like to make in themselves for 2009.  I was reading a page in a devotional this past week and come upon this quote, “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one’s thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The follow through is always the hardest part.  That being said we are only four months into the new year.  There is plenty of time to make course changes at this point.  Anyone can make a resolution in January.  Why don’t you do a check up with where you are at today.  See where you are at with what changes you wanted to make and adjust on the fly.  It is a good time to evaluate your progress for this year so you have plenty of time to make some changes.

I have seen many tools and websites that are designed to help you predict your time and what you should run.  I think they are very helpful and certainly serve a purpose.  Especially for training and your training paces.  The one thing I don’t think anyone can do is use them for a race predictor.  There are so many variables that go into it.  From the course, you how feel and just how you legs respond on race day. 

The interesting thing about this weekend is that I have not really trained for a speed 5K in about three years.  I ran one about 2 years but that was with no training.  I am certainly prepared to run but I am not so certain about how ready I am for a PR.  I guess there is only one way to find out eh!

Both of my runs went real well this weekend as I dodged the thunderstorms to get them both in.  I did 10.6 on Saturday and 6 X 200 meter sprints on Sunday.  Not real sure what to expect this saturday for the 5K.  I would really like to set a PR but I don’t know if that can happen.  I suppose it might just depend on how I feel this weekend.

I mentioned Steve Prefontaine earlier this week.  I thought you might want to take a look at the following videos.  Enjoy a look into a running legend.  We run today because of running legends like, Steve Prefontaine, Bill Rogers, Jeff Galloway, Hal Higdon.  When I compete and when I run my mind goes back to these running legends.

So earlier this week I wrote about running for joy.  Don’t get me wrong I really do just love to get out on the trail or road and just run.  However that being said I really love competition.  Whether it be against others or the clock.  Sometimes this makes it hard to just get out and enjoy running with no goal or competition.  Allow me to ruminate on this for a moment.  This week I had scheduled an easy run in between a tempo run and a fast run.  This day should allow me just to take it easy.  Overall I pretty much did but I could have done much better as I still ran at a faster pace than I should have.  When I started my run I saw a runner who had started a few minutes ahead of me and for some reason my instincts took over with the need to pass him.

It was not a race and there was no need for it but I don’t like to be passed and I don’t like to be behind anyone.  I always want to be in the front.  If there are no runners around this still can be a problem by looking at my watch.  Somehow I get it in my mind I need to run a certain pace or I want to run my next mile faster than my previous mile.

This is where it is good for me sometimes to just take off the watch and GPS on an easy day and just relax and run.  Having said all of that I would not change this about me.  What makes me like this in training also makes me this way on race day.  I really only know one way to run and one way to live.  Go as fast as I can for as long as I can and then hold on for dear life!  Not the greatest strategy to run a marathon I know but it is the way I am. 

I don’t know how to be partially bought into something or partially interested in a topic.  I am interested in just a few things in life, not very many.  However the few things I am interested in, I am consumed with.

Something to think about over the weekend for your long run, or while you are just taking it easy.  What are you consumed with? 

And yes, I did pass him