50 miler training
This will be interesting, blogging on two events on the same blog.  Today's blog is just a follow up to a post or two from 2013, about my desire to run a 50 mile run.  My goal was to do it this year, but because of injuries, it aint happening.

I was on a rehabilitation run today, 2 1/2 to 3 miles.  I started out running a minute and then walking a minute and repeating.  I then upped it to run 2 minutes walk one minute and then 3\1 back to 2\1.

Rehab is hard because I know I used to do so many more miles and feel somewhat funny run walking at these times a pace.  I am going to have to be conscious of my rehabilitation.

June 26, 2014

A couple weeks ago a friend, Nonie, IM'd me and asked if I would like to hike in Costa Rica.  I said I had never thought about it.  It might be fun.  It would give me a reason to get my passport, a task I have been putting off for a number of years.  She told me a friend asked her to go , but she wasn't prepared to hike for 9 days.  Then asked if I would be interested.  I said yes.

I mentioned this to a few people that night and they all got excited "YES" they exclaimed.  The next morning on my ferry commute, I was walking my rounds on the sun deck and started smiling and getting excited about the possibility and the planning. 

My disclaimer here.  I have never travelled outside the U.S. except for a few hours in Canada and Mexico, so this was stepping outside the box for me.  I had agreed to travel with someone I had never met - not knowing if they were male or female - this is another thing that is way outside the box for me.  Turns out the friend is female, and Nonie tells me she is nice and pretty.  She is at least 50% right, the woman is beautiful.

We are having difficulty meeting, I cancelled the first meeting because I was sick and wanted to make a good first impression; but, as you know, when you have a sinus infection and haven't slept, your eyes are going to be red, watery and puffy.  Your face may be swollen and your brain somewhere else and you can't carry on a conversation.  Your eyes may gloss over and your partner may think you are not interested in what they are saying.  Not to mention the bouts of hacking and snuffling. 

We were suppose to meet this afternoon for coffee, but she had a meeting and now I am waiting to hear if we will meet tomorrow after work.

I have filled out my passport application, started rounding up documentation to take with me to me interview.  I have located an office in Poulsbo and have their phone number so I can call and make an appointment

So where I stand right now is I have agreed to go to a foreign country, with someone I don't know, I'm excited about it and have started the process for my passport.

If we meet and don't click and the trip doesn't get off the ground, it is still a win for me.  I have stretched my boundaries and I will have my passport.

Ran the Pt. Gamble trails yesterday, Sunday 12/29/2013. I was out on the trails about 2h 5m, the time keeping from Google Tracks which registered my time on trail but no distance. It seems the application is not smart enough to turn the GPS on, it just told me one wasn't available. I discovered how to turn the GPS on after returning home and having an opportunity to research the problem.

I am not sure how far I ran, but it was enough to hurt my legs and I did have to walk the last mile back to the car. I wonder if it is smart to run further than you can run back. I can see the benefit of doing so, I get a cool down walk, I also push myself to run a little further – walk – run – walk. I am wondering also, if this type of training would, instead of training me to run further would train me to give up before reaching the finish line, since I would be used to walking the last mile or so,

There were many times I wanted to just stop, turn around and head back to the car, but I kept going and in fact actually chose to run further at one point; this is probably the extension that caused me to walk the last mile. The benefit of adding to the run when I did, is that I got more comfortable with a seldom used route, and I found more roads to research and add to my route, to add variety. and distance.

I am already 1 5K down on my running goals so will need to pick another one up, maybe in Feburary as I am suppose to do a 5K and a 10 K this month, or I will do 2 5Ks this month and move the 10K to February.

Yesterday, my plan was to run on the trails today.  However, I had a bad night.  I didn't sleep well, I woke up itching.  I went to see my son yesterday and he has like, six cats and I am slightly allergic to them.  I alos took him to dinner and we had Thai food... it is possible that I was allergic to something in the food.  Needless to say, I slept very late and did not feel like running.  Then the Seahawks were on, the one and clenched the division title and home field advantage for the playoffs. 

I did some chores and went to Jeannie's to turn the water off that I had left running for last weeks cold spells.  I then went to Costco and returned home.  I then started cleaning my kitchen closet, there is a lot I need to cull from there so I have room.  Things I couldn't get rid of while Jeannie was alive.  Well, now I have to sort that and donate it to Goodwill -  I also have other stuff to clear out of my life and declutter my life.

Well since this post is about training for the runs I have planned in the next 16 months, I did run 3.1 miles on the treadmill - it took 37 minutes, I burned 530 calories and did most of the running on an incline.  I also did 25 reps with a 35lb kettlebell that I picked up at Play it again sports.  I am foing to do those everyday and see how it improves my shoulder.

Another good piece of news is that my back did not tighten up tonight.  I hope it is a sign that it wont when I am on the trails.

Today, after a week of sub-freezing temperatures in my garage, I was able to run on the treadmill.  2.39 miles in 30 minutes.  I have a long way to go in order to meet my goals, but all it will take is training and perseverance.

I need to remember that training doesn't mean I am running at race distance and speed, but that I am building distance, speed and endurance.  I am training my body to work for long periods of time.

Training means that I am building to my goals and that I am getting better each day that I train; even on those days that I run a shorter distance at a slower speed.

Food is important in training and exercise.  Over the last few years, I have learned a lot about the food I have been feeding myself.  The sugars, trans-fats - GMO foods, the feed lot raised beef, poultry and pork.  I know I need to purchase organic and grass fed meats, but I bulk at the expense.  I know I need to cut out the sugars, grains and phoney fats, but I still find myself back sliding and gorging myself on them.  Yet these are not failures, but setbacks.  They are lessons learned.  I don't have to start over, but just pick myself up and continue on.  Each good meal and food choice I make is better than not doing anything at all.

Runners World sent me an e-mail with a teaser - Runners giving up glutton - buy our glutton free cookbook.  I wonder how they are carb-loading now?

Turkey Trot 2013 - Bainbridge Island, WA

 

Today was the 1^st 5K race in my 18 month running goals.

Last Saturday, I finished putting my NordicTrak C900i treadmill together. I ran a 5K on it that night, and then on Sunday I rowed 500 cals, about 20 minutes and then ran about 2.6 miles before accidently pulling the key off the treadmill, shutting it down and erasing the stats. On Monday I did Crossfit and then Tuesday and Wednesday I rested in preperation for today's Turkey Trot.

My friend Kat joined me for the run; she is interested in taking up running and doing some training runs on the weekends. It would be nice to have a training partner. Today was her first 5K and she did great. It was harder for me to do the run and I am confident that she could have had a better time, if she was running alone, but she said that negates the point of running a race together. Her attitude will probably change after she gets a few races under her belt.

I am happy with my time, I think the time I saw on the clock at the finish line was the race clock and we came in at 30:55. We had a really slow start, walking to and across the start line before we could start running, so that did affect our time. I am waiting for them to post the official results to see what our actual time is.

I had to walk a couple times for about 30 seconds, but that is fine. Whatever my time turns out to be, it will be a baseline for this year, something to improve on.

Just set some new goals/dreams and thought I would start writing them down and doing updates.  If they are seen, cool.  If not, cool.  I had fun when I did this while preparing for my trip to Alaska to hike the Chilkoot trail.  Now, I have set some running goals for the next 18 months.  Some are easy and others a progressively harder.  Here they are:

18 Month running Goals – November 2013 to April 2015

1 - 5K q month
1 - 10K q 2 months
1 – 1/2 marathon
1 – 25K
1 – marathon
1 – 50K
1 – 50 mile run

I am doing CrossFit, I started CrossFit to help with my running, and as I got stronger, I thought "I am actually able to compete (CrossFit) in my age bracket."  That is when I probably did some stupid stuff and injured and re-injured some old injuries.  I recently re-evaluated what I wanted - healthwise - and determined that I want to be healthy and fit.  I want to be able to run and show strong in my division, which if I had kept in running shape, I would have been able to do this past year, but because of injuries, I didn't run and did very little CrossFit.  So now I am starting over.

So here is the plan: CrossFit to strengthen my legs and core and to increase cardio vascular system, and running to improve and compete.  I purchased a Concept 2 rower to help with my cardio and core and an additional benefit is that it is helping with my shoulder injury.  I just purchased a NordicTrac C900i treadmill so I can run 3 or 4 evenings a week during the winter and spring months.

My outdoor runs will probably be on Sundays.  Also hiking, snow shoeing and cross country skiing are on the books for this winter.

I hope I keep motivated to update this blog at least weekly.

My first 5K run is on Thanksgiving morning.