Race for the Dream 5k

So, I definitely am not good with keeping up with this blog. That doesn't mean I'm not keeping up with my running however.

I ran the Race for the Dream 5k this morning. My time was 29:59. That's about a 9:40 mile pace. I'm really happy with that. I also got 3rd in my age group (25-29). Ok, so that's out of 3 people, but who cares. I just really wanted to get the feel of a race atmosphere. I think I learned a lot. Most importantly, I think it's important to run at your pace and get out of other people's way.

All in all it's been a good morning of running. Now it's time to get ready for the Hokies vs. Boise State!

HOKIE HOKIE HOKIE HI!

That was tough...

6 miler this morning. 1:12.21. Not too bad a time, but man I was hurtin'. I walked a bit more than I would have liked, but I finished and at this point that's all that matters. I don't know what it was--maybe the 180% humidity, a crappy night's sleep thanks to the power going out and the dog wanting to jump on the bed after every clap of thunder, or still recovering from a 3.5 mile run (39:00) and a softball game on Thursday--but it was not a stellar effort on my part this morning. I'm really going to enjoy a rest day tomorrow.

Summer: I named my cat after Springsteen.
Tom: Cool...what was his name?
Summer: Bruce.
~(500) Days of Summer (watched most of it again this morning after the run...wasn't sure how I felt about it the first time I watched, but upon repeat viewings, I really think it's a great movie.)

And We're Back...

I'm back. I know you've missed me. Actually I was on vacation for a week and lazy the rest of the time (on the blog, not the training.) I'm still training and following the schedule as best I can. I did miss a 4-mile run last Saturday because we were traveling. I think I was feeling it this week too. Oh well, I'm back in the thick of it now. I ran 5 miles yesterday in 57:49. I was really happy with that time. The first 4 miles weren't too bad, but the last one kicked my butt. Anyway, back at it tomorrow and I promise to get better about blogging.


"KILL SHOT! He turned the gun sideways, that's a KILL SHOT!" -Date Night (a pretty funny movie, definitely worth a rental)

4 Mile Run #2

45:24

A little over a 3 minute improvement this time, although a slightly different course. Here's how it breaks down:

11:00 R
3:00 W
8:15 R (mile 2)
4:00 W
6:45 R
3:00 W
7:30 R
0:55 W/R (mile 4) - wanted to beat 44:30
3:00 W Cool down

Going to see Inception this afternoon and in honor of that here's a good quote from Leo:

"I'm the king of the world!"

Don't get any ideas, the more I see that movie, the more I wonder why it's considered to be so great. Oh well...

Still going...

I know it's been a while since I last posted. You get busy...

36:43

That was my time this morning on a 3 mile run. Turns out though, according to mapmyrun.com, I ran 3.2 miles, so that makes that time a little better. Either way I'm happy with it.

I forgot to write up a blog about my new shoes, so here's what happened.

I went to the New Balance store here in town for two reasons: 1) there the only place in town that I know of that actually fits you for shoes; 2) I've always felt that New Balances were comfortable to me. Anyway, so I got there and fortunately there was no one else there, so a helpful chap named Eliot begins by asking me a number of questions like: "What do you need the shoes for?" "How many miles do you run a week" etc. Once I've answered his questions and told him my plan to run the Athens Half, he measures both feet and then has me walk back and forth across the store a few times to determine my pronation. Then I stand on the insole machine to see if I need an insole. Of course I do.

After Eliot gathers all this information he brings me two pairs of shoes, size 10.5 EE. First off, I've worn a size 11 for as long as I can remember, and second I've never bought wide shoes despite my wife's statements that I have fat feet. Oh well, he's the expert. I try on one pair and wander around in them; they feel good. Then I try on the other pair and they feel pretty good but pinch my toes a little bit. "Not good," says Eliot. I agree and he suggests he put the insole in the other pair to see how they feel. While he does this, I wander the store in my socked feet checking out their outrageously priced running gear and other stuff like this. I instantly think of the scene in Juno where Paulie Bleeker puts deodorant on his thighs before running. I'm just not sure I can do that.

Anyway, then Eliot returns with my shoes, New Balance 760STs, plus insoles and I wander the store in them for a while. They fit great and feel good, so I decide to get them. Eliot recommends I wear them out so I can get used to the insole. He also recommends wearing them for an hour or so the next day and on some shorter runs before wearing them with the insoles on long runs. Apparently they can tire out your feet; who knew? Now for the bill...

$171.18!

I was expecting 100-something, but not that much. Oh well, all in the name of good health and running right?

So there's my shoe shopping experience. Eliot was very helpful and even told me that a group gets together on Tuesday nights to run/walk for 45 minutes leaving from the store. But, as you know if you've checked out my training schedule, Tuesdays are one of my rest days and I'm sticking to it.

Now I'll leave you with a quote from the aforementioned Juno:

Mac MacGuff: Did you see that coming when she sat us down here?

Bren MacGuff: Yeah, but I was hoping she was expelled or into hard drugs.

Mac MacGuff: That was my first instinct too. Or a D.W.I. Anything but this. Next time I see that Bleeker kid I'm going to punch him in the wiener.

By the way, Bren is played by the same person responsible for the last post's quote. Still can't name the movie?

4 Mile Run

48:35

Definitely pleased with that time. I ran more than I walked, so that was good. It was definitely more difficult running on sidewalks/roads than an indoor track, but I'd better get used to it. Overall the run looked like this:

10:45 - Run (mile 1)
2:30 - Walk
2:30 - R
2:15 - W
3:00 - R (mile 2)
4:00 - W (water)
3:00 - R
3:00 - W
2:00 - R
2:00 -W (mile 3)
2:00 -R
2:00 -W
2:00 - R
3:00 - W
1:35 - R (mile 4)
2:00 - W (cool down)

Not too shabby I think, especially for the stage I'm at in the training.

Going to get new shoes this afternoon. I'll post on them then.

"That's the shortest red light I've ever seen"

Can you name the movie?

100 days to go...

32:52

That was my time on my 3 mile run this afternoon. Not too shabby in my opinion. It was on an indoor track, but who can blame me in this heat and with thunderstorms looming. All in all it felt pretty good and actually was more comfortable running than walking, but I still had to take a few breaks. I ran the first 1.5 miles without a walking break so I think that's definitely a positive. Also, I must point out that this is the first time I've run anything close to this distance since high school and even then I rarely ran more than a mile and a half at a time.

So far so good sticking to the training schedule. Saturday is a 4 mile run and I'm going to be running outside, so that might tell me a little more, but for today I definitely felt like this thing was doable. Wish me luck!

Van Wilder: I've learned that you can't treat every situation as a life-and-death matter because you'll die a lot of times. Write that down.

Training Day 1

Training Day 1 is complete and I'm happy to report it went quite well I think. I didn't struggle to get out of bed too badly when the alarm went off at 6:00 this morning, some 45 minutes before usual. I completed my run in the allotted 18 minutes and fortunately did not end up too far from my front door. I believe I went just over a mile; not too far, but I'm sticking to the training regimen. All in all, a good first "run".

Two things to add about my training. First, new shoes will definitely be in order by this coming weekend. Second, I've decided to add some Wii Fit Yoga to my off days in hopes of improving flexibility and also forcing myself to get up at the same time everyday during the wee

As you may also notice, I have added a Weight Tracker to the right. I will enter my weight as I weigh each morning when I post to record how that effort goes. I've also added the blogs I currently follow and I'm sure more will be added. Check them out!

Now, if you haven't noticed, I'm planning to close each post with a movie quote, so here you go:

Coach Boone: We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let's go to work.

More than running...

As I mentioned in my first post, this is about more than just running a half-marathon. I'm also trying to lose weight and get in better shape in the process. One would think they would go hand in hand, but anyone who watched The Biggest Loser this past season saw that Daris ran a 4-hour marathon, but also gained 2 pounds while he was home (I know the being home had more to do with it). In an effort to actually lose weight as well, I'm going to be severely limiting or giving up a lot of foods and drinks that I really enjoy, such as:

• Sweet Tea/Soft Drinks -- Water and Unsweet Tea for me from now on, unless I need some Gatorade for training
• Fast Food -- this is one that will be unavoidable at times, but I'm going to learn to make smarter choices
• Candy/Chocolate -- another thing that shouldn't be too hard to do, but it's more about resisting temptations

Those are the major things I've thought of, but mostly it's about eating healthier and that will also involve eating several small meals a day. I went to the store today to stock up on healthy items. You would have thought I was suffering from scurvy with all the fruit I bought, but I know that is one of the best ways to get my vitamins, some fiber, and when paired with peanut butter, some protein.

Anyway, tomorrow the training begins. I'll be doing an interval run of 1 minute run then 2 minutes walk for 6 cycles. Shouldn't be too difficult and sounds like a good start. I'll report on the results tomorrow night.

And now for the obligatory movie quote:

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!"

-Forrest Gump

Behind Already...

So much for posting everyday right? Oh well, nobody's perfect. In all honesty I didn't share my plans in the first post anyway. This week has been my prep week anyway. I've mainly been trying to get my training schedule settled and get my mind around running 13.1 miles all at one time.

Anyway, I've bought myself a book, Complete Book of Running from Runner's World and also the most recent issue of Runner's World which has a feature on the half-marathon. I've really just started reading it, but so far so good. As one chapter put it, If Oprah can do it, so can You. You read me right, Oprah!?!

I've decided to use the training schedule outlined on the race's website here. I will start on Monday with the suggested interval training. Because it's so hot--starting training in Georgia in Summer, what was I thinking?--I'm planning to run in the morning before work three days a week and at our church's gym one afternoon a week. So that's the plan, now let's see how it goes.

As I've mentioned, I really like movies, so to end this post, here's a quote from one I watched the other day and really enjoy being a former baseball player and all:


Crash Davis: Yeah, I was in the show. I was in the show for 21 days once - the 21 greatest days of my life. You know, you never handle your luggage in the show, somebody else carries your bags. It was great. You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service, and the women all have long legs and brains.

Introduction

Ok, so here's the deal:

This blog's main purpose is to record my training for the Athens, GA Half Marathon on October 24, 2010 (athensgahalf.com). It will also document the hopefully associated weight loss and improved fitness along the way. In essence, it's an accountability tool for me to train and eat healthily in preparation for the half marathon.

It will be about more than that though. I will certainly take time to post about other things such as books, movies, food, my dog, and other aspects of my life. For example, this weekend, my wife and I saw How To Train Your Dragon and it might have replaced The Incredibles as my favorite animated movie.

I will try to post everyday, but I won't promise anything. Most posts will probably be short snippets of my training and eating habits; more for me than you. My posts likely won't be proofread and will mostly be off the cuff. If you are expecting masterful writing and absolutely awesome alliterations (see what I did there?), then this is the wrong blog for you. I don't anticipate being picked up by Outside Magazine or Runner's World to write a column or anything, but this is mainly a place where I can put my thoughts out there and focus on getting in shape at the same time. Also, I'm new to this whole blogging thing as well, so there will be some changes and hopefully improvements along the way, so bare with me.

With all that being said, I will conclude my first post with "Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion!"

And there off...