Busy life

Life has finally caught up to me big time. School is almost over but that means dance recitals, t-ball, fathers day, anniversaries, b-days, vacation, you name it... Oh and Allergies. I put in my best week of running in 2009 last week. I think I was a mile short of 50. Considering I'm going to run the full Buckeye 50k in around 8 weeks this is a good thing. I actually think I'm ahead of where I planned on being (if you can ever be ahead of training for a 50k).

Well this week has been rough though. The allergies have lead to eyes that won't open in the morning and a full head. I was going to run this morning but the Benadryl ruined that idea. The 9+ hours of sleep were probably more necessary then I would like to admit but it is killing my week. I've only got in 11 miles. Hoping to hit the towpath at lunch to stat fixing this. Then I've got a 15 mile run planned on the trails Saturday. With the long weekend maybe I can get in some extra.

Well just taking a moment for a sanity check. Back to life. The good and bad news is that I've only taken on business trip in the last 8-9 weeks. The good is I've been spending time at home with the kids, the bad is that it will surely catch up with me and cause the summer to be busy.

Blog Slacker

Wow, has it really been 10 weeks since I have written on my blog? It's amazing how busy our lives can get. Birthday parties for the 4 yr old and 9 yr old, dance competitions, travel, running, finishing the basement of our house, building a clubhouse for the kids, it's all gotten out of control. I don't have a minute to relax.

I've been running and training with friends who are running the Cleveland Marathon next week or have run one in the last few weeks. I had intended to run the half in Cleveland to pace a friend but she unfortunately will not be running. I guess that saves me $60 as I never signed up. After all my crazy marathon experiences I have sworn off that distance until I get things figured out. I have done a couple 20 mile training runs on trails over the last few months but always seemed to end up run/walking some and experiencing some issues. Two weeks ago I went out with Nick to put in a long run when the VR group had their 20 mile aided run. After 5.5 miles we hit the first aid stop that Vince had set out and I had one of the Apple Cinnamon Hammer Gels. Well about a mile or two later Nick and I took a wrong turn which cut off some mileage and then my stomach started it's rumblings. Beginning at mile 7-8 we had started walking some to prevent me from puking. This was crazy and I could only relate it to the gel. That's it no more gels. By the time we hit mile 11-12 my stomach was getting much better and we ran most of the remaining 3 miles back to the cars. This was ridiculous. It was either the gel or Nick.

So last weekend I saw a post on facebook from a friend who indicated he was putting in 20 on the Akron course the next day. I convinced myself to retaliate for the previous week and joined them at 6:00am. It was a small group just Red, Bob and I but we had a good time. After about 7 miles I started to feel a little tired and started eating some trail mix I had brought with me. I had been living off of the Marc's trail mix and/or Raisins for the last 2-3 months of running and only changed it during the VR run. So I started to feel a little better and we just carried on through the hills of Akron. We managed to all stay together and had a nice little rest stop at mile 14 thanks to Debi. Well after that things started to get a little quite. We hit the last hill before Stan Hywett hall and Red indicated we had to run this. I felt a little rush of energy and powered up the hill at a pretty good pace. When I hit the top I walked for a little until red and bob caught up and then we were ready to turn the corner.

At this point Bob and I started talking about construction and drywall so Red put on her iPod and she was off. We held close for most of the next few miles (she had done this once before to us at around mile 12). When we all got back together we gave her a hard time about leaving us and then it was time for all of us to put on the tunes. It was strange but as soon as the music hit me I got a rush and it was on. This was strange. I had run 15 miles and was ready to get going. we picked up the pace down Market and Red really got going. I was still a little worried in the back of my mind so I would stop every once in a while to regroup with Bob and then we were off again. Red stopped for a second at the corner of Main and we all ran to the finish together. When I looked down and saw the 26 mile mark on the street I sprinted to the roadrunner statue and it felt great. I had run almost 20 miles and my legs were strong and picking up the pace. My stomach was good and although I later saw that I was down almost 2% of my body weight from where I started it was great. I'm still amazed. I did the math and figured that if we kept the pace for another 6 miles we would have finished in around 4:40-4:45. That's insane on a training run for me.

So I could most likely run the Cleveland Marathon and set a PR but I won't. I'm going to take this experience and go run another training run and then another until I know what I can do. The feeling I had during those last 2-3 miles is why I run. Not for a race or a metal...

With that being said... I'm finishing the Buckeye 50k in 10 weeks.

Unforgettable

I completed a 14 mile run with the VR group this morning. We headed up to Riverview Rd from Lock 29 and then ran out to station road bridge on Riverview. It was actually a pretty straight forward route as we were going to catch the towpath back to lock 29 and call it a day. Well after talking for a minute most of us decided to head back on the roads to avoid the ice and have a little safer run back.

I was about 10-11 miles into the run when a group of 4 vehicles was coming our way. There had been a lot of traffic with the ski resorts running but it really isn't an issue as there is a pretty good berm on the road and you just have to watch things around the corners. So I tucked in diagonally behind the runner in front of me, slightly closer to the oncoming traffic but that way I could see. Well the four cars were pretty much bumper to bumper as the front vehicle had obviously been slowing down as they past all the runners ahead of me. So as the first two cars swerved around us this green pickup truck behind them, at the last minute, moved towards the berm as if he was trying to get a view around the cars in front of him. So while I tried to get out of the way I realized in that split second I was going to take on the trucks mirror. I threw up my hand just in time and luckily the truck had one of those break away plastic mirrors. It must have made one hell of a loud noise as the runner 30 yards in front of us turned around to see what had happened. Wouldn't you know it the ass never even slowed down to see what had happened. No way he didn't hear me slam his mirror and fold it against the truck.

So in a second I went from tired to pissed off and ready to run.... This leads to the less exhilarating portion of my run. About 10 minutes later just as I was heading up the hill towards the 271 bridge over the valley my phone rings. My grandmother was put in the hospital Tuesday and has gone from just breathing difficulties to ICU to Hopis care. I just had to stop as my mother informed me that she had passed early this morning. It wasn't unexpected but it still didn't change things any. My grandmother was the kindest person I have ever met or known in my 32 years on this planet. She was crippled as a child due to Polio, went from braces to crutches to finally being able to walk by the time she was in middle school. Never complained or wanted for anything and had given away just about every possession she had as she reached old age. I don't know if I will ever know someone has kind as her but maybe its up to me to strive to follow after her and carry on. So I stopped what I was doing, and sat down on the guard rail along the road under the bridge (making sure to be on the outside of the guardrail so as not to get hit by a car. I must have spent 5 minutes there watching the river, looking at the towpath and the view from the vantage point before getting back on the road back to my car.

I don't think I will ever forget this mornings run. I guess it's right that I was out doing what I love when I got the news as it is what she would have wanted.

Where is Summer?

I'm starting to get a little eager for summer now. I got in a 10k run around town with Nick again this week. It was a nice relaxing run and very enjoyable. We talked about him taking on the task of coaching track for the younger kids at a local private school as my daughter is now getting excited to start running. She turns 9 this year and they start cross country at her school this fall. I figure I can get here a few months head start.
Got in 5.5 on the dreadmill yesterday and averaged an 8:25 pace. I really am starting to feel the need for some short tempo runs where I can really stretch out my stride.

Where is summer?

Drifter

It has been a while since I have posted to this blog and I'm not sure why. I've been just drifting through life for the last few weeks without a path or goals it seems. My weekly running totals went from 50 to 0 back to 40 and now this week will likely end at 20 miles. I'm not training for anything in particular and even after the successful 30k I don't feel as though I want to run any long distance races this year. If I did it would be more about others and less for me. Do you ever feel as if the only reason you run these races and distances is for the acceptance of your peers?
I thought it was time for a gut check and to see if that was the case. If I wasn't training for any race and didn't have a set target or goal would I still run? For the fun of it? Well the jury is still out. I always ran for a goal. It started as a way to loose weight... you know if I could only run a mile without puking. Then it became an endurance goal, could I actually be one of those people that could say they had run a Marathon. Then it turned more into just being able to answer the question "what are you training for"?
Over the last year or so the first song on my running iPod play list is "I run for life". It's not the music I normally listen to but it struck a cord with me the first time I heard it. Enough so that I posted it here on my blog as well. I have spent the last few weeks running off and on with friends and spending some time thinking about why I do it. Not why we do it but why I do it. I'm still not sure. I know that I am a better person to be around because of running. My wife reminds me of this every time I try to taper for a run. I know that I will be around longer for my children because of it every time I look at a picture of myself at 250lbs. I also know that I have met some truly amazing people while doing it. The last couple of weeks I have found that even though I'm not training for anything, or running with anyone, I still find myself wanting to run. I'm not as stressed about getting in miles and as such it is more sporadic and my mileage tents to be lower but I'm still out there.
So it's almost as if I'm finally becoming comfortable in my new skin. People no longer know that I run because I needed to loose weight. That ended a year or two ago. People ask me what I'm training for and I simply smile and tell them "I'm training for life".

Check out this inspirational link of the day.
http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

Success

Last year I signed up to complete the 30k option for last weekend's Buckeye 50k. I had already failed at the 50k distance twice and did not want to set myself up for another failure. 30K is a pretty reasonable distance for me as I have been putting in a run of 13+ miles every weekend for the last 2-3 months. Well as always my friends in the running community kept telling me to to run the first 30k and then just do then next 20k. So in the back of my mind I started thinking that way.

As many of you know the weather was not the best for running on Sunday and this may be an overstatement. The temperature had actually climbed above 20 for the first time in a week but there was over a foot of snow on the ground that just wasn't going to go away. Bill, Nick, and I talked about how the run would be as we carpooled down to the Boston Store and I think all of us were under trained and we were just hoping to get in our 30k without to much suffering.

So we line up and the race gets started

The first mile or so was just a line of people running and talking from my view (all I could see was the back of the guy in front of me and the front of the guy behind me). It was obvious when we finished the first mile that there wasn't going to be any records set here. In fact based on Nick's Garmin the first mile was around a 12:30 pace (I left all electronics home for this run and was out to just enjoy it). We got to the falls and the turnaround point and I realized real quick that I wasn't going to stop moving on this day. I had already tied my shirt around my waist and was wearing nothing more then my UnderArmer shirt. So I grabbed a banana and chugged some water then walked for the next half mile or so until my running buddies caught up after their rest stop. I actually found it disappointing that we never actually ran to the falls or even saw the falls on this loop. I understand that they have set the course this way which actually makes it a little short I believe but for me the entire draw to running the Brandywine Falls loop is seeing the falls.
I was actually feeling pretty good when I hit the Boston Store after the first 5 miles and did the same as the last rest stop. I grabbed some Fig Newtons, some water, and started walking. It seemed to take forever to meet back up with my running friends but then I found out why. The trails and less then perfect training were taking their toll. They indicated that they would be done at the half and asked how I was doing. Well I immediately started to feel like I would be taking the easy way out again. I will not do that again is my attitude so I just let him know I was going to do my best to get in the 30k and started trucking again. I ended up running into some other trail friends at this point and we took turns pushing and pulling through the hills. It seems that I would loose some ground on the flats, and then catch up on the uphills while taking advantage of these long legs only to get a lead on the downhills. So we went through the next few miles like an accordion until just before the boston store when I dropped the pace a little.
When I finally hit the Boston Store I looked up and saw a 3:41 on the timer. This is now officially the slowest 1/2 Marathon in existence. I didn't want to be here when people started crossing the finish line after their 1/2 and heading in for Chili so I was on the move again. Oh by the way don't trust the labels on the water jugs. Just because it says Lemonade doesn't mean it's not water :)

At this point I had started to walk a little more then I liked so I tried to push it to the bottom of the first hills on the Brandywine loop. There would be no running or even jogging up this hill now. It seemed like it took forever to reach the turn around point and for the first time in the day I took a minute or two to just relax and talk to the people at the aid station. I started to realize the time and was wondering if I would finish before the winners of the 50k. This was enough motivation to get me off my ass and off I went. Here is a picture of me coming into the last rest stop with just over 2 miles left to go. I can't remember ever feeling this good aver 15 miles into a race. Hell givin past experience I should have been bent over puking up raisins and fig newtons by this point.
After a while I saw Red and Bob coming up the trail and I think I was walking at the time so I picked it up and started to jog. I think I made some kind of joke about not wanting them to see me walking but then I realized something new. When I was walking at this point my quads were just shot. With each step they would yell at me and I would just ignore it. But suddenly I realized that they weren't yelling at me. It was weird, if I walked my quads would scream but if I ran they were happy. It all had to do with my stride. Short jogging strides didn't lengthen the muscle as much as my long walking strides and they were happy. Hell if I had known it was that easy to get rid of the pain I would have been running up all the hills :)
So I pushed it into the finish in a time of 4:41:30 and I actually finished the 30k before the leaders of the 50k had started their brandywine loop. I remember thinking that the trails must really be taking their toll. Then I hit the bowl of Chili and headed home. It's funny, I think if I had that one person with me who would have said, "hey lets head back out for that next loop" I might have just kept going. Then again this story might have had an entirely different ending then.
So poor training, no taper, no special eating or preparation the week of, and everything went great. Sounds a lot like my PR at the Buckeye 1/2. Maybe it's all about pressure for me. If I take away the pressure and just run everything seems to come out so much better for me. Now I get to sport a nice jacket and the feeling of success that comes with completing exactly what I set out to do... a 30K.

Hibernation

Are we all hibernating for the winter? It seems the blogging world here in NEO has dropped off as quickly as the temperature. We are all in hiding waiting to poke our heads out of our caves on Sunday to tow the line at the Buckeye Winter 50k... the 30k is looking good for me.
I keep watching the weather. Looks like it's going to be a balmy 14 degrees at the start. Well this comes from the same site that told me today's low was -6 even though the current temperature was shown at -12. I can't imagine it would be that hard for the programmers to write up a quick line that would verify the current temp is not in direct opposition to the low/high for the day and update the low/high for the day to match. I mean a weather person has to seem a little foolish telling everyone the low is -6 while standing in front of a map with current temperatures at -12.
Here is my quick update. On the personal front our company had their annual performance reviews and disbursement of bonuses this week. They started off the day of reviews with layoffs. Wow what a way to get things going. If you follow my blog you can see how quickly things change in the tech world. Two months ago I was on a company sponsored mountain climbing trip because of the great success of one of my projects. Now its seems that our success was not duplicated at other regions and as such we are now 8% lower in the overhead when it comes to personnel.
This lead to my weekly personal dilemma. I was closer to one of the guys let go then most around here. Should I be disappointed that I was happier to see that it wasn't me then I was compassionate for him? I guess it's just human nature to look out for yourself and your own family first. I have put out a couple of calls to see if I can help him out some with another position but I seemed to have just skipped right through the layoff only to close my office door and start right back to work while others that were less effected personally (either didn't loose anyone in their department or didn't even like the people let go) spent days walking around in distress looking to hold hands and sing Kum Bi Ya. I actually at one point got so pissed off by their woo is me BS that I told them to stop being so selfish and get back to work as the last thing they wanted to do after a round of layoffs is to walk around looking like they didn't have enough to keep themselves busy while others that would love to be working spent the day looking for new jobs.
I don't know if I was correct in saying what I did but it certainly made me feel better. The goal in a downturn like this is to just stay employed. We have people here in management that took pay cuts and are just looking to stay employed. They can make up the money on the back end.
See everyone on Sunday for a nice long run.