5K Mayhem

Mayhem, no I didn't run in any 5k event but I sure did come close this evening. I ran 3 miles around the neighborhood, up and down a bunch of mountains, ok up and down a bunch of hills, ok ok maybe some rolling knolls. Really they felt a mile high themselves, I slowed to a very very slow run at times heading up the hills but I didn't stop. I ran the entire 3mile course I laid out for myself. I ran it in about 27 mins. I don't know exact time b/c the stopwatch malfuntioned a bit. I did complete the first mile in 8:20 and continued to run two more. I felt pretty good about that. Last time I ran a mile in 8:20 I basically collapsed.

It probably doesn't help that it was sleeting into my face but when you don't renew your membership to the rec center it's kind of hard to work out there, oops. It's not like it's very expensive either, since I'm part of a smaller city, we have a city rec center and it's only $35, how could I not pay that?

Alright, so I started running again now can I freaking keep it up? How does everyone else keep it up? I wish I had more discipline at times. I need to get in a routine but I do to bed to late to wake up early and run and sometimes I work late and want to just go to bed when I get home. Any thoughts?

Have a splended evening!

Burning

Wow, it's really starting to burn now. Four days of running 2.5 miles really hits you hard. I ran a few of them outside in the blistering cold but then it got even colder and was forced to run inside on a treadmill, that blows. It feels like it takes so much longer to get your run in but in actuality it is less time. I can't wait until it hits the 30's again, I can bare that.

I'm still not eating worth a crap which sucks but it's not nearly as bad as it was before I started running. I need to get my a$$ in gear and eat some healthy stuff!!
I just can't fill my self up with that stuff it seems. I bought some good low calorie to no calorie drinks at costco today. Picked up some propel and some crystal light flavored water.

I hit the 3 mile mark tomorrow! I'm excited and hopefully can pull it off without stopping. It feels so good when I'm done but when I'm about .75 miles into a run it's like "I just feel like stopping and laying down" It takes a lot of extra effort to keep going. I have to come up with all kinds of things in my head on why I'm running. They range from getting in shape for the wedding, to getting in shape for my friends' weddings, to looking good on the water wakeboarding, to look good for the fiance (can't let her think she's marrying a tub of goo)

I'm also happy my knee has held up for me so far, knock on wood. I partially tore my MCL near the end of the summer wakeboarding doing a few tricks that I had landed before but when the front tip of my board caught the wake and took a dive my left knee went with it! Needless to say it didn't feel very good. I'm still not a 100% but I feel pretty good about it. I need to get into PT for some training and workouts on the knee.

Well everyone have a wonderful Saturday night and Sunday.

Take care and wish me luck on my 3 tomorrow!

The Monday Recap

Well, I was off yesterday and thankfully so. I ran a few miles both Saturday and Sunday which I was highly proud of to do on a weekend. My times again probably weren't the best, but I'm not overly concerned with that at this point. My goal is to run/jog/trot along the entire time and not due any walking. Eventually, I envision some walking. Right now, it really shouldn't be too tough to run it all out. I hit the 2.5 mile mark on Sunday though which was not too terribly bad. There were some tough spots as I ran a different route and the new route led me to some hills. Kind of burned a bit.

I'm still probably not eating completely healthy but I just can't seem to break the mediocre habits I've formed. I wish I could but just can't seem to do it. The precooked meals you can buy that are lower in calories either have entirely way to much sodium or aren't big enough to fill and ants stomach. Any suggestions on some good food items that are tasty and filling?

I know I will need to be a little more aware of what I'm eating once I get into the longer runs as they burn more important carbs. And I need the proper proteins to repair the freshly exercised muscles. I'm sorry I haven't been the best blogger but I try and hopefully it's a little decent to read about the progress. I'll try and make them a little more interesting with the ones to come.

Thanks for reading!

The Weekend!

Finally, it's here, a long week of work and now time to relax over the weekend, oh wait no way in hell I can do that. I have a house I need to sell!

Re-thinking this whole house situation. It'll hopefully pay off. You're probably asking "what in the hell is he talking about?" Well, two of my buddies and I went in on a house together in hopes to live in it for a few years and fix it up and resell it. Well, haven't resold it yet and really haven't done an appreciable amount of work. It seems like we're working every weekend we can on it and can't get anywhere. Someday it'll sell and I'll have my own house, well sorta. I'll be sharing it with the better half.

I had a rest day yesterday, so today and tomorrow I'll be running 2 and a quarter. It's about 15 degrees here so that will be a tough one to do outside. I think I'm going to try but I'm not sure.

....Well I attempted to post Friday but did not finish.

See next post for weekend results...

Two-a-Days

Well, I missed yesterday's run, well blogging it at least. It wasn't anything exciting except it was my next increase in length. I extended my run to 2.25 miles and hit it around 21:47. I know time isn't important at this juncture, but who can't keep track? Today I ran it in about 21:15, which I thought was quite an improvement in a days time.

My roomates think I'm nuts for trying to run a half-marathon and probably are thinking that there is no way in hell this guy can run a half. Hopefully, I can prove a bunch of people wrong by doing it. It sure would be nice to see my name on the final results in the paper the next day way far away from the bottom. I wish I knew what middle of the pack time was...

My knee is holding up well, which I am excited about. I had an injury over the summer, late, that was incured during a wakeboarding incident. I was trying to do my 6 or 7th 180 allie in a row and the front end of my board caught. It caused my left knee to twist such a way that I tore my MCL partially. Luckily, it was only a partial rip. I feel pretty good except some days it bugs me more then others. I'm hoping it's just healing and that's the aching I'm feeling. It's not nearly enought pain to put me on the sideline but it's definitely there sometimes.

I attempt to stretch as many muscles prior to a run as possilbe, I've heard pros and cons to stretching before a run. Some say don't stretch at all, while others say it's a must. But one thing for sure is that across the board, stretching after a run is a must. I have to tend to agree. I have ran everyday except today, with stretching before the run. Today, I just went out and started. I didn't notice a difference but maybe I should rethink my thoughts. Man, when your pinched for time, it sure would be nice to skip the pre-stretch routine.

How do you get your protein? How do you repair your sore muscles? I'm interested to hear your preperations and/or thoughts on the matter.

Well yesterday was my off day and it felt great. I needed it!

Not really but I’ll just pretend I did.

So, I don’t have a lot to post about regarding my run so why not talk about gear. First of all, I found out the hard way that if you’re going to run on a regular basis and you’re a male, you better have a pair of compression shorts or a big bottle of baby powder when you’re finished; your inner thighs will thank you. Ouch.

Now onto shoes, I began my prep training or workouts a few weeks ago, mainly walking with some light jogging, just to get my body used to the 20-30 minutes of exercise again and get my ipod up to speed with some good songs. During those few weeks I was wearing some clunky cross training shocks that I thought were comfortable, then I discovered the running company (http://www.erunningcompany.com/ ). They’re based out of Indianapolis but since my fiancé lives there, I was in the right place at the right time anyway. So, I walk in and try on a pair of neutral “fitting” shoes and was instantly convinced I had no idea what comfort meant. I trotted on the treadmill a few seconds enough to find out I needed a light stability shoe. After a tough decision I choose the Asics Gel DS Trainer 13.

I love the fit and especially the color.
So, now I have some shoes and some compression shorts I probably need something else to run in, right? Well, I picked up a few wicking tops from target, yeah I know that’s probably not the best place to shop but they are a little bit cheaper and I’m not running the super long distances right now. I already had some shorts and some longer light fitting pants to run in. But who would’ve thought that it would’ve dropped to 20 degrees as soon as I begin running? Of course! So, now I’ve added a low profile form fitting winter hat that keeps my head warm, some cheaper fleece gloves and a single layered wind breaker. I’ve ran outside in this get up and it seems to hold up pretty well, I’m not too hot and not too cold.

Watches, HR monitors, pedometers!!! Who needs them!!?? Do they really help? I have an ipod that keeps track of time and my music and I use the tool from google for my pedometer. What about HRM’s? I don’t know, never used one.

The Day After

Well I completed my 2 mile run last night in the blistering cold. Snow was pelting me in the face the whole time, no not because I was going that fast, it was just coming down that hard. I bucked up and completed the days amount. I ran the entire time but was not the fastest. I believe my time was around 18:30 for the two miles. I know that's under my goal but hopefully with this training I'll be able to complete the half-marathon on an entire running pace. That's a big hopefully.

The following is my running program I picked off of the internet, I have no idea if it's a good one or not (http://www.runningplanet.com/training/your-first-5K-race.html) then move to this one (http://www.runningplanet.com/training/easy-half-marathon-training-program.html). It seems to make sense for me considering I don't think that I can run 3 miles comfortably to begin the second part of the training, which the first day is a 3 mile easy run. Since when is running easy??!!!?? I feel for the runners and have an appreciation for the runners that run the moderate or hard paces. I feel I only have one pace, slow.

So, back to why I'm doing this, not only to be healthy and maybe loose a little weight but my fiance, Jessica, "convinced" me. It probably is a good thing to jump start my weight loss to help for the wedding pictures. She ran for Butler University and all through high school. I have no intentions on making it a competition. I would just love to be able for her to run at her pace without having to be slowed down by me. Maybe by some weird divine intervention I'll have to slow to her pace = ) doubtful, but you never know.

The First Day

Today, January 14th 2008, I officially begin my training for my first ever running competition. No, it is not a 5k nor a 10. I have decided to embark on a journey of running a half-marathon which consists of 13.1 miles which I was unaware of until I 'googled' it.

Now a little about myself. I am a 26-year-old male living in the great city of Cincinnati, Ohio.

I have lived here nearly my whole life. I have been actively involved with many sports through my 26 years of life. I have participated in soccer, football, baseball, hockey, softball, wakeboarding and what I am best at, golf. However, I have never enjoyed to run nor have I ever done it for recreation. Who runs for fun? Why waste your time running? Running isn't good for the knees, blah blah blah.

Contradictorily running can be quite healthy and the fact that I am about 200 lbs and 5'10", I need all the help I can get. My goal for this event is to first complete the race and to secondly complete it under a time of 135 minutes, which is about a little over a 10 minute mile. That is by far not going to win the race considering the winner last year posted a final time of about 65 minutes.

The purpose of this blog is to document my process of running, training, becoming slimmer and hopefully just becoming a healthier person. Maybe I'll have an interesting story or two along the way. Thanks for reading and please look for daily posts.

I begin my training with 2 miles of running. I enlisted the help of the google map pedometer to assist me with my mileage. Why spend money you don't need to? I am heading out to stretch and run now, catch up with you tomorrow.