Started Running Again

Well, I started running again last week.  I had to take off several months due to my knee being messed up.  This then lead to track season in which I was super busy and didn't have the chance to run.
I got some new shoes and these have felt better then the shoes I got last time so hopefully this will fix the knee issue.
Last week I started running again.  It is ugly, but it is worth it and enjoyable to get out and run again.  Last week I ran 2 miles a day with times a little under 9 min. a mile.  Today I ran three miles with paces under 9 min. a mile.
We started a cross country with the runners with hopes of seeing greater results in our distance runners next year.  This year I have three guys and they are running hard and are improving.  I'm looking forward to running at the Show Me State Games in July.  I'm going to train for the 800m and then pick up mileage after that.
Hopefully I will get back to blogging for all three of you that read this in the past.

Hurting myself

Yesterday I ran and I think I hurt my knee.  My left knee started hurting about four miles into my run but I pushed through it and finished the run.  I probably should have stopped but my runs haven't exactly been awe inspiring so I was determined to finish and not to quit.  I get so sick of quitting when things get tough or with messing up and not being consistent.  I don't think I helped anything out with pushing through this and tweeking my knee.  Now I am going to have to take the rest of the week off and forget about any progress that I need to make.  As you can tell this kind of frustrates me.  Oh well, enough about me complaining about me stupidity and the result of it.

I did get to run a race a few weeks ago and it was horrible.  I had fought off some sickness during the week and had only ran a little for the past week.  My legs were constantly weak during the week and it was pure exhaustion.  I tried to run anyways on the race date and it didn't work out very good.  I had to stop running after almost two miles.  I walked about 1/2 a mile and then finished jogging.  My time was something close to 30 minutes.  My last race a month ago was a 22.07 and I was looking to go to a 21.30, but a little sickness will do that.

On a lighter note God is good.  The Lord has been doing some good things in my life lately and I am excited to see what He is doing in our church right now.  I know this has nothing to do with running but it has everything to do with my life.
I do want to end by saying that I am enjoying life right now and things are going good, just not with my running routine.

Recent Runs

Well, it has been a while since I posted anything and my wife has been saying stuff to me about posting.  So, here it goes.  Running has been good recently.  I did take an almost two week break when I went to Israel and then the Thanksgiving weekend after that.  It hurt me some, my first three runs afterwards weren't real great.  But, the 3rd of December I ran a race in Columbia, Mo and got a PR.  I ran a 22.07 and was pumped.  My splits were around 7.08 but I could have done a little better.  I learned a  lesson about really paying attention to the course design.  I was in my last mile and was getting tired and I thought our end was coming at a certain point, but it didn't.  This really messed with my head.  There was some let down with not knowing how much farther we had and starting to get tired.  I think I could have run about 30 seconds faster.  But, I didn't and I got what I got.  I talked with Coach Mitchell and we are shooting for a 21.30 this next race.  I am running a race December 31st in Columbia with my wife!  My amazing, wonderful wife started running last week, it almost killed her, and we are planning on running together in the race.  One last thing.  With cold weather coming on me running in shorts has gotten me called crazy.  I ran past a girl, about ten years old, and she looked at me, looked at my shorts and then gave me a face like, "you're crazy."  Funny.

This is the picture of us after our first race.  We ran pretty decently and were all well pleased with our run.  I am on the far left, Thomas is in the middle, and Dan, the amazing worship leader at our church, is on the right.  I ran a 24:29, Thomas had a 25:13, and Dan had a 25:18.  It was a good start to our later runs.  There is another race in October that they are going to run at, but I can't run again until November 5th.  That race will be in Hannibal and I'm looking forward to hopefully cutting off at least a minute.  My goal is to get under 20 minutes, which is doable and is already affecting my attitude towards our workouts.  Until next time, enjoy life and love your family.

Good training day

I haven't posted in a long time and though it would be good to give myself an update on my progress. Monday I had a hard run for about 21 minutes. I actually think that I ran a little too hard as my legs were pretty sore forth next couple of days. On Tuesday I swam for about seven minutes and really was trying to learn how to breath proPerly in the water. I was suppose to bike also but nightly events prevented that. I took Wednesday off and tonight I resumed my training. I swam for nine minutes tonight and then went on a 22 minute bike ride. I pushed it pretty hard on my bike ride andfelt it a lot more to ight Jan I normally do. The main difference was my pushin it on the hills. Usually I go to a lower gear but tonight I kept my gears higher and got a good burn on my legs. Hopefully the coarse will be flat and I don't have to deal with as bi of hills as I do here. Until next time, enjoy all hat God has given us to enjoy.

Triathlon Training Day Three: swimming

Today I swam for the first time.  I had to swim in our lake due to not having anywhere else.  It wasn't too bad except for the odd smell every once in a while.  I started swimming and was going at a good pace and got a good distance and then yelled back at my timer (I don't have a waterproof watch yet so I had a kid on the shore time me) and he said I had been swimming for 1:39 and my resolve was destroyed.  Mentally this is when I was done swimming, but unfortunately I was about 100 yards out there and still had to come back.  I started to swim back but it felt like there was a current that made it more difficult for me to swim back than it was to go out.  The swim back was tough and I was very glad to be back on shore.  It definitely was more than I thought it would be.

I learned two major lessons today.  The first is that I need to learn how to swim better.  I have always thought of myself as a pretty descent swimmer, but I have never had to swim long distances.  I know I move my head too much and need to learn how to breath better.  Definitely this is my weakest link right now.  Also, I did learn that if it was a straight 250 yard then I would do better than I thought.  I think if I learn to swim then watch out.

One last thing.  As I was coming out of the water I just about vomited.  Apparently I swallowed some water and when I was coming out of the water I got a scent of the water (it smells like goose poop) and started gagging.  When I got home I got in the shower and got a whiff of the smell again and started gagging and trying to throw up.  My stomach feels kind of weird, and I don't think it is just mental, and I have this feeling in the back of my throat like I still want to throw up.  I hope that I don't get sick.  Well, what a first day of swimming!

Here's what happened: part two

Okay, so I had to take a week off due to some nasty shin splints last week.  During this time I rode a bike a few days and got a brilliant idea (I guess that depends on who you talk to).  My idea is a triathlon!  My wife thinks I'm crazy and the guys I'm running with said good for you.  So, I started training for this on Monday.  I found a very good beginner triathlon coming up on September 10th in Iowa.  I will swim 250 yards, bike 6 miles, and run 1.3 miles.  This is what is called a mini-sprint triathlon.  In lam-en's terms it means the shortest triathlon you will ever see.  I am trying to find a place to swim in right now.  There is a pool around here but it is kind of short and we have a lake but it is nasty and I want that to be my last option.

So, if you see me please encourage me.  My wife said she will come and watch me finish.  I tried to get her to run and she almost said yes, but then backed out on me and wimped out.  Don't worry dear, I still love you greatly.  I actually am very excited about this and really want to start swimming.  I think I am at a point where the running isn't an issue, but figuring out how to competitively swim and bike is an issue.  I have a month to figure this out and am trying very hard.  My thought is that this might start an addiction that will be good for me and keep me in shape and skinny for the rest of my life.  We shall see.