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.

Day Eleven; I doned it

Tonight I finally ran the full 5.2 miles!  I am pretty excited about this little fact.  There were at least four serious times where I wanted to quit and throw up but really kept pushing myself and just wouldn't stop.  With about two miles left is when the real desire to stop running started to hit me.  My legs wanted to slow the pace down and I was laboring to keep my pace.  But, I wouldn't let my self slow down.  I think I just realized that my body can do more than my mind wants to.  I think tonight was a big hurdle I went over.

Now, instead of wondering if I can do it I know I can.  The main things now will be to continue to cut down time and get my lungs and legs in better shape.  One thing that did almost burst my bubble was the ending.  At the very beginning I had to stop and it took about three minutes but we started running again.  Apparently, Thomas had kept the watch going during this time.  So, when we finished he said that I had made it in 58.47.  At this I was real discouraged because I pushed myself hard and was for sure that I would get around a 55.  The other night when we ran and I stopped and walked for a few minutes I ran a 58, so this was a killer.  Then he said, "wait a minute I forgot to stop it when we had to stop at the beginning."  So, my time was really a 55 and his was a 52.  Look out Thomas I'm catching you!  The other night I was off by five minutes, tonight I was off by three.

Day Ten: War Zone

Tonight Thomas and I ran the 5.2 miles again.  Tonight was much better than Tuesday night.  During the day I drank enough water to make a fish drown and this helped me out a lot.  It wasn't any cooler tonight than Tuesday so there wasn't much relief there.  I kept up with Thomas for about half of the run and then he left me.  The only time I walked was shortly after he left me.  We were on one of the hills and I had to stop.  I couldn't catch my breath enough to really run effectively so I stopped and walked about 100 yards in order to catch my breath.  After this I continued to run and did not stop for the remainder of the run.

The real issue tonight was the war that I got into.  I had more horse flies and bugs attack me while I was running than I have had in all of my previous runs combined.  I think it was the devil.  It had to be.  They kept landing on my head, one bit me on my left shoulder, and I think one bit my back because it kept feeling funny the entire run.  I was swinging at them like a mad man, trying to get them off of me and out of my face.  I'm sure if you would have seen me it would have been a sight.  Here is a guy running about as fast as someone can walk swatting at the air.  My form was shot.  I took the form of a dying person more so than a runner.  It was ugly.

During this final half of the run my pace was extremely slow.  I bet a good walker could have beat me.  But, I kept on a trucking.  A funny thing did happen.  I finally got back to the blacktop and there was someone else out exercising.  This person was going the opposite way right when I got to the blacktop and I ended up getting about fifty yards ahead of them.  At this point I kind of caught my breath, with only a mile left, and started to pick up my pace and felt better.  But, I kept looking back and I wasn't pulling away from this person.  I really thought that it was going to be a race to the finish line, but I edged the person out.  Really though, it was a woman that was walking and I don't think it was very fair.

My final time was 58 minutes and change and Thomas' was 53 minutes and change.  Watch out Kenyans here we come.