End of August Running Update

Despite my last post, the month in general was successful. I ran at least 30 miles in each week of the month. The last week was my highest mileage to date, over 38. I only missed 3 of the 26 "running days" in the month. I started the month stuck in a weight range between 196 and 198 that I have been in since May. I ended the month on a 15 day average of 193.7, progress at last and I have been 192 for several weigh-ins. I had hoped to reach 183 by my marathon, that may be out of reach but under 190 definitely isn't...

I started tracking my running during the last week of August last year. Since then I have logged over 800 miles. Here is my chart as of the end of August this year. Still climbing, but not by much.

Just over two months to go for my Marathon, assuming I don't have many more days like today between now and then. As for the Diabetes Fundraising, I'm at $190 in hard donations with another ~$160 "pledged" based on my mileage run by November. I don't know if I have told you on this blog but my goal is $1000. So donations to date only bring me to 35% of my goal. For those of you who have given, thank you!

FAILURE - It doesn't always go according to plan

Just had to post what a terrible long run I had today. (All those who revel in my failures, read on. All those who think I'm superman, don't be too disappointed.) I haven't had a run that went this bad for almost a year and it was a tough pill to swallow.

I have been building longer each weekend in preparation for my first marathon in November. Today was my first 18 miler. When I did 16 two weeks ago it went GREAT. Today, I think I made some mistakes that cost me.I didn't do my run in the morning yesterday so I had to do it last night. So, I did a 5 mile Tempo run that finished around 9pm last night. I don't think I ever fully rehydrated from that considering my daily weigh in this morning was down quite a bit. Instead of fully hydrating, I just drank my usual pre-long run amount.

My next mistake was that due to the fact that I have been getting my wife to run lately, I let her go first this morning while I watched the little ones so I didn't even get out until 9:15 and in Georgia this morning it was already 75 on its way to 85 by the time I finished. I've done heat, never that much heat.

By mile 10 I knew it wasn't a "great" run, but I was still feeling okay. By mile 13 it all went to you know where in a hand-basket. My pace dropped off by over 2 min/mile and I even walked a few .5 mile increments. I started mild cramps with 4 miles to go. With 1.5 to go, the gig was up, I walked the rest of the way in. With 100 yds to go both legs locked up in 100% cramps from toes to groin. I had to stand with my house in sight for almost 5 minutes before I could even walk the rest of the way.

I spent the next 3 hours in an ice bath, getting an icy-hot rubdown from my wife, eating bananas, and screaming in pain as my calves cramped periodically. It was the first time since I made my mind up to do this in March that I found myself considering that I may not be able to do it... I will repeat the 18 miles next Saturday, fixing the mistakes I made this week, I'm sure it will go better.

Thank you to those who have donated to my fundraising efforts. Your sacrifice is the fuel that keeps me going after a run like this, even more so than after good runs.

Getting Washed Out by Tropical Storm Fay

First off, this post is in no way meant to deminish the gut wrenching impact and flooding that some have suffered as a result of Fay!

It is odd to think that over the course of my marathon training I have had very little weather to work around. Perhaps that is a function of the drought we have been suffering for close to two years here. I encountered my first weather obstacle this week.

What was left of Tropical Storm Fay dropped close to 4 inches of rain on North Georgia (over 8 inches in spots) over the last 3 days. Getting out of bed at 5am can be hard enough. Getting out of bed at 5am to run in the rain is more than I was able to rise too (ok, pun intended). So where has that left me?

Monday night I ran on the treadmill - yuck! Once you have tasted running through nature, running on a treadmill is BORING! (but doable in a pinch) Last night I went for a run through slight drizzle (I didn't have to wake up and do it). The river that runs by the wetlands I run in had overflowed its banks and was actually flooding the wetlands, instead of the other way around. An 1/8th of a mile section of trail I run was under water. It was IMPRESSIVE. As I didn't run again this morning, drizzle, I may have to do another evening run.

With my trip last week and the rain this week, I actually haven't gone for a 5am run for almost 2 full weeks now. The longer I go, the harder I know it will be to get back into that routine. Ironically, by running at night to make up for the missed morning run I actually make it harder to wake up less than 8 hours later and go out to run, continuing the cycle...

We really did need the rain here so I can tolerate the impact I guess... just so long as Gustav doesn't derail me again! Happy running to all!

BTW, just 2.5 weeks to my next 10k and Jamie's 5k. She is going to do great!

Beaches, Bigfoot, Books, and Shoes

It has been a week or two since my last post. I seem to do this in waves. I wish I could do a post a day type theme but lets just face it, my life is just too boring to fill that much space. Since I last wrote much has happened with our family, part of which is responsible for me not writing for a while.

My brother David planned and took his family to Ocean Isle Beach North Carolina for vacation. A couple weeks back he called and invited us since the beach house he rented since it was capable of sleeping 13 people. We gladly joined him for 5 days 4 nights of fun, sand, and surf. Who cares if we shoved 14 people into that house right? When we rolled out on Wednesday afternoon we were very jealous that they got to stay another 3 nights. I want to publicly tell my brother THANK YOU. We enjoyed his family and our beach visit immensely! So while my twin was hanging out with my sister in a mountain cabin, we hung out in a beach house. Who wins that one? Could argue both sides really.

Caleb loved the boogie board and spent most of his time doing that. Of course the waves were so big that trying to get out into the surf to where they were breaking was quite the task for him and we frequently found ourselves going down the beach a couple hundred yards to retrieve him and return him back to our section of the beach. His most successful rides were when I went out with him and pushed him into the ride. When I did that he frequently rode the wave all the way to the beach. By the end of our trip he had boogie board sores on his stomach and thighs but I don’t think that deterred him one bit.

Mischa tried the boogie board a few times and it was only on the last day she learned that if I pushed her she could ride the waves as well. She was most content playing in the surf and helping me dig for shells. Joshua was a bit timid at first and preferred staying at the beach house if given the option but by the end of the trip he really enjoyed the shallow surf quite a bit. He tried the boogie board once but nose-dived and barrel rolled on his first attempt "nearly drowning", after that, I couldn’t convince him to try again.

Liesie LOVED the beach, but wasn’t too thrilled about going anywhere near the surf if it got water on her head (her mother’s daughter). She loved the shallows and loved playing in the pits I dug at the water’s edge. Here she is playing while I dig.

What can I say, I’m a geological engineer that works for a mining company. I like to dig looking for hidden treasure. I found several shells I was quite proud of. I would also like to confirm that despite reports of Bigfoot being found in the North Georgia Mountains, this is not a picture of him on vacation in North Carolina! Perhaps my next marathon could be run to raise funds for laser hair removal for my back? Maybe that will be more successful than my significantly slowed marathon fundraising efforts for Diabetes… (there is your dose of passive begging for the post)

This last Monday the older 3 started school. Continuing the tradition of taking each kid to his or her first day of Kindergarten I dropped of Joshua and gave a high 5. I had been worried that he might be a bit to timid and not ready to be away from Mama just yet but after the first three days of the week, all concerns are gone. That kid is having a blast. Mischa also rode with me while Caleb opted to ride the bus. Based on the end of the day, maybe I should have picked them up as well.

The other mini-event, was that my first pair of really good running shoes logged their 500th mile this week. You may be thinking "Wait, I thought he bought new shoes?" Or, "Does he really track that?" But more likely you are thinking, "Why the heck should I care?"

I did buy new shoes when these ones reached 400 miles. When I went to find the post I could have sworn I did to mark this occasion in June, I couldn't find one. Maybe I never put one up... huh? Anyway, I just upgraded from the Saucony Omni 6 the current year's model, the Omni 7. They may look quite similar to my first pair, but they took some getting used to. They are almost an ounce lighter but rub ever so slightly on my right forefoot. Since June I have worn each pair alternatively to transition into the new shoes which now have around 180 miles on them (I have been wearing them for the long runs hence they get almost twice the mileage each week).

I track the mileage to help avoid injury. The cushioning (even in a $100 shoe) is only good for so much stress and depending on the shoe, type of surfaces you run on, and the size of the runner, most books (not just the shoe companies) will tell you that you have anywhere from 300-500 miles in a shoe before it should be replaced. It is probably not as important for the casual runner logging 5-6 miles per week running 2-3 times per week. But for marathon training, logging 30+ mile weeks running 6 days a week, the body needs all the cushioning it can get. The last thing I want to do is derail my marathon training with 3 months to go. I definitely notice a difference in the cushioning from when I first bought them, still, $100 bucks is quite the pill to swallow and despite the fact that I have my cost/mile down to $0.20, I may keep running in these for a while more (600 miles?). If nothing else, I have a GREAT pair of regular everyday shoes now.

As for why should you care? You shouldn’t. Just another insight into the running world for your gee whiz collection. Also, I like to pad my blog post length with worthless filler. Maybe I should have broken this into it’s own post but then this wouldn’t be a "catch-up" post, now would it?

Anyway, with school begun and vacations over, the summer is all but over. I would argue that this was one of the more enjoyable summers I have had for a while now. My family brings me so much joy and it was nice to spend almost two full weeks (separated by a month) with them instead of at work. All good things come to an end so they say.