Got one of those rare opportunities this morning to run with my daughter. She is a senior in college and is home for the holidays. Possibly her last extended vacation at our home. At least I hope she gets a job after graduation.... She is going to run her first half marathon in Houston in a few weeks while I am running my first marathon. This was her first long run after having her wisdom teeth out last week, we had run a couple of short runs but this one was her first long one in a while. It was so nice to run together, someone to talk to, someone to laugh with - just a great time. She has her last long run next weekend so we will see how that one goes...today was fine. I will run at least some of her long run with her next weekend so that will be some more "dad time".
Thanks for reading...I am going to try to be consistent in posting here so hopefully someone will find it interesting and/or useful.
See you at the finish line.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Loss of Memory Run and IMAZ widget
Merry Christmas....
Had a great Christmas morning with the family and then early afternoon went for a short run....3.0 miles...just to open the Endurance Nation Holiday Challenge which is a run every day between Christmas and New Year's Day. Tip for everyone...don't eat tons of food before a run....I was actually slower than normal. There is no record though as the old Garmin was full from the long run last weekend and I hadn't downloaded it yet so no record of the run today.
Also, check out my way cool IMAZ widget...that is about the extent of my technological know how....but I thought it was cool.
Merry Christmas,
Bryan
Had a great Christmas morning with the family and then early afternoon went for a short run....3.0 miles...just to open the Endurance Nation Holiday Challenge which is a run every day between Christmas and New Year's Day. Tip for everyone...don't eat tons of food before a run....I was actually slower than normal. There is no record though as the old Garmin was full from the long run last weekend and I hadn't downloaded it yet so no record of the run today.
Also, check out my way cool IMAZ widget...that is about the extent of my technological know how....but I thought it was cool.
Merry Christmas,
Bryan
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Last Long Run Before Houston
Yesterday, I hit the road for a long run. The longest of my life - both in miles and in time. I was scheduled to do a 26 mile run but had already reduced it to 23 since I have really not run much (nothing over 6 miles) in just over a month. The Houston Marathon is the third weekend in January so this was my last long run. I know a lot of marathon training plans don't have you run over 20 miles but I am really glad to have run 23. I know I can gut it out for 3 more miles.
I have run progressive long runs of 14, 17, 20 and 23. It is really interesting that somewhere about 80% of the way into the run, give or take a little, the mental side begins to take control. There is no doubt the joints, legs, feet and hips are hurting by then but the old nugget between the ears begins to rule. At that point I have found you just have to get it done. I was really wondering how 23 was going to be as the 20 miler was very difficult for me. I really felt pretty good (relatively speaking) when I got to 20 miles. Don't get me wrong, I was ready to stop, but I felt pretty good.
Ran a couple of mean hills in the last 3.5 miles so they really hurt. More than normal. When I got home, I immediately forced myself into my pool to use it as an ice bath. After about 15-20 minutes of that, I iced my calves and quads and laid on the floor elevating my legs.
Today, I feel pretty good. A little stiff getting out of bed this morning but it passed really quickly. Other than my knees being a little creaky and my hips feeling like they have a little sandpaper in them, I feel good. If you haven't seen the "day after the marathon" videos on YouTube, you should check them out. I didn't look like that - for this I am glad.
The next 3 weeks are taper with 7 mile long runs each weekend.
Houston here we come.
I have run progressive long runs of 14, 17, 20 and 23. It is really interesting that somewhere about 80% of the way into the run, give or take a little, the mental side begins to take control. There is no doubt the joints, legs, feet and hips are hurting by then but the old nugget between the ears begins to rule. At that point I have found you just have to get it done. I was really wondering how 23 was going to be as the 20 miler was very difficult for me. I really felt pretty good (relatively speaking) when I got to 20 miles. Don't get me wrong, I was ready to stop, but I felt pretty good.
Ran a couple of mean hills in the last 3.5 miles so they really hurt. More than normal. When I got home, I immediately forced myself into my pool to use it as an ice bath. After about 15-20 minutes of that, I iced my calves and quads and laid on the floor elevating my legs.
Today, I feel pretty good. A little stiff getting out of bed this morning but it passed really quickly. Other than my knees being a little creaky and my hips feeling like they have a little sandpaper in them, I feel good. If you haven't seen the "day after the marathon" videos on YouTube, you should check them out. I didn't look like that - for this I am glad.
The next 3 weeks are taper with 7 mile long runs each weekend.
Houston here we come.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
IMAZ - ing
From watching Julie Moss crawl and lose control of her body all the way to 12 midnight on November 23, 2008 (or the 24th depending on whether midnight is the beginning of the day or the end of the day), Ironman has always intrigued me. However, it has never been more personal that being a Finish Line Catcher from 8pm until midnight. What an experience!
We went to IMAZ this year to see the event and get the feel for an Ironman. I am like many of you I think.... a year or year and a half ago I said, no no no, I would never consider even a 1/2 Ironman...I could MAYBE see an Olympic distance but all that other stuff is for weird crazy people... I think my whole life has been a big old, "never say never" but you all know that was coming. This year on November 24, I was back at the race site, standing in line when registration for volunteers started at 6:30am....crazy....and then I did it...I registered. I am in for IMAZ 09 - oh my gosh.....what am I thinking? Well, it is like this, I can do this. I couldn't even think of something like this 18 months ago and now I feel like I can do it. I couldn't today, don't get me wrong, but building a plan, executing and going for it on race day will be an absolute blast. And really, not very many people can say they have done it and that means something to me. In my work, to be successful you have to do the things that others are just unwilling to do - I feel the same way about triathlon - we are willing to do things others are not willing to do. And we do it - daily.
I have been taking some time off, just running some trying to be ready for the Houston marathon (I think I will continue my streak of never being over-trained...LOL). I don't think it is going to be a good chip time at all but I will have fun...I always have fun and it will be my first marathon. Once that is over, it will be time to really begin to do some training.
Checking out Triscoop and Endurance Nation and BeginnerTriathlete, there are several of us doing IMAZ 09....it should be a blast. I look forward to being back in that finisher chute in November 09.
See you at the finish line.
We went to IMAZ this year to see the event and get the feel for an Ironman. I am like many of you I think.... a year or year and a half ago I said, no no no, I would never consider even a 1/2 Ironman...I could MAYBE see an Olympic distance but all that other stuff is for weird crazy people... I think my whole life has been a big old, "never say never" but you all know that was coming. This year on November 24, I was back at the race site, standing in line when registration for volunteers started at 6:30am....crazy....and then I did it...I registered. I am in for IMAZ 09 - oh my gosh.....what am I thinking? Well, it is like this, I can do this. I couldn't even think of something like this 18 months ago and now I feel like I can do it. I couldn't today, don't get me wrong, but building a plan, executing and going for it on race day will be an absolute blast. And really, not very many people can say they have done it and that means something to me. In my work, to be successful you have to do the things that others are just unwilling to do - I feel the same way about triathlon - we are willing to do things others are not willing to do. And we do it - daily.
I have been taking some time off, just running some trying to be ready for the Houston marathon (I think I will continue my streak of never being over-trained...LOL). I don't think it is going to be a good chip time at all but I will have fun...I always have fun and it will be my first marathon. Once that is over, it will be time to really begin to do some training.
Checking out Triscoop and Endurance Nation and BeginnerTriathlete, there are several of us doing IMAZ 09....it should be a blast. I look forward to being back in that finisher chute in November 09.
See you at the finish line.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Rock n Roll San Antonio
Man, I have been slacking....sorry I haven't been here in a while. There is a lot to report on tonight.
First, let me cover the Rock n Roll San Antonio. It was a very, very well run, huge marathon. My hat's off to the fine folks who put this race on for the first time this year. The San Antonio marathon last year had 5000 participants...give or take a thousand. The Rock n Roll marketing machine was overlaid onto the marathon and about 30,000 folks toed the line on a cold November 16, 2008. It was, as I said, very well organized and so well run (by everyone but me....smile). I didn't have a great day but I did get to share in my brother's first half marathon and that was a treat.
I encourage all of you to take a look at a Rock n Roll event put on by Elite Racing...those folks know how to do this....they moved a LOT of people through the event very smoothly for the first year.....and the race bling is very cool...especially if you do multiple events.....if you do 6 of the 8 you get a super 6 medal which looks like the Superman S......very cool.
Then the weekend before Thanksgiving, it was off to Arizona....what's in Arizona you say???? Stay tuned, more to come.
See you at the finish line.
First, let me cover the Rock n Roll San Antonio. It was a very, very well run, huge marathon. My hat's off to the fine folks who put this race on for the first time this year. The San Antonio marathon last year had 5000 participants...give or take a thousand. The Rock n Roll marketing machine was overlaid onto the marathon and about 30,000 folks toed the line on a cold November 16, 2008. It was, as I said, very well organized and so well run (by everyone but me....smile). I didn't have a great day but I did get to share in my brother's first half marathon and that was a treat.
I encourage all of you to take a look at a Rock n Roll event put on by Elite Racing...those folks know how to do this....they moved a LOT of people through the event very smoothly for the first year.....and the race bling is very cool...especially if you do multiple events.....if you do 6 of the 8 you get a super 6 medal which looks like the Superman S......very cool.
Then the weekend before Thanksgiving, it was off to Arizona....what's in Arizona you say???? Stay tuned, more to come.
See you at the finish line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
