Weekend Gone

Well another weekend has past and I had a very good couple of days in my workouts. I'm already on a 12-day running streak and I'm not sure how that happened. I'm just trying to get out everyday and do something - it really doens't matter right not other than getting out the front door. If I do that the rest seems to come naturally.

Friday was an easy day for me with only a couple of walks logged - Cade joined me both outings and we almost logged 5 miles for the day. I was a little sore from Thursday night softball - I dove for a ball to my left and have a bruise on my hip that really ugly.

Saturday I meant to get up early and go for a bike ride (13 miles) but it was so cold I decided to stay in bed for a few more hours and had to push back my ride until the lat afternoon. Why? Well I had to coach Abby's soccer game at noon (they won 2-1) and then drive up to Asuza Pacific University (an hour north into LA) to watch Alex run the mile. Once Alex and I got home I had about an hour of time to get out on the bike. I snuck in a 20 miler in 1:13 so I was very pleased. Tired but pleased.

Alex's School at the Meet

Of course I got to the Meet just a little late....Again.

Today (Sunday) Alex and I ran an easy 10k together - it was a little too fast for me and my body was really tired from the day before but we did finish with a 9:34 pace so I'm good. Now after sitting a couple hours I find myself very sore from the waist down. As it worked out, Beth and I took the day off from P90x so I have a chance to recover a little.



Currently I'm sitting at 104.9 miles for the month with three days left. I'm hoping for about 15 more mies to finish the month off strong. That would put me at my second highest monthly total over the past two years (the highest being January of this year). With momentum building for April.


Keep Steppin'
Bob

It Was a Good Day.

 

After a week of just being in the dumps - today was a good day.  It's 11:20 pm as I type this and I just got done adding up my time doing something active today:

Walking 1 hour
Running 40 mins
P90x 1 hour 15 mins
Softball 1 hour 10 mins
Totals: 4 hours and 5 mins <-- simply amazing!  I can't believe I actually put in a day like today.  Ice Cube just seemed to fit today.

My run tonight was supposed to be a very easy 2.3 miles - I stretched that out to 3.5 miles (with my cool down.) and I made the decision to scrap my plan - I'll finish my 10k training by feel and see if I can break the 60 min barrier in 30 days.  Pace for my run was a very slow 10:37 per mile, but my first mile was an 11:23 so I did lay down a good final two miles......



Softball was good even though we lost in the final inning.  I was 3-4 with a HR, 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored.  I'm sure the P90x is improving my power.  Normally I don't hit the ball that far, and in fact my only out was a deep flyout of left field.

P90x was tough today, plyometrics and abs today.  Slowly I'm getting better and I'm completing more and more of each move.  Weight is down about 5-8 lbs since we started and we're only on week 3 day 2.  I sweat like crazy during these workouts and I can feel me working muscle groups that I normally don't use, I can't wait until we reach day 30.

Alex called me tonight walking home from track practice - he was clocked running a 5:02 mile today by the Varisty Coach.  Dammit that's my PR.  He does three weeks of formal training and he hits my personal PR?  The kid is a natural -he's got another week to break the 5 min barrier and the coach will take him to the varisty open meet here in Orange County.  I'm not sure how I feel about that - he's never run in a pack before let alone a mile track pack.  Still as a sophmore, it would be a good expirence fr him......  We'll see what the kid can pull out next week at practice.  Either way I'm very proud of him.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Hitting the Pavement

Well I made it out he door today for a run - not a very far run nor a very fast run, but I did make it out the front door and I'll take that as a win.  The run itself wasn't very good - my conditioning has suffered and I wasn't used to running in the warmer weather (almost 80 degrees today).  Needless to say I went out a little too fast and crashed over the final mile.  Still I was able to put in a 30:07 time over a 5k so I'm pleased that I got out the door.

Abby is still not feeling well so she missed her second day of school this week - hopefully tomorrow she'll feel better.  She looks much better today so I'm 99% sure she'll get back to class :)  Both Beth and I have been struggling with headaches and low energy.  I'm thinking we're spreading ourselves a little thin.  Beth is getting really close to taking her test and as the study time picks up, the more tired she gets.  Right now I think she's dead asleep with Cade in his bed - I'm tempted to let her sleep tonight instead of us getting our P90x workout in.....  I'll play it by ear.

Tomorrow I'm going to get in a few more miles - I'm tempted on ditching the 10k plan and just go back to 'feel' - "Why?" You ask, well at this time the plan itself is putting a little too much pressure on me to get the runs in.  I think I'm going to go back to running by feel - getting out the door and changing a 3 miler into a 5 miler.  I'm ready for my 10k race coming up in 31 days so I'm not worried there but what I'm worried about is stressing out and not getting in a run because I don't want to go 5 miles instead of 4.

The other thing is I've been running too many fast miles with Alex - I've crushed too many PB's in the last few weeks and I think it's put a little strain on my body, so I'm going to step back a little on thse run with him.  Shoot he's running over 60 miles per week right not so a couple of slower miles with his old man isn't going to hurt him.  BTW he just ran a 5:10 mile the other day.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Quick Update

I just wanted to drop in quickly (it's 10:30 pm on a friday night).  Currently streak is now 14 days.  Alex and I snuck out of the house during a downpour and got in 2.5 miles.  We ran it at a 9:05 pace which is right at my 5k race pace.  I feel pretty good right now just a little tired from getting up early doing the P90x program.

Speaking thereof - the program is going well.  I can already tell that I'm getting stronger.  A couple of moves that I couldn't do earlier in the week I pulled off this morning in the ab routine.  The more I see of this program, the more I would recommend it.  Even if you don't get the results (visual) they like to show off.  I can tell that by the end of the program I'll be so much stronger and ligher.  This week so far I've lost 4 lbs so I'm doing somethng right.

I'll post more this weekend about the actual workouts but I just wanted to get something in tonight since I hadn't posted since Wednesday.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

BTW I'm only 2.5 miles away from 200 miles for the year already. :)

Wonderful Weekend!

I can't believe how good this weekend was both for workouts and family!  Where should I start?  Let's see, I'll start with my running stuff - Friday I did 7.5 mile total, a bunch of that was fairly slow in fact Beth joined me for 2.3 miles!  She's going to try to get some running in an maybe run a race coming up.  It was nice getting out with her, we took Bogey, Cade in the stroller, Abby was on her razor with her friend from accross the street.  I enjoyed getting out of the house and spending time with Beth.  She always seems to handle running easily and she ended up doing the distance at a 12:06 pace.  Not bad for someone who doesn't really run. My main run on Friday was only 2.6 miles and most of that was downhill.  It didn't worry me though because Friday's are actually my rest day when it comes to my planning schedule, so getting in these miles were a bonus.  My legs feel pretty good and overall I feel strong.  Pace was a pretty quick 9:15 per mile so I'm very happy since the run itself didn't take too much effort.

Saturday was another good day - I picked up Alex from his Mother's and he wanted to run with me that night, so after giving him my old New Balance shoes, we went out he front door for an easy 5k.  This kid is fast, but having him there really helped me.  I was able to talk with him while we ran and the time flew by.  Before I knew it we were going up our last hill for the finish.  At that point Alex wanted to 'stretch his legs' and picked up the pace.  Me being his old man tried to limit him pulling away from me.  Over the final half mile he got about a :45 seconds on me and I fnished in 28:24 only :20 slower than my personal best.  WOW!  This run felt so easy paced for me so I know running with him will help me a ton.  Hopefully he'll stick with it.

Saturday is my week ending date so I put together a solid week - I ran everyday this past week and logged 38.2 miles doing it.  Beth and I ran, Alex and I ran, and Beth and I did the pretest on P90x.  (more on this later)  Overall it was a great week, I'm feeling really strong right now, and my workouts are going great!  I still can't believe that I'm pushing myself into new territory here.  I can't wait for P90x to get into full swing......

Sunday I did my long run for the week (5 miles).  Alex joined me again.  I thought maybe he was going to be tired from the night before, but the three miles didn't seem to bother him at all.  We did just over 5 miles at a 9:24 pace.  A little fast for me, but once again I felt good running with him, and he takes me out of my confort zone just a little.  Not so much that I'm struggling, but just enough to give me that 'next level' of training that I need.  Overall with our warm up and cool down we ended up logging 6.5 miles.  This Wednesday he's has his first track day; 9+ miles on a track!  They do 10 laps, 9 laps, 8 laps, etc.  What an introduction to track running!  No timing, but they have to finish before they go home.......  This season could be interesting for him, but after doing 5 miles with me, it shouldn't be a problem him as long as he paces himself.  BTW he logged a 6:15 mile for his PE final last week, I wonder what he could do with solid training?

Monthly totals: 179.9 miles, three new PB's, started weight training, did pretest for P90x.  Pretty solid month if I do say so.  Too bad for that three day rain stretch otherwise I might have had 30 days of straight running.

Family stuff this weekend was wonderful.  Beth had to put in some hours at the office, but once she was home we made the best of it.  Like I mentioned, she went running on Friday, and Saturday we had fun just hanging out together.  Sunday we took the family down to San Diego (about a 45 min drive) and spent about 2.5 hours on the Midway.  Yes the Aricraft Carrier Midway from WWII.  The carrier is now decommishioned and is a floating museum down in San Diego.  Beth's Uncle works as a tour guide / safety staff on the ship and gave us some free passes over Christmas.  We had a blast.  If you're in the area, I'd recommend this site to anyone even if you're not a big history buff.  This boat has such a rich histoy and was so vital to us winning the war in the Pacific, you can't help be feel in awe when you step aboard.  They are continusously opening new rooms so there is always something new to look at.

 Cade with his Monkey Leash

Eject! Eject!

Just one of several planes they have on display, this is INSIDE the Midway.

Go Navy!  Mr. Speedy himself.

Abby and Cade

Beth and Cade

Helicopter tansport - Alex knows it from Call Of Duty for XBox.  Scary thing is Abby and Cade knew it also.

The kids

Check out that anchor!  That only one of two in the bow.  Taken from the flight deck.

Downtown San Diego skyline - taken from the flight deck of the Midway.

 

Abby the Fighter Pilot

After a late lunch in Old Towne.

Keep Steppin'

Bob

Beautiful Day

I written alot about difficult runs and PB's recently.  Mostly because these types of runs are important, memorable, and recently very common for me.  Tonight I wanted to comment on another 'type' of run, the so called 'easy' run.  That's the training run where you feel like your floating and effort-wise it doesn't feel like a constant struggle.  I always see people writing about these runs - you'll see comments about 'runner's high' or endorphines, etc.  These types of runs to me are the product of hard work and really only come at certain points in your training cycle(s).  It's not mysterious that they 'just happen', they occur because what you are doing is working.

Don't get me wrong, these runs I truly enjoy and they are one of the many reasons why I run.  But I always get confused when I see comments about "I'm still searching for that runner's high..."  If you're searching for that run/feeling then search your log books - find out what you were doing the last time you had that feeling.  Do it again.  I promise you, you will have that feeling again.  Running is a science as much as it is physical and mental.  "But Bob I don't keep a log..." well then keep looking because your 'runner's high' runs will be few and far between.  This might sound harsh, but this is my blog and it's what I believe - so you'll have to put up with it. :)



Enough of my soap box though.  I got in a nice 3.7 mile easy run tonight (9:35 pace) that's about :10 - :15 seconds faster than my target pace tonight, but still within my target pace variance so I'm pleased with the effort put in tonight.  I started my second week in my 10k plan and Wednesday night I have my first interval training scheduled (8x400's) I'll be doing these at my 5k race pace (approx 9:04 pace) so we'll see how that goes.  I'm a little concerned though since we're supposed to get another wave of rainstorms starting tomorrow.  Hopefully it's not a bad as last week and won't effect my runnng plans too much.

I had a nice little phone conversation with my oldest son tonight - he's 15 now and earlier this school year he promised he and his mother (my ex) that he was going to try out for the track team.  I found out that he was planning on flaking on this promise so I called him on it tonight. I actually got to use the phrase: "Cowboy Up."  I've been waiting a while to use that and I think it had a positive affect.  I told him that I on't expect him to become this great runner, but I do expect him to follow through on a promise and to put in the hard work (mileage) to find out what kind of man he's going to be.  And that maybe, just maybe he'll learn something about himself in the process.  He's going to be suprised though - two years ago without any training he clocked a 6:13 mile, and that was on the road.  The kid is fast I just think he's afraid to fail. It will be interesting to see how he responds to our talk.  I'll know by Wednesday if he signed up for the team....

Keep Steppin'
Bob

It's Been a Week Already?!?

I logged in this morning to catch up on some of my reading just to find out that it's been a full week since I last posted! How did that happen? Life overall has been good - busy but good. Workouts have been going great this month and it looks as if I'll break the mythical 100 mile barrier this month. (I'm sitting at 87 miles with 4 days to go.)

Even though I didn't get my running streak to 20 days I did set a PB - and just the other day I ran 2.23 miles with Alex very easily that was at a 9:35 pace. I'm guessing I could have run 3 or 4 miles at that pace since we were going so smoothly but I didn't want to stretch myself too thin since I had done a warm up mile beforehand and was doing a cool down mile afterwards - that's pretty much my limit right now.....

I'm really pushing Alex to start training. At the age of 14 he's growing like a weed and he's faster than his old man was at his age, also taller. (My senior year I clocked a 15:02 for a 5k) He would be faster than that if he trained. He ran a 25.05 for his first ever 5k race last Thanksgiving - and I'm sure he'd destroy that now and run it in a mid 21 without any additional training just because of his growth and strength at this point. I'm going to try to talk him into running the Memorial 5k with me this year.

Another note: I'm on pace to log 800 miles this year. That's my stretch goal this year and I feel really good about sticking to my program I've set for myself. Physically I feel better than I have in about 4 years, and my weight is beginning to fall off again. In fact the scale read 200.7 last Saturday. It won't be long before I'm under 200....... The weight thing isn't a goal though - it's just another indicator that what I'm doing is working. I always look at mileage, duration, heart rate, consecutive day streaks, pace, personal feeling, and then weight. Weight is a nice side effect of what I'm doing.

Speaking of personal feeling - I feel pretty good over the past few months. No major headaches or nagging colds - if you know me the headaches are constant for me, and for me not to have any it a huge deal for me. I feel like a weight has been lifted and I'm starting to come out of a fog bank. It's nice. Heartburn is almost gone now - it flares up every other day or so but that's mostly caused my a trigger food or a small panic attack over finances. But this is very treatable and I can live with it.

Keep Steppin'
Bob

Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

Well I've taken a few days to get this together, and I'm a little disappointed I didn't get any pictures (It was actually pouring rain during the event and I didn't want to ruin my wife's camera) so you'll have to conjure up your own images in your mind. Sorry about that.

Alex and I got to the course about an hour before our race time, but we sat in the car watching the 10k runners slosh back to their cars. The two of us warm and dry began to wonder if the rain was going to let up before our gun sounded. Alex was a little nervous so he was quiet and was answering my questions, comments with one-word phrases so the conversation inside the car wasn't very lively. Still it was nice having him there and I could tell he was excited to run.

About 30 mins before the race start we decided to start walking to the starting line which was about a half mile away. Stripping down to our running clothes we left our jackets inside the car. Low and behold the rain let up - but the temp was still roughly 52 degrees, so it was a little cold. I love running in this kind of weather, but poor Alex doesn't have an ounce of fat on his body and he was shivering during the walk down the hill to the harbor course.

Once down the hill, the over 39 5ker's were finishing up so I took the time to point out the 3 mile marker, Start and Finish out to Alex since he was going to reach all of this WAY before I did. I think that helped because he really started talking and asking questions. Before too long the starter asked for us to start 'loading up'. Over 2000 runners were in our race and over 12000 overall in the whole 5-10k event. Dana Point's largest race (And they have been running this event for over 30 years) So you can picture the crowding in that started to occur. Still everyone around us was very pleasant, and thoughtful and actually it wasn't that bad. Alex and I found a spot next to the barriers and was fairly open and we were about mid-way in the pack.

Once the gun sounded - it took us about a 1:30 to get to the line (of course this is chip timed) and I really didn't see Alex again except for the turn around points. Now for anyone who hasn't run this course before it's basically a capital "H" in design the the cross of the "H" being the harbor bridge. Very flat and very fast so people 'ship in' from all over trying for PR's (not to mention there are some good cash prizes for top place finishers.)

The first mile went by pretty quickly - I spent most of my time filtering my way through the throngs of moving people - Alex quickly disappeared into the sea..... My breathing was good, but I lacked any real strength in my legs. I was disappointed to feel that because I had taken off several days before to help eliminate this. My back that had been bothering me so much over the past four weeks felt pretty good and I clocked a 9:58 over the first mile. I briefly saw Alex right before the first mile marker and he was closing in on some of the front runners (he didn't wear a watch but at the mile marker they were calling out times - 7:43 was his)

Mile 2 is always kind of tough for me - once again we cross over the bridge, and by this time my breathing was coming a little harder. People started to pass me, not many but enough for me to notice. Growing up I never had to worry about that, but as I grow older (and slower) its pretty disheartening to happen. 10:22 was my second mile split which I was still happy with since I was on pace to break my 33 min goal. Quickly doing the math I realized that the sub 31 most likely wasn't going to happen unless I turned in a really good third mile. Once again I saw Alex at a turn around early in the mile and he looked really good - falling back in the pack a little, but still his form was good.

The final mile on this course usually gets me pretty good. I've run this course many times over and now it's just a mental block in my mind. I was struggling at this point early on in the mile as Alex scooted by me going the opposite direction (this time look pretty tired). Once he past I just fixed in on a girl in front of me and let her keep pace. All was fine and dandy until the it came time for the final turn around for 'us' she quit on me! Just upright stopped at the turn around! After barely avoiding her going around the pylon (along with several other runners) I looked over my shoulder and said: "Come on - you pulled me now it's your turn." Slowly she filed in behind me and I could hear her for a little bit, but after about three mins she fell off. By this time I couldn't worry about her since the third mile marker was coming up. 10:41 I'd fell off again - the sub 31 min was gone - all I could do was power it up and finish strong. :53 seconds later I had clocked a 31:55 on my watch, happy but a little disappointed I felt I had left some out on the course......

Alex greeted me with a big grin; "How'd you do?" Was the first question out of his mouth. Without his watch we wasn't sure what he had clocked so we had to wait until the results were on the web site: 25:05. Not bad for his first 5k. He was pleased. I think that put him in 386th overall.

I didn't do as well:

Overall 1147 out of 2334

Male 688 out of 1116

Age (35-39) 90 out of 144

Total Time 31:55

Well I finished my race - had fun and reached my race time with a minute to spare. I can't complain with anything. Next year I'll be running mid 25's though, that will be something to write about.

Keep Steppin'

Bob

So here it is; 1:30 pm on the 26th and I'm already getting antsy for tomorrow. Shoot I won't even register for the run for another hour or so!

Now I'm just passing some time at work waiting for Alex to get out of school so I can pick him up. So instead of doing work, I'm going to be more constructive and highlight some points for tomorrow.

1. Have fun! I'm not a speed demon anymore - maybe someday in the future but not tomorrow.
2. Make sure Alex has fun and is comfortable. This is his first 5k race ever. He's done 1 milers before but never anything this size (4000+ runners)
3. Take pictures! I want to include them in my race report. This means I need a bag - store it etc.... (I've never done this before.)
4. Meet my sub 33 min goal. I still think this should be easy to do - but you never know since my back has been acting up over the past two weeks. (I really hope next year this goal will be more like a sub 27 min......)
5. Write an awesome race report. (I've never done this before - I run a ton of races but never written a report before.)
6. Eat turkey
7. Eat turkey
8. Fall asleep (with turkey in my stomach.)

Gobble Gobble
Bob

Finally a Good Run!

Well I've taken it easy over the past few days to see if my back would feel any better (I only logged approx 15 miles last week) - and it's slowly coming around. It's really just sore and tired, nothing I can't handle but it's just making me uncomfortable sitting all day at work right now. Since playing softball last Thursday I shut down my running completely just to be safe but played golf on Sunday; I was sore going in, but my back loosened up and I scored ok (18 over for a 91).

So with the encouraging results of playing golf, I decided to start running again on Monday - and I felt really good. After walking during my lunch, I went for a run once Beth and I put down the kids. The plan was 2 miles easy, nothing more nothing less. When it was all said and done I logged 2 miles in 21:02 and I could have ran 2 more at that pace. Breathing was pretty good (it still have room for improvement) and I really didn't start sweating until 3/4th of a mile into the run. In fact, I wore longsleeves thinking it was colder than it was - I could have gone shortsleeves and been perfectly fine.

This morning I'm still a little stiff, and I can feel the tension in my lower back and hips, but once again nothing really bad. Maybe an Advil later this morning and I think I'll be fine. Today I'm planning on doing the same thing - walk at lunch, then 2 miles tonight. The weather calls for rain today so that may change a little we'll see.

A couple other notes - I tried to sign up for the Turkey Trot this morning, but on-line registration is closed (even though it indicates today was the last day) Now I have to go down tomorrow and pay more. Dammit. I've been putting it off for a couple reasons, my back and making sure Alex really want to run with me. That's what I get for waiting for the last min. Also sometime over the holiday weekend I'm planning on going to Crystal Cove to test run the 5k course there. If I like it I'm going to sign up for that also (just myself this time.)

I'm going to set a PB for my monthly miles this month no matter what - my next run will do that. So that's a good trend. I'll do a complete monthly review next week after my race report.

Keep Steppin'

Bob