Well the results of the poll are in and we have a three way tie!!!!
The masses have voted and it is official Arin, Rachael, and Jill make the SW Jersey look good!!!! As for me, well not so much...
Thanks to all that voted!!!
Chad
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Last (Really) Long Run
Today I completed the last long run before I run the San Antonio Rock and Roll marathon on November 16. The task in front of me was a daunting 20 mile run. YIKES!!! Previously the most I had run was 17.6 miles and had horrible results (right knee pain and had to walk the last 3 miles or so)
Me run 20 miles. I rarely drive 20 miles let alone run that far. I mapped out the route that I would have to follow to accomplish this task and it will consist of one loop around the outer neighborhood, 2 loops around the major roads in the area, and a final lap on our road.
The run took me 3:48 to complete, which was at a pace of 11:25 min/mile. I was once again plagued with right knee pain right groin area and right hip pain. The pain didn't really start to rear its ugly head until around mile 12 or 13. This time I was able to continue the run, but had to take frequent walk breaks. Considering the issues with the pain and the walking I think that this was a good time. I hope that I will not have these issues on MARATHON DAY!!! Hopefully the rest that I get before the race will be enough of break for these issues to heal. For some reason I don't have the knee pain or the groin area pain until I go the long distances. These do not bother me when I run the regular 5 - 6 miles or even the occasional 8 mile run. Go Figure!!! I will have to include walk breaks throughout the marathon in my strategy to complete the race.
I returned home and went about my recovery routine of drinking lots of fluids, eating, stretching, an ice bath, and laying down with legs elevated.
Another accomplishment to put in the books. One more big one to go and it is only 3 weeks away!!!
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Me run 20 miles. I rarely drive 20 miles let alone run that far. I mapped out the route that I would have to follow to accomplish this task and it will consist of one loop around the outer neighborhood, 2 loops around the major roads in the area, and a final lap on our road.
The run took me 3:48 to complete, which was at a pace of 11:25 min/mile. I was once again plagued with right knee pain right groin area and right hip pain. The pain didn't really start to rear its ugly head until around mile 12 or 13. This time I was able to continue the run, but had to take frequent walk breaks. Considering the issues with the pain and the walking I think that this was a good time. I hope that I will not have these issues on MARATHON DAY!!! Hopefully the rest that I get before the race will be enough of break for these issues to heal. For some reason I don't have the knee pain or the groin area pain until I go the long distances. These do not bother me when I run the regular 5 - 6 miles or even the occasional 8 mile run. Go Figure!!! I will have to include walk breaks throughout the marathon in my strategy to complete the race.
I returned home and went about my recovery routine of drinking lots of fluids, eating, stretching, an ice bath, and laying down with legs elevated.
Another accomplishment to put in the books. One more big one to go and it is only 3 weeks away!!!
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
RGR Fall Fest 25k and 8k - Volunteer
Today I am voluneering at the RGR race. I felt that this race would be a good opportunity to allow me to give back to the running organization. I signed up to help with the parking in the morning and then as a course marshal during the race.
The race was being held about 40 min from the house at a new park that is not yet open to the public. The park is between Boerne and Comfort off I-10.
The parking was annoying as the people think the rules or direction of the staff does not apply to them. So one person doesn't follow directions then all of the others follow not knowing any difference and next thing that you know you have a mess. I guess it helps my gain perspective in the future when I think the rules don't apply to me. On second thought it won't!!!
The course marshal part was faily busy. It started off by me getting lost and driving off the course. This ended up helping as other volunteers also ended up getting lost. I had to direct the runners to turn left on their first pass by me and then turn left on thier return. I also had to stop traffic to let the runners cross.
I was posted at the top of a fairly large hill, which made me glad that I didn't run the race. The view from the hill was beautiful!!! The photographer from Hill Country Rambling website was also at the hill for part of the race taking pictures. I will check the website and see if there are any good pictures of the view.
Overall it was a good experience ane will probably do it again. I did get a coupon for a free race entry, a T-shirt (that ended up being too small), and some food.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
The race was being held about 40 min from the house at a new park that is not yet open to the public. The park is between Boerne and Comfort off I-10.
The parking was annoying as the people think the rules or direction of the staff does not apply to them. So one person doesn't follow directions then all of the others follow not knowing any difference and next thing that you know you have a mess. I guess it helps my gain perspective in the future when I think the rules don't apply to me. On second thought it won't!!!
The course marshal part was faily busy. It started off by me getting lost and driving off the course. This ended up helping as other volunteers also ended up getting lost. I had to direct the runners to turn left on their first pass by me and then turn left on thier return. I also had to stop traffic to let the runners cross.
I was posted at the top of a fairly large hill, which made me glad that I didn't run the race. The view from the hill was beautiful!!! The photographer from Hill Country Rambling website was also at the hill for part of the race taking pictures. I will check the website and see if there are any good pictures of the view.
Overall it was a good experience ane will probably do it again. I did get a coupon for a free race entry, a T-shirt (that ended up being too small), and some food.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Training Update
Things have been going pretty well with the training. I have not really had any issues with my running since the knee pain that I had while doing the 18 mile training run.
Speed Workouts - I have been doing the Speed workouts each week and ran the last one at a 9min/mile pace. These workouts are a combination of running hard for five mins followed by easy running for 2. I have been doing 4 sets of these. I first started these three weeks ago and did that one at a pace of 9:48 min/mile.
Easy mid week runs - These have been going well also. I was able to maintain a 9:14 min/mile at an easy pace for 5 miles. This is down from 9:43 about two weeks ago.
Long Runs - I have done one long run that was 8.2 miles and did that at a pace of 9:55 min/mile.
It is encouraging to continue to see such good progress in my running. I look back at where I started and am amazed at how far I have come. I will have to run the first race that I ran in June again next year to see what my time.
I am going to move my long run from Sat to Sun as I will be volunteering at the RGR Fall Fest 25k and 8k. I would have participated in the race but I have to do 20 miles this weekend and I do not want to cut it short.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Speed Workouts - I have been doing the Speed workouts each week and ran the last one at a 9min/mile pace. These workouts are a combination of running hard for five mins followed by easy running for 2. I have been doing 4 sets of these. I first started these three weeks ago and did that one at a pace of 9:48 min/mile.
Easy mid week runs - These have been going well also. I was able to maintain a 9:14 min/mile at an easy pace for 5 miles. This is down from 9:43 about two weeks ago.
Long Runs - I have done one long run that was 8.2 miles and did that at a pace of 9:55 min/mile.
It is encouraging to continue to see such good progress in my running. I look back at where I started and am amazed at how far I have come. I will have to run the first race that I ran in June again next year to see what my time.
I am going to move my long run from Sat to Sun as I will be volunteering at the RGR Fall Fest 25k and 8k. I would have participated in the race but I have to do 20 miles this weekend and I do not want to cut it short.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Lake Corpus Christi Triathalon
Well I decided that I would get up in the morning and see if they needed any more volunteers for the triathlon. I thought it would be a good opportunity to give back since the races that I run are dependent upon volunteers.
They assigned me to be the marshal in the area where they return from the bike ride and head out on the 5k run. They were supposed to ride in from one direction and run in the other direction. I tried to make sure that the participants knew they had to run towards me and not back the way they came. So I ended up just saying "Runners this way" over and over again.
It was pretty boring, but I was able to see how the while triathlon thing works. There was one guy that took like 35 minutes to swim (400 meters I think). The fastest people were finishing in about 8 minutes. One time he was swimming into the middle of the swim course. Way in the wrong direction.
I was glad that I had the opportunity to help out and I am sure I will do it again some day.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
They assigned me to be the marshal in the area where they return from the bike ride and head out on the 5k run. They were supposed to ride in from one direction and run in the other direction. I tried to make sure that the participants knew they had to run towards me and not back the way they came. So I ended up just saying "Runners this way" over and over again.
It was pretty boring, but I was able to see how the while triathlon thing works. There was one guy that took like 35 minutes to swim (400 meters I think). The fastest people were finishing in about 8 minutes. One time he was swimming into the middle of the swim course. Way in the wrong direction.
I was glad that I had the opportunity to help out and I am sure I will do it again some day.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Saturday, October 11, 2008
World Wide Festival of Races
This weekend was also the Worldwide Festival of Races, which is a virtual race that is put on by a few of the major podcasters. Steve Runner from the Phedippidations podcast is one of the main organizers of the event. I think this is the third year that they have done this race. This year there are over 1000 participants.
I was scheduled to do an 18 mile long run as part of my marathon training so I figured I would just use note the time that I had completed the 13.1 miles and record that time and take the average minutes/mile of the long run and apply that to determine the time for the half marathon. Since I had the issues with my running and I was on an unfamiliar course and had difficulty know where the 13.1 mile point was I just made an estimate on my time.
I was starting to make plans to get Arin, Jill and several of the neighbors to do a 5k walk as part of the race but since we went camping it did not work out.
Oh well there is always next year.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
I was scheduled to do an 18 mile long run as part of my marathon training so I figured I would just use note the time that I had completed the 13.1 miles and record that time and take the average minutes/mile of the long run and apply that to determine the time for the half marathon. Since I had the issues with my running and I was on an unfamiliar course and had difficulty know where the 13.1 mile point was I just made an estimate on my time.
I was starting to make plans to get Arin, Jill and several of the neighbors to do a 5k walk as part of the race but since we went camping it did not work out.
Oh well there is always next year.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
18 Miler
This weekend we are camping at Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Mathis, Tx. It is located about 30 minutes from Corpus Christi or Corpus Chisry as Rachael calls it (LOL). She is such a card. Keeps us cracking up!!!
This is was our first time camping hear and it is pretty nice. I was surprised by all of the wildlife in the park. There were wild boars roaming the camp grounds day and night. While there we also saw armadillos, rabbits, and deer. We went camping with our friends Zeke and Suzie and their kids.
The first night Zeke and I drove around the park trying to map out a the mileage and route for my 18 mile long run that I had to do on Saturday morning. The first thing that I noticed was that there were A LOT of hills. I think I counted 7 or 8 significant hills in a 4.4 miles.
I got up early on Saturday so that I could get the run over with before the others were up for very long. So I dragged my butt out of bed and realized that it was still dark (which it normally is when I start my long runs), but the problem was that unlike at home there are no street lights. It was pitch black and I could hardly see the road. Needless to day I postponed the start of my long run until there was a little more light.
I got started and it was going pretty well. I was able to complete the first loop in about 50 minutes and the second loop in 52 minutes, which I didn't think was too bad considering all of the hills. Sometime during the second and third loops I started getting some pain in my right knee. At first I tried to mix in some walking and stretching hoping that would fix the problem. As I continued on the pain got worse and I eventually decided to finish the 4th loop by walking as I didn't want to risk an injury (assuming that this was only a minor issue). I finished in 3:50 minutes and did a total of 17.6 miles.
I am hoping that this pain will not continue and effect more of my training. While I was on my last loop some other campers stopped and talked to me as they saw me running when they left for town and I was still going several hours later. I found out that they were there for a triathlon that was occurring the next day right there in the park. I would have participated if only I had know!!!
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
This is was our first time camping hear and it is pretty nice. I was surprised by all of the wildlife in the park. There were wild boars roaming the camp grounds day and night. While there we also saw armadillos, rabbits, and deer. We went camping with our friends Zeke and Suzie and their kids.
The first night Zeke and I drove around the park trying to map out a the mileage and route for my 18 mile long run that I had to do on Saturday morning. The first thing that I noticed was that there were A LOT of hills. I think I counted 7 or 8 significant hills in a 4.4 miles.
I got up early on Saturday so that I could get the run over with before the others were up for very long. So I dragged my butt out of bed and realized that it was still dark (which it normally is when I start my long runs), but the problem was that unlike at home there are no street lights. It was pitch black and I could hardly see the road. Needless to day I postponed the start of my long run until there was a little more light.
I got started and it was going pretty well. I was able to complete the first loop in about 50 minutes and the second loop in 52 minutes, which I didn't think was too bad considering all of the hills. Sometime during the second and third loops I started getting some pain in my right knee. At first I tried to mix in some walking and stretching hoping that would fix the problem. As I continued on the pain got worse and I eventually decided to finish the 4th loop by walking as I didn't want to risk an injury (assuming that this was only a minor issue). I finished in 3:50 minutes and did a total of 17.6 miles.
I am hoping that this pain will not continue and effect more of my training. While I was on my last loop some other campers stopped and talked to me as they saw me running when they left for town and I was still going several hours later. I found out that they were there for a triathlon that was occurring the next day right there in the park. I would have participated if only I had know!!!
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The Speedworkout
My training plan called for something new this week. Starting this week I am scheduled to do one "Speed Workout" ~~chuckle chuckle~~ each week.
Okay pick yourself up off the floor. I know it is funny to have speed mentioned when having anything to do with me. It is just a name and does not infer in anyway that I am fast or that I will ever be. Although I was just browsing the detroit marathon website and saw that the first person to break a 2:17 time on the Marathon gets an additional $5,000 cash prize. 2:17 doesn't sound that bad (to say). Anyway it gives me a goal to work towards(Yeah right).
Okay, let me get back on track...
The speed workout ~~chuckle chuckle~~ (sorry it is still funny to say/write/think) starts out with a five minute walk and then goes into a 10 minute easy "warmup" run. After this the fun starts and you pick up the pace and run fairly hard for five minutes and then you run easy for two minutes. You do this 5min/2min cycle four times and then finish with a five minute easy run and 5 minute walk.
I didn't really care for this workout, but I think it was because I did the first five minute run way to fast that the other cycle were pretty difficult and left me out of breath and tired.
I will definitely have to play with this type of workout to see what works best for me. I am also very curious to see if the name comes through as an improvement in my speed!!!!
I am gearing up for my 18 mile run this weekend, which I will have to do while we are camping.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Okay pick yourself up off the floor. I know it is funny to have speed mentioned when having anything to do with me. It is just a name and does not infer in anyway that I am fast or that I will ever be. Although I was just browsing the detroit marathon website and saw that the first person to break a 2:17 time on the Marathon gets an additional $5,000 cash prize. 2:17 doesn't sound that bad (to say). Anyway it gives me a goal to work towards(Yeah right).
Okay, let me get back on track...
The speed workout ~~chuckle chuckle~~ (sorry it is still funny to say/write/think) starts out with a five minute walk and then goes into a 10 minute easy "warmup" run. After this the fun starts and you pick up the pace and run fairly hard for five minutes and then you run easy for two minutes. You do this 5min/2min cycle four times and then finish with a five minute easy run and 5 minute walk.
I didn't really care for this workout, but I think it was because I did the first five minute run way to fast that the other cycle were pretty difficult and left me out of breath and tired.
I will definitely have to play with this type of workout to see what works best for me. I am also very curious to see if the name comes through as an improvement in my speed!!!!
I am gearing up for my 18 mile run this weekend, which I will have to do while we are camping.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
Saturday, October 4, 2008
An Easy Eight Mile Long Run
This week my long run was 8 miles. Not only did I never think that I could run eight miles I never dreamed that I would think of an eight mile run as EASY!!!
As it turned out it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. I thought that I was running at a nice easy pace, but the heart rate monitor was telling me otherwise as I was in the 80 to 90% most of the time, when I should have been in the high 70's to low 80's.
I could also tell because my hips and knees were getting a little bit sore near the end and was short of breath more than I should have been. I still picked it up for that last quarter mile or so and finished running as fast as I could. It feels really weird when I try and run as fast as I can. I feel like my form and stride are all out of whack. I am sure that it will get better as I progress
In the end I did the 8 miles at a pace of 10:11 min/mile, which is really good for me. This week had been a lite running week for me and I have to say that it seemed like something was missing, but yet it was nice to have a break. The timing was good as it was also a very busy week at work with the month-end closing and all that going on. I am looking forward to this next week when I am back on my normal running schedule.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
As it turned out it was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. I thought that I was running at a nice easy pace, but the heart rate monitor was telling me otherwise as I was in the 80 to 90% most of the time, when I should have been in the high 70's to low 80's.
I could also tell because my hips and knees were getting a little bit sore near the end and was short of breath more than I should have been. I still picked it up for that last quarter mile or so and finished running as fast as I could. It feels really weird when I try and run as fast as I can. I feel like my form and stride are all out of whack. I am sure that it will get better as I progress
In the end I did the 8 miles at a pace of 10:11 min/mile, which is really good for me. This week had been a lite running week for me and I have to say that it seemed like something was missing, but yet it was nice to have a break. The timing was good as it was also a very busy week at work with the month-end closing and all that going on. I am looking forward to this next week when I am back on my normal running schedule.
May the Force be with you!!!
Chad
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