2011 Run 4 the Water 10 miler Race Report...

I look so happy here, right? This was after the race...so much more happened before this! For my own horrible memory, here are all the gory details - I'm going to warn you right now this will be a LONG report!

I was running late when I got downtown....at 5:30am. Race start: 7am. Turns out that would be very fortuitous, my time compulsion. I found out that waking up at 4am, while inherently stupid, saved my race. It may actually have been my sleep-addled brain that decided flushing a toilet that was full of water was a good idea. I immediately realized I screwed up, and lucky for me I was able to grab the plunger and avert worse damage. Murphy's Law starts my day. After a cleanup (and mopping) I was able to grab my stuff and run out the door. My legs at this point felt better than they ever have. Sad they did not stay that way!

It was perfect running weather, I'm guessing 45 degs at the start line. One hour before the race I decided to mosey (we do that still in Texas ya'll) over to the nearby Whataburger to use their men's room. Some guy was in it and I think he fell asleep on the john. I realized things were getting dicey at this point (2d time today if you get my drift) and I told him I'd really appreciate it if he could speed it up. Thank god he did is all I'm going to say about that. 20 minutes later I was headed to the start. Great atmosphere at the start! We listened to the Burundi National Anthem, and then some nameless woman - who sang very well - decided to see how long she could stretch the US National Anthem. Let's just say I don't think we started at 7am on the dot. Didn't matter, I had a good conversation with another guy at the start and off we went.

I am SO glad I left my ego at home. I was running back in 2008 at up to a 7:45 minute per mile pace (and did the Congress Avenue mile at UNDER 7 minutes), and man am I ever a LOOOOONNNNGGGG way from that! But I am grateful to AustinFit and my 10:30 pace group for helping me start at a realistic pace. I was feeling better than I ever have in a race, having a great time. I also learned a HUGE advantage for running slower - more women!! No offense ladies, it's all good. Women running at the old pace I ran were SERIOUS, and man they never said a word. Women running at 10:30 pace can still talk, and are MUCH more friendly after a few miles. 

The course was hilly, with hills at mile 3, 4, 5 and the last major one at 6. Wow that one really got my respect...my heart rate went way up on it! But I ran every hill, and I was feeling great. Loving life, little kids and puppies. At mile 7.5 roughly I was attacked by the same calf cramp I experienced two weekends ago. Man did that ever HURT! But I ran through it, and decided not to stop for water. I was well hydrated, having had to stop at about mile 5 or so to pee. Damn I hate when that happens, I need to learn not to OVER hydrate. It's a work in progress people. So the wierd thing is, I actually SPED UP the last two miles, despite a gradual uphill to the last stretch down to the finish line. I was grimacing pretty bad from mile 8 to mile 10. Sucks, because I know without that cramp I could have run much faster. And I have to just be content to know that I had a 'pure guts race' as Pre would have called it, with myself. And I won. Here is my 'watch time' calculating the running time only, sans pee break:

My new Garmin Forerunner 210

The 'official' chip time was 1:45:12 for a 10:31/mile pace, spot on what I have been training at. I loved my first race with my forerunner (210)...it has a 'current' pace setting that tells me what my pace is....and that kept me from killing myself with my fragile male ego I think! lol

My 5 mile (the 1st 5) pace was 10:33 and my overall pace was 10:31....I'm happy with that considering in the final 5 miles I had that infamous pee break and bad cramps. I still managed to run the last mile at 9:42 and the overall pace was despite the pee stop. So my overall place would not have changed, let's just say not too many men finished after I did! Still, I learned something very, very valuable today. Run for fun, analyze the numbers later, and be sure to take in the experience. The experience was a good one!!

Foot note to the cramps.....might be a calf strain. My insurance company (United Health) has a 24 hr nurse line, and she told me that I should see my primary care Dr tomorrow. Ick. Oh well, I'm going to be a good boy and hope this gets me back to health - 100% anyway, in time to train for next months 5K. 

Less than 14 hours to go. What, me nervous?

Pre race jitters. Love them. No, really I do. They remind me that I'm human. Trying not to think about it never works. Go ahead, try it. Try to NOT think about something. See? Fail.

I know I've done everything I could, short of actually running the distance. But I have no doubt I CAN do it, as long as this aging body doesn't do anything to fuck it all up. Like cramps, the dreaded C word all runners secretly fear. I've done a lot of reading lately and interestingly enough, it's rarely caused by dehydration. In fact, more runners OVER hydrate, many marathon runners in particular. They are even backtracking on the old adage of drinking before you are thirsty...and the conventional wisdom is to drink WHEN you feel thirsty. Jeez, make up our minds already! If you wait long enough, someone will figure out that smoking is good for you and that not smoking causes cancer in lab mice.

I bought a Garmin Forerunner 210 today, they were on sale and I've always wanted one. See how I just rationalized it to everyone? It was on sale. I'm a 53 year old man and fuck if I don't still feel like a little kid sometimes. Like I have to get approval from the blogosphere to spend my hard earned $. I have to admit to being a bit of a techno-nerd. Boys and their toys I guess. But hey, it's an equal opportunity obsession! Yes girls, you TOO can buy one!

This one is the lightest they make, only 1.6 lbs so it's no heavier than my regular watch actually. It's sitting in it's little charger now, and I cannot WAIT to try it out tomorrow. I can now save my routes I run for posterity's sake...and transfer them to my PC. You will all rue the day. Of course, if you're reading this you must not have a better way to spend your time, right? Or, like myself, you are fascinated by what can come out of this brain next.

So tomorrow morning, up BEFORE the ass crack of dawn. That of course means it is still dark, much like it would be if your head were up your....well, you get the picture. I am so time compulsive, always have been. Late to me means not being somewhere early enough. I actually have a very good routine down, that allows me time to eat, drive downtown, find a spot to park, meditate and worry....lol. And of course emergency porta potty time in the absolute worst case. The worst invention of man. Can't they just put them over a drain hole and VENT the damn things with electric fans? Some working AC would be nice too....

Check back tomorrow for the latest race report in all it's gory detail....and thanks for reading. I know you're out there, even if you don't comment. And that is cool. This blog is for us both....

Running Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K!!!

Wow, am I ever LATE signing up for this. I've done this several years before and I'm really excited about it for so many reasons. Several co-workers that ran the IBM 10K a few weeks back with me are also signed up to run, and I know from experience it's a large race, and an emotional one. This year I'm running to show my support having watched Megan's mom deal with her breast cancer just last year.

It's a horrible disease and something I really do hope they find a cure for. I pray my daughter never has to go through this like her mom (Sheree) did.

Having lost my own mother to cancer in 2001 (colon), doing what I can in a tangible way to help people in our own community as well as others is important to me. It's a sad fact this disease touches someone almost all of us know personally.

If you should read this and want to donate, click here. As they say, better late than never!

"The most inspiring video you will ever watch"....

That's what the link below promised me. I was like, uh, sure. Here goes another 5 minutes surfing to a waste of my time I will never get back. To say I was blown away is an understatement. I'll admit it right here too - for those of you who are fellow "The 40 Year Old Virgin" fans...I love Coldplay, and the song Roger chose is my all time favorite of theirs. I will have a new 'Power Song' on my iPod tonight!

PLEASE....take a 5 minute time out and watch this video. Think of someone in your life that desperately needs to get healthy and needs some motivation, and forward it to them. You might help save a life. The 'ripple effect' of the good will we send out of our lives can never be fully measured.....but I believe in it.

Click here after you get the kleenex...

His website (http://www.runningformyexistence.com/home.html) has more info on this amazing man. I'm already drawing on his inspiration - tonight's workout was a joyful one. Sometimes I need to be reminded to be grateful for the simplest things, like not having to struggle to breathe every breath I take. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have. I made a small donation to his fundraising efforts and hope to "track" his progress online at the NYC marathon Nov 6th...his # is 24589. Asics has a really cool deal where you can record a short video, and at a certain spot on the NYC marathon course, when the runners sensor passes over a mat, it triggers video messages to encourage the runner. I hope to get one recorded for him. It's really just paying it forward....

Feets don't fail me now!

Yesterday was one of those runs. The kind that can leave you doubting yourself if you let it. I woke up and the first yellow light should have been that I just did not sleep well. This no doubt is one reason I run so much stronger on weekends than during the week, the inability to sleep longer than 5 hours at most during the week days. I've done a lot to make my sleep deeper - blackout curtains, no coffee 5 hours before, etc but not much really changes from day to day as far as quantity. The quality of sleep is better, but working the Vampire Shift really sucks the life out of me some days. I'm learning to adjust my running expectations accordingly. Since my Training schedule (see Austin Half Marathon Training Schedule) is now on week 9, we're not up to the mileage I'm going to hit this weekend - 10 miler is in a mere 4 days. So I'm tapering slightly, running my runs at a very easy pace. Mostly. Today, I did take the last mile up from race pace of 10:30/mile to a 9 minute mile to simulate running on tired legs. Simulate, hell. My legs were tired today! I really do think the poor sleep contributed, so I need to stay positive. God knows the Committee in my head knows how to work me over:

Me: Man I feel tired today...

Committee: Yeah, you look like shit too. Pudgier than normal. You should have worn black...


Me: Wow, coming up to this two mile marker pretty quick...

Committee: You really need to learn how to pace yourself old man. Not that many years ago, that blond would not have passed you a 1/4 mile back that easily. Don't you have any self respect? I think if you step it up a little you might catch her at the 4 mile point...if she really slows up that is. You suck today...


Me: Yeah, I really have slowed down over the last three years. Of course, I haven't been running. I should be worried more about pace. I have time though...

Committee: Are you fucking kidding me? You're over 53 man! Besides, you know she was dissing you. You saw her smile when she went....wait. You did NOT think she was smiling to be friendly, do you? She was laughing at you dude....


Me: You think so? Really? Hey I think a 9:00 minute mile and I can catch her. Look, there she is right up ahead. I don't think this is too smart, really. Shouldn't we be running easy today?

Committee: Easy is for pussies. Come on, lift it some. Forget that nagging pain in the hamstring. Our grandmother can catch her, and she's as you well know dead already. Man up and pass her. 


Me: Ok but I'm not going to smile at her when I go by.

Committee: Good thing you didn't. You know damn well she could have caught you old man.


Me: PLEASE shut up and take the weekend off....

Committee: Sure thing Champ. I don't want to see how ugly it's going to be when you drop at mile 8.


Yep, that is a serious look into how my male brain works at times. Maybe it's 'Low T' like they talk about in that commercial I saw.....I probably need to watch 'Revenge' and test things out with Madeleine Stowe. Just sayin'!

I have my own personal masseur....

....me! Thanks to this ingenious device:

This really saved my butt last week when I developed that very painful muscle knot in my left calf. I used this a few times a day for several days, and it really worked. No issues on my Monday morning easy run. I've had some hamstring soreness too and this worked like a charm on that. If you've never used a foam roller before (whether you are a runner or not!) Here is a link to some exercises for some common issues. From here on out I plan to use it before and after runs and experiment a little. There are more inexpensive foam rollers (think large noodles!) - but I like this one for the different areas that it has. Using each area has a different 'feel' to it and it is simple to try each area till you hit one that works. It's a simple investment that pays for itself in one session - have you seen what massage therapists charge? 

Not a plug for this one - but it's called The Grid if you simply have to Keep Up With Perry and his toys...lol

Week Two with Austin Fit

Today was my 2d "Long run" with the group, and it was a fun one! We ran the Town Lake trail 5 mile route - with a twist! We stopped at Austin High School and ran a mile on their track! This was really cool, my first time to run on that track. Very nice surface, soft and springy! Although I have ran on other tracks before, I always found it pretty boring. This was cool, as we were sharing the track with a lot of other groups. We did 4 laps of course, and I have to say since I was stuck in the outside lane I had a longer way to go! Lol. We did sprints (using the word really loosely!) on the straights, and jogged through the turns. So basically 8 wind sprints, followed with the last 2 miles of our run....total distance was 6.25 today. It really ramped up my confidence for next Saturday's Run For the Water 10 mile race. Not that I will be racing anyone but myself, lol. My goal for the 10 miler is to go out slow, stay slow, finish and not get hurt!
I've been having some issues with my left calf that really surprised me - my calves are the strongest part of my body I thought....but then again cycling and running are completely different animals. And although I do believe the cycling helped me with an aerobic base to start with, running is running. Only cycling really builds cycling endurance, from my own experience, and so it makes sense that I need to run to build that running endurance also. The calf thing is a tightness that feels somewhat like a charley horse....and it goes away once I start running. Not really what I would call painful, and it's much better this week. Heat, stretch, ice a few times per day I was told, and that really has helped.
The main thing is, I'm having fun with it again. The group is something that to be perfectly honest totally frightened me at first. Doing something I've always done pretty much alone in a large group was a daunting thought. How I got out of bed last weekend and into my car is a testament to the fact we need to push ourselves to do new things, to experience more Life. At least for me. And I could not have had better experiences my first two times. It helps that we break down into smaller groups after a initial warm up and signing in...I'm running with the 10:30 pace group, led by Cheryl. It's cool in that I can be as social as I want, or as solitary as I need. I don't have the best "wind" at the start of my runs, and it takes me a while to settle in. That seems to work well, as not everyone is a morning person like me. It would be easy to alienate people at 6:30am being a chatterbox!!! Of course every group has one, but so far it's not me!!
Tomorrow is cross training day, so it's back to a spin class I think, for an easy effort and then into the pool for some laps. I'm loving the new trunks and goggles, maybe I'll actually post a pic here soon.

(Note - pictured is my new best friend. Long runs without it would be just plain stupid. This holds 20 oz, and I was amazed that I never heard anything slosh once, and it stayed firmly on my hips and never annoyed me at all!! Worth every penny! A Nathan's Trail Mix hydration belt - it has a great pouch for storing keys and ID, gels etc. LOVE IT!)