A Swim and a Run... Preparations continue! (though it does hurt more than I recall..)

I know that today is supposed to be a "Freaky Friday: Bizarre things found around the Interwebs"  - but I haven't had a chance to surf the interwebs lately - and nor have I posted on my exercising for the last two days.  So today is an update post instead!

Weds. was my "day off" of running (also known as a rest day) - I decided to take my kids to the local YMCA for the open swim.  They had a ball playing - and I did laps.  The one thing I quickly realized, is that laps are much more difficult to do as a 36 year old man, then they were when I was 12.  I remember going to my swim team practice (the Ramapo Raccoons!  and later the Rockland Dolphins) and doing lap after lap after lap - with no problems. Heck, I recall doing the 400 meter individual medley (100m each of Back stroke, Breast stroke, Butterfly, and Free-style)  - and being tired, but not thinking my arms were going to fall off...

So at the "Y" I headed out and did 50yds of Freestyle, did my flip-turn.....and switched to breaststroke.  Man, my shoulders felt it FAST (meaning that they got tired fast.. Not that I was fast.)  I ended up doing a total of 900 yards - with 2/3 of it being breast stroke.  Its kind of nice being able to pause during laps - and go play with the kids.  It doesn't give away the fact that I HAD to rest. This is the key reason I go to the open swim, and not to lap swim.   I have been reading up on line on how "public lap swim" works. And it seems that a lot of places do a "Circle swim" - where one side of the lane (or double lane) goes one way, and one goes the other. OR they might have shared lanes where each lane is like multiple mini-lanes.. you touch the person's feet when you want to pass.  I may have to go during "lap swim" time - to see how the folks at the YMCA do it. Who knew that swimming was so much more complicated than running? <side note: anyone have any advice on the subject of lap swimming?> 

Thursday I went out for a run in the evening, after Horace Mann's (my kid's elementary school) "Family Fun Night" - where the school serves hamburgers/hotdogs and has various bounce house type things for the kids..     By the time we got home - it was getting dark.

I strapped on my big 'ol "foot-coffins" (that name for shoes cracks me up) and headed out. I had no idea what distance I was going to do, just that it was going to be between 3 and 7.  I knew I wasn't going to run one of "Seton's" course's - strangely I have had no desire to do those after writing about them. I did a nice loop that worked out as almost perfectly 5 miles (I had to run past my house for 6 houses to actually hit 5 miles).  My legs were still tired - and it definitely showed in the last 2 miles - my splits slowed down noticeably.


Mile 1: 9:15
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 8:41
Mile 4: 9:02
Mile 5:  9:07

Still, not to shabby for my fourth run in 6 weeks. It brings my weekly total up to around 18 miles.  Hopefully I will get a run in today and tomorrow and push that up to 30 miles. 

I also have to say - jumping back in to running like this - my legs are sore today!  Though it does go well with the soreness of my upperbody from swimming.

Advil is my friend.

7.5 miles under the belt, and I have to admit - I might be a little sore...

So, as I stated in my earlier post - I was all set to go do 3 miles yesterday.  I didn't feel like doing my usual three mile route, so I headed out in a different direction. 

Have you ever had one of those days where it all just seemed perfect?  The road passed by - the wind was good and you were simply in your glory?  Well yesterday it was raining - ranging from a light sprinkle to a pretty good down pour.  I love to run in the rain, and realized yesterday that I hadn't done it at ALL this year. Talk about missing out!!!  In addition to feeling refreshing, you don't stink as bad -since the wetness is from Rain and not from Sweat!!! I like to be less stinky.  (though my wife still wouldn't hug me directly after my run.)

Well, yesterday was (for me) one of those perfect days.  The rain kept the humidity from being too obnoxious, and the road just flowed by..  So you would think I really enjoyed my three mile run right?  NO!!! I enjoyed my 7.5 mile run!  I had debated going another 2.5, but figured turning my 3 miler into a 7.5, was already pretty stupid.  Boy did it feel good though.

I am finding I like Daily Mile... It says I have run further than my Cardio Trainer does. My seven and a half miles is Eight point Four twon.  It makes me much faster :) I do wonder which one is actually right though.

Five Miles in the Evening!



Course by Brian Hyland

 Now that the kids' are back at school for the year - I can run in the evening before picking them up on those rare nights when I get out of work on time.  Fortunately for me, last night was just such a day.

I taped up my calf  (and found out during the run, that a rush tape job does not hold), and headed out the door.  I still like to start with the courses that my Cross Country Coach Brian Hyland from "Back in the day" had laid out for the Seton Catholic Central Cross Country Team. It lets me concentrate on HOW I am running - since I know where I am running.  So I headed out my door and over to Laurel Ave, and left up to the park.  This works out to around 1/2 of a mile - the perfect warm up distance.  I popped out with some stretching (this is new... Since I have calf pain it is an attempt to help become a bit more limber) and then headed out on the Seton Catholic Central Cross Country Team 5 mile practice course.  Down Seminary to Beethoven, left to Leroy, right to West end, Left to Riverside Drive, Right to the traffic circle - and come back.

In addition to a Diploma
I  got a bunch of practice courses from this school!

The weather was a bit warm and muggy - but not HOT.  It also didn't require a long shirt, so I am definitely not complaining in ANY way.  I did focus on how my calf felt, but did not keep it from doing anything like I did on saturday.  It felt good the whole way. I certainly did not push the speed AT ALL:"

Mile 1: 9:42
Mile 2: 9:24
Mile 3: 9:07
Mile 4: 9:25
Mile 5: Only did .82 of the mile, but it was definitely slower - probably 10 minute mile pace.

So this morning being the "day-after"  - how do I feel?  surprisingly good. I expected to be as sore as I was on Sunday morning, but I am not.  My legs are tired - no doubt about that, but I could move without Advil today!  Tonight I am going to do a 3 mile run - again, no worries about the speed (ok, for future reference - I have no worries about speed until November.)  Luckily I didn't name my blog "notajogger" - both because it is already taken (and a good read, I suggest checking it out!) - and because I don't know how accurate it would be right now...  BUT I am in NO WAY complaining about it, it is a joy to be out there again.  In just a few more days - I know that my wife will really appreciate it as well (I'm much easier to be around when I can run!)

There was an interesting occurence that happened on Saturday that I hadn't mentioned yet.  I had just finished my stretching at the park, and headed out on the "Seton Catholic Central" 3 mile course - I had rounded the corner and waved to another runner, and he asked me if I had run the Boilermaker.  No mind you - the Boilermaker had 11075 runners finish the course - but this gentleman recognized me. We had a nice enough chat (he is training for the Niagra Falls Marathon) and we both headed back out on our runs.

The head nod between runners is nice -but being recognized from a HUGE race?  Now that's just cool...

On the road again...

So saturday was the big day - time to head out and put some pounding to the pavement and see how my calf was.  I started the morning by running out and picking up some more KT Tape (I was out) and got an awesome purple color. (My wife keeps asking why I don't get the skin colored. I have no answer.)  History has shown that it is effective in helping my calf - and I wanted every edge I could get.  Then I decided to head out as I had someone at the house to watch the kids.

It felt mah-velous.  It hurt like the dickens - apparently riding a 10 speed does not come near the difficulty of running (I was always riding around in max gear.)  Or maybe a runner needs to look harder for hills when on a bicycle.  But either way it was GREAT to be out there. I did wear my ASICS, as I have decided that I will be doing no running in my VFFs until after the marathon as I wish to minimize the chances of another calf pull.  As I ran I concentrated on making sure my heel was hitting the ground, although I was sticking with more off an "entire foot" than a heel-strike.  Then I would concentrate on NOT pushing off with my calf.  You would think that after years of not using my calf much in running, that it would be natural to drop back into that style.. But apparently I have adapted to the VFFs to quickly! Luckily the heel rise made it easier to make sure my heel hit.

When I set out - I logically knew I should only do about 2 miles, so I decided on 3.  As I hit my turn around spot - there was a car accident up ahead, so of course I had to run by that.  Then I couldn't turn around right there - so I had to go a bit further and turn down a side street.  I ended up at 3.8 miles for the day. My calf didn't "snap" or cause me pain, but I could feel that it was one tired muscle.

I then headed up to my father's house - he had a large amount of stone to be moved from the front yard, up the driveway (uphill of course) and turned into a stonewall in the back.  As we got started I suddenly realized - Boy it was stupid to go run 3.8 miles before doing this.  Pushing the wheel barrow up the hill was NOT my tired muscles' favorite activity.  We did get the rocks in the back, with only one injury (my brother.) 

Needless to say, the day after that (yesterday) I HURT.  But I feel better today and I am definitely looking forward to my run tonight!  Probably only 3 miles - but still looking forward to putting some more mileage in!

What we Should do vs what we Can do vs what we WANT to do.

Sometimes what we "should" do and what we "want" to do - are very different things. I am currently trying to decide if I should Defer my entry to the Marine Corps Marathon. I have not been able to run in 5 weeks due to injury and hope to try a short run this weekend. The Marathon is in 36 days, 17 hours and 47 minutes.

My first question is CAN I do it?  I don't know the answer to this.  One idea I have is to start running as I physically can - and base my decision on one thing.  Can I do 20 miles before the marathon?  If I can manage to run 20 miles 2-4 weeks before the marathon, then I should be able to complete it.  This keeps me "Safe" as far as being able to defer (must be done 10 days before the Marathon) and/or cancelling my hotel reservations (a week before).

I know what I SHOULD do.  Ideally - I should take my time and start running short distances slowly working my way up - forgetting about a marathon until next year.

I know what I WANT to do - I want to "live a dream" and run (and complete) the Marine Corps Marathon.

I don't know what I WILL do.

Why do you run?

 I think this question comes up on most running blogs eventually.  We go out and force ourselves to run faster.  We run up hill. We ruin nice relaxing runs by mixing sprints into the middle.  We swim, bike and lift weights simply to run faster.  We lose sleep to be out there putting one foot in front of the other while others are still tucked safe in their beds.  We face countless obstacles like rain, snow and people walking dogs.  We re-evaluate our eating habits and skip things that we would LOVE to be eating.  We do all of this, just to do a form of exercise that statistically speaking, is simply going to hurt us.

Why?



And so much fun when you un-roll
them to eat them!



For me personally there are several reasons.  The first and most obvious - is to try to be in some sort of decent shape, and to (eventually) look good when I go swimming with no shirt!    By running I can still work toward this goal while not feeling any guilt at all from eating Swiss Rolls and Nutty Bars. (I love nutty bars...) Weight can be controlled simply through diet if that is the only goal.  Lets face it though, if that was the only reason, I wouldn't be out there running, or miss doing so when I have pulled my calf muscle (Again.) 

There is also the sense of accomplishment in completing a run. 

People may look at you crazy that you chose to go out and run 10 miles (heck - they look at you crazy for THREE miles), but when you finish it you know you  have done something you set out to do that others can't/won't.  When you look at your weekly mileage of 20, 30, 40 or more miles - you can't help but smile.  When seeing the monthly - or ongoing total from your GPS Program (892 miles)? It just seems unreal.

When running a road (or trail I imagine) race, seeing the other runners out there and being part of it.  As you pass people cheering (or in the case of the Boilermaker and some of the larger races -  Bands, comedians, etc) you are very aware of what you are doing (not in an OMG way!)  And that feeling when crossing the finish line knowing you have just done a 5k/10k/15k (or more I'm sure - I just haven't done "more" yet) is one of the greatest senses of accomplishment you ever get to feel.  For me, that is also not enough on its own.

Credits: http://www.ccrf-kids.org/runwalk2010.html.

With Childhood Obesity at an all-time high in America (17% - 3X higher than the previous generation) - it is an epidemic our country is facing, and not handling well.  My children get to see me go out and run - in addition to my daily time at work, being a dad, cooking dinner, running them to various practices as well as watching TV and playing video games.  They get to see that when I say "You can't just sit and watch TV all day every day" - I am not just SAYING it, but living it.  Studies have shown that "Do what I say, not what I do" is NOT an effective parenting strategy.  Children learn from what we do, and I want to teach them the best ways to live.  Tie in the fact that they (sometimes) run WITH me?  And its a fantastic "bonding" experience as well!  Now I admit this one SHOULD be enough of a reason on its own. But in the day-to-day hecticness of life - this too isn't quite enough of a reason on its own.

The "Bucket List" - We all have one in some shape or form.  Running the Marine Corps Marathon has been on my bucket list since highschool.  So on days that I didn't want to get out of bed - that goal has either a)gotten me out of bed, or b)made me figure out what time that evening I WOULD go running if I wasn't going to lose the sleep now.

And last, but not least.  Because I can.  Because a runner is what I am.  Not for any one of these - but for all of them and more.

Why do you run?

So, you want to be a runner….A Post for beginners.. part 2 - The Shoes.

So, we have looked at some of my thoughts on running so far. In the previous post – I mentioned some of the things that I thought were important: Physical Fitness Level, Environment, Goals and Dedication (or commitment). These are all important considerations when contemplating running. However, you may have noticed that none of them seemed to involve putting one foot in front of the other and watching pavement move by. So obviously there needs to be a part 2 post to my part 1!  You may notice the same lack again - so there will be a part 3!  So, here are some more of my thoughts on my favorite form of exercise - Specifically, lets discuss the shoes!