Mega Running Update

So, I got a little behind on this, thankfully I have that trusty Garmin Forerunner! I love that thing. I also ran into a bit of a problem with that as the charger wouldn't charge it; I was nervous it was the watch that was shot. I called and didn't even really have to hassle around much; they sent me a new charger that took a few days to get. It was a little funny because when I got it and plugged it in, it didn't charge instantly and I took a deep nervous breath.. seconds later the charge caught. That's been the craziest experience that I can think of through all of this, except, of course the Grandma's Marathon which I'll blog about later. And the few "recovery" runs I've done since then.. you know the ones that you go really slow and feel like your hamstring is going to tear, shred, and or/pop every step?

Anyway.. are you ready for this?

Saturday, May 14^th: 11.48 miles in 1:38.10 (group run)
Sunday, May 15^th: 2.14 miles in 15:54
Monday, May 16^th: 8.12 miles in 59:50
Tuesday, May 17^th: 6.01 miles in 37:40
Wednesday, May 18^th: 3.06 miles in 23:04
Thursday, May 19^th: 7.01 miles in 50:03
Friday, May 20^th: 4.12 miles in 31:57
Week Total:  41.94 miles in 5 hours 16 minutes and 38 seconds

Saturday, May 21^st: 6.37 miles in 45:58
Sunday, May 22^nd: 2.2 miles in 15:58
Monday, May 23^rd: 4.15 miles in 30:37
Tuesday, May 24^th: 2.10 miles in 14:05
Wednesday, May 25^th: 2.21 miles in 14:02
Thursday, May 26^th: 5.38 miles in 36:42
Friday, May 27^th: 7.03 miles in 49:36
Week Total:  29.44 miles in 3 hours 26 minutes and 58 seconds

Saturday, May 28^th: 9.01 miles in 1:25.03 (group run)
Sunday, May 29^th: 3.88 miles in 30:01
Monday, May 30^th: 2.2 miles in 15:48
Tuesday, May 31^st: 4.1 miles in 28:07
Wednesday, June 1^st: 7 miles in 57:05
Thursday, June 2^nd: 2.15 miles in 13:38
Friday, June 3^rd: 6.13 miles in 44:13
Week Total:  34.47 miles in 4 hours 33 minutes and 55 seconds

Saturday, June 4^th: 10.88 miles in 1:37.36 (group run)
Sunday, June 5^th:  5.43 miles in 38:28
Monday, June 6^th:  2.12 miles in 15:47
Tuesday, June 7^th: 2.12 miles in 14:34
Wednesday, June 8^th: 2.19 miles in 15:28
Thursday, June 9^th:  2.19 miles in 15:50
Friday, June 10^th: 2.24 miles in 16:14
Week Total: 27.17 miles in 3 hours 33 minutes and 57 seconds

Saturday, June 11^th: 2 miles in 20 (WALLEYE RUN)
Sunday, June 12^th: 5.23 miles in 36:36
Monday, June 13^th:  4.25 miles in 29:05
Tuesday, June 14^th:  2.15 miles in 15:46
Wednesday, June 15^th:  3.05 miles in 23:59
Thursday, June 16^th:  1.10 miles in 8:10
Friday, June 17^th: 4.14 miles in 32:06
Week total: 21.92 miles in 2 hours 45 minutes and 42 seconds

Saturday, June 18^th: 26.39 miles in 3:27.21 (7:22, 7:03, 7:10, 7:05, 7:16, 7:42, 7:08, 7:19, 7:17, 6:58, 7:23, 7:18, 7:10, 7:38, 7:14, 7:15, 7:35, 7:33, 7:55, 9:41, 8:05, 8:50, 8:59, 9:04, 9:34, 9:23, and .31 in 2:52)
Sunday, June 19^th:  1.01 miles in 9:02
Monday, June 20^th: 1.08 miles in 9:16
Tuesday, June 21^st:  1.08 miles in 9:19
Wednesday, June 22^nd:  1 mile in 8:58
Thursday, June 23^rd: 1.06 miles in 9:04
Friday, June 24^th: 1.08 miles in 9:04
Week Total:  32.7 miles in 4 hours 22 minutes and 4 seconds

Saturday, June 25^th: 1.15 miles in 9:08
Sunday, June 26^th: 4.01 miles in 30:57
Monday, June 27^th: 2.15 miles 17:52
Tuesday, June 28^th: 1 mile in cargo shorts in about 8:30
Wednesday, June 29^th: 2 miles in 13:52
Thursday, June 30^th: 1 mile in 7:50
Friday, July 1^st: 2.36 miles in 17:06
Week Total:  13.67 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes and 15 seconds

Total mileage in these 49 days: 201.31
Total time in these 49 days: 25 hours 2 minutes and 29 secondsPace: 7:27/mile

Total mileage from start: 422.22 miles
Total time from start: 52 hours, 2 minutes and 22 seconds
Pace: 7:23/mile

Goals:
Finish at 7:20/mile or less
Add 2 more marathons
Get better at blogging about this
Not get hurt

Week 6: 365 Day Challenge

Day 36 (May 7): 5.45 miles in 42:39
(This was a run after a day at a Coaches Clinic a little bit later in the afternoon. I really tried to focus on just running without worrying about pace at all, and for the 1st time I really did that by myself. I had 2 miles over 8 minutes and that NEVER happens when I run. I enjoyed the light jog.

Day 37: 4.32 miles in 30:49
(It's starting to heat up in Springfield, today included. I'm not looking forward to the next few days with temperatures that could hit up to 90!!)

Day 38: 6.37 miles in 48:16. Solid run, bit of a wind.. bad time of the year for that. Up to this point, hottest run of the year.. tomorrow is supposed to be worse.

Day 39: 6.00 miles in 38:32. (6x1 mile repeats today. 90 degrees. Mega wind. Not cool. 6:26, 5:56, 6:19, 6:41, 6:38, and 6:29. Hmmm which miles were into the wind? Oh, 4 and 5. Out of gas on 6.)

Day 40: 2.14 miles in 16:16
Day 41: 6.7 miles in 44:15
Day 42 (May 13): 2.14 miles in 15:48

Week 6: 33.12 miles in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 35 seconds.
Pace: 7:08/mile

Okay, the next update is going to be HUGE from May 13th until the start of this week.. this could take awhile but I have to clear my watch out because it has so much stored on it, I believe.

365 Day Challenge: 14 Days In!

As I mentioned earlier, I have this crazy notion to run at least one mile every day for 365 straight days.  Shockingly, I'm off to a decent start despite my pesky IT bands and creaky knees (You'd be amazed at what a foam roller and stretching can do).
Here is a list of my miles and times thus far:

Day 1:  10.13 miles in 72 minutes
Day 2:  5 miles in 39:10
Day 3:  5 miles in 37:16 (treadmill run)
Day 4:  2.19 miles in 20:05
Day 5:  3 miles in 18:26 (6x800) and 1.35 mile cool down in 10:38
Day 6:  7 miles in 50:35
Day 7 (April 8):  5 miles in 38:12
WEEK ONE TOTAL:  38.67 miles in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 22 seconds ish

Day 8: 16.20 miles in 146 minutes (Group Run)
Day 9:  3.54 miles in 29:46
Day 10:  5 miles in 35:55
Day 11:  2.11 miles in 14:43
Day 12:  9 miles in 62 minutes
Day 13:  4.53 miles in 43:41 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAYLA)
Day 14 (April 15):  2.12 miles in 14:52
WEEK TWO TOTAL: 42.5 miles in 5 hours 46 minutes and 57 seconds ish

14 day total:  81.17 miles in 9 hours, 33 minutes and 19 seconds.

Hopefully, I'll remember to write this in my running journal, and then I can just highlight runs and give the weekly totals from now on. I'm not very good at that; the government may reach a budget consensus before I write in my running journal daily.  Either way, it's been fun so far!

Things I've already learned:
-You can't replace stretching and the foam roller
-Running is easier once you're out the door
-Running to run isn't that easy; I'm always competing with myself.
-It's more fun to run with a person without considering time than running alone considering time
-The first two weeks have flown by.
-I don't think I've lost a pound because I eat a lot now. (especially salt)
-Finding time is easier to run when you don't play video games instead

365 Day Challenge

The new Runner's World has a little story about a guy that ran 365 straight days because of something like a New Year's Resolution.  They've also had other stuff about people that have run 1000's of days in a row, despite broken ribs, aches, pains, colds, the flu, travel and other reasons.  I've read about people training or running despite cancer, blindness, autism, accidents and  I thought, "Well, if they can do it.. why can't I?" 

I'm putting myself up to the challenge, and the blog will hopefully help me stay accountable.  365 straight days of running!  While I ran today I thought I needed some guidelines, or at least, a guideline.  What does a "run" consist of?  I had all sorts of thoughts about time, pace and what not.  I settled on this (in case of injury, illness, and the day(s) immediately following full marathons) 1 mile, no time limit.  That's my stipulation.  Clearly, I hope the 1 mile is rarely the "run" for the day and the time limit isn't an issue, but you have to set goals you need to work for but ones that you can achieve. 

I already beat down 2 days:
Day 1:  10.13 miles in 1:12
Day 2:  5 miles in 39:10

Total: 15.13 Miles
Time Run: 1 hour and 51 minutes

Oops.. didn't mean to run THAT far

Kayla and I sometimes run together again; she's training for the Lincoln Half-Marathon this Saturday and I'm sort of on-again, off-again training for the Illinois Full at the end of April.  This run turned out to be interesting.. it all started when we hit the trail on a somewhat nice afternoon from near our house.  We take a few side streets and get on what is mostly a bike path; well, we cruised a few miles down that and Kayla wanted to head back.  I knew I wanted to go further, so I stayed on and said I was going to end up around 10 miles; which is no longer a huge deal. 

I had my trusty Garmin 405 to track the distance and time.  Well, all I had before the Garmin was mapmyrun.com and an idea of where I was on the run; in addition to that, the route somewhat changed because of an epic mall sized Scheel's being built.  This run, I figured was 10.. maybe 11 miles.  Well, I just got past Scheel's... and... my GPS fading battery and all alerted me that I was over 5 miles already.  I could: 

1. turn around and go back, running 10 miles or
2. continue like a machine to the landmark I picked

Keep these few things in mind:  I had beer battered tofu (amazing), coconut bacon (amazing) and a potato for lunch.  I didn't eat when I got home.  I had no water with me and typically don't drink enough during the day.  It was cold out, and I didn't have a hat or gloves. 

So, if you guessed #2.. you were right.  I continued to run.  Amazing, I made it to the halfway point and looked down and the GPS 7.26 miles.  Do the math, the return trip is just as far:  14.52 miles.  So, I put my head down and ran along the lonely trail only being passed by a random biker as the cold cut into my ears and my hands.  The sweat on top of my head turned into a nice frost and my hands full of sweat and locked into a running position remained that way until the bitter end.  Around mile 11 I really started to feel my lips dry and a sense of "You're an Idiot" took center stage as my running mantra.  I ran to the beat of it; it didn't really help.  I could have stopped for water at the local Sonic with about 2 miles left, but at that point.. I just wanted to get home.  My IT bands were about to split down the middle, my knee hurt a tad, my lips were chapped and my hands were slowly turning to frost like grass in the morning. 

Oh, and sometime in there my GPS decided that 26% battery life when I left wasn't enough to make it through the entire run.  Really?  I may have to email Garmin about this, 26% battery zapped in less than 1.5 hours?  That doesn't seem right since, according to their site, it says a fully charged one should last 8 hours of use time.  Do the math: that's 2 hours per 25% of battery.  Hmmmm..

Against these insurmountable odds, I managed to make it home.  I walked up to the back door where I saw Kayla sitting, warmly on the floor eating supper and Schatzi in the window watching me.  I walked in and Kayla laughed then asked if I was okay.  All I could say was.. "14.5 miles.  Can you take my watch off for me; I can't move my fingers." 

Next time, maybe, I'll be a bit more prepared (or let common sense take over)

Snow Day Part III

Well, in case you didn't know this has been my work schedule this week:
Monday:  8-1:30
Tuesday: Snow Day
Wednesday: Snow Day
Thursday: Snow Day

You can't make this stuff up.  I already covered part of the Storm of the Century and that got us out Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Oh, and part of the reason we were out today.  You see, I'm under the impression that the area of Illinois that I live in is... inefficient plowing.  I think that's putting it politely since there was no reason not to go today, but many of the country roads still weren't plowed.  I'm not complaining; I just think that parts of Wisconsin would have had it plowed by today.. I also think that what was plowed would be the entire roads.. not just random lanes.  For instance, one of the bigger intersections in town that normally has 2 left turn lanes, 2 straight lanes and a right turn lane had:  2 left turn lanes and 1 straight/right turn lane.  You can't make this stuff up.  I'm hoping that they were doing this to save money? 

The last few days were boring.. yesterday, we couldn't leave our house because our street didn't get plowed (shocking).  The only time we were outside was to shovel until our backs hurt, awesome.  Then, last night we played Cribbage and King's Corner (some game Kayla invented and made rules up for as we went).  After her made up game, I quit playing and slammed my cards down because I lost.  Twice.  In a row.  I had enough of that! 

Today, however, we were able to get out of the house and we went to Cardinal Fitness.  I'm still strongly considering (haven't officially signed up yet) running the Illinois Marathon at the end of April.  I've been inconsistent with training because I'm lazy, it's cold and we're at the tail end of our basketball season, but today I decided I was going to just run for awhile.  Kayla had 2 miles and weights, so I said I'd just run that time.  Well, 2 miles and weights turned into 2 miles, weights and talking to a friend for a good 25 minutes.  It's a good thing for me that after the first 5 steps I gotta feeling, "This is going to be a good run!" and I kept hammering away.  Before you know it, I eclipsed 8 miles in 56:15.  My knee didn't twinge, my IT bands didn't get super sore, I had a nice stride, I didn't get too hot.  I just had a great run and that really picked my confidence back up.  Of course, tomorrow and Saturday I may have basketball games.. so that means I probably have to get up EARLY both days to run.  Will the streak continue?  Don't hold your breath!

Why, hello there.

So, I've blogged a bit before.. mainly about sports and running on a few other sites.  Sadly, I didn't like the layout, the login process and all that jazz so I decided that I should switch blogs.. again.  Plus, Kayla uses blogger and it looks pretty simple and has more options that the previous sites I used. 

What do I plan blogging about?  Oh, just everything.  Sports, running, eating, shoveling snow, eating "nooch", talking about my weird cravings to drink veggie or seitan broth or how I'm currently addicted to salt.  Then, on top of that, I coach basketball, try to work at camps, hope to teach history and have a little gangster puppy. 

You can see there will be a lot to follow.  Do you have to pay attention to all of this?  Of course not, but it doesn't hurt to try!