Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Training Day 2 Week 8

Today after work I had to drive to Central Market in Fort Worth to pick up race packets for the Rahr 5k. I did not get in my run this morning so I just decided to run the trinity trails starting near the Zoo.

Playing around with my watch I figured out how to change my auto lap from 1 mile to 0.25mi. I also used virtual training partner and plugged in to do 7 miles in 60 minutes.

I started my run as the sun was getting low on the horizon. I knew I had to average 8:34 per mile to finish in a hour. I reached my first quarter mile in 2:10 so I sped up slightly. After about a mile I just got in the zone finishing each quarter mile in 2:06 to 2:07. In my third mile I slowed down just slightly so I got out a gel pack as I was close to the 3.5mi turnaround. Unlike usual I did not slow down while taking my energy gel and I somehow choked on it. I started coughing to clear my throat and almost vomited. I drank some water and took a short walk break.

When I started back up I stuggled to keep a 9 min pace. By the end of mile 5 I felt like stopping but now it was dark and I was 2 miles away from my car. I kept going but my running form was suffering. I was having trouble breathing from not being able to clear my throat.

I got back to my starting point in 1:03:31 and drove to the gas station to get some chocolate milk.

My left calf and right heel hurt and I rubbed two blisters on my right foot. 3 days until the 5k!





Thursday, September 20, 2012

Running in the Heat


Last month I did something new with surprising results. I ran in the sun in 100+ without stopping and didn't die or pass out. This changed my previous opinion that anything over 89 was too hot for running. It became "punishment" for not waking up at 5am and running before work. One thing I did keep in mind was "Once your body temperature climbs to 104 degrees, you're in the heatstroke danger zone."

After keeping in the furthest regions of the back of my mind I finally said out loud that someday I would like to attempt to do the Badwater Ultramarathon. Just like how I started thinking about running a Marathon when I had yet to do a half and my longest run was only 6.2 miles now I am thinking of doings Ultra Races. I hope to find out December 9th what 26.2 miles feels like.

The Badwater Ultramarathon describes itself as "the world's toughest foot race". It is a 135-mile (217 km) course starting at 282 feet (86 m)[1] below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 °F (49 °C), even in the shade, are not uncommon.

I think it was bad/good that last week after my spark of motivation with TC I read the story of David Goggins. I had already head about Badwater and follow it on facebook but now I have a story that made it seems less like a pie in the sky goal. I posted a quote by him on facebook on Saturday. 

"Life is not always going to be this care free happy place that we would like it to be. What life throws at you is a lot of negativity. It's what you do with that negativity that makes you a stronger human being. When you hear the words, no, you can't, impossible, never...what do you think to yourself? Do you cower inside and run from the challenge. Or do you face it...head on...asking for more?
Failure is an option. It's what you do with the failure that makes you who you are. Our failures mold us. I have failed at several things in my life. What sets some of us apart, is that when we fail, we can't sleep at night. It haunts us until we have our time at redemption."


Here is a runner's world article on him I really liked. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-243-560--12944-0,00.html

"I’m nobody special. Let’s be perfectly clear… I don’t like to run. I don’t like to swim. I don’t like to bike. I do this to raise money for the children of soldiers killed in combat.... Like I said, I don't like running. I don't like biking. I don’t like swimming. I do it to raise money. But, now that I'm in this sport I want to see how far I can push myself."

I am Back: Re-Motivated after a 4-6 week slump!


I have been out of touch for WAY to long here!

My 12 week BFL challenge ended 3 weeks ago. I took my final pics with my cell phone because I let Ellen's cousin borrow my camera and tripod for a college project.  

Here are my stats:
Week 1:
Weight 168
Body Fat 13.4%

Week 12:
Weight 170
Body Fat 12.9%

I gained 2 pounds and lost  just 0.6 pounds of fat. I really lost my motivation after 8 weeks but it was good maintenance challenge. No matter what I do I will always go back to BFL for motivation.

During week 8 I took a vacation. During my week off I was on fire with my workouts and set new PRs at different distances 5 weeks in a row. In week 9 I just fell apart. I could not get myself out of bed in the mornings so I started running after work in the 99+ degree heat. I missed my Monday workouts for the rest of the challenge and started eating fast food on the weekends. I started just going thru the motions without joy or excitement. I stopped posting on this blog and only had 3 posts in August instead of the 25-35 a month I had been doing since November 2010 (when I started training for my first 10k). I thought I was just out of steam after 3 months of not missing a single training run and 6 months since my last week off from running.

Recently I have become more motivated. I think the turning point came the week after my BFL challenge ended. I completely missed a 6.2 mile training run on September 5th and was unable to make it up. One of my biggest motivators is following a training plan and doing my best to keep from writing a big X on my calendar. Not to mention it set me further back from goal of running 1000 miles this year in honor of my Uncle Jack who passed away last November.

I decided to call up my friend TC to run together. He is in the Army and does CrossFit 3 times a week. We had been talking about running together since he moved back from Iowa in June. I had convinced him to run my next 5k with me and told him 3 months ago my goal was 21 minutes. A week ago we met up and he is FAST. We ran the first two miles in 14:55 tying my best two mile time and I could not keep up. I had to walk twice and ended up finishing in 24:14. This re-ignited my spark and I found my motivation. The 5k was only 3 weeks away I had I gotten slower than my peak time of 23:24. 

The next day I ran 10k after work with a renewed since of excitement. I beat my long stand PR I set 11 months ago by almost 2 minutes and finished in 52:59. This past Tuesday I beat my 4 mile PR by 43 seconds. This morning I ran with TC again and shaved another 46 seconds off of Tuesdays time while having a nice conversation during the last 2 miles. Now that I have someone to run with I am no longer just trying to compete with myself and can take it to the next level. Last week after our run TC did 5k in 21:13 by himself. Can I cut 2.5 minutes off my best 5k time by September 29th? That question is my new motivation. 

I have not had this big of a spike in motivation since Memorial day weekend when I set a goal of a 21 min 5k the day I hit my 1000th mile while running in a lightning storm. http://thisisbryanok.blogspot.com/2012/05/barefoot-day-2-week-7-1000th-mile.html 

I was in Week 7 of my "barefoot " training and right now I am in week 7 of my Marathon training. Lucky number 7!


mo·ti·va·tion /ˌmōtəˈvāSHən/
Noun:
The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

stub·born \ˈstə-bərn\
Adjective:
Justifiably unyielding : resolute
Performed or carried on in an unyielding, obstinate, or persistent manner

Motivation plus Stubbornness = Unstoppable!