OSDH Social Run

Social Run 92 degrees
 

New Shoes and 5k Registration

I just ordered new shoes for my wife and I on clearance from http://www.travelcountry.com

I had been asking for a pair New Balance Minimus Zero since October. 

In order to get free shipping I got my wife a pair of Vibram fivefingers SeeYa LS. She loves her SeeYa shoes with a strap and hopes the ones with the laces will be even better.

I also signed up for the St. Paddy's Day Dash Down Greenville 5k

I am hoping to break out of the funk I have been in the past 5 months.

New Balance MR00

Vibram fivefingers SeeYa LS

Margarita Moonlight Run

Last Wednesday I ran on the Trinity Trails in Fort Worth after work. I asked a friend who works downtown if he wanted to join me. He is training for the No Limits Half Marathon later this month but had to decline because he already had plans but he invited me to join him the following Tuesday for a social run.

Today out of the blue I had to deliver something to an office in downtown Fort Worth for the first time in years. I took it as a sign I should join my friend for the Margarita Moonlight Run at The Woodshed Smokehouse along the Trinity Trails. I had packed my running clothes and already planned on doing it. After a dropped off the package around 5pm I headed to Luke's Locker. I read online you could sign up there from 11am to 2pm but I had time to kill so I decided check it out anyway.

When I got to Luke's they confirmed what I saw online but told me I could also sign up at Woodshed Smokehouse an hour before the run. With about an hour to kill I started looking at the running clothes to see if there were any end of summer deals. As soon as I started browsing a manager looking lady asked me if she could help me. I told her I was looking for a tank top type dry fit shirt. She pointed out the few they had left and said they were getting ready for winter apparel. I got a weird vibe from her.

I decided to check out the shoes and was surprised to see they carried Vibram fivefingers and other minimalist type brands. I bought my last pair of modern over-padded running shoes from another Luke's location back in December and they did not have any minimal shoes (except maybe the New Balance Minimus). After about 30 seconds of looking an employee, Noreen, came over to help me. I told her I am training for my first Marathon and looking into a pair of closed toe minimal shoes. She told me all about the benefits of minimal shoes then looked down at my Vibrams and said, "I guess you already know."

I tried on the New Balance Road Minimus Zero and they felt really comfortable at first so I tested them on the treadmill. I really wanted to like them but they were too narrow for my wide feet and unlike other New Balance shoes they do not come in widths (once I got home I found out online they also come in a 2E width.). Next I tried the Altra Instinct shoes. I had just saw a commercial for them last Thursday. They are a "zero drop" shoe (the heel is the same height and the forefoot) and are designed with a wide toe box to allow your toes to splay. I liked the way they fit my feet but the soles were very thick compared to the NB Minimus. I did not try them on the treadmill but I should have done it. Even though I did not ask Noreen brought me a pair or Nike Free 5.0. I told her my wife has some Nike Free shoes but I was unable to get them on my feet when I last tried them over a year ago. Unlike the older models that had the tongue attached to the upper like slip on shoes the 5.0 had a normal tongue and laces. I was able to put them on my feet but in true Nike style they were too narrow. I told the sales lady I liked how the Nike Air Pegasus 28 and I had bought them too short last time and got black toenails. She said they now carry the Pegasus 29 but they do not have any wides in stock yet.  I told her I would be back in 3 weeks for packet pickup for the Honored Hero Run. She said I will get a coupon and would be better off buying shoes that day.

I headed out to my car and got my running gear and went back inside. I asked the manager lady if I could change in the dressing room and she said ok. I felt bad spend all that time in the store so I bought a Powerade. The manager asked if I wanted a bag for my work clothes. I said No and thought it was a weird question. I got the feeling she thought I was shop lifting...

I got to Woodshed Smokehouse at 6:30 and there was already a line to sign up. I waited in line for about 15 minutes to register and get my t-shirt and wrist band for post run taco and margarita.  My friend and his wife showed up with two friends just as I finished signing up. We hungout for half an hour before the run. I had not had anything to eat since 2pm and decided to skip out on an energy gel. The run started at 7:30pm right after the sun set. They asked all the 7-8 min pace runners to come to the front due to the narrow sidewalk.  We took off around an 8 min pace and quickly settled into about 8:30 pace. It was fast but we were both able to still converse. We hit mile 1 in 8:40ish and halfway in about 13:30. After we crossed mile 2 in 17:20ish I told my friend about how I like to sprint the last 0.1-0.25mi of every run. We picked up the pace to sub 8min pace for mile 3 and on the last downhill with about a quarter pushed up to a 6:30 pace finishing in 26:28 with my friend just a few seconds behind me.

Even though it was 75f I was sweaty and headed straight to the water. We waited for his wife and her friends to finish then got our (tiny) taco and (small weak) margarita. We found a table but after a minute an employee rudely told us the hostess was waiting for that table and to go over to the "gravel." We moved and hung-out for another 10-15 minutes and I noticed the table was never used.

Rahr & Sons Oktoberfest 5k 2012

 

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! 

C5W7D6 - 5k

I have been running on the treadmill too much recently. This morning I decided to run a 5k to see how my actual speed is progressing. I set my alarm for 5am but I did not get up until after 6am.

I did not look at my watch for the first 0.75mi and just ran at pace that felt hard but sustainable. When I finally looked I was going at a 8:30 pace so I sped up. I reached 1mi in 8:05. I picked up the pace to around 7:45 and ran another 0.55mi then turned around to run back. I finished mile 2 right at 16 minutes and was feeling good. I ran at a 7:30 pace until I reached the big hill on Spencer and pushed to keep just under 8:00. On the downhill I began to run just under 7:15 and kept the pace for 0.45mi. With 0.25mi left I pushed harder and got up at a 6:45-6:55 pace and finished in 24:14. I had not run an outdoor 5k in 15 days. I beat my PR by 11 seconds and was a sweaty mess.

On Thursday I downloaded an app on my phone called FigureRunning. I read about it in a Runners World magazine a co-worker gave me while Ellen was in surgery. Basically you can doodle on google maps with different colors and thickness using your GPS and running to do the drawing. This was my first time to try it and all I did was an out and back and I changed the color as I reached the turnaround.
 

C5W6D2 - Treadmill HIIT/5k

This morning I ran on the treadmill for the first time in over 6 weeks. I did a BFL style HIIT for 20 minutes finished out to a 5k. I found out after going to the same gym for almost 3 years that the max speed on the treadmill is 10.0 mph. I reached 2.7mi in 20 minutes beating my old treadmill distance by 0.1mi. I finished 3.1mi in 22:44 beating my treadmill 5k PR by 64 seconds. 22:44 makes 21 minutes seem closer in reach.

Maybe I should run on the treadmill more to work on high speeds or should I just build up my speed outdoors?

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/200204898

Red = Race, Blue = Training Run, Grey = Treadmill Gym

Blue = Treadmill, Green = Outdoors

C5W5D5 - UBWO

I miss my run Thursday so I ran this morning. In order to reset my routine back to normal I decided to also do my scheduled UBWO this afternoon.

C5W5D5 - 5k

I run for fun and this is one.
 

C5W5D - HIIT/5K

We both got out of bed before 5am again today. Ellen whipped up some breakfast and threw it in the oven to bake while we workout. We drove to the gym parking low and Ellen went inside to use the elliptical while I headed to the sidewalk for an outdoor HIIT/5k run.

 It was nice and cool at 5:30 this morning when I started my run. I set out with the mindset "This is a training run not a race" due to all the new PRs I have been setting lately. I pushed hard at my high points and let myself recover at the low points. After the first mile I knew I would not beat my previous best distance. Each training run is a building block on the previous and I am working toward a long term goal, 26.2 miles. I just enjoyed the nice breeze and kept going at a level above comfort but below max effort. I did 2.4mi of HIIT in 20 minutes then finished out to a 5k in 25:37.

 This week I am moving up from running 3 days a week to 4 to prepare myself for the training volume increase in 4 weeks. I have been running 8-12 miles a week for the last month and even less than that during my 8 weeks of "Barefoot" Training. I will be working up to running 19 miles my first week of marathon training. I start August 7th.

Here is my new running schedule for the rest of the month.
Tuesday: HIIT/5k
Wednesday: 2 miles race pace
Thursday: Normal 5k run
Saturday: 7-9 miles

C5W4D5 - 5K

This morning I woke up on a mission, set a new 5k PR. I skipped my workout yesterday so today I am running in the morning and lifting lower body in the afternoon. I need to do laundry and my only clean underpants are my flash boxers and I only wear them to celebrate setting new running personal bests.

I decided to reverse the 5k route I have been running to give me 2 mile of flat and 1 mile of hills at the end so it is more like the Rahr 5k course. I started from my gym parking lot and ran up the side of Loop 288 in the grass for half a mile then turned on to Shady Oaks Dr. I was running right at an 8min pace I finished mile 1 in 8:03.

 I kept my pace and focused on my form and posture making sure to lift with my foot and not push off. I finished mile 2 in 8:01 right as the base of the the biggest hill. I sped up and pushed hard but I had slowed down to 8:25 when I reached the top. I used the downhill to get to a 7:15-7:30 pace and I felt good.

I came up on the second smaller hill with 0.25mi to go. I kept saying to myself "You can do this" and "Just do it" so I would not slow down. With less than 0.1 to go I gave it everything I has left and finished in 24:24 beating my PR by 38 seconds.

I am excited to see what I can accomplish in the next 4 weeks before I really increase my mileage. 21 min 5k does not seem that far off and 12 weeks until the Rahr 5k.

Touchdown 5K

Finished the UNT Touchdown 5K in 26:42 beating my PR by 55 seconds. Mile 1 8:57, Mile 2 9:48, Last 1.1 mi 8:03, Avg pace 8:36 and 10th Men 25-29


I am super excited and had no plan to set any records due to the heat. I just found two people to race and pace and pushed hard the last third of the race. Tuesday is the first run of my training plan. I am going to visit my grandmother in Galveston so I get to do my first long run on the Seawall.