November Snow

As you know, occasionally I do a weekly roundup. Well, this week was a very basic week with a couple of gym visits, a run outside and a few walks with my dog -- a week after being sick and doing nothing, it was pretty good. So instead of getting into any thoughts about the week from a working out perspective, I'll leave you with these photos of snow.

For many of us on the East Coast, it's too early to be this cold -- a normal high in Richmond this time of the year is in the upper 50s and lows are usually in the mid-30s. This week was nuts. It's one of only a few times I've actually seen snow in Virginia before Thanksgiving.

Two teaspoons of cold air

Last night I was pretty determined to get up and go to the gym. But after walking my dog and realizing that I could handle temperatures in the mid-20s, I decided to go for an outdoor run. It was my first non-treadmill run in a while and it's the first run in such cold conditions since March. Although I was running much slower that I thought I was going, it was a refreshing run. The cold, fresh, low humidity air was just what the doctor ordered.

I'm not a big fan of running in the cold, but today was definitely a break. It also gave me a chance to blow my nose like my wife hates ... fellow runners probably know what I'm talking about ... but it was really a relief.

Although I'll be doing a lot of treadmill running this winter, today was a good example of what I want to do at least once a week over the next couple of months if it's cold -- just get outside and run a few miles and not worry about pace.

Easing into fall

There's part of me that feels like this was a disappointing week, yet there's another part of me that feels completely satisfied. In the end, I think it's what I realized this week with getting in better overall shape that has me happy.

It's been an interesting week with my mileage. All told I have 32 miles -- 10.6 running, 10.5 biking, 8.6 walking and 2.3 on the elliptical machine. I missed a run this week to get into the teens, but I did do a little more biking -- all this weekend. Adding it all up, it's more than last week and that's really all I was seeking. My desire to run still isn't very strong, but as I've mentioned this week my desire to stay in shape and get in better shape is growing.

I don't have any specific injuries, but I've had a lot of dull, aching pains this week in my feet and my knees. It's nothing major and it's nothing I haven't trained through before. Perhaps its the changing of the seasons and the cooler weather, or perhaps it's because I need the break from pavement. I'm not going to push it right now, but I'm not going to completely stop either. Getting in 10 miles or so a week right now is sufficient for me, as long as I'm doing other stuff.

This coming week, my goal is to increase my overall mileage from this week -- it's nice to be able to take a different approach to fitness with the ability to ease off the running. You may have noticed that I took my 8k counter down. It's not that I don't plan on doing it, but for personal reasons I can't commit to it until that week. I don't need it sitting there if I end up not running it. There's also a 5k next weekend that I'm considering, but I probably won't make that decision until the night before. It sure is nice to be able to do that.

Lastly, I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Vicki, who also ran the Rock 'n' Roll Half in August. Yesterday she completely the Baltimore Marathon in just under 5 hours -- congrats to her and all the other finishers out there!

Rain and wind ... and sleep

Whatever you want to call it -- a month off, a month of laziness, a month of recovery -- today I am even happier about the choices I have made concerning racing this fall. It's raining ... it's windy ... it's strangely cold ... and I don't have a gym membership. While I respect all of you training for an upcoming event, I am perfectly content to get an extra half hour of sleep in the morning.

I finished and that's good enough for me

It's weird to say this, but my worst race ever may be one that I am most proud to say that I finished. To get straight to the point, my time for yesterday's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach was 2:06:03, more than 20 minutes off my goal.

What? Why should I be happy about that? No, I didn't get hurt, thankfully. Instead, I encountered some extremely humid conditions that I think impacted a huge number of participants. As I did during the Richmond Marathon and this year's Shamrock Half Marathon, I started with my friend Travis who had a similar goal to me. We started this race off very well -- our first 5k split was 24:56. Despite being hot and sweating more than I ever have before, it was right where I wanted to be. After a couple of more miles around an 8:20-8:30 pace, I decided to start to push it a little bit to see if I could run a sub 8-minute mile or two in order to get to my 1:44 goal.

Despite that feeling of pushing it between miles 5 and 6, I hit a little more than 8:30. What the hell? I think I might've even said that out loud when I looked at my watch. I tried to keep pushing it between miles 6 and 7, but I kept getting slower. It was at that point, when a good portion of the race was entering a couple of miles of direct sunlight, that I decided to shut it down and make this a long run. Despite my efforts to keep running, when I hit a water stop around mile 9, I decided to walk for a little while with hopes that Travis might catch up to me. I took a cup of Cytomax and two waters and took my time for about a quarter of a mile.

At that point, I was feeling refreshed and I thought that maybe I could push it for the last 5k and beat 2 hours. When I got to mile 10, I stepped it up, or at least I thought I did, for a mile ... and that's when I decided to walk again. No matter what I tried, I could not run faster. When I made a turn toward Atlantic Avenue near my hotel, I ran so I wouldn't be walking through the large crowds. After passing off my soaked visor to my mom, I walked briefly again. Once I got to mile 12 and made the final turn onto the Boardwalk, I jogged my way toward the end. I wasn't going to walk with the finish line in sight.

I could not believe how many people I saw walking during this race. At the same time, I could not believe how miserable many of the runners looked. For the last couple of miles, there was no one near me finishing strong or having a final kick. My friend Travis, who really wants to break 1:50 for a half, ended up just 30 seconds behind me, almost 20 minutes off his goal time. My friend Vicki, who ran about 2 hours last year and wanted to run in less than 2 hours, was about 20 minutes off her goal.

We all pretty much had the same story -- the first third of the race went well, but the humidity was too much to battle. I heard others around me saying the same thing. In the end, none of us really walked away disappointed at our results -- there wasn't anything we could have done differently. I was happy to finish in one piece and unhurt. I have a little typical race soreness since I ran some of this hard, but shutting things down in the second half has saved me to do something else soon -- something for another post later this week.

The other day I said my goal was to have fun, and for the weekend I did (I'll post a few photos later). I got to catch up with old friends, have dinner with family, walk on the beach and boardwalk and see the worst concert ever (thanks B52's!). As far as the race is concerned, it is what it is. Sure, I probably could have had more speedwork and two weeks of an injury in July didn't help, but none of that could have prepared me for crazy humidity. And please don't talk to me about hydrating -- I prepared myself all week to be properly hydrated. That was not an issue yesterday.

I know that I could have done more in the second half of the race to have a better time, but strangely I'm taking pride in having my worst half marathon out of the five that I've done. Had I pushed it a little more than I did, I still wouldn't have beaten my goal, and my overall health was issue No. 1 yesterday.

I finished and there's nothing wrong with that.

What's this stuff falling from the sky?

When race weeks get here, it seems I always run out of things to say. Really all I am thinking about is the race and not doing anything stupid in the days leading up to it. This week is different with starting a new job and having child birth classes to go to on Monday and Tuesday nights, but it's not making me forget about my end goal on Sunday. But the depths of posts feel kind of blah.

Today after work it was pouring down rain, but I was planning to run no matter what. By the time I got home and ready to run, it had slowed to a trickle. While running, there were parts of me wishing it would just pour down and there were parts of me that hated it. With the forecast on Sunday having a chance of rain, it was a must to run to remember what rain felt like. It's been so dry lately that there have been no chances to run in the rain. (Until today, Richmond's airport had only one-tenth of an inch of rain this month.)

I ended up having a great-feeling run. My legs are feeling good and rested and I just feel ready to get out there and push it for 13.1 miles. Enough said for today ...


Workouts since last post
Aug. 26: Walk - 0.6; Run - 1.2
Aug. 27: Walk - 0.6; Run - 4.1

The little-bit-of-everything day

It certainly wasn't as ceremonious as Friday's events in Beijing, but today marked a big day for me -- I returned to riding my bike. It wasn't much -- just a little more than 4 miles -- but I'll take anything considering it's been just a month since I hurt my tail bone. I still am having some issues with sitting, but it's not anything too terribly bad. It seems to bother me more at night when I get in the bed, and it still bugs me to sit in a car for very long. It's more of a major discomfort than actual pain.

Anyway, today was one of those days in which I didn't really feel like running. After my walk/jog with my dog, I decided to dust off the bike seat since I didn't want to force a run. After my ride, I got out my dumbbells and did a few reps with my upper body. Lifting weights was putting odd pressure on my tail bone before, so I've stayed away from them.

Meanwhile, the weather is looking great this week. It's been an odd summer with these cool spells. It's also been very dry. While some parts of Richmond have gotten several storms in the past couple of weeks, my neighborhood keeps missing them. My backyard looks like late September with dried up leaves falling off the trees. It's really bad. I've mowed my yard just twice since early June. Even neighbors who waste water trying to have green lawns look like they're giving up hope.


Workouts since Aug. 7:
Aug. 7: Walk - 2.1
Aug. 8: Walk - 1; Run - 10.1
Aug. 9: Walk - 1.6; Run - 4.2
Aug. 10: Attended Watermelon Festival in Richmond
Week totals: Walk - 8.8; Run - 23.5
Aug. 11: Walk - 1.1; Run - 1.3; Bike - 4.1; Weights

Oh what a beautiful morning

Mid-60s, low humidity - could it be September already? No! It's just July, but today's conditions could've had me fooled. While I'm good at complaining about the weather when it's cold or very hot, I rarely praise the weather. So after some pretty hot conditions earlier this week, a cold front rolled through Wednesday night and left some beautiful and comfortable weather, if only for a couple of days.

All in all, this summer hasn't been too bad. It was miserable in early June, but that was mainly because it went from feeling like spring to mid-summer overnight. Earlier this week was quite uncomfortable, but manageable at 7:30 a.m. This weekend is looking hot, but nothing out of the ordinary for this time of year.

Since my injury, I've gotten out of the habit of my "Workouts since last post" segment, but I promise that'll return next week. I wanted this week to be about getting back on track without thinking about training all that much. So far it's been good. This morning I got in 5.1 miles, and all is looking well to do at least 8 this weekend to put me over 20 for the week.

Four on the Fourth?

I think it's odd that there aren't 4 mile races on the Fourth of July. Four on the Fourth -- it's a pretty simple concept. Instead, like here in Richmond, there are two 5ks to chose from today. In Lynchburg, where I used to live, today is the third annual Academy Mile. A mile race is cool, and having a race on a holiday does make perfect sense, but I think Four on the Fourth sounds neat. Maybe one day I can organize such a race. Or maybe I'm just wishing this year that races didn't cost $20 or more to enter.

Anyway, this week's weather has been spectacular. The humidity has been low and earlier this week it was cool enough to turn the AC off for almost two days. It's a nice change of pace considering how hot it was in early June. Things look like they'll be changing soon, but I'm glad I've been able to take advantage of it.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July!


Workouts since last post
July 2: Walk - 1; Run - 5.1; 70 set ups
July 3: Walk - 1.7; Bike - 5.1; Weights; Plank - 1:00; 50 sets up on Bosu ball; 50 crunches with weights
July 4: Walk - 1.3; Run - 4.1

Where there's smoke, there are runners

I read a comment in the local media this week complaining about people complaining about the weather. Well, I have some news for you - it's NOT supposed to be this hot this early in June. The normal high for today in Richmond is 82 ... not 101, which is the forecast high. It's not supposed to be 82 degrees with 75 percent humidity at 8:15 a.m. -- which was the temperature and time when I finished my run today.

Fortunately, I've learned my lessons about not getting enough fluids (and learned by watching other people as well), so for my 6-mile run this morning I took an 8-ounce bottle of water with me. It was so miserably humid that I topped off my bottle twice in the nearby park. I probably consumed about 20 ounces of water on a relatively short long run. That's just not normal right now -- perhaps in another month or so, but not June 7. I think this is the shortest long run in which I've actually taken water with me.

Seasons are supposed to gradually change, and usually weather like this wouldn't be so bad ... if it were late July. Like I mentioned the other day, it was cool enough to run in a long-sleeve shirt at the beginning of last week. Mother Nature must be charged with cruel and unusual punishment!

Adding to this crazy weather was some bizarre smoke filling the air yesterday from a North Carolina wildfire. (Click here to read a related story.) Working out outside yesterday was virtually impossible. Today, though, is much better in my part of Chesterfield County, at least as far as the smoke is concerned.

So, on the positive side of things, today's run went pretty well. It was the longest run I've had in two months, capping off the highest mileage for a week that I've had in almost three months. For brief times during the week I've gotten paranoid with the increase in mileage for the first week of training, but all in all this has been a great start. I've met and beaten all my goals, which seemed impossible for me for a long time. I've also dropped 0.8 pounds - not much, but it's a good start. I'll detail all that when I'm ready to talk about it. For next week, I'm headed to the Outer Banks, so my goal is to run a few times while I'm there and get my long run in on Sunday when I'm back home. It's a much-needed trip to get my mind off things, so any kind of running while on vacation will be good. If I have Internet access, maybe I'll have a post or two.


Workouts since last post
June 6: Walk - 1.1; Run - 0.3; Bike - 2; weights (included ab workout)
June 7: Walk - 0.4; Run - 6
Week totals: Walk - 4.7; Bike - 7.2; Run - 16.5

RAIN!!!

While I was hoping and planning to make April a month of rest and transition, all this rain has got to go. Richmond already has 7 inches of rain this month and it's raining on and off again today. In the end, I think it's a good thing to get my foot rested up. If I happened to be training for something right now, I'd probably get out and run in it. After a while, though, it gets old.

In non-running news, it was 10 years ago today that one of the greatest CD's in my lifetime came out -- "Before These Crowded Streets" by the Dave Matthews Band. While fans may debate what's happened since this, there is no doubt in my mind that BTCS is DMB's greatest release. Ten years later, it's still just as good as the first day I heard it.

87 degrees

Seriously? Earlier this week I had to put on a sweatshirt to go out for a 7 a.m. walk with my dog. Today, I almost have to turn my AC on. Crazy stuff, but I sure am glad it's spring.

The biggest Shamrock variable: The weather

Things are looking good for Sunday. There's a chance of rain on Saturday, but it should be out of here by the time the Shamrock starts. Since the race starts at 7 a.m., it begins in the dark thanks to the daylight-saving time change. Last year it was clear and it was beautiful to see the sun rising over the ocean. Temperatures for Sunday should be in the upper 30s/low 40s at the start. Cool, but perfect for running. It shouldn't warm up too much that early in the day either. Sunday's forecast high is only 51.

Last year's race started in the mid-20s and may have hit 30 by the end of the race. It was also very windy the second half of the race. It was quite miserable actually. It had warmed up a bit in the week's leading up to the event, but race weekend was freeeeezing. It actually flurried a bit the day before. I'm looking forward to starting in some old gloves that I can discard and maybe chuck an old T-shirt as well. I figure after a mile or two, I'll be comfortable in short sleeves. The gear will be a race-time decision.

As for Saturday, if it's raining, I'll likely skip the 8k or run part of it and go back to my hotel. I don't want to risk getting hurt by slipping, exposing myself to bad weather, etc. We'll see what happens.

In the morning I'm planning a final race tuneup by waking up a little earlier and getting about a mile tempo in. Race day is a little earlier than I'm used to and I've had a hard time this week adjusting to the time change. I've also been tired from four days of covering the CAA tournament. (You know, this year's George Mason, could be George Mason ...)

As far as what happens after this race, I'm still waiting until after this race. I'm not really budging on those thoughts. Part of me wants to rest, part of me wants to do something "big" soon and part of me wants to sign up for a big race for later in the year. We'll see how 13.1 miles of all out running feels.

This weather can kiss it

After my rant yesterday, I woke up this morning ... feeling tired. It was about 20 degrees colder than yesterday, but no wind, so that was nice. Sort of. 50 degrees one day, 30 the next. That kind of swing just makes it tough to keep going. I long for the days of complaining about the heat.

So anyway, after my usual warm-up walk and jog with my wife and dog, I ventured over to the nearby park where I had my mind set on intervals. Like last week, I started off with a quarter mile. My time was 1:49, 20 seconds faster than my first quarter mile a week ago. After a quarter mile cool down, it was another quarter mile. This one was 1:48. It all felt great too -- nice and consistent. I then set my sites on a nice steady mile. Not an all-out mile. Just something that felt right. So I managed to log a 7:53 mile.

Overall today I ran 4.5 miles. Everything went well, yet I still feel like I'm in some strange funk. Maybe I'm just ready for the race to get here. Maybe I need a day off work. Who knows. Speaking of work, this weekend I'll be covering the Colonial Athletic Association tournament -- you know, the same league that has George Mason (Final Four in 2006) and Virginia Commonwealth University (the team that beat Duke last year). I mention it for two reasons. No. 1 is it'll be a pretty cool experience, just like covering the NASCAR race last fall and a recent Democratic dinner where Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both spoke. Secondly, though, it's possible that this tournament will get in the way of a long run this weekend. I'll still have time to run, but probably not as much as I'd like. Losing an hour on Sunday won't help. It's been a while since "life got in the way," but at least it's coming at a time in which I probably need to give my legs a break anyway.

Get me to the race on time

Virginia's winter has been pleasant. Despite that, I am so sick of up and down temperatures and wind that I don't know how I haven't managed to join a gym this winter. Despite it being 50 degrees this morning, there was a wind that just cut through what I was wearing. It's enough to question what the hell I am doing training for a race in the winter.

I'm starting to feel like that "My Fair Lady" song, "Get Me to the Church on Time." Just replace church with race. Ding dong! The bells are going to chime. I know in a little more than a week, I'll be pumped on race day. If it's 20 degrees like last year or 60 degrees, I'll be ready. But I'm tired of feeling cold and tired of putting on layers only to get hot 3 miles later. I'm tired of gaining weight in the winter no matter what I do. (Get me to the church ... get me to the church ...)

Maybe it's time to do something different and get my mind off these "big" races. Like adult league basketball, or get into playing tennis. Maybe I should join a gym to put miles on an elliptical machine. Or maybe I should shut up and sign up for a marathon after Shamrock. It is, afterall, what I did last year after having these same exact thoughts ... just get me to the church (race) on time ...

The streak has ended

Every week so far this year has seen an increase in mileage ... until this week. And I'm actually only a mile away from passing last week's total. The thing is, I'm tired and my body just doesn't have another mile in me today. After a tough hilly group run yesterday of nearly 6 miles, I cut my long run short today to 8 miles, bringing my weekly total to 24.6 miles. I did creep my mileage past 100 miles in the past 31 days, so I sort of feel like I can say I had a 100-mile month. It's just an "unofficial" month.

With two weeks to go to the Shamrock Half Marathon, my plan this week is to bump my mid-week mileage up a little bit and shoot for 10 miles as a long run next week. The weather is looking a little more consistent this week, so that'll make things easier. These up and down temperatures are really starting to bug me -- each day is just another day closer to spring!

Craving Daylight

Running in the winter isn't necessarily a battle against the cold or the wind or the up and down temperatures Virginia gets. It's the daylight hours, or really, the lack of. I have trouble waking up when it's dark out. I manage, somehow, but it's not the same as the summer. Right now, I can really tell that the days are getting a bit longer. It's nice that it's not pitch black at 7 a.m. But thanks to our federal government, we'll be springing forward soon, and it'll be a good month or so before it's daylight when I would prefer it to be daylight.

However, there is the end of the day. I used to be an evening runner, but changed a year ago. Perhaps I'll have to reconsider soon. I'm flexible to some extent. I just had more "problems" at the end of the day when I ran.

Anyway, I really have no point. I guess it's those winter blues. I'm craving consistent temperatures in which I can run in shorts and short sleeves. Meanwhile, it's been a pretty good week so far. I'm a mile ahead of last week so far. I'm debating on hitting double digits for the long run this week. That's a decision that'll come that morning probably.

Dandelions in February

For the second straight year, dandelions are coming out in February. While I enjoyed the nice warm weather recently, weeds aren't exactly what I want to see on a mid-February run. I want to run in blowing snow just to do it. Just once this winter. That'll all I ask for. I know you guys in the mid-west, northwest and northeast would gladly change your weather for dandelions, but you'd think differently if you lived in it!

The wind carried me past 20

For yet another week, I was able to increase my mileage with hitting 20.4 this week. I had planned to do 7 today, but it's so windy that I had to cut it to 6.1. It seemed no matter which way I ran I was somehow running into the wind. With 20-30 mph winds, I feel like I put in more than I did.

Like I said before, I think I'm setting myself up to peak at the right time for the Shamrock Half Marathon. Five weeks is a good amount of time to continue to slowly build my mileage. Last year at this time, my weekly mileage was slightly higher than where I am now, but I never really increased it too much last year. This year I'm planning to hit double digits for a long run beforehand -- last year my longest run was only 8 miles. It's tough training in the winter for a big race, but I like the challenge battling Virginia's up and down weather.

Speaking of the race, if you're participating in it, make sure to get a hotel room. I spent an hour yesterday finding a place. And if you want to run it, the half marathon is sold out. I believe there's still room in the marathon.

This weekend was the virtual "9 on the 9th" race -- I definitely hit the requirements (doing 9 total near the 9th), but it'll take me a while to figure out how to write a race report. Or maybe my race report is 3 miles on Friday, 4.1 on Saturday and 1.9 on Sunday ... or 4.1 on Saturday and 4.9 on Sunday. At least this month, I was able to do it. I can't say the same for the 8 on the 8th in December.

A good six miles

Simply put, 6 miles today felt great. The best feeling to have while running is to want to keep running once the planned mileage is over. That happened today and yesterday. I don't want to overdo it, so I didn't go any farther. All told for the week, I had 19 miles. A bad storm on Friday prevented me from running, but that's OK - this week was yet another increase in mileage for the week, something I've done every week so far in 2008 -- 2.5, 8.9, 10.1, 12.2 and 19. Next week's goal: 20+.