A reminder of the usefulness of 'Have to' #Running #Fitness

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Today was a little rough, a couple of long speed intervals, really kicked my ass. But I got in my 3+ miles anyway. Which is always a good thing. Of course I was a little tired, got woken up in the middle of the night.

Actually it was Kim that got up, I thought it was just for the dog. But when she came back and said something about having to check where the flashing red lights were coming from I did pay attention and get a little more awake. One of the things about living next door to you older parents is that you do pay a little more attention when a fire engine and ambulance show up on your street in the middle of the night. And there are a number of other elderly folks on our street with health issues so we never know for sure who the EMT's are there for.

Fortunately they were not there for Mom. Sadly, it appeared they were there for her neighbor (not 100% sure of this.) The man who lives there is not a lot older than me (probably about the same age as my oldest brother.) He has had a couple of heart attacks in recent years, which is why when they were parked at his house I suspect that he had another one. The sad part about this is that this guy used to be very active. We have had conversations about running various races. And last summer at least I was starting to see him out on the trails and sidewalks, getting back into running. So I know he was trying to get back into shape.

I detail this as an example of how, even though most of my running is of the 'Want To' variety, there is certainly an element of Have To in everything I do to get fit.

Running provides joy and zen moments #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

I had a great running weekend!

Sunday Run

Saturday Jimmy and I ran in the St. Patrick's Day 5K. My 2 goals were to challenge Jimmy to improve his time from last year and to get my time down below 30 minutes. I managed both, Jimmy really rose to the challenge when I kept up with the 'eat my dust' and 'see you at the finish line' trash talk. He actually ran ahead of me for the first 2 miles, before I caught up to him. He stuck with me until the last block or 2 when I surged ahead, beating him by 17 seconds, with a time of 29:11. I know it shouldn't be an achievement for me to beat the 11 year old (Of course considering how close it was I better enjoy it while I can.)

Sunday I got up early for my long run, starting in the dark. I had an option route planned. At one point I could change routes and head downhill for a spell, then have a brief uphill then level out for the finish. I chose instead to push myself for the tougher route (at least for the first portion.) And not only did I feel better stretching the distance, but I was rewarded with the gorgeous view of the sunrise just hitting the rocks in the Garden of the Gods. It was a truly wonderful experience.

Today's Run

Today was a little tough. My legs were still sore from the long run on Sunday. But I just kept my legs moving, no walking rests and did my customary 3 miles, not at race speed, but finished with no break, which is an achievement.

I am in a bit of a quandary at this stage. I want to run a Half marathon some time in the summer, early enough to test how I do before I commit to the marathon. I had my sights set on one in Denver in May, but that is not cheap, and there are logistics involved. In my packet for the race this last week there was an advertisement for one in town on July 4th. Which would be about half the price of the Denver one. But it is also a little later than I would like as a measuring stick. We shall see what direction I choose to go in.

Cruising to new heights #running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

Saturday Jimmy and I are running the St. Patrick's Day 5K. This is my 3rd year and Jimmy's second. I've done all I could to get him ready for the race, he did 3 miles last weekend. And I am probably more ready than I have ever been. For 2 weeks in a row I finished my Thursday interval run under 30 minutes. I even told Jimmy today that I was going to run the race at my pace, and if he fell behind I would meet him at the finish line (or vice versa I guess!)

My point is that I am feeling better about where I am now as a runner than I was the last 2 years at the same point. All that winter work has really paid off! And eating better has helped as well I am sure. Can't say for sure how it will all work out until the race, but I think I will do well. I always run faster during races (the competitive juices and adrenaline flow.)

Now the next step is to just keep up what I am doing, it is clearly working (I was even able to move in another notch on my belt this week!) And I know that as the weather improves my life will only get more active on the weekends.

Logged some heavy miles this weekend, felt great! #Running #walking

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

This was a good interval run. My legs were a little sore to start, still feeling it from the weekend. But they loosened up, and the run went well. I realized one thing yesterday though. I am going to have put more of an effort in food preparation on the weekends. I tend to rely on leftovers, which is mostly fine. But that means that there can be days when there are no leftovers or what is there is not appetizing. And that can mean that either I eat out, or eat something that I don't enjoy much and then have the urge to 'cheat' as a result. So I need to make more of an effort to make some things on the weekend that are easy to grab for days like that.

Sunday's Run

I knew going in that I was going to log a lot of miles. I no only had a run with Jimmy on Saturday as his last prep for the race this coming weekend. But I also had 2 scout events with Danny that involved some walking. Saturday was a service project where we had a short walk to where we worked, and then the work for me meant some walking up and down a hill with buckets of dirt or mulch. Sunday afternoon I took Danny on his monthly scout hike, which was another 2 miles, with some decent climbs involved. So Sundays long run wasn't everything I could have asked for performance wise.

I did try to carry some Gatorade and gels on my long run, and start eating and drinking at the 5 mile/1 hour mark. That seemed to help, if nothing else I wasn't quite as wiped out at the end. I wasn't overwhelmed with the gels, figure I will just stick to the Gatorade for now.

I run because I want to, not because I have to #running #Fitness

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

I had an interesting thought this morning, as I pondered whether Kim would take advantage of the nice weather to get out and take a bike ride. That got me thinking about the difference between doing something active because you want to versus have to. 

A couple of years ago, before I started losing weight, and then running most of my physical activity took place because I had to do it. Work around the house, yard projects, etc. And when I started to lose weight, and then started running there was a certain element still of have to. Because I wasn't healthy, I really had to drop those pounds and become more physically fit.

Now (although I could stand to drop some pounds, admittedly), there is no more have to behind my running. With the exception of I have to follow this training schedule if I want to run more half marathons and eventually a marathon. And that is a big step in being active that a lot of people have trouble making.

We watch (Kim more than I) the Biggest Loser. And watching that show is a constant reminder of how a lot of Americans have to become more active. And how rare it is for people to find that activity they want to do. Of course, if you had told me 4 years ago that I would reach a point where running became a want to activity versus a have to I would have laughed in your face. Which is why, when I joke with Kim about setting the alarm an extra 30 minutes to an hour early so she can get up and run, I am only partially joking. Because you never know when that line might get crossed, when you will make that change and find that physical activity that you want to do.

Not gonna let the black ice stop me! #Running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Today's Run

It snowed yesterday afternoon, one of those wonderful March storms that almost feels more like rain. Very wet, with lots of wind, and blew in and blew right out in about an hour. Dumped just enough snow and moisture that there were lots of good places of black ice on the trail today. Which made the intervals extra interesting, the last thing I wanted was to be going flat out and hit some black ice wrong! But I did alright, actually stuck pretty close to the plan for each of the intervals.

Sunday's Run

Really rocked this one! Tried 2 different things. First, starting with mile 2 I let myself walk for about 30 seconds after each mile. Second, I had been reading about eating, fueling properly etc. for these long runs and realized that I have not been doing this properly. This week I made an effort to eat something abut 30 minutes before I went on my run. Not sure which of those strategies helped or if it was the 2 combined, but I definitely made a better pace than normal for my long runs.

So the last week took it's toll weight wise. But I have a renewed focus, and know what to do. And for the most part the Skinny Rules have become my default eating pattern, all things being equal. The building blocks and foundation are there, in place. I just need to keep at it, while I keep running, and I should see success down the road.

Surviving a chaotic week, with the help of running

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

Thursdays Run

I knew at the start that this was going to be a chaotic week. We had the Wednesday night Cub Scout banquet. It was James' Science Fair week. As a result Kim was fully occupied pretty much every minute of her time, even on her 'days off'.

I made a menu for the week, with good intentions. But the above activities, coupled with my getting hit by a stomach bug, threw that all out the window. So we had a pretty chaotic, eat what you want, kind of week. As a result it was not a good week for holding to the Skinny Rules. I did stay close, and it was not a lost week as far as gaining a lot of weight. 

And I did manage to get out for my scheduled runs. Which was good. And both runs were strong, sticking close to actual workout plan. And I think that helped to offset the damage that disorganized eating did.

At the end of it, the weather is slowly warming up, we are past this week, and I think that the foundation is there for my training and and diet to start to really kick in. And that is a good way to end the month.