Felt good today. Got out there and wanted to find out how fast I could run 4 miles non-stop. My answer: Ran 4 miles in 34:12… that’s a an 8:33mile average…not bad. But I can’t imagine keeping that pace up for the full 26 miles. And yet, if I want to qualify for Boston someday, I have to do even better.
Does your running shoe have arch support? Mine does. It’s there to help me because my arch tends to collapse as I run. Its no big deal. This is common in many people. The technical term is: pronate (as in, my foot pronates when I run). Well, today, the arch support (for some unknown reason), was rubbing the wrong way on my foot and irritated my arch to the point that I had to stop running.
My stamina was high enough that I could have continued running (I had planned on running 18). But this is one of those times where you have to put your plans aside to preserve your health. I could have continued, but the injury would have put me off my feet for a bit. Something I don’t want to risk.
–Joe
12 miles in 1:55:00
So today I ran 6 miles in 53:26. The good news is my feet began to hurt on my 4. Why is that good news? Because I was running in my Asics instead of my Saucony. The good news is that it isn’t my shoes that caused my discomfort last time I was running. Although I do have to admit, those shoes should be retired soon. I’m glad they still a have some life left in them. I’d like to run the LA Marathon in them. It would be full circle. I bought them back in 2006 when I trained for (adn ran) the 2006 LA Marathon. So it would be appropriate for them to finish their running career with anther LA Marathon.
Okay.. so now I have to find out what’s wrong with my feet and why they start hurting at mile 4… yeah… if you haven’t guessed it.. that’s the bad news.
I ran 4 miles at an average pace today (total time 37:43; 9:26 min/mile). When I finished, my feet felt like they were inflated inside my shoe and I felt some discomfort. I wonder if it’s finally time to retire these shoes…
I ran 2 official marathons in these shoes (L.A. 2006, Phoenix 2008), not to mention a full marathon during training for the L.A. I’d like to run L.A. 2008 in them also, but not if it means damaging my feet in the process.
When you are as poetic about life, you personify the weirdest things. It’s like this pair of shoes has been with me for a while helping me attain my running goals. They have well over 500 miles of wear and tear, but have never let me down.
I have 3 other pairs of running shoes that I train in as well, but these are the ones I run most of my long runs in. They provide comfort and support from step 1 to the last one. So now that their career is coming to an end, I’m a little sad…
Well that brings me to a new topic:
This is a wonderful organization that helps those in need (world wide), by providing footwear. They were in Asia after the Dec ‘04 tsunami, and they were there in New Orleans after Katrina. They accept donations of new and ‘gently worn’ shoes.
What are ‘gently worn’ shoes? Well my running shoes may have too much wear and tear on them to provide any benefit to someone. But I do have some boots and other casual shoes in my closet that I just don’t wear anymore. There’s nothing wrong with them. I just don’t wear them. They are ‘gently worn’ shoes.
So guess where they’re going to be shipped off to? Well, your guess is as good as mine. I’m gonna sent them to the good people at Soles4Souls.org and they’ll ship them of to someone who needs them.
So please, if you have some ‘gently worn’ shoes in your closet that rarely see the light of day, consider sending them to Soles4Souls.org. It will clear up some space in your closet and help someone with something that we take for granted.
If you feel extra helpful, you can always send brand spankin’ new shoes to them as well. They’ll get the same treatment that ‘gently worn’ shoes get. That is to say, they’ll be shipped to someone who will be grateful to have them.
hmmm… remember how I said that sometimes your body seems to be a machine ready to tear up the road like well tuned car? Although that may be true, the inverse is also true. Sometime, you go out for a morning drive and you the engine starts knocking, the engine overheats, smoke comes out of the hood and then the motor just stops.
That’s what happened today. I didn’t plan on running today, but I felt so good after yesterdays run, I felt like I had another 6 miles in me and wanted to get them out.
It may have been true yesterday, but I managed to spend the energy somewhere without realizing it.
Mentally, I began running with the intent of running a fast 4 miles. I ran the 1st mile in 8:00 minutes. But then I blew my gasket and was unable to continue. I tried to trudge along for another half mile.
In distance running you learn that sometimes you during your run you have peaks and valleys. As long as you continue moving forward, you can come out of the valley and continue your run (many times at a pleasant pace). But, alas, this was not one of those days.
Today, I had to just stop and come home. There was nothing left in my gas tanks (mental or physical). So instead of risking some type of injury, I called it a day.
See? Sometimes you just have to listen to your body. No matter how foolish of a runner you are, never underestimate what your body is trying to tell you. Sure you can push it past it’s comfort zone in the name of training. But you also have to know when it’s wise to listen to its objections, lest you find yourself with a mutiny on your…er.. um…hands.
The 2 Running Fools actually ran together today. This was actually our first time running together. And of course I had to drive over to his neck of the woods. Only a 90 minute drive–which explains why this is the first time we ran together.
Andrew knows of a running trail over by his place were many runners go. It was a nice area with a bit of an incline. I was actually looking forward to that. All of my training is on flat ground.
On the schedule today was running 10 miles at about a 10-11 min/mile pace. At first I was concerned about running too fast (when we compare times, mine are a bit faster). But in actuality, I had to slow Andrew down. He was revved up and ready to eat those miles up!!! In the uphill, he outpaced me (hands down).
But towards the end of the run, I threw a curve ball on him. We sprinted for a good 60 yards. After the sprint, I had him continue the pace we were previously running at. I don’t think he liked me much after that.
So I decided to do it again before the end of the run!! >:) Yup.. he definitely didn’t like me then.
But we finished strong and with a good time: 1:38:39
Being so close in our running pace, it made it fun to be able to run with a friend. I may be one of the most competitive people out there (I HATE TO LOSE). But I’m learning that not every activity has to have competition as the goal. Today, it was the journey, not the destination. Maintaining a pace that allowed for conversation was a great rule of thumb to follow today. We both got our workout done, got our miles in, increased/maintained our endurance thresholds and had fun doing it. What more could you ask for? (besides, I know I could have ran more and ran them faster by myself >:) and knowing is half the battle ‘Yo Joe!’ )
10 miles. I haven’t run 10 miles in a while but today we did it. We ran this trail near my place (the trail I used for training for my San Diego R&R marathon) and it was such a nice day out. Not too hot, not too cold.
I realized something during this run, I don’t mind hills, and Joe does, and he likes to push to the limit, I don’t. During this 10 mile run, he made us sprint twice. Let me tell you, during a 10 mile run, a sprint anywhere inside of that 10 mile run changes things a lot. We are not talking about a 10% increase in speed, nor a 30% increase, this was an all-out, running from the po-po, sprint. I admit, the first one, not so bad, I could recover. The second one, it kicked my arse. Burned my reserve in about 20 seconds.
Overall, it was a great run. I actually felt like I could go another 5 miles until we did the second sprint, which wasn’t till about our last mile. So in terms of endurance, I am still ok.
I had planned on running 6 miles at a medium pace at the local high school. Although it’s easier for me just to go outside my door and start running, I figured my knees would appreciate running on the softer track. Since I was there I decided to re-calibrate my Nike+.
After I had done so, I started my run. After 3 laps I noticed I was running at an 8 min/mile pace. But it didn’t feel like I was pushing to keep it up. So instead of lowering my pace, I just let my body move. It wasn’t until 2.5 miles that my body wanted to slow down the pace. But by then I was so close to finishing the 3rd mile, that I decided to push it. I completed final laps with at total time of 23:47 for 3 miles (7:55 min/mile). Not bad.
Sometimes I just hit days like this where all the pistons are firing, all the joints are properly lubricated, the tank is full and the motor is just begging to be opened up. And sometime you have to listen to your body and just play. After all, isn’t this suppose to be fun?
I had planned on running 4 miles lightly today, but I decided to give my legs the day off. I probably could have ran them, but I played hooky instead. Discretion is the better part of valor… he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day…I must be cruel to be kind.. oh whatever!!! I pick your favorite saying here and apply it to me wanting the day off. >:)
Today was a fun day. I am happy to announce that I completed the Rock n Roll Phoenix Marathon in 4 hours 58 minutes and 19 seconds (click here and search for bib # 5189 in 2008). Not bad for only 3 and a half weeks of training, huh? I stopped to take various pictures throughout the race.
There’s a picture of me with the 9 mile marker,
one of the rock bands,
kids dressed like the band KISS,
a chopper style motorcycle
and even with Superman!
Now as far the race goes, here’s how it went:
I honestly don’t remember the running pattern I used at the beginning of the race. I know it was run, walk, run, walk per mile. But I don’t recall what the specifics were.
After mile 4 I settled into a 3-3-3-X pattern per mile (run 3, walk 3, run 3, walk the remainder of the mile). When I got to mile 14, I realized that if I maintained an 11 minute/mile pace for the remainder of the race I’d actually come in under 5 hours.
Well, one thing about me is that I’m nothing if not competitive. I know reason is telling me not to try for a speed that will end up hurting me. 2 weeks ago, I was fearful about running a half marathon with such short notice. 2 days ago, I’m super-happy six times over if I can just finish a full marathon and am capable of walking the next day. But now,2+ hours into the race, I want to finish it in sub 5 hours!
So guess how I did it? I stuck to the new plan. I maintained a 3-3-3-2 pattern (run-walk-run-walk) per mile. So as not to get too excited and run faster than intended, I listened to a book on tape (technically: book on ipod) to help slow me down. The title of the book I listened to is Magician: Master by Raymond Feist. It’s my all time favorite Fantasy story.
I actually ended up running with the 5 hour pace group. Runners would pass me up as I walked, but I’d catch up to them when I ran.
At mile 23 I hit my wall: “Hello, Wally”. But I didn’t hit it hard. It was more like a strong shove. The wall wasn’t telling me to stop. It just didn’t want me to run anymore. It wanted me to slow down comfortably walk the remaining miles. I could have done that. I could have comfortably finished the race walking.
But I remembered that this is where I hit the wall in the 2006 LA Marathon. Back then I didn’t just hit it, I crashed into it. Back then I HAD to walk because I was physically incapable of running. It was the most agonizing thing I can recall. My feet felt like I was walking on glass and my knees didn’t want to straighten. I wanted to stop. I wanted to weep. I wanted the pain to wash away. I even turned around walked backwards to use different muscles to propel me forward. Eventually, after 2 miles of walking, I recovered enough to finished the race in a light jog.
So when I met the wall at the 23 mile marker in Phoenix, I made a self analysis. This time I could still run. My body told me it would rather walk, but it could still run. It wouldn’t be fast and it wouldn’t be long, but I could run for 3 more minutes at a time. I was sure of it. They weren’t going to be speed miles, but they didn’t have to be.
So here was my test. Would I step up and push forward or concede and be happy with as long as I finished the race?
You don’t know what joy it brings me to be able to type that I continued running. I called out my running mantra: “Breathe, Relax, and Run Like You Trained”. I recited it out load — to myself and those around me. I reminded my fellowship of fatigued forerunners that we were having fun and that we were fairly close to finishing.
Encouraging those around me actually gave me a second wind (or third or fifth by this point in the race). And with 3 minutes of running at a time, I was able finish the Phoenix marathon in under 5 hours. >:)
If you haven’t noticed yet, the number that was given to me (see yesterday’s post) coincides with the time it took me to finish the race. 4:58:19 was my time and 5819 was my number. All of the times I stopped to take pictures and enjoy this race contributed to have me complete the race in a time that matched my bib number down to the second. This makes me believe I was meant to run it just the way I did (including my mishap with the pothole that twisted my left ankle just 0.1 miles away from the finish line).
Thank you, Phoenix, for a great experience. The course was flat and the temperature cool. So cool, in fact, that at noon, I didn’t want to run in the shade because I felt cold. I’ll definitely be back next year and try for a PR.
–Joe
and I ran 26.2 miles today