Run Jeffrey Run!

Wow man, congratulations on another great run! Really unbelievable bro.

Another runner's blog

Hey, click this link and check out this guy's blog - he's got links to a bunch of other running blogs also - I read about 10 different people's blogs this morning - this could get seriously addicting - it's so much fun to read what other people are doing and how they are handling their own challenges.

5 miles W. Main hill

O.K., so I just clocked the mileage from yesterday morning's run at it was exactly 5 miles. I did it with two cars (one on the way to the mechanic - another on the way back) and they both said exactly 5 miles. I'm pretty happy with that as my pace was the same it was for that Tuuri race we did 11 min/miles, but this was a 5 mile run AND I had to cover that W. Main hill which we measured today to be .6 mile and I have no idea how to guess the grade, but it was steep (for me). I mentioned in one of my comments to your last post that it was raining, not a downpour, but it rained the whole rain, and off/on fairly hard. So, all in all, I'm pretty happy with that run. Now, I don't think this is achievable by the time of the CRIM, but it would be great to start shaving off some time - like, how awesome would it be to run 9-9.5 min/miles? That would put us up at least 10 places in our age bracket. Anyway, one of the things I like about running is the individual competition, meaning, me running against myself, e.g. past times, getting through pain, and that ever-present message my brain is telling itself to STOP! So - way too long of post today - keep up the high spirits and all the running - this training is definitely paying off!

The Tuuri

Well, there we go - finally my first race under my belt. I had a ball out there man. You were like some kind of running hero to all of your CRIM training crew. Anyway, if you click on the link above, it will take you to the results page of the Tuuri to see our time for the race. Had a great time bro. Check out the race in Ann Arbor on August 1st - are you up for that one?

WMU Campus Classic

There you go Jeff - click on the title of this posting and it will take you to the race home page. It's on Saturday Oct. 16. I'm down for it. I already went ahead and registered for the 5k - $20

Looking forward to the Tuuri (I think)

Hey man, I'm looking forward to this weekend. When I went for my run this morning, I took it really easy after you mentioned that the Tuuri is considered one of the more difficult runs in the state. What a way to start out for me! We'll do fine - at least both the heat and humidity are supposed to be low, temps in the low 60's and dew points in the 40's and 50's. Looking forward to it.

We're on the way!

So I just clocked out with the odometer on my car the distance of my run yesterday - 4.7 miles! Wow man - I'm sure it's not dead on balls accurate but it's gotta be close. I did it in 56 minutes so that puts my pace at 11:55 per mile, which is crappy, but hey, I finished man - better times come later. I mean, I've only been training for how long now, about 6 weeks or so? Anyway, I'm totally encouraged now that we will finish this thing standing up - 8k translates into 4.9 miles so with 5.5 weeks to go, we're on the right track! Keep running Jeffro!

Buster Bronco

Bronco Maniac
Originally uploaded by ed_roth.

Hey, how about a shot from the past? Who's this buckin' bronco?

LIVE STRONG

Yeah man! I am totally with that. Tell Jim if you think of it that his words are encouraging to people outside of the training circle. Also, thanks for the encouragement. I guess because I've been keeping this log, and I've been on the phone with you almost every other day (sometimes every day!) I don't really feel like I'm training for this alone. But you know, I've always been a "team athlete" - I played little league baseball, football, and dabbled in some basketball, and never understood or even enjoyed for that matter the "individual sports" like running, swimming, diving, etc. However, this 30-60 minutes a day to myself is awesome, and when I do it in the morning it sets the tone for the whole day, and if I have to wait until night to do it, I look forward to it all day. It is MY time to challenge myself, let my mind free up from all of the worries that go through my head - it's good poison man! Thanks again for the encouragement.

Toughest/Best Run Yet

OK, today was BY FAR the TOUGHEST run yet. I'll fill you in on the distance when I map it out with my car, but it must be somewhere between 4 and 5 miles. I ran from my house down to Northampton, up to W. Main, all the way down W. Main to the movie theaters, behind the movie theaters all the way over to Drake Rd., north on Drake, right on Grand Prairie, up 3 hills, right on Seminole, and then back to my house on Iroquois. Sorry about the minutia brother, but I'm logging this one in for myself as much as anything else. I had a stopwatch with me today also and ran that in exactly 56 minutes and 0 seconds.

Thank God for Break Days

Man, did I ever need today's break. I put up a basketball hoop/pole at my house yesterday and it wore me out. Poured the concrete etc. so I was pretty tired but my legs feel pretty good today. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run - it's supposed to be somewhere between 4 and 5 miles so it will definitely be much longer than I've done in the past. Wish me luck! More tomorrow.

Back on Track

I wanted to get this quick log in - I ran yesterday, early in the morning for maybe 50 minutes or so - I'm not really sure how far or how long I ran - my guess is about 3.5 - 4 miles and somewhere in the 50 minute range. I had a ball! I did a different route yesterday and it made it a little more interesting. I'm starting to get to the point where my mind is starting to work out problems during my run, I mean, problems outside of running. How will I handle a situation at work, how am I going to handle fixing things on the house, etc. I'm not really running long enough to get any answers yet, or maybe I still have to concentrate a little bit on my running to get answers, but I just love that feeling you get after these runs!

Speaking of God Help Us ....

Hey Jeff, check this out. St. Sebastian is the patron saint for athletes - here's a little write-up about him. Enjoy.

According to his legend, Sebastian was born at Narbonne, Gaul. He became a soldier in the Roman army at Rome in about 283, and encouraged Marcellian and Marcus, under sentence of death, to remain firm in their faith. Sebastian made numerous converts: among them were the master of the rolls, Nicostratus, who was in charge of prisoners and his wife, Zoe, a deaf mute whom he cured; the jailer Claudius; Chromatius, Prefect of Rome, whom he cured of gout; and Chromatius' son, Tiburtius. Chromatius set the prisoners free, freed his slaves, and resigned as prefect.
Sebastian was named captain in the praetorian guards by Emperor Diocletian, as did Emperor Maximian when Diocletian went to the East. Neither knew that Sebastian was a Christian. When it was discovered during Maximian's persecution of the Christians that Sebastian was indeed a Christian, he was ordered executed. He was shot with arrows and left for dead, but when the widow of St. Castulus went to recover his body, she found he was still alive and nursed him back to health. Soon after, Sebastian intercepted the Emperor, denounced him for his cruelty to Christians, and was beaten to death on the Emperor's orders.
Saint Sebastian was venerated at Milan as early as the time of St. Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way. He is patron of archers, athletes, and soldiers, and is appealed to for protection against plagues.
He is patron saint of athletes because of his physical endurance and his energetic way of spreading and defending the Faith. Sebastian is also patron to all soldiers. He entered the Roman army under Emperor Carinus in 283 in order to defend the confessors and martyrs of his day without drawing attention to himself. His efforts kept the Faith of Marcus and Marcellian firm during their persecutions, right up to the time of their martyrdom. He was declared patron of plague sufferers of his reported cures of those afflicted with many diseases.

First "legit" run in a while

OK, so this morning I did my first legitimate run in a while. I did somewhere between 3 3/4 to 4 miles - you know the area - I went from my house through the neighborhood, behind all the businesses on W. Main, all the way to Drake Rd. and back. Of course, I mean, OF COURSE I did not run that whole way, I took I think (tough to remember exactly) 4 substantial walk break, but I still did that much distance under 45 minutes - I think about 41 minutes - a little more than a 10 min/mile pace. Anyway, the one thing I know for certain is that I ran the final full mile entirely without a walk break. I know, BIG DEAL, a whole mile, but typing "one mile" is a lot easier than running one mile, so I'm pretty content and encouraged by today's run.

Hydration - Man is it ever important to get enough water in you. I almost barfed this morning when I got back I was so dehydrated I was feeling dizzy and the whole bit. It was only about 60 degrees outside. God help us on Aug. 28th on the streets of Flint when the heat and humidity might be pretty brutal.

Keep running brother!

Perspective

OK, I know this is supposed to be a log of our training for the CRIM, but I can't help but to log this one in.

I went to a doctor's appointment today - I have to have a "lump" removed from my leg - on the way out of the office I saw a woman, maybe late 20's who looked very upset, on the verge of crying. Now who knows, maybe she just had the flu, maybe she was pregnant unexpectedly, but my mind went immediately to the notion that she just got told she had cancer (.... and of course what would be going through my mind if I had just been told I had cancer.) I told Karen, that I had such a clear sense of what it might be like ... it suddenly wouldn't matter AT ALL, that my Toyota burns a little oil, my masonry is crumbling in my chimney, I still want to lose about another 10 lbs, the air is hot and sticky, etc. etc. It suddenly felt like the only things that mattered were things like good vs. evil, love vs. hate, bravery vs. fear and that life was more like a poem than an engineer's schematic.

I've been building a fence on the side of the house so the dog can run freely in the backyard. My roof needs work, the chimney needs work, gutters have to be replaced, I have a TON of work to do for my ACTUAL JOB, but man, the look on that girl's face made it all seem like nothing more than a complete distraction from the all-important - love, family, friends, honor, integrity, commitment, fun, and destiny (or fate, or God's plan, or whatever you want to call it)

Who knows, maybe that girl was just squinting from the sun, or maybe she just got a shot and was still wincing a bit. But man, did crossing paths with her ever have an impact on me today.

7 more weeks

Alright, we're counting down now. I did another run last night, two nights in a row just to try to get back in the swing of things after vacation - I'll definitely be walking today though - have to let the bod' recover for a day. I put on about 5-7 lbs over vacation so it's time to knock that out too. What a mental boost this running gives me man - it's addicting!

Today's Tips

Here are a few tips from Runner's World magazine about recovery after a run and stretching.

After 10 days off!

Man, can you believe I haven't trained since June 25th? I did one run with Karen up in Alpena while we were on vacation and probably did about 2 total miles with maybe 3 or 4 walk breaks. Today I did 3 miles (in very good time - @ 30 minutes) and that includes SEVERAL walk breaks. Obviously my running pace was very quick - too quick as my lungs were a greater problem today than bones/muscles/joints. Anyway, it feels good to be on the road again - my body and certainly MY MOOD needed it!