Archive for the ‘Saturdays’ Category

• 9 Miles + 1 in reverse

  Date: 2010.05.24 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  Last week I ran 9 miles away from my house. This week I ran 10 miles back.

  Yes 10 miles, non stop running. Sounds fun right? Oh yeah!

  The wife drove me 10 miles away from the home. Kicked me out of the car and said see you in a couple of hours. Needless to say the little guy was not too happy about this. I guess he wanted to run with his daddy. Some how though, I don’t think he would have made the 10 miles, let alone the first mile. Love you little man, but daddy is going to run by himself on this one.

  Today’s path was the exact same as last weeks only in reverse plus 1 more extra mile. The reverse path did seem to be easier and I finished about 20 minutes quicker than the previous week. Either I am getting faster or it was really easier. Or perhaps I am getting into better shape for these long distance runs. I’m sticking with the later choice.

• 9 Miles

  Date: 2010.05.16 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  What started out as a scary moment this morning turned out to be a great day. I woke up early this morning thinking I had to go into work today. Luckily some sense kicked in and I realized it was not a work day. Yahoo!

  Instead however it was a run day. A 9 mile run day in fact. I threw on some clothes and headed out to map a running path for 9 miles. Currently my running paths have only consisted of 3 to 5 miles and I didn’t want to run it twice.

  It took me two times to come up with a satisfactory run. The first was a bunch of circles in circles around the neighborhood, but I thought I might get defeated quickly if I ran around the house too often. The second try proved to be the winner.

  I decided to clock the distance from my house to my sister-in-law’s house. 11.7 miles was the final total. I scaled back a few miles and this was my chosen route. I headed home to get dressed for my run.

  Had some wheat toast with peanut butter, a little extra boost. Sunscreen for the head, face and arms. Made arrangements with the wife for the pick up point and time. A kiss from the family and I was on my way.

  The first mile or so was on familiar territory, anything after that I was blazing new trails. I got a later start this morning then I would have hoped, due to the route discovery, so I ended up running in some heat. The breeze kept me cool and was nice to have here and there. But the further I got from the house the more open I was to the sun. This is not a good thing. I realized now I should have added sunscreen to the list for my legs. Ouch! They are a little red.

  When I was about 3 miles out from my designated finish line, running up a hill, my wife pulled up and gave me a little more encouragement, gave me a time check and said she would meet me in a few after getting me some water.

  One of my goals is to just keep running through the whole marathon. This goal is also rolling into my training runs. Each time I set out, I keep running until I reach the finish line, even if the run looks like a fast walk. This is totally a mental game and today I am proud to say, I succeeded.

  The last stretch of the run was a decline and as I got closer to the finish line I noticed that my pace had picked up and my strides were longer. I guess I thought the faster I run the sooner I would be done. This got me breathing really heavy and into a step-step breathe pattern that got me through the last little bit.

  When I finished I walked to the car, filled with my smiling family and really cold water. I did a little stretching, caught my breath and we headed home.

  Then, something funny happened. My nose and the top of my mouth started tingling like when your foot goes to sleep and you try to take a step. It was funny feeling. Then I noticed I got a brain freeze because the water I was drinking was really, really cold. I didn’t really notice the coldness until after I chugged a bunch. I was so hot it didn’t really feel cold the first couple of drinks. This produced another strange reaction. My voice got really deep and breathy when I tried to talk. Weird and funny, but definitely a good laugh came of it.

  In the end I finished in just over 2 hours. The 9 miles all in all were hard, but the first 3-5 miles were easy. My training is paying off. I remember when the 3 and 5 miles were hard and now they are easy. A few more long runs and 9 miles will be easy too.

• 1st Official Tagline Run

  Date: 2010.05.08 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 0

  Today, was my first official tagline run. Running to Help…

  I have done the race for the cure previously, but this year it had special meaning and purpose for me. It is amazing, well OK amazing might not be the right word, how many lives this disease touches. The number of participants and number of survivors was astonishing.

  I ran with my sister. I ran with my mom. I ran with my sister-in-law. I ran with my wife.
  I ran for my Aunt Connie. I ran for my Aunt Kathy. I ran for my mother-in-law Bonnie.

  I ran to help. I ran for the cure.

• 7 Miles more…

  Date: 2010.05.01 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  26.2 miles equals a marathon. However, to cross the finish line one must run far more than just 26.2 miles. The marathon itself is just a small chunk in the overall scheme of things. Which got me thinking. “I wonder how many miles I have gone so far and how many more will it take to get me to the finish line?”

  Today it was 7 miles more. 7 miles more, complete. 7 miles more, behind me. 7 miles more, closer to the finish line.

  Crossing the finish line will be a major goal complete for me. But I am realizing that there is a bigger goal being accomplished. I am actually sticking with it. I find myself amazed by this and it excites me. I want to keep going and I do just that. Yes. Ok, I admit that not every day that I am supposed to train, do I actually train, but overall I am still moving forward. I am running. I am training. I am succeeding because I am still doing it. In January it was one step – one mile and today it was, 7 miles more…

• Week of 3′s plus 6 – Round Two

  Date: 2010.04.24 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 0

  Yep, you read that right. Round Two.

  Week one of the final marathon training started out as the final week of pre-training. Of course, however, not too difficult aside from the treadmill being at an incline and I didn’t check until I was nearly complete with my run.

  I was thinking to myself, “why is this so hard and why am I so sweaty?” Looked down, peeked at the incline and I was trying to run as fast as I normally do, but I was at an incline of 2.0. Yikes! No wonder I was so sweaty. I was happy that I did though, because I am going to be running up hills during the marathon and I can’t always have it easy. Right Bill? =)

  During last’s week training I mentioned I had a running partner for one of my runs. Kendrick and I did a 3 mile run to the local grocery store and back. The next day his twin boys were caught on tape by their mom. Who graciously allowed me to share with you.

  Hope you enjoy.
  I feel honored that this running thing I am doing is having an influence on others.

  Thanks for the tribute boys.
  [jwplayer config="Posts" mediaid="96"]

• Week of 3′s plus 6

  Date: 2010.04.17 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  So I slacked. I missed last week’s Saturday post. I was under the weather and my running paid for it, which in turn means, I paid for it. Yikes did I ever. =)

  I enjoyed some lovely skin chaffing from inner leg friction. Corrected this with some running shorts. =) The outside part of my left foot is hurting. I am not sure what I did, so needless to say I have cut back on my outside road running to see if that will help. It has a bit, but I still experience some pain a few hours after finishing a run. I got my first blister on my left foot with my last run. I think my sock got folded weird and rubbed my skin raw.

  When I first started my training it was all treadmill. The weather was cold and I needed to start somewhere. Now that my runs are getting longer, the treadmill runs are no longer fun anymore. It seems like the time on the treadmill is double the time on the street. Must be because you are not going anywhere fast.

  I shook up my schedule a little bit and that helped. I actually completed all of my runs this week. I had a partner for one of my runs, thanks Kendrick for joining in the fun.

  If you have been following me, you may have noticed that I was slated to participate in the Salt Lake Marathon and 5k today. Well that didn’t happen. My sister-in-law was training for the half marathon. I was going to run half of the half marathon with her to help support her. Well she fractured her foot a few weeks back training for the race. So the half marathon was out. Then she was going to do the 5k, but then my foot went bad. So no Salt Lake 5k for me, she did awesome though, Congrats Jamie for doing so well.

  I pushed through and now I can say I have completed the first part of my training. The novice part that is. Final week. Three, 3 mile runs and one, 6 mile run.

  6 miles, 1 hour and 20 minutes later on a treadmill, I was glad to be done. Maybe it was because I didn’t have a jingle stuck in my head.

• Run baby. Run baby. Run…

  Date: 2010.04.03 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 0

  5.5 miles today. Definitely a hard one to get through, I made it though and feel very happy about that. I am finding it hard to commit myself during the week to complete my other runs, so my long Saturday runs are getting difficult. They are the only runs I am committed about doing every Saturday morning.

  With that said and wonderful advice from my wise wife, I think a schedule change is in order. Weekends are going to be my run days now instead of weeknights. Perhaps a change in game plan will help my focus again.

  Here’s to the next phase. Run Baby. Run baby. Run…

• River Run… River Run…

  Date: 2010.03.27 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 4

  What is going on here? Again with the commercial song stuck in my head.

  Today’s rendition. River run… River run… And no it is not to rent a new apartment.

  It was a blistery 27 degree for the 3 mile run along the banks of the Snake River with friends and family. Beautiful scenery, friendly banter, frozen cheeks all around. Excellent way to spend a Saturday morning. River run… River run… Perhaps this is my mind trying to tell me I need to have some music while I train. At this point, I would much rather listen to nature and the world around me as I focus on the final goal. River run… River run… One step closer to the marathon finish line. River run.. River run… Running to help…

• 5… 5 Mile… 5 Mile Foot-run…

  Date: 2010.03.20 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  Have you ever wonder what goes on in the mind of a runner while he or she is running? Well for me this morning for some strange reason I had the Subway $5.00 foot-long song in my head while I did my Saturday morning run.

  It was a brisk chilly morning. I thought to myself after getting out of bed, perhaps today would be a treadmill run day. But after looking out the window and seeing sunny blue skies. I looked to the oracle for confirmation. Yep, 34 degrees. Treadmill or outside? Outside won.

  I suited up, kiss the sleeping wife, fed the dog and started on my way.

  Only to find after a few minutes of running out of the neighborhood the little jingle got stuck in my head. However, it was changed a little bit. 5… 5 Mile… 5 Mile Foot-run… All the way, every step. 5… 5 Mile… 5 Mile Foot-run. I guess today I needed a jingle while I ran.

  5… 5 Mile… 5 Mile Foot-run… perhaps I am onto something here. When I was near the finish line, I felt I could keep on going. But alas, today’s training was only, 5… 5 Mile… 5 Mile Foot-run….

• Saturday Morning

  Date: 2010.03.13 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 2

  Nothing like a good run in the morning before the whole world wakes up.

  Today was a 3 mile run, it was a bit difficult because I slacked off this week and didn’t do my other runs.  Thing is, when I finished today I felt great, which definitely keeps up the motivation.  3 miles in 24 minutes equals an 8 minute mile pace, crazy!

  Marathon here I come.