Archive for the ‘training’ Category

• On hiatus…

  Date: 2010.09.13 | Category: training | Response: 2

  Many people have asked how the marathon went. My reply: “It was a very interesting day. Good, but interesting and you can read all about it on my site.” Sort of a shameless plug to drive people and traffic to my site, to learn what it is all about. Usually their next question is, “Have you ran since or are you going to do it again?” Well, those that follow me know, the running has been non-existent since the marathon. And do it again, well, perhaps. Is this the marathon bug that everyone talks about that has done a marathon before?

  That is right, I have been on a running hiatus since the marathon. Mostly because I wanted to let my knee recuperate a bit and let the blisters heal, so no running for me. No running until today, that is. I put the running shoes back on the other day for a walk around the neighborhood and realized it had been a while. Something must have triggered when I laced up the shoes, because guess who woke up early this morning to get in a run. 1 mile on the treadmill, run and done, it felt great. The sweat and breathing was a little heavier, but I am trying to not push it too hard. I am going to do 1 mile at a time, to keep the training/running going. Here’s to the next mile and preparation for my next 10k – The Dirty Dash with obstacles and mud – should be a lot of fun.

• Two Days…

  Date: 2010.08.20 | Category: foster, training | Response: 2

  Well. Well. Less than 24 hours and I will be done with my first marathon. Sleep last night was not so good. I woke up early again, so I decided to do one last training run before the big day. I ran 1 mile on the treadmill and it felt like nothing. I remember when I started my training, that 1 mile was really difficult. I have come a long way and only need 26.2 miles left to call it good.

  After finishing my 1 mile run, I met up with my Uncle for an early morning strategy breakfast with him, his son-in-law and a friend of my Uncle’s. 3 of us are running the marathon and the other was there for support and advice. It was a good time, we talked about the race, religion, war and variety of other topics. Eventually we circled back to the race and that was when I started getting a little nervous.

  On the way home my Uncle called me and asked if I was listening to the radio. He was all excited, because they were talking about him on the radio. I found this article on KSL.com.

  100 marathons is quite an accomplishment and I am proud and honored to be a part of it. To run along side you, OK maybe not along side of you, but behind, far behind you, is an amazing thing. Look for number 100 to cross the finish line that is my Uncle. I am number 262.

  Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day. 100 marathons for my Uncle. My first marathon. And did you hear my wife is speaking after the award ceremony about the Utah Foster Care Foundation? Amazing, truly amazing.

  Two days and counting…

• Three Days…

  Date: 2010.08.19 | Category: foster, training | Response: 1

  I must be getting excited. OK, I admit it is not excitement is nervousness. I am up way too early today, couldn’t sleep. Race day jitters are setting in. Yesterday I was pumped and ready to go. Today I am nervous, but still ready to go. I hope I can sleep better tonight, because come Friday I don’t expect to get much sleep. My Uncle told me it is the sleep that counts two nights before the race, because you don’t really sleep the night before. I agree. Here’s to one day closer to marathon time.

  Bring on the donations. Bring on the running. Bring on the sleep.

  Three Days and counting…

• Four Days…

  Date: 2010.08.18 | Category: foster, training | Response: 0

  Good news, my knee is feeling great today. My hobble has lessened and my spirits are up. 26.2 miles, here I come. More good news 10% of the way there for my donation goal. Thanks to all who are chipping-in to the right and donating on my behalf.

  To note, the Utah Foster Care Foundation has made arrangements with the Park City Marathon to have a booth available to talk to people about the foundation near the start and finish line of the marathon. They have also made arrangements to have some time during the marathon award ceremony to do a presentation and speech. Guess who they asked to speak. Yep, me, but being the caring husband that I am and thinking ahead, I don’t think I will be too coherent after the race, I volunteered my wife to give the speech.

  Come one, come all to see me cross the finish line and hear my beautiful wife speak.

  Four days and counting…

• Five Days…

  Date: 2010.08.17 | Category: foster, training | Response: 1

  The countdown is on, five days until the big day. Many people ask me now, Am I ready? My answer, yes. Nervous? A bit. Excited? yes! They ask me, what is the longest I have gone so far? My answer, 18 miles and they say, not in a car! I tried for 20 miles a couple of times, but backed out about half way into it as to avoid any serious injury to myself a couple of weeks before the big day. The last attempt caused me a weird knee issue that I am babying along right now so I can get through the marathon.

  I did a short treadmill run last night and everything seems to be OK. I find after I have my knee bent for long periods of time it stiffens up. I am going to still try to push through and hobble across the finish line if that is what is going to take. Like the sign said that I saw someone holding along one of the training race routes. “Pain is temporary, Pride is forever.”

  Up to this point I was running blind in regards to the marathon path. I was playing on the Park City Marathon site the other day and found a fly-by video of the path. I was concerned about the elevation climbing, but after watching the video, I am more at ease with it. The elevation climbs will still be a challenge, but I am ready for the challenge.

  Speaking of challenge, thanks to all of those who participated in the “Help build my playlist” blog contest, I received several good suggestions. For all those who submitted a song, your name was placed in a hat and one lucky winner was randomly selected. CONGRATULATIONS, Desiree! Five days from now I will be enjoying a wide variety of musical selections, thanks to all of you.

  I am still working on reaching my goal of $1000.00 to help the 2800 children in foster care. Five days left to reach that goal, which means, I need to get 20 people to donate $5 a day from now until the marathon. Using the widget to the right, chip-in and make a donation today!

  Five days and counting…

• River Run Two…

  Date: 2010.08.09 | Category: Saturdays, training | Response: 0

  This past weekend, I enjoyed my second river run. This time the commercial jingle was not in my head like it was the last time. To read more about the first time see: River Run… River Run…

  This river run was in good company. I finally had the chance to run with my uncle for the first time. The trail we ran was one of his infamous runs, with an eating break somewhere along the way with a 2 mile run back to the car after we ate.

  He also coined it a “hot” run, because we were not able to start until 4:30PM. Hot was right! Actually it wasn’t too bad when we started out. There was a slight wind in our face and we had a light sprinkle to keep us cool. But as we ran further the rain disappeared and the sun came out from behind the clouds which just made it humid. The humidity got to me and I was starting to lose the mental game. I was going to bail out on him early, but with a little persuasion, I was able to keep pushing to his first drink break about a 1/2 mile from where I was going to start walking. We took a quick walking break and we were back at again.

  We joined up with our families for a bite to eat at a local sandwich shop along the trail. I wasn’t feeling up to eating much, so i just had a few fries and a bunch of water. Then we were off again to finish up the mileage. 2.3 miles back along the Jordan River Parkway, definitely a scenic run. Thanks Kevin for letting me tag along. I can definitely tell you are a seasoned marathoner. Thanks for the tips and tricks as well. I tried them out and they are helping. Definitely some great knowledge to have before the big day, which is less than two weeks away. Excitement is building. Oh, by the way I am still needing help with my marathon playlist.

• Help build my playlist…

  Date: 2010.08.03 | Category: foster, Saturdays, training | Response: 14

  The verdict is in.

  After trying some long runs with and without music, I have decided to have my iPod at the ready for the marathon, just in case I need a bit more motivation to get me through the miles. I have tried a variety of different musical categories and specific artist playlists, ranging from Metallica to Classical music. They all have their pros and they all have their cons, so what I am looking for now are suggestions from you.

  Help build my marathon playlist. Post a comment here on my blog with the song title and artist of a song or song(s) you think should be included in my marathon playlist. It can have a theme. It can be funny. It can be in a foreign language. It can be something you listen to while you exercise. It can basically be anything you like or would recommend, that can help motivate me to the finish line.

  I will round up the songs and create a playlist of all the suggested items to be used on marathon day. From the list of entries I will randomly select one lucky winner to receive a run2100.com prize. Entry deadline is Friday, August 13th, 2010.

  Thanks for your help and suggestions – have fun! Please don’t forget to donate to the Utah Foster Care Foundation.

• A Few Numbers…

  Date: 2010.07.30 | Category: Saturdays, training | Response: 4

  One interesting tidbit about me is that I like numbers. Whenever I see a number while driving around I like to add them up as quickly as I can. I multiply them, sort them and try to come up with patterns within the number sequence. There are times when I try to break them down into binary and I try to teach my wife how to as well. When I sing songs I usually count numbers as the words to the beat rather than the actual words. This drives my wife crazy and yes, it is a bit geeky, I know.

  To go along with this newly found insight of me, my faithful followers as well as the new ones stopping by, here are a few more numbers to consider. I have been thinking about them this past week and thought I would share.

  10k = 6.2 Miles – I participated in my first, the Deseret News 10k on Saturday July 24th. Total time to finish 55:49.5 = 8:59/M Pace.

  
  

  Finally completed my 18 mile run. Total time to finish 04:01:33.5 = 13:38/M Pace. The first 9 I did in 1:47:57 = 12:28/M Pace.
  1 huge blister after my 18 mile run in new shoes, but 0 foot pain. Thank you new shoes.
  Sold out crowd at the Rio Tinto Stadium Saturday night for the Real Salt Lake vs. Chivas USA soccer game = 19,624 fans, of which I stood in front of, on the field, to receive honors for the “Heroes Among Us” award.

  [jwplayer config="Posts" mediaid="230"]

  Thank you RSL and American Express for the recognition and support.
  
  2,800 = Number of Utah children in foster care.
  $1,000 = Bare minimum goal I have set to raise funds for those children from now until my marathon. If I can get 10 people to donate 5 dollars a day from now until my marathon that would be $1060. Using the widget to the right make a donation today!

  Thanks!

• One Month To Go…

  Date: 2010.07.21 | Category: training | Response: 3

  Yes, you read that right. I only have one month to go until the big day. 26.2 miles of running, up hill and down in and around the beautiful town of Park City.

  One month to go, what does that mean? It means really long distance running. Sore feet, knees and blisters. It means, more hill running. It means figuring out how to manage hydration. It means discovering what is good to eat and easy to carry while running.  It means trying to stay focused and getting the word out about my site to raise awareness and financial contributions for the Utah Foster System to help support the children.

  So lets see… from that list, what do I need to do?

  • Hill running – going well and in progress.
  • Hydration – tried a CamelBak, suffered my first mental defeat some time ago. Changed to circling around the neighborhood, using the house as a refill/hydration checkpoint. I am discovering that is becoming a challenge. Next up, water bottle belt and running far, far away from the house.
  • Long distance – Well last weekend I was set for an 18 miler – it turned into 12 miles.  Tried a new path to meet up with the family, only to get lost trying to find them at a new neighborhood splash park.  Gave up due to the heat and found myself at the wrong splash park.  This weekend I am preparing for the 18 miles that I owe myself.  Added onto that is the Deseret News 10k.
  • Blisters – just living with them – trying out some new wicking socks during the week and they seem to be helping.
  • Sore feet and knees -  I finally broke down, and rightly so, I am a proud owner of a new pair of shoes.  Gotta love the Wasatch Running Center.  I have been training in the same pair of shoes that I got from them back in 2005 when I ran my first 5k.  After talking with them I probably should have thrown those out years ago.  I have learned my lesson.  Breaking in my new pair of shoes is going well.  I am also doing some treadmill training again to give my feet a break from the asphalt and pavement for a bit.
  • Eating on the run – I got some recommendations to try the Clif Bar Shot Bloks.  I picked up several flavors, I’ll keep you posted on the outcome shortly.
  • Raising Awareness – Next major event is this Saturday before the Real Salt Lake soccer game.  I will be receiving the “Heroes Among Us” award – presented by Real Salt Lake and American Express.  Would love to see you come out and support me, enjoy a good game of soccer and fireworks afterward.

  Seems like a lot to do, but I am focused after struggling a bit since Ragnar. For some strange reason after completing that race, it’s been difficult trying to stay focused on the marathon and training. I have been running, but haven’t really been in it. I think today’s 5 mile treadmill run with new shoes has put the motivation back into me. Good thing, because did you hear, I only have one month to go?!