Early Morning Dedication

The first week of marathon training is coming to a close and I am pleased with what I have done so far.

The two mid week runs were both done in the morning due to my work schedule. In order to get the runs done with enough time to shower and get ready for work I needed to wake at 5 am to run. Both runs felt great and gave a great start to the day.

When I woke Thursday morning and stepped outside I noticed it was raining. Not hard, but my first thought was go back to sleep and run after work. I stood on the porch and watched the rain for a few minutes trying to talk myself into running and at the same time trying to talk myself into going back to sleep.

I finally convinced myself to run. The rain was refreshing, and while I was running in the rain I thought about the upcoming training. Will I be able to stick to the plan and run my best?

If this first week is any indicator, than I think I will be doing fine. Lets see how my long steady distance goes tomorrow.

The Last of The Firsts of 2008

I am warning you now... this post is going to be long.

I have had a lot of firsts during 2008, and I will talk about them in a later post. Today was my last day of running for 2008 (more on that in the next post), and I find it fitting that it was full of firsts.

The first time that I drove somewhere in order to run.
I wanted a little bit of fresh scenery, and I have been tossing around the idea of finding more places to run and writing about them, so I decided to go to Copper River Park in Collingswood, NJ. I used to think it strange to drive more than you are actually running, and I still do a little, but it is nice to get out of your neighborhood and find new places to run.

The first time I carried a camera and snapped photos while running.
It seems that I see something amazing on every run that I do, yet I never have anything to record it with. I decided to carry my camera with me this morning since it was my first time running Cooper River Park. I snapped some pretty nice pictures. Check them out at my Flickr page. I will not carry my camera with me every time, but one thing it did for me today is help me keep my pace slow during my LSD and also helped me to enjoy my surroundings and have a relaxing run.

The first time I ran 5 miles.
Today was my LSD run, and 5 miles is my new record for long run. I did it at a very slow and relaxing pace, and did not take any walk breaks. I only stopped for about ten seconds at a time to snap a photo.. This run was a very good quality and it also boosted my confidence that my endurance is improving.

The first time I ran over 1 hour.
Again, proof that my endurance is improving. I had no walk breaks at all and I felt incredible after the run. My pace was very slow and 5 miles is not very far to go in an hour, but I will be working on speed next year.

So here is my run. The distance around the river is about 3.75 miles, but I wanted to do 5. So when I finished my lap around the river I did the last mile and quarter on the track that they have there.

The track is nothing fancy, just dirt, but it felt great running on it. I had to make a conscience effort to keep my pace slow, and the pace of the track part of my run was almost a minute faster than the rest of my run. This is another confidence builder, knowing that I will be able to go fast on the track when I start my speed workouts.

Speaking of tracks, I am glad I found this one because all the local schools keep theirs locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I have two high school tracks within running distance of my house and can not use them. In fact if you look closely at this satellite photo you will see a much nicer track above and slightly to the right of this one. That belongs to a Catholic high school and, of course, is all locked up.

Long Cold and Wet

Last night, when I checked this morning's weather report, I was excited to see that it called for snow early in the morning. It was supposed to turn to a wintry mix around the time I was scheduled to run, but the snow would accumulate to about an inch.

I was excited because it meant that first thing in the morning everything would be snowy, the sky would be overcast, and there would be a natural peace to the atmosphere. I was excited to run in such weather and even more excited that it would be my long run. I mentally amended my run to take me by some places that would look nice in the snow and I made sure I would have my camera on hand.

When I woke up and looked outside... nothing but rain. Heavy rain that was freezing all over everything. When I got outside the steps were slippery, the cars were iced over, and the roads were already slushy. The only good thing was that there was still a natural peace in the atmosphere since no one dared get out of bed yet.

I could barely stay stable on the icy steps and worried that the road would not be any better. My mind began thinking about making screw shoes, and wondered if I would be able to get through my run today. The road was better. Icy in parts, but bearable. I again amended my route, but this time to stay away from heavy traffic and take roads that would allow me to move back and forth in order to avoid ice.

It was not long before my jacket was dripping with water. There were multiple times in the first mile that I thought about cutting the run short. This weather was miserable. Shortly after the first mile I stepped in a puddle that was much larger than it appeared. Cold quickly went though my foot. I was going to use this as an excuse to stop, but decided to keep going.

A few walk breaks, and four puddles later, I decided to loop around this one block onto the main road and run back to the main intersection a few blocks from my house. Since my jacket was covering my Garmin I was not sure how far I had ran, but estimated it was almost three miles, and decided that would be enough for me.

When I got to the intersection I looked and my Garmin told me I had already gone over three and a half miles! I did not even realize it. I decided to finish the entire four miles and immediately felt better about the run.

While finishing that last half mile I thought about running. This is one of the reasons why I run. To test my limits and my endurance. To run no matter what is thrown at me, and to keep going.

Most people run because it is fashionable to run a mile every day or spend thirty minutes on the treadmill at the gym. A lot of people run a single marathon so that they can cross it off their list, just to never run again.

I run because it is primal and the human machine can push it's limits and run no matter what the circumstances. I run to build my endurance and eventually expand my limitations. The harder I run the better I become at it.

I run because that is what I am created to do.

I Want To Breath Smoke

My favorite times during a run are when I drift off into a daydream state and it seems as if I am having an out of body experience. It does not happen every time I run, and it can be simple or complex.

Today was one of those days.

It was an easy two mile run. I actually turned my alarm off and slept in. I sort of regretted doing that, but as soon as I woke up two hours later I went out and ran.

It was cold outside. The coldest I have ever ran in, 29 degrees.

At one point in the run, my eyes followed the road, and my breath hung thick and heavy in the air. My eyes drifted from the road to my breath floating in front of my face.

I watched it come out thick and spread around me. Immediately my mind started wandering to the different endurance athletes I read about on the Internet and watch on YouTube.

My mind floated away and I no longer focused on pain or distance or pace. I felt invincible. I felt like I could go on forever and take on anything. I felt like a machine.

I felt like I could breath smoke.

Good For What Ails You

This week has been a little rough.

After getting home from the marathon on Sunday I started feeling sick. It came on pretty strong Sunday night and when I woke Monday morning I felt like I was about to die. I had to call out of work, not something I usually do, and I slept most of the day.

Tuesday, a day I normally run, I felt good enough to go to work, but not good enough to run. My body ached and I wanted to stay in bed. I couldn't though because it appeared my youngest son was getting pink eye and I had to take him to the doctor. No pink eye, but he was developing an ear infection.

Wednesday was better. I had a full day of work, but I still felt kind of crappy. I was late getting out of work because I had so much to do and when I got home I felt like doing nothing but sleeping... too bad though, I needed to go out and get a few things for Thanksgiving.

Thursday... I can not believe Thanksgiving is here already. I wanted to run a Turkey trot today, or at least do a long run in the morning, but did not feel up to it. I did have a good day though, we deep fried a turkey and had a great feast. We had a fire going outside and stood around it talking while keeping an eye on the turkey fryer.

Friday morning. I still felt stuffy, but after sitting up for a while my head cleared a bit. I decided to go for a run. Since it has been so long since running I decided to do a very slow pace and only do a mile. I ended up getting to a mile and a quarter a decided to keep going. I got to a mile and a half and still kept going. I decided to stop at two miles.

The run was actually the best I had done in quite some time. Very good quality at a comfortable pace. My head was cleared up and my headache was gone. I did start coughing and almost chucked a little, but that was only from all the snot and mucus that drained into my stomach. Sorry about being so gross.

This just boosted my love for running. It actually makes you feel better.

Philadelphia Marathon

Today, in a sense, was my first marathon. I did not run today, but I arrived early with my brother, who was running, so that I could watch the marathon and immerse myself in the atmosphere of the marathon. In a way it was good for me because when I do run the marathon next year I will know what to expect when I get there.

It was surreal walking toward the art museum while it was still dark out. We arrived at 5:30 and were the only two people walking down the street for a bit, and then more and more people appeared, slowly making their way toward the museum. It was like a scene from a zombie movie.

My brother checked his stuff and got ready. After following him around for a half hour we parted ways. I wandered around trying to get the best pictures I could in the dark and he stretched and warmed up.

The sun was rising when they made announcements about the corrals and lining up for the start. I found a good spot at the starting line and waited. I got quite a few good pictures, but could not see where my brother was, coming off the start line. After the wheeled and 8k start I made my way up 22nd street to Chestnut so that I could maybe catch my brother there.

By the time I reached Chestnut there was already runners going by. I was sure that my brother had not passed yet so I walked down the street watching for him. I saw a lot of interesting people running, and thought to myself if they can do it, than so can I. I felt bad for thinking that about some people, but inspired at the same time, and proud of total strangers who are not content with sitting at home watching crappy television shows.

I did not see my brother on Chestnut. By the time I made it back to the art museum, there were people finishing the half marathon and some elites finishing the full. It was fun to watch people crossing the finish line.

I walked down by the river and waited for my brother. A good place to people watch, and I learned today that the marathon is a better people watching venue than any other place I have ever been.

After a long wait I see my brother walking up the road texting someone. Texting? Walking? He was texting one of the volunteers that he was friends with. I went down and walked along with him. His leg was hurting pretty bad and he was not going to finish. Not too long ago he had a foot injury that interrupted his training, and this definitely effected him. He did make it to the halfway point, and while disappointed that he did not finish, he was very proud that he at least started.

I am proud too. The two of us are lazy bastards, always playing video games and doing nothing to benefit our health... now that we are running we are getting fit and losing weight. Not only that, but by running we are already doing more than most people in the country. We are both different people since taking up running.

I am definitely excited to run next year, and now I have more motivation and inspiration to train hard so that I can build my endurance, and take part in what looks like an incredible time.

I will be posting pics soon. I took a lot and some of them came out pretty good.

Today... I Felt Like A Runner

This morning was cold. The coldest it has been all season. It was about 34 degrees.

I woke this morning and slowly moved around and got ready. I knew it would be cold, but was surprised to see that my phone reported 34 degrees.

I still wore shorts, with compression shorts underneath. I wore a long sleeve compression shirt with a long sleeve shirt over top of that. I also wore gloves and headband to keep my ears warm. Some may think this was overkill, and I did end up taking the headband off toward the end, but man it was cold.

So my point is, even though it was cold, I got out and ran. I ran hard. I ran like it was my last run. I ran like it meant something. A jogger would not have run in the cold. A gym rat would not have run in the cold, a couch potato would sure as hell not ran in this cold.

Today... I felt like a runner.

Running In The Rain

I seem to have a lot of trouble with motivation. When I wake up early for a morning run, it takes me forever to get moving and convince myself to run. All the while I know that once I start running I feel great.

This morning was raining... and I mean really coming down. I have run in overcast and slight drizzles, but never in rain this hard. My mind was telling me to stay in bed, but I knew I couldn't do that and enjoy the rest of the day.

I finally got out there and ran in the downpour. I immediately felt great. I was listening to music in one ear while I ran, not something I do all the time, and it helped pump me up and run for Him. I noticed that while I was focused on things other than running, like prayer, praise, the music, or thinking about other things, the running went by so easy. It was only when I focused on my breathing, or the hurt in my legs, that I had trouble running.

I know that a lot of running is mental, and I am still training myself to get over the mental hurdles so that I can run with ease. There was even one point in my run when I was thinking about someone I read about in Runners World. I forget the details but this guy has run numerous marathons, his first marathon in over 5 hours and his best marathon in about 2:45 or so. It gave me inspiration because I know that I am very far off from a marathon, but with dedication I can do it.

I just have to keep running.