11.19.08

Worked today. Also I didn't run yesterday. Foot is still hurting. Another day off today too, had some sniffles at work.

11.18.08

Found the results yesterday. Drumroll.................18:35! Yeah I broke into the 18's. I wasn't expecting such a big drop in my time, but hey there it is. A 26 second PR in about a month's time! I'm very happy with that race. It's a shame my foot is hurting now. I won't ever take health for granted again. I think I'll add something on my front page about that. So yeah I didn't win any age group things, but there were a ton of great runners out and I knew there would be because it's a bigger race. I got 26th overall and 7th in my age group.

I couldn't find the results anywhere but here http://www.totalracesolutions.com/2008/Nov/buddyssplitoverall.html so you can scroll down and find me if you want I of course took the chip time considering it was about a 4 seconds difference to get to the start line after the gun. It feels great to see a time come down that much. I mean, you just know that your training paid off. I really see that time totally dropping again though because of how I felt during the race. Yes, it was hard, yes I was tired, but I could have been "more" tired. My legs were the only thing holding me back really. Breathing wise I was fine. All that says is that with hill-training and speedwork I'll be able to maintain a faster pace easily, instead of willing my legs to go faster than they normally do.

Yesterdays run was a good indicator as well. The foot was hurting, but the run felt faster than normal. I did enjoy running on the grass though. It takes a more conscious effort to maintain as you really have to get your feet off the ground quickly. I plan on running on grass a lot more. I was thinking if we had a golf course around here that would be nice, but they'd kick me off because there'd be a path around that sucker in a month or so.

I'm excited and worried right now. I'm worried about the foot dragging down training, but I'm excited that I have so much improvement left to be made. It's crazy that a year ago I was 20:47, now 18:35. That elusive high school time is growing closer and closer.....

will post more after I run.

11.17.08

The foot is still "broken". Well maybe not, but it hurts like crap. I went running today anyway at the ball camp park. I figured if I stayed in the soccer fields on the grass I'd be okay. It still hurt. I'm not sure what happened? I mean one treadmill workout and it feels like it got beat by a hammer? I hardly even land on that part of my foot. It's right in the middle, so it should be a transition impact, not a direct one.... anyway it is definitely hurt I just don't know how bad.

Either way as long as I can run I will. I plan to stay with the grass idea and hopefully by this weekend it will either feel better or fingers crossed, be completely gone. Things sometimes happen like that. One day you're hurt and the next day it's like nothing ever happened. I hope it's one of those times.

Still no results posted for the race yesterday. I hate waiting to find my time. I almost stayed for the awards yesterday, but it was freezing, I didn't feel good, and my foot was killing me so I wanted to just get out of there.

5:10pm. ball camp soccer fields. 42-38 degrees.
1:05.02, bf 744

11.16.08 - Buddy's Race

Well I was so busy trying to get to the start line on time I didn't even think about the foot hurting :) I made it with about 5 minutes to spare, although I didn't really get a warm up in which sucked. Especially for a cold day like today where we had snow flurries in the morning. It was a little over 40 degrees at the line, with some here and there. I was nervous driving there, and really I didn't feel ready for the start. I mean I did literally zero jogging other than from the hotel to the line.

Soon enough there was a bang and I was definitely farther back than I had planned to be. Tons of people were ahead of me, but I knew they would all die sooner or later. I worked my way through them. The pace was pushing it, but I definitely knew I could probably hold it for 5k. It was cold. I heard a few guys complaining or commenting on it, and I was feeling it too. The legs were pretty numb. Made it to the first downhill and passed a few people, and few more right after that on an uphill section, starting to find a groove. I felt good about then and the cold was starting to fade.

At the 1 mile mark I ran by the timers and heard nothing so I yelled out TIME! and they said 5:50. i figured I might have even been a little ahead of that since I was past them. Good, I thought. I feel like I'm running about what they said, and that's a good sign because I wasn't going too fast. Another hill to traverse, then a long flat out. I had a few people in my sights, one of them a kid. Not sure how old, but certainly younger than me. Then I pass another kid, who happens to be one of my track guys! He said "hey coach". Actually he was the second, I saw another earlier just after the mile mark. That one said hey coach too, but I replied, I'm getting in shape here! and took off. My other track guy was doing well, but was fading, as was the younger kid. I could hear him breathing heavy. I found an extra half step at 2 miles and reached it in about 12:05, just leaving those two behind. I calculated another 6 minute mile I might be able to run would give me my 18, but I forgot to add in the .1 or I might have pushed it even a little harder ;)

Now was a straight shot to the huge brick bridge. Unfortunately it was right into the headwind and the hills were coming too. Now I felt the calves and legs starting to burn. A big hill, then another. The brick bridge gave me some problems as my shoes with 700+ miles offered little grip and I could feel them "slipping" a bit each time I pushed off. I really wish I had been able to obtain a pair of Lunar racers. Heck that might have even prevented the bottom of the foot pain I was having from that crappy treadmill run.

A few guys in red were ahead of me, but I couldn't close the gap. I just didn't have the legs. They were burning from those hills, but I knew the other guys were burning worse and I kept pushing. At one point I even thought to myself "Is this the same course I ran a month ago?" It felt a lot harder now for some reason. Last hill I struggled up, but maintained. I was closing a bit on a redshirt, but the other red had passed him and taken off. It was the last downhill section and I was really turning over, but not smooth. I was bumbling down like a maniac and trying to catch this guy. I saw him turn the corner for the last 20 meters to the finish and I kicked a little. Breathing was good, but legs were totally gone at this point. I almost caught him at the end, but just didn't have it, maybe came within 5 or 10 feet.

It was a good race. But afterward my foot was killing me. I had to sit down and practically limped to the car. It was also cold and I just wanted to go home. April said there were only about 8 people ahead of me, but there may have been more. I guess I will find out when the results are posted. Hopefully the bottom-outside foot bruise thing will heal up in the next few days. I still plan on running, but might have to go down to ball camp park so I can run on the grass- that actually sounds like a good idea. I'll do that and just go cautiously from there. As for the time today I'm going to take a guess at 18:30. I HOPE it was that fast. I knew if I held on the last mile I had a chance, so we'll see. I KNOW I'm capable of running faster than today, but given the foot and the crazy start I'll be happy with whatever time shows up.

3pm. Buddy's Race. 40 degrees, 10 mph wind.
3.1 miles, bf 736

11.15.08

Not so good today friends. My foot is hurting pretty bad when I run. It feels like some sort of bruise (of course) but I'm not sure how it happened. My foot is sitting in a bucket of ice right now. The pain seems to be coming from the center of the foot along the bottom outside of the heel. Basically every landing there is pain. Sometimes I get lucky and things like this go away, but I'm not so sure about this one. I'll just have to find out tomorrow really. I went for a run today anyway and it went good other than the pain. For a while there was no pain at all even, but by the end of the run it was back in full effect.

Anyway I still plan on running the race tomorrow. It is pain yes, but that's half of running, so no difference there really. I think I might try to take an advil or something as well. If it were a little more serious I'd just as soon not race, but I really think since I ran 8 miles today on it that I'll be okay. Only time will tell if it was a good decision or bad. If it is something serious I'll have to take time off anyway, so I guess I have nothing to lose.

Well I'll update tomorrow after the race. I'm glad it's in the afternoon, it's supposed to snow in the morning :)

4:30pm. soccer complex. 45 degrees 10 mph wind, few raindrops.
1:04:00, bf 733

11.14.08

Almost ended up going to work today, but then we realized I had to stay for the cable guy. Got my run in before he got here around noon. It's been rainy and overcast for days now and it's just a gloomy dreary day. Anyway the run was okay, except my left foot is still kind of hurting on the outside edge. It hurt while walking around today. Not real sure what the deal is, I'm almost positive it is just from wearing those different shoes. More of a niggle than a real injury so I'm just going to wait it out and see how it is Sunday. Legs felt really stiff since I took the day off yesterday, wasn't too happy about that. Breathing wasn't much better. Amazing how one day off makes you feel like crap the next.

10:50 am. home. 58 degrees wet and foggy.
1:05:14, bf 725

11.13.08

Well I know it's anti-me, but I took the day off day. The whole day no running. For a normal person that would seem like a great thing. But for me it's the opposite. Running is my norm. I feel better after a good run. To not run is to take that part of my daily life away and so where some might enjoy a day off, I feel regret.

At the same time sometimes you just have to relax. Honestly I haven't been feeling "it" these past few days. I just sort of had a general lacking of enthusiasm. I'm already on the rebound and ready to get up bright and early to resume normal life again. This week is a low week for me, even though I've already put in close to 50 miles. Doing a 20+ miler on Sunday really pushes those miles up right away. The legs should be nice and rested for raceday though. It's sort of a mini-taper. I hope it gives me the rest I need to run hard, but still builds on my fitness. Only time will tell.

day of rest
abs (couldn't entirely do nothing)

11.12.08

Not a lot to say about today, just an easy run. The outside of my left foot was kind of hurting tonight - might be because of the shoes? I should have been switching them, but haven't. I'll keep an eye on it.
4:26 pm. soccer complex. 58 degrees cloudy
1:14:30, exp 53
form drills

11.11.08

Started at the soccer complex, but when it started to rain I decided I didn't want none o' that. I sat in the car for oh about a minute, then said forget that too and drove home. I decided it would be better to run on the treadmill. I've never done much if any speedwork on a treadmill, and I really wanted to get some fast stuff in as I wanted the rest of the week to be easy running.

stayed at 7.6, then increased 8.1,8.6,9.1 and back down holding for 1mile/.5/.25. Then I took a quick break as that took about 22 minutes. Next I went 7.7/8.0 for over a mile, then held 8.6 for .5, 9.1 for .5, 9.6 for .25, then 10(max) for .25 and then back down. That took a good 30 minutes as I held 8.0 for a while at the end. Yeah my treadmill only goes to 10, but it was pretty fast and there's no way I could hold that for longer than I did. I did like going up to fast speeds and coming back down because it makes 8.0 seem so much easier.

Treadmill running is good for turnover, but not strength. I think you can get faster on a treadmill, but I don't think you can get stronger. So for those who solely rely on a treadmill I think they will have excellent turnover. I mean basically I turnover twice as fast just to hold the same speed on ground. So as long as you do some hill running every now and then, I think you could totally run almost everything on a treadmill. Unfortunately it is rather boring. I had the great internet streaming video movie playing, so it didn't seem too long, but I also took a break halfway and that helped too.
5pm. soccer complex/tread. 54 degrees/treadmill.
1:12:01, exp 44

11.10.08

Nice run tonight. Wore my explosions. I could really tell a difference when going uphill, I could feel a lot more cushion under my forefoot. They are light which is good, but almost too light. They seem to have a little extra space on the sides of my feet. That's fine, but I would like a few eighth's skinner. Anyway the run was really good. You never would have known I had a long run yesterday. I really picked it up the last mile and breathing was perfect. I really wish I could try out those lunar racers, but unfortunately I'm holding off. Plus, I can't find them ANYWHERE even if I did want to buy them. Eastbay is sold out, except for like size 6 which is basically a kids shoe. I'm thinking about visiting a running shop, but I doubt they have them either, and even if they do they'll be expensive and I only buy shoes that are 60$ maybe a little more if I need them. And I don't really need these just yet.

4:30 pm. soccer complex. 54 degrees sunny
1:13:15, exp 35

11.9.08

Long, long run today. Went out really slow. I ate a huge lunch and it hadn't quite settled. Took about 45-50 minutes before I really started feeling right. Took an extra detour by walmart on a little greenway, added a good 15 minutes or more to the run. Still had 30-35 minutes when I made it back to the park. Felt good to run on the grass, but the knees were killing me. Also the left ham was really tight at times. I attribute that to the 100+ miles last week, and 89 the week before. I'll get used to it, but not until after my next race coming up this weekend. 23 miles today, kinda crazy but it was a good run and other than the legs I felt great.

3:07 pm. ball camp park. 50 degrees, kinda windy.
3:04:10, gf 354

11.8.08

wow 365 entries!
Went to McyD's for breakfast this morning. Mexican women working totally got our order wrong. We had to pay 2 extra dollars, but just said screw it because we couldn't understand them to argue for our money back.

Didn't really sleep in this morning, but considering I didn't run it felt like it.
Waited till night to run which went fine. Just a real easy run, with a few very subltle increases here and there. Legs are still pretty tired, but I've done a ton of miles. Thank goodness next week is my race, so it's an easy week.
5pm. soccer complex. 55-52 degrees.
1:37:33, gf 331

11.7.08

morning run went pretty good. Quads are achy, but once I got going things were fine.
6:10 am. home. 50 degrees.
1:04:26, gm 532

Started this one out wet, ended even wetter. In the movie "without limits" Steve Prevontaine is being recruited by Oregon (pretty much the awesomest college to run at, even still today). Bill Delenger brings along two of their best runners, Roscoe Divine (3:56 mile) and I believe Kenny Moore (great marathoner). It is a total downpour and he looks at them and says "At least you won't have to get your running shoes out." Pre meets them at the door and says "Hi Mr. Dellenger, mom's got some food inside....so guys, how about an easy 10?" The two just look at each other and say "We left them in the car". Then Steve says with a smile, "Well, do want me to get them for you?"

I felt a lot like that today. I would have dragged some total strangers out into the forest (if I had a forest) to do a ten mile run. The only bad part about running in the rain is that it was dark. I hate daylight takings time, but it always means morning runs so that is good. There is something about getting up early that just makes it feel more important for some reason. Anyway the run was tough with being pelted in the face by rain, but at least it was wam(er) so it wasn't too bad. It just sucked being wet. All the same the run went well enough and I was happy to get warm and dry.
5:30 pm. home. 60-55 degrees, totally raining.
1:12:58, bf 717

11.6.08

Morning medium run went fine. Went slow and steady the whole time. Didn't want to get up though.
5:40 am. soccer complex. 44 degrees.
1:44:32, gm 524

Legs were tight during work today, but I mostly just stuffed envelopes so that was good. Wore my free's tonight after not having worn them for a few days and felt extremely fast. I've been considering getting the nike free "everyday". They have more cushion, which is why I'm leaning towards something else. I need them as light as possible.
6pm. soccer complex. 60 degrees.
1:05:04, bf 708

11.5.08

Man days are flying by. Worked again today, maybe the rest of the week. Legs pretty tired this morning, but at least it wasn't as early as yesterday.
6:15 am. home. 44 degrees
1:05:01, exp 18

I didn't leave work early because I rode with April so this run was in the dark mostly. Scared of cars when that happens. Legs felt much better. Been wearing the explosions and they actually feel pretty good.
5:30 pm. home. 66-60 degrees got cold.
1:05:07, exp 26

11.4.08

Started in the dark, ran past sunrise - interesting run. Then went to work.
5:40am. soccer complex. 42 degrees
1:44:00, gm 511

Blister between my toes on the left foot, nothing bad. Decent run, legs are feeling the miles.
5pm. home. 65-58 degrees.
1:04:45, bf 700

11.3.08

Worked the folding machine today at the printing shop. Easy run into the dark. That's my whole day. Working again tomorrow.

5pm. home. 70-63 degrees
1:14:50, bf 692

Photos from our Halloween Party!

First, some of the craziest cat on the planet: Bentley

in my sink every morning.

and he likes to do the gopher,
most of the time unsupported.



Pumpkins I carved for the party

it's a cheshire cat.



Kelli was a Dali Painting

April was the White Witch from Chronicles of Narnia


I was DOG the Bounty Hunter, don't even try it punk.

we have more pics, but someone is emailing them to us later

and how can you not end a 20 mile long run without an icebath?
I don't know either.

11.2.08

Ah, the wonders of the time change. An extra hour of sleep? nope, got up at the regular time. An extra hour of procrastination?, check. Well I thought I would catch the marathon this morning before church, but only got to see about 3 minutes of it then we had to leave. And of that 3 minutes, only about 1 was quality because they had the crappiest live camera's ever. On the "men's" camera it was just a bunch of guys sitting by police bikes talking about crap and absolutely no running. I think they got their cameras mixed up.

Church went fine, then we went out to eat with Van and Regina, our marriage class leaders. We went downtown to eat at the square, it was nice. Unfortunately, although I enjoyed their company greatly, it put me way past my start time. We didn't get home till 3:20 and I had a 2.5 hour long run (same as last week). And with the lovely time change that mean't sunset at 5:45 - taking me well past sunset and running in the dark. At least I could run at the park at the end of my run and not be out on the road. Still the likelihood of tripping on something in that park is quite high. Other than the broken, crater-like pavement there are dips, bridges made of uneven boards, and valleys and drop-off's all over.

So to start the run I took off nice and easy - slogging really a quick loop around the park, then off up the incline. Today the legs weren't feeling too fresh. I did run about...**88** miles last week! Gah I can hardly believe that. But surprisingly I felt pretty good. I made sure to take it easier on the hills and just push the downhills. Although at the same time downhills kill your knees, so you really don't want to push either one :-) Anyway I went my new normal route down cedar bluff and into the subdivision.

I found a new trick today though. While making my way back from the subdivision I saw a place where there is a sort of pedestrain crosswalk, just a few lines across the four-lane street. There are apartments on the other side, and I guess they put that in so people could across to the eatery's and tiny shopping center on the other side (but not that any cars actually slow down for it because nobody ever has the guts to cross there because of crazy drivers). So i saw the traffic wasnt coming and I crossed there. It was nice because the apartments had a few different paved lots to run through, and it runs into a church and then on up to middlebrook. This is great because I don't have to run across at the stoplight anymore in fear of my life. So I was happy about that.

Went on down to the Weigels and then turned right down to walmart. Still felt pretty good at this point and was probably 1:15 or further into the run so I was making good progress and didn't feel like I need water or food. So I made my way back to the Weigels and the hill just past it put a pretty good hurtin' on my quads. I was definitely slowed down, but once I got to the top I was feeling pretty good again. Went on down and made it to Aubrey's hill, which actually didn't hurt too badly. For some reason I was just feeling really good today. At this point I had a good 35 minutes left and the sun was just about to go under the trees. I stopped at my car for a quick drink and a tiny bit of laraba bar and took off again. I didn't want to lose my momentum, although my knees were pretty beat up from going a little faster on the downhills, hams weren't much better.

It was MUCH cooler at the park. I think there is a creek nearby, so a ton of cool humid air filled my lungs and cooled my arms. I ended up running three loops, starting around the track, going to the back soccerfields and running them in sort of an L shape along the outsides of the fields. I think there are 8 of them, so it makes for a good half mile extra doing that. On the third "lap" I was still feeling great. My lungs actually never worked much today at all which surprised me. So since I was feeling good and had just hit 2:32, I figured I would just go for 2:40 and see if I could make it. I ran all of this along the main soccerfields, which connect longways so it didn't take too long, plus I veered off and did a little through the park section. Finished really strong and this run was in the books. Did a little walking cooldown, but the legs were pretty trashed. Got home and took an ice bath. GREAT day.

3:30 pm. ball camp park. 73-62 degrees.
2:41:33, gf 319

11.1.08

Not really a morning run - we stayed up way too late last night partying. We threw a halloween party with April's aunt. It turned out pretty good and it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately there was only finger food, and so I was starving. Runners gotta eat real food y'know. There were some rolled up hams on toothpicks and I must have ate 25 of those (not kidding) and a smorgusborg of candy, chips, dips, and goodies. Yeah I ate a lot of bad stuff. I haven't had a pop or soda for a good while now. I had sprite last night, which isn't really cola so I'm not sure where my stance is on it. Either way one every now and then doesn't hurt, and this was just a then time.

Anyway I had good morning run. It went by fast enough and I even did a little over 8 miles, but oh well. Much warmer today and it was beautiful outside. No pugs fortunately, but I wouldn't have raced them today anyway.

12 am. home. 52 degrees sunny
1:08:41, bf 683


Did another run in what seemed like 5 minutes later at five or so. I got suckered into it trying to win a challenge on the nike+ website. I do funny thing sometimes I guess. Either way I was pleasantly surprised by the run. It was actually pretty good, I just wish there would have been a little more time inbetween the runs. I like running twice a day. You sort of get more bang for your buck. I was worried about increasing mileage, but I think I'm already ready for it. Sometimes I think when trying to prevent injury you can be a little too reserved. As long as I feel good I'm going to try not to worry tooo much about miles and just focus on running easy. All the same I put in ~88 miles this week, which if I'm not mistaken is about the highest I've done. Feels great though.

5 pm. soccer complex.68 degrees
53:02, gm 498