Running With Gels (For the First Time) • W9/D6

Week 9’s long run was a daunting 12 mile run through a neighboring city to the north. Knowing that I still had to pull a 12 hour work shift later, I had to set out fairly early in the day; no afternoon or evening run today.

Before hitting the trail, I knew I needed mid-run fuel based on some of my walk-fests I’ve had in the last few weeks. I had never used any mid-run fuel other than granola bars or Gatorade; both of which are not really ideal for me. Granola bars make me super thirsty and I end up having to walk instead of run when I eat them so I don’t choke to death; although I do appreciate the irony of it all.

I stopped by the grocery store in search for some energy gels. Never using them before, I had no idea what I was buying. I knew they needed to have calories, carbs (for energy) and sodium (lost in sweat), but beyond that, I was clueless. I found some MET-Rx gummies which contained 100 calories, 21g carbohydrates, 75mg sodium, and 40mg potassium. With six gummies, I thought, that should suffice for one run.

I set out feeling pretty good. I wanted to wait until a few miles in to open the energy pack, but just after mile 2.5, I figured I’d better get it in my system so it has time to break down and benefit me halfway through. My first reaction: Okay, not terrible. I think I was expecting them to not taste so great as their sole purpose is provide essential electrolytes for working out, but I was pleasantly surprised. My second reaction: Wow, these are now a little salty. Is it the sweat from my hand? Nope!  They weren’t overly salty, but it was definitely a taste that stood out. Again, they pack a lot in these, so you kind of have to expect that.

My thirst third…no wait, I said that right. My thirst reaction: I don’t think I’m going to have enough water for the rest of this run.
The gummies had gummed up my mouth and their slightly salty taste had me carefully calculating and rationing out my water. This, along with the increasing temperature and my neglect to read directions carefully essentially lead to me being both physically and mentally spent. 7 miles? Are you kidding me? That’s all I have in me?  Fortunately for me, I knew where I could go to refill my water bottle and trudge through the rest of these 5 miles.

I took a detour from my planned route and headed back on the trail. I kept a fartlek-style walk/run routine until mile 8.5 where I replenished my water bottle. I still had a hilly straightaway and a run around the lake to go. I kept at it though, wanting to be done the whole time.

When I approached the lake, I felt comfortable again. This is the same lake I ran around countless times before and where I ran my first 3.1 miles (non-race) ever… I knew the area pretty well. I knew I just had 2.2 miles to go… 2.2 miles that never seemed to go by so slow! I knew that if I just kept moving my feet I would reach 12 miles. And finally I did.

Physically and mentally exhausted and dying of thirst, I headed back to my car where I had 20 oz of water waiting for me. I drank it and headed back home.

My 12 mile long run really could have been better… but it really could have been worse. Again, I find myself at the point in the blog where I criticize my entire run based on the fact that I didn’t run the whole thing. I’m really over it at this point. I know my hip hurts, these gels are not working (and probably even inhibit my running), my speed is declining, and above all, I’m missing out on importany time with my family. So I’ve come to realize that having to walk every now and then is just pretty much part of the deal now.

A little discouraged from today, I need to remember why I started. I need to keep my eyes on the prize. That day in October when I can finally say “I did it”.
I only have a few more weeks left before that day. I’ve come this far and I’m not about to quit now. Even if I have to keep reminding myself to keep going. In any race, the finish line will eventually come. I just have to keep moving forward…. and the same applies to training.

-Tony

Slowpoke • W9/D5

After getting a decent amount of sleep from my all-nighter at work, I had just a few hours left before I needed to head back to work again. Luckily in was able to get in all 5 miles this time.

My first mile started out at a 13:12… basically fast waking for you quick folks out there… I know. It even felt super slow to me. The plan for today was to run the first four miles at an easy and comfortable pace (how much easier could it get?) and have the last mile be the fastest of them all. Sadly this wasn’t the case. My last mile was the only was that was faster than its preceeding mile.  Other than that, I just kept getting slower with each mile.

Very frustrating when the whole point of speed training is to build speed. Oh well. Tomorrow will be a better day; 12 miles!

Change of Plans • W9/D4

Since Wednesday was a rest day, I planned on adding my 5 mile run onto my cross-training at the gym. However I woke up to a phone call from my supervisor at work. Basically I was the only one available to work and they needed me for an afternoon and night shift. Since I woke up in the late morning (night shift is so wonderful) I really didn’t have a lot of time to do both. I figured if I had to choose between running 5 miles and cross-training, I had better not skip two days of running in a row, so I chose to forego the gym.

I set out on my run and noticed that my lack of mental prep and nutrional prep for the day cause me to run slower than normal and make my run last longer. Thus, I only ended up getting 4.25 miles in. Close enough. I’d take that over the guilt of not running at all.

Content with my run, I headed home and got ready for work. I really wish I would have gotten a chance to stench train today, but duty calls. Maybe I’ll be able to add in some during the weekend or early next week. Since I’m working all weekend, I don’t think this is going to be a possibly.

Hips Don’t Lie • W9/D1

Hey, this week looks pretty fun! I see lots of miles, lots of workouts, and lots of ice packs in my near future. Time to get serious! Just a few more weeks left until the big day. I’m getting excited!

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Today’s run is brought to you by hip pain.
Hip pain is no fun. It can be caused by many things such as running 11 miles while not strengthening your hip muscles.
Boo, hip pain.

Today was pretty hard to get through and by now you can probably guess why. I told myself mid-run that I’m definitely hitting the hip adductor/abductor machine on Thursday to get my muscles strong again.

I toughed it out and finished the 5 miles, but I had to walk at certain points and I felt bad from veering from the plan. I knew me being out here putting in the effort to finish was better than just going home.

Regardless, I got some good hill work in on the run and I never give up on hills. So there’s that. I’ve got to take my victories where I can find them. Cheers!

-Tony

Struggle Bus Ride • W8

All aboard the struggle bus!

Monday night’s run began around midnight when the citizens of the city were quietly tucked away in their beds… or so I thought. I was quite surprised to see a fire hydrant spewing water all over the road just down the street from my first turn. After my turn, I saw another hydrant blowing water out into the street and a public works employee standing nearby. The city was flushing their hydrants and I got to run through their high-powered sprinklers. Although there were several hydrants along my route, I managed to avoid all but one of them. The last one was sort of unavoidable unless I wanted to turn back around another half mile and find a different route. Meh… What the heck. It was covering the whole street, but if I walked through the stream of water I may not have any functioning electronics left (those things put out a lot of water!). I decided it was best (I didn’t want to get knocked over either) to walk through these strangers’ yards. The mist that hit me was still quite heavy, but refreshing nonetheless. A great way to end the run; soggy shoes.

Tuesday was an 8 mile night run. Nothing special, just a little right side hip pain. Saw my times slow way down to a 13-14 minute pace. I know you are supposed to pace yourself for longer runs, but this pace is nearly walking. I’ve been true (for the most part) to my speed training so far, so why am I not showing faster times? I really hope I’m faster than that come race day. Anyway, I was impressed to see that my Nike running app (which has been on the fritz as of late) was actually spot on today with my mileage. Go Nike!

What was meant to be 4 mile run, quickly turned into something not even half of that on Wednesday. How can I do 8 miles one day and not even 2 miles the next? It’s increasingly frustrating that I seem to be getting worse with each week when I’m supposed to be improving. Whose idea was this anyway?

The gym was calling my name Thursday, but I did not want to go. I kept telling myself that after the week I’ve had, I deserved a break from cross-training. I obviously wasn’t benefiting from the weak performances I’d been giving at the gym lately and what would today be? I had to work tonight, so the time spent at the gym would be minimal. I spent a fair amount of time lying in bed reassuring myself that it would be ok if I just missed one day. I was out there running, and putting in my mileage (for the most part), and plus I had to work later, so why go through the trouble of spending time at the gym. Well, I ended up going through the trouble. I put my big boy pants (shorts rather) on and went. I didn’t like it, and it wasn’t much, but I spent 45 minutes on the stationary bike. Fun and exciting afternoon of workout…

Apparently the common factor this week is me falling short of my daily distance goals because Friday’s 4 mile run was cut short as I barely made 3.1 miles. The last mile of the 5k was a fartlek style walk/run. I am pretty upset with my self at this point. I don’t know what is going on. Maybe I’m letting my mental game get to me. Maybe I’m feeling burnout… Maybe I’m just making excuses. Who knows at this point?! I’m putting in the time and the distance, but not seeing any positive results. I’m ready to be done training!

My 11 mile long run was Saturday. Despite the way this week has gone, I felt strangely optimistic about this run and I didn’t know why. I waited until 2 pm when I believed the storm had passed and then  I set out for the run. At 1.5 miles in, it started down-pouring. It was already chilly and overcast throughout the day and even though I thought I had waited the storm out earlier, but Michigan weather proved me wrong yet again. The rain wasn’t terrible, but I was running on a dirt road for a couple of miles so it either looked like I was playing in the mud, or I had a minor case of the “gingerbread man” (Google).
After the rain quit, things got a little muggy. Imagine that, 62 degrees and overcast when I started, 75 degrees warm and muggy towards the end. Around mile 7, I was running out of energy. I had nothing to power me through except some Gatorade in my water bottle (probably not the smartest running decision I’ve made).

At mile 8.5, I hit my wall. I was spent.

I resorted back to walk/run combo. Upset that this had become my new routine, I became angry. I was angry that I had gone through 8 weeks of ups and down just to be worse off than when I started. I was slower and in pain. My mileage was increasing, but I couldn’t mentally and physically keep up. How could I enjoy a sport so much that I’m no good at? Meh, I like football and hockey and I’m absolutely terrible at those, so this is kind of like that… right?

After a quick breather at mile 10 I finished strong.. or strong as I could. I didn’t have to slow down to walk at all for the last mile (small victories). I had done all 11 miles, whether it was good or not, and even threw in an extra .15 for good measure.

Week 8 was not a week I’m proud of. I gave up several times and I got out of it, what I put into it. I let my lack of mental effort affect my physical effort and I feel like I lost my focus on what I’ve been trying to do. I need to remind myself that this is training. As important as it is to get it right, I feel it’s equally important to not base the whole thing on a few bad performances. I’ve come a long way. Even if I just count the good 8 miles I had on my long run, I never would have been able to run 8 miles a few weeks ago… and definitely not when I started training. Hey, if I have to walk a little while in October, then so be it. The point is that I will have accomplished something I never thought I could do, and to me that means everything.

-Tony

I’m Not A Good Test-Taker • W7

This week I had to really push myself… or at least according to the training program I had to. “Test your limits” was the theme for this week… and I’m not a good test-taker.

This week, my training started a day later due to it being my wife’s birthday on Monday and I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could before I went to work for the night.

This means I had to makeup my Monday run on Tuesday, Tuesday run on Wednesday, my… well, you get the point.

Tuesday was overcast and the chance of rain had been threatening all day long. I set out for a four mile run around 3:00 pm in an attempt to beat the storm… I failed. Just before mile 3, it started sprinkling.

Okay. No big deal, I could deal with a little rain.

About 30 seconds later though it was straight down-pouring. It was almost to the point where I couldn’t see the end of the street. Cars were passing and splashing water everywhere. It was actually quite fun… but wait… This might be too much for my phone. Yes, Samsung says it’s waterproof, but I’m not about to risk $650 to find out for sure. I pulled my phone out of the armband and tried to transfer it into a Ziploc baggie I had brought for this very reason. As one would expect, the transfer from armband to sandwich baggie wasn’t very dry and my phone was now swimming around in a plastic baggie like a goldfish won at the fair.

So now, it was no longer about running, it was about not killing my phone… which ironically turned back into running. I ran down a large hill and found shelter at the housing complex’s main office. Here I was able to actually use my phone to call my wife to come pick me up (I was still on the other side of town). I was just .3 miles shy of reaching 4 miles, but I’ll take that.

Wednesday was a 7 miler evening run. Nothing too exciting here. Just me trying not to die in the humidity. You know, that whole thing. 7 miles were done, but not without having to walk a few times. Better to walk than just quit, I guess.

4 miles for Thursday was all I had to do. I took a route that was becoming pretty routine for that distance. Tonight was a clear, cool night with almost a New Moon phase which made my path a little harder to see, but made for a pretty impressive view of the night sky. This is one of the many things I love about running at night; looking up and seeing hundreds of thousands of stars in the vast sky and realizing just how small and insignificant I am. I imagine this is how I will feel on race day. I will be just one insignificant person among over 10,000 other insignificant people all out, however, for the same significant purpose…. have i said that word enough yet? No?                  significant.

Friday brought yet another 4 mile run with a cross-training session at the gym (this was due to my decision to push everything back a day at the beginning of the week). Due to me having to work in the afternoon, I only spent 15 minutes on the stationary bike before heading out the door to run. Okay, if I’m honest, that was a pretty weak cross-training workout. The bike was set at a fair amount of resistance, but it really lacked intensity. It was essentially just me moving my legs in a circle for 15 minutes. Not very proud of this workout, but hey, various leg routines and workouts will strengthen them and help prevent future injury.
The run was cut short too as I had to start heading back to the gym so I could get a shower in and get ready for work. I was a whole 1.25 miles shy of what I was supposed to run. I felt bad for not getting all 4 miles in, but hey, duty calls.

Somewhere between going to sleep and going back to work, I had to find time to go for a 10 long mile run on Saturday. At my pace, I figured this would take me about 2 hours, not to mention about 30 minutes of combined warm up and cool down time. I hit some dirt backroads with a monstrous hill to start off. Maybe I should have saved that for the end of my run. Eh well, it’s probably all the same.  I combined a lot of the routes that I normally run through town on my shorter runs to make one big consolidated route. It went pretty well, although I again had to do a walk/run combo for the latter half of it. I can’t be doing this on my long runs. These runs, more so than any of my other weekday runs, best represent how I will run on race day. I need to get my mind straight and not give in to that voice in my head that tells me I should walk. I didn’t feel injured, I just felt tired and that’s something I need to just push through.

This week wasn’t the greatest in terms of performance. I felt weak. I felt tired. I felt rushed. I felt like I didn’t have any time for myself… aside from running of course. I believe this all played a part in why I haven’t been mentally prepared on my runs and, in turn, has caused me to be a lackluster in my performance. I need to remember to not be so hard on myself. I will probably be ready come October anyway. So, for now, I just need to trust in my training, and trust in myself. I know I can do this and I know I will do this.

Blood, Sweat, & Beer • W6

After a not-so-brief hiatus from blogging, I’m back. Yes, I know you’ve missed your daily dose of me complaining about whatever was bothering me on any given day. No need to fear, I have returned with more.

Although I’ve been away from my blog, I have been keeping up with my half marathon training. Admittedly, I’ve been pretty busy between work, family and, of course, running.

Currently, I am pretty far behind in my blog; about 3 weeks behind. So for this blog and the following two, I will be playing catch-up and giving you the lowdown a week at a time until I’m up to date… After all, this is my blog! 🙂

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This week was the week that I really got into running at night… not in the evenings, but around 11pm nearly every night. With a total of 27 miles this week, that’s a lot of bright colored shirts and reflective gear being worn.

I’m not sure why I started running at night. Maybe it fits my schedule better (being a night shifter and all). Maybe it’s that I could spend time with my wife and wait for her to fall asleep and then go out for a run. What it could be (and probably is) is the whole atmosphere. It’s cool, it’s quiet, I’m basically the only one on the streets in my small town, and I get an amazing view of the night sky. Yes, it’s definitely the atmosphere!

All of that fun and excitement of running high miles comes with its downsides though. Sometimes you have achy knees, sore hips or mental blocks that hinder your performance. One thing I’ve noticed is that when your moving your body for long periods of time, there’s a lot of friction that’s created and things can become sore… like your thighs, upper arms, and of course, your nipples.

“Runners nipple” (or as I like to call it, a case of the “titty stings”) is actually a legitimate name for chaffing and/or bleeding of the nipples due to friction caused by fabric. I was afflicted with this a few times this week on my longer runs. And because you know you want to see it, here you go…

Yikes… okay. That may be a bit unnecessary, but hey it comes with the territory. Needless to say, when I run now I make sure to take preventative measures.

Cross training this week meant yet another trip to the gym. I hit the stacks, dumbells, and ropes.

I even decided to shoot for some serious power-lifting. I maxed out the leg press machine at 405lbs (there’s a 15lb weight on top). Gotta keep those quads and glutes strong!

As for my long run on Saturday, it was (you guessed it) another night run. 9 miles is hard to plan out through a small city, but I made it work without overlapping too many times.

What made tonight different was that the town was not as quiet as normal. This was Labor Day weekend and the city has a celebration full of rides, talent shows, bands and beer tents. When I set out, the town was still buzzing with loud music and rowdy people. As the run progressed, the people moved to the sole beer tent that was open at 1am.

Once traffic and people cleared, the streets were easier to navigate. To fit 9 miles in, I ran once around the town and then weaved east and west back toward downtown one block at a time. I finished the run with a loop around the city and even had a enough for a quick sprint at the end… I guess that endurance training is paying off!

Another successful week in the books!

Grrr, Nike. Grrr. • W5/D7

With the constant problems I seem to be having with my Nike running app, I will forgo the weekly feedback and daily pace tracking that I’ve been doing posting. Either due to the app itself or the GPS on my phone, some of my runs (especially the longer ones) are off by anywhere from a 1/4 to 3/4 miles off.

So, from here on out, the only posting I’ll be doing from the app will be the week’s run theme (“Building a Base”, “Build Endurance”, etc.). Other than that, my blog will still remain the same.

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I finished out this week relaxing from a rough day on Saturday. I really wanted to get the whole eight miles in, but all things considered, I’m glad I got as many in as I did.

Next week I’ll be focusing on my endurance and strength again. Hopefully this will help me with my speed as I’m try to get my long run pace under 12 as it’s been creeping up above 13 lately. It would be nice to get to a reasonable half marathon pace before October.

-Tony

Fueling Up Makes All the Difference • W5/D6

Thinking that I could sleep in today was laughable. Being a night shifter, I usually sleep in until about noon on Saturdays. My wife, however, received a call from her mom asking if we wanted to go to the shoe store in Rockford. Of course, I wanted to go. I love spending time with my wife and my In-laws and, even though I had to work tonight, I was going to make it a point to go with them. Besides, I needed to scout for a new pair of running shoes to replace my ever-fading Asics soles.

In order to go with them, get my run in and still be able to make it to work on time, I decided I would run the roughly 8 mile stretch between my house and my In-laws (where we were meeting). This would give my wife plenty of time to get herself ready and she could bring my change of clothes for the day. So I woke up, laced up and headed out the door.

After about a half mile of walking, I remembered that I forgot to do a few important things:
1. Restroom break: I really don’t need the gingerbread man sneaking up on me during this 8 mile run.
2. Hydration: Sure I had my water bottle with me, but 20 oz’s is only going to do so much on a humid day and no prehydration.
3. Fuel: With no time for breakfast and forgetting to take a snack bar or yogurt with me, I’m sure this will go well.

I felt decent for the first mile and a half, but every hill I never noticed while driving now seemed like Everest to me. Luckily, Nicole passed me on the way and refilled my water bottle (she’s so great), but I forgot to ask her to drop off something to eat on the run. Eh well. That water refill was a big help regardless.

On mile 3.5, I was at the foot of the biggest and steepest hill I’ve ever had the “pleasure” of running. It was about half mile long, but it’s incline was insane. I decided my goal for this section of the run was to power up the hill without walking or slowing down.

I didn’t have to walk up the hill and even though I felt like I’d never reach the top, my speed stayed consistent throughout the incline. Panting and feeling like I was going to die, I had to walk for a minute.

I was upset for walking because I try to avoid it on my long runs. Out of all the runs of the week, the long run is the one that closely represents your race. For this reason, I refrain from it if I can help it. Well, that hill took a big chunk out of my energy and from there on out, my long run turned into a true Fartlek run.

I was running to a power pole, a road sign, or a house and then walking for short periods of time. I told myself that likely would have been able to go the whole 8 miles without walking if I would have just remembered to eat something. But there was nothing I could do about it now. I was just making myself later and later by walking so I tried hurrying to get there.

I finally had to stop my run. I had nothing left in me. I didn’t get my full 8 miles in; I reached 6.37 miles. Close, but I wanted to go the whole distance. How am I supposed to keep adding more distance every week if I can’t complete the one before?… when one week builds off the last week.

Its all quite upsetting, but I know if I just follow some pretty simple guidelines and keep my mental strength in the forefront, I’ll be fine. I’ll work even harder next week to make my speed training and long run count.

So, to summarize: Even though I’m usually pretty good at remembering, I need to take the extra time to make sure I’m properly hydrated, fueled, and err… cleared… to run.

-Tony

Just A Little Back Pain • W5/D5

So, with several things going on these past few weeks, I’ve been getting further and further behind in my blog and am currently a week and 4 days behind. No worries though, I’m still running and keeping up with my program. I just need to find some time where I can catch up on all of the entries. Here goes nothing…

Today is Friday, August 28th and the scheduled run is a 3 mile run with a strong last mile. That’s usually no problem, but yesterday with the extra weight I added onto my workouts on yesterday’s cross-training, I seem to have injured my lower back. This made today’s run much harder, but not impossible.

I was able to pound out the first mile at a 12:20 pace, which isn’t terrible for me (and considering the condition of my back). I was able to keep my speed up and finish mile 3 at a 10:53 average pace (which is really good for me).

All things considered, I’d say today’s run went pretty well.

Tomorrow: 8 mile long run