2/27/08

Final run before the race

Last night I did a quick 3 mile run at race pace and it went off without any problems. NO pain or aches. Maybe lack of nutrition/hydration, but that was not the focus.
Our team starts the race at 10am and I will run somewhere around 1:30pm. We are getting a hotel room to crash in and I will try to post updates at that time. If not you will get the entire recap of the race over the weekend.

2/26/08

On the road to recovery with Cliff Shot Blocks

This weekend, I was able to get in a 4 and a 5.5 mile run in. Both felt good and the times were about what I want for my marathon pace 10:45. I am still taking it slow for recovery, however on Friday I got my new shoes and heel lifts, which was a world of difference. I went into Road Runner Sports and returned the trail shoes without any problem and got a pair of Asics Evolution 3. I was in and out of the store in about 5 minutes.

When I was checking out I saw Cliff Shot Block Strawberry. I picked up a couple of bags, since I never tried them before. Some of you have mentioned them before and I figured what the heck, I will pick up a couple of bags of them and give them a try, since I am not a big fan of gels. Even though my difference is down for recovering from injury, I tried them on my run on Sunday and I loved them, they are awesome. I did not even get my hands sticky. I started comparing them with gels and here is what I found.

Cliff Shot Blocks: Cliff Shot Gel:
Carbs: 24mg 25mg
Potassium: 20mg 30mg
Sodium 70mg 40mg
Fats 0.0 0.0
Sugar 12mg 8mg

The numbers are pretty comparative, except for the sodium which is ok with me, since being in AZ during the summer you need the sodium. I did see that they have a cola, lemon lime, and Pina Colada flavor. I wonder if the Pina Colada has anything to do with their winery. Wrong alcohol, oh well, I will have to find a location that carries them in those flavors.

Saturday I ended up back at Road Runner Sports and ran into Pokey and company. You know you are becoming a runner when you know people at the running store. I got the little boy a pair of running shoes and grandma picked up a pair of walking shoes. We also went by the park where the Ragnar Del Sol race will end this weekend. How can you go by a park and not let the kids play on the equipment and feed the ducks. I try to be a good dad. We then went to Bass Pro Shop. The boys have never been there, and they were in heaven.

I will do a couple of easy runs this week, in preparation for the race on Friday. We start at 10 am and will finish around 1:30pm on Saturday. I will take some pictures of the crew as we run for the Chances for Children Charity.


2/22/08

Another successful Run

Well last night, I stretched and went for another slow run. I made the two miles with little pain. I get my heal lifts today, and returning my shoes to roadrunner sports, the Dr thought that staying in the same shoes that I have put 500 miles in would be a safer bet than switching to a different pair. However the pair I will be getting Asics Gel Evolution 3 (Motion Control Plus) rather than the Asics 2130 trail (more of a stability shoe). On the Asics web site they show that the two shoes do overlap some with regards to support, but the evolution is something that I have had success with.

Best of luck to everyone this weekend, and be safe.

2/21/08

And the Diagnosis is....

Well I went to the Podiatrist yesterday and he looked at my Achilles Tendon. His diagnosis is that I had an early stage of Achilles Tendonitis and the 11 days of rest he felt has cleared it up. There was no swelling and only minor pain. He proscribed for me a pair of heal lifts (that is one way to be taller) of 1 cm in height. In addition to stretching exercises, to start running (YEAAAAAA) with one mile, two miles, three miles, four and half miles, seven miles, ten miles. I can be back in service in about a week. I did my first mile last night with a lot of success. I could feel my tendon, but I was also thinking about it. I wanted to keep running, but I stopped after the mile. This was also the second time this past year that I have been out running during a lunar eclipse, is that an omen or something?

I will be running the Ragnar Relay next weekend and then back to the Podiatrist later the following week for a followup.
Keep streatching and running.

2/19/08

New 30 day Challange

After reading this article on the My Fox Tampa Bay website, I got a new 30 day challange for all the people in Bloggerville.
==========
TAMPA - A pastor has a new challenge for his parishioners. It involves sex - a subject that may be taboo in many congregations.
The Relevant Church in Tampa's Ybor City has issued a 30-day sex challenge.
"It's going to be tempting and awkward at the same time for sure," said parishioner Brent Cayson.
Single men and women can't have sex for 30 days, and married couples are urged to have it every day.
"If you look at studies, studies say in 30 days you can develop a habit," said Pastor Paul Wirth.
It definitely caught wives in the church by surprise.
"Our married people are far more fearful than our single people," said Wirth.
"Sex is about more than intercourse and that's what we're trying to tell people," said church member Jarret Haas.
Wirth has found biblical references that he says suggest Jesus disapproved of pre-marital sex and promoted sex in marriage. So, he believes people connect to God through life-long commitment.
That's why he tells his single followers to abstain, and his married followers to indulge.
Wirth is a former Baptist. He founded his non-denominational ministry three years ago. And he markets his church by tackling unusual or controversial topics.

=====================
OK, Now for our challange. For those of you that are not married, None for you. Sorry.

For those of us that are married, I will make it a little easier, Spend at least 15 minutes a day with your spouse, in a romantic way. I will let you decide the definition of "Romantic Way".
If you are up for the challange, let me know and those of you that HONESTLY complete the challange, there will be a prize for you.


2/13/08

Five days and counting of no running

It has been five days since I last ran. I just want a short slow run, please. Well let me explain, Friday I ran the 9 on the 9th, and well I kind of hurt my Achilles tendon on my left ankle. I am able to stand on it, walk on it; I just feel tenderness with it. I can massage it and do not have any pain, but when I stand on my tiptoes, to work the tended it is sore. The biggest difference between my two tendons is when I hold the tended between two fingers and rotate the foot up and down. My left foot feels like there is slippage and the right one is smooth flowing.
I am scheduled to go to the podiatrist on Wednesday (next week) to have him look at it. From what I have read, I need to ice, Motrin (anti-inflammatory), stretch, massage, and not to over work it. One viable solution to assist in healing it is custom orthotics. We will see what the Dr has to say.
I still plan on running the race the end of the month, unless the Dr says different. I have 16 days to rest and be ready for the race. I will work on weight training/core workout for my taper.
I am able to go walking but holding off on jogging just yet.

2/8/08

Can We say PR. . . I Can't Hear You. . . PR


Well, today I ran the 9 on the 9th. Tomorrow is my rest day and Sunday is my long run. So, I elected to do it a few hours early. The morning started off just beautiful, I walked down to the Tempe Town Lake, where the RNR AZ had its concert - for those of you that were here. On my walk down there 1/2 mile, I pondered how to run the 9 miles, what I mean is where am I running to. I decided to run for 4.5 in one direction and turn around and head back to the start. I was figuring that my average speed at the RNR 1/2 was 10:15 minute mile so if I could get it done in about 92 or so minutes I would be happy.


Here are the splits:
1 - 6:01:49
2 - 6:08:27
3 - 6:12:53
4 - 6:12:03
5 - 6:11:72
6 - 6:07:43
7 - 5:58:91
8 - 6:30:06
9 - 6:15:77
Total Time: 56:38:21

My legs were killing me after this and I had to go to the restroom so bad, each bush was looking very attractive. I did have a water bottle with me, but I was still dehydrated from the run. I think the most frustrating part of the run was that my iPod some how got stuck playing the same song over and over. I was concentrating on running to notice it till about the last 15 minutes. When I finished, I had to walk slowly and stretch my legs. I did receive my race shirt, and I was able to get a picture of it:












However when Marci, Vicki, Pieces of Me, and Laura N chase me all they are going to see is. . . . .












Oh wait. . . .

I just realized that the splits I gave you above are for Kilometers and not Miles, oh well here are the splits for the miles.

1 - 9:42.19
2 - 9:50.88
3 - 9:55.85
4 - 9:53.86
5 - 9:54.55
6 - 9:50.78
7 - 9:38.67
8 - 10:28.74
9 - 10:05.03
Total distance: 9 Miles
Total Time: 1:29:20.55
Average pace: 9:55

This is still a PR for me, and I committed to a 10:00 mile pace for the Ragnar Relay and it looks like I can do it.
One last note, in the past 12 months I have now dropped 50 lbs, 20 more to go by June 1, I hope.

2/7/08

Super or not Tuesday and Wednesday

On the left side of my blog I added a advertisement/link to see who is your perfect candidate is. You will be scored based upon how well you match the current views of each of the 2008 presidential candidates.
Tuesday was a busy day for me at work. After work I met Lori and waited in line for 2 and a half hour to perform our patriotic duty, and selected who we felt was the best qualified candidate for the President of this wonderful country. We did run into our sons’ choir teacher and Big Pete Pearson, who is nominated for a Grammy in Jazz music. She told us that it was such a shame that our son has such poor grades. (He is in the 7th grade and has only received one B, and the rest A's) He is in the honors program and talks about going to MIT. We had many great laughs during the wait to vote. His music teacher remembered that she was missing American Idol, so I called home and had my son TIVO it and put it on a tape for her. When we FINALLY casted our vote, I got to my truck and it did not start, so I grabbed my stuff and climbed in my wife's vehicle, leaving mine in the parking lot, till I could get back to fix it.
Wednesday, I grabbed my multi-meter and tools, then ran back to the poling place 2.5 miles away, and fixed the truck. Corrosion on the battery terminal. Drove home and ate, and then went out for another 4.5 mile run. Total for the day 7.0
After dinner, I took my youngest son to the Phoenix Suns game against the NO Hornets. The game went into double overtime, where we lost when the Hornets, with .001 seconds on the clock scored their last two points. It was still a good game, and Shaq was there also.
Today has more running in the schedule.

2/5/08

Time is flying by this year

Well, time is flying by and I have not posted a message here. Well, I have not posted since Thursday, so here are my running accomplishments:
Friday, I ended up leaving work early to go see my Chiropractor because I had a rib out of place and it was hurting. (Where the rib meets with the spine.) We were unsuccessful on resetting it, but we did get a lot of movement in my spine, etc. I went running later that evening with my son. We decided to run 1/2 mile then walk one minute, and after two miles, I started to get tunnel vision/blurry. I elected to stop and walk back home. 2.58 miles for Friday.
Saturday, I got up and both my boys wanted to go running with me, so I took them out for a four mile run, when we got back to the house I told my wife that I was going to go do another 8 to 10 miles for a total of 12 to 14 miles. I grabbed the mp3 player and a water bottle and continued on my journey. At around 10 miles, the water bottle was empty, so I figured I would stop into Leaps (Frozen Custard shop) that is about a half mile away and fill up the water bottle with WATER and not ice cream. I passed a lady pushing her son in a stroller, and about a minute later, I feel something on my foot. At first thought it was her with her stroller, so I turn around to look, and it is a BIG DOG. Boxer mix? The dog was looking for someone to play with, and I was parched and not in the mood to play with a stray dog. I finally made it into the store and got some water and was out to finish my last couple of miles. The dog continued to follow me. I did everything reasonable and humane to get it to quit following me. Finally at my 12 mile mark, I am getting frustrated at the animal and think of how to get rid of it. Some guy that was out running FAST or at least in comparison to me ran by and I asked him if the dog was his. He said no, but the dog started following him, so I ducked around the corner and into my house without the dog seeing me. For the 12 miles, I had an 11:24 average minute pace with an average heart rate of 165. That was my resting heart rate just last year. My back felt good during the run, but afterwards it started to hurt again. I think with the blood flow and energy it was blocked from my mind.
I took my wife out for a date that evening, ok it was only a movie but without kids and not a Disney movie, I was in heaven. We saw the untraceable, which we both liked. It is similar to a CSI, but the bad guy is showing his killings live on the web. There was more than one image that would make your skin crawl. I will say the special effects made it look so real. I will say that we would have passed on this movie, but the selection that is in theaters is pretty lousy.
On Sunday, I ran to the store and picked up some fruit and veggie trays. Oh yea Chad forced me to picking up the Chocolate Cheese Cake for us to snack on. I then brought the kids over to Chad and Julie's place to watch the big event on TV. Montréal Canadians Hockey, yea. Then we caught some little golf game that was happening down the street, but when that was over we then watched the amazing 18-1 season come to a screeching halt. All honesty, I am not a huge fan of either team, but after the past couple of weeks, I was hoping that NY would shove the football in everyone's mouth that was writing them off as loosing the game that was not even played yet. I felt they had nothing to loose by getting out there and bust their butt and beat NE. That turned out to be one of the best games I have seen in a long time.
On Monday, I went back to the chiropractor and was able to get everything to align, then gone in for an hour deep massage. I am feeling so much better today, with just a little ache in my back, but nothing that biofreeze can not fix. I am back to running today after a couple of days of rest.
As for the first week of the Walk Across Arizona, I ran 42.34 miles, plus what I had on the pedometer which I put on in the morning and only remove it to go running. So if I recall what I sent to Pat it was in the neighborhood of 53 miles or so. I did have two long runs in there, so that number will not stay up their for ever.