12 miles - nice Michigan morning

I was so screwed up on time from the Thursday night red-eye that I was wide awake at 6:30 EST Saturday morning. I thought the red-eye would be nice because it would get me home 8 hours earlier and I could then work from home Friday, but I forgot that I am unable to sleep on airplanes. Friday was a sleepy haze, but Melissa was tired from her long week, so it all worked out fine. Anyway, back to Saturday, I was really excited for my long run. Melissa proposed a 5k on Sunday (we played golf instead, oh well), so I was not too worried about completing the planned 13 miles. I just wanted to get a 2 hour run in. In a rare mood, I left the house without knowing exactly how far or exactly where I was going to run.

The roads in suburban Detroit are nicely laid out in square miles. 13 mile is almost exactly 1 mile away from 12 mile, amazing. The east west roads are the same. If you stick to these roads, it's pretty hard to run an odd number of miles without stopping and turning around half way between two roads. I started out nice and slow, felt great, and couldn't have been happier with my run. It was really nice running at home and knowing that at the end of the run I would not be in my dreary Oregon apartment. Only 3 weeks until every run starts and stops in Michigan.

7.1 miles - oh deer

Edited 8/2: Edited anniversary comment and fixed spelling. I can't spell deer! I have no business blogging.

Bad day, 3000 miles from Melissa on our 3rd anniversary.

I won't pretend to be a good story teller here. There is just no way for me to set up an explanation of what happened on my run tonight. I saw a baby deer (a doe?) about 30 feet from the sidewalk and main road. I ran past it looking at it right in the eyes, I thought it was pretty cool. As I got past it I noticed that it was starting to follow me. About 6 strides later, I was in full sprint with my head cocked behind me and baby deer gaining ground. My smile faded fast. I turned, raised my hands like a bear and yelled and clapped. I was very worried that I was about to scare the poor thing into the 4 lane road or that I was about to get a hoof in the face. Baby deer stopped and I was able to walk slowly away until a tree blocked our vision of one another. I kept checking back and I think that baby deer went back to eating grass. I began jogging again. I really don't know what else to say about that.

I was trying for a 6 miler, but forgot how far this route was. It was a really hot run for this area, over 90 degrees when I started at 7pm. It was the first time that I have enjoyed using my camelback. I am tracking right along with Hal this week. The big challenge will be the 13 miler this Sunday.

3.5 miles - first morning run

It's nice to get up and run in the morning. I watched my shadow get smaller as the run went along. I ran slowly, and I am not feeling any residule effects in the office today. I am considering a run tonight just so I have something to do, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I guess I'm just a little stressed because the last 4 weeks have been below Hal's novice marathon plan. I know that I probably can't make up for those weeks now, but I am a little nervous about how they will impact the marathon. I'm just going to make sure I don't miss 1 mile this week.

Regarding the marathon, registration is closed. 40,000 signed up. It's going to be weird running with that many people. My buddy Jim is training in Conneticut this summer for the race. It will be his second, and he is planning to 'take it easy' by running at my pace. He ran a 3:30 or something for his first one. I'm hoping to be in the 4 hour neighborhood. It's funny, the more I read, the less prepared I feel. Especially when it comes to people that do 100 mile weeks. That just seems impossible to me right now. I guess I just want to run a smart race and finish under my own power. I am really excited to find out how I will react to 26.2 miles. Will I bonk? If I hit the wall, when will it hit (everyone says 20 miles)? What will my time be? ( I know it doesn't matter, yada yada) Will it be emotional? Will I say 'Never Again'?

I guess there is only one way to find the answer to these quesitons. Ready or not.

Part of me wishes I signed up for the Detroit Free Press Marathon. It was my Dad's first, it's smaller, you get to cross over into Canada via the tunnel and back to the US via the Ambassador Bridge, you finish at Ford Field, and I am a Detroit native. Oh well, marathon 2 will have to be in Detroit. I guess if some freak accident happens, I could run Detroit this year, it's 2 weeks after Chicago.

6.2 miles - running in a sea of orange

The race numbers were printed on orange Nike dry-fit tee shirts. The shirts are great, but I feel sorry for any spectators that were trying to find their friends as the crowd ran by. Everyone looked the same. The organizers also gave us timing chips for the race (we had to give them back), so I'll be interested to see what the chip says my time was. Regardless of the difference between my watch and the clock, it was a PR for me.

They had suggested starting areas for everyone, but a lot of people didn't really listen. I was passing walkers and slower joggers for the first 2 miles. I started in the back of the 8-9 minute/mile area and my first 2 miles were 9:00 and 8:41. Once it started to clear a little I ran 8:17, 8:08, 8:09, and 8:20 for the next 4 miles. My watch said I ran a 52:08. No pain either, I feel like an idiot for saying "PRs are supposed to hurt". It doesn't hurt when you stretch.

The course was really fun with the bands playing all along the way. The Donnas were at the start, Nina Sky was near mile 1, the Fountains of Wayne were next followed by the Aquamen (or something like that). There was a drum line right around mile 4.5 that pumped me up as much as any of the bands, but they really made the atmosphere more festive.

On my friend Jim's recommendation, I watched the awards ceremony. It sucks to sit around alone after the race, but it was cool to see the winners get their custom guitars. I was supposed to meet some friends before the race, but I was running a little late. The sea of orange didn't help. Joan Jett was fun, but I could smell myself (hey, I just ran 6 miles), so I wanted to go home.

If you are near Chicago or LA, I highly recommend the event. It was a little crowded, and you have to run around some crowds that gather around the bands, but it was a lot of fun. I'm thinking of signing up for Chicago cause I'll be back in Michigan by then. 4 more weeks in Portland. I can't wait to get home.

3 miles - running easy before tomorrow's race

Great weather this weekend in Portland. I went for a really easy jog in preparation for tomorrows 10k. I crossed the Steel and Hawthorn bridges in my run.

4 miles - running the Willamette

I picked up my packet for the Nike Run Hit Wonder this Sunday and then went for a run along the Willamette river that runs through downtown Portland. The river parks are great, but I was a little suprised by the number of homeless people. The walkers/runners/bikers were outnumbered 5 to 1 on this Wednesday night. I felt safe, but it cast a strange shadow on my run. I got to a bridge (The Steel Bridge, I think...) and decided to stay on the west side because I wasn't sure about what the path was like on the other side and I wasn't too interested in running back and forth across the Willamette. I hate heights.

I found some great reading material by George Sheehan that made me think a lot about my running. His thoughts on why we push ourselves too hard blew me away.

3.65 miles - just a normal run

I'm trying to run like it is a normal thing to do. I am not worried about pace (i didn't wear a watch), and I tried not to worry about shin splints. I did a lot of stretching before the run today, and I think that helped. What didn't help was 4.5 hours of Habitat for Humanity work this afternoon... oh well, it was worth it. I'm going through a rough time with motivation, vacation/work timing, injuries, and a whole boatload of other excuses. I think everyone probably goes through this when they are still starting running.

I did go down to Fit Right Northwest yesterday in Portland to have them video tape my stride to see if there was anything obvious. They were VERY helpful, they gave me some stretches and they talked to me. It would have been really easy to sell me something, but the guy looked at my shoes (220 miles on them) and told me that they weren't the problem. I will go back there when it is time to leave Portland to buy replacement shoes, even if I'm not up to 300 miles yet.

Backposting my runs...

I took a week off, but I wanted to get down the runs I did in the last 10 days so that I remember them...

7/16 - 6 miles in the Kauai Hyatt spa fitness center. This was my second treadmill run since I started training and I think I ran too fast again. Dumb Doug. I was playing with the heart rate monitor trying to maintain around 165 bpm through the whole run. I accidentally pulled out the emergency stop after the 3.5 mile mark, it really messed with the workout. I know that I missed about 12 miles this week from Hal's plan, but Kauai was sooo good, I just don't care. Mel and I had a great time drinking Lava Flows and relaxing. Our friends wedding was beautiful. I talked to the bride about running cause she is training for a half-Ironman triathlon. I was happy to be a runner, even if I didn't look like one at the beach. Talk about photograph motivation...

7/10 - 10 miles: 3 to the track, 4 around the track, and 3 home. It was a grey day and I felt kinda grey. I was really happy to see that I caught up to Hal's plan for the weekly milage. It made me feel like all the injuries and missed runs aren't going to cost me the marathon.

7/8 - 3 miles details have slipped my mind... need to blog sooner I guess.

6 miles - Tracks are flat

Running around the Aloha High track is a little strange to me. Having never run track or cross country, I have no idea what I am doing out on the track. I don't know what any of the marks mean on the track. I don't know exactly how far I'm running (does it matter much which lane I run in?). This was my first "interval" work out. I did a lot of warm up, a lot of icing before and after, and a lot of warm down. Something about the track atmosphere was really cool. I enjoyed tonights run a lot. I could see how making this part of a training schedule could be fun.

I'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I'm thinking that the FIRST schedule might be good for a while. I'm going to look into community pools for a little cross training. I don't want to go out and pound the pavement again tomorrow, swimming might be nice for a change.

Could the FIRST method be the answer?

I am considering a change to the FIRST schedule for the remainder of my training. I may be hurting myself by running too much. It is a really tough call. I know that I have been doing a LOT of things wrong lately, and it is probably these things that are causing me pain, not the training schedule.

Mistakes:

• Running too fast on longer runs
• Not stretching before runs
• Running on rest days
• Not icing or paying attention to my minor aches early on
• Running further than the training plan
• Running very hilly routes
• Running on concrete for all of my runs
  

I know that these mistakes are the reason for my shin splints. But they aren't going to get better unless I rest. I just think that if I could keep myself on track without too much pounding, that would be a good thing. The FIRST schedule might allow me to do this. I could bike or swim 2 days a week to fill in the cardio needs. I will try the interval workout tonight at the track to see how I like it.

3 miles - Running with Melissa and Dad

Ice and ace bandages helped a lot today. I felt a lot better than on recent runs. I mean, I didn't feel like my legs might break mid-shin with every stride. I miss running with other people. Running with Mel and Dad is so much more fun that running alone. It was also nice to run in Michigan, nice and flat compared to Portland. One thing that Portland does have on Michigan is the weather. It was hot today, and very muggy. Portland has had perfect running weather just about every day I've been there.

2.1 miles - I hate shin splints

I was meaning to go 4 today but had to cut short due to pain. It is frustrating to have to quit, but if I push it now, I won't be running in October when it counts. Gotta remember that and take it easy for a few days... maybe a week. Man that sucks.