A long couple months of frustration, re-evaluation, adjustments, new shoes but occasional successes. I started intensive strength training on my calves and quads and finally seem to be seeing some return on that philosophy.
With a max mileage of 8 miles I still have those horrid days of barely able to run 2 or 3 but now seem to be able to push hard past those times and get in some good workouts.
After my last rest period of 2 weeks for heeling on shin splints and massive cramping I played 'hurry up' to get back in the game for my first race in 25 years.
My son and I ran 2 days ago in the Omaha half marathon and I felt great. I realized that the hills I've been running have been great for my stamina and we were the only people running up a gentle 1 1/2 mile slope during the race and felt terrific about our strategy of starting slowwwww and speeding up later to a 9 or 9.5 minute mile pace toward the end. I may have finished far back in the pack but feel good about that next step toward the goal of 100 miles.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Hot, hot, hot
This week has been about maintenance runs. Just getting out to do some mileage but not pushing too much because of the heat and humidity. It seems that no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to stay hydrated here between working in the heat and then going out for a measly 3 or 4 miles.
yesterday I went out with my road shoes and felt pretty good on the pavement but had to ice my knee several times at work last night. I wanted to go out this morning for a couple miles but the humidity was just atrocious so maybe tomorrow morning.
yesterday I went out with my road shoes and felt pretty good on the pavement but had to ice my knee several times at work last night. I wanted to go out this morning for a couple miles but the humidity was just atrocious so maybe tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Busting out on vacation
I've finally been able to get rested up mentally and I think that has allowed some extra mileage. Last weekend went running with my son and did a great 6 miler on a new course that started with 2 miles of gruesome hills and then a gentle uphill before plummeting back to the valley to wrap it up. Felt great the whole way and wow, so proud that Matthew is taking an interest in running finally... sure would have been easier 10 years ago when I was younger though.
Anyway, 3 days ago I did a run on all flat surface dirt roads and battled the bugs and humidity as I ran 4 miles with corn fields on both sides. At one point I came to a fork in the road, what I called the easy way (6 miles) or the hard way which would take me to 8 miles. without barely hesitating I thought of a new motto for my running goals; "how willing am I to step out of the comfort zone to achieve my goals." So now I have my first 8 miler under my belt and ready for the next step of maybe a 10 miler next week.
Yesterday Matthew and I ran together again and I felt great but still very stiff and my knees are pretty tight. That 4.5 miles topped the weekly total for a recent PR of 24 miles.
Anyway, 3 days ago I did a run on all flat surface dirt roads and battled the bugs and humidity as I ran 4 miles with corn fields on both sides. At one point I came to a fork in the road, what I called the easy way (6 miles) or the hard way which would take me to 8 miles. without barely hesitating I thought of a new motto for my running goals; "how willing am I to step out of the comfort zone to achieve my goals." So now I have my first 8 miler under my belt and ready for the next step of maybe a 10 miler next week.
Yesterday Matthew and I ran together again and I felt great but still very stiff and my knees are pretty tight. That 4.5 miles topped the weekly total for a recent PR of 24 miles.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Work vs. Run
It's been a rough 3 weeks with the running. I've learned several things these last few weeks. For one, lack of sleep really effects my running. I switched my schedule from working nights to days for a 4 day weekend and went to Minnesota and tried to keep running but felt just awful. Then I came back and switched back to nights so I had a double dose of exhaustion there. then after working 5 nights I had to switch back to days and started a 13 day stretch of 12-14 hour shifts.
Each day that I ran after already walking about 10-13 miles at work I felt worse and worse until I finally ran a 2 miler that just killed me and I walked all the way back home. Two days ago after resting for 4 days I could barely run a mile but forced myself to go 4 so felt good about the effort. Today I had off from work and just went out for a relaxed run with no real plans for distance and it was great. Ran 7+ miles, the farthest to date and really felt good when I finished.
Just have to take the good with the bad sometimes and it may seem to be taking longer than I planned to build up my endurance but hey, could barely run a 1/4 mile that first day 4 months ago - perspective eh!
Each day that I ran after already walking about 10-13 miles at work I felt worse and worse until I finally ran a 2 miler that just killed me and I walked all the way back home. Two days ago after resting for 4 days I could barely run a mile but forced myself to go 4 so felt good about the effort. Today I had off from work and just went out for a relaxed run with no real plans for distance and it was great. Ran 7+ miles, the farthest to date and really felt good when I finished.
Just have to take the good with the bad sometimes and it may seem to be taking longer than I planned to build up my endurance but hey, could barely run a 1/4 mile that first day 4 months ago - perspective eh!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Pulling back
Continually I learn how to make adjustments for this old body to get by on the road. About a month ago, with much pain in my calf, I decided I needed to switch gears and try another strategy for my running / healing. I first took a week off and used some TENS therapy combined with low energy laser therapy. Each day I also soaked my legs in hot water and used Tiger Balm and throughout the day I iced my calf several times.
After a week I found a soft dirt road with a slight slope and walked the one mile up and jogged down which worked extremely well with taking the weight off my calves and still allowing me to get out there and keep moving a bit. After two weeks of this I tried a 3.5 miler with no pain. 3 days ago I ran a 4.2 miler that included a .75 mile up hill and still felt great. I almost pushed it too much 2 days ago when my son visited and wanting to run with him I did a pretty tough 2 miler of hills. Those two day in a row gave me some stiffness in my knees but still no pain in my calf so success with this stage I guess.
I'm on nights right now and with tonight off I'll go out about 1:00 am and try a new course that will give me 6 miles with a wicked hill in the middle so we'll see how that goes. I am really excited about being able to move forward but still have to keep watching those little warning signs that pop up telling me to slow down.
After a week I found a soft dirt road with a slight slope and walked the one mile up and jogged down which worked extremely well with taking the weight off my calves and still allowing me to get out there and keep moving a bit. After two weeks of this I tried a 3.5 miler with no pain. 3 days ago I ran a 4.2 miler that included a .75 mile up hill and still felt great. I almost pushed it too much 2 days ago when my son visited and wanting to run with him I did a pretty tough 2 miler of hills. Those two day in a row gave me some stiffness in my knees but still no pain in my calf so success with this stage I guess.
I'm on nights right now and with tonight off I'll go out about 1:00 am and try a new course that will give me 6 miles with a wicked hill in the middle so we'll see how that goes. I am really excited about being able to move forward but still have to keep watching those little warning signs that pop up telling me to slow down.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Hurry up and.... stop
I continue to learn these hard lessons about getting hmmm... less young. I can honestly say that the habit of running has fully gripped my whole being. I think of nothing else it seems but where or how far, of whether or not I am fully hydrating during the day at work. I worry about the effects of walking 10+ miles at work or the thousands of stairs I climb each week and how it will hurt when I run on those swollen knees. I have to keep from hurrying home and driving too fast so that I can ... what? Well, to experience the pain, the agony, the heartache of another failed run before I forced to pull back when my calf starts to cramp.
But oh how beautiful it feels to be out there moving again. In those brief few miles I feel alive and love to feel my lungs swelling to breathe in the air. That awesome struggle of mind over body when the muscles tire and dreaded thoughts of failure creep in. And when I feel the cramps begin I pull back again, and walk. Not too proud to accept the limitations I've placed on myself by sitting for 20 years but also comfortable in the knowledge that it is only a matter of time. Maybe longer than I thought but surely I will achieve this goal.
But oh how beautiful it feels to be out there moving again. In those brief few miles I feel alive and love to feel my lungs swelling to breathe in the air. That awesome struggle of mind over body when the muscles tire and dreaded thoughts of failure creep in. And when I feel the cramps begin I pull back again, and walk. Not too proud to accept the limitations I've placed on myself by sitting for 20 years but also comfortable in the knowledge that it is only a matter of time. Maybe longer than I thought but surely I will achieve this goal.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
How can people run 100 miles -by Kassidy
This blog chapter is devoted to not only my goal of a hundred mile race but to my neighbor girl Kassidy who is 8 years old.
When I heard David was running a hundred miles next year I thought "WOW, that is far." I could never run that far because, well, I'm too little and you know, I AM only 8 years old.
Kassidy: How many hours would that take to run 100 miles?
Dave: It will really depend on which race I choose but most races will probably take at least a day and maybe as much as 1 1/2 days.
Kassidy: If the race lasts that long how will you live, like eating and sleeping?
Dave: If the race lasts more than a day I will have to eat A LOT and eat while I run. Some of the foods that I will eat will be like ice cream, sandwiches, nutrition bars and I will have to drink lots and lots of water and Gatorade. As for sleeping, well, besides maybe short naps I probably will not sleep until the race is over.
Kassidy: Will you sweat a lot.
Dave: Yes, a whole bunch and that is why I will have to drink so much. It really depends on how warm it is and also how hard I push myself during the race.
Kassidy: How skinny will you be after running for the next 18 months and after you finish the race?
Dave: I am hoping that I can get my weight down to at least 150 pounds and I was 187 or 189 when I started two months. Right now I weigh in at 161 pounds.
Kassidy: Wow, I knew you didn't look as fat as you used to be.
(UGH, from the mouths of babes huh!)
Kassidy: Where will you run.
Dave: I will probably run somewhere in the mountains, maybe in the Grand Tetons or in Minnesota by Lake Superior but I have not made that decision yet.
(I used Google Earth to show Kassidy some of the trails in the Tetons and what the mountains look like from a distance.)
Kassidy: What will you see when you are running.
Dave: If the race is in the mountains then lots and lots of hills and if in Minnesota then lots of trees and sometimes maybe I'll see big lake Superior.
Kassidy: Will you have to keep running or can you stop and rest.
Dave: I will stop only for short breaks to eat and take care of my feet and while running I will do a combination of running and walking, especially walking up the hills.
(I showed Kassidy the pack that I will wear when I run that has two big bottles for water and space for a first aid kit and for food. I also showed her the hand held water bottles.)
Kassidy: Now for my biggest and most important question. Why do you have to run?
Dave: I want to do this run so that I can just see if I am still capable of doing something as hard as this because of how old I am getting. Also I want to run because it is healthy and exercising is something that everyone should try to do. Maybe also it is just that my memories of running from 25 years ago are still strong in my mind and I want to experience that feeling again.
When I asked Kassidy if she thought I was crazy for wanting to run a 100 mile race she told me that she thought I should go for it. I will more easily take advice like this from an 8 year old than from other adults that can never envision such an odyssey.
When I heard David was running a hundred miles next year I thought "WOW, that is far." I could never run that far because, well, I'm too little and you know, I AM only 8 years old.
Kassidy: How many hours would that take to run 100 miles?
Dave: It will really depend on which race I choose but most races will probably take at least a day and maybe as much as 1 1/2 days.
Kassidy: If the race lasts that long how will you live, like eating and sleeping?
Dave: If the race lasts more than a day I will have to eat A LOT and eat while I run. Some of the foods that I will eat will be like ice cream, sandwiches, nutrition bars and I will have to drink lots and lots of water and Gatorade. As for sleeping, well, besides maybe short naps I probably will not sleep until the race is over.
Kassidy: Will you sweat a lot.
Dave: Yes, a whole bunch and that is why I will have to drink so much. It really depends on how warm it is and also how hard I push myself during the race.
Kassidy: How skinny will you be after running for the next 18 months and after you finish the race?
Dave: I am hoping that I can get my weight down to at least 150 pounds and I was 187 or 189 when I started two months. Right now I weigh in at 161 pounds.
Kassidy: Wow, I knew you didn't look as fat as you used to be.
(UGH, from the mouths of babes huh!)
Kassidy: Where will you run.
Dave: I will probably run somewhere in the mountains, maybe in the Grand Tetons or in Minnesota by Lake Superior but I have not made that decision yet.
(I used Google Earth to show Kassidy some of the trails in the Tetons and what the mountains look like from a distance.)
Kassidy: What will you see when you are running.
Dave: If the race is in the mountains then lots and lots of hills and if in Minnesota then lots of trees and sometimes maybe I'll see big lake Superior.
Kassidy: Will you have to keep running or can you stop and rest.
Dave: I will stop only for short breaks to eat and take care of my feet and while running I will do a combination of running and walking, especially walking up the hills.
(I showed Kassidy the pack that I will wear when I run that has two big bottles for water and space for a first aid kit and for food. I also showed her the hand held water bottles.)
Kassidy: Now for my biggest and most important question. Why do you have to run?
Dave: I want to do this run so that I can just see if I am still capable of doing something as hard as this because of how old I am getting. Also I want to run because it is healthy and exercising is something that everyone should try to do. Maybe also it is just that my memories of running from 25 years ago are still strong in my mind and I want to experience that feeling again.
When I asked Kassidy if she thought I was crazy for wanting to run a 100 mile race she told me that she thought I should go for it. I will more easily take advice like this from an 8 year old than from other adults that can never envision such an odyssey.
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