Why I Run

The question has been posed, why do I run? While there are probably just as many reasons to not run as there are to run, I had to take a few moments to really seek out why I am hitting the pavement, treadmill, trails and concrete. Much of my list came to mind while I was where else but amid a run. Some of my reasons are common amongst numerous other runners. Others may be unique to me.

First and foremost, I run for MYSELF. This is one of the few times I am selfish and do something for me. I have come to find it allows me some alone time. Getting out on the open road and breathing in the nature around me helps to clear my thoughts, workout plans and problems, analyze situations and scenarios. My wife might say it gives me the time to conjure up some kind of Rodgers and Hammerstein ideas. In addition, being a Libra, it is in my nature to always weigh the pros and cons.

I run for HEALTH. After drinking and eating my way through the college and ESPN years I managed to put on a pretty good share of pounds. Through my running I strive to lose weight, stave off illnesses and diseases, and improve my overall fitness.

I run for EMOTION. Finishing a training run is satisfying. The days and weeks prior to a race are full of nerves. Toeing the Start Line is a sense of joy. Ticking off mile after mile as I traverse the course is exhilarating. Crossing the Finish Line is elation. Receiving a finisher’s medal is a sense of honor. And, there is a sense of pride in wearing the race t-shirt knowing I had run in the race.

I run for STRUCTURE. I find the training leading up to the road races lends itself to a more structured regimen for me. I like to have a set plan. There is room for flexibility to compensate for unforeseen circumstances, but the structure of the training gives me something to strive for and takes out the guesswork.

I run for INSPIRATION. Whether I am in search of inspiration for myself or offering up inspiration to others, it is there, therefore I run for it.

I run for ENERGY. Hearing the cheers of encouragement from spectators, hearing the comforting words of the volunteers, and seeing the smile on a little kid’s face when I run by and high five his or her outstretched hand, that is the energy I seek.

I run for FAMILY. I run so I may live longer and am able to spend more time with my loved ones. I run to provide family support when needed.

I run for CHARITY. Most road races are organized to help raise funds for a charitable cause. It is my pleasure to provide a donation to the charitable cause for the honor to run in their race.

And finally, I run for FOOD. Not just any foods mind you. I run to eat more pasta. I run for Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, Olive Garden Tiramisu, Pat’s Pizza, McDonald’s double cheeseburgers, Prudie’s whoopie pies, Maine lobster with butter, Grammie Jane’s fruit salad, Fenway Franks, and Dysart’s Poutine.

There you have it, the reasons I run.

H1413

Sorry for the absence once again. Just a quick note before I head off to sleep though. Tomorrow (Sunday, April 27) is the Oklahoma City Half-Marathon my sister and I are running in. It will be my first race of any kind since Jr. High. My wife will also be taking part in the 5k (untimed event). You may track my sister and I by logging onto www.okcmarathon.com , then clicking on the "participant tracking" then "half-marathon participant tracking." Once there you can enter my bib number H1413 for me, or H4951 to check on my sister. More blog to come tomorrow or Monday. For now I need to get some sleep because I will be getting up in 6 hours to head to the corral.

Embassy Eleven

Excuses, excuses! Sorry for the delay in posting this weekend. Yesterday was my wife’s drinking birthday and the first night of Passover. Passover services went much later than we expected and I was quite exhausted by the time we got home. After all, an 11 mile run can tire you out pretty well. That’s right; I said an 11 mile run. I was originally slated for 2 miles on Friday and 9 on Saturday, however, thanks to having to wait on the cable guy all day on Friday I never made it out for my 2 mile run. Wanting to get the miles in I just added them onto my Saturday run. Heck, it was only 1 mile longer than my longest run to date.

Now, one benefit to being home waiting on the cable guy Friday was that I was home when the UPS guy showed up and delivered my brand new Fuel Belt. Earlier in the week I had ordered the Terminator 6-bottle Fuel Belt for me to use on those longer runs. One challenge I had found out when doing my 10 mile runs was that my water bottle just did not have enough capacity to get me any longer. Therefore, I opted for the Fuel Belt, providing me with a few more ounces of liquid capacity. In addition, it also provides me with a little pouch to put my ID, cash, key, Gu Gel packs, and for those photographic runs I can even add in my compact camera (it will be handy passing through Disney’s Hollywood Studios towards the end of the Goofy Challenge).

It is time now to talk of the run. Despite my desire to wake early and get the run in before the heat I still managed to sleep in. By the time I had awoken the outside temperature had already reached 72 degrees. I ate my Power Bar, got dressed, slathered on the sunscreen, filled the Fuel Belt and laced up my Brooks. When I was finally ready to get out the door the temperature had risen another degree to 73. GARMIN took hardly any time to locate satellites this time. I was quite shocked. Could it have been the addition of the Fuel Belt? Just kidding. Locked in, I set out for 11 miles. At first I did not have a real plan of how I was going to break down the day’s run, but within a minute or two I devised a plan. I decided to try and work some speed into the beginning of my run rather than take the usual full 1-2 miles of warm up walking. This would work twofold. One, it would put some speed into my entire workout, but two, it would also help to reduce the time I would be spending in the higher temperatures. Knowing I would need to slow it down as the temperature went up I figured it would be better to more miles behind me before it got too hot. When you see my splits you will be able to see the results. Speaking of the splits, here they are:

Mile 1: 13:42
Mile 2: 13:54
Mile 3: 13:32
Mile 4: 12:26
Mile 5: 13:21
Mile 6: 13:16
Mile 7: 13:00
Mile 8: 13:25
Mile 9: 13:10
Mile 10: 14:16
Mile 11: 14:36

Accumulative Time: 2:28:43
Overall Average Pace: 13:31 / mile

As you can see, I did well until the last two miles. Today’s running route was along the Target Ten, only I went an additional half mile beyond it to where they are building the new Embassy Suites hotel here in Norman. Therefore, the name for this run is now the Embassy Eleven. When I reached the halfway point at the Embassy Suites the temperature had climbed up to 78 and I had consumed half the Gatorade in my Fuel Belt. Knowing it was approaching 80 I did not want to push it if my body was telling me not to. That is why in the last 2 miles the times were longer. Besides, the final mile I also intentionally planned to walk as a cool down. Also, I had a personal goal to want to try and get the first 9 miles in within 2 hours. Once I had achieved that the slow down began. By the time I finished my run the temperature had topped out at 84.

Wouldn’t you know it, the hottest run day this week there would be NO wind. After all the wind I had endured earlier in the week, nothing on this run but an occasional gentle breeze. Oh well! What’s one to do but drink more liquid? Speaking of drinking liquid, may I say how nice it was to not carry a water bottle in hand while running? It was quite enjoyable to be free of it. Here’s another question, kind of rhetorical, but also looking for insight. Why is it that I tend to find myself pushing harder and faster on the warmer days when I should be taking it easier and slower?

Non-running observations while out running yesterday. With the warmer weather it seemed as if everyone was outside. The parks were full of families picnicking, the skate park was packed full of kids on boards and blades, numerous runners and bikers were out along the route, and I even saw a gentleman and his dog out flying a kite. The funny thing about the kite flyer was he was using a fishing pole to reel in the kite.

I am sure to have forgotten something I wanted to add, however, it is time for me to pack up and head to the airport. I am off to Boston for the Patriot’s Day Red Sox game and cheer on the back-of-the-pack runners as they pass through Kenmore Square heading towards that ultimate goal of the finish line in the Boston Marathon.

Noble 8

Aah, another great day of running in the wind of Oklahoma. Just south of Norman, along OK-77, is a little town called Noble. Today's run took me out my front door onto OK-77 and southward to Noble, four miles away, where I then turned around and returned home. This is what I will for now on refer to as the Noble 8. Today's run was a simple out and back straight shot with some hills during the middle miles. Yes, we do have some hills here in Oklahoma! It's not ALL flat.

The temperature for today's outing started at 68 and rose to 73 by the end. The wind at the beginning was a 26 mph wind out of the South, straight into my face for the first four miles. And once again, wouldn't you figure, I turn around to head home and the wind is reduced to a gentle breeze, if existent at all.

My run actually started out as a fast walk heading into the wind. For much of the first 2 to 3 miles I was feeling the fatigue in my shins, a result from pushing myself hard in yesterday's 5k loop. However, somewhere in the latter stages of the third mile I started to feel loosened up and ready to go. After having reached the halfway point and making my way back, after mile 5 I decided to work in some speed work. Sure, it would have been nice to have the wind help push me home, but as I said, it pretty much died off when I turned around. Anyway, starting at the beginning of mile 6 I set out to run for 6 utility poles and then do a 3 pole recovery walk. I went on to do this for a total of 5 times. Feeling good about that I then upped the ante and ran for 8 utility poles and walked for 4. I did the 8/4 utility pole cycle 3 times. This put me at about 7.5 miles. As I was starting up a fourth cycle I decided to just go ahead and run the rest of the way to complete the 8 miles. At the conclusion of the 8 miles I still had another .17 miles to get back home so I used that to do a slower cool down walk. Here are the mileage splits for today's Noble 8:

Mile 1: 14:47
Mile 2: 14:42
Mile 3: 14:29
Mile 4: 14:08
Mile 5: 14:02
Mile 6: 11:34
Mile 7: 11:50
Mile 8: 11:27
Mile .17: 2:25 (14:45 pace)

The final three miles are the three fastest miles I have run to date. Almost all of my actual running during these three miles was at a sub 11:00 pace. During the final .5 mile run I had about a tenth of a mile stretch where I sustained a pace sub 10:00. I was excited to see myself achieve these paces and not feel exhausted and totally spent at the conclusion of my 8 miles.

I have two more runs this week, a short 2 miler and then a 9 miler on Saturday that I will be contributing my miles to the family multi-state fitness group. Will check in again this weekend.

Windy Running

Sorry for the brief absence. I was a little busy trying to get everything together for my taxes. Now that the bulk of that stress is behind me I can take the time to tell you about my newest stress--running in wind. Living in Oklahoma it is no surprise that it is windy here. Heck, for someone who chases tornadoes, a.k.a. wind, I know well enough it is windy here. However, this is the first windy season I have been running in it. My last three runs here in Oklahoma have been in a sustained wind of 20 mph or more with gusts continually at 30 mph or higher. Two silver linings in the wind are that it helps to keep me cool and when running into it it helps build upon my speed in the long term.

My last two runs I have headed out solo. On Sunday I put in 10 miles, running along the route I have dubbed the Target Ten. It is a five mile route from my house to Target and then a return trip along the same route. The wind was at my face coming out of the North for the first five miles. Wouldn't you know it that when it was time to turn around the 20 mph wind died off and was almost non-existant. So much for having it help push me home. I set out at the beginning in my usual walking to warm-up. About 1.5 miles in I decided to kick it up and begin the running. After I quarter mile of battling the wind I decided I would walk the rest of the day. I figured I had 10 miles to cover and with having covered 10 miles in the previous two days following a week of sickness there was no need to over exert myself. The end result of my run was 10 miles in a time of 2:20:52. My mileage splits for the Target Ten on Sunday were:

Mile 1: 15:06
Mile 2: 14:07
Mile 3: 14:23
Mile 4: 13:59
Mile 5: 13:51
Mile 6: 13:50
Mile 7: 13:49
Mile 8: 13:35
Mile 9: 13:49
Mile 10: 14:17

Looking at these numbers makes me feel great. They were done at a fast walk and the first five were into the wind. Mile 10 was slower because I was aiming for a cooldown.

Today I set out for another 3 miles, again training in the 20 mph wind. Only this time I did not have to contend with the wind in my face for much longer than a half mile as my route took me along what I call the Home 5k Loop, even though it is slightly more than a 5k coming in at 3.3 miles. I did not really have a plan for today's run at the start. However, after the first tenth of a mile I decided to do something I have not done in the past. That was to run at the start. With a tenth of a mile walked behind me I went on to run and complete the first mile. I then took a two minute walk to start the second mile before I returned to running to complete the second mile. Once again I took a two minute walk to start the third mile before I ran the remainder of my 5k (3.1 miles). Once I clocked my fastest 5k time at 38:22 I proceeded to do a cooldown walk for the final .23 miles home. Overall I covered 3.33 miles in 41:30. Both times here were my fastest to date. My mileage splits for the 5k loop today were:

Mile 1: 12:21
Mile 2: 12:37
Mile 3: 12:20
Mile .33: 4:11 (12:44 pace)

One interesting note towards the end of the run is I found a comfortable groove and my pace was quickening. It is not uncommon for me to be faster towards the end as my muscles have stretched out and all, but for the final quarter mile of the running 5k I had a consistent pace below 12:00 with about half of it below 11:00. Two additional factors beside having been stretched out and warmed up to aide in the faster pacing are the wind was at my back and perhaps subconciously I knew I was nearing the end, therefore willing to draw more upon the tank.

With my first race in less than two weeks I only have a few more runs on tap. Wednesday I will be putting in 8 miles, Friday a short 2 miles, Saturday I hit it for 9 more. Next week I have a 2 and a 5 miler with the week concluding on April 27 with 13.1 miles at the Oklahoma City Memorial Half-Marathon. Stay tuned for more.

Slow, Windy Fat-Burn

With a 7 mile run yesterday and a 10 miler set for tomorrow I could have taken today off to give my body some recovery. However, I did not want to let my family down on what is now becoming our weekly multi-state fitness outing. My wife and I set out at 11am and logged ourselves 3.4 miles each in 55:00. The overall pace for the walk was 16:05. This definitely was one of my slower outings in some time, but that is okay because it is what I intended on at the start. With the longer runs on each side of today I wanted something slower and lower impact on my body. The slower pace I figured would be better suited on burning the harder to burn belly fat.

One real big challenge today was the wind. The winds were blowing at a 20-30 mph clip, gusting to 40.

As of this writing, my family's multi-state fitness has had 12 participants in 6 states accumulating more than 28.5 miles in just over 6 hours. I am sure there are a few more that have yet to report in. In all, more than 20 family members have banded together to be a part of our weekly multi-state fitness outing. It is great to have this family support.

Food Poisoning....Bad For Running!!!

After a great run last Saturday, contributing my 8 miles to the family multi-state relay, I decided on pizza for dinner. That proved to be the worst decision I made in my entire time in Tampa while at the Women's Final Four. Sunday morning I woke up around 5am with diarrhea and was unable to keep food in my stomach, losing my dinner out the other end as well. To attempt keeping this clean and not disgusting, I spent the entire day on Sunday this way. I was unable to keep anything in my body. I could not even sip and keep down water--it was bad. Monday morning, needing to get some nutrition, I consumed a Gu Gel pack (Just Plain) and chased it with some water. Afterward I was finally able to attempt resumption of consumption and was able to keep it down. That was at least a good step in the right direction on the road to recovery. My food intake was not great, but it was something. To wrap this up, it was Wednesday evening when I was finally back on track eating somewhat normal and it was Thursday before the diarrhea ceased. Now, you ask why you had to read through all that. The reasoning was that thanks to me getting a case of food poisoning I did not do any running for FIVE days. Unable to provide my body with any necessary nutrition I did not have the energy to sustain any kind of fitness. I was really frustrated with this because I wanted to run again in Tampa. I thoroughly enjoyed the run along the bay. It was very disappointing that I could not do so.

Upon my return home from Tampa I weighed myself. I looked at the scale and was half surprised to see it read 234. Now, I have not seen 234 with me standing on the scale since November 2002. The reason I was only half surprised at this weigh-in is because not having eaten much of anything in three days my body had turned to the stored fat to get me through when I could not eat. This weigh-in meant that I had lost 7 pounds in the 9 days I was on the road traveling. I figured that I would regain some of that weight as soon as I began eating normal again. Here I am two days later and this morning I weighed in at 235 lbs. I am happy with that and that is what I am calling my current weight.

Having food poisoning that prevents me from meeting my running objectives for the week by keeping me off the road for five consecutive days really stinks to say the least. With a full day of eating normal yesterday I finally had the energy to get out there and run today. Reworking my run plan for the week I managed to get in 7.3 miles today in a time of 1:37:09. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 14:37
Mile 2: 12:18
Mile 3: 14:31
Mile 4: 12:32
Mile 5: 12:37
Mile 6: 13:28
Mile 7: 12:39
Mile .3: 4:23 (14:43 pace)

My overall pace for the 7.3 miles was a 13:18. The breakdown here is I walked Mile 1 for warm up. Aside for having to stop for traffic lights and crosswalks I ran the whole Mile 2--that might be why it is my fastest mile to date. Mile 3 I returned to walking. Starting at Mile 4 I ran until I was at about Mile 5.75 when I returned to walking. Wanting to finish strong I went ahead and ran the majority of Mile 7. It is great for me to see these times at what they are, consistency and improvements. For much of my training I was focused more on getting my endurance up for the distances to be covered, not speed. Therefore I was primarily walking, albeit at a fast rate. Now I am trying to transition into actual running and seeing how long I may maintain the steady speed over distance. Ultimately, this will increase the weight loss, thus allowing me to go faster, which in turn allows for more weight loss and then I cycle through it all over again.

With 7.3 miles in the can today, I plan to contribute another 3.3 miles tomorrow during my family's multi-state fitness day and then another 10 miles on Sunday. Last week the family multi-state fitness relay incorporated 15 members totalling more than 46 miles. We now have accumulated more than 20 family members into the mix. Whether we are walking or running, skating (ice hockey) or swimming (water polo), or whatever tickles our fancy, we are all getting out on Saturday to do something that will help get us and keep us fit. The family outpouring for this now weekly event has been tremendous.

Sunday will mark 2 weeks to my first race, The Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon. I am getting excited to finally have a race under my belt, and furthermore, an official time.