I hate the winter

For some reason New Mexico goes from Summer to Winter overnight.  This means I have to really psych myself up each morning before I go running.  Not only do I need to dress warmer but it takes more time to get ready.  I've never been able to run well without  music so putting on a wool hat to cover my ears is awful.  I try to just wear a regular hat and put ear covers on.  I look absolutely ridiculous but it works for me.  The other thing that always happens with winter running is shin splints.  This is normally a cold weather injury and I can usually prevent it with potassium but I am having a hard time this year after the marathon.  If it were safer to ride a bike I would probably do some biking instead of running for a few weeks.  The people in this city are crazy and I think they may actually aim for bikers.

Weather Stinks...

It happens every year the weather turns cold.  As a runner this is the worst thing because you have to transition from shorts to spandex.  There is nothing worse then running in spandex pants, especially in cold weather.  My rule of thumb is anything under 40 degrees requires spandex pants and anything above 40 you can still wear shorts as long as you wear a warm base.  I'm not sure why my legs don't ever get as cold as my core. 

This is the time of year where runners disappear inside the gym and are not to be seen again until March.  You can always tell the more serious runners because they are willing to run at 5:30am, without light, and in the frigid weather.  I always think to myself that I am able to run comfortably 8 months out of the year and 4 months I suffer.  I will run through almost any condition with one exception, ice.  It is just too dangerous to run in the snow and I have fallen many times in the past so if ice exists then I just wont even try.  A few years back I slipped on the ice and cut my leg but I kept going.  When I got back home my shoe was filled with blood.  That is the problem with cold, you cant fully feel your extremities.  I remember telling the doctor in the emergency room and they were shocked that I didn't feel it.  For now I wont need to worry about ice but I still have to deal with the cold.

Snakes are not good...

With any Saturday my day starts with my weekly long run.  My schedule called for 9:00 minute miles and I felt good enough to go for 18.  No major issues with the run but around mile 12 I found a guy collapsed.  Today I decided to run up La Luz and do some additional running on the trails at the top of the mountain.  

On one the access trails a guy was collapsed and grunting.  I stopped to see what was going on and he had been bitten by a snake.  He had no idea what kind it was but it was apparently a bad bite.  My wife makes me run with GPS watch and a phone if I'm going to be on the trails.  I had to run back about a half mile to get a good signal but I was able to call the ranger station.  Actually,  I called my wife and she called the police who in turn called the ranger station.  I was able to tell them exactly where we were due to the GPS (best $285 ever spent).  Within about 20 minutes we were joined by the rangers who were on horseback.  This man who had been bitten was already look bad by the time they got there.  They asked me to run back out and wait for the helicopter, which arrived before I made it out of the trail.  They airlifted him from the mountain to the hospital. 

I've known many runners who use gators when they run because it protects there legs.  I have only seen a snake a few times and they have nover once bothered me.  This fellow, Jack, happened to step on the snake and was immediately bitten.  Note to self:  buy some gators before I do another trail run.   The forest rangers said he should be okay because we caught the bite quickly after it happened.  The biggest concern was his core temperature which had dropped due to sitting on the ground on the top of the mountain.

Night Running

This week presented some challenges for me at work and school.  Being a computer programmer is great until you come to weeks where people begin testing.  Testers love to tell you how awful your software is and how if they had done it, it would have been done differently.  I love to point out the fact that they didnt do it because they dont know how.  With all this testing going on my running schedule has been modified.   Since the majority of our testing team is in the Netherlands I had to fly there.  Europe is a great place but I miss my family.  My running ended up taking place at around 11pm.  I'm fairly comfortable running through Amstelveen because I have been there so many times.  This night in particualr causes me problems.  I decided to run 10 miles.  In the process of this run I got myself lost in a foreign country without any ID, wearing a headlamp and running spandex.  The police finally picked me up and after a lengthy explanation they gave me a ride to the hotel.   I'm sure they think Americans are crazy.  I decided at that point that it would be wise to know exactly where I was going and to carry ID with me. 

I explained I was running and they were completely perplexed as to why.  They explained how to use public transportation and instead of trying to explain to them why I was doing it I just accepted it.   My 10 mile adventure took me me about 14 miles and 3 hours to actually get back to the hotel.  Being dropped off at the hotel at 2am by the police didnt exactly sit well with the hotel staff. 

The satisfaction has worn off

It never ceases to amaze me that the days after a marathon are depressing.  All the time spent training was well worth it but the week after reminds you physically about the pain you are in from running the distance as well as the mental dispair about what to do next.  I've always felt that the reason for this is you just proved to yourself and the world that you can run a marathon, so whats next?  It takes about 4-6 weeks to actually repair all the damage you did to your body during a marathon.  People might say they feel fine in about a week but their body tells a different story.  I have run many marathons and countless number of half-marathons so I am going to try the ultimate in running, the ultramarathon. 

The only way to describe the ultramarathon is the distance is anything greater then a marathon.  A marathon is an amazing distance to run to begin with but the typical ultramarathon is 100 miles.  I have read books by ultra-runners who describe the challenge.  You are normally allowed a pacer after mile 60 in a ultramarathon and I remember reading a passage in a book about this.  He left a ntoe for his pacer to constantly remind him that no matter how much pain he is in it is one day of his life and that tomorrow he can rest.  The comment has always stuck with me, not exactly sure why. 

Since this is my first ultra I have decided to run 50 miles instead of the full 100.  That is approximately 2 marathons without stopping and I have to be done within 12 hours.  If I can run the marathon in 4 hours it will take me 8 hours to do this.  However the pain I will be in for the last 25 miles will slow me down greatly.  I can assume that I will finish in roughly 10 hours. In those 10 hours I loose approximately 125 calories per mile so at the end of the race I will be negative 6250 calories which means I need to take in at least 3000 calories while I am running otherwise I will become extremely ill.  In this situation it calls for processed food like twinkies.  I wouldnt reccomed that runners start eating twinkies but in this type of event the more calories I can get into my body the better I will do. 

Day of the Marathon

I feel accomplished that I finished the marathon but like every marathon i've run i'm paying the price physically for the run.  Official time was 3 hours 51 minutes 21 seconds (3:51:22).  I'm very satisfied with the time although I dont run for the time I only run to finish.  The day of the marathon for me is the most exciting because all the training you have done is culminated into a single day.  Luckily the morning was cool so the run was enjoyable up to about mile 22.  I struggled at the end and did do some walking the last few miles,  I staggered my run to walk every quarter mile after 22.  It happens every marathon that I start out too fast and my legs end up paying the price.  Just like the rest when I got home I couldnt walk upstairs, my legs have cramped up so badly that just getting through the day is enough.

Even though I'm in a fair amount of pain it was completely worth it.  Nothing can compare to finishing a marathon.  A couple of toes may have been broken along the way but we will wait to find out on this until tomorrow.   To put my time in perspective to what the best runners, at least for Duke City have run.  They finished in roughly 2:30.  My heart rate never rose above 160 the entire distance and met several really helpful runners.  It is at the end of each marathon that I think, what is my next race?  For now, I think I will enjoy about 4 days off of running before I make a commitment to anything else this year.  Im completely overtended with work and school to even think about it.  I figure by Wednesday or Thursday I will have found the next one which helps me set goals and stay healthy.  I burned roughly 3000 calories and lost 6 pounds, which is obviously water weight but tonight I will eat what I want and go to bed early.

Running through the pain...

The midst of pushing the mileage back has begun.  Typically we throttle down mileage in the weeks before the marathon.  Im not totally sure if it helps but i've always done it.  However, on a 5 mile run today I stepped wrong and put my foot right into a metal spike.  It sliced my foot up pretty good so by the time I got back home my foot was in bad shape.  45 minutes later I was in the emergency room and they stitched me up but what they found was a torn ligament on the top of the foot.  Surgery is evident for this but we can see if this will allow me to get through the run and have surgery done after. 

Its always odd when you hurt yourself and really dont feel like you have done anything.  I try to watch very carefully how to not hurt myself but it does happen from time to time. 

Wanting to Run or Needing to Run

I am as one might expect the atypical personality of a runner.  I had a job where I traveled every week to see clients and because of that I was always in an airport or hotel.  About 4 years ago I allowed my weight to balloon up to around 350lbs.  It was at this point that I decided to exercise and eat better.  Initially, within the first month I lost about 50 lbs and then things slowed down.  I began running on the treadmill and I got the funniest looks from people (if you have ever seen a 300 lb man run you would understand).  I devised my own plan for losing weight and it primarily was protein shakes and nothing else.

Within 90 days  I had lost 100 more lbs and was able to run much quicker and more efficiently.  Over the course of the next 60 days or so I dropped to 160 lbs where I stayed for a long time.  There were periods where I would gain 10 -15  lbs and then lose it again (primarily the winter months where I couldnt run outside as much as I wanted to).  Each week I begin by looking at what I need to accomplish and think to myself what I did to lose that weight.  I will be honest in saying that it was easier for me to lose the weight then others, maybe a genetic abnormality. 

I run each day because I both want to run and need to run.  I hear runners talking about this so called runners high which I have never been exposed too.  I feel like I've accomplished something when I'm done with my run and therefore it is important for me to start my day with a minimum of 5 miles.  I am living proof that you can be a reformed fat guy turned runner.

Weekly Distance

4 weeks until the marathon and this was a successful training week.  My long run was 28.4 miles which is about 2 miles over the marathon distance.  Many training programs never have you run the entire distance and I think this is a huge mistake.  Ive always felt that you can make it through the marathon once you get to mile 22 but you will hurt unless your used to running the enitre distance.  I wanted to run 30 miles but i was short on time and I started hurting around mile 24. 

I received a comment from someone on why I run.  I thought that was interesting and never really thought about it.  I see people that have a difficult time running and i'm no different but I think I have a genetic disposition to it.  Its important for me that my children see how I strive to be as healthy as I can.  Too many children anymore are severely obese and I wont let that happen to my kids.  Recently I was in the Netherlands on a business trip and someone asked me where I was from.  I told them I was from the U.S. and they laughed and said "no way".  They continued to tell me that everyone from the U.S. is overwieght and has no appreciation for exercise, they immediately assumed I was from Canada.  I think that to answer the question as to why I run, I would say that I run to remain healthy and to demonstrate to my family how important that is.  I will clearly never win any races but going the distance is more important to me than actually winning the race.  As a result of my running my children will have a healthy appreciation for exercise and their own eating habits.

Running through the pain

This was a difficult week of training.  After my 22 mile jaunt last weekend I was fairly sore and my legs were tight.  In the spirit of things I had a calmer week.  I spent a good deal of time cross training in order to prepare for the next week.  I took the advice of another runner and had accupuncture done on my legs.  It could be mental but the accupuncture worked wonders.  I cant say enough good things about accupuncture.  Im not a fan of needles but it seemed to work.

This is what I need to accomplish this week.  I need to run 14 miles on Monday,  & Wednesday and on Saturday I will repeat my marathon mileage (26 miles).  Once i'm through this mileage I will taper down for Duke City Marathon. 

A friend convinced me to train for an ultra-marathon.  This distance is something more then i've ever done but I thought I would go for it.  I will be running 50 miles (yes this is non-stop) in January.  Im not sure if my body is physically ready for this and my wife thinks im insane to even try.  Some part of me wants to try this so that I may prove that I can do this.  For right now I want to focus on a decent marathon then I will set my goals a bit further.

I read a book once about a guy who would run these 100 miles races about once a month.  He claimed his body became accustomed to running the distance.  I think people like this have some type of sickness.  Physiologically, I believe some people have won the genetic lottery in terms of physical ability.  Im clearly not one of those people but I would like to at least try to see what I can do.

Marathon - long run

Each year I prep to run 2 marathons, one in the spring and one in the fall.  With work projects my training was cut short this year.  Recently I read an article on the Runners World web site, article on late entry.  Since I normally run each about 6 miles a day and have done many half-marathons I thought I would give this a shot.  In order to test the water (so to speak) I decided to run 22 miles in order to make sure I still have the legs to do the distance.

Everything started off well.  I consumed my pre-run ritual of oatmeal and coffee.  I began running at 7am and ran on the nature trail from Alameda to Bridge and back.  I set my pace back to to 9:30 a mile in order to be sure I could cover the distance.  Once I left the halfway point at mile 14 I started feeling tired.  I started questioning whether I could do this. I struggled through the next 5 miles and got a second wind around mile 20.   The last 4 miles felt good and at the end of the day I put in 24.3 miles, 2 miles short of marathon distance.

The question at this point is not how well I run this marathon but if I can actually do it.  On race day I can struggle through a couple miles to finish but is it worth it? My body was pushed to the limit and i'm not sure how much stress I should put on it.  There is 5 weeks to the marathon so in my next post i'll focus on my recovery and nutrition.

Comment about website content

I am an engineer who works with developing B2B software.  This link http://www-2000.ibm.com/partnerworld/pwhome.nsf/weblook/pub_ben_valuepack.html represents a project which I work on.  Specifically we have made improvements to demonstrate what advantages we offer.  I've never thought to critique the contents but now that i'm being asked I can see areas that can be signifigantly improved with respect to content.

Here is an intersting point.  I develop software for business partners and no where within the benefits section do we ever mention this.  This is an enormous advantage.  We currently make the account executives follow up with this type of information to disseminate to the the business parter.  From a marketing persepctive this is awful, we should be advertising this type of activity to demonstrate how involved we are.  Instead we pursue such a formal route of communication.

Who am I?  A question for the ages I suppose.  I think I would best describe myself as a devoted father and husband.  Hobbies,  I can think of one, Running.  I do enjoy to run, I suppose its a sort of genetic disposition that allows me to run but it keeps me healthy and I am to complete 2 marathons each year.  Finish school to me is primary goal.  I have a great job and want to keep it so with very few hours left i'm almost done.  I cant begin to explain how exciting that is.  Its only taken 15 years to complete (most would be a doctor by now).