JJSB Rundate 15080: Training Weeks 3 & 4 & My first 7 miler

Well, I've gotten a bit behind on this blog.  I intended to blog once every week during this 12 week training plan but with everything else, just fell behind a bit.  Still, I'm pretty please with myself as I've kept up with the blog pretty well so far this year.  At any rate, I'm taking advantage of this post to catch up so to speak as I just finished week 4 of the training plan.

Week #3 went well with some quite decent weather for this time of the year.   My long run for that week was a 6 miler and I was quite satisfied as my pace was 9:37/minute. Still, I didn't pace the entire run quite as well as I would have liked.  I can feel myself constantly improving in strength and endurance and that's a great feeling.

Week #4 started out OK with a fairly warm Tuesday 3 mile run but then our temps dropped and I had to bundle up for the Thursday and Friday runs.  Thursday was a 4 mile pace run which means that you run at the pace that you intend to run the race in.  I'm targeting somewhere between 8:45 - 9:00 minutes/mile.    I actually ran my 5 mile long run on Saturday 3/7 at a faster pace than I intended to.  It's a little more difficult to hold back on the pace as I still have a difficult time considering a 5 mile run as a long run.  Still, I think my pace was in line with the plan to run 30 to 90 seconds/mile slower than my race pace goal.  My 4 mile was around 9:30 min/mile and my race pace goal is between 8:45-9:00 min/mile.  I ran Wednesday's pace run at 9:00 min/mile which is on the high end so I wasn't terribly happy about it but I ran a bit faster at the beginning, I think because it was cold, dreary and rainy and I just wanted to get it over with so that probably slowed me a bit in the second half of the run.  Still, not so bad.  Today's long run was a 7 miler and it was great weather to run in.   Somewhere near 70 degrees and a nice breeze.  I'm supposed to target 30 - 90 seconds per mile over the pace that I plan to run in the race and my 7 mile run today was at 9:00 min/mile and I paced it very well so I was extremely happy with it.

In other running news, my heel pain was virtually gone this week and definitely did not show up at all on my long run today so the Brooks Adrenaline are doing the trick.  I think that they are forcing me to land more on the forefoot and that is what is helping.  Plus, there is just so much spring to these shoes.  But that's a subject for a separate post.

Now, to continue with a review of how I got started running and what I've learned through the past few years.  In the last blog post, I talked about the importance of just getting started.  Once you get started, no matter how slow you start, stay consistent and the improvement will be rapid. 

In this post, I want to talk about hitting mental milestones and how it bolsters not only your running confidence but also your confidence about life in general.

During my marathon training in the summer of 2012, I remember looking at some of the distances on the training schedule and thinking, "That's crazy.  I can't even imagine running that far."  When you've never done that before, it's kind of in the back of your mind that maybe it's not even really possible.   You think, "Sure, many other people have done it, but can I really do it?  The long distances seem so monumental when you haven't been there before.  I had run off an on (mostly off) over the previous 20 years but it had been since 1996 that I had run any distance longer than 2 miles.  I had run between 5 & 6 milers back then but the memory of that experience seemed almost unreal to me 17 years later in 2012.  

So, on June 30, 2012, I was somewhat nervous about the 7 mile run that was on the training schedule for that day. This  would be the longest distance that I had ever run in a single outing.  Nevertheless, I got out there, went slow, and completed 7.31 miles that day.  I remember being so elated that I had run 7 miles.  I had a huge feeling of accomplishment and felt like if I could do this thing that had seemed virtually impossible to me, then I could do so many other things in life that had previously seemed far beyond my capabilities.  That's part of what long distance running does for you: It teaches you that you are capable of far more than you ever thought you were.  I can't overstate how greatly this affected my outlook on the other endeavors in my life.  I mean, that's what a lot of life is about, right?  Just putting one foot in front of the other. Repeat, repeat, repeat, etc.  Just focusing on one step at a time and believing that you can make it.  

After that first 7 miler, every time I hit another mental milestone, it bolstered my confidence a little bit more.  10 miles. 12 miles. Half marathon (13.1 miles), 15 miles.  20 miles! Etc.  It definitely psychologically changed my outlook on life.

Okay, so that's it for this entry. 

Except for the "Song of the Run"

My phone has "chosen" a lot of slow tempo songs lately while I'm running so there were a lot of slower songs on Saturday's 7 mile run.  

Here is one that I hadn't heard in a while but love:

"Paranoid Android" by Radiohead:

More to come next week in my Training Week 5 entry.

Peace My Fellow Runners!

JJSB Rundate 15071: Training Week 2 & My Running Journey Continued

Week #2 of the 12 week half-marathon plan is now complete.  Actually, it was complete several days ago but I've been busy with so many other things that I haven't gotten a chance to blog it out until now.  All this running is getting me back to my former running shape fairly quickly.  I actually ran my 5 mile long run on Saturday 3/7 at a faster pace than I intended to.  It's a little more difficult to hold back on the pace as I still have a difficult time considering a 5 mile run as a long run.  Still, I think my pace was in line with the plan to run 30 to 90 seconds/mile slower than my race pace goal.  My 4 mile was around 9:30/minute and my race pace goal is between 8:45-9:00/minute.

In other running training news, my right heel which I had so much trouble with after picking the wrong new running shoes is doing much better now.  I switched back to the Brooks Adrenaline which is the shoe I used the year that I first started seriously running and those that I ran the 2012 marathon in.  They have reduced my heel pain to the point where it's barely present and will probably soon disappear entirely.

 Now, to continue with a review of how I got started running and what I've learned through the past few years.  In the last blog post, I talked about how I started by using the Myfitnesspal app to lose some weight in the late winter/spring of 2011/2012.  After I had dropped nearly 30 Lbs over the course of a few month, I just kept using MFP and kind of stabilized around 155 Lbs and started thinking about what was next.

One of my friends had begun a long distance running plan and I began to think about becoming a runner myself.  In June 2012, I decided to join my friend and train to run the 2012 KC Marathon.  I would basically be going from no running to running 26.2 miles in a period of approximately 4 1/2 months.  Looking back, I'm still kind of surprised that I actually achieved this goal.  At any rate, on June 5, 2012, I went on my first run which turned out to be a 2.12 mile run at a paced of 13:29 min/mile.  I just ran at a "comfortable" pace and if I got to winded, I took a walk break.  I remember feeling very slow.  VERY SLOW!  But guess what?  My next run was the very next day and I ran for 2.41 miles at a pace of 12:08 min/mile.  A vast improvement in only one day.  One short week and only three runs after that first one and I was running 2.5 miles at a pace of 10:50 min/mile.

All this to say that if you just get started, start slow and stay consistent, the improvement will be rapid.  You'll probably be surprised how quickly you improve, especially at the beginning.  A pace that once made it hard to catch your breath, will eventually seem fairly easy to keep up with.  It's very encouraging.  

So, that it for this blog entry.

Except, of course, for the "Song of the Run" for this past Saturday's long run.

There were a bunch of great songs, but the definite standout came on as I was wrapping up my fifth and final mile.  

One of my favorite bands, British Sea Power with "Lights out for Darker Skies"

"And we were lit by kerosene
And we were lit by acetylene
And we walked under neon skies
You know it made me wonder why

Why all the frequencies combine
And form a cleaner, brighter light
And we filled our florescent sails
It led to sodium-scarred wailing weeks"

More to come next week in my Training Week 3 entry.

Peace My Fellow Runners!

JJSB Rundate 15061: Training Week 1 & How My Running Journey Began

Well, Week #1 of the 12 week half-marathon plan is complete.  I decided to go with the Novice 2 plan because the three days of rest has given me much better results than the more advanced plans in which you only get two.  Plus, I didn't care for all the speed/strength work that was on the advanced plans.

This first week went pretty well, except for the snow that we had on Saturday.  It started snowing earlier than I thought so I was stuck inside.  I don't really like doing the treadmill, so I kind of put it off on Saturday until I could finish getting a TV set up in front of the treadmill.  I was so busy painting nearly all afternoon on Saturday, that I didn't get a chance to get it set up.

So, I set it up on Sunday and did the 4 mile (long run) for the week on that day.  No big deal.

     

This is a 12 week training plan, so I thought that over the next 12 weeks or so, I would talk a little bit about how I got started running and what I've learned through the past few years.

So, back in the fall of 2011, I went to a health fair at the hospital that my wife works for.  They did various testing which included cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.  I was very surprised to find out that my cholesterol along with various other results were high.  I should not have been surprised.  I had gone from being a skinny lean (twiggy?) 17 year old, 129 pound, extremely active high school graduate to being a 42 year old, 182 pound, relatively inactive husband and father of four.  Fifty pounds heavier.  Experiencing way more stress.  Getting little to no cardio exercise.  Bad allergy issues all year round.  These and a host of other factors made for a fairly unhealthy JimmyJames.  

The nurse that gave me my results, said that the only way I would be able to get the cholesterol, etc. under control would be to severely alter my diet.  I don't remember all the specific foods she mentioned, but I do remember her listing off a bunch of stuff and I particularly remember her mentioning cutting cheese out of my diet.  Cheese?  Really?  Not going to happen. 

I've always been an "everything in moderation" type of person, at least in perspective, so I rejected this cutting out of cheese, etc. entirely.

Instead, I began to eat oatmeal everyday because I heard that it was like a miracle reducer of cholesterol.  I didn't really change much else because the holidays were upon us and we all know how eating goes along with Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Enter 2012! 

I began to think more about a game plan on getting healthier.  I decided that a good place to start would be to lose a little weight, with the outlook that once a little weight came off, I would have more energy and a better outlook to begin exercising on a consistent basis.  I had heard about the Myfitnesspal (MFP) program and that it had an app for smartphones, so I decided to give it a shot.  https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I didn't want to try to do a radical diet because, again, I've always had the "everything in moderation" perspective.  I just began using MFP because I knew from past experience that just knowing how many calories I'm taking in each day is eye opening.  And it was!  I realize that the program may not work for everyone, but for me, it was key.  For one thing, if you have a smart phone, just being able to scan bar codes and/or simply search for meals and quickly add the calories to your daily eating diary makes it so easy to keep on track.  Another thing I really liked was the recommended goal of losing approximately one pound per week.  Taking the weight down slow and steady is the way to go.  Of course, many (like me) find that the weight comes off a bit more quickly.  I was about 28lbs lighter after only a couple of months of using MFP.

I can't stress enough, how important losing this weight was for me in regards to becoming a runner.  I know that many people don't need to lose the weight first or can do the weight loss and running programs simultaneously, but from my perspective, if you're above your target weight range, it's best to take off at least 10 pounds, prior to beginning a consistent running training program.  I just think that it gives you that extra edge of confidence and good vibes to get you going on a training plan.

One other thing to mention is that if you're going to use a plan like MFP, you can't go overboard.  That will only make you want to quit.  There were times when I just didn't even bother to track calories.  For instance, if I was at a gathering where there were a lot of snack type foods and a large group of friends, I just didn't get all caught up in tracking every single thing I ate.  These times typically fell on the weekends, so I usually just carefully entered all of my caloric intake during the week and then didn't obsess about it on the weekends.  I still tracked the calories, but if it felt at all tedious, then I just stopped tracking for that day and didn't worry about it. Anyway, there is that piece of advice for whatever it's worth.

So, that's how my running journey began.  Not with running, or even walking, but with a plan to lose some weight and improve my overall health.  

More to come next week in my Training Week 2 entry.

Peace My Fellow Runners!