Alas, poor blog, I have been ignoring you so. I apologize, don't be mad. I'll make it up to you. I'll buy you something pretty.
I know we are knee deep into July, but I feel the need to reflect on last month. It was definitely a full month, and I cannot believe how quickly it went by. For that matter, I cannot believe it is already July 14th, but that is for another time. Easy there people, you're getting ahead of yourselves.
In June we officially gave up on trying to sell our house in Ohio. It had been on and off the market for a year and a half. Since June of last year it has been vacant, meaning we were literally throwing money away paying for utilities, jacked up insurance (because it was vacant), and mortgage. I used a recommendation from one of my friends who rented her house when she moved, and hired a property manager. One week after hiring them to find a renter and manage our property, a renter had been found. By late June, they had moved in. The heavens rejoiced. Sure, there have been a couple of minor headaches since then, but we've already seen positive cash flow. And that is all that really matters, money.
June also brought our 1 year anniversary of moving back to St. Louis. While we are extremely happy to be back with our friends and family here, and I love my job, there are times that we really miss Columbus. Renting our house was bittersweet. We loved that house, even though it had many imperfections. Now when we visit Columbus, we'll either have to get a hotel or ask to sleep on someones couch.
Training-wise, June was an up and down month. Mid-June I officially began my marathon training. My mileage for June was nearly the exact same as May (0.1 mile less). It should have been more, but I blame the blistering heat. Actually I blame the humidity. Or just overall lack of training. Likely a combination. I really love my Garmin Forerunner that I received for Father's day/Birthday. I found a way to upload the data to Runkeeper to keep Jamie happy. The poor sap is lost without me.
I've realized that my overall life is relatively boring, and there isn't much to write about on a regular basis. I'll try to do better with updates, but my posts are much more likely to be mundane and boring. Unlike this one, which is frickin' gold.
-Doc
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
I run so fast, I got a speeding ticket
As we neared the last leg of our journey, sweat dripping down our faces, the heat of the sun and weariness of our legs threatened to slow our pace. "I can't..." he said, wearily. "I can't go on any more. Leave me, go on without me..." His voice trailed off, too weak to speak. "No way," I said, renewed with determination. "We're doing this... together." The end was in sight. A crowd had gathered, we could see worried faces in the distance. As our legs somehow kept our feet slapping rhythmically against the hard concrete, we hear the crowd cheering. We cross the finish, the wave of accomplishment overcoming us. "We did it..." he panted, his voice barely above a whisper. Older women are weeping, younger women are throwing phone numbers written on underwear at us....
... ok, so this may be the highly dramatized version of my friend Jamie and my run last Saturday. I'm sure a movie will be made on our run based on this excerpt I wrote. I'm looking at you Hollywood. You can mail me the academy award. Our actual run was rather unexciting. Though, I did run so fast a cop gave me a speeding ticket. Well, he says it was for driving 15 mph over the speed limit (on the way to the park to run), but I think what he really meant was he was giving me the ticket because he knew how fast I was going to be running.
Overall, it was a very good run with Jamie. My concerns that I had brought up in my last post were nonexistent. We completed 6 miles at a pace of 9:50 per mile. Both of us felt pretty good about that pace. I really started feeling it about the 5 mile mark, but was able to finish with only minor difficulty.
Yesterday I got a new toy! My wife and daughter got me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for a combined Father's day/birthday present, and decided to give it to me yesterday rather than tomorrow (I'll let Susan tell the story). When it comes to Father's day, everyone knows that the rule is, the more expensive the gift is, the better the father you are. Period. End of story. Pretty obvious that expensive gift = love. In my mind, the decision to buy happened via a conversation between my wife and daughter that went something like this:
Hailey: You know Mom, Father's Day is coming up. We need to get Dad a present.
Susan: You're right, what should we get him?
Hailey: Well, he is the best Dad there is, providing so much for his family and incredibly loving and caring.
Susan: You're right, and he is also incredibly good looking and great in... um, never mind Hailey... So, what should we get him, a new laptop?
Hailey: Wait, wait, wait... lets not get carried away here mom... He isn't THAT awesome.
Susan: How about that GPS watch he wants?
Hailey: Bingo.
Yes, my daughter is only 17 months-old, but I'm still pretty sure this is how the conversation went. So, I went for my first run with it today and it is frickin' AWESOME! Garmin has its own run tracking software, so now I have a few decisions to make. 1 - do I continue to post runs to facebook and annoy my friends? This used to automatically happen via runkeeper, but now I will have to actively "share" my runs via the Garmin software. 2 - do I continue to track my runs in runkeeper? I can export the data and then import it into runkeeper... but I'm not sure why I would do this... so probably not.
So... running is going well, Cardinals are sucking bad, football is still on strike (or locked out, or whatever), and work is good. That about sums up my life right now!
-Doc
... ok, so this may be the highly dramatized version of my friend Jamie and my run last Saturday. I'm sure a movie will be made on our run based on this excerpt I wrote. I'm looking at you Hollywood. You can mail me the academy award. Our actual run was rather unexciting. Though, I did run so fast a cop gave me a speeding ticket. Well, he says it was for driving 15 mph over the speed limit (on the way to the park to run), but I think what he really meant was he was giving me the ticket because he knew how fast I was going to be running.
Overall, it was a very good run with Jamie. My concerns that I had brought up in my last post were nonexistent. We completed 6 miles at a pace of 9:50 per mile. Both of us felt pretty good about that pace. I really started feeling it about the 5 mile mark, but was able to finish with only minor difficulty.
Yesterday I got a new toy! My wife and daughter got me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for a combined Father's day/birthday present, and decided to give it to me yesterday rather than tomorrow (I'll let Susan tell the story). When it comes to Father's day, everyone knows that the rule is, the more expensive the gift is, the better the father you are. Period. End of story. Pretty obvious that expensive gift = love. In my mind, the decision to buy happened via a conversation between my wife and daughter that went something like this:
Hailey: You know Mom, Father's Day is coming up. We need to get Dad a present.
Susan: You're right, what should we get him?
Hailey: Well, he is the best Dad there is, providing so much for his family and incredibly loving and caring.
Susan: You're right, and he is also incredibly good looking and great in... um, never mind Hailey... So, what should we get him, a new laptop?
Hailey: Wait, wait, wait... lets not get carried away here mom... He isn't THAT awesome.
Susan: How about that GPS watch he wants?
Hailey: Bingo.
Yes, my daughter is only 17 months-old, but I'm still pretty sure this is how the conversation went. So, I went for my first run with it today and it is frickin' AWESOME! Garmin has its own run tracking software, so now I have a few decisions to make. 1 - do I continue to post runs to facebook and annoy my friends? This used to automatically happen via runkeeper, but now I will have to actively "share" my runs via the Garmin software. 2 - do I continue to track my runs in runkeeper? I can export the data and then import it into runkeeper... but I'm not sure why I would do this... so probably not.
So... running is going well, Cardinals are sucking bad, football is still on strike (or locked out, or whatever), and work is good. That about sums up my life right now!
-Doc
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Its getting hot out here!
Please don't take off your clothes. The people around may look at you funny if you did. Or maybe they wouldn't? In fact, go ahead, take 'em off. You can thank me later for the good time you are about to have.
So anyway, its regularly hitting the high 90s around here in the StL. Add 80% humidity and what you have is me melting into a puddle of sweaty goo around mile two. Awesome. I am officially in my (extended) training schedule, meaning the marathon is 20 weeks away. Nice.
As mentioned last post, today I wanted to touch on the topic of running with other people. Running buddies, if you will, but don't. To me, running with other people can be a mixed bag. On one hand, the company can be nice to have and keep you motivated to continue on. On the other hand, if you run with someone who is much faster, or much slower than you, it can be detrimental.
If you are the slower runner, your options are to try to run faster - wearing yourself out quicker and possibly getting angry at the faster runner for being better, or to force the faster runner to match your speed - ultimately feeling bad for holding them back. If you are the faster runner, you can slow down - resenting your partner for hindering your run, or keep your pace - and ultimately have to carry the heaving, wheezing, lump of quivering muscles that your friend will become.
Sure, this portrayal may be slightly dramatic, but the idea behind it is a solid one. I remember when Susan and I were starting our half marathon training way back when. At first, we would run together and all was good. Over time, my pace improved. When I would run alone I would feel like I had really good runs. When running with Susan, I didn't feel like I was getting all I could out of my run.
This weekend I plan on running with my friend Jamie (@speedymick). Jamie is a much better runner than I. He's in much better shape and has already run one marathon (not to his full ability, true). He probably weighs 50 lbs and a strong wind would blow him away. My pace the past few weeks has been lacking, so this may end up being a painful run. Hopefully I don't slow him down too much. Probably will. Either way, we will be two hot and sweaty dudes.
-Doc
So anyway, its regularly hitting the high 90s around here in the StL. Add 80% humidity and what you have is me melting into a puddle of sweaty goo around mile two. Awesome. I am officially in my (extended) training schedule, meaning the marathon is 20 weeks away. Nice.
As mentioned last post, today I wanted to touch on the topic of running with other people. Running buddies, if you will, but don't. To me, running with other people can be a mixed bag. On one hand, the company can be nice to have and keep you motivated to continue on. On the other hand, if you run with someone who is much faster, or much slower than you, it can be detrimental.
If you are the slower runner, your options are to try to run faster - wearing yourself out quicker and possibly getting angry at the faster runner for being better, or to force the faster runner to match your speed - ultimately feeling bad for holding them back. If you are the faster runner, you can slow down - resenting your partner for hindering your run, or keep your pace - and ultimately have to carry the heaving, wheezing, lump of quivering muscles that your friend will become.
Sure, this portrayal may be slightly dramatic, but the idea behind it is a solid one. I remember when Susan and I were starting our half marathon training way back when. At first, we would run together and all was good. Over time, my pace improved. When I would run alone I would feel like I had really good runs. When running with Susan, I didn't feel like I was getting all I could out of my run.
This weekend I plan on running with my friend Jamie (@speedymick). Jamie is a much better runner than I. He's in much better shape and has already run one marathon (not to his full ability, true). He probably weighs 50 lbs and a strong wind would blow him away. My pace the past few weeks has been lacking, so this may end up being a painful run. Hopefully I don't slow him down too much. Probably will. Either way, we will be two hot and sweaty dudes.
-Doc
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Sorry, can't work today, running
I've discovered what may be the downfall of my training: work. Being a hospitalist my hours are varied, having day, evening, and night shifts. I seem to mostly work evening shifts, and I'm completely fine with this. I am not a morning person. I prefer sleeping in a bit, working in the afternoon, and then going to bed after midnight. True, this schedule does not fit in well with having a 17 month-old and a wife, but I make it work best we can.
As I am finding out, working the evening shifts also works better for my running schedule. Running before work = awesome. Running after work = sucks. I've been on day shifts this week, and after waking up early, sitting in traffic getting to work, running around the ER for 8 hours w/o stopping to eat/drink/urinate, then sitting in traffic on the way home from work, I've found my legs have been less than ready for a good run. I set out for a three mile run on Tuesday and after 2 miles my legs just wouldn't go any further. I wanted to make up for the loss of mileage and so I ran 5 yesterday rather than 4, but my pace was horrendous. 11:30/mile? Really?
I'll have to push through best I can, but this is just the pre-training running. I'm envisioning a long day of work and then having to come home and run 8-10 miles and my heart sinks a bit. I'll probably end up having to wake up extra early and running before work, and the thought of that makes me die a bit inside. I repeat, I am not a morning person.
On a side note, according to my records, I ran 63.9 miles last month! That is 20 more miles than I did in April. I'm on a regimen of 3/4/3/6 until my training officially starts on 6/20 (which technically begins at 3/3/3/6) - so I should hit around 70-75 miles for June.
-Doc
Next topic: Running with friends
As I am finding out, working the evening shifts also works better for my running schedule. Running before work = awesome. Running after work = sucks. I've been on day shifts this week, and after waking up early, sitting in traffic getting to work, running around the ER for 8 hours w/o stopping to eat/drink/urinate, then sitting in traffic on the way home from work, I've found my legs have been less than ready for a good run. I set out for a three mile run on Tuesday and after 2 miles my legs just wouldn't go any further. I wanted to make up for the loss of mileage and so I ran 5 yesterday rather than 4, but my pace was horrendous. 11:30/mile? Really?
I'll have to push through best I can, but this is just the pre-training running. I'm envisioning a long day of work and then having to come home and run 8-10 miles and my heart sinks a bit. I'll probably end up having to wake up extra early and running before work, and the thought of that makes me die a bit inside. I repeat, I am not a morning person.
On a side note, according to my records, I ran 63.9 miles last month! That is 20 more miles than I did in April. I'm on a regimen of 3/4/3/6 until my training officially starts on 6/20 (which technically begins at 3/3/3/6) - so I should hit around 70-75 miles for June.
-Doc
Next topic: Running with friends
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tired legs
I think today I hit a wall. I had planned to run 5 or 6 miles with my friend Jamie today. However, strong weather changed our plan, and I ended up doing a neighborhood run by myself this afternoon.
I figured a nice 4 miles would be an easy run for today. 2.5 miles in, however, I hit my first wall of this training. My legs felt like they had 10 pound weights on them and I was running in mud. I finished 3.7 miles in 39 minutes. A disheartening run, to say the least.
I remember days like this from my previous training. I equate it to a major league pitcher going through a "dead arm" period. Young pitchers aren't used to pitching as many innings as they do in the majors, and near the end of the season their arm is just too fatigued to be effective.
Hopefully this is just an isolated event, but I fear I may need to shut it down for a few days. My 3 mile run tomorrow hopefully will be a better one.
-Doc
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Catch up!
Wow, two blog posts in and I'm already slacking big time... 2 weeks since last post, for shame! A lot has happened since last post, so allow me to catch you up to speed.
At the end of my last post I was trying to decide whether or not to run an impromptu 5k, and ultimately I decided there was no reason not to. I highly recommend that anyone who wants to run or walk a 5k, to check out Karen for a Kause in St. Charles. It was very well put together, and had a great turn out. I met up with my old vintage base ball buddy Flash (http://www.runningteamflash/) and his wife. They are both avid runners, running this 5k after running a marathon the weekend before (Kathy did the half). Performance wise was less than ideal - I finished just under 30 minutes. I think I started too quickly and was tired even before the 1 mile mark (never a good sign when you see the one mile mark and say out loud, "Its only been one mile?!?") Ultimately I found my stride, and it turned out a decent run.
Since then, my running has continued in a somewhat maintainance phase. Typically between 3 and 4 miles 4 times per week. I've started encorporating long runs on the weekend, and my first 5 mile run went great.
Last week Susan and I took the train up to Chicago and had a mini-vacation (2 days) before we helped our friends Brian and Melanie move back to St. Louis. We walked/ran around a good portion of Chicago and had a great time. Then I had to carry boxes down 3 flights of stairs about 100 times. That was not so fun. Note to self: when your legs are so tired and sore that you can barely move them, don't try to run 5 miles. Ouch.
Other than that, same old, same old. I had gotten my hopes up to run the Chicago half-marathon in September as a training run for my full, but it is already full. Susan and I were invited to join a group running the bourbon chase, an overnight 100 mile run split between 12 team members. (http://kybourbontrail.com/index.php/events/2011_bourbon_chase/) Sounds fun, so we may set some time aside for that. Mistake? Probably.
-Doc
At the end of my last post I was trying to decide whether or not to run an impromptu 5k, and ultimately I decided there was no reason not to. I highly recommend that anyone who wants to run or walk a 5k, to check out Karen for a Kause in St. Charles. It was very well put together, and had a great turn out. I met up with my old vintage base ball buddy Flash (http://www.runningteamflash/) and his wife. They are both avid runners, running this 5k after running a marathon the weekend before (Kathy did the half). Performance wise was less than ideal - I finished just under 30 minutes. I think I started too quickly and was tired even before the 1 mile mark (never a good sign when you see the one mile mark and say out loud, "Its only been one mile?!?") Ultimately I found my stride, and it turned out a decent run.
 |
| Kathy, Flash, and I |
Last week Susan and I took the train up to Chicago and had a mini-vacation (2 days) before we helped our friends Brian and Melanie move back to St. Louis. We walked/ran around a good portion of Chicago and had a great time. Then I had to carry boxes down 3 flights of stairs about 100 times. That was not so fun. Note to self: when your legs are so tired and sore that you can barely move them, don't try to run 5 miles. Ouch.
Other than that, same old, same old. I had gotten my hopes up to run the Chicago half-marathon in September as a training run for my full, but it is already full. Susan and I were invited to join a group running the bourbon chase, an overnight 100 mile run split between 12 team members. (http://kybourbontrail.com/index.php/events/2011_bourbon_chase/) Sounds fun, so we may set some time aside for that. Mistake? Probably.
-Doc
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Running Helpers
First, a quick mind blowing fact. The current world record time for a marathon (men's division) is 2:03:59 (Berlin Marathon 2008). That is 25 minutes better than my PR for a HALF marathon. That is averaging about 4:44 per mile for 26.2 miles. (Expletive deleted)!
And now, to further blow your mind with cuteness.
Now, the brainwashing can begin...
When you think of running, the list of things you need seems simple. Shoes (recommended), clothes (optional?), ground (otherwise, you'd be flying). However, there are a few additional items you can bring along to enhance your training. I've only used a few (I'm a newb, remember), thus my ability to comment is limited. So sue me.
Previously I've used (and Susan still uses) a product called Nike+iPod (http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/). At first, this fairly inexpensive device seems eloquently simple and useful. In all nike running shoes there is a hidden compartment where you can place a sensor. This sensor recognizes when either a running stride or a walking step is taken. You calibrate it for your stride, and it transmit data to your iPod to track distance, time, etc. Brilliant, right? Maybe for some people it is. I call those people freaks. And I judge them. I'm judging them right now.
The problem with this product for me is a simple one: not all strides are equal. They should be, sure. The perfect runner stays at an even pace with every stride of equal distance with an ever constant pace. My stride starts great, but as my out-of-shape lumbering body tires I pathetically try to get my legs to continue on and my stride changes. Long story short - the distance was never accurate. Susan and I would calibrate each of ours, then run and by the end I would be about a mile ahead of her for the long runs.
After ditching that device, I went even more high-tech: my smart phone. Got to love android apps. Running? There's an app for that! I currently use RunKeeper (www.runkeeper.com) (much to the chagrin many of my facebook friends), and I love it. This application uses your phone's GPS to track your distance, time, pace - and then uploads it to your facebook and twitter status as well as the runkeeper website itself to keep track of your personal records. Pretty darned good.
Ultimately, I think I may break down and by a Garmin running watch (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142). This is because I don't think my phone's battery will last during my long runs. We will just have to see as my distance increases. If anyone knows of any other items they use when running, let me know. I love gadgets.
As far as training, I'm itching to get into my training program. Still have a few more weeks, though, so I've just been running 3-4 miles 4-5 times per week. Likely to increase it to 3-5 miles. My pace has noticeably increased from when I started back running. I used to average 11 minutes per mile on only 2 miles, now I can average under 10 minutes a mile on my 3 mile runs. I may enter a 5k this weekend, still have about an hour to decide for sure... we'll see.
-Doc
And now, to further blow your mind with cuteness.
Now, the brainwashing can begin...
When you think of running, the list of things you need seems simple. Shoes (recommended), clothes (optional?), ground (otherwise, you'd be flying). However, there are a few additional items you can bring along to enhance your training. I've only used a few (I'm a newb, remember), thus my ability to comment is limited. So sue me.
Previously I've used (and Susan still uses) a product called Nike+iPod (http://www.apple.com/ipod/nike/). At first, this fairly inexpensive device seems eloquently simple and useful. In all nike running shoes there is a hidden compartment where you can place a sensor. This sensor recognizes when either a running stride or a walking step is taken. You calibrate it for your stride, and it transmit data to your iPod to track distance, time, etc. Brilliant, right? Maybe for some people it is. I call those people freaks. And I judge them. I'm judging them right now.
The problem with this product for me is a simple one: not all strides are equal. They should be, sure. The perfect runner stays at an even pace with every stride of equal distance with an ever constant pace. My stride starts great, but as my out-of-shape lumbering body tires I pathetically try to get my legs to continue on and my stride changes. Long story short - the distance was never accurate. Susan and I would calibrate each of ours, then run and by the end I would be about a mile ahead of her for the long runs.
After ditching that device, I went even more high-tech: my smart phone. Got to love android apps. Running? There's an app for that! I currently use RunKeeper (www.runkeeper.com) (much to the chagrin many of my facebook friends), and I love it. This application uses your phone's GPS to track your distance, time, pace - and then uploads it to your facebook and twitter status as well as the runkeeper website itself to keep track of your personal records. Pretty darned good.
Ultimately, I think I may break down and by a Garmin running watch (https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=142). This is because I don't think my phone's battery will last during my long runs. We will just have to see as my distance increases. If anyone knows of any other items they use when running, let me know. I love gadgets.
As far as training, I'm itching to get into my training program. Still have a few more weeks, though, so I've just been running 3-4 miles 4-5 times per week. Likely to increase it to 3-5 miles. My pace has noticeably increased from when I started back running. I used to average 11 minutes per mile on only 2 miles, now I can average under 10 minutes a mile on my 3 mile runs. I may enter a 5k this weekend, still have about an hour to decide for sure... we'll see.
-Doc
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