Run Your Heart Out...

The Alaska Heart Run (5k) is a charity fundraiser for the Alaska chapter of the American Heart Association. Every year the event gets bigger and bigger and this year was no exception. With almost 6,000 participants raising more than $200.000, it was a great success.

The Heart Run is the start of a season of runs across the state and a testimony to all my winter training. This year I finished with two personal records… one for fastest pace and the other for overall time. I finished in 21:24 with a pace of 6:54. It felt incredible.

The 3.1 mile course stretches across the UAA and APU college campus with only one hill. As we came to the first mile there was a volunteer shouting out the time, “seven oh four, seven oh seven” and so on. I knew at that point I was pacing fairly well. I just didn’t know how well.

By this point I had identified a couple of people that were running just a little stronger than me. They kept a pace that pushed me to keep going, I wanted to beat them. I wanted to put them behind me and a few times I did. There was this one guy who was running in front of me that I just had to pass.

He was running strong, but everything about him hurt my eyes. He had the worse form but it didn’t seem to bother him, nor did it slow him down. He had a week left ankle that seemed to roll with every step. He was hunched over at the shoulders and had a large arch in his back. He came down with a thud on his heels as he lingered just in front of me always blocking my path around him. I was going crazy thinking that this guy was beating me.

We played a back and fourth game for the first 2 miles and then all that bad form caught up to him and I could tell he was getting tired. I made my move and never looked back. I don’t know what his name was or his overall time, but I do know I finished ahead of him.

I saw him later after we had both completed the 5k race. I wanted to go up to him and tell him what a great job he did, but in my head it just sounded so smug. I didn’t want to come across as and a-hole, so I just gave him the congratulatory nod. He did the same in return.

Now onto the other person I had my eyes set on. She was an older female maybe in her late 30’s early 40’s. You could tell she was no rooky at this running thing. She had excellent form and never seemed to be out of breath. We paced each other several times. She always seemed to move ahead of me with minimal effort. Several times she got far enough ahead of me that I lost her in the crowed.

We approached the finish line in the same group of 12 or so people. When we came around the corner and no one got excited I yelled out to go and began pumping my legs and arms as hard and fast as I could. I just barley passed the woman to finish seconds ahead of her.

As I tried to catch my breath with my already burning lungs, I felt a heave come up from deep in my gut. I ran over to where no one would see and gave up a victory-puke.

It was a great race and one I look forward to next year. If the rest of the season is at all as good as this run I am in for an incredible summer of fun.

The Alaskan weather has been just amazing. I can’t help but take full advantage of it by running every chance I get. A few things to note about running in an urban setting, the road hazards can be extremely dangerous.

While the bike trails are still snow covered I have had to take my running to the main trails that run alongside some of Anchorage’s most trafficked streets.

Now it’s not these main roads that pose the threat, it’s the side streets that are dangerous. Each little residential road that pours out onto our highways creates a hazard, mostly drivers pulling out and not looking both ways before proceeding to merge.

As a pedestrian I take my role to run safe very seriously. My life is potentially on the line and in some cases I am pushing my two-year-old along in our jogger too.

I wear bright colored clothes and run against traffic always on the trail and never in the street. I try to make eye contact with the drivers as they pull out and look for the head nod or a wave letting me know that they see me. However it’s quite frustrating when a driver has pulled out so far that you can’t get around them and they refused to look both ways causing me to either have to stop and wait or literally jump up and down waving my arms in hopes that they see me as I cross in front of them.

This of course has caused me to evaluate my own driving habits. I now am more aware of how important being pedestrian friendly driver is. I ease into spots that might create a dangerous situation for me or any pedestrian running, walking or biking by. I look both ways and always give the head nod whether they are looking or not.

It’s important that we all do our part to be safe out there. Pedestrian and drivers alike all have to own their role in keeping the roads and trails safe for everyone.

closet eater

About once a month I get a little down on myself about my weight. I work very hard to maintain my current weight and push myself to overcome a very serious plateau.

It has been a year now and I haven’t been able to hold onto anything below 190 pounds. Overall I think I can be very proud of myself as I have lost 35 pounds total. However I still need to lose about 15 more to be at an ideal weight. I would be happy if I could get down to 180.

So the biggest problem that I have when I get into these funks is, I tend to show it through a binder of bad food consumption. Sweets are the enemy and I can indulge in them like a pro. I eat three cupcakes today, three amazing cupcakes. For lunch I ate a fried egg roll that latterly oozed grease down my chin as I sucked the thing down like a starving Ethiopian child.

The really sad part is that when I do this I often hide it. I will shame eat in the car or behind a closed door. It’s kind of funny but horribly sad at the same time.

I am sure that this will be most notable in my run tonight or even tomorrow when it feels just a little harder than normal to keep pace.

I am such a weirdo.

That's the plan...

The weather is getting warmer and the snow is melting at an accelerated rate. This makes me very happy. As you may recall I got to do some outdoor running while I was in San Diego on business. I tackled this crazy hill and it about wiped me out. After four miles I was just beat. I am determined to finish my 12k this June in 45min or less. It is going to be tuff to do, but I know once I make up my mind that that’s the plan, then that’s the plan.

Just A Quick Blurb

Running in San Diego was great. I had so much fun running outside. I can’t wait to be able to do that here at home in the midnight sun of summer.

Sunday March 11, 2012
A dear friend of mine completed a half marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii. This wasn’t his first one; in fact he has been running now for several years. Prior to the race he posted his completion goal to Facebook. He informed us that he was hoping to finish in 1:40 or less. He actual finished in 1:41 and some change. His average pace was 7:34, that’s how long it took him to run a mile. I am so impressed with his running and his competiveness. This friend of mine has been my mentor in business, as he was once my boss. Now he is one of my inspirations in running. I have watched him over the years get better and better, faster and faster. Every time I get tired or think that it’s getting too hard, he’ll post something about one of his running achievements and BOOM I am inspired again.

Last night, while running on the treadmill, I thought about his race day pace and wanted to see just how fast that was and how long I could hold it. Right now I have been running most nights at a pace of 10-12 minute miles and a tempo pace of 9-9.30 minute miles. So at the end of my run with only a quarter mile left I decided to go for it. I pumped up the pace to 7.13 and booked it. OMG, that was intense. With less than a 10th of a mile left, I grabbed for the handles to check my heart rate only to see a flashing warning go across the screen telling me that it is not recommend continuing at this pace and then a HR of 160bpm. I didn’t think that was that bad considering I have pushed my hr upwards of 180bpm. Regardless that was one hell of a run. I have a lot of work to do if I am going to be able to keep a pace like that.

And now the motivational chant that I will repeat to myself over and over again… Just Keep Training. Just Keep Training. Just keep Training.

Training in Alaska

I have been training off and on now for more than a year, taking some time for recovery or illnesses. People ask me what I do in the winter, meaning are you running outside. The answer is no. I run indoors on the treadmill or dreadmill as I sometimes call it.

I think about running outside sometimes and then I remember that it’s cold, icy, snowy and cold. I think about my feet getting wet as snow inevitably creeps in to my shoes and I think about sweat freezing to my face or anywhere else I might get damp. Suddenly running outside in below freezing temperatures on trails baring record amounts of snow just doesn’t seem appealing. Not to mention the year round moose dilemma.

Of course there are all kinds of gear designed to keep you going in these types of conditions but right now I just am not willing to make that kind of investment. There are special snow griping shoes with goretex protection and ultra dry wicking fabrics to keep your body dry and warm, head lamps and reflective tape. It all seems a little overwhelming to me.

Right now I am sticking to the treadmill where I can be warm and control my pace just a little better. It may not be until June that the trails completely dry out, but I’ll be ready when they are. I can’t wait to hit the hills and see all the happy people out and about. I also can’t to take my kids with me in the jogger.

Maybe that’s what I’ll write about next.

The Tempo

I have been running for the last year and would still consider myself a beginner. I have two half marathons and on full under my belt as well as a whole slew of 5k’s, 10k’s and 12k’s. There is a lot to learn about running if you really want to maximize your potential and I am still on the path of learning something new all the time.

For the last year I have read Runner’s World magazine like it was the Bible. I mean I read it all the time. I read about gear and races, I read about workouts and stretches, I even read about celebrity runners. I also read about tempo runs and splits and for the last year I have been afraid to say I didn’t know what the heck they were talking about.

So a tempo run from what I can tell is running a considerable amount of time or distance and a slightly uncomfortable or challenging pace. This is also relates to your lactate-threshold or LT (something else I am learning about). I also learned that there is a correct way to do this and perhaps I have not been doing it right.

From what I have read many runners in the beginner’s category often short change their tempo runs. This is not on purpose, but rather it’s because they don’t understand the concept behind a tempo run. You have to put some effort into it and maintain the effort for at least 20 minutes for general fitness and 6-8 miles for half marathoners. You may not even what to know what kind of distance you need to hold a tempo for full marathons.

Once you figure out where your fitness level is, it gets a little complicated. Thayer lots of sites to help you out, but it might be wise to find someone in your network of friends that is an experienced runner to help you out.

My Weekend Up-date

So the weekend is over and it couldn’t end soon enough. I couldn’t control myself and went a little crazy by binge eating. Sunday night I not only eat half a red baron pizza, but I also ate about 20 pizza bites and some ice cream. It’s so strange; while it tasted good and was very filling I couldn’t really enjoy it. The whole time I just felt guilty and had this desire to go to bathroom and through it all up. Is that twisted or what? I am so scared that I am going to develop some strange eating disorder because I think like that all the time. If I eat something that is too far off my plan, I just want to vomit. I never do it, but I really want to.

Saturday morning I got up early went to the gym and worked out my calves and did several squats. I didn’t do any cardio or any real weight training because I had to clean the church and shovel snow. Today my calves are killing me. I hit the gym at about 5am today and rip out a 25 minute slam session on the Cybex ARC Cross Trainer. I burned 450 calories and it felt awesome. Tonight I am going the hit the gym again to do a little weight training and maybe some running. My counterpart and soon to be running buddy at church is already up to 6 miles at a time on the treadmill. I have still been keeping the miles low at about 3-3.5 miles at a time. I think I will make Wednesdays my long run nights and only focus on the run… no weight training or abdominal workouts.

I lost almost 4 pounds this week and am on track to reaching my goal of 180 before June. It would be totally awesome to get down to 175 by July 4th.

The Pain

I keep getting these pains in my legs when I run. It starts just below my knees and continues down my legs. I hurt in a weird achy kind of way, not like shin splints, I can’t describe it. I have been trying to run through the pain and last night it got a little easier. I tend to zone out to stay focused on achieving my time or distance. If this becomes too presentence I may have to go see a doctor again. The last time I went, it was rather disappointing. He told me that I need to work on my form and see a physical therapist. He said that my knee ach was not uncommon and could be corrected over time. I sure hope that is the case. I have several big runs that I want to participate in this year and don’t want to sit out.

On another note the sushi I made for dinner last night, totally awesome. I ate it again for lunch today and have just enough left over for lunch tomorrow or a snack tonight.

Sushi For Dinner

In my quest to lose weight and get into shape I have become obsess with breaking through a wall I have been facing for more than a year now. I am down to 190 and can’t get over the hump. I just changed my routine by adding more time at the gym and watching my food consumption like a hawk. I don’t deprive myself of things, but I do make an effort to not give into every temptation.

Tonight I am going to attempt to make some sushi; I am looking at making Crab and Avocado Rolls. Six pieces is only 140 calories, I am so excited and can’t wait.

I also plan on hitting the gym and running 3-5 miles on the treadmill. I hope my legs can carry me the whole way. Lately I have been having a hard time running for anything longer than 3 miles on the treadmill so I have been mixing it up and using a cross trainer machine.
My gym has this great machine called the ARC. I have totally fallen head over heels for it. Most mornings I can hit it hard for 30 minutes at intervolves of increasing intensity. I can burn upwards of 400 cals in a short distance of 1.5 miles. It’s a great cardio workout.

I have also added some light weight training to my workouts. I have to do some more research on that, because my feeling is I am not doing it as effectively as I could.

My first post

My first post; last year I weighed more than 200 pounds and felt terrible. In January I got the flue of some kind and lost about 15 pounds. I liked that I was thinner, it was noticeable to a lot of people and I enjoyed the complements. I had no idea that I had gotten so large (well I did, but I didn’t like to let on). I was determined that I was not going to close the flood gates that had been opened for me. I was going to keep losing weight and get into shape.
In February of 2011 I turned 30. At 30 I had hoped to have achieved so much more than I had, so I set some goals for myself and went about accomplishing them. One goal in particular consumed me and helped me keep my focuses. I was going to run a Marathon.
I joined a gym and took up running. It was hard, painful and time consuming to achieve marathoner status, but I did it. I began to love running. I talked about it all the time, I even would make reference to it in my Sunday-School lessons I would teach. I met other runners and inspired some of my friends to pick up the habit. I continued to lose weight and look fit. I lost a total of 35lb last year and have managed to maintain my weight at 190.
This year I plan to get over the hump and push past this wall to drop another 15 pounds. I have put together a very optimistic list of runs I want to complete this year including a 30 miler ultra marathon. I can’t wait to see how I far I can push myself.
This is not going to be an easy feet, my wife and I are excepting out second child right at the beginning of the running season. We have a two year old now and I am hoping that she will still enjoy going out in the jogger with dear old day so mommy can have a break and be with our new son. It will be absolutely wonderful when they start to ask me things like, “hey dad can we go for a run tonight?” I can’t wait.