Hey there. Come on in, take your boots off and have a seat over there while I hang up your jacket. Yup. Right next to the fireplace. Can I get you a warm drink to take off the chill? Coffee? Hot cocoa? Tea? Are you sure? Really, it is no problem. How about a bowl of soup or chili to warm your bones. You say you just want some water? Great, I'll be right back.
Here ya go. Let me know when you need a refill. How about this weather? Couple of days ago, we are out in our shorts and tees. Now, we got snow piling up.
I don't know, you tell me. Why do we live here? :-)
Now, let's get caught up. What has it been? Only a couple of weeks or so, I think. Sure feels longer than that.
Yes, I am still training for the Buffalo marathon. And no, this was a rest week, so there was no long run. Here, let me throw some numbers at ya to get you up to date. Last time we talked, I filled you in on everything up through the 6th, so I'll start there.
For the week of Monday, February 7th, through Sunday the 13th (week 5 of the plan), I got in all the scheduled runs. Monday, of course, was a rest day with 5 milers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The plan calls for less than 5 on Wednesday and Thursday, but I just can't bring myself to go less than my so-called base on the week days. Saturdays are different because it is the day before a long run but on weekdays, the 5 mile milk run is just what I do. So, back to the week. Friday was the other rest day of the week and Saturday was a scheduled 3 miler. I was able to pull off both those two days without a hitch! Friday was tough, but thanks to years of training, I was able to get it in without any problems. Sunday was a long 12 miles. Everything started out fine as I took off on the B'ville Turkey Trot 10 mile loop. However, I did have some lower GI issues (yet again) and when Wendy came out on the course to replenish my water at 7.5 miles, I hitched a ride with her. We came home, I took care of business and went right back out on the road to get the full 12 miles in.
Yea, I know, I do need to get a handle on that. Believe me, after the Wineglass experience, I know what will happen out there if I can't resolve some of these issues. I think I'm almost there but I don't want to say much more than that just yet.
So, the week of the 14th through the 20th, the 6th week of the training plan: Everything went great, according to plan. Monday: rest. Tuesday and Wednesday: 5 miles each (plan called for 4 both days). Thursday: 6 (according to the schedule). Rest on Friday. The coolrunning.com plan calls for 5 milers each day on Saturday and Sunday. I ran the B'ville Turkey Trot 5 mile course both days. With the little bit extra from my home to their starting line, I actually did 5.7 miles each day. I even took a peak at my pace, which I haven't been paying too much attention to. With my little groin issue, I've been ignoring the clock. I do still have a little nagging issue there and some days I worry that it might grow into a show stopper. And, it's not like I heat up the pavement or anything but I just wanted to remove that aspect from my running until I felt stronger in that area. Anyhow, back to the weekend runs and the clock: I was very pleased with my pace on Saturday. There are two small "inclines" (I hate to use the word "hills" on this course) on the last mile. I kinda thought I had a decent time going so I went at the hills a little more aggressively than I normally would. (Now, remember, fast for me is not the same as fast for you.) It felt good to open it up a tad, tackle some inclines, and pick it up even a bit more for that last push home.
Yes, the training program does call for speed work. Usually on Tuesdays. I'm still hesitant to incorporate that aspect of the plan. I'm using my groin issue as my excuse ;-) That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So, that's that. Just in time. I see that it is time for you to go. Here, I'll take your glass and grab your coat while you slip your boots back on. Where are your gloves? You'll need them out there today. I hope it lets up so I can get caught back up with the shovelling. It feels like we have a holiday today just so we can spend the day clearing the snow.
Thanks, so much for stopping by and asking about things. We will do happy hour downtown sometime real soon. I'm in the mood for a Victory Golden Monkey. Do they still serve those at the Blue Tusk? I hope so, that's a damn fine beer.
Bye for now and I'll meet you further on up the road.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Running Week 1/31 thru 2/6
It was a pretty good week, I guess. Monday, the 31st was a scheduled rest day, just like all Mondays for the next couple of months. Same as Friday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were 5 mile days at lunch. I'm a bit "ahead" of the training plan due to my 5 miles a day for 5 days a week "base" -- the plan calls for a little less than 5 mile days but I'm not going to drop below the 5 mile/day threshold on weekdays. When the plan starts adding miles on the weekdays, I'll do the same. As for the weekends, Saturday was a 3 mile run and Sunday was a 10 mile run. I'm enjoying the "3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off" schedule with an exception: it sucks to sit on my hands and watch my friends go out on Mondays and Fridays.
The weekday runs were pretty 'normal' types of run on the 5 mile loop at work. We've had a great stretch of nice days so getting out at lunch has been very nice. The Saturday run was in my neighborhood. It was basically uneventful except for a close call with a car. I was at a four way intersection. There were two cars at the stop sign. After the first car rolled away from the stop sign, I started through the intersection. The second car rolled through the stop sign directly behind the first car, without even slowing down. If I had a half size larger shoe, my big toe would have been flattened by the rear tire. I really don't get people. Had the driver followed the traffic law and stopped at the stop sign, I could have quickly cleared the intersection. It really pissed me off. I wish I would have punched the rear corner panel as it rolled by me. It wouldn't have done any good but I would have felt a ton better.
Then, on Sunday, I had another auto situation. I'm running on the side of the road toward traffic when a pickup truck comes along and literally brushes my coat that is flapping in the breeze. There are no other cars on the road at that moment. The ironic thing is that the truck had the blue emergency lights on it. You'd think that the driver would be slightly more aware than "John Q. Public" given the blue lights. I dropped an f-bomb at him: "f***ing a**hole". It didn't do any good but I felt a 1/2 ton better ;-)
Josh was with me on his bike on Sunday. He did the full 10+ miles on his bike along with me. He held up well except for his butt. It got kinda sore after awhile but he did hang in there. He carried our drinks and food in his backpack. It helped me out alot and it was so very nice having him with me to talk to.
I took some gatoraid and some orange wedges out on the run Sunday. The drink seemed to give me some G.I. issues. The orange seemed to work OK. I sure hope I can get a handle on the nutrition issues. It is still pretty early in the plan with lots of looooong runs ahead of me so I still have an opportunity to get a grip. Suggestions appreciated.
So, to wrap up, here's a summary of the last couple of weeks (Mon thru Sun):
Week - Totals
1/31 - 28 miles
1/24 - 34 miles
1/17 - 23 miles
1/10 - 25 miles
'till next time, see ya further on up the road ...
The weekday runs were pretty 'normal' types of run on the 5 mile loop at work. We've had a great stretch of nice days so getting out at lunch has been very nice. The Saturday run was in my neighborhood. It was basically uneventful except for a close call with a car. I was at a four way intersection. There were two cars at the stop sign. After the first car rolled away from the stop sign, I started through the intersection. The second car rolled through the stop sign directly behind the first car, without even slowing down. If I had a half size larger shoe, my big toe would have been flattened by the rear tire. I really don't get people. Had the driver followed the traffic law and stopped at the stop sign, I could have quickly cleared the intersection. It really pissed me off. I wish I would have punched the rear corner panel as it rolled by me. It wouldn't have done any good but I would have felt a ton better.
Then, on Sunday, I had another auto situation. I'm running on the side of the road toward traffic when a pickup truck comes along and literally brushes my coat that is flapping in the breeze. There are no other cars on the road at that moment. The ironic thing is that the truck had the blue emergency lights on it. You'd think that the driver would be slightly more aware than "John Q. Public" given the blue lights. I dropped an f-bomb at him: "f***ing a**hole". It didn't do any good but I felt a 1/2 ton better ;-)
Josh was with me on his bike on Sunday. He did the full 10+ miles on his bike along with me. He held up well except for his butt. It got kinda sore after awhile but he did hang in there. He carried our drinks and food in his backpack. It helped me out alot and it was so very nice having him with me to talk to.
I took some gatoraid and some orange wedges out on the run Sunday. The drink seemed to give me some G.I. issues. The orange seemed to work OK. I sure hope I can get a handle on the nutrition issues. It is still pretty early in the plan with lots of looooong runs ahead of me so I still have an opportunity to get a grip. Suggestions appreciated.
So, to wrap up, here's a summary of the last couple of weeks (Mon thru Sun):
Week - Totals
1/31 - 28 miles
1/24 - 34 miles
1/17 - 23 miles
1/10 - 25 miles
'till next time, see ya further on up the road ...
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Long run - 1/30/2005
Sunday 1/30/2005
On my training plan (as I prepare for the Buffalo Marathon on May 29th), today was my long run of 8 miles. Since I did 7.5 last week, I wasn't too worried about pulling this one off. But, since I was not at home, I was concerned about my routine and making sure that I ate at the right time and drank enough water. If I mess up my timing with eating and running, I'll find myself out on the road with some GI issues. Yesterday, with a scheduled 3 miler, I didn't worry too much about it. I woke up, went to the bathroom and hit the pavement. With a short distance like 3 miles, I figured that I could get out and back no matter what. Empty stomach, lower GI cramps, thirsty, tired, whatever -- 3 should be an easy distance for me to pull off at this point in time. That turned out to be true but by the time I showered, I really needed to eat. You'd think that as much as I weigh, my body could find a way to draw on the reserves more efficiently that it does.
But, it's been awhile since I've been up at these distances with any regularity, so, like I said, I was concerned. Plus, being away from home normally knocks my constitution out of whack a little bit even without the prospect of a long run scheduled. So, I tried to stay hydrated all day on Saturday and throughout the night. In the morning when I woke up, I had cereal with milk, orange juice and coffee. Then, for the next 3 hours, I had a couple more cups of coffee along with as much water as I could while I tried to take care of some work on the company laptop. I was attempting to come close to the weekday work routine as possible (that's when I run at lunch). I ended up coming pretty close with the nutrition, hydration and (possibly most important of all) waste removal ;-)
I got dressed and applied some vaseline to a couple of areas that have been bothering me due to some friction issues. I wonder if I would have some of these same friction problems if I weighed less than I do. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to find out the answer to that question. Anyhow, the sun was shining like it was the middle of summer. There were no clouds in the sky. Just a totally beautiful deep blue. Even though it was below freezing, the thermometer on the side of the house where the sun was beating down and radiating off of the siding was in the 70's. So I knew that I'd get very warm out running and I dressed accordingly: compression shorts, long pants, tee shirt, outer shell, ball cap, sun glasses and gloves (that I did not end up putting on). I also decided to try to start thinking about nutrition and hydration during the long runs. So, I put on my water bottle belt - the one with four small water "grenades". I filled one with water and the other three with some slightly diluted lemon lime gatoraid. I also took along some gels. My plan was to drink at each mile and take a gel at the 4 mile (halfway point).
So, I started out and even though I was running into the slight breeze, the sun was totally canceling out the effects of the cold. I thought I'd slip on the gloves but instead I just pulled my hands up into the sleeves of the shell and I was fine. At the first mile mark, I took a hit of the gator aid and was immediately reminded of the fun I had last year at the Buffalo marathon. It's funny how that experience has stuck with me and is rekindled by the fist sip of lemon lime gator aid. As a matter of fact, here I am sitting here over four hours later and the thought is still making me queasy. I've really got to solve this issue soon. I'm thinking I gotta stick with straight water. That part is an easy solution. However, at the halfway point when I took the gel, it was the same story. All the nausea that I experienced in the past with gels returned. I finished the package but it wasn't pleasant. Again, it's killing me just sitting here and typing about it. I'd better move on to something else before I hurl on the keyboard.
I ran down the road that my in-laws live on. It is a nice road to run on with a nice wide shoulder but the speed limit is 55 and it gets a decent flow of traffic. I don't think most of the people driving on this road are very familiar with seeing runners on it so they don't really think how nice it would be if they gave a runner just a little bit more room on the side. Last summer, the road was rebuilt and it feels like the shoulder is more level than it used to be. There is still an angle as it slopes away from the road but it is nice and wide, except for the bridges that cross over a couple of creeks. After almost a mile, I turned off of this main road onto a smaller road. This is also a nice road to run on but there no shoulder, the speed limit is 55 even though it seems like it should be slower and cars use it to go from one main road in the area to another (the one I just turned off of).
This smaller road has a small creek running next to it for a short distance right near the intersection where I turn onto it. A flock of ducks seem to have taken up residence on the water. As I approached them they were spooked and loudly went airborne. That scared the hell out of me as I wasn't expecting a dozen or so ducks to suddenly fly up next to me. Just about a half mile further down the road, there's a horse ranch. As soon as I can see the horses, I realize that they seem to be looking at me. I don't know if they've picked up on something unusual happening (me running down the road) or if it is a coincidence but they seem keep their eyes on me as I approach them. Along the shoulder of the road where I am running, there's lots of horse manure so I'm sure that someone already enjoyed a nice ride on their horse in the sunny winter day. It's kinda nice knowing that I'm not the only one out here taking advantage of this great day.
I end up joining up with the other main road in the area for about a half a mile before heading off up the hallow on another smaller road with little or no traffic. It's a very beautiful area with many dairy farms and on this nice winter day there are a few people out getting some things done around the house or barn. Out on the busy roads there were alot of cars from Ohio and Ontario. I imagine that they are skiers in town to ski at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, just over the hill from where I am running.
I keep looking at my Garmin GPS and I'm sure that it is giving me false readings. There is no way that I've been able to cover the distance that it claims I have. But, not having any other measurement of distance, I rely upon it but plan on double checking with the vehicle later in the day. All of a sudden, I'm at 4 miles so I turn around and retrace my route back to the starting point. When I get back I'm very confused because the GPS does say 8 miles (kinda validating the reading I had at the halfway point) but, again, there's no way that I could have done that distance in that time and feeling that way. When I get in the house, I describe the pretty simple course to my father-in-law and ask him to guess the distance. He actually guesses pretty close to the GPS measurement. How can that be? So, I validate it yet one more time with the mini-van and sure enough, he's right on and so is the GPS!
The point of that whole, long, story is that it was such a beautiful sunny day in a beautiful location that everything came together for a wonderful run. I'm treating this as a sign of good things to come on this path to the Buffalo marathon.
On my training plan (as I prepare for the Buffalo Marathon on May 29th), today was my long run of 8 miles. Since I did 7.5 last week, I wasn't too worried about pulling this one off. But, since I was not at home, I was concerned about my routine and making sure that I ate at the right time and drank enough water. If I mess up my timing with eating and running, I'll find myself out on the road with some GI issues. Yesterday, with a scheduled 3 miler, I didn't worry too much about it. I woke up, went to the bathroom and hit the pavement. With a short distance like 3 miles, I figured that I could get out and back no matter what. Empty stomach, lower GI cramps, thirsty, tired, whatever -- 3 should be an easy distance for me to pull off at this point in time. That turned out to be true but by the time I showered, I really needed to eat. You'd think that as much as I weigh, my body could find a way to draw on the reserves more efficiently that it does.
But, it's been awhile since I've been up at these distances with any regularity, so, like I said, I was concerned. Plus, being away from home normally knocks my constitution out of whack a little bit even without the prospect of a long run scheduled. So, I tried to stay hydrated all day on Saturday and throughout the night. In the morning when I woke up, I had cereal with milk, orange juice and coffee. Then, for the next 3 hours, I had a couple more cups of coffee along with as much water as I could while I tried to take care of some work on the company laptop. I was attempting to come close to the weekday work routine as possible (that's when I run at lunch). I ended up coming pretty close with the nutrition, hydration and (possibly most important of all) waste removal ;-)
I got dressed and applied some vaseline to a couple of areas that have been bothering me due to some friction issues. I wonder if I would have some of these same friction problems if I weighed less than I do. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to find out the answer to that question. Anyhow, the sun was shining like it was the middle of summer. There were no clouds in the sky. Just a totally beautiful deep blue. Even though it was below freezing, the thermometer on the side of the house where the sun was beating down and radiating off of the siding was in the 70's. So I knew that I'd get very warm out running and I dressed accordingly: compression shorts, long pants, tee shirt, outer shell, ball cap, sun glasses and gloves (that I did not end up putting on). I also decided to try to start thinking about nutrition and hydration during the long runs. So, I put on my water bottle belt - the one with four small water "grenades". I filled one with water and the other three with some slightly diluted lemon lime gatoraid. I also took along some gels. My plan was to drink at each mile and take a gel at the 4 mile (halfway point).
So, I started out and even though I was running into the slight breeze, the sun was totally canceling out the effects of the cold. I thought I'd slip on the gloves but instead I just pulled my hands up into the sleeves of the shell and I was fine. At the first mile mark, I took a hit of the gator aid and was immediately reminded of the fun I had last year at the Buffalo marathon. It's funny how that experience has stuck with me and is rekindled by the fist sip of lemon lime gator aid. As a matter of fact, here I am sitting here over four hours later and the thought is still making me queasy. I've really got to solve this issue soon. I'm thinking I gotta stick with straight water. That part is an easy solution. However, at the halfway point when I took the gel, it was the same story. All the nausea that I experienced in the past with gels returned. I finished the package but it wasn't pleasant. Again, it's killing me just sitting here and typing about it. I'd better move on to something else before I hurl on the keyboard.
I ran down the road that my in-laws live on. It is a nice road to run on with a nice wide shoulder but the speed limit is 55 and it gets a decent flow of traffic. I don't think most of the people driving on this road are very familiar with seeing runners on it so they don't really think how nice it would be if they gave a runner just a little bit more room on the side. Last summer, the road was rebuilt and it feels like the shoulder is more level than it used to be. There is still an angle as it slopes away from the road but it is nice and wide, except for the bridges that cross over a couple of creeks. After almost a mile, I turned off of this main road onto a smaller road. This is also a nice road to run on but there no shoulder, the speed limit is 55 even though it seems like it should be slower and cars use it to go from one main road in the area to another (the one I just turned off of).
This smaller road has a small creek running next to it for a short distance right near the intersection where I turn onto it. A flock of ducks seem to have taken up residence on the water. As I approached them they were spooked and loudly went airborne. That scared the hell out of me as I wasn't expecting a dozen or so ducks to suddenly fly up next to me. Just about a half mile further down the road, there's a horse ranch. As soon as I can see the horses, I realize that they seem to be looking at me. I don't know if they've picked up on something unusual happening (me running down the road) or if it is a coincidence but they seem keep their eyes on me as I approach them. Along the shoulder of the road where I am running, there's lots of horse manure so I'm sure that someone already enjoyed a nice ride on their horse in the sunny winter day. It's kinda nice knowing that I'm not the only one out here taking advantage of this great day.
I end up joining up with the other main road in the area for about a half a mile before heading off up the hallow on another smaller road with little or no traffic. It's a very beautiful area with many dairy farms and on this nice winter day there are a few people out getting some things done around the house or barn. Out on the busy roads there were alot of cars from Ohio and Ontario. I imagine that they are skiers in town to ski at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, just over the hill from where I am running.
I keep looking at my Garmin GPS and I'm sure that it is giving me false readings. There is no way that I've been able to cover the distance that it claims I have. But, not having any other measurement of distance, I rely upon it but plan on double checking with the vehicle later in the day. All of a sudden, I'm at 4 miles so I turn around and retrace my route back to the starting point. When I get back I'm very confused because the GPS does say 8 miles (kinda validating the reading I had at the halfway point) but, again, there's no way that I could have done that distance in that time and feeling that way. When I get in the house, I describe the pretty simple course to my father-in-law and ask him to guess the distance. He actually guesses pretty close to the GPS measurement. How can that be? So, I validate it yet one more time with the mini-van and sure enough, he's right on and so is the GPS!
The point of that whole, long, story is that it was such a beautiful sunny day in a beautiful location that everything came together for a wonderful run. I'm treating this as a sign of good things to come on this path to the Buffalo marathon.
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