I should have posted this sooner, but for those curious...
I finished 26.2 miles in 4:11:38!
A chronology of the race weekend will be uploaded here in the next day or so. It was a truly amazing experience!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
A Couple Tests and One Big Light Bulb
I'm getting crazy excited and nervous about the race. Dare I say it's starting to consume my thoughts.
And the saga with my hamstring tendon continues to the point where I am sure I am being overly obsessive about it. A quick update: I have opted not to seek a doctor's help. The tapering, stretching, icing, Traumeel applications, and ibuprofen might just be doing the trick.
I had two tests this week. Yesterday I had an easy 3-mile run in the gym. I ran at about an 8:55 pace, which is ahead of my marathon goal pace and my legs felt pretty good. Then today I followed up yesterday's run with a 4-miler at the gym. Same result: I felt pretty good. Today I took it a bit easier pacing at about 9:15, but still I didn't feel the discomfort I had been experiencing.
Now the catch is that I ran less than 20% of the distance I'll be attempting come Sunday, so all bets are off as I push the distance on Sunday in what will ultimately be my final exam. But I have a feeling I'm not the only one who is a bit curious about how their body is going to handle the run through the streets of Chicago.
I get to rest the next two days, which I think will be key to having a good race. Plus tomorrow I have my last appointment with my massage therapist. Hopefully he'll work some of his magic on my legs, and I'll feel like a new man come Saturday/Sunday.
I do have to share that today I got one huge boost of motivation, which will most certainly help carry me through on Sunday. Last night I sent out one final email blast to all my family and friends giving them a status update on my training progress and to ask anyone who hasn't yet donated to St. Jude to consider doing so one more time. A number of very generous donations came in throughout the day, and I powered through the $2,000 mark for total funds raised on behalf o St. Jude. That's twice my original goal!!! I am humbled and honored by the outpouring of support for this cause. Every little bit helps!
I know many people also have strong personal interest in my success come Sunday. A dear friend of mine informed me of a little boy named she knows who is actually being treated at St. Jude for leukemia. His name is Zachary, and he is just one of several amazing stories that make me realize I should never take my own health, nor that of my loved ones for granted. Hearing his story set off the light bulb in my head.
As I run 26.2 miles Sunday, I want to take with me the names of the people like Zachary. So, over the next few days, I will be compiling a list of names from my supporters of people they want to remember, who are currently fighting cancer, who may have unfortunately lost the courageous fight, or who have fought the big C and kicked its ass. I'm not sure if I'll put the list on paper and carry it in my pocket or if I'll go so far as to write the names on my body somehow. It is the least I can do to give this race even more meaning and to show my supporters my appreciation for their role in my life and in this journey. So if you are reading this and you have a name, post it here or email it to me!
More to come in the days ahead. God bless you all!
And the saga with my hamstring tendon continues to the point where I am sure I am being overly obsessive about it. A quick update: I have opted not to seek a doctor's help. The tapering, stretching, icing, Traumeel applications, and ibuprofen might just be doing the trick.
I had two tests this week. Yesterday I had an easy 3-mile run in the gym. I ran at about an 8:55 pace, which is ahead of my marathon goal pace and my legs felt pretty good. Then today I followed up yesterday's run with a 4-miler at the gym. Same result: I felt pretty good. Today I took it a bit easier pacing at about 9:15, but still I didn't feel the discomfort I had been experiencing.
Now the catch is that I ran less than 20% of the distance I'll be attempting come Sunday, so all bets are off as I push the distance on Sunday in what will ultimately be my final exam. But I have a feeling I'm not the only one who is a bit curious about how their body is going to handle the run through the streets of Chicago.
I get to rest the next two days, which I think will be key to having a good race. Plus tomorrow I have my last appointment with my massage therapist. Hopefully he'll work some of his magic on my legs, and I'll feel like a new man come Saturday/Sunday.
I do have to share that today I got one huge boost of motivation, which will most certainly help carry me through on Sunday. Last night I sent out one final email blast to all my family and friends giving them a status update on my training progress and to ask anyone who hasn't yet donated to St. Jude to consider doing so one more time. A number of very generous donations came in throughout the day, and I powered through the $2,000 mark for total funds raised on behalf o St. Jude. That's twice my original goal!!! I am humbled and honored by the outpouring of support for this cause. Every little bit helps!
I know many people also have strong personal interest in my success come Sunday. A dear friend of mine informed me of a little boy named she knows who is actually being treated at St. Jude for leukemia. His name is Zachary, and he is just one of several amazing stories that make me realize I should never take my own health, nor that of my loved ones for granted. Hearing his story set off the light bulb in my head.
As I run 26.2 miles Sunday, I want to take with me the names of the people like Zachary. So, over the next few days, I will be compiling a list of names from my supporters of people they want to remember, who are currently fighting cancer, who may have unfortunately lost the courageous fight, or who have fought the big C and kicked its ass. I'm not sure if I'll put the list on paper and carry it in my pocket or if I'll go so far as to write the names on my body somehow. It is the least I can do to give this race even more meaning and to show my supporters my appreciation for their role in my life and in this journey. So if you are reading this and you have a name, post it here or email it to me!
More to come in the days ahead. God bless you all!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Pain Pain Go Away
With now less than one week to go until Race Day, I'm starting to get a bit nervous. Actually, yesterday I got really nervous, if not downright discouraged.
On Friday I had to get an easy 3-miler in. I did so at the gym before heading to work. No big deal. I felt good, though I still had that discomfort in my left hamstring/calf. I use that slash because the discomfort is literally right behind my knee, and I'm just not 100% sure of the source. It appears to be my hammy, but I could be wrong.
Well, on Saturday, I woke up to 45 degree temps. Even though I only had 8 miles to do for my last long run before the race, I still had to get to the lake by 6am. Lori was standing up in a wedding Saturday afternoon, and I had to leave to drive her to the start of the day's festivities at 8:00am. So that meant an early start.
I didn't mind getting to Creve Coeur Lake that early. Still dark as hell, but lit up with a ginormous moon hovering overhead. I actually got to watch the "moonset" during the first mile of the run. The giant ball in the sky slowly lowered onto the horizon before disappearing. It was pretty badass.
I ran the first 6 miles quite comfortably, taking my time and just enjoying the cooler weather. It was actually kinda cold the first mile or so. At about the 6-mile mark, I decided I was going to try to run a little faster to bring home the final long run. I didn't get more than a quarter mile into that trot and my left hamstring started to bother me. And about a mile later it was downright annoying me to no end. I had to compensate for the discomfort, and mentally I just shut down. I had race day visions of my leg just shutting down on me and having to walk the majority of it. Or trying to do a walk run as I fight through the pain and discomfort.
This all started on my last 20-mile run a couple weeks ago, when I felt the discomfort start about half-way through that run, and just powered through it. It's been with me ever since in varying levels of discomfort, not necessarily pain. And when I was in Vegas last week, it didn't really bother me much at all.
With the level of discomfort where it was Saturday, and my feeling of urgency, I finished my run and quickly headed to Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck as the good folks on Fast Money on CNBC like to call it). My massage therapist recommended a homeopathic anti-inflammatory gel called Traumeel for some inflammation I was having on my right achilles. That has gone away, but the inflammation in my left leg hasn't. I was hoping the taper would help make it go away, but not so much. Now I'm worried. I'm two days into using the Traumeel. I feel good right now, but there is definitely still discomfort there.
Lori showed me some stretches to do, and I'll be icing on and off all week. The question is, do I head to a doc and is there anything they can do at this point. Do I want to try a cortisone shot? Is it even that bad that I could need that. Or would another week of tapering, a few extra days off, the Traumeel, and some good stretching be all that I need to be on my game come 10/11. Ugh! Decisions, decisions.
This sucks. Stay tuned!
On Friday I had to get an easy 3-miler in. I did so at the gym before heading to work. No big deal. I felt good, though I still had that discomfort in my left hamstring/calf. I use that slash because the discomfort is literally right behind my knee, and I'm just not 100% sure of the source. It appears to be my hammy, but I could be wrong.
Well, on Saturday, I woke up to 45 degree temps. Even though I only had 8 miles to do for my last long run before the race, I still had to get to the lake by 6am. Lori was standing up in a wedding Saturday afternoon, and I had to leave to drive her to the start of the day's festivities at 8:00am. So that meant an early start.
I didn't mind getting to Creve Coeur Lake that early. Still dark as hell, but lit up with a ginormous moon hovering overhead. I actually got to watch the "moonset" during the first mile of the run. The giant ball in the sky slowly lowered onto the horizon before disappearing. It was pretty badass.
I ran the first 6 miles quite comfortably, taking my time and just enjoying the cooler weather. It was actually kinda cold the first mile or so. At about the 6-mile mark, I decided I was going to try to run a little faster to bring home the final long run. I didn't get more than a quarter mile into that trot and my left hamstring started to bother me. And about a mile later it was downright annoying me to no end. I had to compensate for the discomfort, and mentally I just shut down. I had race day visions of my leg just shutting down on me and having to walk the majority of it. Or trying to do a walk run as I fight through the pain and discomfort.
This all started on my last 20-mile run a couple weeks ago, when I felt the discomfort start about half-way through that run, and just powered through it. It's been with me ever since in varying levels of discomfort, not necessarily pain. And when I was in Vegas last week, it didn't really bother me much at all.
With the level of discomfort where it was Saturday, and my feeling of urgency, I finished my run and quickly headed to Whole Foods (or Whole Paycheck as the good folks on Fast Money on CNBC like to call it). My massage therapist recommended a homeopathic anti-inflammatory gel called Traumeel for some inflammation I was having on my right achilles. That has gone away, but the inflammation in my left leg hasn't. I was hoping the taper would help make it go away, but not so much. Now I'm worried. I'm two days into using the Traumeel. I feel good right now, but there is definitely still discomfort there.
Lori showed me some stretches to do, and I'll be icing on and off all week. The question is, do I head to a doc and is there anything they can do at this point. Do I want to try a cortisone shot? Is it even that bad that I could need that. Or would another week of tapering, a few extra days off, the Traumeel, and some good stretching be all that I need to be on my game come 10/11. Ugh! Decisions, decisions.
This sucks. Stay tuned!
Friday, October 2, 2009
10 Days til Chicago - The Past 40 Days
OK, so I didn't follow through with the promise from my last post. I haven't been updating my blog. In typical Pete Khazen fashion, I started something and haven't really followed through on finishing it. The one great thing about this is that while I haven't maintained my dedication to formally posting my blog entries, I have still been keeping my diary. And most importantly, I have stuck to my program like stink on a monkey (I think that's the phrase).
The race is just 10 days away. I'm psyched. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm humbled. I'm honored. And most importantly I'm so very thankful for the blessings I have: my wife, my children, my family, my health, my job, my friends, and my most amazing support network that has gotten me this far. Thank you all!
All that being said, I'll say one last thing: I'm ready!
If you are curious about the past 40 days, here's a day-by-day chronology from where my last post left off. It's long and winded, but like my race, this blog isn't meant to be a sprint. Read on if you're interested in the ups and downs involved in the craziness of a first-time marathoner, who is trying to raise money for a phenomenal cause.
Week 12 - Tapering to a Size Medium
Monday, 8/24 - Overslept a bit. Damn! Got to the gym late, but I still got in my 5 miles. A late arrival, though means, no strength training. So, I snuck in an extra 5 minutes of stretching (I needed it.)
Tuesday, 8/25 - Was up late working the night before. That means no morning run... again! Frustrated and annoyed with just running laps around my subdivision, I decided to change it up a bit. I fired up the GPS on my iPhone and went on a venture outside the subdivision. I ran up the road and around a different neighborhood. I was forced with the challenge of poor street lighting, a tough/steep hill, and a dangerous stretch without a sidewalk. It was good though to do something different. When it was all done, I checked the route on Google Pedometer, and it turns out I ran 5.25 miles... GPS was a bit off. Oh well.
Wedensday, 8/26 - Too darn tired from last night's run to come right back in the morning, so I had another evening run - 5 miles again. That's three days in a row. Thanks to this being a taper week after the 18-miler, my Tuesday run was shorter than usual. I ran my laps through the subdivision once again and finished up with some pushups, sidesquats, splitsquats, and core training in the driveway. I did a lot of thinking on this particular day, and during the run. Ted Kennedy just passed away after his brave fight with cancer. Regardless of your political views, he was one of the most powerful and influential men in the world, a true patriot at heart, and he was taken from us by this terrible sickness. Teddy was lucky enough to live a relatively long and productive life before the cancer struck, something many St. Jude patients don't even get to dream about. R.I.P. Teddy!
Thursday, 8/27 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays! A day of rest (ahhhhh). And what a better way to take in a day of rest, but to get a massage. I visited Mark Frank again, and he worked his magic on my legs. We booked another session in about 3 weeks and then one just before the race.
Friday, 8/28 - With it staying so dark so late in the morning now, and needing to get the work early to TCB (Take Care of Business), I had to do my 8-miler at the gym. Brutal. Yes, 120 laps around the short track at my goal marathon pace... 1, 2, 3...
Saturday, 8/29 - I had an "easy" 13-miler scheduled. I met up with my new Saturday running partner, Joe, and we rocked out the run. I screwed up in my calculation and we ended up running 13.5 miles. Not that it really matters, but it made sense when the finishing time seemed a little slow. After the run, it was off to Q-town for my Godson's birthday party and my neice's baptism. My nieces and nephews are a huge reason why I do this. Their health and happiness is so important to me, as is the responsibility I have in being a good uncle and role model for them.
Sunday, 8/30 - Today was essentially a day of rest for me. No cross-training. On the way back from Q-town, I stopped off at Fleet Feet in Chesterfield. They were the one store in the St. Louis area carrying the Nike marathon training shirts. Rather than pay the hefty shipping fees from the Nike store online, I opted to pick up a shirt at a local store. I was on the fence between two of them and opted for the blue shirt that has the map of the run on it, along with all mile markers represented. The map is a backdrop for the bold words that say "YOU DON'T NEED A REASON. YOU NEED A ROAD." I'm not into the cheesy sayings like this, and in fact, I do like having reasons to run, but I liked the map and the color of the shirt. Tiger Woods has his "Sunday red"; I have my "Racing Blue". Funny thing, as I was trying on shirts, the size Large was just a bit too baggy on my. Ugh, so size Medium it was. I have withered away from an XL just a few years back to a little pip-squeak size Medium.
Today was also a big day for a good friend. Cortney was competing in her first triathlon. The Chicago triathlon. She was going big or going home. And she rocked it out. She trained with Team In Training (TNT) to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Cortney is a rock star. She ran a marathon before with TNT. Cort is, without a doubt, one of those people that inspires me to get out there and train and help raise money for St. Jude. You're awesome, Cort! The people at St. Jude and I thank you!
Week #13 - The Big 2-0
Monday, 8/31 - Last week I had ordered up some new shoes from Kelly's Running Warehouse online. I saved a good $30 from the going retail price. They arrived on Friday, and I broke them in today. Had an easy 5 miles at the gym. I slept in again, so I didn't get a strength program in, but I completed my 5 miles. And the shoes felt great. I was worried a new set of kicks would give me blisters, but they felt perfect.
Tuesday, 9/1 - Oh man, what a rough night last night! Emmy hurt her elbow while I was walking her to bed. She decided to be funny and go limp on me while I was holding her hand, and something didn't sound right as she dropped down. Her elbow was hurting her, and I just felt terrible. She didn't need to go to the hospital, but I had a rough night sleeping with it weighing on my mind. She ended up being fine when she woke up, but we were worried it might have temporarily dislocated. I opted to run around the neighborhood that morning and wait for her to wake up in case we did need to take her in. I ran 8 miles around the subdivision. It was the first cool morning of the year, and I actually broke out the long sleeve Under Armour for the run. But talk about a heavy mind during my run. The weather felt great, but I was still so worried. I thought a lot about how bad I felt. How helpless I felt. How much I wanted to take away any pain she had. And the thing was, it was really something little. I thought about the parents of the kids at St. Jude. And I welled up thinking about how much pain and how helpless they must feel. Here I was, a basket-case because Emary hurt her elbow... and this perspective is part of the reason why I'm running for St. Jude.
Wednesday, 9/2 - Emary is doing fine. In fact, she woke up Tuesday morning like nothing happened the night before. My sweet girl! I ended up running my 5 miles during the evening. It was a cool, crisp night. Here we were thinking that we were going to get a warm September after a mild summer, and it was like October already.
You could smell fireplaces burning in the neighborhood. Inspired I ventured out of the subdivision and went in search of a new route. 
I ended up running some intense hills to the QuickTrip on Dorsett and up to Ranken Jordan hospital (more on this amazing place later). I was further inspired by the intense red glow of Jupiter, which was right next to the moon. They both were so prominent, it felt like you could really touch them. Check out the picture to the left of the three of us... awesome!
Thursday, 9/3 - Today is a day of rest. On top of that, it is also the first day I'm going without my blood pressure medication. I've had borderline hypertension for a couple years now, and my doc has controlled it with a low dose (25 mg) of hydrochlorothiazide (aka HCTZ). Well, I had a checkup with him yesterday, and after getting a clean bill of health, he gave me the go-ahead to yank my BP meds. HCTZ is known as a "water pill". It makes your kidneys work a little extra, which helps bring your BP down. Well, most marathon runners aren't high blood pressure patients and don't have to worry about taking a medication that is a diuretic. My good doctor (who also generously sponsored me with a donation to St. Jude) took me off my meds so I don't have the diuretic working against my system on race day. The catch is that I have to monitor my BP and report back to him.
Today I also got an update from a gentleman that works in my building. He was recently diagnosed with cancer. I saw him give an interview last year on a local news station. I noticed the face on TV and tuned in. I heard his story and found out he was running hist first half marathon in Phoenix with Team in Training (TNT - the same group Cortney did her tri for). Dan is his name, and he is without a doubt an inspiration to many in his own right. Though I didn't know Dan before I saw that interview, I felt compelled to donate to his cause and support him as a fellow runner and employee at AT&T. I learned from Dan's latest update that he is running his second half marathon - Disney later this year. I decided to donate again to the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society, and I sent Dan a note telling him about my efforts to help fight the good fight against cancer through the St. Jude Heroes program. His work with TNT, as well as Cortney's and some other friends who have also competed as part of TNT in races over the years, have given me inspiration to run Chicago for St. Jude. Isn't the domino effect awesome!
Friday, 9/4 - This morning I woke up with a cold and sore throat. I got in my 5-mile run at Bally's but I forgot to run it at my goal pace. Instead I was about 10 seconds slower. Oh well. I've got my first 20-miler looming tomorrow, and now I'm sick. To top it all off, they're talking storms all day tomorrow. The anxiety of my first 20-miler is building. I don't like running in the rain and avoid it at all costs. Funny, because I always LOVED playing football in the rain.
Saturday, 9/5 - I woke up at 5:00am to the crash of thunder and the repetitive flash of intense lightning. Ummm, this isn't good for my 20-miler. I checked the forecast, and it was supposed to rain all day long and even tomorrow. There was no option to delay my run. Plus I had two people meeting me. Joe was going to meet me for the first 10 miles, and then my friend, Mike, who kinda started this running thing for me, he was going to be in town and wanted to run the last 10 with me. So out to the lake I went.
It was dark and stormy (sounds like the intro to a bad novel). Sure enough, Joe pulled up, and off we went in the rain, with lightning brightening up the sky on occasion. I'm dumb, but Joe must just be crazy to join me out in this weather. The lightning subsided, but the rain was steady the entire morning and heavy at times. It kept the fishermen away and the recreational walkers/joggers/bikers off the path. The path only had those few, faithful, crazy runners like myself out there. I was drenched from head to toe within the first mile. I finished my first 10 and said farewell and thanks to Joe for joining me. It's so nice to have someone to talk to on those long runs.
Mike joined up with me just as planned, and off we went. The rain definitely weighed on me. Not psychologically so much, but literally. My shoes, my shirt, my shorts, all felt heavy. I guess I screwed up by wearing the new shoes and not an old pair. I felt good most of the run, though it got tough in a couple spots. After 18 miles I joked with Mike that I was going to be like Stewie on Family Guy every few steps: "This is the longest I've ever run. No this is the longest I've ever run. Hey, did I tell you that this was the longest I've ever run." And it was, but as I sloshed through all 20 miles and finished the last mile as strong as mile 10, I felt damn proud of myself. I opted to run in the rain for 3 hours and 15 minutes. It sucked, but I did it. 20 miles done. That wasn't so bad. And now, even if it pours on race day, I'm ready for it. I will finish no matter what. Thanks, Mike and Joe, for getting me out there and helping me finish all 20 miles.
After completing my run, I brought a change of clothes. It was a good thing the papparazzi wasn't around as they might have caught a pic of my backside, changing into the dry clothes. They must have been scared off by the rain too. Then it was off to Bread Company for some grub and a nice, hot coffee.
Sunday, 9/6 - Last night I was debating on signing up to run the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon next Sunday morning. Lori ended up having a conflict with work where I had to watch the kids, and there was no way I was going to be able to pull off the race, so I opted not to. I was a little disappointed as I wanted to get in a road race before the big day, and the timing worked out where it fell on a taper week where I was supposed to run 12 miles. Oh well, no biggie. Today, though I felt like crap. The cold I was getting at the end of the work week got blown up by spending 3+ hours in the rain yesterday. Damn! Not good! To top it all off, this evening my back started hurting me. Not sure if it's from the run yesterday or from lugging the kids around and holding them at Mass today. It seems I get really anxious about any little thing that crops up in fear of it getting worse. Here's to hoping for the best.
Week #14 - Bad Cold, Sore Back
Monday, 9/7 - It's Labor Day. A day off from work, but I've been working all weekend due to a deadline looming tomorrow. Not fun. My back is still sore as hell. It feels like someone is sticking a dagger in under my lats on both sides and twisting it. To top it all off, my cold is probably at its peak right now. Miserable, I decided to see if I could sweat my cold out of my system. Running tends to help me exorcise the cold virus demons. In my program, it says that a 5-mile run should be automatic right now. It doesn't get more automatic than the mindless, dilapidated 5-miler I rocked out with a sore back and bad cold this evening.
Tuesday, 9/8 - Still not feeling well, but getting better, I needed some extra motivation for my 5-miler this evening. Before I went running, I actually curled up on the couch with Lori and pleaded, "Tell me I don't need to run tonight." She gave me this surprised look and said, "Don't you put that on me." She was right. And so I got up and was on my way. It's another taper week, so my Tuesday run isn't as long again. I ditched my normal MP3 player, fired up Pandora on my iPhone and tuned in to White Zombie Radio. I knocked out my 5-miler to the heavy sounds of Nine Inch Nails, Marylin Manson, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, and naturally, White Zombie. Let's just say I felt "more human than human".
Wednesday, 9/9 - I ran the same route as last night. My "Ranken Jordan" route, where I touch the sign at the entrance to the parking lot and then return home. It was a slow run. The hills have been tough, and I've been sick. And to top it all off, my legs have been sluuuuugggggiiiiiiish.
Thursday, 9/10 - Today was another day of rest. Thou shall not train on Thursdays, right? But it was a tough day. Work has been weighing on my mind, and with the aggravation of being sick and having a sore back, I've just been down in the dumps all day long. I think part of it is the anniversary of 9/11 which is looming tomorrow. Though I didn't lose anyone I knew that day, it's a day heavy on the hearts for most Americans, I think.
Friday, 9/11 - I got up early and ran my 8 miles at the lake. My back was still sore, but my cold was disappearing. Still my legs felt sluggish. I guess this is what happens when you hit the peak of your training program.
Saturday, 9/12 - I woke up and got to the lake for my 12-miler. It was a solo 12-miler at that. I felt pretty good, though still sluggish, through the first 9 miles. But the last 3 miles were a little tough on the back. Yeah, I don't think this was due to lugging the kids around. This back soreness must be from running.
Sunday, 9/13 - Realizing I haven't done much strength training lately and that it could be contributing to my back pain, I hit the gym in the morning. 20 minutes on the bike and then a good full body workout, with particular concentration on core and back exercises. Man, I needed that. So then it was off to Buffalo Wild Winds with the kids. I was solo all afternoon with them, and, well, it was Opening Day for the NFL. Football, football, football!
I also was thrilled to see that my a couple friends I knew ran the Lewis & Clark and Chicago Half Marathons in the morning. It was perfect weather both in St. Louis and Chicago, and they both rocked their races out. One ran 1:42. The other ran 1:46. I'm nowhere near their league. Congrats to them!
Week #15 - The Big 2-0, Part Deux
Monday, 9/14 - I overslept this morning. I guess too much football over the weekend. I ended up running late at night. It was a tough, emotional 5-mile run. A lot of things were weighing on my mind. Some things at work have been difficult, and a co-worker lost a loved one to cancer today. Then I was just overwhelmed by all the emotion of running a race to help raise money for a place like St. Jude. And just when I thought I was feeling better, I realized my back was still sore. So frustrating. To help me push on, I turned to YouTube. My buddy, Ryan, who is an Iron Man triathlete sent me a YouTube video that helps motivate him on tough days. So I turned to YouTube. A quick search on "St. Jude" and "Marathon" brought up a couple awesome videos on the Heroes program. And that was all the inspiration I needed to press on.
Tuesday, 9/15 - Another late-night run. Tonight I had 8 miles to do. Obviously, I have not been running in the mornings like I had intended to. The new position at work has resulted in some late nights, which in turn has caused me to abandone early morning running mid-week. Lori hates this. In part because I have to leave her for a bit in the evening after putting the kids to sleep. And largely because she worries about some nitwit plowing me over on the road because they weren't paying attention. Mind you, I play it safe. I were reflective shorts and shirts and I always run against traffic, including when I'm on sidewalks. Still, some idiots don't care or are consumed on cell phones or with their thousand-dollar stereo rattling the trunk of their $500 car.
Tonight I watched the season premier of the Biggest Loser. I love that show and think it has the most impressive finale of all reality television (at least of the non-sleeze related shows). The show got me plenty motivated to get out and do my part to keep the pounds off my body, and hopefully, yes hopefully, inspire some others to shed their own extra weight. I mapped out my 8-mile course in and around Maryland Heights, including a run by WestPort Plaza. It ended up being a great run, and a lot of fun to explore a new route.
After finishing my run, I learned that there was a terrible accident on Dorsett over by I-270, where a driver peeled out of a parking lot, hit another vehicle driving it into a ditch, and then sped away from the scene of the accident. My friend (we'll call him Batman) witnessed it and chased down the perpetrator to get a plate for the cops. I'm glad I was nowhere near the accident, but it just goes to show you that no matter how safe you can be, there can always be some idiots out there. Thanks for keeping me safe on my runs, Caped Crusader!
Wednesday, 9/16 - I only got 4.5 hours of sleep last night. I was up late working again. That means I had another run in the evening to do. Just 5 miles this time.
Hoping that this might be the last of the evening runs, I decided to run up to Ranken Jordan again. I stopped to take a pic next to the sign I always touch before I turn around to head home. Ranken Jordan is about as fine an institution as you can come across in the St. Louis area. The care they provide to children is amazing. To find out more about Ranken Jordan, check out this their website. I like making this run up to their little hospital. Knowing I'm running for the kids at St. Jude, Ranken Jordan represents a place where kids in need get help in St. Louis. It's not a cancer research hospital, but they provide awesome care. Their patients and their staff are an inspiration to me.
Thursday, 9/17 - Today is a day or rest. I got 6 hours of sleep last night. More notably, I rated it a quality of 6. Usually anything greater than 5 hours if perfect for me. 6 hours is great! While training, I've been tracking my sleep and giving a rating quality of 1-10 (10 being the best). Last night was the first time in 6 weeks (since 8/3) that I rated my sleep higher than a 5 in quality.
Friday, 9/18 - Damn, Damn, Damn! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid Man! Last night as I was performing my manly duties and taking out the trash and recyclables I made a big mistake. For whatever dumb reason I always do this on Thursday nights barefoot. Currently, thanks to the monster oaks in the front yard, my driveway is peppered in acorn shrapnel. But stupid man I am, I still try to roll two trash cans down the driveway, stepping carefully to avoid hitting a nutty landmine. Well, I succeeded until last night. And as all runners know, even the smallest of foot injuries, cuts, scrapes are no good. I got walloped, and it wasn't by an acorn shell. I was pulling the recyclable bin behind me and I clipped my heel with the bin. F*#@! It was a nice cut too. Dug in deep, but not requiring stitches. Right on the achilles above the heel bone. Coincidentally right where my shoe will rub when I go running. Stupid, stupid, stupid man! Is this going to define my marathon training?
Luckily, I have a badass athletic trainer of a wife. Lori hooked me up with a set of bandages and pads to cover it up with so my shoe doesn't rub on it. So we're going with it, along with a load of Neosporin. Let's hope fo the best.
Got to Bally's in the morning, bandaged up the heel, and put the protective pad on. I ran 5 miles faster than my marathon pace. No pain. No friction. Rocked it out at 44:44! I felt great, and I'm gearing up for my second 20-miler tomorrow.
Saturday, 9/19 - I got to the lake at 6:00am with my heel still bandaged and protected. My friends Mike and Chris met me up there. Chris planned to run the first 7-10 miles with us, and Mike the full 20. Mike has been training for New York and is about 3 weeks behind me in timing, but is a much stronger runner than I am. The weather was perfect (much better than the slop from two weeks ago). We said our farewell to Chris around the 6-mile mark, and then Mike and I rocked out the rest of the run. I was planning on doing a 3/1 run - running the first 15 miles at about a 9:30 pace and then turning it up to sub-9:00 for the final 5. Instead, Mike and I pushed a bit harder after Chris left, really for no good reason other than we felt like it. We ended up running the last 14 miles at about a 9:10 pace and finished the entire 20-miler at a 9:17 clip - that's just 8-seconds slower than my goal pace of 9:09. I did get some pain in my left calf beind my knee and in my right achilles. I shouldn't call it pain... soreness. And it kicked in around mile 10. I powered through it. I don't think I should have stopped as it wasn't that bad, and I was keeping my form. All in all, I felt strong. And now I know I'm ready for Chicago. Bring it on!
Sunday, 9/20 - No arguments from me. I'm taking a day of rest.
Week #16 - What Better Way to Taper Other Than... Vegas, Baby?
Monday, 9/21 - The hard part of my program is essentially over. The past 15 weeks are in the books, and I didn't cheat. I didn't skip. I got the job done. And now I can taper until Race Day. I get why this program works. I don't have to worry about making up for runs I skipped. There is no making up, and well, I know that strategy doesn't work anyway. The work I needed to put in to make sure I have a successful Race Day is complete. I know this now. I'm ready, and I'm going to enjoy this taper. It starts today with an easy 5 miles. I ran it at the gym in the morning. My achilles and calf muscle were still sore from Satuday, but I still felt strong. Maybe it's the confidence of knowing the long runs are over... until Race Day that is.
Tuesday, 9/22 - I was really sore last night and stayed up late working. And I woke up exhausted and still really sore. I opted not to run in the morning. I debated all day on whether or not to run at night. I didn't want to skip my workout. But then I rationalized: Skipping one day won't hurt me. But foolishly running while as sore as I am could injure me. That being said, I'm skipping.
Wednesday, 9/23 - I ran 6 miles at Bally's this morning. I was a little sore still, but still felt good. The 6 miles was what I was supposed to do yesterday. I figured, I'd just skip the easier 5-mile workout on the schedule for today and then rest as usual tomorrow.
Today I had a conference call with the St. Jude folks. They gave us a wealth of information about the entire weekend from the Pasta Party, to the Charity Village, to what to wear and eat, and how to get around town. Now I just need to absorb it all and figure out a game plan with Lori and the family.
I also was hard at work today trying to map a 12-mile run in Las Vegas for Saturday morning. The big question loomed: Do I run on the Strip or not? With much solid advice from some fellow runners, I opted to run the strip. I figured out a route, and now I'm set. I'll go from the Rio, to the Strip, to the Stratosphere, down to Tropicana Blvd, off the strip to the Terribles Casino, down to the Four Seasons, and then back up to the Rio... just over 12 miles. Vegas here I come.
Thursday, 9/24 - Today should be a day of rest. But I'm going to break the commandment... just a little. I have 4 miles to run tomorrow, so I opted to run my 4 miles tonight through the neighborhood. With the weekend trip to Vegas kicking off tomorrow, I don't have to worry about running in the morning tomorrow before my flight or out in the 100-degree desert heat. And so, 4 easy miles it was.
Friday, 9/25 - Vegas, Baby! My brother turned 40 earlier in the month, and my other brother and I are celebrating with him and a few friends out in Sin City. No running today. Just some quality R&R poolside. With 12 miles looming in the morning, I only had a handful of drinks. However, I did stay up til 2:30 in the morning. That's 4:30am on my St. Louis clock. Not the best of moves, but it's Vegas, right? But with the lack of sleep, will I really get up a 7am tomorrow?
Saturday, 9/26 - 6:30am came and I woke up. Just 4 hours of sleep in the hotel. I guess I'm still on St. Louis time. I just woke up. No alarm. I got dressed, grabbed my Gu (2 packs for this trip) and hit the road. I could tell I was already dehydrated from the drinking and lack of sleep. Still I was on too big a high. I get to run 12 miles up, down, and around the Strip. And so I did.
It's an interesting crowd on the Strip at 7am. Those that haven't slept. A guy abandoned by his buddies and passed out at a bus stop. Any number of crazies talking to whoever is willing to listen. One guy literally vomiting in front of me. Working girls on their way back from... well, a night of work. Lonely folks who probably just lost their paycheck. Countless people with uber-venti sized cups of java. And well, a bunch of guys still loading the paper dispensers with inappropriate fliers for local companionship (apparently people weren't paying attention to all the ones on the ground). I took my time running the Strip.
In part because every couple miles I couldn't cross the street; rather I had to climb a long flight of stairs to use the overpass and then go back down another long flight to street level. I did this at least 6 times I think. So 12 flights of stairs in the mix of 12 miles... just a tad different. I also stopped to grab some pics: In front of the Rio, Paris, the Mirage, the Stratosphere, NewYork New York, the Luxor, the Bellagio, and back at the Rio. All in all, it wasn't bad, and I was glad I got to take in the sights, including the sheer impressiveness of the architecture of those buildings and the technology behind the jumbotrons.
I felt great the rest of the day, and somehow I managed to make it til 4am Sunday morning without taking a nap. Vegas, baby!
Sunday, 9/27 - A day of rest. No need to push the limits anymore. I'm taking it easy today. Some coffee. A LOT of water. ESPN Zone and a lot of NFL football. Then back on a plane to the real world known as St. Louis. Home sweet home!
Week #17 - The Poisonous Aftermath from Vegas
Monday, 9/28 - Got in after midnight last night from Vegas. No morning run for me. I had just 4 miles today, and I did it in the cool evening breeze around the neighborhood. I even donned a long sleeved shirt. It was actually kinda chilly. A bit different from the 100-degree temps in the desert. Still, I was digging the cooler temps, and my body was digging the taper.
Tuesday, 9/29 - Ever since hanging out at the VooDoo Lounge at the Rio Saturday night, I've had the old school Bel Biv Devoe song "Poison" in my head. "It's driving me out of my mind. That's why it's hard for me to find. Can't get it outta my head. Miss her, kiss her, love her... "
And so, as I got ready to run my 5-miler in the evening, I found a video on YouTube of a live performance on the old Arsenio Hall Show... priceless! That kicked off 5 miles, again in the chilly Fall air of my neighborhood. I knocked it out and tried to get some work done at home, but the weekend effect was finally catching up with me (not to mention the 2am bedtime last night). And, well, I fell asleep with my head on my laptop.
Wednesday, 9/30 - Another 4 miles today. I still can't get that song out of my head... "She's so fly. She'll drive you right out of your mind. Steal your heart when you're blind."
My left calf is still nagging me a bit, so I'm trying to stretch more. I'm really hoping the stretching, an ibuprofen regimen, and the taper will make the soreness go away just in time for the race. I know what is causing it - the damn hills in the neighborhood. But hopefully they will only make me stronger for the flat Chicago course.
Thursday, 10/1 - October is here! The race is just 10 training days away. Today is a day of rest. And rest I will.
The race is just 10 days away. I'm psyched. I'm nervous. I'm excited. I'm humbled. I'm honored. And most importantly I'm so very thankful for the blessings I have: my wife, my children, my family, my health, my job, my friends, and my most amazing support network that has gotten me this far. Thank you all!
All that being said, I'll say one last thing: I'm ready!
If you are curious about the past 40 days, here's a day-by-day chronology from where my last post left off. It's long and winded, but like my race, this blog isn't meant to be a sprint. Read on if you're interested in the ups and downs involved in the craziness of a first-time marathoner, who is trying to raise money for a phenomenal cause.
Week 12 - Tapering to a Size Medium
Monday, 8/24 - Overslept a bit. Damn! Got to the gym late, but I still got in my 5 miles. A late arrival, though means, no strength training. So, I snuck in an extra 5 minutes of stretching (I needed it.)
Tuesday, 8/25 - Was up late working the night before. That means no morning run... again! Frustrated and annoyed with just running laps around my subdivision, I decided to change it up a bit. I fired up the GPS on my iPhone and went on a venture outside the subdivision. I ran up the road and around a different neighborhood. I was forced with the challenge of poor street lighting, a tough/steep hill, and a dangerous stretch without a sidewalk. It was good though to do something different. When it was all done, I checked the route on Google Pedometer, and it turns out I ran 5.25 miles... GPS was a bit off. Oh well.
Wedensday, 8/26 - Too darn tired from last night's run to come right back in the morning, so I had another evening run - 5 miles again. That's three days in a row. Thanks to this being a taper week after the 18-miler, my Tuesday run was shorter than usual. I ran my laps through the subdivision once again and finished up with some pushups, sidesquats, splitsquats, and core training in the driveway. I did a lot of thinking on this particular day, and during the run. Ted Kennedy just passed away after his brave fight with cancer. Regardless of your political views, he was one of the most powerful and influential men in the world, a true patriot at heart, and he was taken from us by this terrible sickness. Teddy was lucky enough to live a relatively long and productive life before the cancer struck, something many St. Jude patients don't even get to dream about. R.I.P. Teddy!
Thursday, 8/27 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays! A day of rest (ahhhhh). And what a better way to take in a day of rest, but to get a massage. I visited Mark Frank again, and he worked his magic on my legs. We booked another session in about 3 weeks and then one just before the race.
Friday, 8/28 - With it staying so dark so late in the morning now, and needing to get the work early to TCB (Take Care of Business), I had to do my 8-miler at the gym. Brutal. Yes, 120 laps around the short track at my goal marathon pace... 1, 2, 3...
Saturday, 8/29 - I had an "easy" 13-miler scheduled. I met up with my new Saturday running partner, Joe, and we rocked out the run. I screwed up in my calculation and we ended up running 13.5 miles. Not that it really matters, but it made sense when the finishing time seemed a little slow. After the run, it was off to Q-town for my Godson's birthday party and my neice's baptism. My nieces and nephews are a huge reason why I do this. Their health and happiness is so important to me, as is the responsibility I have in being a good uncle and role model for them.
Sunday, 8/30 - Today was essentially a day of rest for me. No cross-training. On the way back from Q-town, I stopped off at Fleet Feet in Chesterfield. They were the one store in the St. Louis area carrying the Nike marathon training shirts. Rather than pay the hefty shipping fees from the Nike store online, I opted to pick up a shirt at a local store. I was on the fence between two of them and opted for the blue shirt that has the map of the run on it, along with all mile markers represented. The map is a backdrop for the bold words that say "YOU DON'T NEED A REASON. YOU NEED A ROAD." I'm not into the cheesy sayings like this, and in fact, I do like having reasons to run, but I liked the map and the color of the shirt. Tiger Woods has his "Sunday red"; I have my "Racing Blue". Funny thing, as I was trying on shirts, the size Large was just a bit too baggy on my. Ugh, so size Medium it was. I have withered away from an XL just a few years back to a little pip-squeak size Medium.
Today was also a big day for a good friend. Cortney was competing in her first triathlon. The Chicago triathlon. She was going big or going home. And she rocked it out. She trained with Team In Training (TNT) to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Cortney is a rock star. She ran a marathon before with TNT. Cort is, without a doubt, one of those people that inspires me to get out there and train and help raise money for St. Jude. You're awesome, Cort! The people at St. Jude and I thank you!
Week #13 - The Big 2-0
Monday, 8/31 - Last week I had ordered up some new shoes from Kelly's Running Warehouse online. I saved a good $30 from the going retail price. They arrived on Friday, and I broke them in today. Had an easy 5 miles at the gym. I slept in again, so I didn't get a strength program in, but I completed my 5 miles. And the shoes felt great. I was worried a new set of kicks would give me blisters, but they felt perfect.
Tuesday, 9/1 - Oh man, what a rough night last night! Emmy hurt her elbow while I was walking her to bed. She decided to be funny and go limp on me while I was holding her hand, and something didn't sound right as she dropped down. Her elbow was hurting her, and I just felt terrible. She didn't need to go to the hospital, but I had a rough night sleeping with it weighing on my mind. She ended up being fine when she woke up, but we were worried it might have temporarily dislocated. I opted to run around the neighborhood that morning and wait for her to wake up in case we did need to take her in. I ran 8 miles around the subdivision. It was the first cool morning of the year, and I actually broke out the long sleeve Under Armour for the run. But talk about a heavy mind during my run. The weather felt great, but I was still so worried. I thought a lot about how bad I felt. How helpless I felt. How much I wanted to take away any pain she had. And the thing was, it was really something little. I thought about the parents of the kids at St. Jude. And I welled up thinking about how much pain and how helpless they must feel. Here I was, a basket-case because Emary hurt her elbow... and this perspective is part of the reason why I'm running for St. Jude.
Wednesday, 9/2 - Emary is doing fine. In fact, she woke up Tuesday morning like nothing happened the night before. My sweet girl! I ended up running my 5 miles during the evening. It was a cool, crisp night. Here we were thinking that we were going to get a warm September after a mild summer, and it was like October already.
You could smell fireplaces burning in the neighborhood. Inspired I ventured out of the subdivision and went in search of a new route. 
I ended up running some intense hills to the QuickTrip on Dorsett and up to Ranken Jordan hospital (more on this amazing place later). I was further inspired by the intense red glow of Jupiter, which was right next to the moon. They both were so prominent, it felt like you could really touch them. Check out the picture to the left of the three of us... awesome!Thursday, 9/3 - Today is a day of rest. On top of that, it is also the first day I'm going without my blood pressure medication. I've had borderline hypertension for a couple years now, and my doc has controlled it with a low dose (25 mg) of hydrochlorothiazide (aka HCTZ). Well, I had a checkup with him yesterday, and after getting a clean bill of health, he gave me the go-ahead to yank my BP meds. HCTZ is known as a "water pill". It makes your kidneys work a little extra, which helps bring your BP down. Well, most marathon runners aren't high blood pressure patients and don't have to worry about taking a medication that is a diuretic. My good doctor (who also generously sponsored me with a donation to St. Jude) took me off my meds so I don't have the diuretic working against my system on race day. The catch is that I have to monitor my BP and report back to him.
Today I also got an update from a gentleman that works in my building. He was recently diagnosed with cancer. I saw him give an interview last year on a local news station. I noticed the face on TV and tuned in. I heard his story and found out he was running hist first half marathon in Phoenix with Team in Training (TNT - the same group Cortney did her tri for). Dan is his name, and he is without a doubt an inspiration to many in his own right. Though I didn't know Dan before I saw that interview, I felt compelled to donate to his cause and support him as a fellow runner and employee at AT&T. I learned from Dan's latest update that he is running his second half marathon - Disney later this year. I decided to donate again to the Luekemia and Lymphoma Society, and I sent Dan a note telling him about my efforts to help fight the good fight against cancer through the St. Jude Heroes program. His work with TNT, as well as Cortney's and some other friends who have also competed as part of TNT in races over the years, have given me inspiration to run Chicago for St. Jude. Isn't the domino effect awesome!
Friday, 9/4 - This morning I woke up with a cold and sore throat. I got in my 5-mile run at Bally's but I forgot to run it at my goal pace. Instead I was about 10 seconds slower. Oh well. I've got my first 20-miler looming tomorrow, and now I'm sick. To top it all off, they're talking storms all day tomorrow. The anxiety of my first 20-miler is building. I don't like running in the rain and avoid it at all costs. Funny, because I always LOVED playing football in the rain.
Saturday, 9/5 - I woke up at 5:00am to the crash of thunder and the repetitive flash of intense lightning. Ummm, this isn't good for my 20-miler. I checked the forecast, and it was supposed to rain all day long and even tomorrow. There was no option to delay my run. Plus I had two people meeting me. Joe was going to meet me for the first 10 miles, and then my friend, Mike, who kinda started this running thing for me, he was going to be in town and wanted to run the last 10 with me. So out to the lake I went.
It was dark and stormy (sounds like the intro to a bad novel). Sure enough, Joe pulled up, and off we went in the rain, with lightning brightening up the sky on occasion. I'm dumb, but Joe must just be crazy to join me out in this weather. The lightning subsided, but the rain was steady the entire morning and heavy at times. It kept the fishermen away and the recreational walkers/joggers/bikers off the path. The path only had those few, faithful, crazy runners like myself out there. I was drenched from head to toe within the first mile. I finished my first 10 and said farewell and thanks to Joe for joining me. It's so nice to have someone to talk to on those long runs.
Mike joined up with me just as planned, and off we went. The rain definitely weighed on me. Not psychologically so much, but literally. My shoes, my shirt, my shorts, all felt heavy. I guess I screwed up by wearing the new shoes and not an old pair. I felt good most of the run, though it got tough in a couple spots. After 18 miles I joked with Mike that I was going to be like Stewie on Family Guy every few steps: "This is the longest I've ever run. No this is the longest I've ever run. Hey, did I tell you that this was the longest I've ever run." And it was, but as I sloshed through all 20 miles and finished the last mile as strong as mile 10, I felt damn proud of myself. I opted to run in the rain for 3 hours and 15 minutes. It sucked, but I did it. 20 miles done. That wasn't so bad. And now, even if it pours on race day, I'm ready for it. I will finish no matter what. Thanks, Mike and Joe, for getting me out there and helping me finish all 20 miles.
After completing my run, I brought a change of clothes. It was a good thing the papparazzi wasn't around as they might have caught a pic of my backside, changing into the dry clothes. They must have been scared off by the rain too. Then it was off to Bread Company for some grub and a nice, hot coffee.
Sunday, 9/6 - Last night I was debating on signing up to run the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon next Sunday morning. Lori ended up having a conflict with work where I had to watch the kids, and there was no way I was going to be able to pull off the race, so I opted not to. I was a little disappointed as I wanted to get in a road race before the big day, and the timing worked out where it fell on a taper week where I was supposed to run 12 miles. Oh well, no biggie. Today, though I felt like crap. The cold I was getting at the end of the work week got blown up by spending 3+ hours in the rain yesterday. Damn! Not good! To top it all off, this evening my back started hurting me. Not sure if it's from the run yesterday or from lugging the kids around and holding them at Mass today. It seems I get really anxious about any little thing that crops up in fear of it getting worse. Here's to hoping for the best.
Week #14 - Bad Cold, Sore Back
Monday, 9/7 - It's Labor Day. A day off from work, but I've been working all weekend due to a deadline looming tomorrow. Not fun. My back is still sore as hell. It feels like someone is sticking a dagger in under my lats on both sides and twisting it. To top it all off, my cold is probably at its peak right now. Miserable, I decided to see if I could sweat my cold out of my system. Running tends to help me exorcise the cold virus demons. In my program, it says that a 5-mile run should be automatic right now. It doesn't get more automatic than the mindless, dilapidated 5-miler I rocked out with a sore back and bad cold this evening.
Tuesday, 9/8 - Still not feeling well, but getting better, I needed some extra motivation for my 5-miler this evening. Before I went running, I actually curled up on the couch with Lori and pleaded, "Tell me I don't need to run tonight." She gave me this surprised look and said, "Don't you put that on me." She was right. And so I got up and was on my way. It's another taper week, so my Tuesday run isn't as long again. I ditched my normal MP3 player, fired up Pandora on my iPhone and tuned in to White Zombie Radio. I knocked out my 5-miler to the heavy sounds of Nine Inch Nails, Marylin Manson, Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, and naturally, White Zombie. Let's just say I felt "more human than human".
Wednesday, 9/9 - I ran the same route as last night. My "Ranken Jordan" route, where I touch the sign at the entrance to the parking lot and then return home. It was a slow run. The hills have been tough, and I've been sick. And to top it all off, my legs have been sluuuuugggggiiiiiiish.
Thursday, 9/10 - Today was another day of rest. Thou shall not train on Thursdays, right? But it was a tough day. Work has been weighing on my mind, and with the aggravation of being sick and having a sore back, I've just been down in the dumps all day long. I think part of it is the anniversary of 9/11 which is looming tomorrow. Though I didn't lose anyone I knew that day, it's a day heavy on the hearts for most Americans, I think.
Friday, 9/11 - I got up early and ran my 8 miles at the lake. My back was still sore, but my cold was disappearing. Still my legs felt sluggish. I guess this is what happens when you hit the peak of your training program.
Saturday, 9/12 - I woke up and got to the lake for my 12-miler. It was a solo 12-miler at that. I felt pretty good, though still sluggish, through the first 9 miles. But the last 3 miles were a little tough on the back. Yeah, I don't think this was due to lugging the kids around. This back soreness must be from running.
Sunday, 9/13 - Realizing I haven't done much strength training lately and that it could be contributing to my back pain, I hit the gym in the morning. 20 minutes on the bike and then a good full body workout, with particular concentration on core and back exercises. Man, I needed that. So then it was off to Buffalo Wild Winds with the kids. I was solo all afternoon with them, and, well, it was Opening Day for the NFL. Football, football, football!
I also was thrilled to see that my a couple friends I knew ran the Lewis & Clark and Chicago Half Marathons in the morning. It was perfect weather both in St. Louis and Chicago, and they both rocked their races out. One ran 1:42. The other ran 1:46. I'm nowhere near their league. Congrats to them!
Week #15 - The Big 2-0, Part Deux
Monday, 9/14 - I overslept this morning. I guess too much football over the weekend. I ended up running late at night. It was a tough, emotional 5-mile run. A lot of things were weighing on my mind. Some things at work have been difficult, and a co-worker lost a loved one to cancer today. Then I was just overwhelmed by all the emotion of running a race to help raise money for a place like St. Jude. And just when I thought I was feeling better, I realized my back was still sore. So frustrating. To help me push on, I turned to YouTube. My buddy, Ryan, who is an Iron Man triathlete sent me a YouTube video that helps motivate him on tough days. So I turned to YouTube. A quick search on "St. Jude" and "Marathon" brought up a couple awesome videos on the Heroes program. And that was all the inspiration I needed to press on.
Tuesday, 9/15 - Another late-night run. Tonight I had 8 miles to do. Obviously, I have not been running in the mornings like I had intended to. The new position at work has resulted in some late nights, which in turn has caused me to abandone early morning running mid-week. Lori hates this. In part because I have to leave her for a bit in the evening after putting the kids to sleep. And largely because she worries about some nitwit plowing me over on the road because they weren't paying attention. Mind you, I play it safe. I were reflective shorts and shirts and I always run against traffic, including when I'm on sidewalks. Still, some idiots don't care or are consumed on cell phones or with their thousand-dollar stereo rattling the trunk of their $500 car.
Tonight I watched the season premier of the Biggest Loser. I love that show and think it has the most impressive finale of all reality television (at least of the non-sleeze related shows). The show got me plenty motivated to get out and do my part to keep the pounds off my body, and hopefully, yes hopefully, inspire some others to shed their own extra weight. I mapped out my 8-mile course in and around Maryland Heights, including a run by WestPort Plaza. It ended up being a great run, and a lot of fun to explore a new route.
After finishing my run, I learned that there was a terrible accident on Dorsett over by I-270, where a driver peeled out of a parking lot, hit another vehicle driving it into a ditch, and then sped away from the scene of the accident. My friend (we'll call him Batman) witnessed it and chased down the perpetrator to get a plate for the cops. I'm glad I was nowhere near the accident, but it just goes to show you that no matter how safe you can be, there can always be some idiots out there. Thanks for keeping me safe on my runs, Caped Crusader!
Wednesday, 9/16 - I only got 4.5 hours of sleep last night. I was up late working again. That means I had another run in the evening to do. Just 5 miles this time.
Hoping that this might be the last of the evening runs, I decided to run up to Ranken Jordan again. I stopped to take a pic next to the sign I always touch before I turn around to head home. Ranken Jordan is about as fine an institution as you can come across in the St. Louis area. The care they provide to children is amazing. To find out more about Ranken Jordan, check out this their website. I like making this run up to their little hospital. Knowing I'm running for the kids at St. Jude, Ranken Jordan represents a place where kids in need get help in St. Louis. It's not a cancer research hospital, but they provide awesome care. Their patients and their staff are an inspiration to me.Thursday, 9/17 - Today is a day or rest. I got 6 hours of sleep last night. More notably, I rated it a quality of 6. Usually anything greater than 5 hours if perfect for me. 6 hours is great! While training, I've been tracking my sleep and giving a rating quality of 1-10 (10 being the best). Last night was the first time in 6 weeks (since 8/3) that I rated my sleep higher than a 5 in quality.
Friday, 9/18 - Damn, Damn, Damn! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid Man! Last night as I was performing my manly duties and taking out the trash and recyclables I made a big mistake. For whatever dumb reason I always do this on Thursday nights barefoot. Currently, thanks to the monster oaks in the front yard, my driveway is peppered in acorn shrapnel. But stupid man I am, I still try to roll two trash cans down the driveway, stepping carefully to avoid hitting a nutty landmine. Well, I succeeded until last night. And as all runners know, even the smallest of foot injuries, cuts, scrapes are no good. I got walloped, and it wasn't by an acorn shell. I was pulling the recyclable bin behind me and I clipped my heel with the bin. F*#@! It was a nice cut too. Dug in deep, but not requiring stitches. Right on the achilles above the heel bone. Coincidentally right where my shoe will rub when I go running. Stupid, stupid, stupid man! Is this going to define my marathon training?
Luckily, I have a badass athletic trainer of a wife. Lori hooked me up with a set of bandages and pads to cover it up with so my shoe doesn't rub on it. So we're going with it, along with a load of Neosporin. Let's hope fo the best.
Got to Bally's in the morning, bandaged up the heel, and put the protective pad on. I ran 5 miles faster than my marathon pace. No pain. No friction. Rocked it out at 44:44! I felt great, and I'm gearing up for my second 20-miler tomorrow.
Saturday, 9/19 - I got to the lake at 6:00am with my heel still bandaged and protected. My friends Mike and Chris met me up there. Chris planned to run the first 7-10 miles with us, and Mike the full 20. Mike has been training for New York and is about 3 weeks behind me in timing, but is a much stronger runner than I am. The weather was perfect (much better than the slop from two weeks ago). We said our farewell to Chris around the 6-mile mark, and then Mike and I rocked out the rest of the run. I was planning on doing a 3/1 run - running the first 15 miles at about a 9:30 pace and then turning it up to sub-9:00 for the final 5. Instead, Mike and I pushed a bit harder after Chris left, really for no good reason other than we felt like it. We ended up running the last 14 miles at about a 9:10 pace and finished the entire 20-miler at a 9:17 clip - that's just 8-seconds slower than my goal pace of 9:09. I did get some pain in my left calf beind my knee and in my right achilles. I shouldn't call it pain... soreness. And it kicked in around mile 10. I powered through it. I don't think I should have stopped as it wasn't that bad, and I was keeping my form. All in all, I felt strong. And now I know I'm ready for Chicago. Bring it on!
Sunday, 9/20 - No arguments from me. I'm taking a day of rest.
Week #16 - What Better Way to Taper Other Than... Vegas, Baby?
Monday, 9/21 - The hard part of my program is essentially over. The past 15 weeks are in the books, and I didn't cheat. I didn't skip. I got the job done. And now I can taper until Race Day. I get why this program works. I don't have to worry about making up for runs I skipped. There is no making up, and well, I know that strategy doesn't work anyway. The work I needed to put in to make sure I have a successful Race Day is complete. I know this now. I'm ready, and I'm going to enjoy this taper. It starts today with an easy 5 miles. I ran it at the gym in the morning. My achilles and calf muscle were still sore from Satuday, but I still felt strong. Maybe it's the confidence of knowing the long runs are over... until Race Day that is.
Tuesday, 9/22 - I was really sore last night and stayed up late working. And I woke up exhausted and still really sore. I opted not to run in the morning. I debated all day on whether or not to run at night. I didn't want to skip my workout. But then I rationalized: Skipping one day won't hurt me. But foolishly running while as sore as I am could injure me. That being said, I'm skipping.
Wednesday, 9/23 - I ran 6 miles at Bally's this morning. I was a little sore still, but still felt good. The 6 miles was what I was supposed to do yesterday. I figured, I'd just skip the easier 5-mile workout on the schedule for today and then rest as usual tomorrow.
Today I had a conference call with the St. Jude folks. They gave us a wealth of information about the entire weekend from the Pasta Party, to the Charity Village, to what to wear and eat, and how to get around town. Now I just need to absorb it all and figure out a game plan with Lori and the family.
I also was hard at work today trying to map a 12-mile run in Las Vegas for Saturday morning. The big question loomed: Do I run on the Strip or not? With much solid advice from some fellow runners, I opted to run the strip. I figured out a route, and now I'm set. I'll go from the Rio, to the Strip, to the Stratosphere, down to Tropicana Blvd, off the strip to the Terribles Casino, down to the Four Seasons, and then back up to the Rio... just over 12 miles. Vegas here I come.
Thursday, 9/24 - Today should be a day of rest. But I'm going to break the commandment... just a little. I have 4 miles to run tomorrow, so I opted to run my 4 miles tonight through the neighborhood. With the weekend trip to Vegas kicking off tomorrow, I don't have to worry about running in the morning tomorrow before my flight or out in the 100-degree desert heat. And so, 4 easy miles it was.
Friday, 9/25 - Vegas, Baby! My brother turned 40 earlier in the month, and my other brother and I are celebrating with him and a few friends out in Sin City. No running today. Just some quality R&R poolside. With 12 miles looming in the morning, I only had a handful of drinks. However, I did stay up til 2:30 in the morning. That's 4:30am on my St. Louis clock. Not the best of moves, but it's Vegas, right? But with the lack of sleep, will I really get up a 7am tomorrow?
Saturday, 9/26 - 6:30am came and I woke up. Just 4 hours of sleep in the hotel. I guess I'm still on St. Louis time. I just woke up. No alarm. I got dressed, grabbed my Gu (2 packs for this trip) and hit the road. I could tell I was already dehydrated from the drinking and lack of sleep. Still I was on too big a high. I get to run 12 miles up, down, and around the Strip. And so I did.
It's an interesting crowd on the Strip at 7am. Those that haven't slept. A guy abandoned by his buddies and passed out at a bus stop. Any number of crazies talking to whoever is willing to listen. One guy literally vomiting in front of me. Working girls on their way back from... well, a night of work. Lonely folks who probably just lost their paycheck. Countless people with uber-venti sized cups of java. And well, a bunch of guys still loading the paper dispensers with inappropriate fliers for local companionship (apparently people weren't paying attention to all the ones on the ground). I took my time running the Strip.
In part because every couple miles I couldn't cross the street; rather I had to climb a long flight of stairs to use the overpass and then go back down another long flight to street level. I did this at least 6 times I think. So 12 flights of stairs in the mix of 12 miles... just a tad different. I also stopped to grab some pics: In front of the Rio, Paris, the Mirage, the Stratosphere, NewYork New York, the Luxor, the Bellagio, and back at the Rio. All in all, it wasn't bad, and I was glad I got to take in the sights, including the sheer impressiveness of the architecture of those buildings and the technology behind the jumbotrons.I felt great the rest of the day, and somehow I managed to make it til 4am Sunday morning without taking a nap. Vegas, baby!
Sunday, 9/27 - A day of rest. No need to push the limits anymore. I'm taking it easy today. Some coffee. A LOT of water. ESPN Zone and a lot of NFL football. Then back on a plane to the real world known as St. Louis. Home sweet home!
Week #17 - The Poisonous Aftermath from Vegas
Monday, 9/28 - Got in after midnight last night from Vegas. No morning run for me. I had just 4 miles today, and I did it in the cool evening breeze around the neighborhood. I even donned a long sleeved shirt. It was actually kinda chilly. A bit different from the 100-degree temps in the desert. Still, I was digging the cooler temps, and my body was digging the taper.
Tuesday, 9/29 - Ever since hanging out at the VooDoo Lounge at the Rio Saturday night, I've had the old school Bel Biv Devoe song "Poison" in my head. "It's driving me out of my mind. That's why it's hard for me to find. Can't get it outta my head. Miss her, kiss her, love her... "
And so, as I got ready to run my 5-miler in the evening, I found a video on YouTube of a live performance on the old Arsenio Hall Show... priceless! That kicked off 5 miles, again in the chilly Fall air of my neighborhood. I knocked it out and tried to get some work done at home, but the weekend effect was finally catching up with me (not to mention the 2am bedtime last night). And, well, I fell asleep with my head on my laptop.
Wednesday, 9/30 - Another 4 miles today. I still can't get that song out of my head... "She's so fly. She'll drive you right out of your mind. Steal your heart when you're blind."
My left calf is still nagging me a bit, so I'm trying to stretch more. I'm really hoping the stretching, an ibuprofen regimen, and the taper will make the soreness go away just in time for the race. I know what is causing it - the damn hills in the neighborhood. But hopefully they will only make me stronger for the flat Chicago course.
Thursday, 10/1 - October is here! The race is just 10 training days away. Today is a day of rest. And rest I will.
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Past Two Weeks: 83 Miles, a Meteor Shower, the Short Track, and a Tale of Two Long Runs
So much for updating this blog at least once a week. The good thing is that despite neglecting the documentation of my training, I have not been neglecting my training.
I attribute my falling behind to trying to keep up with a new job, my newfound addiction to Dexter, the exhaustion of a two-year old's birthday party, the birth of a new fantasy football season, and the Cubs collapse. I think last I wrote the Cubs were in first place or maybe a game or two back. Now they are on the brink of double-digits. My temperament, no doubt, fluctuates with the mojo of that blippin team (hey, we all have our crosses), and well, my motivation goes straight to the Port-o-Let when they play like this.
Nonetheless, over the course of the past two weeks I ran a total of 83 miles. It was by far the most I have run in a two-week period. Here's the breakdown of how it panned out:
Monday 8/10 - Oversleep a bit, but still get in 4 miles at the gym and a short strength workout.
Tuesday 8/11 - Up way too late last night (2:00am). No chance for a morning run. Instead, after dinner, Lori and I took the kids to the lake. I ran two loops for a total of 8 miles. She walked and jogged with the kiddos. A rare, but satisfying, and quite energetic evening run.
Wednesday 8/12 - My aspirations of running 8 miles the night before and getting up early to run 4 miles were squashed by another late evening and exhaustion in the morning. End result: an evening 4-mile run through the subdivision after putting the kids to sleep with a short strength workout. The awesome thing about this run was that there was an active meteor shower lighting up the night sky this week. It was at its peak late Tuesday night, but supposedly carried into Wednesday night. I kept my eyes peeled while running, and sure enough, as I pushed up the final hill, I saw one go streaking through the night sky like a laser beam. It was awesome! Talk about an adrenaline boost for the last quarter mile.
Thursday 8/13 - Thou shall not train on Thursday... Amen!
Friday 8/14 - I needed to get to work early. I also needed to get 8 miles in at my goal marathon pace. Since I don't run at the park in the dark, I opted for the short track at Bally's at 5am. Yes, 8 miles. That meant 120 laps around that 1/15th-mile track. Brutal but effective!
Saturday 8/15 - On the schedule for the day: 17 miles. The most I have ever run, and two more than the last time I said that (two weeks ago). This time I was running solo. While I was hoping a running partner might show up, I knew the odds were slim, and I was dreading the run. Not only was this going to be my first long run in a long time without a partner to chat the monotony away, but it was going to be a hot one.
For my 17 miles, I planned to run a half mile and then three 5.5-mile loops. And that I did. Each time I approached my SUV, I crossed my fingers, hoping to be surprised by a familiar face, ready to join me for a loop. But that never happened. No worries, though - I needed this test of will. Not only was I running a crazy distance, but the temp was climbing from the upper 60s at the onset of the run to the upper 80s at the close of it. I powered through 15 miles, and once I realized that with each step I was going one step further than ever before, I got to 17 with no problem.
And with a couple hundred yards to go, Lori was there with the kids to surprise me. It about brought me to tears (and it's not even race day). The reasons why I run, there, like an oasis, at the end of my 17-miler. As I got my "Go, Daddy, Go!" from Em and gave her a high-five, I headed to the finish line, where I gave my Carlos Zambrano sign of the cross and point to the sky in thanks for getting me there. 39 miles complete this week and a photo op with my angels at the end. Awesome!
Sunday 8/16 - A cross-train day. Yeah, I've got to be honest, I didn't do much here except take the kids for a walk at the mall.
Monday 8/17 - Shorter runs increase to 5 miles this week. I ran 5 at the gym, again arriving a bit late, which forced me to cut my strength workout short.
Tuesday 8/18 - Ugh, up 'til 2am again last night. No morning run. I put in 8 again at the lake in the evening, except this time I started about 20 minutes later than last week. That meant that my final mile was past sundown. It was like I was the windshield of a car driving through an Iowa corn field in July. The bugs were out, EVERYWHERE, and it was disgusting, but I got my 8-miler in.
Wednesday 8/19 - Not a chance I'm getting up early. I ran 5 miles at night, again, outside and got in a short strength workout.
Thursday 8/20 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays. Gladly! But does an evening of yard work and mulching count as rest? If not, then I broke the commandment.
Friday 8/21 - Ah, my little one's second birthday! I had 8 miles scheduled. The short track was not an option this week. You see, I had off from work to celebrate. So I got to sleep in an extra half hour and run leisurely at the lake - two 4-mile loops. My reward for finishing? Cutting the grass and getting the yard and house ready for two birthday gatherings this weekend: one with friends, and one with family. It's safe to say that I'm just burning through calories these days.
Saturday 8/22 - 18 miles this week. It would be another solo effort, but this long run has a bit of a different story from last week. It starts with the weather. It was only in the upper 50s when I started and didn't make it to the 70s by the time I finished. (Yes, this is August in St. Louis). The program stated that if you felt good during the run, you could push it towards the end and run a 3/1 (the first 75% q slow/easy pace and the last 25% you can step it up a notch). As I was running, I felt as if I was getting stronger, which was not what I expected after an exhausting Friday and brutal training week. I ran the first 7 miles at about a 9:30 pace. Then I ran the next 6.5 miles at about a 9:15 pace. Once I hit that 75% mark, I hit a button and decided to test my body a bit. I cruised the final 4.5 miles running at about an 8:44 clip. And I felt GREAT! That run was the single biggest confidence booster for the marathon I have experienced thus far. Finishing isn't a question anymore. And for me that's huge. I still have two 20-mile training runs ahead of me, but this past week (running 44 miles) will end up being my biggest mileage week of the program. It's all downhill from here. Who'd have thought I'd run 83 miles in a 13 day span? Definitely not me. Crazy!
Sunday 8/23 - Another cross-train day, but I'll be honest again, I didn't do much here again. This might be a mistake on my part, but I'll say that I'm listening to my body. I was pretty sore after 18 miles the day before and pushing it towards the end of that run. And well, it was party time for the little one with the family. Good food, beer, family, and an evening fantasy football draft took precedent. I think I earned it.
Well, this coming week is a taper week... "just" 36 miles.
I attribute my falling behind to trying to keep up with a new job, my newfound addiction to Dexter, the exhaustion of a two-year old's birthday party, the birth of a new fantasy football season, and the Cubs collapse. I think last I wrote the Cubs were in first place or maybe a game or two back. Now they are on the brink of double-digits. My temperament, no doubt, fluctuates with the mojo of that blippin team (hey, we all have our crosses), and well, my motivation goes straight to the Port-o-Let when they play like this.
Nonetheless, over the course of the past two weeks I ran a total of 83 miles. It was by far the most I have run in a two-week period. Here's the breakdown of how it panned out:
Monday 8/10 - Oversleep a bit, but still get in 4 miles at the gym and a short strength workout.
Tuesday 8/11 - Up way too late last night (2:00am). No chance for a morning run. Instead, after dinner, Lori and I took the kids to the lake. I ran two loops for a total of 8 miles. She walked and jogged with the kiddos. A rare, but satisfying, and quite energetic evening run.
Wednesday 8/12 - My aspirations of running 8 miles the night before and getting up early to run 4 miles were squashed by another late evening and exhaustion in the morning. End result: an evening 4-mile run through the subdivision after putting the kids to sleep with a short strength workout. The awesome thing about this run was that there was an active meteor shower lighting up the night sky this week. It was at its peak late Tuesday night, but supposedly carried into Wednesday night. I kept my eyes peeled while running, and sure enough, as I pushed up the final hill, I saw one go streaking through the night sky like a laser beam. It was awesome! Talk about an adrenaline boost for the last quarter mile.
Thursday 8/13 - Thou shall not train on Thursday... Amen!
Friday 8/14 - I needed to get to work early. I also needed to get 8 miles in at my goal marathon pace. Since I don't run at the park in the dark, I opted for the short track at Bally's at 5am. Yes, 8 miles. That meant 120 laps around that 1/15th-mile track. Brutal but effective!
Saturday 8/15 - On the schedule for the day: 17 miles. The most I have ever run, and two more than the last time I said that (two weeks ago). This time I was running solo. While I was hoping a running partner might show up, I knew the odds were slim, and I was dreading the run. Not only was this going to be my first long run in a long time without a partner to chat the monotony away, but it was going to be a hot one.
For my 17 miles, I planned to run a half mile and then three 5.5-mile loops. And that I did. Each time I approached my SUV, I crossed my fingers, hoping to be surprised by a familiar face, ready to join me for a loop. But that never happened. No worries, though - I needed this test of will. Not only was I running a crazy distance, but the temp was climbing from the upper 60s at the onset of the run to the upper 80s at the close of it. I powered through 15 miles, and once I realized that with each step I was going one step further than ever before, I got to 17 with no problem.
And with a couple hundred yards to go, Lori was there with the kids to surprise me. It about brought me to tears (and it's not even race day). The reasons why I run, there, like an oasis, at the end of my 17-miler. As I got my "Go, Daddy, Go!" from Em and gave her a high-five, I headed to the finish line, where I gave my Carlos Zambrano sign of the cross and point to the sky in thanks for getting me there. 39 miles complete this week and a photo op with my angels at the end. Awesome!Sunday 8/16 - A cross-train day. Yeah, I've got to be honest, I didn't do much here except take the kids for a walk at the mall.
Monday 8/17 - Shorter runs increase to 5 miles this week. I ran 5 at the gym, again arriving a bit late, which forced me to cut my strength workout short.
Tuesday 8/18 - Ugh, up 'til 2am again last night. No morning run. I put in 8 again at the lake in the evening, except this time I started about 20 minutes later than last week. That meant that my final mile was past sundown. It was like I was the windshield of a car driving through an Iowa corn field in July. The bugs were out, EVERYWHERE, and it was disgusting, but I got my 8-miler in.
Wednesday 8/19 - Not a chance I'm getting up early. I ran 5 miles at night, again, outside and got in a short strength workout.
Thursday 8/20 - Thou shall not train on Thursdays. Gladly! But does an evening of yard work and mulching count as rest? If not, then I broke the commandment.
Friday 8/21 - Ah, my little one's second birthday! I had 8 miles scheduled. The short track was not an option this week. You see, I had off from work to celebrate. So I got to sleep in an extra half hour and run leisurely at the lake - two 4-mile loops. My reward for finishing? Cutting the grass and getting the yard and house ready for two birthday gatherings this weekend: one with friends, and one with family. It's safe to say that I'm just burning through calories these days.
Saturday 8/22 - 18 miles this week. It would be another solo effort, but this long run has a bit of a different story from last week. It starts with the weather. It was only in the upper 50s when I started and didn't make it to the 70s by the time I finished. (Yes, this is August in St. Louis). The program stated that if you felt good during the run, you could push it towards the end and run a 3/1 (the first 75% q slow/easy pace and the last 25% you can step it up a notch). As I was running, I felt as if I was getting stronger, which was not what I expected after an exhausting Friday and brutal training week. I ran the first 7 miles at about a 9:30 pace. Then I ran the next 6.5 miles at about a 9:15 pace. Once I hit that 75% mark, I hit a button and decided to test my body a bit. I cruised the final 4.5 miles running at about an 8:44 clip. And I felt GREAT! That run was the single biggest confidence booster for the marathon I have experienced thus far. Finishing isn't a question anymore. And for me that's huge. I still have two 20-mile training runs ahead of me, but this past week (running 44 miles) will end up being my biggest mileage week of the program. It's all downhill from here. Who'd have thought I'd run 83 miles in a 13 day span? Definitely not me. Crazy!
Sunday 8/23 - Another cross-train day, but I'll be honest again, I didn't do much here again. This might be a mistake on my part, but I'll say that I'm listening to my body. I was pretty sore after 18 miles the day before and pushing it towards the end of that run. And well, it was party time for the little one with the family. Good food, beer, family, and an evening fantasy football draft took precedent. I think I earned it.
Well, this coming week is a taper week... "just" 36 miles.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Half-way Home
As of Saturday morning around 8:00am, I was half-way done with my 18-week training program. Woohoo!
After what was shaping up to be a crappy training week with a lot of distractions, I finished the week strong. I hammered out 7 miles at marathon pace in the soupy humidity before work on Friday morning. And then I was joined by my new crazy running partner Saturday morning for an "easy" 11. Did I just say that?
Well, it really was easy. Crazy, I know.
With the temps forecasted to be in the upper 90s with stifling humidity Saturday, the trails were crowded much earlier than usual. Despite sweating more than I had on any other run this year, we knocked out those 11 miles without much trouble. It was warm early and just so freakin' humid. At the onset of the run, temps were near 72 degrees, and it climbed to around 80 by the time we finished. Humidity? Well, it ranged from 90% to 84%. Yeah, it was soupy all right. I guess that type of weather is how most summer mornings are in St. Louis. We have just been lucky enough to have had a very mild, if not downright cool, summer this year. Perhaps it's divine intervention assisting me in my training. Or perhaps it's the calm before the heat storm in late August and September.
At the completion of my Saturday 11-miler, I felt damn good about myself. I'm at the point where running 11 miles isn't something I dread or wig out thinking about the night before. Heck, I don't even really care what I eat or drink so much the day before. But I guess that might not be a good thing. At least I know better not to screw around too much on those upcoming longer runs. Gotta respect those long runs in front of me.
So I'm half-way home. Half-way done with the program. Half-way to being back in my hometown: Chi-town, The Windy City, Sweet Home Chicago.
All that being said, let's take a numerical look back at the past 9 weeks:
44 - Total days running, not including my cross-training days
255 - Miles run (almost to Chicago from St. Louis... I guess I'm to Joliet right now)
39:15:23 - Hours:Minutes:Seconds spent running on a track, trail, or road. It does not include time for stretching, strength training, or cross-training. And the vast majority of it was done before 7:00am most days.
172.8 - My weight on Day 1 of this 18-week program.
167.4 - My weight after 9 weeks of marathon training. I'm down 5 pounds, but I yo-yo a good 3-4 pounds throughout the week somehow. So I'm holding steady for the most part. Still, this is the lightest I've been since age 16.
210 - My weight four years ago when I said enough was enough. What was I thinking/doing to myself (back then, not now)?
27 - Individual donations made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital sponsoring my run. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
$1,505 - Total contribution to the kids at St. Jude so far - AWESOME!!!
It so happened that the half-way point fell on my 7-year wedding anniversary weekend. Lori and I got to celebrate making it to the "anti-itch" point with some of our close friends in St. Louis who have, no doubt, helped us get to where we are, both in our marriage and in our individual, personal lives. After 7 years, Lori still continues to amaze me each and every day and inspires me to no end. Without the love of my life, I am certain I would not be where I am today, and without her support, this journey would, simply, not be complete.
After what was shaping up to be a crappy training week with a lot of distractions, I finished the week strong. I hammered out 7 miles at marathon pace in the soupy humidity before work on Friday morning. And then I was joined by my new crazy running partner Saturday morning for an "easy" 11. Did I just say that?
Well, it really was easy. Crazy, I know.
With the temps forecasted to be in the upper 90s with stifling humidity Saturday, the trails were crowded much earlier than usual. Despite sweating more than I had on any other run this year, we knocked out those 11 miles without much trouble. It was warm early and just so freakin' humid. At the onset of the run, temps were near 72 degrees, and it climbed to around 80 by the time we finished. Humidity? Well, it ranged from 90% to 84%. Yeah, it was soupy all right. I guess that type of weather is how most summer mornings are in St. Louis. We have just been lucky enough to have had a very mild, if not downright cool, summer this year. Perhaps it's divine intervention assisting me in my training. Or perhaps it's the calm before the heat storm in late August and September.
At the completion of my Saturday 11-miler, I felt damn good about myself. I'm at the point where running 11 miles isn't something I dread or wig out thinking about the night before. Heck, I don't even really care what I eat or drink so much the day before. But I guess that might not be a good thing. At least I know better not to screw around too much on those upcoming longer runs. Gotta respect those long runs in front of me.
So I'm half-way home. Half-way done with the program. Half-way to being back in my hometown: Chi-town, The Windy City, Sweet Home Chicago.
All that being said, let's take a numerical look back at the past 9 weeks:
44 - Total days running, not including my cross-training days
255 - Miles run (almost to Chicago from St. Louis... I guess I'm to Joliet right now)
39:15:23 - Hours:Minutes:Seconds spent running on a track, trail, or road. It does not include time for stretching, strength training, or cross-training. And the vast majority of it was done before 7:00am most days.
172.8 - My weight on Day 1 of this 18-week program.
167.4 - My weight after 9 weeks of marathon training. I'm down 5 pounds, but I yo-yo a good 3-4 pounds throughout the week somehow. So I'm holding steady for the most part. Still, this is the lightest I've been since age 16.
210 - My weight four years ago when I said enough was enough. What was I thinking/doing to myself (back then, not now)?
27 - Individual donations made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital sponsoring my run. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
$1,505 - Total contribution to the kids at St. Jude so far - AWESOME!!!
It so happened that the half-way point fell on my 7-year wedding anniversary weekend. Lori and I got to celebrate making it to the "anti-itch" point with some of our close friends in St. Louis who have, no doubt, helped us get to where we are, both in our marriage and in our individual, personal lives. After 7 years, Lori still continues to amaze me each and every day and inspires me to no end. Without the love of my life, I am certain I would not be where I am today, and without her support, this journey would, simply, not be complete.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Kenny Rogers Roasters... "Oh! I'm Stressed!"
The Kenny Rogers Roasters episode of Seinfeld might be my second favorite of all time... second only to the "Little Jerry Seinfeld".
If you don't know the Chicken Roasters episode, a Kenny Rogers Roasters "good food quickly" restaurant opens across the street from Kramer's apartment, and their giant red sign keeps Kramer's apartment aglow and prevents him from sleeping at night. Jerry ends up bumping into an old college buddy and talks him into skipping a meeting. This causes Jerry's friend to get fired from his Wall Street gig, which only leads to him taking a job at Kenny Rogers Roasters as an assistant manager. Fed up with the "red menace" Kramer wants to put Rogers out of business, so he begins a "bad chicken... mess you up" protest. But Jerry's guilty conscience can have none of this, so he switches apartments with Kramer in an effort to thwart his protest. End result, the two end up taking on each other's personality in no time. In the pinnacle scene Jerry storms into his old apartment a-la Kramer, goes on a typical Kramer rant, and when asked if he's stressed, replies in a very Kramer-like fashion, "Oh! I'm stressed!"
Well, that's how I feel today. Maybe not quite as bad as Jerry, but the stress from the past couple weeks has taken its toll on my workouts this week.
I overslept Monday and got to the gym late. With a boatload of work waiting for me in the office, I opted to get my 4-miler in and skip the strength workout in favor of an extended stretching period, which probably wasn't a bad move at all.
On Tuesday I got in early to the gym and got in my 5-miler. Gotta love step-back weeks! I was feeling pretty good, so after running the first mile in about 9:00, I turned it up a notch and ran the next three at about an 8:30 pace. I slowed it down for the next 2/3 of a mile, but then switched into another gear, running the final 1/3 mile in 2:30. The run felt great and I averaged 8:40 over 5 miles. Not bad for me.
But with a to-do list piling up like sweaty, running clothes, the stress finally won out last night. Trying to get caught up at work, I went to bed late. Then I overslept and missed my run this morning. In an effort to make the best of my extra sleep, I rolled into work a motivated man, and boom... I got the infamous Blue Screen of Death on my laptop... Newman! My computer died and that really, really FUBARed my day, week! I fell further behind, and though I usually roll with the punches, the stress has started to annoy me.
With some loved ones visiting in town this evening, I fired up the grill and threw on some steaks, shrimp, and vegetables. I needed a good meal, and there's just something about grilling that is relaxing. Within an hour after finishing dinner, I hammered out my 4-miler through my hilly subdivision - not that easy with a belly full of steak, but worth it. I didn't get a strength workout in today as planned (that's two misses this week), so I'm pretty bummed about that. But it is a step-back week, and I'm glad I followed through and did sneak in that run.
During and after finishing those four miles tonight, my right Achilles tendon began to flare up, which means I really need to stretch the hell out of it tomorrow on my day off (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday). Again, annoying, and just something else to have to worry about now.
I rarely ever get stressed for any lengthy period of time, so I know I can get my act together. I just need to do it. That's what this weekend is for. No excuses. Time to go to work and put an end to these annoying stress levels. Giddyup!
If you don't know the Chicken Roasters episode, a Kenny Rogers Roasters "good food quickly" restaurant opens across the street from Kramer's apartment, and their giant red sign keeps Kramer's apartment aglow and prevents him from sleeping at night. Jerry ends up bumping into an old college buddy and talks him into skipping a meeting. This causes Jerry's friend to get fired from his Wall Street gig, which only leads to him taking a job at Kenny Rogers Roasters as an assistant manager. Fed up with the "red menace" Kramer wants to put Rogers out of business, so he begins a "bad chicken... mess you up" protest. But Jerry's guilty conscience can have none of this, so he switches apartments with Kramer in an effort to thwart his protest. End result, the two end up taking on each other's personality in no time. In the pinnacle scene Jerry storms into his old apartment a-la Kramer, goes on a typical Kramer rant, and when asked if he's stressed, replies in a very Kramer-like fashion, "Oh! I'm stressed!"
Well, that's how I feel today. Maybe not quite as bad as Jerry, but the stress from the past couple weeks has taken its toll on my workouts this week.
I overslept Monday and got to the gym late. With a boatload of work waiting for me in the office, I opted to get my 4-miler in and skip the strength workout in favor of an extended stretching period, which probably wasn't a bad move at all.
On Tuesday I got in early to the gym and got in my 5-miler. Gotta love step-back weeks! I was feeling pretty good, so after running the first mile in about 9:00, I turned it up a notch and ran the next three at about an 8:30 pace. I slowed it down for the next 2/3 of a mile, but then switched into another gear, running the final 1/3 mile in 2:30. The run felt great and I averaged 8:40 over 5 miles. Not bad for me.
But with a to-do list piling up like sweaty, running clothes, the stress finally won out last night. Trying to get caught up at work, I went to bed late. Then I overslept and missed my run this morning. In an effort to make the best of my extra sleep, I rolled into work a motivated man, and boom... I got the infamous Blue Screen of Death on my laptop... Newman! My computer died and that really, really FUBARed my day, week! I fell further behind, and though I usually roll with the punches, the stress has started to annoy me.
With some loved ones visiting in town this evening, I fired up the grill and threw on some steaks, shrimp, and vegetables. I needed a good meal, and there's just something about grilling that is relaxing. Within an hour after finishing dinner, I hammered out my 4-miler through my hilly subdivision - not that easy with a belly full of steak, but worth it. I didn't get a strength workout in today as planned (that's two misses this week), so I'm pretty bummed about that. But it is a step-back week, and I'm glad I followed through and did sneak in that run.
During and after finishing those four miles tonight, my right Achilles tendon began to flare up, which means I really need to stretch the hell out of it tomorrow on my day off (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday). Again, annoying, and just something else to have to worry about now.
I rarely ever get stressed for any lengthy period of time, so I know I can get my act together. I just need to do it. That's what this weekend is for. No excuses. Time to go to work and put an end to these annoying stress levels. Giddyup!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
10 Weeks to Go... Orthotics or No Orthotics?
This was a crazy busy week... at work, at home, and with my program.
I recently took on a new job at work, so now I'm juggling double duty as I attempt to transition away from the work in my old job. And at home, in preparation for my daughter's upcoming birthday, my wife and I have been on the Craigslist hunt for a swing set and jungle gym. That has involved looking at a bunch of postings, following-up with potential sellers, and traveling about in the evenings to check out the options... busy, busy!
Still, I managed to prevent the distractions from sidetracking me... and so, I managed to stick to my program all week long.
Monday and Wednesday I got in my 4-mile runs and my strength workouts. And Tuesday and Friday I got in my 7-milers as planned. Money I tell you! I was feeling pretty doggone sluggish, though, come my day of rest on Thursday (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday).
Reality after reality tends to sink in with me as I make progress along this journey. This week it was the reality that I'm not even half-way through my program. Knowing that my legs had been sluggish, that I've been starting to get some minor plantar fasciitis again in my right foot, and that my right Achilles tendon had been bothering me a bit after long runs, my wife hooked me up with one of her clients, who is a massage therapist.
So off I went to my appointment Thursday to the St. Louis Institute for Rehabilitative and Sports Massage. Mark Frank put the hurt on my legs, massaging the bad out of them as I like to put it. After about 90 minutes of some heavy wincing and biting my lip, I felt brand new. It really was amazing. My feet are turned out pretty badly (like a duck). This is in part due to genetics and in part due to muscle tightness, particularly in my abductors. But after my massage, there was a noticeable difference. In fact, Mark stopped after working on just my right leg, and you could see the difference when I stood up to re-check my posture: my left leg was still turned out far more noticeably than my right. And so then he worked on my left leg. The end result? Come Friday for my 7-miler, it felt like I had taken a week off to rest. Amazing!!! Thanks, Mark! I'll be back about every three to four weeks until the race.
He also recommended that I look into getting orthotics to combat the effects of the two-by-fours I have for flat feet. Eight weeks into the program, I'm a little skeptical, but he felt I could work them in without much trouble and referred me to a guy he trusts. While the negative effects have been minimal from my flat feet so far, he felt that I could be at risk for more problems as the mileage builds. My wife was a bit more skeptical - mainly because she knows that most medical professionals look at me and automatically think that I have all these problems because of my flat feet. But she knows that I just haven't had the problems they all come to expect, including herself.
What to do? What to do? Orthotics or no orthotics?
I figure I'll go talk to the orthotics specialist and see what he has to say. I have no problems getting them as a long-term investment, but I'm leery of screwing up my training for the upcoming marathon. We'll see what he advises.
Yesterday (Saturday) I had a 15-miler scheduled. I'd once again be running further than I ever had before. My normal running partners couldn't make any part of Saturday's run (Mike, thanks for coming out on Friday, though). Joe, a fellow South Side Chicagoan, who I randomly met on the trail last Saturday, did come out to run with me. An avid runner, last week in our brief conversation he offered to join me on my long runs. So I got in touch with him, and come Saturday at 6:00am, he was there... awesome!
Together we talked each other's ear off and hammered out an easy 15 miles (did I just say that?). With the humidity far less than it was a week ago, 15 miles this past Saturday felt like 8 compared to 14 miles the week before. It really is amazing what having someone to talk to can do for a long run. It makes passing the time so, so much easier.
And on my long runs I have definitely learned not to be stubborn and stupid. I take it easy now, coasting at about a 9:30 pace (no need to push it). I also stop about every 4-6 miles to get a gel pack or some Gatorade (Lemon Lime to stay consistent with what will be available on race day). And when stopping, I'll walk around for a minute or two. It does feel weird when getting back into a run, but that wears off within no time. With breaks included we finished 15 miles Saturday in just under 2.5 hours. It's crazy for me to think that I'm already getting up to running for that long, but I am. Now I just need to make it about another 90 minutes or so, and boom, there's 26.2!
Towards the end of my run Saturday my right Achilles started to get a little sore again, as did my left hamstring tendon. Man, do I really need to stretch more. With this being a step-back week again (only 11 miles next Saturday), I'm going to make it a point to stretch longer and more often this week.
10 weeks to go! Just 70 more days 'til race day!
I recently took on a new job at work, so now I'm juggling double duty as I attempt to transition away from the work in my old job. And at home, in preparation for my daughter's upcoming birthday, my wife and I have been on the Craigslist hunt for a swing set and jungle gym. That has involved looking at a bunch of postings, following-up with potential sellers, and traveling about in the evenings to check out the options... busy, busy!
Still, I managed to prevent the distractions from sidetracking me... and so, I managed to stick to my program all week long.
Monday and Wednesday I got in my 4-mile runs and my strength workouts. And Tuesday and Friday I got in my 7-milers as planned. Money I tell you! I was feeling pretty doggone sluggish, though, come my day of rest on Thursday (Remember: Thou shall not train on Thursday).
Reality after reality tends to sink in with me as I make progress along this journey. This week it was the reality that I'm not even half-way through my program. Knowing that my legs had been sluggish, that I've been starting to get some minor plantar fasciitis again in my right foot, and that my right Achilles tendon had been bothering me a bit after long runs, my wife hooked me up with one of her clients, who is a massage therapist.
So off I went to my appointment Thursday to the St. Louis Institute for Rehabilitative and Sports Massage. Mark Frank put the hurt on my legs, massaging the bad out of them as I like to put it. After about 90 minutes of some heavy wincing and biting my lip, I felt brand new. It really was amazing. My feet are turned out pretty badly (like a duck). This is in part due to genetics and in part due to muscle tightness, particularly in my abductors. But after my massage, there was a noticeable difference. In fact, Mark stopped after working on just my right leg, and you could see the difference when I stood up to re-check my posture: my left leg was still turned out far more noticeably than my right. And so then he worked on my left leg. The end result? Come Friday for my 7-miler, it felt like I had taken a week off to rest. Amazing!!! Thanks, Mark! I'll be back about every three to four weeks until the race.
He also recommended that I look into getting orthotics to combat the effects of the two-by-fours I have for flat feet. Eight weeks into the program, I'm a little skeptical, but he felt I could work them in without much trouble and referred me to a guy he trusts. While the negative effects have been minimal from my flat feet so far, he felt that I could be at risk for more problems as the mileage builds. My wife was a bit more skeptical - mainly because she knows that most medical professionals look at me and automatically think that I have all these problems because of my flat feet. But she knows that I just haven't had the problems they all come to expect, including herself.
What to do? What to do? Orthotics or no orthotics?
I figure I'll go talk to the orthotics specialist and see what he has to say. I have no problems getting them as a long-term investment, but I'm leery of screwing up my training for the upcoming marathon. We'll see what he advises.
Yesterday (Saturday) I had a 15-miler scheduled. I'd once again be running further than I ever had before. My normal running partners couldn't make any part of Saturday's run (Mike, thanks for coming out on Friday, though). Joe, a fellow South Side Chicagoan, who I randomly met on the trail last Saturday, did come out to run with me. An avid runner, last week in our brief conversation he offered to join me on my long runs. So I got in touch with him, and come Saturday at 6:00am, he was there... awesome!
Together we talked each other's ear off and hammered out an easy 15 miles (did I just say that?). With the humidity far less than it was a week ago, 15 miles this past Saturday felt like 8 compared to 14 miles the week before. It really is amazing what having someone to talk to can do for a long run. It makes passing the time so, so much easier.
And on my long runs I have definitely learned not to be stubborn and stupid. I take it easy now, coasting at about a 9:30 pace (no need to push it). I also stop about every 4-6 miles to get a gel pack or some Gatorade (Lemon Lime to stay consistent with what will be available on race day). And when stopping, I'll walk around for a minute or two. It does feel weird when getting back into a run, but that wears off within no time. With breaks included we finished 15 miles Saturday in just under 2.5 hours. It's crazy for me to think that I'm already getting up to running for that long, but I am. Now I just need to make it about another 90 minutes or so, and boom, there's 26.2!
Towards the end of my run Saturday my right Achilles started to get a little sore again, as did my left hamstring tendon. Man, do I really need to stretch more. With this being a step-back week again (only 11 miles next Saturday), I'm going to make it a point to stretch longer and more often this week.
10 weeks to go! Just 70 more days 'til race day!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
21 Miles in 24 Hours
OK, so it really was like 25 hours.
Friday morning I ran 7 miles at my marathon goal pace (just over 9 minutes per mile). The run actually felt pretty good considering it followed just 4.5 hours of sleep.
I have to admit that my wife and I are TV junkies. We watch waaaay too much TV. With programming really lacking this summer, we have decided to explore a few shows we never watched. And we have our "On Demand" service to thank. Ugh, big mistake. We decided to start watching the hit show Dexter. And we were hooked instantly. Problem is that we have every episode from the first three seasons at our fingertips - available to watch whenever we want. There's no waiting from week to week for the next thrill ride, so that means if I want to stay up an hour or two later than I should to see what happens next, I can (not a good temptation to have when marathon training). And Thursday night I succumbed to the temptation. Hence the 4.5 hours of sleep.
Saturday morning rolled around and I headed to the lake for the longest run of my life so far: 14 miles. My friend Chris met me out there agreeing to suffer through at least the first 10 with me. It was cool, but really humid thanks to some thunderstorms just to our south and west. In fact, we caught a little sprinkle at the onset. The humidity was tough to battle through, as was the fact that I had run 7 miles the day before.
I did my best to listen to Hal Higdon. I still struggle with running my long runs at a slower pace than my goal marathon pace, but I did it Saturday. 9:30-9:45 miles on average. And I don't honestly think I could have pushed much harder and made it.
Chris rolled off at the 10-mile mark (I'm damn impressed he ran that long with me), so I was off on my own for the final four miles. And then I ran into a fellow Chicagoan. He spotted my Cubs hat, struck up a conversation, and although he was a White Sox fan, we talked the next three miles. A fork in our paths ended our conversation, but that was a big help for me. I had someone to talk with virtually 13 of the 14 miles I ran that morning.
As I was finishing the last mile, going further than I had ever gone before, I knew my wife and kids would be waiting for me at the end point. Lori picked up breakfast and surprised me out there with the kids. She actually found me around the 12-mile mark and asked me where to meet up. I told her where my 14-miler was ending, and she scurried on over to meet me at the finish. It was as pleasant as surprises get! Having her support has meant so much to me on this journey. And being able to see the kids when I finished was the perfect reminder why I put myself through this.
Combined Friday and Saturday, I ended up running 21 miles in a 25-hour period. No wonder why I felt the way I did after my run Saturday.
The reality of this all continues to hit me time and time again. Here I am just over 1/3 of the way through my program and I'm already running 14-mile long runs that leave me pretty much worthless for the better part of the day afterwards. That's tough to accept when the to-do list seems never-ending. Still I press on. I know it's all part of the preparation for my body to safely run 26.2 miles. And for me, with as much is at stake both personally and for the kids at St. Jude, there's no slacking off.
Today for my cross-training as I begin week 8, I did somewhat take it easy. I walked 30-minutes pushing the rugrats in the double stroller. After running 21 miles in 25 hours, I felt entitled to an easy cross-training workout. No need to push it today.
Friday morning I ran 7 miles at my marathon goal pace (just over 9 minutes per mile). The run actually felt pretty good considering it followed just 4.5 hours of sleep.
I have to admit that my wife and I are TV junkies. We watch waaaay too much TV. With programming really lacking this summer, we have decided to explore a few shows we never watched. And we have our "On Demand" service to thank. Ugh, big mistake. We decided to start watching the hit show Dexter. And we were hooked instantly. Problem is that we have every episode from the first three seasons at our fingertips - available to watch whenever we want. There's no waiting from week to week for the next thrill ride, so that means if I want to stay up an hour or two later than I should to see what happens next, I can (not a good temptation to have when marathon training). And Thursday night I succumbed to the temptation. Hence the 4.5 hours of sleep.
Saturday morning rolled around and I headed to the lake for the longest run of my life so far: 14 miles. My friend Chris met me out there agreeing to suffer through at least the first 10 with me. It was cool, but really humid thanks to some thunderstorms just to our south and west. In fact, we caught a little sprinkle at the onset. The humidity was tough to battle through, as was the fact that I had run 7 miles the day before.
I did my best to listen to Hal Higdon. I still struggle with running my long runs at a slower pace than my goal marathon pace, but I did it Saturday. 9:30-9:45 miles on average. And I don't honestly think I could have pushed much harder and made it.
Chris rolled off at the 10-mile mark (I'm damn impressed he ran that long with me), so I was off on my own for the final four miles. And then I ran into a fellow Chicagoan. He spotted my Cubs hat, struck up a conversation, and although he was a White Sox fan, we talked the next three miles. A fork in our paths ended our conversation, but that was a big help for me. I had someone to talk with virtually 13 of the 14 miles I ran that morning.
As I was finishing the last mile, going further than I had ever gone before, I knew my wife and kids would be waiting for me at the end point. Lori picked up breakfast and surprised me out there with the kids. She actually found me around the 12-mile mark and asked me where to meet up. I told her where my 14-miler was ending, and she scurried on over to meet me at the finish. It was as pleasant as surprises get! Having her support has meant so much to me on this journey. And being able to see the kids when I finished was the perfect reminder why I put myself through this.
Combined Friday and Saturday, I ended up running 21 miles in a 25-hour period. No wonder why I felt the way I did after my run Saturday.
The reality of this all continues to hit me time and time again. Here I am just over 1/3 of the way through my program and I'm already running 14-mile long runs that leave me pretty much worthless for the better part of the day afterwards. That's tough to accept when the to-do list seems never-ending. Still I press on. I know it's all part of the preparation for my body to safely run 26.2 miles. And for me, with as much is at stake both personally and for the kids at St. Jude, there's no slacking off.
Today for my cross-training as I begin week 8, I did somewhat take it easy. I walked 30-minutes pushing the rugrats in the double stroller. After running 21 miles in 25 hours, I felt entitled to an easy cross-training workout. No need to push it today.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
51 Beats Per Minute
That's what my resting heart rate was measured at a couple weeks ago. I definitely can't remember taking my pulse at any time in my life where it was less than 60 bpm. And quite honestly, I think most of my adult life it's been typically around 70. My running over the past three years has dropped it down to 51... less than a beat per second. My heart has clearly gotten more efficient thanks to all this endurance training, though not to the ridiculous efficiency of the likes of Lance Armstrong. The cancer survivor and Tour de France phenom has a resting heart rate in the range of 32-34 beats per minute. Think about that. His ticker only ticks around once every two seconds. Beat-Pause-Beat. Amazing!
So this week, my mileage picked up. I ran 4 miles both Monday and Wednesday while incorporating a strength workout on both days. And on Tuesday I ran 7 miles. I felt good all three days, although my right Achilles tendon felt pretty sore after my Tuesday run. Thankfully, some extra stretching did the trick, and it felt great on Wednesday.
Annoyed with running in the same rhythm time and time again (at marathon pace or slower), I decided to open it up a bit on Wednesday. So after running the first 2.7 miles at a 9:15ish pace, I turned it up a notch for the final 1.3 miles kicking in a 8:00-8:15 pace. And it felt good. Comfortable. And I wasn't winded before, during, or afterwards, which was a big confidence booster.
Today, my hamstrings were a bit sore. Most likely from a mix of picking up the pace yesterday, the strength program, and the increased mileage. Still, as always, it was a GREAT day of rest (Thou shall not train on Thursdays). Still, I'll have to make sure to stretch well before my 7-miler in the morning tomorrow. And then it's ON for 14 on Saturday. Giddyup!
So this week, my mileage picked up. I ran 4 miles both Monday and Wednesday while incorporating a strength workout on both days. And on Tuesday I ran 7 miles. I felt good all three days, although my right Achilles tendon felt pretty sore after my Tuesday run. Thankfully, some extra stretching did the trick, and it felt great on Wednesday.
Annoyed with running in the same rhythm time and time again (at marathon pace or slower), I decided to open it up a bit on Wednesday. So after running the first 2.7 miles at a 9:15ish pace, I turned it up a notch for the final 1.3 miles kicking in a 8:00-8:15 pace. And it felt good. Comfortable. And I wasn't winded before, during, or afterwards, which was a big confidence booster.
Today, my hamstrings were a bit sore. Most likely from a mix of picking up the pace yesterday, the strength program, and the increased mileage. Still, as always, it was a GREAT day of rest (Thou shall not train on Thursdays). Still, I'll have to make sure to stretch well before my 7-miler in the morning tomorrow. And then it's ON for 14 on Saturday. Giddyup!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
"Run-ning. Run-ning." One-Third of the Way...
Now the real marathon training begins.
I've completed 6 weeks of my 18-week program. This past week was a step-back week, so my long run was shortened. Instead of doing 13 miles on Saturday, I only had to do 9. I must admit, though, I was pretty sluggish both Friday and Saturday, even after the day off on Thursday. The run Friday morning felt pretty good and I came in exactly on a 9:09 pace for 6 miles. Saturday's run was a bit slower, as it should've been. The 9-miler felt pretty good. I did it out at Creve Coeur Lake and took my time. No pressure. Just a nice easy run. I opted to sleep in and get a very rare 8 hours of sleep. With high temps only hitting 71 degrees on a Saturday in mid-July in St. Louis, I figured, why not sleep in? There was no reason to get up early and beat the sun. So I encountered a lot more people enjoying the rare, cool St. Louis summer weather. It was cool to see so many people out getting some exercise.
I witnessed a pretty cool event as I made two laps around the trail: the Missouri Disabled Water Ski Association was holding a ski event. All kinds of physically disabled athletes were hitting the water along the shoreline. It was quite the inspiration. So many people who aren't disabled don't even bother getting into the water for various reasons, oftentimes fear. Here these folks were putting their fear and their disabilities aside, pushing their bodies to the limit. Simply awesome!
I finished my 9-miler, and the reality of the past week hit me. It was supposed to be a step-back week, but if you include those 4 miles I walked Tuesday evening, I racked up 42 miles in a 7-day period... no wonder my legs were sluggish this past weekend.
Still, with Week 7, I'm graduating to the big leagues. My Monday and Wednesday 3-milers increase to 4 miles. My Tuesday and Friday runs increase to 7 miles from 6, and my long run moves into uncharted water for me: 14 miles. I'm surpassing the half marathon distance and continuing a steady build for those dreaded 20-mile training runs. To kick off this big week, I was going to take my bike out for a ride, which I haven't done in over a year. Alas, plans didn't work out. Instead I was SuperDad, and for my cross-training, I took my two rugrats for a walk through the mall and some Mrs. Fields cookies.
Funny and pretty cool story from the weekend: I was getting dressed for my long run on Saturday and my daughter saw me get out my dri-fit shorts and shirt. She said, "Daddy's shirt... Daddy's shorts... Run-ning. Run-ning.". She persisted to bend her arms at her elbows and swing them from side to side saying, "Run-ning. Run-ning." Somehow over her 23 months of existence, she's picked up that I'm a runner. And she's already emulating that in her own quirky way. She doesn't understand its importance to me, but she associates running with her dad. And I just think that's awesome!
I've completed 6 weeks of my 18-week program. This past week was a step-back week, so my long run was shortened. Instead of doing 13 miles on Saturday, I only had to do 9. I must admit, though, I was pretty sluggish both Friday and Saturday, even after the day off on Thursday. The run Friday morning felt pretty good and I came in exactly on a 9:09 pace for 6 miles. Saturday's run was a bit slower, as it should've been. The 9-miler felt pretty good. I did it out at Creve Coeur Lake and took my time. No pressure. Just a nice easy run. I opted to sleep in and get a very rare 8 hours of sleep. With high temps only hitting 71 degrees on a Saturday in mid-July in St. Louis, I figured, why not sleep in? There was no reason to get up early and beat the sun. So I encountered a lot more people enjoying the rare, cool St. Louis summer weather. It was cool to see so many people out getting some exercise.
I witnessed a pretty cool event as I made two laps around the trail: the Missouri Disabled Water Ski Association was holding a ski event. All kinds of physically disabled athletes were hitting the water along the shoreline. It was quite the inspiration. So many people who aren't disabled don't even bother getting into the water for various reasons, oftentimes fear. Here these folks were putting their fear and their disabilities aside, pushing their bodies to the limit. Simply awesome!
I finished my 9-miler, and the reality of the past week hit me. It was supposed to be a step-back week, but if you include those 4 miles I walked Tuesday evening, I racked up 42 miles in a 7-day period... no wonder my legs were sluggish this past weekend.
Still, with Week 7, I'm graduating to the big leagues. My Monday and Wednesday 3-milers increase to 4 miles. My Tuesday and Friday runs increase to 7 miles from 6, and my long run moves into uncharted water for me: 14 miles. I'm surpassing the half marathon distance and continuing a steady build for those dreaded 20-mile training runs. To kick off this big week, I was going to take my bike out for a ride, which I haven't done in over a year. Alas, plans didn't work out. Instead I was SuperDad, and for my cross-training, I took my two rugrats for a walk through the mall and some Mrs. Fields cookies.
Funny and pretty cool story from the weekend: I was getting dressed for my long run on Saturday and my daughter saw me get out my dri-fit shorts and shirt. She said, "Daddy's shirt... Daddy's shorts... Run-ning. Run-ning.". She persisted to bend her arms at her elbows and swing them from side to side saying, "Run-ning. Run-ning." Somehow over her 23 months of existence, she's picked up that I'm a runner. And she's already emulating that in her own quirky way. She doesn't understand its importance to me, but she associates running with her dad. And I just think that's awesome!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Don't Give Up... Don't Ever Give Up!
I am one of those people that is driven by inspirational quotes and speeches. There are few speeches that have been as moving to me as Jimmy Valvano's famous speech at the 1993 ESPY awards when he announced the launching of the V Foundation for Cancer Research. I can listen to it over and over and over again. And it almost always makes my eyes well up. So powerful! So inspirational!
Every year, on the Wednesday that follows the MLB All-Star game, ESPN radio does their auction to raise money for the V Foundation. It's a yearly reminder of the legendary spirit of Jimmy V and the good that has resulted from his life, and continued on even after he left us. Considering how I'm running the Chicago Marathon and raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, this speech really hit home today even more so than in years past.
Here's to you, Jimmy V. Thanks for being an inspiration and giving me and so many others the drive to say: "Don't Give Up... Don't Ever Give Up!"
Every year, on the Wednesday that follows the MLB All-Star game, ESPN radio does their auction to raise money for the V Foundation. It's a yearly reminder of the legendary spirit of Jimmy V and the good that has resulted from his life, and continued on even after he left us. Considering how I'm running the Chicago Marathon and raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, this speech really hit home today even more so than in years past.
Here's to you, Jimmy V. Thanks for being an inspiration and giving me and so many others the drive to say: "Don't Give Up... Don't Ever Give Up!"
Chicago, Chipotle, and a Not-So Step-Back Week
Friday morning came last week and I woke up after a whopping 4.5 hours of sleep. I stayed up way too late cleaning and packing for the weekend trip to Chicago and my almost two-year-old was fighting a cold up a good part of the night. Still I got my tail out of bed at 5:00am and made my way to Creve Coeur Lake for a 6-mile run before work. It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be. Wish I could say the same for the work day - it dragged, and dragged, and dragged. After multiple caffeine injections, though, I was good to go for the drive to Chi-town.
After the I-55 trek, I hit the hay hoping Saturday morning's run wouldn't be a disaster. I woke up at 5:00am to the pouring rain and thunder. Checked the radar, and though it looked like it could be clearing up within the hour, I had to be to the lake and back before 8:30, so I passed on the opportunity to get caught out in another storm. So, just like last week, I did not do a run the day immediately before my long run. Instead I cross-trained.
What did that entail? Well, it wasn't exactly ideal or focused, but I chased my daughter around on the beach and in the water in Lake Michigan up by Evanston. That was plenty exercise, trust me. I was pretty bummed all day, though. Just aggravated, much like last Saturday. I don't like missing workouts and having to change things up.
That being said, I had no choice but to get up early Sunday, hit North Avenue Beach, and get my 12-miler in. And that I did. At the beach by 6:00am, I headed north. In the past I've only gone south, but my buddy recommended a trip north thanks to more shade and the packed gravel paths. Up for a little exploring, north I went. It was a perfect, gorgeous morning. I enjoyed every step, every second of that run.
Turns out, hugging the trail, it was just around 6 miles to where the trail ended, which happens to be where Lake Shore Drive comes to an end up north. I stopped at the beach to suck down a PowerGel and take a quick pic with my iPhone on the beach (check it out to the left).
Then I was back on my way. There was a part of the trail where the packed gravel veered off closer to the lakefront away from the paved bike trail. I missed that fork on the way back. As a result, I ran what I estimated as about a quarter mile less on the way back. So that meant, running past North Avenue beach towards Oak Street for a quarter mile.
A couple things I noticed on my run... 1. That skyline about made my cry with excitement on my return trip. It's perfect. Man, I really miss this town. 2. People aren't nearly as friendly heading in the opposite direction as they are on the St. Louis trails. Tough to get a return wave, hello, or g'mornin' from my fellow brethren on the trail. I blame this on volume alone. In St. Louis it's definitely a smaller community on the paths, so you feel a close bond to those few brave souls you come across while training. In Chicago, you're one of tens of thousands daily, I'd imagine.
It was an emotional run. I thought a lot about my family, my friends, and all those who have been supporting me on this journey. I thought a lot about St. Jude, the kids there, and their families. I finished the run in just over 1 hour 47 minutes (about a 9-minute pace) - much faster than what is advised, but I felt good the whole way. After the run I grabbed a little swig of Gatorade, courtesy of the nice ladies working a free aid station for all those folks training on the lakefront Sunday morning.
And then I walked out to the point for a pic with the Chicago skyline in the background. North Avenue beach is, no doubt, one of my favorite places on earth. And with this skyline to the left, why wouldn't it be?
Sunday was the first day that I had a 10+ mile run and I didn't take a nap sometime afterwards. In fact, I was going a mile a minute all day long visiting with family and friends. And my wife and I even got to take in the Cubs vs. Cards night game. Yes, I didn't even fall asleep on the El ride home at 10:00pm. Motorin' through the day like a champ!
We drove back to St. Louis Monday. I had a 3-miler to get in, and I opted to wait until I got back to St. Louis to run it. Well, that got pushed off until after dinner (a big, fat Chipotle burrito - no El Faro, but still good). I ran 3 miles at 9:00pm in the dark in my subdivision after woofing down that belly bomb - probably not the best of ideas, but I got through it. I went to sleep not too long afterwards and got up again at 5:00am for a 5-miler on Tuesday. So let's go over this: Chipotle and two runs totalling 8 miles inside of 10 hours. Ugh, what am I doing?
To top it off, I ended going for a 4-mile walk with my family Tuesday night (12 miles walking/running inside of 24 hours, oh and a Chipotle belly bomb). And then, somehow, this morning I managed to get up and get in my Wednesday 3-miler and a strength workout at the gym. This step-back week hasn't been much of a relief. It's my own fault for my screwball running schedule. And obviously, that walk probably wasn't the best of options for evening entertainment last night. But as my friend Mike told me today: Life sometimes interferes with marathon training, and vice versa. But I'm committed to sticking to my program. These variations might not be best, but I'll live and learn. Today I'm learning that my legs are tired after pushing myself the past few days... very tired.
After the I-55 trek, I hit the hay hoping Saturday morning's run wouldn't be a disaster. I woke up at 5:00am to the pouring rain and thunder. Checked the radar, and though it looked like it could be clearing up within the hour, I had to be to the lake and back before 8:30, so I passed on the opportunity to get caught out in another storm. So, just like last week, I did not do a run the day immediately before my long run. Instead I cross-trained.
What did that entail? Well, it wasn't exactly ideal or focused, but I chased my daughter around on the beach and in the water in Lake Michigan up by Evanston. That was plenty exercise, trust me. I was pretty bummed all day, though. Just aggravated, much like last Saturday. I don't like missing workouts and having to change things up.
That being said, I had no choice but to get up early Sunday, hit North Avenue Beach, and get my 12-miler in. And that I did. At the beach by 6:00am, I headed north. In the past I've only gone south, but my buddy recommended a trip north thanks to more shade and the packed gravel paths. Up for a little exploring, north I went. It was a perfect, gorgeous morning. I enjoyed every step, every second of that run.
Turns out, hugging the trail, it was just around 6 miles to where the trail ended, which happens to be where Lake Shore Drive comes to an end up north. I stopped at the beach to suck down a PowerGel and take a quick pic with my iPhone on the beach (check it out to the left).Then I was back on my way. There was a part of the trail where the packed gravel veered off closer to the lakefront away from the paved bike trail. I missed that fork on the way back. As a result, I ran what I estimated as about a quarter mile less on the way back. So that meant, running past North Avenue beach towards Oak Street for a quarter mile.
A couple things I noticed on my run... 1. That skyline about made my cry with excitement on my return trip. It's perfect. Man, I really miss this town. 2. People aren't nearly as friendly heading in the opposite direction as they are on the St. Louis trails. Tough to get a return wave, hello, or g'mornin' from my fellow brethren on the trail. I blame this on volume alone. In St. Louis it's definitely a smaller community on the paths, so you feel a close bond to those few brave souls you come across while training. In Chicago, you're one of tens of thousands daily, I'd imagine.
It was an emotional run. I thought a lot about my family, my friends, and all those who have been supporting me on this journey. I thought a lot about St. Jude, the kids there, and their families. I finished the run in just over 1 hour 47 minutes (about a 9-minute pace) - much faster than what is advised, but I felt good the whole way. After the run I grabbed a little swig of Gatorade, courtesy of the nice ladies working a free aid station for all those folks training on the lakefront Sunday morning.
And then I walked out to the point for a pic with the Chicago skyline in the background. North Avenue beach is, no doubt, one of my favorite places on earth. And with this skyline to the left, why wouldn't it be?Sunday was the first day that I had a 10+ mile run and I didn't take a nap sometime afterwards. In fact, I was going a mile a minute all day long visiting with family and friends. And my wife and I even got to take in the Cubs vs. Cards night game. Yes, I didn't even fall asleep on the El ride home at 10:00pm. Motorin' through the day like a champ!
We drove back to St. Louis Monday. I had a 3-miler to get in, and I opted to wait until I got back to St. Louis to run it. Well, that got pushed off until after dinner (a big, fat Chipotle burrito - no El Faro, but still good). I ran 3 miles at 9:00pm in the dark in my subdivision after woofing down that belly bomb - probably not the best of ideas, but I got through it. I went to sleep not too long afterwards and got up again at 5:00am for a 5-miler on Tuesday. So let's go over this: Chipotle and two runs totalling 8 miles inside of 10 hours. Ugh, what am I doing?
To top it off, I ended going for a 4-mile walk with my family Tuesday night (12 miles walking/running inside of 24 hours, oh and a Chipotle belly bomb). And then, somehow, this morning I managed to get up and get in my Wednesday 3-miler and a strength workout at the gym. This step-back week hasn't been much of a relief. It's my own fault for my screwball running schedule. And obviously, that walk probably wasn't the best of options for evening entertainment last night. But as my friend Mike told me today: Life sometimes interferes with marathon training, and vice versa. But I'm committed to sticking to my program. These variations might not be best, but I'll live and learn. Today I'm learning that my legs are tired after pushing myself the past few days... very tired.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Ahhhh! Aquaphor
I have definitely made my fair share of training mistakes over the years as I continued to learn this sport. One of my biggest dragons that I have yet to slay has been blisters on my feet.
OK, disgusting I realize. Not something anyone wants to read about online, but this is a blog about running, so occasionally subjects like blisters, chafing, "taping up", and bathroom emergencies might just have to become subject material.
I learned early on that cotton socks are a big no-no. But even with the synthetics whisking moisture away, I seem to get bad blisters on my toes at the end of 10+ mile runs, particularly during races. Perhaps my shoes aren't perfectly fit. But I have gone to a couple shops to get fitted and both times have ended with the same result. Maybe it has something to do with my flat, two-by-fours that I call feet (thanks, Dad, for passing those on to me). Or maybe it's that I alter my running form when I start dragging on those longer distances. It's no big deal when I've got some time to recover, but I'm quickly learning that I need a solution fast to this problem when I'm training 6 days a week.
This past week was rough. Since my long run was delayed til Sunday, I skipped my normal cross-train day on Sunday and went right into my Week 5 running workout. I had some decent blisters on my toes after the 11-miler, and they hurt like hell during Monday morning's sluggish 3-miler.
Today, on my rest day (Thou shall not train on Thursdays), as I write this I am proud to say I found what might be my long term solution: Aquaphor
After Monday's run and strength workout, I was pretty desperate to find something to reduce friction and pain on my toes. Otherwise, there was no way I was finishing Tuesday's 6-miler. I busted out my collection of Aquaphor samples, loaded up my toes Tuesday morning before my run, and voila... the Vaseline-like substance worked. Though there still was some discomfort from the damage I did the past two days, Aquaphor helped save the day.
Same result on Wednesday during my 3-miler and strength workout. So, congratulations, Eucerin. Your free samples led to a customer walking into a Walgreens and buying an $8 jar (oh, and thanks for that $1-off coupon too... pronounced "cooo-pon", not "cue-pon")
This week was particularly rough getting out of bed. Not having that x-train day really put the hammer down on my legs. With Sunday's run, I turned out 23 miles in four days of consecutive running.
About a half hour into my 6-mile run Tuesday I had a harsh realization: Come race day when I get to this very point, I'll still have about another 3 hours and 30 minutes left to run. That's another 210 more minutes... 7 times what I just did. What the hell am I thinking???
It's a good thing I still have 94 days to go. I know this is part of the natural progression in preparing one's body to run 26.2 miles for the first time, but I must my dumbfoundedness for those who train like this year round and run multiple marathons each year is actually increasing as I progress through this program. I guess it's like anything else. It becomes a way of life. God bless those of you that fall into this camp and manage to keep a good work/life/family/running balance.
As I enjoy my day of rest (I'm really starting to dig Thursdays again - almost like in college but for completely different reasons), I'm thinking of my runs this weekend: a 6-miler tomorrow morning and a 12-miler Saturday. This week I'll be in Chicago. Yep, heading "home" to visit with family and friends. I'm psyched. It's been too long since I've been home. And this trip means that I'll get what might be my only chance before the big day to run along the lakefront that I love so much.
So, that's where I'll be early Saturday morning (rain, rain stay away) taking in the fresh air of Lake Michigan on a nice 12-miler. Trotting in the shadows of that beautiful skyline. Hoping that my Aquaphor investment pays off. Enjoying the company of so many other active early risers. Thinking about race day, the kids at St. Jude, and all of you who have been so supportive. Giddyup!
OK, disgusting I realize. Not something anyone wants to read about online, but this is a blog about running, so occasionally subjects like blisters, chafing, "taping up", and bathroom emergencies might just have to become subject material.
I learned early on that cotton socks are a big no-no. But even with the synthetics whisking moisture away, I seem to get bad blisters on my toes at the end of 10+ mile runs, particularly during races. Perhaps my shoes aren't perfectly fit. But I have gone to a couple shops to get fitted and both times have ended with the same result. Maybe it has something to do with my flat, two-by-fours that I call feet (thanks, Dad, for passing those on to me). Or maybe it's that I alter my running form when I start dragging on those longer distances. It's no big deal when I've got some time to recover, but I'm quickly learning that I need a solution fast to this problem when I'm training 6 days a week.
This past week was rough. Since my long run was delayed til Sunday, I skipped my normal cross-train day on Sunday and went right into my Week 5 running workout. I had some decent blisters on my toes after the 11-miler, and they hurt like hell during Monday morning's sluggish 3-miler.
Today, on my rest day (Thou shall not train on Thursdays), as I write this I am proud to say I found what might be my long term solution: Aquaphor
After Monday's run and strength workout, I was pretty desperate to find something to reduce friction and pain on my toes. Otherwise, there was no way I was finishing Tuesday's 6-miler. I busted out my collection of Aquaphor samples, loaded up my toes Tuesday morning before my run, and voila... the Vaseline-like substance worked. Though there still was some discomfort from the damage I did the past two days, Aquaphor helped save the day.
Same result on Wednesday during my 3-miler and strength workout. So, congratulations, Eucerin. Your free samples led to a customer walking into a Walgreens and buying an $8 jar (oh, and thanks for that $1-off coupon too... pronounced "cooo-pon", not "cue-pon")
This week was particularly rough getting out of bed. Not having that x-train day really put the hammer down on my legs. With Sunday's run, I turned out 23 miles in four days of consecutive running.
About a half hour into my 6-mile run Tuesday I had a harsh realization: Come race day when I get to this very point, I'll still have about another 3 hours and 30 minutes left to run. That's another 210 more minutes... 7 times what I just did. What the hell am I thinking???
It's a good thing I still have 94 days to go. I know this is part of the natural progression in preparing one's body to run 26.2 miles for the first time, but I must my dumbfoundedness for those who train like this year round and run multiple marathons each year is actually increasing as I progress through this program. I guess it's like anything else. It becomes a way of life. God bless those of you that fall into this camp and manage to keep a good work/life/family/running balance.
As I enjoy my day of rest (I'm really starting to dig Thursdays again - almost like in college but for completely different reasons), I'm thinking of my runs this weekend: a 6-miler tomorrow morning and a 12-miler Saturday. This week I'll be in Chicago. Yep, heading "home" to visit with family and friends. I'm psyched. It's been too long since I've been home. And this trip means that I'll get what might be my only chance before the big day to run along the lakefront that I love so much.
So, that's where I'll be early Saturday morning (rain, rain stay away) taking in the fresh air of Lake Michigan on a nice 12-miler. Trotting in the shadows of that beautiful skyline. Hoping that my Aquaphor investment pays off. Enjoying the company of so many other active early risers. Thinking about race day, the kids at St. Jude, and all of you who have been so supportive. Giddyup!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Less Than 100 Days Left
The countdown to race day is officially into the double digits.
The past week of training was a bit rough having just gotten back from vacation.
After my Monday workout, my Tuesday run increased in mileage from 5 miles to 6. Not that big a deal, but it was a noticeable difference. With the increase I decided to run it outside rather than around the short track at the gym. It was a good move as it just felt good to run outside early morning midweek. I love running into the few souls on the trail at the lake who are just out for a coffee and morning walk with nature before heading to work for the rat race, not to mention the fellow hardcore runners and bikers who are there virtually every morning.
Wednesday rolled around, though, and I felt every bit of that extra mile. I was pretty sore, and just plain old tired - the lack of sleep from vacation and the long car ride home finally was catching up with me. I barely got my tail out of bed and got to the gym waaay late. I got my easy 3-miler in, but I felt super sluggish. My legs were plenty sore from the Wednesday run, where I had decided to pick it up a notch the final mile and a half. I finished my run and was just going to hit the showers and be on my way to work, but somehow I talked myself into getting my strength training in. I figured I had to with a day off on Thursday (back to the "Thou shall not train on Thursdays routine").
On Thursday I took my day off. It felt flippin' great to have nothing to do.
Friday rolled around. It was July 3rd, so I had a day off from work in observance of Independence Day, which was Saturday. I met my buddy Mike at the lake for my 6-mile pace run. Mike is much faster than me. Though he slows his pace down for me, he also tends to push me. That being said, we got a great run in: 6 miles at an 8:45 pace. If I go all 26.2 at that, I'll be astonished.
Then the Fourth of July came. I was supposed to run 11 miles. And I woke up at 6am to a torrential downpour. I looked at the radar and saw no hope in sight. I called off the run with hopes of catching a window later in the day. No luck. Though in hindsight a window existed, the radar kept showing storms heading our way, and I just wasn't in the mood to get caught out in one. Needless to say, I was miserable all day. Yeah, I was downright depressed about not getting the run in, and I kept following the weather all day long. For a second I thought about running 11 miles at the gym, but 165 laps just didn't entice me for some reason. So Saturday passed, and I didn't get my long run in.
That meant I needed to do it Sunday. Again I woke up to rain at 6:00am, but it was clearing, and the window opened up... ta-dah! Mike joined me for 11 miles - 2 long laps around the lake. And our buddy Chris joined us for the second lap. We came in under a 9-minute pace, which again is way faster than what I should be doing, but oh well. I guess I'll learn my lesson later. The cool thing was that I was really dreading the 11-miler, and it wasn't all that bad. Good sign, I guess. Maybe the unintended day off had something to do with feeling fresher during the run. Maybe it was the cooler weather. Either way, I've got a psychological boost going from the run, and I'm going to ride it as long as I can.
Doing my long run Sunday, means no cross-training day this week. I'm skipping it and heading right for my Monday 3-miler and strength program. I know I'm gonna be sore as hell in the morning, but that just means more stretching.
So before I crash tonight, it's time to get some very belated thank you's out to the folks who have so generously sponsored me through a donation to St. Jude. If I don't get you your thank you, tonight, it's coming. I'm well over my $1,000 goal, and though I'm not setting a new goal on the St. Jude Heroes page, I think it would be awesome to break $2,500. Thank you all for your support!
The past week of training was a bit rough having just gotten back from vacation.
After my Monday workout, my Tuesday run increased in mileage from 5 miles to 6. Not that big a deal, but it was a noticeable difference. With the increase I decided to run it outside rather than around the short track at the gym. It was a good move as it just felt good to run outside early morning midweek. I love running into the few souls on the trail at the lake who are just out for a coffee and morning walk with nature before heading to work for the rat race, not to mention the fellow hardcore runners and bikers who are there virtually every morning.
Wednesday rolled around, though, and I felt every bit of that extra mile. I was pretty sore, and just plain old tired - the lack of sleep from vacation and the long car ride home finally was catching up with me. I barely got my tail out of bed and got to the gym waaay late. I got my easy 3-miler in, but I felt super sluggish. My legs were plenty sore from the Wednesday run, where I had decided to pick it up a notch the final mile and a half. I finished my run and was just going to hit the showers and be on my way to work, but somehow I talked myself into getting my strength training in. I figured I had to with a day off on Thursday (back to the "Thou shall not train on Thursdays routine").
On Thursday I took my day off. It felt flippin' great to have nothing to do.
Friday rolled around. It was July 3rd, so I had a day off from work in observance of Independence Day, which was Saturday. I met my buddy Mike at the lake for my 6-mile pace run. Mike is much faster than me. Though he slows his pace down for me, he also tends to push me. That being said, we got a great run in: 6 miles at an 8:45 pace. If I go all 26.2 at that, I'll be astonished.
Then the Fourth of July came. I was supposed to run 11 miles. And I woke up at 6am to a torrential downpour. I looked at the radar and saw no hope in sight. I called off the run with hopes of catching a window later in the day. No luck. Though in hindsight a window existed, the radar kept showing storms heading our way, and I just wasn't in the mood to get caught out in one. Needless to say, I was miserable all day. Yeah, I was downright depressed about not getting the run in, and I kept following the weather all day long. For a second I thought about running 11 miles at the gym, but 165 laps just didn't entice me for some reason. So Saturday passed, and I didn't get my long run in.
That meant I needed to do it Sunday. Again I woke up to rain at 6:00am, but it was clearing, and the window opened up... ta-dah! Mike joined me for 11 miles - 2 long laps around the lake. And our buddy Chris joined us for the second lap. We came in under a 9-minute pace, which again is way faster than what I should be doing, but oh well. I guess I'll learn my lesson later. The cool thing was that I was really dreading the 11-miler, and it wasn't all that bad. Good sign, I guess. Maybe the unintended day off had something to do with feeling fresher during the run. Maybe it was the cooler weather. Either way, I've got a psychological boost going from the run, and I'm going to ride it as long as I can.
Doing my long run Sunday, means no cross-training day this week. I'm skipping it and heading right for my Monday 3-miler and strength program. I know I'm gonna be sore as hell in the morning, but that just means more stretching.
So before I crash tonight, it's time to get some very belated thank you's out to the folks who have so generously sponsored me through a donation to St. Jude. If I don't get you your thank you, tonight, it's coming. I'm well over my $1,000 goal, and though I'm not setting a new goal on the St. Jude Heroes page, I think it would be awesome to break $2,500. Thank you all for your support!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Training on Vacation
It just so worked out that Week Three of the training program coincided with a family vacation up to Minnesooota. Lori's family has a cabin up on Lake Ada, so we took the kids up there to spend some time with some of the in-laws. It was a week full of fishing, eating, drinking, swimming, sun, washers... and, yes, even marathon training.
Despite being on vacation, I managed to stick to my workouts. I got five days of running in along the two-lane highway that runs by the cabin: Minnesota 84. The nice thing about Week Three was that it was a step-back week, meaning I didn't have a really long run. So my runs consisted of:
I got up every morning to go fishing at sunrise (check out the pic to the left - beautiful!), so I ran at different times during the day varying from 8am to 3pm. While it was hot in Minnesota, I avoided the St. Louis heat wave that hit back home. The runs all went pretty well, although I was quite sluggish from some late nights, poor sleep, and, ahem, a bit too much Bud Light throughout the week (that's ok, I can detox this week). And it was fun exploring where the highway led. On my last, and longest run, I ended up finding another nearby lake right around 3 miles up the road. It was an oasis after running on the pavement along nothing but trees and farmland - so it worked out well for my 6-mile round-tripper and was a sweet discovery to end my training up north.
Here's a pic of me with Lake Ada in the background after completing that final run. In total I managed to knock out five runs for 22
miles... all while on vacation. I feel pretty damn proud of that accomplishment alone. Let me give myself a Barry Horowitz pat on the back (sorry if you're not familiar with the WWE wrestler).
Big time thanks go out to Lori and the rest of the family for supporting me and helping me make sure I got my workouts in. To the kind folks that pulled over or slowed down on the highway as they passed me, thank to you for helping keep me safe and waving hello. To the S.O.B. driving the Coca-Cola truck that refused to pull over, accelerated, and almost blew me off the road, I meant it when I flipped you the bird and yelled out "Screw you!". He's lucky that there's hardly anything that would keep me from drinking my Coca-Cola Classic or my Diet Coke.
As for my my cross-training following my long runs, well, it was a bit poor. I ended up not doing much at all on those days other than drive (15 hours each way). But it was all worth it. The vacation was very much needed and a blast.
Now I'm back in the Lou and back on track. I already got my Monday workout in (an easy 3-miler and some strength training). Tomorrow I up my Tuesday run to 6 miles. After a step-back week, I'm supposed to have a good burst of energy tomorrow, but I'm still pretty darn worn from the vacation and the drive (and probably the beer). We'll see how the run goes. .
I'm approaching double-digits in the countdown to the race - just barely more than 100 days left of training and fundraising. This is becoming all too real, all too fast. I can say right now that I'm dreading the 11-miler that is waiting for my on the Fourth of July later this week. But it's just one step to crossing that finish line. Giddyup!
Despite being on vacation, I managed to stick to my workouts. I got five days of running in along the two-lane highway that runs by the cabin: Minnesota 84. The nice thing about Week Three was that it was a step-back week, meaning I didn't have a really long run. So my runs consisted of:
- Sunday (Father's Day): 3 miles
- Monday: 5 miles
- Tuesday: 3 miles
- Wednesday: rest
- Thursday: 5 miles at marathon pace
- Friday: 6 miles
I got up every morning to go fishing at sunrise (check out the pic to the left - beautiful!), so I ran at different times during the day varying from 8am to 3pm. While it was hot in Minnesota, I avoided the St. Louis heat wave that hit back home. The runs all went pretty well, although I was quite sluggish from some late nights, poor sleep, and, ahem, a bit too much Bud Light throughout the week (that's ok, I can detox this week). And it was fun exploring where the highway led. On my last, and longest run, I ended up finding another nearby lake right around 3 miles up the road. It was an oasis after running on the pavement along nothing but trees and farmland - so it worked out well for my 6-mile round-tripper and was a sweet discovery to end my training up north.
Here's a pic of me with Lake Ada in the background after completing that final run. In total I managed to knock out five runs for 22miles... all while on vacation. I feel pretty damn proud of that accomplishment alone. Let me give myself a Barry Horowitz pat on the back (sorry if you're not familiar with the WWE wrestler).
Big time thanks go out to Lori and the rest of the family for supporting me and helping me make sure I got my workouts in. To the kind folks that pulled over or slowed down on the highway as they passed me, thank to you for helping keep me safe and waving hello. To the S.O.B. driving the Coca-Cola truck that refused to pull over, accelerated, and almost blew me off the road, I meant it when I flipped you the bird and yelled out "Screw you!". He's lucky that there's hardly anything that would keep me from drinking my Coca-Cola Classic or my Diet Coke.
As for my my cross-training following my long runs, well, it was a bit poor. I ended up not doing much at all on those days other than drive (15 hours each way). But it was all worth it. The vacation was very much needed and a blast.
Now I'm back in the Lou and back on track. I already got my Monday workout in (an easy 3-miler and some strength training). Tomorrow I up my Tuesday run to 6 miles. After a step-back week, I'm supposed to have a good burst of energy tomorrow, but I'm still pretty darn worn from the vacation and the drive (and probably the beer). We'll see how the run goes. .
I'm approaching double-digits in the countdown to the race - just barely more than 100 days left of training and fundraising. This is becoming all too real, all too fast. I can say right now that I'm dreading the 11-miler that is waiting for my on the Fourth of July later this week. But it's just one step to crossing that finish line. Giddyup!
Friday, June 19, 2009
"It's Like a Sauna In Here"
That has to be one of my favorite Kramer lines from Seinfeld. If you don't know the scene, it's where Kramer is sitting in the sauna at the health club and he's looking for an opener to begin a conversation with the man next to him, who he thinks is Salman Rushdie... classic!
Well that's what it felt like the past two mornings outside in St. Louis - Friday probably being worse than Thursday.
Thursday morning I had 3 miles to "run". I thought about doing it outside, but I opted for the gym. I did have one of my tougher times getting out of bed, and actually slept in a bit, thereby thwarting any plans to maybe add in a strength workout after the run.
I got to the gym and "ran" 3 miles at a decent pace. Finished in 26:12, which is an 8:44 pace - much faster than what I have been running lately. And the good thing was that I didn't really feel I was pushing it. Afterwards, I did a good cooldown stretch and then worked my core for 15 minutes. I needed that.
Thursday night, I was gearing up for my long run on Friday. I had a lot to do at home and I was also trying to upgrade my iTunes to version 8.2 and my iPhone to the new Operating System (3.0 - woohoo, copy and paste). The process took me three hours on my sluggish computer (sigh). Before I knew it, it was past midnight. And I was planning on getting up at 4:45 to hit the trail for 9 miles in the sauna outside.
I hit up my buddies to see if they were brave (or dumb) enough to join me, and Chris and Mike made it out to the lake. We had to start in a different spot because setup had already began for the annoying boat races scheduled for the weekend. People who run at Creve Coeur Lake are probably all too familiar with this phenomenon. This is a personal opinion, but the boat races really bother me. They end up blocking off part of the trail system causing confusion and eliminating a couple well-traveled loops. Plus the boats disturb the hell out of the natural lake, which ends up leaving a myriad of dead fish on the beach afterwards to stink up the place for a good week. This happens a few times each summer and is just a big hassle. Something that I'd rather be selfish about not not have to deal with.
For the run Friday morning, it was hot as Hades, and really humid - "like a sauna" as Kramer would say. But somehow we pushed through about 9 miles. Our calculations were a little off as we had to take a detour where part of the trail was flooded. We ran the first 6.5 miles together. Then I faded into the heat as my legs got sluggish and my body told me why I need to get more sleep than 4.5 to 5 hours a night. I told the two of them to go on ahead. They finished a couple minutes ahead of me. Still I managed a time where my pace was about 9:15 - much faster than I'm used to for longer runs. But I guess that's the result of running with a couple guys that just have more horsepower than I do. They push me to be better, and I will be because of it.
It's funny. We talked a bit about this after the run, while throwing back some warm G2. In school I was always that kid that didn't have to work hard and still got A's. And it was easy for me. I remember so many classmates that worked their tail off to be a B or even C student, and occasionally maybe they would bring home a very proud A. Throughout my life I've been that kind of kid when it came to athletics. I'm a B athlete, who can occasionally pull out an A, but only with a bit of luck and a helluva lot of hard work. It can be frustrating, but I've come to accept it. We all have different talents, different strengths, different things we're good at. The guys said I was being a bit too hard on myself, but I really wasn't getting down. I think a big part of training and preparing for a race like this is knowing your body's limitations and setting realistic "stretch" goals. For me, to complete the Chicago Marathon in 4 hours is a good stretch goal. It'll be tough as hell, but I can probably do it should all things go right. For me to qualify for Boston, well, there's no way in hell that's ever going to happen. And I understand that.
When I got to the gym to shower up, I weighed in... 169.4 - that's a full 2.0 pounds lighter than what I was 24 hours prior. Gotta push the fluids and rehydrate, I guess. And so I did all day long. I managed to get through the Friday workday without falling asleep in my cubicle, which is no small feat.
So here I am, ready for the weekend, some vacation time, a little R-n-R, and I've already got my long run in.
Well that's what it felt like the past two mornings outside in St. Louis - Friday probably being worse than Thursday.
Thursday morning I had 3 miles to "run". I thought about doing it outside, but I opted for the gym. I did have one of my tougher times getting out of bed, and actually slept in a bit, thereby thwarting any plans to maybe add in a strength workout after the run.
I got to the gym and "ran" 3 miles at a decent pace. Finished in 26:12, which is an 8:44 pace - much faster than what I have been running lately. And the good thing was that I didn't really feel I was pushing it. Afterwards, I did a good cooldown stretch and then worked my core for 15 minutes. I needed that.
Thursday night, I was gearing up for my long run on Friday. I had a lot to do at home and I was also trying to upgrade my iTunes to version 8.2 and my iPhone to the new Operating System (3.0 - woohoo, copy and paste). The process took me three hours on my sluggish computer (sigh). Before I knew it, it was past midnight. And I was planning on getting up at 4:45 to hit the trail for 9 miles in the sauna outside.
I hit up my buddies to see if they were brave (or dumb) enough to join me, and Chris and Mike made it out to the lake. We had to start in a different spot because setup had already began for the annoying boat races scheduled for the weekend. People who run at Creve Coeur Lake are probably all too familiar with this phenomenon. This is a personal opinion, but the boat races really bother me. They end up blocking off part of the trail system causing confusion and eliminating a couple well-traveled loops. Plus the boats disturb the hell out of the natural lake, which ends up leaving a myriad of dead fish on the beach afterwards to stink up the place for a good week. This happens a few times each summer and is just a big hassle. Something that I'd rather be selfish about not not have to deal with.
For the run Friday morning, it was hot as Hades, and really humid - "like a sauna" as Kramer would say. But somehow we pushed through about 9 miles. Our calculations were a little off as we had to take a detour where part of the trail was flooded. We ran the first 6.5 miles together. Then I faded into the heat as my legs got sluggish and my body told me why I need to get more sleep than 4.5 to 5 hours a night. I told the two of them to go on ahead. They finished a couple minutes ahead of me. Still I managed a time where my pace was about 9:15 - much faster than I'm used to for longer runs. But I guess that's the result of running with a couple guys that just have more horsepower than I do. They push me to be better, and I will be because of it.
It's funny. We talked a bit about this after the run, while throwing back some warm G2. In school I was always that kid that didn't have to work hard and still got A's. And it was easy for me. I remember so many classmates that worked their tail off to be a B or even C student, and occasionally maybe they would bring home a very proud A. Throughout my life I've been that kind of kid when it came to athletics. I'm a B athlete, who can occasionally pull out an A, but only with a bit of luck and a helluva lot of hard work. It can be frustrating, but I've come to accept it. We all have different talents, different strengths, different things we're good at. The guys said I was being a bit too hard on myself, but I really wasn't getting down. I think a big part of training and preparing for a race like this is knowing your body's limitations and setting realistic "stretch" goals. For me, to complete the Chicago Marathon in 4 hours is a good stretch goal. It'll be tough as hell, but I can probably do it should all things go right. For me to qualify for Boston, well, there's no way in hell that's ever going to happen. And I understand that.
When I got to the gym to shower up, I weighed in... 169.4 - that's a full 2.0 pounds lighter than what I was 24 hours prior. Gotta push the fluids and rehydrate, I guess. And so I did all day long. I managed to get through the Friday workday without falling asleep in my cubicle, which is no small feat.
So here I am, ready for the weekend, some vacation time, a little R-n-R, and I've already got my long run in.
Spots Still Open to Run the Chicago Marathon for St. Jude
The last update I got from the St. Jude folks is that our Chicago Marathon Heroes team has 143 members. They still have room for more, including people that didn't make the race's registration deadline. Yes, St. Jude has some bibs left for those procrastinators out there (like me).
If anyone is interested in joining the team, running/walking the race, and raising money for St. Jude, there's room up aboard this wagon, so I'm puttin' the word in the streets.
Gimme a holler, shoot me an email, or post a comment if you're interested or on the fence. With 16 weeks to go, you probably need to be running a bit already in order to get your mileage up to be able to run the race and minimize the risk of injury.
Or go check it out yourself at the Chicago Heroes Main Page.
Remember that if you do take the plunge, tell them I sent you by putting my name on the "Recruited by" line on the St. Jude Heroes Commitment form.
If anyone is interested in joining the team, running/walking the race, and raising money for St. Jude, there's room up aboard this wagon, so I'm puttin' the word in the streets.
Gimme a holler, shoot me an email, or post a comment if you're interested or on the fence. With 16 weeks to go, you probably need to be running a bit already in order to get your mileage up to be able to run the race and minimize the risk of injury.
Or go check it out yourself at the Chicago Heroes Main Page.
Remember that if you do take the plunge, tell them I sent you by putting my name on the "Recruited by" line on the St. Jude Heroes Commitment form.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Over $1,000 raised already!!!
I must tip my grubby Cubs hat (which I wear in all my races) to all my supporters out there.
I just logged onto my Heroes site to finally get some much-deserved, formal thank yous out to those individuals that have so generously made donations to St. Jude. What did I find? I surpassed my $1,000 goal. Already!!! Not even two weeks into this journey. Thank you so much!
I'm speechless.
God bless you all.
I just logged onto my Heroes site to finally get some much-deserved, formal thank yous out to those individuals that have so generously made donations to St. Jude. What did I find? I surpassed my $1,000 goal. Already!!! Not even two weeks into this journey. Thank you so much!
I'm speechless.
God bless you all.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A Case of the Mondays... and Tuesdays
5:00am rolled in Monday morning, and I had a ruff time getting out of bed. But I still managed to get to the gym. My hamstrings were actually pretty sore from riding the bike on Sunday. I guess that's what I get for not hopping on a saddle for 3 months. I still hammered out three miles, though, sticking to the program. I also got a second wind and hit the weights hard. I went through Lori's strength program, including working my legs, and I was dog tired afterwards.
The workout made pushing through the work day Monday tough. Not that Mondays don't normally suck. Yes, I had a total "case of the Mondays" - all day long, and even into Tuesday.
5:00am rolled in this morning (Tuesday), and if I thought Monday was tough, today was a whole 'nother story. Call it a case of the Tuesdays. The storms overnight felt like a ginormous thunderhead just hovered over our house pelting it with rain, wind, hail, and lightning bolts all night long (queue up the Lionel Richie song). It was as if I were Charlie Brown or something. Turns out I wasn't the only one that felt like this last night. The whole metro area got pelted. Both my alarm clocks went off, and I quickly turned them off (no snooze button today). And, yes, I actually laid back down in bed. Normally, this is a terrible idea. But somehow I averted drifting off for a couple hours and got my butt up after about 10 more minutes of rest.
So, off to the gym albeit a bit late. My legs were really sore from Sunday and from the strength training yesterday. Still, I got my 5 miles in and a good stretch to boot. I even tried out a PowerGel pack. Strawberry Banana this time with a caffeine. I'll no doubt need to write more another time about gel packs and fueling for races. Right now I'm experimenting, and the PowerGel was definitely more tart and a bit rougher consistency for me than the Gu gel packs I tried last week.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a rest day for me. Normally I would be running three miles and doing more strength training, but with a vacation coming which calls for some serious driving time, I need to adjust the program a bit. That means that I need to skip this Wednesday's workout and move everything up a day for the next two weeks. That starts with Thursday's "thou shall not train" day moving up to Wednesday this week so that I can get my long run in Friday.
As for fundraising, well, all I can say is WOW! Barely more than a week into this effort and I'm at $740. Thank you, everyone!!! I continue to be amazed every day and humbled by your support and generosity. I sometimes am apprehensive of asking people I know to make a donation. Too often I feel that awkwardness that goes with it all. Then people end up donating, sometimes people I least expected for whatever reason, and had I given in to that apprehension and not asked, then St. Jude would just be short that additional money. So with the knowledge that it's going to a phenomenal cause, and helping save the lives of children and providing families with hope, I think, "If it's for charity, how can I not, at the very least, ask for support?" This was the approach employed by Celebrity Apprentice winner Piers Morgan, and it makes perfect sense.
The workout made pushing through the work day Monday tough. Not that Mondays don't normally suck. Yes, I had a total "case of the Mondays" - all day long, and even into Tuesday.
5:00am rolled in this morning (Tuesday), and if I thought Monday was tough, today was a whole 'nother story. Call it a case of the Tuesdays. The storms overnight felt like a ginormous thunderhead just hovered over our house pelting it with rain, wind, hail, and lightning bolts all night long (queue up the Lionel Richie song). It was as if I were Charlie Brown or something. Turns out I wasn't the only one that felt like this last night. The whole metro area got pelted. Both my alarm clocks went off, and I quickly turned them off (no snooze button today). And, yes, I actually laid back down in bed. Normally, this is a terrible idea. But somehow I averted drifting off for a couple hours and got my butt up after about 10 more minutes of rest.
So, off to the gym albeit a bit late. My legs were really sore from Sunday and from the strength training yesterday. Still, I got my 5 miles in and a good stretch to boot. I even tried out a PowerGel pack. Strawberry Banana this time with a caffeine. I'll no doubt need to write more another time about gel packs and fueling for races. Right now I'm experimenting, and the PowerGel was definitely more tart and a bit rougher consistency for me than the Gu gel packs I tried last week.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a rest day for me. Normally I would be running three miles and doing more strength training, but with a vacation coming which calls for some serious driving time, I need to adjust the program a bit. That means that I need to skip this Wednesday's workout and move everything up a day for the next two weeks. That starts with Thursday's "thou shall not train" day moving up to Wednesday this week so that I can get my long run in Friday.
As for fundraising, well, all I can say is WOW! Barely more than a week into this effort and I'm at $740. Thank you, everyone!!! I continue to be amazed every day and humbled by your support and generosity. I sometimes am apprehensive of asking people I know to make a donation. Too often I feel that awkwardness that goes with it all. Then people end up donating, sometimes people I least expected for whatever reason, and had I given in to that apprehension and not asked, then St. Jude would just be short that additional money. So with the knowledge that it's going to a phenomenal cause, and helping save the lives of children and providing families with hope, I think, "If it's for charity, how can I not, at the very least, ask for support?" This was the approach employed by Celebrity Apprentice winner Piers Morgan, and it makes perfect sense.
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