[click here for previous posts on running]
Two 5K’s in two weekends.
One I thought I was doing for myself, and while my time wasn’t bad, it wasn’t a personal best. The second one the next weekend, I did for my aunt-in-law, and during that one I hit the personal best time.
During that 5K, I ran my 1000th mile.
It took 4 years, 9 months, 23 days. to hit this running milestone. In that time, I changed jobs, moved into a house, my son was born. There was one foot injury, ankle issues to work through, three foot doctors, two rounds of physical therapy with great therapists. It’s taken three pairs of shoes, one trusty treadmill, and a trusty iPad (that has thankfully not fallen off the treadmill). While many miles were on that treadmill, hundreds were ran all over Evanston and the campus of Northwestern University, a dozen miles in Bellevue, many more recently in Skokie and five 5K’s in Chicago.
I had an almost four month break from running as I dealt with a long lasting cold that led into pneumonia. After recovering, I looked the 5K’s dates and saw that I had two months. I decided to not sign up and see how training went first. I was happy with how I progressed. This wasn’t the first time I had started running after taking a break. Unlike previous times, I think I set my expectations well and was patient with myself as I got going. The first 5K was the one I had done in years past. It was the Bunny Rock 5K. It’s a nice event because it is family orientated, and pretty chill, but it is a chipped race, so you can get an official time. The second 5K was different.
One of my wife’s paternal aunts had been suffering from brain cancer and recently passed away. To show support for her, one of this aunt’s daughters organized a team to participate in the Chicago BT5K. My two brother-in-laws, who also run (they’ve both done a marathon) and most of her dad’s side of the family came to participate.
The Bunny Rock 5K went ok. The weather was hotter then I had ever raced in, I rushed into the starting area and ended up too far back when the race started. It was a race that didn’t feel great when it happened, and starting in the back of pack and spending so much energy and focus on passing people led to my third best 5K time.
I spent the next week debating what I was going to do at the BT5K race. I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to really race. I didn’t want to go full out and not beat my best time, but I really wanted to hit a personal best. It really felt like a cliché that I was living. Take a chance and go for it, and you could be happy, but you also could fail. While I know I could find meaning in not getting a great time, I had my doubts that I could be satisfied in failure. I felt really bad about not doing great during the Bunny Rock 5K and as much as I change that into a positive in my head, I couldn’t.
I don’t know what made me decide to go for it, but when I got there, and saw all of Diana’s family there and Diana’s wonderful aunt I knew it was the right decision. I got lined up early, started near the front and I went for it. I pushed myself, I attempted to keep up with my brother-in-laws (which I accomplished for about 5 seconds), and I beat my best time by 8 seconds.
When I hit the finish line, my brother-in-laws were there waiting. We decided to walk backwards through the course to find the rest of the family, many of whom were walking the course. What followed was a wonderful hour and talking, catching up and being together as a family.
The idea of running a race to raise money for something really didn’t make sense to me before the BT5K. Why not just donate money directly and not spend all the time and energy organizing an event?
What I know now is that when someone you love is dying cancer, there’s very little you can actually do. The feeling of powerlessness is really hard to accept. Yes, you could just write a check, but organizing, racing, walking, doing something that brings people together can help raise funds to cure cancer. More importantly, as you run with people you love, for someone that you love, you feel connected to others. You are reminded that simply being there for the person that you love is the most powerful thing you can do.
I got more miles in these legs. I'm working up to a 10K and I am aiming to get my best times in my life in the future. The more I run, the more I take with me. What's amazing is that these things aren't weights, but rather they are wings that propel me. They are miles the I've ran, the pride of my parents and my wife, the hope I have for the future, and now the memory of my Aunt.
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise. Show all posts
Friday, June 16, 2017
Friday, April 8, 2016
The Sixth 100 Miles and the Seventh . . .
“Runnin' runnin', and runnin' runnin'”
Last time I wrote about running, it was when I hit 500 miles.
It took about 10 months to run that hundred miles, which was a big improvement. And in the 13 months since I hit 500 miles, I’ve run 260 miles. In the last year and change, I’ve run two 5K’s. In-between those 5K’s I did eight weeks of physical therapy.
The first time I did a 5K in 2013, I ran it in 29:29. I was just happy to finish. That was a great time for me. When I did my second 5K, last spring, I got my time down to 26:40, which blew me away. It was a tough race to run, colder than I was used it with wind coming off of the lake, but I got it done. This last 5K that I ran a couple weeks ago, I really wanted to improve my time. My last practice run before the race was 26:36. It wasn’t a lot quicker than my that 5K time I was trying to beat, but I figured with adrenaline, I’d run a faster time on the race day.
I ran 26:55.
I was really disappointed. The thing that people tell you running is that when you start running, your running times just get faster and faster. This is true. It’s pretty incredible going from having your fastest comfortable mile time go from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in a matter weeks. Every time I’ve taken a break from running for physical therapy or other issues, getting myself back into running shape has been an enjoyable process because improvement is noticeable. But towards the end of my training for this past 5K, I felt like I plateaued, which was frustrating.
This last 5K I was watching my time more closely than the other two 5K’s I did, and this made this experience more frustrating than fun. I simply wasn’t hitting the times I wanted to mile after mile. It took a couple hours after the race and talking to my parents to not feel so down on myself.
I took a break from running in the fall and did some physical therapy to work on my feet and ankles, which needed work to fully recovered from that 5K last Spring. I didn’t run consistently from August until February. I only ran forty miles over that five-month span compared to the forty miles I ran this past March. Getting my body back in shape after working through physical therapy and getting back to a good time, even if it wasn’t as good as I wanted, took a lot of work.
My dad talked to me about the reality of being in my mid-30s where things don’t come as easy with physical development and how we need to look beyond our running times to find success.
My parents and Diana are all really proud of me and sometimes you need to let other people’s pride overcome your own disappointments in life. No, my time wasn’t as good as I wanted, but I am proud of my training.
I’m not sure what’s next. Maybe I’ll do a 10K. It’s not beyond my ability and doing something new might help me focus more on completion, than the time. We’ll see. I’m not done with running, not sure where I’m going, but regardless of my time, I know I’m making progress.
On to mile 800.
Last time I wrote about running, it was when I hit 500 miles.
It took about 10 months to run that hundred miles, which was a big improvement. And in the 13 months since I hit 500 miles, I’ve run 260 miles. In the last year and change, I’ve run two 5K’s. In-between those 5K’s I did eight weeks of physical therapy.
The first time I did a 5K in 2013, I ran it in 29:29. I was just happy to finish. That was a great time for me. When I did my second 5K, last spring, I got my time down to 26:40, which blew me away. It was a tough race to run, colder than I was used it with wind coming off of the lake, but I got it done. This last 5K that I ran a couple weeks ago, I really wanted to improve my time. My last practice run before the race was 26:36. It wasn’t a lot quicker than my that 5K time I was trying to beat, but I figured with adrenaline, I’d run a faster time on the race day.
I ran 26:55.
I was really disappointed. The thing that people tell you running is that when you start running, your running times just get faster and faster. This is true. It’s pretty incredible going from having your fastest comfortable mile time go from 15 minutes to 10 minutes in a matter weeks. Every time I’ve taken a break from running for physical therapy or other issues, getting myself back into running shape has been an enjoyable process because improvement is noticeable. But towards the end of my training for this past 5K, I felt like I plateaued, which was frustrating.
This last 5K I was watching my time more closely than the other two 5K’s I did, and this made this experience more frustrating than fun. I simply wasn’t hitting the times I wanted to mile after mile. It took a couple hours after the race and talking to my parents to not feel so down on myself.
I took a break from running in the fall and did some physical therapy to work on my feet and ankles, which needed work to fully recovered from that 5K last Spring. I didn’t run consistently from August until February. I only ran forty miles over that five-month span compared to the forty miles I ran this past March. Getting my body back in shape after working through physical therapy and getting back to a good time, even if it wasn’t as good as I wanted, took a lot of work.
My dad talked to me about the reality of being in my mid-30s where things don’t come as easy with physical development and how we need to look beyond our running times to find success.
My parents and Diana are all really proud of me and sometimes you need to let other people’s pride overcome your own disappointments in life. No, my time wasn’t as good as I wanted, but I am proud of my training.
I’m not sure what’s next. Maybe I’ll do a 10K. It’s not beyond my ability and doing something new might help me focus more on completion, than the time. We’ll see. I’m not done with running, not sure where I’m going, but regardless of my time, I know I’m making progress.
On to mile 800.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
The Fifth 100 Miles
For the past three years, every time I hit 100 miles of running, I’ve excitedly written a post about the experience of working my way up to that point. The first 100 miles I talked about some basics of running, my second 100 miles, I discussed how hard it is to find time to run, my third 100 miles led up to my first 5K and for my fourth 100 miles, I wrote about returning from an injury.
What’s the deal with my fifth 100 miles? I hit that landmark mile about a month ago. It was exactly a month since that time that I recently ran again. It took me about 10 months to run 100 miles, which is an improvement from the year it took me to run my fourth 100 miles. That’s good news, but it really doesn’t feel like it.
I’ve been at this running thing for three years and one of the things that I’ve realized is that you have a relationship with running just like the one you have with a life long friend. Sometimes things are great. You have time for each other, every time you hang out it feels great. However just like with a good friend, life has a way of happening. Getting sick, job stress, having a kid drives a wedge between the two of you. You do the best you can to find time for each other and when you do, sometimes it just feels awkward, but you know in the back of your mind that you are there for each other.
That’s how the last 100 miles went. My runs weren’t great but I was making miles happen. There wasn’t a race I was working towards which didn’t help my motivation. Between runs I started a sit-up and push-up routine that got me up to 100 sit-ups, (I’m still working on the push-up part of it), which prodvided an alternative to running that didn’t take a lot of time.
The month in which I didn’t run was filled up with life. Everyone in our house, except for Buffy, got sick (everyone is fine now) and I had grades to do, which took up my weekends and evenings. While I was excited about getting another 100 miles done, it really didn’t seem like that big of a deal.
For the past week I’ve been on break and haven’t had school so it would seem like a perfect time to get back running, but I wasn’t feeling it until tonight (it’s Saturday, the weekend before this post). With the Bunny Rock 5K on the horizon, I really felt the desire to get myself back into shape and go for it.
It’s really nerve-racking to run after taking some time off. You know that things aren’t going to go as well as when you were in shape, but you also know that a lot of it is a mental game. Believe it or not, I had a really satisfying run after a whole month off.
My sixth 100 miles starts right off with a seven-week program to get in shape for my second 5K. It’s going to be crazy but I think I can make it and beat my time two years ago at this same event.
Sometimes when you meet up with a friend that you haven’t seen in a while there’s an awkward period of time when you catch up and get used to each other all over again but other times you don’t miss a beat. The latter is how my run felt today. It’s good to be back with running, my old friend. We are going to have a fun seven weeks and I promise, we may spend some time apart but I’ll always come back to you.
What’s the deal with my fifth 100 miles? I hit that landmark mile about a month ago. It was exactly a month since that time that I recently ran again. It took me about 10 months to run 100 miles, which is an improvement from the year it took me to run my fourth 100 miles. That’s good news, but it really doesn’t feel like it.
I’ve been at this running thing for three years and one of the things that I’ve realized is that you have a relationship with running just like the one you have with a life long friend. Sometimes things are great. You have time for each other, every time you hang out it feels great. However just like with a good friend, life has a way of happening. Getting sick, job stress, having a kid drives a wedge between the two of you. You do the best you can to find time for each other and when you do, sometimes it just feels awkward, but you know in the back of your mind that you are there for each other.
That’s how the last 100 miles went. My runs weren’t great but I was making miles happen. There wasn’t a race I was working towards which didn’t help my motivation. Between runs I started a sit-up and push-up routine that got me up to 100 sit-ups, (I’m still working on the push-up part of it), which prodvided an alternative to running that didn’t take a lot of time.
The month in which I didn’t run was filled up with life. Everyone in our house, except for Buffy, got sick (everyone is fine now) and I had grades to do, which took up my weekends and evenings. While I was excited about getting another 100 miles done, it really didn’t seem like that big of a deal.
For the past week I’ve been on break and haven’t had school so it would seem like a perfect time to get back running, but I wasn’t feeling it until tonight (it’s Saturday, the weekend before this post). With the Bunny Rock 5K on the horizon, I really felt the desire to get myself back into shape and go for it.
It’s really nerve-racking to run after taking some time off. You know that things aren’t going to go as well as when you were in shape, but you also know that a lot of it is a mental game. Believe it or not, I had a really satisfying run after a whole month off.
My sixth 100 miles starts right off with a seven-week program to get in shape for my second 5K. It’s going to be crazy but I think I can make it and beat my time two years ago at this same event.
Sometimes when you meet up with a friend that you haven’t seen in a while there’s an awkward period of time when you catch up and get used to each other all over again but other times you don’t miss a beat. The latter is how my run felt today. It’s good to be back with running, my old friend. We are going to have a fun seven weeks and I promise, we may spend some time apart but I’ll always come back to you.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
The Fourth 100 Mile
One year and ten days.
That’s how long it took me to run my last hundred miles.
The last two sets of 100 miles took me about three months to complete. So what happened? (Here are my previous running post about running).
In early November I went on my annual school camping trip with my 5th graders. After five four days are hard hiking and spending more than twelve hours a day in stiff hiking boots my right big toe was really sore.
I’m used to having sore feet and it felt like it just needed to be stretched and have a good knuckle crack, but it never cracked. After a couple days, I tried to run and realized something was wrong. I couldn’t role through my foot comfortably while walking and running only made the discomfort worse.
The first podiatrist I went to diagnosed me with sesamoiditis. This is the inflammation in the big toe joint. He gave me some drugs that were supposed to help that area calm down. Also I needed to take a break from running. Hey, at least my toe wasn’t broken, right?
After going through the course of medicine, it was better but I still wasn’t fully functional. I asked around for recommendations for another foot doctor and one of my friends pointed me to the Running Institute of Chicago.
Most foot doctors do enough to get people on their feet but the Running Institute was different. They aimed to help people get beyond just walking and to be really active. In my first visit I met with a doctor, a sports trainer and a physical therapist.
They didn’t see any signs of the sesamoiditis but they found some other issues. I over-pronate like crazy (I’m flat-footed) and while I had orthotics that helped with this, they weren’t doing enough. The doctors saw in my x-rays that one bone in my foot wasn’t quite the right length in proportion to another bone, which may also be contributing to my discomfort
My doctor didn’t prescribe any more drugs but instead prescribed me physical therapy. I was to go therapy twice a week for four weeks to strengthen my hips and ankles, which was suppose to help my running stride.
I had no idea what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The trainers at Accelerated Rehabilitation Center in Evanston were really nice and helpful. They encouraged me while showing a lot of patience. It was a very chill atmosphere that was a nice respite from my day even though at times it was really hard work. I was introduced to the world of balance boards, “clams,” and the use of big rubber bands for what seemed like a limitless amount of activities. Some things were difficult like doing bridges (a hip exercise using an exercise ball) while other things were frustrating like moving marbles with my toes.
Over time I improve at every task they gave me. The rubber bands changed colors as I was able to do exercises with more resistances.
All of these sessions were during the work week. A lot of the time I’d get home from work, spend an hour with Ollie and Diana and then go off to physical therapy. It was hard having an hour taken out of my already limited evening hours. At the same time it was good that I was forced to have some time to do something for myself.
Before the injury my running routine had become much less frequent. Between May 20th and June 14th, I didn’t run at all. This had to do with Ollie being born on May 24th and all of us moving to a new house in June. For a long time, besides writing this blog, I wasn’t doing something solely for myself. This physical therapy really reminded me how important it was that I do something like this to take care of myself.
After five weeks of therapy I started doing a return to run program. It’s similar to the Couch To 5K program. It was scary at first. I hadn’t run in months and I was really scared that I would start running and feel the same pain in my foot. That pain would mean that all those weeks of therapy didn’t work. If the therapy didn’t work, what options did I have left?
For that first run, I took it really easy and I made sure not to run a second longer than the plan directed. Some parts of my body were sore, but my foot was not. I steadily worked through the return to run plan and after one more therapy session, I was ready to start running again.
The four hundredth mile wasn’t the fastest mile I’ve run. It was part of a 30 minute workout with 22 minutes of running and 8 minutes of walking that added up to 2.2 miles. At my best I could run a 5K under half and hour and a 10K in 1 hour 10 minutes.
I thought I’d be frustrated at the fact that I couldn’t run as fast or as long as I did before the injury and before Ollie was born. But I’m not. Last weekend I just finished my first outside run and it felt great.
I felt that familiar chill as my body adjusted to the night air. I felt muscles tighten up and relax as my body compensated to the surface of the road. Most of I felt freedom.
Working in therapy taught me that things we loose we can get back. It may take months of time, hard work and patience, but you can regain what you have lost. It’s possible.
I took for granted the time I had to run and the ability I had to run when I was working through my first 300 miles. Maybe that’s why I need this last 100 miles to go the way it did and not how I had hoped it would. However like with everything else in my life for the past year, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If it takes me two months or a whole year to get to 500 miles, I will get there and I’m going to make sure to cherish every single step of the way.
That’s how long it took me to run my last hundred miles.
The last two sets of 100 miles took me about three months to complete. So what happened? (Here are my previous running post about running).
In early November I went on my annual school camping trip with my 5th graders. After five four days are hard hiking and spending more than twelve hours a day in stiff hiking boots my right big toe was really sore.
I’m used to having sore feet and it felt like it just needed to be stretched and have a good knuckle crack, but it never cracked. After a couple days, I tried to run and realized something was wrong. I couldn’t role through my foot comfortably while walking and running only made the discomfort worse.
The first podiatrist I went to diagnosed me with sesamoiditis. This is the inflammation in the big toe joint. He gave me some drugs that were supposed to help that area calm down. Also I needed to take a break from running. Hey, at least my toe wasn’t broken, right?
After going through the course of medicine, it was better but I still wasn’t fully functional. I asked around for recommendations for another foot doctor and one of my friends pointed me to the Running Institute of Chicago.
Most foot doctors do enough to get people on their feet but the Running Institute was different. They aimed to help people get beyond just walking and to be really active. In my first visit I met with a doctor, a sports trainer and a physical therapist.
They didn’t see any signs of the sesamoiditis but they found some other issues. I over-pronate like crazy (I’m flat-footed) and while I had orthotics that helped with this, they weren’t doing enough. The doctors saw in my x-rays that one bone in my foot wasn’t quite the right length in proportion to another bone, which may also be contributing to my discomfort
My doctor didn’t prescribe any more drugs but instead prescribed me physical therapy. I was to go therapy twice a week for four weeks to strengthen my hips and ankles, which was suppose to help my running stride.
I had no idea what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. The trainers at Accelerated Rehabilitation Center in Evanston were really nice and helpful. They encouraged me while showing a lot of patience. It was a very chill atmosphere that was a nice respite from my day even though at times it was really hard work. I was introduced to the world of balance boards, “clams,” and the use of big rubber bands for what seemed like a limitless amount of activities. Some things were difficult like doing bridges (a hip exercise using an exercise ball) while other things were frustrating like moving marbles with my toes.
Over time I improve at every task they gave me. The rubber bands changed colors as I was able to do exercises with more resistances.
All of these sessions were during the work week. A lot of the time I’d get home from work, spend an hour with Ollie and Diana and then go off to physical therapy. It was hard having an hour taken out of my already limited evening hours. At the same time it was good that I was forced to have some time to do something for myself.
Before the injury my running routine had become much less frequent. Between May 20th and June 14th, I didn’t run at all. This had to do with Ollie being born on May 24th and all of us moving to a new house in June. For a long time, besides writing this blog, I wasn’t doing something solely for myself. This physical therapy really reminded me how important it was that I do something like this to take care of myself.
After five weeks of therapy I started doing a return to run program. It’s similar to the Couch To 5K program. It was scary at first. I hadn’t run in months and I was really scared that I would start running and feel the same pain in my foot. That pain would mean that all those weeks of therapy didn’t work. If the therapy didn’t work, what options did I have left?
For that first run, I took it really easy and I made sure not to run a second longer than the plan directed. Some parts of my body were sore, but my foot was not. I steadily worked through the return to run plan and after one more therapy session, I was ready to start running again.
The four hundredth mile wasn’t the fastest mile I’ve run. It was part of a 30 minute workout with 22 minutes of running and 8 minutes of walking that added up to 2.2 miles. At my best I could run a 5K under half and hour and a 10K in 1 hour 10 minutes.
I thought I’d be frustrated at the fact that I couldn’t run as fast or as long as I did before the injury and before Ollie was born. But I’m not. Last weekend I just finished my first outside run and it felt great.
I felt that familiar chill as my body adjusted to the night air. I felt muscles tighten up and relax as my body compensated to the surface of the road. Most of I felt freedom.
Working in therapy taught me that things we loose we can get back. It may take months of time, hard work and patience, but you can regain what you have lost. It’s possible.
I took for granted the time I had to run and the ability I had to run when I was working through my first 300 miles. Maybe that’s why I need this last 100 miles to go the way it did and not how I had hoped it would. However like with everything else in my life for the past year, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If it takes me two months or a whole year to get to 500 miles, I will get there and I’m going to make sure to cherish every single step of the way.
Monday, April 29, 2013
The Third 100 Miles
My 300th mile was not at my first 5K as I planned. It was two weeks later on a rainy April day in during of the most physically exhausting and spirit-crushing runs I’ve ever experienced. As miserable as that run was, somehow it made sense.
Like my first 100 miles I managed to get this this hundred miles done in about three months, (unlike the second hundred which took four and a half months). I signed up for a 5K that was going to be held on my birthday as a my birthday present to myself.
Having a 5K to work towards really is a great motivator to stay on program and get outside and run. I went to my favorite running store, Fleet Feet and bought some gear to run outside. For the most part I run inside but this 5K was going to be outside and the weather in March in Chicago could get cold so I needed to prepare myself.
The lady at Fleet Feet was really nice as she picked out pants from the tightest fit to the more modest pair and gave me a tutorial on how to layer in cold weather. The first time I put on these clothes, especially the tight stuff I was apprehensive but it felt good and it seemed to make sense, so I got about too outfits of outside running gear.
At first I wasn’t sure about wearing tight running gear but when you actually run in this kind of a outfit it really feels right and honestly, it looks worse to wear shorts over tights then to just where tights by themselves. And if someone thinks I look ridiculous when I run, so what, I’m making miles happen.
I had my outfits, I did some cold weather runs that felt pretty good and then the 5K came. I wasn’t really nervous. I had done the 5K distances as my standard running workout so I knew I could handle it. What I wasn’t ready for was all of the people.
I started towards the back and after a mile of passing people, I realized that ths was real. This was the first time I ran in a group of people and while managing the traffic patterns was tough at times, the energy was fantastic.
I finished 433 out of 1457 and beat my best 5K time by 6 minutes. While this was a big deal, it all felt a little anti-climactic. I was happy I had done this but all of the hours and miles didn’t add up to one big pay off.
As I worked my way up to the big 300th mile the following two weeks it started to make sense. Each run had its own pay off which it's why its such an powerful thing to run. What made me proud wasn’t the 5K, but knowing that I had stuck with a work-out program for nine months. Each mile was simply a step in a journey that I have yet to complete.
I’m not sure what the future holds for me with running. I’ll probably do another 5K in the future, maybe a 10K. We'll see. A lot can happen in 100 miles.
This past week I wasn’t able to get a run in. Every time I saw someone running I was jealous. Today, I finally got a run in which felt like a gift to myself as I worked my way to 400.
 |
| Buffy & I at the 5K! |
Having a 5K to work towards really is a great motivator to stay on program and get outside and run. I went to my favorite running store, Fleet Feet and bought some gear to run outside. For the most part I run inside but this 5K was going to be outside and the weather in March in Chicago could get cold so I needed to prepare myself.
The lady at Fleet Feet was really nice as she picked out pants from the tightest fit to the more modest pair and gave me a tutorial on how to layer in cold weather. The first time I put on these clothes, especially the tight stuff I was apprehensive but it felt good and it seemed to make sense, so I got about too outfits of outside running gear.
At first I wasn’t sure about wearing tight running gear but when you actually run in this kind of a outfit it really feels right and honestly, it looks worse to wear shorts over tights then to just where tights by themselves. And if someone thinks I look ridiculous when I run, so what, I’m making miles happen.
I had my outfits, I did some cold weather runs that felt pretty good and then the 5K came. I wasn’t really nervous. I had done the 5K distances as my standard running workout so I knew I could handle it. What I wasn’t ready for was all of the people.
I started towards the back and after a mile of passing people, I realized that ths was real. This was the first time I ran in a group of people and while managing the traffic patterns was tough at times, the energy was fantastic.
I finished 433 out of 1457 and beat my best 5K time by 6 minutes. While this was a big deal, it all felt a little anti-climactic. I was happy I had done this but all of the hours and miles didn’t add up to one big pay off.
As I worked my way up to the big 300th mile the following two weeks it started to make sense. Each run had its own pay off which it's why its such an powerful thing to run. What made me proud wasn’t the 5K, but knowing that I had stuck with a work-out program for nine months. Each mile was simply a step in a journey that I have yet to complete.
I’m not sure what the future holds for me with running. I’ll probably do another 5K in the future, maybe a 10K. We'll see. A lot can happen in 100 miles.
This past week I wasn’t able to get a run in. Every time I saw someone running I was jealous. Today, I finally got a run in which felt like a gift to myself as I worked my way to 400.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Second 100 Miles
It took me 3 months to complete running 100 miles . . . it took me four and a half months to get the second 100 miles done.
After sticking to a running program and finishing 100 miles, I felt great (I discussed how I got to this point in this blog post). I built my endurance up to the point that I could run comfortably for an hour complete about five miles. I experienced glorious runs on the shore of Lake Michigan and felt really excited to continue my progress.
Then I went to Taiwan for my grandmother’s funeral. I didn’t exercise or run for 11 days. This was the longest break I took since I started my running program. The day after I got back, still not completely recovered from the jet lag or the trip I went for, what I planned to be a glorious hour long run along the lakefront.
This run ended up being a forty-five minute painful and frustrating experience. My knees felt awful after the first mile. I previously had some soreness here and there but nothing too bad so I just ran through it. It didn’t get better and I ended up walking for a good portion of the “run.”
The next morning I could barely walk. Once I got going though it wasn’t too bad until I hit the stairs at my school. The only way I could get up and down those things were by gripping the railing tightly and moving very slowly.
I was back at square one.
My body would not let me run or walk longer than fifteen minutes. After feeling the freedom of hour long runs, the only way I could complete a mile was by starting at the beginning of the Couch to 5k program. This started my slow and frustrating journey back to enjoying running.
On top of this life interfered with my work-out schedule. I’m a teacher so over the summer I was on summer break and it was easy to find time to run, but that changed when the school year started.
You know when people say that it’s easy to find a half hour three times a week to work out?
That’s utter garbage.
It is very difficult to work a full time job, take care of your home and family, have a social life and find time in the week to workout. In the summer, some weeks I would run four times a week, once school started, sometimes all I could make happen was a short run once a week.
Is it worth it to find that “me” time to work out and take care of yourself? Yes, but is it easy, no. Sometimes it’s really a struggle to make working-out a priority as an adult. I’m not complaining about this to try to get sympathy, I just want people to understand that sometimes it’s not easy to make a workout happen. Also, for the people out there who struggle to find time to workout, I want you to know that you are not alone.
It’s tough only being able to run half as long and as far as you used to. But I knew that only by holding back would I be able to get back to where I was before.
What got me through this rough patch? Diana, my wife, urging me to go easy on myself and being proud and excited about even the most minor running goals. Also, there was Doctor Who. Netflix on my new phone allowed me to escape as I ran, running along with The Doctor as he traveled through time and space.
Then it happened. After a month of struggling to finish half hour runs and just beginning to feel comfortable with that length of run, I went for it.
3.15 miles in 44 minutes and 25 seconds.
It was this painless and joyful run that got me back to my goal of running a 5K under 45 minutes and completed my second 100 miles.
That is no where near my best 5k time which was 33 minutes. Like my previous post about running, neither of these 5k times are impressive to anyone. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have to look hard to find someone who would laugh at me being proud of a 44 minute, 5k time.
Go ahead and laugh. I’m doing my thing, I’m feeling good about my accomplishment and I’m making it happen.
What did I learn during my second 100 miles?
1. Listen to your body: You know that “no pain, no gain,” mantra. That should be changed to “pain=more pain=frustration.” If you are working out and your body is saying “no,” stop. Sometimes it’s not worth pushing through.
2. Ease in: If you take a break from running like I did, ease back in. Let your body adjust. If you don’t take it slow and build back up, your body will force you to when you go too fast, too quickly.
3. Get over the past: If you are in a situation when you can’t do what you could do before, you have to let the past go. It wasn’t until I could stop focusing on how "bad" I was doing compared to my previous runs that I could enjoy the small accomplishments I was making.
The second 100 was far more frustrating and challenging, but I got there. I'm not sure what kind of struggles the next 100 miles will bring, but I'll get there and so can you.
Just take it one mile at a time, one step at a time and I'll see you at 300.
After sticking to a running program and finishing 100 miles, I felt great (I discussed how I got to this point in this blog post). I built my endurance up to the point that I could run comfortably for an hour complete about five miles. I experienced glorious runs on the shore of Lake Michigan and felt really excited to continue my progress.
Then I went to Taiwan for my grandmother’s funeral. I didn’t exercise or run for 11 days. This was the longest break I took since I started my running program. The day after I got back, still not completely recovered from the jet lag or the trip I went for, what I planned to be a glorious hour long run along the lakefront.
This run ended up being a forty-five minute painful and frustrating experience. My knees felt awful after the first mile. I previously had some soreness here and there but nothing too bad so I just ran through it. It didn’t get better and I ended up walking for a good portion of the “run.”
The next morning I could barely walk. Once I got going though it wasn’t too bad until I hit the stairs at my school. The only way I could get up and down those things were by gripping the railing tightly and moving very slowly.
I was back at square one.
My body would not let me run or walk longer than fifteen minutes. After feeling the freedom of hour long runs, the only way I could complete a mile was by starting at the beginning of the Couch to 5k program. This started my slow and frustrating journey back to enjoying running.
On top of this life interfered with my work-out schedule. I’m a teacher so over the summer I was on summer break and it was easy to find time to run, but that changed when the school year started.
You know when people say that it’s easy to find a half hour three times a week to work out?
That’s utter garbage.
It is very difficult to work a full time job, take care of your home and family, have a social life and find time in the week to workout. In the summer, some weeks I would run four times a week, once school started, sometimes all I could make happen was a short run once a week.
Is it worth it to find that “me” time to work out and take care of yourself? Yes, but is it easy, no. Sometimes it’s really a struggle to make working-out a priority as an adult. I’m not complaining about this to try to get sympathy, I just want people to understand that sometimes it’s not easy to make a workout happen. Also, for the people out there who struggle to find time to workout, I want you to know that you are not alone.
It’s tough only being able to run half as long and as far as you used to. But I knew that only by holding back would I be able to get back to where I was before.
What got me through this rough patch? Diana, my wife, urging me to go easy on myself and being proud and excited about even the most minor running goals. Also, there was Doctor Who. Netflix on my new phone allowed me to escape as I ran, running along with The Doctor as he traveled through time and space.
Then it happened. After a month of struggling to finish half hour runs and just beginning to feel comfortable with that length of run, I went for it.
3.15 miles in 44 minutes and 25 seconds.
It was this painless and joyful run that got me back to my goal of running a 5K under 45 minutes and completed my second 100 miles.
That is no where near my best 5k time which was 33 minutes. Like my previous post about running, neither of these 5k times are impressive to anyone. I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t have to look hard to find someone who would laugh at me being proud of a 44 minute, 5k time.
Go ahead and laugh. I’m doing my thing, I’m feeling good about my accomplishment and I’m making it happen.
What did I learn during my second 100 miles?
1. Listen to your body: You know that “no pain, no gain,” mantra. That should be changed to “pain=more pain=frustration.” If you are working out and your body is saying “no,” stop. Sometimes it’s not worth pushing through.
2. Ease in: If you take a break from running like I did, ease back in. Let your body adjust. If you don’t take it slow and build back up, your body will force you to when you go too fast, too quickly.
3. Get over the past: If you are in a situation when you can’t do what you could do before, you have to let the past go. It wasn’t until I could stop focusing on how "bad" I was doing compared to my previous runs that I could enjoy the small accomplishments I was making.
The second 100 was far more frustrating and challenging, but I got there. I'm not sure what kind of struggles the next 100 miles will bring, but I'll get there and so can you.
Just take it one mile at a time, one step at a time and I'll see you at 300.
Monday, September 3, 2012
The First 100 Miles
When I first started this blog, I told myself that I wouldn’t do two things: do posts about cute animals and write about exercising.
Well, since I got Buffy, the whole cute animal thing went out the window and now I’m going to break the second rule and talk about running.
Friends of mine know how annoyed I get when people talk about exercising. Here’s the basic rant:
So, what am I going to do about this? Well last year I decided to stop whining and run. I started up the “Couch to 5k” training program. It seemed easy enough. I got about 4 weeks in and gave up. I tried again later that summer and stopped out again after a couple weeks.
Why did I stop? I’m not sure, I think, I pushed myself too hard, trying for speed over endurance and I just didn’t make it a priority.
So last spring, I started again. I read a tip to run at very slow speeds and just keep track of the intervals, not the distance covered. This worked. After about eight-weeks of following this program, I decided to just keep going after one session and completed a 5k in 49 minutes.
The first person I told about this (besides my wife, who has been incredibly supportive) laughed, and couldn’t believe how slow I ran.
That hurt.
There’s plenty of people out there who can run a 5k without thinking about it. But there’s a lot of people out there like me who can’t comfortable run a mile. It’s hard, because people who run a mile in 15 minutes, like I did when I first got up to a mile don’t talk about it. All we hear is about people doing marathons and five-minute miles. It gets really discouraging because, our society sometimes is too focused on comparing people as opposed to focusing on individual growth. When you compare me to other people my age, my running speeds are pathetic, but compared to why I used to be able to do, I’m really proud.
So after I did my 5k in 49 minutes I resolved to not tell anyone I knew about the fact that I was running besides my wife. I ran about 4 or 5 days a week alternating between long run and shorter runs working on getting my time down. During this time I came up with the crazy idea that I would run 100 miles by the end of the summer.
While running websites aren’t always directed at novices there’s some really good advice that made running possible.
1. Get good shoes: I went to Fleetfoot and the shoes they fit me with made a world of differences. Also, if you have any foot pain when you walk or at end of the day, see a podiatrist. It’s not normal. I have podiatrist made orthotics which have changed my life.
2. Bodyglide Anti-Chafe Balm: I cannot run without this stuff.
3. Treadmill: It’s a lot easier to keep track of speeds and not run too fast, too quickly with a treadmill. Yes, it’s more boring but with the right music/podcast/TV show, it’s not so bad.
The greatest thing about being a beginning runner is that the improvement is quick. In the 100 miles I ran this summer, my 5k time went down 16 minutes to 33 minutes and my one-mile time went from 18 minutes to just under 10. Is this impressive to other people who run in my age group? Not really, but this improvement is an achievement that give me a great sense of pride.
Start with the Couch to 5k program, jog as slow as possible until you work up to a 5k and then turn on the speed slowly. Don’t skip weeks; let your body slowly adjust and the pay off will be tremendous. I’m not talking about weight loss, I’m talking about your energy and your spirit. If you push through the early workouts and the days that you just don’t feel like running, you will get to a magical day when you actually want to run.
Do it, and be proud of what you run, no matter how slow it seems to other people. Because if you keep at it, if you don’t give up, you will be surprised how far you can go and how much you will grow in 100 miles.
Well, since I got Buffy, the whole cute animal thing went out the window and now I’m going to break the second rule and talk about running.
Friends of mine know how annoyed I get when people talk about exercising. Here’s the basic rant:
I don’t care that you are training for a marathon. If you want to do something for your own benefit and your own health, fantastic. But don’t do it expecting me to praise you. Just because you choose to spend a certain amount of time exercising doesn’t mean that you are a better human being than me.My negative feelings about hearing people talk about exercise has to do with the fact that as a child I was never good at sports and the fact that as someone who is not interested in mainstream sports culture, I often feel like an outsider.
Like people who are vegetarian, people who exercise but don’t get all high and mighty about it, I respect. It’s the people who express their insecurities by lording exercises over people to feel better about themselves that annoy me.
So, what am I going to do about this? Well last year I decided to stop whining and run. I started up the “Couch to 5k” training program. It seemed easy enough. I got about 4 weeks in and gave up. I tried again later that summer and stopped out again after a couple weeks.
Why did I stop? I’m not sure, I think, I pushed myself too hard, trying for speed over endurance and I just didn’t make it a priority.
So last spring, I started again. I read a tip to run at very slow speeds and just keep track of the intervals, not the distance covered. This worked. After about eight-weeks of following this program, I decided to just keep going after one session and completed a 5k in 49 minutes.
The first person I told about this (besides my wife, who has been incredibly supportive) laughed, and couldn’t believe how slow I ran.
That hurt.
There’s plenty of people out there who can run a 5k without thinking about it. But there’s a lot of people out there like me who can’t comfortable run a mile. It’s hard, because people who run a mile in 15 minutes, like I did when I first got up to a mile don’t talk about it. All we hear is about people doing marathons and five-minute miles. It gets really discouraging because, our society sometimes is too focused on comparing people as opposed to focusing on individual growth. When you compare me to other people my age, my running speeds are pathetic, but compared to why I used to be able to do, I’m really proud.
So after I did my 5k in 49 minutes I resolved to not tell anyone I knew about the fact that I was running besides my wife. I ran about 4 or 5 days a week alternating between long run and shorter runs working on getting my time down. During this time I came up with the crazy idea that I would run 100 miles by the end of the summer.
While running websites aren’t always directed at novices there’s some really good advice that made running possible.
1. Get good shoes: I went to Fleetfoot and the shoes they fit me with made a world of differences. Also, if you have any foot pain when you walk or at end of the day, see a podiatrist. It’s not normal. I have podiatrist made orthotics which have changed my life.
2. Bodyglide Anti-Chafe Balm: I cannot run without this stuff.
3. Treadmill: It’s a lot easier to keep track of speeds and not run too fast, too quickly with a treadmill. Yes, it’s more boring but with the right music/podcast/TV show, it’s not so bad.
The greatest thing about being a beginning runner is that the improvement is quick. In the 100 miles I ran this summer, my 5k time went down 16 minutes to 33 minutes and my one-mile time went from 18 minutes to just under 10. Is this impressive to other people who run in my age group? Not really, but this improvement is an achievement that give me a great sense of pride.
Start with the Couch to 5k program, jog as slow as possible until you work up to a 5k and then turn on the speed slowly. Don’t skip weeks; let your body slowly adjust and the pay off will be tremendous. I’m not talking about weight loss, I’m talking about your energy and your spirit. If you push through the early workouts and the days that you just don’t feel like running, you will get to a magical day when you actually want to run.
Do it, and be proud of what you run, no matter how slow it seems to other people. Because if you keep at it, if you don’t give up, you will be surprised how far you can go and how much you will grow in 100 miles.
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