Gearing up!

This week I ran 11.2 miles again. On Friday, I did my first cycling of the season. Since it was a downpour day, I did spinning, actually. Saturday, after a five mile run and a birthday lunch at Todai (yum), I got to go b-day shopping! Nothing like a couple hours at the bike shop.

For starters, I had that persistent flat rear tire problem. And my bike tire goes flat too. They were working on my bike when I heard a loud pop and "I found the leak!" With that fixed, I had them put on aerobars and new brake pads. I also got arm warmers and glove liners, so I am ready to start training in earnest. As soon as the rain lets up a bit. Until then, I will spin.

I thought I was in good shape, but my rear and my quads are not happy after just 30 minutes of spinning.

Why the sudden focus? I registered for the Tierra Bella Century on April 19. Less than three months to get ready!

I'm Back!

Actually, I have been back for a week. A busy week catching up at work.

Good news, bad news: Through all of the Christmas holiday and the cruise I gained 4 lbs. I'll take it. Now back to work.

Cruise pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/JeffTheTwoThirds/Cruise08.

This week I ran 11.2 miles. A 5k on Monday and Wednesday and 5 miles today. On Tuesday and Friday I cycled. On Thursday I walked, since I really pushed myself on Wednesday's run: a 25:42.

Now, I have to get my appetite under control. Too used to eating.

Still cruising!

On this cruise, I have kayaked, hiked, snorkeled, shopped, run, and kept busy. There has been lots of fresh fruit, veggies, low fat alternatives, etc. I will be really ticked off if I gain weight, but I have sure had a great time.

The only downside is the yummy food. I have been good except for dinner. Even then, I have chosen the lower calorie alternatives. However, portion sizes are rather large.

Cruising!

As we cruise to (hopefully) sunny Mexico, I try to balance enjoying the wonderful food and not overdoing it. Wish me luck!

Resolution Run

The Los Gatos 5M Resolution Run this morning was a blast. It was the same course as the Dammit Run, which is in August. My time was 49:50, or so. The first half of the run is grueling. The second half is mostly downhill and is over very quickly.

The guy who won the 50-59 age group was second overall. I am amazed how fast folks can remain.
The day started out cold (45 degrees or so), but by race time the weather was gorgeous.

I bought a pair of NB 1222's and my heel isn't quite as sore. The Brooks's were bottoming out.

Not a bad week

Well, I lost over 2 lbs this last week. Aside from some heel pain in my right foot, I feel great. I should stop complaining.

Two medical items:

• I went to the Stanford University Marfan Center to see if the aneurysm I have in my right common iliac artery could be related to a connective tissue disorder. The answer is 'no'. The Dr. felt, however that I have a dissection, not an aneurysm, and that we may never know how it happened. I am cleared for any activity except power lifting or similar things that would spike my blood pressure.
• I had a follow up with my podiatrist and we tried an experiment to see if heel lifts would help my heal pain. I had to pull the lifts out after two days. Ouch. Time for new shoes!
  

I signed up for the Los Gatos Resolution 5 Mile Run on New Years Day. Just trying to keep things interesting.

It's been so busy lately that I have had trouble sneaking in workouts. However, when Tracy joined the YMCA a couple weeks ago she signed us up for a family membership. Now I have another option. That's open to 10pm.

Avoidance?

Because I have been on a weight roller coaster, I have been avoiding this blog.

Down to 205, back to 210. Repeat. Ack!

For the last three weeks I have worked out 5 days a week (prior to that it was 6 days a week), then spent hours on Saturday doing chores. I have been doing three runs a week, though because of time pressure they have been 2.5 to 3.1 mile runs. On non-run days, I have been riding the exercise bike for cross-training.

My diet has been my problem. I'm a nervous eater. A grazer. With a sweet tooth. During the day I am too busy to get into trouble, but at night...

I continue to attend weekly WW meetings and to try different ways to get myself kicked into gear. What keeps me going is knowing where my weight would go back to if I gave up. Take a look:


Thanks for listening.

Coupla things

Ok, this was a 13 mile week. And I forgot to mention that in the raffle at the Turkey Trot I won Office Professional 2007. Pretty cool.

Turkey Trot

Six thousand of my closest friends and I Turkey Trotted this morning. Since it was crowded until the 5k turnaround, I couldn't get up to full 5k pace. So I kept going and ran the 10k. My time (55 minutes by my watch) was just 1 minute slower than my PB, so I was pretty (ok, make that sorta) happy. Aside from the crowding, the event was extremely nice. Lots of volunteers. Good causes. Perfect weather.

My goal next year is to break 50 minutes, so I have some training to do. I noticed that the younger people really out kick me at the end. Will work on that, as well as general speed.

Post-race stupid moment: Walking right past my car, staring at rest of the nearly empty street and thinking I got towed.

Oh, golly...

Weighing in last week was icky: up 1.5 pounds. This week it was gone and I was back to where I was before. I feel like I am on a roller coaster right now.

I signed up for tomorrow's Turkey Trot.

Last week I ran 14 miles, including a 6 mile "long" run on Saturday. This week I ran 2 miles on Monday and 3 miles on Tuesday. Today is a rest day, in preparation for tomorrow.

I am doing all my running with the orthotics. Yesterday, I thought something was wrong with them. As I got on the treadmill they just didn't feel right. I went and checked and had switched left and right. What's up with my attention span?

Slooooow weight loss

Last Tuesday, I had lost about 1/2 a pound. Progress, but slow.

The week was crazy, with Brennen at rehearsal Monday through Thursday until 10:30, then performances on Friday and Saturday of A Midsummer's Night Dream. I had to be there to get him in and out of costume from Tuesday on. Grandma and Grandpa Beagley and Tracy and I attended the Friday performance.

I got in a 2 mile run on Monday and a 5 mile run on Wednesday, plus two days on the exercise bicycle, and one day on the Elliptical machine + core.

Happy with recovery

Thursday I ran 4.5 miles, and today ran 3 miles. Today's run was actually at tempo pace (hr at 160 bpm)

According to what I have read, I should be avoiding speedwork and long runs until more fully recovered. Right now, I am focusing on building mileage back up and on weight loss. Therein lies the rub:

I am still very hungry and am not doing well on portion control or on avoiding bad snacks. This Tuesday's weigh-in will either be a happy surprise or a wake up call. Sometimes only a bad weigh-in will kick me into gear.

The good news is no owies.

More progress

Ran for 30 minutes today at an easy pace. My right knee felt fine. That's a big relief.

Weighed in today: 209.4. 1/2 a pound down from the post-marathon high. That 4 pounds I gained while tapering didn't go away, so I am starting the big push to get to my goal weight of 187 a bit heavier than planned.

Let's see: losing 22.4 pounds can take anywhere from 11 to 44 weeks. That translates to reaching my goal anywhere from January 15, 2008 to Sept 2, 2008, with 1 lb. a week taking until April 1.
So, to provide some immediate feedback, here is my personal challenge: Under 200 pounds by 1/1/2008. That's 1 lb. a week.

The reward for reaching the year-end goal is that I can begin training for Tierra Bella.

Energy level up

Today, I did 30 minutes on the eliptical machine and feel more energized. The terrible fatigue seems to have passed, and I feel healthy.

I am having pain du jour: Where I had a stitch in my side is now sore. My right heel is burning. My right quad aches. Both knees are sore along the medial side of the patellas. Yesterday, the right knee was sore on the lateral side. As long as the owies keep moving around I am not concerned.

Tomorrow I will try running again.

Slow going

Yesterday, I walked a couple miles and mowed the lawn, and still felt exhausted by the end of the day.

We went to the Fall Festival at our church yesterday, and lots of folks wanted to know how the marathon went. There's a short answer (It was great!) and a long answer. It was so many things: months of preparation, the ups and downs of the marathon (literally and figuratively), elation and fatigue at the finish, incredible hunger, phases of recovery, a sense of anti-climax, and an emptiness wondering what's next. From what I've read, all very normal.

Recovery

Monday, I walked a mile. Tuesday I ran 2 miles, which was dumb. My right knee was a little sore. No running for a week. The bigger issue was general fatigue. By the time I got my son to bed that night, I was falling asleep on my feet. Wednesday, I walked, and today, I did the elliptical machine for 30 minutes, then did core exercises.

Last night was the first since the marathon that I didn't collapse into bed. Progress.

What's surprising to me is that I don't hurt, but am bone weary.

Pain?

I feel pretty good!

Yesterday, Dad and I attended church in Nauvoo, then toured the visitors center and some of the sights. The Temple was beautiful.

I really enjoyed walking down Parley St. to the Mississippi River, even though I was a bit stiff and sore. Some of my Mom's ancestors were in Nauvoo and participated in the journey west. I imagined them driving their wagons down Parley St., loading them on barges, and crossing to Iowa. The street literally dead-ends into the Mississippi River.

It surprised me that I could walk down steps yesterday.

Today I feel even better. Dad and I are sitting in the Moline Airport waiting for our flight to Minneapolis.

I no longer set up like concrete after sitting for 15 minutes.

I survived!

The Indianapolis Marathon was wonderful, hard, hilly, and painful. The weather was perfect, the scenary beautiful, and the volunteers and runners as nice as could be.

I ran from miles 2 to 10 with a veteran who had returned from Iraq just a year ago. It was his first half-marathon. I had always thought that chatting during a run was a waste of energy, but I was very wrong. It made the time pass very quickly and kept the pace right.

My goal was 5 hours, and by my unofficial timing, I ran a 5:02. Given a potty break at mile 21, it was close enough.

The course started with a tour of Fort Benjamin Harrison, which has been converted to commercial property and homes, mostly. It's just beautiful: think lots of red brick and nicely restored military housing. Then we did an out-and-back through a neighborhood, then and out-and-back though a forest/park/golf course area, then and out-and-back though the state park. The course was "somewhat" hilly. The long uphill from mile 23 to almost mile 26 was just plain nasty. The hills around mile 10 were kind of fun, since I wasn't dead yet. Most of the hills were though forests with the leaves just turning gold and red. That made up for it, a bit.

Dad got some good pictures, which I will post in a few days.

After the race I felt selfconscious as I waddled around, until it sank in that almost everyone was waddling. There was one 77 year old gentleman who had just earned his "Marathon in 50 States" award. For the second time. He wasn't waddling. Us normal people could barely walk.

After I cooled down, stretched, ate, stretched, showered, and stretched, we bought some ice and snacks, and headed towards Nauvoo. I iced while Dad drove. We stopped every hour or so, and I tried to walk around. Each stop, I waddled less.

Since our room doesn't have a tub, I have filled a trash can with cold water, and am about to dump in some ice and freeze my legs. Thus the long post.

Oh well, here goes.

We're here!

We just got into Indianapolis, and I picked up my race packet. It's been cloudy and cool.

Fort Benjamin Harrison is a beautiful old military base converted to commercial property. The leaves are just turning red and gold. Just lovely.

Last run

This morning's 2 mile run was the last before Saturday. I ran around the Mississippi Valley State Fairgrounds in Davenport, IA.

Since yesterday was a travel day, I did the last 5 mile tempo run on Tuesday. Monday was another little 2 mile run.

I feel well. Since I am hydrating like a mad-man, we had to stop every hour today for potty breaks.

It's been fun seeing where my Dad was born and grew up. We have been staying with his cousin and boyhood friend, Dick. Dick and Carol have treated us royally. Dad and Dick swapped stories until 4am, so I slept in today.

Another thunderstorm moved through this evening, but Indianapolis is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of 70 degrees F for Saturday.

Tomorrow we will drive to Indianapolis. It's been great visiting and sightseeing, so I don't have time to be too nervous.