05.12.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 10:06 pm by Andy
I mentioned in my last post that I would take a crack at 20 miles in the past week, something I hadn’t done since the week of October 15, which culminated in my half-marathon. As you can see from the chart below, I did it.
I’m pretty damn happy with that. I’ve worked my mileage up in a safe and steady manner since February, and I’m being rewarded with some nice workouts, feeling good and strong, and injury free (knock on wood).
If you look at the box in the bottom right of the chart above, you’ll see my total stats since I started running in late 2006. Tonight, I ran a little over 8 miles and clocked 1 hour and 20 minutes on my feet. This pushed me over the 100 hour mark since I decided I was going to be a runner. It’s not like I’m setting records or anything here, but I think it’s important to sit back every once in a while and take a look at how you’re doing and not be afraid to feel good about hitting some nice, round numbers. It’s a pretty number, and it makes me happy. Next topic.
My legs freaking hurt.
“Well, yeah, stupid. You’re running more than you have in almost seven months, it kinda makes sense.”
No, not like that. I got reacquainted with the leg press machine at Equivita on Friday night. I did some wonderful wide-leg / close-leg series, accompanied with squats of various sorts, and some hip work. Simply put, my hamstrings and glutes (read: ass) hurt so bad yesterday that I considered letting a tear slip when I fell back on my butt while folding laundry.
And strangely, running feels very damn good. How nice.
This upcoming Saturday is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which I’ll be running. I’ll be helping pace Jerry to a sub-30:00 finish, and then heading back to Equivita afterwards for some flippin’ pancakes! Maybe I’ll see you there. If you read this testimonial, I’d love to hear what you think.
Just look for this guy (I’m the guy on the left, but I won’t be wearing a bandanna. The guy on the right is the race director for the hell I’m going to endure in November. No, we did not call each other and color coordinate.):
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05.05.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 1:55 pm by Andy
Last week was busy, and tiring. After a week of two personal bests, a long run of seven miles in the rain, Tuesday came and I simply felt run down. Rather than push things too hard during the very early training phase, I took a rest day before two straight days of softball.
We won on Wednesday, and again on Thursday. Friday was spent visiting with family until late and Saturday was just a mess, which meant that I’d unintentionally made it six days between runs by the time I got out the door on Sunday morning. This is not how I’d intended things to go.
I was scheduled for eight, but decided to maintain things at seven miles since I’d done no “maintenance” work since my last run. It was slightly cool at the start, but I quickly warmed up, and realized much later that there is a major downside to having little hair (very little in some places): sunburn.
The major victory for yesterday was that seven miles felt very good. The first five were at an easy 10:30-11:00 per mile pace, but then my body said “go!”, so I did. Not sprinting, or even running hard, but just letting my legs run a little and stride out the last two miles of a comfortable run.
Tonight I’m on the hook for four, and I’ll at least get this, maybe push a little to five to make up for the nothing run on Saturday.
During my training session at Equivita on Saturday morning, Adam was asked (not by me), “why are you beating up his [my] legs, he has to run a lot this weekend?”
Adam’s response? Typical. “My goal for Andy is to make the marathon feel easy.” With that goal in mind, I don’t have a problem with the physical torture. I still have a problem seeing my way around perceived limitations, but I’m working on this.
More easy running on the schedule for this week. I’m thinking I may take a crack at going over 20 miles this week. I’ll see how the legs feel as the week progresses.
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05.01.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 3:40 pm by Andy
The scene is Monday evening. The day before, I’d pushed my long run back a day due to a lack of time, and it was getting to be close to 8:00 and the sand in the hourglass was running low on this day as well. I decided I’d waited the necessary amount of time after dinner to go for a nice 7-mile run, so I got ready and headed out.
It was colder Monday than Sunday had been, and rain was in the forecast. I had two long-sleeve layers on top, but still only shorts, no pants. I walked out the door and was instantly chilled. I decided that to ensure that I was properly ready for seven miles, I’d make sure I did my warm-up of about 6/10 mile to the usual starting point. I’d gotten about 100 yards from my back door, and it started sprinkling. Big fat rain drops intermittently pattering on my quickly balding head.
As I noted in my previous entry, I’d done some hard running last week, so this was to be a nice’n'easy seven miles. Nothing faster than 10:00 per mile. Turns out this ended up being as much of a mental exercise as a physical one. Why? Think about it this way: when it’s raining outside and you have a ways to go to get to your car, what do most people do to get to their door if they don’t have an umbrella/slicker/etc.? They run, and they run hard. By the time I officially started my run, it was a steady drizzle that did not let up for any of the next 75 minutes I was outside.
And by drizzle, I do not mean misting. I mean that everyone who was passing in their conveniently covered vehicles was using the ‘Normal’ setting on their wipers. Nobody even had their windows cracked so they could shout at me that I’m insane. Yeah, that kind of drizzle.
The last time I got caught in a rainstorm, I hightailed it back home. This time, I set the cruise control and enjoyed the flight. It’s so strange for me to enjoy being out in the chilly rain, but I had a blast. I wasn’t freezing, but felt comfortably cool. I was soaked, and for the last two miles my shoes and socks were squishing with each step. But I was happily propelled each step by thoughts of people who can’t run for some reason, thinking of family members who have passed on, and in general just splashing around like a three year old in a puddle. It was very enlightening.
As I was going through the warming up process at home after the run, two things became clear to me. First, it was colder out than I thought. It was 42 degrees, and with the windchill it felt like 34 degrees (plus, the rain). Secondly, I found that if my attitude can overpower a lot of discomfort. Seven miles is my longest run in over six months, it was cold, raining, and I’d run extremely hard about 24 hours earlier. And I felt great.
Some running friends of mine have gotten me to think about the mental aspects of running. They call it running “kung fu” style. Running by feel, working towards your goal, believing in what you’re doing. It sounds sorta “hippie-ish”, but damn if it didn’t work.
29 weeks, 3 days until I toe the starting line.
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04.27.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 8:52 pm by Andy
I had a mile time trial schedule for this week, so I knew that there would be some hard running on the schedule. I didn’t know that I would add more later in the week.
I talked my friend Jerry into heading out to the track with me on Tuesday to run a hard mile. He went first while I timed him, and then I headed out to see how fast my legs could take me. My PR set in February was 6:54, and I thought I could do better. My plan was to head out at about 6:45 pace (about 1:42 per lap) and see if I could hold it.
This would be the first time I’ve run without my watch on my wrist to get instant feedback, since I’d given it to Jerry. I realized after I’d started that I didn’t ask him to tell me my times after each lap. I’d have to run this one based on feel.
I felt like I went out a little fast, and as I passed the line where Jerry was stationed, I yelled back to get my time.
“1:37,” he shouted.
It was confirmed, I did go out a little fast. I didn’t think I could maintain this for the next three laps, so I eased up just a bit. I didn’t have spare breath in either of the next two laps to ask for splits, and Jerry apparently wasn’t in the mood to help me out, so I was running blind, so to speak. I tried to keep a consistent effort from the second lap to the third, and I felt like I accomplished this fairly well.
The final lap there was another runner on the track who was catching up to me (he was quite a bit faster than me). When I had about 200 meters to go, I felt like he was 10-15 meters behind me, so I decided to redline the engine and go for broke. When I hit the line, I didn’t feel like I was completely gassed, but it felt like a significantly hard effort. I asked Jerry what the damage was.
“Your splits were 1:37, 1:41, 1:41 (my note: pretty consistent, indeed), and 1:28 for a 6:28 mile”
I gave a good effort and pulled 23 seconds off my previous PR (personal record). Not bad.
Wednesday and Thursday were softball activities, including a game which we won. Friday was family pizza night, so no running. Saturday was scheduled for an easy three miles. I pushed a little harder than “easy”, figuring today would be a long run and I’d just take it easy. I finished my 3.1 miles in 26:25 (avg pace 8:31/mile) and felt pretty good afterwards.
Today (Sunday) was supposed to be a long run of 7 miles. After a birthday party for Grandma, killing dandelions in the yard, and chainsawing down some branches in my front yard, I found myself with about 45 minutes before a late dinner. Not enough time for seven miles, so I instituted some flexibility in the schedule: flipping the long run to tomorrow and putting in a hard 5-k training run tonight.
I hadn’t had an Equivita training session this week, so my legs felt fresh enough to beat up again after the hard effort on Tuesday. I went out hard, kept things hard, and finished hard. I almost lost my lunch in my front yard, which would have been hilarious. I kept it together, looked down at my watch, and saw that I’d set my second PR in five days, this one at the 5 kilometer distance. Twenty three minutes flat. I’d taken 55 seconds off my 5K time. Sitting on my couch right now, I feel pleasantly exhausted. My back hurts from spraying weeds, and my legs are a little sore from running hard. A good weekend.
The next week will be all easy runs, with two softball games. The weather is heating up, and I’m getting to be outside and active most days of the week. Who’s complaining?
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04.21.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 3:52 pm by Andy
Oh, yeah…
Howdy everybody. I guess for this to be a living testimonial, I have to keep adding things to it. Some days I think it would be easier to carry an audio recorder with me, and put together an mp3 mix of my thoughts on training each day. It would be easier, but I don’t want to edit out all the swearing. (That’s a joke, Mom… I’d definitely leave the swearing in)
I just finished up my fourth week of steady running (at least 4 days per week), and let me tell you… it’s awesome. Most of my runs are around 3 miles, so I’m just working on consistency and putting some miles on my legs. As I begin to feel comfortable, I’m going to be adding more distance. But for now, it’s almost all easy.
If you’re interested in seeing what’s coming up for me in training (and I know this is in high demand), I’ve created an online sheet that details upcoming runs. You can see it by clicking here. I’m not a slave to my training, and I’m okay with moving things around if necessary, skipping a day if I’m not feeling well, and occasionally running a little harder than expected. At this point, it is intended to serve as a guideline, not a contract. As things move into race specific training in mid-summer and some workouts have goals, things will get a little more solid. But I subscribe to the belief that if I’m not having fun, then I’m doing it wrong.
If you’re interested in seeing what I’ve done in more detail, you can look at the data in my online running log, which can be found by clicking here. The summary page has some nice bar graphs, and if you click on the workouts you can look at individual run details. I usually put some notes with each run talking about how it went, felt, etc. I find this type of tracking to be particularly helpful for me.
As you can see on my log, I’ve already hit more miles in a month than I have since October. And yet, it hasn’t been overwhelming. It’s not hard for me to build up a tiny volume of training, and once I’m feeling comfortable at this level (15-20 miles per week), I’ll be ready to move up to marathon training levels which are a little heavier in volume.
Tomorrow, I’ve scheduled a mile time trial for myself. I set a new Personal Record in the mile in February, finally breaking the 7 minute barrier, knocking out a 6:51 mile. I’m going to run another hard mile tomorrow, and see how/if things are progressing. I’m not expecting miracles, and won’t be disappointed if I don’t do well. My plan is to shoot for 7:00 pace the first 3/4 mile and then see what’s left in the tank. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.
Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be making it a point to update a bit more frequently as I progress in my quest to conquer the Monkey.
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03.26.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 8:57 am by Andy
I’ve heard that if you hear something repeated enough times, you are more likely to believe it to be true.
The following statement has been issued to me in varying forms from family, Equivita staff, and in the book I just finished (for the second time), Ultra Marathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner, by Dean Karnazes:
If we could just free ourselves from our perceived limitations and tap into our internal fire, the possibilities are endless.
This speaks to me in a way that I don’t think is too difficult for anyone to understand. I can’t speak for every other member of humanity, but I like to think that most people on Earth like to be inspired. If you like inspirational literature that reads easy and quickly, I’d suggest finding a copy of this book at the library and giving it a whirl.
Even if you have no interest in running, I think it would be hard to read about Dean’s feats of endurance (especially the mental journeys associated with the physical ones) and not want to do something great. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn to prepare genuine French cuisine; maybe you’ve always wanted to learn to sail; or maybe you’ve always wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail.
Me? While it’s not something I’ve always wanted to do, it’s something that is important to me right now. And that’s running a marathon. A damn hilly marathon (click here to check out the elevation profile), one that’s been mentioned as one of the five or so hardest road marathon’s in the country.
It should be awesome.
As for the running itself, I ran back to back days for the first time in quite a while, running on Sunday and Monday. I’ve got a plan for the next twelve weeks done on paper and I’m looking forward to a little structured training.
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03.25.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 12:59 pm by Andy
Running.
It’s really the main component of marathon training, you know. The one essential ingredient. Leaving running out of marathon training is something like leaving eggs out of scrambled eggs.
“So if I don’t run while training for the marathon, it’s like sitting at the breakfast table with salt, pepper, and non-stick cooking spray?”
Yeah, something like that. Maybe some cheese, too.
I’d known for a few days that I was making excuses with myself, but did little to reverse the trend. “It’s too cold, it’s too windy, I’m too tired, the TV is being needy.” I’ve used them all so I didn’t have to put on my shoes and head out for a run. The rational part of my mind knew what was going on, but remained powerless to stop it.
Why?
Upon further reflection and with the help of the friendly staff at Equivita, I’ve determined that I work best with a laid out plan and a goal to aim for. Without these elements in place, it’s very easy for me to rationalize sedentary behavior. I might be okay with this but for the fact that sitting around doing nothing tends to make me a bit cranky and antsy. I’m not one to sit around being lazy, at least not without being an unbearable bastard at the same time (even if it’s directed to no one other than myself).
So this past weekend, I created a plan. One that takes me into mid-June, and has a series of goals along the way I can work towards. Along the path I’m taking the next six weeks, I have the following mini-goals set forth for me:
- A 5 kilometer time trial. It’s like running a race but without other people. Not quite as much fun, but a lot cheaper and more mentally draining.
- A 1 mile time trial. I’ve got a secret goal for my mile time. Right now, I’m not training for this distance, nor am I worried about getting even close to my goal, I just want to know where I’m at fitness-wise at the moment.
- A 5 kilometer race. I will be pacing a friend to finish in under 30 minutes. We tried it last year and missed by less than 20 seconds. This year we should nail it.
- Participating in the Relay for Life. Last year, I completed 13 miles in three or four sessions over the course of 18 hours. I’m not sure what my goal is for this year other than to have fun.
- The last week of the 12-week program I’ve set up, I will be vacationing in South Carolina. With no work, softball, or pesky strength training to bog me down I am going to shoot for six straight days of running. My longest streak so far has been five days in a row.
I know that if I had a gun held to my head today, I could complete a marathon. But it wouldn’t be pretty. I’d like the actual experience to be one that I treasure. I’m sure it will hurt a little, but there’s no point in giving the course any more advantage than it already has.
Here’s to the next twelve weeks. Cheers.
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03.14.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 9:15 am by Andy
A few different areas of life combined in the last two or three days to reinforce a lesson we’re all familiar with but often require reminding: don’t give in.
I had a workout at Equivita on Tuesday. For reasons varying from vacation to mild illness, it had been quite some time since I’d been put through my paces. As a result, I was equal parts eagerly anticipating and quietly fearful of what my power hour would consist of.
Plenty of cardio to get the body rolling, and then a series of exercises that put a generous tax on me in an interesting wave fashion (the intensity/difficulty of what I was doing, or trying to do, would ramp up to a peak and then a brief rest period to recover led right into the next series… like a slow motion version of waves crashing on the beach. Hey… it makes sense to me).
One of the final exercises was a squat series with a towel roll between my knees. Halfway through my set my body began to shut down without my permission, starting with my brain. My muscles no doubt very exhausted, the internal conversation started out of nowhere:
“You’ve worked hard today, these last four reps won’t care if you skip them.”
“You’re so tired… quit now. You will feel much better.”
“I’m making your eyes flutter and your stomach queasy, ready to quit yet?”
I was so tempted to let the voice win. But I remembered that I have a marathon I’m training for, and there is a chance that these thoughts would creep up at some point in the race. I do not want to be at mile 22, hear the voice tell me to quit, and remember a time I said, “okay.” So I told the voice to piss off (or something like that), dug deep and pulled through the remaining reps to complete the exercise.
It hurt. A lot. But physical pain only lasts so long, and I would be okay.
And away from the dumbbells…
I think that sometimes in life, things that you need find you. Or maybe you find the things you need. However you prefer to structure that sentence. Anyway…
I checked a book out of the library last week. I’d heard good reviews (simply, “this is a good book”), but really didn’t know what the story was about. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.
In case any of you are or will consider reading the book (which I recommend for anyone who likes reading), I won’t give away any plot details. But I will say that the book highlighted the characteristic of vigilance and never giving in. The characters in the story are put into a situation bleaker than anything I can realistically imagine. Even in the face of some of the scariest things existence has to offer, like physical death or a loss of purpose, they carry the fire and stay strong to the very end.
For me, it was the perfect book at the perfect time. Highlighting the human spirit, and the depths to which one can reach to find strength.
My workout pales in comparison to true hardship faced by individuals all across the world, but for the personal goals I have set in front of me it was a vital hurdle to clear. And the lessons gleaned from the words of Mr. McCarthy show the power of staying true to one’s goal and the meaning of commitment.
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03.11.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 2:55 pm by Andy
Warning: If you’re not a competitive soul, skip this post. It could be offensive to you.
You’ve been warned.
Decent
I love that word: decent.
Not great, not terrible. A little better than good.
From Merriam-Webster: Adjective. 4: fairly good : adequate, satisfactory <decent wages>
When I grew up, we didn’t get participation trophies for showing up. In Little League, if you won the tournament, you got a trophy. If you didn’t, you got nothing but the desire to work harder next time so you would be getting that cheap trophy for your bedroom bookcase. I see nothing wrong with this. You’re either on top of your game, or working to get there. This certainly suits my personality.
I remember when I was doing some coaching about ten years ago, and one of the other coaches told the team that their practice was decent. The kids got mad, and stated that the coaches should be giving them praise instead of berating them with phrases like “decent”. I thought it was funny, but kept my mouth shut (I have moments of SMRTness, you know).
Me? I love the term decent. It means I’m making progress, but I’m not yet at my goal. Some people like to be coddled. Not me. Tell me like it is and I’ll be happy. I may not like what you have to say, but as long as I’m given direction I will work to get better.
If I’m told I’m “good enough” too many times… I’ll start to believe it.
Decent. It’s certainly better than some of the alternatives.
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03.06.08
Posted in Andy's living testimonial at 11:34 am by Andy
Did you miss me?
Between some nasty weather and a vacation, I’ve been a little busy lately. Well, too busy to write, but not so busy that I haven’t made a little time to exercise.
I spent a few days with friends and family down in Florida this past weekend, and got to do a little beach running. This was something I’d never done, and I rather enjoyed it. My body was very happy with the terrain, and my mind was happy with the scenery of the ocean (Gulf of Mexico, whatever) and beach, the sounds of the waves and fighter jets, and the warm sun. I had a good time.
This is something which I’ve made a conscious effort to do more of lately: enjoy life. As far as I know, I only get one. And if I get to the end and I realize I’ve spent my time loathing everything unusual, I’ll probably be a bit disappointed.
Running? Fun.
Workouts? Fun (in the long run).
Laundry? Alright, let’s not get carried away. Not everything can be “fun”, but not everything needs to be dreaded, either.
Warm weather is right around the corner, and this will mean a marked increase in my physical activity. I’m already doing something three or four days a week that would be classified as some form of exercise, but it’s about to ramp up to six or seven days and I can’t wait.
That small dose of nice weather was a good tease for me, and has ignited my desire for Spring to arrive. I’ve got lots of fun stuff planned, and as soon as the snow is gone and the temperature cooperates, I’m there.
I just hope I don’t make myself “sick” with this upbeat attitude in the meantime.
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