Aaron Runs Again

Umbilical Hernia - Consult

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 05:03:00 +0000

Saw the surgeon about the hernia. Nice guy, but very quick. It was nice in a way to feel like he was blowing through my case because it was so routine.

He confirmed I have a ventral umbilical hernia, but no other hernias. Apparently in my case it's caused by some medical word I don't remember, that mean that the connective tissue in teh middle between both sides of your abs in your six pack thins and stretches apart, in my case starting at the belly button, and that created a weak spot.

I go in next Thursday to the clinic, they use some general anesthetic, make an incision around the belly button, insert some mush through the hole and under the muscle, tack it in place, superglue me together, wake me up and send me home. No weights over 20 pounds for a week, and according to the doc, no running for 4 weeks. Apparently the no running is not because of potential problems with the repair, but because if the increased chance of infection from sweating, etc at the incision site. We'll see how well that rule holds up. :) If I do listen too him, my knee will probably appreciate it. :)

A 4 week off period gets me started back running around the 28th of August. About 13 1/2 weeks before the marathon. I'm definitely going to miss the half marathon on Labor Day I had planned on. My current training plan is loosely based on the Hal Higdon Novice plan. 13 weeks puts me exactly where I am in the plan, at week 6, which is fortunately a fall back week. The question is, is it safe, or am I capable of picking back up where I left off. Going to have to think and ask some more questions. I'd go from 4 weeks off, with maybe a run or two the previous week to start back up to 3, 5, 3, 7 and then 3,6,3,12. Hmmm. not sure I like the way that looks. Maybe I need to think about doing the half in November instead.

No Pressure 6 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:03:00 +0000

6 miles in 57:54 (9:38/mile)

Forced myself out the door at 8:45 (64 degrees) and walked down to the start point. Had told Val that I had 5 on the books, but I might run 3, or some distance between the two. I wasn't really motivated to go out at all. I was feeling tired, and blah, and why bother.

This hernia thing is really playing hob with my motivation. Knowing that I'll have to take some undefined amount of time off, maybe not run the marathon, have to go backwards in my mileage after recovery to get back to where I am when I have the surgery , etc. is making me want to just say eff it, why bother.

This run really helped with the motivation though. I was walking down telling myself that I was really only running for the marathon, and that I don't really enjoy running that much anyway. I just let myself start slowly, zone out, stop at every light I couldn't make it past, and even with some knee discomfort at mile 4 an on, I realized that I was just lying to myself. I run because I like to run. Having a goal makes it easier to get out and not make excuses, but I like to run.

The blog entries in response to this weeks Runner's Lounge Take it and Run Thursday helped too.

Appointment about the hernia in a few hours, we'll see what they have to say. Since I know everyone is waiting with baited breath to see if there's a permanent way to keep my intestinal tract inside my abdominal cavity, I'll post this evening with what they have to say. :)

splits:
took them out of habit, but since I stopped (didn't run in place, didn't try to go around) at every stop light that wasn't timed right, and since the point of this run was to just go run for running's sake, I'm not recording them

Slow Test 3 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:47:00 +0000

3 miles in 29:41 (9:54/mile)

Ran with Toby to keep my speed down. Managed to keep my intestines inside the body cavity, so a pretty good run. :)

I really needed to get out there today. This hernia thing has me pretty down, and I think that if I hadn't gone out it would have been a while till I went out again.

splits:
mile1 - 10:07
mile2 - 9:53
mile3 - 9:41

Umbilical Hernia

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:53:00 +0000

Apparently my self diagnosis is correct. That little squishy bit is intestine being pushed back in. Whee. :)

So. I have an umblilical hernia. (amusingly, so does my dog, but his healed closed when he was a puppy, leaving a cute bubble instead of a belly button. :)). I've got an appointment with the surgeon on Friday and they'll evaluate it and see what kind of repair is necessary. My doc certainly confirmed that I have one at my belly button, but she thought she felt another one, or something anyway, a few inches to the right as well.

As long as I don't have pain, and can reduce (push back in) anything that comes up, I can run. If I feel pain or discomfort, I'm to stop. (Which, unlike my knee, I will actually do.) Recovery time from the surgery may be from 2 to 6 weeks, but it depends on the amount of work they have to do. I'll know more on Friday.

Late Night 10 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:35:00 +0000

10.2 miles in 1:37:55 (9:35/mile)

First time breaking double digits on a run, and first week over 20 (21. but it counts. :)). Whoo hoo! :) Did this Saturday night in about 60 degrees.

Yet another late night run. I was going to run this in the morning, but Val asked me to run in the evening since she hasn't been feeling well and wasn't sure if she had the energy to deal with Kaitlyn by herself for 2 hours. We sent her to the clinic instead and found out that she has the start of strep throat, pink eye, a stomach flu, and a compacted lower intestine. Wheee. :(

I got my new 'hydration system' that I've been babbling about, so I did the anally retentive thing, washed the new bottles and uses some permanent marker to mark the bottles every 2 ounces so I could get a better feel for how much I'm drinking. The goal was 24 oz an hour, or 6o every 15 minutes for those of you who are math challenged. This seems to be right in the middle of the range according to Hammer Nutrition for amount of water that can be absorbed in an hour, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I only did water since I now that I know I can handle NUUN, I don't really need it at runs of this length. I also took along 2 packs of Sports Beans to take at 45 min and 30 minutes later.

Got on the road at around 9:30. Had a keychain flashlight and my reflective vest, and my cell phone in case I ran into any problems. First little bit went just fine. Some minor fussing to get the belt for the bottle carrier just right, and to get used to having it around my waist. I'm pretty happy with it. Even filled, it's pretty low impact. It came with 2 front pockets that I took off because it made it look a little like a toolbelt, and I think in hindsight I should have gotten the 'Elite' version with the pocket in the lower back instead of the drawstring. It would be better to hold gels, etc. I'll obviously use what I have and see if my opinion changes. It's a bit of a challenge getting the bottles back in one handed, but I think that's a technique issue, and should get better as I break it in. Also, the permanent marker on the bottles rubbed off after the first 2 times I took the bottle out. I'll have to figure something out.

Tried my first pack of Sports Beans at around 45 minutes in. I started with the Lemon Lime pack. and they were tasty. Once I could breathe again. Apparently, learning to eat on the run is going to require some practice. I don't appear to breathe when I chew, so 15 or 20 of those little buggers made for some gasping and wheezing till I started to get it figured out. I took me about 1/2 a mile to get them all eaten and washed down with water. I think I felt a bit of a pep about 5 or 10 minutes later that lasted for about a mile or two. I did notice that just as my pep was starting the I had a 'side split' at around my belly button. A fairly sharp pain, but it subsided a little as the remainder of the run progressed.

I slogged my way back up and down the slight hills on this route. The reason I picked this route was the fact that there was only about 50 feet of difference between min and max altitude. My other 3 options were from 125 to 175. My knee just had a warning light on the whole run, but now sharp pains, I suspect it would have been ugly on one of the other routes.

Had the other pack of Sports Beans, Berry Blue, at just after mile 8, 30 minutes later. About 1/2 mile to eat them again, but easier on the breathing. Did notice both times that they are a little acidic. Could feel it come up with some belches. That could have been overhydration too. I think I didn't need all of the water I drank, but since I didn't do a before and after weigh in I can't be sure.

Finally got done, feeling pretty good, and on the walk back decide to check out my belly button pain. It felt (and continues to feel) a little squishy. After some research to confirm my fears, I think I have an umbilical hernia. Sometimes it feels 'squishy' and I can push on it and it's like it goes back in. Honestly, I'm terrified. I'm calling the doc in the morning, but it's scaring the crap out of me. Probably because I just don't know what's going on, or what my options are. All of the worst cases keep running through my mind. Death, never being able to run, surgery and marathon and having to start over, etc... We'll just have to see I guess.

splits:
mile1 - 9:28 (stopped just before marker to retie shoe)
mile2 - 9:49
mile3 - 9:42
mile4 - 9:34
mile5 - 9:55 (had lemon lime sports bean starting @ 4.5, actually 1.02; 9:43)
mile6 - 10:09(actually 1.02; 9:57)
mile7 - 9:45
mile8 - 9:23 (had berry blue sports beans, took .5 miles to eat)
mile9 - 10:59 (actually 1.16 (trying to avoid running in place at a light), 9:28 pace. dropped a bottle)
mile10 - 9:12

Just a 3 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:51:00 +0000

3 miles in 26:44 (8:55/mile)

Ran last night(Thursday) at about 10:30pm. About 60 and clear. Could see the moon, and the brighter stars. I really need to get back to my regular schedule, this late running is nice, but I really prefer the lunch runs.

Just ran. No goals for speed one way or the other. Ran with the iPod again. I may be hooked on my music again. :) Need to get one of those iPod holder thingies, since I don;t like carrying it. Maybe I'll win a Nano at the conference today. Doubt it, but one can hope.

Spent the day at an Oracle conference which was good, but wore me out. Took the bus both ways into Bellevue, and had to stand for half of the commute back home, along with 10 of my closest friends. The Seattle run is rarely that busy.

Spent some time with our neighbors letting the girls play, and then one of our neighbors with just the cutest Golden, Calli, walked by, and we ended up hanging out with her. Kaitlyn went down late, which is why I ran late.

splits:
mile1 - 9:01
mile2 - 8:55
mile3 - 8:47

Quick 3 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:24:00 +0000

3 miles in 23:34 (7:51/mile)

Ran this Wednesday night at 9:45. Nice 62 degree run, very little traffic, and a light breeze.

I ran with my iPod for the first time in probably 4 months. I've been being an music running bigot, internally at least (oh, look how disciplined and cool I am, running without music, entertaining myself. :)), and I'd forgotten how nice it is to run with tunes. I'm going to have to get some playlists together, because wandering through my iPod on Shuffle just isn't cutting it.

My knee was a little warm and stiff, maybe a few twinges, as I walked down to the start point, but I didn't have any problems on the run. I stiffened up a little when I had to stop to tie my shoe. I'm a little tight and sore today, but it's definitely starting to get better, and the running doesn't seem to be aggravating it too much.

splits:
mile1 - 8:14 (lost about 10 seconds at a light)
mile2 - 7:40(had to stop and tie my shoe)
mile3 - 7:40

Almost Back to Normal 5 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:21:00 +0000

5 miles in 45:01 (9:00/mile)

Went out on Tuesday a little earlier than normal so I could get back and eat dinner, around 8:45. This was a good demonstration to myself of the effects of poor nutrition and hydration and it's effect on a run. I felt heavy and slow all run. Part of that was this was the fastest I've run in a while, because, when I started at least, my knee just felt tight, no pain.

No excuse, but my diet and hydration pretty much sucked before this run. We thought Kaitlyn had Pink Eye and Val was deadlined with a case of the stomach flu, so I got to babysit for both of them. :) I spent a lot of time chasing a very spicy little miss and an unfortunately large portion of my calories for the day came from Bite Size Snickers, Hershey's Kisses, and White Cheddar Cheetos. Most of my fluids came from Caffied Free Diet Pepsi. Not the best combination for a run, but I didn;t wat to eat at 7:30 and wait for 2 hours for dinner to settle. Now that I think about it, I could have just popped a GU for some energy and ridden that high. :)

Run started out feeling pretty good, but it was pretty obvious very quickly that I had picked the wrong pair of alternate shorts to wear for this run. I had dropped all my running gear off in the office, intending to run at work this week. All I had around were a pair of my old Army Grey running shorts. I ended up having to tuck them into my skivvies to keep them from falling off of my ass after I almost lost them sprinting across a cross street. I'll be throwing those shorts out. :)

Mad it to the turnaround feeling reasonably good. A slight side stitch, obviously attributable to pushing. Turned around and tried to keep pushing. Not happening. Then the downhill started beating up on my knee, so I really slowed down. Once I finally got back on the level everything worked itself back out, but I tried to keep a slightly slower pace. When I finally stopped my knee was a little 'warm' but no sharp pains. Right now it's a little sore, but much better than even on Monday. I'll probably wait to run till tomorrow though. I think driving in instead of taking the bus did more harm than the run though.

I got heckled from a car, and while it doesn't bother me because a lot of the time, people just suck ( :) ) but it does make me wonder if we can pass a law allowing runners (and maybe cyclists ) to carry paintball guns so they can 'heckle' back. :)

splits:
mile1 - 8:51
mile2 - 8:33
mile3 - 8:44 (up and down the danged hill)
mile4 - 9:44 (about 20 seconds at a light, bit I was thrashed from the hill)
mile5 - 9:10

Painful 9 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:27:00 +0000

9.18 miles in 1:26:57 (9:32/mile)

Ran this Saturday morning. Actually got out close to on time at 7:45am. It was already around 70, an sunny, but not too bad. Ran up 35th with the theory that it was reasonably flat. Apparently I don't remember my 7 milers up the same route. My knee didn't appreciate it. More whining to follow about that. Again, need to work on my pace. According to my reading, etc. this was just too fast for a long run. I should be shooting for. Hold on, never mind. McMillan says Long Runs (between 60 and 210 minutes (according to my notes), at my 10K speed, should be between 9:22 and 10:22. Way cool. I feel better about that, now.

Had a glass of orange juice and a glass of water 15 minutes before I left to top off fluids and energy. No problems there, might want to switch to apple juice because of the acid in the OJ, but that's just theoretical, I haven't had any problems yet. My knee seemed to be only slightly achy/sore, and the walk to my start point for the warm up seemed to shake it free. The downhill wasn't well thought out on my part, and I certainly felt that.

It took about a mile to get warmed up and for my knee to subside into a dull warm throb of discomfort, instead of mumbling and groaning. I could tell my stride and form were off because of the knee pretty early, but it seemed to be doing OK. I tried the NUUN Kona Cola again, and it worked much better than last time. It does seem a little foamy by then end of the bottle though.

Got a Nathan Quickdraw Plus bottle holder from Joes (for $11.99). Glad I finally got one, but I'm going to need to get that Elite 2V bottle holder I mentioned before, too. Water was gone by mile 6.5, and I could have used some more. The rubberized bottle cap was nice too, I didn't feel like I was going to yank my teeth out trying to open the bottle with my mouth.

There are only two spots on this run that are a bit squirelly. Both sections are sidewalk less, with really narrow shoulders. Fortunately, not a lot of people were out, so I was able to just run in the road till someone drove up and then squeeze onto the shoulder or the grass next to it. I wonder who is responsible for putting in sidewalks?

I brought along 2 flavors of GU for this run, since I couldn't make up my mind which one I'd take. After I hit the turnaround at 4.5 and made it back to the safety of a sidewalk I tore open the Strawberry Banana one and gave it try. I'd heard that the texture was a little snotty. Not really, kind of like thick toothpaste. Flavor was OK, but the combination of texture and flavor made me think of the gel they swab on your gums at the dentist. A couple of ounces of water to wash it down and no problems. A little bit of a side split half a mile later that went away quickly but I'm not sure I can attribute it to the GU since I was working my way back up one of the uphills. The GU seemed to kick in about a mile later, and I didn't feel a surge of energy, but I can say I did feel more, refreshed, maybe?

At about mile 5.5 though my knee started talking to me. I won't repeat its' words, but by the top of the 'hill' (100 feet in a mile or so), at about mile 6.5 I was discussing if it wanted to be left behind, and I'd just hop home on one leg. At around this point my stride and gait were so effed up that my groin on that side decided to get in on the discussion. Needless to say when you look at the splits, I slowed down. Once I got down the hill to the level ground around mile 7 things started to work properly again, but were still grumbling the rest of the run.

Yes. I realize that the the sane and possibly intelligent thing to do would have been to walk the last two miles in. Or at least slow down more. Just couldn't do it. I slowed down as far as I could, and let me tell you the jog in place waiting for a light was a wash of cold refreshing water for my groin. It almost made me stop and walk a little later when I remembered how good it felt.
I stupided my way through the last 2 miles and then walked home. Most of the pain from the groin went away once I started walking, and the knee was back to an ache, and not demanding to be cut off.

I noticed later that evening that my knee was swollen (It may have been before, but I didn't notice). Sunday was a date day, so no yard work or running, which seems to have done some good. I'm skipping my Monday run to see if I can make some more progress, and we'll see how things look tomorrow. I'm just not feeling very patient, even with all the buffer built in to my training schedule, I need my runs for sanity, and I don;t want to lose to many miles. But, if I don;t let it heal, I may do more damage, and not run for longer. So, I'll try to be a mature adult. :)

splits:
mile1- 9:13
mile2- 9:12
mile3- 9:43 (actually 1.05 (detour around a light), adjusts to 9:16)(slight uphill)
mile4- 9:14
mile5- 9:53 (actually 1.08, adjusts to 9:09)(some downhill, and some shade)
mile6- 9:38 (back uphill, knee)
mile7- 10:19 (actually 1.05 (detour around a light), adjusts to 9:50)(back uphill, knee)
mile8- 10:06 (lost 10-15 seconds waiting on a light)(thank goodness we're on the level again)
mile9- 9:40

A Normal 5 Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:26:00 +0000

5 miles in 46:51 (9:22/mile)

Run done Thursday, the 10th. I really need to do these the night of, or the day after, because I really don't remember a lot about the run. I had other things to do around the house, like get some sleep, so I didn't blog it. The paper running log has that it was 58 when I went out at 9:45pm, and that my knee was bothering me, but settled into a dull throbbing ache through the run. I bumped the mileage up to 5 instead of 4 since I didn't run on Wednesday like I had planned. Good pace despite my knee. Ran this up the boring run along 35th. Reasonably flat, to keep the stress off my knee.

splits:
mile1- 9:23
mile2- 9:20
mile3- 9:28
mile4- 9:23
mile5- 9:16

Sore Knee Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:16:00 +0000

3 miles in 29:03 ( 9:41/mile)

Ran last night at around 9. A nice comfortable 58 or so.

My right knee has been really sore for a couple of days. I ran on it any way because it seems to be OK when I'm moving and warm. Could be patello-femoral, or maybe runners knee. Or they might be the same thing... It's sore on the left side where the dog hit me so I think that was the cause, not the long run. We took the week off to do stuff around the house, and today has been running errands, not working on the yard, so hopefully that's going to help. I'll probably go out again tonight and see how I feel.

Amended just before posting, and before the Wednesday run: I'm going to be a mature adult and not run tonight. Knee is starting to feel better, so I'm going to let it do better.

splits:
mile1 - 9:41
mile2 - 9:46
mile3 - 9:36

Night Owl Long Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:06:00 +0000

8.06 mile in 1:12:14 (8:57/mile)

Another late night left for this at 9:45. Really comfortable at around 58 degrees. I'm sure I ran too fast this run. My right knee is really stiff today. It could be the dog's head took to the knee when I was at the dog park with Toby, too. I normally run today (Monday) but I'm just going to do it on Tuesday instead. I think it was the mile long downhill. I had some knee pain in my left knee, my right arch, by the heel started to hurt, and when I stopped, my right groin ached. (probably from compensating for the other aches. I sound like I'm falling apart, but it all pretty much went away when I stopped.

I stopped by the Bicycle Center on Sunday and picked up a variety of carb replacement products, and some NUUN. I wanted to try the NUUN to add electrolytes to water without carbs for the long runs. All they had was Kona Cola. Hmmm.. Drinkable, but it felt odd on my stomach on the run. Not sure if it was dinner or the NUUN. It settled out by about mile 6. :) I'll start trying carb replacements starting either next week (9 miles) or the week after (10 miles).

I got two flavors each of Hammer Gels, GU, Sports Beans, and Clif Bloks. We'll see how they all work and then I'll make a decision on what I'll use. I'm leaning towards Clif Bloks, and NUUN in combination. We'll see. I probably need to try Gatorade as well.

splits:
mile1- 9:05
mile2- 9:43 (a little long, thus the next is a little short)(the long hill)
mile3- 8:28
mile4- 8:49
mile5- 8:43
mile6- 9:02
mile7- 8:51
mile8- 9:03 (the long downhill)
0.06 - :32 (8:53 pace)

4th of July Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:14:00 +0000

3 miles in 28:07 (9:22/mile)

Did this run late night at about 9:45. I decided to take my life into my own hands and go see what kind of a show the neighbors were putting on. :) I had a nice slow, comfortable run watching all of the fireworks. There are some positives to living in unincorporated Snohomish County. People get to spend a huge amount of money on fireworks and put on a show for their neighbors. Air quality left something to be desired though. :) It was a pretty neat experience. I'll have to do it next year. :)

splits:
mile1 - 9:46
mile2 - 9:29
mile3 - 8:52

Late Night Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:11:00 +0000

4.56 miles in 44:50 (9:49/mile)

Ran late last night (9:45) in 70 degree and 75% humidity. (The humidity was a change, the temp wasn't bad with no sun. :) ) It was a decent, slow, run. It was a completely new run, so I missed all sorts of way points so my splits are all wonky. I probably should have brought a flashlight with me for a couple of stretches.

I've had a number of odd aches and pains I've been worried about on and off all week, including an odd lower calf/tendon pain in my left calf that I can't explain. I haven't done anything to it, it just hurts. When I finished my right knee practically locked up tight. After some research and talking with people, I'm blaming the Valtrex. Fortunately, I've got one pill left then I'm done. It seems to have done it's job knocking down the shingles expansion, but the side effects aren't welcome. I probably won't run today, but if I'm feeling right I'll run on the weekend, hopefully a nice long one to get back in the groove.

Given that I can't trust how my body is feeling, and I'm don't want to spend $25 to run a race as a training run, then beat myself up for it, I'm not going to run the 10K tomorrow. I've been considering it for a few days, but last night's run just fixed it in my head. I can do the distance, but if I'm going to pay money, I want to give it may all. I haven't registered, so I'm not out any money. And honestly, I'm just not feeling it. I really just want to sit in a chair and stare at a wall for a few hours. I'm considering the Swedish Medical Center SummeRun on 27 July instead. It looks like a hilly course though, (part of it is the last part of the Seattle Marathon, so maybe it's a vote FOR the race actually). I'll do some more research this weekend.

splits:
mile1 - 10:50 (actually 1.11, so 9:46 pace)
mile2 - 9:12 (actually 0.89, so 10:20 pace)(some hills here)
mile3 - 10:01 (last of the big hill, then some downhill)
mile4 - 9:29 (nice and flat)
0.56 - 5:18 (9:28 pace)

Yachts

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:36:00 +0000

Ever since I posted about seeing the super yacht Bossy Boots, I swear half my traffic has been people searching for information abut it. My newest sighting has been in port for a while, it's Paraffin, pic here. Apparently it's owned by the guy who owns Yankee Candle Company, or something like that.

Another top 200 yacht. Very pretty. I'm posting this separately so I can keep track of things a little more neatly in my traffic log. If any one actually knows anything about these I might put it here as well. The biggest question seems to be who owns Bossy Boots. Who knows? :)

Monthly Weigh In - June

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:49:00 +0000

Did the weigh in Monday after I dropped Kaitlyn off at daycare.

	01 Jan	01 Feb	01 Mar	31 Mar	30 Apr	30 May	29 Jun
Neck	16.25	16.25	15.75	15.375	15.125	15	15
Waist	44.75	43.25	41.5	39.5	38.75	37	36 7/8
Bodyfat%	33.5	31.5	30.1	27.3	26.5	23.9	23.7
Weight	208	200	193.5	186	179.5	173	167.5

This month was a slower loss month. I started eating about 2-300 under maintenance instead of 500 under because of the increased run lengths, so I only killed 5.5 pounds this month. Not seeing more drops in numbers was a little frustrating, but hey, it is what it is.

The original goal weight was 165, and I'm obviously 2.5 pounds from that. I've pretty much revised my goal to 160 after seeing that I've still bit a jiggly pouch still, and I'm not quite at the body fat level I'd like to be at. I'm planning on going to eating at my maintenance level, and most if not all of my run calories, starting this month. It certainly feels odd to eat 2100 calories instead of 1600. I feel like I'm going to gain it all right back.

The current plan is that I'm not going to replace walks to and from the bus when I ride it to work and back (1.25 miles or so total), I'm going to replace run mileage at 100 calories a mile instead of 130 which is what most of the math appears to put it at for my weight, and I'm not going to replace walks with Toby either.

If I assume 3 days a week on the bus (12 times a month), 3 1.8 mile walks of Toby a week (12 days a month) and 25 mile weeks for running, that works out to a little over a pound each month, and around 6 by the marathon. I can live with that. I think it meets the goal, but lets me actually eat to support my running.

I'm still figuring out how to add the calories from runs back into my daily consumption. I'm well aware I'm being an obsessive compulsive over this, but I want to get it right. Or something resembling it. I'm not a natural eater by any means, and if I let 'hunger' be my guide I'm going to be right back to where I started.

I'm torn between adding the average of my weekly miles to each day (21 miles that week means an extra 300 calories per day), and adding the run mileage for the day to that day (run 3 miles add 300 calories). I think I lean towards the adding on the day of the run, possibly with the variation that on the really long runs I split the cal ores between the day of the run and the next day. I'm not sure I can add 2000 calories to a single day on a 20 mile run day.

The other challenge is adjusting my diet to "eat like an athlete". I can't fill the extra calories with junk food and empty calories or it defeats the purpose. I had a lot of filler junk food the last two days, and while it was nice, I really want to make sure I'm not shooting myself in the butt. More research required here. :)

Dogless Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:26:00 +0000

3 miles in 27:42 (9:14/mile) (ran this yesterday; monday)

This was a nice slow, reverse limbo run. I got progressively slower. It was frustrating, I thought I was doing a good job holding my pace after the first mile, and dropped 20 seconds. Something to work on, I suppose. I'll just take it as a nice taper for the 10K on Friday. :) I suspect that I'm not going to be setting records for that race, especially since I'm wearing my LS dri-fit to cover up the rash on my right arm

Felt really heavy as I went out. I'm sure I'm just not at 100%, and that's it. Pretty comfortable running at 9pm. Temp was down to 65ish. Much better than the hellish temps Laura put up with when she ran Seafair.

I had a thought about a question/comment Lisa over at i'm a runner? had. (A few weeks ago, now, probably.). I felt really odd warming up on my first race too. One was feeling self conscious, like I was a 'baby runner' and shouldn't be playing like a 'real' runner. The other was that honestly, that warming up would add length to a run that was already longer than any run I had done to date. I just didn't feel like I had any more miles in my tank than the race length. I've started doing something to warm up before the rest of my races though. Some is a better feel for my body, and what I have, and some is the fact that I've got more distance in the 'bank'.

splits:
mile1- 9:00
mile2- 9:18
mile3- 9:25

Not a Long Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:02:00 +0000

3 miles in 27:59 (9:19/mile)

This was originally planned to be an 8 miler on Saturday. Val pointed out that if I need to take a Vicodin because I was so uncomfortable, that I probably shouldn't run, an let my body take care of itself.

I thought I was going to run 5 this morning instead, but Val talked me down to 3 with Toby so I would go nice and slow. Toby may have hurt himself though. Not sure if it was the run, or the heat. It was 78 by the time I got back at 9:30.

It's hard to not get married to the plan, or not get annoyed that this was the the lowest mileage week I've had in 2 months. I'm better with it now. It's just an early taper for the 4th.

splits:
mile1 - 9:24
mile2 - 9:12
mile3 - 9:23

Beach To Chowder 10K Official Results

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:20:00 +0000

Official Results for Beach To Chowder finally came out. They're here, if you run across this post Googling for your results.

Apparently there are photos too.

Official Time: 49:30

Overall: 16/48
Men's: 13/28
Age: 3/3 (hey, the winner (37:34) was in my age group. :) Hew was slower than last year.)

Looks like they had a smaller 5K than last year. 51 people.

Watchless Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:57:00 +0000

3.1 in 27:00ish

Had a crazy morning and forgot to put on my watch. Took my cell phone to get rough times, because I'm not quite to the point that I can "just run".

Got up early so I could go to the dentist and get the porcelain cap put on the root canal I had 2 weeks ago, and have a cleaning. On the way out of the bathroom I noticed a rash on my back and had Val take a look, then we realized there was some under my armpit and more on my chest.

Got to the dentist, they put on the cap, but the cleaning turned into a Deep Cleaning. (Since when do they use mini pressure washers to clean your teeth. I think I miss the scrapers. Ow!) And I get to have 2 more cleaning followups, and 4 or 5 more root canals. Joy.

Already late for work, so I wandered over to the Everett Clinic and had them take a look. Shingles. Effing shingles. Turns out that the pain behind my shoulder blade was really this starting up. I guess the fact that the pain hasn't really diminished should have been an indicator something else was going on. Gotta love a disease that has the word excruciating in the first two paragraphs of the description.

So now Paris Hilton and I have something in common. A prescription for Valtrex. (Probably for different reasons, but on never knows.) My life is complete. Fuck. The pain has not been excruciating, but I was getting pretty uncomfortable about an hour ago. I took a Vicodin left over from the dentist, and once I finish a few blog entries I'm going to bed.

Went for the run a little later than normal, thanks to all of the above events, and since I didn't get a bite to eat till 1145. Nice, sunny, 67 degree day. I really need to try some of these new spray on sunscreens, because I look like a bird pooped on me if I'm not paying attention when I put normal sunscreen on.

Saw the coolest jog stroller by Baby Jogger, with a bassinet instead of a normal seat. It's pretty darn cool. Never seen one like that before. Here's the product list, it's like the Black Bassinet/Pram picture.

I think someone is paying attention to the fact that a lot of people run up Westlake. There as a sideboard out advertising the Seattle Marathon in November with a a bin for packets (empty).

Was able to successfully identify a Wheaten Terrier someone was walking. My dad had one that he gave to a loving family when he couldn't take care of her at the beginning to this year. Pretty dogs. Cut a little differently that the example in the link above, but very good looking.

Saw another cool yacht at the same place I saw the last one, but I'll throw that in a separate post, later.

Had a low impulse control day food wise with all the other stress from the morning. We had an Ice Cream Social for our summer interns. I had ice cream. Lots of it. I didn't go back for seconds, though so I guess I was good.

Hilly Limbo Run

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:18:00 +0000

4 miles in 32:35 ( 8:09/mile)

This wasn't supposed to be a super speedy workout. I started out well, didn't trash myself going up the long hill, and was able to push back through the short evil hill, and not lose too much time. I probably should have slowed down, but my willpower for that isn't so good, when I'm already at speed. Or if I've just pissed away another few hours fighting a stupid Oracle problem. I mentally turned it into a Limbo Run instead. We'll see if I do a 'speed' workout tomorrow or not.

I was a little worried this morning that I'd have trouble running. I had a horrible charlie horse just before I got out of bed, but walking down from the bus must have worked out the worst of the kinks. That and the warm temps. It was sunny and 67. One of the weather sites says their 'rel feel' was 76, which I could believe. I've been spoiled this year. Laura's going to have an interesting time on Sunday, apparently we're looking at 64 for the low, 80 for the high. Ah, our 3 days of summer. :) BTW, Laura, when are you coming in to town?

splits:
mile1 - 8:29
mile2 - 8:18
mile3 - 8:08
mile4 - 7:41

Kayakers

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:48:00 +0000

3.1 miles in 26:33 (8:33/mile)

A nice uncomplicated 57 degree run up Westlake.

Saw what looked like a kids group in doubles kayking around and playing in one of the waterways. It made me a bit jealous. I need to get my kayak out.

Was going to start the 100 pushups thing today, but decided not to. Toby pulled my shoulder/back a little sprinting off the back landing on his long leash. Better safe than sorry, next week.

splits:
mile1 - 8:31
mile2 - 8:49 (tagged the split a little late)
mile3 - 8:23
0.1 - 0:50

Beach To Chowder 10K Race Report

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:56:00 +0000

Warning, what follow is yet another interminably long race report, hidden in between the beginning of a tale of a visit to see family. :)

Friday
I had intended to write a post on Friday with my worst, probable, and best case goals for the Beach to Chowder 10K, but I spent the day fighting feelings of nausea and repeated trips down the hall to the restroom for something other than urination. :( Not auspicious for the day before a race, and the day of our next great experiment in travel. For the record, and because it matters later in our tale, what I was going to state for goals was worst: 52:00, probable: 50ish, best: 48 or under.

I finally bailed out of work and stopped to get some Pepto and Immodium and to get packed for our drive down to my Mom's place. We decided to try the red-eye technique of travel. Load the car up early, give Kaitlyn dinner and bath, and then toss her in the car seat and let bedtime and the drone of the car lull her to an quiet, sleep filled, 3.5 hour drive to Moms. Then get there, toss her in the pre-set up portacrib, and go to bed... Good plan, anyway...

We got the household stuff banged out, got her in the car, and were on the road by 7:30. She was asleep by 7:45. She woke up at 8:30 and except for a handful of 5 or 10 minute naps, she was awake, but fortunately, quiet, till we got there at 11. Then, when we got inside, she went into full blown Kaitlyn mode. Running around, getting toys. Wiggle, and roam. We finally got her to bed, on Val, at around 1:15. Ahhh, what fun. I got more sleep than Val, since she was worried Kaitlyn would manage to roll off of her and then off the bed. (It's the first time she's slept with us in well over a year, so we're out of practice. :))

Race Day (Saturday)
Little Miss woke up at 7, ready to go. No being groggy and just hanging around for our girl. Eyes open, and let's go!!! We got her out of bed, dealt with Toby, hung out with my Mom for a few minutes, and then I got dressed and walked the 3 whole blocks over to race registration. Kaitlyn showed us a new trick starting this trip. Go to the diaper bag, pull out A&D, diaper and changing pad, open changing pad and lay on it. Hmmm... I wonder if she want's to be changed. :)

I had managed to procrastinate through the deadline for mail in registration, so this became the first time I've done a morning of registration. Had to fill the race form out twice since apparently ballpoint pens have trouble writing through A&D residue. :) Got my bib and my packet, with my tickets for the Chowder feed, and a couple of coupons to the 42nd Street Cafe among other stuff. I wandered down to the arch at the entrance of the beach (also the finish line) to make sure I had my bearings, and then walked back to my Moms. It was a perfect day for a race. 50 to 55, overcast, but no rain.

When I got back to everyone else grabbed breakfast, I did the runner thing and had some OJ, a clif nectar bar, and some water. Whee. :) I was ready to run right then. The wait till we walked down to the start just killed me. We left the house at 9:30, the race started at 10:00, we got there with 20 minutes to spare. :) The race started on the hard packed sand, so we walked under the arch where I checked out the lanes they wanted the runners to come in on and down the road to the beach. My Mom's little 'cart' for her leg (which, by the by is doing much better, she's in a small walking brace and can put a little bit of pressure on it to walk with a cane now.), couldn't make it past the large rocks they had put down to extend the trail to the hard pack so she gave me a hug and stood there to watch. Val and Kaitlyn came down to see me off. The breast cancer people were doing the pink thing the best they could and a trio of gals came in with big pink hats and matching outfits. And a boom box. Playing music. Thank goodness they were running the 5K.

Everyone was just standing around in kind of a cluster. Yellow bibs for the 10K, white for the 5K, pink for what must have been a Breast Cancer component to the 5K. All just milling around, all 150 of us or so. :) Finally someone I had seen when I was registering wandered down with a bullhorn and mumbled something incomprehensible. Everyone started to cluster closer together for the "runners briefing". So the 5Kers go South, around the red sign, back north, then break right here and go under the arch. The 10Kers go north, around the red sign, get redirected on the off beach trail and then finish under the arch. Any questions. No? OK. Well let's do this run. Points to the cop car on the beach, who then blips his horn. And we're off? Oh crap we're running. I looked at the guy next to me, and he's like "We'll I guess we just started". Val said it was pretty neat/funny to see this gaggle of people separate out into the separate groups.

This is most of the 10Kers. I'm in the red and silver sleeveless shirt in the middle of the pack.

The Race

obviously, the course map. interactive version

My timing is a probably a bit off because of the odd start, but its close enough for me.

miles 1 to 3 (22:56; 7:39/mile pace)
The hard packed sand was pretty nice to run on actually. No build up on my shoes, and it was easier on my legs than the cement I normally run on. The fast pace I set for myself at the start and overall pace for this stretch was brutal. I started wondering what the eff I was doing running this friggin race, which was a 180 degree flip from how excited I had been a few minutes before.

I chased my rabbit for the first mile or so, and since it's not polite to stare at a woman's ass, I watched her feet. And because we were on sand, her footsteps. Which were in a perfect line. Left, right, left, like she was centering each foot on a laser line. No idea if it means anything technique wise or anything cool like that, it was just neat to watch. And it distracted me from the older gentleman to my left rear who grunted EVERY time his left foot hit the ground.

Just after I passed my rabbit, and got far enough away from the grunter not to hear him, I looked at my watch at about 15 minutes in and had some unpleasant words for myself about how much this sucked, and why are am I doing this anyway? Shortly after that I caught a glimpse of the turn around at around 2.9 miles in and then started seeing the leaders headed back. Tried to give the leader, a tall Kenyan, a "Whoo Hoo", but all that came out was a croak, so I stopped trying to embarrass myself and just gave everyone thumbs ups.

Passed a sign staked into the beach and looked over my shoulder to read it and realized it was the mile 3 marker and then hit the turn. The turn around was a big red sign that said "10K turn" with a pickup parked by it and a family of volunteers handing out water. Passed on the water, made the turn and headed back for the 3 mile sign. And holy crap where did the wind come from? Oh crap, are you kidding, headwind?

mile 4 - 8:03
Beat my head against the head wind for about a mile and a half. Saw the mile 2 marker I missed, and then the mile 4 marker. Wind gave me a 25 second drop in pace, and my thighs are starting to burn. It was like a mile and a half of low grade hills. I'm not sure where exactly the turn to the trail is, so I'm keeping my eye out. Saw my 9th bird gutted crab, pretty much the only scenery other than runners, sand, and water. :)

miles 5 and 6 (17:01; 8:30/mile)
Around mile 4.5 the pointed us over to the trail. And about .15 miles of loose sand later we finally get there. God I hurt. My thighs and calves both were just trashed after trying to keep in something resembling a run thought the soft sand. the start of the trail influenced by attitude about it later because it has some sharp switch backs and some elevation changes (we're talking the biggest overall was something like 20 feet, but before that there was none.

The trail was really nice, paved with asphalt, and clear, but was much weavier and wavier than I expected. I was expecting a basically straight trail with maybe some slight curves to it. And to be honest I didn't expect the trail at all, since I just learned about it race morning. Pounded out the miles, but no mile markers that I saw so I just ran, and tried to keep my new rabbit in sight. Spent a lot of this stretch waiting for a statue of Lewis and Clark we stopped at with my Mom on our last visit since I knew that was close to the street that would lead back up to the finish.

Finally hit the statue, and shortly after that the merge in with the 5Kers and headed in towards the finish. Just before I hit the nicely labeled mile 6 marker, I heard a 5Ker mom respond to what I'm guessing was a question from her child with. "He ran twice as far as we did, and ran the whole way", which at the time was pretty neat.

My abs are pretty trashed at this point. Despite the wind and trail challenges, what's bothering me now is core, not cardiovascular or thighs. So, I need to stop my experiment of how much better I can get with just running, and start adding core workouts. It's been a neat experiment to be able to say that more mileage and weight loss made the changes in my speed and distance, but it's cutting my nose off to spite my face to continue doing this if I want to get faster, or go further at the same pace. I think I'm just resisting because I got into this to run, by gosh, and not to have to do core workouts, and cross training, and all this other stuff that's going to make me a better runner. Ah, well.

last 0.2 (1:29; 7:25/mile)
Just after crossing this final marker, I'm trying to take advantage of the fairly flat road to speed up and finish strong, and Val, Mom and Little Miss are off on the right cheering me on. Val got some good shots after some careful baby and camera juggling.

This was the first race I've run where we used the tags at the bottom of the bibs, I started to tear mine off (per instructions) just after I saw my family, managed to do that, keep a reasonable pace, sort myself into my lane, and then keep running till I actually crossed the line. Handed my tag to the guy at the end of the lane, grabbed my bottle of water and, how cool, a finishers medal. And finally stopped running.

After the race
Doubled back and walked back to see family. Passed by the Kenyan who one. Nodded, 'waved' with one of those hand flip thing you do when you want to act 'cool' and got a thumbs up back. :)

Got and gave some sweaty hugs, and Kaitlyn curled up on my shoulder while I drank the chocolate milk I had my Mom buy, but had to be reminded about. :) Val asked if I had fun. My response was "No. That really kind of sucked." About a minute later though, I was mentioning that I have another 10K planned for the 4th, and will probably come back next year.

It took a few minutes of talking with Val and my Mom about the fact that I was bummed about not hitting 48 minutes, and talking about the challenges I've bitched about above for me to remember that 48 minutes really was my best case scenario, in ideal conditions, and despite feeling like I was making excuses, that this race had some valid challenges. At that point I felt like I had a really good race

Dropped Kaitlyn back into the stroller and walked back to the house. Ah, frabjous joy, Kaitlyn fell asleep on the walk back. We skipped the chowder feed and the awards ceremony while Kaitlyn and Val slept, so I'm still waiting to hear the official results.

Final comments
Oh yeah, watch time was 49:29. Which is fantastic! I cut right around 5:30 off my previous PR, that I did May 10,6 weeks ago, in Tacoma.

For me this was a good race to learn lessons about assumptions, expectations, and adapting to changing circumstances, as well as respect for a course you've never seen. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I kept driving on thought the whole race, and I think it might mean I'm a runner since I pushed through the discomfort, and want to go back and do it again. (Now that the discomfort's stopped, anyway. :))

I had some pretty negative thoughts about running longer distances and my ability to do that during the race. Once I stopped, though, I realized that I just can't run that pace for longer distances, yet. Two weeks of 7.5 or so show that I CAN run longer distances comfortably. I ran the distance set in front of me, and I gave it my all. It's pretty obvious from my almost finished picture that I'm trashed, and when I go look at that last .2 and compare it to other runs, the speed difference is pretty apparent. There was no real kick left. But a few minutes after I stopped, I was fine, and was able to chase Toby around a ball field a few hours later.

Those of you who made it this far, thanks. I needed to get it out of my system, and Val's done hearing about it. :) I may type up the rest of the trip in another post, but I have a Monday run post to do. :)

Flushing

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:11:00 +0000

3.1 miles in 27:04 (8:43/mile)

A nice run on a gorgeous 65 degree day. The only negative was the fact that I started flushing just before the run. (Brief explanation: I take niacin for cholesterol. It has the occasional unfortunate side effect of causing flushing. Not very comfortable.) I probably would have waited till it was over, but I was already late for my run.

Tried to go a little more slowly so I've got my legs on Saturday.

splits:
mile1 - 8:28
mile2 - 8:54
mile3 - 8:50
0.1 - 0:52

Hill Run and Pushups

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Cunningham) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:25:00 +0000

4 miles in 35:11 (8:47/mile)

I really had some motivation problems about going out today. Once I got out and moving I was fine, but just getting down to the locker room, and getting changed took some mental effort.

It was a little warmer out than I thought it would be which was a nice surprise. I tried to take it easy since I've got a race on Saturday. We'll see if I can keep it slower tomorrow. :)

Not a particularly interesting run overall. I felt pretty good while I was moving, and nobody tried to run me over. One of the things mentioned at the chi running class was to really work your arms on hills. Supposedly it helps. I'm not sure I was doing it 'right', but some exaggerated arm swings seemed to help.

Lisa mentioned this One Hundred Pushups thing that's going around. I'm thinking I'll give it a shot starting next Monday. Did 21 for my initial assessment.

splits:

mile1 - 8:55
mile2 - 8:42 (despite the hill; apparently I can handle them better with arm swing and lower speed)
mile3 - 8:53 (except for the soul crushing short steep return hill :))
mile4 - 8:40