I'll Run for Donuts

50 marathons in 50 states

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Laura Skladzinski just became the youngest female to run a marathon in each of the 50 states! Laura was an early running blog friend of mine and it's been exciting to follow her progress. It's hard not to feel inspired after hearing her story. Congratulations, Laura!! Her blog is www.50by25.com

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video.

practice week

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 03:40:00 +0000

Official training plan starts next Monday, but I've been working back into daily runs so that I can "hit the ground running" next week. I've been doing 3.1 miles each time so that I can benchmark it, and so far I've been getting in around 30 minutes. Not terrible, but definitely not where I used to be. My quickest 5k time was 23 minutes and some change, so I have some work to do.

I'm also trying to eat clean(er) and I think the trick for me this marathon is going to be learning to fuel properly and not go with the "I can eat whatever because I'll burn it off on tonight's run" mentality that got me in trouble the last time.

For the record, I did NOT go for a free donut on National Donut Day.

sorry, I had to step away for...a year

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:08:00 +0000

Well, well, well. Look who's back! Today being National Donut Day, I'm back to blogging, but no promises regarding frequency. I'm back to training, this time for the Kansas City Marathon (again) in October. My training plan starts on 6/14, but I started a little early.

Life kind of took over and blogging took a back seat (more like a ride in the trunk) to everything else. Right after my last post, I was called to serve as the Bishop of our church. Also had a job assignment change at work. Plus, we're expecting our fourth child (boy #4). Lots of good things going on, and running is back to being a bigger part of that. I don't have to tell anyone how much of a stress reliever it can be, what cheap therapy it is, and the fun that can be had along the way.

ps - as a public service, I've compiled a few National Donut Day freebies (just click the links). You can thank me by leaving a comment to let me know you're still with me!

Krispy Kreme - free donut at participating locations

Dunkin' Donuts - free donut with drink purchase

LaMar's Donuts - free glazed donut

New kicks

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:59:00 +0000

I finally found a pair of shoes to fit my little pronation problem. The folks at www.newbalanceharrisburg.com graciously offered me a free pair of shoes of my choice and couldn't have done so at a better time. I'm trying the New Balance 858.

The order process with the website was simple enough and my shoes arrived on-time. The first pair I ordered online showed available in my size, my order processed, but got an email shortly thereafter saying they were not available. The second time I ordered, I called the customer service number first just to be sure they were in stock, and the customer service agent was great, and very helpful.

So far they're feeling so much better than the neutral Asics I'd been running in for so long. I've actually been doing more brisk walking than running lately, though. It doesn't look like I'm going to run the Hospital Hill Half at this point, but maybe I'll give the 10k a shot if I get a free entry through my work's volunteer efforts at the race.

Pilgrim Pacer Half Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Another great Pilgrim Pacer is in the books. This year was the 2nd annual and drew a much, much larger crowd than last year's. If you're in the area, you should really run this race. It's so laid-back and different than the bigger events. There's practically no spectators except for those waiting back at the start/finish, so it feels more like a Saturday morning long run than a race.

Snow sputtered off and on but wasn't sticking, and the wind was pretty blustery. However, I dressed right including my running tights, but had enough dignity to wear wind pants over the top. I'm still surprised how many guys run in tights without shorts or anything over them. To each his own, I guess.

First, the bad. I didn't hit the 2:20 goal I had. I finished around 2:36 which is officially my worst half marathon time. Around mile 8, I was visited by calf cramps the likes of which I hadn't seen since the Hospital Hill Half Marathon back in June. I had salt packets with me, but those didn't seem to help. I ended up doing the run/walk thing for the rest of the way with an emphasis on walk. I was well-hydrated, so I'm at a bit of a loss. And it was cold. And there were those killer hills for the last mile.

But now the good. It was just a really enjoyable type of race as I mentioned above. No pressure other than having wanted to hit 2:20. However, my buddy was running his first half marathon and we ran the whole thing together. Being his first, he set a personal record for the distance. So instead of saying I had my worst time, I'm going with the line "I paced a friend that led him to a a PR." The apple cobbler at the end was a nice bonus. It served as an appetizer for a lunch of a double cheeseburger and large Dr. Pepper we had at McDonalds afterwards.

In addition to selling cowbells (which we've tried forever to find for when the boys come to my races), they had apple crisp at the end AND a very kind race photographer who made race pics available for free AND already has them posted on the web. Thanks, www.seekcrun.com!

Pace/MPH conversion chart for treadmilling

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:29:00 +0000

It's that time of year again. Time to reconcile my differences with the monster in the basement. He lurks in the corner of the family room, quitely mocking me from behind when I sit on the couch watching TV. When the weather's nice outside, I pay no attention to him because I can lace up and run far, far away. But, on days like today when it's 20-something outside and I lay in bed knowing that my running gear is already laid out for an early morning run, the treadmill sounds almost appealing. It wasn't appealing enough to get up and run on it (or outside), but I know I have to face the fact that I'd rather run miles and miles on the treadmill than outside in the bitter cold.

One of the things that bugs me about the treadmill has always been trying to figure out my pace. It's pretty easy when I set it to 6.0 MPH, but math's not my thing otherwise. So, I created myself a treadmill cheat sheet so I can see what pace I'm running based on the miles per hour. I'm sure there are fancier treadmills that have a pace option, but mine doesn't. I know that Garmin sells an adaptor for indoor use that would allow me to use my 305, but it was a lot cheaper to open up Excel and fire up the laminator. I thought I'd give back to the "community" and offer it to anyone that wants it, too (click on the chart to save it to your computer or if you'd like a .pdf version in better quality, email me at illrunfordonuts [at] gmail.com). Here it is. Happy 'milling.

Beginner Lesson Learned: "Freshman 15"

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:03:00 +0000

"Freshman 15" (for Runners' Lounge "Take it and run Thursday")

We've all heard of the Freshman 15, whether it be as a college freshman or beginning a new job, or training for your first long-distance running event as I did recently for my first marathon. I found that the Freshman 15 snuck up on me in my marathon training, and it was totally unexpected. After all, I was running farther and farther each week and burning more and more calories. True. However, I put on 15 pounds since starting my training 16 weeks ago (and no, it's not all muscle). What?! That's a pound a week!

Here's what I think happened. Everything I read talked about how carbs and energy foods were an important part of a marathoner's training. Your body will need those glycogen reserves or something like that. So I didn't read the fine print, the fine print that those stories and articles were mostly about world-class marathoners. The ones that, you know, run triple-digit miles a week. Oddly, those articles weren't about first-time marathoners who sometimes are prone to skip runs, aren't incorporating speed work into their training because they're just focusing on endurance to make it through 26 miles. Hi, have we met?

So, I would load up on the carbs and I'd rely on energy bars, gels, etc, when I probably didn't really need to. I also committed the crime of thinking to myself "I can totally afford that bowl of ice cream or a third piece of cake because I'll just run it off." BIG MISTAKE. for me, anyway. In case you missed it at the bottom of my race report, I only burned the equivalent of 11 glazed cake donuts at the end of running my marathon. Surely there's a "0" that's supposed to follow "11", but alas not. That was a real shocker to me, and will totally help put snacking into perspective from now on, as in "Ooh, I could eat a dozen donuts right now...and then RUN A MARATHON to burn them off."

And now here I am at the highest weight I've been since starting running, but being a marathon finisher. I suppose that's the silver lining in my "according-to-the-chart" overweight frame. Not by too much, but definitely more than I'd like to be.

I wish I'd found this Runner's World article sooner, like 16 weeks ago. Lesson learned, I'll be smarter about what I eat and when the next time around. For now, I'm going to relax, eat whatever I want to today, and bask in the glory of having finished a marathon.

Diet starts tomorrow ;)

KC Marathon race report

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:05:00 +0000

I ran 26.2 miles in 5:15:41. Didn't get a donut or chocolate milk at the end. My legs and rear are really sore. The end.

ps: here are some additional details if you want to know more.

Pre-race
The alarm went off at 4:25 am. I was right up since I hadn't really slept soundly, waking up almost every hour like a kid waiting for Christmas except what Santa was about to put in my stockings would be worse than coal (think lead covered with a few blisters thrown in for good measure). Got showered, shaved, Body Glided, electrolyte loaded, etc, and got to Crown Center in time to meet-up with fellow KC running blogger Morgan. Never, ever felt nervous about it, just excited.

Mile 1-12
The race started off as I expected, with everyone going from standing still to a run. Morgan and I lined up with the 4:50 pace group and took off nice and easy. Not much choice in a pack of thousands of people. The first hill of note came right after Mile 2. I remembered it from the half marathon last year so I knew I'd just be taking it nice and easy. It winds up to the Liberty Memorial, flattens off just long enough to catch your breath and then goes into another short, steep hill. After that, it's downhill for the next several miles. We ran past LaMars Donuts and if I'd had cash on me I might have ducked in, to use the restroom of course. We could smell donuts in the air, though, so that was enough to get me by.

Speaking of restrooms, last year I drank probably close to a gallon of liquid the morning of the race and ended up having to stand in line for seven minutes at the first bank of port-o-potties. I remembered that so this year I made sure I was well-hydrated but was conservative in my pre-race liquidification (it's my blog, I can make up whatever words I want). However, by Mile 5 I'd barely broken as sweat due to the very cool temperature (it was only 42 degrees at start time) but I had to potty. I decided to run into a gas station; there were probably 15 women in line, but no one in the men's so I was in and out pretty quickly. I caught back up with the pace group fairly soon. Before that, though, I had an anxious moment. They'd changed the split-off location from last year, and started worrying that I'd missed it and was now on the half-marathon course.

That's when it became more real. I went from running with tons of people before, around and behind me, to being one of just a handful of marathoners. For me, that was the point where the marathon started. We slogged up more hills through a beautiful, very wealthy neighborhood. And then my only critical error of the race happened, at Mile 12.

Mile 12-26
The aid station shortly after Mile 12 was the first one to have GU packs. I'd taken one at around Mile 6 so I was ready for another one. Not suffering, just knew that it was time. The mistake I made, and I still don't even know why I did this, was that instead of grabbing a couple of GU packs and a few cups of Gatorade and walking like our pace group had been doing through all the aid stations, I mosied over to a trash can and stopped, opened my GU pack and took my own sweet time gulping it all down (and that, my friends, is how to write a very, very long sentence). Then I looked up and realized my group was a block down the road. I could still see them, but instead of kicking it up a notch to catch up to them when it would have been easy to (this was a flat section of the course), I just stayed on pace and figured I'd somehow magically catch up. They stayed a block ahead of me for about the next two miles, but when they turned the corner at Mile 16, that was the last I saw of them.

Jenny and the boys, as well as some other friends, were waiting at Mile 16 so I stopped to chat and down an Ensure. By "down" I mean chug it in one big gulp. They sent me off recharged, but I think that was the turning point for me. Not physically so much as mentally. I'd lost connection with my pace group and with Morgan. I did all of my training runs solo which I really enjoyed. The solitude and the time to think is very enjoyable for me, but for the first half of this race I realized that having someone familiar to run with is mentally a way to keep my laziness in-check. More on that in a minute.

Around Mile 19 my legs started feeling heavy, but not to the point where it hurt to run. I saw the gang again at Mile 20. I’d heard that Mile 20 is the real half-way point of a marathon, but other than starting to tire a smidge, I was still doing fine. However, the KC Marathon course designer thought it would be funny to have Mile 20 be the starting point of a gradual elevation climb of 200 feet that would last until Mile 23. I decided to run in half-mile stretches and then walk for a quarter-mile. I did that consistently until Mile 23 where the gang met me for the last time before the finish. At Mile 21 I thought to myself “That’s it? Just five more miles? No problem.” I really expected to have more anguish at that point wondering how I’d be able to run “just five more miles” but it was more encouraging than depressing.

The last 5k was fairly simple. I cut back the walk breaks to 60 seconds at the end of the each mile. I grabbed a wet sponge at an aid station, wiped off the sweat from my face, neck and arms, but then got chills because at that point the temperature was only about 52 degrees. The sun was out the whole morning, but much of the course was shaded so I never really warmed up. I stayed well-hydrated by taking Gatorade at each aid station and salt packets every four miles or so. On one of my walk breaks, I came up to a guy who looked like he was struggling. We started chatting and this was his first marathon, too. He said he was having really bad leg cramps so I offered him some salt. He’d never heard of it, but I told him about how I struggled with cramps at the Hospital Hill and was told about salt. I hadn’t had any problems this time around. He took a couple, and I saw him running as I turned around for a look a mile or so later. I’m a believer in salt intake now.

With about a half mile or so left to go, I saw local running-blogger KC Stine who was volunteering as an intersection guard. He’d emailed me saying he might have a donut for me, so I hollered out as I approached the intersection “Where’s my donut?” Can you believe he didn’t deliver? The nerve! Actually, the thought of a donut at that point made my stomach turn, so even if he’d have offered me one I’d have turned it down. But getting a high-five from him was a good boost right at the end.

The Finish
I came up to the last corner and got ready to kick it in with everything I had left. I started charging down the street and even raised my arms in triumph as I saw another course photographer. I ran past him, and then he yelled at me that I was going the wrong way. They’d moved the finish line this year, but I got back on track. If anything, that was good practice for the next block over where I again raised my arms and crossed the line.

Jenny and the boys, some other friends, as well as Morgan were there cheering me on. I forgot to look at the clock, and about 10 minutes later realized I hadn’t even stopped my Garmin so I could only guess what my time was.

I came through the food corral only to find that there were some bananas, oranges and water bottles left. Where’s the chocolate milk I’d just run 26.2 miles for? When I asked a volunteer where the real food tent for runners was, she only pointed back to where I’d just come. I looked the other direction and saw a catering tent marked “Volunteers.” They had a fully-catered BBQ lunch set up for the volunteers. I said thank you to every volunteer and police officer I could the entire way, and I’m so thankful for their help. They deserved a nice lunch. However, I’d just run 26.2 miles and paid to do it, and to be greeted by nothing more than some cut-up fruit was disappointing. Maybe they did have something set up for runners and the lady at the info tent just didn’t know about it. Oh well. Our tradition is to go out for donuts as a family after my races, but I wasn’t feeling it so we just came home.

Calories burned: 3,589, or 11 Dunkin’ Donuts Glazed Cake Donuts. Really? Just 11? Yikes!

Split times:
Mile 1: 11:19
Mile 2: 10:48
Mile 3: 11:40
Mile 4: 11:16
Mile 5: 10:45
Mile 6: 11:07
Mile 7: 10:14
Mile 8: 9:45
Mile 9: 10:24
Mile 10: 10:27
Mile 11: 11:42
Mile 12: 10:33
Mile 13: 11:17
Mile 14: 11:15
Mile 15: 10:39
Mile 16: 13:18
Mile 17: 11:51
Mile 18: 14:33
Mile 19: 11:30
Mile 20: 14:58
Mile 21: 14:08
Mile 22: 14:32
Mile 23: 14:32
Mile 24: 12:25
Mile 25: 12:14
Mile 26: 13:22

20 miler - check!

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:34:00 +0000

So the 20 miler really wasn't bad. Got up at 4am and hit the street. Changed my planned course a bit as I went. Ended up right at 4 hours so about an 11 minute pace overall, but ran negative splits so that was good. I asked myself at the end "do I feel good enough to run for one more hour/6.2 miles?" Couldn't answer that, but we'll see in three weeks. Mowed the lawn as soon as I got home so I could release some of the lactic acid (don't know if it helped, but at least the lawn got mowed). Made it to the church a bit late and then got a nap in the afternoon. Watched the movie Run Fatboy Run last night which was really funny, especially because I could relate (to all three words of the title).

And then there was this morning, Sunday. Ugh. Sitting is fine, standing is fine, but anything in between is anything but. Stairs are killer as is going from a sitting position to a standing position and walking is sort-of ok. A couple of people asked about the recipe for the chocolate zucchini cake. A couple of other people didn't read the "cake" part and sounded interested in chocolate zucchini. If it was a piece of chocolate in the shape of zucchini, I'm game. If you're thinking zucchini dipped in chocolate, no thanks. Anyway, here's the recipe. It wasn't that satisfying this time around, which is probably good. I've gained way more weight recently than I'm comfortable with.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and oil, mix well. Fold in the nuts and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan. The batter will look more like cookie dough than cake batter. That's normal.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with your favorite frosting (I use chocolate sour cream frosting).

18 miler - yes, on the treadmill

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 18:58:00 +0000

After a batch of tornadoes rolled through town last night, I'd hoped that would be all to the rain, but nope, still raining. So, I sucked it up and hit the treadmill. Three and a half hours later it rolled over to 18 miles. I quickly curled up into the fetal position and cried. As if that weren't bad enough, when I came up from the basement and looked outside, the sun had decided to make an appearance. Again, fetal position with more tears.

So, judging from some of the comments I got yesterday, I'm a "fair-weather runner who is less than a man than Gene Kelly (just b/c he can sing in the rain I've never seen him run 18 miles in it) who should just buck up" when it's raining outside. Thank you for all the love and support. But here's how I see it: if I can endure 18 miles on the treadmill, I can do anything. I don't have a problem running short distances in the rain, but didn't want to deal with blisters and chafing if I didn't need to. If it rains on the day of the race, I'll buck up and deal with it because there'll be no choice (other than to quit). The other thought I had about mile 17 was that marathons are the stupidest thing ever devised. Honestly. Mark my words (subject to change): I will never train for a marathon again (remember, subject to change).

Can't wait until my 20 miler in two weeks (rain or shine, will be run outside).

16 mile long run

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:18:00 +0000

If marathon training has a glass ceiling, I put 16 cracks in it today (now you know where she got that line). My 16 miles went well today and I'll post my time tomorrow after my opponent has had a chance to get his run in. In accordance with the Fairness in Running Act, I don't want him to be at an disadvantage (or advantage) of having to know what time to beat before he has his chance. Today put me at 85 miles for August, the most I've ever gotten in a month.

I tried a few new products today.
- PowerBar Vanilla Crisp Performance Bar: had this before my run. Have you ever smelled PlayDoh? I love that smell. This flavor, though, tastes like that smell. I wouldn't eat PlayDoh, so I won't be eating this flavor again.
- PowerBar Chocolate Gel: mmmm, tastes much better than the Vanilla and the Green Apple flavors I've tried before.
- Went to a Chinese buffet to celebrate a milestone in my six-year old's life (he mastered riding a bike today). That hit the spot, but I probably consumed all the calories I spent on my run.

Good luck, Razz. You'll do great. It's not as bad as I was thinking it would be.

14 miles

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:42:00 +0000

Huh? Did I do that? Run 14 miles?

Yes I did.

That's the farthest I've ever run at once so I'm pretty stoked. The plan was 10, maybe 12, but I was feeling good so figured I'd just go for it. It's a big boost to my confidence getting back on plan with my training for the KC Marathon (just over 60 days away). I'd actually been toying with the idea of switching to the half when I'd started missing runs, but it's something I really want to do - once - so I'm going to make the best of the two months I have left to get ready. I know I'll be glad I did, but as I was nearing the end of today's run, I started thinking..."if today was my 20 miler, I'd still have to run a 10k after this" and "a marathon's ONLY another 12 miles". Those weren't really happy thoughts. Who knows, maybe race day will change my thinking but at this point, I'm definitely a half marathoner.

The weather was awesome with little if any noticible humidity and pretty low temps. There were quite a few people out running and cycling on the trail. I saw a sign for Team in Training and wondered where they were. A couple of miles down at a park they were all congregating and getting ready. I ran past and recognized Doug from his wife's blog Wait for Me so I stopped and introduced myself.

School's started up again for the kids. Offspring #2 starts Kindergarten so I have a feeling we're about to start the busy years. We're pretty laid-back, under-scheduled folks generally, but I'm sure that's going to be changing. With that said, I'll probably be posting less, but hopefully still weekly. That should give me time to think of something worth writing. Or something sarcastic, at least.

TakeSteps "race" report

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:02:00 +0000

I mentioned a few posts ago that today we'd be participating in an event to support the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation. My wife has suffered from Colitis for the past seven years and this is the first year we've participated in the TakeSteps walk to raise awareness and money for the Foundation. Crohn's and Colitis are digestive diseases that affect the colon, and approximately 1.4 million Americans have one of the two. Most running events are for this or that charity, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who doesn't really think much about it. This was an awareness walk and it was fun to participate in something that has a deeper personal meaning for me.

Since I participated, I figured I might as well write a race report. The boys kept asking if they thought we'd win. Only problem was 1) it wasn't a race and 2) there were about 300 people ahead of us. But everyone's a winner, right? This event was first-class! They had moonbounces for the kids, a catered BBQ beforehand, all the free bottled Gatorade you could drink or cram into your stroller, snowcones, cotton candy, everything that running events don't have but should.

After some short speeches and the national anthem, we were out of the gate. Let me just say, I completely understand now why strollers are generally banned or frowned upon in running events. Walks are different, but I still felt like we were in the way. Mile one was a strong one for us, no complaining and no fighting. As we rounded the corner and came up to the half-way mark, we saw there was an aid station (see photo proof above). I felt a little silly walking through it, and I thought we should instead run through it, grabbing cups from the volunteers and then crumple up the cups, tossing them to the side. However, common sense prevailed and I was completely dignified. [patting myself on the back]. We said thank you to the police and course volunteers. Then we decided to ditch the last mile and cut to the finish line. I went up ahead to take pictures of the family coming in, and come to think of it now, I never crossed the line. We did receive t-shirts, but I wonder if it'd be in poor taste for me to wear it since I didn't actually finish. I guess the rest of the family cheated by skipping the last mile, too, though.

Happy Father's Day! Did I mention I got a Garmin Forerunner 305 for Father's Day? I did! A month ago. The 3.5 year old, however, told me this afternoon after a shopping trip with Mommy that "Daddy, we bought you some running stuff!" Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what I get.

Hospital Hill Half Marathon report

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:55:00 +0000

Well that's done. Having heard stories about the Chicago Marathon last year with it's heat, water stations running on empty and ambulances whizzing by, I'd have thought today might have been just a little like that. The race started at 7 am, and by mile two I was drenched in sweat. It only got worse as the temps climbed, the breeze stopped, and the humidity reared it's ugly head. As I came up to the second water station around mile three, the four or so volunteers (bless their hearts) were scrambling to fill cups but couldn't quite keep up with the demand. My hydration plan was to alternate between stations taking water at one and PowerAid at the next. That quickly turned into one PowerAid and two waters at each stop. But enough of that, it is summer in Kansas, afterall.

I knew there would be plenty of hills, hence the name of the race, but what I wasn't expecting was long, steady hills what seemed like the entire distance. I'm starting to think my mother must have grown up in downtown Kansas city from all those stories of having to walk to school uphill both ways. Yep, it was pretty much like that except it wasn't snowing and I wasn't barefoot like "she was". Although today I would have welcomed some snow. Dang it, there I go again with the weather, but it was just plain old hot. I finished in 2:31; for the first four miles or so I thought a PR might be in store, but didn't happen.

Highlights for me included:

1. My heel behaved itself amazingly well. I'm now redacting (is that a real word, or something Dwight K. Schrute just made up?) my previous posts where I masked my lack of running the last couple of weeks as being a slacker because now it clearly it qualifies as recouperating. I think I'm recouperated.

2. The lady standing in her front lawn along the course handing out bite-sized Snickers. I gladly accepted because the one pack of sports beans I downed at mile 5 weren't sustaining me and I was running low on energy. I'm not a Snickers fan, but I wasn't going to pass up her generosity. What I didn't think about is that is was another mile to the next water stop, so I had Snickers mouth to deal with.

3. Seeing Jenny and the Boys (sounds like a music group, doesn't it?) several times along the course. I'm going to buy them some cowbells for my first marathon, though, because those boys won't even cheer for me. It was like pulling teeth to get them to even give me a high five. They only did it because I told them I'd buy them a puppy if they put up their hand. Not really, but it came close to that.

4. Meeting some of my imaginary friends in person. See wife, they do exist! It was great to meet Morgan and OzRunner as I thoroughly enjoy reading their blogs. If you haven't checked them out, you should. Morgan's incredible - she lost 103 pounds and, like me is training for her first marathon in October and OzRunner's much taller than his blog would have you believe; and he's super nice, too (although I think he went to MU).

5. Running into (literally) couple of other friends (non-bloggers) in the last couple of miles of what turned out to be a challenging race.

6. Getting my finisher's medal from a friend from work and seeing several other work friends who were volunteering.

Issues:

1. Calf cramps in the last 2.5 miles. Where did THOSE bad boys come from? I found that I could still walk at a pretty good clip and didn't feel anything, but as soon as I started running again they'd come back. Luckily, I was able to run a pretty quick pace for the last 0.75 miles. I'm wondering if it was the heat, or if I didn't eat/drink something I should have. I've never gotten muscle cramps before while running so it was a little unexpected.

2. Did I mention it was HOT and HUMID? It was, just in case I forgot to mention it.

3. I would have liked to run the entire way, but I was in this one for fun and to not be carted off in an ambulance like someone was toward the end. However, I listened to my body and walked when I felt like I needed to.

4. I'd read somewhere that there would be oranges at some of the aid stations so I only brought one pack of sports beans and no GU. I could have used some refueling along the way.

Speaking of refueling, we made a stop at Krispy Kreme on the way home. Can you believe I wasn't in a donut mood?

Probably because I ate about a half dozen chocolate chip cookies and two bottles of chocolate milk at the finish. Mmmm.

Next up: Kansas City Marathon. At least it should be cooler in October. Now I'm off to find a training plan.

50 yard dash

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 31 May 2008 22:19:00 +0000

Eli participated in the Hershey Games today, doing the long jump, softball throw and the 50 yard dash. Here's my boy showing everyone what he's got. Nice job, buddy. He's the one in the white t-shirt

The track was down the street from the Garmin Headquarters so we stopped by to find a geocache, but couldn't find it. Here's a shot of the boys looking for it, and one of me and my Forerunner.

I'm a registered marathoner

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:32:00 +0000

I did it. I registered for the KC Marathon. By registering before tomorrow's early bird deadline, I saved a whopping $10. Wow, think of all I could do with $10! That's like one stick of Bodyglide and half a pack of peanut M&M's. It seems so far away, but when I looked at training plans yesterday, I pretty much have to start training the week after my upcoming half-mary.

My reason for wanting to do it is basically to say I've run a marathon. I like the half marathon, and suspect that'll be "my race". Part of me just doesn't feel like I'll be a true runner until I can say I've run the marathon, and the other part of me says that's hogwash, and yet another part of me really wants a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream right now. While deliberating tonight, my wife said "In three years when you've blown out your knees and gained 30 pounds, will you wish you would have done it?" Guess she's got a point (but blown knees and 30 pounds aren't in the plan).

In other news, did you know that Vanilla was nominated for Best Daddy Blog of the Year? Be sure to vote for him: Daddy's Little Tax Credits. While there, I hear there's a poll for Best Sport Blog (some people have asked for a daily reminder to vote for me). Rest assured, the shamless promotion is coming to an end. If you haven't already voted, you're probably not going to. If you have, it was either for good reason or someone told you I'd take you along to Disneyland if I win the grand prize. Ha ha, joke's on both of us because something tells me there is no Disneyland prize package.

10K on the 10th race report

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Thanks, Nancy, for spoiling yet another perfectly good Saturday morning when I could have laid around watching cartoons while eating donuts and drinking Dr. Pepper. You and your motivating ideas...geesh. I did, however, stay in bed until 9:15 a.m. entertaining thoughts of claiming a bogus injury so I wouldn't have to run. But alas, as always, I caved and ran another one of those dang virtual races. This time was the 10k on the 10th.

This time I went out to Shawnee Mission Lake Park, home of the first 10k I ever ran. This is also the first time I've run one of Nancy's virtual races 100% outdoors thanks to a cool, overcast morning. Laced in my new Asics Gel-Cumulous 9's and armed with Duncan, my new running partner, I hit the trail. What an awesome day for a run! Instead of turning left to follow the trail I ran during the Pilgrim Pacer 10K, I turned right. I'd never gone right so I figured new scenery would be good, and I wasn't disappointed.

About a mile into things, I found out why other runners turned left a mile back. I'd soon (relative term) be looking down at the pavement and seeing the words "Slow Keep Right" and a yellow line down the middle. A word to the wise, if you see something akin to that, turn around. If that doesn't do it, the sign at the top that says "Slow, Steep Grade" will mock your incapacity to understand what "Slow Keep Right" at the bottom meant. Yowza!

While I was hoping to be under an hour (my 10k PR is 55:15), I didn't quite make it. I finished in 1:01:50, but considering the hills I don't feel too bad about that time. I had to get 8 miles in today, so I still had 1.8 miles to go once the race portion was done.
At the end, I was spent, but this song ("Australia" by The Shins) got me through the last couple of minutes. It always does. Enjoy! (And if you haven't voted for the best sports blog yet, don't forget. Unless, of course, you have something better to do).

Pilgrim Pacer - Part Deux

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:23:00 +0000

I know a lot of people, including myself, read posts via a feed service like Google Reader. For whatever reason, my posts sometimes look like crap in Google Reader. They read, admittedly, like crap no matter what medium they're read in. Such was the case with my earlier post today...looked fine on the actual blog, but not so hot in Reader (it was like one big paragraph). Lest you think I don't know how to use the return key, I thought I'd just voice that.

Actually, there were some other things I thought about after I posted that I wanted to jot down.

Again I struggled with what to wear. It turned out to be a beautiful morning, and before we left, I went outside to see what it was like. It was a little cool, but decided it would be fine to wear shorts and my short sleeve technical shirt (or, as I have referred to it in the past, "the blouse"). I took along a long sleeve tee and a fleece pullover just to stay warm before the start. When we got to the park, it felt much colder because of the wind. I decided to wear the long sleeve over my technical shirt for the race. It kept me plenty comfortable and warm, and was perfect for today. The only problem was post-race when the sweat started making me cold.
I really liked the race design on the long sleeve tees they handed out. It was designed by a very talented designer named Jason Crosby. The shirts are bright red, a color which I wouldn't have really picked for myself, but I do love long sleeve tees.
My worst nightmare: I was stuck for the first couple of miles behind a guy wearing tights. Just tights. Every time I tried to pass him, he'd speed up. Luckily he didn't turn around at the 10k turnaround but continued on along the half-marathon route. Since the half-marathoners started five minutes ahead of the 10k-ers, he must have missed his start (giving him the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure he was searching his car for his running shorts but couldn't find them).
Free gloves.
The announcer started handing out random prizes while waiting for the last of the 10k-ers to come in and before the first half-marathoners came. His first prize was for the youngest person in the crowd. We told Liam (2) to march up to him. The guy asked how old he was and he promptly held up two fingers. So far, so good. Then he started rummaging through his bag 'o tricks to find something to give Liam. He pulled out a small Camelbak and I almost started jumping up and down like Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch. "Yes, my two year old NEEDS THAT!", I shouted in my head. Then, it went back in the box like he was looking for something else. Then, it came back out. YES, YES, YES! Give that to him! He NEEDS it! Then, back into the box. Liam ended up with a Cliff Granola Trail Bar. Not quite what Dad had hoped for, but I guess Liam wouldn't have used a Camelbak anyway [my point exactly; I WOULD have]. I ate Liam's Cliff Granola Trail Bar when we got home and he wasn't looking.
Again, great course. Not for pansies, but a good challenge. I'm not sure how many participants there were, but I'd say it was a very well-attended event considering this was the first year for it.

Pilgrim Pacer 10K

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:45:00 +0000

Come to find out, today was the inaugural running of the Pilgrim Pacer 5k, 10k and Half-marathon at Shawnee Mission Park. I want to say it was fantastic, but my calves and quads are saying "those Trail Nerds who planned this thing are demonic!" Really, though, it was a great race and I set a PR. It's easy to do when it's the first time you run a given distance. 55:15-ish. Up to last night, I had no idea what to expect other than knowing it would be on paved trails through the park, and I've been to the park enough times to know it was anything but flat. After picking up my packet, I came home and mapped the course on http://www.mapmyrun.com/, and this graph shows you that it was definitely not a flat course. BUT HOLY COW! It seriously kicked my tail! By the turn-around point, I knew it was going to be a tough finish.

At the first water station (1.6 miles), I was still in a pretty thick pack so I figured I'd drink on the run. My nostrils and shirt got hydrated, my body did not. My split times for both mile 1 and mile 2 were 8:20 which totally surprised me, but then I remembered I was going down hill most of the way. Then at mile 2 it all started to change. I did stop to drink at the next aid station (the turnaround point). My friend Clayton was already heading back before I got to the turnaround, but considering he's something like 6.5 feet tall, I figure it takes me about two steps in the time it takes him to do one, so I knew he'd be far ahead. He finished somewhere around 47 minutes which was great considering he only trained for a week or two.

I'd been pacing with three or four other runners, but at the turnaround, they totally opened it up and smoked me. My plan, after reading some advice in Runner's World, was to be conservative the first half and then open it up all the way the last half like them. But, I realized around mile 4 that I either opened it up too early (with my 8:20 splits early on), or that I didn't fuel properly. I tried to eat fairly well the past couple of days and no soda for a couple of weeks. I forgot to pick up an energy bar to eat this morning, so I just had a bowl of Cheerios with diced peaches. I don't think that was enough because by mile 5, I think I bonked. If that's what bonking is like, then I bonked. I had nothing left. I took a 10 second walk break at the top of a hill thinking that might help. I was totally spent. That was the only time I walked, but I wasn't going very fast the last mile which was mostly uphill the entire way.

The last 300 feet or so flattened out, and it helped that Jenny and the boys were standing along the road about 50 feet before the finish. The boys were cheering, and then started running alongside (as you can see in the photo on the left. I was SO glad to be done with this run I can't even begin to describe. Granted it was only 6.2 miles, but it was a challenge. I can't wait to run this trail again. Sounds funny considering it was as tough as it was, but since it was a challenge I guess that's what made it such a great course. No donuts at the end, but they did have warm apple cobbler and hot chocolate which really hit the spot.

Dirty little secrets

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 23:21:00 +0000

Yesterday, race day, I felt great after the race. Took a brief nap and enjoyed doing nothing the rest of the day. This morning, I was up before the sun to get ready for church and off to my early-morning meetings, still on a high. Even managed to work in a race analogy into the lesson I taught the teenagers which lead to a barrage of questions about the race which I said I'd tell them another time so I could get through the lesson. Jenny asked me during church if I was sore at all today, and I told her not really, just my thighs a little bit. Then again on the way home, she asked if I was really not sore.

I suppose all those Saturdays after long training runs and saying that I was feeling it the next day had her conditioned to assume I'd be sore after running a half-marathon. My response: "no, still not really sore. I mean I did take two Advil after the race, two more before bed, and two at breakfast this morning." Secret was out, not that I was keeping it a secret that I'd taken something in anticipation of soreness, just guess it didn't cross my mind to add that little detail all the times she'd asked how I was feeling over the past 24 hours. I have to admit, though, that as evening sets in, I'm feeling it in more places (hips, shoulders, calves, thighs, armpits, my bum, my back, some in the knees, the knuckle of my left pinky, the nail on my little toe, etc). Maybe I'll ham it up at work tomorrow just to elicit conversation.

Other dirty little secret: maybe, and don't take this as a confirmed thing even though it'll be on the WWW for all to see and throw in my face down the road, but maybe I'm sort of giving some thought to perhaps kind-of thinking about doing a full marathon. Yesterday I thought a lot about it, especially at the point where the half marathoners split from the marathoners. Honestly, my biggest running accomplishment this time last year was saying that I had trained for and won my age division (I was the only runner in my age group) in a two-mile race. And here I am on a Sunday evening, still wearing my half-marathon medal around my neck (I just love the feel of it - just kidding, I'm not wearing it, just looking at it in admiration), thinking that going from two miles to 13.1 was do-able in a little over a year so why not? I think I need to give it a little time before I commit to anything, but I'm committed to thinking about it.

By the way, here are the marathons I think I'd want to run, in no particular order (except for #1, that's #1 for a reason).
1. The Dunkin' Donuts Cape Cod Marathon. That's right, my favorite donut maker sponsors a marathon. How perfect for me is that? I wonder if they'd get over the fact that I've nearly violated U.S. copyright laws and created a blog header that pretty much rips off their brand. They should be flattered, and offer to subsidize my trip to the East Coast to run in their race as the world's #1 promoter of Dunkin' Donuts. And, unlike the disappointment I experienced yesterday when they only had healthy stuff at the finisher's tent, I bet they have free donuts there.
2. The Tokyo Marathon. Since I lived in Tokyo and have a degree in Japanese, I think it's only fitting that I return in blazing glory. They have a great donut chain there, Mister Donut. I would run it at the beginning of my trip, take a week to visit friends, then finish up by climbing Mount Fuji, another of my life goals.
3. San Francisco Marathon. I love San Fran. The weather's great, the scenery's spectacular, but oh those hills. I have pushed the stroller up and down them a couple of times and lived to tell about it, so how bad could 26.2 miles of those hills sans-stroller be? Ok, I'm kidding myself with that one.
4. New York Marathon. Fat chance, I know, but I've never been to NYC and what a better way to see the city than running it? I suppose I could just go there and run around, but it would probably be easier if the roads were closed down and open to runners.

Now for reality:
1. Olathe Marathon. It's close by and probably pretty flat, but judging from the route description, I'm wondering if it'd be kind of boring. Any KC runners run it and want to comment?
2. Eisenhower Marathon. I'd have a place to stay since my aunt lives there, and my running friend grew up there. I'm going to ask him if he's interested. Same story with the scenery as Olathe, though, maybe.
3. KC Marathon. I loved the half course, and knowing Ward Parkway like I do, I know the full route would be awesome. Only problem is it is a year away. But, Joel, Susan, David, Tom, Emily, and Todd - AND JENNY - could all run it, too. We have a big backyard, and we could round up some tents.
4. St. Louis Marathon. We love St. Louis. We were married there. We go there a lot with the kids. It's a beautiful city, and it's a relatively short drive. Only problem is that it's on a Sunday, and these feet don't run on Sunday.

Again, I'm not committing to anything, just thinking out loud here. If anyone wants to suggest anything outside of a 300 mile radius of KC, that's fine, but just be prepared to offer your suggestions on how to pay for it. I'm finding that when they say running is a cheap hobby/sport because all you need is a pair of shoes, they're full of bologna.

My first Half-Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 20:00:00 +0000

I went to bed at 9:00pm last night so I could get as much sleep as possible before the big day today. I didn't fall asleep until close to 10, though, because I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas Eve. Other than maybe the nights before the boys were born (thank goodness for inductions), I can't think of a night I've been so excited that sleep wouldn't come. I ate well yesterday including rice and a chicken/broccoli stir fry I made. I also made a rockin' blueberry smoothie to drink before bed.

I woke several times during the night, the first time at 11:27pm, but no, that was still too early to get up and get ready. I woke up on my own at 4:30am and was ready by 5 when my friend picked me up. It took some convincing this summer, but he finally registered last Monday to run the half. Imagine, then, how bad I felt at 5:20 this morning when he got pulled over for speeding on the interstate! We got to Crown Center plenty early to get a good parking space and get to the indoor restrooms before walking and stretching a little. I tried looking around for a lady from work, but couldn't find her. Also thought maybe by some stroke of luck I'd figure out which of the 5,000 people in line were bloggers Running in Oz and Running Jayhawk. I suppose a pre-dawn search among so many people is a fool's errand, but sounds like they both had great runs today! Someday I hope to finish with stellar times like theirs.

I drank nearly 40 oz of water by time we got to the starting line and realized I really had to potty. I waited in line for the port-a-potty for almost 10 minutes while said friend waited for me. Then when I was done, I went to look for him, but he'd felt he had to go, too and had gotten in line some ways behind me. Now was my turn to wait. He came out just as the gun went off. Luckily the potties were right at the spot we planned to line up anyway, so we just took off running. I think we crossed the starting line about 2 and a half minutes after the gun, and I set my watch. The first mile was like running on air, and I told my friend that this is the easiest mile I think I'd ever run. Things went well on mile 2, also, and then came the first big hill. This one was a winding hill that headed up to Liberty Memorial, the nation's official WWI memorial. It was up this hill that he started inching ahead and by time we got to the top, I knew he was going on without me. This was A-OK with me as I told him from the start to go at his own pace and not try to keep up or wait up for me.

Jenny and the Boys were going to wait around the 6.5 mile mark, so I was surprised when I looked ahead and saw them on the side of the street around the 5 mile mark. I stopped to talk to them for a minute, and was then off again. I needed to potty again around mile 4, but couldn't find the potties anywhere. I decided against the many trees along the way down Main Street for fear I'd get arrested or laughed at, so I held it until I got the 6 mile mark at the Plaza. I timed my wait in line and I stood there for just shy of 4 minutes. I had an energy gel at that point and chased it down with orange Gatorade - not a tasty combination.

At mile 8, I could start to feel my hips working (a mild way of saying they hurt all of a sudden), but that lasted for just a moment. As I came up to mile 11, there was an announcer with a PA system and they were playing Olympic champion-type music. He was chanting words of encouragement, and that along with the music, made me cry, happy for what I was doing.

The next Jenny and the Boys sighting was just prior to the 18th and Vine District by mile 11.5 or so. At that point, I was so happy to see them! I gave the boys each a high-5 and Jenny a kiss, then started tearing up again. The fancy/fanny pack came off at that time as I was done with it, and only had a couple of miles to go.

(that's me in the middle approaching Jenny and the Boys for the second time)

As I started the last mile, I picked up the pace, surprised at how much energy I still had. I started passing guys who looked much younger and much fitter than me, which was a boost to my ego. Then, as I rounded the last corner, the finish line came into view. I opened it up, and made a full-on sprint to the finish. I had run the entire course, hills and all.

I remember looking at the race clock at the finish line, but I can't remember what it said. Anyway, my gun time was 2:18:22 and net time was 2:15:39, and was 179 out of 215 in my age division. At the expo yesterday, I picked up a pace band for a 2:30 finish time. Last night, I looked up the splits for a 2:20 and wrote it on the backside of the 2:30. I pinned it to my shirt, and it was very helpful to check my progress at each mile marker. I could tell early on that so long as I still felt energetic that I'd finish closer to 2:20 than 2:30, and it held true. My only other goal was to finish before the first full marathoner, and judging from the results, looks like I met that one, too.

Right after the finish were volunteers taking the timing chips (unlike the St. George Marathon where it sounded like they gave out souvenir chips, we had to return ours or pay a $30 fine). I don't know what I'd do with a timing chip anyway. Then they handed out the medals and I proceeded to the post-race "feast" advertised in some of the materials I'd read. The feast consisted of water bottles, bananas, grapes, oranges, and cold milk. Although I was happy to chow on those, I was expecting something a little more feast-like. As I was stretching, Jenny and the Boys came walking up. We hung out there for just a few minutes and then headed to the van.

Guess what the next stop was? That's right, folks. The donut shop! Around mile 3 on the course was a LaMars Donuts, and if I'd had some cash with me, I might have stopped in. I had a pumpkin cake donut and a white chocolate chunk/raspberry scone. Yummy! I'm already feeling stiff below my calves and in my shoulders. I'm sure my hips will hurt tomorrow, but this was, by far, the FUNNEST THING I'VE DONE (myself) in a long, long time. I'm already looking for my next half to run.

I thought several times during the race today about a full, and that may be in my future sometime, but then as I was getting out of the shower at 11:00am, the thought crossed my mind that I would still have 40 minutes of running at the pace I ran today if I'd been running a full.

Overall Place: 1,662 out of 2,585

Division Place: 179 out of 215

Gender Place: 884 out of 1,130

5K

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 21:41:00 +0000

The boys participated in a kids fun run this morning, and at the last minute, I decided to register for the 5K that preceeded it. My target time was 27:00, and my finish time was...27:00 - spot on. I've never run a 5K. The boys had a great time, and even Liam ran. He's been wearing his medal all day saying "I'm a winner!" Eli told his friend and his mom yesterday that he was going to be running a half marathon (instead of a half mile). At the finish line, there were enough Krispy Kremes to go around, but I passed and had a banana instead. What's wrong with me? I decided to "give up" soda, junk food and candy until after my half, and today is day 5. I wasn't going to blow it by eating a donut. I'll save that for after the half when I'll allow myself all the donuts I want to celebrate.

I needed to get in 11 miles today, so with 3.1 down, I went out to run 8 more. I had a horrible run. I realized that the pack of energy beans I'd safety pinned to my shorts had fallen off, so I had no snacks to look forward. Additionally, it was 86 degrees and sunny, so I got very hot. I had to take lots and lots of walk breaks. I got pretty discouraged, but then realized everyone probably has bad runs and I should just be glad I chose to go out and run instead of taking a nap. I looked for my beans all the way home. I found them...on the street in front of my house. They fell off just steps out of the door.

Father and Son time

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 16:14:00 +0000

12 miles today (2:21:04). I did take some walk breaks, but did so due to my coach/pack mule. Took the big kid with me today and he rode along beside me (yes, he wore his helmet even though he's not wearing it in the post-run picture). I loaded his backpack with a spare waterbottle, some snacks for him and an energy gel for me that I didn't end up using. Wasn't sure what to expect, but he's done fine on six mile bike rides at full speed, so I thought we'd give it a shot. He did great other than his "bum getting sweaty". At one point, three deer ran out of the woods right in front of us. The coolest thing is that they then stopped and let us stare at them. That never happens when I'm on the treadmill.

I was more or less spent at 10.5 miles, and he must have sensed it. He stopped, turned to me, and said "Dad, I know you can do it. You just need to turn up your power." I did what I could and busted a move to the finish. I've never been so happy to see a minivan in my life as when I saw it in the parking lot. I knew there was an ice-cold Gatorade waiting for me. He was just happy because we were going to make it home in time to watch Batman on Saturday morning cartoons. I guess we all have our motivators.

Although I probably won't be taking him on long runs again, I really enjoyed having him along. I would have liked to have made better running time, but I couldn't have had a better time than having him alongside me. I do have to apologize to the people he nearly ran off the trail. We're still working on that.

This week I ran an easy three miles Monday night and four miles on the treadmill Wednesday night, two of which I was talking to my mom on the phone. Then on Thursday night, I realized I really haven't given any thought to hill work. Sure there's the occasional incline on the routes I run, but nothing that would really do any good. So I laced up and did 4.6 miles in our neighborhood which is nothing but up and down hills. I could feel it in my abs the next day.

I really want some new shoes. I've liked the Nikes I have (that I get at Kohl's for under $50), but I think if I'm going to continue 20+ miles a week after the race next month, I need to invest in something better. However, it's too close now to the big day to change, so maybe soon thereafter.

Trails and trials

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:17:00 +0000

Ran 6 miles today. Still feeling tired from last weekend’s run. I only ran outside one other day this week (Monday morning – two miles). I can’t say I was really hurting, but more like I’d walked 100 miles and my body just wanted to rest. I did some running on the treadmill and some core work this week, too.

As I was running today, on the Indian Creek trail that I ran last Saturday, I came upon a fork in the trail that I didn’t remember. I chose one direction thinking it was right. Turns out it wasn’t the same way I went last weekend. Instead, this direction led deep into the woods and turned suddenly very hilly. There was a series of steep ups and downs in succession, and in the end, it met up with the portion of the trail I’d taken last weekend. The hills were very, very difficult. No harm done, just a much more difficult way to go. After reaching my turn-around point, I again came to the place where the two trails forked off. This time, I chose to take the hilly option.

Sometimes in life we are fully aware of what lies on each trail ahead of us, and being human, usually choose the flatter of the two. Other times, we have no idea what we’re about to be faced with. Had I known coming up to the fork this morning that the direction I chose was going to be as difficult as it was, I probably would have chosen the flat route. But given the choice again, I chose the difficult route. It made me think about trials (not trails, however in this case, they’re interchangeable). Although trials aren’t the easier option, they make us stronger and better for going through them. If we always chose the flat path, we’re probably not as worn out at the end, but we also didn’t get any stronger.

Donuts intake: the trail goes by the intersection where a donut shop is. I caught a whiff as I ran by. It also happened that I parked at the park behind it. When I finished my run, I thought "I should go in and get some sprinkle donuts for the boys. It'd be a fun Saturday morning surprise for them." I did, and on my way out, they had a box sitting out for samples. Although they're not my favorite, I couldn't resist. Gone in three bites.

No walk breaks

noreply@blogger.com (Topher) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:10:00 +0000

11 miles / 2hrs 4min / 11:17 overall pace - NO WALKING THE ENTIRE 11 MILES!!!

Ran on a paved trail near our house that was awesome. It starts at the Missouri/Kansas state line, and goes about 17 miles along a creek. The scenery was great; very wooded, but also opened up around the parks that seemed to come up about every mile and a half. I only had to cross a street once, and that’s just because they’re finishing up some repairs to the trail where it goes down under the road, as all the street crossings do. Perhaps the coolest thing is seeing tons of other runners. It became pretty apparent which ones were just out for a short run and those who were doing their weekly long. I even sighted a local TV celebrity running.

I parked at a park that was right in the middle of the stretch of trail I wanted to run, and it turned out to be a good plan. I was able to run 2.5 miles out and 2.5 back, then stop at the car to refill my water bottle and get on my way going the other direction (three miles out/three miles back). I had some orange jelly beans (the energy kind) at the van and then about a third of a Powerbar around mile 9.

Listened to a Phedippidations podcast about fueling while running that was really good and had lots of good information on how your body uses energy while running and what kind of food it needs at what stage prior, during and after a run. Also listened to a Mormon PotLuck podcast; more root beer taste testing, but an interesting discussion on organization and life balance. I intended to carry my MP3 player in my rad Yellowstone National Park fanny pack (it’s actually one of the boys’), but that lasted all of about 10 steps as the headphone cord kept coming out. I was drooling with envy of all the runners with the armband things. I had to hold it in my hand the entire two hours along with my water bottle. Jenny, an armstrap thingy is now a need.

My major purchase yesterday (payday) was wicking socks. My cotton socks were getting pretty threadbare and I was getting lots of hot spots on my arches even on short runs. I got the Target brand because I could get two pair for $5 verses $10-15 for one pair of fancy ones at a running store. I carried the second pair in my rad Yellowstone National Park fanny pack just in case I needed a dry pair, but the one pair did great.

I did not intend starting out today to run without taking walk breaks, but I just kept feeling good like I could keep going. After about four miles, I started to wonder if I could just go the whole way without walking; I mean, four miles, 11 miles, what’s the difference? It doesn’t mean I didn’t get tired (I did about mile 9 which is why I had some energy bar) and I slowed down, but even then I just kept going. Felt great to reach the car, but also felt great to do something I never would have imagined I was capable of doing. At the end of the running podcast, they talked about becoming a runner. I think I can now confidently say I am one.

Cool down consisted of a 1/2 mile walk and mowing the lawn, followed by an ice bath.