Slow Mofo

Some Updates!

2009-12-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

Hey! What's going on?!?!?
Recent News
I PR'd at the 2009 Las Vegas Rock N Roll Half by 27 minutes! You can read my race post-mortem at dailymile.com if you're curious.

Hella Sound now offers Gift Certificates! Priced at $5, $10 and $15, they're perfect stocking stuffers and last-minute gifts for your running buddies. Print 'em out, or let us email them directly with a note from you. Sweet, huh?

On the Las Vegas RnR tip, here's some thoughts on how I did 27 minutes better than previous outings, and things I learned:

1. A good running playlist is a good thing. If you're curious, here's what I ran to:
· Hella Sound What Are You Made Of?!? [165BPM]—my go-to running song these days
· Hella Sound As You Wish [165BPM]—transitions nicely from "What Are You Made Of?!?"
· Hella Sound How To Turn Around A Bad Day [165BPM]
· One Day As A Lion Wild International—great live drum sound, great aggro vocals; really gets me going.
· Eve & Fatboy Slim Cowboy—the lyrics are SOOOOOO crass, but the rhythm is fantastic. I love Eve. She nasty.
· Hella Sound What Are You Made Of?!? [165BPM]—finished up strong

2. Gu Chomps are cheating. They're so kick ass, and so easy to use, that it's almost too easy. I brought 2 baggies and started chomping them every so often from mile 3 to mile 11. I never once ran short on energy, never once bonked, and also never once got that gaggy "ugh I just ate a Gu" feeling. I hit every water station on the course (just drinking water, no Cytomax) and it went fantastically.

4. Losing weight helps. At racetime I was down about 20lbs from two months ago, and I believe it's really helped. Another 40 or so to go...

5. Garmin. This was my first race with a Garmin; and while I've run with the Nike+ before, I rarely had it calibrated properly to be accurate. I was shooting for 2:30:00, which turns out to about 11:20 miles, and with the Garmin, I was able to stay at pace easily.

6. In general, I think I've just become a better runner.

Be safe, have fun, and don't be a stranger!

Our Third Song is Out!

2009-11-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

Hella Sound's third running music release, "As You Wish" is now available—go check it out!

We also have had 3 reported PRs by folks running with our music—check 'em out on our Facebook page. That makes me incredibly happy.

Good stuff!

Well Hello There!

2009-11-01T22:37:00.001-08:00

I'm sorry to have left y'all in a lurch!

Since my last post I've been gravitating towards the fantastic dailymile.com site. It's a really well-put-together site that tracks workouts and lets you cheer on others (and receive motivation, too). Y'all probably know all this, since many of you are already on there.

(Note: dailymile.com plug is in no way sponsored—it's just an awesome site. Word.)

I guess I neglected to give the lowdown on my San Jose Rock N Roll Half experience. I was sick leading up to it, which sucked, and my sinuses were busy draining themselves all through the race, but it went okay. I finished it, and I ran the whole thing (except 2 water stations), which was my goal. I guess I was pretty disappointed with my time, but not defeated by the experience (like I was last year).

Anyhoo, I'm digging dailymile.com, so I'm going to keep on truckin' with it. If you're on there, connect with me! And if you're not, join up!

More good things comin'!

:D

2009-09-26T13:30:00.001-07:00

I've been sweating my tweaked right leg. It feels like shin splints, and I have a couple suspects. Regardless, the season's final Fleet Feet Sunset Run got rid of some of my worries, and I'm feeling more confident for next sunday's halfie in San Jose.

It's gonna be tough. Finishing at a reasonable pace is gonna be a struggle. But at least I feel confident that I'll be doing it sans-injury. The plan for this week is to chill out some, baby my leg a bit and make sure I go into the race feeling 100%. I think that's the best I can hope for, and then tough it out where I'm missing cardio.

Again, I hope to god it's a cool morning. If it's warm and sunny, it's gonna be a long, long race.

Having said all that, it's time to start thinking about the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in December. The original plan was to build up a base working towards San Jose, then build off that and work on speed for Vegas. I hope to start with ~15 mile weeks and keep going from there. Hopefully by Vegas I'll have quite a few long runs under my belt, and everything will be trucking along smoothly.

I do believe my little barefooting thing exacerbated my leg issue, so I'm gonna hold off on any more of that for the time being. If I feel amazing in November, maybe I'll sneak a few more barefoot runs in. There are a few other culprits, but I believe the barefooting didn't help. I have to have more miles under my belt to be able to do that regularly.

If all goes well, I also plan on incorporating some strength training and other conditioning into the mix. Ski season is coming up, and I wanna have my quads, core and hammies ready to hit the slopes.

Good times.

Photo courtesy joysaphine on Flickr.

Getting Mentally Ready

2009-09-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well kids, the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon is in 12 days.

Am I ready?

I'm not entirely sure. Running was going great, but I have hit a few snags along the way. This last week has been an utter trip. Running and I have not gotten along the last several days. I have some theories as to why, and I can right them, but I can't take many more bad runs like the one on Monday. A day like that in San Jose will lock out any chance I have of finishing the half marathon with my head held high.

So, I'm a bit nervous.

I have had life interfere with some of my runs, and haven't lost an ounce of weight (like I planned), but hopefully I can pull it all together in these last days and get my #$@% together.

One other thing: if it's hot again in San Jose like it was last year, I'm done. I'm toast. I can rehydrate and drink as I go, but ultimately I don't think I can hang in warm, sunny, windless weather.

It's Time to Play: Sick? Or Sore?

2009-09-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sunday's 9 miler was awesome and I was a raving ball of happy endorphins all day, but when Monday rolled around I felt a little beat up. I hadn't run 9 miles in quite some time, and the various aches were subtle enough—and in odd enough places—that I actually felt a little flu-like.

Soreness in the quads or calves would be no surprise. But I had trouble the whole run keeping my chest and shoulders relaxed, which meant some stiffness the next day. Really, I kinda felt just a touch beat-up all over. I went to sleep (incredibly) early last night, ready to shake it off.

This morning I still felt a tiny bit achey, but was ready to hit Crissy Field for another 5 miles.

Kids, I pretty much went all-out on this monkey. Like a 4-out-of-5. I ran to What Are You Made Of?!? and part of How To Turn Around A Bad Day—both at 175BPM—and absolutely kicked ass. That's the fastest I've ever done 5 miles. Ever. I really didn't think I'd be able to bring it in under 50 minutes, but I done did it.

Again, I'm awash in endorphins and feelin' fine.

Thinking...

2009-09-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

First off, I *have* been running; just because there's been no posts doesn't mean there's been no runs. (My high school English teachers are all cringing at that last sentence.)

I've been faithfully logging the miles at dailymile.com—even the ones that I didn't use my Nike+ for, like the Milan trip.

The question has become: what is the purpose of this blog?
From a workout perspective, I have tracking, social interaction & challenges with Nike+. I also have some of the same functionality with dailymile.com, which is somewhat redundant, but also complimentary. Twitter is the absolute BOMB for moment-to-moment, real-time interaction—its ephemeral nature simultaneously one of its best qualities as well as its biggest downfalls. I usually save my more researched posts for the Hella Sound blog, which leaves Slow Mofo for more informal, stream-of-conscious banter/fodder.

If I were a really good writer and had interesting things to share (like her or him or her or him or her or her or her or him) there wouldn't be a question about the purpose of this blog. But frankly, I don't think I deliver the goods as consistently—or with the authority—that those folks do.

I'm not sure what y'all get out of reading this blog, or what I may offer that's different; I can only speak from my side. What I get our of this blog is a sense of connection with you guys. Every blog has a sort of community, and while this one is more like a few folks sitting around a campfire (and less like a 1,000-person conference), it's still something that I feel is incredibly valuable. I don't feel like I get that same thing at the various social sites (dailymile.com, Nike+, or even Facebook).

I love doing post-race wrap-ups. I get a big kick out of that. But I think I'm going to abstain from doing the day-to-day run logging here and keep them in the sites I mentioned above. Hopefully I'll discover a wonderful, exciting purpose for Slow Mofo and rededicate my efforts. But until I do, don't think I've abandoned this monkey; I'm just rethinking.

LOST: Motivation. Please Return to Owner. Reward.

2009-08-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

As explained below, this was my last run. What is that, 4 days ago? Yeesh. So, I've enlisted the help of this guy to help me find my motivation again. He looks like the kind of guy that'll get the job done, provided you pay in unmarked bills and supply enough bourbon.

Watch out: he's got a knife in his boot.

Honestly, as many of y'all know that have blogs, I'm confident that I'll derive some motivation out of the simple act of whipping up this poast. It gets your head back in the game, gets you connected with your goals and your running community. Crazy how that works, but it does.

I'll run tomorrow.

Workout

Distance 4 miles
Location Crissy Field, SF CA
Shoes Asics Kayano
The Lowdown I can't say I remember much about this run, except I got it done, went home, showered, then went out and ate a bunch of Chinese food. And then drank a lot of beer. (Please see @PunkRockRunner's post on Chinese food. You'll be glad you did.)

I hustled to get Hella Sound running music track #2 together and up, which was long hours. And then I guess I celebrated some. By the time Friday rolled around, I was pretty much done for, but got this run in anyway. By Saturday I was Melba toast. Fried.

I haven't run since. I missed my long on Sunday and missed my Tuesday 4.5 miler.

Which is to say: egads.

Photo courtesy Bukutgirl on Flickr.

Who Likes Music???

2009-08-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

Man oh man I've been busy! I've had my head stuck in music production since Friday, hustling to get Hella Sound's second release out the door. I finally got each MP3 rendered, QA'd and uploaded to my shopping cart at 4:30am. Yay! (Note to self: moving around 55 meg files on the internet *always* takes longer than anticipated.)

I'll be putting up a blurb on HellaSound.com about the song soon, but in a nutshell: it's a rip-your-face-off metal song that fires you up and keeps you psyched. I set out to make something blistering and heavy, and I think I got it.

Again, I say onto thee: yay!

Workout

Distance 6 miles
Location Crissy Field, SF CA
Shoes Asics Kayano
The Lowdown This was a good run. I'd been hustling all weekend (and most of Thursday and Friday) for work, so getting out for a run was something my soul was excited for.

As a huge departure, I brought water with me. I never do this. Ever. The way I see it, races have water about every 3 miles, so I'm going to get in the habit of rehydrating every 3 miles. Makes sense, huh?

Going long? Then go slow. I kept telling myself "easy does it" during the run, consciously slowing myself down and just focusing on cruising. Cruise cruise cruise cruise cruise. "No need to hustle, this was just a cruise"—that kind of thing. In the end, I'm surprised my time and average was what it was. I thought I was going faster than that. Good stuff.

Image courtesy Gerrysan on Flickr.

The Deal with Shoes

2009-08-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of discussion about modern running shoes' detrimental effect; the theory goes something like "modern, high-tech shoes encourage biomechanically incorrect movement and lead to all the injury you see in the running community". Go ahead, Google it—I'll wait for you to come back.

Like almost everyone else, I've invested the effort (and money) in finding shoes that seem to fit my physiology and ability. I chose Asics Nimbus based on my own reading and experience, and my new Asics Kayano from recommendation. And I've noticed how the Kayano does have more structure, does enforce more specific movement than the neutral Nimbus. Are these shoes encouraging bad habits?

I've also recently acquired Vibram Five Fingers "barefoot" running shoes. I'd been relatively obsessed with them since I heard of them, and I believe there is some logic to the idea that walking barefoot—with toes and other footy parts with free range movement—can encourage healthier, stronger lower legs and feet. Honestly, I had no plans of running in the Vibrams. I mostly wanted to get them for cruising around, running errands, etc. (You run a lot of errands on foot when you live in San Francisco.)

My take on the whole thing:
I applaud those that are trying barefoot running. It's commendable, and at some point I might hit the track for some easy workouts in the Vibrams. But I'm particularly aware of my form, my foot plant, and the impact each stride I take. For a 250lb guy, I believe I am remarkably light on my feet. I am the last guy you'll hear *SLAP* *SLAP* *SLAP*-ing on the pavement next to you during a run. As such, I believe modern, highly-engineered shoes are fine.

To say it another way: I could probably learn how to play baseball without a mitt, building up callouses and developing the technique to field a line-drive bare-handed. But why?

What do you guys think? Weigh in!

Workout

Distance 4 miles
Location Crissy Field, SF CA
Shoes Asics Nimbus
The Lowdown I *never* run two days in a row! Well, almost never. I guess this was an exception to the rule. I've missed cross-training days and whatnot, but I'm not going to miss my run days—even if I have to double 'em up. I ran Tuesday's run on Thursday, so Thursday's run had to happen on Friday in order to get a rest day in before Sunday's long run. (Got all that?)

I felt awesome during this run. Just great. I felt like everything was clicking. It was nearly effortless, really. And imagine my surprise when I got it done in under 40 minutes. Crazy.

Image courtesy slendle84 on Flickr.

Self-Reflexive Prater from a Liminal Space

2009-08-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

Cliche to show Oscar the Grouch in a blog post (or, if I may, "poast")? Yeah, I guess. But I was grouchy today. So, you get an Oscar.

In Other News

I reckon this is a blog in transition. Why? Because it occurred to me after my run today that my normal bread-and-butter post ("poast") content is sorta boring. I can do better. I can't do a lot better, but I can do better than I normally do. Where I'll go with this I'm not quite sure, but rest assured, this pristine frond is pivoting on its x axis.

Workout

This was a medicinal run. I knew I would feel better once I did it. I caught the last of today's sunshine down at Crissy Field, doing a final test run to our new song. (I'm pleased as punch with how the song turned out, btw. It should be available this weekend.) We had a visitor in town, so I wasn't able to run since Sunday's 5 miler. It felt great to get out.

My Favorite Endogenous Opioid Polypeptides

2009-08-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

The Most Important Thing

When I did my little 36th Year Wrap-Up post, I forgot one of the most important things I learned this year:
Get to know people that run at (or slower than) your speed.
Follow them on Twitter, friend 'em up at a running group, connect with them on dailymile, follow their blog.

Why? Lemme tell ya:

I really started paying a lot more attention to my running—and connecting with other runners—about a year and a half ago (or so). The first few people who I connected with and/or followed their blogs (folks like this guy and this guy and of course this guy) are interesting, inspiring, talented and funny folks. But DAYAM are they fast. Like really fast.

And I'm just not.

In reading their accomplishments, race reports and workouts, I kept thinking "man, I really suck." It wasn't until I started "following" runners that aren't super-fast, super-accomplished, etc that I realized that I don't suck—I'm just slower than these guys.

I still love getting out there, getting faster, going longer. However fast these guys run shouldn't be discouraging for me. I don't even have to come up with some sort of rationalization or whatever; the fact is: It just doesn't matter.

In addition, the more runners I met that were around my speed, the more I discovered that there are plenty of folks that are slower than us, and they still love running, still love getting out there, still love putting in the miles.

So, if I have anything of value to pass along to you at the beginning of my 37th year, it's this: find runners your speed. Your (running) world opens up as soon as you do.

Sunday's Run

Man oh man was I tired when I started this run. Exhausted, even. Three nights of not enough sleep, plus not-so-good food had me feeling mighty sapped.

I'd already missed one run last week due to my schedule (a freakishly busy one for me). I was not about to miss my "long" for the week. I'm a man on the mission, you know?

So, I put on the Asics Nimbus and hit Crissy Field. (The Kayanos were good for the last run, but I did have a wee little bit of tenderness in my left lower leg. I'm getting used to them, and I'm doing it a bit at a time.)

Kids, my ass was dragging. I'm amazed my average pace was ~10:20 (Nike+ data and all), because I really felt SLOW. In addition, it was downright warm out there—warm and sunny, no less—and it got pretty hot pretty fast. It was hot enough for me to stop mid-way and get some water at a drinking fountain, which is something I never do.

I'll admit, that little bastard the Quit Monster did surface momentarily right after mile 2, but I didn't pay him much mind.

Done and done. And once I was finished, I was chock-full of my buddies, the endogenous opioid polypeptide compounds, AKA endorphins. I love those little guys. I felt great the rest of the day.

Image courtesy law_keven on Flickr.

Good Good Good

2009-08-06T23:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight almost felt like the perfect summer evening. If it was only, say, 10 degrees warmer. I hit Crissy Field as the sun was fixing to set and put in my 3.5 miles, road testing the next Hella Sound song. The recording phase is all done—I'm in the mixing phase, and am just about ready to release that puppy out into the wild. (It was, incidentally, great to run to.)

I took the new Asics Kayanos out for the third time. The first two times I ended up feeling pretty shin splinty, but I've been putting more miles in (building up the base). I also walked around in them a bit to get my legs/feet acclimated. I think it worked. They felt great during the run—super solid. I reckon those'll be the shoes I run the half-marathons in, and I'm glad that they're starting to feel right.

"Running" Late...

2009-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

(Ya see what I did there? Like, using "running" as, like, an allusion to my workouts, and, like, as part of the phrase? Didja see that? Huh? Heh heh heh.) (Yeah, I suck.)

Yeesh, I'm a little late on this post.

See, I turned 37 on Thursday, which was nice. And I had every intention of celebrating (in part) by offering a wrap-up here on Slow Mofo of what I learned in my 36th year. Insights, clever musings—you know, the kind of thoughtful writing I never, ever do on this blog.

I got all wrapped up in finishing recording on Hella Sound's second release, and never quite got around to posting my 36th Year Report (or my last 2 runs for that matter). So, without further ado, difficulty, delay, fuss or disturbance, here's said runs and said wrap-up.

Birthday Run

Down to the usual out-and-back route at Crissy Field for this 3.5 miler. I guess I'm supposed to take some of these runs more seriously and intensely, but right now I'm concentrating on just getting the miles in and building my base without injury. I'll say this much: even when not trying hard I seem to be sticking roughly around the 10min/mi mark, which I'm happy with. I don't remember a lot from this run, other than I felt really cranky during, and was glad that I'd get a nice endorphin bump afterwards. It's the running-as-drugs method, you see. ;)

"Long" Run

Sunday's "long" run, but done on Monday because Sunday was just too damn busy. I recorded guitar tracks all Sunday—the heavy, Metallica-style chunka chunka chunka riffs—until the wrist of my picking hand was numb. Monday's recording was all finishing up the last few guitar parts—solo-y melodic-type lines, but with a lot of angst and menace in them. (Have I mentioned song #2 is a metal song? That's important to note.) Anyway, my fretting fingers (left hand) were beat up when I was finished, so it was time to run. Again, down to Crissy Field for the run.

Crissy Field is really pretty amazing for a local run route. I mean, it's on the bay, there's a nice big "fire lane"-style trail, the out is a full view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the back is a view of downtown San Francisco. Pretty fantastic. (Oh, I just remembered a detail from Thursday's run: all the tourists were out with the cameras, but it was SO CLOUDY/FOGGY that the bridge was nowhere to be seen. When it's really foggy, it just vanishes. Sorta funny, if it wasn't absolutely miserable. But I digress.)

What I Learned in My 36th Year

Hello 37. That's a nice diagonal stem you have there. Welcome to the party. Can I get you a drink?

This was a helluva year. It had its pleasures and challenges. In bullet-list format:

Got my little business running I started it when I was 35, but it wasn't until I was 36 that I actually made real progress on Hella Sound—getting our first song up, developing good relationships, finding my voice with it, so to speak. Let me tell you: it is unbelievably gratifying to come up with an idea, make it a reality, and have people respond positively to it. It's a wee little thing now, but I hope to nurture it, grow it and build it bigger and bigger and bigger. More to come.
Now Exiting Newbieland As stated before, I've essentially been a running newbie for years now. In my 36th year, I finally feel like I have the secret sauce and the magic formula to exit newbieland. Basically, you must appreciate that what you're doing is stressful on the body, and you have to take things slowly. This is hard for the enthusiastic beginner, but unless you're incredibly, freakishly, impossibly resilient, it's absolutely essential. Think about surfaces, think about hills, think about speed and think about miles. All of these will take their toll. Tackle them one at a time. If you're doing hills, don't go long. If you're going long, do it slowly. If you're running on concrete, don't run that far. This, I believe, is the key to building a base healthily, which is how you advance from noob status.
Got mentions in major media Having Hella Sound mentioned in the New York Times was a dream come true of sorts. I pretty much flipped out and was on Cloud 9 that week. From there Kim Komando was nice enough to write about us for the USA Today. Again, flip-out worthy. We're not big or influential (yet), but this was extremely gratifying. Which is to say: woohoo!
Hello Bobby As mentioned before, I found out this year—after having horrific headaches for 8 months—that I had a little stowaway growing in my noggin. A tumor, to be exact—and walnut-sized, no less. Crazy, huh? A generally healthy guy doesn't walk around thinking "hey, I've got a tumor growing in my head!", so it took me a while to get used to the concept. As it turns out, it's non-cancerous, non-life-threatening, run-of-the-mill mostly-harmless kind of tumor. We named him "Bobby". The problem with Bobby is, while he's not going to kill me or spread, he has basically done a number on my pituitary gland (which is incredibly important). As a result, little things like my thyroid and human growth hormone production are all cattywampus. Jacked up. Etc etc. For the last 5-10 years, Bobby, as it turns out, has been sabotaging me from the inside, contributing to things like weight gain, recovery time after workouts, inability to gain muscle mass, and in general physiological not-so-fresh feeling. Again: crazy, huh? So, from here on out I take some meds, I get a shot every 2 weeks, and bam, I'm basically good as new. As a matter of fact, I'm better than I've been in YEARS now that Bobby's under control, which is an amazing feeling. I basically feel like I'm 25, which is incredible. Nevertheless, this definitely goes in the WTF?!? category for my 36th year.
Caught the race bug Thanks to some incredibly cool people on Twitter (you know who you are), I've found myself in more and more races, and am really digging it. I ran a half, two 5ks and two 10ks in my 36th year, and have no less than two halfs lined up for my 37th. Even crazier notions have since come into my head—like doing the Ragnar Relay, and venturing into the land of the Triathlon. Yes, I'm hooked.
Met some amazing people Look no further than the list of people I follow on Twitter to see amazing people. Granted, most of the amazing people I've met I've only met online, but a lot of these relationships have crossed over into "the real world", as people that live in their mother's basement say, and it's really fantastic. Getting more and more involved in the running community, I'm perpetually amazed with how generous, smart, cool, and fncking funny people are. People have the most amazing ideas, interests and insights. Good times.

I'm sure there's a lot more to say about my 36th year, but like I explained at the start of this post, I'm half-assing this a bit. It's hard to eloquently explain all that's happened in the last year and sum it up in a nice, neat, tidy package. So, instead, here's a picture of a horse:

Who Likes Haiku?

2009-07-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Three and a half miles
Acclimating myself to
Regular running

I relaxed and cruised
Trying to take it easy
No, I swear I did

The Tenderloin 'hood
Is sooooo shady, yet there's still
million dollar homes

I'm not sure why, but
I feel it in my quads more
Muscle burn is good

Also walked 4 miles
In my Vibrams; figured I'd
switch it up a bit

While wearing spandex
You let out a raucous fart;
Does it bubble out?

That's all I got. Side note: met up with Gregory from Racevine for lunch today. Talkin' shop, making some plans, etceteras. Good times.

Have a great hump day!

OMG 5K PR @ SFM LOL FTW!

2009-07-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

That's right, babies: I officially shaved about 3:30 off my 5k time in today's San Francisco Marathon 5k!

Wooohooo!

I gotta tell ya, I ran my ass off today. I went out there and ran about as quickly and as hard as I could; and although I didn't break 30:00, I'm pleased as punch with my result.

It was perfect weather to run hard: it was gloomy and cool—about 58°, cloudy and humid. I got to the race, did my warm-up (dynamic) stretches and found a comfy spot at the starting corral. From the jump to the end, everything felt right. My cardio felt good, my legs felt good, my cadence felt good; in addition, I felt very comfortable passing through the crowd and maintaining my pace. I believe there's a bit of an art to finding the right place to start in a non-wave, shorter (5k) race. If you're too far back, you'll have to wade through a lot of people. If you're too far up front, you'll get trampled by people that churn out -7 minute miles. Today I felt like I found the right place.

Like I said, I am happy. I do have one major gripe, however: although we wore timing chips, we never passed over a starting line chip sensor. It was actually kinda weird. We initially all gathered behind what appeared to be a starting sensor. Then, oddly, 5 minutes before the gun, they had us all walk forward about 60 yards or so. I noticed as we walked that we stepped over what (again) looked like the start line sensor. It was confusing—we were all wondering why they were moving us up, and some thought for a second that we had begun the race.

Personally, I think somebody effed up. I think they were unable to reset the sensor, or that it wasn't working correctly, or *something*. Something went wrong. Of this I'm sure. And since I was really looking to sub-30:00 today, this was a bit of a disappointment. From the gun to the actual start line, there was quite a bit of shuffling and moving around wasted seconds. Was it 22 whole seconds—the amount of time that'd put me under 30:00? I don't know. I don't even want to speculate.

So, while I'm a little pissed at the SFM folks, I am pleased as punch with my race. I gave it my all and, like I said on Twitter, I think ~30:00 is about as fast as I can run a 5k at my current (250lbs) weight. I have no doubt that I could shave minutes off by shaving off pounds. But, everything in good time.

Next up: get smart, consistent, base-building work done, heading towards October 4th's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. It'll be good.

The Results:
Finish: 30:21
Place Overall: 340 out of 1372
Men: 173 out of 460
Age/Grade: 43.74%*
Gun Time: 30:21
Tag Time: 30:21**
Strollers That Passed Me: 1***
Pace: 9:46****

* I still have no idea what Age/Grade means.
** THERE WAS NO STARTING LINE!!! We never stepped over a starting line chip sensor! They did a count down and we just started running. Basically, I think somebody at SFM effed up and they're hoping nobody noticed.
*** As historically proven, getting strollered doesn't really bother me too much. What bothered me about this one is that she (unlike other stroller pushers that pass me) didn't look like an Iron Man finisher, and yet she didn't really seem to be trying hard. Sorta humbling.
**** My Nike+ says my pace was 9:13. Then again the Nike+ is pretty inaccurate—it thinks I ran 3.29 miles. So, whatever.

Quick note: happy birthday to @TLM26, who celebrated her 27th PRing a marathon. How cool is that? @LosBee, @roadbunner, @audgepodge1, @kristin_running, @chicrunner, @MarathonMaritza, @bicoastalite, @runnersrambles, a few other folks and I all met up at Gordon Biersch after the race to celebrate. Good times.

Why I Love California (in 4 Miles or Less)

2009-07-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

I've heard stories of other runners getting heckled by passing pickup trucks; I've personally walked through the lobby of hotels while traveling and gotten strange looks from guests and bellmen about my running clothes (and these are just normal, standard-issue running clothes—I don't bust out my Sugoi knee-highs when I'm on the road). In California, however, if you go to the hotel front desk and ask about local running routes, they just might hand you something like this (left): a map including street names and running distances, like I received yesterday.

You gotta love that. Not only did they not think it was strange that I wanted to run, they had routes already mapped out and printed, in a small-enough size that I could easily carry it and (if need be) refer to it during my run. My inner Seth Godin went on a ramble about how some businesses anticipate customer need and go the extra, thoughtful mile. But, since Seth is a biker and not a runner, I ignored his interjection and went about my run.

Last Sunday was the Los Gatos 10k; this Sunday is the San Francisco Marathon 5k. I was scheduled for a 3 miler, but the local 4 mile route colluded with my desire to stay on track for October's half marathon—I'll miss Sunday's 4 miler while doing the SFM 5k—so I set off to do 4 miles.

Warm, beautiful, sunny weather was the order of the day in Redwood City; @LosBee was down the peninsula for a conference, so I tagged along to get out of San Francisco for a bit. I swear, San Francisco is in the locus of crapitude weather-wise. The ocean, the bay, the inland area and it's tip-o-the-peninsula position band together and insure that there's almost always a thick layer of gray loitering above the city. I *hate it. It's ridiculous. Sure, I have posted many times how gorgeous the weather is out, but it's usually a short segment of the day that affords this sunshine. And all you have to do is look across the bay to see the clouds dissipate into blue skies and sunshine. Drives me crazy. Why the hell couldn't San Francisco be 15 miles north or 15 miles south?

*sigh*

Anyway, enough of my seasonal affected bitching.

Having grown mildly wiser recently to the ways of the run, I took these 4 miles easy. I understand there now to be 4 run-to-run factors that I can be aware of and act accordingly: surface, topography (hills), distance and speed. (In the longer haul there are more factors, like body weight, weekly mileage, etc, but the 4 above are adequate from the narrower run-to-run scope.) The route was flat but paved, and I was setting out to run slightly longer than my usual 5k, so the smart thing to do is run slower and easier. My shins were a little wigged out (especially after the last run), but all went well.

I think it's rest from here to Sunday. I'm not totally confident that my Nike+ has been accurately measuring distances, so I'm not convinced I've actually run a sub-30:00, but at this point all I can do is psych myself up and haul as much ass as possible on Sunday.

Wish me luck!

"Recovery" Run

2009-07-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

I reckon this is what folks call the post-race recovery run. Does a 10k warrant a recovery run? Yeah, I guess it does. If I was a marathoner than probably not, but since I ain't: yes, it does.

Oh experienced running geniuses, tell me:
Have you ever gotten shin splints when trying out new shoes?

I ran the Los Gatos 10k in my old Asics Nimbus, but I recently purchased Asics Kayanos in the hopes that they'd be my new shoe. Based on the recommendation at the gait analysis, the Kayanos would be more supportive, better than the Nimbus.

But damn if they don't give me pain in my shins & ankles. I'm not going to wear these monkeys for the 5k this weekend, but hopefully I'll get used to them in the long haul.

Thanks to @sugigrl I have found myself in yet another half marathon: The Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. This puppy is in early December. If all goes well in October's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon I'll go into it the December race with confidence and a time goal.

Which is to say: w00t.

Los Gatos 10k Post-Mortem [Lookin' Back & Forward]

2009-07-20T12:01:00.000-07:00

Race #6 is in the books, and for me it was a PR for the 10k.

The Results:

Finish: 1:08:40
Place Overall: 277 out of 463
Men Age Group: 38 out of 45
Strollers That Passed Me: 0 (!)

Pace*: 10:18
Splits*:

m1  9:28
m2  9:56
m3  9:58
m4  9:32
m5  10:00
m6  10:13

* Both Pace and Splits are from Nike+, which looks dubious and imprecise. But screw it, it's close enough. I also made the stupid mistake *again* of wandering around with my Nike+ after the run without shutting it off, which explains the fall-off at the end. Duh. I'm an idiot.

What a fun day! This was my first tweet-up race with Twitter folks, which included: @jasonwiener, @ridgeley, @smellycents, @sugigrl and @csoto. They all ran the half and I ran the 10k, but we got some good hang-out time pre- and post-race. Such a good time.

Brief Recap & Highlights

When @smellycents tells you it's a flat, fast course, do not believe her. Aside from the mid-race rolling hills, there was at least 2 hearty ascents and a few downhills to be reckoned with. You've been warned.
It was toasty out there. Maybe mid-80s or so, sunny and a little humid at race time. I sweat buckets, but thanks to my ridiculous heat-training efforts I was able to weather it well. Success!
The course wasn't marked well splits-wise. At least I didn't see the markers for the first 5 miles or so. At one point I passed by two course workers that were busy flirting with each other. Out of curiousity (and to get my bearings) I asked them "hey, where are we in the course?" They were late-teens to early-twenties. The guy responded "you're in between mile 2 and 3." The girl, however, responded "don't worry—you're doing fine! Keep going!" What a dumbass. Seriously? Dude, I'm not looking for info, not a cheering section. Oy. Urge to punch...rising....rising...
I felt like I kept my pace—hills and all—pretty well. I felt better conditioned for this race than others, and a lot more confident. I did Galloway twice—once at about mile 5 for 30 seconds, and then down the final hill. This spurs me on for the next 10k, to keep my pace consistently throughout the whole entire monkey. Well, given a flat course.

Favorite Moment

@smellycents bombing down the final hill, passing me and screaming "go get 'em John whooooooo!!!" right in my ear—loud enough to induce a fight-or-flight response from my adrenal glands and numbness in my left ear. It was hysterical, because she had basically caught up with me even though she ran 4 extra miles at that point.

Lookin' Back

So, 10k #2 is in the bag. I like 10ks. I think this'll be my distance. I beat my previous 10k by :08 measly seconds, but this was a much tougher course and conditions.

Lookin' Forward

Next weekend is the San Francisco Marathon, and I'm doing the 5k. It's a flat, flat course, and I'm hoping to sub-30:00. I'm gonna hustle ass and see how it goes.

I will also be diligently focusing on October's San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon. That should occupy me for a good 2 months. I'm going to stick to the Higdon plan like glue, put in the miles, put in the time and hope for the best.

Big ups to all that raced this weekend. Y'all rock.

:: HAPPY :: 2 Runs and a Ride :: HAPPY ::

2009-07-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

Friday's run went well—I'm digging the 5k distance, as always. It does good by me. I should have run 5 miles on Sunday; however, I went out and watched UFC 100 and enjoyed myself far, far (far) too much on Saturday, and felt in no condition to run. Or, really, anything. Dumb. But I guess sometimes you have to cut loose a little, and I had an absolute riot watching the fights at Underdogs in the Inner Sunset. Great, great night.

Monday would have been a yoga night but I got walloped with what felt like a bad cold. In the end, I think it was allergies. Normally allergies for me are itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing--nothing sickly. Just sorta like a respiratory system tickle fest. This, however, was really bad. My voice was gone, I had a fever, etc. Crazy. I somehow felt more-or-less fine on Tuesday, though, so I'm assuming it was allergies and not a cold.

Tuesday: 3m

Per The Plan V called for a 3 miler on Tuesday, so I strapped on the shoes and rocked it out. Incidentally, my lovely @LosBee got me Vibrams for my b-day; they were delivered early so I wore them all day up until my run. They are friggen FANTASTIC. I don't know that I'll ever run in them, but they are amazing to tool around in. And after wearing shoes with toes, it's really weird to wear normal running shoes.

(Side Note My take on barefoot and Vibram running: If you wanted to you could probably condition your hands to play baseball without a mitt. But why? Me, I'll continue wearing over-engineered running shoes...for the foreseeable future... I like the added protection, even if it comes at a cost.)

Wednesday: Bike

I've been trying to work cross-training in more, and hopping on the bike is easy to do. I'm not really keeping track of miles or times, just getting out for 30 minutes or so and riding. There's a lot of hills and a lot of scenery in San Francisco, and you definitely get your cardio in. I rode down to the Bay, over to Golden Gate Bridge (up the imposing hill at the foot), back down through the Presidio and up to my place. My quads were friggen *pumped*, jackson. It's cardio-meets-resistance training.

Thursday: 5m Sunset Run

The fantastic Fleet Feet San Francisco holds regular group Sunset Runs in the summer. This was my first. It was a cool event, held in my normal running route at Crissy Field. They had a DJ and giveaways. It was cold as hell at the start, but a lot of fun. The plan was to meet up with a bunch of Twitter runners, but a few were late. I did get to meet @Princesks and her husband in person, which was nice, but got separated from her before the run started. @Adilemmasf, @smellycents and I waited around for them, then started up waaaaaay at the back of the pack. I think we were the last folks to leave the start (except our late-arrival friends, who were still in transit when we began). First off, @smellycents is fast as hell—she's a multiple marathoner/Iron Man-in-training athlete monster (you really should follow her on Twitter—you won't be disappointed). @Adilemmasf is also a mighty speedy runner, but she's nursing an injured achilles. They *said* they just wanted to take it slow, but their "slow" is my "busting ass", and while I foolishly tried to keep up at the beginning, all was better when they went off on their own pace and I eased back into mine. I can't do 9:15 min/miles for 5 miles. Would like to, just can't.

We met up with our other late-arriving friends (@TLM26, @MarathonMaritza, @runnersrambles, @Kristin_running) at the finish, then some of us went over to The Tipsy Pig for post-run refreshment.

The Sunset Run was fantastic, and I'm stoked to do it again. I forgot to shut off my Nike+ while I was standing around at the finish, so my average pace is sorta wonked—clocking a 54:50 split time while you're standing around stretching will do that. Based on the run, though, I think I can comfortably beat out 10:15 min/miles this weekend at the Los Gatos 10k. That was the cruise speed I settled into once @smellycents and @Adilemmasf broke off and went their own pace. I feel really good about the pace and the distance, and am ready to get to it!

Progress, Knowledge, Ibuprofen

2009-07-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

I've been bitching about my perennial newbie status as runner and chronic, recurring shin splints. Like all bitching, I'm sure it's endlessly entertaining to you, the reader. After another run, and some reflection on feedback from some really great people on Twitter, I think I have a handle on my own personal Whys as well as specific me-centric Solutions.

First: Solutions

Continuing every-other-day 5k runs, with modest weekly longer runs. The idea is to build up a base and keep it. Hopefully the Hal Higdon Half Marathon plan doesn't jack me up too much when I start prepping for October's SJ RnR.
Don't skip any runs. You can't build a base if you're not consistently putting miles in.
Skip runs if the shins flare up. No point in forcing an injury if an extra rest day puts me back on track.
Ibuprofen is my friend. I avoided NSAIDs because I was afraid of masking pain that might indicate injury. But really, Ibuprofen is not about pain relief, it's about fighting inflammation. Brilliant! Taking 600mg of Ibuprofen after a run (as needed) is kinda a pharmaceutical version of wrapping your legs in Ace bandages—from the inside. Again, brilliant!
Focus on volume; mind distance, surfaces, speed and topography. In building a base, my goal is to get my body accustomed to handling greater mileage—more volume. Miles, surfaces, speed and hills are each fatiguing factors that your body has to acclimate to. Seriously. Each one of them exacts a price, individually. Mixing too much of them together is a recipe for injury.
Lose weight. Every pound I can shed means less impact on my joints. Simple enough.
Hips and core exercises. As I've said a billion times, I gotta get on track with my active range of motion hip exercises and core stuff. It really helps.

Whys: Contributing Factors

Inadequate base. See soak, wash, rinse, repeat
Body weight. A heavy male runner—a clydesdale—is 185lbs. I'm about 140% above that—a super-clydesdale. I can fix that.
Overly ambitious. Trying to tack on more miles at a faster pace and mixing in hills will give you shin splints. What can I say, I get excited!
Inadequate rest. They say a big part of recovery is good sleep. My sleep has sucked for the last 4 years or so, but I think I've fixed this. And yes, I'm excited about it.
Slow cadence. This one might seem weird, but I swear it's true: a faster cadence means lighter steps, which means better impact mediation. I've read this in many places, and I have my own anecdotal evidence, but I have no scholarly research to cite, so this one falls in the "I'm pretty sure it's true" category.
Biomechanical issues. Like a lot of people, my legs aren't exactly the same length. Sexy, huh ladies? In addition (or maybe because of this), my hips are a little on the weak side. This causes issues down to the soles of my shoes.

I was pretty sore after Wednesday's run, and that bummed me out. But I took some Advil, wrapped up the legs and got a good night sleep. Thursday was a tiny bit tender, but really not bad at all, and today I felt pretty darn perfect. I hit Crissy Field and put in the usual 5k. Felt pretty darn good throughout.

So, all-in-all, things are going well. I'm gonna keep on hustlin' and turn this b*tch out, and sooner or later I'll shed my noob status for good.

Side note: tomorrow is UFC 100. Aside from football, mma is the only sport I really enjoy watching. There's a lot of good fights on the card, and I'm looking forward to watching the PPV. I've suckered a friend into coming to a bar with me to watch it. Good times, good times.

What is: "No"?

2009-07-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

The question was:
Can you run with

AND

AND

in your system?

The answer, as the post title indicates, is "no". The judges would have also accepted "not comfortably" and "not well" as valid answers. More on this in a minute.

My Midwestern Mid-Day Heat & Hills Run

I was out in the Midwest early this week and got a chance to run in some real heat and humidity. As I've said before, I've been hoping to get some heat training in as prep for the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon just in case it's hot on race day. San Francisco doesn't really get hot (ever), so I set out mid-day on a humid, 83°+ day for a 5 miler.

It was hot and it was hilly. It was fun running in farmland, though, because the driver in every pickup that went by (and every car was a pickup) gave me the friendly farmer wave. You know, the hand-on-the-steering-wheel-two-finger wave that you get in farm country. It was pretty cool. I'm used to drivers waiting impatiently at stop signs for runners, so the friendly farmer wave was a welcome change.

Both the heat and the hills wilted me a bit, so I ended up walking some—Gallowaying it, if you will. But I got it done.

And now on to my cautionary tale of poor pre-run food choices...

My Burrito + Hotdog + Chili Cheese Fries Run

We flew back home yesterday, forcing us to grab grub at the airport. Well, there are healthy choices to be had in airports these days, but I went for a chicken burrito. When we finally got home I was hungry again, and ended up indulging in a hot dog and chili cheese fries from a local chain. They don't serve great hot dogs, but so-so hot dogs are better than no hot dogs.

I waited about an hour and a half before running, knowing that chili and exercise don't go well together. I figured that was long enough. And, as you've gathered, I was wrong.

I had to stop several times, which lead to unfortunate vorping and discomfort, but in the end I got this run done, too.

Dammit, if my shins didn't hurt. AGAIN.

This lead to ibuprofen, Ace bandages and a very helpful thread on Twitter. (As of right now I'm not sure how to document a Twitter thread, so you'll just have to take my word that @sheilamking, @smellycents, @timhibbard, @runnersrambles, @ncjack, @ginaharris1, @anotorias, @meechellee, @kelownagurl and @sugigrl were all incredibly helpful. For that matter, if you run and you're NOT on Twitter, go slap yourself and then sign up for Twitter. It's as great a community tool as blogging is, but instantaneous. Friend me up while you're there.)

I'm R.I.C.E.ing today (well, the Rest and Compression part—Elevating is hard to do when you work at a desk). We'll see how the shins feel tomorrow. If they're good, I'll trot. If not, I'll R.I.C.E. again.

Thursday is a Sunset Run, which a lot of Tweeters are doing. I'm looking forward to it!

4 on the 4th

2009-07-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Went down to Crissy Field today and put in 4 miles in my Asics Nimbus with the Superfeet insoles. I didn't really intend to run 4 miles in under 40 minutes, it just kinda happened. I felt really good, and I think I'm ready to move from 165bpm to 170bpm. I feel better running at a faster cadence, even though my goal isn't to clock faster splits. It just feels better.

I've mostly been reading audio books (production stuff—mixing and mastering), but I should get back to reading the Chirunning book. I'm curious to know what their thoughts on cadence are, as I know it's an element of their running philosophy.

I'm not gonna lie: 4 miles did feel a little tough. I am a little worried about the Los Gatos 10k coming up. But my plan is to churn out runs every other day, work on my overall base and not worry about the distance so much. If the 6.whatever miles of the 10k race is my longest run in a while, fine, as long as I can get from here to there injury-free and feeling good.

I have been weather-prepping as much as possible for the warmer races. Today it was sunny and warm for San Francisco, which means it was breezy and maybe 68° or so at Crissy Field. I wore a long sleeve dark teeshirt with my heaviest black tee over it. There were times when there was no wind and it did get a little warm, which is good. I'm trying to get used to that for the San Jose RnR. Fingers crossed.

Totally Unrelated

In the last few weeks:
Michael Jackson died
Farah Fawcett died
Ed McMahan died
(pitch man) Billy Mays died
and today Steve McNair apparently was shot to death.

What the hell is going on? It's a really bad time to be a celebrity. Crazy.

People are Amazing

2009-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

Based on all the comments from my last post, I'm realizing that the experiences I've had with running are not at all uncommon. In people's responses I hear echoes of the frustration I've had with shin splints, being sidelined and being forever lodged in Noobland.

Some people like to feel that their problems are unique to them, and that their experience is one-of-a-kind. I myself have always gotten solace from knowing others have gone through or are going through the same things I am. It makes me feel like I'm not a complete moron—others have been stuck in the same spot, so whatever I'm doing wrong must be an easy trap to fall into.

It's reassuring.

Anyway, in reading these comments and talking to folks on Twitter, I feel confident and determined about shaking the PermaNoob™ status. Thank you for your comments!

I wasn't able to run yesterday, but I got out today and put in 5k. I went back to my Asics Nimbus shoes and put some blue Superfeet insoles in there. Dude, they were awesome! I tried using Superfeet before and hated them, but I got them again on a recommendation from the CPMC Running Clinic. They recommended I used the blues instead of the heartier greens that I tried last time. There seems to be a little lift in the heel, which probably makes it easier on the achilles.

It was a good run. I'm pleased. A little vitamin I after my run and I'm feeling pretty darn great.

Can't wait to go out running again.

Negotiation, Disappointment, Optimism

2009-06-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

Kids, the last 2 weeks or so have been somewhat frustrating. Lemme break it down for you.

Over the last few years I've racked up about 475 miles running. Yet I've somehow managed to be the perennial beginner. The cycle goes something like this: start running 3 milers, averaging 6 to 10 miles a week; sign up for a race; jump into the training program for the race; get shin splints; half-ass the training program; run the race, do somewhat poorly; take time off from running.

Soak, wash, rinse, repeat.

I'm realizing that not being "good" at running has become a low-level frustration for me. Let me clarify: I was always good at sports, but I'm not a hyper-competitive guy. In baseball or football or whatever, I always tried to do my best, but I never really cared what the final score was. Not winning doesn't really bother me, but I've realized that not being good myself is in and of itself frustrating.

The few weeks I was chasing the sub-30:00 5k crystallized this for me: running felt good, I didn't get shin splints, and I made great progress. I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment.

So now I'm in a 10k and a half marathon, and I have to prepare. And preparation has not gone great. The week I started adding on miles, I immediately started getting wonky shins. Fnck.

Soak, wash, rinse, repeat.

In order to try to break the cycle, I've backed off on the original Hal Higdon half marathon plan (intermediate) and am going for the Higdon novice one. The mileage is less, there's more cross-training possibilities, and it should be more gradual for me.

I just gotta put on miles slower and not get over-ambitious. Total rookie mistake on my part, done over and over again.

Today was a 4 miler, and it was a little weird. First, right out of the gate I had this exceptionally weird feeling that I couldn't get a deep breath. I have no idea why this happened. But it really felt like I couldn't inhale completely. This psyched me out a bit so I paused the Nike+ and did some torso stretches. My lungs felt fine, it just felt like my diaphragm was being uncooperative for some reason. Weird, huh?

My left leg started feeling splinty at about the 2 mile mark, and didn't get better until I stopped at about 3 miles. I am running in new shoes, so for all I know that's a contributing factor. What I did do is pause my Nike+ and remove the shim I wear in my right shoe. It actually helped, and I was able to finish the 4 miles as planned.

Alas, it was 4 somewhat uncomfortable miles with 2 stops. Not ideal. But I'll keep working. And keep R.I.C.E.ing. I want to get good at this.

In other news, the new Nike+ site is up. I had no idea they were whipping up a new version, but that might explain why they had some funkiness the other day—they must have been rolling out some backend stuff and something probably went kablooie. While some folks on Twitter had some initial poo-poos on the new site, I'm down with whatever whatever and will see how it goes as they roll it out (it's still in Beta). Connect with me! My username is (surprise surprise) HellaSound.