I Went Running

....and it was a good one. Went over 5 miles with no pain, except for the normal aches and pains during the first mile of any of my runs. It felt good to get back out there as I was starting to get golf fever with my lack of activity. This weekend I watched Tiger Woods win another golf tournament in dramatic fashion, which he seems to do quite often; and was looking at golf clubs online. At one time a few years ago I owned 5 different pairs of golf shoes and had a nice investment in clubs. I hadn't purchased any new ones in a few years so I was getting the itch to make a purchase. Well now that I feel better I can put golf back on the back burner for a few more years(I will probably buy a new driver any way!) and continue my running.

My next race is a 50k down in Smithville, Tx. on the 18th of April. I'm probably not in ideal shape for the 50k, but will go out and enjoy the last race before the oppressive heats comes this summer. I have a few blogging buddies that will be racing this as well so it will be good to see some familiar faces.

Texas Weather

You heard the saying "that if you don't like the weather wait a while and it will change". Well I am sitting here on the computer and it is a perfect afternoon, sunny with blue skies. Earlier today we had storms roll through and I seemed to be in them all day long. I was in Abilene last night and working my way back home when I kept running into storm cells along the way. There was lighting, strange looking cloud formations, tornado warnings and hail. I got caught in a hail storm and thank goodness it was only pea size as my car would have been in big trouble if it was much bigger. Here are the pictures from the aftermath of the hail.

Not Again

OK, last week I was in the zone and felt great running and everything was going about as good as possible. Fast forward a week, and not so good. I'm really not sure what happened or how, but the back of my right ankle is not good. Walking is not too bad, but it aches all the time and I can't do a calf raise on my right side at all. I've never had this problem so I'm not even sure what it is, but I will let it rest all week and see how it feels before trying to run this weekend.

Send some good vibes my way because I can't handle another nagging injury again this year. If it doesn't get better I'll just become a beer drinking golfer and balloon up in weight and I can't have that happening.

Getting Serious

For the 1st time in a really long time my legs feel good. Starting with the Cowtown half, which I ran at a pace I haven't run in years I was pleasantly surprised how good I felt at the end. The following weekend I ran with a group fro TriCowtown and we ran just under 13 in again at a very good pace. Today concluded 4 straight days of running and I'm not having any leg issues what so ever. I'm hoping I can continue to build on this throughout the year as I would like to do more races this year. Last year I was plagued by foot and calf problems for about 8 months which kept me from training as much as would have liked and really hampered any speed I ever had. I guess because of the issues I was having last year I would only run 3 times a week and very rarely went much faster than 10 min/mile. Every since the Cowtown half I have a new found gear and the legs to start running 4-5 times a week, which I am super excited about what I can do this year if I stay healthy

I've also started eating better and smaller amounts to lose some extra weight I have been carrying around. A few weeks ago I was at 215, and that is way to heavy to be running ultra events, but now I am down to 208 and feeling good about the process. I haven't had a Dr. Pepper in a while and trying to cut down the sugars and amount of food I eat. I would really like to get back down in the 190's this summer. I was in the mid 180's when I was doing triathlons, but I don't think I could get down that low by just running; I would have to start swimming again and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Jack's Jam Session

I see I haven't posted in a while, but I have been so busy. Soccer season is in full swing and the time change is starting to wear on me. I did do a 13 miler on Saturday morning in about 1:51, which is another speedy run for me. Other than that I have been getting a few 4-5 milers in during the week.

My youngest son Jack wanted to play with the guitar and he actually let me video a little of his performance, which usually never happens. So enjoy!!

Interview

OK, this came from a blogging friend of mine from Austin( Mark). It is way to interview your friends. Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond with five questions (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

OK, here are the questions that Mark sent to me with my answers, enjoy!


1. How do you balance the demands of family and training?

My family time is very important to me so I try do do my long runs early on the weekend. I'm still not very good about getting up super early on the weekends, but I get up early enough to get done and be back home before any weekend events get started. If the kids have soccer or T-ball on a Saturday I will switch my long run to Sunday. During the week I do all my running after the kids get to bed. It makes for long nights sometimes but it is worth it.

2. What's your favorite "reward meal" after a big race?

Well since I weigh in at 210, every meal is a reward meal I guess. I do give myself more opportunity to eat bad after a long race. I will justify all the calories I burned and feel the need to replace them. My favorite foods are Tex Mex and BBQ, beer and Dr. Pepper.

3. What did you discover about yourself during your first 50 miler?

That I can keep going for more than 13 hours and how much I respect the runners that run 100 miles. Just seeing those runners going out and running through the night gave me a huge respect for anyone that attempts the distance. I would like to try it one day myself. I also found out that I really love being out on the trail at night with no other runners in sight. It was a very calming experience.

4. Any goals for 2009?

I'm running El Scorcho 50k again in July and would like to run a 24 hour event or even possibly a 100 miler in the fall. The 100 miler might have to wait until 2010, but I'll have to see what my summer training looks like. I also want to spend more time on the trails. There aren't any in my area so I will have to make the time and effort to get out there.

5. What tips would you give to aspiring trail/ultra runners?

Really enjoy yourself, eat and drink early and often. Take care of your feet, if you don't take care of them they will come back and haunt you later in the race. Enjoy the conversations with people you meet during the race, it makes the time go by so much faster.

Cowtown Race Report

First off I have to say that I love the medal, it is one of five in a series. If you run the next four years you will get the same type of medal with a different color and year; put them together and they will form one big giant medal. The will be a plaque that can be purchased to put it together and display. I think the idea was a good one as the registered runners were at at all time high and lots of runners that I talked to told me that the medal series was one of the reasons for running.

The race was to start at 7:30 and I got there about 6:20. I didn't have any problems finding a parking space, but was it cold and windy when I got out of the car. The temperature was around 35 degrees with 20-30mph winds with gusts to 40! I wore several shirts and a pull-over, gloves and a hat and it was freezing cold waiting for the race to start. With the start in downtown Fort Worth the winds were really whipping between the buildings.

The race started and off we went straight north right into the north wind. I went out faster than I should have but I wanted to get the motor going and build up some heat. By mile 2 I was warming up and settled into a good pace. I was running a 7:50 pace through the first 4 miles and felt pretty good, when I ran into a college roommate that I don't see very often. We played basketball together and had some great times back then, but now we have kids, very busy lives and just don't get to see each other as often as we would like. We ran together and talked for the next 8 miles. It made the time go by very fast as the miles started flying by. It's funny because I made a comment about one of the reasons I like running ultras was the fact that I could have conversations with fellow runners as the day goes on and that I bet I wouldn't be able to converse with anyone in a half marathon. Well we both were just chatting away as other runners would look at us like we were crazy; I guess they were racing and didn't have time for small talk.

At about mile 12 my knee was bothering me a little and he had to get home by 10am, (family commitments) so I told him to go on ahead. I just put it into cruise control and finished in 1:51. I was really surprised at my time. I have done no speed work at all in the past 2 years and was just out having a good time running and not really paying any attention to pace. I was hoping to finish around 2 hours but didn't know how my legs would feel after my 50 miler 3 weeks ago. After the finish I got my cool medal and went straight to the car to head back home. It was freezing cold and I really didn't want to wait in any lines to get food or drinks. On the drive home I was thinking that the race went by so fast. I guess after running 50 miles in just under 14 hours a half marathon was like a blink of the eye.

Today I feel really good with just a little muscle soreness, mainly from running at a pace I'm not used to. So now it's a day of rest and relaxation with nothing to do today. It's cold and windy outside so I'll just hang out with the kids in the house.

Now I just need the soccer association to release the spring schedule so I can plan some races for the rest of the spring.