Things Learned During My Early Morning Runs...

I like to run in the morning...most of the time I run around 6am...sometimes as early as 5am.....I've learned a few things during my early morning runs....
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*Most of my neighborhood is asleep in warm, cozy beds while I am out running in the dark and cold
*I love running by houses that have motion sensor lights on their garage doors and tripping them on
*I regularly see school buses, the newpaper delivery person, and a lady walking her dog
*About 0 out of 10 kids waiting for the school bus ever wave to me, even though I usually wave to them
*Not many morning runners in my neighborhood.....I've only seen one other runner in the last 6 months during my early morning runs, although I have seen some later in the day or evening
*It's hard to see large stones or sticks in the dark....and if there is one in my path, odds are that I'll step on it
*It's amazing how many stop signs are run in the early morning...
*Unless I'm going to run more than 5 miles, I dont' need to eat or drink anything before my morning runs
*I always try to go to the bathroom before my morning runs, so I don't get "stuck"
*It takes my body and mind at least a mile to wake up/loosen up
*Morning runs make me feel more energized for the day

121 Laps = 11 miles

Yesterday was supposed to be my long run, 11 miles, but we got 7 inches of snow here, so my workout yesterday consisted of shoveling the driveway twice, building a snowman, and beating the boys in a snowball fight.

Today I decided to do my long run indoors, at the YMCA.  It's a short little loop track, and 11 laps equals a mile.  I needed to do 11 miles, which meant 121 dizzying laps.

I have never run indoors before, but I kind of liked not having to deal with traffic, the wind, or hills.  And the soft rubberized surface was a nice change of pace for my feet.  

 I felt really good and if the distance is accurate, I was going at about a 9:20-9:30 pace, faster than my pace outdoors.  I felt really good until the last few laps, when I could feel a blister on the back of my heel.  I was running in some new shoes.  Well, not new technically, they are my Asics that I got at the first of the year, but I hadn't run in them for a couple months since I was testing some New Balance.  

Well I sent the NB back this week and returned to my Asics, with a new insert, and I think the insert raised my foot just enough to cause it to rub on my heel.  I didn't really notice until the last mile or so, but now it's really bugging me.  I will have to see if I continue with the Asics or go back to my Nike's, which I still really love.

By the way, I really love the Orange Burst GU as long run fuel.   I have tried a few GU flavors and decided this one is my favorite.   Hopefully they have some at the OKC race in April.

Side Note:  Just a side note to those that have been asking how I kept track of the laps. I actually didn't.  I kept track of my time.  I timed my laps about every five laps to tell what pace I was on, and ran for an hour and 45 minutes, based on the avg per lap I estimate I ran 11 miles, or 121 laps.  Not an exact science, but pretty accurate I think.

TGIF Foto Friday

Here is my contribution to Nikemom's foto friday.

This is my 6 year old Bryden.  A week or so ago I taught him how to blow a bubble and he thought it was the coolest thing in the world.  We literally spent an hour just blowing bubbles together while watching the Wichita State vs. Pepperdine baseball game.  I like this pic because he is standing next to a mirror and it looks like there are two of him blowing bubbles.

Running

Got a good midweek 7 mile tempo run in on Wednesday and a couple of easy 3 milers.  I have a 10-11 miler planned for tomorrow, but the weather forecast is calling for between 6 and 16 inches of snow in the next 24 hours, so we'll see.  Yeah, blizzard conditions in late March.  Happy  Spring everyone.

Meet Christian Smith....

You may never have heard of Christian Smith, but his story is worth telling. He is a middle distance runner, and graduated from Kansas State University in 2006.


While at K-State, Smith was the NCAA champion in the men's mile at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, and was also a 1500m All-American in 2006, a four-time Indoor All-American (in 2003, 2004, 2005, & 2006), collegiate record holder in the indoor 1000m, and he also holds the indoor 1000m school record and the outdoor 800m and 1500m school records.


But his true fame came because of what he did to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Christian was running the 800m, and was listed by one track and field resource as the “least likely to qualify for the team.” Only the top three places qualified for Beijing.


In order to get that 3rd place spot on the team, Christian had to dive at the finish line. He literally laid out his whole body to edge out pre-race favorite Khadevis Robinson by .06 seconds




Smith’s dive across the line to secure third place epitomizes what the Olympic Trials are all about. He entered the meet with 29th best seed time (he wasn't sure he was even in the race until Alan Webb opted not to run the 800); his 1:45.47 was his best time since 2006. Even more remarkable was that Smith had a burst appendix the previous year. Not appendicitis but a burst appendix. Simply unreal.


I followed Christian’s blog while he was in Beijing (he didn’t make it past the qualifying round), and it was really cool to see a hometown Kansas kid make it to the world stage. His drive and determination during the Olympic qualifying run should be an inspiration to all runners.

Giveaway

Missy Maintains is having a giveaway, if you like free stuff check it out

Double Digits Baby!

After barely missing my first double digit (10 mile) run last weekend, I was motivated to get it in this weekend.  And I am happy to say that I did!   I did this run as part of the Hooray Spring Six Miler, even though I went ten.

I'll call this run my Tri-City Run since technically I ran into three different cities.   My son had a soccer game in neighboring Valley Center this morning (they won 5-1), so I started the run right after the game, ran into Wichita, then over to Park City.   I knew it was going to be right around a 10 min/mile pace and would at least be 10 miles (didn't want to short myself again).   As it turns out, it was 10.81 miles, in 1:47:10, a pace of 9:54, right about where I thought I'd be.  

With my first half marathon coming up in about a month, getting some double digit runs in will really boost my confidence I think.   I will say that the last 2-3 miles of this run, the bottoms of my feet and toes were killing me.  Everything else--legs, breathing, mental, etc--was great, except for my feet.   Not sure if it's the inserts I'm using or the shoes I'm testing for New Balance, or maybe I just haven't conditioned my feet to take that kind of pounding yet.  They were really sore by the end of the run.   I immediately plopped myself down into an ice bath:

Brrrrr...............

Looking forward to going to a concert tonight with my dad and brothers, just a guys night out.  We're going to see a guitarist named Tommy Emmanuel.  I've never seen him but I've heard he is amazing.   

Happy Spring everyone!

fartleks.......

My training plan called for 8 miles today, including 4 miles of speedwork (or in my case, slowwork)......I hadn't done any speedwork or intervals for a while, and the workout today kicked my butt.......I got up way early because I knew I needed to get 8 miles in before work....however, I adjusted the training plan a bit and did 7 miles, including 2 miles of speed work and 2 miles of fartleks...

I had never done fartleks before, but my buddy Isaac has suggested them to me a couple times, and he's much faster than me so I decided I'd better listen to him.......Anyway, I ran them in the dark this morning and kind of liked them.....I guess there are different kinds of fartleks, but I just went from telephone pole to telephone pole alternating between running hard, jogging, and walking....if there are other variations of how you do fartleks, I'd love to hear about them......

For some reason I just kept thinking about what a funny word "fartlek" is...how did it get that name anyway?  "fartlek, fartlek, fartlek" kept going through my head....Last night I gave my son a toy called "Dr Fart" that makes farting noises when you press a button....of course he thought it was the best present in the word....anyway, maybe we should invent a Dr Fartlek that does these workouts for you when you press a button...

Taking a rest day tomorrow and then doing between 6-10 on Saturday as the Hooray Spring 6 miler

  

Greetings from the Big D

The Big D

Lisa and I go home tomorrow, but we've really had a good time in Dallas.....the weather was absolutely beautiful and we did a lot of fun stuff--IKEA, Mavs game, Dave and Busters, Dick's Last Resort, shopping, the zoo, etc, etc.... Our hotel was a very trendy type of hotel, called aLoft, and it didn't even feel like a hotel. It felt like an apartment, very hip and trendy. It was great. It was right on the freeway, but I was able to run each day behind the hotel into a corporate building area. The first day I ran, I created a 3 mile route that I ran each day. Most of the path was on wide roads without shoulders or sidewalks, but a portion of it went through a parking lot of one of the corporate buildings, and another part of it was on a dirt trail. I loved the looks I got on the second day when I ran right past the outdoor smoking area of one of the buildings. All the smokers were out there, maybe on a break, and the look on there face was like "what the heck are you doing?" It felt good to get some runs in, and I felt extra healthy running past those smokers.

The Zoo Experience

Lisa and I love going to zoos. Whenever we take a trip somewhere, we always try to go to the zoo. We have been in many zoos all over the country. So, we decided to go to the Dallas Zoo on St Patricks Day. Evidently, about half the city of Dallas also decided to go to the zoo as well. I've never seen a zoo so busy. The exit off the highway to get to the zoo was backed up about a mile, and we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for about 30 minutes just exiting the highway. Then, once we exited and went about a block to the zoo, the parking lot was full, so we were directed to the overflow lot, and we were at the very far end of that lot. We had to walk about a mile from our parking spot to the entrance. Then, when we got to the entrance, the lines were crazy busy and long. Literally we spent an hour and a half just exiting the highway, driving a block, parking the car, and walking to the front of the zoo. We almost turned around and left a couple times, but we had already invested too much time. Plus, it was a nice day to walk around at the zoo. So after spending $30 between toll charges, parking, and admission, I was really looking forward to seeing what the Dallas Zoo had to offer......but after walking around for awhile, I started noticing a trend. See if you can figure it out:

And these are just some of the exhibits that were closed due to construction or whatever. I was really disappointed that the otters were off exhibit, I love the otters. And, of the exhibits that were open, the animals were either laying in the shade taking naps or hiding in caves or underneath bushes or something. With so many people at the zoo, I was surprised that so much of it was closed. It seemed like we saw more zoo workers than animals, seriously.

Anyway, it gave me a whole new appreciation for our zoo back home, it's pretty great I think. Hope everyone is having an awesome spring break week!