My journey.....so far

[dragitoff]

Yesterday DW and I tried a new route. It's similar to the route I ran with my brother, except it was a continuous 3.1 mile route as opposed to the one I ran with him being approximately 1.5 miles and with a variation on the second time getting the extra .1 miles to make it 3.1. Anyways, about .5 miles of it is across a field with a grass/dirt road. I really hope that pays off since my race tomorrow has about .5 miles of trail running.

DW really impressed me. She stayed on my heels the entire time and finished with her best time so far. I pushed really hard the first minute hoping to pace her to finishing in under 30 minutes for her first time. We knocked out the first mile in about 9:30. She fell a little behind on the final mile and just did fail to break the 30 minute barrier, but not by much at all.

We're running it again tomorrow (after my race) so maybe tomorrow will be the day she breaks it. I'm excited for her and it really seemed to encourage her.

I'm going to pick up my packet tonight for tomorrow's race. I'm honestly so ready to get out there and run! I can't stand it! I've got 2 people running with me tomorrow (on my team lol). One of them is a friend of mine's mom that missed 1st in her age class by 20 seconds the last time she ran this race. She's a little slower than my normal pace (about 27 minutes), but not by much. The other is a co-worker's son who runs cross-country. He's never competitively raced the 5k, but does the 1.5 mile for school and practices the 5k with the track team. He runs faster than my normal times (about 22 minutes)

I figured if I finish somewhere in the middle of them both, I'll be good. I'd honestly be happy with a 24:30 finish. Split the difference you know! lol.

Oh well, I guess I'll try to get some rest tonight (like a kid on Christmas Eve) and be ready for tomorrow.

 

[rubato]

Well? I can't wait to hear how your race went. Did you make your goal?

 

[dragitoff]

Well? I can't wait to hear how your race went. Did you make your goal?

I came really close. I finished 4th in my age group and finished the race in 24:49. I honestly can't complain with those results for my 1st race. I also ran another 5k in the afternoon with DW

I started off really strong (7:06 1st mile), but I had to slow down a little because I would have had a difficult time maintaining that pace for the entire race. 2nd mile had 1/2 mile trail run so naturally that was slower. Last mile was pretty strong.

I've got 3 more chances to race locally this year. I know I'm entering at least one of them. I'm already starting my training for my 1st 1/2 marathon in March.

 

[rubato]

That's a fantastic time! You should be very proud. And, a 7:06 is my fast 5k pace and I've been running for years and years, so wow!!!! I'm glad to hear that you are now hooked. Welcome to the crazy world of training for and running races. It's an addiction, but a good one!

 

[dragitoff]

I was hooked long before my first race. I'm just so darn competitive that the racing only makes me long for my "fix" even more! lol.

 

[dragitoff]

Just found a pic I'm in from the race this past weekend. I'm in the background wearing the lime green racing shirt (not the kid), but the one with a beard and iPod on my arm.

http://spotted.albanyherald.com/photos/index.php?id=28533

Hopefully, they'll have the full race pics up soon.

 

[dragitoff]

Had a nice run yesterday afternoon. DW and I decided to run in the afternoons this week since I've been going in early to work. Doesn't hurt that it's warmer in the afternoon either. lol.

I'm getting so antsy because this weekend is my scheduled long run. This Saturday, I'm planning on doing that on the road though vs. the treadmill. I'm excited to see just how far I can go comfortably. I know I've got to get myself prepared for my 1/2 marathon in March.

I'm going to run my 3 mile loop as many times as I can. Fortunately, the way it's laid out, I can stop whenever I need to. It's down the road from my house in my brother's neighborhood and there are alot of sidewalks, which is really nice compared to my route on the highway by my house. I wish I knew of a route nearby that I could just run continuously.

These are the times I wish there was a good running club near where I live. I've thought alot about starting one, but the only people I know that are runners are 5k runners and no more. Even DW has no intentions or desire to ever run more than 5k. Like she told me yesterday, she just wants to get where she's running that without being exhausted and winded afterwards. I'm proud of her though. She's stuck with this like a champ and encourages me everyday!

Oh well. That's my ramblings for today.

 

[lurkernj]

Had a nice run yesterday afternoon. DW and I decided to run in the afternoons this week since I've been going in early to work. Doesn't hurt that it's warmer in the afternoon either. lol.

I'm getting so antsy because this weekend is my scheduled long run. This Saturday, I'm planning on doing that on the road though vs. the treadmill. I'm excited to see just how far I can go comfortably. I know I've got to get myself prepared for my 1/2 marathon in March.

I'm going to run my 3 mile loop as many times as I can. Fortunately, the way it's laid out, I can stop whenever I need to. It's down the road from my house in my brother's neighborhood and there are alot of sidewalks, which is really nice compared to my route on the highway by my house. I wish I knew of a route nearby that I could just run continuously.

These are the times I wish there was a good running club near where I live. I've thought alot about starting one, but the only people I know that are runners are 5k runners and no more. Even DW has no intentions or desire to ever run more than 5k. Like she told me yesterday, she just wants to get where she's running that without being exhausted and winded afterwards. I'm proud of her though. She's stuck with this like a champ and encourages me everyday!

Oh well. That's my ramblings for today.

Sounds like you're still going strong! Keep up the good work! It's great that you both motivate each other,

 

[dragitoff]

I've really enjoyed running in the afternoons this week; however I know it's short-lived. We'll probably go back to the 5am runs next week as it's getting darker much quicker now and our road is far too busy to do that in the evenings. The kids were out of school Monday and Tuesday for Teacher work days so we also didn't have to contend with 2 hours of homework! Not to mention we're entering our busy season at work so the 60-80 hour weeks are here. Add that with the youth pastor job at the church and everything else we have going on in the evenings, the mornings and weekends are the only realistic time to run right now. If I have to work weekends, it's usually just some on Saturday to catch up on things.

DW decided she wasn't going to time herself for the next few runs. She had gotten so focused on her time and was frustrated because her times weren't going down. I told her I thought that might be best. She's started having some soreness on the bottom of one of her feet. She said it feels like a bruise, but we can't see anything. It's not bad some days, but others it really hurts her. With church tonight, today is our rest day. We'll get back to running Thursday and then another rest day on Friday due to our Fall Festival at church. Not to mention, I'm going for my first 10+ mile road run this Saturday. So far, I've only done this on the treadmill so I'm a little nervous and alot excited.

 

[Desiree]

I've really enjoyed running in the afternoons this week; however I know it's short-lived. We'll probably go back to the 5am runs next week as it's getting darker much quicker now and our road is far too busy to do that in the evenings. The kids were out of school Monday and Tuesday for Teacher work days so we also didn't have to contend with 2 hours of homework! Not to mention we're entering our busy season at work so the 60-80 hour weeks are here. Add that with the youth pastor job at the church and everything else we have going on in the evenings, the mornings and weekends are the only realistic time to run right now. If I have to work weekends, it's usually just some on Saturday to catch up on things.

DW decided she wasn't going to time herself for the next few runs. She had gotten so focused on her time and was frustrated because her times weren't going down. I told her I thought that might be best. She's started having some soreness on the bottom of one of her feet. She said it feels like a bruise, but we can't see anything. It's not bad some days, but others it really hurts her. With church tonight, today is our rest day. We'll get back to running Thursday and then another rest day on Friday due to our Fall Festival at church. Not to mention, I'm going for my first 10+ mile road run this Saturday. So far, I've only done this on the treadmill so I'm a little nervous and alot excited.

Sounds like you are about to get really busy here but good for your for making the time for your runs! Sorry to hear about dw's foot. Hoping that it will heal up quickly for her.

Best of luck on your 10+ mile run on Saturday!

 

[dragitoff]

DW had her best timed run yesterday. I was really proud of her. She was trying to keep up with me, but I pulled away after 1.5 miles. It wasn't intentional. She just wore out. She did really good though. I've got my long run planned for tomorrow so it's a rest day today. I'm trying to make sure I get some carbs in me today.

I bought a sports drink, a pre-race protein bar, and some energy cluster things. I was looking for either the jelly beans or gels, but couldn't find any at the local Walgreens. All they had were Cliff Bars and the stuff I bought.

I guess I'll wear a lightweight backpack tomorrow to carry that stuff in it for my long run. I don't have anything else to put it in. Hopefully it won't get too annoying. lol. I will probably throw my iPod in there too so I don't have to worry about attaching it to my arm and dealing with that one more thing.

The minimum distance I'll be happy with is 6 miles, but I'm really wanting 12 miles tomorrow. It might be a little ambitious, but I've never been one to set the bar low just so I can easily attain my goals!

I was looking at last year's times for the next race I'm planning on running. Due to work this month being absolutely crazy, I'm not racing again until the Jingle Bell Jog on December 3rd. Based on last year's times, if I complete close to where I did last race, I've actually got a good shot of winning in my age group! That excited me to say the least. I'm also looking forward to running the route since it's in a really pretty part of town.

It's an older neighborhood around one of the hospitals and the streets are lined with these really old trees that make it almost like you're running through a tunnel. It's really pretty. I imagine the lack of sunlight will make it really cold too, but that's ok. I'm used to running at 5am in 40 degree temps.

 

[Desiree]

Hiya Drag,

Good luck with your long run today! And tell your wife GREAT JOB with that run she had. She'll be catching up to you soon I'm sure

 

[dragitoff]

I did it! I completed 12 miles this morning in 1:54:58. My legs feel so heavy right now but I'm so pumped that I not only completed it, but did so in less time than my target time! Woo Hoo!

 

[Desiree]

Wow great job!!

 

[rubato]

That's fantastic, great job! You could probably shoot for close to a 2 hour half. Very impressive!

 

[dragitoff]

I didn't really post much about this Saturday since I was doing so from my Blackberry and it's such a pain. lol.

I ran the weekend loop DW and I run. It's just down the road from our house in my brother's neighborhood. It's also near my kids school. As a matter of fact, we run through the school parking lot.

It's nice because it's a small, quiet neighborhood and there's sidewalks through the majority of the run. They're a little uneaven so you have to be alert when running! The entire loop is right at 3 miles. We add another .1 miles to it when we usually run it to give us our 3.1 miles. The last 1/4 to 1/2 mile is across the school's baseball/softball complex so it's running on a dirt/grass road.

I felt great going into the second loop. DW had kept up with me really well through the 1st loop. Come to find out, she beat her best 5k time by nearly 1 minute herself! It was funny because there's a little road we run during our loop that takes us down past a church. We use the church's circular drive as turn back and then run down that same road again. There's only 2 houses and the church on the road so it's pretty quiet and out of the way.

There was a professional photographer crew taking pictures of some girl on the road. You could tell they were aggravated by having to stop for us to run the road. I didn't care. It's a public road and there were plenty of other places to take pictures. lol. I guess they were really frustrated when I came back by them 3 more times!

After 45 minutes, I ate 3 of my little Oatmeal Cookie bites and took a few sips off my Gatorade Fuel. I repeated that process every 30 minutes after that.

I was following my long-distance pace of 5 minutes running/1 minute walking. I honestly walked pretty slow during that 1 minute. It was pretty cool Saturday morning so I was wearing a track jacket over my singlet tech shirt and shorts. I had packed my iPod, Gatorade, and cookie bites into a small Disney draw-string backpack. The backpack quickly got on my nerves since I couldn't get it tight enough on my back. It kept bouncing around and slipping off my shoulders.

I lost the jacket quickly and put it into the back pack thinking that would keep the loose items from bouncing around. It still kept slipping off my shoulder. I was tired of adjusting it (while still running), so I took the jacket back out, wrapped it around my back and took the sleeves and pulled the straps closer together with them.

That did the trick wonderfully! On my 3rd loop (miles 7, 8, and 9), I had finally settled into a routine. I would take my backpack off 30 seconds before my 1 minute walk where I'd refuel. I'd have everything out when the walk would be up. I'd eat 2 of the bites and take a few sips of the Gatorade and then put everything back up before the minute was over. I'd eat the last bite after I had the pack back on my back.

I went to put that last bite into my mouth when I dropped it! It was like a slow motion scene from a movie where I reached back for it saying "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Watching it fall on the ground was like watching a fellow soldier falling in combat! I was so heartbroken, but I had to keep marching on!

The last loop (miles 10, 11, 12) were really the toughest. Mentally I felt great. I was motivated. The only problem was my legs felt like I had concrete blocks on them as opposed to my super light Saucony Kinvaras!

I made it through skipping my last walk break since I could see my car and the finish line. I had thoughts of another 1.1 miles just so I could get a true 1/2 marathon time, but I figured I shouldn't push it any more than I already had. I was tired enough I could risk injury.

My legs were very heavy for the rest of the day, but I got up yesterday feeling great! DW and I changed our running routines to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. I'm leaning heavily towards doing a long run every Saturday (time permitting). This is my busy time of the year so I work alot of Saturdays, but it's usually only 1/2 a day or so.

I'm so anxious to get out there and run tomorrow morning. I know it'll only be 3.1 miles, but it's going to be nice to get back on the road. I washed my old New Balance Zips to rotate them back into my running shoe arsenal until I can buy some new running shoes. My Kinvaras are nearing the end of the road (pun totally intended). We'll see how things go with those shoes. They're definitely more supportive than my Kinvaras but feel like lead weights as opposed to them. It should be fine for the short run.

 

[Desiree]

Wow that sounds like such a fantastic run! And lmao about the cookie falling. I can just see that happening! Glad you are on the mend today and looking forward to getting back out there!

 

[carissanboys]

Great job on completing your long run!

 

[dragitoff]

Holy crap it was cold outside this morning. I'm not a fan of running in 36 degree weather, but I ran my daily 3.1 this morning. It was the first time in months and first time ever on the road running in my old New Balance Zips. I remembered quickly why I like my Saucony Kinvaras soooooo much more. It was like I was running in concrete shoes vs. bedroom slippers by weight comparison.

DW didn't run with me this morning since she had a rough night. Apparently our very old chihuahua who has to sleep in the garage in a kennel due to bladder problems at night has been waking her up by barking at 2:30 to let him out for a potty break, which she does and then goes back to sleep. For some reason, she said she couldn't this morning. Might have had something to do with the neighbor's new dog barking non-stop and my beagle that sleeps outside feeling like he needed to join in the festivities.

There were also alot of coyotes out howling last night. We live in the country so that's not uncommon, but it was a little eerie being Halloween and all.

I got a little scare of my own this morning. I normally run with headphones on, but this morning I decided I'd work on my sermon for tomorrow night while running. I was in the last mile when I heard some type of hound dog howling and barking very near me. He couldn't have been more than 50 yards away. It scared me because I've never heard or seen a dog at that point when running this area. I was afraid he might be a stray or wild. Needless to say, I found another gear to finish that last mile. I never did see that dog, but he "motivated" me a little on that last mile! lol.

Someone hit a deer about 30 feet from the front of my property so I'm sure I'll be having to tend with the odor of that over the next week or so while running. Yay. These are the joys of living in the country! lol.

 

[lurkernj]

I went to put that last bite into my mouth when I dropped it! It was like a slow motion scene from a movie where I reached back for it saying "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Watching it fall on the ground was like watching a fellow soldier falling in combat! I was so heartbroken, but I had to keep marching on!

.

Haven't you heard about the 5 second rule Just kidding. I could definitely feel your pain there.

Great job with your long run And your wife is doing awesome as well!!

Keep up the great work!! You're putting us all to shame!!