10.29.2008

A night of "Firsts"

Tonight I started at Centennial Park, but ran a different route than normal going all the way down to music row by Tin Roof and actually getting lost for probably a mile or 2 before figuring out where I was. I also ran more hills (total Ascent of 1964 feet.. over 500 more than any other run) than I've ever run including the ridiculous hill by Vandy not once, but twice! Tonight's 7.1 mile run gave me these firsts:

- Longest run to date
- Longest run with a pace faster than 9:00 mpm (1:03:45 total which is an 8:59 pace)
- Passed the 100 mile mark on my shoes
- Passed 50 miles for the 2nd month in a row (ok technically that's a "second" not a "first")

I finished with a loop around a dark Centennial Park wishing I could keep going, but it was dark and my knee was starting to bug me.

I'm a hybrid!

38 miles per gallon

Created by The Car Connection

10.27.2008

Today's 6 step plan

I've been waiting to run in somewhat cold weather (yes, I'm crazy) and today I finally got my chance. It was about 48 degrees when I got home from work and headed over to the greenway. This was my simple 6 step (mile) plan:

Mile 1) OMG IT'S F'ING COLD!!!
Mile 2) Maybe I should have worn a hat cause I sure don't have any hair trapping heat in
Mile 3) Finally got into my rhythm and felt like I could go forever
Mile 4) I've passed those 2 girls about 3 or 4 times now.. hope they don't think I'm stalking them
Mile 5) I was planning on 5 miles today, but now I'm just curious how many times I can pass those girls before they will run away from me
Mile 6) And that is my longest run at the greenway and the only one over 4 miles that included "the hill"

Oh, and on my way over the hill I almost caught up with a biker who had passed me about a minute before. Now THAT felt awesome to almost catch a bike while running up a hill :)

10.25.2008

Halloween Hunt 5 Mile Race

This morning I ran my longest race to date, 5 miles. I've run 5 miles several times, but this was the first time doing it with a piece of paper pinned to my shirt. It's a flat course, but most of it is around a lake at Long Hunter State Park and it loops twice so I was worried it would be kinda boring. It wasn't as bad as I expected because the leaves changing color made it a very scenic run and a little portion of it is on a bridge that crosses the lake. But between the fear of boredom and my knee, my primary goal was to finish in under 50 minutes with a secondary goal of finishing in under 45 minutes. I figured that was a long shot since my fastest time for 5 miles was 46:58 just a few days ago.

So me, my sister and my friend John all started off and we severely misjudged where to start because we had to run around a ton of people (a lot in costumes). John and my sister started off pretty fast and once we got around all the slower people I let them go so I wouldn't burn myself out. I ended up passing my sister sometime during the 2nd mile, but never passed John. They had people calling out times at the mile markers, but the one for mile 4 was at the wrong place and for a minute I thought I had somehow run a 7:28 mile. Garmin said otherwise.

As I rounded the corner where I could see the finish line I looked down at my watch and almost passed out. I crossed with the clock reading 42:58 and my Garmin (which I started when I crossed the start line) reading 42:50. How on earth did I run that fast and why am I not physically paying for it now!? Regardless I am ecstatic with that time even though I missed 5th place (and a snazzy coffee mug) by less than a minute. I knew I would set a PR since this is my first 5 mile race, but I'm glad it's one that I am happy about and proud of.

Splits (from Garmin time)
1 - 8:26
2 - 8:38
3 - 8:45
4 - 8:55
5 - 8:05 (Holy Crap!)
Overall Pace - 8:34

So in the end John finished ahead of me by about 15 seconds (I let him have this one after I embarrassed him at the 5k last month), I finished next and my sister came in just a hair over 45 minutes so we all had a good day. I didn't have anyone take pictures with my camera so I'll have pictures whenever other people get them to me. And now I will go drink my celebratory beer :)

10.22.2008

Last run before the race

Tonight was the last run before my race on Saturday. Another friend joined us tonight so we had 3 people for our 5 mile run to Belmont and back. I didn't realize it until I downloaded the Garmin stats, but there were no positive splits and miles 2, 3 and 4 were all at a 9:24 pace which was also my overall pace. Not too bad considering the number of hills on that route. I even mentioned to one of the guys that the hills that used to seem huge to me a month ago now seem like nothing. I guess the word of the day is consistency!

My knee had the usual twinge for the first .5 mi then it was fine and this time the pain didn't come back around the 4 mile mark like normal which is good. I'm still planning on taking the next 2 days off just to be safe so my next post will be my first 5 mile race report :)

10.20.2008

Unofficial 5k

As planned I went for a 3 mile run after work today. My buddy started off at around an 8 minute pace, but I do that half the time anyways until I've settled into a slower pace. Well he didn't slow down much and kept it between 8 and 8:30 until we hit the llllllooooonnnnnngggg steady hill up Hillsboro Pike (even then we kept it under 9:00). But since we were only running 3 miles I figured what the hell, let's see what kind of 5k time I can get. So I kept running until I hit 3.1 miles and ended up with a time of 26:59.. 9 seconds away from beating my 5k PR!

Now anyone who has a Garmin knows that it usually takes a few seconds for it to auto-pause the time if you stop to wait for a light. So technically I think I really did beat my previous time if you take into account the 2 or 3 times we had to stop for a light/traffic, but regardless I'm happy with that time given the number of hills we ran up. My knee has been feeling better the past several days (since I took the insoles out) and it feels better post-run, but it actually hurt just a tad more than normal during the first .5 mile.

I'm planning on a 5 mile run on Wednesday, then my 5 mile race on Saturday followed by a celebratory beer :)

10.19.2008

Cool Running

Finally the weather has gotten back to feeling like fall. It was in the lower 60's for my run today. I'm still running without the insoles and my knee has felt much better over the past few days. While running it's still hurting just a little as I get close to 4 miles. Today's run was 4.5 miles with an average pace of 9:19. I'll probably run about 3 tomorrow, 5 on Wednesday and then take 2 days off before my race on Saturday!

10.15.2008

Crazy Map - Part Deux

I met a friend of mine downtown today and we ran around West End. I told him about my plan to create crazy maps with my Garmin (and he just got one too) so we took some random turns and 2 loops through Centennial Park at the end which gave me this:

I also tried something different today in my never ending quest to figure out what's hurting my #$&*(^#( knee. Since day 1 of using my Superfeet insoles I've noticed the arch on my right foot hits me just a little more noticeably than my left. So today I took those out and tried running with the regular insoles that came in the shoes. I ran 4.5 miles total during which my knee felt better at the beginning than usual, then started talking to me around 3.75 and then told me to quit at 4.5. Today may not be a good reference since I don't usually string a 5 miler and a 4.5 miler together with only 1 day inbetween. So I think I'm going to give it another run or 2 to see if it's making any difference.

Definitely no running for the next 2 days and then I'll probably try another 4-5 miles one day this weekend. Also today I registered for the Boulevard Bolt.. the one I said I registered for a week ago and finally got around to doing today!

10.14.2008

7 miles without moving

Sticking to my renewed pledge to do more cross training I went back to the bike today. I did the same hill program for 7 miles, but with a little lower resistance since my legs were still recovering from yesterday's run. I think I've decided to start riding the bike 1 day a week and doing the elliptical another day which will give me 2 days of cross training and keep me from running more than I should (hopefully).

It would be a little easier to motivate myself to get in the gym if all the cute women I see at my apartment complex would go there to run/walk instead of going somewhere else. I almost always end up stuck in there with the same creepy old dude. Oh well, maybe when it gets colder they will all wuss out and head indoors to get their exercise :)

Tomorrow will be back downtown to run somewhere around West End/Vandy/Belmont with a friend.

10.13.2008

My Garmin Drawerings

Today was my 2nd day officially working downtown instead of in Cool Springs so I had a lot more options for running (and it's always nice to skip the traffic). I decided to head over to Centennial Park, but since I'm getting more and more bored with greenways/tracks I opted for the streets instead of just running around the park. Back at home I loaded up the Garmin to pull down the stats and realized I almost literally ran all the way around Vanderbilt University, plus partially around Centennial at the end! I think next time I'll try to purposely make a crazy drawing by running weird routes! See Shannan.. you can't do THAT on a treadmill :)

Oh and I ran 5 miles which makes me feel much better about my race in less than 2 weeks. Not only that, but 2 of the splits were negative with a 3rd being 2 seconds away from being negative (all under 10:00) and I can't remember the last time that happened! My knee whispered to me for about the first .5 miles and then it shut up until about the 4.5 mile mark. Post-run it feels about the same as it normally does after a shorter run.


10.12.2008

After taking another 2 days off I headed back out to the greenway to "run backwards" again, this time going for a total of 4 miles (with 2 walking breaks). Even though it's the same greenway I've grown bored of, it's a little refreshing to see it in a different way and the hills come sooner which changes the difficulty of the run.

In other news I officially registered me and my sister for the Halloween Hunt 5 Miler less than 2 weeks from now. Ok, now I just need to build up the endurance to run 5 miles again :)

10.08.2008

Running Backwards

Ok not literally running backwards. I decided to start today's run at a different trailhead on the same greenway. As it turns out I think it's actually a little closer of a drive from my apartment, but starting where I did means the hills start just past the 1 mile mark. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and got all the way over there before I realized my knee brace was still at home.

So after going back home to get the knee brace I was ready to start my run. The hills may have come sooner, but there were 2 things about the hills that were awesome today. First, as I ran up the first hill I passed somebody which made me feel good (and she was cute which helped too). Second, as I ran down that same hill on my way back I realized I was done with hills for the day. Normally I'm running the other direction and going down it just makes me think about how I have to run right back up it after turning around.

In other news it looks like one of my sisters and my friend that ran the 5k with me are both going to run a 5 mile race with me @ Long Hunter State Park in just over 2 weeks! I'm excited and trying to be optimistic about my knee holding up. Assuming all is fine there I've also signed up for a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving day in Belle Meade to benefit a plethora of local charities.

10.07.2008

Cross-training? What a concept!

More than 1 person has suggested that if I had cross trained like I should have then I might have avoided my knee problem or at least it wouldn't be as bad. So after several conversations with myself and my knee I made it back to the bike at my apartment fitness center today.

I thought I'd try it on the Hill setting for the first time and that kicked my butt. I rode up and down virtual hills for 7 miles which took me 26:30. Most importantly it didn't hurt my knee.. and I far outlasted the guy running on the treadmill next to me :)

10.06.2008

Must.Make.Myself.Stop

Today I decided to take the trail right towards the big winding hill and see how my knee (and the rest of me) fared since I haven't gone that way in a couple of weeks. I'm happy to report that all of me did just fine going up and down the hill twice. The stupid side of me decided to run 3 straight before taking a break today, but it seems to be ok so far. So I ran 3.0 and 0.25 separately with walking in between. It's getting harder and harder to make myself stop and not go for a 4-6 mile run.. hopefully soon.

My knee still has that little twinge every once in a while if I step the wrong way (as if to say "don't forget I can eff you up at any moment"), but so far it has behaved while running. I'm guessing the shorter, slower runs plus my knee brace have probably contributed to that as well.

Tomorrow I will take off and yell at my TV as the Presidential Debate rages on a few miles from me. Then Wednesday the rain moves in.. so I might have a wet run to report later this week.

10.05.2008

Easy 3

After taking 2 days off I went for a run at the greenway on Saturday. Yes I'm late in posting because afterwards I went downtown to watch Vandy beat Auburn! After recent runs in 65-70 degree temps it was back to a nice humid 80 degrees which sucked. Overall though I covered 4 miles, but was smart about it splitting up the running into intervals of 2 miles, 0.75 miles and 0.25 miles with walking in between so I wouldn't overwork my knee. Special thanks to the woman in the yellow top that motivated me near the end :) So far so good with the knee. I took today off and will probably go for a 2 mile run Monday or Tuesday depending on my work schedule.

In other news, congratulations to Zoomy (my unofficial knee therapist) for finishing her first marathon earlier today!

10.01.2008

Short, but sweet

After 7 days of rest I decided to test out my crappy knee at the greenway. I made sure I wore my knee brace (duh!) this time and kept it to 2.5 miles at a roughly 10:00 pace. It felt very weird to run less than 3-4 miles and I didn't even really sweat or feel tired at all. But that's ok because my knee did not make me want to scream at any point during the run and that was my primary purpose today, to run and not injure my knee.