Proud of my Slowest 13.1 Ever!

So here I am writing the day after the St Jude Marathon Weekend where I ran the half marathon. This was the first time I have ever run the half, and I am so glad I was not signed up for the full. This is one of the premier races in the South in my opinion and I love doing it, it benefits St Jude Hospital in Memphis. No family ever pays for medical treatment at St Jude due to donation from all over the world.  So the first weekend in December, over 18,000 runners come to Memphis to run this race. The Marathon weekend offers a 5K, 13.1, 26.2 and a 26.2 relay option!

Now I knew going in that this was going to be a tough race for me. My last long run was an 11 mile run on November 1st and it took me 1:55, so I felt I was on track to have a great race. Well, things happen. Some things you can foresee and other things you can't. For some reason, I always seem to think I can train through the Christmas "Black Friday" rush and everything that goes into planning for those 2 wonderful days (and yes, that is sarcasm). Due to travel with work, I had a hard time keeping the training schedule going, but I decided I was still doing the race anyways.

So here we were on Saturday morning waiting to start. I started in Corral 8, which was a 10:07 mile. I was really unsure of how long I would be able to hold that pace, but I was game. I was running with 3 other friends and I knew that would help me. I also knew I was going in with no expectation except to finish the race and enjoy making that turn to the finish line.

The first 6 miles were awesome. Tons of people cheering and runners were everywhere. Our foursome stuck together, which you know is tough in a race this size. we were hitting a 10:07 pace which was getting tougher each mile, so I pulled back alittle and let the guys go on. I was able to keep a steady pace for the first 9 miles or so before I knew I needed to focus on finishing.

So I did some walking through the water stations and then ran tot he next one for the next few miles. My calves started tweaking around 11, but  managed to push through and get to the finish line. I crossed the line at 2:31:23.

2:31:23...my PR is 1:54.

Here is the thing. I am more proud of this 2:31 than I would have thought. I knew going in that I was not trained for it and even had thoughts of ditching the race, but I didn't. I pushed through. It hurt and my legs are still sore. I didn't listen to the voices. I maintained, I persevered and I finished. When you think about the reason this race exists, to raise money for kids battling cancer, my leg cramps seem trivial. So like I said, I am probably more proud of my 2:31 and everything it took for me to get there than I am my 1:54.

Rookie Mistakes...

Every Saturday I do my long run in preparation for the St Jude Half Marathon on Dec 6. Lately I have been heading out to the Greenline to do these runs because my neighborhood is getting old. My goal Saturday was to run 11 miles in 1:55, but I really set myself up for problems.

Saturday morning I invited two friends of mine to run with me. I usually do not like to run in groups, but I have been trying to branch out more and letting people push me further and faster. I find that running with a group makes it harder for me to stop and walk a bit when I am with others. Maybe it is an ego guy thing...

So Saturday I woke up at 6:30 and got ready to meet the guys at 8 AM for 11 miles. One thing that always messes with me is running in the cold because I am always afraid I am going to over dress and get hot. Saturday morning it was 34 degrees here in Memphis, so I really had to start digging out some cold weather gear. So after about three different running clothe changes I finally felt like I had a good combo and heading out to meet the guys. I had my fuelbelt, gloves I could ditch and glasses and I was ready.

The run started off really well. We were all having a good time talking and before I knew it, we were at the 5.5 mile turn around and we started heading back. I was having no issues and I was on my pace I wanted to be on...until about mile 8ish.

Then I realized that I did not eat anything that morning before my run. I had no fuel. And instead of realizing that and hitting the GU I had in my fuelbelt, my focus became about just finishing. Around mile 9.5 or so, I could feel my calf twinging, that good ol calf cramp was coming, but I wanted to keep going. I wanted to hit that 1:55. My running partners slowly inched away from me, leaving me to run alone (which was totally cool!) I could sense that my running gait was changing, but I kept trucking along, and finished in 1:54:33. Right on Target.

So here are my rookie mistakes I made, and I should know better:

1. No food before the run. This was extremely stupid of me and I know better. I had plenty of time to grab a bite before my run and for whatever reason, I didn't. I know this effected me in a bad way!
2. No water at all. While I had two bottles around my waist, I never went to them. After the run I did drink water, but I never had a swig. Now granted it was cold and I don't think I needed as much water as I would on a hot day, but going two hours without water is just stupid.

I am not sure what I was thinking, because we all talked about water stations and gels and how we would use them on race day, but I never even thought about it. It kind of sucked, inviting people to run with you and then being the one that got dropped, but it was a good reminder for me to fuel up before and during a long run. I won't make that mistake next Saturday. Saturday is another 11 miler!!!

I Have To Get Up Early...

I have been having major issues with getting my runs in during September.

August was a pretty good month with me logging in over 60 miles for my upcoming Half in December. September was supposed to have over 100 miles logged which would ultimately lead me to my PR, but I did not get close to those numbers. My goal for September was actually to run 99 miles, that is what my plan called for.

August totals- 60.12 miles
September totals- 44.86 miles

So I am well off my plan.  So I had to look at what happened, why did I miss so many miles? Here is the answer.

Life happened.

Things got busy at home, at work and with the family. Trips were taken, schedules had to be adjusted that really weren't working for the family. I constantly have to remind myself that this is my hobby. I am not feeding my family based on how I do in a race fortunately (because we would all starve!) With 3 boys in school, and each of them having to be ready at different times, the mornings are quite busy.

Applies to many aspects of life

My oldest son leaves for the bus stop at 6:20, my middle has to get a ride at 6:30 (we live to close to the school for the bus and his instrument is to much to lug everyday) and my little guy starts an hour after the bigs! My wife has some classes in the morning to teach this year, so we are busy as a family. I like seeing my boys off to school, so I am not blaming them at all.

Life Happens.

So, if I want to continue to run, I have several options. I can run in the evenings, but that takes away from time with the family. I also have to watch what I eat during the day, and I love me some Taco Bell (Yes, I know that is an entirely different post). Plus, it will soon be dark by the time I get home with Daylight Savings, so that doesn't really solve anything.

So my option that I choose is to just get up earlier. Get up at 5, hit the road by 5:20ish, get back by 6:30 and then enjoy the day. My weekday runs never get past 6 miles and that should not be more than an hour, so it is totally doable. It makes sense. It makes sense if I really want this PR, which I do.

Yes, it is still dark at 5:20 AM here in Memphis, but I have options. My gym is open and I can always hit the dreadmill. I really have zero excuse not too. I always feel like a more dedicated athlete when I am up early, and out training. My big thing will be staying awake! I always hit the 2 PM valley!

I am sure that every runner/triathlete that has ever trained has run into training issues (see what I did there? run into issues??) I also know that no matter how hard I try, I doubt I will hit every  planned run. 2015 is going to be a big year for me and I want to be ready. I wrote this on Twitter the other day and I think I may print it up and hang it on my mirror, it is a take off of the old 'I do today what you won't so I can do tomorrow what you can't" quote, I hope it works for you as well.

I gots to get up early to get me where I want to be!

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday...

Time to blog and I really do not want to try and make it all formal like (and Yes, I do try to make them easy on the eyes), so here are the things I am thinking about:

• Half Marathon training has been going well. I managed to get in 60 miles in the month of August, but I am already behind this month due to work commitments. Overall, I am pleased with where I am, and I think if I ran it today, I could easily finish in 2:05, so there is time to get that under 2 hours.
• I just found out that my hometown of Fort Smith Arkansas is having their first ever marathon/half marathon in February!  I am actually really excited about this and I am looking forward to running it.
• And just so you know, my 2015 rival Bradleyd3 is also looking to run to some half with JFord early in the year, probably want to scout me out and figure out a way to beat me, but I know his game... (notice the labels at bottom)
• Already got some trash talk texts from him, going to be a long year and I have a post in mind for all his jibber jabber
• I started toying with a race schedule for 2015 and it is taking shape. looks like I can do some long runs, a sprint triathlon and a full in 2015.
• It looks like another run at Ragnar TN is in the works
• I turned 43 on Sunday, which isn't a big deal cause I stayed in the same age group...
• On one hand I really like Memphis, but on the other hand we have some problems. From kids beating up people at Kroger to people shooting their girlfriends in parking lots, it is just crazy. So much bad going on in this world, almost makes me want to cancel my TV stations, at least then I would not hear about it as much!
• My Razorbacks had a huge win this week! 73-7!!!  WPS
• I got a Keurig for my office and I love it, actually thinking a getting a cup of Joe right now!

Bday present form the family!!!

I Love Me Some New Shoes!

Yes, I got new shoes this week. They actually were delivered to the house while I was in Atlanta. For the past three years, I have been running in Brooks Glycerins. I currently have 4 pairs of them, but they have all hit their mileage mark with me, and it was time for new shoes. I could tell. there are a couple of ways I can tell when I need new shoes.

1. My feet hurt after running. Simple right? Well sometimes I just figure that my feet should be tired and sore after a long run, but then when you have a new pair of kicks on, the feet feel great.

2. My knees hurt. I have been having some issues with my right knee. Almost to the point of wanting to see a doctor about it, but after getting in my new kicks, the knee pain is slowly disappearing.

3. Mileage- I am on of those guys that tracks the mile of each run and on the shoes, so I know when my shoes hit about 300 miles, then I need new shoes.

So after reviewing these three factors and placing a check by each one, I order some new Brooks running shoes. I ordered the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 14 shoes.

So far I nothing bad to say about these shoes. They are a more supportive shoe, even more than the Glycerin I think. They feel great and my feet feel a ton better after a run. I do not think you can ever discount the importance of a good shoe when running!

What's your brand of shoe? and how many of them do you have?

P.S. My wife and I just registered for the Elvis Presley 5K here in Memphis! I am all shook up about this and can't wit for that race report to be filled with Elvisisms!!!

3 Things of Many Topics...

I know it has been awhile since my last post, but things have been busy. There are a lot of things I could write about. I could tell you about our wonderful vacation in Florida that we had as a family, or I could tell you about our mini van blowing a transmission on the drive home from said vacation and how we had to purchase a new car in Byron GA in order to get home. I could write about those things, but I am not going too. Not because they aren't worth writing about, but because this is a blog about training and racing, and I really have not been doing either one consistently very much. So instead of talking about the above things, I want to write about 3 things:

1. Mighty Mite Triathlon
2. Women's Run Walk Group of Memphis
3. St Jude Marathon


1. The Mighty Mite triathlon is a great race I have done many times, and it is alot of fun. I had actually signed me and my wife up to race this on July 19th and paid the registration fees. I was a little worried about the bike course, but felt confident about the swim and the run. We also had made travel arrangements since it is about an hour away, we were going to ride with a another Warriors teammate. So I had decided that I was racing this race for fun, not time. Well last night, my wife and I realized that our boys were leaving on a church trip that leaves on July 19 at 11 AM! (I thought they left on Sunday) There is no way that we can get to the race site, run the race and get back in time to get them to the bus. They (my boys) have been so busy this summer that I feel like I have not seen them much and I just can't make a case for me not being there when they leave for New York. So Mighty Mite, enjoy our race fees and my wife and I learned a valuable lesson about scheduling.

2. Every summer, the Memphis Runner Track Club puts on a running clinic for women. They train for 8 weeks and then have a graduation 5K race. My wife has advance from the beginners class to the advance class this year and always enjoys this group. In the past she has always thought that I should help coach but I was always training for something and it never worked out, until this year. So I am assisting with the Intermediate 1 group this year. I am really looking forward to see how this group works so I can take somethings back to the groups I lead at church.

2A. One of the other coaches in the group was someone I thought I knew, so I finally asked her name and once she said it, I instantly knew her from her blog. I met Cecilia from Mommiesrun.com I found this blog when looking for local races around Memphis. It was cool cause she also read my blog. It is really kind of weird to meet people that you do not know that actually read what you write!

3. St. Jude Marathon, or the Half marathon, cause that is the race I am doing. I feel like due to my lack of racing this year, that I should really focus on this race and really go for that PR. My half marathon PR is 1:56, which is respectable, but with a flat course, and let's face it, I should be well rested, why not shoot for that PR. A 1:40 would feel really good. I have never run the half course before so it will be something new for me. I need something to focus on. I am still planning on doing a 140.6 in 2015 and I know my run sucks, so I need to run it.

So there ya go, three short topics for one read. I really plan on blogging more in the future, but it has been crazy with work lately, I am actually having to work all day! LOL

Am I a Race T Shirt Bully?

The other night at church, my bride told me she saw several people wearing the 2012 St Jude Marathon race shirt while she was walking the halls. For some reason, I always think that there is some kindred bond that we have when I see someone wearing a shirt of a race that we ran together. A marathon shirt none the less is extra special, because I know the time, effort and pain that can go into a marathon.

So my question to my bride was "who was it? Did you know him?" She then proceeded to name a few guys I knew that ran the race, but then she said this, and I am going to paraphrase. There was one guy I asked about it and he said that he did not run the race, his dad works for the race and he got a lot of free shirts. Automatically, I immediately turn into these guys:



Yes, I turn into Cedric and Bob when I see some wearing a race shirt they did not run (unless it is a spouse, they put up with the other spouse training, so they get a pass) or if I see someone wearing the race shirt prior to finishing the race. Call me superstitious if you want, but you won't catch me in that position!

So, as we were leaving church the guy was walking out right in front of us. My bride nudged me and said "That's the guy, that's the guy who is wearing the shirt who did not run the race!" So I wanted to walk up to him and say in my best Hispanic accent:

 So, are you the guy who is wearing the shirt without running the race?  Are you going to run the race in order to wear the shirt? I wear the shirt and I ran the race. He ran the race and he is wearing the shirt, we are all wearing the shirts and we all ran the race, so why aren't you going to run the race? I guess we are just going to have to teach him to run the race if he wants to wear the shirt!

But, I didn't. I mean, Yeah, it does bug me to see people wearing race shirts they did not run, or to see people wearing the race shirt before they actually finish the race, but it is a personal hang up of mine. My bride gets on to me because I will not donate race shirts to the needy because they did not run the race and earn the shirts! Maybe this is something I will back off of one day, and maybe I am just kidding about all this!(Not really)  Honestly, I am getting so many that I try to give them to my wife to wear, because let's be real, after about 4-5 years of racing, most shirts do not mean as much to me, and I only wear certain ones. I do like to start up a conversation with people if I see they have the same shirt on though!

So, what is your stand on race shirts and people wearing them before a race or wearing them when they did not run the race? Are you a race t-shirt bully like me?