Where's The Fire?

Tuesday was my day for speedwork. "Speedwork" is, of course, a relative term. My training plan called for 12--400 meter repeats at about 1:45, with a 1.5 minute rest in between repeats. Running on a street near my house, a blue-haired lady working in her yard yelled "Where's the fire?" I thought it was really funny and have been laughing about it all week.

I told Shauna. Her first reaction: "Stop talking to strange ladies in the neighborhood." A little jealousy. Nice! Her second reaction: "Smart lady. She couldn't understand why anyone would run like that unless there was a fire. And you are doing it for fun."

Well, not for fun, exactly. I am not sure why I am pushing this hard. Good question, but I don't want to look at it too deeply or I might agree and quit. No matter how hard I run, I can't grow any more hair on my progressively balding head, I can't be 25 again, and I will never make any money at running. I don't really like to run with other people, except family members--none of who live in the area--so making new friends and acquaintances, while nice, will never be high on the list of things that keeps me going.

Motivation has been an issue lately, although I am down to a svelte 197. My BMI=27.5, so I am halfway between my starting "obese" 30 BMI and my goal 25 BMI, the highest possible "normal" rating. I also feel better after I run, although I don't feel that great during the run and it is often painful to keep up with my training paces. I did 5 miles in a 9 min/mile pace this morning, and it was tough and painful and my lungs burned. I got a nice runner's high afterwards and I am really psyched up about running right now, but before my 11-mile long run this weekend I will lose that and again wonder "What was I thinking?"

A part of the motivation that I frankly do not understand is the idea of athletic competition. That is the confusing part, in a way. I am 50, going on 51. I am not sure why athletic competition appeals to me at all. Whom do I think I am going to beat? Running, at my (low) level is primarily a self-competition, to see if I can continue to improve. But I confess to having taken a glance or two at the three best age-group finishers at the Utah Valley Marathon, and wondering if the times will be the same this year and if I can post a time in the top three. Stupid, really. My goal in my first marathon should be to finish, period. Finish without getting sick or getting a stress fracture or some other injury. That should be good enough. Can't help it. Why am I so competitive? But that is motivation for me, so it is good, right? Hmmmm.

This is a strange balancing act. Goal # 1 is to keep running, not to get some particular time in any race. Entering races is motivation, but it puts me on a razor's edge. Sometimes I think that if I wouldn't push quite so hard this would be more fun and I would have a better chance at keeping going. On the other hand, I know from past experience that if I don't have goals to push towards (running events) then I will stop. I need to enter enough events and push hard enough to stay motivated, but not set goals and standards so high that I start to really feel that it isn't worth it. This may be a particular problem once I reach my weight goal and that motivation goes to the background.

First "FIRST" Marathon Training Workout

This past week has been hard. Not necessarily from a hard-workout standpoint, but from a motivation standpoint. The newness is wearing off, I was hungry from the diet, and I had more than a few "what was I thinking?" moments. After all, I am not 18 anymore (or 28 or 38 or 48). I can run for an hour without stopping now, but I am so slow that little girls walking to school in the morning pass me. I am sure they are secretly laughing, or at least wondering why the old bald fat guy is breathing so hard.

Last Friday was particularly hard. I was really huffing and puffing when I passed a middle-age lady walking a small poodle. She had an Ipod with ear-phones and some very stylish dark sunglasses. I ran past and grunted hello. She didn't seem to notice. About 10 minutes later, out of nowhere, she ran past me like I was standing still. Her yappy little poodle took the time to bark at me and at Tink. Sigh.

I was really worried about starting my FIRST marathon training program today. The first day is a 10-minute warm-up run (since when is a 10-minute run just a "warm-up"?) followed by six repetitions of 1 minute fast and 3 minutes slow, finishing with a 10-minute cool-down run (since when is a 10-minute run "cool-down"?). No walking, and program emphasizes that the fast needs to be really FAST. These are apparently known as "fartlek" runs, which is said to be Swedish for "fast play." Or is it "fast death." Can't remember. Paul, help me out here. What does fartlek mean?

Anyway, I was pretty gassed after the 10-minute warm-up run. I was warmed up like toast. Anyway, off I went at the 1 minute fast pace. I do not believe I have run that fast for at least 10 years. Except maybe the time that Quincy (my Dalmatian that had to be put down last year) took off down the block towards the freeway. That was not pretty. But then again, neither was today.

I think Einstein must have been a runner and discovered his theory of relativity doing fartlek runs. I think he discovered that time slows down as the speed of light is approached when he noticed that the fast part of his fartlek runs lasted the equivalent of six years, even though his stopwatch only moved one minute. He was a genius, and no doubt ran really, really fast. The theory was reinforced to him when he slowed down and the 3 minute slow part of the run went by in the blink of an eye.

After six repeats, my hamstrings were so tight that I thought I might have to be wheeled home. Emma, my 9-year old, joined me for my 10-minute cool-down run after the repeats. Me: "Hi, Emma." Emma: "Dad, are you OK?" Me: "Why do you ask? Just make sure you can keep up." Emma: "OK. Do you need me to slow down, Daddy?" Me: "Thanks, baby, for not showing me up. Now, please help Daddy into the house before that freaky lady with the poodle runs by again."

Run With a Pacing Partner

I ran this morning with my 7 1/2 month old, 8-pound Italian Greyhound puppy, Tinkerbell. I planned my route to loop back by the house at about the 3 mile mark because I though she would need to be let into the house. On the contrary, Tink was still out in front and pulling on the leash when we passed the house. Not long after that, she quit pulling and started running beside me, but never lagged behind. She didn't even breath through her mouth for the entire 5 miles. What a great dog!

More than that, though, she was a good pacing partner. I ran the 5 miles at a sub-10 minute per mile pace. Since my marathon goal is 9 minutes per mile, that was a big mile-stone.

This next week I do not plan on increasing my miles. I am feeling a few twinges in my knees and lower back. I want to run faster, walk less, and get used to this mileage before I increase. Right now, I am walking about 1 minute for every mile and a half. I will try next week to increase those intervals. I am pushing hard and am weeks ahead of my 10-week plan. Good thing, since my marathon date moved up by two weeks and I didn't have enough time as it was.

And I plan to run with Tink from now on!

Day of Rest, Time for Specific Goals

Today is Sunday, the Sabbath, a day of rest. Great day to set goals. I need a race and a time goal. I am shooting for June. Far enough away to give me time to train, but close enough to add some urgency.

I found two Saturday races in June. The inaugural Seattle Rock'n'Roll Marathon is on June 27, 2009. Sounds wonderful, but we have a family reunion on the 27th that I don't want to miss. It looks like the best option is the Utah Valley Marathon on June 13, 2009. Wonderful scenery, and with any luck the weather should be cool. I am concerned because the start is at 5,000 feet, about 3800 feet higher than here, enough to make a difference to a newbie like me. It drops to 4500 feet and is mostly slightly downhill, so that, at least, is very good! Hopefully, it will make up for the higher altitude. Those familiar with the area will know how beautiful the course will be in June:







Bonus: Family members can shop at the Riverwoods Mall and the University Mall and still watch the race! Or not.

Now for the pace. My goal is to run the marathon in 4 hours or less. Four hours is about 9 minutes per mile. Three minutes per mile faster than my five mile run yesterday. I believe it will be doable but hard. In other words, a perfect goal.

Great Day, Great Improvement

Felt so good on my run this morning that I tacked on an extra mile. Five miles in 1:00:45, or 12:09 per mile. Really slow, but my improvement is remarkable. Last Friday I ran 3 miles at a 13:20 pace and was gassed!

"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical" --Lawrence "Yogi" Berra

Wednesday was a learning day. I learned not to skip breakfast.

On Wednesday, without really meaning to, I skipped breakfast. Busy day, lots to do, early meeting at work. I hardly noticed until about 11:30, when I realized I was really, really hungry and my thinking was a bit foggy. So off I ran to get a healthy lunch at Subway. Normally, a Subway 6 inch roast beef sub is an excellent choice for lunch. Good balance of carbs, protein and fiber, low in calories (about 290). As I stood in line, starving and thinking about it, I realized that since I didn't have breakfast, I was about 250 to 300 calories behind for the day. Did I mention I was really hungry? So, naturally, I ordered a foot-long sub.

It was really good. But back to the point of the post.

By 1:30, my blood sugar had flipped so badly that I still couldn't think, and I couldn't sit still. Got up and walked around. Back to work after 20 minutes, feeling much better. Worked until 6--so far so good--but then hit a mental wall. Oh well, time to go home.

I got home, drank some water and milk, put on my running shorts, and out I went for a 4 mile, approximately 50 minute run. I felt great until about 1 1/2 miles into the run. Talk about a wall. I saw stars and had a hard time walking straight. No pain, no nausea, just felt like laying down and going to sleep.

Since that would be against our neighborhood covenants and restrictions, I walked--very slowly--home. By the time I got home, I realized that my skipping breakfast and trying to make up at lunch had really sabotaged my run. And again, I was really, really hungry. And I had lots of calories left for the day--approximately 1400! So I drank a glass of milk and ate:

• Peanuts
• Chips
• Chocolate
• Candy
• A baked potato
• A can of vegetarian chili (yes, the entire can)
• More candy
• More chips
• A bowl of Total cereal
• A bowl of Kashi cereal
• More peanuts, chips, and chocolate.

Bottom line: My 1400 calorie limit turned into about 2800 calories and felt horrible and went to bed early.

The next morning, I woke up early and decided to try that run again. Four miles, felt great, no problems. I watched what I ate all day, did an exercise ball routine at night, went to bed early. This morning, I got up early and pounded out another 4 miles in about 47 minutes. Not world record time, but I couldn't runt to the end of the block 3 weeks ago without effecting my vision and will to live. Now, I feel great and felt like I could have gone another 4 miles.

I learned not to skip breakfast, eat evenly and moderately all day, and run in the mornings when possible. One more thing: My blood pressure after my run this morning and after cool-down, about 10 minutes post run, is 103/74, and my heart rate is already down to 94.

MLK Day--3rd Week

Today is Martin Luther King day, the beginning of the 3rd week of my program. No work today, so I ran late morning. This will be a tough week. I started an online Weight Watchers diet 1 week ago, and this week the running increases and the walking decreases in a fairly drastic way. This week will be really important, and I hope to turn a couple of big corners.

Frustrated with my slow weight loss, I joined Weight Watchers online one week ago. I started to journal what I ate and was amazed at the amount of calories I was eating. I really like to have a Jumbo Jack and fries at Jack in the Box for a quick lunch, but at about 690 calories for the burger and another 450 calories for the fries, or 1140 calories for lunch, it is no wonder that I wasn't doing very well with the belly fat thing.

That week also began 3 minutes running and 3 minutes walking. The 3 minutes walking was not hard--but three straight minutes running really made me gasp for air. Very hard. And I felt weak from the new diet. I read a few blogs online and they all said don't try to start running and dieting at the same time--too many things to worry about, you will feel weak, and will not keep it up.

Good advice, but for me (again, type A), if I don't do it all at once I won't do any of it anyway. So the advice was not helpful. I started to become a bit discouraged. I can't run long distances at this weight, but I can't lose the weight without a big goal staring me in the face.

After surfing around, I came across The Runner's Diet, Runner's World publication. After browsing through it for about 15 minutes at the book store last Saturday, I bought it, read through it, and am trying to incorporate it into my Weight Watcher's diet. I think it is compatible, and will help me better balance carbs and protein. I think I was not getting the right balance. I was losing weight but was feeling like I couldn't move about 15 minutes into my run. I think this will help.

(Note that the book is heavily panned on Amazon, but the negative comments are all by running snobs, like this one:

I was looking for a book to help me make better choices with my diet that would help me tone up and energize my runs. This book is geared toward people who used to run and would like to get back to it or people who want to run. I am currently pulling down 30+ miles per week and most of the examples were running 16 miles per week.

Right . Whatever. It is my experience that most people who say publicly and gratuitously that they do 30+ miles per week need a better calendar, a better way to measure miles, and/or a better calculator. They are like fishermen--"you should have seen the one that got away!!") But I digress.

Yesterday was my once-a-week weigh day. I have a love-hate relationship with the scale. Really, it is all about me. If the scale tells me what I want, it is my best friend. We really haven't gotten along too well
for the past few years. Anyway, yesterday morning, with finger's crossed (because that has proven to be an effective tactic) I stepped on the scale. 211.4--a 2.6 pound loss! Wahoo! I love the scale this week. BMI=29.5 YES! I am out of the ranks of the obese. Now, I am just "overweight."

Now, if I can only figure out the diet so that I can run without feeling like I am going to keel over. But I am making progress. This morning, the beginning running program, week three, calls for 5 minutes of straight running, with only 2.5 minutes of walking. That is a huge jump from last week's 3 min. running, 3 min. walking. Very tough, but this morning I did it. I went 4 miles in about 49 minutes, a huge achievement for someone who couldn't run one minute without stopping a few weeks ago. I did not hit a wall, which tells me that after only one day of trying to incorporate the principles from The Runner's Diet, I have found a better balance.

I forgot to take my blood pressure before the run, but after my 10 minute cool-down, my BP was a much improved 112/76, and my heart rate had already slowed to 106.

I feel great!