Running Aimlessly Around the Countryside

Running In The Family

2011-09-13T02:58:00.000-04:00

Lately everyone in the family has been training. I've been running more and my knee seems to be holding up. My wife and her running partners are continuing with her routine. My daughter has rediscovered some of the joy of running while cross training during the swimming off season. And my son has been training with his middle school cross country team.

So what happens? As soon as I am out of town for a business trip the rest of the family decide to go racing. They found a local race with the choice of a 5k and a 10k, and the kids lined up friends to run with. My daughter and her friend did the 10k, with everyone else in the 5k. I wasn't there, but wish I had been. My daughter and her friend ran together until close to the end and went 1-2 in their age group. My wife set a 50 second PR and placed 2nd in her age group. Then to top things off, my 12 year old son went 20:49, a 2 minute PR, 1st in his age group, and 5th OVERALL!

I'm really bummed that I wasn't there, but really proud of my clan for getting up early on a Saturday morning, going out and getting after it.

Artist for Song in Title: Level 42

At Least We Tried

2011-07-11T08:45:00.000-04:00

Between all of this years travels (both business and family), track meets, baseball games, and wet weather I haven't been on my bike a lot, much less gone on a group ride. That's been pretty disappointing since Will's swim schedule lined up perfectly to remove any conflicts from that angle. Finally last week we got the chance to get out. I have to admit I was a little nervous. With the little of riding I have done, I was worried about my ability to stay with the group for 26 miles and with Will having ridden even less, I was more concerned with him. Last year he struggled to find his form on the shorter, slower ride and the first ride we did together a couple weeks ago showed some of the same signs. I had hope because our most recent ride left him strong and ready for more, not to mention how he dusted me on the hills. I think he may have been a little nervous as well.

We showed up at the ride with plenty of time to get a parking space, which isn't always easy with 200+ showing up for this ride each week, and found our place in the staging area. As we pulled out, I became less nervous about Will as he was riding strong toward the front of the group. We cruised along well for the first 5 miles before coming to a fairly busy cross street. We were slowing in prep for the intersection, but the leaders were late in calling for a stop. Will moved to the right to avoid hitting the rider in front of him, who unfortunately did the same. Long story short, they made contact and Will hit the pavement. Luckily not too bad; some skin off his knee, a bloody elbow, ripped shorts (OK, he needed new ones anyway), pretty scraped up hip (ouch!), and messed up bar tape (crap!). He was sore for a few days, but we got everything squared away and he raced and won our local Kids Tri for Kids triathlon on Monday.

This week we were back to the group ride for another try. I still had the same nerves as last week but with an additional concern of riding in the group. The weather threatened a little bit, and we did get drizzled on a little for the last 5 miles of the ride, but everything was a success! Both Will and I had a great ride, and while we didn't spend the entire ride side by side, we didn't make sure that we were near each other after intersections and did spend much of the ride together. Nerves are gone, Will has a new max ride distance and is in good form. We'll still take it a little easy for the first 1/2 of the ride, but I can see us potentially moving up to the next group before the summer is over.

Artist for Song in Title: Moby

Deep Dark Truthful Mirror

2011-06-30T11:15:00.001-04:00

Note: This post was drafted this while I was travelling 5 weeks ago.

My blogging continues to mirror my activity. Sporadic. After returning from my late March/early April travels, the weather improved and I was feeling good so I hit the roads...probably more than I should have. By the last week of April I had logged a 20 mile week and was en-route to another when I noticed a limp as I walked from the parking lot to my office in the morning. My knee had been bothering some throughout the month, but the limp was finally the sign that I needed to react. I promised myself at the beginning of the year that would listen to my body, so it was time to fulfill that promise.

Did I do the right thing? Yes and No. Yes; I listened to my body and stopped. No; for a week I did NOTHING! After that I got back with the program, and did something. Not running, but something. I made it a point to get out on my road bike. I've been feeling good and am trying to slowly build up the length of my rides.

Eventually by mid-May I was able to do a few short runs, without irritating my knee so I was excited and ready to go...just in time to leave on another international business trip. I usually don't mind running in the heat, so maybe it is just a seasonal difference, but the Malaysian heat and humidity with afternoon rain storms combined with the inner city location where I'm staying have kept me from the roads. At least the extreme jet lag has left me with time each morning to practice some Yoga sequences. I really did want to do a short run just to say I had run here, but that didn't happen.

I ventured on from KL to Shanghai, China, and was able to get in a run before a day of sight seeing. The Sunday morning that I got out to run was wonderful. Rain had cleared the smog and the wide empty sidewalks made fore a good time exploring and stopping here and there for some pictures. The bummer was I only got out for the 1 day. During the week the crowds grew and schedule kept me inside.

I'm not doing what I really wish I was, but I'm trying to be optimistic. Conveniently, my work schedule is going to keep me from really having an 'A' race this year, so I have an opportunity to take a breath, heal my body and build for another year when I don't have the constraints.

Artist for Song in Title: Elvis Costello

Travelin

2011-04-06T12:00:00.012-04:00

As I look back I noticed that I missed posting for the entire month of March. I think I can explain the reasons for that, but unfortunately, the frequency of posting also reflects the my running activity. Luckily it was not a perfect mirror image. I have achieved some sort of work/life balance, but not the preferred type as I have been overloaded on each end. March was championship swimming for club, spring break in Washington DC, and a business trip to Romania. Anyone of these things in itself would not have derailed my training, but putting all in the same month is a different story!

Peles Castle, Romania

March was going to be the month that I got everything back on track. Week 1 went by: no runs. Week 2 started off on the right foot with a pre-travel run with my wife. I packed all of my gear for my 2 week tip to Romania, because I was sure that I would have time. I even made the trip with zero jet lag, so what could go wrong. 11 hour days and group dinners left my gear teasing me from the closet on a daily basis and no additional runs. I did finally get out for a 5 miler on the weekend and then one run mid-week, but two runs over the trip duration was not what I had hoped or intended.

Week 3 finally got me more on track. 4 runs and 1/2 my total miles for the month! I was able to get another run in with Jil, which I really enjoyed. We haven't run together for quite a while, so it was nice to get back to that. We also experienced a wonderful change to spring, and I couldn't resist getting out in the weather.


SR-71 Blackbird, Air and Space II

Week 4 returned to the previous normalcy. I got a nice 5 mile run in prior to piling into the family vehicle and traveled to Washington, D.C. No running gear was packed. We did spend a ton of time on our feet walking through the city and museums, but it's just not that same. Regardless, the family had a great time (the point) and saw some really cool stuff.

What's next? April has me staying home, the weather should continue to improve, and the kids activities are reduced to mainly practice. My desire is to be running more consistently and getting out cross training on my bike. Wish my luck!

Artist for Song in Title: Josh Kelley

Build Me Up

2011-02-22T12:52:00.002-05:00

I've spent the last few weeks easing myself back into running after my brief layoff. I have a return to running plan that I got from a past injury when I required physical therapy. The plan has worked well in the past, so it has become my go to plan for rest to run. The plan spends the first 3 weeks with run/walk workouts before finally getting in an all run session.

The run/walk sessions have gone very well. Because of the ice narrowed streets and the focus on time rather than distance, I stuck to the treadmill. This week I did take advantage of nicer temps, a good thaw, and the plan switch to all run to get outside. It was wonderful to be in the elements, but I missed the pace control of the treadmill. I'm not sure if it was just being outside, or muscle memory, but I went out harder than I have since beginning my return and was sucking wind.

It didn't feel great while I was on the road, but I can feel good about where I am and knowing I am building up to that strong place I had found last year.

Artist for song in title: Huey Lewis & the News

Hello Goodbye

2011-02-13T21:14:00.000-05:00

The last few weeks have brought beginnings and ends. I said hello to another return to running while my daughter Anna said goodbye to a new phase in her swimming career.

I said hello and started running again using the same return to running plan that I used successfully last year. Thus far, knock on wood, my hamstring has been holding up and I an excited to be moving forward on my stay healthy goals for this year.

Anna said goodbye to her first high school swim season in a big way. After a season of continued improvement, she qualified with her teammates for the Indiana high school state meet in 2 relays. At the meet, the 200 medley relay finished their season in prelims, but the 400 free relay advanced to finals. So in the last race of the Indiana high school season, the squad Anna swam on brought home a 6th place finish. As an added bonus, the whole relay team returns next year! For me, it is ready hard to describe my feelings. I'm proud of her putting in all the hard work, listening to her coaches, and as a freshman, finding her role and supporting her teammates. I'm also somewhat speechless regarding what she just experienced. Obviously, I hope she has the opportunity to return to the state meet and podium many more times, hopefully on a higher step. If she doesn't, she has had an amazing experience that can't be taken away from her. But for me the best part was seeing the smile on her face and the pure joy. It makes all those trips to the pool, at all hours of the day, so worth it.

Artist for Song in Title: The Beatles

False Start

2011-01-30T18:27:00.000-05:00

As July is coming to a close, I have to recognize all the false starts that I have experienced in my training. There were at least 3 if not 4 times that I got a good start, but was derailed after only a few days. I decided that I wouldn't run this month, would just rest my legs and enjoy the breaks. To aid in that effort I started the month by investing my Christmas money in a new bike trainer. It's a nice bright green color that doesn't go with any decor. Of course if it did, I would question my decorating taste. The trainer has been a big help to keeping me doing something, the only downside is that my workouts have become evening only. I have also worked in a few yoga sessions, but again that is an after work activity.

At this point you may be wondering what's wrong with evenings after work. As the parent of 2 swimmers, 1 club and 1 high school, January, February and March are very demanding months. Making sure 2-a-days aren't missed, dealing with 2 practice schedules and the meets. There was one 8 day stretch that included 6 days of meets and one banquet. To make that worse, the weekend days were all day! So swimming is what is wrong with evenings after work.

Don't get me wrong, I love to attend and watch my kids participate, but it has just made it very easy to say that my workout can wait till tomorrow. There are only 2 more weeknight meets in February, maybe I can keep my routine consistent.

Artist for Song in Title: The Wonder Stuff

Let's Just Say Goodbye

2011-01-03T17:11:00.001-05:00

I saw this image in someone else's year end blog report and it just felt so appropriate. As the year came to a close, I couldn't wait for 2010 to come to a close and 2011 to arrive with a clean slate and a fresh start. Of course this is talking from a running perspective; it was a very good year for my family, career, and general personal life. The problem is, my overall picture becomes tainted by my running results.

So why the dark shadow? As I wrote my goals last year, I was full of optimism for a great year; a year full of new mile totals and race goals. But that train was derailed before 2010 was even rung in. I spent the first 3-4 months of the year a knee injury from late 2010. Finally in late summer, I achieved 3 good months of training and the return of optimism. That, however, was short lived, as a calf strain brought a screeching halt to any thoughts of a big fall race. The injury wasn't major, but it was timed perfectly to dampen my optimism and plans. As I finally approached the end of the year, and the joy of just running was returning to my days, my hamstring has decided to do strange things and prevent me once again from hitting the roads.

I have simple goals for 2011 - Listen to my body, Avoid injury and Stay healthy. Given the hamstring, I'm not starting off too well, but I'm resolved to stay focused on the bigger picture and not worry about any quantitative goals. If big things happen, great, but I don't want to let them become my focus.

With some smart decisions along they way, I hope that next year when I say goodbye to 2011, it will be with the desire for continuing success in the following year and not once again saying good riddance to the past year.

Artist for Song in Title: David Sanborn

Have You Seen Me Lately?

2010-12-09T11:53:00.000-05:00

I feel like this blog has become like the old serial matinees, as most posts need to start with "when we last saw our heroes...."- not that I think I'm any kind of hero, it's just how I think those matinees were. I've been dealing with a little soreness here and there, so leading up to Thanksgiving I took about 2 weeks off from running. To be honest it was 2 weeks off from nearly all forms of exercise.

On Thanksgiving day, the whole family laced up and participated in our local Drumstick Dash. The weather presented a nice change this year; instead of 30 F, it was 55 F, but with the addition of rain. Personally, that is some of my favorite running weather. Since Anna is in the midst of high school swim season, she didn't want to do the long course, but requested that Jil join her for the 2.3 mile non-timed option. Will was all about doing the full 4.5 miles and running. We arrived in plenty of time to get a good parking space, but due to the rain, didn't venture to the start until about 10 mins before the start. I thought that we would line up together and stay together until the courses split, at which point Will and I would stay together. My assumptions started and finished correctly, but the middle was all wrong. At the gun, Will and I took off with the crowd and lost the girls almost immediately. Since we had planned to split eventually, I figured it was okay, and we just went with it. Will and I ran smoothly, with each mile being faster than the previous one. I concentrated on staying comfortable and focusing on his effort so I didn't blow him up early. Will started to labor a little in the third mile, but hung in there and took over the pacing for the last 1/2 mile. At the line we grabbed hands and crossed the line together. I assumed we had tied, but he was adamant that he be me. I found out later he had ensured his chip foot crossed the start mat and finish mat before mine, giving him the victory by .4 seconds! He doesn't realize that regardless of the time, I still won because I got to spend a morning running with my son.

So the Drumstick Dash marked my return to running. I'm currently in a base/maintenance mode. I'm running 3 or 4 times a week for 4-5 miles. I'm not worried about pace, just running easy and mixing up my routes by taking different turns every time out. The most fun I've had is heading out for lunch time runs in 15 F conditions. I enjoy running in the cold as long as the roads aren't icy, but it seems that others don't share my enthusiasm. I had a lot of fun with unbelievers in the locker room and just admiring the odd looks I received on the roads. I would encourage everyone to give winter running a try. Put on a couple of layers and head out. It's really no different than when we used to go out and sled when we were kids. It's a little cool for the first few minutes, but after that you start to warm-up, you get lost in the run, and you forget completely about the cold.

Artist for Song in Title: Counting Crows

The Payback

2010-11-15T11:30:00.001-05:00

In case everyone missed it in all of the press about Ryan Hall dropping out of the Chicago Marathon, I officially did not run my goal race for the year, the Monumental Marathon. But I really feel pretty good about how I responded. Instead of sitting around complaining and making life miserable for everyone around me, I gave back to the local running community. I volunteered as a course marshal for the race. My son Will also decided to pitch in for the day. Luckily we got a 2nd shift time so we didn't have to be up really early, but weather wise it really didn't matter; there was just no escaping the unseasonable cold. I think it was 28 F at the race start, and was only in the mid to upper 30's when we arrived at our post. We knew it was going to be cold standing around, so we were smart enough to layer up, and really, only our hands got a bit cold. Many thanks to the spectator who provided Will with an extra set of hand warmers she had.

We were posted about 1/2 mile from the finish and picked up around 3:30 from the start. I really enjoyed the time and the courteous and enthusiastic participants. There were 1 or 2 runners that were not very friendly and had not so kind words, but I knew they were deep in hurt and I'm sure they didn't mean what they said. I was a little said to see it come to an end. It was so uplifting to receive hundreds of thank yous and have the runners offer us high 5's! They were the ones putting in the effort and completing a marathon, but they were the ones giving us the kudos! Based on this experience, I will definitely help out with race again.

I also learned that I could never have been a traffic cop. The police officer that was stationed at our point on the course needed to let a lane of traffic across the course, but priority went to the runners. He kept a smile on his face and never got angry. I think I really would have lost it with the people who were honking for about 20 minutes!

As for my running, things are going pretty well. I was energized by watching the marathon and we've had some good weather. That has caused me to run a little bit more than I should be, but nothing an extra day off here and there couldn't fix. I did roll my ankle last week, but I was lucky to it be a minor issue and to be back out running 2 days later. I've switched to evenings from lunch time and have been exploring the some roads and paths around home that I have never been on, are new, or I just haven't been on in a while.

Other than the local Turkey Trot, there are no more organized runs on the docket for the rest of year. I am excited because everyone in the family will voluntarily be doing the run. I have started to think and dream about next year, but for now I'm just very happy to run aimlessly, meandering the streets and paths where ever I happen to be running that day.

Artist for Song in Title: James Brown

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

2010-10-14T12:15:00.000-04:00

Today I have peace and understanding and find myself in a better place. I rested, did a mediocre job of cross training (it has been nice to get reacquainted with my bike), and had a sports massage. Last week Saturday I went to watch my son in a middle school cross country meeting. For those of you who haven't watched XC before, the fans get a workout running to different points on the course to watch. As I did so, I noticed that my calf was pain free! The plans for my Saturday afternoon changed at that moment. I really didn't want to work on the honey-do list anyway.

When I got home, I grabbed a quick pb&j sandwich, gathered my long run gear and headed out the door into the unseasonably warm 85 degree day. I have to admit, I was hoping to sneak in 12-15 miles. That would have put me in place to get back on track for the marathon. I don't know if it was the lack of fueling earlier in the day, the warm temperatures or something else, but after about 5 miles I was starting to question myself. At 7 1/2, my calf started to tighten a bit, so I went another 1/2 mile, then walked the last bit home.

So why am I in a better place? For starters, I did get in almost 8 pain free miles. But most importantly, because I wasn't able to get in a double digit long run, I have fully accepted that my body just isn't going to let me race a marathon this fall. And I'm okay with that. I've learned something about myself. I need to listen to my body and adjust a workout early if something doesn't feel right. Just because I put it on paper doesn't mean that I have to do it (seems obvious doesn't it?). It's better to adjust a workout than to be injured and adjusting plans. Also, my goals are still realistic and I can still achieve them in the time frame I have in mind. Finally and most importantly, I'm excited to run again and my love for the experience is back.

Artist for Song in Title: Elvis Costello

Insane, Insane Again

2010-10-01T20:02:00.000-04:00

The pattern is occurring, again. For long time readers you will have noticed a pattern. My training just gets to the point where I'm really excited about the possibilities and injury strikes. My training has been going extremely well lately. Yes, I've been tired, and yes there have been days that I didn't want to lace up the shoes and head out the door, but I always felt stronger and better after finishing the workouts. Last week was a step back/recovery week and I was fired up and ready to start into the final block of training before tapering and racing. My form has gotten to a point that I really thought some of my goals were very realistic; it also didn't hurt that I had just added some Saucony Kinvara's to my shoe stable and I was really wanting to put them to the test.

Tuesday I headed out for some mile repeats, a workout that I had dreaded a month ago but was now excited for. I had some tightness in my left calf from my first steps. Nothing to be concerned about, I was sure it would loosen up as I warmed up. I went through the first repeat feeling strong and comfortable only to look at my watch and see that it was the fastest mile I've run in probably a decade. Great! Just to recover and hit the next one, but my calf was still a little tight. It was about this time that my mind was somewhere else and I felt a squish; oh no, that was a BIG pile of dog droppings. I should have taken that has an indication of the day and packed it in then, but I was heading back toward my starting point so I figured I would give one more mile and then assess whether to call it a day early. I didn't even make it that far. About 1/4 mile in, I felt a strong twinge shoot up the calf and pulled up like a world class sprinter, keeping all the weight possible off that leg. I tried to stretch it out but to no relief, so I walked the two miles back to my destination.

I immediately started the roller coaster ride: my race was over, but maybe it wasn't that bad, no it's over.... I got some ice at the gym and spent much of the afternoon icing, but by the time I headed home from work the calf had really tightened up. I hope I wasn't too bad to my family, I know how bad I can be when I think the train has gone off the tracks. Since then my moods have leveled out somewhat. I've been resting and trying to stay off my feet as much as possible. The leg is feeling better bit by bit, but not back to pain free. I got the name of a good sports massage guy and scheduled the first opening available. So right now I'm day by day and hope to be back on the roads very soon. Maybe this is sick, but I was really excited about my scheduled 20 miler this Saturday; I guess that may have to wait. Just hopefully not too long.

Artist for Song in Title: J. Geils Band

God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise

2010-09-10T16:17:00.005-04:00

As most of you are aware, the fall race season is fast approaching. I'm getting close enough to my target race to have started an official training schedule and so far so good. But just days after starting my 12 week training plan, I was in a meeting at work where I heard something that cause fear and dread deep inside me. In order to meet some deadlines for next year, there is a very good possibility of a couple weeks of travel in October. And not just any travel, but to the far east, splitting the time between Japan and China. Any other time of the year I would be excited for the opportunity to visit these locations, just not 2 or 3 weeks before my target marathon that I have been aiming for all year.. Those are the biggest weeks of the training plan and don't know if I'll be able to find safe places to run, much less the time to get in the miles. The timing for trips can be somewhat fluid so I'm still training like nothing is going to happen, but I'm also trying to prepare myself mentally for the possible scrapping of the race and all the preparation that has been put in to date. I know that I could get in enough training to get to the starting line and finishing line, but I don't want to enter the race just to finish, I would like to see what kind of time I could achieve. But God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll get to run my goal race. But if the opposite happens, I'll know it wasn't meant to be, will back off on the training a bit and look for another goal race opportunity. On the positive side, at least I didn't pick a goal race in the middle of October!

If anyone has any experience running in Japan or China I would love to hear your experience and advice.

Artist for Song in Title: Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs

Hot, Hot, Hot

2010-08-14T17:13:00.000-04:00

Okay, I have to apologize for a couple of things. First, sorry for not posting for a while. Life has been busy and every time I think of posting I'm away from a computer. Secondly, sorry for taking the easy way out the title.

Indiana has been like the rest of the country this summer - hot. Through July I was holding up pretty well. I was sticking to my usual schedule of lunch time weekdays and mornings on weekends. I increased my hydration and on the really warm, humid days I took my fuel belt as well, even though those runs were less than an hour in length. I think I have been acclimating to the heat and hydrating correctly, because my sweat level has gone off the charts. So much so that on a recent long run I had to bail out a couple miles earlier than planned because my feet were sliding around in my shoes and I could tell that blisters were imminent. I wasn't disappointed with my workouts, but I knew that the heat and humidity were negatively affecting my performance. But the end of July was the end of normal.

August brought with it a total dislike of the heat. I'm usually one that will hang out by the pool long after others have left, but I just don't want to be outside anymore. My bike hasn't been off it's perch in a couple of weeks and I have spent very little time in the pool. The pool one drives me most crazy. If I'm (and my wonderful pool girl wife) going to put the time and money into having a pool in my backyard, then I would prefer to be using it. During our latest heat stretch, I even switched my weekday workouts to early mornings before work.

At least there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. The forecasts are for the temperatures to break this next week. Let's just hope that is a trend and not an anomaly.

Artist for Song in Title: Buster Poindexter

Couple Days Off

2010-07-06T21:00:00.000-04:00

I recently reviewed my vacation schedule at work and realized that we are at mid-year and I still have a lot of vacation left. The answer? Take a couple days off...from work that is. Scheduled activities dictated that it would be a staycation, so I put maximum use of my 12 days of freedom.

My mornings were dedicated to training. I alternated days between running and cycling, and yes, I did include some rest days. It was fun to put schedule around my training rather than schedule where my training would fit. It was also fun to mix things up. I got in a muddy trail run, shared a run with my son, met up with a family friend and ran with him for a while. On the bike, I didn't get to the normal group ride, but I got some miles in with my son, and on other days was able to beat the heat and humidity by getting out before everyone else was out of bed.

The biggest positive to my time off? Year high totals for both an individual run bike and run. One day I managed to get in an 8 mile run and the next day a 43 mile bike ride. My body is feeling good and now that I am headed back to my normal work schedule, if I can manage the heat, I can continue to increase my time on the roads. I'm hopeful to at least maintain my biking miles this next week and increase my running to over 20 miles for the week. That is the most in 7 months and I'm very excited to be back at that level; it's been far too long.

Even with all the positive notes, there was still some negative. Although I enjoyed one post-run cool down walk with my wife, we weren't able to coordinate a run together (I need to make that a priority on my calendar). Also, it is coming to an end. Tomorrow I have to go back.

Artist for Song in Title: Huey Lewis & the News

Helter Skelter

2010-06-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

I've been away again, but mainly because my free time has been severely limited as of late. Work has been crazy and the kids have been keeping the calendar very busy. Anna has begun the summer swim practice practice schedule, so I am dropping her off and heading into the office early. That has been very nice to get things going before everyone else wanders in, but I don't seem to be able to get out much earlier in the evening. When I have gotten out, it seems that Will has had baseball games. For example, this week, with the storms that were rolling across the country, he had a game suspended due to rain 2 times. It took 3 days to get the game in. The 3rd day then included another tourney game. While I'm glad to not be back at the ball park for another night, I'm disappointed that the boys are done for the season. But it also means that Will and I can ride together more.

I have backed off my running mileage quite a bit to nurse through some calf tightness. I have been very diligent about stretching before getting out of bed in the morning and then taking time following workouts to really get my legs stretched out. I've also been on my bike a little bit more. The strategy seems to be working as I've been able to begin raising my running mileage and keep the calf loose.

The bike has been giving mixed results. I've been getting 50-70 miles in a week, which I'm very happy with, but they haven't all been good miles. There have been a few rides that I could just tell when I pulled out of the driveway that I didn't have it that day. I still put the ride in, but those aren't the fun days. Other days I feel good and can tell a definite difference in my strength over last year. I understand that ups and downs are normal an try to focus more on the ups. Right now that seems to be working and I am looking forward to my runs and rides.

Artist for Song in Title: The Beatles

The Road

2010-05-20T18:48:00.001-04:00

Things have been slightly crazy lately. Spring activities have been in full gear for the kids. Anna was running track and had 2 meets each week. Will is playing little league baseball and has 2 games per week. They have both been swimming and have already had their first long course swim meet. Will also did his first triathlon of the season, and had his end of the year orchestra concert. Given all of those events, we have had very few open nights for the last month. I've been able to get my runs in over lunch, but I haven't been biking much.

Bike To Work week was this week, so I decided to try my hand at the commute, which is a little over 20 miles each way. I had mapped out my routes and pre-driven them to be sure they were safe. The weather finally cooperated on Wednesday, so I dropped Anna off at swim practice (yes, we do that a couple mornings a week before school), went home and finished packing my bag.

I began my journey about 5:45. The beginning of my route has a few decent climbs in it, so by 6 I was wondering what I was doing, but I kept on pedaling. Everything went pretty well until about 6:30. I stopped at an intersection for some traffic and when I pulled away, my clothes fell out of my backpack. No biggie. I stopped an picked them up and returned to the task. I did take a wrong turn at that intersection, but had I not, I probably would have lost my clothes. The rest of the trip was uneventful and I arrived at work around 7, refreshed and ready for the day (after a shower, of course).

For the return trip, I did get started a little later than I had wanted due to work issues, and that made traffic situations with more traffic in some areas and less in others. I did have to alter my route a few times because of street closures that had occurred in the last week, but other than adding a couple of climbs, they didn't take me far off my planned route. About the 16 mile mark, I was really starting to feel the results of the days riding in my quads. The slightest climb was making them cramp. However, I didn't believe it was something I couldn't get through. I just had to maintain a steady, easy pace. I did try to avoid any climbs the rest of the way, but knew I would have a couple short climbs when I got near home. I tried to avoid one, but didn't turn off soon enough and still had the slightest incline for a couple of blocks. At the top, my legs said no more. Both quads locked and I knew I was done. I pulled over and stopped, called for my support vehicle and stood straddling my bike until the cramps released. I almost called off the cavalry since I was less than a mile from home, but knew with remaining hill, that the muscles would just cramp again, maybe worse. I decided to take the help and keep the challenge of completing the commute for another day.

I'm disappointed that I didn't finish the task, but as I think about it, the ride wasn't a loss. I learned quite a bit about the process. I need to drastically cut what I carry on my back. I shouldn't be carrying more than a phone and some ID. Everything else needs to be pre-staged, like my work clothes (especially shoes) and if I want to carry my lunch, that too. I probably need to hydrate and increase my electrolyte intake as well to prevent the cramps. Most importantly though, I need to get some more bike miles on the road to increase my endurance.
Artist for Song in Title: Jackson Browne

Something

2010-05-13T16:08:00.000-04:00

At the end of my run the other day, I had a memory of the way SNL character Roseanne Rosannadanna would end her routines. "Well it just goes to show you, it's always something."

I finally seem to be past my Winter injury and am getting more consistent with my running. And with the weather turning back to Spring-like, I had packed my whole closet for my noon workout. Short sleeve, long sleeve, sleeveless, shorts, tights, hat, sunglasses, gloves, I was prepared for any weather possibilities, almost. I forgot one very important thing - socks. But I figured, hey, it's a short, recovery day, I should be able to do this.

So off I went on my run, sans socks. And you probably know what happened. About 15 minutes in, my little toes started to feel a little rubbing. Nothing too bad, but enough that I knew there was a potential for problems. The good news was that I was already on my return to the gym, so maybe I could get by without too much trouble. Wrong. It just kept getting worse. I did manage to cut the run short by a few minutes, but by that time the damage was already done. Blisters created. Blister on my right little toe popped and skin gone.

I guess that means a few extra days off while I allow my toes to recover. It's always something.

Artist for Song in Title: The Beatles

White Rabbit

2010-04-26T08:27:00.000-04:00

I've been easing back into running for the last 2 weeks. My physical therapist gave me a return to running plan that started with walk/run combinations and finally this week switched to a full run. The plan has been working well for the tendonitis but has really revealed how much my fitness level has dropped. That really surprised me since I was dedicated to getting to the gym and using the cardio machines when I couldn't run. So what do you do when you have been on the roads for two weeks and have run one time for 25 minutes? Sign up and run a 5k!

I really didn't have much of a choice. Today was the Z-run, our local 5k that supports the local schools. If you are a long time reader, you might remember that I won my age group last year. However, that was then and this is now. Last year I was base building and training to pace Jil through her first running half marathon. This year, I had 2 weeks of running under my belt and had just spent the week fighting either severe seasonal allergies or a head cold. Translated: I needed a new strategy. Will (my 11 yr old son) flirted with the 25 minute mark last year, so I decided to play pace rabbit and help him achieve that goal.

Mile 1: 8:27
This race is interesting, because it brings out a lot of families and kids in the 4-8 grade range. Most of these kids fall into 2 categoreis, either yo-yos or shooting stars. The yo-yos are the little kids that sprint for a few hundred yards and the shooting stars line up at the front of the pack and run all out as long as they can until they blow up, usually after a mile or so. Will and I started mid-pack and stayed patient for the first mile, slowly working through the yo-yos and the other kids that had started to blow up already. That isn't too bad, except that a good portion of the first mile is run on bike trails, so there isn't a lot of room to maneuver. The first mile wasn't quite where we wanted to be, but we were confident we could make it up.

Mile 2: 7:49
Mile 2 got us into a neighborhood, so we were back on the streets and had more room. This is the section of the course where we usually face a wind, but this year the conditions were fairly calm. Will and I just tried to maintain a comfortable pace and pass as many runners as we could. There was one water stop, but Will informed me that you really don't need water for anything under 5. Maybe he does actually listen to his dad, at least sometimes. Right after the water stop it was back onto the bike path.

Mile 3: 7:50
As we got into mile 3, I could tell that Will was starting to feel the pace, because he wasn't talking much and his breathing was getting fairly shallow. I knew I needed to get him relaxed, because the one hill on the course was coming in about a half mile. I got him to breath deeper and then begun to build him up. I talked about how it was just the end of a triathlon, this is when all the work pays off (all 2 training runs that he did!), that he was more prepared than the next guy, etc. We got to the short climb and pulled ourselves up. By this time I was beginning to feel the effects of the pace and my cold as well, but knew I had to be there for him or he may not reach his goal.

The course leveled out again, and we started to work our way on the paths through a small park. Will said "why does this path have to be so windy?". I had to concur, but told him just to get strength from all the people we were passing.

Final .1: 0:33 (5:30 pace)
As we reached the 3 mile marker, we took a right turn, and then took off down finishing straight to the line. We passed the one pair of runners that had passed us after the 3/4 mile mark and got passed a few more with a strong finish. The announcer didn't call out our names, but did mention hustling in to beat the 25 min mark.

Wrap-Up
The day was successful. Will got under 25, with an official time of 24:47, a PR by 20 seconds. Jil also came in with a PR by about 30 seconds. Not to bad considering their lack of training! As for me, my legs felt good and I believe that I am finally on the way back.

Artist for Song in Title: Jefferson Airplane

Update: Will had a little trouble walking on Sunday. His calves were just a tad sore from the effort on Saturday. He understands that is because he didn't train. Hopefully that lesson will stick with him as he heads into the beginning of triathlon season next weekend.

Begin the Begin

2010-04-12T16:30:00.001-04:00

In the last week I've finally been able to begin running again after what is basically a 3 month layoff. I've started an advanced return to running progression that my physical therapist gave me. It begins with some walk/run combinations to ease back into the effort. If all goes well, over the course of 7 weeks I will be able to run for about an hour. If it wasn't for the fact that I am on the roads at all, it would be somewhat discouraging, but the fact is, I am on the roads.

The good news is that my knee feels good while I'm running, although my left knee (from the injury when I was 14) as been a aggravated by some of the strengthening exercises. I do still feel a little soreness when I'm still for longer periods, but I can definitely sense progress. The worst part is my fitness. While my legs are holding up for about 3 miles in 30 minutes, my lungs are screaming. I don't think it matters what cross-training you do, there is a specificity requirement to performing an exercise activity.

I thankful that I have been able to get out and enjoy some of this warm spring doing what I enjoy. I actually got in about 10 miles last week! I know that doesn't seem like much compared to those wrapping up their spring half/full marathon training, but to me it's awesome! I've also been able to get out on my bike for a ride or two a week, but need more saddle time. I've been sore after spending that little bit of time in the saddle after a winter off. There again, specificity.

I'm not out of the woods yet, but I think I can see the light from the edge of the forest. The plan is to stick to the plan, but make sure that I don't go backwards.

Artist for Song in Title: R.E.M.

Torture

2010-03-16T10:50:00.000-04:00

It has been hard the past couple months not to be running. I grew a beard to protect my face during long runs, didn't need it. It was easier because only the most dedicated runners were out on the roads. As of late, that has changed. As the weather as gotten warmer and training programs for the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon have ramped up more and more people have been out on the roads. Seeing everyone out and about has been torture. I want to be out there so bad, but it's just not time yet.

Last week I finally got in to see my favorite PT, Brian. In addition to overall evaluation and providing of exercises, he got out his Graston tools, and went to work on my lower quad. It was not comfortable and knew it was not going to be pretty when he said, "good, we're starting to see some red spots." I followed up with some ice massage then got changed and headed to work. When I left, my leg didn't like being touched, not even by my dress pants. The leg stayed swollen and discolored for about 2 days, but already was starting to feel better. The good news is I get to go back to the torture chamber 3 or 4 more times. Besides the treatment, the goal of the visits is to get a good set of exercises to strengthen my legs from top to bottom in an attempt to prevent future injury.

Artist for Song in Title: The Cure

It Ain't Me Babe

2010-02-23T20:06:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my last post that I got a new pair of shoes just to verify that the shoes I was wearing weren't causing the issue with my knee. After a couple of 3 mile treadmill test runs, I determined that MJ was right and Mars was wrong. It's not the shoes. (Remember the old Nike Air Jordan commercial with Spike Lee?) So what next?

Today I went to see my friendly sports med guy. I had scheduled the appointment for knee pain, and because of my history, he was surprised that it was my right knee and not my left. For those of you who knew me growing up, you'll remember that I had kind of a nasty encounter with the rear end of an AMC Gremlin when I was 14. Maybe I should tell that story someday. Anyway, we figured out it's not the IT band, it's not the meniscus, it's not the ligaments.... It does appear to be something with my quadriceps tendon. We did take the opportunity to take some x-rays of my knees just to see where they are structurally at this point in my life, and the verdict was good. There were some rough spots where I had my fracture 29 yrs ago, but everything else looked good.

From here it's back to the physical therapist for some wonderful GRASTON ~~torture~~ treatment and some exercises to try and build some strength in my legs to better support the running activity and most importantly: keep me healthy so I can continue to enjoy running.

Artist for Song in Title: The Turtles

I Want It Back

2010-02-17T17:00:00.001-05:00

Let me start with the blogger's apology: sorry that I haven't posted here for awhile, life has been a bit crazy. The sad thing is that it's true. Also, the main point of this blog is my running, and over the past month there hasn't been much of that. I've been logging way too much time on the equipment in the gym and while I enjoy the elliptical, stationary bike and rowing machine, I really wish that I was out on the roads, cold weather or not.

For those of you who have been following along, my right knee is still bothering me. Not to the extent that it was at the beginning of January, but its still there. I have begun to get some running in, but it's been all treadmill, no time on the roads. While at The Running Company getting Anna her shoes for track season, I went ahead and got a new pair of shoes in case dead shoes are contributing to the problem. I liked the low profile and the lightweight of the Mizuno Wave Elixir 4s, but as a regular trainer they just didn't seem to hold up as would have liked, plus I wanted a pinch more cushion. This time I went with the Mizuno Wave Rider 13s.

My first 3 mile run in the shoes went well considering how low my base is right now. I'm hoping that I'm able to increase my base soon, but at this point I'm definitely out of a spring marathon, and the spring 1/2 marathons are starting to slip away. While that is discouraging, I just want my health back so I can get out on the roads and really enjoy some runs, maybe even some long ones.

Until that time comes, I'll just continue the cross-training and enjoy watching Anna and Will swim in the winter championship meets and look forward to Anna running track. Who knows, maybe she'll even let me join her for a run.

Artist for Song in Title: Shawn Colvin

Two Of A Kind, Workin' On A Full House

2010-01-27T09:46:00.000-05:00

I'm continuing to struggle with my knee/IT band as well as the sirens that reside near my couch, but used the opportunity to take a very non-scientific look at training effect on others this week.

Our local club hosted a swim meet this past weekend, and while it may not apply directly, I looked at the training my two kids have been doing, and what their results were at the meet.

Anna, who is 14, trains 6 days a week. All of those days include 2 hours of swimming, with 4 days including an additional hour of dry-land training(active strength training like running stairs, hops, lunges, crunches, etc.). The swim sessions vary in intensity, but range from around 5,000-8,000 yards a day. Will, 11, trains 6 days a week. 5 days are 15 minutes of stretching followed by 1 1/2 hours of swimming, the sixth day is just 1 hour of swimming. A hard day in the pool for him is usually around 2,000-2,500 yards. School comes first and homework load occasionally wins out, but both kids make practice most days.

So at the meet this weekend, each of the kids had 10 events, plus 2 relays to swim. The relays have a certain adrenaline rush and team factor thrown in, so I won't include them in my observations. For Anna, she only had best times in 3 of her events (50 fr, 200 IM, 1650 fr) with only slight improvements. Will had improvements in all of his events, with most of them being big time drops. He went into the championship meet cuts in the 2 breaststroke events and came out with a total of five cuts - the maximum you can enter at the divisional championship meet. I know that Anna is older, and as you get older and have been swimming longer, it is more difficult to find large improvements, but in my opinion their training habits have had the largest impact.

Since the end of football season, Will has been eager to go to practice and has only missed a handful of them. Since the intensity, while a challenge at times, it is not pushing the kids hard every night, in my opinion the dedication to the sport and training effect is definitely showing in his results.

Anna, since getting her cast off in November, has been good about training consistently. But her coach told her training group not to expect many time drops. If they got a lot of them, it meant they weren't training hard enough.

So what I think I witnessed was someone (Anna) at the peak of hard training, having an average performance because the training has left her tired. Taper showing results would validate this. The other side is Will. As long as he maintains his consistent training, he should continue to see improvement.

Artist for Song in Title: Garth Brooks

This Years Love

2010-01-05T15:25:00.000-05:00

Before I wish the new year a happy welcome, I would like recap 2009. My goals for the year seemed to be fairly simple: train intelligently to remain injury free, help Jil complete her first running half-marathon, and run a fall marathon (with a PR), and break the 1000 mile barrier for the year.

None of that seemed very hard and the year started off very well. I followed the 10% rule and made sure to include rest days as an important part of my schedule. My base miles tallied up and I was right were I wanted to be to pace Jil through her spring race. Things were going well even to the point that I ran a trail half for fun just 2 weeks prior to running with Jil. Success continued as I crossed the finish line with Jil as she completed her first half as a runner. It was about that time that the sweater started to unravel. My calf/shin started to bother me so I began a sequence of 2 week rest periods. And by rest, I mean complete and total rest followed by a single, pained run. At the end of the 3rd cycle it was time to see the doctor. The ensuing therapy help me out of the funk, but because of my rest strategy, or lack thereof, my fall marathon plan and the 1000 mile year were toast. I did recover to run a decent half-marathon in November and was training well until the last 2 runs of the year when I was struck with what appears to be Illiotibial Band Syndrome. But let's not leave 2009 on a down note. I did completed the most road races (7) of any year since I started running in 1982. The races ranged from a 5k to 3 half-marathons and included an age group win in the 5k.

This is the point where we say out with the old and in with the new. However, before I could complete this entry, the IT band issue is doing its best to rewrite my 2010 goals. I'm not ready to accept that outcome so the following list contains my original major goals.

Run a spring marathon, either St Louis or Illinois.
Race a fall marathon, Monumental (Indianapolis).
Run more than 1000 miles.

If I can stay healthy, those goals are all very achievable, but, because I still don't know exactly how my training will be impacted by the IT band, I reserve the right to review and modify those goals. I'll keep you posted on changes as I make them.

Artist for Song in Title: David Gray

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2009-12-16T17:29:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I know that we haven't it the bottom yet temperature wise, and that others of you have colder, we have started to experience the beginnings of winter in central Indiana. It seems like one day it was in the 40s and now we are in the 20s. I really don't mind the cold until it gets down to single digits, in fact I kind of like it as long as I'm dressed for it.

I haven't posted here for a couple of weeks, but I have been getting my runs in. In my first sub-20 long run two weeks ago, I learned a valuable lesson: keep your bottles under your outer later. Why? because after about an hour and 15 minutes, the spout will freeze. That's a bit of a hassle, but not as much as carrying water that you can't drink.

I have missed a few runs lately. There was the 30+ mph wind day that I opted for the stationary bike (the treadmills were lined up 3 deep and limited to 20 minutes) and the day I forgot my hat and gloves (DOH!). Otherwise despite, an out of town swim meet weekend, a busy month at work, and a big home improvement project, I've kept on track and even added in some extra days on the bike. I even took advantage of the swim weekend to explore the University of Louisville. I was impressed. It was a nice campus and the sports facilities were phenomenal!

There will be more challenges upcoming with holiday travel, celebrations, end of year vacation....but the goal is to 'go postal' and get my workout in rain, sleet, or snow.

Artist for Song in Title: My current favorite version is by The Brian Setzer Orchestra, although the Dean Martin version with the cigarette line is interesting.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:11:00.001-05:00

November 26 brought another Thanksgiving, when we pause from our daily lives, focus on all the things we are thankful for, over indulge at the dinner table, then spend the rest of the day napping, watching football and planning for potential shopping craziness the next day. Hopefully, if things work out, you were able to spend the day with those people closest to you.
As a runner, there is one more thing that fights to be included in the schedule; a Thanksgiving day race. In Indianapolis the race is the Drumstick Dash. Proceeds from the race go to the Wheeler Mission, a local social services organization, which provides critically needed goods and services to the homeless, poor, and needy of central Indiana. In six years, the race has grown from a few hundred runners to around 9,000 this year! My family has included the race in our tradition for the past two years. We take the race as an opportunity to forget about results and run together. The race is an odd distance at 4.5 miles, but that helps with not thinking about the results, and just focusing on spending time together as a family and as part of the local running community.

To help the household relations, we let the kids sleep a little longer. The goal was achieved, but we overlooked the increase in participants and had a little trouble finding parking with adequate time before the race started. That led to us hearing the race start while we were still 3 blocks away. Thankfully, the large
number stretched out the the start and kept us from starting from the back. We were able to sneak up to about the 10 minute pace area before jumping into a gap in the crowd. We had also forgotten that this race is different. A lot of families do this event, including grandparents, small children, and infants in walking strollers. So just like a most races, there are people who start closer to the front than they should, but I was continually amazed at the walkers (in jeans, with coffee in hand) walking 4-6 wide on narrow streets leaving virtually no room to pass. We were consistently passing people the whole race, including walkers, through to the finish. It's hard to guess what pace area those people were lined up in at the start. I'm happy that all those people are out and participating, both for their health and for the cause, but we (the running community) need to figure out how we can educate them on race etiquette, so everyone can still participate and the runners can run.
The family stayed together pretty well for the first 3.5 miles. The general pattern went something like this:Will would skate and skitter around the walkers. I would move (more deliberately) to keep him in sight. Anna would keep me close and try to mediate between Mom's and Dad's paces. Jil ran comfortably, keeping us all in view and enjoying the scene. Between 3 and 4 miles, Will finally decided he wanted to run, so he and I bid adieu to the girls and picked up the pace. In the last 1/4 to 1/3 mile he and I actually raced in. I hope we didn't annoy anyone by running in so fast, but it was just so fun to share the moment with him and maybe to be 11 again, if just for a couple of minutes.

We all finished, had our post race snack and headed for home. But not so fast! In our rush to get to the race start, we had neglected to note which street we had parked on, and all of those neighborhood streets looked the same! Luckily our guess was only off by a block and the turkey fest wasn't delayed by more than a few minutes.

My running has been a little rough recently. The spark hasn't been there and it's been more of a labor than a Labor of Love. But today was different. I had fun. As I have thought about running today, it's been a pleasant thought with anticipation of the next one. Maybe today's run helped me get out of the rut and back into the grove.

I enjoyed Thanksgiving 2009 tremendously. For our household, it was a day of togetherness and memories. We ran together, cooked together, ate together, cleaned up together, and, well, I think you get the theme. We were just together.

It's a shame that it takes a named holiday to make us pause and truly reflect on all that we are thankful for. It would be nice if we could collectively

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Artist for Song in Title: Poi Dog Pondering

I would like to thank WTTS for pointing out this song to me. I've owned the CD since the early 90s, but don't think I ever knew the particular song title existed.

Thriller

2009-11-18T17:00:00.000-05:00

So now that I completed the half at what was at the beginning of the year my goal race, I have started to have them. What are they? They are the dreaded anti-motivations. All of a sudden the lunch routine has become dreary and I'm not motivated to run mid-day. I do have a race on my schedule on Thanksgiving, so that's not it. I've tentatively picked some spring races, so that's not it. And I have wanted to run after work. So that's what I have done a few times recently. Running after work is okay, but it also presents some problems. I haven't been getting away from work as early recently and it's been getting darker much, much earlier.

I hadn't realized how early it was getting dark until last week. I was really looking forward to doing a long trail run, but was trying to fit that in, plus run with the kids so they keep a few miles on their legs for the Drumstick Dash. It didn't take long for me to come up with a simple solution; run long on Friday evening while Jil was busy at church and the kids were at swim practice. I dropped the kids off at 5 for practice and headed for the wooded trail. The trail was everything I had hoped for. Serene, full of nature sounds broken only by the crunch of leaves under my feet. After the first loop, the shadows were getting really long, but I figured I could at least get in one more loop (I was hoping for three). Besides, I had expected this and had a camping light perched on my head. About half way through the loop I realized I had made a slight miscalculation. It had become really dark, but not dark enough that the lantern could do enough to really light my path. The lantern really wasn't strong enough anyway (make note for Christmas list here). And as it got darker, the sounds got louder and more frequent and seem to come from all directions. During the first lap I had encountered very few roots in the path, but now I seemed to stumbling on something every few strides. Luckily I made it to the end of the loop without falling or twisting anything, and I hightailed it out of the park to finish on the safety of the streets.

But the story doesn't end there. After swim practice I was relating my experience to the kids over dinner, explaining that I had probably made a poor decision to go to the trail at that time of night. And I'm lucky I made it out without an injury. That's when they dropped the bomb...."we couldn't believe you went running in the woods after dark on Friday the 13th!"

I couldn't believe I had missed what day it was. I'm now adding a new step to my pre-run routine; in addition to checking the weather and my gear, I'm also checking the calendar. And I'm staying out of the woods after dark on all days - at least until I get a better lantern.

Artist for Song in Title: Michael Jackson

Garden Party

2009-11-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

I went to a road race on Saturday and a party broke out. At least that's what it felt like. How many November Indiana days can you enjoy clear, sunny, skies and temps starting around 50 and headed to the upper 60s? The race organizers for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and Half-Marathon were definitely blessed by the running gods. This had originally been my 'A' marathon for the year, but after nagging injuries over the summer that plan was scrapped, leaving to kids events, which got scrapped, which led to me saying, what the heck, I'll just run the half.

Watching the forecast leading up to Saturday, I struggled a little bit deciding just what to wear. Only running the half, I wouldn't be on the course that long, but still didn't want to spend a significant amount of time trying to warm-up. As it was I opted for my normal race kit with no extra cool-weather gear, which turned out to be just the right decision. Based on my estimated time, I was placed in the seeded corral, which I very much appreciated with the reduced crowds. While we were waiting for the start I ran into a youth triathlon friend and we talked about our goals for the day. He was planning on going a bit faster than me, so I gave my well wishes and slid a little further back in the crowd. When former Olympian and American Record holder Bob Kennedy issued the run start, I took off at an moderate pace. At the first mile marker I was spot on. The course wound through downtown Indianapolis showing off some the cities' finer features. As we headed out of downtown, I came up on a co-worker who was running the full. We ran together until the race split around mile 7, sharing running stories about work and other races. All the while we stayed right on an even pace, just a little below my target time for the day.

After the split, I continued north through the Meridian-Kesseler neighborhoods and was feeling good so I picked up my pace about 10 seconds per mile. Around 9.25 we turned south onto Meridian St and started to deal with a headwind blowing between 15 and 19 mph! Up until that point, I was right only my target pace give or take a bit, but the wind was really taking a toll on me. I tried a few times to hang on to a group and draft for a while, but my conditioning seemed to be revealing it's true level at about the same time, and I was not able to stay with any of the groups. I knew that my family was waiting around mile 12.5, so I just hung in there. I was looking forward to having the kids there cheering, because they had never seen me race before. That was just the boost I needed and was able to get my pace back on track and close out to finish in 1:44.38, just 20 seconds under my estimated finish. At the finish one of the volunteers was Alex, a guy I ran my first half with in 1991 and hadn't seen since.

After my finish we hung around for a few hours cheering people from our home town. We saw some but not all. The kids got to congratulate one of their swim coaches, which is why we missed a couple of our neighbors. We have to apologize to Brad, who we gave up looking for because we were sure he must have already finished. After reviewing the results, we gave up on him probably about 2 minutes before he came by. I can justify it by saying we were sure he was already done. Wrapping up the day, we waited for our friend Elyssa, who was running her first marathon. As it turned out she had some cramping early in the race, but hung in there and finished strong, The kids ran the last mile with her and then we hung out for a few minutes with she and her family before calling it a day and heading home.

I have to say I was impressed with my estimation of my fitness level. Looking back at the race, I believe that I was really only conditioned to race a 10 miler (as further evidenced by my post race soreness), but given the weather conditions I was pleased with my result. The family will be running the local drumstick dash on Thanksgiving, but it's back to the drawing board for my next goal race. I saw somegood candidates at the race expo, but need to sit down with schedules and make some decisions.

So we went to a road race and a party broke out. There were lots of people, good entertainment, some food, and some great times and conversation shared with friends.

Artist for Song in Title: Ricky Nelson

Face the Change

2009-11-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

I made my plans for the year, changed them after some nagging injuries, changed them again when I started building back up, changed them again when the kids said they wanted to run an event, then changed them again when the kids switched their focus to swimming. I think the spinning wheel of change has come to a stop. Yesterday I plopped down the money to run the Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon, so there is no turning back. Since the event is this coming Saturday, that shouldn't be an issue.

I've gone through a number of other changes in my running lately, so I'm not sure what to expect from the race. For starters, while I was dealing with the injuries, the run-net community was full of discussion around Christopher McDougall's book "Born to Run" and barefoot running in general. With all of the excitement, and looking for anything that would get me back on the roads, I came very close to heading out the door sans shoes, but could never quite do it. I did get some new shoes, and switched from the Asics Gel-Landreth 5, a neutral cushioned shoe, to the Mizuno Wave Elixir 4, a lightweight trainer. I've always been a fairly efficient mid-foot striker so I thought the transition would be straight forward, but while my previous annoying pains have gone away, they've been replaced with new soreness in my calves that is obviously from adjusting to the new shoe geometry.

While I've been increasing my base mileage over the last few months, I've begun to work in some speed work. I've done fartleks, timed repeats, race pace runs...all things I haven't done since I was in high school. I'm getting to the point where faster feels more comfortable, but I still don't think I really made big changes in my output. I know that I will, but need more time for the effect to really show.

Bottom line is that things have changed a lot from what I planned them to be this year, but have morphed into a greater plan. However, while I am hopeful for this weekend, I'm sure my training is not up for a great result and maybe not even a good result. It's really being difficult setting my expectation so I can have a positive outcome, which in the end is what I am really hoping for.

Artist for Song in Title: INXS

Breathing

2009-10-23T18:39:00.000-04:00

Every so often I look at my calendar and realize what a crazy life I keep. And that doesn't even include my planned exercise. I keep the activities color coded to represent work or the owner. The average work day is probably 1/3 to 1/2 meetings, and then things get really ugly. The kids need to be at this practice or that, meetings at Church, board meetings, Jil's occasional work night... People have seen my weekly calendar view and are amazed.

But that's only part of the story. When I'm not scheduled to be somewhere, there's always additional information processing to do. There's e-mail to read, Facebook and Twitter to follow, blogs to stay up to date with, podcasts to listen to during commutes.

The full schedule and the information bombardment are a big part of my drive to run and ride. Those activities allow my time to breathe. I'm a non-iPod person during exercise, so that is the one time during my day where it's just me. The only input is natural and calming. I'm able to take in the weather, both good or bad, and the varied smells and colors of the different seasons. And mostly I can rummage through my thoughts or not. Sometimes my thoughts will be very active and other times I just lose myself in the moment with no thoughts at all....nothing but breathing.

Artist for Song in Title: Kate Bush

Happy Together

2009-10-13T09:37:00.000-04:00

Every year brings certain milestones to us. We all experience birthdays, which of course marks our increasing age. We also experience anniversaries of many events. This past weekend was full of milestones for me. My wife and I shared our wedding anniversary and two days later, I marked another birthday. This year neither event was a milestone date, other than the passing of another year. The birthday was a normal workday with work and our regular busy schedules, but the anniversary was special, in what some may consider a little twisted.

So how was the anniversary special? It began like just like any other fall Saturday with Jil and I splitting up. I headed off to a nearby community to support Anna at a cross country meet while Jil stayed home to make sure Will got to his playoff football game on time. By the way, Anna was second on her team, 10th overall, and the team placed 3rd in their conference. Will played very well with 4 big tackles and a 15 yard kickoff return, but his team lost 20-0 in their playoff game and their season (and maybe his football career) is over. After the events, we got home and Jil and I did a couple of small chores around the house, but it was such a beautiful early fall day we decided to go for a run. As we were running we realized that even though the hour wasn't right it was the exact time of your anniversary (the hour difference is due to the addition of daylight savings time in Indiana between then and now). Running was my thing when we were married, and only in recent years has Jil discovered what joy the activity can be. We aren't able to run together much because of our busy schedules, but when we do it is a very enjoyable time. The runs provide us some time together without interruptions and when we can enjoy some conversation or just a little quiet time together.

Artist for Song in Title: The Turtles

Accidents Will Happen

2009-10-06T19:25:00.000-04:00

I've continued to recover from my illness and I still don't think that I'm 100%. My training is getting back on track with where I was before, but all my systems are feeling completely normal and that includes my brain wanting to hit the road. Of course after I get out the door, I feel better. Without a goal race on my calendar I'm just trying to get my base to a nice level and my weekly long runs into double digits. I'll start looking for a spring goal race in the next few weeks, just so I'll have something to keep me motivated on some of those cold winter days.

The kids have had a couple of good weeks of cross country. Anna logged a couple of number one finishes on her team. At the Indiana Middle School State meet she finally recorded a personal best, going back to the same meet last year and finished about 10 places higher than last year. Will has gotten his first experiences at the 3k distance and has done pretty well. I think he is now getting to the point where he can race rather than just run the distance.

If you have been following this blog for a while, you probably know that the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon was my goal race for this year. But after a summer of fighting leg problems, I just lost too much and got started up again too late to be really ready to race. Last week we found that the USATF junior olympic cross country state meet is that same date and both kids would like to participate. Had I been racing, it would have been a difficult logistically for all of us to support each other and not feel any guilt. Sometimes accidents will happen in life, and things just work out.

Artist for Song in Title: Elvis Costello
Note: I noticed the other day that Grey's Anatomy names their episodes after songs. I have to admit they were doing it first, but I was completely influenced by Anna's suggestion to do so.

The Right Time

2009-09-28T13:30:00.000-04:00

Over the past three weeks, I haven't been here much. That doesn't mean that I haven't been getting my training in, but more that I've been so busy, I haven't had the time for the extras. Anna has had 9 cross country meets, Will has had 3 football games, we celebrated a holiday working on the farm, and had family come visit for a long weekend.

With all of that I started off the month really well, with only a few missed training days. However, as the weeks went on the missed days came more and more often, culminating in some kind of virus that had me down for an nearly a week. The largest disappointment of it is my leg has been holding up well, my mileage was growing and my biking has been getting stronger. With luck and healing, I will be back to my normal schedule again soon.

Today's XC meet should be interesting. The intramural club folded, so Will has been training with the middle school team and has finally practiced enough to be eligible for meets. A cold front came through last night, so not only is it cooler than it has been, but the wind has been blowing 15-30 mph. I wouldn't expect times to be great and it will be interesting to see who can manage the wind and who get pushed around the course.

Artist for Song in Title: Hoodoo Gurus

Recess Anyone?

2009-09-17T19:32:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything out here, and to throw everyone even a bigger curve ball, I'm going to totally change format for this post.

As my runs have gotten progressively a little longer again, I've started to get my lunchtime runs back closer to where they were in the spring before this whole mess with my leg started. And with that, I've been getting back to some routes that I haven't done for a while. To make things even more enjoyable, the late summer/early fall weather has been perfect for running; still warm, but with light breezes that keep it quite comfortable. One of my favorite routes takes me past an elementary school, that at the time I'm running has the kids outside for noon recess. Now, I've run past this scene of kids playing, easily a dozen times this year, but this week it just struck me odd. As a girl was going down a slide and looked out the fence at me, I thought to myself, you know, we are doing the exact same thing, enjoying our noon recess. That thought just continued to bounce around my brain as I continued running and it all just seemed to make sense. The way I look forward to that mid-day run, the way I've dumped my excess energy and have recharged my batteries for the afternoon is the same way the kids respond to recess. It also gives me another name for what I'm doing. I've always hated the term working out, because I enjoy running so much that I really can't consider it work. Recess is perfect. It's all about play and having fun and allows me to maintain the illusion that I haven't grown up and don't have to.

I'll get back to my journal style in upcoming posts. In the mean time, go out there and enjoy some recess for yourself. Who knows, you might actually like it.

Matter of Time

2009-08-31T17:00:00.001-04:00

This week it was a matter of time. Work and life collided, making it difficult to find the time to get my normal workouts in. I did get in my Monday lunch time run, which went really well, and the Thursday night group ride, which also went well. I didn't fret too much about missing the workouts because my leg was feeling a little sore. Maybe some rest was what I needed and was part of a greater plan.

I think Jil and I are finally done with our back to school meetings. I don't remember a year with as many as we have had to attend this year. Sometimes I have actually thought we were going to school as much as the kids were! But now the sports schedules are in full swing. Will is continuing football and . Anna had her first cross country meet of the season. She ran well for the beginning of the season, but the team got second by 3 points. It looks to be a strong girls squad this year, so they will be fun to watch. The middle school dropped the cross country club for the 5th and 6th graders, so Will is going to be running with the team a few days a week. He's excited about running right now because of watching the World Track and Field championships. We'll have to see how long the interest holds.

Saturday was a banner day. It was a cool morning and we got off to a slow start. Anna, Jil and I started off on a run around mid-morning. After a mile, we parted ways, because I wanted to go longer. After the way I felt all week long, I was amazed at how good I felt. I just kept going and driving. It took all of my will power, but I forced myself to stop after 4 3/4 miles. Surprisingly, my leg felt better after finishing than it had before! We then got to enjoy a hard fought 6-0 victory by Will's football team. The team looked totally different than the last two weeks, and Will set the tone for the game by making a text book solo tackle on the opening kick-off. I was happy for the boys just to play a good all-around game. After the game Will told me it was too windy, and there was no way he was going to ride his bike. I wished he had come along, but I wasn't going to let a little wind stop me, so I did a couple of loops around for a nice 20 miler. I was heartened by the fastest solo ride I have ever clocked, but on Sunday morning I was paying the price for all my hard work as I was aching all over!

This next week Anna has two cross country meets and Will has a mid-week football game, so fitting in evening workouts will once again be a challenge. At least I don't have the daytime conflicts.

Artist for Song in Title: Berlin

Domino

2009-08-23T14:17:00.000-04:00

As I'm looking at my training log for August, I'm feeling good about what I've been doing. I haven't done big miles, either running or on the bike, but I've gotten in a lot of workouts. I've continued to slowly build up my running miles, with 4 on Monday, 3 on Wednesday, and another 4 on Friday. My calf held up for the entire week, with only a little tightness on Friday. The start on Friday I felt really good, but when I got to my turn around point I realized why as I turned into an 18-25 mph wind for my return trip. While I'm encouraged by seeing that I logged 11-12 miles, that is what I planned to be doing a couple of times a week at this time in the year. But I've long ago accepted that the marathon is out for this fall and I just need to get healthy so I can at least run a half marathon. If I stay deliberate, and keep having success on Wednesdays, I should be able to get in a good race this fall.

With the first week of school, Will's football schedule shifted and that allowed him to make the Thursday group ride. However all the excitement just didn't pan out. Before any of the groups pulled out, I heard him clip into one of his pedals. The next thing I heard was "Daddy?" I turned in time see him fall into me, taking me down like a domino. Fortunately I had enough room between me and the next biker so it stopped with me. Then as we got ready to pull out he didn't get in his pedal right and went down again. We were able to chase and catch on to the group we wanted to ride with, but that effort combined with a tough wind left will pretty worn out and we had to turn for home and request a pickup from Jil.

Saturday brought the opportunity for a longer bike ride (for me anyway). I headed out to get in a 41 miler in at an easy pace. Around 6 miles I turned north was left to fight into a 13 mph headwind for the next 15 miles! I didn't get nearly enough tailwind time to make up for it, but I was able to tough it out and finish my planned route.

Will solid football game with 1 touchdown saving tackle coming from the opposite side of the field, but his team lost their football opener, 20-0.

Next week is the opening Cross Country meet and more football. The schedules just get busier from here.

Artist for Song in Title: Van Morrison

The Heat is On

2009-08-17T17:00:00.000-04:00

In the past week or so, summer finally arrived in central Indiana. After enduring a cool and non-sticky July, the humidity and temperature finally jumped up. To coincide with the change in the weather, the kid's fall activities kicked into gear. Football for Will and Cross Country for Anna. All of this just meant placing more thought into when I could and would workout.

Since I am doing shorter runs, I was able to keep running at lunch time. I was able to get in 3 1/4, 4, and 3 1/4. And really all of them felt really good. I'm starting to get my fitness back and the calf hasn't been bothering me for the most part. Toward the end of the week it started to get a little sore, but after a couple of evenings of ice massage it seemed to feel much better. Note to self: more consistent ice massage.

Evenings were either left to playing taxi driver for the kids, or riding the bike. On Monday, Will and I went out for a 20 miler. Still trying to build up his strength for longer rides. He's getting there, but it's also hard to tell his limit, because he doesn't like to admit weakness. The fun thing was as we were riding a squirrel started to cross the road from the side opposite side of us. My experience with motor vehicles is that they most times stop and turn back. However, on this occasion I watched the squirrel run right in front of me, then go under my front wheel and up into my bottom tube. My main concern was hitting the deck, which thankfully I didn't do. At a backwards glance, I didn't see the squirrel on the road, so he did get away - hopefully without too much damage!

On Thursday, I had a meeting after work, then I planned to do the group ride. Of all weeks, the meeting ran long and I got home 10 minutes before the ride was scheduled to start. I treated the house like a tri transition zone and was able to get in the house, get changed out of my work clothes and into my bike kit, then get out the door in 4 mins. I rode off to meet the group (about 3 miles from home) rather than drive to the shop and made it with about 3 minutes to spare! It was a fun ride. The group was big and really hung together. My left cleat loosened throughout the ride and left me a little nervous about needing to unclip quickly. Even with the wait time, I averaged a little higher speed than I have been , and didn't have the butt soreness either. Hopefully I'm starting to become more used to the bike.

On Saturday, Football games, then the heat got in the way of any kind of workout, so on Sunday Will and I were able to sneak in a quick 15 miler after church and before it got too hot. It was still hot and windy!

I was really happy with the week, but would have liked to gotten in a few more workouts, including a longer ride - maybe this next week!

Artist for Song in Title: Don Henley

Father & Son

2009-08-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

It was back to work this week after my too short time off to visit the old hood and spend some time with my parents. Back to work meant back to the routine, which, although it may sound like it, isn't all bad. Routine meant being able to get my lunch time run and strength exercises in. My runs are at 3 miles now and I'm starting to feel more comfortable throughout the run. This means my fitness is coming back, which is a good thing. I've also been free of post run soreness from my leg. Things are definitely looking up.

On Thursday, Will was finally free from swim practices and not quite into football so he finally got to join in on the group ride. I wasn't sure if he could keep up with the 3rd group, so I figured on starting him out in the recreation and fitness group - a little slower and a little shorter than the 3rd group. Well wasn't I surprised. From the start of the ride he wanted to be up front. The problem is that neither of us knew the route, so we couldn't lead. He refused to let there be any kind of a gap between himself and the lead rider and a few times I had to remind him that he didn't know where he was going. In the end, we rode about 17 miles in just about an hour. That's the fastest he's ridden and he handled it well, although he did get a little tired in the middle. I just enjoyed sharing the time with him even if I was chasing his back wheel most of the time. I wish he wasn't playing football. With practice every Thursday night he won't be able to group ride again until October, and by then who knows what the weather will be. We can only hope it holds warm for a few of those weeks.

Artist for Song in Title: Cat Stevens

Carry Me Home

2009-08-02T20:31:00.001-04:00

The week started off normal, getting in my short lunch time runs on Monday and Wednesday. I had fairly good luck with my leg, with little irritation. The runs, however, were torture. I have lost so much conditioning it isn't even funny.

The second half of the week was interrupted by a family trip to my parents home. We hadn't visited with them in my home town for almost 2 years, so our visit was over due. As we drove into town, I just had a calm come over me, it felt so comfortable to be back. It was nice to spend a couple of days with no schedule, no meetings, no appointments, just do what we want when we want. Aah...a perfect prescription.

The only thing that was planned was a family run. In hindsight, this was probably not the best plan. I let Will lead out and couldn't keep him from going out too fast. That took the wind out of Jil and Will. Around 2 miles, I sent them back to the house, and I received the full wrath of Anna, who thought a vacation run was a really bad idea. This parenting thing is though. Just when you think you are doing the right thing and helping your kids toward their goals, they make you out to be Attila the Hun. Luckily the run was a very short segment of the weekend and didn't leave a blemish that would affect everyone's overall enjoyment of the weekend.

Artist for Song in Title: After the Fire

Swimming in the Ocean

2009-07-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

So this past weekend was the Indiana Age Group State Swimming Championships. Both Anna and Will qualified in two individual events and Will was swimming two relays as well. The good news is that the kids are achieving their goals. The bad news is that the events are spaced out enough on the schedule that we got to sit through many, many hours of swimming to see the six events (it's key to understand that USA Swimming meets last not for hours, but for days).

After Will seemed to be focused more on triathlon than swimming, we (I) took the opportunity to remind them that the goal isn't just to get there, but go out, swim their hardest, rock their swims, and try to move up from their seed. That, and banning triathlon training for a few days seem to bring their focus on track.

On Friday, Anna kicked things off with the 200 fly. There were some ghosts in her closet from the SC championships when she failed to swim the cut time, and boy did she exercise those demons! She took the race out fast, and won her heat with an 8 second time drop. Will continued on Friday afternoon with the 50 Breast dropping a few tenths.

Saturday we got to sleep in as Will was the only one swimming. He swam the 100 Breast first, again shaving a few tenths. He then swam the breast in the 200 medley relay. The team didn't quite swim their added up seed time, but did match their seed place with a 14th place finish.

Sunday was the brutal day. Both kids had one event each, in the second to last heat of the session. That meant we had to sit around for about 6 hours for Anna to swim her 1500 and another 3 hours for Will to swim in the free relay. Anna swam a nice evenly paced race and dropped a little over 20 seconds, but was a little disappointed that she just missed breaking the 20 minute barrier. That was buffered a little bit since she did achieve the 1000/800 winter/summer state cut. Will swam the 3rd leg in the 200 free relay and swam a personal best 50 free.

The end result? Both Anna and Will swam awesome. Individually they swam all personal bests and placed higher than their seed. In the relays, Will contributed to the team, equaling their seed in one race and moving up 4 spots in the other. The smiles on good memories made the early mornings and all the hours in a hot pool environment worth every second. It was a great way to end the long course season and shift into a break from the pool.

Notice I said break from the pool. We will be transitioning to cross country for Anna and triathlons, football, and cross country club for Will. There is a never a dull moment at our house!

Artist for Song in Title: David & David

Back In The Chain Gang

2009-07-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

I waited the time specified by the doctor then hit the roads again, but only at about 3 easy miles per run. My first 2 outings were uneventful, but left me with a knot in my gastroc, but nothing that couldn't be worked through.

What followed was an hour at the physical therapist doing analysis and Graston therapy.The analysis was very helpful identifying some weakness in my calves and the fact that I support my core with my hip flexors. The Graston therapy, where the PT uses these blunt edged metal tools to scrape and dig into the muscle to clear knots, adhesions and scar tissue was a joy be experienced. The good news is that the knot in my calf was gone, but I was left with bruises that lasted for a about 4 days! As I returned to running, I expereienced some discomfort from the calf, but that appeared to be from the bruising. On the second run out I was back to the same soreness as before, so I'm going to back off the running again and just stick with ice massage, exercises, and non-impact cross training.

I have had the chance to enjoy my bike a few more times in the past week. Another group ride, that got a bit to racy for my newbie level and left me with a charlie horse cramp, but still a load of fun. Then another solo 20 miler that left me sore but satisfied. My backside is beginning to become accustomed to the saddle. I still need to log more time, even on shorter rides. I'm hoping the weather holds for the group ride again this week.

I also swam one this week, but it just left me with an awful headache and nausea that lasted for a day. In talking with one of our swim coaches, she suggested that I'm not breathing effectively and need to focus on my exhale and getting a full gulp of air. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but it is on my list of things to do.

On a parental note, Anna had qualified for and swam in the Indiana Open Water State meet last week. For 13-14 year olds the distance is 1.5 miles, which was a longer distance than she had swum before in a race. She swam a similar pace to her open water mile from earlier in the summer, but finished strong making a pass in the final 100 yds to place 12th. Way to go girl!

Artist for Song in Title: The Pretenders

Everybody's Trying

2009-07-19T19:11:00.002-04:00

Will, you just won the ironkids Carmel triathlon, what are you going to do next? Go to the ironkids national championships in Arizona!

This was a bit of a free weekend at our house, so do we enjoy it? Heck no! We add more activities. Only Saturday AM swim practice this weekend, so Will wanted to do the ironkids triathlon that was being held in nearby Carmel. The entire race had approximately 200 kids, not sure how many were in the 10 year old boys. Will knew the distances and was nervous before the start, but we hadn't told him that the top 5 finishers would qualify for the ironkids national event being held in Tuscon, AZ in October.

The race went well. The did single swimmer wave starts and he swam well, passing other swimmers after only 5 meters. It was hard to tell how many he had passed, but was highly placed coming out of the swim. The bike was a 2 loop course, which he tells me he spent passing a few athletes. During the run he had a dogfight with one other boy for the entire distance, but about half way through Will got an unexpected pick up from our friends Elyssa and Josh who had showed up and were cheering for him. But in the end, Will was able to pull out in the last 200m to cross the line about 5m in front of him. After crossing the line, he promptly relieved himself of his breakfast. This of course makes many of our friends and family extremely proud! As we sat and watched the awards and saw kids called up to the podium, we knew that he had placed high up, but couldn't believe that he had won.

Over the next few weeks we'll need to determine if we can fit a trip to Arizona into the fall schedule!

Artist for Song in Title: Poi Dog Pondering

Cutting It Fine

2009-07-13T12:01:00.001-04:00

I spent another looooong weekend doing my best imitation of a slug while attending a swim meet. This was another one of those prelims/finals meets where Anna had morning prelims/evening finals and Will was swimming in the afternoons. I hate having to dip into the vacation funds for a hotel when we are only an hour from home, but when you don't get out until 9-10pm and have to be back at 7:30am, the extra hour of sleep really helps. It also gives Anna someplace to hang in the afternoon so she can get some rest.

Both kids had a full set of swims for Fri/Sat/Sun. Anna had didn't have any breakthroughs, just some solid swims. She did get her long course (50m pool) cut in the 1500m, and although she swam a very consistent paced race, she had to pull out some heroics in the last 100m to be sure she got under the cut (20:29.29). Next up for Anna is the Open Water State meet on Tues, July 14. The 13-14 age group swim 1.5 miles and that will be her first time over 1 mile. It seems that she does better the longer race, so it will be interesting to see how she responds to the additional distance.

This was Will's breakthrough meet. He has spent the last year fairly close to the state cut in the 50 breaststroke, but just couldn't ever put together the swim that would get him through. He was dropping time in his swims on Friday, but on Saturday was his first real chance for achieving that elusive state cut, being .5 seconds away from the 100 breast time going in. For one of the first times, he focused on racing the guy in the lane next to him rather than on the time standard. At the finish he was .5 seconds under the cut! Amazingly, although he could recite the qualifying times by heart for over a year, he had to see the time standards before he would realize that he had achieved his first Indiana age group state qualifier. On Sunday came his next chance. As in the 100 breast, he was .5 seconds off of the qualifying time and again focused on racing the guy next to him. This time he not only beat the standard, but improved by over 2 seconds! For Will it was opposite of Hayey McGregory (missed the 2004 & 2008 Olympic teams by one place despite having set a world record in prelims), who stated after winning the 100 back in the US World Championship Trials this week, it wasn't about the time but about getting your hand on the wall first. I think Will got 4th and 3rd in his races, but where he placed didn't matter, it was all about getting the times. He has been wanting to wear a swim camp that shows him as state team member for so long he had it on for all the races following the 100 breast, and wow, did it ever look good on him!

Artist for Song in Title: ASIA

Bicycle Race

2009-07-07T17:00:00.003-04:00

Well it finally happened. After 3 or 4 years of looking, getting close, only to have financial priorities change at the last minute, I'm finally the proud owner of a road bike! After shopping various stores in the area, competitive prices that included a professional fitting brought me to NeboRidge Bicycles and a 2009 Cannondale Synapse 5 compact.

The stars were kind of aligned this time. No appliances needed repair or replacement, I've been dealing with this running injury and Will got a used Trek 1000 road bike and has been riding like a fiend. It took me a couple of visits to the shop to get finalize everything and bring the bike home. First I just talked about my riding and looked at the inventory options in my price range. The next trip was for test riding a half dozen different models to get frame geometry, sizing, and component group figured out. The exact bike had not been built, so there was a short delay before being followed by a visit to do a longer shake down ride and bring the bike home. Of course due to my schedule I couldn't complete the outfitting process. I had to go back one last time to get Look Classic clipless pedals and Shimono road shoes. Way too many $$$ later, I was done outfitting (at least for this year). I groan a little bit when I think about the cost, but then realize this equipment will last me a long time as opposed to the 3-4 pairs of running shoes that I go through every year.

After getting all the gear I was out for a 9 mile ride that went well, but left me with slightly numb toes toward the end. After dinner, Will drug me out for another 5 miler. Of course he had to look like Lance with calf high socks, I just went with lows. I ended up with numb toes again. After talking with the guys at Nebo, they said that is often because the ball of the foot is behind the spindle of the pedal. They suggested I move the cleats further back on the shoes before we try switching sizes or shoes, that may be all it takes.

Update: I went on the NeboRidge/CIBA Thursday night group training ride this week. That was my first experience with group riding and it was awfully fun! I went in the 3rd group and we did 26 miles at an average speed of 18.5 mph. I know that isn't breaking any speed records, but it is the fastest I have ridden and I was amazed at the relative ease of the effort. I did adjust my cleats before the ride and had less issues with numb toes, but did still experience a little. Just something I'm going to have to watch as I ride more and hopefully it can be dialed out in the fit process.

I'm looking forward to sharing many more rides with Will, both on our own, as well as in group rides from NeboRidge.

Artist for Song in Title: Queen (Okay, so I know that this one is a big cop out, but it fits.)

Not The Doctor

2009-07-02T19:48:00.000-04:00

Today I had my visit to the sports doctor. The good news is we couldn't find anything on the x-rays that would lead to an indication of a stress reaction or fracture, so it could very well be a soft tissue issue (say that 10 times fast). The prognosis: hold off running for another week, try to get in a couple of PT sessions, then work back in VERY slowly.

After the doc visit we had to stop by the running store to exchange my shoes because of a frayed lace eyelet. You know that you know the staff too well when you are discussing lack of running and they excuse you for not running because of injury, but look straight at your wife and say, "you have no excuse". We all shared a laugh, because like most things, they're funny because they're true.

Went to the local bike shop to do a final, longer test ride before laying down the money, but there was a mix up in building the wrong model, so that will have to wait until next week.

Artist for Song in Title: Alanis Morrisette

Check It Out

2009-06-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

Another week, still sore. The run on Saturday didn't make my leg any worse, but I wasn't better either. On Tuesday I remembered that my running store, The Running Company, has a trainer come in occasionally. A quick e-mail got me the answer that the Tuesday was the June day, otherwise I would have to wait until July. I felt a little like this was fate, so I quickly got changed and headed to the Broadripple store. I was the third person in line and got my turn after about a 30 minute wait. The trainer felt around and felt a suspicious spot on my Tibia, that just happened to be where the pain was centered. Because of the location of the spot, he wasn't sure, but considered a stress fracture a real possibility. He suggested I continue waiting and testing, but thought the season would get away from me and suggested I see a doctor. I have taken his advise and have an appointment with a sports medicine doctor this week.

On the heels of Will getting his road bike and wanting to ride constantly and with my required cross-training, I went to the local bike shop to test ride bikes. I spent about an hour and a half, riding about 5 bikes. I decided which one I liked, but they needed to build the exact frame component grouping. It is on the schedule and I have plans to test ride it during a 26 mile group ride this Thursday. If all goes well, I hope to be picking it up later in the week.

The kids had a swim meet this week. Anna dropped time in all of her events, but Will continues to mystify, dropping time in some and adding time in others. He continues to find his first individual state meet qualifying time. He is now .5 seconds off on the 50 and 100 breaststroke and about 1 second off in the 50 fly. He wants to achieve a qualifier so badly that it gets to be very painful as he gets closer and closer but just can't seem to get over top. I believe that after he gets one, they will come in quick succession, but getting that first one is tough.

On July 4th both kids are going to participate in the Kids Racing for Kids Triathlon in town. Will is very excited and can't wait. Anna is reluctant because she isn't crazy about bike racing. My hope is that Will has as much fun as he expects, and that Anna far exceeds what she expects.

Artist for Song in Title: John Mellencamp

Get Over It

2009-06-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

So last weekend I realized that as I am not running, I am making myself and everyone around me miserable with my moping. But what could I do about it? Quit sitting around waiting for everything to get better all by itself, get off my butt, stick and roll my leg and do something about it!

And so it went. I was diligent about sticking and stretching my lower legs. I got in 3 bike rides of 10+ miles and 2 sessions of aqua jogging. By Saturday things were feeling good enough to give it another chance on the run. During warm-ups for Anna's open water swim meet, I went out for what I thought to be an easy 6 miler. What I didn't realize is that I was in the only landlocked hilly location in the north half of Indiana. The hills combined with strong winds, humidity, and reduced fitness to really kick my butt. The good news was the leg didn't bother me. I didn't get a lot of cool down time in as I spent the rest of the day watching Anna rock a 5th place age group finish in her open water mile. (Not bad for having been down all week with 102-103 fever!) Things weren't too bad, but on Sunday I woke to sore calves and a throbbing right ankle. I'm just really confused by what is going on with this leg. The good that I will take from run is that my leg didn't feel worse afterwards, so I don't think any further damage was done. The bad is that I will be cross training more and limiting the running for a little bit longer.

Artist for Song in Title: GuadalCanal Diary

Still

2009-06-15T15:57:00.000-04:00

I'm still off of running and I'm still sore. I'm getting frustrated because I really can't nail down what I'm dealing with. One time in the day I feel sore in one place, another time no soreness at all, then in another place, and back to the first one. Throughout the day, the soreness randomly moves from place to place.

I did a better job of cross training, but not what I needed to or should have. I only got out for one bike ride, and I just found it easier to mope around and make my family miserable. I look in the mirror every morning and can just sense all of that great base training from the last 5 month draining out my pores.

On a lighter note, Anna has done a good job sticking with her base mileage. She has needed to be prodded out the door a few times, but has done the runs. She and Jil even shared some nice mother-daughter time for a couple of runs.

We had a swim meet this weekend, with great results for both kids. Anna swam all three days and had personal bests for all 9 swims, getting her long course IN State cut in the 200 fly. Will only swam on Sunday, but had some awesome swims. He dropped significant time in all 4 moving his 50 breast and 50 fly (?!) closer to the state cut. The 50 fly was a very nice swim. We will have to give it a meet or two to verify, but it looks like the stroke may have finally clicked for him.

Artist for Song in Title: The Commodores

I'm Hurtin'

2009-06-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

I took the week off from running to rest my right leg. On Tuesday morning I woke to zero leg pain, so I jumped to the conclusion that I had been experiencing a muscle knot and it finally released. My knee still hurt a bit, but I figured that was because of altered walking and I would do the right thing and wait until Saturday to test it.

I was a good runner and waited for Saturday. The kids were gone, so Jil and I spent Friday night out of town. I was ready to test the leg, I love to run with Jil, and I love to explore new places on the run; the stars were aligned. Jil and I went out for and easy 5 miles. I felt good, but felt a little twinge here, then a little twinge there. I thought I was just being overly sensitive to every little thing. The run went fine, but after finishing the pain started to come back; I guess it wasn't the stars, but the perfect storm. As the weekend wore on I found that leg pain wise I was back to where I was a week ago.

There is a little more going on there than I initially thought, I'm still hoping its not a stress fracture. The high up location doesn't seem to fit that MO and that it felt better after 10 days off leads me away from that as well, but the general leg ache that I get occasionally seems to match what I remember from the leg fracture at age 14.

So I'm back to rest from running, but this week I fully intend to fit in some cross training, doing whatever I can to maintain my fitness level.

Artist for Song in Title: Roy Orbison

Stop Doing That

2009-05-29T16:00:00.001-04:00

A little variety this week, none of that boring training talk. The leg finally become sore enough while not running, that I determined it was time to stop doing that. I've been resting and icing as much as my busy evening schedule has allowed. I'm now on rest day 4 and it seems to be improving, but of course I have my internal microscope out, analyzing every twinge. My current plan is to take this week off, then next week start cross training with swimming and aqua jogging. If I'm feeling okay with a little pressure, I may throw in a little biking. I will not run until I can walk without pain.

This one has left me a little frustrated. I haven't built up my miles too quickly and I have mixed my training intensity between easy, medium, and hard. Admittedly, I did stretch my last pair of shoes too far, but I didn't start to feel this until I got the new pair of the same model, so I don't think it's because of that. I'm also fretting the potential loss of the great base I built over winter/spring. I was so looking forward to going into my fall marathon training on about 30 miles a week and really being able to focus on speedwork.

I know I can be difficult to live with during times of injury, so I have to make a concerted effort to accept the hand I've been dealt, focus on getting better, and finding ways to maintain my conditioning.

Artist for Song in Title: Marshall Crenshaw

After

2009-05-25T21:00:00.018-04:00

Now for the lull after the event. Overall I felt fine after last weeks half, although that was a slow training run for me, so I wouldn't have expected otherwise. I was tired, but that had more to do with getting up for the race and then getting up just as early on Sunday to go to a swim meet for the entire day. Yes, we are back into the swim meet season, this time for long course (50m or Olympic size pool).

I wasn't really into the swim meet, and part of it is the pool change from 25 yard to 50 meter. The seed times are converted, so they aren't a good representation and I need to relearn the different time standards.

I was kind of in a slump, but have all of a sudden been very excited about hitting the roads again. I got in my 7 milers on Monday and Thursday this week. I missed Wednesday because of a corporate community service day. I didn't mind missing, as the project is all about giving back to the community. Thursday I altered my route a bit to cut through the garden we created on Wednesday. It was nice to see the area without all the people, stakes, and layout lines. It will be fun to watch it grow over the years. It was a bit warmer than we have experienced for about 6 weeks, and although I took it easier, I still started to heat up. I'm going to have to watch the weather for my lunch time runs and may need to cut back the mileage a bit until I get acclimated to the warmer temps.

Saturday was a work day at the house, so it was up early for my long run. I originally mapped out 12, but was prepared to deviate if I was feeling good. And the weather was so nice, in the upper 50's and calm at the start, I found my groove and was really enjoying the run. I changed my route a couple of times and just kept going. I was a little tired for the last 1 1/2 miles, but that's probably because I did 14.6! My leg felt fine while I was running, but stiffened up later in the day.

Sunday was a walk and sit day with our annual family outing to the Indianapolis 500. The weather was warm, but we had good hydrating snacks and lots of water. A good time was had by all. However, right leg was bothering me a little on the mile long walk in and out of the track.

Also on Sunday, Anna asked me to run with her on Monday because she has been off for about 10 days post track and with a bad cold. So when Monday evening came around it was time to drag her out. She was reluctant to go, wanting to veg after a day of studying, but she warmed up to the idea once we got going. I took her for 3.3, but had to work pretty hard. She likes to go fast and doesn't need the warm-up time that this old guy does. I dropped her and home and was feeling really good, so I added another 2.7 for a nice round 6. But after stopping the leg started to speak up.

This week is going to be a wait and see week. I need some rest days on this leg right now. I was hitting it with the stick and foam rolling on Monday, and was finding lots of sore and tender spots. Even though I don't realize it, I think that I am altering my stride causing other issues. Since there is nothing on the calendar but base miles, it's better to take the time off now and get healthy before training for the fall race season starts.

Artist for Song in Title: Wynton Marsalis on J Mood

The End: Geist Half Marathon Race Report

2009-05-18T17:28:00.001-04:00

Thursday and Friday left us all on edge. The weather forecast had storms in the forecast, increasing from a 30%-60% chance, and the race website was starting to focus on it's safety flag procedures. The prospect of one lightning strike bringing out the black flag was not in the plans when the running group started to train for this race back in February. I didn't help matters on Friday evening when I began scouring the internet for backup races. I thought I was doing what I could to influence the weather outcome (like I could really do anything!), but it was viewed as negativity on my part. After a normal pre-race, poor night's sleep a quick check of the radar and forecast showed the front had moved through and we should be clear of the storms for the race, only a potentially windy day (hmmm, maybe I do have some influence).

The rest of the group arrived at our house at 5:30 and we left for the race. Traffic was of course light - who else in their right mind is driving around that early on a Saturday morning - and we arrived at the parking lot around 6:30, a little earlier than I expected. We got out got into our pre-race trash bags and hiked the 1/2 mile to the start area. We stretched out a little, took care of the necessaries and staked out our places at our respective pace areas, Laura and Caroline at 2:15, Jil and I at 2:30. The weather at the start was around 64 F, with light winds, but a little humid from all the rain we've had lately.

The horn sounded and we were off. I let Jil cross the start line in front of me thinking I would let her finish in front of me as well. This strategy later came very close to biting me in the backside. There was an older runner who was getting on my case for running where I was and not further up front. I tried to explain to him that today was all about Jil, but he didn't seem to get it. I had trouble understanding him and almost wonder if he wasn't a bit enebriated. We went through the first mile in about 11:20 and Jil was feeling very comfortable. When we got to the first water stop she took a cup and walked through, then we were back at it. I was enjoying myself and tried to play with the crowds and entertainers, cheering for them and enticing them to be louder. I realized I should have stood in line one more time before the race started, so took a bio break at the mile 2 facilities. The course was on its first good uphill and I probably upset some people darting up the hill back to Jil. The course was hilly for central Indiana. That made it enjoyable and interesting, but not much fun for first timers. Even with the hills, Jil maintained about the same pace through the first half, 11:20-11:30 in miles without water stops and 11:40-12:00 in miles with them.

At 3 miles the old guy came up again and started talking smack again. I didn't hear him really talk to about anyone else, I don't know what his issue was with me. He was annoying me, but I was comfortable in my mission of getting Jil to the finish as a runner. Then at about mile 6 we passed a bride to be celebrating her wedding day by running her wedding day with the groom. Although he was further up front. She was beaming, but I can't imagine she was going to be doing much dancing Saturday night.

The consistent pacing ended in mile 7 as we headed up a pretty good hill on ironically named, Courageous Drive. It was in two sections and Jil needed to walk up the second half of each section. Now the paces were 12:30-12:40 when there was walking and 11:50-12:10 when there wasn't. This hills took their toll, and finally at mile 11 I told Jil to take this one as a rest mile and then we would run in the last 1.1 miles. I asked her to keep running for 10 minutes, then we would take a walk break. I gave her minute updates at 5, 3, 1 and then counted down the last 10 seconds. When started walking I asked her to pick a spot to start running again. When she picked a stop sign I gave her a traffic cone about 50 feet in front of it. Mile 11- 14:08. From that point she walked through the last water station then ran the last 1.1 miles at 11:40 pace.

It was also around this time that we saw another couple running "together". He would go ahead about 30 yards, look back, roll his eyes, then run back to his partner stay there about 5 steps, then run ahead. At one point he was even running backward. Just a hint to anybody that does running support, either stay with your running partner and encourage and help or run your own race and be there at the finish. Do not do what this guys was doing.

As we approached finish line the announcer read our names, commented how nice it was that we were running together and told us to cross the finish line together holding hands. So that is exactly what we did, we crossed the line together, SIDE BY SIDE. Remember my original intent, to let Jil have the focus and finish in front of me? Jil's official time 2:40.02, my time 2:40.01. If we would have gone 2 seconds faster, I would have been 2:39 and she 2:40. I got lucky, but did joke how I did it on purpose so I would beat her. In actuality, I didn't care where I finished, and I'm upset that I started the way I did.

In the end, we spent a nice morning together and the goal was achieved: Jil is a half-marathon runner! She was a little sore and tired after the race, and had hoped for a little better time, but was steadfast that she had run her first and last. But only time will tell. Maybe if her running partners toe the line again, she will decide, much like they did with her, that if they were training for it, they may as well run it anyway.

I am extremely proud of Jil, she ran an awesome race and when she felt like walking it in was a good idea, she hung in there, kept setting smaller goals and finished strong.

By the way, Caroline finished in 2:07 and Laura in 2:16. We hosted a post race party and I fully believe that everyone enjoyed the experience despite the aches and pains.

Artist for Song in Title: The Beatles

Final Countdown

2009-05-14T17:01:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's the final countdown, both to the end of track season and for the Geist Half. As I posted last week, I still don't know what I'm doing for a plan this week. I've been having some soreness since getting into the new shoes, so after running an easy 7 on Monday, I chose to take a down week after all. I took the week, because this isn't an 'A' race. I'm ready to run with Jil and one week off won't change that. It's also not important that I run a certain number of miles this week or this month, but that I get Jil through and start looking forward to my schedule for the fall. I'm hoping for an enjoyable morning on Saturday, sharing the experience with her the best way that I can, right by side every step of the way.

What Jil thought was a mild virus turned out to be a tooth issue and required a root canal. She did miss some runs down the final stretch, but I think that may work in her favor, giving her some extra rest for her ITB. After the root canal her running mate thought she wouldn't run, so they went without her. They felt bad later when she did go out. It was only two miles and Jil enjoyed reminissing about 13 months ago when she did the exact same run, couldn't run up the steep ramp/hill in the middle, then had trouble for walking for a week afterward. What a difference a year and consistent training will do. I think the run was perfect for her confidence for the race on Saturday.

The current weather forecast isn't looking good with a 40% chance of thunderstorms. You can't trust the local meteorologists too much in the month of May because of all the attention on activities surrounding the Indy 500, they just don't want to be wrong. But the rain forecasts are coming from the national services as well. We'll just have to wait and see what the day brings. If the race is on, we run. Besides, with the warmer temps forecasted, a cooling rain may help.

Check back this weekend for a race report.

Artist for Song in Title: Europe

The Leader of the Pack

2009-05-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

Anna's final two track meets of the season took place this week. Since she now had a few 2400 meter races under her belt, the coaches decided to give her a chance to do a distance triple: an 800m in the 3200m relay, the 1600m run, and the 2400m run.

Avon & Lincoln Tri: Based on last week's conference meet including Avon and last fall's cross country meet against Lincoln, Anna figured she wouldn't have much competition. And in the end she was right. That brought her to new territory: how to run alone from the front.

In the 4x800 she ran her slowest split of the season and wasn't pushed so she was just striding out. The problem here was that the race came down to a final sprint and lean from her teammate. Lesson to learn: the anchor is the only person in the relay that can give less than a full effort when running from the front.

In the 1600m, she had a 6:00 goal. We talked a lot about running an even first 3 quarters, then dropping the hammer for the last 400, not worrying about being behind in the first 800. She started off and paid attention to the pacing, but went a little faster than goal. Because she was a little fast, she eased up a bit too much in the middle 800. At the 1200 mark she thought she was on pace and gave a little fist pump and let it all hang out for the last lap. Final time: 6:07. She had done a very nice job of running a smart and controlled race with even half splits to set a PR by 7 seconds. She did learn what I've been telling her about controlling the first 400m, and that she had so much more energy left for the last 1200m.

We talked before the 2400m, and she told me she still felt really good. We set a goal pace and she was off to execute. They ran the boys and girls together so the first 200 was pretty a pretty rough pack with some jostling and moving around. Anna was a little below pace for the 400, had dropped a little below for the second 400, then slipped to right at 5 secs per lap below the goal pace. By the 400m mark she was running apart from the girls and passing some of the boys. From then on, she was running alone. She did bring it home strong for the final 400, winning by 300m, but was disappointed with a season low time: 9:45. However, time wasn't the complete objective on this night, it was all about feeling out the triple and getting the win (and points for the team).

Eagle Invitational: There couldn't have been more differences between the Eagle Invite and Monday's tri. The teams we knew were coming on Thursday have some really fast girls. Coach told Anna he needed third place in the 1600 and 2400. And, while she knew that would be a challenge, was ready to give it her best shot. But alas, it was not meant to be. On Thursday morning she woke up with a sore throat and headache. She hoped that getting to school and moving around would help shake it off, but she only made it one period before needing to throw in the towel and come home. Season over.

She had really good season. She was able to run against some tough competition, staying with them for much of the race. She was able to get some wins and learn the importance of training out of season. The coaches are very excited to have her back next year as an eigth grader, especially if those lessons stick.

Artist for Song in Title: The Shangri-Las

One Week

2009-05-10T17:47:00.004-04:00

So the first step down week before taper for the half, at least for Jil and her group. I haven't determined whether I will taper or not. Saturday may just be a training run for me. I've kind of found a happy balance in my weekly mileage around 30 miles.

Lunch runs have, for the most part, been working for me. With that said, I didn't get my Wednesday run in because of a scheduled webcast. I did 7 on Monday, 7 on Thursday, and 10 on Saturday. Thursday was the first day in the new Landreths. New shoes are mixed bag, because you have the fresh cushion and all, but it seems to always take a few runs to get the shoe lacing adjusted and get the shoes to form to my feet. On Thursday I tried to keep an easy pace, and just focused on good toe off. I seemed to be sliding around a little bit and ended up with some hotspots behind my toes. On Saturday I laced up a little tighter to prevent the sliding and this time ended up with a little of the old numbness in my left foot, but no hotspots. But the end result was right where I wanted to be. I think the plan for next week is just to keep everything easy, with normal mileage, but will adjust as the week comes to. I just can't do anything stupid. If I fail to line up on Saturday to support Jil during her run, I better start building a dog house, because that's where I'll be sleeping.

Jil is beginning to scale back for the race. Given the downer of the ITB last week, she wasn't sure what to expect, but had a really good week. I was relieved to have her come to me on Friday excited about how good her 8 miler felt. My hopes and prayers are that the experience is a good one on Saturday.

I know it was the point of the sermon at Church today, but relating the passage (from Acts 8) about Phillip and the Eunuch to being a mentor and running along side. Okay, so I know the minister was talking about the kids that were baptised and being confirmed, but the literalness of his words connected with me as well.

Artist for Song in Title: Barenaked Ladies

Teach Your Children Well

2009-05-10T17:46:00.001-04:00

Anna had two of her last 4 track meets this week. A dual with Westfield and the conference invitational.

Westfield Dual: Anna figured the dual with Westfield to be challenging. They usually have a strong distance group and showed that during cross country season. The schedule for the for the meet included the 4x800 relay and the 2400 meter run. She was correct, but only to a point. The sprinter and Zionsville team dominated. The middle and long distance runners was a different story. In the 4x800, the Zionsville girls were able to maintain a solid 10 meter lead from the gun through to the final 400. For the last 1/4 it was a dogfight, with the Westfield anchor coming out on top after a fabulous kick finish. The team ran a season best 11:02, but Anna was off her PB split by a couple of seconds.

I've had to learn more about Anna's abilities. I was imposing my youth running level on her, but have realized that a) I wasn't a competitive swimmer, b) I didn't have the competitive drive that she has, c) and for 7th and 8th graders, she is a front runner. That was very nice to learn. What I have been trying to teach her is to control her first lap, not going out so fast that she goes into oxygen debt from the start, but to still maintain a connection with the leaders. Unlike me, I want her to learn that before her track career is over.

In the 2400, Anna's competition at the lead was the same runner she was paired against in the relay. Soon into the race she heard the girls name, remembered it was the same as from the relay and started talking to her. Anna has this incredible ability (we think because of her swimmer's lungs) to hold a complete conversation no matter how fast her legs are going. She confirmed the relay connection, through a couple of grunt answers, then quit talking because "coach hates chummy running". Makes me think of trying to attract sharks.

Anna sat on the the oppositions right shoulder through the first 4 laps. At the mile she made a move and pulled to a 3 meter lead and held that lead until 150 to go. At the 150, the Westfield runner was able to pull along side then moved on for a 5 meter win. I was very impressed with Anna's finishing time of 9:27. That was 10 seconds faster than her first try at the distance and a faster pace than her PB mile. She ran the middle 4-400s in consistent 1:38s then finished strong. Very impressive for a young track runner.

Anna was very happy with her race, feeling tired and knowing that was what her legs had in her today. She continues to ask the right questions about strategy and splits. What we are finding is that she hasn't had the finishing speed so we are talking about surges and trying to take the kick out of the other lead girls, employing strategy similar to what Steve Prefontaine would have.

Conference Invitational: Originally I didn't think I would get to go, given Will's baseball schedule, but since none of Jil's family would be able to attend, I got the nod. And oh what a lucky day!? After a week or so of nice weather, it took a turn again, blowing in from the West: literally. The clouds came in with 16-20 mph winds. This was the first middle school conference meet, and the team was hoping for a win, but would be challenged since a number of the top athletes were leaving/skipping the meet to play in soccer tourneys.

The 4x800 was different than any race thus far this year. The first leg was unusually quick, leaving the rest of the team to get back into the race. By midway through the third leg, the crew had pulled up onto the lead teams, but it just wasn't meant to be ending up third. The slowest time of the season, but given the conditions, nothing to complain about.

The 2400 had a runner Anna hadn't seen this year with a very fast seed time. Her strategy was to go out with the runners she had race the past two weeks, then start to throw surges after the 800. However, the race went out fast, taking the strategy out of the game. She worked to stay on that second group, but didn't have the gas to hold on to them. Fourth place with a near best time and top 7th grader was nothing to complain about: 9:29. Anna is still learning the race and the coach is just excited because he gets to enjoy her contributions to the team next spring.

Anna was surprised by the head coach before the meet by being awarded a leadership/contribution award. She was surprised by the recognition, but found it very sweet given the less than outstanding experience she had last year.

Next week: The final week of track season. A tri on Monday and an invitational at home on Thursday. Anna is excited for the tri, because she is scheduled to run the 4x800, 1600, and 2400.

Artist for Song Title: Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young

Puffy Little Shoes: Asics Gel-Landreth 5

2009-05-06T18:39:00.001-04:00

Finally, the long awaited day arrived. Time to get new shoes. I probably waited too long, but after having to get out of my last pair of Brooks Glycerin 5's after foot injuries and only 200 miles, I decided I wanted to get my moneys worth out of the Asics Landreth 4's. And boy did I. Because of budgeting and trying to maximize my discounts at The Running Company, I ended up putting 530+ miles in them. The uppers still looked good, but I had worn through some of the rubber on the soles and the ride was getting pretty firm. But I also didn't have injury issues either. Regardless, the time has come to retiree another pair and move on.

Since I haven't run any more than on the sidewalk outside the store, I really can't give a fair review, but I will after I put out some miles. They did feel really soft compared to the 4, but don't know if that is because of a shoe design change, or the fact that my 4's were really beyond their life.

I did try both a pair of Mizuno Wave Creation and a pair of Nike Zoom Vromero 4. The Nikes felt a little narrow in the fore foot and I think would have left me with numb feet after a couple of miles but I think the Mizunos would have worked. In the end, I went for the last and upper that I was used to. It didn't hurt that the accent color is....orange.

In case you are wondering about this entry title, I'm trying to follow Anna's suggestion to include song titles in each of the titles. If you didn't get the artist on this one: The Presidents of the United States of America.

Zionsville Anti-Mini Marathon

2009-05-04T20:48:00.001-04:00

The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (the mini) wasn't on my race card for 2009, but I still wanted to get a long run in on May 2nd, so on Friday night I decided to get up and do the Zionsville Anti-Mini Marathon (ZAMM). The ZAMM is an informal race held in Zionsville on the same day as the mini. The race has been held for the last seven years and is held on a local 5k wooded trail. April was a very wet month, so the trail promised to be quite sloppy. In the past, the race has gotten up to about 300 runners, but turnout was down a little this year, possibly due to the wet weather.

I ran the first 5k with Anna, who was using the run to get her legs stretched out and get back on the trail. The trail is probably her favorite place to run, and she hasn't been on it since cross country season. The trail was in better condition than I expected, but we still encountered three water crossings. The first, and largest, had an alternative that would allow your shoes to stay dry. The second and third did not. And once your feet were soaked and your shoes covered with mud, it just didn't matter anymore. Anna and I enjoyed playing in the mud, but most of all, I enjoyed the run with her. It's been a quite a while since we had shared a run. 31:05.

On the second 5k I came up on Mike, a retiree from the company where I work. I hadn't seen him for a few years, and wasn't aware he lived in Z'ville. It was nice to spend the loop with him, catching up. 30:40.

For the third loop, I needed to pick it up. Will had a baseball game at 10:00, so I needed a little time to get home, clean-up, and change for the game. Nothing really eventful on this lap, although I did find that the creek crossings were getting sloppier on the exits. Where the first crossing took 1 step to find solid footing, it was now taking 3-4. As I came around to complete lap three, Jil and Will were there cheering. I really have a great family! Although this was not a meaningful race and I wasn't racing, it was still neat to see Will in his BB uniform and be able to give both of them five before heading back out for lap 4. 25:04.

The fourth loop was all about maintaining pace. I was right on at each of the kilometer markers on the course. But on this lap I was going to be different and go through, rather than around, the big creek. I was already soaked and muddy, so what did it matter? But as I approached the hazard, cowardice won out and went around again. Regardless, I pressed on, cruising through the rest of the course. 25:12.

Since the course is 5k, we were only at 12.4 (20k) after the 4 loops, so it was back down the trail to a turn around, then across the finish line. I had just passed someone before the end of the 4th lap, so I did pick it up and bit and finished strong. 1:55.30.

Not your normal long training run and not a great finishing time on the clock, but a very enjoyable time! I got to spend some quality time with my daughter, get caught up with an old friend, play in the mud, and get in a long run with my fellow runners.

The Long and Winding Road

2009-04-30T17:00:00.001-04:00

This week had the last scheduled long runs before the Geist Half. I got back into my regular routine, with 7 on Monday, 7 on Wednesday, 5 on Thursday, and xx on Saturday. Monday was just a good pace run at a 7:45 pace. The weather was nice, but still very windy. Wednesday finally brought a break in the wind. I did a tempo session with 1 mile warm-up/1 mile cool down and 5 miles at 7 min pace. The funny thing is that the pace was only 15 sec average less than the 5k last weekend, but I was comfortably tired, not hurting like in the race. What that tells me is I probably took the race out too fast.

Thursday's recovery run was AWESOME! Ever since my first real run in the rain in June of 1984, I have loved running in the rain. There is something cleansing about being one with the weather and not caring. Not caring about how wet you are, not caring if you step in a puddle, just not caring. I think I have written this before, but to me it really is just like being a little kid in my yellow rain coat out stomping in the puddles.

Jil's week revolved around her first double digit run, a 10 miler. She field incredible from the start, even comfortably running a pace that was too fast, but not feeling any pain. That is until...about 7 miles she had to pause for a car before crossing the road. When she tried to start up again, her ITB locked up on her. She was able to walk and jog for about a mile before getting back to a run. That is good experience for her getting to the race, she knows that she can't stop for anything, but just has to maintain some sort of forward progress, even if it is a walk. The group is talking about maybe 1 more long run, but they need to wait and see how the recover. Jil has become such a runner: she said the taper week had runs of ONLY 4, 3, and 2. I'm so proud of my wife. This may be the longest run she ever does, but she is a runner!

We have also gotten confirmation from her entire running group that they will be coming to our place for a post race party. Since most of that will fall to me, I had better get planning.

Take It on the Run

2009-04-30T14:49:00.000-04:00

Track season for Anna is now in full swim. After the team got nipped in the first meet, the coach decided he need Anna to run the 2400, where they got 0 pts. To make matters worse, no one has scored for the team in the 2400 for 3 yrs! In order to run the 2400, Anna had to drop the 1600. That didn't make her very happy, which is ironic since she wanted to run the 2400 last year and didn't get to because of how the meet schedule developed.

The first meet for the 2400 was this week. Anna was nervous, partly from the pressure to score and also from not having run the event before. Luckily the meet was against a team with runners she knows and gained some confidence running against them earlier in the meet. The wind was really strong (still!) so she planned to just go out and sit behind them and for the first 2100 and make a move then if she could. She followed the instructions and stayed on the rail right behind the leaders. The lead group past through the mile in 6:23, Anna still tucked in behind. But when the leaders picked up the pace to go with about 800 to go, she didn't have enough to go with them. She hung tough and finished the last 800 in 3:13. She had run a very evenly paced race en route to 9:37 finishing time and 3rd place! Goal one down, the team scored. The irony is the team got no points in the 1600. She learned something about gutting out a run in that race and now is thinking longer term (and aggessively) in her goals.

The Thursday night meet was cancelled because of rain. Two weeks and five meets left in the season.

Z-Run 5k Race Report

2009-04-25T19:57:00.001-04:00

The ZMS Z-Run 5k has been the most consistent race on the family schedule. This will make our third consecutive year, although Anna missed last year for a swim camp. The weather forecast was mixed with temps at 9 am in the 60s, but with a strong southerly wind (in our faces for the last half of the course). And they were right.

It was a race time decision as to how I would run; for me or as a rabbit for Will. If I was going to run for myself, my goal was to go sub-20. I checked as we left for the race and he knew what he wanted to do so he told me to go on my own. I positioned myself near the front and started at a nice pace. For some reason I had been pretty nervous, and for the first mile my legs felt rubbery. Definitely wasn't sure I would be able maintain the pace. I passed the first mile in 6:30. We then turned into a southwesterly breeze and a few of us lined up to take advantage of what little draft we could. I skipped the one water stop on the course but was starting to lose the person in front of me. Mile 2, 6:45. At that point I was starting to feel the hurt, but with only 1.1 to go, I wasn't about to let up. The new course had some tight turns in the last mile that made you slow down a bit and with the wind it was hard to pick the pace back up. When I did get near the 3 mile mark I looked at my watch and saw 19. I knew I would break the 20 minute mark, so I didn't press hard. I was happy with my
20:53.4 time, and thought that might get me an age group award, but was pleasantly surprised to have won the 40-44 age group! After finishing I went back and waited for Anna, Will, and Jil to finish, running to the finish line with each. The race award of a Running Company gift certificate was perfect for the shoes I plan to buy next week.

Because Jil is in better condition than for any previous 5k, she was hoping to easily set a PR, maybe a big time drop. She wasn't a fan of the new course, too many tight turns. And regardless of the distance is sick of the wind we have been experiencing lately. She was also annoyed with one of our local officers who actually was making runner stop to let traffic go through at one intersection. She kept a good steady pace, and even though she ran 6 yesterday, posted a new PR of 33:48.2, almost two minutes below her previous best time! Awesome run, Jil!

Anna hasn't run a timed 5k in 2 years, but based on her track results this week, she was looking to post a really fast time. She showed up with some friends but decided to run alone. She ran a pretty steady pace, but said the wind was pushing her around in those final curves. Result? PR of 24:26.2. Not as fast as she hoped, but still an awesome run!

Note: I'm a little bitter that everyone's picture was taken except mine!

Will, being the big goal man, initially talked of a huge race, averaging 7:30s. Since he hasn't trained much, I talked him down to targetting a 8:00 pace. He remembered what I told him and started off slowly, around an 8:40 pace. His second mile was around 8:15, so he must of burned that final 1.1. He really wanted to break 25 minutes, but was very pleased with a new PR of 25:07, and 8:05 pace. Very impressive given the very small amount of training he has done.

All in all, Z-Run was a great day for the family. Three PRs and an age group win. Not bad.

I guess it's time to pick out the next family race.

Race Buzz

2009-04-24T11:06:00.001-04:00

The Boston Marathon was this week. No, I didn't do Boston. I watched the coverage of the race and all of the post-race coverage. It was really exciting to see a Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher running up front and challenging for the race.

I think that I wish I could do Boston. Don't know if I'm caught up in the buzz from reading "Duel in the Sun" and of the race, or if my personal goal juices are starting to flow again. I'm not sure if I would want to do it because of the history and status of the race or for the badge of honor. Regardless, my plans don't include trying to BQ this year. I need to get my time down closer to the standard before I can even think about trying to BQ, and since I'm only planning 1 marathon this year, that pretty much puts me out of next year. Depending on where my times go, my honest target may be 2012 (with the benefit of a 10 minute increase in the qualifying standard).

Regardless of all that, there is nothing better than an elite competition like that to get the juices flowing. Monday was a great 7 mile run despite crappy conditions. The race had just completed and I had to fight to just maintain a smooth normal pace. Wednesday was another 7, with fartleks for speed work. It was a good run with fast speed segments, but the problem with fartleks is I jut don't know how fast I'm running the hard/recovery segments. Sure I can get an average pace, but that is a mean, not a median. I held up pretty well, although my legs were tiring during the 4 minute segments. I would say I was probably below 5k pace. The wind again was horrible, blowing 16-22 mph. This has been the norm, it seems, for the past week or two. The forecast only has it getting worse before it gets better.

Our local 5k, the Z-Rum is this weekend. I'm not sure what my race plans are. The weather is supposed to be warm, hopefully we'll get a break from all this wind we've been experiencing lately. I'd like to go out and bust one, but I may be "employed" to rabbit for one of the kids.

Jil's week has been mixed up. She subbed on Monday, her mom was in town on Wednesday, her birthday was Thursday (she gets to move up an age group!). She's been able to get her runs in, but they weren't with the group. Friday the group was able to get together with everyone for most of the run. She was doing a reduced day since she is racing tomorrow, the rest of the group isn't so they were going a little further. It's probably a good thing she was doing a reduced day because her IT band started to hurt again around 5-6. I'd like her to get through one more week, then I'll have her start her taper a week early. After all, it's about finishing, not breaking records. Z-Run plans for her include a PR. Given what the conditions are supposed to be and her training, that is very doable.

Will has been doing some running in baseball practice but that is the extent of it. He has some lofty goals for the Z-Run this weekend. I hope he isn't disappointed. I'm not sure if goals are too aggressive or not. Hopefully I'll be pleasently surprised.

Anna came home from track practice last week icing for shin splints. She had tried to avoid going to the trainer but finally couldn't take it anymore. When the trainer told her she went from no running to 3 miles a day to quickly, she admitted that she should have listened to her parents when they encouraged her to get some runs in as we approached track season. She iced and rested enough to be ready for the meet on Monday, but it was blown/rained out. Wednesday at home was now her first opportunity to test the track for real. The way the wind has been, I've been telling Anna not to worry a lot about time, and just run for place. That's in contradiction to the coaches who tell her to go out with the lead group. That isn't how I acieved my best times, so I'm trying to help her. Hopefully my coaching doesn't lead her astray. Of course she didn't listen to her dear old dad in the 1600 and took off in the first 400. Given the conditions and first meet of the season, she posted an impressive 6:15.7 PR. My experience would also question her strategy in the 4x800, but it worked for her, 2:43. In the open 800 she ran a very smart race and got outleaned for second, but 2:48 for your third race is pretty good. As for Z-Run, I'm not sure what Anna's goals are. She has talked about sub-20, but I think she would be more realistic shooting for around 22, especially this early in the season.

Look for the Z-Run race report in a separate post.

Getting Back on the Horse

2009-04-18T18:57:00.000-04:00

The toe remained pretty sore and ugly through Tuesday and Wednesday, but started to feel better on Wednesday night. Thursday I was able to enjoy a wonderful 6 mile lunch time run in the sun, and the toe didn't bother me at all! But into the evening my left knee started to hurt more than it did in the morning. I'm guessing that it is a combination of sleeping with the foot elevated and no support for my knee and changing my walking gate for a few days to compensate for the toe.

On Saturday, the knee felt okay, and the weather was so gorgeous that I couldn't resist heading out. It was a bit warm. I'm just not used to mid-60's yet. I was pretty tired from 8-11, but found a groove to finish the final 1.5. And although I was just trying to run comfortable. Based on the pace, I was probably pushing a bit harder than I should have.

Jil's group continued on their plan. Each member of the group misses a day here and there, but they are sticking to their plan and not trying to make-up miles. On Friday, they put in their longest run to date, a 9 miler. Jil struggled with her IT Band around 4 miles and again at 6. We were dropping off some Kids Racing for Kids race fliers at the Running Company, so we picked up a foam roller for her while we were there. Even with all that considered, with 4 weeks to go, the group is right on track for a good day on race day.

Will and Anna are back to swimming. One happily, one reluctantly. It's odd, the happy one spends over an hour at track practice, then eats something changes and goes to swim for an hour and 45 minutes. The reluctant one has baseball practice a couple days a week, then is too tired to swim 2-3 days a week. For 2 months baseball comes first, we are trying to make sure he gets his personal time, without overprogramming.

Next week there is one travel and one home track meet. On Thursday Anna received confirmation of her varsity status for track meets. You would think she would be excited, but not her. She's outraged that she has to run the 800 not once, but twice in the first meet. She'll be running a leg in the 3200m relay, the 1600m and the open 800m. She really doesn't have a great love for the 800.

The Good, the Bad, and the .....Ugly

2009-04-14T13:43:00.000-04:00

The Good....This week I started something new; lunch time runs. I felt I needed to do this because of evening schedules and feeling guilty leaving everyone at home while I did my thing. Monday was my first outing as was great. A little cool and rainy, but what do you expect, it is April. My legs felt great while I was out, but had to rush back to the office for a meeting. My legs were tight during the afternoon, but as the evening came, they really felt good. Obviously one day isn't enough to tell, but these lunch time runs may help me in my recovery (as well as save me a few bucks by forcing me to brown bag 3 days a week).

The Bad...Tuesday morning brought the bad. While getting ready for work, I was walking around the bedroom and kicked the corner of a door frame with the little toe on my left foot. I figured it to be one of those things. You bump the toe and within a while just walk it off. With that in mind, I wore my normal shoes and headed of for work. When the pain didn't subside, I undressed by foot to find...

The Ugly...The toe represents 'the ugly'. It has a nice black bruise running from nail to foot. and is sore inside of dress shoes, but I can wiggle/curl it. I finally took some ibuprofen and now it curls/wiggles without pain. I hope it is only a bruise, but me thinks it may be fractured.

Book Review: Duel in the Sun

2009-04-12T20:11:00.000-04:00

With the Boston Marathon approaching on April 20th, I thought it was high time to read a running themed book again. After reviewing some archived episodes of the Phedippedations Podcast I found one about the 1982 men's race, that has been dubbed the "Duel in the Sun". Being new to distance running in 1982, I remember seeing the news highlights of Alberto Salazar collapsing after the finish, but not much else about the race. The podcast did a nice job of presenting the race using narrative and archived TV audio, but since the 'book is always better', I sought out a copy at my local library to get a more complete background.

I almost always have a book going, mostly to read at lunch time, but a lot of times at home the book gets moved from room to room without being opened. Duel in the Sun: Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, and America's Greatest Marathon by John Brant was not one of those books. I had it open every chance I got.

The backdrop to the book is the 1982 Boston Marathon and the very competitive race between Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley. But the book goes beyond the conflict on the road between an internationally acclaimed runner versus a journeyman dairy farmer from Minnesota and spends much of the time on the time examining the troubles each runner experienced following that legendary race.

Reading the story of the race was like watching the movie Apollo 13, you know how everything turns out, but you are on the edge of your seat, waitng to see who wins. Brant does a good job presenting what was going on in the underdog Beardsley's head during the race, but doesn't provide much from Alberto. I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it left me rooting for the underdog.

The basis for the rest of the book is that the 1982 Boston Marathon was the last really great running performance for each of the athletes. Salazar lost his performance level through the effects of overtraining and depression. Beardsley was taken down by achilles surgery, a freak farming accident, and finally an addiction to prescription pain killers.

Brant did a good job presenting the stories. I found myself anticipating the alternating sections focusing on each athlete almost as much as the sections on the race. However, I picked up the book wanting to read about the race, not the downward slides of 2 individuals after that time.

Would I read the book again? Yes. Would I recommend the book to others? Without a doubt. In fact it is making the rounds through my family now. Did I enjoy the book? Very much. I just wish there had been more about the race, that I agree is the greatest American marathon to this date.

A Very Blustery Day...

2009-04-12T18:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday this week, started out just like 'Windsday' from Winnie the Pooh, with wind and rain. But unlike in Pooh, the rain left, but the wind stayed. Sooner or later the winter layers will be put away, but it obviously isn't sooner. Despite the weather, Monday brought the joy of solo running. I tried to settle into a nice comfortable pace, but once I caught the 22 mph tailwind, I totally lost control. I probably paid for it a little in my calves on Tuesday, but not too badly. On Wednesday, I went ahead and ran a fartlek session. I felt tired afterward, but didn't get very sore. Fingers crossed for turning the corner on some speed training. A short 3 miler on Thursday helped to loosen my legs up. On Saturday, my goal was to tackle the Hunt Club Rd hills that cramped me up a few weeks ago. I took the run at a easy pace and got through the hills injury free and finished the 14 miles strong in 1:55. My left knee ended up tired and sore, and my legs were a little stale on Sunday morning, but I'm ready to get back to it next week. I'm excited for swimming to be starting back up. I've been feeling a little guilty heading out for my runs while everyone sat and waited for dinner, but know I'll be waiting on them again.

I have been thinking about signing up beginning to run over lunch to free up my weekday evenings. With track meets, baseball games, and yard work coming up, I finally gave up with thinking and signed up for access to our company fitness center. We'll see how I do at packing my bag and my lunch each day.

Jil is overjoyed to be back with her friends this week. Our schedules have been a little hectic so we haven't talked to much. I don't have much to report. Jil was excited to take Laura down the closed 875 on Wednesday, although I'm not sure they live up to the 'running aimlessly' tag. They agreed that if they got lost, they would just walk. How incorrigible! There was some redemption later in the week after completing their 8 mile long run, she didn't get tired until around 7 and was later heard saying that a rest week was coming up with nothing longer than 6. I don't know if she realizes it, but she's sounding more like a runner all the time!

Will's baseball schedule came out this week. We are little frustrated with a) how long it takes to publish the schedule (the first game is in 1 1/2 weeks) and b) how many conflicts there are with runs we wanted to do, including the our local 5k, the Z-Run. At least we don't have to worry about a baseball conflict with the Geist half. The initial reaction to the conflicts was anger, but we have to remember priorities and balance.

Anna and I have had some good conversation this week. I think she is starting to get it. Part of that could be rediscovering the joy of running. We talked a lot about race pacing, goal setting, and going the extra mile. It could be an interesting summer for running in our household. I just need to remember my comments from last week; nurturing and teaching, but not forcing. Anna has been excited about track this week. The girls have been working with the boys distance coach and I think she has really enjoyed his style. On Thursday they time trialed the distance events to see who runs the away meets. That was the perfect opportunity for a true test of the flats.

Will has been out for a couple of shorter runs recently, so he has started to do a little something. The big surprise is that he is excited for swimming to start back up and build on the result he had at the state meet. Maybe the light bulb went off. As usual, we need to work to keep his goals in check, as he is a little too aggressive in setting them.

Spring Break

2009-04-04T15:52:00.001-04:00

Spring break came this year and turned everyone's schedules topsy turvy. Jil's running group was out of town for the whole week and we went to St Louis for 2 days. In practicing what I have been preaching, I convinced Jil that life happened and we weren't going to make up the runs scheduled for when we were out of town. Then she asked if I wanted to run with her for the week. That worked out fine for me since I'm on a rest week. In the end it worked out even better, because I just came across a case of the doldrums and if it hadn't been for needing keep my running date, I would have been parked on the 'couch of doom'.

Originally we were scheduled to go out together on Friday, but because of the weather and an opportunity for Jil to run some of the less populated roads that have too much traffic during the week, we switched the plan to Saturday morning. I toyed with going Friday as well, but the wind and a long week at work kept me from getting out. We did go on Saturday, even though I got frustrated waiting around to go. Because it was later when we left, it was warming up, but it also meant we had to go through a temperature transition. That made it hard to dress. After all the consternation, it was a nice run. Jil did a nice job, walking briefly around 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5. But just a brief moment to take a drink and go again. Her fitness is definitely improving and I think she will be pleasantly surprised how much she will improve over the next 5 weeks.

As for me, I'm still kind of in the hum-drums, and we have more winter to come next week - yuck! But legs are feeling good and strong, it's probably time to test them with some speed work again, Z-Run (our local spring 5k) is only 3 weeks away. We haven't figured out yet what the strategy is. Will everyone run for themself? Does Anna want help with sub-20 attempt, or Will help with a sub-25 attempt?

Anna had the rest bug, which I can't really blame her, just coming off swimming. She'll be fine once scheduled practice begins. She just frustrates me at times. She talks about all the goals/times she wants to achieve, but doesn't have the desire and drive to go the extra mile in her training. Then when I try to push her a bit, it just creates conflict. I know it would be wise to let that be a battle that I choose not to fight, but somehow I never remember that when the opening presents itself.

What's in a name?

2009-03-29T18:00:00.002-04:00

So what's up with the name I chose for my blog? According to www.dictionary.com, aimlessly is "without aim; purposeless". So how does that fit into how and why I run? If I'm running for the stress relief, for time alone to ponder my thoughts, or to explore the roads around where I live, there is still an aim or goal to the run. Even if I just run because I enjoy the activity, maybe it would be aimless, but even then, achieving enjoyment could be stated as a purpose. And really, all those things describe why I run, so there seems to be a disconnect between word and deed.

The name came to me as I tried to come up with a way to explain what I do many weekend mornings, wandering about and exploring the farm roads in central Indiana, trying to find different routes that would add up to the mileage I want to achieve. To the non-runner, I'm sure it appears that I was running aimlessly around the the countryside. So there you have it.

On a deeper level, as I think this through and write this, I wonder if it is even possible to truly run aimlessly? With race goals, the health benefits, and just for the enjoyment, I know that for me running isn't aimless.

It's Baaaack......

2009-03-28T13:17:00.000-04:00

I think that now it's official, my annual bought with my right calf muscle is on. Every year, I seem to do something to cause issues with my calf, usually too hard to soon. I thought with the base that I have this year, that I may avoid it. I even laid off the speed work when my achilles got sore a couple weeks ago. I think the problem is that my run pace has been increasing, leading to the collision of 10 miles, hills, and 8min/mi pace last weekend. Monday's 6 was all right, but still too fast. Wednesday, I dropped it to 4 and did a better job of controlling pace. My leg really hasn't hurt much during the runs, but comes on almost immediately after. Stretching and sticking are becoming part of my daily routine again (please don't yell at me, I know I should have been doing that anyway!). Friday I woke to now leg pain! I spent the day wishing I could get out, but knew it would be best to stick to the schedule and wait for Saturday. Saturday came with once again no pain, so I decided I would go for the 12 that I didn't get in last week. I kept my route flat and my pace easy. The first 11.5 were a wonderful joy. The last 1/2 my feet were hurting a little, but nothing major. No calf soreness during or after. I seemed to have done the right thing by backing off this week and throwing in an extra rest day, but only time will tell that. I'll also throw in an extra rest day this week with spring break travel. For the month that will leave me a little behind where I want to be with my goal to run 1000 miles this year.

Jil's running group had finally had a week without swim meets and conflicts. They have done a nice job sticking to their plan. On Tuesday, (when Jil can't run with the rest of the group), they took advantage of the weather and got back on the trail. They said a lot clean up has been done. It will be good to get a chance to go check it out. They still have a group member that needs to sign up for the half. She claims it will be done before the end of the week. I hope so, as I would hate to call Caroline out by name. On Friday they worked on how to fit in their training over spring break this next week. Jil should have the easiest time since we are only going out of town for two days.

Anna started track practice this week. They started off with a baseline 400m run. Anna finished hers in 1:16. After finishing she proceeded to spit, like any good runner, and the rest of the girls looked at her like she was an alien. Of course, she thinks that people who don't understand spitting during and/or after running just don't understand distance running. To quote a t-shirt I once saw, "They call them sprinters". Referencing the difference in the amount, type, and duration of work sprinters put in versus distance runners. They did heavy calisthenics, with a good number of lunges, so Anna had trouble walking on Tuesday morning, but was in good spirits. Maybe it was because it was pancake morning.

She told Coach Rowe she wants to go sub-6 in the mile this season, (swimming has taught her to be open about her goals and communicate with her coaches) to which he replied she needs to be running 6:05 at the first meets and he would be pushing her pretty hard to get her there. We'll have to see what being at the front of the group and getting attention does for her experience versus being an invisible, unknown 6th grader. At least we found that swim practice is scheduled to begin one week prior to the first track meet, so as parents we aren't at risk of last years calendar/emotional conflict. Tuesday was a good distance practice, but practice was canceled for the rest of the week heading into spring break. Time to see if she really has a desire to achieve those goals.

Here Comes a Regular

2009-03-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

Anyone remember that song by the Replacements? A little different than the style they were known for, but it has too be one of my favorites from the college days. At that time it seemed it would be cool to be about my favorite watering hole, but somehow age changes you. Now, my family has become 'a Regular' at our local running store, The Running Company (Carmel store). We love it when we need new shoes or gear because we get to visit all of our friends. When we walk in the door, we're greeted at the door by name with a huge smile! It's a pleasure to work with Elyssa, Melissa, Kathy, Chuck, and Justin, they all make us feel like we are something special. It's awesome!

Why is that on my mind? Tonight we made the trip when I got home from work. The last 2 times we have been in, Elyssa, the store manager hasn't been in due to a wedding and honeymoon - Congrats, Elyssa and Josh! Anna, a self-appointed member of the "Temple of Orange", saw some new Mizuno Wave Ronin 2 running flats that she wanted for track. They had to special order her size and the shoes were in for testing. She got the love of the color orange genetically from me, and now I....have...major....shoe....envy! And not just because they are all orange - although that is really cool - but because I would love to have a pair of flats. I just don't think that they make sense for a mid-packer doing the half or full marathon distances.

I only ask that Anna do one thing: enjoy the shoes for both of us!

Finishing on the Right Note

2009-03-22T21:00:00.000-04:00

The short course swimming season reached the end this weekend (finally!). We attended the Indiana State Age Group Swimming meet this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Each of the kids swam on each day, and both experienced mixed results.

On Saturday, we had a 200 medley relay in the morning and in the afternoon. We were able to manage our time so we (the parents) didn't spend the whole day sitting at the pool. Anna got a ride in the morning, so Will could sleep and come in time to see her swim. Anna got to go to lunch and shopping then back in time to see Will swim. Anna's (fly leg) relay swam right at their abilities and was able to move up 1 spot from their seed. Will's (breaststroke leg) relay team swam faster than their seed time, but was DQ'd for a bad turn on the backstroke leg.

Sunday brought more mixed results. Anna started with the 200 fly, but didn't come close to her seed time. She is usually very dependable, swimming very near to or better than her best times. To have a sub par performance in the top championship meet was a difficult experience for her. She followed up with the 1650 freestyle (mile). She held an even tempo the whole race, and swam a personal best by 7 seconds, placing 24th in the state. I think she is ready for a break, but is disappointed that she will be out of the water for a few weeks.

Will swam the 200 free relay. He was originally signed up to swim the 3rd leg, but was moved to the anchor spot on Sunday. The team was the 7th seed in their heat and 40th overall. The boys swam well, staying near the front of their heat for the first 2 legs, then pulled ahead slightly in the third. Will entered the pool and swam his best 50 time ever, relay split or race. The boys won their heat easily and placed 29th overall. Baseball starts on Monday.

It was nice for both Anna and Will to finish their seasons on a strong note. Even though the break is welcome, it leaves them ready to get back in the water and achieve more. Way to go guys!

State or Bust!

2009-03-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week, for the last week during our half-marathon program required a schedule shuffle. The Indiana State championship meet is taking place, with Anna and Will qualified for both Saturday and Sunday sessions, morning and afternoon, respectively. This will be the last swim meet of the short course (25 yd) season, so we will get a much needed break from meets for a couple months.

Jil started the week with one sore hip and somewhere during the week the soreness jumped to the other side. Anyone remember Igor from Young Frankenstein and his moving hump? She did a good jump of getting her miles in, even with the mixed group attendance due to the other runner's scheduling issues. The biggest move was to move their 7 mile long run to the middle of the week. Jil said she held up pretty well for the first 6.5. That may have been pacing, and it could just be dealing with new territory. Regardless, she's hanging in and sticking to her plan.

I've continued to nurse my sore achilles. It doesn't hurt when I'm running, just when I stretch it. I can see improvement, so I'm just going to stay the course on my treatment and running through it. I did a couple of 7 milers and planned a long run of 12. It had planning and looking forward to running the first 4 of the long run with Jil, since we don't run together much anymore. But it wasn't too be. She determined that she needed to rest her hip, so I plotted a new route and headed out. The new route was hillier than I am used to and my right calf decided to knot up. It was such a great evening weather wise and I was feeling so good that I hated to do it, but I finally called it quits at 10. My calf tightened up more in the evening. Hopefully I'll be back out on Monday.

I looked at possibly adding an additional half to the schedule for me to run for time, but am not sure why I need to do that. It's having opposing voices speaking in each ear. "What's wrong with running the event for the pleasure of yourself and others?" versus "Don't you want to know how fast you can go?". Right now I'm leaning towards the pleasure voice, wanting to hold my timed run until I've put in more speed work.

Next week, Anna starts track practice so I will start reporting on her running training as well. Then we have spring break week. We aren't taking a big trip, but scheduling the runs will still be challenging with the kids around all day. Who knows, maybe they'll be joining us for some miles?

H2Low's and Hi's

2009-03-15T18:09:00.002-04:00

Swimming had it's highs and lows this week. Anna was only practicing this week, getting ready for the Indiana Age Group State meet. Relays came out, and she is swimming the 200 medley relay as well. The great news is that Will is swimming in the free relay and the medley relay; he finally gets to wear the state team cap! On Saturday he tried to an individual cut, but he just suffered one of those off days and added time in every race. Anna showed some maturity and learning when really felt bad for him when he didn't achieve an individual. It helped her to understand what we go through as parents every time they get in the water.

A little R and R

2009-03-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

The stars aligned with a meteorite for me this week. I had a recovery week planned after a few weeks of base building, but... After developing the achilles soreness last week and swelling up at the swim meet, I spent the first half of the week icing and taking ibuprofen. By Wednesday, I was feeling good enough to get 5 easy miles in, but ended up a little sore. I made sure that I used the stick before and after the run and stretched more (I haven't been very good about that this winter), which I'm sure helped, but possibly should have taken one more day of healing. I decided to rest until Saturday to give just a little more rest. Problem was, after getting home from the swim meet, I just didn't feel like going out. I forced myself get the shoes on and head out the door, and was rewarded with a very nice six miler. My body responded like it always does after a rest and 'easy' was faster than normal.

Jil and her group got their runs in, although life is happening and schedules are needing to be rearranged. For Jil, the six mile long run was new territory for her as will all the long runs from this point forward. She has had a little soreness but nothing more than would be expected from building mileage to new territories. The group struggling to make sure they get all of their scheduled runs in. I'm been reminding them early and often, that the end result on race day is the sum of the entire schedule and won't be hurt if they miss a run here or there. You should never try to make up mileage. That is at best, one of the best ways to run yourself down, and at worst, end up injured.

We stopped at The Running Company after the swim meet so Anna could get her training shoes for track. We missed our friend Elyssa, but it was her wedding day, so her priorities are in the right place. Anna tried on racing flats and liked the red Sauconys, but really wants to see if the orange Mizunos in a smaller size will fit. She and I both agree that orange makes everything better. Chuck helped us this time, and as always we had awesome, personal service. We will be back to visit in the next weeks to get her racing flats and get me new shoes.

Finding My Achilles Heel

2009-03-09T09:58:00.000-04:00

We experienced a typical, yet atypical early Midwestern US spring week. The week started cold with highs in the 20's (F), so we were still wearing our cold weather gear, but by the end of the week, it was in the 70's (F), and we were down to shorts and t-shirts. Jil and her group had one last easy week on the schedule before they really start to build up. I don't get a lot of details, just get told that 'what happens on the run, stays on the run'! Two of the three are now signed up (read 'committed') for the 1/2 marathon, so it will be harder to back out - although I have already heard some 'cold feet' comments.

My week was ups and downs. I started the week with a really hard, easy run. I just didn't seemed to be well fueled, and my legs were just tired. Then on Wednesday, I had a great tempo run, followed by a nice, short, easy run on Thursday. However, after finishing on Thursday and logging the run, my right achilles got really sore. Luckily by Saturday morning I was able to get my long run in, and didn't even notice the soreness after the first 2 miles. I had fun with the run, make the trek from our house to the Carmel HS pool for the swim meet. It was a beautiful morning, and I definitely found 'the zone'. I was actually bummed that I was early in building my base, because I could have gone a lot further. After ward finishing though, my achilles tightened up again, so I made sure to do a lot of stretching, which did help some. However, after spending 30+ hours in the 85 degree aquatic center, my right heel/ankle swelled up to the point that I could find my ankle bones. It didn't hurt, the skin just felt really tight. I'm just glad that I'm coming up on a rest/recovery week, so I can take the time to really get it healed.

2 all session admissions, $30; 1 Psych sheet, $10; 12 swims, $60; 1 honest person, priceless!

2009-03-09T08:34:00.009-04:00

This weekend we attended the Indiana West Central Divisional Championship swim meet. For those outside Indiana, there are five divisions that have have a championship meet each winter. Swimmers must achieve a published time to qualify to swim in the meet. If a swimmer is qualified for the state wide meet, they may not swim that event at the divisional meet. Confused? Good.

Anna and Will both swam a full program of 6 events over the course of the 3 day meet, and of course they are in different sessions, leaving us at the pool from 6:45am to 3:00pm Saturday and Sunday. Anna swam well enough in prelims Saturday and Sunday (Friday was finals only) to qualify to swim the evening finals session as well. That earned us the right to be at the pool until about 8 both nights. In 16 swims, they achieved 14 personal bests, although Will had one negated after being disqualified for an illegal turn in his 100 backstroke.

Will had a good meet, but had hoped for a little different result. After a slow start in the 200 IM, he came around on Saturday and Sunday. He has been slowly working his way closer to the Indiana State meet breaststroke cut times. He was pretty well shattered when he missed the state cut in the 50 breaststroke on Saturday by 0.32 seconds! He settled down and came back ready to go on Sunday, but was frustrated with the backstroke DQ. Again, he recovered and was able to drop almost three seconds in the 100 breaststroke and placed second! He was very pleased with the result, but was still left wanting after missing the state cut by 0.41 seconds. He has one more chance to get an individual cut on Saturday, but if he doesn't, he should be able to best the standard for the summer state meet.

Anna had a great weekend, swimming personal bests every time she hit the water, and swam above her seed in 3 of the 4 finals. Her weekend culminated with a Indiana State meet qualifying time in the 200 butterfly and a #1 seed in the final. She improved her time in the final, but came in second to a teammate who posted a 3 second drop from the morning. Anna did present the family with a bit of drama on Saturday. She almost forgot her championship suit in the morning and threw it on top of her bag. She thought she left it in the van, but after the morning session (she was only wearing it for finals) it was nowhere to be found. After checking lost and found, on deck, the parking lot...we accepted loss and Anna agreed to pay for 1/2 of a new suit to replace it. As we were walking in for finals, we were telling some other parents of the ordeal, and they told us that in the morning it was announced that someone had turned in a suit. Jil ran to the announcer and after identifying the suit, surprised the announcer with a hug! Anna was relieved to have the suit back - but probably still owes her mom that hug.

Back to State!

2009-03-02T15:42:00.004-05:00

Well, the season's swim training is paying dividends for the kids. This next weekend are the Indiana divisional championship meets. Both Anna and Will have qualified for more than the permitted number of events, so it will be another full weekend of swim meet attendance. That's a good thing for them, but it will make it difficult for me to fit in my long run.

Also, at our club time trial this weekend, Anna beat the 13-14 state meet standard for the 1650 (read: 1 mile or 66 lengths of the pool!). Not only did she beat the standard, but did it in dramatic fashion. With one lap to go I looked at the clock and saw 19:20 and thought she would miss it by mere seconds. She finished her last 200 with everything she had left and completed the swim in 19:49.83, just 0.66 seconds below the qualifying time. Twenty minutes is a long time to swim, to come down to just that small time difference. As a parent it was nerve wracking, yet still enjoyable. As one of 2 swimmers in the pool, and the only one within reach of the cut, everyone in attendance got louder and louder for those last few laps. Thinking back on it, knowing they were all adding their voices to help her achieve her goal still sends a little chill down my spine.

Way to go Anna!

A Mixed Week

2009-02-28T16:24:00.004-05:00

This week was a mixed week. I started off the week on a note of encouragement after the Polar Bear Run. I got my planned 4 days in. For 2 of those days the weather showed a hint of spring, allowing runs with a little less clothing than has been required of late. For the other 2 however, the mercury dropped back down to the normal zone. We know Spring is out there, we just have to be patient. I also got a speed workout in and lived to walk and run the next day. That is already an improvement over last year. My hope is that I can continue down that positive path. I wrapped up the week with a nice 9 miler right on my target pace. Toward the end, I was starting to feel that "zone". Hopefully, that is not too far away. It was a little windy and cool, but it is still February in the Midwest.

Jil had a bit of a step back week. She had a cough settle into her chest, and the Dr. asked her to stay off the roads until the antibiotics were gone. Luckily that was sandwiched between her Monday and Friday runs, including the Friday 5 mile long run. In the long term that shouldn't cause any issues, and it was better to take a short rest and get everything healed up.

The kids aren't running yet for the season. That does make sense as their focus is currently on the swimming short course championship season.

Polar Bear Run

2009-02-23T13:50:00.005-05:00

After my marathon last year, my wife, Jil, decided she would like to run a half marathon. She's walked one a couple times before, but after beginning running last year, she decided running was next. With that in mind she has a training group, and is targeting a spring half. This weekend's Polar Bear Run was the first racing step in that journey. The weather held out, and being "real runners", we thought it was a beautiful morning with temps in the mid-30's(F). We started together, but you will get 2 different stories about what happened in the first half. She brought her iPod shuffle, and I remember asking a couple times whether she wanted company or was going to listen. She remembers that I was like a kid who kept pestering until I got what I wanted. After about a 1/4 mile, I approval to go off on my own.

I spent the rest of the first mile working through the mass of people before being able to settle in to a more comfortable race pace for me. I finished with what I believe is my fastest 5 mile time in 16 years. I wonder if could have maintained the last 4 mile pace for the entire race. The last 1/2 mile was a little rough mentally, but the end result left me very encouraged with where I am in my training. Maybe I can go after some of the personal bests that I set back in my early 20's. I just have to reconcile my goals between achieving my own times and helping my family achieve their individual goals.

After finishing I went back along the course to cool down and find Jil. I finally found her around the 4.25 mile mark. After a brief swim cheer, I joined her for the run to the finish line. This is where I have trouble with my goals. I was excited for her. All the work she has been putting in got her a time that surprised her. Since she really wasn't breathing heavy, she knows that she probably could have gone faster.

Putting it out there

2009-02-23T13:18:00.002-05:00

Okay, so the podcasts and bloggers have been pushing for a while to get out here and share. I've been contemplating it, and finally decided to give it a try. While I'm wide open to what I'll post, at this point in time, my intention is to focus on my training/road racing, my wife's training/road racing, and the successes and heartbreaks of my children's training/swimming/road racing/triathlons. So here we go...