Running: 30 July 2010 - Pickin up the Pace

Greetings, readers, runners, and rogues.  I really wrestled with whether or not to run this morning.  I had to be at work early, and was trying to convince myself that if I stayed in bed just a little longer, then I would not have time to run and be at work by 7:30.  Now, this is where the "addiction" must start to kick in.  I got up.  Yes, I got up.  I got dressed.  And, since I was up and dressed AND had wasted some time in getting to this place, I now had to hurry.  I hustled downstairs to put on my shoes and check my blood sugar.  49...urg.  I whipped up some Shaklee Performance and downed 8 oz. (25g of carbs).  It was out the door time at that point.

Running: 28 July 2010 - Chasin the Moon...again

Another Madison County Milers morning.  77 degrees and, you guessed it...humid.  Michelle, Angie, me, and Jeff Purdy showed up.  Nice to see Jeff again.  We started out from Car Quest as usual and headed north on 10th Street.  Michelle "cut" me loose after a couple blocks as I stretched out my stride and picked up my pace.  As we continued north, I glanced skyward.  There was my lunar running partner.  She was waning just a bit, still about 90% full, and always, beautiful...even in the morning.  I like running with the moon because it helps me keep my head up and my airway open.  Otherwise, I tend to let my eyes fall.  Like Coach says, your head goes where your eyes go...

Running: 26 July 2010 - Head out on a highway...

Welcome to another week of running and blogging.  I don't normally run on Mondays but I did today.  And from the sound of things, it's gonna be a scorcher of a week.  Nice to get some miles in early in the week.  But first for some sad news.  I lost my wallet this weekend.  I moped around all weekend.  Thanks go out to my family for turning the house upside down and not shipping me off to a mental ward.  OK, back to today's blog...

Running: 24 July 2010: Hope 5k (24:01)

Sorry this is a late posting, but I've been a bit busy.  Saturday's 5k run was up in West Des Moines and like I've said, was a fund raiser for Hope Lutheran Church.  My brother Andy and I both ran.  I hadn't planned on running a race this weekend, but since it was for charity and my brother was going to run, I did it anyway.  I would say there were about 300 or so runners.  We positioned ourselves about  mid-pack and waited for the start.  The weather was a bit overcast, about 76 degrees, and of course - humid.

Running: 23 July 2010 - Muggy

Another muggy day in Winterset, Iowa (like Summer could be ANY different...).  Rather slow in getting up this morning, but I did it anyway.  I slipped on my running gear, grabbed my Sansa Clip and headed outside.  I stretched and set my Clip to Bon Jovi's New Jersey.  Being a "child" of the 80's, you just can't get enough Bon Jovi.  Blood sugar before the run was 75, so like always, a good shot of Shaklee Performance was in order.

Walking: 22 July 2010 - Poor Dog

I thought I should add this to the blog mostly because it involves mobile activity and sweat.  About 10:30 last night I decided to take Koko (our dog) for a walk.  He loves to walk.  Matter of fact, we don't even say the word around him.  And when he learns how to spell, we'll have to switch to Spanish to talk about it.  Anyway, I got the 35 pound furry bladder harnessed up and set off.  Once again, it was HUMID.  I told him we were going to do about 2 miles, and as usual, he was rip, roarin', and ready to go.  I have often tried to count the number of times he stops to pee on things, and always quickly lose count.

Running: 21 July 2010 - Runny-dipping?

Ahhh, running.  And running, and running.  I'd been feeling guilty about not running the past FOUR days, and knowing the Madison County Milers meet Wednesday mornings between 5:30 and 5:45 to run, I really thought I should pull my butt out of bed and go.  So I did.  I got to our meeting place, stretched, and was just about to take off when Michelle showed up.  So I stretched a bit more while she prepared, and we took off.  I looked at the sky and the red clouds..."red skies at morning, sailors take warning" came into my head.  I wondered, heat? or humidity? or....We'll see.  Anyway, the pace was good and at one point I just sort of pulled ahead of Michelle.

Running: 16 July 2010 - FRIDAY!!!

What a gorgeous morning to run.  Mostly clear skies, 76 and not overly humid.  Woke again with low blood sugar (59).  So I mixed up some Shaklee Performance and downed about 10 ounces.  Although I had gotten up a bit early, I dragged my feet until I was a bit late - so I decided to just do 5k this morning.  But I would do it with a faster pace than before.  I stretched, got my tunes goin' and set off.

Running: 15 July 2010 - Change Up

You know, there's always something nice about going out after a storm.  This morning was no exception.  We had one of the coolest heat lightning storms I have ever seen last night.  It was breathtaking.  How do I know?  See, I was stuck in a parking lot locked out of my truck and could see it all.  Yes, I was locked out of my truck.  No, I didn't plan it.  And yes, I obviously got it open, because I am sitting here typing this now. 

Feeling a bit embarrassed, I checked the weather radar on my phone and could see the red indicators of lightning and dark green indicators of heavy rain marching on me like a Roman army about to quash a small village.  I want to thank the kind soul that got me to a Wal Mart to buy some hangars.  Remembering the time my son Brennan locked himself out of my truck, I was patient with my coat hanger and put the right bends in all the right places and eventually....tug...CLICK!  And like an exhausted bull rider just finishing an eternity on a pissed off bull named Hell's Lightning, I thrust my hands in the air and yelled, "HELL YEAH!"  just as the night burst into rain.  But, my exciting evening is not why you are here.  On to today's running update...

Running: 14 July 2010 - On The Road Again

OK, it's been a few days since I posted...'bout as many as I have skipped running.  I got back at it this morning with the Madison County Milers.  It was a sticky, sweltering and steamy, sauna-istic 36 minutes.  I would not do too well in Hell - especially if it is humid.  Anyway, I put in 4.3 miles this morning.  Nice to have the music.  I am going to see if it is possible to download 8 minute pace MP3s or something like that.  Surely, they exist..Jeff? 

Running: 10 July 2010 - Midnight Madness [pt 2] (57:30)

Midnight Madness 2010 is in the books.  My first "competitive" 10k is complete.  I finished 298th overall and 27th in my age division with a time of 57:30. Dad placed 5th in the 10k and 3rd in the 15k in his division.  If you've followed any of this running blog, you will know I am NOT out there to win any of these "races."  I am out there to first to finish (not finish first), and second to hopefully improve my time over my last race, and third to not die in the process.  I would like to think I help others win these races.  Because if I was not out there, they would have no one to beat. So that kinda makes me the winner for being so helpful.

Running: 10 July 2010 - Midnight Madness [pt 1]

It is the morning of Midnight Madness 2010.  In just about 12 hours Dad and I will be headed home.  Hopefully, he will have a medal from either the 5k or 10k (perhaps both).  I will have sweat-soaked clothes, tired legs, a t-shirt, and memories.  Memories that I will share with you all when I get back tonight.  I am hoping for good weather (cool and dry), and from the looks of things, I should not be disappointed.

Running: 9 July 2010 - Not today

I must be getting used to this running stuff.  I woke before my alarm clocks this morning and thought about going running.  "No," I told myself "today is a day of rest."  So I went back to sleep.  I did, however, stretch a bit when I finally rolled out of bed - just like I do every morning that I go running.  I also took some time to reflect. 

It's been about a month since I started running.  And I suppose I am much closer to my goal of running 20k at Dam to Dam.  An anonymous reader stated I'm half way there.  I suppose in some respects, I am.  In being able to cover the distance, yes.  Now comes the long arduous process of becoming conditioned to running. 

Running: 8 July 2010 - Milestone!!

Well kiddies, I have proven to myself that my upcoming "race" IS doable.  This morning I ran the furthest and longest I ever have.  Under the watchful smile of the morning moon AND radiant glow of the rising sun, I set forth on my morning run.  I modified yesterday's route by adding an additional 1.5 miles to the half-way point, an extra loop around the city park (.5m) and a slight appendage to the end (.1m).  When you throw all that into the mileage blender, apply a little Euclidean distance ciphering, you get (drum roll, please)..........

Running: 7 July 2010 - 4 Miles!

Today I joined the Madison County Milers for my morning run.  My friend Michelle kinda wrangled me into joining them.  It was actually rather nice.  In the beginning, I really thought our pace was slow, but as we ran on, I came to realize part of my struggles with my other runs was that I had been going too fast.  It was also very nice to run with other people.  The moon doesn't say much and seems to run or walk in concert with my pace.  Here, it was different.

Running: 6 July 2010 - "Genesis in Hell"

Why Genesis in Hell as the label for today's blog?  Because today's run was just that...hell.  I don't know why, either.  I've taken two days off before so this should be no REAL surprise or change for my body.  Yesterday my calves felt like two overstuffed sausage tubes about to burst.  They felt a bit better today, but while I ran (if you can call it that), I got a little shin-splinty in my left shin.  Another interesting physiolgoical observation this morning, was that after about a block I was ready to walk.  It felt like I had a medicine ball in my stomach.  Very tight.  Very uncomfortable.

Running: 5 July 2010 - Day Off

Yes, a day off.  A day off from work, and a day off from running.  My calves are bloated.  Could be from sitting on my butt all day doing homework.  Both suck.  So, to keep this short and sweet, I'll just put a picture of me and Dad up here from the Earlham Firecracker 5k.

The next picture I'll post will HOPEFULLY  be of me after the Ames Midnight Madness 10k on the 10th of July 2010.  A little leery, but Coach says I can do it.

myk

Running: 3 July 2010 – Earlham Firecracker 5k (25:22)

I woke for today’s race with low blood sugar (53).  So, knowing I needed some carbs to run on, I mixed 32 ounces of Shaklee Performance.  It runs about 25g of carbs per 8 ounces of drink.  I drank about half that before running.  Blood sugar before the race was a comfortable 149.  Post race: 117 with a pulse of 136 two minutes after finishing.

Running: 2 July 2010 - 2nd Race 1 day away...

Once again, another very nice morning for running.  Light breeze, mid 60's, still had the moon as my running partner.  It's a little more faithful at this than I seem to be, but I'm working on it.  Nothing major today.  Just kind of started off down the street.  I didn't want to run too hard or too far (LOL), but I knew if I didn't run this morning, the day and night would come and go and suddenly, I'd find myself in Earlham tomorrow morning wishing like heck I'd have ran today.  So, off I went...