Aftermath

So, it's been 5 days since the half.  I feel relatively good.  The muscles feel sore and used, but nothing seems terrible.

I went out on Wednesday for a short bike ride, and that went well.  I also threw in a walk at lunch time to stretch the legs a bit more.  Thursday, I did a slow and easy jog, about 3 miles long.

All in all, nothing seems structurally wrong.  I was thinking about a 5K next weekend, and I suppose it's possible, but I think it's probably off the plate for now.  I could probably run it, but I really want to race it, and I think easing off is probably the way to go.

Tomorrow, I'm looking to get in another bike ride, and hopefully a run on Sunday, if Mrs. Raul consents to that.. it is "her" day, after all.

On another note, I sent in my next two race applications... stay tuned.. :)

Keep on rockin!

Bridge Run

I came into this race with two goals:

1)  Come out healthy

2)  Break 2 hours.

The second one was certainly not as important as the first.  However, after my 15K a month an a half ago, the 2 hour mark was certainly within reach..

So, the night before.. I'm nervous.  Lol.  That was a fairly sleepless night.  "How fast should I go?"  "Should I try to do more?  Not as much?"  Meh.

The alarm went off, and I went to the checklists I'd made the night before.  Holy pre-race jitters, Batman.

I worked through my lists, drove the 5 miles to the start line.  Here I was, rockin' out a tank and shorts, and holy shizz, it was damn cold at 7am.  I don't think we were at 50 degrees yet.  I ran into a friend from work, and we agreed to run together.. He was looking for a 2 hour finish as well.  Shortly before the race started, the sun broke out, and I felt a touch of warmth.  Finally.

The first 1.5 miles was congested.  There were a little over 1,000 runners, and it was a tight field.  I was glad when it finally spread out a bit.  My first couple of miles were faster than we had planned for, so we backed off a bit.

The race organizers did a great job providing beverage throughout the race.  Water every 2 miles, like clockwork.  At mile 4 and after, the aid stations also had Gatorade.  They also did a spectacular job keeping cars out of the way.. I was fairly skeptical of the "traffic being restricted", but it really was.  There was only one intersection (and we went through a damn lot) that I even had a hesitation that a car might be going through.

The run is termed the Bridge Run, as the course seems to go over most of the bridges in the area (it's the confluence of 2 major rivers in the area).  So along the way, there were some nice sights, especially early in the morning.

I took my Gu at mile 5.5. I haven't been training with Gatorade, but I did drink it along the way. I wanted to Gu up, just because I didn't know if the Gatorade would be enough to keep me going.  I think it was the right choice.

Not a lot to report about the terrain, the course was pretty flat:

I mean, really, that's a 100 foot swing at the worst of it.

Around mile 9, my buddy told me to go ahead. He wasn't feeling that great, the sun was starting to warm up, and he's not a huge fan of the heat.  Up until this point, we were hitting about an 8:55 pace, on target to hit that 2 hour mark. 

I took off, similar to what happened at my last race.  I'm at the 9 mile mark, on target to hit a 2 hour finish. As long as I didn't blow it, I'd be OK.....

I just ran.  Hard, but not too hard.   What could I sustain for 4 miles?  What should I do?   I didn't want to over-think it.  Just run.

About this point, there was probably the coolest set of fan spectators:  A dad and his kids were out on the front lawn playing the Rocky theme with a violin, saxophone, and trumpet.  I certainly wasn't expecting that.. Nice, original thinking on their part.

I felt pretty good along the way.  I hit the 12 mile mark around 1:45.  At this point, I said to myself.. holy shit, I've got this.   I can walk it in at this point and get my 2 hour mark.  I took 2 cups of gatorade, and went on.

I could hear the finish line at the end of the 12th mile.  The crowd support at that point was great.  Tons of people cheering, even though they don't know you.  The feeling of excitement washed over me.. This distance was finally getting knocked down.

So, I finished.  1:52:33.  Automatic PR, to boot.  62/113 age group, 218/457 males, 309/1020 overall.  I was extremely extremely happy with the result.

Here's my pace chart:

Alas, I didn't spend the rest of the day recovering with my feet up.. I had to mow the lawn, and we took mini-Raul to the hilly zoo..    After finishing up the night with a ginormous bottle of beer, I slept like a rock.  I'm a little sore today.  Not terrible, though..  I'll give it a couple of days and see where I'm at.

Keep on rockin!

Reflecting

I ran cross country in high school.  One season.  I hated it.

I tried track the following spring, and that wasn't for me.

And with that, I gave up high school sports.  The trend continued into college, and onward.

In mid 2007, I picked up running.  I was finally ready.  It was the outlet I needed at the time, and I started finding my way.  I almost ran a half marathon that year, but bowed out due to some family circumstances.  I did more running the following year, and the next half year, until mini-Raul was born.

Then, I got lazy.  I'm not going to blame my son.  It's on me.  And, to make matters worse, I ate and drank like I did when I ran.

Fast forward to May 8th, 2011.  Mother's Day.  Family photos, etc etc.  I looked at those pictures and said.. "Shit.  I need to get myself in order."

May 13th, I had a hot water heater installed.  When the plumber left, I said, "What should I do now?"

The only answer was.. to get out there.  I started the process.  Running.  Again.  Finally.

I had a fleeting thought while I was out there. "OMG, there's a half marathon.. 5 miles away!  It's in 2 days!  I run on some of those roads!  That'd be awesome!"  Until, well, I saw what rough shape I was in.

I started eating a little better.  I kept running.   I started doing Weight Watchers.

I met up with Jillian on DVD.  And Tony Horton.  And I busted hump.  Every. Fricken. Day.

I ran in the rain.  I ran in the snow.  I worked out before work.  I got it done.


...Fast forward to today.  Cinco de Mayo.  The eve of my half marathon.  Almost a year later. I'm down 63 pounds.  30% of Raul, gone.  I'm in the best shape of my life.

I don't have any aches and pains, I've been listening to my body.

I'm ready to go slay this dragon.

Keep on rockin'

11 in the books

Long run for this week = done.  Bam!  11 miles, and I have no complaints.

Weird thing was, I ran in shoes that I have never been that comfortable in with my long runs, but I did use two pairs of socks, a new one for me.  In the end, I'm thinking these may be my half marathon shoes.. I felt great.

Not much to report about the run.. A good drizzle started about halfway through, so I was pretty wet by the end of the day.

At one point when I was running in town a car pulled into the 'exit' part of a driveway and proceeded to block the sidewalk.  The guy inside rolled down his window and waited... 

Sigh.  I'm terrible with street names.  I know how to get around, I know how to get to places even if I've only been there once or twice, but I couldn't tell you street names.  I've lived in this town for 12 years now, I still don't know them.   

I get to his window... "Can you tell me where to find a liquor store", he says slowly...  Well, damn.  That I can do.  I know a couple within easy driving distance and directions.   Sweet.  Tough question avoided.

I had no clear path set out in my mind ahead of time, so I just ran around.. I wound up doing a couple of serious hills, but no complaints there either.   Total mileage was 11, total time was 1:55.  Hopefully I can do some sort of time like that in my half.

All in all, I'd say I'm as ready as I will be for my adventure in 3 weeks.  Next week, I have no game plan for my long run day.  I'll probably just see how I feel..The week after is going to be ~6 at race pace.

I wanted to squeeze in a 5K either today or one of the next two weekends, but I couldn't find one that really meshed with my training plan.  I tried to rationalize it (over and over), but they were all trail runs, hill runs, or too close to the half.  No sense blowing the plan because I'm getting ancy.

Keep on rockin!

Fartlek

I went out last night for a 4-5 mile run, with no clear goal.. It turned into a fartlek, and it was a heck of a workout.  Sure made it more interesting.

Training is going well... 3 weeks, 2 days until the half marathon.. I'm hoping to do a long run on Sunday- it's supposed to be 70 here.

That little bit of arch pain is still hanging on, but it's not terrible.. I felt it last night after the faster run.. speed definitely seems to kick it off.  I'll keep stretching it and my calf, and see how that goes.

No fire department visits or plumbing work this week.  I have a pair of shutoff valves I can't turn, but they're staying on right now.  Consequently, the other drippy sink will continue to drip. I don't like working on plumbing, at all.

Keep on rockin!

Busy week

Wow, another busy week went in the books.. No blog posts for a week?  Meh, I need to be better about this.

On the exercise front, I did two easy 4-4.5 mile runs mid week, and I capped the week off with a 9.5 mile run. I did manage to get in one other cross training workout, a P90X core synergistics session (man, that one is a good one!).

Outside of the exercise front, all kinds of stuff happened.

Mrs. Raul notice much of the cabinet under the kitchen sink was wet one night.. The culprit was this guy:

He's been replaced.  Of course, that didn't actually fix all of the issues, as it turns out the faucet itself was leaking from a couple of places.   I replaced the faucet next:

That's our spiffy new one!  The only casualty was when I dropped the wrench on my forehead while working under the sink.  Sigh..

I still hate doing plumbing work.

We also got a visit from the fire department one night, as Mrs. Raul left the toaster oven unattended at the wrong temperature.  No harm done, except to the pan for the toaster over.  It was pretty impressive, seeing flames inside that puppy.   Long story short, the smoke alarm went off, which signaled the fire department, which caused a visit.   Amazingly, mini-Raul slept through the entire thing.  I can't get that boy to sleep worth a damn, and when something interesting happens, what does he do?   Go figure.

Other excitement in the week?  Hmm.. I got to use my jumper cables and jumpstart Mrs. Raul's ride.  I also changed my lawn mower oil and started that whole mowing thing again.

Mini  Raul had a good Easter.. made out like a bandit.  That's what Easter is about, isn't it?  Oh, wait.  Hrms..  He had a good time, regardless.

I'm hoping for a quieter week this week. lol.

Keep on rockin!

Done with recovery

This weekend, I did my last run during "recovery" from my 15K race.. I did an easy 7 miler, with nothing terribly exciting to write about.   The legs feel much better, and there's just a tiny amount of muscle fatigue.  The 7 miles were strong, even though the pace was fairly relaxed.

I've been having a little bit of arch pain in one foot, and it started after the race.. It's significantly better than a week ago, so I'm not too concerned about it.  I've been reading about plantar fasciitis, and I don't think that's it.. I think it's just tight and bruised.  I really need to get to a real running store and find some new shoes, though.

So, I have 4 training weeks until a taper.  This is it, the final push..  Stay healthy.. stay healthy..

I'd like to get two longer runs of 10+ miles in before the half, possibly 3.  If I can run 10 miles now, I figure I can eek out another 5K on race day, so I'm in decent shape as is.  A little more training could yield some benefits, though.

More importantly, I'm trying to be better about doing leg exercises to strengthen some of the weaker muscles and prevent crazy imbalances.   Leg raises and squats have been on the menu a lot lately.  (Speaking of, have you seen the 200 squat challenge?  That's an idea for the coming months..)

That's about all for now.. And no, CJ, I'm not that crazy about Tebow time here in NY.  That smells like a QB controversy every. single. week.  Sigh.  As if the locker room didn't have enough problems already..

Keep on rockin'!