Resolution Run, 2011 review

Yeah, so I haven't been blogging much. I'll see about changing that. That's a post for another day.

2011, December 31st. Last run of the year. Turns out, there's a local resolution fun run. Clock timed, which is new from the past (they really try to keep it a 'fun' run). This is the same track I did my last (and only) race this year, early on in my comeback (that time was 30:01).

The weather was a comfortable 44 degrees, and it must have encouraged a lot of people to come out, because the park was packed. I paid my cash, looked around to see who I knew, and I got ready.

 I came into this race with the following goals:
1) Finish. Healthy.
If I did that, it was a success.

2) Next goal was to beat my previous time.

3) Next goal was to go sub-27 minutes.

4) Final stretch goal was to go sub-25.


I haven't done any timings or anything like that this year. I've solely been running based on how I feel. I did dig up the Garmin for this race though, just for the sole purpose of dialing it back in the initial push, making sure I didn't go faster than 8:00/mile. The course is generally flat, but has a slight slope down in the first 3/4 mile. (And, since it's an out-and-back, a corresponding slope up in the final stretch).

I lined up, the gun went off, and away I was. The course was absolutely packed.. The path was pretty narrow until a mile into it, and I couldn't get into a solid groove until then.. Just a lot of people around. After a mile, the path got a little wider, and everyone had slid into the appropriate slots relative to one another (and most importantly, relative to me! :) ).

At 1.2 miles, I saw the leaders coming back at me. Damn, I was never that fast.. Looked like a trio of high schoolers. lol

Most of my running has been run-walk, Galloway-style. Today I felt really good, and just kept with it. At 1.5 miles, my breathing was consistent and, more importantly, sustainable. I thought about taking a walk break at the turn around, but just kept pushing. My pace had locked in around 8:30, and I was keeping it up.

Not much to report until the 2 mile marker, where I passed a guy I used to work with.. Fun, and I got a chance to catch up with him after the race. Looking at my watch at this point, I thought my stretch goal of 25 minutes *may* be attainable. I worked on keeping the same pace I was going for the uphill segments, and tried to speed up on the flatter parts. So I ran, and ran, and...

25:29. An outstanding performance. Most importantly, I ran the race I wanted to. I kept my pacing consistent, listened to my body, and arrived at the finish line and the end of 2011 healthy.


So, 2011. Over the past couple of years, I hadn't done much running at all. I did plenty of eating and drinking, and suffered the consequences of such a lifestyle. I did it to myself, I own that. It was one of those things I knew, but wasn't quite ready to face.

Looking at pictures from Mother's day pushed me over the edge. I started eating better, and started running in mid-May. Late in the summer, my wife started Weight Watchers, and after a couple of months of her doing that, I decided to join in too.

I now run about 3 days a week. Sometimes 4, sometimes 2. I try to cross train (typically via a workout DVD) to round it out to 6 workouts a week. The DVDs aren't perfect, but it is something.

At the end of the year, I'm down 46 pounds. I feel terrific. Food actually tastes better. My clothes now don't fit, and that's a good thing for once. I'm looking forward to buying new jeans and shorts.

I knocked 4:32 off of my 5K time, and can say I am running again.

I hope all of you had excellent 2011's, and I wish you all even better 2012's.

The stated point of the resolution run was to get people thinking about fitness and making new year's resolutions. I have made some, but...t hat is for the next post. Until then, keep on rockin'..

Diet and exercise

So, I decided I'd go all in.. Rather than doing the half-assed "I'll cut back" approach to eating (which WAS working, thankyouverymuch), I decided I'd join my wife doing Weight Watchers. The idea of writing down what I was eating and calculating the points and all seemed so... intriguing.. that I had to do it. I'm most of the way through my second week. I have been doing better in my food choices.. A couple of nights ago, I got home, and rather than eating chips or something to that effect, I grabbed an apple. Go me. I've been skipping various free food offerings at work. Eating more salad. On and on. And, yes. I'm hungry. lol I definitely am seeing weight come off.. The shorts are looser, the belly is smaller. (Get in my belly!) I've also been doing the 30 day shred thing now.. Not daily.. About 4 times a week.. I banged on level 1 for a couple of weeks and said "oh, sure, let's roll up to #2". Level 2 has totally been whipping my ass. I think I've been shredding for about a month now. It definitely is doing some good. I've also managed to squeeze in running two days a week. Pretty non-eventful runs, no real goals in mind.. The mid-week one is generally hilly, and the weekend one is generally "long". Long being around 4-5 miles. It's a start. There's a half marathon in May in the area, and maybe I'll work toward that. Losing weight is certainly helping the running.. doing the 30 day shred is helping too, just to even out the muscles in my legs a bit. So, all in all, it's a good start to a comeback. Certainly a well rounded approach to running now. Keep on rockin'!

A new direction

Well, it was a hell of a week here. Our area had record flooding, and shizz is totally messed up. We made it through fine, and are quite quite grateful. The fam made it through as well.. Just some friends that are under water, and certainly a lot of other people are as well. Our biggest problems were:
1) Boil water advisory. Inconvenient, but I am more than happy to live with that.
2) Mini-Raul has cabin fever. Inconvenient is putting it mildly.

So, to get caught up with where I am.. I ran the 5K Thursday a week ago, and promptly followed up with a run on Saturday. Awesome. Getting back into it!

I tweaked my back somehow while running, and later while I was screwing around with mini-Raul, I did a number on it even worse. I decided at that point that I really need to do some whole body conditioning. Rather than being a 200 pound weakling, I need to at least get some tone going, and some reasonable and appropriate strength in my core.

So, I couldn't run.. All of my routes were flooded, and it really wasn't safe to go in another direction. Swimming in the river water didn't seem like an appropriate way to start triathlon training.. What to do? What to do..

30 day shred. I'm on day 2. I must admit, it's a pretty decent workout. If this works, and I can keep up working out every day, I'll see what I can graduate on to next..

Keep on rockin..

Baseline

Well, I did it. Last night, I went out and did a 5K. I'm not in race shape, and it was obvious during my performance, but I'm really glad I did it. It was fun being around a pool of another 150 or so runners.

The course was generally flat.. some very small hills. It was at a local park, so there was no traffic to speak of.

I've started running totally by feel. I don't use my Garmin, I don't carry a watch of any sort.. Just go out and do what I need to do. I was curious how I would do racing, as I never did do a lot of racing.

The crowd was quite a mix. This was a run/walk 5K, so there were all kinds of people. They lined up based on where there was space in line. Not really the best plan, of course. The first quarter mile had a lot of weaving going on in order to not crash into people.

First mile, 9:28. OK.. Well, not what I used to be able to do a mile in, but not terrible, either. At this point I figured I was doing well, but maybe had gone out slightly fast.

Water station.. A friend of mine was volunteering at the race. Always fun to hear your name (plus get water!).

Turn around.. OK.. generally flat, with some uphills. Can. Do. This. Stop to walk, stretch out the knee and ITB a little bit.. carry on running.

Second mile, 19:21. Well, a bit slower, but not terribly off, pace-wise.

For the last quarter mile or so, I turned up the gas and ran faster.. I didn't want to snake out beating someone right in the last 5 seconds. I think I turned the gas up a bit too early, as I was ready to pass out a tenth of a mile away. :)

I saw the clock ticking up to 30 minutes.. 29:52, 29:53... Sprint.. must. get. under. 30.

Nope. 30:01. Ah well.

So, my pace slowed, but I stayed in the same ball park. Today, I have no additional pains from my body apart from the normal ones. One hamstring is tight, but nothing serious.. Should work out over the next couple of days.

Plus, I have a good baseline and will know how much I improve over time.


Two notable sights from the race:
- 2 people ran while pushing strollers. (One guy, one girl). I'm impressed. (The guy totally beat me, too)

- One guy was at the park, probably to work out.. his friends convinced him to run in the race, 2 minutes before it started. Yeah, he came in second.


I'm glad I did it. Just for something a little different.

Have a good long weekend, and keep on rockin'!

Decisions

Well, tonight after work, there's a 5K race. Decisions, decisions.

The pros are:
- A chance to race
- Not a long distance
- Run with people again

The cons are:
- I'm not in race shape
- I haven't trained to run anything like this

I've done some long runs of 5-6 miles over the past couple of months, and most runs are 4 miles a pop, so I can certainly *do* the distance. I think the pros are outweighing the cons right now.. 80/20 split on pro vs con.. We'll see what happens tonight.

The long road back

Hey everyone! Long time no write. Over a year. Wow.

Not saying that I can keep up the pace I used to, but I'm going to give this a go again.

Let's see, where to start? Well, mini-raul is now an exuberant 2 year old. He does not care to sleep through the night, but he has an endless reserve of energy. Truly a perpetual motion machine. I give mad props to all parents out there. I had no idea how difficult parenting would be (nor how rewarding).

As far as training goes, well, after he was born, it was a quick and steady decline into a sedentary lifestyle. At first it was eating the same without running, and then it became eating a bit worse without running, etc etc.

So, a few months ago, I hopped on the scale for the first time in 2 years. I quickly hopped off, and flipped it over to recalibrate it. Stepping back on, it turns out that the scale was accurately representing what I wasn't quite ready to admit, that I reached an all-time high. Not necessarily a good thing, there.

I started then, getting back into running. I was doing twice a week, but I'm now consistently running once on the weekends, and going for 2 or 3 walks a week. It's not what I used to do, but it is certainly better than nothing.

My wife has started Weight Watchers too, so I've started eating better as a result (or perhaps its because there's nothing to eat in the house?).. That's helping too.

So, fast forward to today, I'm down 12 pounds from the all time high, and starting to get back in shape.

Short term, I'd love to do something like P90X or even a 30 day shred sort of thing, but I don't think I can commit to working out every.single.day.

But, that's where I stand. I'll try to post a bit more, and stop around to the blogs a bit more.

Of course, keep on rockin'..

Running.. Finally

I saw a commercial the other day from Dick's, which said that May was "National Runner's Month". I said to myself, well, that's as good of a reason as any to get back into the swing of it.

So, late Saturday morning, I turned to Mrs. Raul and said "I'm going to go for a run.". She gave me a quizzical/surprised/amused look and said "Oh, OK". So, I got all ready, and out I went.

I got on my way and started trying to remember the last time I actually did run. I did pretty good after mini-Raul was born. Of course, I wasn't working at the time, and freeing up 50 hours a week really opens up the schedule. Once I got back to work, things started to go downhill. So, I was able to convincingly say that I haven't run in 6 months, if I was being honest with myself. I thought about adjusting that to say, 7 months, but, I didn't want to be TOO honest.

I guess part of why I didn't run was that I was just scared to. It had been so long. What would my fitness be like? What was going to hurt? Would I tire out after a half a block? Sure, there was the scheduling issue, just trying to get that run in. With the days being longer now, that's not as big of a problem. The weather issue is a lot better now, I can't complain about it being too cold. It got the point that it was just *me* holding myself back.

So, I did a little short of 2 miles. Threw in some walk breaks to go Galloway-style, but I got it done. All in all, I was really frickin' happy. I had a good amount of muscle fatigue, but that was my main problem. I truthfully did far better than I ever imagined I would.

The next goal... doing it again. And not 6 months from now.

Keep on rockin'.