Well, it did take me a little while to really get started but I have been making progress. Since my post in January, I didn’t really get serious until the end of March. But since then I have dutifully tracked every calorie and increased my activity. I am going to the gym about 5 days a week to do free weights and cardio on the elliptical machine. I’m also gearing up my running and have been able to manage long runs over 10 miles for each of the last 3 weekends.
Making Progress
First run of 2010
Today is almost 40 degrees warmer than yesterday. Yes, it’s true. Above zero feels like a heat wave after the last couple weeks. Anyway, I did it. I got my feet into my shoes and got out the door for a very nice 3.4 miles in the sunshine. It’s been more than a month and the body can feel it. The joints are stiff and the muscles are complaining but it feels so good to be back in the saddle.
Time to be accountable
It’s a new year and here I am at a place I never thought I would see myself at again. Even with two marathons and several other half marathons in 2009 I seem to have used every excuse in the book to slack off. And look where it has gotten me! I’ve gained 40 pounds over the last couple of years! That is half the weight I lost in 2002/2003. I have no one to blame but myself. I realize that I gained weight during training for every one of the 5 marathons I have run in the last couple years. Running gave me an excuse to overeat. I stopped tracking my calories and keeping the carbs in check. Well, it’s time to face the mirror. That’s why I have my pictures below. I need to see what everyone else is seeing.
It isn’t pretty and I feel terrible. Time to change things. Even though it is below zero outside I have to get my feet back into my running shoes and my fat ass back out on the streets. I haven’t run in more than a month. Today starts a new day and a new attitude. I started back on fitday to track my calories and I will be out the door first thing tomorrow morning.
Running Helps your joints – even as you age
A new study shows that healthy runners do not harm their joints as they age. One can keep running into their 70’s and 80’s.
Of course, as with anything, moderation is key. You don’t want to run with pain or when injured.
From CNN:
That includes not running through pain, and resting if you have an injury, something Tuttle takes seriously. “I try to rest maybe if I’m having some specific pain that seems to be over a couple of days,” she says.
Spring running update
Hello poor neglected blog. The slacker is back. After a nice 5.4 miles yesterday I was so energized for an 8+ mile run today. It felt great! Of course spring has sprung and that helps. It was the first time I’ve been able to wear shorts as it was a balmy 45 degrees. I ran close to the rising Red River and was amazed at all the dike building going on. We’re just waiting for the flood waters to flow. After my run I had one of my favorite post run smoothies – blueberry, peanut butter, ovaltine and protein.
Where is spring?
It’s been a long cold winter and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. I can say that the cold is not the only thing hampering my running but it certainly is a good excuse. Never the less, I made it out the door this morning for a nice chilly -8 °F run. My first run in a few weeks. I hope spring comes soon.
Year End Run
What better for the end of the year than record snowfall (the most snow in one month ever) along with cold temperatures. This morning it was -20F and the wind was blowing. But it was nice and sunny. I went out for an exhilarating 4.3 mile run today. Last run of the year.
That brings me to my 2008 totals. Not quite as high as I wanted, but not too bad.
1175.8 miles in 183:09:58
After Thanksgiving Run
I didn’t do any Turkey Trots this year. But I did get in a very nice 5.7 mile run on a gorgeous sunny Black Friday. No shopping for me.
Never too Late – My Twin Cities Marathon Report
Such as it is, here is my report from the Oct 5 Twin Cities Marathon.
I was rock steady all the way through with my goal and ended with a 4:31:23. Not bad considering I was under trained, overweight and coming off of a PF injury.
It was very crowded in the beginning and my starting 5K was a little slower than expected.
The weather was cloudy at the start but was pouring buckets by mile 2. This lasted until about mile 10 or so. At some points the water was coming down so fast the streets were filling up like rivers and we had to do some diversions around flooded areas.
The last half it dried up and was perfectly cool and cloud covered.
Much different from the 85+ from last year where I saw tons of people on the sidelines getting IV’s.
I was really happy that I didn’t have to walk the 2 mile hill from mile 21 to 23. I was feeling sore but strong at that point and managed to keep on pace pretty well.
If you’ve never run the TC before, you should. The course is absolutely gorgeous and there were people cheering every inch of the way. Even in the pouring rain. The best part is the finish in St. Paul. You come around a corner by the famous cathedral there and it’s a straight downhill 0.4 miles to the finish at the capitol. That section was my fastest pace of the race.
One cool thing – as I was running along around mile 23 I heard someone call out my name. Turns out someone had seen one of my posts on Runnersworld where he saw a picture of my race shirt and read my blog. Small world.
Statistics:
BIB: 5134
Overall Place: 5217 out of 7979
Division Place: 615 our of 784
Gender Place: 3468 out of 4806
Time: 4:38:48
Chip Time: 4:31:23
5K: 33:11
10K: 1:04:39
half: 2:15:20
30K: 3:12:32
20 mile: 3:26:00
Marathon Time
Hello long forgotten blog. I know I’ve been away for a while but I’m back and the Twin Cities Marathon is tomorrow morning. Looks like rain for the race which is just fine with me. No sun please.
Training update: My PF has been resolved now for a couple of weeks. I did get in a very nice 21 mile run two weeks ago and the taper has been solid. I should have no problems finishing the race tomorrow. I have a very conservative goal of 4:30. I am still more overweight than I would like which will slow me down.
You all can track me live tomorrow at the MTRACK website.
I’ll be back with my race report later.