Amazing Run

I haven't had much to blog about this year seeing as I don't have any races on the schedule and life has been crazy hectic. I have been pretty good about keeping up with my running. More about that in another post.
So today when I was getting ready for my run, it was 50 degrees with a light rain. I wasn't sure exactly how to dress, so I walked outside to get a feel for the temp. 50 degrees in the spring feels a lot warmer than 50 in the fall. I decided on shorts, a light long sleeve compression top and a running t-shirt plus some light gloves.
I arrived at the trail head to find I was the only one there. Perfect. It wasn't long before I noticed how peaceful it was out in the woods. The trees were green with newly budding leaves, birds were singing and the light rain made that nice soft sound. It was like I was running with one of those soothing sound clocks playing.

Things are getting green

Decided to wash my hat by wearing it in the rain :-)

Not many flowers out in the woods

Fun getting muddy :-)

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Breckenridge 2013

Last week my son and I flew to Denver to meet up with my mom and head to Breckenridge for some skiing, running, rest and relaxation. Denver was in the middle of a blizzard when we arrived. You know it's not good when the pilot says we are at the limits of our visibility for landing so don't be surprised if we have to go around a couple times or maybe even divert. It was a bit rough coming in but we landed on time with no issues. My mom was delayed by 10 hours so we ended up staying the night in Denver. My son and I went to visit my cousin then out to dinner. My cousin has done a few 140.6's slits always fun talking training with him. The roads were a mess and we saw over twenty wrecks.

Not fun driving

We made it up to Breckenridge Sunday, got supplies then settled in. We stay with my Mom's friend from college and they have an awesome setup for guests. With all the snow, skiing was great Monday and Tuesday though it was a tad cold Monday morning. -5F when we woke up made me wonder why we don't go to Mexico for spring break, but it warmed up to +10 and with all the right gear, we were comfortable.
Just like last year, I was the only one to crash. In my defense, two of the crashes were on a black run with moguls which is clearly outside my ability. It was kind of funny. We ended up at the top of peak ten and saw all black runs. Oh well, I decided to head down first so I could take pictures of my son and mom braving the moguls. I crashed hard and was glad I was wearing a helmet. My day probably would have been done without it. Anyway, my son skied down the run with no problems and my wise mother asked ski patrol which run to take and they pointed her to a black run with no moguls which is well within our abilities. Live and learn :-).

We chose Spitfire

The steam coming off my head looks like a cloud :-)

We skied Monday and Tuesday then I had a couple blogger meet ups Wednesday. Wednesday morning. I met Kovas, Laima and their youngest boy for coffee after they dropped their other kids of at ski school. It's funny I met them in Colorado seeing as we all live in Illinois. It was really nice chatting with them. They are a super nice family.

Blogger meet up number one!

After meeting with Kovas and Laima, I headed to Idaho Springs to meet up with Jill. Idaho Springs is a neat little old town and we met at a great pizza joint. It was nice getting to know her better after following her blog for a couple of years. Her athletic accomplishments are impressive and she has some big races coming up. I think I'll just live vicariously through her while I sit out for a while :-).

Blogger meet up number two!

Funny story about the blogger meet up with Jill. I was wondering how to ask my wife if it was ok to meet up with a woman I met on the Internet while I'm on vacation and she's not with me. Awkward! It was an interesting conversation for sure :-). I guess after 25 years she trusts me.

Main drag in Idaho Springs

Besides skiing and running at 9000+ feet, my son and I watched seasons one and two of the walking dead. I was also in bed by 10:30 every night catching up on sleep. Oh, and I cooked to earn my keep. Our hosts seemed to appreciate it and I love to cook, so it was a win-win for everyone.

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Call Me Crazy

I'm still cracking up about the nurse that I saw before the nurse practitioner saw me yesterday. I go to a small doctors office in a rural town in the middle of cornfields, so I doubt they see many middle aged men since farmers are way tougher than me. Even more unlikely is middle aged triathletes. Anyway, the conversation went something like this.

Nurse: What brings you in today?

Me: Lower back and hip pain.

Nurse: What happened?

Me: Well, I've had lower back pain off and on over the years since I hurt it diving for a frisbee in college. It flares up if I carry something heavy the wrong way or if I'm under a lot of stress. Work is stressful right now and my back was bothering for a couple weeks keeping me from running much, but it felt better Saturday, so I ran six miles in the woods in 6 inches of snow.

Nurse: You did what ?!?!!!! Your crazy!!!!

Me: i got into endurance sports a few years ago and I run that far all the time, just not in six inches of snow. Probably over did it.

Nurse: What else do you do besides run?

Me: Swim, bike, triathlons, half marathons, half Ironmans, that type of stuff.

Nurse: You are crazy!!!! How does your wife keep up with you?

Me: She doesn't. She just puts up with me :-).

Then the nurse practitioner came in and we went over everything again, how I could barely walk Monday and Tuesday after running, how my right hip felt like bone on bone if i moved it a certain way. How it was actually feeling better, just a little tightness in the lower back. He didn't call me crazy like the nurse, but I could tell he was thinking it. I think he wanted to say "Are you surprised you hurt yourself running that far in deep snow at your age? I'm not."

Anyway, after he did some tests, he ordered an X-ray just to be safe, but said he didn't see any reason I couldn't run. Woohoo! On the way out of the office the nurse said "you're crazy, I'll pray for you" :-). Cracks me up!

So today I ran six miles in the woods :-). The snow was no deeper than an inch or two and had melted on about half of my route. Here are a couple pics.

 

Saw a beautiful wood pecker out there, but he didn't want his picture taken.

Oh, I almost forgot. After running last weekend, I used my foam roller for the first time and may have overdone it. I rolled both hips, outer thighs, glutes and calves for about a half hour. Could I have loosed my IT bands up enough to hurt my hip and lower back? Anyone ever injure yourself with a foam roller? My hips and outer thighs were sore to the touch for a couple days.

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T.H.I.N.K

I've used this poster a few times this week to keep from saying things I would regret.

 

It worked and I'm glad because what's said is said and can't be taken back.

 

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2013 Goals

I had some one big race goal in mind for this year until I was thrown a curve ball. Life changes have occurred that have significantly reduced my free time and demanded I focus on them vs. my race goals. I'm surprisingly at peace with this as in my mind, I've just changed one challenge for another and I happen to like both challenges. I'm still considering doing both challenges in parallel, but I need to get a couple things in place before I attempt that.

I'm a planner and while I have my three vacations scheduled for the year (and have for over a month), I have no racecations or even races scheduled yet. I'm actually contemplating only running this year. Running is so simple regarding planning and gear. Well, running outside in the winter takes some layering, and extra clothing accessories, but it is still the simplest of all three disciplines.

Anyway, on to the goals. I like to keep the number down as I'm a big fan of keeping things simple. Life is complicated enough.

Goal #1 - Run 1000 miles

Goal #2 - Do at least one plank a day, every day

Goal #3 - Stay under 160 pounds

Races - ???

Triathlons - ???



I may throw a few running races in on a whim and may even do a long weekend here or there and fly somewhere to race. Nothing definite. As a planner, it's amazing I'm good with this approach. I've been doing a decent amount of running (for me) and as a result, I've been running in mental zone 4 and 5 just about every weekend with a couple supporting runs during the week. I haven't been running with music either, no need for it in mental zone 5.

Any running races you consider must do? Any destination half or full marathons I should consider? Did I just say marathon? Yes, the thought keeps cropping back in my head and once that happens, becoming an MM or doing an ultra does too.

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Product Review - Under Armour Spine Shoes

I received a pair of Under Armour Spine Shoes from Kovas as a result of a product give away on his blog. I didn't win, outright but when the winner didn't claim the prize, I was the beneficiary of the roll down. I was pretty excited since I love trying new gear and writing about it, specially gear I probably wouldn't buy on my own.

I've been doing a lot of trail running the last few months and have been using my trusty New Balance 1080 road shoes. I always wondered if a trail shoe would be better but never got around to really looking into it, until now.

I received the shoes a few days ago and at first glance they look like a normal shoe. Flip them over and they don't look so normal. The tread pattern is very aggressive with deep grooves for traction. The other major difference between these shoes and typical road shoes is the tread material. The tread has a relatively hard plastic feel vs. the rubbery feel of traditional shoes even though the Under Armour website says they are made of rubber.

Yes, I was too lazy to crop out the trash can in the background :-)

Nice deep treads

Last time these will be clean :-)

Once I put the shoes on I noticed a nice fit up top with a nice roomy toe box. The soles felt a little stiff walking around but not too bad. The shoes squeaked like basketball shoes when walking across the tile floor in my kitchen, nothing a little dirt won't fix :-).

I headed out to some of my favorite single track at the university and gave them a try on a nice, warm 60 degree day in January. With some heavy rain just a couple days earlier, I knew I would get in a good test on some slippery spots. I wasn't more than 10 or 15 steps into the woods when I immediately noticed the fantastic traction these shoes offer. I've honestly never experienced the sure footed feeling I had and was excited to put these shoes through their paces. When I reached the first slick spot, I didn't even have to change my gait where with regular running shoes, I would shorten my stride significantly to make sure I did t slip and fall. What a great feeling! Slick hill? No problem. Muddy stretch at a slant? Not an issue. Now I realize what I was missing trail running in a road shoe.

About 40 minutes into my run, I ran on a paved multi-use path to get to the next set of single track. The shoe felt stiff and made a clomping sound. Kind of like running with wood soles. I definitely won't be retiring my road shoes any time soon. After a brief stint on the paved path, I was back on the single track and enjoying the superior traction of these shoes. I'm not sure if its the shoes or the fact that I was running late for an appointment, but I PR'd my 6 mile loop by over three minutes without trying too hard. Being able to take full strides through tricky spots had to be a big chunk of that 3 minutes.

Overall I'm impressed with these shoes and would recommend giving them a try if you are in the market for a trail shoe. For running on pavement, I would stick with what is already working for you.

(Disclaimer: I was given these shoes for free from Under Armour. I did not pay for the shoes, receive payment for this review, agree to give a positive review, or agree to review them at all. Aside from information gleaned from the company website, the opinions are my own.)

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2012 Report Card

I had three goals for 2012 which were revised after injuring my knees.

 

Goal #1 - Go sub-6 at Door County Half Iron July 22nd.

Changed to take in enough nutrition to not visit the med tent. Success though I did throw up afterward. Grade = A.

 

Goal #2 - Go sub 1:45 at the RnR half marathon St. Louis October 21st.

- This one is a real stretch considering my PR is 1:55 and some change.

Changed to "don't get injured trying to be faster. Success, set a 5 minute PR without injury! Grade = A.

 

Goal #3 - Lose 10 pounds by May 20th (Carlyle Oly)

Total failure! I weighed the same on race day as I did January 1st. Grade = F.

 

That puts me at a D for the year (if I did my math right it's 67%) though I'm tempted to bump that to a C since I've traveled 10 weeks in a row and made it through Christmas and Thanksgiving only gaining two pounds and I weigh a couple pounds less than last year at this time.

 

I also managed a 5 minute PR at a Sprint tri, did an Olympic tri a week later and did a Sprint tri in Boston. I also set a distance PR by three miles at Patrick's 12 hour run.

Volume wise I was down from 2011 for swimming and biking and slightly up for running.

2011

Swim = 77,000 yards in 35 hours and 16 minutes

Bike = 2,500 miles in 167 hours

Run = 707 miles in 121 hours and 40 minutes

 

2012

Swim = 52,000 yards in 18 hours and 6 minutes (not as much volume, but way faster)

Bike = 1943 miles in 118 hours and 24 minutes

Run = 832 miles in 140 hours and 43 minutes

All in all it was another good year in the exercise and racing area. I'm not sure what 2013 is going to bring. I'm a planner and usually have most if not all of my races picked out. Things are busy at work and I expect heavy travel and lots of overtime, at least for the next couple of months. We'll see what happens after that.

Happy New Year!

 

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