New Year, new challenges

Happy New Year!  2016 has started, and so has the running. Ran a 5 mile race New Years day. Same race I ran last year, just not as fast. But that's ok. Big plans for this year, but still uncertain about some races. There's ones that I've seen that I'd like to do, but just not sure right now if they're the right ones to sign up for.

But it's a new year, and with the end of the year goal of a full marathon, the focus this year is going to be building distances. Maybe just a couple of 5k races, but I'm going to try and find some challenging 10k, and a couple more half marathons. I have some in mind, but it all comes down to timing and what is all going on for me later in the year.

First half marathon in the books

Oh geez! Where did the time go? It's been nearly two months since I've updated. Guess time just got away from me. But not so far ahead that I have already forgotten about my first half marathon, August 22, 2015. It went really well.

I finished with an official time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 20 seconds. Un-officially, I was 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 22 seconds. There was a bit of a line when I made a "pit-stop" a few miles in. Couldn't have asked for a better day. It was nice and cool, the sun was out, and there was a slight breeze. The first two miles were frustrating as I was lumped in with slower runners and was held to just over 10 minutes per mile. But at the 3 mile mark, I was able to go at my pace, somewhere around 9:45 per mile. And I was able to maintain a steady pace. I was really surprised. When things started getting tough, there always seemed to be a group of people along the route cheering, and that helps so much. They might be there waiting for a friend or family member, but the energy...I just feed off of it.

It was a really positive experience. For not really have been able to train much, for one reason or another, things went really well. The only issues were runners toe on a few of my toes, and some chafed and bleeding nipples. Yup, you read that right. I've heard of it happening, seen it in pictures, but never happened to me. Nice picture, right? Pictures, I don't have many, and have to get them off of my phone. Wish I could get my finisher picture, but I'm not shelling out $25 for only one picture.

For a first half marathon, this was good. I learned a lot, and can't wait for the next one in October. Speaking of October, that's when the Carbone Race for Research is. Don't forget to check out the main page of this blog for information on how you can help fund some great research being done at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.

Still moving forward!

Well, I'm still here. Finally after weeks and weeks, I've been able to run pain free. Still have some tenderness in my leg, if I push on the spot, but as far as running goes, I don't fell a thing. Good thing too, the half marathon is coming up quick and I need to pile on the miles.

In other, and more important news, I have a couple of fundraising runs coming up.I have runs for Make-A-Wish Wisconsin, as well as the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Centers "Race for Research". Last year I had to choose between the two, but this year, the dates are far enough apart I get to do both. It's been two years since I've run for Make-A-Wish, and I can't wait for that one. Carbone is just an annual race for me, the one that started it all. If you'd like to donate to either of the causes please, see the links below, every little bit helps in making a difference in someones life.

UW Carbone Race For Research

Make-A-Wish Wisconsin Walk/Run for Wishes

2015 BolderBoulder

Another year, and another BolderBoulder complete. It didn't all go as planned, but it wasn't bad. The flight out to Colorado was good. The layover in Minneapolis was made better by a nice stay in the Delta Sky Lounge. Nothing like a free breakfast after an early morning flight. Three hours of sitting in a nice, quiet environment, free WiFi, coffee, food, can't beat that. Got into Denver right no time, but arrived to clouds, not the nice sunny day that I had left behind in Madison.

 

No sooner did I arrive in Denver and get my rental car, than the rains let loose. Lightning, thunder, rain, hail. Thanks Colorado, great to see you too. Didn't do too much the first day. Went to the Wings Over The Rockies air and space museum, a must see if you've never been there. They have an actual B-1 bomber in this huge hanger with other amazing aircraft and space memorabilia. There's even a B-52 outside! Of course, no first night in Denver is complete without a stop at one of my all time favourites, Hapa Sushi.

Saturday was supposed to be a nice drive up to Fort Collins to tour the New Belgium brewery. Well, things didn't go quite as expected. When I got to my car, the battery was dead. I can neither confirm or deny that I left the lights on. Needless to say, having to wait an hour for AAA to show up to jump start me killed any chance of making the tour. That's ok. I still made the drive there, while dodging the severe weather to the south. The weather was really crappy this trip, rain, rain and more rain. 

Mid afternoon, I started making the trip back to Boulder. Time to pick up my race packet, get some of the most amazing protein powder (Silver Star Nutrition), and just roam around the Pearl Street Mall. If you've never been to Boulder, Pearl Street is a pedestrian mall with all sorts of shops, restaurants, street entertainers and great people watching. I'm glad I pre-registered last June, the walk up registration line was huge. For a race with 50,000 people, they really have this thing down to a science with the registration, both online and in person. 

After pickup, drove around a bit, then headed to my cousin's apartment. One of the benefits of knowing people is having a place to crash for the night, that is right on the starting line. Really, they are right there! A step out of their patio door and down a step, I'm on the the sidewalk, then just a short walk to the end of the block and I was ready to find my start wave. It was kind of an interesting night sleeping there. None of us knew what to expect, would it be loud, would there be a lot of distractions overnight? Nothing like that. Every once in a while, if you were up, you could hear the quiet clanging of the fencing going up, but other wise it was really quiet. I got up around 3:30, and took a look out the window. Sitting in the middle of the street was the start line banner. How cool is that!

Ok, so on to the real reason you're here, the race details. This year is was a 7:07:30am start time. Nice and early. The morning was beautiful. Some high clouds, sun, cool, and a very light breeze. Exactly how I like to run. Staying so close to the starting line afforded me a few extra minutes to get myself ready. I got to my wave group, and about 5 minutes after that, the first groups started. It's amazing how well they have this race timed out, but I suppose after 30-some years, they know what they're doing. Shortly after that first wave set out, we slowly made our way to the start. 

After not having run much for the last few months, I wasn't sure how things would feel. I've been dealing with shin splints, but today things felt good. Soon it was time to run. The gun fired, and we were off. Right away, I found a pace that felt good to me. A pace that I thought I would be able to hold for most of the race. Things were good for the first couple of miles, but then I started to feel the fatigue set in. Running at an altitude like this isn't ease, especially when you haven't had a lot of time to train, even for the distance. No matter how hard it got, I just kept pushing along. Wearing my regular shirt and hat for the run, I got a few "Go Packers" and "Go Team Munky"s along the way. That was really uplifting. There were kids along the route with their hand outstreatched to give runners high-fives, and I took full advantage of that. There was a firehouse along the route, and the firefighters were at the end of their drive drinking their coffee, so I decided to run by and thank them. It's funny how just the words or high-fives of strangers can really make a difference. It just gives you an extra push when you need it. You don't know them, they don't know you, but they're out there to watch and support the runners. That's the one thing I love about this race. The whole city of Boulder just embraces it. So what if the city closes down for half the day so that 50,000 people can run in their streets, they really seem to love it. Boulderites and the people of Colorado are some of the warmest, most welcoming and relaxed people I have ever met. I guess that's what keeps me coming back.

Ok, back to the run. Things were tough at parts, but I kept on pushing on. Soon, the turn on to Folsom came. This is the final stretch before entering the stadium, and a good part of it is up hill. After 5.5 miles, going up hill isn't easy, but I did my best not to slow. I was able to save just enough so that when we entered the stadium I could give it all I had left. I made the final sprint around the stadium to the finish. It felt great. I knew I had not done as well as I had expected, but I did it. As it turned out I was 4 seconds slower than last year, but that's ok. For what I've had to deal with in the past few months, finishing in under an hour was an accomplishment. Finished with an official time of 57:39.20. In my division, men age 36, I placed 192 out of 432. And out of 20,931 men, I finished 6578. And, if we really want to get into it, I finished 9,731 of....well, close to 50,000. I'm still very excited to have placed so well in all of the groups. 

So that's about it. As I sit here in the airport having a wonderful New Belgium beer, waiting for my flight to head home, cheers BolderBoulder! Thank you again for a wonderful race!

Mid-week blahs

Well, here I am, just a few days before heading out to Colorado. Just the other day I was super excited to get back out there. Now, I'm kind of blah. Not sure why. Perhaps because it's such a short trip. Maybe because I feel that I haven't trained enough for this race. I'm sure I'll do fine once I'm out there. I'm just trying to remember the last time that I ran 10k. November? Plus, I've got the extra weight that I magically gained over the winter (thanks stress).

Anyway, just a couple more days of work. A relaxing Friday to get packed. Then an early flight out.

2 weeks

Wow. Didn't realize it's been about 2 months since I've posted anything. Oops. Things have been busy. Things have also been sneaking up on me. Here we are 15 days from the 2015 BolderBoulder. The last month or so, while time has been flying by, I've been moving very slowly. I've been dealing with shin splints in my right leg. If I was smart, I would have stopped when the symptoms showed up, but I didn't. I finally went to the doctor this past week, and he confirmed it. It could be worse. I'm lucky it's not a stress fracture, which is what I had feared had happened. The pain is manageable, but the down side to that is I've really had to lay low with the running. With laying low, I've put on some extra weight, which I'm sure doesn't help.

I've been struggling, both with not being able to run enough, but with my weight. I had done so good, but once Thanksgiving hit, things just slid. I know I can bounce back, the problem is just getting myself to do it right now. I know what I need to do. I've been finding bits of motivation here and there, and it's helping. Like today, I didn't want to run, but I did. 3.12 miles in just over 26 minutes. If I can maintain the pace I ran today, but over 6 miles, I be sitting really good to reach my goal of 50 to 52 minutes in Boulder.

One of those bits of inspiration came today while running. Somewhere around the start of my second mile, a song came on. I haven't run with music in a while, but I really wanted to keep my head clear of distractions, and I figured it was time to start doing this again. It seemed to work, I only looked at my watch a couple of times, and it was mostly just checking distance, not time. But anyway, a song came on around mile 2 and it really brought a strong drive to finish hard. It's called "Rise" by Justin Roth. It was on the mix that the wonderful people at BolderBoulder and KBCO put out every year.


Just something about this song really made things click. It made any doubt that I would finish today's run go away. My struggle though pain or weakness is nothing compared to the struggle other's have to go through. Just as the people of Colorado have risen back from fire and flood, I too will rise and come back from what's going on with me. They've come back strong and resilient, I'm going to bounce back and run my best on May 25th. I can't wait.

Off to a slow start

Finally, the weather has started to change. I've finally been able to get outside for a couple of runs now. Problem is, the winter was not kind to me. Since the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I've managed to gain between 10 and 15 pounds. Yikes. I can tell it is beginning to affect my running. Even with trying to stay active all winter, my times are not great, and I don't have the endurance that I had last year. Not sure what happened this winter, as that did not happen the previous.

So I'm off to a slow start. I've really got to do my best to get my daily workouts back in. I've got about a month until my next race, an 8k, and just over two months until Boulder. If I really start hard now, I know I can do good next month, and really excel in May. But I have to start NOW. I have to make the time and get things done. Even on those days where I don't want to (like today), I've got to do it.

I put on a pair of pants I got last year. I haven't even had a chance to wear them yet. They don't fit. They're too small now. I promised myself I wouldn't go back that way again, but slowly I am. While things have been stable for a few months, what I decide to start now will determine which way they go. For me, knowing how I felt last fall, being above 200 pounds is not an option. It's beginning to affect things, and I have to change it. I will change it.