Chapter 1: July 2023
Sunday: 7.23.2023 (Day 1 of 112): Easy Run (Long Run)
My marathon training kicked off today with a 7.0 mile easy run. Coach Brown programmed this for an easy pace of 10’33”-11’34”. I remember reading this expectation a few weeks back and getting mentally frustrated since I want to get out there and naturally run at a 9’30”-10’00” pace. Once on the trail in July, I was thankful for the slower pace.
It was a great surprise to show up to the trail head and see my friend Amir from the the club waiting to join me. Most of our runners get their long runs on Saturday morning so I wasn’t expecting any response to my open invite for an early Sunday morning run. Unquestionably Amir is a better runner than I, so I explained that if he felt like dropping me and moving on I wouldn’t take any offense. I was thankful he stuck with me for the entire run and kept an eye on our pace, encouraging me to keep to the plan. Running with friends is better!
7.0 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’45” | Avg HR: 142 | Best Mile: 10’26” | Feeling: Heavy & Excited
A future candidate for “My 600lb Life”
I found myself on the couch wasting my life away watching “My 600lb Life”. This isn’t the first time I’ve watched this show, nor will it be the last. After watching a few episodes, I get it. I know why people eat and don’t stop eating until they are well beyond the 600lb mark. If I didn’t enjoy running and lifting as much as I do, I’d be well on my way to 600lbs.
I get it. I love to eat. Sometimes I think I’m addicted to food. While I don’t feel like I have any other addictions in life, this must be it. I’ve never smoked, never done drugs and rarely drink. I enjoy coffee and a good cappuccino but can easily stop drinking coffee tomorrow morning and not have another drop. However with food, there is a level of comfort and control that is appealing.
My relationship with food is destructive. In my youth I remember being hungry often, getting Government subsidies (white label with black lettering) along with weekly trips to the food bank. It was embarrassing that my mother had to use Food Stamps to purchase food. The closest fast food place was 30 minutes away and we only got that 2 or 3 times per year.
The military was great! They fed me 3x a day and on deployments we had “midnight chow” which meant there were 4 meals per day. The issue here turned into “Eat now, we don’t know when the next meal will be.”
Now as an adult with the means to purchase whatever food I want, I find myself in an eternal struggle of never wanting to be hungry. Eating also provides a feeling of control in an otherwise chaotic and unpredictable life. When life gets tough and feels like things are out of your control, eating becomes a factor that you can control and that offsets the anxiety created by the chaos.
Control. That’s the key element here. We each have control over our actions, specifically what we put into our bodies. Nutrition is the cornerstone of fitness and achieving wellness. It’s possible to use this control to facilitate a metabolic response that results in lower body fat and increased muscle mass.
Running is easy for me. I enjoy running with my friends and I enjoy the physiological and emotional results from running. It’s easy! Most runs are 2 hours or less in duration, it’s the other 22hrs in the day that prove difficult. It’s 22 hours of coordinating work, eating, sleep and hydration.
Yet, it’s precisely those hard, difficult, taxing things in life that provide the most growth. Is the Marathon tough? Yes, it sure is, but the race itself is only the last 4 hours after the 2,688 hours leading up to it. It’s the last day of 112 days of preparation. The race itself is easy, running is easy. It’s the 340+ meals between now and then that is difficult.
Monday: 7.23.2023 (Day 2 of 112): Cross Training
Today was a win! Not total victory because that won’t be actualized until November 11th, but today was a win. I successfully turned down Bojangles and Firehouse Subs today. Hell yeah I wanted it to be BO TIME, maybe sometime after the Marathon.
This is Day 2 of using the LoseIt app on my phone and I logged every single bite I took today. Running is easy. Lifting is easy. It’s everything else that proves so difficult for me, but alas, today was a win. My lifting session was all upper body with chest, arms, shoulders followed up with abs. To be a strong runner, you need a strong core and back. It’s that simple.
Tuesday: 7.25.2023 (Day 3 of 112): Quality Run on the Track (0500-UTC)
If I say I’m going to do something, I’ve got to do it. My friend Becca has been leading the summer track training and doing a great job. This morning she had to duck out early for work, so I told her I’d tag-team in at the end to finish up the strength work with the rest of the runners. The issue at hand is I had 4 miles on my plate instead of the usual 3 miles that track training normally encompasses. With that, I’d be there at 5am to get started, so that I could finish with everyone else.
Arriving at the track at 4:50am is a surreal feeling as I’m up before the birds and before the local highway gets busy with commuters. It was still, slightly humid with a clear sky speckled with a thousand stars. It’s times like these, putting in the work by yourself, that really help propel you to better performance.
Coach Brown programed a “Quality Run”. (I’m still getting used to the new nomenclature) This program seems easy on paper:
1.5 mile Warmup Run.
4x 400m at 7’45” + 2min recover jog.
1.5mile Cooldown Run.
My warmup run was slow but felt good in the heat. I knocked out the warmup in 15’12” (10’08” avg).
Next up was the 400m efforts which I completed in: 7’11”, 7’24”, 7’32” and 7’35”. The efforts were difficult but not impossible and I felt I could have gone faster. The first effort I found myself running a 6’35” after 200m and physically slowed down to try to get as close as possible to the 7’45” expectation. None of the efforts were a sprint, just a fast run followed by a roughly 50m of walking before I picked up the jog.
After completing my programmed workout I decided to log another lap with Robert who was lapping around the track like a natural. I got that 0.25mi in at 9’07” which felt harder than normal with my tired legs. I then got in another 0.25mi with my friend Carla at 11’27”. She’s been improving on her fitness and running and it’s incredible to witness. Jan was simply lapping me around the track as I was finishing up my cool down laps. It was good to see her out, we hear the snooze button sometimes gets the best of her.
5.07 Miles | Effort Pace: 7’25” | Avg HR: 140 | Best 1/4mi: 7’11” | Feeling: Tired but strong.
Wednesday: 7.26.2023 (Day 4 of 112): 5K Easy Run
July 15th to August 15th are the hottest 30 days in North Carolina. Having lived here for over 20 years, this is just the reality of living in the south. During these next 30-45 days I do my best not to beat myself up about my pace. These are the hot, humid sticky miles of summer that build strength for the fast fall miles to come.
For the past 4+ years, I’ve been running on Wednesday evenings with my local run club, Clayton Area Runners. We have 5+ runs a week, but Wednesday’s are my day and I look forward to it every week. Today was no exception, even with the heat.
During the day I was texting with a friend who is new to running but hasn’t ventured off the treadmill yet. I invited him to run outdoors tonight and without even a thought, the invite was declined! At 94F with a real feel of 98F, it’s simply too hot and humid to be outside was his calculations. He asked if we ever cancel a club run, of course the answer was a resounding “hell no”. Unless of course there is active lightning or a hurricane, but then again a hurricane hasn’t stopped us in the past.
Today the run was a “go” and I was going to be there. No doubt it was hot, but the level of “fuck this sucks” was brought down to a manageable altitude with the presence of so many great people. Running with friends truly is better and again I got in my first 1.5 miles with Dave who was going to continue on for a full 4 miles whereas I was turning for the the 5K.
The run itself was hot but I was happy to be there. My legs were tired and felt heavy but I was grateful to have a life where I’m able to meetup with friends weekly. There is a 0.25mi stretch of trail on the way out with no shade and the sun heats up your back, then after the turn around that same 0.25mi stretch positions the high summer sun to blast you straight into the face. Sunglasses and a hat are essential, otherwise it appears that you looked directly into the reactor. (Chernobyl). I’d take days like this over many others. Life is full of ups and downs, and a rough day running with friends is always better than a good day at work.
Our host location at First Street Tavern has some great outdoor seating with picnic tables that sit in the shade following a run. It’s a great place to drink a cold one and catch up with friends. This evening I had a good conversation with a new runner to the group, Carrie. We ended up having a low-level nerd-out conversation about the new film Oppenheimer. It was also great to see so many other runners sticking around for the post-run social. Life gets busy for all of us, it’s good when people can chill out and relax. Wednesday runs get me through the week.
3.11 Miles | Avg Pace: 11’09” | Avg HR: 149 | Best Mile: 10’08” | Feeling: Slow & Hot
Thursday: 7.27.2023 (Day 5 of 112): Rest Day. Just ran out of time to lift.
I wanted to lift but simply ran out of time with work and life requirements. It’s cool, I’ll tackle tomorrow morning with aggression.
Friday: 7.28.2023 (Day 6 of 112): Quality Run on the track.
I’ve been tracking all of my nutrition through the LoseIt app and have decided to conduct my weekly weigh-ins on Friday mornings. Stepping on the scale has become something that I despise. For all of 2023, my weight has been hovering around 230 (+/- 3lbs). I love to eat, but I despise being this heavy and this large.
After stepping on the scale and reviewing those numbers aligned between my big toes, I picked it up to see if it was broken. A visual inspection of this mass measuring device presented no cracks, breaks or defects. It appeared to be in good working order.
I placed it back down on the tile, took my requisite position and once again, I think something must not be correct. Low battery probably, even though it’s not indicating a “LOW_BATT” signal on the display screen. It must be working properly.
Yesterday I drank 3/4 gallon of water, so I can’t be dehydrated. My body functions appear to be in the normal range.
My weight: 225.6 lbs. Rather remarkable since I started at 232.0 lbs. Down 6.4 lbs since last Sunday morning. Undoubtedly it’s a combination of eating a bunch of pizza the night before my initial weight in, running in the heat and eating clean. Whatever the miraculous combination of events that led to this loss, I feel decent about it.
This is the lightest I’ve been in 2023. Maybe stepping on the scale this time wasn’t so bad.
I felt good as I opened the front door at 4:50am enroute to the track for a good Quality Run. Approximately five steps out of my house, a bead of sweat was already present on my forehead. The physical effects of 97% humidity in The South. Yeah, it kind of sucks, but this is the type of shit that makes life a little sweeter. Doing the hard things.
Here’s what Coach programmed for the day: A track workout or “Quality Run”
1-mile Warmup + 2-miles at 8’50” + 1-mile Cool Down .
After my warmup run I had already worked up a good sweat, hell that happened simply walking from the car to the track. I did the workout precisely as Coach Brown programed and only missed the mark by a few seconds.
What really happened:
1-mile at 10’13” + 2-miles at 8’58” + 1-mile at 11’55”
During the 2-mile run, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that my Marathon Pace Goal is 8’30”. How can I run 30s faster for 24 more miles, when this is so difficult now? HARD FUCKING WORK, that’s how.
4.0 Miles | Effort Pace: 8’58” | Avg HR: 142 | Best Mile: 8’56” | Feeling: Salty
Saturday: 7.29.2023 (Day 7 of 112): Easy Run ~ Just 3 miles.
“Free Association Running”, that’s what we call it in the club when a group of runners get together on their own volition for a group run. These event are not organized by, facilitated or conducted by the club as an official event. This particular run was started by just one runner in the group making a post indicating she needed to get in a “long run” on Saturday and if anyone was interested in joining in.
When I pulled into the parking lot at 6:45am, the lot was almost full. A surprising sight given the heat and humidity. The parking lot was bustling with runners stretching, talking, warming up and tying their shoes. It was nearly 80F with 90% humidity and it wasn’t even 7:00am. It was great to be around so many people with the same proclivities as myself.
After meeting and greeting a few new runners to the club, it was time to find out how far and fast everyone was going. Most everyone was going for 5 miles or beyond and it was just DJ and myself logging 3-miles. I had a shorter, easy run because my long run is on Sunday morning, which officially kicks off Week 2.
After identifying different pace groups and distances along with the route, we stepped off as a group. 30+ Runners stepping off for their “long run” is a fun thing to be a part of. Not just because of the size of the group, but because it’s a group of people who are choosing to make fitness, running and community something important enough in their life to allocate precious time to be there. Runners share a lot in common, more than just the miles. It’s a mindset and a decision to seek self improvement.
We started with the group of people below, but that wasn’t all of the Clayton Area Runners on the trail that morning. During the run we crossed paths with another 7-10 CAR runners out getting in their miles who started before, after us or at another location. It was clear that the trail was mostly populated by CAR members. It was great to see so many people and so many friends out there.
3.0 Miles | Avg Pace: 11’42” | Avg HR: 124 | Best Mile: 11’06” | Feeling: Happy