Week 7: Halfway Point
Overweight, Under Mileage and Injury
I’d like to start with a thank you to my friend Lindsay for asking me where my Sunday Blog post was! My week has been extra busy and my Sunday was packed but she reminded me that there are some followers out there who look forward to my Sunday posts. Thanks for that little push of motivation to get this published tonight!
This week started with stepping on the scale and being unsatisfied with my weight loss. What a crazy turn of events as I complain about my weight and then finish the week with an incredible feast with my friends. We had more food than we could eat!
I also sustained an injury on my left ankle that reduced my mileage this week. I still logged 24 miles on the week and look forward to even more miles next week.
Monday: Treadmill 2-miler
Looking at the 10 day forecast gave me some hope that the heat and humidity would be departing, but not today. Today was going to be at 100% humidity and temps still high. I had enough, I wasn’t going to be running in the heat and humidity again. I drew the line with Mother Nature, today was not going to be another day of running through southern soup.
Despite my personal stance against the weather, I still needed to log a few miles. I went to my gym and decided the treadmill would have to suffice. At least it was inside a building with air conditioning and the humidity was nowhere near what it was outside.
I read an article many years about training for a marathon on a treadmill and the article went into the mechanics of the human body and suggested all normal running on a treadmill be done at a 1% incline. Supposedly that is as close to road-running as you can get on an electric treadmill. So I set the incline to 1% as I’ve been doing for the last 15 years and started my run. I was aiming for negative splits.
The plan in my head called for increasing the pace every 0.5 miles, which I did. I started at a 9’58” mile and increased by almost 30 seconds every 0.5miles until I hit 2 miles. My body felt good and my lungs were nowhere near max capacity.
After the run I felt horrible. I should have just sucked it up and gone outside for the run. I instead wanted comfort and after only 2 miles on the treadmill I know I should have chosen an outdoor run. It was almost a waste of time. I could have done more.
On another note I stepped on the scale. Pretty amazing what I’ve done. I’ve ran over 150 miles in 41 days and somehow managed to lose no weight. The reality is. You can’t out-run a bad diet. It’s a fact. With that complete failure in my life I am now going to start using “Lose It” to track my nutrition / calories and keep me accountable on what I’m eating. I haven’t been eating like a complete asshole, or at least I thought. But here I am 7 weeks in and +150 miles later and I’m still well over race weight.
My running and miles are on point. What I need to dial in now is nutrition.
Results: 2.02 | Pace: 8’48” | Avg HR: 129 | Best Mile: 8’22” | Feeling Ashamed
Tuesday: Track Time and a Twisted Ankle
About 20 years ago my mother was visiting me on Fort Bragg, NC and was staying over the weekend. It was a Saturday morning and I explained that I had to drive on post and conduct some Physical Training (PT) in the early morning. My mother asked “What kind of asshole plans a 5 mile run on an early Saturday morning?”
Great question. There was only 1-answer. It was me. I was that asshole. The kind that wants to help people be better.
Fast forward to today and here I am waking up at 4:30am on a Tuesday to get to the track by 5:10am to put in some work. I’m waking up early to make myself better and to help other’s become better runners and reach wellness.
Today was tough! This was a common workout I would do in the military and it worked then and I think it will work now. Only difference is our 400m efforts were to be completed in 90 seconds or less. My times nowadays are a little bit slower and suppressed.
Run Before the Sun Track Training: 5K Focus
800m Warmup at PRE 5 + 90s Rest
600m at PRE 6 + 200m walk + 600m at PRE 6 + 200m walk + 60s Rest
400m at PRE 7 + 100m walk
400m at PRE 7 + 100m walk
400m at PRE 7 + 100m walk
400m at PRE 7 + 100m walk
120s Rest
200m at PRE 6 + 200m at PRE 7
Results: 3.37mi | Pace: N/A | Avg HR: 130 | Best Pace: 6’05” (0.25mi) | Feeling Proud
The forecast for the foreseeable future is pretty amazing with high’s in the 80’s and lows in the 60’s. I had no choice but to strip down the Jeep and enjoy the last vestiges of summer before my fall / winter schedule gets too busy.
I made a rookie mistake. I fucking knew better. I stepped off the edge of my driveway while stepping down off the Jeep and put all 220 massive pounds on my left ankle. It rolled and I felt instant pain. After walking around for about 10 minutes, I was still in pain. I was so pissed at myself. I’m on week 7 of Marathon training and here I am hobbling around like a lame fucking horse.
A quick assessment of the injury later indicated I would probably be o, no bruising and only mild swelling. I immediately took some ibuprofen to help with the swelling and later iced and elevated my ankle. Later that evening I didn’t have any pain in the ankle, only soreness. I’m certain this injury would have been much worse had I not be running so much over the last 7 weeks.
Tuesday’s have turned into a Two-a-day with track training in the early AM and a club run in the evening. The decision was made to not attend the evening run and just elevate and ice my ankle.
Wednesday 5K: Run with the club!
Waking up I was hesitant to put my feet down on the floor. I didn’t want to face the reality that my ankle would be in pain and running was off the table. This wasn’t something I wanted to face at 5:00am on Wednesday. The one day of the week that I really look forward to. It’s a mid-week break away from the stresses of life and work.
It was a good run with Robert and Jon and we kept a good pace throughout. They both finished slightly ahead of me as the last uphill push dragged me down. Overall I felt good despite the ankle injury on Tuesday. I really think if I haven’t been running this much, the injury would have been much, much worse.
Results: 3.11mi | Pace: 8’37” | Avg HR: 148 | Best Mile: 8’33” | Feeling Tough
Thursday: 5-miler
With the lingering ankle injury I decided to cut this Thursday run down from 6 miles to 5 and it was a good choice. I believe this was the first time I started a run without Dave as he’s dealing with a knee impediment. I made the stupid remark to Dave that at this moment, me out running him is really boosting my ego. I’m used to him being a far superior runner to me. The reality is, this situation is only a reality because he is dealing with an injury.
My friend Robert made a mistake by showing up today! I think his plan was to show up and run three miles followed by some beers, but once we got talking he simply decided to knock out 5 with me. I didn’t even have to put any peer pressure on him or anything! That’s when you know you’ve got a good running partner. Like Axel the week before, Robert simply shrugged and said “Sure, I’ll go 5”. This Marathon training is much, much better because of people like Robert.
As we were finishing up our last mile Jon came running up behind us. I was blown away! I didn’t even see him when we started, which means he showed up late, ran the course and still caught up to us! After further interrogation he admitted he only went for 3 miles and then it all made sense. The last bit was finished up with Jon and Robert and it was a great, cool evening of running.
Results: 5.07mi | Pace: 9’23”| Avg HR: 53 | Best Mile: 8’58” | Feeling Better
Friday: Run Before the Sun: 5K Track Training
Seriously, what am I doing waking up at 4:30am on a Friday morning. I’m not in the military any more! My Soldiers and their families aren’t relying on me to ensure they are trained, ready and will make it home alive.
The reality is I’m a giver by nature and I like helping people. Every single person in the picture below volunteers to be at the track. Some of them are driving 30 minutes or more to be there. It’s a positive atmosphere with friendly competition and we all want to improve and help improve each other. This is the same camaraderie that I experienced in small teams in the Military. This type of cohesion and teamwork is not secluded to the military lifestyle. My friends in CAR show me this on a weekly basis.
There is something that is binding, connecting and unifying about volunteering to put in hard work with other people. We are all sweating and putting in the work, not because we are forced to but because we choose to. Through the hard workouts and suffering of early mornings and lack of oxygen, a common sense of team is formed. It’s truly an amazing thing that can only be experienced. My words can’t fully capture it. Some things in this world just have to be experienced.
Results: 3.16mi | AVG Pace: 9’33”| Avg HR: 140 | Best Mile: 7’31” | Feeling Weak
Saturday: Monthly Club Trail Run
It was more than just a run. This was a group run through the woods on a single track trail followed by a tailgate breakfast. This is an incredible group of people who are selfless and giving. Before I get into the tailgate breakfast, let me tell you about the trail.
The trail run started with 19 runners of varying abilities. We had some highly experienced trail runners who have experience with ultra’s all the way to first time runners on the trail. Pace ability amongst us ranged from 7min/miles to 12min/miles. We really had a diverse set of runners.
We all started together and took off down the trails. We naturally spaced out and separated by pace. At the trail intersections we would gather together, get accountability and identify who was going to keep going for more miles or who would turn back and meet up at the parking lot. Many of our runners got in +8 miles with a few others getting in around 5-miles. The trail run is a great break from the road and greenway system. Running through the woods is just a different experience. It was a great run with great runners.
I finished up my last 3 miles with one of our Ultra Runners. She is an incredibly strong runner who has completed a 50K amongst other ultra distance races. I’m not sure of her height, but she’s shorter than me and I’m only 5’8” but she moved really quick. For some reason she kept thinking I was slowing her down, but the reality was I was learning from an Ultra runner on those last 3 miles.
After the trail run, we setup a quick field kitchen and got to cooking breakfast. This club is absolutely amazing! We had so much food it was incredible! Crock-pots of cheesy grits, sausage gravy, biscuits, donuts and everything else you could think of. Dave and I got to cooking up the scrambled eggs and Carlos brought the incredible Mexican beans, salsa and tortillas. Undoubtedly it was the best breakfast burrito I’ve probably ever had.
We sat around and talked, conversed and ate. This is simply an amazing group of people. Each of them having their strengths and weaknesses with running, but each of them selfless and giving. I have yet to be to a club event where we didn’t have an excess amount of food available.
Today’s picture isn’t about running. It’s about the friendship and fellowship that you can find in the running community.
Results: 8.21mi | AVG Pace: 12’51”| Avg HR: 139 | Best Mile: 10’13” | Feeling Grateful
