Finishing my MBA and Setting New Goals

Last Thursday morning I finished my last test, for my last class of my MBA. It was a great feeling that got me all misty eyed after I got the notification that I passed. Years of hard work done, now I can focus on other things without being overwhelmed. My last test was a global economics course, I'd finished the capstone a couple of months ago. This class was a beast that took up a lot of time. But I passed. Now that I have extra time and am not going to be overwhelmed by adding in running to my schedule, I wanted to start this blog up yet again. I don't know how regular I will post, but it will be more often than every six months.

Right now I am three weeks out from the Turkey Trot St. Louis that will be happening in St. Charles Thanksgiving morning. It's a 5k I signed us up for. I haven't been putting in training specifically for it aside from starting to walk an extra mile a day, or run at least a mile. I am on day four of that right now. My goal at this 5k is to go faster than I did at my last 5k. The Taco the Town 5k was fun, I walked almost the entire thing. So beating that time should be easier if I run for more. Really it's a way to go to a race, have fun, and get a medal for our little guy. Next to my desk I have a medal rack mounted on my wall. He really loves that he has medals on it too, and that they aren't just mine.

With the walking an extra mile every day, the goal for that is 30 days to start with. Then on December 8th I'm going to start training for a 10k, which will be the Running from Yeti 10k on Valentines day next year. The training plan is for three runs a week and one body weight strength training day. I plan to add in the extra mile walk a day on the days I'm not running. It's a 10 week beginner training plan that I picked up from I runner I follow on YouTube. Before the year is over I'll decide on the other two races I've been thinking of, the Taco the Town 5k again in May and Love to Run St. Charles in June, it would at least be the 10k. But more details on those decisions about those races will come later.

As always, thanks for reading.

-Riley 

5k, 10k, 10k, and MBA Updates

It's been a while since I posted, rest assured I am still making it out during my lunch, sometimes. I'm not as consistent as I want to be, and because of that I changed the June half marathon into a 10k. I have a 5k this weekend with Silvia, so that should be fun. We get free tacos after the race. I'm really not even ready to run hard for the 5k. But I'll give what I've got. On June 7th I have a 10k, that was supposed to be part of my training for the half. Now I've got 10k's two weekends in a row. The next few weeks I will be working on my base by cross training on my bike. I did join a gym to do strength training 2 days a week also.

I'm not sure if I'm doing a fall race, I've not decided yet. It may be another 10k. But I will be keeping to my running 3 days a week, two 30ish minute days, and one 60 minute day. That should be easy to maintain. I will work up to a half marathon distance again.

On a non-running note, I have two courses left in my MBA, economics and my capstone. I want to be done by the end of June, but I'm not sure that will happen. I will give that what I've got to get as far as I can. After I finish that I'm taking a break from doing school until January, they I will decide if I'm going to subject myself to it more or not.

I'll leave it at that today. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

 

Running in the Rain and Other Stuff

One of my favorite times to run when I was training years ago was when it was raining. I liked it because it helped to cool me down as I ran, and because it helped me be less self conscious about how much I sweat because everyone who ran during the rain came back soaked. Last week on one of the days it was raining. I left the house in my running clothes and waterproof jacket. I made it to the end of the driveway as the cold rain started hitting my exposed legs. I then promptly turned around and went back inside. I guess I just didn't have the grit to do something hard that day. I've thought a lot about it since and have decided next time the rain comes and I am scheduled to run, I will just go and not use the weather as an excuse.

On other news, my bike is fixed after years of neglect and being left in out shed. So I was able to go out and ride for an hour on Friday with our little guy. He hasn't realized that his hands follow where he looks as he rides, so there were many instances of swerving from being ran into and reminders to look where you're going. It was nice to get out and do some riding and spend some time with our little guy that wasn't related to going stir crazy in the house.

On a running progress note, I made it out yesterday for a 1 mile run, I ran 2 minutes and walked 1 minute. It was a good run, my legs just felt weak. I will be doing the 2 run / 1 walk for now and will change when I feel it's right. I want to be able to run without stopping again and am not feeling like I can with my weight where it's at. I'm making changes to my diet, I've made changes to my physical activity, and am not drinking my calories like I used to. I'm struggling with my blood sugar and that being in check will be a sign I'm moving in the right direction. So with the changes I've been making and getting my blood sugar under control I should see more success in decreasing my weight, in turn making it easier to run.

I got one day of running last week, and am changing that this week. I have adjusted my training schedule, and hope it will work and not lead to injury. I am increasing miles at a rate that I should be fine and get me the time on my feet that I need. If I am not at a fast enough speed by mid May I will need to change my half marathon on June 14th to a 10k, so I can finish the race in the time provided.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Wanting to Give In and Give Up

3/24/25

This portion of the post will constitute the majority of it, with the 11th - 14th at the end. I have been active since the 14th, but not getting in the runs I've planned to. This week will a good week to start building up again to the miles I need to be at for running a half marathon in June.

The title of this post is really reflects this portion of the post. I've been struggling with depression, and with that comes the overwhelming feeling of wanting to hide away from everything. I've not had it in me to make it out multiple days over the last 2 weeks. But I made it out to some degree, so I have that victory at least. There has been a part of me that just wants to give in and not push myself to get out anymore. To give up my grand ideas of finishing a half marathon based on my own piece meal training plan. The speed work has been especially hard to approach. They are super intimidating to me, and I get self conscious when I am out doing them. That's when the depression gets worse. With the depression and not getting in the miles or time on the feet it seems hopeless to a degree to keep pushing. But I will keep pushing. I have habits of running to strengthen and family and health I need to improve.

Moving forward I will need to practice kinder to myself. Being nice to myself it tough, the lingering thoughts of not being good enough pollute my mind, and make it hard to function. Silvia asked me yesterday, what it feels like when I'm being impacted by depression. I explained it for me it is similar to being tired and not having it in me to do anything, combined with that tired grumpy feeling, and then add a hint of not being able to feel positive. But this morning I'm doing a bit better, and will hopefully be doing a lot better after getting my run in at lunch.

So that's me in a nutshell right now, committing to get in the runs/time on the feet I need to be successful, and coming out of an episode of depression.

Thanks for reading and here are the other posts.

3/11/25

Today is a rest day for me. After my 10k my watch informed that I was over reaching and to take 78 hours to recover. So I took until yesterday and did an easy run after work. My watch then said I was over reaching again and to take 35 hours to recover. So instead of doing speed work today I am resting and moving it to tomorrow. My speed work is super simple, this week and next week 2 miles, during those two miles will be 1 km run/walk then either 800 m run and 200 m recover or x2 400 m run 100 m recovery then a 1km cool down. It will increase in reps of the 800/200 or 400/100 with the 1 km warm up and cool down staying the same. After I do a couple weeks of these I may change it up.

3/12/25

Today was a good run. It's warm out right now 76°, so was feeling a bit warmer during the last part of my run. The speed work was alright, I am doing it now just so I can get used to doing it. I need to modify the workout on my Garmin so I can do the run/walk for the warm up and cool down. It will alternate every minute with with a notification from my watch when I start a regular run, but not during planned workouts that I put into my watch.

This morning I said I was running at lunch, and our little guy quickly said, "I want to come!" School is preventing him from joining me at lunch, so I am thinking my easy run tomorrow or Saturday morning I'll let him come and be on his bike with me as I do my run.

3/13/25

I really could have benefited from more sleep last night. I've got a middle distance run today. It will be 3 miles at a very easy pace so I can recover more fully. My watch keeps showing that I'm overreaching, this should stop it nagging me. 

3/14/25

I ended up doing a 1 mile walk last night. My goal was to do 2 miles today, but I am using the strong wind as my reason for not getting it in. I just don't want to run in it. I still will be doing 4 miles in the morning and I will try to do them at an easier pace.

 -Riley

Setting Up My Training Plan and Running from Yeti

3-6-25

When I posted about setting up my own training plan, I did more research on training plans. It turns out mine was lacking in time on the feet, and wouldn't have set me up for success. It didn't have enough miles, or time on the road during the week to help build the endurance needed for the race. Since I am a slower runner right now, I need to build up my endurance for the long run. So, my weekday runs will consist of an easy run, an easy mid-distance run, speed work, and a long run. It will be a steady 10% increase in distance each week, specifically for the long run. The other runs will increase slower, so I don't pass that 10%. 

3-9-25

Well, I increased a lot more than 10% yesterday (3/8). I've had the Run From Yeti race on my schedule for a while. I changed it from the half marathon to the 10k, I'm glad I did that change, but I didn't want to miss out on this race. So, even with basically no running base, I went out and did it. My plan was simple in the car before the race, walk 10k, I figured it would take me a while to walk the distance, but I should finish before some of the half marathon racers. Before I got out of the car I changed that solid plan to run/walk miles 1, 3, & 5. Which I did, and didn't do half bad. During my mile run/walk I skipped a couple of 1 minute run segments and ran the last portion of the race to the finish line. I was surprised at how good I felt after the race was over everywhere but my hands. I should have brought my running gloves, my hands were kind of useless after the race. I had to go warm them up in the car so I could really use them again. It was a fun race, with lots of smiling faces and high fives as I plodded along the out and back course.

3-10-25

This post is 4 days in the making. I just wanted to touch on one last thing as I finish this post. During the race (I finished 3 from last in the 10k) as I was heading to the turnaround point, there were clusters of people running back from it. I was working through mile three at this point doing my run/walk and happened to be in a minute of running. I had a line of people giving me high fives and encouraging me to keep going, that's one thing about running that I love during races, aside from people saying "On your left!" there are countless people who want to see you finish something hard. These people don't know me, chances are we'll never meet again. That encouragement and simple high five brought a smile to my running face (which looks like I'm about to die as I do longer runs). It was great.

With this race, I never hit that wall of "I want to quit and go home." like I did with the half marathon. I had lots of fuel in the tank still. I really thing my food leading up to the long run was better than it has been for other long runs. I will need to follow a similar path Fridays before my long run each week to really dial in the fueling for a run. I had one serving of sports beans on the run and one salted caramel Gu. I also wore my hydration vest with 1 liter of water and half a liter of electrolyte water. I did go through them entirely, and think I may have been a little dehydrated after the race.

My next race currently is a 5k called Taco the Town on May 17th. Silvia and Kaiden are doing it with me. It's on a 10 mile run day, so I will need to get in 7 more before or after the race. I was thinking of the Greater St. Louis 10k in April, but am a little to slow to finish in the required amount of time. Maybe next year for that one.

Thanks for reading.

-Riley

 

Balancing Life and Running

Balancing life and running seems simple enough, so plan to run during times that won't impact your time with the family, school, work, or hobbies. Running is a hobby, but it does a lot for me mentally and physically than other hobbies. This balance is hard to maintain, life gets busy. I wish I could say that's what's been preventing me from getting out the door, but it's not the entire reason over the past 3.5 months. I lost momentum and motivation and got depressed. I'm still struggling with the depression, but have taken steps to hopefully decrease it. The running has helped. Gradually, motivation has started to come into the picture again, which should help build momentum.

So, what am I doing to balance life and running this time? I am doing this my way. It sounds a little arrogant when I write it out, but it's where I have found success. Doing it my way means I will research to plan my training. The next thing I am doing to balance life and running is to do my runs and cross-training during my lunch hour when I can. Since I work from home, I can have my running gear ready or on at the beginning of my lunch, removing one hurdle from making it out the door. The last thing I'll write about regarding that balance is scheduling my day. I will have to be organized to accomplish this. I have a rough schedule on a spreadsheet, but I will be reworking it to be more specific about how I spend my time. I will keep in mind that I must remain flexible so I don't get discouraged by curve balls as they come at me.

The race I signed up for is another half marathon. It'll be June 14th in St. Charles (a city close by). I started training again this past Wednesday, and I did 1.56 miles. It was slower than my last run in November. It was a good run, I did the 1:1 run walk. Then, on Thursday, I did 2 miles. Again, 1:1 run walk. My legs were jelly by the end of Thursday because I hadn't trained in so long. It should come back quick. My legs didn't recover until yesterday. So, I didn't do my long run yesterday and will be doing that tomorrow during lunch instead of my easy run. I will make sure to get my long runs in; they will be crucial to my success in this training cycle. I am thinking of doing a 10k the weekend before the race because it's the length of my last run before my taper.

If I'm ever going to get this post up, I will need to end right there.

Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Managing the Noise Between the Ears

Pre Run

Today is a day I need the run. When I was working on my undergrad running was a way I was able to manage the crap that goes on between my ears. I am having a hard time getting anything done. The noise between my ears is a lot today. I hope I make it out the door and further than a few houses down. That's what happened yesterday, I made it 4 houses away and stopped and came back. I felt defeated, I kept telling myself I would run after work. It didn't happen. My goal for today is 40 minutes.

Post Run

I made it. I did the whole 40 minutes doing a run/walk. Running really helped me to regulate my emotions. I'm still not feeling the greatest, but I am doing better than I was. What helped me get through the first half was dangling that carrot in front of me of feeling better than I was. The second half was accomplished because I had to make it home and had 20 minutes make it there to get back to work. Which I will have to start getting some more miles in to get it feeling normal. The first mile was OK, it's usually after mile one that I start to get in a rhythm and start feeling better.

It's typically a rough run when I am having mental struggles like I have been today. Today wasn't an exception. Kept saying to myself, after my minute walk, "This time I'm just going to walk for an extra minute." Then when the buzzing and beeping happen on my watch to signal the start of the one minute run I just went for another one minute run. That was the case for all but one signal toward the end. I walked for 3 minutes instead of two. Because of that I was short of the distance I was hoping for. I'll get it next time.

Tomorrow will be a very easy 30 minute slow run/walk or cross training, I've not decided just yet. Saturday I will be doing a 60 minute run/walk. I did my run today in my Brooks Ghost Max. They feel like they work out different areas of the leg than my New Balance Rebel v3 do. 

I think that's it for now. Thanks for reading.

-Riley