Running Giant: My Journey

I couldn't run worth anything tonight, and I forgot my MP3 player. I have been home for just over a half an hour and still haven't changed back into my regular clothes. It was a hard run. Maybe you weren't reading when I tried trail running all of once. I started the trail made it less than a mile stopped the trail and continued somewhere else that wasn't a trail. I have not gone back to it. Tonight I tried the new form I learned. I started to pick up momentum faster, and ran out of steam fairly quick. So I ran for almost half of every mile. My calves were burning as I ran, but then I remembered to relax. It helped a lot. This form will take some getting use to, but I feel it's an improvement over how I was running. My joints didn't bother me at all, which is nice. Right now I need food and a day off from running. Maybe I will try to resist talking about running tomorrow (yeah right). I am still finding that it's the only topic I can talk about with ...

Today I skipped my last class at school and went running, I had an appointment for a gate analysis to improve my mechanics when running, helping my movement to become more effortless. I'll go on about that a little later in this post. My first run today was a total of 6.09 miles. I wish I would have brought my gloves. I made it to mile 2 and it started to to sleet outside. It started to accumulate on the bill of my hat, which was kinda fun. So I had two miles sleet to run in, it was very cold, which leads me to the desire to get a rain jacket for running. It rained off and on for the remainder of my run, nothing as bad as the sleet though. The 6 miles were all under 14 minutes, with an average of 13:47. I had more energy to push myself more throughout the entire run, or it required less energy for increased effort. So I finished and got home and was soaking wet, and still had my two miles of speed drills to do. At the gym I did my second run, I ran faster than I could handl...

I want to say, happy 8th anniversary to my patient and loving wife. Today my wife road beside me as it was hailing, and sleeting in Provo Canyon. She said at one point I'm with you till the end. We both got back to the car soaked and cold. We quickly drove home where she got out and went in to shower. I proceeded to the gym to do speed drills for my last miles. If I would have pushed harder I could have gotten that last quarter mile in, but I left to get ready for our anniversary date at Pizzeria 712. They make there own mozzarella every day. It was a great meal, and I even made reservations for us to eat there to make it feel more fancy. It's been a very good day. My run was wet and cold when I showed up at the gym. I figured since I was already wet that going to the gym wouldn't be bad at all. My clothes got heavier as I heated up and began to produce liquid awesome (a.k.a. sweat). Well that's all you're getting for tonight, thanks for reading. -...

 Scheduled Miles: 31.1 Actual Distance: 28.08 RPE: 4.125 Total Miles To Date: 238.15+ Miles on Black Torin: 140.22 Miles on Blue Torin: 97.93 The smile on my face started around mile 8 or 9, and hasn't gone away yet. I finished a half marathon. There are probably a lot of people out there who can say that, but how many can say they did it weighing around 300 lbs.? Well here is my medal for the race, which I am currently wearing and may just wear to church tomorrow to boast of my accomplishments (j/k). Today I really had the feeling of an endurance runner, I ran the whole race (accept my one bathroom break and to get out my gel and asprin out I had in my camel bag). So about 2-5 minutes total. I would have walked more but I had someone come up behind me in a bright green skirt and give me a high five telling me to keep going. Then when I started to want to stop running again a local high school Cross Country team ran by and I got another high five. I love the sens...

1. Eat protien and whole grain an hour or so before hand, your body will like it 2. Get a good night sleep 3. Make sure your MP3 player & GPS Watch are charged and ready to go 4. Go the restroom 5. Have all your running snacks (me and my Sports Beans) and water prepped for your run Only doing 3 out of 5 makes it a little harder to run. It was going to be a nice easy run this morning up to Bridal Vale Falls, but I missed a step and ended up being passed by this lovely couple running this morning. On there way back I had made it to a mile and was on my way back at a slow walk, and they passed me in the exact same spot. I bet that confused them greatly. I'm a little anxious about my half marathon tomorrow, and am going to go pick up my bib in a few minutes as well as run my errands for the morning. Then I will be back with digital stylus in hand to work on my digital painting for class next week. My painting of the runner will be up once I get it back and finish it (I ...

Right now my car is in the shop, so I am limited to the bus for my mode of transportation when my wife isn't around to be amazing and pick me up from school so I can make it up the canyon to run. So I took the bus to the hub where all the buses have transfers and what not, which happens to be by the runners corner (who sells those yummy sports beans I am always out of... maybe that;s why my run sucked Saturday, I didn't have the beans). So I got some sports beans and a light to attach to myself for running in the dark to chase away the boogieman who haunts the dark when I am surrounded in it. It's ridiculous to have a fear of the dark in my thirties... BAH! The light will help. So from there I decided (as I carried my overloaded backpack and gym bag) that I would walk the three miles to get home from where I was, and since I was carrying so much stuff I would be ok in counting it as a work out. It was a fairly hard workout. I walked at a brisker pace than usual, not t...

Tonight I learned a valuable lesson, when you relax your body as you run, you end up running more fluid and effortlessly. I just finished 5 miles and my knee doesn't hurt at all. Every time I started to felt my joints, I said to myself, "Relax and run." I promptly relaxed and ran more smoothly. Well, I am going to share something about me that sounds a bit crazy, but I am afraid of the dark. I tell you this because as I was finishing the last 30 min. of my run in the dark. I am lucky I had Silvia (my wonderful wife who puts up with my neurosis) with me. She was on her bike. If she weren't with me I probably would have set PR (personal record) by more than 3 seconds. I did an 11:52 sec mile, which is my new PR for a mile. But I know I can do better. Also this was mile 5 that was my PR. What a good night. So this week is my half marathon, I am a little worried about the number of people that will be there and waking up on time. I am confident I will be able t...

Weekly Stats Scheduled Distance: 31 Actual Distance: 23.44 RPE: 3.75 First I would like to say that by mile breakdown I won the fight with the 16 mile run, but it doesn't feel like it. I finished just over 11 miles of it before I started calling my wife in pain because I was barely walking at that point. I had to stop for about 5 minutes so I could make it to the Chevron station less than 1/10th a mile away. I think it has to do with my body mechanics (it's the some pain I have been going through), I am going to get a gate analysis done and see if I can address it through body mechanics. Today was a rough day, I have been fighting a wicked bout of depression, and it seems like my meds haven't been able to hit it. I woke up too late to make it up the canyon with my wife, and my car is in the shop so I had to figure out an alternated plan for running besides the canyon today. I really missed how quiet, safe, and running friendly it is. So before I took my first...

I didn't make it out for my last run. So I will be heading out for my 16 miler on Saturday morning, since no runs the day before or after my big run. Until Then, -Riley

First short post. Did 4.9 miles before school today. It was cold and breezy outside, my times weren't up to snuff for were they should have been. I am finding it hard to push myself harder than I am currently doing speed wise. Every time I have an idea on how to increase speed I stumble on the follow through. I need to change that bad habit. I still have another 3.1 miles to run today, and will include a full day recap with my third post for the day.

It's just before 6 am. I am tired and cold and am trying to decide if I am going to go out and run now or wait until 8:30 or 9:00. It's my late day at school so I am leaning toward the sun being out as I run. Last night I didn't make it out for my short run. I dragged my wife with me to a meet and greet with a potential coach. I struggled being there ti begin with because it was such an alien environment to me. The coach;s name is Lisa Menninger. After sitting through her presentation, having a chance to meet her and knowing what my running goals are next year, I think she will be a good fit come January. She's up in SLC and it's looking like my wonderful wife and I will be moving back up north at the end of the year. Well I have decided that going back to bed for a couple of hours is going to be my course of action. Oh  yeah to make up for no short run yesterday, I will be doing 2 today, one this morning and one tonight. Since that would be my space if I would h...

Looking at my run distance it's up all the sudden to 7 miles on a typical short run day, but I decided to up my distance to my medium distance run after I finished 5 miles. My lovely wife road along with me (kinda) when I did the first 5 miles. Then we got in the car and I realized I was only 2 miles away from my medium run distance, so we pulled into one of the other parks in Provo Canyon and Silvia ran with me for 2 miles. She was such a trooper, and pushed it over a mile without stopping, then did another half a mile after a short walk. It was a good time. So tomorrow morning my goal to get out to do my 4 miles before school and head in early to study after that, as well as work on my illustration for my narrative illustration class. I am so obsessed with running that I talk about it all the time, and it's even mixing into my school work. I am painting a current event and I chose is about a runner in Ontario who accidentally won the women's division in the ...

Weekly Stats Scheduled Distance: 28 miles Actual Distance: 28.51 miles RPE: 3.75 So here I am, my knee is a bit sore, my belly has a Reuben and pumpkin spice cheesecake to digest (and some chocolate milk). I am about to make my Saturday shopping list, where I am going to change out some of what we normally eat with healthier things. I am pleasantly tired and could nap all day (secretly I wish I had a Mountain Dew, but it's been quite some time since I have had soda). Today is the first day where my feet have really hurt after a run. The KTTape worked really well. The draw back is part of my leg is shaved, since I am only using it on my knee. My run today was a really nice run. It's different having someone with you. Even though it had been 20 years since we have seen each other, conversation was really encouraging. When we reached the turn around point, after going up hill for 7 miles, I was stretching and a little girl asked why I was wearing tights. It was a...

KTTape, I have to shave the area I am going to use it (of course it's silky smooth) and then apply with the right tension to each piece. I believe I messed up my first application of it, so I will try again on Saturday. My short run was the best pace I have done all week, but I was also in some of the most discomfort with this IT band issue. I will be going back to stripping it here in a few minutes. Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of Treadmills anymore? I should have headed out in the rain today and tried out my gloves ($12 on clearance at Sports Authority, last season $30. I also picked up my costume for the Provo Halloween Half Marathon, my Batman Technical Shirt, I won't be sporting a cape and cowl. I also decided I am going to save some money and buy the larger container of Hammer Gel. Right now my long distance run is over 16 min. I am sticking with that it's due to my IT band not listening to me, and being super tight. I need to get it down to under 15 minute...

I stopped to walk and my mouth was open, and a bug saw fit to become an early run snack. I was hacking and coughing almost the following 4 miles. Tonight I almost didn't make it out. I have been in a moderate depression, and was sitting in my chair figuring out if I could manage doing a 4 mile run then a the next day do a 14 mile run. Before I knew it 5:00 pm came around and I was up stairs changing clothes, getting my running gear on. It was a habitual move that happened. My training took over and I was about to leave, my wife called as I opened the door, it was cold so I grabbed my long sleeve base layer, put it on and went back out. Tonight I ran from Vivian Park to the mouth of the Provo canyon. Running tonight I did discover that downhill really does a number on my left knee. Tomorrow I am picking up some KTTape to see if that can alleviate some stress to the joint. My right leg is doing just fine. The interesting thing is that it was always my right knee that ga...

Last night my callous on my left big toe was hurting beyond what I have experienced before with a deep callous. I was looking at it and it looked like I had something more going on. It turns out I had a blister under my callous. I was finally able to take care of the blister then use an emery board to attack the callous. It all feels much better now. I have a 4 mile run tonight and I am going to attempt it at a faster speed than I normally run on a treadmill (which I am convinced is a lesser devil of monotony). I am going on the treadmill because of the time I get done with school (if I am off earlier I will do 4 miles in the canyon while I can. Me and treadmills are like me and running outside about 3 or 4 months ago. I really am not liking it. Outside I get the chance to see change as I run. I get to experience progression in my mental map. I am going to do what I can to make it out tomorrow to the canyon. I should have went to the canyon tonight, I had time and it would hav...

Schedule Miles: 26 Actual Distance: 27.04 Week Average RPE: 4.25 I passed my 6 mile continuous run and now have it set at 6.7 miles. Today I went up to the top of the Provo Canyon trail. I made it down to where I started my run Wednesday and was so freaking cold. I am happy I picked up some winter gear over the past week, legs were still cold, but I warmed up after about a mile. I was sporting a wool base layer from Costco as my top (the sleeves were long enough to protect my hands a little) under my regular running shirt. I also got some Wright's Socks, which are amazingly comfortable. But I neglected to get gloves. A must for winter and fall running apparently. It was different than usual today, I really had fun running my first three miles. I must be going crazy having fun with the first three miles. Did I mention it was cold? I paced myself better on my first 6 miles and was doing a good pace of around 14 min miles. I got close to mile 7 and my left knee started t...

My one sided love affair with running has become better. Running is warming up to me now. My feet hurt which is a little odd. I blame it on the sidewalk from yesterday. Sidewalk is really evil. I made my four miles and really didn't like that it was on the treadmill. I see the time I am running at and the distance. It's a bit BLAH! So I will be trying to run outside more. I didn't like it initially but I like it more now. I have been able to run my first mile for my past few runs at around 12 minutes. I would like to get down to a 12 minute mile for multiple miles. I am right around 13 minutes for 4 miles then I trend slower . I think that a 12 is doable, and I am putting that goal by the end of the year, or sooner. Running 10 miles nonstop I will give it a shot when I run my half marathon in 23 days. Until Next Time, -Riley

I'm a marathoner because I like running, it's fun, and it's therapeutic. This was my mantra tonight as I ran. I said it to myself a lot. It was a really fun run. I did six miles, starting up at Nunn's Park in Provo canyon. The reason why I ran outside was because I didn't want to be on the treadmill for an hour and a half. I like the treadmill and all but I just didn't want to stay in one place. Again it was a little hard to get out, so much so that I was almost too late to run in the canyon. But I went up. It started sprinkling throughout the run as well as some great wind. I welcomed it as I ran saying, come on wind and rain, run with me. It's a short post today but I have two great things to tack on at the end. 1 - I am wearing an XL shirt right now which is comfortable and not tight in any areas. 2 - I ran the whole 6 miles today, even the wicked up hill at mile 4. Did you see that, I ran the whole 6 miles! It was 1:23:01, and it was fantas...