4-29-14 Running Through Finals Week

So yesterday was my first run in over a week, I have an excuse for that, and that is two days were recovery (where I should have made it out on my bike, but opted for homework instead). I have been working on pieces all week, and am currently avoiding working on a piece I am not enjoying, but like a run when I avoid it, I know the piece has potential to be really good like that run after avoiding it for a while.

My work out this week has me back in the swing of things. I am prepping for my next two races now, one of which is on May 24 (Alpine Classic Half). I would like to PR during it, but I don't know if I will be able to since it's a hilly course. I should go run in alpine some to help me prep for it. I will be doing some trail runs between now and then for my long runs and that should help me out some.

It was a nice run yesterday. I was feeling crummy up until I got to mile 1. I have been doing a lot better since then. Running helps me feel so good. I am looking forward to tomorrow's run because I will be doing some Fartlek's at a sub 11 pace for 2 minutes on then 2 minutes off 6 times. So it will be a great 4 miles. Saturday I have a 5-6 mile run that I will be doing in Vegas. I am heading down with some friends to compete in a gaming tournament for Legend of the Five Rings (a CCG). So Saturday before the tournament I will be heading out for my run in the dryness which is Vegas. I am looking forward to it because of the lower elevation.

I need to get back to my painting, so thanks for reading.

4-26-14 Finals Week

So I didn't make it out at all this week for running. I was at school three days for 12+ hours, and up at 5:30 am working on assignments those days as well. I am doing my long run on Monday which will be nice. I don't run on Sundays or I would be doing it then. My diet has been horrid this week and I have gone over on calories every day. I am looking forward to next week where things will calm down some.

Here's a link to my illustration blog. My last two assignments are the top two.
http://rileyhornillustration.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading and look forward to more about running this coming week.

4-19-14 Post #2 The Beginning and End Photographs

Age division placement - 202 overall placement - 2701 

Riley Horn Orem UT 33 2656 3:01:47 2:57:36 13:34

The lights are on and nobodies home

The Training Group

Silvia and Her sister surprised me here

Just After Finishing

Putting on my new bling

The Bling Itself

The Following are of the starting line and all the masses of people!

4-19-14 SLC Half Marathon

So today was the SLC Half Marathon, and yes I did run it. It was the perfect day for a run, as the sun was coming up it was overcast. And me and 6500 of my closest friends gathered together up at the University of Utah medical bridge and started running. If you have been reading for a while you have discovered I have some mental illness issues, one of the two is severe anxiety brought on by large crowds. With that I will begin the day.

I was up before my body realized it was time to wake up (4:30 AM). I have become more of a morning person since I started running and getting a good nights sleep, but am still not one. Last night I got to be around 10 with Silvia massage my legs to help me fall asleep and prep for today. So I woke up, showered, and body glided up, missing one crucial spot that I remembered about the three mile point, my nipples. I am now sporting a band-aid over my left nipple, and showering was painful with it. But that is not the pinnacle of the racing adventure.

We got to the train station with minutes to spare and got onto a train that was already standing room only, and preceded to go to every stop and more and more people piled in. It was really congested with runners and my wife who wanted to go to the start line to see me off. I ended up being behind this musty smelling guy who talked a little louder than he needed to for his lady fiend to hear him all of 8 inches away. He just kept getting pushed into me, more and more. The smell made me want to throw up. But we finally got to the last stop, out of the musty man's aura and into the fresh morning air. I met up with my training group, said good mornings and got high-fives and hello's!

Then they corralled the 6500 people in between these little gates and yammered on until they sang the national anthem (growing up watching baseball, I just wanna yell, "PLAY BALL!" after it ends). The airhorn went off shortly after and the race was... not moving... walking... walking more... then the race was on (until the .25 mile bottleneck). Everyone slowed to a walk for about 20 yards, then started running again after the bottle neck.

City Creek running trail, we did this but without the snow.

Overall the first 6 miles were amazing. We ran through City Creek Canyon /Memory Grove (which was a first for me), it reminded me a little of running in Provo Canyon, it was a down hill with trees sprouting green buds. What lead up to this portion of the run was a wicked vicious hill (which the majority of the people walked up), then a long gradual down hill. After we got out of City Creek Canyon / Memory Grove, we entered down town SLC. I lived most of my life in SLC, and have a lot of memories in downtown SLC. It was exciting to run through an area that I have experienced so much. This was a small flat section through downtown which connected to a long gradual uphill. This protion of the race I had driven many times while I was going to massage school (South Temple, named that because it's the road that goes along the south side of the Salt Lake LDS Temple). Up this gradual incline I was able to run with someone who trained with Lisa as well, and he and I had been keeping pace. At the 6 mile port-o-potty, we had both stopped and talked for a little bit. He got in and out before I did, and I saw him in the distance up until mile 9ish. I powered through, and made it to another down hill. On this down hill I got to see my wife and her sister cheering me on, and saying things like, "Don't get hit by the train!" I heeded the advice (since none were coming).

I continued on to another familiar street, 800 South. It's the road I drove up in high school every day to go to school. This hill is what took it out of me. I was going good, and was making good time (I still did good time in spite of this hill A woman congratulated me when I reached the top of the hill, saying, "Nice job powering through that hill." I was gleaming with pride after that, it kept me going as I traversed a neighborhood I had walked while I was in high school. There were people out cheering us on, and one coffee shop giving out free iced coffee (I resisted, easily because I don't drink coffee). It was quite the experience going through places as a runner that I had so many memories of in my younger life. This is also where I hit my own wall, I had lost sight of the familiar runner from Lisa's running group, and was on my own again, the marathon and half marathon split at this point. I started to do math in my head to see if I would finish in time to beat my PR (worst idea I have ever had) it's discouraging enough seeing the time on every mile marker, and having it chirped in my ears as I listen to music, I discovered it's better to just go off of what you have done, not what's left.

After the two races split, the half marathon went into the neighborhoods more, and lead down to where I have been doing my training. This was the last three miles of the course. This last part lead us through a neighborhood then down to one of the larger parks in Salt Lake City (Liberty Park) and finished back on 800 South then down to the library downtown. When I got to the last mile my goal was to run the whole way, I stopped and walked a couple of times because I was pushing harder than I could handle. When I got to the last quarter mile, I picked up the pace... to much faster than I though I could run. I exhausted the rest of my energy, and crossed the finish line. I got my awesome medal, and roamed thought the treats and water and powerade and found a chair. My body was starting to give out on me. That last quarter mile I pushed further than I could maintain. I was on empty. I found a chair and sat down, drank my water, ate my cup of peaches, and downed my powerade. I wanted to curl up in a ball and die at this point. I never wanted to run again while I was sitting down. My stomach started to hurt, and as soon as I met up with Silvia we went to the train. I didn't wonder around. I just wanted to go home at this point. The race was awesome, and I was feeling far from that.

After a long bumpy train rid back to our car, I changed shirts in the parking lot to the shock of some convention goers, and realized I was really feeling sick. I then proceeded to throw up everything in me. I think some of the people at the train thought someone was losing their life in the parking lot. But no, I just lost my peaches, all the water, and powerade. Five minutes later the runners high kicked in. I was on cloud 9. After that we went and got some protein to refuel my body, and drove home. At home is where I discovered my chafed nipple, tossed a band-aid on it after I got out of the shower. I went to lunch with Silvia, and came home where I am contently sitting and typing.

Tonight I should get some pictures from my wife and will do a second post with them. I just want to thank everyone for reading, have a great day.

-Riley

Oh yeah, here's the new bling!

4-17-14 Running after a big meal

So last night when I went out for my run it was after picking up my bib for my race tomorrow, and walking arounf Salt Lake Comiccon . My legs were fatigued and I ate a big about 20 minutes before I ran. I was so sluggish running, it sucked! But I did learn not to run on a full stomach.

The run was hard because of a full stomach, but it went by quick. I am getting into my rhythm faster, and mile one wasn't as miserable as the first mile has been in the past.

Yesterday my wife and I drove the course, and there is a beast of a hill at about mile 4. It was vicious. But I know the course now and can visualize finishing it. Today I will be fairly stationary by painting most of the day. So my legs will get a sports massage tonight before bed, then off to the races.

Tomorrow I will have a full race recap, thanks for reading my little post!

-Riley

4-15-14 A solid run during a taper week

Alright so here I am, a few more days until I run the SLC Half Marathon. I am excited that it's here and that I get to do it. Next week I finish the semester and this is a nice finish to it. After I finish I have a week and a half before summer classes start. Then at mid term for summer block I have the Alpine classic half, and as the first summer block of classes ends I get to do Ragnar!

Today I set a new 4 mile PR. It was a 6 second shave off my race time. I wasn't even huffing and puffing when I did it like I was during my Thanksgiving Race. I can only imaging how I would do now.

After my run I sat down with Lisa and we talked about race day prep. The greatest advice she gave was, don't make changes to your routine for sleep. I get to wake up really early Saturday morning to make it to the race before 7. That will be fun. I live about an hour away from where the race is, and the train will be running early so I will be able to park near the finish line.

I will be following my now traditional day before the race meal, a massive salad from Cafe Rio (carb, veg and protein). It works well with carb loading the day before. Other nutrition for the week, I am going to cut back carbonation starting in three minutes when I finish my peach diet Dr Pepper. My personal goal is to be off carbonation again completely by the time I run my next half marathon. So I am allowing myself caffeine to finish off my semester. Lisa told that carbonation has different effects on people and I just know I was feeling better when I was not drinking it, I will also be cutting back on caffeine. I consume way too much of the stuff.

And finally my goals for the next three months when it comes to fitness and my health. I am working towards losing another 20 lbs (like I did between January and March). That will put me down to 260ish. I also have the goal to get my eating habit under control by increasing veggies and good lean proteins. I have already made the change to not drinking my calories, which has been one of the greatest changes.

It's time for me to work on some school work. Thanks for reading today.

-Riley

4-12-14 Running to Creativity

So my run today, I fought doing it with a lot of energy. I almost came home after we got gas and picked up GU for next Saturday. Today I had 6 miles to do with picking up speed on  my last two miles. I almost didn't make it out for the run, and was regretting it as I tried to justify it to myself about not running. I was able to hit that running zone today while running a couple of times. It was a really nice feeling. There is only a week left until the SLC Half Marathon!

Today I was reading one of the many blogs I follow (Muddy Colors). Since I am an aspiring artist I follow quite a few illustrators blogs (I put illustrators because they are the artists I really look up to, for business reasons as well as style choices). This may sound strange, but there are quite a few illustrators who are fitness and health buffs. Like Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell (weight training), Randy Gallegos (Running), and Marc Scheff (overall fitness buff). I have found over the past year that fitness has been a key to any portion of success that I can achieve in art and in regular life. I have worked hard to run a marathon, which was to accomplish a goal, and not I am running half marathons because it keeps pushing me. It has helped me with focus, increased my discipline, and allowed me time to clear out my head when it gets clouded. I believe it applies to every career that someone can pursue. So I wanted to share this post from muddy colors about fitness and thought someone out there may find it interesting. The Art of Fitness

Running and creativity, I hear people talk about how they are able to think and really get life in perspective when they run. When I think and run my thoughts are fragmented and jump all over the place. If it weren't for music and audio books I would probably get distracted by the first shiny thing and start after that. When I have those times of clear thought as I run they are great, and it probably means I just realized I have to start running faster. With creativity and running, I strongly believe that running allows you to filter through all of your trash thoughts for the most part. You know those random thoughts that come to mind, like what if there were a monster like Godzilla... really what if we had monsters like Godzilla! But the filtering of the useless thoughts allows for the clear head that's needed for me to be creative at least.Right now for example, I just finished my run about an hour ago, and I am ready to sit down and start hammering out more ideas for an up coming assignment. Monday morning I head to school after I run three miles, and will be able to focus better because of it. So does running make you more creative? No. But it does allow for more free space in the brain to think more clearly.

I wanted to talk a little more about shoes and running. I run in a pair or Instinct 1.5's by Altra. I go on an on about Altra because they have been great shoes. Some people don't like zero drop shoes and I understand. It's often because of the way the work with high arches, or with Altra's because of how wide they are. Some people don't like them because of the way they effect the knees, and calves as you transition to them. I have been wearing zero drop shoes for a couple of years now, and am use to them and quite like them. When I run in them I feel like I am able to get a solid mid foot strike, and my heels don't drag in them. Altra makes shoes with a wider toe box, which works well for me and my wide feet. I am limited on what other shoes I can wear because of the width of my feet. I like Brooks, but all there wide shoes all a little uncomfortable to me now and their regular shoes are too narrow.
Silvia wears Brooks PureFlow's and they work really well for her narrow feet, and provide enough support for her. I really wish brooks had a pure flow shoe wide enough for my feet. My neighbor Sarah who runs wears Saucony Kinvara's and loves them for her high arches. Lisa (my trainer) loves traditional running shoes with a 10mm - 12mm toe to heel drop in a neutral shoe. So back to my second pair of shoes, the only draw back to them is that they are a bit heavy, but the Mizuno Wave Rider 16 are giant yellow beasts that are really comfortable. Kinda like a Ford F-150. I will most likely try some other shoes out with a slightly lower heel to toe drop shoes than my Wave Riders when it comes time to retire
them, and they are bright yellow so they may not make it to the casual shoe transition. So I cycle through two different types of shoes, so each time I change shoes my run is different than the previous week. It keeps variety. I wish I would have known the effect it would have had when I was wearing two of the same shoes.

When it comes to shoes they are crucial. If the shoes are on the way out they can really do some damage to the body especially if you are used to training with support, or a certain level of cushioning. My shoes I just retired still had life left in them when it comes to cushioning, but the upper was starting to give out. I have rambled on long enough. Thanks for reading!

-Riley

4-10-14 Running midday

Today I did a run in the middle of the day. It reached about 65 or 70 while I was out. While I was running it got a little too hot for me, I wasn't able to muster up enough energy to do my complete set of fartleks. It was overall a good run though. Silvia came out with me, and we started and finished together.

Today I changed my running shoes. I have been running in a pair of Altra Torrin's for quite some time, and today I retired my shoes that I wore when I ran my Marathon. They have been changed over the casual shoes to replace my previously retired running shoes.

I have been distracted all day and not been able to write like I have wanted to. Tanks for reading and look forward to a better post Saturday.

-Riley

4-8-14 A great morning run

I made it out this morning for my run in Salt Lake. I didn't think much of it, accept I know I was feeling good and I wanted to run. And run I did. I did just over 4 miles, but my pace was faster than average. I was just below a 12 minute mile on the first three miles, and then ran out of gas on my last mile (I did a little speed work and it took it out of me). But it was an amazing run, I am still feeling the endorphin from running. It's a good feeling. My race is coming up in just under 2 weeks, I am ready for it. I believe I will PR. But that's not going to be hard since I am running faster now, as well as have a taper before the run instead of just incorporating it into my training schedule.

The race falls on the same day as the Comic Con Fan Experience in SLC. Both events are in downtown SLC. Since I am a nerd I respect the event, but having anxiety in large groups makes me shy away from it. I will have enough anxiety to overcome with all the people running that morning.

It's time for me to do some errands, get some lunch, and go to the chiropractor. Thanks for reading.
-Riley

4-7-14 Skipping class to run

So today I did something that I haven't done in a while. I left school early to run, skipping my last class. I was struggling in my head getting to where I could really focus and get things done. Even now I am distracted, and have paused my typing a couple of times. Running is really therapeutic when I'm struggling. I was able to go out, put on my headphones, and forget the world for a little bit. I had been stuck in my head all day with negative thoughts and self doubt. Running helps me get away from that. It also made my monster size breakfast at a local restaurant perfectly reasonable (If you're wondering, hash browns, biscuits, eggs, sausage, cheese and country gravy). I love comfort food.

So about the run itself. I did my now standard 4 miles out and back. The Murdock Trail is amazing. I get to see Utah Lake and the mountains in the west on one side and more mountains with snow on the east side of me. It was really amazing, the sun was getting close to setting, and there were a handful of people out running and riding. I did see my friend Shaun's wife while I was out, she was biking (and didn't recognize me). The run went quick, and I feel like I could have ran another 5 or 6 miles. My legs feel great and I look forward to what this week has offer in regards to running.

In regards to school, I have a fairly large assignment due Wednesday and need to start a painting that I need to bring with me to school. I have gotten a lot better at art this semester and have some plans to get even better over the summer. I will be taking a painting class and a figure drawing class.

It's time for me eat some food and work on my homework. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

4-5-14 The Long Run

So today I made it out around three. The weather was really nice, it was a bit breezy which helped to keep the sweat from pouring down my face until I reached the end and the sun was out, and no breeze. It was hard to keep my pace while sweat was out of control. My run today was a 10 miler and pick it up on the last three miles. I was supposed to run part of my half marathon route this morning, but that didn't happen, I ended up waking up an hour later than I needed to so I could run with the group.

Right now my IT band is all inflamed, and really bothering me. But I ran the whole run with it a little irritated, I hope I didn't damage it at all.

I wish I had more to say, but I have run out of words. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

4-4-14 I run, and food is a reward after today's run

So today is day 2 of 3 in running back to back. I had some issues getting out earlier week and am feeling it right now. My legs are feeling weak, and I just want to sit here and stare off into space.

My run was was really good run, i remembered my watch so I was able to turn around at the right point. I should have pushed for 6 miles, then I would have gotten all of my fartleks in, as it stands I missed most of my 5th one. I like fartleks because I feel a little more alive after those runs. If you have never done them, try this out, run at your normal pace for your warm up, then after you warm up, run harder for 3 minutes, run slower for 2 minutes and repeat it a couple of times. You may hate me during the run for suggesting it, but if you are anything like me you will really like how you fill afterward.

2 Weeks until the SLC half, I'm almost there, I am looking forward to see how much training with someone has helped. I have a date with my wife now, so have a good night!

-Riley

4-3-14 Running at the gym

Went to the gym to bust out 5 miles, with increasing speed for miles 3 & 4. It was a good run and I realized why I don;t like the treadmill. Brace yourselves... there is no variety to the pace you run. So I set the pace to 4.8 mph and run at that pace, it gets tedious. I am going to run outside the next two days to make up for this tedium!

Thanks for reading this little rant today, and have a great night!

-Riley