7-31-13 BLT the Near Perfect Food

It's been one of those days where my mind isn't anywhere productive. I headed out close to noon for my run, and could only must 15 minutes of nonstop running. I think that may be due to setting the incline on the treadmill to random, and going up and down more than I am use to. Never the less I didn't make it to my goal time for the day. So tomorrow I will aiming for double... just kidding I will be aiming for 2 miles of running which at my current pace is 25-27 minutes. Then I will walk until I reach 2.5 miles, and run my last half mile (theoretically putting me in 3 miles under 40 minutes).

Time wise I need to be running 30 minutes non stop by August 17th. Since my week of training before the 17th is at sea level it may be easier to reach that goal.

With the issue I have been having with breathing, to help resolve it I am going to be taking a treadmill test next Thursday (which is my last day of school).

Over the past 2 months I have been eating BLT's at an alarming rate. It's been very tasty. The local grocery store sells precooked bacon from their butcher for really cheaper than the regular brands. So reheated bacon, grandma sycamores wheat bread, red leaf lettuce and tomatoes still on the vine with Best Foods mayo, a dash of salt and pepper. I could eat that meal multiple times a week (and I am recently).

So a recap for the remainder of the week:

Tomorrow: The goal is 2 miles without stopping at 4.7 mph and no incline, but totaling 3 miles in preparation for my 5k.

Saturday: Run my 5k at 8:15am. Finish by 8:55 am.

Next Week on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Saturday: The goal is 25 minutes running, 5 minute walk, run until I reach 3 miles.

On the 12th I will be doing my first early morning run before I fly out to St. Louis.

Thank you for following my blog.

7-29-13 Epiphanies Can Be Hard

My run today. I bumped my speed on the treadmill up to 4.8 today thinking that it wouldn't be much more of a challenge. I did the 4.7 without a care in the world last week, but that was then and this is today. Two things were different today than last time that I need to adjust. I need to start the run the night before by envisioning success, and ease of performance. The second thing was to stretch more effectively. My right Achilles is bothering me a little. But all that aside it was a decent run. As you can see I went 3.5 miles, the first 15 minutes I made it running non stop then I took a minute break then ran up to 22 minutes.

Mile #1: 13 min 05 sec

Mile #2: 13 min 40 sec

Mile #3: 15 min 00 sec

Last Half Mile: 10 min 15 sec

Last night I had an epiphany, I wish it would have stuck with me as I ran. The epiphany was I don't have to limit myself running to the times listed on the training schedule. It made a lot of sense to me then and it makes sense to me now. The trick will be to get my mind, lungs and legs to get along with each other.

Wasatch Wellness Run
I will be running my first 5k this Saturday. My goal is to run at my steady pace until I finish, and not be the last person across the finish line. This run I am not that worried about because I am already going the distance of the race. My personal desire is to finish in under 40 min. Which I know I can do.

Provo Halloween Half Marathon
On October 26th is the biggest half marathon in Utah. Right now I am considering running this. It falls on the day of one of 16 mile training days, so I need to figure out how to work that into my training schedule if I decide to do it.

Well I'll ramble more come Wednesday.

Until then!

7-27-13 Insert Witty Title Here

My run was on only 40 minutes today and only 26 of that was my steady pace to keep my breathing in check, and 20 of that was my first 1.5 miles that I ran without stopping! My mileage is at 2.86 because I didn't want to start my running over after I started on my cool down. I am setting my run time to 35 minutes next time so I can get my whole distance in.

This run started on my drive home from Salt Lake Last night. I was starting to ask myself if I could really run for 20 minutes without stopping, and it came down to me saying to myself, "Self shut up you're running 20 minutes without stopping tomorrow!" It was a self pep talk every time I though of my running today. I just kept saying I was going to run 20 minutes every time I started thinking about it.

It was a good run today, I feel good about it. I am not pushing my speed very hard for two reasons, one is I am afraid of what my upcoming stress test will reveal. Two I just increased my continuous run time from 15 to 20 minutes. My next two 20 minute runs I will push up by .1 mph on the treadmill. I did 4.7 mph today, which allowed me two 0:13:00 miles consecutively. The rest of the time was just working towards my distance without much pushing. I should have paid attention to my time a little better so I could get that 3rd mile finished.

So here's my training schedule this week:

Monday: Mid Day Run 3.2 miles (Aiming for under 40 minutes) 20 minutes of that will be at a 4.8 mph pace, 5 minutes will be a rest, then I will finish of my 5k running.

Wednesday: Mid Day Run 3.2 miles (Aiming for under 40 minutes) 20 minutes of that will be at a 4.9 mph pace, 5 minutes will be a rest, then I will finish of my 5k running.

Thursday: Mid Day Run 3.2 miles (Aiming for under 40 minutes) 25 minutes of that will be at a 4.7 mph pace, 5 minutes will be a rest, then I will finish of my 5k running.

Saturday: Wasatch Wellness 5k. I will run, until I can't keep track my watch my split times, to make sure I am within a pace I can handle. Finish the 5k and beam with the joy of doing something I have never done before.

My goal running time wise is to be able to run for 30 min without stopping before I start my real training. I have enough time to get there without an issues. My personal goal is to be able to run 3 miles without stopping by the time I get to my short and long runs.

So what was it like when you you did your first 5k? You'll find out about mine next Saturday!

A reminder why

I reread my title for my last post and realized I neglected writing what I really needed, a reminder as to why I am running.

I am doing this to change my personal family tree. My wife and I want to have kids, and if I keep up being unhealthy and over weight I run serious risks of not being there for my wife and our future family. When I do this I am going to establish myself as an active healthy man, I will serve as an example to my family. I hope what I am doing will help other people who are like me.

I am doing this as much for myself as I am for my future family. Or as my wife said on of the many times I started working out, "Do it for the babies!"

7-25-13 A Rough Day

I dislike days like today quite a bit, I've been frustrated most of the day. I didn't get enough sleep last night. My calves hurt... But it doesn't matter.

My run today was shorter, I should have just pushed the last 6 minutes and ran making it to my 3 miles. I did run two 14 minute miles which was good. I am not as afraid of my 5k on the third right now. As I get closer to my half marathon training distance I am considering signing up for a half. My thought process is to get in more actual race experience before the big day, I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not.

With the breathing issue I got a call from my Doctors office and he wants me to do a stress test to check my heart out in conjunction with my shortness of breath. I want to just ignore the call but it's getting to me some, I need to rule out heart problems and just count it off as trying to run faster than I am able to handle.

Saturday I will be doing a 20 minute run, 5 minute walk, then a 5 minute walk until I reach 3.2 miles.

Well it's time to eat.

7-24-13 Starting to Have Fun

So here I am again, you've not gotten rid of me just yet (not that you'd want to I am just a ball of excitement). I thought I would include my new shoes being worn as my picture today. I am a big fan of Altra shoes by the way. I sport a size 14 running shoe and my foot is wide as well, so Altra has a wide toe box and allows my meta tarsals to spread out (which feels really nice). When I was trying to decide which shoes to get I did try a lot of various shoes. The only reason I think I am able to do the zero drop is because I wore a pair for almost a year before I started my training.

Right now I have started to follow some blogs on running and am going to try to implement things like controlling the intake of gels, beans, etc... when I get to runs that are over 2 hours. I did find a post about proper hydration for big runners. I tried it today as I ran and it helped a lot, between 15-20 minutes drink 5 to 12 oz. water. But I have been reading things that I have no idea about it, like compression socks or those arm sleeves. It's been entertaining reading a lot of the things that float out there on the internet. I have also found a couple of guys who have done something similar to what I am. That was encouraging.

Alright so here's the results of my run today.
3 miles at a 13:30 average pace, mile 1 was 12:34.00, mile 2 was 14:26.00 the last mile was 13:00.00 even. My last .25 was my cool down. Breathing wise, I struggled for the first part, and had to slow down a couple of times to regain my breath. All things considered today was a successful run.

So I am improving and liking the feeling after running.

Have Fun!

7-22-13 Breathing Is Good

 Today I was grinning as I was running. I hit 3 big goals today. I ran 1 mile in 12:30 sec, then continued running until I hit 15 minutes of continuous running. After 5 minutes I started running again, all together I ran for around 2 miles. After I hit 1 mile of continuous running I was smiling so much I could see my reflection in the mirror in front of me. Then to add to it I went my first 5k distance. I understand a little that desire to run the last distance out of joy.

The 3 Accomplishments

1. Ran 1 mile non stop
2. Ran 15 min non stop
3. Logged a total of 3.2 miles in one session

 I went to the Doctor today and received a Spiromentry to check for asthma. I found out that my small bronchial tubes are narrow. What that means is... um... the doctor will let me know exactly what tomorrow. But I did take some asthma medicine the nurse had me breath for 8 minutes. I really think that helped with being able to breath through running today. I only felt winded when I was in my second phase of running.

Thanks For Reading,
Riley

PS: I signed up for the Wasatch Wellness 5k on August 3rd.