Half-Marathon

Time for another update it seems!

Jenelle sent me a txt on Thursday saying that the trainer at the Y told her to take a week off to recover from some knee problems. The thing about running is that you're always in pain and always trying to recover. Luckily she can still do the bike and swim to keep her legs going and not loose a week of training, which translates in 2 weeks of gains.

Friday morning I ran pretty good 7.5 miles and I felt like I had enough gas left to continue on for another few miles and finally reach the half marathon distance. I have been running for almost 10 months and I had yet to hit that point so it was a pretty good goal to have.

After work on Friday we went to the Outback for the happy hour special which means buy one get one beers. I told everyone I was only have two but I caved and had three. I figured I needed to get some carbs, right? I left the Outback and headed home and had a pasta and chicken dinner to get some fuel for Saturdays long run.

I had plans to go to the Griz game so I woke up at 6:30, had a few crackers and set out on my usual route. I made it to the half-way point at a 8:15/mile pace and stepped it up to a 7:30/mile pace for the next mile and fell back into a 8:20/mile pace for the remainder. It felt like I was slowing down by a huge margin as I closed in on the final miles but according to the Nike+ website I was consistent through the whole run. Final time was about 1 hour 45 mins ish. Which oddly enough puts me on pace to qualify for the Boston marathon for a 3 hour 30 minute finish time and we still have 132 days of training.

I finished with the run and took a slow cool down walk around the neighborhood and my legs felts like jello. I got back to my house and took an ice bath for about 5 minutes to calm the swelling in my legs and relaxed for about a half hour, took a shower and made a breakfast burrito with plenty of eggs and meat to fuel the recovery of burning 1700 calories in an hour and 45 minutes. The human body is an amazing machine.

We went to the Griz game, watched about 8 minutes of live action and the rest of the time was spent in the tailgate area. We got there a bit late so that was fine with me. I was exhausted and home by 10:30pm and in bed by 10:35.

Sunday was a recovery day to say the least. I could hardly move because of my calves. I blame it on the lack of post-run stretching and drinking all afternoon. After a big day of Ashley Furniture store, Bed Bath and Beyond (you know, big weekend stuff) and cleaning the house I was done for the day.

Today (Monday) I felt 100% better and after work I went to the Gym II because it was pouring down rain. I ran 4.5 miles to loosen up, did a bit of weight work and a core workout and called it a day.

Tomorrow morning seems like a good plan for a run as I have to go to Butte for work tomorrow and I'll be back late I'm sure.

Arrivederci!

Butte Training

I had to work in Butte again on Wednesday afternoon / Thursday so I packed up my running gear and headed over after being there the previous Thursday - Sunday. I think I've spent more time there in the past two weeks than the past 9 months but its home and the high altitude training is great.

Tuesday night is our family's once a month pizza night with the whole clan so since I was in town I made my way there after work with plans to run at 8. I had a small salad and a few pieces of pizza and tried to digest as much as I could. We left and I headed for the trail to get a quick 5 miler in.

This was our first experience with night running and I slowed my pace to keep closer contact with Jenelle (even though after about 20 yards I couldn't see her). I had a great run but we both decided we needed flashlights for more night runs.

I had to take my father to the airport at 5:30am the next morning (today) and after I got back I figured I might as well do something constructive so I went for another 5 mile run after about 5 hours of sleep. It got me energized for the morning but right now I am dead tired, sitting at Johnny Carinos waiting for some friends and drinking a well deserved Blue Moon.

Cheers!

First Post!

I'm writing this blog in an attempt to keep myself motivated during the training program for the Surf City marathon that Jenelle and I will be running in on Febuary 1st. The marathon is in Huntington Beach, CA so it will be a nice vacation during the winter.

We came up with the idea one Saturday when we were sitting around talking about the Nike+ and how it tracked my runs. We initially were going to do a run in Dallas in December but realized that it would be to soon for the training we needed. Jenelle looked at other marathons, found the Surf City and conviently enough I know someone who lives nearby.

We've been doing a pretty good job of training and I've been running consistenly since my ACL surgery so I have a bit of an edge on Jenelle but she is making huge progress. The only trouble I have is our 2 drink maximum, but i'm sure that will improve with time.

Here's to a new adventure.