Butt Muscle...

I have chiropractors dream going on in my lower back/butt. I hurt my lower back doing concrete last summer. It wasn't a big issue until I started logging more miles in preparation for the TC Marathon. Now It spread down to my Butt. It doesn't bother when I am running. Its after that it really hurts, and especially when I am in the process of sitting down. During my last long run this AM it sent tightness up to my upper back and rib cage.

There are a few things I am going to try. I need to taper a lot more for this race, and especially to help the injury mend a bit. I need to see a chiropractor. I never have... and this feels like a perfect situation for a professional to do some work.

I want to do some really fast shorter runs in the next 2 weeks, and then take the last 5 days off with a few jogs. I NEED TO NAIL 2:50!

Twin Cities round 2

Thanks to World Vision in Minneapolis I was able to sign up for the TCM 2011. Registration closed but they still had some left,,, so here we go again. I told myself that I wouldn't do this one again because my last experience was a grueling sweat fest.

There were 2 things that changed my mind.... The 1st was that I ran the first 10 miles of the race last year with no bib, just biked up to the beginning locked my bike up and hoped in with all the runners. Obviously this is not legit, but had I not done that I wouldn't have given them $100 bucks this year. It was one of the most enjoyable ten milers I've done and I averaged a 6 minute mile. The 2nd thing is training has just been going so well. I've been doing a 20 miler once a week and probably putting in close to 50 miles a week... SOLIDLY!

With those 2 things and the hunger for the redemption of my local race, I think I can pound out this course in 2:50. GOD willing!!!!!

Fargo Marathon 2011

I have mixed feelings on the results of this years marathon. First off during the packet pick-up I was supposed to see some Pictures of me and some of the other guys in the "add campaign", but they failed to use us at all in there "add campaign". The only picture I kept seeing were the same one they use for absolutely everything, which is a group of people running by the theater in downtown Fargo. I mean its a good picture for the front page of the Fargo Forum the day after it's taken but putting the picture in every piece of advertisement for the entire year is a bit extreme. But maybe I am just vain and wanted to see a picture of myself on a poster. Or maybe the pictures were total crap and they didn't have the heart to tell me.

Secondly... I thought this marathon has been so so organized in the past. Why take what is working so well and completely change it? What I mean is the course structure, and timing elements were so flipped around and changed this year that it was the first year that I'll think twice before doing the Fargo again. All that I want to say is if one more half-marathoner lazily jogs up in front of me to get there ice cold beverage at the aid station, AND THEN comes to a complete stop to take a long slow drink of the refreshing liquid, then I may just start sacking some people.

BUT for all the failures at the race I got a PR, so nothing even matters after that. That is the only thing that I will remember. Life moves forward when you PR. Thanks Fargo!

Hard Labor is for youngsters!! And the birds!

I finally realized last summer that I wasn't invincible. I mean as a young runner I definitely have had a few good doses of shin splints, but outside of that I've had no issues with my body failing. Last summer I did a lot of extra concrete work on the side and I really tore up my lower back. It still aches 1 year later. My wife says that something is out of alignment, so maybe Ill go see a chiropractor?? I wish the new owners of my Jamba had given me some descent options for health insurance, but I basically have nothing. Maybe It'll get better, I hoped it would be good for the marathon, but I did some concrete work for my dad a week ago that wreaked havoc all over again.

We'll have to settle for the strength that the good Lord will give me!!

I want to keep this blog going, cause it really does help organize my thoughts on running. But stay tuned because my next blog is an interesting story about my new boss and our plans on a Jamba 5k near the lakes next summer!

New Jobs......etc

A month ago I started work at another Jamba Juice in Minneapolis. It's actually a perfect store. Its in a whole foods, and most my clients are real focused on health. I sell a ton of carrot juice and Wheatgrass. Its fun to be in that area... the lakes and minneapolis trails are all right there. If I didn't have to go pick up the kids at daycare after work I would be running there a few times a week. Its about 7 mile run from my house and its all on the parkway trails and around Lake Harriet and Calhoun. Occasionally though I'll run after work around Lake Calhoun which is around 3 miles. I have had some issues transitioning to this new store, and that coupled with a not so good month of March I have not gotten out on my long runs as much. By now with a month and a half before the race I should have been out on at least 3 or 4 runs of 15 miles or more. The longest runs I have gotten in this winter are 10-12 miles.

This years Fargo I am not going to shoot for a PR, but I am planning on using it as a good training run for the Medtronic TCM in the fall. I got super pumped up for the the Twin Cities Marathon last year, because I jumped in a with the pack about a block from the start and ran to my house on Chicago which I think is about the 11 mile mark. It was the best I felt on run since. I wanted to run the entire race, but I got worried that someone would tackle me off the course!! Obviously running a race you do not have entry for isn't very appropriate, but it did inspire me to run the TCM again. These new jobs and distractions in my running schedule have been tough, but I really am shooting for a PR and it would be great to do it in a hometown race. Especially since that 07 marathon's heat killed my enthusiasm shooting for a 2:50 Marathon.

No matter what though I am sure the Fargo will be a fun race, and I am really excited about it!

Ill with a dose of winter camping

Oh jeeezz! Its time to really start ramping up the training for the Fargo. I not only got deathly sick, but also went winter camping in the boundary waters. After I got back from winter camping I started a new job. I have had a strong dose of disorganization in my life... If that is not enough we continue to get pummeled with snow which is covering my trails. ugh!! All that to say that if I dont start putting in at least one 13+ run in a week I am not gonna be going for a PR. Please be a nice spring. I need Miles!

Nevermore!

On Sunday Mornings you can run wherever you want. I feel like it's a secret.. If you go out early enough on Sundays you have the cities completely to yourself. It's a perfect day for long runs. There is a 10 mile route that I just started doing, and the only problem is that I have to run on Chicago ave for 2 miles (one of the busier side roads in Mpls. ) On freezing cold winter mornings at 5 am when everything is frozen over I choose to run on the oncoming traffic side of the road. When a car comes I just switch sides. I noticed that I started to hate concentrating on not slipping the whole run. Plus at that time of day there is virtually nobody up yet, so it is actually very nice.

The payoff I got this morning for being up before daybreak was a about 20,000 crows on the trees and in the sky along the trail. I was scared that i was going to get my poor eyeballs plucked! I don't know if it was a payoff but it was a site!! The sound was intense. Why birds don't just go hang out somewere in woods? We wont ever know.

Options are good!

Today I brought my bag of cold weather running gear to Jamba Juice. The babysitter can keep the kids until 5pm without extra charges. It does lend me a new oppurtunity that I haven't had in years. I can run after work without leaving my wife to tend to the kids another hour. It helps when my phone says its sub-zero I can make the decision while laying in bed to "run after work". It really opens up some doors. I mean it can only be a 30 to 40 minute run.. tops. I get off at 4pm drive over to the target parking lot. Where I work i am surrounded by the busiest freeways in mpls. There are lots of frontage roads and overpasses I have to navigate. But i found parking in the target parking lot which is a half mile from Jamba Juice eliminates 50% of the navigation. The loop I do drops me into some wooded roads and down in the marshes of Minnetonka. Really it ends up being one of my nicer routes after I get off the frontage road and the trail by the freeway. I feel a little odd going to get the kids in my running clothes, because they are the last ones there, and I know the babysitter has been pretty much waiting for me to get done with my run. I guess I pay her till 5 though. The option is just nice!!

"Running is bad for the knees!"

But he had to quit because his knees are wrecked.(yeah yeah this happens occasionally to people, it could happen to me) I don't get why people try to fashion different excuses for not sweating. I have a great idea... lets not run because we may ruin our knees. instead.. lets get overweight and outta shape, then wreck our knees from our extra burdenssss!

Who knows the best answer, all I know is number 1: you can't lose weight and get in shape from walking around a mall with trekking poles.. ha ha ha. Number 2 you CAN NOT GET IN SHAPE UNLESS YOU SWEAT, WORK HARD, DO SOMETHING THAT HURTS. And NO you don't have the right to not run because, "running is bad for your knees!"

2011 Fargo Climate

Are you hoping for 40 degrees and sunny like I am for the Fargo Marathon? I am!! The first year of the Fargo Marathon was perfect. It was like 30 degrees, and I can't remember if it was cloudy or sunny?? Then I skipped the 2nd year and ran it the 3rd. The 3rd year was nice and cool, but it was very windy. I don't feel the wind affected my performance since I did PR!! Then I skipped a few years more and ran it last year. I ran a race called the bridge to bridge bash one hot day in the summer of 08. I did well and my prize was a free entry to the Fargo. I ended up missing that one, so I asked the race director if I could redeem it for the 2010 race. I did and that race was my favorite. If you ran the Fargo last year you remember the torrents of rain at the start of the race. I was a little on edge at the beginning thinking of a soggy shoe race. But a few miles after the gun the rain subsided and we got some nice weather. I actually thought for anyone running longer that 3 hour marathon, they might have some heat. It was an even run, I kept my head the whole way and even had some kick left at the end. It was a blast and I am just totally pumped for 2011. I want that 40 degree crisp/calm sunny day. The kind of marathon where you need light gloves but short sleeves. It gets me excited thinking about that possibility... actually I think Ill just make the prediction right now, and I think we deserve it --- putting up with this nasty winter.

Who am I even talking to? I don't have one person following this blog. Myself I guess>> Shoulder shrug.

Partner?

Boy I would love to know what it's like to run with a partner again. The only running partner I ever had was my first year of running in 2000. I have not ran with someone (at my pace) since. It's lonely but also I don't know any other way.
When I see a runner up in front of me, and then I notice that I am not gaining on him, its great! There has been a few times I just asked the person once I caught up to them, if they run in this area a lot. Usually I feel really desperate and I think they thought the same thing. I have thought about running groups with some of the local running stores in the area?

I know that some day I'll meet a great running partner. I just gotta do some local runs... That would help? Maybe that's my New Years Resolution. This year I will try to find one person to run with at least once a week. Someone who can push me!!! If anyone reads this and has any good ideas just let me know.

OR.. I may be a lone runner the rest of my life:(. My inspiration will be Forrest Gump!

Train?

I love the simplicity of running. I have never been one to believe in elaborate training plans. In my opinion if you want to better your performance, grab a PR, or start running - Just run more! That's the nice thing about running is there's not some mystery or science behind it. All you need to do is run! I have seen so many crazy running styles, runners will pass me and I can't comprehend how they do it with legs flailing all over. But they do... It's not form as much as just doing it.
I guess Runners World gives me guidance at times. I definitely get motivation from hearing about other runners and watching other runners. I bet there are a lot of great programs.... but so many people think they need to leap through all these hoops to be able to run. I think more people should sign up for a 5k, then run it, or walk it. Set a small goal, then another, and after each race set another goal for yourself. Never going without goals has helped me tremendously.

The greatest thing I have learned about training is listening to your body. Take off your watch and your ideals about how fast you should run a route/race. Listen to what your body is saying - then adjust your pace accordingly. Although making time goals helps me stay motivated, and know how I am excelling. In last years Fargo it was my most fulfilling race because I was completely in tune with my body. I would draft runners that kept me at a comfortable pace, even when I really wanted to pass I wouldn't. Then when I felt the pace was slacking I would go around, if the pace picked up too much I would let them go. That kind of racing kept me way more confident on race day. I was trying to stick with a pace that someone else dictates, but what my body wanted.

Keep it simple as a beginner runner! Ignoring complexities is what has helped me really love running, NOW it's not a job.

Running as a lifestlye

When a friend and I decided to run the Grandma's Marathon in 2001, I was a freshman in college. After registering we got a notice stating that the race was full. Now what?? Well instead of spending a day running the marathon, we biked from Washington state to New York and raised over $10,000 for a missionary in Argentina. That summer we began a group that would go on to bike through dozens of countries and raise thousands of dollars each year to help a hurting world. Personally I discovered who I was through all that biking every summer. I still bike occasionally in the summer...recreationally, but I run all the time. I have gone on to run 6 marathons and a full Ironman. All because I met the right guy in college and we had a dream together. Running really has inspired my entire life. When I finish a marathon I immediately make plans for the next. I don't give myself a break and I try not make excuses to stay home and not run. I appreciate all those marathoners out there, but I hope that they don't just do it to check it off. I hope it becomes a lifestyle!! We keep signing up for races in our community, getting together with other runners, and treating running as a lifestyle - as therapy! AND thanking God that he has given us the strength to run.

I phone says -17 degrees....

Luckily I was dressed before I looked at my phone this morning. I woke up for a 5 am run, and spent till 530 getting all my running gear on. When I was deciding between the turtle fur neck warmer or my full face cover I decided to take a look to see how cold it was......-17 degrees. Well it may not be healthy to run in those conditions, but I am definitely stronger mentally for running anyway. Next time it's a flat zero out there, Ill be cozy as a bakery at thanksgiving!

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Start Right!

Started out the day with an 8 mile loop that takes me around Lake Harriet in Mpls. During the winter when its -5 degrees with a full moon.... I have to say I liked it. I thought a lot this morning during the run. About how I am excited about the Fargo Marathon. Being part of the ad campaign and starting this blog. I really hope it keeps me motivated to get out there and run. I have 2 kids and my wife Annie and I are working 50 plus hours a week. Annie will be putting in 60 hour weeks for the next few months... I need ways to stay motivated. I'll keep finding ways to fit a run in my day, because running makes my life WAY better. Running surely is the best diet anyone can put themselves on, and probably the most natural:). Nothing clears my head more than a long run, I guess I don't know what running doesn't fix. Sooo DON'T sleep a little longer, RUN!