Marathon By 40

Not wanting to loose momentum, I’ve set sights on the next step towards a marathon. The Dallas Running Club is hosting the Walk, Wag, and Run - Run Your Tail Off 5K/10K for its members (of which I am now) on October 25th. That’s only 7 weeks to train, which isn’t quite as long as I would like. But, the next local 10k that I can find after isn’t until January; I’d rather not wait that long.

I’ll use the Podrunner 10k intervals plan which will take me to a full hour of running by the week of the race. I’ll likely walk or jog two days a week besides the plan to help loose weight beforehand.

Running twice as far as I did last race will be a challenge. I remember during the race just before finishing mile 3 thinking “why would anybody put themselves through this?” But I also remember how great it felt to finish, record a new personal best, and celebrate the accomplishment with my friends.

I’m taking Sundays off, but every other day of the week, let’s go run!

Just a public note to my self that I need to start my next training program on Monday (9/8). It’s hard for me to be motivated unless I’m on a specific schedule.

Therefore, I need to determine what distance I’ll try next (leaning towards upping to 10k) and which race/event/date I will plan for. This weekend I need to find time to search race calendars on the web, review 10k training plans, and select a good match for each.

Until then, keep running.

Wow! What an experience! This morning I completed my first official running event: The Labor Day 5k at White Rock Lake. I finished 9th out of 11 in my weight class. So while I wasn’t the slowest guy out there, I gave him a good race! I was also able to run a new PB (personal best) at 34:39 (a full 3 minutes faster than the practice 5k I ran 3 weeks earlier).

I was really thankful to have Mike (900 above), Keith (superstitious up-side down 13), and Arshaad (943) there running with me. Actually, they were running ahead of me. Mike won his age group (way to go, Mike!), Keith got 3rd in our weight group (I don’t think to qualify to run with us clydesdales anymore), and Arshaad ran 5th in his age group. So, job well done to each! All of them were waiting for me at the last 10th of a mile where the course turned from the road to the grass. Before I saw them, I felt like I was out of gas. But it was very encouraging to hear them cheering, and they helped me kick it up a notch or two for a final sprint. It was great to have them cheering and to share their company after the race. Congratulations on your great runs, guys.

Thank you also everyone who encouraged me with comments and emails. Making the goals public was another driving force to make sure I pushed through. Your support means a lot.

So, I’m now hooked. I’ve realized that if I have a goal and a plan, it’s possible to make significant progress. The race was a lot of fun, but this 5k is just the first step. There are many miles to go before my first marathon. I’m taking time this week to scour race calendars on the net and select my next event.

Let’s take a break from running to recover.

Links:

• My photos on Flickr
• Race results at ThrustonRacing.com
• “Official” photos at CelebratedImages.com

I tell runners to divide a race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart. - Mike Fanelli

My original motivation for running was fitness. I’m much heavier than I should be and was discouraged about getting winded more quickly than my kids. I wanted to loose weight and get fit. I’ve lost over 20 pounds since Christmas 2007, and I can probably run father now than I ever have before (sad state, but true). But, I’ve seen other benefits that I wasn’t anticipating.

Since my college days, it’s been very hard for me to wake up before the sunrise. Come to think of it, its often hard to get out of bed after sun-up as well. I’ve always been most mentally and physically active at night. I’ve wanted to become a morning person, but it hasn’t ever come naturally for me.

The 3-times weekly goal of keeping my running schedule is now motivating me to get up early (anywhere from 5:30am to 6am, depending on family schedule for the day), get out of bed, get my shoes on, and go. As soon as I am actually up out of bed, the rest comes relatively easily. Only once in over 100 workouts have I retreated back into bed after leaving the house before finishing my morning time or distance goal.

Being up that early, running through my neighborhood before the sun comes up has been a refreshing way to start the day. It’s rewarding to see the duck pond in the stillness of the dawn and to hear the roosters crowing from the little farm a few streets away. The mood and sense of the streets around my home are calm and comforting as they transition from darkness to the warm shades of the early morning. This morning I could hear the local high school drumline warm up with rudiments and paradiddles. It wasn’t just another welcome sign that football season is here. It was nostalgic to think back to when I was practicing beside my friends before school.

All of these external events have been in the neighborhood since well before we moved in. But I wasn’t able to experience any of it from the comfort of my own bed. Because I am out in the neighborhood instead of curled up under the covers I’m able to see, hear, smell, and touch all these things. Besides the larger goals of fitness or accomplishment of completing each small step on the way to a marathon, I’m able to enjoy more fully the area where I live.

If I keep this up, I might even turn into a real morning person.

How about you? What pleasure or benefits have you found while running that you weren’t expecting to find?

I tried a new music source for this morning’s run. Normally I listen to Robert Ullrey’s podcast series for the Couch to 5k program. Robert did a great job mixing music along with his own voice-overs reminding runners when to switch between the walking and running intervals. He would even chime in with encouragement when you only have a minute left on the day’s workout. Robert, thanks for the help as I worked my way from the couch to the ability to run a full 5k!

This week I was looking for something fresh to keep me alert as I prepare for my first event. I had heard of Podrunner before, and this was a perfect chance to give it try. DJ Steve Boyett has prepared several programs both for general workouts (the Podrunner series) and for interval training (Podrunner Intervals). For intervals he’s mixed “First Day to 5k” (follows same schedule as Couch to 5k), “Gateway to 8k” and “Freeway to 10k.” He provides a little chatter at the start of each track, but the cues for switching pace while running sound like the Tokyo Subway chimes. The cues are subtle without reminders of the duration for each, so make sure you know what your intervals are before you start if you’re interested in tracking only actual workout time (no warm-up or cool-down) on Nike+.

Overall, the quality of the music was great. It seemed like the music was sampled at high quality. And it was nice to hear something new while I ran. If you’re interested in new tunes for running, check it out.

Only two more workouts before the race. I hope to progress this week and peak on Monday.

Until then, let’s go run!

I’m registered and have sights on my first major milestone: to run a 5k race. I’ll be joining friends from work and college on September 1st to run in the Labor Day 15k & 5k Run at White Rock Lake.

As I mentioned earlier, I have run a 5k once before just over two weeks ago in a workout, but never before in an organized event. I’ve only run twice since then, taking a break over vacation and missing a day last week due to rain.

This week I’ll be running the Couch to 5k week 6 intervals to work my way up to running the full distance again.

I’ve got to make sure I get all three workouts in this week if I want to have a chance to beat my practice time.

Are you in Dallas or close by? Have you been thinking about running in a local event? Come on out! You can register this week online, at Run On! or even on-site race day. I hope to see you there.

Until then, let’s go run!

So, I decided it would be a great over-arching goal to run a marathon by the time I’m 40. What would be the best way to break that up into smaller goals?

Considering I haven’t run in any organized race before, I’m starting with smaller events and will work my way up to the ultimate goal:

• 5k & 10k race at age 38
• Half-Marathon at age 39
• Marathon at age 40

Spreading these events out over the next 2 and half years provides measured steps to take me from couch potato to marathon runner. Each year I have a goal that’s an achievable step.

Earlier this month, I completed the “Couch to 5k” from Cool Running using Robert Ullrey’s Podcast series to coach me through it. I had tried this program a few times in the past, but never had the determination to make it all the way through. Once I decided this was a step towards the larger goal of a marathon by age 40, and that time wasn’t slowing down, I was motivated enough to press all the way through running 3 times a week over the program’s nine week span. At the end, I ran my first complete 5k workout in 37′46″. So, I’m not the fastest man in the world, but it was probably the first time in my life that I had gone that far in a single run.

It felt great! I was able to look back and see how the incremental training over the previous nine weeks had taken me from getting winded on a short run around the soccer field to being able to run over three miles. It was a small taste of what I can accomplish if I use a measured plan and stick to it.

So, I’m ready for my first event, which I’ll write more about in the next post.

Until then, let’s go run!