May 29. Some Rest and Running

I literally could not lift my legs the day after the 13.2 miles on Sunday so I took an unscheduled day off.  Have mercy I needed that.  I can only imagine how my body is going to feel on nov 5 if it hurt this bad after 13.2.  Well I got my run back on monday and busted off a 4.5 mile run.  I hurt pretty bad but I finished it in a respectable (by my standards) time.  Today, tuesday was a "speed" run along with my 1st weekly 5 mile run.  I wanted to impress so I did break off a nice solid pace and finished it in about 48ish minutes.  This was an obstacle.  Overcoming a fair amount of pain and mental exhaustion.  Its still May.  The race is in November.  Ugh.

Distance:	5.00 mi
Time:	47:33
Avg Pace:	9:30 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	353 ft
Calories:	626 C

May 26. Lets just do a half real quick

Sleeping on the couch doesnt provide much comfort for a long run the next day, but that was the case as I seem to wake everyone up at 5:00am otherwise.  Well that sucked, because everyone was up anyway.  Whatever.  My goal today was to just frikin run.  I didnt care how far how long or how far, I just wanted to run.  Today I saw an awesome dude in my youth group going to graduation.  Just a great kid.  I didnt see much else, other than the same group leaving for carowinds.  I had no gummy gu's today.  I only had some gatorade and a banana before the run but have mercy the energy was limitless.  I'm pretty sure I could have run another 10-15 miles before I just passed out, but I stopped. I stopped at 13.19.  Thats a 1/2 dang marathon.  I can put a 13.1 sticker on my car now, no?    2 months ahead of schedule.  Not to shabby for a 220 lb dude who couldnt run a 5k in under 46 minutes 5 months ago.  I think I'm going to start tapering these runs off a little now.  I've gained the confidence I CAN do this, now I just need to keep the feet and knees able.

Distance:	13.19 mi
Time:	2:24:59
Avg Pace:	10:55 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	899 ft
Calories:	1,498 C

May 18-21 CHAOS

Since we last spoke, TONS has happened in the quest for 26.  Thursday, the Mighty Mighty Purps were destroyed, again, however the beatdown did allow me to runa bout 42 miles in the outfield.  So tired.  Friday, I tried something different.  I took the day off.  It.  Was.  AMAZING.  Saturday Was the big scheduled 9 mile but hoping for 11 mile run.  Beautiful day, but I accidentally woke up the girls.  That did not go over well at all.  My bad.  Saturday was the 1st time with the new watch on a long run.  It was cool, except it cut off on me.  Twice.  That sucked, however it caused me to run 12.24 miles instead of 11. I felt great though! WOW did I feel good.  I wasnt even remotely tired after that run.  Sunday, 4 miles in under 39 minutes.  New record.  Monday, day off but I also paid for the NY trip.  On a credit card though.  Give me money.

May 17. Whats that smell?

so 2 days in a row I've had SIGNIFICANT pain in the balls of my feet.  It hurt so bad I dang near stopped running tonight.  Also a trend is that if its humid, I suck.  Shirt was drenched about 2 miles in on top of the foot pain.  Then at the end of mile 2 I ran all up on a dang skunk.  A SKUNK!  I didnt know if I should pass it or run behind it or what. The skunk was running only about 10-15 yards in front of me and ended up going the same route I needed to so I had to cut my 2nd mile on the track about 300 yard short to avoid the skunk.   Stupid skunk.
2nd day in a row that I refused to hydrate or eat well prior to the run.  This pain is concerning though.  Unlike the old ankle pains, this one gets worse as the run progresses.  I may take 2 days off before my big 11 miler on Saturday.

Distance:	4.01 mi
Time:	39:09
Avg Pace:	9:45 min/mi
Elevation Gain:	113 ft
Calories:	556 C

May 15. Stupid Watch

I tried out my super fantastic new garmin gps watch today.  I was too dang focused on that stupid thing instead of the actual task at hand.  Its a neat little doodad though, plenty of stats and such.  I did bust off 4.5 miles in under 44 minutes though, which is better than a 10 minute mile.  I was not hydrated and had not eaten anything and that is a definite no no.  I struggled.  Mightily.  Probably could have hit a 9.5 mm had I properly prepared.  The realization is starting to set in on how overwhelming this whole thing is though.  Despite the fact that I have dang near 6 months left to train, I'm starting to get really nervous.

May 14. It was a good day

Day off today but I got LOTS of positive donations to my Crowdrise Donation site today.  LOTS. And I am grateful.  Also, my garmin gps watch came in today.  This should help me keep a better pace and know how far I've gone and such.  Saturday was a disaster avoided only because I had no idea how far I had gone at any given time.  No more!  The watch should help.
Also of note, my ankle barely hurt at all today.  That was nice

May 13. Its raining its pouring

Not ideal weather today as it was pouring down rain.  That and I'm still pretty tired from yesterday wasnt the ideal situation for the last run of the week.  Still I knocked it out in about 40 minutes.  Just a long day. Not a good day. Here's to next week being less stressful.
Weather:  Rainy
Time 41 minutes
Distance 4.06 miles

May 12. Mixed emotions

It was cooolllldddd this am.  45 ish degrees.  I had mentally prepared to the best of my ability to move into the double digits today.  Despite the scheduled 9 miles, I wanted 10 and I wanted it in 2 hours. Banana/honey for breakfast and a gatorade/gummy gu and I'm off.  The initial pace was crazy slow, dang near 12 mpm but I knew it was going to be a long morning so I wanted to keep the pace right at 11mpm.  The only initial obstacle was this huge frikin hill there next to the school  It was physically painful but I nailed it and kept on my way.  From that point forward I felt amazing...until I made the realization that yeah, I'm going to get 10 miles in today and I'm going to feel great but a marathon is 26.2 miles.  Thats 16 more miles than  ran today.  Sixteen.  That means I would have to do the same course I did today, TWO TIMES, and then run 6.2 miles on top of that.  That has me thoroughly depressed today.  Plus I'm tired.  I need to go to bed now.
Time:  5:45
Weather:  Cold. Clear
Distance 10.06 miles
Pre Game food: banana, honey, 1/3 power bar, gummy gu, gatorade
Time:  1 hour 50ish minutes.

May 10 and 11 HERD UP!!

I'm starting to get lazy with this blogging thing.  Lets see, May 10 was consumed with the revitalization of the Mighty Purple Herd!  Read about that HERE.  I did get in about 2.75 miles behind my place of business.  Cars dont care.  They drive right at you.  Cars dont care!  This was the 3rd day in a row that I was averaging a sub 10 minute mile.  Thats my new goal for my weekly short runs in hopes that it will make my longer runs more tolerable.
On Thursday I did the 4.5 mile "crawl" where the goal was to run a slow easy approx 11 minute mile for 45 miles.  I did feel tremendous but i'm getting pretty tired of the potheads taking over my starting gate.  Thats frustrating.  They should go elsewhere instead of a park where kids play.  /endrant

Tomorrow (Saturday) is a HUGE day.  I'm only scheduled to run 8.5 but I really want to bust off 10.  5:30 in the am.  I feel ready.  If my left ankle will hold up I got this.

May 8 and May 9...Lets go fast(ish)

Coming off the day off I'm usually slow, out of breath and sad.  NOT TODAY SUCKERS!  I was burning rubber or what not.  Felt great, only a slight pain in the ankle and heel.   The weather was even humid.  Then a repeat of that the following night (tonight) but it was a little chilly.  Here are some things that I've seen in the last 2 days:  A van that I outran on foot down mainstreet. A family of 4 smoking pot at the bridge.  A tree reach out and grab my iphone OUT of my arm band.  Two guys stopped in the middle of the road in a strong warm embrace.

May 8:
Run Time: 40:18

Stopped Time: 0:00

Distance: 4.07 miles

Average: 9:55 /mile

Fastest Pace: 9:06 /mile

Ascent: 104 feet

Descent: 90 feet

Calories: 624

May 9:

Run Time: 32:30

Stopped Time: 0:00

Distance: 3.53 miles

Average: 9:12 /mile

Fastest Pace: 8:26 /mile

Ascent: 45 feet

Descent: 34 feet

Calories: 541

May 7. Oh the sweet relief rest brings

I will say this..i'm NOT enjoying days off right now.  Running is my crack.  That said, the ole heel and ankle needs this pretty bad.  Jana made some 'sketti.  Its so good.  I've gained 5.5lbs since Friday.  Thats not good.

May 6. Nothing Special

Not much going on today...Church in the am then run when Jana gets home. It was the last day of the run week and I got in over a mile more than the projected goal. The heat turns up a little bit next week. Lets go!
Weather: 83 degrees but not humid
Time: 2:30
Pre Game Meal: Tomato Soup and some turkey/cheese/pickle/bananapepper sandwiches
Clothes: MW socks, MW shirt, Hat, Shoes
Course: Elkin Downtown
Stats: Run Time: 35:25
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 3.58 miles
Average: 9:53 /mile
Fastest Pace: 8:39 /mile
Ascent: 88 feet
Descent: 87 feet
Calories: 616

May 5. Busiest day EVER

5:00 am was the wake up call for the longest scheduled run to date.  I was SO dang jacked for this.  I picked up a new pair of moisture wicking socks and a moisture wicking shirt at Fleet Feet.  Out the door by about 5:30am but no gas stations or Food Lion open! what?  I did find a quick stop open and hooked myself up with a gatorade and a banana for breakfast. Delicious.  I also decided to park at the church this day for a whole new route.  This route was AWESOME! It was ALL up hill except for the two monster downhill stretches.  I popped in a Gu Gummy at mile 2 and mile 7 and I gotta say they worked.  I felt better this run that the last long run.  Coulda probably ran 5 or 6 more miles to be completely honest, but we had a trip planned to Carowinds today so I cut it off at 8.67.  Let me say this, running this early in the am is majestic.  Running while the sun rising is nothing short of amazing.  Its awesome be up this early running while God starting his day.
Weather:  68 degrees and perfect
Pre Game Meal:  Banana and a gatorade
Clothes:  MW socks, MW shirt, Hat, Shoes
Course: Jonesville Chruch through downtow, up through speedy chef, back
Stats:  8.67 miles in like 1.5 hours.  I'm slow.  Whatever

May 4. Relay for Life!

My gps got all jacked up so I got like no stats for today, but more importantly the night was all about Relay for Life.  Our small Elkin town raised 40K!!! thats pretty dang awesome.
I ran 4 miles in about 40 minutes at 10:30pm.  Big run tomorrow!!

May 3. Day "off"

No running tonight, for the Herd stole the show.  The Herd lost, but I ran a lot, mainly due to trying to remedy the errors I made in the field.  We now reach a stretch where getting a run in is going to mighty difficult with the relay for life tomorrow and carowinds saturday.  I'm thinking 5:00am will be happening this weekend.
Ouch.
Run on.

May 2. Painfully Drenched

I got a surprise donation today to the Think Pink team from bff Beth Holt! That was pretty neat. Todays run: As soon as I stepped out of the car I became overcome with the tremendous amount of humidity that was present in the evening hour. The stench from yesterday was absent but the humidity was 10 fold. Also I think today I was more aware of the pure unadulterated pain that both of my feet were under. These are the kinds of things that one must just get over if one is to complete 26.2. That said, Ima wimp. Big time. Somebody hold me.
Weather: Warm and Humid
Time: 8:30pm
Pre Run Meal: Flat bread, banana, peanut butter, honey:
Clothes: shorts. Shoes. 2 T-shirts. Hat
Course: Elkin Downtown
Run Time: 31:16
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 3.04 miles
Average: 10:18 /mile
Fastest Pace: 7:51 /mile
Ascent: 54 feet
Descent: 138 feet
Calories: 486

May 1. Humidity is not a friend of mine

Have mercy it was humid tonight. Coming off the day off has already proved to be a huge obstacle, but throwing in about a 110% humidity on top of an area that smells like 40 hells and today is asking for trouble. All things considered though, I dont think today was that bad of a run. For some reason my alarmingly slow pace has gotten alarminglyer slower, but I'm feeling better and breathing better. Eh. It is what is is. All that said, I have never written on this blog a thanks to God who for has answered my prayers and provided me with the motivation and strength to do this thing. I CAN do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, because I sure know that I couldnt do this on my own. I also want to thank Jana who is sacrificing a TON to allow me the time to go down to Elkin to run every night/morning. She has been crazy supportive and I srsly am grateful to her for this.
Weather: Warm and Humid
Time: 7:15pm
Pre Run Meal: Flat bread, banana, peanut butter, honey:
Clothes: shorts. Shoes. T-shirts. Hat
Course: Elkin Downtown
Run Time: 42:51 Stopped Time: 0:00 Distance: 4.16 miles Average: 10:18 /mile Fastest Pace: 8:55 /mile