:: HAPPY :: 2 Runs and a Ride :: HAPPY ::

Friday's run went well—I'm digging the 5k distance, as always. It does good by me. I should have run 5 miles on Sunday; however, I went out and watched UFC 100 and enjoyed myself far, far (far) too much on Saturday, and felt in no condition to run. Or, really, anything. Dumb. But I guess sometimes you have to cut loose a little, and I had an absolute riot watching the fights at Underdogs in the Inner Sunset. Great, great night.

Monday would have been a yoga night but I got walloped with what felt like a bad cold. In the end, I think it was allergies. Normally allergies for me are itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing--nothing sickly. Just sorta like a respiratory system tickle fest. This, however, was really bad. My voice was gone, I had a fever, etc. Crazy. I somehow felt more-or-less fine on Tuesday, though, so I'm assuming it was allergies and not a cold.

Tuesday: 3m

Per The Plan V called for a 3 miler on Tuesday, so I strapped on the shoes and rocked it out. Incidentally, my lovely @LosBee got me Vibrams for my b-day; they were delivered early so I wore them all day up until my run. They are friggen FANTASTIC. I don't know that I'll ever run in them, but they are amazing to tool around in. And after wearing shoes with toes, it's really weird to wear normal running shoes.

(Side Note My take on barefoot and Vibram running: If you wanted to you could probably condition your hands to play baseball without a mitt. But why? Me, I'll continue wearing over-engineered running shoes...for the foreseeable future... I like the added protection, even if it comes at a cost.)

Wednesday: Bike

I've been trying to work cross-training in more, and hopping on the bike is easy to do. I'm not really keeping track of miles or times, just getting out for 30 minutes or so and riding. There's a lot of hills and a lot of scenery in San Francisco, and you definitely get your cardio in. I rode down to the Bay, over to Golden Gate Bridge (up the imposing hill at the foot), back down through the Presidio and up to my place. My quads were friggen *pumped*, jackson. It's cardio-meets-resistance training.

Thursday: 5m Sunset Run

The fantastic Fleet Feet San Francisco holds regular group Sunset Runs in the summer. This was my first. It was a cool event, held in my normal running route at Crissy Field. They had a DJ and giveaways. It was cold as hell at the start, but a lot of fun. The plan was to meet up with a bunch of Twitter runners, but a few were late. I did get to meet @Princesks and her husband in person, which was nice, but got separated from her before the run started. @Adilemmasf, @smellycents and I waited around for them, then started up waaaaaay at the back of the pack. I think we were the last folks to leave the start (except our late-arrival friends, who were still in transit when we began). First off, @smellycents is fast as hell—she's a multiple marathoner/Iron Man-in-training athlete monster (you really should follow her on Twitter—you won't be disappointed). @Adilemmasf is also a mighty speedy runner, but she's nursing an injured achilles. They *said* they just wanted to take it slow, but their "slow" is my "busting ass", and while I foolishly tried to keep up at the beginning, all was better when they went off on their own pace and I eased back into mine. I can't do 9:15 min/miles for 5 miles. Would like to, just can't.

We met up with our other late-arriving friends (@TLM26, @MarathonMaritza, @runnersrambles, @Kristin_running) at the finish, then some of us went over to The Tipsy Pig for post-run refreshment.

The Sunset Run was fantastic, and I'm stoked to do it again. I forgot to shut off my Nike+ while I was standing around at the finish, so my average pace is sorta wonked—clocking a 54:50 split time while you're standing around stretching will do that. Based on the run, though, I think I can comfortably beat out 10:15 min/miles this weekend at the Los Gatos 10k. That was the cruise speed I settled into once @smellycents and @Adilemmasf broke off and went their own pace. I feel really good about the pace and the distance, and am ready to get to it!

Day 14: Runnin' in the Sun(nin')

 while (john.run.weather() == "sunny") {
  john.mood.happy();
  john.post.insert("GORGEOUS");
 }

That's codeDork™ talk for me reiterating that it was, again, GORGEOUS out again today. Again!

I ran down at Crissy Field. Lots and lots of folks out running, biking and even soaking up some sun at the beach—a relatively rare site up here in San Francisco. It's normally a bit too "nipply" to enjoy the sun, but today was nice and warm.

This was perfect for me, because:

1. I really like the sun
2. I really like warmth
3. I need training experience in warmer weather

The Hal Higdon 10k plan I'm following suggested 3.5 miles today, but since I'm training for a 7 miler and not a 10k, I've been tacking on a little extra each run. As such I put in 5 miles and it felt great.

Nike+ says I averaged 10:24 minute miles across the 5, with little peaks and valleys. I felt like I was going slower than that, but hey, I'll take it.

Incidentally, it looks like I'm running the La Jolla Shores 5k at the end of the month—a bit of an impromptu race, but it fits in nicely with the training plan. A couple things: it'll be good to re-acclimate to race conditions—dodging around people, the crowd, the atmosphere. Also, @MapleJen, the reason @LosBee and I are running the race, said she's shooting for a sub-30:00 time. That's a little quicker than my normal loping Slow Mofo trot, but I'm up for the challenge. I'll have to test-run a couple times and see how I can pace it out for a 5k. Should be doable.

Anyhoo, great run.

My food was a little off-track today—I'm not pigging out, I'm just not eating as macronutrient-balanced in each meal. I also have to get to my abs and hips workout, too. But there's still time in the day, right?

Day 8: Just Liftin'

I tell ya, I'm a whole lot stronger in the gym when I lift *without* running beforehand.

My general routine of 3x5 of bench (185lbs), squat (185lbs), still dips and pull-downs felt really light today. One of those "damn! I shoulda put more weight on!"-type days.

I'll remember that for next week.

Didn't stick exactly to the nutrition plan today because I got 2 different kinds of gluten-free pizza crust mixes to try with @LosBee. She was diagnosed with celiac a couple months ago, which has caused us to rework how we eat. We made 2 pizzas with one of the mixes and, while it didn't look quite right, it tasted pretty good!

She's a beer-and-pizza girl, so celiac has been a royal pain in the keister for her. But I think in time we'll find things she really likes that won't jack up her innards.

That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Anyhoo, I was probably below my 2200 calorie goal, and I don't think I was on track with my 35% protein/50% carbs/15% fat macronutrient breakdown, but what the hell, it's pizza with the wife. And there are some things you just don't pass up.

Total Weight: -3lbs

Day 5: Powersleeper™

For whatever reason, I slept like 11 hours last night. That's really unusually for me, so I guess I needed it.

I woke up late (a luxury of working for yourself) and went about my usual shizzy: eating, swimming, etc. I actually mixed it up quite and re-figured my food intake for the day so I could eat a delicious burger at Chez Maman. Sooo good.

Tomorrow's a day off, which honestly will be nice. Today I felt pretty worked-over. Like the week of running and swimming and lifting and doing hip exercises and ab exercises and waking up early has worn me out a little. It's good.

I'm gonna turn in relatively early tonight and enjoy my day off tomorrow. I reckon me and @LosBee are heading to wine country! Gotta like that.

(Oh and it was gorgeous out AGAIN and looks to be nice tomorrow, too. Awesome.)

Cocoa Pebble Pancreatitis

Notice how Fred is running in this picture? He seems energized? In full stride? Elated? In no way suffering some sort of horrible insulin flux?

This was not me.

Against my better judgement, I ate Cocoa Pebble Rice Crispy Treats instead of real food for breakfast and lunch, and suffered dearly for it during my run.

Didn't know you could make Rice Crispy Treats with Cocoa Pebbles? Yes, my friend. Yes you can. Normally I would never create such a high-fructose-corn-syrup-disaster, but I was cooking up a storm for the Superbowl and needed to supply something sweet for @LosBee. She's got celiac, so I couldn't use normal Rice Krispies (notice the "K"... I think there's a konspiracy in there somewhere...) because they gum them up with malt flavoring, which has gluten in it. Whole Foods was out of reach, so I grabbed our pal Cocoa Pebbles off the shelf.

Cocoa Pebbles Rice Crispy Treats are actually okay. Really, really sweet, but okay. Edible. They do in a pinch. But they are, to say the least, nutritionally unsound. But, being knee-deep in work and not having a moment to whip up something better, I chomped 'em down. And started wigging out in a sugar frenzy.

For the whole run I felt like I was dragging a piano behind me. After the first mile or so I started feeling a little bit better. But woof. No bueno.

I should probably check to see if I somehow gave myself Type I diabetes or something.

866 Calories Later...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous day in San Francisco. Again! I'm starting to think I've died and gone to Southern California. Or something.

I spent the majority of the day getting food going for the Super Bowl. On the menu:
Grass-fed beef sliders with caramelized onions and Parrano cheese
Slow-cooked BBQ pork shortribs
Homemade guac
7 layer bean dip
Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Knowing I was going to pound down enormous amounts of calories during the game was a motivator to get my run in today. I skipped yesterday's run because by the time I got around to it I was feeling sorta crappy—like I got a little micro-cold or something. @LosBee says it is possible to catch a slight little cold, so I'm going to believe that's what I was feeling.

It was pretty warm and very sunny out there. I was glad that the warmth didn't completely crumble me. If I had more opportunities to run in heat at this level and a bit higher, I think I could get past my inability to handle it.

I felt like I was going pretty slow, but I was going steady. I cruised until about mile 2, then started focusing more. By mile 3 I was trying to focus on relaxing—relaxing my shoulders, relaxing my back, relaxing my arms. I even relaxed my face a little, like you do at the end of a yoga class. It was good. I felt like I had more energy and felt less fatigue in my upper body.

I'm not built like a runner. I'm pretty much built like a linebacker that's gone to seed. But I like having upper-body muscle that's ultimately impractical for running—just one of those things. It's how I'm built. Granted, I have quite a bit of non-muscular weight along for the ride, which sucks, but that's why I'm running. At some point I'll hopefully run that extra non-muscle meat off.

Tomorrow's a rest day for me, but it's also GROUNDHOG DAY! (W00T!) Growing up in Chicago, I know Groundhog Day psychologically matters more to folks that are struggling on the frozen tundra. Out here in San Francisco, I can't complain about sunny, 65+° days in January. So to all y'all that wake up to an ice-cold bedroom and have to scrape the ice off your cars every day, hopefully Punxsutawney Phil doesn't see his shadow tomorrow, and winter is over sooner rather than later.

(Oh, BTW: the little gel lift I put in my right shoe seems to be working nicely. I feel really comfortable with it, and so far my hip and other pains seem to have gone completely away. Pretty sweet, huh?)

Photos courtesy of rick and fauxto_digit on Flickr.

A 4 Miler (Finally!)

Another unseasonably warm, unseasonably gorgeous day in San Francisco.

It was beautiful out there, kids. By around 3pm I stripped the headphones off (I'm very, very nearly done with the first song for Hella Sound!) and hit the road.

Funny thing: a while back I was doing a post-run stretch that was recommended by Runner's World—the same stretch that caused Nitmos' foot to curl up into a "c"—when @LosBee walked by and pointed out that my legs were 2 different lengths.

"Your legs are 2 different lengths!" she said, or something to that extent.

Which got me thinking about how that may very well be contributing to some hip and lower-leg pain I seem to get. Then I was reading about the impact this type of physiological inconsistency can have after X number of miles (again, Runner's World I think), so I decided to go out and get a little lift to put in my not-as-tall-side shoe. Today was the test run.

It went pretty well, actually. At first my butt and my lower back were like "...heeeeyyy buddy, what's going on?", but within the first mile I got comfortable with the change and cruised along.

I'll report back if I spend all day tomorrow in excruciating pain.

I ran my scheduled 4 miles along my usual Bay route, through Crissy Field. There was a nice breeze, which always helps. After that I hit the gym.

Weightlifting

Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 185lbs
Deadlifts: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 70lbs
Still Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps
Pull-Downs: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Seated Elliptical Rows: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight

I also generally do crunches on the Swiss ball, but I feel weird noting that I did "30 Ball Crunches"—it just sounds sorta...odd...and painful.

Hopefully it's nice out tomorrow. I'll make up for the 3 mile run I so flagrantly ditched yesterday (and instead went out for Chinese food). Mmmmm Kung Pow Chicken...

Photo courtesy of tanakawho on Flickr.

A Different Kind of Workout

Admittedly, I did not run or lift weights this weekend. I didn't do what would normally be called a workout.

I did, however, have the fine fortune of hitting the slopes in Park City, Utah for some skiing. I realize that vacation travel is a sweet luxury, and I'm very thankful to have been able to take this trip. I'd never been to Park City before (actually, @LosBee contends that we did drive through it when we moved from Chicago to San Diego, but I don't recall specifically) and was excited to check it out.

It really is a beautiful part of the country. We initially wanted to spend this vacation time skiing in Tahoe, but the weather has been so warm that the runs in Tahoe were very limited and (we heard) crappy. With the help of an online deal and some banked United miles, we were able to get out there and stay in a hotel for less than Tahoe would have cost.

Growing up a Midwesterner of modest means, I never really had the opportunity to go skiing. Three years ago, at age 33, I was lucky enough to attend a wedding in Aspen with @LosBee. I took the beginner skiing course at Snowmass and was hooked.

I'm finally starting to catch up with @LosBee—she's a pretty darn good skier—and am not slowing her down as much as I used to. We actually got somewhat competitive this trip as we barreled down the slopes. We were flying.

It was great.

Well, until we both had some hellacious spills and decided to tone it down and call a truce.

Anyhoo, you can really get a nice workout cruising down a mountain, carving turns, poling up some speed on flat parts, etc. And thankfully, the only injury I got (my *first* skiing injury) was when the buckle on my rental boot snapped as I tightened it, flying up in my face and hitting me on the chin. It made a nice welt and drew a little blood, but didn't leave enough of a gouge to make me look tough.

Such is life.

So, while I didn't run 12 miles over the weekend or do any drills or lifting, I do feel like I got some resistance training and cardio work in. And I had an awesome time doing it.

Beautiful photos courtesy of michael_schamis on Flickr.

San Diego 2: The Redemption. Kind of.

Another warm day in San Diego. @LosBee and @MapleJen were off doing lady stuff™ and @Russellnuts had to go to work, so I broke loose and hit Florida Street canyon again. The results were a little better than yesterday, but I still fell short of my 3 mile mark.

Ahh well.

I'm realizing how the ramp-up process takes time. I took a whole month off, probably gained a couple pounds, and I just gotta get back into it.

Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!

Sannn Deee Ahh Maaaay Go!

I do likes me some San Diego. Luckily, @LosBee and I were down visiting some friends and enjoying the sunshine. It was as sunny as usual, a little warmer than it normally is in January, and gorgeous.

I do have a wee little bit of an issue with heat, in that I tend to have crappy runs when it's warm, and this run was no different.

But whatever, it was fun. And gorgeous out. And everything.

While @Russellnuts went to tennis class and @MapleJen and @LosBee hit the spa for a little mani-pedi, I trotted through Florida Street canyon.

It's a beautiful place near Balboa Park. The run was a wee bit crappy, but at least I put some time in.

While @Russellnuts was finishing up, I sprawled out on the bleachers at a nearby baseball diamond and caught some sun. So good, y'all. So good.

Image courtesy of Snorg Tees. Now that's a damn fine shirt.

¿Por qué se comporta extrañamente mi ipod?

Looks like my iPod may very well be dead.

Nonetheless, @LosBee and I hit Crissy Field for a little 2 mile run today. I have no Nike+ widgetness to verify this, but trust me, we were out there trotting.

Been a long time.

Ahh Yes, The All-Weather Track

Went over to Kezar today for my run.

What does my run at Kezar have to do with a Tusken Raider (pictured at the left)? Does it represent my obstinate tenacity with which I hit the track? Symbolize my unrelenting rage against being stationary? Did I hide behind a rock and shoot at jogging jawas?

The answer, in a word, is "no". I just think they're cool. (Thanks, Wikipedia, for the pic.)

So, I scheduled myself for 3 miles. I only ran 2. Wah wah. Honestly—and maybe I'm just rationalizing—I think it's okay that I only did 2 miles. I mucked up my ramp-up week, and it'd probably be a bad idea to bounce right into doing 19+ miles a week.

I pretty much quit. But really, I think the treadmill has gotten me into the mindset of "faster faster faster", which (if I was to further speculate) is probably due to the relative boredom of a treadmill, and the fact that I feel like I have an audience on the treadmill at the gym. All those people around... Just makes me want to run faster.

Oddly, my legs felt great, but my cardio sucked. I gassed out pretty quick. Could be going too fast. Could be the extra weight I've hefted on. Regardless, that'll be resolved soon enough.

In Other News

On the purely personal, non-fitness front, @LosBee and I have adopted a new furry son. We've named him Jeff. He's pretty awesome.

¡Ay Mi Estómago!

I physically felt pretty rotten today. My guts were in a bunch.

But (as you can plainly see on this fancy calendar) I had a workout to do. So I done did it. Dood.

My run was pretty pathetic. I felt sorta blah and didn't do the 2 miles I planned. For whatever reason, the 24 Hour Fitness I go to has decided the treadmill and cardio area doesn't need fans or air conditioning. And it doesn't take too many people to get the temp (and humidity) up in a windowless room.

But my legs felt great, so I should knock tomorrow's 3 miler out of the park. I reckon I'll do it at Kezar Stadium's all-weather track. It'll be nice to mix it up a bit.

Weightlifting

Squats: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 135lbs
Bench Press: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 145, 155, 165lbs
Still Dips: 3 sets of 5 reps
Lat Pull-Downs: 3 sets of 5 reps @ heavy weight
Lunges: 1 set of 5 reps forward/backward, each side

Kids, I tell ya: I think those dorsiflex/shin strengthening exercises (see video here) are the real deal. Sure, I feel like a knob walking around the gym on my heels, but oh well. I am the same guy that bought Crocs, so I guess I'm not too concerned with what folks may think (sometimes). Etceteras.

Food

Poor @LosBee has been diagnosed with celiac disease. This is the girl that made it through med school and most of undergrad eating nothing but Kraft Mac & Cheese, so going gluten-free is a pretty big "oh crap!".

As such, we're changing our diet around a lot—no more pasta, bread or beer for her. Which pretty much means no more of those things for me, either.

As crappy as it is, it's good timing; after hitting what's probably my highest weight ever, I've been looking to switch up my diet anyway, so it's good to have an immutable driving force that'll keep me on track. It also fits in with my desire to become more disciplined in my fitness and health endeavors.

I've carved out a menu that consists of 2% milk, OJ, brown rice, steel cut oatmeal, eggs, potatoes, beans, chicken breast, greens (spinach and mixed greens), whole wheat bread, fruit and whey protein. These might sound like normal things to eat to most, but for me it's a pretty lean selection—something I refer to as The Aescetic Menu. Keep in mind, I've eaten more pizza, more steak and more cheeseburgers in the past year than I could even begin to count. So, this is a step in the right direction.

At some point I may begin to keep formal tabs on and publish any weightloss. We shall see.

Excited to Be Starting Back Up

W000000T!!!

After a wonderful vacation in Mexico with my gorgeous @LosBee (celebrating our 5th anniversary, soaking up the sun and the all-inclusive resort food and resort booze), I'm stoked to be back in action and excited to start training again.

As you can see in The Calendar (below), I've laid out a plan that will hopefully get me prepared, conditioned and—most importantly—disciplined as a runner, injury-free. I'll spend the first 4 weeks easing into it, gradually adding miles as well as runs. After 4 weeks I'll begin 4 weeks of pre-training, then begin the Cool Running Twelve Week Beginner 10k Program. The weight workouts I've planned are multiple-joint movement exercises, which are important, but ultimately secondary to my running schedule. This'll all be over on March 1, and I'm sure by then I'll have developed a new goal and a new plan.

Here's to new beginnings, and doing things the right way!

The Calendar

San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon Post-Mortem

The Fine Art of Failure
Or
Back to the Drawing Board
Or
Time to Put Theory Into Practice

It's been well documented in this here blog how poorly I do when it's warm out. Now, most races happen in warmer seasons.

Are you beginning to see the problem here?

When it comes right down to it, the fact is that I'm just too heavy right now to effectively manage the heat. In San Diego I'd run early in the morning, or wait until the sun went down. Here in San Francisco, the weather is frequently—but not always—on my side. I do fine when it's cool out. But that's not really something I can expect for every race (or every run, for that matter). And shit, it ain't exactly healthy for me to be rockin' a 34+ BMI. *cough*

So ultimately, I think it's high time I drop down a weight class. Well, actually, several weight classes. In Ultimate Fighting parlance, I'd be leaving Fedor Emelianenko behind so I can take on Anderson Silva.

I'm not built to be a 155 pound runner. I'm a stocky cat, and have always been drawn to weightlifting. Well, weightlifting, beer and pizza. But even with low body fat, I'd probably be a lot closer to 180 than 150.

To sum up, this ain't cuttin' it. By shedding this unnecessary insulation, I think I'd be much better able to handle heat. I mean running will fundamentally easier for me at a lighter weight, and it'll also greatly lower my risk of injury.

I know a whole lot about fitness, nutrition, diet and exercise. My primary problem, however, is demonstrating any kind of consistent discipline in pursuing any of these over a longer period of time. And so before I decide to dedicate myself to X plan or X goal or X race, I think I have to figure out how to become disciplined—mentally tough—if I'm going to have any success with any new goals.

Race Report

Okay, where was I. Oh yeah, the race.

I was excited that it was rainy yesterday at the race expo. I was hoping for a nice, cool race. I'd run in chilly rain over warm sunshine any day. Alas, today was clear and bright.

The San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon course winds around the various parts of downtown San Jose, weaving through nearby residential neighborhoods. I was shooting for a 2:30 finish, based on my time from my long run last Wednesday. I did 12 miles very comfortably in 2:15, including an on-the-clock potty break. I could do 2:30.

I started off feeling very strong. I was rested, I was fed, I was hydrated. I was good to go. I spotted the 2:30 pace group (which, by the way, is a concept I love. How ingenious! "Run in this group and you'll get there on time." Brilliant.) and was easily able to stay with them. It felt like a very, very doable pace that I could comfortably complete. Understand, I wasn't looking for a specific finish time—I just wanted to finish this thing.

Mile one was fine. Mile two was fine, too, although I became very aware of how bright the sun was. The banks we ran by during the race reported around 75 degrees, which is not what anyone would call "hot". But the sun... I was optimistic this wouldn't become a problem. Mile three was okay. I ran by the water station, thinking "why would I need water at mile 3? We just got started?"

Wrong. Mistake #1.

By the time mile 5 rolled around, I began to feel...not right. I was starting to lose motivation, and the ugly little "doubt" bastard peeked his head out. The "doubt" imp, which is always followed by the "quit" jackal.

By mile 6 I knew I was in trouble. Understand, I NEVER drink water during a run. Not even on longer runs. I pre-hydrate thoroughly, and then make my way through. But by mile 6, I realized I had to get some fluids. I stopped at the water station and took a cup of water, carefully sipping. I didn't want to drink it all down.

Mile 7 proved to me that these sips clearly were not enough. I was feeling bad mentally, and got completely out of the game. I began to run/walk, and took advantage of every water station we passed by.

By mile 9, I did two things:
1. I took a cup of Cytomax, because I was pretty sure I needed electrolytes.
2. I got really pissed off.

I didn't work towards this race to have it all fall to hell so easily. So, I did my very best to hydrate, and I committed to the idea of finishing as strong as I could.

The end of the race was pretty uneventful. @LosBee was at the finish line, screaming for me (which is always nice), and another race was in the bag.

Now, check out the Nike+ above. I set it to "Half Marathon" at the start of the race. It was by-and-large in sync to each mile interval along the way. But somehow, it was off by a mile. I couldn't figure out how the hell that happened. Granted, I started it in the corral before the official race start, but how could it possibly be 1 mile too long?!?!?? Very, very weird. It seemed to be calibrated accurately (mile for mile) at first, but it was totally out of sync.

Weird.

The Results:

Strollers That Passed Me: 0*
Place Overall: unknown out of 9563
Men: 3905 out of 4188 men
Age Grade: 33.9%
Finish: 2:56:41
Pace: sllllllloooooooooooooowwwwwwwww

It's back to the drawing board time, kids. I have no race planned to focus on, so I reckon I now have the bandwidth to concentrate on the "core issues" and fix my foundation. Good times.

* Officially, strollers were not allowed on the course. However, somehow, I got passed by 3 folks with strollers. Now, I'm pretty sure they weren't wearing bibs, so let's just say that they hopped on the course to run along with Mommy or Daddy for a short spurt and not the full 13.1. Deal?

Damn! That Felt Good!

It was seriously, seriously gorgeous out today. Picture postcard beautiful weather. Clear blue skies, very low humidity, nice and cool temps—really, all you could ask for.

Since I'm Johnny Seasonal Affective Disorder, today was all sunshine and lollipops for me. Good times.

I haven't run in 6—count 'em one two three four five SIX days—my last run was a painful slog through the Presidio last Friday. Having decided what I was going to do about my splintiness, I've been all about the Ace bandage, the ice pack, the elevation and the not-running.

I felt like today was the day to get back out and see how recovery was going. I'm not even sure where I should be with my training plan, but I arbitrarily decided that running 5 miles would be a good test for my shins and a decent workout as the San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon draws ever nearer.

My shins have been feeling like they're coming along, but the first 2 miles of the run had me doubting my recovery efforts. As typical with mild shin splints, the pain went away once I got warmed up. By mile 3 I felt pretty damn good, and mile 5 was easier than all of them.

Crazily enough, I clocked an average 10:15 pace, which is actually pretty fast for a slow mofo like myself.

I drove home riding high and feeling really good. Ice packs on, Ace bandages wrapped, 600 mg of Ibuprofen per @LosBee, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (sugar and protein), a little box of raisins, and I'm set for the evening.

Hopefully (HOPEFULLY) we're on the right track here and things progressively get better. I'd love to be ready for the half marathon, and really love to not injure myself trying to prepare for it. Here's to tomorrow being good, and hopefully getting a good long run in very soon.

Doin' the Right Thing

Due to my new-found splintiness, I decided to not run again today, keep the peg up and iced and pick things back up tomorrow.

Hopefully it's the right plan.

@LosBee has me on 600 milligrams of ibuprofen to alleviate the inflammation. I've read a lot of recommendations to not take NSAIDs for running pain and shin splints, but I think that is mostly to avoid masking the pain so you can run on an injury. I ain't doin' that—I'm masking the pain, fighting the inflammation and eating ice cream on the couch while I watch NFL.

Very low-risk injury situation.

Back tomorrow with a write-up of a good run. Hopefully.

Image courtesy of fisticuffs on Flickr.

How Do You Decide Where to Live?

This has been a recurring topic in the Frenette household in recent months. Our moves have really challenged our perceptions of what location means to us, and what criteria we value in making choices.

What's Important to You?

How would you rank (1,2,3...) the following factors?
__ Career/Job Market
__ Housing Market
__ Proximity to Where You Grew Up (close or far)
__ Weather
__ City Size & Type (urban, suburban, rural)
__ Culture
__ Schools
__ Proximity to Family
__ Crime Rate
__ Other:

So, with the comments form waiting in breathless anticipation, tell me: how you make this important decision?

Photos courtesy kangotraveler, pingnews.com and Michael in San Diego on Flickr.

Nike+ Human Race 10k Post-Mortem

Awwwww babies. What a day.

For whatever reason, sleep just wasn't in the cards last night. It was my last day in San Diego, and even tho I'm running a sleep deficit, I just couldn't catch a wink.

Ah, such is life.

Packed up, shipped out, waited at the airport, flew home to San Francisco, and got ready to run the Nike+ Human Race 10k with @LosBee on our home turf. I initially planned to get in the run in San Diego, but LosBee was up for it so we ran it together.

Exhausted, I was determined to knock it out, and do it faster than I'd 10k'ed before. A lot of folks on Twitter were running, and I was particularly inspired by @Bruno43's first 10k as well as @gdwscott's 18+ mile long run. I was set.

@LosBee had not run more than 2 or 3 mile stretches since finishing the San Francisco Half Marathon about a month ago, so we started off slow together. A little ways in she had to stop and walk a bit, so I picked up the pace after. Nike+ is indicating a much slower time than I think I ran—I'm pretty damn sure, as a matter of fact, that I was hovering above 11min/mile, and coming close to sub-10min/mile. But whatcha gonna do.

The weather was absolutely beautiful out. A nicer day in San Francisco than in San Diego, if you can believe that. Much less humid, and a wee bit cooler. Beautiful day for a run.

I sincerely tried to run negative splits, and tried to put myself in a race mindset. Instead of going as fast as I felt I could, I just tried to ramp it up a bit at each kilometer marker. I notice when I go as fast as I think I can, I still don't have the gas to maintain it over a longer run. It's short-lived. So, I tried to bring it up over time.

By and large it worked. My starting time was much slower than normal, as I was pacing with @LosBee, but once we broke off you can see how I got up to speed and then incrementally ratcheted things up. It was only in the last 1k that I felt pretty gassed, and the last 500 meters were very, very sad. I kept thinking how many times Usain Bolt could have run the 500 meters back and forth as I slowly plodded along.

The Results:

Strollers That Passed Me: 0
Place Overall: 24,419 out of thousands upon thousands
Men: unknown out of thousands upon thousands
Age Grade: unknown
Place: unknown
Finish: 1:09:43
Pace: 11:10

Friggen MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Take that, crappy 3 mile run!

Yeah, So I'm Down in San Diego

So I'm down in San Diego this week, helping out a friend and taking care of some bidness.

@LosBee and I lived here for 6 (or was it 7?) years before moving to San Francisco in the summer of 2007. It's a beautiful place, and while it's great to be back, it's not without mixed feelings.

Funny how that works. I guess it's not always easy to change—to pack up everything you own and leave everything you've become familiar and comfortable with and start something wholly new.

Yeah. Anyway, here I am back in San Diego for the week, hoping to get some sun, stay on track in my half-marathon training program and record, record, record.

After spending an inordinate amount of time making like Georgie does in this pic, I hit the gym for some treadmill and some weights.

Got in a little less than a 3 mile run with hills (5.5 degrees) and did 3 sets of squats @ 135lbs, 5 reps each.

Tomorrow's a full day, and I'm looking to hit it hard.

Photos courtesy of Michael in San Diego and jsome1 on Flickr, accordingly.