The long run and staying on track

Earlier in the week I got a call from the newest ultra-marathon man that I know...Tim.  We chatted about all sorts of stuff but the topic of the long run for the upcoming weekend kept weaving its way into our conversation.  It was never settled when/where or even if the run would take place due to possible storms predicted for late Saturday and sometime Sunday.  I did promise Tim I'd give him a call or email the day after Christmas...which I never did...and, again, Tim, I apologize.

Friday evening I received an email from Stefanie about she and Tim doing their long run on base the next morning.  She shared her and Kenny's cellie digits (picking this up from my teenage daughter).  I gave them a call just before I started my run.  She and Kenny were waiting on Tim to meet them at the main gate.  (non-DoD folks have to be escorted on base by a civil service person or a member of the military).  They said they'd find me.

0755  (7:55am) I begin my run.  Carol, my lovely bride, is my rolling crew (I'm blessed!).  She accompanies me on any run beyond 12 miles.  She'll leapfrog ahead 2-3 miles and wait on me with Gatorade, water, GU, etc.  Did I say I was blessed?  First stop was near the Aeroclub.  Its along Hwy 247 and easily seen from 'outside the fence'.  From where I started this was around the 3 mile point of my journey.  I took some water and continued on.  A few minutes later I hear a vehicle approaching from behind me and then some catcalls and whistles....my running friends Stefanie and Tim being chauffeured by Kenny.    I continued on as they disappeared ahead of me.  I thought they may be showing Tim the course but as I did my loop through the Air Guard hanger area (built for the B-1 bombers that were moved back to TX) I saw three figures walking out to join me ahead.  We hooked up and continued on.  Kenny went back the truck and began his leapfrogging.  Tim and Stefanie were doing a run/walk mix whereas I was doing a steady easy pace.  I did a few cycles of their run/walk but realized I was falling off my scheduled pace so we said 'cya' and I ventured on.

The whole distance in relation to time/pace is quite interesting.  Back in my motox days I learned you never look behind you...ever.  I try to observe this same routine for my training.  However, I've found it is helpful to glance back every so often because you really don't know what/who might be behind you.  Along the east side of the flightline I decided to glance back at my buddies.  I could see them but couldn't really tell how far away they were....but, it really didn't matter...i was keeping a steady pace while they were running and walking.  Two different strategies that accomplish the same goal....run/jog/walk a long frickin way!   

My plan was to do a 9 mile out and back to give me the 18 mile run on my schedule.  I felt great at the 9 mile point and decided to be safe and rest for 2 minutes.  I walked around sipping Gatorade while Carol walked with me.  I decided to change shirts and apply some Bodyglide to the thighs  ( i don't have stick legs like some of you runners have!)  I snuck a kiss from my bride and off I went...backtracking the course I just ran.  I was anxious to see my friends...as I started down a hill near the fuel tank farm i saw them coming up the hill.  We shared some smiles and words of encouragement and went in opposited directions.  I didn't see them again though.  I thought I may see them near the end of my run but I guess they chose a different course on the base.

The base was totally dead yesterday....i mean DEAD!  The perfect place to run...no dogs...and a HumVee with a dude manning a .50 caliber machine gun on top that came by every 45 minutes or so...talk about feeling safe!   I'm blessed to have access to this safe place to run.

Everything was good through mile 15.  Hips began to tingle a little bit around 15 but the feet ankles and knees felt fine.  Shoulders were a tad tight.  Energy level was pretty good....I decided to pop half a GU around 13 and I believe that is what kept everything moving forward.  The last two miles were bears....i had to walk a few times which I hate to do but I knew it was key to just doing the distance.  I had Carol waiting for me every 1.5 miles at that point.  The sun had broken through and it was nearing 72 degrees and quite humid.  

As I watched the Garmin click over to 18 miles I immediately wondered where my friends where and how they were doing.  Even when you don't run with someone physically you know they are out there...pushing through the same things you are pushing through.

Runners are special folk...regardless of speed or ability they are just special.  They have made a decision to do something only a small percentage of our population does....run!

Merry CHRISTmas!!!!

Hi
Gosh what a whirlwind of a month! Now the house is settled on Christmas Eve. The stockings aren't hung with care though...still too much kitten in our two cats, Moe and Sammy. Oh, by the way, here they are sporting their holiday cheer! Sammy-Claus and Moe-dolph.

Sammy wasn't real happy as you can see...Moe...well, he really could care less...he digs this kinda stuff.

Let's see...what has been going on with the running...hmmmm.... The mileage is ramping up. I had a rough go at it this past weekend though. Target was 16 miles. I did an out and back on the base. When I turned around at mile 9 I felt pretty good. As I approached mile 11 i began to feel soreness in my hips. When my Garmin showed 12 miles the soreness changed to a dull pain. By the time I hit 12.5 the dull pain became a strong pain. Thankfully, my crew (Carol) was waiting for me at mile 13. As I approached her I motioned that i was done. She tried to convince me to go on but I told her it wasn't something I was going to run through. It was the right call. It's the first training run I've cut short since late summer. No biggie. This weekend is 18 miles.

Merry Christmas everyone!
Tommy

Does anyone have some spare time I could borrow?

What a week so far and I'm glad it is Thursday!!!!

Monday: work...blah! However, because of a full schedule Tuesday I moved my Tuesday run to Monday. So, I did the 'easy 5' that my training schedule called for. I'm on the third week of a training plan I generated on the Runner's World website. Target: 4:30:00 at Snickers on March 7th, 2009. So far I've hit all the marks, times and distances. This schedule is a lot different than the Hal Higdon Novice 1 plan I was on for my first marathon (Snickers 2008). Hal's plan had me running 5 days a week. My mentor wasn't real keen on me using that plan because of the 5 day schedule. She felt I needed at least one more day of rest. When I sent her this new training plan she said 'I like this a lot!'. It's only three days a week of running. However, the other four days can include cross-training. I've begun doing some light ab work and pushups. The goal is to tighten the core. I have plenty of core right now but its the wrong type of core.... :) Oh, the easy 5 was a slow paced 5 miles. Schedule said a 11:12 pace but honestly, i feel like i'm jogging in place at that pace so i kept it closer to 10:30. Still feeling the 'love' after effects of the wet 10.87 miles I did at Bartram so I kept it slow.

Tuesday: Work..ugh! Central Fellowship was playing Strong Rock (basketball) so Carol went with me after work up to Locust Grove. I was there to shoot (photograph) some of our seniors for CFCA. But, I was also there to smooze with the sports information director for Strong Rock. If you are at the Tanger Outlet exit any time soon go over on the other side of the interstate and check out the campus...wowza! They completed their football stadium just as school started in August but it wasn't ready for play until September. It looks like a small college campus to be perfectly honest. Anyways, their basketball gym is in what will become the elementary gym/event center. I can only imagine what their high school gym will look like when it is completed. Here's a pic of the current gym.


Our girls played poorly...stanky is how I would described it. No offense to Strong Rock but our girls should have won easily by 25-30 points...instead they lost by 3. Our boys played quite well and won handily. However, one of our guys drew a technical for throwing the ball across the court to the ref with apparently too much force. After the games we got home around 11:20pm..to bed at midnight.

Shooting basketball for high school is such a challenge. Usually, the gym is lit about as well as a cave dweller's cave (no offense to cavemen...and I never understood how they drew such nice drawings in such poor light....so, I've never bought into the whole GEICO ad campaign...i digress...). Here's a few shots from the games Tuesday night.....



Wednesday: work...bleh! Left at 2:45 to attend a Museum of Aviation Marathon meeting. Since my company, PeachSports.Com, is providing photography coverage (3rd year in row..yeahbaby!) they invite me to their planning meetings. Two key things for the runners out there....1) they are using the same type of chips as the Macon Labor Day RR used and 2) they are planning on having a single finish line for the 5k, half and full marathons. Should be pretty cool. Back to work at 4pm and stayed until 5:30. Then, went to the Joanna McAfee Childhood Cancer Foundation office to meet with the President about JMCCF 'stuff' (btw, I'm the VP of the JMCCF). We finished our meeting around 7:30 and I went to Kroger. A lesson for the married pups out there (Troy listen up) ... if you want to be happy...momma must be happy. One way I keep Carol happy is handling all the grocery shopping. Plus, I get to buy stuff I like! :)

Thursday: work...yuk! Came home and slipped into my running shorts and along sleeve shirt. Tried my new Mizuno thin breathing ultra comfortable spiffy socks (btw, Tommy like!). Threw on my inspirational Badwater hat and set out for my Thursday training run. Mile warmup (10:12). Three miles at or below 9:35 (9:28, 9:15, 9:08 go me!). Mile cooldown (10:08).

I just ordered pizza for the clan. Carol has a migraine and it takes her several hours to sleep them off...i'm so glad I don't have migraines....

Tomorrow: work...ugh! Please don't misread my work comments....I really do love my job...most of the time. If I had the guts to share my thoughts about working as a contractor around a group of 'gubment' workers I would....but I shall refrain.

Saturday: Have to endure shooting ugly cheerleaders for the GISA State Cheer Competition at Tattnall...hohum...the life of a sports photographer...rough stuff....

T

Greetings!

Hello!

This blog is about me losing my mind and deciding to become a distance runner. Along with being a husband, father, software engineer, sports photographer, part-time track and cross-country coach at my daughter's school and small business owner. Needless to say I have zero free time. If you have some spare time please send it to me! :)

I lost my mind in April of 2007 when I decided I needed a goal in order to lose some weight and get my body back into shape. I went to my doc for my annual checkup in May of 2007. He asked how things were going and I said I was ready to train for a goal. When I said I wanted to run a marathon at age 45 he smiled and said 'well ok then.....'. He said as long as my wheels (legs) could handle the training I should go for it. So, June 1st was the start date for this brain-damaged trek.

Since losing my mind I have completed my first marathon and four half marathons. The first three half marathons were done as training runs leading up to my full marathon.

Brain damage appears to be permanent with regards to this whole distance thing. I have learned (quickly) that training is time consuming if done properly. But, I have the support of my family and the desire to continue improvement of my pace. The only break I've taken has been a 5 week period after my first full marathon. During the first full I managed to severely strain my LCL (Lateral-Collateral Ligament) on my right knee (outter side). I was fortunate to finish given the injury but nobody was going to talk me out of finishing that day. I had put 8 months of hard work into it and wasn't about to DNF on my first attempt. So, my time (5:26:56) wasn't stellar by no stretch of the imagination...but, I completed it and that was the primary goal.

This summer I found a 'maintance plan' that involves maintaining a 21-25 mile per week base. It includes a weekend long run of 7-9 miles. I stuck to this plan diligently. As I head into winter I have begun a 16 week plan for my next full marathon. I will attempt the same marathon in 2009....the Snickers Marathon in Albany Georgia on March 7th. I'm excited about this second time because I'll be more physically fit and know so much more than I did going into my first marathon.

So, stay tuned here for more running rants and reviews from my world.

Tommy