My first 100 mile week

I officially logged my first 100 mile week last week for running and biking, the week was capped off with a 16 mile run on Saturday morning and 30 mile bike ride that afternoon. I was really suprised at how well my legs responded that afternoon and how fresh they felt, but even more suprising was the lack of sorness the following day. I really expected my legs to be trashed, but they weren't and that was great. I did a fairly hard tempo run on Monday morning plus lifted weights, including squats, stiff legged dead lifts, calf raises and lunges, legs were a little tired last night before I headed out for my bike ride but seemed to work out after a few miles. This is all very encouraging for me and my aspiration to do a Triathlon, my biggest concern is the training and how my body will handle the work load training for 3 separate events, especially my knees, since I have had issues with them for years.

I came across a blog for a local professional triathlete, Jeff Paul, Dream Big JP and have been reading about his struggles to balance family, work and training and it has really inspired me to give it my all, and not only in my athletic pursuits. I really want to take my training to the next level, and will need to if I want to do a triathlon, but not at the sacrifice of my family, I've already been down that road training MMA. Being able to read his blog and how he handles training, work and family hopefully will keep me inspired and on the right path. If you get a chance I recommend checking it out.

Firecracker Run - 2011 - 10K results

Click the link below for the official results

Race Results

I felt like I did really well, I set a new PR for the 10k with 49:23 which is great considering I wasn't running this race as a high priority, I was basically using it as my speed work for the week. I started off slow, I intentionally kept myself in the back of the starting area with the walkers and people with strollers so I would have to go slow. The first mile is flat and after weaving through the crowd I was moving pretty well and I felt great. The second mile brings the first real hill and I was able to pass some people as I have grown to love running up hill, I'm fairly confident in my ability to go up hill these days, I run enough of them during runs and I have grown stronger at it. At the top of the hill was a lady spraying a garden hose for passing runners and as I ran through the spray I yelled "I LOVE YOU!" she laughed and I sped off. Miles 3 and 4 were mostly flat and I started to reel some people in, my basic strategy in any race is to find people ahead of me and use them as a target to catch and pass, this keeps the race from getting boring, and helps fuel my competitive drive. After a down hill section mile 5 brought on the next and last hill, which was a bit brutal, as I approached the uphill I passed some people who looked like they were struggling just a bit and called out "Here is where the fun begins" not sure if they heard me and if they did if they took it as intended, before the race began the race director had made a special comment about this hill and the elderly lady that lived on it who plays an organ for the enjoyment of passing racers.

After the hill came a nice down hill section which was a welcome change for my aching legs. Once I reached the final stretch I spotted a guy I have seen at the last couple of races I've done and I made it my mission to pass him...yet again. As I reeled him in I reached the 6 mile mark as I passed him and I was moving at a pretty good clip, then suddenly he shot passed me! It was on, my competitive fire ignited I shot off in a sprint and blew past him crossing the finish line in 49:23 setting a new PR much to my surprise. I quickly found the guy I passed and apologized (some people may consider blowing by someone at the tape bad form), no hard feelings, and we shared a laugh about it.

Overall I was really happy with my performance I finished 16th in my age division and 5th in the Clydesdale division (210+ lbs). I was really hoping to place in the Clydesdale division seeing as how it was probably my only opportunity to compete in that division, hoping to be down in the low 190's for the QC Marathon in September.

Runners blog #13

Today was one of the first times in a long time that I just didn't want to run, it was a combination of being tired, sore and just not mentally in to it. I forced my self out of bed at 5:45 after hitting the snooze button more times than I should of, got ready and was out the door at 6. My run started off slow and sluggish, my legs felt heavy and tired and my feet were sore. I haven't been feeling good lately, mostly just run down and tired, but last night after work I had a bad headache that just wouldn't go away, not sure if that was the culprit and caused me not to sleep well or not, I intentionally went to bed at 10 so I could get some rest. Either way after a couple of miles I was hitting my target pace even though my legs felt like I was running through mud. By the end of my run I was feeling much better and my legs were loosened up and feeling much better, after cooling down I lifted weights and did some core work, which I have neglected a lot lately and I could tell going through my workout.

On the upside, I weighed in today at 205 lbs which is only 5 pounds away from the century mark for total weight lose, really hoping I can make that goal before our vacation in couple weeks. I would love to be at or around 190 lbs when I run the QC Marathon at the end of September, which seems like a much more realistic goal these days. I think weighing nearly 35 lbs lighter than last year will greatly help me reach my goal of going under 4 hrs in the marathon.

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

So I was finally able to convince Deanna to let me buy an actual road bike (to replace my El Cheapo Depo mountain bike from Wal-Mart) to start doing some serious biking as cross training. I love running but man I forgot how awesome it used to be to head out on a bike and cover some serious miles, like I did as a kid. For me riding my bike as a child was my first real sense of independance and freedom, just riding around the neighborhood or taking of from home and riding up to the bike path and just heading out for hours.

As of now I'm just riding for cross training purposes, but eventually my goal is to do a Triathlon. I got the running and biking down, its the swim portion that is gonna be the real challenge for me, I can swim that's not the problem just the training and having access to a pool that I can do laps in. Probably just end up getting a membership to the Y during the winter and start training for swimming when its far to cold and icy to be riding a bike.

My next big training challenge is to notch a 100 mile week (bike and running) I was able to do 80+ and 90+ the last 2 weeks, with 3 rides and 4-5 runs so hitting the century mark shouldn't be a problem with increasing long runs and long rides on the weekend. Should be interesting to see how my running fitness holds up with running slightly less and biking more, from what I've read for endurance it should help, but probably not gonna do much for my lack of speed, Usain Bolt I'll never be, lol!

Warrior Dash and Father's Day

So for Father's Day most guys might enjoy a round of golf, a barbecue or just a relaxing day with the family...

well not me I had the

Warrior Dash isn't your typical father's day 5k, don't take my word for it here's how they desribe it on the website...

First off it's a trail run through some fairly hilly countryside, and then they add obstacles like 20 ft. walls you have to scale,

cargo nets you have to run across, cars you have to jump over, fire pits to leap over

and there's the barbed wire mud pit right before the finish line. You get this wonderful medal ...

... and all the free mud you could want.

I love running, and really love races, but this race hands down is the most fun and exciting, I can't wait to do it again...there's another one in September and a similar event in October that I want to do as well. I had so much fun that even Deanna said she might try it next year which is awesome!

Casey and Caden had so much fun too, Casey shared a smoked turkey leg with me afterwards, which he really enjoyed, he pretended he was a viking warrior.

And both boys had a blast watching people jump into the mud pit right before the finish line. They both want to run this race with me some day (unfortunately and thankfully the minimum age is 14). I do have to say that I love the effect that my running and participating in these kind of events has had on my boys. I'm not pressuring either of them to be involved in running, physical fitness or sports, I'm just setting the example for them and they are taking my lead and asking to be involved. They have both told me that they want to run a marathon with me someday which makes me so proud as a father, now will see how they feel about it when they are old enough to understand exactly how far 26.2 miles really is.