Fat Man Trying

and you can literally see it!

Man, the allergies are wearing me out. I came out of the house Saturday morning and you could actually see the pollen falling out of the sky. I guess the good news is I've accepted that it's a problem and I'm just putting miles in and not worrying too much about run intervals, etc. I won't lie, I'm ready for it to be over, but I'm not fretting... a good sign!

Overall, not counting suffering from the allergy crap, I feel good. I'm really feeling the need to focus on making the gym part of my weekly routine again. I've done OK with that a couple of times in the past, but I always end up scrapping it because I tie the schedule in with my running and that doesn't always work. The place I go only allows access to the machines at certain hours. I'm even considering looking for a used bowflex. I'm not looking to do anything other than light strength training. I'm going to try to hit the gym at least a couple of times next week.

We'll see!

Sorry for the MIA.

The relay went well. I couldn't have gotten luckier with the luck of the draw internet message board compiled team members. What a great group of people!

I learned a lot and truthfully I'm still digesting the experience. Perspective is truly an amazing thing and I think all of us went in with certain perceptions and we probably all came out with different ones. I know I see some things better now simply because I can see some different running perspectives better than I did before.

As for my runs, one was a blast and two were marginal. The funny thing is the two that were marginal were the fastest paced "events" I've ever done. One worked out to a 10:58 pace and the other was like 11:15. It's really hard to explain why I'm not holding these out as huge personal accomplishments because in many respects they are. Sub 11 minute miles wasn't something I thought I was capable of. I've spent the whole season trying to "get faster" and by this measurement I clearly have gotten faster. I don't know... I think it's probably still a mix of fear and very real physical limitations.

To make matters worse, I got another dose of the flu less than 24 hrs after the event ended and it really kicked my ass. After 4 yrs of not being sick, that's twice in like 70 days or so. I was running a 102 fever for five days and I still have so much crap in my lungs that all last week I was barely able to run a minute at a time. Once again it feels like I've really lost a lot of fitness. I guess the next couple of weeks will tell the tale.

I know this often reads like I'm constantly frustrated... that's probably not totally accurate... most of the time I do really feel like I'm on the right path. Over the year, I've lost more weight than I did the year before training for the marathon and that was the plan. I still feel that I need to keep the focus on weight loss and improved fitness and endurance and that probably means once again not planning to do any major events through the fall.

I'm thinking I might average less daily mileage this summer and work on increasing the intensity over something like 30 to 40 minute intervals. Last summer I tried to keep my mileage base built up and I tried to do at least one 8 and 10 mile outing every month. In order to do that, I did a lot of junk miles. Don't get me wrong, I think there is a hell of a lot of value in junk miles, but I think right now I can keep getting the necessary weekly workouts in without having to make things easier in order to stay out there longer.

The next 60 days will probably tell me a lot. Hopefully I'll shake off this crud and get a better idea where I am. I know the heat will knock me back a bunch so what I work on will be largely determined by where I am mid May. At the very least, the bottom line is I'm hoping to still be "out there!" That's ultimately what it's all about.

So, with the relay fast approaching, I decided to try and attempt a bit of a simulation.

I started Thursday with a morning and afternoon run, repeated that for Friday, and then did a Saturday morning run. Basically 5 runs in 48 hours. If you count the 1.15 mile team prologue run and your damn right I will, I'll do 5 runs in 34 or so hours during the relay. Not super accurate on the time intervals but hopefully better than nothing. Mileage wise, I'm scheduled for 16+ in the relay and I did 19+. My longest run in the relay is my last one and I did that yesterday as well.

I'd never done doubles before so that alone was a bit of an eye opener. I was expecting to feel some tightness as it all went along, and if anything, it was the opposite of that. Friday morning wasn't too bad. Friday afternoon was tough. Saturday was flat out hard.

I was doing 5.35 miles and as the laps went by, I was having a harder and harder time running through my full three minutes intervals. Toward the end, I stopped a couple of times close to 30 seconds short... Man, I was huffin and puffin and really fatigued and generally feeling pretty damn negative about the whole situation.

And then I got a little shot of perspective. I came home and entered my time in the log and as bad as it felt, I completed it at a pace that was faster than anything I've ever logged at an event. My worst pace right now is still better than last Springs at the time best ever PR's.

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

It does knock a lot of the edge off. I'm also pretty damn close to what I gave our Team Captain... within 5 seconds per mile.

I'm still nervous about the prologue and epilogue runs you do with the whole team. I'm the only run/walker on the team and there appears to be some really fast people on this team. I'll talk to the Captain and see what he's thinking. I don't think I can run a mile. Man, that sounds strange but it is what it is.

and I think I'm OK. I've read that all you need to be able to do is a 10K. I hope thats true! I'm only a little concerned about my last leg in the race, which is the final leg. I'm stoked about the whole last leg part, but it's about 6 miles, so I'm a little worried about fatigue levels at that point. The reality is I'd probably at worse be 30 to 45 seconds a mile slower than the time I turned in and frankly it probably won't matter a lot if we make it that far!

I did 8 miles yesterday and it felt like the first time I ever did 8 miles. I have to admit that's a little frustrating. I keep telling myself it will all be worth it in the end even if it is really hard to see right now.

As an aside, I hope I'm not jumping the gun, but I think the worst of our winter is probably over and I'm glad to see it go. These blood thinners really make me feel chilled all the damn time. The next 4 months are some of the best here, so I'm looking forward to it!

the fun started!

Well, kinda. Early in the week it was the same old shit. Monday and Tuesday were typical days, Wednesday I got out there and realized I'd forgot to take my drugs so I had to cut it short... Then it rained Thursday and Friday. Feeling fairly well rested, I decided to make Saturday a "long run" day. I did 10 miles, with 7 of it being at todays "race pace." I haven't done 10 miles since I started over.

My 10K time was 4 mins faster than my current PR. That's a 40 second per mile improvement. Going the 7 miles was also close to 30 mins further than I've gone before doing all 3/1.5's. Not too bad. I'm going to start slowly shortening the walk intervals soon. Maybe Wednesday.

So, switching gears... I don't think I've talked about getting on a team for the Texas Independence Relay.

These guys had a booth at last years Houston Marathon Expo. A full 15 months before the event. They were just starting to put it all together and had not gotten all the logistics worked out. I signed up for email updates and have been watching it ever since. For many different reasons, I really, really, really wanted to do this thing.

When the time requirements came out, I was really bummed. The pace requirement is 10:15. A team could have runners slower than that, but they'd need some speedsters to make up all the time a slower runner lost. Any team I was on would find themselves having to make up a lot of time. This event is really one of the main reasons I decided to spend this race season not doing events, but trying to improve my speed.

All the race updates were driving me absolutely crazy. I haven't made huge improvements, but I'm starting to see some decent improvements. I just couldn't take it anymore... The site has a message board so I decided to lay it all out and beg for a spot on a team. And, I do mean beg! I played all the sympathy cards I could. But, I was honest, and I said I'd be running 12:30'ish miles and not to pick me unless you were in it just for fun.

Well, I got an email from one of the team captains a couple of days later and I'M IN!!!! I'm really stoked. We are a 12 person team, and I've never met anybody on the team.

The race starts Saturday morning, March 1st in Gonzales Texas and finishes 40 exchanges and 207 miles later on Sunday afternoon at the San Jacinto Monument.

Lots of logistics to work out... food, drink, rest spots, and chase vehicles, etc. More to come about all that soon!

Finally things are feeling pretty good.

Over the last week, I dropped the 1 minute segment from the "normal" laps. I'm doing a 2 and then a 3 minute run with a one and half minute walk break in between. Yesterday I was able to do 4.5 miles of this at a 12:20 pace. That's a decent improvement for me. I'm still doing some 1/1 laps to get in miles. Normally the first lap and sometimes the last lap. I'm doing at least 3 to 4 miles every outing of longer interval laps and then typically two laps consist of either 1/1's or some kind of cool down or short speed work.

I'll probably stick with the 2/1.5 and 3/1.5 deal for the remainder of this month since I need to be able to log miles in order to break 1000. In January, I'll try to move to all 3 minute runs and hopefully by the end of February I'll shave the walking down by 30 seconds and I'll be comfortably doing 3/1's.

Ha! Sounds good on paper, right!

Staying with this goal isn't the wisest thing I've ever done... My gut says I'd be progressing quicker if I were doing shorter more intense workouts... but, I couldn't let it go.

If all goes well, sometime this week I'll hit a big personal milestone. I've been thinking about this one a while. Check back later in the week!

Is obsession unhealthy if it's what gets you out the door and on to the trails everyday?

Am I obsessed with just about everything about this quest to better myself?

Yes I am.

I just wish I hadn't dug this hole so fucking deep. Sheesh... this is a lot of work.

Things continue to slowly progress. Slowly being the operative word here.

I had another one of those trips in the wayback machine on Saturday. From the get go, it was just one of those days. After about a dozen false starts I finally got down to the park. I then realized I had forgotten my watch. Which when you are running based on intervals calculated using units of measurement we commonly refer to as time... well, it's a bit of a problem.

After putting in 5 straight days without a rest day I said screw it... something is trying to tell me something here. I've done this enough that I know where the start/stop points are and I can kick back, take it easy and just wing this thing for the day. I decided to do a few miles of that and then I'd do some really short run walk intervals and put in some extra easy miles. (yep, still haven't really let go of that damn 1000 miles thing)

It was when I got to doing the really short run walk intervals that the wayback trip started. I was running the poles like I used to. My loop is surrounded by light poles and they are fairly evenly spaced. Back in the day I'd use them as markers to stop and start. I'd run the distance between two poles and then walk the distance between two poles. Hell, I remember how long it took me to get the courage up to run just the distance between two poles. I was sure my heart was going to explode.

This last Saturday it was like doing speedwork. The distance seems so short now that I was basically sprinting. I remember when I had 10 more steps to go and my legs were whining. Today, they are very much still whining but in the grand scheme of things it's taking 10-20 times longer before they start.

It gives you some hope... what I'm really struggling hard to do today could eventually be as "easy" as it is now for me to do what I was really struggling hard to do three years ago.

Or, I'm just looking for light in every dark little corner! lol

I'm starting over.

For the most part it's working pretty well. Today's run was a bit tough but it was the third day in a row and the two previous days runs had been fairly intense. I had some soreness that didn't seem to want to give in so I spent extra time warming up and warming down and did one less running lap. It felt right. I think I'll repeat next week with the intentions of adding more running time the following week and doing that for two weeks.

Hey, it's a plan, right?!

I'm also pretty much ready to concede that fear has been playing a part in all of this. And, all things considered, I'm not so sure thats really a bad thing. Without the fear, any number of things could happen.

Without any fear I could push things too far and do more damage to my heart.

Without a fear of the potential repercussions I could quit doing all this physical activity.

Honestly, fear is a big motivator in keeping me out there everyday. I do fear what would happen to me if I quit. Is that a bad thing?

Like so many things, somewhere there is a healthy balance. I think I'm getting a little closer to figuring out where that balance is for me.

and I'm still leaning toward starting over.

I spent four or five days pretty much running 3 minutes plus and then a minute or so walk and then running 3+ again. It felt pretty good till about day four. It then became obvious I wasn't going to make the leap overnight. I was going to have to make this distance increase a progressive thing.

duh... you'd think I'd have the basics of this training shit down by now...

I did a few days of 1 minute run, 90 second walk, 2 minute run, 90 second walk, 3 minute run, 90 second walk. Rinse lather and repeat. Definitely feels like that's closer to the right path. I think I'll do that in varying distances next week and reevaluate over the weekend. If I feel I need to repeat that I will, if I feel ready to move up a little, I'll try to add more time running. At the end of Oct I'll take an inventory and see where I am.

I'm still trying to figure out how best to balance the rest of the time I need to be out there on the paths. Even on a decent day right now I'm looking at about 30 minutes of this kind of thing. That means I have another 30 minutes to get in. I have been doing some random even distance shorter run walks just to keep the heart rate up. I don't want it to be a real strain because I'm afraid that would end up being it's own thing that the body would try to get acclimated to.

I feel good about this right now. I hope that lasts through the end of the month.

It's vacation time!

We stepped up the planning and packing last week when Dean's track looked like it might come into Texas and now it looks like no matter what Dean does, we're leaving early anyway!

I had been trying to get in some decent miles so August wouldn't be a really low mileage month, but leaving this early will sabotage that. We normally go from sea level to 9000' but we'll be spending a few days at 6000' and I'm hoping that will help with the acclimation.

The running has been going OK as far as getting out there goes. I'm easily two minutes a mile slower than "normal" and I keep telling myself that's OK, that it's smart, and it's hell hot... and all that but I haven't sold myself on the fact that it's all OK just yet.

I guess the one good thing about the last few weeks is I'm getting in quite a few more bike miles. I'm taking a roundabout route that is 4 miles longer than my old down and back route. August will be the first month where the bike miles were longer than the running miles.

We're headed up to the mountains in CO and hopefully we'll be gone about 3 weeks. Who knows, depends on how much of our business we can handle in absentia.

See ya soon!

The rain appears to have moved elsewhere. We are now getting our traditional afternoon storms, but they aren't the same as what we've had.

Honestly, we went so long with temps in the 80's that bitching about the heat now seems disingenuous. We're looking at 6 to 8 weeks max before it begins to get nice again and that ain't all bad.

I know I've talked about how valuable logging my daily stats have been for me... well, to a point, even these blog posts can provide the same types of things. Besides the therapeutic nature of the initial post, I can look back at the posts I wrote during the dog days last summer and see that it's more of the same. They provide some context to the numbers.

I actually didn't post at all during June, July, and August of last year, but in mid September I posted this....

It was 81 with 97% humidity when i started out to do my 6 miles today.

Shouldn't it be raining if it's 97% humidity?

I'm getting slower. This week was really iffy all the way around and I'm not exactly sure why. I want to blame it on the heat and some drug issues and that's certainly part of it, but how in the hell does a guy run half (of) the 6 miles this morning and still only barely beat the time he had when he walked 100% of a 10K two yrs ago?

I'm backing up.

Last year I had spent the summer trying to increase the run part of the run/walk intervals. I had done a two minute walking, one minute running thing during the previous seasons events. At the beginning of last summer I had a goal of getting to the fall being able to do a three minute running, one minute walking thing.

Yeah, I don't know what the hell I was thinking. Besides the fact that it was one hell of a leap from where I was, I simply don't have the blood pumping capacity to keep the blood flowing through the legs. Especially at this weight....

When Fall finally came, I did find I was able to cut out one minute of the walking intervals and I was down to doing 1/1's. In the end, a nice realistic improvement.

This year I decided I wouldn't try to make such a radical change. I decided to work towards being able to do 2/1's. Early on in May, it wasn't too bad. But, as the heat has intensified, it's been hell. I literally feel like once again, I'm getting slower. I mean it's not just a struggle to do the two minutes, I mean I feel like I'm getting slower than last winters avg times. Things feel so much harder right now.

Friday morning I got out a little late. It was already hot but the humidity was down and there was a light breeze. I decided to try to get in a couple of faster first miles to get the heart rate up and then adjust to the heat and put in some base building miles. I didn't even consider doing 2/1's because I knew the legs would fatigue too fast and I wouldn't make it past a mile without a big drop in pace.

I've probably run well over 1500 laps at this park doing 1/1's. I know the typical start stop places on the first few laps pretty damn well and I know if I'm running past specific points during specific intervals I'm making decent time. I keep my watch view on distance traveled and interval timers so I don't see elapsed time. I knew when I was coming around to the finish of the first lap that this would be the fastest lap I'd done since the summer started. If nothing else, just because of the way the timing works out, actually crossing during that specific run interval meant good things for me.

I hit the lap button and when I saw the number come up I stopped running. I don't know that I'd ever been within 20 seconds of that number. I had 40 seconds or more left in that run interval and I walked it trying to figure out the math and whatever else that number meant. It actually took me a minute or so to shake the confusion and shock and get back on track. The next lap reflected that pause but the third lap was within 10 seconds of the first. I was basically doing 12 minute miles.

The fastest mile I've done in an event was 12:20. While that's beyond really pitifully slow for mortals, it's a substantial improvement for me. All on the heels of feeling like I was backing up and getting slower. just like last year...

I don't know that I'll make it into the fall being able to do any real distance at a 2/1 interval, but I bet I have a legitimate shot at doing something close to 1:30/1.

We like progress.

Normally I'd be really whining about the heat, but the rain continues. Truly bizarre.

Because of travel and weather I only got out two days last week and I really missed it. We took a road trip to Gulf Shores and I forgot my running shoes. After we got back it was pouring Friday morning and I had a full afternoon. I did get in 7 miles today so my goal of doing one 7 and one 10 a month during the summer is still looking good. I only have August to go.

August also means vacation! To the mountains of Colorado we'll go. It won't be till the month is damn near over though. I'm so friggin ready. That will be "scheduled" time off from running too. We camp at 9,000' and in the past it's taken me around two weeks to get acclimated and by that time we are typically on the road home. We don't even know how long we're staying this time. At this point thats a damn good thing. It means we don't have to be back for something specific. That could change up until the day we leave to come back.

I'm getting a little itchy about fall and winter races but I'm holding firm on my promise so far. We'll see. The Half in San Antonio is in Oct and right now it looks like the wife will be out of town most of that month, so if I hold off on longer races, I probably won't get to check off all the big cities in Texas for races this season. Austin has a lot of races, so I can get something in there.

August and early September should answer most of the weight loss questions. I'm close, but many more weeks like the last one and a big slip up on the vacation and I'm toast.

see clearly now the rain has gone.."

At least the weather pattern that was causing the three week deluge has moved east. I'm sure we'll start our typical pattern of afternoon thunderstorms now, but thats OK. We just need a weeks break from the soaking.

Of course now the mosquitoes are going to be arriving in plague like proportions.

"So big they can stand flat footed and fornicate a Turkey!"

I'm sure I'll be hearing that a couple of dozen times a day over the next few weeks...

I have managed to do OK with the mileage. Got in a 10 miler last week and have been staying fairly close to a 20 to 25 mile per week avg. That's a decent increase over last summer.

The weight loss continues on it's oh so slow pace but I do feel like I've just entered one of those phases where all of a sudden a few pounds are just going to disappear. I guess it's the polar opposite feeling of being in a plateau and they don't come around here very often so I'm going to try to ride it as long as it lasts. Who knows, maybe I'll lose a whopping 2 whole LB's this month.

Alas, the entrance point to the pool and gym remains elusive.

Really, the fact that June is almost over is reason enough to celebrate. It means we are one month closer to fall and cooler weather.

Damn, it's been tough. Between the heat and the rain and the stifling humidity that follows, there really isn't a whole hell of a lot of enjoyment in getting out there right now. I don't know if it's the drugs, my fitness level, whatever... but it looks like a repeat of last summer. Last year, it seemed like no progress was being made until the cool weather finally returned and then I found I actually had made some decent gains. At least I hope that's what's happening.... half the time I feel like I'm running in a pair of concrete boots.

One plus... I do think I'm probably handling the heat a little bit better this year. That's probably partly do to a change in drugs, more heat acclimation, and a little better fitness. I guess you could chalk some of it up to attitude change as well. Last year I was doing shorter distances but the intensity level was higher. Now I'm doing quite a few more miles but I wing the intensity level based on the days conditions. I might run while I'm on the shaded part of the trail and walk when I'm in the blaring sun. If it's a little overcast and there is a breeze, I might stay out an extra 30 minutes.

I'm slowly losing weight. The last week was a small set back with the kids in town and lots of party's and eating out, but I'll still be down a little for the month. I'm still of the opinion that signing up for a race will hurt the weight loss effort so I'm still holding out. Truth be told, I'm not sure there isn't a bit of a catch 22 there. The motivation level is sure ratcheted up when I'm training. I need to complete a race in San Antonio and Austin to have the five major cities in TX covered. I might look at their Half Marathon opportunities and see how that might play out schedule wise.

Sunmart is still out there on the back burner, but man is it simmering on low right now.

Did I mention that it's Hell hot here? Yeah....

for anything over 20 miles until I get down to 225 lbs.

There, I said it... I have put a number out there. It's officially a stated goal.

Laying in Intensive Care in the early morning hours of June 10th 2004, the bed said I was at 277. Who knows how accuarte that really was but hey, I was no dummy... I didn't want to know the ugly truth... I hadn't stepped on a scale in years so that benchmark is what I use.

I'm at about 235 right now. Since the Dr. changed his "prescription" to "no more than 1 1/2 to 2 lbs a month, max," I'm semi-close. When it was 2 to 4, I was really sucking wind. I'll need to get closer to 4 lbs a month to be where I want to be at the end of August. I do not lose much while training, maybe 1 lb every two months and frankly the slow weight loss has at times been frustrating. It's probably the only area I feel I've not kicked ass in since i started all this.

I think that besides the obvious issues that come with carrying around the excess weight, I don't think I can honestly live up to mine and my Dr's qualifying mantra of "do no damage" and do marathons and more. I can't verbalize it, but the last couple of miles in Houston were I think tougher than they should have been and I think it was weight. We'll see, cause I'll get this done.