Big Step Ahead

Yesterday, I made the biggest step in getting prepared for the Disney Marathon. I was able to run 22....yes 22 miles in the early morning. Wow..it sounds like a long run... and guess what??? It was!!! It felt like it took forever. I enjoyed most of it, but I had some stomach issues before I left my house, 3 miles into the run, and 11 miles into the run, in which I had to stop and.... take care of business. My neighbors must think I'm a nut job, because I continued to run around a loop in my neighborhood...10 times!!! I saw people running and go home, and I saw one guy who was running, then I saw him go to work, and I was only 1/2 done. So, I guess I was never fully in a groove with my running, but who cares? I did it... one of the cool things about this first time of training for the marathon is that everything feels like such a big accomplishment because it's all firsts. I remember Chris and I slapping high fives when we completed 10 miles for the first time, then 12,14,16,18 and then 20... Now 22 (but we didn't run this one together). To be honest with you, I remember the first time I did a circuit training session after I saw my MD about my cholesterol, and I remember how satisfied I was that I finished 15 minutes of the circuit... it puts everything into perspective. Be proud of your fitness accomplishments, no matter where you are currently at...just continue to progress. I got some good nutritional advice from a patient at our clinic on how to intake energy gels during my training run, which seemed to help me throughout. My stomach problems were there before I even got out and ran, so I know it wasn't due to the energy gels. Anyways, I was sore after finishing...not as bad as I felt when I did the 20 miler, but I wasn't going as fast. I'm getting psyched... I just don't want to get hurt at this point...As I read disneyrunning.com, I'm starting to see more people write on the message boards about their injuries keeping them out of the Disney race...what a bummer!!! Well, you just gotta take everything in stride...no matter what happens. Okay, tommorrow I will be blogging about shin splints for all of you Disney people asking me about your shin problems. I hope I answer your questions.

Happy Running!!!

I'm Baaack!!!!!

One word can describe how I'm feeling right now.... Exhausted!!!! Why does it work like that? You go on vacation, and you feel more exhausted than before you left. Oh well, I feel very blessed that I was able to go away for that long and enjoy being with family and friends. As I was driving back to Tampa today from Ft. Lauderdale, I looked around and realized how blessed we all are to live in this beautiful country. We have so many priveleges and luxuries that we take for granted, so I just had to take a moment to reflect on things...
I also don't want to take for granted the good people that I work with. Everything went well at work while I was away, and its because the people I work with care so much, and I'm just so appreciative of them. Chris, Cheryl and Denise are the best... great friends and co-workers, can't beat it!!!
Perhaps the most disappointing news I heard from any of my co-workers was today when Chris gave me a review of his longest training run, which he completed today... a 22 mile run in Seven Oaks....
Good news is that he finished it (and he finished it in a very respectable time).
Bad news is he told me that it was quite uncomfortable...actually he used the words "downright painful" to describe the last 3 miles. Chris and I, are more or less at around the same fitness levels, so usually what he feels with running, I feel about the same..... so I'm a little worried. Excited and anxious may be better words to use. We usually do all of these long runs together, so maybe its going to be worse for the both of us, because there is no encouragement going on while we are out there. Because I just got back in town, I have decided to attempt this 22 miler Tuesday morning, (also, my (L) knee was acting up just a little bit yesterday). So an extra day or two before the run can only help.

P.S. Now that I'm back, I plan on blogging at least 1x/week about common injuries that happen during strength training and/or running. Many of you from the disneyrunning.com website have been sending me private messages about your injuries and I have, for the most part, been answering your questions on an individual basis. I will decide what injury/topic gets discussed, based on what people are dealing with the most during the current week.

Quick Update

Hey guys... can't write for long... $10 every 30 minutes for internet use at the hotel.... insane!!! Well anyways, as you know this blog that I am doing is for running and rehab purposes for the most part, but if you want to know about our trip, Kerry, the original blogger, can tell you all about it at her website
www.mommyandmrs.blogspot.com
She expresses herself a lot better than I do!!
As for the post-race feelings... I couldn't ask for a better race. The conditions were great... it didn't seem to hot, since it was an early start, but the cramping at only 12 miles worries me and when I get back, I'm going to have to figure out some more stuff to put in my body so I don't run into this issue at Disney.
I ran 8 miles yesterday morning on the same course as the race. Probably about 8-10runners out there also, and I enjoyed it. Didn't use my Ipod, just enjoyed my surroundings!! My body feels good, and I forgot to tell you that I found a running partner to run with tomorrow morning. He is part of the Norwegian group that is here for my wife's cousin's birthday party. He actually placed 3rd in his age group at the race with a 1:35 finish time. He's 50!! He was on the Norwegian ski team, back in the day, and he has a all-time best of a 1:10 half marathon finish. No joke!!! So, tomorrow, I will try to keep up with him, and it should be fun.
Ok... gotta go!!!

The Race

The Race directors arranged for a bus to come every 15 minutes to our hotel, from 3:45 to 4:45 and drop runners off at the starting line. When I actually go on the bus @ 4:30, nerves started to set in. Was my (R) foot ok? Am I going to have to stop and walk, like the 1st half marathon I did? Will me not sleeping last night affect me? Before I could give myself answers to any of these questions, the bus driver said "Good Luck!!!" and opened up our doors. We were there and I guess I just figured that I'll have those answers in about 2 hours. I saw a bunch of people doing their pre-race routine. Some local track teams were doing their stretches, Joints in Motion was doing their pre-race thing and the DJ for the race was playing reggae-exercise music that got a lot of people pumped up. Believe it or not, the race was supposed to start at 5:15 am, and the starting gun sounded off at.....5:15!!! I would've bet all the money in the world that a Jamaican race would start at least 30 minutes late, at the earliest
I started and like all races, the start was very difficult to maneuver in and out of people. I finished my first mile in 8:24, which is slower than the 7:55 goal pace that I wanted to accomplish. By mile 2, I seemed to settle in and get in a groove. I was right around 7:50ish/mile for miles 2-6. Mile 7 had the most amount of supporters and cameras and bunch of a media folks were around that area. I got excited and started running faster, and I negatively felt my change in pace after 3 minutes. I was unable to finish miles 7&8 under 7:50 pace. Mile 9 was where I knew I was within reach of the finish. I told myself that I should start to push it and try to get back in the 7:40ish/mile pace. That worked well, until the end of mile 11, where I felt the cramps coming on... uh oh!! My legs felt heavy, but I hung in there. Mile 12 was rough. I knew this wasn't going to be a fast one, but I wanted to make it respectable. Two guys passed me, and then one guy, who I was talking to earlier in the race, caught up to me and said, "I'm hurting" and then I said "I'm cramping, so since we are in the same boat, let's make a deal. You push me to the finish and I'll push you." He said, "Fair deal", so we talked all the way to the end. The last .10 mile, we sprinted and said we wanted to look good for the pic!! It was greatly appreciated, and we talked for about 20 minutes after the race. Guess what his name was??? Greg!! It must've been meant to be that Greg helped Greg out, huh?? After the race, I was interviewed by flrunners.com and it wasn't until after the interview that I realized that I forgot to stop my watch. My unofficial time was 1:43 minutes, by their clocks. My chip time will be a little different, due to me starting at the back. I finished 7th in my age grop and 82nd overall. Sorry, no pics at this time, because I only have internet access and I can't download stuff from the camera. After the race I watched others come in and cheered them on. I left the race area after watching the first marathoner come in at around 2:30 min. A guy from Belgium won, and he is staying 2 doors down from me. As I am writing to you all, there are people still out there doing the marathon.... Boy oh boy, 6 weeks left until the big one, and I got my hands full!!!

Sore, stiff and satisfied

Greg

We're Here!!!

Wow!!! I guess I have a lot to cover. The last time I blogged, I was in Tampa getting ready to leave for Ft. Lauderdale. I guess I will pick it up from there. Ft. Lauderdale turned into a longer than expected trip, due to heavy traffic (over 6 hours,and it usually takes us 4). Due to us getting in past 10 pm, and being completely exhausted, I was not able to run on Wednesday. Thursday at 5 am was my running time, and it didn't go as planned. Two huge dogs started to chase me, but luckily as one of the dogs were coming after me, the owner yelled to him and he obeyed. I freaked out, so I decided to work my way back to my in-laws. On the way back, my (R) foot started to hurt, so I walked the rest of the way back (yes, physical therapists actually get hurt). When I limped back to my in-laws, I got the kids ready and we were off the airport. Flight was great and we actually arrived 5 min. early (which is very shocking that anything affiliated with Jamaica is on time). Our trip from the airport to our hotel was 2 hours. When we get here, the first thing I noticed was the different groups that were here to race the marathon. Joints in Motion, The African Leukemia Society, etc.... and they were easy to pick out due to them wearing badges displaying who they were affiliated with. Again, the beauty of these races is the you can't pick out a runner based on an individuals age, size, shape, gender or color. Since being here I've met many runners from Florida and other parts of the USA, Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Africa, Norway, and Denmark.
Fast Forward to yesterday, one of my little ones has a pretty bad fever and has been sick since our first day. Yesterday was awful for him and last night, Kerry and I probably slept 1-2 hours combined, as we were up with him as he cried and vomited throghout the night. Didn't have to be nervous about the race, as more important things took center stage. So with that said, I didn't need an alarm for my 4 am rise. Kerry always gets nervous about me racing, and was even more nervous, because she didn't want bad things to happen to both me and Arjay. She prayed for me before I left the room and I was on my way!!!

On our way!!!

Hey to all...hope all is well with everyone. I just finished work, headed home and I have packed the truck with our baggage and we are ready to head down to Ft. Lauderdale. We will catch a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Montego Bay tommorrow morning. Not too excited yet, because I'm still just trying to remember if I took care of everything at work. I think that once I get on the plane I will be able to let loose and relax. Unfortunatley I haven't run yet today. Planning on running tonight in Ft. Lauderdale or before I leave for the airport tommorrow morning. I will do some speed intervals, so hopefully it will carry over to the race. I don't know how accessible internet access will be for me once I am in Jamaica. My intention is to blog at least every other day, but we will see how it goes once I'm down there. Hopefully I will be able to tell you all the results of the race. You might be able to check out the results at www.reggaemarathon.com (just don't know how quickly they will get it up on their site). From what I have heard, there will be over 1,000 runners.... should be fun!!!

My Personal Trainer

I love my personal trainer. I, like many runners, don't have a human personal trainer. I use a Garmin Forerunner 305 to track my distances, monitor my heart rate and watch my pace of running as I continue to train for these races that are coming up. I can come to my training appointments at any time, and my trainer only yells at me if my heart rate is too high or low!! It's funny that it has probably gotten to an unhealthy level now, in that I probably can't go out for a run, if I don't have my watch on to train. Honestly the true fun begins when I get back home after my runs. I am able to download all types of cool information about my run to my computer and I can analyze how well my run went. I guess I am a data geek when it comes down to it. What a lot of people don't realize about the Forerunner is that you can customize workouts, not only for running, but for indoor workouts also. About 8 months ago, I decided that there was something more that I could do with this watch than just run. I, along with my business partner Mike, decided to bring the idea of doing heart-rate based circuit training programs at home, using this great piece of equipment, by setting up specialized programs using the software that came with the watch and downloading it to the watch every 4-6 weeks for patients. We decided to call this exercise program Therafit, which is fitness based on therapeutic exercises. Therapeutic exercises are the type of exercises that we do in our field of physical therapy to get patients stronger and fitter, when returning from an injury. We have over 50 clients that have signed up for the Therafit program, and we have had tremendous success with people managing and losing weight and improving their overall conditioning. The neat part is that all of our clients download their information to us on a weekly basis, and me being a data geek, analyzes their information and give them tips on how to modify their home exercise program in order for them to achieve their goals.
Well enough about that.... Yesterday I decided to go out for a run after I finished my last patient at around 8 pm. Seven Oaks, which is where our clinic is located, is a beautiful place to run and roads are lighted and not too many cars are around. I planned on running 5-6 miles, but about 10 minutes into the run, I went from feeling tired to having that typical euphoric feeling while running and enjoying my music on the Ipod. I did a little over 7.5 miles, and completed a tempo run. A tempo run is basically when you run fairly slow for the 1st part of your run (usually the 1st mile), pick up the pace for the mid part of your run, and then cool down for the last leg of the run (usually a mile or so). It is quite challenging, so when you finish, you always feel proud of yourself. Here is a peek of the run:
P.S. If you click on view activity, you will be directed to a site where you can see all the neat information that my watch recorded during my run (how fast or slow I ran each mile, my average heart rate for each mile, etc.)