It was a good year. I will always remember 2008 as the year I took my running to the "next level". I can't believe that I ran my 1st marathon in 2008, and my 3rd marathon in 2008.... I crammed a lot of stuff in this year.
I was able to truly push my body to levels that I never imagined it would go. I lost about 20 lbs this year, and I really feel good about my weight.
So, here are my stats...
I ran close to 1700 miles... around 30 miles/week average.
I ran 2 5k races (20:13 in April, 19:38 in May)
I ran 1 10k race (40:38 in November) (I did a time trial in September in 41:52)
A 15k in February (1:09:04)
A half marathon 3 weeks ago (1:33:34)
and...... 3 marathons (Disney 5:37, Ft. Lauderdale 4:53, Chicago 4:36)
The ironic thing is that all of my training for the latter part of 2007, and all of 2008 were focusing on the marathons, and those were my worst races of all of the races I did. But to harp on the good, I PR'd in every race that I participated in 2008... and for that I am very happy and proud of :).
My proudest running moment of the year was 2 weeks ago, when I got a 3rd place award for my age group in the half marathon that I participated in. My dad was there with me and was so happy and proud of me. That felt great.
My most memorable running moment of the year was my being with my dad for the last 2 miles of Disney. I had enough, and was having an awful time out there with my legs and cramping... and he helped bring me through the last 2 miles. Who would've thought that would lead to him starting to run and 11 months later pull off a 1:58 half marathon at the same race I was at.... Pops is no joke!!!!
So what do I want to accomplish for next year??? More PRs? A more respectable marathon time? Sub 1:30 half marathon? Sub 40 10k? Sub 20 5k? Yes.... and no.
Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go with some friends to Jacksonville to watch them run a marathon. I was supposed to run the 1/2 marathon in Jacksonville, but it didn't work out because of me running the race with my dad the previous weekend. I was able to be a "spectator" for the first time, and it really allowed me to take in everything. I didn't have to worry about being nervous, not sleeping good, watching all of my intake of food, and suffering through cramps during the race (which happened to my buddy Chris.. poor guy...). I was able to watch everyone do their thing, and I realized how it was only a few of us that took everything so seriously.... not that we trained harder or less than anyone else, but some people (the more experienced ones) didn't make this stuff a life or death situation like so many of us runners do. They enjoyed themselves before the race, during the race, and after the race. Many of them were going for Boston, but didn't have mental implosions the minute they realized their Boston time wasn't going to happen. They prepared for the race better than I had in my previous marathons (with nutrition, sleep, and all the other little things that go into a race), but didn't take it so seriously.... they just ran and whatever happened... just happened. One of Chris' massage clients said something to Chris and I a few days after his recent marathon:
"You know what your guys problem is?"
Us: "What?"
Client: "Everything is about time with you guys!! Just enjoy it!!"
And you know what? She is right.
Today, I was able to chill out and read some other blogs on running, and most people that had subpar marathons encountered the same thing that I encountered in my marathons. Either before the race, or early in the race they knew it wasn't going to be their day. Being stubborn, they tried to push through whatever it was that they were feeling. They (Greg) didn't listen to their body and adjust their goals... because it was all about the clock... and they ended up having a miserable day.
Fortunately in all other distances (5k to half marathon), you can have an off day and still get away with it...because by time things start to act up, the race is over. But for the marathon, it doesn't work like that... if things aren't going right... you better reasses things quickly or you are going to be miserable in a hurry. And I have decided that when I run another marathon, I will not even think of undertaking it again if it is solely about a particular time... because it is too mentally draining to train just for that race and hope that my body is feeling absolutely perfect for that day....so that I can pull off the perfect 26.2 mile run. I think if I take that mentality into the race, everything will work out better for me.
And honestly, that is what I want to do next year.
I love to run, and I love to be around the running scene... it's inspiring, fun and motivating all at the same time. But I'm not going to put the pressure on myself to PR every race. I want to run races for fun (for the first time ever) and I want to race (because I enjoy racing). I want to collect medals, and just enjoy all of my races. For 2008, I enjoyed all of my training runs (except one) and for 2009, I want to enjoy all of my races (regardless of what happens).
More importantly, I want to make sure that running continues to be a solid part of my weekly routine, without it severely affecting my family life, as we prepare for our 3rd precious child to come into our family in early 2009.
Happy New Year to Everyone!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Races and weddings???
They have so many similarities... let me explain.
This past weekend, I went down to Ft. Lauderdale because we were invited to a wedding, and my wife was in the wedding party as one of the bridesmaids. She is currently 7 months pregnant and had 2nd thoughts about being in the wedding d/t some difficulties with the pregnancy and being on her feet for long periods of time, but she did it anyway. (I must admit, I was a bit nervous about her being a part of the wedding over the weekend). All in all, the wedding went well and Kerry did fantastic. But the ironic part of it all is after the wedding.
So Kerry and I left the wedding, and drove over to my parents house, which was about 45 minutes from the reception... and during the drive over, Kerry is replaying to me the whole event... from her meeting the other bridesmaids at the hotel to get ready, to the limo ride to the church, the actual ceremony, the reception and every minute detail in between. She addressed everything that went well, everything that could've gone better... and then she addressed the similarities to our wedding nearly 8 years ago to this wedding.... to everything that we should've done different at our wedding...etc, etc..
The next morning, as we made our way into the van and started driving back to Tampa, Kerry rehashed the wedding details again... and you could see that she still was on her wedding high!!! Basically, it was more or less the same conversation that we had the night before, but I listened, and as she was talking, I was thinking about how passionate she is about this stuff. Instead of cutting her off, and telling her that we already talked about this, I realized that this is her marathon... this is her big race!!! And because I love her so much, I really started to get into the conversation... because I realized how excited she was about this... Honestly, we talked about wedding stuff for about 3 of the 4 hours of our drive. This morning, we went out together for breakfast and guess what??? We talked about....weddings!!!! And then I told her, "Babe, you should be a wedding planner". She gleamed from ear to ear when I said that... I guess it's like telling me, "Greg, you should train for the Olympic Trials.... you have the talent!" I mean I know that's not true about me... but that is her passion (and I truly think she would do well)... and that is exactly how runners feel.
This past weekend was a lot of marathons, and a few hours ago, I went onto a Runner's Online Forum and read so many peoples' race report about how their race went... all the details of the event and how they mentally and physically managed throughout the race. To a runner, it is almost like reading a really catching novel. Even though it wasn't my race, you know how much these people put into getting ready for the big day... and then to see it all come together for some folks... you just feel so good for them... and then to see everything implode for others... you truly feel their pain, because at some point, you have been there yourself.
The wedding is no different.... so much preparation goes into this 2 part, 4-5 hour event... and you just want it to be perfect.... for some the day goes as planned, and for others, there are many mini and/or major disasters...
To the spectators of the wedding or the race, well.... they are always much more forgiving... Kerry asked me, "Did you notice how this didn't go as planned?"... and I was like, "No, I thought that went great..."
It's basically the same as when I tell people... I ran a 4:36 marathon, and 99% of people are like... "WOW!!! That's really good!!" But for me, it is way under what I expect from myself.
Weddings and races.... so many similarities.....
I will never watch Bridezilla the same....
This past weekend, I went down to Ft. Lauderdale because we were invited to a wedding, and my wife was in the wedding party as one of the bridesmaids. She is currently 7 months pregnant and had 2nd thoughts about being in the wedding d/t some difficulties with the pregnancy and being on her feet for long periods of time, but she did it anyway. (I must admit, I was a bit nervous about her being a part of the wedding over the weekend). All in all, the wedding went well and Kerry did fantastic. But the ironic part of it all is after the wedding.
So Kerry and I left the wedding, and drove over to my parents house, which was about 45 minutes from the reception... and during the drive over, Kerry is replaying to me the whole event... from her meeting the other bridesmaids at the hotel to get ready, to the limo ride to the church, the actual ceremony, the reception and every minute detail in between. She addressed everything that went well, everything that could've gone better... and then she addressed the similarities to our wedding nearly 8 years ago to this wedding.... to everything that we should've done different at our wedding...etc, etc..
The next morning, as we made our way into the van and started driving back to Tampa, Kerry rehashed the wedding details again... and you could see that she still was on her wedding high!!! Basically, it was more or less the same conversation that we had the night before, but I listened, and as she was talking, I was thinking about how passionate she is about this stuff. Instead of cutting her off, and telling her that we already talked about this, I realized that this is her marathon... this is her big race!!! And because I love her so much, I really started to get into the conversation... because I realized how excited she was about this... Honestly, we talked about wedding stuff for about 3 of the 4 hours of our drive. This morning, we went out together for breakfast and guess what??? We talked about....weddings!!!! And then I told her, "Babe, you should be a wedding planner". She gleamed from ear to ear when I said that... I guess it's like telling me, "Greg, you should train for the Olympic Trials.... you have the talent!" I mean I know that's not true about me... but that is her passion (and I truly think she would do well)... and that is exactly how runners feel.
This past weekend was a lot of marathons, and a few hours ago, I went onto a Runner's Online Forum and read so many peoples' race report about how their race went... all the details of the event and how they mentally and physically managed throughout the race. To a runner, it is almost like reading a really catching novel. Even though it wasn't my race, you know how much these people put into getting ready for the big day... and then to see it all come together for some folks... you just feel so good for them... and then to see everything implode for others... you truly feel their pain, because at some point, you have been there yourself.
The wedding is no different.... so much preparation goes into this 2 part, 4-5 hour event... and you just want it to be perfect.... for some the day goes as planned, and for others, there are many mini and/or major disasters...
To the spectators of the wedding or the race, well.... they are always much more forgiving... Kerry asked me, "Did you notice how this didn't go as planned?"... and I was like, "No, I thought that went great..."
It's basically the same as when I tell people... I ran a 4:36 marathon, and 99% of people are like... "WOW!!! That's really good!!" But for me, it is way under what I expect from myself.
Weddings and races.... so many similarities.....
I will never watch Bridezilla the same....
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Turkey Trot 10k
Let's get caught up a bit....
I ran the Clearwater Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, and ran my best race ever. Funny thing about it is that I felt awful leading up to the race. I have been battling the flu since Tuesday, and with a brutal work day on Wednesday, along with my family coming in town for Thanksgiving, I was just wiped out. I actually thought about bagging the race, but there were a few reasons why I ended up doing it.
1. My dad wanted to do it
2. This would be my first race since Chicago, and I needed to get a race of my potential in the books. The best thing you can do if you have a tough race, is to race again when you are HEALTHY!!
My goal for this race was to break 41:00. I ran a time trial 10k about 3 weeks before Chicago, and finished it in 41:52, but it was during the summer.... so I figured that in nice conditions, I could probably take close to a minute of my time.
So, anyways we (my dad and Julie) left from my house at 7:00 am, and drove to Clearwater. What a race!!! 15,000 people did all the Turkey Trot races... it was really cool! We hadn't signed up yet, so we went to sign up and then walked about 1.5 miles to our car to drop all of our goodies back to the car. We had about 30 minutes to spare after all of that, and I had to go to the potty. I thought to myself while I was walking to the start... "why is it that I am always sick before races?" Anxiety? Bad luck? Whatever... I just told myself that the quicker I get it over, hopefully nothing bad will happen...
Once we walked to the start, I saw one of my former patients that participated in the 5k earlier... that was pretty cool, because I knew she was going to be out there, but it was so many people I knew there was no way I would find her. But she found me so that was cool. A few minutes later, I saw a collegiate runner that I worked with a few months ago, who was running with her team. That was pretty cool... and it made me happy to see the people that I work with that are back to running. Made me feel good for them.
So anyways, Julie and myself started off at the same area, and we both had typical pre-race jitters, so we went and did some warm ups before the race. I think it helped us both.
So.. the race??? Ok, we started way to fast!!! The 1st mile had a slight downhill decline, and a bunch of people (at least 200-300) started out at around 6:00/mile for the 1st half mile... I slowed down and shouted to Julie to slow down!!! So I ended up hitting my first mile split in 6:27, once I probably ended up running the 2nd half of the 1st mile in right under a 7:00/mile. I fell into a somewhat comfortable groove, and all my sinus trouble and stomach issues were gone.
Mile two didn't feel too hard either, and it was encouraging because a good amount of people were already starting to fade back, which meant that I made the right decision about slowing down for that 2nd half of the 1st mile. The main thing I could remember about the 2nd mile was a guy who was out screaming for all of us to commit our lives to the Lord and pray for salvation..... and the guy on the opposite side of the street telling him to "GO HOME". Trust me, even though you are focused on what you are doing during the race, I try to take in all the stuff going around me. They also had a band playing at mile 2, which was pretty cool. Finished 2nd mile in 6:29. Mile 3, I was starting to work. By the end of it, I felt like I could stop already, but had to remind myself.. "Sorry buddy, this a 10k, not a 5k" So, mentally I had to dig deep and try to focus on holding pace for as long as I could. Body was still feeling suprisingly good, considering I didn't sleep a wink last night, and my tummy and sinuses bothered me all night. So, what I did from mile 3 to the end was race.... yup... it is the first time since I have been running that I actually started to race people. I tried to catch some people... then others were catching me...and it was fun!!!! There was the one guy who I passed, and then behind me I can hear he was laboring... and almost sound like he was trying to throw up, but within 20 seconds, he caught and passed me, and we did that for like 10 minutes or so... it really made me have to focus and work so hard.... this is probably the hardest I have ever worked in a race ever. But thanks to those guys, they pushed me harder than maybe I would have pushed myself. Mile 3- 6:34. Mile 4 was more racing and hurtin... and a Mexican band...that's all I remember... 6:37. Mile 5... was a killer hill (for Florida that is). I saw it from the end of mile 4, and was like... what the heck is this? We are in Florida for crying out loud!!!! So my heart rate started to spike, and my pace slowed... and I knew that I just had to get past it and not slow down to bad... I just didn't want to see a 7:00/mile pace on my watch... and I was close, but it didn't happen.... so that was great! After we passed the hill, there was a downhill portion and I made up the time by pushing with all I had and striding out more. Mile 6- 6:31. I truly didn't have anything left at that point. I just kept on looking at my watch and realizing that a PR was there for me!!! I tried to sprint the last .2, but it ended up being my slowest split of the race.... boo!!!! But hey... I'll take it... great race, huge PR and I ran better than what I thought I could do.
10k- 40:38 - average 6:33/mile... I think I placed 83rd out of 2408 participants...and I got a cool coffee mug for placing in the top 125 males in the race.... YAY!!!!!!
Unfortunately, in retrospect, I beat up my body so much leading up to the race with having the flu, working a lot. And with having family in town and doing a lot of hosting, I am burned out. I have the full-blown flu, my stomach is in havoc, and I can barely get out of bed. I have not run since Thursday, and the way I feel now, I don't think I will run for at least a few more days. I can't remember the last time I have not run at least 10 miles on the weekend. Last weekend, I ran 24 miles, and the week before I ran 26.2, but now??? I'm sitting here typing this from my couch. My body has had enough... I'm done, and today it will be me, my couch and the NFL.
I ran the Clearwater Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, and ran my best race ever. Funny thing about it is that I felt awful leading up to the race. I have been battling the flu since Tuesday, and with a brutal work day on Wednesday, along with my family coming in town for Thanksgiving, I was just wiped out. I actually thought about bagging the race, but there were a few reasons why I ended up doing it.
1. My dad wanted to do it
2. This would be my first race since Chicago, and I needed to get a race of my potential in the books. The best thing you can do if you have a tough race, is to race again when you are HEALTHY!!
My goal for this race was to break 41:00. I ran a time trial 10k about 3 weeks before Chicago, and finished it in 41:52, but it was during the summer.... so I figured that in nice conditions, I could probably take close to a minute of my time.
So, anyways we (my dad and Julie) left from my house at 7:00 am, and drove to Clearwater. What a race!!! 15,000 people did all the Turkey Trot races... it was really cool! We hadn't signed up yet, so we went to sign up and then walked about 1.5 miles to our car to drop all of our goodies back to the car. We had about 30 minutes to spare after all of that, and I had to go to the potty. I thought to myself while I was walking to the start... "why is it that I am always sick before races?" Anxiety? Bad luck? Whatever... I just told myself that the quicker I get it over, hopefully nothing bad will happen...
Once we walked to the start, I saw one of my former patients that participated in the 5k earlier... that was pretty cool, because I knew she was going to be out there, but it was so many people I knew there was no way I would find her. But she found me so that was cool. A few minutes later, I saw a collegiate runner that I worked with a few months ago, who was running with her team. That was pretty cool... and it made me happy to see the people that I work with that are back to running. Made me feel good for them.
So anyways, Julie and myself started off at the same area, and we both had typical pre-race jitters, so we went and did some warm ups before the race. I think it helped us both.
So.. the race??? Ok, we started way to fast!!! The 1st mile had a slight downhill decline, and a bunch of people (at least 200-300) started out at around 6:00/mile for the 1st half mile... I slowed down and shouted to Julie to slow down!!! So I ended up hitting my first mile split in 6:27, once I probably ended up running the 2nd half of the 1st mile in right under a 7:00/mile. I fell into a somewhat comfortable groove, and all my sinus trouble and stomach issues were gone.
Mile two didn't feel too hard either, and it was encouraging because a good amount of people were already starting to fade back, which meant that I made the right decision about slowing down for that 2nd half of the 1st mile. The main thing I could remember about the 2nd mile was a guy who was out screaming for all of us to commit our lives to the Lord and pray for salvation..... and the guy on the opposite side of the street telling him to "GO HOME". Trust me, even though you are focused on what you are doing during the race, I try to take in all the stuff going around me. They also had a band playing at mile 2, which was pretty cool. Finished 2nd mile in 6:29. Mile 3, I was starting to work. By the end of it, I felt like I could stop already, but had to remind myself.. "Sorry buddy, this a 10k, not a 5k" So, mentally I had to dig deep and try to focus on holding pace for as long as I could. Body was still feeling suprisingly good, considering I didn't sleep a wink last night, and my tummy and sinuses bothered me all night. So, what I did from mile 3 to the end was race.... yup... it is the first time since I have been running that I actually started to race people. I tried to catch some people... then others were catching me...and it was fun!!!! There was the one guy who I passed, and then behind me I can hear he was laboring... and almost sound like he was trying to throw up, but within 20 seconds, he caught and passed me, and we did that for like 10 minutes or so... it really made me have to focus and work so hard.... this is probably the hardest I have ever worked in a race ever. But thanks to those guys, they pushed me harder than maybe I would have pushed myself. Mile 3- 6:34. Mile 4 was more racing and hurtin... and a Mexican band...that's all I remember... 6:37. Mile 5... was a killer hill (for Florida that is). I saw it from the end of mile 4, and was like... what the heck is this? We are in Florida for crying out loud!!!! So my heart rate started to spike, and my pace slowed... and I knew that I just had to get past it and not slow down to bad... I just didn't want to see a 7:00/mile pace on my watch... and I was close, but it didn't happen.... so that was great! After we passed the hill, there was a downhill portion and I made up the time by pushing with all I had and striding out more. Mile 6- 6:31. I truly didn't have anything left at that point. I just kept on looking at my watch and realizing that a PR was there for me!!! I tried to sprint the last .2, but it ended up being my slowest split of the race.... boo!!!! But hey... I'll take it... great race, huge PR and I ran better than what I thought I could do.
10k- 40:38 - average 6:33/mile... I think I placed 83rd out of 2408 participants...and I got a cool coffee mug for placing in the top 125 males in the race.... YAY!!!!!!
Unfortunately, in retrospect, I beat up my body so much leading up to the race with having the flu, working a lot. And with having family in town and doing a lot of hosting, I am burned out. I have the full-blown flu, my stomach is in havoc, and I can barely get out of bed. I have not run since Thursday, and the way I feel now, I don't think I will run for at least a few more days. I can't remember the last time I have not run at least 10 miles on the weekend. Last weekend, I ran 24 miles, and the week before I ran 26.2, but now??? I'm sitting here typing this from my couch. My body has had enough... I'm done, and today it will be me, my couch and the NFL.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Running by the stars... (house)
This Saturday was probably the most eventful training run I have had over the past few months. Liz, one of my running buddies, invited Chris, Julie and myself to run with her in Avila, which is one of Tampa Bay's premier private country club communities. I have always wanted to see inside of that community, so I jumped on the opportunity to go over there and run with the group.
It was probably the coldest run of the year for me, as the starting temps were about 40 degrees. We ended up running 16 miles in around 2:25 and the temps were probably 45 when we finished. It was cold and because the community had a lot of trees, it never really warmed up.
So basically, it was a very cold running tour of Avila...
I enjoyed every minute of it, as I got to see so many houses of some of the big names in Tampa. So how big were these houses? Massive!!! It is so funny, because in my neighborhood there is one house that looks like it doesn't belong here. It is a custom home and it seems so huge... maybe 4,000-5,000 square feet.... well that is probably the smallest house in Avila...whew!!!
There was one house that looked like a castle!! No joke... don't believe me???
It was probably the coldest run of the year for me, as the starting temps were about 40 degrees. We ended up running 16 miles in around 2:25 and the temps were probably 45 when we finished. It was cold and because the community had a lot of trees, it never really warmed up.
So basically, it was a very cold running tour of Avila...
I enjoyed every minute of it, as I got to see so many houses of some of the big names in Tampa. So how big were these houses? Massive!!! It is so funny, because in my neighborhood there is one house that looks like it doesn't belong here. It is a custom home and it seems so huge... maybe 4,000-5,000 square feet.... well that is probably the smallest house in Avila...whew!!!
There was one house that looked like a castle!! No joke... don't believe me???
I told ya....
Anyways, my body felt a bit on the stiff side today, so after church I ended up running 7.5 miles, which has made my muscles feel so much better.
This upcoming week, I will be running the Turkey Trot with my dad on Thanksgiving day. It will be a 10k race, and I'm going to race this thing all out. I am hoping to break 41 minutes, as my 10k pr is unofficial, but it was 41:52 when I did a time trial right before the Chicago Marathon. I think that should happen... but thinking and doing are two separate things, right?
Anyways, it will be nice to race again... and the really nice part is that I will get rewarded with tons of great food later that day!!!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
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