Month: December 2005

My nephew and I participated in the Red-Nosed RUN Deer this weekend. It was freakin’ cold, as expected, and I wore three layers for my run. I think Max had on two layers. At any rate, we averaged about a 12:00 pace for an estimated total time of about 37:15. That time, however, includes the time it took for us to reach the starting line; our chip time will be less than that, I believe. There was quite a crowd! Lots of antlers and Santa caps. Max and I just had on our race t-shirts and sleigh bells.

On my suggestion prior to the race, Max had stated that his goal was to beat his last 5K time. That would have been the Run Like Hell in October. Max’s chip time in that race was 36:51, so, depending on how much time it took us to cross the starting line, he may have actually achieved his goal! He came pretty close, though, and I think he’s doing great, considering that he’s not actually training. He exercises in school, but it’s not really structured for learning to run longer distances. So the only “training” he gets is in these races, and, frankly, no one would improve if they only trained once per month.

I’m afraid I might have set the bar too high by suggesting that he could have aimed for an average 10:30 pace for the race. He had managed about a 10:35 pace for the first two miles of the Turkey Trot in November – but, admittedly, that was entirely downhill. I hope he’s not disappointed at all for his showing in this race. For a novice (and I consider myself barely out of novice stage) there’s still a huge difference between 2 miles and 3.1 miles.

I think, with just some regular training, Max could be easily beating me (his still-chubby, short, over-40 uncle).

I’m proud of him for going out and trying, and for setting goals, even if he’s not achieving them right away.

So… our next race is the First Run, starting just after midnight on New Year’s Day… I will help Max be a little better prepared for this one. And, no matter what, it will be our fastest race of 2006.

OK, so I’ve blown the schedule I set for myself earlier this week.

I went to the gym last night to run, but, as has been the case the past couple of weeks, it was crowded. And, to make it even more difficult to find a treadmill, four of the good treadmills were out of commission. Ugh. So, instead of waiting around for one of the two remaining good treadmills, I bagged it and decided I would get up early and run.

Man, oh, man, was that difficult. I set the alarm for 4:30 AM, which did actually wake me up, but I just shut off the alarm and went back to sleep. I faded in and out of sleep for the next 45 minutes until I decided that, yes, indeed, I did need to get up and go to the gym.

And I did. I was stiff and cold and tired and hungry, but I went to the gym. Did I mention cold? (Man, it’s gonna be so freakin’ cold on Sunday when I run in the Red-Nosed RUN Deer) And, since I thought I was supposed to do my scheduled speedwork on Thursday night, and I hadn’t looked at my schedule for what I was supposed to be doing on Friday, I just decided I’d do an easy 3.5 miles.

Turns out that I had scheduled 3.5 miles for Thursday, and my speed workout for Friday. So, I’m not that far off right now. I think I’ll do my intervals on Saturday. The race isn’t going to be that stressful. Y’know, except for the cold. But since I’m running with my nephew, I can just burn him for warmth (just kidding).

Running update:

Haven’t been running much lately. I ran twice in the past two weeks: once for 3 miles, once for 4 miles. And, yeah, the past two weeks have included some heavy holiday eating. So… that’s not so good. But as of this week I am officially back in stride.

In that spirit, I am posting my schedule/goal for this week:

• Monday: 3.0 miles
• Tuesday: 4.0 miles + strength
• Wednesday: Rest day.
• Thursday: 3.5 miles + strength
• Friday: 4.5 miles – treadmill intervals (speed)
• Saturday: Rest day + strength
• Sunday: Red-Nosed RUN Deer 5K with my nephew!

Only about 18 miles this week – want to start back in slowly. But no worries, I’ll be back up to my 20+ miles per week in no time.

Oh, and also, I’m going to be adding at least a half-hour of weight training three times/week to my training. I’m not sure how I’ll break it all down, but just want to do something for each major muscle group (arms, chest, abs, back, legs) on a regular basis.