Category: exercise

Ran the Mt. Tabor Challenge today. The course was tough but not as tough as I thought it would be. Mostly downhill (which isn’t easier, for those of you who aren’t runners).

Caleb and I stayed together for about the first half of the race. When we passed the 1-mile marker, Caleb checked his (brand-new Nike) watch and said we’d done that in 7:20, which surprised the hell out of me. That was all downhill, so I was running faster than I should have, even though I’d been purposely trying to hold back.

I finished about the same today as I did in the Lake Run, around 29 minutes. The clock just turned 29:00 as I approached the gates.

From left: Caleb, Jake, Brian (the author)

Jake ran it in 20:23 and probably finished first or second in his age group. Caleb ran it in around 27:00, two minutes faster than me. The nice thing about being the slowest person among my friends is that they’re at the finish line, waiting for me and cheering me on!

I turned my “Three Parks Run” into a “Four Parks Run” on the fly.

Instead of going through Sellwood Park directly, I ran along the Springwater Corridor Trail until past the 3.5 mile mark, probably close to 3.8 miles, then went under the trail into the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and cut through it to a trail that zig-zags up the face of the bluff into Sellwood Park, then caught my normal path from there along the top of the bluff and onto Bybee Street, down to Westmoreland Park, etc., etc.

That had to add at least a half-mile, probably closer to a full mile, to the run. The original run is 3.5 miles, including the warm-up and cool-down (3 miles of it running) so I did a 4+ mile run today! And I only had to stop for traffic (and a stupid girl blocking the sidewalk in front of Saburo’s on Bybee!)

I’ve found my first 10K race… the Nike Run Hit Wonder.

What an awesome idea for a race: gather a bunch of “one-hit wonders” like Ton Loc, Devo, Kajagoogoo, and Tommy Tutone, and have them play along the course.

Only freakin’ Nike would come up with something like that.

Got 8 weeks (give or take) to train for it.

I’m so there.

I went and added up my mileage for the week yesterday but forgot that my week ends today. I haven’t’ run today but I plan on doing it, and I’m going to do another 3.5 miles. Y’know, ’cause I rock.

Run to work yesterday. Because I haven’t been doing well I was unconcerned about time and pace; I just wanted to do the entire distance without stopping or walking. I failed to do that, because my iPod has started skipping. Turns out you really shouldn’t run with a hard drive after all. It’s still working, and when I get a chance to move my backups off it I’m going to reformat and reload my music and other files on to it, and run a full HD checkup. But not this weekend… well, maybe tomorrow if I get a chance.

So my final mileage for last week was 3.5 + 2.5 + 5.5 = 11.5 miles. Probably my best week, distance-wise, not so good time-wise. But, hey.

Next week I plan on easing back even more on the running and focusing on the gym, just for the change of pace, since I seem to have hit a plateau in running.

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned here that I’ve added sit-ups and push-ups daily. Basically, once a day (usually, but not always, at night before bed) I do as many of each in a row as I can. I ended this week with a paltry 29 sit-ups and 17 push-ups. I hope to increase the number significantly over time.

This week I was weak. I only ran 9.5 miles: 2 miles on Tuesday, 5.5 miles on Thursday, drank myself stupid on Friday (I planned that, by the way), tried to go bouldering on Saturday, ran just over 2 miles on Sunday (today).

I’ve stopped taking my vitamin supplements, and it seems obvious in retrospect that my lack of energy is tied to the lack of nutrition. I’ve started taking them again, and I’ll see how my exercise goes.

Two weeks until the Mt. Tabor Challenge. Hoo-boy, that’s going to be a killer.

I run better in the morning. I don’t know why. I just do. I’m so much stronger, able to just keep running, able to dissociate myself from thinking about what I’m doing, able to breathe properly.

I did two miles tonight. Not great, had to walk some, couldn’t breathe. Bah.

Now I’m sitting here, in the dark, bathed in the cool soft glow of my iBook’s screen, listening to Mr. Colin Molloy sing “Clementine”. I’m now a big fan of The Decemberists. The songs are literate, ironic, slightly twisted, and generally sad, even when the tune is upbeat and catchy.

OK, time for bed. G’night.

I need to run. I should be running right now. Two days ago I ran the “Three Parks” loop and nearly died, but managed to finish it with an absolute minimum of walking. Two days ago, I planned on getting up early today and running at least 3 miles. Then I went out with someone on Monday evening, and stayed out late, at least too late to get up at 4:30 AM today and be in any kind of shape, and so decided to run tonight after work. All day long I could feel my energy level dropping, and the excuses came out in my head: “Run tomorrow morning! It won’t change your schedule that much… You’re too tired to run. You don’t have to run 3.5 miles, you can just run 2 miles… don’t run, go home, go to sleep, you need it… if you don’t have dinner that’s the same, calorie-wise, as running… don’t run…”

Dammit. I’m not going to give in to the negative voices. I’m going. I’m already dressed for a run. I drank plenty of water. It’s a beautiful warm evening outside. I just have to get up from this couch and go out that door…

I’m going. See me go? I’m gone.

Ran to work today. I kept a 9:36 pace!

• 5:10 AM – left the house
• 5:17 AM – finished warmup and started running towards Springwater Corridor trail head
• 6:05 AM – finished 5+ mile run by crossing the Hawthorne Bridge

It’s amazing what a little frustration in life can push me to accomplish…