Slowest Runner Ever

It was 7 degrees out during my personal record setting 5k last week.  Granted, it was only my second 5k and in the first one I pushed Charlotte in a jogging stroller.  Nonetheless, I pretty much kept a 9 minute mile pace the entire time.  I set a new record this morning, one with which I'm not quite as pleased...It took me almost 48 minutes to run 4 miles this morning.  12 minute miles?  Don't toddlers, just barely learning to walk, go faster than that?  It's lucky that there were no old people out for a casual stroll this morning with their canes and bad hips.  They would probably felt sorry for the guy who ran so slowly.  "I wonder if he had both legs replaced recently."  I'd like to say there are good excuses for this poor performance, but really there are none.  Well, I take that back.  Is being fat and lazy a good excuse?  Ok, maybe there are one or two.

I came home and had an awesome smoothie for breakfast.  1 cup carrot juice, 3/4 cup plain yogurt, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup frozen strawberries.  It was so good.  Lizzy says there is too much yogurt in it, but I like it. It was plenty filling.  I came home for lunch and had spaghetti noodles with cheese, a little ketchup and some mayo.  That is my all-time favorite mission recipe.  I ate it twice a day for almost a year and a half.  Lizzy hates how it smells and I can never get all of the cheese off the bowl, but it tastes so good.  I barely use a tablespoon of ketchup and mayo and a 1/4 cup of cheese.  It tastes way better with more ketchup, mayo and cheese, but I'm in training so I've got to go easy on that stuff.

11/29/10 - WOD

There was close to 4 feet of snow on the ground this morning, but we somehow made it to CrossFit.  I shoveled for about 20 minutes before Dave came and picked me up, so I was already a little worn out.  I just wanted to get my excuses in early to help explain my poor performance at the gym.  Also, I was really tired from a 13 mile run on Saturday, I shoveled for two hours on Sunday, I think I may be coming down with a cold, my hands still have blisters all over them, I didn't sleep very well, I forgot to eat anything before going to the gym, and at least 10 others that I can't think of right now.  Considering all I overcame this morning, I actually think I kicked some serious butt on today's WOD.  We did max reps for 3 minutes of 6 exercises.  Pull ups, double unders, Sumo Dead-lift High-pull, push ups, knees to elbows, and 24" box jumps.  I did somewhere between 5 and a million of each exercise.  Did I mention that I felt a little dehydrated?  Add that to the list.

During the run on Saturday, at about mile 3, there was an old lady who was stuck in the middle of the road and her car wouldn't start.  Being the good Samaritans that we are, Dave and I pushed her into a parking lot and were just about to ask if we could call her a tow truck when her truck started and she took off without as much as a wave.  I figure the energy required to push her truck was worth at least another mile or so.  Pushing that truck kind of hurt my back, now that I think about it and that made today's workout even more difficult.  OK, I'm done now.

13.1

13 miles is such a freaking long way to run.  I seriously wonder what I am thinking.  I thought I would die, on the spot today...and that was just the half way point of a full marathon.  On the brighter side, I didn't die.  We really took it easy for the first 6.5 miles.  We were almost 11 minute miles the entire time.  The second half was lots better, as we kept our pace under 10 minutes for all but the last mile or so.  It was about 25 degrees when we started and it felt like it got colder as we went.  I may have dressed too warm because I sweat a ton and then got real cold every time we stopped or walked to drink or eat some gu.  Dave still hasn't registered, but I upgraded him to questionable because he did the entire run today.  

It was ice bath time after the run.  There is no better way to recover.  The ice didn't feel that cold after the 2 hours spent out in the cold already.  I'm still working on what to eat before, during and after the race.  Today I went with a protein shake with oats, a banana and peanut butter about 2 hours before the run and a spoonful of peanut butter right before the race, along with a 5-hour energy.  During the race, I had some power bar gummies every 3 miles and 2 gu's as needed.  I also had a banana throughout the run.  I really like the gummies.  I just put them in the side of my mouth and that helped keep my mouth from drying out. I didn't drink any Gatorade this time, which was a mistake, but otherwise I kind of liked my food during the run.

In a side note.  I played my first game of Pokemon today.  I watched the BYU-Utah game over at my buddy Daniel's house and his 4 year old son comes up to me and throws down a Pokemon card and says, "Slowpoke, I chose you.  Chose your Pokemon."  He hands me this deck of cards.  I have no idea what to do, so I take one out of the pile and put it down next to his.  He then says, "I go first and I use smash slam and kill your Pokemon.  I win, give me all your cards."  I was in total shock.  He completely dominated me.  When he returned a few minutes later, declaring the game was on again and I could tell he was going to "smash slam" me again, no matter what.  So, I did what every other adult would do in this situation...I selected a new Pokemon and read the card to him, "smash slams do not hurt this Pokemon."  Of course the card said nothing like that, but he's four, so I felt pretty safe in my lie.  I threw the Pokemon card down this time, imitating him as best I could and said, "your turn Slowpoke."  He still chose to use the smash slam, but when I told him my Pokemon laughed at him and thought it tickled he said, "oh, your turn then."  I used a triple kick to take away almost all of Slowpoke's life and then he tried to use some sort of flame to kill me.  I, of course, told him my Pokemon eats fire and it had no effect.  "It says it right here on the card."  He was sorely disappointed, but would never question what the card says.  My next triple kick finished him off and I took all of his cards away.  He started getting pretty mad at this bold move, so I gave them back with a warning not to mess with me and my Pokemon again.  I decided to retire a winner, but who knows what will happen next time Slowpoke brings his smash slam my way.  I think my Pokemon's name was Hitmontop or something.

The Human Race

7 degrees this morning and 3200 crazy people participated in the 5k and 10k out at the Draper Outlets benefitting the Utah Food Bank. My brother Dan and I were among the first to start the 5k. I totally dominated this race, leading for the majority of the first 200 feet or so. I was sprinting, the guys that passed me were jogging. Needless to say, my lead didn't last very long.  I saw Dan pass me about a half mile in and I spent the rest of the race trying to pass any old or large women. When it became obvious I wasn't going to catch any of them I focued on my one true goal of every race I have ever been in...finish before collapsing. I think the sub 10-second 100 yards at the beginning of the race really did me in. The cold made it tough to breathe, but who needs air when you run? I made an interesting discovery during the race though. High amounts of adrenaline negate the effects of 5-hour energy. I wonder if there is any money in this discovery?  I was so pumped to start strong and my adrenaline was really going, but when that faded, it took me more than a mile to get any energy back.  I really need to remember to stay on my normal pace at the beginning of the marathon or I'm in big trouble.  I was on pace at the halfway point to finish under 27 minutes, but I came up 26 seconds short.  There is another 5k around New Years that Dan and I are going to do.  These races are fun and usually for a good cause.

It was so cold outside that the helium filled balloons all shrank.  Dan astutely observed that the balloons were not the only thing shrinking on a cold morning.

11/24/10 - WOD

Today's WOD is called Jackie.  For some reason, CrossFit names a lot of their hardest workouts after women.  Jackie consists of a 1000 meter row, followed by 50 thrusters (45 lbs) and 30 pull ups.  You do each exercise to completion before moving on to the next exercise.  For anyone that hasn't ever participated in a workout like this, rowing 1000 meters really takes all your energy away for the rest of the workout.  I spent the 50 thrusters "recovering" so I could do the pull ups.  My hands got thrashed again today.  I tried to tape them up, but that just got in the way.  I guess I have to add gloves to my list too.  By the way, is anyone keeping track of this list I keep adding to?  If so, please send me an itemized list with pricing and delivery dates as soon as possible.

Let It Snow

The storm of the century was coming on fast, so I decided to make my Wednesday morning run a Tuesday night run.  I left about 5:00 tonight with darkening skies, a stiff wind and clear roads.  It was 41 degrees when I left, but the forecast was saying this storm was bringing some serious cold with it, so I bundled up pretty good.  I skipped the compression shorts and went with tights and my warmup pants along with the standard compression shirt, long underwear top and pullover.  I also wore my hat and gloves, but they were overkill at first.  I always worry most about my hands and feet.  There isn't a whole lot I can do for my feet once the roads are wet, so I was glad to have clear roads heading out.  The wind was pretty rough the entire trip, but the snow didn't start until about one and a half miles in.  There was one point where I was running directly into the storm, with the wind and snow beating against my face.  It was so hard to run that I had to alter my course so I didn't have to run directly into the storm.  I kind of zig zagged my way home, trying not to go blind in the process.  I'm adding some running goggles to my list and maybe a ski mask.  

Running on the snow was kind of cool for the last 3 miles or so.  I was worried about slipping the entire 7 miles, but it never really got slick.  I didn't stop for water or gu, which is kind of a first for me on a run that long.  I got a little hungry about 5 miles in, but otherwise felt real strong.  There is no way I could have finished this run tomorrow morning.  For one, the snow will be too deep.  It is also supposed to drop below 10 degrees tomorrow morning.  I'm not sure I can handle that yet.  One nice thing about the snow is it covers my ninja suit with white so people can see me.  Of course they really can't see me in a storm like tonight because visibility was about 3 feet for everyone.

I reserved the hotel today, so my commitment level went up another notch.  Dave is still unregistered and I would guess doubtful for the marathon.  Dan rented a car for us to go from Vegas to Death Valley, so he is probable.  Dan and I also signed up for a 5k on Thanksgiving morning.  Hopefully the forecast of 6 degrees is wrong.  Just in case I'm buying enough hand warmers to cover my whole body.

11/22/10 - WOD

For those not yet acquainted with Crossfit, check out the national website.  They have FAQs and videos of some of their workouts.  I attend one of their affiliates, UteCrossFit and absolutely love it.  For today's workout (called WOD for Workout Of the Day) we did power cleans and pull ups.  5 power cleans, 10 pull ups, 10 power cleans, 20 pull ups, 10 power cleans, 20 pull ups, 5 power cleans, 10 pull ups.  The prescribed weight for guys was 135 pounds on the power cleans.  Most of the CrossFit workouts are done for time.  Today's workout took me 12 minutes 49 seconds.  I couldn't do that many pull ups continuously, so I had to drop and reset a bunch of times.  The pull ups typically used at CrossFit are called Kipping pull ups.  Check out the links to see some demonstrations of the two exercises.  Also, if you want to see a couple other CrossFit workouts, check out Fran (95 lb. thrusters and pull ups 21-15-9) and the Bear Complex.

Brrrrrrr

It was 31 degrees this morning when I left home on a quick (or not so quick) 4 mile run.  The sidewalks were mostly ice and unshoveled snow.  (Apparently "unshoveled" is not a word?  Should be.)  I guess not everyone has a Superwoman wife like I do.  Anyway, I spent most of the run on the street.  The best part about running at 5:00 in the morning is that no one is on the roads to bother you.  The down side is that it is 5:00 in the morning.  I guess I could add to the down-side list that if I get hit by a car, no one will be around to witness it or get help when the driver flees the scene.  I recently heard that it is only a class-B misdemeanor to flee the scene of an accident.  Great incentive for a drunk driver to hang around and take a sobriety test.  Weird tangent.  I stayed plenty warm this morning.  I even had to unzip my pullover at about mile 2 because I was overheating a bit.  I opted for the compression shorts and the tights today.  I think it was a bit of an overkill.  Before anyone throws up from the thought of me in tights, I also wear warmup pants over the tights.  Once I get down to about 170 though, I'll be showing off those tights every chance I get.  I might even wear them to church.

Mental note, I need to add a reflective vest to my list of items to buy.  The all black attire makes me look more like a ninja than someone who is trying not to get hit by a potential scene fleeing drunk driver.  However, there are plenty of perks to being a ninja that I don't think I need to explain here.  Maybe I'll just get a flashing light or something that I can turn on and off depending on the situation.  I purposely ran 11-minute miles almost the entire way.  Purposely in the sense that I couldn't run any faster.  How in the world am I going to make it 26 freaking miles?  And don't forget the hardest .2 miles in existence.  I'm in big trouble.

Isabel "enjoying" the snow

The First Snow Fall

I knew this day was coming.  When you live in Utah and run a marathon in February, you can be sure there will be training runs in the snow.  I got home for school last night around 5:30 and got ready to brave the storm.  I was scheduled to run 11 miles, which is a daunting task even with the best conditions.  About 2 blocks from my house I stepped in my first ice cold puddle, completely soaking my right foot up to my ankle.  I wish that was the end of the puddles, but by mile 5 every step brought water into my shoes.  I even tried running in the middle of the road, where I thought the water and snow would be the most shallow, but even there the accumulation was too much to overcome.  At 8 miles I decided to head for home.  I finished 9 miles total in just over an hour and a half.  I felt good after the run.  I usually take an ice bath for about 20 minutes after my long runs, but I was already plenty cold.  I think my clothes weighed an extra 15 pounds because of all the water.  I'll post some pictures of my yard taken this morning to give you an idea of how bad it was last night.  I may need to get a waterproof layer for days like this.  I'm not sure what to do for my feet.  I guess I could start running in my Sorels or something.  It will be difficult to run on Monday morning with all the Snow and ice still around.  I think I'll wait and go after work.  It's only 4 miles, so it shouldn't be a big deal.