Running and Real Life

Okay let's face it, if you are reading this most likely you are similar to me and you just love running.  So much in fact it is about all you talk about, you are always thinking about workout is next, or what you are going to do differently on next race...lets face it running is life lol, but sometimes we have to step back and realize what is going on in the rest of the world and see if there are other things we need to pay attention to.

I personally try to race every other weekend, always try to run everyday, and every once in a while try to slide in a 2 a day.  Sometimes all these plans are not possible, training usually is the most accurate, but recently mine has fallen off a bit.  Reasons are: the kids have doctor appointments, school orientation, maybe they just want to do something with me randomly, work asking me to work more, I mean the list is endless honestly.  Some I pick to do, some I say well I have to get my training in, or I just decide not to sleep, which is helpful since I do plan on doing a 100 mile race soon. 

On to races, I miss a lot of races I plan on doing, I mean a lot.  Reasons being: lack of sleep and probably the biggest one, decide to take the kids to a race or event, kids or wife need something and it is a better place to spend the money, bills, pretty much anything that money is better spent elsewhere. 

Sometimes real life throws us a curve ball and if we are able to handle our addiction we handle it right, if not, we realize a utility may be in danger of being turned off or experience the burning death eyes from our spouse from our spouse, which is usually the indicator for me I should have spent the money elsewhere.  She is fully supportive of my running but sometimes I get carried away with racing and she lets me know about it lol. 

Just remember, there is life off of the trail.

Training for this week:

Monday - easy run (1.5 hours for me)

Tuesday - mile repeats (trying for 4 this week at my recommended pace, if you don't know yours try out the calculator at the bottom of the blog)

Wednesday - easy run

Thursday - 5,4,3,2,1 (just google it if you don't know what this is, it is explained much better out there than I can)

Friday - easy run

Saturday - 15k trail race (hopefully)

Sunday - 10 mile run

Sorry no cool pics to entertain you but I am having to do this post and some future posts from my phone, and for some reason it does not like the pic option.

Training and Listening to Your Body

Not even sure what I am going to title this at this point, but I do know what I am going to talk about, training and listening to the body, actually that might be a good title!

There are times when you go out to train and you are looking at your training schedule and what is up for the day, and you are just like I am way too tired for this, my legs hurt, or it just may be way too hot for this exact workout.  Sometimes, it is just best to deviate from the plan and find something that will work or just take a rest day.

Lets start with too tired, now I am not saying too lazy, these are two completely different things.  When I say tired, I am saying literally have been having problems staying awake for the last few hours.  I do have this issue often as I do most of my training when I get off of work and I work third shift so there is that psychological issue as well.  Falling asleep while running is possible, I have done it, it is no fun waking up 50 yards down the road, a lot of things can happen in that time.  "Sometimes sleep is the best cross training", not sure where I read that line, it was a while back, but it's dead on the money.  Get a nap in, there have been times in the middle of an Ultra and was so bad off I stopped and napped, see if that helps or just go to bed for the day, either way it's one training day in a 3 month, 6 month or year training block.  Better to be able to run tomorrow than get hurt and not be able to train for weeks.

Next subject is pain, sometimes it can just kill any motivation we have to get out the next day, then again some of us thrive on it.  You wake up the next morning after a run and your legs are just killing, you think about running, but then you are like well will I get hurt if I run anymore, the answer could be yes or no.  Most times we are sore is because the day before we may have pushed it just a little harder than what we are used to, either we did speed work, got in some weight lifting, took a different course that may have been just a little hillier than what we are used to, or nutrition and/or sleep has changed up.  Whatever it may be, it may be a sign to take it a little easier today, we hate to back off now because yesterday was awesome, but if we push today the soreness COULD be worse tomorrow.  As for other pains, not muscle soreness or generally pains we get from the amazing fun time of running, you may want to talk to a doctor, especially if it has been around for a while or is getting worse.

Last but not least, especially this year in my area, the heat.  You walk out the nice air conditioned building, to realize you have entered the 7th gate of hell, as you start to run you realize you are literally the only idiot outside in this stuff, as you see random faces staring at you from inside their cozy homes.  In these conditions, I would say maybe we should cut the run short today or slow it down a lot.  When it is abnormally hot in your area, pay special attention to your body, some people take the heat just fine, I know I did when I was younger, I was actually best in high heat.  Now that I have gotten older, high heat shuts me down as it does most people, I know I can't go as or as hard as I would like, it's been a tough lesson, because I still fight with it keep trying to push through it, but the body can only handle so much stress before it starts forcing you to slow down or worse.

All I am saying is just be careful out there, we all want to keep racing, after all that is why we train.

Also, do not forget, I am still doing my shoe giveaway for lucky cross country runner.  Check out my Facebook page for more details.

Training for this week:

Monday - 2 hour run

Tuesday - 1 mile repeats x6

Wednesday - 2 hour run

Thursday - 400 meter intervals x12

Friday - 2 hour run

Saturday - 10 mile run

Sunday - 10 mile run

Nike LunarGlide 5: A Shoe Review

Yes I know these are the old model and the new model is already out, but hopefully this will help you out when are looking at the new model, since most shoe reviews are released after a few runs in them.  Mine is being released after 600+ miles in them.

So here they are brand new, my first pair of Nike's in over 10 years, so when I was first buying them I was really really fighting with myself, because I am an Adidas man.  I was pointed towards them by a couple people in the Trail Running and Ultramarathon community on Google+.

These things are like pillows, that literally it was tough to do fartlek, tempo, or intervals during the first 200 miles in them.  I am not complaining about it though, normally I do those type of runs in my racing shoes, so since these are not my normal racing shoes I am fine with super kooshy leg saving experience.  For my super long runs 20+ miles my feet never felt better, early in their life they are really great for ultra marathons that are not on super slick trails, because they are a road shoe.

200 - 500 miles I still loved them, they stiffened up a little bit so I could start really laying down some speed in them when I felt like it and they were still holding up very well in the long run.

After 500 miles at 171 pounds the shoes are starting to end their life with me, I am currently plus 600 miles in them.  Since around 500 miles my feet have starting hurting in them, the traction has finally started wearing out pretty good, but the top part of the shoe is still holding up strong, except for where my dog chewed them a little...  I am putting a new pair of insoles in them this week and going to be running the Christmas in July 24 Hour next weekend and am confident they will soft enough with addition and the shoes will hold up for many many more miles, hoping to hit the 1000 mark with them.



So here it is taper week 3, big race next week, time to ease into it.

Monday: 30 minute run
Tuesday: 30 minute run
Wednesday: 30 minute run, start chowing down on pretzels
Thursday: Relax and continue chowing down on pretzels
Friday:  Pretzels will be all I snack on till race time, Race starts at 10pm
Saturday: Race ends at 10 pm
Sunday: Trying to recover

New Castle Mini Marathon

I will start off by saying this, so far, this is by far my favorite Half Marathon out there.  My opinion of the course is a little bias, just because it is exactly what I like in a race, the course will make you honest with yourself by the end.

So to start off, the New Castle Mini Marathon is hosted by a company called American Multisport and the town New Castle.   The course itself is mainly on the main roads and most of the scenery is the local neighborhoods for the first half, the reason you don't get dulled to sleep is because of the hills, oh there be hills.  After you get about half way done, you do take a trip by the Indiana High School Basketball Museum, and the last 3 miles or so is on the towns bike trail, don't think you got away from the hills because they never go away.  It is a very challenging course, but even with the amount of hills I heard many people saying they set a PR, I did last year as well.

Speaking of last year, I did win, I did PR, I just really loved the day, but this year was a little different.

Starting off the race, I knew there were a couple guys faster and that I would have some competition around me.  Started off good, I held back and actually tried to run a controlled first mile, as I watched my team mate James Garner take off like a rocket.  I felt good, I was sitting 5th sometimes 6th, the guy running with me kept putting surges on ever since mile 2, but little did he know I had been running some major hills.  About mile 4 or 5 there was a nice long hill, I took advantage of it to break his spirit, never even looked back I knew he was in pain after that one.  Then it happened, that one stomach pain you don't want to feel while you are miles away from anything.  Mile 7 was about a minute of pace, then I hit a long down hill, and that shook everything loose.  I ran off course a couple blocks and hid in some bushes, and let the diarrhea roll, and took a sock off and yep, didn't know what leaves were around me lol. After that I jumped back on course with a vengeance.  One by one I started picking everyone off that had passed me, running some of my fastest miles of the day, dipping down around the 6 flat range.  I don't know how long I was in that bush, but it must have been a while.  After burning a couple quick miles down I start recognize people that were around me earlier in the race, then I see my team mate Luke Bivens, so I put down a little more speed and catch at about the 11 mile mark.  I stop and slow down and joke with him a minute, and discuss on whether I should try to catch the guy in the red shirt.  The guy in the red shirt was the same dude that was surging on me earlier in the race, thought about it for a minute, told Luke good luck and I was off to the races.  As I am tracking him down, with about 2 miles to go he definitely had a solid minute and some change on me, so I definitely had my work cut out for me.  Every time he turns a corner he gives a little look, I know he knows I am coming, and I am coming fast.  We come off of the trail, there is maybe a half mile left, and he still has a good 150 - 200 meters on me.  I just keep on it, I just kept pushing, we make the last turn and it is about 200 meters to the finish.  I just unload everything I have, 50 meters to go I pull up beside him and he matches me stride for stride, after a couple steps he can't hang on.  So I got my place back and beat him by one second.  In the end, it wasn't my best race, but that final half was definitely eventful.

After the race they had a nice awards banquet, which the awards included glassware, and I never complain about a new mug since I am a collector such things.  They also had music playing and plenty of food to chow down on, like sausages wrapped in pancakes.  Also, they had all the times posted up pretty quickly so you could see how you did compared to everyone else, or in case you missed your time, and this was a chip timed event, as all of their events are.  Will I come back to race again?  Most likely unless I find something I absolutely am craving to do that happens to fall on the date of this event.

This was also the first time I managed to show up to be part of a team group picture.

Okay so my training for this week.  As I will be at a 50% taper this week, but an odd thing happened with this week as well.  I got an invite to do the running leg of the Ironman this weekend and I just couldn't turn it down, but also I currently have a cold so who knows how much running I will actually get done, as this is going to already be a late posting.

Monday - 1 hour run
Tuesday - 1 hour run
Wednesday - 30 minute fartlek
Thursday - 3 mile run
Friday - off
Saturday - 13.1 mile race
Sunday - 1 hour run

Introduction

Hi, my friends usually call me Tom.  I'm a husband to a loving wife, have 2 sons and daughter, and am currently trying to add to the litter.  I work as a welder for company called Progress Rail, the jest of it is I help manufacture locomotives.  In my free time I like to have a good time, play a little Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm or Mario Kart , have a fire and some craft beer, enjoy a good movie, especially "The Wars", and obviously go out and pound some dirt with others and suffer for miles!  The latter is probably where most of the people who may be reading this know me from, and most of you know of me because I'm a kilt runner.


Why do I run in the kilt or skirt, as some of you like to joke about, but it's not funny!  I'm just kidding, if you really know me I love to laugh.  Hell here is a pic of me carrying on with some of friends on my race team Ragnarok at the New Castle Mini Marathon.

There are a few reasons why I rock the kilt, first one I have for you is that I have a Scottish heritage, easy enough reason.  The second being, I have always been one to draw attention and honestly on't care if I am or not, but I do enjoy a good shocked face from time to time lol.  The next reason, I came across Sport Kilt randomly and said why not, tried it on, and loved it better than the running shorts I have been wearing for the last 20 something years.

Next question!?!?!  Oh the war paint.  Yes, well it is an ancient tradition of the Scotts, as most of you may recall from Braveheart, which I get called quite often, his name is
William Wallace by the way lol.  The simple side of it is, it was a color that was easily made, it was their warrior tradition and I consider every race a battle, no matter how long.  It is not only a battle with the ones you race with, but with yourself. 

Now for the real question why you may be reading this, why did I create this stinking blog, that is most likely clogging up your news feed.  I am often asked what do I do for training, how do I eat, how should I start training myself, what beer do you like lol.  Those questions and more will be answered in due time.  Also, you will be able to comment on my blog, so at anytime you do have a question you would like to ask me go ahead and post, I will check often.  On that note, I do want to state I am no way a trained professional on diets, athletic training, or anything of the sort, but I have been around the block so I can at least share my experiences and may be a few people in the world can learn from mistakes.

So that is the intro, if you would like to know more, just ask and I will see if I can answer.

Now to get into the training program for this week I guess, now I am at a weird spot in training, I have been in a high mileage period, but I am starting to taper towards a 24 hour race in Lisle, IL.  Christmas in July 24 Hour it will be by far my farthest race ever, but I am going to have to hit 100 miles so I can get my first belt buckle!  So next week is my 75% taper week.

Monday - 1.5 hour run
Tuesday - 1.5 hour run
Wednesday - 45 minute fartlek, 5 minute warm up, 5 minutes on, 3 minutes off
Thursday - 1.5 hour run
Friday 1.5 hour run
Saturday 1.5 hour run
Sunday 1.5 hour run

I will say that I don't always stick to my schedule, life is life and sometimes it tells us we can't run.  I am the type to just stick to my schedule, if I miss a workout because my child needs me, then so be it.  Chalk it up as a needed rest day, and don't look back.

Well that is all for this week, follow me on G+, Instagram, Facebook, Runkeeper and Athlinks to keep up if you are interested.  Next week should be a review of race I did a few weeks ago!