Ah, The Frustration

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Franklin Park

The holidays were spent with family and fixing up the new house. The biggest accomplishment was laying insulation under the floor we are paving over. The was crawl space from ground to juiced just tall enough for me to roll over from my back to my stomach (a couple feet), then another 8 inches to the floor itself. I handled most of it fairly well, considering I am a bit claustrophobic. It took several hours to install the insulation, during which I was in a constant quarter-situp. Afterwards, my abs and front neck muscles were completely exhausted. That was Saturday. My muscles are still very sore today.

We didn't do much on the house yesterday. I stopped by to take some measurements and pick up the excess insulation I later returned to Lowe's. On my way back to Leesburg, I stopped by Franklin Park, a little over a mile from the new house. I found an orienteering course and, find of all finds, the Loudoun Valley High School cross-country course! This gives me a bonafide 5k course just minutes from my new house. I then walked the entire course, which brought back a lot of memories of courses I ran in high school. Franklin Park opened a few years after I graduated. By walk's end, my knee gave me a painful reminder of why I'm still on the bench. Oh well.

Another great find was a long, dirt road with a little bit of gravel and sparse traffic. It's called Williams Gap Road and it stretches from Route 7 to Route 719. Nice rolling hills, but nothing too strenuous. Farmland and animals, beautiful homes. I can't wait to move out there!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is finally here! I'm about to start wrapping my wife's gifts. All our parents are coming to our place tonight for dinner. Tomorrow it's off to my in-laws. Tomorrow night it's off to my parents. We may go skiing on Friday or Saturday, though that's looking a little doubtful because the weather is so warm this week--not to mention my knee still feels strange.

My new shoes (correct size this time) came in yesterday. As soon as I tried them on and discovered they were a perfect fit, my wife told me to put them back in the box. I don't think I've been this excited in a long time--not even the new house! Last night, while she was dreaming of sugarplum fairies, I slipped the shoes back on and went outside for a walk. Now don't run off and tell her. I'm in the clear as long as she doesn't find out until tomorrow. Here's an audio post I made after my return:

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Knee Still Sore, but Have a New House!

I'm not in excruciating pain, but my knee is still a little stiff. Crouching all weekend pulling nails and linoleum tacks out of the hardwood floors of the new house certainly didn't help. I will be cautious, though, as the stiff knee is the one I dislocated playing soccer in high school. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that the new shoes come in today!

Wait, though, a new house?! Yup. My wife and I bought our first home last Thursday. We spent the weekend stripping out carpet, carpet tacks, carpet padding, and layer upon layer of linoleum dating back to 1942 until we reached the hardwood floors. Fortunately, most of the floors are in great condition, so the contractor we're hiring to finish the floors shouldn't have too much trouble. The tedious part, though, was preparing the floors for the contractor by taking out all things metal that were hammered, screwed, or stapled into the floor. More here.

3 Miles

We oficially bought our new house yesterday, so I took off from work for the entire day. I decided the morning would be best spent at the gym, so off I went to use the treadmill. I intended to run 6 miles, but after 3, I stepped off defeated with a sore achilles, sore knee, and sore back. My damn shoes really need to be replaced. The last time my shoes needed replacements, the same symptoms arose. Well, my new shoes came in the mail yesterday, as well, but it turned out the sizing chart was off a half size, so I have to send them back. In the meantime, I had them send me out two pairs (Mizuno Wave Mustang) for $25 each--a GREAT deal! I will return the two oversized pairs (bought at $50 and $20). The shoe definitely felt comfortable, just too big. They said the shoes will be in by Christmas. I'm hoping by Monday. For now, though, no running, only cross training.

Where did I get my new shoes: Sierra Trading Post

Stats
Place: Treadmill
Time: 28.32
Incline: 0.0
Heart Rate: 152

Apple Blossom 10k

I'm decided. I will run in the Apple Blossom 10k, which is in Winchester, VA where I went to high school (Handley High School). Looking at who ran last year, there are a lot of familiar names, with times all over the map. While I know running is as much a personal journey as a competitive one, I still want to make a strong showing. The fastest pace I've kept for 6 miles in the last year is 8:15, but I still haven't run it at race pace. I want to make my goal 7:00 for the 10k. I have a goal. I have a race. I have until May 1. I can definitely do this.

However, I still want to run a half-marathon in the spring.

4 Miles, 20 Minutes XT

When I took off my boots last night, my achilles was a little sore. So I slipped into something a little more comfortable and headed to the gym. My achilles felt pretty good through the first 3 miles, but then tightened up a bit. After 4 miles, my right knee felt a little funny, too, so I switched the the elliptical. I think a lot of this comes down to getting a new pair of shoes, which are on the way as a Xmas gift. I just don't know if I can wait that long.

Stats
Place: Treadmill/Elliptical
Time: 60:00
Heart Rate: 156

3 Miles, 30 Minutes XT

The cold weather continues with high winds and rain. When I arrived home last night, I really didn't feel like doing anything more than watching some TV. At 8:00pm I realized that what I wanted right then didn't matter as much as what I needed, and I really needed to run. As I was changing out of my work clothes and into some shorts, I felt a little pain in my left foot's arch. The pain continued as I got on the treadmill, and after 3 miles I decided to switch to the elliptical trainer rather than blowing out my arch and being benched for a few days. I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical switching between forward and backward motion every five minutes. All in all, I felt I had a great workout. Afterwards, I enjoyed a great, long stretch. I was definitely better off for doing the run.

Lesson learned: I need to use arch supports in my hiking boots.

Stats
Place: Treadmill
Time: 60:00
Heart Rate: 155

Why Do Beginning Runners Start Out With a Marathon?

Yesterday, I posted the following frustration to a Runner's World Forum:

I'm 26 years old, 6'0", 152 pounds. I started running again one year ago last month. Before that I ran XC my senior year in high school and then took a four year cooldown to drink beer and sleep in late. During that period, I tried running again, but normally quit after a couple weeks. I just wasn't ready to commit myself.

When I started again in earnest last year, I felt excited. My first goal was to make it a habit. Later, I made a goal to run 10 miles comfortably, which happened last October. Now I'm running 18-25 miles per week and am feeling good.

Whenever most people find out I enjoy running, their first question often is: "So are you going to run a marathon?"

My answer is YES...eventually. For now I'm interested in creating a life habit. Someday that will lead me to run a marathon, but not yet. This answer seems to bore a lot of folks.

So my question is: What's the hurry?

I've also met a number of folks who ran a marathon then went the way of the TV remote, falling somewhere between the cracks of the sofa. Why does it seem so many first-time marathoners fall off the wagon all together after the race?

Isn't running THROUGH a marathon as imporant, if not more important, than the marathon itself?

Visit the entire thread. Many of the responses are far better than my post. I love this forum because there are so many intelligent, thoughtful, and serious runners. I'm still early on in my lifetime running, but the most important thing is that I'm still lacing up the shoes many years from now.

6 Miles

With snow and ice still on many of the sidewalks, I drove to the gym and once again hopped on the treadmill. The gym felt a bit warmer than room temperature, so breaking a sweat in the first ten minutes was no problem. It took a few miles for my legs to warm up from the stiffness that beset them from my Sunday strength training regimen. When I finished, I sat down for a nice long stretch. I left feeling like new.

Stats
Place: Treadmill
Time: 58:00
Incline: 0.0
Heart Rate: 166

Today's Inspriation

"The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits of the human heart!" --Bill Bowerman

Strength Training

It looks like Sunday nights are becoming the traditional time for me do work on strength. I did the same routine of squats, push-ups, curl-ups, bicep curls, tricep dips, and calf raises. Only this time, I did many more calf raises. I'm feeling a little sore today, but a far cry from what I felt last week. Improvement?

6 Miles

It snowed Thursday night through Saturday morning. I don't enjoy running in the slush (packed snow isn't bad, though) so I went to the good old Ida Lee for a run on the treadmill. It was an easy run-10 min/mile for 5 miles, then the last mile at an 8 minutes pace.

Stats
Place: Treadmill
Time: 58:00
Incline: 0.0
Heart Rate: 158

Today's Inspiration

Pretty Darned Sore

My body's definitely feeling last night's punishment. My legs feel stiff, but they'll recover before I get home tonight. My arms and chest are another story--no heavy lifting coming from them today. Though pretty darned sore, I am not in pain. My body just doesn't feel very invigorated right now. A long, hot bath sounds good about now. Unfortuntately, I have to finish off the work day and Dave is crashing at our place tonight before heading to Baltimore tomorrow morning. No hot bath for me.