5M Tulip Run in Anacortes, WA

Melissa and I ran in the Skagit Valley Five Mile Tulip Run on Saturday. The Tulip Run is part of the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and this is the second year we’ve participated. Both of us had just come down with a cold (sore throat, runny nose, cough…you get the picture). So after an evening of very little sleep we made our way to the Skagit Airport to sign in. We arrived just about 30 minutes prior to the start of the race and had to park pretty far away.

After getting signed in, we pinned our numbers on, stashed our stuff and joined the mob out on the street. It was a windy morning but not as cold as last year. Once in the middle of the crowd I wasn’t cold anymore. Then came the 3-2-1 start and we were off.

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About quarter of a mile in I looked at my Garmin and noticed that I was running at around a 7.5 minutes pace. That’s too fast for me to sustain. I slowed it down to just under 9 minutes and was able to keep that pace for the rest of the five miles.

About half of the run is on trail and the rest is on the road. The trails were muddy and required a frequent hop and a skip to navigate around or through the puddles.

Click here for a map of my run

At the finish line I had a burst of energy so I decided to sprint the last 100 yards. I was able pass a couple of people on the way in. I was pretty happy with my performance this year. I shaved 5 minutes off of last year’s time to finish in 45 minutes.

Just like last year, we decided to make a weekend out of it by spending three days exploring beautiful Anacortes. We’re looking forward to returning next year.

~Brian

Portland in the morning and Las Vegas at night

Well, I’m committed. I’ve signed up for both the Portland Marathon in October and the Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon in December. You may be asking yourself, “why two marathons?” Well here’s why. The Portland Marathon is within driving distance and is supposed to be a good first marathon. It’s a couple of months prior to Las Vegas so I thought it would be a great way to see how I’d hold up for 26.2 miles.

Also, in case you haven’t heard the buzz around the Rock-N-Roll Las Vegas Marathon well here it is. They’ve decided to do the marathon at night this time so that they can have more spectators on the strip. So I’ll be running 26.2 miles through Las Vegas in the dark. The marathon will start around 4PM and the half marathon around 5:30PM I think. What has folks all up in arms though is that they’ve put a cut off time of 4.5 hours on the marathon. There are lots of folks backing out and mad because of this new rule. As for myself, I don’t know if I’d make it under 4.5 hours but I’m determined to try. And that’s the final reason for attempting the marathon in Portland first.

Any hoo, this is just a quick post before bed. I’ve had a tough time trying to stay positive about running this week. I’ve been tired and lacking in motivation. The runs are still happening though, but I just feel heavy and sluggish. My goal is 22-25 miles this week (I’m thinking 22) so my long run on Saturday should be interesting. I’m trying hard to find inspiration wherever I can.  The sun has been out for the last couple of days, so that’s a plus. Maybe I’ll listen to the audio book “Born To Run” on my iPod. That may do the trick.

Wish me luck.

~Brian

15 mile long run today and now I ache!

Today I ran the furthest I’ve ever run, 15 miles. The last couple were tough for me though. My lower half is aching now and I think a few hours on the couch is in order.

The bad news
If this is what 15 feels like, then 26.2 is going to feel much worse. It also means that I have a lot more work to do. Perhaps if I take into account that today’s run had 1,428 feet of elevation gain, then maybe that explains why I’m hurting.

The good news
Nothing hurts besides aching muscles (butt and upper thigh mostly). There are no red flags in the form of sore knee, ankle, achilles, feet, etc.. So that is pretty reassuring to me. I think it is a sign that my efforts to improved my running technique is paying off.

~B

How to talk to non-runners

My new Brooks Green Silence Shoes

My new Brooks Green Silence shoes

My new Brooks Green Silence shoes arrived today and I have to say, I was pretty excited.

I normally would not order shoes without trying them on first. In this case, however, I went out on a limb and trusted the on-line reviews.

First impressions

When I first grabbed the box from UPS it actually felt empty. Had they forgotten to put the shoes inside? Of course not. It’s just that these shoes are really light weight. I took them out of the box and, at first, it seemed as if they were too narrow. Turns out that they are designed to be very simplistic.  They also had a strange lacing system that was much different from other shoes.

I grabbed my running socks and put them on. Lacing them up was a bit different at first, but once on, they felt pretty good. I walked around the house a bit in them, but couldn’t wait to try them out on a run.

First Run

At this point it was 7:30 in the evening, dark outside and raining lightly, but I had to try these puppies out.  So I suited up in reflective gear and head out for a 4 mile run. Right away I could tell that these shoes were different than my other shoes. They felt soooo light weight, but still had enough cushion for the road. At first I felt like I should run faster, but I throttled back to my normal pace. I ran about 2 miles, stopped to loosen the laces a bit (I like them loose), then made the turn back home. By the end of the run, I was starting to get used to them.

What I liked

These shoes fit my foot very well. I picked the same size as my previous pair of shoes and the fit was just right. Looking at them next to my feet, I noticed that are actually shaped more like my foot than other shoes. It may seem corny, but after a while they sort of felt like an extension of my feet. There is also plenty of room in the front for my toes. Other shoes kind of squish your toes in the front, but these give you plenty of mobility in the front. Like my other shoes, these breathe very well. My son said that it looks like I was wearing water shoes.

What I didn’t like

This is not really a dislike, but I could tell that there was a little less cushion in these shoes. I’m not disappointed in any way because that is what I expected in this shoe. After I log more miles, I report back. I look forward to my long run this weekend.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my new Green Silence shoes. Good job Brooks! I’m looking forward to showing them off at the St. Patty’s Day 5K Dash in Tacoma next month.

~Brian

Marathon training program (round 1)

I’ve decided to test out a marathon training program to see how I hold up. This is just a practice run though and I don’t have an actual marathon planned at the conclusion of this training program. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t make one up. So I’ll create a 22-26 mile course nearby to try out at the conclusion of this program.

Why am I doing this? My first organized marathon will be the Zappos Rock-N-Roll Las Vegas marathon in December. So instead of waiting and wondering how it will go, I want to gain some confidence and knowledge from the experience now before doing it for real in the fall.

I found a list of training programs published on the Runner’s World site and decided to try the 16 week beginners program. Since I’ve been running steadily for the last few weeks I thought I could jump into week 4.

So now I’m on a schedule and so far so good. This week I had a goal of 20 miles and managed to almost get there with 19.4 miles.

I’ve been trying get into a schedule of running before work a couple of days a week, at home another day, and a long run on the weekend. We’ll see if I can stick to it. I’ve been tracking my runs on the Garmin Connnect website and that’s working out really well. Here’s a link to my published runs posted on the site.

I want these shoes

I really want to try out these shoes to see how they hold up through my training program and a marathon. Despite the fact that they are made from recycled material, they are a super lightweight flat sole shoe with just enough cushion to be very comfortable.

Part of my training program involves me strengthening my feet. Short or running barefoot, I’ve heard that training in minimalist running shoes are the next best way to accomplish that.  So as soon as I get around to it, I’m ordering these babies from Zappos.

~Brian

Singing and running – ever tried it?

I’ve read that a good pace is one that allows you to maintain a conversation while running. Since I usually run alone with nobody to talk to, I thought…what about singing?

"I'm sinnggiing Jenny"

I don’t listen to my iPod while running. I prefer to get lost in my own thoughts and listen for cars. But I often keep pace by singing. Is that weird? I wonder what would Forrest Gump say? Probably “Weird is – is what weird does.” So maybe it is weird. My wife says “Oh great…you’re one of those happy runners.“

Well I thought I’d spend a few minutes Google’ing the subject and found out that singing while running helps build lung capacity and forces you to breath correctly.  I think breathing is pretty important so, for what it’s worth, I’m going to keep doing it. You just might think I’m a crazy person if you hear me run by your house.

Here are three songs that usually creep into my head and keep me truckin down the road:

Life is a Highway – Tom Cochrane (or Rascal Flatts if that’s your thing)

Flirtin With Disaster – Molly Hatchet

Nobody’s Gonna Break My Stride – Matthew Wilder

Of course I don’t know all of the words, just the chorus usually. So I usually blend them into a single run-on chorus (pun intended).

Have fun making your own music.

~Brian

My new Garmin Forerunner 405CX on a 12 mile run

This morning I decided to try a long run. So as I lay in bed half asleep questions are bouncing around in my head: Do I go for a run this morning? If so, then where will I run? What’s the weather like? Do I feel up to a long run…7 miles?…10 miles?…more? What should I have for breakfast?

After finally crawling out of bed, a quick pull of the curtain verified the weather. Partly cloudy and cool. Perfect! Then I poured a cup of coffee, grabbed half a bagel with peanut butter and jumped on my laptop to map out a route on RunningMap.com.  I had a route in mind, but it included a detour off of my usual 10 mile route. The detour would add another 2 miles. “12 miles” I thought “with more hills. Hmmm.” Ok why not. I wasn’t totally committed to the 12 miles, but figured I could always take it easy on the hills to save energy. I suited up, stretched, said goodbye and was off.

Setting up the Garmin

My Garmin 405CX

There is a little uphill walk to my starting point (the main road) so I spent that time getting my new Garmin Forerunner 404CX GPS watch setup for the run. I put it in GPS mode and waited a couple of minutes for it to acquire satellites. All good. Using the data field setup, I configured a couple of new training views that I would try out today. The mode I’d try today would show me distance, heading and grade. I didn’t care so much about time and pace today. When I reached the main road, I hit [start] and I was off running. For the first 1/2 mile, my Garmin showed me heading North on a 5% – 10% grade. Cool.

Back to the run

At 4.5 miles, I reached my detour. I had been running on the main road, so the detour was welcomed because there was barely any traffic. I could run confidently in the road. I took a few turns through a neighborhood where I hadn’t been before. It was enjoyable exploring places not far from home that I’d never seen before. It was a scenic route that went by some waterfront homes, then back through a more open farm-like community. After about 2.5 miles I would hook up with the main road again, but not before a couple of sizable hills. One was really steep, so I opted to walk up that one while sipping on my water bottle.

At mile 7 (exactly 7.0…strange) I made a quick pit-stop at a gas station and mini-mart to refill my water bottle, use the bathroom, and down a Gu pack. I stopped the timer on my Garmin when I got to the gas station and restarted it after about 5 minutes once I resumed running. Feeling pretty energized, I killed the next couple of miles. It felt great.

The final 3 miles

Around mile 9 I reached the bottom of a gradual hill that would lead me back home. As I started attacking the hill my energy quickly turned to fatigue. I usually run these hills on my typical 5 mile loop without any trouble. Today after 9.6 miles, however, was a different story. The 200 ft climb over the next mile and a half just killed me. There was a half mile portion that was pretty level, but the rest was exhausting. At one point, I had to walk a little.

As I struggled through this tough 1.5 mile leg, I kept thinking what my response would be when my wife asks me “How was your run?” Would I say “It was good” or would I say “Ok, but the last 3 miles kicked my ass!” I decided to go with the second response. Apparently (as she later told me) she was getting tired of me saying my long runs were always “Great! Awesome!“, and would rather hear that a long run kicked my ass. “That’s more like it” she would think with an almost undetectable grin.

With the hills behind me, the final mile was not bad. I was simply just exhausted though so I had to distract my brain into thinking of other “happy thoughts” until I reached my 12 mile mark. I was really looking forward to finishing up and an easy walk back to the house.

Uploading the data from my Garmin

My run viewed on the Garmin site

When I got home and walked towards my laptop, the wireless USB ANT stick (still plugged into my laptop) automatically detected my watch. It connected and downloaded the data without me having to do anything. Pretty cool. With a single click of the mouse, I was viewing my run on the Connect.Garmin.com Website.

On the right is a screen shot of my run on the site.  You can see all of the data collected from the watch and edit anything you need to. I’m really happy with this new gadget. I never thought I’d want or need one. Now that I have one I really see how it can help me reach my training goals.

Until next time……

~Brian

5 Miles and a stomach ache

I just returned from my 5 mile run which today, was not that pleasant. While at Safeway yesterday, we picked up a few bottles of Muscle Milk. We remembered trying it at the fitness expos that precede the Rock-N-Roll half marathons. They taste really good. I started my pre-run routine as I normally do…a half cup of coffee, half a banana and a half a cup of water. This time, however, I decided to drink about 6oz of the banana cream flavored Muscle Milk. It was delicious. After a quick stretch and warm up I was out the door.

As expected, the chill of the 37 degree weather took a minute to adjust to. Then I was off and running. About a mile and a half in, I started to get a little stomach ache. It intensified for the next two miles. I was able to burp a few times and it slowly got better, but I never really felt too great. On the last mile, a light rain started then turned to mixed snow and rain. By the time I got home, the rain/snow had stopped.

I powered through it, got home, and finished the rest of the muscle milk (still delicious). I can’t tell whether it was the Muscle Milk that caused my unsettled aching stomach or just too much stuff in my system. I’ll probably just stick the usual routine next time.

~Brian

 

Evening run in the dark

I got home yesterday really eager to run. I hadn’t squeezed in a run since the half marathon last Friday and was feeling the withdrawals a little bit. Since Wednesday, I’ve been sitting at work thinking “I should run tonight”, then I’d end up working late. The next day at work I’d think the same thing, then I’d be tired and get home to a hot meal my wife had cooked that evening. No running Thursday either. So when I got home Friday, I had energy and a real urge to go for a run. The only problem was that it was dark outside, 40 degrees and raining.

My son was asleep on the couch and my wife wasn’t making dinner, so I told her “I think I’m going for a run” to which she said “At night? In the rain? That’s too dangerous and you’re nuts.” Well I didn’t think I was crazy because I had everything I needed to head out at night.

On my way to work that morning, I went to WalMart to pick up a couple of things for my car. I wandered into the sports section to see what they had and grabbed this bright LED light that also blinked. It was pretty bright and I was excited to strap it on my arm and put it to the test. I also had a super reflective vest that I got for Christmas from my friends that I hadn’t had a chance to try out yet. Finally, I had my Brooks running hat which I won in a raffle after the Seattle Rock-n-Roll half marathon (awesome right?). My bright yellow hat was also equipped with a blinking yellow light in the back. So I was all set.

My blinking light and nighttime running clothes

After suiting up for my nighttime run and having a quick stretch, I was out the door. As soon as I left, I felt the rush of cold air through my spandex pants. I was outside now so I’d better get moving. Once I started running it was all good. My energy level was up and I was alone on the road near my house. About a mile in I started getting a side ache. I figured it was those tater tots my son left on the kitchen counter which I shoved down my throat before the run. Oh well, keep running.  After another mile, the side ache was gone.

I planned to run my usual 4.5 mile route which has a mix of flat land and hills. There are street lights on part of the road, but more than half of it would be lit only by the light of the night sky. It was raining though, so there wasn’t much light besides the red ones blinking on my body. On a previous night run, the moon and stars were out which made it a real Forest Gump moment.

I made it home slightly wet but feeling great. I rewarded myself by steaming up a dungeness crab that I’d been waiting to eat with melted butter and an ice cold beer. Then my wife and I settled in for a movie on the couch. A great night.

~Brian