Spartan – Running with Neal

Spartans, Swiss Days & New Goals

July 30, 2019September 13, 2019 runningwithnealLeave a comment

So, its been awhile. Life has a way of getting extremely busy especially during the summers. And add to that I wasn’t able to run the majority of June and I haven’t felt like writing much.

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I was able to do the Spartan Stadion Race. While I wasn’t able to do it as quickly as I would have liked I had a blast doing it. That was mostly do to having someone from to run it with. Dr. Ryan, my chiropractor, did the race with me and was a lot of fun to run with. I probably would have slacked off it I hadn’t been trying to keep up with him. Managed to cut 10 minutes off my time from last year and reinforced that I still don’t know how to climb a rope. One day I will conquer my nemesis the rope!

After the Spartan I started running a the 2 min on/off cycle and only for around 2 miles. Until the end of June when one of the guys, John, goaded me into running with him. We maintained an ok pace, around 10 minute miles but we ran for all 4 miles. Came to find out that he had already done several miles before the group got there and continued for a couple more after. But, it was what I needed.

John also encouraged me to come out to the bike rides as a way to build fitness. So, I thought lets give it another try. Attempt #3 went a lot better. I took the old Schwinn and met up with the group. and it didn’t go too bad. Although, the guys did tell me that I was fighting the weight of the all steel bike and that a newer little bike would be amazing things to both my comfort level and ability to keep up.

The weekend while at a used sports equipment shop I found an aluminum Cannondale from the 90’s. On the first test ride with no adjustments I knew that they guys where right. The Cannondale was so much easier to ride than my Schwinn. So we got it. John had a set of clip-less pedals that he wasn’t using and told me I could have them. I just needed to get cleats and shoes.

Being attached to your pedals is kinda interesting. I feel like it didn’t take as much effort to get the same power per stroke the trade off being when you stop you have to remember to un-clip. If you don’t you slowly fall over. I’m happy to report that I remembered to un-clip before I stopped every time. However, three quarters of the way through the ride after having stopped I forgot to push off and get moving before clipping my right foot back in and slowly fell over on my left. I’m told this is a right of passage that everyone goes through. I was just bruised and had a couple of scraps so I was able to continue. And I dare say that I actually had fun.

I have now purchased a bike jersey and shorts to go along with my shoes. And since the group usually rides on Wednesday’s the jersey is hot pink and the shorts match. Why? Because on Wednesday’s we wear pink!

At the end of July I ran in the Swiss Days 5K with several of my cousins and brother. I knew that there was no way i could stay with my speedster cousins having only been back to running for 3 weeks but I still wanted to put up a decent time. My family did very well. I got 18th in my age group with a time of 28:46. Given that I’m still rebuilding from the injuries to my foot and calf I’m pretty happy.

received_2082643498696906 On the way home from the great Indiana road trip we stopped for the night in Albuquerque, NM and I found a great little 5K to run. The Rudi Cancer 5K. This is an annual run to benefit cancer research in honor of Kevin Rudi. Compared to a lot of the runs I do this was very small. About 60 people, mostly family and friends of the Rudi family. His mom came and introduced herself to us and was extremely friendly. Even though most of the field already knew each other they were all very welcoming. It was one of the most challenging 5k courses I’ve encountered. The entire first mile was uphill, the second was downhill and then back up for the third. It was brutal, but a lot of fun.

It has got me re-evaluating my goals for the year. Between injuries, newborn, work, and we are trying to sell our house and find a new one, I’m not sure that my goal of sub-18 5K is reasonable. I just don’t have the time to train without sacrificing time with my growing family. So, this year my revised goal is to get my 5K under 24 minutes. But, don’t think that I’ve given up on my quest for a sub 18, its just going to move to 2020. All the rest of the goals will then push back 1 year. So it will look like this:

received_476802426218927-1 2019 5K under 24 minutes
2020 5K under 18 minutes
2021 10K under 40 minutes
2023 13.1 miles under 90 minutes
2025 26.2 miles Under 180 minutes

Due to the longer distances involved I’m going to give myself 2 years for both the half and full marathons.

There is SO MUCH more that has happened since the last post but that will have to wait for another time.

Until then…C-ya!

More Injuries and Addiction

June 3, 2019 runningwithnealLeave a comment

I’ve been reading a lot of books on running and the personal stories of various runners. They have been written by various levels of runners, although they are all faster

and perhaps more serious than I am. From the instructional 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald and Endure by Alex Hutchinson to the historic Born to Run and Natural Born Heros by Christopher McDougall to the inspirational North by Scott Jurek, and Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor, and the combination of inspiration and instruction of Run Forever by Amby Burfoot. Then my personal favorite, the humorous and inspirational The Incomplete Book of Running by the host of NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Peter Sagal. peter-sagal-the-incomplete-book-of-running

All these books have had some great advice and given me things to think about on my own running journey. While I’ll never be going for an FKT on the Appalachian Trail, or any other trail for that matter, or competing for a chance to podium on an international race. I’m still extremely surprised when I get a podium in local 5ks and that is usually because they are small races. It has made me realize that every runner, regardless of level, has a story. Whether it is a health scare, overcoming addiction, therapy, or any other host of reasons, we all have something that got us started.

But, for all the host of reasons that we get started we all seem to have one thing in common, other than running of course. The year that no matter what we did we were plagued by injury. Sometimes it’s not a whole year, sometimes it’s longer. For some of us it signals an end to running, some come back even stronger. Almost all of us realize what running means to us and reflect on what running has brought us, especially those who have been doing it for a long time. I mean what else do we have to do but think about running while we aren’t able to.

All my life I’ve battled things that, according to most, should have stopped me from running. Inflamed growth plates in my heals, the flattest feet known to man, knee problems, a list of injuries three pages long. I was told during my junior year of high school track by a doctor that I should stop running forever due to a back problem. And last but not least, asthma. And not just the mild variety. As a kid I was as bad as they get. I could only play outside for a couple hours a day at one point because I couldn’t be out in the pollen for longer than that without my lungs seizing up.

I actually think that the asthma and back issues are what have driven me to continue running for as long as I have. And even with all the of injuries, most of which came through my own stupidity and lack of self-preservation, I’ve always recovered and carried on. They have never strung themselves together in any way that would keep me down for more than 3 weeks.

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Unfortunately, I’m not as young and able to heal as I once was. I talked in my last post about having plantar fasciitis for the second time in my right foot. That stopped me from running completely for 3 weeks and then, at the advice of my physical therapist Charlie, a very slow return. I’m very happy to report that my right foot feels amazing. It’s not completely recovered as I still feel a little fatigue toward the end of 3 mile efforts, but it is less each time out. I have been using a walk run method again suggested by Charlie of 2 min on and 2 min off. This has been extremely effective and I’m maintaining an average around 11 minutes per mile. Given that I walk for a good portion of the run is pretty good. It’s also further pointed out that I have no sense of pace. Some of the runs are well under 8 min/mile and some are around 9:30. And it’s not that the first run cycles are really fast and then they slow down. They seem to be random.

donut-1024x1024 About a week ago I went to Tortoise and Hare for the monthly donut run. I was having a really good run. I was even gaining on one of the faster runners when it felt like someone stabbed me in the calf. Luckily, it was at the end of a run cycle, so I stopped and tried to stretch it on the curb, then walk it off. However, at the next run cycle it was back within a few steps. Did I stop and head back? Hell NO! I adjusted my foot strike to land on my heel and that seemed to help. So, I soldiered on, albeit a little slower. It also felt super awkward. I finished my three miles with a noticeable limp. Later that day, I found myself in my in-law’s pool swimming laps with a 4 and 6-year-old taking turns riding on my back. Nothing like swimming with a moving 40 lbs weight on your back.

Over the next couple of days there was a dull nagging pain, so I decided that I should rest it and took 5 days off until the Thursday Arrowhead loop. Which come to think of it is where the plantar started. Hmmm…

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Anyway, I was glad to be back running and Coach V even came with Molly in a carrier to walk while we all ran. I intended to take the 3-mile cut of the 4-mile loop, but during the first 2 min run something stabbed my calf again, but this time the pain was more intense. I walked the rest of that run cycle and the next trying to stretch as I was walking. I also decided to turn around at the mile mark and head back. A smarter person would have turned around right away, but I’m not too bright when it comes to injuries.

The new part is that I noticed some bruising around where the pain was. Since no good can come of that I called Charlie and will get it looked at tonight. I fear that he is going to tell me to lay off running for a few weeks again.

The issue is that it’s going to start getting difficult to be built back up for the Swiss Days race and the speed I would like to do that in if I can’t get back to training soon. In the meantime, I now have a carrier for my bike, so I can join the group for rides to try to keep\rebuild my fitness.

Coach V and I have been talking about addiction recently. This have been mostly due to helping a friend who realized that she had a problem and has decided to get some help. Meaning she must move across country. So, we helped her sort through, pack and load her stuff into a U-Haul for the move. We have also talked about the number of endurance runners who have had similar type problems in their lives and how running, in some cases extremely long distances, have helped them manage the addiction and overcome it. There was an interview once where Robert Downy Jr. claimed that he simply replaced one addiction, namely drugs, with another, going to the gym. He apparently will go workout 2 to 3 times a day, sometimes more. Maybe that’s what those runners are doing. Maybe that is kind of what I’m doing. I’ve had a couple of issues in the past. Poker being one of them. I nearly failed out of Purdue because I was playing so much. I never viewed it as an addiction because I was able to decide to quit playing one day. After a letter from Purdue stating that if I didn’t get my grades up they would kick me out and meeting a girl that told me she wouldn’t be interested in someone who failed out of school, I just stopped and didn’t play again for 3 years. And I’ve never played with the frequency or stakes that I used to.

A couple of other things developed after poker that I’m not quite ready to go into on a forum that is as public as this, but there were things that replaced poker. I never thought of them as an addiction, but they could be. I never got involved with any kind of drugs. Not for lack of opportunity, just never interested me. Coach V has suggested that perhaps running is an addiction I have. According to her I get irritable, moody, and jittery if I haven’t run in a few days. I don’t think that I’ve taken it to an unhealthy level, but it does explain some things.

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It might be somewhat telling that I’m not scheduled in a road race until the end of July and its driving me a little nuts. I’m scheduled to do a Spartan Stadium Sprint at the Arizona Cardinals Stadium in a couple of weeks with my Chiropractor,

so maybe that will take the edge off a little.

Until then…C-YA!

Half Marathons and Spartans

October 31, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

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SO, Its been awhile. A LOT has happened since the beginning of August. I’ll do a quick recap.

The last of the AZ Sunrise series. Foothills Park, Glendale.

This was basically my home turf. The race start line was 3 mile from home. Since I was scheduled for a 6 mile run that day I decided, along with coach V, to run to the race location and she would meet me there to drive me to breakfast. Along the way I ran into a group of fellow embrace your pace runners and stayed with them for a little bit. about a mile longer than I should have and barely made it to my race in time. The time wasn’t great 32:14 but given that I ran 4 miles before the 5K I don’t think it was too bad.

Next up was the Anthem Sprint Triathlon.

As most of you may recall my last attempt at a tri did not go well up in flagstaff. I was also dealing with a calf problem that was becoming worse. Needless to say I was pretty nervous. I jokingly told people that I would be happy if I was under 2 hours. I was doing pretty well on the 5K run until about mile 2 then my calf started to act up and forced me to walk for awhile.

The bike was miserable. I do not know how to maintain speed going up hills. and as many others noted I look extremely uncomfortable on a bike. And that is because I am. I need more practice at it. I find it difficult to motivate myself to bike when I dislike it so much and would rather be running.

The swim. This is what nearly took me out last time. This was a little easier since it was in a pool. I was told that I have pretty good form but I need to quit stopping everytime I get to the end of the pool.

Remember I said I would be happy if I got under 2 hours. I finished in 1:59:59! I couldn’t have gotten closer to 2 hours if I tried. And in the interest of full disclosure Coach V finished in 1:51. So, yeah, I have some work to do on triathlons.

South Mountain 20K

The next race was suppose to be the south mountain 20K. However, there was a little rain that morning and it was a little chilly, by Arizona standards. So, they canceled it. Still a little annoyed but they where really nice and apologetic about it.

Craft Classic Half

Since I was all ready to do a race I found a half marathon the next weekend over in the Fountain Hills area. Turned out to be a really nice run. Since I was just using it as a training run for the full I didn’t feel a lot of pressure and was able to enjoy the scenery a little. the morning was overcast and cool, which was perfect. The downside was that the course was WAY hillier than I expected. I went in with what I thought was a fairly obtainable goal of 2:30. That was before I saw the hills. The nice thing about hills is that after you go up you generally get to come down. I LOVE downhill running. Having been a sprinter I am pretty good at turning my legs over quickly and can charge a downhill. During training runs I try to charge the uphills and go easy to walking the downhills. Its my own form of hill training. Although, I should do more to seek out some hills to train on. But that will become evident later.

Still the run felt really good. I did a good job of keeping myself fueled during the run and had a good little kick at the end. I’ve discovered a gel that doesn’t upset my stomach. Hammer Gel. so far I’ve done well with all the flavors I’ve tried and am a big fan of the espresso, but I do have a bit of a coffee problem. My time was 2:29:55. So, I bet my 2:30 goal.

Spartan Beast

I’m starting to really enjoy these kinds of runs. Yes, I view them as runs not races. I do them to help break up the monotony of running on the road. The comradery of the people who run them. The challenge of the obstacles. The inevitable hill work. But not as much for time. But I still like to do my best. So nearly 7 hours to go 13.1 miles even with the obsticals. That was some of the most brutal terrain that I’ve ever faced. I don’t wear my Garmin on these kinds of races so I’m not sure what the elevation change was but I’m guessing it was a lot.

It was also a TON of fun. I only failed 2 challenges. The twister and the rope climb. Someday I’ll figure out that darn rope. I could do it in high school but I’ve completely forgotten since then. This was the most prepared that I’ve been for one of these types of races and that was due in no small part to the coaches at El Jefe where I’ve been weight lifting for the past several months.

I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know the weightlifting group and feel much stronger than I have since I was helping on my families farms. So a big thank to coach Jett and coach Vinny for their patience in teaching me how to lift properly.

This also was the last race that I needed for the coveted Spartan Trifecta. Which means that I’ve completed a Sprint, Super, and Beast in one calendar year. I’m actually pretty proud of it.

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That catches everyone up on the racing that I’ve been doing to past couple of months. Of course I’ve been going on training runs although I’m not sticking to the schedule as well as I should. Hopefully here in the last 6 weeks of training I can get back to more regular running. My work schedule changed a little and I can’t make the morning group runs anymore. This has really bummed me out and demotivated me a little. The Spartan did a lot to get my resolve back.

Last weekend I went on a “short” 8 mile run. Honestly, it did feel kinda short. Although I could feel my knees for most of the run and toward the end my right knee. I’ve actually been having some pain just walking this week. But Monday evening I went on a short run with coach V in anticipation of her Olympic Tri next weekend and my knee felt fine. There is a close to .5 mile loop in my neighborhood that we ran. I did 5 laps and coach V did 4. I did 2 “speed laps” in the middle. Ran an 8:20 mile and that included 2 stops to look for coach V. I topped out 5:10 min mile and actually held that for a little bit according to the Garmin. So I still have some speed in there somewhere.

And now for some random pictures from the past few months of training!

Couple of shorter training runs this week and next weekend is the first of 2 serious distance training runs. The 18 mile run! should be interesting.

I have a lot of other things to talk about but this is already getting kinda long so I’ll save them for another time.

Until then…C-ya!

Virtual races and Spartans

July 11, 2018July 11, 2018 runningwithneal1 Comment

Wow, so its been a little busy here. Lots to recap so I’ll just get to it.

I have now done 2 virtual runs in the AZ Sunrise series. The first one I did during the 4 mile Arrowhead Loop Run on Thursday morning. It was a pretty good run. finished in 27:22 which is a 8:47 pace. It really helps to have people that you run with on a regular basis to help pace. I pushed pretty hard to stay with the lead group for as long as I could.

A couple weeks later we took a short trip to Seattle. So, with I was up in the cooler weather I did another 5K for the July 7th AZ Sunrise run since I was going to be running a Spartan that day.

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Running in Seattle was great. Thanks to Coach V’s years up there she knew some good places to run. She took me to a trail That was a out and back run with only 1 turn that I had to pay attention for. I’m calling it a trail because it was heavy wooded with REALLY tall trees but it was paved so no risk of tripping on roots and rocks. Even though I did it in the afternoon it was beautiful weather for running. Sunny, warm but not what a guy from Arizona or Indiana would call hot. I pushed really hard on this one and was rewarded with a 25:46 finish. Average pace was 8:17 and the first mile was 7:14. I haven’t had a mile split that fast since high school. I looked up where that would have put me if I had ran that in the actual race. I would have been 4th in my age group. I’m pretty excited by that and am very curious to see what will happened in a week and a half at the next one.

On to the Spartan. I ran a Spartan Super back in February. A super is around 8 miles with around 25 obstacles\challenges. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of it. While on the road and trails I’m pretty competitive and have very specific goals that I’m pushing myself to meet I view these kind of runs as just screwing around. I’m just out there to have some fun. The Tough Mudders have more that feel to me. While I do take it seriously, I’m not worried about finishing times and have the most fun when I’m helping others on the course.

Spartan is a little different. Almost everyone I talked with there was taking it very seriously. I was criticized for drinking coffee before the race because “the caffeine will make you muscles need more oxygen while your running”. That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. I’ll need to look into sometime. But, frankly who cares. I know a lot of runners that have a serious coffee problem.

Des Linden in an interview I think with Runner’s World talks about getting a bag of coffee beans to take home from everywhere she goes on vacations. And she won the Boston Marathons during the worst weather conditions in recent memory. She, along with her Husband and another couple run a coffee company, Linden & True Coffee. (https://www.coffeebylt.com/)

Ok, I’ve gone on rants about coffee before so I’ll stop now.

I need a refill anyway.

Anywho…..

This was a Spartan Stadium Sprint which means that it was basically a 5K with 23 obstacles. I had a blast! one 2 obstacles that gave me issues. I can’t climb a rope. I used to be able to but I’ve forgotten how to do it somewhere along the way. and the “multi-rig” which is just swinging from rings suspended by straps. The only issue I had is that the rings where so close to the ground that I could reach them while standing on the ground. So, every time that I swung between rings my feet dragged across the floor.

It took me 1:13:45 to complete. I could have gone a lot faster but since we where winding around the University of Phoenix Stadium I couldn’t tell how far it was between each obstacle or how much more I had left in the run. So, I keep to a moderate jog to conserve my strength. Next time I’ll push harder.

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And riding that kind of euphoric, that was pretty easy, feeling I signed up for a Spartan Beast in October. That will give me an extra “Trifecta” medal.

Yes, I know, I have a running for the bling problem.

Tomorrow I will run my 4th Arrowhead Loop in 4 weeks. which means that I get a doughnut keychain. I’m really excited about this.

This weekend should be interesting. I’m on a triathlon team as the swimmer. I haven’t swam seriously since I was in high school and would swim practices with the girls swim team. And I’ve never swam like this in open water. Or worn a wetsuit.

I had a chance at the beginning of the week to go on an open water swim but I got the time wrong. I was told they where meeting at 4:30. I assumed PM, they meant AM. Opps! I’m hoping tomorrow night to go get some laps in at a nearby pool just to see if I remember how to swim.

I haven’t been very good at all with training runs. As I mentioned I’ve been going to the Thursday morning Arrowhead Loop Runs. I also did a workout with Coach V’s trainer in Seattle, Chris Reilly. Great workout but it kicked my butt.

I think that after the fairly intense training that I did for the half I needed the break. Marathon training starts on July 23 and I’ve got a pretty aggressive schedule set up for that.

And now to finish watching England and Croatia! Until next time C-YA!