Illinois Marathon – Running with Neal

Flights and strollers

April 25, 2018April 25, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

So, I’ve gotten a little behind. Last weekend I went to Indiana to pick up my daughter for the week. I’ve been a little distracted.

But I stay with some friends in Indiana who are huge into Crossfit. They enjoy nothing more, that may be an exaggeration, than taking their friends to classes at there gym when they visit. SO….I went to the cardio class with Anna at Three Kings.

Three kings

It was diffidently challenging. the thing I found interesting is that I had a really hard time getting my heartrate into the target zone that the workout prescribed. I think that I’ve got my conditioning to the point that a 30-90 second burst, even when I go all out, isn’t enough to get my heart going.

Anna tells me that Matt, has the same issue. I suppose that its a good thing. I also didn’t feel as dead afterward as I did the last couple of times they took me with them. It was a good workout and pointed out that I need to do a little more than just run.

So, on the plane ride back I did a little research. I figured out that I need to start the marathon training on July 21. Which means between next Monday and then I can change my focus a little bit.

Strength training is one of the things that I need to work on more. Coach V is more of a lifter and she can help me with that. I’m hopping to build strength in in arms and core. When I was in high school I didn’t have to worry about lifting as much since I was helping on the family farms. there was a point when I could carry 225 lbs and squat lift 150 lbs in the form of feed bags. The crazy thing was I could essentially do that all day because I had to. I could also throw 90 lbs well over my head repetitively for 14 hours a day for several days in a row. Hay is heavy. I think that now I could maybe manage one hay bail and I would pay for it for a week.

I also want to concentrate my running more on speed and form than distance. I know from the videos that Coach V takes on the long runs that I have a couple of problems with my form. Tortoise and Hare has good form running clinics about once a month hopefully I can go to that and get a little help with my form.

As far as speed is concerned I think keeping to shorter distances and hill work will go a long way toward improving my speed.

Sunday, I went for an 8 mile run. It was hot and slow about an 11 minute mile pace. But had the newest member of my support crew along in the trailer behind Coach V. It was great having her along. A little voice saying “good job daddy” every time we passed was great. Coach V also said that she said good morning to everyone they passed.

Today I went for a short 1.5 mile run just to stretch out and move a little. I put Amelia in the trailer and pushed it. All I have to say is that I know have a TON of respect for all the parents out there who run pushing a stroller on a regular basis. That is some seriously tiring work.

I’ve got one more run before the big day Saturday. I’m getting pretty nervous but having my daughter here this week is a good distraction from the running stuff. I’ll be doing 4 miles Thursday morning with the group. Until then….C-ya!

A donut and Bike Attempt 2

April 20, 2018April 20, 2018 runningwithneal1 Comment

So, its been an interesting week.

I felt really good after the long run last weekend. And then Tuesday I got sick. I could barely eat. I think I had a handful of fries Tuesday night and I had to force myself to do that.

Needless to say I didn’t run Tuesday.

Thursday I was feeling much better so I got up and went for the 4 mile run with the group.

That felt amazing. I was able to get into that same groove that I found on Sunday during the long run and just went. I was almost disappointed when I got to the end of the loop. I held a pretty consistent 9:10 mile. If I can hold that pace for the half I’ll finish in 1:59:59. So I rewarded myself with a blueberry donut!

I actually don’t think that I’m going to meet the under 2 hour goal. Skipping forward 4 weeks in the training plan was just too much. But I’m going to take a shot anyway.

I’m also a little concerned about the weather on race day. The high for Champaign, IL next Saturday is 65. They probably think that sounds amazing after the “spring” that the Midwest has had this year.

Today in Phoenix the low is 60 and I’ve heard people complaining about this recent “cold snap”.

Add in some humidity and it should be interesting.

So, Thursday night Coach V decided that we needed to go on a training ride for her tri on May 5. So we set off on a 12 mile training ride. I finally after having it for years attached a water bottle to the bike.

I’m still not a biker. And maybe I’m doing it wrong. Is it even possible to bike wrong? I know that its suppose to be easier on the joints due to the low impact as compared to running. But it hurts my knees. And my back. And my hands. And especially my butt. Seriously how do people sit on those hard, little seats?

Anyway…….

This weekend I’m flying to Indiana on Friday and back on Saturday. Then Sunday we will have a delayed Easter with my daughter and an easy 8 mile run. Until then….C-ya!

Diesel and Nerves

April 13, 2018April 13, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

Thursday Morning 4-13-18

I’m actually getting a little nervous.

Not so the half that I’m training for but the 5K “fun” run on Saturday.

I did a 3 mile run on Wednesday and did a lot better than I thought I would and on the Thursday morning run I though I was taking it easy and averaged 9:14 min miles. I even had to stop and walk a little bit after a diesel pick-up went by. I think I’m going to try for under 24 minutes.

Which bring me to something I want to mention here. I HATE diesel trucks. I’m cool with the semi tractors and farm equipment never really bothered me all that much. In the city anyway the drivers are some of the more annoying to share the road with. they are a lot noisier and if you are a city dweller I’ve never understood there point.

However, I can overlook all those issues. The smell, however, just kills me. I know that if they are tuned correctly they burn pretty clean as compared to their petrol cousins. but so many of them aren’t. Even when they are though, that diesel smell.

I know that a lot of it comes from being asthmatic. Burning diesel will send me into an instant asthma attack every time. What I don’t understand is that I’m fine with petrol exhaust and even jet fuel. I worked for several years as an aircraft mechanic and had very few problems.

Do any of you have problems breathing around diesel exhaust or is it just me?

Anywho….

Tomorrow is the 5K and I’m going to see how fast I can do it. and then Sunday I have the last truly long run before the Illinois half on 4/28.

Until then….C-ya!

Recovery and Hills

March 28, 2018March 28, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

Today I did my run on the dreaded treadmill. That bane of every runner. The necessary evil that we must endure when the weather is too bad to be outside. But wait I live in Phoenix! The weather this time of year is as close to ideal as it gets.

Well, today there where a couple of factors that made the dreadmill, as my cousin calls it, an attractive alternative to the usual run outside. First, I’m still in recovery mode from the weekend. the 9 mile run and tough mudder where kind of hard on the old body and I’m still pretty sore.

Reason number 2: I’ve basically been up since 2:30 am. Adam, who ran the tough mudder with Vicky, Krista, and I had a 5 am flight. This meant that he wanted to be at the airport at 3:30, which lead to leaving the house at 3, and in turn meant getting out of bed at 2:30. Since I basically work at the airport I just went to the parking lot and tried to sleep in the truck. As you can imagine that flew like a lead zeppelin and at 5 am I gave up and went inside to start working. Coincidentally I got a great parking spot today. This lead me to think that I would just do a light workout.

Reason number 3: This is probably the best reason. As mentioned I work at an airport. Airports are notoriously flat places. Today’s training schedule called for 9-10 hills. Basically sprint up the hill for 60 seconds and then slow down the hill. Rinse and Repeat. So I could use the incline on the dreadmill and seriously up the speed to simulate a hill.

So that’s what I did. 10% incline at 7 mph for 60 seconds the flat at 5 mph for 2 minutes. Made for a nice 30 minute workout. I coupled that with a 2 mile warmup @ a 9:20 pace and a 1 mile cool down at about a 15 min/mile pace and it was about an hour. Not bad for a long lunch. Actually I felt like it was a pretty hard workout.

Couple little odds and ends here. I’m still needed to look into the nutrition side of this running thing. I’ll keep you all posted on what I find.

I have officially signed up for a half marathon in April. The Christie Clinic Illinois Half Marathon on April 28 at the University of Illinois.

The dietbet folks have started a new thing called runbet. Same basic concept you choose a challenge, pay into it and then follow the training challenge submitting your runs either through runkeeper of with some photos. At the end if you make the challenge then you get your money back plus a portion of the extra from the folks who didn’t make it. I know for the dietbet it was a pretty good motivator.

Next run is 8-10 miles on Thursday. Until then…C-ya!