Sport Kilt – Running with Neal

Accidental PRs and Running the Tangent

February 18, 2020March 10, 2020 runningwithnealLeave a comment

Last weekend I ran the Mesa 10K. This race is part of the Sprouts Mesa Marathon weekend and going into the race I was ready for it to really suck.

Not because of the race or the organization, but I didn’t think I was ready for it at all. To start with I haven’t trained for any kind of running race since mono in November. That’s mostly due to soccer season. Originally, this was to be the year of the 10K and when I signed up for it nearly a year ago I was still on track for that to happen. However, after the injuries and mono those plans changed, but this was still on my schedule. So, I decided to do it anyway.

Added to the lack of training I ran a very hard soccer day the night before. Lots of running and fast paced. Which is fun but exhausting and thanks to the overtime and PKs to decide a winner, a late night.

Coach V and I decided that Saturday morning in order to get to the race in time to catch the shuttle to the start line we needed to LEAVE the house by 4:15. Which meant getting up around 3:30 in order to have ourselves and the baby ready to go in time.

Well, we overslept, but just a little and we were out the door by 4:20. A little behind but recoverable. On the way there we discovered a section of I-10 that was closed and causing all the traffic to stop as everyone was trying to get off the highway. Now we were seriously behind and I was starting to worry about catching the shuttle to the start line. But, nothing we could do so I tried to think of other things. I got my nebulizer ready to do a breathing treatment using the AC outlet in the van only to discover that it draws more than the outlet can handle and won’t work.

“That’s OK”, I thought,” I’ve never used it before a race before and I still have my inhaler. Wait, were is my inhaler?” After a near frantic search of my race bag the compartments in the car and coach V’s purse I determined that I left it at home with no time to turn around.

“Well, I planned on taking it easy anyway.” I told Coach V who was trying to hide her concern. A sever asthmatic without his inhaler running is generally not a good idea. But, it wasn’t going to stop me.

After we parked, I got out of the van to discover it was a very chilly morning to be in a short sleeve shirt and my running kilt. As I walked over to stand in line for the shuttle I started visibly shivering. After what felt like forever, about 10 minutes, I got on the school bus that was being used for a shuttle. I haven’t been on a school bus since high school track and I remember having more leg room back then. The bus was slightly warmer and I stopped shivering. Although it was short lived. as soon as we got out of the bus I was cold again. I kept telling myself that once I start running I’ll be fine.

I milled around the start area with everyone else waiting for the race to start. Finally, they started playing the Start Spangled Banner. A cool thing they did was when it got to the line “and the rockets glare” they set off red fireworks. Which I thought was very cool although I wondered what the people in the neighborhood beside must think of these fireworks going off at 6:30 in the morning.

We lined up in a mob and got a 5 second countdown to the start. Ok, here we go. I started off at a light run but not looking at my watch. I now know it was about an 11 minute mile pace and slowly increased to around a 9:30. I was feeling pretty good.

My original plan before the late night and inhaler missing was to go light the first couple of miles, let the crowd stretch and thin out and then drop the hammer down from mile 2 though 5 and walk the last couple of miles in.

Coming up on mile marker 2 I decided to walk a little and do a quick system check. Lungs where fine, legs where feeling bouncy, I was smiling and having a good time, so why not. At the 2 mile marker I turned it on and went to about 9 minute miles. I went for about a half mile, took a .1 break and then went back at it. I kept that up for 3 miles, which was the goal. The 5K inside the 10K as I decided to call it was at about 30 minutes. Which I was pretty happy with. Another quick check, all systems good, so I kept the pattern up, running the last 2 miles in 9:19 and 10:17. I crossed the line at 1:02:38 and thought to myself, “Wow, that was kinda quick”. When I found coach V her coment was, “I thought you were going to go easy.”

The post race was great. The major sponsor of the Mesa Marathon is Sprouts Framers Market. For those who don’t know that is a grocery store specializing in natural and organic foods. They handed me a reusable grocery bag and then I went through the goodie line. By the time I was through it, I had califlower tortilla chips, squash pretzels, 3 different jerkies, and an assortment of other goodies overfilling my bag. Mesa 10K post race

Overall a great race and as I discovered later in the day a PR for the 10K distance by about 8 minutes. Which for not trying I thought was really good and I’m extremely happy with the result.

I also want to mention the Mesa Police that helped throughout the race blocking the roads and keeping us safe while we ran. I’ve done alot of races and I have never seen a friendlier group of officers helping with a race. From friendly waves as we ran past to full volume cheering us on it made the experience very enjoyable and really helped to know that not only where they their doing a job but fully engaged in the run. Kudos to you all and thank you for all that you do!

The race did present something that got me thinking. somewhere in the middle of the course you come around a corner and there is a massive sweeping curve to the right. What struck me was that there were 3 lanes on the road blocked off for the runners but everyone was hugging the left hand side or the outside of the curve.

In auto racing the drivers attempt to make the curves into as straight of lines as possible. Generally going into the curve high, kissing the apex and coming out high. This helps them to carry as much speed as possible through the curve. And for anyone who ran shorter distances in track, namely the 200 and 400, the reason that the start is staggered is to normalize the distance between the lanes. If they all started in a straight line the inside lane would go a shorter distance than the outside.

So, with that knowledge I veered away from the pack and headed for the apex to run the tangent. I got a ton of strange looks from all the people hugging the left curb like it was a cliff and it got me thinking.

Has it just been so ingrained in them from their training runs to stay to the left that they don’t think about it. Or is it that one of the first runners through stayed left and everyone else is just following the person in front of them even though the better path is right there. I think that far too often we get stuck in the way we have always done things or following the person in front of us for fear of going the wrong way. This is not an issue I’ve had and yes it has gotten me in trouble a few times. I once turned a 10K into a 13 mile run because I thought I knew where I was going. I took 40 people with me by the way. But generally, it has served me well. Leading me to new places and meeting interesting people who seem to be as crazy or crazier than I am. If I had followed the safe path I probably wouldn’t have started running at all.

So, If you remember nothing else from these posts remember: Run the Tangents!

Post race with Molly

Until next time,…C-YA!

PR and the Finishing Sprint

December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 runningwithneal1 Comment

I FINISHED!

3922_1544923823087 — Ready to Start…Sorta

I also set a new Marathon PR. My previous best was 6:24 at the Chicago Marathon in 2011. Saturday, on the most perfect day for running that I can imagine, I ran the 26.2 miles in 5:20:03. Over an hour faster than my 2011 Chicago run.

While I didn’t quite make my under 5 hour goal I’m still extremely excited about the result.

This was a very different type of marathon than the previous ones I’ve ran. I’ve ran the Chicago Marathon twice and the Air Force Marathon at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. Those were much bigger races. Chicago is one of the largest marathons in the world with around 36,000 people. The Air Force Marathon is smaller but still about 3,200 people. Chicago is lined with people the entire coarse. Air force isn’t as solidly lined with people but there is still a fair number and you go through a lot of neighborhoods. Both races are a lot of fun.

Buckeye Marathon

The Buckeye is sparse. Its very well staffed with volunteers and aid stations about every 2 miles. But between the stations there is very little for most of the race. The first 4 miles is through a nice looking neighborhood. Then there is a turn to the west and you stay on that road for the next 15 miles. It is a road that has one main curve to the south and feels like its going through the middle of nowhere. And its amazingly flat. You can see for miles in all directions and see little in the way of civilization. It kinda makes you wonder why its there. Its a 4 lane divided road with little to nothing on it or near it. Felt like the road that Field of Dreams inspired. if-you-build-it-1288x724

I paused my music for a little bit and just listened to the deafening silence and my shoes hitting the road for a little bit. It was kinda nice actually. I love running with crowds cheering and feeding of the energy of the fans yelling encouragement to people they have never met. But there was something serene about the silence. Very calming and peacefully. I ran like that for about 2 miles before going back to my mix of Britney, Justin, and Pitbull.

3921_1544923819800 — Me with the best support crew ever!

Ok, so more of a recap. The first half felt amazing. My half split was 2:22, which would have been a half marathon PR if I was running a half. I had a small mental breakdown at mile nine, but pulled it back together to the halfway point.

Then I fell apart until about mile 17. I just couldn’t seem to find a rhythm. I eventually settled into an interval of .2 run and .2 walk. The runs where still at a 9 to 10 minute pace, occasionally getting more toward 8:30. I just couldn’t maintain it. I tried slowing down to around a 12 minute mile but that was even worse. Mile 22 my interval stopped working and I went to more a .25 walk and .15 run. Every time I tried to extend the run I had very sharp pains shoot through my legs. Almost felt like an electric shock in my calves.

And then it came. The ever elusive runner’s high. At the Mile 24 marker I looked at my watch and knew that 5:30 was still up for grabs. In 2 more miles I will have run my fastest marathon to date. And that triggered the endorphins. My brain overruled my tired sore legs and I started running again. Back in a .2 run, .2 walk. The runs were getting down around 8:30 pace and the walks only slowed to about a 14 min mile. Coach V was at the last turn which was about the 26 mile mark. She said something encouraging about being almost done and joked about having a hard time keeping up because I was walking too fast. And I basically said something to the effect of “Watch This!”

I let out a tremendous primal scream and took off at a dead sprint. Every time I felt like my body wanted to quit I screamed again. This was everything that was left. I just let my sprinter brain take over and went. I peaked out at a 3 min mile pace. Yes, I have some speed when I want it, I used to be a sprinter. Of course that was a short duration but still after a 26 mile warm up a 12 second 100 meter dash isn’t too bad. And if anyone reading this knew me in high school they probably aren’t surprised.

Afterward I felt great. As I said before I’m extremely happy with 5:20. My legs where dead but I still walked over to thank the firemen and police at the finish that where helping with the event. I changed into my post race kilt, fresh socks, different shoes, and the event shirt. Pro Tip: Clean clothes feel amazing after a hard race like that.

Coach V took me to Texas Roadhouse for a post race steak and beer. Possible the best steak and beer, Kiltlifter of course, I’ve had in awhile. Of course that could be the endorphins talking. Buckeye Finish

I had a lot of random thoughts and musings including how to focus my training over the next several years. However, I’ll save those for another time.

Until then…C-YA!

Failure and Training

July 23, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

I haven’t written in awhile because I was dreading having to admit this to everyone. I mentioned in the last post that I was the swimmer on a triathlon relay team.

Mountain Man

It didn’t go well. Let me start at the beginning.

The morning started well. I maybe a little more nervous than I normally am before a race, but as I usually am quick to tell people. Nervous is good. Nervous means that you care. Nervous can help us focus and perform better. I am more concerned when I’m not nervous going into things.

We left Coach V’s grandmother’s place in Flagstaff and went to Upper Lake Mary. we got to the staging area. Got Coach V’s bike squared away, found Andrea, the runner, and got our timing chip.

The traditional method for a tri is swim, bike, and finally run. So, I was up first. I got into the wetsuit. I was told I needed due to the water temperature and it would give me some extra bouncy. Surprisingly it wasn’t to bad to get on. I noticed right away that it was pretty tight to my neck but dismissed it as just the way these things are.

I walked to the start area with the whole Embrace Your Pace gang that came up for the event and waited for the relay start.

When it was our turn I got in the water. submerged myself and thought this isn’t so bad. water temp was mid to upper 60s and I was able to get off to one side so it wasn’t as crowded. A horn was blown and we where off.

I started off in with a freestyle stroke breathing on the third stroke until I ran into someone. That wasn’t a big deal. I put my head up, looked around and switched to my back more floating than swimming at that point. But I was fine and actually thought it was kind of relaxing.

I flipped back over to swim for a little bit again and that’s when the trouble started. On one of my breaths I took in some water and choked a little. My lungs upon receiving the unexpected water decided. “Nope, we are going to freak out and start an asthma attack immediately.”

Between the asthma attack, the wetsuit at my neck, and the thin air at 7000 ft I panicked. Suddenly I couldn’t keep my head above the water, or at least that’s how it felt. I seriously wasn’t sure I was going to make it out of that lake at point. But one of the race volunteers in a kayak noticed my struggling and came over to let me grab ahold of the kayak and rest.

The asthma attack wasn’t letting up and without my inhaler with me I was afraid that continuing would be a bad idea, so I asked to get pulled out by the boat. My race day was over. I made it maybe 50 meters of the 750 meter swim. Once on the boat I was able to get my breathing under control even before we got back to shore. The folks on the boat where very understanding and supportive and I am grateful that they where there.. They had to take my chip so officially my team was no longer competing but they did tell me that the rest of the team should still do there events.

I was, and to an extent still am, extremely mad at myself. I’ve NEVER not finished a race before. Even when my back gave out at the beginning of a 200M dash in high school I got back up and finished the race, before passing out briefly from the pain. And not only did I fail and not finish but I let the rest of my team down. They where counting on me to do my part and I didn’t. And its completely my fault. I hadn’t swam seriously since high school, I’d never swan in open water, I wasn’t ready for the altitude, I hadn’t worn a wetsuit before, and I blew off training thinking that athleticism could carry me through. My arrogance cost my team an official finish in the race and nearly cost me even more.

I’m still upset and a little pissed at myself. But for me it seems to have come with some new determination. Coach V and I are signing up at a pool so that I can start swimming laps and get used to being in the water. I’m signed up for a reverse tri at the end of August. Which means that the swim is last and its only 400M in a pool. I’m looking into a couple of Tri sprints this fall. A sprint basically means all the distances are shorter. The only issue there is that I need to make sure it fits in with the marathon training.

The rest of the weekend in Flagstaff was really fun. Went on a couple of hikes, both of which where cut short by rain. And it was really fun seeing everyone up there and cheering the others on during the bike and run.

OK, enough about that. Rio Run 7-17

I’ve been taking training easy the past several weeks knowing that marathon training is coming. But I’ve still been trying to make the Tuesday and Thursday morning group runs. I got my donut key chain, which means that I made 4 weeks in a row. 20180712_072538

I ran my 5th in the AZ Sunrise series this past Saturday. Unfortunately, it didn’t go as well as I hoped. I started having a lot of calf pain and then knee pain during the second mile and had to walk. Every time I would test out running and get back to full stride the pain started again. I ended running the 3.1 miles in 30:03 which is a 9:41 minute per mile pace. Not horrible but no where near the 25 minute 5K I did in Seattle a few weeks ago.

AZ Gilbert

Once I got home and took my shoe off my fourth toe on my right foot was extremely sore and very painful if it got touched. On further inspection I found a good sized blister had formed UNDER the toe nail. I felt relief almost the instant I popped it and now its fine. So, I’m blaming that for the issues on the run Saturday. That being said Coach V, and I agree, that I should get my calf looked at. Its been causing problems off and on all summer.

Last Friday we started going to a cross fit gym, EL JEFE. Coach V prefers that sort of thing to running and I really need to work on my upper body strength. Other than the class being at 5 am it was fun in that hard work kind of way. They also on staff have a running coach and a in house physical therapist. So, I’ll probably be talking to them soon.

This morning I went on a bike ride with Coach V. Its been well documented that I am not a biker. However, my friend Stephen loaned me a bike and after looking at the seat on it vs the seat on mine I came up with a theory. My seat SUCKED! so I switched them.

I wouldn’t say that I loved biking this morning but it wasn’t too bad. a good seat can make a huge difference, apparently. Who knew?!

Finished

So, that basically catches everyone up. The bike was day one of marathon training. I’ll post the whole plan later since this is getting a little long already.

Next up is an “easy” 40 minute run tomorrow. Until then…C-YA!

Sunrise Series and Prednisone

May 30, 2018May 30, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

2970_1527350312264

Its been awhile but the break is now over!

Saturday I the first in the Airzona Sunrise Series. This is a set of 7 5Ks in different locations throughout the Phoenix area. There is another race every other weekend. Last Saturday was at Kiwanis Park in Tempe, AZ.

It was a nice out and back course that curved around a pond and beside one of the canals. Pretty fast course, although, it did manage to go uphill both ways which is an interesting feat in an out and back.

I ran it in 28:13 making it the second fastest 5K since high school. Given that I haven’t ran much in the past month. (This brings my total in the past four weeks to 7 miles.) I’m pretty happy with it.

Everything felt good for the whole race. I was tired afterward, but nothing felt injured. I do need to work on speed but I think that this was a good baseline run. The next race is on June 9th. So, I’ve got two weeks to find some more speed. The main thing that I think that I’ll be fighting is the heat.

It’s starting to get hot here in the valley of the sun. as in today hit triple digits and I don’t think we will be turning back until September. So, That should make things interesting.

Speaking of that ridiculous cold/upper respiratory infection. One of the lingering effects of it was a sore throat. It just wouldn’t stop. I lasted 4 weeks total and added an ear ache in the past week. I only just got rid of it thanks to some high powered medication. Namely another round of stronger antibiotics and a little thing called prednisone.

Prednisone is an interesting thing. It’s a steroid used to reduce inflammation. Namely my sinus passages. Yes it had gotten that bad. But it has some side effects. I’m hungry. Like REALLY hungry. All the time. I ate a big lunch today and was hungry about 5 minutes later. I’m also really thirsty. Like I drank about 250 ounces of water today. The most fun effect though is that I’m wired. Its like drinking about 10 pots of coffee all at once and no crash in the afternoon. I’m getting a lot done at work right now and will probably start attacking the house tomorrow evening. I’m hoping that I can go on a run tomorrow night as well.

Until then…C-ya fb_img_1527546568846

Patriots’ Day and 5Ks

April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 runningwithnealLeave a comment

HAPPY PATRIOTS’ DAY!

Also known as Marathon Day.

As I write this I’m watching the Boston Marathon Tracker as a friend of mine from college is running. Looks like its kind of a cold and rainy day in Boston this year. But despite that she is keeping a pace that I could only dream of.

Boston has been dream of mine since I started running marathons nearly 8 years ago. Alas I’ve never really dedicated enough time and effort to training since I would need to cut about an hour and a half off my best time to even think about qualifying.

But I have plenty of time between now and my marathon the Buckeye in December. The Buckeye Marathon is a Boston qualifier so maybe…….

Anywho…..

This past weekend I ran a 5K along with Coach V and the kids. Well, I ran and the kids rode in the stroller/bike trailer while coach V pushed.

The Milk and Cookies 5K was a 1.5ish mile loop around the Scottsdale sports complex soccer fields. It was a relatively flat course and a cool, windy morning. Overall fun race. and a pretty neat medal. And as always I was in my running kilt.

I was hoping to run around 24 minutes but fell way short of that at 27:45. I kind of over did the training going into Saturday. And as Coach V reminded me. “You’re not training for a 5k I’m training for a half in 2 weeks.”

So, I’m not too disappointed with that time. I finished around when Coach V and the kids where about to start their second lap so I walked that lap with them.

James ran the Snickerdoodle dash which was a 50m run for ages 4 and under. It was ADORABLE! Especially the ones that went part way and then turned around to go back. James did well and only paused briefly when he saw his sister on the side cheering for him.

James snickerdoodle He is very proud of his medal.

We celebrated our achievements by going to my favorite post race restaurant US EGG. They have the BEST protein pancakes (dramatic pause) in the world. Along with bacon, eggs, hash browns, and as much coffee as I can drink, which is a lot, its the perfect post race breakfast\bunch.

M&C Group

On to Sunday!

The longest run of the training program. 11 miles. We started off fairly early to avoid some of the heat here in the valley of the sun. And Coach V picked a new running path for a change of scenery. Nice path and I was feeling pretty good when the path ended. Some construction caused the temporary closing of part of the finished path. But the trail continued as long as you didn’t mind off roading it a little bit. Coach told me to press on and that she would catch up. I got back to a sidewalk well ahead at this point and decided to run along the road to get back on the path a little further on. I took one wrong turn that looked like the path but was just an access road. Luckily coach caught up and got me straightened out and back to the running path. The end of the run was along a street to get back to the van.

It was along the street that I finally after weeks of running felt like I hit a groove and could run forever. My mind quieted down, the aches and pains and twinges that I had been plagued with subsided and I was just running. The traffic even seemed to quiet down. I could even hardly tell that my legs where moving much less maintaining a 9:45 pace. It was a very zen moment and I hope that I can find it again on race day.

About mile nine the euphoria was gone and my legs, mostly my calves, started screaming in protest. The last 2 miles where amazingly agonizing. If it hadn’t been for coach encouraging me I’m not sure I would have finished the run. But I did in 1:53:27. A little slow but we did have to stop to figure out where we were going a couple of times.

To celebrate the end of the long runs we went to my favorite coffee place Dutch Bros! Because nothing sounds better after 11 miles than a blended 911 (irish crème and 6 shots of espresso).

So, I’m officially in the taper now. I need to pay close attention to my diet over the next 2 weeks and try not to over train. So we smoked a tri-tip to start the week off right!

I do have one hard workout left on Thursday but its more about speed than distance.

I’m already getting nervous but I know that this is the most prepared that I’ve ever been for a half. So, I’ll finish following the Boston Marathon and continue my rest day.

Until Tuesday’s run…C-ya!

Nutrition and Tough Mudders

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 runningwithneal1 Comment

I’m sore.

In fact I’m very sore.

I actually brought my stick up to my desk an have already used it twice this morning and probably will again soon.

The past weekend was perhaps one of the most physically grueling weekends that I’ve had since I stopped helping my family with their farms.

SO, why am I so sore. Let me start with Friday Night. A friend of ours who really likes to play board and card games is in from Ohio. So we (Adam, Vicky and I) went over to Vicky’s parents as soon as I got home from work to play games. The trouble that I didn’t realize was that everyone else had dinner before we went. Vicky’s parents being the gracious hosts that they are had cheese spread, crackers and even a little pizza to nibble on while we played and offered my several bottle of beer to wash it down. On top of the burger King I had for lunch meant that it was a whole day of horrible eating.

As I mentioned in the previous post I moved me Sunday run to Saturday. Which meant the I got up and went on a 9 mile run with the intent of keeping a 9:45 pace. This did not happen. We took off with Vick and Adam on bikes and me running. the first mile felt ok, not great but I did keep an 8:45 min/mile pace. Mile 2 everything started to tighten up and hurt but still managed a 9:26. And then I really started to feel bad. I spent the next 7 miles stopping occasionally to try and stretch my calves. I nearly got ill in mile 7 and almost tapped out. However, thanks to the encouragement from Adam and Vicky (who I’m going to start referring to as Coach V on these runs) I kept going and finished the distance.

This brings a thought and a question to mind.

First the question.

When training for an event such as a half marathon or a full is it better get in the distance of the long runs and sacrifice the target pace or hold the pace and not get the distance?

I realize that hitting both would be the ideal but as I demonstrated Saturday I wasn’t going to hit both. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

The thought has to do with nutrition. I know that I ate horribly on Friday and I think that had a pretty dramatic effect on the Saturday run. the nutrition side of things is not something that I’ve ever paid much attention to.

As a high school cross-country runner and track sprinter it never mattered much. I was eating everything I could to maintain my weight. I actually would eat to dinners a night most nights. One at a friends house right after practice and another at mine. (he was doing the same thing)

Now the advantage that we had is that our mothers are both amazing cooks and they where feeding us good balanced meals but as a 17 year old your not paying attention. The adults took care of little details like that so that we could worry about more important things like school, running, cars, music, girls … that sort of thing. although girls didn’t become a real distraction until college, but I digress.

Even in my 20s I didn’t have to really pay attention to what I ate. although by in large I was fixing in myself I mostly stuck with the type of things mom made. I’ve always loved fruits and vegetables. I’m actually a pretty good gardener. Almost anytime I have fruit I claim its one of my favorite fruits. And my love of pasta is nearly legendary among my friends and family.

Fast forward to now and I’m having to be careful how much I eat. What I eat seems to have a much larger effect on how I feel and now I’m noticing performance differences based on food.

Getting old sucks. There I said it. It is however inevitable. So, I’m going to start looking into what I should be doing diet wise. What does a runners diet look like? How can I fit into my lifestyle and family’s needs? If any of you know of some good resources let me know and I’ll review it and report back with what I learn.

Ok, enough with the boring stuff. On to Sunday!

I along with Coach V and Adam ran in Tough Mudder Arizona. And one of the really cool things is that we adopted an abandoned running who would have had to run alone named Katie.

A tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile non-competitive run with 20+ obstacles. They are all about teamwork and comradery with your fellow Mudders. Most of the obstacles you will be helped either physically of encouraged by complete strangers. It is one of my favorite things to be a part of.

The obstacles are designed to test you both physically and your grit. that ability to overcome fears and get the job done. I have seen many people especially new Mudders approach an obstacle with hesitation and fear. But with the help and encouragement of everyone around they time and time again accomplish things that they never dreamed they could. Usually they get to the other side and beaming with pride look back and say “huh, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” It reminds me of how much of running and really life is about our attitude and ability to set fear aside to just get the job done.

It true is an inspiring thing to see and a humbling event to be a part of. I always feel like kind of a badass for a few days afterward, even when I am so sore that typing is a challenge.

Did I mention I’m sore?

I also need to give a shoutout to my teammates:

Coach V (aka Vicky) who got me started on these things even though I thought it was kind of gimmicky. And inspires all of us to fight though. Hopefully, I can continue to keep up with her.

Adam who hates running but loves the obsticales (well most of them). I hope someday to have a quarter of his grip strength. He also has a youtube channel about board games specifically the game Dominion. You can find him there at AdamHorton01

And Katie who we just met but by the end felt like an old friend. You are always welcome in the Mudder Band! And I look forward to running with you again soon.

So, I’ve got a lot to do this week between training, nutrition research and a few life things going on. The next run is Tuesday so until then….C-ya!