Tag Archives: MapMyRun

Turn down that music!!

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So one of the more interesting things(well interesting at least to me) that has happened with my running since Chicago is that I have not had a single run with my iPod in tow.  The weird part is that it really wasn’t intentional.  When I ran in Chicago I had my iPod loaded up and ready to go with a full playlist of songs to get me through however many hours it took me to plod along through it.  It was just a given that I would run with my iPod.

To illustrate just how tied to my iPod my running was before, consider this;   I went to a Cisco conference in Las Vegas in July of last year and on the flight back I inadvertently left my iPhone in the cab getting out at the airport at 5am that morning. Now up until this point, every run I made included my armband, my iPhone and MapMyRun.  I did not own a Garmin at the time so I was sold on the iPhone and the related apps.  After getting off the plane without my iPhone the biggest fear I had wasn’t what if someone calls me(even though email was really the biggest issue without it) – but what really worried me was – How am I going to run now without having my iPhone and the integrated iPod?  In fact once I got home it only took about a month before I ended up replacing MapMyRun with a Garmin since I was relegated to using an older and much slower iPhone that kept crashing while trying to use MapMyRun. Eventually I replaced the armband and iPhone all together by using an iPod shuffle.  All the way through the Chicago Marathon I kept my iPod on.

Then after getting back from Chicago I started reading ChiRunning.  One of the things it really pushes is being in tune with your body and aware of every aspect of your form while running.  Music tends to distract you from listening to your body by having you listen to well….music.  So for the first few runs after Chicago since I was only going 3-5 miles I decided I would ditch the extra gadget and run without it. Then as I started back training for Little Rock and running with our running group I didn’t end up using an iPod either(because that would be rude to put on earbuds after meeting friends to run).

This past week I ended up running an 8 miler by myself because rain cancelled the group run(well not completely but I can’t stand the treadmill and opted out of the group treadmill run).  About 4 miles in I found myself really engrossed in the hills and woods by the local route I run and was amazed at all of the sounds I was hearing.  I kept telling myself, it has really been a long time since you have ran this route because I can’t remember hearing those things.  Then I realized – it was because I was running without the distraction of music.  I hadn’t really started out with the intention of ditching music, but the habit of running with the group left me running without it.  What I realized was that where in the past I was totally numbed by the playlist, now I felt every movement and step as well as the environment around me.  It finally made sense… without the distraction of the music I could focus on running and the feedback my body was giving me.  I immediately tried to think of the last time I ran with music and it was in Chicago – which I consequently left with a good case of Plantar Fasciitis.

When I got back and analyzed my Garmin data(I love looking at the data!!), what I found was that I had ran my fastest pace ever on that 8 mile route.  Now back when I was training for Chicago by myself I was running that route 5 days a week.  So to have just ran it for the first time in months and for the first time without music and to have ran it faster than I ever had – was an eye opener.

Now I am not saying that running without music will prevent injuries or will make you faster.  I am just noticing a correlation between focusing fully on the feedback from your body while running and the overall performance.  And I am sure at some point or another I will probably end up with earbuds in again while running but I do think that there is some legitimacy to the notion that running with music causes you to block out what your body is telling you.  The biggest benefit I saw was that I really enjoyed experiencing the run and the route. Sure there were the cars that passed by distracting me but it was an awesome run along the hills.

So who knows… give it a shot… run without your iPod for a run or two.  Pay attention to your body and see what you think.  It may not be a fit for everyone – but then again it may really make a difference!

 

It’s a Pain!

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The way I left things last week was that the sports doctor wanted me to try running on my knee to see if the pain from the torn meniscus was going to be manageable without having to do other treatments and just relying on over the counter anti-inflammatory and pain relievers.  That was Wednesday afternoon.  So based upon the prescribed two Aleve in the morning, two in the evening plus two Ibuprofen an hour before I ran, I headed out the door for my first run in over a week.  The temps were pretty hot and humid but I was able to get out and run six miles!!  Not without discomfort but at least at a decent pace(albeit with a very strange looking gait with a noticeable limp)

After posting on Facebook the results of my run, I got an message from a couple of friends that are also running the Chicago Marathon inviting me to run with their group the next morning.  Now up to this point I have trained and ran completely solo.  I was a bit nervous about joining in with an established group especially not knowing how my knee would hold up.  I was also concerned that I would not be able to keep pace with everyone and end up slowing someone down since all of these folks have completed marathons previously.

Nonetheless I bucked up and showed up at 5:30 to meet them for my first group run.  The weather was again hot and humid but at least it was still very dark and the sun was not in the mix.  We ran a somewhat flat course for the first mile and a half but then had a pretty good hill that we descended which was the worst part of the run in terms of how my knee felt.  All in all, I was able to keep up for the most part with the group and hopefully did not slow them down too much.  We finished up with six miles in the books and a new found appreciation for being part of a running group with the same goals.

Saturday the group had slated to run a long run and we met up at 7am with a target of at least ten miles.  Now the two previous days I was able to get my runs in and my knee felt OK during the runs with a little stiffness and aching later in the day.  With all those pills during th past two days I was wreaking havoc on my stomach so I thought I would try skipping the Aleve on Friday night and Saturday morning and not take the Ibuprofen before the run on Saturday.  BIG MISTAKE!!  I knew as soon as we started running that I was going to be in trouble because my knee was very achy and my gait was like that of a guy running with a peg-leg.  At the two mile point in the run, it felt like a sharp hot poker was in my leg with every footsrike.  Three miles in to the run, one of the girls in the group caught a toe on a lip in the asphalt by one of the parks and despite her best efforts at trying to catch herself, ended up splitting her chin open.  After getting her to the hospital to have her chin washed out and glued back together, we went back to the cars to get her vehicle to the hospital and I gladly called it quits for the morning with just short of five miles done.  Lesson learned….. NO SKIPPING THE ALEVE AND IBUPROFEN AGAIN.

I took Sunday off completely and loaded back up on the medicine.  So this morning I had a full twenty four hours of rest and fueled up, took the Ibuprofen and headed out to meet the group for a rescheduled long run.  The temps were incredible today!!  The cold front that came through yesterday dropped us into the low 50s this morning with very low humidity and a great breeze to top things off.  I had in my mind that I wanted to try to target a fifteen miler if the knee felt better.  Turned out to be a great run!  I finished up a hair under two and a half hours but felt strong and like I could tackle a few more miles but decided to go ahead and stop with the group to keep from pushing my knee too far.  The group had a target of ten miles but they all agreed to keep going with me to get fifteen in.

It really is amazing the effect of being able to run with a group.  Prior to the issue with my knee I had kinda gotten in a funk where I was dreading the runs as they got longer and longer and was getting bored.  The heat and humidity had a lot to do with it but having a group of runners that I can lean on for advice during the run as well as for the marathon is invaluable.  Now I am looking forward to the runs again and the added support helps keep me moving where I might not, or at a minimum slow down otherwise.

With the temperatures finally breaking and getting to a normal range, the ability to run(even with a lot of pain medicine), and probably most importantly – a group of peers that can keep me focused and a source of advice, I can see the finish line in Chicago a little more clearly now.  I am not excited about the pain medicine, and still have the concern that I may ultimately need to go ahead with the steroid shot.  However I am re-invigorated to get Chicago completed.

Targets for this week – try to get four runs in with a long run of eighteen miles again and to be teed up for a twenty miler for the following week before the taper starts.

17 Miles

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This has been an interesting week from a training perspective.  I watched the kids every day since Wednesday so I was not able to really run during those days with the exception of Thursday night.

This past Monday was supposed to be my long run of 15 miles and when I woke up at 5am we had a nice electrical storm going on for about an hour and a half.  Only ended up getting 8 miles in that day.  Tuesday and Wednesday were the same – storms rolling in around daybreak so runs were out those days as well.

This week was a good week for “firsts” though – Thursday night was the first night run since last winter and it was a nice change-up to break up the monotony of my morning routine and after missing running Tuesday and Wednesday.  Plus, it was a great run just to be out and moving.

My other “firsts” for this week were – my first 17 mile run this morning .  I was ready and fired up to knock it out.  I think this pushed me to start faster than I wanted to and based upon the paces on each mile I never really adjusted down like I needed to.  So by mile 15 I was drained and consequently my time went down the drain and I really struggled to get the final laps done.  But, I did and it feels awesome to be able to say I have run 17 miles – my new personal distance record.

Another “first” was this morning was my first run with a Garmin ForeRunner – Thanks Staci for letting me borrow yours to try out!!  I have been using my iPhone with the mapmyrun app.  However as the runs got longer I was sure the batter would not permit me to use it much longer for my long runs.  The Garmin was awesome!  It was really good to be able to see the lap paces and be able to review that after the run.  Plus it was much less bulk!  As a side note I took my iPhone as well to be sure in case I didn’t like the Garmin …. my iPhone died about 2 1/2 hours in :)

Lastly – today was my first ice bath.  Gotta tell you that is hard to convince yourself to get in.  After reading several other blog posts about the benefits and a good way to acclimate yourself before just jumping in to ice cold water – I settled in and it did help relieve some of the muscle aches I was having.  However I did get everyone in the house coming to see if I had lost my mind dumping ice into the tub and getting in clothed in my running shorts to sit and freeze.  We will see tomorrow how I feel.  Tonight I have been pretty stiff and sore.

All in all – not a great week in terms of total mileage but I did have some good “firsts” this week.  I will take it and am looking to get back in the regular groove this week.  I think it actually was a good thing to have a soft week in terms of training.  I was really getting burned out and kinda bored so the change-up in gear, running times, and the routes have got me back in the swing of things.  I watched the video recap of the 2010 Chicago Marathon – brought chills thinking about it… you can watch it here if you are interested.

Go run!!!

 

The Dilemma

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I have been a little handicapped over the past 4 weeks on my runs because while on the way to the Vegas airport at 3:30am for a 5:45 flight I inadvertently left my iPhone in the cab when I got out.  So since then I have been relegated to using an old iPhone 3GS with a cracked and busted screen.

The real issue for me isn’t that the phone is old(but that is a pain as well) but rather the fact that MapMyRun doesn’t seem to play well with this model of phone.  I forgot all the issues I had prior to the iPhone 4.  Randomly it will just stop tracking the GPS during a run and more frequently it will stop playing music during a run and to add some random fun to the mix it will launch voice control to interrupt things.  This becomes very frustrating especially like the days like last Monday when I was on my long run and wasn’t sure how far I had gone after it stopped tracking the GPS.

So with rumors of an iPhone 5 in the next 4-6 weeks I am hesitant to replace my phone just yet.  But this does leave me with a problem on my runs.  So I have wondered for a while whether I should look at a Garmin Forerunner anyway for use during runs.  The advantages that I see are longer battery life, better information, and less bulk.  I am not sure how the iPhone is going to stand up for the 4 hours involved with the marathon and long runs as well so that has also been a concern.

However from the Garmin side – I would miss not having music so I would have to use an iPod with a Garmin.  Plus I would lose the ability to have the fail safe of a phone while I am out on the early morning runs in case anything were to happen.  I have never used a Garmin while running.  I do use one when I bike but it is not practical for wearing.  I have read some posts that indicate the Garmin provides much more useful information that an iPhone app does and have not really found anyone that does not love theirs.

So I am curious what the overall impression of other runners is in terms of using a dedicated forerunner for tracking your runs or using a more multifunctional device like the iPhone that can handle more than just tracking.

Hit the wall

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I wrapped up this week with an overall increase in mileage up to 40 miles after my run in this morning.  So an increase is good, right??  Well this week definitely was a big struggle.  I really hit the wall this week and mentally it has worn on me the entire week.

I remember running track in high school and letting the emotions of a highly competitive meet get the best of me and starting out way too fast for the mile race.  I can still remember the feeling of the lactic acid buildup causing the cramps and my legs feeling like petrified tree trunks trying to move.  Unfortunately I had another bout of those same feelings this past Monday.  I had planned on Monday being my long run day with a target of 14 miles(just as my training plan outlined) and was hoping to beat it and go 15 miles.  I started out the run feeling sluggish but just attributed it to being so early and not getting enough sleep.  After the first couple of miles I still was struggling, and even trying to pick up the pace was not happening no matter how fast I felt like I was increasing.  By mile 8, I was barely at a shuffle on the main uphill stretch on my return route.   By mile 10, my form was completely gone – head down, body leaning forward completely and just hoping to make it back.  I didn’t think I could lift my legs another step and my stomach was cramping which made it tough to even remain partially upright.  Add to that a very strange feeling of dizziness and you get the idea that I was not a pretty sight.  I ended up logging 13 miles that morning but eventually ended up at not much more than a brisk walking pace by the last half mile.  Normally after running and having time to cool down the rest of my day I am pumped about the morning run and how good it makes me feel.  On Monday the entire day I went back to the morning run to try to figure out what happened to have hit the wall so hard and consequently wondering if I am not where I am supposed to be in the training program.

I rested on Tuesday and tried to regroup mentally and physically.  I tried to recap the 24 hours leading up to the Monday run to try to figure out what went so wrong.  What I ended up with is the following;

  • The day before I did not hydrate properly
  • The night before I did not get to bed early enough for my 5am alarm
  • I ran on an empty stomach – no food or drink
  • I did not drink very regularly during my run
  • I did use some sport beans during my run but ran out before I was halfway through
  • The past 4 weeks of highs in the upper 90s/low 100s and high humidity is starting to weigh on me.

So on Wednesday when I got up at 5am to run again I was very nervous about how I was going to perform.  The past two days had given me plenty of opportunity doubt myself – am I running far enough on my non-long run days, can I continue running like this in this heat, and probably the most scary one – am I really going to be able to do this… I mean if I struggled with 13 miles how am I going to be able to do 26???  So Tuesday I started out to make sure I eliminated as many of those bullet points as possible.  I drank lots of water and Gatorade the night before, I at salty foods the evening before, I switched from water in my fuel belt to frozen Gatorade.  I got more sport beans, I ate a granola bar before running, and I made the decision that I need to increase my non-long run days to at least 10 miles each.

So on Wednesday I had a better run, and stayed hydrated throughout the run, and logged a 10 mile run and actually felt pretty good when I got done(with the exception of the half dollar sized blister that formed on the arch of my left foot from my shoes being soaked with sweat by the time I got back.  What I ended up deciding is that on Monday I was most likely experiencing dehydration and mild heat sickness.  I always weigh myself before and after running to help monitor my loss of fluids.  On Monday it was 77 when I left with 82% humidity and I ended up losing 7.3 pounds in a little over 2 hours!  I normally sweat pretty heavily and most people say – oh yeah me too…. but take a look at the picture at the top of this post and you will see that it looks like I have jumped in a pool when I get back.  That picture is a pretty normal depiction of what my running shirt is like when I get back now… dripping wet with sweat.

So this morning I logged another 10 mile run and felt OK with it but sweated like crazy again and added the new struggle of running with a very sore blister.  More importantly – I am still struggling mentally with the run from Monday. I am just hoping that I can fight through this physical wall and the associated mental wall that resulted.  I am 10 weeks away from Chicago now… I really can’t afford any delays or variance in the schedule.

Chicago – My First Marathon!!

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So it has been almost 2 years since I last posted to my personal blog.  A lot has changed professionally as well as life has just gotten busier with the kids getting older.  I ended up not doing the Bass Pro Half Marathon I had targeted for 2009, mainly due to the change in the work schedule.  After getting back to normal last September I did go ahead and target the Run For The Ranch Half Marathon in Springfield in December -  and while it was not pretty – I did finish it.  Since then running has really become a huge outlet for me to clear my mind and focus on goals, personal development, and just to enjoy some time all to myself with no outside distractions.  I have gone from running whenever the weather was perfect, and the time was perfect, and when I felt perfect to making it a priority that I really hate to miss(even on the planned rest days).

So this brings us up to the current time and I have made commitment to run my first marathon and after researching what marathons are considered good choices especially for the first I settled on the Chicago Marathon.  I was late in the process and really struggled with whether or not to go ahead and commit but in the end I realized that if I did not sign up I would find a reason that I couldn’t go.  So as of about a week and a half ago I am officially signed up and running on Team Bear which is raising funds for Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation – so it helps to be a part of a really meaningful team and cause.  If you are interested the link to their main site is – http://www.bearnecessities.org/HomePage.aspx  .   I also have a fundraising site set up for my goal of $1000 to go toward Team Bear and it is at http://bit.ly/pQagc3 – so if you are interested, please donat – even small donations will help!

In terms of preparation I am a week into the Runners World Marathon training program.  I have spent the last 3 months trying to average 3-4 days a week of at least 6-9 miles each run.  Some weeks have been great and some not so great.  This week I stayed on track and even exceeded the daily scheduled run on Monday.  Today was my long run of the week and I knocked out 12 miles.  I was completely drained at the end – so I hope the stamina builds up as I progress.  I also tried my new fuel belt for the first time today and it took some getting used to in terms of how it rode best.  However having water and some jelly beans during the run made a big difference!!  Previously I had completed a couple of 11 mile runs and numerous 9-10 milers with no water during the runs at all and I was dying of thirst by the time I finished.  Having the fuel belt really helped especially since I sweat out almost 5 pounds on every long run now that it is in the 70s with high humidity even at 5:30 in the morning.

So my goal is to hopefully get some other runners to read and would love any advice!!  I just thought about hotel reservations this morning and luckily when I checked there were a few places left with rooms available.  I guess in my simple way of thinking I was just going to drive to Chicago – run a marathon and drive back :)

If you are interested in following my progress I am logging my runs using MapMyRun and posting them to twitter.  Links are as follows;

http://twitter.com/#!/dazzeetwit

http://www.mapmyrun.com/profile/920094/

Doubt

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doubtHeat and humidity have been back the past few days.  Makes for a uncomfortable run even early in the morning.  Monday I was able to get a longer run in -somewhere between 4.3 and 4.5 miles(following the 10% rule in increasing mileage).  I can’t say for sure because the MapMyRun app on my iPhone crashes just about every day that I use it.  I have just gotten into the habit of making sure to note the time I start running and the time I finish up and using the website to edit the run and route details.  Pretty much useless when it comes to getting real time feedback on pace and distance while running.

Today I am 3 weeks in on the trek to the half marathon and I am having my first session of doubt.  I knew ahead of time that doubt would come into play at some point during the training – just didn’t realize it would be this quickly.  Monday I set the goal to increase my mileage by 10 % and did – but not without feeling worn out at the end.  Today I planned on an “easy 3 miles” to rest and then try to get another long run in on Friday.  Easy is relative – I still feel like 3 miles is kicking my butt when it comes to my lungs.  My legs seem to be OK – but my lungs don’t hold up.  I am not sure if the hilly route near my house is the issue, the humidity, or that I am just that out of shape in endurance.  In any case, today the first case of doubt came into play as I was finishing up the last few minutes of the run.  Seems that if I am struggling with endurance with runs under 10 miles – how will I be able to reach 13 in just another 10 weeks??  Guess doubting will not change anything – if I am going to make it, I will make it and if not – then it should at least put me that much closer to the next half marathon.  Hopefully Friday I can knock out a really good run to help boost my spirits on it.  It should be quite a bit cooler and less humidity – so there’s at least one variable eliminated from the mix.

It could also be that we have a couple of really big personal decisions we are looking at as a family.  Both of which are some of the biggest changes we have looked at in a long time.  We as a family are trying to remember to not tackle this on our own and turn it over to God to direct us.  That is the toughest part in any struggle I guess.