Monday: 9 miles (7:30)
Tuesday: 6.2 miles (6:55); 5 miles (7:07)
Wednesday: 7 miles (6:51); 5.5 miles (7:07)
Thursday: 8 miles with pickups (6:44); 3.4 miles (7:06)
Friday: 4.1 miles (7:16). I was going to do a progression on my 9.3 mile route, but trying that at 5:30am, when it's eight degrees, and no warm-up wasn't a good idea; 10.7 miles with 6x400m at 68 with 400m jog. I was planning on 8-10 of these at 68-70, which I felt would be attainable with the long recovery jog. But after four of them, I was hurting but I made myself do six. Man, at this point, I'm hoping my iron is still really low. Not too long ago, I could run 20x400m at 64-65 with 1:00 rest. I have a long way to go!
Saturday: 10 miles (7:06)
Sunday: 13.8 miles (6:35). The plan was to do 10 miles easy and then 8 miles at 5:45-5:50. Well, that was Hunter Hall's plan but the kid played hooky and cancelled. Spencer and I debated it but after about 12 miles, we both said we felt like crap, so we bagged it.
Week Total: 83.2 miles. Finally into the 80s! While I'm nowhere near were I want to be, fitness wise, at least the volume is rising.
Monday: 8 miles with 7 mile progression (5:45). I just ran a "natural" progression where I started a bit faster than a normal easy run (6:14 first mile) and worked down. I had a 5:17 6th mile, due to the generous, long downhill and I was hoping to run a low 5:00 on the last one. I ran a hard effort and was struggling but only managed a 5:37. There was a headwind the entire last mile, but I still thought I'd run quite a bit faster at the end and it FELT like I was running a lot faster; 6.3 miles (6:55)
Tuesday: 6.8 miles (6:50): 3.4 miles (6:58)
Wednesday: No running. Roads were slick with ice and we were out on a snow day. No way to run.
Thursday: 5.4 miles with 4x2:00 on/off at 5:00 pace on the treadmill. I was hoping to get in closer to eight pickups, along with a three mile cooldown, but I was on a freaking treadmill. I was surprised with how smooth it felt for the first 2-3 but by the fourth, I was getting really hot and I was satisfied with the stimulus.
Friday: No running. Eight inches of snow.
Saturday: No running. Still a ton of snow but I bet I got in at least 4 miles or so of walking since we sledded twice (hill was about 3/4 a mile a way) and went up and down the hill quite a bit. It's funny that we make our kids wear a helmet when they are riding their bikes on the sidewalk but we were torpedoing down the street, without wearing a thing. The cars removed a lot of the snow, so we were able to slide down a sheet of ice, which was insanely fast. No one got hurt.
Sunday: 11.7 miles (6:54). Lazy running with Joey and Connor in Nashville. Felt really flat and my quads were sore from sledding, a long
Week Total: 41.6 miles. I was planning on hitting 90 before the weather hit. Garbage week, but I'll know out 90 this week.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Powerball Lottery
I played my first ever lottery by buying a lottery ticket for everyone in my house and since I had a $10 bill (they were $2 a pop), I even considered buying one for my dog until logic finally kicked in.
Yeah, it was a waste of $8 but it was fun to plan what I would do with the money. I definitely would have kept it a secret and only told Mary and she was in agreement. I'd then hire a couple of attorneys and accountants so they can all check on each other. I don't think I'd change my lifestyle much because I've never been the type of person who buys anything new or extravagant when unexpected money comes in.
It's like those people who go crazy when they get their tax rebates and they blow it on TV's and other random stuff. If you can't buy something like that outright, then you definitely don't need to buy it if extra cash comes your way. But enough rambling.
The point is that a tiny bit of everyone who bought a ticket thought/hoped they would win. But in reality, your chances are about equal to getting a phone book (do they still make those) with everyone's name in the entire United States in it and hoping they would land on YOUR name. Yeah, there were three winning tickets last night, but millions and millions of people who threw their money away. There's a reason people call it a tax on the stupid.
That's why I love (as well as sometime hate) distance running. If you want something bad enough and work for it, it may come your way. And if you don't put in the work, keep on dreaming. It's something you have to earn, not something that is given. There's no magic or luck. But with the lottery, all the mental toughness and discipline in the world won't help or hurt your chances at all.
I like the realness of running more than the lottery.
Yeah, it was a waste of $8 but it was fun to plan what I would do with the money. I definitely would have kept it a secret and only told Mary and she was in agreement. I'd then hire a couple of attorneys and accountants so they can all check on each other. I don't think I'd change my lifestyle much because I've never been the type of person who buys anything new or extravagant when unexpected money comes in.
It's like those people who go crazy when they get their tax rebates and they blow it on TV's and other random stuff. If you can't buy something like that outright, then you definitely don't need to buy it if extra cash comes your way. But enough rambling.
The point is that a tiny bit of everyone who bought a ticket thought/hoped they would win. But in reality, your chances are about equal to getting a phone book (do they still make those) with everyone's name in the entire United States in it and hoping they would land on YOUR name. Yeah, there were three winning tickets last night, but millions and millions of people who threw their money away. There's a reason people call it a tax on the stupid.
That's why I love (as well as sometime hate) distance running. If you want something bad enough and work for it, it may come your way. And if you don't put in the work, keep on dreaming. It's something you have to earn, not something that is given. There's no magic or luck. But with the lottery, all the mental toughness and discipline in the world won't help or hurt your chances at all.
I like the realness of running more than the lottery.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
2015 Top Nashville Area Marathon Times
It's time once again for the annual marathon rankings for the Nashville area. What's the Nashville area? My definition is living in a place where you can drive to the state capitol in thirty minutes or less, assuming there's empty roads and you don't speed TOO much. And since these are my rankings, I get to make the rules.
This year's edition has some new flavor as people from last year's list have moved, gotten hurt, been taken out by some fresh new blood and/or realized how stupid running truly is. I was hoping this would be the year of Connor Kamm's debut on the list but he spent too much time being hurt and once again, took up the trumpet as a hobby. When he's in shape, he can probably beat anyone in the world in running and/or trumpeting(?) as he was an All-State trumpet performer in high school (as well as an insanely fast runner..when he's not hurt, of course).
But here's my list. If I overlooked someone, let me know (trail races and downhill marathons don't count).
Men's Top 5
1. Scott Wietecha: 34, 2:17:02, Chicago Marathon. So close to being a 2:16 marathoner, but if he never runs a marathon again, he will always be a 2:17 guy. The guy loves making excuses. He claims Chicago was too hot and too windy. He also said the tape that he attached his gels to his bottles with was too sticky, and he spent too much time trying to rip off his gels. Then his last "real" marathon race before that (2:17:17, Houston 2014) was because he was sick or something a few weeks out and missed a couple weeks of workouts. Yeah, he will say he was on 2:13 pace for almost 21 miles, but he went out in 66:18, like an idiot. And then his marathon race before that (2:18:53 at the 2013 Houston Marathon) was too cold, rainy and windy and he whined about how it sleeted for nearly 30 seconds during the race. What excuse will 2016 bring?
2. Joseph Elsakr: 25, 2:23;22, California International Marathon. Not a bad run for a guy who is in medical school at Vanderbilt. And he seems to be a more of a rhythm runner, and with all of the rhythm changes on the ups-and-downs at CIM, it makes the time even more impressive. Some other notable information is that he's the slowest guy on the list as he's never broken 60 seconds in a 400m. He's also the only person on the list who has driven the 25ish minutes to Hendersonville to go on a run with me. He was rewarded with a cheeseburger and chicken wings.
3. "Wild" Bill Martin, 25, 2:28:48, Rocket City Marathon. His 2:28 was on a balmy day and he beat some pretty solid runners in the race to take the overall win. He also would completely smoke Joey in a sprint, as he ran a 3:46 1500m a few years back. He was a thorn in my side during the 2015 edition of the Flying Monkey Marathon but unofficially, it wasn't me who beat him but the portajohns. And for some reason, he thinks I'm crazy for taking four gels during a marathon, but I bet he also believes Renato Canova when he says EPO doesn't work on Kenyans.
4. Hunter Hall, 26, 2:33:04, Indy Monumental Marathon. Knocked a few minutes off his PR in his only marathon of the year. He also always says he's going to run with me in Hendersonville but never does (and I just recently drove to Nashville to run with him). He's probably the loudest laugher on the list as well as lightest runner, man or woman. He really wants to make a run at 2:25 next year, so you should see him again on this list next year. Hopefully he would have run with me in Hendersonville by then.
5. Chris Duncan 37, Chicago Marathon, 2:33:54. The "grandpa" of the list and a former All-American miler at the University of Florida and occasional triathlete, who completed an Ironman a month after Chicago. Based off his summer training and fitness level, his coach thought he was an idiot last August for wanting to make a run at 2:30 but with some better weather, he very well could have done it. He's pumped for 2016 and is actually going to train throughout the spring and summer to make another run at sub 2:30 in the fall and take a stab at a top 3 Nashville spot in 2016 (since Connor Kamm will probably never run a marathon). He's also good at having daughters (has four of them with no boys).
1. Gisela Olalde, 31, 2:34:10, California International Marathon. Had a baby in late March and got in shape super fast to run two really impressive marathons within a couple weeks of each other, as she won the Philadelphia Marathon two weeks before CIM (which was her fourth marathon in ten weeks). She's wanting to represent Mexico in the 2016 Olympics and I've heard she's going to take a stab at sub 2:30 in Rotterdam this year. She's definitely a diamond in the rough, as I don't think she has any sort of sponsorship and I believe she's coached by her husband, who has only been running for a few years. She may take a top three spot for the Nashville men next year!
2. Jeannette Faber, 33, 2:51:53, Rocket City Marathon. My fellow Newton teammate, who also represented the US in the marathon at the 2014 World Championships. She didn't race a marathon this year but ran Rocket City as a steady long run and also for some lotto tickets to take a stab at the $1.5 billion Powerball lottery. With several planned marathons next year, she should have no problem getting into the 2:30s again, as she ran 2:32 a few years back.
3. Julie Ulery, 33, 2:56:58, Boston Marathon. Ran her time in the tough conditions at Boston last year. She's pretty new to serious training and should be able to improve quite a bit. But for some reason, she thought moving to Florida would be a good idea, so she won't be on the Nashville list next year. Maybe she did it for the people watching or outrageous news stories. Regardless, she was Nashville's fastest woman marathoner, who races in headphones and/or does exercise videos.
4. Ashley Evans,29, 2:59:19, Indy Monumental Marathon. She ran 2:49 in her marathon debut a few Chicago's ago but the marathon is a tricky distance to figure out. She's consistently one of the top road racers in the area and is a Jill of all trades as she competes on the roads, trails and even in triathlons.
5. Beth Meadows, 29, 3:04:50, Boston Marathon. I guess with ten available spots, having one of those trail runner people on the list is somewhat acceptable, She recently completed the 100 miler at Pinhoti and since she's going to stop playing in the woods as much this spring, she should be able to take a crack at the mid 2:50s in the marathon distance. And according to her Strava, she runs with "pups" much more than humans. Maybe that's a trail runner thing, I don't know.
This year's edition has some new flavor as people from last year's list have moved, gotten hurt, been taken out by some fresh new blood and/or realized how stupid running truly is. I was hoping this would be the year of Connor Kamm's debut on the list but he spent too much time being hurt and once again, took up the trumpet as a hobby. When he's in shape, he can probably beat anyone in the world in running and/or trumpeting(?) as he was an All-State trumpet performer in high school (as well as an insanely fast runner..when he's not hurt, of course).
But here's my list. If I overlooked someone, let me know (trail races and downhill marathons don't count).
Men's Top 5
1. Scott Wietecha: 34, 2:17:02, Chicago Marathon. So close to being a 2:16 marathoner, but if he never runs a marathon again, he will always be a 2:17 guy. The guy loves making excuses. He claims Chicago was too hot and too windy. He also said the tape that he attached his gels to his bottles with was too sticky, and he spent too much time trying to rip off his gels. Then his last "real" marathon race before that (2:17:17, Houston 2014) was because he was sick or something a few weeks out and missed a couple weeks of workouts. Yeah, he will say he was on 2:13 pace for almost 21 miles, but he went out in 66:18, like an idiot. And then his marathon race before that (2:18:53 at the 2013 Houston Marathon) was too cold, rainy and windy and he whined about how it sleeted for nearly 30 seconds during the race. What excuse will 2016 bring?
 |
| Is that Barak? |
3. "Wild" Bill Martin, 25, 2:28:48, Rocket City Marathon. His 2:28 was on a balmy day and he beat some pretty solid runners in the race to take the overall win. He also would completely smoke Joey in a sprint, as he ran a 3:46 1500m a few years back. He was a thorn in my side during the 2015 edition of the Flying Monkey Marathon but unofficially, it wasn't me who beat him but the portajohns. And for some reason, he thinks I'm crazy for taking four gels during a marathon, but I bet he also believes Renato Canova when he says EPO doesn't work on Kenyans.
 |
| I had the hardest time finding a picture of him.. After spending way too much time going through photos on the Nashville Striders webpage, as well as Facebook, I decided to type in "Chris Duncan marathon" into Google and take the first image, no matter how random or inappropriate it could potentially be. As the running gods would have it, it was actually a picture of the real Chris Duncan. What a waste of time. |
Women's Top 5
1. Gisela Olalde, 31, 2:34:10, California International Marathon. Had a baby in late March and got in shape super fast to run two really impressive marathons within a couple weeks of each other, as she won the Philadelphia Marathon two weeks before CIM (which was her fourth marathon in ten weeks). She's wanting to represent Mexico in the 2016 Olympics and I've heard she's going to take a stab at sub 2:30 in Rotterdam this year. She's definitely a diamond in the rough, as I don't think she has any sort of sponsorship and I believe she's coached by her husband, who has only been running for a few years. She may take a top three spot for the Nashville men next year!
Instead of a picture of Jeannette, I decided to go above and beyond and post a short-clip from one of my old, completely random school movies where two supervillains attempt to take over an office building in Nashville. And for some reason, on phones, this plays the whole video (which was actually my rough draft. On laptops, it cuts to the right part (9:34) ).
2. Jeannette Faber, 33, 2:51:53, Rocket City Marathon. My fellow Newton teammate, who also represented the US in the marathon at the 2014 World Championships. She didn't race a marathon this year but ran Rocket City as a steady long run and also for some lotto tickets to take a stab at the $1.5 billion Powerball lottery. With several planned marathons next year, she should have no problem getting into the 2:30s again, as she ran 2:32 a few years back.
3. Julie Ulery, 33, 2:56:58, Boston Marathon. Ran her time in the tough conditions at Boston last year. She's pretty new to serious training and should be able to improve quite a bit. But for some reason, she thought moving to Florida would be a good idea, so she won't be on the Nashville list next year. Maybe she did it for the people watching or outrageous news stories. Regardless, she was Nashville's fastest woman marathoner, who races in headphones and/or does exercise videos.
4. Ashley Evans,29, 2:59:19, Indy Monumental Marathon. She ran 2:49 in her marathon debut a few Chicago's ago but the marathon is a tricky distance to figure out. She's consistently one of the top road racers in the area and is a Jill of all trades as she competes on the roads, trails and even in triathlons.
5. Beth Meadows, 29, 3:04:50, Boston Marathon. I guess with ten available spots, having one of those trail runner people on the list is somewhat acceptable, She recently completed the 100 miler at Pinhoti and since she's going to stop playing in the woods as much this spring, she should be able to take a crack at the mid 2:50s in the marathon distance. And according to her Strava, she runs with "pups" much more than humans. Maybe that's a trail runner thing, I don't know.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
January 4th-10th Training
Monday: 10 miles (7:13)
Tuesday: 6.1 miles (7:05)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles with 4 mile steady loop in 22:47 (5:41 average). Felt really rusty on this one. I could tell the pace was easy on my legs but my gas tank wasn't there to follow suite. I ran up the long, gradual 1km'ish hill at over 6:00 pace and my legs were struggling from Bulgarian split squats a couple of days prior. Hopefully that means my "hill running" muscles will get stronger soon. Not terrible for my first loop out there and I hope to be up to three loops at sub 5:40 average by the end of February; 5.5 miles (7:09)
Thursday: No running. First week of school is getting to me. I'm still getting the same amount of nightly sleep, I'm just not getting my daily two hour nap. Drained all day.
Friday: 4.5 miles (7:03)
Saturday: 9.8 miles with 8x.15 mile fast, .35 mile jog. Averaged 4:24 on the fast running but I could tell I'm still way, way out of shape. I couldn't get a quick turnover and it felt like I was running on flat tires or something. The last two had me huffing and puffing.
Sunday: 15.9 miles (6:42). Ran a pretty rolling route with three pretty nasty hills, with Spencer. Legs felt a little worn from yesterday and I was absolutely crawling up the hills.
Week Total: 60.3 miles. Yeah, I was about 15ish miles lower than expected but it was a tough week back. My two semi-quality days showed me that I can maybe get back into a rusty, but much more fit spot in six weeks or so. This week, I really will be in the 80s. Or else.
Tuesday: 6.1 miles (7:05)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles with 4 mile steady loop in 22:47 (5:41 average). Felt really rusty on this one. I could tell the pace was easy on my legs but my gas tank wasn't there to follow suite. I ran up the long, gradual 1km'ish hill at over 6:00 pace and my legs were struggling from Bulgarian split squats a couple of days prior. Hopefully that means my "hill running" muscles will get stronger soon. Not terrible for my first loop out there and I hope to be up to three loops at sub 5:40 average by the end of February; 5.5 miles (7:09)
Thursday: No running. First week of school is getting to me. I'm still getting the same amount of nightly sleep, I'm just not getting my daily two hour nap. Drained all day.
Friday: 4.5 miles (7:03)
Saturday: 9.8 miles with 8x.15 mile fast, .35 mile jog. Averaged 4:24 on the fast running but I could tell I'm still way, way out of shape. I couldn't get a quick turnover and it felt like I was running on flat tires or something. The last two had me huffing and puffing.
Sunday: 15.9 miles (6:42). Ran a pretty rolling route with three pretty nasty hills, with Spencer. Legs felt a little worn from yesterday and I was absolutely crawling up the hills.
Week Total: 60.3 miles. Yeah, I was about 15ish miles lower than expected but it was a tough week back. My two semi-quality days showed me that I can maybe get back into a rusty, but much more fit spot in six weeks or so. This week, I really will be in the 80s. Or else.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Last Week's Training
Monday: 3.7 miles (7:22); 5.5 miles (7:29)
Tuesday: 6 miles on trails (7:53); 3 miles on the treadmill (7:22)
Wednesday: 8.5 miles (7:23)
Thursday: 8 miles (6:43)
Friday: 7.4 miles with 5k in 17:17. Took a little bit of a wrong turn, which probably would be resulted in just under 17. Ran the first downhill mile in 5:04, then two miles of lazy uphill running.
Saturday: 9 miles (7:11)
Sunday: 12.3 miles (6:41). Guess this counts as a long run. First run where I felt really good and smooth.
Week Total:: 63.4 miles. Longest week since Chicago. Definitely not impressive, but it's a step in the right direction. Next week, I'll go for 75-80 with a little more intensity.
I was also impressed with the amount of qualifiers in Jacksonville. Richard Fannin is great for the sport and does it for the right reasons. But hopefully it doesn't result in a bunch of new Go Fund me pages set up from dudes too lazy to put in some work or have a bake sale or something.
I also got less lazy and started logging my training on Running Ahead again.
I also got less lazy and started logging my training on Running Ahead again.
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