My First Full 30 Minutes

I reached my goal today - running for 30 minutes without stopping! It feels real good to have come from running for only 10 minutes out of 30 to going the whole 30 minutes. I have a greater sense of preparedness for the 5K now that I have this accomplished. It ended up taking me just over 2 months.

I've ran 3 times since I've last posted. My wife pointed out to me that there was a neighborhood directly behind our apartments with little traffic that I could run in, so I tried it and it's been great. I don't have to drive there and the distance is longer than the path at Highview Park. It is about 0.9 miles around, but if I go down a different road I think I can make it a longer loop, 1.5 miles. Anyways, it is nice because the scenery gives me other things to keep my mind on while I run. Like cars, dogs, birds, houses, buses, garbage trucks, and the occasional person. It also offers a wide variety of smells, such as trash that has been sitting out too long, wet dog, even when there are no visible signs of a dog being near, and exhaust. It's quite an experience.

Today a dog was out on the driveway with their owner and it got away and started chasing me. I could tell it was getting closer as the sound of it's yelp-like bark became more distinct. It was a small dog. The owner took off running after it and started yelling, "BRUNO! STOP! BRUNO!" I tried to ignore it and kept running, not looking behind my shoulder, but when it got close enough to possibly reach out for a early morning taste of ankle bits, I turned my head. It was looking up at me with an expression like he meant no harm. He just wanted to run along with me. The owner yelled, "He won't bite." But I wasn't taking any chances, so I turned and kicked it just enough to scare him. No, not really. I didn't believe her, but as soon as he began to back off I replied, "He's okay," when I really meant, "Please keep your dog away from me lady." I'll be looking forward to meeting up with Bruno again.

I ended up running 3.6 miles in 29:54. Not all that great, but I think that my mile time should go down quite a lot during the race. At the end of this week I'm going to time a 3.1 mile run just to see where I'm at. Until next time...

"I always loved running...it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." -Jesse Owens

New Day, New Shoes, New Run

Counting today I have 17 days until race day. I'm running out of time to prepare so I have to make the most of the next couple weeks.

Yesterday I bought my first pair of running shoes. I went to Swag's as soon as they opened and requested to be fitted for a pair of running shoes. The lady who worked there asked me if running is all I would be using them for, and I told her yes. I was wearing pants so she asked me to roll the legs up to the middle of my calf and to take my shoes off so that she could watch me walk. So I did. I walked about 5 steps and turned around and walked about 5 more. Then I did it again, and then once more. She said, "8 out of 10 people who come in here have some sort of movement in their ankle when they walk, but your ankels seems to stay pretty straight, so you shouldn't need any extra support in the shoe that you run in."

"Cool," I said. "So I don't over or underpronate?"

"Nope," she said.

If you overpronate, that means that your ankle rolls inward too far when your heel strikes the ground and you probably have flat feet. A normal pronators' foot will roll inward about 15%. Under pronators (or oversupinators) are usually people with high arches which do not allow the foot to roll inward and therefore it does not act as a good shock absorber. Runnersworld.com says that most runners are normal pronators, which is strange since the lady at Swag's says that 80% of their customers are not. Oh, well. All it means is that my feet should be absorbing the shock efficiently when I run. That is good!

Next, she put a different brand shoe on each of my feet and had me go outside and run up and down the sidewalk so that I could compare the two and figure out which one felt better. In the end I choose a pair of Brooks Defyance 3. They weren't the coolest looking shoes that I tried on, but they felt the best. $80. I think they will be worth it.

I tried them out today at Highview Park and really liked running in them. They fit my feet better then my old shoes and were more comfortable. Plus they are lighter. Today I ran 10 min, then walked 1 min, repeat, and finished off with an 8 min run for a total of 30:00 minutes. It felt good to get back out there. I think I'll be ready come May 8th. Until next time...

"I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it." -Steve Prefontaine

Week 4: Don't Worry, I'm Still Running

I'm back. Yes, I was gone. No, I haven't been running. Well, not until today. No, I haven't been strength training. Yes, I have been eating whatever I want - ice cream, cookies, chocolate, etc.

But I'm back. I haven't ran since last Wednesday, and it is now Thursday. Oh, well. I'm still doing it, and that's what matters. So, today I did 8:1 3x's and finished off with a 3 minute run. I actually felt pretty good throughout the entire run. After my last 3 minutes I could have ran another 8 minutes easy. I think it seems easier because I'm not breaking up my runs into so many segments. When I know that after my first 8 minutes I only have to do it 2 more times and then a simple 3 minutes, it doesn't seem as far. I was worried before I ran that I might have gotten behind since my time off, however, that doesn't seem to have happened. It feels good.

I'm getting closer to the 5K, and thus closer to getting a new pair of running shoes. Maybe after this week I'll get some. My feet could really use some better cushioning. That's all for now, hopefully I'll be back out there tomorrow - I need to do some catching up.

Oh yeah, I just read the autobiography of Steve Martin, Born Standing Up, which tells the story of how he got to where he is now, focusing on his childhood and his time doing stand-up comedy. Great read. Until next time...

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Theodore Roosevelt