Keeping it Going

This weekend was all about getting my miles in while testing out my injured foot. I've refrained from running all week, so I was hopeful it would settle down. I did an 8 miler on Saturday at a sub-8 minute pace and didn't feel it until the last two miles, so that was good. Then this afternoon I met some friends to do a steady 10 miles of hills around Ladera Norte. While I was fine on the uphills and flats, the steep downhills killed me. I really need to carefully manage this injury because it's derailing my plans to run a fast marathon at Little Rock.

I managed 116 running miles this month, much less than the 200+ miles I regularly churned out last year, but that's ok - I'll get there.

Next weekend's going to be interesting and super busy. First up I'm going to be camping outside Austin ISD overnight on Friday to get a transfer request in for Gavin (he starts school in August). From there I'll drive up to Round Rock to take my road group on their last coached weekend run of the season and wish them all the best (they're training for the Austin marathon).

But I'll need to get home early because I found out a few days ago that BBC America will be showing the England vs Wales rugby international live on Saturday morning. For Welsh rugby fans this is one of the biggest games of the year, so I'm really happy to be able to watch it.

And as soon as it finishes I'm going to jump in the car and drive up to Huntsville (about 3 hours away) to pace a friend throughout the night for the last 40 miles of his first 100 mile trail race. I'm looking forward to it and am honored to be able to help him achieve this amazing goal. We'll have a long time to chat and catch up.

Sunday I'll drive home, fall into bed and sleep!!!

Wolf Moon

The January full moon is known as "wolf moon", and tonight it will be closer to earth than any other full moon in 2010. That means it will be the biggest and brightest display of the year.

I hope it stays clear enough that we can enjoy it.

10 Things

I was tagged by Clea to list out 10 things that make me happy. It's not in any particular order, just the first 10 things that popped into my head. So here they are:

1. Nancy. Call me an old romantic, but after being married for nearly 11 years I still look forward to seeing my wife after work every day. Maybe I need some professional help!!!

2. Gavin. I see so much of myself in Gavin (even if Nancy claims he looks more like her) - he's so cheeky and mischievous. But he's also very sweet and affectionate (ok, less like me, haha) and thinks his dad is the greatest thing in the world. Playing with him, reading him stories, watching movies together or cuddling him up definitely makes me a happy bunny.

3. Dylan. When I creep up to his crib in the morning or pick him up from daycare and he sees me for the first time, his little face lights up with the most amazing smile I've ever seen (though if mummy's around then daddy becomes a poor second). When I blow raspberries on his belly or "bench press" him he becomes a little gigglebox. I love that kid.

4. Cooking. I love to experiment and get creative in the kitchen. Sometimes my experiments work out, other times not so much :-) My favorite kitchen tools are my pasta machine (which I recently retrofitted back to handcrank - much more satisfying than using a motor IMHO) and my Kitchenaid mixer. I think my most satisfying cooking moment was when I recently managed to recreate an elusive mushroom soup dish after 10 years of trying.

5. Running with friends. Is there any better way to pass the time while ticking off the miles than shooting the breeze and catching up with friends?

6. Setting and achieving goals. I am definitely goal-oriented, be it either solving a problem at work or crossing the finish line of an ultramarathon (especially a 100 miler). The feeling of achievement when you finally realize that goal is amazing.

7. Being in the zone. I've had portions of runs and races where I've been so completely in tune with myself that it's almost as if it was somebody else running and I was just hovering overhead watching myself skim the ground. There have been core, aerobic and weights workouts where the burn has been so sweet that I felt I could go forever. Likewise with work (or home projects), I have sometimes gotten so focussed on a problem that I've been up until 4 or 5 in the morning working on it without realizing. Yep, the zone is a great place to visit.

8. Designing and building stuff. I love to take things apart to figure out how they work, then find new and interesting ways to use them. I need creative outlets, and in the last few years I've built some cool things including several jukeboxes and a DVR which we use regularly. My latest build project (which I'm still designing) is an arcade machine "for the boys" (though I know Nancy enjoys a good game of centipede). There's something extremely satsifying and primal about building something from scratch and see it come together.

9. Reading. I've always been an avid reader and still enjoy it. Most lunchtimes I will close my office door and have a good read (or sometimes a good nap).

10. Mountains. Growing up in Wales I was surrounded by hills and mountains. They always struck me as wonderfully mysterious and lonely places and made me think of Middle Earth - I could imagine Gandalf sweeping down out of them.


So there ya go - pretty boring, hey? But while I'm at it I'm going to tag you folks who have been known to lurk here (unless Clea has already tagged you). If you're struggling for ideas for your blog, why not make up a similar list and post it?

Brenda
Sharpie
Steve
Ashlee
David
Jeff
John

The Day After

I've had a lot of good advice from several friends to give my foot a rest from running, and I have - I haven't run since Sunday. Not because I've turned over a new leaf and become sensible, but because I'm still sore from Monday night's tabata workout!!!

But my cross training is still going great guns. Yesterday I did some core and tonight some strength training. Both days I was feeling my hamstrings - they were especially noticeable while doing some bridge pose routines. But when I finished tonight I was feeling nice and loose, so the little devil on my shoulder suggested I do another tabata workout - this time with bicep curls.

And it went pretty well - over the 4 minutes I managed 152 bicep curls with a score of 17 (and high of 21), so I was nice and consistent. But you can be sure my arms were getting rubbery by the last few sets - and I bet they'll be sore in the morning.

I love this tabata thing.

4 Minutes is a Long Time

I did 6 miles at Walnut Creek yesterday so I figured I'd give the foot a rest today as it was a little sore. Tonight I did some core work which left me nicely warmed up and loose, so I decided to give a tabata workout a try.

The exercise I decided on was dumbbell squat thrusters. Basically you stand upright holding two handheld weights at shoulder level with your arms bent at 90 degrees. You go down into a squat and come back up straight into a shoulder press. That's one rep.

So I found a great online tabata timer and was all set. Now I figured that the tabata workout itself would be pretty simple - after all, it's only 4 minutes.

But it wasn't - oh my God it was hard. The sweat and fatigue levels just built the more sets I did - the 10 seconds rest between sets seemed like nothing and the 20 seconds of all out effort seemed much longer. But I'm happy to say I did all 8 sets and managed 125 squat thrusters in the 4 minutes with a score (the least amount done in any 20 second set) of 15.

It's been quite a while since I came away from a workout with both my arms and legs feeling like rubber, but it feel's kinda good. I think I'll come up with a workout that layers about four tabata intervals back to back.

Now that would be intense.

22 Miles of Buttercups

I've never been accused of having too much brainpower when it comes to some of my running decisions (and actually the less the better for some of the races I've run), but even so, deciding to go ahead and run 22 miles on the road with a niggling foot injury will probably not get me inducted into the IQ hall of fame.

Nevertheless I found myself in South Central Austin this morning just before dawn about to recreate the last 22 miles of the Austin marathon with my road group. Now I know this route really well - part of it encompasses the old Danish run (both North and South) - so I knew most of the hills came in the first 5-10 miles.

And they went pretty well. In fact it took a good 8 miles before my foot started complaining. And then, oh boy, did it start complaining. I dropped off the pace and my group started pulling away. At one point I briefly considered calling it quits and taking a short cut back, but I'm nothing if not stubborn. Now that's a good thing when you're pushing to finish a 100 miler, but not such a good thing when you're carrying an injury. All I could hear in my head was the phrase "suck it up buttercup". Over and over again.

So I did. I gritted my teeth and completed the run. It was about 30 minutes slower than I would run it at my peak, and I walked a bit, but I finished the damn thing.

Coming down Duval, just where it meets San Jacinto, I spotted a friend enjoying a coffee on one of the outdoor patios, so I stopped and sat chatting to her for a few minutes. And that seemed to help because I ran the last 3 miles with a lot of purpose and the foot eased up. I even started passing people again.

Coming back over the Congress Bridge I caught up with the other coach from our group. It turns out that he was also having injury problems and we mused how ironic it was that both coaches were crocked. We must be getting old!!!

When we finally got back to TxDOT I broke the habit of a lifetime and jumped into the ice barrel. I figured that as my damn foot had tormented me for 14 miles, it was only fair I exacted some measure of revenge on it.

So I'm back home sitting on the couch writing this and my foot feels fine. Which makes me angry (in a completely illogical way). I'm half tempted to go back out tomorrow and rerun the entire course, but luckily I've promised some friends I'd take them on a trail run.

So I think I'll go lift some weights and work some of this frustration off.

Separated by a Common Language

This is so true. If I said to you "that guy is a real cowboy", what would you think I meant?

If you were in the US you would probably imagine someone dressed in Western regalia - boots, hat, jeans, maybe a curly moustache. He would talk like John Wayne and tip his hat whenever a lady walked by. An honest, dependable "down home" kind of a chap.

But if you were from the UK you would know exactly what I meant - that he was a conman who either did a real shoddy job or took the money and ran.

Even my wife didn't get that one and I've been training her up for over a decade!!!

Here in Texas they have some commercials where the sales guy is dressed as a cowboy to appeal to a certain demographic. Imagine how funny that is for a Brit. The first time I saw one I thought "wow, at least you're honest, but I still wouldn't buy a car off you".

Of course, I later realized he just didn't get the irony.

It's so fascinating living in the US and noticing the subtle nuances in language. Here's another one - if I was to tell a child in the US to "get on the pavement" they would walk out into the road, whereas if I said the same thing in the UK they would move onto the sidewalk.

Confusing? You bet your ass it is.

And it's not just nuances - if you get past all that there are a whole host of pronunciation and spelling differences just waiting to baffle you.

So here is a quick self-help guide for Brits living in the US.

Dates still get me. When you see 03/02/2010, what date do you think this represents? If you're an American it's March 2nd (and I had to stop and really think about that) but if you're a Brit it's the 3rd of February. Why are your date formats mm/dd/yyyy? It makes no sense to me. In contrast dd/mm/yyyy goes from small (day) to large (year) in chronological order. Now that makes sense.

Don't ever ask for a plate of chips or you'll just end up with crisps. What you're really after are "fries" (though they're nothing like you'd get down at your local chippy).

If you pronounce tomato as "tom R toe" nobody will know what the hell you're talking about (at least in Indiana they didn't) (hint: it should rhyme with potato). The same if you pronounce water as "war tar" (it should be wada).

If you're looking for foil, ask for "aluminum" and not "aluminium". And if you need to do some home repair, rawl plugs are really anchors.

While you're at the supermarket (grocery store) you will find that herbs are a particular source of pronunciation complexity. If you're looking for oregano, modulate "awe regg R no" to "uh regg uh no" (that's actually difficult to lay out phoenetically) and likewise basil switches from "bah zill" to "bay zill".

And while you're at it you may want to switch up your schedule (from "shh edule" to "skedule").

Spelling wise there seem to be two main culprits, and they're both suffixes - dropping the "u" from "our" and swapping the letters "r" and "e" around. Here are some examples:

colour/color
centre/center
theatre/theater
harbour/harbor

And while we're on the subject of spelling, here's another culture shock - they televise spelling tests here. And people actually tune in and watch!!!!

Complicated? Confusing? Oh yes. But I have a solution.

If you ask really nicely we'll consider bringing you back under the Queen and swiftly fix all the above.

And while I'm at it, here are some other great ideas :-)

Tea will only be available hot and must be poured from a teapot. It will be served in little cups with saucers

Football will become a game you can only play with your feet unless you are a goalkeeper

Rugby will replace the NFL and cricket will replace baseball as the new "National pastime"

(these last two will swiftly be repealed once you start beating us, thus they should only be in effect for about a year)

Tabata

Hooray, I'm back in the game. I did 6 miles early this morning at a reasonable clip (just over 48 minutes) with minimal after effects. I felt the foot a little at the start, but it soon settled down. I'm beginning to think it may have been a bit of plantar fasciitis rather than tendonitis, but whatever - I'm just glad to be back running. I'll test it out again tomorrow with another 6 miler, and hopefully all will be good for Saturday's 22 miler.

I'm also starting to see the benefit of all the cross training I've been doing, and I've been hitting it hard - sometimes twice a day - and mixing it up (maybe that's why I'm constantly hungry). Because everything I'm doing is geared toward endurance and speed I don't do heavy weights. Instead I focus my strength workouts on circuit training and lighter weights (with lots of core work) - everything is done at pace with little or no rest between sets, and I always include some kind of aerobic cardio element to the workout. That means that I can pack a heck of a lot into 20 or 30 minutes and really get a sweat going.

Hopefully I'll see the difference in my marathon times this year.

And while researching various training techniques, I came across an interesting method called the Tabata protocol which is a very intense 4-minute interval training workout. It originated in Japan and comprises a training cycle of 20 seconds at maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times without pause (the original Tabata protocol also includes 5 minutes of warmup and 2 minutes of cooldown for a total workout time of 11 minutes - because this is done at maximum intensity, the warmup is very important). Studies have shown it yields impressive gains in both aerobic (VO2max) and anaerobic capacity.

This would be a great workout to try with sprints or on the stationary bike. Some other great candidates that come to mind are pushups, squats, jumprope, jumping jacks, bicep curls, tricep dips and crunches.

You would think that a 4 minute workout would be easy, but I'm told that when you first start you will probably not be able to complete one 8 round cycle and should just go until you can't go any more (remember, those 20 second bursts are done at 100% effort).

I think I'll add a tabata interval onto the end of one of my core workouts and report back.

Finally (and on a completely different note), congratulations to Derek who yesterday informed me that after many months of trying he has completed my cracker challenge. Six crackers in less than a minute is an outstanding achievement - take that Ted Allen!!!

Dylan photos

It's been a while since I posted some photos of baby Dylan, and I can't believe he's almost 6 months old. So here are some of my favorites from the last month.

Look what I got for Christmas

Like father, like son - a messy eater!!!

Playing hide and seek

Can't leave out Gavin - the biggest Twister cheat ever!!!

Good and Bad

Here's the good thing about most of my strength workouts if you're a runner - they're chock full of lunges. Here's the bad thing about my strength workouts if you're a runner with a foot injury - they're chock full of lunges. May concentrate on core for the next few days.

I decided against the Stratford and Scenic run this morning (a rare victory for common sense) and decided to pit my foot against the neighborhood instead. That was probably a good decision as I aborted the run less than half a mile in. I could have continued if I needed to, but I was feeling some pain from it and didn't want to push my luck. I'll try again tomorrow.

Don't get complacent common sense - it can't last!!!

While I'm at it, here are some more goods and bads from this morning.

Good - I'm sitting here eating roasted tomato and bell pepper soup with rice.
Bad - my foot is stuck in an ice bucket.

Good - the bin from my shredder is just the right size to fit my foot and works really well.
Bad - almost too well. Keeping my foot in the freezing ice water for 20 minutes at a time hurts like a son of a bitch.

Good - Nancy has to fetch me more rice, soup and bread.
Bad - "you'll have to wait, you're on my terms now". Thanks honey.

Good - Maybe I need a little bell to summon her.
Bad - Will never happen :-)

Good - I get to just sit here and watch tv.
Bad - Gavin has control of the remote and we're watching Spongebob!!!

Ok, my 20 minutes are up - time to defrost the foot. Just had a great idea - maybe I should save up all my chores for these 20 minutes sessions and then make Nancy do them.

Ha ha ha - hope she doesn't read this.


Update: Whoops, I think she just got wind of my cunning plan - "that foot's got to come out of that bucket sooner or later"

Tendonitis?

I don't get running injuries. Little niggles perhaps, but I don't remember the last (non ankle twisting) running injury I had. And let's face it - I really tested that theory out last year.

So I'm sitting here with my foot wrapped in an ice pack hoping this is just another little niggle.

Here's the deal - I noticed some sharp pain in my left instep during yesterday's 13 miler, but honestly didn't think too much about it. But when I got up this morning to go run Bull Creek it certainly got my attention - I got out of the car and wondered if I would even be able to run. But me being me I figured I'd give it a shot. I was able to complete the run ok, but it was in no way comfortable.

When I got home I took Gavin and Dylan for a walk around the neighborhood and found myself limping (though on the plus side it was a beautiful morning). I'm hoping it will settle down and I'll be able to do 11 miles of hills along Stratford and Scenic tomorrow morning, but it's still pretty tender.

It feels suspiciously like tendonitis, but I don't have all the classic symptoms and it seems to be pretty mild. I think I can trace it back to one of the strength workouts I did last week, and I believe the culprit to be jumping lunges. I don't even know why I did them because I usually modify them - only the day before I was telling a buddy of mine what an injury magnet they were!!!

I did some yoga and another strength workout this afternoon, but I was real careful not to stress or stretch that foot too much. I have a 22 miler with my road group next Saturday and the last thing I need is a foot injury.

But here's the funny thing - after searching for my motivation for weeks, a potential injury really stokes my stubborn nature. The little voice in my head is saying "go on, run anyway".

And when it comes to running, the danger is that little voice usually gets the better of common sense.

Holy Sock Batman

Yes,that's my big toe sticking out there. Finished my run this morning and noticed that not only did I have a huge hole in my shoe, I also had a huge hole in my sock.

My double layer sock!!!

Guess it's time to break out another pair of road shoes and buy some more socks!!!

Resolutions

My new year's resolution this year was to do all I could to run to my potential, something I haven't been doing for a while. Back when I was running my best I was doing my runs in the morning and adding on aerobic weights workouts in the evening. They didn't have to be very long - only 20 minutes or so - but they kicked my metabolism into high gear and made a huge difference. I want to get back to that so I took a look at all the workout dvds I had, made a list of the new ones I wanted, and wrote myself a training schedule. I have it mapped out all the way to the Little Rock marathon, and will extend it further when I add more races (and I have a few in mind).

Yesterday I kicked it off with one of my Jillian Michaels workouts. Annoying rubber-faced pixie she may be, but she is also one kick-ass trainer as my arms and hamstrings will attest. 20 minutes of squats, lunges, curls and crunches left me a twitching pile of sweat and slobber.

Running midweek mornings is slightly more problematic. Gavin has taken to creeping into our room in the middle of the night, climbing into bed with us and cuddling up with me. I have so far been unable to muster up the willpower to dislodge him and go run.

I need that extra motivation to get up, so if any of you dear readers feel the need to get up at 4:30am to go run 8 miles, let me know.

Brass Monkeys

There's a saying back in the old country - "it's cold enough to freeze the balls off brass monkeys". That certainly applied to this morning's run as it was 16F (-9C) at the start (I know many of you in our more Northern climes are laughing at that, but hey, that's tundra-type weather for Texas).

If you know me, you know that I never run in anything but shorts and t-shirt. But this morning I did make the concession of wearing gloves. I'm sure everyone else who was bundled up in hats, coats, scarves etc thought I was crazy, but hey, that's what works for me. It was really cold for the first few miles - my fingers and toes were numb and my ears hurt - but after that I warmed up and the rest of the run was ok.

Except for my handheld water bottle which froze solid within two miles and never thawed out for the rest of the run!!! I'm kinda glad I gave Bandera a miss this year.

My parents are still here, but leave on Tuesday. Which means that Wednesday I start training properly for the Little Rock marathon. As a little extra incentive, I got an email this morning to confirm I've been seeded in corral B based on several of my 2009 marathon times.

I also need to ensure I'm in shape for pacing duties, as I've agreed to pace a buddy for the last 40 miles of Rocky Raccoon. He's in the same place I was last year, about to run his first 100 miler and his training is going really well. I'm honored to have the opportunity to help him cross the finish line, and I think he'll do great.

Pacing is something of a science - you have to know when to push your runner and when to pull back, when to leave them be, when to encourage and when to bully. The other requirement is the ability to talk and to stay positive, which I can certainly do - I have a ready supply of stories and anecdotes to keep us going.

I just hope it warms up a bit!!!

Resolutions set in Small Stone?

I just had a great idea - in 2010 I want to actually train for and run a fast marathon again. My speed suffered in the latter half of 2009 as I focused on Cactus Rose and a new baby took priority. I didn't even do my long runs at pace as I mostly played sweeper for my road group and ran within myself, while all my marathons were written off as training runs.

It's been quite a while since I trained specifically for a speedy marathon, but I think it's time to have another go.

And it's also been a while since I prepared properly for one (almost exactly a year in fact). If I'm honest, I've been treading water for the last few months and not really pushing myself. I need to start doing some strength training again and inject a little more focus into my running (ie. actually do some of my midweek runs).

And I wonder how fast I could run if I hydrated and carb-loaded beforehand. Hey, another great thought - what if I used some gels during the race?

If I do all that, maybe I'll have a chance of getting under 3:30 as opposed to playing around with 3:50 and 4 hour marathons. A year ago I could knock out marathons like 5ks and be ready to go again the next day. I want to get back to that.

Will all that in mind, I just signed up for the Little Rock marathon in Arkansas on March 7th. I think that's a good goal to aim toward, and gives me enough time to get ready.

I also want to compare their "big medal" with the one from the Texas marathon.

Should be fun.

Comedy Finish at the Texas Marathon

For some reason, this picture of Nancy and I with our big medals makes me think of Jacob Marley and his chains!!!

Nancy and I successfully avoided all the drunk drivers and drove up to Kingwood REALLY EARLY this morning to run the Texas marathon. I drove the first part, but I've been up late most nights for the past few weeks working on a design project, so when Nancy offered to drive the rest of the way I just crashed in the passenger seat.

The course for this marathon is four loops of the beautiful trails of Greentree park (two for the half that Nancy was running). I set my marathon PR at this race last year, but was not expecting to get anywhere close to that time today.

I ran the first few miles with Ryan Beard, and the rest of the race by myself. The first two loops passed by without much incident, but I ran into a few problems on the third. I had not hydrated properly in the week prior to the race (unless you count beer), and was too lazy to make Gatorade the day before. I paid for this when my calf started cramping around mile 18. I would be running along without any problem when it would suddenly lock up completely and spasm. This usually hit in the split second after I'd passed someone, which meant I kept having to stop and work it out.

This happened on and off for the rest of the race. I kept downing Gatorade at the aid stations in the hopes that it would help, and it did a little. I flirted with the 4 hour mark, but was a day late and a dollar short as I finished about a minute over 4 hours.

The funny thing was that as I came up the finishers chute with everyone cheering me in, my calf completely locked up. I tried to compensate with my other leg and keep going, but then the other calf locked up too. I ended up stiff legging it across the line, which must have been hilarious to watch.

But I guess that's what you get for doing zero training in the weeks leading up to the race, eating all kinds of junk, staying up late and not drinking enough (water). Oh well, considering everything I'm happy with the time. And I did enjoy the course.

Plus the pizza afterwards was delicious!!!

I particularly enjoyed sharing the trail with Nancy. I stopped and hugged her every time we passed, and she had a blast on the half. It's been many years since we were able to run a race like this together.

I would love to have a lie-in tomorrow, but I can't. My road group is running 30k, so I'll be back out there making up for my lack of recent miles with another 19.

Happy New Year everyone!!!