A Run to Savor

There are some days (though nowhere near enough of them) when running seems so ridiculously easy that you wish you could bottle it. And since there are also (more than enough) days when it sucks, you really need to make hay while the sun shines.

Such was the case this weekend.

Running for me is a very mental process - if my confidence is low I struggle, and if it's high I fly. Over the summer I've struggled a little (ok, maybe a lot - haha) with focus, but I think finally having Nancy home really picked me up and triggered a mind shift.

It's training season, my next marathon is coming up and it's time to start laying down some good fast, hard runs. Let's just say I was pumped for this run.

And after struggling through the heat and humidity of a Texas summertime, we really lucked out on Saturday morning with temperatures in the 60s. Everything was set up for a great run.

So I had 16 miles on the radar. Clea and I started out really early with an Enfield loop, and I knew it was going to be a good day when we were running 8:30s at what seemed like an easy conversational pace.

We finished the loop and met up with some other friends for an 8 mile Jefferson loop. About half way up the hills of Scenic I slipped smoothly into another gear, and switched it up to 7:30 pace. I was running with Frank at this point, and I think we both dropped into the zone - it felt almost as if I wasn't even running, just watching myself glide above the ground.

Man, I've missed that feeling.

We finished out the loop (did my "fast becoming traditional" sprint on the last big hill), and were joined by even more friends for a final 4 miles along the hike and bike trail. I kept the pace in the 7s and was feeling wonderful. With less than a mile to go, Frank kicked it up and I went with him. For about the last half mile we dropped the hammer to 6:50 pace and it felt great.

I finished on top of the world, chuffed to pieces with what was probably my best run since the Little Rock marathon in March. Great weather, fast pace, good friends and flowing conversation. Can't ask for more than that.

Or can I? I drove home and pulled onto my street just as Nancy and the kids were headed over to the playground. Seems it was turning out to be my day so I hopped out of the car and joined them to make the most of a beautiful morning.

We spent a fun hour playing on the swings and kicking the soccer ball before heading over to the hospital to visit Nancy's dad (who is making excellent progress).

What a great day.

This morning we did the 7 mile Danish loop as a recovery run. We call it the Danish because it starts and finishes at a local bakery with some of the best cupcakes in Austin. But since we start so early we're usually done and gone before the bakery opens. Well this morning we decided to start late so we could go home with reward pastries.

And we deserved them. And they were great.

A New Era

It's been a week that signalled the end of one era and the start of another, as Monday was Gavin's first day in kindergarten (aka big boy school). He was a little nervous on his first day, but he made a bunch of new friends and yesterday and today he swaggered in like he owned the place.

Rather than driving, Nancy and I have been dropping Dylan off at daycare and then walking Gavin the half mile or so to school. I think that may be my favorite part of the day - a rare chance for us to just enjoy being with each other. We usually go in with him and sit there while he gets his breakfast, but I don't think that will last very long - yesterday he informed us that we "can go now" :-)

When we dropped Dylan at daycare this morning, Gavin's old teacher came running over to give him a hug and ask him how his new school was. When she got up I realized that she was crying, and she told us that she missed Gavin the most because he was always chatting with her. She also told us that he was a wonderfully caring little boy, which was super good to hear.

The Gavster may have his faults (selective hearing being one of them), but I should never forget that he's a great kid with a big heart.

I think we're going to really like this school, and I'm so glad I waited in line for 24 hours in the cold and wind last February to get him in there. The teachers and principal already know us by name (is that good or bad?????), and I also found out that they're going to be doing some yoga as part of their PEP program, which is awesome. Gavin has done yoga with me at home, and he's really bendy (unlike me!!!!!).

Elsewhere on the home front we got Nancy's dad transferred to a hospital in Austin so I have my wife back and am now only a semi-single parent. He seems to be making good progress in therapy, but he is proving to be far from an easy patient.

It's so nice to have her home though.

And that also means that I can start doing my midweek early morning runs again. I went this morning, and was very happy to bang out a muggy 7 miles at a very welcome 7:50 pace. Last weekend I ran Jefferson loops on both Saturday and Sunday - only 8 miles but with lots of hills - and I felt really good. I pushed and even sprinted the last big hill. On Sunday I raced Frank up it and we pushed each other, laughing it out at the top (we called it a draw, but I think he may have pipped me).

I suspect these runs were born partly out of the frustrations and stress of the last few weeks, but I've also been hammering some circuit training drills after the boys go to bed at night which seems to pay dividends for me. On top of that, I just ordered this new set of workout dvds which I've heard are super hard but really good.

Now I just need to work on building back up the long runs, and the Frankenthon marathon is back on track.

Flat

It seems like my running has gone to the dogs. Since I can't run during the week, it's all on my weekend run and I just don't have it right now. Physically, and more importantly mentally, I'm not in the game.

And the heat and humidity don't help. I don't run well in the heat anyway, and yesterday was particularly bad - what I lovingly refer to as liquid breathing. I'd planned 15 miles with Clea, but I ended up stopping at 12. Interestingly, I weighed myself before I left the house, and again when I got back. I started the run at 151lbs and finished it at 145lbs. That's over 6lbs lost in less than two hours - no wonder I felt drained.

And it's not as if I wasn't drinking. I emptied both my 20oz handheld bottles (half water and half gatorade) during the run and guzzled another 20oz water when I got back to the car, but apparently that wasn't enough.

I wonder if I need to start using salt caps. I hate using anything else on training runs, but I may have to cave in.

This morning I did another 8 miles - I did fine, but still felt drained.

No excuses on my part - I'm doing what I can under the circumstances. And I don't think it'll take that long to whip my sorry butt back into shape when I can get a regular schedule going again.

On the plus side, for the last two weekends I've managed to keep pace with a real kick ass runner for over 10 miles on virtually zero training, so it's not all bad (though I suspect she held back a little for me).

I also heard back from the folks at Round Rock Fit and they told me that rather than having me back out completely they were going to hold my coaching spot open for me. They told me to make it out if and when I could, which made me feel better. I've known them for years and hated to let them down, but they're really supportive - I got into running through them, and they've seen me develop from a 10-11 minute miler. I enjoy the coaching and always have a great rapport with my group - I tend to be chatty, have lots of funny stories (laced with some good old British sarcasm of course) and make a bunch of new friends every year.

Back in the real world, Nancy's dad seems to be doing better. He had a few setbacks over the last few days, but they're hoping to start rehab soon (if he cooperates). There's also the possibility of transferring him to Austin later in the week which would make things a lot easier.

Nancy's heading back to Brownwood today. It's been nice having her home for a few days, and we're going to miss her.

Yesterday we went furniture shopping for bunk beds for the boys. I hate going into furniture stores - it's like swimming in shark infested waters with the sales sharks constantly circling and following you around.

And if I hear one more time that there's a "never to be repeated" discount that's only good for today I'm going to slap them silly with a wet banana.

Having said that, we did find some really cool beds we (and more importantly Gavin) liked. There was even one done up like a fort.

I don't think we'd have room for that one, but Gavin certainly liked it.

Cheeky as Hell at One Year Old

Here's my boy lounging in the trolley at Target tonight without a care in the world. Need I say more?

When it Rains, it Pours

When things go wrong, boy do they ever. Following on from my father-in-law's stroke last week and the flat tire on the Yukon in the middle of nowhere, we got a call from a cousin Monday night to say the air conditioner at my father-in-law's house had died. Nancy drove back to the hospital in Brownwood on Tuesday morning and yesterday she found nails in both front tires on the car which resulted in another two new tires.

For many years I have jokingly referred to Brownwood as "Mordor". Nancy said she's beginning to feel the same.

But hey, things have got to get better from here, right?

I'm now into my second week of being a "single parent", and my hat is off to single parents everywhere because it's not an easy job. Gavin has been brilliant though - he helps me corral his brother, we've had some long chats and we've been enjoying our time together. Father and son time is very important, and he's great company.

Dylan is a wonderful mess - a curious toddler who is busy exploring the world, pulling the house to shreds, hammering on the tv/windows/blinds/cabinet doors/anything else not nailed down and running away giggling when his dad catches him.

I may never have a tidy house again!!!

Running (other than after Dylan) has stopped completely since last Saturday - I'm hoping to get something in early Saturday (and maybe Sunday) morning, but I'm resigned to the fact that I may be struggling to keep up with my friends for a while.

But only for a while.

Tuesday night Gavin wanted ice cream after we got Dylan to bed, and I told him he could have some as long as he either did a weights workout with me or became my trainer while I worked out. He chose to be my trainer, loved it, and was surprisingly good - I've taught him well :-).

As well as providing encouragement he'd circle me and monitor my form, making comments like "daddy, your butt's up in the air. Get it down or we'll start over" (while doing plank) and "keep those elbows in" (while doing bicep curls). He'd put his hand on the floor behind my shoulders while doing crunches to ensure I didn't take them all the way down to the mat. If my shoulders brushed his hand I'd get a swat across the head and he'd restart the count from the beginning. If I got tired or tried to slack off, he'd get up close to my ear, yell at me, dish out punishment like a drill sergeant and we'd start all over again.

He got his ice cream, which was a great price to pay for a kick ass personal trainer.

My boy takes no prisoners - Jillian Michaels has nothing on him!!!


Nancy is coming home tonight for a few days. I think we're all looking forward to seeing mummy.

Tour de Grocery Store

So I got back from Brownwood on Sunday night and we needed a few things from the grocery store. The boys were tired, so I let Nancy put them to bed while I jumped back in the car and headed up the road.

I was wearing cargo shorts, Livestrong hat, a random tech running shirt, old running shoes and feeling grimy and unshaven as I skittled around the store. I picked up the items we needed and made my way to the checkouts. As I unloaded my purchases onto the belt, I overheard one of the bag packers exclaim "oh my God, it's him". I looked up and saw a few of them looking at me and nudging each other.

Odd, thinks I.

I chatted and joked idly with the checkout guy as he was ringing up my purchases, and glanced round every now and again to see my packer bagging the groceries while staring at me open-mouthed.

Very strange indeed.

Our transaction complete, I thanked them and started to push my trolley away when the bag packer stepped up to me and said "dude, I think you're awesome".

All righty.

Then he added "I've followed the tour for years", and glanced up at my cap.

And then it clicked.

Not wanting to spoil their moment, I muttered something like "thanks very much", flashed him a smile and walked away. As I went, I heard him tell the mystified cashier "dude, you just served Lance Armstrong and you didn't even notice?"

I just about killed myself laughing.

I wonder if they thought it strange that "Lance Armstrong" was buying a big tub of cappuccino chocolate chip ice cream!!!

Hammer and Nails

Some days you're the hammer and some days you're the nail. Today I was the nail.

- Lance Armstrong

It's been a long hard weekend that included a disappointing long run, endless loops of a hospital trying to keep two rambunctious boys entertained (and contained), comforting Gavin when he was witness to things I would rather he hadn't seen and heard, changing a punctured tire on the big Yukon in 100F+ temperatures in the middle of nowhere (literally), purchasing new tire for said Yukon, a sleepless night, an about-to-get-sick toddler (who thankfully seems to have fought it off), and a good old-fashioned bit of British-style ear bashing (wherein we enclose biting sarcasm and blunt honesty within the facade of politeness - reference Simon Cowell and Ann Robinson - very hard to counter).

And across all of that, a continued admiration for my wife who has the patience of Job, takes things in her stride, handles them with strength, compassion and dignity, and always says and does the right thing. She is the calm within the storm, and I will continue to do my upmost to be her safe harbor.

But this blog is focused on running, so I'm going to try and keep it to that.

I gave up my coaching spot with Round Rock Fit over the weekend - the season is only a couple of weeks away, and I'm just not going to be able to commit to the weekly group runs to the extent that they deserve.

Saturday morning I got up super early to run 14 miles with Clea before driving to Brownwood, and just felt drained. We kept up a pace in the mid-8s up and down the hills and enjoyed catching up with each other, but I was struggling and I bonked around mile 11. Mile 11? Come on, that's just ridiculous. But my heart really wasn't in it and I was running on empty, so I convinced Clea to go on and I was going to run the last few miles slowly. And they were slow - I walked for a bit, ran for a bit and then walked again before sucking it up and managing a 9 minute mile for the last mile.

Clea had left some gatorade and some homemade blueberry cake on my car, which was super kind (as well as super delicious).

And I have to give a big shout-out here to all my friends who commented on my last post, called me or emailed me privately, offered to babysit the boys while I ran, or to help in whatever way they could. You know who you are, and your kindness is much appreciated.

Anyways, I got home and weighed myself (which I do after all of my Saturday long runs). I've been holding steady at 152lbs for the last few months, which is the ideal running weight for me, but when I hopped on the scale I was down to 146lbs. That's not good, and probably explains why I felt so drained.

I'd told Nancy off during the week for not eating enough and not taking good enough care of herself while she was at the hospital, but I could have applied the same lecture to myself. Thinking back, I was so busy making sure that the boys were fed and watered (and running around after little Dylan), I'd been skipping a few too many meals myself and walking around constantly hungry (and I know I haven't been drinking anywhere near enough water).

A bit more planning this week should fix that (going to make a huge batch of beef korma (how's that for fusion cuisine!!!) with pilau rice and naan bread tonight), but I wonder how many calories you burn constantly chasing around an adventurous and mischievous 1 year old, and shoulder pressing a hyperactive 5 year old???

Apparently quite a few.


I promise my next post will be much more upbeat - I have a great story about a very surreal experience I had at HEB last night that put a big grin on my face. It was too good not to share :-)

Change

Our daily lives are all about routine. You find something that works and quietly slip into the comfort zone, tinkering here and there but mostly riding the slipstream. Occasionally you add goals that bump you out of that comfort zone - be they races you want to run, times you want to beat, things you want to do etc. If you want them badly enough these goals become important, increasingly so as the effort and commitment required to achieve them grows.

Until something happens and you realize they really aren't important at all.

Yesterday Nancy got a call out of the blue to say that her dad had had a stroke and was in ICU. And in an instant that wellworn routine comes crashing down.

And you have decisions to make.

We both agreed that we didn't want the boys to see their grandpa like that. Gavin is very sensitive - when his great-uncle died earlier this year he convinced himself that mummy and daddy were going to die too. It took weeks of talking about it to stem the frightened tears.

So we decided that Nancy would drive up there while I stayed here with the boys and kept up as normal a routine as I could for them. I told Gavin yesterday that his grandpa was in hospital, but I don't know if he fully understood. You can never tell with Gavin though - he'll take something in, think on it, brood about it, and then open up to you when he's ready.

Last night we had a long conversation about bad dreams which may have been his first roundabout way of knocking on the door.

But I have the easy job - looking after my boys. Nancy has to be there for her dad who doesn't recognize her or even know who she is.

Needless to say, running is on indefinite hold. I can do some weights or yoga workouts at home, or even the bike trainer after Dylan goes to bed, but it's just not that important right now.

Here's what is.

Last night I stood and watched Dylan sleeping in his crib. Then I lay down with Gavin and put my arm round him. He snuggled up to me and fell asleep.

And I was very grateful for them both.

Attack of the Killer Ants

It's been a quiet week on the running front. I didn't run at all early in the week, partly due to thunder and lightning and partly due to the fact that running all night messes up your sleep schedule (in other words, I decided to sleep in)!!!

Though I did manage a few miles at Walnut Creek on Thursday and felt pretty good.

Yesterday morning I did a nice hilly 13 miles with Clea. We set a good pace (considering the humidity), and I was certainly puffing a bit by the end (thankfully she confessed this morning that she was feeling it too)!!! Because we started so early, I was able to get home early to mow the grass before it got too hot (our first 100F+ weekend).

And that's where things got a bit interesting. I didn't notice a huge ants nest until I was right on top of it, and there were a swarm of ants crawling up my legs and biting the crap out of me. Have I mentioned that I am very allergic to ant bites? I jumped about, tried to slap them off and ended up running into the house and straight into the shower - I swear I must have looked like Charlie Chaplin with all my antics.

Kudos to Nancy for finishing the grass cutting for me.

This morning my ankles and legs were covered in bites and they're super swollen. I ran 8 miles without any problems, but had to tape my ankles before I left the house - they were rubbing so much against my shoes they would have become a problem otherwise.

Let's just say I will never be a big fan of ants. Despite Pixar's best efforts, I am definitely in the corner of the grasshoppers!!!