December Running

Well, I'm almost to the end of the year. I plan to take the last week of the year off, but I think it will be hard, because I'm also taking that week off at work. I might need something to keep me out of trouble. Maybe cycling the last week would be a nice change. I had a goal of running 2,000 miles this year. I'm going to miss that by about 100 miles, but on a good note I ran 9 races this year! More than ever before!! Between running, cycling, and hiking, I have put 2,400+ miles in this year!!
I'm looking forward to next year, I plan to run smarter, not harder. As I get older, it seems smarter works better. I thank my body for holding up and getting me through another year of running, I have felt so alive these past 4+ years! I thank my wife for putting up with all the time I spent running. She a great wife and my best friend.

November Run

It's been another good month of running. Here it is only November 26th and I got 203 miles in this month. Another 13 miles, I will pass my all time high of 215 miles for one month! I've ran 10+ miles now for 11 straight runs! I'm so thankful to be able to be running so strong! Awesome!

October 200

I had a goal to run 200 miles in, October and I did it. In fact, I did 202 miles! Felt really good. I still think I will fall short of my goal of 2,000 miles for the year, but that's ok. It's been my best of running so far, so no complaints!

September balance

September has been a busy month with running, hiking, working, and home life. It's been hard to find a balance that keeps all happy. I love all equally, but I need to remember that keeping the home life happy, makes for happier running and hiking. I wish I could share my joys of running and hiking, but like a person trying to quit smoke, it needs to be done by ones own time.....

2nd Half in the books

Wow! What a year its been for me in running.
Ran the Sunriver (Half) Marathon for a Cause on Sunday (9/4) and I really had no goal time that I want to get for this one. I haven't trained too much, because I have been doing lots of hiking on the weekend. So most or all my running has been during the week. No speed work or hills workouts, just running.
So when I finished with a time of 1:46:46, 7 minutes better than my previous half, I was pretty shocked and very happy. I got 4th again in my AG for the 4th time in a row....crazy! 32nd overall out of 294.

This has been an awesome year of running for me, because I have been able to get a personal best in all distances that I have ran, 5k, 10K, Half, and Marathon.

Deschutes Dash 5K

It's been quite a year for me in running. I ran the Deschutes Dash 5k on July 17, I was hoping to get under 24 minutes. I ran a 22:09!! Awesome! My best time ever! I got 17th overall out of 139, 4th again in my age group. (3rd time in a row)
This was my 20th race in my running life!!

Pacific Crest 10K

Great Day for a run! I ran a 48:14, my best 10K time. I got 27th out of 410 runners, 4th in my age group, and I was in the top ten in the Overall Masters finishers.
This was my 4th different event in the Pacific Crest since 2007. Next year, I'm thinking of doing one of the duathlons.

2nd Marathon in the books

Saturday I ran my 2nd marathon and it went pretty well. I was hoping for a time between 4:00-4:30 and I ran a 4:32:36. Everything was going well till about mile 18, when my IT Band starting hurting. I had to walk a few times to help relieved the pain. I had some Advil with me, so I took that and it helped me finish strong. I came in 4th in my age group and 34th out of 74 finishers.
Looking forward to my next run, a 10K on June 26th and then a half marathon on Sept. 4.
=)

Back to Good

Finally! Calf is doing good! I ran the Salmon Run 5k last Saturday (5/7) and ran my best official 5k time. 23:54! I got 2nd in my age group and 20th overall! I didn't even push it too much, I didn't want my calf to start hurting. Calf did feel good and even ran other 4 miles later that day. I also ran 10 mile on Sunday and felt even better!!

Calf injury

Well, things were going great till last Saturday, 4/23. Headed out for a 12 mile run and a mile into it, BAM! Calf cramped up on me bad. I tried to stretch it out, but didn't help. I ended up walking home with my head down. Here it its Friday, 4/29 and still can't run. going to the LMT to get the calf worked on, hopefully get back into training next week.

Feeling Stronger

I'm 4 weeks into my new marathon training program and I'm feeling stronger every week. I ran a 24 mile training on Saturday and felt great. I ran it in 3:51, thats a 9:39 mile pace, which is pretty good for me.
This week is going to be another tough week, because I have 2 speed work days.
I ran another long 26 mile training run on the 30th, can't wait to see how I do!!

1st Quarter of the Year Report

Well, looks like I'm on track so far for my goal of 2,000 miles of running for the year. With the end of March yesterday, I'm at 522 miles so far for the year.
Feeling good, hoping the old body keeps up for the rest of the year.

Getting faster

Yesterday, I did some speedwork and ran my fastest unofficial 5K. 23:11 I ran in my neighborhood that have some cul-de-sacs, so I had to slow down a little to make that sharp turn. I was pretty surprised!! I still had some left in the tank, so I think I can get that down to a sub 23 minute time. I did a total of 4 miles in 30 minutes, which was just a minute slower than my first 5K time 4 years ago! It's good to see I'm still getting faster, even when I'm getting older! =)

Race results

Well, my first race of the year is in the bag. It was good, kinda. I ran a 49:41, my best 10k time by 4 seconds, but I head a better time in the back of my head. Closer to 48:00. I got 3rd in the 40-49 age group, only my 2nd time I ever placed in the 15 races I ever ran in. Now, I'm back to marathon training. My next planned race is June 4, the Three Sisters Marathon.

First race of the year.

Well, I have my first race of the year on Saturday (3/12) and it's a 10k race. The funny thing is I haven't trained much for a 10k race, I've been training for marathons. So it will interesting to see how I do, oh I know I can run a 10k, but how fast?
I'm not putting any goals for time, because I haven't trained for a 10k.
Should be fun!!

4 Years of Running

This March marks 4 years of running for me. March 2007, I was 40 pounds heavier and out of shape. I started to walk, then run my way into shape. Running has opened up so my things in my life since then. From the experience of running in races, to hiking and backpacking, it has changed my life for the better. Even has brought back photography in my life, taking pictures of all the wonderful places I've been during my hiking trip. I can never see myself returning to that couch potato that I was before.
When I started running, I just ran a few miles a week and now up running 40-50 miles a week.
Running has become my way of life....

First 20 miler

Well, Saturday (1/30) I did my first 20 miler of the year and felt awesome!! Afterwards, I took some Hammer Nutrition Recoverite for the first time with great results! The following day, I felt great and even was able to get a 4 1/2 mile run it.
I'm so happy to be able to get to do long runs again!!

Getting Better

I've learned a lot these past few weeks about stretching my IT band and it has helped so much. Last week, I got in 49 miles and even ran a 15 miler on Sunday and felt great! Gosh, I'm so happy to be able to run longer distances again. I have lots of plans this year for running and I would be so bummed if I had to stick to 5K's or 10K's for races.

2011 New Year, New problems

Well, my year hasn't started out great. I'm having IT band problems, but thanks to a free "Ask the Expert" at FootZone, I was able to get some help. So, I started stretching out my gluts and it has helped a lot. Now, I have to everyday in order to keep my knee from hurting. But I did get in 26 miles last week, and my pace was pretty good too. Let's hope I can get a good control of this for the year!!