Half Marathon Kick Off

This week marked the official kick off of 13.1 training as we are now 12 weeks out from the race. I'm using Hal Higdon's Novice One plan as guidance but will most likely improvise along the way a little. Best example being that my long weekend runs are already six+ miles. I think the biggest change in routine will have to do with number of runs per week. I'm used to three runs, so hopefully the additional day and mileage have ONLY a positive affect.

So...what better way to kick off training (outside of the seven miler on Sunday) than to post-surgery PR a 5k run. Bested the previous PR from earlier this month by roughly 25 seconds. Best part was feeling awesome during not quite ideal weather conditions. This evening it was roughly 45 degrees with wind gusts up to 30 mph. It did give me a chance to field test some new apparel (yay Christmas!). So I can give my best two thumbs up to the following items:

Brooks LSD Lite III - lightweight but amazing as far as wind protection. I was extremely warm despite the conditions, plus it contours well to the body. Only a typical tech t-shirt as a base layer. Well worth the money IMO.

Saucony Gloves - basically these gloves, without the weird Euro design. They're lightweight as well, but excellent wind protection. I would say they run big as a medium was plenty of room for my hands.

With all that said, I'm pretty much checked out for the week. Friday, I'm off to Colorado to visit my brother and sister-in-law for NYE. I promise a report from what is certain to be a frigid weekend run. CAN'T WAIT

More Milestones

In lieu of holiday indulgence, I actually decided to venture out on a run this evening in hopes of diverting any Christmas weight gain. Not to mention, this week "officially" started my half marathon 12-week training program. I would say that the training got off to a good start...1:05 and 7.1 miles. This marks the longest run I've completed since junior year of college prior to breaking my leg. Needless to say, this is extremely encouraging as I jump into 2013 full bore staring down the barrel at the half marathon.

So onto some gear talk: I've already been given a couple REI and Academy Sports gifts cards for Christmas, and I'm ready to do some strategical shopping for the winter season. On my list is:

1. Gloves - lightweight, breathable. I lost a nice pair during the move. Since I'm a big fan of Brooks apparel, considering these:

Night Life Gloves

2. Long Sleeve Shirts - Love REI's poly/spandex tech shirts Found Here

3. Shoes - still trying to decide on new shoes and will probably try to find a cheap pair of the GTS 11's that I mentioned a few weeks ago. If no luck there, then it's on to the 12th addition. Although, I'm doing more research into the PURE line from Brooks...not sure if they offer enough control for my gait though.

Good luck to those running holiday races, and Merry Christmas! Put together a plan for 2013 that has you pounding more pavement!

5K PR!

I'm rather swamped these days; even more so than I used. I used to think I was swamped, but those days are long gone. Today, I started a new job (again). Basically, I was expecting your typical orientation type first day but what I encountered was quite the opposite. Sat down, fired up my computer and was given a project that needs a finished contract by the week's end. Oh, and I haven't done what I'm doing now in three years. So heeeerrreeeeeee weeeeeeeee gooooooooo!

Running has really taken a back seat the past week or so. Last week I was busy transitioning my old job accounts to new people, followed by an early departure to Richmond for a wedding weekend. It's hard to complain too much about the weekend as I got to play golf twice and indulge in a tremendous amount of free booze...speaking of...the groom was a friend of mine from Clemson...we warned the bride's father that he would need plenty of bourbon at the reception. They ran out of bourbon...then ran to the store for more...and ran out again...ran to the store yet again...and yes, ran out once more. Anyway, I think I'm supposed to be bragging about running accomplishments right?

December update - haven't run in a week I believe - and PR'ed tonight in the 5K. As always, I'm referring to the post surgery PR numbers. 27:04 & an 8:40 pace. Probably not a coincidence, but I also cracked 200 lbs tonight. The battle with the Clydesdale mark continues....

Muuuur Crimmus

Well, a mere seven months after purchasing our house and we finally have a relatively finished living room. My wife did a great job decorating for Christmas, and we finally bought a TV for "her" room. I say "finally" because the man room has been set up since the day we moved in. Anyway, as they say, "if momma's happy, everyone's happy".

So, here's what I'm battling right now. It's about time for new shoes and I'm doing my due diligence. I'm a huge Brooks fan, specifically the Adrenaline GTS. I've owned every pair since the 5th edition. Currently, I'm rotating two pairs of the 11th edition and it is clearly the best shoe I've ever worn. Now, here's the kicker...Runners World just announced the GTS 13th edition as their editor's shoe of the year. I mean, I have to try it right??? But why go away from a good thing especially with four critical months upcoming? Plus there's the cost issue...if I can find a pair (or two) of 11's online, I could pretty much get both pairs for the cost of one pair of the 13's. Plus the 13th edition has terrible colors, you know, because that's pretty important. What have your experiences? Thoughts in general?

Training these days is mostly maintaining. I have about three weeks to go until the official 13.1 training begins. Last couple runs have been good, although I'm starting to develop a little pain in the arch of my left foot. Going to do some research on plantar fasciitis and pray that's not what is going on here.

Nightlife!

Wow, talk about a rude introduction into the winter running season! Ol' Sandy made her presence felt even down here in the south as we were welcomed this morning by 40 degree temps and 20 mph winds. Brrr. This prompted me to head over to Run In to look for a wind resistant vest to aid in the winter training. Got the vest on sale, for $40, and I tell you it's WELL worth it. Conditions when I ran this evening: 45 degrees, sustained winds at 15mph, gusts at 21mph. Now, I didn't overreact and suit up in leggings and arm warmers...see for yourself my attire!

The vest stood out...for something so lightweight, it certainly was up to the task tonight! Not to mention the nightlife color...comes in handy this time of year as it's almost guaranteed that you're running in the dark. So this is my official endorsement of the Brooks Essential Vest, available on their website @ Brooks Running

So another good run tonight that I could've kept going, but it was getting late, I was ready for dinner, and wasn't all that far from the house at the time. Also, don't want to increase mileage too much too fast...injury looms. The next few steps for me will be looking into more gear (LOVE gear), figuring out energy supplements for longer runs, and defining an actual schedule instead "run when you get a chance to run". Thanks work.  

And I just uploaded the picture...I look like I'm 5'0" tall. And hell yeah I rocked the headlamp.

Spinx Run Fest Recap & A Pleasant Surprise

Ok, maybe we should all acknowledge that there was no way in hell I was running the 13.1 this weekend. I don't know what came over me last week causing that rush of courage, but it certainly was a flash in the pan. Maybe it was my inner rationale taking over? Either way, it was a good decision, as many people told me the course was insanely difficult. Here is a link to the elevation graphs. Overall, it doesn't appear that imposing but two of the worst miles are in the last 1/3 of the race.

So I don't have any awesome pictures of the finish or anything because I had to attend the race solo. We had a lot of plans after the race Saturday, so Laura opted to sleep in and conserve her energy. So here's a picture of someone who obviously had a great time running!

I did get to run the race (sort of, we didn't exactly run the race together) with a good friend. And I'm going to go ahead and get this piece of info out of the way and behind me. My buddy, Ian, doesn't really run as much as I do...and he sort of went out the night before...and didn't look all that enthused at the start line. Nevertheless, he managed to finish a full two minutes ahead of me! Oh well, congrats, Ian.

So, my race was a little disappointing. My goal was 28:00 because I knew the course had a couple of hills. But my normal loops around the neighborhood have hills and doesn't seem to bother me. So I figure running early, after a good night's sleep, and the adrenaline rush of racing would be enough to meet that goal. I vastly overestimated the course. But Saturday was a perfect storm of problems. First off, I overslept and had to rush to the course without eating/drinking anything that morning. Sucks. Next, I almost got taken out by a double baby-stroller decorated as a pirate ship complete with cannons sticking out the side. Jack Sparrow was taking up more than his fair share of real estate and clipped me somewhere during the first mile. Move onto the final mile and I'm stuck trying to power up a 3/4 mile hill to the finish inside the stadium. It killed me, plain and simple.

My secondary goal was/is always to run negative splits. I at least managed to accomplish this:

Mile 1 - 9:23 - I probably started out too hot
Mile 2 - 9:20 - about right
Mile 3 - 9:17 - I got down under 9:10 but the final hill dashed any hopes of going lower

So there you have it...I'm still waiting on the chip times because the gun time was pretty far off. My watch clocked the run in 29:22. Meh. Better luck next time.

So here's the teaser - had a GREAT run tonight, a little over 5 miles. And I could've gone a couple more I'm pretty sure. So I'm thinking a 13.1 is going to happen. Let's call it Spring 2013 as a warm-up for the P200.

Spinx Runfest

Pretty excited about this weekend's race, my first one since the P200 in April! The Spinx Run Fest is a huge race weekend for the city of Greenville, offering up a 26.2, 13.1, 3.1, and a kids fun run. The best part, in my opinion, is the finish line is located on the warning track of the minor league baseball stadium in downtown. Now for decision time...

 

By no means have I been training for anything specific at this moment, but I'm feeling kind of crazy this week and may sign up for the 13.1. And yes, that would be my first one. And no, I haven't done any long runs. I guess there's no real logic to the choice, but for some reason I feel like I could at least finish. It would be slow....extremely slow....but I could finish. I mean, hell, Clemson plays on Thursday this week so I'd have all day to get around the course. No one said being clydesdale would be easy, right?

Ok, so onto some product talk. I've had more success with the Brooks Adrenaline 11 than any other model since I started running (I think I've had every version of the Adrenaline since the 5th edition). I'm looking forward to grabbing a couple pairs on clearance as the 12 and 13 are at the forefront of sales just for the sake of grabbing deal. Check out THIS for a good deal, although I don't like the bland color.

Also - looking to get a pair of sleeves for the winter after running with a buddy's pair at the P200. I'm thinking Brooks Nitelife....thoughts? Anyone own a pair?