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life

Running Again

After nine weeks my ankle is healed. I ran two miles a month ago to discover that it had not healed after five weeks. Today I ran four miles at my desired pace without any discomfort. In those nine weeks I’ve done some training on my bike, but I have been aching to get back out running.

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life

Marathon Registration

I finally committed (financially) to a specific marathon. Late last night I registered for the Days of ’47 marathon for July 24th. I had chosen that marathon more than a month ago and planned to register on January 1st when I was told that registration would begin then. Unfortunately, registration did not begin on January 1st. I don’t know when I last checked that it was still not available, but I checked again last night and it was open, so I registered.

That’s 56 more reasons not to be a slacker in my training. Now I just need to get to where I can run on my ankle again. I’ve been cycling for my training for the last few weeks, as noted before, but I need to get out and actually run 10 miles rather than cycling for an equivelant amount of time.

I’m excited to be getting closer to this goal. 26 miles still seems like a huge mountain to climb.

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life

Exercise

I said I would try to run on the 30th of December to see how my ankle was doing, but I didn’t. I finally concluded (without running that day) that I was going to have to believe what I had read that this kind of injury could take weeks (up to 8) to heal. After consulting with my brother-in-law (the triathlete) I decided that I should get a cycling trainer so that I could do bike workouts which would help me increase my stamina without doing further damage while my ankle healed. That also allows me to exercise at home at times when I would not be able to go out running.

I started working out after my trainer arrived this week and I love it. I don’t work all the same muscle groups, but it’s a great aerobic workout which is probably the thing I need more than the specific muscles for running – I’m already running as fast as I need to for my goal I just need to work up to being able to go for 26 miles. I figure I will continue to cycle for some of my workouts throughout my training and after the marathon I will continue to do a mixture of running and cycling.

I have also heard from a variety of people that I was looking more fit. I finally began to notice that myself this week. This race is going to cost me a lot more than I had initially thought – I’m going to need to buy a new wardrobe by the time I’m done because my pants are all baggy now.

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life

New Running Shoes

My birthday present netted me a free consultation with a famous triathlete of my acquaintance, the host of Tri-Talk, who gave me tips on equipment and preparation for my marathon. One of the suggestions he made was that I should visit Runners Corner to get myself some new shoes.

I knew it was time to get new shoes since the shoes I have been running in are older than my marriage. The fact that I have four children is proof that such shoes would not last through marathon training. The fact that I have glued the soles back on both shoes suggests that they might not last the week.

Tonight I took his advice and visited Runners Corner. They were great! I got a personal evaluation of my running prior to choosing which shoes to buy. I also got to go run in 6 different pairs of shoes before I settled on the two I liked the best I learned a lot about shoes, and running from the visit, and I also learned (from someone who has actually run the race) that I might want to choose a different marathon than Park City for my first marathon. My shoe guide ran Park City for his first marathon and he said it’s one of the toughest courses in Utah.

So I may be changing races, but I am definitely going to enjoy training more. I had forgotten what running shoes actually felt like.

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life

Getting Stronger

The running and the biking are obviously making a difference. I have noticed within the last week that I can run a mile one minute faster than I could previously and maintain that pace for the duration of my 3 mile runs. If I could maintain that pace for the full marathon I would blow the 4 hour mark away – I don’t expect that, but it’s fun to imagine.

I also noticed this morning that riding to work is easier than it was last week. With Thanksgiving I did not go to work for nearly a week. When I rode in to work this morning I was able to put the bike in top gear and maintain a much faster pace the whole way than I had been able to. I learned something very important, when riding at that faster pace in these winter months I need to wear a hat (besides the helmet) and a heavier coat to mitigate the wind chill factor.

It’s nice to see improvement after only a couple of months.

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life

A Little Headwind

In case I was getting too comfortable with my running, today was a wakeup call. I had my first 5 mile run. With the way 4 miles had been feeling lately I figured it would not be too hard on me. I did not count on having to run against a 10 mph headwind most of the way.

At first the wind felt like a nice breeze that would keep me cool. By the third mile my pace started to slacken. Early in the fourth mile I began to feel how much my strength was being drained because of that extra resistance. I was walking into that wind for quite a while. Based on my time and my energy level at the end of the run it felt like a 6 mile workout rather than 5.

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life

Future Milestone

I figured out today what my second running milestone will be. It will be when I commit to a specific marathon. I was looking at the options today. I figure I can be ready as early as July and I don’t think I want to run my first any later in the year than September. I don’t plan to travel very far so St. George and Top of Utah (Logan) are out. That leaves about 4 possible marathons. Now I just have to select one of them and register, along with my continued training.

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life

Running: Milestone 1

I had to take some time off running for a bit when I got sick, but I got back on my training schedule and met a milestone today. Saturday I had a 4 mile workout which is a normal distance so far. Today was another 4 miler but unlike every previous run I did not walk a single step.

When I had done three mile workouts I was running 2 1/2 miles and then walking for a bit before finishing at a run. When I started 4 milers I ran 3 or 3 1/4 then walked and then finished running.

On Saturday I increased my pace and it wore me out. That is why today’s run was so surprising. I ran at the faster pace – about the pace I hope to run for my marathon. I decided early in the run to go at least 3 1/4 miles before walking.

At about 2 1/2 miles I decided not to walk before 3 1/2 miles.

At 3 miles I thought, “I could possibly run the whole distance.”

At the 3 1/4 mile mark I committed to run the whole way. The really amazing thing was that at 4 miles I still had energy. I’m sure I could have gone another 1/4 mile without walking.

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life

Running

I am currently trying to define what I want in my life. It’s like having a fresh start because I have not felt like I was going anywhere so I can pick any direction that I want. As I reviewed some old goals that I have had from various times in my life and decided which of those goals to begin pursuing in earnest. One of those goals that has been floating in the back of my mind for nearly half my life is to run a marathon one day. As I face this fresh start I thought about that goal and reasoned that you can’t just decide one day to run a marathon and then run it the next day. That goal requires that you start training months in advance. With that in mind I finally decided that I might as well start running so that I will be prepared when I am ready to select a marathon and run it.

Having made that decision – today marks my first run. It was raining and cool and generally the kind of weather that nobody runs in unless they are committed to running. In the face of all that I decided that I had better run today or else I would find a new excuse to procrastinate tomorrow. I ran a short route today – three miles. I did slightly better than I had planned (I had planned a very conservative pace) and based on today’s run I think I am going to set a goal to finish the marathon, when I get to that point, in four hours.

My younger brother will laugh when he learns that I have decided to take up running. He was an avid runner back in the day – before he rediscovered “the one true sport.” Of course he can’t complain that I have taken up running again considering that he recently convinced his wife to start running.