Had a bad night of sleep, so didn't get up and run this morning. Got home from work and got some things done around the house before deciding to head down and get my work out in. Got to the school to find a football game being played, so the track was not available. Turned around and went home after thinking about doing some street running. Problem was I didn't have my vest or my lamp, and just knew that somehow I would injure myself.
0.25 Miles 10'15" warm up
0.19 Miles 8'36" pace
Curse you D&T
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
2011/10/14 - Running Sucks
Did a total of 1 Mile today. 256.5 pounds.
0.25 Miles at 10'40" pace warm up
stretch
0.25 Miles at 7'37" pace
rest
0.25 Miles at 7'40" pace (paused in the middle)
rest
0.25 Miles at 13'33" pace cooldown back to home
My knees still aren't liking the pounding. Not too concerned about the jump in weight. Since joining Nike I have gone on a couple weight loss sprees, and during every one of them there was an upswing once I switched to eating 6 smaller meals a day followed by some precipitous droppage.
Curse you T and D!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
2011/10/12 Getting back in the groove
Getting geared back up to run the Newport Marathon 6/2/12. Wanting to focus on speed. Did a total of 1 Mile today.
0.31 Miles at 13'19" pace warm up
stretch
0.24 Miles at 7'53" pace
rest
0.24 Miles at 7'47" pace (paused break in the middle)
rest
0.27 Miles at 11'54" pace cooldown back to home
My knees aren't liking the pounding. Stepped on the scale and was sad to see 252.3, which means I have put 20 pounds back on. :( Need to drop at least 50 pounds, would like to lose closer to 70. The plan right now is to eat better, run, and start swimming again.
My training schedule has me running MWFSat, so I will try swimming TTh.
Wish me luck.
0.31 Miles at 13'19" pace warm up
stretch
0.24 Miles at 7'53" pace
rest
0.24 Miles at 7'47" pace (paused break in the middle)
rest
0.27 Miles at 11'54" pace cooldown back to home
My knees aren't liking the pounding. Stepped on the scale and was sad to see 252.3, which means I have put 20 pounds back on. :( Need to drop at least 50 pounds, would like to lose closer to 70. The plan right now is to eat better, run, and start swimming again.
My training schedule has me running MWFSat, so I will try swimming TTh.
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
2011/06/29 - Apologies
It has been a long time since I wrote. I ended up rolling my ankles about a week and a half before my scheduled 20 miler, which meant that I missed my marathon. I ended up seeing an orthopaedic specialist and luckily don't need surgery at this point, but have come to accept that I will need surgery to tighten up all the tendons and ligaments that have been stretched out over the course of my life from countless sprains and strains.
I went for my first run after my injury on Father's day. I ran about 1.5 miles at a 12:33 pace. I have played some basketball and participated in our Ward Dash. I have some lingering tightness and pain, but am hopeful that I can work my way through it.
I have been feeling down on myself, and felt justified in slacking because of my injuries. One of the benefits of working at Nike is there are lots of sources of inspiration. I am typing this post as I sit and listen to Jason Lester talk about his life, his trials, his accomplishments and realize that I have been missing that fire that I felt when I was gearing up for my marathon. If you are unfamiliar, I suggest you look him up and learn a little about him.
I don't know what the future holds for me. I know I will eventually run a marathon. I don't know when, I am still trying to figure out what my ankles will let me do. I will try to be more faithful in keeping this online journal updated.
I went for my first run after my injury on Father's day. I ran about 1.5 miles at a 12:33 pace. I have played some basketball and participated in our Ward Dash. I have some lingering tightness and pain, but am hopeful that I can work my way through it.
I have been feeling down on myself, and felt justified in slacking because of my injuries. One of the benefits of working at Nike is there are lots of sources of inspiration. I am typing this post as I sit and listen to Jason Lester talk about his life, his trials, his accomplishments and realize that I have been missing that fire that I felt when I was gearing up for my marathon. If you are unfamiliar, I suggest you look him up and learn a little about him.
I don't know what the future holds for me. I know I will eventually run a marathon. I don't know when, I am still trying to figure out what my ankles will let me do. I will try to be more faithful in keeping this online journal updated.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Run journal - 2011/03/25
I apologize for my lack of diligence in keeping my blog updated. I have had a rough month, between weather and sinus infections. I am way behind schedule for the marathon. I was hoping to get in 16 miles today, and was feeling pretty good throughout the run, but after pushing through several walls my legs called it quits after making it over a little hill. I haven't ever had that experience before.
I think it might have something to do with the fact that I started "Insanity" this week. It is a workout program from the makers of P90X. It is really kicking my trash. My legs have been feeling like jello all week, so I am not totally surprised that they gave out on me.
I am down 20 pounds since January, and 30 from my heaviest, so my knees are reaping some benefits.
I have been playing basketball since I haven't been running over the last several weeks and have noticed a big difference in the amount of pain I experience afterwards.
Distance: 13.4 Miles
Average Pace: 13'29"/mi
Weather: Mild
Curse you D.
I think it might have something to do with the fact that I started "Insanity" this week. It is a workout program from the makers of P90X. It is really kicking my trash. My legs have been feeling like jello all week, so I am not totally surprised that they gave out on me.
I am down 20 pounds since January, and 30 from my heaviest, so my knees are reaping some benefits.
I have been playing basketball since I haven't been running over the last several weeks and have noticed a big difference in the amount of pain I experience afterwards.
Distance: 13.4 Miles
Average Pace: 13'29"/mi
Weather: Mild
Curse you D.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Nathan George Taylor
Nathan was born September 30, 1998. He is smart, kind, and honest to a fault. I think a story may help you understand the kind of person he is.
A few years ago he was playing youth soccer. Nathan did not inherit my competitive spirit, and I found myself constantly telling him to be an active participant. One evening as I was driving him to a game I reminded him to be active, to be aware at all times of where the ball is, and above all NO SKIPPING and NO PICKING FLOWERS!
As the game progressed I noticed that the other team had a kid who could kick like a mule. Nathan was playing fullback and there was a scrum at midfield on his side of the field. Out of the pack the mule-kicking kid booted the ball high into the air towards Nathan. I looked over at him and saw him looking up and was excited for him as no-one was around. I began to cheer as the ball came down, until I noticed that he wasn't tracking the ball, but rather was looking up at the lights. The ball landed right in front of him and bounced directly into his groin as his gaze never left the lights....man down. All parents, coaches, players, and officials let out a collective "ouch." I am ashamed to say that I was very embarrassed. Later in the game Nathan was back out there as a midfielder and there was again a scrum at midfield. Mule-kicking kid again booted the ball, but this time it was a line drive into a kids stomach about 15 feet away. The kids crumpled over in pain as the air was knocked out of him. Play continued and the pack moved away...except for Nathan who walked over, helped the boy up, put his arm around his shoulder, and helped walk him to the sideline. I couldn't have been any prouder.
That is the type of young man Nathan is. He loves animals (takes after his mom on that one) and is a great big brother to his little brothers and sister. He is beginning to come into his own and is questioning me on almost everything. This is both frustrating and exciting for me, to see him start to use his head, and push boundaries.
He was asked to give a talk in church a while back. He said he was very nervous, and I believe him. I helped guide him in his preparation, but the work was all his. When the day came he stood at the pulpit and gave his talk. I was sitting behind him and was interested in seeing how badly he would shake. He didn't shake at all. He even changed his opening joke at the last minute. Probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but again I was proud to call him son.
He has always had a simple innocence about him. When he was around 5 we were out at grandma's house in the summer for a family party. For dessert we were going to have strawberry shortcakes. I was in the kitchen picking off pieces of the angel food cake when he walked in, saw me and asked what I was eating. I told him it was bread, not wanting to use the word "cake" as we had not yet eaten dinner and I didn't want him to ruin his appetite. I sat down in the living room and a few minutes later he came out of the kitchen with an excited expression on his face. He came over to me and exclaimed, "That's not just bread, it is marshmallow bread!"
I love you Nathan!
A few years ago he was playing youth soccer. Nathan did not inherit my competitive spirit, and I found myself constantly telling him to be an active participant. One evening as I was driving him to a game I reminded him to be active, to be aware at all times of where the ball is, and above all NO SKIPPING and NO PICKING FLOWERS!
As the game progressed I noticed that the other team had a kid who could kick like a mule. Nathan was playing fullback and there was a scrum at midfield on his side of the field. Out of the pack the mule-kicking kid booted the ball high into the air towards Nathan. I looked over at him and saw him looking up and was excited for him as no-one was around. I began to cheer as the ball came down, until I noticed that he wasn't tracking the ball, but rather was looking up at the lights. The ball landed right in front of him and bounced directly into his groin as his gaze never left the lights....man down. All parents, coaches, players, and officials let out a collective "ouch." I am ashamed to say that I was very embarrassed. Later in the game Nathan was back out there as a midfielder and there was again a scrum at midfield. Mule-kicking kid again booted the ball, but this time it was a line drive into a kids stomach about 15 feet away. The kids crumpled over in pain as the air was knocked out of him. Play continued and the pack moved away...except for Nathan who walked over, helped the boy up, put his arm around his shoulder, and helped walk him to the sideline. I couldn't have been any prouder.
That is the type of young man Nathan is. He loves animals (takes after his mom on that one) and is a great big brother to his little brothers and sister. He is beginning to come into his own and is questioning me on almost everything. This is both frustrating and exciting for me, to see him start to use his head, and push boundaries.
He was asked to give a talk in church a while back. He said he was very nervous, and I believe him. I helped guide him in his preparation, but the work was all his. When the day came he stood at the pulpit and gave his talk. I was sitting behind him and was interested in seeing how badly he would shake. He didn't shake at all. He even changed his opening joke at the last minute. Probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but again I was proud to call him son.
He has always had a simple innocence about him. When he was around 5 we were out at grandma's house in the summer for a family party. For dessert we were going to have strawberry shortcakes. I was in the kitchen picking off pieces of the angel food cake when he walked in, saw me and asked what I was eating. I told him it was bread, not wanting to use the word "cake" as we had not yet eaten dinner and I didn't want him to ruin his appetite. I sat down in the living room and a few minutes later he came out of the kitchen with an excited expression on his face. He came over to me and exclaimed, "That's not just bread, it is marshmallow bread!"
I love you Nathan!
Run journal - 2011/03/02
Had a repeat from last week. It was icy and I have not felt well so not much running for me. "There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people." I am comfortable in my softness, I played basketball inside instead of running in the cold rain yesterday.
Distance: 2.67 Miles
Average Pace: 12'03"/mi
Weather: Mild
Curse you D.
Distance: 2.67 Miles
Average Pace: 12'03"/mi
Weather: Mild
Curse you D.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Run journal - 2011/02/22
Mind over body. D. keeps telling me that a huge part of long distance running is having the mental toughness to tell the body to "shut up" when it starts complaining. On my 14 miler I won that battle on several occasions. This morning I ran only 1.1 miles out of a planned 4 miler, but feel that my mental toughness has never been more evident as I successfully performed the difficult clench-shuffle all the way home. Note to self...greasy roast beef and broccoli is not a good meal to have the night before a run.
Distance: 1.1 Miles
Average Pace: 13'42"/mi
Weather: Drizzly and cold.
Curse you D.
Distance: 1.1 Miles
Average Pace: 13'42"/mi
Weather: Drizzly and cold.
Curse you D.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Run journal - 2011/02/19
Set a new personal distance record! Walked out the front door into the windy cold and decided to put on a long sleeve shirt, a very wise decision on my part. Just ran at a pace that felt comfortable, not too fast, not too slow. Hit several walls along the way, but forced my way through. Forced myself to get to my goal of 14 miles, and that was as far as I could go...was about a half mile away from home and called to see if I could get a ride, but Erin had just gotten in the tub, and by the time she was out and dressed I would have been home so I walked. In hindsight that was probably better because it gave my leg muscles a chance to work out some of the acid. Spent the rest of the weekend recovering.
Distance: 14.0 Miles
Average Pace: 13'24"/mi
Weather: Windy!
Curse you D.
Distance: 14.0 Miles
Average Pace: 13'24"/mi
Weather: Windy!
Curse you D.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Run journal - 2011/02/15
Ran 6.0 miles this morning. Nice and easy pace. Felt like I barely broke a sweat and not much heavy breathing. I am NOT a morning person, but find it far easier to run at 5:00 in the morning then in the middle of the day. Could have something to do with the fact that I run on rural roads with no bike lanes or shoulder and there is much less traffic to dodge. Sometimes I swear it feels like Frogger.
Distance: 6.0 Miles
Average Pace: 13'39"/mi
Weather: WET!!! Raining and cold.
Curse you D.
Distance: 6.0 Miles
Average Pace: 13'39"/mi
Weather: WET!!! Raining and cold.
Curse you D.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Intro
Hello.
My name is Allen, and in case you didn't guess...I am overweight and am a marathoner. I haven't actually run a marathon yet, but am planning to. I have seen parts of marathons, both the race kind and the kind on t.v. where they show a bunch of episodes of the same show. I figure that should qualify me, or perhaps I should change the name of the blog to "Moderately Obese Marathoner (in training)".
I want to start by apologizing in advance for a few things. Maybe a few disclaimers should be made as well.
I have no idea what I am going to talk about. Just came up with the idea to start blogging while I was out running the other day. The idea was driven home by a discussion on keeping a journal I heard yesterday. So here I am with no preconceived notion of what I hope to make of my small piece of cyber real-estate.
"My hypocrisy knows no bounds." That is how a local sports radio talk show host introduced himself his first day on the air. I found it humorous, and think it best to just put it out there and get it out of the way.
I am a man. That is both a disclaimer and an apology. I am not very in touch with my emotions, and don't have as much empathy for others as I should.
I have four children, which means I am an optimist, a dreamer, and a cynic, as well as many other things.
As stated, I am training for a marathon. Specifically the Newport, OR marathon on June 4, 2011. I ran cross country in high school, but that was about 20 years and 100 pounds ago. I have played basketball recreationally through the years, but have not ever really done much else to try to stay in shape. So I hear some of you asking, "Why the sudden interest in running a marathon?"
I'm glad you asked. My marathon story starts with a man whom I shall refer to as D. Many people who read this will know who he is, but to afford him some privacy I shall simply call him D. He is an Iron-Man. He has done several of them in fact, as well as multiple other events. D. roped me into being the driver of his van for Hood-to-Coast 2010, an event that I had heard of but was none too familiar with. For those who don't know, it is a relay race from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to Seaside on the coast 197 miles away. I was also a "backup" runner in case anyone got hurt (thankfully no-one did). There are 12 members on the team, each of which runs three legs. When he explained all of this to me, I couldn't help but think that only a handful of morons would be stupid enough to sign up for such an event, and they all must be tremendous athletes like D. I was wrong on so many levels.
Turns out, there were more than a handful, there were 12,000. They weren't all tremendous athletes, though admittedly quite a few were, but there were also a lot of non-tremendous athletes. It was a grueling event for me as the driver, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the people who, on average, run three 10K races in a matter of about 24 hours. As I witnessed for myself the joy and camaraderie of everyone involved my whole attitude changed forever, and I was inspired and decided that I needed to run.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have made any major decisions while suffering from severe sleep deprivation.
D. convinced me that I could run a marathon. Did I mention that he also trains runners? So he was probably just on autopilot when he was talking to me. Regardless, I believed him. I signed up for a 10K race at the end of October, and began training in earnest.
Now is probably a good time to speak to any of my fellow moderately obese brethren who may be reading this to get inspiration. Getting started sucks! You need to accept that. There will be sweat, and chaffing, and aches, and pains. I will probably devote an entire post to the trauma inflicted on nipples. Sorry if I am dashing any of your hopes, but you need to know.
So I started training. I couldn't even go 0.25 miles at a slow pace before my lungs were killing me. Talk about discouragement. Over the course of the next months I kept at it and 0.25 grew little by little until I could go 6 miles. I listened to my body and didn't push myself as hard as I probably could have, but I avoided injury, and that was my #1 goal.
I noted that there were two areas that improved at different rates. My legs and my lungs were never on the same page after the first couple of runs (when they both attempted to revolt.) Some runs would be all about pushing my lungs, while on others my lungs felt fine, but my legs were dead.
Finally race day came. It was October in Oregon which means it was cold and wet. My family loaded up in the min-van and headed to Champoeg Park. They walked with me to the starting area before heading back to the van to wait out of the cold. I will probably devote a post to this race, so I will just briefly talk about it here. I started out way too fast and paid for it dearly at the end, but I finished. I set a PR for 10K distance. My nipples were killing me, but I had done it.
So with one race under my belt, and amazed that I had been able to do what I thought was impossible just a short time before I decided to set my sights on a marathon...
My name is Allen, and in case you didn't guess...I am overweight and am a marathoner. I haven't actually run a marathon yet, but am planning to. I have seen parts of marathons, both the race kind and the kind on t.v. where they show a bunch of episodes of the same show. I figure that should qualify me, or perhaps I should change the name of the blog to "Moderately Obese Marathoner (in training)".
I want to start by apologizing in advance for a few things. Maybe a few disclaimers should be made as well.
I have no idea what I am going to talk about. Just came up with the idea to start blogging while I was out running the other day. The idea was driven home by a discussion on keeping a journal I heard yesterday. So here I am with no preconceived notion of what I hope to make of my small piece of cyber real-estate.
"My hypocrisy knows no bounds." That is how a local sports radio talk show host introduced himself his first day on the air. I found it humorous, and think it best to just put it out there and get it out of the way.
I am a man. That is both a disclaimer and an apology. I am not very in touch with my emotions, and don't have as much empathy for others as I should.
I have four children, which means I am an optimist, a dreamer, and a cynic, as well as many other things.
As stated, I am training for a marathon. Specifically the Newport, OR marathon on June 4, 2011. I ran cross country in high school, but that was about 20 years and 100 pounds ago. I have played basketball recreationally through the years, but have not ever really done much else to try to stay in shape. So I hear some of you asking, "Why the sudden interest in running a marathon?"
I'm glad you asked. My marathon story starts with a man whom I shall refer to as D. Many people who read this will know who he is, but to afford him some privacy I shall simply call him D. He is an Iron-Man. He has done several of them in fact, as well as multiple other events. D. roped me into being the driver of his van for Hood-to-Coast 2010, an event that I had heard of but was none too familiar with. For those who don't know, it is a relay race from Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood to Seaside on the coast 197 miles away. I was also a "backup" runner in case anyone got hurt (thankfully no-one did). There are 12 members on the team, each of which runs three legs. When he explained all of this to me, I couldn't help but think that only a handful of morons would be stupid enough to sign up for such an event, and they all must be tremendous athletes like D. I was wrong on so many levels.
Turns out, there were more than a handful, there were 12,000. They weren't all tremendous athletes, though admittedly quite a few were, but there were also a lot of non-tremendous athletes. It was a grueling event for me as the driver, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the people who, on average, run three 10K races in a matter of about 24 hours. As I witnessed for myself the joy and camaraderie of everyone involved my whole attitude changed forever, and I was inspired and decided that I needed to run.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have made any major decisions while suffering from severe sleep deprivation.
D. convinced me that I could run a marathon. Did I mention that he also trains runners? So he was probably just on autopilot when he was talking to me. Regardless, I believed him. I signed up for a 10K race at the end of October, and began training in earnest.
Now is probably a good time to speak to any of my fellow moderately obese brethren who may be reading this to get inspiration. Getting started sucks! You need to accept that. There will be sweat, and chaffing, and aches, and pains. I will probably devote an entire post to the trauma inflicted on nipples. Sorry if I am dashing any of your hopes, but you need to know.
So I started training. I couldn't even go 0.25 miles at a slow pace before my lungs were killing me. Talk about discouragement. Over the course of the next months I kept at it and 0.25 grew little by little until I could go 6 miles. I listened to my body and didn't push myself as hard as I probably could have, but I avoided injury, and that was my #1 goal.
I noted that there were two areas that improved at different rates. My legs and my lungs were never on the same page after the first couple of runs (when they both attempted to revolt.) Some runs would be all about pushing my lungs, while on others my lungs felt fine, but my legs were dead.
Finally race day came. It was October in Oregon which means it was cold and wet. My family loaded up in the min-van and headed to Champoeg Park. They walked with me to the starting area before heading back to the van to wait out of the cold. I will probably devote a post to this race, so I will just briefly talk about it here. I started out way too fast and paid for it dearly at the end, but I finished. I set a PR for 10K distance. My nipples were killing me, but I had done it.
So with one race under my belt, and amazed that I had been able to do what I thought was impossible just a short time before I decided to set my sights on a marathon...
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