I planned on an interval workout today, but Ellie suggested I spend some quality time with Parsenn. You see, Parsenn has officially been confined to the kitchen when we're not home because of some very bad behavior. In the last week he has eaten: Three magazines, my ski goggles, two legs of our dining room table, one iPod shuffle (still working, though!), a baseball cap, one of Ellie's boots, two slippers, and two cookbooks. So instead of an interval workout, I took Parsenn on a run. We covered our usual 5K course, and despite two potty stops, he shattered his old PR and ran 25:50. Atta Boy! Then, tonight one of our favorite shows featured MinneSOTAH foods. Bizzarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern traveled the state, with his first meal coming at a Lutefisk Dinner in Cyrus, Minnesota. What's Lutefisk, you ask? Well, here's what I learned:
1. Main ingredients: Cod and Lye. 2. The Olsen Fish Company in Minneapolis is the world's largest Lutefisk distributor. 3. It is actually poisonous at one point during its production. 4. The key is to "not breathe in while eating it."
Later in the show, not only did he eat a fish called a "Sucker Head," but he ate the HEAD OF THE SUCKER HEAD, which is not all that appealing:
Any of my Minnesota RBF's ever eat this stuff? I guess I'd give Lutefisk a shot if given the opportunity when I visit for Grandma's Marathon in June, but I'm not so sure about the Sucker Head.
* At first glance, that's a PR in the Half Marathon, folks. But you have to take into account, once again, Wisconsin winters. Have I mentioned this before?
Because of still-yet-to-melt snow, the original route for the Dick Lytie Half Marathon had to be altered, which ended up shortening it a bit. According to the runners with Garmins, it was anywhere from 12.7 to 12.9, but according to Map My Run, it was 12.9, so that's what I'm going with. That equals a 6:52 pace with an AvgHR of 162, so I'll take it.
I also had the priviledge of running the first 7 miles with ultra running legend Roy Pirrung--just Google his name, and you can see "legend" isn't an understatement, not to mention Hall of Famer. It was a blast just to pick his brain about different events (WS100, 24-hour events, BOSTON, the upcoming 100K Championships, which he'll be competing at in 2 weeks) and enjoy what actually turned out to be a beautiful day. He's also running Boston in a couple weeks, and that will be his 800th event! Oh yeah, and he's never DNF'd.
I probably could have pushed the first 7 miles a little faster (I ran 49:32 through 7) but couldn't pass up the conversation and company. Today's run put me over 50 miles for the week, which is definitely a new high. Woo Hoo!
Ever have those runs that are a struggle? You're just not feeling it...your stomach is mixing concrete and feels heavy, your breathing is instantly labored, the sidewalks are all icy, and you're always running into a headwind. Yep, that was me yesterday morning. I was up early and out on my route by 7:00 AM, hoping to cover 15-20 miles at my planned marathon pace (7:15). I had picked out a 5 mile loop in town and even packed a bag full of snacks and water for each time around. But I wasn't feeling it. I ended up completing one loop of 5 miles in 36:32, so I was running the planned pace but really not feeling like taking another step. So I quit. Man, that's tough to type. I quit. Ugh.
Walking back to my house, I was disappointed, to say the least. I was actually in a funk the majority of the morning after that. I ate wayyy too much food at lunch to comfort my bruised ego and that was the turning point in the day. I needed to fix things. So I did.
I had a great afternoon at the office, finished up around 7 PM and returned home. I grabbed Parsenn and changed into some bright clothing (it's still dark by 7:00 here). Into my ears went the iPod Shuffle, and out the door went Parsenn and I. I ran a 5K route in town that I really like, first at Parsenn Pace, then on my own:
1 27:06 8:43 (Parsenn Pace is improving! He broke 9 minutes for the first time!) 2 22:19 7:11 3 21:53 7:03 4 22:00 7:05 5 22:10 7:08
Ladies and Gentlemen, that's a 25K at sub marathon pace (okay, so the first loop was slow, but don't ruin the moment)! I could have kept going, too, but by this time it was approaching 10 PM and I still hadn't seen my wife, so I called it quits. I slept like a baby last night and am looking forward to this weekend. Ellie and I are running a very hilly half marathon in Green Bay. I would love to break 1:30, but I'm not sure about the course, so we shall see. I would like to get in a couple miles before and after too in hopes of running about 20 total.
I saw a commercial last night from New Balance (can anyone find the actual video?)about the "Love/Hate" relationship runners have with running. How fitting that I would see it yesterday, after a bad run almost ruined a day, but a good run absolutely made it--all in about 12 hours!
Thanks, to Reid (who, by the way, makes me TOTALLY jealous in his new jacket), here's the LOVE/hate commercial:
...and I'm not even going to mention the weather or the running conditions outside, with the exception of mentioning the pasties made another appearance! I ran a 5K route in town, first at Parsenn Pace, then at my pace, which ended up being 20:33, with an AvgHR of 162. It felt great! Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in my long run, and I want to do it at planned marathon pace (7:15) to see how exactly I feel at that pace with about 6 weeks left. Wish me luck, both with the weather and with the run!
Now, I'm not sure he's able to pull this kind of look off, but Parsenn received a new collar from his mother today. And judging by the look on his face, he's not real sure about it either...
I don't know...whaddaya think? Can he pull it off? If you ask me, the colors are eerily similar to my wife's latest Vera Bradley purchase (slightly visible in the background behind the backpack).
Close up of Ellie's Vera (bag #17 in her collection. Okay, she doesn't have that many...yet) Link!
What a wonderful weekend...with the exception of the aforementioned snow, which continued to fall on Sunday. I ran 7 miles on Saturday (it was supposed to be 17, but I didn't have it in me), and ate myself into a coma on Sunday, so now it's time to buckle down a bit (I swear I've said that at least 4 times this year already) and get in some good weeks so I can feel like I've earned the right to taper in late April.
Now just STOP SNOWING!!
Edited: Well, it's not snowing, but it's definitely not going to be confused with "warm" out there either. 8 miles in the books; 3 at "Parsenn Pace" and 5 in 33:22, AvgHR 166, MaxHR 176.
Well, two days after getting to run outside wearing shorts, Wisco decided to take on 6 inches of snow...and counting. And because I really can't handle the treadmill for that amount of time, I bundled up and ran around town for exactly 1:30, covering who knows how much ground. My Avg HR was 139 with a max of 166. Speaking of HR, I had my "zones" checked yesterday. I got to wear a big "Hannibal Lecter" mask and strap myself to a treadmill. The text ended with me running 8 mph on a 10% incline for about 2 minutes. That part kinda sucked. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I remember my Anaerobic Threshold being 179, my Anaerobic Balance being 176 (you want these numbers close together, so that's good), and my Zone 2 HR ending at 150. I think this means I've been training in the high Zone 2 and low Zone 1 for the majority of this year. I'm interested in trying AHarmer's T-40 workouts so as to compare progress through the year. I'll have to train myself to stay on the treadmill for that long, though! Speaking of which, it appears I'm not the only one sick of this white shhh-tuff.
My legs were re-introduced to the outdoors last night. Yep, you guessed it--I ran in shorts. Several injuries were reported across the city of Plymouth from 5:58 PM CST (or is it CDT?) to 6:31 PM. Most victims reported a pale white object crossing their vision before they walked into a lightpole or crashed their car into the remnants of a snowbank. Who cares if it was actually only 41 degrees out! The sun was shining, snow is melting, and I wanted to run one of my favorite 5 milers in town. I ended up running 33:21 (6:40 pace), which I think is pretty good considering 2 of the miles were through melting snow and slush, thus slowing my pace down. I'll take it. And I'll also give credit to Steve for the idea to expose those poor saps to my legs.
After getting a tour of Fort Collins, having some fantastic coffee, and getting adjusted, we headed back South to Waterton Canyon for another scenic run. This place was amazing! The course follows a dirt road along the South Platte river, heading 6.5 miles uphill/upstream to the largest dam I've ever seen at Strontia Springs. The canyon walls are enormous and known for housing Bighorn Sheep (we didn't see any...).
About halfway up (4 miles ish) my stomach started to quit on me...it had been a long day, and I was low on energy and OUT of Gu. Our idle conversations slowly trailed off as we concentrated more and more on putting one foot in front of the other. When we reached the top, I figured our pace had faltered a bit. To my surprise, we were actually averaging 7:45 a mile! Whoa! At the dam I took some pictures...
Turning around, my spirits were high for a great finish to the run. We had run into the wind the entire 1st half, it was going to be downhill, and my stomach had un-knotted itself. Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad... My stomach continued to behave itself, and we were running back downhill, but that canyon sure plays with the wind. We ran into a headwind the entire trip back down. I don't know how that's possible, but it did slow our pace a bit more than I expected, to about 7:55 miles.
I haven't posted in a while because I escaped Wisconsin for an extended weekend in Colorado. Many people would consider a "vacation" time spent doing a lot of nothing...sleeping in, relaxing on a beach, napping...you know--rest. I took a slightly different approach. I flew out Wednesday night and was picked up at the airport by a pal of mine from Chiropractic school who is now practicing in Fort Collins. I arrived in Denver around 9 and headed with him to his place, about an hour away. Thursday morning, we were up by 5 AM and on the road to the Blue Sky Trail outside Fort Collins. We arrived at the trailhead at just after 6 AM, and I was a bit dissappointed to find it a bit chilly outside--26 degrees to be exact. Still, this wasn't going to dampen the mood. After getting out of the car, I looked at all the stars still out and even caught a shooting star. "This is gonna be good..." I thought. The fact it was still pitch dark out also helped to keep our pace a bit slow starting out. We couldn't see much, let alone a root or rock. As the sun slowly crept up, the environment I was running in began to reveal itself. It was absolutely gorgeous. We didn't stop talking the entire run, catching up on life in general--family, practice, running--stopping only for photos and Gu's but still keeping a pace right around 8 minutes. We ran through a valley for the majority of the run (you can see the trail in the valley in the pictures below) before making the climb up the Eastern bluffs, eventually reaching the 7 mile point, a distance that happened to be marked by mule deer (again, see pictures below). While I love running in the country in Wisconsin, it's tough to compete with the Front Range of Colorado...absoulutely amazing. You can see a satellite image of our run by clicking below, then choosing "satellite" in the corner...
We weren't done that day yet, however. We also ran 12 miles in the afternoon. Check back for that tomorrow.
As you know, I run for a dear friend of mine that has a disease known as NF2. The chief research foundation is the Childrens Tumor Foundation. Every time I run a marathon, I do it with pride in an "NF Marathon Team" Yellow Jersey. Late last week I got an email for a "Caring Run Request" from Steve, the team's director. If one of our heroes is struggling, we send out an email and do a run with that person in our hearts and minds. Talk about motivation. In our basement, I ran 5 miles in 33:31, without even the TV on. This Caring Run was for Matt Leibowitz.
I never personally met Matt but have always admired his tenacity, often finishing races no matter what.
Matt passed away Saturday from complications of NF at the age of 32. I've included below the "Caring Run" email I received late last week, after Matt was admitted to the hospital with a tumor found to be inoperable.
Celebrating the capacity of the human spirit to overcome adversity
A Caring Run Request
Beyond the awareness generation and the fundraising, our NF Endurance/Marathon team plays another important role for the members who are touched in some way by neurofibromatosis. We provide a sense of family and support that is very real and very heartfelt. Beyond the physical manifestations, NF can leave a family feeling rather alone and isolated at times. With well over 1000 active members committed to enabling treatments and a cure for NF, we do all we can to eliminate that feeling for all on our team. We care, and we care at a very deep and personal level about our fellow teammates and their loved ones who are struggling.
I'd like to ask all of you to think about Matt Leibowitz this week as you run or train. Matt is a true NF Hero, and is need of our support now. He has inspired and touched literally thousands of people at the events he's participated in. One of the more common questions we get on the course from people we meet is "What's NF?" When they see Matt Leibowitz riddled with tumors and struggling with each step to the finish line, we don't get the question. . . .they know.
Just a few weeks ago Matt lost his sister Holly to complications from NF. He wasn't able to visit her in the hospital, due to being too weak to travel due to reconstructive surgery in October to his foot. Now, Matt too is in the hospital. He has a tumor in his chest that has grown significantly, and has been told it is malignant and inoperable. He is receiving daily doses of chemo and radiation and had a tracheotomy this week to make breathing easier for him.
His mantra to all of us has always been to "Never raise that white flag of surrender!" If you're getting this email, I have a feeling that those are more than just words on a page to you. So, please, lace 'em up for Matt this week! Run, pray, send positive energy his way. He and his family need our support in this most difficult time.
2. I drowned my sorrows in Guinness last night and may be a wee bit dehydrated.
3. It's cold out today. 13 mph winds and -3 degrees.
4. I leave on Wednesday for Colorado and should probably think about packing.
After considering all of this, I'm heading out. To quote one of the greatest motion pictures never to win an Oscar, BRING IT ON!
UPDATE: When I left, I kept the wind in mind, and after deciding it was mostly out of the North, that's the direction I headed. I wanted to run sub-8 minute miles for the first 10-12 miles and then crank it up a bit on the way back. I ended up turning around a bit earlier than 10 miles however. You see, while running outside on days like this make me tougher, there is one sign that will send me back from where I came every time:
This sign was a little misleading, however, because I could hear at least 3 seperate and distict growls from behind the fence of this particular yard, and the sign only makes mention of a single dog. Good thing there were three different signs of similar messages posted on the fence. One for each dog, I guess. As I've mentioned, there was a fence, and they were probably securely contained, but I DID NOT care to confirm.
Don't get me wrong...I love dogs...THAT I KNOW AND DON'T REQUIRE A WARNING SIGN. So, at 9.46 miles, I turned around. I was feeling great on the way home, too. My last couple miles, where I wanted to run "race pace" to end the run, turned out as follows:
14: 6:57 15: 7:02 16: 7:00 17: 7:10 18: 6:55 19: 7:58 (Uphill, into the wind...) 20: 6:56 (Downhill, with wind :) ) 21: 10:52 (Hello, Wall! ...and a cool down)
Needless to say...I'm pretty pumped! Only a couple asterisks remain. At about mile 7 or 8 my left foot fell asleep. How annoying is THAT? I loosened up the shoe, walked/shuffled for about a mile, then laced it back up, and on I went. Anyone else deal with this? I can't stand it! I also am a bit concerned, as I only took in one Gu and about 6 oz of Gatorade the entire time. I think I need to work on nutrition more, but in temperatures like this I don't develop a thirst at all. I think it's because my nose is sniffling the entire run, so I'm getting a steady supply of "drainage" to tide me over. I welcome any thoughts on the foot numbness, as well as the nutrition.
And I'd also like to apologize for the rather disgusting explanation for my lack of thirst on runs.
Well, not only did spring NOT arrive (it's back in the single digits here), but the training has suffered a bit. There's just a lot of stuff going on. I haven't run since Sunday (with the exception of sprinting around the block with Parsenn--he's getting fast!) and it's not looking all that good for the rest of the week.
I have some legitimate excuses:
1. Work is BUSY. This is definitely a good thing, and I'll sacrifice some training for that. 2. We have church tonight. 3. I'm going to Madison for the State Basketball Tournament tomorrow. 4. I like to see my wife at least occasionally.
...and some weak excuses:
1. I have not gotten up to run in the morning. 2. It's cooooooooold (see #1)
So I guess this is a step back week. Tomorrow I'll probably get a run in, and I've got this superstition that started with our playoff run, where I run a mile for every victory needed to win State. That means I'll be running at least 2 miles on Friday. This might be a good week to rest a bit, though, as next week I'll be out in Colorado running and skiing, and I'm looking forward to getting the HR up in that altitude.
All in all, it could be worse. There are only so many hours in a day, and very few precious hours right now with the sun out. And at some point this snow is going to melt...I just hope it's before June.
EDITED: Well, I got to take lunch a bit early today, so I ran home and changed and took Parsenn on a run. He had been so good lately on the runs at staying focused on the task at hand...until today. I think it might have to do with running during the day instead of at night, but today he had to stop and inspect every car, human, snowbank, footprint, and manhole. That's okay though...I'm still considering it a run!
Not only did the temperatures rise above freezing today, but we also hit 41 degrees! To celebrate, I chopped ice off of our driveway for about an hour, then went for a run. Instead of running 18-20 miles, I had time for only 2 hours of running because of an appointment this afternoon. I hopped between puddles and covered 14.63 miles in 1:58 for an 8:03 pace. Again, my avg HR was 150 and I maxed at 185. Now if I only knew when that happened! My legs were feeling good, but I am looking forward to some speed workouts this week. To have a cruising pace of right around 8 minute miles is great, especially for this early in the year, but I'm looking forward to bringing that cruising pace into the 7:30 range.
I haven't run more than 5 miles this weekend. But it's for a great cause--Plymouth is going to State after winning their sectional final today! I'm a volunteer assistant with the team and can't be happier or prouder for those guys. 2 more wins and we won't just be going to State; we'll be bringing home a gold ball as State Champions!
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