Running, Stretching and Yoga

Run 1 of week two of my training schedule is to run 1.5 miles. I really wanted to run more than that, 1.5 miles doesn't seem like enough. But I'm sure that who ever came up with that plan did it for a reason. I really don't want to push myself to hard and get burnt out or hurt myself so I just did what I was told.

I ran down to the corner and back again trying to pace myself at 9 minute miles. I thought I started off at about the right pace and I even slowed down a bit to make sure I wasn't running too fast. I got to the corner (.75 miles) in just 6 minutes. Too fast again, it should have been more like 6.45. On the way there I stopped and gave Amy the key to the apartment because she was on her way back from her run and probably didn't want to wait outside for 15 minutes for me to get back. Anyway, I ran back in 6.45 which was about right the pace, I'll just have to try and remember how that felt for next time. My total time was 12.45, about 45 seconds faster than it should have been. I'll keep working on it though.

Since I'm almost as flexible as a 2x4 I decided I'd work on that a little bit. I found this stretch routine on the Cool Running website. I went though it after I got back and I'm going to try and do it before and after my runs. I also wanted to work my abs a little bit tonight. We have an Abs Yoga with Rodney Yee DVD that I think is pretty good. I got through about half of it before I just couldn't do anymore, it's pretty tough stuff. The DVD title says it is for beginners but I have a very hard time beliving that, but maybe that's just because I'm trying to make myself feel better for not being able to do it.

I also have a problem with some of the poses. I'm a pretty tall guy, about 6'5". A couple of the poses that he shows I can't exactly do. Not because of the whole flexible as a board thing, but because our apartment is just too small. There is no place I can go to be able to extend my legs in front of me most of the time and then once in a while extend them out to the side. We could probably make it work if we got rid of our bed, but I don't think Amy would go for that.

Tomorrow is a rest day so I'll probably try and do some strength building exercises I found and maybe I'll try out the Elliptical thing in the clubhouse for a little while.

1 mile fast

To make up for the run I missed earlier this week I had to run 1 mile fast tonight. I ran easy for about 5 minutes to warm up then I stretched and ran a few strides. I started my mile way too fast and I paid for it later. I ran down the block a half mile then turned around and ran back. The nice thing about that first half mile is that the last block or two are downhill. I got to the halfway point in 3.01, my plan was to run a 7 to 7.15 mile, see way too fast. The horrible part of the second half mile, after running too fast for the first half it that the first block or two are uphill. I hurt on the way back but I kept pushing and I even found a little something so I could pick it up a bit at toward the end. My finishing time was 6.48. I only ran .97 miles, but that's close enough for me. (Ok fine, it's not but I'll do better next time).

One goal that I have in the long run is to complete the second half of my runs faster than the first half. I think that will help me finish strong when I race. However, I knew that wasn't going to happen tonight, not after going out in 3 minutes. I forgot to grab Amy's iPod before I left but instead of running back up to the apartment to get it I decided to run without it tonight. When I hurt during a run I really miss having the music to push me. This blog helped though, when I was thinking about slowing down I knew I would have to write about that after I got back. I didn't want to let all of my faithful readers down so I kept pushing. (Shhhh, I know that I don't really have any faithful readers, but if I say it out loud maybe I'll actually realize it).

Well I think I'll take tomorrow off and finish this week one run short. Oh yeah, looking at the plan I made for when I am going to do I runs I think I need to revise it. I had planned on running on Tuesdays and Wednesdays then taking Thursday and Friday off, before running again on Saturday and Sunday. That doesn't make any sense so I'll run Tuesday and Thursday, take Friday off then run Saturday and Sunday. I'm sure I'll have to adjust that from week to week depending on what's going on but that's my plan for now.

I finally ran this week

Well I finally ran again today, it was my first run since Sunday. According to my training plan I missed two runs but I'll make one of them up tomorrow. Let me explain why I missed my runs.

I'm currently working on my BS degree in Computer Science. Since I work full time I'm only taking a couple of classes a semester. This semester has been a pretty tough one for me. My classes aren't bad at all. It's just that I slacked off a tremendous amount this semester. I just couldn't get myself to do my homework when I needed to. I had a paper due for my history class last week but I didn't get it done. I went to Lincoln over the weekend so I didn't work on it then either. So every evening I wouldn't let myself go run until I did a certain amount of work on my paper. And well, I hardly touched it which meant I didn't run. I finally got it done tonight and turned in and I finally got a run in this week.

One of my major goals this summer is to improve myself so I don't have semesters like this in the future. It is really stressful going through school the way that I do. It would be so much easier for me if I would just work on stuff a little bit at a time instead of saving everything until the last minute (or after that) and doing a crappy job on it. I do think running will help me with that.

Well I stuck to the plan and ran an easy 1.5 miles tonight. I found a calculator on RunnersWorld.com that told me what pace to run based on one of my race times. I did a real quick look for the calculator but I didn't find it, I'll post a link to it later. Anyway, the calculator said I should run my easy runs at a 9 minute pace, so for 1.5 miles I should have about 13.30. Most of the training I've done the last few weeks has been on a treadmill so I haven't had to worry about pacing myself. It was a perfect night to run tonight (and the clubhouse closes at 11 so I couldn't have used the treadmill anyway) so I ran on the bike trail outside our apartment. I was pretty worried about pushing myself too hard since I haven't ran for awhile and I like to run hard so I was constantly holding myself back. At the halfway point I was a little fast, 6.15 so I eased up a bit more on the way back and ended up with a time of 13.12. Really I'm a little surprised that I was that close to where I should be because I've never been real good at pacing myself. I'm sure that will come with time though.

Training Plan

The next race I'm planning on running is the Havelock Charity Run. My brother-in-law gets a team together for this event every year. I couldn't make it last year but I ran a 13.49 in 2005. I'll post later on what charity we'll be running for. Our team will run in the 3k event and I have about 7 weeks until the race.

I'm not sure what I want to focus on right now, running farther or running faster. I want to run a marathon someday but since I've only been running for a few weeks it will probably be a couple years at least before I do that. So I'm leaning toward running faster and getting some of my speed back so I can post times that I'm a little bit proud of. I'm going to set my goal at 13 minutes. That would be cutting off almost a minute per mile from the pace I ran last race. I think it's achievable though because it is a shorter race and I'll have a lot more miles on my legs.

Since I'm not an expert on running or anything remotely close I did what I do best, search the internet. I found a number of different training schedules and I've decided to go with About.com's beginner 5k program. Since it is an 8 week plan and for a 5k not a 3k I'm going to skip week seven. I decided on this plan over others (someday I might post about them) for a couple of different reasons. This program is pretty simple compared to some of the other plans. I like that they have some speed work involved, most of the other plans were just about adding miles. The miles that it suggests I run seem about right to me, especially since I'm training for a 3k.

I'm going to plan on doing Run 1 on Sundays. I'll do Run 2 on either Mondays or Tuesdays, but Tuesdays are more likely. Run 3 will always be on Wednesday and Run 4 on Saturday mornings.

First Post

Welcome to my blog. I'm going to use this blog mostly as my running journal. Hopefully it will keep me motivated and accountable for my training and my goals.

--- A little about me ---
My name is Brandon. I'm 25 and I live in Kearney, NE with my wonderful wife Amy. We've been out here for a couple of years now. I'm a computer programmer at Cabela's and Amy runs a daycare and teaches preschool for the kids of the staff at a nursing home.

Earlier this year I decided to start running again. I signed up for a 5k and started training. That lasted a couple weeks, then I took the month before the race off but I ran the race anyway. I was hurting a few minutes into it and I stopped and walked many times during it. I ended up running a 29:09 and feeling like a loser. This actually motivated me to run because I did so bad I realized how out of shape I really was. Amy decided to start running after that race too.

We both signed up for a two mile race that was three weeks after my 5k and set somewhat lofty goals. I wanted to break 15 and Amy wanted to break 20. We both ran pretty consistently for the three weeks until the race and it paid off. I ran a 14.53 and Amy ran a 19.55. I'm still a little surprised that I actually made my goal. That run was just this past Saturday so that pretty much takes us to today.