Goals for 2012

Read the Bible more. Get into my Bible Study Fellowship more diligently. Put focus back on leading my family and my relationship with God. I'll attempt to go to bed earlier, and wake up earlier to accomplish this in the morning.

Go on more dates with my wife. It would be nice to set aside a once a week or every other week date with my Bride. She has set up "schedule Sunday" which is for planning the next weeks activities and direction. 
 

Cut back or eliminate processed sugar. From sweet stuff like ice cream and cookies to how much sugar I put in my coffee. This is something I've wanted to do for a while, and I'm really going to try to do it. I have a major sweet tooth.

Notice the injury periods of April/May and October/November

Run 1000 miles in 2012. My goal for 2011 was 1000 miles. I ran nearly 900 in 2011, but was hampered by 2 separate 5 week injury periods that threw my pace out of whack.

Avoid injury. How do I accomplish that? Less races? I had a winter race series that had a race every Saturday for 7 weeks plus a grueling 10 miler at the end. I ran several 5ks in the weeks after that. Looking back, I can see now that I probably was too taxed, not taking enough rest weeks. I basically ran a race every week for about 4 months. I'm not a professional athlete, so at this stage in my progression I probably shouldn't be racing every week. I'll be picking my race schedule for the year soon and using the Hal Higdon's 5k Advanced training plan. I'm planning on keeping the races short, too, like  10ks or less.

Read more books. I really got on a roll reading in 2010, and the first part of 2011, but dropped off. I have a couple books I bought that still need reading, so I'll start there.

Put the smartphone down more. This correlates to reading my Bible and reading books in general. Too much time spent on the phone.

Play with the kids more. Ride bikes, play games (including the Wii), run, special trips out.

Grow a better garden. We have some awesome raised beds that were here when we moved in 4.5 years ago. The last 2 summers haven't yielded much fruit. We're also building a chicken coop attached to our shed.

Race Recap: Dairyville, USA Orchard Festival 5k

Dairyville, USA Orchard Festival 5k 3.14 mi 00:21 06:33 pace

My goal coming into this race was to be faster than 21:00 It's a goal I've had since March, when I had a crappy weather 5k, and April where I had 2 5ks that were poorly measured courses. I figured this course would be pretty accurate because race directors are big time ultra runners in the area.

BrookLynn, Bradley and Raegan before the start of their race

I started with a 1-mile warmup that was very easy, but enough to get loose. My feet felt good, and have felt good the last few days. I figured I'd be able to be fast, but haven't really trained much in the last 2 weeks post-half. The kids all ran the "Youth Mile" race and did great. All 3 of them PR'd! Milkshakes all around!

The super fast kids were running today, a couple sub-16 5kers there. I set out to run my race and pace at least 6:45 per mile. The "Go!" was shouted and off we went. I felt good, tried to just let those guys go. About a half mile, I looked down to see 5:49 on my average pace on Garmy. Better slow down! I backed off, the lead group kept distancing and I tried to settle into my race. The first mile ticked off at 6:20, not too fast, considering it's only a 5k. I was mostly running by myself, but there was 1 lone duck (let's call him Juan) sitting out there 100 yards away. My goal was to just reel him in.

By the time mile 2 ticked off (6:47, still ahead of goal), "Juan" was only 10 yards in front of me, and by 2.3 miles I overtook him. There was nobody in front of me now. The fast kids were probably done and my thought was just maintain pace, and don't get passed by "Juan." The turn to the home straight is nice, once you're there, you can see the finish in the distance, and it's only slightly more than half mile away. All of a sudden I could feel someone closing in on me, a female who passed me like I was standing still. Yikes!

The finish

Coming into the finish I put on a kick, but could only do so much because the left foot pain I've had since 10 miles into the half was back again (It's at the in-step, arch, and tender to touch...) I ran through the line and stopped my watch with a 20:38 time.

I'm happy to have beaten my goal ( by 22 seconds no less) and now I have another goal for future 5k's (sub-20)

Props to Tim, Michelle, Eric and Sherri who ran the 10k. Great job guys and gals!

Splits: 6:20 - 6:47 - 6:36 - 6:25 (final .14)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/121791593

Race Recap, San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Hillary W. and I drove down yesterday, checked in to our wonderful, super-close-to-the-start hotel, and walked to the Expo. Very fun, bought some stuff, got some free stuff, met some Marathon Bar people. Once Chris got there, he and I went to the expo so he could pick up his gear, then we all left to Heidi T.'s sister's house a short drive away for a home-cooked pre-race dinner. Better than a restaurant for sure, and great company too!

I woke about 6:20, had some crappy coffee and ate, and headed out the door to meet Chris to make our way to the start. Our hotel was perfect as we only had to walk about 3 blocks to get to the corral aisle. We waited for Heidi to arrive to say hello and wish her luck, then continued to our assigned corral.

Coming into this race, I prepared well, trained hard, and made sure I was sufficiently rested in the days leading up to today's race. My feet have been feeling good, minimal blister issues, and I really felt good, not even any nerves this morning. More excitement than anything. I was starting to feel that sub-1:40 goal was attainable today.

After the National Anthem, we got started. The waved start didn't really work out, because everyone pressed forward once the gun went off, so Chris and I just made do and went with the crowd. It was probably a blessing because it slowed us down so we couldn't go out too fast. Chris and I settled into a nice pace that felt comfortable and the first couple miles clicked by quickly (7:33, 7:31). Chris told me he was going to back off a bit, and wished me luck.

The next 3 miles ticked by quick also, and I was feeling good. I wrote 3 splits on my forearm so I could check at miles 3, 7 and 11 to make sure I was staying on time. I decided I'd consume my Pineapple Roctane GU sometime around mile 6 or 6.5. I was still feeling good, noticed some tenderness in the ball of my right foot, but nothing too bad at this point.

Mile 7 was where I started to slow down. That pain in the right foot was getting more painful. Chriscaught me, tried to encourage me by telling me to block it out. I was able to run alongside him for an additional mile (through 8) but at that point, the pain was more than at the ball, I could feel it in the area where the big toe meets the foot in the fleshy area. I haven't had a blister there before, but it was getting more painful with each right foot step. Chris pulled away. I kept trying to get back to him, keeping him within 50 feet for about a half mile, but then it became too much.

At this point, my bubble was deflating. I was realizing with a 7:55 mile 9 that my sub-1:40 was slipping away. I kept trying to push through, but I kept getting slower and slower. Miles 10-13 were rough. At this point it was just damage control, and DON'T WALK like others were doing.

Coming into the final stretch, I knew what I had to do. I had to kick, and kick hard in order to just be done with this race. I turned it on and closed the final tenth of a mile from 6:09 to the end maxed out at 4:35 pace.

I'm super happy for Chris. He ran a great race and had a huge PR. I'm super happy for Heidi, who ran her first half and beat her goal time by over a minute. I'm also happy for Jessica W. who also had a HUGE PR, and we got to meet after the race. I'm appreciative of my wife for her encouraging and empathetic words after the race and during our LOOOOONG drive home.

I am pleased that I PR'd. My last half was 2 years ago (US Half 11/1/09 1:53:54). So I officially PR'd by 8 min 23 sec. I say officially because I ran a training half 3 weeks ago and ran 1:46:28, unofficially, LOL.

Race splits texted to Hillary's phone during the race:
3.1 - 23:32
6.2 - 47:13
10 - 1:17:26 (Faster than my 10 mile race in March)

First 9 - 1:08:39 (7:37, on target for goal)
Last 4.26 - 36:52 (8:39, blowing goal of the radar)

Overall finisher 1045/9831
Age group 177/777
865/4415 males

Oh, and I'm going to get my money back guarantee from my purchase of the Wright Socks. They're guaranteed to not allow blisters. Guaranteed!

Lately...

Wow. I got caught up in other things and really neglected my blog...

First Day of School!

The summer is coming to an end. I mean, the kids are back in school, so yes, their summer has ended, but the temperatures here have lingered in the HOT range. This is the first school year that all of our children are in school, meaning that we have about 5 hours every day to do whatever. Whether that's having a lazy day at home, doing housework/yard work, working out, volunteering in the kids' classes...whatever we want.

To wrap up my summer race series, I had up and down results. There were a couple of trail races, which I wasn't thrilled about and my performance was down. I had such a good feeling from the first race, to just trying to get the same time or not far from it. I ended up finishing 5th in my AG and 6th overall. The last race, on the same course as the first, I was able to fight through painful feet and finish 19 seconds slower than the first, but still under 7 minutes per mile. Disappointing, but now I know I'll be better for the winter series on the same course.

Final Mens Point Standings

Once the Sunset Through the Trees series was over, it was time to ramp up training for my half marathon. I actually ran a half marathon distance training run two days before the last series race. Then I teamed up with 2 buddies to run another one the next weekend. Both training runs were consecutive unofficial half marathon PRs (1:48:56, then 1:46:28; fastest race was 1:53:54).

The week after the second half training run we raced in the 36th Whiskeytown Relays, a 20 mile relay race around Whiskeytown Lake outside of Redding. Our team consisted of 3 guys (myself, Chris, and Scott) and 1 Gal (Heidi). It's a challenging race in which 3 of the 4 legs have substantial hills to overcome. I ran leg 1 and had to climb a hill measuring about 350 feet in elevation gain and covering just over 1 mile. Once I crested the hill it was all downhill or flat, and I cruised to a 6:29 pace for the last mile handing off to Scott in 13th place. I ran the leg in 29:16 or 7:22 pace. We finished 13th overall out of 119 teams and a team time of 2:31:51 or 7:36 pace. Not too bad!

I'm getting excited about this weekend. I'm running the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. It's a flat course, so I know I can take about a minute off of my last training half's time. I'm shooting for a sub-1:40. It's attainable, as long as I run smart. My training has gotten me this far, now I need to execute. I'll blog my results...I promise.

It's also nice because it doubles as a date weekend for my love and I to get away from our busy-ness lately with work and school. That catches you up on some of what's been going on. Look for more regular posts soon.

Sunset Through The Trees Series, Race 1, Lake Redding Park

Today marked the first race of our small town 2011 summer race series, Sunset Through The Trees. It's a series of events covering 7 weeks and 9 events, each ranging from 4-5.3 miles with 2 special time trial points races of 1 mile and 2 miles respectively.

They are really fun, and generally the same people show up every week, so it leads to a healthy competition (See 2011 Frosty Fun Run Series, Me vs. Chris). The first and last races are on the same course, so if you improve, you're able to see tangible results from the beginning of the series to the end.
For this series, I get to represent Team MARATHON Bar, and it's my second race doing so. Heidi T. also participated tonight, so it was cool having another teammate to represent the goodness of MARATHON Bars.

Today, I made sure to stay cool and stay hydrated. The hourly temperature forecast looked to be between 93 and 95 depending when you looked at it. I knew it would be HOT, I've done these summer evening races before. I drank 9 24oz bottles of water today in preparation for tonight's activities. About an hour before race time, as Hillary W. and I drove to take our son to his baseball game, I ate a MARATHON Crunchy Honey & Toasted Almond bar.

We dropped off Bradley and made our way over to the park where the start was (the ballpark and race are basically in the same area). Hill and I walked over to the registration table, signed in and collected our race bibs. We walked back to the car and used the facilities. I met up with Heidi and we got a couple pictures in our attire (posted later). I went for a quick warm up, ended up being about .4 mi, which was plenty on a warm night.

At the start, I moved forward to the front figuring I'd be better than most of the field, and not wanting to have to expend and bunch of energy maneuvering around people. The starter said 'Go!' and we were off. I didn't want to get out too fast, but didn't want to fall back either, so I got into a pace that felt relaxed enough, but still pushing. I checked the Garmy around half mile in and saw 6:18/mi, but I didn't feel that fast. I know at this point in my training, I couldn't maintain that pace, so I kept it in the back of mind to bring it back to reality a bit. The first mile is nice and easy, relatively flat, so I clocked a 6:35.

I have a hard time with this course. It has some annoying hills on the back side of mile 2 through 3. The hills aren't anything super challenging or anything, but they're there, and they roll, and every time I get there, I'm just...annoyed. This time, I just kept telling myself, to pick it up on the small downhills and tough it out on the ups. I clocked a 6:57 for mile 2, and 6:55 for mile 3.

Mile 4 is mostly flat, but I could tell I was tiring. I knew I was under 7:00 through 3, so I just tried to maintain. I got through mile 4 with a 7:01, so still under 7 pace overall.

The last .27 to .3 I knew I needed to kick, so I put in all I had left. I closed out the last quarter mile-plus at 6:28 pace. I was "done" at the end. Pouring sweat, out of breath, light-headed. Totally worth it.

Some things I liked about this race:
1. A PR! (Previous fastest time 2/26/11 was 30:25 7:)
2. I didn't get passed by anyone after .5-.75 miles in and a couple of those that did pass were young kids (i.e. teenagers) running the 2 mile race.
3. I PASSED a lot of people during the race, including people who have previously beaten me.
4. I gutted out this annoying course on a hot day.
5. I got to have some one-on-one time with Hillary W.
6. I got to run a race with teammate Heidi T.

I'm looking forward to having Chris and Pauline join some of these runs in the next few weeks.

Now I'm enjoying some Thrifty Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream and a Kona Brewing Co. Longboard Island Lager (Tim C.) for a post-race treat.

Pre-Race with Heidi T.