7 Miles of Hills

Got in my long run today. I ran the outside loop at Stone Mountain. I had a good slow run, plenty of hills to help make my average pace even slower. My total distance today was 7.2 miles, still sticking with my Galloway Training plan.

I felt good the whole workout maybe because the temperature was good for a long run. It was 58 degrees and overcast with no wind. Looked like it was going to rain a few times, but never did.

I am including a photo of the hill at the start of the outside loop, I don't know if it will show how steep the hill is, but it is steep.

Long Run Day

Today is a long run day, got to do 7 miles of run 5 minutes and walk 1 minute with a max heart rate threshold set at 135 bpm. This will be another very slow run, but it builds base and that is what I need right now.

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas everyone, we are opening Christmas presents and listening to Mannheim Steamroller. May get in a short run later on today.

1st Week Complete

Completed the 1st week, got all of the required runs in, but skipped optional XT workouts twice. I need to get to the point that I do all of my workouts. It is so easy to get busy and skip the optional workouts, I'll work on that though.

Same workout pattern for the coming week, 3 runs, 3 cross training sessions and 1 day of rest. I am going to run Monday so that means my runs will be on Mon, Wed and Fri this coming week, the cross training will be Tues, Thurs and Sat.

Ready to go, week two.

Start of My 1/2 Marathon Training

Well, this is the 1st week of my ING Atlanta 1/2 Marathon training. I have completed two out of my three runs for the week. Today was a 6 mile long run. I felt good, the run was fairly easy, mostly because I was running 5 minutes then walking 1 minute for the whole workout. I had the upper threshold on my heart rate monitor set at 135 bpm.

One more run and two cross training sessions left for the week. I hope I feel this good all the way to the 1/2 marathon in March.

Working on Podcast Feed

For some reason my first 7 podcasts don’t appear in iTunes and I can’t figure it out. I have reloaded all seven of them and they appear on website LostTrailRunner.com now. So I hope they will eventually show up in iTunes. I have pinged iTunes and gotten a good response, so we will see.

Podcast Update

LostTrailRunner Podcast Episode 14 is now up on iTunes.

A little talk about training plans and the start of my 1/2 marathon plan for the ING GA in March of 09.

Mail from Kristor of Running the Narrow Path.

Various ramblings about Stone Mountain.

Podcast Update

LostTrailRunner Episode #13 is now up on iTunes.

XTERRA Trail Race Report

XTERRA Battle at Big Creek Trail Run.

Got up early this morning to head out to the race to change my registration to the 11K race.

When I arrived at the venue I went to registration. The Race Director was really nice, he said just pick up my race packet and then we would go over to the scoring tent and get my name moved to the 11K race. No problem.

The temperature was more like 50 than 40 and it was sunny, but a little breezy.

The race started in the gravel parking lot, I hung near the back at the start. That probably was a mistake because when we hit the trail it was definitely single track. As a matter of fact it was single track for the whole race, very few wide spots for passing. Not that I passed very many people at all. Lots of uphill, lots of rocks, lots of roots, I was expecting to crash and burn but never did. I did trip a few times, but never hit the ground.

Since I really wasn't in shape for the 11K I figured I would just take it easy and cruise through it as a training run. Of course I was not expecting the course to be 8.11 miles, I was planning on 11K which is close to 7 miles. I don't know how the course got measured over a mile off in distance, but when I was ready for the race to be over I still had a mile to go. That was a bummer for sure.

The bright side was I still was able to finish 2nd in my age group. Even though the course was long I still enjoyed the race, I guess I just like trail races, they are so much different than road races.

XTERRA Trail Race Tomorrow

Got a Trail race in the morning. It has been raining this evening, so I can imagine what the trail will be like in the morning. the temperature in the morning is to be about 40 degrees and warm up to about 63. That may be perfect for a trail race of 11K.

I registered for the 3.5mi(6K) race then I found out that points are only awarded in the 7mi(11K) race. That means I have to get to the race early in the morning and try to get changed to the longer race. If not I will just do the 6K and enjoy it. I took Thursday and today off so I will be fully rested for the race.

I am getting all of my race gear rounded up tonight so I can just get up in the morning, take a quick shower to wake me up, get dressed and head out the door.

I'll give you a race report when I complete the race.

That's it for tonight.

Weekend Update

Isn't this cool? I have been blogging from my iPod Touch on most of my updates since September. It is really convenient to be able to blog from anywhere.

Now my update for last weekend.

On November 1st, the day after my birthday I ran in another Atlanta Track Club race. It was a 5 mile race at Stone Mountain Park. For those of you that don't know, Stone Mountain is east of Atlanta, GA.

I had a fairly good race, I ran about 4 minutes faster than a race I ran on the same course in September. I ran a 46:31 and finished 3rd in my age group.

The morning was fairly cold, about 37 degrees at the start. Even though it was cold the sun was out and it was a beautiful morning.

I have another race scheduled for this coming weekend, the "Battle of Big Creek XTERRA trail race", in Roswell, GA. That race is at 8:30am on November 8th.

I have uploaded Episode #12 of the LostTrailRunner podcast to iTunes if anyone is interested.


-- Post From My iPod

Brief Reflection

Since my birthday is the 31st I have been reflecting on my years of running. I originally started in 1972 when Frank Shorter won gold in the Munich Games.

I wasn't a consistent runner until 1974. That was when I read Bill Bowerman's book, "Jogging" and started using it to give me a true training plan to go by. I also read Kenneth Cooper's "Aerobics" and started counting aerobic points. As a matter of fact I still count aerobic points to this day. That is over 34 years of counting.

I would say that those two books are the ones that got me motivated to stick with running in 1974.

I ran my first race soon after, it was a 10K in Lakeland, FL and my time was 45:21. I have run many races since then and have a PR for 10K of 39:01, but I always look back at that 1st race as my benchmark.

-- Post From My iPod

Track Club X-C Race

Yesterday morning I got up early so I could drive to Canton, GA for the Atlanta Track Club X-C race. Got to the race site at Boling Park about 40 minutes before the race. Plenty of time to register and run a mile warm up. I needed the warm up, the temperature was 47 and I was freezing.

I was still cold when the race started, but the warm up helped. The course was three loops which means each loop was one mile since the race was a 5K.

I had a pretty evenly paced race, each lap I ran was within 3 second of each other. As a whole I felt very good about the race. My finish time wasn't that fast, I ran a 28:35, but I did finish 3rd in my age group.


-- Post From My iPod

Today's Race

Woke up this morning anticipating a good run on the trail at the XTERRA GA Fall Fitness 5K Trail Run.

I wasn't disappointed, the weather was great and the race was well organized.

We started in the parking lot so the field would be spread out by the time we hit the trail.

The trail was mostly hard packed clay and crushed rock and was wider than single track so there was no problem passing or being passed. There were some uphills that I had to do some walking on, but it seemed like most everyone did also.

My daughter Laura also ran the race. It was her first trail race and she was not quite sure if she liked trail races or not. I think she did, because she asked when the next one was taking place.

I finished in a slow 29:23, but managed 2nd in my age group, so I didn't feel to bad about the time.

The Last Day of September Update

Time for another update. Training has been going good, I have stayed faithful to my Benson training plan and have added the swim and bike workouts from my BeginnerTriathlete.com Sprint Tri training plan.

The status of my back is: better but not well. Continuing to stretch and ice. This is a very slow but steady process. As long as I am making progress, that's what counts.

The XTERRA Trail race is this weekend. I am looking forward to racing in the woods. The weather report for this weekend is finally like fall so it ought to be a great race.

-- Post From My iPod

Good Slow Race

September 13th I ran in my 1st race since Father's Day. I have run this race probably a minimum of 10 time and I can safely say that this is the slowest I have ever run it.

My time was 49:42 for 5 miles and my PR for this race is 32:12. As you can see there is quite a difference. I will admit that I am much older now and injured, but it is still hard to get over the difference in time.

I have been stretching and icing my back and it seems to help somewhat. At the least it has helped my tight hamstrings.

I am getting ready to go run so I will stop and post this entry. Bye for now.

-- Post From My iPod

Had A Good run Yesterday

Went out to Stone Mountain and had a good run. It was the first day that I was able to get a little faster run in. I did a steady state run, which means that after a mile warm up I ran at a steady faster pace for the remainder of the workout.

My back still bothers me, but I am still stretching and icing my back.

I am planning on running a 5 mile race this Saturday to see how my back holds up. I may do a run 3/walk 1 pattern just to give my back a rest during the race, we will see.


-- Post From My iPod

It's Time Again

It is time to update this blog again, so here goes.

As you can see, the right side of this page has my training log from Buckeyeoutdoors  as well as Twitter  updates. I have had Twitter and my event calendar over there for a while, I just added Buckeyeoutdoors today.

I decided that it will give me incentive to workout if people can see what I am doing.  

I am still having back problems, so I have increased the amount of stretching I am doing and am icing my back on a regular basis now. I hadn't been doing that previously.

I ordered a kickboard and when I get it I am going to start swimming with a lot of kicking. I believe it will help my leg strength and flexibility.

I have slacked off on my cycling and I need to get back to that also.  

There sure seems to be an awful lot of "I's" in this entry. Guess it is time to stop typing and publish it.

XTERRA Trail Races

I am getting excited about the XTERRA Trail race series that starts in October. I have registered for the 1st race which is on October 4th, it is a 5K race. That is a good distance to start the series and the distances go up with each race.

I have started training for the 1st race, even with my sore back. It will be like having a cross-country season, I love it. I'll keep doing my tri training, but with adding Roy Benson's workouts to my schedule it should help me with the trail races.

I even got a new pair of Brooks Adrenaline ASR trail shoes for my trail running. They are really good shoes, I have an older pair of them that I still wear, but now I can rotate trail shoes for training.

Plan Modification

I have modified my Tri Plan and have substituted Roy Benson's running workouts in the place of the plan's running workouts. By doing this I will start to get some easy speed work with his Heart Rate intervals instead of just running slow minutes every running workout. I will be using 142 bpm as the upper limit and 124 as the lower limit for the Heart Rate fartlek runs.

Hope this energizes my runs. To start with most of the runs will be 2 miles then increase from there.

Plans for the Coming Season

As you know if you read my previous blog entry that I have been using
a training plan that I found on the beginnertriathlete.com website. I
am doing a Sprint Tri training plan because it isn't as difficult to
keep up with as Long Course, etc. training plans.

I haven't been doing a very good job keeping up with the sprint plan
even though it is easier than the longer distance plans. I guess since
I haven't had much success with the swim workouts due to a lack of
available pool time I have let the whole training plan slip.

School is back in session now so maybe I will be able to get some lap
swimming time in shortly. I still intend to do the tri training just
because of the multi-sport aspect of it. My training plan isn't a
complete failure or anything like that, I just don't seem to stay on
the schedule laid out in the plan. I usually substitute running for
swimming and I need to get the swimming going.

Most of my running is still on trails and I think that helps my back,
not as much pounding as on pavement.

I intend on running the GA XTERRA Trail Race series starting in
October as well as the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K" at
Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando on October 25th. Of course all
of this hinges on if I can overcome this nagging chronic back pain.

We will see how it goes and I will update the blog again soon, at
least sooner than I did this time.

Update

I guess it is about time to add another entry to my blog. Lets see, when was the last time I blogged? Looks like it was May 9th, so it has been about a month. Lots of things have happened since then.
I was doing 6 mile runs and listening to Dean Karnazes on my iPod, actually I was doing CTS Fartlek workouts running 3 days a week. Trying to give my back a break.

Well, I started to ride my bicycle more to reduce the pounding on my back, and it seemed to help. So, I quit doing the 6 mile Fartlek workouts and added more cycling. Since I was riding more I started thinking about getting back into triathlon training. If I did that I could stay or become more fit while reducing my running. I went on the Web and found a site "BeginnerTriathlete.com". It had a log, training plans, info, etc., so I signed up for a 6 month membership for $25.00 and started a Sprint Tri Training plan.

I haven't done any serious Tri training for about 15 years, so it is like starting all over. That is why I am doing a Sprint Training plan. It also doesn't take up your whole life to do Sprint Training. I picked 2 late summer Sprint Tri's as my goal so we will see if I stick with it.

I also ran a 15K XTERRA Trail race the last day of May. Talk about saving your back, that is not the way to do it. The race was on May 31st just south of Jackson, GA at Dauset Trails. I got up about 4 a.m. on the morning of the 31st to get ready to go to Dauset Trails. It is about 70 miles south of where I live so I had to leave early in order to get there before the race started at 8:30 a.m. Since I had never been there I wanted to leave plenty of time for being lost. As it turned out the directions I had were very good and I didn't get lost. I ended up getting to the venue about 2 hours early. Since I was the first person to show up and was pre-registered I was given race bib #1.

I kept wondering before the race, if this was a good idea, if I was even going to be able to finish without my back really getting screwed up. Then I decided, what the heck I am already at the race.

I was not comfortable with bib #1 so I decided to try to get rid of it. I knew that Chris Wiley had won both previous XTERRA Trail races so I approached him and asked him if he wanted bib #1, but he said no I could keep it that way he wouldn't have the pressure on him. Well, as it turned out he left everybody in the dust and ran 54:12 sweeping all three GA XTERRA Trail races.

I finished the race (which was a big relief) and was 1st in my age group which is 65-69. I finished with a slow time of 1:49:54, but I felt pretty good about that because my back, butt and hamstrings hurt for the entire race. Fortunately I didn't mess my back up any worse than it already was. I tripped on a rock at about 4 1/2 miles into the race and tore up my right knee. Nothing serious, but was pretty bloody looking at the finish. I got a pretty cool medal for 1st place so I was happy.

Good Runs

This week I decided that if I was going to continue to run, even with a sore back, I might as well try to add a little speed.  I loaded a Carmichael Training Systems training MP3 into my iPod Nano and went to it.  The workout was a Fartlek workout with Dean Karnazes.  It consisted of a 15 minute warm up, then 8 X 3 minutes fast with 3 minute recoveries in between.  Then once 8 repeats were completed there was a 15 minute cool down.  This workout was just what I needed,  With this workout I could run my 6 mile runs that I have been doing and have a goal at the same time.  I ran this workout Monday and Wednesday and averaged between 11 and 12 minute pace for the overall workout, which wasn't bad considering all of the easy and recovery running/walking.  I plan on a trail run for my third run of the week.

I am completely happy with Polar, I had sent my Polar S625X back to Polar due to it not being waterproof after they had replaced the battery.  They sent me a new S625X to replace mine at no charge.  I couldn't believe it, I was  not expecting them to replace it.  What a great outcome.

I also received my new Nike+ Sportband from Roadrunner Sports and it worked great also.  When I took it out for a run, without calibrating it, it was only .2 of a mile off.  I have calibrated it for walking, next I have to calibrate it for running.  I also have an iPod Nano with Nike+ and since I calibrated it for both running and walking it is right on with the distance on my GPS when I use both.

I went to physical therapy on Wednesday and I had a Back Doctor appointment today.  The Doctor said to continue to do what I am doing as long as it doesn't make my back worse.  So, I will continue to stretch, ice and run.

Notes from the Last Week, etc.

I had a pretty good week, except for the sore lower back. Had a physical therapy session Monday and Friday. The Therapist does a really good job and my back always feels better when she finishes, but it doesn't take long for it to start hurting again.

I ran on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with no cross training this week, I did walk on Sunday, but I don't really count that as cross training.

Ran 2 good 6 milers at Stone Mountain on the road, then I did a 6.2 mile trail run.

I sent my defective Nike+ Sportband back to Nike for a refund, and ordered a new one from Road Runner Sports for $11.00 less. I should be receiving the new Nike+ Sportband on Wednesday, the 7th. We'll see if it works better than the original one I bought.

I also have a Polar S625X that needed a battery replacement. So believing the Polar Propaganda I sent it to them to get the battery replaced knowing that they test to make sure that the watch is water proof after they change the battery. Well, of course when I got the watch back with the new battery and went to the pool to swim, guess what, my watch filled up with water. I sent Polar an e-mail and asked them what now and they said to send the S625X to their headquarters in New York for repair or replacement. I sent it to them but I haven't heard back from them yet. If they repair or replace it at no charge I will be happy. If they try to charge me for something that they advertise as the reason the watch should have been sent to them to have the battery replaced, I will be very unhappy.

I'll let you know the results of the Polar S625X repair/replacement story in the future.

Increased Mileage

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I decided to increase my mileage.  Since my back doesn't seem to hurt any worse if I go 5, 5.5, or 6 miles, I have decided to increase my mileage to 6 miles for each run.  I am still going to take every other day off and supplement my running with cycling. 

I have been going to physical therapy for my back pain, the pain is still there but I seem to be more flexible so it doesn't bother me as much.

Have had some good runs or should I say run/walks, I am still doing the 3/1 run/walk routine during all of my runs.  Works for me.

Hope to have this back thing under better control by the time the XTerra Trail run comes up at the end of May.

I received the Nike+ Sportband I ordered and really like the concept.  Now it I could get it to upload my run data to the Nike+ website.  I won't say much about the problem since I have been putting my progress with the Nike+ Sportband on Twitter.

Heading out for a run so this is it for now.

Running and Back Pain

Since my back has been hurting I have decided to change my running schedule. For the past 2 weeks I have run 15.5 miles each week. I run 3 days a week, two 5 milers and one 5.5 mile trail run. My back is still hurting, but I am better able to cope with the pain if I don't run every day.

I have started going to physical therapy, icing my back and continue to stretch. Ibuprofen helps, I have been taking 3 in the morning, 2 at lunch and 2 in the evening.

As far as running goes, I have been running 3 minutes and walking 1 minute during all of my runs. Since 3/4 of my time is spent running I still consider it a run.

I plan on increasing my distance about 10% this week, so that means I will have two 5.5 mile runs and one 6 mile run, still with the R3/W1 pattern though.

The days I don't run I go to the gym and workout and sometime ride my bike. Of course I like riding outside, but if the temp is to cool I ride my windload trainer.

Update for Last Week

Last Friday went to Doctor, he referred me to a Back Doctor, have appointment tomorrow.

Last Saturday ran on trail at Stone Mountain, Indian Island loop.

Sunday slept in, should have been doing ING 1/2 Marathon. Walked on treadmill for 21 minutes late in the day.

Monday worked at Stone Mountain Golf Club and did no exercise.

Tuesday ran on trail at Stone Mountain again.

Wednesday took day off.

Today planning on running on trail again.

Stone Mountain Trail Walk

On Stone Mountain trail today, walking because my back is still injured.

Heading over to Indian Island, my favorite loop run, about 3 mile loop if you go the whole loop.

Bummed about my back, have a doctor appointment tomorrow.

ING 1/2 Marathon is this coming Sunday, am registered but I won't be running.

I am registered for three more major races this year, 1) XTerra 15K Trail Race, 2) Peachtree Road Race, 3) Tower of Terror 13K.

Have been listening to Steve Runner, Jodi (COAR), and Marathon Chris for inspiration during my injury, their Podcasts keep me going.

Thinking of starting a Nike+ Challenge, "Ron's Injured Runner 50 mile walk".

Walked 2.0 miles in 41:24, slow.

ATC 1 Hour Run

Track Club Race on 2/9/08
One Hour run on Emory University track
Set Garmin 305 on Virtual Partner at one hour at 9:53 pace
Walked when I got .1 mile ahead of pace
6.18 miles in one hour, 21 laps & 127 feet in lane #8 of track

Breakfast a Evans Restaurant after Race
Met Gene, Jim, and Joe for breakfast after race
Discussed race
Discussed FIRST Training (Furman University)
Talked about Disney's Runner's Retreat
Gene's wife is going to do the Goofy next year at Disney (1/2 marathon + marathon)

Flip Video Camera
Showed Gene the Flip Video since he is a gadget geek

Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon Report

Trip to Orlando
My wife and I left for Florida on Tuesday afternoon, January 8th. We drove to Cordele, GA and spent the night, then drove the rest of the way to Orlando on the morning of January 9th. We had reservations at the Marriott Residence Inn near International Drive which is outside of Orlando near Disney. We relaxed and enjoyed ourselves for the next two days. Did a little geocaching and found 4 caches. One of the caches we found was located in "Celebration" which is the town that Disney built just outside of Disney World. Celebration is a neat little town, wouldn't mind living there. Of course the houses are just a little pricy.

Disney's Beach Club Resort
On Friday we moved from the Residence Inn to Disney's Beach Club Resort. The Beach Club is my favorite hotel at Disney. It is located just outside of Epcot, you can walk out of the Beach Club, go about 400 meters and you are at Epcot.

The Runner's Retreat
I got up at about 3 a.m. and got ready for the race and went to catch the bus to the Start line. The first bus left the hotel at 4 a.m., sure was early. I had signed up for the Runner's Retreat and I was glad I did. The Runner's Retreat was in a huge tent, carpeted and with tables and chairs. TV monitors were on the walls so you could watch the entertainment that was going on out in the parking lot. There was coffee, fruit, yogurt, and bottled water available prior to the race. There were portable toilets just for the Runner's Retreat, room to stretch on the carpet and storage for your gear.
After the race breakfast was served, eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, coffee and juice. Massage therapy was available for $10.00 for 10 minutes. It was great to have the Runner's Retreat before and after the race. I will sign up for the retreat every time I do the race from now on.

The 1/2 Marathon
Now the bad news, I have been injured since about the end of October. My lower back has been hurting and I guess that I compensated for that and pulled my hamstrings. So I have been hurting from my lower back down to the back of my knees. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I will talk about the race.
Knowing that I was injured I decided that I would run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute for the whole race. I decided not to be concerned about my finish time, and just be focused on finishing.
The runners were herded to the start line area at about 5:30 a.m. then we stood in the time corrals until the race started at about 6:30 a.m. After standing around between a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes I was really tight when the race started. After about a mile I finally warmed up and felt better. My stride was very short due to my hamstrings being sore, but with my run/walk routine I was ok. Not fast but ok.
It was a beautiful day so I just tried to enjoy the weather and have a good time. We started in front of Epcot and ran up to and through the Magic Kingdom. We then ran back to Epcot, by Space Ship Earth then back out into the parking lot to the finish line. I had originally wanted to break 2 hours, but my finish time was 2:30, so I missed it by 1/2 hour.