The elephant wants a piggy back ride

Although a down week in scope and sequence, the past seven days did not feel like much of a break. It more so felt like Dumbo decided to give his ears a break and ride the Skinny Man Transit for most of the runs.

SUN
7 miles at Bartley w/ Ron and Jon - ran on the tail end of the 16 inches of snow that unceremoniously dumped all over the greater Reno area. Running through the snow, however, provided a nice cushion for the legs and it was nice to only run seven miles.

MON
8 miles on treadmill - didn't feel like suiting up for the cold morning nor the slick frozen roads.

TUES
10.5 miles w/ Sean along Journal Jog route - overall felt weak. Stride did not feel chipper on way out and on the return it seemed to straight up run out of all sugar (even though I ate before the run).

WED
1/4 mile swim in AM; Arrowcreek run + strides in PM for 7.5 total. Even though it took a while for the legs to warm up I actually enjoyed being outside and running. After raining cats and dogs all morning the sun broke through and made the day warm enough to sport just a t-shirt and shorts. Strides helped loosen the muscles up.

THUR
10.5 miles w/ Sean along Truckee River w/ 8-8-6-4-2 pickups in AM; strengthening workout with PT and massage appointment with DC in PM. I felt good today!!! Going into the pickups I focused on just relaxing and working hard but not straining. Started the first segment at 5:45 pace and in typical fashion the body improved as the work progressed. The sun was out and once again I actually found enjoyment in the run. I've never worked out with the PT and then was worked on by the DC in the same day. So this provided a chance to experiment. Usually my butt (literally, and hips) is kicked Thursday by the PT which leaves the stride feeling sore Friday and Saturday. However, if I visit the DC (which usually occurs Friday) it makes the stride feel amazing on Saturday's run. Got to work with a new massage therapist in the office. Lesson one: she needs to not worry about hurting my "Tim Boy" body and crank harder next time.

FRI
7 miles on the Ditch Trail w/ Pottey and Hannah - stride lacked fortitude. Right hamstring sore, like it was over used on hamstring curls or cramped up and never relaxed. My theory: after doing segments of 1-2-2:30 minutes of back bridges with the PT (lie on back, knees bent at 90 degrees, lift pelvis in air to form at 45 degree angle with body, and then hold one leg out straight - Google "core exercise bridge" if I suck at describing said exercise) each hamstring knotted up. Later the massage therapist worked on the left ham a bit more than the right (per my comment, "The left hammy is a bit fidgety from time to time") and given she worked pretty light overall she may have not worked out the effects of the back bridges.

SAT
8 miles w/ Sean along 7th Seven - planned ten, but cut route short (in the name of the down week) when the legs never really woke up and once again lacked energy. A wise friend once told me, "If the body is fatigued you can fight through it; if the legs are fatigued you need to back off." Even decided to walk the last half mile home after hitting the eight mark. It didn't make sense to keep running on crap legs and terse lungs. Yet that half mile provided a time to reflect, and thank God for the ability and the day despite the less than desireable outcome. The ease with which we praise God in good times often goes missing once the hard arrives. But what makes this experience most worth the effort - conditional praise or building (sometimes with success and sometimes with failure as we live in an imperfect world) a heart, which like Job, praises God's name no matter what the circumstance? I guess it ties into my larger life journey as a Christian. In the future teaching and church leadership will replace running. Struggles of epic proportion are sure to come. How will I respond?

WEEK
58.5 for a down week. The previous post outlines thoughts regarding the compounded effect of miles on overall energy levels and health. In the mean time I'm enjoying Saturday by chilling out with coffee and doing some planning work for our church's Easter for Kids program. I'm also working on being chill about today's (Saturday) run, and the week as a whole.

There is no secret. Consistent hard work pays off. Eat a lot, and lots of fruits/veggies. Drink water. Stretch. And just run, run, run.

Thanks for reading.

The oddity of the body

The body is currently towards the end of a down week of training (~60 miles vs. the usual low 70 mark). And funny, despite running fewer miles and logging more consistent sleep (compared to previous weeks of higher miles and less sleep) the body is currently consistently tired and fighting a few microscopic bad guys that have run down the immune system. Furthermore, the consumption of coffee early in the day produced little to no effect in overall energy level and alertness. The expected bright eyed and bushy tailed response failed to occur. Interesting.

Yet the body is not responding to this week's training so much as the composite string of the past 72-72-71.5. The stress (take that the right way - physical labor and requirements placed upon the body and immune system) built from those miles is being felt now. Interesting.

So does that mean the body will eventually catch up and catch a break from this week? You tell me.


In other news, I think pool lane sharing is quite communist in nature. While my lane neighbor proved amiable in nature, his wingspan still overflowed well onto my side. The whole lane definitely turned into OUR lane, as opposed to my side and his side. And my attempts to swim big and spread out just proved futile. Sometimes not having my man body really doesn't help.

How is a teacher suppose to react when said professional finishes a run back to campus and is greeted with the hoots and "Holla"s from students. All I could think was, "I was already doing basic Algebra and receiving awkward lectures about sex from my dad when you were born!!!" Thank goodness said runner decided to keep their shirt on even though the sun was out and shining brightly.

On this morning's run:
Pottey: "Tim, I hope you never stop running..."
Tim: *thinking* "Wow, what a nice guy. I bet he is going to talk about being seventy-five and doing local 10K's in short shorts and knee-high socks and still giving the young guys a run for their money."
Pottey: "...because I don't want you to get fat, especially with all your talk of loving donuts."

I should probably enrich myself by reading a book. Game on.

Playing ketchup

Apologies for the delay in posting the past few week's of training. It is Sunday morning and I'm enjoying looking over the logs that talk about runs in 50+ degree weather. I'm also enjoying the irony of ironies that it is currently snowing. A lot. I guess bragging to Midwesterners about putting together a streak of four days of finishing a run sans shirt only leads to 18 inches of snow. Ah well, what is a person to do. I just finished an awesome breakfast of eggs, sausage, onion, pepper, mushroom and toast (and then a bowl of Grape Nuts just to fill in the cracks). Once that settles the tights, long sleeve half zip Brooks top from college, gloves, and $10 Wal-Mart shades will go on and I'll go adventuring through the snow for six or seven. My access to treadmills is currently on vacation in Las Vegas - upon calling said access this morning I said, "If you can, you just might want to stay down yonder for a bit until this here storm clears out like the cottage after Grandpa Linus on chili night."

FEB 7 - FEB 13

SUN

9 miles chill with new roomie Tegan in afternoon

*poor Peyton lost the Superbowl - guy needs to work on not whining so much

MON

10 miles in AM w/ Sean and Steve-O; 20 minutes biking in PM

*picked up brick of cheese along I-80 and carried it back - running uphill with a brick of cheese increases a person's heart rate two fold!

TUES

8.5 miles in AM w/ Sean along Crappy Loop; run + strides w/ Tegan in PM for 4.5

*as morning route's name alludes to, the body wanted nothing to do with running (unable to land on forefoot, quads not helping lift, felt like all the body's sugar was gone) - decided to play smart and cut the run into two parts instead of punishing myself through the planned twelve miles

WED

10 miles solo in PM along Truckee River

*motivation really low, but pushed self out the door - stride much smoother than expected after being on feet all day at school

THUR

10 miles AM w/ Sean, Hannah, and Steve-O at Woodchuck

*body felt lackluster overall, but ditched long sleeve layer halfway out and ran in t-shirt on way back

FRI

7 miles solo in AM w/ 6x30(30) pickups; easy bike 20 minutes PM

SAT

13 miles solo through Keystone and Switchbacks/Evans Canyon

*planned to go fifteen, pushed to get thirteen, legs felt like they wanted to run seven - no power in legs or upper body and real tired at the end.....laid down on sidewalk outside our house and Tegan, upon finishing her run a few moments later, walked past and said, "You look real skinny, you need to eat more"

WEEK: 72 miles

FEB 14 - FEB 20

SUN

8 miles in afternoon along Mayberry Bike Path w/ Kiwi, Hannah, and Steve-O

*during last mile I past through a busy park and a little girl shouted, "That guy has his shirt off!" Aaaahhhh the freedoms that come with adulthood - no parents telling you to put a hat on in order to stave off death and sickness on a warm afternoon.

MON

13+ in AM w/ Sean, Ronnie, and Jon

*pace stayed chill which helped legs since they felt like crap

TUES

10 miles in AM w/ Sean along BLC w/ 8-6-4-2 pickups; lift in PM

*workout turned out pretty well given the legs lacked energy in the first few miles

WED

swim 20 minutes in AM; Gimpy + barefoot strides in PM for 7.5

THUR

11 miles in AM w/ Sean, Hannah, and Steve-O

*legs improved as run progressed, but still nice to just run as opposed to blasting the pace

FRI

7 miles solo in AM along Truckee River

*legs surprisingly loose for running right out of bed (ice bath yesterday may have helped)

SAT

15 miles in AM w/ Ronnie, Jon, and Luke for first ten

*overall the legs just felt dull and the run took quite the conscious effort to complete

WEEK: 71.5 miles leaves the past up cycle at 72-72-71.5. Although overall I felt sub-par this past week I take great victory out of 1) just being able to run like I do and 2) adding a workout, weight room session, and a long day. In retrospect the coming down week (60-ish) is a smart idea. After typing out the past few week's of training it helps me see the body is still adapting to this level of mileage.

Still much work to be done. Stay healthy. Stay consistent. Stay motivated.

Thanks for reading.

Looks like the snow is letting up a bit....

Joy To The World: Jan 31 - Feb 6

Three Dog Night composed the hit single in 1971. This past week I returned to the land of 70's and had to once again learn to run happy.

SUN
9 miles in Keystone Canyon w/ Pottey & Hannah
*you can good game your friend after a good run and you can play Top Gun on a run, but you can't good game your friend while playing Top Gun on a run

MON
10 miles to-from Wal-Mart w/ Ronnie
*way out all the way down which means the way back was up, up, up! and legs didn't seem none to happy to run. ice bath after school helped settle things out.

TUES
10 miles along Switchbacks w/ Sean in AM; 8x200 in PM for 4 miles w/ Tegan
*helped new roomie with her workout in afternoon....really interesting to workout mainly for the betterment of someone else. congrats to Tegan for cranking out sixteen of the half-lappers.

WED
7 miles solo around Galena High School
*legs heavy - that is all

THUR
11 miles in AM w/ Sean along BLC route; PT workout in PM
*got our cruise on! PT workout kicked my tail....oodles of wall sits and side bridges while holding your leg in the air.

FRI
7 miles in PM w/ Potteys in Keystone Canyon
*really helped to have running partners today, as the energy was low

SAT
14 miles solo in AM through trails and BLC route

WEEK
72 miles! Feels good to be back after last week's break.

How does a person "run for fun" or with passion? How does a person avoid being chained to the rock of training and wake up to a similar fate of Prometheus? As a close friend said, "It is not what goes into the body that matters, but what comes out of the heart." The nature of The Task leads me to put many things into my body: miles, diet, sleep, core, stretching, PT, chiropractor, etc. The subsequent goal is to achieve the desired outcome. In this process, however, I have the tendency to output negative results - fear, worry, obsession, tunnelvision. This is when running becomes a chore, an activity which sucks donkey balls. The friend posed the statement with the point that all the hard work can actually ruin the experience if the resulting product actually hinders success. So then the age-old question returns, "How do I run with passion and zeal and fire? How on earth do I run for fun? How do I return to a month past where I loved ten milers? Where running was a game!" How do I bring the joy back into the world of running?

I know that not every run can be fun (or can it?). And I know Bedford said called the majority of training a drudge. I get that - it IS hard work. But I want to love running.


In the mean time I get to use an iTunes gift card provided by a little brother! So far I like Sofisticated (Stereo MC's), Que Sera (Wax Talor), Honey (Moby), Unleashed (Massive Attack), and Cellphone's Dead (Beck). Any further suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for reading.
Patience.
Miles.
Consistency.

Superman has his, I have mine

The Man of Steel himself falls to kryptonite (of which there are actually 18 varities....don't feel like dying by green? try the pink!).






In the same way, I crumble under the heavy weight of an evil, evil power - the donut.

As a competitive distance runner, I quite carefully monitor the foods which enter into my body. The basic premise "Garbage In, Garbage Out" often guides the choices in my diet. After consuming high-quality fuel for a long enough period of time the body actually adjusts. For example, while pizza still tastes great eating an over abundance of slices (6-7, which used to be a norm) leaves my body in a general malaise. Vice versa, consistent intake of fruits and vegetables (and yes, the occasional bowl of glummy, glurpy oatmeal) translates into consistent chipperness. As a result I've learned to avoid certain foods for the sake of just feeling good.
Sadly I have yet to conquer The Donut. The mere thought of bleached, fried dough topped with crisp sugar sends my synapses wildly firing in twenty directions which morphs my brain into its basic, carnal mode. I am consumed by The Donut. Like Aladdin after the lamp, the rest of the world quiets out while the smell and feel intensify. Upon holding The Donut the clouds part and holy sun and song break from heavenly realms edifying the glorious food.

THAT was a break?! Jan 24 - Jan 30

After an amazing three week string of 68-71-70.5, last week called for a down week.

SUN
8.5 miles along new route (Extended 7th) solo

MON
10.5 miles along random BLC route
*ran with a HUGE flippin' group: Ge-off, Steve-O, Hannah, Sean, Hot Carl
*stomach decided to hate big time

TUES
5 miles on Rancho trails AM; 7.5 miles on golf course with Ronnie PM
*felt great to finally return to soft running surfaces

WED
0 miles - scheduled day off
*Cal coach Magdalena Lewy (roommate's college coach and 2:30 marathoner) requires the higher mileage runners to take one day off every six weeks so that they keep from running themselves into a funk. This is week six. While arguements can be made for either side (streak vs. day off) I'm taking the day to see what happens and how the body reacts.

THUR
8 miles solo around UNR
*took a bit extra to kick my butt out the door

FRI
10 miles with Ronnie on Broken Micah (route goes on back roads where roommate was hit off his road bike by an SUV travelling at 35mph - a year and a half and about a dozen surgeries later, he is back to running! the sub 9:20 steepler did a mile while visiting friends at Cal)
*grouchy - wanted to run four miles...body finally warmed up halfway through

SAT
10 miles with Ronnie from Anderson Park to golf course
*so nice and warm I ran in a t-shirt!!! good, quicker pace on way back.

WEEK
Miles = 59.5. Logical progression of thought: run about ten less miles than normal, and even totally skip running one day, and the body will feel refreshed to the point of thanking you. Reality: for the first time in a month and a half the motivation and health dropped dramatically. I felt tired, and not 100% healthy, the entire week. Plus, after the day off it seemed to take both Thursday and Friday before my body remembered how to run. My theory: the body's systems know when you decide to take a break. Furthermore, if you decide to back off so will said systems. They know they do not need to produce at as high of a level. Thus the overall crappy feel of this "down" week. Interesting. Data logged. In another six weeks we will see if results confirm or debunk current experiences.

I'm excited to return to the higher miles for the next up cycle - back to 70-75 range. Plus it is time to begin adding dashes of flavoring (aka low-key workouts - hill repeats, timed segments, etc). I'm also pumped because a new roommate is arriving! And she is stoked on training! Nothing like having a brand new training partner right in the house. Very grateful for that blessing.

Thanks for reading.
Patience and miles.