Feb 27 - Running Home

Hope Tenpenny, a co-worker, recommended that I try to run home. Her thoughts were that it would be cool for the kids to think you ran home from work. So I decided I would do that. I did a better job at eating. I actually ate lunch before running and made sure I ate spagetti on Friday night.

I left and was going to run the green way to Thompson Lane and then head home. When I got to cross the tracks a train was blocking the green way and was not moving. So I decided to run on Memorial Drive instead. I ran up Memorial Drive. There is actually more to look at while running up Memorial Drive. I passed someone holding a gold sign and CCs Pizza near the road. I had to give each of these high five when I passed them. I ran up to Middle Tennessee Christian and ran around a bit. Our house is actually less than 10 miles home so I had to run all around the neighborhoods to get to the house. The question was if I would end up near the house around the 10 mile mark. I was pumped when I heard the lady on my NIKE PLUS that I had 400 meters left when I was close to the house. I did my cool down walk with the "Eye of the Tiger" song. I do that after every run. I then noticed that I didn't bring my house key with me.

So I went to the front door and rang the door bell. I saw Michael look through the dinning room window. It was real obvious he was checking he wasn't very discrete at all. I heard him scream "It's Daddy". He asked where my car was. He was shocked that I ran home from work. He was excited about me running home.

10.18 miles 1:35:30 minutes 9:22 minute mile pace 1531 calories.

Feb 25 - Food information and how to prepare

Today I went to lunch with Mark Evans and David Burt. When we began talking, it came up that I was running the music marathon and David said well we know what the conversation will be about. To find out Mark has completed over 100 triathons! How impressive! We did discuss the marathon. After the last 16 mile run when I had no energy. He gave me some great advice. He recommended that I should be eating every 45 minutes and drinking every 45 minutes as well. He recommended the goo energy food that you rip open and eat when you are running to get energy. In my research, I noted that the Nashville Marathon had this goo in the run. Mark recommended that I try the goo while training and not wait until the race to try it for the first time. He adviced me to treat each run as a trial run for the race. Good advice. This was a big day for my marathon training.

One of the things that Mark recommended was eating eggs within 1 hour after a long run as well as drinking choc. milk. This would help heal your muscles after a long run. Interesting.

Feb 25 - 5 Miles

5.01 miles, 46:27 minutes, 9:16 minute mile, 752 calories

Feb 23 - A lot better

I am feeling a lot better. I relaxed on Monday. It was a short run of 4 miles. So I needed to try to run it fast. I focused on keeping my pace up. My main question the whole time I was running was if I would feel the leg pains again. I didn't feel any pain in the calves. Good news.

4.0 Miles, 8:42 minute mile pace, 34:51 minutes 601 calories

Feb 20 - I need to eat

It is saturday during busy season. So I need to work in the morning. Last night, Heather and I decided to try a different type of pasta, but it as pasta. Pasta really gives me a lot of energy for the next day and the carbs. Normally, I eat spagetti on Friday nights, but we tried something different to how it would work.

At the office some are responsible for breakfast. Most of the time we have fruit, bread and some sort of casserrol (I can't spell that very well). I was busy this morning and didn't get a chance to run down to get breakfast until 9:00 or so. I arrived at the office around 6:30 or so this morning.

At 12:00 it was time to run. It was time to hed out. I got changed in my office and strethed in my office. On my NikePlus it was weird turning the knob all the way to 16 miles. That is a long distance. I left from the office to run. I left and ran to the green way at Cannonsbough Fort. The weather was nice. It was about 65 degrees.

At the old Fort I followed the greeen way to Cason Lane. At Cason Lane I kept running and ran all the way to the end of the road. I ran through many neighborhoods. At the 8 mile mark I turned around to go back.

Around the 8 mile mark I hit a wall and remembered I had not eaten lunch. I was very hungry and had a little energy. I slowed down and walked some to keep my energy level, but since I had gone out 8 miles and was going back 8 miles I had no choose, but to head back. Also, it was the hottest day so far. It was around 70 degrees which drained more energy. This was the hardest day so far. While running on the green way I walked some and ran some. My main goal was to finish the 16 miles and get some food. I ran with a water bottle in my pocket and filled it up at the Cason Lane playground.

At the Cason Lane playground area I paused the work out on my NIKE PLUS IPOD to fill up my water bottle and pour some water on my head. I was really really hot. When you pause a work out and hit the "menu" button it stops your workout. I leaned up against the sink to wet my head and the menu button was pushed in my pocket. That did not make me happy. I was already struggling with the heat and lack of energy. The menu button was pushed at 10.44 miles at a pace of 9:20 minutes (what? 9:20 pace, no water I was tired).

So in order to hit 16 miles I set the NIKE PLUS for 5.6 miles which was the amount left. I was really really out of energy during this remaining distance. I was actually getting a bit dizzy. That really kind of worried me. I ended up walking and slow jogging the last bit. I got to the office with 4.94 miles. I decided since I was a bit dizzy that it was time to stop and get some food. So I actually stopped at 15.38 miles instead of 16 miles.

I actually ran 15.38 miles in 2:35 minutes. This taught me to better pace myself. With my first 10.44 miles being at the 9:20 pace and the last 4.94 miles with a 11:41 pace.

I am so concerned. I really struggled with 16 miles. To finish a marathon I need to run another 10 miles. Can I do this? I have some work to do. I need to learn how to eat so that I don't loose this energy.

When I got up in the office I was so hungry. I have got to eat. I grapped 2 snickers and wolfed them down. Not a smart idea, but that was all the food that was in the office. I then drove home. By the time I got home my stomach was killing me and I couldn't walk. My calves were killing me. Something has got to give.

On Sunday, I literally could not walk on Sunday. At Church, I struggled to just get around. I needed to rest all day and relax. With 3 kids, there is no relaxing. Jerry came over to the house to help me with getting a dead bolt in our doors (drilling through the metal door). I need to get something out of my car for him and he was waiting on me, so I jogged to the car. OUCH!!! My leg was actually killing me. Have I injured myself. O No! I need to relax.

Feb 18 - 4 Miles

4.01 Miles - 34:20 minutes 8:33 minute miles - 602 calories

Feb 16 - 4 Miles

4.01 miles 34 minutes 20 seconds 8:33 minute mile pace 602 calories

Feb 13 - Happy 90th

Heather's grandmother and my kids great grandmother turned 90 years old this weekend! Heather's family decided to have a birthday party for her in Effingham, IL. The birthday party went well on Saturday. After the birthday party Heather and I took the kids swimming at the indoor pool at the hotel. We kept the kids in the pool until bed time. Once it was time for the kids to hit the sack Heather and I got the kids to bed. Now it was time to run. It was 9:00. It was late. I guess The temperature was about 25 degrees or so. I never thought I I would be exicited about running in a new area. Effingham is located in the middle of Illnois in between St. Louis and Indianapolis about an hour out of Terra Haute. My IPOD was working again. So I got decked out and headed out in Effingham. The city had built a walking bridge over the interstate. It was interesting running somewhere new. I took the bridge and then went on to downtown Effingham. Effingham is a small town. I basically ran from one side of the town to the other and then back. I ran all over the city of Effingham. The city had some pretty nice sidewalks. Most of the home owners kept their sidewalks clean from snow, but some people didn't. So I had to run through the snow. That slowed me down a bit. I got 8 miles in. It got colder as I ran. When I was coming around to our hotel room I noticed the temperature was 15 degrees. Brrrr!

After finishing, I decided to go for a quick swim at the pool. The pool didn't close until 11:00. So I went down and swam a few laps. Swimming is tough, especially after running 8 miles. My legs were sore so I decided to put them in the hot tub. That was nice! I didn't get in the hot tub, just my legs. Heather's cousins were sitting in the hot tub.

8.01 miles 1 hour 13 minutes 27 seconds, 9:10 minute mile pace 1204 calories.

I guess the excitment of running somewhere different helped me in my pace, but I also need to consider that I ran in snow at some point. I was fairly happy with that pace.

Feb 11 - 5 miles

4.01 miles 44 minutes 29 seconds 8:52 minute mile 753 calories

Feb 10 - Running fast

In order to recover from the long run on Saturday I only scheduled to run 2 miles. I had not only run 2 miles since I was starting out in October. I was able to focus on keeping my pace up.

2 miles 16 minutes 30 seconds 8:13 minute miles 302 calories burned.

Feb 6 - Don't forget to charge

We are in the throws of busy season. Today I went in to work around 7:00 in the morning, worked till lunch. At the office it is a tradition to have Pizza for lunch. I had a few slices of pizza. I knew I had a 14 mile run ahead of me. I came home after work and got ready to go and run. I decided I wanted to run the green way and try to go all the way from Thompson Lane to the Cason Lane play ground area (the end of the greenway). The temperature was around 30 degrees or so. Kind of cold, but after a few miles it would feel good. I got the NIKE PLUS ready to go, but then my IPOD locked up. WHAT!! I was so frustrated. My IPOD had run out of charge. I had kept my IPOD in the radio at home and I guess it ran the charge out. I thought it charged up when it was in the radio. I guess not. I was so frustrated! What was I going to do? Do I go home and run on Sunday or do I go ahead and run without the IPOD? Am some thought I decided to go ahead and keep up with my schedule and run the 14 miles. I knew that it was 4 miles from Thompson Lane entrance to the greenway to the fort playground. Once I get there it is 4 miles to the Cason Lane area. So my thought was to run to the Fort playground and then run a little over halfway to Cason Lane. But, without the IPOD and NIKE PLUS I just had to guess as what was 7 miles. I missed the IPOD and the music. I got to the Fort without any problems. On my way down to Cason Lane area I noticed I did not see any other runners. When I got to a certain point the green way was flooded with quickly rushing water of about 2 feet or so going over the greenway. It had rained quite a bit the days before. I had to turn around and head back to the Fort. I decided to run toward the Cannonbourgh Village (down a different greenway path). I ran down to the village and then ran back to Thompson Lane. I hope I ran 14 miles, but I didn't know for sure. Also, I didn't know what pace I ran it in. I hope my IPOD is not broken.

Feb 4 - Another 4 miles

4.01 miles 35 minutes, 14 seconds - 8:47 minute miles - 602 calories

Pretty good short run.