Two week War Party

It has been almost two weeks now since I ran in the War Party 10k. I've been slacking!

What a great run I had too! It was nice to get out to an event where I knew people and see plenty of familiar faces, both running and spectating. The day started off kind of chilly in the upper 30s, so my warm-up trots with Ironman Dillow were with pants, a jacket and gloves. We say Greg pull up so we ran to the other end of the venue to meet up with him, then ran back. That's about as much warm-up as I got. There was a guy giving us instructions a few minutes before the race, but much like other events I have done, I couldn't hear a word he was saying, so I didn't really listen.

Once the run started, Greg and Dillow took off. I was going to try to keep up with Greg, because God knows I can't keep up with Dillow, but Greg took off ahead of me and I got stuck in a bit of traffic. There is a pretty ugly hill almost right off the bat that you have to run twice. My first time up it wasn't all that bad, but the second time up it really zapped my energy. But overall, I think I kept a pretty good pace, especially since I hadn't run that kind of distance since the BAE half marathon.

I didn't have any lofty goals for the run, I was just out to have a good time. It was a fun event and one I'll definitely have to put on the agenda for years to come.

War Party

Man, what an exhausting week I had last week! With work and a bunch of other stuff going on, it was tough to get over to my blog to do an writing. This week seems a bit more mellow, but still busy.

I did get to run a ride a few times last week. With the cold weather I found myself at the YMCA running on the treadmill one day. It wasn't entirely bad, I got to look outside while I was running. It's strange running on the treadmill. I kept a pretty decent pace most of the 40 minutes I ran, but the treadmill's "odometer" only read just over three miles. I know that when I run with Ironman Dillow, a 40 minute run usually tallies more than that. I could be slacking though, but we'll find out. I also got to get outside and run with Dillow and Greg Carr. Greg is doing a crash course training program to get ready for the War Party. That's mountain-biker style for those of you keeping tabs. Must be in our blood. We had a good run around Bristol and even had to yell at Greg a few times when he missed turns while we were talking. We may tether him to Dillow's hip next time.

I'm taking another stab at another race this weekend. Warriors Path State Park is hosting the War Party 10k. I've ran some 5k's, the Crazy 8's and the never-to-mention-again half marathon, but never a 10k. This will be interesting, but I think it will be fun. The best part about this one is that I will be able to run, at least for a while, with some people I know. Ironman Dillow and Greg will be running as well. I've never run the course, but I hear it's a good one. I'd like to think I'll have a good finishing time, but we all know how it went last time I set a time limit for an organized event (the aforementioned half marathon).

My biggest concern is my foot and how it will hold up. It feels fine for the majority of my runs, but the next day is still somewhat sore and tender. I do my stretches in the mornings and it tends to help it out. I have noticed that the soreness and tenderness is going away sooner than it used to though.

I know a lot of you that read this are runners, and if you are, you should consider coming out to the War Party on Saturday and run with me. I (somewhat) guarantee that you will have a good time!

Weather schmeather.

Seeing as how the weather is still somewhat arctic, it's safe to say that going outside to run hasn't been really high on my list of things to do. Probably not a good thing, but I have found something I can do indoors that pertains a little to running. The other night I decided that the days I can't run and want to, I'm going to work on some things that I have neglected, mainly my core and some basic strengthening exercises.

The other night I started doing some plyometrics and some core work. I did some old exercises I remember from my basketball days as well as some yoga -type strengthening exercises I have learned in the past few years. If you've never done yoga for strengthening, you should really try it. It's much more of a workout than you realize. Plus, just about every yoga pose or move goes a long way to work some of the muscles that get ignored during your normal routine. I also decided to work in some one-leg lunges that really hurt after a while.

I'm hoping the weather clears up, or at least warms up, a bit, then I'll have some good running stories. Until then you get the 'what-I-do-indoors' stories.

And one more note, the last time I went to run, Ironman Dillow backed out on me. You'll pay for that one Dillow!

Old Spice style - Two things at once.

It's tough to stick to a running regimen when I have a brand new mountain bike sitting in the garage waiting to be abused on a trail somewhere. Yes, I prefer to ride my bike, but having the new bike has gotten me quite motivated to run, strangely enough. I hear people talk every year about cross training in the Winter for Spring bike races, but I have never actually tried it consistently.

This year, I plan to race my mountain bike in the Tennessee Cup Series that consists of three races, so running will not only help me train for my marathon in April, but give me some good base cross training for the cup series. Killing two birds with one stone...so the saying goes.

I have a run planned today with Ironman Chris Dillow. He calls today's run 'LSD'. Not the drug of choice for hippies in the late 60's, but the acronym for 'Long Slow Distance', or we run until we hallucinate. I'm going for a 5ish mile run...that sounds much more reasonable to me.

I'm looking forward to today's run, mainly because my last run was almost 100% pain-free. I had a little pain near the end of the run, but it was nothing to really write home about. I'll keep you posted on how today's run goes and hope it goes well!