Tuesday, March 16th 2010: 7 miles @ 10:28 per mile pace. After a long day at work I was itching to get outside. I headed to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve and wore myself out going up and down the hills. Running on trails has positively saved my knees. And since there's nobody around, you don't have to worry about holding your bladder until a port-o-potty.
Wednesday, March 17th 2010: 30 minutes on exercise bike. Watching basketball got me through it.
Thursday, March 18th 2010: 4 miles @ 10:43 per mile pace. This was an early morning run and my knee surprisingly didn't bother me too much.
Friday, March 19th 2010: Rest. Pasta. Gatorade. Chocolate-covered toffee. And a FAT oatmeal raisin cookie from Maverik.
Saturday, March 20th 2010: 15 miles @ 11:03 per mile pace. I headed toward the Sky Mountain Airport which is a regular route for me. This was my farthest run since the marathon almost 6 months ago. And the fact that I ran 15 miles considering my recent knee injury is nothing short of a miracle.
But even more important than the distance is the fact that I actually felt GOOD (good!) for 15 miles. It was almost freakish. I've been so used to feeling like this after my runs:
My body held up so well that my last two miles were faster than all the others. Crazy. I attribute the success of the run to one thing: my walk breaks. I was strict with running five minutes then walking one minute, whether I felt like it or not. This helped me never get to the point of feeling exhausted and it gave me an easily achievable goal - running for only five minutes didn't seem too tough.
For anyone looking to run longer distances, check out Jeff Galloway's website. This guy is no quack. He's been on the Olympic team and held distance records. He knows his stuff. And he's an advocate of the run/walk method. His website will give you all the details. I am a believer.
With a few miles left I saw my friend Tom. We talked for a second, then as we went our different directions he said "Go big!" That gave me a good push to the end. The rest of the run was fairly uneventful. Except for two big dogs who thought it was funny to taunt me by coming up to me and barking like crazy. I prayed that I wouldn't have to use my ninja skillz on them.
This is the first time in months that I'm actually feeling confident with my running. The Ogden Marathon is less than two months away and I'm excited for the challenge.
"I run because it's so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can't. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you're capable of so much more than you thought."
--Arthur Blank
i used the run /walk on my first marathon and it totally worked for me. now i am a believer of the furman first method- 3 key workouts (speed, tempo, long).
ReplyDeleteNice, I'll check that out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMan, your looking good. 15 miles and no pain. Now that is just awesome. Congrats
ReplyDeleteYou are doing awesome. It works the run walk thing. I loved the ninja sign-makes me laugh. You gotta find humor in the stuff we put our bodies through. It is fun always.
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