Record Snow fall in Texas

Last week was crazy. I ran last Monday 1 mile at a 7:45 pace.  I ran more than that but I only logged 1 mile of it to see my pace.  I was on the treadmill at our community center and in the past my time on the treadmill is super slow. So, I cranked it full blast and let it rip.  I felt like I was sprinting but I only managed a 5 second increase on my time.  Have I said how much I hate to run on a treadmill.

Anyways, Wednesday I had to drive to Austin for TCEA.  I had to work a booth in large convention hall followed by hosting a customer event. Needless to say I did not run.  I drove back Thursday  turned out to be a record setting snowfall day for Dallas Texas.  We got over a foot of snow and I was stuck driving right in the middle of it. The snow did not let up until Friday morning.  I had every intention to go to the community center and run on that spawn of Satan treadmill but I ended up getting distracted by snowmen and burying a friends car under feet of snow.  What can I say…”we don’t see nuttin like that round these parts”

So that brings us to this week.  It has been 7 days since I have ran and I feel like a slouch… an oversized, lazy, mound of skin and fat.  Today is Tuesday and this is my promise before all mankind.  I will run Tuesday thru Friday every day. Weather will not be an excuse, if I travel then I run to get there. 

I will run….

Rain Rain please go away

This weather sucks. I mean that in the most literal of ways.

I had the privilage of running on Friday and the weather was real nice. I logged 2.5 miles at a 8 minute pace.  It was my longest run so far and I think I can give credit to my running partner for that.  I was accompanied on my run by none other than Matt Wheeler Musician, Xbox Warrior, and born again runner.  It was his first run in a LONG time and Matt broke into the running scene with a 2.5 mile run.  I hope I did not scare him off. The reason I hope he returns for more runs is rather selfish…having him run with me made me run farther.  When I normally would of stopped I decided to keep going.  I give credit to Matt and my over zealous machismo for getting me thru my Friday run.

SO! That brings us to today.  It is Monday.  I am going to run today.  However I DO NOT want to run on a treadmill.  I can not accuratly express how much I HATE running on a treadmill.  What to do? Well, I can go outside and run in a 38 degree down pour.  This option will most likely result in some form of a sickness that will put me out of the game for a couple of weeks. At my current pace I need every day I can get to run. Option 2 is unfortunatly running on a treadmill. It is either that or sitting on my fat butt eating bon bons and watching Americas Next Top Model…wait… I mean drinking beer and watching 24. 

I refuse to let the weather be my excuse. ” I will do today what others won’t, so I can do tomorrow what others can’t.”- Jerry Rice

Arizona and Johnny Eye Patch

Alright… time to catch up on blogging.  I was out last week in Arizona for work. They put us up at the Biltmore so the digs were nice.  But the only thing that made the week some what enjoyable was “Patches” aka Johnny Eye Patch aka The Pirate.  A thousand employees and I seemed to run into Patches every 10 minutes. Entertaining? Absolutly. Inspiring… you bet.  Nothing screams confidence louder than an eye patch.  Snake Plissken had one and he escaped from New York and L.A. Bushwick Bill wore an eye patch after he shot himself in the eye AND he is a midget…score…twice.  So, I raise my glass to you Johnny Eye Patch… where ever you are.

Whelp, another great thing about Arizona is the weather…at least the weather in the winter.  It was 65 on the coldest run and that was after dark.  I only ran twice in AZ. The first run was with my brother who happened to be on the same business trip.  Let me give you a little history of my brother. Aside from the fact that he owns and operates his own mixed martial arts studio (www.fxpmma.com) He has also been training since he was 10 years old. Training for what you might ask. Have you ever seen the movie Red Dawn? While he may not admit it I think my brother has been secretly training for the exact moment when he can save the world…and drink deer blood while doing it.  During his time in the Marines he was a MP which soon lead him to SRT (special reaction team)  kind of like your local SWAT team.  He finished his career as a Recon Marine in San Antonio.  A few years ago he and I were going to run the Marine Corps Marathon.  I could not make the trip. He went anyways and ran the entire thing without training a day for it.  In fact he got sick a month before and was unable to do any type of work up for it. I say all that not to toot his horn. But, I say it to paint the picture… set the tone if you will. So we embark on a evening run into the darkness of Arizona. Over a parking garage and thru a empty lot we found ourselves next to a freeway and outside of a bank.  We were lost. While most people will stop for directions, my brother for the sake of lowering his heart rate had to keep moving. So we ran and ran. Eventually we found ourselves outside a guard shack and slowed down long enough to scream out the request for directions to some rent a cop. We found our way back and I was beat. Arizona is not as flat as Texas.  Oh how I longed for the elevator ride up to my room… but wait… Ricky Recon wants to run the stairs. So I climb the stairs only to see my brother disappear back down them for another 5 or 6 trips. I went to the room. 

The second run was much better. I took off alone and during the day. The temp was around 70 degrees and I stuck to the running path just outside the hotel.  I have to say I like running on dirt over pavement.  It felt really good. I held a 7.50 pace for just under 2 miles and looking back on it … like all runs… I could of gone longer, and I should have. 

A lot of things about AZ sucked. But a few things got me thru the trip, two of which were… running…

… and Patches.

t-6 Dodge the Children

So I was a bad boy this weekend.  Friday night was dinner at Tillmans…which translate into beer…TONS OF FOOD…and a smores desert that would make you slap your mother.  Saturday’s diet was mad up of a late dinner from Mona Lisa pizza…their alfredo cheese…amazing yet horrible for you.  I must make up for it this wee.

 One full week of training down.  How far have we come? Well, my first run was a bitter cold and hard fought mile. On friday I ran 2 miles at a faster pace. The runs are getting longer and faster and believe it or not…they feel pretty good.  Friday’s run was filled with suprises. The first was when I accidentally paused my workout midrun.  I was attempting to press the center button on my iPod in order to start my moto song.  Instead, I paused the workout.  Which basically means I was running without my timer and distance tracker running.  This all happened about 100 ft before I ran smack dab into the middle of the elementary school letting out. My run normally takes me to the park directly across the street from the school.  This put me on the sidewalk in front of the school as 50 or so children were walking home. Dipping and dodging children was hard enough, mix in the paused workout and trying to figure my iPod out while maintaining a decent pace.  Of course the children are not as bad as the mom’s with their ATV size strollers taking up the entire sidewalk. All in all… it worked out. I have not mentioned my pull-ups in a while.  Of course the PFT has 3 parts…the run just happens to get the most attention.  But this last week I moved my pull up bar into my living room during the day.  Between conference calls and meetings I hit the bar.  At minimum I do 5 sets throughout the day.

SO! That brings us to next week.  I have to fly to Arizona on Tuesday for my job. Which means Monday is training as usual. Wednesday and Friday i will either treadmill commando it up at the hotel… or hit the pavement early in the morning.  But, I am not going to let this thing derail my training.   I will keep you all posted…whoever you are.

t-5 New Tires and The Carnie Run

1.68 miles @ 8.14 pace. Decent first run with my new Brooks Adrenaline’s. I wanted to get a good feel for the shoes and they did not disappoint.  I bought them about 30 minutes before my run from Rockwall Running Center.  I also got a nice pair of Thorlo socks that my wife thinks I paid way to much for. BUT! When it comes to  my busted up feet I will take every precaution. 

I was cooling down from my run and decided to jog a bit. I was still feeling good and wanted to keep my heart rate up. Lucky for me my wife pulled up next to me as she was driving home from work.  In typical man fashion I decided to turn the burners on. No Sweat right? Time for the little lady to see what her man can do.  I thank the good Lord above she decided to continue on to the house after a hundred feet or so of pacing me. Because I was beat. 

If only I could get her to except my new socks into the family.

You can check out my run here: http://bit.ly/6BKLnX

T-4 Run for Baby Orphan Whales

Ok, so maybe I was not running for baby orphan whales.  The weather could not be better for running.  The temp was like 65 at the start of my run and wind was pretty low.  My goal today was to run longer then I had so far. 1.89 miles later at a 8:34 pace and I was done.  Most of my runs end with me in pain, my chest exploding and my legs feeling like rubber.  This run was different. For 90% of the run I felt great.  In fact I felt so good I remember telling myself “Self…this feels pretty dang good. I could run all day” .

I should of ran longer.  I took the weekend off and missed my Friday run.  My hope is to make it up this week for my lack of work last week.  I am going to shoot for distance and speed on wednesday and just speed on Friday.  I think the diet is helping. Even though I have not eaten perfect. I have cleaned up a lot and I think it is starting to show up on my runs.  I also passed 164 lbs on the scale. So something has to be working.

I also think I am going to buy some new shoes. I really liked the Brooks I tried on at Rockwall Running Center. 

Wednesday’s run is going to help benefit Carnivel Workers. If you would like to Run for Carnies then join me Wednesday.

T-3 The 8 minute mile. Celebrate the little things.

So the goal today was to take my 8:27 second mile time from Monday and shave 27 seconds off of it.  I am pleased to announce that I did in fact break the 8 minute marker.  I would not say I shattered it.  I sort of dented it really. You can click here to check out my run.

 The weather was nice 57 degrees at the start of the run. I started off real solid and real fast…faster then I think I really wanted to go. So, needless to say 300 yds in and I was pondering why I got out of bed this morning.  But, I had mapped my run on mapmyrun.com and I knew where I needed to get to so I just focused on the pavement and pushed thru it. Eminem’s Till I Collapse rocking in my head phones the whole time. I feel good but I would feel alot better if my pace was a little more steady. All I can do is keep pushing, the speed will come. Thursday night I will be at Faixa Preta for kickboxing and Friday will be an all cardio day, I will be running for a period of time not a set distance.

 As for now… I am hangin out with Charlie the Tuna for lunch.

The Playlist

If you are at all like me then you NEED some rowdy music to listen to on a run.  I am sure you guys do not care what is rattling around in my headphones. But, this is my blog, and I will sing if I want to.  So… here are my go to running songs.

Billy Self the Tri-Stud

WAR- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony {my pre run while I am lacing up}

Cochise- Audioslave {nice build up and once it hits you should be in full on run mode}

Bleed it Out-Linkin Park {helps set my pace}

Fully Alive-FlyLeaf {just a great song}

SuperNatural (acoustic)- FlyLeaf {cool down track. Little perspective and reflection}

*Power Song- Till I Collapse Eminem {Nike + has a power song feature for when you are about to stop running and need some moto. This is it for me… I can run for days to this song}

Other songs on the iPod for running:

Break Stuff-Limp Bizkit

Down with the Sickness-Disturbed

Re-Arranged-Limp Bizkit

Use Somebody- Kings of Leon

Voodoo Child- Jimmy Hendrix

99 Problems- Jay-Z

Say This Sooner-The Almost

Faith-Limp Bizkit

Stellar (acoustic)-Incubus {cool down}

Warning-Incubus

Paradise City- Guns N’ Roses

My Hero-Foo Fighters

Now I also have set to random the entire Run to Cadence Marines vol. 3 on my run playlist on my Nano.  Something about the random cut in from a DI screaming delayed cadence or C-130 running down the strip that keeps me going.  I would like to know what you all run to, so any suggestions would be stellar.  I am still broadening my list and hope to work up to running long enough to listen to all of them.

Low-Righty Leh-Oh Lefty Righty Leh-O!

Training Day 2

Alrighty, Day 2 of training. 5th calander day. It has been a few days since I have ran. The run last thursday probably did more harm than good. I spent the last few days coughing and wheezing. Needless to say I will not run in a sub 50 degree days again. Today was perfect. When I started my run it was 53 degrees outside and was very comfortable. My goal was a brisk 10 minute run to increase my cardio a tad and still work on my 1 mile time.

Distance 1.18 miles

Time: 10:02

Pace: 8.27 minute mile

Calories: 149

While I wish it was much faster the increase is almost 20 seconds over my last run on Thursday. My goal for wednesday is to run just 1 mile all out and break 8 minutes.  I am not setting any speed records … yet.

The Diet has continued. I did drink some beer during the Cowboys game but for the most part it is water or tea.  I have had breakfast every morning which is a huge change and I am making sure I take a One a Day in the morning and drinking some Greens on the Go in the afternoon.  I also took some Vitamin C to make sure I did not get sick over the last few days. And of course most meals are some form of grilled chicken.

Training day 1 aka The Fate Blizzard

Oh what a wonderful day to start training… the temperature at the beginning of my run was 25 degrees. My lungs feel like they are going to explode. FAIL. So my goal today was to run a mini Initial Strength Test. Find out where I am so I can set my goals. I did 10 dead hang pull ups, only 40 crunches (fail) and a 1 mile run.  Drum Roll Please…. my 1 mile time was 8 minutes and 42 seconds according to my Nike +. 

So where do we go from here. Well, the first thing I am going to do is chug a bottle of Vicks. 

But my run days will fall on Monday Wednesday and Friday.  I will do pull ups and crunches just about everyday, and Sunday will be my rest day.  Diet applies to everyday.

I will post in my next post about the Nike + and my New Balance running shoes. So far it seems to be working good.