Why I Run

29
Jul 10

July wrap-up, making progress

July has been an interesting month of running on a number of fronts. Overall, I’d have to admit that it has been the most challenging month of running I’ve had since beginning this journey last September. Now that it is nearly over, I can also say that I’ve made the most progress during July than any other month so far as well. Here’s why.

Marathon training really kicked into gear. While my official training plan started at the end of May, I had already been running the types of weeks that the plan called for up until the end of June. That last week of June and then all of July has been pushing further than I had gone before, both in terms of absolute mileage as well as the other aspects of training. Towards the end of July, two of my long runs were personal records for me in distance since they both went further than the half marathon I ran in May.
The weather. I’ll admit it: the weather kicked my butt for the first few weeks. Since I only really began running last September, I had never experienced a real summer training. So far I can say that I prefer the winter. I’m an educated man, yet it never occurred to me that running in the heat and humidity would be more difficult. I had a handful of runs that I just considered failures because I just couldn’t finish, and that really took a toll on my motivation and confidence. As I sit here today, with just a couple days left in the month, my confidence is back and I attribute that to figuring out how to overcome this new challenge. While I doubt I’ll ever love running in the oppressive Cincinnati summers, I now know how to handle it.
Travel. I’ve had to deal with fitting my training schedule around more travel than usual, so I’ve had to juggle days and times for my runs. I do better when I’m on a more predictable schedule.

One cool thing that happened this month was a run through Central Park in New York City. Running in Central Park and Golden Gate Park are two that I had put on my mental running bucket list, so I was very happy to make one of them happen. I had to fit a long run (15 miles) into my travel schedule, so I figured, why not make it in Central Park? When I run early in the morning at home, I may see one or two other runners out there but not many. Running through Central Park was more like running in a race. I got to the park at about 6:00 AM and I was shocked to find hundreds of runners out on the paths and their were dozens of cyclists too. I had been worried about doing 15 miles all on my own without anyone for motivation/support/pacing, but with so many people out there, I always had someone to keep up with, or try to beat to the top of some of the long hills. The time and miles flew by like they have during races. Here’s my run:

Careful observers will note that the Garmin distance shows 14.82 miles, not the 15 I claim. If you watch very closely, you’ll see a bit of a jump during mile 11. I stopped to get a drink of water at the fountain, had to wait in a bit of a line, so I stopped my watch. When I started running again, I forgot to turn it back on for about 2 minutes, so I estimated that to be somewhere around a quarter of a mile. MapMyRun.com helped confirm it.

So, now I’m looking forward to slogging through the heat of August and really getting up to mileage numbers I’ve never done before: 17, 18 and 20 miles. I’m doing a half marathon in Columbus, OH on August 29th as well.

13
Jul 10

Asking for help

Marathon training has been going well. I think I’ve finally learned to take it a little easier on long runs in the heat and humidity, so I’m feeling stronger throughout the run.

This Sunday will bring a new milestone for me: a personal record for distance. My training plan calls for 14 miles and to date, the longest I’ve ever run is the 13.1 in May’s Flying Pig Half Marathon. And it only goes up from there. I’m looking forward to pushing myself further and further, but at the same time, I’m nervous about failing.

I have always been terrible about asking for help when I needed it. I believe that stubbornness has an upside: self-reliance. However, I’ve also noticed that I run better and more confidently when I’m with others. So I think I’m going to have to reach out to running friends to see if anyone is crazy enough to run with me for some portion of these hot Sunday long runs.

Sean Brown — Life / Motivation / Running — 4 comments

04
Jul 10

Good riddance to June

It’s (obviously) been a while since I’ve posted here, so I’ve got a lot to cover. Let’s get to it.

I hated June. It’s not really June’s fault, but the weather around here was tough to run though. Many, many hot and humid days and I’m sure I’m not alone in saying it’s very difficult to breathe in those conditions. Lots of rain, too, just to keep things interesting. I know that this is good for me to tackle, but I’ve got to say that I found it much easier to run through the winter than I am finding it running through this heat and humidity.

Shoes. After having finally found shoes that I love, the Pearl iZUMi SyncroFloat III, I was told that they are discontinuing the model in preference to the SyncroFuel model. I tried the SyncroFuel for a few runs but didn’t like them at all, so, I hopped on Zappos (a site I love) and ordered 2 pairs of SyncroFloats to at least get me through the Chicago Marathon.

Back in February, I wrote about my penchant for killing iPods. I can only assume that my brain must be fuzzy due to lack of oxygen at the end of a run. I killed another iPod this past week. I’m worried because I had ordered 4 refurbished Shuffles from Apple and I’m now down to only one! I like the previous generation Shuffle much better than the recent one, so they’re no longer making them. Panic will set in sooner or later.

After having a few too many runs where I found myself getting light-headed, I decided to seek some help from a nutritionist. I was a bit floored by the results. I got an analysis of my metabolism, my body composition and my caloric needs.

My body composition was measured (three times) at 7% body fat and 93% lean weight. Which means of the 172 pounds I weigh, 12 lbs is fat, 160 lbs is lean. While I shouldn’t lose more weight, I can up my lean body weight.
My resting metabolic rate is about 2300 kcal/day. This means if I did nothing else but lay in bed all day, I’d burn about 2300 kcal per day.
If you average in typical daily activities, I’m currently burning about 700 kcal per day.
My workouts have me burning about 650 kcal per day (when averaged across the week). That will increase as the marathon training progresses into more weekly miles.
When you add that up, I am burning roughly 3650 kcal per day.
Here’s the bad part: I am only eating about 1800-2000 kcal per day.

So, it should be no surprise that I have been getting lightheaded occasionally. I’ve been under fueling by nearly half of what I need for quite a while. So, I am beginning a whole new dietary plan that will not only get me how much I need, but what I need, when I need it. I’ll report back once I see how this new eating program progresses.

Something else I’ve begun to work on is mental toughness. Pushing through the times where my body is telling me to stop.

Finally, a couple of suggestions:

Follow Sara Santiago on Twitter. (@sarasantiago). Absolutely brilliant and just hilarious.
Read Runnrgrrl’s blog. Great stuff. Always opinionated. Always tells it like it is. A must read.

Sean Brown — Fitness / Gear / Health / Running — 3 comments

12
Jun 10

Learning to run in the heat

Back in February/March, I took my family on vacation to the Bahamas, and for the first time, had to run where it is warm. Since I just began running in September of last year, I had never run in temperatures above about 60F. I remember wondering why I found it difficult to run medium distances, and frankly, it never dawned on me that I might need a little time to get used to the temperature and humidity.

Fast forward to now and I find myself still getting used to it. A bunch of more experienced runners all say the same thing: when you run in heat and humidity, you need to slow down. I never quite believed it until today when I went running with one of my sons. Whenever one of them goes with me, I slow down and enjoy the time and conversation. So today, it was in the high 80s and the humidity was somewhere around 97%. My run was just over six miles, but for the first time since summer began, and I ran on a very humid day, I didn’t feel like it was a struggle. Lesson learned. Of course, the hard way, but lesson learned nonetheless.

Tomorrow will be my long run and the heat and humidity are supposed to be equal to today. I plan to slow down my pace a full 30 seconds/mile than my typical pace and see how it goes.

Sean Brown — Health / Running — No comments

02
Jun 10

National Running Day

I’m pretty sure they’d take my blog away if I didn’t post something on National Running Day.

Today I ran 5.25 miles.

Blog, retained.

Sean Brown — Running — No comments

31
May 10

Runners are giving

One of the things I noticed at my very first race last September was how much encouragement runners were giving each other, not only before the race but also during and after the race as well. I was so taken by it that after I ran the 5K that day, I stuck around to cheer for the 15K runners because I knew how much it had helped me to hear the claps, woots, and ‘looking good runners!’ along the way. (I also remember thinking that 15K was an impossibly long distance).

Since that first experience everything I’ve witnessed since then has only reinforced my belief that runners are giving. A few examples.

I had absolutely no experience in running long distances prior to this year. None. Every single time I’ve needed the benefit of more experienced runners’ knowledge, it was not only given freely and enthusiastically, but I’d get follow-ups asking how things went. It didn’t matter how mundane (sore nipples) or important (nutrition) the topic was, runners lined up to help. Mike B, Madison G, Ariana H, Chris B, Joe M, Rebecca B, and Erin K have been especially helpful.

When I got done running my first half marathon early this month, I went home, got some lunch then started browsing around to find some results from the race. While doing that I came across a story I had missed the day before from the ending of the 10K race. Amy Schoenfeld and Shari Klarfeld had battled for first place for nearly the entire race. Shari pulled ahead toward the end, but then bonked badly just a few feet before the finish line. Rather than running right by her, Amy Schoenfeld helped Kladfeld across the finish line first, then stepped across for second place.

Last month’s Runner’s World featured a story about Scott Jurek, arguably the greatest ultra marathoner in the world. After running 24hour races covering hundreds of miles, he routinely heads back into the course to encourage other ultra runners still out on the course.

In my last post, I was belly aching about a recent lack of umphhh in my running. Within minutes of posting, a local friend, Doug A., commented on the post, then got in touch with me to suggest we shake things up a bit and go for a run together to help cure those blahs. Maybe run a new route. Doldrums: cured.

But it goes beyond just advice and encouragement.

Joe M, a runner I only know virtually, has been raising money for his friend Dom who is fighting cancer. Joe had donations from countries all over the world, mostly from the running community.

Sara S, a runner from Milwaukee, just shared a very personal story about her battle with Chiari Malformation. Here are her words about why she even shared.

“What prompted me to share was that, in my own research efforts about Chiari, I came up flat. I wanted to hear stories, not medical fact-based info. I had found enough of that. I bought books, I read medical journal papers, I packed my brain with knowledge about my condition. I needed to hear someone’s STORY. I found very few. I realized that I can change that. I can share my story for the people who, just like me, need to understand the impact of their diagnosis, surgery, additional treatment, prognosis, etc.

So, I’m not afraid to share anymore. I will tell the story. I will pay forward the love, kindness and support that all of you give me by giving it to people who need a fellow “Chiarian” to talk to.”

Pay it forward indeed.

Sean Brown — Motivation / Running — No comments

28
May 10

Postpartum

I think I have the male runner’s equivalent of postpartum. These past couple of weeks since the Flying Pig have been one ‘blah’ run after another. While I’m happy with the improvements I’m starting to make with my form, I’m just not happy with how it’s been feeling. My fitness level hasn’t dipped. My diet is the same. Even my milage is back up to where it had been pre-taper. I’m still motivated enough to get out there, but I just haven’t been feeling it at all. No real sense of energy. No feeling of satisfaction when I’m done with the runs.

Because I have no one but me to blame it on, I’m going to chalk it up to post-partum. I’m not trying to trivialize real postpartum depression, I am empathizing.

For my entire life, I had envied runners. Those people who worked hard at running, day in and day out. They were like a magical bunch who ignored pain, boredom, weather and just kept going. After many false starts at running, I can now finally say, I’m one of them. No, I’m not claiming to be good at it, and I’m certainly not the fastest, but I am doing it. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have “I’d really like to run a long race” in my head, and hold it out there as an accomplishment, an endpoint. I’m 41 years old. That’s a long time to be wishing for something.

On May 3, 2010, I finished a half marathon and did so at a decent pace. Truly, a life-long goal was attained. Although I still have the full marathon looming out ahead of me (and who knows what after that), I wonder if my doldrums these past few weeks haven’t been somewhat related to having achieved something long desired and now missing the “want” just a tiny little bit.

I know I’ll get my running mojo back, it’s just a matter of pushing through. Until then, I’ll just have to deal with the reality that I can get excited about future, seemingly unattainable milestones too.

Sean Brown — Running — 1 comment

20
May 10

Form here to eternity

The title is my entry into the World’s Worst Pun® competition. I think I’ve got a real shot at winning.

So, I’ve been spending my time doing three things.

Working on my form. After reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, I’ve really started to think about my form. I’m not trying to get performance, necessarily, but I am hoping for longevity. I plan to be running 20 years from now, so I want to do what I can to avoid injury and breakdown. I’m about one week into focussing on shortening up my stride, landing on my midfoot with my my foot directly beneath my body, and a higher kick. No conclusions yet.
Healing my heals. What an odd place to get cuts; there’s just no easy way to allow them to heal and still continue running. Almost there, though.
Working on my strength, especially my core. I know if I don’t get stronger there I’ll never make to the end of 26.2.

Sean Brown — Fitness / Form / Running — No comments

10
May 10

Back at it

Having rested a bit after the race, I’m now back out on the roads getting in some good mileage. It feels good. Although I now know that tapering for the race was necessary and helped me run better during the race, I still didn’t like it. I’ve grown too accustomed to running decent lengths on a daily basis and I think my body expects to be physically tired.

The cuts I got on my Achilles due to poor wet weather planning for the Pig continue to bother me. They are healing, but having cuts in a place that gets scratched and rubbed normally durning runs makes it difficult to get it healed quickly. A runner friend recommended putting Duct tape over top of the normal bandages and that does seem to be helping.

Sean Brown — Running — 1 comment

02
May 10

Flying Pig Half Marathon race report

I went in to my first half marathon race hoping that I could run it in 1:55:00, and that was based on my training runs and their typical pace. Running a 1:55:00 half marathon would be keeping a pace of just under 8:50/mile, which seemed doable. Well, I didn’t quite make it. Official chip time: 1:56:14.

Before I go through my thinking, let me say this: I am incredibly proud of my accomplishment. A year ago I couldn’t run a single mile at all, let alone a half marathon. I put in the miles, I slogged through the winter, I trained very diligently, and with the help of more experienced runners, I trained pretty intelligently too. I feel ten feet tall today.

Now then, how did I miss my goal? A few factors, I think. I plan to get some more experienced input as well, but here’s what I think:

I didn’t train on hills enough for this particular race. If the Flying Pig is known for any one thing, it’s the hills. Miles 6-9 are pretty much all uphill and it’s a doozy. Every time you think you’ve made it to the top, there’s one more push to make. And, unexpectedly (to me), I found the downhills from 10-12 to be just as tough as the uphills on my legs.
I wasn’t as prepared for the weather as I should have been. It rained through most of the race, especially at the beginning. The socks I chose to wear today were kind of low cut and that ended up being a mistake. I never put any body glide there and payed the price. Just over 2 miles into the race, I could feel the rubbing of the wet shoes and socks and it never let up after that. When I got to the finish, another runner asked me if I was OK because I had a steady stream of blood going from both Achilles into my shoes (which are now blood-stained). It was my own little Curt Schilling moment. I tried to just ignore the pain, but I’m sure I changed my gait a bit here and there trying to alleviate the pain.
Lack of experience. I should have noticed much further back that I was a bit off my goal pace. I noticed as I passed the mile 11 clock, but even though I pushed hard to make up the difference in the final two miles, I ran out of real estate.

Here’s my race in more detail. As you can see, the uphills were the miles were I was running at a pace higher than my goal.

All in all, I’m happy with this first half marathon. And now I have something to gun for when I run my second half marathon in Columbus this summer, and then the full Chicago Marathon.

P.S. Funny update. If you’ve read this blog before, you may remember my post titled “I’m a serial killer.” It was a post about how I’ve killed three iPods in a very short amount of time. When I got back home from the Flying Pig, I forgot to take my Shuffle out of the pocket of my running shorts, and sure enough, they went though the wash. Dead. Another iPod, mercilessly cut short in its prime.

Sean Brown — Races / Running — 3 comments