Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon 2011

Another 13.1 miles in the books. What a difference a year makes.
Last year I thought I was in my prime. I was logging serious miles and I was ready for this race. That race fell apart from the start. My GPS watch would not work in the city. The big buildings blocked the signal and I was left to figure out my pace on my own. The result was a a speedy 5 miles then I basically crashed and burned. I even remember the dreaded mile 10. Everyone that runs half marathons knows mile 10 is when trouble usually starts. It's the start of the tough miles. Last year was no exception. From mile 10 to 12.5 I ran some and walked a lot. I had been mentally kaput since mile 6 making those last 3 miles excruciating. I finished, I was happy and I said no more long runs for me... Then I did a full 26.2 mile Marathon.

After surviving that experience I decided that 13.1 wasn't so bad after all. Fast forward to my rebuild summer. I took 2 months off from running and cross trained really hard. Leaned down and gained some good lean muscle and increased my cardio performance. In late July I started back running, but kept it short 4 -5 miles and a total of 20 miles per week. I did 4 weeks of that before this race. I was a bit skeptical that I could even finish 13 miles let alone do it faster than last year.

There were a couple of keys to this years success. First my overall physical fitness is up 200% from last year. Second since starting back to running I've been training with a heart monitor. With the heat like it was this summer I needed to make sure my effort was correct despite my pace. This helped me realize that a 150 beat per minute heart rate was a very comfortable pace for me right at about 8:00 minute mile to an 8:07. Remembering last year my GPS watch didn't work downtown; I knew my heart rate monitor would. So instead of trying to figure out how fast I was going I simply let my heart be my guide. That worked perfectly my 5K, 10K and 10 Mile splits were right in that zone 8:01 - 8:04 pace per mile. Third I hydrated very well all week leading up to the race. I drank a lot of water. Now I have the ability to tell right away when I run if I'm even slightly dehydrated. It makes a huge difference in performance and effort. Fourth I brought fuel with me (I don't like GU they have for fuel on the course so I bring my own - cookies). No more toughing it out for me. When your body runs out of glycogen (fuel stored in muscle) your legs turn to lead and you are finished. Finally was my mental attitude. I figured this race was going to be tough. With no hard training leading up to this race I expected a hard struggle. When things got tough at mile 11 it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I told myself 2 more miles and I'd be done. Then at mile 12 I told myself last mile marker before the finish line and as soon as I passed it I kept repeating to myself "Less than a mile". Those miles went by fast. I was amazed.

At the start of the race I really wanted to run with the 1:45 pace group because I wanted to run a 1:45. That was my goal. I started out a pretty good distance in front of them and along the way they passed me. Once when I stopped to use the bathroom then a second time when I fought with my fuel belt. After those 2 incidents I kept them insight, but they were a good 30-40 seconds in front of me. That's an eternity in running.

To recap the race : As per usual the first 4 miles went by pretty quick and without issue. There is always a lot of chatting between runners in those first few miles. It's like people watching, but it's actually people listening. It's pretty entertaining, but by mile 5 all you can hear is steady breathing mostly your own, but those around you have gone silent. You are into the work of the race. That initial race day energy has burned off and you feel it. You also feel that you have 8 more miles to go. That means another 5 and a 5K on top of it. You quickly push that thought aside and focus on getting to mile 8 because at mile 8 you know there are only 5 miles left and 5 is pretty easy. You also know that you'll be at 10 just 2 short miles after that and that's when the fun starts. So that was me at mile 5 dreading that I had another 8 to go and wondering if I would be able to finish. Shortly after that I hit the 10K which meant about another quarter mile and I will be half way...yeah it's as defeating as it sounds. It's at this point you really take stock in how you feel and to be honest I was tired and ready to be done.

We turned down Michigan ave and I noticed we were close to where I parked the car. It was a huge temptation to hang a left and head towards my car and go home. I haven't quit in the middle of a race yet, but I have been tempted more than once. To make matters worse we were close enough to the finish line that I could hear the announcers calling out the first runners to cross the finish line. I wished that was me, not because I wanted to win, but because I wanted the race to be over. I could feel my form starting to go. My right knee was feeling tight and my foot started to hurt. I decided now was a good time to stop at a conveniently placed port-o-potty. 15 seconds later I was back on Michigan ave with my form back, my knee stopped hurting and my foot, well my foot was still a little sore, but I blocked it out. Then it started to rain. Ahhhh. That felt wonderful. It was a light rain and helped cool me down a little. The temperature was a decent upper 60's but the humidity was very high, comfortable, but high. Miles 8 and 9 were a blur. I had put myself in a zone after the potty stop and just held it there until I saw mile marker 10. It was my first half marathon where I was actually happy to see mile 10.

I told myself, "Self, this is it 5K left. I'm a 5K guy that is what I do. I run 5K's. I got this." Instantly I picked up the pace. I dropped the hammer and said aloud. It's on! I belted out my second fastest mile from 10 t0 11. The only faster one was the potty stop mile when I got into a zone. That and the fact that I stopped and wanted to make up that time. But mile 11 flew by quick. I couldn't hold the pace though. I started to fade as I headed towards 12. We were heading north into the wind and working against a slight uphill with some short but steep hills in between. Mile 12 was at the top of one of these short steep hills and I wasn't alone in my protest. Nobody around me conquered that hill. We all slugged up it and hoped we wouldn't have to walk once we reached the top. I quickly reminded myself 1 mile left and tried to hammer down the best I could. From a little over a half mile away I could see the finish line calling me. I looked at my watch and realized I had a shot at that 1:45 goal. I ran that last half mile in 3:48 seconds. I crossed the finish line stopped my watch and seen I hit 1:44:45. With a big smile on my face I walked over grabbed a water and proceeded to get my picture taken.

Into My New Routine

I'm two weeks into my new routine that has incorporated a lot more cross training. I'm putting in 15 - 20 miles a week alternating 3 runs 3 cross training days and 4 runs 2 cross training days. In my first week back I did a very hot and humid 5K and felt that I ran it very well and a humid and hilly tough 10 mile race that I felt I did a personal best despite a time that doesn't indicate so.

When I committed to doing Insanity 6 days a week I didn't realize how much that was going to help me stay on task with running. I used to run every other day or when I felt like it. Since I didn't do any cross training in between I felt it was important to give my body rest to avoid injury and looking back I agree that was the right thing to do. Now that I have cross training I can get a great workout in 6 days a week and not feel tired or bored. It's amazing and recommend it to anyone that doesn't x-train to try it. I'm sorry I was so late to the party.

My next big run is the Chicago Rock n Roll Half Marathon and I'm pretty excited about that. I ran it last year and enjoyed it while I got a new PR and I'm hoping to beat that PR this year. I really want to break 1:45.

That's it for now. I have more exciting news to share tomorrow.

Until then - Keep Running!

-Bob

9 Weeks Later

9 Weeks ago I started the Insanity DVD series in an attempt to shed a few pounds and tighten up my fitness. I only ran a total of 19.5 miles for the entire month of June. That's the least amount of running in a single month since I started running again 2 years ago. I can't wait to hit the pavement again.

So how was Insanity you ask? Let me start with this disclaimer: It's my strong opinion that this workout series is not for people just starting out trying to get fit after being sedentary for a long period of time. You need to be moderately active at least 3 days a week. This is high impact training. There is a lot of jumping and moving around and this will cause your heart rate to be pumping at 90% of it's max or more.

It was without a doubt insane. I loved the first month of it. The workouts were tough, but manageable and left me feeling good. The second month however, let's just say I don't like Shaun T as much any more. The second month was brutal. Longer tougher workouts that just beat you down. Shaun's demeanor felt a little darker and not so friendly in the second month. Many of the fit people working out with Shaun were struggling during the workouts. I had to slightly adjust the workouts for my aging body. I was getting muscle strains in my hips and legs often so I would modify the moves to reduce the stress on my body. Even in the final week of the last month I still can't keep up with them on the video. I had it down pretty good at the end of the first series of disks in month one, but month 2 forgettaboutit.

Even though I am being a little critical of the series I did enjoy it and the benefits I got with it. I squeaked in 2 5K's during my training the first one was at the end of the first week when my body was totally broken down. It was one of my worst 5K performances ever a 23:40 that just felt miserable. My overall pace was faster in previous 10K...

Needless to say that really worried me how my running performance was going to suffer because of the cross training. I figured I'd just have to build back up once I was done. Then I ran the 2nd 5K right after the recovery week. Wow what a difference! I ran a 21:48 beating my best time by almost 12 seconds, although the course was 200ft short, the point was made that this cross training was not hurting my running performance at all. It actually improved it.

Insanity has you start the program by doing a fit test. It's a series of 8 exercises that you have 1 minute to complete as many as you can with a minute rest in between each one. It sounds easier than it is.

These are my results from the very first day:

Week 1	16-May
	Exercise	Reps
1	Switch Kicks	119
2	Power Jacks	48
3	Power Knees	73
4	Power Jumps	41
5	Globe Jumps	7
6	Suicide Jumps	16
7	Pushup Jacks	17
8	Low Plank Obliques	35
	Total Reps	356

I thought I did pretty good. I'm a runner with a great cardiovascular system I figured these numbers were stellar and I'd see only minor improvement. HA! Was I wrong. Every 2 weeks you retake the fit test to see your improvement. It really is a great motivator. These were my second test results:

Week 3	30-May
	Exercise	Reps	Improvement
1	Switch Kicks	125	5%
2	Power Jacks	58	17%
3	Power Knees	110	34%
4	Power Jumps	60	32%
5	Globe Jumps	10	30%
6	Suicide Jumps	20	20%
7	Pushup Jacks	26	35%
8	Low Plank Obliques	53	34%
	Total Reps	462	23%

A 23% improvement in 2 weeks was pretty amazing.

These are my most recent results:

Week 8	4-Jul
	Exercise	Reps	Improvement	Overall Improvement
1	Switch Kicks	141	4%	16%
2	Power Jacks	69	14%	30%
3	Power Knees	133	15%	45%
4	Power Jumps	70	21%	41%
5	Globe Jumps	11	9%	36%
6	Suicide Jumps	21	5%	24%
7	Pushup Jacks	35	14%	51%
8	Low Plank Obliques	55	15%	36%
	Total Reps	535	12%	33%

Less improvement over the last test but a 33% improvement from the beginning.

I'm slightly disappointed in my weight loss. Combined with the Insanity workout I changed a lot of my eating behaviors. I was hoping for a bigger loss I've lost the 10 lbs I put on over winter, but I was hoping to be down 20. The scale has only recently started being agreeable to my goals. The real proof has been in the inches lost. I've lost over an inch around my waist. I feel fitter and stronger than I ever have. I'll post up some before and after pictures later. I'm not sure if there will be a lot of visual difference.

Next up on the agenda is a 5K next Thursday night followed by a 10 mile race on Saturday. The 5K will be simple. I'm a little more worried about the endurance portion of the 10 miler. The course is tough, but I'm confident I have the strength. I think this will be a big indicator and how much work I'll need to put in before the Rock n Roll half marathon in August.
Before After

The Rip and Rebuild

For the past 6 months I've found myself in a bit of a running slump. My 5K times have plateaued, my fitness level and weight have stagnated. What's even worse my passion for running has slightly dropped *GASP*!! I'm not ready for that yet. I still have some goals I want to reach. Yes, it's time. I need change.

As a runner you tend to have this misconception that you are physically fit. While that's mostly true, your cardiovascular system is definitely above par, but your muscular fitness tends to be sub par. Ask a physical therapist and they will tell you how delusional runners are to muscular fitness. Look up running injuries and about 95% of them are caused by weak muscles usually in the legs, hip, butt or core. Therefore it makes sense to look at other aspects of fitness outside of running and the importance of actual strength training.

Which brings me to my new plan: The Rip and Rebuild

What is rip and rebuild? It's starting from scratch. Granted I'm starting a number steps above where I started back in 2009, but I'm going to consider where I am right now as the starting point and I'm going to build from here. So what's that look like? How do you go from 30 miles a week back to ground zero? Looking in my rear view mirror I can see that my running was weak. I could put mileage in, but it took a lot out of me. I wasn't able to put in multiple workouts daily or even on consecutive days without needing rest in between. I thought over time I would have improved, but after several months it was obvious this was not going to happen without some sort of change. Injury was starting to creep in. I think I caught it just in time. I noticed some hip and knee pain that was new and lingering before, during and after my runs. A true sign that a change was needed or unwanted change would happen on it's own. Better to be proactive!

Here's the plan I put together and it's still a work in progress, but I like where I'm at right now. About a month ago I borrowed the Insanity Interval training series from my friend and personal trainer. After seeing the commercials, reading testimonies and talking to people that had completed the 2 month session I decided this was a great place to start. The training would maintain, if not improve, my cardiovascular system. In addition it would help me build actual strength and stamina in my muscles. The icing on the cake is the plyometric training. It will help me maintain a strong bone structure and improve power in my core and joints.

What a great foundation for running. A strong body. I'm currently 1 month into the series and it has already reshaped me. Muscles are now active that have been dormant for awhile. My body feels engaged. My core is now active in just about every physical task I perform. I am more stable on my feet and I feel powerful.

After the second month I intend to start back into running mileage. I'll start with 15 - 20 miles a week and build up to 35 - 40 miles a week and include 3 days of strength training and one day of speed work. The goal is to kick off the fall running season with a strong 1/2 marathon on August 14th in Chicago and let that be the spring board into some fast fall 5 and 10K's. I'll then back down the running and increase the strength/cardio training for the winter.

A month in and I can say that I miss running, which is good. I want to hunger for it again. I'm excited to see where this training plan takes me. I'll post again at the end of Insanity and post some results. Then it's back to running!

Dig deeper!
-Bob

Time for a change?

According to a CDC study done from 2005-2007; 60.4% of adults are overweight or obese. Along with that 25% of deaths were caused by heart disease. These numbers may or may not shock you. The 60% was a little bit of a surprise to me, but when I look around I see it and I'm surprised it's not higher.

I'm not sure what's wrong with our human wiring. Why the majority of us miss or ignore commonsense. We believe in drawing false conclusions like "I'm a smoker, but I won't die from lung cancer or develop emphysema or heart disease" or "I'm fat and it won't effect my health later in life." It's kind of like saying "Oh man Christmas snuck up on me this year. I had no idea it was going to be on December 25th. I'm so unprepared". Maybe that's our problem we are a last minute culture. I'll just wait until the 11th hour and then I'll work hard and fast to get it done at the last second.

You can see the obvious point I'm getting to. Your health, your kids college tuition, your retirement. These are things that you need to have a plan for. You can't just wait until the last minute and get it done. In fact, the earlier your start on these things the easier they are and the longer you wait the harder, near impossible they become!

Speaking to the health aspect, I can say that it's hard. It's really, really hard to start getting healthy. Especially the older you get. The CDC report I referenced showed the #1 killer is heart disease from ages 44+. We need to make physical activity a daily necessity like eating, drinking and sleeping. Yes, I know you're busy, but you need to prioritize as mentioned above it needs to hold the same priority of eating, drinking and sleeping. Stop making excuses and grab hold of your life. Stop letting yourself be pulled in 10 million directions. You have control.

It's time for a change!

It's about finishing

There are some goals that require some motivation to attain, things like losing weight, saving money, quitting smoking or becoming a runner. These things are tough. They aren't accomplished in 24 to 48 hours and no magic pill is going to carry you easily to the end. In fact the secret to the magic pill lies in the small print "For best results use with Diet and Exercise regimen". How about you save the 48.95 and just do the diet and exercise regimen? No, these things take time, discipline and resolve. Starting is easy. What's tough is getting back up after you've been knocked down. It's continuing to fight when you feel defeated.

They say it usually takes about 6.1 attempts at quitting smoking before you actually quit. I'd have to say that sounds about right. It took me at least 19 over the course of 5 years before I finally won. That was a long fight, but I won. I can't tell you how many times I quit... buying... in that span of time or how many full packs of cigarettes I chucked out the window after saying "No more!" only to pull into the gas station to get a new pack on my way to work the next morning. Oh, I got knocked down a lot. Then there was the fight with weight loss. That was a 30 round fight. I got smacked around by cheese burgers, pizza, hot dogs and fries, soda pop and cookies. I'd lose 10 and gain back 15. To get back up after a Big Mac attack was tough.

The key is you have to get back up. You have to finish, but you are going to get knocked down along the way. Let me say that again you are going to get knocked down along the way. The important thing is to not quit. It's all about finishing. If you get knocked down 100 times you get back up 101 times. If you are going the wrong way you make a U-turn. You only fail if you quit.

My wife, Stephanie, has been a great inspiration to me over the past year. First she had knee problems that slowed her training. Then she had an equilibrium problem after a winter cruise in Feb that lasted until the end of April. Near the end of May she fell while rollerblading hit her head and messed up her equilibrium again. Each of those incidents completely side lined her for several months. She was finally back on track running again by September and worked her way up to completing her first half marathon in October while training for an upcoming marathon in January. By early December she was dealing with knee problems again. It was cold and snowy outside and she managed 15 and 18 miles on the treadmill. In January the marathon rolled around and never completing the 20 mile training run she new she wasn't in the best position to run a full marathon. Let me take a moment for a side bar here. I've heard people say they are terrified of being last in a race like a 5K or 10K or even a half marathon. During the marathon officials came up to her, she was dead last, and told her if she didn't catch up to the group about a minute in front of her she would be removed from the course and this was at mile 20! Imagine being yanked off the course at mile 20 in a 26 mile race! Suddenly finishing last in a race doesn't sound so bad to me. Being kicked out... I don't even want to think how I would have handled that news. I would have quit, but she didn't. She got knocked down and she got back up again. She caught up to that pack and passed a bunch of them. She hurt. She was tired. She cried. She wanted to be done. Finally after 7 hours and 12 minutes she crossed the finish line. Do you have that kind of resolve?

I'd like to tell you her story has a happy ending, but it doesn't. She got knocked down again. That race really did some damage to her knee. It's now April and after some physical therapy she is finally able to start running and training again. She challenged herself to a 10K that she knew she would have to run/walk the whole race. She knew she would probably finish last, but she got back up again and finished that race nearly last, but it didn't bother her. She finished.

Life is tough. Nobody breezes through without falling down. Just remember it's about finishing. To reach your goal you gotta finish. You don't have to be first you just have to finish.

If you get knocked down, just get up again:

Back in Training

Time for an update. Today marks 2 months since the marathon and while I'm still proud of that accomplishment I'm in no hurry to reproduce it. I'm not going to lie, getting going again has been HARD.

I started back on a 5K training plan on January 24th and right away the first few runs were tough. Not so much physically tough as mentally tough. I still had a lot of mileage fatigue going on in my head. To make matters worse I could feel that my fitness level had eroded a little. For marathon training you push for endurance and stamina. 5K training you focus a lot on speed, fast leg turnover and breathing. It had been well over 3 months since I pushed a short but fast speed workout. My legs weren't used to the quicker turnover and my anaerobic system was still on vacation.

That first speed workout was brutal, but I was very satisfied with the results. Then I nailed an easy 10 miler on the weekend. The next week we got hit by that blizzard so I had to skip a few runs and finally give in to the realization that if I'm going to enjoy the spring races I was going to have to climb aboard the dreadmill, which I affectionately call chug-chug, and log some miles. Thankfully I adapted pretty quick to the treadmill and don't dread it as much as I used to. I doubt I'll ever be able to put more than 5 miles on it at a time, but something is always better than nothing in running. I'm currently on week 7 and I have a race scheduled at the end of this week. I'm happy to say I feel strong and more confident than I did 5 weeks ago. I'm still wondering where my fitness level is, but I think it's a lot closer to where I left it last fall than where it was, last spring.

I'm glad I can reflect 7 weeks later and say I'm happy to be running again. I was really afraid the marathon wrecked me. Don't get me wrong I'm glad I did it, but I wasn't ready for the post race fallout. I was very close to hanging up my running shoes for who knows how long and that would have just crushed me. The joy of running has since returned along with my desire to improve speed and race performance. A big part of this joy as come in the form of friends who have either embraced running for the first time or getting back to it after being gone for awhile. Both are tremendous motivators. The food portion is taking a lot longer to get back as bad habits return quickly. I'm no where near as bad as I used to be with my food choices, but I know I'm a long way from where I want to be.

I'm still carrying a big cloud of doubt around with me about my current fitness level. If I were going to speculate on this weekends race I think I'll probably leg out a 22:50 5K. Which would put me almost a minute off my best time. It would be the first year I didn't set a new PR in the first spring race, but I could live with that time for now. Oops, it's getting late and I have to get a short interval session in to sharpen me up for Saturday.


For the love of running,

-Bob