*Whistles inconspicuously, as if I've been here posting the whole time...
So it's been a while since I last posted. And you know what? It felt f-ing great! This blog served its purpose last year, it kept me accountable, gave me an outlet, helped keep me focused. But it also got heavy. It weighed me down. Instead of feeling like a place to unload burdens, it became one - I suddenly felt obliged to write something 2 or 3 times a week, and felt guilty when I didn't.
That guilt went away after the first couple of weeks. It was a slow realization, that I wasn't REQUIRED to write anything. There were even times when I forgot the blog was here, times when I didn't care. I'm a grown ass man, I don't have to do anything I don't want to.
But I do want to write, I do want to get back to this blog. I think I needed time to adjust my point of view a bit, and also needed time to decide how to come back, how to begin again. Like an old friend that I've fallen out of touch with, how do you reach out and relight that fire?
It turns out my toe was broken, but still not a big deal. My consistency was shot to hell, I had a horrible sinus infection followed by being stuck in the field for a bridge inspection, so I had a stretch of a month where I only ran 5 or 6 times. I'm back on it now, but I've lost a lot of conditioning and my time has run out - no early half marathon this year, no big finishes in local races. Just a reduced schedule and a scramble to get in shape for it.
So business as usual...
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
A Gentle Guiding Push, or Backhand Upside The Head
Back for another hastily written post while taking a break from work. Amid all of the folders and sketches and calculations flying around my office, I have managed to come up with something to post about to close out a very boring January.
In addition to talking about running here in my blog, which is meant more as a rambling personal journal and means to keep me focused, I often contribute (waste time on) to the running section of Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo's question and answer forum. Typically, it is a regurgitation of the same handful of questions, which at first seem helpful, but after you've done it over and over again, you start to wonder how anyone could be this dumb (you don't "loose" weight, there phrase "workout regiment" has no meaning). It is also a good opportunity to fight back against many of the prevailing myths about running and training that have persisted for years because so often people will blindly do as they are told without thinking for themselves - breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth...
Now that we're into the new year, we're at one of two critical times for young runners - preparing for high school track (the other is preparing for high school cross country). This means the same handful of questions asked over and over again with poor (or nonexistent) punctuation and grammar, getting more frantic and anxious the closer they get to the first day of practice.
The point? Oh yea, I'll get there eventually. Did I mention rambling in this blog? I often wish I had gone into teaching. If not for the lousy pay, I would have. I enjoy mentoring, and tutoring, and any opportunity I get to pass on things that I know to others (especially topics where I really know what I'm talking about). I am certain that if I ever change directions and go into teaching, I'll probably try to coach running as well. And based on the endless stream of questions and pleas for advice that I've seen on Yahoo, I think my philosophy for both will probably be similar.
Coaching, like teaching, is an exercise in psychology. You can't coach someone you don't really know. Some athletes respond well to being pushed hard, negatively reinforced, motivated by being reminded of their own failures. Others don't, and negatively reinforcing those athletes is a fast way to drain the life out of their running career. You can kill a person's love of running if you handle them improperly when they come to you, whether it be for coaching, simple advice, or even to have a single question answered. It takes time working with someone to determine if they need to be coached with a firm hand to get their best, or gently guided to keep their head and heart in the proper place so they flourish. It's hard to coach someone you don't know. You can get in the face of a professional football player and scream at them if they screw up. You can't do that to a 13 year old girl. Too many people try to do too much when answering these young runner's questions. I was guilty of this for a while. I've since learned that this is a "less is more" situation, and to save the hard blunt responses for adult runners who think they know it all (like me!).
A little update on my training. I took 5 days off. Why would I do this, when things were going well? Because I'm not as agile and graceful as I like to think I am. Thursday evening, the teapot began to whistle. I bounded through the house like a little kid (as I often do), and as I hopped up the step into the kitchen I slipped. My trailing foot caught the step right on the knuckle of my middle toe - it felt broken. I've broken pinky toes before (note the plural), you yank hard once to set the bone (TWSS), then tape it to its neighbor for a while. So I did the same for this one. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I expected, so it probably isn't broken, just deeply bruised. I tested it out each morning afterwards, and today was the first time it felt like I could push off of my right foot enough to run. So aside from my own clumsiness, training is going well, I'm still pretty consistent, I just need to get a lot faster.
In addition to talking about running here in my blog, which is meant more as a rambling personal journal and means to keep me focused, I often contribute (waste time on) to the running section of Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo's question and answer forum. Typically, it is a regurgitation of the same handful of questions, which at first seem helpful, but after you've done it over and over again, you start to wonder how anyone could be this dumb (you don't "loose" weight, there phrase "workout regiment" has no meaning). It is also a good opportunity to fight back against many of the prevailing myths about running and training that have persisted for years because so often people will blindly do as they are told without thinking for themselves - breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth...
Now that we're into the new year, we're at one of two critical times for young runners - preparing for high school track (the other is preparing for high school cross country). This means the same handful of questions asked over and over again with poor (or nonexistent) punctuation and grammar, getting more frantic and anxious the closer they get to the first day of practice.
The point? Oh yea, I'll get there eventually. Did I mention rambling in this blog? I often wish I had gone into teaching. If not for the lousy pay, I would have. I enjoy mentoring, and tutoring, and any opportunity I get to pass on things that I know to others (especially topics where I really know what I'm talking about). I am certain that if I ever change directions and go into teaching, I'll probably try to coach running as well. And based on the endless stream of questions and pleas for advice that I've seen on Yahoo, I think my philosophy for both will probably be similar.
Coaching, like teaching, is an exercise in psychology. You can't coach someone you don't really know. Some athletes respond well to being pushed hard, negatively reinforced, motivated by being reminded of their own failures. Others don't, and negatively reinforcing those athletes is a fast way to drain the life out of their running career. You can kill a person's love of running if you handle them improperly when they come to you, whether it be for coaching, simple advice, or even to have a single question answered. It takes time working with someone to determine if they need to be coached with a firm hand to get their best, or gently guided to keep their head and heart in the proper place so they flourish. It's hard to coach someone you don't know. You can get in the face of a professional football player and scream at them if they screw up. You can't do that to a 13 year old girl. Too many people try to do too much when answering these young runner's questions. I was guilty of this for a while. I've since learned that this is a "less is more" situation, and to save the hard blunt responses for adult runners who think they know it all (like me!).
A little update on my training. I took 5 days off. Why would I do this, when things were going well? Because I'm not as agile and graceful as I like to think I am. Thursday evening, the teapot began to whistle. I bounded through the house like a little kid (as I often do), and as I hopped up the step into the kitchen I slipped. My trailing foot caught the step right on the knuckle of my middle toe - it felt broken. I've broken pinky toes before (note the plural), you yank hard once to set the bone (TWSS), then tape it to its neighbor for a while. So I did the same for this one. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I expected, so it probably isn't broken, just deeply bruised. I tested it out each morning afterwards, and today was the first time it felt like I could push off of my right foot enough to run. So aside from my own clumsiness, training is going well, I'm still pretty consistent, I just need to get a lot faster.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Weekend Adventure!
Don't let the exclamation mark fool you, it isn't as exciting as it sounds. And it wasn't this weekend, it was a couple of weekends ago when the weather was nice.
Weekend adventure
While randomly searching for something completely unrelated on the internet, I came across Wine Cellar Park in a nearby town. It is a little park with trails and a stocked fishing pond, with a pre-Civil War stone wine cellar. It is no longer in use (sadly), but acts as a tourist attraction.
There are a good number of trails, a few paved with asphalt leading to the pond, but many many more unpaved and randomly running through the woods. I took the time to walk a bit farther than Kim to check a few out, and get a few pictures of the pond. I doubt they would be much use for running (I'm not going to drive 25 minutes for a training run), but maybe we'll go fishing at the pond later this year.
And before we left, we found a purple travel coffee cup. I always find the weirdest things. When I was in Mississippi on inspections, I found a pair of hunting pants in the middle of the road, folded, that were randomly my size.
So what have my running shoes been up to the past few weeks while giving you the silent treatment? The name of the game right now is consistency. Rather than going too big too soon, as I am often wont to do (I don't think people use the word "wont" enough these days), I scaled back to mileage which is manageable to be done 5 or 6 days per week, and am slowly pushing it back up as my body is ready. I just knocked out a 26 mile week, and my legs feel great. My only hard workouts are twice weekly fartlek runs where I pick up the pace for about 20-25 seconds. During this morning's run I finally felt the early parts of my conditioning coming together, the solid form that the fartlek gives, the added speed and power from the gym, and my aerobic conditioning helping me recover between bursts.
Eventually, when that site redesign that I've been talking about for... cough...a year... finally gets taken care of, I'm going to include something for weekly mileage. I'm also working on my racing schedule for the year, I don't have it all figured out yet, but I am planning to try to start the year with a half marathon in late April. I'll have more about that next time though.
A closing thought: Experts don't know shit. An expert is someone who knows enough to speak from authority to those who don't, and that authority is derived from their confidence. Never let someone tell you that you should do something if they personally don't do it or haven't done it themselves, which is really the only way to know what works. How do I know this? I'm an expert, stop asking questions and do what I say.
Weekend adventure
While randomly searching for something completely unrelated on the internet, I came across Wine Cellar Park in a nearby town. It is a little park with trails and a stocked fishing pond, with a pre-Civil War stone wine cellar. It is no longer in use (sadly), but acts as a tourist attraction.
 | |
| The Wine Cellar, Very Old, Kind of Spooky |
There are a good number of trails, a few paved with asphalt leading to the pond, but many many more unpaved and randomly running through the woods. I took the time to walk a bit farther than Kim to check a few out, and get a few pictures of the pond. I doubt they would be much use for running (I'm not going to drive 25 minutes for a training run), but maybe we'll go fishing at the pond later this year.
 |
| Kim Being Cute on One of The Trails |
 |
| The Pond, Seen from The Hill Top |
And before we left, we found a purple travel coffee cup. I always find the weirdest things. When I was in Mississippi on inspections, I found a pair of hunting pants in the middle of the road, folded, that were randomly my size.
So what have my running shoes been up to the past few weeks while giving you the silent treatment? The name of the game right now is consistency. Rather than going too big too soon, as I am often wont to do (I don't think people use the word "wont" enough these days), I scaled back to mileage which is manageable to be done 5 or 6 days per week, and am slowly pushing it back up as my body is ready. I just knocked out a 26 mile week, and my legs feel great. My only hard workouts are twice weekly fartlek runs where I pick up the pace for about 20-25 seconds. During this morning's run I finally felt the early parts of my conditioning coming together, the solid form that the fartlek gives, the added speed and power from the gym, and my aerobic conditioning helping me recover between bursts.
Eventually, when that site redesign that I've been talking about for... cough...a year... finally gets taken care of, I'm going to include something for weekly mileage. I'm also working on my racing schedule for the year, I don't have it all figured out yet, but I am planning to try to start the year with a half marathon in late April. I'll have more about that next time though.
A closing thought: Experts don't know shit. An expert is someone who knows enough to speak from authority to those who don't, and that authority is derived from their confidence. Never let someone tell you that you should do something if they personally don't do it or haven't done it themselves, which is really the only way to know what works. How do I know this? I'm an expert, stop asking questions and do what I say.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Too Long Between Posts
I know I'm taking too long between posts. Things have picked up at work, so I'm juggling work and training and other stuff I want to do, and the blog has suffered. I'll try to write more, really...
This is just a short little check in to say hi, and tell you that my running has gone well so far. I haven't skipped any workouts, I'm on track to build my mileage back up slowly after a long December of very little running. I'm pretty out of shape.
I'll post again later in the week with pictures from my weekend adventures...
This is just a short little check in to say hi, and tell you that my running has gone well so far. I haven't skipped any workouts, I'm on track to build my mileage back up slowly after a long December of very little running. I'm pretty out of shape.
I'll post again later in the week with pictures from my weekend adventures...
Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011, Then 2012
Seems like a good time to reflect on the year that has passed, see how I've done with all I wanted to accomplish, and in general find a creative outlet for some of my nostalgia (which lately has been pretty prevalent in my mind).
What were my personal goals outside of running this year?
That's easy. Pass the PE Exam. Get ahead of the housework and stay ahead. Do some maintenance on the house that is overdo. Learn sign language.
I passed the PE (found out last week!). That's a huge career milestone that I fear I haven't put enough emphasis on here, because it isn't really related to my running (unless you count the runs I skipped while studying for it).
The housework is mostly caught up after cleaning for the holidays. It probably won't stay that way. This goal will likely continue into next year, and the year after...
I didn't do most of the maintenance stuff I wanted. I was busy with other stuff (read: goofing off).
Learn sign language. This is not a pipe dream. It will happen. Someday...
What did I want to do this year as a runner?
Every year starts out great (just like every day). Full of possibilities, ideas, schemes, goals that you think, "Yea, I'll do that. Piece of cake." And sometimes it is. But more often than not, there are a lot of failures, and the grander the plan, the more spectacular the failure. And I tend to plan big.
-Run some "fast" 5k races. The plan was to get under 20 minutes first (which I haven't done since high school), then work towards something in the 18 minute range. I didn't even get close to cracking 20 minutes.
-Run more events. I don't have anyone nearby that I run with. I don't know many of the local runners, because I just don't run enough races to meet that many people. I wanted to run several 5k races, a few longer ones, and a half marathon. I ran the half, and 2 5k's. Not even close.
-Run my first half marathon. Here I succeeded, and it was one of my favorite races that I've ever been a part of. I'm really hoping that it works out for me to run it again next year. Big plans sometimes equal big successes.
-Kick butt at the Thanksgiving Day 8k in my hometown. You can't have a good race if you don't train consistently, don't eat healthy, and don't even show up.
-Run over 1,200 miles this calendar year. I'm at 896 miles as of December 30th, I don't think I'll be making this one, but I am going to make 900. Close enough?
In terms of planning and goals, it was a pretty modest year for me, and I still managed to fail almost completely. The half marathon was really the only success I had for the year as a runner, but I always see these things in context. Everyone has failures, and you can't realistically expect to hit a home run every time I swing the bat. Maybe if I showed up to the batting cages a bit more often between games...
And my one big success really was big. It was the only race distance I'd never raced, and I went out and did exactly what I wanted to do. Everyone wants that perfect race, that moment in the sun, and for one hour, forty seven minutes, and thirty six seconds, I experienced something that a large number of athletes spend their whole lives longing for. I was who I hoped to be, and did what I set out to do - what more can a person ask for in their entire life?
I took a moment this morning to go back and read an article on ESPN that was one of my favorites of the year. Author Jeff MacGregor, one of my favorites, wrote a piece about his disillusion with professional basketball and how watching a young man named Lukas Verzbicas run a 4 minute mile (only the 5th American high school runner to do so, ever) brought him to a place where he could remember what sports should be. It is one of the best written sports articles I've ever read (read it yourself here, and I think it underscores what I would like my life to be. For a brief, magical period, this young man was exactly the way he dreamed himself to be.
I don't do New Years resolutions. I typically set a list of goals for myself for the coming year, but of the 10 or 12 I set, I usually only accomplish a couple, and this method isn't serving me very well. There are goals, and there are dreams, and the dreams are usually much bigger and farther away than the goals. I'm going to spend the year making my dreams and my goals the same, and in every endeavor in 2012, I'm going to attempt to be the person that I am in my own fantasies. No more goals set months in advance, to be brushed aside when they get hard or something else comes up. Just dealing with what is out in front of me, and doing it in a way that leaves me feeling the same way I felt in the middle of the Virginia Beach Half Marathon - real, genuine, exactly who I wanted to be doing exactly what I intended to do.
Happy New Year!
What were my personal goals outside of running this year?
That's easy. Pass the PE Exam. Get ahead of the housework and stay ahead. Do some maintenance on the house that is overdo. Learn sign language.
I passed the PE (found out last week!). That's a huge career milestone that I fear I haven't put enough emphasis on here, because it isn't really related to my running (unless you count the runs I skipped while studying for it).
The housework is mostly caught up after cleaning for the holidays. It probably won't stay that way. This goal will likely continue into next year, and the year after...
I didn't do most of the maintenance stuff I wanted. I was busy with other stuff (read: goofing off).
Learn sign language. This is not a pipe dream. It will happen. Someday...
What did I want to do this year as a runner?
Every year starts out great (just like every day). Full of possibilities, ideas, schemes, goals that you think, "Yea, I'll do that. Piece of cake." And sometimes it is. But more often than not, there are a lot of failures, and the grander the plan, the more spectacular the failure. And I tend to plan big.
-Run some "fast" 5k races. The plan was to get under 20 minutes first (which I haven't done since high school), then work towards something in the 18 minute range. I didn't even get close to cracking 20 minutes.
-Run more events. I don't have anyone nearby that I run with. I don't know many of the local runners, because I just don't run enough races to meet that many people. I wanted to run several 5k races, a few longer ones, and a half marathon. I ran the half, and 2 5k's. Not even close.
-Run my first half marathon. Here I succeeded, and it was one of my favorite races that I've ever been a part of. I'm really hoping that it works out for me to run it again next year. Big plans sometimes equal big successes.
-Kick butt at the Thanksgiving Day 8k in my hometown. You can't have a good race if you don't train consistently, don't eat healthy, and don't even show up.
-Run over 1,200 miles this calendar year. I'm at 896 miles as of December 30th, I don't think I'll be making this one, but I am going to make 900. Close enough?
In terms of planning and goals, it was a pretty modest year for me, and I still managed to fail almost completely. The half marathon was really the only success I had for the year as a runner, but I always see these things in context. Everyone has failures, and you can't realistically expect to hit a home run every time I swing the bat. Maybe if I showed up to the batting cages a bit more often between games...
And my one big success really was big. It was the only race distance I'd never raced, and I went out and did exactly what I wanted to do. Everyone wants that perfect race, that moment in the sun, and for one hour, forty seven minutes, and thirty six seconds, I experienced something that a large number of athletes spend their whole lives longing for. I was who I hoped to be, and did what I set out to do - what more can a person ask for in their entire life?
I took a moment this morning to go back and read an article on ESPN that was one of my favorites of the year. Author Jeff MacGregor, one of my favorites, wrote a piece about his disillusion with professional basketball and how watching a young man named Lukas Verzbicas run a 4 minute mile (only the 5th American high school runner to do so, ever) brought him to a place where he could remember what sports should be. It is one of the best written sports articles I've ever read (read it yourself here, and I think it underscores what I would like my life to be. For a brief, magical period, this young man was exactly the way he dreamed himself to be.
I don't do New Years resolutions. I typically set a list of goals for myself for the coming year, but of the 10 or 12 I set, I usually only accomplish a couple, and this method isn't serving me very well. There are goals, and there are dreams, and the dreams are usually much bigger and farther away than the goals. I'm going to spend the year making my dreams and my goals the same, and in every endeavor in 2012, I'm going to attempt to be the person that I am in my own fantasies. No more goals set months in advance, to be brushed aside when they get hard or something else comes up. Just dealing with what is out in front of me, and doing it in a way that leaves me feeling the same way I felt in the middle of the Virginia Beach Half Marathon - real, genuine, exactly who I wanted to be doing exactly what I intended to do.
Happy New Year!
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