TheRunningRev.Com

Saturday Track Meet

Saturday evenings track meet was a series of relay events and our whole family had a great time participating.

Our two eldest ran the most with first born running the 4x100 twice and then the family relay. Number 2 child was unstoppable, she ran the 4x100 twice, a sprint medley where she ran the 200, the 4x400 and then the family relay.

This meet was all about fun so there were no official winners or losers! The night ended with a family relay, one lap of the track with exchange points wherever you wanted then and as many as you wanted. We had five of us set up to run. Our eldest ran the first leg of about 100 meters, making good time and giving us a great start, she handed off to our youngest, two-and-a-half, who took the baton and ran with great gusto the next 25 meters where she handed off to mom. Mom then battled hard down the back stretch revealing that she's a distance runner not a sprinter before handing off to number two child who flew round the final bend  handing off to your truly who decided to see how fast he could still run. Two days later the hamstrings are still feeling tight!

It was a great family evening and we are looking forward to the next meet.

Speed Work Tonight

What a great evening. Tonight we did some speed work with the folks from The Running Store. Jenny and I ran around the track with a dozen or so other folks and our girls sat in the bleachers cheering us on. After the workout the girls came down and ran around the track for half an hour. It was a great family evening and we are all looking forward to next week.

Tonight's workout:

Ten minute warm up followed by...

15sec pickup
  w/15sec Recovery

30sec pickup
  w/30sec Recovery

1min pickup
  w/1min Recovery

90sec pickup
  w/90sec Recovery

2min Pickup
  w/2min Recovery

90sec Pickup
  w/90sec Recovery

1min Pickup
  w/1min Recovery

30sec Pickup
  w/30sec Recovery

15sec Pickup
  w/15sec Recovery

I would have enjoyed a little more, perhaps moving to a four or five minute pick up, but it was great start. Perhaps some more speed work will help me get closer to a Boston Qualifying time within the year.

Ipod on the run? Not for me

What a brutal run today... I'd hoped for 12 but ended up with 8 miles and I was really glad to get done. I've had a slight cold over the last week and my legs and lungs just felt really heavy today.

As I was running I was drawn to think about the pros and cons of running with an ipod. I'm most decidedly against ipods when running. First of all you can't hear traffic and I know how much I rely on my ears, especially out on the country roads. Second, I scare the crap out of people moving more slowly than me when I pass them on the street because they don't hear me coming. Third people are just rude to you when they are wearing an ipod. I like to greet the people coming my way with a smile and a "Hi!" but the ipod wearers are so caught up in their own world.

My biggest anti-ipod reason is that you miss out on so much. I struggled this morning but I enjoyed the sound of birdsong, dogs barking but best of all was the sound of children playing in the pool.

Sure if you're stuck on a treadmill go for the ipod, I do, but if you're out running the streets soak in your environment and leave the ipod at home.

Of course ipods are banned in all USATF certified events.

Win the Prize

The Olympic Games are just around the corner. In those games the athletes are going to be competing for the ultimate prize, an Olympic gold medal. A few talented athletes will realize that dream and walk away with the prize. For many others they already know that barring a miracle there is no way they will win a medal let alone the gold. So why are they there? Why run if you have little realistic chance of getting through the heats of the 100m. Why run if your you're going to be ten minutes off the pace for the marathon?

Why? They run to compete, they run to represent their country, they run to do the best they can on the day. They run because that's what they do, they run.

I run.

I have a medals to prove that I run. They're not Olympic gold medals, they're not even winners medals. They are competitors finish medals! I've run marathons and I've finished and probably no one except me could care less. The feeling of crossing that finish line after 26.2 miles is one of the greatest feeling in the world.

The apostle Paul reminds us, "that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize." He then urges us to "run in such a way as to get the prize." Do you have to finish first to get the prize? No, you don't, you only have to compete and finish well to win the prize in the race of life.

I run the race of life to represent the kingdom of God, I do the best I can on any given day. I will run and I will finish well. How about you?

Go for your goal in spite of the obstacles

I ran out of the parking lot at church with a plan to run five miles. It would be my usual five when I run from church, down the path through Virginia Run, the first two miles taking me to the stream that I would cross on the stepping stones, half a mile further and then turn around and head back to the church. I've run this path so many times I could do it with my eyes closed.

Unfortunately as I reached the stream I realized that the rain from the night before had caused it to rise and the stepping stones now acted as rapids with torrent of water pouring over the top of them. It was impassable. I was faced with the decision of pushing on toward my goal of five miles of calling it quits with a four mile run. It didn't take much thought before I decided to run my five, so I headed off down a path I had only ever run once before.

About a quarter mile down the path I ran into (not literally) another runner I knew. We ran together for a few miles and talked about the meaning and purpose of life. It was a meeting orchestrated by the Holy Spirit and it provided a great opportunity for this individual to share some of his concerns about life and ask some of the tough questions he had about God and "why bad things happen to good people."

Had I not pushed on to accomplish the goal I had set out with I would have missed this great opportunity. There are times in life when we decide that an obstacle in our path means we should stop and go home. If we have a clear goal, a clear vision, then we must see obstacles not as the end of the road but rather as a call to move in a different direction but to keep moving until we accomplish that goal. If we give up we will miss out on some wonderful opportunities that God sends our way.

Too Hot!

It's just way to stinking hot! I'm not sure that I'll ever adjust to running in this kind of weather. I started running at 8:50 this morning and by the time I had completed ten miles it was 90 degrees out with a heat index of 96. I lost 5 pounds in sweat!
I had planned on 14 miles for today but that just wasn't going to happen unless I stayed inside on the treadmill.

It was a brutally slow run and I took every opportunity I could to walk. I really enjoyed the walk breaks as they gave me a chance to enjoy the beauty of the countryside all around me. I'm looking forward to some cooler days when I can go longer.

Summer's Here!

It's going to be a hot few days of running coming up, forecast calls for 91 today, 98 tomorrow and then 100 for Sunday and Monday! Lots of fluids and a slower pace over the next few days. At this point next Thursday has a projected high of 87, that's the lowest we're going on the ten day forecast.

I'm still planning on 14 miles Monday but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Twelve beautiful miles

There isn't a cloud in the sky and its a very pleasant 70 degrees outside as I head off for a twelve mile run. No rush to finish fast, just a nice steady pace, 8:30. I had plenty of time to think and enjoyed being able to soak in the majesty of God's creation.

Today is a good day to live.

Braemar 5k

I raced a 5k yesterday. It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining and there was a good breeze blowing. The gun went off and so did the runners, round the bus loop we went and then out of the school parking lot and up the hill... I ran a strong first mile in 6:30 but it took a lot out of me and I slowed to 6:50 for the second mile.

The third mile was a real struggle taking way to long (don't know exactly how long). However as I reached the last .1 I was running alongside another guy and the competitive juices kicked in as we sprinted for the finish, I edged him out by a yard. There's something really sad about taking great delight in beating a 55 year old to the line! I can only hope that I can still do this fifteen years from now.

I finished in 21:32, a 6:56 pace. It was a new PR for me and the first time I've broken the seven minute barrier in a race. It was also the first time I've placed in my age group since starting to run two years ago (I took third). The last time I won something in a race I was ten years old and it was the "wheelbarrow race" at our elementary school sports day, Paul Calvert and I took first place!