The Summer Grind

The summer grind is always difficult. Wisconsin is humid and hot, so to beat the heat you have to run early or late. So naturally, I tend to run at noon every day. It is never my intention, but most of the time I am out the door when the heat is the worst. However, I believe that it makes me a stronger runner. Putting in the miles and keeping my pace around my normal training pace takes much more effort, so when the humidity and heat lower, I should be running at a faster pace and lower effort level. That is what is motivating me right now because like every other runner, I have zero races on the calendar. That is adding even more to the grind and struggle of staying motivated, but learning to motivate yourself seems like a good thing. There are other benefits as well, such as getting crazy tan. The only downside is the watch and sock tan-line. That is one reason I don’t take my socks off around other people!

One thing about the pandemic situation is that it has made life feel like Groundhog’s day. You wake up, run, sleep, and repeat. There are a few variations here and there, but that is what I have felt like most days. That is obviously a good thing because so many have been seriously impacted by COVID, so it is hard to be too upset about the feeling of being stuck in a loop.

When my last race got cancelled last month I was upset. It was completely anticipated, but it was still a blow. I was training better than ever, with my weekly mileage passing 60 miles per week. My long runs were at 19 miles and getting easier each week. The motivation to continue that strict training wained and I haven’t surpassed 9 miles since. This might seem like a negative thing, but I am looking at it as just maintaining a certain fitness level that I can hopefully ramp back up when races come back. Plus my running streak is over 6 months now and I can’t break it. The one downside is that I cannot make up my blowup at my marathon last year, which has been eating at me since it happened. There is always next year though!

I am missing race day more than I thought. The feeling the night before, where you are excited and nervous, thinking about all the ways things can go well or poorly. The morning of where you are trying to wake yourself up and eat anything that won’t upset your stomach. Pre-race, you’re trying not to show your nerves. Waiting around trying to loosen up, go to the ridiculously long port-a-potty line, and looking for your time group. At the starting line and the first mile, it’s so crowded you can’t run your normal stride because everyone is so close together. The thing I have found I miss most though is the middle of the race. You are usually by yourself or in a small group and have to find the balance between not pushing too much where you leave yourself on empty and bonk before the finish line, and pushing enough to not get passed. It is so rewarding when you can hold back enough to pass people in the final few miles, especially when they were cocky about passing you miles back. The finish is always fun, but for some reason I have never enjoyed it as much as the other parts of the race day. I even enjoy getting the race pictures and times back more.

As you can probably tell, I am missing racing. I have done some virtual races, but it isn’t the same as racing people in person. It is hard to push yourself for too long when there aren’t people in front of you. There is something enjoyable from the hot summer run though. You sweat way too much, and are running at a slower pace, but you feel the effort so much more. The bugs are a pain, especially when they fly into your mouth, but with all the negatives it’s worth it. With no races to train for, you find the love of running for the sake of running or you don’t run. I’m choosing to run because it’s a part of my identity and is also helping my mental well-being. There are too many reasons to keep running even without a race day to look forward to!

Running in Place

You think I’m crazy because I run? Trust me, you’d see crazy if I didn’t run!
Unknown

Obviously this is a crazy time. I don’t need to dwell on it, but my spring races were all cancelled and I’m not sure about the fall races. To say that running has kept me sane through this would be an understatement. As of April 27th I am on a 79 day run streak and have run 50+ miles in 5 straight weeks. Normally I use running as a stress reliever, but I’ve found that it has been even more useful, especially to break up the monotony. The coolest thing is that I have seen more people on the backroads than I have ever seen. People are being more active and making lemonade out of the lemons they were given.

Over the winter I was struggling with consistency and coming back from my injury. I couldn’t go more than around 3 miles before getting winded or feeling something in my hip that caused me to pull up. With my half marathon in April, I was pressing more than I should have, trying to get the endurance I lost through rehabbing. Once the social distancing happened, school got moved to an online format. That allowed me more freedom to run without time being a concern. The thing that shifted everything though was marathons like Boston being postponed. I knew that my half would be postponed at best, which relieved a lot of pressure to make up for lost time. With this being the case, I just started running for fun and to see how fast I could go.

About four weeks ago I decided to run with no worry about time. It was a Friday morning and the weather was perfect, so I just ran. I listened to a few podcasts and took new routes on the backroads of Ixonia. I ended up at Ebert’s, which is a greenhouse that sells garden supplies. I kept running and running. Three hours and 19 miles later, I wound up back home feeling drained and better than ever. With no marathon to train for until November, I have not ramped up training speed-wise, but I am running more miles than I have for two years. I’ve found that running in the late morning breaks up the day and gets me out of any negative mind-space. Running with nothing to train for is something different, but I feel healthier than I ever have. I’ve added 10lbs. since last year and the extra muscle has made a big difference. Running with no goal in mind has also been incredible since I don’t care what my times are or even my miles. I just run and usually with a smile on my face.

Something very cool actually happened today. I stopped to take pictures of these cute lambs and this furry little cow when another runner approached me. She said that she has seen me running for a few years now and said how awesome my consistency was. We talked for a couple of minutes and she told me she has run Boston but now that she is 59, her times are starting to slip. I said how cool that was and that really running at all was the most important thing, not the time. The fact that people around my route have noticed me running is really cool and getting to see another runner out there was also awesome. My tracker stopped after 3 miles of my 7.5 mile run, which is something that would ordinarily bug me the rest of the day. Again though, running with no expectations has been such a positive change. I truly do not know what I would be doing right now if I couldn’t run. It has kept me happy and sane during social distancing. All that I know is that I have no intention of breaking my running streak any time soon. Happy running!

Why Run?

Long distance running is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.
Rich Davis

Sorry for the long delay in writing this new post. I have already gone into why I decided to become a runner. It has changed my life in the best way possible. Running has showed me how far I can go mentally. It is not for everyone, but if you put in the time and effort, you will be rewarded in ways you wouldn’t expect.

When I first started running, I did it with my dog Bailey. She loved the exercise and I liked feeling that burning in my lungs. I would run around my sub-division, which was only about half a mile, but I never really ran much before that, so that was a long distance for me. Within about 3 weeks, I would run without Bailey and would go about 3 miles. Nothing fast, and I would be dying by the end of it. I loved every minute of it though. From the burning in my lungs, to the ache in my legs, to even having my arms hurt from pumping them for about 40 minutes. The feeling that I would get after running was incredible. I would feel physically tired, but mentally reinvigorated. Getting to run every day was an awesome primer for the day ahead. I was less stressed and healthier than I had ever been, all thanks to running.

I’m not saying everyone should run. If you have something you do that gets you active and have an outlet to relieve stress, do what works for you. If you are looking for something though, try it. Just know that it is difficult to begin with, but if you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded in ways you couldn’t imagine. Running has taken me to highs I haven’t been to and lows I would prefer not to go back to. However, even in those lows, it showed me how tough I can be and that bouncing back is possible. Through all the injuries I’ve learned how to train smarter and when to rest a nagging pain. In the long runs I’ve learned mental toughness that I hadn’t previously thought possible. Running had also shown me an amazing community that is as supportive and welcoming as I’ve ever seen. The running community makes running so much more fun than it is on its own.

Running has been a blessing for me, and one that I never thought I’d enjoy. Again, running isn’t for everyone, but if you are looking for an outlet and want to have an amazing experience, give it a shot. Anyone looking to start running, please don’t hesitate to ask me about it. I love talking about running and would love to give tips and advice to anyone about it. There are even tips that you’d never think about until it impacts you(Nipple tape is really important). So please reach out if you have any questions!

My Running Journey

From high school graduation to running my first half-marathon

The hardest part is starting. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll find the rest of the journey much easier.
Simon Sinek

I never really enjoyed running. I was a big kid who was always finishing last or near the back of the group. I played basketball, football, and tennis, but I saw running as a punishment. Once I was out of high school, I gained even more weight and was in the worst shape of my life. I went for a physical and weighed 246 lbs. I had every excuse in the book, such as genetics were the reason I was overweight, losing weight was impossible, and that it could be worse. However, I was very unhappy with myself and didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I decided to make a significant change.

I started dieting and walking my dog twice a day around my neighborhood. I restricted my caloric intake to unhealthy levels though, with barely 1,000 calories a day. I lost 120 lbs. in a little under a year and went from overweight to underweight, going from one extreme to another. I was so scared that I would gain all of the weight back that I was almost neurotic about what I was eating.

I wanted to gain healthy weight and had decided that running might be able to help me. Running was not easy for me to begin with, as I could barely go 2 miles and was huffing while running and my legs felt like rubber. This was an eye-opener since I incorrectly thought that I was in good shape. However, I was feeling amazing every time I was finished, with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Each run I was able to go a little further and eventually I was going double digit miles. The negative thing about this is I went to another extreme. I was running double digit miles every day with the occasional day off maybe once every two weeks. I started feeling pain in my knee but ignored it, which led to a stress fracture. This had happened three weeks before my half marathon and I thought if I rested it until then, I would be fine. It was stupid and I should have just withdrawn from the race. I ran it and my knee started killing me by mile 8. I pushed through and finished, but couldn’t walk for two days after. This taught me moderation and I have been running smarter since.

Running has given me more joy in life than I have had in a long time. It has taught me how far I can push my body, how strong I can make my mind, and how to run my own race at my own pace. It took me far too long to discover running in life, but I intend to keep it in my life for as long as I can.

Getting My Endurance Back

Almost all accidents and injuries happen when an individual is not being present and not paying attention to what they are doing.
Tobe Hanson

Since my return from injury, I can run my base of 7 miles without much issue. However, going beyond that has become difficult, as my legs begin to feel weak and I start to feel phantom pains. I have managed to go 10.5 miles once and haven’t passed 9 miles since. I think that the reason that I am struggling is the lack of a race to train for and my fear of re-injury. I have a half marathon in April, but do not have a time goal for it and have too much time in the interim. I have found that I need a deadline to do my best work, which means that I have been looking for races before April to get my training back on track. The fear of re-injury is something that is more difficult to deal with. Every little thing has me doing a double-take, because it would mean a significant amount of time off from running.

Using my previous experience of coming back from injury is a help. In the summer/fall of 2018 I was running with a stress fracture in my knee. I had kept running through the injury until I couldn’t run more than a few miles without having to stop and call for a ride. I thought that I could rest it for a couple weeks and run my first half marathon, which was an awful idea. I ran the race and had to stop multiple times trying to loosen it out. I finished the race, but literally couldn’t walk for the next two days. I took another two weeks off and then tried again, which was even worse than before. I could only make it around a mile and a half before having to stop. It led to a doctors visit and two and a half months off of running.

Returning from this injury was annoying, but when I was able to run again I got my endurance back relatively quickly. I was able to start running again in December, and by January I was able to run around 10 miles without stopping. Now the current injury is passed, and I have been running again since around November, but my legs have been feeling heavy and tired often. I am unsure of what to do to counter this, and it is really demoralizing. I have good runs and each of my 7ish mile runs is usually right in my goal pace, but after that distance I start to slow and my legs start to give.

I think that I will have to cross-train more diligently and find some better podcasts to push me further. One thing that has helped is my new shoes, my Brooks Launch 7’s. I feel a lot faster in them and the times have reflected it. If anyone else has ever dealt with this issue, let me know what helps!

My Marathon Disaster

Failing forward is the ability to get back up after you’ve been knocked down, learn from your mistake, and move forward in a better direction.
John C. Maxwell

I might not look like it, but I was dying here

I never sleep well the night before a race. I always hype myself up so much that I end up getting around three hours of sleep, but this race I doubt I even got two. I was feeling good about my training and the work I put into the preparation, but I had never run 26.2 before. The longest I had ever run was a 20 mile long run about a month before the race. I was smart about my training and was careful to not let a nagging issue become an injury, so I thought this race would be as easy as a marathon could be. I might even be able to break 4 hours on my first marathon.

When I woke up on race day I was freezing. It was August 31st and wasn’t particularly cold, but I couldn’t stop shivering. It turned out that I had a fever, but I thought it was just nerves. The marathon was in Madison, which was an hour’s drive, so I had time to eat on the ride and crank the heat. Once we arrived, I stretched and kept my coat on, noticing I was the only person shivering. My mind was on the race though, so it barely registered at the time. I got into the 8:30 per mile corral, hoping to start slow and save my energy for the second half. The course would be two loops around Lake Monona and passing the Capital building. I waited in the group until the air horn and then we were off.

The start of races is a jumbled mess of runners. Everyone is so close to each other that you can’t really use a normal stride or even see in front of you. The latter came into play when I was directly behind someone in the first mile and he jumped to the side. I didn’t see why but suddenly fell, hitting a traffic cone. I sliced my hand, elbow, and knee up and threw my focus completely out of wack. The good news was that I bounced back up, and other than being embarrassed, kept running and tried to shake it off. The first half of the marathon went relatively well after that. My left hip flexor was bugging me a bit but I figured I would be fine. I even finished the first half at 1:52, which was well within the 4 hour mark and only 6 minutes off my PR. However, I was not stopping at the aid stations like I should have been and only drinking sporadically.

I managed to make it to mile 15 before I had to stop and try to stretch out my hip. It was beginning to change my form and I was compensating for it. I started walking, which is something that I had never previously done. My head started feeling foggy and my legs were feeling heavy. I tried to drink from the water bottles I had, but running that long with minimal fluids was a killer. I was able to try to push through to mile 19, thinking that I only had 7 miles left, but the walk breaks were becoming more frequent and even 5 hours seemed like a lost cause. My legs were dragging, my hip was causing me serious problems, and I couldn’t even think straight. I looked at the map on my phone and saw an aid station at mile 21, but I didn’t even think I could make it that far. I tried to make it and had to keep stopping. By this point I have been passed by nearly everyone, only seeing a couple runners every 5 or so minutes.

Someone stopped and asked if I was okay or needed help. It was a very nice woman from Missouri using this race as a training race for an ultramarathon. I told her that I did need help to the aid station and she walked with me. When I got there I told them I needed to drop out and they gave me a ride to the finish line. I was only 5 miles from the finish but couldn’t get there. My hip was killing me, my legs seized up, and I couldn’t even keep water down. It was not a fun experience. When I got back to the finish line, I was pissed. I put in months of training, running in the summer heat for hours at a time, and got a DNF for it. I was contemplating not running anymore, even though I knew that was never going to happen. I really didn’t know if I wanted to try another marathon though. I felt that if this one went so poorly, maybe I just wasn’t meant to run that far.

I had to take a long break from running to let my hip heal up. I even started doing yoga on the advice of my awesome cousin,(Thanks Laurie!) and it actually helped a lot. The more I thought about it, the more I saw all the things I could improve on. Yes, I ran enough, but I didn’t really cross train at all, and my hydration and fueling plan on race day was really poor. I also didn’t want that one marathon sour me from attempting another one. It was really bugging me that I couldn’t finish, so I started looking for marathons far enough out to give me time to properly train. That meant a spring half marathon, and the Madison Marathon in November. I couldn’t let the worst run of my life be the only marathon I ran, so I am determined to finish this one. I will not be attaching a goal time on this one and just run it with the goal of giving it my all and finishing. I will let you guys know how the training goes and how my race in April goes as well!

Welcome to my Running Blog

Thanks for joining me!

Only the disciplined in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and passion.
Eliud Kipchoge

I figured writing about my marathon training and previous experience could be useful to me. So I decided to start a blog. I am not sure how often I will update it, but I will be writing about races, new gear I have been using, and my training. I want to write about my last race, which happened to be the worst run I’ve had. It will be coming within the week and detail the training that went into it as well as everything that managed to go wrong. Stay tuned!!!