Tuesday, March 31, 2009

2nd place team!

Kenny and I got a 2nd place award for our "team." Wow, I guess you only needed 2 people to make a team. I got my first place men 30-39 award yesterday...they didn't mail it, they left it at my door (weird!).

I've been training as usual though I just got over a foot injury so I haven't been running as much. I started running again today though and felt rested. I was in Wichita all last week and only got 1 trip to the gym (there was a blizzard). I ended up losing 2 pounds as a result.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

loooong jog

I jogged with Beth today in Forest Park. We were both hurting from bad knees so we walked a little. It was between 5 and 6 miles.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

A day off


I didn't exercise yesterday. Tonight is lifting and pilates but I needed a rest yesterday. Here's the picture from Saturday...that girl was in my way.


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Still working hard

I forgot to add the steps from t race. 3751 + 42 = 3793.

Good news, I GOT MY IPOD BACK! The people who put the race on had it for me.

I took Beth's last Tuesday circuit training class last night. It hurt, my legs still aren't 100%
I think for next year I'll focus less on leg strength and more on breathing and stamina from being able to breathe better. I really didn't feel like I was in better shape this year compared to last, I just ran harder and pushed myself beyond. So next year I'll just run more distance, perhaps up hills. I may never come close to winning if cyborg guy is still competing, but I can at least defend my 30-39 Men's title and improve my time. I'll get my picture up from the race soon too.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

another race today

I did a 5K today in 22:07. There were a ton of people there so I didn't place but it felt okay. I didn't push myself as hard as I normally do for a 5K. I could feel that my legs weren't there in the first mile but I finished strong. I was pleased with the time so I must be in decent 5K shape. We got a packet with a bunch of other upcoming races this spring and a few in the summer. Perhaps this is the year I break 20 minutes

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Results

I got 4th place overall. I'm pretty happy with it. I ran a 6:20 so I dropped 28 seconds from last year. Sadly, I somehow lost my iPod on the way up. I new it came unplugged but I didn't know it came out of my holder on my hip until I got home.

This was easily the most pain I have ever put my body through in any athletic event. Worse than any high school cross-country or track race. I tried to puke afterward but nothing was coming up. My head hurt, I could barely sit up, it was worse than being super drunk at the end of the night when it's all about to fall apart. Add that feeling with the sensation of drowning and that's about where I was.

Going into the race I knew I wasn't going to win...someone had already post a 4:42. 2nd place was 5:05 but 3rd was only 9 seconds ahead of me at 6:11. Since the top 3 overall don't count toward their age group results I "won" the men's division age 30-39. I'll get a small award for that.

I'm coughing pretty bad so I don't know about running that 5K tomorrow. I have 2 more shows to perform in tonight. For now I'm just going to let myself recover.

Full results here... http://www.fleetfeetstl.com/racetiming/results/MASTER_THE_MET_2009_42_OA.HTM

Friday, March 6, 2009

It's go time

Tomorrow is the day. I feel ready and confident. I did a light elliptical machine yesterday for 10 minutes and did a short jog today. My bck and neck feel fine, I have no cold symptoms for the first time in weeks and the weather shot up to about 70 degrees today. All is ready. I think I'll use Radiohead's Iron Lung and/or Modest Mouse's Spitting Venom for my iPod. Pace is important. Mental toughness is even more important. I've trained too long to let myself wuss out halfway up. I logged over 3700 floors and ran a lot of miles for this. I can only wonder who if any are taking it as seriously.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

a few days left

I did 20 floors in 5 minutes yesterday just to move my legs. I ran a mile also at a slow pace. Then pilates class. Today I'll exercise bike it for 10 minutes and jog for a few as well. I feel confident. I still haven't picked a song yet.

Total floors = 3751

Monday, March 2, 2009

Scouting

I found the webpage with last year's results and scanned through. Like I said, the winner last year is hurt. There seems to be 1 guy who had a faster time than me competing this year, David Klein. He's only 25 or something. But at that age your life changes a lot from year to year. His time was only 20 seconds or so faster than me. I really think I have a shot at winning this thing.

final few days

Today I ran a mile and change, about a half of that on an incline on level 5. I'm getting ready for a possible 5K on Sunday (there's open beer tap after that race) if my legs feel okay.
After the run I did 40 floors in 5 minutes on the stairmaster. I'm now being mocked by the staff at the gym but I probably deserve it for being so serious about all of this. I suppose I will do light steps tomorrow and a few Wednesday, then jog Thursday and then walk Friday leading up to the race on Saturday morning. My lungs still get a little bit of yuck in them after tough workouts but not as much each time. I feel pretty good overall other than my neck hurting.



total floors = 3731