Gearing Up For a Long 2014

Once again I'll start this off by saying thanks to everyone that has taken the time to read this blog, onward we go. So I'm writing this as I'm nursing a slight hamstring strain, which sucks because it sort of sets me back a little in my training. Now it looks like the Georgia Half Marathon may not be an option at this point, depending on how my leg heals. I definitely don't want to really set myself back by trying to be a bad ass and injure myself further by trying to push through this. I had something similar to this happen back in August, but after about 2 weeks or resting it and icing it, it wasn't too bad.

Well since I began to write this post a few weeks ago, my hamstring felt good enough for me to go run on, which felt great, to run again that is. So I'm just really trying to ease back into things, and not re-injure myself or make things worse. With that said, I can definitely tell that the time I missed really didn't help out, but I would rather miss time now than in August and September when it's really down to the nitty gritty in terms of marathon training.

So being that it's only the beginning of the month of March, means that this is going to be a long and arduous journey to prepare for Las Vegas and my first crack at 26.2 miles. I'd like to apologize for taking so long with this post, but I can assure those that read this, that I will do a much better job in the future. With that said, I'll be updating on training as well as upcoming races, the biggest of which is the 2014 Peachtree Road Race on July 4th this summer. I was initially unsure as to whether I would actually sign up again this year, but after reading a book about the race and its illustrious history, I began to think what an honor it is to run in a race that featured running legends such as Finnish icon, Lasse Viren, American marathon legend Frank Shorter, and Don Kardong. I don't plan to take this run as seriously, to me it's more of a fun run, rather than a race to set a PR. The reason being, is that with 60k people, it's really really tough to run and maneuver amongst the hoards of people and not get worn out quickly.

Well I appreciate your patience and look forward to keeping everyone updated.

Far Better Result

So after the debacle that was the Hot Chocolate 15K, I was excited to get that bad taste out of my mouth so I was ready to jump into my first Atlanta Track Club race of the year, the Heart and Soles 5k in Decatur. Well needless to say things went much smoother than the last race, so I am happy to say there will be no complaining from me in this entry.

Maybe it had to do with the great marketing done by the ATC lately, but damn there were a lot more people than last year's race. The race, itself was split up into 3 waves which were grouped by predicted times. Group A was for the 25 minutes and under crowd, group B for the 30 and under crowd, and group C for the rest of the field. Talked into it by my homeboy Charley, the guy in the picture with me, we ran in group A. Charley finished in a very respectable 29:57, which is not bad considering the guy doesn't have time to train accordingly and also ran on a bum knee, but Charley is good at inspiring me, so I followed suit.

Feeling pretty good beforehand, I came quick out of the blocks and within a few hundred feet my legs started to get a little heavy. I think for the most part that was my fault for not warming up properly, but after about a mile or so I started feeling pretty good, so I began to pick up my pace as well as I could without burning myself out. I think one thing that some runners can be guilty of is not doing enough hill work, because it seems like a lot of people that I pass are on hills. Now I understand that some runners may want to take easy routes with slight incline, but a great way to building leg strength is to run on hills. Well fortunately this race featured a downhill finish so I hit my kick (perhaps a little sooner than I should have) and finished pretty strong albeit a little out of gas towards the end.

So I finished in 25:02 officially, 17 seconds slower than last year, but I was at least able to enjoy the race and be satisfied with my performance. Well on to the next race, Spring Has Sprung 8k/15k and I'm a little unsure as to which race to run, but I am kind of leaning towards the 15k to get prepared for the Georgia Half Marathon next month. Well happy running and thanks for reading.

Saturday It Begins

So thanks for anyone that read my most wordy entry to date, and those who've read any previous posts. Well this entry is a bit more low key and less wordy, basically detailing the upcoming 2014 Atlanta Track Club calendar. It's also a good time to train and fine tune myself for some bigger races like the Georgia Half Marathon in March, the famous Peachtree Road Race in July and of course my Super Bowl, the Las Vegas Rock N' Roll Marathon in Las Vegas in December. Hopefully I don't end up getting my ass ate up like the Broncos did last Sunday. 

Well Saturday is the first of some of my favorite races, the Grand Prix Series by the Atlanta Track Club, the Heart and Soles 5k in Decatur, Georgia. I enjoyed the hell out of this last year mainly because I set a PR in a 5k. Unfortunately I don't believe this upcoming Saturday will be quite as fruitful, because of the weather, my foot, and a tight hamstring, I haven't been running and training as much as I should. It's an excuse, but ah what the hell I think it's quite valid in this instance. With that said I still expect a very strong race as well as some really fast runners which is good since I can let them pace me and do most of the work haha. I'll be honest I pace a lot in races, I think it's a great way to maintain and be able to keep certain paces, but I think the best and most honest way of pacing is to go by what you're body is telling you. If you've run long enough, you start to pick up on hints on when to kick it into gear and when to bring it down a notch.

Well didn't expect to go into pacing, but there's an extra treat I suppose. Thanks again for reading, happy running.

P.S. For those of you kind enough to read this who would like to sign up for the Atlanta Track Club, here's the site

Atlanta Track Club

Lesson Learned

So hello again to everyone out there reads the blog and I thank you once again from the bottom of my heart, now with that said on to the first race of the new calendar year and my goodness did that shit suck...I mean bad. Now for those of you who know me well enough, you at least know that I don't like to whine a lot about certain things and races being one of them. I'll be honest I just would rather let other people talk about that stuff for me, I guess in my head it makes me seem like a bad ass or something, but gee whiz that was the roughest course I've endured.

Now for those of you familiar with these "gimmick" races and I use the word loosely, because I can't come up with another term to accurately describe these type of races. This race happened to be like one of those electric runs or those color races and so on and so forth, this was called the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k because of the free chocolate and hot cocoa that they give out before, during and after the race. So I decided to do this on a whim that I'd get to run another race with the lady, but I also wanted to impress her sister and mother by doing the 15k rather than the 5k (also because I'm training for longer distances). Unfortunately they were done well before I finished so I didn't get to spend time with them, but that wasn't the part that really peeved me and I'll admit shame on me for being more prepared for the race itself because this race course was a motherf...well you know.

I normally have a bit of a pregame ritual where I eat before I leave for the race and then I just listen to music and stretch while I get into a mental zone of sorts(yes I know), but this time was a little different. I didn't get to have my normal pre race snacks because I was in a hurry to get there in time to see my girlfriend and her family start their race. That sort of threw things off, but this one of those easy ass "gimmick" races where people show up and eat chocolate and run/walk a 5k/15k. No big deal. Well I go through my usual pre race ritual where I isolate myself and stretch out and listen to music and did that for about 15 minutes before my race started. After all that it's time for me to join my corral and get a good spot for the start, then it hits me, what the hell am I doing in the fastest group? I mean I was a schlub in a sea of fit individuals and I'm sure they too were wondering what the hell I was doing there too. As my 7th grade track coach used to say anytime someone got outrun by someone, "You got doo doo on your legs". That's precisely what happened next and not say I'm a blazing fast runner, I'm not, but I've never been left behind by so many people, which really demoralized me.

So not only was overmatched, but on top of that the course was brutal. I kept thinking about how much I hated the person that designed the course while having to deeper maybe than I've ever had to. (Sighs) yeah shit was terrible, but I managed and survived the ordeal and was pissed off pretty much the rest of the day. Quite the humbling and miserable experience.

With that said it was a humble reminder that you're maybe not as good as you think you are and that you shouldn't underestimate any type of challenge be it great or small. So thanks for listening to my whinefest and happy running.

Destination Race

So it hit me one day (oh yeah thanks for checking my blog out again) that...well let me start over. So I was reading the latest issue of Runner's World  magazine, which was dedicated to half marathons, and in that issue it discussed a series of different races that were kind of placed in a best of category and I began to think to myself...why the hell don't I go run one of these races? That was my starting point.

At first I was unsure about doing another half marathon, because I planned to build everything up to run my first marathon towards the end of the year and then I thought wouldn't it be cool as hell to get some of my homeboys on board too and make this an even greater experience? This is when I began to think of locales that offered a scenic course with a live atmosphere (meaning a fun place with lots of shit to do) and then it hit me. Hell, why not go to Las Vegas again? So on November 16, 2014 I will be in Las Vegas with some of my closest friends challenging myself like I've never done before and as I've told them already that I may make a lot of trip propositions without following through, but I'm sure as hell going to make this happen and hopefully they're on board too. I know it's early, but I'm really excited to do this and I can't f*cking wait.

Happy running to all the schlubs. 2014 is our year.

The Benefits of Races

So this was supposed to originally be a post about my philosophy as a runner, but I kinda figured that it really didn't warrant that much blog space. With that said, my philosophy is pretty simple; push yourself as hard as possible and don't be afraid to try new things. When I say, try new things, I mean if you run 3 miles run 6; if you run a 5k then run a 10k and so forth. It's all about testing yourself and pushing the limits that you can go. Now before I get to sidetracked, I'd like to get back to the original thought at hand.

I've talked a lot in the past about the physical and mental benefits of running and for some that may not be enough of a good reason to start running and that's okay. However, there are lots of other great reasons to start running races and these are probably the two of the biggest in my opinion.

If you're a fan of free gear, then you're in luck, most races will offer free swag, such as: shirts, medals, snacks, etc. My girlfriend usually clowns one me for running races that don't offer any type of free gift, but I'll be honest it does make it worth while by waking up at 5:00 AM for a race if you get a fresh ass tech shirt.

The next reason (and one that I have made a point to do better at) is immerse yourself in the camaraderie of other people that, like you, are looking for the same thing. I'll be honest I struggle with this mainly because, I tend to keep to myself and use running as a time to think about life and other random thoughts, but I do realize that it's always a good idea to have people around you that are passionate about the same things that you are. It become infectious when you meet a person that's equally or more passionate about something that you love. That is my second resolution and one that I look forward to this year.

Thanks for reading again.

New Year, New Me?

So much like my recent track record of consistently posting new blog entries, the same could be said for my recent running activity. I think much of that has to do with the fact of being really content with my accomplishment (as much as that makes me sound really superficial haha) but it really seemed that way. Fortunately there's a new year on the horizon (at the time of this blog post about 32 hours away) and I already have some big ambitions for this year.

I think this is what this year is going to be about. I want to push myself to limits that I never knew I could go. Yeah so I apologize for nothing earth shattering or highly intellectual, nah this year is just pretty much show up and show out. Hopefully some of you guys who read this will start to do something new to improve yourself or something that you enjoy.

Happy Running in 2014