Yippee-i-ay - Cow Patti!
Yippee-i-ay - Cow Patti!
She rode into town to find the man that killed her daddy!
Yippee-i-ay - Cow Patti!
I sang this in my head today in the last mile of what made a 25+ mile week (26.1) and felt good. First time I can say or feel that since, well, 2007... I know it may seem like peanuts to all you 100 mile week runners, but given that last October I could care less if I ran again, this is GREAT!
I use the lyrics often when I am elated. People look at me and think it makes no sense. But this was a song by Jim Stafford released in 1980. I was graduating from High School and some wild and crazy guy (not me or Steve Martin) suggested we make it our Grad Theme Song... I went to school with a strange bunch and I do not think anyone has changed, except got older. If you want to see Jim Stafford perform this gem, see below:
Anyway, I was elated. Funny thing is the runs are nice and easier, but the weight is the same. Not even going to worry about that, yet... Just keep running and enjoying the time outdoors and whatever will be will be... Then again, one of my favorite Minnesota River trails was underwater this weekend... I hope that is short lived... My mind has been on my hometown of Fargo lately... Called and the parents looks like the home farm will make it though the flood... I recall as a youth some of the floods we had a basement filled with water... and we were 8 miles west of the Red River. It is just flat and flat back home! I used to run the overpasses for hill training.
Looking forward to what I hope is the last snow spit this week... Have to look at the positive side, but would rather not have it at all... like I have a choice. So next week, if things continue like they have, I will have a 29 mile week... And if I don't, that is alright, as long as I keep having fun getting miles in...
Carry on...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Third week of enjoyment...
I have now three weeks in a row with over 20 miles a week, and I enjoyed it! Well, mostly. There were a few days I did not want to run. But I got through the first mile and was happy I went. Each week I increased 5% or more a week. This week, I estimate I will have a 10-15 percent increase over last week just cause it feels good and I have more time? I am not sure. I suppose there may be more bike riding as an option, dependant on the weather.
I heard my pal Steve broke another bone? You would think with all the news we hear about his neighborhood, that someone would hurt him other than himself? Maybe this is all a blessing in disguise, if he always has a broken bone, the thugs will leave him alone? Either way, I wish him well and hope he takes care of himself. He is a great guy who I need to keep up all the writing to keep me sane... or at least it is good reading.
I have a good friend of mine who is in her mid 30's, never been married and is going through a hard time with a ticking clock (she wants kids)... She has had some hard times in he field of dating and I just do not get it as she is a great person... Well, maybe I do... My advice to her is not to be so stressed over it, but I see her point. Seems like she meets nothing but over the edge folks. Some of the things I hear make me wonder if I am getting weird and the normal people seem weird or if the world is becoming more strange. I mean, what happened to manners, please, thank you, opening a car door, allowing yourself to love? A coworker told me of her daughters boyfriend coming to the house and honking the horn or calling her on the cell phone so she can come out... Is this just strange dating habits that are becoming the norm and I a dying specimen? Anyway, I have so many questions every time we speak about relationships, I confuse myself.
Anyway, enough broad based information. As I final note, week 4 underway the way with another 4 mile run tonight, in the rain, but it was nice... and I registered for Afton. As I said before, I am 95% sure i will not be running it and will just be making a donation to a great run if I don't, but if that 5% changes, I wanted my spot... And I saw Kent Neuburger is coming back. Not sure if many of you know him, I only met him twice but I love his fight and desire.
Carry on...
I heard my pal Steve broke another bone? You would think with all the news we hear about his neighborhood, that someone would hurt him other than himself? Maybe this is all a blessing in disguise, if he always has a broken bone, the thugs will leave him alone? Either way, I wish him well and hope he takes care of himself. He is a great guy who I need to keep up all the writing to keep me sane... or at least it is good reading.
I have a good friend of mine who is in her mid 30's, never been married and is going through a hard time with a ticking clock (she wants kids)... She has had some hard times in he field of dating and I just do not get it as she is a great person... Well, maybe I do... My advice to her is not to be so stressed over it, but I see her point. Seems like she meets nothing but over the edge folks. Some of the things I hear make me wonder if I am getting weird and the normal people seem weird or if the world is becoming more strange. I mean, what happened to manners, please, thank you, opening a car door, allowing yourself to love? A coworker told me of her daughters boyfriend coming to the house and honking the horn or calling her on the cell phone so she can come out... Is this just strange dating habits that are becoming the norm and I a dying specimen? Anyway, I have so many questions every time we speak about relationships, I confuse myself.
Anyway, enough broad based information. As I final note, week 4 underway the way with another 4 mile run tonight, in the rain, but it was nice... and I registered for Afton. As I said before, I am 95% sure i will not be running it and will just be making a donation to a great run if I don't, but if that 5% changes, I wanted my spot... And I saw Kent Neuburger is coming back. Not sure if many of you know him, I only met him twice but I love his fight and desire.
Carry on...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Getting caught up?
Getting caught up is never easy. Writing in the blog is one of the things I need to get caught up on as well. I think we all have such busy lives, economic strains, relationship pressures, weather changes to bring us down and we have exercising, march madness, great friends (old and new), looking forward to the warmer weather and seeing things optimistically to bring us up.
The last post expressed excitement of a 20 mile week as an enjoyable week. That was followed by a 21.3 mile week last week and many enjoyment in the runs. This week started great with the weather. I ran 4.1 miles at lunch and walked 2.1 miles after work Monday, yesterday I rode bike to and from work as well as ran 4 miles at lunch and walked 2 miles after work again. Today I feel so tired; I struggled to get the 5K out of the way during lunch? Well, we can not always expect great runs… The first mile was filled with "turn around and quit" thoughts, but then I got into a groove, but still struggled.
I have had almost a week now to mull the movie "Beyond the Epic Run" through my mind. It was great to see ultra list people there. I was glad I went. I will see it again as it left me with some thoughts which may have been covered in the movie, but I may have missed them. I may purchase the diary as well…
At the end of the movie, we were asked to sum it up in three words. That was hard as I saw the film as a phenomenal production which took me through as many human emotions I though I could experience all in one sitting. I used the words "depressing, humbling and motivating"…
To me, it was many stories! A strong story of love… The love between Serge and Nicole, the love for running, the love for a challenge and the love for general humanity. It was an eye opener for the variety of world conditions we often only think are made for television promotions for "feed the children". It was a tragic story as at the start I saw two young vibrant people who looks so old and worn at the end… It was life experiences story where people often support you and then for some reason, change their mind. It was a story of hope. No matter what they encountered, they were positive (at least the movie shows such). So many more stories in this story! The more I think about it, this is just remarkable story that makes me think about much more than a run.
I got an e-mail that
Looking forward to volunteering at Chippewa this year. I just received some information about my assignment. Looks like fun.
The next three weeks all I have is an occasional tennis match to officiate. Less than 4-5 hours a day max for this weekend and only one assignment the next tow after that! Looking forward to getting some weekend workouts in for a change.
Maybe see some of you out there… if you run slow enough for me to keep up?
Carry on!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Heart Rate Monitor use / Stress
In a past post, I wrote about wearing a heart rte monitor every time I run. I believed there was a correlation between life stresses and the impact on the heart rate. I believe some suffer heart attack and other issues as we age as we lose the ability to understand our internal organs may not be willing to keep up with our demands and they crash.
I had a very hard weekend. Last week was over a 75-hour work week, much of what was very high stress over the weekend. Although, the excitement is I did run and enjoyable 5 runs totaling 20 miles in a week for the first time this year… My running miles per week to date:
3 miles
13.6 miles
15.9 miles
0 miles
15 miles
17.8 miles
4.9 miles
0 miles
14,4 miles
and last week 20.2 miles -- YIPEE
So last week was filled with limited sleep, increased workout and a weekend from hell. So at lunch today, I laced up, put on my heart rate monitor and prepared to go for a 4 mile run. I felt pretty good. Then less than 3 minutes into the run, I looked at my watch… 158 BPM. I was doing just over a 10-minute mile. I stopped. Within a minute, it dropped to 130. I started again. My heart rate rose fast to the high 150 BPM. Again, I stopped, it dropped quickly. I used my watch of check my pulse. I counted and it was in range of what the monitor stated. I felt like I was not even working out. My muscles felt fine, but my heart was not…
So I ran again. Doing whatever it took to keep my heart rate no more than 145. I slowed to a 12-minute mile to accomplish this goal. Last week I started the week with just under a 10-minute mile and average HR of 136 BPM. So why the increased heart rate? I think the stress in my job and the very stressful 30-hour weekend officiating tennis took a toll on my internal organs. They need to recover.
Many say I am crazy to have such a theory when I mention this situation. Although, this is not the first time my heart rate monitor gave me reason to be concerned. In the heat of the Afton 50 K in 2007, at about 20 miles, my HR went to 170 BPM and I was walking. I took a whole bunch of ice and iced me down and was walked. Slowly, my HR came down to the 120s and I was able to run the last 7 miles. I believed my heart was stressed due to the increase in body temperature from the heat?
So I do not run without the HR monitor, and some think I rely too much on an electronic device. My question to many of you is do you think the use of a HR monitor is a good way to monitor potential issues during high stress times? I really think so and when people ask why I have this belief… My response is “I want to live…”
Carry on…
I had a very hard weekend. Last week was over a 75-hour work week, much of what was very high stress over the weekend. Although, the excitement is I did run and enjoyable 5 runs totaling 20 miles in a week for the first time this year… My running miles per week to date:
3 miles
13.6 miles
15.9 miles
0 miles
15 miles
17.8 miles
4.9 miles
0 miles
14,4 miles
and last week 20.2 miles -- YIPEE
So last week was filled with limited sleep, increased workout and a weekend from hell. So at lunch today, I laced up, put on my heart rate monitor and prepared to go for a 4 mile run. I felt pretty good. Then less than 3 minutes into the run, I looked at my watch… 158 BPM. I was doing just over a 10-minute mile. I stopped. Within a minute, it dropped to 130. I started again. My heart rate rose fast to the high 150 BPM. Again, I stopped, it dropped quickly. I used my watch of check my pulse. I counted and it was in range of what the monitor stated. I felt like I was not even working out. My muscles felt fine, but my heart was not…
So I ran again. Doing whatever it took to keep my heart rate no more than 145. I slowed to a 12-minute mile to accomplish this goal. Last week I started the week with just under a 10-minute mile and average HR of 136 BPM. So why the increased heart rate? I think the stress in my job and the very stressful 30-hour weekend officiating tennis took a toll on my internal organs. They need to recover.
Many say I am crazy to have such a theory when I mention this situation. Although, this is not the first time my heart rate monitor gave me reason to be concerned. In the heat of the Afton 50 K in 2007, at about 20 miles, my HR went to 170 BPM and I was walking. I took a whole bunch of ice and iced me down and was walked. Slowly, my HR came down to the 120s and I was able to run the last 7 miles. I believed my heart was stressed due to the increase in body temperature from the heat?
So I do not run without the HR monitor, and some think I rely too much on an electronic device. My question to many of you is do you think the use of a HR monitor is a good way to monitor potential issues during high stress times? I really think so and when people ask why I have this belief… My response is “I want to live…”
Carry on…
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Good week/weak
I finally adjusted from the trip. Nice to be back but miss seeing my son each day... This weekend and the next two weekends are 25-30 hour weekends officiating tennis so training will be limited. Then I have 7 of the next 8 weekends with little tennis needs. Great time to set the base I need for to determine what the 2009 race schedule will be, other than Grandma's marathon. My main focus is not doing anything to make my 25th consecutive grandma's difficult to accomplish.
Over the past 2 months I have tried to enjoy running and look forward to the chance to run... although, I found it hard to run 12 minute miles and felt like I was working so hard doing so. Could have been the snow and ice? Could have been the extra shake in the mid-section? So this past week, I decided I was going to run at least four (4) or the seven (7) days and with nothing slower than 10 minute mile. I had though this was going to be hard as I have been struggling.
Here is what I accomplished:
Monday 3.2 miles at 9:20 pace Max HR 158
Tuesday 3 at 9:57 pace Max HR 165
Thursday 4 miles at 9:15 pace Max HR 153
Friday 4.2 miles at 9:17 pace Max HR 151
To many that read this blog, a 15 mile week is only a daily jaunt for them. However, I am pleased... and I was surprised. Tuesday was pure hell but I enjoyed it... This is the first time in months I felt good about running. In the scope of things, this is less than a 15 mile week.
This is after a lame start into 2009... 16 runs and 47.5 miles (ave pace 12:10) for January and 10 runs 37.1 miles (11:32 ave pace) for February. But the last week of February was a good week... I am looking forward to March. That's good!
Carry on!
Over the past 2 months I have tried to enjoy running and look forward to the chance to run... although, I found it hard to run 12 minute miles and felt like I was working so hard doing so. Could have been the snow and ice? Could have been the extra shake in the mid-section? So this past week, I decided I was going to run at least four (4) or the seven (7) days and with nothing slower than 10 minute mile. I had though this was going to be hard as I have been struggling.
Here is what I accomplished:
Monday 3.2 miles at 9:20 pace Max HR 158
Tuesday 3 at 9:57 pace Max HR 165
Thursday 4 miles at 9:15 pace Max HR 153
Friday 4.2 miles at 9:17 pace Max HR 151
To many that read this blog, a 15 mile week is only a daily jaunt for them. However, I am pleased... and I was surprised. Tuesday was pure hell but I enjoyed it... This is the first time in months I felt good about running. In the scope of things, this is less than a 15 mile week.
This is after a lame start into 2009... 16 runs and 47.5 miles (ave pace 12:10) for January and 10 runs 37.1 miles (11:32 ave pace) for February. But the last week of February was a good week... I am looking forward to March. That's good!
Carry on!
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