Half Marathon Done!

I've written about running a ton in the past (click on the "Running" category link on your right), but I finally did it....I ran a half marathon.

My official time clocked in at 2 hours, 8 minutes, and 19 seconds.  Not a world record, city record, or course record by any means, but was still a significant accomplishment for myself......My average pace worked out to about 9:48 min/mile...

So, now that I'm done with the race, and my body has recovered, I thought that I'd share some lessons that I picked up along the way..

1) Registration is powerful - For years, I wanted to run a half marathon, but it didn't happen. I found excuses, told myself that I didn't have the dedictation, energy, or time, and allowed myeslf to fail.  Until I paid the $55 registration fee put the date in my planner.  All of a sudden, I found time, energy, and the will to train.

2) Find a plan - Ok, I'm registered, do I suddenly run 13.1 miles?  Of course not....since I had never run this far before, I decided to find a training plan online.  Find a plan, stick to it. 

Here are some links to get you started:

Hal Higdon - Official Coach of the Chicago Marathon
Runner's World Magazine

There are a million plans online, so find one that works with your schedule, and try to stick to it.  I used the Hal Higdon "novice" plan, and it gently brought me from running 3 miles to 10.

3) Listen to yourself - At first, I'd find ways to trick myself into believing that I was sore, so I couldn't work out.  Eventually, you need to find a way to differentiate between fake pain and actual pain.  Don't run if you are hurt....take time to rest.

4) Explore your city - Probably works better in the summertime, but I did the majority of my running in either Chicago or Tampa.  Unless weather forced me indoors, I preferred to run outside. 

In Chicago, I explored the Lake Michigan Coast, figuring out where the coldest drinking fountains are (no question....the ones near the Recreation Drive tennis courts), the best way to avoid mosquitos (don't run at night), and where the coolest boats are (Montrose Harbour). 

In Tampa, I ran along Tampa Bay, following BayShore Ave.  The sightseeing wasn't as scenic as Chicago, but sometimes I'd see some cool boats or pelicans. 


5) Have Fun With It - Running a half marathon is tough work.  From an evolutionary standpoint, the human body isn't designed to run long distances (yes, i just made that up, but it works..sue me).  Most people don't wake up and decide to run 13.1 miles, so if you are going to do it....then might as well have fun with it.  Load up your ipod with some cool tunes and enjoy the day. 

or, if you are a geek like me, load up your ipod with some good audiobooks, and get some "reading" done during your training.  I listened to the following books during my training:

- Shantaram -
- Team of Rivals -
- Snuff - (by the writer of Fight Club)

and at the finish of the race, I'm halfway through The Tin Roof Blowdown.  so yes, you can multitask and get some reading done while running.

6) Enjoy it - On race day, realize that you have trained for 3 months for this day.  So, line up with your number, and soak in the feeling.   If you need to walk, walk.  Stop and get water and gatoraid.  Talk to your fellow runners.   When its over, grab a great celebratory meal (just not at Old Town's Flat Top Grill - link), and bask in the glory of your race.


Looking back, I probably made a ton of mistakes along the way, but I know that I'm in much better shape now that back in May when I started training. 

Last point....your time is just a number that you will beat the next time out.  That being said, what's the best race that you've run in?  My next half marathon will probably be in the Jan-March timeframe, so any suggestions???  I'm not locked into Chicago, and ideally, I'd like to travel for it...and see a new city in the process...

Running Update

So last week, I wrote about my apparently inability to run 10 miles.  I'm happy to report an update...

After moving into my new place on Thursday, and spending Friday and Saturday getting settled in, I went for a post-move stress-free run on Sunday morning, and actually completed the full 10 (10.01 in total) miles!

Total Time - 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 58 second......an average of 8:23 min/mile pace.

I plugged this run into a race calculator (link), and it claims that I'll finish my upcoming half-marathon in under 2 hours!!!

Thanks to everybody that gave me support over the last week, or over the last 3 months...and helping push me towards this goal........

Stress, and how it affects my running

So, I've got a lot of things on my mind lately.....I'm moving in 3 days (i hate moving), I'm running a half marathon in a week, and this fall, I'm applying to business school. 

Of the 3 items, obviously applying to business school is the biggest, most daunting task on my list.  But, having gone through the process before (unsuccessfully), it still sucks, but hopefully shouldn't be as bad as last year.  I'm trying to keep it from crippling my life like it did last year....

Of course I've moved before, but I stil hate it.  It'll be done by this Friday, and I can cross that off the list.

The last item...the half marathon...is something that I've written about in the past, but its rearing its ugly head.  I've faithfully followed Hal Higdon's training program (its sweet, I highly recommend it.  get it here link), I've watched my diet, and I've given up drinking (for the most part)......so what's teh problem?  I'm still somehow pysching myself out. 

I've slowly progressed from a 4 mile long run up til a 9 mile run.  Last Saturday, I was set to cross the threshold, and finish my first double digit run.  I was out on the lakefront, finishing up mile 3, and somehow, I panicked.  That run was over, and I decided to try it again later on.

This morning, I was supposed to run the 10 mile run.  Mission - Failed.  Somehow, I've set up a mindblock that tells me that 10 miles is too much, and that I shouldn't be running that distance.  Of course, this mindset keeps me from finishing the training run, and keeps me from accomplishing my goal. 

Any tips from veteran runners?  how do you keep self-defeating thoughts away from your runs?

Why Wait?

If you know that you need to do something....why wait?

I used to drive my parents crazy with "I'll do it in five minutes". But why would I do that? Why do people procrastinate?

The work isn't going to change in 5 minutes, next month, or next year. It still needs to get done, so why wait?

Case in point. I woke up this morning with the intention of going for a 4 mile run. I was out of bed, ready to go, and then got lazy, and went back to sleep. I rationalized it with "I'll run at night. Besides night running will help me unwind, so really, its a disservice to run in the morning."

Of course, the procrastination gods are punishing me....weather.com just listed a 60% chance of rain tonight.....doh!

5 Lessons Learned from training for a Marathon

On June 1, I completed the San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon in 4 hours 50 minutes and 23 seconds. This was my first marathon that I have ever run. I started training for the race in late January 2008 and continued for the next 5 months. I wanted to share 5 lessons that I learned while I was training for the race...

1. Less is more...I started out with a training program that called for running 5 days a week. I was able to maintain this program for the first 8 weeks of the 20 week program. I gradually realized that I was becoming exhausted at the end of the week and would start skipping runs because my body was too tired from the runs earlier in the week. Eventually I switched to a program that called for running 3 days a week. Not only did this reduce the amount of times I was running, it also gave me the added flexibility of moving the runs to different days when I had other obligations going on. If I were to do it again, I would use the same 3 day a week program. You can generate the 3 day a week program at http://www.runnersworld.com/.

2. Walking is acceptable...Before I started training for the marathon, I received a book that detailed how to train for a marathon. One of the themes of this book was that it was OK to walk during a marathon. The author, Jeff Galloway, an expert marathon runner, has done numerous marathons over the past 30 years and coached others to run in them. His basic premise was that by taking walk breaks, you are able to rest the muscles that you use when running. He also says that if you take the right amount of walk breaks, you will have more energy at the end of the race. His observation was that people slow down at the end of the race. I followed a somewhat modified Galloway style race. Instead of walking say every 10 minutes or every mile, I walked through each aid station to make sure I drank enough water throughout the race. I did this because the course was supposed to be relatively flat (more on this in a minute) and each station was about every 1.5 miles. I will say that I agree with him on slowing down at the end of the race. However, I feel the reason I slowed down was not because I didn't do enough walking, but due to all the hills during the last 5 miles of the run. Next time, I wish the organizers would be a little more kinder in their race design and put the hills in the beginning!

3. Prepare to eat and eat and eat...I thought I was going to lose some additional weight by training for a marathon. I didn't realize how much food my body would be demanding from all the running I was doing (especially early on). I think I ate somewhere around 18-20 pounds of spaghetti over the course of 5 months. The problem is you are burning so many calories that you need to keep eating in order to keep running. I'm glad I can go back to running shorter distances, lifting weights, and eating less!

4. Training is easier with a friend...Ok, so I was insane enough to agree to run a marathon, but was I up to the task of training by myself during the height of the cold Minnesota winter? For the most part, yes. I did long runs of 15,16,18,and 20 miles by myself. The 15 and 18 mile runs were on a treadmill. The 16 and 20 mile runs were done outside. There were severl 10-12 mile runs that I did outside as well. The last two weeks of training I found someone to run with me. Those last two weeks were 10 mile runs each and they went by easier with someone else running with me. This also gets me to the actual race itself. I'm really glad I had a friend there who ran with me. Not only was it nice to be able to run with someone I know, but this person was able to keep me going and push me forward. If you'd ask my friend the same question, he'd answer the same way I have.

5. Finishing feels great...The moment I crossed the finish line, I knew that the last 5 months of training were not wasted. I joined an elite group of individuals that can say they have completed a marathon. It was really a sense of great accomplishment once I crossed the finish line. Will I do it again? Probably, but not this year. Preparing for a marathon takes a great deal of time and I have some other goals I would like to work on this year. I will continue running and staying fit - I'm running a 10K at the end of June.

If and when I do train for my next marathon, I will try to remember these lessons and strategize accordingly. I leave you with a picture of me running to the finish line. Whatever your goal that you have in mind, may you succeed in reaching it.

Note: I am the white guy on the far left of the picture.

7 days to 26.2

Since I am only 7 days away from running the San Diego Rock'n'roll marathon, I thought I would discuss about the race and what I am thinking right now 7 days out....

The race is in one the nicest cities in the U.S. - San Diego, CA. The race is relatively flat and I expect the weather to be running friendly (60-75 degrees, not humid). One of the cool things about this race is that there is a band every mile along the course. I ran the Rock'n'Roll Phoenix Half marathon, which also had bands along the course, and really enjoyed this aspect of the Phoenix race. I hope after hitting mile 18 or 20 that the music will help provide me additional motivation and will power to finish the race. For those of you that have been to San Diego, I'm including a picture of the course map...


Yesterday, during my final long run of 10 miles, I started thinking about the last 5 months of training, crossing the finish line, and what it will mean to finish a marathon. Although I have run 3 half marathons, I am excited and nervous about running a marathon. Before every major race that I run, I always think about crossing the finish line. It helps to motivate and keep me going during the actual race. Right now, I don't have a goal time set, however, I think it will be between 4.5 and 5 hrs. Since this is my first and I'm not looking to "kill" (eg. qualify for Boston) myself, completing the race is the major goal :). After I have completed the race, I will post and let everyone know what I learned and how to improve for the next time.

Finally, completing this race will mean a lot to me on a personal level. Three years ago, I started running with the simple goal of losing weight - not to run marathons and half marathons. As I have continued to train for and run in races, I have always entertained the idea of running a full marathon. I made excuses like not having the time to train or not needing to prove that I can run a marathon, but I realized that eventually I wanted to run one just to prove that I could and say that I had done it. Hopefully, this does not become an addiction, I'd rather just train for half marathons instead.

While Sharad is on his vacation...

First, thanks to Sharad for the introduction. Since I know he is diligently packing right now, hopefully he has safe travels to Costa Rica and reports back some interesting stories from the trip. I am not as lucky to be spending my holiday somewhere other than where I live. So I've agreed to keep the blog going and hopefully the posts interesting.

I thought I'd give a preview of some topics that I will likely write about over the next 5-6 days and the websites that I frequently read. Sharad did a good job of guessing many of the topics I will be talking about - running, travel, and gadgets. This happens to be a pretty good breakdown of my personal hobbies and passions.

Travel:
Because I am such a travel junky and like my miles and points, I frequent popular travel forums. I like to find the best deals on flights and figure out how to earn the most miles and points. This addiction can get time consuming, but is very fun for me to do.

I currently visit the following travel related sites:

FlyerTalk


Airliners.net


If you ever wonder about how you can get extra miles or talk about airplanes, check out those sites. Some of the travel related ideas I want to talk about include fare and fee increases by airlines, the price of gas and oil, and airline mergers.

Running:

I am currently training for my first marathon which happens to be on June 1,2008. In the past three years, I have run 3 half marathons, a 15KM, and a 10KM. Some people would call me insane and I completely agree. There will probably be a post on the race I am preparing for - The San Diego Rock'n'Roll Marathon. More on this in a few days...in the mean time feel free to check out the race website.

Gadgets:

As Sharad said in the intro post, I am a technology consultant. Naturally, I have an obsession for gadgets. My favorite gadget right now is my Blackberry Curve. I am pretty excited for the upcoming blackberry releases as there are significant feature enhancements and hardware upgrades from current models.

Some of the sites I like to check out include:

Boy Genius Report

Engadget

Wired Magazine

I am also looking forward to discussing random interesting things that I see out on the internet and current topics in the news. Hopefully this post has not driven anyone away and will give you a good idea of what to expect over the next few days until Sharad returns. :-)

I am the most productive person I know.....

......over the past 24 hours.....I have done the following:

- Run 4 miles
- Write a 3 page essay for the University of Chicago Graduate Student at Large Program (fancy way of dressing up summer school)
- Write my 5000 character self-assessment for work. I used about 4975 characters, when I only needed 47 characters (I am amazing, and the firm should pay me more.)
- Did 60 pushups
- Ran another 4 miles
- Submitted my Chicago Application
- Submitted my year-end review materials for work

While the last 24 hours have been an outlier for me in terms of productivity, if I continue this, maybe I should revisit my goals.

My boss is all gung ho about climbing to the base of Mount Everest.

maybe i should think about that too....hmmmmm

http://www.mountainmadness.com/trekking/asia_base.cfm

Yes, I am a fatass.....

Even though yesterday was a travel day (6:55 am flight to Tampa = fun fun day), I still decided to gut it out, and hit the treadmill.

Gutted out 2.5 miles in a shade under 22 minutes, and I felt great. Since it felt so great, it got me thinking....why wasn't I running more consistently? the weather is great....I love the feeling...so why not run more?

then it hit me, I was sick of my audiobook...and dreaded listening to it! So, I decided that while I'm sure that John Adams was a brilliant man, he was just not that interesting of an individual. he must have had too much of that Puritan work ethic and moral sense....so there was no scandals (like Franklin), so shades of brilliance (like Hamilton), and no eloquence (like Jefferson)....and nobody would confuse him as a leader (like Washington).....

So, I'm done with David McCullough's "John Adams". The book was too detailed about what I considered non-interesting aspects of his life...things like how many petunias Abigail wanted in their Paris house, etc. If I want to learn about John Adams, I suppose I'll have to catch HBO's miniseries

I've moved onto Lawrence Wright's "The Looming Tower". So far, its reminding of Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes", which is a great book...so i like...

April Running......

Another month down, another 44.42 miles closer to my goal 500 miles in 2008.

While my March average pace (8:46 minutes/mile) stayed unchanged for April, my mileage actually went down this month.

Some highlights from the April workouts...

First road race - the Wrigley Start Early 10K.

6.2 miles in 54 minutes. I was sore before and after the race, but it still felt good to cross the finish line.

Second road race - the American Brain Tumor 5K Path to Progress

3.1 miles in 26:32, which amounted to an 8:34 min/mile pace, a new personal record :)

To make up for the lack of mileage, I started incorporating pushups and crunches into my routine. Starting with only 20 pushups (2x10) per day, I'm now up to 48 / day (3x15, 1x as many as possible)....and i'm still working my way up. My goal with pushups is to crank out 5 sets of 50 pushups without breaking a sweet. Call me crazy, but I want to do this by the end of summer.

The ABTA 5K Path To Progress

A quick review of this past Saturday's 5K race that I participated in.

The race took place in Montrose Harbor, on the Northside of Chicago's Lake Michigan front. Being Chicago in April, the weather is always unpredictable...and it was freezing. I think it was something like 40 degrees when I left home for the race.

The course has changed from last year. I wasn't a huge fan of the prior course, and I like how the entire race was along the lakefront this year.

Some other positives....wider running lanes, great food afterwards

The only 2 cons....non-dry fit shirt, which isn't a huge deal. The only thing that I didn't like about this race (other than the weather) was that runner's weren't given time updates at every mile. Its hard to keep your pace steady without some type of visual cue, and so I was hoping for that.

But other than my 2 anal concerns....I liked this race, the American Brain Tumor Association raised over $600,000 (so far, please still donate), and over 6000 people participated.

Initial nike+ipod review

When I first started this blog (about a month ago), I envisioned it to be a place for me to write about various things......and I decided to categorize topics, just to see what really interested me.

It isn't surprising that travel is #1, since I'm in the middle of planning for a trip to Costa Rica.

Sports (watching...not playing) comes in #2, which isn't surprising since the majority of the posts were written during the NCAA tournament.

Somewhere down the list comes running, which was one of the primary reasons for starting a blog. I wanted this blog to be a place where I'd post my race results (only 1 road race this year...but join me for #2 this Saturday), and I'd be accountable to my end goal of 500 miles in 2008.

Since the weather is finally starting to turn the corner in Chicago, I decided that I needed a better way to track my distance (running to the end of the block and back was not precise enough). So, I did my research, and ended up at Fleet Feet, in Piper's Alley. The salesperson there walked me through the various options....Polar was too much gadget for me, Garmin was too expensive, and Timex too hokey....eventually I settled on teh nike+ipod kit.



Out of the box, I tried it on the treadmill. I ran 2.5 miles (according to the treadmill), and the nike device claimed that I ran 3.06 miles.

The next day, I ran a 10k (6.2 miles), and it registered 7.3 miles.

While I loved that my average pace (according to nike) was something like 7:30 min/mile, it just wasn't that accurate for me.

So I finally opened up the manual, and read that I needed to calibrate the damn thing! I quick mile long jog along the lake, and the device was calibrated.

Today, I ran 2 miles alongside Tampa Bay. The mile-markers claimed 2 miles, the device 2.02....good enough for me.

with only 1 calibrated run performed, I'm a little hesitant to say that this thing works...but it just does. I like the speaker lady's calm voice, telling me that I'm halfway there. I like the social networking / web 2.0 aspect of nikeplus.com. And I like that the device is unobtrusive, I don't even notice it when I go running.

if you already go running with an ipod nano, and are looking for a cheap ($30) toy to help you track your time and distance, then the nike+ipod is a great place to look...check it out for yourself, and if you have any tweaks/tips/thoughts, please leave them in the comments.

Annoying fundraising emails.....and blog posts....

Since the summer is rolling closer and closer, I'm sure that our inboxes are going to get spammed with incredibly worthwhile causes that sometimes we just can't afford....

but, since its still spring (or, at least the calendar claims that its spring), I'm going to make my pitch before the masses do...please donate if you can, if you can't, please forward the link along. I really appreciate it guys....

I'm on the planning committee for this year's American Brain Tumor Association Path to Progress 5K run/walk, taking place in Chicago's Montrose Harbor on April 26. The race is being held to raise money for brain tumor research, and 100% of the funds raised will go towards that end.

Back when I suffered from a brain tumor, I found the American Brain Tumor Association to be invaluable in my path to recovery. Now, as a survivor, I help council current patients with their own struggles.

If you are in the Chicago area, I'd really appreciate if you could join me in running the 5k alongside Lake Michigan. If you aren't in the Chicago area, I'd appreciate if you could read and follow this link to your friends and colleagues.

http://hope.abta.org/goto/smangalick2008

Thanks again for your help and support!

Sharad

My Event Calendar

I'm going to do my best to keep this updated...but drop me a note if you'd like me to add more shows, games, or events.

note - Chicago Cubs games are in Red....go figure

Google Documents...and my ghetto running log

Earlier, I wrote about my SMART goals for this year.

My friends are sick of hearing about my running goals, and my progress towards mile 500 (I hope to moonwalk that last mile), so, in the spirit of greater accountability, I've decided to post my spreadsheet every month, and you guys can chew me out, cheer me on, and maybe inspire me to do better.....

i look forward to hearing your comments!

Help Needed: Walk-a-thon

Now that baseball season has finally started, it seems like Spring and Summer are just around the corner.

While this time of the year brings out the planner in all of us....planning up fun things like:

- Cubs games at Wrigley (is it still even called Wrigley?)
- beer gardens
- Castaways at the North Ave. Beach
- Not wearing overcoats (unless you plan on flashing people, which is sometimes fun)
- the endless supply of fundraising emails

wait, that last item doesn't sound like fun. but for those of us in Chicago (or places that get snow), the summertime means running outdoors, instead of at Ballys.

so to kick off the outdoor season in the North, my uncle is participating in the Minneapolis Walk-A-Thon to benefit the American Heart Association. Check out his progress, and please spare some $ if you can....

You know you want to click me

thanks